not much in the way of cloud cover. and that will change during the day as we get clouds moving in from the west. you see there is a good amount of moisture and that's making it's way across our region and the mid-atlantic bringing rainfall to us this evening, during the late afternoon and evening, probably during the evening rush hour. but i would not rule out a sprinkle or two before then. your day planner for today looks like this, some sunshine early but increasing clouds as the day progresses. high of about 50 degrees. more details on the forecast in a little bit. right now let's get an update on traffic with julie wright. right now a peek on the beltway. the crew in sky fox joining us right now. and on the outer loop, 95 at 495, a stalls car in the highway. trying to work around the scene, it's the second lane from the left that is blocked off as maryland state highway on the scene. around toward the exit for the bw parkway, line up to the right or single file to the left to get by. delays are starting to stack up for at least a quarter of mile around the scene. back inside, updating your ride elsewhere, no problems to report headed into downtown off of minnesota avenue. pennsylvania avenue slowing at minnesota toward the sousa bridge. suitland parkway delays at naylor and 290 slow at the 11th street bridge. on 270, delays in germantown, father hurley past mva. no trouble spots along the still working well for you as you travel between shady grove and georgia. 66 eastbound toward centreville and 50 to 123. 95 still tied up for those leaving center point toward 610, dale city into lorton, springfield heading into duke street on 395. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. we continue to monitor metro. do you use one of the stations that's on the top ten list for crime? a new report is out showing a surge in crime in the transit system. >> we're talking about robbery, assaults and rapes up by dramatic numbers. sarah simmons is live at new carrollton station. >> reporter: this is a big concern considering the fact that thousands of people use this system every day. and this report has raised a lot of eyebrows because the numbers are definitely larger. and more information that is coming out from this report that a lot of people will be interested in, which stations top the list of the highest crime level. let's take a look at them. the top of the list is where we are, new carrollton metro stop. the ones that follow are branch avenue, greenbelt, prince george plaza, gallery place. also metro center, l'enfant plaza, southern avenue and the largo town center stop and also minnesota avenue. all of this information coming from metro's own crime report showing that aggravated assaults rose 44%. that's just in one year. 136 cases they had. robberies up 13%. mostly robberies like electronic devices, people stealing ipods, smartphones. rapes and sexual assaults, they usually average 1 or 2 a year and last year they had 7 total. and also we've mentioned before the you tube video that people have seen of fights and beatings on the metro, on buses and rails. that's been grabbing people's attention. you think about that when you think about crime on metro. and now the new crime data coming out from metro reinforces passengers' concern about police presence. >> a lot of fights from the young youth that comes in before or after school. >> how often do you see it? >> well, actually every day. >> i had my bike parked at one of the bike centers at the station and my front wheel was stolen several times. >> reporter: so the information and the numbers are very concerning. they will be talking about that at a safety and security meeting at metro headquarters this morning starting at 9:00 a.m. we're live in new carrollton, sarah simmons, back to you. fox 5 tried to talk with someone at metro but the transit agency turned us down. one of the questions was the entry for homicides on metro. >> the report said there were zero homicides, but there was a homicide at the congress hights station in may. we tracked down tommy wells who agreed with us and talked about the issue. >> that absolutely makes no sense and they need to report honestly and accurately. now i realize that mpd are the ones who is responsible for investigating homicides but that doesn't mean we don't report homicides that occur on metro. >> any budget cutbacks that may have contributed to the spike in crime? >> i appreciate that question. as i can see, there has not been a cut back in police deployment. >> we need your help to keep monitoring metro. fox 5 is staying on top of everything from faulty escalators to delays on the tracks to crime. and you're helping us and we hope that you continue to. if you spot an issue, take a picture or a video and send it to fox 5 metro at g-mail.com. breaking news from london. a judge just ruled that wiki leaks founder julian assange can be extradited to sweden. the former computer hacker is facing sex crimes. the judge said the allegations are enough to extradite assange. his lawyers have a week to appeal the extradition decision. we are also following the developing story, the after- imagine of that massive 6.3 earthquake in new zealand. the rescue effort rages on. 98 people are now confirmed dead but that number is expected to go up. there are more tan 220 people still missing. the developing civil unrest in libya. video showing clashes in the capitol. police cracking down on protestors. they did set up barricades by police used smoke grenades to clear them. gangs of armed thugs are reportedly roaming the streets and about 1,000 people are estimated to have been killed. it is different outside of tripoli as doug luzader reports. americans are still stuck inside the country in chaos. >> reporter: khadaffi's grip on power may be striped as high seas show the message. khadaffi is growing more and more isolated. at the white house president obama broke his silence. >> the suffering and blood shed is outrageous and it is unacceptable. so are threats and orders to shoot peaceful protestors and further punish the people of libya. >> reporter: but the statement never mentioned khadaffi by name. he's reportedly using his military to attack his own people. the careful words may be among the thousands of foreigns trying to leave libya. airports and border crossings are jammed and those who fled tell stories of horror. >> the disaster is terrible. people fighting for their life. scrambling over people and pushing, shoving, kicking. >> reporter: and through it all khadaffi remains defiant as some army bases are abandoned, more military leaders have quit the regime and president obama has finally added his voice to the international outrage. >> these actions violate international norms and every standard of common decency. this violence must stop. >> reporter: as far as americans leaving libya, sea conditions will not allow their ferry to part. they should leave tomorrow at the earliest. in washington, doug luzader, fox news. >> for the latest on this story, go to myfoxdc.com and look for the links on the home page. here at home, more changes in the same-sex marriage debate. a measure to legal lose it in maryland -- legalize it passed a vote and a final vote could come today. and the obama administration has announced it will no longer defend the constitutionallality of the defense of marriage act based on that in part of what is documented history of discrimination. the federal law defines marriage as between a man and woman. and from the teacher layoffs to suv outrage and even lady gaga. >> vince gray is now speaking out on a variety of topics focused on city topics up next. and we'll reveal our first fox 5 superfan. and with their devotion and talent, that is coming up next. and a live look outside. we'll get the latest weather. tony has that and traffic from julie is all coming up next. 9 minutes after 7:00 now. 33 degrees out there. stay with us. pe we want to say good morning to our facebook fan of the day la sharn newbill. yesterday was international dog biscuit day she said. who knew? throw that man a bone. a good treat for your furry friend. thank you for your contributions and we can't find out what we should be celebrating today it. be tomorrow's fan of the day find us on facebook by searching fox 5 morning news and post a comment under la sharn's photo. a couple of weeks now we've been asking viewers to show us how much you love fox 5 morning news. >> in return we would have our superfans come to the station to meet us. so this morning we are ready to announce our first fox 5 morning news superfan. it is pam braxton. and she sent quite the video to prove why she is, yes, a round of applause for pam. [ applause ] >> she sent in a video to show why she should get the honor of superfan. take a look. >> this was for my morning team. and i need you to clap for me like this right here. all right. they don't need no introduction, talking about my 5 tv, they are on first thing in the morning on all three of my tv's. allison is so pretty and the handsome weather guy. don't forget that traffic and check with julie before you ride. fox 5 d.c. in the morning. that morning team on all of my tv's, yeah. they are fox 5, d.c. in the morning. my morning team on all of my tv's. oh, baby. >> it kind of pumps you up, to have a theme song. so pam, did you see her little son in the background? her little dancing son and some of her family will be with us tomorrow morning beginning in our 8:00 hour. >> we look forward to seeing her. you have a chance to be a superfan of the future. take a queue from pam and e- mail us a video or sign or song to show us you love the show. send it to fox5superfan@gmail.com and we'll have other viewers rate on the submissions. and pam said she wants to perform for us and has a new remix of the song. so she's been working hard to get that for us tomorrow morning. >> she has a good voice. >> yeah, that's great. >> we look forward to meeting her. >> we should say all of this came from -- we have facebook and twitter, the posted people are nice and literally folks say what can we do for some of these folks and this is what we came up. that's good stuff. should be fun. shall we talk weather? >> is it good news? >> we're going to see a high around 50 today. >> that's good news. >> it's going to rain later. >> all right. >> we'll start with hd radar. and right now the precipitation is quite a bit aways away. and on the radar, you see the areas of pink popping up. have no fear. that is nothing hitting the ground. that is the moisture in the atmosphere. out to the south and west, that's the big weather maker. a lot of rain in central portions of kentucky, southern portions of indiana, northern tennessee. so some problem spots out there. and this might be enough to generate thunderstorms for us tomorrow afternoon when this system comes through. right now reagan national reporting a temperature of 34 degrees. relative humidity at 73%. winds out of the south at 8 miles per hour. five-day forecast, today's high right around 50. increasing cloudiness. rain develops late in the afternoon, during evening rush hour. rain tonight overnight and into tomorrow. tomorrow will become quite blustery but a milder day. 58, briefly. and it will be windy and start to get colder as a cold front comes through. that's a look at the five-day. >> not bad at all. let's check in with julie and look at traffic. >> do you think that tucker and i could sing along with our superfan of the day tomorrow? >> yes. >> i think you should. >> steve, let's say yes. >> we can clap and step to the beat, how about that. >> that works. >> that's a better plan. >> from what i heard, that would be better. >> you weren't even here yesterday. >> that's just what i heard. >> on the roads you'll find lanes are open right now with no incidents reported along 395 northbound leaving duke street and toward seminary road. again all of the lanes are open traveling northbound toward the 14th street bridge. reports of a stalled car highway. 95 tied up leaving courthouse road up to 610. slow traffic approaching triangle and leaving dale city into lorton. slow to the occuquan. spotty delays leaving annandale to merrifield. 270, heavy toward 370. no trouble spots on the beltway north of town between college park and bethesda. outer loop at the bw parkway has a stalled car. new jersey avenue toward the third street tunnel, the traffic light accompanying that drive northeast. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. 7:18 now as we check headlines this morning. bickering between d.c. council members. >> it's not over policy. over who gets box seats for lady ga ga's performance tonight at the verizon center. the the center of it, chairman -- excuse me council chair kwame brown. accused not being fair in giving out the tickets. the chairman brown spokesperson denies brown is withholding tickets and doesn't know what is fueling all of this. >> it was not a criticism of kwame brown. it wasn't a criticism of the chairman. it was just saying in the past it was kind of hit and miss. you didn't know whether you were getting or not getting tickets and several of us suggested that why don't we just say that pretty much every council member will get a couple of tickets for every event. >> i'm a sports guy but in particular the tickets to the -- that the council gets, i give as much as possible out to youth groups, out to schools. >> i think the council members should do what every other resident does, pay for the tickets. >> a similar situation under former mayor adrian fenty. the council was angry with fenty for holding back the tickets for tickets. mayor gray is speaking out on the suv luxury vehicles for brown. >> the reason there were two suv's, brown did not like the first one because of the interior color. he sent it back and got another one that was black on black and that left city locked into two leases. >> brown said he'll pay back his share of the lease and the department of public works is sending that vehicle back to the leasing company. the mayor and attorney general agreed both suv's should be returned. >> i'm fine with both of them going back. it was the -- whatever role that i had in this was only because we seemed to have been engaged in a lease that we couldn't escape from. so if both of those -- if he wants both of those cars to go back, i'm ready to send them back today. >> mayor gray also faced some tough questions about the salaries of some of his senior staff. >> some of the paychecks like the $200,000 a year his chief of staff makes came under fire during his weekly press conference yesterday. reporters asked him why the salaries were going up so much? >> we looked at the experience and the demand of the jobs. some of the job titles have more responsibilities at this point. for example the chief of staff now has the budget responsibility, which is a huge increase in responsibility for the chief of staff. >> mayor gray also said the district will feel the ruling to reinstate 75 teachers fired by michelle rhee. >> d.c. attorney general said the teachers will be tracked down and told why they were fired and have a chance to defend themselves and then a new decision will be made as to whether they get their jobs back and receive back pay. 7:22 right now. with a possibility government shutdown looming, parties are speaking out. >> and more than 1600 nurses working for one of the areas largest hospitals are about to walk off the job. now the hospital is striking back with a strong warning. and if you love music, movies and dance, the intersections art experience is a must-see. holly is there to check out what the big arts event is all about and we'll check in with holly coming up later this hour. nurses at the washington hospital center are planning a strike a week from tomorrow. they say it's necessary because of unfair labor practices and chronic staff shortages that they say is hurting patient care. but the march 4th strike could turn into nearly a week off the job and the hospital said any nurse that doesn't show up will have to stay out for five days. t-minus eight days and counting before we see another government shutdown. democrats and republicans must come up with a funding resolution by march 4th for the government will close like it did in 1995. congress isn't even in session right now for president's day. and add to that the leaders of both parties have a different take on how to move forward. >> the federal government has added 200,000 new federal jobs. and if some of those jobs are lost in this, so be it. >> republicans seem to want to take a meat ax to programs that keep our commuter safe and keep our economy growing. >> if the government does shut down, federal workers will not get paid however congress consider themself essential personnel so they will keep getting their paychecks. it is 7:26 -- now on a thursday morning, protestors continue to take over citys across libya, fighting back against khadaffi. the protests continue to have a major impact here at home as well and that's just ahead. then as we head to break, a live look outside and so we get the latest weather and traffic from tony and julie. things looking good out there so far. might have a little rain in the way. we'll check in with tony after the break. 7:30 now as we take a look out at the wilson bridge. sunshine getting started on this thursday morning. that is a pretty shot. it is february 24th and we'll warm things up. >> february almost over. >> almost. four more days. >> just a few clouds out there so you're seeing bright sunshine that might slow down your commute, depending on what direction you are heading in. today we'll see a good amount of sunshine during the early part of the day and then the clouds build in and by evening rush hour it will be cloudy. let's look at the current temperatures around the region. they are pretty consistent. in the 20s and 30s, ranging from the mid-20s. don't see anything lower than that. hagerstown is at 20 degrees but mainly temperatures like 25 in manassas, 23 in baltimore. it's 34 degrees right now here in washington. gaithersburg is at 30 degrees. winchester is 31. off to the east, stevensville is at 34 degrees this morning. let's take a look at the future- cast and we'll show you how things are shaping up during the course of the day today. as we'll see some precipitation and could also see some of our equipment on the side there. we'll see some precipitation. and that will move in later this afternoon. and we'll get some rainfall coming through the afternoon rush hour into tonight and tomorrow. then rainfall tomorrow. many a couple of pockets of heavy rain. but tomorrow morning it is definitely raining. our temperatures are going to be such that this is all rain. any frozen precipitation remains well to the north. and when i say north, i mean pennsylvania, new york, places like that. nothing here. and then we start to dry out later in the day. want to let you know about a high wind watch going into effect for our area tomorrow morning at 11:00 in the morning until 7:00 tomorrow evening. that's because our winds will pick up and they could gust out in the mountains up to 60 miles per hour. here maybe about 40-45 miles per hour for your wind gusts during the day tomorrow. forecast for today, increasing clouds and late afternoon is possible and look for a high of 50 degrees. for tonight, not as cold as last night. overnight low was 45 in town so mild with rain showers likely. five-day forecast, tomorrow we have the rain as i told you but our high is 58 degrees. not too bad. saturday we cool off under sunshine, increasing clouds on sunday and more precipitation late sunday and during the day on monday. that's a look at what is happening with the weather. now let's get more on the morning rush hour traffic with julie wright. 61 days and 50 the next day, that's pneumonia weather. >> it's that time of year. >> all right, well on the roads now, it's that time of the day where we have bumper-to-bumper traffic around the outer loop leaving university boulevard toward georgia avenue. the lanes were open. no problems reported. just a slowdown to accompany the drive headed west. don't forget you can access the icc from georgia avenue both north and southbound. that could save you some time and you might want to stick with that. no problems to report on the icc. and the toll is nonexistent until sometime in march. so ride in now while you can. southbound 270 slow out of germantown toward mva. delays to report in rockville as you leave montrose toward the split. meanwhile into the sunshine, here we go with 66 on the brakes out of manassas. 50 headed eastbound toward 123. more slow traffic as you continue from nutley street so the beltway. 95 still congested from dale city toward lorton. 395 delays past duke street. and leaving the pentagon into the sun, a slowdown into the pentagon parking. main line still slow headed for the 14th street bridge. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. to libya. khadaffi losing control of more parts of the country. the opposition has taken control of cities in the east. president barack obama spoke publicly about the crisis yesterday evening saying that he is studying, quote, a full range of options to pressure khadaffi's government. joining us this morning in person today with reaction to latest news from the middle east is rob sab anie, a middle east expert who has written on the region, including a recent book on saudi arabia's king. he was also a long time professor and georgetown university. and we recently talked with you via skype but you're in the studio. >> i'm glad to be here. >> and let's talk about the president coming out and making a stern statement about what is happening there and not mentioned khadaffi's name. >> because president obama is worried about human life because khadaffi is unstable and angry and so i think that's why he's refrained from using the name "khadaffi." >> this is so different from what we saw in egypt with hundreds or thousands of people killed in the streets there. what is going on on the ground there that we don't see. >> i think there is the fundamental difference between mubarak and khadaffi. mubarak, despite his conflict, he loved his country. khadaffi loves himself. khadaffi thought the time was running out, he left egypt. >> it's hard for us to understand. but we continue to watch that. in the meantime, other nations are also seeing trouble. you just came back from the mideast. >> yes. >> can you speak from your personal experience? >> yeah, i think the two more important countries to watch are bahrain, which is a strong ally of the united states. the king of bahrain, i've met with him, he is an honest man, a popular king. but there is nonetheless legitimate grievances that the people have in terms of unemployment, high price of food and housing. and so the king is trying to address that. what i think it is difficult for president obama to enunciate and others like mrs. clinton is the negative role the government of iran is claiming. and the shia of bahrain get funding for the protests from the government of iran. they would like nothing more than to have an islamic republic in the heart of the persian gulf right next to saudi arabia. that's the iranian game plan. so i think we should be glad there is the king of bahrain in this. and are there differences? yes. is the king trying to have a dialogue? yes. >> when you spoke with him, what did you realize what is going on? >> well i think he realized there is an immediate need to resolve the economic issues. he realized this is at the end of the day an economic issue. bahrain is a small country so creating jobs means that bahrain's economy has to grow faster than what the population really needs. and so the king realizes that and he's actually asking his son the crown prince to enter into a dialogue. and the main opposition is in a dialogue. but the rad cat elements in bahrain who in my opinion are being funded by the outside are the wild card. and i think that's where the united states needs to draw the line. and i think president obama realizes that we cannot lose bahrain. because if we lose bahrain then we'll have trouble in the neighboring country of saudi arabia. >> let's talk about saudi arabia and how important this nation has been to the united states. what are we watching out for in saudi arabia? >> allison, for american drivers, it's very good to have king abdullah of saudi arabia in the power of control of that country simply because just yesterday the oil minister of saudi arabia at the request of king abdullah of saudi arabia announced, don't worry, don't panic, we have got capacity to produce more petroleum for the world. libya oil is off but saudi arabia can produce what libya is not producing but even more. and so i think the king of saudi arabia, who just returned to his country yesterday, is an anchor of stability and that's why i think with bahrain, with saudi arabia, president obama recognizes, as does mrs. clinton, we can ill-afford to not support. and so they are our major fundamental party and our ally in that part of the world and saudi arabia is central bank of oil production. 20% of the world's remaining oil is in saudi arabia and it is the largest oil producer and we here in the washington area will feel it at the pump if something happens in saudi arabia. >> i feel we are already feeling something happening. >> we are, unfortunately. >> rob sobhany, come back any time. >> i will do that. thank you. the first portion of the icc open for business now. coming up, we'll take a closer look at the impact of this traffic mix a decade in the making. and now the washington nationals looking to make the most of personnel. ryan zimmerman is opening up about the future of the team. he goes one-on-one with our sports director dave feldman coming up next. [ music ] changes for your washington wizards. they got blown out by the sixers, that wasn't much of a change. 117-94. but before the game they were involved in a five player trade with the hawks. the wizards send kick behind rich to the hawks. and the washington nationals continue their spring training in viera, florida. and dave feldman is down there going one-on-one with ryan zimmerman who has been there for each and every spring training with the washington nationals. >> reporter: lard to believe it's been six years since the nats drafted zimmerman with the fourth pick in the 2005 draft. since then he's been an all- star, earned gold glove and silver slugger awards and led the nats in almost every offensive category. but the team comes first with ryan zimmerman. >> it's fun to see where the organization has gone in such a short time. i think coming to d.c. and being under the control of mlb and to finally get the learner family to take over the team and see how quickly they've turned it around. so to be here from the beginning when things weren't so great and to hopefully be here for a lot more years where things are going to be really good is find of fun to say. >> jim riggleman said there's a lot of talent on this team and with that the expectations will be higher too. do you agree? >> i think it's a big league, veteran team. we've never had more than a handful of guys that have been in the big leagues for more than three or four years and this year we have 10, 12, 15 guys like that. >> what do you tell a young guy like bryce harper who is only 18 who the expectations are he's going it get up here quickly. do you tell him anything? >> no. i think he handles it well. he knows the only way to get up here is to play good. and he has to have a lot of things with that and he's been doing that stuff for four or five years already. they've been talking about this kid since he's 12 years old and so he's learned about dealing with that. >> and you have won before and you want to win here. how impatient do you get because baseball isn't a quick fix? >> no, it's tough. it's no fun losing. nobody likes to lose. but to be able, like i said before, to be here when it was bad and see how it's changed in such a short amount of time and to be here when it's good, i think city is great, i love playing here and to finally be here when we're in contention every year and to see that place full of people every night and kind of a buzz around the city about baseball is going to be worth the wait. so i'm excited about it. >> reporter: zimmerman just signed an extension to keep him in a nats uniform through 2013. in viera, florida, david feldman, fox 5 sports. >> and you can get the updates from florida at myfoxdc.com. just click on the sports tab. >> zimmerman is a low-key type of guy. >> good guy though. >> okay. good sunshine in florida. wouldn't that be nice. >> speaking of that, with the launch of the discovery later on today, they should have fine weather conditions. a little breezy but sunshine. >> just before 5:00 i think that will take off. >> yeah, so not too bad. let's take a look outside here. cold start to the day. it might not look it, but it is. it's 34 degrees in the nation's capital. winchester is at 29. harrisonburg 33. dover comes in at 27 degrees. here is a surface map and showing you what will be going on. a warm front comes through first and that will bring in warmer air. our breezes are out of the south this morning so be around 50 today. but even warmer tomorrow. then a cold front comes through. tomorrow winds pick up and rain associated with both of these fronts and the rain continues tomorrow. could be a couple of thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon too. we'll have to keep our eyes on that. and then cooler air works it's way in here for saturday. the forecast for the next five days looks like this: high today about 50, rain begins late today, tonight and tomorrow. cloudy tomorrow and rainy, 58 degrees. and then saturday mostly sunny, 48 for the high. back into the mid-50s sunday to 60 on monday. there you go. that's the latest. >> i like 60 and mild for monday. let's check in with julie and look at traffic. >> you guys, so far so good. no incidents reported at the wilson bridge where traffic is flowing with ease in each direction n. montgomery county we do have a crash along southbound georgia south of randolph after shorefield m. traffic squeezing by to the right southbound. northbound lanes are open. the outer loop still tied up working around from college park but no incidents have been reported. this is a live shot of northbound 395 leaving the pentagon headed for the 14th street bridge. out bound across the 14th street bridge, the stalled car has been cleared. lanes are open continuing northbound on i-95, we do have delays leaving dale city through woodbridge. the top side still congested 95 to georgia. the icc is open to save you time. we had reports yesterday that folks arrived to work 15-20 minutes ahead of time which saved some time on the commute. so if it helps you out, take it and right now it's free. coming off of georgia avenue, do you have access to the icc and right now in troubles have been reported. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. it's an art festival that gives artists and art lovers a chance to meet on stage and off. >> and that's where holly is this morning at intersections art exhibit in northeast. holly good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. and the scope of this arts festival is incredible. we're talking about 600 d.c. artists, 100 performances all going on over the next three weekends. we are live at the atlas performing arts theater to tell you how to make the most of it. it's all live next. are you all ready to teach me the cake walk? >> yeah. >> all right. it's all next. if you love music, movies, dance, washington is the place to be for a nine-day arts festival and it all starts tomorrow. >> holly has a preview of what is in store at the intersections art experience. holly, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. and i'm telling you, at this intersection there should be a warning side that says major art collision possible. actually it's probable and in fact it's really what they want to happen. the whole point of having this nine-day all-art festival. jane kay is here with us. live this morning. good to see you. thank you for having us and for having this. this is pretty amazing undertaking. >> it is really exciting. we have so many d.c. artists coming together here to bring new work and to share it with everyone. we've got people from theater, music, visual arts, dance, film, spoken word and their from different backgrounds and different ages and different genres and they come together and produce this great new work for you guys. >> and is the point of this because, one, maybe people don't know all that is out there in our own area. is it for them to come out and see new things or come out and take part in new things. >> it's both. because we want folks to come on down and check out the art. some of the stuff you like, you like bell et and opera but you might see something else that might intrigue you. spoken word, maybe you've never seen that before and maybe that will happen and create connections. >> reporter: and it coincides with the mission of the atlas every day. >> every day, we have many different companies that are here and are residents and we come together and use the same space and offices and we hope to make connections through our companies and that's what we've kind of expanded upon for this festival. >> reporter: very cool. and with that i want to check in with one of our groups. this is michael bobit with the adventure theater company. and so good morning to you. what are you doing? >> we're doing a musical adaptation called marran d. and brother wynn written by patricia mckinsick and we have brought the show to life. a singing and dancing and 1906 rural african-american culture in rural south carolina. >> reporter: and what do you think you will get out of this. >> we're from glen echo park in maryland and we wanted to make sure everyone could see this show. >> and i want to check in with felicia curry. so we're doing a cake walk here? >> we are. >> reporter: isn't there little paper plates and you walk around in a circle and then you stop and you pick the cake and you win. >> no. though one you have to work for. but brother wind and i will help you. so the cast. so we're going to start stepping. one, two, three, kick four. and then step. cake walk step. and then we'll slap our legs, cross our legs, cross our legs again. stand up, put your foot out and bam perfect. >> reporter: is this where the cake comes in. i don't think if i can remember all of that but i'll follow along with music. >> five six, seven eight. and step, step, and kick. step and kick. >> reporter: that kick was high. >> cake walk. cake walk. step and clap your legs. slap, slap, slap. one two and foot. very nice. big finish. >> reporter: for you guys to get to be able to do this and be a part of a festival like this, what does it mean to you? >> it's pretty exciting. it was great being at adventure theater and i'm so glad we had the opportunity to be there but it's wonderful to come to d.c. because i think a lot of people will get the opportunity to see the show. >> reporter: well thank you for giving us the opportunity this morning. so go on that cake run and pick up some coffee while you're at it. myfoxdc.com is our website. we have a link to the at lat performing website and we have the full schedule and ticket prices and everything going on over the next three weekends. come out and take advantage, really a good time. we're going to continue our good time in the next hour. moving on from the cake walk to the flamenco. back to you guys in the studio. >> look forward to it. >> i saw that place. those young people are good. it is now 7:56 on this thursday morning and american idol hopeful had to be hospitalized, details coming up. and gas and produce prices going up. find out how much more you should expect to pay after 8:00. stay with us. new numbers out about crime on metro. we'll talk about which stations are the most dangerous and what might make you a target. then good news and bad news on maryland's roads. good news, the icc is open and getting rave reviews. the bad news is it might be the last transportation project in sometime as the state is now out of money. a new study is out showing what your cell phone could be doing to your brain. and it's pretty scary. the lead author from nih joins us with a closer look this hour. good morning. i'm steve chenevey. >> and i'm allison seymour. >> we're happy you're with us on this thursday morning. >> we'll say good morning to tony perkins. happy you're with us. >> happy to be here, believe me. we're going to start with hd radar and talk about rain coming in later today. a lot of sunshine out there early this morning. but take a look at hd radar. there is quite a bit of moisture off to the south and west. and the pink stuff around us, we have no evidence of anything hitting the ground. and it's mostly sunny so nothing is hitting the ground. tucker said it's leading edge of the moisture starting to work it's way in here. either that or just junk on the radar. off to the south and west, rain and some heavy in southwestern virginia. portions of tennessee, kentucky, places like that. we don't think all of that will hang together -- together, but i would not rule out a thunderstorm tomorrow afternoon. here is a look at temperatures across the region. 34 in washington. 26 at dulles airport, 23 in baltimore. fredericksberg is at 32 degrees. the forecast for today, increasing cloudiness, late- afternoon rain developing, likely for the afternoon rush hour. high today about 50 degrees. right about where we should be. our average high for this date is 49 degrees. there you go, more on the weather coming up in just a little bit. >> a little bit better than average today. >> a little bit. >> we'll take it. let's check in with julie and look at traffic this morning. >> i like that little bit above instead of a lot below. >> you got that right. >> on the roads this morning, finding the lanes are open as you travel inbound across the key bridge. the gang is here and no incidents to report as you work out of roslyn across the bridge toward m. street. canal road looks good from the chain bridge. in problems to report off fox hall road at this time. and lanes open along 270 out of gaithersburg. heavy volume toward 370. traffic slows again montrose toward the split, 95. beltway up toward duke street. pentagon to the inbound 14th street bridge. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. the icc, intercounty connector, open for the first full day today. yesterday in the first 14 hours almost 25,000 vehicles traveled on the first 7-mile stretch linking i've 270 and georgia avenue. on our facebook page it's getting good reviews. ed said it was a very nice ride. i got to work 20 minutes early. maria martinez said it was a smooth ride. it cut my commute time in half. i'm loving it. sarah walker said for some reason 270 was smooth sailing so if the opening of the icc played a part in that, then jimmy. and tina said that little stretch got me to work faster. finally happy to see the hard work into it. maryland transportation officials happy to see that positive reaction. and it might not be that way again because of some money. and bob johnson from the washington post. that's the focus of your column this morning. we're talking about opinion and the iccment what did you find out? >> well the state is broke. the people who liked the icc so much, they might have a different reaction when they start paying for it, paying some of the highest tolls in the country for it. let's see what their attitude is then. i think it's a big plus for northern montgomery county and northern prince george's as well. but this is the last major transportation project we'll see in maryland for a while. the state is out of money. blue ribbon commission just said that the financial system for transportation in the state is on the verge of collapse. there is no money coming from the federal government any time soon. there is a proposal to raise the gasoline tax and find some funding that way in the state legislature. it's not clear that will pass. if it does pass, it would at least in part raise gasoline prices, which are going up any way because of the troubles in the middle east. so there is no money right now for anything other than just planning the purple line, the light rail line that is supposed to connect prince george's and montgomery. no money for the cord dor city trans -- corridor transit line up north to germantown from shady grove west of i-270. there is no money right now. >> what can maryland officials and lawmakers do in the meantime? we hear so much about virginia being the hub of all of the traffic problems. you found its just if not worse in maryland. >> yes, that's right. if you look at the situation right now, arguably, although it gets much less attention, maryland's transportation problems are at least as bad as virginia and in some ways they are worse. the worst part of the beltway is in maryland, not in virginia. virginia has two big projects right now. it's got the silver line, a new metro line, heavy rail line being built out to dulles. plus the hot lanes, the widening of the lanes on the beltway and i-95. and basically maryland has the icc and that's it. so also they are approving billions of dollars in money in loans and borrowing in virginia and it's not clear that there will be any extra money in maryland. so i think that actually virginia is doing a little better in some ways right now. but maryland, they could have a special legislative session, they could either approve funding this legislative session, have a special session later to do it. one thing i'm encouraged about is that governor o'malley and some of the democrats are talking about sort of tapping the business community in maryland in ways that they haven't before in order to get money for transportation. >> one more question about the icc, we heard a couple of interesting comments from facebook fans. one, possibly it could impact traffic on 270 as people are going east on the highway. and the other, what you brought up when people start paying the tolls, do you think it will help traffic and do think we'll have the same amount of traffic on the icc once people start paying? >> it will help traffic somewhere. you can't put a whole bunch of cars on this new road, a fast and efficient road, without relieving congestion elsewhere. it could help on i-270, is certainly going to help the roads in northern montgomery county around 270. the big question is whether or not it will relieve congestion on the beltway, north of the beltway rather than going on the beltway itself. and in fact maryland officials have been very cautious about predicting that. i think they were hoping obviously that it will have that impact. but they're worried about predicting it publicly because if it doesn't happen they will get blamed for it and for having oversold the thing. i think it could help with the beltway. it could make a difference. i think it will definitely help and definitely a plus for northern montgomery county. a huge help for businesses trying to get back and forth between that i-270 corridor on the west and 95 on the east. it's a big help for people trying to get from northern montgomery county to bwi airport. that's a big plus. so i think it's got to help with congestion somewhere, we're just not sure exactly where or how much. >> state officials banking on it, with no money in the future, or future projects, hoping this will pay off. you can read bob's in more column on the washington post website. we'll link you there on myfoxdc.com. thanks, bob. >> good to be here. a surge in crime on metro. a new report shows a dramatic rise in robberies, aggravated assaults and even rapes on transit system. sarah simmons continues with the break down of that report. sarah, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, allison. it is a big concern. so much so that metro is going to be talking about it at their board meeting later on this morning, coming up in just about an hour. the numbers that we are getting from it are startling in this crime report and on top of that it gives us an idea of which stations have the worst rates of crime. we have a list of them for you. they are ranking from number one to number ten. number one being with the worst levels of crime. new carrollton, where we are right now, this metro stop. branch avenue is number two. greenbelt, prince george's plaza, gallery place, metro center, l'enfant plaza, southern, town center and metro town center. these are numbers put together from last year. aggravated assaults went up 44% just in a year. robberies are up 13%, mainly things like your electronic devices, ipod and those. and rape and sexual assault. last year they had 7 and normally they have 2 a year. and what we have heard lately are the videos posted on you tube of fighting and beatings and those things grab your attention about the problems we've seen with younger adults, school-age kids. and now this crime data from metro reinforces passenger concerns about safety and how they should protect themselves. and we talked to a few people here at the metro stop and here is what they said. >> i do try to keep my phone in the pocket and when the doors are opening, i put my phone up. i'm a pretty big guy so i don't think anybody will try anything. >> it makes me feel unsafe, there is no cameras in the garage and i work fear the capitol and so many people that work and live in maryland, they all park here and they have had their cars broken into and it's scary with no cameras or anything. >> reporter: and some of the fights an individual yo that we -- fighted and video, that takes place with school-age children. a lot of them do have a card in order to ride. it's subsidized through d.c. to get them on there. so now they are talking about issuing special i.d. so they know exactly who these people are and track them down and revoke their metro privileges if they have to. that will be coming up at the 9:00 meeting. we're live in new carrollton, sarah simmons, back to you. >> sarah, thank you so much for that report. and we need your help to keep monitoring metro. fox 5 is staying on top of everything from faulty escalators to delays on the tracks. if you spot a safety issue, take a picture and send it to fox 5 metro at g-mail.com. time now is coming up on 11 minutes past the hour on this thursday morning. up next we'll check headlines this morning around the world, including new developments surrounding wiki leaks founder julian assange. and a new study out showing what your cell phone could be doing to your brain and it's kind of scary. the lead author from the national institute of health is going to join us with a closer look when we come back. ring ring. progresso. i look great in my wedding dress with the help of your amazing light soups. now we're adding even bigger pieces of white meat chicken. oh, so when's the big day? 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[ speaking spanish ] ♪ [ male announcer ] old el paso stand 'n stuff taco shells. old el paso. feed your fiesta. it is 8:14 and let's take a look at stories making headlines this morningp a british judge has just rule tad julian assange can be -- ruled that justy an assange can be extradited to sweden. he has been fighting extradition for months. his lawyers have one week to appeal. in the brewing civil war in libya, 1,000 people have now reportedly died in the uprising. khadaffi has lost control of most of the country. the city in the east has now be liberated. they are celebrating in the square and demanding a free libya. it is 8:14 and we'll get the latest check on weather from tony. >> and something extra this morning. >> as always we start with the something extra. it is the my first 5 photo of the day. check her out. this is rachel. >> oh, she's precious. >> she is 2 years old and here she is ready to go shopping. their starting her early. 2 years old and ready to get out of the door and shop. she's adorable and excites about it. >> that is a small purse but on her it looks like a big purse. >> well rachel, we hope you found some great bargains. we thank your family for sending in the photo. if you have a photo of one of your children, go to myfoxdc.com and click on mornings. let's take a look at radar and we'll show what you is happening around the region as we speak. not much of anything. a little bit of garbage showing up here and there. not literally garbage, just on the radar. it looks like moisture but it is not and pops up and goes away. out to the west a couple of showers. for the most part the big rainfall is well off to the south and west and it takes a while for that to get here. we're thinking later in the late afternoon, toward evening. current temperature 35 degrees now at reagan national. 30 at dulles and 29 at bwi marshall. forecast for today, look for a high today of around 50 degrees with increasing cloudiness. rain develops late this afternoon and through the evening and tonight and overnight and into tomorrow. friday, 58 degrees with rain. saturday we dry out, mostly sunny and 48. mid-50s for sunday but the clouds roll back in and they bring with them rain overnight sunday and into the day on monday. that's a look at what is happening with the weather. now let's find out what is happening on the roadways and for that we go to julie wright. we're starting to see delays forming on 28 westbound at layhill road for those headed toward the icc. so it is working for you -- for you again this morning and thanks for your comments. right now we still have delays leaving colesville toward georgia avenue. heavy volume on the beltway remains but once you hit 270, we'll be interesting to see the impact. lanes are open, slow at the icc work zone toward the exit for the outer loop. 395 across the inbound 14th street bridge, heavy and steady with no accidents to report. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. well a new study said the human brain's activity increases after less than an hour's worth of exposure to the radiation from cell phones. the lead author of that study is dr. nora volumekoff from the national institute of health. and we're happy that you are here and because when we hear stories like this, we wait for the definitive word of cell phones. what could you tell us about the dangers of cell phone. >> i wish i could tell you whether they are harmful or not. but what our study shows is that the human brain is sensitive to the radiation that comes from cell phones. this is a very week readiation so it was not evident that our human brain will be affected by it but when people put the cell phones close to their ears, the brain around the antenna increase metabolism and when there are increased in metabolism it reflects that that area of the brain is activated. so we took this to mean when you hold your phone this way, the area underneath is going to be excited by the electromagnetic radiation emitted from it. >> you're not sure how that affected health? >> we don't know if there are negative consequences from it or not. i'm sure just having it activate your brain is not harmful. the question is with repeated exposure after five or ten years will there be long- lasting effects and that's the question we don't know yet. >> your specialty is the human brain and how drugs and other stimuli affect the human brain. any changes in a normal functioning brain, would that not triger a warning for perhaps a negative thing or is that not necessarily so? >> not necessarily so. because normally had we use our brain, the areas being used like when i speak, i activate the area involve with language. that's part of the physiology. that's different from having something radiated toward your brain and that is why in my perspective, what it's telling me is we feed to study whether there are or are not long- lasting consequences from this exposure. and if there are not, for example, could it be possible to use this type of technology to activate areas of brain that may not be properly activated in ways that could be beneficial. so that's why if it is, very easy solution, you stop using your cell phone. because you just need to keep that antenna far away from your brain which you can use speaker phone or just one of the earpieces or text. but if they are, you need to know so that you change. and if they are not, scientists can then start to work to see, could we utilize this technology for other purposes. >> in the meantime, until we do know, i know i'm putting you on the spot, but would your advice be to use the phone in different ways until we know if it is harmful or not. >> well my perspective is how much you are willing to deal with uncertainty when it comes to your brain. >> i don't want to deal with any uncertainty. >> i don't either and not with my brain or those of children and adolescents. it is so trivial, it costs nothing. if it meant you could stop using your cell phone, but you don't have to. you can have your cake and eat it too. that would be my recommendation. >> i'll take your recommendation. dr. nora volkov and the director of the fashional institute of drug abuse at n.i.h. thank you. steve, is that any clearer for you? >> you have to go to the experts. from luxury suv's to salary of staff, vince gray had a lot of questions to answer. we'll hear what the mayor had to say when we come back. and later we are live with the preview of a nine-day event set to start in the nation's capital. stay with us. e d.c. mayor vince gray was under fire in his weekly press conference with questions over the luxury suv lease scandal to salary of senior staff members. >> for instance the $200,000 his chief of staff makes is more than the white house chief of staff takes home. yesterday his reporters asked him why the salaries were going up so much? >> we looked at the experience and the demand and some of the titles have more responsibilities at this point. for example, the chief of staff now has the budget responsibility, which is a huge increase in responsibility for the chief of staff. >> mayor gray also said that he is spending less than the previous administration because he's eliminated a couple of dozen positions. >> the bigger question involves kwame brown's two suv's that were costing taxpayers nearly $4,000 a month in leasing fees. when brown didn't like the first suv because of the interior color, he sent it back and got another one. but that left the city locked into paying for both leases, now brown said he will pay back his share of the lease and the department of public works is sending that vehicle back to the leasing company. the mayor and attorney general agree that both suv's should be returned. >> i'm perfectly fine with both of them going back. it was -- whatever role that i had in this was only because we seemed to have been engaged in a lease that we couldn't escape from that -- so if both of those -- if he wants both of those cars to go back, i'll ready to send them back today. >> chairman brown has said the city needs to take a closer look at the fleet of vehicles and the cost of leases. tommy wells is calling for an investigation into the entire suv scandal. it is now # 26:00 on this thursday morning and an american idol hopeful hospitalized today. and genistasel has a special interest in this weekend's oscars. he said he spent his lifetime overcoming a studderring problem just like the king's speech. we'll talk about it in the next half hour. stay with us. 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[ female announcer ] go to yoplait.com to start your two week tune up. this week yoplait light yogurt is only 20 for $10 at giant. it is 8:29 now. let's look at stories making headlines this thursday morning. gay rights groups praising barack obama's decision not to defend the ban on gay marriage in court. the attorney general said the president has concluded that it is not constitutional. the law, which is calls the defense of marriage act has been on the books for 50 years. today the president and first lady hosting a black history month concert at the white house. smokey robinson, seal, john legend, sheryl crow, jamie foxx and nick jonas coming to the white house. it will be taped and then you can watch it on tuesday if you don't have the invite for tonight. and also fox viewers, the cast of glee is set to perform. >> and you just asked about what happened to casey. an american idol hopeful is in the hospital this morning. casey abrams who you might know as flagle rock. i love him right there on the right in the dark hat. he had to leave rehearsal after complaining about severe stomach pains. if he's not well enough for the performance by friday he'll be eliminated from the competition. >> he will be well enough to move on and he will win american idol this year. i think he's going to win. i love him. >> he's got that bluesy and soulful sound. >> but taylor hicks. >> as in like 19 years old so a lot of potential down the road. >> but he did not have a place in american radio these days, unfortunately. >> well there is different music on the radio these days. >> i hope you are right. >> but it's up to the people to decide. and you have to have the image thing too. >> we have to vote. >> we will. it's going to be raining later today. >> we'll vote for tucker. >> i thought i could get invited to that concert but things didn't work out. maybe next year. 35 at reagan national. it's cold in baltimore at 29. hagerstown 28. fredericksberg, 37. patuxent naval air station is 37 as well. so actually temperatures today not going to be bad. we'll top out near 50. here is your temperature trend the next few days and working in our direction if you like spring weather. 58 tomorrow and a few degree above normal. our average daytime temperature is 49. and let's do the future-cast. we have rain on the horizon. just off to the south and west. and moving in here by mid to late afternoon. so a little morning sunshine and the clouds quickly increase and then by 5:00 or 6:00 tonight we'll start to see rain breaking out. so by the evening commute, a little rain around the area. that will continue into the overnight hours ab as we get into tomorrow morning we'll have a cold front come through. and that could spark off a few thunderstorms and bring us some very windy conditions. so high wind watch in effect for tomorrow starting at 11:00 in the morning. but things clear out and we'll be in for a decent weekend. light rain today, 50 degrees. not bad tonight, 45 the overnight low. and tomorrow very comfortable 58. and could be thunderstorms and high wind watch tomorrow. winds could gust up to 50-60 miles per hour. and then a good looking weekend with temperatures in the mid- 50s for the day on sunday. let's look at the weather -- that's a look at the weather forecast. now over to you. a big weekend for hollywood. the oscars are on sunday. the king's speech an early favorite to take best picture honors. john stassel can that film theme. he's revealed a life long battle with stuttering and john has joined us and what we can see. and let's start with hollywood getting it wrong. how do they get it wrong, john? >> well you're in washington. they get the politics wrong. they only tell half of the story. simple stories which is big government is the answer to everything and capitalism is too much for them. >> and we've seen so much here in washington of hollywood being a part of the city and the events here in the last couple of years. does it make a difference, are we seeing more input from hollywood when it comes to politics? >> i think you've always seen it. they tell beautiful stories and a lot of us form our opinions based on what we see in movies. it took me too long as a consumer reporter to see that business is not the evil symbol, evil actuality that hollywood makes it out to be. and the way to get really rich in america is to serve your customers well and if the government rule is meant to mix business and make it worse, hollywood has never learned this. they view life with the erin brockovich point of view. >> you have good panel to discuss that tonight on fox business. but we want to talk about the oscars and the king's speech and a very personal connection for you. talk a little bit about that and what you've been able to overcome and how that relates? >> well, steve, i wouldn't say overcome. i still stutter sometimes. but i'm more willing now not to be a closet stuttering. i'm willing to just admit it and stutter on the air if i need to. but as a kid i had severe problems and i almost quit my job several times because of it. but i found a clinic in roanoke, virginia, not too far from you guys, which finally helped me. >> what did you think about the movie, what did you think about colin firth and how he portrayed the king? >> i think he was terrific. i didn't love the movie because it forced me to relive my struggles with stuttering. >> that's interesting. do you think it will win? >> i do. only because i figure, i don't know, but the people who bet on the prediction markets, they are making it a big favorite. >> you're going to talk with some of those people as well. how does that work? i hate to use the term big business because it's not money trading hands, but big interest when it comes to betting on the oscars? >> well there is something called the hollywood stock exchange where you can bet on what movies will do well and they were going to use this for helping to get funding for movies. and foolish politicians band it and they banned internet gambling and they are based off shore. big trade is based in ireland and it has colin firth winning best actor. kings speech winning best picture. >> well we're going to find out on sunday night and we'll find out more tonight as to what you have to offer on the show. it's always a pleasure talking with you. good luck on the show tonight. we'll watch for you. >> thanks, steve. >> you can catch stossel tonight on the fox business network. and then we'll talk about the oscars on monday morning and get a recap there. sound good? >> i don't think i'll be able to see any of those movies before sunday, unfortunately. >> just lock yourself in all weekend and watch as much as you can. >> we'll try to do that. it is 8:37 on this thursday morning. changes at sea world. details of that coming up next. and you have until noon today to vote for the high school basketball game of the week. these are your choices. bethesda chevy chase -- and to vote go to myfoxdc.com and we'll be at the winning matchup tomorrow night. go bears. stay with us. tr rtiontui just into fox 5 news, good news about the economy. fewer people requested unemployment and aid last week. the number of laid off worker as complying for benefits dropped by 22,000 to a seasonally adjusted 391,000. >> that pushes the four-week average of applications to the lowest level in more than two and a half years. if were one of the mill -- if you are one of the millions of americans looking for jobs, see our job of the day. this is the job of the day. hours are 2:00 to 10:00 p.m. monday through friday, pay is between 30 and $37,000 a year. for more on this job and many others go to myfoxdc.com and click on the job shop tab on the top of the home page. sea world trainers will be back in the water with whales in more than a year. they haven't been allowed in the tank since one colleague was dragged into the water and killed by a 6-ton whale last february. sea world said interactions will be restricted to small pools that can be lifted out of the watter. and gas prices and produce prices all going up. >> find out how much more you should expect to pay when we come back. holly? >> reporter: good morning. if you are looking for a play where the arts merge and cultures meet, then the chance over the next three weekends for you to come out to atlas is where you need to be and where we are live this morning and where we are getting a preview of intersections, the new american arts festival coming up. we're going to talk about flamenco and a whole lot more. it's all live next on fox 5 morning news. stay with us. 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>> reporter: you may see the crisis in libya and say what does it have to do with me? >> we're seeing shipments being cut down from coming out of libya and that's reducing supply and it's only going to increase the price of oil. >> reporter: the price of oil has been pushed to the highest level in two and a half years. the cost of crude shot past $100 in trading on wednesday and finally settled just over $98 a barrel. that's the highest since 2008. according to triple-a, the national average is $3.17, that's up nearly a dollar a gallon from one year ago. >> it costs companies more to make and transport goods, you're looking at trucking and airline industry. >> reporter: the prices are putting pan ache in the day-to- day operation of this food bank. >> we budget $6,000 a month for our 17 vehicles. this is going to hit us very hard. >> reporter: and keeping a fleet of school buses full is no small task. the vehicles in this school district consume 1 million gallons of fuel every year. >> if gas were to go up and stay up, i could see that as a concern. >> reporter: just how how could prices go? >> some experts predict $5 a gallon and all of this being triggered by the chaos in libya. >> reporter: as violence intensified overseas, foreign companies are pulling staff from the respective regions. several oil companies have shut down production in some areas. in new york, lauren green, fox news. >> according to the triple-a fuel gage report today's average price for a galon of regular dollars is $3.16 in maryland and $3.10 in virginia. >> the u.s. department of labor said the cost of fruits and veggies jumped 2% over the winter and the wholesale price up 23%. experts say you might see prices rise at restaurants as well. tomorrow a nine-day arts festival kicks off in the nation's capital. >> holly morris joins us live from the atlas performing arts center with a preview. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. if you're looking for something to do over the next three weekends, i have the answer. because over the nine days is when the at lat performing arts center having what it is called intersection and it is celebrating all things art and this is a chance for you to come out and see and do all different kinds of things in this world. and right now we are in the area of spain because we're going to experience a little bit of flamenco. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> reporter: it's good to see you again. >> we're going to make this a regular, hopefully. >> reporter: yes. and so for you guys to be a part of the festival it must be special. >> it is. we're very excited to be part of the this festival. i know it's the second year. last year we did some workshops and this year we're bringing our most ambitious production to date. this is not your traditional flamenco, it is theatrical flamenco. >> reporter: what do you mean? >> we've taken the poetry of a spanish poet and reenacted it through singing, music and dancing flamenco. >> reporter: you think people coming out to the festival that they are surprised to find things like flamenco and things that are so ryan rapt -- vibrant they don't know. >> to have dance and music in one place it's almost overwhelming but in a good way. >> reporter: and sometimes i don't think people don't realize the gem that is the atlas. >> this area is being revitalized in an amazing way and the atlas is a great location. we're very excited. >> reporter: and i'm excited because i'm going to get out some frustration right now and that's when i think of. >> we are going to teach you some moves. the canes are the way that we show the forest so you're going to go ... so we have one single and then double. >> reporter: one more time. >> single, double, double. want to do it again? >> reporter: let's try it. >> here we go. double, double, single. and again. double, double, single. again. excellent. >> reporter: i just couldn't get the last one. look, before we run out of time, i want to make sure we hand it over to the experts. without further ado here is the flamenco. [ music ] >> reporter: if you want to see the flamenco, their performance is sunday february 27th at 7:30 at the lang theater. myfoxdc.com is our website. we have a link to the atlas performing arts center website to find out more about ticket prices. but they are only one of 100 performances that are going on over the next three weekends starting tomorrow. coming up in the next hour, we're moving on from the passion and energy of flamenco to the skies, airborne and the zip zap circus is going to teach me how to fly. >> nine days worth one morning. a lot of variety. 8:51. and we are finding out about prince william's bachelor party. >> the one with snoop dogg? >> his brother and 20 of his closest days will celebrate with a day of water sports. including wake boarding and waterskiing in south africa. >> afterward they are going to barbecue and visit some bars and restaurants only acsettible by boat and tmz cameras probably. the group will stay at the home of a friend. royal watchers tell the sun newspaper in england this is the perfect option because the guys can have fun without worrying about who is around. >> so probably no entertainment about snoop dogg. >> they'll keep it a secret. for decades kids and adults have given a thumbs down to the wearing of braces. >> but what if they could fix your teeth a little faster so in the next hour how robots are shaving many months off of the time that some people have to spend in braces. we'll tell you how that works. i'm sam chernin, owner of sammy's fish box. i opened the first sammy's back in 1966. my employees are like family, and i want people that work for me to feel that they're sharing in my success. we purchase as much as we can on the american express open gold card so we can accumulate as many points as possible. i pass on these points to my employees to go on trips with their families. when my employees are happy, my customers are happy. how can the gold card help serve your business? booming is taking care of your business by taking care of your employees. our facebook fan of the day is la sharn newbill. yesterday she told us it was international dog biscuit day. who knew? a good excuse to give your furry friend a treat. you can do that today if you weren't aware of it yesterday. so we thank la sharn for that. we can't find out what we should be celebrating throughout the day today. to be tomorrow's fan of the day find us on facebook by searching fox 5 news. we'll celebrate you for being our facebook fan of the day. for a few weeks we've been asking you to show us how much you love fox 5 morning news and in turn we said we would invite some superfans to the station. so this morning we're announcing our first fox 5 morning news superfan. it's pam braxton. she sent in a great video to show why she's the superfan and we want to share that with you now. >> this was written for my morning team. i need you all to clap for me like this. all right. they don't need no introduction, talking about my 5 tv. they are on first thing in the morning, on all three of my tv's. with allison so pretty and the handsome weather guys. and check with julie before you ride. fox 5, d.c. in the morning. that morning team on all of my tvs, yes. they are fox 5, d.c. in the morning. my morning team on all of my tvs, baby. >> very catchy pam. we love it. setting the bar high. and her little dancer son and family will be with us tomorrow morning starting in the 8:00 hour. pam, we'll welcome you here and we'll see you then. >> you have the next toness -- chance to see burr superfan. the e mill aggress -- e-mail address is on your screen. send it to our website and other viewers can rate the submission. that will do it for this hour and one more hour to go and we'll turn things over to tony and allison. here is a look at stories we're following for the 9:00 hour of fox 5 morning news. protest and uncertainty in the middle east has the price of oil on the rise. and the price at the pump is going up right along with it. so what can we expect in the coming weeks? we'll check in with lauren simin ety for the example. and a trend on the rise in one segment of our population. we'll look at prescription drug abuse in the military. and braces are no fun for anyone. but there is a new device out there actually helping patients get rid of the braces faster and it involves a robot. >> where was that at about 25 y my braces. >> too late for us. tucker barnes is in the weather center. not too bad out there. >> that's right, allison. temperatures in the 30s now. topping out near 50 so that should feel good. clouds on increase and a better chance for rain into the late afternoon. i'll show you why here in just a second. there are your regional temperatures and kind of a battleground across the mid- atlantic. it's cold in boston, 29. nashville already 52 degrees. that warmer air will come surging in along with cloud cover and some rain showers by late afternoon. as we get a storm system that will get its act together across portions of kentucky a