the school day at forest heights elementary in oxon hill and all appears to be going well but it is how the day started that has upset parents in this school community. >> it is something they really need to get a handle on. it is unacceptable. and i'm going to push this further. >> crystal harvell and nickia are angry because their young daughters were essentially left stranded and aban oned with other children -- and aban oned with other children at the bus stop. >> because my baby is 7 and near the highway and busy intersection, anything could have happened. my baby could have been hit or snatched, anything. >> reporter: school officials say four bus drivers who take students to forest heights elementary called in sick today and they couldn't find enough substitutes to cover the routes. >> this isn't something that happens once or twice a week. this appears to happen almost every day. >> reporter: there is also the matter of communication. notification didn't go out to

parents, instead forest heights new principal dr. chester brookover chose to cruise the neighborhood telling kids to meet him at the papa johns so he could he is court -- so he could escort them to school on the other side of the busy highway. >> the prince hall had to take us -- the principal was over there. >> he had to escort you? >> he was with all of us. >> it is comforting to know -- comfort ago to know that he put the time in to make sure his students get to school safely. the doctor could not talk to us about the situation, instead issuing a statement that reads we have developed a plan to ensure these issues do not reoccur and we are in the process of hiring additional bus drivers to fill our transportation vacancies. >> i'm very concerned about this and i have several issues with this school and i just want this -- i just wanted to shed some light on this issue and the situation going on. >> reporter: in oxon hill, maryland, bob barnard, fox 5

news. >> a lawyer for is speaking out. he said angela mccass kill, the chief diversity officer signed an issue from an anti-marriage group. mccass kill cannot stated her opinion. they believe she acted inappropriate for a person in her position. >> and nationwide the economy plays a huge role in the election. the bell set to ring on the second presidential debate in a little more than 24 hours. for the president, a chance to regroup after what he admits was a less than stellar performance. fox 5's tom fitzgerald is with us now. both sides took a different approach about preparing. you are sure right. remember the president practiced for the first dew point in las vegas but he spent

-- practiced for the first debate in las vegas. but mitt romney is staying in massachusetts. what both sides share tonight is i desire to deliver sharp performances in a race that remains razor thin. at hofstra university in new york, finishing touches for tuesday's town hall debate are underway. >> i brought some food. >> on a break from his debate preps in williamsberg, virginia, president obama brought pizza to his campaign workers and called supporters. >> i know you have been working hard for the campaign and i want to say how much i appreciate it. >> reporter: mitt romney huddled with his team in massachusetts while ryan shared his post election plans with the home town crowd in wisconsin. >> i'm going to sit in a tree stand with my 10-year-old daughter with her first deer hunt after we've just elected mitt romney the next president of the united states. >> reporter: new polls show this race is tightening. romney is ted to be leading 49%

to the president's 48%. while politico finds romney ahead 50-48%. the real clear politics average of several polls puts the polls at 47% for each candidate with only .1% difference. experts now say there is no room for debate mistakes. >> they are being taught that, in sessions right as we speak. >> reporter: presidential historian steven hess of the brookings institution served in both the nixon and eisenhower terms. he said president obama must appear more engaged. >> he has to work against that. that is very important for him. that is the easiest thing to do, is not show up the way he showed up in denver. >> reporter: hess said mitt romney has now raised expectations. >> now the shoe is on the other food and now he has to worry about living up to expectations

and the next day's story is not just obama did better. >> reporter: and with the race so tight, both campaigns are facing the second debate which could hold either promise or pitfalls. now out of one particular matter, both campaigns now have joined together on one subject and that appears to be the role of the moderator. cnn's cannily crowley has been quoted as saying she would serve what is being described as an active role in this debate but the campaigns have pointed out that their agreement of understanding setting this up is that the audience will be the main questioner. after tomorrow though, there is only going to be one more debate and that will be on october 22nd. >> tom fitzgerald tonight. the presidential election may be three weeks away but mrs. obama voted today by absentee. the president plans to take advantage of early voting in illinois and will cast his ballot when he goes to chicago

next week. >> early voting will be availal in maryland and the district. in maryland early voting is available starting october 27th. virginia doesn't offer early voting. >> want to hear from you as the presidential candidates square off. use the hash tag fox 5 you decide during tomorrow night's debate and we'll be using some of those tweets for a new show we're debuting as election day approaches. fox 5 news edge 2012 will focus on candidates and issues during the final two weeks of the campaign. it starts next monday at 6:30 here on fox 5. >> in it health news, a new report showing nearly 6 in 10 medicare recipients would pay higher premiums under a hypothetical privatized system. the nonpartize and keyser foundation conducted the report and found financing medicare is less taxing for taxpayers.

mitt romney supports privatizing medicare, president obama opposes it saying it would shift costs to seniors. >> and republican senator lindsey graham is calling the administration's response to the consulate attack a coverup. four americans died in the september 11th incident, including ambassador to libya. graham and fellow republicans claim it was clear the attack was terror related. >> it was no way, with anybody looking at all, that you could believe five days after the attack it was based on a riot that never occurred. they are trying to sell a narrative, quite frankly, that the mideast and the wars are receding and al-qaeda has been dismantled. >> democrats accused republicans of exploding the incident to boom the republican campaign. >> and speaking out about the anti-muslim ads posted at metro stations. a group is responding with their own campaign to promote

tolerance of all religious faiths. they held a news conference today. >> we gather as men and women of faith to denounce those who give sanction to bigotry, who purse cute through hate, and who speak to instill fear. >> the coalition plans to put its own ads out to counter the ads that compared muslims to savages. breaking news out of ohio where two missing hikers have been found safe. jason hisser and neal peckens disappeared on friday after failing to catch a night home. peckens' co-worker said the men have been found. >> and straight ahead, pizza hut getting into politics. and backlash after a daring contest. >> and showers moving through, but after the sunday, who can complain. a beautiful day on sunday and we have more beautiful days on your seven-day forecast. and i'll tell you what, scott,

those redskins delivered exactly what the washington area needed. especially after the nats loss. >> the losing streak is over and now robert griffin iii is leading the way. he torched the vikings on sunday. no affects of the concussion. more when news edge at 6:00 continues, brian. >> this is fox 5 news edge at 6:00.  [ female announcer ] it's one of the hardest decisions

a family can make... realizing a nursing home is the only choice. for many middle class families, medicaid is the only way to afford the care.

but as a governor, mitt romney raised nursing home fees eight times. and as president, his budget cuts medicaid by one-third and burdens families with the cost of nursing home care. we have a president who won't let that happen. [ obama ] i'm barack obama and i approved this message. >> there accused of assault, two prince george's county police officers on trial for allegedly beating a university of maryland student. the attack caught on tape happened in march 2010 after celebrations after maryland beat duke. prosecutors called the beating an abuse of power but the defense attorneys said the officers acted appropriately. >> next week maryland law owners will debate a dog bite

bill. landlords could be liable if a pet bites someone. the legislators are trying to address concerns that it unfairly singles out pit bull owners. what about the property owners? >> could be a while before metro riders can use phones underground. all underground tunnels and stations were supposedly wired by tomorrow but it doesn't look like that will happen. metro received $1.5 billion to complete that work along with other upgrades by this month. metro is expected to provide an update to congress next week. >> coming up on the news edge, hope another snow-magedden isn't in store for us. how we're preparing now. [ female announcer ] as you're making your decision...

maybe you're wondering what to believe about mitt romney. well, when it comes to protecting your access to birth control... and the basic women's health care services planned parenthood provides... one thing we must remember, is this: i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. [ female announcer ] he'll cut it off. cut us off. planned parenthood. we're going to get rid of that. [ female announcer ] women need to know the real mitt romney. [ obama ] i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

>> there are new efforts to lower speed camera fines in the district. tomorrow members of the d.c. council expected to announce recommendations to ease the financial burden. as it stands, fines vary

depending on the number of miles over the speed limit. the fees range from $75 to $250. the tickets have to be paid within 30 days or the amount doubles. so why the change of heart? ward 6 councilman tommy wells joins us outside of the wilson building. councilman, why the change of heart? >> it is mostly important to have a good policy. they proposed putting cameras all over the city and if we are going to put cameras all over the city with creating greater certainty people will be caught if they speed, we found out there is no correlation between the size of the fan and whether people stop speeding or not. but if they are certain to be caught, they are less likely to speed. i think it will be better to maintain the public trust if we bring the fines down. now running stoplights, it is very unsafe. those fines remain high. but por speeding and other fines that are up to $250 and double after 30 days to become $300, we are going to take another look at that and the

bill proposes bringing fines closer to what they are in virginia and maryland. >> how do you convince skeptics like myself, who are convinced that this is nothing more than a money-grab hidden behind the cloak of government safety. >> that is why we did the task force. mary cheh and i will introduce a bill to try to bring the fine closer to the infraction. and for them to be more reasonable. and i think if we bring the fines, for example, from $120 for speeding down to $50. we know that you'll reduce the bad behavior if you get caught and we'll all be safer. and since we had the speeding cameras, traffic fatalities have gone down. so we know they work but there is no correlation to how high the fines are for speeding. and i do believe, and i understand your cynicism, that we are just balancing the city's budget so we'll remove that argument. >> tommy wells, we wish you the

best of luck in lowering the fines. >> pizza hut wanting to ask a question. the winner would receive a pizza a week for 30 years or a $15,000 check. well the stunt is triggering backlash and they said they are moving the promotion online where a contestantly is selected to win free pizza for life. >> and we are still tracking showers moving across the region. not a lot of lightning but there have occasionally been lightning bolts. a live look outside. not everybody is getting the rain and i think this is probably going to be the last hoorah coming on through here in the next hour to two hours. it looks like a bit of a brightening of the skies across parts of the area. so let's go straight to radar. at this hour we have some of these producing heavy downpours. nothing in the district right now. but there is another batch imminent and we've had another line moving across severna park and about to head out into the

bay. we are not out looking for severe weather but between alexandria and dale city we have some showers that may be capable of producing about a quarter inch of rain and certainly as they are coming across 95 and the beltway they are going to make it hard to see. so slow down while you are out there. they could drop another quarter inch of rain and could have some gusts to 20, maybe 30 miles per hour as they come on. winds will gust a little bit. this whole line moving east at 30 miles per hour, and we widen out the picture to show you, again, we have the break in the district so especially from d.c. on south, we have one more batch to come on through. you may see in that waldorf or chesapeake. closer on the severna park area and annapolis and that is substantial rain. and when we see the purple, we know maybe we're getting a little bit of lightning. it is about to head over the bay bridge so driving may be tough and maybe even a little bit of hail and heavy rain rates possibly in some spots two inches for hour. but we know these are moving east at about 30 miles per hour so you might pick up a half inch to an inch in a few spots

as the showers move on away. as to sentinel radar and we'll put it in motion. we have clouds as well. the severe threat down to the south and east and a bit of a back edge. so nice to get the rain on a monday. i thought it was rather pleasant with our temperatures certainly on the mild side as well. they're going to have to watch down here around hampton road, some of the storms could be stronger that what we are seeing and might have some hail with them. and would you believe. >> the tropics are still active. tropical storm rafael is about 575 miles south of bermuda, winds up to 70 miles per hour and it is forecast to become a hurricane tonight or tomorrow. a close call for bermuda. they have tropical storm warnings up there and it will probably become a category 1 hurricane but we want you to see we are still watching systems out there and it could produce large swells for the east coast and rough weather for bermuda in the next 24-36 hours as it moves on by.

temperature-wise today, bargain territory at 72 degrees. dulles 70. thurgood marshall 71. and we'll see our temperatures slowly dropping and a cooler day ahead for us tomorrow. but not cold. i think it will be a nice, bright day. you notice some winds gusting as our front is starting to move on through and then we'll gust tomorrow morning for a little while as well but mostly a nice day. so for tonight we drop to 52 degrees. the rain will come to an end in the next little while and it will be a drier night overnight and we're only about 66 degrees tomorrow. but that is going to feel pretty good. so note the wind out of the northwest at 10-20. certainly in the morning, i think the winds will lighten up as we get into the afternoon. so your fox 5 accu-weather seven-day forecast, we have nothing but great stuff on here. maybe some showers on friday but between tuesday, wednesday and thursday, i would call those some bonus days here and almost ending summer like because we did have the big frost on friday night for many areas. saturday a few clouds around and the next chance of showers probably on friday. sunday looking good and even

monday at 70 degrees. this is making for a pretty terrific october. that's your seven day. brian, back to you. >> you may be dealing with rain but a little bit of snow was the focus of a council hearing in the district today. council member mary cheh discussed the city snow plans. some predict we could get more snow this time around. >> every time there is a forecast of precipitation and cool weather, we need to be a little bit proactive and send people out. and so last year even though we had virtually no snow, we still had to mobilize 11 times because it was a forecast of snow. >> the forecasts will be issued in a couple of weeks which may give city leaders a better idea of what they are dealing with this winter. >> a lot of mays in there. >> coming up, the redskins defense gets a boost from a special teamer. scott is up next with your sports edge. higher rate than you did? romney: "yeah, encourage economic growth." us. is that the way to grow america?

i'm barack obama, and i approve this message. [ male announcer ] president obama says he's creating jobs, but he's really creating debt. the facts are clear. obama's four deficits are the four largest in us history. he's adding almost as much debt

as all 43 previous presidents -- combined. and over 30 cents of every dollar obama spends is borrowed. much of it from countries like china. he's not just wasting money, he's borrowing it and then wasting it. we can't afford four more years. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.

>> well in the nfl, speed kills making rg3 one of the biggest weapons in the game. sunday it was on display. he did what he does best, honoring his passing ability and his down right blazek running -- blazing running ability. he ran for not one, but two touchdowns, passedded for another, gashed the vikings defense, 138 yards of which was rushing. the big break out was the 76- yarder in the fourth quarter to add to the lead. griffin not just happy with the first down. he knew he could out run the minnesota defense and he did. the run the longest by a quarterback in 16 years. >> it was a special feeling. and i'll definitely watch that. i got to prove to those guys that i still have the track speed they've been talking about or saying i don't have. so i was able to break along and it feels good when you can doing that. >> is with watching from the back -- i was watching from the back. and i didn't even look over to

their side lines and i said take that. >> i said get out of bounds and he turned it up and i was ecstatic. with the speed, in the quarterback position, you don't see that too often, man. and he made history in this league. >> lorenzo alexander received the game ball for his performance. he had four tacks for a loss and recovered a ponder fumble. he is primarily a special teams player but he played 27 snaps on defense yesterday and has shown the ability to step up when his number is called. >> i understand what my role on this team is, to be a special teams captain and take advantage of my opportunities. i know i can play in this league. i'm a different player, quicker, more dynamic and the coaches are able to use my history in the game today and pass rushing. so it was a great feeling to finally contribute to defense

in a win. >> to baseball. the alcs moves to detroit on tuesday after the tigers swept the first two games on the yankees home turf. last night the nlcs got underway from san francisco. the cards are up 4-0. baumgartner with two outs and beltran does yardwork to leftfield. the cards build a 6-0 lead. giants antsy with 4 in the bottom of the 4th. in the bottom of the 9th we pick it up, san fran with tieing run at the plate. scutaro, hot shot down the right side and nice snag by allen craig. jason not recovers and get it's to first and 6-4 is the final, cards grab game one. >> at game two of the nlcs, that can be seen her tonight on fox 5. the pitching match-up, the cardinals chris carpenter versus vogle song. starting at 8:00. >> brian over to you. >> let's look at forecast. >> we doing have some showers moving through the area and a

couple are heavy. especially down here toward the culpeper area moving into elk run. so another couple of hours for these and then i think we'll be done and tomorrow looks a lot drier. so a very good-looking day for us. our temperatures, if we can pop up the seven-day forecast, and i bet we can't because i don't have it up. i wanted to talk about radar. we'll have another nice day tomorrow, about 66 degrees. it looks like wednesday about 70 degrees and thursday 72. so a beautiful run of weather that will be coming in our direction. brian. >> thank you, sue. >> back here tonight after the game, apparently. news to us as well. see you then. [ female announcer ] as you're making your decision...

maybe you're wondering what to believe about mitt romney. well, when it comes to protecting your access to birth control... and the basic women's health care services planned parenthood provides... one thing we must remember, is this: i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. [ female announcer ] he'll cut it off. cut us off.

planned parenthood. we're going to get rid of that. [ female announcer ] women need to know the real mitt romney. [ obama ] i'm barack obama and i approve this message. under the president's policies, middle income americans have been buried. they're just being crushed. middle-income americans have seen their income come down by $4,300. this is a tax in and of itself. i'll call it the economy tax. i'm not going to raise taxes on anyone.