. >>> liz crenshaw. bubbles are supposed to be good, clean fun, but some parents are calling a new line of bubbles a disaster. my story is coming up. >>> plus, a major scare for people attending a horse race. - ( music playing ) - we know technology can make you more connected. but now it can make you more connected to your doctor through e-mail. test results from home. check records. change appointments. now doctors, nurses, techs, pharmacists are all digitally connected to each other. and ultimately connected to you. at kaiser permanente, we believe that if knowledge is power, shared knowledge is even more powerful. kaiser permanente. thrive. made with only premium cuts of pork since 1945. johnsonville. sausage is all we do. i'm youraww. you're the best, you know thamr. snuggles. [ thinking ] another pet name? you're right, puggle-wuggle! [ voice on phone ] hey, wiggly. all right, i'm smart enough to notice that my favorite fresh-brewed mickey d's sweet tea is now on the dollar menu, along with that ju

liz crenshaw is here to answer your questions.t is time for -- >> "ask liz." >> it's all about bags. >> is it? >> all of the questions are about bags. >> not saddle bags, though. >> just bags. >> our first question dollars murray in rockville. he wants to know which bags are going to be taxed and which ones exempt. >> the montgomery county of involvement says there will be a 5-cent tax per bag on paper and plastic bags provided by all retail establishments in montgomery county beginning january 1, 2012. in self-check out lanes consumers will use the honor system in reporting and pay for example how many bags they use. how about that? the tax will not apply to plastic bags used in the produce section of grocery stores. it is also not going to apply to pharmacy bags for carrying prescription drugs. not the produce bags. take as many of those as you want. >> what about the jurisdictions? many want to know the status of the bag tax. >> the district department of the environment helped us with this answer. a bag tax started in january

nbc's liz crenshaw has a look. >> pam owns and rents out this townhouse in florida. she decided to buy a home warranty for peace of mind so she went online and found an insurance company and for about $400, she bought a year-long home warranty that promised to cover appliances in the home, everything from the dishwasher and clothes dryer to the heating and plumbing systems. so when her tenant later called to say the refrigerator was not working, she thought she was covered. >> i thought, great. good. i'll give them a call. so i called and the number has been disconnected. i e-mailed them. i had an e-mail. no response. >> reporter: when she looked further into the company, she found the better business bureau gave it an "f." and consumers gave the company bad reviews posting the company denies every claim. does not answer their phones. lied and never covered anything. so she dished out another $400 to have a repairman come and fix the fridge. >> home warranties get my blood boiling particularly. we hear it too often. too many times from too many people. >> david butle

search liz crenshaw and consumer watch. s for mother's day, not a bad idea. >> i went with the winner. >> with the orange. >> thanks, liz. >>> after the break, debate over celebrating the death of osama bin laden. why some say chanting "usa" sends the wrong message. >>> traffic is already bad, but a new construction project promises to improve your commute with only a few minor backups in the process. >>> the media is in place. the band right now is on stage warming up. and the fans as you can see have lined the streets all we're waiting for is for prince charles to arrive. i'm john schiffen. coming up. why the future king of england is coming here t >>> you're watching news 4 at 5:00. >> and welcome back, everybody. right now, on the dry side. we have some showers and thunderstorms out there. some of those starting to develop into west virginia. making their way towards the east. some areas are under a severe thunderstorm watch until 10:00. mostly to the north and west of washington. but everybody is going to get in on the

. >> liz crenshaw, news 4. >>> in news 4 your health now, the story of a local girl whose mother believes she was cured of autism. doreen gentzler introduces us to a parent who says the music of mozart made a difference. >> early on when she was a baby i just saw some developmental issues. >> before ashley ruben was even 2 years old, her mother sharon already sensed something was wrong. >> she had pretty much zero vocabulary. >> doctors ordered speech and hearing tests for ashley. her hearing was fine. ruben says the problem that was her 18-month-old daughter warrant listening. that's because ashley had autism. >> we all just have these dreams for our children, and i just saw them snuffed out right away. >> ruben says she believed the root of ashley's problems was the inability to interpret sound. so she enrolled her in a form of therapy called auditory integration training. here she spent hours listening to the music of mozart through headphones as she ran around and played. mozart's songs contained different sound frequencies, so by passively listening to them for long periods of time,

liz crenshaw tried it out and asked "does it really do that?"> introducing chef tony's tastiwaive cookware that's changed the way we took forever. >> a home-cooked meal made fast, all in the microwave. >> imagine cooking incredible foods like these, steaks, brown and tender with real grill marks. chicken grilled to perfection. seafood that overflows with flavor. everything grilled, griddled, steamed, fried, in minutes. >> so we took it to connie in owedenton, maryland. it came with multiple parts and a recipe book, advertised as buy one, get one free, it cost us 39.95, plus 29.$29.90 for processing and handling. >> anything that saves me time and money, because a microwave is cheaper than an oven to run. that sells me. but -- >> "does it really do that?" >> connie, where do we start? >> i cthink with the steak firs. >> what do we need to do? >> the base unit and the grill pan and preheat them in the microwave. >> marinated steak for me? >> yep, i'm going to put that on the heated griddle pan. >> ooh. >> ask you can hear it sizzling up. and then

liz crenshaw hit the streets to see if local businesses can trump the on-line competition. >>> and it'sur on-line question of the day. should the u.s. release an image of osama bin laden's body? weigh in on that. we want to know what you think about it. log on to nbc washington's facebook page and we'll start tonight at 4:00. barbara? >> time for a final check of the forecast. tom? >> there are clouds beginning to build but nothing showing on radar now. we're in the mid to upper 70s throughout much of the region. that is rain and a few thundershowers. no storms yet, though, but it is beginning to head off farther to the east. should be coming toward the metro area probably not until late afternoon or early this evening. that's when we do have increased threat for some storms, some of which could produce damaging winds, hail, maybe even an isolated tornado. until then, though, we should make it in the low 80s. then some chilly rain as we have our rain shift ing in the northwest. highs only near 60 tomorrow. upper 60s thursday and friday. small chance of a shower friday. mother's day week