are troubling. >> i am thoroughly disgusted and dismayed by the events alleged to have taken place by these two employees. >> reporter: it is alleged in court documents that 54-year-old vincent hale of woodbridge and 58-year-old horace beckford of bowie helped themselves to thousands of dollars of revenue from riders, most in coins and a good deal used to purchase virginia state lottery tickets. >> it is a betrayal of the trust of our customers, the washington metro, itself, and the thousands of honest employees here. >> sometimes there's bad apples. it happens. but i mean, this has never, ever happened before. i'm sure it probably won't happen again. >> reporter: mcday was a technician who worked on a fare card machine and hale was a transit police officer who guarded the money while it was in transit to the revenue collection facility. authorities say they would con figure their schedule so they could work together and prosecutors say as recent lace two weeks ago the pair was observed under surveillance taking bags of money collected from fare machines and leaving

them at this underpass on the way back to the facility only to pick it up after work. >> pretty crazy i guess. >> reporter: what tipped officials off was a tip from a lottery merchant who reported hale was buying scratch tickets with at first handfuls of coins and later bags full. prosecutors say between october and december of last year vincent hale purchased more than $28,000 worth and that since 2008 hale had some $63,000 in winnings. in court today hale indicated he'd need a court-appointed attorney. now the two made a brief appearance in federal court here in alexandria today. the judge has given them until monday to try to find attorneys. if they are convicted, they could face up to five years in prison. live in alexandria, back to you. >> if they're convicted, what will happen with those lottery winnings and will they be allowed to keep them? >> reporter: that is the $64,000 question almost quite literally. it is alleged they collected some $63,800 in lottery winnings between 2007 and 2011.

whether all of that came from money that was allegedly taken from the fare card machines remains to be seen. however, that may come out later on as this case continues. >> all right. they're players. thanks. a man's body was found this afternoon near the campus of georgetown university. his remains were in some woods off canal road northwest near one of the entrances to the school. we don't know the man's identity or the cause of death but authorities said it appears to be death by natural causes. a mother of three is under arrest tonight. d.c. police say she sexually assaulted a 13-year-old boy who was having a sleepover with her sons. prosecutors say it happened over the weekend in the woman's home and there is word her own children may have tried to stop it. pat collins joins us now live from first district police headquarters in southwest d.c. with details. pat? >> reporter: jim, in this sex case, the suspect is a woman, a mother in her 30s.

and the victim a juvenile boy. the scene, this apartment complex on first street southwest. the crime? sex assault. the suspect, a woman, the mother of three. the victim, a teenage boy. today we talked to the victim's grandmother. for obvious reasons, we shielded her identity. >> but when you heard about this, i mean, what went through your mind? >> i was enraged. i was enraged. i was upset that a grown woman would do this to a 13-year-old child. >> the victim a 13-year-old teenage boy who lives here. the suspect, a 32-year-old woman. she lives across the hall. over the weekend the teenage boy who lives here says he was invited over here for a sleepover so he could spend some time with the woman's 9-year-old

son. during the night, the boy from here says while he was over there that woman gave him a fruit drink that he suspected was spiked with liquor so he didn't drink it. and during the night he says he was brought into that woman's bedroom, that she closed the door, and that she made him do things he didn't want to do. charged with first-degree sexual abuse, the woman according to court papers made the victim touch her private parts but the woman told police the victim voluntarily touched her. >> i am upset. i'm disappointed. but i am happy that my grandson was smart enough to know that what she was doing was not right. >> in the neighborhood, a lot of talk about what happened inside

that apartment. >> she's 32. he's 13. i just can't imagine, you know, there are no words for it really. >> i don't know. i don't know. that's just crazy. >> i have kids myself and that makes me feel uncomfortable. >> held without bond pending further court action in this case. jim, back to you. >> disturbing story, pat. thank you. the death of an abandoned infant this week has prompted d.c. officials to remind residents that the city does have a safe haven law. infants 2 weeks old or younger can be left at hospitals, fire stations, or other places designated as safe havens. the parents will not face criminal penalties. police say a man found the baby girl on the steps of a home on channing street in northeast on sunday night. the child was wrapped only in a thin towel and died a short time later.

>> it was a tragedy that a mother or father who clearly was in great distress was not aware that there are safe havens designated throughout the city. >> so if you have a newborn that you just can't take care of, bring the baby to any hospital in the district. under the law every hospital is a safe haven. >> city officials say there are also services available for expectant mothers who may feel they are not equipped to care for a baby. turning now to the weather the cold is here to stay for at least a few days, folks. but some wintry weather is also heading our way. >> veronica johnson is up in storm center 4. later tonight, windy, jim, a chance for some flurries with a fast moving system but we have a better chance to see some wintry precip come this weekend. so we're at 40 degrees right now and, yes, it is going to get plenty cold plenty fast. as a matter of fact, by midnight most neighborhoods are going to be down around freezing.

that's our current wind chill with a little bit of a wind out there out of the south at 14 miles per hour. look at all that white on the radar. that is what is advancing this way. it's a fast moving system. doesn't have a ton of moisture with it but it will bring some flurries to a few neighborhoods. pittsburgh, williamsport, cleveland, all seeing some snow right now. so this system is going to be in and out of here. we do not have any advisories for the system that comes in tonight but take a look. there is a winter storm watch for the next one that's coming friday night early saturday morning. could see up to a quarter of an inch of ice in the counties of washington and allegheny and maryland. for morgan, berkeley, jefferson, and west virginia and of course that means anywhere in and around there for right now we have the possibility to see some ice and that means loudoun county and virginia as well as frederick county in maryland. i do think there is a possibility that those counties could be extending down to the south. we'll talk more about the flurries tonight and the next one coming. jim? >> all right. veronica, thank you. we'll stay tuned. the washington monument has been closed since last summer of

course when it was severely damaged by the powerful earthquake. now a local businessman is donating millions of dollars to help with repairs. tom sherwood joins us now live from the national mall where the announcement was made this morning. hi, tom. >> reporter: hey, jim. the washington monument is one of the most popular places in the nation's capital. nearly 2,000 people a day would ride up to the top of the monument and many of them would walk down. but it's been closed since that august earthquake and despite today's generous gift, it won't reopen any time soon. the iconic washington monument, it appears as stately and impressive as ever. but looks are deceiving. it's severely damaged. a rare earthquake here last august cracked the historic stone structure. inspection teams inside and out documented $15 million in damages. millions more than the u.s. park service could afford. >> please join me in giving him

thanks for his generosity. >> reporter: now stepping to the rescue thursday was local billionaire businessman david rubenstein. donating $7.5 million to pay half the restoration cost. >> as soon as i heard about the earthquake i thought because it's an important symbol of our country if i could help in some modest way i would like to do so. that's what i wanted to do. >> the original monument cost about a million dollars. that's all it cost to build it. it was made with $1 contributions. that just shows you the cost of things go up but today i don't know what it would cost to rebuild this entire monument if you started from scratch but considerably higher than a million dollars. >> reporter: the quiet billionaire has made other significant local donations to the nation's capital including $25 million to the kennedy center, $4.5 million to the national zoo to spur a better panda research and procreation. and $21 million for a rare copy of the magna carta for the national archives. but thursday was the day to focus on george washington and

his monument. >> my parents took me here when i was 8 or 9 years old and in those days you could walk down, i don't know if in recent years you'd be able to walk down or not but i walked down and it was a long walk and when i walked down recently a week or so ago it seemed longer. >> reporter: the private trust for the national mall welcomed the rubenstein gift. >> clearly, this is a significant gift and we hope that all americans get involved in the mall's restoration. >> reporter: the park service officials say they really hope that this washington monument will reopen sometime in 2013 but right now they can't say. jim, back to you. >> what a gift that will keep on giving for all of us. tom, thanks so much. major developments today in the republican presidential race as expected. texas governor rick perry dropping out and immediately issuing his endorsement. >> i have come to the conclusion that there is no viable path

forward for me in this 2012 campaign. therefore, today i am suspending my campaign and endorsing newt gingrich for president of the united states. >> perpendiculary added that gingrich has the heart of a conservative reformer. analysts say one reason mitt romney has done so well so far is that the conservative vote has been split between gingrich, perry, and rick santorum. the next primary for the gop, saturday in south carolina. when we come right back on news 4 at 5:00 tonight new details are emerging about the night that cruise ship crashed. coming up audio recordings reveal more inconsistencies in the captain's story. paying for grocery bags. a northern virginia lawmakers wants to impose a bag tax but it is -- but how much he wants folks to pay? that is causing a controversy. >> i'm liz crenshaw. at the start of the new year it's a good time for a money makeover. ways to prioritize and put your finances in order are coming up. stay right there.

news 4 at 5:00 is just getting started.

the search for passengers resumed onboard the costa concordia today in italy.

crews blasted holes on the side of the ship to search inside but so far no more passengers have been found. sonar equipment has also been brought in now to check the stability of the boat while crews continue to search. >> we don't know how the boat will react with the bigger waves. that's the reason why we have sophisticated and different types of monitoring systems. >> an audio recording released today told officials the captain said the ship blacked out 30 minutes after it crashed. police are questioning a costa employee who was on the ship for vacation and may have been with the captain at the time of the crash. a simple checklist gets many people through the grocery store or a busy to-do list but what about your financial checklist? the new year means a fresh start to a fiscally fit future and liz crenshaw is here to tell you how to make that happen. liz? >> hi, wendy. this year's consumer's number

one financial resolution is to decrease debt. that's according to the national foundation for credit counseling. the new year is the perfect time for a money makeover and finances are on the minds of most consumers. >> right off the top of the new year the one thing that consumers do wrong is they assume that they can let those bills add up. >> reporter: hot holiday spending likely had you paying with your credit card and now bills are starting to trickle in. jeri walsh is the president of the regulatory authority known as finra an independent regulator of securities. walsh says handle your credit cards with care. >> if you let your balances on your credit cards just stay and add up and not pay them down immediately, that sets you off for a cycle of debt at the very beginning of the year. >> reporter: finra found 62% of americans do not check out the interest rate on their credit cards. a new year financial tip, shop around for financial products

such as credit cards, loans, or investments. >> we spend more time thinking about which paper towel to buy or the features of our mobile phone plans than we do looking at the terms and conditions of our financial products. >> reporter: while making ends meet can be challenging, avoid payday lending. >> about a quarter of americans do engage in some form of nonbank borrowing and the reason you don't want to do it is the interest rates can be so very exorbitant. >> reporter: the start of a new year is a great time to start a rainy day fund. the goal? set aside at least one month's salary and aim to save three to six months' salary in case of a financial emergency. >> you never know when your car is going to break down or god forbid you lose your job for a short period of time or even a longer period of time. you need to make sure that you have something to live on. >> reporter: it's never too late to start saving for your future. but finra found 3 in 10 workers failed to put money into a

401(k). many companies will match your contribution. that doubles your savings. it's free money. so start a retirement fund. >> you can take out loans for college. you can take out loans for a home. you can't take out a loan for retirement. >> reporter: want your kids to be able to afford college? start saving now by using tax advantage savings accounts such as a state 529 plan. finra found only 31% of people polled with children have money set aside for college and only one-third of them were using a tax advantage plan. >> using a tax advantage plan is a way to maximize your educational savings because the interest or the earnings on your investments are able to grow tax deferred until you take the money out. anyone can put their finances on a better course for the coming year. >> reporter: okay. so if you're looking for financial help do look in the community for free help.

there is free help at libraries, even the united way. if you want to find out if a broker is licensed or has a history of complaints, you can go to nbc washington.com and search money makeover. finra has helped us with a list of folks there. >> cool. that's great. you just don't think about it you're so worried about going on a diet. >> i know. i know the diet is important but get that financial stuff under control, too. >> right. >> thanks, liz. >> yep. all right. veronica joins us now and you have been busy today but nothing like you're going to be tomorrow. >> right. or this weekend. >> it feels wintry now. it feels wintry. we've got that gray sky out there, too. you want a little bit of snow? maybe a little bit -- some of us may see it. we're talking about flurries are going to be brief, scattered, and after 9:00 which means many of us probably won't see them. you know what? saturday morning a better chance to see some light snow around here. it's going to come mixed with something else as you will see in just a moment. we're at 40 degrees currently. we have clouds that have moved into the area. still that wind is hanging on at 14 miles per hour and it's still

giving us some very low wind chill readings throughout the area. 32 degrees. currently we feel like factor reagan national airport at the bottom there. temperatures throughout hanging on at 41. culpepper 40 degrees. charlottesville. but for most spots north of us 34 to 36 degrees. frederick, maryland to 36 and only in gaithersburg, maryland. we'll be heading down to freezing by 11:00 p.m. to midnight most locations. as you've known from some of the other storms that have moved through here and you don't have to have freezing to get the flurries, 9:00, 10:00 p.m., even 1:00 and 2 a.m. flurries scattered throughout the area and very brief. tomorrow morning left with cold and a little wind so 25 to 30 enough wind where it's going to be a very nippy start to the day tomorrow. there's that precip we're looking at. all the white that extends from williamsport all the way over into ohio and indiana just north of cincinnati right now. but this will be a fast moving system giving us some flurries and some early morning sun. notice the clouds increasing

tomorrow and a big batch of precip just down to the south and west. so morning mix, then it's snow changing over to freezing rain. then eventually all rain for tuesday. most of that rain, i think is going to be gone by saturday around 2:00. so early morning saturday you'll want to get up early if you have to hit the road and check out the road conditions for our evening. we're chilly, 37 to 34 degrees. definitely a little bit of precip moving in for some of us north. breezy, 24 to 29. cold start to the day tomorrow. and then 35 to 39 with light snow starting around midnight. in fact, i've given you the breakdown here of what you can expect for saturday morning. snow from midnight until 3:00 a.m. very light snow. and then freezing rain from 3:00 a.m. up until sunrise on saturday and then it's all rain up until around 2:00. so again, right now they've got a winter storm watch out starting friday night going into saturday morning for washington county, for berkeley county, for

morgan county over in west virginia. for allegheny county, too. so icy conditions potential even for northern loudoun county as well. the weekend will see a high around 40 degrees. same thing tomorrow. so not worried at all about the afternoon. there will be warm air coming into the storm. and then next week i think we'll be hanging out around 50 degrees or so. >> of course we will. >> it's january in washington. it's always close to 60. >> saturday looks a little -- >> dicey. >> yeah it does. still to come on news 4 at 5:00 tonight a new look at a puzzling case. the family of a northern virginia teen begs for answers almost four years after her death. >> reporter: how would you like an extra lane to drive on during rush hour on i-270? i'm erika gonzalez. coming up,

police say a medical emergency led to a deadly crash in prince george's county that happened this afternoon on brinkley road in temple hills. a car wound up going off the road, hitting a pole, and the driver, a female, was killed. investigators believe she had a heart attack just before that crash. no one else was hurt. parents of students in prince william county now have permission to go through their kids' school locker.

last night the school board voted unanimously to pass a regulation giving parents access to those lockers. the vote was prompted by parents who realized there was no policy on the books addressing that issue. it only applies to students younger than 18. parents can only access lockers at, quote, reasonable times. the superintendent plans to implement the policy at all the schools in prince william county. it appears a tradition honoring edgar allen poe will continue never more. the mysterious poe toaster was a no show last night for the third straight year. for decades it was an annual ritual in baltimore. the night before poe's birthday an anonymous man would visit the writer's grave. he always left behind three roses and a half empty bottle of cognac. poe fans now believe the tradition has come to an end. today is the 203rd anniversary of the writer's birth. people think that the guy that the mystery visitor has probably passed away which is too bad. >> three years now. coming up, parents on alert

near a fairfax school after several reports of a man trying to lure children to his car. plus, stopped in traffic. why not drive on the shoulder? the new proposal to relieve congestion on one of the area's busiest highways. i'm jane watrel. vi

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for this melty, mouthwatering sub! ♪ let's go a fast 4 ward through the headlines now.

a woman is charged with sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy. it happened in southwest d.c. police say the boy was having a sleepover with the woman's children. according to court documents the woman made the boy perform sexual acts. the woman told authorities the boy's actions were voluntary. two metro employees are facing charges after they allegedly stole money that passengers paid to ride the rails. prosecutors say they then took tens of thousands of dollars from the fare card machines and spent a big chunk of it on lottery tickets. authorities were tipped off after a lotto merchant reported one of the employees was paying with bags full of coins. bethesda billionaire and philanthropist david rubenstein has donated $7.5 million to help make repairs to the washington monument. the historic landmark has been closed since august after suffering cracks and other damage from that 5.8 earthquake. repairs are expected to begin in late summer. now let's fast forward to the winter weather. >> that's right. don't be surprised if you see a few flurries tonight.

they're going to be scattered and they're not going to last long at all. but for saturday different story. we're at 40 degrees right now. we have the wind still delivering the wind chill in the low 30s across the area. 40 now by tomorrow morning starting out between 25 and 30 with a little wind it is going to be very nippy to start. there you can see on radar some of the snow to the north and west of us. flurries, light snow. 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 p.m. a chance just past midnight, too. by tomorrow morning it's all done. it is over. we'll start out in the 20s to about 29 degrees tomorrow morning. the high just 38 tomorrow. so a cold one coming up. then we've got more snow to talk about. back to you. >> thanks, veronica. i-270 one of the area's most congested corridors. now there is a proposal designed to give drivers some relief by allowing them to drive on the shoulder. that plan would apply to a 13-mile stretch between frederick and clarksburg. news 4's erika gonzalez is live in gaithersburg with more on who

is promoting this. >> reporter: hi, wendy. what's being proposed is something similar to a high occupancy vehicle lane or an hov lane. it's a lot less expensive than the estimated $4 billion to reconstruct all of i-270 entirely. however, commuters that we spoke to say they're not getting excited about it just yet. >> it's a proposal, an alternative. >> reporter: frederick alderman carol krim spoke with news 4 over the phone today. she's proposing the shoulder lane of i-270, the 13-mile, two-lane stretch between frederick and clarksburg be converted into a third lane for drivers to help with congestion. she calls it a green lane. >> the only type of vehicle permitted would be ride sharing. >> reporter: commuters like rita say they could use all the help they can get. >> the road is already there.

all they have to do is realign it and, you know, absolutely it will be more cost effective in my opinion. >> reporter: while others say the improvement would simply not be enough to alleviate any substantial standstills. >> it's not going to be too much of a help because it's going to bottleneck right back up again after that lane ends. >> reporter: northern virginia started a similar project back in 1993. on i-66 between 495 and route 50. here the seven-mile stretch of shoulder lane was rebuilt and made stronger for traffic during rush hour. meanwhile, the maryland department of transportation says it reviews key priorities for its counties, liked -- like this idea and says the project like this would have to be included in the ctp and then studied to determine if it is feasible. she says that 73% of commuters in the region are single passengers in their vehicles and she believes that this is just

one of possibly many ways of finding a less expensive way to find an alternative route for the cluster and the congestion on i-270. we're live in gaithersburg. erika gonzalez, news 4. >> thanks. well, if you don't car pool in northern virginia it might be a good time to get one together. 14 miles of express lanes are now under construction between the dulles toll road and the springfield interchange on the beltway. the roads will be seamless, express lanes on i-95, 395, and 495 but you have to be in a car with three or more people to get on those lanes at no charge. the express lanes are expected to be completed and open later this year. we have breaking news right now out of prince george's county. police there have identified the woman who forced an elderly woman to take thousands of dollars out of her bank account last week. they've issued an arrest warrant for 48-year-old linda mccorkle of maryland. police tell us she first

approached the victim at a store, asked the victim to help her cash a check so she could feed her children. when the victim agreed to help the suspect forced her to drive to her bank in langley park and withdraw cash. investigators say they were able to identify mccorkle through an anonymous tip and surveillance video provided by bank of america. the children are now in police custody. the death investigation of a teenager from northern virginia took a new turn today. the parents of 16-year-old annie mccann publicly voiced their frustrations about the course of the investigation. the mccanns are from fairfax county. the victim's body was found in baltimore back in 2008. maryland's medical examiner ruled the teenager died from intoxication and her death is consistent with suicide. police say there is no evidence to suggest homicide but the mccann family says investigators are ignoring clues that say she

was killed. we call on mayor blake and the commissioner to step up, demonstrate real leadership, accept real accountability, and conduct and commission a real investigation into annie's death. >> baltimore police say they're keeping the case open and looking for any credible information that could prompt the medical examiner to change the findings. again, they ruled it was a lidocain intoxication. fairfax county police are warning parents about a suspicious man lingering near an area elementary school. police say the man is in a red pickup truck and has been seen waving and calling to students outside of clairmont elementary in alexandria. he has been there on several occasions. each time the description has been the same. and he hasn't been caught. news 4's tracee wilkins with that story. >> reporter: a suspicious man in a red, rusted, dented pickup truck was reported in the area of clairmont elementary school

in alexandria on december 19th, 20th and 21st. students walking to and from school reported the man waving and watching them. >> apparently the guy pulled up in a truck and sat a fairly close distance back and just kept his eye on them. at one point he waved at them and was just clearly monitoring timing, who was there, and assessing the situation. >> reporter: then two additional, similar incidents were reported last thursday and this past tuesday. fairfax county police have stepped up patrols in the area. no child has been touched or injured in any of the incidents but parents are concerned and taking precautions just the same. >> i think it's a threat but i think you have to, like any threat, you have to be cautious and you just have to keep doing what you do every day and make your children aware of it. >> it's a little scary but at the same time i feel, you know, confident with the fairfax county and the security here. as you can see there are parents

out here and of course, you know, everyone is walking their kids. >> reporter: fairfax county police tell me that tonight there will be a meeting here with parents in clairmont elementary school as well as the faculty to try and ease any concerns and to make sure that all of the parents have the information they need to warn their children. in alexandria i'm tracee wilkins, news 4. >> that safety meeting starts tonight at 7:30. coming up on news 4 at 5:00 tonight it's a perk that is supposed to lure customers to the store but now new technology may actually be bad for business. the one big box electronics store. >> and steve jobs' last project, apple unveiling the new venture into the classroom fulfilling a

digital textbooks the latest undertaking announced today by apple. the technology giant launched an electronic textbook service for ipad called i-books 2. with the help of three major publishers, apple will sell interactive textbooks for around $15 reforming the textbook market was one of the last projects for apple cofounder steve jobs before he died. according to his biography jobs was having dinner with news corps chair rupert murdoch early last year when he told murdoch paper textbooks could one day be

obsolete. facebook is expanding. facebook has launched 60 new apps including ticketmaster and fitness with nike. all of the apps will be integrated with facebook's new timeline profile feature which means your activity will be displayed directly on your timeline as it happens. users have the option of limiting what is displayed. >> hey, if you're looking to lose weight try taking things nice and slow according to a new study eating slower will help you eat less. 10% fewer calories on average. experts say when you eat food slowly it gives your body more time to respond to the food and release appetite suppressing hormones. another tip? sit down when you eat because people tend to consume more food while standing like those cocktail parties when they're coming around on trays. >> but when you eat in your car though you're sitting down and it's never pretty. >> no. >> you'll always regret it. still to come a 20-cent bag tax coming to northern virginia?

>> wow. >> one lawmaker says it's unnecessary. coming up in sports a former bullets bad boy now doing a lot of good for a

virginia is one step closer to clamping down on people who text behind the wheel. the senate transportation committee passed a bill today changing texting while driving

from a secondary offense to a primary one. that means police could stop drivers they see texting behind the wheel. right now a driver has to be doing something else wrong to get pulled over. the committee also passed a measure making it a primary offense for a teen to use a cell phone behind the wheel. both bills now head to the full senate. wendy? virginia shoppers may be paying a lot more at the grocery store for the plastic bags. a lawmaker from northern virginia wants to impose a bag fee but critics say it's just too much. jane watrel reports. >> reporter: they're an eye sore along virginia's streets and highways. plastic bags littering the landscape. >> you see it everywhere in the parks and in the streams and it's just dirty and ugly and a big problem. >> reporter: but some virginia lawmakers want to change that, proposing a 20-cent plastic bag tax four times that of the district and montgomery county. supporters say it is not about

raising money. >> i don't think asking people to pay a small fee to use a plastic bag is a big sacrifice for people to make. >> reporter: the bag tax breakdown would go this way. a nickel would go to retailers. 15 cents to the cleanup of the chesapeake bay. but there is also stiff opposition. two previous attempts failed in richmond. and while shopper kelly maldonado already uses recyclable bags she too opposes the tax. >> i think in poorer neighborhoods it will hurt people. the idea behind it is good but i don't think it is a good idea to charge people 20 cents right now with the economy the way it is. >> reporter: other shoppers say it would do what proponents are pushing for, change their behavior. >> of course, yeah. certainly. i wouldn't want to spend 20 cents a bag. >> well for 20 cents a bag i'll go back to reuseable. >> reporter: advocates say something needs to be done. it's estimated 2 billion plastic bags go into virginia's

landfills every year taking half a century to decompose. in alexandria, jane watrel, news 4. >> lawmakers will be reviewing the bag tax in committee meeting tomorrow. it is likely the tax will be reduced to a nickel before heading to the general assembly. all right. you ready to mix it up in the weather world? veronica has the latest on some changes blowing in. we're mixing it up for sure, jim. first tonight a few flurries. take a look at storm 4 doppler. i have it up off to the north and west all that white you see moving. those are snow flurries. that's what's going to come through the area. here's your future weather for i think 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 1:00, 2:00 in the morning. a chance for a few scattered brief flurries tomorrow morning. that will drop down around petersburg. clouds increase tomorrow and something else will start moving in. not only snow but freezing rain. there is the mix right after midnight saturday, early saturday morning. could be some potential problems

on area roadways. we're definitely going to keep watching that system very closely. for tomorrow your high 38. weekend up to around 40 degrees. but the early mornings will start out below freezing. so maybe some trouble this weekend in the morning. >> thanks, veronica. handly is here. yammering. danley is here. the two of you. during that weather, like this. what are you all talking about? >> we're talking about the wizards and the bullets and what they used to be and some of the other players that you might remember. one of them is jeff rulen we first told you about two years ago. the former bullet took over the basketball coaching duties at the university of district of columbia. and it resulted in his worst coaching year ever. one win but now the fire birds have kept the faith and have found a home in the national

rankings. >> reporter: here on the campus of udc, in this building, there is a revival going on. ♪ the man responsible for the revival? former washington bullets bad boy jeff rulen. in his first season as head coach, the fire birds won just one game. in the second season, 11 games. this season, rulen and udc have been ranked in the top 25 in division 2 basketball. >> hard to do. we got the job literally a week before school started and we didn't have enough time to schedule enough games, you know, at one point during the season we had five players, three of them walkons. one kid got hurt. we played ten minutes 4 against 5. we've come a long way but you're only as good as your players and your staff.

>> rulen's coaching staff includes former maryland standout terrell stokes and his team is full of big-time talent. four of the five starters are division 1 transfers including dematha product nigeria nigel played at virginia tech. >> in the beginning we didn't do so well, you know, it was a learning experience. everybody had to learn how the others played. now our work is paying off and we're doing well for ourselves. >> it's not a surprise. not a surprise. i was hired, you know, i've been successful wherever i've been. and knew it was going to be a lot of hard work but it doesn't surprise me. >> reporter: jeff rulen played for the bullets from 1981 to 1986. he was one of the best big men in the nba averaging 17 points and ten rebounds per game, standing 6'10" and weighing 240

pounds, rulen was a menace. he and teammate rick mahorn were known as the bruise brothers. the duo was named mcfilthy and mcnasty. >> where do you think you got your passion for coaching basketball? >> i think the fact that i was one of the best players in the nba at the age of 28 and had that taken away from me so i had that drive and i had to put that somewhere. >> reporter: a knee injury cut rulen's playing career short so he turned to coaching. he was an assistant for the philadelphia 76ers. then he became the head coach at iona, his alma mater. rulen says his current job is the most rewarding, teaching and transforming. >> educator, demanding, believe it or not compassionate. and the biggest thing is i actually care. i care about these guys, not just on the court. off the court. and i'm living proof you can't play basketball forever. so you have to have your

education. >> reporter: in 1982, udc won the division 2 national championship. 30 years later jeff rulen is helping put the program back on the map. hack 'em determi hackem dermish news 4 sports. udc has won 12 of the last 13 games including seven in a row at home where they are undefeated this year. right around the corner from the station. go check out an au game or udc game. not too shabby. >> he's getting it done. >> i love hearing the story and nigel minuson will be his walt williams if they end up winning and he stays for a long time. if you remember walt went to maryland when they weren't very good and he really helped gary williams build that program and that's what jeff rulen is trying to do at udc. >> good for him. good for all of them. coming up tonight on news 4 at 6:00 president obama visits the happiest place on earth to pitch his plan to boost tourism. from his rocky relationship to that deadly plane crash 12 years

ago tonight a member of john f. kennedy jr.'s inner circle is opening up about kennedy's final days. a new report takes a look at the happiest people in this country. which city ranks number one? join doreen gentzler and me tonight for news 4 at 6:00. >> this city made the list somewhere. >> aren't you happy? >> we're feeling it. after the break the last of the big box electronics stores struggling to stay afloat. coming up, how technology may be

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electronics giant best buy has hit a rough patch. they've reported weak holiday sales and now they're working to fight off heavy competition and technology might actually be hurting them. cnbc's tyler mathison has our report. >> reporter: these are tricky times for best buy. their 40,000 square foot stores may be brimming with more than 17,000 gadgets, gizmos, and giant sized tvs. but increasingly, the word on the street is they're getting out flanked. walk into any best buy and you'll see them. savvy shoppers scanning items with their smart phones, searching for the best price. experts call it instant price discovery. a fancy way of saying here's where you can find it cheaper. >> when i look at google search, and i see a better price, i also

go for the best deal. >> reporter: talk about a killer app. google shopper ebay's red laser and amazon's price check are all powerful weapons profoundly altering the retail landscape. if your prices aren't the lowest, you can lose the sale. >> it's great because you can check out the actual item in the store but then find the best price for it elsewhere if you need to. >> reporter: it's not that they can't compete. it is that they won't at least not against prices found online. best buy will not match a lower price found on a competitor's website where the prices are typically 10% less but ceo brian dunn says they will always match a competitor's store price. >> we absolutely won't get beat brick to brick in our stores. >> reporter: do you fear the idea that people come in and use best buy as a show room? >> i really don't. when a customer walks into our

stores i love our chances of providing a great experience and getting them into exactly the right tv and phone. they come into our store and we love our odds every time. >> reporter: cnbc, tyler math mathison. news 4 at 6:00 starts right now. a one-two punch for mitt romney. tonight another candidate boughs o -- bows out of presidential race throwing support behind newt gingrich. >> a billionaire steps in to help restore one of the country's most iconic structures. two veteran metro employees busted for allegedly stealing tens of thousands of dollars from fare card machines. wait until you hear how investigators say their elaborate scheme unraveled. >> good evening everyone. i'm doreen gentzler. >> i'm wendy rieger. jim vance has the night off.