>> educate. >> protest this morning outside of a d.c. school after friday's firings of more than 200 teachers. hello and welcome to news4 at 4:00. i'm pat lawson muse. >> and i'm jim handly. district students fighting back today. dozens of students skipped class today to protest school dhauts have led to many, many teacher layoffs. >> the protests began at mckinley high, one of the schools hit hard by the pink slips. kimberly suiters has more. >> reporter: the civil rights anthem better known to the teachers and parents in the crowd, who insisted this protest was the student's idea. >> we organized this because we believe that the chancellor was unfair. >> reporter: brittany timmons is the school president. plans to wear black and plans to march. >> i see the teachers walking out of the door. we don't think it's fair. we're uneased about it. we want our counselors back. and we want to -- we're going to protest until we get them back. >> give me an, f. >> f. >> bring it back. >> reporter: in place of reduction in force the kids chanted "fired." one laid off counselor says she's not convinced. >> today i found out from one of my very good friends that these public schools are still hiring. she's just finished the single printing process so that she could be hired. >> reporter: what does that say to you. >> it's not about money. >> reporter: this senior plans on law school and you can see why. >> this whole situation. was given without due process of law. >> reporter: he pointed to friday's arrest at mckin we news of the sudden dismissals lit a fuse of frustration. d.c. police downplayed that incident. >> our intention never to arrest anyone that engages in a protest. what happened on pfriday it was an activist. from the information that i know the person want wanted to get arrested. >> reporter: promised their voices would be heard. >> i know the chairman is holding an oversight hearing and a responsibility hearing. i think the process takes a very long time. >> reporter: just in case the message wasn't clear enough the kids marched to the d.c. schools headquarters. while the school district says it knows that these cuts are difficult and they are painful to some, they hope that the disruptions to the students will be minimal. they s about 80% of d.c. schools will experience cuts of two staff members or less. reporting, i'm kimberly suiters, news4. >> we'll have the very latest on the school protests including new reaction coming up live right here on news4 at 5:00 tonight. pat. a lanham man is lucky to be alive after a minivan crashed through h window and landed on his bed. the man had just awakened and sitting at a nearby chair. on good luck road. you can see the gaping hole where the bedroom window used to be. the man behind the wheel was taking a driving lesson that obviously didn't go well. a friend was in the van with him. serving as his driving instructor. the two men are now in custody. prince george's county police say charges against them are pending. man who lives in the apartment was hit by flying debris, but he's expected to be okay. wow. >> some tough lesson there. >> yeah. well, if you plan on voting in virginia next month, time's running out on you. >> and it's a good time to check out your smoke detectors. >> there's a look at four other stories make headlines in our area today. more than a dozen school buses were vandalized overnight in anrundel county forcing other students to find another way to get to class. 15 busses in all were hoist this bus service. the vandalism affected students trying to report to class at 15 different schools. officials tell us the break lines on the buses had been cut and fuel lines were damaged. this afternoon school officials say alternate buses picked up students and brought them home with no delays. and full of district cab driver appeared in u.s. district court this afternoon on charges they tried to bribe the city's cab commission. 40 were arrested. totaling more than $100,000. prosecutors say the group paid the money to acquire taxi permit licenses. among the defendants is ted, a d.c. councilman jim graham's chief staff. less than an hour for virginians to register to vote. the deadline is 5:00 this afternoon. election day is november 3rd. that's when voters will decide virginia's next governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and all 100 house of delegate seats. you can check your voter status and your polling place online by calling the local regist rars office. this week is national fire prevention week and it's a good time to check the batteries in your smoke detectors. if you don't have a working smoke detector you can contact your local fire department and get one free. in prince george's county, you could request a safety inspection of your house, and that's free. fire investigators say a working smoke alarm reduces the chance of dying in a fire by half. and now to breaking news this afternoon out of florida, where the university of south florida was on lockdown. earlier this afternoon. it happened after someone reported a person with a bomb and a gun near the school library. one person was taken into custody and is now being interviewed by police. the tampa police bomb team has been called in to investigate the person's belongings. several other people are being questioned, possibly as witnesses. the university posted an alert on its website this afternoon telling people on campus to stay indoors and to lock their doors. the campus transit system was shout down during the incident. the swine flu vaccine is here. the first doses were given to health care workers today, while there's been much talk about the h1n1 vaccine, there still the seasonal flu to worry about, too. and there's a lot of confusion about who needs it and what and when, and just how many doses? tracie potts has information to help us sort it all out. >> reporter: health care workers in indiana and tennessee got the first doses of the new swine flu vaccine today. the seasonal vaccine for regular flu is already out there. two different flu vaccines and a shot or a spray. that's got some people confused. >> i'm confused about how many shots they need and whether it's two and three. >> reporter: here's the deal, if you're a healthy adult over 25, get your regular flu shot, but don't rush to get the swine flu vaccine. high-risk adults and children need both. >> these are two different viruses that could be circulating together throughout the community. so if you're protected against one, you would not be protected against the other. >> reporter: if you're a health care worker, if you're under 24 years old or if your child is under six months old, you're at risk. get both vaccines right away. pregnant women and chronically ill adults are at risk too, but they cannot get the spray. they have to get the shot. for kids it's more complicated. babies under six months old cannot get any vaccine at all. children over 10, only need one dose of the swine flu vaccine and one dose of the regular vaccine. for children under 10, it's trickier. they need two doses of the swine flu vaccine, but don't forget they also need the regular flu vaccine. one dose if they've had it before, two doses if they haven't, and two doses if they missed the second dose last year. and remember, all that is in addition to the two swine flu vaccines. now if you need two doses of either vaccine, they have to be 21 day apart. so parents, you may need to pull out a calendar to keep it all straight. so you want to get the spray instead of the shot, well you have to be over 2, under 50. you can't be pregnant or chronically ill, and you cannot get two nasal spray vaccines on the same day. from washington, i'm tracie potts, news4. >> and we're going to have some expert advice on the h1n1 vaccine a bit later on. dr. jackie will join us live here to answer all of your flu prevention question. that's coming up right here on news4 at 5:00. pat? residents of samoa are still taking stock of the damage caus by last week's tsunami. at least 177 people were killed when an underwater earthquake triggered the tsunami on tuesday. most of the victims were from samoa, but 32 people were killed in america samoa and nine were killed in nearby tunga. authorities say the death toll would had been worse if not for the quick action of the staff at the tourist resort in samoa. the workers noticed the workers receding after the quake and immediately began dragging tourists out of their beach huts and up a nearby hill. within the minutes the resort was washed away. a newly released hotel surveillance video showed the first moments of that terrible quake that rocked indonesia last wednesday. the 140-room hotel was in padang. the capital of west sumatra province. the footage shows people running and debris falling from ceiling in several locations inside of the hotel. eventually the quake destroyed the entire building. authorities say there were 200 people in the hotel when it collapsed. rescue teams found no survivors. and the search for survivors has been called off across the earthquake zone. authorities are now focused on preventing outbreaks of disease. united nations officials say at least 1,100 people were killed in the quake. well, turning now to the weather. oh, the fl of fall, put on a sweater and soak up the sun. chuck bell has our weather from the storm center. >> hi, pat, good afternoon and good mday to you. bright and beautiful sunshine across the area again this afternoon and just like you said, pat, absolutely classic october here in the washington area. downtown temperature right now stands at an even 70 democratgr. 70 in fairfax and loudoun counties. 70 in quantico and springfield. 70 down in st. mary's county as well. 71 in montgomery county, maryland. 72 now in frederick county, maryland. here's a check of regional radar. no rain in our immediate future. at least not for the next 12 to 24 hours or so. but there are showers way down to our south and west, which will be trying to come our way late tomorrow, more likely into the early-morning hours of wednesday. so your good-night forecast is clear and dry. the full -- well, not full, nearly full moon comes up about 7:30 this evening. it'll be clear, it'll be cool, another good view look out to the east at about 7:30, you can watch the nearly full harvest moon rising. the clouds will come back tomorrow and a chance for showers come in by the middle of the week. a detailed check of the rest the forecast coming up in a few minutes. and now ba to the news. >> chu. thank you. we had great football weather. i wiesh we could say the same about the entire game. the redskinsere given fans a roller-coaster ride yesterday. the offense didn't get things going early. they barely beat the tampa bay buccaneers. jason campbell struggled in the first half. had three turnovers. the second half he fared a bit better, a lot better, in fact. he tossed two touchdowns and including the game winner to santana moss. today head coach jim zorn praising his guys after a 16-13 win. >> the best thing about our football team is nobody packed it in. i mean that was truly a sign of some strength within our football team. character within our football team. and they did a very nice job, adjusting, coming back out and playing -- continue to play hard. >> redskins are now 2-2. traveling to carolina to face the 0-3 panthers on sunday. you know if you gave up on them during halftime, you missed it cause what's in they came back, third quarter. coming up at 5:00, lindsay will have reaction from the players. then at 6:00, dan will join us live from redskins park. >> a lot of fans are probably missing their nails. >> yeah, they are. >> from chewing. >> and booing yesterday. >> chewing and booing. >> yep. >> yeah, a real nail-biter season so par. when news4 at 4:00 continue, a court date for the man accused of stalking a sports reporter taking secret videos of her naked. and then posting those pictures on the internet. >> it's creepy. and david letterman returns to the air for the first time since he dropped the bombshell about being blackmailed forring is sex with savers. and behind a report in the increase in the number of autism cases. if you're trying to lose weight pat's "healthor life" report reveals a cool site that may help do you it. it's got a real visual the healthy weight commitment, the name of a new nationwide campaign announced today to help reduce obesity. it's described as a unique relationship between retailers, nonprofit groups, food and beverage manufacturers and trade associations. organizers say the goal is to reduce obesity especially childhood obesity by the year 2015. it focuses on a basic principle about weight loss. >> our message is simple. it's about achieving and maintaining healthy weight through energy balance, balancing the calories that we conswum a healthy diet with calories that we expend through physical activity about biehl be focusing our efforts by promoting the effort of energy balance in three areas where people spend most of their time. the marketplace, the workplace, the schools. >> organize iners say the concept of energy balance is often omitted in weight loss messages. working out to lose weight can be a tough job. for some, it would be an easier job if you could just see light at the end of the tunnel. in get healthy for life this afternoon there's a new website that will show you just what you will look like at the end of your journey. maryanne fab row has that story. >> reporter: has worked hard to lose 30 pounds this year and she's determined to lose 30 more. now the 28-year-old can see exactly what she will look like at her goal weight thanks to -- >> it was neat to see, to see that the thigh, getting slimmer because that's one of your focus points is trying to reduce the lower body. >> rorter: all she did was upload a photo of herself to the free website. and voila, this is her 30 pounds lighter. >> the waste is looking real -- >> reporter: she plans to post this afterphoto on her fridge. >> i think that having that visual aid, every morning that you wake up or by your refrigerator kind of motivates you to stay away from those unwanted food. >> reporter: weight loss experts we talk to say the visual image the website provides could be an excellent motivator especially for people who've experienced initial weight loss but have hit a plateau and can't seem to get that number on the scale to budge. of course, the website is no substitute for workouts. you still need to exercise and eat less. >> it's a good guide p it's a good visual. it's a good motivator. but it shouldn't be something that anybody is super attached to of what they absolutely will look like. everybody's different. >> reporter: she says that now she knows how svelt she looks she cannot wait to reach her dream weight. >> seeing is believing. g go to nbcwashington.com and search keyword, weight loss. spending the money to keep up park, in the district is a hot topic today. today congresswoman toured nine service parks. norton hopes there will be a lot more attention and fund into the parks. last year norton released a report detailing all of the improvements needed to restore the parks. >> we have some of the most valuable parks in the united states. they're all federally owned. i would like to see stimulus funds used to help revive our parks. when i took a tour of our parks in all eight wards i saw valuable assets that were being kept clean, but which lacked many amenities. >> earlier this year congresswoman norton worked with appropriateators. >> they do need a lot of work, don't they. >> they do and a lot of them. surf's up, what some people will do to set a world record. >> and this may be a good week to eat out and save some money. we'll tell you where and why. rsations between both parents and that jon remains under contract with the network. meredith. >> amy robach, so how many surfers do you think can ride a wave at the same time? all at once? that was the challenge yesterday in south africa. more than 100 surfers attempted to break a world record. each rider had to be on the wave for at least five seconds. the record to beat was 100 surfers. the guinness book of world records is still trying to determine exactly how many surfers caught this wave. >> i would want to wear a helmet because that is a whole lot of surfboards flying around there. look at how they are standing up forever. they need a bigger wave. >> yeah that doesn't really count, does it? l let's go to the ocean and try that. >> go to the north shore of aaw you had. >> outside right now nothing but blue skies over washington. the temperatures are mosy in the upper 60s to near 70 degrees right now. at reagan national airport our current temperature stands at 70 degrees, the dew point 41, humidity 35%, light northeasterly wind at 5 miles per hour. temperatures around the rest of the area. early this morning, oh, what a nice october, a chill that was. 47 out in fairfax count. 44 in martinsburg earlier this morning. 41 down in manassas and tomorrow morning way nice dry air in place and the clear skies overnight tonight. everybody should be one or two degrees cooler tomorrow morning than we were this fine morning. right now, temperatures mostly in the upper 60s to near 70 degrees. the dew point's the measure of moisture in the atmosphere hovering here in the 40-degree mark. with no wind and the clear sky, maximum radiational cooling. these are the overnight temperatures. still a lot of 40s in the suburbs to right around the 50-degree mark near washington. a little area of rain down across the carolinas, that's staying down to our south. it's headed out of the outer banks of north carolina. so we're sitting here for the 12 to the next 24 hours. gradually that high pressure will move away. keep our skies mostly clear overnight tonight. as it mes away -- our weathermaker is starting to move out of the state of oklahoma and moving into arkansas. our next chance of rain, probably not tomorrow but into the overnight hours tomorrow night into early wednesday. that's when i think our chances of rain start to ramp up a bit. our future cast model by tomorrow, showers down to the south have a hard time getting going by 8:00 tomorrow. maybe showers, west of the shenandoah area. that area of green there that's e best chances of rain around here during the first half of the day wednesday and then things dry out again for wednesday night and thursday. so for your beautiful monday evening, sunny to clear outside, cool. moon comes up just after 7:30 this evening. it's still about 96% full. just a few high clouds perhaps overnight tonight. otherwise a mostly clear and chilly start again tomorrow morning. low 40s in the western suburbs. one or two spots may touch into the upper 30s. tomorrow during the course of the day clouds start to lower and thicken a little bit. but tomorrow ternoon, again, looks mostly dry and a little on the mild side. upper 60s to near 70 degrees. clouds start to thicken tomorrow morning in the advance of the next rain chances but even about this time tomorrow we will remain dry. "7-day forecast" check coming up in about oh 15 minutes from now. >> thanks, chuck. takes the cake. it is the battle for the golden local between two bakeries. georgetown cupcake and bake and wired are competing over who makes the best cupcake in town. right now georgetown has a bit of an edge. you can still cast your vote and read what cupcake customers are saying. go to nbcwashington.com and search golden locals. still a head on news4 at 4:00, a suspect goes to court accused stalking a tv sports reporter and posting ne pictures of her on the internet. a court considers whether the boyfriend of anna nicole smith will face charges in her death. and more cases of autism are being reported these days. we'll find out what researchers believe is behind the increase. and welcome back, everybody, at 4:30. i'm jim handly. >> i'm pat lawson muse. here are some of the top stories at this hour. d.c. students protested outside of mckinley high school in northeast washington today, in response to teacher layoffs. last week, more than 200 teachers were told their jobs had been eliminated. school officials say the cuts are necessary because of declining enrollment and a $44 million budget deficit. health care workers were first in line today to get the first doses of swine flu vaccine in the u.s. because they're included in the high-risk group, healthy -- they're getting priority rather, priority access to the shots this week. about 40 million doses are expected to be more widely available by the middle of this month. some d.c. cab drivers appeared in u.s. district court this afternoon. 40 people are accused of bribing the city's cab commission over the course of two years. more than $100,000 was allegedly paid in exchae for taxi permit licenses. ted loza, d.c. council member's jim aham's chief of staff is among the defendants. the man accused stalking an espn reporter appeared before a chicago judge today. he's accused of not only track the reporter's movements but taking nude photos of her secretly. today the judge let the suspect post a $4,500 bond. he'll remain on home confinement until his next hearing later this month john yang has the latest. >> reporter: the espn sideline reporter erin andrews is used to being on camera at big sporting ents, not in the privacy of a hotel room. but fbi alleges that 47-year-old michael david barrett used a cell phone to make peeping-tom nude videos of andrews in a nashville hotel room where she was covering a college football game and perhaps in a hotel room in milwaukee where she was covering a major league baseball game. the 33-page criminal complaint says barrett posted the videos on the bret after celebrity website tmz.com rejected his attempt to sell them. the fbi tracked barrett using his e-mails to tmz. barrett's attorneys spoke exclusively with nbc news sunday night. >> it's a tough time for his parents and relatives and as it would be for anybody. >> reporter: the fbi alleges that barrett tampered with the peephole in andrews' hotel room door. shorten the length of the eye piece. screw it from the outside that allowed them to use a cell phone to secretly shoot the nude videos. the complaint says barrett called hotels in the cities where andrews was working to figure out where she was staying and asked specifically for a room next to andrews who is identified as individual "a." >> this was childish, this was immature, this was vicious, and this was criminal. >> reporter: andrews says it was a nightmare. she talked about it last month with oprah winfrey. >> having to call my parents, and they thought i was physically injured, how bad i was screaming. i kept scream, i'm done, my career over, i'm done. and i -- get it off, get it off the internet. get it off. >> that was john yang reporting. now the reporter's attorney says the hotel was wrong to let barrett book a room next to hers. a delay in another high-profile court case in los angeles. a preliminary hearing in the anna nicole smith death case has been put off until next week. the judge will determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence to proceed to trial. prosecutors alleged howard k. stern, who was smith's boyfriend and lawyer, contributed to her death by providing her with prescription drugs. smith died of a drug overdose back in 2007. the doctors who filled those prescriptions also are facing charges. pat? now to that eye-opening study on autism. there is new evidence that the condition is much more common than first thought. some say it's a clear signal that more needs to be done to help affected families. lian -- leeann gregg has details. >> reporter: her son keith had autism when he was a toddler. >> keith was not very verbal so it was difficult for me when he was younger because he would throw a lot of tantrums and i could not understand what was wrong. >> reporter: 1 in every 91 children in the u.s. has been diagnosed with some form of autism. higher than the previous estimate of 1 in 150 children. >> we're not surprised by this. we've been tracking this nationally through state agencies and school districts. and their numbers are falling in line with what the study is showing. >> reporter: better diagnoses and awareness may account for part of the increase, but some point to other factors. >> we've been subjected to numerous chemicals and neurotoxins over the last century. >> reporter: the study is based on surveys of more than 78,000 parents of children between the ages of 3 and 17. but since verbal interviews were used to gather the information, some doctors are skeptical of the accuracy. >> when we're dealing with parent report, we don't know who actually gave the label and what is an accurate label. >> reporter: the study also found that 40% of children who had at one time been diagnosed with a form of autism no longer meet that critia. >> children who lose the diagnose of autism typically will have some of their symptoms if you look carefully enough. >> he's very unpredictable. >> reporter: a puzzling disorder that according to the study, is being diagnosed more often with more and more families looking for resources. leeann gregg, nbc news. >> the survey also indicated that boys are four times more likely than girl foshave autistic characters. and white children are at graphic risk than black or multiracial children. still a head on news4 at 4:00, david letterman is set to go back on the air for the first time since dropping that bombshell about an extortion plot. and welcome back to news4 at 4:00. i'm news4 meteorologist. looking in, no doubt about that, 70 degrees here in washington. 68 out at the eastern shore. 65 in raleigh, north carolina. they're cooler because they have clouds and a few light showers around their neighborhood. we don't need to worry about that here. clear skies here tonight and nearly full moon coming up about 7:30. low 60s by 9:00. upper 50s by 11:00 p.m. and back down to near 50 degrees in town by tomorrow morning. we'll see if washington national get down below 50 for the first time since may 19th. most of the western suburbs way down into the 40s once again. martinsburg down to 40 degrees. upper 60s to near 70 tomorrow with maybe a chance of a shower out in -- washington. windy and showery weather coming up on wednesday but not all that cold. temperatures in the low to mid 70s. clearing out on flpds a nice, mild day coming up on friday. southwesterly winds will put temperatures close up to 80 degrees on friday. and another a little chance of rain shows up fors first half of the day on saturday. we'll get to the rest of that "7-day forecast" coming up in a few more minutes. those gremlins they are alive and well. >> thank you, chuck. this week folks in rockville have a reason to eat out, that's because the city's kicking off its first-ever restaurant week starts today, runs through sunday. two-course lunches will be available for ten bucks. three-course dinners will go for $25. you can see which restaurants are participating by visiting buyrockville.org. today is habitat world day. the united nations declared this day to focus on the need of decent affordable housing around the world. dozens of habitats for humanity volunteers spent the morning building a condo in fairfax. nine families will move in next month. when the condo complex is complete. coming up on news4 -- >> and coming up, women traveling on business need to take special precautions. we'll have some tips that will help keep you saf and secure. and a first for women as americans take the nobel prize in medicine. on wall street today stocks began the trading week with solid gains. the dow is up 112 points. the nasdaq gained about 20. and the new york stock exchange closed 120 points higher. for the first time since mid-july the national average price for gasoline fell below the $2.50 mark. the average price for a gallon of regular today in washington is $2.39. that's down five cents compared to a week ago and more than a dollar less than paying a year ago. the average price for gas in the district itself is a bit more. $2.53. >> in the right direction. well, falling ridership has left metro short of millions of dollars. according to a report by the transit agency train ridership was down 4 percent in july, 2.5% in august, compared to last year. the redline ridership fell even further, nearly three tim those levels. metro says it's now expecting $8.2 million less in fare revenue. the transit agency blames the redline crash back in june. the economy, and d.c.'s jobless rate for the dropoff. for many women traveling for business presents its own set of joys and challenges. the challenges include everything from what to pack, to staying safe. with help from the how-to website monkeysee.com. a travel expert offers some practical safety advice. >> my strategies for surviving and succeeding a travel start before i get out the door. i organize from the ground up. in packing i start with my shoes and build my outfits from there, black, blue or brown shoes dictate the color scheme for my trip. of course like any savvy traveler, i've got all of the relevant numbers on my speed dial, airlines, travel agent, hotels and car rental. had my boarding pass already printed out. print two, somehow you never lose one when you have a spare. i think we'vell heard horror stories about people getting stuck on planes. here's what i do, twitter. use your phone or blackberry to twitter about the situation and i try to get all of the other passengers to do this too. a little publicity can get things unstuck. as a woman traveling alone i frequently text my husband, assistant or friend, where i am, time departure and where i am going. at the hotel i'm always aware of security. if the clerk announces my room number outloud when i am checking in, i immediately request another room. no point in taking chances. sometimes i have trouble keeping track of my room key. so my trick to make a habit of putting it on the floor next to the door the moment i walk in the room. i also have learned to carry a binder clip in my briefcase per those pesky hotel curtains that will not stay closed. lastly, i look for a way to reward myself after a day on the road. i'm a firm believer on return on indulgence. if i treat myself to chocolate, a bubble bath or favorite magazine i'm going to wake up feeling smarter and ready to take on the day's adventures. being prepared, knowing that you have a plan for an emergency and a little indulgence are my tips for surviving and succeeding as a woman business traveler. >> and here are some other safety tips for women traveling alone. if possible, plan your trips so that you arrive at your destination during daylight hours. and when filling up the guest regtration forms use your initial instead of your name and skip the box that you have list whether you are a misses or a ms. and that check-in, consider asking for a room here in the elevator so you will not need to walk down long, potentially dark hallways to get to your room. and you'll find more how-to tips on our website, go to nbcwashington.com, and search monkey see. >> a few tips to help you watch your back. >> that's right. >> while you're out there. coming up on news4 at 4:00, kate gets emotional as she makes new accusations againston in a "today" show exclusive. >> and beginning to look like christmas. find out where you can shop early and save early. well, another twist in th divorce battle between jon and kate. now kate gosselin is accusing her husband of raiding their bank account and leaving her broke. kate made the allegations on the "today" show this morning. >> and he took $230,000 of the $231,000 that we have liquid and i have a stack of bills in my purse i can't drop in the mail. >> in a statement jon gosselin denied those accusation says. tlc renamed the gosselin's reality show "kate plus 8" leaving jon with a smaller role. he shut down the filming saying it was bad for the kids. >> let's get an update now on the weather. another spectacular day. chuck is out on it. what's the latest, chuck? >> jim, you should be out here on the lawn. the come on days that you come on out and enjoy me because it is absolutely, a, number one outside. hopefully everyone gets a chance to enjoy in great october sunshine. temperatures hovering around the 70-degree mark across the area. get to keep the dry weather for overnight tonight as well. our neighborhood network stations, start with maryland. sitting september degrees now under a mostly clear sky. next neighborhood we're going to take a visit of -- is fredericksburg, virginia. 73 with the sunshine and a very light breeze and the next stop we've got there, vienna, virginia, sitting at 69 now after a 52 degree start this morning. so your forecast for overnight tonight, we'll generally have clear skies. most of the western suburbs way down into the 40s to near 50 in town. low 50s if you're right up alongside of the chesapeake bay. tomorrow mostly with sunny skies early. go through the rest of the day tomorrow, clouds on the increase. could have a shower west of the blue ridge after sunset tomorrow. tomorrow's highs up near 70 degrees p the next four days a nice stretch of weather around here. the worst day of the week is wednesday. tomorrow, clouds on the increase with the high near 70. windy with showery weather on tap for wednesday. nice day coming up on thursday. pick of the litter may be frye day. first of all, it'll be friday and also the warmest day of the week with temperatures darn close to 80 degrees and more showers roll in for the very first part of the weekend and although i think more dry ones than wet ones on a weekend. always good to hear on a monday. back to the studio. >> thank you, chuck. oneetail giant is slashing prices to help get into the holiday 30? walmart early enough is offering 100 different toys from barbies to board games all for $10. last year the program included only ten toys. walmart says research has shown that 70% of its customers plan to start their holiday shopping early, yeah, before halloween. >> if you spend $10 here, and $10 there you don't feel it rather than do it all at once and once do you it at once you have this large lump sum on top of your bills so it's kind of hard. >> holiday sales can account for as much as half of the annual profit and a big part of those sales is from toys. >> boy, it makes you know sense, spread it out but you have to hide them for three months. >> yeah, well you can start early and save or can you wait until the 24th. >> there you go. here's today's news bargain last. discounts at a discount store, right now can get a 20% off coupon to big hots, just go to washington, d.c. and search, bargain blast. >> and heads-up the last day that you can take a taste at starbucks. a free tall brood coffee and also get a $1 off starbucks via-ready brew. still to come this afternoon at 4:00, new details are emerging about the plot to extort money from david letterman. and got good news about a bountiful crop for a staple during the coming holidays. here's some of the stories making news on the web now. today three americans received the nobel prize in medicine. and it's the first time two women have shared the nobel prize in medicine in the same year. elizabeth blackburn, carol greider and jack szostak were credited with cracking the mystery of how chromosomes which carry dna protect themselves from degrading when cells divide. their findings could lead to new lines of cancer research. greider is a researcher at johns hopkins university medical school in baltimore. the supreme court began its new term today with justice sonia sotomayor joining the other justices on the bench for the first time. during the high court's first case the newest justice peppered the arguing lawyers with as many questions as her eight more experienced supreme court colleagues. among the cases this term, a challenge to limits on corporate spending and political campaigns and a lawsuit to strike down local handgun bans in the chicago area. firefighters in california say mild winds and lower temperatures will help them make significant progress there against wildfires in san bernardino coun. the blaze broke out on saturday and has scorched at least 7,500 acres and destroyed three homes. as of this morning the blaze was 20% contained. some 6,000 people in the town of wrightwood remain under mandatory evacuations. good news for cranberry lovers. experts are predicting a larger than usual crop cnberries because of the cool, wet summer in new jersey. the agricultural department expects to produce 54 million pounds of the tart red ber these year, that's up five% over last year. new jersey has more than 3,000 acres of cranberry crop. david letterman is back on the job today. he's taping his first new show since he made that bombshell announcement thursday about having sex with staff members and being blackmailed about it. nbc's peter alexander h the story. >> i have had sex with women who work for me on this show. >> reporter: it was no joke. david letterman's stunning confession revealed a bizarre story of inner-office sex, crime and money. the man accused of trying to extort $2 million from letterman is now out on bail. suspended cbs news reporter inside photographs, a page from a personal diary. and a letter threatening to expose letterman's sexual relationships if he didn't pay up. in warning the comedian, his world is about to collapse around him. >> there's another side to the story p it's not the open-and-shut case that you just heard about. >> reporter: shot twice divorce suspect owes in child support. halderman's live-in girlfriend until recent leaves 34-year-old stephanie birkitt. one of letterman's assistants and a familiar face in late-night skits. >> this is steph thedoing an impression of her old boyfriend dancing. >> there we go. stephanie. >> reporter: "the new york times" reports birkitt had a past sexual relationship with letterman. in a wake forest university alumni magazine from 2003, birkitt had called letterman the greatest boss i could ever had. letterman didn't name any of his co-workers when he addressed his relationships last week. >> and would it be embarrassing if it were made public? perhaps it would. perhaps it would. especially for the women. >> reporter: now other former employees who claim they were involved with letterman are coming forward and some wonder whether any of letterman's office relationships were inappropriate. >> now that he's admitted to the world that he was having sex with employees, they may feel comfortable coming forward now saying, we've felt uncomfortable all along. >> reporter: letterman's production company, world wide cam, say the comedian did not violate his policy and no one's ever filed a complaint. for now letterman's become the punch line for the other kings of comedy. >> i was shocked that letterman's been having affairs. i had no idea he was even running for office. >> if you came here tonight for sex from the talk show host you've got the wrong studio. >> that was peter alexander reporting. letterman's accused extortionist faces first-degree attempted grand larceny charges. if convicted he could spend up to 15 years for prison. that does it for news4 at 4:00. stay right there. news4 at 5:00 is next. tonight on news4 at 5:00, driving test disaster. the apartment building crash and the resident who may have cheated death. open hou in more ways than one. a robbery duo caught taking advantage of sellers. bribery case, the d.c. taxi cab commissioner who turned down the cash speaks out for the first time. good evening, i'm keith garvin. >> i'm pat lawson muse. we begin with a noisy fight for jobs. >> education. >> education. >> education, not termination. that's what students and parents chanted today outside of mckinley high school in northeast washington. many of them this morning calling for d.c. chancellor michelle to resign. that news on friday sparked protests that ended with an arrest. the loudest outcry is over the 229 teachers who lost their jobs. it's part of an effort to close a $40 million budget gap. pat collins joins us live now from the building downtown on more on the backlash tonight. pat? >> reporter: pat, what a lesson from d.c. public schools.