Sunshine. Temperatures in the upper 80s. And next weather and traffic on the 1s the hour by hour breakdown as the day goes forward and now melissa any slowdowns . You still have this closure in fairfax, oakton at fox mill road because of the overnight accident. Chopper is on its way. So as soon as they get there, well get a view of things here from above and see how bad it is. Seems like it may not be reopened until 9 30 this morning. Wide look at the beltway, no major problems. 66 and 95 looking good. 95 a little slow northbound in dale city, totally step cal for this time of the year. B. W. Parkway and Everything Else looking quite good. Travel times in ten minutes. Thank you, melissa. Today stores caught selling illegal synthetic drugs stand to face new penalties in d. C. Theyre easy accessible you can find them inside Corner Stores and gas stations and now police are linking a spike in crime to these drugs. Megan mcgrath explains the action mayor Muriel Bowser is taking today. Megan, good morning. Reporter well, good morning, eun. Police say yeah, they have seen a dramatic trend here. A spike in crime which they believe is attributed to the use of synthetic drugs. The use of synthetic marijuana. Later on today, mayor Muriel Bowser is going to sign into law a bill that will give police Greater Authority to crack down on businesses that sell these illegal synthetic drugs here in the district of columbia. Police believe 18yearold jasper spires was high on synthetic marijuana when he stabbed Kevin Sutherland to death on a metro train on the fourth of july. Then on tuesday a 10monthold baby was found abandoned in a stroller at Judiciary Square. Police believe the childs caregiver left the child alone so they could smoke synthetic marijuana. Now, police chief cathy lanier say the new law is needed to stop a very disturbing new crime trend. I truly feel like if we dont get a handle on the synthetics, the synthetics flavonoids now we are, you know, in danger of going back 20 years. Reporter under the bill businesses that are caught selling synthetic drugs for first offense they could face a 10,000 fine. They could be shut down for 96 hours. Thats for the first offense and then things escalate from there. Repeat offenders could lose their business license entirely. The mayor is going to sign this bill into law at noon today. Back to you in the studio. Thank you, megan. Today the d. C. Council will consider approving the death with dignity legislation. If approved it will give terminally ill patients a way to end their lives in a humane way. The bill faces significant opposition from state leaders and physicians. We are following a developing story out of South Carolina now. This is the last morning the Confederate Flag will fly above the state house there in columbia. This morning at 10 00 a. M. State troopers will remove that flag for good. Governor nikki haley signed a bill banning the flag flying. Its in response to the deadly shooting at the Historic Black Church back in june. Now the decision to take down the flag could also lead to more jobs in South Carolina. 15 years ago the naacp began an economic boycott of the state when lawmakers decided to keep the flag on capitol grounds. The united autoworkers joined that boycott as did the ncaa. It banned South Carolina from hosting any championship events. All three say theyll lift their bans. There will be a legal challenge to virginias decision to remove the Confederate Flag from state license plates. The group sons of confederate veterans will go to court to stop the banning of the plates. Last week, the flag was called divisive and mcauliffe asked them to work on phasing out the plates. 6 05 now. A developing story that affects millions of you, even if you never worked for the federal government. Your information could have been stolen in the office of the Personnel Management hack. The hackers obtained Sensitive Information of 21. 5 Million People. This applies to the spouses, children, neighbors even roommates and friends of people who went through background checks. Hackers had access to the personal information for more than a year. This morning, several lawmakers are calling for president obama to fire the head of opm. Today we will learn new information about the hunt for a man who shot a Spotsylvania County store clerk in the head. This morning sheriff harris will report new developments in the case. Last march the man walked into the store on brock road posing as a customer and he shot clerk kelly wood twice in the head and stole a cabinet full of medication. Wood survived the shooting. Also this morning the mother of two missing germantown children will appear in court. Catherine hoggle has a hearing on child neglect charges. Police say she was the last person to see 4yearold sarah and 2yearold jacob. The kids went missing in september and hoggle refuses to say where they are. Montgomery county police are pursuing a homicide case against her. Bids to build the purple line will now be accepted later into this year. Companies vying for the contract are being told that august deadline has been pushed to november. Maryland governor larry hogan approved it in june, but only if the costs could be cut. This delay lets the four Companies Competing for the project to adjust their bids to sures. The winner of the bid will be announced next year. Right now, new york is preparing the confetti. Today the World Champion u. S. Womens National Soccer team will be honored with a ticker tape parade it starts at 11 00 this morning. The whole team will be there, including carli lloyd who scored an unforgettable hat trick. The team dominated japan with their 52 victory in the final. We brought you this morning as breaking news an outing on the water ends with a death of two people. Now, friends are sharing memories about that virginia couple. New video this morning,s proving that the running of the bells is not for the faint of heart. And chopper 4 over the scene of this roa new this morning day four of the running of the bulls and you might want to look away. At least one person was injured today in the run in pamplona. You can see someone falling under the bulls. Nobody was gored today. That run lasted two minutes, 24 seconds. You are going to want to avoid area around the third street tunnel if youre traveling early tomorrow morning. Ddot is installing a new water line as part of the tunnel project at third street and massachusetts avenue. Third street southbound will be closed between massachusetts and the tunnel on ramp. There will be lane closures in the area. The closures will be in place from 1 00 a. M. To 9 00 a. M. 6 11 is our time right now. I thought about driving in with the windows down. A big change. I didnt. But i thought about it. How about this gorgeous sunrise . 73 degrees. Cant beat that. And tom kierein right now with your weather and traffic on the 1s. Scrambled eggs sunrise on the Eastern Horizon and now starting off we have temperatures in the 70s. Well stay this way through 8 00 and then by noontime, in the low 80s. Upper 80s with lower humidity during the afternoon and quite a bit of sunshine. Enjoy. A look at rain chances for the weekend. Where we might see some. Thats next weather and traffic on the 1s coming up at 6 21. Melissa, how is the commute now . We have this road closure, chopper 4 is over the scene. So again this is in fairfax fox mill road shut down at foxvale drive. Traffic being pushed on to hunt drive. It was a crash overnight. This is a big undertaking here and this could be another four to five hours before the road there is completely reopened. 66 west after 123, we have that west lane blocked. In maryland travel times looking quite good. Same thing in virginia. Youre on time and looking good. Happy friday, everybody. Remember to listen to our friends on wtop 103. 5 when you hop in your car. There are the two cartoon characters that your kids will be seeing this weekend, but why the happy meal toys for the minions should be for your adults only. And a developing story out of bangladesh after a number of people are trampled to death overnight. What were learning about that deadly sta one day a rider made a decision. The decision to ride on and save money. He decided to save money by switching his motorcycle insurance to geico. Theres no shame in saving money. Ride on, ride proud. Geico motorcycle great rates for great rides. Developing right now at 6 15. We are starting to see pictures out of central bangladesh where at least 23 women and children have been killed in a stampede. Another 30 people were hurt there. This happened during a charity handout. This video from a satellite chanel in bangladesh. Survivors say about 1,000 people were gathered outside a home and thousands stormed the gate when they opened. And investigators are looking into how a virginia couple ended in the Potomac River and theyre not ruling out foul play. The concern began when the couple didnt return to the Landmark Yacht Club wednesday night. When the coast guard pulled up to the boat music was still playing and the boat was running. So its very sad. Im really shook up about it. They were just great people. And he got along with everybody. Investigators dont know whether the couple fell or left the boat intentionally. That i do say weather they do say weather was bad wednesday night. A Metro Transit Police officer is not on the job, accused of exposing himself to an underaged girl. David davis is charged with using the cell phone app tango to correspond with a 16yearold philadelphia girl and davis asked the girl to send him inappropriate images of herself. Davis is in jail this morning without bond. Maryland governor larry hogan says he was shocked after learning the Baltimore Mayor fired the citys police commissioner. Hogan says the action is a local one and had nothing to do with the state government. Mayor stephanie rawlingsblake said she fired Anthony Batts because of the rising homicide rate and hogan called batts a dedicated man who cared about his job. 6 17. The federal Aviation Administration wants nothing to do with donald trump. The agency says it will rename their navigation points near the Palm Beach International airport in florida. The points are named after the republican president ial candidate because he has a home there. The faa said in a statement that the agency generally chooses names that are noncontroversial. But trump has been under fire for his statements accusing undocumented immigrants of being drug dealers and rapists. A second celebrity chef is nixing plans to open a restaurant in trumps future d. C. Hotel at the Old Post Office pavilion. Geoffrey zakarian said his Company Employees many immigrants and trumps comments do not align with his values and he pulled plans to open up a restaurant in the same hotel. A man who killed a pregnant woman and her friend will spend the next 12 years in prison. Hayes was behind the wheel of this car and he was leading place on a chase when crashed into a minivan carrying six people. Two women 21yearold Brittany Queen and 23yearold Brittany Everett died. Four others were hurt in the crash including two young children. After the crash, hayes tried to run, but Police Caught up with him using a helicopter. 6 19 now. Senate minority leader harry reid says a federal court made the right ruling when it revoked the trademark from the washington redskins. He took to the floor of the senate yesterday calling the name disparaging and racist. Senator reid called on team owner Daniel Schneider to change the name. For far too long owner schneider tried to hide behind tradition. Yesterday really makes clear that franchising only fosters racism. New this morning, president obama has designated new National Month you wants monuments in texas, nevada and california. Look at the mammoth site in texas is where the bones of 24 mammoths were discovered. And californias berryessa Snow Mountain hiking and camping spot is known for the rich biodiversity. Very cool each one. Well the summer is still young and many of you have that trip to the beach to look forward to. This year there are a ton of new gadgets to make that trip a little easier. If youre looking to capture all of your adventures in and out of the water, theres a new waterproof gopro camera. Theres something called the june that you wear on your wrist and it tracks the sun and keeps track of when you should reapply sunscreen. Theres a new line of beach gear that filters sand through the material. This is all made by hammacher schlemmer. They have a lot of gadgets. Some of it is pricey. But i love the beach. But trying to keep sand away and making sure you reapply sunscreen that sand filter will be awesome. Thats the problem. Well, you get sand everywhere, you know . Its the beach. Nobody wants that. 6 21 is our time right now. What are you thinking, beach weather this weekend . Perfect beach and pool weather too and tomorrow and again on sunday. The air as you step outside and sniff the air, youll notice its sweet and fresh. The rain yesterday washed it clean and now storm team 4 radar dont have any showers around the region. We are starting off with drying pavement and for your morning run you wont need an umbrella or rain boots. You will need sun block, sunglasses, short sleeves as it will be a warm afternoon. Afternoon temperatures climbing from the 70s to the low 80s by noontime. Then by mid afternoon the mid to upper 80s with increasing sunshine. You will notice its a bit less humid during the afternoon. Heres rain timing for saturday. By saturday morning maybe around dawn or so and through mid morning some showers, maybe even some thunder and lightning in southern maryland, the Northern Neck. That tracks farther to the south and by noontime maybe a sprinkle across Northern Virginia. A little patch of green as well as parts of the Shenandoah Valley and the mountains of west virginia. But the rest of the region should stay dry. The rest of saturday will begin to dry out the sunshine comes back. During the evening any lingering showers will be quickly dissipating. Much of the region staying dry except for areas south of washington mainly on saturday. Highs tomorrow, reaching the mid 80s. And then on sunday, back into the upper 80s and getting a little more humid, but still fairly comfortable. Then the heat and humidity return. It is july after all. Coming back on monday as we get back to work. Low 90s. A small chance of a storm on wednesday. Highs reaching the low to mid 90s both of those days and next wounss weather and traffic on the 1s a look at hometown highs today. Melissa, a look at the road closure again. Yeah, fox mill at foxvale, a big presence there with the power company. Traffic being pushed on to hunt road right now. And through the neighborhoods to get around this. Thats a downed pole because of a crash overnight hire. 66 west bound after 123, the left lane is blocked because of a disabled vehicle. Everything is looking quite good. Pretty light volume which is good. Beltway at branch rolling along well as well. Beltway at New Hampshire avenue, dont have any issues there. Getting a little light volume starting to build, but overall everything looking quite good on this friday. Back in ten minutes. See you then. Thanks, melissa. A group is demanding the white house revoke bill cosbys president ial medal of freedom. Bush awarded it to cosby in 2002 and a Nonprofit Group dedicated to Sexual Assault prevention started the online petition this week. They say that cosby does not deserve to be on the list of distinguished recipients and the white house says the medal has never been revoked and doing so may not be legal. Theres a concern about a new transportation bill in congress. It will allow rental Car Companies to rent recalled vehicles that have not been repaired. John thune says the bill requires companies to tell the con consumer but Safety Advocates say thats not enough. And theres a deadline for trains to use the new technology to stop the accidents. 14 million americans were involved with an accident with a senior citizen. Millennials were most likely to get into a crash with an older person. And talking with a parent about giving up their driving privileges is not easy. In fact, most were more comfortable talking about funeral arrangements for their parents. Heres some changes to note from metro this weekend. The big change is on the red line starting at midnight buses will replace red line trains between nomagallaudet and farragut stations. Yellow and green line trains will operate every 20 minutes. Orange, silver and blue line trains will operate at regular intervals. And if you take popular pain killers you will see new warning labels. The fda is putting stronger warnings on the possibility of heart attacks and strokes for nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs. Celebrex is also on the list. The new warning says heart attacks and strokes could happen in the first few weeks of taking the drugs. Right now labels worry about long term effects. 6 25 now. You may want to add an apple or a grapefruit to your breakfast. Americans are not eating enough fruits and vegetables. The centers for Disease Control finds fewer than one in five adults gets the recommended daily amount of fruits and vegetables. The cdc data shows intake is higher in california and lower in states like mississippi and tennessee. Public Health Experts say we should aim for two serves of fruit and two to three serves of vegetables each day. Cant get enough. Well, a family in tennessee says a mcdonalds minion meal toy is cursing at them. Um you know what . Im not going to say what we think it said. Can i say this . I dont know. Maybe its little early to say that. Its the d word. Ill be thats what think the family said to them. A family in florida reported that they had a happy meal that uses profanity. Mcdonalds says they speak minion ease which is lots of words and sounds and any similarities to the english language is purely coincidental. The movie actually premieres today. It sounds like every other word is banana and papaya. Thats what it sounds like. What happened there . Listen, i love the despicable me movies. You have to see both of them. Well go see the movie. Ill let you do it. Well, making it harder for you to count calories when youre dining out. Why many are getting a temporary pass on including nutritional information on menus. A break from the humidity. You just couldnt escape yesterday. Banana. The high temperatures youll see where you live in the day ahead with your weather and traffic on the 1s. Were following a developing story where police are on the scene of an overnight shooting where a man was shot several times. A developing story in southeast washington right now. Detectives remain on the scene of an overnight shooting. A live look at the scene right now. What were learning about the crime and the condition of the victim when we go to live to the scene. But first, tracking the big changes you will see when you step outside. The humidity and the threat of storms, theyre gone as you enjoy some pleasant conditions this morning. Storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein tracking the high temperatures you will see. Enjoy the break from high heat and humidity. More comfortable this morning. Springfield, 71. Hometown forecast there in the low and mid 80s by mid afternoon. Partly cloudy sky. In laurel, prince georges county, theyre at 74. And by mid to Late Afternoon as well, it should be into the low 80s there. Meanwhile, in Loudoun County, leesburg at 71. Beautiful morning across for verne virginia as the rain Northern Virginia as the rain has ended. Should be making its way into the low 80s. Normally i dont stoop to using puns but melissas banana yellow dress is very appealing. Very appealing. I slipped up, im sorry. You need to go google some more. We have ten minutes here, tom. We have some flooding here. Wood burn road between robi avenue and spicewood drive. That just popped up here. The road is not cleared but high water there. Right now chopper 4 over this problem in oakton. Fox mill is shut down through foxvale. There was a crash overnight thats taken down some wires. It will be four hours before thats out of the way. 66, 95 no problems. Were staying on top of a developing story this morning, a man in Critical Condition after a shooting in southeast washington. News4s derrick ward has the latest from the scene. Derrick . Reporter yeah we understand that victims wounds are considered life threatening. It happened at about 2 00 this morning here in the 2600 block 2600 block of stanton road southeast. Now, it looks like multiple evidence markers on the scene. I counted at least 20. Each of those doesnt necessarily mean that it is a shell casing, but as you can see this is a big crime scene that has stanton road completely closed in the 2600 block. Near the suitland parkway. If you ride the 94 buss it may be affected by this because the bus cannot get through the scene. It happened early this morning at about 2 00 a. M. An adult male shot multiple times, suffering life threatening injuries. He was taken away in Critical Condition. No word on the identity of the victim or a suspect. Live in southeast, derrick ward, news4. Thank you. It is now 6 33. New details this morning in the case against the orthodox rabbi who admitted to secretly recording women. Freundels attorney said he was wrongly sentenced to 6 1 2 years in prison. He should have been sentenced once for all the recordings, but instead he was sentenced to 45 days for each victim. Freundel will be back in court later on this morning. A former Loudoun County sheriffs deputy was charged with stealing more than 200,000 from the Asset Forfeiture program. He was charged with embezzling money that was supposed to be deposited into the escrow account. A Silver Spring teenager charged with rape wont be returning to school even though the judge ruled he could go back to class. Marquise turner is accused of raping his 19yearold exgirlfriend in rockville last month. The victim died on the way to the hospital, but an autopsy has not been released. As questions about the criminal case remain uncertain, a Montgomery CountySchool Spokesman indicated turner would be able to complete course work outside of the classroom. This morning were learning how the fbi was able to keep people safe over the fourth of july holiday. More than ten people were arrested in the u. S. Over the past month. Fbi believes some of the people were planning attacks around independence day. The people arrested are accused of being linked to isis. Comey says isis simympathizers are so unpredictable. The army set to cut soldiers from virginia. The forced budget cuts will affect ft. Belvoir and ft. Lee. Ft. Belvoir will take the biggest hit losing 250 soldiers. The u. S. Army will lose in total about 40000 soldiers affecting every Army Installation in the u. S. And overseas. The army says unless budget changes are made there may be more cuts needed in the next few years. If more positions are lost in the country we may not be able to meet the current deployment. Some important progress in europe today as nations try to fix the massive greek debt crisis. Greece proposed a 59 billion bailout. We are waiting to hear what the eurozones top official thinks about this plan. French leaders say it is credible and serious. European stock markets are responding positively to reforms. Greece says it will make. You have little less than a month now to buy yourself property in Charles County before a new transfer tax goes into effect. Starting august 8, the county will charge half a percent on every home sale. There is one exception if youre a first time home buyer and this is your primary property you will only pay the tax after the first 50,000 of the purchase price. 6 36 right now. Today, First Lady Michelle Obama hosts her Fourth Annual kids state dinner. 55 will attend the dinner. Theyre winners of the healthy lunch time challenge. Part of her lets move campaign. Todays lunch will feature the winning recipes from the challenge. The student guests will get to see a special performance by the cast of disneys aladdin and get to tour the white house garden. Well, restaurants will get an extra year to add calorie counts to the menus. The food and Drug Administration says they have until december of 2016. By then, most places that sell food must have clear calorie information where you can easy see it. A developing story in South Carolina where people are watching for the Confederate Flag to come down for the last time. The emotions coming out of that state this morning and how the debate over the flag is spurring a lawsuit in virginia. We have a road closure in oakton and then flooding in vienna. Details on both coming up. A massive search underway for an escapee at this hour. But well show you why it wont this summer take flight, without having to take a flight. Because all the thrills you need are right here at Busch Gardens, and water country usa. In williamsburg, va. Like the daring new coaster tempesto. So ride together slide together whether its monster drops collossal curls or Furry Friends its all here. Vacation packages start at 50 per person per night. The ultimate Summer Vacation is closer than you think at Busch Gardens and water country usa. It is 6 40. Developing right now, ash spewing from the volcano on indonesias main island, and thats sparking chaos as the airports close and International Airlines cancel flights to bali. Thousands are stranded now. This is in east java province. It blasted ash more than 12 feet in the air. So maybe you remember the red panda that escaped from the national zoo a little while back. Now the memphis zoo has its own escapee. Workers are trying to catch a spirited Little Monkey that escaped on thursday. His name is zim. They believe hes in a storm drain somewhere. They say he could be asleep and may not come out until later this morning. Exploring, perhaps. Looking for a banana maybe. They get hungry. True. 6 41. Time for weather and traffic on the 1s now and a nice break. Right, it is. Were getting a break from the high heat and humidity. You can drive the windows open and midday. You might want the a. C. On in the afternoon but not as humid. Well be in the 70s for the morning. Upper 80s for the afternoon. Some ponding in the wake of the rain yesterday. But thats drying throughout the morning. A look at chances of more rain for the weekend. Where and when, thats next weather and traffic on the 1s at 6 51. And now an update on that road closure in virginia. We have that road closure and also this one. Hunter mill road between hunter station road and cedar pond drive. Some flooding there. Outer loop of the beltway is looking quite good this morning. All said, i would say probably virginia also looking quite good this morning as travel times go. Remember to listen to our friends on wtop 103. 5 when you hop in your car. Melissa, thank you. Stepping up the fight against synthetic drugs. Who d. C. Is targeting with emergency legislation set to become law today. But first, a developing story out of South Carolina where the clock is ticking for the Confederate Flag flying on the state house grounds of South Carolina. Wer unfold in a matter of hours. Welcome to fort green sheets. Welcome to castle bravestorm. Its full of cool stuff, like my second in command. And my trusty bow. And free of stuff i dont like. And in my castle we only eat chex cereal. Chex cereal. Its full of delicious crunchability. No artificial flavors, and its glutenfree. And thats something even my brother. Sister can understand. Mom, brian threw a ball in the house it is the developing story that will have many of you talking in the day ahead. The Confederate Flag in South Carolina will come down in hours. The emotions coming out of that state this morning after your weather and traffic. As you head out to walk the dog, youll notice the air is fresh and sweet and much more comfortable this morning as lower humidity has moved in. Theres the capitol dome lit up by the morning sunlight. Well have a partly cloudy day, lower humidity. Afternoon highs in the upper 80s. Starting to get a tad slow, chopper 4 over 66, inbound at 123. A little bit of volume, but not terrible. Also in fairfax, fox mill road at foxvale, the wires are still down. The traffic being pushed on to hunt road for four more hours. This is the last morning that the Confederate Flag will fly above the state house in columbia. This morning at 10 00 a. M. State troopers will remove the flag for good. Craig melvin has more on what we can expect during the flag removal. Craig, good morning. Reporter eun good morning to you. The department of Public Safety detail thats taking the flag down the confederate battle flag taking it down behind me. The same detail that was actually used at the funeral for state senator Clementa Pinckney of course one of the nine gunned down in the Church Basement three weeks ago. The ceremony were told is going to be short. It is going to be solemn. It probably wont take longer than five minutes. Pretty odd considering that the flag itself has flown here for more than 50 years. 50 years for all of us who have grown up in the shadow of the confederate battle flag here in South Carolina. It will be likely a deeply emotional day, but wont be any speeches or any songs. For it to come down. It will go inside the state house and be taken via armored car to the nearby confederate relic room, a museum here a stones throw from the state house. We know youre a born and bred south carolinian. What happens after this . What are people saying about that . Reporter you know thats an excellent question. I think theres a bit of an misconception that the flag is going to come down and everyone will join hands and sing kumbaya, but thats not the case. I was driving in from the airport, there was a dive bar on the left side, a confederate battle flag waving proudly and theres a ku klux klan meeting there will be a rally here. Theyre none too happy about the flag being taken down. A number of folks who said the same thing. There was a poll conducted here just a few months ago in South Carolina that shows the state actually fairly evenly split on whether they wanted to see the flag itself come down. We should note by the way, eun, coming up this morning on today, matt lauer will have an exclusive interview with South Carolina governor nikki haley as well. Looking forward to that craig melvin live in South Carolina, thank you, craig. Coming up on 6 49 now, and as craig mentioned he will have that interview matt lauer will have the interview with South Carolinas governor nikki haley. That state has been through quite a lot since the last months shooting in charleston. All of that has culminated in the removal of the Confederate Flag in columbia today. That interview is coming up in a few minutes. The decision to take down the flag could lead to here jobs in South Carolina. About 15 years ago that the naacp began an economic boycott of that state when lawmakers decided to keep the flag on capitol grounds. The United Autoworkers Union joined that boycott and the same goes for the ncaa. It banned South Carolina from hosting any championship events. All three say theyll lift their bans. There will be a legal challenge to virginias decision to remove the Confederate Flag from state license plates. The group sons of confederate veterans says it will go to court to keep the state from banning the plates. Last month, Terry Mcauliffe called it unnecessarily divisive and hurtful and he asked the attorney general to work on phasing out that plate. Well keep you up to date as the contract flag is taken down in South Carolina. Well be sending push alerts throughout the coverage. Today well learn more information about the hunt for a man who shot a Spotsylvania County store clerk in the head. New developments in the case. Last march a man walked into the store on brock road, posing as a customer. He shot kelly wood twice in the head and stole a cabinet full of medication. Wood survived the shooting. Also a mother of two missing germantown children will appear in court. Katherine hoggle has a hearing on child neglect charges an police say he wasshe was the last person to see them. Hoggle refuses to say where they are. Montgomery county police are pursuing a homicide case against hoggle. Synthetic drugs are being linked to the surge in crime in the district. Police fear its the problem if not under control, it could set the city back decades. Today, d. C. Officials are going after the businesses that sell the drugs. News4s Megan Mcgrath is here to explain how this works. Megan, good morning. Reporter well, good morning aaron. It is a disturbing trend and later this morning mayor Muriel Bowser is going to sign emergency legislation giving police greater power to crack down on businesses that sell illegal synthetic drugs. Now, police say that 18yearold jasper spires was high on synthetic marijuana when he stabbed Kevin Sutherland to death on a metro train on the fourth of july. Then on tuesday, an 10monthold baby was found abandoned in the stroller at Judiciary Square and Police Believe that the childs caregiver left the baby alone so that they could smoke synthetic marijuana. Police chief cathy lanier says the new law is needed to stop a very disturbing trend in crime. If they dont get a handle on it, things could be set back in terms of Crime Fighting by as much as 20 years. Now, the new law would for the first offense make businesses subject to a 10,000 fine. They would also be closed down for 96 days. The penalties get worse from there and stores could lose their business license if theyre repeat offenders. Back to you in the studio. Thank you. We need to focus on the weather because it is looking good after a lot of heat and humidity, tom. It is friday and the weekend is about to move in. And a lot of people will be out and about this weekend. You can keep up with the weather where you are with the storm team 4 app and washington app. The rain and downpours theyre long gone now and the temperatures are comfortable. Were in the low 70s to mid 70s in washington. Nearby suburbs near 70s. We have so much rain, look at the size of this mushroom. This is about the size of a baseball. This is posted by tammy on my twitter page. You can post yours on my facebook and instagram. I love that. And by midmorning the mid 70s and partly sunny. Partly cloudy by noontime. Low 80s. Lower humidity in place during the afternoon. Still quite humid, but not as sweltering as it has been in the last couple of days. In the mid and upper 80s in the afternoon. Here is timing on the rain, maybe around 5 00 or so to around dawn, some showers in our Southern Suburbs and into the Northern Neck by midmorning. Maybe lightning too. An upper level disturbance is triggering this. Then farther south by noontime. A moderate shower in virginia. And then things will begin to dry out and then well have sunshine returning and beautiful weather on tap for sunday this afternoon, the highs mid 80s on saturday. Sunday a little bit more humid, but overall great weather for Outdoor Activities on the weekend. Except for tomorrow morning showers. Then on monday back to work it will be hot and humid again. Could get some storms on tuesday and wednesday and hot and humid through much of the rest of the week. Melissa, whats happening on the roads . Right now, were looking good overall. 66 inbound here at 123, just a little bit of volume as chopper zooms out for you. A little bit this morning. Fox mill road at foxvale, the downed wires traffic is being pushed on to hunt road. It could be several hours before thats out of the way. As we get wide here this morning, overall the beltway looks good. Prince georges county rolling along nicely. Live picture there. Beltway at kenilworth no problems. 270, at montrose no problems. And now 370, one of the shortest interstates in the country, dont know if you knew that named for a man who actually was never even supposed to be in washington. Tonight on news4 at 6 00 we venture through Silver Springs and chevy chase and gaithersburg and meet the man responsible for the Massive Development and bringing in one of the worlds Biggest Companies to Montgomery County. Tonight on meet the street, well meet sam eig. Another fun one tonight. We love them too. You learn so much about the area. Thanks so much. Well, bids to build the purple line will be accepted later this year. The august deadline has been pushed back until november. Maryland governor larry hogan approved the project in june but only in the costs could be cut. The delays allow the four Companies Competing for the project to adjust their bids. The winning bidder for the 16mile rail line to be built in washington in the suburbs will be announced next year. A developing story this morning that affects millions of you. Even if you never worked for the federal government, your information could have been stolen in the office of Personnel Management hack. Sensitive information was received of 21. 5 Million People and this applies to neighborhoods and even roommates and friends of people who had to go through background checks. Hackers had access to the information for more than a year. It is 6 56. Here are 4 things to know before you head out the door. In a few hours well learn new information about the hunt for the man who shot a Spotsylvania County store clerk in the head. New developments in the case. D. C. s mayor is expected to give police more power to go after those who sell synthetic drugs. Businesses caught selling face a fine and could be permanently closed. A man in Critical Condition after a shooting in washington. He was shot around 2 00 this morning. There is no suspect or motive. At 10 00 a. M. , the Confederate Flag in front of the South Carolina state house will come down. Governor haley banned the flag and more on her on the today show next. Fabulous friday. Lower humidity, afternoon highs reaching the mid to upper 80s with sunshine. Enjoy. That is the broadcast this morning. We will enjoy it. Thank you tom. We appreciate you waking up with us. The today show is next. See you in 25 minutes. Have a great day and a great weekend. Make it a great friday, everybody. Banana. Know you can keep your financial big picture under control. Know you can see how much you have to spend and whether you should transfer funds. Know you can easily keep track of what youre putting away. And know youre budgeted for the great escape. Thanks to virtual wallet by pnc. Good morning. Historic moment. Just hours from now the Confederate Flag of South Carolinas capitol will come down for good. The end of a long fought battle over what some see as a symbol of hate, but others consider a symbol of southern pride. This morning, an exclusive live interview with governor nikki haley who led the charge to have the flag removed. Laugh fest. Former president s bill clinton and george w. Bush are all smiles in a rare appearance together. My granddaughter spoke to me in mandarin. What . But will the good times last as the race heats up between hillary clin