year 2015 budget. it closes that $200 million budget gap with different means. finding efficiencies in agencies across the district and talked about tough choices that her staff made looking at reducing medicaid reimbursement rates in the district, making them closer to the national average. that's a savings of about $9 million, for example reducing funding for university of the district of columbia by 5%. same with reducing facility maintenance funding by 5%. she also discussed the need for new revenue. in all about $26 million would be generated by increasing d.c. sales tax from 5.75% to a full 6%. increasing fees on parking by 4% to incentivize use of mass transit and hiking the tax on e cigarettes in d.c. to the same rate as other tobacco products here. she says her staff was innovative and creative but at the same time cost sensitive. mayor bowser: we closed the budget gap with some tough decisions and i'm going to ask you to weigh those and weigh those heavily. i know that you take your responsibility for the budget as seriously as we do. mike: now this budget also includes $335 million for d.c.'s streetcar program. most of that going toward a new line that she'd like to see built from h street out to georgetown. also, it includes $5 million to outfit every d.c. patrol officer with a body camera. $7 million to give d.c. school children free rides on metro rail. they're already able to do so on metro bus. and $1.3 billion for school modernization over the next six years. a lot of other initiatives the chief wanting to find in this budget. at the end of the briefing with the council, she asked if there was any questions. there was silence. you better believe over the next few days and weeks we'll hear many questions from these council members and leaders across the district. mike conneen, abc 7 news. autria: thanks. it will be a great day to get outside. giving you a live look at a sunny white house. going to be a little warm and breezy for the afternoon. chief meteorologist doug hill is here with a look at how long it will last. doug: temperatures up to 63 at reagan national with gusty winds out of the south and nice warmup indeed. look at the maps. live look at the capital wheel, national harbor a beautiful thursday midday here. temperatures will continue to slow even though we have a few 50's, everything will level out this afternoon into the upper 60's to around 70 degrees. as we get through the afternoon gusty winds will continue. southwesterly, sotherly at 31 miles an hour. gusts recorded at dulles. 35 at reagan national airport. 29-mile-per-hour gusts registered at andrews air force base. at least it's a warm breeze as we push to near 70 degrees this afternoon with lots of sunshine. we are keeping our eyes on showers and thunderstorms across ohio. we'll see if any of that makes it east of the mountains. our suspicion is most of the rain will hold off until tomorrow. starting tomorrow showers and thunder are a definite possibility. look ahead to the weekend forecast in a couple of minutes. jummy? jummy: doug right now a desperate search under way for the hostages believed to be held by islamic militant gunmen in kenya. the gunmen attacked the garissa university college this morning killing 15 people and injuring at least 60 others. abc's gloria riveira has the latest on the rescue effort. reporter: the attack began at 5:00 a.m. gunmen from al-shabab, somalia's militant islamist group known to attack in neighboring kenya opening fire in dorms at garissa university in northeast kenya. according to an eyewitness the attackers separating christians from muslims shooting christians on the spot. >> jumping up and down, running for their lives. reporter: a tweet from kenya's red cross reading update three ical casualties being evacuated. at least 15 victims are confirmed dead. 65 wounded. kenya's president is urging the country to stay calm. >> we continue to pay for the quick recovery of the injured and the safe rescue of those being held hostage. reporter: the rescue effort is ongoing. a massive manhunt under way. kenya's interior ministry releasing this wanted poster of the alleged mastermind offering a $215,000 reward. over a week ago intelligence reports warned al-shabab was targeting a major university in nairobi. police say security measures were taken. somalia's al-shabab is linked to al-qaida. a recent u.n. report cites 25,000 foreign fighters tied to aek and -- al-qaida and isis. the biggest attack was when 68 people were killed at a popular shopping mall. jummy: western officials say the u.s. and iran agreed on an outline for a nuclear deal but the work is not over yet. officials say the world leaders are in a dispute still over how much of the deal to make public. the negotiations are to curb iran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions. the obama administration demands significant public exposure of any agreement but officials say iran disagrees. at least 54 people are dead after a fishing vessel sank east of russia. russian helicopters rescued 63 crew members. drifting ice may have played a role in that sinking. 15 people remain afternoon. a majority of the crew members are from russia. the others from myanmar. new information just coming out on the investigation into the germanwings plane crash in the french alps. french authorities have found the second black box recorder from the crash. investigators also say the co-pilot researched suicide methods and cockpit door security before bringing the plane down. 150 people were killed in the crash including a mother and daughter from our area. we continue to follow developing story in the district. the wife of a d.c. lawyer murdered in a d.c. hotel released a statement this morning. it comes after police arrested jamyra gallmon. gallmon is charged in the stabbing death of david messerschmitt back in february. a motive for the murder is unknown this noon. this morning, kim vuong released a statement thanking the metropolitan police department for their hard work. she said she has faith the police and courts will bring justice to her husband and all who loved him. well, police need your help nabbing two robbery suspects in fairfax county. take a look. this video was taken nearly two weeks ago at a convenience store on huntington avenue. police say the men who walk into this convenience store and quickly leave are possibly linked to robberies in the huntington area. anyone with any information is asked to call police. jummy: a montgomery county schoolteacher accused of sexual abuse is in court today. lawrence joins is accused of filming elementary students performing sexual gestures inside a classroom at the elementary school and there are allegations mcps turned a blind eye to repeated warning signs of his behavior. and millionaire robert durst is heading to court today. the real estate heir has a preliminary hearing on gun charges stemming from his arrest in louisiana. officers found a gun and marijuana on durst when they arrested him in new orleans last month. that hearing will decide if durst can be held in louisiana. he also faces a murder charge in california. and senator robert menendez is expected to appear in federal court in newark today. that's on corruption charges. the new jersey democrat is accused of using his senate office to push the business interests of a friend in exchange for monetary donations. senator menendez said he acted in accordance with the law and insists the f.b.i. is out to get him. autria: working on a fix. lawmakers in indiana are expected to vote today on changes of the controversial religious freedom law. marcy gonzalez takes a look at the proposed protections for the lgbt community. marcy: today indiana lawmakers are going over the language of a proposed fix to the state's controversial religious freedom act. >> if there's one takeaway from all of the calamity that's happened in the past week it would be this. that is that religious rights and individual rights can co-exist in harmony together. marcy: the revision adding fewer protections saying businesses cannot turn away customers based on their sexual orientation. without the added wording, opponents claim the law leaves the door open for businesses like this indiana pizza shop to do this. >> if a gay couple was to come in like say, we wanted -- they wanted us to provide them pizzas for a wedding, we would have to say no. marcy: that would be illegal under this draft expected to go to a vote today. the voting also expected on changes to a similar law in arkansas. after the governor there sent the bill back demanding that lawmakers include protections for gays and lesbians. >> we want to be known as a state that does not discriminate but understands tolerance. marcy: and indiana officials say they're on the brink of a major milestone saying if this revised wording is passed it would mark the first time sexual orientation is specifically protected against discrimination under state law. marcy gonzalez, abc 7 news. jummy: baltimore bishop heather cook pleaded not guilty in that car crash that killed a cyclist. she was in court this morning. her blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit when she struck thomas polermo in december. the episcopal diocese of maryland suspended cook after the crash. a trial has been set for june 4th. the university of maryland says a racist and sexist e-mail allegedly sent by a fraternity member did not violate school policy. university president wallace loh says an investigation found the student was not breaking university policy and was within his first amendment rights. it was sent 14 months ago but recently surfaced. student agreed with the university not to return this semester. u.m.d. will hold a forum at 4:30 this afternoon to discuss this latest announcement. jummy: coming up on abc 7 news at noon, the one time texting while driving is allowed. and how it can help save lives. autria: plus a terrifying crash caught on camera. why authorities say the driver barrelled 60 miles an hour in the wrong direction and into a school bus. jummy: plus uber facing new backlash. one woman's warning about what not to tell your driver. autria: and doug is back with when we can expect some showers and even possible storms and if it will impact your easter weekend. jummy: april is distracted driving awareness month. today, the secretary of the department of transportation released startling numbers about how dangerous it can be. our john gonzalez has the warning issued from this morning's test drive. john: good afternoon. we are on a test track this afternoon in parking lot a at r.f.k. stadium being chauffeured around, if you will and today, and only today, and only here at this lot driving and texting is being allowed. >> it's part of a demonstration on distracted driving awareness month, a driving demonstration and as you can see for our driver evan it has been quite a challenge. within seconds she has run over a couple of cones. as she tries to text and read some of the texts she's receiving. police jurisdictions from all over the area are starting to aggressively ticket distracted drivers. the department of transportation administrator tells us about 10% of fatal crashes in the country are linked to driving just like what you're seeing here. >> i actually thought that i would be able to pay attention to both things at once. but as you see, it was really hard to do both. >> we know in 2013 3,154 lives were lost at least that number. 424,000 people injured. and one of our vulnerable groups are teens. 244 lives. that's our future. and we're talking about texting and everything else we're doing in cars not to be driving. john: evan learned why exactly so many have paid so dearly. many with their lives. so this month and beyond, turn on your engine, turn off your phone. at r.f.k. stadium, john gonzalez, abc 7 news. jummy: a terrifying situation for a group of students aboard a bus in oklahoma when a vehicle just barrels towards them head on. watch this video right here as the school bus carrying nearly 40 children right there collides with an s.u.v. going the wrong way down a highway. the driver speeding 60 miles an hour 20 miles over the speed limit. several students were bruised but no reports of any severe injuries. police say the 40-year-old man behind the wheel recently had seizures. maryland's senator ben cardin hosted a town hall meeting with employees at the national institutes of health. cardin heard from workers on a wide range of issues including budget. he says shortfalls in medical funding results in lost jobs and costs people their lives. people in california facing drastic mandatory water restrictions this noon. in light of the historic drought there, the governor ordered 38 million people to cut back on water consumption by 25%. it includes limited water use at golf courses, public streets, and on lawns. and restaurants can only serve water by request. violators face heavy fines. autria: pope francis celebrated holy thursday mass in st. peter's basilica today and he acknowledged the exhaustion that they can feel around holy week but encouraged them to keep emotionally close to their flock. he traveled to a roman prison to wash the feet of 12 inmates, preeaster ritual designed to show his willingness to serve others. what people in our area want to know, what's easter going to be like for us? doug: i think it's going to turn out fine. it's not going to be quite as warm today but totally comfortable. i think we're good. people that have plans to go to early sunday morning services will be chilly but clear and the winds will be light. it's all going to work out. today is going to work out just fine after a cool start. looking right now on the cam of thomas aquinas school in woodbridge. 61 degrees. i'm going to guess that the kids got out of school early today. there are a lot of steady stream of cars out of the parking lot. bright sunshine. that will be the story for the entire day. some of the gusts pretty impressive over the past 20 to 30 minutes. 39-mile-per-hour wind gusts out of the southeast at haymarket. 36 in warrenton. but again, when temperatures in the 60's approaching 70 you don't mind the gustiness so much. temperatures in teens and 20's. whole different story. we're up to 63 at reagan national. 62 at washington dulles. still a few 50's here and there. steady stream of wind out of the south and southwest literally pulling in the warmer air. remember yesterday, we saw temperatures just west of the mountains in the 70's. we'll get a taste of that. approaching 70 degrees in many areas this afternoon. so satellite and radar pretty have it down the 95 corridor. brilliant blue skies and sunshine but weather is on the move. a warm front and a following cold front both combining now to bring showers and storms to parts of the ohio and tennessee valley. the first batch we're going to watch is not out of the question. western maryland could get a shower later this evening. tomorrow morning, rain with the main activity comes close to our area. rainy, breezy, warm day tomorrow. showers and thunderstorms are likely for friday. setup on the map is this. high pressure off shore so the circulation goes around and brings all the warm air and from the southwest, that simple brings it in and then it clashes eventually with the cold air coming in with the cold front. so the setup is in place. the timing will be rain developing tomorrow morning and continuing at times during the day. our futurecast shows this by early tomorrow morning, we have some showers showing up by 8:00 especially metro area and west. but kind of come and go during the day. by noon areas of rain. by the afternoon, a break and more developing through the night into the early morning hours of saturday. but we expect before sunrise saturday, all of it out of here followed by clearing skies. our story today, we'll have sunshine near 70 degrees. tomorrow, a lot of clouds. breezy and warm, just 72. showers, thunderstorms. good chance throughout the day as we highlight in our futurecast. then clearing skies expected for the weekend. here we go. next seven days, 80% chance of the rain and thunder tomorrow. it looks like any shower activity indeed will end before sunrise on saturday. sunshine on easter sunday. 63. nationals, great weather. 65 degrees with sunshine by monday and then round it out on monday and tuesday with temperatures expected to hold in the 60's and we really don't see any major storms. but there are indications that by wednesday night, thursday friday we could be dealing with more rain. so spring showers, april showers bring may flowers. autria: hopefully. doug: and may flowers bring pilgrims. there you go. i learned that in fourth grade. autria: all right, doug. thank you. sugarland star kristian bush is giving one fan the chance to win a v.i.p. experience with him at a concert in atlanta. jummy: you'll also get to spend the day with him in his studio. to enter this contest go to wjla.com/contest. you have until april 12th to enter. autria: coming up here on abc 7 news at noon an important medical alert. why doctors may be mistreating adhd. jummy: why a trip to the airport became anything but ordinary for one woman and her warning for others. jummy: a driver in colorado is no longer behind the wheel after allegedly breaking into a woman's house after giving her a ride. gerald montgomery was arrested after trying to burglarize that passenger's home hours after giving her a ride to the airport in denver. he was caught about five days later. the woman says she just wants to warn others this could happen to them. autria: a "7 on your side" health alert now. a new study by c.d.c. shows 1/4 of children in preschool are on medication for adhd and those children are not getting behavioral therapy despite guidelines that recommend not putting young children on an adhd drug. >> they can have serious side effects especially in very young children. problems with sleep, appetite and behavior. very troubling. autria: pediatricians say behavioral therapy should be tried for at least nine months before starting any medication. beautiful weather today. but it's really a mixed bag even a mixed easter egg. doug is back with the last look at the forecast. autria: ok, so time to get out there? doug: oh yeah. warming temperatures. low 60's now. by mid afternoon, near 70 degrees. going to be sweet! gusty winds. we're watching the rain. it's all coming from an approaching warm front and cold front. showers, thunderstorms likely tomorrow. the timing suggests that you be out of here before sunrise saturday. so saturday will turn out to be sunny and pleasant. bit cooler. after a 72 degree high tomorrow, only about 59 on saturday. then on easter sunday early morning temperatures around sunrise will only be in the upper 30's so a chilly start but then warming to the lower 60's with sunshine. great weather for the nats home opener on the afternoon of monday. 65 degrees. partly cloudy skies. showers back tuesday. possibly into wednesday. we'll check out more of this for you when you join us at 4:00. autria: you'll be here at 4 :00. have a great day [dramatic music] ♪ ♪ >> oh! ahh, ahh, ahh! [cheers and applause] welcome to millionaire. i'm terry crews, and all this week, we've got some of the most amazing people ever to earn a spot in guinness world records playing for cold, hard cash. it's millionaire guinness world records edition. [cheers and applause] it gets even better on friday, when former guinness world records title holder and game show master ken jennings will be here to see if he can add another million to the fortune he won on jeopardy! [cheers and applause] yeah. today's returning contestant

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