The Final 5: July 14, 2026

A local soccer coach accused of scamming families out of big bucks. Tonight we're hearing from one of the victims. And an office building still deemed too unsafe to enter. And tonight, some relief for the impacted businesses. A growing foodborne illness outbreak. Now raising some new concerns about what's ending up on our plate. The CDC says cases of cyclospore are climbing across the country. Now the search is on for the source. Regina Ureta's in Friendship Heights with the latest from health officials. Yeah, and this foodborne illness causing explosive diarrhea is now surging across the country. New data from the CDC shows it has now spread to 34 states. Nearly 1,700 cases have been confirmed. And an additional 5,100 are still being investigated. Officials are now trying to pinpoint the direct source. Cyclosporiasis is a parasitic illness that spreads through contaminated fresh produce. Health officials say this year's outbreak is the largest they've seen, with Michigan reporting the most cases. More than 100 people have been hospitalized in the nation, though no deaths have been reported. Symptoms include severe diarrhea, nausea, fatigue, and stomach cramps. Some are now concerned about whether it's safe to buy fresh produce. So we are waiting right now, though, to find out the exact source. And in the meantime, some of us may opt to reduce our consumption of some of the produce that the government is saying might be implicated at the end of the day. Dr. Roas of George Mason University says you should take extra care when washing your produce. She also says identifying the source could take longer as federal funding cuts and hiring freezes have slowed the response. Meanwhile, state and federal investigators are looking into whether Taco Bell is connected to the outbreak, while Michigan health officials are focusing on lettuce and other salad greens. Some consumers say they're thinking twice before filling their carts with fresh produce. That's why I'm totally fine, you know, not buying it. So, yeah, I mean, I would rather just avoid and then wait for some guidance to come out when it's OK to buy those things again. I also heard about, like, something like the prepackaged, like, salad bags and everything. So definitely staying away from those. And experts say opting to frozen or cooked veggies instead of fresh ones can help prevent you from getting sick. Back to you. All right, it's eleven thirty two. We welcome you back here to Fox Local Live. Look over at National Harbor. Apparently it is disco night. On the Capitol Wheel is the light flickers in various random colors. Yeah, the party goes on. I mean, yeah, at this hour. And guess what? So does the heat. Because earlier you probably saw our radar, our map. And there was a whole lot of three numbers or, you know, three three digit numbers. Go ahead. There were certainly at least three numbers on the map. Three digit numbers. Lots of three digit numbers. One, a zero and a zero. Right. And we're getting you ready for those three numbers to start coming back to the D.C. region. More hundreds possible. And look, if we do happen to do it both tomorrow and Thursday, which are the two days we'll have the best shot at it. We could hit the six or let me restart myself. That could be our sixth day this summer or this year to date that we've hit 100 degrees. We've done it four times already this year. And some summers we don't do it at all. You know, hundreds never a guarantee here in the summertime. So we did it three times to kind of kick things off this month, the second through the fourth. Some big hundreds to one or three there. The peak of it on the 4th of July, the hottest 4th of July on record here in Washington. And again, it would be day number five and six this week if we do hit it on Wednesday and Thursday. And that matters because that would be the third most in D.C. history. Going back to tie 2024, which Caitlin and I were talking earlier today. Don't even remember 2024 being that hot. But we did hit 100 degrees six times in 2024 and 2024. By the way, your third hottest summer on record here in Washington. Eighty one Beltsville and D.C. Seventy nine upper Monroe. Seventy seven Londontown and Colonial Beach. Montross and 75 Leesburg, 78 Germantown, Maryland, sitting at 74 degrees tonight. Not much happening, sadly. They're pretty calm and quiet across the area. And that should continue again tomorrow when these heat domes build overhead. It's a lot of sinking air atmospherically, and that's not a good thing for cloud cover or for thunderstorm formation. So you see, not a bad start. I still think it feels OK in the early morning. But as we head towards the lunchtime hours, it's going to get hot quick. And then midday, expect that temperature to be right around 100, maybe 101 in parts of the D.C. region. But feeling like 105 during the worst of it tomorrow afternoon. 103 Annapolis, 102 for Londontown. Yeah, kind of mid triple digits there for what you can expect things to feel like. We do it again on Thursday in terms of the real feel. And then thankfully, by Friday, kind of a surprise here. Humidity takes a dive on Friday afternoon. Still expected to be a hot day. You see the real feel up around 96 degrees. But at least in terms of those peak humidity values, we'll get them out of here by the time we get to Friday afternoon. By the weekend, we're tracking thunderstorms. We'll talk more about that in just a few minutes here, guys. Well, a Fairfax County soccer coach is now accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from families via scam involving fake international soccer camps. Detectives say Ahmed Mohammed collected nearly $60,000 from 13 victims, claiming that that money would pay for travel, lodging and instruction for a soccer camp in Italy. Fox 5 speaking exclusively exclusively to one victim. Sarah Taylor says that she paid $10,000 to Mohammed, thinking that that money was going to a camp for her two children. The lesson that they're having to learn out of this is really, really tough one for a 13 year old and an 11 year old to learn. And it's a tough place for, you know, for our family and for my kids to find ourselves. Mohammed is charged with 13 counts of embezzlement and 13 counts of computer fraud. Anne Arundel County helping businesses forced to shut down near a Glen Burnie office building deemed structurally unsafe. It's offering twenty five hundred dollar grants to businesses within the safety perimeter. They're being unable to operate after Empire Towers was deemed unsafe last week. Problems were discovered in the building's parking garage. No word on when the restrictions will be lifted. ICE has ordered its officers to temporarily pause most vehicle stops during immigration enforcement operations, except for what it considers the most serious criminal targets. The policy change is temporary, but will remain in place as agents receive additional training. They aren't trained in many of the tactics that they are being asked to conduct. There's no doubt that ICE needs to improve its performance. But those who are calling for ICE to be abolished altogether are ignoring absolutely vital safety work that ICE does. Susan Collins of Maine, one of the places where two people were killed by ICE last week during traffic stops in her states and in Texas. And as you're watching us here, we welcome those of you who are watching the Major League Baseball All-Star Game here on Fox 5. President Trump has extended the National Guard's deployment in the district today to Inauguration Day in twenty twenty nine. The troops arrived last August of the year on Fox 5. President Trump has extended the National Guard's deployment in the district today to Inauguration Day in twenty twenty nine. The troops arrived last August of the White House, citing rising crime in the city. Their numbers doubled this summer for America to 50 in the World Cup. By the way, this deployment is costing American taxpayers three million dollars per day. When we return capping ticket resale prices in the district, we are breaking down the new measure set to take effect in a few months. That could bring down costs for shows in the district. And the city man charged with bringing a gun on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol appearing in court today. Wendell Royster was arrested by Capitol Police after allegedly driving up to a security barricade with a gun. According to charging documents, he was looking for the Supreme Court. He is charged with carrying a pistol without a license and a permit. In the meantime, Supreme Court justices going before both chambers of Congress asking for more security funding. The request comes amid a significant rise in threats against the court and federal judges across the country. Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett said that the threats ramped up particularly after the 2022 leak of the decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Whatever political figure says them, whatever party that political figure is a member of it. These statements are really unhelpful. They're dangerous in terms of individual justices security. And they're not appropriate in the way to treat a coordinated branch of government. Well, there appears to be bipartisan support on the Hill to approve the court's $228 million budget request. Lindsey Graham's sister sworn in this afternoon to finish out the remainder of her late brother's Senate term. South Carolina's governor formerly appointing Darlene Graham Nordone to the seat today. There will be a special election next month to select a new Republican nominee who will face off against Democratic candidate Dr. Annie Andrews in November's general election. Meanwhile, President Trump has officially paid E.G. and Carol the more than $5 billion he owed her for a judgment in a sex abuse case. The payment comes more than three years after a jury found that Trump was liable for sexually assaulting and defaming her. Trump continued to deny knowing Carol and still claims he did not do anything wrong. But the payment was made today. When we come back, a major renovation proposed for Aldi Field. We'll tell you who's on the hook and why the change is being proposed in the first place. The D.C. Council moving to cap ticket resale prices. The Resale Act passed unanimously today on its final reading. It will now undergo a congressional review and is slated to take effect at the start of 2027. The law would cap resale prices for live events to 10 percent above their original price. The bill will be backed by D.C. venues like the Anthem and 930 Club. But faced pushback from advocates who say that it could actually strengthen companies like Ticketmaster. All right, Aldi Field, if you've not been there, you know, it's a great place to catch a soccer game. Maybe a D.C. Defenders UFL match. But what's the difference here? There is no roof. There is a plan now before D.C. Council that could mean the district would pay for a roof and thousands of new seats in Aldi Field. The goal is to turn the stadium into a year on climate controlled sports and concert venue. Tom Fitzgerald learning more about the proposal today. Well, this is a major investment. Keep in mind, D.C. is already putting big bucks into the new Commander Stadium, the Capital One Arena renovation and Nationals Park. Now Aldi Field could be getting in the game in a project with supporters say could not only generate millions of dollars in new revenue, but also build new housing. Now this bill calls for a $620 million expansion of Aldi Field with a new roof and 8000 more seats, bringing the total capacity to 28000. D.C. would put up about $300 million of the project with the remaining costs covered by stadium revenues. The goal here is to have Aldi Field hold more than 100 events year round like concerts and big sporting events. D.C. United would also be required to build 467 new housing units with affordable and senior housing. They want to increase the size of the stadium, not hugely, and to pay for that and I think some other upgrades with the city would front them the money. I haven't seen the legislation, so look forward to seeing it. I mean, it's intriguing. I'm not ready to take a position on it. All of this is part of our larger conversation around ensuring that D.C. is an excellent place for sports. Now, D.C. government's been on a bit of a sports venue spending spree lately. Lawmakers have committed $1.1 billion to the new Commander Stadium, $515 million to buy and renovate Capital One Arena, and $350 million for improvements to Nationals Park. Now, this multi-million dollar commitment for Aldi Field is raising questions. Folks told Fox 5 they generally like the idea but have concerns about the money. Why spend money if you don't really have to? Why spend money if it's not going to come back? You know what I'm saying? I feel like it's nice that it's here versus like FedEx or somewhere like that's a little bit further out, so like somewhere central in D.C. is awesome. I would like to think that the city leaders have taken the necessary steps to make sure that the money is there to make these renovations. I mean, why not? I mean, competition's competition, right? A spokesperson for Mayor Muriel Bowser had no comment today on the project. Chairman Mendelsohn says he expects a full hearing before the D.C. Council sometime this fall. Fox 5 and Southwest, we'll send it back to you. Team USA striker Fulleran Balligan breaking his silence about FIFA's controversial decision to overturn his red card ban. In an interview with CBS News, Balligan said that he knew the move would cause controversy and have an effect on his teammates. He was given a red card during Team USA's win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, but his one-match suspension was delayed for a year, allowing him to play in the round of 16 against Belgium, which the U.S. lost. Spain has advanced to the World Cup final after shutting down France and killing Mbappe today. They got ahead early and never looked back, winning 2-0. Spain has only given up one goal the entire World Cup. You can watch the World Cup final Sunday, July 19th at 3 p.m. right here on Fox 5. And I'll have pregame coverage starting at 10 a.m. Sunday here on Fox 5. By the way, tomorrow's semifinal match between England and Argentina is on Fox 5 as well. England looking for their first finals appearance since 1966. Argentina wants to repeat as champions. That match starts tomorrow at 3 p.m. here on Fox 5. Of course, all of your news will be over on Fox Local. In the meantime, as we hit 1149 tonight, we will give you a live look at our camera down at the stacks on a very hot night, a very humid night. And it's only onward and upward from here. Mike Thomas joins us here. Yes, I do, as we get you ready for more heat coming into the D.C. region. Now we'll talk about, since we're just talking soccer, let's talk about that soccer forecast, that FIFA semifinal game. That's Argentina and England playing tomorrow, as Jim just mentioned. That game at 3 o'clock here on Fox 5. Weather in Atlanta could be better. A lot of thunderstorms around, but, of course, they're playing indoors. And, of course, if you're going down to the FIFA fan zone here in D.C., it's a great venue. Went there myself over the weekend. Great place to watch the game. Not a lot of shade down there, though. So if you are going here in town, great conditions in terms of sunshine, not so great in terms of temperatures tomorrow. So just have a plan to keep yourself cool. It's 3 o'clock is right around when we typically see our hottest temperatures here in Washington. 91 degrees, your high temp this afternoon. Just a couple degrees below what was expected, and there's a reason for that. I'll explain more in just a moment. But we hit it just before 4 o'clock today. Only one degree above the seasonal average, which is 90 degrees. And it sits there for about two more weeks before that average temperature starts going down. And then it continues through the peak of wintertime here in Washington. Live look from our camera at the Wharf. Quiet night in Washington. 81 degrees. Dew point has come up. It always does that late at night. So it's making 81 feel a little bit warmer. Feels like 84 out there in D.C. tonight. But this afternoon, humidity, despite the heat, was a little bit more manageable. And I sort of expect that again tomorrow. 79 Westminster. 75 for your neighbors in Gaithersburg. 81 for Annapolis. 76 Leathertown. 78 Fredericksburg. Culpeper at 77. Winchester, good evening. 72 degrees for you. Most dew points now climbing right around that 70-degree mark. 72 for Gaithersburg. 70 Westminster. Leathertown sitting at a 71-degree dew point. These will stay up through tomorrow morning. But by tomorrow afternoon, you'll see they do dip back down. Middle 60s. That is still kind of moderate humidity here in Washington. But it's not going to be as extreme as what we dealt with with the heat wave at the beginning of the month. So not going to feel like 112, 113. Still going to feel like 107, 108. So not the most pleasant feeling day, but not as bad as the early part of the month. It does come up again tomorrow night, and then Thursday is probably the worst of the humidity here. Though there is something that could save us from 100-degree air temperatures on Thursday. And again, I'll talk about that in just a moment. By Friday, we actually get a more pleasant air mass overhead. That could knock our dew points back into the 50s. Still a hot day, but at least feeling more pleasant. And the heat without the humidity, just noticeable difference this time of year here in Washington. Quiet conditions. D.C. going to get down to the south before you hit some showers and some thunderstorms across portions of Georgia and South Carolina. Charleston area seeing some showers and storms come across today from time to time. D.C. should stay storm-free tomorrow. We're what we call capped when these heat domes kind of build overhead. That's a lot of sinking air. Clouds don't like that. Storms don't like that. So really make out with a lot of sunshine. But, yes, high temperatures, 100-degree temperatures here in D.C. tomorrow afternoon. Thursday, maybe a passing storm. And I mentioned there's something that could save us from 100 degrees on Thursday, and that is wildfire smoke. If you were out at all this afternoon, you saw those milky white kind of haze in the skies. That was wildfire smoke coming from some fires in central Canada. It got wrapped around this heat ridge and pushed down into the D.C. region. Now, that orange stripe to our south, that was overhead today. It does thin out tomorrow. So expecting brighter skies tomorrow should certainly be a hotter day. Watch what happens by Thursday, though. Thicker plume to the north tries to sink southward, and that one from today starts to come back northward. So they could combine for some of those kind of hazy skies on Thursday afternoon. And if that's the case, may keep us a couple degrees below model projections, which would mean upper 90s into the 100s. Every degree kind of matters this year. It would still feel like 100 degrees. So do keep that in mind. In fact, peak humidity values 108 for your Wednesday and your Thursday. So with that, they have issued heat advisories. Keep yourself safe from the heat. Make sure you have a plan to keep yourself cool. And then make sure you have some plans for this weekend, too. Reason why not heat, but the chance for some showers and storms. Pretty widespread there on Saturday, maybe Sunday as well. Then we get back to the 80s as we get into early next week. Guys? Thank you, Mike. Millions in relief grants going to southwest Virginia to continue rebuilding after a storm in 2024. Governor Abigail Spanberger today announcing $7.3 million of relief. It goes to help continue rebuilding homes and infrastructure destroyed by Tropical Storm Helene. Virginia officials say the goal is to help make the areas less vulnerable to flooding. Inflation will soon be, quote, a thing of the past. At least that's according to President Trump's newly appointed Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh. He testified today in the House. Generally, the Fed uses high interest rates to lower inflation. That's what former Chairman Jerome Powell did much of the consternation of President Trump. Warsh took over for Powell in May. The rate so far has remained unchanged. Inflation is a choice. The members of our committee have no tolerance for persistently elevated inflation. And we share a resolute commitment to ensure price stability. New numbers out today from the Department of Labor show consumer prices dropped 0.4 percent from May to June, driven mainly by lower fuel prices. A $45 million settlement involving the parent company of Cash App over claims it failed to protect users from fraud. Virginia is getting about $850,000 from the effort. Maryland was also involved, but no word on its payout. The parent company Block must also expand live consumer support, improve safeguards, and better educate users about common scams. A major wage debate in D.C. hitting the pause button. A proposed ballot measure that would have raised the city's minimum wage to $25 an hour will not appear on this year's ballot after supporters fell short of the required signatures. The fight over restaurant wages has been ongoing, with business owners warning of higher costs, while labor advocates argue for higher pay. I think a lot of business owners at this point are kind of adapted their business models. You know, D.C. voted to have initiative A2 pass in 2022. So a lot of people have already, you know, some of them have moved to counter service models. Some of them have cut staff. Some of them just adapted with different, you know, wage programs. So they've had years to do this, but I think another $25 jump again. One of the business owners I talked to said it would be adding $11,000 a month to your payroll. D.C.'s standard minimum wage climbed to $18.40 this month, higher than in any state. Maryland is investing more than a billion dollars to create or preserve affordable rental housing. The money will support more than 3,000 units statewide, including projects in Montgomery and Prince George's counties. The investment brings Governor Moore's administration's total affordable housing funding to more than $4.4 billion since 2024. Meanwhile, to Falls Church, which now has the highest average home price in the Mid-Atlantic, topping $1.1 million over the first half of the year. It was the only locality in the region to post an above sales price above $1 million. Prices also continue to rise in Fairfax and Arlington counties, although data seems to show that demand is still going strong. All right. Stay with us. We'll be right back. Texans, this is just one of the weather scenarios I have been referring to in my disaster declaration. Note the amount of rain and the early morning hour it is being predicted. We have deployed rescue teams of Black Hawk helicopters and state personnel to respond to this danger. Heed weather warnings and local advisories. And we've seen some pretty dramatic video of that flooding coming out of Texas. My colleague Mike Pache spoke to Fox Weather's Robert Ray, who has a look at just some of that flooding there in Texas. And we are continuing to follow the devastating flooding impacts out in Texas. Just look at some of the video and you can see this is why there is a state of emergency in so many different counties throughout Texas right now with these major flooding concerns. We want to thank you for joining us.