made for the tv. there was a drawer that sometimes came open in there. and honestly no one knows what happened because we were all sleeping. >> some furniture manufacturers are following voluntary standards on tip-overs. but the cpc says parents are the first line of protection. they should be anchored to the wall and floor. tvs should be placed on a sturdy low-rise base, not on flimsy shelves. tvs should also be pushed back as far as possible and children should be taught not to play on furniture. though sometimes tough to find, anchor i anchoring devices such as these are sold at some hardware stores. sylvia santiago says parents should take the time to find them and use them because -- >> everyday things you don't think of, think again. use them. use them because you never know.

>> that was liz crenshaw reporting. stay with us everyone. "news4 today" continues now at 5:00 a.m. breaking news this morning, a tractor trailer crash on the beltway. how one police officer narrowly escaped serious injury. outbreak, the swine flu scare hits a local school. the symptoms that kept 100 students out of class. these pictures are hard to forget, a massive water main break in bethesda last year. why it another disaster might have been even worse than this one. good morning everyone. welcome to "news4 today." i'm barbara harrison. >> good morning to you. i'm joe krebs on this wednesday, 7th of october, 2009. see the lights of the city reflected on the clouds above us. feeling kind of humid out there this morning.

66 degrees at 5:01. time for traffic and weather on 1s. >> we have a huchl morning out there. >> just a few showers, not sure if it warrants taking the umbrella today because it's going to be passing so quickly, not to mention the big thing with this weather system is the wind. currently showers up around frederick county, maryland, down through northern loudoun county. these will be sweeping through rather rapidly with the weather front. right now the at 66 degrees in the district. prince george's county at 64. 65 in centreville and chantilly. getting the kids off to school this morning, low to mid 60s. by 3:00 we're up to 71 again. but windy with gusts 45 to 50. >> okay. let's check out the traffic with jerry edwards in the news4 traffic network. >> good morning. >> good morning, as we mentioned earlier authorities are dealing with that overnight tractor trailer accident on capital

beltway near georgia avenue. progress is being made, but it took a while t get it investigated. megan mcgrath will continue to follow that. we'll get you details in a moment. other than that, be careful. wet pavement around parts of the area. had an accident route 4 outside the beltway. authorities are on the scene dealing with that. barbara and joe, back to you. >> thank you, jerry. we're following breaking news out of silver spring where a montgomery county police officer is hurt after narrowing escaping a tractor trailer barreling toward her. gan mcgrath is live at the scene and has seen what happened. tell us what went on. >> reporter: good morning, barbara. right now the important thing for commuters is that the inner loop of the beltway is closed. all lanes of the inner loop are closed for the time being at least between georgia avenue and colesville road. you can see the flares in the exit. this is the exit ramp leading from georgia onto the inner loop. they have flares crossing it.

you'll have to continue on down georgia avenue. this the happened early this morning. we're told there was a jackknifed tractor trailer in between the georgia avenue and colesville avenue exits on the inner loop of the beltway. officers responded to the scene. they were dealing with that situation regarding that jackknifed tractor-trailer when all of the sudden they looked up appantly and saw that there was another tracker trailer that had come into the area, had also lost control and was actually starting to head toward the officers there on the scene, hit one of the police cruisers. what we're told is that one of the officers, the female police officer there on the scene was concerned that she was going to be struck by this tractor-trailer that was out of control. she jumped over the guard rail, and on the other side of the guard rail there was a grassy drop-off, about a 25-foot drop-off is what we're told. she went over the rail there, tumbled down that embankment.

we were told she was banged up, but she's going to be just fine. we're told all the vehicles have been removed from the scene. they may have to put something down to absorb the gasoline and oil. right now the inner loop still closed between georgia and colesville, hoping to get it reopened soon. >> that could cause quite a mess and the traffic starts to build for rush hour today. thanks a lot, megan. keep us posted. students in one laurel high school are being told to stay home as the school tries to prevent a potential swine flu outbreak. five students at saint vincent palotti high school have been diagnosed with h1n1. about 100 other students are also feeling sick. a cleaning crew will come through to scrub every surface of the school. the principal says he's trying to stay on top of the situation before it gets even worse. >> we don't want to get to the point where i've got half the faculty out and half the student

body out. we're going to try to on top of that to minimize it from happening. >> this is the first school in our area to be closed because of the swine flu this year. d.c. counsel and marion barry remain ins the hospital recovering in dehydration. he drove himself to the hospital after feeling ill. he was admitted after undergoing several tests. his doctors say he's weak, dehydrated and has a mild infection. barry had a kidneytransplant. he's expected to be in the hospital for the next few days. new worries this morning about the aging water infrastructure in the d.c. area. "the washington post" reports workers narrowly averted a massive water main break in college park last fall. that break could have been even bigger than the river road last

september. it enveloped cars and stranded motorists. the post reports two months earlier a leak was found in a 96-inch pipe prompting emergency repair work. if those repairs had not taken place, officials say the resulting water main break could have been, quote, horrific. our time is 5:07, 66 degrees out there. another reason to kick the habit. why one man's cigarette addiction landed him in jail. plus it was far from a relaxing day at the spa. find out where this car came careening through the front door. a sticky situation that was also a stinky situation. we will explain.

wednesday weather cloudy out there. rain earlier. wind we're expecting throughout this day. good morning again everybody. welcome back. save big the next time you eat out. >> right now on restaurant.com you can get $25 of a gift certificate for just $4.00. just enter the discount code "enjoy." act fast, the offer ends tomorrow. approaching 5:11. time for traffic and weather on the 1s. let's find out from veronica johnson how windy it may t. >> good morning, joe and

barbara. sustained winds between 20 and 30. we could see gusts 45 to 50 miles per hour. college park is 65 degrees. you've received .002 inch of rain, right at .001 in howard county. 62 the temperature there. . here's a look where the advisory s are. covers everywhere from king george, st. mary's and calvert county, not in the wind advisory. showers not in front of the beltway. aspen hill, you're dry. northern montgomery county, loudown and move iing east towa us. first thing this morning, low and mid 60s. call that mild. showers probably ending about 8:00 orr 9:00 a.m. clearing skies. we'll get more sunshine in here today. the high is 71 degrees. a break in between weather fronts tomorrow. the high around 70 as well. in the mid 70s for friday. more showers coming through. we'll go from about the upper 70s on saturday to 60s. that's that arctic air, that

strong front for columbus day week. back to you. jerry? >> all right, veronica. let's detail the latest information on the beltway. i want to point out that the accident occurred, the one we've been talking about, on the inner loop of the beltway eastbound. a lot of folks were concerned thinking it was the outer loop. that's not the case. the inner loop remains blocked while the cleanup continues. outer loop from greenbelt to college park to silver spring, your lanes are open. but pay close attention. you're likely to find unusual rubber necking backups to begin to develop very quickly. elsewhere, northern virginia along 395 past edsel road, already picking up a fair amount of volume. lanes are open to the 14th street bridge. barbara and joe, back to you. 12 minutes after 5:00 on this wednesday morning. which would you rather give up, your cell phone or sex? what a new survey says about men and women. plus he is known for his off-beat alter egos. now clinton portis adds a

fashion model to his

thealm oasis of the day spa experience was shattered by clients when a car smashed through the front door. take a look at this video. it happened at the sitrine salon

yesterday afternoon. a woman was standing behind the counter when a toyota camry crashed through the front of the business. the receptionist escaped with nonlife threatening injuries. a man standing nearby was injured. the elderly woman was seriously injured, suffered trauma to her face and arm. a co-man hit by a metro bus on monday has died. 61-year-old stephanie richardson had just gotten offhe bus at in the trinidad neighborhood. she was hit by another bus while trying to cross the street in front of the stopped bus. robinson died of her injuries less than 24 hours later. no charges have been filed meanwhile metro is hoping for smooth going on the rails after yesterday's evacuation at the metro center station. metro says a train was leaving gallery place on the red line when a piece of equipment became loose. that caused a fire under one of

the cars and filled the tunnel with smoke. no one was injured. but passengers on that train say it caused some people to panic. the army corps of engineers is hoping to put one neighborhood at ease as it completes its munitions cleanup. officials found a vial with traces of mustard gas in the affluent neighborhood back in august while cleaning up world war i era munitions. experts insist the vial poses no danger to the public. they eve been searching for lost chemical weapon ins spring valley pour the last 16 years. lay-offs have prompted heated protests from students, parents and other teachers. the reduction in force is supposed to help close a major budget gap. d.c. school chancellor michelle rhee and mayor adrian fenty say the decision was tough, but they

stand by their decision. >> the chancellor tasks her principals to come forward saying who wasn't getng the job done effectively. those were the ones that were let go. >> many of those were upset with the way the teachers were escorted out of classrooms last friday. students and teachers a planning another protest this thursday. we will have a chance to hear from chancellor michelle rheee later this morning. stay with us for "connecting with the chancellor" coming up at 6:45 this morning. new today, prince george's county police are looking for a man who they say has stolen from the same 7-eleven store have a dozen times. police say the suspect seen here told the clerk he had a gun. he jumped over the county and stole a large quauntity of cigarettes. it happened on the 7400 block of central avenue in tap tall heights. if you have information about

the suspect, you're asked to call prince george's county police. baltimore is now considering building a stadium for d.c. united. baltimore mayor sheila dixons has asked the maryland authority to consider building a stocker stadium, considered one of the most successful franchises has been looking to move its home games to a soccer-only facility. most recently building a 24,000 seat stadium in prince george's county which was voted down by the prince george's county council. d.c. united club president kevin payne is out of the country. alex ovechkin had two goals, alex an den semin had two goals. they suffered their first loss of the year last year. the redskins signed an offensive coach and a punter. dan hellie has your sports minute. good morning everybody. your sports minute begins with the capitals. last night in philly, alex

ovechkin and alexander semin had two goals. flyers center mike richards out did them both with his second career hot trick. danny bray air knocked in the game winner as phillies hands the capitals their first loss of the year. the whiz wards open up the pre season against the grizzlies. allen ifrs debut difficult lai because of a hamstring injury. gilbert arenas had one basket in 24 minutes. but he did dish out ten assists. nick young started at shooting guard, chipping in 11 points. the wizards win 101-92. the redskins back on the field to get ready for the carolina panthers. it looked like the biggest news was the signing of a punter to the practice squad until the redskins announced that sherman lewis, the former packers offensive coordinator has been hired as, quote, another setf eyes to help jim zorn jump start

the offense. the twins beat the tigers, and they advance to the al ds where they take on the bronx tonight. i'm dan hellie. everybody have a great day. the redskins may not get a lot of cheers during the ga. but last night the crowd rooted for them on a different field of play. several teammates joined redskins running back clinton portis for a fashion show in the district. this is all in an effort to raise money and awareness about domestic violence. there he is, the quarterback of the team. >> wow. he looked good, didn't he? >> he did look good. >> i would loved to have been there to see that show. next time. >> missed your chance. let's take a look at traffic and weather. approaching 5:21. what did you think? >> they all looked good. hopefully they raised a lot of money for a very good cause. let's talk about what's happening across our area. winds picking up. wind chester gusting up to 20

miles per hour. charles county, saint mayor's, calvert county not in the wind advisory. increasing winds in the wake of a very strong cold front that's coming through. that wind advisory continues until 6:00 p.m. this evening. some showers on top of germantown headed toward aspen hill and now in northern fauquier county, northern prince william, headed toward bull run and chantilly. temperatures in the 50s, it is mild. even a little humid this morning. a few showers, a few light showers probably ending by the time to kids get to the bus stop. sun comes up at 7:10. we'll go from 60 to 65 to a high of 71. not a big rise in temperatures. windy it will be for the afternoon settling after midnight. the high today 71 degrees. we get a break tomorrow before rain friday. jerry? >> veronica we had a little rain earlier this morning. the roads were a bit slick, we're seeing the result of that unfortunately over on the capital beltway where authorities are still dealing

with an accident that occurred in the early morning hours that we've been reporting on. it occurred on the capital beltway approaching georgia avenue. detours are still in place. it is not affecting georgia avenue. it is affecting the inner loop outside. the beltway at connecticut avenue, there's the outer loop as you head toward rockville pike. barbara and joe, back to you. >> thanks, jerry. 5:22. 66 degrees. why we're one step closer to gay marriage in the district. plus a facebook of happiness. how the social networking site is keeping tabs on the national mood. a reminder news4 is always connected to you on facebook and twitter. for up-to-the-minute breaking news, weather and traffic alerts. you can find us on either site by searching

take a look at this sad video and proof why you should be careful with your trash. in colorado springs, colorado, a hungry skunk got his head stuck inside a jar. we don't know how long he was like that. the good news is police and wildlife officers were able to pry the jar from the skunk's head. both officers quickly ran off so they wouldn't get sprayed. what a smart skunk, noto spray while he was waiting to be

rescued. >> absolutely. that would have sent the rescuers away i would susct for quite a while. many of you would probably say you could not live without your cell phone. just how far would you be willing to go. a new sur says 3 out of 10 people in d.c. would rather give up sex than their cell phone. the survey by samsung mobile says 30% of d.c. wrim would put their sex lives on hold to keep their cell phone. when it comes to men, only 9% would choose the phone over sex. the average d.c. resident spends nearly a fifth of their day on their cell phone. >> huh. >> here, you can have the thing. what good is that thing. >> you can have mine, too, okay? how happy are we? ask facebook. facebook has started tracking what they call the gross national happiness factor. the social networking site

tracks positive and negative words people use to update their status. words they look for included words like happy, sad, awesome or tragic. the survey over the last year shows americans were happier during the holidays. that doesn't surprise me. does that surprise you? >> not really. >> weekends, too. our time is 5:27. how a vigilant parent might have stopped a group of children from being kidnapped in maryland. the new plan one candidate has for easing congestion on the roads. fighting h1n1, the unexpected

breaking news right now, the inner loop of the beltway is now open near georgia avenue and colesville road. we'll tell you about a bad tractor trailer accident that nearly cost a polic officer her life. last resort. more than 100 students sickened in a swine flu scare. the drastic measure school officials are taking to slow the outbreak. think you're eating correctly? why some of the healthiest foods could be the most hazardous to your health. good morning and welcome to "news4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> i'm bbara harrison. it's wednesday, october 7th, 2009. looking outside, o you see all the clouds. we're getting the reflection of the city lights on those clouds.

that's not daylight yet. we've still got another -- well, 7:10 i think you told us. i think that may be the glow of a flying saucer. >> you are crazy in the morning, aren't you, joe? >> he is a little nuts. a sunrise weather front for us. it should be coming through the area right around sunrise. we'll get a little rain, not a lot with it. i'm not sure if it's worth carrying the umbrella today. we'll see the winds continue to pickup. gusts to 45 to 50 miles per hour up until 6:00. the winddvisory covers pretty much the entire area. there's a look at where the showers are right now, germantown, headed toward aspen hill and towards chantilly and gainesville in the next couple minutes. there's your day part, up to 71 with clearing skies today. when joe dreams of a saucer in any form this time of day, he's thinking of his cheerios that he can't wait to get, every

day. we'll see you shortly. let's go to jerry edwards and the news4 traffic network. >> good morning and good news. the accident on the inner loop of the beltway in silver spring is now out of the roadway. here we are at connecticut avenue as you travel from rockville pike past connecticut. let's see how we're doing on the rails this morning. metro, vre and marc rail reporting no delays. back to you. >> thank you, jerry. breaking mus out of silver spring this morning, that's where the inner loop of the beltway has reopened after a pair of accidents, each involving a tractor-trailer. it happened at the georgia avenue exit. that's where we find megan mcgrath. she's live with the latest for us now. megan? >> good morning. great news for commuters. a very short time ago they did reopen the inner loop of the beltway. you can see behind me everything is back to normal on the overpass there. you can see traffic is actually

running at speed. we're not seeing much in the way of residual delays because of all this. they got it cleared out of the way early enough. that is great news for commuters. that wasn't the case a little while ago. we had a situation here in the early morning hours where all lanes of the inner loop were shut down between georgia avenue and coals ville road because of actually two accidents involving tractor-trailers. the first one happened early this morning, a little after 3:00 in the morning. a tractor-trailer jackknifed between georgia avenue and coals ville road. police officer responded z to the scene dealing with that situation there on the the inner loop of the beltway when they looked up and noticed that another tractor-trailer was also jackknifing, that that driver had lost control of the truck. the truck actually slammed into a montgomery county police cruiser and then was headed toward the police officer. we're told that the officer, concerned she was going to be hit, actually jumped over the guard rail on the other side of

that guard rail we're told there was a grassy drop-off there and that she dropped and kind of tumbled down about 25 dpeet on the other side of that guard rail. she was banged up a little bit, taken to the hospital. but we're told she will be just fine. they have now cleared all of the vehicles off of the inner loop, and just a very short time ago reopened everything. at least this area shouldn't be much of a hot spot for computers. barbara, back to you. >> thank you very much, megan. a high school in laurel has become the first school in our area to close because of the swine flu. five of its students have been diagnoseded with h1n1. nearly 100 others are feeling sick as well. kimberly suiters is live outside saint vincent palotti high school with the latest. good morning, kimberly. >> reporter: good morning, joe. let's talk about why for a moment. as you mentioned, there are at least five confirmed cases at this high school in laurel. however, that doesn't give you the entire picture. taking a look at video now from

yesterday when kids were in class, there were 100 kids out sick yesterday. that's out of a student body of 500. some thf them have swine flu, some regular flu. somef them just not feeling well. they gave various reasons. but the sign on the front door encourages kids to stay home if they feel sick. and the principal made the call to close to day. >> i don't want to get to the point where i've got half the faculty out and half the student body out and i can't cover classes. we're just going to try to stay on top of it to minimize that from happening. >> reporter: instead of having kids in the classroom today, they will be replaced by cleaning crews scrubbing every touchable surface. the parents we talked to yesterday said they were supportive of these preventive measures. we'll hear of more from parents, teachers and the cdc coming up in the next hour. reporting live in laurel, kimberly suiters, news4.

back to you. early studies suggest that last year's seasonal flu shot may have protected some people from the swine flu. researchers looked at data on 240 patients from h1n1 case that is appeared earlier in mexico, patients who did not become sick with swine flu were more likely to have received the seasonal flu shot last year. experts still recommend strongly getting the h1n1 vaccine this year. they say it's unlikely this year's seasonal flu shot will also protect against the swine flu. new details involving annual attempted abduction in laurel. police say they've tracked down one of the two men who allegedly tried to ab dikt three children outside an apartment last week. investigators say the men called the kids to their truck, but some parents saw it happen and called them back into the apartment. police say one man admitted to being at the apartment and talking to the children, but he has not explained why. the other man has not been located. police have not charged either man with a crime yet because

they aren't sure if a crime had actually been committed. new today, president obama's approval ratings are starting to rise according to a new associated press poll. the president's approval ratings have declined steady since his inauguration. but the ap poll shows that people are starting to feel better about his handling of the economy and the proposed health care overhaul. the poll is improving, but relatively pessimistic feelings about the direction of the company. it shows declining support for the war in afghanistan. meanwhile, the president is trying to decide on whether to have a new strategy for afghanistan. congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle sat down with mr. obama yesterday. they talked about whether more american troops should be sent to stabilize the increasingly violence-prone country. many democrats oppose increased involvement in afghanistan while most republicans want a troop surge as soon as possible.

>> there are fewer than 100 al qaeda people in afghanistan. we're clearly shifting toward nation building. >> we need to remember that every day that goes by, the troops that we do have there are in greater danger. >> the senate passed a funding measure last night that would bring the total u.s. tab f the war in afghanistan to about $300 billion. our time is 5:38. degrees. spotting a terrorist. the warning signs authorities want you to look out for. also, when good food goes bad. why some of the healthiest choices could be the worst for your body. plus they say a picture is worth a thousand words. one couple -- a couple of newly weds had a word for their

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free food with this news4 bargain blast. >> this weekend you can get a free breakfast at ikea, one in college park and one in woodbridge. free breakfast this weekend at ikea, not a place you would normally think to go to get breakfast. some assembly is required. 5:41 the time right now. time for traffic and weather on the ones. we begin with veronica johnson. i like those swedish meatballs there. have you ever tried those? >> i'll have to try those. >> maybe they'll squish those and turn them into a little

patty. >> do they have lunch and dinner there, too? >> yeah, sure. but breakfast i've never heard of. let's talk about today. 63 degrees right now. folks in montgomery county, rockville, 63. rising slight with .02 inch of rain. eight willal wet in germantown, .08 an inch of rain. headed toward aspen hill, silver spring and laurel. a little bit of wet weather. so in t 60s right now. low to mid 60s. it's mild with showers that shoulde ending. the high today is 71 and clearing. jerry? >> all right, veronica. let's head to northern virginia and see how we're doing. nod bad as you begin the commute out of dumfries to dale city along 95 northbound, through lanes are all open. 395 are still open. elsewhere good news again, a reminder the inner loop the beltway, the accident in silver spring is gone. however, we're getting word of yet another accident, this time

opposite side of the roadway, outer loop of the beltway in silver spring. police are checking that out. 270 quiet so far this morning. lanes are open all the way down tohe lit. barbara and joe, bark to you. >> thank you, ser gentlemen. our time is 5:43. getting top try ort for the swine flu vaccination, but find out why some health care workers are saying no thanks. plus marion barry back in the hospital. we'll tell you why and how long

a woman hit by a metro bus in northeast washington has died. 61-year-old stephanie richardson had just gotten off a bus on monday night when she was hit by another bus while trying to cross the street. the stop where it happened in located in the middle of a long block that serves three busy bus routes. people say it's dangerous because people tend to try to cross the street right there

instead of walking to a crosswalk. >> there's actually one down at the corner and one before the bus. the bus turns and comes at this light. there's one before he turns this corner. >> the driver has been placed on routine administrative leave. so far no charges have been filed. d.c. council member marion barry remain ins the hospital this morning recovering from dehydration. barry drove himself to the hospital, howard university hospital yesterday after he started feeling ill. he was admitted after undergoing several tests. his doctors say he's weak, dehydrated and has a mild infection. he had a kidney trance plant back in february. doctors say this kind of illness is not uncommon among transplant patients. barry's aides say he is in good spirits. >> say it again, marion. >> i don't like liars. >> before barry went to the hospital, he spoke to a group of upset students at the wilson

building in northwest washington. he said chancellor michelle rhee lied to the students. those students manufactured there to the school to meet with several council members. >> we'll have a chance to hear michelle rhee's response when she joins us in "connecting with the chancellor" at 6:45 this morning. supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage are gearing up for a political battle in the district. last months david catania introduced a bill that would legalize same-sex marriages. opponents plan to mount a fight. they plan on encouraging congress to exercise its right to block the bill. they're also talking about introducing a voter referendum. candidates for governor in virginia are talking transportation. they spoke yesterday at a forum

hosted by the louk chamber of commerce. republican bob mcdonald says any kind of tax hike is out of the question. democrat creigh deeds says if elected he'll con venn a bipartisan election. if a commission agrees on a tax increase, deeds says he will support it. >> yes, i will sign a bill the product of bipartisan compromise that provides a comprehensive solution to transportation and i'll build bipartisan consensus to find that new revenue. >> everywhere i go people tell me that the worst thing you can do in a down economy is levy new taxes on the citizens. that's why i've crafted a plan that involves a significant amount of new money that does not raise taxes. >> with four weeks to go until voters go to the polls, big name supporters are starting to make cameo appearances. tomorrow vice president joe biden will campaign for deeds at a private fund-raiser in alexandria. later this month, senator john

mccain heads to hampton roads with bob mcdonald. the man suspected of killing a fairfax county woman is in custody hundreds of miles from the crime scene. police arrested danny kim on monday in columbus, ohio where he worked. they say he killed chung ah who was found murder in annan dale back in july. police hav not revealed a motive or havehey said how kim and ah knew each other. they say the key piece of evidence that led to the arrest was this video showing an suv pulling up to the crime scene. the korean american community says it is relieved by the arrest. >> this case has -- it is really gratifying and relieving to see progress being made, suspects being arrested. >> police plan to expedite kim to virginia so he can be tried here in the commonwealth. our time is now 5:49. do you know how to spot a

terrorist? homeland security officials hope a new video will help you. the training video tells you to lookut for suspects doing surveillance, buying supplies or testing security. it was co-produced by the colorado homeland security department and the center for empowered living and learning in denver, a city at the center of an alleged plot foiled last month. homeland security secretary janet nah pal ton know says it's important that we can all lp keep people safe. >> there are practical things every individual can do to help minimize the risk of terrorism. >> you can watch the video online at www.cell.org. leafy greens is the type of food we should be eating. so are eggs an tuna. according to a new study they will also the foods most likely to make us sick. that's the word from center in

the public interest. many healthy foods can be contaminated by bacteria and toxins. among the riskiest foods, oysters, potatoes, cheese, ice cream, tomatoes, sprouts, berries, leafy greens, eggs and tuna. the report's aupth thor says the fda needs to do more to ensure the safety of food. >> we'll have to eat lemon her rang pie. >> that will do. >> hot fudge sunday wasn't on that list. >> ice cream cake. let's talk about today because a little -- a few showers, most of us that head out the door this morning, joe and barbara, won't get too wet. the showers should be over by about 8:00 or so this morning. but lots of cloud cover we've got this morning. night reflection there in the glow, the early morning light. 66 degrees. reagan international. the dew point temperature is at

60. so it is a little humid. 81% the humidity with the southwest early breeze at 13 miles per hour and at reagan national we have not picked up any rain yet. elsewhere, pretty uniform temperatures, 64 now in hagerstown, 65 in rich cord, 66 in nor folks, 62, not too clly this morning in elkins, west virginia. here is a look at the midatlantic satellite and radar over the lasfew hours. you can see there's the line, the actual weather front still hanging back to the west, really making its way into western west virginia right now. so the showers that you see, this is the leading edge of all of it. hillcrest heights, laurel, aspen hill, rain, vienna, headed toward burke and buoy in prince george's county. beltsville will be picking up a little light rain as well. then we've got some showers, western fauquier county, rap hand in that case. rain around boston and coming

through utica and further south, too. that's the big story. this weather front will be bringing a lot of wind to the east. look at the cool temperatures. 48 in chicago, 34 in great falls, another weather system coming in here. as they gets to chicago by sunday night, chicago could be seeing some light snowshowers, believe it or not. but here it is, all the way up into the big cities, buffalo, new york, boston, under a wind advisory down to the south, just around charlotte, north carolina. so high winds today in the wake of this weather front, sustained winds probably up around 20. this 30 miles per hour, gusts a little higher. afternoon sunshine, awfully windy. 68 to 75 degrees today. it will be mild today. we'll get up to again 71 in town, 68 frederick, 68 wind chester, 74 in fredricksburg. here is a look at the seven-day forecast. for today, just as mild as yesterday was. we'll see sunshine by the afternoon. again, a windy day for us. thursday back to sunshine.

quiet day for us. a few showers passing on friday. yes, joe, looking better on the east coast, the big bike ride. warmth we'll have around, likely to be cold temperatures moving in by sunday morning. >> okay. >> cold is not bad, just the rain. >> the rain is not so great. but the wind is the killer. >> unless it's at your back. >> yeah. it never happens that way. 50/50 chance, it's never that way. jerry, good morning. what's it looking like on the roads? >> now we have problems on the beltway. the top side of the beltway not bad on a good day. you know what i mean. it's even worse. that's what i'm trying to tell you. on the outer loop of the beltway in silver spring, accident, left lane or right lane, both are tied up. that beltway delay reaching back toward new hampshire avenue. check your speeds coming in on 66 this morning. gainesville to centreville, 12 minutes. centreville to the beltway, 17 minutes there. no issues.

it's just a matter of increasing volume. inside the beltway looking pretty good to the roosevelt bridge with 17 minutes. joe? >> jerry, thanks very much. the swine flu vaccine has now arrived in our area. now health officials are trying to figure out how to give it out. health care workers are first on the list to be vaccinated. but some of them are still wary. eun yang reports. >> reporter: she's at the top of the priority list for receiving the swine flu vaccine. she works in a doctor's office and is 22 weeks pregnant. but cavia doesn't plan on getting vaccinated. >> why should i get this vaccine? what if it of a affects my baby. if i get it and get the swine flu anyway, i might as well not get it. >> reporter: health officials say pregnant women are more prone to debilitating complications from the swine flu. many of them worry the vaccine itself will be more harmful. shana gar va is 26 weeks pregnant. >> they haven't tested the

vaccines very carefully. even in arm nol flu year i'm not a big supporter because it's based on the previous year's strain. >> reporter: garver is going against her obstetricians second dags. this doctor says half his pregnant patients don't want the vaccine even though he says it's safe. >> while it is a new type of influenza vaccine, the process is the exact same it's always been. >> reporter: while pregnant women are theriority group, the initial doses are in nasal spray form. there are restrictions. people over the age of 49 are not eligible. pregnant women and people with chronic illnesses and people who receive the seasonal flu mist have to wait 28 days before getting the swine flu nasal spray vaccine. >> as a health care provider, i can be first in line. i'm doing that. >> reporter: along with health care workers and pregnant women, children ages six months to six years are a priority as well. infants under six months cannot get the swine flu vaccine. health officials say just about everyone else should get one. everyone should receive it

because this is a new strain. no one has immunity to it unless they've already had laboratory confirmed h1n1. that was eun yang reporting. a couple's wedding day is typically one of the biggest days of their lives. that's why one british couple was so upset when their photographer did a really bad job. as you can see -- >> that photographer even dropped the camera and started cursing in the church. in the end, the couple thought the photos were so horrible, they sue d the guy and they won. many of the photos the photographer had totally chopped off people'seads. he even missed the couple arriving at the church. so he recreated the scene without the bride and groom. the couple originally paid the photography company about $2400. >> not good. still ahead, a hollywood actor, director and producer reveals shocking secrets about his painful past. popping pills at the wrong

time of day. doreen gensler tells how to get the most from your meds. we'll have your weather and traffic on the 1s when

developing story. tractor-trailers overturn, a police officer injured, the beltway shut down. the good news for drivers as they get ready to head out the door. spreading fast, administrators proceed with caution as fears grow over the swooi. why a local school has canceled classes and ordered all students to stay home today. eight years later, the war in afghanistan reaches a milestone. this as new poll numbers reveal what americans think about president obama's job performance. good morning to you. welcome to "news4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> i'm barbara harrison.

it's wednesday, october 7th, 2009. looking outside, the washington monument pointing toward a cloudy sky here in the nation's capital. what kind of day is it going to be? let's ask veronica johnson? >> an early morning cold front, but not too cold really. we're not getting a lot of rain with this system coming through. but we're going to see a lot of wind. we're under a wind advisory until 6:00 p.m. gusts to 45 miles per hour. if it's trash day, bring the trash cans in early if the guy comes to pick up. as far as the weather front goes, it is just to the west of us, our temperature ins the 60s, even 62 in martinsburg. that weather front is in west virginia. first thing this morning, low to mid 60s, the high today 71 with unfolding sunshine. >> good time for neighbors to get to meet each other as they all retrieve the lids. >> is that mine? oh, no, no, that's mine. >> thanks very much. out to the roads we go. problemserly today, jerry.

>> indeed. it's been a busy overnight, early morning, on the top side of the wealth way, had the overnight accident inner loop in silver spring. that's gone. but then there was a resulting accident outer loop where a couple lanes were closed. just aew moments ago auth thorlths moved that to the shoulder. the outer loop from college park to silver spring heavy and slow. no residual inner loop delays. virginia 95 northbound, dale city all the way up and no accidents currently reported. barbara and joe, back to you. >> jerry, thanks very much. we're continuing to follow that developing story on the beltway. traffic is moving again on the inner loop right now. >> it was closed for several hours this morning in silver spring after two accidents involving two tractor trailers. a police officer also barely escaped serious injury while responding to the accident at the georgia avenue exit. that's where we find megan mcgrath live with more on this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the good news for commuters is all lanes of the inner loop of the beltway have reopened between georgia avenue and

colesville road. you shouldn't encounter any problems here in terms of lane closures. they've reopened everything. we still have a montgomery county police officer who is recovering from injuries after a near miss with a tractor-trailer very early this morning. this is a little after 3:00 in the morning. a tractor-trailer jackknifed on the inner loop of the beltway between georgia and coals ville road. a police officer responded to the scene, was outside of her cruiser, dealing with the situation. when all of the sudden a second tractor trailer lost control, started to head toward that police officer. we're told the truck actually hit the police cruiser. the officer, concerned that she was going to be injured, jumped over the guard rail. on the other side of the guard rail, alongside the highwa there was a grassy embankment, a drop that went down about 25 feet. we're told she dropped and rolled down that embankment and got banged up. she was taken to an area hospital where she is being treated for her injuries.

we're told she will be okay. a near miss for this officer with respect to this second tractor trailer. again, everything has reopened at this point, shouldn't be a major concern. we've got residual delays. but all the lanes at least are open now. back to you all. barbara, joe? >> thanks very much, megan. a woman hit by a metro bus has died. 61-year-old stephanie richardson passed away yesterday, a day after she was struck in northeast washington. she had just gotten off a bus at a bus stop on mount olive road northeast and was crossing the street in front of the bus when she was hit by another b in the next lane. she leaves behind a husband and a daughter. >> she always go around, had more friends than anybody that i knew and she always talked nice, laugh all the time. >> the metro bus driver has been placed on routine administrative leave while an investigation is conducted.

here is a story about a guy who has more than one bad habit apparently. prince george's county police are looking for a man who they say has stolen from the same 7-eleven store half a dozen times. and he always steals cigarettes. in the latest incidents police say the suspect told the clerk he had a gun and jumped over-the-counter and stole a, quote, large quantity of cigarettes. it happened at the 7-eleven store in the 7400 block of central avenue in capitol heights. if you have any information about this suspect you're asked to call the prince george's county police. a private high school in laurel has becomehe first school in our area to close because of the swine flu. five of its students have been diagnosed with h1n1. nearly 100 others are feeling sick as well. kimberly suiters is live outside the stant vincent palotti high school and has the latest for us now. good morning, kimberly. >> reporter: good morning, barbara. you know, those five students that have confirmed cases of swine flu are only part of the story. the principal here said that parents are calling in and

saying, look, my child is sick. doctors says he has the flu but decided not to test for the swine flu. they don't know how many of those 100 out of the 500 students are actually sick with swine flu, regular flu or just not feeling well. lots of variouseasons. again, that's one-fifth of the student body. let's take a look at video from yesterday when the kids were in school. not many kids here with a fifth of the student body missing. there was a sign on the door that said, hey, stay home if you have the flu. stay home if you're not feeling well. so the principal made the call to close to day. >> i don't want to get to the point where i've got half the faculty out and half the student body out and i can't cover classes. we're just going to try to stay on top of it to minimize that from happening. >> reporter: so instead of kids in the classroom, there will be cleaning crews scrubbing down every touchable surface. reporting live in laurel, i'm kimberly suiters, news4.

barbara, back to you. >> okay, kimberly, thank you. the montgomery county department of health has received its first batch of swine flu vaccine. health officials are setting up clinics for those eligible to receive the vaccine including healthy children over the age of 2 and health care workers. the spray is not recommended for pregnant women or people with asthma because it is a live virus. about two million doses of nasal spray vaccine are now available nationwide. those should be arriving this week at doctor's offices around the country. stay right here on news4 for all the latest on the swine flu. we'll keep you up to date on alerts, outbreaks and updates on what you can do to protect yourself from the h1n1 virus. d.c. councilman marion barry remains in the hospital recovering from dehydration. barry drove himself to howard university hospital on tuesday after he started feeling ill. he was admitted after undergoing several tests. his doctors say he is weak,

dehydrated and has a mild infection. barry had a kidney transplant back in february. his aides say this kind of illness is not uncommon among transplant patients and he is in good spirits. 6:07 is the time. 66 degrees. what's next in the district's legal battle over gay marriage? a heated debate over a vicious video linked to dogfighting and free speech. why taking your medication at the wrong time of day could have harmful effects on your body.

happy wednesday morning to you. we do have light showers moving through the area. we'll have these around for another two hours up until about 8:00. right now showers moving through prince george's county down to charles. more showers even off to the west. those will be ending. we're in the mid 60s right now. 69 by noon today. 71 by 3:00 with sunshine coming our way and increasing winds in the wake of this weather front. so the high today, 71 degrees. we'll see winds up to about 45 to 50 miles per hour. some of our highest gusts today. then diminishing tonight. quiet for your thursday, the high 69 and mid 70s. close to 80 by saturday. jerry? >> veronica, let's take a live look on the capital beltway north of town. this is where all the action has been this morning. this is the outer loop of the beltway as you head over towards coals ville road, route 29. this is the accident we're been talking about. even body is to the shoulder. there's a hefty backup in the

usual location coming out of college park most of the which around to silver spring on the outer loop. on the inner loop all lanes are open. this morning's tractor-trailer accident is long gone. elsewhere, south of town to the wilson bridge we go. looks clear and dry this morning. no incidents to hang you up either direction. barbara and joe, back to you. >> thank you, jerry. our time is 12 minutes after 6:00. food forethought. why some of the meals we thought were good for us could pe a danger to our health. president obama debates troop levels as the war in afghanistan reaches a milestone. next at 6:15, what new poll numbers are showing about the approval rating

good morning. welcome back. president obama's approval ratings are beginning to rise according to a new associated press poll. the president's job performance ratings have declined steadily since his inauguration. the ap poll shows people are starting to feel better about his handling of the economy and the proposed health care overhaul. the poll reflects improving but still relatively pessimistic feelings about the direction of the country though. it also shows declining support for the war in afghanistan.

meanwhile, on this, the 8th anniversary of the start of that war, the president is deciding on whether to have a new strategy for afghanistan. congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle sat down with him yesterday. they discussed whether more american troops should be sent to stabilize the increasingly violence-prone country. many democrats oppose increased involvement in afghanistan while most republicans want a troop surge as soon as possible. >> there are fewer than 100 al qaeda people in afghanistan. so we're clearly shifting toward nation building. >> we need to remember that every day that goes by, the troops that we do have there are in greater danger. >> the senate passed a funding measure last night that would bring the total u.s. tab for the war in afghanistan to about $300 billion. police think they've caught the man who murdered a fairfax county woman back in july. they arrested danny kim on monday in columbus, ohio where

he worked. investigators say e he killed chung ah. police say surveillance video from near the crime scene helped their investigation. i shows an suv pulling to the house. ah's friends and families say they finally have some closure. >> so thank you, they found the person that done such terrible thing. i hope she can be peace and rest. >> police haven't revealed, though, a motive for the killing or any possible relationship between kim and ah. the calm oasis of a day spat experience was shattered for clients when a car splashed through the front door. it happened at citrine salon. a toyota camera smashed through the front of the business. police say a car travel through a crowded parking lot, knocking down a concrete barrier.

the salon receptionist escaped with nonlight threatening injuries. a man standing nearby was injured. the elderly woman driver was seriously hurt suffering trauma to her face and arm. in news for your health this morning, are you getting the most from your medications? if you're taking a medication at the wrong time of day, there is a chance it is not working properly. doreen gentzler has details. >> in the evening i line up my evening pills. >> reporter: 78-year-old kay is diabetic and has hypertension. she needs to take ten different medications every day to keep her healthy but she's not supposed to take them all at once. so she divides them up, some in the morning, the rest before bedtime. >> they seem to work better, and the hypertension medication, yous want that in the morning so it takes care of you during the day, not when you're sleeping. >> some medicines work best in the morning. some medicines work best overnight. your body has certain rhythms that are set by your brain's

biological clock. >> reporter: consumer's union spokesman david butler says different cells in the body have their own schedules, also called sir kad yum rhythms. medications are processed at different times depending on which part of the body is affected. >> if you properly time your medicines, you can increase their effectiveness and hopefully minimize the side effects. >> how do you think the current dose is working out. >> reporter: internist dr. bradford pots treats a lot of patients for high cholesterol. drugs for that condition should be taken at bedtime. >> they prohibit the liver from making cholesterol which is more active at night. if a patient takes it in the morning, it means they would not get as much help from the medicine for their cholesterol. >> another type of medication that should be taken after dark, some oral asthma and hey fever medications because the body builds up histamines at night and those can trigger asthma

attacks or allergy symptoms. >> you also produce less adrenaline and other who are moans that fight off those attacks. >> reporter: medications for heartburn and ulcers, that depends on the type of drug. ppis should be taken in the morning. but fast-acting h-2 blockers like pepcid should be taken with dinner. but ponds warnings even though a medication is more effect tifr at night, you may not want to deal with the drug's side effects when sleeping. heart and blood pressure drugs should typically be taken before bed because most heart problems occur early in the morning when blood pressure h a tendency to spike. >> many people take dry rhett ticks or fluid pills for high blood pressure. those are better take nen the morning because they can cause increased urination. >> as a patient, it's a good idea to read up, learn the facts and take that information to your doctor, to your pharmacist to choose not just the medicine that's best for you, but the best time to take it. >> that was door reason gentzler

reporting. tomorrow morning liz crenshaw will show us how to get the most from your veggies. it turns out that eating them raw is not always the best option. speaking of veggies and other foods, lettuce, eggs and tuna m be healthy for you. they're also on a new top ten list of foods most likely to make your sick. that's the word from the center for science and the public interest. the report found many healthy foods can be contaminated by bacteria and cox ins. oysters, potatoes, cheese, ice cream, tomatoes, sprouts, berries, leafy greens, eggs and tuna. the author says the fda needs to do more to ensure the safety of food. almost 6:21. time for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> we'll check in with meteorologist veronica johnson in for tom kierein. your hey will get messed up because the winds will pick up today.

65, our current lie light. 65, college park. but there's where the rain is. annapolis, shady side, just east of la plata. more showers east of gainesville and cal very ton. that rain moving away from our area. most of it should be out of here by about 8:00. mid 60s the temperature. morning side, oxon hill, prince george's county. montgomery village and wheaton now also at 65 degrees. so we will see windy conditions today. the winds increasing 20 to 30 sustained with gusts 45. 71 your high temperature. we'll get some sunshine in here, too. clearing skies, so the high today 71. 73 with just a few clouds lingering up north in the east, st. mary's, sunshine, the high 75. real quick look at your four-day forecast, we'll have a qet day tomorrow in between weather fronts. showers back on friday. sunshine for saturday, the high 78. and then cold stuffoming in the second half of the weekend. jerry? >> the top side of the capital beltway, hot spot this morning

on the outer loop between georgia avenue and connecticut avenue. chopper four remains over the scene. the remnants of the accident completely over to the shoulder. the flashing lights are enough that the beltway delays extend back to i-95 on the outer loop trying to get through silver spring or continuing over toward the american legion bridge. inner loop you're okay. out on the rails this morning, metro rail, vre and marc all having smooth rides so far this morning. with the redskins offense struggling, the organization has decided to bring in sherman lewis as an offensive consultant. lewis has been retired since 2004 season. but the redskins think his expertise on the west coast offense will help. ser rat toe proposed the idea to zorn. both lewis and zorn are from the mike holmgren coaching tree. do you know that tree? >> i do. 6:22 is the time.

they both did the west coast offense. dogfighting and free speech. the supreme court is weighing in on the issue. also, a hollywood actor, director and producer reveals shocking secrets about his painful past. a reminder, news4 is always connected to you on facebook and twitter, for up-to-the-minute breaking news, weather and traffic alerts, you can search for

actor, comedian and producer tyler perry has just revealed that he was physically and sexually abused as a child. on his website perry writes the memories of the abuse came back after watching a screening of the movie "precious." perry is executive producer of the movie. he recounts that his father used to beat him as a child and he was seduced by a friend's mother when he was just 10. perry said the film helped him realize that he survived it all and learned to forgive. new term of the u.s. supreme court is underway, of course. justices are dealing with an age-old issue, the first amendment of the constitution and freedom of speech. the obama administration is asking the court to reinstate a 10-year-old law that bans videos

that show animal cruelty. a federal appeals court struck down a virginia man's 3-year sentence for graphic videos he made about pit bull fights. >> the problem in this case was that congress chose to attack speech and to control what the people of this country could see and hear before it was seriously punishing the conduct at issue. >> there's nothing e press sive about it. it has no social value, no cultural value. >> there are some media out let's that uncomfortably disagree with that last view. they're concerned the law is so broad in scope it could hamper their ability to report on animal issues and there are early indications that several of the justis agree as well. there is no timetable, of course, when the court may rule on this matter. our time is 6:27. d.c. gay marriage, the legal battle prepares to move to the next level. one local high school is shut down today as fears about swine flu continue to spread. also new worries about the

aging water infrastructure and why a scene like this or even worse could happen again.

down with the sickness, growing fears about the swine flu and why one local school has shut down for today.

connecting with -- michelle rhee responds to the firing of district teachers live in our studio coming up. and good morning everyone. welcome to "ne4 today." i'm barbara harrison. >> good morning to you. i'm joe krebs on this wednesday, 7th of october, 2009. take a live look outside at the capital dome, all lit up. we have 66 degrees. kind of mild today. but it's going to be windy. >> that's what we're hearing from veronica. she tells us we've got some wind. the rain is pretty much behind us. the rain is making its way out. we have the radar to show folks, too. light scattered showers about for the morning here south of d.c. around alexandr, dale city. light showers in st. mary's and calvert county as well. moving away from the area. we have temperatures mild in colesville, damascus, springfield and arlington. fairfax currently at 66 degrees. starting in the 60s. mild.

showers will be ending. windy with sunshin coming to us about noontime to 1:00 today. let's go back to jerry edwards as the news4 traffic network no jerry? >> good morning. chopper 4 headed over for an accident. they may be arriving on the scene on 66 eastbound as you head on into clear oerks, accident tieing up pt of the roadway. the latest in a series of incidents. out at the woodrow wilt son bridge, nothing to report. several accidents between silver spring and college park. all of them out of the roadway. very backed up, particularly on the outer loop. barbara and joe, back to you. >> jerry, thanks very much. some scary moments early this morning for a montgomery county police officer. she was nearly hit by an out-of-control tractor-trailer on the beltway. police say the officer was on the scene of an accident on the inner loop near georgia avenue in silver spring when the truck

barreled torld her. they say she jumped over a guard rail to escape. she was hurt from the jump and was taken to the hoital. she is expected to be okay. the accident closed the inner loop of the wealth beltway for seral hours. one private high school? laurel, maryland, is closed because of the swine flu. saint vincent palotti high school is the first school in the area to shut down because of h1n1 this school year. five students have been diagnosed with the flu strain. many others are feeling sick. kimberly suiters is live at the school with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, joe. if plan is to close for one day and open back up tomorrow, partly a response to so many sick kids and partly a precaution. instead of all these kids in the classroom, there will be cleaning crews. saint vincent palotti high school shut down for the day to scrub every touchable surface. >> i have another young daughter.

again, it ripples through the family. if they can be proactive here, to keep from my child getting it and bringing it hope, i think it's the best thing. >> reporter: after 100 of the high school's 500 students were ab cents tuesday, the principal made the call to close. >> i don't want to get to the point where i've got half the faculty out and half the student body out and i can't cover classes. we're just going to try to stay on top of it to minimize that in happening. >> reporter: minimizing the spread of swine flu from happening takes widespread vaccinations although health officials admit there's not yet enough to go around. >> this week and next we'll provide, is something of a dry run. not enough vaccine around. though we wish we had more, some people can get vaccinated. it will also get us ready to get a running start on vaccination come mid to late october. >> reporter: back in laurel, one says it's impossible to know whether one-fifth of the student

body was out with swine flu, seasonal flu or senioritis. >> if you tell the kid well i don't want to go to school, and that can be part of it. i don't sense a mode of panic at all. i think it's all precautionary. >> reporter: after all, the sign posted on the school's front doors is all the permission they need. it's hard to get an exact number of how many kids have h1n1 even though five are confirmed. parents are reporting to the principal that some doctors are simply treating for threw and not testing as to whether it's seasonal or swine. reporting live in laurel, kimberly suiters, news4. joe, back to you. >> kimberly, thanks very much. swine flu is causing major concerns at schools nationwide. 175 students at dartmouth college in new hampshire are suffering from flu-like symptoms. the very first batches of the swine flu vaccine are arriving this week. it may take some time to get the vaccine distributed. the government has ordered a quarter billion doses to be

made. less than 1% of that order is available right now. make nbc4 and nbcwashington.com your home for continuing coverage of the swine flu coverage. we'll have the latest on the outbreaks, the warnings and the information to keep you and your family safe. this morning, city and school leaders in the district are defending their decision to fire more than 200 teachers. the reduction in force is supposed to help close a major budget gap. d.c. mayor adrian fenty says the decision was tough, but he stands by it. >> the chancellor tasked her principals with coming forward with recommendations about who wasn't getting the job done as effectively as they should. in large measure, those are the people that are let go. >> it has prompted heating protests. this morning we'll have a chance to hear chancellor michelle rhee's response. stay with us for "connecting with the chancellor" segment at 6:45 this morning.

there are new worries about the aging waiter insfra structure as workers narrowly averted a massive water main break in college park last fall. that break would have been bigger than even the river road water main break of last december during which a 66-inch pipe burst and unleashed a torrent of water that covered up several cars and stranded a lot of motorists. the post reports that two months earlier a leak was found in a 96-inch pipe near the state police barracks in college park prompting emergency repair work there. if those repairs had not taken place, officials say the resulting water main break could ve been, quote, horrific. our time is 6:37. 66 degrees. a major bank is making a promise to congress, and consumers that will save you money. also the battle over gay marriage and what's next in the controversial legal fight. how much more you'll have to pay this holiday season based on wh

free food with this news4 bargain blast. this weekend you can get free breakfast at ikea. that's free breakfast this weekend at ikea.

>> you have to put it together yourself. 6:40 -- almost 6:41 is our time. let's go to veronica johnson in storm center 4. >> a few light showers coming through the area. let's detail it for you. franconia and miller ton you're wet a few showers. alexandria and suit land, showers headed to the east. white plains will be getting a few drops of rain in the next couple minutes. a few more showers across culpepper county. not lasting very long. probably for another about hour and a half or so showers expected across the area. 66 the temperature right now in d.c. mcclain and fairfax at 65 degrees. fairly uniform temperatures. mild out there now oovp, again. is it going to be windy later on. 71 the high today. meanwhile we'll see winds turning quiet overnight and sunshine tomorrow. jerry? >> veronica, let's go up to chopper 4 and take a look at how

we're doing along i-270. pretty loaded up. there's the inner loop. northbound traffic is fine. southbound typically backed up. there's a school bus parking lot. authorities are telling us of yet another beltway crash. i've lost count. outer loop at georgia avenue. two left lanes are closed there. the earlier accident inbound on 66 at fair oaks has been pushed to the shoulder. we are now jammed manassas all the way on in. that's how we're doing rig now. busy morning out there. barbara? >> time now is 6:42. the new airline fees that holiday season based on what you want to fly. d.c. school chancellor

there's certainly been quite the controversy over the past several days. district teachers fired. now some students, teachers and school officials are outraged. they are demanding answers.

joining us live in the studio, d.c. school chancellor michelle rhee and is here hopefully to clear up unanswered questions. you heard marion barry perhaps yesterda accuse you of lying to the students about these first. do you have any particular response to what he had to say? >> well, i always think that council member barry has an interesting interpretation of things. i certainly am willing to answer any questions that the council member has. but to be accused of lying somehow -- i just don't think that's right. i think we have been as straightforward as we can with the public and with the school staff about the situation that we were facing. i know these cuts are incredibly difficult in a lot of ways. but we have tried to manage the situation as best we could to make sure it had minimal impact on kids. >> we have a student who yesterday was interviewed. this is a young woman who was taking french. she was in the third year of taking french. her french teacher was among

those who was fired and now she's going to be taking first year spanish. why would her french teacher be fired? let's listen to what she has to say? >> i was taking french. i am in the french three. i'm going from french three to spanish one. >> because your french teacher was fired? >> yes. >> have you ever taken spanish? >> no. >> what's your response to that kind of a situation? >> we actually looked into that situation because somebody asked me that before. the student is actually from mckinley, my understanding is. we did not remove any french teachers from mckinley. so it's a little confusing to us as well. >> you're not sure what the allegations are precisely? >> what we know is at mckinley we didn't remove any french teachers. there's no reason that any student who was taking a french class would be moved to a different language. now, the reports are tha when these teachers were removed, they were literally removed from the school last

friday. they were escorted out by security and police officers. that's the story. >> that's absolutely incorrect. i know there are aot of rumors out the. i'm glad i can clear some of those up. part of the issue last week was that we were told on thursday night that hawk one, our security service, went under. they folded. so because they couldn't send thefficers there the next day, we actually just as basic security had mpd officers there on friday. some people took that to mean that we had them there specifically for the reduction in force purposes, and that was absolutely not the case. the protocols that we laid out for principals was very dealer about how the separated personnel should be handled. as i said before, this is a very, very difficult time. what we wanted to do was maximize the respect and dignity with which we could execute this incredibly difficult situation. >> were they escorted out of the building? >> not at all.

i think there was one case in which the separated person got a little excited and certainly that's understandable, and in that case the mpd had to intervene. but with the exception of that, absolutely not. >> why were they made to leave, to be put on administrative leave when the actual termination isn't taking place for another month. why were they not allowed to continue to teach until the beginning of november? >> there were a number of reasons. first of all, what we want to do is minimize the disruption to the students and to the school program overall. and the second is actually for the benefit of the separated employees. we know that when something like this happens, you have a lot to get in order. you wanto start looking for another job, et cetera. so we actually thought that after the announcement was made, the way that we could move forward in the smoothest way was to make sure they had this time. >> how does all of this play into your negotiations with the teachers union?

not an easy thing to overcome? >> not an easy thing to overcome at all. obviously this is difficult, and the union is not particularly pleased with us right now. that said, i think that we understand that this is -- the budget cuts that we're seeing right now are not dissimilar to the cuts that school districts are see across the country, and that that shouldn't stop the forward progress of ensuring that we can have a great contract going forward. >> okay. thank you very much. one more thing. you've been in several magazines, profiled in a couple magazines, "time" magazine with the controversial picture on the coast. "the washington post" magazine did a profile of you. one of theoints it seemed to make was that it's in your nature to be very direct and not all that diplomatic. a lot of people i gue have found problems with that intense directness as opposed to being diplomatic. can you explain some of that? why do you feel a need and do you find it helpful to be so

direct with the people that you're overseeing? >> for me it's not a matter of being direct or diplomatic. it's a matter of being direct and telling people what the truth is as opposed to telling people what they want to hear when it actually isn't what the situation is. and this is a perfect example of things. this is a difficult situation. nobody is denying that. and i think that it was important to be very honest with the people that we were separating from, from the get-go, to be very clear ability wh was going to happen and why. unfortunately, you know, this is part of the job that i have. i love my job. there are hard things and hard decisions that you have to make, and this is really just part of that. >> michelle rhee, school chancellor for d.c., you certainly have a tough job. we wish you the best. >> thank you. appreciate it. >> barbara? >>. supporters and opponents of

same-sex marriage are gearing up for a political battle. david catania introduced a bill to legalize same-sex marriage. it has support, but opponents plan to mount a fight. they plan on encouraging congress to exercise its right to block the bill. they're also talking about introducing a voter referendum. a major bank is making a major promise. for more on all of today's business headlines, let's go to cnbc's courtney reagan. >> reporter: good morning. bank of america is promising it won't raise interest rates until february. lawmakers will hold a hearing thursday on a bill to move that date up to december 1st. earlier today senators chris dodd and chuck schumer asked the federal reserve to feze interest rate hikes on existing credit card balances. at&t is opening the to the iphone. services such as skype which

makes users make free web calls could create an ap for the iphone. amazon is cutting the price on the kendall, the popular e-book device will now cost $259 bringing it in line with rival products. amazon is also hoping kendall will take the world by storm. the company will start selling it in more than 100 countries later this month. back to you barbara. >> okay, courtney. see you a little later. flying around the holidays is already more expensive. it could get even more so. several major airlines have added surcharges for busy days around the holidays. last year several airlines added a $10 each way surcharge for november 29th which is the sunday after thanksgiving and january 2nd and 3rd. now the website farecompare.com has found those very same airlines have added ten more dates to that list including several around christmas and memorial day. those airlines adding the sur

charges include, delta, northwest, american, united, continental and us airways. people were smart if they bought early i guess. let's talk about the weather here in washington and around our neighborhood. >> it's mild outside. that's one thing we can say. somewhat wet, though. depends on where you are. let's talk temperatures across the area. we are in the mid 60s still throughout the area with some overcast skies, too. as i said, showers, those are mainly south and east of the area. 66 your temperature, the dew point is at 60 degrees with relative humidity at 81%. a light wind right now. out of the west-southwest. didn't pick up any rain at reagan national airport. but some areas did just south and east of the area. again, the big story today is what's coming in behind this weather front. here it is. there's the leading edge of the rain. the actual weather front still hanging back to the west, just now coming through pennsylvania and into west virginia.

but turning windy again in the wake of this frt. that's why there's a wind advisory that has beenish dwrud from about 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. this evening. your showers then up around prince george's county and anne arundel county down to dale city and fredricksburg some showers as well as right around fauquier county and culpepper county. real quick for you. we'll put it all in motion. there's the one weather system. there will be another one moving through, bringing more snow, perhaps snow to chicago by sunday night as all the cold air moves in, the cold will be getting to our area by sunday morning. wind advisories up into new york and boston. there's your weather front. the front blows through, we'll see sunshine by about noontime and more sun for tomorrow. today, afternoon sunshine, winds could gust as high as 45 and 50 miles r hour. your high anywhere from about 71 to 73 through the area. meanwhile -- oops, went one too many clicks there. saturday is looking dry.

70s today. dry tomorrow. more rain for friday. right now again sunshine back for saturday. looking pretty good. we still could have a little wind around on saturdayed. >> okay. veronica. >> let's see what the traffic looks like at this hour. here is jerry edwards. we just can't escape it now. more trouble on the beltway. i've lost track of how many problems we've had up there this morning. chopper 4 over the scene. this time it's the inner loop eastbound on the beltway inner loop approaching georgia avenue. accident with only one far left lane getting by. again, this is the inner loop of the beltway. georgia avenue toward route 29. only one lane gets by there. outer loop of the beltway still dealing with the remnants of earlier incidents there. the outer loop jammed um back in college park. pick your poison. tough no matter which direction you're going in. 395, good news is, all lanes are open across the 14th street bridge. the accident eastbound on 66 at

fair oaks has been cleared from the roadway. rbara and joe, back to you. >> thanks, jerry. thanks very much. here are some of the top stories. students in one laurel high school are off as the school tries to prevent a swine flu outbreak. saint vincent palotti is closed. five students have been diagnosed with h1n1. 100 students are feeling sick. the school will be scrubbed down and disinfected today. today is the eighth anniversary of the war in afghanistan. president obama is deciding on a new strategy. he met with lawmakers in both par parties. most republicans are calling for more troops while many democrats opposed increased involvement. marion barry is recovering in the hospital. barry drove himself to howard university hospital yesterday after he began feeling ill. doctors say he is weak. dehydrated and has a mild infection. barry had a kidney transplant in

february. barry's aides say this kind of illness is not uncommon among transplant patients and he is in good spirits. a reminder news4 is always connected to you on facebook and twitter for up-to-the-minute breaking news, weather and traffic, you can search for news4today. >> quick out-the-door forecast. rain ending, turning windy. sunshine in there. >> traffic trbles, yes or no? >> yes. >> thank you. thank you for joining us. we'll see you tomorrow morning at 4:55. have a terrific day.