good morning, everyone. welcome to "news4 midday." i'm barbara harrison. thursday, january 12, 2012. we have breaking news from southeast washington right now. police say three juveniles were shot near martin luther king elementary school which is now on lockdown. the shooting happened a little more than an hour ago near the intersection of alabama avenue and wheeler road. news4's tracee wilkins is live on the scene and has details for us now. >> reporter: good morning, barbara. first of all, i want everyone to understand we spoke with folks inside of the school and while the shooting happened around the elementary school, it does not

appear anyone inside of the school involved. parents who are worried about what may be happening with their kids. no one inside of the school was injured and also does not appear anyone associated with can school was involved in what happened here. that's good news. the school is on lockdown. meaning no one is allowed inside or outside of the group now. let me show you what's going on here behind me. the police have the scene here and this is just a small portion of the scene. the police chief is saying that they are looking at probably about four different scenes here associated with multiple shootings that happened this morning in southeast. near that elementary school. she is saying the scene stretches on for about 20 blocks. here now from the police chief as she describes what happened this morning after police officer nearby heard gunshots. >> immediately after hearing gunshots one victim at that time location. that victim has been transported to an area hospital. stable conditions is all i have right now. there were multiple gunshots.

two different groups were pursued by officers. we now have a total of three victims, two shot in the leg, one shot elsewhere in the body. and we also have multiple people in custody. there was a brief pursuit after this incident. there was an apprehension after that pursuit. we have a couple of people in custody there. we have recovered at least one weapon. th that search is still going on. >> reporter: this investigation has been moving quickly. they are saying that they have three victims, again, as you heard there, all of the victims are in stable condition. according to the chief. and then two additional people who are in custody who they are questioning. they are saying we are looking at folks most likely have been in the age of 17, 18, 19 years old. we are talking about older teenagers. again, chief is saying that at this point there's so much happening here on the scene and because this investigation is just beginning, it is too early for her to say whether there

were shots exchanged between two groups or one group shooting at another group. or if their victims were the folks who were firing guns or if they were actually just victims of this incident. all of that has to be investigated. i can also tell you that since we have been here this morning, they continued to extend this crime scene further and further out from the center mere the elementary school. so as they get new information, they moved the tape back and are still investigating. hopefully we will have more information soon. tracee wilkins live this morning in southeast. back to you in the studio. >> thank you for that report. we will continue to follow this story. right now metro's board is meeting to discuss its general manager's new budget proposal. main topic of discussion is a 5% fare hike. megan mcgrath has the budget breakdown for us. >> reporter: good morning, barbara. this is a $1 opinion 6 billion budget and it contains money that would allow neft to hire about a thousand new employees.

it also has money so they can aggressively replaces can a lators and money so that they can improve safety along the metro system. now where is all of this money coming from, you may ask? some of it may come from the pockets of riders. ask about fare increases and you will find plenty of unhappy riders. >> i think it is ridiculous. we, you know, we use this transportation every day. things aren't operating properly. >> i think it is not good. i think it is -- people can't afford it. it is hard times. >> i'm not upset but will pay because it is cheaper than driving. >> reporter: the general manager says higher fares are necessary to continue with maintenance and repairs and to maintain service. he formally presented his budget proposal to the board this morning. >> well under way. >> reporter: if passed smartrip fares would increase 5% bringing the maximum charge to $5.75 to during rush hour and $3.50

during off-peak hours. a flat rate for $6 during rush hour and $4 all other times. it is the same price no matter where you travel. there is some good news. the plan would also get rid of the peak of the peak surcharge. that could actually offset any fare increase for some riders. >> peak of peak customers because the surcharge is going away, more than half of them will see noyn crease or actually a slight decrease. >> reporter: this is just the start of a long process before hikes could happen. there needs to be discussion. public hearings and final approval by metro's board. that said, some riders and board members believe a fare increase is inevitable. >> costs go up. the demand on the system in order to maintain it, police, all of that, change, and it has to be paid for. >> we have to keep the system

going. and prices keep rising in the area. i think it is a good thing. >> reporter: metro's general manager is calling for an 8% increase in the subsidies paid by the local jurisdictions served by metro. if the board does approve fare hikes, they wouldn't kick in until july 1st. barbara, back to you. >> thank you so much, megan, for that report. take a look at the backup on the outer loop of the beltway this morning after a multicar accident there. this hneapped around 6:30 this morning. just after connecticut avenue. police are investigating if weather may have been a factor. the backup lasted for hours. and the heavy rain lasted for hours as well. but it looks like it is finally moving out. tom kierein joins us with the first forecast now. tom? >> yes. rained for about 17 hours but we only had about an inch or so of rain. so it didn't come really hard a lot of the time. enough for ponding of water and certainly wet this morning for the commute and no doubt that certainly contributed to that

accident. and as we look at temperatures, it is climbing to near 50 degrees in washington and the nearby suburbs in prince george's, arlington, fairfax, montgomery counties. warmer, fredericksburg, to 54. part to our south, low 50s. culpeper, charlottesville, stanton, virginia. farther north and west in the mid 40s. and to the upper 30s near 40 out of the mountains. here is where we were last night at 11 cloak. we had some of the heavy downpours coming into northern virginia. and the district and washington. didn't last long, though. quickly moved off to the north and we dried out after sunrise. and since then we have had some sunshine in and out but a lot of clouds to our north as well as to the west. but south of washington, there's quite a bit of shine. there are a pew sprinkles of rain up in pennsylvania and in parts of eastern kentucky but farther to the west there's snow where it is turning much colder. that cold air will be arriving here later tonight after midnight. for the rest of the afternoon partly sunny and cool. temperatures in the 50s and maybe briefly near 60. areas to our south of the metro area, and north and west in the

low to mid 50s to the afternoon. that big change coming tonight. we will talk about that in just a couple of minutes. maybe a little bit of accumulating snow. and cold pattern to the weekend. all details coming up. >> sea saw we have been having lately with the weather and temperatures. thanks, tom. we will see you in a few minutes. we just showed you those problems on the beltway. we had problem was the commute this morning. let's see how things are moving now. here is danella sealock. >> good morning. still have a few problems. let's start in southeast d.c. alabama avenue is closed for martin luther king avenue to 7th street in southeast while police are investigating. also, we have water repair taking place right now and it is closing. 14th street in northeast from irving street to kearney street. also another closure. jackson street is also closed between 13th and 15th street. again, this is all water service repair. and inner loop of the beltway we have a disabled vehicle blocking the right lane. this is at route 7. your delay starts as you make

your way past little river turnpike and slow on the inner loop in virginia. but i-270 faring much better. not seeing any issues. heading southbound or northbound, father hurley. >> danella, thank you. despite a proposal to raise taxi fares cab drivers say they want even higher rates. last month the d.c. taxi cab commission proposed raising rates about 60 cents to $2.16 a mile. cab drivers feel some of the changes would cut into their profits. they are angry with proposed changes to cab regulation which is would require all new taxis to be less than 5 years old. and right now police in the district are looking for man they say sexually assault ad juvenile. the assault happened at around 5:00 last night on hayes street northeast. near merit middle school. they are conducting interviews about the incident. they can't release any information on a possible suspect. and we have an update now to

a story first brought to you yesterday on "news4 midday." montgomery county police say that the man that broke into a montgomery county home early yesterday morning apparently struck elsewhere in the county earlier in the week. police say that yesterday morning, he tied up a mother, teenage son, their housekeeper, and that was on bardon road in bethesda. detectives believe the same man rob ad woman at gunpoint inside of her wheaton townhouse tuesday morning, the day before. this is the man they are looking for. police believe he used his victims' atm cards, one at a cvs and the other at an atm in oxon hi hill, maryland. coming up from the u.s. to afghanistan. harsh reaction to a video showing four marines urinating on the corpses of taliban fighters. what's now being done about the video and finally, the debate is settled. who makes better drivers? men or women? the results may surprise you. coming up. stay with us.

new video is sparking outrage around the world. it shows four marines urinating on the corpses of taliban fighters. the marine corps is still working to verify the authenticity of this video but told nbc news that it appears to

be legitimate. the video posted on youtube shows four u.s. marines urinating on three dead taliban fighters in afghanistan. the men are believed to be from a sniper team based out of camp lejeune, north carolina. the marine corps released a statement saying they are investigating the video and that the marines involved could face criminal charges. the south's first primary is nine day ace way now. gop presidential candidates are already raising the heat in south carolina and getting personal. ♪ >> i like being able to fire people that provide services to me. we hired a lawn company to knmo our lawn. we went to the company and said you can't have any illegals on my property. i'm running for office. can't have any illegal. >> a new web ad. it highlights some of mitt romney's biggest gaffes. gingrich and rick perry are also taking aim at romney's time as the head of a major venture

capital firm. bane capital. >> i happen to think that the companies like bane capital could have come in and help these companies. if they truly were a venture capitalist, but they are not. they are vulture capitalists. >> i think it is about envy and about class warfare. i think it is something we expected to come from president obama. we didn't expect that newt gingrich and rick perry would become the witnesses for his prosecution, if you will. and i don't think it helped them. >> romney's camp is preparing to respond with an ad campaign of their own. >> if you stick with me, we are going to finish what we started in 2008. >> president obama is rallying his base for his re-election campaign. one of three dinners in chicago last night to raise money. president told supporters the change he promised in 2008 can still come if they renew their energy and work even harder this time around.

he never specifically mentioned new hampshire or front-runner mitt romney but said that the election would present a clear choice for voters. the xwaem campaign raised $68 million in the final three months in 2011. one of the poorest countries in the world is remembering a devastating earthquake that struck two years ago. more than 220,000 people were killed when the 7.0 cake hit the island nation of haiti. today much of the capital and presidential palace are still in ruins. many of the nearly 2 million left homeless are still living on the streets despite more than a billion dollars in aid. a cholera end deckic hit after the quake compounded the recovery effort. and right now, authorities are trying to determine if a tornado did touchdown in north carolina. three people were hurt when the appear entwister tore across would counties yesterday. the storm damaged dozens of buildings and trailer parks.

holmes were reduced to piles of rubble and one family was even trapped in the basement when the family home was destroyed. we have our weather to contend with here. nothing quite so devastating as that. we have a lot of rain, though. >> yeah. that was the same storm system that came up through our region. it did diminish a lot in the intensity but certainly got the rain from it. about about an inch or so fell throughout much of the metro area right now we are drying out and have that sun out and it is at 48, partly cloudy. reagan national. we have a wind coming in out of the south and southwest. and current temperatures around much of virginia hit the low 50s from fredericksburg to culpeper and charlottesville into southern maryland. farther to the north in the upper 40s now in fairfax county, arlington, prince george's and montgomery counties. in the shenandoah valley, generally in the 50s to 40s. stanton at 54. winchester, 46. and cumberland down to 39 and western maryland. there was the storm from yesterday and overnight and quickly exiting heading out

towards new england. being replaced by a few clouds coming through. quite a bit of sunshine through much of virginia. cloudy over the mountains now and as we go forward over the next 48 hours, we will have cold air surging in tonight and by around 1:00 in the morning, could have some rain in this zone here. green zone. also this could be farther west and north in the form of wet snow and certainly likely some snow falling out in western maryland and much of west virginia as we get through friday and friday morning by dawn it will be gone. we will have sunshine here but some continuing snow showers western maryland and much of northern west virginia. and they could pick up several inches of snow there. here locally not much at all predawn. during the day friday, lots of sun with gusty winds and saturday, lots of sunshine, too. but much colder weather moving in. so for the rest of the thursday afternoon, we will have some of the clouds in and out. that means light breeze out of the south and southwest. temperatures climbing into the 50s to near 60 degrees. the 60-degree temperatures will be southern maryland through north central virginia. farther to the north, generally in the mid 50s or so for highs

around the metro area this afternoon. then this evening, we will drop back into the low 50s early evening. sunset at 5:07. then by midnight down into the upper 40s, then it is after midnight that the cold air surges in and that's when we will have perhaps some of the wet snow especially in this dark blue zone here in western maryland, northern west virginia by dawn on friday. they could have up to four inches there. then the lighter blue zone, shenandoah valley, eastern west virginia, panhandle of west virginia, frederick, washington counties and maryland, there could be maybe an inch, perhaps up to two inches some of the higher ridges from the passing snow showers. and mainly on grassy areas, especially closer to washington, road temperatures above freezing. any of the snow that would fall would be melting on roadways. just a very light coating on our northern western suburbs in the grassy areas of northern montgomery county, western howard and maryland. and southern loudoun county and northern fauquier county in virginia. that system quickly moving away.

again, it is about a 40% to 50% chance. windy and cold tomorrow. highs only around 40. then plummeting to the low 20s by dawn on saturday. lot of sun on saturday. but cold. highs in the mid 30s. teens on sunday morning. sunday afternoon partly cloudy, mid 30s and martin luther king jr. day, monday should be sunny but cold, again teens in the morning. afternoon highs 30s. rain tuesday. reminder, it is a winter month. >> i saw some tulips coming up today. >> poor things. >> thank you, tom. we will check in again with you shortly. now we are going to see how things are moving on the roads. here is dan allege. >> good morning. barbara, let's take a look at some of our area roadways. route 50 from 301 to the beltway. 62 miles per hour. not bad. i-95 in virginia heading nornth from prince william county to the beltway. 61 miles per hour. on i-66, you are looking really good from fairfax county parkway to the beltway. 47 miles per hour. not so bad.

bash remarks back over to you. >> thank you, danella. it is now 11:and still ahead we will introduce you to talented students who made waves at this year's poetry slam in d.c. what you need for a home gym. from hand weights to large pieces of equipment. steve hayes runs down what is available.

getting in shape doesn't mean you need a gym membership. steve hayes joins us this morning with a look at exercise equipment that's perfect for the home. welcome. good to see you again. who did you bring with you? >> chip, manager of legion fitness. >> that's where some people go to get their home equipment. is that right? >> yes. >> you have been showing us places we can go in the gym and things we can do but you say you don't have to go anywhere. you can stay at home. >> exactly. >> tell us about what you need. >> first of all, you can get the little bitty heavyweights. let me show thank you difference in heavyweights. you see one was colors. those are user friendly. hand one is soft and you can get a grip whereas these, little bit hard on the hands. you may need something to put in will. >> chip, when you -- people come in and are asking about these heavyweights, what do you tell them is the difference? i like the pretty ones, of course. is there any reason to buy the -- this one, the traditional type weight over the -- plastic coated one? >> it is a little bit of personal preference.

pretty matters, of course. >> the vinyl or neoprene covered on those will be far more comfortable. >> i see. >> these -- >> are they more expensive? >> about the same price as the -- type you see in the gym. you can get gloves. but -- with the neoprene and vinyl covered dumbbells you don't need the gloves. again, not comfortable you are not going to do it. >> some people think these are for girls or guys? because of the colors? what? >> these you can actually get in smaller. >> steve hayes doesn't lift theskind of heavyweights. >> yes, i do. >> yes, i do. >> heavyweights are traditional but bands are relatively new. >> little bit, yes. they have been used d in thera >> inexpensive addition to a home gym and you can see -- i think -- >> we have -- >> show us how you can use them. >> this one is very unique. this is a triple band. this is the one when we use you

can do -- a lot of different exercises with it but three in one. >> i see. you are going to show us how you can use that? >> for instance, showies going to do a pull. >> does this take two people to do it? doorknob? >> you can do a doorknob. exactly. kicker is that -- resistance, just take one of them off. >> having the triple bands gives you more resistance. >> more resistance. >> i see. okay. about how much does something like this cost? >> these are the $30.99. they are adjustable. they come with this little pouch. it makes them very easy to travel with. pouch. take it the trip with you. >> bigger equipment, tell us about that. >> this is great. this is what you call your multipurpose gym. explain it. you see how user friendly it is. >> with the inspire fitness home gym i'm on there, you can -- see how quickly and easily i can adjust from exercise to exercise

and -- across america, they were surveyed a few years ago. two top reasons for not exercising, don't know how or when. don't have time. >> how much something like that cost if you want something like that in your house? >> $2495. >> if somebody wants that instead after gym membership. >> middle of the road. a whole range. >> even higher. nutrition tip? >> soup. january is national soup month. let me tell you something, nutritio nutritious. if you don't want the extra calories you can get it out and more than that, it is that -- you are going to love it. >> all right. chip, thanks for joining us today. steve, always great to see you. 11:27. coming up, we are going to have the latest on a baby rescued. a man arrested at the occupy d.c. camp. plus who are the better drivers, men or women? statistics from an insurance company. we will tell you how is better.

extreme changes from 60s to snow in hours.

right now, three people are in the hospital after they were shot in southeast washington. police say someone opened fire early this morning. near alabama avenue southeast. all lee victims are expected to survive. police are questioning two people in connection with the shootings. here's our top story right

now. metro's general manager propose ad new budget that includes a 5% increase to bus and rail fares. the public will have a chance to weigh in on the budget during public hearings in february and march. all right right now, friends and family are gathering to honor and remember an army specialist from woodsboro, maryland. roadside bomb in afghanistan killed ronald l i. his casket was brought back home yesterday. dozens of family and residents lined the streets with american flags paying their respects to the army specialist. tomorrow he will receive a military funeral with full honors at arlington national cemetery. this morning, child provide techive servic i protective services is taking care of a baby girl found alone. this is exclusive video of the 13-month-old being taken out of an ambulance there.

a woman spotted her yesterday morning when the little girl was -- started crying. the woman said she was wearing nothing but a onesie. >> her hands were like popsicles. she was only wearing very thin mittens. everybody here is disgusted by this and frightened by it and abhorred by what happened. >> park police arrested man who claimed to be her guardian. he faces child neglect charges. newly released documents giving us a look inside the mind of casey anthony. a judge unsealed the depositions of two mental health experts who evaluated anthony before she went on trial for her daughter caylee's death. in the documents, anthony says she's not sure who caylee's father actually is. she said back in with our she was drunk at a party and believed she was a victim of date rape. anthony also says her father, george, is responsible for caylee's death. believing he drowned her because, quote, something went wrong. the doctors who evaluated anthony says she was

surprisingly cheerful despite the murder accusations and also said she was detached from a lot of her feeling and emotions and she uses lies as a protective measure. and even with all of those observations the doctors testified that there was no evidence of mental illness. more than a dozen inmates in mississippi may not get out of jail any time soon despite being pardoned. a judge issued a temporary injunction late last night blocking the release of 21 inmates. the state's attorney general requested the injunction and he believes the governor haley barbour may have violateded the constitution by pardoning some inmates that didn't give sufficient public notice that they were seeking to have their records cleared. he infuriated many of his constituents by pardoning more than 200 convicts during his final days in office. several of those pardoned inmates were convicted of murder and other violent crimes. mississippi's attorney general calls the pardons an insult to his hard work.

>> slap in the face to me as a prosecutor for serving 20 years and that -- we have to go back and try to round up all of these convicts that have been turned loose. and try to fix the mess that he created. >> barbour's office says 90% of those who received clemency weren't in prison when their barreds were granted. we are going to check in again with tom kierein for the latest on the forecast. tom, are we expecting to go from 60 down to what, 32? >> yes. up and down we go. and we are on the upside right now. temperatures are climbing. we are into the 50s throughout much of virginia. closer to washington, it is in the upper 40s. farther to the west and northwest, it is -- into the low 40s. and it is going to continue to climb up to around 60 this afternoon. look at what's happening over the past few hours. quite bait of shine as well. especially in virginia. lot of clouds to our west ahead of the cold front coming in after midnight tonight. as it comes into the mountains, could be two to four inches of snow in the higher ridges and

shenandoah valley and points west and north of there could get an inch or two, mainly on grassy areas especially to the higher elevations and much closer to washington, maybe just a few flurries around the metro area, maybe a very light dusting around the blue ridge and northern montgomery county, southern loudoun and up into western howard. as just a small chance of that by the way and does not look like it is inevitable. after that, it is just going to be turning cold and windy on friday with highs near 40. much colder for saturday, sunday, martin luther king jr. day. teens to near 20 in the morning, afternoon highs in the 30s. we will have sunshine in and out saturday, sunday, monday. maybe rain on tuesday. barbara? >> all right, tom. thank you. age-old question that's been debated for years. who are better drivers. new studies set out to find the answer. >> we have all heard the jokes women are bad drivers but women are actually getting the last laugh here. new study from four auto

insurance says women are, in fact, the better, safer drivers. take a look here. the study compared traffic violations, accidents and insurance prices statistics between men and women. take a look at it here. 80% of male drivers cause all deadly or serious accidents. men are also three times more likely to get a traffic violation than women. that includes speeding tickets. reckless driving as well as duis. taking a look at the map here. men are paying for their bad driving habits literally. the statistics directly correlate with auto insurance rates and we take a look at the state of maryland here. men pay 7.8% more for car insurance than women do. going back to the map, heading south to the state of virginia, virginia men pay 4.7% more for car insurance than women do and finally, looking at the district of columbia, d.c. is the worst on average men pay 16% more for car insurance than women do. back to you.

>> okay. you this thank you, memorandum ace. let's check in on the midday traffic. do you agree with that? >> i totally agree, barbara. >> i do, too. >> all right. let's head over to d.c. first and southeast still had police activity slowing you down and closing alabama avenue between mlk avenue as well as 7th street, be aware of that as you are making your commute. live look at robinson terminal. inner loop of the beltway not so bad at this time. and in maryland, actually here is a travel speed for you. 42 miles per hour. now over to maryland. here we go. maryland not seeing any issues at colesville road. inner loop and outer loop accident-free and no delays at this time. barbara, back to you. >> okay. thank you. over 800 poet athletes representing 27 schools in our area recently competed on stage during a two-night poetry slam. two of the standout poems, they wrote themselves and recited them. they join us this morning along

with corey from d.c. scores to tell us all about the poetry. welcome. we are so glad to have you. we had the winners last year and really enjoyed it so we couldn't wait to see who came back this time. welcome. tell us about the poetry to start off. >> we just had d.c. scores 14th annual poetry slam. the largest competitive youth poetry slam in d.c. and dark it was held over two nights on guest 1 and 2nd this year. and these two young people were overwhelmingly identified by the judges as outstanding individual poe. >> aren't we lucky to have them with us. how old are you? >> 10. >> yeah. what grade are you in? >> 5th. >> where do you go to school? >> noah's education campus. >> i can't wait to hear your poem. what's the name of it? >> "what happened to the dream." >> i can't wait to hear it. how about you? tell us about your poem? >> my name is deandre. >> i should ask you that first. how old are you? >> i am 9. i am in fourth grade. i go to psp.

and my poem is called "love." it is about all the things that can be or made of love and the things that represent love. >> can't wait to hear it. quickly tell us now, the students who participate have to be athletes and poets. is that right? >> that's correct. >> encouraging both sides of -- >> yes. this combination of athletics, academics and arts is what we think makes our program really special. we use this innovative great combination of poetry, spoken word. >> well, deandre wants you to go first. he says ladies first. waep want studded can't wait to hear you. >> it is called "what happened to the dream." martin luther king had a dream to make peace in the world but now it seems no one cares

everyone is acting like wild bears dr. king was very kind and had a brilliant mind if dr. king were to see this terrible tragedy he would feel unappreciated he would see people that fight in the middle of the night killing for no reason destroying families for seasons his words move swiftly like the ocean waves listening to his speeches for days he said we should all be free but today those thoughts are history i can't go back in time but i know the future is mine i believe in his dream i follow his dream do you believe can you achieve if you can, let's come together to make peace, to make dr. king's dream reality. >> very well done. beautiful poem. you wrote it yourself and recited it wonderfully. congratulations. and now deandre, do you want us to hold your award for you while -- do you need your hands to recite your poem? >> sure, thank you.

>> you hold it for him. ready, go. >> ply name is deandra. my poem is called "love." like an era in flight within it no one is always right fresh and succulent as a peach rarely can it be reached may the beauty with no beast she was killed fast asleep but you can hear her weep through the winter breeze right under your feet makes you fall to your knees throughout ease not a beast more treaty of peace it is as good as honey but not as fun sweet here in the tummy and gas as a gummy it is not ugly or mighty it is my mom who has care and heart a great amount of it too it is love. >> beautiful. thank you both for coming. corey, thank you for bringing your poetry slam winners and want to show that trophy? all right. congratulations. and good luck.

>> thank you. >> glad to have you with us. still ahead, a new strain of the swine flu. what states are seeing with the virus. importantget dot-com or dot-org. why your here's a friendly reminder. it's your last chance to get verizon's reliable high speed internet and phone for small business for only $84.99 a month. call 1.866.solutions now or visit verizon.com/solutions. only $84.99 for high-speed internet and phone. plus your choice of either no annual contract or a two year price guarantee. call 1.866.solutions or visit verizon.com/solutions today. hurry -- this offer won't last long.

contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 1-800-974-6006

at least a dozen people are infected what appears to be a new strain of swine flu. new strain is called n3n2v.

it is not covered by the flu vaccine. the people infected with this strain live in west virginia, pennsylvania, indiana, iowa and maine. cdc says it is still too early to determine if the strain pose as major threat to the population at large. well, forget dot.com, dot.net, your favorite website may have a new domain name. it will now allow to you change the end of your website to whatever you want. the move could be part of -- particularly helpful to businesses which can use domains to reflect their expertise. they gave out changing -- think of changing your domain or your own website, be prepared to pay $185,000 and that's just for the application fee. they sacrificed their careers for their spouses and their country. this week news4 is helping military families with tomorrow's military spouse career forum and hiring fair.

it will be held at the washington national convention center. it goes from 8 clob 30 until 2:30. you must register to attend. there will be free licensed child care for those with little ones. for more information head to our website, nbcwashington.com. stocks are mixed this morning. we are going to check in to get the rest of the business headlines. >> hey, barbara. u.s. stocks have opened mixed after an increase in unemployment claims dampen optimism about strong bond auctions in italy and spain. on to the european markets, the markets continue to be if focus as you know italian prime minister mario monti said thursday he hoped to -- for a swift agreement on a european union treaty to tighten budget controls so that the bloc can focus energy on measures to stimulate economic growth.

italy's borrowing costs dropped sharply as easily sold around 12 million euros, $15 million in bonds and in the first test of market sentiment of the new year. and back to u.s. news foreclosures fell 34% last year to the lowest levels since the recession bank began in 2007. realty track says it doesn't signal the housing market getting any better but rather that banks are taking the time to get the paperwork right. if you are looking for a job, you may want to take a look at home depot, home improvement retailer says it plans to hire more than 70,000 seasonal workers for the spring. that's busiest selling period of the year. and can you name the second ranking search engine behind google? it is no longer yahoo. statistics released by comp score shows it surpassed yahoo for the first time ever. interesting news there. bash remarks back over to you p. >> it is. thank you. our favorite wednesday's child story is a one that lets

us share with you the success of our efforts to find families for kids would need them. today we are taking you back to the ritz-carlton in pentagon song where we first met a little girl named katrina who was hoping for a forever family. she is now katie. >> good morning. >> great to see you. >> this is katie. >> hi. this was katie's first trip back to the ritz-carlton since she was here two years ago as a wednesday's child. hoping for a permanent, loving family. she came back with a brand-new mom and big sister. >> hi. >> pleasure to have you back. >> katie was happy to show her new family for her dream find them had all started. her mom says she saw that wednesday's child video and sees big changes in katie since then. >> i was looking for the life in her eyes and i see it now. right? she's so alive and so joyful. so full of love. she's been an amazing -- she has been an amazing daughter and amazing sister. >> reporter: mary served katie hot chocolate and the rest of us

tea. along with strawberries and other goodies. katie said she had a tea party at school where she learned the lady-like way to use your napkin. susan brown is the principal at katie's school. she says she loved raising victoria but had always wanted more children. >> when i turned 50 i was suddenly single and able to redefine my life and i always wanted a big family. it was the perfect time to make that happen. >> reporter: she says she got the approval of her daughter, victor yeah, who was about to graduate from college. >> i thought it was the best idea in the world. i know how happy it made her and i thought adding a little sister to my life would only make me just as happy. >> reporter: victoria accompanied her mom to the adoption classes and was right there to welcome katie when she joined their family. and the family grew even bigger when they added a new cat to their already big stable of pets. >> i adopted a cat that's name is harper. >> i found harper at my school at a rainstorm and when we

brought harper home and katie first met him and adopted him she said now i understand adoption. you can love something this much and not have -- given birth to them. >> they shared a picture of katie with one of their cats in a book they made that tells their family's wonderful story. and we made a tea toast. especially to the brand-new star of the family, katie. the one with the sparkling eyes and great big smile. if you have room in your home and your heart for one of our other children still waiting, please call our special adoption hotline. the number is 1-88-to-adopt-me or you can logon to our homepage at nbcwashington.com. it is 11:50. meteorologist tom kierein will be back with more on our chance for snow. stay with news4 apple noon long. ellen gets you ready for the golden globes with meryl streep

you can run or walk, of course you can take metro or drive, too, to news4's health and fitness expo. two days away now. stop by washington convention

center and saturday or sunday or both. and mention -- admission is free. doors will open at 9:00 a.m. open until 5:00 p.m. and we are going to be there looking for you thing weekend. ♪ monday is the day we are going to be honor martin luther king jr. there are a lot of events around our area to celebrate dr. king. joining us to talk about a few of them, lavonia of "the washington post." >> great to be here. >> let's talk about the holiday this coming up. we now have a -- memorial to dr. king. and you are going to get to hear from the architect of that memorial this week, right? >> that's right. lot of people may not know that the memorial was really a huge undertaking that took more than two decades to really come to fruition. so the event at the mclean community center this weekend is really cool. on monday, though, they will be bringing in ed jackson the lead architect on the project. he will be talking about the ups and downs of build thing

memorial. and the -- of course, also great weekend to go see the memorial. the event is monday at 3:00 m.m. and admission is $5 and for children, 10 and under, $3. >> there is another event seein >> kennedy center's annual concert. free concert every year. such a big event that they had everyone from patti labelle top. you will have to wait in line for tickets. given out the day of the concert at 5:00 p.m. in the hall of nations at the kennedy center. of course, hopefully you should get in mind, wait it out. 6:00 p.m. is when the concert will start. you will have a great start of getting it. >> local gallery that will honor dr. king on monday and tell us about that. >> that's right. corcoran museum of art is usually closed on monday. this year they are staying open martin luther king's holiday. fantastic exhibition. called 30 americans. which will allow -- which will

allow guests to come in and see the show for free. this is -- show closes february 12th. >> all right. sounds like a lot of good things going on. i'm sure there are even more. thank you for sharing those with us. for more ideas you can logon to washington -- nbcwashington.com or the going out guide on washingtonpost.com. a look at the stories we will be following for news4 this afternoon. pat lawson muse joins us in the newsroom with a preview of things to come. well, we will have that for you coming up shortly. right now, i think we are going to go to tom who is standing by to tell us about the weather. tom? >> yes. what we had all that rain overnight but now the rain has ended and there is a live view of capitol hill. we have sunshine in washington now. and it is at -- 54 here in northwest. and elsewhere it is climbing to around 50 degrees or so. mid 50s through north central virginia from fredericksburg to charlottesville, stanton, virginia. culpeper, farther to the north and west of there, it is in the low to mid 40s where there is quite a bit of cloudiness in

west virginia and much of western maryland. over the last 12 hours, we have had the clouds in and out and we will have them closing in as we get into the evening hours and as the cold air surges into the mountains there could be two to four inches of snow in the dark blue zone, upper left of your screen. that will be between about midnight to around 5:00 a.m. friday that this will happen. then closer to washington, shenandoah valley, an inch perhaps and on some of the grassy areas. some of the higher ridges, western part of the shenandoah valley and up into the highlands of west virginia may get up to two on some of the higher ridges from some snow showers coming in. then much closer to washington, probably have sprinkles of rain, maybe a few flurries. there is only a small chance of a light dusting in northern montgomery county, western howard through loudoun county and along the blue ridge. so shouldn't be causing any problems because any snow that does fall mostly melting on the roads because road temperatures will still be above freezing. it is going to be getting windy and colder on friday. and partly cloudy skies and plummeting temperatures on

friday night. by saturday morning, near 20 degrees, afternoon highs saturday only in the mid 30s with a bit of a blustery wind. lots of sun and partly cloudy skies. morning lows, teens and another cold day on mlk day, monday, martin luther king jr. highs in the upper 30s. >> all right. thank you, tom. that's "news4 midday." we invite to you tune in for news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00, 11:00. we will be back at 11:00 tomorrow morning. we hope you will join us. until then, have a terrific day and we will see you again in the morning. does your cable company keep charging you more... and more... and more? stop paying so much for second best. upgrade to verizon fios and get tv, internet and phone for our best price online: just $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years. you save $600. go to verizon.com/greatprice to sign up now

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