from first local station with news in high definition this is 9 news now. welcome to 9 news now at noon. i'm j.c. hayward. well, judge sonia sotomayor has cleared a big hurdle in her path to the supreme court. we're going to take a live look at the senate judiciary committee. they just approved her to be the first hispanic woman to the supreme court. joel brown from cbs has the latest now from captiol hill. >> reporter: sonia sotomayor will soon be a step closer to becoming the first hispanic justice on the supreme court. the judiciary committee will vote to send her nomination to the full senate. all 12 democrats on the panel are supporting president obama's first high court nominee. >> i think this woman has done a splendid job. she's shown a dedication to the law. this has been tested and tested. >> reporter: republican lindsey graham is crossing the aisle to vote for sonia sotomayor. >> i would not have chosen her, but i understand why president obama did. >> reporter: when the full senate takes up sonia sotomayor's nomination next week she is expected to get additional support from moderate republicans despite complaints the have bring a lib rat bias to the court. >> i'm not convinced she will set aside her bias and pledge prejudices and decide cases in an impartial manner. >> reporter: for her part she spent much of her confirmation explaining her comment that a wise latina woman would reach a better conclusion than a white male. >> i do not believe that any ethnic, racial or gender group has an advantage in sound judgment. >> reporter: with her confirmation, now but guaranteed this daughter of puerto ricoen parents who worked her way from a new york city housing project to the federal bench should be an associate supreme court justice in time for the full term. joel brown, cbs news, washington. >> also in the senate, secret talks on health care reform are now public. a bipartisan group admits it has been working behind closed doors trying to come up with a compromise bill. the associated press reports the deal they have reached would not require large employers to offer insurance and there would not be a government insurance option. however, there would be a tax on health benefits. it would also stop insurance companies from denying coverage. >> reporter: relatives of some of the victims killed in the virginia tech shootings want the state to reopen its inatveig stn.io the move comes after cho's mental health records were found last week. they were discovered in the home of the former director of the university's counseling center. cho killed 32 people before committing suicide in april of 2007. right now fire investigators are on the scene of this morning's fire at the knights of columbus in oxon hill. no one was injured in that overnight blaze. the damage is estimated at more than a half million dollars. at this point, there is no word on what caused the blaze. budget constraints in prince georges county have led to a reduction in manpower at some fire houses. and now the question is, has this led to a closure of some of those fire houses? at station 41 in calvert on the, no re cealrsoran b s crewor balance crews --ulmb ace ancrews will be on duty s for the foreseeabl future. despite the lack of manpower, county officials say this does not mean the station is closed. >> isn't that in a sense closing the fire station there? >> no. >> reporter: why not? >> because the personnel from that station are moving down the street. >> reporter: there is a reduction of services at the station, is that correct. >> there will be no reduction in service. they will be covered by the surrounding companies. >> reporter: the crews, which once manned station 41 in caliverton will be base out of the beltsville station more than two miles away. some residents we spoke to said no personnel means the fire stations are closed. and we're learning more about the drunk driving arrest of alexandria's police chief. david baker was arrested on saturday night in arlington. he rammed a city-owned vehicle in to another car. arlington county police say that baker failed several field sobriety tests. court documents say that he had a blood alcohol content of .19. that's more than twice the legal limit. some alexandria residents are appalled. >> he said he only had two beers. >> and he weighs 38-pounds [ laughter ] >> reporter: you don't buy two beers. >> not at .19. no. >> reporter: the city of alexandria has placed baker on leave pending an investigation. he will be in court tomorrow for a preliminary hearing. the hov lanes project could leave unprepared drivers hot under the collar this week. vdot crews are working in both the overnight hours and during the daytime at some locations on the beltway. our 9 news now digital correspondent armando trull has more information from annandale. >> hot lane construction is hot and heavy this week as crews begin to replace bridges, overpasses and interchanges along 14 miles of interstate 495 between the springfield interchange and the dulles toll road. this week there will be construction and construction- related activity between 9:30 in the morning and 3:30 in the afternoon at a half dozen points along the inner and outer loops. >> we will be here for a few weeks putting steel up on this side and we will go and doe do the other side and throughout the summer we are working at 50, 123, 66. so a lot of work to do before the construction sends around the november time frame. >> reporter: that means you will need to be prepared for lane and shoulder closures. those lane closures are happening right now at the northbound inner loop oak street overpass. lee highway overpass and little river turnpike on the eastbound exit. also on the southbound outer loop at the leesburg pike exit, that's exit 47. the oak street overpass and the i-66 exit. that's exit 49. also the westbound inner loop on the franconia road side, the westbound ramp to 395 north and the 395 exit. what's worse, this is all going to happen tonight from 9:30 to 5:00 a.m. a lot of closures on 495. in alexandria, armando trull for 9 news now and wusa9.com. there's more information about the delays and the entire beltway hot lane project. if you would like to learn more, go to our website at wusa9.com. visit the 9 news links page to get more information. well, there will be a relief for the evening commute across chain bridge. crews created a new turn lane for drivers making the right turn on to route 123 on the virginia side. the bridge has been down to one lane for nearly two months and that caused huge backups in the morning and in the evening. the virginia department of transportation is issuing pink slips to hundreds of workers this week. nearly 600 people are losing their jobs. the layoffs are part of the elimination of 1,000 full-time positions and 450 part-time jobs. all in an effort to close a $2.6 billion budget short fall. dc summer jobs program is doing so poorly that the dc city council is considering shutting it down early. washington examiner says, ending the program ahead of schedule was one of the many ideas which surfaced during a session aimed at closing the looming deficits of $190 million in 2009 and 1 a $0 million in 2010. mayor fenty has asked for $23.4 million to finance the last weeks of the program. a man has pleaded guilty in a brutal christmas eve attack in college park, maryland. wayne williams stayed in the hospital for nearly a month after being beaten outside of holy redeemer church. the 69-year-old lost sight in one eye. well, a judge has sentenced shanon washington to 28 years in prison after washington pleaded guilty yesterday to attempted murder. former atlanta falcons quarterback, michael vick is finally able to return to the national football league. he has been granted a conditional reinstatement by the league. under the ruling, made by the commissioner, roger goodell, vick will be able to participate in training camp immediately and play in the final two pre-season games. however, he will not be eligible to play regular season games until week six at the earliest. his return to the field is at the sole discretion of the commissioner. >> i believe he deserves the opportunity to earn his way back on to the field but he will have to earn it. it is up to him now. i believe i had a responsibility to make a decision. one that was fair, and i hope this will be seen as fair. although i fully recognize some people won't agree with it. >> reporter: right now on our website, we're asking if you agree with roger goodell's decision. both in our polls today, go to wusa9.com. the attorney for accused texas swindler allen stanford says his client should be transferred to another detention facility. stanford's lawyers say that there have been no air conditioning in the jail cell where his client is being held. stanford faces criminal charges related to an alleged $7 billion ponzi scheme. coming up next when 9 news now returns, doctors are baffled. they are working to find out why a 5-year-old boy is allergic to just about everything. and a little bit later a family and their dog are r afte after hurricane ike came we'll beright back. be researchers at the virginia tech institute found that truck drivers who text were 23 times more likely to get in to a crash or a near crash. right before an accident, drivers took their eyes off the road for nearly five seconds. at 55 miles an hour, that's plenty of time to cover more than the length of a football field. >> people are not paying attention to the highway and, you know, they could hit something or you or i could get hit. >> reporter: researchers say that their findings should be applied to all drivers. the district and 14 states currently ban texting while driving. an australian child's extreme food allergy has doctors baffled. the condition is so rare there is no name for it. lou hendrix shows how the boy and his family are coping with this medical mist my -- mystery. >> reporter: most 5-year-olds would rather play than eat, but he has no choice. he is allergic to everything except water. the closest he gets to eating is chewing on ice. caleb's only other taste treat is one brand of lemonade. all the others make him violently ill and he suffers severe abdominal pain. if he could eat he has a wish list. >> salami or chicken or cheese. >> we try not to go out to dinner a lot because it is not fair that caleb sits there and eats ice and watches us eat. >> reporter: the condition is so rare doctors don't know if one day he will be cured. >> it is incredibly emotionally exhausting. >> reporter: now he receives nutrients through a tube in to his stomach which he is tooked up to for all but four hours a day. the machine fits in the backpack giving the active 5- year-old the activity he needs. for most kids sneaking a lowellly is normal but recently he gave in to that temptation and became violently ill and has learned his lesson. >> he knows how much pain he goes through. he has severe abdominal pain that goes with it. it is almost crippling. >> reporter: his parents are organizing a bike ride to raise money for research. >> howard is up next with our forecast. yeah, j.c., the heat and the humidity, actually the sun is trying out some planters here on the weather terrace. we will talk about the rain chances today and the rest of the week. go to a break with a look at the allergy update. with the storms the last few days some mold in the air. that is moderate. seven-day forecast is coming up when ow 9 ne nowat noon returns. this fiber? i'd had my fill. then i found miralax. and miralax relieves constipation with no bloating, no excess gas, no taste, no grit. you'll see. it's clearly different. announcer: restore your body's natural rhythm with miralax. and this is baby. she is finally home. but she was missing for nearly a year. her owners put her in a kennel during hurricane ike last year. but the kennel was destroyed and daisy ran off for ten months. the family looked and looked. they put up signs. they were frantic but they never gave up hope and enth last week they received a special phone call. >> i was in the middle of the street at 11:45 at night crying an thanking the lord and it was a wonderful wonderful reunion. >> reporter: it doesn't hurt that daisy is a blue lacy breed. these dogs are part coyote and that probably helped daisy stay alive all of these months. very happy family. >> they know where they live. >> that's a nice story. >> yeah, it is. >> nice story. >> humid, be glad you weren't on the weather terrace with me. >> my goodness. >> some kind of steamy out there. the muggies are back in a big way. one saving grace is not much in the way of thunderstorm activity today. later tonight, in to tomorrow i think the storm chances will pick up. we need rain. down a couple of inches for the month so far at reagan national. and as we go through the next couple of days with the thunderstorm chances i want to remind you of the interactive radar at wusa9.com, check it out. the next three days looking warm to hot. a few more storms on wednesday say than thursday and tomorrow or today, i get my days straight, only an isolated storm is possible. rain chances 20% or so. really, the problem this afternoon, just going to be the humidity. with temperatures in the low 90s we will see heat index values in thumber 90s with south winds at five to ten miles an hour. tonight mostly cloudy a chance of a shower and isolated thundershower overnight. lows 66 to 74 and tomorrow, mostly cloudy with scattered afternoon thunderstorms but i'm starting to think there could be a few in the morning. highs in the mid to upper 80s depending on how much sunshine and rain we get. we start with a few clouds but much of that has pulled away. while it doesn't look that cloudy yet, kind of hazy. he. the prettiest day re a lot of haze going back on the pse looking to meba to e th city. from the netherlands carillon by the cemetery in arlington. southeast winds at six. dew point almost 70. real tropical air mass and the humidity with the heat at 59%. over temperatures ranging from 80 in quantico to a cooler 79 in annapolis. 88 in frederick. 81 winchester. martinsburg 82 and manassas 84. when you factor in the humidity the heat index already at 96 in fredericksburg. feeling like 89 in washington and 90 at andrews air force base. a steamy afternoon. here we go. a couple of things to talk about. little feature across nebraska. that's one. the other thing is all of this moisture across arkansas, louisiana and mississippi. the two of those will get closer to us tomorrow and that will help to give us a better chance of showers and thunderstorms than what we are seeing today. the seven-day forecast looks like this. 91 today. a slim chance of a storm. scattered storms tomorrow and 897 by thursday and friday around that 90-degree mark with isolated afternoon thunderstorm. and then over the weekend upper 80s and still a storm possible on sunday and monday. it is travel tuesday. we will have that coming up when 9 news now at noon returns. it's a revolution in pain relief. (announcer) new icy hot medicated roll. for wherever you hurt. icy to dull pain, hot to relax it away. the new icy hot medicated roll. with the roll, pain's under control. have important > information today if you are planning a vacation outside of the united states. actually, if you are traveling within the united states. i hope you got the july issue of the beacon newspaper. the august edition will be coming out soon but an article in this july issue that you may have overlooked or did not see. stuart rosenthal the publisher and editor of the beacon is here and it is talking about what your ticket -- what name your ticket is in. >> the security people at tsa has instituted a new requirement now that when you order an airline ticket you have to give your date of birth and gender and further more you have to use the full name that's on the i.d. you are going to present at the airport. >> reporter: what's what happens if you don't have that middle name. if you have a middle name and it is not on the ticket. >> the past they have stopped people that were similar to those as people on the watch list and they were innocent but pulled aside and risked and sometimes missed their flight and all kinds of problem. they are doing it for our benefit but they need to know the driver's license or the passport you will present, whatever the name is on there, the full name, it is the name your ticket is in. >> many times when you ghetto this airport you want to see the credit card used to charge the ticket and that has to be in the same name. >> that's not clear. it is a question that hasn't been answered yet. august 15th is when the middle name goes in to affect. so the goal is to get all of your i.d.es in the same name as possible. even if you haven't used your middle name in 50 years you have to make sure it is on your ticket. >> i know you made reservations last night. they didn't ask you. >> they didn't. a lot of airlines haven't gotten it set up yet. so if it is not on when they don't worry about but it as time goes on this will be changing for everybody. >> thank you so much. >> thanks for joining us. come back at 5:00. check us out 24 hours a day at wusa9.com. >> have a great day.