. >> reporter: michelle cherry opened a lice treatment business in south tampa after she and her daughter got lice. >> we used every lice service within 100 miles of here and i spent a couple of buckets of money and we still had lice. >> reporter: she finally found a treatment in jacksonville >> we used a controlled heated air, it's an fda cleared medical device. >> reporter: when the heat treatment worked for her family, she decided to open a similar business in tampa. >> it's a big problem because the bugs are not going away and they spread very easily. >> reporter: school systems have very strict rules for students if they are discovered to have lice, but those rules can vary from county to county, jen. >> you know what? i remember this from when i was a kid, the pediatrician told my mom to use a blow drier and it sort of sounds like this, that the heat kills them. can you just use a hair drier? >> reporter: the problem with that is that the blow drier, the hair drier can burn your hair, can burn your scalp. it's the amount of heat, how close you put that there. that's why michelle che

. >> reporter: michelle cherry opened a lice treatment business in south tampa after she and her daughter got lice. she finally found a treatment in jacksonville that uses heat when the heat treatment worked for her family, she decided to open a similar business in tampa. >> a big problem because the bugs are not going away and they spread very easily. >> reporter: cherry even has a 30 day guarantee the lice will not return after her treatment. jeff patterson, news channel 8. >>> chief meteorologist steve jerve joins us now but check this out. look over there. that's the sunset from eagle 8 hd, photo journalist paul lamison shot that about 45 minutes ago. that's what it looks like out in the wild at night when we are in here working. >> did you see the shots that we took earlier from siesta key? the daytime is as nice as the nighttime. makes you want to go, doesn't it? >> stay focused. stay with me here. >> take like at our evening forecast if you're lucky enough to be outside, temperatures pleasant. 69 degrees this evening. a few clouds still on the warm side, maybe some high clouds but

what an ideal day to head on down to the tidal basin and check out the cherry blossoms. michelle: the weather is getting gorgeous as the treas hit the peak -- trees hit their peak. kellye lynn is live at the cherry blossom festival with a look at the crowds out there. kellye: hello, michelle. a lot of people out here and i would say just about everyone out here has a camera in hand shot of the cherry blossoms. we have a couple of people doing that when i walked up a few minutes ago. this is sophie with her friend anna. you have been here before? >> i have. so has she. kellye: you seemed to know what you with doing. getting close to blossom. tell me about your approach. >> i like to go up to whatever the focus i want to be. focus on that and make the background looking blurry. i was taking pictures of my dog. she has an instagram. so i was trying to get cute pictures of the cherry blossoms to put up so i made her the focus rather than the blossoms. kellye: this is a tradition for you and your family, you were telling me. >> yeah. i have been coming every year since i was a baby. i

michelle: first, the first weekend of the cherry blossom festival. that is not the only thing happening. kidd o'shea's weekend k we need women in congress. if we want to be heard, it was the women who forced republicans to include women's health and contraceptive coverage in the affordable care act. in congress, i'll fight for pay equity, family leave and tougher gun safety laws. and, as an environmentalist, i'll work combat climate change. i know as a journalist and as a senior executive in business that when women are at the table, we get things done. and i approve this message. michelle: there is never a shortage of what to do in the d.c. area over a weekend. jonathan: especially now that the cherry blossom festival is kicking off. kidd o'shea has a look at the first event and much more in the weekend kickoff. kidd: it's that time of year. bring on the cherry blossoms. you can show your support for the vest value by attend -- festival by attending the pink tying fundraising vent. or take a stroll around the tidal basin to see the buds. peak bloom

michelle: thank you. the cherry trees at the congressional cemetery are starting to bloom. ry pretty. jonathan: wow! michelle: these are different types of trees than the ones you see at the tidal basin. the flowers come out in stages. if you are looking for any sign that nature is ready for spring. there you have it. gorgeous. >> with the weather we're having now the trees are confused. they should be blooming in two or three days if it stays like this. doug: cooler later in the week. the temperatures will be in the mid-60's. upper 60's. steve rudin had a good point. maybe it might be sooner if the weather pattern holds up. we will keep you up to date on it. beautiful to see when it arrives. the weather bug camera on campus in laurel, maryland. where it's currently 79 degrees. all right. let's launch the countdown clock. launch the sun in three, two, one. there goes the sun. rocketing in the sky. delightful afternoon. the temperatures, 79, 80 degrees. these are the typical temperatures on like june 2. we're ahead of the game. 84 in manassas. 28 in leesburg and fredericksbur

michelle: of course, the biggest crowds will be down along the tidal basin for the national cherry blossom festival. scott: the national park service says the trees are at their peak and they should stay that way for the next four to ten days. unless of course mother nature decides otherwise. michelle: chief meteorologist doug hill is in the stormwatch7 weather center with the weekend forecast. doug? doug: the biggest threat to the cherry blossoms in the next few days are high winds and heavy rain. i don't anticipate either of those. just breezy weather. mild now. a cold front went through this morning but it's lagging behind. check out the numbers, 72 reported right now manassas. 66 in leesburg. cooler north and west. 52 in cumberland and hagerstown. the front is on the way out. remaining message of the showers moving across the bay and that will be that. through the evening the clearing skies. temperatures will drop. drop they will. 48 by 2:00 in the morning. tomorrow we will warm up to 60 degrees. sunshine. easter sunday looks good. we'll fill in the details of easter and the next coupl

cherry blossoms. that is coming up. michelle: here is a check of the eaglets at the national arboretum. the second egg hatched over the weekend. check this on the nests whenever you want through wjla.com. jonathan: a lot heading back to work. wanting to get home on the first day of the week. jamie sullivan checking on the traffic. it's moving well. jamie: it is. but it wasn't. you can see the emergency vehicles blocking off the left ten minutes ago the scene but all lanes were closed. medivac was there. a lot of people got by using the express lanes but now that the main lanes are open you can use it. there will be a backup. look at the mapping system to show you how slow we are. the backup from newington right now and you will see the traffic in single digits. if you live further south, heads up. 95 will be more congested than what you are used to. the emergency vehicles are still on scene at ridge road. it's closed off in both directions. this is 95 heading south from the missioning bowl. only averaging in the single digits. but the crash on 95 southbound has moved over to the crews h

michelle: with the up and down temperatures this year was tricky to forecast to peak bloom dates. despite chilly temp tomorrow and thursday. jonathan: we're proud to be a sponsor of the cherry blossom festival. we could see a gallery of the pictures on wjla.com. michelle: we're not at peak yet. >> another beautiful picture shared with us. look at the washington monument. we will continue to look forward to the weather conditions cooperating for tomorrow and again for the day on thursday. the cold front comes through friday morning to give us a chance of the showers. for saturday against d.c. united against dallas the temperatures are at the lower 60's for the start of the game. through easter sunday the outlook hour-by-hour. a slight chance of a shower and better sunday morning. jamie: an accident in d.c. the waze maps and they are saying this is a major accident. because of this, we are already seeing the backup. from the 11 street bridge. some spots were 10 miles per hour. move to the map the stretch from the 11 street bridge closer to the baltimore parkway with take you under 20 minutes now. the sun glare toward centreville. that is a look at traffic. >> i head at 4:00,

michelle: i know the answer. steve: what year did japan -- don't tell us yet -- send the first cherry trees to washington, d.c.? 18910, 1912, 1915? we'll have the answer in a few minutes. michelle says she knows. michelle: i have been studying up on the cherly blossoms -- steve: she is an expert. we are in the mid-to-upper 70's. beautiful afternoon. 77 in manassas. 79 in leesburg. 77 in winchester. hagerstown at 76 degrees. a bit breezy. we saw a brush fire in boyds in montgomery county. that's because we have sustained winds at 20 miles per hour with stronger wind gusts and a red flag warning until 8:00 tonight. be careful careful if you have n flames, cigarette butts, barbecuing, be careful. but it will improve for the day tomorrow when the cold front moves on through. the satellite and the radar, if you have plans to check out the cherry blossoms perfect for this evening. maybe if you are not going to cherry blossoms and you are just going fora walk or eating outside go for it. it will be spectacular. cold front is on the way to the west of us. central ohio to kentucky. that moves overnight. after midnight th

cherry blossoms. find out when they are expected to hit the peak bloom ahead. michelle: a -- alison: a late season storm dropping search inches in new england. the forecast is up to eight inches. dozens of school districts canceled class because of the weather. leon: they got lucky. they escaped almost all winter. we got ourselves stuff to come in here. flurries and rain. then the question is whether it would put a tamper on places with the cherry blossoms. alison away from the predicted peak bloom. and diane cho is there on the tidal basin with how it's looking today. hey, diane. diane: you know, even though we are in spring officially you can see plenty of people wearing the jackets and the codes here along the tidal basin. getting closer to the estimated bloom date. there were questions how the weather would affect the cherry blossoms but apparently it will not affect them. even though temperatures are expected to drop back to 30's the peak bloom will begin around wednesday. earlier than usual. it typically falls between the last week of march and first week of april

cherry capital airport instagram page. isn't that cool? he looks like he is -- scott: yeah. michelle: as bad as can be. scott: and rules the runway. he is in charge. the big dog. michelle: the big dog. literally. exactly. scott: all right. time now to check in on the two favorite parents to be. we are talking about what you look at here. we first saw them they were snow covered and might be again tonight. pair of bald eagles laid eggs in this tree at the national arboretum earlier this month. the eggs should hatch in just a few weeks. you can watch the live feed whenever you want through wjla.com. michelle: you mentioned the snow. coming up at 4:00, the stormwatch7 team is keeping a close eye on the snow heading our way. we get the latest forecast for the winter weather alert. jamie: coming up, what it is year. cheryl: i'm cheryl conner at the national air and space museum as we learn what researchers hope to gather vo: across america, people are taking charge of their type 2 diabetes with non-insulin victoza®. for a while, i took a pill to lower my blood sugar. but it didn't get me to my goal. so i as

michelle: thank you. a sure sign of spring. the prediction is out for d.c.'s cherry blossoms peak bloom time. jonathan: when they do it's beautiful. abc7 is a proud sponsor of the festival. today the national park service said we are just about four weeks out now bloom. jeanette reyes has the details. jeanette: after a roller coaster week with high temperatures just a few days ago and now flakes in the possible, you can rest assured that spring is on the way. the national park service announcing at the museum the cherry blossoms will be at their peak march 31 to april 3. you are not imaging things, the peak date for the 3,000 trees are earlier than last year's april 10 bloom period. a long wait after a bitterly cold winter. it's not unusual to see them as early as late march, though, closer to the beginning of the national cherry blossom festival. >> the finale weekend april 16 to 17 will be a great blockbuster. we will start with the national cherry blossom festival parade, and then the japanese tree festival. in the evening, we are presenting cherry blast, which is all things japanese. jea

michelle: i hope so. starbucks is celebrating return of spring with limited edition drink. offering a new cherry blossom frappuccino. a blend of strawberries and cream with white chocolate sauce and macha drizzle. the frap is at the participating u.s. stores now through march 20, the first day of spring. you tried it. jonathan: i tasted it. it's not good. really, really sweet. if you like sweet drinks you will love it. i'm not a sweet the president fills out the bracket. but the navy is warning sailors to be careful about brackets. we'll explain why. michelle: visitors that will not be denied. not everyone rents a car when visiting d.c. how tourists are getting arou glenn:threateningicans: gofederal workers;ns over 60 votes to repeal obamacare. now they're refusing to even consider president obama's nominee for the supreme court. it disrespects the president and all of us -- and we won't put up with it. in congress, i'll protect president obama's legacy, defend obamacare, and stand up for social security and medicare. i'm glenn ivey and i approve this message. i'll take on republicans - for all

cherry blossoms. we are a announcer: you're watching "abc7 news at 4:00". on your side. michellee clock is ticking for voters who want to have their voice heard on super tuesday. but they are not just going to the polls in virginia. chief political correspondent scott thuman is here with some of the other races in the states that are up for grabs today. scott: it's not just about virginia, although we will touch on that. you have a dozen states up for grabs. the biggest one-day haul you can pull as a candidate. it's often where there is a natural win knowing down of the -- whittling down of the field. the big push as you see candidates making the round hour to impact the get out the vote efforts. if the polls right -- they have been wrong so far but if they are right it could indicate big nights for donald trump and hillary clinton. michelle: let's talk about marco rubio for a second here. we know his strategy at some point is just waiting until he wins florida. is that too far down the road? scott: well, it's not only in that a lot of the states that are handing out delegates to

michelle: this just in the abc7 newsroom. the national park service is changing the projected peak bloom date for the cherry blossom because of the unseasonably warm temperatures. the dates are now being moved up to march 18 through the 23rd. so 18-23. originally peak bloom was expected to be march 30 through april 3. abc7 is proud to be a sponsor of this year's cherry blossom festival. a top executive at volkswagen says thousands of american jobs could be in jeopardy because of an emission scandal. v.w. labor chief says they may need to fire worker to pay for the government imposed fines. the u.s. regulators would be wise to consider the labor implications of the excessive penalties. v.w. faces investigation and after admitting to manipulating emissions tests. jonathan: right now residents are expecting the damage -- inspecting the damage. >> we didn't have time to grab our stuff. like we just got out. with no shoes. jonathan: they are lucky they got out. inspecting the damage from an early morning fire. some families forced from the homes. some were rescued, plucked off the balconies to safety. michelle: a 13-year-old girl

michelle? >> hena, starbucks is stepping into spring with a new drink. what's the latest? >> reporter: that's right. starbucks is offering a cherry blossom frappucino.of strawberries and keem with white chocolate sauce and drizzle. the beverage will be offered through sunday the first day of spring. >> i'm sure it's very low calorie, too. >> looks good. >> hena daniels, cbsmoneywatch.com, thank you. >>> a bay area school board votes to ban one of its own mascots. why some students say the change was unnecessary. >> and let's take outside highway 880. the commute is on and looking good. gianna has you covered and a beautiful day on tap. we'll have your forecast and more with roberta coming up. ,, ,,,,,, ,,,,,,,, forced to make a hard landit van >>> taking a look toward levi's stadium, looks like april 2nd is the next event at 6:30 p.m., the monster energy ama supercross. i'll be there! currently in the 40s going up to 74 degrees. your full forecast in less than 4 minutes. >>> some new video this morning capturing the moments after a small plane made a hard landing at the van nuys airport outside of l.a. fire officials say faulty landing gear was the

michelle: thank you. still breezy out there this afternoon. but nothing like the gusts we saw last night. meteorologist josh knight went to see how the cherry blossoms are holding up. josh: they are looking good but you will find this thing on the ground today. we have had the strong winds. wind gusts yesterday that topped 40 miles per hour at the airport. you can see whe blow we lose more of the petals. in general considering the rain and the wind we got, a lot of the yoshino cherry trees are still looking good. puffy white flowers on them but you have to get out here today or tomorrow to check them out. there are still some species of the cherry tree around the park that haven't reached peak bloom yet. they typically do ten days after the yoshino cherry trees. that was officially on friday the 25th according to the park service. that means by the middle of next week we are look at two additional species that should be reaching theirpeak bloom. you can find both of the trees on the haynes point and also on ohio drive just south of the lincoln memorial. if you don't get out here before these have all blown off of here, check out the two are

cherry blossoms. love is in the air. you find the perfect person and you only want to spend the rest of your life with them. michelle: plenty of people are willing to spend whatever it takes to get the wedding of their dream. fairly tale. jonathan: insane amounts. specifically one case. we have an invitation to what the russian media calls the most expensive wedding in the world. >> it's hard to ignore the irony. the woman who once sang "love don't cost a thing" performing at what they are calling billion-dollar wedding. an air to oil fortune got married to 20-year-old bride in russia. nobody knows the total cost but the bride said i do in $25,000 gown weighing in at whopping 25 pounds. the reported 600 guests entered the elaborate affair through a walkway t have rivaled cinderella's castle. i was carpeted in flowers. the entertainment with aforementioned j.lo -- ♪ every breath you take >> sting sang classic "every breath you take." and the night ended with a bang as the weddinggoers enjoyed the fireworks. it's not over yet. the cup is rumored to be headed to london soon. to have another ceremony. dan harris, abc7 n