sing even without any sunshine at all just because the strength of the warm winds flowing. close up to prince george's county west to the district. northern virginia that is the heaviest rain right now. we will see patches of rain through the evening. 65 in reagan national. 65 in fredericksburg. through the evening we will stay mild. the temperatures could rise as high of 28 degrees overnight with the isolated showers. breezy and warm weather. a quick look at the forecast for christmas eve. 30% chance of showers. can't rule out isolated level of thunder, too. highs of 74. that is a record. breezy shower chance. 69 degrees on christmas day. more details on the travel weather tomorrow and the weekend. the next seven days in a few minutes. back to you. >> speaking of traveling, the rain and the nothing playing a role when the holiday give away got underway. for sure. kimberly: we are talking about snow and the threat of tornadoes plaguing other part of the country. around here is mostly rain.

brianne carter is inching along tonight. how bad is it on the roads? brianne: i feel for everybody heading out of town. let's give a live look of what you are seeing in front of us. raindrop and the windshield wipers and the triple-a predicts there machine people today. this is the worst day between now and the new year. one reason is the gas prices are so much lower so filling up the tanks and kids in the car and heading out of town for the holidays.

so far slow-going from 395 and 95 south in virginia. we'll continue to monitor the roads throughout the evening. more people to the highway and more backups as well. reporting live. brianne carter, abc7 news. kimberly: a.a.a. says this is already the busiest travel season on record and a lot has to do with the amazing gas prices. right now the national average for a gal listen of the regular unleaded -- gallon of regular unleaded is $2.00. down 37 cents from last year. greater d.c. area we are paying $1.99 a gallon. we will show you the best places to fill up along popular routes. you can find the best prices at the bump on wjla.com. if you don't want to wait for us. search "gas prices." leon: in the meantime breaking news out of mississippi.

look at this. this touched down in clarksdale area of arkansas. no word only damage there. stay with us. we will update you when we get new information here. today they reopened piscataway drive. 28 families were forced from theme after a year and a half ago. kellye lynn is live in the neighborhood. she has reaction. the key reaction is finally! kellye? kellye: you are right about that. it's time to take the road closure signs down in the neighborhood. life is betting back to normal for people in piscataway

hills. >> this stretch reopened. >> for six plus months we have had a walk-in. we couldn't driver the cars. >> 60 residents whose daily life was up-ended. kellye: a hill above the pass catway drive damaged the road below. in june $15 million construction project began for a new road. >> i had to walk a mile and a half to the car. i carried garbage out and groceries in for six months. kellye: as the road opens construction crews continue to make improvement laying the grass seed and mulch. in the spring new trees will be planted. >> happy to drive home for the

holidays. kellye: a positive aspect one resident told me he lost a lot of weight from all the walking but a lot of them feel like the road reopening is a form of closure. kellye lynn, abc7 news. leon: thank you. update now on the mudslide in china. rescuers pulled a 21-year-old men out of the rubble. he is spent 67 hours in a narrow room under pilings of debris but saved by a door that trapped his too. kimberly: frank trujillo was in court today. montgomery county was there and joining us live from rockville with what happened.

kevin: everyone agrees he did it. the disagreement is why he did it. the prosecution calls it premeditated murder. they were called out to the trujillo home 12:30 monday morning where they found mario perez dead with a gunshot wound to the chest. trujillo told officers perez was drunk and threatening his family and added he did not back down when a gun was shown. today in court, the attorney said he was a retired marine with mixed martial arts training and posed a serious threat. a judge denied trujillo's bond. his wife broke down in tears learning her husband will remain behind bars. >> i can't imagine what a citizen is supposed to do if

somebody threatens to hurt you. can hurt you and doesn't leave despite you are holding a gun. >> the escalation is a recipe for tragedy. >> they were good friends and celebrating the holidays. i'm kevin lewis. abc7 news. kimberly: thank you. we have an update on a police officer that punched a teenager. he was placed on administrative duty. he was accused of punching the

student when he was arrested outside the bar. we only know the last name due to an agreement with the police union. anne arundel county police say a man and woman found dead after a house fire died in a murder-suicide. the bodies found in the home after early morning fire on december 10. the house had been undergoing construction after a fire in february. leon: police seized three cars and a bunch of illicit baked goods. diane cho is live outside police headquarters where a press conference wrapped up an haring. diane fill us in. diane: they arrested two people for distribution of marijuana. court documents show the investigation began bang in october this year.

we have pick sures with the kushgod.com -- pictures of the vehicles with kushgod.com on them. they brought brownies laced with t.h.c. exchange for $230. nicholas cunningham. a portion of the brownie field tested positive for t.h.c. which is the active ingredient in marijuana. authorities say they arrested 18-year-old evonne lidoff in the investigation. >> i think there is sufficient evidence to proceed with the prosecution in this case. we have a significant amount of evidence. the investigation is ongoing. we believe additional evidence will be uncovered as a result. diane: according to court documents police say the undercover officer made several purchases from cunningham in the last few months. in northwest d.c., diane cho, abc7 news. leon: thank you. stay dry out there. be careful.

coming up on "abc7 news at 5:00" -- think a fake tree is the answer to cut the risk of a holiday fire? think again. we take a look at the risks when we come back. kimberly: later, a closer look at the interesting trademark ruling that could let the redskins keep their name. leon: plus, the principal of montgomery blair high school has a response to an abc7 report about fights inside that school. don't miss it. joce: hey, guy, the clock is ticking here. you only have an hour to ship from this ups store to get packages out and get them under the tree for christmas. i'm joce sterman. live in arlington. we will tell you about the options and how much christmas will cost you if

kimberly: reporter jeanette reyes said it was hard to breathe as it spread. that was a result of a safe tree fire. they say even though most people are focused on the dry

live trees artificial trees can catch fire with quickly with the lights and the presents underneath. leon: there are chemicals too. >> did you wait until the last minute? leon: as we do every year. it's a tradition. do you have any options to get the gifts to the friends? joce sterman is live in arlington. she has an answer to that question. is the answer question? joce: the answer is yes. i'm at the ups in arlington. carlos and wade are sticking around. the last pickup is 6:30. they are willing to find a truck to get the packages on if you show up by 7:30. there are options. we took this box to a few places today to see how much it will cost you.

we found out it will cost you big money, though. showing up to the shipping store stacked with boxes. this is as much a christmas and the red rider b.b. gun. but it's not for everybody. >> last minute stuff crazy. i forget stuff. kimberly: the prices can be too. we discovered waiting until the last minute can be costly by standing in line in the most popular shipping companies. to see if we can get the last minute gifts out in time. the first stop this fedex store in arlington which had good news if you get your packages in before 7:30 tonight. >> i want to see this from fedex. it will cost me $31. if i ship it today it will get there by 3:00 tomorrow. next we see if uncle sam could be the santa helper. we found we are out of luck. >> all right. too late for the postal service. i tried to ship the package here they said they can't get it to pennsylvania until the day after christmas. even though it will still cost $21. but not to worry the guys at

the ups store in arlington can save the day. boxes make it in before they close up shop tonight they can guarantee them they will be under the tree by the end of christmas eve. joce: $38. end of the day tomorrow. maybe you feel like procrastinating a little more. maybe the rain doesn't motivate you. you don't feel like it. there is another option. so if you want something for your grandma or the sister-in-law, whoever you forgot. have it delivered to the store closest to them and have it pick up tomorrow. no fuss or muss. you have to check times that they are open for the pickup option. live in arlington, joce sterman, abc7 news. leon: anything for a price. now from the gifts to the decorations and the big holiday meal. we want to see your scenes of

the season, folks. send us your pictures and the videos at pics@wjla.com. kimberly? kimberly: it may not look like the end of december here but californians are seeing signs of the season. for the first time in years the snow pack is higher than average. in california. thanks to a series of snowstorms in the sierraness. it's already at 111% for the year and more snow expected through friday. that is good news after four years of drought in california. leon: if anybody needed snow it's them. meantime here not so much snow. except for the manmade kind. they have 35 trails but because of the weather they only have one open for skiing. kimberly: they will open up saturday. it's a great place to ski. leon: it's fun. kimberly: it is.

but they are suffering now. doug: that is the problem. it will get cold. i can't believe we'll spend all of jab or fab like this. nothing is impossible. weather world is upside down. who knows. there is cold air in canada. the stream pattern changes a bit. sometime in january it will get cold here. leon: glad it's not today. we'd have a real mess on our hands. doug: with the moisture. yeah. a lot of this fallen in the past few hours on the weather bug network in the district at the geophysical union. 1.18 inches of rain. heavy bands of rain through northeast washington. 7500 in silver spring. temperatures are 60's. that is the crazy part. winds are light. six to ten miles per hour. but they will increase in velocity to limit the fog. that will bring in the warmer temperatures. we may see many areas rise a few degrees while you are sleeping. the radar stop. look at the bright colors

here. heaviest rain in the city. northeast. more patches of the heavy rain. zoom in now. you will notice over northeast washington and northwest montgomery county and the prince george's county area really heavy rain moving north. we are not finished with it yet. it extends to howard county and baltimore. that is going to be a problem for the traveling. the next several hours. later tonight, the pattern will settle down a bit. why we are dealing with the rain stretching up and down the i-95 corridor this area over ohio and indiana southwest to kentucky is under a tornado watch. if you go to the panhandle there is a snowstorm. it's crazy. i am telling you. travel forecast.

new year's eve. the showers are limited. with that as we get to the mid-to-the late morning we could see thunderstorms come through the area. that won't limit the temperatures. record highs broken all over the place. even farther west this is not cold. just cooler. the temperatures in the mid-60's. 650 at reagan national. 57 reported in hagerstown. 57 in winchester. overnight isolated showers. but breezy and warm. weird for 23rd of december. call for a weird night. i will be. temperatures may rise to the upper 60's overnight. we will wake up the temperatures, maybe as warm as 68. brentwood neighborhood. 65 in germantown and ashburn. 64 in dale city. 65 in la plata. future cast shows the steveiest rain moving out -- heaviest rain moving out.

then unsettled. this is the line to keep an eye on. maybe heavy downpour and isolated thunderstorm. it will clear out late. christmas day can't rule out additional shower as well through the area. it will stay unsettled through christmas day and through the weekend. tomorrow, look for scattered showers. so cold outside. it's back to 70 on sunday. more showers next week. temperatures in the 50s and the 60's. leon: change the one graphic with the christmas tree. doug: palm tree. leon: sand out there. doug: yeah. kimberly: thank you. leon: all right. miss columbia is speaking out for the first time since the big gaffe over the weekend at the miss universe pageant.

kimberly: i want to hear what she has to say. >> ♪ a cloudy december day ♪ kimberly: meet the man bringing cards packages and extra cheer for the holidays. leon: but first, here is a look at what is coming up tonight at abc --

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leon: if you are heading north, you find 90. but you could fill up before the turnpike starts. kimberly: if you saw it this weekend a crash into the las vegas strip. the suspect made her first court appearance. she killed a person and injured dozens of others. we have the details.

>> lakeisha holloway made a brief appearance in a courtroom. the first since being formally charged. >> 30-day status check. do you agree with that? she struck dozen of pedestrians, killing one and injuring 37. her legal representation cautioned about running to judgment about the guilt. >> just because she is charged doesn't mean she is guilty. there are all kind of possibilities to look into to make a determination of what happened. too early to tell. >> she legally changed her name in oregon. but the authorities continue to identify her by the former name. she has been charged with three counts.

murder with a deadly weapon leaving the scene of an accident and child abuse, neglect or endangerment. her 3-year-old daughter was in the car. they anticipate additional charges as the investigation continues. the legal consequences could be serious. >> in the event it's intentional and they pursued it as now she is looking at life sentence. reporter: her next court date is slated for january 20. leon: a wal-mart truck driver was charged with first degree manslaughter and vehicular homicide. the driver fatigue was likely contributing to the accident in june of last year. the crash injured morgan and

killed his friend. kimberly: changes at chipotle. leon: we are keeping a close eye on the roads in the holiday get-away. we will check in with mobile track 7 after t

leon: breaking news out of an hour's long search for a man evading police is over. richard reeve is live in oxon hill to tell us more about it. what's the latest?

richard: detectives are working the scene. they have a police car sealing off the street here. this began after 1:00 this afternoon. police got a call of suspicious car in the neighborhood. officer arrived and saw a man emerge with a gun in his hand. the officer pulled out a service weapon and fired a shot and the guy took off. they began a thorough search in the neighborhood. they used k-9 units and had the officers turning the neighborhood upside down and they did find that suspect. in a nearby ravine. the good news here is that although there was a shot fired, no one was hit. trying to find out what he is doing in the neighborhood. whether he was visiting or why he had a gun in the neighborhood. the good news again is the suspect is now in custody. and charges are pending.

live in oxon hill richard reeve. kimberly: good to hear that. thank you richard. "7 on your side" with a live look at traffic along i-95 in virginia. things are heavy. if you areeading south, gas buddy heat map shows the best place to fill up is luther glen virginia. you can find the best prices on your route at wjla.com. search "gas prices." brianne carter is live in mobile track 7 tonight. where are you? you are not moving now. brianne: no. that is a true statement. take a look here. brake lights for miles. good news if this is your direction right now though the rain is letting up. producing sprinkles on the

windshield but the damage is already done. wet roads and a few accidents. on the other side of us on 95 two accidents as well if you are heading 95 north toward the city as well. this is the worst travel day for a.a.a. says for the holiday season. pack your patience. brianne carter abc7 news. leon: thank you. leon: only on 7. video of the students fighting at montgomery blair high school. today the school's principal sent home a letter disputing some of the information we obtained from a charging document that was written by the police officer who actually is assigned to work at the school. kevin lewis has more. kevin: police say it started as a gang dispute and it got so big that the school officers had to radio for the montgomery county police

officers to break things up. we decided to report on the story yesterday because it involved student safety. parents had not been notified of the fight. following the cover, the montgomery blair high school principal renee johnson sent home a one-page letter today that called our reporting into question. miss johnson's letter said in part "yesterday's news report mistates the facts. only ten students were involved and no staff members were injured. in both incidents they received discipline in line with the conduct. first they claimed only ten students were involved this cell phone video clearly shows many more students yelling and shouting and causing overall disturbance in a second floor holloway. the fight elevated to a level that said caused a mass

disturbance and disruption of the school day. mcps is asserting that one has to throw a punch or give a stern kick to be involved in the fight. i imagine the police officers and the teacher forced to corral the chaos would strongly disagree. after the principal claimed no were injured, they state and i quote, "as a result of the attempting to stop the fight, several security officers and school administrators sustained minor injuries." today we asked mcps why they waited to notify parents about the fight until we aired the story and we have yet to get a clear answer. if you would like to review the criminal charging document plus the four-minute video clip that shows a portion of the fight it's on the website wjla.com. you can review both documents and decide who is telling the

truth. kevin lewis, abc7 news. leon: thank you kevin. >> today the community rallied around the memory of a fallen officer at a blood drive. coming up the outpouring of support. kimberly: new at 6:00, changes to security lines at american airports. the new rules that could force you to go through a full body scanner.

steve: i'm steve rudin. looking for 72 tomorrow in philadelphia. 56 in columbus. detroit upper 40's. closer to home wow can you believe we are talking 74 to 75 degrees? we shatter records tomorrow. look at the weekend outlook. stay with us.

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leon: the holiday season students at montgomery high school giving children around the world a special gift. they collected thousands of books to fill a library in the caber nearbyet kenya. the current had a fee this is

free to the kids there. so meet this week's harris' hero, the man leading the project and the high school students building the polka dot library. leon: the next period is to start but not all students are headed to class. student govern leaders are packing up dozens of boxes of books. books they collected from the fellow students and they are all to be shippedded to kenya as part of a library project spear-headed by the d.c. residents and the former peace corps volunteer chris nasby who spent two years in the coun town. leon: it's a 0-foot long shipping container painted purple with shell evers and books inside -- shell evers and books inside. for the students it was an opportunity to make a

difference in children's lives. >> use it again. that's great. >> it makes me feel like what we are doing here. >> the world needs to be open. >> they are so excited they want the library there now. leon: in a few weeks they collected 3000 books. they hope to deliver the polka dot library books to the community in april. the first free library in that town.

check us out online to see how to help out. kimberly: awesome. coming up next at 5:00 -- >> what does a small rock band from oregon that you probably never heard of have to do with the future of the name of the washington redskins? quite possibly a lot. i'm jeff goldberg. we'll explain coming up when abc7

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leon: "7 on your side" now with a check of gas prices before you head over the river and through the woods for the holidays. this time the check on gas prices takes us west to i-66 and i-81. according to gas buddy.com the best bet is the royal auto center in front royal. $1.64 a gallon for regular unleaded there. find the best prices wherever you are going at wjla.com. search "gas prices." kimberly: "7 on your side" consumer alert for you. chipotle is making changes to the cooking methods after an e. coli outbreak. onions will be dropped in the boiling water. and chicken in resealable plastic bags up stead of bowls andsy lan tra added to the freshly -- cilantro will be

added to freshly cooked rice. leon: new information. miss columbia is speaking out on social media about the infamous miss universe bl you have probably seen it by now. host steve harvey makes a big mistake to announce miss columbia as the winner when she was the first runner up. in the instagram post he is said "after the storm comes the calm. i want to thank each and every one of you who sent messages of support and strength. you are all an incredible human being in my book and i'm most fortunate and thankful to have the support from one country but the entire world." kimberly: gracious response. charleston, south carolina government center filled with the sounds of the season thanks to the spirited mail carrier. >> aaron the red-nosed mailman. ♪ he had a shiny nose ♪ kimberly: aaron norris is the singing postman working at the

government office for 20 years. every holiday he sings as he serves lifting spirits along the way. norris' son was diagnosed with leukemia the first year on the job and said the county employees stepped up to help him through that and this is his way to give back. >> the counties came through like champions. they made christmas great. >> he is the greatest postman you could ask for. kimberly: he will keep singing through the halls as long as they will let him. leon: a federal appeals rule could fall in win column for them in the fight over the trademark for the name. jeff goldberg is live in the newsroom to explain how it works. >> this could be big. the redskins have been fighting a court decision to cancel the trademark. because it finds the name offensive.

be you this could give them momentum for thane appeal. you may not know the music but the name could impact the name debate over the redskins. the band is called the slant. the u.s. patent trademark office rejected a trademark for the band because it considered the slam a slur against asians. the oregon-based asian museums fought back. claiming the name is a statement of cultural pride. it's now ruled it's protected by the first amendment. >> you can't everything you want to. the ruling could be boost for the redskins after a federal judge canceledded their trademark registration. >> i think they have had it for years and should leave it way it is. no need to change it. it's not offensive to anybody. jeff: offensive or not a judge in the case of the slant wrote this if the majority opinion.

it's a bedrock principal underlying the first amendment that the government may not penalize private speech nearly because it disapproves of the message it conveys. many fans hope redskins maintain the name. >> i'm a big redskins scan. always have. go redskins. jeff: others say the recent ruling should not be viewed an an endorsement. >> the name offends considerable number of people and they should change it. jeff: attorney for the redskins said they are pleased with the court ruling but would say nothing more. it is possible that the supreme court may have to decide this issue. leon: this will drag out for a while. kimberly: switch to weather. are you happy with this? leon: i am. you're not. kimberly: doug, what do you think? doug: i'm always happy but it is unusual. forecasting the record high temperature in the area for christmas eve.

the fog will be self-limiting tonight. the heaviest rains moved out to northeast. the southeast suburbs and big bend of the potomac to push through anne arundel county to the he is peek bay eventually. part of a dynamic system on the east county. tomorrow there is snowstorms for commoves east for the panhandle but for us we're in the 70's and short

the overnight range is 58 to 68. maybe a shower but breezy and unseasonably warm. a look at the christmas eve forecast. check it out. 74. rumble of thunder. the meteorologists in the weather center wishing you a ho, ho ho merry christmas. 74 tomorrow. 69 on friday. 30% chance of showers 60% for saturday. sunday may be dry. who knows? showers monday tuesday wednesday. leon: here is hoping saturday gives us something to celebrate. robert: one more win. is it too much to ask? kimberly: it might be. robert: i hope not. for the skins it will come down to saturday night. rivalry against the eagles in the city of brotherly love. not only that for a division title. enough said.

only thing is perfect is a win. >> i hate a late game but for this purpose i love it this late. robert: 8:30 saturday in philly against eagles the division title on the line. they couldn't ask for a better situation. >> the city of brotherly love in their place. >> we want to play football. >> they have to weather another storm. >> the fan base is hostile at time and make it hard on the visiting teams. it will be tough. >> wi have had ups and downs. regardless of the element or the seasons whatever it is.

>> focus on being the best redskin team we can be saturday night. robert: it's one thing to be confident but another thing to be a fortune teller. cox told the media you will be sorry if you don't put your money on the eagles. >> the biggest relief is when we win we win on saturday. >> guaranteeing a win? >> am i supposed to say we're losing organize something? no. robert: "when we win." leon: somebody is buying cheesesteak on summed. kimberly: they have the momentum from last weekend. robert: a winnable game. leon: "7 on your side" to naver gait the holiday get-away -- to navigate the holiday get-away.

brianne: i'm brianne carter live in the mobile track 7 along 95 northbound. starting to look slightly better.

kimberly: after the tragic death of an officer, palestinians held a blood drive and the community response was overwhelming. reporter: all day at the red cross blood drive at the montgomery county police headquarters the beds were full and walk-ins had quite the wait. >> an hour wait. reporter: it was held in memory of officer noah leotta killed earlier this month, hit by a car in a d.u.i. patrol. behind the wheel was a drunk driver who has not yet been charged. >> this is a tribute to noah. reporter: the blood drive was scheduled in september. but late last week they announced it one held in noah

leotta's name. >> he continues to save lives. >> a few hours organizers say more than 100 time slots were filled up. with the officers friends and the strangers wanting to show support. >> he is serving us. >> my uncle is montgomery county police 57 my boyfriend is montgomery county police. reporter: debbie is a retired police officer and her daughter was leotta's age. >> this is where i was going to be today. reporter: those who knew him say he would have loved this. they hope the donations might save another. mike carter-conneen abc7 news. kimberly: that is it for "abc7

news at 5:00". "abc7 news at 6:00" starts now at storm watch. leon: we are at the peak of what a.a.a. is calling the busiest travel season on record. 98 million americans expected to travel in the coming days. this is what is greeting them. relentless rain in our area and severe weather in other areas. we'll check on the roads in a minute but first let's head to doug hill. are there trouble spots out there? doug: we had torrential rain 45 minutes ago but it has moved north. no rain now outside the weather center in arlington. the heaviest rain in baltimore and through the francis scott key bridge. 95. heavy rain. another pocket through the southwest of the area northeast of charlottesville to head north in our area as

well. this is where the rain is. all over the place in the east coast. the surge is pushing south/southwest. severe outbreak across ohio and indiana. farther south in mississippi. a large tornado on the ground. violent pattern. give you an update on the travel weather tomorrow for christmas eve. we will have showers in the metro area and maybe isolated thunderstorm mid-to-late morning. the showers will be scattered south through the carolina southwest virginia. an area through ohio and the midwest will be clear. we have more showers and thunderstorms possible across the extreme southeastern section of tennessee. a major snowstorm for the texas oklahoma panhandle. it's rainy windy and warm.