and now, from washington's leading news station, this is news4 midday. good morning, everyone, and welcome to news4 midday, i'm barbara harrison. it's tuesday, february 7th, 2012. we begin with a carbon monoxide poisoning that sickened a family of six in prince george's county. firefighters say a call from children's national medical center tipped them off, saving that family's life. it happened at a home in the 8300 block of bernard drive in ft. washington. news4's tracee wilkins reports. >> this family was found unconscious inside of their ft. washington home, and the discovery was made thanks to their sick son who helped them out from his hospital bed. a mom and her three kids were

transported might medivac after they were sound suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. >> scary moment. i haven't slept the whole night. >> reporter: he says it all started yesterday evening when the 6-year-old son was playing with his dad. >> he fell off the bed, so i guess it's from the -- from whatever he was breathing. and then they took him to the hospital. they didn't know what was going on. >> reporter: prince george's county fire and ems spokesmen say the doctors at children's national medical center discovered high levels of carbon monoxide in the child's blood. the father immediately called home, but there was no answer. >> my uncle called right away, called another one of my uncles and told him come get everyone out, because gas is all over the house. >> some of the friends came and knocked on our door around 12:00 last night, and said that they could tell that some of -- the lady was lying on the floor. >> reporter: neighbor melinda mcgray says they could see the

mother trying to move once they started banging on the door. soon, fire and ems were on the scene and the family was medivaced to the hospital with a hyper baric chamber. the father was transported from children's hospital for treatment. >> they're all safe. they're all good. i just talked to their doctor, and they're all safe. that's the most important thing. >> reporter: fire officials say the carbon monoxide levels inside of the home were at 450 parts per million. now, anything over 5 parts per million is considered unsafe. fire investigators believe that the co leaked from a malfunctioning gas furnace in the basement. in ft. washington, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. a bus fire caused some delays during the morning rush in montgomery county. take a look at this cell phone video a viewer sent us. this is on new hampshire avenue near colesville road. there is no word on how the bus caught fire. there are no reported injuries. a traffic alert now for drivers in northern virginia. for two days, a convoy of wide

load trucks will be making delivers for the metro rail construction project going on. the route for those deliveries lay slow down your commute. megan mcgrath joins us live in sterling virginia with more on this. >> reporter: as you can see behind me here, route 7 in sterling still looks pretty good here. everything is running as normal. but later on in the afternoon, we are expecting traffic delays because of these very large pieces of equipment that are being delivered to the tyson's corner area. they're very big components of a power substation that's being built as a part of the silver line. the dulles metro project. now, today and tomorrow, three wide load trucks will make the delivery. they're coming from winchester, virginia. their final destination is chatham ford drive, west of tyson's corner. these are very, very large pieces of equipment, and they're on flatbed trucks. so we're being told they're so wide, they're going to impinge the lanes to the side of them. and so in some cases, when the roads narrow and you don't have quite as many lanes, they're

going to have to have rolling barricades, rolling road blocks to allow the trucks to pass through the area. so folks should be aware, they could see traffic tie-ups later on in the afternoon. they got a late start today. they were supposed to leave at 9:00, it was after 10:00. so we're expecting these delays to be seen in our area sometime around 1:00. let's take a closer look at the roads that are going to be impacted by all of this. first of all, i-81, as well as east route 7. then they're going to be taking a right on to buhla road and a left on to chat ams ford road, their final destination. there are three trucks traveling. they'll have escorts with them. it's happening both today and tomorrow, so folks are going to want to be aware, they are trying to avoid the peak rush hour periods, but in the off peak, right around 1:00, maybe 2:00 in the afternoon, expect to see some delays on route 7. reporting live along route 7 in loudoun county, megan mcgrath, news4. >> thank you, megan. let's check on traffic conditions right now.

we have the latest. >> good morning. hello, barbara. if you're taking the beltway, i'm not really seeing any major issues for you. here is a live look right now. the beltway as you make your way by route 50. i'll give you a travel speed, if this is your commute from i-95 on the inner loop to 50. you're at 59 miles per hour. and traveling in virginia, live look, traffic is quite nicely on the inner and outer loop. travel speeds for you, 60 miles per hour as you cross over the wilson bridge. that trip will take six minutes. barbara, back to you. >> thank you. talk to you again shortly. . turning to the weather now and a quick warmup he have enjoyed this morning. tom kiran joins us. hey, tom. >> the winter that wasn't conditions. temperatures now around 50 degrees. that is way above the average high so far. and right now, at reagan national, 51. and across most of northern virginia now, it's hitting the low 50s. much of maryland now in the mid and upper 40s to near 50

degrees, as well as the shenandoah valley. and the view from space showing a clear sky here now. we do have just a few clouds farther to our north and west up in pennsylvania. otherwise, bright sunshine and a blue sky all around the region. a delightful february day. and temperatures are going to be peaking in the mid 50s by mid afternoon, and we'll have a northwest breeze around 5 to 15. and then overnight tonight, we'll have increasing clouds, and we'll have our temperatures dropping from the mid 40s to just after sunset to around the upper 30s by midnight. and we'll have that gorgeous full moon up. full moon rise at 5:44. could get some snow tomorrow. we'll talk about that and a big chill for the weekend. all the details in a few minutes, barbara. >> come on in here and tell us about that snow. thanks a lot, tom. a third person is now charged in the murder of an alexandria communicativist. investigators discovered the body of lenny harris last month in a prince george's county

well. he vanished in september. hours after his family laid him to rest yesterday, police charged 26-year-old tyrone lewis with his murder. police say all three men are responsible for the kidnapping, robbery and murder of harris. police say the three men thought harris was rich, and they robbed him. but his wife says they were actually facing foreclosure. prince george's county police are investigating two homicides within blocks of each other. right near the new carrollton metro stop. first, police were called to 85th avenue when officers arrived there, they found the man lying on the ground. it's not clear how he had died. an ambulance on the way to that scene came across another body. this one near garrison road and 78th avenue. right now, there is no evidence linking those two crimes. today mayor vincent gray will deliver his state of the district address. mayor gray will report on the status of the city, as well as lay out his agenda for the year. the mayor is expected to highlight a declining crime rate

and talk in depth about the state of d.c. schools. the event will begin at 7:00. today the d.c. council is expected to repeal the district's online gambling program. that program, which was to be the nation's first government sponsored online gambling system, was legalized last year but never implemented. since then, several council members have raised concerns about the program, including the fact that it was passed without any public input. in virginia, a state senate committee passed a measure that would give police and the commonwealth the authority to pull drivers they see texting while driving as a primary offense. the bill still needs to pass the state senate floor and the state house, as well. and we have breaking news regarding the split between two major women's health groups. an executive with the susan g. komen breast cancer charity has resigned. karen hondle is stepping down as vice president for public policy. she said in a letter to komen

officials today she supported cutting funding to planned parenthood. her organization cut grants for breast cancer screenings last week, saying it did not fund groups under investigation. planned parenthood is currently under federal investigation. komen reversed that decision lace later. handle ran for governor of georgia in 2010 and emphasized then her opposition to abortion during her campaign. well, right now as many as 1 million people are showering the new york giants with praise for their super bowl win. there it is, live. a live look at the ticker tape parade under way in new york city's canyon of heroes, as it's called. that's along broadway in new york. it's the giants' second super bowl title in four years. the parade will be followed by a ceremony at city hall, where mayor michael bloomberg will present the team with the keys to the city. nine minutes after 11:00 is the time. and coming up, the republican candidates for president hope to

get a glimpse today of their support in the mountains out west. we'll have the latest on who will be voting. plus, day two of jury selection for the george hughley murder trial. the problem so far in the selection process.

we have a developing story. the u.s. is sending a strong message to syria, closing its

embassy there. it's a push to get president bashar assad to lead power. this morning, the ambassador and embassy workers are back in the u.s. with their families. the closure comes nearly a year after the uprising began. state department officials say they worked with the syrian government for weeks on efforts to improve security at the embassy, but could not reach an acceptable arrangement. well, this is another big day in decision 2012. colorado and minnesota both hold caucuses today, but it will be sometime before effects of the -- this will affect the delegate count. in fact, delegates in both states will be chosen during conventions in april. missouri also has a nonbinding primary today. that's mostly symbolic. delegates there will be chosen after a caucus on march the 17th. well, polls show rick santorum could be the gop candidate to beat today. the former pennsylvania senator did not campaign a lot in florida and nevada. instead he tried to stir up his

conservative base in colorado, minnesota and missouri. in response, gop front runner mitt romney ramped up his own attacks against santorum. his campaign also released opposition research against santorum this week. well, voters won't be able to choose newt gingrich, even if it they wanted to in virginia's republican primary. the former house speaker dropped a lawsuit to get his name on the ballot in virginia. gingrich was among four candidates who failed to qualify for the primary. he joined a lawsuit initially filed by former gop candidate rick perry. only mitt romney and ron paul will be on virginia's primary ballot. some lucky students are participating in the biggest science fair of their lives today. president obama is hosting the second white house science fair. the event celebrates the student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math competitions from across the country. the president is viewing the exhibits in the state dining room, and then speaking to the students, educators and business

leaders about the importance of science and technology education. and right now, the catholic university of america is having an earthquake drill. the university is taking part in a great shakeout, it's called. people are encouraged to drop, cover and hold to keep themselves safe in case of a quake. the drill comes in the wake of that 5.8 magnitude quake that hit the washington area back in august. and we have had a little shake since then, too, haven't we, tom? but the big news is the weather over in europe right now where it is really cold. >> that's where winter is, and they have had a big freeze going on there now for a couple of weeks. some of the balkins have been buried in a major blizzard. they have had snow as far south as rome, italy and north africa. it snowed in algeria yesterday. and it's been so cold that the canals in venice, italy have frozen. now, these are scenes in the siberian region of russia where yesterday it got to 58 below zero. >> wow. >> these are scenes around the

city of maggadan in siberia. and you can tell it's incredibly cold there. they know how to deal with it, and there is an old rushian saying, it's not too colt cold, you're not wearing enough layers. they're dressing properly there. by contrast here in washington -- 58 below in russia. we're right around 50 degrees. so that's almost 110 degrees warmer than it was in russia yesterday. 51 now at reagan national. we've got a north-northwesterly breeze at about 10 to 15 miles per hour. and temperatures with the bright sun and the blue sky are warming now into the 40s and low 50s throughout most of the region. montgomery county, mid 40s. near 50 now in fairfax county. arlington county, low 50s. and near 50 in prince george's county. blue ridge, shenandoah valley into the mountains, mid 40s there now.

and the view from space showing a clear sky, a beautiful february day. i love that deep, blue color of the sky. and it's going to be with us here in the afternoon hours as the high pressure moves over us. but as we go forward over the next 48 hours, we're going to have an upper level disturbance coming tomorrow. it will increase our clouds tonight. this is by 5:00 tomorrow morning, we'll have a cloud cover moving in. and then by later in the morning, this is by noon tomorrow, all this area in lavender is the potential of light snow. shenandoah valley, west virginia, maryland, all the way into montgomery county, loudoun county, a dusting on grassy areas, maybe up to an inch of snow on grassy areas in this whole lavender area, including north central maryland, parts of northern virginia, loudoun county and faulk and the blue ridge. this area, maybe an inch on grassy areas. and the green zone, that's rain, mostly maybe sprinkles of light rain in washington into the afternoon, southern maryland, new york neck of the eastern shore. by 7:00 on wednesday, the colder air moves further south, might get a little dusting of some wet

snow in washington. that would be ending quickly during the evening hours on -- as we get into wednesday night. and then during the day on thursday, lots of sunshine returning. we'll get high pressure moving back in again. it will dry things out, bring the sun back, and that will be in place on friday, too. so for the rest of the day, sunny and cool. light breezes. we'll be well into the 50s during the afternoon. and then overnight tonight, we'll have those clouds increasing, and we'll be in the mid 40s, early evening and upper 30s by midnight. and by dawn tomorrow, cloudy and near 30. and during the day on wednesday, we'll have that light snow, north and west of washington. and a little light rain south and east beginning around late morning and then during the afternoon and all ending by the evening hours. and, again, maybe an inch on grassy areas, north and west of washington. sun back on thursday and friday. highs in the 40s. but a cold weekend coming up. it's not going to feel like siberia, but it will be in the 30s for highs and morning lows, teens and low 20s, saturday, sunday and into monday. that's the way it looks. >> so you mean i'm not going to get to wear my big hat?

>> you can wear it anyway. wear it anyway. >> all right. are you going to wear yours, snow tomorrow? >> i am -- i don't want any snow. any snow. you know i loathe the snow, barbara. all right. let me talk to you about the rails, because we are seeing some delays on metro. first we have track work taking place at roz lynn, causing single tracking on the blue and orange line. on the blue line, singing tracking from foggy bottom as you make your way to arlington cemetery. if you're taking the orange line, you're single tracking from boston as you head back to foggy bottom. and also single tracking on the green line, scheduled work happening at ft. totten between ft. totten and prince george's plaza. barbara, back to you. >> thanks. 19 minutes after 11:00 now. still ahead, piercings, tattoos, permanent makeup. the problems they can cause, and how to avoid those problems. >> good work, maybe. that's what i'm talking about.

>> we're going to preview a special d.c. film festival taking place this weekend. first, here's what's hot on nbcwashington.com.

the hour city film festival, now in its fifth year, returns to washington this weekend. it's the only film festival that show cases d.c.-focused films. it's an outreach event by a d.c. nonprofit group dedicated to affordable housing and community development. kin dra reubenfell, the program director, joins us now to talk about the film lineup for this year. and good morning. >> good morning, barbara, thanks for having me. >> so does this film festival raise money for yahad, is that right? >> it's an outreach event. we do a lot of things throughout the city. and our goal for this film festival is to show all of the great things that d.c. has to

offer and all of the great things that yahad has to offer. >> let's talk about the films and see how much they show the good things that d.c. has to offer. we start with "out for the good," about an ex convict who spends most of his life in prison. let's take a listen. >> i was found guilty and sentenced 22 years. and i did 15 years. throughout my 15 years, i went to d.c. jail, i went to loudton. >> tell me about this film. >> sure, this film is about eddie ellis. it's about nico columnbon, a film about a return to the public and out from a 15-year stint in prison. it's a great film. and it's really about recovering from prison, and rehabilitating yourself and helping others, as well. >> are all of the films about real-life people and events? >> yes. yes, they are. there is one narrative that we're screening, and it's also actually about rehab and reform. >> let's take a listen to

another film, called "one punch at a time." let's see a little bit of that one. >> that's a tough place to train, especially if you're a girl. like asia stevenson. >> so asia stevenson is a young woman. you can see her here. she is training for the first-ever u.s. women's olympic boxing team. she grew up in the d.c. foster system, and she was very angry youth but found her home and place at head bangers boxing club in northeast d.c. a really touching story. >> this is a documentary. does it have an ending that -- does she make it -- >> it's funny, i just heard from larry done, the director, and she won't be attending the question and answer for the film festival, because she will be at the trials this weekend. >> that's wonderful. >> really ties in. >> very nice ending. make a follow-up movie to that one. and then you have another one. saint elizabeth's hospital, a brief history. let's look at that one. >> to provide the most humane care and enlightened curative treatment for the insane.

>> so this is actually a historical documentary about saint elizabeth hospital. it uses it as a microcosm to discuss mental health in america. and it's been dustin harrison at list. it's very interesting film. >> and how many films are actually in the festival? >> there are 12 films. they're screening all day on sunday. at the gerta institute. >> so it's a one-day event? >> the films are screening one day. it's from 10:30 all the way until 9:00 at night. and we have an opening night party on saturday. the night before we'll have local brews, local music, georgetown cupcakes will be there, and you'll have a chance to schmooze with the filmmakers. if you buy your tickets online it's $10 for a film screening. and we'll also be selling tickets at the door for $12. they'll sell out quick so buy them now. >> thank you, kendra, for joining us. the film festival is this sunday

at the gerta institute at gallery place. and people can purchase their tickets on the city film festival.com website. is that right? okay. thanks a lot. it's now 11:26. coming up in the next half hour, the grandparents of two boys killed by their father in washington state talk about the suspected reason behind the murders and their missing mother. plus, the very pointed questions being posed to potential jurors in the murder trial of a former uva lacrosse player. and a very mild day out there in the forecast. but tom kierein says the weekend will bring big

right now on news4 midday, today could mark another turning point in decision 2012. colorado and minnesota both hold caucuses today. missouri is holding a primary, but it will be viewed more as an opinion poll. delegates there will be chosen after a caucus on march 17th. a ft. washington family is recovering from carbon monoxide poisoning this morning. firefighters found five family members unconscious just after midnight at their home on bernard drive. crews did a welfare check after doctors found high carbon monoxide levels in the blood of

a sixth family member sent to the hospital yesterday. firefighters say a faulty natural gas furnace may be to blame. it's day two of jury selection in the trial of a uva student accused of killing his girlfriend. george hughley faces first degree murder charges in the death of yeardley love. melissa melai is following courtroom developments and joins us now with more. melissa? >> reporter: good morning, barbara. the prosecution and defense are wrangling back and forth, trying to get a good grasp of this case. up to this point, we know that all ten jurors that have been individually interviewed this morning have been dismissed. now, one woman told the judge she believes that hughley is guilty. another got emotional during questioning. the target number is 27 jurors. of the 27, both the prosecution and the defense will get six strikes each, leaving 12 jurors, plus 3ality gnats. prosecutors say hughley admitted to kicking in love's bedroom door, banging her head against a bedroom wall and leaving her

bleeding. he faces life in prison if convicted. they're hoping to have the jury selection process wrapped up tonight. the trial is expected to last about two weeks. we have live coverage from charlottesville. we'll be putting that out on twitter at nbc washington. back to you. >> thanks, melissa. and we continue to learn new disturbing details in the double murder-suicide involving a man and his two sons. the medical examiner says josh powell and his two young boys died from smokin' huh legislation in a house explosion and fire he intentionally set in washington state. authorities say the boys were also attacked with a hatchet. the examiner found wounds to the head and neck of the 7-year-old and 5-year-old boys. powell was a person of interest in the disappearance of his wife, susan, who vanished in utah in 2009. her parents had custody of the children. they say the boys started to talk more and open up. in fact, the grandfather said at one point the 7-year-old drew a picture with his mom in the trunk of their car. this morning on the "today"

show, ann curry asked the grandparents if they think josh killed the kids because of what they were remembering or if he was upset about losing custody. >> i think both. he was feeling cornered. it was basically he didn't like us. and he just wanted to get the kids away from us so much. and it really bothered him that the boys were showing such affection to chuck. and there's pictures of that. so -- but i think it was both. >> the grandparents say they knew what powell was capable of doing. they say they find peace knowing the boys are now with their mother. authorities are investigating at least 130 current and former d.c. employees for unemployment fraud. prosecutors say the workers collected unemployment checks and government paycheck at the same time. they say the fraud cost the district at least $840,000.

of the 130 people involved, 90 of them are still employed. they have been placed on administrative leave pending the results of the investigation. a couple in loudoun county is facing misdemeanor charges because their kids were chronically late for school. mark denicor and his wife have three children. officials say their kids were late at least 30 times this year alone, once every three days. school officials say their tardiness is disrupting the learning process for other children. >> it's like herding cats and trying to get them all heading in the right direction. >> how can we work with you? in some cases, principals have gone to students' house and help them get ready and taken them to school. we have attendance officers who work with students and get them ready and into a routine, map things out so they're ready to come to school. >> the trial date is march 14th. the violation is a class 3 misdemeanor which could result in a $500 fine. and we're going to check again now with tom kierein for the latest on our forecast.

tom? >> gorgeous blue sky. temperatures now warming to around 50 degrees, around the region. here is a live view from our sky watcher camera, looking forward the southwest into arlington and fairfax counties. and around the region, we have the blue sky with us. and temperatures in much of maryland now near 50 degrees and much of virginia it's climbing into the low, even mid 50s. fredericksburg now at 54. and it's a bit chillier out of the mountains as usual, mid 40s there. panhandle of west virginia, mid 40s. and south and east of washington, around the bay and lower eastern shore, it's in the low 50s. we've got plenty of sunshine, thanks to high pressure over the region now. then overnight tonight, we'll have increasing clouds after we reach the mid and upper 50s today and we'll be in the 40s, early evening, upper 30s by midnight. could get light snow tomorrow along interstate 95 and points west and north of the i-95 corridor. there could be an inch of snow on grassy areas, beginning late morning around 11:00 or noontime tomorrow. and then ending by late

afternoon. elsewhere, south and east of i-95, light rain. and then sun back on thursday and into friday. highs both days into the 40s. but then a cold weekend coming up saturday and sunday, highs in the 30s. mast in fact, maybe as cold as the teens sunday morning. . that's the way it works. barbara? >> all right, tom. thank you. airline travelers who use reagan national airport will soon have more flights to choose from. the u.s. senate passed a house bill that would add eight round-trip flights a day from the airport. the measure is part of a $63.4 billion bill that funds the federal aviation administration through 2015. the bill now goes to the president for his signature. we're going to check again on our traffic conditions out there right now. hey, danecessarilia. >> hi, barbara. right now i'm seeing an accident, i-270 northbound just after the spur. police are responding now, so just use caution while taking your commute. and traveling i-66 in virginia, as you approach the beltway, road work is going to slow you

down and take away the left lane. seeing some delays as you pass fairfax county parkway and head to the belt wry. right now your travel speed is 41 miles per hour, and that trip will take you 15 minutes to do so. barbara, back to you. >> all right, thank you, daniella. poverty and unemployment are a problem people face every day. but the native american population here in our country has a problem even greater than that. chad smith, the former principal chief of the cherokee nation is in washington this week, working to change that. he joins us now to explain how. and good morning and welcome from oklahoma. >> oco. good morning. >> a little bit of your oklahoma weather here, huh? >> yeah, beautiful weather. >> great to have you here. a recent census showed between 50 and 85% of native americans are unemployed, many living below the poverty level. what accounts for these alarming statistics? >> well, generally, if you look where tribes are, they're in poverty areas anyhow. rural areas, lack of resources, lack of urban markets.

so we see that as a contributor. and then we see a poverty cycle. we see generational poverty. and we've tried many, many ways to try to break that, and i think we're on the edge of an innovative project to do that. >> well, you say most of the native children, specifically cherokee children, are raised by their grandparents. why is that? where are the parents? >> we did a study. approximately 60% of cherokee children -- we believe that's across the indian country, are raised by their grandparents. some of the parents are dysfunctional. but a lot of the parents are out working two jobs, trying to make ends meet, so it's the grandparents who end up raising the children by default. >> what is the cause of -- are the indian people, cherokee and other tribal members, do they feel they suffer prejudice when they go beyond their own regional areas where they were born and raised? >> there is one thing i think you can say about almost every tribe. they're communal, they believe

in community, they believe strongly in family. and so to leave that zone of comfort is very, very difficult. we've had great athletes who go off to college, d-1 athletes, and they just get home sick. it's a foreign environment. they want to come back to their family and friends. and so they pass up on opportunity. and it's the same way for employment. in oklahoma, you don't go to oklahoma city or tulsa or kansas city or dallas to work. you want to stay at home with your family. >> they just feel that this is where they belong. >> it is. there's -- >> it's kind of hard to get employment, especially if it's in a rural area, which brings your vision center to mind. because you want to do something to try to make these kids who are growing up on reservations and in other small rural areas more ready to go out beyond those reservations, is that right? >> the studies and our observation show that an indian child, grade 5, performs very well. and then somebody drops off until they're in high school. and what we have seen is that

they don't have the role models, they don't understand what jobs are out there. 50% of the jobs in the next ten years didn't exist 20 years ago. their parents don't know about it, the children don't know about it, their grandparents don't know about it. there's a lot of career exploration stuff online. but until you can touch it, feel it, somebody else be the role model, it just doesn't strike you. one of the great stories i like to tell, i never knew of a lawyer until i was 25 years old. i thought lawyers and doctors and bankers were demi gods i could never be like. and until i worked for one for six months, i said, well, gee, he could be a lawyer, anybody could. so i became a lawyer. so we have a huge facility with 200 exhibits, kiosks, interactive demonstrations, where kids can put their hands on future occupations, realize they can do it, because others like them did it. astronau astronauts, doctors, physical therapists. how can you have a vision, how

can you achieve or strive for something if you have no glimpse of what's out there? >> and this is what you want for indian children across the country. >> across the country. we can see that break in the poverty cycle by leaping over that gap, saying i can be anything that i want to be, and here's the hands-on effort, and here's the inspiration of role models that have done it themselves. >> well, thank you so much, chief smith. >> thank you. >> for coming to see us. and we look forward to hearing what happens. >> thank you. >> thank you, thank you. it is 11:41, still ahead on news4 midday, how walmart is making it easier to buy healthier food. plus, body art. from permanent makeup to body piercings, the skin issues they can hey there. "hey" yourself. brad needs car insurance, but, uh, brad doesn't want to spend too much. who's brad? this is brad. ahh! well, progressive has lots of discounts for a guy like brad. brad's intrigued. paid in full, safe driver, multi-car, going paperless -- all can help brad save a bunch. sign brad up. cool! jamie will ring you up.

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buying healthier food will be easier at walmart. the retail giant is adding a new green seal that says "great for you" on some of its store brand foods. for now, walmart says the seal won't have any actual

nutritional information, but it will be associated with products that have lower levels of fat, sugar and artificial ingredients. the company says it's part of a campaign promoting healthier products to fight childhood obesity. elementary school students still have plenty of junk food options at school, despite efforts to make healthier options available. over a four-year period, researchers found nearly half of public and private schools surveyed sold sweet and salty snack foods in vending machines or other places. research has found schools in the south where obesity rates are the highest most likely sold chips, cookies and similar foods. researchers found other regions most likely sold healthier snacks. the annual princeton review list of best value colleges is out today, and the word "value" is relative, you'll see. some schools on the list are not cheap. the closest value public colleges are university of virginia in our area, which ranked number two overall. the princeton view not only

ranks the top ten. virginia tech made the list of the top 150. in maryland, st. mary's made that list. and university of maryland, college park campus also made the list. two private schools also made the top 150. georgetown and johns hopkins. both of those have tuitions around $40,000. small gains right now on wall street. let's check in with cnbc's seema mody. she joins us with the day's business headlines. >> hi, barbara. stocks opened higher, but pretty flat. news from europe continues to take its toll on our u.s. markets. greece's government said it was preparing an agreement on a $130 billion euro bailout that will be put to the nation's leaders later in the day. now, this delay in formulating a deal is keeping investors at edge, and thus the reason we're seeing some consolidation in our u.s. markets. nonetheless, though, u.s. majorin did he sees still up for the year. the nasdaq up 9% for year-to-date for 2012 and the

dow up similarly, up 5%. in terms of stories we're following today, gasoline prices are hovering around a record high. in the month of january, retail gasoline prices averaged at $3.37 a gallon. this new record means more pain in american budgets. a typical household burning 50 gallons of gasoline a month paid $168 168.50 for that fuel in january or $33 more than in january of 2010. in other news, federal reserve chairman ben bernanke called the economy frustrating low. today congress will find out whether he still thinks so, even after friday's news that hiring surged in january, and unemployment reached a three-year low. and a recap of corporate earnings coming out. coca-cola beat estimates as the company sold more drinks in the u.s. and abroad, particularly in emerging markets. the company reported a full-year eps of $3.69. watch out for coca-cola. barbara, that's it, back to you.

>> all right, thank you. today we are looking at the dangers of body art. dr. cheryl burgess is here to talk about the complications of things like permanent makeup, body piercings and tattoos. good morning. >> good morning. >> good to see you. auto a lot of people are getting that, a lot of women, eyeliner, and even lipstick, and i guess eyebrows, too. that's permanent makeup. what's the problem? >> well, there are problems in that the color changes. i think that's what i hear from most of my patients. i know we do this body art and watching the super bowl game, everyone has tattoos on, everyone is getting a tattoo. and so i'm not against it. but there are certain things that people should know about getting permanent things done to the body. because there can be permanent problems or permanent issues. so makeup, for one, is great for that near-sighteded person who really, you know, needs a magnifying glass to see their face.

and so sometimes that's helpful. but those colors do change over time. so if you're getting a dark brown or a black, it sometimes can resort into a greenish or a bluish discoloration. so keeping them updated as far as reinked is a good thing or practice so it's not something you can do once and forget about it. >> and, of course, your eyebrows, when your face starts to change or sag or whatever, they can be in the wrong place. >> they can change, exactly. now, we do have lasers that can remove permanent tattoos, just like for permanent makeup and body art that we see on the body. there are methods to remove it. but there are tattoo inks that are easily removable versus the old-time -- >> and those makeups are actually tattoos. >> they are tattoos, yes. we're just using more colors that are appropriate for makeup. >> there we are. we can see a lot of people get the lip liner.

>> it looks great in the initial stages. but i'm talking more of the aged tattoo of the permanent makeup. >> let's talk about body piercings. we're seeing a lot of that, too. >> yes. >> those can present problems down the line, as well. let's talk about that. >> well, the main issues with any of this body art is the safety aspect. and knowing where you're going, are the devices autoclaved and sterilized from patient to patient, or consumer to consumer. and that's the main concern, because it can spread viruses, bacteria. mainly we're concerned about hiv virus and hepatitis c virus. so if you come behind someone who may be hiv-positive, and i don't know if the tattoo parlors even ask that question. because how do you know someone has hiv? you can't look at them and say you have hiv. but if they're not disclosing that information or sharing that

information with the salon person, and then they're getting tattoos performed and then you come in after them, that's a concern. >> and let's talk about a little bit about the tattoos that we're seeing on sports figures. that certainly is probably part of the reason why other people who look at these sports figures and want to look like them are going out and having their bodies tattooed. arms -- >> yeah -- it's the fad right now. but you have to consider that what is it going to look like when you're, you know, 80 or 90? >> yeah. >> some of these people are going to look pretty ridiculous. but if it's what they like, then that's fine. also the color changes on those tattoos. so what you saw is a really nice black eagle doesn't look like -- may look like a crow later on, down the road. so you have to think about that. >> and i'm sure that with so many people having it, they're going to be new ways to get them

off. cheryl burgess, thank you for joining us. >> you're welcome. coming up, how super model giselle bundchen is defending her man. and a check on the chance of rain, maybe snow in the forecast. stay on nbc 4 all afternoon. at 3:00, ellen welcomes martin scorsese

right now, the super bowl champion new york giants are being showered with confetti. here's a live look at the ticker tape parade in the city of new york. they're throwing it for the team as we speak. the giants, of course, are making their way down the canyon of heroes along broadway. the giants are celebrating their second super bowl win in four years. the parade will be followed by a ceremony at city hall where mayor michael bloomberg will present the team with the keys to the city. well, super model giselle bundchen is standing by her man, new england patriots' tom brady. some heckeled her when she left the stadium. she shot back, defending her husband. [ inaudible ] >> in case you didn't hear what she said, she was critical of the patriots' receiver, saying she can't believe how many times they dropped the ball. sources in the patriots'

organization fired back, saying she, quote, broke the code of the locker room. the giants beat the patriots 21-17. actor clint eastwood is defending his appearance in a very popular super bowl ad. some critics are saying the chrysler commercial has political undertones. >> out of work and they're hurting and they're all wondering what they're going to do to make a comeback. and we're all scared, because this isn't a game. people of detroit know a little something about this. they almost lost everything. but we all pulled together. now motor city is fighting again. >> almost immediately after the ad aired, former bush adviser karl rove criticized it as being an endorsement of the auto bailout and president obama. but eastwood said in a statement nothing was meant to be political. he said, in part, there is no spin in this ad. on this, i am certain.

i am certainly not politically affiliated with mr. obama. it was meant to be a message about just job growth and the spirit of america. i think all politicians will agree with that. let's take a look now at some of the stories we're going to be following on news4 this afternoon. pat lawson muse joins us in the newsroom with a preview of things to come. >> good morning. coming up this afternoon on news4 at 4:00, cain will be with us. and a christian louboutin shoe will be featured. hear from the designer of the red-soled shoes getting ready to launch a brand-new collection nine and on news4 at 5:00, outrage over flyers sent home with montgomery county students. those flyers came from a group that claims it can turn guy people straight. now, the school superintendent is speaking out about this, about why he says there was nothing he could do to stop those controversial flyers from going home with students. we'll have the latest on that controversy. and the latest on all of the day's news coming up, starting

at 4:00 this afternoon, barbara. >> thank you very much, pat. quick check on the forecast, tom. warming up, climbing into the 50s. lots of sun during the afternoon and colder day tomorrow, light snow could accumulate up to an inch on grassy areas north and west of washington. elsewhere, light rain tomorrow and drying out for thursday, friday. cold weekend coming up. that's the way it looks. see you tomorrow morning. that's news4 midday today. be sure to tune in for news at 4:00, 5, 6:00 and tonight at 11:00. and we'll be back tomorrow morning. until then, have at terrific da and see you in the morning. 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!

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