FOX 5 News at 11: October 14, 2026

Temperatures recorded across the region today, including the latest 90-degree day on record in D.C. But tomorrow, things are going to feel drastically different. Let's take a live look outside tonight from our Fox 5 Skycams across the DMV. Meteorologist Mike Thomas is here to tell us how tomorrow is looking, but a record day today, Mike. I have a rule in my household, which is don't turn the air conditioner on after, like, October 1st. Man, I had to do it last night. It was just too warm, today was too hot, and the humidity is still high tonight. It's back to feeling like summertime. Now, we're about to do a lot of whiplash here in D.C. We're going to have cooler temps tomorrow afternoon. Some spots 30 degrees cooler tomorrow afternoon than they were today. And then we're right back up into the 80s by Friday, and then we're right back down on Saturday. Get ready, it's going to be kind of a wild ride here over the next few days in Washington. And as Kenneth mentioned, latest 90-degree day on record here in D.C., The old one was set back on October 11th, 1919. That was the standing latest 90-degree day in Washington. Your record high for today was 87. And, yes, we easily beat that at 90, 20 degrees above normal. In fact, the low temperature last night was 65, and that's closer to your average high this time of year, which is 70. So well above that number here tonight. That is the Rockville Cam. You see the flag there blowing in the wind just a little bit. Traffic at least running smooth. No rain showers at the moment, too close to Washington, 77, but you do get the Dulles. They're reporting a little bit of light rain activity with a temperature still of 80 degrees. BWI also near 80, even though we've rounded the 11 o'clock hour now. Just so warm out there. In fact, last hour, I think we were 75 degrees, so we went up two degrees here in Washington. So that's pretty incredible stuff by October standards. Rain showers trying to come across, get a little closer. There's a couple of sprinkles there at Dulles. It's nothing too heavy out there in western portions of Fairfax and extreme eastern portions of Loudoun County. Big picture showing you cold front sliding on through. Once this does get through, we will start dropping temperatures. Whatever the temperature is in the next hour, like right after midnight tonight, will be tomorrow's high temperature. And then for much of the day, those temperatures slide on down. And you see as we get lunchtime and beyond, it's generally lower 60s here in town, some 50s in the suburbs. On again, off again, rain showers. We'll show you a future cast coming up, talk more about Friday's warmth and the big weekend cool down on the other side, all in just a bit here. Kenneth? All right, Mike, see you in a bit. A new arrest tonight on a Northern Virginia rape case. Authorities say they tracked down the suspect in Guatemala. Fox 5's Shamari Stone is in Fredericksburg with the latest. Tonight, people who exercise on the trails out here in Fredericksburg, Virginia, are relieved. Now, the Fredericksburg Police Department worked with the Department of Justice, the FBI, and Guatemalan authorities to catch this suspected rapist. Tonight, new video showing Guatemalan authorities arresting 22-year-old Cesar Papan on Tuesday as he walks with his head down in handcuffs. Tonight, Fredericksburg police telling us DNA evidence links him to two sexual assaults on trails in northern Virginia. One in October of last year on the canal path near Dale Street between Washington Avenue and U.S. Route 1. And the other in May of this year on Ficklin Island near Old Mill Park. Detectives say they arrested Papan in June of this year after he allegedly exposed himself to two women on a trail in Fredericksburg. Police charged him with indecent exposure at the time, but federal immigration authorities took him into custody, issued an immigration detainer, and Papan, who was living in Spotsylvania, voluntarily flew back to Guatemala. Months later, DNA test results came back linking him to the two Northern Virginia sexual assaults, police say. Fredericksburg police continued investigating, and with help from the FBI, the Department of Justice, and Guatemalan authorities, they were able to find and arrest Papan. Tonight, Papan is currently in a jail cell in Guatemala. Meanwhile, the Fredericksburg police department is working with the Department of Justice and with the Guatemalan authorities to have him extradited, possibly back here to Northern Virginia. Of course, in Guatemala, he could try and waive that extradition. So it's going to take months for all this to be sorted out. Meanwhile, here in Northern Virginia, he faces 11 charges, including rape. We'll continue to bring you the latest updates here on Fox 5 and Fox Local on your smart TVs and smartphones. I'm Shamari Stone here in Fredericksburg. Back to you. A new indictment today against a Maryland man accused of killing a 10-year-old boy who disappeared more than 30 years ago. Joseph Lynch is already facing multiple charges police believe he raped and murdered 10 year old George Prudenski in 1993 he was arrested early this year after a witness came forward lynch remains in jail ahead of a hearing later this month newly released surveillance video over a violent robbery ring targeting businesses at gunpoint one of the ringleaders Ashley Gause of dc sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison today prosecutors say she held employees at gunpoint across Maryland, Virginia, D.C., and New Jersey. Her crew striking pharmacies and phone stores, stealing more than $300,000 in iPhones and prescription drugs. It certainly helps for identification, you know, identifying who our suspects are and connecting dots and putting these cases together when they come forward for prosecution. Over the years, we've seen that, you know, sometimes these folks are armed. Sometimes, you know, if they know their freedom is on the line, they will do, you know, just about anything to ensure that they are not apprehended and not you know locked up in good jail. So they can be dangerous. Two other members of the crime ring were convicted last November by the same jury that found Goss guilty. Three others pled guilty, all of them sentenced to multiple years in prison. Day six of the Naresh Bhatt murder trial, a former Prince William County forensics investigator took the stand to walk jurors through suspected blood evidence. Prosecutors showed photos of a blood-tracking chemical called Blue Star reacting inside the bedroom Bhatt shared with his wife. Momtikoffel. The images showed a glowing trail leading from the bed into the master bedroom. The jury also saw a photo of the bedroom carpet lighting up under the chemical reaction. Prosecutors also began laying out mountains of digital evidence today with extensive cell phone records and tracking data from Bhatt's Tesla. A sudden and mystery departure out of Montgomery County Public Schools tonight. The principal of Northwest High School placed on leave. I'm Scotty Parsons outside the school tonight in Germantown. We have been working all night to try to get answers on this and still there are so many questions. A principal in Maryland's largest school district is on leave tonight and at least right now parents and students haven't been given a single reason why. I want you to take a look now at Principal Scott Smith, principal here at Northwest High since 2021. Again to be clear officials have not said why he's on leave or how long it's expected to last. A letter sent to families this morning announcing that decision. It was brief. It came from the district's division of school leadership and improvement. It said in part, I am writing to let you know Mr. Scott Smith is currently on leave. At this time, assistant principal Mrs. Danielle Abdel-Salam will serve as the acting principal under her leadership. We are confident that the operations of the school and instructional program will remain strong during Mr. Smith's absence. We are committed to sharing more information regarding the length of Mr. Smith's absence when available. Now, earlier this morning, our crews were here and they spotted officials loading boxes of documents from the school into vans. It's not clear, though, what those documents were or where they were going. We've tried talking all night long with students and parents here in Germantown. Nobody has wanted to say anything on camera since none of them know why this has happened. But students told me they very much know about it, referencing a post on Instagram that announced Smith had been placed on leave. I have tried making contact with Mr. Smith tonight to ask him about this. I have not yet heard back, but you can really feel that parents here in the area are hungry for answers. You can see on online blog posts they're asking each other, have you heard any information? Do you know anything? As they still haven't gotten word yet from the district about what's going on here, we're going to continue to press officials for answers, and as soon as we learn more, we will update you on air and online. Back to you. The University of Maryland's tennis club remains suspended tonight. The team is at the center of Two investigations over a racist image sent out ahead of a tournament in College Park. It features a KKK-style hood on the Maryland flag. Howard University club tennis players who first spotted the image telling Fox 5 they want more accountability. They are now demanding a public apology and a donation of tournament funds to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in D.C. I wouldn't wish this feeling on my worst enemy. It makes you feel different. It makes you feel just kind of ostracized a little bit. The fact that it was spread to so many different colleges and, of course, Howard has to be the one to say something. The University of Maryland's Police Department and Office of Student Conduct are investigating. Attacks by Iran and its proxies are escalating. Despite President Trump's claim that the U.S. controls the Strait of Hormuz, at least 10 vessels, including two UAE cargo ships, have been targeted or sunk in recent days. Meanwhile, Yemen's Houthi rebels have launched fresh drone and missile strikes against Saudi Arabia, hitting the Aramco headquarters and targeting Riyadh's airport again tonight. Tensions are rising between the U.S. and Ukraine as Russia steps up its attacks on the country. Kiev claims the U.S. has stopped or held back some intelligence sharing, which they say allowed surprise attacks from Russia. The White House denies the claims. It comes after three days of Russian assaults on Ukraine's power grid. At least 600,000 people in the dark tonight. A high-stakes legal battle in the district reaching a boiling point. A federal appeals court is weighing who really holds the power to deploy the National Guard on district streets. Judges questioned D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb's argument that President Trump does not have that authority, but also expressed skepticism of the Justice Department case. By any measure, that mission has been a striking success with even the D.C. mayor acknowledging the dramatic decrease in violent crime since the deployments began. They do not belong in D.C. Go home. The three-judge panel does not have a deadline for their decision, so it could come down at any time. President Trump will not be inviting international election observers to monitor the midterms. It's a break from a more than 20-year tradition. Since 2002, the U.S. has brought in election observers from Europe in an effort to accurately report on midterms and the general election. Other countries who have rejected international observers include Russia and Belarus. Virginia's attorney general is launching a new voter protection unit. Jay Jones says it will address President Trump's, quote, relentless attacks on our democracy. This unit will do everything we can to enforce the laws of Virginia that help protect the right to vote and make sure that people who are going to cast their ballots We'll do so and we'll do it without any interference and do it freely. The White House responding to Fox 5 tonight, calling the unit a political stunt. A spokesperson attacked Virginia Democrats, saying President Trump is fighting every day to ensure that only American citizens elect American leaders and to enact common sense measures like voter ID. Maryland's lone Republican Congressman Andy Harris getting into a heated exchange with a reporter, accusing her of breaking state law. This all happened after a debate yesterday in Queen Anne's County. The Baltimore Banner caught the confrontation on camera. You cannot film me. You cannot film me. Yes, I can. No, you can't. This is a two-party state. I am not giving you authority to film me. You have invited the press into a conversation. No, I'm disinviting you. No, you're not. You're gone. You're gone. Capitol News service reporter and UMD student Kat Murphy was at the post-debate press conference when Harris confronted her. He claimed Maryland's two-party consent law required his permission to record. That law generally applies to private conversations, not press conferences. Harris agreed to interview with Fox 5, then cancel, citing a scheduling conflict. When we come back here at 11, from opening a restaurant to expanding home daycare, one local county is trying to cut the red tape for local businesses. We'll explain after the break. Fairfax County is looking to cut red tape for local businesses. Fox 5's Ramon Mujeeb in Fairfax tonight with the changes being proposed. The goal is to make it easier for small businesses to open and expand without sacrificing safety. Tonight, Fairfax County held a community meeting about proposed changes that would allow home daycare centers to care for more children without the lengthy public hearing process. With administrative permit, it's a review that as long as the provider, the use, the home daycare is meeting those standards, it can be reviewed quickly and approved. and doesn't require any public hearing. So it's a quicker process than the special permit. Right now, home daycare providers generally need special approval to care for more than seven children in detached homes or five in townhomes and apartments. The county is considering raising those limits, potentially allowing up to 12 children depending on the type of home and which proposal is approved. And it's not just daycares. A recent county audit found new restaurants in its study took a median of 315 days to open. The county has already launched a fast-track program that can reduce certain commercial building reviews to just one day. And now officials are forming a working group to address other problems identified in the audit. Land Development Services Director Bill Hicks says the county recognizes there's room for improvement. We believe that the audit found some things that we could improve upon. and so we're going to chase those things down. One of the key things we're going to do and we've already gathered participants is to kick off a working group that's cross-agency. So we're working with the fire marshal, the health department, planning and zoning as well as our agency to receive feedback, to look at our processes and to incorporate and make meaningful change. And that working group is expected to be up and running in November with the county aiming to implement all the audits changes by next August as for the home daycare providers again these are just proposals county leaders are still getting public feedback before making a final decision Kenneth Sharon thank you social security recipients will get a 3.6 percent cost of living increase starting in 2027 as an average of 75 dollars a month the increase will affect about 73 million people, as well as millions more who get supplemental security income. But with food, gas, and health care costs rising, many older Americans say the boost won't be enough to keep up with their expenses. Flu season appears to be getting an early start in the D.C. area. Maryland's flu test positivity has more than doubled from this time last year. Virginia is also reporting more flu-related emergency room visits. Last winter's flu surge overwhelmed some local hospitals. Experts warn the severity of this year's flu season is hard to predict at this point. The CDC is recommending all Americans six months and older get that vaccine by the end of the month. Let's turn our attention back to this warm forecast. We've been experiencing a live look now at our camera, Rockville. Mike Thomas is here. Mike, I know you know all types of weather, but have you ever heard of pneumonia weather? No, I have not heard of that. Flu season weather absolutely and this this will take us back and forth a little bit as we head to the end of the week and yeah you know seasonal changes in terms of those temperatures big swings can certainly have an impact uh on uh health across the area and we're going to go through a couple of big swings as we head towards the weekend live look outside across the area tonight the monuments all aglow not a bad night quite a warm night out there 77 mostly cloudy skies now over Washington, D.C. Winds starting to shift. They were out of the south all day. That's why it was warm. Now they're out of the north. And what's that going to do? It's going to start dropping our temperatures here as we head through the next few hours. Still quite warm, though. 70s, in fact, not even a 60-degree rating and even one 80-degree rating. Dallas has gone up now to 80 degrees. And yes, that can happen when we have a cold front coming through. You sometimes get a surge of of uh warmth and dew points right along the front itself and that's what's happening here tonight, so I'm in Austin at 79, Dallas 80 degrees, unbelievable for this late on an October night now it will change during the overnight hours but expect whatever these numbers read by the time we hit the midnight hour that will likely be our high tomorrow and temperatures will be dropping all day tomorrow you can see what's coming our way, 80 degrees warmer right now than we were this time last night. But look to the north, 16 degrees colder in Binghamton, Pittsburgh, 10 degrees. So that's where the colder air is, and that'll be sliding southward as we head through the overnight hours tonight. There's your satellite and radar showing you where the showers are along the front. Now, they're kind of scattered about here in Washington. In fact, it's more light sprinkles than anything across the immediate D.C. area. You get south of I-66, down towards Culpeper, just north of Charlottesville there as well. They're dealing with some steadier downpours. But here in Washington, again, more clouds than raindrops coming down at the moment. Tomorrow, that front stalls just down to the south. We'll be on the cooler side of the front. And with winds coming out of the north and west, expect a lot of cloud cover tomorrow. And during the afternoon and evening hours, some scattered showers do appear quite likely, though some of the latest guidance that's come into the weather department does look like the morning hours from D.C. to the north could be on the drier side of things. Otherwise, afternoon temps in some spots 30 degrees cooler than today's 90 in Washington. Sliding down just about all afternoon. You see the morning hours, not too bad. Just a 10% chance of rain at 6 a.m. But it does go up steadily by the noon hour, about 50% chance of rain. And then it kind of goes up and down through the rest of the evening here. Once we get beyond tomorrow, we bubble up pretty quickly. High on Friday, back into the 80s. We go 83 here in Washington. Middle 80s downtown Fredericksburg there and Culpeper. So another day where temps will be well above normal before we have a big slide down into the weekend. Let's show you your future cast here, and you'll see what I mean by tomorrow could start dry. D.C. and north even has a little bit of partial sunshine breaking out with all the shower activity down to the south and west, closer to where that frontal boundary is. Now, that front, which comes south tonight the cold front stops tomorrow, then turns around and starts heading back our way as a warm front. That'll bring some of that shower activity northward as we head through Thursday afternoon and then through Thursday night into the very, very early morning hours of Friday. Could start off maybe the Friday morning commute with clouds and sprinkles across the D.C. area, but we quickly get back to sunshine, and that's when we'll really warm things up. Now, another cold front, stronger cold front comes our way then later on Friday night, and with that could come a line of showers with some gusty thunderstorms even possible. We're outlook for severe weather here for the threat for an isolated damaging wind gusts or two as that line of storms comes across. Now, on the other side of that line, it gets rather cool and chilly. I mean, Saturday's high is mostly in the 50s. It will be breezy. Sunday, high of just 60 degrees. And then next week, temperatures slow to moderate, partly cloudy, very dry conditions. But, yeah, some big-time swings here over the next four days. So hang in there. We'll get you through it. Kenneth? Now, pneumonia weather is when it switches back and forth on the, you know, cold, hot. I thought that was flu weather. No, they call it pneumonia weather down south. I think you just call it that. Okay. Bye. Bye, Mike. Expedia out with their predictions for 2023 travel trends. Their main takeaway, people are looking for a more personal experience. More travelers expected to trade lengthy vacations for quick one-night getaways. Planning trips around hobbies and visiting destinations made famous by TV shows and movies. Also predicted to see a boost in popularity. The report also points to growing interest in smaller inland destinations and hotels chosen for their spooky, gothic atmosphere. When we come back, recreational marijuana sales set to begin in Virginia next year. And tonight, we're getting a better idea of how products will be taxed. Stay with us. Maryland Governor Wes Moore is pushing for new legislation to bring down the cost of prescription drug prices. The bill would allow the Prescription Drug Affordability Board to set upper payment limits for drug costs. It would match the maximum fair price established by the federal Medicare program. Affordability as a whole is something we have to address. Drivers of lack of affordability for people in the state of Maryland is medicines. and that we cannot continue to have people who are then choosing between the medicine that they need or the food that they need. If passed, the governor says it would save the people of Maryland hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Maryland is warning homeowners about the growing risk of deed fraud. Criminals are using forged signatures or stolen identities to illegally transfer ownership of a property. A new state task force will study how often the fraud happens, who's most at risk, and how to better protect victims. Homeowners should contact their county clerk's office if they spot any unauthorized activity. Fairfax County moving to impose the highest local tax allowed on recreational marijuana sales. The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously for a 3.5% tax. That would be on top of state and local taxes. And Virginia's 6% marijuana tax. Virginia is working toward launching retail sales starting July of next year. Virginia gave localities, has given localities a 1 to a 3.5 percent leeway in setting that rate, but the board didn't even discuss setting a lower rate. County staff will present a draft proposal next spring, followed by a public hearing. Ticket resale platforms are suing over a D.C. law which caps the price for secondhand tickets. They claim the Resale Act violates multiple laws, would put people at risk of fraudulent tickets, and hurt competition. The law limits the price of a resold ticket to 10% more than its original value. Platforms like SeatGeek, VividSeats, GameTime, and TickPick are all part of that suit. When we come back, word of mouth advertising. Looking a whole lot different these days. Store owners trying some new things. We'll explain.