barry backlash. what his fellow council members are expected to do today. stalemate in that deadly street racing trial. >> ready to help. less than a month after being sent to haiti, the fairfax urban search and rescue team is packing its gear again. welcome to "news4 today." i'm eun yang. i'm joe krebs on this tuesday, march 2, 2010. let's take a live look outside right now with temperatures above freezing. 38 degrees. beautiful pictures. lights of the city early morning. >> let's check in with meteorologist tom kierein to get a look at the forecast. nice day yesterday. >> it sure was. got around 50 degrees. clouded up overnight an now this morning starting off with

temperatures above freezing. out in the mountains now in the mid-20s. 38 in washington, nearby suburbs now in the mid-30s. view from space showing quite a bit of cloudiness. we may have a few breaks in the clouds. by sunset we might have a little light rain temperatures near 40. sunrise this morning at 6:39. little light rain in the evening hours and further west and north light snow. but then even around the metro area light snow by midnight and off and on until dawn tomorrow. we might have a slushy wet one inch on just mainly nonroad areas. looks like the roads will be wet. during the day on wednesday more rain and light snow but very little or no accumulation as we get into wednesday evening. ending after that and sun back thursday and friday. how is this traffic, jerry? >> doing pretty well. take a live look along south capitol street up towards the

douglas bridge. extremely light traffic. no early hangups. bw parkway and route 50 both doing okay. along i-270 from 70 to the split noish ubs. pretty quiet out of southern maryland up to the capital beltway. back to you. marion barry's legal troubles could get a whole lot worse. the d.c. council could vote whether to censure the former mayor. >> they could also refer the allegations against him to the u.s. attorney's office. tracee wilkins is outside of the wilson building with more. good morning. >> reporter: there are reports that federal prosecutors are already looking into these allegations and also the independent investigation that the city council performed involving all of this. council chair vincent gray will be holding a meeting after the regular council meeting today to discuss coming with policies surrounding city earmarks and the censuring of councilman

marion barry. it's expected they will strip his chairmanship on the committee of housing and workforce development and a vote on censuring barry. this all follows an investigation, an independent investigation before and by the council and into council aerjs into allegations that barry misused public funds and violated interest rules. barry and his attorney have maintained that there are no policies within the city council regarding earmarks and personal service contracts. barry apologized last week for any wrongdoing. this meeting is expected to happen around 3:00 p.m. again, discussing the earmarks as well a the possible censuring of marion barry. a warning for women in

montgomery county this morning. police there are loong for a man who he they say sexual assaulted a woman. the attack happened last night in silver spring. police say a woman called them claiming a man was attacking her. he's still on the loose. investigators have not released a description of the suspect. two men charged with causing a deadly street racing crash in prince george's county will be sentenced today. one of the men has pled guilty to eight counts of vehicular manslaughter. the other man's trial has ended up in a hung jury. >> a prince george's county jury deadlocked in the case of the drag racing crash that killed eight people two years ago. the jury convicted taylor. >> the jury was not convinced beyond a reason doubt that taylor was responsible for these

be deaths. >> reporter: jurors deliberated for a day and a half about their decision. jurors were split 9 to 3 in favor of conviction on the felony manslaughter charges. a unanimous verdict is needed to convict. >> we're pleased with the convictions on the racing count and the reckless driving count. we're looking forward to trying again in front of another jury. >> reporter: her son was injured in the crash. >> it is what it is. >> reporter: are you disappointed? >> we can only take one day at a time. >> reporter: derek bowlen admitted he was driving the car that ran into spectators. he pleaded guilty to eight felony manslaughter charges. taylor's attorney maintains he had nothing to do with the crash. >> we wanted the world to know is that taylor was not responsible for the deaths of these individuals.

and what the jury said, we're not convinced. >> reporter: taylor is scheduled to be sentenced today. he's facing $1,000 fine and no time behind bars. prosecutors say they hope to retry the case on these serious charges in september. reporting live from upper marlboro, dorothy spencer, news 4. >> the united states is rushing aid to earthquake ravaged chile, the death toll from saturday's 8.8 magnitude quake. this morning secretary of state hillary clinton will travel to santiago with 20 satellite phones. chile has asked the united states for a field hospital and water purification systems. a team of rescue workers from northern virginia is also gearing up to help with those relief efforts. the fairfax search and rescue

team is waiting for the call to be deployed. we'll have more on this story coming up at 5:15. >> a consumer alert for owners of general motors cars. they are recalling cars because of a power steering issue. gm says the cars are safe to drive but that they may become harder to steer when traveling under 15 miles per hour. general motors is working on a fix that will let owners know when to bring their cars for repairs. if you take omni or metro direct to work add some extra time to your commute tomorrow. bus drivers are threatening to strike tomorrow the they cannot reach a new contract by midnight tonight. they are making contingency plans but some buses may be late or more crowded than usual. today when you're out on the roads you won't see construction under way on the 9th street

bridge or the humpback bridge. that's because the furloughs continue at the department of transportation. the key issue involves jeff bunting. he blocked a bill that would continue funding the construction projects. even said it would add $10 billion to the national debt. he suggests to use stimulus money. democrats rejected that suestion. 5:08 is the time. ahead described as a radical change. >> the post office is set to announce sweeping changes. an officer as heroism caught on tape. what happened when an out of control came flying at him. >> tom is tracking the latest .

good morning. time for weather and tramp on the 1s. temperature 38 in washington and elsewhere in the suburbs in the mid-30s and high today should reach the low to mid-40s with increasing clouds and by sunset and overnight tonight light rain with light snow mixing in. up to an inch perhaps, a slushy wet inch of snow on the surfaces other than the roads. the roads will stay wet overnight into tomorrow. little or no accumulation through wednesday although we may get some passing snow flurries and snow showers. how is the traffic >> this is the capital beltway right there top side of your screen. the committee gw parkway there.

nobody is on it yet but very close up look as we get under way. moving along pretty volume wise. no early issues to report. quick check in northeast washington police are dealing with an accident that occurred earlier closing down brentwood parkway at 9th street. we'll keep you updated. 5:12 is your time. 38 degrees. d.c.'s favorite panda is settling in. >> after the break we'll have an update on tai shan. plus better late than ever. what jay leno says about returning to the "tonight show." >> o.j. simpson's trial gripped the nation a small piece

good mornin it's 5:14. i'm kimberly suiters. here are the top stories in the news for today. today the d.c. council cozy whether to reprimand marion barry for directing a city contract to a former girlfriend. the council is expected to vote on censuring the mayor and refer the allegations against him to the u.s. attorney's office. a hung jury means one street racer may not see no jail time. one driver has pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter after eight people were killed on the scene. he faces 30 years in the prison.

the jury couldn't reach a verdict for the other driver. prosutors say they will retry him in september. general motors is working on its own fix recalling 1.3 million cars because of a power steering issue. the recalled models may become harder to steer when traveling less than 15 miles per hour. this morning secretary of state hillary clinton will travel to santiago with 20 satellite phones and a technician to help with the rescue efforts. chile has asked the u.s. for a field hospital and water purification systems. that's it here in the newsroom. now back to you in the studio. thank you. local rescue workers are doing their part to help with the situation in chloe this morning. the fairfax county search and rescue team has packed up its bags and supplies and ready to

leave the country if called upon. megan mcgrath joins us live from fairfax county with more. >> reporter: good morning. a lot of preparation goes into a mission like this and the fairfax county urban search and rescue team is ready should they be receiving that phone call here in the next few hours. they spent the day yesterd packing up all of the supplies they would need in order to respond and they have to be 100% self-sufficient because of the conditions there in chile, they have to rely on no one but themselves. they have to bring theirwn water, food, generators, everything they would need for a two week deployment. now they just recently got back from a mission in haiti where they had success in rescuing people there. they will be bringing some of that same equipment there. they will have specialized dogs. they will bring small cameras and listening devices the kind of equipment that can be lowered down into collapsed buildings to see if anyone is buried beneath rubble. they've had success with that

equipment. they will be bringing that with them as well. they have been put on a loose stand by the members of the team and there are 52 of them. they have been allowed to go home and get some shut eye. they need to be able to get back to the barrack here within a few hours notice should the call come. so at this point we're not absolutely sure whether or not they will be deployed to chile or not but, again, they have packed up all the equipment they would need and they were ready to go at a moment's notice should they receive that call. we'll have to wait and see. eun, back to you. . megan, thank you. if you would like to help the relief efforts in chile we compiled a list of organizations accepting donations through text messages. go to nbcwashington.com and search chile. investigators are trying to figure out why a plain skidded off a runway in gaithersburg. the plane crashed into the woods late yesterday afternoon. the pilot was the only person on board. he was not injured. still not clear what caused him

to lose control of that aircraft. today the u.s. postal service will push for a reshaping of how americans get their letters and packages. brooke hart has more. >> reporter: these changes would leave no one untouched. this morning we'll hear from the post master general just how dire the situation is for the u.s. mail. at d.c.'s main post office sendsers and receivers are happy. but what they are doing will change. blame it on the internet. >> electronic age not many people are using as much of the mail service as before. so that probably changed things a lot. >> reporter: in fact online banking and people sending were mail along with the recession pushed volume down 13% in the last fiscal year. the postal service lost $4 billion. with tougher times forecast the

agency is talking about cutting services. >> i get my mail on saturdays, i'm happy with that. >> reporter: saturday delivery days could go away. post offices could cause. some blame lack of competition and union protected pay. >> we have taxpayers pouring lots of monday in for the lavish benefits and pay that are received by postal workers. >> reporter: the agency wants more lee way in union negotiation particularly addressing the soaring cost of worker and retiree health care. changes the post master general will propose will affect workers and those getting and sending mail. ey would require congress's okay which no one expects to come easily. live on capitol hill, i'm brooke hart. back to you. be a big change. thanks very much. >> just nine months after giving it up, jay leno is back at the helm of tonight's show. >> good to be home. i'm jay leno.

i'm your host at least for a while. >> he's using the same studio he used for his prime time show. he'll have several other medal u.s. athletes on the show later this week. we have some good news if you're concerned how taytion is doing in his new home. >> he's enjoying his spread in china. here's the little guy playing in the snow at the china conservation and research center. his keepers there say he's responding pretty well to commands in chinese. they say he's eating the new bamboo and has discovered a new treat, panda bread. >> tai shan he done write or call. like he forgot us. >> drop us an e-mail. >> something. get a check on our forecast. here's meteorologist tom kierein. >> give him a break. he's a little jet lagged. here, we have mostly cloudy start this morning. temperatures in the mid-to-upper 30s around the metro area and

some of the rural areas of virginia shenandoah valley a little below freezing. for the rest of the day maybe a little sun this morning cloudy during the afternoon. rain around the metro area. snow further to the north. we may see some rain change over to periods of wet snow that may leave up to as much as an inch at the most on the ground b dawn tomorrow. but the roads, streets and sidewalks should be wet. during the day on wednesday maybe some pass light rain showers, some light snow showers from time to time and a blustery northwest wind but temperatures above freezing, though, much if any snow would melt. on thursday partly cloudy, highs in the low 40s. friday mostly sunny mid-40s. a warming trends for the weekend and into the first part of next week. lots of sun for saturday, sunday and monday and morning loss in the 30s but afternoon highs near 50, saturday mid-50 sunday may even get into the upper 50s to near 60.

that will feel like spring. how is the traffic? >> capital beltway over in college park,ight side is the inner loop, left side the outer loop and really doing very well. greenbelt to the american legion bridge both directions the outer loop which is very typical this time of the morning picking up the most volume. travel lanes are open both ways. let's head on over and see what's progressing along the 66 corridor as you make the trip on in to the capital beltway. this is close to the nutley street. from haymarket on in smooth sailing. back to you. 5:22. 38 degrees out there. a suit at the center of a legal battle. >> how the smithsonian is stuck in the middle of a fight between o.j. simpson and the goldman family. a terrifying crash on tape. an officer mowed down by an out of control car. we'll ro

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stop what you're doing and take a look at this video. a police officer in suburban cleveland is recovering after being tossed over a guardrail by an out of control car. he had stopped to help a stranded motorist when another car lost control and swerved right toward the officer and the other driver. the officer pushed the man out of the way. the officer has several broken bones but should be fine.

neither driver was hurt. the suit worn by o.j. simpson at the end of his 1995 murder trial might be headed for the smithsonian institution. ron goldman's father was suing o.j. for the suit he was wearing. simpson was onrial for killing goldman and simpson's ex-wife. an agreement was reached to donate the suit to the smithsonian. if the smut smyth is not interested another museum willing to accept must be found. ahead, decision day for marion barry. >> plus police are trying to figure out what toledo a murder and a suicide at a home daycare center while the children were inside. what will happen to the man accused of participating in a deadlytreet race now that jurors say they can't decide his fate. what to expect fro the next winter storm moving up the co

back to the right? no, back here. how about over here? n-- let's go back to the left. waffling is back at dunkin' donuts. for a short time only, enjoy the return of the delicious oven-toasted waffle breakfast sandwich. america runs on dunkin'.

. council controversy, why d.c. lawmakers could come down hard on marion barry today. plus a recall alert. another car company with another problem. and a storm of march is movi up the coast. will it be a lion or a lmb. good morning. welcome back to "news4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang. it is tuesday, march 2, 2010. 38 degrees outside. some car headlights out there l

nation's capital. >> tom kierein is never a lion, always telling the truth. >> sometimes i'm lying down. hey, this morning the truth is it's partly to mostly cloudy and temperatures around the region mid-to-upper 30s around the area. central shenandoah valley a little below freezing. as well as on the eastern shore and out in the mountains where there's considerable cloudiness. now the leading edge of precipitation a little bit of wet snow coming into southern west virginia, southwest virginia and that may be arriving here in the form of some light rain by sunset which today is at 6:02. highs in the afternoon under a cloudy sky in the mid-40s. light rain around the metro area, wet snow further north. by midnight to dawn we could get some periods of wet snow and generally stay above freezing so most of it will be melting but could get a dusting to an inch

by dawn tomorrow. all the roads and streets and sidewalks should be wet. then during the day on wednesday maybe some psingight rain showers and passing snow showers. on thursday partly cloudy afternoon highs low 40s. and bright and sunny on friday looks like we'll make it into the mid-40s. how is the traffic? >> we'll head on out over to northeast washington. you can see flashing lights on the left side of your screen. auorities have closed off a stretch of the brentwood parkway between 9th street and mount olivet road in northeast washington. there was a pedestrian accident. this is as close as i can get you. brentwood parkway is closed betwn those two points. metropolitan police just arriving on the scene. let's head on over and see how things are progressing, 395 the beltway to landmark and shirlington, picking up volume. out on the rails this morning a quiet start.

metro rail, vre and marc reporting no early delays. back to you. let's take a look at what's happening today the d.c. council is expected to decide whether to censure marion barry for directing a city contract to a former girlfriend. that move could cripple the former mayor's political career and add to his political troubles. tracee wilkins has more. >> reporter: council chair vincent gray decided late yesterday evening that the council was ready to move forward with this special meeting. they will take a look at beefing up earmark regulations here in the city and censuring marion barry. also expected that the councilman could be facing possible censureship. this move would greatly reduce barry's authority and mean more legal troubles at the federal government. this follows an investigation

into council earmarks and allegations that barry misused public funds and violated conflict of interest rules when he awarded a $15,000 contract to his girlfriend an armies towards organizations in return for kickbacks. barry's attorney maintains armies and personal service contracts d not expermanent council. barry apologized for his actions last week. >> to my colleagues and to the communy, i truly apologize for lack of sound and good judgment. i apologize for my actions and lack of sound judgment and for causing great embarrassment to the city and city council. i'm truly, truly sorry. >> reporter: the special meeting is expected to happen around 3:00 p.m. following the regular cocil meeting. it's expected barry will have a large number of supporters down here defending him. there are already reports that federal prosecutors are looking into this investation. barry is on extended probation

following issues with tax filing with the federal government. back to you. thanks very much. the two men charged with causing a deadly street racing crash in prince george's county will be sentenced today but one of them may not end up with any jail time after the jury could not reach a verdict. eight people were killed when police say a man plowed into a group of people. bowlen pleaded guilty. taylor was racing and charged with vehicular manslaughter. his trial ended in a hung jury. >> the jury was not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that taylor was responsible for these deaths. their lack of a verdict shows that. >> prosecutors are hoping to retry the manslaughter case against taylor sometime in september. what led a man to walk into

a home daycare center and kill a woman before turning that gun on himself? that's what police in prince william county are asking this morning. they believe richard nickles killed the owner yesterday morning. investigators say the 49-year-old nickles walked into the home around 7:00 in the morning and shot 39-year-old tony white and then killed himself. at least seven children were inside the home at the time. none saw the shooting. >> they didn't see anything, thank god. thatas my worst thing. please don't let them have seen anything. but they heard the gunshot. >> nickles and white once lived next door to each other but police do not know how well they knew each other. it was just toyota and now general motors turn. another car recall. kimberly suiters joins us live from the newsroom with the latest. the toyota recall was more expansive and expensive for the company. general motors is recalling 1.3

million cars because of a power steering issue. the chevy cobalt from '05 to 2010 and pontiac g 5 from '07 to 2010 and pontiac pursuit and pontiac g 4. according to gm the cars are safe to drive but may become harder to steer when traveling less than 15 miles per hour. the automaker says the problem happens in older models and aftethe car has been driven 20,000 to 30,000 miles. gm is working on a fix and will november drivers when to drink the cars to a dealer. after receiving 1100 complaints relating to power steering issues the national highway traffic safety administration launched an investigation in late january and found that 1 crashes could be blamed on power steering failures. that information helped lead to trl. eun, back to you. thank you.

big announcements expected from toyota, among them a new independent safety panel and 0% financing on five year loans. the panel is expected to be led by rodney slater. he was part of the clinton administration. the carmaker will discuss it. in aition to 0% financing they will offer two years of free maintenance. >> 5:37. 38 degrees. they were snowed in now they have been sent home. >> more than a dozen workers who could not get to work during the blizzard have been fired. why they say there's more to the decision. >> plus a health alert. new questions about the safety of plastic containers. we'll tell you which ones could pose serious risks. >> tom is watching a winter storm that will have an effect on tomorrow's commute. the forecast is next.

good morning. time for weather and traffic on this tuesday morning. we have temperatures generally above freezing throughout much of the reason foggy bottom to largo, bailey's crossroads and gaithersburg. in the mid-30s in washington right now. it's right in the upper 30s, upper 30s right near the bay and a few locations in central virginia and the shenandoah valley, a little below freezing also on the eastern shore and out in the most. a lot of cloudiness around today, maybe a little sun this morning. cloudy the rest of the afternoon. overnight tonight we may get a little light rain around the metro area this evening changing to wet snow after midnight,

maybe an inch on the ground. all road surfaces will be wet as we get going on wednesday. rest of wednesday maybe a little passing snow shower or light rain shower from time to time. blifr northwest wind. a look at the weekend and warming trend in ten minutes. how is the traffic? >> authorities tell us they have close ad stretch of the brentwood parkway between v street and mound olivet road because of a pedestrian accident. also we're getting reports of a beltway crash inner loop of the beltway near pennsylvania avenue. let's head over and see how the volume is on 95 between dale city and dumfries. smooth sailing. travel lanes are open. 5:41 is your time. 38 degrees. the district is hours away from performing same sex marriages. >> ahead the last minute preparations and attempts to prevent it from happening. trouble in paradise. why some business owners in hawaii are none to happy with president obama. an important report before

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coming up at 6:00 a.m. the controversial gun case in front of the supreme court today. how the decision will impact your rights to own firearm. plus now that she's out of office, former white house

social secretary diree rogers talks for the first time about thparty crashers and what really happened at that state dinner. >> relief is pouring into chile. an 8.8 magnitude earthquake is believed to have caused more than 700 deaths. this morning secretary of state hillary clinton will travel to chile with 20 satellite phones and a technician to help with the rescue efforts. a team of rescue workers from northern virginia is also gearing up to help those relief efforts. the fairfax search and rescue team is packed and waiting for the call. news 4 megan mcgrath joins us now from fairfax county with details. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the fairfax county urban search and rescue team is highly trained and experienced and they have a lot of experience actually rescuing people from emergency situations, including finding people in the rubble in collapsed situations. they just recently came back from haiti. yesterday they spent the day

packing up all of their specialized gear. they are ready to go to chile should they get the call. it is a process they know well. in fact these rescue workers recently under from a mission in haiti. just weeks later they are packed and ready to deploy. this time to help the victims of the earthquake in chile. the team will bring with them tiny cameras and listening equipment that helped them rescue victims in port-au-prince. >> in haiti we were able to find victims, see the victims, even talk to the victims through this equipment. >> reporter: the 52 team members have a variety of first responders skills including search and rescue and emergency medical training. the group will go fully stock and will be completely self-sufficient. >> we don't want to be a drag on the host country. they already have a disaster there. we don't need to go there and demand things from them. we need to be self-contained. our big cache is about 52,000

people plus people and personal bags. >> reporter: and it's quite an effort to collect all of that gear, get it together and get ready to ship out, and that's where they stand right now. all of that work has been done. they are ready to go at this point and on stand by. they just have to wait to get the call. back to you. megan mcgrath in fairfax. thank you. if you would like to help the relief effort s in chile we've organized groups who are cepting donations. the mission workers who tried to take 30 children out of haiti, two of them will be coming home today. the two women and eight other missionaries from an idaho church group were charged with kidnapping after they tried to remove the children without the proper documents. the other eight americans were released last month.

today the u.s. postal service will push for a radical reshaping how americans get and send their packages. the post master general will announce a new model. it wants congress to approve a five day mail delivery schedule and change retire yes benefits. >> electronic age not many people are using the mail service as before, so that probably changed things a lot. >> yes, online banking, e, recession and competition from fedex and u.p.s. are blamed for pushing mail volume down 13%. they lost almost $4 billion last year. senate negotiators are close to announcing a new plan aimed at preventing another financial crisis. sources say the senate is considering placing consumer agency within the federal reserve. that agency would oversee all consumer financial products, everything from credit cards to mortgages. if the plan is approved it would be a major step towards creating

new wall street regulations aimed at proving the country's financial state. same sex marriage opponents are launching a last minute campaign to try to block the marriages from becoming legal in the district. they are asking the u.s. supreme court to put a hold on washington's new law which is expected to take effect tomorrow. opponents filed papers yesterday with chief justice john roberts claiming d.c. residents should be able to vote on the hart. the d.c. superior court is preparing for a rush of same sex couples looking to get married tomorrow. court officials say the couples should expect to wait a little while if they show up tomorrow expecting to tie the knot right away. some of those couples say it is worth the wait. >> we are expecting a significant increase in the number of licenses. >> i've been out as a lesbian for 20 years and it's really a dream come true to be able to commit the person i love and do it here in my community. >> those who apply for licenses will have to wait three business

days before picking them up. >> it's usually exciting when the president of the united states decides to vacation in your home town. >> unless you lose a lot of money because of that. several aviation firms in hawaii are asking the federal government to pay them for money they lost during president obama's two week vacation there back in december. a no fly zone was in effect for parts of oahu during the first family's vacation and that kept many flight tours, flagt instructors and other operations grounded. the oahu aviation initiative said it lost $200,000 in business. it's just about 5:51. time for traffic and weather together on the 1s. >> let's go to tom kierein in storm center 4. >> march got off to a promising start yesterday. our temperatures got to 50 degrees yesterday afternoon. overnight we've dropped down into the 30s. around the region now temperatures are in the mid-to-upper 30s in the nearby suburbs to downtown washington and near the bay. right now in prince george's

county from bowie to capital heights and clinton and morningside temperatures in the mid-30s. from main waterfront to fairfax city and ashton we're in the middle 30s. shenandoah valley through central virginia dipped a little below freezing. as has the eastern shore and some locations out in the mountains and we've got a lot of cloudiness coming in. it's ahead of an area of low pressure that way down south now and will be moving along the atlantic seaboard over the next 36 hours. right now it is spreading some moderate to heavy rains from atlanta, georgia to florida. they are getting a mix of sleet and snow. that's associated with a low pressure center sitting over alabama. tracking right along the coast and head out to sea tomorrow. it will come close enough to us to give us a little wet snow and perhaps some light rain from time to time. for this morning for maybe a little bit of sunshine, overall

mostly cloudy. by 9:00 near 40. then the low 40s by noon time, perhaps mid-40s. sunrise this morning 6:39. sunset at 6:02 we may have light rain around the metro area, wet snow around the blue ridge and into the shenandoah valley and further to the north. and perhaps a little more light rain through mid-evening here around the metro area. wet snow further west and north. it may change to wet snow by midnight and fine by dawn. we may have a dusting to an inch on the ground but most of the roads and streepts and sidewalks will just be wet as temperatures should be generally above freezing. sunrise tomorrow 6:38. during the day on wednesday looks like it will be cloudy. might have a passing snow shower, perhaps a little bit of light rain from time to time. little or no additional snow accumulation. all the roads should just be wet during the day on wednesday with temperatures above freezing. any snow that falls will be slowly melting. a blustery northwest wind will begin to pick up too gusting to

25 miles per hour or so by wednesday afternoon and evening. then that should die down a bit on thursday with sunshine back, morning lows near 30, afternoon highs low 40s. a bit milder on friday, morning loss mid-20s, afternoon highs in to the mid-40s. and look at the weekend. feast your eyes on the extended outlook. saturday should be bright and sunny with morning loss near 30 and afternoon highs near 50. even milder on sunday with lots of sunshine. we should make it into the mid-50s and by monday we may soar into the upper 50s to near 60 by mid-afternoon. that would certainly be our warmest day in a long time and certainly feeling like springtime and get those crocuss and reluctant daffodils. >> breaking news out of northeast washington. in northeast, new york avenue -- i'm sorry make it brentwood parkway closed to traffic. brentwood parkway is closed

between v street and mount olivet road. police have confirmed the pedestrian accident we reported earlier t-pedestrian has died from the injuries closing down again brentwood parkway in the vech twee v street and mount olivet. reports of an accident on the beltway inner loop approaching route 4 authorities headed over there. 270 northbound and southbound, near georgetown road moving along pretty well. out on the rails doing fine. metro rail, vre and marc, no delays. eun and joe? >> if you take amtrak or acela your train will get more convenient. amtrak said it's installing wireless access on all 20 of its ela trains. union station and several other stations along the northeast track will be getting wi-fi. the service will be free to

start but then reviewed after an introductory period. it's the district's largest private hospital and being criticized after more than a dozen nurses and staff members were laid off. washington hospital center officials say those workers did not show up for their shift during the recent historic snowstorm. all this comes in the midst of a contract dispute. one of the nurses who was fired stated she could not get to work because of the road conditions but she was told -- >> it's your responsibility to get in here, and that if you do not come in to work you could be subject to suspension or termination. >> anyone who is considered essential, who we had offered rides to or we offered means of transportation who chose not to come in those were the individuals that we looked at. >> the hospital says they were not commenting on individual cases, but lee contends when she called out she was never offed a ride. your doctor may also be getting a pay cut. yesterday the government began

paying medicare providers 21% less. congress failed to pass a bill that would temporarily blocked those cuts. doctors have already complained medicare paid them too little and some are considering dropping medicare patients or not taking new ones. the obama administration has put all payments open hold for the next two weeks hoping congress will approve a quick fix before then. a recent study found bpa a chemical found in plastics and aluminum cans may raise the risk of as that in children. certain plastics can be especially dangerous if you put them in the microwave. this morning consumer reporter liz crenshaw shows us which ones safe and which plastics should never be heated. >> reporter: diane with the u.s. department of agriculture showed us the dose and don't when it comes to heating food in plastic bags and containers. >> plastics have different intended uses.

different blastic containers are made to with stand various temperatures. >> reporter: what happens if i use that lowe temperature plastic in the microwave or pour boiling soup into it? >> it can't with stand high temperatures it can health or change form when you're cooking in it, and that may leak plastic into the food you're cooking. >> reporter: rule of thumb check the label on the packaging. if it's made to be head it will be clearly marked and referred to the microwave. if it's not labelled don't heat it up. extreme heat could cause plastic to melt, here's one example. reheated chili in a used plastic dip container. >> it's changed shape and that could be an indication that the container is changing. >> reporter: you're worried about the plastic from here ending up in my food. what about plastic wrap? read the box.

the plastic should be one inch away from the food and vented so excess steam escapes otherwise the host plastic will stick to the food. watch out for those plastic containers you buy. this container was not supposed to be in the microwave. >> see. it has changed texture. >> reporter: remember our ham we reheated in a zipper bag. >> see how it'shanged shape and the liquid is coming out. do not use this ham. >> reporter: liz crenshaw, news 4. >> tonight on news 4 at 5:00 liz will talk about what a lot of us do. what happens when you reheat your leftovers in a styrofoam take out container. tomorrow is your chance to win a chance for a trip to new york. it includes travel, hotel and tour of "30 rock." go to nbcwashington.com and search "30 rock" and watch tomorrow morning we'll announce

the name of the winner tomorrow during the 6:00 a.m. hour and you'll need to call in to claim your prize. "30 rock" is a great place to see. >> fun trip to new york. "news4 today" at 6:00 a.m. starts right now. judgment day, the d.c. council will call a special session to punish marion barry. what the future holds for the former mayor. >> another recall this morning this time involving more than a million gm cars. good morning. thanks for joining us for "news4 today." i'm eun yang. >> good morning. i'm joe krebs. let's look outside on this 2nd day of march, 2010. 38 degrees out there. >> let's check in with meteorologist tom kierein now to see what kind of a day we'll have. it was buffalo yesterday. >> around 50 degrees. we had that sunshine. it's clouded up overnight and right now as you prepare for work and school, you should not

have any trouble on this tuesday morning. in washington temperatures are in the upper 30s. mid-30s in prince george's county, montgomery, fairfax, arlington county in the low 30s and from anacostia to franconia, hyattsville and olney we have quite a bit of cloudiness. these clouds coming from a developing area of low pressure that's now centered over alabama right now and it is sending some precipitation as far north as southern west virginia, southwest of virginia getting wet snow there. for here we may see a little sun this morning. temperatures by then still in the upper 30s to near 40. noon time low 40s and cloudy the rest of the afternoon. sunrise 6:39. sunset at 6:02. we may have a little light rain around metro, light snow around the blue ridge and shenandoah valley. more light rain through mid-evening and changing to wet snow after midnight. a dusting to an inch by dawn tomorrow. the roads and streets and sidewalks should be wet.

during the day on wednesday perhaps passing light shower, snow shower or rain shower and temperatures hovering in the upper 30s to near 40. any snow that does fall will be melting. a blustery northwest wind gusting to 25 miles per hour. then the storm pulls away and sunshine back for thursday this to friday and a warming trend for the weekend. how is the tuesday traffic? >> northeast washington authorities investigating an accident involving a pedestrian. pedestrian was hit and killed by a vehicle earlier this morning and authorities have closed down brentwood parkway between v street and mount olivet road in northeast washington to conduct that investigation. so right now that stretch of the brentwood parkway is closed to traffic both direction while the investigation is just getting under way. we'll have some more details as they come in to us. let's head out and take a live look see how the commute is going along 270. doing just fine from frederick all the way on down to the split so far travel lanes are open. eun and joe, back to you.

today marion barry could face new legal problems. the d.c. council is expected to vote on weather to censure the former mayor for directing a city contract to a former girlfriend. they could refer the claims to the attorney's office. tracee wilkins has re. >> reporter: after an eight month probe into allegations that council member marion barry misused public funds and violated conflict of interest rules regarding earmarks, today the city council is expected to take formal action against the former mayor. >> we wouldn't have an additional meeting if we weren't planning to take action. this council plans to take action. we want to make sure we covered all the issues. >> reporter: barry came under fire again after it was found he award ad $15,000ontract to his girlfriend an earmarks to organizations. he also is accused of taking kickbacks in return. last week barry apologized for his actions. >> i apologized for my actions

and lack of sound judgment and for causing great embarrassment. >> reporter: barry's attorney maintains he did not violate any laws. there are no rules within the council regarding earmarks and personal service contracts. >> we don't believe there was a violation of any rules or policies or regations involved. >> reporter: in a special afternoon meet the council is expected to vote on censuring barry greatly reducing his power on the council and stripping him of the chairmanship on housing and workforce doecht. last week barry vowed he'll continue his work for the people of ward 8. >> i intend to work as hard as i can to help repair the damage and i'm also committed to work even harder for the residents of ward 8. >> reporter: it's expected the special meeting will happen around 3:00 p.m. today and also expected that barry wil have a large number of supporters here rallying in his defense. outside of the wilson building i'm tracee wilkins, news 4. today in prince george's county a judge will sentence the

two men charged with causing a deadly street racing crash. one of those men will not end up in jail because his jury dead locked and could not reach a verdict on manslaughter charges. eight people were killed when dar ron bullock plowed into a group of people back in federal of 2008. he pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular manslaughter and could face 30 years in prison. tavon taylor was racing bull log. his trial ended yesterday in a hung jury. he was found guilty of traffic charges and now faces only a fine and no jail time. >> we wanted the world to know tavon taylor was not responsible for the deaths of these individuals and what the jury said is we're not convinced. >> prosecutors said they will retry the manslaughter case against taylor sometime in september. this morning, countries around the world are rushing to help earthake ravaged chile. the death toll from saturday's

8.8 magnitude quake has climbed to 700. this morning secretary of state hillary clinton will travel to santiago with 20 satellite phones and a technician to help with the rescue effort. a team of rescue workers from northern virginia is gearing up to help those efforts. the fairfax search and rescue team is packed up and waiting for the call. this same team traveled to haiti less than a month ago to help with the earthquake relief efforts there. if called upon they will leave with food, water, medical equipment and four search and rescue dogs. if you would like to help the relief efforts in chile, we've compiled a list of organizations through text messages, go to nbcwashington.com and search chile. >> this morning a consumer alert. another major car recall. general motors is recalling more than 1 million cars because of steering problems. news 4 kimberly suiters joins us live from the newsroom with more on this.

>> after receiving 1100 complaints relating to power steering issues the national highway traffic safety administration launched an investigation in late january and found that 14 crashes could be blamed on power steering failures. that information has led to the recall of 1.3 million cars. the models involved are the chevy cobalt from 2005 to 2010 and pontiac g 5. 2005 to 2006 pursuit and g 4. the issue the cars may become harder to steer when traveling less than 15 miles per hour. now the automaker said the problem tends to happen in older model and after the car has been driven 20,000 to 30,000 miles. gm said it's working on a fix and will november drivers when to bring their cars to a dealer to have the power steering repaired. despite the investigation into the power steering related

incidents and complaint, gm insists these car are safe to drive. joe, back to you. thanks very much. we're just hours away from a transit strike that could leave many of you without a ride to work tomorrow. plus you won't see many construction crews on the highway this morning. how one senator managed to put a halt to two major struck projects. we'll see some rain and snow over the next 24 hours. .

time right now is 6:10. 39 degrees. what a gorgeous sunrise almost out there. dawn here in the nation's capital. beautiful glow on the horizon caused by some clouds above us right now. we'll find out what those clouds mean for us. >> we would like a repeat of yesterday. >> not going to get it. done look like we'll have temperatures above freezing as it is at this hour. sunrise is less than 30 minutes away. 39 in washington from takoma park to ft. washington, mitchellville, chantilly, montgomery village it is mostl cloudy. highs today should reach the mid-40s with a lot of clouds around and by sunset maybe a little light rain around the

metro area, light snow around blue ridge and shenandoah valley. later in the evening arod the metro area perhaps around midnight to dawn tomorrow wet snow. we could have an inch on the ground at the most, but the streets, roads and sidewalks will be wet. and during the day on wednesday, blustery northwest wind. wet snow and the light rain from from time to time. thursday into friday sun returns. warming trend for the weekend. how is the traffic? >> take a live look. we're checking reports of a broken down vehicle in the roadway outer loop at the american legion bridge. at the moment looks like thing are moving pretty well. elsewhere, the inbound side of 66 of route 50 headed for the roosevelt bridge looking pretty good all the way in from false church to the bridge this morning for those of you headed westbound that's moving along well. as you continue on out towards the dulles connector. northeast washington brentwood parkway closed to traffic while

authorities investigate a fatal pedestrian accident. the closure points are mount olivet road and v street northeast. no access from new york avenue to the brentwood parkway. 6:12. 39 degrees. strike looming that could leave thousands of with you no ride to work tomorrow and the big announcement from the postal service today how mail delivery might change in the future. >> we're getting our first look at tai shan's new life in china.

good morning. i'm kimberly suiters. here are the top stories in the news for today. today the d.c. council cozy whether to reprimand marion barry for dominican republicing a city contract to a former girlfriend. the council is expected to vote on censuring the former mayor and decide to refer the acuations to tuesday attorney's office. two drivers involved in a deadly street accident could get very different sentences. that's darren bullock. he pleaded to vehicular manslaughter. he faces 30 years in prison. the man you just saw a jury couldn't reach a verdict for that other man, tavon taylor. he will be retried in september. general motors recalling 1.3 million cars because of a power steering remember you. the recalled models include 2007 to 2010 cobalt and 20052010 g 5

cars. and this morning secretary of state hillary clinton traveling to santiago with 20 satellite phones and a technician to help with the rescue efforts after a magtude 8.8 earthquake rocked chile. our crews in fairfax county standing by if they get the call for search and rescue needs. the last two americans being held in haiti for trying to take 33 children out of country may be released according to a haitian judge after a hearing today he'll order the release. the two women and eight other missionaries from an idaho church group were charged with kidnapping after trying to remove the children without proper documentation. the other americans were releas last month. today the u.s. postal

service will push for a radical reshaping of how americans get and send their letters and packages. brooke hart is live on capitol hill now with more on these potential changes. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. if you ever touch a piece of mail you want to hear about these potential changes to the system. this morning the u.s. post master general will out line how dire the situation is for the u.s. mail. at d.c.'s main post office mail senders and receivers alike seem happy with the service. >> it's great. >> what they are doing right now suits period mp. >> reporter: what they are doing is almost certain to change. blame it on the internet. >> electronic age, many people aren't using as much of the mail service as before. so, that's probably changed things a lot. >> reporter: in fact online banking and people sending e-mail along with the recession pushed mail volume down 13% in the last fiscal year. the postal service lost $4 billion. with tougher times forecast the agency is talking about cutting

services. >> well i get my mail on saturdays i'm happy with that. >> reporter: saturday delivery days could go away. post offices could close. some blame lack of competition and union protected pay. >> we have taxpayers pouring lots of money in for the lavish benefits and pay received by postal workers. >> reporter: the agency wants more leeway in union negotiation, particularly in addressing the soaring cost of worker and retiree health care. so changes the post master general will propose this hurricane warning would affect workers and those getting and sending mail. they would also require congress's okay. something no one expects to come easily. live on capitol hill i'm brooke hart. back to you. >> today when you're out on the roads you won't see construction underway on the 9th street or humpback bridge on the gw parkway. the furloughs continue at the department of transportation. the shut down was caused by kentucky senator jim bunning.

he blocked a bill that would continue funding construction projects. >> we cannot keep adding to the debt. we don't need lectures here on debt. what we need is to recognize that there are poor people all over america who are desperate today. >> bunning says the bill would add $10 billion to the national debt. instead he suggests using stimulus money to fund the projects. democrats have rejected that suggestion. >> commuters in prince william county may have to deal with crowded or late bus tomorrow if they take omni ride or metro direct to work. bus drivers for the potomac and rappahannock transit commission are threatening to strike tomorrow if they cannot reach a new contract by midnight tonight. they say it is making contingency plans. investigators are trying to gure out why a plane skidded off arunway in gaithersburg. firefighters say the small plane crashed into woods at a montgomery county air park late yesterday afternoon. the pilot was the only person on board. he was not hurt. it is still clear what caused

him to lose control of the plane. tai shan's panda posse cam can rest easily. >> the national zoo's favorite panda is having a great time at his new home in china. even missed out on all the blizzards here last month but found plenty snow at the china conservation and research center there. his keepers say he's responding pretty well to commands in chinese. the command for this picture was eat bamboo. he's discovered a new treat called panda bread. >> learning a new language causes you to get hungry. >> cute as ever. >> let's go to tom kierein now in storm center 4 to find out about our forecast. >> well this morning we have quite a bit of cloudiness this morning and temperatures are generally above freezing. it's in the upper 30s in washington and nearby suburbs from college park to upper marlboro and centreville and wheaton. by later on today sun this morning and cloudy in the afternoon.

by sunset which tay is around 6:00, we may have a little light rain around the metro area, lying snow around the blue ridge and snandoah valley and then overnight, metro area may see that light rain change over to periods little light snow after midnight. at the most maybe an inch on the ground by dawn tomorrow but the roads and the streets and sidewalks will just be wet and on wednesday, maybe a passing snow shower or rain shower or blifr northwest wind temperatures above freezing. so everything will be wet generally. then thursday and friday we dry out and warming up a bit and looks into the weekend lots of sun. mid-50 sunday. upper 50s on monday. how is the traffic >> we continue to follow breaking news out of northeast washington where authorities have closed down a stretch of the brentwood parkway between mount olivet and v street as they investigate a fatal pedestrian accident that occurred at about 4:30 this morning. the pedestrian was struck and

killed on that stretch that's closed of brentwood parkway. we're also getting some reports of trouble on new york avenue trying to get through northeast, whether it's connected to this incident or not we'll investigate. in the mean time headed through northeast heads up. let's head on over along interstate 66 the inbound side, left side of your screen, very loaded up east of manassas towards fare oaks. checking reports of an accident. authorities are headed over to check on that as well. and one more stop over towards the american legion bridge. some brake lights on the outer loop. an indicate orthat broken down vehicle that was reported to us is indeed there. so we'll follow up on that. busy morning. we'll keep you updated. coming up, he spent $600,000 on it. what's so special about redskins owner dan snyder's new desk at fedex? some amazing video you'll want to see more than once.

police officer's quick reaction to a violent crash. >> and he's back. how jay leno made his return to the "tonight show." >> thank you very much.

good to be home. good to be home. i'm jay leno your host at least for a while. >> just nine months after giving it up jay leno is back at the

helm of the tonight show. his guests last night included jamie foxx and gold medallist lindsey vonn. he'll have several other medal winning u.s. athletes on the show throughout this week. the suit worn by o.j. simpson at the end of his 1995 murder trial may be headed to the smithsonian institution. ron goldman's father was suing o.j. for possession of the suit when the verds were handed down. simpson was on trail for killing goldman and his ex-wife. in an effort to ends the 13 year battle an agreement was reached to donate the suit to the simpson. if the simpson is not interested then another museum willing to accept it must be found. now stop and take a look at this amazing video from a police car dash cam video camera. ouch. a police officer in suburban cleveland is recovering after being thrown over a guardrail by an out of control car. this happened on saturday during icy snowy conditions.

the officer had stopped to help a stranded motorist when another car lost control and swerved right towards the officer and the other driver. the officer pushed the other man out of the way. the officer went flipping over the guardrail. had several broken bones. we're told, though, he should be fine and the other driver was apparently not injured at all. but the police officer, wow, what an amazing escape. he did this, as we said, had broken bones. >> amazing video. in the market for a new car? the big deals toyota is offering. they are offering major incentives. also ahead why a young man accused of killing eight people ring a street racing accident may not be going to jail. everything is clear now. but meteorologist tom kierein is talking about rain and snow that could have a big effect on your commute tomorrow.

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. breaking news this morning in d.c. police are on the scene of a deadly pedestrian accident. find out what roads are closed because of it. ready to help. right now search and rescue team from northern virginia is waiting to leave for chile as search for survivors is in full swing. >> winter will not go away quite yet. take a look we're expecting another storm tonight into tomorrow. good morning and welcome back to "news4 today." i'm joe krebs.

i'm eun yang. this is a live look outside on this tuesday, march 2, 2010. 39 degrees. a beautiful sky out there. some pink over there as the sun tries to make its way up over the nation' capital. >> let's look at our forecast with tom kierein. good morning. sunrise is just less than ten minutes away. getting earlier and earlier. we welcome that after we've been through this brutal winter. right now in the upper 30s in washington and prince george's county as well. montgomery, arlington, fairfax county now in the mid-30s from the shaw neighborhood to blacksburg, landover, burke, clarksburg a lot of cloudiness. a few flurries now in the southern shenandoah valley, some of the potomac highlands. steadier wet snow in southwest virginia. that moisture arriving home viewer by late afternoon in the form of some light rain. highs before that in the mid-40s. that light rain should change over to periods of wet snow after midnight. a dusting to an inch on the ground tomorrow morning but wet

on the roads, streets and sidewalks and mix ever light snow and light rain during the day on wednesday. temperatures above freezing. sun back thursday and friday. how is the traffic >> we continue to follow the breaking news in northeast washington. pedestrian accident. it occurred about 4:30 this morning on the brewood parkway and authorities tell us they have closed brentwood parkway tweent 9th street and mount olivet road. the 9th street exits from new york avenue is closed. that traffic circle jammed at west virginia montana. it's a mess. let's take a live look inbound on new york avenue, left side of your screen getting past bladensburg road loaded up again because of the accident and all the activity down at the brentwood parkway. expect a very slow ride coming over the anacostia river. 66 eastbound, loaded up from centreville through fair oaks.

chopper 4 on the job over the american legion bridge. activity now to the shoulder which is very goodews on the outer loop of the beltway coming off the clara barton parkway, be alert a quick merge getting on to the outer loop crossing to the american legion bridge. back to you. relief from around the world is pouring into chile this morning. the 8.8 magnitude earthquake is believed to have caused 700 deaths. for many survivors it's a fight to find food and water. markets have been ransacked by people who say they are just trying to feed their families. police are starting to make arrests though for looting. the u.s. will start delivering help this morning. secretary of state hillary clinton will arrive in chile with 20 satellite phones and a technician all to help with the rescue efforts. a team of rescue workers from northern virginia is also ready

to help with those search efforts. they are waiting for a call if they need to be deployed. megan mcgrath joins us now from fairfax county with more on that. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the members of the fairfax county urban search and rescue team are highly trained and many of them have extensive experience in rescuing people from the rubble in a collapsed high situations such as earthquakes. many recently just returned from haiti and ready to bring their skills to chile should they get the call. it is a process they know well. in fact these rescue workers reason lie returned from a mission in haiti. just weeks later they are packed and ready to deploy. this time to help the victims of the earthquake in chile. the team will bring with them tiny cameras and listening equipment that helped them rescue victims in port-au-prince. >> in haiti we were able to find a victim, see the victim, even talk to the victim through this

equipment. >> reporter: the 52-team members have a variety of first responder skills including search and rescue and emergency medical training. the group will go fully stock and will be completely self-sufficient. >> we don't want to be, you know a-drag on the host country. they already have a disaster there. we don't need to go there and demand things from them. we need to be self-contained. our big cache is about 62,000 people not to mention the people and all their personal bags. >> reporter: it's a lot of gear, a lot of equipment and they are packed and ready to go. they are on stand by, fully mobilized. they are just waiting to get the call should they be needed an then they are ready to respond within a few hours and jump on a plane. >> that trailer behind you they load that trailer on to a plane? >> reporter: i'm not exactly sure, joe. they actually, a lot of their gear is actually loaded into backpacks and they carry it and

presumably i believe they load it on to the chargeo of a plane. i don't think they take the actual trailer i'm standing in front of. everyone is basically back at home. they've been given some down time a-couple of hours and waiting for that call and when the call should come then they will come here, grab their gear and go. >> they will need their rest. if you would like to help the relief effort we've cop piled a list of organizations accepting donations through text messages. go to nbcwashington.com and search the word chile. two men charged with causing a deadly street racing crash in prince george's county will be sentenced today but one of them may not end up with any jail time since the jury could not reach a verdict. eight people were killed when police say darren bullock plowed into a group of people in 2008. he could face 30 years in prison. tavon taylor was racing bullock at the time of the crash. he wassing charged with

vehicular manslaughter but his trial ended in a hung jury. >> the jury was not able to convict beyond a reasonable doubt. the lack of a verdict shows that. >> prosecutors are hoping to retry the manslaughter case against taylor sometime in september. >> police in montgomery county are looking for a man who them say sexualed a woman in silver spring. the attack happened last night. police say a woman called them claiming a man was attacking her. he is still on the loose. investigators have not released a description of the suspect. >> "the today show" is next at the top of the hour. let's go live to meredith vieira in new york to see what they are working on. welcome back from vancouver. >> thank you very much. good morning to you. coming up on a tuesday morning on "the today show" the death toll rising in chile as emergency workers run into challenges getting aid to

earthquake victims. ann curry will be live from one of the hardest hit areas. and would a store actually resell used underwear and baiting suits. you won like the results of our report. we'll have more of our series on tv families reunited. this morning the cast of the pa triple-digit family gets together live in studio 1a. that's when we get started on a tuesday morning right here on "the today show." looking forward to it. starting tomorrow gays and lesbians will be able to get married in the district. coming up why that's leading to increased security at one downtown building. >> desiree rogers talks for the first time about the so-called party crashers and what really happened at that state dinner. >> meteorologist tom kierein says we'll see a little rain and snow tonight into tomorrow. find out how much and when it will all start next. this is whole soy.

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time for weather and traffic on the 1s. good morning. it's off to work and school on this tuesday morning under a cloudy sky. temperatures now generally in the 30s. it's going to be climbing into the mid-40s later on. cloudy this afternoon. light rain mixing with wet snow after midnight.

an inch at the most by dawn tomorrow but the roads will be wet, maybe a passing snow shower or a light rain shower the rest of wednesday. how is the traffic? >> we continue following breaking news, northeast washington, pedestrian struck and killed by a vehicle about 4:30 this morning on the brentwood parkway. authorities investigating that right now. closed down the brentwood parkway tweent moubetween mountd street. we're loaded up getting near the anacostia river. metro rail and vre are fine. marc rail camden line 841 six minutes behind schedule. eun and joe? >> thank you very much. >> 6:42 is your time. 39 degrees. coming up next how the dulles south council may punish marion barry. >> the changes coming to your mail box. how the postal service plans to change the way it does business. >> a warning before you hit the

road for work and school. a brand new car recall you'll want to know about.

breaking news out of northeast washington now where a pedestrian has been hit and killed along the brentwood parkway. news 4 tracee wilkins is live on the scene now with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the victim is still here on the scene so we'll try to show you the investigation that's happening right over here on the 9th treat bridge. we don't have specific details as to exactly what happened. it's still under investigation. we do know a pedestrian was struck and killed. and from what we understand the driver did stay here on the scene. investigators are now looking into exactly what happened here.

now, looking from where we are, of course, there's a lot of construction here on the 9th street bridge. one of the major projects at d.c. has been working on for some time now. there's a large dump truck here near the victim. it looks like it's a part of the scene but we've not had officials tell us that that was the striking vehicle. so we're still waiting to hear exactly what happened here and, but i can tell you the effects of this accident will be tremendous on the morning rush. you don't know how long police officers are going to be out here. but, of course, rush has already started. and ramps to the 9th street bridge and the brentwood parkway are all blocked so they can continue their investigation. folks are having to find their way around these ramps and this is a major thoroughfare. the driver did stay out here on the scene. the police are just beginning here in northeast. i'm tracee wilkins live this morning.

back to you. . thank you. the dulles sou.c. council c whether to reprimand barry for giving a contract to a former girlfriend. they could refer the acuations to him against the u.s. attorney's office. barry has jaeized. >> to my colleagues and my commune i truly apologize for lack of sound and good judgment in this case. i apologize for my actions and lack of sound judgment and for causing great embarrassment to the city and city council. i'm truly, truly sorry. despite the apology, barry insists he broke no laws. same sex marriage will become legal in the district tomorrow but opponents are launching a last minute campaign to block the new law. they are asking the supreme court to put a hold on the law claiming d.c. residents should be allowed to vote on the matter. local courts rejected that claim. the archdiocese of washington which opposes same sex marriage

is making a major change to its employee health care plan because of the pending law. employees will no longer be allowed to add spouses to their coverage. be prepared to wait, that's what the d.c. superior court is telling same sex couples. they are warning them they may have to wait longer than usual. couples who have been waiting years to tie the knot say that's not a big deal. >> i've been out as a lesbian for 20 years and it's a dream come trueo be able to commit the person i love and do it here in my community. >> those who applied for licenses will have to wait three business days before picking them up. court officials plan to have extra security on hand tomorrow to deal with the large crowds. the debate over the constitutional right to bear arms is back before the u.s. supreme court today. this time the nation's highiest court will consider a handgun ban in chicago. chicago's ban on hand guns has been causing controversy for

years but gained more attention after the supreme court struck down a similar handgun ban in d.c. back in 2008. the court now lance to decide whether the ruling in d.c., a federal district with unique status should also apply to local and state laws. chicago's mayor says local officials need flexibility to decide how best to protect their communities. in just a few hours the postal service will push for major service cuts and that might have a deep impact on how you get your mail. courtney reagan joins us on what we can expect. >> reporter: good morning. we've been talking about this for a while that something might happen but today it's looking more serious. the u.s. postal service will outline a new business plan today and reports are saying it may include cutting mail service to five days a week, that means eliminating saturday deliveries. the postal service has been losing money at a record rate thanks to the slumping economy and as more people use e-mail and pay their bills online, the senate banking committee is close to a deal on financial

reform. chris dodd who chairs the panel and bob corker have agreed to a finance watchdog inside the fed. the agency would have the ability to write and enforce rules. they agreed on allowing the government to break up failing finance forms. toyota will offer 0% financing for five years. they expect to name rodney slater to hd a new safety panel. back to you. >> outgoing white house social secretary desiree rogers her office did nothing wrong the night a virginia couple crash ad state dinner. she said one of her staff members was at the main entrance all night long when the salhis

made it in without an invitation. secret service members were supposed to alert her staff the someone's name was not on the list. rogers resignation takes effect this month. the white house insists she was not forced to leave. >> he's known for spending a fortune on free agents now redskins owner dan snyder is making a splash on what he's spending for his office. he dropped $600,000 for two alligator desks and chairs. he ordered the furniture from palm beach. it should arrive in about six wes. the last time snyder had this much contact with the gator when former florida gator was the skins head coach. >> you probably won be able to afford an ali investigate yga g

chair. what you can do to put more money in your bank account at 5:55 tomorrow morning. then during 6:00 a.m. we'll giveaway a trip to new york city. to sign up go to nbcwashington.com and search "30 rock" and then watch tomorrow morning. we'll announce the name of the winner tomorrow sometime during the 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. and then you'll need to call in to claim your prize. >> should be a great trip. >> yes. >> let's check in with tom kierein to get the latest on the forecast. >> sun has been up for about ten minutes but most of us can't see it. it's cloudy around the region. radar showing what may be a few flurries trying to reach the ground here. elsewhere no precipitation now. it's 39 in washington. prince george's county in the upper 30s. montgomery, arlington, fairfax counties now in the mid-30s.

from cheverly to poolesville quite a bit of cloudiness. out in the mountains in the mid-20s. there's a little light snow coming into southern west virginia and southwestern virginia but that's not the main area of precipitation that will be coming into our region that now is down into georgia and now just coming in to south carolina. they are getting moderate to heavy rain there. part of a low pressure system that's going to be tracking along the atlantic seaboard and then heading out to sea during the day today and into wednesday. for this morning maybe a few peeks of sunshine. milwaukee by noon. highs in the mid-40s. sunset 6:02. changing to wet snow around the metro area after midnight perhaps a dusting to an inch at theery most on the ground. but it will be melting on the roads, streets and sidewalks.

during the day on wednesday maybe a passing snow shower or rain shower, blustery northwest wind. temperatures above freezing. thursday an friday sun returns. warming trend for the weekend, saturday, sunday into monday, highs in the mid-to-upper 50s sunday and monday. jerry, how is the traffic? >> we continue to follow the breaking news of a pedestrian accident closing down the stretch of the brentwood parkway between 9th street and mount olivet road in northeast washington. it's having a major impact on commuters. new york avenue is blocked as well. there was an dent nuclear bomb on new york avenue after bladensburg road. that's cleared. because there's no access to or from brentwood avenue new york avenue is jammed. a lot of extra travel time this morning. you can try montana avenue as a potential alternate. everything is really jammed up. let's head on over and check out

the trip south along interstate 270. things loading up on the spur but we haven't had any accidents to report, just volume all the way on down. thanks. >> this morning a consumer alert. we have another major car recall. general motors is recalling more than 1 million cars because ever steering problems. kimberly suiters joins us now live from the newsroom with the latest. >> carmakers issue recalls all the time but the timing for a recall is more sensitive now because of toyota's recall affecting 8.5 million vehicles. american automakers have tried to capitalize on that. this morning it's gm's turn. they are recalling 1.3 cars because of a power steering issue. chevy cobalt from 2005 to 2010 and g 5 from 2007 to 2010 and the pontiac pursuit and pontiac g 4. according to gm the cars are

safe to drive but may become harder to steer when traveling less hand 15 miles per hour. the automaker says the problem tends to happen in older models and after the car has been drive en20,000 to 30,000 miles. gm says it is working on a fix and will november drivers when to bring their cars to a dealer to have the power steering motor repaired. after receiving 1100 complaints relating to power steering issues the national highway traffic safety administration launched an investigation in late january and found that 14 crashes could be blamed on power steering failures in the gm cars. eun, back to you. thanks. rescue effort from around the world are pouring into chile, three days after that massive earthquake. the death toll from saturday's 8.8 magnitude quake that's climbed to more than 700. officials say most of the victims lived in coastal vil lags that were shattered by teethe

earthquake and then pounded by a tsunami. some rescue workers in northern virginia are no strangers to this kind of disaster. just a month ago they were called to help with the earthquake relief efforts in haiti. this morning they could be called to chile. megan mcgrath joins us live from fairfax county with more. >> reporter: good morning. the fairfax county urban search and rescue team is highly trained this period this a lot of experience in this sort of things. they just recently came back from haiti and spent the day yesterday pack up, getting their gear ready and they are ready to deploy should they be needed, should they get the call to go to chile. i'm joined by dan smith. talk a little bit about whether we know the status. are they going or not >> the team is mobilized. we're in a stand by mode right now. we're on a four hour callback time frame. so, when we get the word f-we get the word, we're ready to deploy at a moment's notice. >> now, they've just recently

come back from haiti, some of the members here. how difficult is to it regroup like this >> several members are going back if we get the deployment notice. they went to haiti. you know it's been a 30 day turn around. our folks are ready to go. this is what they do every day. >> thanks for joining us. so, everyone is on stand by. they are mobilized waiting to see if they get that call. back to you. breaking news out of northeast washington now where a pedestrian has been hit and killed along the brentwood parkway. tracee wilkins is on the suspend the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. someone was hit and killed here on the bridge. let me show you what's going on here. the victim is still here on the ene. we're trying to show you the investigation without showing you that part of the investigation. now, police have been spending a lot of time looking at that dump truck there. they have been going in and out of that truck and investigating it and because it's inside the scene it appears that may have

been the striking vehicle here. but there's bean lot of construction happening here on the 9th street bridge for some time now as they work to replace the bridge. that dump truck, it appears to be the center of this investigation. we still have not heard from police yet. now, because of this accident that happened just before 4:30 a.m. and as you can see the investigation is continuing, all of the ramps to the 9th street bridge and brentwood parkway and exits on this road from off of mount olivet have been closed down. for more information how you can get around we go live to jerry edwards. >> i'll show everybody a map of the general location where this occurred at brentwood parkway, mound olivet, 9th street area. the best alternate is new york avenue and montana of a enough those combinations which will work for you. however you need to be patient this morning as it is causing a lot of confusion. we'll keep you updated throughout the day. back to you. and that