we are watching snow and rain moving into our area this morning. it could cause problems just in time for the evening commute. good morning, everyone. welcome to "news4 midday." i'm barbara harrison. it is wednesday, february 8, 2012. part of our area is under a winter weather advisory today because of the snow headed in this direction. because of that, the federal government is open but has allowed employees to take unscheduled leave or unscheduled telework. some school systems are also affected. in virginia, fauquier county schools are closed today. frederick county schools in virginia have announced a

2 1/2-hour early dismissal. warren county public schools will have a 1:00 early dismissal today. in maryland, garrett county public schools will have a three-hour early dismissal. taking a look outside right now, gray skies but no snow in the district. at least in the in the metro area now. storm 4 meteorologist tom kierein joins us with the first forecast for today. >> the sky has the fuzzy, gray snowy looking. as we take a look at the radar we can see the area of snow. it is not a major storm but it is snowing now in the shenandoah valley and as well as in western maryland and panhandle of west virginia and farther to the west. that area of green you see on the radar, this is our high definition local radar. showing this area is snow. it is now snowing near frederick, maryland. and farther to the west, up towards hagerstown along interstate 70 and 81. then down 81 right into the northern shenandoah valley where it meets 66. that's all snow there. and snow coming down harder in warren and clark counties, right there where the high levels of

the blue ridge are there and the -- they are getting moderate snow there. farther to the east, though, precipitation not quite reaching the ground yet. it does appear it will be moving towards the metro area later on. right now 41 at reagan national. over the next hour or so maybe our high temperatures because where it is snowing, it is down into the mid 30s and much of it melting, though, on -- roadways, only accumulating maybe on grassy areas and an inch or two around the metro area. we will be falling from the upper 30s, early afternoon, low 30s by late afternoon. i will show you my snowfall forecast map. we will take a look at the weekend and end of the week. >> thank you. road crews across our region are bracing for this dose of winter weather. news4's megan mcgrath is live at the vdot salt dome in springfield. haven't had a chance to get there too often this year. >> reporter: yes. it is really -- kind of unusual. we had such warm weather. i think a lot of people are shocked we are getting the chance of a little bit of snow here today. you can see all the activity here at the salt dome. we have the trucks standing by.

they are loading up with the salt and the sand. and they are ready to go here. now the issue with this storm is not expected to be the amount of snow we get. the problem here is the timing of it. whatever we get, the brunt of sit supposed to happen in the late afternoon and the early parts of the rush hour and into the evening. of course, any time you get any kind of snow during that time period when so many people are out there on the roads, you can expect to see major problems and gridlock. the area jurisdictions including the folks here in virginia, they have already pre-treated the major roads, bridges and overpasses. in fact, they finished with that job yesterday. they say that this point, they are ready to go. they are just waiting for it to snow. you can see the faint white stripes on many of the area's major roads. a sign of pre-treating in advance of the snow. and for snow lovers, it is a welcomed sight. >> pretty exciting we haven't had snow all year. i'm looking forward to it today. even with the traffic and everything that's going to bring

to us at the end of the day. >> i love the snow and getting out in the snow and playing in the snow. driving in the jeep with snow and going skiing and snowboarding. >> reporter: road crews were busy overnight. at the van dorn salt dome the trucks are loaded in and the crews are standing by. they won't actually hit the road until had see snow. it is not expected to be a big storm. maybe an inch or two depending on where you are and it should only stick to the grass. but for some, even that's too much. >> it is terrible. they act like it is the apocalypse. everything shuts down. everything is crowded. it is awful. i'm hoping that no snow comes at all. >> reporter: do you want snow or not? >> i can live without it. i like the warm weather. i have enjoyed the mild winter. >> reporter: maryland state highway officials released a statement asking people not to be out there on the roadways during the evening rush hou at all possible to allow the trucks to be out there with as much room as possible to deal with the snow. and the same thing goes for the

federal government. workers to use unscheduled leave or to use telecommute leave as well or telecommute hours to get out of the office a little bit early if necessary to try to beat some of the snow and beat whatever rush hour problems we are expecting -- we may see later on this afternoon. right now, it is cloudy. we have not yet seen any snowflakes. at least not here at the van dorn salt dome. barbara, back to you. >> those trucks are on the move behind threw. they are ready to start working. >> absolutely. >> reporter: it could be a long night, too. >> thanks a lot. danella is keeping an eye the roads. i don't know if she has seen any of the trucks out there working yet. good morning. >> good morning, barbara. not seeing snow problems yet. i am seeing problems due to a suspicious package in northeast d.c. benning road is closed from 34th street to minnesota avenue. also, seeing the benning road metro station shut down at this time also due to the same

suspicious package. be aware of that in the area. also in the green line metro single tracking now between prince george's plaza and ft. totten and i-66, we still have construction taking away the left lane eastbound as you head to the beltway. barbara, back to you. >> danella, thank you. police in prince george's county are looking for a man who stole a car and then crashed it on branch avenue. investigators say a carjacking was reported in a walmart parking lot in clinton around 7:30 this morning. when they arrived the suspect led them on a chase down branch avenue until he crashed into the median near the exit for the beltway. there's still a certain much in the area for that man. traffic is finally moving smoothly again on new york avenue after the roads was closed in both directions for more than six hours early this morning. police say a car slammed into the back of a broken down tractor trailer on new york after avenue in northeast. around 1:00 this morning. traffic had to be detoured around the crash and on to florida avenue. causing some major delays through the morning rush hours.

the driver of the car was taken to the hospital in critical condition. the car had to be cut out from underneath that tractor trailer. right now part of a busy road in fairfax county is closed because after downed power line. a utility pole came crashing down last night on braddock road. right now the westbound lanes of braddock road closed between rave ensworth road and backlick road. no word on when they will reopen. opening statements are about to start in the high-profile murder trial involving two university of virginia lacrosse players. both sides finalized the jury in the last hour. just in the last hour. this is video now of the family of george hughley walking into court this morning. hughley is charged with killing his ex-girlfriend, yeardley love in 2010. the chevy chase native pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him including

first-degree murder. his case will be heard by seven men and seven women, two of which are alternate jurors. the police say love died after hughley shoved her head against a wall. a d.c. council candidate is launching a protest today against one speed camera in southeast washington. the reverend bill bennett wants the district to stop using the camera on branch avenue near pennsylvania avenue. and he and another cloernlgyman, reverend willie women son, say that the speed trap is at the bottom of a steep hill and unfairly targets elderly drivers who can't afford to pay the $125 fine. been set running against ward council member alexander in a democratic primary. our time right now is 11:08. rick santorum is enjoying a big boost in his bid important the republican presidential

nomination. he is explaining why and -- all this new support. donald trump's plan for a local landmark. stay with

rick is an tore sum enjoying a big boost in his bid for the republican presidential nomination. the former pennsylvania senate swept yesterday's three gop

races, colorado and minnesota caucuses as well as the missouri primary. no delegates were actually up for grabs in missouri's primary and instead they will be awarded through a caucus next month. santorum says his victories prove conservatism is alive. he also used the results to take a direct shot admit romney. >> your votes today were not just heard loud and wide across the state of missouri and mutual fund minimum but they were heard loud and louder across this count country. particularly in a place called massachusetts. >> santorum accused romney of siding with president obama on many key issues and is heading to texas now where he will hold a rally and campaign meetings. and right now maine is in the midst of its weeklong caucus. it will wrap up on saturday. only would other states hold their primaries this month. arizona and michigan, february 28.

and one debate between now and then. it is being held two weeks from today in arizona. the t supreme court may be next to weigh in on california's decision to overturn a ban on same-sex marriage. supporters are urging the high court to take up proposition 8. the california law limited marriage to a man and a woman where yesterday an appeals court said prop 8 was unconstitutional. maryland governor o'malley said he hopes proposition 8 decision will help persuade law makers in annapolis to pass same-sex marriage legislation. >> even though in the past might have described themselves as opposed to equal civil marriage rights have now come around to the truth that this is not a threat to anyone's belief system or anyone's individual choices as to how they shall lead their life or shall worship or believe in. >> legalization to -- or move to legalize same-sex marriage in maryland died in the house last year. a number of delegates dropped

their support because of religious and family value concerns. it can soon be series for same-sex couples to get divorced in d.c. right now at least one spouse must live in the district. the d.c. council voted in favor of a bill that would allow neither party to live in the city in order for a divorce to be finalized here. the bill still needs a final vote and mayor gray's signature. and we are awaiting some snow in our area. i guess it is already falling in some areas around. >> for our viewers around the shenandoah valley and towards the panhandle of west virginia, they are looking out their windows and seeing big fat snowflakes coming down now. most of them are melting on roadways and it is beginning to dust a little bit on some of the grassy areas around the blue ridge and northern shenandoah valley and panhandle of west virginia and near hagerstown, maryland. washington county. and locally here, that sky has that kind of gray flannel blanket look to it, kind of a fuzzy snowy look and that's the live picture from the city camera showing capitol hill under this gray sky, the not

mack reflecting the gray sky. 41 at reagan national. probably the warmest temperature of the day. we have a wind coming in out of the east-northeast. weak area of low pressure now coming into the mountains. bringing snow where you see all this area in white and it is in west virginia and pennsylvania and the brighter white areas of the areas that are betting somewhat more moderate snow here in pennsylvania. and closer to washington, lot of this is not quite reaching the ground. high definition, local radar showing it is reaching the ground, narrow green band here from northern carroll county to frederick, washington counties in maryland. across the potomac, into now far western loudoun county along the ridges there, from near purcellville and across the border into west virginia, they are getting some light to moderate snow. farther to the south it breaks up a bit along the blue ridge but are getting some light to moderate snow in warren and clark counties and now just coming into northern fauquier county. and in southern maryland getting a few sprinkles. her is the winter weather advisory until 10:00 tonight and

includes howard, montgomery, loudoun, northern fauquier, blue ridge, points west and north. and this is -- due to some accumulating snow coming from this weak low that's coming over us and temperatures where it is snowing are right near the freezing mark. little bit above. it is certainly melting there near 40 in washington. right near the bay. upper 30s in fairfax, montgomery, arlington, prince george's counties. we are going to con to see this low tracking on lou as we get in through the afternoon hours and going forward over the next 48 hours, this is the zone of potential snowfall here. and it does look like lit tape offer off by early thing evening to flurries that may linger until midnight or so. then it will dry out and the cloud cover should be breaking up and by dawn tomorrow, we will have the sunshine back and temperatures should be back into the 40s tomorrow afternoon. and we will have quite a bit of sunshine, too, around on friday, sunny day as well as we get into thursday night, clear and cold and friday mostly sunny day. so for the rest of the afternoon, maybe a little bit of rain to the south and east of washington but some snow elsewhere.

maybe an inch or two on mainly grassy areas. upper 30s, early afternoon. may fall down to the low 30s during the snowfall by late to moderate snowfall by late afternoon and to early evening and ending all by midnight. we will be down to near freezing by midnight. we will be holding steady in the low 30s through the evening. wind shifting into the north after that snow ends. and here's my snowfall forecast map. pretty much the same showing all morning. just maybe a little bit of a dusting it appears for our southern suburbs into southern prince george's counties, southern fairfax and alexandria and along 95. farther to the west and north of there perhaps from haymarket up towards leesburg in reston, western fairfax, up into southern montgomery county, maybe just an inch or so on grassy areas up to two inches northern montgomery county. western be loudoun and maybe some of the higher ridges farther west and north may get up to four inches. otherwise it is going to have a minimal impact. again, all that accumulation, most of it, on grassy areas. sun back tomorrow and friday.

highs both days in the mid 40s. might get flurries on saturday morning. and then some sun back in the afternoon and highs in the upper 30s and a cold sunday. maybe down into the teens in the morning. afternoon highs mid 30s. and remaining dry and chilly first part of next week. >> all right. thank you, tom. >> we will be here with frequent updates throughout the afternoon. >> see you back here in a few minutes. let's check on the traffic. here is danella sealock. >> good news, barbara. traveling in northeast d.c., we have police activity shutting down benning road at 34th street. now benning road reopened. also if you are taking the blue line, benning road station is reopened, too. however, still seeing single tracking between prince george's plaza and ft. totten due to track work and also on the red line between medical center and friendship heights. also due to track work. if you are traveling on the roadways, road work still slowing you down on i-66 east as you make your way to the belt way, barbara, back to you. >> thanks, danella. still ahead on "news4 mid y

midday" -- ♪ >> his debut single is a hit and now the singer/songwriter is on the road and stopping by our studios today. also here today, the chef from chicago. how he's lending a hand this week at a d.c. restaurant. here is

the guest chef this week at rogue 24 is chef david posey. rogue 24 is a d.c. restaurant known for its 24-course tasting menu and where the chef right now is recovering from heart surgery. chef posey is from can t chicago based restaurant black bird and is helping out this week there and has brought his taste to us today. >> yes, i did. >> welcome to washington. nice to have you with us what kind of food do you feature at your restaurant in chicago? >> we do very seasonal american food. focusing on local products. >> is that what we will have this week? >> absolutely. here at -- rogue 24. >> yes. >> what are you going to make for us today? >> today we are doing a pearl barley risotto with a bunch of different forms of broccoli, egg yolk and onion. >> risotto. what do you have going on in the

pot? >> pearl barley. >> pearl barley. >> yes. >> what did you put in there? >> that was a little more barley. >> okay. >> slightly overcooked it to give it a nice texture. onions cooked with garlic and oil and blended. actually -- >> in you have to put those in the blender. >> just a little garlic and oil. little salt. this is actually right now in this stage it is very healthy. substitution to risotto. we will heat this up. will he me kind of do its thing. in this pot i add a little honey and juice. it is a form of citrus from japan related to an orange. >> where do you find that? >> you can get it at air asian grocery stores. peel down the broccoli. get it nice and clean. let this heat up a little bit. >> when it gets hot, what happens. >> it is going to be nice on the side. >> all right. >> plate it the side. i'm trying to use all parts of

the broccoli plant. we have some broccoli sprouts which is just very, very tops of the broccoli. >> chopped up. >> chopped up, yes. chopped up top of a broccoli. i wouldn't have recognized that as broccoli. all right. >> to that i will add an egg yolk. >> okay. >> we are going to -- >> go for it. i will put it here so you can see what you are doing. >> cover it up so it hides real nice. little surprise. >> then what happen was this? >> that's actually going to go on top of the risotto and the guest will fold it into the risotto and enrich it a little bit. >> okay. >> so -- it is very, very simple dish. >> the egg is not cooked. it is served raw. >> raw. the risotto is nice and hot and it cooks it. >> let's see how you plate it. i will hold it here.

in the center. >> looks good. pearl barley with your extras in there. >> yeah, yeah. >> must be a little bit sweet. >> it is actually a little sweet. yes. now i'm hoping my egg doesn't break on me. there we go. right in the mid. >> beautiful. we've got our -- >> okay. >> broccoli. this is just a little of the florettes fried up. >> guilt city is offering a special price package for the sessions going on at rogue 24. right now. this looks fantastic. this is one of the dishes that will be offered there this week. >> yes, yes. >> wow. it looks fabulous. thank you so much for coming to join us. >> yes. >> and we will look forward to seeing our next chef next week. good luck this week. >> thank you. >> again, welcome to washington. >> thanks. >> and you can check them out

guiltcity.com/dc. 11:25 the time. coming up, rain and snow are moving into the area. tom kierein has an update on when we will see the heaviest precipitation. donald trump is doing business in our area. we are going to tell you about his plans for an iconic building. the keys to combating insomnia. what to do before going to bed. it could

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. i'm discovering new channels every day. [ male announcer ] and here's a special bonus: sign up now and get $300 back with a two-year contract. fios internet -- the speed, you can't compare.

i'm able to take care of things much faster now. [ male announcer ] start saving now. move up to fios for our best price online -- $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years and get $300 back with a two-year contract. or ask us about the option of no annual contract. is change good? in this case, change is very good. [ male announcer ] visit verizon.com/greatprice. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities that's verizon.com/greatprice. at 800-974-6006 tty/v. fios. a network ahead.

right now road crews are bracing for a dose of winter and pre-treated streets in maryland, virginia, the district overnight and early this morning. forecasters don't expect much snow but crews aren't taking any chances. tom is tracking the storm as we speak and we will bring thank you latest models in just a few minutes. we have closings and early dismissals due to the approaching weather. the federal government is open but allowed employees to take unscheduled leave and

unscheduled telework. some school systems are also affected in virginia, fauquier county schools are closed today. frederick county schools announce ad 2 1/2-hour early dismissal. and russian doughing a and warren county public schools will have a 1:00 early dismissal today. in maryland, garrett county public schools will have a three-hour early dismissal and in west virginia, warren county public schools will have a 1:00 early dismissal today. donald trump is coming to town and pennsylvania avenue may never be the same again. he has been picked now to transform theeled post office pavilion. aaron gilchrist has more on the plan. >> reporter: the trump deal will turn the old post office pavilion into a luxury hotel on par with the likes of the plaza hotel in new york. the old post office is on the national register of historic places. it sits on prime real estate at pennsylvania avenue and 12th street across from the ronald reagan building. you see it there.

there are several hotel groups that went after the contract and including hilton which wanted to make this space a waldorf astoria apparently. trump, though, won and they will transform it into more than 250 rooms, world class restaurants, and a spa and conference facilities. the hope here is to make this a world class destination and preserve the building's iconic features at the same time. the general service's administration which selected this proposal released a statement that reads in part the trump organization will preserve historic nature of the building and improve the vitality of pennsylvania avenue. this redevelopment represents good business sense on behalf of the american taxpayer and the federal government and the district of columbia. construction is expected to start in 2014 and it should be done by 2016 at some point. when it is all over, the old post office will be renamed trump international hotel. back to you. >> all right. thanks, aaron. it may soon be easier to pass through airport security more quickly.

the tsa is expanding the risk prebased security programming to include reagan national and other airports across the country. the program will allow passengers the government considers low risk to pass through security possibly without having to take off their shoes, belts or jackets. >> we recognize that all travelers are not alike. not all of them pose the same level of risk. with better information we can better assist risk. we are also working with travel programs to try to reduce the size of the haystack. >> napolitano says the government hopes to have the pre-screening program up and running at 28 airports nationwide by the end of the year. new from overnight three people are suffering from smoke inhalation from a house fire in the district. it happened around 1:00 this morning in the 6400 block of 5th

street northwest. firefighters rescued a 15-year-old girl from the second floor window and the others made it out on their own. one adult and would kids were taken to the hospital and investigators say the fire started in the kitchen. firefighters were able to contain the fire and put it out. they say that there was no working smoke detector if home. everyone is expected to be okay. today crews are cleaning up following a fewer and in a shop -- shoprite store in silver spring. flames shot through the roof as sprinklers turned on and happened yesterday in the 12 thousand now block of cherry hill road. a store manager helped shoppers outside and no one was hurt. the store is closed today. more than a dozen university of maryland students are out of their home because of a cracked pipe. that according to the school student of the diamondback. the problem was discovered last week at the commonsville number three on knox road.

maintenance workers turned the water off as a precaution. school officials say 16 students have been relocated to dorms and nearby hotels. there is no word on when the problem will be fixed or when the water will be turned back on. check in again with tom kierein for the latest the forecast. what's it looking like? when will we see flakes around in this area. >> probably right into the d.c. metro area and about another two, three hours. it will take a while to get here. it is snowing and reaching the ground now in the shenandoah valley. han hannadle of west virginia, washington county. allegheny and garrett counties in maryland. closer to washington as we look at the high resolution radar, the areas where it is snowing, darker green snshgs coming down harder west of leesburg and right along warren and clark counties, especially higher elevations along the blue ridge. then across the potomac into maryland they are getting light snow in eastern washington county across frederick county, maryland. up towards carroll county and there may be a few flurries just now arriving in northern montgomery county and, again, this is advancing to the east and maybe a few sprinkles of

rain trying to reach the ground in the northern neck and far southern maryland and fredericksburg and we are going to have this moisture coming through now until about 10:00 p.m. as a result of winter weather advisories out. all counties including rappahannock, northern fauquier, and loudoun county, and montgomery, howard and points west and north. temperatures right now, this is a critical factor. above freezing, much of the region so the snow is falling. melting on the grassy areas. except in western maryland and west virginia. may pile up as much as two to four inches. closer to washington and maybe just an inch or two and then a bit of a dusting south and east. again, the bulk of this happening throughout 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. most of it on grassy areas. road temperatures are above freezing, melting on roadways. we will take a look at the rest of the week and weekend coming up. >> thank you. we will check now on traffic conditions aroud here. here's danella sealock. >> hi, barbara. if you are traveling 66 eastbound making your way to the beltway, left lane is blocked by road work and travel speed a

little slow from fairfax county parkway to the beltway. 41 miles per hour. traveling the beltway in virginia, not seeing any issues for you. live look now at van dorn street. you are accident-free in virginia. and in maryland beltway, looks really good inner loop and outer loop. no problems in montgomery county. outer loop travel speeds really nice right now. 58 miles per hour and to get from i-95 to i-270, taking ten minutes. barbara, back to you. >> okay. thanks, danella. new report says that nine out of ten of us are eating way too much sodium. most of it is not coming from the salt shaker either. the centers for disease control and prevention says 44% of the sodium comes from only ten types of food. those are breads, rolls, cold cuts, deli, packaged meat. also on the list is pizza, poultry, soups, sandwiches, cheeseburgers, pasta dishes, cheese, meatloaf, snacks like chips, pretzels and popcorn on the bottom of the list.

>> we are eating more food that's made by others in restaurants or prepared foods from grocery stores. and when -- other people make food for us, they put a lot more salt in it. >> this may come as a surprise. diet soda has less sodium than a glass of tomato juice. well, do you struggle for hours to get to sleep no matter how tired you are? do you wake up in the middle of the night for hours and anxio anxiously watch the clock? it is estimated about one-third of adults in the u.s. experience periodic insomnia and about 10% experience conic insomnia. joshua weiner joins us to tell us what to do without getting a prescription drug to take care of the problem. welcome. this is a problem for a lot of people. >> lot of people suffer with sleep problems. yes. >> maybe some chronically and some just every now and then. what exactly is insee knee a? >> as the intro said, it is a problem where the people have a hard time falling asleep, they

wake up frequently during the night or just in general find that their sleep is not restorative and they are tired during the day and it impacts their functioning. >> what causes it? >> there can be numerous factors that can contribute to someone having insomnia and there are medical problems, thyroid problems, for instance, reflux disease, that can cause sleep problems. there are medications like antidepressants, blood pressure medications, steroids, those can cause insomnia. most cases are due to anxiety disorders. or depression or to just bad sleep habits. >> in these tough economic times a lot of people are thinking about their economic worries as they try to go to sleep. >> exactly. you know the nighttime is the time when people's anxiety really escaltes and they are quiet and in bed and their mind keeps going and going and can't settle themselves down. >> so how do you get over those things so you actually can fall asleep? >> well, i have some recommendations. i call it ret. things people can do to help

themselves sleep. people absolutely must maintain a regular sleep schedule. what that means is you must go to bed and wake up at the same time. no matter what. even if you get a lousy night's sleep you have to wake up at the same time. also, no napping allowed. "e" stands for eating or exercise. don't east or exercise the last three hours of the night. "s" is for substance use. three substances, first one i will talking about is caffeine. some people don't realize caffeine if you have a cup of coffee in the morning can cause problems for you falling asleep at night. the other one is cigarettes. there is an interesting study that came out that looked at people who smoke a pack of cigarettes a day or more. and found that those people have really interrupted sleep. you have to remember, cigarettes are a stimulant. what happens is when people are sleeping they actually go through nicotine withdrawal and that causes them to not be able to sleep as deeply. and the final one is alcohol because alcohol, lot of people

use that to help themselves fall asleep but has a negative effect on the quality of sleep that you get. the "t" stands for technology. turn off the technology and stay away from the computer, stay away from the phone at least two hours before bedtime. >> are there any over-the-counter drugs that you think people can take to help them? >> the most commonly used over the counter is -- tylenol pm or unisom. i try to stay away from those. it has benadryl in them. it works important the short term but not good for long term use and causes hangover. the one i do recommend for people is melatonin. a natural supplement, your body naturally produces it. the dose can be anywhere from a half a milligram even up to nine milligrams taken about a half hour before bed. it is generally safe and very effective. i use it a lot for patients in my practice. >> good advice for those of us who find ourselves unable to get through the whole night without looking at the clock. thanks so much. we will see you next week. it is 11:40.

still ahead, councilman barry answers questions about his health. singer/songwriter andy grammar joins us to talk about his

d.c. mayor gray saying the district in s in better financial shape and wants to continue to grow jobs, he says. in his state of the district speech the mayor says that he wants to attract more jobs to the area and make the district in technology hub. >> we want to be tech destination city on the east coast. a rival, if you will, with silicon valley. talent and fast growing business. >> the mayor says he takes responsibility for mistakes he made in his first year and

office. he says that if the government must be transparent to earn back the people's trust. he says his cabinet signed an ethics pledge and wants other city employees to sign that same pledge. d.c. council member barry says he's okay this morning following reports of a brief health scare and that he needed help walking out of the mayor's state of the district speech but that didn't mean he was ill. barry tweeted last night he's fine and even went out to dinner following the speech and also said that the paramedics at the speech were not there for him. stocks are mixed this morning. we are going to check in with cnbc's mary thompson and joins us more with in a and the rest of the day's business headlines. mary, good morning. >> good morning to you, barbara. we were mixed earlier and just recently stocks turned lower across the board today. this as investors continue the waiting game for some kind of resolution to greece's debt crisis. rate now the dow is off 55 points, s&p is down about four. and then nasdaq is down ten.

without any major economic reports today, investors are focussing on the earnings reports from a number of big named companies including time warner. media giant posting stronger than expected profits thanks to strengthening its cable netted works and last harry potter movie. a different story, though, for disney, weakness at movie studio, strengths at the theme parks earnings for the entertainment giant fell short of expectations. still the stock is higher today. sprint on the iphone proving costly. nation's third largest wireless company reporting $1.3 billion loss in the last quarter. as the cost of subsidizing clients' iphone purchases to complete the buyout of bottom line. while apparel maker ralph lauren came in with stronger than expected profits, like other high end retailers they continue to see strong space despite a tax impact that had a little bit of impact coming in ahead of expectations. again, markets are lower, barbara. back to you. >> we will continue to watch

wall street. thanks so much. thinks feel-good song "keep your head up" is a hit. andy grammar is on his first headlining tour performing at venues from coast to coast. tonight he's in our area and he joins us right now live in the studio to talk about his new success and his music. good morning, andy. >> good morning. how are you? >> great. good to have you here with us? >> it is great to be here. >> you are going to be performing tonight. we want to get a taste of it in just a moment. what's it like to have this kind of success with your first single? >> i know. it is so much fun. actually i performed on the street for three years. i have a single hit and able to go across the country has been a dream. maze. >> where did you grow up? >> in new york actually. i moved and live in lay day you were a street performer for a while. >> yeah, yeah. three years. >> how did -- did you make it doing that? >> you know, i'm just -- actually get -- paid my rent and

burned my own cds at kinkos. >> then you ended up singing with pretty well-known -- >> men. >> folks. >> amazing. good year. >> they all love you, i understand. we were -- very anxious to get to hear you here. >> thanks so much. this is my second single. "fine by me." ♪ ♪ you are not the type of girl to remain with the guy with the guy too shy too afraid ♪ ♪ to say he will give his heart to you forever ♪ ♪ i'm not the boy that falls to his knees ♪ ♪ begging you please ♪ stay with him for worse for better ♪ ♪ i'm staring at you now ♪ ♪ there's no one else around ♪ i'm thinking y'all are the one for me ♪ ♪ i'm just saying it's fine by

me ♪ ♪ if you never leave ♪ and we can -- this forever ♪ it's fine by me ♪ in the past i would triumvirate hard to commit to a girl who wouldn't get too far ♪ ♪ always some i seen before ♪ i can see ♪ i can dream realistically ♪ it is different from the start ♪ ♪ and it seems at the time we are eye to eye ♪ ♪ i can find another piece of you ♪ ♪ i don't want to lose >> beautiful. wow. >> thank you. >> i guess that -- at one time would have been the flip side of your single. that's your new single. and tonight you are going to be -- >> at jammin' java. it is soldout. >> we look forward to having you back there. >> thanks so much. >> thank you for coming to visit us at news4.

see you at midday very soon, i hope. >> thank you. our time right now is 11:49. coming up, the first lady's last fitness challenge. plus, meteorologist tom kierein will be back with another check on today's snowy forecast. and today we want you to stay with news4 all afternoon because

a former white house intern says john f. kennedy seduced her in 1962 in her first week on the jo job. she told meredith vieira said her affair with the president began when he took her on a private white house tour. >> you wrote i wouldn't describe what happened that night as making love but i couldn't call it non-consensual either. he w . >> he was the president. he was an unbelievably handsome man. 45 years old. not overpowered physically that someone had grab immediate and made me do something. but i wasn't really willing to do because -- i really think that i was willing to do it. >> several people tied to the jfk administration confirmed general aspects of alfred's time at the white house but not the intimate details.

you can see all of meredith's exclusive interview with mimi alfred on "rock center". you can see it on wednesday nights at 9:00. today in the ford theater center for leadership about will celebrate a private grand opening before opening to the public later this month. the news center will showcase exhibits, seminars, workshops to study lincoln, legacy, and the aftermath of his death. there's also a workshop space for teachers and students and a distance learning lab as well. the new museum is in downtown washington and it is part of a $60 million project to create a destination for learning about lincoln. the center opens to the public on lincoln's birthday february 12. late night talk show host jimmy fallon turned the white house into a playground. comedian joined the first lady to promote the second anniversary of her let's move fitness campaign. take a look. >> we are going start with a stair race.

are you ready to do this? >> i was born ready. >> mrs. obama and fallon took part in a series of exercise activities, dodge ball, tug of war and potato sack race. the first lady won. the segment features a cameo by the first family dog bo. this photo of bo licking jimmy familiar only's face was taken during a break from filming last month. we are going to take a look at the stories we are following for news4 this afternoon. pat lawson muse joins us in the newsroom with a preview of things to come. >> hi, barbara p.m. coming up on "news4 at 4:00," love at first blush. many will be making that extra special effort to look good for valentine's day to attract that special someone. when it comes to makeup there are things that women do to make themselves more attractive as mates. and get healthy 4 life today,

explaining why the techniques work. also what can go wrong and cause you health problems. on "news4 at 5:00," what you work out, exercise a little bit and then take a little break. it is routine that let get you into shape in just 20 seconds at a time. guaranteed, we are told. details coming up today on "news4 at 4:00." >> how many 20-second intervals do you have to do? we will find out. >> that's right. time for a final check on the forecast. here's tom. >> looks like snow and feels like snow. temperatures are in the mid and upper 30s and radar scanning the sky picking up precipitation. few sprinkles, southern maryland and down towards fredericksburg but west and north of washington that's snow. the dark green you see, it is snowing now in loudoun county and northern montgomery county and into howard and frederick counties. up towards the pennsylvania border and into western maryland and west virginia. and where the snow is coming down, still a bit above freezing shenandoah valley but near freezing farther to the west and near 40 in washington, low 40s in southern maryland now. lot of the snow will be melting

on grassy areas as it comes down. certainly melting on roadways. road temperatures are way above freezing. so i don't think we are going to have any problems on the roads with this. these accumulations amounts here are going to mostly be on grassy areas. maybe just an inch or would around the metro area. by the time it all ends by mid evening this evening. and then tomorrow and friday we get the sun back with highs in the 40s and cold weekend after that. highs only in the 30s saturday and sunday. dry and chilly first part of the week. frequent updates throughout the afternoon. stay tune. >> thank you. >> this is an outtake from season two of "the voice." it is one of the hottest videos on youtube. alicia shot the video of her

duet with one of her donkeys. she posted it online for her friends and family. let's just say they weren't the only ones to watch it, it seems. the video has been viewed more than 120,000 people. that's how many hits they got. >> playing in front of that many people. >> she says she had no idea her donkey would be so vocal when she set up her camera. got a new star in the making. that's "news4 midday." we thank you for joining us and invite to you tune in for more news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00, tonight at 11:00. we will be tracking the weather all dawe. we will be here tomorrow morning for you at 11:00 a.m. people really love snapshot from progressive, but don't just listen to me. listen to these happy progressive customers. i plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on car insurance. i was worried it would be hard to install. but it's really easy. the better i drive, the more i save. i wish our company had something this cool. yeah. you're not... filming this, are you?

aw! camera shy. snapshot from progressive. plug into the savings you deserve with snapshot from progressive.