host: hyattsville, maryland. host: hyattsville, maryland. democratic line. caller: i read your articles, and i was disappointed you were against the health care debate. all of you people, why don't you give up health care? you want to deny somebody else's, but you want to keep your health care. why not give up your health care and give it to others? host: andy, do you have health care? caller: no, i am self- employed. i will benefit from this plan coming up. but these senators have haelth care, and they don't want to give it to other people. guest: i'm not against universal health insurance coverage, but we do not live in a perfect world, and you have to decide what you are for and against. cost and spending are out of control, and that has been one of the reasons it has been hard for many businesses to cover workers, because health care has become so unaffordable. become unaffordable. and it has also become difficult for individuals to buy individual coverage. once we have that problem under control, then they can begin talking about expanding coverage. it

its a hyattsville?eems to be a secret. >> reporter: this city of 18,000 is getting a make overcenterred around the new arts district development. >> a new 14-cinema theater, and yes organic market. >> there is a lot of neat little businesses that have come up. >> reporter: that is in the the only thing that makes this urban renewal cool. >> you can live there and visit restaurants and stores an then you can get on to the bus an go downtown to a job. >> reporter: because of that, the hyattsville arts district landed on a new list of cool communities ranked by the coalition for smarter growth. cool meaning producing fewer green house gases. >> locations where people can reduce how much they drive can rely more on transit, can rely more on walking and having a more enjoyable lifestyle. the new carrollton transit district is only other development in prince george's county to make the area list. but the county has lots of potential. >> absolutely. prince george's is in a great position. 15 metro stations, n

it's hip, it's happening, it's hyattsville? >> it seems to be a secret. >> reporter: this city of 18,000 is getting a makeover centered around the new arts district development. >> a new 14 cinema theater. the coming busboys and pro ets and yes, organic market. there's neat little businesses that have come up. >> reporter: that's not the only thing. >> you can live there and you can visit restaurants and stores. and then you can get on to the bus and go downtown to the job. >> reporter: because of that, the hyattsville arts district landed on the list of cool communities. cool meaning producing fewer greenhouse gases. >> location where people can reduce how much they live, to rely more on transit and rely more on walking and bicycling and really, a more enjoyable lifestyle. >> reporter: less driving also means less money on gas and car repairs. the new carrollton transit district is the only other development to make the area list, but the county has lots of potential. >> absolutely, prince george is in a great position. 15 met

a lot of people turned out yesterday in hyattsville, maryland to raise awareness about kidney disease. this is the national kidney foundation's kidney walk at the mall at prince george's. it was also a chance to educate adults and children about kidney disease an have a little bit of fun as well. >>> what was nice was the rain held off for the most part until late in the day yesterday. a little bit muggy out there but at least we didn't deal with the rain showers. >> it was a warm and humid day yesterday. at dulles, it got up to 80 degrees yesterday. reagan national, 77. up to the north, temperatures were much cooler. bwi only made it up to 60 degrees yesterday. that is a big difference in temperatures. hence the thunderstorm we saw yesterday afternoon. you can see there are some wouldn'ting showers including areas of heavy rain up near frederick, just to the north of frederick and near the hagerstown area. baltimore has a few showers inside its beltway. here around wash, we just have moisture in the air with humidity. we don't have anything in the way of precipitation although there

the numbers on the weatherbug, 90 degrees hyattsville, 91 the official high at that weather station, souther the breeze. at 90 degrees of herndon, high of 92. 90 degrees in the district on the campus of howard university, the temperature slowly dropping. the pollen count, mentioned this several times, big news, it is in the high range. it would probably be off the charts today we said, and there it is. i gess we could extend that column to the sky. 4000 was the reading for tree pollen, and that is about as high as we can measure it. the biologist at walter reed medical center said this is the highest reading we have seen it so early in the month of april. in addition, the high temperatures near 90, gaithersburg, leesburg, marshall 90 degrees, same culpeper, 89 la plata, 86 bowie. wilkes-barre, 90 degrees. 85 degrees, 90 degrees hagerstown. 70's across parts of the ohio valley and the great lakes. further west, the real drop in temperatures. this is the cold front. as that pushes it to the east, that will bring the cooler, seasonable temperatures and stir things up and give us a good

one dog was adopted by a firestation in hyattsville. the other will go to a family in suburban maryland. a third puppy who had her leg amputated after someone wrapped a rubber band around that leg, will also be ready for adoption next week. police found the dogs after responding to a domestic call at a home in d.c. >>> a chocolate bar, a bunch of grapes, a pack of gum. to humans, they're snacks but to pets they are poison. nbc's monica robbins tells us about some things in your cabinet that could be putting your four-legged friends at risk. >> reporter: lisa adores her year-old miniature golden doodle, lucy. >> she is my baby. i got her for my birthday last year, so she's very special to me. >> reporter: as a puppy, lucy got into all sorts of things, shoes and socks, but when she it a gum, sugarless gum, it almost killed her. lisa found a bit of wrapper and realized lucy it a nearly a whole pack. >> googled, is gum bad for dogs? everything that popped up was toxic. >> reporter: it's designed with an ingredient that can cause a dog's tlo

. >> reporter: i was just looking at their pamphlet they have one in hyattsville and one in kateonsville to ribs. and we've been spelling these this morning. and this is tanya moreno with shane's rib shack. >> that's right. >> reporter: and that smells wonderful. is this a southern franchise or all over the country? >> currently we are expanding in the southeast but we do have a store close by in alexandria. >> reporter: so tell me about shane's rib shack. what should somebody know if they are interested and tired of working for a company and got laid off, what should they know. >> it is a restaurant industry and it is barbecue and we're leading the segment in fast casual barbecue. it's deaf nay reason all- american type barbecue and not so much regional and today we're featuring our chopped pork and this is a sample of our big dead sandwich which is the grandfather of shane's rib shack, the founder. >> reporter: and where did it start. >> in a small town right outside of atlanta called mcdonna. >> reporter: and what makes these ribs so special? >> it's the smoking technique that makes i

host: hyattsville, maryland. democratic line. caller: i have been reading your articles in the newspaper, and i have been impressed. recently, he said that you were against the health care debate. of was disappointed. my question is, how come you are not willing to give up your health care? you have a job, health care, but you want to deny someone else health care? host: what is your own health care situation? caller: i do not have any. i am self-employed. what are all of these republicans fighting health care? they have had so many years to do something. they do not want to give anything to the people. guest: i am not against universal coverage, but we do that lived in a perfect world. the fundamental problem, in my view, of the health care system, is that cost in spending is of of control. that is one of the reasons why it is hard for many businesses to cover their workers, because health care has become unaffordable. and it has also become difficult for individuals to buy individual coverage. once we have that problem under co

host: hyattsville, maryland, good morning. caller: dr. wagner, i want to ask you if you were aware that this particular mine closed early last week. ? one lady said her son came home early because the close the mine last week because they had some problems with the oxygen levels. if on monday, they can their and inspected the mine, and they had problems, why didn't they close it before they allowed anyone else to go back and tain? guest: i am not familiar with this but when a hazardous condition is identified, if it is sufficiently threatening, the miners are withdrawn, equipment is withdrawn from the mining area in order to make sure they are not put at risk until the condition is corrected. i cannot speak to what happened when on what shift but it is certainly plausible to me that if a problem were found requiring closing of that section of the mine until the problem was resolved that someone could have been sent home early. i am not familiar with that the civic instance. host: north dakota is next, good morning. caller: good morning. a