restart with adam caskey. the rain is coming our way. >> late tomorrow and especially throughout thursday. it will be a lot like what we had on sunday. be prepared for some flooding. there's a flood watch from late wednesday through thursday. 35 right now in northwest, 26 in leesburg, 29 in la plata, 33 in germantown. the 52 is the high temperatures today, average for this time of year. partly cloudy. not as cold tonight, low to mid 30's. mostly cloudy, with rain showers especially by tomorrow evening. the heaviest rain will be on thursday. there's a flood watch for late wednesday through thursday. thursday morning commute will be and a slow commute. normal service this morning according to metro rail. looks good and on the beltway. no problems as far as interstate travel. normal travel times on 95 between richmond and baltimore, 270 between father hurley and the beltway, looks good along 66 between centreville and the beltway. overnight construction is complete near fedex field. back to you. >> thank you. a search is underway for the man accused of trying to sexually assaulted a woman in wheaton. it happened around 7:00 last night that intersection of aspen hill and viers mill road. the woman got away and was not hurt. new details are surfacing about the man suspected of being the east coast rapist. in connecticut yesterday aaron thomas appeared in court for the first time since his arrest on friday. a tip generated in prince george's county led to that arrest. thomas is accused in a tax on 17 women in four states including the in maryland and virginia. >> they can take some comfort in knowing that he's not a point to be able to do that to anyone else. >> he believed it was over. >> dna was collected from a cigarette but that thomas discarded at an unrelated court appearance last week. the dna matched evidence in 17 cases that led to his arrest. thomas expressed surprise that he was not arrested sooner. d.c. police are investigating an alleged case of corruption. this is within their ranks. greent28-year-old jennifer is accused of taking part in a burglary, but the crime was a hoax. now details from pamela brown. >> good morning. jennifer was arrested and charged with being on the wrong side of the law, the target of a sting operation set up by fellow officers at the d.c. police department. they turned the table on one of their own on saturday. 28-year-old jennifer green was arrested and accused of stolen property. >> i am not surprised. nothing surprises me. >> a five-year veteran of the fourth district was asked if she was interested in taking part in a burglary. the informant said that the owner of the apartment would be out of town. green told the informant he could do anything with the drugs but she "could use the money." >> i cannot believe they are willing to take the chance. >> on saturday she brought her a police radio and got into the informant's car. they drove to the safeway on georgia avenue in northwest. the informant left with a crowbar and came back with pre- recorded funds in the supply -- and is applied bag that contained what looked like crack cocaine. forifepolice were waiting green when she arrived with the money in hand. police chief cathy lanier says we have to be diligent about preventing corruption just as we are in preventing crime. looking at the day ahead, a local college president is expected to face questions about his spending scandal. this afternoon the university of district of columbia president allen sessoms will testify before the d.c. city council. an audit found that he spent thousands of dollars in taxpayer money on travel expenses. he says that he must fly first class because of a blood clot in his leg. maryland democrat will introduce a bill to ban protests at military funerals. the bill is in response to the recent supreme court decision that ruled the protests against a people at a military funeral are permitted under the first amendment. a bill that is banning people from reading text messages while driving appears headed for final passage in maryland. last night the state senate approved a bill to ban drivers from reading text messages even if the car is stopped at red lights. the house approved a similar bill last week. the current law permits a driver from sending a text message, but does allow a driver to read one. 5:06, 37 degrees. >> charlie sheen is unemployed. >> cutting corners to fill the gas tanks. the crisis hits close to home for struggling families. >> there's more rain on the way. the seven-day forecast is next. tuesday morning, to check on traffic and weather every ten minutes. >> adam caskey has the latest on the forecast on this tuesday morning. there's rain tomorrow. >> late tomorrow. the majority of the day will be dry tomorrow. it will be a heavy smoker, kind of like sunday -- heavy soaker. it's 29 entebbinstead the tasted 28 in brunswick, 28 in la plata, 30 degrees in culpeper right now. mostly clear skies overhead right now. clouds should move over yet today. a system in north texas will continue to push our way. some of it will pass to the request of our region. that will put us in the one sector of this system. despite rain, it should be mild because we will get clipped by the warm side of that storm system. let's look at the area of low pressure moving into the midwest and then passing to our northwest as we go through wednesday into thursday. the leading edge of the rain, a few light showers, should be aroundw evenin ang dinnertime. drain off and on for thursday. moderate to heavy showers periodically. 1/4 two inches total with isolated higher amounts -- one or two inches. temperatures in the upper 40's to near 50 degrees tomorrow with laid a rain. near 60 on thursday. flood watch late wednesday into thursday. the commute is ok. the only people reporting a problem are prince william county authorities. that's because of icy conditions. nokesville rd. has a crash. overnight construction in southeast d.c., that's gone for now. frederick county, maryland, to 70 at 109 on the screen looking normal. back to you. >> thank you. it's 37 degrees. >> let android do the driving, a void the daily bottleneck. >> gas prices increasing, what's behind it. >> gas prices increasing, what's behind it. gecko: caller steve, go right ahead. steve: yeah, um, i just got a free rate quote on geico.com, saved a ton, and it only took me 5 minutes and 12 seconds! steve: i was wondering, is that some sort of record? gecko: that's a good question. let's have a look. curtis: mmmm, not quite. someone's got you beat by 8 seconds. gecko: still, i mean, that's... that's quite fast! steve: wt l, what if i told you i only used e e hand? anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. welcome back. checking our top stories, a d.c. police officer has found herself on the other side of the law. investigators say that 28-year- old jennifer green was paid to take part in a burglary that turned out to be a hoax. the five-year veteran is charged with receiving stolen property. she is on leave pending the outcome of the case. an independent review found pepco's ability plan is flawed. the consultants say that it could cause more power problems. it is recommended pepco revamped plan to emphasize the parts such as tree trimming. new start is can be brought against detainees at guantanamo bay. yesterday president obama approved new military trials prison. new safeguards have been put in place, says the white house. there is increasing pressure on the u.s. and other nations to stop libyan leader moammar gaddafi's forces to use airplanes to attack forces. nato is increasing surveillance flights over libya as it contemplates whether to use a no-fly zone. u.n. security council could also consider a resolution calling for such a move. this crisis is one reason for soaring gas prices. the prices are the highest for the month of march ever. emily schmidt and joins us with details. good morning. >> good morning. simply put, when you boil it down, the rising gas price means you get less for your money. here's a dramatic example. think of the price that you paid to fill up your vehicle last year at this time, if you spend as an amount this year, you will be almost a quarter of a tank short because of the rising prices. we have seen a new record broken almost every day. the nationwide average is $3.52 a gallon, which is the highest ever for march. one reason is libya. prices had jumped 39 cents in four weeks since the protests began. one analyst believes the market is reacting on rumors because there are no gas shortages. whatever the reason for the increase, we are certainly seeing the resulting impact. oil at its highest level since september of 20 08. all plans to add flights at united are off this year and it will drop some unprofitable flights because of rising fuel costs. if you are looking for a break, there's not a lot of wiggle room. you could buy gas and the beginning of the week away from the major highways and do some shopping around. the stations are really changing their rates at different times. a white house said again yesterday that tapping into the strategic petroleum reserve remains an option, but only if there is a major disruption in supply. the administration would not say what price point would trigger the move. abc 7 news. thathere's a new report finds the d.c. area has the fourth worst traffic congestion in the nation. a private firm ranked los angeles, new york, and chicago as the top three cities for contestants. 24 miles of interstate 95 south of 395 is the most congested in our region. the beltway through montgomery county ranks second and third, westbound in the morning and then eastbound and evening. google's answer to traffic congestion. let android do the driving. peggy bunker has details. >> google has a new way to keep android users away from traffic jams. the updated version of their navigation application automatically will of its users away from gridlock. it's free application in the android market. mlb 11 the show is so realistic that you took the view of wanting an actual baseball game. >> if you are a baseball fan, you need this game. it has amazing visual, a great game play, and control system that puts you within the game on every play in every position. and there's home-run derby where you get to hit home runs out of your living room. it is awesome. >> the game hits the store sells today and is available only on the playstation 3. -- it's the store shelves today. thanks for watching. time for traffic and weather. >> the rain is late tomorrow. what about today? >> partly cloudy today. temperatures most likely in the low 50's. 33 degrees right now in the district, 30 in gaithersburg. not a bad morning. little cool, but temperatures will warm up nicely at midday. 26 in martinsburg, 36 in lexington park. below freezing for the most part. we have a flood watch that will take effect late wednesday through thursday. this is in anticipation of heavy rain and throughout the day on thursday. rain will begin around wednesday at dinnertime and as early as the evening commute. clear skies right now. mid-level and high level clouds will continue pushing over, becoming partly cloudy throughout today. area of low pressure developing in north texas. we have seen this happen before. it will track off to the north and east and pass just to the northwest of our region. that will put us on the one side of this and cause rain off and on. temperatures will be comfortable, maybe even near 60 degrees on thursday. the leading edge of the rain is tomorrow evening and as early as the evening commute. most of this will hold off until after the drive home tomorrow. throughout the entire day on thursday there will be rain and some could be heavy. low 40's tonight. the upper 40's tomorrow. near 60 with rain followed thursday. in terms of accumulations, we will seek up to two inches and some locations could have more. that's what we have the flood watch. partly cloudy on friday and the weekend in the 50's. metro rail reported normal service. traffic volume increasing. no accidents in va, 66 and 95, a good run on 395 near the pentagon. looks good in and out of baltimore. no troubles headed to thurgood marshall airport or dulles airports. 270 looks good. quiet on the beltway at connecticut ave. back to you. >> thank you. 37 degrees outside on this tuesday mont, 5:21. >> the capitals needed their backup goalie to produce big in the game last night. we will find out if the reserve was up to the task in tampa. >> today on "oprah," a revealing interview with former president george bush. that is at 4:00 on abc 7. we have had a couple of guys go down, but this is beyond. >> old dominion is headed back to the big dance. big blue laced one end of the floor with a baby oil, so they are cleaning up. >> that's weird. >> it was a little strange. the n.c.a.a. tournament. >> now the rest of this morning sports. >> the capitals finally climbed into first place in the southeast division and then just 24 hours later had to face the tampa bay team, that's a team one point behind them in the standings. the capitals for turnover in the third. then there was quite a shot from alexander. i don't know what was battered, the goal or the celebration. it goes to shootout. look at alex ovechkin dancing down the ice. backup goalie braden holtby comes up big and stops all three shots. the capitals win, two points off the tosoutheast division. last night st. john's won the girls' championship. and i in the boys' championship, damascus took on roosevelt. congratulations damascus. they beat the roughriders 52-50. that is a look at your morning sports. have a great day. 37 degrees. the news continues at 5:00 5:30. -- at >> we will take you to bourbon street for the beginning of mardi gras. >> a d.c. police officer called on the wrong side of the lot. >> tracking changing conditions in the weather. i 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[ male announcer ] learn more about the college of nursing at phoenix.edu. live and in hd, this is "good morning washington," on your side. >> straight ahead this morning, pepco's power play. does the energy company have a plan to fix this problem? good morning, washington. it's tuesday, march 8. i am alison starling. >> i am scott thuman. much more on that in a moment. we begin with traffic and weather every ten minutes. adam caskey has the forecast. >> we have rained on the way late wednesday into thursday. before the forecast, i want to show you something. you see the bright spot in the middle of the screen, that is venus. there's that little white spot, that is venus. the temperature on the surface of venus is a hundred 80 degrees fahrenheit. it's 33 degrees around here at reagan national and 33 downtown. temperatures are around and a little below freezing especially in outer areas. 29 in woodbrige. in chesapeake beach, 38. 52 this afternoon with partly cloudy skies. 34 degrees tonight. it will be a little above freezing at most locations by this time tomorrow, so not as cold as this morning. increasing clouds tomorrow. areas of rain tomorrow evening through thursday. there's a flood watch in effect wednesday night into thursday with two inches expected. the temperature of the surface of venus is 880 degrees fahrenheit. will that be on the task? -- test? we will pay attention. 270 southbound is typical approaching 109 in hyattstown. after springfield, virginia, getting to the pentagon moving at speed. one more picture and that is the george washington parkway, click at the headlights toward reagan national airport looks good. back to you. >> thank you. 5:31 is the time. pepco's power struggle. the electric company has been under fire for months over frequent outages and slow response times. >> a new report accuses the utility of throwing money at its problems with no real plan to fix them. brianne carter is live in northwest this morning with details and pepco's response. >> good morning. for the past few months pepco has pledged to do more to keep the power on during the storms when they give our region. pepco says they have a plan in place. now some say that plan does not go far enough. maryland public service commission has been looking into and hasreliability plan started an independent consultant to look at the plant to reduce outages. according to published reports, the consultants found the report to be cobbled together. the consultants recommend pepco to change some of the plan. pepco officials agree that more work can be done, adding that the company looks forward to further developing the components of the reliability plan to achieve greater systemwide reliability and customer satisfaction. pepco as the plan in place and have already seen improvements from the plan, they say. brianne carter reporting, abc 7 news. montgomery county police are searching for man who tried to sexually assaulted a woman in weeks and around 7:00 last night at the intersection of viers mill road and aspen hill road. the woman got away and and was not hurt. we are learning more about the suspected east coast rapist. in connecticut yesterday aaron thomas had his first court appearance since his arrest on friday. a tip generated in prince george's county led to his arrest. he's accused in attacks on 17 women in four states including maryland and virginia. the man accused of stabbing redskins' kick returner brandon banks is expected to face a just today. jason shorter stabbed banks and another man outside a north was d.c. nightclub last month. he's been charged with assault with a. a local cop on the wrong side of the law. >> d.c. police have arrested 28- year-old jennifer green after she allegedly took part in a burglary that was part of a sting operation. pamela brown is at police headquarters in northwest washington with details. >> authorities say jennifer green was already the target of an undercover internal affairs probe before saturday's sting operation. she is a five-year veteran in the four district and was approached by a confidential informant asking whether she was interested in taking part in a burglary. the informant told her that he knew that if the owner of a house with drugs and money would be out of town. green told the informant he could do anything with the drugs but she "could use the money." on saturday she brought her a police radio with her when she drove with the informant to the safeway parking lot in northwest. the informant left with a crowbar and returned with $1050 in pre-recorded funds and a zip lock bag with soap pieces packaged to look like crack cocaine. authorities say that when green was dropped off at her house with $610, she was arrested and charged with stealing property. she has been charged and is on administrative leave pending the outcome of criminal charges. pamela brown reporting. prince george's county police shot and killed a man who pointed a gun and several people yesterday in palmer park. the man pointed a gun at the officers on the scene and that is when four of them opened fire. the man died last night. it could be a major step toward same-sex marriage in maryland. house lawmakers could hear arguments today on a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. the measure passed a house committee last week and has already passed the full senate. maryland governor o'malley says that he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk. president obama is expected to announce his choice for the next u.s. ambassador to china. sources say that he has tapped commerce secretary barry locke for the job -- gary locke. five potential republican presidential candidates are testing the waters in iowa. newt gingrich, tim pawlenty, herman caine and others told activists they can be trusted to follow the conservative path. 37 degrees on this tuesday morning. >> still ahead, charlie sheen, warner brothers is taking his show off the air. >> another c we are the red rage from potomac, maryland. >> good morning, washington. by the clock 40 on this tuesday morning. let's look at temperatures. mainly below freezing, but there are exceptions. 36 in lexington park, 33 in annapolis and 33 in the district. 27 in winchester, 31 in hagerstown, 25 in frederick, 25 in manassas, 26 in chantilly. partly cloudy skies later on today with high temperatures in the low 50's. partly cloudy. mostly cloudy tomorrow. highs around high 40's. there's a flood watch wednesday night into thursday. 1 inch to two inches. near 60 degrees by thursday despite heavy showers anticipated. by the weekend, partly cloudy, temperature is still in the 50's. no big swings in the temperature for the foreseeable future. by the weekend, set your clocks ahead one hour before going to bed saturday night. back to you. >> thank you. 5:41 on this tuesday morning, 37 degrees. >> coming up, the party is under way already in new orleans. a live look at the carnival celebration straight ahead. still no stopping charlie sheen. his rants cost him his kids and a job, but the former two and a half man star is still talking. >> we will have details on whether. 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[ male announcer ] but yiayia approves of her serving athenos hummus. mmmmmm! because only athenos is made the greek way, with 100% olive oil. athenos. maybe the only thing approved by yiayia. good morning. 5:44 on a tuesday. d.c. police officer was arrested after being caught in a burglary sting. investigators say 28-year-old jennifer green was paid to take part in a burglary that ended up being a hoax. she is charged with receiving stolen property. the five-year veteran is on administrative leave now. an independent review found pepco's new reliability plan is flawed. the consultants say that the plan lacks detail and they warn that of changes are not made a, it will fail. it's recommended that pepco focus on key parts of the plan such as tree trimming. it could be a wet walk to school for some kids this morning. several states in the northeast got heavy rain yesterday. now those puddles are left behind. record levels in many spots and many backyards and parking lots and business entrance is still under water. this morning it is official. charlie sheen is out of a job. that job made him the highest- paid actor on tv. nine days into the multimedia , abc fired him yesterday. he's not staying quiet. his bosses finally responded to his countless interviews and statements, firing the "two and a half men" star. they said "your client has been engaged in dangerous, self- destructive conduct and appears to be very ill." that included cocaine binges and trashing his hotel room last fall. the early yesterday before being fired, he spoke with mla radio station saying that his behavior was not a violation of his contract. >> there was no moral clause. i came back over prepared. >> would you sign a moral cause in the new contract? >> h-word no. they should. >> he was filmed on the rules of the building carrying a machete. >> free at last. >> when asked if he now plans to sue them, he said, "big." >> he made a mistake in beginning to think that he was endlessly fascinating. >> this tv guide writer says roadcharlie sheen's back could be tough. >> serious legal issues for him now like the child custody battle with his estranged wife brooke. nurses at washington hospital center will be back on the picket line this afternoon. last friday they staged a one- day strike over stalled contract negotiations. hospitals as temporary nurses are still on the job because it is required to pay them for 60 hours of work. one of three men charged with killing a manager of woodbrige potpies restaurant will spend the rest of his life in prison. 24-year-old andre williams pleaded guilty to murder. two suspects were convicted of lesser charges. the intercounty connector is no longer free. so far, fewer drivers are using it. yesterday was the first eight holes were collected. 2100 vehicles traveled on the icc during yesterday's morning rush hour. but when it was free, that figure was up to 5500. 5:48. time to check in with adam caskey. >> more rain coming. >> we could wake up to issues on thursday for the morning commute as heavy rain could start thursday morning and throughout the day. another look at a live picture over the district, clear skies to start today at 33 degrees. northeasterly wind at 5 miles an hour. shifting out of the east at 5 to 10 throughout the day. 38 degrees at chesapeake beach with clear skies. a no. 3 is at 16 miles an hour. along theusty aiier water. we are below freezing for the most part. 35 in lexington, 24 in stafford, 25 in berryville. there's a flood watch late wednesday throughout the day on thursday. we anticipate another smoker -- soaker like we had last weekend. clear skies overhead right now. clouds will be moving overhead throughout the day, becoming partly cloudy. an area of low pressure developing in parts of the planes and moving into the midwest. this low will continue and track to the northwest of our area. it will keep us warm despite the areas of rain throughout the day on thursday. it will be comfortable with temperatures in the 50's. here's the forecast, that low tracking to the northwest of our metro area, in the 40's and 50' s. this will start up after the drive home tomorrow. wednesday night and off and on through thursday, hours will be heavy at times. 52 degrees today, upper 40's tomorrow with rain showers moving in. a little warmer on thursday despite the rain. flood watch in effect for the majority of our region. apparel two likely and -- up to two inches expected. no accidents to report. metro rail on normal service systemwide. we will show you the volume increasing and slowing a little between edsall road and the 14th street bridge. live picture industry, pretty good across the roosevelt bridge, on 66 between falls church and rosslyn. a picture of the beltway, could add new hampshire ave. new hampshire looks ok to adelphi. groupon and another company are trying to pull in some heavy spenders. >> and creating jobs in the d.c. area. linda bell has the details. good morning. >> good morning. let's begin with bank of america. it has programs are ready to help distressed homeowners and will double its outreach with more retail customer assistance centers. in the next few months it will set up new centers near washington d.c., los angeles, orlando, as well as an francisco. wells fargo and is on a hiring spree as well, looking to fill more than 1000 part-time and full-time positions for its one cobia banks in washington, virginia, and maryland by the beginning of may. the bank says the increased staff will help repair its for the transition as it takes over the wells fargso name. two online coupon companies are trying to convince buyers to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on travel or luxury goods. living social already has offered a tent thousand dollars coupon for penthouse suite package at the toronto tel in san francisco, not a bad coupon. that is business news. live at bloomberg headquarters in new york, linda bell reporting for abc 7 news. back to you. >> thank you. 36 degrees, 5:53. >> thank you. 36 degrees, 5:53. ♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] bursting with mouth-watering real fruit and refreshingly blended with creamy low-fat yogurt, mcdonald's strawberr banana and wild berry smoots are 100% pure sipping fun. the simple joy of real fruit smoothies. ♪ this is a live picture because the party is still going on in new orleans this morning. this is the famous bourbon street where revelers are celebrating mardi gras. the annual celebration officially kicks off on monday. it is the day before the christian season of lent, the tuesday. >> there's nothing worse than seeing at sunrise after being up all night. good feeling. >> he was hooking a straight flight down there, adam caskey. a restaurant owner in road island, a man stopped by after a gambling trip and on his way out, he forgot a bag filled with his winnings. mike had left a bag with $20,000 inside. he called police and they tracked down the owner. a receipt for an engagement ring was also in the bag. he got his money back and paid to the restaurant owner a $1,000 reward. >> interesting that he bought that drering. and it was nice to give them some money. did the right thing. >> who walks into a restaurant with $20,000 in cash? there's a lot more still to come in our next hour. >> coming up, an extra incentive to eat smart. cartoons can help make kids make help the decisions. >> pepco has a plan to try to keep the power on, but a new report says