on the scene at the truck. but the police are still investigating. reporting live downtown at the national mall. horace holmes, abc7 news. alison: thank you very much for the latest there. we will get back to you if we need to. cameras were there when piles of mail pulled from the sewer. now the question is how did it get there? >> a spokesperson apologizing for the customers impacted by this. the case has been referred to the inspector general. today, the d.c. water spent several hours trying to clear out this sewer system. on this miserable day in may. the d.c. water crews filled 25 stinky mail from the catch basin and the sewer system at anacostia avenue and douglas street in northeast washington. >> they are doing their best to resolve the issue for some time. >> there was quite a bit of mail i pulled out. >> we are talking bundles of mail with different addresses on it. >> many residents complain until yesterday it had been a week since any mail had been delivered. >> we could go days without mail. >> in the stack we pulled out, he found bill and a check. >> a sad situation. >> all the mail, two dozens bags collect today by d.c. water were handed over to the usps inspector general's office which says this is an we are working diligently to secure the discarded mail and continuing the investigation into the matter. the postal service says it will make every effort to recover and deliver all mail as promptly as possible. as for the original plumbing problem, after clearing the catch basin today, d.c. water says crews then moved over to this residential area the house that seemed to have that clogging issue. they snaked the line. they didn't find anything. hopefully the clog has been cleared. reporting live in northeast, mike carter-conneen, abc7 news. leon: a maryland high school student says he has great respect for women and would never do anything to hurt anyone. but tonight that senior football and track star is facing second-degree sex assault charges after a girl said he attacked her in a school stairwell. montgomery county reporter kevin lewis is live in silver spring with a story you will see only on 7. kevin: with his father's permission, that 17-year-old suspect decided he confesses he made a really bad decision,s have sex inside of his -- having sex inside his high school but adamantly claimed he is not a rapist. >> trying to stay positive. have to keep a strong mind. strong body. kevin: we blurred his face and are withholding his name. but police say last month this 17-year-old sexual assaulted a female classmate inside northwood high school in silver spring. cops say he pulled the 16-year-old girl into a stairwell. tore off her clothes. made her do the unthinkable. >> i wasn't forcing her. i wasn't forcing her to do anything. kevin: kicked out of school wearing an ankle bracelet and now awaiting trial on multiple felony charges, this teenage suspect admits to the sexual rendezvous but vows it was 100% consensual. >> i do understand that being in school and doing these things was not the brightest idea. i do understand that part of the story. t if she didn't know what was going on, or if i was trying to force her is outrageous to me. kevin: however, prosecutors are so far pursuing the case which carries up to 40 years in prison. >> forcing a woman into doing anything, hitting a woman, coming from caribbean family, myself, that is just not how i was raised. i have so much respect for my mother and my aunts, female cousins. that is just not how i was raised. kevin: that suspect also told us that school surveillance camera captured he and the alleged victim walking hand in hand down the hall. both before and after this alleged assault. the suspect telling us that in and of itself is proof of his innocence. kevin lewis, abc7 news. alison: thank you. developing now more uncertainty over d.c.'s long litigated gun law. an injunction preventing enforcement of a portion of the law. the section requires people show good reason to fear injury. or a proper reason to carry a gun. the decision conflicts with a ruling earlier this year. it now sets up a showdown in a higher court. this ruling, though, coming after a violent 24 hours in the city. a day with five shootings. three stabbings. all across the district. stephen tschida is live in northwest with a look at what is going on here. stephen? stephen: alison, the violence affected neighborhoods across the city. southeast d.c., northeast, right here on s street in northwest d.c. despite reassurances from law enforcement, some district residents are bracing for another summer of violence. on a sunny day, another possible harbinger of the approach of summer. a violent and deadly crime spree. >> there is a always a spike stephen: in 24 hours five shootings from d.c. and three stabbings. two of the shootings fatal. one of the stabbing victims in critical condition. >> it's a small number of people that just have no regard for other people. stephen: today police chief cathy lanier said we should not expect a repeat of last summer where gunfire sent the death rate soaring and left residents in fear. she says crime-fighting initiatives are already in place for the summer. while bemoaning the character of those responsible she acknowledged adults with a 7-year-old shooting victim saturday ran off. and left the injured child. >> there were two adults that were with the 7-year-old. i believe there were two 7-year-olds. from the information we received, they fled. stephen: in southeast d.c., where two shootings left two dead, residents say they want the violence to end. >> my child is around here. it needs to stop. stephen: sadiq says he lives with the fear of getting caught in cross fire. >> they might catch me. stephen: 20 minutes ago we checked on the stabbing victim, still in critical condition. nearby police officers did respond quickly and a suspect in that case is in custody. reporting live, stephen tschida, abc7 ews. alison: a reminder tonight you can track crime in your neighborhood. with the spot crime maps. you can find those on the website wjla.com. leon: new developments in a case where a man charged in the death of his 9-year-old nephew wants a judge to throw out his statement to police. 24-year-old jay cab barrajas attorney said the client was never told he could leave the police station without answering questions. instead he told police he handcuffed jack garcia last july before his mother's boyfriend beat him to death. all over a piece of birthday cake. he faces second of degree murder and first-degree child abuse charges. alison: well, today was the first full day of defense testimony in the edward nero case. he is one of the officers charged in he freddie gray. prosecutors say nero unlawfully arrested gray but the defense argues nero wasn't even involved in the arrest. they claim the officer showed up after gray had already been stop and handcuffed. defense attorneys are expected to finish the case tomorrow. leon: after a couple of days of sun the rain is back today. so how long will it last this time around? hopefully not another 15 days. check and see what chief meteorologist doug hill has to say about that. doug: not that long but it will feel like it. friday is the next chance of decent weather. in the meantime we show doppler radar. we have an animation to get a sense of movement and the location. it's moving east. steady area of rain. behind it there are light showers. generally the next few hours this evening, you will be fine. take an umbrella. watch for spotty showers. it won't be widespread. you can see farther west/northwest, more showers. ahead of a cold front coming through later tomorrow. some areas on satellite. glimpse of sunshine north and west of the metro this tonight drop and hold in the 50's. the future cast shows by tomorrow, more batches of steady rain through the morning and through the afternoon. finally some time maybe by tomorrow night the rain will end. looking better as we head to the very end of the work week. that is the latest. alison: thank you very much. there is good news to tell you about for chesapeake bay today. the university of maryland center for environmental science is giving the estuary a c in the annual report card. so that is the highest grade since 2002. the center says improvements in water quality, nitrogen levels and underwater grasses are helping the bay's overall health. leon: on capitol hill this afternoon, the senate approved $1 billion to fight the zika virus. maryland senator says more money is need and he is pushing for congress to approve the nearly $2 billion requested by the obama administration. the measure now goes to the house where the republicans are offering $622 million in funding to fight the alison: house republicans dropped a provision requiring women to register for a draft. approved by the armed services committees in the senate and the house. the provision would have required women to sign up for the selective service beginning in 2018. well, the push to include women picked up steam after the pentagon opened all military positions to women last year. there has not been a draft since 1973. leon: coming up on "abc7 news at 5:00" -- stuck in traffic. find out what a group thinks is the worst bottleneck in maryland. >> victim of a montgomery county shooting spree is laid to rest the family member take comfort in the belief that the woman's struggle helped stop the killing. i'm brad bell. coming up, i will tell you why. alison: first, all in a day's work. how treacherous conditions are actually part of the job. thank you. ordering chinese food is a very predictable experience. i order b14. i get b14. no surprises. buying business internet, on the other hand, can be a roller coaster white knuckle thrill ride. you're promised one speed. but do you consistently get it? you do with comcast business. it's reliable. just like kung pao fish. thank you, ping. reliably fast internet starts at $59.95 a month. comcast business. built for business. leon: right now on capitol hill. the house oversight and government reform committee to have d.c. spending tax money without approval. it's later upheld by the you are the co. mayor muriel bowser vowed t not submit this year's budget to congress for approval. alison: speaking of the mayor, there are reports tonight that the d.c. mayor muriel bowser and the chairman of the d.c. council were in a screaming match at the wilson building today. they were fighting over the mayor's plan to close d.c. general in favor of smaller shelters in each ward of the city. our d.c. bureau chief sam ford was at today's council hearing. sam: mayor bowser selected the lot behind an old church in southwest to be the ward six shelter but neighbors objected so the councilmember got it moved to second and k northwest. >> we were trying to shoe horn in something at that site. it wasn't going to work. we have a better site. sam: mayor bowser's plan to close the shelter and replace out with eight smaller shelter ins each ward faced alteration in the council's first vote. >> have to have it unanimously. >> we have had the benefit of with the months of public comment and the word councilmembers looking at the mayor's proposals. sam: for the mayor bowser: the big concern is the assertion it won't delay the closure of d.c. general. sam: councilmembers say the proposal means no leasing of property as in the mayor's plan. but also sites would be city-owned land which saves millions. and angry mayor's response to that. >> there are two private sites which they seem to indicate we should just seize. that we should take. leon: our sam ford reporting. hurricane force winds didn't stop weather observers at thestop of mount washington from leaving the shelter to go out and do their jobs on monday. take a look at what happened when they went outside. there we go. a 109-mile-per-hour wind gust picked up this guy. this is at the top of it at 6288-foot peak. temperatures receive high of 20 degrees fahrenheit. the average wind speed is 77 miles per hour. look at that. [laughter] alison: you think you are having a bad day at the office. leon: looks like one of the x-men. alison: wow! how about that, doug? doug: the weather at mount washington for wind speed is 231 or 233 miles per hour. alison: amazing. leon: incredible. doug: a very unusual place. just a it lot of things converge in that part of the country. for elevation that high there are areas areas in north carolia mountains that are that high but they don't get winds like that. the confluence of stuff. wild weather. we watch it in the winter because the wind chills are off the charts. i wouldn't want that job. we have the bumper sticker. take a look at what is happening around the area. this was a shelf cloud from saturday from the eastern shore. they sent a couple of these. dramatic clouds. rain and cold winds came out of the cloud saturday evening when it went through the area. we had clouds of a different sort. looking st. john's catholic school in frederick. 59 degrees. a little break in overcast an hagerstown. a little sunshine in some areas north and west of the city. briefly to let you know the sun is still up there. black in cloud cover tonight and tomorrow. good chunk of the day thursday as well. the tree pollen in moderate range. grass in the high level. weeds and the mold spores in the low range. temperatures are crazy. running 20 degrees below average for this time of the day. this time of the month of may. mid-50's across the board. 54 in baltimore. 55 in annapolis and mid-shore and easton. 55 in fredericksburg and leesburg. 55 at the reagan national airport. live rain moving east. additional pocket of rain are popping up in the past hour west of tonight and moving through. at the moment, the skies are cloudy. but the rain has stopped to the west. we have several hours this evening with a few spotty showers. it will be cloudy and cool if you are headed out. later tonight we have more patches of rain. especially tomorrow. we are not close to being finished with the system. kind of convoluted. warm front here that extends to the west and kentucky. cold front farther west. that will come through later in the day tomorrow. we will stop the steady rain. but it's not going to end the possibility of rain. some of the showers could last through the day on thursday. the forecast overnight cloudy, cool. more showers. isolated showers late tonight. low temperatures. 46 to 502 degrees by tomorrow morn -- 52 degrees by tomorrow morning. the future cast has clouds moving in. more rain moving north and south of the metro area. closer to midday and early afternoon more scattered showers are likely. later tomorrow night, most of it will taper off locally. but lingering showers thursday. when we get in thursday, midday and the afternoon, the winds will turn north. we have the clearing skies. more showers are possible in the northern suburbs. by friday, finally by friday we get a chance of sunshine for the day. the thursday. that is not true. no rain. we will probably get quarter of an inch of rain between now and then. 70% chance of rain through the day tomorrow. thursday showers possibly. otherwise we have peaks of sunshine at times. not a lot. but a touch. much better day on friday. a lot of sunshine. 74. the rain ends friday night. saturday is rainy and chilly. skies turn apparently sunny later sunday. chance of showers. same deal for monday and back to sunshine on tuesday. alison: okay. see you soon. thank you. leon: turn now to breaking news. we have this coming up from montgomery county where an unoccupied car erupted in flames after wires fell on glenn dale road in chevy chase. fire officials tweeted out the picture. they say no one was injured. alison: thank goodness. "7 on your side" tonight with a phone bank to let you ask the veterinarian. abc7 veterinarian dr. katie nelson is here in the help center to explain what is going on. hi, dr. katie. >> hi, guys. how are thanks. >> we have a great group of veterinarians from caring hand hospitals around the area taking your calls. we have had really cool calls so far. dogs, pets, cats. all of that. 703-236-9220. we are here until 6:30 tonight. so if you have questions for them, go ahead and call in. we even have a few phone lines open but we will be here taking your questions until 6:30 p.m. 703-236-9220. leon: all right. good deal, doc. we'll check back with you later on. every time she sees someone riding a bright red bike share bike, our consumer investigator kimberly suiters is tempted to ask them do you know about redocking the bock bock -- bike every 30 minutes? >> how much did you think is it costing you? >> probably $8. >> i'll guess closer to $30. alison: still to come, "7 on your side" finds out how much money the overtime fees contribute to bike share budget. leon: plus, how much is your sun screen actually protecting you? and what may not be in it. alison: a look at what is coming up tonight on abc7 -- alison: the second of three people shot and killed in the shooting spree in montgomery and prince george's county was as maryland bureau chief brad bell reports, molina's family believes she helped end eulalio tordil's rampage. brad: in the headlines, molina was the sixth shooting victim. the third person killed allegedly by eulalio tordil. in the aspen hill giant parking lot on may 6. perhaps in an attempt to steal her car. but to her family and loved ones she was you much more. >> a hardworking woman. >> lydia was her pastor. >> she was my dearest member. she was a woman of god. she was a woman that loved christ. she was a woman with sweetness from bolivia. brad: those who gathered for the funeral today remember the woman they called by her middle name. soledad. her daughter said she came to the u.s. se dream. after years of working as a care-giver, she was finally nearing retirement. >> she always, always loved every single patient she had. >> her family also says molina was a fire. they believe her struggle with eulalio tordil knocked his glasses to the ground. the eye glasses he needed to drive. police say that is one reason he was easily captured near the scene where molina was shot. >> she is one hero in our community. brad: she was 65 years old. in rockville, brad bell, abc7 news. leon: coming up at 5:00 -- >> metro riders may soon need another way to get there. i'm chris papst. coming up, what option are the safest? >> you may sit in them daily. slow down, delays, congestion. the number one bottleneck in coming up, the cost of that congestion. alison: reminder for you, the phone lines are open right now for you to ask the verinarian. our phone banks will be open until 6:30. all you have to do is call 703-236-9220. to speak with one of the vets in the abc7 help center. we'll be right back. leon: a little rain is a recipe for gridlock on the road. in maryland a group is taking a closer look at the worst bottlenecks and working on ways to fix them. transportation reporter brianne carter live with number one. brianne: imagine this. 80 hours of lost time sitting, stuck behind the wheel. that is the same thing as losing two weeks of vacation. now we know the number one spot where it happens just down the way here along 270. where the spur happened right at the beltway. well, this is the number one bottleneck in maryland. according to a new study released earlier today. now here along 270 we have nearly ten different spots that range in the top 30 bottlenecks that are here across maryland. now today transportation officials and advocates came together to say well, yes, strides past couple of years to the backup are just still too much. well, the 270 spur is the worst. 95, green belt metro drive comes in number two. 95 north at maryland 100. and southbound 270 at the spur round out the top four. tonight maryland leaders say they are working on a plan that won't take a decade to implement. >> half of those bottlenecks in the state are on i-270. so we know we have a problem. that is why we are trying to tackle the most congested route in the state first. brianne: the lane narrow would be 10 to 15 years out. metro is a mess. they will shut down for much-needed safety repairs as the riders look for other ways to get around. "7 on your side" wondered what is the best option and the safest option? the item investigator chris papst crumpled the numbers. >> for all the problems and the negative press it gets, metro rail statistically is the safest way to get where you are going in the district. soon it may not be an option for many riders. we want to know what option is next best. the news hat been grim. at best section of metro will shut down for safety repairs. at worst, the u.s. transportation secretary on theny fox says he may shut down the whole thing. >> which option is the safest? they looked at the data from the recent years and looked at the total injury, fatalities from the buses, taxis, bicycle and passenger vehicles. by far the injuries and fatalities involving passenger cars were the highest. the recent fatalities involved taxty cab -- taxi cabs. the fewest injury from the bicycles. not broken down per mile or trip. >> perhaps they are the safest drivers. chris: john says it may surprise a lot of people. but it shouldn't. >> cab drivers are more adept at driving. they drive more hours than we do and miles than we do. chris: chris papst, abc7 news. alison: stay with us with abc7 as we len we will get you the information as we learn it on abc7 and on our website wjla.com. leon: days before the preakness, a group offered to buy stronack group. they already own pemlyco racetrack. historic items from one of the greatest sporting events of the 20th century auctioned off. jim craig, the goalkeeper of the 1980 u.s. olympic hockey team that beat soviet union in miracle on ice is selling his gear. including the gold medal. it is estimated to bring in $5-7 million. live on leyland.com and ends june 17. alison: amazing. there was a bit of a surprise today for shakespeare scholars. that was unearthed in london. ch playhouse was a rectangle instead of round like thought. some of the plays were first staged at the 16th century theater there. experts say the finding suggest the curtain unlike the more famous globe and rose theaters was not built from scratch. but converted from an existing building. leon: coming up on "abc7 news at 5:00" -- before you break out a bottle of sunscreen, we tell you what "consumer report" learned about half the bottles on the market. alison: new at 6:00, a teenager killed walking with friends along train tracks. what residents told us may be putting other teenagers at risk. weekend. we have the mir lan da lambert concert. it shouldn't be a total washout. waking up early sunday morning we have the walk to cure arthritis. the temperatures start in the upper 50's. alison: "7 on your side" with health matters. before you know it, folks will be heading to the beach. before you go and break out the bottle of sun screen, michelle marsh has startling numbers from consumer report. michelle: the numbers are surprising here. consumer reports tested 65 different water-resistant sun screen lotion, sprays and sticks with the s.p.f. of 30 or higher. half of them didn't live up to claim on the bottle. >> two had s.p.f. 30 but only tested at 8. they were kids sun mish banana boat reject how they did the testing. c.v.s. said their approved testing by the f.d.a. shows no indication that the product has f.d.s. lower than 50. and banana boat said they met the rigorous specification in the testing process. >> all right. good advice. leon: "7 on your side" tonight for your pet health as well. dr. katie nelson is live with a panel of experts on the phone to help you ask the veterinarian tonight. >> we have universitirynarians from ca nine of them if i count correctly. call 703-236-9220. if you have any questions about your pet, feel free to give us a call. 703-236-9220. >> still to come at "abc7 news at 5:00" -- they have dominated the competition at the high school level. coming up next, how the two brothers from virginia plan to take on the world. >> first -- >> did you see a bike share here? >> we didn't. "7 on your side" to investigate why you might not want a capital bike share out vo: for dominion, part of delivering affordable energy includes supporting those in our community who need help. our energyshare program does just that, assisting with bill pay and providing free, energy-saving upgrades. it's more than helping customers, it's helping neighbors. ♪ stand by me >> we are following breaking news out of the district now where the two special police officers were indicted in the death of 74-year-old james mcbride. mcbride was a patient at medstar washington hospital center last september. when he walked out of the hospital without being discharged. officers allegedly had an altercation with the man died. leon: you see them all over up to. 3,000 of the bikes with 350 stations and the number is growing these days. capital bike share encourages you to take a bike to work or run an errand. but kimberly suiters found out why you might not want to take waun for a leisurely ride. kimberly: the sign says take one and go. but could you be taken for a ride instead? >> every day i'm confused. the "7 on your side" found plenty of confusion over pricing on the web. people complaining the pricing is deceiving. misleading. it was not made clear you have to dock every 30 minutes. riders expecting the $8 deal outraged by charges of 54, 100, even $188 dollars. does the capital bike share feel like the signage need to be improved so they under >> no. it's very rare when we receive any sort of comment from someone who does not understand the usual fee. >> the bike share station next to the hot dog stand he hears it all the time. >> they ask how much does it cost? kimberly: this biker from south dakota thought he read it right. >> simple and straightforward i think for anyone who likes to read. >> but later the bill cost double what he estimated. >> this pair from switzerland learned about docking every 30 minutes the hard way. >> we used it in paris. >> was it a big bill? >> yes. >> now we know. >> the couple was warned about docking. >> we got inside information from a d.c. resident. who knows the system. >> i have a speaker here that says remember to dock 30 minutes? >> is first 30 minutes is free. but then user fees after. kimberly: it's in tiny print. wouldn't be clear to dock every 30 minutes? >> people are agreeing to that. when you click through here there is a screen that says user fees apply for every trip over 30 minutes. kimberly: the screen flow by the way is 133 pages long. >> whoever is going to read 133 pages? kimberly: the notice is definitely there. but is it realistic to ride around fee free? >> this one every 30 minutes. >> i have to swipe my card. get a code. set the timer. while amanda rides without the hassle of redocking. five ki yasks later. my ride was $10. i showed up to that kiosk two minutes late. amanda's was $30. while it sounds like small change it adds up to after of the revenue come from the fee. kimberly suiters, abc7 news. alison: check on the roadways. what is the latest? >> going at a slow pace. when we have wet roads that is what happens. heavy on the inner loop and the outer loop of the beltway near the american legion bridge. single digits. crash is coming in, in mclane. if you travel westbound on georgetown bike, it's near the beltway. all lanes are blocked off. the police activity slowing down third street northwest. you can see there is a lot of red in normal areas. areas that are heavy. 395. 35 minutes from the 14th street bridge continuing closer to the springfield interchange. happy to report no crashes on the interstates. back to you. alison: thanks. stop a moment to look at this. amazing video out of maine. dashboard camera on a police cruiser catches a meteor. shooting across the sky. several thousand of similar object through the atmosphere every day. we just don't get a look at it. isn't that something? >> some of them are no bigger than a grain of sand. >> yeah. doug: lunch box weather day. tell you about this. meteorologist eileen visited the elementary school in she talked about the water cycle. a few weather experiments. they have a cloud chamber. to simulate the motion of the tornado. running the kid cam was kayman mcneill. we had a weather question from darian wiggins. >> i have studied this. doug: the audio is fuzzy there. she said she studied canada and mexico. wanting to know example of the extreme weather. canada experiences heat and cold to tornadoes, blizzard and wildfires. eastern province of canada even are affected sometimes by hurricanes and tropical storms. much like severe thunderstorms, sadly severe flooding and also tornadoes will strike mexico at times as well. we are right in the middle where we will get a taste of every weather condition. we love to talk to kids. good video they shot. alison: good stuff. we love it. thank you. leon: we had a shooting star. how about a rising star? erin: a good transition. this is a hotbed for the track and field athletes. few are better than the lyles brother. this week's rising star scott abraham takes us to alexandria. >> lightning on the track. >> i like winning. >> the lyles brother. 18-year-old nolan have been doing williams for the track and field program. >> i want there to be a legacy of track and field. so like, you know, in ten years' time i can look back to say tabbing williams is the best track team. >> the best thing is the personality. laughing and they are actually funny. when it comes to compete on the track, the laughs go out the window. >> we have a good competitive nature. nobody wants to lose. >> the dominant sprinters in the world for the age group, the lyles brothers will compete at the u.s. olympic trials in july. >> they may go to the olympics. >> dream set four years ago that could be a reality. >> if we drop this, this, this? we get this and we can win. that is the goal. at the end of the high school year we are going to the olympics. >> the road to rio. the lyles brothers racing toward gold on the track. scott abraham, abc7 sports. erin: good stuff. proud parents, too. now if you know somebody who is overcoming adversity who excels in the athletic arena, please e-mail rising star to wjla.com. leon: we have to give them a camera. what if there was a paint that made you look at paint differently question everything you know and what you don't know what if it's built with better ingredients given super powers and even a secret base to test those powers. since benjamin moore reinvented paint, it makes you wonder is it still paint? find benjamin moore paint, only at one of our authorized retailers near you. leon: "7 on your side" to help take care of your pet. we have a team of veterinarians to help answer questions about your pet. call phone lines open until 6:30. alison: new information in the deadly derailment of an amtrak train more than one year ago. as suzanne kennedy reports the national transportation safety board met in d.c. today. to come to a con consensus on exactly what happened. >> the northbound train jumped the track minutes after it left philadelphia 30th street station. the fatal crash killed eight people and injured 200. today the ntsb confirmed that train engineer brandon bostian was distracted by radio transmissions from the operator of a commuter train. the windshield had been shattered by a rock. >> he was concerned that there might be workers on the track. and he thought it was something to look out for. he was concerned about the engineer who requested the medical assistance. >> bostian lost what is called situational awareness. he became confused about where he was and what he should do next. after the radio transmission distraction. he entered a cur miles per hour. that is more than twice the posted limit. ntsb board mens say the accident could have been prevented by a federally mandated safety mechanism called "positive train control." >> at the time of the accident p.t.c. was not implemented on the track where it occurred. if the p.t.c. system had been active there it would not have derailed on the curb. close to 200 passengers would not have been injured and eight others would be alive today. >> bostian has been suspended since the derailment. today the ntsb recommended more education and simulator training. as well as the nationwide installment of positive train control. alison: muriel bowser's plan to close d.c. general and the new plan that may have prompted a hallway shouting match with a mayor and another high-ranking official. what sparked this fire in chevy chase? "abc7 news at 6:00" starts with breaking news. announcer: from abc7 news this is a breaking news alert. maureen: breaking news at the national mall where robots are investigating the truck of a man who said he had been exposed to anthrax. there is a massive police presence blocks from the capitol. horace holmes has more. horace: the robots have been active. they open up the back door of the truck and took a look. over the past hour, hour and a half, they did for anthrax and determine there was no anthrax there. the all clear is not given. the man was taken to contamination tent and then to the hospital. he was swabbed on the scene and they did the all-clear. he had no anthrax exposure. there was no anthrax found in the truck. the situation is still locked down here outside the capitol as the robots are looking at the truck. reporting live, horace holmes, abc7 news. maureen: thank you. today tempers flared in the d.c. council as it moved to change mayor bowser's plan