good morning, everyone and welcome to "news4 midday." i'm barbara harrison. friday, february 3, 2012. we begin with breaking news. police now say a transgender person who was stabbed at a metro bus stop has died. the stabbing happened last night on east capitol street near sycamore road in northeast washington. police chief cathy lanier says the man that was dressed as a woman was stabbed in the head. the victim was taken to the hospital where he died. police say there were signs of a struggle but it is not clear if

this was a robbery or a hate crime. the police made no arrests. and this morning principals across one maryland county are warning students about dangerous games sent three students to the hospital. the warning is going out to all students in charles county public schools. the superintendent already sent a letter to parents about the possible health risk frequent replying so-called knockout or passout challenge. news4's tracee wilkins reports. >> reporter: it is an old-school game that has been made popular again through youtube and facebook and becoming such a serious problem in charles county that some students have been rushed to the hospital. and now parents are being put on alert. >> this is something -- >> reporter: a lot of the parents we talked with knew what the knockout or passout game was. but they were surprised to hear the dangerous challenge was making a comeback. >> they think it is fun and they think it is, you know, the feeling you get when you fall -- pass out, they think it is, you know, it is fun. but the parents need to

elaborate -- it kills brain cells. >> reporter: this is rid yo posted by a nonprofit group warning kids of the dangers associated with playing the game. but most of the passout game video pound on social media is teaching kids how to do it. and the consequences are serious. >> yesterday we had three students taken to the hospital because they had passed out and what we learned was that they intentionally passed out. we had reports from other schools that students had been seen in the nurse's office for the same thing. >> reporter: yesterday at charles county public schools sent out a robo call to its parents encouraging them to warn their children after a number of high school and middle school kids made themselves sick playing the game at school. >> when do you this, you do pass out. you lose consciousness and you can fall. when you fall you can hit your head. you can do brain damage when you lose oxygen to your brain. the ultimate effect is that, you know, someone could die from this. >> reporter: students told school administrators they learned the game online.

while they can't access social media science within charles county schools many are doing it at home. >> they should take that down. i don't know why anybody would promote something like that. >> i heard vaguely about it when i was a kid. it is very serious. and alarming. hopefully kids will understand the severity of and it not do it. >> reporter: the school system decided students who are caught participating may face disciplinary action for interrupting the school day and their parents will be notified. releasing the january jobs report and the news is good. the u.s. added 243,000 jobs in january. far more than the economists expected. the unemployment rate dropped to 8.3%. the low nest three years. the report this morning from the labor department sent money pouring into the stock market. the dow and nasdaq are both seeing big gains this morning. president obama's expected to comment on the jobs report in arlington this morning. he's expected five-station number five at pentagon city in

just a few minutes. he'ses expected to discuss a new initiative that will help returning military veterans to come become firefighters. the president's second trip to virginia this week. he announced a new mortgage refinancing man in fairfax county wednesday. turning to the weather. a much cooler start to this day. storm 4 meteorologist tom kierein joins us with the first forecast from the day. >> hey. yeah. the air is appreciate and invigorating and we have a beautiful blue sky with sparkling sunshine and temperatures are climbing into the mid 40s throughout much of the region. reagan national at 46. low to mid 40s. and in arlington, fairfax, montgomery, prince george's counties, throughout most of the region now, we are into the low and mid 40s. we have a little bit of breeze coming in out of the north around 5 to 10 miles an hour and this blue sky thanks to high pressure over us right now and some high clouds begin to push into western and west virginia out of kentucky, ahead of rain and snow system that's been hitting the midwest and the

front range of the rockies around denver, major blizzard under way there. i will show you video from that coming up in a few minutes. for us this afternoon, mostly sunny and chilly. light wind out of the northwest around 5 to 10. temperatures climbing into the upper 40s and low 50s. might hit mid 50s across central virginia from fredericksburg, warrenton, culpeper. north of there, it will be hovering around 50 through the afternoon. a look at a cold weekend coming up. maybe precipitation for the weekend. i will have the latest that in a few minutes shall barbara. >> okay. tell us what kind of precipitation you are talking about when you get in here. already. thank you, top. we are going to check on the midday traffic now. here is danella sealock. good morning. >> good morning, barbara. if you are traveling i-66 heading east out of haymarket, we will take the trip together and looks really good. 70 miles per hour as you make your way by the bypass and centreville, 57 miles per hour. not bad. continuing i-66, even crossing over inside the beltway, you are in the clear. eastbound you can see glebe road, no problem eastbound, westbound as well.

i will give you a travel speed eastbound at 54 miles per hour. and from the beltway to gw parkway that trip now take 11 minutes. barbara, back to you. >> thanks, danella. illegal immigrant convicted of a deadly accident in bristow, virginia, that killed a nun will learn his punishment today. police say carlos montoya was drunk when he slammed his car into another car in august of 2010. the crash killed sister denise mosher and injured two other n nuns. the crash happened while he was awaiting deportation. he faces up to 70 years in prison. a second man is behind bars in the murder of an alexandria activist whose body was found in a well in prince george's county. police arrested 20-year-old ivan newman yesterday in connection with lenny harris' death. newman faces murder, kidnapping, and robbery charges. earlier this week, police arrested 49-year-old lynwood johnson. they say they expect to make more arrests in this case. the motive for the murder

appears to be robbery. this morning, a teacher and part-time coach at two schools in montgomery county is in jill. he is accused of having sex with a 16-year-old student. 47-year-old scott spear is a social studies teacher at julia's west middle school in rockville and is also a basketball and track coach at richard montgomery high school. he is accused of having consensual sex with one of the students that he coached on the track team last spring. we talked to the schools and spear is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. he expected in court for april bond hearing later today. security will be tighter at one southeast d.c. elementary school today as the search continues for a man who sexually assault ad young girl inside. the police are trying to figure out how the man managed to talk himself in to an elementary school on wednesday afternoon. the victim was escorting him around the school when the assault happened. there's a security camera

outside of the school but it is not clear that it was working at the time. this just in to our newsroom. montgomery county police have found ab6-month-old that went missing yesterday but there's still -- they are still looking for her 14 year old mother. police released these photos of the girl and her daughter. shawnee was last seen yesterday in the 2200 block of georgian way in wheaton. police believe she is in the wheaton or glenmont area at this time. if have you any information please call montgomery county police at 301-279-8000. and breakout the rings, grab the chips and dip. and hook up the big screen. super bowl weekend is here. and there are plenty of super events throughout the weekend. aaron gilchrist has what you need to know to enjoy the big game sunday. he joins from us the news4 super screen. aaron? >> barbara, this could be one of the most watched event nrs history. estimated 100 million viewers

expected to tune in and there's good reason for the hype here. we are talking about two teams that met four years ago in super bowl xlii. in what was one of the most exciting and memorable games in nfl history. the giants spoiled the patriots' bid at a perfect season with a 17-14 win and fans witnessed one of the most amazing catches ever made in super bowl history. the patriots want a little bit of revenge and the giants want to prove they can do it again. both these teams actually have a long history of success in n the postseason. giants won three super bowl rings as do the patriots have on their list. but new england's game came in a span of four years between 2002 and 2005. now, not everybody is going to be tuning in to see the game. historic rematch. some people will be glued to the commercials and entertainment if you will, original american idol winner kelly clarkson will offer pregame entertainment and sing the national anthem. for the first time ever, madonna

is going to be performing at the halftime show. she talked to reporters yesterday and said to expect some surprises but nothing too revealing. >> i really don't want people-to-blow the surprises. i want people to be knocked off -- out of their seats from beginning to end. great attention to detail has been paid to my wardrobe. there will be no wardrobe malfunctions. promise. >> sunday is super bowl day. you can watch coverage here on news4 starting at noon. and then the moment football fans have been waiting for, kickoff for super bowl xlvi at 6:20 p.m. barbara? >> all right, aaron. thank you. and news4 is your official station for super bowl xlvi. jim vancehelli are in indianapolis 3 new information about two female tourists in the united states that were

kidnapped in egypt. the latest for the race president for the republican party head flood the nevada caucus this weekend. and a special offer for nationals fans starting today. it is called take back the park. we have just released some details that we will bring to you live coming up. also ahead, famous chef probably one of the most famous in the word is joining us. wolfgang puck will be here. 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:

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now to breaking news out of egypt. nbc news confirmed that two american hostages have been released. they were kidnapped earlier today. "the washington post" reports two women were traveling in a minivan when masked gunmen stopped the van and abducted them. tensions are high in the middle east today after reports of israel could soon launch an attack on iran to prevent them from developing a nuclear weapon. nbc news spoke with several u.s. and israeli officials who say the odds of an attack are better than 50/50. "the washington post" is reporting defense secretary leon panetta believes israel will attack as early as april. iran's ayatollah responded saying any military action against iran or any sanctions will, quote, harm america. panetta, who is in brussels for a nato conference is not commenting on the report which is fueling speculation an attack

is imminent. the republican white house hopefuls will be campaigning today in nevada. a day before that state's caucuses. and if new polls are any indication tomorrow could be another big day for mitt romney. the former massachusetts governor holds a 20-point lead over newt gingrich among likely gop caucuses goers in the latest las vegas review journal news poll. rick is an tore sxum ron paul are in a distant third and fourth positions. romney now says that he misspoke when he said he isn't i very concerned about poor people. he made the comment during a television interview on wednesday and repeated it during the so-called clarification with reporters onboard his airplane. he's now calling it an accidental misstatement. romney insists he meant to say he's focused primarily on helping middle class americans hurt by the bad economy. and if you got out early this morning you noticed there was a big change from the day before.

it is awfully cold out. >> it feels like winter. at least it feels like it. does not look like it here. but it does around denver. this is video from overnight. they started seeing heavy snow move in to the denver region. that area from colorado springs through denver, up to boulder and into wyoming and central plains getting pounded major winter storm now. and they are expecting up to two feet of snow. here is the radar. that area in white is snow. all across much of colorado and then across the border into nebraska. and they are getting heavy snow there. already snow northwest of denver, boulder, colorado, they had over 20 inches of snow so far. it is still going. it is going to keep snowing the rest of the day into tonight and perhaps ending early tomorrow morning positive before it is finally well over. well over two feet and 40-mile-per-hour winds and cause significant drifting. paralyzing winter storm there. here, though, feels like winter but certainly looks beautiful

with blue sky. 46 at riggan national. north west wind only around 5 to 10 miles an hour. elsewhere, temperatures are in the low to mid 40s from the mountains all the way to the atlantic beaches and chesapeake bay. montgomery county, arlington, fairfax drishgts, prince george's county, low to mid 40s and that wind coming out of the north and west and makes it feel like it is in the upper 30s and low 40s with the current wind chills. not a lot of wind around. wind chills are not too bad. as we look at the view from space, we have have a big area of high pressure to thank for the beautiful blue sky. it is going to be in place here today. it will eventually drift or and as it moves off to the east we will begin to see increasing clouds from the west. right now we have plenty of sunshine over the region and it will be with us here through the afternoon. mostly clear night tonight as we go forward over the next 48 hours. and we will be clear through the evening hours and chilly night getting cold tomorrow morning and we will start off with sun saturday morning. and then during the day we will have increasing clouds and that storm system in the plains and in the rockies. moving east but coming into some warmer air. as it does come in this area of

green, zone of potential, perhaps light rain. this is sunday around midnight, 2:00, 3:00 in the morning. may be a little wet snow in northern shenandoah valley, panhandle of west virginia, northern-western suburbs may have a little wet snow. early sunday morning. by noontime sunday we will begin to clear out. for the rest of the friday enjoy the beautiful blue sky. light wind out of the northwest 5 to 10 as we climb into the low 50s. over the next couple of hours. then overnight tonight for your friday evening plans, partly cloudy and chilly. temperatures mid 40s early evening. down to near 40 by midnight. then by dawn saturday near freezing starting tomorrow morning with sun and increasing clouds saturday afternoon. highs near 50. yes, we can get a little light rain late saturday night, perhaps into right around dawn on sunday. and that's washington and points south. areas just north and west of washington, maybe a little wet snow. that would be western fairfax county, loudoun county, montgomery county and quickly moving off to the east and little bit earlier in the

evening, maybe a little bit of the wet snow out in northern shenandoah valley. panhandle of west virginia. sun back sunday afternoon. then we have a clear, dry, chilly pattern monday all through next week. still no big snowstorms here. >> we are not going to get any of that. little bit maybe of what denver is getting. >> it will be weakening as it comes east and getting warmer air thank you. we will see you again shortly. to the roads we go now. see if there are any problem. >> we are still looking good on the roadway. traveling i-95 in virginia, seeing nothing but green for you. heading from woodbridge, making your way to the beltway both directions of i-95 you are in the clear. i will give you a live look at lorton, volume very light at this time. traveling northbound and southbound. i will give you travel speed if you are traveling northbound. 61 miles per hour and from the occoquan river bridge to beltway that trip takes 11 minutes. and if you are traveling on i-270 in maryland in this area as well, north and south, no issues for you. barbara, back to you. >> all right. thank you so much, danella. 19 minutes after 11:00. still ahead, designer goods at a

huge discount. we will tell you to find the deals tomorrow only. we are going to sit down with famous chef wolfgang puck. we will ask him about the source as d.c. restaurant what inspires him and a special award he is about to get this spring. a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com 37 .

the james beard's foundation lifetime achievement award this year will go to wolfgang puck. it is the latest award for the chef who people say revolutionized how american chefs think about food. wolfgang puck joins thus morning to talk us b the honor and latest venture. good morning. >> good morning. yeah. >> i know. i wasn't expecting you to bring any food. i was so happy you brought us -- >> how could i not? >> i was going to be outset about this. >> some cookies. >> we thought we should honor you by not making you cook. >> thank you, thank you. >> you did bring -- what are these, chocolate chip cookies? >> and then we are celebrating chinese new year a week late but better late than never. we have fortune cookies which we make at the restaurant. >> you celebrate the chinese new year because you do an asian fusion style in most of your restaurants. >> yes. firstation fusion restaurant in america. that was in 1983. and --

>> you were really ahead of the game. >> yeah. because it was fusion, i had never learned about chinese food. hi to do the western style cooking, french cooking mainly andation and asian ingredients and the press said that's fusion cook. >> what made you decide to get into the chinese -- >> i love chinese food. when i came to los angeles, we have chinatown, monterey park. all these different neighborhoods which we -- eth any cal chinese and japanese, too. you know, i would like to open a restaurant with that food. and then i found a little space in santa monica. and -- i opened the restaurant and then the first night i forgot to cook rice. people said -- don't have you any rice? i said i forgot to cook rice. >> what's the hottest dish? >> what people like, last night it was the same thing. people said we come for your

peking duck. it is amazinamazing. you love duck, too. i'm glad people still like that. for the dessert, believe it or not, our chocolate souffle, number one seller. >> little chinese, little french. >> french, too. >> that's what you are all about. how's the store doing n. >> it is doing fantastic. run a grape restaurant. we have all the politicians coming, republican, the democrats. michelle obama came for her birthday. >> we get them all together. >> all together. >> nothing to argue about when it comes to your food. >> when it comes to food, republican or did he kratz, they all have to eat good food. >> that's true. you are celebrating lunar new year. you said a little bit late but -- who cares. >> for sure. great menu tonight with wine pairings and main course will be peking duck and have pepper fillet, steamed fish. it will be exciting and chinese dragon dancers with the drums. a big celebration. >> you always do the menu for the oscars at least for the governor's ball. >> yes.

>> what are you going to have this year? >> this year it is going to be a big party. instead of having like sit-down formal dinner which makes it boring a little bit, you can move around and talk to other people. we are going to have more like a grazing party. a loungey feeling. whole dine room, 1600 people, big lounge. >> fantastic. >> will have tony bennett will sing. it is going to be -- lots of fun and lot of smaller plates. >> what are we going to eat there? >> little chicken pot pies. lamb chops. same thing we do here. you know. marinated lamb. vinaigrette. baked potatoes with caviar risotto with mushrooms. >> you tell me you made these. >> we made those. >> i have to read mine. lets see. what's my fortune? let's agree i don't know. >> this is from wolfgang puck. wolfgang says keep your feet on the ground, even though friends

flatter you. i'm going to keep my feet on the ground. >> all right. >> thanks so much. wolfgang puck. congratulations on you award. >> it is just the beginning of my career. they give it to me in the beginning. i have 30 more years to go. >> you better keep going because we are all hungry. it is 11:27. coming up in the next half hour of "news4 midday," bad news from metro and reaction from passengers. >> off the red line. i was late to work every day and getting to the point of being ridiculous. >> plus, it is turning a little cooler for the weekend. tom kierein will be back to tell us what other changes we can expect.

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it looks like he wants some gas. how's it going, gentlemen? what's up, man? gas prices keep going up. crazy, man. but seeing how i saved hundreds on car insurance with progressive, this tank's on me. we getting a whole free tank of gas. the dude from the progressive commercial, man, he just filled up our tank for us. appreciate it. take care. fill it up? free tank of gas. man, switch to progressive, dog. they doing a lot of good out here, man. tell him the messenger sent you. right now president obama is headed to arlington and the fire station number five near pentagon city where he's going to talk about new initiative

that will help returning military veterans become fire fighters there. he's already there. just walking in and he's also reacting to the new jobs report that's out this morning. the unemployment rate fell for the fifth straight month dropping to 8.3% from 8.5%. there is the president. we have breaking news. nbc learned that the susan g. komen foundation has reversed its decision and will continue top fund planned parenthood. they recently decided to palm funding and extremely controversial move that infuriated women's health advocates. komen officials originally said if they pulled funding because they didn't want to you interfere with congress' recent investigation into the organization. if you are a regular rider of metro's red line prepare yourself for delays and closures for the next few years. transit officials say there will be what they call a steady stream of maintenance to revamp the red line. news4's megan mcgrath is live from the chinatown metro station

with more on this bad news for metro riders. >> reporter: barbara, for years the metro system went without a good system of preventative maintenance. that caused all kinds of breakdowns and problems. a major overhaul is under way and started with the red line but if riders were hoping for a quick fix think again. red line track work is expected to last three years. it is the busiest line in the metro system. riders on the red line are also among the most frustrated. single tracking, station closures and delays, it is all too familiar. and now comes word that major track work won't be completed for another three years. >> kind of ridiculous. they have been doing work for how many years before that? kind of ridiculous they still are doing work on the rail line. >> as bad as it is, yeah, that's not good news. >> why so long? metro says years of neglect have

taken a toll on the red line. a lack of money and resources pushed preventative maintenance to the back burner. the result, a huge backlog of work. >> this is a system that's building its way back out of a hole that took years to get into where maintenance was not done and this routine stuff just kind of, you know, wasn't done on a proper schedule. we are trying to make up for that and get in a a routine where this kind of catch-up work isn't necessary. >> reporter: the system is also making safety upgrades required by the ntsb following 2009's deadly crash. although the work won't be done until 2015, metro says that there will be gradual improvement in service as the project progresses to try to reduce the pain major work will be done overnight and on weekends and holidays. but riders should expect some station closures during off-peak periods. >> we know it is an inconvenience and we are going to do everything we can to mitigate that. that's what, you know why we

went to a shutdown approach, gets the work done faster. >> reporter: while it started with the red line, eventually every line in the metro system will be overhauled. riders can expect to see track work on the blue and orange lines. this weekend. reporting live from chinatown, megan mcgrath, news4. >> thank you, megan. if you are head flood the city from northern virginia on metro this weekend, expect delays. the rosslyn station on the orange and blue lines and the arlington cemetery station on the blue line will both close tonight at 10:00. free shuttle buses will be running to get you around those closed stations. also single tracking on the red line between van ness and friendship heights. all the work should be donen time for monday morning's commute. we are going to talk to tom kierein about our weather. he says we could see wet stuff next week but not quite this weekend. how's it going to be like this weekend? >> maybe a little bit late saturday night into sunday morning. between now and then, dry and chilly weather right now there

is a life view from our city camera. showing the bright sunshine pouring down on washington. and the temperature at reagan national airport now at 46. we have a bit of a breeze coming in out of the north and west and windchill air at 43. not too bad. temperatures are in the low to mid 40s for the mountains all the way to the bay and the atlantic ocean. and the beaches. it is in the mid 40s there. and all around the area we have got plenty of sunshine thanks to high pressure that's been moving in. it has been in place here since last night. there are those high clouds beginning to drift in to the mountains and those will be moving over us by later this afternoon and overnight tonight after a high -- in the afternoon up around the low to mid 50s briefly. then tonight getting cold again. down near freezing by dawn saturday. that increasing clouds tomorrow. then saturday night we could get a little bit of rain, washington, points south. areas to the north and northwest might have a little bit of wet snow late saturday night. and into very early sunday morning as the timing on it right now. and then some sunshine back for the rest of sunday with a high

in the 40s. looks like act really dry and chilly pattern here as we get into monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday next week. still no big snowstorms. certainly going to be feeling like winter as we get into next week. >> feeling like it out there right now. okay, thank you, tom. let's check traffic conditions. sheer danella sealock. >> good morning. traveling around the beltway not seeing many issues for you at all. very clear in montgomery county. this is a live look at connecticut avenue. if you are traveling on the outer loop of the beltway from i-95 to i-270, that trip will take you ten minutes as you travel at 56 miles per hour. and the beltway in virginia looks good as well, live look at robinson term nam. inner loop speeds not bad at all. 51 miles per hour. from the i-95 interchange to the dulles toll road that trip only taking 15 minutes. barbara, back over to you. >> thank you so much. spring training is less than a month away for washington nationals players, believe it or not. the team is already thinking ahead to the regular season on how to get the most fans to the

ballpark to support the hometown team. nationals coo and the -- joins thus morning to explain. good morning, welcome. >> thanks. >> they are writing about new t"the washington post.post.." >> i don't know if you know, last couple of years, lot of those fans from philadelphia now up the i-915 corridor have been invading our ballpark. we said enough. >> filling up the stadium. they are paying fans but -- >> that's okay. we want toned that and lock those phillies' fans out and forget you time to the phillies. it is our town, our team. it is our fans and our park. so from the first -- important first time in washington we are doing a presale only to fans in maryland, virginia, and d.c. from now until march when general onsale for single game tickets go on sale. go to nationals.com/ourpark. anyone with a zip code in maryland, virginia, d.c. will have an opportunity to buy tickets from the first phillies series 1 through 6. >> a lot of new faces on the field this year is that right? >> we have some exciting faces on the field.

we just signed edwin jackson, pitcher, 95 miles an hour. geo gonzalez frayeded from the as and strasburg is back. this year fully healthy and jordan zimmerman arguably the best pitching staff in the national league including the phillies. >> did you know, that gets people out. when you have a winning team folks will come and see them. isn't that what you found? >> that's it. we need a compelling reason for our fans to come out and take our park back. we want to take the park back when the phillies come so we don't see all the fans from pill del at our ballpark. i remember in the late '80s when we played dallas at rfk, stands were rocking to the tune of dallas sucks. for the first time those are here in washington. between want to get them back to the ballpark. >> exciting phenom to talk about folks want to get out there and see them. and -- strasburg did what you expected him to do in the beginning. >> yeah. he has been very exciting. i think it is very unique in baseball that you have a guy like strasburg and harper who is coming up next year as well.

young cultural icons that exceed baseball become the talk of the town. all of our stars on that team are less than 27 years old. you are seeing a team, legitimate contending team, forming before your eye. >> when is first game? >> we actually played exhibition game against the boston red sox on tuesday, april 3. then we open up a couple of weeks later against the cincinnati reds on april 12. >> we are talking about baseball, spring camp can't be too far behind. >> spring training right here. we are here today to talk about the phillies series may 4 through 6. nationals.com/ourpark. let's lock the phillies fans out. >> let's see how you do. we will be reading about it. >> we will see you at the park. >> would love to come. >> thank you. it is 11:39. still ahead on "news4 midday," is madonna feeling the pressure ahead of her big super bowl performance? how to get designer looks

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new developments in the mystery illness in upstate new york. 36-year-old woman now says she has the same symptoms as more than a dozen teenagers. 15 students in leroy, new york, are suffering from uncontrollable ticks. similar to tourette's. neurologists initially said the teens have conversion disorder formerly known as mass hysteria. the family disagree with that. the most recent victim is a licensed nurse practitioner, marge fitzsimons. she says she is being treated for the same thing. she's not connected to the school where the students attend but does live in that same area. >> really scary. it is like somebody came in and took home away. >> investigators who work with erin brockovich made famous by

julia roberts oscar winning performance are in the town of leroy taking soil sams. they are taking a close look at something that happened more than 40 years ago. a train derailed dumping toxic chemicals in that area. about four miles from the school at the center of the investigation. employers went on a hiring spree in january, it seems, and drove down the unemployment rate to the lowest point in lee years. we are going to check in with cnbc. >> as you pointed out good news on the economic front and stocks have spiked sharply higher today. reaching new highs. nasdaq is on pace to close at the highest since december of 2000 when it ended the day at 2,931. if the dow holds on to the gains the major index will have reached a 3 1/2 year high. main reason, good news from the jobs front. economy created jobs at the fastest pace in nine months in january. and the unemployment rate droppinging to a mere three-year

low. 8.3%. providing some measure of comfort for president barack obama who faces re-election in november. overall, though, the report pointed to underlying strength of the economy and despite expectations that growth will slow in the first quarter. also in focus, though, super sunday with the pats and giants competing at the super bowl. game, of course, is huge. the super bowl sunday 34% of people who will be watching say for them is it is about the parties and food. sunday will mark the second biggest day of the year for eating, making it a very profitable weekend for safeway, trader joe's are and others. dips are actually the most consumed. 71 million pounds of avocados alone are expected to be gobbled up in guacamole, wings and pizza followed closely behind in terms of consumption and locally restaurants tell us carry-out business will be booming. bash remarks that's the news for you. >> all right. have a great weekend. enjoy the super bowl. same to you. tomorrow shoppers will have the opportunity to take

advantage of some real deals. at seventh annual old town district boutique shoplers find real bargains. elizabeth todd, co-founder of the old town boutique district, joins us this morning with a preview of the sale. well only. >> thank you for having us sounds like this will be quite an event. >> it is quite an event. it has grown over the years. >> what's the old town boutique district. >> it is a group of 30 stores that are all located in old town. we work together to have different events. >> how do did they decide to do the big sale? >> it started seven years ago. after i had been business a few years and all just need ad way to get rid of some of our merchandise and thought it was great way to kind of showcase a lot of stores under one roof so people could come and learn about different places they might not have shopped at before. >> show us a few of the things. you brought models along with you. >> i brought models. >> we like to see some of the things you are going to be selling and what the deals are

going to be like. >> we have good ones. rebecca taylor sweater from soe boutique. >> start with the models. >> okay. i'm soar write. soar write. >> let's look over there and see what they are doing. here is the first one. tell us about this. >> great dress from treat. it is by l.a. made. it is usually $195 at the warehouse sale it is going to be $75. >> is there just one of them there? >> most people have a few sizes of each thing. they won't have the whole size run of everything. >> $75. >> $75. then the purse is normally $298. it is $75 as well. >> wow. it is a beautiful dress and lovely model wearing it. >> for spring. >> another one coming up behind her. another idea. >> monica. she has a dress by trina from hysteria. it is normally $227. it is going to be $75 at the warehouse sale. >> they don't look like things you would be getting rid of. they look like spring -- >> definitely buy now, wear now things. >> and the purse?

>> purse is by sequoia. $186 normally. at the warehouse sale it will be $56. >> we are seeing nice jewelry those. >> those are part of the sale. they range from $30 to $40 retail. at the sale they will be between $10 and $15. then the boots are from my store. they are by diva. normally $73. they are going to be $22 at the sale. >> sounds like we might need those next week, too. >> that's true. cold weather coming. >> you have a bunch of other things here, too. not just dresses. there is a cute one back there. >> yeah, some home and fashion and things as well. one of the greatest deals for fashion, that's from diba. a millie dress. it has its tags on it. it is normally over $300 retail. and it is going to be -- i'm sorry. >> green and a brown and very pretty. >> it is going to be $36 at the warehouse. >> $36. >> more than one of those there's only one of those. >> get out there early.

if you want that for $36. have you purses, too, shoe. >> purses and shoes. we've got the shoes from my store. tory birch which everybody loves. they are normally -- let's see. i think they are $175 and will be $56 at the sale. >> purses run the same as the ones we just zblau purses are $595 normally. and they are going to be $149 at the sale. >> not just fashion for women but you have also got some children's clothes here, sigh. >> children's clothes from appleseed. outfit normally $48 and it is going to be $28 at the sale. >> other than clothes, you have a picnic basket over here. >> a great cooking store in old town. so it is usually $160. it is going to be $65. >> wow. sounds like really good deals to be had. >> great deals. >> we are so glad you came until. >> thank you for having us. >> other things to do other than watching the super bowl this weekend. >> exactly. shop. >> one day only? >> one day only.

9:00 to 4:00 at the masonic temple tomorrow in old town. >> hope you will get a big turnout and i'm sure you will. >> looks like the weather will be nice. we are excited. >> our time is 11:49. coming up we get you ready for super bowl sunday. plus, meteorologist tom kierein will be back with another check of your weekend forecast. stay with news4. at 3:00 ellen welcomes the stars of "the voice." you want to hear about that.

we have you covered, before, during, after the super bowl this morning. tommy mcfly is here to help with the coverage. hey. >> all of the coverage there is. >> we have to talk about a lot of stuff. talking about what people will be eating this sunday. >> absolutely. and, you know, so much food gets consumed at the super bowl. >> and folks watching it at home. >> absolutely. 1.25 million chicken wings. over the weekend in philadelphia they had the biggest wing contest and winner ate 300 nonhalf hour. she would be great at this. >> 1.25 million chicken wings. 46 million bags of positive -- pounds of potatoes. >> potato chips are not heavy. that's a lot of bags of potato chips. >> it is. 177 million pounds of snack

foods. >> pretzels and popcorn and all that stuff. 71 million pounds of avocados. >> you got to have your guacamole. >> absolutely. avocado growers are selling more of that than the -- some of the things, hot dogs and things we normally think of. >> absolutely. do you make your guacamole -- >> i can. >> you are able to. >> i can do it. yes. i probably will this weekend. >> nothing like homemade gok mole wri guacamole. i eat everything. i never host a super bowl party. >> some people put out a real big spread. >> absolutely. some people have it catered. the super bowl is nothing to mess around with. >> you are absolutely right. pick your party by what they are serving. madonna seems nervous about her halftime show. >> she is. >> do you feel any pressure? you do? >> mm-hmm. yes. i do. >> any surprise guests? who can we expect going out

there with you? >> i don't want fwloe the surprises. i want people to be knocked off -- out of their seats from beginning to end. and so i just want to keep that surprise and keep anticipation going. sorry. >> okay. what will it take to blow you out of your seat? >> i no idea. her alone is really great. we are hearing maybe nicky manage, lmfao. that's what i love about the halftime show. people propel from helicopter or pop out floor. that's what's great. eight minutes to set it up. they are on stage for 12 minutes. then it takes seven minutes to break it down. >> i'm really looking forward to that part. along with the commercials. let's get to the end of the super bowl when it is all over, we have the voice coming on. >> i'm so excited. i love "the voice" on nbc. christinaing lira, adam lavigne. two fresh artists. there was a little bit of a controversy going on. >> yeah. tell me about that. >> randy jackson, one of the judges on another singing show, talking smack about "the voice" saying, you know, second or

third chance type of thing. adam levine was on adam degeneres and set the record straight a little bit. >> i think it will just stand on its own when it comes on. right after the super bowl. >> which is so cool. we are goi you can get on there when you are sitting at home and have live chat how you think the show is going, who you like. >> fantastic. >> interactive experience. >> can't wait for that. and we are so glad to see. >> did you thanks for having me. >> we will see you next week. okay. who are you for? >> i can't say that. patriots. >> let's take a look at some of the stories we are following on news4 this afternoon. pat lawson muse. she won't tell us either who she is rooting for. >> i think you put tommy on the spot. >> yeah. >> hi, barbara. coming up on "news4 at 4:00," expert will join us to explain why companies pay so much money for all those super bowl ads. and we will break down four ads that you are going to see on sunday. they are always fun. plus, it is the viral video of the day. future athlete showing off his

skills. and then at 5:00 this afternoon, getting in the mood for romance, "washington post" food critic has ideas for your valentine's day dining. those stories and all the latest coming up at 4:00. >> pat, we will be watching. let's take a final check on your forecast. tom? >> great start to the weekend. right now beautiful blue sky. live view from the sky watcher camera. we have a little bit of a breeze coming in out of the north. temperatures are now into the mid and upper 40s. and it is going to climb a little bit more right now at 48 at reagan national as we approach the noon hour. hit the low to mid 50s by next couple of hours or so. then cold tonight. we will be down near freezing by dawn on saturday. and clouding up during the day tomorrow with a high around 50. then saturday night could get light rain in washington. points south. areas north and west, saturday night, few wet snow makes won't last long and quickly move away getting sun back on sunday and late morning and during the afternoon. and we will get temperatures reaching the mid 40s to upper

40s sunday afternoon. then as we get into next week, monday, tuesday, wednesday, towards the end of the week, looks dry and chilly each day. have a great weekend and see you bright and early monday morning. >> tom, thank you. that's "news4 midday" for today. we thank you for joining us and tune in for news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00, 11:00. news throughout the weekend and don't forget the super bowl and "the voice." we will be back monday morning at 11:00 a.m. plan to join us for that. until then have a terrific day and great weekend. see you monday. i just had it with cable. it just got more frustrating and frustrating. a lot of times, the picture would break up. for the amount of money that i am paying, my cable company should take care of me. [ male announcer ] stop paying for second best. move up to verizon fios tv, internet and phone for our best price online -- just $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years. first time we saw tv on fios was amazing! i was just in a trance watching it.

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