you're watching nbc 4, washington's news leader. now live in h.d., this is news 4 today. good morning. thanks for watching up with us. welcome to news 4 today on this final day of 2011. i'm erica gonzalez. in just about 18 hours, 2011 will draw to a close. and millions across the country will ring in the new year with new resolutions and hopes for 2012. times square is pretty quiet right now. but that will definitely change by tonight when more than a million people will watch that famous ball drop. nbc's wendy gillette joins us live from the site of the iconic

street party with more on what we can expect tonight. good morning, wendy. >> reporter: good morning, erica. it is lovely this morning in new york city. very mild temperatures. that is expected to continue through tonight. it's expected to be about 50 degrees. really perfect for the crowd. new york city police and it be event organizers here in times square say they're ready. they will be welcoming what could be a record crowd tonight. barricades already line the streets this morning awaiting the crowds that will begin arriving within hours. >> i've just seen it on tv so many times. i thought i would come and experience it in person. >> reporter: it's a dream that will be realized tonight by tourists from around the globe. >> i'm from canada. >> spain. >> reporter: where are you from? >> mexico. >> reporter: lady gaga will headline the entertainment. but for the younger set justin bieber will be the true entertainment. what do you admire about justin

bieber? >> everything. >> reporter: do you like lady gaga or justin bieber bet her. >> lady gaga. >> justin bieber. >> reporter: you have an inviting target for terrorists. ray kelly says there are no specific threats this year, but security will be extremely tight. >> this could be a record crowd. the weather's going to be relatively pleasant for this time of year. we'll have thousands of police officers there. >> reporter: street vendor duane jackson knows the potential threat all too well after alerting police to a smoke vehicle in times square last year that contained a bomb inside. >> you've got to be vigilant. you never know the enemy's still out there. >> reporter: event organizers con sen tratd on more basic concerns as the week drew to a close. testing the airworthiness of confetti on thursday. and giving the ball a dress rehearsal run yesterday.

police will shut down the street starting about noon. for now they do remain open. in just a few hours this area where i'm standing will be absolutely packed with new year's revelers all of them in for a very long wait. back to you. >> i can imagine that there's already police and security lined up everywhere this morning. >> reporter: well, we've seen some police officers here and there, really they won't be coming until the crowd does mid afternoon or so. thr going to be 1500 rookie officers joining a couple thousand officers some of them with counterterrorism devices, some of them are radiation detectors, some of them on rooftops acting as potential snipers. they've thought of any potential threats here in times square. >> thank you so much for joining us this morning and happy new year to you. >> reporter: you, too. >> it is already 2012. check that out. halfway around the world. where the clock just struck

midnight. here's a look at the celebrations in auckland, new zealand, just minutes ago. the first major city to celebrate the new year. every year auckland celebrates with fireworks shot from the city's sky tower. next up for the new year celebrations sydney, australia. if you're spending the first night of the new year's in adams morgan, be ready for a mess. construction on 18 street has accidentally closed roadside walks. the workers shut both sidewalks down this week forcing pedestrians into the street. the city's transportation department said at least one sidewalk should be open at all times. the district warns you to be extremely careful if you're headed out to dinner or to celebrate this evening. new year's've will be a bit quieter this year in alexandria. for the first time in years the annual first night celebration will not have fire works. the change comes after a series of accidents at area fire work displays and a new state law requires more space between fire

works and spectators. but organizers say there will still be present you of entertainment for the entire family. >> we're going to have lasers and lights. it's going to be great. timed to music, projected right are on to the masonic memorial. >> first night will also host 100 performances at more than a dozen venues beginning tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 and lasts until midnight, excuse me, that is today. it begins today from 1:00 until midnight, the cost is just $20. to make sure that you get home safe tonight or early tomorrow morning, a local nonprofit wants to give you a free ride. the sober ride program is back this year. it goes each night until january 1st from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. you can get a free ride up to a $30 fare. the weather this morning

extremely mild. i think if you even just had a light sweatshirt on you'd be good to go this is just unseasonably warm it weres for the month. >> it is. >> good morning. we woke up with some 50s. this is probably a welcome from mother nature. you have family from texas watching this morning. >> i said because the texas girl came up to d.c., i brought the warm weather with me. >> thank you. you know what happens a little bit of northern muscle is going to flex back in. we're going to plummet once we ring in the new year. come sunday evening. so we want to give everybody heads up about that. we're good to go. the weather outside is pretty nice. we have very comfortable 50s out there. rub your eyes and do a double take. 51 is what it is at reagan national. the wind is out of the weft northwest light at 3 miles per hour. we have a few rain drops passing over the metro pal tan area skirting across frederick and montgomery counties. we'll zoom in closer along i-70

that's where the heaviest rain is. i suspect these showers will pass on through this morning and leave us alone. one more batch off to the west. most likely will dry out before they make their way here. as you make your plans on this last day of 2011. 8:00 mostly cloudy skies. 48. we'll be up to 57 by 1:00. 55 at 6:00. today's high 59 with a 62 for fredericksburg. i have the scoop on your new year's eve plans and how the weather will be impacting you and the big change in this forecast coming our way starting monday morning. it is not going to feel like the 50s. that's the one thing i can tell you for sure. i'll be back in a little bit. >> kim, 62, did you think you'd see that in washington, d.c. in december? >> it does happen occasionally, but not that often. plus are warning women to intextremely careful when visiting the chinatown area. that afs a woman was attacked with her child in the backseat. police say the woman was stopped in the 700 block of s street northwest when a man opened the

unlocked passenger side door of her car, pulled a gun and ordered her to drive to a location that was not familiar to her. the than men sexually assaulted her. police say women should take extra safety precautions. >> lock your car doors when you're driving. >> there are few security cameras in the area, so police are examining them. hoping they would be able to provide them with clues as to who the suspect is. a canine officer charged with keeping our local airports safe is now behind bars this morning charged with trying to solicit a minor. airport authority officer john bought was arrested at dell louse airport around 1:30 yesterday afternoon. he's seen here with his dog at reagan national airport. fairfax county police charged him with soliciting a minor online after an undercover sting operation. the airport authority that has placed him on administrative

leave. there will be no champagne toast tonight at a popular lounge in northwest. the club has been shut down by d.c. police. the chief used emergency powers to close the mood lounge. it comes off two people were stabbed outside the nightclub early yesterday morning. the club was officially shut done at 6:00 last night and will stay closed for the next 96 hours. as you ring in the new year, you'll want to prepare for some new laws. that will mean you'll be paying more at the store and on the roads starting tomorrow morning. first you'll need some extra change if you use the dulles toll road to get home from the new year's bash. tolls at the main toll plaza are going up 25 cents on new year's day. that means it's going to cost you $1.50 for most vehicles. tolls at the on and off ramps will remain the same. the new revenue will be used to help fund the dell louse rail project. no montgomery county a five

cent bag tax will take effect tomorrow. it's modelled after the one implemented in the district two years ago. the tax approved in may will apply to paper and plastic bags and is expected to raise at least $1 million in revenue which will be used for water and litter clean up. good morning, everyone. the time right now is 6:10. newt gingrich breaks down. what brought the white house hopeful to tears on the campaign trail. and too good to be true. a local thrift shop receives a huge donation. why volunteers there may not be ready to accept that money.

ron paul is at or near the polls in iowa. with three days until the first in the nation caucus, the congressman is in texas. paul is back in his home state this morning to spend the weekend with his wife. it's just more evidence of his

unconventional approach to competing for the gop nomination. paul is known for low tech events, absent of the music and pomp of many of his rivals. while in texas paul will appear on several sunday morning talk shows before returning to iowa monday for a last minute campaign tour with his son. an attorney and tea party activist from reston has filed a lawsuit for newt gingrich. mosley contends gingrich had the 10,000 to get on the virginia ballot. but some of the signatures were excluded. mosley says he is acting independently and gingrich has not yet joined the suit. a spokesman for the former house speaker says they're still debating their next move. gingrich seems to be falling out of the picture in iowa. leaving the top spot for mitt romney who up until this week viewed the state as unwinnable. now the former governor is pushing hard for a victory as the tea party seems to become

more and more divided. >> reporter: mitt romney outside des moines with his wife, anne and rising gop star new jersey governor chris christie. the poll confirms romney is the new front runner here. in part because more iowa republicans believe romney can beat president obama in november. the governor is electability a big factor? >> winning is a big factor. >> reporter: winning conservative iowa seemed out of reach. romney mostly stayed away. >> i like rick perry, but it's really between gingrich and romney. he hasn't been here in central iowa enough for me. >> reporter: but romney's back going for the win. romney's at 23 in the poll. paul at 21. santorum up to 15. perry up to 14. gingrich down to 13. the former speaker was iowa's front runner a few weeks ago.

he's been hammered by negative ads from paul and romney backers. the ads worked. newt's furious. >> i wouldn't vote for the person they're describing. >> reporter: soon after came tears. >> dealing from the real problems of real people in my family. >> reporter: newt was remembering his late mother and dealing with disappointment in iowa. rick santorum is upbeat enjoying his mini surge. rick perry, too. the tea party vote is split. romney moderates are pleased. >> i think he's the only candidate that can beat obama. >> reporter: a polling expert pointed out today with six front runners here in the past six months. tuesday night could be a photo finish. if you are gearing up for your new year's celebration, looks like you're going to have

some great weather to go along wit. >> it's going to feel almost as warm as it will this afternoon later tonight. don't have to pack a heavy jacket for that. i have your new year's eve weather scoop coming up and a look at the downward spiral into next week. don't mean to make it sound so bad, but it's going to be cold

you're watching news 4 today. just more than 24 hours after announcing a new convenience fee, verizon wireless is dropped the charge after some big public backlash. the cell carrier had planned to charge $2 for customers paying their bill online or over the phone. but outraged customers took to twitter and launched petition drives forcing verizon to back down from the plan. the ceo of verizon wireless issued a statement saying, we take great care to listen to our customers and the decision was quote, based on their input.

volunteers at a mount arey, maryland, thrift store have a mystery on their hands. they want to know if a hidden stash of money found in some donated clothing was a gift or a mistake? workers discovered the money while going through the clothes. they won't say how much they found. ing the mystery donor has not been easy. workers will say he or she is not a regular customer and the clothes were from a family member who passed away. >> i hope it gets back to where it's supposed to. in these tough economic times, i hope everybody needs extra money. >> workers say they cannot remember finding such a large amount of cash hidden in donated clothing. they hope the rightful owner will call them and clear up the mystery. it is boater late than never for a popular d.c. area winter tourist spot. despite the warm temperatures, liberty mountain is finally open for business. we told you earlier this week

about how our warm december weather had left the pennsylvania resort with no snow and made it hard to make their own. the resort says it has stayed cold enough lately to make enough snow that they could open. well they have a handful of runs open right now. this is the latest start for the ski season in our area in six years. six years. when's the last time you saw 62 degrees around here in december? >> you know what? in january, though, i remember i started dating my husband in 2007, we had 70s here in january. we do get these waky warmups. they're not that frequent. we've got to enjoy them while they're here. the skiers not liking it at all. a lot of weather enthusiasts want to see more snow. you have to wait for that. no snow here, but cold enough temperatures to keep those ski resorts in bitter company. good to see you. grab your coffee like my friend

on facebook pam bell did. she's watching news 4. let's see if i can't get my graphics to work for you. maybe we can show some city cam. there's a little bit of rain starting to push through the area. that rain is very light. it's kind of more of a nuisance rain. it's not going to be too heavy. but it is going to wet the pavement and you're going to need your windshield wipers just a little bit here and there this morning as that rain passes through. once that's through, we're going to be in for a really, really nice day. wait until you see what i'm talking about. outside right now the temperatures we showed you this before are in the 50s. 51 degrees. west northwest winds at 3 miles per hour are very light this morning. we are looking at a really nice weekend, if you like the 50s. speaking of, let's show you the fire works forecast. we're going to have a fire works going off. i think our temperatures are going to be in the mid and upper 40s down in the national harbor is where you can see them locally mchl the d.c. area

here's the hit or miss rain coming through on storm four doppler. it's light and pushing off to the east. right along to the east of 270 and skirting eastern fairfax county closing in on the beltway. nothing heavy. this is going to be our morning routine. a couple of showers and then we're going to be partly cloudy as we head into the afternoon. temperatures right now this morning in the 50s and 40s. we're going to be taking a trip to 62 in fredericksburg. 59 in d.c. 55 up in frederick. even cumberland i think you have a shot at 50 degrees today. here's a few handful of showers coming through. this is the weather forecast i want you to watch. here's the mild tonight. middle 40s. tomorrow first half of the day very warm. very mild. no problems. this is the really cold front that's going to blast through, bring gusty winds tomorrow on sunday night. and into monday. much colder air. you see the snow should be pushing out into liberty and deep creek lake where we have more skiing going on. so come monday, skiers that's

when you want to get ready for going skiing off to the north and west. look by 8:00 on monday, that is 33 degrees with windchills around 20. big changes. recap, 56 to 62 with a morning showers and seasonally mild. this evening very comfortable. we'll have temperatures between 48 and 54. as you make your plans for tomorrow into the new year, we'll ring it in with upper 50s again. it isn't until monday that we really blast that cold in here and keep it rather windy into monday afternoon next week those are highs on tuesday and wednesday in the 30s with lows in the 20s. so from near 60 today to a high of 34 on tuesday. >> i am happy i'm not working the morning shift on tuesday, wednesday because it is -- it's going to be cold. >> we don't have a parking garage. it's a cold walk. >> enjoy the warm weather while it lasts. well, just when things couldn't get more embarrassing for the wizards, last night's

game happened. hakim has the details while highlights from the caps/sabers game in this morning's sports minute. good morning, everyone. your sports minute begins with hockey. last night the capitals hosting the sabers. early first period caps on the power play, alex ovechkin shoots and it deflects off a defender's stick and beats ryan miller. caps take a 1-0 lead, 1 sln 42 in, their fastest goal to start a game this season. third period caps on the attack. niklas backstrom passes to ovi. he rips a one time tore the back of the net. ovechkin's second goal of the night. his first multigoal game since october. the caps beat the sabers 3-1. they play again tonight on the road against columbus. nba now, wizard going for their first win of the season taking on the milwaukee bucs. this is just embarrassing. roger mason hits the jumper. he doesn't get credit. the coach didn't put him on the active roster.

mason was ineligible for the game. wizards get a technical foul. mason has to leave the game. the bucks beat the wizards 102-81. george mason visiting charleston. ryan peerson put on a show. went for a career high 35 points. the patriots win 84-76. george mason improves to 9-4. elsewhere number 23 virginia defeats taos. the cavaliers have won ten in the row, the tigers have lost 32 straight. that's your sports minute. have a happy new year. >> happy new year to you, too. the time is 7:27. good morning, everyone. espn had a cable outage during the bowl last night. it didn't keep anyone from watching the game. a couple holding up one of the network's sky cams snapped sending the three-foot tall 25-pound camera crashing do the ground. it narrowly missed several

players and landed close to iowa wide receiver marvin mcnut. the game which was in its final minutes had to be delayed as the cameras and cables were pulled off the field, literally. oklahoma won 31-14. 6:28 is the time. good morning, vrn. the district is about to have its lowest homicide total in nearly a half century. why some people including the head of the police union aren't ready to celebrate yet. and he's charged with murdering and dismembering a little girl and it may not have been the first time he's targeted young girls. disturbing new details about michael plumadore's past when we

you're watching nbc 4, washington's news leader.

now live in h.d., this is news 4 today. welcome to news 4 today on this final day of 2011. good morning, everyone. i'm erica gonzalez. here's some of the top stories that we are following this morning. police in new york are preparing for one of the biggest new year's eve celebrations in the country. here's a live look at times square. more than a million people are expected to pack the square and millions more around the country and world will watch on tv. and police are warning women to be on guard when visiting the chinatown area after a woman was attacked. they say a man opened the woman's unlocked passenger side door while she was stopped on the 700 block of f street northwest. he then pulled a gun and ordered her to drive to an area where he sexually assaulted her. and gop presidential hopefuls are spending the holiday trying to be round up votes before the first many the nation iowa caucuses on tuesday.

right now mitt romney leads the pack with ron paul close behind and a surging rick santorum in third. and we're also following breaking news this morning out of northeast washington. that's where police are looking for the gunman who shot a man and a woman. the shots rang out overnight on queens chapel road. both the victims were rushed to the hospital. there was no word on their conditions at this point. we will of course, continue to bring you the details as they become available to us. despite that shooting the district is on pace to end the year with its lowest murder total in nearly 50 years. news 4's darcy spencer has more on the stats. >> reporter: the district of columbia was once known as the murder capital. hundreds of people lost their lives to violence ere year. many of those cases were not solved. but this year it's different. so far there have been 108 killings that's the smallest

number in decades. >> our detectives and our police officers have done an amazing job in turning that around. we are no longer either one of those things. >> reporter: police say murders are down 18% that's the lowest in 48 years. of the 108 killings, 62 have been solved. but the overall homicide closure rate is 94%. that's one of the best many the country. >> we are a city that is growing. i think it's because people are feeling safer because they are safer. >> reporter: but the head of the d.c. police union says violent crime has recently speck. he blames it in part on occupy d.c. >> when manpower is drawn today, crime is going to increase. that's one of the things we've faced. >> reporter: the chief's response? >> that's ludicrous. >> reporter: the chief says a major challenge ahead is combatting thefts and robberies of hand held devices. >> your iphone, your ipad, your ipod, your small laptop, your android whatever it is, if it's small, mobile, electronic device

it is the hottest commodity in the market. >> reporter: detectives solve dozens of cold cases, but the shooting death of damon ward remains open. he was gunned down after leaving a u street restaurant in 2006. his mother talked to us by phone. >> in the case of my son, the investigation there just wasn't an investigation. i've given up hope, yes. >> reporter: the chief has this message for families that are still waiting for jis tis. >> we never give up. we never give up. we'll keep working those cases until we come to closure. d.c.en isn't the only area seeing a big drop in homicides. in fact, one northern virginia community is on pace for a record year when it comes to crime. if arlington can go the next 17 and a half-hours without a homicide, it will have zero for the entire year. it would be the first time since the 19 as that there were no murders in the county. other jurisdictions in our

area have seen a drop in murders this year. fairfax county has 11 this year down from 16 last dwreer. there were also drops in montgomery county and prince william count yichl prince george's county was it be only county to see an increase. they've had 94 murders this year. up from 90 last year. if we're heading out to celebrate the new year, be careful. police in fairfax county say they're stepping up efforts to catch drunk drivers. police set up the first drunk driving check point along richmond highway just in time for the holiday weekend. police tell us this check point is part of a broader effort all weekend long to stop drunk driving and make sure everyone out celebrating the new year does so safely. police in maine now suspect foul play was volved in the disappearance of a toddler. police in waterville say that they are no longer treating the investigation into the disappearance of the 20-month-old girl as a missing

persons case. they say they have gathered evidence to now classify the case as a criminal investigation. the toddler was last seen two weeks ago while staying with her father. he says he put rends to bed and when he went back to check on her in the morning she was gone. the father is not a suspect at this time. the man accused of killing a 9-year-old girl in indiana was accused of stalking and sexually harassing a 13-year-old girl in iowa. documents in centerville, iowa, show a mother filed a protective order against michael plumadore in november last year to keep him from her daughter. however, a judge dismissed the complaint because the case didn't meet the criteria for a protective order. plumadore is accused of beating the girl to death and then dismembering her body. the annoited successor and youngest son of kim jong il has a new title.

north korea announced him as the supreme commander of the military. the decision gives him official control of the armed forces, but indicates the consolidation of his power could be happening much faster than expected. kim jong un assumed control of the country after the death of his father on december 17th. iran continues to showcase its mill tar power following a threat to close a critical shipping channel. the country test fired long range missiles as part of a ten-day naval exercise in the gulf. the missiles have the capability of reaching israel or u.s. bases in the mideast. the test comes days after iran threatening to close a strait in the persian gulf in the u.s. imposes an embargo on iranian oil exports. after what seemed like a wi roller coaster ride on wall street this year, the stock market ended 2011 right above where it started.

the closing bell rang yesterday with the s&p at 500, and -- the dow finished 64 points higher on the year. and while the nasdaq ended the year down just 48 points at 2605. the white house is delaying a request to congress to once again raise the debt ceiling. yesterday the nation's debt came within $100 billion of the ceiling. the magic number when the obama administration must alert congress. and restart talks to raise the ceiling. once congress is alerted they have 15 days to act, but the president delayed that alert so congress can complete their holiday vacation. lawmakers are due back in washington between january 17th, and january 24th. good morning, everyone. the time right now is 6:39. two maryland doctors now face murder charges for procedures they performed. we'll explain why when we

you're watching news 4 today. two maryland doctors who performed late term abortions now face multiple counts of murder. the doctors both have practices out of state. they're accused of bringing women to a clinic in elkton, maryland, to perform late term abortion. after a 16-month investigation, officers raided their clinic and discovered 35 late term fetuses in a freezer. the two doctors were charged under maryland eats viable fetus law. so far the law has only been used for those accused of killing pregnant women. lettuce is being pulled from store shelves in several states after salmonella was found in a field next to where it was grown. grocers express said none of its iceberg lettuce tested positive for salmonella.

but it alerted retailers out of caution. kroger pulled the lettuce from two states. the government says there is no evidence that powdered infant formula pulled from store shelves is tainted with a deadly bacteria. the centers for disease control and the food and drug administration both say they found no link between the formula and four infants who were sickened by the rare bacterial infection. they found no bacteria in the sealed containers. several national retailers pulled a batch of the product after learning a missouri child who died from the infection had consumed the powder formula. the "today" show the next on nbc 4. let's foond out what they're working on on this last day of the year. hi, amy. are you enjoying the last morning? >> yes. we have to. good morning to you. coming up this morning, we're talking about the final countdown. we're now just three day ace way from n the first battle in the

race for the white house. the gop candidates are make their final cases. who will come out on top? plus the final preps for new year's eve are underway in new york and across the world. we have it all covered live from australia to times square. also a manhunt in california for an arsonist suspected of possibly setting up to 22 fires. the most recent one sit just last night. and the year that was from the 2011's biggest headlines and news make toers the best stories we've covered right here on the show. and all the quirky moments in between. we're going to take one last look back at the fun we had here on the weekends this year. we're going to have those stories and much more when we sue you a built later on "today." back to you. >> enjoy yourself. have a great new year's eve. >> same to you. if you wake up this morning you go outside thinking you need to layer up, you might be pleasantly surprised with the temperatures this morning. it is gorgeous out there. >> it is. it only gets better as we head

through the rest of the day and new year's eve. get your coffee and i'll get that forecast ready for

ahh... so much better than last year. [ both screaming ]

throw the food out the window! throw the food out the window! [ growling ] never again. everyone deserves a great vacation at a great price. get on board a carnival cruise and get more fun for all.

you're watching news 4 today. virginia governor bob mcdonald has agreed to a deal to help pay for the second phase of the dulles rail project but on certain conditions. virginia has agreed to pay $150 million toward the $2.8 billion project. but the governor says the airport authority must uphold their end of the bargain by adding more seats to their board. a new federal law will increase the number of seats on the board from 13 to 17 with virginia gaining two seats. engineering for the second phase is expected to begin in february. the intercounty connector is proving to be more popular than state officials anticipated. according to the washington examiner, the nearly 18-mile toll road between gaithersburg saw about 20,000 vehicles a day during the first two weeks.

that's about 1,000 cars a day more than expected. officials expect the roadway could see 30,000 cars a day by june. the newest section of the icc opened in late november. lots of folks happy about that one. what was concerned one of hollywood's happier marriages isn't making out of 2011. comedian russell brand and singer kany perry are getting a divorce. brand filed for the divorce in los angeles citing irreconcilable differences. and released a statement that read in part quote, sadly, katy and i are ending our marriage. i'll always adore her and i don't know that we will remain friends. the couple got married 14 months ago at a tiger sanctuary in india. 14-months in, bye-bye. >> too bad. >> it's not kim kardashian, still 14 months. really? 14 months. >> let's talk a about some

happier things. how about the nice weather. some 60s in southern suburbs today. some easily middle and upper 50s here. it's great to see you as we close out 2011 on a very mild weather note. this morning we actually have 50s outside. that is a 51 at reagan national. skies are cloudy we have a few isolated showers passing across the area at the moment. i'm going to storm 4 doppler radar to zoom in. they're right around the beltway. if you take a trip up from little river turnpike up and around across the american legion bridge and across bethesda you'll have light rain this morning. it's not particularly heavy. it's going to cause you to use the windshield wiper this morning. it looks like we have another batch from west virginia. this might skirt through in the morning hours. a lot of it is falling apart. we would be paving the way for a nice saturday afternoon with sunshine and 50s and a few 60s rolling into town.

let's take a look to the west. leesburg 45. good morning to the south. fredericksburg is 52. we have 54 at annapolis and 50 on the other side of the bay for'ston and cambridge. this afternoon up to 57. likewise for mana sas. up to the north you'll have a high of 51. a little batch of 60 from charlottesville and a high of 62 in fredericksburg today. so here's the deal. we have some cloud cover with this batch of energy rolling through the atmosphere. it's lifting north ward as a warm front. winds shift to the front and we get some really warm air. tonight for the fireworks over national harbor, the temperature i'm calling for is 45. this is the average high temperature that we have here. we're going to have thatted a midnight. we have fire works at annapolis. temperatures around 44. not too cold and partly cloudy.

let's put this forecast into motion and show you that 46 tonight. watch what happens. this front blasts through here. the timing is tomorrow evening. and by monday much colder air coming to town with gusty winds. the coldest air will be on tuesday next week. today mild today 50s and some 60s coming up this evening it will be very comfortable. easing sbook the 50s and 40s. we'll show you that it stays mostly dry throughout the weekend and into next week. the big thing you need to remember is it's going to be really warm this weekend and really cold next week. we'll go from highs nearing 60 today and windchills into the teens and 20s on tuesday and wednesday. the coldest day is next week and of the season so far. >> a radical change. >> big time. >> from 50s and low 60s to the 20s. we'll get ready for that. >> hold on tight. >> thank you so much.

the time right now is 6:53. good morning, everyone. a mother and daughter are being honored at monday's rose bowl parade. turns to winter

and brings in the cold. because of our economy, millions more will feel that chill than ever before. they're the forgotten ones. the big boys have abused the system to enrich only themselves, while workers are still hurting. it could be a layoff after 22 years of working for the same company. or choosing between food and heat for a sick child. or after working your whole life, you don't have what you need to stay warm. you played by the rules, but who changed them? even though oil prices are soaring to record levels, in

washington, fuel aid for the poor was cut in half. citizens energy asked big oil companies and oil producing nations to help. they all said 'no,' expect for citgo and the people of venezuela. for the last 7 years, citgo has helped struggling families in the united states in good times and in bad. so if you need help staying warm this winter, give me a call. because no one should be left out in the cold. you're watching news 4 today. the rose bowl parade is one of the country's most popular new year's traditions.

this year's parade will be particularly special for one northern virginia mother and her daughter. they'll be on one of theloats dedicated to a relative that they've lost. derek ward has more on how his dying gift made it all possible. >> reporter: a gentle bend in the washington and old dominion trail it's the sight of a turning point in the lives of this family. five years ago paul was biking this trail when he crashed. a few days later he died. since the loss, 4 his wife and daughter came to find solace that he died doing something he loved. he biked 2,000 piles a year. >> it was one of his favorite activities. it was his favorite bike spot. >> reporter: there would be something else to help remember, paul, a red heart about his driver's license says it all. paul was an organ donor. >> that choice that he made by checking that box over 25 years

ago really became an important decision. >> reporter: paul's liver, kidneys and heart valves went to recipients who needed them to live. skin and bone were also donated. >> it was important. he wanted to help people. live on. >> reporter: nationwide the 100 millionth organ donor was recently registered. that's a mild stone, but donors are still needed. >> 18 people are dying every day. >> reporter: next month paul's wife and daughter will ride a float sponsored by donate life america in the annual tournament of roses parade in pasadena. the float has a special theme. >> one more day. it basically celebrates the fact that donor family members allow transferry sip yents to have one more day with their family members and loved ones. >> reporter: they'll be among donor families from across the country. the loved one's likenesses will

grace the float in floral arrangements. >> they left the eyebrows undone. we have to glue the eyebrows on him. >> reporter: and there are still other remembrances as well. a shelter on the trail on the paul's ride for life in april with money raised going to organ donation efforts. they would have loved more time with paul, his memory goes on. his life's passion, cycling and through the gift of life he gave of himself. the bend in the trail is not such a sad place anymore. >> donate life america has been sponsoring floats in the parade fins 2004. that is it for news 40 today. we will be back in 25 minutes with a local news update and some warmer temperatures to boot. >> some 50s today. going to love