and in tough thick times in west virginia -- tough economic times in west virginia, that is good money n. charlestown, john henrehan, fox 5 news. >> and when july 1st comes, charlestown races and slots will change its name to the hollywood casino at charlestown races. >>> still ahead on fox 5, doctors are notoriously late. that doesn't mean you have to sit in a crowded waiting room. high-tech way for an upper hand. >>> and break out the cleaning solution. the dirtiest things in your home right now. what our tests found. >>> and prom night with a twist. we'll explain. that is up next. first, a live look outside. a late edition of fox 5 news rolls on after this short break. t .ie h pll ckce >> trying to keep kids safe during prom season is the motivation behind a first-of- its-kind effort in southera virginia. law enforcement agencies are teaming up to make sure teens don't drink and drive. the proms and graduations underway, the officers say they know the kids will -- with the tag. they have seen the messages on the internet. >> i noticed there were comments how the officers were trying

this mine was the worst mine disaster in west virginia and the third worst mining disaster. in 2006 in my district, 13 coal miners were trapped for nearly two hours at the sago mine, and one miner miraculously survived. i agree with my colleagues that congress has a very important oversight role to ensure that the laws are properly executed and to prevent future mining accidents. there must be a thorough investigation by congress to determine whether the executive branch agencies charged with protecting miners are performing their job and whether changes need to be made to ensure that those agencies fulfill their obligations to the miners, their families and the public. also, the congress needs to have a thorough investigation into the company practices and whether safety is the top priority and the one priority first considered whenever beginning or starting to pursue coal mining while it's in operation. congress, however, must be weary not to compromise the integrity of any pending or future investigations and potentially jeopardize the executive branch's ability to enforc

in tough economic times in west virginia, that is good money. john henrehan, fox 5 news. >>> good morning to you. it is monday morning. it is may 24th, 2010. we had a wet weekend. we are off to a wet start for the beginning of this workweek too. hopefully, things will improve. we'll find out in just a second. i'm gurvir dhindsa along with my pal tucker barnes to tell us what we can expect in terms of the weather. it is muggy out there. >> it is. we're locked into the pat were with the very moist air across the area. a couple of scattered showers in the forecast. when i show it to you here on the radar, you will say i'm not all that impressed and you probably shouldn't be. there is your morning radar. you can see a couple of light showers out on the beltway. there is another spotty shower out towards annapolis and vienna there. not a lot in the way of rain across the area. i don't think we'll get a whole lot in the way of measurable rain today although we will stay thick in the cloud cover and we'll have just a couple of scattered showers in the

and members of congress plan to take a trip to west virginia to investigate the coal mining accident. 29 miners died after an explosion at the upper big branch mine. they will take testimony from family members of the victims of that blast. federal and state regulators are investigating the explosion, which was the first -- worst accident in 40 years at a mine. we talked to a reporter from the politico about the political fallout from this oil spill. thanks for joining us. >> great to be with you, caroline. >> let's start with the gulf. top officials are heading down tomorrow. is this a pr move? are they actually gathering information they can use? >> at this point, the obama administration spent more than one month. they want to appear on top of this oil spill. this is coming up all along the coastline of the louisiana area, and late last week, two prominent democrats strongly criticized the obama administration for their handling of the b.p. oil spill, so this is really an effort to show the people down there and the american people that they are trying to deal with the issues. >> a

among those scheduled to testify is the west virginia gov.. and they are now describing the moment before a plane burst into flames 3 of one man seconds before it touched ground there was a shudder. the plane began swinging from side to side. then it crashed and broke apart. the maintenance worker crawled out and the state with only minor injuries. 158 people died. just eight survive. a trip to a local restaurant may have cost customers more than they expected. now an employee faces fraud charges. >> customers may have been paying for more then and now a meal. they say someone scamtole credit card numbers. ward is alleged to of work with two other individuals. documents show she later recruited two other employees only identified by their initials. >> according to court documents, the transactions can be traced back to those allegedly involved by server numbers which must be entered. there is more than $100,000 of stolen credit card activity reported. >> anybody can use it, and it can be dispersed quickly. >> calls were not returned. >> coming

in tough economic times in west virginia, that is good money. in charlestown, john henrehan, fox 5 news. >>> an undercover video shocker involving a former member of britain's royal family. >> sarah ferguson is caught on tape agreeing to a pricey deal. just what was she ready to sell. we'll have that full story coming up at 6:00. >>> and donovan mcnabb, why he made an apology to his former team. r  >>> willingham to left center. game over. 4-3 nationals. the. >> the nationals won yesterday. they be take two of three from the orioles. lindy murphy was at the game yesterday. >> the nationals just got done playing 20 games over a span of 0 days an have come out with a 10-10 record. they will get a much needed day off. they do it with momentum thanks to a walk-off home run in the tenth inning by willingham. >> willingham to left center ho. far? how far? game over. 4-3 nationals. >> when you are up at the plate, you can't be trying to do that or it usually doesn't happen. i was just trying to get a good pitch to hit and hit ha

congress will look into last month's deadly mine explosion in west virginia. the house committee will hold a hearing in west virginia in beckley near the upper big branch mine where 29 miners were killed in the april 5 explosion. the west virginia governor and relatives of the victims are scheduled to testify. the >>> a conspiracy trial in the robert wone murder case enters its second week today. this week prosecutors play portions of video tape statements the defendants made. the defense attorneys sought to suppress that. when a police officer arrived, dylan ward started to explain what happened, but joseph price gave dylan ward an intense look and then dylan ward became quiet. >>> opposed casino in anne arundel county, lawyers are battling over whether to put it next to a mall. the company wanting to build casinos as a petition drive has fake signatures and should be thrown out. >>> at the university of virginia it was an emotional commencement ceremony following the murder of a student. the graduating seniors observed a moment of silence yesterday if in mem

elkins, west virginia. 67. richmond, cooling done to 68 degrees. lots of high clouds have moved in now. and we're looking at some showers coming through west virginia. is associated with th front. cloudy in the morning. dry in the morning. and during the afternoon we could see storms firing up. take a look at columbus, ohio. stretching down to louisville. there in kentucky. a strong line of thunderstorms coming through. but, as far as the showers and west virginia, yes, been producing, just a little bit. 500th of an inch. 70 in alexandria. 69, fairfax. huntington at 67. .500 inch of rain. the system driving eastward. see the dip in the jet stream. then have a pattern change by wednesday of next week. that will go up to memorial day weekend. with a lot of heat. and temperatures that will, i think we close to 90 degrees. perhaps in the low 90s for mep more yal d -- memorial day weekend. scattered showers saturday. then rain is likely for sunday. especially the early part of the day. until noontime. to 2:00, 3:00. then get breaks in the cloud cover. a

tom costello, nbc news, beckley, west virginia. >>> in news from overseas the long running civil war in somalia heated up more today. a rebel group with ties to al qaeda says it intends to attack the presidential palace, home of the u.s.-backed government there. this comes after the group seized much of the capital city of mogadishu. somalia has been out of the news but everyone is about to learn all over again why many people call the horn of africa the most dangerous place in the world. richard engel is one of the few western journalists to report from there. tonight first of his two reports. >> reporter: after 19 years without a functioning government, somalia is in ruins. the 5,000 african peacekeepers here are overwhelmed. as we watched the peacekeepers set up a new base in what was once mogadishu's fipest hotel, the colonel says he needs thousands of soldiers to fend off al qaeda militants. your biggest problem is lack of troops? >> yeah. yeah. >> reporter: washington won't likely be sending any troops. not again. in 1993 u.s. forces invaded to stop clan warfare. american helic

: west virginia's governor and victims relatives testified today. some relatives want to sit in on the government's interviews as they continue the investigation but the government wants to interview those witnesses privately. from capitol hill this morning, i'm tracie potts, news 4. >>> thanks. >>> the university of virginia took a moment to remember yeardley love and three other students who lost their lives this year. >> please join me in a moment of silence to honor these students and their families. >>> love was supposed to graduate this past weekend with a degree in government. three weeks ago she was found beat zwroen death inside her apartment. her former boyfriend george hugely who was supposed to graduate has been charged with her murder. at yesterday's commencement many wore white ribbons to signify domestic violence. the university of virginia men's lacrosse team, which george huguely used to play for is advancing to the semifinals of the ncaa tournament. the team will now play duke in the final four on may the 29th. >>> president clinto

to areas of the west, fog advisories, areas of central virginia. a quarter mile visibility in effect until 10:00 this morning. and even in the overnight hours tonight we could see some patchy fog. so it will be ub settled -- unsettled into the early part of the week until we get back to improved weather and that means sunshine for you. temperatures will rise as well. by the end of the week we'll be heading into the low 80s. so it will be warming up across the region. but right now temperatures are into the 60s pretty much everywhere. but here is a look at yesterday's highs. temperatures yesterday were right at the seasonal mark to about a degree or two off. not bad at all. so right now 68 in d.c. we have 64 in manassas. 68 in frederick. 59 up the mid-atlantic for new york city and 55 in boston. but look at richmond, they are 70 degrees already this hour. warmer air well to the south. they were into the 90s down here yesterday. this is what we're going to get moving our way as we head into the later part of the week. we're going to get this southerl

only real risk for organizing severe weather in west virginia. and then you folks out west of the blue ridge may get into the rain shower chances earlier. 75 degrees, a little cool out there with the temperatures in the mid-70s for the orioles game. and then showers more likely tomorrow. highs holding in generally the low 70s. and a good chance for rain today, and the best chance of rain will be for tomorrow. the rain chances taper back on monday, and should be dry on tuesday, wednesday thursday and friday. it sounds like the slow pitch for memorial day weekend. anytime you need a forecast and we're not on the air, go online and get the latest. >>> the time is 6:49. he was a local boxing star making millions of dollars, what happened to riddic bow. >> find out how he went from >>> the battle of the beltway comes to d.c., and a former heavyweight champion, he talks about fighting back in life. >>> we are talking baseball. the orioles came to the park with the worse record in the major league baseball, but they found a way to beat the nationals. di

in west virginia. >> while were going to hear from all the governors today, obviously as well for me well as we react to some of our topics. we are also going to hear from delora zimmerman about a study that we have commissioned that they worked on for a solid enterprising date, that you should have before you, which provides an analysis of state job creation strategy and identify cyberfarmers in a number of areas. the goal of this study is to provide a snapshot of effective policy programs from around the country and to highlight the good work, the great work that states are doing now to grow jobs. this study really demonstrates what laboratories of reform our states are and it shows how much human capital and economic potential are states have here to provide practical examples of creative policymaking all over the country and makes clear the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation that is weathering the economic storm. while my recent policy experience has been at the federal level, i have had a beautifully in my career the opportunity to work or to governors and i know that gov

they are meeting in bekkali, west virginia. good morning, kimberly. >> reporter: six family members and friends testified, all but one are miners, all confess ever since this disaster, they are under a doctor's care. even though coal mining has been their only way of life, they can't bring themselves to go underground ever again. >> i lost my brother, rex. in the mine explosion. >> reporter: everyone knew there would be emotion as six family members and friend gave voice to those who died in the upper big mine explosion and those who are too distraught to speak out. >> she cries the entire time. she's having an extremely difficult time with the loss of her husband. >> reporter: this father talked about conversations with his son, weeks before he was killed. >> i said, do you think it's unsafe and you want to be put in a safer area and see what they tell you. the boss pulled him to the side and said if you're going to be that scared of your job, you need to rethink your career. >> reporter: each of the miners testified to unsafe

in west virginia those numbers were up also. 2 inches of rainfall for shepherdstown. here's a look at the current temperatures. it's mild out site. 64 at gaithersburg, 69 at d.c. 70 at fredericksburg to the south and tomorrow we're going to see fog, fog tonight through tomorrow so it will affect your morning commute. be prepared for that. a few showers to the south are possible by tomorrow afternoon. and then by the time we get into the rest of the week we've got sunshine for you. miss ridge of high pressure builds in after tuesday. bright skies and drier conditions and the temperatures will be rising as we head into the low 80s. watch that closely. a back door front will head our way thursday and friday, it could cool us a little bit but so far it looks like it's in the 80 answer, dry and sunny. >>> you've got to see this one, a pint sized michael jackson i am % signator in china proves he's bad. meet 4-year-old wang ming. you're about to see his facial expressions as he mimics the king of pop. moon walking, all of it to beat it, dangerous and billie jean, the mini m

congress will look into last month's deadly mine explosion in west virginia. a house committee will have a hearing in beckley, where miners were killed been able explosion. relatives of the victim are expected to testify. -- of the victims. >>> the trial continues today in the murder trial of robert wone. a prosecutors say the defendants planted a knife. the presence is either knife could have made the stab wounds. >>> three weeks after yeardley love was found dead. a moment of silence in remember yesterday. the lacrosse player was murdered by an ex-boyfriend george huguely. she would receive their diplomas yesterday. >> it is a privilege to recognize yeardley love as a student. >> she was awarded a posthumous bachelor's degree in politics and government. a cousin accepted a diploma. the students there wanted the university to alert them when there is an incident such as this on campus. >> anne arundel county police are trying to determine the cause of death of a baby boy. saturday morning police were called to a house on edge rockaway in laurel. detectives ar

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from west virginia is recognized. mrs. capito: i thought we had another speaker, but i think he's gotten tied up in another activity. i encourage passage of this bill and encourage the recognition of the place that the mothers of america and really across the world play in the lives of all of us here today and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from new york is recognize. mr. meeks: let me thank the gentlelady from west virginia for her hard work on bringing this bill. i think there's no more appropriate thing to do than to celebrate mothers as we will this sunday and celebrate the 100th anniversary of mother's day as we would in 2014. as well as raising money for those causes that will help women. let me likewise say i would not be standing here today in the well of the house of representatives if it wasn't for many lessons that was taught to me by my mother and though she's no longer with us, there's not a day that gos by that she's not in my thoughts and my heart and i don'

potomac reached almost two inches. 3-1/2 for asheville, virginia and in west virginia they got their fair share of rainfall, 2 inches in shepherdstown. we've had a fair amount of rain, good for the grass and flowers and it's typical spring weather. isolated storms popping up in many neighborhoods. uncemented in monday. starting out with -- unsettled into monday. storing out with patchy fog and a few showers to the south. the sunshine is going to be ahead and we'll be heading up to the 80s for daytime highs as we move into the week. we've got improvement coming our way. not all bad. as far as our temperatures are concerned for today we reached 78 at national, 77 at dulles and 79 at baltimore. it's pretty mild outside right now. our temperatures are into the low 70s pretty much everywhere across the board. up the mid-atlantic we've got 68 at new york. cooler in boston at 56 but the warm-up into the later part of the week is coming from all the warm air in the mid and southern section of the country. look at the 90's. this is going to push its way through and we'll see that warm-up late

virginia or most of west virginia. we don't spend a lot of time calling 1-800-number's because the assumption is that thing is going to happen but the most important and use it is the countries where the phone call came from. the intelligence committee, you don't have to be an nsa or the cia to know that is a very easy thing to do. so, making the phone call is in fact not reporting the danger. it's putting your own job in danger. that is what it comes down to for me to ring and i would like to say to mr. watzman coming to where the head of a very large corporation. i think our president roberts said about 86% of the coal operators that operate in the mines -- look-see 6% -- to a good job. i've had the same phone calls that you have to read people who are on that list but don't want to be on the lesser shocked and they want to do something about it. on the other hand there are some that don't that proud -- proudly flaunt that they built and perhaps two hours of every day of every year to find out of how the safety a str

west virginia got $6 million in clean energy stimulus funds. that is just a drop in the bucket compared to the billions of dollars of coal subsidies. let's start this clean energy revolution. >> one last statement. our state legislature, to spend windmills on mountain tops if you look at the geological map, the most important areas are in different areas. we don't have enough sun. we need to keep after it. >> and we will. the policy limits you to ten books per person. you can come back and get another ten. we will only allow you to take ten books away and i am really sorry about that. it is policy. when president obama came to the inauguration we were exploited and watched with my children. a few weeks later we were in the streets of washington. we were at the capitol power plant. this power plants spewing mercury, this coal-fired plant that provides heat for our members of congress and the white house lit up with coal-fired plants for mountaintop removal. americans came and said they were willing to have civil disobedience to stop this cold po

. >> members of congress went to west virginia today to hear from relatives of the 29 miners killed in the upper big branch mine explosion. family members testified. one father allegedly set that massey energy put out alerts when inspectors arrived at minds. he called on congress to protect minors. >> they should pass laws to ensure that miners do not have to work in an unsafe place. >> the governor of west virginia made his own recommendations to the committee. the u.s. justice department is investigating the explosion. >>> the u.s. and south korea are planning joint military exercises off the korean peninsula and at deterring aggression by northern career. -- by north korea. south korea responded by cutting off trade with p'yongyang and banning merchant ships from south korean waters. >>> for the first time since the iraq war began, there are more troops in afghanistan than iraq. there are now 94,000 troops in afghanistan and 92,000 in iraq. at the height of the work, there were 160,000 troops anin iraq. >>> gay rights activists headed to the white house to talk about the don't ask d

and we think that in west virginia we can find that. and that's why invested so much of our time and money into research. the other thing is we have broadband high-speed going throughout our entire state. we're the most rural state east of the mississippi. and in another year to two years maximum we'll have every nook and cranny of our little state of west virginia with high-speed broadband and we're very proud of that. and we think that will help tremendoususly. -- tremendously. >> before we open up the floor for about business innovation you have some captive governors what might foster and create job growth for you in your communities. and i would like tom donohue to make some comments. >> i just want to ask just one question. i'm looking at this from the perspective of how this study was done. and looked at the states and what's strong. and i start with you, governor, cow from business. but the nature of the question is, and many of you have had business experience. but the question is, as you form your governments, as you track you

and yesterday in the same area of southwestern virginia into west virginia into eastern kentucky, they drive 3 million pounds of ammonium nitrate fuel explosives to blow up our mountain. blow up our mountain, 500 out destroyed 1.2 but acres destroyed. to reach in and in a very effective way with heavy equip and operators to pull the coal and loaded up to the train, destroy the community and the watershed. , to poison the community and the watershed. black mountain virginia where you get your call. a few years ago a young boy was sleeping in a house, the davidson family, and the explosions went off on a night like tonight and every time when i flip my night and fly rod came down on my cousin from so they'll and a fly rod went blasting through the home and crushed a three year old and killed him. and that criminal activity is not abolished, but it is regulated today by our administration. and that criminal activity is voted on to the train and brought here to progress energy and brought here to asheville, and it runs right in to this microphone. and i am part of the problem. north caroli

i live in west virginia. i played basketball with them. and looked them in the eye after we had to give them the bad news. i do not want to do it again. there is nothing i could be accused of or anything you can do to make to do more to make me want to avoid it again. i can assure you, despite what you read in the media, that massey is very interested in improving safety. >> thank you, senator byrd. >> do you have something else? >> yes, i just have one here. >> i was stricken by the word "certified." they thought they had inspectors on site and the management on site, agreeing that the mine had been fixed, that the problems had been addressed, and they were appreciative of all of what we put into it. i met in february of 2010, just a couple of months before the accident, and asked the question of is there anything that we need to focus on, and a big problem that you want us to deal with i think we all had thought the we had moved this mind forward. i do not know what happened, whether the violations and the nature of the violations contri

rain showers reaching into parts of west virginia. we'll have a more easterly wind fetch during the day. with the clouds, that will hold the temperatures down but will also bring a chance for rain. here's the late-day picture rain wise. rain beginning to move into the area. the weather disturbance kind of breaking up. it is still more of an upper air feature coming in. we still have the stubborn high pressure off shore. this is going to be extended out for a couple days. it will take a couple days for this to resolve itself. afternoon and evening showers, that's when the rain chances will be the highest. tomorrow is a real rain day. 72-77 the high. a little better than 10 degrees. blame it on the clouds. southeast winds at about 10 miles an hour. insta- weather futurecast shows the moisture increasing by afternoon into the evening and overnight hours, and then also into sunday. if you watch the timeline, rain chances scattered but there, sunday and even into monday we have rain chances before this thing finally begins to pull out of t

up in the panhandle of west virginia. increasing chances of rain by later today. certainly more dry hours to come, so anything that you need to do i think you will be able to squeak it in, and get everything put in boxes and on the truck and under way, but better chances for rain tomorrow. >>> we are following a developing story out of india where 160 people are feared dead after a plane crash. a plane bursts into flames after it over shot the runway. the india express airplane was coming from dubai. 166 people onboard. at least eight people did survive the crash. one survivor said the plane's initial touchdown did appear smooth and trouble started seconds later. officials also say premonsoon rains caused low visibility in that area. this crash is the deadliest in india since 1996 when two planes crashed midair killing 349 people. >>> it's a major traffic lurt for you this morning. avoid the inner loop near the wilson bridge. just west of telegraph road in alexandria is being reduced to one lane for road repairs. official

the accident happened at massey's ruby energy mine in west virginia. massey is of course under investigation for that explosion that killed 29 men in its upper branch mine back on april 5th. >>> well, this is bike to work day and what better day for arlington county officials to make a big announcement on using pedal power to get around. they say that arlington is teaming up with the district to create the nation's largest bike sharing system. they are still working out the details but it is set to launch in the fall with more than 1,000 bikes. you will be able to sign up on- line with a credit card to get a year-long membership or use a bike for an hour or a day. >>> i think we did a story on that on our green tips, you can rent a bike. in many cities. it is pretty cool. like a zip car idea basically. >> you have to be careful. >> that's for sure. >>> a okay weekend. not perfect but you can do some so things. out of the gate, primarily late shower and maybe a thunderstorm tomorrow. 77 and then primarily early showers on sunday and then the clouds will

relatives of some of the miners killed in the explosion along with west virginia governor joe mansion and rock feller are among those to scheduled to testify. the hearing is days after a senate subcommittee heard testimony on the explosion from executives of massey energy, the company which owns the mine. >>> secretary of state hillary clinton says north korea must be held to account for the sinking of a south korean warship. secretary clinton made the comment during a meeting with chinese leaders in beijing. they want china's help in finding a solution to the situation. >>> the chinese government agrees to a currency exchange rate with the u.s. dollar. >>> and a new list offers americans a look at the most affordable places to live in the country. >>> right now no construction or accidents to report traveling westbound on route 50. it's angie with the monday morning traffic coming up. >>> and it's time for the first "living $mart" report of the morning. jessica doyle is here with the headlines. good morning. >> well, wall street can only hope that last week's selloff is a bad memory,

no one was seriously hurt at an explosion at the plant near west virginia. now, this one happened inside an empty building around 4:45 this afternoon. the cause of the blast now under investigation. atk makes rocket propulsion systems. it is the largest defense contractor in west virginia. >>> now to a quick look at news from across the nation. in ohio a family wants answers after a loved ones body accidentally got cremated. his family had planned to bury him. investigators say an employee released the toddler's remains to the wrong funeral home where they were then cremated by mistake. >>> in illinois a farmer is recovering after being trapped in a grain bin. emergency crews say they have seen this happen before and are well trained at getting a victim out. >>> a dispute over a hoot er's waitresses weight is now heading to the courtroom. they are discriminating against her claiming corporate leaders told her to lose weight or lose her job. >>> and caught on tape, a brawl broke out during a boxing match in california. the fight started off an oakland police

the hearing in beckly, west virginia is part of a probe in to the disaster. it follows a separate senate hearing which happened on captiol hill last week. >>> now to the disassouser in the gulf of mexico. the governor of louisiana wants to build sand berms to protect his state from the oil. this is video of the underwater oil leaking from earlier this morning, and you can see it still shooting in to the gulf. bobby jindal took a tour of the coast on thursday. the oil has moved 12-miles in to the state's marshes. >> these are critical breeding grounds for residential birds like brown pelicans and a migratory stopping.for other species. this is why it is so important to keep the oil out of the wetlands it is important for louisiana, the gulf and the country. >> reporter: b, 3 says the tube on the gulf floor has captured 500,000-gallons of oil but it is slowing down. ken salazar said the government could take over the cleanup effort if bp doesn't move faster. >>> five after the hour. time for another "living $mart" report. jessica doyle is here. you say there ar

virginia to ohio. we will watch that front. as it comes in at the end of the week. clear and comfortable. temperature dropping from 78 to 70 degrees. then by morning, not chilly to start. 65 to 69 degrees. that's because of the southwesterly wind. tomorrow we will pick up a few clouds. the high right above 80 degrees. next four days, you can see some showers late friday and then a dry weekend right now. we go from 75, high on saturday, 66, mother's day. sunshine and it will be dry. but it is going to be cool as we start out in the 40s and get up to 66 degrees. remember, you can always check your forecast by going to the weather channel on cable. >> all right. thanks a lot. let's check the rush hour now and ashley linder is in the news4 traffic network. >> mentioned the hov crackdown in effect for the ride home. >> right now we are in relatively good shape. if you travel 95, here is the pace. hov is doing great. center of your screen, you can see there. nobody is utilizing that. main line, look at that,

west virginia senator robert birth said his firm has an alarming record of serious infractions. lawmakers accuse massey of sacrificing safety for more money and profit. >>> a brown ooze is now coating marshy grass land along the louisiana coast and the affects of the oil spill are showing up on wildlife. a pelican was found dead at a bird sanction ware. one wing and its neck were matted with oil. bp is getting ready for a new push to stem the flow and at the same time it's under federal orders to keep the environment in mind. >> reporter: bp has until today to come up with a safer way to break up the massive oil spill in the gulf of mexico. the epa outbounded them to switch to less toxic chemicals because of environmental concerns. so far bp has use 650,000- gallons of dispersements. >> to use the least toxic of those makes the most sense. >> reporter: bp admits the blown out oil well is spewing more than the 210,000-gallons a day previously estimated. in fact, some scientists they the number could be as high as 3 million. the oil giant released a live video of the leak for the

out to the west, and into west virginia, there are a few scattered showers. they are not substantial. the weather system is weaker than it was earlier. it will definitely be a rain- maker over the next couple of days. at the moment, our air is dry. right now, the clouds are saying enough to make it a nice, bright morning. 69 at the airport. the morning low was 66. we start the morning off mild. the broad letter shows a rising tendency. -- the barometer shows a rising tendency. we need the rain. for the month of rain -- of may, we are just over an inch and a half. we are short for the month. no it is a weekend, but the need the rain -- i know it is a weekend, but we need the rain. 65 in annapolis. 64 in cambridge. 64 in westminster. hagerstown is 58. here is the satellite picture. we have some thicker clouds over us. these really bright clouds in west virginia are just touching the garrett county and around pennsylvania, are around. and cleveland. here is rain shower activity. -- are round yuri and cleveland. here is a rain shower activity. the surface is dimi

western maryland, west virginia near 40 degrees under a clear sky. we have a half moon hanging in the southern sky this morning. and it is clear, no travel problems throughout the northeast corridor or in and out of the midwest or even heading down south a large area of high pressure in place for today giving us lots of sun and highs climbing into the low 80s with low humidity. a perfect spring day on the way. tomorrow, partly cloudy, we'll have a weak front coming through, highs reaching the low 80s and a slight chance of an isolated shower. then on friday partly cloudy, near 80, might get showers maybe thundershowers friday night, then they may linger saturday morning. how's traffic? >> tom, as we head out, looking pretty good all in all, a bunch of road work of course on the beltway around van dorn street. no worries the inner and outer loop appear to be moving. we'll stay with virginia and i'm sorry, up to maryland, college park, yesterday's tractor-trailer accident you may recall all gone. both directions off to a very uneventful beginning. >> t

. >> the big facility in charlestown, west virginia, goes bigger time on july 1st. this will be a full-flown casino. we'll have a preview. >>> 

between him and senator bob byrd the emeritus chairman of the appropriations commit net senate west virginia had a lock on federal spending. it didn't work for him. his opponent did run on allegations of ethical or unethical behavior on his part. the question of whether his net worth had-- which had had improved dramatically, and the "journal" did a piece on it. it was really, again, an anti-washington, anti-incumbent-- >> but also anti-transactional anti-ear marks. for a long time people felt as long as we're geting a piece of the pie, but now they're seeing everyone getting a piece of the pie adds up to big budget problems. earmarks, which used to be a good thing is now a bad thing. personally, i think that is probably correct. i think that judgment is right transactional about standard politics, people want to get rid of. >> lehrer: how do you see the elena kagan nomination now over the week? >> there's no sign she's not going to get confirmed. so far, it's reasonably smooth. i have my problems with it--. >> lehrer: what why ryour problems? >> my problem sen i know who knows her-- i do no

they went to west virginia. members went to the community near the upper big branch mine, where 29 men were killed in an explosion last month. that hearing was emotional. the miners testify that their employer was focused on coal and staying one step ahead of safety inspectors. steve handlesman has my report. >> this is my brother. i don't have him no more. >> reporter: graving cull miner clay mullins wore his lost sibling's memory and the rest of the names, the 29 who died in april. miners testified to congress that safety rules were broken to keep coal production high. >> this place is a ticking time bomb. >> miners at upper big branch felt they could not report unsafe conditions. >> reporter: when government inspectors showed uh, miners say they got tipped off. >> to make sure everything was right, and if it wasn't, fix it before the inspector got there. >> reporter: miners say when inspectors were not there, critical ventilation rules were violate violated. >> this game from the president of the company. we

there are showers in the mountains of pennsylvania that are scattered and spotty and also west virginia and ohio and that's about it. as we get deeper into the day, the rain chances go up. >> all right. let's look at the clouds that we have this morning. it is overcast at the airport. 66 at b.w.i. marshall is the low so far this morning. we're a lot warmer this morning or less chilly than we were yesterday morning. we're starting the morning out really mild. if we had a shot at sun we would have a good day starting out. but with the clouds and the eventual prospect for rain, it looks like it will be considerably cooler. humidity is up. the barometer is also at the moment high, and that's what's keeping the actual rain fall away. annapolis down to 65. easton down to 59. that's their low. a lot of these readings that you see now are probably going to amount to lows this moorning. west minister 66. york 63. frederick 64. out in far western maryland, oakland, 65 degrees. here's that cloud deck overhead. breaks in the clouds. a few thin spots in the clouds out in western maryland as well. so

a few clouds in west virginia. high and dry weather up and down the central part of the east coast. entire mid atlantic in the clear. we have a couple of showers and storms flairing up toward north of the cleveland area. for the most part we are looking good. that's part of a cool front that will come and cool us off for the weekend. in the meantime high pressure will keep us nice and dry and keep sunshine cascading down. forecast model. disturbance passes to the north tomorrow. although briefly through the middle part of tomorrow afternoon we could see a shower or two. i think we are not going to see much. into the day on friday. once again, just a slight chance of a shower friday evening. slight chances here. better chance during the day on saturday. that not looking like a lot of rain. relatively dry pattern. overnight 06. mostly clear. stays mild tomorrow. two degree guarantee is 82 degrees. variably sunny skies. for new clouds into the afternoon. tomorrow night a few clouds. cooler at 50 degrees. seven-day forecast. here's the trend. not bad at all. thursday and friday just a s

. >> these are from west virginia? >> we do get a lot of puppies from west virginia. >> and i was reading the information, these puppies don't need a hard sell. but when you think about the puppies that are put down in shelters because of different reasons, you start to feel for them a little bit. >> well it's devastating because thousands -- i would say tens of thousands are euthanized every year in shelters and people don't think nobody would kill a puppy but they are hard to wear for and expensive and some shelters don't want them because they can bring in disease and their the first to be euthanized in the shelter. >> and you say spay and neuter. you can't say it enough. >> not enough. even in an educated society, there are still a lot that aren't. >> and talk about the saint bernard. >> in a few months they will be big. they're not even three months old yet. >> how big will these be? >> probably 70 pounds. you can see jia is smaller than tinkerbell. you can tell they will be healthy. they could be mixed with beagl

law makers traveled to beckley, west virginia, for a hearing into the nation's worst coal mining disaster in 40 years. 29 men were killed in last month's explosion at the mine, which is owned by massey energy. one of the witnesses today is a miner whose sun was killed. he accused officials of sending out alerts whenever the mine safety inspectors rooifed on the property, and he urged lawmakers to set penalties for that kind of behavior. >>> nbc's tom costello with more on the hearing. hi, tom. >> reporter: good afternoon. in fact, several former employees and urnt current empl said the same thing. they would quickly scramble and fix things that were not proper. we heard emotional testimony as well from family members that were still grieving several weeks after this terrible disaster that killed 29 people. the worst mine disaster in 40 years. interestingly, they have still not gotten into the mine. investigator says the air inside the mine is still too poisonous. they can't get in. they're hoping to get in the wednesday after memorial day. but investigators came here, congressional invest

. >>> an explosion at a navy hone ballistics lab in west virginia and the smoke could be seen for miles. it happened in the town of rockford center. no one was inside the building when it happened. injured workers were in a nearby building. their injuries are minor. >>> three servers at the chooek cheese cake factory in northwest d.c. are accused in a credit card skimming scam. it happened over an 8-month period starting in june of 2008. customers were bilked out of $300,000 in credit card charges. >>> it could be the end of the road for a 70-year tradition, navy plebes racing to the top of a large coated statue. this year it was different. next year it might not even exist. >>> this is not how you want to land a plane packed with passengers. find out what it took to get this jet safely pot ground. >>> but first a quick check of the rundown. we are back in one minute. hang tight.  >>> from the looks of it you'll be surprised to know it was a safe landing. the nose gear of the united airlines jet wouldn't deploy. the pilots flew the plane past the control

. >> massey energy once an investigation into what caused the explosion in west virginia. the official investigation needs to encompass the principles of due process. investigators might re-enter the mine. >> general motors is announcing a large recall that involves all made since 2006. a recall is to fix a piece on the code that can come off while driving. general -- piece of the hood. the company is discontinuing the brand. >> nancy pelosi says the prosperity of the nation depends on green jobs. speaking at the green shops national conference, she says clean energy jobs are one way to put people back to work. -- speaking at the green jobs national conference. more than 100 exhibitors were on hand to demonstrate how they are creating green jobs. >> he became mascot for the mccain as guy, but now joe the plumber testing the political landscape. he was elected to serve on the republican committee in ohio. it meets a few times a year to set the agenda. >> what a dead. -- what a day. >> how lucky can we be? >> we have been very lucky. no major storms coming this way, but ther

i have come from morgantown, west virginia where spoke at the commencement for the university of west virginia today and then i came over here and i was thinking that when i come over these hills, i always think i am home. it is like western arkansas where i grew up. i am very grateful to you. because i truly love jack murtha. he was [applause] and every -- and in every me except when we played golf. [laughter] plastic driver and we were playing at congressional country club one time and i out drove home, we were talking about him being in the water. he was so wound up that he hit over the green and into the water. he was over 60-years old at the time. it is good to have a guy like that on your side. of the most important members of congress in my lifetime and he delivered for you. he would want us all to be here to make sure that the work he did continues. [applause] the third reason i am here and by far the most important today is that i like mark critz and i think he will be a good congressman. i have another reason to be for him today. you expect his wife and children to show up.

as these clouds and rain try to move in, you can see how it is breaking up as a comes from west virginia and the mountains. the only clouds overhead are these clouds. tomorrow and sunday, this storm coming in. today, we are in great shape. let's look at -- the pollen getting to me here. the count is low there. it does not kick in at the total pl -- pollen is high at 272. easton is 81, salisbury and ocean city. hagerstown is 80. seventies in the mountains to the west. they have a few more often clouds out there. the clouds are producing some of his rent out to the west. it is very scattered. it does not move all that much this morning. the low pressure center is going up towards the great lakes. this high-pressure is deflecting the storm, so do speak. it will not last forever. the real humidity with this storm is on the gulf coast region and the mississippi valley. even though we are in the warm air, it will not be aggressively warm today. -- not be oppressively warm today. 8388 was the high today. we are in the range right now. south east winds at 10 to 15 mi. per hour. we expect plenty

. >>> and an investigation starts tomorrow in west virginia about the deadly cold mine incident. it was involved in the upper big branch mine. it killed 29 workers. among those scheduled to testify is governor joe mansion -- manchen. >>> a secret service and in connecticut was hit from behind with bill clinton inside. -- a secret service van in connecticut. he was giving a speech at yale university. he said it was just a fender bender. >> base loaded down, and we all slowed down, and one person did not -- they slowed down. >> the van continued on to yale, where clinton gave his address to seniors. >>> in anne arundel county, they go to court tomorrow. it is about whether or not they want a slot parlor next to the arundel mills mall. they claim that the petition is loaded with fake signatures and should be thrown out. community groups are accusing them of sabotage. >>> coming up on abc7 news, seven is on your side. in short korea putting your child at risk? >>> -- is your crib putting a child at risk? >>> and sarah ferguson. >>> americans being held prisoner. details >>> the irani

. >> a special congressional hearing is going on in west virginia on the upper big branch mine disaster. labor secretary promised accountability and a thorough investigation into that april 5 explosion. relatives of the 29 who died in that april 5 explosion will also speak. the secretary defended the investigation by the mine safety and health administration and said the process will allow for unprecedented public -- participation >>> secretary of state held riklis as the u.s. support to action taken by south korea against the north. >> we are working hard to avoid an escalation. the ledger rent and provocation -- this is a highly precarious situation that the north koreans have caused in other regions. >> today the south suspended trade with north korea appeared last week it accused the north of torpedoing and sinking one of the ship and dr. prius said that was -- accusation was tantamount to a declaration of war. secretary clinton will visit south korea coming up wednesday. >>> residents in south dakota are checking the damage after a series of tornadoes ripped across the state. in on

it's near 70, western maryland and much of west virginia. view from space over the last several hours, showing a storm system that's spinning away in the midwest. that storm system is advancing to the east. it will give us clouds later on this afternoon but perhaps rain moving in for the weekend. for the rest of the afternoon, becoming partly sunny, high clouds coming in later on, highs reaching the midand upper 80s. a look at the weekend forecast. that will be coming up in just a couple of minutes. stay tuned. we'll take a look into next week as well. >> tom, thank you. >>> let's head out to the roads, see if there are problems out there, maybe less traffic because of all the bikes? >> unfortunately not the case today. this important was a fine commute for the majority of folks but not so much for the middle of the day. a lot of road work and unfortunately, we're seeing substantial delays. here's the capital beltway. this is the inner loop at river road. and it is jammed. a work zone on the inner loop of the beltway between connecticut aven

host: west virginia, john on the independent line. caller: first i need to make a statement before i ask the question. i was extremely disappointed in president obama joking about the immigrants coming over recently at his correspondent dinner, and i think that the main weakness of terrorisms is our own borders with mexico. and i don't think that we understand the severity, they may look like workers and that 2% are coming over for reasons besides working in the fields. and i wonder if your government could tell shouldn't we be trying to tend our own borders as our number one priority? guest: we should, and obviously if you cannot defend your own borders you will have a problem keeping the terrorists out. one trick is to defend your borders to keep the terrorists out and allow normal people to come through with as minimal interruption and allows the goods to go back and forth. it's important for the economic health of united states and mexico. the trick is to defend your borders and to keep terrorists out and allow interaction of peop