il friday. leon: today, we're hearing from some of the people that wossen assaye impacted during his nine hours on the lam. jeff goldberg live with the update tonight. jeff? jeff: leon, this is the annandale home where investigators believe that wossen assaye broke in during the man hunt and took refuge for a little while. this is the area where police dusted for fingerprints and a new lock has been installed by the owners. thankfully, they were not home at the time. they're getting ready to sell the home at the moment. and this home in annandale is a couple hundred feet from the street on the other side of that home which is cherry lane. that is where assaye allegedly pulled off his second carjacking. all the activity started yesterday when bailey the dog of francesca morgan who did not want to show her face started acting up. >> absolutely insane barking at 8:00 a.m. jeff: morgan lives on oak court in annandale next door to the home owned by her son, the house she says was ransacked by wossen assaye during the nine-hour man

hunt. >> he just completely smashed the door and broke the handles off and got in the house. jeff: morgan said he opened all the cabinets, took food and stole clothing leaving behind the hospital gown he was wearing after fleeing inova fairfax. police descended on the home yesterday but assaye was already gone. morgan says she didn't know what had happened until police swarmed the area. >> you can't imagine. you see it on the news all the time but never imagine that it would happen to you. jeff: one day after the search flooded annandale neighborhoods with heavily armed police things are once again quiet. >> what's going on here? jeff: malcolm ross saw armed officers outside of his home on kings mill lane and asked one of them a question. >> he thought it was safe. i said if i was you, i'd go back in your house. >> a little disconcerting to say the least. jeff: john spicer was painting a home on kings mill when he noticed all the uniforms and ammo. he's glad it ended with no one getting hurt. >> everybody seemed to be keeping a cool head out there

and glad we can go back to life as normal. jeff: no question about that. wossen assaye is currently being held by the u.s. marshals who are saying very little about his escape yesterday and not saying exactly where he's being held at the moment. assaye is due back in federal court on friday afternoon at 2:00. live in annandale, jeff goldberg, abc 7 news. leon: virginia state police were investigating tonight after a man died following a scuffle with culpepper police. the department says that several of its officers noticed 30-year-old dominick wise walking in circles in street on sunday night. they say he appeared to be intoxicated. he started kicking and swinging at them and injuring one officer, in fact and at that point, they used their stun guns, wise collapsed and later died at the hospital. the culpepper police department is also investigating. an ohio man appeared in court charged with killing a maryland boy ask dumping his body in the creek.

police say curt flood said he believed that the 1-year-old had demons and he beat the toddler to get rid of them. his body was found stuffed in a backpack. his mother 25-year-old denisha stevens had stayed with flood at a home near where beckford's body was found on december 31st. a fourth man has been convicted in the shooting death of the redskins player taylor. today, charles widlow was sentenceed to 30 years after he pleaded guilty. two others have been sentenced leaving one more defendant awaiting trial. today, by the way, would have been shawn taylor's 32nd birthday. alison: a possible confession from the man accused of shooting two police officers during a protest in ferguson missouri. prosecutors are combing through more than eight hours of conversations jeffrey williams had during phone calls after his arrest. each of those calls started with a recording letting williams know he was being recorded. but it didn't stop him from talking about what he apparently did.

>> no policeman. alison: williams says he never meant to shoot anyone. one of those officers was hit in the shoulder and the other in the face. both are expected to make full recoveries. and duke university is investigating who left a noose hanging from a tree right on campus. that noose was found before dawn outside of a building that houses university offices that are focused on diversity. duke's vice president for student affairs e-mailed students promising accountability. hundreds of duke students held a unity march this afternoon, a campus forum incident is planned for tonight. leon: a maryland state senator is pushing for larry hogan to ban state funded travel to indiana. the governor calls that statement a political stunt.

several other states and the district issued similar bans after indiana's governor signed a law that critics say allows businesses to discriminate based on sexual orientation. indiana governor mike pence announced yesterday that he thinks the law needs to be revised. today, arkansas' governor says he wants his state's legislature to take another look at a similar bill there before he'll sign it. >> it has divided families. and there is clearly a generational gap on this issue. my son seth signed the petition asking me, dad the governor to veto this bill. leon: governor hutchison is asking state legislators to either recall the bill or pass another measure that's closer to the spirit of the federal religious freedom act passed in 1993. alison: to the weather now. a little bit chilly out there but perfectly pleasant outside today. more rain, though on the horizon. leon: let's get the lateest on that from chief meteorologist

doug hill. doug what's the word? doug: nothing but bright sunshine outside of the belfort weather furniture center. we're looking at them clearing us out by the weekend. to the south towards the pentagon, pentagon city, crystal city national airport, reagan national, it looks like a plane is taxiing down the runway. getting ready to take off or just landed. don't have time to watch it. but just landed. 60 in quantico. mild but cooler than yesterday. nine degrees cooler than this time yesterday. a few fair weather clouds should dissipate shortly after sunset. clear night tonight with temperatures falling to near 40 degrees. tomorrow, back to the 70 at the fwree -- degree mark. we'll talk about tomorrow's weather. alison: see you then. months after ao revamp cedar lane ended, crews started work this week to widen old

georgetown road in bethesda. it's part of a plan to ease traffic near the national institutes of health campus now that walter reid is housed there, too. but montgomery county reporter kevin lewis is live in bethesda with a fly in that ointment. kevin, tell us about it. kevin: hi there alison. yeah it is the height of the afternoon rush hour and this is the scene along rockville pike just north of downtown bethesda. traffic really bottlenecks here. although these are normal driving conditions they are terribly desized and so the plan to add more parking spots isn't getting support from all. over the next 20 years, n.i.h. plans on constructing more buildings which will generate thousands of new jobs. n.i.h. says it will need 1,000 additional parking spaces to accommodate these extra employees. but many fear that will pose a serious challenge to the already overtaxed roadways in and around bethesda and so members of congress, the maryland statehouse and montgomery county council mailed a letter to

n.i.h.'s director asking him to reconsider their parking plans. >> the alternatives are taking metro and doing what a lot of people do which is car pool and find other ways of mass transit to get there. and again their neighbors across the road have figured out ways to achieve that and they draw from all over the region as well. so n.i.h. is a wonderful neighbor. they are really a big plus to our community. and we're just asking them to step it up a little and be an even better neighbor in helping solve a real big issue for our community and quality of life. kevin: of course n.i.h. employees come from all across the metro area and many are not conveniently located to public transportation. that, of course, only adds to the predicament here. live in bethesda kevin lewis, abc 7 news. leon: all right. the crack of the bat! the roar of the crowd! the smell of those hot dogs. we're just days away from the start of baseball season. and this year fans are in for some new surprises at nats park. horace holmes took a tour behind

the scenes today. horace: the rush is on. to get the final touches in place at nats park. >> feels like springtime today. horace: in time for opening day monday. there will be the familiar things and the familiar faces. but also -- >> our fans that are with us can expect to see something new and fun in the ballpark. horace: for instance -- >> so the tablet will allow you to order merchandise, food and beverage call your suite attendant. horace: the first thing you'll notice as you walk through the gates, metal detectors. >> encouraging all the fans to come early. horace: once inside you'll be told of the season long celebration of baseball's return to d.c. 10 years ago. signs everywhere and apparel galore, shirts hats, sweats will all be on sale and speaking of that there will be a brand new souvenir store across the center field plaza from the old clubhouse store. >> nearly double the size of the current store. horace: there's also a throwback to 1924 the year the last washington baseball team made it

to the world series. >> every fan will be excited about, of course is the new food features here at the stadium for the season including bacon flavored popcorn and these yummy little biscuits. horace: grilled cheese sandwiches dogs, sliders, lots of good food drink and hopefully a season of great baseball and a trip back to the world series. at nats park horace holmes, abc 7 news. alison: looks pretty good. and you know business is booming all around nats park. there are new restaurants and stores opening. it feels like almost every day and now d.c.'s mayor is creating a new plan to push for more economic opportunities. the campaign promise that the chief fulfilled just an hour and a half ago right, sam? sam: yes, alison. when she called this position her deputy mayor for east of the anacostia river and that's a way of saying d.c.'s poorer neighborhoods.

and so she has named courtney snowden who was a council-at-large candidate with the advocacy group and now her job will be to be an advocate to the people on this side of the anacostia river and other challenged neighborhoods. mayor bowser: the job of the deputy mayor who have an office in this building is to address the day-to-day needs of neighborhoods that have been overlooked. >> i applaud mayor bowser for recognizing the need to create this position. you know for so many of us in these underserved communities, we can see the force of cranes and hear the construction across the river. and we want that, too, right here. sam: and so a lot of mayor bowser's appearances lately have been part of her theme of a pathway to the middle class. of course tomorrow she will be releasing her budget to the d.c. council which i suppose will reflect many of her causes like this one.

reporting live from southeast washington, sam ford, abc 7 news. leon: thank you, sam. what does she think about the bacon flavored popcorn across the river there in nats park? she said that and it stuck in my head. all right. you got it. "7 on your side" tonight. that also sounds pretty good. we'll help you make sure that you keep your money in your pocket. kimberly: we don't want you to be fooled on this april fools' day. call this number, 703-236-9220. our experts are standing by. if you're wondering whether that work from home scheme is real. if you think you've been a victim of identified theft and getting unwanted telemarketing calls, these guys will tell you where to go next. alison: plus -- >> want to represent our school and want to represent our league. alison: the battle brewing over a varsity letter is sparking action now in montgomery county. leon: and we'll update the condition of joni mitchell. she was found unconscious and rushed off to the hospital. brad: i'm brad bell at the

seafood wharf in southwest washington. if you are a lover of crabs, you'll want to pay attention. a new study says that in our area if you order a crab cake in a restaurant and it's advertised as maryland or blue crab or from the chesapeake, well the odds are very strong that it is none of those things and our story, i'll tell you what it is that you are being

leon: here's an update on what many people thought was an april fool's prank. burger king actually did sell bottles of cologne modelled after its whoppers in japan today. for $40 you get a bottle of flame grilled and one of the signature burgers. the company says it sold out in half of the 90 stores where it was sold. alison: oh funny. leon: ok. closer to home here, you can smell the old bay here. crab season opened in maryland. alison: it comes as a new study finds about 1 in 3 crab cakes in the state may not contain the signature shellfish. maryland bureau chief brad bell investigates. brad: down in the seafood wharf, word of widespread crab cake fraud makes people downright angry. >> i feel like who are they saying? >> are you a real crab person?

can't nobody take you on. brad: according to the resource conservation group oceana if you order a maryland blue crab crab cake from a restaurant in our area more than a third of the time, it will be a fake. >> labelled maryland crab and called it fraud. that happened 38% of the time in the crab cakes we tested. brad: oceana's beth lull says when they tested 90 crab cakes from 86 restaurants from d.c. to ocean city they often found the main ingredient to be meat from the asian swimming crab. harvested on the other side of the planet. >> the impacts local watermen seafood businesses and also the ocean. brad: this is what you should be getting if you order maryland crab blue crab or chesapeake crab. see that familiar shape and that beautiful blue color? when buying crab meat you have to read the label carefully. in a restaurant there's no way to know for sure if it is local seafood. that's why oceana is sounding the alarm. >>

>> give me what i want. >> you should sell maryland crab cakes. brad: brad bell, abc 7 news. alison: brad tells us oceana did not name any of the restaurants in the area. it cannot say for certain where in the supply chain the switch was made. leon: it appears you can't say that people taste the difference. can you? doug: one thing to watch for being a native marylander and beware, if you're looking for crab meat you know, whole crab meat, make your own if it says blue swimming crab that's not it. the chesapeake bay blue crab is the only species that is maryland blue crab. if calenektu sapidose. leon: did you learn that in second grade or third grade? doug: i love my crabs. i love blue skies, too look at this. sunshine looking live at the capitol. couple of clouds that we have will dissipate tonight. that's in the process right now as we cool off a bit. cooling from the 50's to around 60. 61 at the moment at reagan

national. north-northwesterly winds at 16 miles an hour. the area is very dry. that's good news for us. drop quite a bit of the heat that we build up during the day. it won't get bitterly cold. upper 50's to near 60 now down to 40 degrees tonight. we still have the breeze but that will be diminishing. northwesterly winds at 22 at hagerstown. 23 at reagan national. winds will diminish. clear and cool night. plenty of warm air out there. and we're watching these temperatures still now 82. that's up two degrees last hour in minneapolis. that's really warm stuff. we won't get to the 80's but we'll be in the 70's the next couple of days. this air mass moves this way but the leading edge of that warm air is a warm front and with the warm front will come some rain. ive here on friday. temperatures in the lakes much warmer than they were yesterday at this time. we're on the other side of it but somewhat cooler than we were. we get to change places tomorrow with the warm air arriving. as far as satellite and radar, not a lot of features to see. few little clouds you get to search for here. there's more cloudiness to the

southwest. that's the leading edge of the warmer air. that's the cold front. so both will combine here friday and friday night to bring showers and maybe a thunderstorm. our futurecast takes us through the day with sunshine tomorrow. clouds increase. by friday morning, periods of rain developing around the area. scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms through the nighttime hours. by friday night, more rain coming with the actual cold front and clear out for the bala easter weekend. clear, diminishing winds and lows near 40 degrees. for the day tomorrow, start with sunshine. have sunshine the entire day with highs to 70. and then head through the next seven days and go with these kind of numbers for you. 70's tomorrow. into the lower 70's on friday with showers likely. maybe a thunderstorm or downpour in the morning. rain ending saturday morning. the nationals home opener, i think we'll stay dry for the game. shower channelses will increase for the night. it should be good. play ball. tuesday, showers in the morning. it's good. alison: love that. doug: spring weather is changeable but i think we're in good shape.

alison: thank you. "7 on your side" about avoiding phone scams tonight. leon: this woman's father lost tens of thousands of dollars in a variety of scams. what she could have done to stop it coming up. alison: plus -- >> eggs potatoes, omelets. alison: the changing opinion when it comes to eggs to start your day! leon: but first, here's a look at what's coming up tonight on abc.

alison: welcome back. "7 on your side" with some health matters and just in time for easter. eggs are making an appearance back on the menu. after years of being pegged as too high in cholesterol, several recent studies showed that the extra shot of protein in the morning can actually help you feel full longer. that in turn will help balance blood sugar levels and curb your craving. and a lot of those cholesterol problems may actually lie in the bacon and in the butter that you eat with your breakfast rather than the eggs themselves. leon: spoilsport. alison: exactly. more news now about singer joni mitchell. she remains in a los angeles hospital tonight. her twitter account reports that mitchell is in intensive care but awake and in good spirits. she was found unconscious at home and rushed to the hospital yesterday. the nature of her illness has not been released. mitchell won eight grammy awards for her work and is in the rock

'n' roll hall of fame. leon: "7 on your side" now with a consumer alert tonight about avoiding phone scams. consumer investigator kimberly suiters is live with a panel of experts to help answer your questions tonight. kimberly? kimberly: incredible group of experts from the f.t.c. b.b.b. from the aarp and five postal inspectors. call this number 703-236-9220. they're standing by to answer your questions if you think you've been a target and you're wondering if an offer is legitimate. we even heard from someone who had been potentially extorted by a tower. that's a story that "7 on your side" has reported on before. autria godfrey points out a lot of times we feel so silly that we got taken but even the very educated can become victims. d.c. resident precort can't understand how her well educated father got mixed up with scam artists

artists:>>i kind of discovered it in the middle of the process when he was trying to charge a hotel bill on his credit card and hisdit limit had been maxed out. kimberly: when she asked him why, he said he was buying coins and stamps and the man he was dealing with charged his card. >> i thought that's kind of bizarre behavior but i trusted my dad and i didn't want to question him. autria: now she's regretting that decision. not only was her father involved in a coin scam he was spending his money on bogus lottery sweepstakes sweepstakes. >> he said he was in financial trouble. this can't be possible because my dad is a really smart person. autria: her father has since passed away. not before losing more than $100,000 in part to sweepstakes scams and to that fraudulent coin con. >> the amount he was paying compared to the values of the coins, $10 coin would cost $500. >> i really want to prevent other people from experiencing what my family experienced.

autria: her first piece of advice intervene. >> i wish i had asked him a lot more questions. about it. autria: autria godfrey, abc 7 news. kimberly: these experts are hearing from you about identity theft, about unwanted telemarketing calls, about offers to get yet another reverse mortgage. ff if that's you and you've been getting those calls and letters, call this number 703-236-9220 and all these experts can guide you about what to do next and where to report that information. back to you in the studio. leon: sounds good. check back with you later. coming up just ahead here on abc 7 news at 5:00 the fight for a varsity letter gaining ground across the country. >> heard a loud boom and it shook the house. alison: investigators try to piece together how this high school caught fire. reporter: a 16-year-old volleyball player says her coach isn't letting her play.

she's heading t

leon: a northern virginia volleyball player is hoping to score in a court of law. alison: right, the 16-year-old and her family filed suit alleging her volleyball association is keeping her from playing. and in the process cutting her chances for a scholarship. stephen tschida has the story. stephen: she loves club volleyball. it more so than the high school

version often leads to scholarship possibilities. 16-year-old autria had a few offers but went with a club in chantilly. she says after she joined the coach wouldn't let her play. >> it was really unfair. opportunities to be filmed, you know, to give to college coaches and things like that. definitely a setback. stephen: when the league said that she couldn't go to another team they filed suit. >> the team wants to let her play as a tournament player and they've said you can't transfer from one team to another. stephen: the league maintains that autria is just unhappy with her playing time and letting her transfer to another team would set a bad precedent. >> put us through a lot. hate to see your child hurt and you want, you know when they work so hard for something, you want the best for them. stephen: meanwhile, autria says she just wants to play period. >> now just for, you know other people to realize that you know, it's not ok and that they can, you know, have a voice, too and stand up for it. stephen: a judge has asked for

more facts so both sides are gearing up for another match that will be settled in court and not on a court. stephen tschida, abc 7 news. leon: students from good council high school voiced their support for a kansas special needs student today. a national campaign was laujsnched to get michael kelly's varsity letter back. he is the ball boy so his letter bought him a letter jacket. other parents started to complain that they felt that kelly hadn't earned the letter. >> what we want is simply the opportunity for all special ed students to earn a varsity letter. >> lettering is not new for our board. we've actually been talking about it what it looks like, establishing criteria. leon: school officials point out that michael plays in a league that isn't run by the school system. they sayre looking at a policy that would extend to the entire district. michael kelly's mother says the

issue should be one of sportsmanship. not achievement. alison: it looks like our region is the place to be for college graduates. a survey by the financial planning website nerve wallet puts d.c. and arlington in the top five best cities to live with a college degree. the site factored in jobs requiring a degree salaries cost of living. arlington was second behind madison, wisconsin. the district ranks fifth. well, in oregon a massive fire destroyed part of a high school this morning. that four alarm fire started in the cafeteria around 3:00 a.m. 60 firefighters battled the flames for at least eight hours. neighbors reported hearing a loud explosion right before the fire started. >> heard a loud boom and it shook the house. first, i thought maybe thunderstorms and didn't realize it was too loud. maybe trains because we live by the train tracks and didn't seem like it so i walked outside, down this road from me it seems like a trailer. go home thinking that's the only thing that's going on.

turn on the news and find out that the high school is now on fire. alison: no one was hurt and the cause of that fire is still under investigation. leon: change goes into effect today for bus riders in alexandria who can no longer add value to our smart trip cards when you're on board a dash bus. instead, you have to go on line or add value at metro rail stations c.v.s. or giant locations in alexandria. and you can also pay the fare with cash or use a dash pass. all right. with that in mind, let's see how passable the roads are for us this evening. jamie sullivan watching things for us. hey, jamie. jamie: couple of spots that aren't the best. i want to start in the d.c. area. taking a look southeast-southwest free way, we're slow and we are in the single digits for you averaging only nine miles per hour. that's heading outbound on d.c. 295. let's look at what we have on 395. that's traffic, same thing. in the single digits. heading in there was an earlier accident on the 14th street bridge. that's gone. take a live look to show you in that area how congested we are

right now. for you heading outbound on 395, same thing. but you can really see here trying to get into d.c. it's a rough ride. as we move to our other camera this one i want to show you is on the top side of the beltway near good luck road and both the inner loop and outer loop jammed. this is really that toughest spot for us in the afternoon. as we move back to our maps just to show you what we've got very heavy traffic. 16 miles per hour. so on the inner loop you start to slow before the toll road continuing to work your way a little bit closer towards bethesda. so again this is going to be the heaviest spot. earlier crashes in montgomery county cleared away. that's a look at traffic. back to you. leon: thank you, jamie. still ahead here on abc 7 news at 5:00 -- >> was in his ear. that was funny. leon: cat in the hat comes to school and brings the magic of books along with him. how a volunteer organization is making a big difference in thousands of children's lives. this week's harris' hero just ahead.

alison: tonight at 6:00 a decision in the case against the woman at the center of the i.r.s. scandal. what the justice department is saying about lois learner at

leon: today kicks off card and

letter writing month and the u.s. postal service dedicated a new forever stamp to commemorate the occasion. d.c. delegate eleanor holmes north on helped unveil from me to you stamp today. and the usps is collaborating with scholastic to provide educators with a guide for teaching letter writing. now, for 16 years, a group of women have volunteered count hours engaging children in programs to build self-esteem, boost their academic skills and provide job training even. they are the women of the prince george's county chapter of the continental societies and they are this week's harris' heroes. >> how many have -- leon: it's a special day for the youngest students at robert r. gray elementary school in prince george's county. >> we looked and we saw him, the cat in hat! leon: a storyteller dressed as a dr. seuss character is at school to read to the children in head start and prekindergarten classes.

she is a member of the prince george's county chapter of the continental societies. their volunteers work with schools bringing programs focusing on everything from dental hygiene to culinary arts. >> there's such a limited amount of instructional time left in the school day. we feel like we can fill in that void, if you will. leon: a key focus for the younger grades is reading and she uses a little bit of magic to make the books come alive. >> i learn to become a storyteller. i felt if they had some magic that they would maybe become lifelong readers and love reading. wow! leon: definitely made an impact on this young audience. >> funniest part in my brain that i keep on trying to hold is that she let us do some magic. leon: and left them understanding why reading is

important. >> because that way, you get to learn. >> and you're going to read many many books, right? >> yeah! leon: the volunteers say that it's rewarding to them to know that they're making an impact. since it's founded, chapter has worked with more than 40,000 students in elementary through high school. we hope they don't stop now. alison? alison: that's great. cute kids. leon, thank you. the cherry blossoms are getting closer to peak bloom. we'll show you what it looks like at the tidal basin today coming up. horace: i'm horace holmes. a maryland couple called "7 on your side" to help them get money back from a dispute with the contractor. a contractor that we've seen not once but twice before on "7 on your side." we'll tell you about it coming up next.

alison: a local bride had it all figured out. she would sell her home and move in with her new husband in another state. leon: before she could sell, she had to fix up her fixer-upper. she says that her contractor left her high and dry in the

process. alison: when she called "7 on your side", our trouble shooter horace holmes discovered the contractor has been at the center of one of our investigations not once but twice before. horace: robin ford had loved her civil war farmhouse nestled at the top of a hill in temple hills, maryland. but she just had gotten married and it was time to move on. >> we had an issue where the one corner of the house. horace: it had a few problems. >> was settling and lower than all the others. horace: ford and her husband had a buyer. before the sell could go through, the foundation of the home had to be fixed. ford, three weeks ago on a referral from a family member hired jermaine sturge and his home improvement company to come in, dig up this corner of her kitchen to access and raise the foundation. >> he started on the opposite end of the kitchen and just really demolished everything leaving this section completely undisturbed. horace: the couple paid stur dp e $4400.

he demolished the floor and he asked for more money. they gave him $2000 more and then never showed up again. >> if he's done this to us and as friends of family and come to find out that he's done this with so many other people. horace: turns out he's been accused of this thing many times before. and has been the focus of two previous "7 on your side" reports. one in 2012 and another one a year ago. in both cases, after our reports aired, sturge did make a full refund. however, despite repeated attempts, he did not talk to us on camera then and will not talk to us now. >> of course, i felt betrayed. horace: these home owners accusing him of taking thousands of downpayments and disappearing. as for robin ford and her husband, they hired other contractors to finish the work on her house. now she just wants her money back from jermaine sturge. ford told us that he told her he was licensed and insured. but "7 on your side" checked and found out that sturge is not a

licensed contractor. and the number on -- that he gave ford of another contractor belonged to someone else and that license had expired back in january. reporting live in the newsroom horace holmes, abc 7 news. leon: let us know how 7 can be on your side. call our tips hotline or send us your story ideas to tips at wjla.com. alison: we have some breaking news just coming to us out of northwest washington this afternoon where an arrest has been made in the donovan hotel murder. david messerschmitt was found dead inside of a hotel room earlier this month, and police confirm the person charged is a woman. but they did not identify the suspect. abc 7 is working all angles of this story and we'll bring you new information tonight on abc 7 news at 6:00. leon: all right. coming up ahead here on abc 7 news at 6:00 tonight, new life for d.c.'s streetcar project. new plans unveiled by mayor

muriel bowser weeks after it appeared that project was going to be scra plus a first-hand look at the moments after a disaster. what we're seeing from a police body camera moments after tornado ripped a home apart. plus for the first time in seven years, a u.s. senator has been indicted. the accusations against senator robert menendez coming your way here at 6:00. alison: all right. first, another check of our weather. lovely day today but changes are coming. leon: as usual. see anything good right? doug: sure. spring has sprung. little setbacks temperaturewise now and then. on average, pretty good shape weatherwise. let's take you up to the rooftop and give you a view. zoomed in on the tidal basin jefferson memorial beautiful spring afternoon. a little glint of pink along the tidal basin. let's keep the spring thing going here. go downstairs outside of our building lobby and talk to steve rudin and continue our spring fling. steve: a little bit of a tint around the tidal basin. if your allergies are bothering

you, there's a good reason why. the tree pollen in the high category. if you think it's bad out there right now and if your eyes are watering and your nose is sniffly, only going to get worse over the coming weeks as all the flowers and blossoms begin to bloom. this is what it looks like around the tidal basin today. today, an official announcement made that 70% of the trees now have the florets that are visible. that means by april 11th through the 14th that's when we're expecting peak bloom around the tidal basin. about another week week and a half away and you'll see the big fluffy blooms. that doesn't mean that we're not going to see anything a little bit earlier than that. i wouldn't be surprised with high temperatures tomorrow around 70 a little bit warmer on friday. that gives it an extra push and talking more about those temperatures and what to expect for easter holiday weekend. let's head back inside to doug hill. doug: all right, steve and temperatures in the 50's to low 60's now. take a look at the map and show you the numbers. 61 at reagan national. 57 at dulles. 60 degrees in fredricksburg.

clear skies with high pressure. just a few fair weather clouds will dissipate but off to the west on the left-hand side of the screen bottom is a warm front. top is the cold front. both will do a number on us here. tonight, no worries. clear and chilly. lows near 40. tomorrow sunny, breezy. warm. we'll be sneezing our heads off. 70 degrees for the high temperature. as we get through the day on friday, we'll turn warmer even though we won't have much sunshine. warm front will be bring rain. maybe thunderstorms. but again 73 for a high. easter sunday 63. tim brandt, listen up for the nats home opener, should be partly cloudy in the low 60's. showers are likely by the evening hours continuing into tuesday. i've said all i'm going to say. back to you guys. tim: by then max scherzer will be done by then. and the nats will be 1-0. this is time. there's no more teasing. this is not a drill. baseball season is now upon us.

the yankees play an exhibition game here saturday. opening day against the mets is monday so today, we took a tour of the stadium to see if it's all dressed up and ready to go and oh the freshly cut bent grass still light green but turning as the weather warms and opening day nears and forget about the walk through the metal detectors that you'll have to go through this season. don't worry about them. be patient. it's a sign of the times. once you are on the concourse, though, you'll be throwing cheese. new concession with grilled cheese and macaroni. new pizzas and the same new restaurants as last year. captain's cove is new with outdoor bar. play ball. let's go. meanwhile, the nats have to get ready. they're banged up and coming out of spring ball. espn's tim curtian told me today no worries. >> i don't think it's a major problem because it doesn't appear that any of the injuries are major. but one, two three hitters are not going to be there on opening day. they are probably not going to be there. and that's not going to be a

good thing. and they're going to mix and match and i think with the starting pitching they have, they can overcome this. >> everybody is picking them for the world series. vegas, i think has them at 5-1. how do you see the season? >> well i'm picking them to win the world series. of course, i picked them to win the world series last year. we saw how that went. now, their starting rotation, tim, is borderline historic if everything goes the right way. tim, this is baseball. there is no guarantees here. and that's the ultimate beauty of the game. we're never sure how this stuff is going to work. so when i say i'm picking the nationals, take that with a grain of salt because this is -- last year we knew the heat were going to play the pacers in the conference finals before the season even started! and that's exactly what happened. in baseball, we have no idea. tim: hey, you can hear more of tim here on abc 7 at 7:00 p.m. saturday night as we counts down to the first pitch. we'll go up close and personal

with the players, with timmy and break down the roster and look at the realistic chances of the nats getting to the word series. that's all saturday night right here, first pitch saturday night at 7:00 p.m. abc 7! don't you love tim? i love him! i love him! the nicest human being on the planet. leon: here's hoping that he's right this time around. picked the nats last year instead. tim: i'm not going there. stop it. leon: ok i'll take your word for it. you may not want to answer the call from a phone scammer, right? alison: tonight, one call from you could help protect you from their scheme. kimberly: this is the call that you want to make. 703-236-9220. this is our "7 on your side" consumer protection phone bank. experts are standing by even if you haven't been taken but you think you've been the target, they want to hear from you.

alison: if may be april fools' day but getting caught up in a scam is no joke. leon: that's right. tonight, the "7 on your side" team wants to help you avoid phone scams. kimberly suiters is live in the help center right now working the phones. kimberly? kimberly: not just phone scams, mail scams and e-mail scams and if someone is calling your house and you want them to stop calling, they're giving you advice on how to do this. we're also hearing from people who even tow truck driver tried to extort money from them. how can they get their money back? we're also hearing about a scam that has to do with spring breakers and people calling grandparents and saying your grandchild is in big trouble, send money. wire money. don't do that says the better business bureau. this gentleman here also with the postal inspector's office said that a woman just called. she was scammed out of $40,000. she was asking "7 on your side" to help her out. that's something we'll look into. if you fall into any of those categories, please do call 703-236-9220.

our experts will be here until 6:30 tonight. they're taking your calls and i've heard a lot of people say, you know, i know you were smart. you made a good decision there. in the future though, i would do this. even if you've been targeted but you didn't fall for the scam they also want to hear from you. that's how a lot of these investigations at the f.t.c. and at the better business bureau and at aarp get started. they hear from someone like you, you may not have fallen for it but you may keep someone else from doing so if you call tonight. one more time, the 703-236-9220 number. back to you. alison: thank you. that's it for us on abc 7 news at 5:00. leon: that's right. abc 7 news at 6:00 starts right now and with breaking news. maureen: we begin with a breaking news of an arrest in the murder of a d.c. lawyer whose body was found six weeks ago in a room at the upscale

donovan hotel in northwest washington. horace holmes is live in the newsroom with the breaking details. horace? horace: maureen, d.c. police confirm just moments ago the arrest in the murder of washington lawyer david messerschmitt. messerschmitt's body was found inside a hotel room at the donovan in northwest washington back in february. now, right now, police tell us the person charged is a woman. but they have not released her name. you may remember surveillance video of a person of interest in the murder was released in the days following the crime. that video shows a woman inside a stairwell at the hotel. during the investigation, police reveal they found a variety of items inside messerschmitt's hotel room including condoms. messerschmitt was last seen on sunday, february 8th by his wife inside their home in capital heights. his body was found several days later at the donovan. and just last week, messerschmitt's wife made a public plea for anyone with information about her husband's

death to come forward. we, of course, are working this story right now as we speak and we'll have more information throughout the night on wjla.com as well as on abc 7 news at 11:00. maureen: thank you horace. surprising about-face for d.c.'s streetcar project. it appears it was dead but now the mayor is calling for expansion of the troubled project extending it from h street to georgetown. chris papst is live in georgetown with the new plan and the reaction to it. chris? chris: this statement from muriel bowser from last night, the mayor really caught a lot of people by surprise but if this expansion would happen streetcar would be continued west from union station along k street and would stop this intersection to wisconsin avenue. >> fort benning road to