at the top, tonight, breaking news out of buoy, a fuel tanker truck carrying 9,000 gallons of fuel overturned on route 3. these pictures are from chopper 4. route 3 is closed in both directions at route 450. fire crews are on the scene and the driver has suffered minor injuries. we will bring you new information as we get it. now in virginia where a fire broke out at the house of a federal judge. the firefighters were called to the 1800 block of massachusetts avenue there. aaron gilchrist has the latest. >> reporter: this is the home of u.s. district judge liam o'grady. the judge is okay. we have seen him walking up the street. he and his family we're told by the fire officials are okay.

but there are fire marshals inside doing their investigation as we speak trying to figure out what caused this fire. this was a two-alarm blaze that was an extensive fire in a large home. our camera got here an hour after the first call and there was fire in the rafters here. a deputy fire chief tells me that firefighters got here just before 7:30 and saw flames coming from a large second floor bedroom on three sides of the house. they got in the attics, the flames did. also along the roof here. there was a teenager in the house and he was able to get out okay before the firefighters tackled the flames. >> the units made entry into the house and gained access to the upstairs and anguished the fire within 15 minutes of the first unit's arrival on scene. >> reporter: the u.s. marshals

responded to the scene because this is a federal judge's home. they are here with the judge. and the fire fax fire marshal's office leading the investigation to figure out how the fire started. there was no damage fire wise to the first floor of the home but water and smoke damage as well. upwards of $100,000 in dark to this home. back to you. tomorrow is sentencing day nor former prince george's county executive jock johnson. he is accused of taking bribes in exchange for favorable treatment. he faces up to 14 years in prison. his wife is a former prince george's county council member and she pleaded guilty with destroying evidence and could get up to 18 months in prison when she is sentenced. the fed of the faa is placed on leave after being arrested for drunk driving in fairfax.

jero gentlem jarome babbitt was pulled over after cops spotted him going the wrong way. there is a christmas display controversy in northern virginia tonight. residents in loudoun county are outraged after something hung up a skeleton santa claus on the warehouse lawn. darcy spencer has the story. >> reporter: the skeleton dressed in a santa suit and nailed to a cross was set up on the warehouse lawn in lees burg. it is one of nine displays this season. >> it is just extremely sad that there is someone in this county who would try to basically debase christmas like this. this really crossed the line.

>> reporter: the display was built by a mother and son from middleburg. they are associated with an atheist group. the skeleton was dismantled by a woman who found it offensive. >> the message to me at least is that the meaning of christmas, which is about faith and family is dead and has been replaced by commercialism. >> reporter: some residents came by to see the skull and bones only to find it on the ground. >> what do you think of santa on a cross at the warehouse? >> i'm torn. i believe in the freedom of speech. >> reporter: the woman and her son who built it took it away. >> reporter: at a board of supervisors meeting there were strong opinions for and against the skeleton santa. >> it was provocative but in the united states of america, provocative is protected.

>> i have one word to describe what i felt this morning when i passed the warehouse square here in leesburg and that word is obscene. >> instead of having a conversation, what we are seeing is vandalism. >> reporter: are suggesting that the county ban displays at the warehouse all together. darcy spencer, news4. some drivers in northern virginia might have a smoother rush hour commute. there is a new axe hillary lane on i-66 in arlington county that is now open. the westbound lane between fairfax drive and sycamore street forms a continuous lane between the ramps. the project took 18 months to complete and cost $14 million. it was designed to reduce congesten and increase safety on

i-66 inside the beltway. is it the first of three improvement projects on that road. wet weather around here this week. and doug, is it true could we be in for snow? >> some of us could see snow on wednesday night into the day on thursday at least early thursday morning. but it is mostly a rain event. not just a little bit of rain. we have two storms one making its way into the area. we will see rain as early as rush hour tomorrow morning. but on the backside very cold air and another storm bringing snow right now just to the west of st. louis. that storm will make its way our way. enhance the rainfall, then bring in the colder air and i think that some areas could see accumulating snow. i'll talk about the best chances coming up in just a little bit. >> thanks, doug. today the d.c. council met to talk about the situation with

harry thomas, jr. fbi and irs agents raided his house on friday. he is under investigation for allegedly using $300,000 of city money to pay for personal trips and expenses. he agreed to pay the money back. some members want thomas to step down. others want the investigation to play out. >> certainly if these allegations are proved true, it's an outrageous breach of the public's trust. >> reporter: the government operations committee of which thomas is a member, passed a sweeping new ethics reform bill. thomas did not take part in that meeting. a resident of great falls virginia is charged with breaking into several of his neighbors' homes. robert dunne was arrested at his parent's home. he is accused of breaking into ten homes taking jewelry, silver ware, video game systems, money and laptop computers from inside the homes.

he is being held in fairfax county on lars and burglary charges. a lot of people are waiting to see whom herman cain will support. cain suspended his came pain over the weekend after weeks filled with allegations of sexual harassment and news of a 13-year extramarital affair. he bowed out of the race on saturday. he is expected to endorse another g.o.p. candidate at some point. newt gingrich spent the day meeting the donald trump. gingrich is the only candidate who agreed to appear in a debate moderated by pump. that meeting comes after good news at the polls for gingrich. a new poll shows him surging in iowa and new hampshire. snail mail is about to get slower. the u.s. postal service announced massive cuts today. hundreds of mail processing centers will be closed.

tens of thousands of jobs will be cut and the overnight delivery guarantee is going away. it is designed to help the postal service get out of federal trouble. but officials insist that is not on the horizon any time soon. >> a person paying a bill in the mail that's going away. personal letters, people love that. you will still get your card or send a card to your mother or grandmother. we'll be here for that. >> officials say saturday mail delivery could be the next to go. the british economy is so bad that even the queen is feeling the pinch. queen elizabeth receives most of her budget from the british government and the government is making cuts across the board. that means the palace will be facing a pay freeze until 2015. repairs to the royal real estate including windsor castle likely

will be on hold. there are still three weeks until christmas but but might be surprised at how many people are done with their shopping. according to a new survey by america's research group more than one-third of all the shoppers in the country say they bought their gifts in november. those who did not finish are taking a break from shopping. that's because many people spent more money than they planned to back on black friday. >> you done yet? >> i haven't started. >> i'm not done either. coming up on news4 a day after occupy d.c. protest built a shelter that was torn down [ female announcer ] at verizonfios.com,

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to earth and possibly ripe for life. what you're looking at might be the most expensive car pile up in history. 14 luxury sports cars involved in a chain reaction crash in japan. they were taking the vehicles to a car show when the wreck happened. eight ferrars, a lamborghini and two toyotas were destroyed. the cost of that crash is $4 million. just a day after more than 30 occupy d.c. demonstrators

were arrested another group is setting up a camp on the national mall. >> it's time to take back the people's house for the people. >> thousands of people are expected to arrive on the national mall over the next few days. they are calling it an effort to take back the capital. the demonstrators are unemployed, faith leaders and our d.c. they will visit offices of members of congress. a mother in florida is facing felony charges after trying to sell her baby for $7,000. investigators say she arranged to sell her son to a man on saturday. an undercover agent went to the meeting place. when she didn't show, officers arrested her at her house. her children are staying with relatives. prosecutors say they believe at the root of her problems is a

lack of money. the transportation security administration is looking into two allegations from women in their 80s who say they were strip searched at jfk airport. leanora asked for a patdown but she says an agent made her pull off her pants. another woman said she was told to reveal her clostmy bag. both cases happened the week after thanksgiving. a decision by the governor of rhode island to call a tree a holiday tree is sparking a national debate. it is receiving national attention. the governor's office says they received 3600 called. all but 700 of them from out of state. nearly all of them are upset about the decision.

the governor will hold a tree-lighting ceremony tomorrow evening. scientists at nasa say that they have found a new planet that on first glance is very similar to earth. it's called kepler 22 b and it is twice as wide as our planet. scientists say it has surface level temperature of 72 degrees. not bad. they say it is too early to say if it is solid with water or gaseous like neptune. it is approximately 600 light years away. very close as a matter of fact, about 6 trillion miles. >> we'll get there eventually i guess. >> you can buy real estate there now. >> discounted. >> just start something off. >> got some rain coming and maybe even snow too? >> it's hard to believe. the temperatures over the last couple hours have been going up. we are at 54 degrees at 6:00 and now at 57 degrees at 11:00.

tomorrow morning some areas could be sitting around 60 tomorrow. we will be quite warm ahead of the storm system. but it's what is behind the storm system that has a lot of people talking including me but that's my job. 60 degrees is the current temperature -- that was the high temperature today. ten degrees above the average of 50 degrees. and today is the 16th day we were at or above average in a row and that is really just amazing how warm we are been at the end of november and early december. i don't think the rest of december will be as warm. winds out of the south at 6 miles per hour. it's southerly component to the wind that is bringing in the warm air to the south. and most of the numbers are going up by a degree or two. and we may see that continue. we are starting to see rain in

through loudoun county and making its way to frederick county and down right along the blue ridge. that's where the rain is going to stay for a couple of hours and then it progresses to the east. and most of us see the rain around rush hour. see some showers at rush hour. this is a very long line of rain all because of a frontal boundary that is draped across the area. ahead of that front warm air. behind it, cold enough for snow and not just cold enough for snow it is frigid out there. 19 in omaha. that's not bad. negative 3 right now, 3 below zero in denver. that will filter in over the next couple days. 56 in atlanta mane 63 in raleigh. that mild air ahead of storm number one. storm number two in texas. we will watch that one as it will see the cooler air move in. tomorrow showers likely. most of them should be on the

light side. is it not a washout tomorrow. mild ahead of the system. but here is the cold front. we will be along the front on wednesday. as the front moves through we will see heavy rain on wednesday and into wednesday night and then the cold air moves anyone and that rain could change to snow. that is the best chance for accumulation and around the i-95 corridor by thursday morning we could be talking about some problems on the roads. however i'm not too worried about accumulation on the roadways for now. but we'll have to wait so see how strong that system is. cloudy and mild tomorrow morning a few showers. 49 to 55 degrees. take the umbrellas with you. they will be need tomorrow. the showers throughout day with the cloud cover. mild weather. 56 to 62. and i might be too cool here. some areas could be in the mid-60s tomorrow. 65, 66 degrees even down to the

south. 52 on wednesday and much colder air. 47 on thursday. 46 on friday. and then the coldest day of the season comes in. 20s even in the city saturday and sunday morning. looking at a kind of a cold weekend but hey, is it december. >> it's december. all right. thank you, doug. still ahead, a valuable find [ male announcer ] for andy, tracking his spending with citibank is as easy as... making breakfast. omelet? sure. scrambled eggs. [ male announcer ] actually, it's easier. citi financial tools. easier banking. standard at citibank.

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>> the weather is slightly better in florida than the performance of the capitals. >> there's the answer. >> the new coach had his hands full. we are learning exactly what ted was talking about. he is just 1-3. tonight capitols down 3-0 in the first period and couldn't recover. we are down in sunrise florida just north of miami. dale hunter looking for back to back wins with the capitals. scrapping a bit. but the fight did not seem to energize the capitals.rs on the. florida takes a 3-0 lead. but the get on the board in the first. his third of the year. the capitals down 3-1 on the

move. to the third period trailing 5-2, joel wood to brooks like. his sixth of the year. look at this one. a nice pass. caps down just two now. later with under two minutes to play. john carlson with the puck. he fires and deflected in. the 11th of the year. the capitals down just one. ten seconds to go with an extra attacker. backstrom has the puck but time runs out. the capitals fall 5-4 and have lost five straight on the road as the rats rain down. >> rats? >> they used to have the rat pack when they had the rat pack and they have continued the tradition. >> lovely. >> i didn't know that either. >> they are just plastic rats. a difficult enough time to

lose starters to injury now he is losing them for breaking the rules. two have tested positive for recreational drug use three times. now suspensions are pending that will end their seasons. shanahan expect an official league announcement the next 24 hours. >> you have to put your best team together. we know that. we know to do that you need talented players. you need players with high character. you can get to playoffs with teams. you can get to the playoffs with a lot of talented players. but to be the top in -- organization you have to have character and that's the way you win it and separate yourself. >> the contract year for fred davis. will the be interesting to see if he gets the money. the wizards training camp starts on friday followed two two pre-season games and they

get started for real. 66 regular-season games. the head coach is expecting improvement. thank goodness and it all starts with john wall back at vierzen center for the first time since last season ended. he played much of the season banged up. took two months off after the season to heal and he hit the summer circuit and looked dominant. our producer said is it nice to have nba back in the show. >> there[ baby coughing ]

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a guy in florida got his money's worth after making an online purchase. he fought a file cabinet for $50 online from wal-mart. he thought it was heavy when he picked it up. instead of a filing cabinet he found a new suitcase with $3,000

featuring rickey minor

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