scott broom is keeping up with developments in annapolis. >> reporter: marvin benson checks into his job to maryland's department of general services facing a 10-day furlough, and unsure which of his coworkers may end up unemployed. >> we're housekeepers. you've got plumbers, carpenters, we don't make a lot of money, but for us to take the hit for the state, basically, i think that's wrong. >> reporter: across town, employees at maryland's court system and the employees who work for the state legislature, including legislators themselves are exempt from all the budget slashing. not going over well with people like darrell brown who helps print refund checks at the treasuries. >> they make way more money than we do, and we do the work in the treasury. we keep the state rollin'. you know, we always have to take the hit. i don't really think it's fair. >> reporter: it may not be fair, but it's the law. >> all in favor signal by saying i. >> reporter: the gch has no control -- governor has no control over or legislative budgets, but legislators do. speaker of the house mike bush says he'

scott broom has the story from the montgomery police headquarters. >> police are still trying to solve badly hit-and-run here on capitol view avenue. >> the 22-year-old, and the 29-year-old, roosevelt. struck while walking in this crosswalk at the interaction of capitol view -- intersection at capitol view out here. today through an interpreter, the families appealed for the hit-and-run driver to contact police and put an end to the mystery. >> my family, they would like to send a message to this individual. and to face these responsibilities. >> we can't believe that the persons didn't know that he or she struck these two women. and from all indications, it appears that they were on the crosswalks when they were struck. >> reporter: police displayed a new key here. the frill of the toyota four runner suv. model year, 1988 to 2000. witnesses said it was black or dark colored. in silver springs, scott broom, 9news now and wusa9.com. >>> the two victims from that hit-and-run, they are still in the hospital. if you know anything about this, please call them with information. >>> we want t

in annapolis, scott broome, 9news now and wusa9.com. >> today's budget cuts approved by the governor, treasurer, and controller amounted to $454 million. >>> and investor who claims she had an affair 16 years ago with bernie madoff says she plans to send him a book about their alleged relationship. right now he is serving more than 100 years for running a ponzi scheme. madoff pursued her from the moment they met. >> it was an adult affair. i think it was about as adult as an affair can be. unfortunately, it was with the biggest crook the world has ever seen. >> an attorney for madoff's wife, ruth madoff said his client did not know about the alleged affair. >>> we are learning more about the final hours of michael jackson's life. especially the period of time between when police found the singer not breathing to the moment someone called 911. a police affidavit said dr. conradt murray found the singer not breathing at 11:00 a.m. the day the singer died. he told investigators he had given him drugs to help him sleep. however the 911 call wasn't made until an hour later. and now, cell p

g.tht asenblpphaed at the inqu edmaarnor aptments on 55th avenue in hyattsville where we find our scott broom who is live there tonight with more. scott? >> reporter: well, it was seven of these bug bombs fire investigators say they found inside that apartment right there. they had been set off by the occupants, and apparently the fumes came in contact with a pilot light on a gas appliance, according to fire investigators. the results explosion sent glass flying all across this parking lot. it blew all the window frames out of the apartment. it even tossed an air conditioner out on the grass. the three people who lived here had just come outside. one woman who didn't want to be identified was slightly injured by flying glass. >> boom, like you know, duck for cover boom. >> and i saw them coming out of the apartment. as they stepped about right here on the step, i saw the whole apartment blow up behind them. i saw the windows and everything. and the air conditioner flies out. >> that's jerome frye who witnessed the whole thing. the bug bombs are plastered with all kinds of warning labels, incl

scott broom, 9 news now and wusa9.com. >>> you can have a look at her resume by logging on to wusa9.comook under maryland news for the story called woman woman's desperate job hunt. >>> a teenager whose vacation accident put him in a wheelchair isn't letting his disability stop him. >>> you are watching 9 news now. we'll be right back. b@ w with more eligible models to choose from than anyone. iluyo nkur c erer qualifies to be recycle, you can get a $3500 or $4500 government rebate. nd at un jusnoanced! if you qualify for the clunker rebate, you may also qualify for 0% apr for months. that means you can buy a '09 li or ma1 bu27nt $a mo fh after a $3500 government rebate awn ndomeo ay pnt. go to chevy.com for details. (announcer) new icy hot medicated roll. for wherever you hurt. icy to dull pain, hot to relax it away. the new icy hot medicated roll. with the roll, pain's under control. >>> authorities catch up with a music piracy group and illegals are charged with public drunkenness and driving without a license in prince william county. read these stories and more in the examiner. >>>

scott broom is live with new developments in the case. scott? >> reporter: when you understand these new developments, it's a miracle that these ladies survived. they are badly hurt. a couple of housekeeperring walking back to -- housekeepers walking back to their car in silver spring when they were hit and dragged. police say that there is no way the driver didn't know what happened. >> reporter: the 22-year-old maria and 2-year-old roosevelt. struck while walking in this crosswalk at the interaction of capitol view in silver springs at 10 a.m. on saturday. and she was dragged 83 feet. dragged 113 feet over here. today through an interpreter, they appeal for the hit-and-run driver to contact police and put an end to the mystery. >> my family would like to send a he is san to this individual -- my family would like to send a message to this individual to face their responsibility. >> we can't believe that the person didn't know that he or she struck these two women. and from all indications, it appears they were in the crosswalk when they were s

in waldorf, scott broom, 9 news now and wusa9.com. >>> she got a little free publicity right here. you can have a look at her resume by clicking on this story at wusa9.com. >>> if you ride metro you are going to need to add extra time to your trip this weekend. starting tonight at 10:00 the fort totten station will be closed on the red line. trains will run from glenmont to tacoma and brooklyn to shady grove. there will be shuttle bus service. the green line will not be affected. on the orange line, trains will single track between vienna and west falls church gig nnbein8 p you drive through of of the bel ginning on sunday, the southbound i -9 exit ramp to chain bridge road will be closed r ys s is idays. this is part hoff the $1.414 billion-mile hot lanes project between bring field and north of the dulles toll road. >>> now to gaithersburg for fun. can you smell the cotton candy. the montgomery county fair has just opened. it is always a good time. this year you will find 40 carnival rides. 11 are new to the fair this year. plenty of music and plenty of great fair food. everythin

at the end of a difficult week, scott broom reports there are still students waiting for final class assignments. >> reporter: it began on monday, the first day of school. 20% of prince georges county high school students turned up with no assigned schedule of classes to attend. by week's end, the unscheduled students had been moved from cafeterias and gyms in to temporary classes, but the battle is not over. >> right now we're at 1,273 students who we are still working around the clock to get their schedules done. >> reporter: now anger from parents at revelations that school officials knew of the brewing crisis long before school started. >> here we had some issues with the timing of the scheduling. >> reporter: chief technology officer wesley watts junior on thursday pointed to the $4.1 million computer system called school max. saying installation of the system caused delays in the scheduling process all the way back in may. then software glitches and patches ate up more time. schedules usually furnished in early august weren't done until the last minute. >> at that time it was t

scott broome has more. >> reporter: the now familiar anger continues to boil over. >> your government has lost the faith and trust of the american people. >> reporter: a 440 seat auditorium at the college. people here to grill maryland senator, ben cardin at another town hall style meeting. >> why are you afraid of the book, senator? >> in the reform, we want private doctors and private hospitals. we are not looking at trying to get employees of the government providing healthcare for our citizens. it will be private doctors and hospitals. we are talking about how will we pay for it? >> reporter: outside, a measure of the growing ground swell, an even larger crowd that couldn't get in. >> if congress would vote like we elected them to vote, this wouldn't be happening. >> i don't think we should have a situation where somebody says, i'm sick, i need care and i don't have the money. i think that is absolutely immoral. >> no one is going to buy you a car. no one is going to buy your food. you better be buying it yourself. >> reporter: here in hagerstown, more people than ever are now eng

. >>> i'm scott broom in portion county, a crisis that marred the first week of school here has still not been completely resolved. >> right now we're at 1,273 students who are, who are working an the clock to get their schedules done. >>> now anger from parents that revelations that school officials knew of the brewing crisis long before school started. >> we had some issues with the timing of the scheduling. >> reporter: chief technology officer wesley watts junior on thursday pointed to the $4.1 million computer system called school max. saying installation of the system caused delays in the scheduling process all the way back in may. then software glitches and patches ate up more time. schedules usually furnished in early august weren't done until the last minute. >> at that time it was the week before school. it was a thursday and friday before school. we found out issue on the first day in terms of the number of students who had holes in their schedule. >> reporter: i'm bruce leshan at arlington national cemetery. 46 years ago, president john f. kennedy stood on a sun baffled hi

i'm scott broom reporting live -- wusa9.com. we'll see u you later. bye-bye. >> all right, scott. thank you so much for that story. >>> now to a happy home coming inuthern california for o american journalists held for nearly five months in north korea. the two women are now back with their families after being freed during a surprise diplomatic visit from former president bill clinton. manuel gallegos joins us live from burbank with today's very emotional return. manuel? >> reporter: well, anita, it's been an emotional day for the two journalists, no doubt. they had no idea they were suddenly going to find themselves home in the united states. in fact, laura ling we have been joking has gone from north korea to her house here in north hollywood. from captivity to the arms of their loved ones. journalists laura ling and euna lee were reunited with their families after 140 days in north korea. >> we saw standing before us president bill clinton. [ applause ] >> we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end. >> reporter: north korea's r

scott broom live at the police headquarters with more developments in the case. scott? >> well first and foremost, the family has them briefed on the medical condition of these women. both of them are in serious conditions out there in the hospitals. and both families, they are stunned by the idea that there is still a hit-and-run driver out there potentially. still behind the wheel. >> reporter: the husband of the 29-year-old, the mother of two boys, speaking through a police interpreter. >> they made a really bad judgment. and to hit somebody and just run away. i think that it was something really bad for this person to do it. >> reporter: she was with the 22-year-old maria. her family is also stunned. the pair were leaving a cleaning job in silver spring and walking in this crosswalk saturday at 10 in the morning. when they were struck by a hit-and-run driver. she was dragged more than 110 feet. police displayed this grill from a dark colored or black toyota four runner suv, model year, 1998 to 2000. they want the driver. >> we just can't believe that the person didn

. >> i'm scott broome in annapolis where the governor has announced another round of budget slashes, including the closing of state government for five days and employee layoffs. closing down maryland state government for five days, mostly by extending holiday weekends is just the beginning. look for state workers and unemployment lines with layoffs of at least 205. furloughs for all the rest, up to ten days for higher wage employees. another 211 million slashed in state aid to counties. >> the first time in at least 30 years, state spending is going to be less than what it was three years ago. >> these are difficult times and we have to make the decisions necessary in order to protect our priorities and to continue to move forward to the other side of this recession. >>> and right now, virginia congressman, jim moran is holding a town hall meeting talking about president obama's healthcare reform proposal. pretty big crowd out there, including howard dean, who will have the rest of that story for you at 11:00. earlier today, jerry connolly was holding his own healthcare reform meeti

in leonardtown, scott broom, 9 news now and wusa9.com. >>> and that house has been a ts now the other top story, they break in and out. crooks are cleaning out homes in herndon.ad y.ca hol loand ready. local schools have mapped out their plan to combat the flu and texting tips it is a new era of crime fighting. >>> i'm audrey barnes. montgomery county police have a new crime-fighting tool. it is text messages and they sc have already gotten onpre im suspect. convicted sex offender david cane moved from frederick to poolesville without giving his new address to the state's registry. thanks to an anonymous text to montgomery county policing detectives tracked him down. >> we were able to do an investigation and try to get a warrant and arrested him the same day. >> reporter: beside the text a tip program, residents can make anonymous tips on-line and by phone. hundreds of leads have called in already. h a lot of times we ca criminals that way through community members and citizens. >>> i'm bruce leshan in fairfax county. a new school year and new federal guidelines on swine flu. if just

. >> i'm scott broom. in maryland's gamble state park, where a natural resource and police are trying to put an end to men, cruising for sex. >>> hello, natural resources, they believe that. >> it is more common. what they would do, they would leave the park. while we don't consider that a problem, well, whether it is same sex or opposite sex, but that is one this year, we found out they were coming to the park meeting and stay in the park, and they were going to locations like the restrooms or the retails or the shelters. and performing sex acts. >> reporter: as a result, they went from patrolling to going undercover recently, charging eight men in a single weekend operation. >> it does surprise me. the numbers are out there. >> i hope that they stop it. >> most of the activity occurs monday through friday at lunchtime. >> in the bedroom of her and southeast washington, where last night, she was playing video games, four bullets came through the wall. >> reporter: one is up in here. >> showing you where t

scott broom is following her efforts. >> i need a job full-time, steady with benefits. >> donna, unemployedand desperate for work. >> 37 years of work experience. >> reporter: she handed out resumes on a busy median strip in the heart of waldorf. >> thank you so much. pass it on if you know anyone. >> it is up to us to do what we can to help her find a job. >> i need a job. >> just across the parking lot from the retail boating store she managed until a bankruptcy put her employer out of business three months ago. >> i put hundreds of resumes out all over the web but the web can't see your heart. >> i have my resume. >> reporter: and her sign tells you more about they are or d 2007, 2007, her husband died when her house burned down. >> i lost everything that day that i worked all my life for that we worked hard. he was a wonderful man. he was my best friend. >> reporter: now many -- now day ms. prescriptions go unfilled. she is a survivor of breast cancer. health insurance is a huge hurdle in this. >> i see this and it is breaking my heart to see all that is happening in this country and pe

in annapolis, scott broome, 9news now and wusa9.com. >> in the meantime, maryland is forgiving penalties and interests on past due taxes in the next couple of months in hopes that citizens will pay up years of back taxes. >>> computer problems continue to complicate the start of the school year in prince georges county. hundreds of students still don't have schedules and school officials say it could be days before they get them. audrey barnes now joins us live from the high school with the story and i guess audrey, this is getting tiresome at this point. >> it certainly is, lesli. there are 24 high schools in prince georges county and nearly all of them have scheduling. the problem is with a new computerized scheduling system. according to the company's website, it works great in lincoln county, georgia, which has 432 high school students. so far, it has been a disaster in prince georges county, which has more than 40,000. more than 200 students at bowie high school were sidelined by a computer glitch. isolated in three separate areas while school officials scrambled to print schedules

. >>> i'm scott broom in queen annes county where the heat may not be the only explanation for why so many football players fell ill during a practice yesterday. >> the general opinion of all of the doctors involved is that it was heat-related illness. >> i'm happy to say the students are all well. >> reporter: the superintendent says she is as curious as many parents and students that he heat may not have been the only cause. >> we had all of our teams out here practicing yesterday. no other team had a problem. and that team really had only been practicing about 45 minutes when all of this occurred. so that's why we are looking at other sources. >> reporter: other sources, ebb including the water used by the team and the food, there was a team breakfast. the county will be called in and the sheriffs office will help too but there is no suspicion of a prank or anything illegal. >>> a montgomery county police officer has been charged with perjury for testimony she gave about this arrest for drunk driving. although this video shows officer deena hoffman finding the defendant in the rear

. >>> i'm scott broom at prince george's county where the school system is still trying to iron out a computer crisis that has disrupted the first four days of school. and will they are very close -- they are very close to them. >> reporter: a much improved situation. students,

. >>> i'm scott broom in hyattsville where apparently fumes from an insect fogger are to blame for an explosion that badly damaged an apartment here. >> it was like a bomb. those people in my building heard it. >> reporter: neighbor jerome frye stunned by what he witnessed when a two-bedroom ground floor apartment exploded at about 10:15 this morning. >> i got cut in the back of my head. >> reporter: a woman who was slightly injured by flying glass did not want to be identified. >> boom. >> reporter: all this blamed on so-called bug bombs. fire officials say seven of them were set off in this apartment, more than double what might be needed. the explosion happened when the volatile fumes were ignited by an appliance's pilot light, according to investigators. >>> and right now friends and family are paying their final respects to three of the victims from that deadly helicopter crash in hagerstown two weeks ago. niall booth, jeffrey nordaas and george tutor all worked for the same flight company and were all killed when the chopper slammed into the happy. they along with kim felix of n

that's where scott broom talked to the firefighters who were not counting on fighting a person as well>> i initially got on the scene. i went 0 the other side. >>> deputy volunteer fire chief tom mattingly junior the first to get here by himself. he said what happened in the smoky darkness on thursday night is the scariest moment of his career. >> i lifted my flash light up and saw the gentleman down on one knee with a large knife. >> the safety of our personnel is more important a

scott broom, 9news now and wusa9.com. >> right now it is a power outage that is causing traffic problems for commuters in arlington. the 5200 block of wilson boulevard is closed right now. that is in the boston area. crews are repairing a utility pole that was hit after a two- car collision earlier today. they hope to have wilson boulevard back open by 7:00 p.m. and they are hoping to have power restored to about 500 customers by 9:00 p.m. >>> a water main break left hundreds of people in alexandria without water today. repairs are now being made at 100 south reynolds street. a 12-inch main broke there. the road is closed at duke street until repairs are complete. >>> i'm sara walsh live at redskins training camp. it is tough memorizing the playbook but one rookie has a leg up because he has used some memorizing lines much . the story is ahead. >>> tornado warning in effect now four southern st. maco ty uo to our website . storm goreport a storm report. we need a pair of eyes with this storm. ad citystinry city if you are down route 5 or etro35 get indoors. b@b@ >>> more green for invest

in the information center, scott broome, 9news now. >>> now to montgomery county where police are upping the antito try and catch an arsonist. >> they are looking for the person who torched those bails of hay early monday morning. it is information they are willing to pay for. audrey barnes joins us now live. it is still smoldering two days later. >> reporter: the farmer who owns all of that hay that you see behind me says it can smolder for a month or more. he has to figure out a way to remove all of this charred debris without damaging his trucks or put his workers at risk. montgomery county police are offering a $1,000 reward for information that helps them catch the arsonist. >> reporter: it all looks the same to fifth generation farmer, roy stanley. surveying the damage today was his daughter. that's his livelihood going up in flames. these weren't just little piles of straw. these were huge bails and mr. stanley lost 75 of them. >> we are looking close to a $100,000 loss. >> while he works with his insurance company to see if he is covered, police are working on catching the arsoni

reporting live at the high school, scott broom, nine news now and wusa9.com. >>> a rough start. okay, thank you, scott. le> ahead, drivers out e ertherin virginia, they a be gh totonight, they will t niriofro projects on i-95 between out here and the river bridge and the e unispe e 60t keda ysouab60 days mpco60 . lecomple >>> and ni ov t,ght,drivers should expect brlaf iene closures between midnight and 5 a.m. >> the purpose of adding that forth lane to get rid of it especially in the afternoon that the heavy build up from traffic where four lanes go into three. there was a time when it was bad. now it's terrible. >> the work is the first faze of a three-year project to widen i-95 at fairfax county to four lanes. >>> presidents of the prince george's county neighborhood may not be sleeping so easily tonight. because vandals went on a rampage early this morning. they slashed the tires on a number of cars in a two-block area around palmer park drive out there in landover. they took a knife to water lawns being used by construction projects. now, there is an anticrime surveillance c

. >> thanks to scott broome for that story. >>> many protesters with signs also took up positions along the road up and down hagerstown community. it's happening all around the nation. >>> heros can come in all and meet the four legged friends keeping a maryland farm in business. we'll be right back. >>> many families are struggling in this rough economy, but for the owners of one of the oldest farms in maryland, help comes from some four legged friends. >> kristen fisher introduces us to these unusual heros. >> reporter: this is one of the olstdearms in all of maryland. the land was ugstboht back in 1802 and has beboen in mee thea >> this was a old facc farm. the property here, the home, and the outbuildings and everything were built by my great, great grandparents. so i wanted to maintain this place and i didn't want it to be sold to developers. >> reporter: angel simmons is an only child. when her father became sick, she quit her job to save the family farm. >> my transition here was very scary. the main problem is that i'm not a farm girl. i was born and raised on miami beach and i

scott broom, nine news now and wusa9.com. >>> well town officials say that paper work is so tangled,they are unclear who the real owner of this property is. >>> looking for milk and sugar for your morning coffee. find out why it's going to cost you coming up. >>> they mite drop their push for the government-run healthcare. i'm joel it's coming up. n, #o) >>> lots of red to start the week on wall street. the dow lost just more than 189 points. nasdaq well 54. s&p 500 closed 24.3 points lower. >>> well here's another sign of the global economy that is improving. japan has pulled out of their recession. the country says if the economy expanded at a 3.7% annual pace on a strong rebound in exports. japan joins germany and france in recovering from the global financial crisis. >>> if you have gone grocery shopping lately and you probably have, you're noticing you're paying less for milk. the price of milk has drop from the record highs last year, that's good news for your family budget, but not good for the dairy farmer. they have seen increases in other costs, and cutting costs could mea

scott broome is following today's announcement by martin o'malley. >> closing down maryland state governmentor five days mostly by extending holiday weekends is just the beginning. >> we are currently in the process of notifying those state employs

in prince george's county, scott broom, nine news now and wusa9.com. >>> local grants in prince george'saddition to a tax credit, the first time home buyers from the federal government. >>> you have heard about beach resorts struggling with fewer tourists this season than usual. it has been flooded with so many people, they have e had to c their main attractions. peggy fox as that story. >> reporter: it looks like the beach, it sounds light beach. , yet only an hour from washington. the small town of colonial beach on the river, they have become an increasingly popular destination. >> i think because of the economy, people, they have less money to spend, yet they want some type of recreation. >> half of my family is laid off. we can't go out there this year. >> reporter: but the colonial beach, they were not quite ready for an influx of the tourists. the town has now become a viimct own success. th icrowds leftleans pi ofbes o as h. so much trash th clpefi opveho tour s tw people five hours to clean it up. the town manager. >> and i get a lot of e-mails from citizens who are angry and fr