returns, embezzlement, expensive cars and trips. it all came crashing down. >> for months, harry thomas jr. denied wrong doing in council duties. >> i was not going to settle on something i did not do. i think my integrity is more important than anything. if you asked me, i think about my children first. >> reporter: now, prosecutors are charging him with stealing $353,000 in city funds he used to support his lavish lifestyle and filing false income tax returns from 2007 to 2009. federal court documents said he failed to report $25,000 of suspicious income. in 2008, that number jumped to $278,000. in 2009, $43,000. thomas is expected to appear in court early friday morning to

respond to the charges. the criminal information document filed normally indicates he will plead guilty and reached a plea agreement with prosecutors. he's the son of harry thomas sr. was reelected in 2010 but dogged with complaints he was misusing city money. d.c. attorney general forced thomas to agree to repay the district $300,000 in misspent funds. he admitted no wrong doing. federal fbi and irs agents got into the case and raided his house in december leading to the plea agreement. the federal charges are criminal, not civil charges. he faces almost certain jail time with the plea agreement. he's expected to resign from the council soon. accused of em bezelment and theft, he's under pressure to resign. he would be the first to resign

under a legal cloud. again, thomas is due in federal court tomorrow at 11:15 to face a judge for the first time in this case. doreen, jim, back to you guys. >> tom sherwood reporting from the wilson building. thank you. reaction has been swift and strong at the wilson building. some of his colleagues are urging him to give up his seat now. pat collins spent the day getting reaction from city leaders and continues coverage at the wilson building. pat? >> reporter: jim, all the weeks of whispers and rumors today became a reality. federal felony charges against harry thomas jr. a councilwoman was one of the first to call for his resignation. >> finally, there will be resolution. it's been a cloud hanging over the council for some months now. i wish him strength and dignity, but no one is above the law. he has to accept the

consequences of what he did. >> reporter: at the wilson building the topic of debate, harry thomas jr. charged with felony theft of federal funds. from mayor vincent gray, this statement -- given today's filing i urge councilmember thomas to resign and focus time and efforts on defending himself in court. that resignation would likely be tendered to council chairman kwame brown. do you think he should resign? >> i have not received his resignation but i expect to. >> reporter: reaction from councilman mend lson. >> if the shoe is dropped. the whole situation is very unfortunate for government. public trust is an important part of government. this goes at the heart of the trust government needs and

people feel has been let down. >> reporter: harry thomas jr., deep roots in the city of washington. he graduated from wilson high school. his mother was a principal in the school system. his father, harry thomas sr. represented ward 5 for three terms. harry thomas jr., ward 5 councilmember since 2006. here now from councilwoman alexander. >> my thoughts are with ward 5. they, you know, let's hope they get their representation and we are going to move forward. >> reporter: it's one of the largest wards in the city with 74,000 people. it's bounded on the north by eastern avenue on the south by florida avenue, west north capital street and on the east the anacostia river. vincent used to represent ward 5. he's at large now. he says he will act as a foster

councilman for the ward. >> it's my intention to call a meeting for the ward 5 leadership and talk through this matter and see how we move forward pursuant to the law. >> reporter: this is unchartered territory for the city. it's unclear how deep the impact will be for the people of ward 5. the people of our city. back to you. >> pat collins, thank you, pat. the harry thomas case is one of three scandals investigated by prosecutors right now. mayor gray's campaign is under investigation for corruption allegations. his campaign staffers have been accused of giving cash and promising a government job to a minor candidate in exchange for attacks on former mayor fenty. the initial investigation is expanded to include tracking large amounts of money that flowed into the gray campaign. kau mee brown is under investigation over his 2008 campaign for re-election.

the u.s. attorney's office is looking into how brown raised and spent $300,000 in campaign money. we hope you stay with us for coverage of the harry thomas story. we'll have more on what people in the district think should happen. republican candidates for president are looking ahead to the new hampshire primary. romney campaign ed for the secod day with arizona senator john mccain. romney start ed in new hampshir then an appearance in south carolina. most of his republican rivals aim aimed their criticisms at him while romney focused his criticisms on president obama. >> this president is a capitalist. he's a job killer. it's going to keep america from creates the jobs we need for our kids and grand kids.

>> rick santorum's campaign confirmed they raised $1 million in the 24 hours that followed his strong finish in iowa. new clues in the search for a man who kidnapped and assaulted a woman in chinatown. the key to catching the suspect may be his strong southern accent. it happened near the verizon center. the victim was leaving a child custody meeting when the man jumped into her car. he forced her to drive to another location where she was sexually assaulted at gunpoint with her 15-month-old son in the backseat. they do not believe the attack was random. police are investigating the first murder of the year. it happened about 2:00 this afternoon outside the oak crest apartment complex. officers were called to the 2000 block of brooks drive for a shooting. when they arrived, they found a

man dead in the parking lot. they have not determined the cause of death yet. they are looking for suspects and a motive in the case. president obama says the united states is turning a page when it comes to our defense strategy. today, the president announced plans to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from the pentagon budget. some critics say the move could put american lives at risk. jennifer johnson has our report. >> reporter: in a rare appearance at the pentagon, president obama put hids personal stamp on a new smaller military budget. a change in priorities after a decade of war in iraq and afghanistan. >> the world must know the united states is going to maintain our military superiority with armed forces that are agile, flexible and ready for the full range of contingencies and threats. >> reporter: at least $480 billion will be cut over the next decade. details won't come out until after the president releases his

budget next month. defense secretary says everything was on the table including health plans. he promised benefits for those who served. >> we are going to protect the benefits that are provided to our troops and to their families. at the same time, as i said, we have some responsibility to try to control costs in this area. >> reporter: while cuts will be massive, there will be more investments in special operations forces and unmanned tools and drones. cutting troops on the ground is risky. >> anytime you cut the force, which is what he's doing, particularly the army, which is going to shrink in size. panetta wants it to shrink smaller. anytime you reduce the size of the force, you are taking risk. >> reporter: the military will focus less on europe and more on the asia pacific and middle east regions of the world. the cuts are huge and more may

come from congress, the defense budget will be larger than it was at the end of the bush administration. on capitol hill, jennifer johnson, news 4. flames from an apartment balcony. three children trapped inside. a grandmother's decision that saved everyone's life. how much time a man will spend behind bars is coming up. from chauffeur to instant millionaire. a man who plans to keep his day job after winning the lottery. >> the next couple days looking very, very nice. 46 degrees out there. say good-bye to the frigid temperatures. the full forecast is coming up. coming up in sports, a friend friendly bet costing a caps player his pride. the latest high scoring college bowl game almost costs us

a young man from montgomery county who left the scene of an accident while his friends died learned his fate in court. three young adults were killed after kevin coffay crashed his

car in maryland last may. today, a judge sentenced him to two decades in prison. derrick ward reports. >> reporter: 20-year-old kevin coffay sentenced to 20 years in prison followed by five years probation. it was the sentence in montgomery county court. he pled guilty to three charges of manslaughter one for 20 yeerd spencer datt, hael li mcguire and johney hoover. >> he did have a history of alcohol abuse and driving too fast. that continued course of activity culminated in this crime. >> reporter: an uneasy air. audible sobbing after a case some sady divided a tight knit

community. >> there was so much pain and hatred. >> this community comes together. this is not our first tragedy. to this magnitude, yes. but this family comes together. >> reporter: coffay was described as a fun loving young man. others like the mother of one of the victims called him a train wreck waiting to happen with a reputation for drinking. he's haunted by the accident and is deeply sorry. it's all a blur to him now. >> young people should understand there are serious consequences to drinking and driving. the 20-year-old defendant in this case knows the consequences all too well. >> reporter: the state's attorney says if there's anything positive from the tragedy, it's the not in my house campaign. it's going to be start ed at th high school where they attended. it's aimed at stressing to young

people the dangers after drinking and drive iing and the adults that supply minors with alcohol. derrick ward, news 4. family members gathered to say good-bye to two d.c. units today. the ceremony was held at the d.c. armory in southeast. the group is headed to afghanistan in support of operation enduring freedom. for some troops, the difficult good-bye is routine. for others, it was the first time leaving loved ones behind. >> it's a new experience. i'm ready for it. i hope my family can stay strong. it's awhile. i think i'll be able to get through. if i can, they can. >> the group heads to texas for training before going to afghanistan next month. doug is here now. not so bad out there, huh? getting warmer again. >> the nicest afternoon we have seen so far in 2012. tomorrow will be better. >> sounds good. >> i'm the bearer of good news

today. that's nice when you are the weather man. bringing in warm temperatures. tomorrow, i think some areas could be 60 degrees with plenty of sunshine. that is a very nice january afternoon. now, as far as our temperatures go today, we got up to 50 degrees earlier this afternoon. a very nice one. we saw a few clouds from time-to-time. the sun was able to penetrate to warm us up to 50 after a low this morning of 30 degrees. yes, you can say good-bye to the cold for those of you saying way too cold. it's not sticking around at all. it is out of here. 46 degrees is the current temperature now. winds out of the west at 3 miles per hour. current temperatures around the region, cool. 36 in frederick. 39 toward leesburg. 41 in winchester. cooler to the south. cambridge 35 to 36 degrees. around the metro area, counties closer in, 42 in reston.

camp springs 41 degrees. honeytown 38 degrees. my friends toward bowie, 43 degrees outside for you. now, storm 4 doppler radar showing things are all clear right now. really, they are not just clear here. we'll widen out a bit. they are all clear around the entire mid-atlantic. let's widen out more. how about the entire country. one system toward new york and another little system in the mountains of northwest. other than that, the entire country is quiet right now. that is going to mean good news for us in the form of warmer temperatures and drier air. look at the warming trend here. current temperature 35 in boston. look back to the west. 63 now in omaha. 63 in dallas. 55 in memphis. near 60 in st. louis. they were over 60 degrees earlier. all the mild air is going to shift to the east tomorrow. i think we'll see temperatures around 56 tomorrow. 63 in raleigh. near 70 in chicago and st.

louis, that is extremely warm for this time of year. back to the west, they are starting to get cooler. back toward denver, a high of 47 degrees. the good news for us, mild. i think the mild air will most likely last through the weekend and early parts of next week. this evening, clouds. cool but nice. 42 to 46 degrees. some areas in the 30s as we make our way through the morning hours tomorrow morning 24 to 33 degrees in the city. a few clouds. chilly, but not bad. winds out of the southwest. the winds will increase. a bit on the breezy side. mild. winds tomorrow would be gusting upwards of 20 to 25 miles per hour. it puts us in the mid-50s. tomorrow, the sunsets after 5:00 at 5:01 in the afternoon. 57 degrees on your saturday. warmer on saturday. i would not be surprised to see a couple 60s around the area

like fredericksburg. as we move through the weekend, 49 degrees on your sunday. 46 on monday with a system that we think should stay to the south. we still enter a 30% chance of rain there. nothing but rain on wednesday and thursday. that is a big storm. that one is going to give us potential for a lot of rain. then -- >> and then? >> it's going to bring another shot of cold air. that one could last the rest of the month. >> oh, my. >> just saying. >> for a few days we can put away the heavy coats. >> tomorrow is going to be spectacular. a 5-year-old left on a maryland school bus by mistake. administrators never notified the mother about the mix up. bob

this dramatic rescue in northern california last night was captured on cell phone video. a woman, her three grandchildren and a neighbor were trapped on the second floor balcony as flames raced through. people heard the screams for help. they told the grandmother to throw the children down to them. >> told her to throw the kids over the balcony and i will catch them. >> i put them out the balcony to these folks here.

>> the three children were not hurt. firefighters arrived moments later and rescued the two adults inside the building. there's no word on what started the fire. a deadly drug raid in northern utah. tonight, one police officer is killed. five others wounded after the shoot-out last night. the officers were serving a drug related search warrant in the city of ogden when the suspects started shooting. six officers and the suspect were all injured in the exchange. agent jared franklin was killed. he leaves behind a wife and two children. the suspect suffered nonlife threatening injuries. he's in the hospital under 24 hour surveillance. an oklahoma mother alone with her baby heard two people trying to break in. she grabbed her son and a shotgun and dialed 911. >> i have two guns in my hand,

is it okay to shoot if they come in the door. >> you have to do whatever you can do. i can't tell you you can do that. you do what you have to do to protect your baby. >> the woman killed one of the suspects. the other is charged with murder in connection to the shooting. she thinks the men may have been after her late husband's prescription painkillers. he died christmas day after a battle with cancer. tonight, d.c. councilmember charged with stealing government money and filing false tax returns. we'll have a live report on the fallout and reaction with people who live in ward 5. a first grader dies after suffering an allergic reaction. now, a school is under fire in how they responded. discounts lured shoppers in over the holidays. retailers reporting how well they did. stay tuned. coming up in sports, niklas

backstrom tells us if he's ready to hit the road. plus, georgetown's comeback comes with a swish.

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> the top story tonight, d.c. keown till member, harry thomas jr. has been charged with

stealing $350,000 in government money and filing false tax returns. he used some of the money on a luxury suv on trips and rounds of golf. mayor vincent gray released a statement. he said, while everyone is presumed innocent until proven otherwise, those who violate the public's trust must be held accountable. >> tisha thompson spoke to constituents in ward 5. she joins us outside his home with more on the reaction. tisha? >> reporter: doreen, a while ago when he was popular, he won the election. the democratic primary with a third of the votes, run ining against ten other candidates. then the general election came, he won with a landslide. now, today, some of the voters say it's time for him to move

on. >> i would like to see, you know, a better quality of leadership in the district. >> reporter: ward 5 residents are frustrated but getting used to the idea of city leaders being investigated and charged for violating the law. we showed a copy of the charges accusing harry thomas jr. with embezzlement and not paying taxes. it's a setment echoed by many here. they hoped thomas would help their neighborhoods. it's become a distract. >> it's the same situation. you vote people into office and they abuse your trust. it's very sad. i think he should step down. >> reporter: nearly everyone says it no longer matters if he's innocent or guilty, they want a special election to elect someone else with a clean slate. >> in hope, maybe we can get

something done and get something better. >> reporter: it is important to mention tonight that as far as we know, harry thomgs jr. has not resigned. at this point, many of his colleagues, other councilmembers want him to sign a letter of resignation. this is an official statement that the chair of the d.c. council put out, kau mee brown. he says i have not received councilmember thomas' resignation, but i expect it. that's the latest so for on harry thomas jr. reporting live, tisha thompson, news 4. >> thank you. we hope you'll stay with news for continuing coverage of the case. we'll have a live report tonight at 11:00. for the latest, head to our website, www.nbcwashington.com. we are following breaking news right now in montgomery county. a woman taken to the hospital after being hit by a car.

chopper 4 is on the scene. we are told the injuries are life threatening. the driver who hit her stayed on the scene. we'll bring updates as soon as we get them. d.c. police chief says the city did really well in 2011 when it came to overall crime. there were 108 murders in the city last year. that's a 43% drop over the past three years. one of the lowest levels in decades. wtop radio today, the chief said a lot of that is thanks to the hard work of her officers. >> there's a lot of police strategy that's important. we have to focus resources on the most high risk violent offenders and focus on diverting some of those folks heading down that path. >> she says in addition to the number of homicides falling, burglaries and armed robberies were down in 2011. she says the main area of

concern remains thefts, which accounted for more than half the crimes last year. bob mcdonnell is calling for supporters to sign a ditch the loyalty pledge. he's not the only republican against it. >> reporter: virginia voters will take their place in the gop presidential primary march 6th. with open primaries any registered voter can cast a ballot. they tried to make sure primary voters stick with the gop nominee come november. they ask voters to sign this loyalty oath. state central committee member said they originally thought a pledge would boost gop turn out. >> we realized it would have the opposite effect. many people we want voting are independents, tea party folks

and might be offended by this. >> reporter: they got an earful over the holidays from voters. he was one of the first to speak out against the pledge. they criticize it as unenforceable and something that would scare supporters away. >> here is something we are doing to ourself. ironically, the liberals must love this. >> reporter: now bob mcdonnell asked them to rescind it. the effect of the oath could be one of diminishing participation at a time our party must be expanding our base. there are strong indications the committee is reconsidering its position. the gop chairman said a they plan to review it in january. >> at the next meeting, it should be rescinded. there will be discussion about it. but it will be taken care of. the democrats might crash the party to nominate a weaker

candidate. >> we are hear it all the time. i don't agree with it. there's not a lot of evidence that says that. >> reporter: julie carey, news 4. >> the board meets january 24th. they took a poll on whether or not to pull the pledge. the death of a girl in virginia is raising new questions about the way schools and parents handle students with severe allergies. this 7-year-old died on monday afternoon. it happened shortly after she was exposed to peanuts during recess at an elementary school near richmond. her mother told the school about the child's allergy problems. now, the mother wants to know what went wrong? >> i'm angry. i don't know who to be angry with at this point. my main concern is how was she exposed? what happened after she was exposed?

>> one and one -- >> we are told the first grade child is allergic to eggs, shellfish and chocolate. the mother is expected to meet with school leaders soon. an instant millionaire. meet the man who hit the jackpot in the virginia lottery and what he plans to do next. >> reporter: frederick county schools says a sleeping child was overlooked on a bus and the driver went home.

welcome back, everybody. i'm meteorologist doug kammerer. here in storm center 4 watching the cool weather move out and the warm weather move in. 46 degrees after a high of 50 degrees. a nice afternoon. still on the cool side, but nothing cool about the forecast tomorrow. storm 4 doppler radar showing things are all clear. it's how they are going to stay. do not expect rain or snow anytime soon. 25 in gaithersburg. 24 in frederick. it's going to be a fairly cold night tonight. nothing compared to a couple nights ago. tomorrow, spectacular! we'll call it a fantastic friday. high temperature of 56 degrees in d.c. leesburg, look at manassas. cull pupper, 59.

charlottesville and maybe around fredericksburg, temperatures around there around 60 degrees. that would not be bad at all for a friday. >> we would like that, thanks, doug. in loudoun county, the sheriff's office reports six middle school students went to class drunk. it happened in chantilly. police say the kids who were 12 to 14 years old apparently drank alcohol before school started today. officials notified the school resource officer after one of the kids went to the nurse's office because he was sick. parents were notified. none of the kids required emergency medical attention. there's an apology from the school system. two days ago, a 5-year-old girl fell asleep and was left alone on a school bus. her parents were not notified. erika gonzalez reports on what

went wrong. >> this is a very unfortunate oversight on her part and a number of lack of communication instances, a series of them that resulted in this situation. >> reporter: frederick county public schools can't account for human error. that's what they say happened when a 5-year-old child was left sleeping on a bus. the result of the driver not conducting a mandatory sweep. the spokesperson for the school district says it was last tuesday when the driver picked up a 5-year-old girl from her day care and went to the school where the child attends pre-k. the child didn't make it to class on time. it was 45 minutes later, after the bus driver made it to her home that she discovered the child and took her to school. >> the driver had not left the bus and noticed the child still there. >> reporter: the driver personally walked the child into the secretary's office. the driver thought the school would notify the parent of what happened.

the school thought the transportation department would notify the parent. neither of which happened. the district says the child is the one who broke the news to her mother and the principal was not notified until the following day. the district says the child was never harmed. we tried contacting the girl's parent but before unsuccessful. as for the driver of the bus? >> this is an experienced driver without a blot on her record. >> reporter: the school says the bus driver will face disciplinary action. in maryland, erika gonzalez, news 4. >> the principal of glade elementary school spoke with the staff after the incident and needs to be notified if anything like this happened again. west virginia scored again. >> my goodness. >> incredible. a historic performance by the

mountainee mountaineers. the root of their problems. the capitals -dad, why are you getting that? -that's my cereal. is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. is it a robot? no. is it a jet plane? nope. is it a dinosaur?] [ male announcer ] inside every box of heart healthy cheerios are those great tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that c help lower cholesterol. stickers? uh-uh. a superhero? ♪ kinda. [ male announcer ] and we think that's the best prize of all. ♪

you know, we laugh and joke and talk a lot of smoke. >> yep. >> i feel sorry for those guys. for the seniors, last time out, you don't want to be embarrassed like that. a bad tasten your mouth for the rest of your life. >> you feel sorry for the west virginia seniors. >> i feel sorrier for clemson. >> it's a bad way to end. >> you are feeling sorry for

clemson because -- >> a sensitive guy. >> so sensitive. they beat a pulp out of clemson. they reach ed a new plateau by scoring 70 points. to put that in perspective, it's 15 points less than the basketball team scored. the west virginia football team crushed clemson and the orange bowl mascot. we are in miami. the defense also making plays. second quarter, the tiger have the ball. hand off to ellington. looks like he might get in. not so fast. the ball is stolen away by darwin cook. no one in front of him. he returns it, 99 yards for the touchdown. mountaineers up. cook crashing into obie, the orange mascot. no mascot was injured in the making of the highlights.

56-20, west virginia. smith to austin. look at this here. makes a move. 36 yard touchdown. smith threw six touchdowns. austin had four td catches tieing a record. west virginia wins big, 70-33. mountaineers improved to 3-0. buccaneers head coach for an assistant coaching job according to mike jones of the washington post. morris was fired after a 4-12 season in tampa. turning to basketball. the team that plays at verizon center that's not getting paid is making their fans smile. it's the truth. last night, georgetown was money erasing a deficit. georgetown students witnessing an ethic game at verizon center. nine minutes to go. the senior drives. hits the bucket and one.

a game high, 26 points. they trail by nine. just over two minutes to go. sims, henry sims making a play. he had 13 points. georgetown takes the lead. under 30 seconds left. sims to thompson. he buried the three-pointer. eight of 16 points come in the final minutes. o odem for the tie. no good. clark grabs the rebound. hoyas won 11 in a row. here is the head coach. >> first off, we are not going to talk about the first half. that was borderline embarrassing, i thought. you know, then as bad as the first half was, i guess i'm proud of the guys for what they did in the second half,

strapping up. it's the only way to put it. >> georgetown taking care of business. they play at west virginia saturday. nba now. a miserable night for the wizards. washington missed 12 shots from the floor. dwight howard dominated. they start the season, 0-6 for the first time in history. today, they had a meeting. rolls were established. all righty. rashard lewis sharing pleasan y pleasantries with howard. not in my house. big block. misses. howard with the rebound. magic going the other way. nelson knocks down the three-pointer. 7-0, orlando. mcgee trying to play defense. perfect pass. a monster dunk.

howard had 17 points in the first half. third quarter, 63-42. howard with another dunk. a game-high 28 points and 20 rebounds. 103-85. wizards drop to 0-6. what was said today in the players only meeting? >> a lot of guys trying to say this is the reason. the reason is us. we have nobody to blame but ourselves. we all said our piece. hopefully, all the guys checking in and take it to be sensitive or to them or they didn't want to hear it. everything said today needed to be said. it needs to be done. >> up next for the wizards, a home game against the knicks on friday. cal gary is ready.

suspended for elbowing backstrom in the head. he was back practicing today. he says he will make the trip to san jose. fun at practice this morning. ovechkin made a bet on the outcome of the jr. championship semifinals. the russians won 6-5. he had to wear a russian jersey. here is how he felt about wearing it. >> i'm a man of my word. the coaches didn't help me out at all. i asked if i could wear it for the first couple drills. they said whatever the bet is, you have to do it. >> it was very funny. i was glad they won. >> they try to make the lettering all across everywhere. i'm surprised he didn't give me stickers to wear on my helmet. >> i'm sure another jersey will be worn here. it should be interesting.

tonight, caps prospect of getting russia play sweden for the championship gold medal. there might be more friendly wagering there. >> in russia and sweden, that must be a huge, huge event they are looking forward to. >> it's going to be great. i'll have it at 11:00. coming up, holiday retail numbers are in. for all your news, we invite you to follow news 4 onlin

a special ribbon cutting in northwest washington is for a housing complex for seniors. the senior center is located on missouri avenue. it features 36 furnished studio apartments. the units are targeted for low-income hispanic residents. rent ranges from $280 and $850. the residents must be at least 55 years of age to qualify. it was a good holiday season for retailers. holiday sales were not as robust as in 2012 but finished on a high note. shoppers were willing to splurge. shoppers with the best deals did the best. michelle franzen has the story. >> reporter: the majority of retailers are ringing in the new

year thanks to holiday shoppers. >> i had a job and the economy was a little better. i did a little more shopping than last year. >> reporter: sales for the season were up, 3.3% overall. analysts say stores had to go all out. consumers waited until the end to spend. >> it was a very promotional christmas. we called it a white knuckle christmas. it came late and it was on sale. >> reporter: on a budget, shoppers look to get the most for their dollar. >> i spent less this year. i was shopping with discounts. i wanted to get all the discounts i could. all the sales. >> reporter: there was a twist on stores that did well this season. big department stores like macy's. discount giants like torgt and kohl's saw weaker sales. walmart slashed prices further. >> walmart was focused on

winning back the holiday. it took a toll on many. sears was one, a horrible season. >> reporter: the company will close as many as 120 sears and k-mart stores after sales slipped 27%. the challenge for all retailers will be getting shoppers to spend again without counting on all the deep discounts. michelle franzen, nbc news, new york. >> let me correct what i said leading into the story. i meant to say they were not as robust this past holiday as in 2010, not 2012. we don't know how those sales are going to go yet. >> mr. bernanke might like to have you. >> because i'm such a good predictor. >> we have some news coming up tonight. another night of huge delays on metro's orange and blue lines.

we are learning more about a group of middle school kids in virginia who got drunk and went to school. also, a new name for the hot lanes that are causing so much construction hassells and problems, i guess i'm supposed to say in virginia. >> the empowerment lanes or something like that. we'll find out at 11:00. >> you talk about hassells, that's the most hasselled area in the world. >> lots of delays. not many complaints about the weather at the moment. >> you are not going to have any complaints. 56 on friday. 57 on saturday. a little cooler but not too bad. no cold air at all. no folks, still no chances of snow. a big chance of rain in the middle of next week. >> thank you, doug. every now and then somebody wins the lottery. you have to say good for them. actually, most of the time. warner ashbyy is one of those

guys. he lives in rockville. he's a chauffeur and have been for years. today, he collected $1 million from the virginia new year's millionaire raffle. he says he bought 20 tickets for the lottery. he didn't check the numbers. then he read online somewhere the winning ticket was purchased at the 7-eleven in grape falls. that's where he bought his tickets. >> i said goly, i bought a ticket at that store. i started, you know, going through my tickets. of course, you know, the numbers matched up. i said holy moly, this can't be right. >> it was. he says he doesn't know what he's going to do with the money. other than visit his daughter and granddaughter in tennessee. he always wanted to go to hawaii. he'll pr