vacancy to hold a special election. current law required a vote within 114 days of a vacancy. the house passed the bill in february after delegate eleanor holmes nor on the introduced it. two mashd state lawmakers want the power companies to pay hefty fines for keeping customers in the dark nearly a week after the summer storm. they're asking for the state's public service commission to fine pepco and baltimore gas and electric $100 million each. state senators say the money can pay to train more workers to help restore power faster. the storm also forced gaithersburg to reschedule the fourth of july fireworks show for today. the celebration begins at 5:00. it will feature live music and food. it starts at 9:25 tonight. so of course, the question is, what kind of weather are we

going to have tonight for fireworks? >> tom kierein is here with the answer. >> around the region we might have scattered showers. but the last couple of days i've been getting a lot of message on twitter and facebook saying, i heart this weather. low humidity today but we do have a possibility of a few passing sprinkles. this morning, so tee the patchef green, the sprinkles are trying to reach the ground there in the fairfax county. it's advancing north crossing the potomac into prince george's county and about to come into the the district farther south and west. a few scattered sprinkles from west of fredericksburg to north of charlottesville to the shenandoah valley. off ahead of that we've still got low humidity in the air. it's fairly comfortable this morning. we're down in the upper 60s to near 70. under the cloud cover throughout most of the region. although reagan national on those warm waters of potomac

feels like bath water almost. it's at 77 there. the potomac river water temperatures are in the low 80s as are the temperatures in the bay. anywhere in the bay water, it's in the 70s. day planner for this friday, a chance of a sprinkle and slight chance of passing shower through the afternoon. by late afternoon, greater chance of passing shower. mid 80s by mid afternoon. a look at your friday evening planner, that's in ten minutes. danella has a look at friday traffic. >> happy friday to you. t if you're taking the beltway, work zones are set up in virginia. inner loop at the dulles toll road, right lane is blocked because of construction. right lane gets by because of construction in that area. however, at i-66 the right lane is blocked so travel the inner loop at i-66 right lane is blocked. arlington boulevard, only the right lane will get you by and l. as you get closer to van doran, only the right lane will

get you by that work zone. back in ten minutes with another look and your traffic. >> thank you. we are following a developing story. a d.c. police officer under investigation by the secret service accused of tretenning to shoot michelle obama. the officer reportedly made the comment during a daily role cool meeting wednesday morning. another officer apparently overheard that comment and told the lieutenant. the chief says there is conflicting information about the comment. police will not release the name of the officer. the head of the police union won't comment on the issue either. only saying this is a criminal investigation. today in decision 2012, president obama begins a two-day campaign blitz through the battleground state of virginia. first stop, hampton roads with events in high schools in virginia beach and hampton. then visit a fire station in roanoke. tomorrow the president will be in richmond and then make his way to northern virginia. his plan will be the focus of the two-day trip. he is reflecting on mistakes

made in his first years in office. he says he believed the job of the president was all about getting the policy right, but it's also about inspiring the public. he made the revelation during an interview with cbs this morning's host charlie rose. >> but, the nature of this office is also to tell a story to the american people that gives them a sense of unity and purpose and optimism, especially during tough times. >> republican presidential candidate mitt romney responded to the interview saying that being president is not about telling stories but about leading. mitt romney has yet to pick a vice presidential running mate but there is a lot of talk about one possible name. condoleezza rice, the grudge report poed on its website that the former secretary of state is a front-runner on the list of possible vice presidential candidates. mitt romney's campaign tells nbc news this evening yesterday

that, quote, we don't comment on the vp process. the penn state board of trustees will meet today, one day after the school's report on its internal investigation was released. the report shows they concealed critical facts relating to jerry sandusky child abuse. the president and vice president, athletic director and paterno knew about the police investigation into sandusky's showering with the boy in a football locker room in 1998. that's three years before mike mcquery says he caught sandusky in the locker room showers. officials were more concerned about bad publicity than they were about protecting children. >> the most powerful men at penn state failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who sandusky victimized. >> you should know that our hearts remain heavy and we are deeply ashamed. an event like this can never

happen again. >> in a statement joe paterno's family said he was not perfect, regretted mistakes but never knew jerry sandusky was a predator. they found him guilty of 45 counts of child sex abuse last month if judge will sentence him later in the fall. nike has dropped joe paterno's name at the child chair facility in oregon. he was sdenned by the free report. parker called it a terrible tragedy and says his thoughts are with the victims and penn state community. nike has not announced what the facility's new name will be. after unexpected break from track work last week metro is making up for it this weekend with work on all five lines. bus less replace trains between braddock road and pentagon city on the blue and yellow lines. that means the reagan national and crystal city stops will be closed and single tracking on the red, green, and orange lines. your commute on metro could get longer this summer.

considering changes in protocol following last friday's derailment on the green line. nobody was hurt but the rails near the west station were damaged when twee cars jumped the track. investigators believe the hot weather caused the metal tracks to become misaligned the new policy would set speed limits and guidelines for future heat waves. 73 degrees. ahead on "news4 today," the discovery of "american idol" board a trans atlantic flight that had the plane making an emergency landing. plus, why a popular georgetown business is forced to shut doors. scattered rain showers as we begin our friday. is it a sign of things to come?

popular george down restaurant citronelle is closed temporarily. restaurant suffered water damage. our region has been hit hard by the last couple of weeks by storms but it's unclear whether that had anything to do with the closing. >> it's locate and m street run by celebrity chef. no word on how long it will be closed. >> too bad. that's me cooking with the chef. >> you got all choked up that the restaurant is closed. >> sorry. >> it will be okay. i promise, it will. >> i'm sorry about that. i think it went down -- okay. >> gotcha. >> it's the tea. tom kierein is speaking clearly. >> right, can someone speak

clearly? >> i hope it's not contagious. that's all i care about. hey, good morning. we're looking at the live view from hd city camera showing cloud cover over the metro area. and storm4 radar showing this moving area of color. those are some sprinkles that are trying to reach the ground around the region as we take a look at the radar we have the closer view of the radar showing up. some showers that are trying to reach the ground right in the district of prince george's county but elsewhere just a cloud cover coming through now and here's your day planner. there's the jefferson memorial and we'll have our temperatures by 9:00, upper 70s. some clouds around. just a small chance of a sprinkle and a slight chance midday. cloudiness and near 80 noontime. mid 80s by mid afternoon. and getting a little more humid by late afternoon. we might have a passing shower. here's your friday evening planner if you plan on heading out. might need an umbrella.

40% chance of a passing shower through the evening. low 70s by midnight. a look at the weekend and next week, your seven-day outlook in ten minutes. how's traffic? looks good. road work is in the area but you're volume very light. nothing's really slowing you down this morning. traveling along i-270 southbound from clarksburg. travel lanes are open south northbound. no issues as you continue through the rockville area and lane divide and connecting to the beltway, you are clear this morning. i'll give you a look right now as you take the beltway from i-270 and head all of the way towards i-95 travel lanes are open. your speed, 61 miles per hour, just a ten-minute drive right now. back over to you. 4:42. still to come this morning, the price one mortgage company is paying for baseing the loans on the court reporter lor of your our outfi

police arrested several protests. about two 00 protesters including those connected with occupy l.a. gathered last night camping police off guard. there was a two-haour strandoff. some protesters threw rocks and bottles at police. return officer was injured. kennedy airport in new york is running normally this morning after a scare on a delta plane heading to spain. a passenger reported strange wiring in the bathroom so the pilot turned the plane around about an hour after takeoff. authorities evacuated the 200 plus passenger's bomb squads and the fbi searched the plane but did not find anything suspicious. hazmat crews say a cleaning salt is to blame for grounding a flight. the southwest flight left

norfolk yesterday and scheduled for chicago but a flight attendant became sick during the flight and was taken to a hospital. is fine now. hazmat crews determined a cleaning solvent in the air made the flight attendant sick. none of the passengers became sick and took a later flight to chicago. 14 before the hour. this morning one man is dead following a an argument over a spare tire in prince george's county. the shooting happened yesterday afternoon in the 11100 block in cross road trail and brandywine. a domestic dispute between two men ended when one of them pulled out a gun and shot the other. the victim died of his injuries. police say they were arcing over a spare tire. they arrested the other man. they also found the gun. police aring loo for those responsible for shooting and killing 16-year-old boy in prince george's county. someone shot george waynerd jr. about a block from his house. they say someone in a light colored crown victoria started

shooting at the ground. he was shot in the back twice. his father heard gunshots and ran outside to find his son hurt in the streets. >> i was shaking him. little george, little george, say something to me, you know. wake up. do you hear me talking to you? shaking him. he just was not responding to nothing i was telling him. >> friends created a makeshift memorial. they believe the teen may have been killed in a robbery attempt. 4:47 now. the region is remembering a long time leader in law enforcement. hilton head, south carolina. medical examiners are waiting on autopsy results. his wife was mysteriously killed in the couple's alexandria home. he was first elected sheriff in 1986 and served for two decades

before retiring and moving to south carolina. he was 62 years old. some people in a damaged prince george's county apartment complex are being allowed to move back in. late wednesday night officials had evacuated tenants in the riverdale apartment building. they say last month's storm cause sod much damage they needed to condemn the building. yesterday though more than 40 apartments in the -- more than 40 apartment units were deemed safe and livable. county officials had to condemn the building wednesday night because it was simply unsafe for tenants. >> we went in. it was quite clear that there was a dangerous situation, that in addition to the problem with the roof, there was a lot of water which was leaking through and through electrical outlets and through the lighting pictures. and so we felt that it was not a safe place for people to be. >> the high school is still open for those displaced by the storm. officials say it could be 6 to 12 weeks to make repairs to the units still deemed livable.

maryland governor martin o'malley has not given up anplans to bring a casino to prince george's county. next week he scheduled to meetings that could help him determine whether he would call a special legislative session. the session would likely focus on expanding the state's gambling program to add table games and add a sixth casino at national harbor. if lawmakers passed a measure in the a special session it would still need to go to a public vote. 100 people signed up for help to stay away from casinos. maryland lottery officials call it a milestone for the state's voluntary exclusion program. the program targets habitual gab gamblers. people who sign up are taken off of casino mailing lists and promotions. if participants are caught at the casino police can arrest them fortress passing and confiscate their winnings. gamblers must sign themselves up. wells fargo can pay off millions and some d.c.

homeowners will see some of the cash. the bank agreed to pay $175 million to black homeowners who discovered they paid too much for their mortgages if justice department found thousands of minority homeowners paid higher fees than white homeowners who had the same credit risk. about 3,000 of those customers are in the d.c. area. wells nar go also agreed to use $50 million for down payment assistance in specially hard hit areas including washington, d.c. and baltimore. >> all right. we have had a beautiful stretch of weather, lower humidity. but still warm like summer should be, right? >> right. >> we really enjoyed yesterday. hope it stays this way, tom. but i have a feeling you're going to say we're not going to be that luck. >> i came across a crew laying down asphalt yesterday and they recognized me and gave me a thumbs up. >> all right! >> and still thumbs up today, too, if you have to work outside because still not too humid. we've had the clouds close in. we do have a few sprinkles around the metro area. there is is a live view from the city camera.

jefferson memorial. cloudy at reagan national, 77. humidity still not too bad. dew point in the low 60s. not bad. we've got a very light southe t southeasterly wind. storm 4 radar showing the moving color. sprinkles across northern virginia and from near fredericksburg and charlottesville and washington. a few light sprinkles here. patches of green that stretch from northern county through central prince george's county right into northeast washington and northwest. and then across the maryland line into southern montgomery county. also a few sprinkles that stretch farther west right along the extreme northern fairfax county from near great falls and parts of southern loudoun county. much of southern maryland is dry. manassas is at 70. montgomer montgomery, arlington, fairfax, prince george's counties, western maryland in the upper 60s, most of those locations. a lot of clouds around this morning.

you may need an umbrella because we do have a few of these scattered light sprinkles around likely for the next few hours and maybe by 9:00. still a chance of a passing light shower in the upper 70s by then. by noontime, for your lunch hour, probably you won't need an umbrella but have it handy. slight chance of a sure. 80 by noon. late afternoon, greater chance of a passing shower. cloudy. temperatures dropping from the mid 80 by presunset. after sun is it back down to the 70s and 60s by dawn tomorrow. saturday looks to be mostly cloudy. hot and humid up near 90. a likelihood of afternoon thunder showers. don't anticipate any bad storms. monday's hot and humid up around 90. could get scattered mainly afternoon storms as well as toward the end of next week and remaining hot and humid through much of next week. danella, how's traffic? >> construction in our area should be in its final stages. especially on the inner loop of the beltway. in virginia, had a couple of work zones there.

i-95 making your trip out of the area, traveling northbound toward the beltway as well as southbound, travel lanes are open so far. look good. i'll give you a live look at the occoquan. 62 nimiles per hour. and continuing on to 395, nice and clear at duke street heading northbound. as well as southbound. no issues as you crossover the 14th street bridge either. speed is 61 miles per hour. i'm back in ten minutes with a look at your rails. aaron and eun, over to you. 4:53. the olympic games are just two weeks away. as athletes prepare for london, some of the most legendary olympians were honored for their achievements. more than 20 athletes were unduthed into the u.s. olympic hall of fame last night. kathleen dan o'brien track star and the 2004 softball team were just some of the olympians and paraolympians honored. ted stevens was honored for his support of the movement. the men's basketball team

cruised in their game against the dominican republic. kevin durant scored 21 points. the u.s. men rolled to victory, 113-59. now they are headed to the district where they will train over the weekend before their second match against brazil on monday at the verizon center. well, this morning there are loud calls for the u.s. olympic team to change the uniforms it will wear during the opening ceremony. it's not about how the outfits look, rather where they were made. ralph lauren designed the apparel you see it here. the uniforms were made in china. leaders on capitol hill say it's ridiculous that american textile workers didn't get to make the uniforms that will represent our country. >> i think the olympic committee should be ashamed of themselves. i think they should be embarrassed. i think they should take all of the uniforms, put them in a big pile and burn them and start all over again. if they have to wear nothing but

something that has usa on it painted by hand, that's what they should wear. >> similar controversy four years ago one team usa's were made in china. ralph lauren designed those uniforms, too. the u.s. olympic committee read in part, unlike most olympic teams around the world the u.s. olympic team is privately finded and we're grateful for the support of the supporters. i didn't realize we weren't putting any money toward the olympic team as citizens. >> i think people want the fact that we are americans representing this country at the olympics to say american workers put their hand on this uniform. at two weeks away is it possible and if this was an issue four years ago, i think people want to know what happened in the last four years that allowed this to happen again. >> if they have to go out and find sponsors to get our athletes where they need to go and get them trained to have them win, whoever is willing to jump on board and put up money i think deserves credit for that. 73 degrees.

4:55. lack of rain hasn't been a problem for us, coming up, the impact is severe drought gripping our country could have on you. first, though, an area neighborhood is on the alert this morning after a pair of unlikely animals attack. and a charity we'd that

watch out for a fox in montgomery county. a fox bit somebody, a pet, too,

in two separate attacks in che i have chase. the fox bit him on turner lane wednesday night. there were reports about a fox attacking their dog on cummings lane. neighbors are surprised about these fox attacks. >> they live in a creek down here and they have been around a lot. however, i don't think that i ever heard of them actually in the neighborhood and i've never heard of them actually biting anyone before. >> montgomery county animal services is patrolling the area. they say foxes usually don't attack people unless they feel threatened. if you see a fox, scream and they will usually run away. it's being called the pet wednesd wedding of the century. >> a wealthy animal rights advocates hosted enough jewels for her dog. the dog wore a $6,000 canine couture .