hing implications that could hurt survivors of sexual abuse. >> the product of failed methodology. reporter: an avoidable failure at every level of the magazine. that's how they describe this article about a frat rape at u.v.a. in the aftermath the magazine has issued a short apology but the damage caused could be vast. today, virginia's governor released this statement. "this false account has been an unnecessary and dangerous distraction from real efforts to combat sexual violence on our college campuses." the attorney general said" rolling stone's" failures has put survivors in a more difficult position. we remain committed to enacting survivor centered reforms that will encourage reporting. >> i appreciate the comments of the attorney general. reporter: this is the executive director for the national organization for victim

assistance. >> someone could now say as a victim, i'm not going to report. look at the firestorm this false reporting created. reporter: he cites statistics that only 3% of rapists go to jail. and more than half of all rapes are never reported to police. mostly because victims are afraid of not being believed. and the massive fallout to this "rolling stone" article could convince more victims to stay quiet. >> as a society, we don't believe victims whoever they are. we simply do not believe them. if we did the reporting would be more and the conviction rate would be higher. reporter: in the review columbia mentioned how u.v.a. handled reports of repeated allegedly sexual acts from the same person. state guidelines say the school should have taken action or issued a public safety warning which it did not. chris papst, abc 7 news. alison: as for the fallout at "rolling stone" the magazine said no one will lose their job. the report's author apologized

saying she will not repeat the mistakes made in the article. "rolling stone's" managing editor pledged to review editorial practices and follow recommendations about journalistic practices as well. leon: gets to the other big story today. the start of baseball season and washington nationals face sky-high expectations. maybe unfairly sky-high. alison: they do indeed. we have team coverage from the abc 7 sports team including the big announcement of the future. we begin with horace holmes live at nats park with what fans are seeing today. hi horace. horace: hi alison. they're seeing what they've been longing to see since last october. this big crowd back here is here on opening day. a picture perfect day and they're seeing baseball. they love it. it's a day when all the heartbreaks of a season past are forgotten. >> i don't want to be let down. i'd rather you know say this.

horace: hopes for a new promising year are at their height. >> best year yet. we have the great pitching going into the season. so hope we live up to expectations on paper. horace: opening day at nats park. >> this is my first opening day ever. horace: the team that brought baseball back to washington. >> i'll meet my son a little bit later today and we'll go to the 10th game that we've gone to, 10th opening day. horace: and it's a family affair for the very old and the very young. this is the 5-year-old's fifth opening day. >> been here every year early and we hang out and wait for gates to open and we just love it. horace: on an opening day with picture perfect weather and a team, fans feel could go all the way, there's lots of love and fireworks in the air. even among friendly rivals.

and fireworks on the field just a minute ago bryce harper went yard. a home run. the nationals lead 1-0. back to you guys in the studio. alison: all right. couldn't have had a better day out there, horace. we're a little jealous. leon: you had so many people around you last time we saw you. they left you hanging out there on the curb, huh? e horace: absolutely. they're in there seeing the real action. leon: if you get inside -- horace: 1-0 nats. alison: see you in a little bit. thank you. tim: got to go inside the ballpark. come on man! alison: this is just part of the big news coming out of nats park today. tim: this is big for washington. it's official the all star game will be held here in washington july 10th 2018 at nationals park and the learner family quickly becoming one of the best ownership groups in all of sports. nats park is becoming the hot place to be in sports. nats park as you know hosted the national league playoffs

national league east champions and the winter classic and now they will host the all star game. how about the world series in 2015. come on stop it. hey, folks. this will be the fifth time the mid summer classic has been held in d.c. twice at griffith stadium and once at d.c. stadium once at r.f.k. and now at nats park. >> i think commissioner selig regarded one of the greatest accomplishments of his tenure was returning baseball to the nation's capital and we both felt that it was important to continue to nurture that relationship. >> something we've wanted since day one. it was a high priority and this gorgeous ballpark that's funded by the citizens of this city they deserve to have an all star game. tim: way to go. congratulations. incredible day down in south capital street, big announcements and the smell of freshly mowed grass and the excitement of spring baseball in the park itself and robert burton has been enjoying this all day long.

what do you have down there on a beautiful day in the nation's capital? robert: we're right outside of the home plate gate. bryce harper went ham on a ball solo shot. they have a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning. before the action we were inside the clubhouse. when you talk to guys like ian desmond and ryan zimmerman, they have an attitude like it's the same old, same old. act like you've been here before but skipper matt williams says you want to relish these moments. not everyone gets to play on opening day. when the ump says go you better be able to play. >> opening day, heart beats just a touch faster and it's all the work that you've done. you know the grind starts today. >> it's more a pain. to be honest with you because we don't get to do everything we usually do before the game. but, you know, shouldn't say

that. it's an exciting day. but yeah, it's just -- you have to treat it like any other day. robert: coming up at 5:50 we'll hear from the bearded one jason werth. he talks all star baseball too. back to you in the studio tim. tim: thank you very much. when you look at the roster and what's taking place today, they only have a third of the starting lineup in there. people talking about the world series. they better talk about the mets. leon: when they get there, they might get there. tim: max scherzer looks terrific. leon: was that his excited face? tim: yes, it was. come on, man. leon: all right. you couldn't have asked for better weather to start this new baseball season. alison: yeah. like all good things it must come to an end pretty soon. chief meteorologist doug hill has a first look at the changes on the way. hi doug. doug: yeah, the rest of this evening will be fine, stay in the 70's for a little while longer. things will change here. give you a live look from the

rooftop camera gusty winds. that's why the camera is bouncing up and down a little bit. up in the rooftop, 300 feet up. you have wind gusts at 35 miles an hour right now. beautiful sunshine only a few clouds and very warm temperatures. 77 now at reagan national. 79 degrees in frederick. 75 at quantico. 74 at andrews air force base and the winds, sustained winds now out of the south-southwest, 18 miles per hour at reagan national. and it's just going to be gusty. but the winds will diminish a bit later tonight. temperatures will stay mild. here it comes. rain showers increasing across western pennsylvania and ohio. some of those will be here 3:00 4:00, 5:00 in the morning. those are the changes that we're looking at. more details and look ahead to the rest of the work week and upcoming weekend in a few minutes. leon? leon: ok now we take you out to a frightening scene at a lanham home. a car there goes from the curb to the couch inside. incredibly no one was seriously hurt. tonight, jennifer donelan is giving us a look inside this damaged home and there live there tonight.

i understand that you spoke with the man behind the wheel. what's the story here? >> he's very honest about what happened. we'll get to that in a moment. this is what's left outside of the house. there's now a hole in front of home after what was an unbelievable afternoon. a ford focus halfway out. >> i heard a boom. i thought it was trash bags outside. jeanette: and halfway in. no matter which angle, it's hard to imagine how the 91-year-old walked away from this. >> gas pedal got stuck? >> yeah. then hit that car. jennifer: first he hit the neighbor's car. >> i didn't think he should be driving. he's hit my car three times. jennifer: this time calhoun jumped the curb. >> cut it off but i didn't. run right into that house. jennifer: right into this house. >> it's amazing, i couldn't figure it out how it happened. jennifer: the family fortunately, left 30 minutes before this. his 9-year-old son had been

there watching tv. >> watch tv there. jennifer: prince george's county firefighters had to break into the house to rescue calhoun who was trapped inside the car. you sure you feel ok? >> i feel all right. >> we would liked to have taken him to hospital. he refused any additional treatment or transport to the hospital. >> i probably won't be driving no more. driving means everything to you. >> yeah. hard to let go. >> going to be hard. jennifer: he's very sure insurance will drop him. no word yet from prince george's county police on whether or not they'll be filing charges. he has family in the area. they're at the home with him now. roaring live from lanham jennifer donelan, abc 7 news. leon: what a scene. all right, jennifer. prince george's county police have just identified two men killed in a horrific crash this morning in beltsville. police say 19-year-old marvin john vancure of laurel was killed when his chevy impala crossed the center line and hit

a trash truck head on. his passenger was also killed. three other people in the car were hurt. the truck driver was injured but not seriously. that crash shut down edmondson road for most of the morning. alison: jury deliberations will begin tomorrow morning in the trial of boston marathon bombing suspect dzhokhar tsarnaev. during closing arguments, the prosecutor told jurors the attack was a cold, calculated terrorist act aimed at punishing the united states. the defense admitted tsarnaev's involvement but argued he was under the influence of his older brother and should be spared the death penalty. >> defense shows the picture of him following tamerlan through those pictures showing he was just a follower. alison: next week marks the second anniversary of that bombing. the 2013 attack killed three people and wounded hundreds more. abc 7 will continue monitoring the jury's progress in boston. we'll bring you the verdict the moment it is announced.

leon: hard to believe it's been two years. still ahead here on abc 7 news at 5:00 one person's frantic effort to escape a fire in washington. alison: a warning for new mothers tonight about how their efforts to be natural could end up sickening their child. leon: and the unexpected side effects one college is dealing with after a different college in virginia said it's shutting down. reporter: beefed up security at the national zoo on a festive day marred recently by violence. i'm stephen tschida.

alison: the second incident happened around 10:30 the same night at a c.v.s. on pickwick road in centreville. the suspect left before grabbing the drugs. leon: the monday after easter has long been a day for family in this area. in recent years, that tradition has been overshadowed by violence particularly in and around the national zoo. and that's prompted a host of

security changes this year. stephen tschida is live right now with an update on how everything is going. stephen? stephen: leon we're in the heart of the national zoo. crowds have thinned out a bit from earlier in the day but if you look into the crowds interspersed, there are a lot of law enforcement officers and checked with one a few minutes ago and told me so far so good. long lines and lots of waiting. >> made it! stephen: all the extra scrutiny made getting to the zoo a challenge. >> i do know there's a lot of people here today, too. stephen: like thousands of them! on what was historically known as african-american family day, we also saw a lot of police in the crowd. and aggressive effort to keep a lid on violence. >> i think they've done a good job today with all the extra security so i think we should be fine. stephen: recent incidents such as the shooting and wounding of two teens outside of the zoo last year prompted a group of volunteers to form project safe

zoo. they will stroll the grounds all day intent on any potential confrontations. >> if you could prevent hostility, then it generally sdenlt escalate. stephen: some who visited the zoo acknowledged they were worried. >> i was worried about the cops here because of recent incidents happening. i think it's pretty safe though. stephen: the volunteers with project safe zoo will be out and about until the end of business today. the beefed up police presence will continue here throughout spring break week because of all of the extra people on hand. reporting live stephen tschida abc 7 news. leon: thank you, stephen. alison: ok. doug: nice day for the zoo today. alison: everything going on around town. doug: not that we mind being in here. leon: wanna bet? speak for yourself! doug: listen we have good stuff. enjoy it. soak it up every minute of sunshine for this day because rain is coming in along with cloudy skies and a definite

change in the pattern. this is weather bug at damascus elementary school in upper montgomery county. beautiful morning. high clouds went away and gave us a bright and sunny day. i think you'll see here at the end of the frame, see a few clouds moving in. that's the story. it will be a slow but steady increasing cloudiness through the remainder of the late afternoon and evening around the entire area. temperatures very comfortable. 73 in annandale, waldorf and chevy chase. 66 at the naval academy. the reason for that, i tell you all the time when you see a bright sunny day and difference in temperatures, that's because the cold winds are blowing over the river and clearing off the air temperature at the site at the naval academy. numbers look pretty good around the area. 75 in manassas. 81 in culpepper and 77 in the nation's capital. skies will stay clear a while longer and then clouds return later tonight and by 3:00 4:00, 5:00 in the morning, scattered showers will be happening so the reminder is plan on some rain around the area during the rush hour. making plans for the kids going to school and going to work.

umbrellas. that kind of stuff. not only tomorrow but for the next several days. temperatures plenty warm. turning cooler around the front. we're not worried about the cold temperatures moving in. when we turn cooler the next few days air will be coming off the atlantic ocean. that will be our source. lot of things will be changing here. high pressure giving us this glorious day moving out. that will figuratively open the door to a couple of weather pa low pressure developing to the west with the rain. cold front the next couple of days and put on the brakes and head back north as the warm front. temperatures will be seeing big swings in the next few days. constant will be a chance of rain tomorrow wednesday and thursday and friday. a little look at it here with the front being close to the area by the daytime hours tomorrow. through the day tomorrow night, it will slip south and push of energy along the front that will ramp up the rain chances by late tomorrow night. into the day wednesday, the front will go south. that's when the winds will come off the atlantic. much cooler air. by air, we're not that far away from the atlantic ocean.

cooler weather on wednesday and thursday. late thursday night, the front goes back north and we warm up. this is one computer model's estimation of how much rain will have fall not by 1:00 p.m. on wednesday. only a few 10ths of an inch. to the north, heavier amounts. this doesn't mean this is the way it's going to turn out. this is one of several models. i put this on because i like the colors frankly. nice shades of green and yellow and orange and red. you get the idea. most of the heavier, steadier rain should be to the north of the metro area. everybody will get some going forward for the next few days. still mild and low 70's. there will be areas of rain at times through the day. still have a sotherly wind. notice the rain chances but notice the highs are only going to be in the middle to upper 50's at best with the wind off ocean and friday with the warm front moving through, we'll get a couple of showers and warmer temperatures. maybe a thunderstorm in the 70's and clear out over the weekend now. mostly sunny with highs both days near 70 degrees.

alison: thank you very much. we'll enjoy today while we can. doug: yep. alison: coming up on abc 7 news at 5:00 new information on the investigation into metro. the new incident the ntsb is looking to for answers in that january disaster that costs one woman her life. leon: a survivor describes a deadly rush to escape and get help. alison: warning for parents turning to the

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alison: now to a "7 on your side" health matter warnings. thaurz there's a new study that says breast milk on-line may not be as good as you think. 10% was topped off with cow's milk. researchers believe the sellers are intentionally stretching the product with cow's milk or infant formula. doctors say the mixture can be harmful to babies with dairy allergies or any other medical conditions. leon: a third salisbury student has been diagnosed with tuberculosis. the health department and the university detect others there at the school. the first student was diagnosed in october and a second was diagnosed last month. officials say the latest student to be diagnosed is under medical care and is no longer attending classes. the testing is under way now to determine if these cases are

linked. alison: and a roanoke area women's college is scrambling to prepare for an influx of new students after the closing of sweet briar college. sweet briar, an all women's liberal arts school in southern virginia will close after commencement and already, 236 undergrads at the college applied to holland university. a spokesperson for holland says it doesn't expect that many students to actually transfer but it must prepare just in case. sweet briar announced it's closing last month citing financial problems and falling enrollment. leon: coming up on abc 7 news at 5:00, an arrest in what police are calling a case of road rage. what the victim has to say about the moment a stranger shot her in the head on a highway. alison: new incident investigators are looking at for answers after a woman died in a smoke-filled yellow line train. reporter: an early morning house fire kills one person leaving another man fighting for his life. coming up we'll hear f

leon: one person is dead and another seriously injured after an early morning fire in northwest washington. fire broke out inside of a row house near the corner of 11th and kenyon streets. diane cho is there tonight with what we just learned about the victims. diane? diane: police have confirmed

that the 81-year-old who lived mere here was the woman who died here today. they spent the day trying to salvage what they could after a fire broke out at this home at kenyon street northwest and quickly spread next door. >> parts my room were on fire. die on: harrison says he was still asleep when he heard the smoke detector sounding throughout their home. >> kind of crazy seeing the neighbor's house is on fire and all of a sudden your house is filled with smoke. diane: police say the fire started at this row house where two people were rushed to a local hospital in critical condition. they say a woman did not survive. neighbors told police an older couple lived in that home but it's unclear if they were the victim in the fire. >> really sad. diane: police say when officers got to the scene, flames could be seen shooting out of the home that caught fire 20 feet in the air. mike mason lives with harrison. >> i ran outside in my backyard and i could see flames pouring

out of the window next to mine. diane: he says other neighbors started banging on the doors and windows at the home where the fire started but no one responded. >> once we got outside, we saw two people taken out on stretchers. >> i mean really traumatic and awful to see. diane: all three of these homes that were affected will be boarded up. the cause of the fire is still under investigation. in north west d.c. diane cho, abc 7 news. alison: investigators believe a lit cigarette is to blame for a deadly fire in prince george's county. that happened at 9:15 last night in the home of the 3100 block of edward street in spring dale. it appears an 83-year-old man was sitting and accidentally lit his clothes on fire with the cigarette. that fire is being ruled accidental and there is no word on what caused the townhouse fire in fairfax county. smoke and flames damage this home on winter pine court in maryfield around 2:00 this morning.

everyone made it out safely. leon: photo investigators are examining smoke incidents on metro that seem to have a number of similarities. one of the latest incidents under investigation happened on february 11th at courthouse station. no one was hurt there but that data was similar to the yellow line incident near l'enfant plaza in january. that incident killed one person and sickened 80 others. a preliminary report found it was caused by an electrical malfunction. ventilation fans didn't work properly and it took firefighters 30 minutes to get inside and reach those passengers.ople are recovering after an overnight fight led to a stabbing at a hit and run in germantown. investigators are called to an apartment before 3:00 a.m. two suspects showed up to settle a fight from an earlier party. they allegedly stabbed two people and hit another person with their car before taking off. the victims are expected to recover. police are searching for the two suspects. alison: checking the top stories now. the phi kappa psi fraternity is

pursuing legal action against "rolling stone" magazine. phi kappa psi said itdefamed the organization and its members. a review found failures at all levels of that magazine. leon: a 91-year-old man is alive after crashing the car into the neighbor's house. no one was home at the time rather, fortunately but the room where the car ended up had people in it 30 minutes before that crash. they had to free the driver from the car. he was not seriously hurt. and it appears that he hit the accelerator instead of the brake. alison: it is official. nats park will be hosting the 2018 major league all star game. commissioner made the announcement just today. washington hasn't hosted an all star game since 1969. leon: been a long time coming. alison: wow. that game took place at r.f.k. stadium. leon: brand new place to have a game for them now. alison: absolutely. that announcement came just as the nationals kicked off their

2015 season today. steve rudin live at nationals park where opening day is in full swing. steve, perfect weather for baseball. steve: it is absolutely beautiful out here. even though we are down by one at this point, still have a ways to go. the weather is going to cooperate just fine. not only for the rest of the game but for the evening hours. tomorrow, a bit of a different story. outside we go right now looking at our weather bug network nationals park now in the middle 70's. beautiful, beautiful day. the winds still gusts around 20 to 25 miles an hour. as we look at satellite and radar, it stays dry for the evening hours. as we move into the overnight hours, clouds will increase and of course, with those clouds will come showers, periods of rain for tomorrow. and then cooler temperatures for the middle of the week. this evening's forecast looks fantastic. we fall from the 70's eventually into the 60's and upper 50's by the time you wake up early tomorrow morning. for those who could not make it to the game down here but might

be going out to dinner tonight, it looks absolutely fantastic. take advantage of this evening because we're not going to have a chance like this evening for at least another three to four days. leon and alison back to you. leon: thank you, steve. now, the district began pplications for its expanded summer jobs program today. the department of employment services is now helping young adults age 22 through 24 years of age to find temporary jobs. the program provides six weeks of meaningful employment and work readiness training for district youth. applications have to be received there by friday april 17th and as you may guess, space is limited. all right. let's get a check of the traffic situation this evening. jamie sullivan is watching the roads for us. hey, jamie. jamie: we've had a couple of different accidents. right now i want to focus on the slowing. a lot of yellow and red. keep that in mind. cleared away the crash we had on the freeway at main avenue. that's good. we'll see a lot of congestion in the next couple of hours because

everybody will be try leaving the nats game around the same time. expect that congestion on the freeway, 295 you'll see at the douglas bridge as well as south capital street and let's go ahead and take a look at 395. so we did have the accident southbound. still in place. everything is over to the side. you've got this nice yellow line. so it's still some slowing on 395. and then i want to focus on what we are working and that's going to be a little bit further south. bottom side of the beltway averaging 16 miles per hour. i want to show you how built up traffic is. the crash that we had was blocking the lane and then they moved everything over to the shoulder but still on the brakes bumper to bumper traffic right near telegraph road so want to get ready for the beltway slowing. as far as other accidents, really, we don't have any. we've got the normal slowing on the beltway getting from virginia into maryland crossing the american legion bridge. 270, same thing but for the most part, we are just still working that one crash. and get ready for the congestion. that's a look at traffic. back to you. alison: thank you, jamie.

coming up on abc 7 news at 5:00 why we're in opening days of the tourist boom that could last beyond the cherry blossom peak. and the out of control party that ripped up a neighborhood and the direct apology from d.c. that's coming up tonight on abc 7 news at 6:00. leon: all right. first, david muir has a look of what's ahead on "world news tonight." david? david: leon alison breaking news at this hour final dramatic moments in the boston marathon trial. should his life be spared or get the death penalty? also breaking police under the microscope. officer firing 49 shots and 15 into a windshield. man and woman inside unarmed. what the officer is now saying. the american family poisoned while on vacation. tonight, their two boys in critical condition. authorities on what

leon: an arrest today in a violent road rage attack on a houston highway. last month a driver shot a woman while driving down the road hitting her in the head. as abc's kayla wentworth report police believe they've found him. reporter: a traumatizing morning

commute for the 28-year-old. >> this is where it happened. reporter: while heading to work she was shot in the back of the head and left for dead. >> his mission, although it was to kill me and i'm still living, i know that's killing him. reporter: doctors had to remove bullet fragments from her skull. that man who she said shot her has been on the loose for 17 days. but monday morning, deputies in houston, texas saying they made an arrest. they also believe they found the car and the possible weapon used in the shooting last month. it was the early description that helped lead to the arrest. >> i told 911 operator that i think i had been shot. reporter: while she was in and out of consciousness, she was able to save herself and, perhaps, others. >> you may be in the situation like i am but you may not make it. reporter: you may remember when she was re hospital, she was afraid to go home while the shooter was still on the loose. that was a sentiment echoed by other residents in houston. she also had a word of warning for other commuters saying if you find yourself on the road with an aggressive driver, don't retaliate.

in los angeles, kayna wentworth, abc 7 news. alison: such relief for her. unreal. all right. coming up next at 5:00 a tourism boom for the district. why it is being fuelled by more than just the cherry blossoms. leon: ok. new information on that terror attack at a kenyan college where 147 people were killed. the reward being offered for the mastermind and what sun survivor's harrowing story of escape has. next on abc 7 news at 5:00.

alison: we are back now with this breaking news from capital heights. come take a look at your screen right now of this live picture. there's some kind of commercial fire under way as we speak. we're told this is on ashwood drive which is in capital heights. black smoke can be seen for miles. this is what it looks like actually from our building in arlington. r.f.k. stadium is there at the bottom of your screen. people are reporting they're being able to see that smoke as far away as reagan national airport and nats park where the game is under way. we don't know right now what

business this is. what sort of business we don't know any word of any injuries at this hour but we do have a crew on the way to the scene. we will continue to bring you details throughout the evening. so stay with abc 7 as we monitor this breaking news fire. leon: pretty massive. overseas now, kenya launched air strikes against al-shabab, that terrorist group responsible for last week's college massacre in kenya. war planes bombed al-shabab's training camps in neighboring somalia. kenya is offering a $215,000 award for the capture of the mastermind in the attack. kenyan authorities say one fortunate gunman who killed 148 people was the son of a government official. >> occupy the hotel where you are and by then, to kill and to be killed. leon: al-shabab said the attack

on the college was payback for kenya's efforts to defeat an islamic insurgency in somalia. they promised more attacks in the future. alison? >> here's a look at what's coming up at 6:00 tonight. lawsuit denied. why the supreme court says it will not hear the appeal of a montgomery county man who spent five years as a prisoner in cuba and admitting to a mix-up. what jeb bush says he did to end up hispanic in the eyes of the government. that's all still to come tonight on abc 7 news at 6:00. leon: "7 on your side" now with a consumer alert. people are seeing some big price drops on popular vehicles affected by air bag recalls. about 17 million cars were recalled due to air bags made by takata. here's a look at the top brands experiencing price drops according to analysts. maza rxh dropped by $763. other affected brands include the infinity 3545 rather. b.m.w. 3 series coupes and

convertibles. dodge dakota and toyota tundras. alison: this week's famed cherry blossoms are expected to reach their peak bloom. the tourism spike that comes from the trees could last weeks longer. tom roussey explains why we're in for a sweet spot for visitors. >> where are you from? >> atlanta. >> baton rouge, louisiana. tom: the crowds have come from far -- >> california. >> seattle, washington. tom: and not so far. >> baltimore, maryland. tom: with some lines stretching around the block. >> there's a lot of people here. that's all i can tell you. a lot. >> so if the city feels busy it is. tom: theresa with destination d.c. says this is the busiest time of year for tourism. >> it's like the perfect storm between easter holiday meetings and conventions that happen during the springtime as well as its regular visitation. tom: the week before and week after easter bring a slew of families with children on spring break. last april when easter was on the 20th hotels had an 89%

occupancy rate for the month. the highest of the year. and hotel rates last march and april average $235 a night. second only to convention heavy october. if you think maybe this weekend, the crowds are going to start to die down because the spring breakers will be leaving, think again. the crowds are going to continue and the reason is these guys are about to bloom. the cherry blossom parade is saturday. and in a stroke of luck the blossom peak is supposed to happen between then and early next week. for locals that does mean downtown traffic that's been worst than normal will stay that way at least another week. but some don't mind. >> i see a lot of families here. and i like it. tom: tom roussey, abc 7 news. leon: perfect timing goes to the weather as well. the weather peak exactly when the blooms start coming out, huh? alison: we have to get through this week though. rest of the week pretty messy.

doug: absolutely. chances of rain for the next several days. let's get you started here. we're watching the black smoke from the -- what we know is a two alarm fire in capital heights, maryland. jennifer donelan will be here shortly and report to us on abc 7 news. look at the plume of smoke moving from right to left. that shows how strong the sotherly winds are right now and you see the camera balancing as well. and strong winds and a working fire is not a good sign. jen will have the latest for us from the scene shortly. 77 at reagan national now and in fredricksburg. 79 degrees in frederick. there are the winds sustained out of the south and southwest a little bit. 16 18 miles per hour with some higher gusts being reported. there are showers developing north and west through ohio, pennsylvania indiana, another batch over kentucky and tennessee. all that is moving in our general direction so the change is coming our way. the clouds will increase tonight. and overnight temperatures will

drop with isolated showers. plan for that and in fact through the day tomorrow, occasional showers. still will be mild with a southwesterly wind. 72. as we get later in the week it will turn cooler. the winds off the ocean will keep us in the 50's for highs wednesday and thursday. break out a bit on friday into the warm sector again. 74. good chance of showers and thunderstorms clearing out just in time for the weekend. that's the very latest many back to you guys. leon: all right. alison: thank you very much. leon: opening day, nats. tim: it's great. hope it has a better ending. always exciting. i'm a native washingtonian and i was a member of the old knot hole gang as a kid. 11 sitting presidents have thrown out the first pitch for the senators and they said the senators were first in war, first in peace and last in the american league and then moved to the national league. president bush threw out the first pitch and they are the nationals. but no presidents have been down there since. opening day is still exciting. especially with a great team like the nats. robert burton has been at the park all day.

what's latest? robert: quick update for you. mets have a 3-1 lead in the seventh inning. besides the score, it's just too much to be excited about to be in a bad mood because of that. one, you got the excitement of opening day. everybody gets to see max scherzer on the mound. the new ace for the nats. also 10 years of the nationals being in d.c. they got here in 2005. also on top of that you got the announcement there's all star baseball in 2018. spring training is over. and now it's time for the real thing. >> so butterfly don't change. be who you are and be excited about it and be happy about it. and when the game starts and umpire says "play", play. robert: meanwhile, some players have that act like you've been here before attitude. >> i'm excited. i'm really excited here that spring training is over. i'll be more excited when we get past the days off and into more like the routine of baseball.

that's where we all kind of rely on. but i'm excited. robert: on top of opening day the announcement that all star baseball will be back in d.c. in 2018. >> obviously, a city like washington provides us with a unique opportunity to showcase what we think is the greatest game in the world, major league baseball. >> it's good. it's good. you know it's a sign to the world, to baseball that you know, this place is for real. robert: hey, the last time d.c. has seen all star baseball, 1969. frank howard was still playing for the senators. big numbers for you right there. tim, back to you in the studio. tim: thank you very much. scary thought but i was there for that all star game. let's go to the college basketball game. duke and wisconsin play for the national championship tonight in indianapolis. blue devils beat damageers earlier this season 80-70. that game was played in madison december 3rd. duke shot 60% from the field. jones penetrated the lane easily. this is a much better wisconsin team now and the badgers are

favored tonight. >> both teams have grown a lot. you know, they're a better team than they were in december. and i'd say we're a better team as well. tim: big game the last time they played. who do you like in that one? leon: i'm rooting for wisconsin right now. after seeing what they did to kentucky and they're not the same team they were in december. how about you? tim: i'm going with wisconsin as well. maryland beat michigan state twice and wisconsin once. i want wisconsin to win it all. maryland can say they beat the national champs. alison: it all goes back to maryland. up next on abc 7 news at 5:00 we take you inside one of the hottest events in town. leon: that's right. what makes the white house easter egg roll special and the special dance that first lady michelle obama unveil

so i'm working from home. i get on a video conference. with my boss, and my boss's boss. t i forgot to attach the presentation it sends in a flash, good thing i have fios. i don't and it was taking forever. we don't miss a beat. i'm yelling at the kids to get off wi-fi. get off the movies! get off the video games! i think i got a promotion. i think i need a new job. are you guys hiring. why settle when you can have you

have fiber optics with a two year price guaranteed. fios. the fastest, most reliable internet. alison: there's first lady michelle obama. she bought her game face to the

annual white house easter egg roll. this was to celebrate the fifth anniversary of her let's move initiative. mrs. obama joined dancers on stage and some pretty intricate choreographed moves up there. you may recognize some of them from her history of mom dance appearances which she's done alongside jimmy fallon on "the tonight show". look at her. leon: there's the easter egg roll. alison: lot of practice involved with that. that's funny. that was only part of the excitement for that really fun event. leon: that's right. now, jeanette reyes takes us to the white house easter egg roll. jeanette: shortly after the sun came up today, tens of thousands of kids hit the south lawn for the event of the year. >> i'm here to do the easter roll. >> i'm excited for all the activities down there. but mostly the easter egg roll. jeanette: it was the 137th annual white house easter egg event. the theme this year was "give me

five" as part of first lady michelle obama's let's move initiative. it encouragings children to stay healthy and active and egg rolling does just that. >> i am excited to do the egg roll and i have not been practicing. jeanette: there were tons of other things today that weren't as stressful as the easter egg roll like the egg-tivity zone or the rock and egg roll concert or even the experiment section and then there's this of course. >> to meet president obama. >> exciting. what would you tell him? >> that i want to play basketball with him. >> i know he does play basketball so i would like to shoot out maybe with him. jeanette: there is a way for you to join in on today's festivities with the give me five initiative that the first lady michelle obama is incorporating and that is thinking of ways that you can be healthy and active and i know you guys have some ideas. give me some jumping jacks. those are some of the things that we've been seeing today. jumping jacks, running in place. all that kind of stuff and if you come up with something, one of five things, you can post it on twitter.

tweet us and let us know how you are staying healthy and active. reporting at the white house, jeanette reyes, abc 7 news. leon: that's it now for abc 7 news at 5:00. now, coming up at 6:00, a party too big to control and neighbors' properties destroyed. the direct response from d.c. leon: -- alison: baseball is back in d.c. people crowd in for opening day. leon: fresh fallout. new lawsuit after a controversial "rolling stone" article and whose virginia governor says it really hurt by the lies. news at 6:00 starts right now. maureen: first at 6:00 and breaking right now, a massive fire in prince george's county. a commercial building is on fire right now in capital heights. jennifer donelan is joining us live to tell us about this. jennifer? jennifer: we just walked up to

the scene right now. we have a number of fire trucks here from prince george's county. we can't get very close to it. there's a ton of smoke. if you're anywhere near this around the beltway or route 50 you can see it from reagan airport. what we understand at this point is that it is a roofing company. that would explain the thick, black smoke that we're seeing. actually, too, if you're driving around this area, it's like hard to your eyes start stinging. it's a lot of smoke. prince george's county has also lost two fire trucks. two fire trucks to this fire. we understand no injuries. and we don't know exactly how those fire trucks were destroyed in this fire but prince george's county is down two fire trucks. more fire trucks arriving on the scene as we speak. maureen: thank you so much. get back to you in a little bit to get an