Right now on news 4 this week, crumbling bridges. Cracks, shaky, potholes. What crews are doing to make sure your drive is safe. Overtime costs skyrocketing in the d. C. Fire department. Costing taxpayers millions of dollars. Now were learning its happening at the same time some members are getting bonuses. Billboard fight. The mayor finds herself in the middle of a growing advertising struggle in the district. Welcome to news 4 this week. Well start with spiking cost of overtime in the d. C. Fire department. It has doubled in just one year. And costs taxpayers millions of dollars. Now were learning as those overtime costs were going up, several members of t top staff were getting bonuses. Mark seagraves has our report. Reporter d. C. Fire chief gregory dean says he approved over 20,000 in inn bonuses this year. Its the first time hes given bonuses since taking over the department. I gave bonuses to four sets of chiefs and one civilian. And that was for work that had been done. Weve been working very hard the last year and a half, two years. I felt that it was i needed to acknowledge the hard work they did. Were in the midst of contract negotiations. So if theyre giving bonuses for hard work and good work, remember the members that do the work daily. Reporter each assistant chief given a 5,000 bonus. The civilian employee received about 1,300. I rely on seasoned managers like chief dean to make the right personnel decisions at his department. If thats his judgment, i support it. Reporter the bonuses came as the department saw a spike in overtime costs. Overtime jumped from 1 in fiscal year 2015 to 23 million in fiscal year 2016. In the first five months of the current fiscal year, overtime costs are already at 9. 5 million. We havent hired for eight years. So that has had an impact on our ability to continue to staff 349 people on duty every day. Reporter at least two paramedics made an additional 114,000 each in overtime last fiscal year. In 2015, mayor Muriel Bowser approved a 50 increase in the amount firefighters are paid for overtime. In the district, Mark Seagraves, news 4. The bridges drivers drive across every day may be in need of serious work. Cracks, shaking, even holes have opened up in some bridges. That includes the i95 bridge over the creek in dale city. Transportation reporter adam tuft takes l reporter we have thousands of bridges in our region and most are in good shape. But there are some that need immediate attention. In northern virginia, vdot has 36 bridges deemed structurally deficient. In the state of maryland the state Highway Administration has 69 bridges deemed structurally deficient. In the district ddot has five. One bridge thats getting plenty of attention right here on i95. This is what happened on the niabsko creek bridge on 95 not long ago. A friday afternoon in october. A hole opened up clear through the bridge deck. Scary. And now the patch that was put in place over that hole not holding up so well. We think that maybe there was a problem with the original construction, that the concrete wasnt what it should have been. Reporter the original bridge built in the 1960s, gary runco, vdot bridge and construction engineer in northern virginia, says there are other issues like some of them are discontinuous. Because of that the deck tends to vibrate a little more than it should at the joint. Thats where its falling apart. Reporter are we feeling that vibration right now . Yes. Reporter an emergency contract actually going to be awarded to fix the bridge deck and longterm this structure needs a complete rehab or needs to be replaced. Runco says this bridge, like so many others, cant be forgotten. Frankly weve been underfunding it and it needs to change. Reporter with this bridge, safety changes will be coming soon. Adam tuft, news 4. Back in the district, there is a fierce battle going on right now over allowing large outdoor video screens on buildings in d. C. A court order is keeping some from being turned on, but it started a political fight over video billboards. Tom sherwood reports the mayor is right in the middle of it. Reporter outdoor popping up in recent months. But never turned on. City inspectors filed stop work orders against owner digimedia saying the signs lacked permit. The court has agreed with city lawyers to bar their use. In a political twist news 4 learned digimedia representatives are urging mayor buse irto get involved, to issue an emergency rule to allow the signs. That could undercut the citys lawsuit. Monday the mayor was polite but avoided citizens urging her not to intervene and not to allow the signs. The electronic billboard thank you. I know. Its breaking our hearts. Okay. All right. Thank you. Reporter bowser suggested to nbc 4s Mark Seagraves she was undecided. I dont know the details of any lawsuit. But we can change the rules at any time. Are you looking to do that . I dont know that we are. Reporter a competing company, Clear Channel, has a district for digital ads on bus stops. It pays millions to the city. In a letter to the mayor obtained by news 4, Clear Channel says the city would lose millions of dollars in tax revenue if she allows digimedia to dilute the market. The mayors spokesman declined comment because of the lawsuit. But attorney general carr was seen on wmau radio friday, saying theres no reason for the mayor to get involved. The emergency process, right, means that a rule or regulation becomes Effective Immediately without the publics input. Okay . Dont shut the public out. Reporter digimedia told news 4 it believes it will win the lawsuit and turn the signs on. In the district, tom sherwood, news 4. Well keep an eye on that. Still ahead on news 4 this week, our first status update from our favorite giant panda cub bao bao. Barbara harris sits down with Supreme Court bader ginsburg, finds out how the 83yearold stays healthy after all these years. Its still the newest gambling attraction but the Mgm National Harbor can no longer claim the title of the most lucrative, at least not for the month of february. Mgm slip the to the number two spot, pulling in just shy of 46 million. A few hundred thousand less than maryland live. And the mgm is staying busy though. The resort told our news partner wtop its drawing an average of 22,000 visitors every day. This week we got our first update on how bao bao is doing in china. Handlers tell us shes eating well, adjusting nicely, and seems really happy. An expert at the giant Panda Research center says bao baos blood tests show no parasites or other health complications. Shes sll could meet the chinese public soon. Check out a gallery of bao baos time in d. C. On the nbc washington app, search bao bao. Still ahead, well explain the new changes that could lead to new breweries popping up in northern virginia. One on one with the notorious rbg. Barbara harrison asks her about her famous nickname, her love of theater, and how she stays healthy. Fans of craft beer can rejoice. It just got a little bit easier to open breweries in Fairfax County. Zoning rules were eased for distilleries and wineries too. Bureau chief jewelry carey investmented some of the original brewers who had to set up shop the hard way before the rules were changed. Reporter fair winds brewery celebrated its second anniversary. This canning day means their awardwinning beers can be found at the Grocery Store as well as the tasting room. One of just seven breweries the county. That is less than half the number in neighboring loudoun. One reason until now, the zoning regulations in Fairfax County made it tough to open. Our Zoning Ordinance didnt actually have breweries listed in it. So when you would go to the county and try to explain what you were doing, there was a bit of a look of confusion. Reporter but last week the Fairfax County board approved zoning amendments designed to make it easier to open breweries, distilleries and wineries. I think what loudoun did, which is get behind breweries. Reporter a key change. Before, breweries could only locate in heavy, industrial areas. Witness fair winds location, far from shops and restaurants, next to a train track. New, new smaller breweries focused on tasting rooms will have access to certain commercial areas. Matt greer is the coowner of caboose brewing in vienna. Fairfax county, i the changes that were recently made are going to be beneficial to the county and to brewers alike. You know, i think were going to see a lotor opening up. Reporter how do these veterans view the brewing newcomers who will have an easier path to opening their tabs . Deep within my heart i do have a bit of resentment. We spent a lot of money to get this going. Reporter both greer and casey jones at fair winds say more breweries, likely to help their bottom line too. If people want to come in and they have a great product, we are right there to help them. I think were all one Big Happy Family at this point. I dont know if you noticed but the Supreme Court has a new york city block. Three of the eight justices grew up riding the subway, all three of them are women. One of them is Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Off the bench the notorious rbg as she is is affectionately called loves the theater. News 4s Barbara Harrison caught up with the justice this week. Reporter Ruth Bader Ginsburg is no stranger to the limelight. She certainly earned her spot on the list of mostrecognized americans. And while opera diva is what she dreamed of being as a teenager, theres another moniker. A nom due guerre. A warriors name young fans have given her. Do you know they call you the notorious the notorious rbg. When that started a few years ago and people said what do you think about it . And i said, the notorious b. I. G. , the rapper, and i have sothing in common. We were both born and bred in brooklyn, new york. Reporter she says it started in 2013 when a student at Nyu Law School was angry over what she saw was the Supreme Courts weakening of the 1965 Voting Rights act. I had written a strong dissent. She took my bench announcement of my dissent and put it up. And thats how it started. Reporter that law student, shauna kinishnik, put it on with thousands of fans checking in. You look a little different. Reporter Denyce Graves joined us in the russian lounge of the Kennedy Center after her performance in the opera champion. Champion is one of two contemporary operas appearing at the Kennedy Center now. They both deal with current issues. Champion with homophobia. Dead men walking with the death penalty. In an upcoming night at the Kennedy Center, justice at the opera, Justice Ginsburg will talk about current legal issues that were in some of the oldest operas performed like carmen. Er on iconic role. I describe that as the ultimate plea bargain. Heres carmen, and she is being carted off to jail. And she negotiates a deal with don jose. Had you thought of that . Hadnt thought of it in those happens. Do you know that there is an opera, a onehour opera, called scalia ginsburg. And it will be produced this summer at the glimmerglass festival. Reporter she says the composer, derek wang, now a lawyer, was in law school when he came up with the idea. Hes reading cases in constitutional law with ginsburg on one side, scalia on the other. He decides this could make a very funny opera. At the libretto, there are words that are straight out of our opinions or our speeches. And the composers also a librettist. Hes trying to portray two people who have very different views on very important things. And yet genuinely like each other. Reporter justice antonin scalia, who died suddenly last year, was her friend with whom she shared her love of opera. And opera always makes a lively conversation with her friend justice was once, a working mother. I am seeing recently, i saw her when she was about 8 or 9. And now how old . Shes 12. But she looks a bit older. Yes, yes. Shes very tall. Very thin, very tall. Reporter ruth and Martin Ginsburg raised two children. Had grandchildren. And before his death, they had lived a 56yearlong love affair. She says her daughter, a lawyer now, is also a good cook like her father was. She wants to make sure im properly nourished. She comes once a month, fills my freezer with individual dinners. Reporter family, friends and her many, many fans want Ruth Bader Ginsburg to stay healthy and have a long, long life. Very good advice. Eat, eat, cab. Wonderful woman. Justice ginsburg says shes very mm she told barbara she sticks to a regular exercise regime twice a week. When we come back, white house tours resumed this week. Some guests get a special white house tours resumed this week and people lined up to be one of the first to get a tour during the trump administration. And some got a special surprise when the president himself was there to greet them. Reporter not a bad day to wait in line. Cloudy skies and Gentle Breezes kept vitters cool as the buzz built up. Courtney lynn and her family of five hail from arizona, eager for their 8 30 amateur. Our interview got cut short. Im so excited. Yes, im so excited. The first day of tours in the donald trump administration. Welcome to the white house. Reporter the first tour began at 7 30 there. You would think that, oh, getting into the white house you know what i mean . Its amazing that we actually got a chance to go in. Reporter and others got a surprise visit from the president himself. Adding to the buzz, many tourgoers got late word their visits were granted. Historically, there are becauses in white house tours once administrations change hands. So many like Barbara Johnson planned their d. C. Trip and then lucked out. I want to see the paintings, the rooms. Id love to see the oval office but i dont think thats part of no, its not. Reporter at a time when politics have become a hotbutton topic, to many year the white house remains a symbol of our nations union. Once you step into those doors and you see that house, you know that this is your house. This is the peoples house. No matter who is the occupant, one day theyll leave and there will be another one who will take their place. Ror president cant make every tour, but if you want to book your own, reach out to your Congress Person or senator, wait times can go from weeks, also up to months. For more information, just check out our nbc washington app. Make sure you look up white house tour. In northwest, im justin finch, news 4. Take that tour, you never forget it. Thats all for news 4 this week. Im chris lawrence. Well leave you with a look at the tidal basin. Pink blue pushed back march 19th through the 22nd. Thanks for joining us. Have a great week. Y29pgy y16fy nbc sports, home of the olympic games, the nhl, premier league, the nascar playoffs. And prime times number one show, sunday night football only on nbc. On the ice, sunday is for the stars as the tall tented and tireless duncan keith leads the Chicago Blackhawks against a rejuvenated eric staal and the western conference leading minnesota wild. Welcome to nhl live presented by
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