i want to apologize to those i let down, constituents, neighbors, friends, and ward 5.

t the residents. >> councilman created this situation and put himself in it. >> the people of the district of columbia deserve better. >> a dark day for d.c. government. a city council member headed to federal prison for stealing money meant for kids. prosecutors called the guilty plea by harry thomas jr. a lightning quick conclusion to a corruption case. >> no one believes it is the end after the details of thomas' stealing were made public. he started stealing taxpayer fund meant for children in the district as soon as he took office in january 2007. he would steer grant money to nonprofits. they would turn around and kick the money back to thomas according to authorities. among the thing he's bought with taxpayer money. a victory motorcycle, audi, suv, airline tickets. clothing and meals at restaurants. all totaling more than $350,000. tom sherwood is here with more on what happened and, more

importantly, what's ahead for the city. tom? >> some one said, one down, two to go. the thomas case is ending. two major investigations hang over the city. guilty as charged. harry thomas jr.'s response to federal judge john baits. thomas sentenced may 3rd and could get four years in prison. then at the u.s. attorney's office and after months offal solid investigation, it was prosecutor's turn to display thomas's greed. and characterize how he stole money intend ford city children's programs. >> the victim its the whole of the district of columbia. including its youth. almost immediately, almost immediately upon taking office, he made a decision that he was going to systematically steal fund. >> thomas signed ape letter resigning from d.c. council. a special election likely held in may to fill the vacant ward 5

seat. with thomas' probe over, attention turns to the two other high profile criminal investigations. one into the mayor's 2010 campaign and possible illegal use of campaign fund. and the separate criminal probe into kwame brown's, 2008, council campaign spending. >> people are really concerned. now we are looking forward to two possibly elected officials under a similar cloud of doubt. >> the mayor and the chairman have each denied wrongdoing. prosecutors at this point aren't saying anything. jim. >> tom sherwood. thank you, tom. >> breaking news in fort washington, maryland. where a fight broke out at a high school basketball game. it happened at friendly high school. the scuffle in the stand. tonight, a student, assaulted an officer in the bleachers. they both fell. another officer tried to assist the first one. and deployed pepper spray. five students arrested. the officer who fell was taken to a hospital with minor

injuries. metro is trying desperately to figure out why parts of wheels are falling off of its trains. for the second time in as many weeks, the train lost part of its wheel while passengers were on board. derek ward joins us. >> we are here at west falls church. on the other side. a sprawling maintenance facility where work is going on as we speak. as we said, the work was facilitated by the incident that happened on the orange line earlier today. the work started this evening. and is expected to continue through the weekend. at metro rail services facilities like this one in falls church. ordered inspection, of 464 trains. trains with breaking assemblies like the one on the orange line train that lost part of its break assembly midday near stadium armory. >> train was brought to a stop. passengers accommodated on

other trains. >> a track worker saw the piece fall off. and was able to flag the operateor. the train was stopped and inspected on the spot. now more inspections are under way. >> timing is advantageous. >> it was just last week when there was a similar incident. this piece, came off a train during the morning rush. today's incident never rendered the train unstoppable. most riders we spock to were somewhat concerned given that two similar occurrences have happened soap close together. >> i think the service could be better. the safety record stand for it self. >> to me it's poor performance. i'm not trying to put the rail down. maintenance is maintenance. should be done. >> now, this work is expected to maybe carry over into early next week. incidentally this is when metro be guns gins seeking a rate hik. one of the things driving the cost, need, is matter of costs.

back to you. >> derek, thank you. >> in arlington, the road is open after a gas leak this afternoon. it happened in the middle of a road construction project. near route 50. police say workers mistakenly hit a gas main. and an apartment building was evacuated. and the road was shut down for several hours before washington gas was able to seal the leak. >> kicked to the curb. happened along 14th street. in northwest d.c. this evening. some one evicted near v street and furniture clothing old records took up the sidewalk for almost half a block. >> community in prince george's county is rallying to help a family that lost everything in a fire that was caused by a christmas tree. that fire sparked last night in the community of brandywine. jackie benson has our report. >> when you take a look at the damage that was done to this house it is amazing anyone was able to get out alive. a 31-year-old woman and her

6-year-old daughter escaped with just the clothes on their backs. as a fire that began with the christmas tree, raced through the small home on ashbox road thursday night. but one family member did not survive. >> i was very -- touched by the fact that the little girl had just received a puppy for christmas. i am a dog lover. i have two small peltts. >> danielle goddard is principal of baden. news made community want to help though the 6-year-old its not a student. i sent out one e-mail. asking my parent if they could help with a few extra dollars after the holiday. within minutes i had enormous e-mails. >> the girl's mother. staying with family told news 4 she is profoundly grateful for the outpouring. the home is situated in a rural area. not a lot of neighbors. baden is a close knit community. people here very much want to

help this family. jackie benson, news 4. >> a $2,500 reward is offered to help find the person who shot a puppy in maryland. lynette kaufmann found her 7-month-old golden retriever puppy dead behind her home wednesday. humane society of the united states put up the money. any one with information should call frederick county animal control. >> members of the bomb squad are coaching beaches in st. mary's county maryland for military weapons that washed ashore. several pieces of ordinance have been found over the last week near the potomac river. new town state park, shut down. officials believe more explos e explosives are in the sand in combton, colton bay and medley neck areas. >> a helicopter put it back, a marine navigation tower near ocean city. check out this video from the ocean city inlet. u.s. coast guard helicopter

picked up the tower from the ocean to the airport and carried tight a jetty. the tower its used to help boats navigate the inlet. outside right now, almost -- beach weather. how cool is it going to be for those getting up early on -- on saturday morning, doug snau awe i don -- doug? >> i've don't know beach weather. 65 degrees. out there along the beaches towards chesapeake and annapolis. 63, washington. 64, manassas. 66 cull pupper. fredericksberg. temperatures will stay one more day. then we have big changes coming up over seven days including a big storm. i'll show tight you coming up. >> thank you, doug. >> a new nbc news poll shows mitt romney on track for a big win in new hampshire. 42% of those surveyed are in favor of romney. ron paul was in second place. but 20 points behind. rick santorum in third. newt gingrich has fallen 15

points. he now registers at just 9%. most of the republican candidates will be out unfull force this weekend. to get as much support as they can before the primary. tuesday. and mitt romney hosting a rally at 8:00 tomorrow morning in new hampshire. rick santorum is taking part in five events on saturday alone. all of the candidates are set to debat tomorrow night. their final debate before the primary will be sunday morning during a special edition of "meet the press." >> the president of the ncaap, responded to remarks newt gingrich made while campaigning in new hampshire. during a townhall meeting, gingrich pro-posed talks with the organization to establish "why the african-american community should demand pay checks and not be satisfied with food stams." . naacp said to date is a shame the former speaker feels these types of inaccurate divisive statements are in any way helpful to our community.

the majority of people using food stamps are not african-american. they say, gingrich has declined the organization's previous invitations to meet. >> congresswoman gabrielle giffords will go home to tucson, arizona this weekend to mark one year since that awful shooting rampage that killed six people and left her critically wounded. there will be a vigil at the site of the shooting sunday. giffords and her husband, mark kelly will participate. the congresswoman was shot at point-blank range there. she has spent much of the past year in intensive rehabilitation and recovery in houston. six others did not survive the shooting. among them, was 9-year-old christina greene. >> my young daughter in the short nine years, achieved more things than most adults in her lifetime. i call her my beautiful angel. every day i talk to her. >> the suspected gunman, 22-year-old jared loughner. he pleaded not guilty.

currently he is being treated for schizophrenia in prison as part of an effort to get him com compatent to stand trial. >> a woman learned her sentence after throwing her grand daughter off a walk way at ♪ ♪

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last january brought a crime spike to the county. police want to make sure that doesn't happen again. an extra 150 police officers will be on the streets each night targeting critical time and locations. >> officers adjusted schedules. chanced days off to come in and work in order to ensure january is a safe month. >> the increased police presence includes uniformed officers and detectives. >> police in prince georges are searching for the driver who hit two people, trying to cross oxon hill road. two victims not in the cross walk. tonight one is in critical condition. the other is not as seriously injured. we're told people jaywalk along that stretch of highway all the time. news 4 talked to a man in fact hit by a car not too long ago. >> some one come out of home depot. made me a hood ornament. there is very few cross walks. you know you are at your own

risk. if you get hit it is on you. >> police are looking for a gray compact car with front end dam anything. they remind people that it is illegal to cross the street outside of a cross walk in maryland. >> a woman in fairfax could spend the rest of her life in prison for throwing her granddaughter off a tyson's corner walk way. 51-year-old was sentenced to 35 years in prison today. found guilty in october of killing 2-year-old granddaughter. the jury rejected the grandmother's insanity defense. today, de la rosa cried and apologized to her daughter and son-in-law. the little girl's parents did not speak. >> she stole more than $2,000 worth of clothes because of a benign brain tumor. democratic assembly woman, mary hayashi pleaded no contest to misdemeanor grand theft. hayashi was caught by surveillance cameras walking out of neiman marcus with $2,500 in

clothes. she said she was distracted when she walked out of the store. the tumor is now being treated. >> big waves are rolling in right along with unseasonably warm temperatures out west. this is video out of san diego. it was a surfer's delight all along the california coast today. forecasters say the big swells will continue tomorrow. waves between 12 and 17 feet are expected. >> wow. nasa is in a battle with commander of one of its most dramatic missions. james lovell headed the apollo crew. he sold a 70 page checklist from the mission at auction for $388,000. lawyers say, only the space agency can clear nasa property for sale. they claim ownership of the checklist was never transferred to lovell. the list included handwritten calculations that helped guide the damaged spacecraft back to

earth. >> i don't think anyone was worried about the paperwork at the end of that mission. >> wow. no. >> such a -- such a warm night out there. and even, seems warmer because of how freezing cold the was a couple days ago. >> it really is amazing how things changed over the last couple days. we had this arctic cold blast come through here. temperatures down into the teens in many locations wecht s locat. we saw negative numbers three days ago. now talking hitting 63 degrees. simply amazing in the first week of january. take a look outside right now. show you how things are shaping up on this beautiful night tonight. wouldn'tou know it this night just happens to come on a friday night. perfect for everybody who wanted to gout andet out and about. high temperature tuesday reached 63 degrees after a low this morning of 33 degrees. today, the tenth day at or above 60 degrees since december 1.

that is really amazing. i do think we are going to see a couple more 60s. one of them may be cupping tomorr -- coming tomorrow. after that. may see things go downhill. this time of year. talking snow. exactly what we were talking about in january, 1996. january 6, 1996. developing storm to south. made its way up the coast through the seventh and eighth. and the ninth. producing upward of 20 inches of snow. definitely one for the record books here in washington. in philadelphia, the all-time record for snow there. 31 inches. 21 inches, new york city. 19 in boston. you know we get snow this time of year. unfortunately for you snow lovers not anywhere close to the area. out there right now. 48. dech southerly wind continues to keep us on the mild side. still 50 winchester. 54, fredericksburg. couple cooler spots. manassas.

34. storm 4doppler. move to the west. chicago where they normally would see snow this time of year. rain for them too. that is a cold front though. the cold front will sweep our way during the day tomorrow. high temperatures out ahead of the front. 70, st. louis. 61, cincinnati. 69 in memphis. we have warm air ahead of the system that will move in during the day tomorrow. nice and warm. saw warm temperatures today. we'll see them again on your saturday. this as it round 5:00 tomorrow afternoon. the frontal boundary. warm ahead of the front. then on sunday call it cool. but not cold. as we move through the area. and over the next couple days. your forecast for tomorrow morning. looking pri goo ining pretty go. 30 in the suburbs. 40 in city. great start for saturday. tomorrow afternoon. sun, cloud. nice and warm. another great day. 58-63. some areas could be warmer than that. sunday. 49 degrees. 46 on your monday with a slight chance of a shower. best chance south of d.c.

wednesday, thursday. a big storm moves in. going to have potential for a lot of rain. but the bigger news is what comes after that. another cold snap. that one looks to last a lit bit if not a lot longer than the last one we had. >> be sure to got outside this weekend. >> please do. >> and enjoy it. thank you, doug. >> spourprts up next. there the wizards go. less than a minute. they were in the game. all of a

good in the end. boy the third quarter was horrible. >> it was ugly. it was ugly.

>> then they woke up. >> i know. >> do it. >> too little too late. i don't know what to say. >> discouraging isn't it? >> really its. thought it was going to be a win. trending top three on twitter in washington. the wizard. not the one whose play basketball. instead perform magic. wizards of waverly place were actually the talk of the town. season finale of the disney channel show aired tonight. the wizards had magic against the knicks. building a 16 point lead. turned out to be a bad trick. first a woman riding a unicycle flipping bowls on to her head using her feet. impressive. first quarter. wizard up. trevor booker, nick young. buries the three pointer. young, team high 24 points. wizards up 30-18 end of the first. second quarter. new york's tony dug lags triougo make the pass. singleton. 12 off the bench.

stretch their lead to 16. get sloppy. jim vance referred to. bad pass. makes another. carmelo anthony steps in. lays it up and in. carmelo all smiles. less than a minute in the game. wizards down one. grabs the rebound. ahead to john wall. and drives strong to the bucket. gets it to go. wizards regain the lead. 20 second left now. carmelo. off the screen. check this out here. he knocks down a huge three pointer. he pumped in a game high 37 points. here is why anthony got such a good look.trevor booker in the . buries the shot to give new york the lead. big time shot or what. last chance, wizards. down three on the inbounds. nick young. for the tie. and it is off the rim, no good. so close. the wizard lose 99-96. dropping to 0-7.

here's what coach flip saunders had to say after the game. >> great effort from a lot of peep. they played hard. you know, one thing they didn't do. didn't hapg the didn't hang their head. getting lit up. tried to give them help. as the far as some people. you know -- you got carmelo. shoot 50% against you. had a lot of shots. contest aid led a lot of shots. made tough shots. i can't follow the effort not at all. >> wizard will try for their first win of the season sunday at home. down a level. fifth ranked maryland women haven't lost a game this season. terps with a perfect 14-0 record taking on georgia tech. at comcast center. terps get down big. big. second half. georgia tech. and walltower for three. puts georgia tech up by 20. are you kidding me? but the terps rally big time. under 2:00 to go. maryland trails, 74-71.

lauren mincy gets it. pulls up. knocks down the jumper. smooth. terps down one. bench loving it. had 17 points. 20 seconds to go. thomas with the ball. drives. hits the turn around j. plus one. wow. thomas went for the game high 24 points. maryland takes the lead. georgia tech with it. walltower, drives, stripped away. barrett. walltower can't believe it. neither can michelle joseph. see it again. that's all the ball. that's it. terps finish, 16-6 run. come back to beat the yellow jackets. 77-74. perfect 15-0 this season. real quick. penn state hired patriots coordinator, bill o'brien as their new head football coach. >> college le

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