Two people were struck by a car on lockwood drive. We just noticed paramedics taking patients into an ambulance there. Were told they suffered some minor injuries. The screak stayed on the the vehicle stayed on the scene after the accident. We dont know if weather played a father a factor but well keep you posted. This tree toppled into a home on woodmore drive in Silver Spring. And there are similar scenes all over the area. Horace holmes is live in bethesda where a tree went down across a busy road. Were here on bradley boulevard and you can see with those heavy winds and the strong rain, what it did to this tree right here. It just snapped late this afternoon. It came down, all of bradley boulevard, closing it down for a short period of time. The county crew came up and they were able to move most of it to the side and they just reopened bradley boulevard. Now were going to talk more about the;yn problems that we he here, just a couple miles from here, another big problem on river road. Huge problems on river road. Northbound lanes are shut down as they repair a power line that went down in the storm. And on the beltway at river road, the two left lanes of the inner loop are shut down because of high water. Thats causing huge backups all the way around the beltway and all the way down river road into the district. Look at these pictures captured by news chopper 7. Power line went down on top of trees near daniels run apartment complex. As you can see that caused a small fire on the lines and the trees. Fire and power crews on the scene right now and they are working in that area. Back here in bethesda on bradley boulevard, the traffic is moving now, but those branches as you can see, are still on the power lines there. Theyre waiting for pepco crews to come down and finish up this job and restore the power and get those power lines right here on bradley boulevard. So when they get here, likely at thisapoint, they will shut down at least a portion of bradley boulevard while they work there. Very eventful afternoon. The good news is there are no reports of any injuries. Reporting live in about bethesd, horace holmes, abc~7 news. Speaking of power lines, downed power lines have closed part of New Hampshire avenue in Silver Spring. This was the scene from newschopper 7 a short time ago. Were told traffic is still being diverted. New hampshire avenue closed from adelefy road to Silver Spring. Make sure to download the abc~7 weather app. A new report reveals what caused a train to derail two years ago in elicate city elcaught city killing two young women. They were sitting on a bridge when the train derailed and many wonder if their presence was what caused the crash. We now know that is not the case. Brad bell with what the National Transportation safety board is saying. This is a truly bizarre story and as you said, people have wondered for two years now what happened up on that bridge. Now they have the answer, as well tell you, it was a cracked track that killed these two girls that were just hanging out and telling their friends about jdth twitter. A look down elicott citys main street. A shot of their feet as they sit on the landmark railroad bridge. The last tweets from two High School Classmates and close friends. They died minutes after they took and tweeted those photos in august 2012. Incredibly a train crossing the train derailed right behind them. They were buried in spilled coal. I heard a loud boom. We come out and still see sparks flying. Nobody in elicott city has forgotten that site. So much so that a park bench memorializes them. One of the girls used to shop in here all the time. Whats not known until now is why the train crashed. Suspicious lingered. A lot of people thought it was down. National Transportation Safety board investigators say no person is to blame. It appears a fiveinch break in the track hundreds of feet from where the train sat is the cause of the derailment. There were also soggy conditions on the rail line due to heavy rain as a contributing father. Track maintenance met federal standards and it was inspected just days before the crash. Wrong place wrong time. Repairs to the tracks were made long ago and trains have been rumbling through town here. But one big change we just showed you on top of the bridge, is that the fencing has been improved all around this area to try to prevent anybody else from getting up on that bridge again. Now as for the parents of the girls, they have so far declined comment and they say theyre aware of the report but they really dont want to talk about it at this point. In elicott city, brad bell, abc~7 news. Thank you very much. Tomorrow we have new developments in the case against Charles Severance. He is the person of interest in those three mysterious shooting deaths in alexandria. A trial date is now set in his Loudoun County weapons case. Stephen tschida live in the alexandria neighborhood where these killings occurred with the reaction of one of the widows of the victims. Were in the heart of alexandria, you come across a number of people who knew at least one of the victims. People tell me they were hoping for more serious charges. Tonight they express their concern a serial killer could be out there. Charles severance bears a strong resemblance to the composite of the killer. More than a decade after the killing of nancy donerun in her home. And months after the shooting death of ruth amadatto when she opened her front door, severance is charged with weapons offenses. Thats it. I guess its better than nothing to get him on something, but if he did do the crime, then he can pay for it. Reporter he allegedly broke the law by acquiring a gun. Hell remain behind bars while he awaits trial and while investigators continue to comb through evidence to pin him with any of the killings. They shot him here and here, and here. Andre hanes didnt expect much from the Loudoun County courtroom. They havent connected the bullets. They dont have any fingerprints or dna that matches. My sense is hes a crack pot. 53yearold Charles Severance goes on trial in late october. Now it is expected to be a twoday trial. However if he is convicted he faces a sentence between 25 years. Reporting live, Stephen Tschidaerse abc~7 news. A number of children who crossed the u. S. Border by themselves are now in Prince William county. The children are staying atout for tomorrow, a nonprofit facility in bristo. Local lawmakers are demanding answers to questions such as how many are at the facility and whats being done to care for them. The pentagon said no children are being housed add National Guard armories despite rumors of that. More on that coming up at abc 7 news at 6 00. Police are treating graffiti on a building as a hate crime. No undocumented democrats, thats on a former Army Reserve Center wall. As you can tell illegal, spelled wrong. The department of health and Human Services considered using the site to house children from Central America and they have since dropped the idea. Tonight federal funding for state transportation projects is in trouble. But today president obama appeared in the claim to push for this funding to continue. Suzanne kennedy in our newsroom with whether the president can keep this funding intact. Suzanne . The future of the nations roads and bridges is in limbo as Congress Works to hammer out a deal to keep the Highway Trust Fund in business. Today president obama went to a Highway Research facility in mclane where they learned about developing technologies tested on a virtual car and then pushed for congress to see the Highway Trust Fund. If Congress Fails to fund it they run out of money. That could put 700,000 jobs at risk including 17,000 here in virginia. More than 100,000 active projects across the country. Those are pending in the house and senate but a august deadline is looming. One option a temporary stop gap measure. The bill before us will provide enough funding to get us through may 31, 2015. Thisivation is the only this legislation is the only history of getting bipartisan votes in the house and senate. Travel around even in metropolitan washington, you see the roadsways are deficient. Look what happens to the metropolitan area after winter with potholes big enough for your entire car to fall in. So yeah, i think we should continue to fund for transportation issues. The trust fund has been on the brink of bankruptcy for a half dozen years. One longterm solution would be to raise the federal gas tax, an idea many find unpopular, especially during an election year. Suzanne kennedy, abc~7 news. Montgomery county schools will have new laptops and tablets to use when they get back to school this fall, but is that going to cost the county too much money. The story on that coming up. Also why police are cracking down on pedestrians at one busy metro stop. Flooding, lightning, and hail up and down the east coast. A look at storm damage around the country, plus steve is back with our search teams have recovered the body of a boater. David franzen has been missing since sunday. His body was found near the Francis Scott key bridge. Investigators have not determined a cause of death for either person. We turn to our storm watch coverage and were not the only ones experiencing storms. People in other parts of the east coast and even colorado bracing for more bad weather. As Marci Gonzalez reports, for many of them its day deja vu after yesterdays storms. Another stormy evening for much of the east coast. Still cleaning up and drying out. From yesterdays Severe Weather. Peoples roofs are gone. Torrential downpours stranding drivers in parts of new jersey. There were waves hitting us. Those storms bringing lightning, striking the Freedom Tower the library of congress in d. C. And hitting a teenager in philadelphia who is recovering today. More storms farther west in ohio, a familys car hydroplaning and then flipping. The man and his daughter inside escaping and holding onto a true until they were rescued while his wife was carried four miles by the flash flood before she was saved. Pretty happy reunion when we got them both together. More flooding in phoenix and in colorado. So much hail it almost looked like winter. More confused seasons in the midwest where today it feels kind of like fall with temperatures as much as 25 degrees below normal. People bringing out the jackets in colorado, but not too many complaints. I dont have a problem with this weather. On the east coast along with rain and possible hail, some areas could get winds up to 70 miles an hour. Marci gonzalez, abc news north w york. This is that polar vartex. Were vortex. Were not supposed to say that. The worst of the weather is to the east and improving conditions overnight and tomorrow wait until you see the forecast for tomorrow. Im excited. Im going to make you wait until the very end of this one. Outside we have some clouds and storms well to the east at this point. They are racing off toward the east at 2530 miles an hour. For the district at this point were pretty much done with the worst of the weather. 79 degrees and dew points are still in the lower 70s so the actual cold front has yet to move through. College park, earlier this afternoon, wind gusts at 44 miles per hour. Rain totals round. 25 inches and the temperature has dropped to about 70 degrees. An inch of rain and wind gusts earlier, and winds have settled down. The final stop is reston. They are the jackpot area in terms of rain totals. A little over 1. 25 inches. Wind gusts not so bad for this afternoon. For the most part their storms have come to an end. On the severe thunderstorm watch map, frederick, loudoun have been dropped. Areas in pink including the district and all of Southern Maryland until 9 00 tonight. I suspect most of this will cancel well before them as the strong storms are now to the east of us. That Flash Flood Watch has been canceled out. Take a look at doppler radar. Its quiet and dry across the beltway at this time. The heaviest showers now acrossz Southern Maryland, california, over toward lessbe and long beach. Another batch beginning to form but not forming to a lot around luray and flint hill. This is all moving toward the north and east. Widen the view out a bit. Lightning, that was a big problem earlier this afternoon. Look at all these lightning strikes associated with that initial line of strong storms, now quickly racing off toward the east and for us, i dont think a whole lot more as we move through the evening hours. This is our temperature range from the upper 70s to lower 80s. 81 degrees at dulles. 79 in quantico. Still hanging onto 83 in fredericksburg, but that cooler air, that cooler air we were talking about earlier. Look at minneapolis at 68 degrees. 70 degrees in chicago. This cold front will move through overnight and then well see a Beautiful Day tomorrow with the showers quickly coming to an end and lower humidity levels. The best news of all, highs around 80 degrees and well repeated on thursday and even into the day friday with a chance of showers for the upcoming weekend mainly in the mountains. But they will be west of d. C. Showers and storms gradually end and temperatures in the 60s overnight. Then for tomorrow, northwesterly winds, lower humidity, lots of sunshine. Upper 70s to lower 80s. The extended outlook looks fantastic for the day on thursday. Middle 80s and well hang there too on friday. Saturday and sunday you see the chance for the thunderstorms less than 30 , and were talking west of d. C. , mainly in the mountains. If you have beach plans, they look excellent with temperatures upper 70s to around 80 degrees. So the worst of it is over with. We still have that severe thunderstorm watch until 9 00 tonight, but that will be gone before then. We had such a pattern going. We did. Glad to change it. These evenings are going to feel great. For july in washington. Not very often. Well take it. Coming up a abc~7 watchdog investigation. Why a small d. C. Election is costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars. Plus the reason behind a d. C. Residents licenseu]u rejected a florida airport could have you shaking your head. Commuters here at the vienna metro could pay a steep price for ignoring the rules of this crosswalk. How much a jaywalking ticket here will cost you and the Message Police say they are sending with these tickets. And a look at the abc~7 lineup. Well be right b tickets are now being handed out to jaywalking pedestrians near a busy metro station. Fairfax county police say too many people are walking in the vienna metro station and not using the crosswalk which has led to a number of accidents. Joce sterman at the station with whats being done to keep people safe. Fairfax county police told us they would have officers out here for three hours every morning this week and three hours during the evening rush, although it appears tonight commuters are going to get a pass on this because we have not seen an officer out here so far. But officers did tell me this morning they gave out at least 25 citations to commuters who either crossed against the light or didnt use the crosswalk at all. Theyve got bright red brick and florescent yellow signs to mark your way, but here at the vienna metro people are color blind. Run to cars or run across the street. Monica johnson sees it all the time. The 5 00 free for all where people press their luck instead of pressing the button to get safely across the street. Everybody has a place they want to be. They want to get home. Its late so they probably just run and go for it. But Fairfax Police want to stop this bad habit so this week theyre giving jaywalkers a lesson in safety, which happens to come with a 50 ticket and 60 in courth5 fees. At least give you awarning. They already a warning. They already did. Last week they gave out more than 1 1,000 fliers about 1,000 fliers about pedestrian safety. Some people do need that to get the point across otherwise theyll keep doing it. Theyre too caught up in their life listening to their iphones, crossing the street. But Police Officers handing out personal reminders with a price tag will make anyone snap to attention. Even though supporters of the tickets say getting one is a road they would rather not cross. Keep this in mind, you can get a ticket even if you just cross the crosswalk when there is no traffic coming. Thats still considered breaking the law. They dont want to do it, but this is a safety measure, one police think is very, very important. Its not something that is going to cost you a lot of time. We repeatedly tested the buttons today. It never took longer than 13 seconds to get the lights to safely across this intersection. Joce sterman, abc~7 news. Still to come on abc 7 news at 5 00, the president could get a new address . If one d. C. Councilwoman gets her way. A diamond in the ruff found at one local store. The purchase that has some students excited and youre watching abc 7 news at 5 00 on your side. Lets get another check of where the storms are. Our meteorologist Stephen Tschida is tracking it all from the Weather Center tonight. The strongest storms now well to the east of d. C. You can see them moving across the delmarva peninsula, however a few more storms beginning to develop just to the west of us. Look at marshal. These are stronger thunderstorms. Nothing thats been warned on, but likely to contain some very heavy downpours as they move to the east. It will eventually impact manassas, and if they hold together, the corridor. We have the Flash Flood Watch for the district and the surrounding counties. Everything shaded in pink until 9 00 tonht. But i think it will come well down before that. Already knocked down for loudoun and the panhandle of west west virginia. Coming up well look at the next seven days. Now a look at the days top stories. Even more storms in the forecast even after Severe Weather moved through this afternoon. A tree fell onto a home in Silver Spring. And there are many downed power lines. Charles severance will go to trial october 27 on a weapons charnel in loudoun charge in Loudoun County. Before that happens a judge will hear arguments from his attorney challenging the admission of evidence against him. Severance remains the focus of an investigation into three unsolved murders in alexandria. A track break is blamed for a august 2012 train crash that killed two girls as they sat on a railroad bridge. The ntsb says it began with a track break several hundred people feet from the girls location. Education isnt cheap but Montgomery County schools says it is a worthwhile investment. This summer they will buy 40,000 laptops and tablets for students to use in the classroom and at home. But not everyones excited about this idea. Kevin lewis is live to explain the plan and the pushback. This is no lowbudget endeavor. 15 million just to roll this program out the front door, but supporters say the devices will make education more interesting for students and enhance learning both in and out of the classroom. All right so were going to switch now. Call it Technology Boot camp. There are actually five. Teachers learning how to use chromebook laptops in place of text books. Exciting. Ap geography teacher lillian among is already monk is already drafting learning plans statement to make learning part of technology would be fantastic. Ncps will roll out 40,000 laptops and tablets this august for students in 3rd, 5th and 6th grades and in High School Social studies classes too. The total cost . 15 million. Its so much money and id like to see a very detailed proposal of why this has to be spentyk;now. Parent ledda astro says administrators have bigger problems like unprecedented overcrowding, but theres also concern about productivity. Last fall the Los Angeles Unified School district nixed its plan after students stole devices and others browsed inappropriate web sites. That needs to be considerations before we expand without a clear plan of where were going with the technology. Issues that ncps says its already taken into consideration. This technology will also allow teachers to give them the ability to video chat with students from home, say the night before a major test or exam. If all goes as plans mcps will own 100,000 of these devices by 2017. Live from the Montgomery County mobile newsroom in bethesda, kevin lewis, abc~7 news. Construction of d. C. s newest high school reached a milestone today. Mayor vincent gray joined other local leaders at the new Senior High School in southeast. Construction of the schools steel frame is complete and if it stays on schedule the first phase will be finished by the end of the year. Its good to see something in our community and its going to be something special. Thats what i love about being a part of this project. Its being rebuilt on the west side of the existing school. Once the new building is completed the hold one will be torn down and a football field replacing the area. Time for a look at traffic with bob immler in the w. T. O. P. Traffic center. Longer delays and part of the problem is on the inner loop out of bison starting before route 50 in annandale and getting up to 270 with a storm drain issue on the inner loop before river road. Still two lanes are open even though the lanes have tried out. Dried out. I95 south to new bridge and triangle youll find the travel lanes open. A stretch of New Hampshire avenue is closed south of the beltway. Thats what dreamt looks like on Development Looks Like on the inner loop, but its starting in annandale trying to get into maryland on the outer loop. Were seeing both loops of the belt way of connecticut avenue, the outer loop past river road and the inner loop just headed through Bethesda College park, greenbelt and over most of the way down to landover as well. Baltimore washington parkway had a tree come down on a car on 198. That should be out of the roadway. Bob immler in the w. T. O. P. Traffic center. Thanks bob. Coming up tonight on world news, more coverage of the Severe Weather thats sweeping the nation, david gives us a preview. We began once again today with the weather. Its really something isnt it . The Severe Weather on the move again at this hour. The tornado warnings and the flash floodi i ct u is was ine swept away four hours down the river. She survived. Tonight youll hear from her family. And then the mystery illness in the water, the popular vacation lake with people falling ill. A warning for families and what they should know heading out. And a scary headline involving sandra bullock. This is a stalker scare and what she found in her home is coming up. You can watch those stories on world news right after abc 7 news at 6 00. Still ahead this hour, a special election in d. C. Is underway to fill a 15,000 a year job. So why is this small election costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars. Goo a local Goodwill Store got a lot more than it bargained for in a bag of deinated jewelry donated jewelry. Turns out there was a 3carat diamond and today it was sold for thousands of dollars. Diane cho joins us with the story behind this diamond donation. Goodwill auctioned off the diamond ring on its web site and it sold for just under 12,000. From autographed magazines to guitars, you never know what youll end up finding at a goodwill and that goes for the shoppers and the employees. I was like really . Wow. I was like i actually had it on my finger. Last month she was sifting through the donated jewelry like always at the store in annandale, when she came across this ring that came in a bag filled with other jewelry. She knew right right away the band was 14carat gold but assumed the diamond wasnt real, thinking they might be able to get 50 out of it. One of those fake things you just pay for the gold band. She couldnt have been more wrong. The demind was appraised at dimind was appraised at 8,300. It sold this morning for nearly 12,000. The money will be used to support job Training Programs here at the store. I think its wonderful because all that you donate here is being put to good use. While theyll never know who actually donated the ring or if they meant to give it away, unless that person comes forward. Shoppers say after this they plan to look a little closer to see what else might be right under their nose. It sounds a little encouraging. Maybe ill come here more often. This isnt the first time a bigticket item has come to the store here in the area. They received a painting that sold for more than 10,000 at their manassas location. Looks like something out of antiques roadshow. Every once in a while. Coming up next on abc 7 news at 5 00 why a d. C. Council woman wants to change the name of the street where the white house sits. Comedian tracy morgan flashed a peace sign in the first video of him since the car crash that nearly took his life. The actor was critically injured and a friend was killed in a june 7 crash on the new jersey turnpike. Morgan is now suing walmart for negligence. Police say a truck driver employed by walmart caused the crash. Good to see he still has a sense of human. Y cluey plans to sue his former team for discrimination. He says his team fired him for his support of Marriage Equality and he accuses the vikings of breaking a promise to release an investigation. They said they were going to make it public for 7 months and to me thats important. Not only did i say this is what happened but this is something that happens in the work environments across the country. The vikings say they expect to receive the report and its recommendations this week. A d. C. Man faced some tough questions from a t. S. A. Agent in orlando when he flashed his d. C. Drivers license to get through security. It turns out the t. S. A. Agent didnt know the District Of Columbia was a part of the united states. Kris van cleave is in our newsroom to tell us what happened next. Really they shouldnt have been tough questions because you guys know, i know that, d. C. The Nations Capital is part of the united states. But this appears to be an issue. This is not the first time it happened believe it or not. T. S. A. Officers in orlando now getting a bit of a geography lesson after this week and they are being shown pictures of the newest d. C. Drivers license. This is only an example of district confusion happening in other cities. Hes a reporter for the cox agency bureau. Based on the reporters conversation with the t. S. A. Officer it became clear to him the officer didnt realize the District Of Columbia was part of the united states. Back in february another incident at an airport at a checkpoint. The t. S. A. Described it as unfamiliarly with the new d. C. Drivers license. This occurred at the phoenix airport. In both cases a supervisor intervened and corrected the situation allowing the traveler to continue through security. Some critics of the t. S. A. Are expressing concern over what appears to be a lack of geographic knowledge. In New Hampshire this week a man with a d. C. Drivers license wasnt allowed to buy alcohol because the store said his i. D. Didnt meet state law. So the state law includes this phrase. A Motor Vehicle drivers license issued by the state of New Hampshire or a valid drivers license issued by another state or province of canada. Because d. C. Isnt a state, the store rejected the license. So today the New HampshireLiquor Commission sent out this guidance to stores saying it is understood that the District Of Columbia is the capital of the united states. The legislative was not to exclude a d. C. As an acceptable means of identification. So the i. D. Should work to board airplanes or buy alcohol. You a future as a geography teacher. Unbelievable. Lets stick with this d. C. Address concept because president obama may have to change his Mailing Address if a Council Member has her way. Were talking about Yvette Alexander who introduced a bill to change pennsylvania avenue to d. C. Statehood now boulevard. She says it sends a strong message to the millions of visitors to the nations capitol that until we achieve statehood we are not free. But congress is likely to forbid it. You might want to check with t. S. A. First. Lets see whats coming up on abc 7 news at abc 7 news at abc 7 news at 6 00. Maureen bunyan with a look ahead. Tonight at 6 00, a demand for answers after the National Debate over immigration landed in the center of Prince William county. Plus a new vow from israels Prime Minister after a ceasefire plan collapses. His message for gaza militants and what president obama is now saying about that crisis. Well also have our first look at storm damage in Silver Spring and much more about the weather ahead on abc 7 news at 6 00. All right. Thank you so much. Stephensteve rudin saying wed be in the clear now. The heaviest of the storms or the strongest of the storms earlier this afternoon well to the east of d. C. , but a few more thunderstorms beginning to pop up on abc~7 live superdoppler radar. They will eventually move into manassas and reston and eventually into Montgomery County and some may clip the district but im going more confident that the worst of the weather, the severe storms are gone. Were hanging on to the severe thunderstorm watch for the district and surroundingouts, but much surrounding counties. But many have been dropped from the watch box. And now Southern Maryland. But the areas shaded in pink, most of this will be done by 9 00 if not before then. The storms moving quickly across the delmarva beaches and racing toward new york city. The skies will clear7e as a strg cold front moves through tonight. A change in air masses, unbelievable. Its a bit humid a bit warm out there this hour. Upper 70s to lower 80s. Tonight well fall into the 60s and tomorrow upper 70s to around 83 degrees low humidity, low dew point levels. Its not going to feel like the middle of july, rather the middle of september. Im ill take it for a couple days. The worst of the weather moving to the east. Speaking of east lets go way east across the pond. Everybody started talking about it. Tiger woods was the Main Attraction this morning during his practice round. Fans wanted to see the new rebuilt tiger and how he handled the mew rebuilt role at liverpool. The open, its longer, more protective than the course tiger played when he won eight years ago. Woods used his driver twice as many times as in 2006. When he hit his driver the last couple years it was a liability. But its not just a different cores course course. Hes had three surgeries. Hes 38 years old still rehabbing to which he says. If you remember in 08 i had knee surgery for the masters, i then teed up and won the u. S. Open. I didnt break 50 in 9 holes and was still able to win it. Ive proven i can do it. Woods building a case for himself and being a little feisty. The wizards continue to mix and match trying to recreate the plaintiff success they had but Trevor Booker sign would the utah jazz for 10 million. All his mbers went off this season. Hes only 26 years old and mow hes being paid big time. The wizards completed the sign and trade deal with the celtics and acquired Kris Humphries 13 million over three years. So the wizards doing a pretty good job of plugging the holes. Its the 85th annual allstar game in minneapolis. Tyler clippard is the only active Washington National on the roster. John Carlos Stanton had everybody talking with this shot last night. By far the longest dinger of the night. Almost out of the stadium. 430 feet. Thats roy hobs kind of stuff. Even the players cant believe it. But the winner still champion, again, the ace slugger. He knows how to pace himself. He exploded when he had to. Powered past. 91, the first repeat champion in 15 years at the home run derby. Talk about a moon we turn to an abc~7 watchdog report. Theres a special election being held in d. C. Even though its expected to bring a very small number of voters out, it is costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars. D. C. Bureau chief sam ford is live to explain. Its costing the city 300,000. And tuesday this special election day here in ward 8, not a lot of people know about it, but it has to be held within 144 days of a official vacating office and theyre doing it here today. Were in front of Union Temple Baptist church, precinct 114. I understand as of almost 6 00 so far 56 people have voted. Its the same across the ward. At polling places at d. C. s ward 8 special School Board Election today, the poll workers are mostly keeping each other entertained. By noon at blue high, 13 people had voted. My mother always told me to go out and vote. At the arc by 1 00 p. M. Only 45. This is election is costing taxpayers nearly 300,000 to fill a 15,000 a year job. Its kind of my fault. I resigned abruptly. The seat vacated by trayon white who had a baby and needed more money. I took a government job and didnt know i could do both at the same time. They asked permission to ignore the special elections law and instead hold a vote during the general election during november and save 300,000. No. Money should not be a factor with democracy. No, i said no. So the new candidates were out getting out their vote, though both think its too expensive. I appreciate their efforts to try and cut losts but the law says what costs but the law says what the law says. I believe every voter could have been treated to a very nice expensive steak dinner with drinks. And so if a thousand people actually come out and vote today, that would be 300 a vote. But it might be more expensive than that. Reporting live fromsoutheast washington, sam ford, abc~7 news. What a story. Sam, thank you. And thats it for abc 7 news at 5 00, abc 7 news at 6 00 starts right now on storm watch. Captioned by the National Captioning Institute www. Ncicap. Org live from the abc~7 broadcast center, this is abc 7 news at 6 00, on your side. First at 6 00 our second straight day of fastmoving storms has left destruction across parts of our area and the threat of more problems isnt over yet. Well take a closer look at some of the damageige just a daman just a moment but first the latest information for you about those storms. And for that lets go to meteorologist steve rudin standing by in the Weather Center. Weve been tracking these storms in the belfort furniture Weather Center all afternoon long. The strongest storms east of d. C. , but another round to the west. Manx and hay market, getting ready to move intoan fairfax. These storms are capable of producing gusty winds and heavy downpours. This is all part of that cold front that will eventually move through during the overnight hours replacing the warm and humid air with cooler and drierications. Take a look at the conditions. Take a look at the latest severe thunderstorm watch map. This includes the district and all counties shaded in pink. This is until 9 00 but i believe it will come down well before then as the atmosphere begins to stabilize after sunset. Look at the impressive rain totals so far