near 90 we will have scattered showers and storms developing. right now 74. it is almost 6:00 a.m. and angie has the traffic. >> that's right. we are ready to kick off the new hour, howard and we want to say hello to everybody and thanks for joining us so early. beginning 95 northbound plus ten minutes to get from the prince william parkway to lorton. on 66 eastbound. no problems is what i'm tracking as drivers make their way past 50 to 495. that's what we are looking at here. here's 270 southbound. a little volume a is building around germantown road area to 370. no accidents or incidents there. on the outer loop, drivers are zipping by. a little volume between university and georgia. finally i give you 95 and the bw parkway out of baltimore past 198, powder mill an beyond, nothing but green cars. we are moving and i will send it over to andrea. >> thank you, angie. we begin with a plea for help from metro general manager john catoe he says they need $150 million in federal funding for exam projects. 9 news now digital correspondent, armando trull , is live outside of the fort totten metro station with more. >> reporter: that $150 million is a drop in the bucket when you look at metro's long-term financial needs. and that's why metro's top man was on captiol hill yesterday singing that old depression era song "pro brother can you spare a dime." metro is seeking $7 billion to make the movements needed to remain tape safe reliable service. the general manager is hoping a big chunk of change will come from uncle sam. he ask the senate to follow the house's lead an approve $150 million for capital improvements next year. that amount, cato said will be matched by maryland, virginia and the district. the meeting lasted 75 minutes and a good deal of the discussion centered on june 22nd fatal crash and what steps could be taken to prevent similar accidents in the future. now, andrea, it is very likely the senate will move quickly tie prove the $150 million because they are very aware of how many federal workers and tourists are using the system on a daily basis. as far as the cause of the crash, catoe admitted if there had been enough money perhaps the damage would have been less because they would have been able to replace the series 1,000 cars that were involved in the crash. reporting live armando trull for 9 news now and wusa9.com. the fighting to connect montgomery and prince georges counties north of the beltway is far from over. but we now know that metro's proposed purple line connecting the two counties will be a light rail system. it will be an above ground trolley system similar to those used in artttt e,north carolina or san francisco, california. a long way to go before the rail is reality. the next step is getting the federal transit administration to help too to pay for the 16- mile project from bethesda to new carrollton and you can see it runs close to the path of the capital crescent trail. that is drawing opposition. you can see that side of the story at wusa9.com. just click on maryland news. we have a followup on two stories we told you about last night. u.s. park police are investigating a fatal pedestrian accident on the baltimore-washington parkway. it happened near route 450. police say a man was struck by a vehicle as he tried to cross the highway. it is illegal for pedestrians to be on that section of the parkway and there's no word what the victim was doing there. prince georges county police have made an arrest in the fatal shooting at an oxon hill apartment complex. 23-year-old samuel rollins is charged with first-degree murder. police say he opened fire after a domestic dispute in the 00 block of livingston road. one man died and another critically injured and two women suffered less serious wounds. wear beginning to learn more about a developing story coming to us from the pittsburgh, pennsylvania region. at least four people are dead and several wounded after a gunman opened fire at a health club in the suburb of bridgeville. witnesses say the gunman burst in to an all women's exercise class at an l.a. fitness center and just started shooting. police say the gunman got off 50 rounds during the rampage. one woman describes what she saw. >> just bang bang bang bang bang. >> i was working out and i heard a bunch of gunshots and seen everybody run and we just all head for the hill. >> she kept saying he's going to kill me. he's going to kill me my exboyfriend. >> reporter: they believe the gunman may have been targeting one particular woman in the class. police say they are having trouble identifying everyone since most left their i.d.s in the locker rooms or or in their vehicles. former president clinton is bringing two american journalists back home from north korea. euna lee and ling had been sentenced to 12 years hard labor for illegally entering the country. they were pardoned after mcheld talks with north korea's reclusive leader kim jong-il. he is said to have pleaded for the release of several south korean and japanese citizens being held by the communist regime. it is time for another living smart report. jessica doyle is on vacation, but we begin with the government's cash for clunkers program, which is about to get a lifeline. senate majority leader harry reed predicts they will replenish the program before leaving on a month long vacation later this week. four of the top models sold under the program are foreign made. focus was the top seller followed by corolla, civic and prius and camry. nissan took the wraps off of its electric car. the nissan lease is a sub compact hatch back. the price hasn't been set but nissan says it will sell for roughly the same as a popular gas powered model. it will be available in the u.s. next year. some encouraging news for out of work americans. according to a new survey by the website careerbuilder.com. nearly half of workers laid off in the last three months have found new jobs. 38% found work in a different field and 56% were able to negotiate comparable or higher pay for their new positions. the federal government says it's time to do something about people who put us all at risk by texting while driving. a rash of fatal crashes is the reason for the move. federal transportation officials have soul called a summit next month to discuss ways to combat the problem the transportation secretary says the public is sick and tired of people being distracted and causing accidents. a new report says we may never know all of the people infected with the h1n1 virus and ten years after the 9/11 terror attacks, thousands are still dealing with the health affects of that day. here's howard with our weather. >> that's right. we are focusing on weather and traffic. we will check in with angie in just a moment. across maryland right now a nice quiet morning. humidity, across southern maryland and the eastern shore where the dew.s are pushing 70 ded eeers anmpteatures in the n o72e thbamp oe bay in annapolis. we wegowest awere seeing readings which have fallen in the upper 60s to low 70s. frederick, and hagerstown 73 and andrews 69. good chance of showers and storms this afternoon. we will see 7 west minner. 88 potomac and 82348 waldorf. time to check on maryland roads. >> hey, maryland. let's look at your commute. we begin with colesville and franklin. no real traffic to report on this live shot. that's quite evident. moving to river road and falls in bethesda, looks like everybody is staying home today. is there something i don't know about? 95 southbound out of baltimore from 198 to the beltway, we are traveling it and not finding any incidents or accidents along the way. now over to andrea. >> now a few words of inspiration to jump start your morning. willy jolly is ready to help you deal with the inevitable. >> hi, this is willy jolly and today i want to share a simple idea to help you live better and have greater success. i was recently speaking for one of my clients and she said that she heard these short messages i share on the radio every day and she said it had an impact on her life because she was dealing with change. she had been moved from another city to washington, d.c. and it was uncomfortable. but she heard me tell the audience that change is good when your attitude is great. change is going to happen whether you like it or not. we're going to have change happen in our lives. do you remember your first day in high school, how big the halls were. do you remember going back and visiting the high school after you graduated and how small the halls were. the halls didn't change. you did. change is inevitable but our attitude can make the difference. decide to enjoy everything and understand that change is not the enemy, it is an ally. this is willy jolly, have a great day and make this is a day you will not forget. yeah, no it's great. i eat anything that i want. key lime pie, pineapple upside down cake, raspberry cheesecake... ... yeah, every night is something different. oh, yeah yeah... ... she always keeps them in the house. no, no, no. i've actually lost weight... i just have a high metabolism or something... ...lucky. babe... umm, i gotta go. (announcer) 28 delicious flavors at around 100 calories each. yoplait, it is so good. 14 patients involved in a kidney transplant will meet at georgetown university hospital. their doctors will be with them. they were participants in one of the largest organ swaps ever. the event will bring attention to the problem of kidney disease in our area. we have one of the worst rates of end stage kidney disease in the country. kristin fisher is here now. you have got the latest on our hero central project. >> that's right. this is a story about the washington-based columbia light house for the blind. now, this nonprofit has been around more than 100 years, but in january the nonprofit launched a new program to help veterans who have lost their vision. right now it is only in the pilot phase but this program is already making a difference in the lives of some local heros. take a look. printing a document from a computer. it sounds simple but try to do it if you are blind. it took irving anderson two months. the vietnam vet lost his sight 28 years eight ago. >> it was a scary feeling at first but then i learned to live with it. it was scarier then because i didn't know what i was going to do to make a living. >> reporter: that's where the bridge to work initiative comes in. a new program by columbia light house for the blind that is training veterans to work, even after they have lost their sight. >> they bring a refreshing optimism. >> reporter: vincent willis is in charge of teaching them the four steps to digital data scanning. >> you adapt and overcome just like in the military. they bring that to the work place. >> reporter: the best part of the program is after three months of training, you are guaranteed a job. >> the training is one thing. the independent living skills and orientation but the job is really important for these veterans to get back in to our society. >> reporter: it is becoming even more important as a growing number of troops return from iraq and afghanistan. >> we think anywhere from 12 to 15% of the veterans that are returning have vision impairment or blindness. >> reporter: for anderson he's just happy these blind heros could now come home to the bridge to work program. >> i think it is an excellent program. i guess i had started to feel sorry for myself and it gave me an opportunity to say, hey, man if you go and do it is out there. >> a number of soldiers returning from iraq and afghanistan with serious eye injuries is the highest it has been since world war i. so you can see why this program is so important right now and the catch is this program is funded by grants and those grants expire at the end of august. so in the program will continue they will have to find some other source of funding. >> all right. you have heard that. so if you are out there and can be a hero, let us know about it. >> e-mail us at heros@wusa9.com. >> thank you. in the news right now, the september 11th attacks in new york are still causing health problems for tens of thousands. more than 400,000 office workers, residents and rekouser were in lower manhattan on that day or shortly afterwards. a report shows 25,000 since developed asthma and 61,000 suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. the world health organization is standing by the claim that an estimated 2 billion people could catch the h1n1 virus but the estimate is with a big health warning. no one knows how many have already caught the new strain. the final numbers may never be known because many cases are so mild they may go undetected. louisville, kentucky is dealing with a record rainfall. nine inches of rain hit the area including six inches in one hour national guard rescue teams were sent to louisville to help with the flooding. a large section of the racetrack was underwater. tens of thousands of people have been left without power. >> that's quite a downpour. >> sure was. i hope we don't get anything like that. >> we may get a few. i posted something on the blog this morning. we talked about it in the five hour. big story on what the hurricane season forecast is and why we haven't had much activity yet. you recall even though there is not much going on it was ' 92. we're in the chat room also all morning and you can get a link at wusa9.com. and the storms we expect afternoon, track those on-line with interactive radar. very cool there along with doppler 9000. a lot going on. next three days, 87 degrees today. looking at showers and storms. tom tonight and tomorrow. but tomorrow passing south and east and a little too close for comfort. tomorrow 85 and maybe not even that. the heat will come back and surge as we go through the weekend. this morning partly to mostly cloudy. 60s and 70s out there with generally light winds. this afternoon scattered showers and thunderstorms. warm. if we get enough sun we could be near 90 but mid to upper 80s will do it for most of us with a west wind five to ten miles an hour. and showers and storms on the. off and on through much of the night. 65 to 70. winds this the northernly direction. five to ten miles an hour. cloudiness out th inisth morning. but the time lapse is showing a pretty neat sky early this morning at 6:15. temperature 74 with a north wind at 6 miles an hour. ' the dew point in the 60s. 66 is a bit on the humid side. we have 69 from andrews air force base to 73 on the eastern shore. out west, culpeper is 63 along with martinsburg buat 65. western maryland, cumberland a warm morning and 72. here in town 74. across the country, another huge cluster of storms. not so much the one in nebraska but look at this thing through memphis this morning heading up to arkansas, clipping little rock. heavy rain, lightning, thunderstorms, wind there. for us a thin line of showers ahead of a front in pennsylvania. more showers across west virginia and kentucky. as that front moves east this afternoon, it will be in somewhat of a warm humid air mass and it will fire off showers and thunderstorms across the region. isolated 0 to see veer possible with us and a little wave will pass to the south tomorrow morning. that will keep the rain for you folks in the northern neck and eastern shore. perhaps you will wake up tomorrow with rain around. here's our seven-day forecast. upper 80s today. mid-80s tomorrow and friday. pretty comfortable, especially when you consider the weekend, 92 on saturday. 95, maybe even hotter one of these days on sunday and monday, even in to tuesday expect temperatures in the 90s. time for traffic. here's angie goff. time to hydrate, huh? time to [out the water bottle or get it ready. it will be getting steamy later on. we are 18 minutes after the 6:00 hour. 395 northbound we are slowing down around duke street but fine past edsall here. to the inner loop from 95 to 66. no problems. speeds drop a bit. overall we are moving at a nice pace. 270 southbound a little volume from germantown road to interstate 370. we are tracking the trip on 50 westbound. we will fly this from the bay bridge making our way through annapolis to bowie to inbound new york avenue. there are no accidents along the way and that's where we will wrap it up inside the district on new york avenue. whether you are going inbound or outbound. right now no backups to report. that's a quick look at traffic. now over to you. jason campbell finally opens up about his team's redesires to replace him and the nationals enjoy a happy homecoming against the marlins. time for the signs of now question, yesterday maryland governor said metro's proposed purple line would be a light rail system. we want to know when was the term light rail first coined? the answer when we come back. to get a good night's sleep, try 2-layer ambien cr. the first layer dissolves quickly to help you fall asleep. and unlike other sleep aids, a second dissolves slowly to help you stay asleep. when taking ambien cr, don't drive or operate machinery. sleepwalking, and eating or driving while not fully awake with memory loss for the event as well as abnormal behaviors such as being more outgoing or aggressive than normal, confusion, agitation and halluciations may occur. don't take it with alcohol as it may increase these behaviors. allergic reactions such as shortness of breath, swelling of your tongue or throat may occur and in rare cases may be fatal. side effects may include next-day drowsiness, dizziness, and headache. in patients with depression, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide may occur. if you experience any of these behaviors or reactions contact your doctor immediately. wake up ready for your day-ask your healthcare provider for 2-layer ambien cr. welcome back to 9 news now. in the signs of now question, we want to know when we began to use the term "light rail "? was it ' 72, ' 80 or ' 76? the answer is a, 1972. the army light rail was first used then by the u.s. urban mass transportation administration to describe streetcar designs used in north america and europe. it has sense been renamed the federal transit administration. after months of silence, redskins quarterback jason campbell is finally opening up his about i emotional off season. in today's edition of sports illustrated he is the subject of a dover story in which after holding his tongue for the entire off season he unloads on the redskins efforts to replace him on b@with mark sanchez and jay cutler said campbell "i'm fine now but a couple of times in the off season i felt like a piece of tissue they were flushing down the toilet." another injury at camp has left the offensive line even weaker. heyer left practice with a strained knee. he will will have an mri and is expected to miss a few days. the is the front runner to start now that janson is gone. kelly also left practice with an injured leg. tune in for live coverage of the training camp from the team's ashburn facility every day beginning at 5:00 p.m. if you can't get to a television, you can find the latest redskins training camp news on our website wusa9.com. once there read about two former heisman hopefuls who are competing to be jason campbell's backup. the nats dealt johnson to the marlins last week. and now the fish are in town for a three-game series and johnson didn't take long to give his team pay back. an rbi hit in the 1stinning. florida led 4 -- 4-0 but the nationals roared back. adam dunn blasts a two-run homer this which turned out on the difference. nats win 6-4. >> an rbi -- last night in detroit the orioles taking -- taking on the tigers. one to dead center off washburn who was making his first start since the trade with seattle. it helped to put the o's over the tigers 8-2. senators debate the confirmation of sonia sotomayor confirmation. and a police officer at the center of a discrimination case has a long history of civilian complaints against him. here's angie. we have a traffic alert. 66 eastbound at the fairfax county parkway, an accident off to the left shoulder and we are slowing down approaching the scene. more things that can slow you down this wednesday morning. i will have them coming up. we are outside on the weather terrace enjoying a fine morning with a mix of clouds and sunshine overhead. not going to finish that way, though. i will have the details when 9 news now this morning returns. @ last week the "endeavour" touched down and now it is the space shuttle "discovery's" turn to blast off in to space. "discovery" is resting on the launch pad. moving the shuttle to the pad took 12 hours. "discovery" is slated to liftoff from the kennedy space center in three weeks from the international space station. howard is enjoying the weather on the terrace. he has the forecast. >> pretty comfortable this morning. this afternoon, though we are watching a told front head this way. we will have some heat and dihu ndtymi adithunrstorms, as well. seeing a few showers, only a few across pennsylvania and southern thsouthern west virginia. trying to sneak in though southwestern virginia. otherwise a mix of clouds and sunshine overhead this morning e re e llwhareing temperatures which will be running in the 60and 70s. a few 60t s . weoust st60s out west. just t ofe phone with charlie and he said 66 with high thin one out there. we are at 74. upper 80s today with scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. get a traffic update here at 6:30. good morning. >> thank you very much. a reminder i'm simulcasting live from my blog at wusa9.com. we have got steven and walter hanging out this morning. come an join us. 66 eastbound. here's a tieup to tell you about. approaching the fairfax county parkway, crash activity on the left shoulder. lanes are getting by but slowing down. the head lights are stacking up approaching the scene. to 95 northbound here's the shot. delayed from the prince william parkway as drivers make their way to lorton. we are estimating the drive time at 10 to 15 minutes. to our realtime graphics. route 4, route 5, the suitland parkway, 305, this remains an accident free zone. and finally wrap it up with the outer loop. bring the shades, bower going to need them. sun glare is a factor from new hampshire to georgia. just a minor delay. now over to andrea. a prominent iranian lawmaker says three americans detained in that country could be charged with spying. shane bauer, his girlfriend and their friend were arrested for illegally entering iran from iraq. security officials in iraq say the trio of backpackers simply got lost hikings in in the mountains where the border isn't clearly marked. opposition groups in iran are calling for protests to coincide with the inauguration of mahmoud ahmadinejad. several blogs and websites encourage demonstrators to gather in front of parliament where the iranian president was sworn in for a second term earlier today. the pro reform movement claims mahmoud ahmadinejad stole the june election. back here at home, debate is underway on the senate on the first hispanic nominee to the supreme court. most republicans are lining up in opposition to sonia sotomayor, insisting she'd be an activist judge but with democrats saying they will approve her nomination, this week's debate is nothing more than political posturing. metro transit is in need of a serious cash inflation. metro general manager told a senate subcommittee a lack of money is proving to be the system's main problem. 9 news now digital correspondent armando trull is live outside of the fort totten station with more. >> reporter: it is $7 billion over the next ten years. that's how much john catoe told the senate it will cost to keep the metro running safely and efficiently and he's hoping he will get some of that money later this week. metro general manager john catoe told senators the system is in desperate need of cash in order to pay for capital projects that will keep the training running safely and on time. next year alone, metro plans to spend almost $700 million on infrastructure improvements and new equipment. the house is already ' proved $150 million. catoe wants the senate to follow suit, maryland, virginia and the district have agreed to match the federal funds. it is likely the senate will act quickly. the fatal train crash is fresh on the minds of many in washington. lawmakers responsible for transportation issues want too ensure the future safety of a metro system that moves so many federal workers an tourists to the nation's capital. now catoe told the senators the accident was not caused by a lack of money but lack of money did create more damages. had metro had the money they would have bout other rail cars that would have been less susceptible to damage. armando trull for 9 news now and wusa9.com. we have some new information on the story you first saw on 9 news now. it involves the arrest of an attorney last week in dupont circle. we have learned of a series of complaints filed against the police officer that made that arrest. since 2002, six formal complaints have been filed against the police officer, james colt. the most recent involved attorney pepin tuma. he is openly gay and he says that colt arrested him and called him a dreg tour name after colt overheard him make a derogatory comment forward police. >> he said shut up faggot. >> the police are launched an internal investigation in though incident. a report about the dc's water system and how it could adversary affect firefighters efforts. those problems were brought to light when firefighters lost water pressure and could not get water on a fire which destroyed the home of peggy cooper. it turns out the report done in 2007 says the condition of the water system infrastructure is highly questionable due to its age and questi however it was never presented to the dc council for action. prince georges county has rolled out a cash for clunkers- style stimulus program for real estate. the program down payment on your dream, encourages first- time home buyers to help the county lower the foreclosure rate. the county kicks in as much as $20,000 per deal to help buyers snap up the large inventory of foreclosured homes. time for your "living $mart" report. jessica doyle is off this week. some worse than expected news from the commerce department. personal income fell 1.3% in june wiping out 1.3% gain from the month before. separately the american bankruptcy institute is arporting consumer bankruptcies ed to a 3 1/2 year high last month, up 34% from a year ago. pending home sales soared in june making it the fifth straight month of gains. the national association of realtors says the index rose 3.6% handly beating forecast. it usually takes a month or two until they turn in to final sales. general electric is settling charges stemming from a 4 1/2 year sec investigation. they claim that ge approved false reports in the financial statements on four separate occasions in 2002 and 2003. without excepting the charges, g.e. settled the claim paying a $50 million penalty. a new report says the district needs to do more to prevent the spread of hiv aids. a local secret is quickly turning in to a hot bed destination for tourists. here's howard. >> time to focus on virginia weather and traffic. angie is coming up in a second but across virginia a mix of clouds and sunshine out there but a quiet morning and temperatures in the 60s and even some lower 70s as so to tolldues dulles right now. 68 just north of fredericksburg. 66 warrenton and winchester this morning you sit at 67. for this afternoon, temperatures will range ne 7 olney to 89 in king george -- george with daytime thunderstorms developing. we give you main street and 123 where it looks like nothing but parked cars. hey, that's good news there. over to columbia pike and george mason -- near george mason university, a shot for you. a phi few driver on the road but no incidents or accidents and finally want you to know 66 at the fairfax county parkway, a crash off to the left shoulder. drivers right now are backed up to route 28 centreville. good morning. wake up, washington. brush those teeth, drink that coffee. here's a live shot for you. 9 news now will be right back after these messages. back with the living green tip of the day. let me tell you, there are a lot of things going on green. one is organic produce, but if you think the cost is too high. try to replace produce that uses more pesticides in the farming process, peaches, apples and bell peppers are on the list of the most contaminated fruits and vegetables. the pesticides are bad for the environment and can be unhealthy for you. so buy organic when you can. for more tips go to wusa9.com and click on living green. in the web center now, here's kristin fisher. >> thank you, howard. social networking sites are coming under fire from both the military and the nfl. just yesterday the marine corps banned all of those sites from their internal network and now the nfl says they, too, are trying to stop players from twittering y. ere's the da 's threorsty story onon switch. the nfl flirts with twitter ban. ri no t eythw ghdo not have a ia so ed m po lilicy but one is cy in thworkthat would ban coaches and players from tweeting on megays dagame days. well, th a ea ahd ais step ahead of the nfl. the danger room s hathe nerinee twban itter, face, facebaokbo . face facebook. now, this ban e ctfe im immediately and al all social media sites will be off limits for the marine corps on elthat internal network for at least one year. now, i was curious ar as towhat you t ght e ouesthalouthabt out al social media cracsokdns ow soow posted this meon twitter an d on twitter and facebook page asking for your comments. here's how some of you geponded rit here. i will start styles who addresses the nfl poible ban. she writes if a fobaotll a football game, play the game. do not tweet tdunggari heme. when they are off, i see no e t's ves rpcobaann eti d corpban ancan see s can see rir stophewrote, wow, they are late onopon d thisr foond years ago. if it is fun on the wei doe seal n'dobee se why anyone should be a aba a social media network when there is a job done done li co y. on outh country. on the other side of the debate is barbara who wrote omg, i depend on fatobo ok keep up epmy he nw hehese is serving in afghanis n and i check an cebook every da orn or eight me if e seif atas t i ow kn le t i know t he is still alive if his name comes up on my wall e-mail or chat. i hope they don't ban them. >> if it is a danger to their health, or to other troops like the marine corps is suggesting then of course you would of course want the ban to stay in place. that's what is hot on the web. weigh in on the debate at my page go to facebook.com/kristin fisher. >> the pentagon said they weren't talking about the troops personal computers. so i they can still have facebook but remember from world war ii loose lips sink ships you don't want to give away too much. >> peace of mind both sides. >> but you can do it on your personal computer. >> without threatening or giving away secrets. let's talk about today. a nice morning. things are quiet. by this afternoon that's went we expect some thunderstorms to be popping up. in fact some storms will last through the knight and another wave of low pressure could bring more rain tomorrow morning, especially south of washington. i think when you wake up, northern maryland, northern neck and eastern shore maybe dealing with showers on thursday. the north and west you go the drier it will be. highs around 85 tomorrow and still comfortable on friday. and then the heat surges in here for the weekend. this morning, partly to mostly cloudy, 60s and 70s. winds are light and comfortable right now. but this afternoon the later we go the more likely we will see thunderstorms and some may hold off until 3:00, 4:00, 5:00. west wind five to ten miles an hour and showers and storms off and on tonight. low 65 to 70. a north wind at five miles an hour. not much going on. high thin clouds across here with a lot of breaks. we had showers in pennsylvania. there's not much left with them and the heaviest stuff is southern west virginia. roanoke will get some rain over the next little while. clouds showing up on the time lapse this morning with nice breaks now, too. we will get some sunshine. temperatures running in the mid- 70s right now. 74 reagan national. dew point 66 and the barometer is currently rising at 29.93. other readings from the low to mid-70s down south. 76 in newlisten on the northern neck. 67 in winchester. 68 frederick and manassas also sits at 68 this morning. there's a cluster of storms. one in nebraska and another through memphis. look at this feature. see how it has this bow on it, a lot of wind. all sorts of severe reports there. for us a front to the north and west and as this slides closer to us today with the heat of the atmosphere, boom, thunderstorms will pop. some will be around tonight and early on thursday. here's the seven-day forecast, 87 this afternoon with some thunderstorms developing later this afternoon and in to the evening. overnight a a few showers and storms. and then the heat builds. 92 on saturday. looks like the mid-90s. hello heat wave and hello to angie goff. >> hello, howie b and hi, everybody. thanks for joining us. it is 13 minutes from the 7:00 hour and we have issues on the beltway. on the outer loop at 50 here in virginia. the accident is taking away the left lane for drivers. you are slow approaching the scene. the inner loop not doing so bad but a little rubbernecking going on in the area. moving over to 395. here we go. heading northbound we are slowing down a bit. it is like this from 495 to seminary and approaching the 14th street bridge. 66 eastbound, what's up here? well, at route 28 is where we are starting to see a backup to the fairfax county parkway where we have crash activity pushed to the left shoulder. and then from 123 to the beltway is where we are seeing another slow go. 270 southbound live from germantown road, everything is at speed. now over to andrea. >> thank you. a public advocacy group says mayor fenty needs to do more in the district's fight against hiv and aids. the center for law and justice released the annual report card. it gave the district high marks for rapid testing, interagency coordination and fighting the disease in the dc jail, but says mayor fenty needs to provide more public leadership in the fight, especially in supporting needle exchange programs. you have heard of beach resorters -- resorts struggling tourists this year. that's not the case for one beh actown around town. it has been so flooded with visitors it had to close one of the main attractions. peggy fox has the story. >> it looks like the beach. it sounds like the beach. >> i'm digging. >> reporter: it is an hour from washington. the small town of colonial beach on the potomac river has become an increasingly popular destination, thanks to the economy. >> i think because of the economy, people have less money to spend but yet they want some type of recreation. >> half of my family is laid off. we can't afford to go to kings dominion this year. >> they weren't ready for an influx of tourist. the town has been a victim of its own ccs.es >> very crowded. >> reporter: this is what crowds left behind, pile and piles of trash. so mus.ch so it took two people five hours to clean it up say the town manager. >> i get a lot of e-mails from citizens who are angry and frustrated. >> reporter: because they don't have enough bathrooms, people were using the ground and leaving other unpleasant surprises. >> some things we found included diapers, people change their little ones and maybe they intended to put them in the trash cans and maybe they fell out. >> reporter: the council decided to temporarily close castlewood park so it can be cleaned and fixed up. it is across the street from the boat ramp. with the influx of tourists the boaters have little room to park. they complained along with the residents. the town made more parking for boaters a and are charging to park. rules and fees that some of those trendy ocean resorts have. in colonial beach, peggy fox, 9 news now and wusa9.com. a cold war-like exercise is being played out just off of the eastern seaboard. investigators in the midwest search for the cause of a chemical plant fire. i'm julie chen. coming up on the "early show" we will continue shark week with an up close and personal look at these predators of the sea. and daniel takes us shark tagging. meryl streep is joining us with the dish on playing julia child with her new film hitting theaters this week. hey smart, heard you're getting free nights from hotels.com. how? well, funny you should ask. you see, after i book 10 nights, i get a free one. say i spend 2 nights at a big name hotel, 3 at a boutique, and 5 at a beach resort... and boom! free night. 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( monkey laughs ) accumulate 10 nights and get a night free. smart. so smart. in in the news now. the pentagon says it is tracking two nuclear powered russian attack submarines controlling 2 a -- patrolling 200 miles off the coast. they are just outside of the u.s. territorial water. the pentagon says there is no cause for concern. the u.s. northern command won't comment on the movement. police say drunk driving was the cause of the crash on the taconic highway. the woman who had been driving the wrong way had been smoking marijuana and was very drunk and had a bottle of vodka in the car. the crash killed a woman and her two-year-old daughter, three young nieces and three men in an suv. two firefighters were recovering after they were injured in a chemical fire in michigan. it happened yesterday afternoon. thousands of nearby residents were forced to leave the area. the cause of the fire is unknown. you are watching 9 news now. 74 degrees. we'll be right back. gó a columbus family just wrapped up a marathon zoo visit seeing 52 zoos an the country. the family ended their 52 stop tour at their home zoo in columbus. they rank it among their favorites along with san diego, tampa and memphis among others they say the idea sort of snowballed. >> the neat thing, i mean for the kids is the kids get to travel sometimes and stuff but we stopped at niagara falls, grand canyon, we saw the white house and saw the obama family on the lawn and stuff like that. >> reporter: maria is a children's book author and she plans to put one together about the family's 22,000-mile driving adventure. >> cool. >> speaking of driving, let's talk about the traffic on the outer loop at route 50 in virginia. crash activity is blocking the left lane. slow 66 to the scene. on the inner loop slow from little river to 66. 66 eastbound an accident at the fairfax county parkway pushed to the left shoulder. backed up to route 28 and slow 123 to the beltway and speaking of the beltway, on the outer loop, we are jammed. slow ride from new hampshire to georgia. and taking 15 minutes. over to howard. >> quiet this morning but this afternoon and tonight, some showers and storms. we stay cool through friday. a look at the temperatures over the weekend with isolated afternoon storms. by sunday, monday and tuesday in the middle 90s. the "early show" is next. they will have more on a theory that says even young toddlers can be plagued with depression. and we are cooking with ' beloved atlantic spice the latest news, weather and traffic by going to wusa9.com from all of us here, make it a wonderful day, everybody.