reporting live in ellicott city, megan mcgrath, news 4. back to you in the studio. >> can you tell about this point if the search for more potential victims has began already? >> reporter: well, i can tell you that from my vantage point we can see the crews are concentrating on the train itself. we're told that there were two people that were on the tracks. now, it was very dark. it was after midnight when this accident occurred. apparently some of the coal from these derailed cars did fall into a parking lot area where there were carses parked. now, in terms of whether anyone was in those vehicles, whether anyone was injured, w don't have any information on that yet. i think that they are still waiting for the sun to come up a little bit and certainly we're going to have to move some of that coal aside to take a better look at the cars. those vehicles. but right now no reports of any injuries from that parking lot. the only injuries and actually fatalities that we know of are from the rail bridge itself. >> all right. megan mcgrath, live

megan mcgrath is standing by with more. good morning, megan. >> reporter: good morning, danella. yeah, things are looking good here. why shouldn't they? we've got more lanes to deal with. we're stand oong telegraph road over pass. you can see the outer and the inner loops of the beltway here. they're running at speed. now, previously folks only had three lanes of traffic to use to get through this area. well, now, the good news here is, you have five lanes. take a look at this map. give you an idea of the area we're talking about. talking about the area from the mixing bowl across the bridge here. both sides of the beltway. you remember previously you would have to pinch down to three lanes. well, now, you are wide open for five lanes. you have five lanes of traffic. brand new pavement out here. now, the hope, of course, is that with these -- with the addition of these lanes, we're going to see a big improvement in traffic congestion. well, apparently we don't have that sound bite here. but basically, what we're expecting here is a big improvement with the traffic. we've got five

megan mcgrath, thank you. >>> london olympics begin just hours from now. here's a live look at the olympic stadium. we'll find out who will take home gold in the men's 400 meters, men's 400 meter hurdles and women's pole vault. this morning we now know who is the world's fastest man. >> here's the start. bolt trying to come along. here's tyson gay. it's tyson gay. here's bolt. bolt explodes and he's still the king of the 100. >> usain bolt of america broke the olympic record in the process. bolt crossed the finish line in 9.63 seconds. fellow jamaican won the bronze. >>> mikeala mar rona will leave with a medal. the silver is a disappointment. maroney had trouble landing her second vault during the competition there. the slip cost the 16 yeerld the gold medal. maroney is the vaulting champion. her flawless routine helped win team usa the gold medal. you can learn more on our website on nbcwashington.com. and you can find profiles and videos from the many events of these games. >> still won silver. she's still a champion. >> yeah. >> and helped win a gold f

megan mcgrath covers homebuilding companies for m.k.m.partners. >>> first of all, how are you going to describe the velocity that we are seeing in the housing market. traditionally a slow down. >> that is the reading for the july homes are encouraging and we tend to take a 3 month rolling average to get out some of these monthly jumps. and new-home sales up 21% on afully month rolling average and it was 17% last month. and that's what we need to see continued increases in year-over-year growth. and as we continue to look at the year-over-year growth that will take some of the seasonality out of the picture. so we will see home sales flow subsequentlyly on an actual basis as official-- time period but as we adjust the seasonality we can see things accelerate into the fall. >> admittedly we are coming off a low base though. so we could see, you know, pick up in velocity. the question is the sustainability of this even without the seasonal factors can we get rid of the lumpiness s that gone now. are people feeling comfortable making these bi

megan mcgrath is live with more on the tree removal project.rning. >> reporter: well, good morning, eun. yeah, this was all prompted by the terrible storm that happened in july. a huge oak tree, a 40-ton oak tree came crashing down on top of a car that was driving along georgetown pike. the driver inside that vehicle was killed. turns out the tree had decayed, rotting at the roots and prompted it to come down in this storm. folks who live in this area say there are a lot of trees who are dead or are decay. vdot brought in a team of arborists and they have been examining, taking a look at all of the trees in the area. and they have identified 59 trees that they deem to be dangerous. they're either dead or in the process of rotting. and so what they've done is tied ribbons around the trunks of some. others, they spray painted white "x"s. beginning later on today they will have tree removal crews around the area and take the trees down. 59 trees. let's take a closer look at the area that's going to be impacted here. there are 25 trees on riverbend

reporting live in northwest, megan mcgrath, news4. jim, back to you. >> great advice. >>> power crews had to respond the a on overnight crash on jay street in northeast, d.c. the accident happened just after 8:00. police say wires came down on the car trapping the driver inside the vehicle until crews could safely rescue them. the driver was taken to the hospital. the cause of the crash is still being investigated. >>> a man wanted for murder turned himself in to police. police tell us james of ft. washington turned himself in on saturday. he's charged with murder in the death of 37-year-old trevor johnson. police sell us braddy shot his exgirlfriend and her girl boyfriend. johnson died from his injuries. >>> today we will find out what caused the deadly air race crash in nevada. the ntsb will release their results of nearly year long investigation. the crash happened last september during the national champion air races in reno. 11 people died, if you remember, including the pilot and ten people on the ground. to dozens more were hur

they were up there on the train bridge at the time the train went by. >> megan mcgrath, we'll continue to follow the story. >>> now to another developing story in prince george's, maryland. one person in custody in connection with a high-speed chase that ended with an officer dying. the pursuit killed 23-year-old officer adrian morris who was ejected from his police cruiser. tracee wilkins joins us live in police headquarters and has more for us now. tracee? >> prince george's police are not confirming they have a suspect in custody yet but d.c. police are confirming that they do. this is a multi-jurisdictional investigation here. according to d.c. police, one of their police officers spotted the suspect's vehicle around 3:00 this morning in the 400 block of st. louis street in southeast. a potential suspect was taken into custody and now being held in d.c. this follows the tragic death of 23-year-old officer adrian morris. morris had been a prince george's county police officer for two ask a half years but known to the department since he was a teenager. he was a former member of the

today's beautification day, and more than 100 schools in the district, news 4's megan mcgrath is at orr elementary school in southeast where the community is pitching in to make the first day of classes a little more beautiful. good morning, megan. >> reporter: well, good morning. that's right. summer vacation is winding down. 48 hours left, and then the kids in the district return to class. there's a big push on today to make sure that everything is just per fek. we're here at orr elementary in southeast washington. you can see that volunteers are out in full force painediting, weeding, doing work on the playground, you name it. they want to make sure the school is ready on monday when the kids show up. this is part of a larger effort. it's not just this school. we've got 4,000 volunteers fanning out all across the district. there are 115 schools that will be spruced up today. we got out here at 8:00, and they were already here and already working. they're going to be doing this until 1:00 in the afternoon. a little while ago, we talked to the principal here of orr elementary, and she

news4's megan mcgrath takes a look at some of the improvements in the class and out. >> reporter: for some it's the first day at a new school. >> i'm a little scared, because other kids are in bigger grades and i'm still in the fourth grade. >> reporter: for others it's a return for familiar faces and friends and on to new challenges. i'm ready to go back to fifth grade. >> reporter: why? >> because fifth grade is fun, and you learn new things in fifth than in fourth grate. >> reporter: are you looking forward to seeing your frepds? >> um-hmm. yeah, a lot. >> reporter: this marks the official end of summer vacation as students headed back to school. the return to class meant major improvements including bruce monroe. the beautiful old building haven given a broond eight everyone and color new work. old wood paneling has been restored, and the owner nate ceiling is revealed. >> i like how it has swings and the different colors. >> the old school was totally, um, it wasn't up to par. now it's totally up to par. >> reporter: also new this year, $10 million in grant money to 59 different

in gainesville, megan mcgrath, news4. >>> a traffic alert. if you plan on using i-66 this weekend, starting at 10:00 to 4:00 in the morning on mind, the eastbound and westbound ramps, they're going to be closed for paving. this is part of the ongoing interchange project out there. the southbound southbound fairfax county park wei will be down to one lane from fair lake circle and route 29 interchange. signs will direct drivers around the work, signs you've gotten used to out there in virginia, but you're asked to avoid the area if possible. >>> if possible. >>> when we come right back on "news4 at 5," why montgomery county's executive wants you to drive faster on a local highway. >>> metro sends riders undercover to get the lowdown, but it's led to a bigger secret. >>> and live look at london where one family made olympic where one family made olympic his[ male announcer ] in 1996, president clinton and a bi-partisan congress helped end welfare as we know it, by requiring work for welfare. but on july 12th, president obama quietly announced a

megan mcgrath is live there now with the story. good morning, megan. >> reporter: good morning, jim. it's still very early, but we are already starting to see some activity here at the church. you can see officers have gathered here going over the logistics for the viewing and the funeral which will happen later on this morning. aid drn morris always wanted to be a police officer. as a teenager he joined the police explorers group and served as a scout. morris lived his dream for 2 1/2 years on the prince george's county police force. sadly though, his life and career were cut short last week when his cruiser crashed. yesterday hundreds of people attended officer morris' viewing in beltsville. he was remembered as a dedicated police officer committed to helping the community, also as someone who immigrated to this country and then lived the american dream. >>. >> officer morris is an american success story. he came to this country from jamaica with his mother. became a citizen in 2009. graduated from eleanor reoosevet high school in

news 4 megan mcgrath is live at the bank in georgetown with more on the investigation. megan? >> well, barbara, you could see the bank over my shoulder here on wisconsin avenue in the heart of georgetown. the fbi still here on the scene investigating what happened here early this morning. now, there are three attempted bank robberies that hapened in the last year, two of them very recently. they have striking similarities. the would-be robber cut through the wall of a building next door to gain access into the bank and in two of the incidents, he wore a very unusual outfit. he was actually wearing a white, full-length tivek jump suit. the fbi is trying to figure out whether the same man is responsible for all three crimes. investigators focus on the vacant building next door to the m&t bank. with the door open, you can see the hole that the would-be robber cut through the brick wall. he accessed the bank's atm room, but that's when the alarm went off and the suspect ran away without any money. >> it sounds like something out of a mystery novel or something like that. >> the wh

megan mcgrath joins us live from alexandria with more on this effort. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, barbara, it's a busy world. parents are juggling children and dropping them off at day care and heading out to work. it's very easy to become distracted and forget your child is in the car. unfortunately that can prove very deadly. in fact, eight children nationwide died last week alone, that brings the total this summer to 23. a terrible, terrible statistic. organizers of this event set up a memorial garden so that people could see the faces of these children who have died, read their names and look at their ages, just a horrifying situation that drives home the dangers of leaving a child in a hot car. to try to prevent these tragedies the department of transportation and department of health and human services came up with the look before you lock campaign. they are providing educational materials to head start programs and child care centers around the country, materials that will help educate parents about the dangers of leaving a child in

megan mcgrath is in great falls. >> reporter: well, this all comes after that terrible storm back in july where an enormous oak tree fell on a car that was travel odd georgetown pike and killed the driver. it turns out that that tree was rotted the out at the roots, and folks who live in this area are concerned about other trees as well. so they raised those concerns with v-dot. v-dot in turn went out and got a team of arborists that surveyed the area and they identified 59 trees considered to be dangerous and they're going to be cut down in the physical examination couple of weeks. on river bend road there were 25 trees taken down, 15 trees on browns mill road, 7 on beach mill, 6 trees on georgetown pike, 4 on walker road and an additional 2 trees that will be taken down on utter back store road. the work is scheduled to get under way tomorrow. that's when they start to begin cutting these trees down. they expect it will take about three weeks to complete. in great falls, megan mcgrath, news 4. >>> today prince georges county police will continue to patrol what they call crime hotsp

megan mcgrath is on the scene with more information. megan, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, eun. you can see that we have an active crime scene here behind me. police actually have 46th place blocked off at the intersection with g. that's the 600 block of 46th place. now, right around 3:00 this morning, police received a call for shots fired in the 600 block here. they arrived on the scene, and that's when they found one victim, described only as a male, shot in the back here on the scene. he was transported to the hospital. we're told that he was conscious and breathing at the time that he was taken here from the scene. no updates beyond that here this morning. officers here on the scene collecting evidence, trying to find witnesses to this crime. right now there is no lookout for any suspect. they really have very little information at this point. but again, police still here on the scene, the 600 block of 46th place is closed and will probably remain closed for a little while here yet this morning. anyone with information, an

reporting live in northwest, megan mcgrath, news 4. back to you in the studio. >> always an exciting day. >> yeah. >> thanks a lot, megan. >>> ten minutes after 11:00 is the time, and coming up, we're getting new information from nato commanders this morning on the attack that killed two u.s. soldiers today in afghanistan. >>> plus, pictures from the potomac and the >>> you're watching "news 4 midday." >>> as the republican party rallies rallies in florida in this week, president obama will be in virginia. he'll not, however, be at the university of virginia. the school declined a request by the campaign to speak on kavs. uva officials didn't want to cancel class on the second day of school or pay for the security. >>> a developing story in afghanistan today. two u.s. troops were killed in an accidental shooting. nato officials say it happened as their convoy came under attack north of kabul. an afghan soldier taking position to fight somehow fell and accidentally discharged his weapon killing two other soldiers. an air support team fir

news 4 megan mcgrath is live with more on the investigation and, megan, this is a case that seems to have stumped everyone. >> absolutely. they're looking for clues to help lead them to the killer here. you can see the police recruits who are checking out a drainage pond here on campbellton drive. now, police have information that the killer left the crime scene on foot, that he didn't run, he actually walked quite a ways into the larger neighborhood. so, the investigation has expanded the search area. police recruits walk shoulder to shoulder in a grid search around the crime scene. they're looking for physical evidence that could lead them to the killer. investigators bagged some items and took them away, but their importance is unclear. one key piece of evidence, the gun has not been found and so the search continues. >> the day of the murder, we searched trash cans, storm drains, we're searching more of those, we're searching wooded area over here. drainage pond that looks like new construction back there. that is an area that we want to see that make sure nothing was dumped. >>

. >>> news4's megan mcgrath is live for us at oyster adams bilingual school. big day, megan. >> reporter: it is the big day. students in the district of columbia, 45,000, actually more than 45,000, heading back to class today. and, in fact, enrollment is up this year at seven schools here across the district. now, the good news here is that all buildings are done, even the one that were renovated over the summer. all the work has been completed. everything is opening today as scheduled. now, there was quite a volunteer effort under way over the weekend. look at this video. this was shot on saturday at orr elementary school. there were 115 schools that were worked on over the weekend. they had nearly 4,000 volunteers. those folks came out and painted. they pulled weeds. they worked on the playgrounds. they did a lot of work to just make sure that everything was perfect when the students returned to school today. now, there are ten schools in the district that have been renovated so those students will enjoy all kinds of new things in their buildings this year. t

reporting live from the mall, megan mcgrath, news 4. barbara, back to you. >> lall right, megan, thank you >>> the earthquake caused a total of $61 million in damages to the county schools. two of the schools thomas jefferson elementary were forced to close permanently. the school district received $28 million for repairs. >>> and one year ago today, i was shooting a cooking segment in my kitchen when the earthquake hit. we never got to finish that segment so we're doing it today. that chef joins us here all the way from florence, italy, in the studio in just a few minutes. you want to see the end of that. and storm 4 meteorologist tom kierein joins us now. he was just telling me that he was in his kitchen, too. >> i was. i was standing there and i could hear the rumble off in the distance and i heard it first before i felt anything. sounded like a bunch of helicopters coming and then as it got closer and closer it got louder. i looked at my refrigerator and the refrigerator was doing the dougie, kind of rocking back and forth and then i

reporting live from fairfax high school, megan mcgrath, news 4. barbara, back to you. >> thank you, megan. >>> well, it looks like you won't able to quit your job, after all. one person just won last night's powerball jackpot and he or she is in michigan. someone in our area does have reason to celebrate, though. the winning numbers were 6, 27, 46, 51, and 56. the powerball number was 21. the jackpot was worth $337 million. eight people won a $1 million prize for matching the winning numbers, except the powerball number. one of those tickets with was sold at a 7-eleven in falls church, virginia. that winner has not come forward yet. >>> our time right now, ten minutes after 11:00. and coming up, an international fight over julian assange, the founder of wikileaks. plus, allegations of discrimination at the homeland security department. what's being done about that. >>> and the latest poll numbers from the presidential race. a look at how paul ryan is changing the competition. stay with us. >>> a bomb threat grounds a plane headed for new york- fro

megan mcgrath is live with more on why vdot is sponser issing the tree removal. >> it was that bad storm that we had back in july that brought a huge oak tree crashing down on top of a car that was traveling down georgetown pike. that tree, it turns out, was rotten. 40-ton ok tree. unfortunately did driver inside that vehicle. well, after that accident happened, a number of folks who live in this area began to raise concerns about a number of very large trees in the area. trees that they believe were either dead or 23process of rotting. vdot got a team of arborists. they identified 59 trees they consider to be dangerous and they are taking those trees down. that work is under way later on today. there are 25 trees on riverbend road, 15 on browns mill road, 7 on beach mills, 6 on georgetown pike, 4 trees coming down on walker road, and then 2 trees on otter vaks store road. all the trees considered to be dangerous. they're either dead or are in the process of decaying. they're going to be brought down. the work gets under way later on today. vdot expects it will take three weeks. keep you

news4's megan mcgrath as more on how the accident happened. >> reporter: it was just after midnight when the sound of screeching brakes shattered the peace. >> i heard this tremendous noise. and it really frightened me. so i thought, oh, my gosh, the train just derailed. >> reporter: it happened on the railroad bridge that crosses the main street. two people were on the bridge at the time, just what they were doing there in the middle of the night is part of the investigation. both were pinned beneath the train and died on the scene. 21 rail cars, all carrying coal, jumped the tracks. some flew off the bridge and landed on parked cars down below. residents here are used to the sound of passing trains, but this was quite different. >> it is the loudest i had ever heard the train and it was straight screeching. and i thought to myself, it sounds like it's derailing. and i went to bed. my coffee table was like shaking. and i was just like, okay, that's not normal. but this is awful. >> it just looked like mass mayhem. it looked like when i was a little kid and i would run the train off the

reporting live from duke street, megan mcgrath, news4. actually, for more on what's going on with traffic, we're going to go now over to danella. danella? >> thank you, megan. well, still watching the situation on i-95 in virginia. we'll check travel speeds right now. a live look at lorton, still sluggish for you. speed out of prince william parkway, about 20 miles per hour to get to the beltway, that drive looking at 37 minutes right now. let's look passing i-66 at fairfax county parkway. not bad here. bring your sunglasses today. travel speeds here about 46 miles per hour. 13 minutes to get to the beltway. then, if you're traveling route 50 in maryland, we'll check that out. sluggish westbound as you make your way toward new york avenue. no accidents, just delays. eun, over to you. >> danella, thank you. >>> 6:54 now. breaking news in london. the british government is threatening to raid the ecuadorian embassy if they do not hand over wikileaks founder julian assange. assange has been taking refuge inside that embassy since june 19th. he

megan mcgrath joins us live with more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, angie.ives say a adrian morris always aspired to be a police officer. in fact, he joined the police explorers group when he was just 15 years old. he lived that dream for 2 1/2 years as a member of the prince george's county police force. sadly, his life and career were cut short last week when his cruiser crashed while pursuing suspects in a theft. yesterday hundreds of people attended officer morris' viewing in beltsville. he's been remembered as a dedicated police officer. someone committed to helping the community. they say his death is a loss to those who served. >> when you lose a police officer, especially in this type of senseless death, that you really -- you feel it in your heart. i drew up in prince george's county. >> now, a final viewing will be held at 9:00 this morning at the wood stream church that's on lottsford road in mitchellville. we are expecting a large crowd this morning. that could cause some traffic issues. there will be rolling road closures as the hearse leaves th

reporting live in mitchellville, megan mcgrath. barbara, back to you. >> thank you, megan. >>> right now, we're tracking tropical storm isaac as it moves closer to the gulf coast. forecasters expect isaac to make landfall late tonight and louisiana could be the target. president obama is urging all gulf coast residents to listen to authorities in order to stay safe. >> we're dealing with a big storm and there could be significant flooding and other damage across a large area. now is not the time to tempt fate. now is not the time to dismiss official warnings, you need to take this seriously. >> here's a look at lake paunch train right outside new orleans. you can see how rough the water is and isaac is still hours from making landfall. danielle lee has more on how they are preparing for the storm. >> we're getting a light rain as isaac gets closer and closer to us. that's something businesses have been preparing for. this hotel that i'm standing right next to has laid out sandbags ahead of this storm. many a other businesses put pl

megan mcgrath, news 4. >> good advice. that's all for "news4 this week." i'm barbara harrison.oining us. have a terrific week.

reporting live in alexandria, megan mcgrath, news4. >>> in the day ahead, president obama will travel to connecticut to raise money for re-election campaign. several hollywood stars will join him. the president will attend two fund-raisers tonight i cluding one at the home of film mow gal harvey weinstein. anne hathaway will be there. the two fund-raisers are expected to bring in $2.5 million. >>> republicans will gather later this month in tampa bay for the republican national convention. mitt romney will formally accept his party's nomination. republicans are expected to release their convention schedule today. we've learned senator john mccain, mike huckabee, and condoleezza rice will speak at the gop convention. south carolina governor and new mexico governor martinez will also address the convention. so far no word on who will deliver the key note speeches. >>> the wife of illinois congressman jesse jackson jr. revealing new information about her husband's medical leave of abs sense. jackson's wife told the "chicago-sun times" her husband is suffering from depression and collapse

live in the northeast, megan mcgrath, news 4.ack to you in the studio. >>> a frightening moment at a boston subway station. check this out. a mother walked right off the platform with her 4-year-old son in her arms, falling off the tracks. other passengers jumped right in to help and pulled the woman and her son to safety just in time. here's what the mother said happened. >> i was just rushing, thinking that, oh, that's train i'm boarding. but that train was on this other platform. not on this platform. i just stepped on the track. >> the mother says she is done at riding a subway. she would rather pay $25 to park her car in boston than risk another fall. >>> you can expect some delay iy in northern virginia this weekend. starting tonight several lanes of i-66 west at the beltway will be shut down. crews will also close ramps leading to 66 west. then starting sunday night, the southbound 495 ramp to 66 will be completely closed. during that time you will have to take the turnpike. everything will be back open by monday. all the

and we'll see the latest new home sales data, and talk housing with analyst megan mcgrath. >> susie: in this back to school season, some advice, and warnings, for kids heading off to college. here's neale godfrey, founder of the children's financial network, with tonight's kids & cash. >> i cringe when i think of kids going off to college with credit cards, but they will. >> reporter: almost 85% of undergrads have cards, and they hold almost five credit cards a piece. they will graduate with an average of $4,000 in credit card debt, not counting student loan debt. instead of a credit card, encourage your college student to get a debit card, which should be connected to a joint checking account that you will oversee. teach your child to budget and make them accountable, to you, to keep track of spending. review this with them on a month-to-month basis. the next month's budget estimate will not be loaded to their account, unless they can reconcile how the money was spent the previous month. this is a real life lesson in budgeting. after your undergrad has proven they are responsible, t

reporting live in prince george's county, megan mcgrath. >>> this morning we're learning more about the 40-year-old man who police say killed six people at a sikh temp until wisconsin. police and fbi agents identified the gunman as army veteran wade michael page. he bought the nine millimeter handgun used in the attack a week ago and they say page trained in psychological warfare after the army discharged him for a drinking problem in 1988. investigators say he played in two bands associated with skin heads. police killed page in a shoot yut outside that temp until oak creek on sunday. ♪ in rockville, members of the sikh community held a special service last night at the spiritual center. they gathered there to pray for understanding and peace. >> especially, you know, kill a father in front of his children. those things are -- nobody can find a good answer. so there are certain things that we never find an answer. you just have to seek god's guidance. >> the group will hold a candlelight vigil at the rock veil temple tonight. here in d.c. and across the country flags are at half staff

from the national mall, megan mcgrath, news4. >>> the epicentral was in mineral, virginia, in louisa county. over the past year earthquake drills have become almost routine there. news4's richard jordan will have more on that part of the story when he joins us, coming up right here at 5:00 and 6:00. >>> now to presidential politics, four days before the republican national convention, it's not just the possible hurricane making news in florida, a new poll finds the race too close to call in that key swing state. today romney tried to detail an energy plan. >> reporter: in new mexico he promised energy independence by 2020, 3 million more jobs. >> and we won't need to buy any oil from the middle east or venezuela or anywhere elsewhere we don't want to. >> reporter: romney vowed to rewrite tougher regulations on drilling in alaska, and on offshore drilling that romney claims keep output lower in favor of renewable energy. >> look, i like wind and solar like the next person, but i don't want the law to stop the production of oil and gas. >> reporter: in a new ad, bill clinton warns of a

megan mcgrath takes us for a ride. >> reporter: a picture perfect rush hour. why wouldn't it be? motorists that take the beltway now have more lanes available toll them. two more lanes to be exact. >> five lanes. the public has shoehorned into three lanes since construction. now three lanes in the local and two lanes in the through, so these will move more efficiently and more safely. >> reporter: the new configure arrangements, though there's a brief time in telegraph road that gotten down to four lanes before widening again. this is the final configuration. the construction barriers are all gone. only minor work will happen from now on, dural off-peak hours. >> i know about five minutes less on my community. i also notice coming over here, traffic opened up quite a bit instead of being backed up. >> i do think it will help. i travel across the bridge are day, and the traffic is ridiculous. >> reporter: because this is a new configuration, drivers are asked to use caution especially the first time through the area until everything gets used to the new look. >>> now to the race f

megan mcgrath was there with all the excitement. >> reporter: the bryce harper jerseys were everywhere. these budding baseball stars are hoping that one day their name will be on a nats uniform. what are you hoping to learn? >> just how to play in the major leagues, i guess, how to get there. >> i really want to be there. he's my favorite player on the nationals, and he is really good. >> reporter: 150 lucky kids got a chance to hone their skills at the bryce harper baseball pro camp at fairfax high school this morning. coaches from around the area led the kids in stations and practice games. the kids are hoping to pick up pointers from the 19 yshld phenom, inside moves that will help them rise to the top? >> i want to learn how to play hard like bryce harper? >> i think he's pretty cool, and they -- they go there, and just -- >> it's pretty incredible he can look up to a major leaguer who's just five years older than him. how often does that happen? the work ethic he demonstrates, i couldn't be happier to see a player just running every play down with every ounce of energy he has. >>

. >> reporter: in georgetown megan mcgrath, news4. >>> we are tracking tropical storm isaac as it makes its way toward the gulf coast. right in and out over the dominican republic. nbc's jay gray is in ft. myers florida, with more on how the state is preparing. hi, jay. >> reporter: hey there, richard. you're absolutely right. sigh sack already a massive system, also growing this evening are concerns and preparations along the coast. tropical storm isaac continues to gather strength as it rips through the caribbean. still miles offshore, winds and rain are already picking up in the dominican republic, the next target before the storm turns toward florida. >> florida is still florida, hurricanes are still hurricanes. we need to take everyone seriously, need to be prepared, not afraid but prepare. >> lee county emergency officials are already mapping out their plan. >> we're making sure that all of our supplies and equipment are in place and functional so that should the storm come closer, we're able to ramp up and be ready. >> reporter: still days away, florida is already feeling the eff

megan mcgrath is live this morning with more. good morning. >> reporter: well, good morning, eun.re at the horn erode commuter lot. you can see the slug line that's behind me here. folks waiting to form carpools here on the fly. well, you can imagine folks here are curious on how all of this is going to shake out. the ground break willing take place later this morning in dale city. this project will bring an extensive system of hov and high occupancy toll lanes to the 95 corridor. let's look at the specifics here. when completed it will add capacity to the existing hov lanes from dumfries to edsall road. they will build nine miles of new hov lanes from dumfries to garrisonville road. there will be more commuter lots as well as additional access ramps to get to the lanes, to access these lanes. we've been talking to computers this morning asking them if they think this is going to help ease congesti congestion. here's what they have to say. >> yeah. i think it will. i think it's going to make it that much more congested when it's done possibly. alleviate some of the traffic heavine

news 4's megan mcgrath is on the scene right now talking with emergency crews, getting the latest information. we will have a live report in less than 15 minutes. >>> investigators are trying to determine what caused a ride-on bus to slam into a house in montgomery county. it barrelled through the front of the house and into the living room in silver spring. two people were inside but they were not hurt. >> i said, this guy not going to stop in i went back to the car. boom. right in front of me. >> i thought it was an earthquake at first. when i seen the bus i was completely, like, astounded. didn't think something like this could happen. >> officials condemned the home. several people were on the bus at the time. no one was seriously hurt. >>> this morning investigators trying to identify a body found floating in the potomac river. they pulled it about 7:00 last night in the 2400 block near the virginia avenue near the thompson boathouse. police are trying to figure out if foul play was involved. >>> in morning police are warning parents about a 5-year-old girl kidnapped from a playground an

megan mcgrath was in dale city when crews broke ground. at the horner road commuter lot, there is much interest in the new hov hot lane project. some think the express lanes will ease congestion. >> wouldn't trade it for anything. >> but others are skeptical. >> they're not going to build any more bridges or roads in the district. so what you are going to do? it's going to bottle neck further. >> reporter: whether you like them or not, express lanes are coming to the virginia i-95 corridor. this morning governor bob mcdonald joined transportation officials in breaking ground on the project. >> our citizens have a great affinity for the automobile. and because people go a lot of different directions not all of them go into d.c., people go all around this great economic hub here in northern virginia, and so they have to use the automobile. they use it by themselves. and so this new project will help. >> reporter: when finished, the express lanes will span 30 miles from garrisonville road in stafford county to edsall road in fairfax county. a

reporting live in prince william county, megan mcgrath, news4. >>> today the man accused in a deadlyhooting rampage in tucson, arizona, expected to strike a plea deal. sources tell nbc news a court appointed psychiatrist will testify today in the jerrod lee laughn er laughner can make a plea today. he does not want to face the possibility of the death penalty. loughner is accused of killing six people and injuring others. >>> the mother of trayvon martin seeking money from two compensation funds. sabrina fulton filed a claim or $75,000 from the homeowners association where her son was shot and killed by neighborhood watch volunteer george zimmerman. fulton is also asking for an undisclosed amount of money from a florida state victims fund. zimmerman is charged with second degree murder in martin's death. he pleaded not guilty claiming self-defense. >>> campaign is showing concern over mitt romney's fund-raising total. he out-raised the president in july for the third straight month. romney and republican national committee brought in more than $101 million last month. the president a

megan mcgrath agrees with warren buff it that investors should be putting money to work in housing.e says hold off right now. good to have you both on the program. why do you think warren buffett is right to applause his bet on housing here? >> i think that just the numbers say it. if you look year to date, housing starts up 20%. new home sales up 20%. we have prices starting to turn the corner now. we have vacant properties declining. everything is moving in the right direction. warren buff set right, early and you should be, too. get in there. >> i guess, rob, you don't think it is all rosy. what is the trouble spot? >> well, i think that when you take a look at the growth, i mean, i think we are not negative on single family housing per se. i think would just think that there is better deals in the apartment side. i think when you take a look at the rental rates that people are willing to absorb on increases, when you take a look at the length of stay widening out, take a look at the fact that move out the home purchases continue to remain very low, i think that it is on the dema