the man at the center of penn state child sex abuse allegations. good morning. or good afternoon, that is. i'm barbara harris. >> i'm pat lawson muse. a whole new twist this morning. >> the form he assistant football coach jerry sandusky made his first appearance in a courtroom. but not as long as expected. he walked out just minutes after his pretrial hearing was call to order. jay gray has details. >> reporter: for now, the face to face showdown between jerry sandusky and his accusers will have to wait. >> the best possible defense. to stay the course, fight for four quarters. we await the tub to present our side. >> reporter: sandusky and his attorneys left the on county courthouse this morning after a last-minute decision to forego a scheduled pretrial hearing. >> we decided late last flight that the better part of the

tactical maneuver from our standpoint would be to waive today's proceeding. >> reporter: the move dramatically impacts the strategy on both sides of this high profile case. in exchange for waiving the hearing interesting defense says they were promised that prosecutors would not raise bail box provide discovery information more quickly, and if there are any new charges, that sandusky would be allowed to turn himself in. >> i think the commonwealth has been out to get him in every way they've handled this case. look what they've done. look what they did last wednesday. with arresting hill, taking him out of his house in handcuffs. >> reporter: the decision allowed sandusky's legal team to keep the accuser's details of the alleged attacks out of the considerable media spotlight. >> all you would have heard would have been the common law's case. not our case. because today is not the time and place for us to present our defense. >> reporter: prosecutors say the move is not a complete shock. >> based on our readiness, the strength of the case, i'm not that surprised. >> reporter: it means now the alleged victims will have more time to prepare for what is sure

to be very emotional, very stressful testimony. >> it avoids their having to testify for a second time. >> reporter: one thing both sides can agree on, the move is in no way an indication of any pretrial deal. >> no discussions regarding a plea bargain. >> reporter: attorneys for several of the alleged victim say they were surprised by today's move but that their clients are ready and willing to testify if they get that chance. in pennsylvania, jay gray, news 4. we are learning more about the map who was shot and kill by d.c. police officers during a confrontation last night. investigators say the suspect was high on pcp and was firing shots randomly at houses in the 5300 block of clay terrace. police opened fire after he refused to drop his weapon. he was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. the man has been identified as 20-year-old michael epps of windsorville, maryland. there were reports he was

convicted of a drug violation earlier this year. police were back on the scene earlier today. we'll have the very latest in a live report coming up on news4 at 5:00. a new report out today shows crime dropped on metro system wide over the summer. major crime on metro rail and in parking lots and garages fell about 1% from july to september. the only inever increase was in the null of violent robberies. metro says it does expect a spike in crime during the holiday season, and it is stepping up patrols at stations near shopping centers. the report also listed the top stations for crime. college park was null one with 26 major crimes in the past three months. that was followed by southern avenue, station, deanwood, suitland and greenbelt rounds out the top five. nine of the top ten are in prince george's county. big news today that could affect every driver in the nation. the national transportation safety board proposed a sweeping ban on the use of portable electronic devices in moving

vehicles. that means no phone calls, no e-mails, no texts. whether it is hands-free or not. the only exception would be for emergencies. the recommendation was union an plus among the five members of the board. the ntsb does not have the power to enaction the ban but the relevant dagss hold great weight with federal regulators work congress and state lawmakers. and if you're driving over the holiday season, be careful how many cocktails you use to toast. police are out in force make go sure you're out not drinking and getting behind the wheel tame. here's more on this nationwide crackdown. >> reporter: the holiday season. it is a festive time filled with parties and family gatherings. b out on area roadways, it can be a dangerous time. last year in just the second half of december, 415 people were killed by drunk drivers nationwide. january widthers knows all too

well the pain such a loss. her 15-year-old daughter alyssa was killed by a drunk driver. >> there's a huge hole in my heart. this time of year we miss my daughter even more. so our family has never been the same. there is always that pain just underneath the surface. >> reporter: this morning, transportation secretary ray lahood join law enforcement officials in announcing enforcement initiatives designed to catch and prosecute drunk drivers. police from every jurisdiction are joining in. drivers can expect to see more officers on the roads, as well as sobriety checkpoints. >> sobriety checkpoints, d you were i saturation patrols and criminal enforce many. >> reporter: while driving under the influence continues to be a big problem, there is some good news. the latest statistic shows that drunk driving deaths are down from 2009 to 2010. they're down 13% in virginia, 6.7% in maryland, and 55% in the

district of columbia. experts believe education and enforcement have helped make the streets safer and they encourage people to plan ahead. not to wait until the end of the party to plan the exit strategy. >> think about alternative transportation. have a designated driver. use public transportation. use taxi cabs if they know they're going out. it is an invest many that's well worth their time to do that. >> reporter: police say that planning really is the key. don't wait until after you've arrived at the party and have had a few drinks to make these important decisions. they say you should know how you're getting hole before you even get to the party. in arlington, news4. a construction worker is in the hospital this afternoon with serious injuries after falling into a trench. it happened at a work site near the intersection of washington grove lane and mid county highway in gaithersburg. when firefighters arrived, they had to use a system to remove the man from a 16-foot deep

hole. police say a bus traveling through work zone may have caused the man to fall. >> when a bus came through the work area, at some point this worker did fall into the trench. it is unclear as to whether he did this to avoid or was actually struck by the bus. >> the man suffered severe injuries but firefighters say he is expected to be okay. >> it's been a nice december day. can we speck a nice december evening? >> veronica johnson joins us live with more. >> of course you can. if that's what you guys want, whatever you want, you get. it is going to be a nice december evening for all of us, in fact. and as far as today goes, today we saw our highest temperature since last friday. we're up around 50 degrees. most neighborhoods, take a look at the satellite radar animation over the last couple of hours. i'm taking you all the way back to 4:00 yesterday. this time yesterday when we had some clouds across the area.

but ever since late yesterday after midnight, we've been under a clear sky. off to the west, in western parts of west virginia and ohio, notice the clouds. they're building. that will be over us tomorrow. but at least as far as the evening goes, a nice one for us. not as cold as it was yesterday. 50 degrees is where we are right now with the northwest wind at ten miles per hour. and yes, there has been a bit of a breeze today. that wind is going to continue to die down over the next couple hours. so rather still evening coming our way. check out the temperatures. adams morgan, you're at 50 degrees. georgetown, you're at 50 degrees. 48 in chantilly. clinton and landover at 50 degrees. so your good night forecast, 40 degrees by 9:00. and then down to 39 by 11:00 people. that's with a diminishing wind. i'm just calling it chilly for an evening. we'll talk about the forecast

getting any rain for the weekend. >> thanks, veronica. four service members are dead after two helicopters died last night over washington state. both choppers went down on the training grounds of join base lewis mcchord. the service members were flying in two seater observation helicopters at the time of the crash. it is not clear whether the chop herbs collided or went down separately. the military and local police are both investigating the cause of the accident. the service members have not yet been identified. iranian authorities have denied a request from the u.s. to return an american spy drone. iran's government said it captured the unmanned aircraft over its coast last week. president obama sent a formal request to get the top secret drone back. iranian officials said the u.s. should apologize for invading its air space rather than asking for the return of the drone. today president obama raised

the stakes. the house gop leaders are going ahead with the vote any way. this is just the latest in a series of nasty down to the wire partisan struggles over taxes and spending. here's steve handelsman. >> reporter: house republicans were set to pass their tax cut bill this afternoon. >> we will be taking the first big step toward creating a jobs in america. >> reporter: seeking support from independent voters. >> because you cannot be for the middle class. you cannot be for keeping taxes low and be against our middle class tax relief and job creations act. >> reporter: but most democratic lawmaker are opposed. >> they are playing with the 160 million who need a pay roll tax cut. and they are throwing on the trash heap of life 6 million who have lost their jobs and need unemployment insurance. >> republicans want to extend the pay freeze on public workers and not extend unemployment benefits to pay for lower pay roll taxes. democrats want to tax hike on the rich.

it a new battle in the same old war. >> republicans want to go home for the holidays but they want working peel to pay more in taxes next year and lose out on an unemployment check. >> reporter: and the republican bill would fast track approval of the key stone oil pipeline. from canada to texas. opposed by environmentalists. but backed by some unions andle conservatives. >> the key stone xl pipeline will create as it has been said, 20,000 to 25,000 jobs immediately. >> reporter: but president obama who wants more study of the pipeline vows to veto today's bill if key stone is included. and he is escalating the fight. urging democrats to hold up the latest short-term government spending bill. until the house passes a plain pay roll tax cut extension. could government shut down on friday? the white house says congress still has plenty of time to work out an agreement on this latest fight over at a taxes and

spending. i'm steve handelsman. news4 capitol hill. >> today donald trump announced that he will not moderate a republican presidential debate in eye wax trump says he couldn't moderate the debate and still have the option of running for president. only newt gingrich and rick santorum agreed to play farther in the debate. when news4 continues, you can bet the police officer driving this cruiser is going to be the butt of jokes, probably for the rest of his career. we'll tell you how he wound up his squad car up a pole. >> have you ever found yourself snooping at your partner's text messages? hot 99.5 cane joins us to tell us about the price of doing that. >> and charlie sheen acci

♪ >> maryland's first couple extended an informal dinner invitation to pop star lady gaga on twitter. governor o'malley said he would like to meet gaga to talk about anti-bullying efforts. she recently visited the white house to talk about the same issue. the governor and his wife launched an anti-bullying campaign a few months ago. the governor tweeted, quote, thanks for your advocacy against bullying. katie and i would like to invite to you dinner to discuss elittle nighting bullying in maryland. so far there is no word if lady gaga plans to take him up on that offer. charlie sheen said he accidentally posted his cell phone number on twitter last week. he was trying to send his cell phone number to justin bieber but instead sent it out to his own 5 million twitter followers. his phone started and he

received 1,800 text messages. for a while, the actor got into the joke answering by saying ray's pizza and winning. eventually he had to turn the phone off and change his number. i guess! compulsively your significant other's texts could be bad for your waistline. >> a soda and candy experiment breaks a world record. and tis the season for giving. a secret santa gives the ultimate holiday surprise. those are just some of the discussions from cane 99.5. let's start with a man who published an obituary for his living mother so he could get off work. >> imagine your surprise, your mom and your son is perfectly fine and alive. you start getting phone calls in the morning. you open up the paper and see an obituary. this gentleman wanted to get off work. he had no vacation days no, sick days. he called his local paper and that his mother had passed away.

it wasn't until the mom actually showed up at the newspaper place that, to prove that she was still alive, that they realized something was going. on did you realize you can get arrested, by the way? >> for doing that? >> absolutely. he was arrested and held. and there is no word on whether or not he got fired from work. but he did get in a lot of trouble. parents, very, very upset over the whole thing. >> you can imagine that. that's pretty extreme. >> one of those that i've never even thought about doing to get off from work. >> a lot of excuses. that's one that i don't have i would have done. >> like cold or flu. if you think snooping doesn't hurt, you think it is harmless, it turns out it is harmful to your waistline? >> it is. and follow. this you dope look like snoopers at all. but some of our cane show fans. are here's the deal. stress of worrying about being caught is one of the reasons you gain weight if you're snooping. that leads to emotional overeating. also, stress makes your body make cortisol which makes your,

makes you hungrier all the time. it fights lipitin and that makes your body want to eat. they found through those factors and the fact that you don't sleep as well at night because you're always someone of cheating, that you end up gaining weight. so it's not worth it. don't snoop. snooping causes stress which causes weight gain. >> i manniimagine that would be. calm of guys powered a car with soda and candy? >> let me say this. have you ever seen the geyser on tv where they put the mentos in soda cans. they had the record of 239 feet. they used the mentos. they only used half power because they were worried about how strong the soda would actually be. they said do not try this at home. the mark ii, the single seat rocket car set the record at 239 feet. they say they're going to give

it another shot as well. they used a little piston powered engine powered by the coke zero. look at that. >> what do you think it does to us? >> i don't know. the future is here. >> explosive and sweet. >> and a little bit sticky. tis the season for giving. many people are in the giving spirit. a seek santa is paying off layaways at kmart? >> can you get a chance, do something for someone. it started with one woman in grand rapids in kmart who gave $500 which ended up paying off five random layaways from people she didn't even know. the next day after that went on the news, someone donated $2,000 which got 14 layaways paid off. and ever since then, in grand rapids, people have been giving. now it's spreading. not only has it spread throughout michigan, california, florida, and hopefully right

here in maryland if someone has a little extra cash and they want to pay someone's -- >> what a great idea. to pay off someone's random layaway at a store. >> that must make people feel good. tell us about the christmas lights that are getting such a buzz. >> i wish i would have thought of it. the lights at my house. like a one upmanship in every neighborhood. someone spent hours and millions of dollars. and the neighbor just has a sign and an arrow that says ditto. those are his lights right next door. his kids say they appreciate the joke and they appreciate what the father went through. and they like it just as much as the house. >> think how much he'll save on his electric bill. >> tomorrow on the show on the hot 95.5, we'll send someone to hang out with lady gaga in new york city to hang out. a once in a lifetime experience. >> a lot of people want to find out about that. we'll be listening tomorrow on hot 95.5.

and coming up, talk about a throne room. we'll find out what is behind this special bathroom fixture. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices... in more ways than ever. and our networks are getting crowded. but if congress frees up more wireless spectrum... we can empower more people to innovate... putting momentum behind our economy. and we can reduce the deficit... with more than thirty billion dollars paid by america's wireless companies. it's simple -- more spectrum means more freedom. for everyone.

and enjoying it less and less? stop paying r second best. upgrade to verizon fios and get tv, internet and phone for our best price online -- just $79.99 a month for two years with a 2 year agreement. it's an amazing holiday deal. but don't wait. it's only available for a limited time. so go to verizon.com/superoffer to sign up. act now and we'll add a special bonus -- $300 back. fios delivers the best picture quality, plus america's fastest, most consistent most reliable internet. spend the holidays saving money. switch to fios and get our best price online --

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while watchers got their money's worth. a killer whale swam up to a tour boat off newport beach, california. other whales were spotted jumping out of the water. 89 tourists were on the western pride tour boat sunday when the whale got up close and personal. what a sight. >> i'm not sure if i want to get that close. >> cell phone cameras were just away. >> i guess they were that. >> leaning, dropped in the water. >> a nice day outside. cold but nice. >> right, right. very nice. temperatures were up a little higher than where we were yesterday. that has folks happy. they're still running around getting stuff done. how many more days until christmas? >> i'm not counting. >> i have no idea. i have no concept of time anymore. i have a lot of things still to get done. the weather is going to cooperate though over the next couple of days with just one small system moving through for us. out there today, we had a lot of

sunshine. it has been a very lovely day here for the early part or mid part of december. the temperature currently at 50 degrees. the average high, 46. so after so many days being below average today, it was nice. a couple of degrees above average. still some sunshine. we've got a couple minutes before the sun will set here. 45 degrees. 48 in warrenton. then we have 54 degrees, culpepper and around fredericksburg, 55 in charlottesville. a little bit of warlt. slightly higher temperatures to the south and west. for 9:00, we're down to 40 degrees. by 11 clog, 39 degrees. still chilly. then tomorrow morning, starting in the upper 20s to mid 30s this time. so probably our mildest morning for the week so far. the sun is up tomorrow at 7:18. a little warm-up that will come ahead of our next weather system. that's because we'll get a southwesterly wind here on thursday.

here we're at 50 degrees. 59 in roanoke, virginia. and a bit more warmth sit go down to our south and west. we've got high pressure over the area now. we've got some clear skies with us. this area of high pressure will be its way down to the south and east. so still mostly clear for the bulk of the overnight. then by tomorrow morning, some clouds will start rolling in. and we'll be partly cloudy. then mostly cloudy by the afternoon. so tomorrow will be a little on the gray side during the afternoon. and our temperatures still in the 50s. as the first part of that next weather system, the warm front starts making its way to the north of us. the cold part of that weather system, the cold front right down outsurvived kentucky and outside of tennessee. and that is what will be bringing some rain to our area thursday afternoon. lighter winds, 5 to 15 and continuing to drop tomorrow morning. 24 to 34.

then tomorrow afternoon, mostly cloudy. we're dry. we're milder. 49 to 53 degrees. here's a look at your four day forecast. we'll get to the extended forecast in a few minutes once that system moves out. friday we're back to veefl saturday at 45. but thursday looks as though it will be our warmest day out of the week with a high of 58 degrees. probably our best chance of rain, between 3:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. on thursday. >> and you've got 11 days to go. not including today. >> get busy with the shopping. >> i'll be joining you out here. still to come, why some schools are rethinking their tough bans on junk food selling.

good afternoon. welcome back to news4 at 4:00. >> the man at the center of the penn state sexual abuse scandal made a surprise move today waiving his right to a pretrial hearing. the former stand football coach jerry sandusky is charged with more than 50 counts of sexual abuse and other charges dating back more than a decade. he says he's innocent. sandusky is due back in court next month for arraignment. the national transportation safety board has proposed a sweeping ban on the use of all portable electronic devices in

moving vehicles. that means no phone calls, no e-mails, no text messages. whether the device is hands-free or not. except for emergencies. the ntsb does not have the power tone act such a ban but it is recommending and the recommendations hold great weight with federal regulators. with congress and state lawmakers. president obama raised the stakes today on the battle over the pay roll tax cut. republicans want to combine it with fast track approval of the key stone oil pipeline. they say it will create thousands of jobs. the president urged democrats to hold up the short term government spending bill until the house passes a stand-alone pay roll tax cut extension. stocks on wall street fell sharply in the final hour of trading today. major averages closed just off their lows for the day. as the closing bell rang, the dow was off 66 points to close at 11,955. the nasdaq was off 33 points to close at 2579. and the s&p 500 was down 11

points to close at 1,226. junk food at school. the topic is ongoing around the country. one school that banned snacks from had vending machine is rethinking the decision. >> reporter: in the seattle schools, convenienting machines can dispense only healthy stuff. no soft drinks. no candy bars. it is one of the toughest junk food bans in the nation. what do you have in your convenievending machines? >> baked chips, water, juice, yeah. not much. >> reporter: so by and large, students ignore the machines and buy their junk food off campus. >> if we can go five minutes and get canny, they're not preventing us from having it. they're just making it slightly harder to obtain. >> reporter: before the ban interesting machines generated more than $200,000 for student activities every year. this year, they've only made

$17,000. so the financially strapped school system is thinking of rewriting the rules. >> we're still sitting with the same policy we had seven years ago. it's time to take a look. >> reporter: parents we talk to seemed divided on the idea of relaxing the junk food ban will. >> really not a fan. i think kids should, any chance they get should get something halfway healthy. any chance. >> as a parent, you know, i'm always worried that if one of my kids is at school and feeling low and needs energy before they're taking a test or something, i would rather have them have a snicker bar than nothing. >> reporter: any talk about relaxing the rules as some dieticians up in arms. >> i don't think it can be an option to go backwards and now create revenue from unhealthy food items for children. >> reporter: students who have been lob yig for the rule change say their efforts have been somewhat misrepresented. >> we are not bringing back junk

food, the coax, the chips, the bad stuff. we're not bringing that back. what we're trying to do is modify the current policy in order to bring other nutritious foods back that students will buy. >> reporter: this debate is giving students and parents in seattle plenty of food for thought. >> that was george lewis reporting. he said students told him they would give up the candy bars and shrug,000y sodas if they would get some vitamin water, himus. three students face ad judge today after they were accused in a hazing incident. all three are members of the famous marching 100 band. police say they were arrested in october after beating up a female band member. investigators say the girl was hit with fists and with a metal ruler. she broke her thigh and she had blood clots in her legs. two of the students pleaded not guilty and the other did not have an attorney. bond was set for all three students. a government audit of head

start facilities has uncovered some disturbing safety violations at centers around the country. nearly every facility reviewed had toxic chemicals or cleaning supplies kept within reach of preschool age children. playground equipment was often in poor shape. in one case a machete was found in a play area. in many cases the required criminal background checks had not been conducted on staff members. head start provides early education services to nearly a million children from low-income families. distracted driving sent a police cruiser straight into a utility pole. the officer was receiving down to pick up a pen when his squad car ran over a utility pole wire and then seconds later, he went vertical, ending up at 45-degree angle. look at that. the rescue workers went to the scene and set him free. luckily no one was hurt. >> that's quite an amazing feat. >> it really is. thank goodness he wasn't hurt.

he ran over utility wires, too. i guess he didn't get a shock from that. >> let's hope not. there's more to come. we've got your deals of the day including a hot one for your hair. >> and later, a change in strategy in the case of the missing florida mom. my name is lisa jones. >> and i'm jenae. we are in germany. we wanted to send holiday greetings out to all of our family and friends in the washington, d.c. maryland area. can maria and the boys, my [ female announcer ] at verizonfios.com,

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how about a little extra holiday cash for your pock? just like our facebook page and you can win the chance to win money. one person will win $4,000. the winner's name will be posted friday at 5:59. now to the daily deal. first a look at what groupon is offering. you can go on a restaurant tour of d.c. for $29. people get a chance to walk into me and you, paparazzi, cafe la ruch and dupont cafe and talk to the chefs and get tastings. more than 100 people have bought this deal. >> that sounds good. let's check out a deal on living social. folica.com is offering a great hair deal. for $69, you can get a set of

curlers. you can get the ultimate styler set. this is apparently a really hot item because almost 2,000 peel have bought this deal all right. and you've got a few more days to go. so get your hair done. >> wow, sounds good. and when news4 at 4:00 returns, the neighbor pharmacy isn't just for shampoo anymore.

i was out in ashburn this morning in redskin park. there was so much, what looked like ice but it was frost. >> a lot of folks were scraping their windshield this morning, too. cold enough for that. >> if you're dreaming of a snowy christmas over he. >> not going to happen here. you're going to have to travel to a relative's house somewhere out west and even the deserts of the southwest. they're getting a little snow. for us, huh-uh. it looks like for us in the days and weeks leading up to christmas, it looks like rain storms versus snowstorms. we're at 50 degrees right now. the average high, 46. so finally we're above the average again today. a little milder for us. we had lots of sunshine around the area today. as far as elsewhere, 47 degrees, montgomery county. take a look at rockville. 47, 48 in camp springs. we're at 50 degrees around quantico and down south. where do we go from here?

chilly again tonight. down to 39 degrees by 11:00 p.m. then tomorrow morning, upper 20s. right inside the beltway. 36 to 34 degrees at 7:00 al of there's the sunrise at 7:18. kraurs across the area, 26 in frederick. the range, to 34 inside the belt way. a big range in temperatures with some cloud cover that will be on us by tomorrow morning. here's a look at the future weather. the increase, a few showers way up north around cumberland and hagerstown, maryland. then it is thursday where i think we've got a chance to see more rain move through here. it won't be a lot. right now i'm thinking over only a 50% chance for the afternoon. here's a look at your high temperature for tomorrow. 52 degrees. with a partly cloudy to mostly cloudy sky. check out our four-day forecast. thursday, the high, 58 after a mild start. we get an even milder afternoon. then boom, it's back down as that front moves through. 53 degrees for friday.

it will be breezy on friday and the weekend. got to love the weekend. 45 on saturday. 47 degrees on sunday. a lot of sunshine. that means folks can get back out and start putting more holiday decorations up. that brings me to where doug is today. he is in someone's backyard out the holiday lights. what's up, doug? >> reporter: veronica, we are in the front yard. truflt me, we'll get to the backyard, too, because this house here behind me has so many inflatables. you can see quite a few of them. i believe there is about 81 inflatables. and a nice little path to weave you all the way around the house. it is a version of our holiday lights. today we're in bethesda. not too bad out here. not a cloud in the sky. that will help the temperatures doing down a little bit. the air keeping these inflatables up. we'll come back to you at 5:00 and 6:00 from bethesda. wait until you see them.

we'll meet the family, too. >> you're right. we'll do that. that's the front yard. i guess we were giving away a trophy. the way to win would be to decorate your front yard and your backyard. that would be awesome. light it up! >> wow! >> i don't think i've ever seen so many inflatables anywhere. not even where they're selling them. >> almost like one of those bounce things the kids get into. the bounce tents. you can probably boing all over the front. >> yep! the new prescription for shoppers that are pressed for time. and who isn't this time of year. >>le drug stores are now stocking their shelves win expensive gifts in hopes of your one stop holiday shop. cnbc's courtney reagan reports on a growing trend. the drugstore christmas. >> reporter: drug stores are their shelves this holiday season, hoping to cash in on a

new breed of shoppers. stores like cvs, wall greens and rite aid now offer more gift items than ever before. >> this year we have a 20% increase over last year which is quite dramatic. it shows the consumers starting to spend more money overall. in particular, we're getting a bigger increase at the drug stores. >> reporter: from opportunity expected electronics like televisions and ereaders to toys and even gift cards. they're not item shoppers think of when going to a drugstore. >> you wouldn't think people go to a drugstore to buy a item but it shows consumers are going to drug chains to buy any category. and they find it in particular, very convenient to buy gifts in drug chains. >> reporter: here at cvs, there are two aisles devoted to gifts. people find it more convenient for holiday shopping and that's a trend that is translating into higher same store sales for the drug stores. balance green's pharmacy was a

2% increase in november. and as seen on tv products have seen triple growth during the holidays. for cnbc. >> i've actually shopped at drug stores myself. getting good deals at the drugstore this christmas will surely leave many folks with big smiles on their faces. but what is sure to get everyone smiling are the emotional homecomings for hundreds of u.s. troops returning from iraq. coming up tonight on nbc "nightly news," janet reports on that. coming up on news4, what the feds want to do to turn down the sound on your television ads. coming up next, if you feel like your allergies are zapping your energy, you're right. there is a good reason why so many allergy sufferers are tired all the time. >> reporter: this is chris gordon at the d.c. darrel of

motor vehicles. a woman breast feeding her child was ordered to stop because she was the lawful but was she? now she wants an apology. i'll have a report. tonight at 6:00, a special memorial planned after the air force admits to

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now those loud tv commercials will soon get quieter. today the fcc pass ad rule that tv stations and cable operators keep the volume on both national and local advertising the same level as the programming around it. the new rules go into effect exactly one year from today. take a look at this. it may truly be worthy of the nickname throne. it is a commode decorated with 72,000 swarovski crystals. althrow the luxe lavatory isn't for sale, it is valued at $128,000. it took jewellers about a month to do this. to add all the tiny precisely cut pieces of glass crystal. a company that makes glass crystal commissioned the glass lavatory. it is now on display there in case you want to see it up and close personal. >> i don't think anybody would want to sit on it. it looked a little uncomfortable with all

the search for missing mother michelle park he ones involved hundreds of volunteers. that effort is winding down now. her family told nbc kerry sanders their main focus now is caring for parkers's 3-year-old twins and making sure they have toys under the tree come christmas. >> reporter: the makeshift

command post where michelle parker's family was camped almost around the clock is now empty. a sign to some family and friends close to the investigation that this near one-month-old search has now shifted from an expectation that michelle or her body would be located quickly to what could be turning into a long term mystery. michelle's family tells nbc news know they are now focused on her 3-year-old twin son and daughter. >> i'm doing what i have to do. i'm up every day and making sure that i'm doing everything i can, as well as the rest of my family to help the kids and find their mother. >> reporter: michelle's sister lauren tells nbc's "dateline" the family has now liberal visitation rights, and all are now spending as much time as they can with the twins. >> they're doing okay themselves ask about mom every now and again. >> reporter: if the twins ask where's mommy, everyone has been told to say mommy is at work or mommy is on vacation. >> when they do ask, she'll be home soon. she is not here right now. but that's as far as we take it

with them. >> reporter: michelle's mother says the family is overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from friends and strangers. >> and i can't thank you guys enough for everything. >> reporter: she says it's been a few highs and many lows. one promising lead, when michelle's iphone was found tossed in an orange county lake. >> it broke my heart. that was my hope. that they would never find that phone and that she still had it. at some point she could get to it. you know? that's when i really started to think this isn't going to end well will. >> reporter: the police say the phone was in good shape but it has been six days and a police spokesman says forensics experts are still trying to extract data that could be useful to the investigation. michelle's exfiance, dale wayne smith, the only suspect identified by the police, has

custody of the children. smith is not charged. remains free and denies any involvement. the last time smith was seen with michelle was just hours after an episode of the people's court aired. the two were there arguing over a lost engagement ring. >> i took it off and i threw it at him. >> reporter: now smith himself is on facebook, $5,000 in donations to help support the twins. he has raised only $240. meanwhile this past weekend, michelle's friends, anxious for answers, did what they could. a truck pull to raise a different source of money for the children. funds that will be used to buy them christmas presents. >> that was kerry sanders reporting. that's news4 at 4:00. news4 at 5:00 starts right now. an outright ban on distracted driving?

the proposal that would make the leem to use a cell phone or a device of any kind behind the wheel. and an abrupt end to the court hearing for jerry sandusky. why lawyers say this case is headed straight to trial. and a woman's right to feed her child. a d.c. lawyer files a complaint when she is told, no breast feeding allowed. >> hello. welcome to news4 at 5:00. i'm pat lawson muse in for jimi kind of electronic device behind the wheel. that includes hands-free devices. thus far such legislation has been linked to individual states with 35 statesds more than 3,000 people were killed last year as a result of distracted driving. and the national transportation safety board says something has to be done. brian moore has the story from capitol hill.

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