expected to start as rain this evening but could turn into snow overnight, making for a messy commute. protestors are voicing their outrage. the council will call a special session today to punish councilmember marianne berry. news4 begins right now. good morning and welcome to news4 midday. i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm barbara harrison. happening today, the d.c. council is deciding whether to

cencure marion barry for directing to a girlfriend. this is tracee wilkins outside the wilson building downtown and has more on that. tree. >> good morning, barbara. these are the three recommendations the council will be taking a look at. some of this deal with the censureships and some deal with the county. just a few minutes ago, we spoke with councilmember -- or council chair gray and asked him about this decision to move forward with the possibility of censuring the former mayor of washington, d.c. after an eight-month probe into allegations that councilwoman marianne barry misused funds, today the city council is expected to take formal action against the former mayor.

>> the council will be faced with the proposition of ignoring the findings of an investigation that we authorized, and i can't imagine people would want to do that. >> barry came under fire again after it was found that he awarded a $15,000 contract to his girlfriend. he also is accused of taking kickbacks in return. last week barry apologized for his actions. >> i apologize for my actions and for causing great embarrassment to the city and the city council. >> yet barry'sttorney maintains he did not violate any laws since there are no rules within the council regarding earmarks and personal service contracts. >> we don't believe there was a violation of any of the rules and policies and regulations involved. >> reporter: today in a special meeting, the council is expected to vote on censuring barry, stripping him of his power in government. >> most of those actions were

recommended by the investigative team that was put together on mr. bennett, so in essence, the council has before it the findings of the investigation to act upon or not act upon. >> reporter: now, the language in all of these resolutions is very strong language, and they're saying all of this is coming from the proposals that were made by the investigator into this probe involving councilman barry. this expected meeting is supposed to be happening around 3:00 p.m. we have not seen any of the supporters here just yet. back to you in the studio. we'll take a look outside right now. we see some gray skies overhead and possibly the chance of some rain and wintry mix coming our way. >> yeah. will there be more snow than rain? let's ask tom. good morning, again. >> good morning, joe and barb. it will gather strength here as we get into the afternoon hours and overnight. it appears right now the leading

edge of the precipitation in this area of blue is light rain just now coming into the northern neck of virginia, in between fredericksburg and richmond, they're getting some light rain. part of the central shenandoah valley. it will still be a few hours away before it comes into the metro area later this afternoon. 42 in washington, near 40 in the suburbs and rural areas. temperatures are all above freezing, even where they're getting a little wet snow. near the appalachians, temperatures are knnear the freezing mark in central west virginia, and over the last six hours, we've been seeing the advance of this precipitation ahead of this big area of low pressure that's still down over georgia and near south carolina at this time. for the rest of the afternoon, cloudy, could get a little rain, perhaps some wet snow certainly by sunset, and after sunset

sotomayor w some wet snow this evening after midnight, and before then we should reach the mid-40s. we'll look at the rest of the week and weekend. that will be coming up in a few minutes. let's go to jerry edwards for an update on the midday traffic. hi, jerry. >> good morning, everyone. pretty sedate right now. i mentioned this morning the lane markings on the 14th street bridge a little more pronounced with the sun out. this guy just went to the far lane and cut to the left. that's why accidents happen. anyway, particularly it could be raining tomorrow, be aware of that. they're not very clear on the inbound 14th street bridge. elsewhere, south of town to the wilson bridge, both the inner loop and outer loop right now traffic moving along very nicely. >> did he do it twice? >> just one time, but that was almost enough just to create a live scene right here.

>> thank you, jerry. well, traffic is starting to return to normal again in northeast washington hours after a pedestrian was killed by a dump truck. this happened on brentwood parkway near the ninth street bridge. brentwood parkway was closed for several hours but it is now open again. the driver of the dump truck did stay on the scene and they're still trying to figure out the cause of the accident. customers will have to pay a little more on their bills. the electric company has a proposed rate hike and many people are not happy about it. megan mcgrath has details. >> reporter: it is going to be less than the company asked for, but according to the public services commission, there will be an offsetting of that increase by a recently passed decrease in the electricity supply rate. according to the commission, about 97% of customers will see their bill go up by about 2%, their average monthly bill up by

about 2%. any talk of rate increases sparks controversy, and a group called justice first staged a protest outside the commission headquarters. they don't want to see any kind of an increase. they said people are losing jobs and they're struggling. in fact, that group wants to see a rate reduction. while there will be a rate increase, what was approved is far less than what pepco had actually asked for. they had asked for a $34.5 million increase. the commission will allow them to increase rates in order to generate a fraction of that, $19.8 million. this is a very detailed decision that was handed down. the commission rejected some surcharges and other things the commission asked for, and they went down the list while people scrambled to take notes. the consumer utility board, pepco, they're all crunching numbers right now trying to

figure out what this means. >> all in all, it was an increase of $44 million than what we requested. we have not had an opportunity to look at the order, so we don't know what the impact is. >> when the company gets less than half of what they ask for, that's a good day for consumers. what remains to be seen is how the commission articulates, how it is taking into account the economic account on consumers of pepco's request. >> at this point, residents can't even take a penny increase. there are people vacanting thti homes because they can't afford their rent, let alone the pepco bill. >> the public service commission says, again, this will be about a 2% increase when all is said and done. that will translate to about $1.30 to $2.30 to the average customer. pepco getting a lot less money than they requested, and in

terms of how that affects operations, they just don't know. there is an appeals process for all of this, and we have yet to see whether anyone is going to file an appeal or not. it's just a little too early in the game. they have to figure out where things stand at this point. if it goes into effect, these new rates would take effect on march 23rd. back to you in the studio. >> that's pretty soon. all right. thank you, megan. they said neither rain nor sleet nor gloom of night can stop them frr their appointed rounds. a budget deficit might do the trick. the u.s. postal service is dropping saturday from their delivery. they are in the red from august to december. the biggest problem has been a steep decline in the amount of mail and he blames advances in technology for that. >> the simple fact is that technology has altered the

economic environment and marketplace. technology has made obsolete many aspects of the usps business model that worked so well for us for so many years. in recent years the great advances in communications technology and the internet have changed the landscape to an extent and a rate unimaginable a decade ago. >> the post office has proposed eliminating a six-day delivery in the past b congress always shot down that idea. rescue efforts from around the world are pouring into chile this morning three days after a massive earthquake. secretary of state hillary clinton arrived in santiago today to offer help from the u.s. she delivered 20 satellite phones the country had requested. the u.s. will also be sending more help and clinton will be working out the detas during her trip there. the death toll from saturday's 8.8 magtude quake has already climbed to more than 700. a team of rescue workers

from northern virginia is also gearing up to help with those efforts. the fairfax search and rescue team is packed up and waiting for the call to be deployed. the same team traveled to haiti less than a month ago to help with the earthquake efforts there. if needed, they are ready to do it all over again. >> the team is mobilized. we're in a stand-by mode right now. so when we get the word, if we get the word, we're ready to deploy at a moment's notice. >> and if deployed, the 15-member team will leave with food, water, medical equipment and four search and rescue dogs. the last two americans being held in haiti for trying to take 34 children out of the country could be released today according to a haitian judge. after today's hearing, he will likely order the release of the two women. they were chancrged with kidnapping after trying to

remove the children without proper documentation. the other members were released last month. the two women were held for additional questioning. federal regulators are facing more questio from congress today. coming up, we'll have more on the hearing and a new recall om gm that involves more than 1 million vehicles. they're proposing a program that could put extra cash into homeowners' po if i had to sit on a bench during the middle of a game

due to diabetes it would frustrate me. in a basketball game a couple minutes could mean a big momentum shift. my bayer meter is very important. (annouer) only bayer's contour meter has programmable personal high low settings. it allows me to be able to look at my highs and lows

to make sure that my diabetes is being controlled as tightly as possible. with my bayer meter i don't miss valuable game time. i'm alana burns and staying in the game is my simple win. (announcer) the contour meter, only from bayer.

consumer alert for owners of general motors cars. gm is now recalling 1.3 million cars because of a power steering issue. the recalled models include the 2005 through 2010 chevy cobalt and the 2007 through 2010 pontiac g-5. gm says the cars are safe to drive but that they may become harder to steer when traveling under 15 miles an hour. general motors is working on a fix to let owners know when to bring their cars in for repair. toyota is offering a panel. it expects to be led biry ron

slater who headed up the bush administration. unexpected acceleration in toyota vehicles have been recorded since the year 2000. it involved 52 fatalities and 30 injuries. in addition to 0% financing, they will also be offering two years of free maintenance. a heads up, if you take om any ri -- omniride or metro direct to work, you may want to make alternative plans. some buses may be late or more crowded than usual. today if you're out on the roads, you won't see construction on the gw parkway. that's because those furloughs continue at the department of transportation. the issue involved secretary jim bunting. he blocked a bill that would

give money to the funding project. instead he suggests using stimulus money to fund the project. democrats have rejected that suggestion. right now president obama is on his way to georgia to outline the new homestar energy program. the program would offer consumers on-the-spot rebates of $100,000 or more if they buy insulation, water heaters or other appliances that are more energy efficient. obama has said that shifting towards cleaner sources of energy will help reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources, create jobs and save people money. the white house hopes this plan will be as popular as last year's cash for clunkers program. >> i just bought a hot water heater yesterday. one day too soon! i needed it. >> let's go to tom, he's in storm center4. cold water headed our way? >> it looks like mostly a rain event we've been talking about

the last couple days. as we take a look at the sky over the last several hours, we can squeeze about 2.5 hours down to just about 30 seconds. looking off to the west, we've seen the clouds darken up a bit this morning, and we're beginning to see some low clouds move in to the north and east as the winds are coming in at low levels from the north and east bringing moisture off the atlantic. as the storm approaches, we'll see the cloud cover continuing to lower and thicken. right now live view is showing those clouds that are continuing to move over our region. now, far to our south looking way down there below the horizon, the radar is scanning the sky and it's picking up some areas of light rain. right now the city camera showing the cloud cover over the washington monument there and the jefferson memorial, and right now at reagan national airport it's 42 degrees. in an average march here in washington, we get about 1.5 inches of snow, and we may get a little snow later tonight.

we are seeing some rain from those clouds just to the south of fredericksburg to richmond and near charlottesville, this is slowly extending to the north. on the western side it's picking up a little bit of cold air so it's changing to wet snow, hardy county, hampshire county and into shenandoah, and also getting a little bit of wet snow in the higher elevations there. now as we look at the temperatures, little aboit is a freezing. any of that snow activity that is reaching the ground there i certainly melting, and farther to the east we're in the low 40s now, 42 in washington. near 40 in montgomery, washington, prince georges counties, as well as the eastern shore. we're seeing an increase a bit in the moisture. the leading edge of any significant moisture, though, is still way down here in the

carolinas. this is just one band that has streaked out ahead of the moisture. they're getting a little snow here in a virginia and west virginia. they could pick up four inches of wet snow, especially in the higher elevations, but i don't think we'll have much locally. the storm is still circulating into georgia and south carolina now, and this center of circulation is going to be coming off the coast here, and as it does move off the coast, it may develop a little more as it gets to cape hatteras and moves to the north and east, and as it does develop a little more, it may draw in a little cold air from the north and west. where you see the color is rain, the white areas, where we could get some wet snow. it does appear we could get some in west virginia, perhaps western maryland, but here locally it's going to be mostly rain. by dawn tomorrow we may have an inch or snow of slushy snow, but not on the roadways. then that storm does quickly move off, and as it does pull away, some colder air pulling

off the great lakes may trigger some upslopes off the mountains. here is doesn't look like we'll have any more the rest of the day and wednesday evening things will begin to settle down. maybe some rain around the metro area in the next few hours and some wet snow to the west, but not amounting to much at all. highs in the mid-40s and perhaps some passing light rain showers this evening and until around midnight. after midnight it may change to wet snow around the metro aa and points east of the bay, and at the very most, expect up to an inch on, again, the surfaces away from pavement. anything on paifvement, though,s going to be melting. it looks like for the most part air temperatures will stay above freezing overnight, too. so any snow that does fall will be slowly melteding for ting. no more snow accumulation

tomorrow. the sun back thursday and friday. over the weekend, a warming trend. we should have quite a bit of sun, too, as high pressure moves over saturday, sunday and monday. in fact, sunday may get into the upper 50s into 60 on monday afternoon. hallelujah. >> let's check on the roads again now. >> hey, jerry. >> good morning. we'll head on south to i-95 with road work set up. i-95 southbound, the right lane there is a bit of a delay getting through it. northbou northbound, though, that appears to be moving along very nicely. one more stop on the beltway. watch for crews patching those potholes this morning. about central avenue down toward allentown road and continuing to the wilson bridge. they'll be slowing traffic while they fix those potholes, so just be aware of that.

11:22 is the time. still ahead on news4 midday. an important report for you. heat and eat. the truth behind the danger of micro waving plastic. plus the suit at the center of a legal battle. how the smithsonian is now stuck in the middle of a fight between o.j. simpson and the goldman family. how she's changed the area's arts and rubbed elbows with some of the most famous and talented like herself. first, let's look at what's hot at n brks krrkbnbcwashingto. copd makes it hard for me to breathe.

but with advair, i'm breathing better. so i can join the fun at my family barbeque. (announcer) for people with copd, including chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both, great news. advair helps significantly improve lung function. while nothing can reverse copd, advair is different from most other medications

because it contains both aanti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator, working together to help you breathe better. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. i'm glad you came, grandma. oh, me too. if copd is still making it hard to breathe, ask your doctor if including advair will he improve your lung function for better breathing. (announcer) get your first full prescription free and save on refills.

the suit by o.j. simpson at the end of his 1985 murder trial may be headed to the smithsonian institution. ron goldman's father was suing o.j. simpson for possession of the suit when it wore down. simpson was accused of killing rongold man and o.j. simpson's wife. they are donating the suit to the smithsonian. if they don't want it, another person wanting the suit must be found. they're paying $6,000 for two alligator leather desks and chairs. the desks were said to be for

his office at fedex field. the redskins, however, tell news4 it is completely false. they also said dan sder does not even have an office at fedex field. >> so there. those alligator desks must have gone somewhere else. >> if there are such things as alligator desks. >> 11:27 the time right now. coming up in the next half hour on news4 midday. the clouds are moving in. rain, maybe some snow, are not far behind. sentencg today for two men accused of taking part in a drag race that ended in a deadly accident. each man is facing very different outcomes. right now the supreme court is hearing a case that could end chicago's gun ban. the district is also preparing for a rush of same-sex couples who want to be married. we'll explain. stay with us.

right now on news4 midday, brentwood parkway in northwest washington is open at this hour. it was closed after a pedestrian was hit and killed near the ninth street bridge. the driver did stay on the scene. police are still trying to figure out the details of this accident. pepco customers will soon

have to start paying a little more for their bills. the public service commission has approved an increase in the metro distribution rate. it was less than pepco asked for but will meenan increase in your electric bill. the council could decide whether to reprimand marion barry for submitting a contract to a former girlfriend. they could also decide to refer the accusations against him to the u.s. attorney's office. last week barry apologized for what he called poor judgment but said he did nothing illegal. two drivers were involved in a deay street racing accident and they could get two different sentences today. eight people were killed when police say darren bullock plowed into a different group of people back in 2008. bullock pleaded guilty to eight counts of vehicular manslaughter and could face up to eight years in prison. tavon taylor was also charged with vehicular manslaughter, but his trial ended yesterday in a

hung jury. it was found guilty of traffic charges but now faces only a fine and no jail time. >> what we want the world to know is that tavon taylor was not responsible for the deaths of these individuals, and what the jury said was, we're not convinc convinced. >> prosecutors said they will retry the case against taylor sometime in december. we have the possibility of wintry mix and maybe rain and snow. let's ask tom about it. tom? >> at this hour looking at the radar, we're seeing advance of some light rain coming into virginia where you see the blues and greens. that is some light rain. on the western side of it, there is a little bit of wet snow trying to reach the ground, shenadndoah county. right now the radar realtime is showing just a few sprinkles here in calvert and st. mary's

county near fredericksburg and charlottesville, just coming to near culpepper on the western side of it. that's not the main area of precipitation. just up a degree now, reagan national is at 43, near 40 in montgomery, prince georges, fairfax counties. parts of southwest virginia, perhaps southern west virginia, could get three to four inches out of this, but i don't think we'll have near that here. could get some rain in the metro area in the next few hours and some wet snow to the west, but all of it melting because temperatures are above freezing. a little light rain tonight and changing to perhaps a wet snow at midnight, but wet snow on streets and sidewalks by dawn tomorrow. a little wet snow accumulation by wednesday, maybe a passing rain shower through the rest of the day, but generally a drying

trend and some westerly winds, too, bringing chilly weather. over the weekend, a warming trend with sunshine, up into the mid-50s by sunday, maybe even the upper 50s to near 60 by monday afternoon. let's check in with jerry edwards one more time this morning. >> hey, jerry. >> hello, there. not a lot of bad stuff to tell you about midday, and that's good news for you planning to head out. right side of your screen, the left lane is taken away for a little bit of construction, but obviously not too much in the way of delays, if any at all. had a bit of a delay 95 southbound as you make the trip down toward woodbridge. the lanes are open after that. police in montgomery county are looking for a man who they say sexuallyssaulted a woman in silver spring. the attack happened last night in the 8800 block of lenier

drive. a woman called saying a man attacked her. he is still on the loose. investigators have not released a description of the suspect. they're in shock this morning after police say a man went into a home daycare center, killed its owner and then took his own life. they say richard nichols shot and killed tanita white at her home in daly city. police believe he then turned the gun on himself. at least seven children were in the home at the time but they were in the basement and did not see anything. nichols and white used to liv next door to each other, but they're not sure how well they knew each other. the bill for the right to bear arms is back today. it centers around the controversial ban in chicago. c news chief correspondent pete williams joins us from federal court and has more this

morning. pete, good morning. >> reporter: what did the decision two years ago make? it was a widely used category of weapons for self-defense in the home that immediately led to a challenge to an almost identical law in chicago and a similar one in oak park, illinois. so the question here is because that decision involving the district of columbia was limited just to a federal city, does the constitution second amendment right to keep and bear arms apply nationwide? it may surprise you that the bill of rights don't automatically apply to the states, but that's been our history. one by one the supreme court has applied almost all of them but not the second amendment. it did appear after the oral argument today that the supreme court, at least a majority, is prepared to say yes, the second amendment does apply to the states. then the question will be, what does that mean? does that mean, for example, it's just the right to have handguns, that the city can't

ban handguns in the home, or is it something broader? it did seem also that the majority of the court was prepared to say if the second amendment does apply to the states that, includes whatever restrictions on the constitutional right the supreme court has p on prior court decisions. what does that say, bottom line? probably means, based on oral argument, that the majority of the court is prepared to say that chicago can't ban handguns in the home. but what does that mean for other gun laws nationwide? carrying guns on the street, limits on how many guns you can buy atd once or where you can go with a gun. open question. i would think if the court rules this way, we're going to see a lot of new cases on how far states and cities can go to regulate guns. barbara? >> i'm just curious, pete, this is the city of chicago. what about the state of illinois? is it seeking the same question or answer to the question? >> reporter: 38 states have provisions in their

constitutions that restrict cities from imposing limitations on gun ownership. illinois is not one of those states. illinois gives their cities and towns great freedom to restrict guns, so you have parts of illinois where gun ownership in rural areas is very robust, and then you have a flat-out ban in chicago. but if a second amendment does apply to the state, then cities couldn't impose those sorts of restrictions. chicago's ban would almost certainly be unconstitutional if a majority of the court rules the way we think it will. >> well, it will be interesting to see how that comes down. thank you, pete williams, for that live report. same-sex marriage will become legal in the district tomorrow, but opponents are launching a last-minute campaign to block the new law. they're asking the supreme court to put a hold on the law claiming that d.c. residents should be allowed to vote on the matter. local courts rejected that claim. the archdiocese of washington which opposed same-sex marriage is making a major change to its employees' health care plan

because of the impending law. employees will no longer be allowed to add spouses to their coverage. be prepared to wait, that's what the supreme court is telling same-sex couples hoping to get married today. they're preparing for a rush of couples, but they're telling them they might have to wait longer than usual for a certificate. couples who have been waiting for years say that's not a big deal. >> i've been out as a lesbian for 20 years, and it's really a dream come true to be able to commit to the person i love and do it here in my community. >> those who apply for licenses will have to wait for three business days before picking them up. the court plans to have extra security on hand to deal with the large crowds tomorrow. the hospital is being criticized after more than a dozen nurses and staff members were let go. those workers didn't show up for their shift during the recent

snowstorms, but all this comes in the midst of a contract dispute. jeri lee, one of the nurses who was fired, said she couldn't get in to work because of the road restrictions. >> anyone who is considered essential who we have offered rides to or we had offered a means of transportation who chose not to come in, those were the individuals that we looked at. >> the hospital says they ar not commenting on individual cases but lee contends when she called in, she was never offered a ride in. a recent study found that bta, a chemical found in plastics and aluminum cans may raise the risk of asthma in children. that's a new health concern for many parents who already have wondered about the safety of such containers. certain plastics can be especially dangerous if you put them in the microwave, and this morning consumer reporter liz crenshaw shows us which ones are safe and which plastics should

never be heated. >> oh, that's bad news. >> reporter: she showed us the dos and don't when it comes to heating food in plastic bags and containers. >> plastics have different intent of uses. most plastics are able to withstand different temperatures. what happens if i use that low-temperature plastic in the microwave or i pour boiling soup in it. what can go wrong? >> if it can't withstand high temperatures, it could possibly melt and change form when you're cooking in it, and that may leave plastic in the food that you're cooking. >> rule of thumb? check the labeling on the packaging. if it's made to be heated, it will be clearly marked and refer to the microwave. if it's not labeled, don't heat it up. extreme heat could cause plastic to melt. here's one example. we heated chili in a used plastic dip karen.

>> it changed shape, and that could be an indication that the container is changing, is melting. >> you're worried about the plastic here ending up in the food i eat? >> correct. >> reporter: what about plastic wrap? again, read the box. it says the plastic should be one inch away from the food and vented so excess steam escapes, otherwise the hot plastic will stick to the food. and watch out for those plastic containers you buy. >> this container was not supposed to be in the microwave. >> there. see, it has changed texture. >> remember our ham we reheated in a zip per bag? >> it changed shape and the liquid is coming out enough. >> liz crenshaw, news4. tonight on news4 at 5:00, liz is talking about what many of us do. what happens when you heat your left

leftovers in a styrofoam take-out container? we'll take a look at how stocks are doing right now. good to be home. i'm jay leno, your host, at least for a while. >> back to work now, for a while.

th stock market started the day on a higher note. >> that's always a good note to

hit. let's go to cnbc's courtney reagan. hi, courtney. >> so far, so good. things are still looking up on wall street. it looks like the dow is up 38 points right now. after yesterday's gains we'll see if we can add to that at the closing bell. europe also higher this morning. got a couple earnings reports for you. staples reportsing their quarterly earnings at 38 cents a share. that was just one cent short of wall street's estimates. the banking committee reportedly closed a deal on financial reform. reports to democrat chris dodd and bob corker have agreed to a watchdog inside the federal reserve. the agency would have the ability to write and enforce rules. they've also agreed to allow the government to break up financial firms if they threaten the

system. they could introduce a revised reform bill later this week. automaker reports sales fell later today. overall, sales are expected to rise 9 to %. that's actually less due to last month's snowstorms and recalls. ford as an increase of 24%, but hey, up is up, right? toyota's sales are expected to drop 5%, not surprising. hyundai, honda and nissan also expected to benefit from toyota's lows. but we'll have to wait and see. back to you. >> people are buying, at least. >> have a good day, courtney. >> thanks. you, too. jay leno returned to the late-night line-up last night. you may remember that his switch

did not end that well for nbc or conan o'brien. but leno seemed comfortable in his old job. >> it's the tonight show with jay leno. >> reporter: from the opening title sequence to the freshened up theme song, everything about the new tonight show with jay leno seemed to project the energy that the other show lacked. >> he was just right in the group. >> reporter: despite his start, leno did not hold back taking shots at his employer. and he had trouble keeping first guest jamie foxx in his chair. gold medal skier lindsay vonn's appearance prompted chants from the audience. >> usa! >> leno will have to keep that

up for months if he wants to bring the crowds to him. >> i think it will be closer, i think it will be competitive. i think you'll see leno work very hard because that's what he does. >> leno did work very hard for the show do-over, but perhaps it came before the openiending cre when they parodied the wizard of oz. >> we've gone back, folks. don't pay attention to what's happened in the last seven months here. >> reporter: for one night, at least, jay leno showed his audience and others in late night, there truly is no place like home. nbc news. >> leno's guests for tonight will be sarah palin and olympic gold medallist shaun white. coming up, a look at the life of mary

sdorp. known as the pioneer and teacher, mary day trained many world dancers. they also founded the washington school of ballet. she mentored the like of shirley mclain and george engel. she died in 2008, leaving a

large legacy to the dance world at large. ms. moore was a close friend of mary day. she has compiled a book about day and former students and dancers, talks about everything about mary day, and welcome, elvi. >> y know i followed everything about mary, but found out she actually didn't want a biography written about her? >> no, she wanted dance to be written about, or how dance developed in the nation's capitol. but i thought tracing her life and knowing about what she did really did that. >> tell me what's in the book. >> the first part is really a compilation of my conversations with her, taped conversation, so it's more like a history of the washington ballet, washington school of ballet, everything that happened from 1944 until

2004, i think it was, because that's when we stopped our conversations. the second part, however, is a compilation of essays from many, many of her students, people that she influenced, and you know, her influence in the dance world was here in washington and around the country and around the world. >> well, you know, as a reporter, i followed you along with mary day to cuba where she met with one of her very famous ball friends. >> right, well, that was very exciting. that was an exciting reunion between mary day and alicia alonzo. alicia use to come and perform with the sven ballet, which was composed of students and professional dancers. so to witness that was very emotional and a wonderful reunion. >> mary day also created the first nutcracker that we all know that ran in washington

every single christmas season; is that right? >> yes, indeed, from 1961 to 2004 she presented her "nutcracker" first at constitution hall, then to the auditorium, then to warner theater. >> tell us abouthe lawyurel fund that helped public this book. >> the laurel fund is a foundation i started back in 2004. it provides scholarships to dancers, and we have students who are studyg in new york and washington. >> we'll hear much more about the laurel fund, i know, in the years to come, because it's making it so a lot of kids can dance here in the washington area. thank you so much for bringing in the book. "mary day," it's called. it's by elvi moore.

let's look at the news stories we're following for news4. good morning, pat. >> reporter: hi, joe. we're working on some stories. first at 4:00, how young is too young for a child to have a profile on one of the networking web sites. we're going to talk about the danger of children being on line and how parents can keep their children safe. then this afternoon at 5:00, liz crenshaw takes a look at all those plastic containers used for heating your leftovers. find out why the experts say there's right and wrong for your heating leftovers. i'll be watching that because i microwave everything in those little plastic containers. >> don't we all, don't we all. i have to admit, the plastic shrink around something is probably not a good idea. some light rain now coming

up through central virginia. some of it not quite reaching the ground, but a few sprinkles in st. mary's and into the northern neck of virginia, near fredericksburg over shar latsville advancing north. there is a little bit of wet snow trying to reach the ground out in the blue ridge and the shenandoah valley. as we get into the evening hours, we will have some of this light rain coming in and maybe a little wet snow to our west. before that into the mid-40s. by dawn tomorrow we could have a dusting to an inch on the ground with temperatures right near the freezing mark, but the roads should just be wet. they'll stay above freezing overnight. no additional snow accumulation. the sun returns thursday and friday and a warming trend for the weekend. we'll see you tomorrow morning, barb and joe. >> tom, thank you. is today the day of your birth? if so, we wish you much mirth. if this is your birthday, hoo

ray, hoo ray. do you know who else was born today more than a century ago in a land far away? the great dr. seuss whose real name was theodore geizel. the good dr. seuss, you silly goose, was born in mass and it's been 20 years since he sadly passed. the good and the great and now the late dr. seuss. we should get him a birthday cake, but we're