hasn't talked to the commissioner about it yet. it's day nine of the partial gornment shut down and leaders in washington are pretty much in the same place as they were when it all started... no where. but there is a glimmer of hope as tory dunnan tells us... as the house democratic caucus plans to meet at the white house this afternoon. on week two of the government shutdown, here's the problem: both sides claim to want negotiations but can't seem to agree on the terms. the president and democrats are calling for the house to pass a government funding bill with no strings attached. we have a simple, simple request. open the government, let us pay our bills. we'll negotiate on anything you want to negotiate on. republicans say they're willing to negotiate but only if obamacare is on the table. we want to reopen our government and provide fairness to all americans under the president's health care law. there is a small sliver of hope that could at least prevent the u-s from defaulting on its

debt. a source tells cnn republicans may be open to a short term extension of the debt ceiling---but only if president obama agrees to negotiate. but that won't reopen the government and the american people are feeling the pain of the shutdown. up until today-- families of fallen troops in afghanistan were not getting death benefits but the president has vowed to fix that. . he was not pleased to learn of this problem and he has directed his lawyers to find a solution and he expects to have one you today. bottom line: all of this will continue until lawmakers end the gridlock. in washington- i'm tory dunnan. that brings us to our question of the day. question of the day:.../ how do you assess... the performance of elected leaders in washington? to weigh in... you can go to fox-baltimore dot com ...where this question is on our news survey.../ . and of course... you can also sound off... through facebook. six billion dollars in payments set to

go out to veterans and their families... may be stopped... due to the shutdown. the secretary of veterans affairs says 3- point-8 million veterans won't get their disability checks for november... if the stalemate continues through the end of the month. hundreds of thousands of veterans and surviving family members could also see their pension payments stop. the ravens... returned to the practice field today../ getting ready for the green bay packers this sunday./ sports director bruce cunningham joins us with the latest from owings mills.... the good news is the ravens seemed to re- energize their running game last sunday in miami.. the bad news: a troublesome problem returned for their number one running back... rice has always had a reputation for his sure hands.. but in the playoffs last year, he started fumbling... twice in the playoff win over the colts, once more in the super bowl and then two more this year, including last week against the dolphins... it's a problem that could becoming more serious, but rice is doing his best

to keep his cool.... the ravens get an injured starter back... sorta... details coming up later in the hour in sports. show off your purple pride and you could win a prize from fox45. every week we'll choose 12 finalists for you to vote on. here's one of our finalists... you can go to our facebook page and click on the "inside fox45" tab to vote for your favorite photo. one person a week will win a 25-dollar gift card from poor boys. go to facebook dot com slash fox baltimore to get started and read the official rules. how are the roads looking tonight? brandi proctor has our traffic edge report. map greenspring

bat natl pike maps 395 joseph banks... makes a... 2- makes a... 2- point-3 billion dollar bid... to buy men's wearhouse.../. but new at 5:30... why that may not happen. more inspectors heading to damascus as the world waits to see if the syrian government will actually destroy its

chemical weapons. recess as kids know it... changed forever. the sporting equipment that students at one new york middle school... are no longer allowed to play with. --adblib weather tz--

a second team of chemical weapon's experts is now in syria... expanding the effort to rid the country of its stockpiles. leland vittert reports from jerusalem. the clock is ticking... experts with the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons finished new round of inspections on wednesday... trying to meet the november first deadline set by the united nations. uzumcu says: "it's unprecedented. we are at the beginning of a difficult process. there are significant challenges" it's the second group of inspectors to arrive in syria... part of a joint mission with the u-n which will include more than 100 international experts... the group's director- general says - they're going to have to work fast to meet the deadline: uzumcu says: "they only visited one site as i said earlier, there are over 20 sites that need to be visited over the coming days and weeks." the work began

last week... dismantling and destroying syria's chemical weapons arsenal and the equipment used to make it... the first inspections were sunday and monday - and the group says some equipment has already been destroyed. uzumcu says: "if some temporary ceasefires could be established in order to permit our experts to work in a permissible environment, the targets could be reached." but those ceasefires seem unlikely... even as the inspectors carried out their work, syrian rebels were fighting a fierce battle against government forces north of the capitol... more than 100- thousand people have died in the civil war so far, and the violence shows no sign of letting up. (on-cam tag) the inspection team says so far so good... the syrian government is cooperating fully with their mission... and in the end it's up to the syrian government to destroy all their weapons. in jerusalem, leland vittert, fox news. --breaking news---

we're looking at live pictures from wheeling west virginia where federal agents have apparently shot and killed a gunman at the federal courthouse. according to witnesses... the gunman was able to get off 15 to 20 shots before he was killed. we don't know yet if he injured anyone before he died. it sounds like the punch line to a really old joke, but it's not. a 25 year old woman in mexico says her boyfriend put a padlock on her pants, so she couldn't cheat on him. the alleged victim came to police with a padlock on her jeans, saying her boyfriend had been doing this for years, but was afraid to cut the lock herself, because of what he might do to her. police say when they confronted the 40-year-old

boyfriend, he admitted to it, and gave them the key to unlock her. amazingly, she declined to press charges, although the man told police he wouldn't ever do it again. as the partial government shutdown continues in its second week we are asking in our question of the day how do you assess... the performance of elected leaders in washington? to weigh in you can go to fox- baltimore dot com where this question is on our news survey

. and of course you can also sound off through facebook. footballs, soccer balls... baseballs. any kind of recreational ball you can think of... is now banned at a new york middle school. weber middle school in port washington is no longer allowing kids to play with the items during recess. the superintendent says the policy change is due to a rash of playground injuries. some parents say it's really about liability and lawsuits. "children's safety is paramount, but at the same time, you have to let them live life." "you go for recess, that's your free time to go let loose and and recharge." "that's all we want to do, we're in school all day sitting behind the desk learning." the school has also banned rough games of tag... or cartwheels unless supervised by a coach. the kentucky public school system is tossing sportsmanship out the window, after banning post game handshake. school district officials say because of several incidents that

have occurred between opposing teams over the last three years, they no longer support the post-game ritual. that's left many coaches and parents crying foul. ((take sot)) ((take sot))

16-23 "we love fox45!... cheering" imagine knowing the time when

you will die. one watch is claiming to do just that. and new at 5:30... a teacher... under investigation tonight for having his students perform manual labor for his own benefit... and it's all caught on tape.

who put up with the constant roar of aircraft may be at higher risk for heart disease. 48-51 "airplane noise" in one study british researchers compared rates of stroke and heart disease among more than three-and-a-half million people living near london's heathrow airport. the results showed these people were at heightened risk for death and hospitalization from heart issues. in the second study researchers analyzed data from more than 6- million people over 65 who lived near u- s airports. overall people

who lived closest to the airport had a three-and-a-half percent higher hospitalization rate for heart disease. what makes some people so happy in marriage and others so miserable? the answer may be in our genes. researchers at cal-berkeley and northwestern universities say they have found a major clue in our d-n-a. a gene involved in the regulation of serotonin can predict how much our emotions affect our relationships. and researchers found variations of that gene can have an impact on how happy couples are in their marriage. is your cell phone causing you back trouble? all that slouching over smartphones may be taking it toll. a new survey by a british healthcare provider suggested 84- percent of young people suffered back pain last year... losing more work time than their parents generation. whether you call it i-posture or bad posture it can be fixed... 24-38 "we are so glued to

our smart phones , u see people looking down all the time. that type of forward head motion is going to cause problems , back and even wrist issues." 110-116 "what happens is your chest gets tight and your back gets weak because it's over stretched. so we need to strengthen the back and stretch out the front" you have to strengthen ..." experts are also quick to point out that there are other factors that can contribute to bad posture. the inventor... of a new watch says ... the timepiece... can predict the time of your death, .../ right down to the second. first... you fill out a health questionnaire... and... subtract your age... from the results.../. then,... it calculates... the date of your death.../. the inventor... says... the watch was created... to help its owners... live a fuller life..../ but... experts say... you may want to think twice... before buying it. alvarez says: "a lot of people may look at that and say "oh i only got 20 years left in my life it's too little too late," they're gonna

do the opposite, they're not going to give up smoking or drinking, or doing bad thing." the watch costs about sixty- dollars... and will hit stores in april. rumor... has it... "apple" is set... to unveil a new i-pad... as early as ...this month..../ a report... by... 'all things d,'... says... the company... could debut... an... i-pad... mini... with retina display... and... a thinner... full-sized... i- pad... as... soon as october 22nd..../ apple's... fancy new fingerprint... technology... might also make... an appearance... in the latest versions.../. since 2010,... apple... has been holding press events... in october... to get new products... out in time for the holidays. city agencies - caught violating state laws - by meeting behind closed doors. coming up -- the push for more transparancy in baltimore city government.

come under fire - once again - for illegally closing meetings that are supposed to be open to the public. melinda roeder... is here... with more... on... the secret deals... behind closed doors.... / and... why... some transparancy advocates... are upset .../. forget government shutdown...

these are cases of government shut-out! city agencies - purposely shutting the public out of meetings that are supposed to be open. state compliance officials have confirmed at least three violations this year - regarding some high- profile.... and apparently top- secret.... business. government transparancy... may be tough to find in some city agencies. it's a common complaint among watchdog groups like "common cause maryland." jennifer bevin: 23:25:38 "there is very little access to public information in particular and we are still seeing conitnued problems with the open meetings violations." according to maryland's transparancy laws... most government meetings are supposed to be "open." but that's not always the case. lately... the open meetings compliance board - which investigates suspected violations... found some alarming behavior by baltimore city officials. file - back on may 20-th... the city finance board barred fox 45 and the baltimore sun... from attending a

meeting where a developer was seeking one of the biggest tax breaks the city has ever approved - worth more than a hundred million dollars. the vote passed - behind closed doors. we filed a formal complaint and state investigators agreed we should have been allowed to sit in. file - and back in march - a task force created to study the city's speed cameras... met without giving proper notice to the public... or taking minutes. again, fox 45 - and other media outlets - complained after being shut out. standup - "and this week the state ruled a july meeting of the baltimore development corporation violated the law because they convened in secret and didn't tell the public why. the mayor - says she's working to improve compliance." "will people make mistakes? yes. that's why we remain vigilant." so what happens when a city official is caught breaking the law? very little, it turns out. the only substantial penalty is a fine of one hundred dollars. but only if the complaintant takes their fight for access to court. jennifer bevins:

23:26:36 "who has those kinds of resources and capacity?" at a recent meeting of the city finance board, transparancy training, was on the agenda. melinda roeder - fox 45 news at five. an off- duty d-c police officer shoots a 28- year- old man... after he tries to rob the officer. marcus young is recovering from a bullet wound to the stomach and is being charged with assault with intent to rob. police say young was shot while trying to rob the officer in southeast d-c. the officer is on leave pending the outcome of an investigation. maryland transit police... need your help... finding... three men... accused of... an... armed robbery aboard... an... m- t-a bus.../ keith daniels, live downtown, where police have released pictures of the suspects.. keith. (((((((((keith)))))))))))) jeff..... a bus surveillance camera caught images of the suspects.... camera caught images of the suspects.... .....and now, investigators are hoping the public will help identify the men.

((((((((vo))))))))) incue: because anybody could have been shot.. outcue: that's crazy." the f-b-i says it's