darcy spencer hans tonight's top story. >> this police impersonator approached a 17-year-old girl as she was entering her home. fortunately, the victims were able to provide enough descriptive information so police have a composite sketch. police say the man depicted in this composite sketch fondled the teenager as he pretended to search her. he identified himself as being in law enforcement and flashed a badge. it was 3:45 in the afternoon on tuesday. >> we want to make sure if someone's preitending to be law enforcement and they're not, that they are caught. >> reporter: this time the victim was forced into the suspect's car. that attack at 7:00 in the evening at the herndon shopping center. the victim in her mid-20s. the man drove her to a nearby parking lot, where he sexually assaulted her. the car he was driving was described as a gray or silver four door. >> nowadays you can make all kinds of things that are fake. i would have to see if he has the right identification. but i also know how to protect myself. >> he's going around saying he's a cop, assaulting. that's not good. ho

darcy spencer, news 4. >> the work is expected to wrap up by next may.he construction company is going to be fined if they are not out of there by that time. >>> could we see more work done on the martin luther king monument? it was first brought to our attention, the quote is yes, if you want to say i was a drum major, say i was a drum major for justice. say i was a drum major for peace and right outness and the other shallow things will not matter. the quote on the statue reads i was a drum major for righteous peace and justice. they say it makes him sound arrogant. discussions are set to happen later this month after the postponed dedication of the memorial. >>> well, this week washington is mourning the loss of a trail blazer in the struggle for gay rights. jim handly has more on the life and legacy of frank. >> they asked. i lied and didn't tell. >> reporter: a pioneer. he felt an injustice and fought to make a difference for others. it was 1957. he was fired from his job as a government astronomer for being gay. the washington blade newspaper met h

darcy spencer, news 4. >> the cap could be lifted by october 20th.igher cab fares may give us an excuse to walk around a bit more. we are in a good place for that. three streets earned the distinction of best streets in america. king street made the list for historic buildings. the trolley line and beautiful views of the potomac. u street in northwest d.c. was ranked thanks to the culture in history. and on the list, davis street in culpeper, virginia. the daredevil work on one of d.c.s most famous landmarks is wrapped up now. the washington monument remains closed for earthquake damage assessments. another landmark is giving tourists a breathtaking look at the city. >> reporter: there's been drama at the monument. the inspector wasn't injured. the high level pain staking urge for earthquake damage has the famous monument shut down to tourists. >> with the earthquake, there are small, tiny cracks in it. now, there's a bit more trouble. >> reporter: there's a tourist alternative at 12th and pennsylvania avenue. the old post office building clock tower

reporting live from laurel, darcy spencer, news4. aaron, back to you. >> thank you, darcy. >>> the other big story on this first day of october is the weather. cloudy, rainy, and for some folks flat-out cold today. chuck, how long is this stuff going to stick around? i guess it's just starting, right? >> unfortunately it's going to last pretty much to wipe out most of the weekend from a sunshine and mild weather concern. temperatures right now are some 25 degrees colder than this same time yesterday. yesterday afternoon, we were up in the low to mid-70s. right now, upper 40s and low 50s is all we can muster around the washington area. 48 degrees in leesburg, 51 downtown. you can see on the radar, plenty of rain showers out there wrapping around through montgomery, fairfax and loudon county, even where darcy was in prince george's county, sprinkles around. this will continue for the remainder of the evening. expect chilly conditions for your saturday evening. sunday not looking a whole lot better. we'll talk about that and when the sun

reporting live, darcy spencer. back to you. >> thanks, darcy. >>> he was number one on the cia's kill or capture list. a top al qaeda leader is dead. anwar al awlaki was killed in yemen. he directed the failed underwear bombing attempt on christmas in 2009 and had a hand in the failed attempt to blow up u.s. carbo planes in 2010. u.s. officials say the strike killed one other person who is al qaeda's top saudi bomb maker. president obama called it a major blow to one of al qaeda's most dangerous affiliates. >> al qaeda and its affiliates will not find a safe haven in the world. >> anwar al awlaki was the ema'am at a mask in falls church. >> i think people need to become more knowledgeable about the variouses in each religion about the extremists and those who are just practicing to be honest individuals living a good life. >> there are concern that this drone strike sets a precedent for killing american citizens without due process of law. the washington post report that the justice department authorized the strike

news 4's darcy spencer explains. >> reporter: the sea voyager is docked near st. mary's college, but it's not going on a cruise any time soon. come monday morning, the ship will become a floating dorm, hope to 240 college students forced out by mold in their campus residence halls. >> i don't know what the campus can do better than this boat. i think this is a good solution. whoever thought of it deserves a pat on the back. >> reporter: black mold was found in two 1970's era dorms, forcing the evacuation of 240 students. they've been living in hotel. >> it's an ordeal to get it here. it's worth it so they don't have to live in hotels, one 20 miles away. >> reporter: the mold was traced to pipe insulation above the wet ceiling and may have been accuse caused, at least in part, from all the wet weather in hurricane irene and storms. >> people are getting sick. >> reporter: the college has rented the 300-foot ship for $20,000 a day. the president says it's comparable to the cost of housing students in far flung hotel rooms and shuttling them to campus and back. >> i

news 4's darcy spencer reports. >> reporter: cammie says her cat sugar was sprayed by a neighborhood skunk two weeks ago. it took a tomato juice bath to wash out the smell. >> it was very traumatic. my neighbor and i were in the booth tub with him, pouring tomato juice over him. he was moaning the whole time. he clawed me. he was hissing at her. >> reporter: she says her sterling neighborhood has been taken over by stinky creatures like these. there's five to ten skunks that roam around on decks and yards and in the common areas. >> there's so many. it's coming up on winter. they may start hibernating and having babies. next year it's going to be worse. >> reporter: homeowners can't open their windows or let out their pets for fear they'll end up like sugar. >> it does worry me if we're taking the trash out at night they could spray me or spray our kids. >> reporter: some neighbors are resorting to animal repellant to square away the skunks. >> i've driven up at like maybe 9:00 at night, and there's one right in my parking spot. it's just too much. >> reporter: residents say the home

darcy spencer live in the newsroom. >> news 4 spoke briefly to this latest victim of this attempted abduction today. she's 20 years old and says she's still very shaken up. police say a man in a car tried to lure her inside, in light of these incidents, halloween will mean an even bigger police presence. authorities in spotsylvania county are investigating a third attempted abduction within a little more than two weeks. the latest incident happened on saturday, just before 3:30 in the afternoon. the victim, a 20-year-old woman, was walking here on ennis brooke circle in the governor's green subdivision. she tells police a honda four-door car pulled up, someone opened the rear passenger door and told her, "let's go." that's when she ran away. neighbors there are on edge. >> we're talking to the neighbors and just making them aware if they haven't been aware to keep an eye out on everybody. >> reporter: officials don't believe the incident is connected to an attempted abduction of a 9-year-old girl on friday, october 21st, also in spotsylvania county. the girl was chased to her home after getti

reporting live from the national mall, darcy spencer, news 4. >> nobody got hurt. pretty cool video. thank you, darcy. >>> new police video from an occupy wall street protest in new york that led to hundreds of arrest. several hundred protesters crowded lanes of the brooklyn bridge. that group was demonstrating against a variety of social ill, from corporate greed to global warming. they claim they were lured into the street, but police say they warned them to keep their protests on the pedestrian walkway. >> leave this roadway or we order your arrest for disorderly conduct. >> and in the district today, a group gathered at mcpherson square. they called their demonstration, occupy "k" street. >>> amanda knox expected to address an italian court tomorrow on what could be the final day of her appeals trial. knox expected to once again proclaim her innocence to the judge. the american student and her former italian boyfriend are hoping to get their murder convictions thrown out in part due to inaccurate dna evidence. knox has been in prison for four years. a decision

darcy spencer reports from bethesda. >> reporter: the skrcrime scene the victim, jana murray, suspect co-worker britney norwood had a troubled past. norwood goes on trial monday on first degree murder charges that could land her in prison for the rest of her life. police say the was all over a work place dispute. >> it was a dispute between the -- the two women. we do have -- witnesses that were in the apple store that heard two, two females arguing. authorities say norwood beat murray to death in the store in march and pretended to bow a victim to cover her crime. >> it doesn't make any sense. >> when norwood and murray were discovered the next day, norwood said men in masks had come in at closing time, killed her and sexually assaulted them. police realized she had self-inflicted wound, tide hed herself up and found her dna inside the victim's car. >> ms. norwood became a suspect. >> reporter: legal experts say the trial will revolve around motive and mental state. why would she kill her co-worker? there are indications murray may have confronted norwood about stealing. and as to he

darcy spencer live now in herndon, virginia, with the latest on the search for that suspe suspect. >> reporter: i was able to confirm in the last several minutes that one of the victims of this attack is a juvenile, just 17 years old. the other victim is in her mid-20s. this is the composite sketch. the person that they're looking for, police are saying that he groped these two young women, fondled them while he was allegedly conducting a search, all while saying he's with law enforcement. herndon police say a man depicted in this composite sketch sexually assaulted two women while posing as a police officer. both assaults happened tuesday just hours apart. in both cases, he flashed some sort of badge and said he was law enforcement. the first incident happened at 3:45 in the afternoon in the 1200 block of magnolia lane. he told the victim he was a cop and sexually assaulted her. he left in a gray mid-sized sedan. when the victim tried to go into her home. this is how the police described the man they're looking for. >> asian male, 35 to 40 years of age, 5'5" to 5'6". we're asking the

. >>> i'm darcy spencer in st.ary's city where college students were expected to move on to this cruise ship today and hit a snag. many students are left in limbo. i'll have the story ahead. >>> coming up in sports, the redskins season trending in the wrong direction. they are not the only ones in the nfc east having trouble. in baseball, one manager calls it quits while another one gets a new lease on life. news 4 at 6:00 continues. >>> we had halloween fun today at nbc 4. there were creative costumes based around the theme news makers. you can see >>> republican presidential candidate herman cain is caught up in a controversy that dates from the time he was the head of the national restaurant association back in the '90s. a woman received a financial settlement from the association after complaining of inappropriate sexual conduct by cain. >>> in virginia an illegal immigrant found guilty of killing a nun in a drunk-driving crash. he's charged with felony murder because it's his third drunk-driving offense. siste

darcy spencer is there live. we understand that william's father's family came forward for the first time. >> reporter: they certainty did did. they said they lost touch with jane and william over the last several years, and unfortunately they found out about this tragic murder by watching the news and today they decided to conduct their own search for the missing boy. in the meantime montgomery county police and other police are here at the recreational park. this is a staging area for the search activity. this is a massive park, about 300 acres heavily wooded. police are not saying exactly why they were led to search here. police from multiple agencies conducted a search for missing 11-year-old william mcquain in montgomery county. they used four-wheelers, cadaver dog and mounted officers and police on foot to look for the boy based on information learned through the investigation. >> information has been received and developed that has caused part of this investigation to turn towards a search. we still have t

in quantico, virginia, darcy spencer. news 4. >>> team coverage takes us to western fairfax county where people reported funnel clouds. we look at the damage there. >> here at vienna at the intersection one of the hardest hit areas. hunters mill road and wickens road. the winds came through here. it snapped branches like this. nothing compared to this. there was a tree that snapped in half and it hit this light pole. if you move to the left, these guys are from dominion. they're trying to restore the power to this area. >> frightening. >> lights out for elizabeth habibi and residents after heavy winds swept through neighborhoods. >> the winds came storming in. the power went out immediately. >> her and her team trap in a whirlwind of worry. >> rain battering the win does, trees were coming -- branches all over the place. we stayed in our basement. >> she took a walk after the storm shocked to see -- >> the trampoline hanging in the tree. >> and power lines hanging across the road. >> that was freaky when i saw that. >> do

news 4's darcy spencer has those developments. >> reporter: friends, neighbors, classmates, teammates, and coaches gather to pray for the safe return of 11-year-old william mcquain. >> the kids are actually doing much better than the adults, i would say, because the parents feel like it could be one of our kids. we all feel like william was one of our own. >> william mcquain's mother was stabbed to death in her apartment on wednesday. her husband curtis lopez was charged with the murder. william hasn't been seen since then. his team dedicated today's game to him. >> i remember her telling me, even though she encountered a lot of tough times, her mission was to give her all to william because he was all that she really had. >> meantime, police from multiple agencies spent eight hours searching for william at damascus recreational and little bennett parks in montgomery county on horseback, on foot, and with cadaver dogs. police would only say the investigation led them to search those areas. >> today detectives were following up some leads from information they developed that brought th

darcy spencer lives to night. the question becomes what happens next? simply don't know at this point, aaron. i want to point out to you, what is going on here. the maintage. there has been a dance party going on tonight. this its a 24-hour-a-day event. here they have spelled out the word occupy. now they're basically calling this, an occupation of freedom plaza. take a look at here. this is one of the food tents. one of the tents they say has got to come down by tomorrow afternoon. ♪ ♪ at freedom plaza, protestors staged a dance party as they prepare to spend another night here under the threat of possible arrest. >> brothers and sisters, if ever there was a tomb ime to risk ar this is it. >> a permit allowing the group, october 2011 to set up a stage and food tents was going to expire. many said they were not going anywhere? >> i will subject myself to arechlts if th arechlts -- arrest. >> the protestors have until monday afternoon to clear out. he says no arrests would happen. but it is unclear what authorities will do if they don't move out monday.

darcy spencer, news 4. >>> that work is expected to be completed by may.truction company will be fined if it is not completed on time. >>> coming up on news 4, president obama appointed the popular columbian singer shakira to >>> hello, everybody. welcome back. i'm doug kammerer. what a beautiful day we had today. 73 degrees is the current temperature. we are looking at sunshine. the sun is going down in five minutes on the horizon making for a nice sunset. winds gusting upwards of 20 miles an hour. they will die down. 46 is the temperature in leesburg. 49 in gaithersburg. 52 in annapolis. a cool night tonight. tomorrow, upper 70 60s to 70 degrees. fredericksburg 73 degrees tomorrow. if you are going to look at fall foliage, peak color in northern new york. our area, good color in the mountains in west virginia. >> thank you, doug. lots of festivities are being planned to commemorate the 50th anniversary of rfk stadium. it was opened in 1961. it is the oldest multipurpose sports building still standing in the united states. events d.c. and a jam packed sch

darcy spencer has more on the prep for snow. let's begin with chief meteorologist, doug kammerer to show who is under a warning. doug, you warned us of this on wednesday. >> you mentioned we have not seen snow in this area since 1979. we had a third of an inch of snow at the airport. officially, i wasn't born yet. that's not true. what is true, is we have snow making our way. don't think we are trying to fool you. a lot of people are saying this is too early. mother nature says it is, too. 48 degrees now with winds out of the east-southeast at 6 miles per hour. we are seeing some rain across the area and some snow in the viewing area toward west virginia and hardy county. seeing snow around the petersburg area. most of the rain is not affecting us. you can see it moving up from the south and west. the coastal storm has yet to develop and will develop overnight tonight. we'll continue to watch as it does. rain moves in at 9:00 in the area. tomorrow morning, raining heavily in places. 41 degrees at 5:00 a.m. we'll see snow to the

we don't know. >> darcy spencer, news 4. >>> all right.'s get a final check on the forecast from doug. >>> that forecast actually looking good out there for tonight. at least early part of tonight. i think the trick or treating, most of the time the kids are done arnds 7:00 or 8:00. then we could see shower activity making its way our way. you can see the showers in west virginia right now and down to the south. southern virginia, just to the south of richmond. shower activity and heavy rain makes its way into the northern neck and toward southern maryland tonight. as far as halloween goes, out of the last ten, four of them have been in the 60s. five in the 70s. we have been very warm over the last ten halloweens. only one has been cooler than what we are going to see tonight. that was halloween tonight in 2002 with a temperature of 47 degrees. today, we hit a high temperature of 56 degrees. i think we'll see the temperatures cooling down this evening. by the way, temperatures in the mid-50s. today is the only day of the last ten to be in

darcy spencer is live in the news room to explain it. >> the resident that got the tickets is an artistk vehicles with commercial tags. he got the tickets 5:00 sunday morning. he's facing $2,000 in fines. these are the $1,000 tickets. >> these are the tickets. >> reporter: when he left his home, this is what he found. two parking tickets under the windshield wipers of his work vehicles. each carries a $1,000 fine. >> i couldn't believe it was $1,000. i kept counting the zeros over and over. >> his home is a historic fire house that he converted into an art studio. he has a ford van and expedition. they have commercial tags to park in loading zones. he was parked adjacent to shaw junior high which isn't used for school anymore. >> i have been parking off and on there for years. i figured it was a safe place to park. he agreed to stop parking in his drive way after neighbors complained it didn't look good. the ticket was for parking a commercial vehicle in front of a residence. he says it doesn't make sense. >> it's a $1,000 ticket or make your neighbors mad? >> i'm hoping they understand

darcy spencer, news 4. >> the department of public works says motorists can appeal parking tickets. that the city tries to keep commercial vehicles out of neighborhoods to preserve the limited spaces there are with people who live there. >>> the state of maryland launched an education campaign. authorities say scam artists posing as legal consultants. fraudulent services cost the victims hundreds of dollars, often for nothing in return. >> so, we are really here to do two things. one is to educate the community about this problem so that when people are trying to get help and trying to do the right thing, they go to licensed lawyer or to a representative of the government. second, if you are a victim of the fraud, you come to us and let us know about it. >> he says he will go after the scammers money to be returned to the victims. >>> coming up on news 4, from bad to worse. why it could take longer to find a parking space in an area that's very popular for dining and shopping. >>> former snar john edwards when you believe in the future, you're always looking ahead... to what's next,

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news 4's darcy spencer reports. >> reporter: although the victim is just nine years old, she was able to provide a very detailed description. not only of her would-be attacker, but also of the minivan he was driving. it happened here around 4:00 friday afternoon. the victim says she had gotten off o the bus with other children when they went inside, a young man got out of his minivan and started to chase her. >> she had the distinct feeling he was coming after her? >> she states with certainty that the individual was coming directly at her. >> reporter: the would-be ap ducter chased her past a couple houses, as she approached her home, he quickly walk eed back his van and drove away. >> we're treating this as an attempted abduction. >> reporter: the man appeared to be high school age, white with a medium build and blonde curley hair. he was wearing a sky blue shirt with flames. a jacket with orange and green panels. he was driving a silver or gray grand caravan style minivan with a dent in the passenger side door. two other children told police they saw the van too. >> with the recent

darcy spencer has more on the search. >> reporter: friends, neighbors, teammates, classmates, and coaches gathered to pray and for a safe return for the 11-year-old william mcquain. >> the kids are doing better than the adults, i would say. we all feel like william was one of our own. >> reporter: william's mother jane was found stabbed and beaten to death inside their germantown condo on wednesday. her husband curtis lopez has been charged with the murder. william hasn't been seen since september 30th. today his football team dedicated the game to him. >> they came through and wanted to win. we're real proud of them. >> reporter: 18-0? >> 18-0. >> i vividly remember her telling me that, although she encountered a lot of tough times, her mission was to give her all to william because he was all that she really had. >> reporter: meantime, police from multiple agencies spent eight hours searching for william in damascus recreational and little bennett parks in montgomery county. on horseback, on foot, and with cadaver dogs. police would only say the investigation led them to search those ar

it's astronomical. >> reporter: darcy spencer, news 4. >>> a deer could cause major headaches on ourut chances of a deer winding up in your headlights is dropping. the number of deer and vehicle collisions has dropped across the country for the third straight year. it estimates that 1.1 million collisions happened in the past year, down 7% from a year ago. in our area, virginia and maryland ranked 12th and 13th respectively for the states most likely to have deer collisions. west virginia is first on the list. d.c. ranked 46th. >>> aviation investigators still do not know what caused a 1950s airplane to crash at an air show in west virginia last month, killing the pilot. a preliminary report by the ntsb says nothing broke off the plane before it plunged to the ground, and video and still photos don't reveal any open panels on the bottom of the plane. pilot john mangan was killed in that crash. it came the day after an air crash in nevada killed 11 people. >>> instead of redeeming miles for flights, passengers can opt to take a class on air safety. the course would offer tips on how t

reporting live from german town, darcy spencer, news 4, back to you. >> darcy, thank you. >>> tonight we are learning more about the man arrested for the crime from those who knew and lived with him. in charlotte, north carolina where curtis lopez set to be arraigned tomorrow morning in court. >> reporter: the biggest mystery at this point where 11-year-old william might be. other questions still linger. look how this woman, pleshette caldwell got access to the honda, she was friendly with her, driving in charlotte when she hit another vehicle here on north tryon street. information from the accident investigation let police to curtis lopez staying a few miles away at this lodge. curtis lopez's former roommate didn't want to appear on camera but hasn't heard from him since he moved out three months ago. >> used to talk every now and then. didn't talk about his life like that. >> reporter: he lived here in the charlotte home for a year, they met through lopez's cousin. she says he was often unemployed and though he mostly kept to himself, she knew lopez was married to jane mcwain, but

darcy spencer was there and spoke to one of the survivors of the crash. >> reporter: at the volunteerire company fairgrounds a concert was held to raise money for funeral expenses for 16-year-old jacqueline who died in a car crash in july. the money will also help with medical expenses for sawyer smith who was critically injured in the crash. he attended the fund-raiser and thanked everyone for their support. >> everyone pray for me and everything, it really helped. allr all of the support of friends and family. >> reporter: both were students at walkersville high school. the 17-year-old driver lost control of her car and hit a road. police said the driver inexperience may have been a factor in the crash. jacqueline was popular student and athlete. >> the students are doing a lot better. coming together with your friends helps a lot. having events like this to bring everyone together, like raise awareness of what happened and collecting money to donate back to the familiar sleaze a good thing. >> reporter: organizers say $10,000 have been raised for the families through various events

darcy spencer live with more on hawk and dove as it prepares for that last call. >> reporter: there wereot of hugs tonight and certainly some tears. staff members were giving out these bracelets. i you know can't see it but it says hawk and dove last call. really overall people couldn't believe all this is coming to an end. >> last call. >> reporter: the hawk and dove, it's not just a bar. >> cheers. >> reporter: it's an institution. but it's closing after 44 years of serving up drinks and good political conversation. >> it's a big loss because it's like losing part of your family. >> reporter: the owner says he lost the lease so once patrons walk out sunday night into monday morning the doors will close. >> i never thought it would end. yes. it just seems like all of us of the generation never think it will end. >> never dream of it lasting this long? >> i was trying to do 50. and go out with a bang. almost got there. >> reporter: can you own a piece of hawk and dove history. everything will be auctioned off including this goose. so why get rid of everything? >> well, cut loose. bringin

. >> darcy spencer, thank you. >>> the fairfax county fire department is mourning the loss of one of their own tonight. horace pendergrass was found dead inside the station this morning. co-workers found him about 8:30 in the bunk room. officials say there is nothing suspicious about his death, but it remains under investigation right now. >>> fighter jets take off to intercept two civilian planes in the skies over washington this morning. in the first incident, the plane was out of radio communication. two air force f-16s were scrambled. but once the plane regained communication, it was allowed to continue on. an hour later, a second aircraft was met by a coast guard helicopter and f-16 and escorted out of the restricted area. >>> there are mixed reviews after president obama's announcement that all u.s. troops in iraq will be home by the end of the year. while military families are happy their loved ones are coming home, some presidential candidates are questioning the motivations behind the president's move. brian moore has the story. >> i can say that our troops in iraq will defi

darcy spencer has more. >> reporter: this youtube video shows the mayhem following a protest at the national air and space museum that resulted in a smithsonian security officer deploying pepper spray. c.j. said the group was here to demonstrate against the use of unmanned drones. >> before we got inside, i was just behind people. and then i was getting a stream of mace in the face. they didn't say anything to me. they just opened it up. >> people got maced immediately by the smithsonian security guard. >> reporter: a spokesman said a crowd of up to 200 protesters with signs and banners tried to enter the museum on the mall side. those items are not allowed inside. she said one security officer was pinned against the wall, another officer deployed his pepper spray. they left tourists sitting on the front steps. no way to get in. >> all of a sudden i was just a couple of feet from the door and people started running. and my eyes and my throat and my nose started stinging. it was pepper spray. >> reporter: the group leading the demonstration was joined by protesters from occupy d.c. >> they le

news 4's darcy spencer explains. >> reporter: the "sea voyager" is docked near st. mary's college, but it's not going on a cruise anytime soon. come monday morning, the ship will become a floating dorm, home to 240 college students forced out by mold in their campus residence halls. >> i don't know what the campus could do better, so i think this is a good solution. whoever thought of it deserves a pat on the black. >> reporter: black mold was found in two 1970s era dorms, forcing the evacuations of hundreds of freshman and sophomore students. they've been staying at hotels. >> well, it's a big ordeal to get the ship here and get the students in. it's less of an ordeal than having them live in three different hotels, one as far as 20 minutes away. >> you can see on this metal edge, the little water stains that show condensation. >> reporter: the mold was traced to pipe insulation above the drop ceiling. it may have been caused by all the wet weather and hurricane irene. the college has rented the ship through the end of the semester for $20,000 a day, but the school

in bethesda, darcy spencer, news 4. >> our time is just about 4:31 now. time to take a look at our forecast for what follows a wonderful weekend. >> beautiful fall weekend. >> joe is back. he has leaves in his eyes from leif peeping in western maryland. i guess the color was beautiful out there. >> it was absolutely gorgeous. >> we've got a lot of reports of peak color in the mountains now. we'll see our peak color here in about a week. good morning. >>> right now it's chilly. we're down in low to mid-40s in many locations. it's 51 at reagan national. near 50 right on the bay waters. away from the waters, it's only in the mid-40s southern maryland, northern neck, eastern shore. mid-40s in montgomery, arlington, fairfax, and prince george's counties out in western maryland and west virginia now, the mid-40s, there's quite a bit of cloudiness around there this morning. over the last 12 hours, we've had clouds streaming in from the south. a few sprinkles are showing up now just to the west of the shenandoah valley just south of petersburg there in west virgi

in arlington county, darcy spencer, news 4. >> that's it for news 4 at 5:00. news 4 at 6:00 starts right now. >>> protesters clash with police in new york with the occupy movement shows no sign of letting up. flying debris, gridlock, how yesterday's tornado hit. >>> a woman accused of killing a co-worker. a key ruling about the critical piece of evidence in the case. good evening, i'm doreen gentzler. >> i'm wendy rieger. jim vance has the night off. the frantic search continues for the 11-year-old boy whose mother was murdered. she was beaten and stabbed to death. her husband is the prime suspect. new details emerge about his criminal past. family and friends return to the crime scene. tonight, no sign of her 11-year-old son, william. >>> pat collins is live outside the police headquarters. pat? >> reporter: from the medical examiner tonight, jane mcquain was beaten and stabbed to death. investigators looking into the possibility that her killer

. >> reporter: darcy spencer, news 4. >>> that is it for news 4 at 5:00.t 6:00 starts right now. >>> a man accused of murdering his wife in court for the first time today. what police found in the suspects hotel room and car that could shed light on the crime. >> tragedy on the tracks. >> a huge crash. >> tragedy on the track. a popular race car driver is killed in one of the worst. could the death have been prevented? >> what cell phone companies are

news 4 darcy spencer is live with the details for us. >> reporter: an average cab ride could run you or so. if you are going from far southeast washington to downtown or making multiple stops, it could cost you more. now, you'll pay the full price. if you catch a cab in the district, you could soon be paying more if you take a lengthy trip. the taxi cab commission plans to lift a $19 cap on fares within d.c. borders. do you think it's fair to let them charge what racks up? >> it is what it is. it is what it is. the government is going to do what they want to do. >> if it's legal they should be making that much more by how much road they are traveling and time, i guess yeah. >> reporter: this is the third effort to scrap the fare cap. this time, it's going to happen. >> we lifted it. we didn't think it was a fair cap. >> drivers were saying, i think with good reason, it was artificial and constraining them in terms of their ability to get an appropriate fare. >> reporter: many cabbie's say lifting the cap won't have a big impact. >> i have been driving 23 years -- >> reporter: you don

darcy spencer reports. >> reporter: if you catch a cab in the district, you could soon pay more if youe a lengthy trip. they plan to lift the cap on fares within d.c. borders. >> i guess i'll be on foot from now on. i can't afford to pay more than i am. >> if it's legal to pay more by how much road they are traveling, i guess, yeah. >> reporter: this is the third time to keep the cap. >> we lifted it. we didn't think it was a fair cap. >> by having the $19 cap, they were shortchanged by people who took taxis for a long drive. >> many cabbies say most fares don't add up to $19, so lifting the cap really won't have a big impact. >> i have been driving 23 years, i have never had someone hit the cap. >> reporter: some say it's not fair to set a ceiling on the rate. >> it's ridiculous. they are not doing us a favor, really. really, they should have never came on the books. >> reporter: it's unclear when conta exactly these changes are going to take effect but it could happen later this month. >> there will be a period of public comment, then the cap could be lifted by the 20th of this month

news 4's darcy spencer has the details. >> reporter: although the victim was 9 years old she was able to provide a detailed description of her would-be attacker and also the mini van he was driving. it happened here on polaris court around 4:00 friday afternoon. the victim says she had gotten off the bus with some other children. when they went inside, a young man continue got out of his mini van and started to chase her. >> she had the distinct feeling he was coming after her. >> she states with 100% certainty that the victim was coming directly at her. >> he chased her past a couple of houses. as she approached her home, he quickly walked back to his van and drove away. >> obviously we're very concerned about what his intentions may have been. we are treating this as though it was a typical occurrence of an attempted abduction. >> reporter: the girl told police he appeared to be high school age. he was white, medium build, blonde curly hair. he was wearing a sky blue shirt with baggy jeans, tan shoes and a jacket with orange and green panels. he was driving a silver or gray grand ca

darcy spencer is live outside the studios with more. >> reporter: there is a chill in the air, but doesn't feel like a major snow event coming our way. it's hard to believe we are expecting this in the month of october. they are preparing for a possibility of outages. there are a lot of leaves on the trees. when the snowfalls on them, they get heavy and fall on to the power lines. that's what calls for the outages. in prince george's county, plow trucks go on a dry run adds they prepare for winter. the practice run was in the works long before the snowy forecast but it was timely as they prepare for the first significant snowfall in decades. this year, vehicles will have technology to allow the trucks to be tracked. >> we wanted to know where our drivers were and if they were in distress or needed help or how they were making progress. >> reporter: much of the region is under a storm warning with areas west of i-95 and virginia expecting as much as eight inches of snow. officials dogged with complaints of power outages is preparing for the possibility of outages once again. they say heavy,

news 4's darcy spencer reports. >> the whole world is watching!re we even got inside i was just behind people. then i was getting a stream of mace in the face. they didn't say anything to me. they just opened it up. >> people got maced immediately by the smithsonian security guards just to push them out of a number of groups have been >> those items are not allowed inside. one security officer was pinned against the wall. another officer deployed his pepper spray. >> all of a sudden i was a couple feet from the door. people started running. my eyes and my throat and nose started stinging. there was pepper spray. >> reporter: the group leading was october 2011. they were joined by protesters from occupy d.c. ty berry said he was initially detaineded after displaying a banner at the drone exhibit on the second floor. >> they let me go. they took me downstairs and said i was resisting arrest. i said i'm highly trained in peaceful nonviolent protests. that's absurd. >> i got pepper spray in my mouth and eyes. i had to be treated by emt because i had c

as darcy spencer shows us, there are significant questions about how the law will be enforced. >> driving at times usually it's just a matter of convenience and i try to get away with it or sneak it. >> reporter: but starting saturday it will be illegal to send or even read a text message while you're behind the wheel or stopped at a red light in maryland. >> honestly, i believe that, you know, texting while driving is very dangerous. >> reporter: cops will be allowed to pull you over if they catch you texting and hand you a ticket that carries a fine and a point on your license. >> this will make people more mindful of how dangerous it is when you drive and text at the same time. >> reporter: but will police be able to enforce the law and prove their case in court? this defense attorney has serious doubts. >> i think it is an impossiblity to enforce this law because there's vickly no way for a police officer to know whether a person who is operating a motor vehicle is actually texting or reading a text while driving. >> reporter: under the new law you'll be able to drive and use a hand h

darcy spencer has more. >> reporter: the first incident happened here on magnolia lane.e impersonator approached a 17-year-old girl as she was entering her home. now, fortunately the victims were able to provide enough descriptive information so now police have a composite sketch. police say the man depicted fondled the teenager as he pretended to search her. he identified himself as being in law enforcement and flashed a badge. it was 3:45 in the afternoon on tuesday. >> we don't want any confusion. if somebody is pretending to be law enforcement and they're not, we want them to be caught. >> reporter: the second happened in this busy shopping center parking lot a few hours later. this time the victim was forced into the suspect's car. that attack was 7:00 in the evening in herndon on eldon. the victim was in her mid-20s. the man drove her to a nearby parking lot where he sexually assaulted her. the car is described as a gray or silver four door. >> nowadays you can make all kinds of things that are fake. i guess i would have to see if he has the right identification. b