right now we're following two developing stories our area. this morning, stormy weather that left behind severe damage in the district, marylandnd district. and chandra levy, today the jury begins finding the fate of the inteman accused of killing intern. good morning, and welcome, everyone, to "news 4 midday," i'm barbara harrison, wednesday, november 17, 2010. it was not all the damage, strong winds and heavy rain swept across the region

overnight, leave a mess. the wind tore o parts of roofs. megan mcgrath is live in the northeast with a look at the clean-up going on right now. morning. >> reporter: good morning, barba. it was quite a storm that blew through here early this morning. especially hard hit wasthe rhode island avenue corridor in northeast washington. take look at this house. you can see the section of the roof that has been blown away here. there's also a lot of trees that are downed here along rhode island avenue. many of those trees got tangled up in power lines, many of the people in e businesses in this area are without power. it was a quick storm, but it was a furious storm. and now folks have quite a clean-up job ahead of them. roofing material wrapped around a light pole. a huge air conditioning unit once up on the roof o the a.j. wright storeow smashed into pieces in the parking lot. itas quite a storm.

>> soun like another train wreck or something like that. you know, hearing things blowing, knocking over, falling down. >> reporter: firefighters and district inspectors use a ladder truck to look at a damaged row house. the strong wind ripped off sections of the roof and smashed windows. at the home depot the outdoor garden display was leveled. thomas blair lives nearby and was awakened by the terrible racket. >> it was about a quarter to 1:00, woke me and my wifeup. got up, hear the windows begin to rattle. got up, out of bed. we were going go to the basement and l on the floor. it only lasted less than ten minutes. i got up and heard something -- something fell. tree felln my regard yrt as the sun came out, so did the wood chippers. crews began chopping up fallen trees, carefully working around downed power lines. residents on tenth street surveyed the damage.

>> this old -- 100-year-old tree uprooted and fell on my husband's truck who's away in ethiopia. >> reporter: that does not look good. >> no, it does not. he's going to come home to this monday. >> i stood on my porch when the first tree fell. and when -- it was like the wizard of oz. >> reporter: and folks who woke up said it was extremely loud. there were all kinds of things that were blowing around and falling down. you can see behind me herethis is one of just many trees in the area. that snapped in the wind. we saw poles, big light poles that snapped over. a lot of damage in this very small area. again, we're talking about the shopping center. we're actually standing in the shopping center parking lot here. the shopping center with the home depot in between rhode island avenue and brentwood road just a short distance away, just down the street, the brentwood postal fality, they had quite a bit of damage as well. what we're hearing from folks is that it really didn't last all that long. but while it was happening, it

was pretty scary and pretty powerful. barbara, back to you. >> those had to be powerful winds. okaythank you. we will be in touch with you again. thanks a lot, megan. parts of arlington look like a disaster area today as well. strong winds toppled trees which brought down power lines. news 4 kim bsuberly suitor has latest from that season. >> reporter: people describe this as a quick and powerful storm. the mst damage at the corner of george mon and north 16th. a utility pole snapped in half. the top half dangling perilously for anyone below. we saw a few drivers underneath the suspended spear. >> mess. >> the wind came up. >> reporter: three lines ran to this pole. all together, 60,000 volts. the equivalent of a bolt of forked lightning. >> we heard crashing down on the roof, crashing and rolling and hitting in the yard and thumps.

>> it' incredible. goes to show you you can't mess with mother nature. >> reporter: the explosion woke up most people trying to sleep in the neighborhood. >> the sound and the wind was incredible, about 1:00, leaves swirling and almost complete whiteout in my backyard. >> reporter: even ed newman's so-called weather dog, aurora "fury" alice kw something was wrong. >> she was in bed, cuddling with me. >> reporter: across the street virginia hospital center never lost power but did transfer from one energy source to another. physicians' offices on property did go dark. >> canceling our patients for the morning. just goff off the phone withmy boss and we're going to see whapdz. i'm trying to get information to see if we can open up later f there's a chance for power later on. >> reporter: around the corner lit tree after split tree. we're fairly certain toyota never intended this kind of electric car. an enormous oak tree used to stand here. when it fell, if ok a huge chunk of the road with it. it also happened to fall just the right way.

>> we jt heard like a big, almost freight train coming. the next thing we tried to get out of the bedroom, run downstairs. the next thing the tree is laying thankfully that way. >> reporte the pilot took one look at his scattered shingles and declared it a microbust. a violent down draft of air, just shy of a tornado, just enough to tangle morning traffic. detour catching some commuters off guard, no power to this intersection at 16th and george mason. virginia dominion customers a one point, at least 40,000 without power. i'm kimberly suiters, news 4. the damage was worse up 94 in baltimore. fewer fighters searched for survivors trapped beneath rubble. there were reports of injuries, too, but no reports of any deaths at this point. and we just got this picture in. let's have a look at it, of the

brentwood post office in rtheast d.c. you can see the damage to the ba of the building there. absolutely, completely collapsed. the back of the post office, main post office building in brentwood and northeast washington. post offe vehicles were also daged there. let's talk to tom about this right now because from the descriptions that wee hearing with the freight train going through and so much damage done throughout our area, could that have been a tornado? >> no. radar does an outstanding j of detecting circulation within the thunderstorm that would give us a signal that it was a tornado. we had absolutely no indication that it was a tornado. we had no tornado warnings issued. and as a result, the likelihood is straight-line wind. now, the entire line of storms itself, they were moving along at about 50 miles an hour, so that's a lot of energy just in itself. and the wis coming out of each individual storm could have been 20 to 30-mile-an-hour gusts. you add that to the 50, we're talking 80-mile-an-hour winds,

perhaps, and that's likely wha happened. looking at those damages,f certainly -- and the other thing is the sound is the sound that we always hear, as it sounds like a fratd train. actually, that's the sound of the wind coming through all of those tree limbs, especially now the leaves are off, we get that sort of ne to the sound where it does sound like a train coming tough. that is just the sound of the wind coming through. let's take a look now. the winds have been a bit blustery sce then. we cleared out before dawn. right now temperature are in the upper 50s to near 60. these are the latest wind gusts. we've had gusts to around 35 or so. a look at the national, they had a gust of 3837 that's generally about the highest we'll seefor the next several hours. it's chilly in the mountains, in the 40s there. it's in the low 60s now in the eastern shore. all this coming from a big area of low pressure that rapidly deepened last night as it passed to o west and swung a strong front through us. and gave us those storms. for the rest of the afternoon, just a few sun and clouds racing through. winds gusting 25 to 30 35 miles

an hour as w reac low and mid-60s and then changes coming in for tomorrow into the weekend. a look at that in a couple of minutes. >> you're clling for wind today but nothing like last night? >> no, nothing like last night. just peak gusts around 35. >> thanks, tom. let's move out to the roads. maybe jry will tell us that there was some problems with traffic due to the weather problems and the destruction that happened. >> good morning. yeah, it was a tough commute early this morning. a lot of debris, a lot of leaves in the roadway. fortunately, things are settling down. we're still getting reports of trees coming dow just got a report of power lines down, connecticut avenue and east west highway inside the beltway so the power is new yorked out there. we'll be dealing with that througho the day. on 395 i looks typical through landmark and shirlgton. right now looks like the lanes are currently maintained. the top side of the beltway, there had been an accide --

look at the winds kicking up the camera. before university boulevard, everything over to the shoulder. the delays associated with it are beginning to ease. hang on tight to that steerg wheel. you're going out. >> sounds like good advice. thank you. right now jurors are deliberating the fate of chandra levy's aused killer after a month of testimony. he is on trial for the murder of the d.c. intern. attorneys made the final arguments yesterday. prosecutors closed their case by saying his face was the last thing levy saw before she died in rock creek park. but the defense said that was fiction. they argue there was no evidence linking him to levy they also said former california congressman gary condit is the one who's been actinguilty. now more on what looks like an expanding corporation case. latest round of raids including the bribing of a namedublic

officials. mel i c melke and his wife were arrested as part of the crack down in ince georges case. court documents indicate more than $400,000 in cash was found in a closet of the couples' home. >> the inference that is out there that hangs like a dark cloud is bribery, but, the fact is, governor has not given much. very early in the case. >> a judge ordered the couple held without bond. officials say more arrests are expected. and today members of the -- we're learning more about the identity of a person stuffed inside a box on the side of a rylandhighway. ste workers made the horrible discovery yesterday morning along a remote stretch of interstate 70 in frerick. maryland state police shut down part of the interstate for hours while investigators searched for areas -- for clues in the area. the victim did not have any i.d. and police hav not said whether

it was a man or a woman that they found. they believe it could be a missing person from the d.c. area. 11:11 is the time right now. coming up, the arch for a missing fighter jet, plus prince william and kate middleton talk about their upcoming wedding and the id of babies in their future. we'll also tell you how the makers of the drink four loko plan to change the beverage after it was banned in several states. and a very different looking dick cheney. stay with us. ñ?

we're following a developing story out of alaska. miliry officials are angstly awaiting an f-22 fighter jet overdue for its return. a spokeswoman for joint base riardson in anchorage says one pilot was on a training mission and lost contact with air traffic control around 11:40 eastern standard time. she says search is currently under way for the missing jet but wouldn't release any other details. the first meeting between president obama and congressional leaders since the midterm elections will have to wait. it was supposed to take place at the white house tomorrow but several top republicans requested the meetingbe moved because of schuling conflicts. mitch mcconnell says the meeting will focus on cooperation between the parties. and the white ouse. spending reductions, international trade and energy policy are expected to be major topics, as well as the proposed extension of the bush-era tax

cuts. well, all eyes will be on buckingham palace for some time as we continue to celebrate and hear about the engagement of prince william and kate middleton. as rumors begin to swirl about what their wedding will be like, the royal pair talked about their secret engagement and plans for the future. natalie morales reports. >> reporter: the royal couple who may one day be king and queen yesterday talked about eir engagement. so, how did william pop the question? >> we had a wonderful holiday in africa. and very quiet lodge. it was very romantic. very personal. >> did he get down on one knee? >> you have to wait. >> prince william, why did it take you so long to propose? >> well, i don't remember how many years it's been. forget the memory. i also didn't realize it was a

race, otherwise it would have been a lot quicker. also, the timing is right now. we're both very, very happy and i'm very glad i have done it. >> reporter: in her first interview befre the world, a rather nervous kate talked about becoming part of the royal family. >> it's a dauntingprospect. i'll keep it in my strad. william is a great teacher. he can help me along the way. >> reporter: the fabulous sapphire and diamond ring, it was william's mother's back in 1981. kate's parents expressed their joy. >> carol and i are absolutely delighted by today's announcement. and thrilled at the prospect of a wedding some time next year. >> reporter: a reaction echoed around the country. >> heard the news. absolute wonderful. >> i'm so happy for both of them. they are so happy. it's wicked. >> obviously thrilled, thank you very much. >> reporter: a cheeky reference to the eight years the couple had been dating. in their first sitdown interview, williamnd kate

talkedo tom bradby about how they were feeling. >> you both look incredibly happy and relaxed. >> w are, we are. we're like ducks. calm on the surface and little feet going under the surface. it's exciti. we've been talking about it for a long time. so for us it's a relief and nice to tell everybody. >> you knew you were going to do this from day one or you waited until the end? >> i had been planning for a while. as every sgi knows, it takes a certain amount of motivation to get yourself going. i was planning it and then it just ft really right in africa. >> i really didn't think about it at all. i thought he maybe thought about it, but it was a total shock when it came. very excited. >> peoe are bound to ask, you know, the next question, but children, do you want lots of children? see what comes? what'sour -- >> i think we'll take it one step at a time. we'll get over the marriage thing first and then look at the kids. but obviously we want a family.

we'llave to start thinking about that. >> no date has been yet set for the royal wedding but there is talk of it being as soon as spring or summer of 2011. i don't think tom has any predictions for the weather this far in advance, but -- >> no way. >> -- spring wedding sounds all rit to me, summer, fall -- >> spring in london can be chilly and rainy, so we'll see. >> that's true. >> here we've got the rain we had yesterday and then the strong storms last night. and now this morning we started off rather tranquilly with sunshine and not much wind. in the last couple of hours that wind has reall picked up and the clouds have sorted of filled back if again. ve view from skywatcher catch ra. it's looked off to the southwest into virginia out of northst iowa. washington. a sustained wind of around 20 to 25 miles an hour. right now radar scanning the sky. no precipitation coming from these clouds.

and es are the rnfall totals from yesterday. a soaking rain. mainly west of interstate 95 where just about everywhere had over an inch to as much as an inch and a half to nely 2 inches in parts of the central shenandoah valley, frederick. washington national had 0.6 inch ofrain. southern maryland, about 0.25 inch there. morning lows nifts but now near 60. may climb another three or four degrees by later this ternoon. gusts at national at 3 and prince george's county, andrews air force base, near 40-mile-an-hour gust there is. there still may be weaker, older trees in the ground that is soaked, saturated with the rains from yesterday. those trees will be a bit unstable. some strong gusts could cause some trees toopple over. we've already had one report of that happening in chevy chase and right along connecticut avenue. off to our west we have

temperature much cooler, out of the mountains of west virginia, only in the low 40s. 20s degrees warmer southeastern virginia. over the last 12 hours, those storms were moving fast. 50 mile per hour was the speed of the srms themselves and isolated storms had gusts with them could have had gusts maybe 60, 70, 80-mile-an-hour winds. straight line winds causing the damage last night. not tornaes. there's that spin in the atmosphere. passing west and north of us. it's giving us the winds out of the northwest and southwest right foyou. we do have this continuing on into tonight but winds will weaken in late evening and tomorrow morng. on thursday we'll have a little weak disturbance coming over, perhaps with some clouds, but just a small chance of a stringle, espially in the mountains where you see this area of blueis where we could get a few sprinkles from that. meanwhi meanwhile, an area of high pressure from the midwest. that will pass to our south by late onhursday d into friday. by then, wehould have a clear

sky and really some chilly temperatures. talk about friday morning, perhaps near freezing temperatures. setting up a chilly and dry weekend. so, for this wednesday, windy wednesday, mild temperatures, low to mid-60s for the next couple of hours or so. and then after sunset we'll cool down and have a nearly full moon up and a clear sky through the evening. sunset's at 4:53 back to the upper 40s by late evening. by dawn tomorrow we'll likely see some clouds building back in again. otherwise, just mostly cloudy in the rning and we'll have temperatures then near 40. during the afternoon, the mid-50s on thursday. and there's a small chance of an isolated sprinkle tomorrow. and then friday, in the morning, maybe near freezing in some of the rural areas. afternoon highs reaching the mid to low 50s on friday and again on saturday, althoughaybe a bit milder on saturday after another chilly start. bright sunshine. great aitem weather for the weekend. sunday, more of the same. monday, tuesy as we get into

next week, it may get a little more mild, into the low and mid-60s monday and tuesday. more clouds as well. that's the way it looks on this wednesday morning. watch out, we could have still some tree limbs coming down with those gusts 35 to 40 mile an hour. >> thank you. let's head out to the ros again with jerry edwards to see if there are problems you should avoid if you're heading out. >> good morning. we'll check things out along connecticut avenue southbound. utility work going on taking away the right lane which really leaves only one through lane. that's enough to jam things up for sur heads up for that. let's head over and see how we're doing elsewhere. south of town to the wilson brge, no concerns. inner loop and outer loop lanes are open. more information, connecticut avenue and east/west highway now east/west highway closed betwee booch drive and connecticut avenue with trees down and power out in the area, so that's will be an issue. west, bueller road remains closed at dulles toll road as

they continue to inspect the overpass from the accident but thtoll road the lanes are open. back to you. >> thanks, jerry. our time is 11:23. still ahead, are you suffering from the winter blues already? we'll sit down with dr. joshua weiner to talk about the difference between winter blues and more seasonal depression. "people" magazine announces the sexiest man alive. here's a look at what's hospital on nbcwashington.com. wç

a noticeably thinner dick cheney was on hand for the ground breaking of president bush's dallas center. -p. his spokesman says the weight loss is as a result of the hospital stay. they say he hopes to keep the weight off to keep his heart healthy. as if they didn't look confused enough on the field, the details ofdonovan mcnabb's contract is becoming more confuse. initially reports he would get 0 million guaranteed. then that report was correcd saying that the skins would only be on the hook for $3.5 million if mcnabb was cut by the end of this season. now, mcknack's agent is telling

espn 980 those reports are, quote, erroneous. the true details of the contract are still unknown except, of course, to mcnabb himself. it is 11:27 right now. coming up in the next half hour of "news 4 midday", seven months after the murder of his wife, a tv producer is arrested. we'll talk about the jury deliberations in the chandra levy murder trial. more on the storm damage. . many people in our area are dealing with. we'll take a look at the hardest hit areas. tom kiereinill be back to tell us what we can expect weatherwise today and the rest of the week. óó

right now on "news 4 midday qutd "crews are creaning up the mess left behind from this morning's storms. ripped off part of a.j. wright store in northeast washiton. evenhe back wall from the post office distribution center was knocked out. one post office worker said she was inside when she heard a loud boom as the high-speed wind ripped the wall off the back building. >> the wall fell down. it was a two-story wall and the back where the trucks come in and we have fallen gates and fences. like i said, a lot of vehicles that are damaged, over maybe 50 or more vehicles that have damaged.

>> the storm also reeked havoc in arlington where wind snapped trees, toppling power lines near george mason drive. thousands in virginia woke up in the dark. power has been restored. mo of them have -- a reporting they do have their power on at this point in arlington. tom can tell us if pe cwe'r expecting more of the same. >> would he have had gusts up to 40 miles an hour in the last hour. that's enough to break down weaker, der tree limbs, perhaps, but nothing like last night. right now it's in the upper 50s to near 60. 60 now at national airport. it's in the low to mid-60s now around the southern part of the bay and the northern neck of virginia. elsewhere, low to mid-50s farther we and north. latest wind gusts at area airports. we've had peak gusts, 35, 38, 39-mile-an-hour gusts around the region. that's going to gradually wken by late afternoon. it's going to stay blustery for at least another five or six

hours. right now out of the mountains of west virginia, it's in the low 40s there. quite a chilly day there. ande have quite a bit of cloudiness there, too. we have a partly cloudy sky, too. those storms that whipd through last night are up into northern new england. ter today, highs reaching low to mid-60s and the winds will settle down by this evening. and will be down into the upper 40s by late evening and by dawn tomorrow near 40. tomorrow, mostly cloudy, a small chance of a sprinkle, highs reaching mid-50s. friday, saturday and sunday we'll have crisp, autumn weather with chilly morning and evenings and cool afternoons and monday and tuesday should warm up a little bit. >> we'll be back with you. one of washington most notorious murder cases could come to a close today. jurors started deliberations in the murder trial of chandra levy. news 4 aaron gilchrist joins us from superior court wi more on that. good morning.

>> reporter: the jury got the se about 10:00 this morning. they began their deliberations. right now there is action inside the courtroom. attorneys on both sides arguing what evidence might be allowed inside the jury room. yesterday the closing arguments happened here at superior court. both sides making their arguments over the course of about three hours. the prosecution making an impassioned plea for the jury to come back with a guilty verdict against ingmar guandique accused in the 2001 death of chandra levy. prosecution presented two key evidences, past assaults in rock creek park they've linked to guandique and the testimony of a fellow inmate of guandique while he was in prison. that testimony saying he confessed to killing chandra levy. defense saying much of the prosecution's argument s fiction. there was no evidence to really point to ingmar guandique or anyone as having caused the death of chandra le, saying there was no reasonable doubt

that had been established by the prosecution in this case. at this point the jury of nine women,hree men, looking at the evidence that the prosecution presented, that the defense presented, saying that ingmar guandique killed chandra levy this rock creek park. expected to come back with a verdict of guilty or innocent. at this point there's no incation how long that jury might deliberate. of crse, we'll stay on top of this story for the duration, until they come back with a verdict. i'll go back inside the courtrm with pat collins. if a verdict or any significant movement happens through the course of the day today, whenever it might happen, if it does, we will bring tt to you. >> we will await your return. thanks very much, aaron. the punishment phase of representative charles rangel's ethics trial will begin today. they announced the sanction hearing will begin at noon on thursday and remain open to the public unless majority of the committee members vote to close it. the announcement comes after the

panel of four democrats and four republicans convicted ranl of 11 of 13 charges of rules of violation. rangel walked out of the ethics trial monday after the committee refused to give him more te to hire a lawyer. meanwhile, house members are set to vote on leadership positions today. a number of democrats sayhe heavy midterm losses show the party needs new leadership. nevertheless, embattled speaker nancy pelosi appears to have garnered enough support. maryland congressman steny hoyer is expected to keep his number twspot with the democrats. all indications are that republicans will keep john boner of ohio at the helm. he'll likely, speaker of the house. the speaker follows the president in line of succession for presidency. here's a story, 151 metrobus passengers were hurt during the first nine months of this year.

according to the washington xmer in various incidents, just 94 were hurt during the first four months of last year. more than 50 passengers were hurt in two accidents just this september alone, incling one involving two buses that collided during a bad storm. metro safety and security committee chairman says he'll request a report on sepmber's incidentomorrow. the district is taking a big step in going green. the first electric car-charging statn was unveiled yesterday at 14th and u streets northwest. it's the first of hundreds of charging stations that will be placed throughout d.c. and suburban areas over the next year. the district received the funding from a department of energy grant. the goal of the nationwide program is to reduce greenhouse gases and create jobs and encourage you to go out and buy an electric car. let's check in with jerry. how about you, ready for an electric car? have to have a very long extension cord, though.

>> they'll get those charging stations -- >> an old joke but never ends. let's see how we're doing at this hour. 395 northbound through landmark, you're oka the backup we did have at the 14th street bridge has eased consider bri. also the g.w. parkway getting onto 14th seet bridge moving well. ouound 14th reet bridge doing okay. one more stop this will go around. we'll head 95, virginia, southbound where there a several stretches of constructi through newing ton and lawyer ton. south through woodbridge traffic backing up a little bit. a couple extra minutes' travel time to points south. back to you. >> thank you. a reality tv producer is due in court in los angeles today. he was arrested last night. accused of killing his wife as a resort in cancun. the murder made headlines when it happened seven months ago. now thers new information in this case. miguel has the latest.

>> reporter: for months he has been free in this country spending time in los angeles with his clirn but now under arrest for his wich he's rder. her body was found dumped in a hotel suer in c sewer in cancun. they say evidence shows he was havingn affair. on the night of monica's murder, hotel guests heard screaming for help from the couple's room. forensic teams later found bod stains on pillars in the room, sheets on the bed and a railing on the balcony. when questioned by police, investigators say bruce had scratches or abrasions on both his hands, behind his ear, on his left shin and on his right ankle. before monica's body wasfound, bruce claimed his wife had gone missing, but mexican prosecutors say after monica vanished, bruce phoned a friend as if he was, quote, rding from a script, and was very calm as if he had just lost his dog.

a producer o tv shows like "survivor," bruce was the only suspect named in the case. but mexican prosecutors took weeks to file charges. by the time they did, he had left the country. from day one, monica's family has blamed bruce for her murder and went toexico to try to get him arrested there. >> we love my sister and we want justice. >> reporter: monica's family says they're relieved by tuesday's arrest but bruce's lawyer has vowed to fight extradition back to mexico saying he's an innocent man wrongfully accused by a foreign government. >> the odds are that he probably is going to be extradited because they have to show it would be a gross miscarriage of justice for him to be extradited back to mexico. that's a pretty tough standard. >> reporter: meantime the couples' children remain in the custody of bruce's parents. after the arrest tueay night, a confrontation between the two families. >> i want to stay --

>> give me the kids. get out of -- >> reporter: bruce's father says hi major concern is with his grandchildren. >> the children will be protected. as long as we live. >> one week ago california court awarded permanent guardianship to brucs rents. two of the victim's sisters challenged the grandparents for custody. 11:41. coming up, we'll see if the market can recover after four straight days of loss loss. we'll have the latest numbers for you. and how the makers of the drink four loko plan to change the beverage afr it was banned in several states. ring ring. progresso.

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popular alcoholic energy drink four lokos and others by it are expected to be bned by federal government today. they say they're unsafe and illegal to market. manufacturers are making a first move to save it. nbc's tacie potts has the story from capitol hill. >> reporter: hours before the fda is expected to call their product unsafe, the maker of four loko nounced it's taking caffeine out of the popular energy drink. calling regulators difficult and politically charged, the company still insists four loko is safe. >> we firmly believe that consumed legally by adult purchasers, we don't have the

kind of problems thatthey are saying arise. >> reporter: today the fda is expected to announce the alcohol --/caffeine combination is unsafe and federal trade commission is expected to say it's illegal to market. they contain as much alcohol as three or four months as enough caffeine in aup or more coffee which experts say masks the alcohol. >> i tasted one but -- >> my heart starts messing up, like skipping. and then i just feel like i'm on some other drug. i feel like i'm on a drug. >> reporter: critics claim the product is being market to underage drinkers. it's popular on college campuses. >> i say it's dangerous and your kids won'tnow it's dangerous until they get intotrouble. >> reporter: in washington state nine students were hospitalized last month. five states and some colleges have already banned it. phusion projects says the fda should have no problem with them because the drink was approved

by another group before it was marketed. tracie potts, numberbc news, washington. we'll check in with cnbc's courtney reagan. >> hi, good morning to you. stocks barely positive right now. the dow is up about three points following yesterday's selloff. we saw most asian markets lower overnight. europe mixed. we still have global economic worries are weighing on stocks, especially yesterday but carry joeftoday. the credit crisis debt in europe, this time ireland. eu is weighing a possible bailout. commodity prices sink on talks china could impose price controls. sign of a potential economic slowdown there. gold prices are trading around $1338 an oue, well below the $1400-plus levels last week.

11.7last october since the lowest rate to 2009. building permits rose by 0.5. interest rate rose and core rate unang unchanged. target beat the street reporting 74 cents a share. gm revs up the ipo. gm will sell 478 million shares pricing between $32 to $33 per share. u.s. government's stake will drop. gm will start trading tomorrow. the new report out today lays more blame on bp and its contractors for the massive gulf oil spill ppt national academy of engineers says the company didn't catch flawed decisions prior to the blowoutf the well, including shut down operations despite warning signs the cement casing had failed.

final report is due next june. back to you. >> thank you. have a great day. see you in the morning. bummed out and blue. that the cold winter weather is son approaching? seasonal affective disorder is a form of depression that commonly occurs at the beginning of winter. knowing you don't have to cave into winter blues this year could be half the battle. dr. joshua weiner joins us to explain. we changed oush clocks, i guess it's been a week or so, and so now we're dealingwith dark skies. i mean, it's dark out there when we go home. so, is i the darkness or is it the co that makes people depressed this time of year? >> it's the darkness. so, one of the theories as to why people develop seasonal affective disorder, which is essentially depression during late fall, early wince, is that the decrease in daylight impacts your circadian rhythm or body's biological clock that has affects on melatonin level and

effects on yourer is tone er ie level. in this area 1% of people will develop seasonal affective disorder. about 15% or 20% will develop the winter blues. there's a significant difference between the two. with the winter blues you're feeling bummed out, low frg. but with seasonal affective disorder you are experiencing major depressive disorder. >> what about people who work strange hours, who have to sleep most of the day and get up in the night to work. i mean, they must have the same kind of experience, too, with -- not seasonal effective but work effective disorder. >> the are people that work shifts and those shift workers do have higher rates of depression because of the impact it has on their biological clock. >> i guess the seasonal affective disorder can run from mild to is he severe. how do you diagnose yourself to know where you are, if you're just feeling a little blue about the changes of the season in. >> i think we all know weather can have an impact onour mood,

but i think the important point to pay attention to is whether the effect on your mood is impacting your ability to function. if you're able to generally d everythingou need to do but feel more bummed out, mbe your energy isn't as good, then i don't think you necessarily have anything to significantly worry about. there are some things you might want to try doing like spend more time outside or move your desk closer to the window so you get a little more daylight exposure during the day. but for people whose mood is so low that it's starting to impact their ability to function during the day, having a hard time concentrating, they can't get out of bed, they're having a hard time going to work, they're sad, crying, hopeless, worthless, those are the times where you need to seek extra help. >> let me ask you -- thimay sound simplistic, but what about light therapy, getting a sunlight in your house or office? >> that's not simplistic. that's the treatment of oice. >> there you go. >> you got it. >> i got it. so, you would suggest that, then? >> right, right.

there are light boxes you can purchase whichactually mimic daylight. what you do is you sit in front of one of these boxes, some of them are small enough to fit on your desk, you sit in front of them for about half an hour every day starting late fall throughout the winter season. that has been shown to successfully treat depreion in 50% to 80% of people. >> wow. you must have told your producer that because she already had your chiron ready to go light therapy is the solution. any medications you take for this as well in. >> medication has been shown to be helpful as well, but in head-to-head trials light therapy has been shown to be just as effective as med kags. sometimes the combination of the two can give you the best results. >> that sounds fantastic. how big is -- big a problem is it? is it a lot of people suffering from this change? i mean, i don't know anybody, per se, that's depressed because winter is coming but is it a big problem most people come inside?

>> i will affect roughly 1% of people in this region. 15% too 20 % of people feel low or blue. the incidents of this ins creases as you mo further north. in the northern part of the unit states or in canada, you'll find a greater percentage of population dealing with this problem. >> we thank you for coming in to talk about thistoday. at least people will be aware if they're starting to feel a little down, they'll know what to do, go buy a light. >> it works. thanks. our time right now, 1 1:52. coming up, the sexiest man alive and tom kierein will be back with another check of th forecast. ñ÷

"people" magazine is set to release its sexiest man alive issue this week. but we know who it is. actor ryan reynolds is the sexiest man alive, according to "people" magazine. they made the announcement today on the "today" show. the issue hits stands this friday. and let's take a look now at some of the stories we're following on "news 4" this afternoon. pat lawson joins us with a preview. do you agree? >> i don't know. maybe, maybe not. >> we'll talk about it later. >> we wil. meanwhile, comg up on news 4 at 4 today, airline screening takes center stage on capitol hill today. we'll have the latest on the

controversial tsa patdowns. tonight on "news 4 at 5" pilots reveal secrets to flying in comfort from where to sit and what not teat on the plane. what you need to know before you book your next trip. and we're keeping our eyes on the chandra levy trial and the jury which is now deliberating. we'll have the latest on that as well. those stories are new tonight starting on news 4 at 4:00. time for a final check on the nicest n alive at least right here, tom kierein joins us right now. >> aren't you nice. >> i'll say that to the next person sitting -- >> i know, i know. i wish the weather was really nice because now we've had gusts around 35 to 40 miles an hour. we may have a few weaker tree lilz limbs coming down. upper 50s to 60s. these are the latest wind gusts. we've had them peaking near 40 miles an hour here in the last hour. that's all coming from this area of low pressurehat whacked us with those storms last night. now that rapidly deepingening low upstate new york.

close enough to give us winds that may continue to gust 35 to 40 during the afternoon as we reach in the low and mid-60s perhaps in the next couple hours and a few clouds racing through. overnight tonight we'll have that nearly full moon up. and it will be clouding up by da tomorrow. during the day on thursday, mostly cloudy, highs to mid-50s. a small chance of sprinkles tomorrow. friday, saturday and sunday sunny each day. cool in the afternoons and chilly in the mornings. first part of next week we should warm up a little bit. that's the way it looks. we'll see you tomorrow morning. >> okay, tom. thank you very much. ever thought of growing a mustache? >> no. >> wait till you hear this story. you don't need fame. you don't need cash. as long as you've got arockin' stache. november is no longer all about thanksgiving. it's about facial hair now, too. it's all thanks to the movember movement, which includes gentlemen to grow mustaches. sounds kind of silly but it's for a gd cause. men start growing their stashes

on november 1st and ask friends and family to pledge money if they keep the hair growing. all money raised goes to fighting prostate cancer. suddenly, it's apparently chic to look like tom selleck again. and that's "news 4 midday,." i'll be back with tom and jerry tomorrow morning at 11:00. we'll seal you then. have a great day. paying more and more for cable,u and enjoying it less and less? stopr second best. upgrade to verizon fios and get tv, internet and pho for just $99.99 a month for a year. and there's no term contract required. if you don't love fios, you can cancel with no early termination fee. call now. it's your last chance to get this special bonus:

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