was such a loving person, laughing, full of life and talent and that they miss her so much sometimes they wish that they would die just to be with her. brittany norwood made a statement in court. she said that i know that what i say won't relieve the pain of the murray family but i want to say i'm sorry. brittany norwood's family left the courthouse afterwards saying nothing. they cried during the proceedings when brittany norwood said that she was asking for parole not so much for herself but for her family. she said to her family, you did nothing to cause this. the murray family did hold a news conference after brittany norwood was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and we begin tonight hearing from montgomery county state's attorney john mccarthy.

i was shocked and thought in light of the fact they have actually admitted to some extent she had done the crime, she virtually took no responsibility for this crime today. to me that's another aggravating factor that makes the sentence from judge greenburg absolutely appropriate. >> our loss is permanent and, again, we live with that within our hearts but i've always been fearful that it would happen again and as i stated, i want there never to be another victim not only from brittany norwood but from anywhere. the pain jana endured, the pain her family, her friends, endured, the ripples are enormous. >> a lot of factors that come into being sorry. she is sorry for what she did to jana murray, what she has done to her family, what she did to her own life. she is very sorry. >> now, judge robert greenburg

pronounced the sentence. she will spend the rest of your life in the maryland correctional facilities. he sentenced her to life in prison without the possibility of parole. brittany norwood will report to prison. he said to her, you will have christmases, visits, telephone calls. the murrays, their only visit with jana will be in the cemetery. and then at one point judge robert greenburg added this. i am stunned by the calloused indifference of the apple store employees who heard this going on and did nothing. that is the latest from the montgomery county circuit court. back to you. >> thanks, chris. there were three full days left to campaign for the florida presidential primary. the outcome could determine the next nominee. but like everything else in this volatile republican presidential race, there could be some more surprises in store. steve handelsman is on capitol hill now with today's latest. hey, steve. hi, doreen. talk about volatile. what a primary race.

it was mitt romney who had the lead in florida polls last month and then newt gingrich who got it this month. and then romney got it back last week and then gingrich got it back this week but he couldn't keep the lead. mitt romney has turned around the race in florida. >> i will fight to get more opportunity for americans. >> reporter: in four days from monday night's debate to last night's romney regained the lead in florida polls. he had a new debate coach. >> speaker gingrich was hired by freddie mac to promote them. i think instead we should have had a whistle blower and not a horn tooter. >> reporter: newt gingrich had a bad night. >> i would be glad to have a truce with you. >> reporter: gingrich is still the national gop front-runner in today's nbc news poll. with 37% to romney's 28. >> we've had a consistent effort to try to develop a nationwide approach. >> reporter: but he got bad news on electability. in a head-to-head matchup with president obama, gingrich is

running third -- 18 points behind the president. romney is six points back. if newt is the nominee, the nbc pollster predicts a republican rout. >> i accept -- >> reporter: like 1964 when ultra conservative republican nominee barry goeldwater won just six states. >> gingrich is goldwater and he doesn't only take down himself. he takes down the whole flotilla and essentially in the end of the day the public just doesn't trust him and that's the difficulty. >> reporter: to try to stop gingrich, '08 nominee john mccain went to florida mocking newt's call for a lunar colony. >> newt gingrich to the moon and mitt romney to the white house. what do you think? >> reporter: winning florida would be a big step. but the race there is so volatile it could change again by tuesday. i'm steve handelsman news 4. thank you. very unusual january weather around here today.

a thunderstorm, tents in the 60s, and wild winds, too. arizona avenue in northwest d.c. is shut down after strong winds knocked down a tree and power lines there. crews are still working in that area. our spring like temperatures won't stick around though. storm 4 meteorologist doug kammerer joins us now. doug? >> they are already falling, and we'll continue to cool throughout the rest of the night. the rain came down very, very fast. some locations picking up over a half inch of rain and about 15 minutes that rain came with some thunder and some lightning around the district and portions of fairfax and montgomery county right around 8:00 this morning. it was a really, really interesting weather day because we started off with temperatures into the 60s and even the 70s. right now no rain out there. we're talking about a temperature of 49 degrees. winds gusting to 25 miles an hour. some areas have seen gusts to 45 miles an hour. i'll show you what comes next though as a rollercoaster continues. >> thanks, doug. a teenager died today.

he was stabbed last night and then collapsed inside a recreation center in northwest d.c. his name is delontre williams, 19 years old, lived in northwest d.c. he was killed last night. d.c. police say the stabbing happened in the 1500 block of 7th street northwest. the kennedy recreation center is a block away. nobody has yet been arrested. former prince george's county executive jack johnson is unlikely to ever practice law again. today maryland's highest court disbarred him. johnson served as the top prosecutor in prince george's county before he was elected county executive. he was nearing the end of his second term as county executive in 2010 when he was arrested on federal corruption charges. prosecutors say that johnson accepted as much as a million dollars in bribes and gifts from developers. in december he was sentenced to seven years in federal prison. police in montgomery county have busted several brothels in rockville. authorities say at least four suspects operated those brothels

under the guise of massage parlors around town. they say howard wang operated an outfit called best massage and tropical spa. both of them off hungafor drive. there was lass spa off rafael pike and an operation called executive body work also off hungafor drive. detectives say the investigation started last year after they saw ads for the massage parlors on adult internet sites. well, beginning in september, 2001, we noted a rise. that was from monitoring the internet websites and also people from the community, these businesses are operating around other businesses. people are starting to notice some unusual behavior occurring. >> the picture of the fourth suspect has not been released. occupy d.c. protesters must stop camping out at two federal parks in downtown washington by noon on monday or they could face fines and arrests. the u.s. park service after

months of accommodating the protesters issued written warnings that anticamping rules would be enforced. tom sherwood joins us with more on the story. tom? >> doreen, no sleeping, no cooking, no camping. the park service is acting after high level complaints that it has been too soft on the protesters. occupy protesters have since october camped out mostly peacefully on federal parkland but that's about to end. park service rangers and park police descended on both camp sites friday attaching bright green notices to any tent or structure in sight. the notice warns that the federal park service will begin enforcing no camping rules as of monday, noon. no tent stakes in the ground. no cooking. no sleeping. and any tent must always have one flap open for officers to see inside at any time. >> i need a definition of camping. >> reporter: the tougher government response comes just days after members of congress complained that park service

officials were allowing illegal camping and demanded action. >> it's another signal that we are pushing hard enough for a change that we are getting some resistance or pushback. >> the loosely organized protesters friday suggested some are ready to resist. others less so. >> i guess they weren't facing any pressure before, the park police. now they are facing pressure from higher up since this is a federal park. >> this movement is based on economic repression and inequality and if we can't be in a public park there are a lot of other places we can be. the fact is people believe in this movement and it doesn't matter if they kick us out of some square because the fight will continue. >> park police have moved in to remove exceptionally large structures built on park land and have arrested some demonstrators. occupy d.c., similar to other cities, also has conducted rush hour marches on city streets. but mostly they have been tolerated despite some complaints of public safety hazards and rule violations

until now. after sunday the protesters risk fines or arrests if they attempt to camp in the parks. jim, back to you. >> tom sherwood, thank you. the police in prince william county are searching for one more suspect in a burglary crime spree. police arrested three people last week, 23-year-old devon boone and two 16-year-old boys are already in custody. officers say that group burglarized bellator a dozen stores in the area of woodbridge, virginia from january 5th to january 16th. today a d.c. police officer got the maximum punishment and will head to jail for six months. 35-year-old dioni fernandez was sentenced for attempting to receive stolen property. last year the officer received stolen ipads from a witness and then resold them. today a judge said officer fernandez tarnished the badge and betrayed the public trust. coming up tonight the lawyer for the cruise ship captain involved in a beaching and

sinking of that ship. he says his client is a scapegoat. >> fans of the show "welcome back kotter" remember one of the stars who died. >> big changes in honors courses in fairfax county classrooms. >> this dog gives new meaning to man's best friend. >> the patriots tight lipped about their tight end. the wizards trying to go 2-0 under their new head coach. plus two of the best play an epic match down under as the aussie final is now set.

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the actor robert heyges has died. he was better known as juan epstein one of the so-called sweat hogs from gabe kotter's classroom. the show aired on abc from 1975 to 1979. a young actor named john travolta was part of the cast and played the role of a guy named vinnie barberino. heyges played a jewish american character who frequently tried to get out of class by forging notes signed "epstein's mother." the role defined his career. robert heyges died yesterday after being taken to a hospital in new jersey in cardiac arrest. he was 60 years old. divers continue their search for victims of the capsized

cruise ship the costa concordia today. salvage crews are getting ready to pump fuel from the ship that ran aground in italy two weeks ago. nbc's michelle kosinski has the latest. >> reporter: it is hard to believe at this point it has been two weeks this massive cruise ship sat here on these rocks just off giglio island. the captain is still on house arrest but now his attorney tells nbc news he feels awful about this but at the same time unjustly demonized. he has told prosecutors it wasn't all his fault and he did not abandon ship but fell into a life boat. now officials are describing a night full of delays and downplaying and the company says he tried to get a manager to agree to a sort of cover story that would blame the accident on an electrical failure. while the investigation is going on, so are two processes that have been difficult and time consuming. one, removing the victims. divers have been there every day but the spaces are cramped.

they're cluttered. the water is extremely dark and murky. they've recovered 16 victims. they think possibly 18 are still inside or somewhere near the ship. tomorrow they're going to be using some remotely operated vehicles to look into some of the more inaccessible spaces they've encountered. also the pressure is on to remove half a million gallons of fuel inside before this becomes an environmental disaster. the equipment is in place. a tanker ship comes in tomorrow. they were hoping to get that process really going in the afternoon sometime but now that looks too like it will be delayed because of weather possibly starting now sunday or even monday. back to you. that was michelle kosinski from nbc news reporting. the cruise line today offered passengers $14,000 each as compensation for the accident. >> what is going on? >> that form was quite -- >> woke up and felt like april.

>> yeah. >> this is strange. >> it is really strange. we are looking at, you know, we were so warm, looking at are we even in the top ten as far as warmest januarys go? no. 2006 we were way warmer than this. but we still, you wake up today and you still think that don't you? what is going on out there? some of you had temperatures of 70 degrees during the afternoon today. during the morning hours actually. it was beautiful out there. once those storms came on through and, boy, did they come on through. a lot of lightning, a lot of thunder out of the storms. shook you right out of bed if you were sleeping in like me until 8:00. out there right now for the record, well, we do have a few clouds but that's really about it. we are seeing those winds continuing to gust. the high today, 62 degrees at the airport. low this morning 49 so yet another day well above average. 0.6 inch of rain today with the strong thunderstorms that came through. some locations picking up about a third to half inch of rain and about 15 to 20 minutes when they did come through. look at the highs today. 54 hagerstown.

59 martinsburg. 70 in culpepper and fredericksburg. balmy this time of the year. a lot of you saying, hey, took the top down on the car during the day today. look at the temperatures now. they're starting to fall off. 44 in martinsburg. 48 degrees over toward manassas. as far as temperatures go, we're at 49 at the airport with winds out of the west-northwest at 16 miles per hour. gusting to 25. those winds are bringing in the colder air and we'll continue to see it move in throughout the night tonight. 43-mile-per-hour wind gusts, the latest out in leesburg. 45-mile-per-hour wind gust a little earlier today. 37 in baltimore. 30 in indianapolis. we have seen a couple trees down around the area and definitely some power outages, too. power went off in my house a little earlier today. montgomery county with those storms. here they are. coming through frederick, coming through leesburg down through fairfax. this was at 6:30. then the second line formed. that one came through fairfax county right around 8:00 over toward herndon, chantilly and reston.

then right on through falls church in through washington and then right on down to the south. just to the west of fredericksburg in through prince william county down through stafford county and then over toward southern maryland in toward st. mary's county around -- man i'm getting confused here with the counties. there are a lot of them out there and a lot of storms, too. as far as stormy weather goes now it is out of here and we are all calming down. the winds, however, will not calm down until probably about 9:00, 10:00. rather breezy during the day today. here comes a frontal boundary. this is one of two. this one will be a dry front but it will bring in a little cooler weather during the day on saturday and into sunday. sunday another cold front will move through. ahead of it nice and mild but we will see a chance for a shower. maybe a flurry late on sunday depending on just how cold it is. you may see a couple flurries out here. best chance once again, north and west of the city. this evening a few clouds. much cooler. continued windy. 52 to 56 degrees. your winds still gusting upwards of 30 miles an hour through

7:00, 8:00, maybe 9:00 tonight and then really dying down tomorrow. we'll see light winds tomorrow morning. it will be a little chilly but still a nice start for late january with temperatures in the mid to upper 30s tomorrow afternoon and partly sunny. still mild. becoming rather breezy. 53 to 58 degrees. that is still 10 degrees above average tomorrow at least in the next four days 48 on your sunday. 43 on monday. that's the chilly day. that is really the only chilly day. look at this. 55 on tuesday. let's go back to 62. >> wow. >> on wednesday. how about that? that's the part i got. i got the seven day down pat but i think i mentioned 19 of our 28 counties. sorry about that. >> nice try. >> yeah. thanks. >> thank you, doug. >> you'll remember that. we'll see to it. i want to show you video now that you might like. it features a dog in mississippi named blue, a breed called a blue heeler. he has learned to climb a ladder. >> my goodness. >> rung by rung up the ladder.

>> wow. >> five years ago his owner rescued blue. the guy works on roofs for a living. he says he never taught blue a ladder trick. he thinks the dog just misses him and wants to be close to him. >> he used to sit in my truck and wait for me when i was working and he just would lounge around the truck but once he figured out he could go up, there's no stopping him now. >> and that's because blue hasn't figured out yet how to get down. he gets help from his owner who takes him down in a harness. >> dogs are so cool. just wants to hang around with his human. >> going somewhere? i'm going too. >> no matter what. coming up next on news 4, a bunch of teenagers are in trouble in loudoun county for some drug laced brownies at school. also the feds have arrested members of an organized crime membe[ male announcer ] crime this was how my day began.

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northrop grumman. a man who works for southwest airlines was killed at dulles airport after an accident near concourse b. yesterday that man was driving the baggage cart when he collided with a mobile lounge. there were passengers on the mobile lounge. no one there was hurt.

the man who was injured was flown to fairfax hospital where he later died. a woman has now been arrested, accused of forcing an elderly woman in montgomery county to withdraw money from an atm. last night u.s. marshals arrested the woman in new york. her name is linda mccorkle. she is 48 years old. video surveillance showed mccorkle at the bank and then there was a tip that led them to bust her. federal agents in new york arrested four members of a notorious crime family and one of them has ties to a reality tv show star. drug enforcement and fbi agents busted top members of the banana crime family administration early this morning. the father of "mob wives" star rene graziana was among those arrested. the family captain was already in federal prison on a previous conviction. a law enforcement official says they were charged with racketeering, extortion, illegal gambling and conspiracy to

distribute marijuana. the feds also arrested an associate of the gambino crime family. coming up on the broadcast crews working around the clock trying to get a body out of a well in prince george's county. i'm julie carey in loudoun county where the sheriff's department and school officials are investigating after nine students brought pot brownies to school. reaction coming up. it can take a year or longer to plan a wedding but one northern virginia couple had only one week to do it. coming up in sports the wizards look for their first win away from verizon center. plus what's up with gronkowsky. his status

the woman convicted in the lululemon murder case has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. brittany norwood killed her co-worker jana murray inside a bethesda yoga apparel store last march. she initially told police both she and murray had been attacked by others. norwood's family declined to speak after the sentence. murray's family said the sentence cannot heal their wounds but they take comfort in knowing norwood will be unable to hurt anyone else. norwood's lawyer plans to appeal. there are three full days

left to campaign for the florida republican presidential primary and mitt romney has regained the lead that he held and then lost. analysts say his strong performance in last night's debate may become a turning point in the race but some national polls still put newt gingrich in the lead among republicans on a national level. occupy d.c. protesters have until noon on monday to pack up sleeping bags and camping gear or face arrest. today the national park service handed out flyers to the demonstrators at mcpherson square and on freedom plaza. the park service says it is against the through have camping gear and temporary structures at the protest sites. those protesters still will be allowed to demonstrate but cannot camp out overnight. the weather talks about the cooling temperatures around the area. we saw temperatures into the 60s and even around 70 earlier today and since then we have fallen off about 15 to 20 degrees. we'll continue to cool throughout the rest of the night tonight. 49 right now in the district.

49 in gaithersburg. 43 in hagerstown. still a mild 54 in fredericksburg. the winds will continue but the weekend coming up i'll show you what i expect in just a few minutes. investigators in prince george's county are still in the middle of a meticulous recovery effort as they try to recover a body in the bottom of a well. that body was found after an anonymous tip and there is speculation that it could be a missing activist from alexandria. derrick ward reports. >> reporter: it was an anonymous phone tip that led police to the ground surrounding an abandoned house on old fort road. a caller told police of a body at the bottom of a well. >> homicide investigators on the scene yesterday could see from the top of the well the body. they also brought in camera. >> reporter: then began the search of the grounds. cadets from the police training academy literally leaving no stone unturned. >> the economy session number 120 spent six hours this morning on the property going over the

land step by step. they were 20 deep searching for evidence. >> reporter: on the day the discovery was made alexandria police showed up on the scene. the investigation is into the disappearance of lenny harris. he hasn't been seen since september and his cell phone has been recovered on the wilson bridge and his car found abandoned on livingston road not far from the scene of this search. police are looking at all possibilities. >> we are excluding nothing. this is wide open. >> reporter: harris's family and friends came to this area as part of their own search but darkness kept them from going deep into the woods. people who live in the area say the abandoned house has been the scene of nefarious activity in the past but now could be the seen of something even more sinister. as of late friday night the actual excavation had yet to begin so that means that this phase of the process may not be completed until well into next week. in fort washington, derrick ward, news 4.

authorities say they hope to begin excavating the well this weekend but it could be a two-day process. a report of a stolen car helped police make a drug bust in northern virginia early this morning. the onstar satellite system reported that the stolen vehicle from indiana was in the area of club house drive in leesburg. police found two people inside that car along with items used to make a laboratory for making methamphetamine. police also searched an apartment and found more meth materials. the pair was arrested. they are now facing grand larceny and drug charges. nasa is teaming up with a manassas business to build the space technology of the future. the space administration's deputy administrator visited aurora flight services today. aurora and nasa are working together on several space aircraft projects. among other things garver says the partnership is the perfect

example of how government can partner with small businesses to help create jobs. >> this company has taken seed money from nasa and other government agencies, turned this into a wonderful business with hundreds of employees across the country. >> reporter: aurora flight sciences designs and builds aircraft and space vehicles for scientific and military purposes. marijuana brownies, that's what loudoun county sheriff's deputies say a group of eighth graders ate while at school in ashburn. julie carey has reaction from parents. >> dids are bold these days. it's different. they are going to try and do things and if you think they're not going to do things then you better think twice. >> reporter: that is an ashburn parent reacting to the unsettling news that a group of eighth graders brought pot brownies to the middle school and ate the snacks there. marijuana brownies were brought into the school at some point. who consumed what, where, how, it's still foggy. how much was consumed is still

pretty much up in the air. nobody was sick in school. nobody was obviously inebriated in school. there were no signs wednesday there was any problem. >> reporter: the next day word got back to the principal. shortly before dismissal the nine alleged offenders were taken from class. their parents were contacted and school officials started their investigation. >> this is a suspendable offense under certain circumstances an expellable offense. but we want to get these students to realize they made a mistake. how do we rectify the mistake? how do we make sure the mistake doesn't happen again? >> reporter: but the principal had another challenge on her hands -- run away rumors that some 20 students had been expelled. she posted this message on facebook setting the record straight. this parent of a farmwell station eighth grader praised the administration's actions. >> the children talked about it on the way home and there was misinformation when they got home. which the administration quickly handled by the robo call, calling the parents and letting them know. but i was very happy. i was at the school yesterday

and from everything i saw it seemed like they were doing things really well. rnch the loudoun county sheriff's department is also investigating. the school resource officer was notified of the incident last night. a department spokeswoman says they hope to be contacted more promptly in the future. while the students involved will definitely face punishment within the school district the sheriff's department says it is too early to tell whether any criminal charges will be filed. in loudoun county, julie carey, news 4. >> the group of students under investigation includes boys and girls. thousands of people heading to the convention center this weekend looking for some hot wheels. >> plus fairfax county school board makes a decision on rest

they say what a difference a day makes. how about what a difference a year makes? last winter a very cold winter with just a little bit of snow about 10 inches or so. this year we've only seen 1.7 inches of snow but a lot milder if not warmer across the area. days at 60 degrees or higher. last year, we had one day. we're talking about december and january time frame so from december 1st until today only one day at 60 or better last year. this year so far including today we have seen 13 days at or above

60 degrees. if you take that down a level the 55 degrees we have seen 20 days above 55 degrees so, yes, we have definitely seen a warm winter across our region. the warm temperatures starting to fall off now. you can see storminess that made its way up toward boston now moving out of the region. we were seeing clearing skies and notice that next storm. that is the one coming through the chicagoland area right now. could give them light sprinkles, maybe snow showers. that will bring in cooler air over the weekend and there is another one behind that that will help increase the cold air coming in later this weekend. 49 in washington. 50 in la plata. 52 park city insurance river and across the river. 50 degrees in cambridge. morning temperatures, tomorrow, a little bit on the cool side. not too bad for this time of the year. 30 in martinsburg. 32 winchester. la ray around 33 degrees and down toward culpepper. how about a temperature there of 32. the next couple days we are

going to continue to stay on the mild side tomorrow. how about this? a high of 57. it could be a little breezy late in the day but i am forecasting a spectacular saturday and sunday doesn't look half bad either. >> thanks, doug. the 2012 washington auto show is officially under way now down at the washington convention center. the show this year features more than 700 cars from more than 42 manufacturers. and this year the show will run for ten days instead of the usual five. it will also feature more exhibits on new technology than ever before. for more information, we invite you to our website nbc washington.com. also tomorrow be sure to join veronica johnson and trevor price as they check out the hottest cars inside the auto show. how does he fit in that car? that is the question. that goes tomorrow morning at 10:30 and then tomorrow night at 7:30 right here on nbc 4 you can

catch it next week on nbc washington nonstop. want you to know if trevor felt like it he could probably pick that car up and move it someplace else. >> probably. >> if there was ever a parking problem. >> actually sitting on the ground. >> in the trunk. >> that is a good looking car. >> hakem, what's coming up in sports? >> we're talking super bowl. days away. the patriots, preparing to play the giants. a playmaker. he plays spectator. why the hoyas have to prove their toughness in the steel city plus what interim head coach randy whitman says will help the w

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eight days now, nine days until the giants walk away with yet another trophy. >> you're picking the giants. >> i'm just saying. >> okay. is that your prediction? >> pretty subtle about it. >> i told trevor price that he was picking the giants so i'm going to pick the patriots. just to go back and forth. >> she is a giants fan too. >> no, no. i got to go with the patriots. >> why? >> just to be ornery. >> to stay in character. >> exactly. >> stay in character. beautiful. the countdown continues. just nine days away from the biggest game of the year and for now the biggest question is will patriots tight end rob gran cowsky play in super bowl xlv? rob's dad isn't a doctor but has the answer telling a buffalo tv station that his son has a high

ankle sprain and will be ready to go. today the patriots held him out of practice. third quarter of the afc championship game he was tackled by baltimore's bernard pollard and gets twisted up injuring his left ankle on the play. gronkrouseky limit off the field but returned to the game. the 6'6", 265-pound tight end had a record-setting season catching 17 touchdowns. while his dad is confident about his son's status for the super bowl patriots coach bill belchik likes to keep people guessing. >> we'll just have to see. he's not going to practice today. take it day by day. i'm not going to try to forecast what things will be ten days from now. >> i have no idea. i'm not sure. i think everyone deals with dumps and bruises this time of the year and it's the super bowl so we are all trying to get out there and be healthy.

and it would suck to miss this game. he put all the work in over the course of the year and had the opportunity to play in this game. everyone is going to be doing everything they can to be out there. >> yeah. probably won't miss. you can see super bowl xlv between the patriots and giants on february 5th at 6:30 here on nbc 4. our own dan hellie and my main man jim vance live from indianapolis starting on monday. did you bring that car with you? we have to leave on tuesday. >> okay. sounds good. good gas mileage. >> the racing capital of the world indianapolis. >> not because of that. >> a good town. more nfl news the baltimore ravens promoted linebackers coach dean peas to defensive coordinator. he joined the organization two years ago after working as the patriots' defensive coordinator from 2006 to 2009. nba tonight wizards interim head coach randy whitman will try to lead washington to back-to-back

wins. the wizards on the road tonight in houston. and in whitman's first game as head coach the wizards crushed the bob cats 92-75 improving their record of 3-15. wizards gave up their fewest points of the season. tonight another big challenge against the rockets. the wizards will be looking for their first road win of the season. as for randy whitman he is in his third year with the team and is hoping the relationships he has built with the players will help turn things around in washington sooner than later. >> this is a terrible situation to be in but being in it at least i have a relationship with the guys. you know, not walking in here and they don't know me and i don't know them and we're all trying to learn each other. i think they knew me as an assistant, who i was, and this is just the next step right now. i don't think they're surprised how i've come in and asked, what i'm asking of them. i don't think that's a surprise to them. so hopefully that can be a bonus

and help them as we move forward. >> you can see tonight's wizards/rockets game at 8:00 on comcast sports net. college hoops now. in pittsburgh tomorrow it's a big east matchup between second place georgetown and last place pitt but you know what hoyas coach john thompson iii always says about big east games. anything can happen. this season georgetown is 6-2 in the conference including a three-game winning streak. their latest win was last saturday at home against rutgers. freshman otto porter scored the hoyas' final six points helping georgetown hang on to a two-point victory. as for the pitt panthers they're 1-7 in the big east but chew on this. at the peterson event center the panthers are 11-0 against top ten opponents. j.t. three and the ninth ranked hoyas know they'll have their hands full. in this league you'd be a fool if you look at records. you know, every team in this league is very good. pitt is still pitt and know how to play. they have jamie sitting on the bench and a lot of good players. so we look at the record more as

a blip opposed to that's who they are. >> their record doesn't show how good they are. they are always a tough team. the games that i've seen them play, you know, they weren't getting blown out. they were losing and losing by a couple points. so they're the same team they had in the past, still a tough team to play. >> georgetown and pitt scheduled to tip off tomorrow at 4:00. talking tennis now. on sunday novak djokovic will play rafael nidal in the australian open final. djokovic will try to become the fifth man since 1968 to win three straight majors. on friday djokovic outlasten th. we pick it up in the third set. novak djokovic won the first set. andy murray won the second. the englishman serving in the far court down 5-4 here. murray tries a little drop shot and djokovic here gets to it. then murray sends back the backhand, down the line murray wins the third set. 7-6. the set lasted 88 minutes. djokovic wins the fourth set so here in the fifth double break

point for novak in the near court. check out novak. great play there. gets a racket on it. just inside the line. murray sends it back. then djokovic right here. rips one by murray. and he is pumped. novak up 4-2. match point? djokovic in the far court. the two exchanging groundstrokes from the baseline. then novak with the volley and murray can't return it. that's it. novak djokovic wins in five sets. the match was epic lasting nearly five hours on sunday. it's djokovic against nidal for the australian open championship. and i remember this. last year there was novak against nidal for the wimbledon and the u.s. open. novak won both of those. >> some extraordinary tennis those guys played today. so did nidal. >> yes. >> an extraordinary manner. >> i want to see murray win one one day. >> as long as nidal and djokovic are still out there i don't think murray can get past it. >> i don't know how they keep it

up for five hours. >> red bull. >> talk about being fit. up next a change to the honors courses policy in fairfax county schools. a local couple got married today and planned the whole deal

second graders in montgomery county will no longer have to

take the terranova ii test. the superintendent says the district will stop testing starting next school year because of budget cuts. students will still take the assessment test three times a school year. in fairfax county an about face by the school board which has voted now to reinstate many honors level classes in high school. that move comes after complaints from parents and students. erika gonzalez has our report. >> what i don't want to see is students taking the general education because they feel they know they can't take the ap class and don't have any other choice. >> reporter: fairfax county parent deborah steppel won't have to worry about this now that the school board has voted to bring back the honors curriculum to high schools a mid point between standard and advanced placement courses. the honors curriculum provides a middle ground. parents like steppel say it makes students feel comfortable with their learning capacity. >> not every student can fit a

hundred percent into every single class in all of these advanced courses. but yet the regular standard curriculum is not rigorous enough. >> champion for honors curriculum and eight-year school board member dan stork says the courses were phased out during current superintendent jack dale's administration in an effort to encourage students to choose more rigorous classes. dale did not return our request for an interview. while stork did not agree with dale's plan he says there were not enough votes on the school board at the time to implement change. that was until the beginning of this month when six new board members were introduced. >> it gives students options, options that will help them realize their full potential. every child is different. and to provide them with the opportunity to select what best meets their needs for that particular course is essential to them. >> reporter: school board member kathy smith was the lone vote against the reinstatement of the honors classes. she released this statement.

each of us voted in the way that we felt was best for students and families as with any vote. now we all need to move on and carry out the intention of the school board. stork says with these new school board members in place, and dale retiring next year, he expects to see more changes. in fairfax county, erika gonzalez, news 4. >> the honors classes set to return include 11th grade english, history, and geography. coming up tonight at 11:00 busted by onstar. how the technology helped police undercover a meth lab in northern virginia. get ready for delays on the road and the rails. we'll show you how the repair work could affect your weekend plans and downward dog in terminal 2. how one airport is helping flyers destress before they hop on the next flight. that's tonight on news 4 at 11:00. >> a final check. >> you know what you can do? just you know what sir? you don't have to pay for your bags. >> that would make a big difference. >> that would help. >> and you're upgraded to first

class. >> well, don't push your luck. >> you can try right? out there right now a little bit on the cooler side after a very warm start to the day. look at these temperatures. we started off at 61 in gaithersburg, 63 in the district. the official number says 62. 64 in manassas. 70 in culpepper and in fredericksburg and pax river at 68 this morning. it was really just amazing. once the thunderstorms came through with some big time thunder, they moved out very, very quickly. and the winds have moved in. that's what's helping cool our temperatures down. we aren't going to stay cool. 39 by tomorrow morning but 57 tomorrow afternoon. another frontal boundary will come through, cool us off a little bit on sunday with a high of 48. maybe a late shower or even a flurry coming up on sunday night but don't worry. it's not a big storm. monday chilly with a temperature of 43 degrees. and then right back to not just the 50s but we may go back into the 60s coming up on wednesday, yet another problem that could give us some shower activity

late wednesday and into the day on thursday. it has been amazing how warm we've been and it looks like mother nature is just going to continue to keep it that way at least for now. >> thank you, doug. here is a nice story to end on. gary richter and heather olson are from chantilly, virginia and won a contest for a dream wedding. came with a catch though. the wedding had to be planned in a week from start to finish. well, they pulled it off with a whole lot of help. richter and olson were married this morning at the mount vernon inn. the wedding contest was sponsored by the radio station mix 107.3 and the listeners had input on everything from the bridal gown to the first song. the contest also includes a honeymoon trip to mexico. that first song by the way was faithful by journey. you think they're happy? >> they like each other. >> yeah.