bad weather may be to blame for a large sinkhole in annandale this morning. the storms passed through the area near annandale and beach tree roads just after 1:00 in the morning. and investigators are looking into the possible bill of a lightning strike caused the pavement to buckle, damaging underground verizon cables and took almost 12 hours for the road to be repaired. things are back to normal now. >> breaking news out of southeast washington at this hour. police say a man working as a landscaper has been shot to death. this happened in the 4600 block of hillside drive southeast. not far from the scene of a recent shooting. another recent shooting. news4's jackie bensen is at the scene with the latest. jackie? >> reporter: take a look behind me and we want to show you what it looks like as you can see crime scene investigators and detective, homicide detectives, around what we believe is the victim's car. this is the second shooting of a latino contractor in this neighborhood in just over one week's time. something that has police very concerned. now police say that the victim, we are told is a 29-year-old man, was here doing lawn mowing at the garden apartments when he was confronted possibly during a robbery. the suspect may have wanted his suv. police are not sure at this point. the man was shot several times and he did not survive house injuries. as i said, homicide detectives are here on the scene working inside a large closed-off perimeter. >> appears at this point the gentleman was doing work in the area and at this point to what extent we are uncertain of. very early in the investigation. we are trying to figure that out. >> reporter: one week ago, about ten blocks away on dicks street, two latino contractors were painting the side of a building when they were approached by a man who demanded money. that man shot and critically injured the older worker. the younger worker actually threw paint pails at the suspect the he was covered with paint and bleeding profusely. there is not believed to be a connection between those two crimes. what police are very concerned about at this point is the possible bill that the contractors are being targeted for robbery. back to you. >> jackie bensen. thanks, jackie. a montgomery county man was fatally stabbed overnight in northwest washington. the victim is identified as 40-year-old hago of silver spring. he was found 2:30 this morning near zminth t streets northwest. he was lying on the sidewalk, suffering from an apparent stab wound to the chest. he was taken to nearby howard university hospital but it was too late. police are offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case. memorial day weekend is finally here. traffic is starting to back up. aaa estimating 32 million americans will travel this holiday weekend. here in our area more than 800,000 people are expected to hit the road. news4's john schriffen is live on i-95. a look at the traffic. how is it moving out there, john? >> reporter: it is not too bad at this point. we are here in springfield at the mixing bowl of i-95. traffic is moving steadily. what we are seeing at this point is a new wave of travelers. we just talked to some a little while ago. people there just getting off of work and packed up the car and geared up. they are excited to kick off their three-day weekend. >> bring the dog. bathing suit, jeans, tank top. >> ready to go? >> yes. >> reporter: the car or bike is packed and now it is time to hit the road for the first major travel weekend of the year. you haven't left yet? my god, what are you waiting for? anderson with aaa mid atlantic says for memorial day 85% of travelers will be going by car. so you better get a head start because your trip will take a lot longer than usual. leesburg resident angel davis knows all about the gridlock. that's why this year she is staying home. so far today it has not been easy getting there from work. have you noticed traffic yet? >> yes, i have. i'm scared to go that way. now i may be going another way. >> reporter: a little traffic will not stop lauren. he has been looking forward to this fishing trip with his buddy to delaware. >> the past 63 years. traffic. >> reporter: aaa expects more people to take a weekend gettist way this weekend than the past two years because the economy is coming around. meaning more job security. also travelers noticed the pump, gas prices have started to come down. >> hallelujah. yeah. when you pull into the gas pump, you can smile. you remember all of those predictions of $3 gas for memorial day? you know. i filled up at $2.69 the other day. the average now in the washington ain't area is about $2.80. guess what? the further you get from washington the cheaper the gas. >> $5, still have to pay it. that's the way it is. lower the better. got to do what you got to do. >> reporter: at this point travelers aren't so much worrying about traffic and hitting the road. right now they are looking up at the sky hoping -- hopefully the skies will open up there. hoping for some sun for this long three-day weekend. john schriffen, wendy, back to you. >> thank you, john. if you hit the road this weekend there is good news at the pump. gas prices dipped as long and cheering. gas prices have gone down seven cents in seven days. in d.c., regular unleaded averaging $2.89 a gallon. maryland, $2.79. virginia, drivers are paying $2.64. the third week in a row the prices have gone south. to a news4 exclusive. a bus driver wrongly accused of trying to kidnap a child is now speaking out. all charges against the driver have been dropped. he sat down this afternoon with news4's julie carey and is here to tell bus that. >> reporter: on may 17, carl rice began living a nightmare when he was arrested and charged with attempting to abduct a 9-year-old spotsylvania counsel boy. he spent ten days in jail before yesterday when the prosecutor dropped the charge and announced rice had been exonerated. the prosecutor said that the child's allegations had been a misunderstanding and actually involved another man. >> your whole world comes crashing down because all of a sudden you are like -- i didn't do anything. i don't even know what's going on. the police won't tell me what's happening. why i'm being charged. >> reporter: that was carl rice's reaction when police came to his home the evening of may 17th and started asking questions. even though he told them that he had been at at the time the accuser was approach bid a stranger no photo lineup was ever done. even though rice maintained his innocence, the 51-year-old retired marine was jailed without bond. early this week, another man came to police to say that he recalled talking to a boy the afternoon of the 17th. the investigators then determined that the boy's claim was all a misunderstanding. yesterday when rice appeared in court for a bond hearing, he was told he was free to go, exonerated. the ordeal has left its mark. >> my whole life has gone down the toilet. it is unreal what it does to you. mine, my whole life comes to a screeching halt. i mean -- one minute i'm having a good time. just life's great. and then the next -- excuse me. >> reporter: before the arrest rice was working as a substitute school bus driver but he says he's so shaken by the false allegation that he does want to work around children again. coming up at 6:00, i will have more from carl rice and his wife who are still awaiting an apology from the spots vein yeah county sheriff's department and prosecutors there. back to you now. >> julie carey, changes, julie. president obama's visiting the gulf coast today getting a close-up look at the oil spill damage. he toured grand isle louisiana with coast guard and local officials, inspecting several tar balls along the way. the president promised to do whatever it takes to end the catastrophe which is now the biggest oil spill in u.s. history. mr. obama is touring the gulf 38 days into the disaster. and engineers are still working on the sea floor trying to plug the leak. the discovery of a plume of thick oil just below the surface has triggered more worries. researchers say the plume is moving closer to an underwater canyon where it could poison the food chain for years in the water's off florida. the plume was detected yesterday and more than six miles wide and 22 miles long. today the head of bp, tony hayward, said the top kill operation is progressing as planned and said engineers completed a second phase pumping what he called lost prevention material into a crippled piece of equipment. he detailed the procedure on the "today" show this morning. >> we have a plan of work which will probably take through a further 48 hours before we have a definitive view of what -- what i would say, of course, once we are pumping mud there is no oil and gas coming to surface. >> hayward also said he is anxious as anyone else in america to get this thing done. actor gary coleman died this afternoon in a hospital in utah. hospital officials say that coleman suffered an intracranial hemorrhage on wednesday after a fall in his home. he was put on life support today before he died. the child actor came to fame as the quick-witted young star in the '70s sitcom "diff'rent strokes." legal and personal troubles, even a run for governor in california, kept him in the spotlight as an adult. gary coleman was 42 years old. "news4 at 5:00" is just getting started. what you never thought you would see a child doing. the internet video of a 2-year-old boy smoking that has people outraged. daughter of a local politician is hospitalized after a graduation party. >> undercover cop found in a local business and why the place had to be shut down. maryland governor martin o'malley's teenage daughter is out of the hospital tonight after a scare at the balance more inner harbor. aaron gilchrist is in the studio to tell tuesday latest on this story. >> 18-year-old tara o'malley is doing better according to a statement from her mother. she was sent to the hospital last night after attending a graduation party. this is a picture of tara o'malley from the governor's website. you see tlitd according to a police report obtained by news4, an officer on foot patrol last night saw her on light street and she appeared to be unconscious. medics arrived on the scene there and took her to the hospital where she was later released. a statement released from her mother, katie o'malley, reads in part, tara became ill and received medical treatment after attending a graduation celebration last night. tara returned home last night and is feeling much better. she goes on to say as we deal with this family matter and treat it as a teachable moment, we thank the public for respecting our privacy and encourage all parents and teenagers to be safe this graduation season. tara o'malley just graduated from high school in baltimore county on wednesday. o'malley was not charged with anything and there's no indication that her blood alcohol level was tested. the governor's office also released a statement last night calling the incident a private family matter. governor o'malley is currently seeking re-election and faces former governor ehrlich in november. vice president joe biden took part in the u.s. naval academy's commissioning ceremony in annapolis today. about a thousand students graduated. during his speech mr. biden highlighted the fact this year's class includes 11 women who will be the first females to have the opportunity to serve on submarines. it is also the 30th anniversary of women graduateding from the service academy. the ceremony ended with the traditional hat toss. just in time for start of summer, doctorbeach.com came out with the top beaches. top spot coopers beach. coming in second place, siesta beach in sarasota, florida. here's a look at the remaining beaches on the list, coronato beach. cape hatteras in the north carolina outer banks. and maine beach and east hampton round out the top five. kahanamoku beach in oahu. >> i know a lot of people would be happy just to get to rehoboth beach. >> we have severe weather to get through. >> yes. >> washout to the west of us. it runs from frederick county, virginia, down towards rappahannock. so that's west of us. we could see some storms around here, isolated threat of severe weather. for the most part we are not going to see anything like last night. we had thunder, lightning,everywhere. >> a noisy night. >> very noisy, indeed. for getting out of town for anyone that's caught in traffic, you know, weather like this that's okay. because it keeps you from being hot in the car. hitting the road with cloud cover and some showers, mostly, for late evening coming up, right now, we have some thunderstorms to the west and i will detail that for you on the radar. overcast skies. your skycam shot awfully gray. 74, the temperature now. humidity at 56% with the southeast wind at 7 miles per hour. washington, d.c., we have picked up 1.28 inches of rain. here's the cool stuff across the area right now. we are not going to be anywhere near this over the holiday weekend. 74 here in d.c. 72 in frederick. culpeper, 72. 74 in charlottesville now. the pink you see shaded here, that's where there is a severe thunderstorm watch until 9:00 p.m. it runs from frederick county, clark county, down south towards rappahannock county. 9:00 p.m. and points westward. that is where those storms have been firing today. we have this one area just south of culpeper headed towards orange county and luisa county. to the southeast, these are slow movers again upon about 10 to 15 miles per hour. then we have another area here that will be making its way into page county and warren county. you guys were under severe thunderstorm warnings earlier this afternoon. you can see all pressing down towards the south and east, future scan. slow movers here with a lot of lightning. not seeing much wind but certainly a lot of lightning. it was wind and hail damage we had yesterday. at least reports. right there southern areas of loudoun county and northeastern fauquier county. not going to see as much of that here with these storms. what's happening now is the weather front is west of our area. moving through last night and it has been stalled out here. that's where the storms have been firing. and then the upper level winds have been carrying those storms southea southeastward. as we lose the heating, we lose the threat of thunderstorms. showers left after midnight going into early saturday morning. 83 right now, st. louis. heat building over the area through the weekend. 82 degrees by sunday. but in the low 70s, ocean city. that water temperature is at 65 degrees. breezy, too. here is a look at your next 48 hours. again, some showers for early tomorrow morning. then we will start clearing out, folks. so your forecast for the evening scattered showers, just a few. temperatures drop from the low 70s to upper 60s. maybe an isolated cell that's severe. few lingering showers for tomorrow morning. start out in the low to mid 60s we will have a high tomorrow around 80 degrees. that's seasonably mild for us. then we go up to 88 sunday. we will have the return of not just heat but also humidity to the area on sunday. 92 degrees now for memorial day. yes, it is going to be hot and humid. and then the return of showers where we all go back to work on tuesday. not too bad. and as far as next week goes we will be hanging out in the 80s as well. you can always get the forecast. cable or nbcwashington.com. >> great. it will be a nice weekend once we get through tonight. thanks. when we come back, ain't has major work plans in the coming days. major delays you can expect the next time you ride the rails. latest on the custody battle of a hollywood producer that's also a suspect in the murder of his wife. the video, check out this video of a 2-year-old boy smoking more than three dozen cigarettes a day. so, this is the new car? yeah, here she is. it's, uh...great. thanks! yeah. doors would have been nice. eh... they weren't in my budget. no biggie. hey, you wanna hop in, go for a ride? oh! that'd be easy, right? yeah! narrator: settling for less is not smart. what is smart is getting more car for your money at carmax. for the money you would spend on a stripped-down new car, you can get a fully-loaded, guaranteed-quality used car at carmax. now more than ever, the smart choice is carmax. the way car buying should be. video of the smoking toddler that has a two pack a day habit is stirring anger around the world. the 2-year-old boy's name is artie. his family has become a local sensation since video of him smoking surfaced on the internet. people gathered outside his house to watch him puffing away. artie 'father says he introduced the boy to smoking at the age of 18 months. he rejects criticism that from people who say getting a toddler hooked on cigarettes is tantamount to child abuse. he says artie is perfectly healthy. the real tv producer suspected of killing his wife in mexico is back home in california and he is seeking custody of his kids. tmz caught up with bruce beresford-redman and asked him if he killed his wife. he had no comment. he returned to the los angeles area last week without the permission of mexican authorities. meanwhile, news surfaced that bruce beresford-redman took out two travel insurance policies on his wife before they went to mexico. policies would pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars in the case of accidental death. the beneficiaries are the couple's children. >> they were looking for some additional amount of proof. now with the life insurance policies and other evidence that that was the nail in the coffin they needed. >> mexican authorities say that they have just received the results of forensic tests and have a lot more questions for beresford-redman. they say that they do not know how he managed to leave mexico but now that he's gone if they do charge him, they will have to fight for extradition. the process can take years. an undercover bust. >> what went down at a local gas station that prompted police to shut the business down. preview of some of the big events taking place this memorial day weekend. >> playing a critical role in how much food you eat. here's the latest on how the cars are moving and as people try to get out of town. ashley? >> as you travel around the area we do have delays. you will find them around the capital beltway. as you can see here inner loop will be slow across the american legi legion. headed towards the eastern shore, no big problems at the toll plaza. we had accident activity along 5301 as you made your approach towards the bridge. little bit of congestion greets you on the approach. smooth sailing through the eastern shore. stay tuned. "news4 at 5:00" continues. welcome back to "news4 at 5:00." i'm pat lawson muse. >> i'm wendy rieger. jim handly has the night off. new at 5:30, orange line ain't riders should head out early as two train stations close for the weekend work. >> moving memorial day commemorations today at the world war ii memorial. >> hitting the beaches this weekend. liz crenshaw joins us to tell us the best kind of sunscreen for your kids. the threat of severe weather hanging over parts of our area. veronica johnson has the latest from the storm center. >> that it is. we have the gray, dark skies outside once again. you would think the sun has already set but today it sets at 8:25. the storms likely -- bulk have been hanging far back to the west. page county, shenandoah county, culpeper. let me show you on radar here. tremendous am of lightning again. with really two separate clusters. one that's making its way through hardie county, west virginia. heading towards shenandoah. another clutch to the south there. from madison going to orange and to luisa county. let's zoom in a little bit here. you can see the one cell there, again, to orange county, with some heavy rain. these are slow moving cells again. moving only to the southeast at about 10 to 15 miles per hour. then we have another area that's to the north and west. really west of -- well west of d.c. and west of i-81. headed towards areas of shenandoah once again that earlier was under a severe thunderstorm warning. so far these -- not being warned on but look at the rain. we are at 74. we will take another look at your 7-day forecast in just a few minutes. back to you. >> thanks, veronica. undercover police busted up an illegal gambling operation at a gas station in prince george's county. slot machines were seized from the station in brentwood today. news4's derrick ward is there now with details on the raid. >> reporter: you know, a friday evening before a three-day weekend, usually a busy time for gas stations. pes especially one of the main author fare. this business is closed. they have been doing the brisk business but problem is that a lot of the business was illegal. at this sun okay owe station, 38th street, rhode island avenue, brentwood, you can get gas and grab a bite and try your luck. legally and illegally. police raided the station today to put a stop to the illegal game they took away eight unlicensed video slot machines. >> once you have played the machine, then you would take this to the counter and give thank you $5. >> reporter: business was booming and undercover police were watch. >> we observed bags that we now assumed contained being taken out. one of the bags is inside. >> the place someplace is packed. >> today's sting operation caught everybody by surprise. this man was playing legal lottery at the time. >> i was putting my numbers in. they came in and said they wanted everyone to have a seat. >> reporter: it was generally known around the neighborhood that the games were here. they weren't hidden. they were popular. >> it was -- so much opening and so many people. it was packed. people standing in line. why not? they thought it was legal. >> reporter: brentwood's mayor says this sting sent a message about brentwood. they 345i be small but big on stamping out crime. >> a number of things that are going on in our municipality. the biggest thing for our municipality was to make sure that we focused on anti-crime. >> reporter: the harm is that this -- this preys upon people who have the troubling financial situations. they come here to try to get relief from their troubling situation. this is not the way to do it. no one was arrested today. the owner wasn't here. now he is subject to an investigation, fines, charges could follow. authorities here contacted one of the proprietors of the business in another say it. they told him what happened because you can go ahead and pull over -- the machines out but i need to keep my business open. it will remain closed today. we are told it will be allowed to reopen tomorrow. we are live in brentwood, maryland. back to you. >> derrick ward. thanks. police in montgomery county are looking for clues to solve the murder in a -- murder in silver spring that happened last night in the 10,000 block of georgia after. the man was standing outside a home with a group of people when police say he was shot. he later died in the hospital. it was a battle royale today over critical lab tests and experiments made in that controversial swan street trial. pat collins is still at d.c. superior court with the latest on this. >> reporter: bloody knife was found at that swan street murder scene. on that night they found some white cotton fibers. and evidence expert believes those white cotton fibers came from a bloody towel near robert wone's body. he says he doesn't believe that the fibers came from mr. wone's t-shirt. defense attorneys say that this expert's opinions are flawed. high power, highly regarded defense attorney. he used to be a prosecutor. doug deedrick, highly regarded hair and fiber expert and spent decades at the fbi. he testified in the o.j. simpson trial. these two men locked in a technical tug of war in the swan street trial. joe price, victor zaborsky, dylan ward, the three swan street housemates accused of covering up the murder of robert wone. mr. wone, a houseguest, found stabbed to death in that swan street home back in august 2006. the bloody knife. on the night of the murder, a kitchen knife was found near mr. wone's body. the prosecutors believe that it was planted there by someone in the swan street house. doug deedrick said he conducted an experiment that indicates that someone may have dipped a towel in mr. wone's blood and then rubbed it on the knife. that experiment was rigged and unscientific, said the defense attorney. the white cotton fibers. doug deedrick said he found evidence white cotton fibers found at the scene could be the same white cotton fibers that he found on the crime scene night. shirtler, quoting from a scientific book, white cotton fibers are so numerous that they are of little value as evidence. would you agree with that, mr. deedrick? >> in most cases, i would. under cross-examination, deedrick said he found some human hairs cut or broken on the bloody knife and said the hairs came from someone of asian descent. mr. wone was stabbed three times in his chest. one of those wounds went through patch of hair but deedrick said that the hair could have been moved to the knife by the towel after it was dipped in mr. wone's blood. wendy, back to you. >> all right. pat collins, thank you, pat. the supreme court is hearing a case pitting freedom of speech versus safeguarding privacy. harry reid filed letter of support with the supreme court backing the snider family. marine matthew snider was killed in iraq and his 2006 funeral was marred by protesters from a kansas church. the family wants the court to examine how the limits of freedom of speech might conflict with the right to privacy. the sect for fallen heroes act and 40 similar state laws. snider says 48 states have signed the letter of intent. "news4 at 4:00" getting started at 5:30. unsportsman like conduct coming up wait until we show what you went down at a baseball game in the entire thing was caught on tape. why you are going to have to pack your patience if you are planning to use ain't this weekend. what's the difference between veterans day and memorial day? if you are flying a flag on your motorcycle, which side should you fly it on? and what's the best sunscreen for kids? friday and that means liz crenshaw is here with the answers to your questions. >> flag memorial sun answers. >> let's get them going. >> first question from tom in washington, d.c. tom wants to know what is the difference between veterans day and memorial day. we went to the department of veterans affairs for your answer and it says many people confuse memorial day and veterans day. memorial day is a day for remembering and an honorary military personnel that died in the service of their country. it is particularly meant to honor those that died in battle or as a result of wounds sustained in battle. veterans day, in november, is a day set aside to thank and honor all those who served honorably in the military in war time or peace time. memorial day which is sometimes called decoration day was first celebrated several years after the civil war but didn't become a national holiday until 1971. there you know. there is a difference. our next question comes from dave in maryland. dave wants to mount a u.s. flag on his motorcycle especially for the upcoming memorial day weekend. so he's asking what is the correct position for just one u.s. flag. left or right? >> left or right. we went to the american legion riders and u.s. flag code for angst your answer. when you are flying a u.s. flag on your motorcycle it should either be in the center or to its marching right. the marching right is the right side of the motorcycle, to the rider's perspective, facing forward. that rule also applies to other types of motor cars. flag should always be in the center or the marching right of the car. and it is good to note if you are flying more than one flag on your bike, no flag should ever be displayed higher than the u.s. flag. >> those are the rules from the flag code. >> all righty. >> last question. good for all the beachgoers this weekend. comes from deborah in lanham, maryland. deborah is asking what's a good sun is an tan lotion for a 10-year-old child. >> we went to the american academy of dermatology for your answer and recommends if children wear what's known as broad spectrum sunscreen. that's the one that blocks both uva and uvb rays. it also has a sun protection factor of at least 15. the academy also suggests using stick sunscreen products with paraffin on the nose, lips, palms of young children so the product is less likely to get in your children's eyes. by the way, doctors say that 80% of sun damage of skin occurs during childhood and adolescence. that's why sun safety for children is so important. if you have a question you would like us to consider for ask liz send it to ask liz at nbcwashington.com. you can also use this e-mail address to contact us about any story idea that you have. >> thanks, liz. have a good weekend. >> you, too. some people are better at controlling their cravings for food according to a new study. you guys. those people happen to be men. the researchers at the brookhaven national lab in new york studied brain waves in men and women that were fasting and then showed them their favorite foods. when told to ignore their cravings, men had less brain activity. fill in your comment there. while women's brains showed an increased response to the food. so there. there you go. coming up -- >> here we are today. it is great. great. >> much more ahead on "news4 at 5:00." memorial day weekend, emotional words from a world war ii vet as he talked about what the day means to him. plus, the dangerous reptile caught lurking on someone's front porch. and washington mystics star alana beard joins dan live in the studio to talk about the team's strong start and how she is contributing. here are some of the big stories we are following today. memorial day weekend is finally here. thousands of people are hitting the road and heading out of town. aaa estimates 32 million americans will travel over the weekend. here in washington area, more than 800,000 are expected to get out of town. we are keeping a close eye on the traffic and we will have an update in just a few minutes. it was a battle over technical evidence today in the trial of the man accused of covering up the murder of their swan street courthouse guest. roar effort wone. experts testified about experiments involving a bloody knife and white cotton fibers. attorneys argued over what tests could be considered admissible evidence in the case. undercover police busted an illegal slot machine operation at a prince george's county gas station. eight video slot machines were seized from a sun okay owe station in brentwood this afternoon. no arrests were made. the gas station owner could face charges and fines that look -- that's a look at our headlines at this hour. >> there are a lot of memorial day celebrations in our area throughout this upcoming weekend. at the world war ii memorial today, a group from pittsburgh was paying honor to the veterans that died in american wars. tom sherwood caught up with the members of the group and is here with their story. tom? >> memorial day for many is a shopping holiday. but not for the people who have known war up close. ♪ at the world war ii memorial friday, many tourists were capturing a bit of american history in in sacrifice. among the visitors, 87-year-old bill of pittsburgh. he is one of millions that saw duty that n that war. >> he we did that duty in world war ii. a lot of people don't realize just how many people really gave everything. and i saw some of them do it in the south pacific. but here we are today. it is great. great. >> reporter: veterans of world war ii know the tough political battles that have been fought over more recent wars. armed services, not as readily respected a accepted. lot of people don't want to answer the calls. >> i can't speak for them. >> reporter: what's the famous saying? people is not free? >> that's right. that's a good quote. >> reporter: bob daly also from pittsburgh says he misses the reverence memorial day once had. >> memorial day is when soldiers that had fallen should be remembered. it bothers me when i see all these sales in stores and make it so commercial. it is a day to remember. >> reporter: at least on this weekend, the south hills corral from pittsburgh, pennsylvania, made its presence known with a wreath. >> south hills corral. that's where we belong to. and we are here to sing at kennedy center on sunday. sunday afternoon at 2:00. ♪ the home of the brave people from pittsburgh say they hope everyone will pause at least for a moment to remember the real reason for memorial day. wendy, a great man. >> thank you for that. so sweet. we are going to change gears and head to the sports desk where dan has a cool guest. >> yes. the washington mystics off to a good start this season. they played their second game at home this year on sunday against the connecticut sun at verizon center. now the mystic city at 3:00 and 2:00. got off to a 3-0 start. they have dropped two straight. the past few years, beard has been the face of the franchise. this year she has been relegated to cheerleader and reading a lot of books and says she is not reading much -- watching much tv because she's reading and preparing for life after basketball. she does want to come back. she had ankle surgery, hurt a tendon. joining us live here in the studio. what on earth are you doing to keep yourself busy besides reading books and rehabbing? >> i guess i'm involved in getting things together with my foundation. i have a foundation called alina beard foundation. it is geared towards -- setting or putting together an organization for basketball. i have seven i teams i sponsor through that organization. >> seven? >> seven. >> all over the country? >> six in maryland and i have one in louisiana. >> wow. >> yeah. >> cool. are they like -- the beard intruders? does it have your name on the team? >> i didn't pick the name. i did agree to it. they are called the elaienai al and southern mystics. >> i like it. is it frustrating for you to watch this team play? there's such high expectations. i know it is frustrating. what's the hardest part for you watching them play? >> you know what, it is not really hard. i think i accepted the idea that i'm not going to play this year. i understand that it is a process. i understand that things happen for a reason. i'm okay with that. and -- it has been fun sitting back and watching them evolve. it will be beautiful when it is all over and done with because i think we will be successful this year. >> katie smith is here. big name freeing agent. one of the reasons she came here was to play with you. not to see you sitting in the booth. >> unfortunately i-can't but hopefully she will re-sign for another year next year. >> do you think they can do it and can be successful and if not, win a title and go deep in the playoffs this year without you? >> without doubt. i think that -- teams play better when they are facing adversity. and obviously i'm not there. and -- it has been great to see her step up. horn has done a tremendous job this year. i think katie, when she -- gets back into the flow of things, she will do really well. i'm excite. >> how are you helping out? are you coaching? do you carry the assistant title now n. >> i have a special relationship with each and every player on that team. i try to do my best to motivate them and keep their spirits up when things aren't going so well and congratulate them when things aren't going well. >> recently they took the washington mystics attendance banner down at verizon center. what did -- you don't know. what was your initial reaction to that? >> i don't think i really had a reaction. the one thing i can say is we want another banner up there. we want a different type of banner and are going after a championship. not that we don't appreciate the fans. we do. they are very loyal. but we want championship banner. >> maybe motivation there. >> lot of motivation. >> i like it. helping out by coaching. she is rehabbing from an ankle injury and she will be back next season to help the washington mystics get a title. thank you. >> thank you. >> doing good work. we will be right back after this. four college basketball/baseball players have been suspended because of a fight that followed a ninth inning play at the plate. the runner plowed into the catcher and they had some words and the third baseman jump flood it and the bench-clearing brawl broke out. this all happened last night during a southern conference tournament game in charleston. the citadels in blue. the citadel ended up winning the game but their coach suffered a separated shoulder in the melee if you are planning to take metro this weekend and you may want to head out a little earlier than usual. two orange line stations were closed for the entire holiday weekend and including monday. news4's kimberly suiters has more on what riders can expect. >> reporter: signs overhead, two languages. warn of the shutdowns on the orange line for the next three weekends. though many early morning commuters were too rushed to read them. >> never a good time. my train is coming. i have go. >> reporter: his orange line train will share one track between ten cloak p.m. friday night. slowing the trip by 40 minutes. you can pretty much jog to the d.c. boarder in that time. >> i'm glad that i don't have to go anyplace on metro past that. >> reporter: do you think it is a good weekend to do it, memorial day weekend? >> memorial day weekend is probably a poor choice. >> reporter: but metro argues three-day weekends are the best choice. on a typical day 720,000 people take metro. last memorial day, nearly half of that number rode on saturday and sunday. a mere 257,000 took the trains on monday. >> this particular weekend, i think a lot of people are out of town. probably doesn't matter. >> reporter: the first shutdown between east and west falls church starts saturday morning and lasts through monday night. >> i think that if it is necessary to build other facilities then it should be done. >> reporter: what is necessary for three consecutive weekends, critical work lining up the new dulles corridor rail line with the orange line. what is unfortunate on this holiday weekend says one traveler is the timing. >> actually, bad timing. i think a lot of people aren't going to be traveling because of the economy. so a lot of people are going to be staying home and trying to hit the city instead of going out of town. so i think it is bad timing. that's me. >> reporter: those in town can take a free shuttle bus to the next stop but that short bus ride could add another 30 minutes to your trip. just how you want to spend your holiday. kimberly suiters, news4. that's "news4 at 5:00" for this week. thanks for joining us. "news4 at 6:00" is next. hear from the bus driver they put in jail and accused of trying to abduct a trial. >> police shut down an illegal gambling operation inside of a prince george's county gas station. >> long holiday weekend is here. right now tens of thousands an of people are trying to get out of town. we begin with severe storms moving through our area tonight. good evening. i'm jim vance. >> i'm doreen gentzler. part of the area under a severe thunderstorm watch right now. let's get right to veronica johnson in our storm center with more. >> thanks, doreen and jim. that watch, severe thunderstorm watch, west of the area. goes from points up around frederick county, virginia, rappahannock, areas all to the west there. you can see the clusters of lightning once again. we have, in fact, two areas of rain that we are watching. lots of lightning witness. and then another area from culpeper down towards gordonsv.