rescue units responded to the sixth floor apartment in the park richie high rise at 7600 maple avenue in takoma park. it was just after 2:00 a.m. 56-year-old charlotte wilson suffered severe burns from the flames that spread among clothes on the floor of her bedroom. a smoke detector awoke her 18-year-old granddaughter who called 911 and then rushed to help her grandmother. >> the fire occurred in a bedroom area and it appears that it started as a result of improperly discarded smoking materials from smoking in bed. >> reporter: charlotte wilson was rushed by ambulance to the washington hospital burn center but died shortly after. >> i called the daughter to wish her happy birthday and come find out she told me that her mom died today. which was really shocking. >> reporter: a takoma park police detective is investigating. >> we're working this jointly with the montgomery county fire marshal's office to determine

that no foul play was involved. >> reporter: and your conclusion? >> at this point we show it's probably accidental by smoking. >> reporter: charlotte wilson leaves a large family, many of whom were raised in montgomery county. >> she was just a loving, caring person that enjoyed life and wanted the best for her family and always was just there for everybody. >> reporter: montgomery county firefighters were here again this afternoon. they went from apartment to apartment checking that every tenant has a working smoke detector. now that's standard operating procedure after a major fire here in montgomery county. reporting tonight live from takoma park, chris gordon, news 4. a 2-year-old girl lost her battle after she suffered a critical injury in a house fire last week in district heights. mariah kendrahood died yesterday afternoon. three adults and a 9-year-old boy managed to escape early friday morning.

the family was asleep when the blaze broke out. a working smoke alarm alerted them to the fire. fire investigators have ruled the fire accidental caused by an unattended piece of food in the kitchen. in fairfax county police are trying to figure out how a taxi cab managed to land in the patio area of this apartment in annandale. it happened shortly after noon today in the 7600 block of allman drive. when chopper 4 got to the scene crews had installed temporary wood panels until the damage can be repaired. the driver of the cab suffered minor injuries. it is not clear if anyone was home at the time but two women who lived in the apartment have to move out. the red cross is helping them find temporary shelter until they can move back in. >> the jury starts deliberating on wednesday in the trial of the former university of virginia la crosse player accused of murder. george huguely. from chevy chase, maryland, he is charged in the beating death of his ex-girlfriend and fellow la crosse player yardley love.

this occurred in 2010. during closing arguments on saturday, prosecutors urged the jurors to return a verdict of first or second-degree murder. that could mean life in prison. huguely's defense said it was a tragic accident and asked for the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter. a terror suspect arrested last week prayed at a mosque in falls church and police are now keeping a close eye to protect the center from potential hate crimes. federal investigators learned he prayed at the mosque before his arrest. however, the fbi says he was not a regular worshiper at the mosque. he was arrested friday as you'll recall for trying to plot to bomb the u.s. capitol building. a local airman is among four who died over the weekend while serving in africa. senior airman julian scholten of upper marlboro was killed on saturday after his aircraft was involved in an accident. he and his team were in djbouti.

investigators are trying to figure out what solved this. he was a member of the 25th intelligence squadron based in herbert field out of florida. he was 26 years old. now to the republican race for the white house. the next big contest takes place next week in michigan a big battleground state and where mitt romney grew up. rick santorum had a 15-point lead over romney there but the latest polls suggest the race has tightened considerably. today in ohio both candidates were talking jobs. romney criticized president obama for failing to approve the keystone pipeline. santorum blasted what he calls radical environmentalists and said they put nature before jobs. >> they put forth these phony studies. i refer to global warming as not climate science but political science. i will also get that keystone pipeline. one of the first no brainer decisions the president has ever had to make is should we bring

in oil from canada. the answer is so obviously yes. how he could say no is remarkable to me. >> are you ready for this? donald trump said today he might get into the race if romney can't beat santorum. >> we are here to make sure that ron paul is the next commander-in-chief of the united states armed forces. >> a huge show of support today for presidential contender ron paul. hundreds of veterans met at the washington monument here for a rally to support paul's campaign. they say they want the gop to listen to the troops and make paul the republican presidential candidate. the group also marched to the white house where they saluted a folded american flag for soldiers who were recently killed on the battle field. and a final vote on legalizing same sex marriage in maryland. it could take place later this week. democratic senator brian frosh of montgomery county said voting is expected to start tomorrow. the house passed the bill on friday and would allow same sex couples to marry in maryland.

we didn't see any but some parts of virginia got some snow last night but today, hey, it's all clear out there. >> and it could be quite springy later this week. isn't that right, doug? >> quite springy indeed, wendy. i think we'll see those temperatures go up over the past couple days. jim, you're right, too. most of the state of virginia saw some accumulating snow across the region with the exception of extreme northern virginia and even parts of southern maryland picking up 1 to 3 inches of snow. out there right now 49 degrees. any snow that did fall around most of the area melted during the afternoon today with plenty of sunshine. wind right now out of the west/northwest about 8 miles per hour. so another very nice day this winter. temperatures around the rest of the region like this. 46 in cumberland, maryland, and in hagerstown. 48 in manassas. 50 right now in culpepper and la plata right now at 48. our storm system that came through yesterday moving off the coast giving us all of that sunshine during the day today and in behind it we'll see some cooler numbers overnight tonight. we'll call it chilly down to

about 38 degrees by 9:00. 37 by 11:00. waking up to temperatures between 33 and 34 degrees in the city. most of you though will be in the low to mid 20s as you make your way out and about on your tuesday. but as we move on through the next couple days it's really the only cold air you'll see in the forecast. we'll explain what is coming up in just a minute. >> thank you, doug. the national mall has a new tour bus service just in time for the national cherry blossom festival. the national park service says the new express bus will begin rolling march 12th. it will loop from union station to the world war ii and lincoln morials over to arlington cemetery. then on to the new martin luther king memorial. and the smithsonian metro station. it'll cost you $5 a trip and starting today there is a new shuttle at arlington national cemetery. that will cost $8.75 per person. the national mall just received a very generous gift today. the family of a washington developer donated $1 million to

help restore the grounds and facilities on the mall. the trust for the national mall says this is the first million dollar gift it's received for restoration efforts. this gift comes from the akridge family foundation. it has set a goal of raising $350 million to restore some of the more run down areas on the mall. so how high will they go? gas prices reached another record high for february. analysts predicting you'll be paying four bucks a gallon very soon. >> reporter: gas prices are back on the rise and expected to get even higher. this time it's not because of anything we've done. analysts say it's what's happening in the rest of the world. in 2008 we saw the highest prices for regular gas ever. since then we've experienced lower prices with enough ups and downs to convince some people to change the way they drive all together. >> i have cut down on my gas use quite a bit. for about the past year, quite a

bit. so my car is happy about it and has less miles on it. >> reporter: she is not alone. americans have been cutting back on gas use across the country. that means lower demand and you would think that we see some rewards for that at the pump but that is not the case according to analysts. in fact, they are predicting that soon prices will get much higher. >> i don't have no answers for that. you know? making it hard on everybody. >> reporter: while our demand has decreased it has increased in the rest of the world. according to triple-a that coupled with market speculation and fear could mean prices for regular gas nearing $4 by spring. >> what can we do about it? i think it's horrendous but what can we do? >> the gas is constantly going up. i don't know what they did but we got to pay for it. >> triple-a is reporting gas prices have already jumped 10% since the beginning of the year. this week gas prices passed the record annual average of $3.51 established last year. and according to triple-a it's

very early in the year for this kind of increase. and if past years have taught us anything it's that prices will start to rise sooner than later. >> only thing we can do is cut back the best way we can and expect it to get even higher i think. so at some point i'm sure we will adjust. >> reporter: analysts predict gas prices could start hovering around $4 per gallon by april or may of this year. and district heights, i'm tracee wilkins, news 4. hey they eased up on the gas. some went old school, very old school there in alexandria. presidents' day festivities rolled through the streets of old town this afternoon. dozens of people lined the streets as a parade came through the heart of old town. it is the largest parade in the nation that celebrates george washington's birthday. it's in its 100th year now. and mount vernon was the place to be today. a lot of people showing up to george washington's home.

it's the presidents 280th birthday. there were special events taking place all day today. some even used the day off for school as an opportunity for some learning outside of the classroom. >> we're looking at differences between the way they lived back in the 1700s and the way we live now. differences in furniture. we're learning how they prepared food. >> admission to mount vernon was free today because it was presidents' day. we're just getting started here on news 4 at 5:00. up next get rid of that expanding waist line. also erase years away from your face. sound too good to be true? this new device says it does the magic. >> whitney houston's items on the auction block. is it too soon to be cashing in? >> help! help! help! >> plus a dramatic 911 call as neighbors helped save a family's life. we've got the story after the break. consumers today have a legitimate concern about the chicken they eat.

they want to know more about how they were raised, what they were fed. we spend a lot of time on the feed because a chicken is what it eats. [ jim ] this seal verifies we feed my fresh all-natural chickens an all-vegetarian diet including corn, soybeans, and marigolds. we actually ask the usda to come check us. we have never fed steroids or hormones and never will. no blood meal, no meat and bone meal. yuck. no animal by-products. it means when you put my chicken on the table, you know where it came from.

♪ there is a fire starting in my heart ♪ >> if you are one of the millions of fans who love the sound of adele's voice thank a

massachusetts doctor for saving it. when the british singer was diagnosed with an issue that could have ended her singing career she chose to have surgery conducted at mass general's voice center. the surgery was a whopping success and adele was so grateful she not only invited the doctor and his wife to the grammy awards but also gave them a public shout out. >> we were sitting there just like everybody else and we looked at each other and said did that just happen? and so yeah. it was very kind of her to do that. >> i remember that. that was a moment. the doctor says he found adele's singing to be inspirational. and we happen to have that song in our head all afternoon. we still do. >> i still love "love song." she does an amazing version. >> it is number 10 on the cd. almost all of us have that one part maybe two or three of our body that we wish we could change. >> handly's got countless. >> endless. >> now some doctors have a new

device they say that is helping people melt the fat away. without going under the knife. how often have we heard about this? news 4's erika gonzalez takes a look at this new tool. >> i was concerned about aging a little too quickly. >> i felt my body wasn't responding like it did when i was 30 and 40 years old. >> reporter: it happens to the best of us. age sets in and it gets tougher to tighten up those trouble spots. >> i was just feeling older than my age. and, you know, 51 is not old. >> enter the latest device that promises to melt inches from your waist and age from your face. >> the exelis is a brand new, unique radio frequency device with the ability to target both fat for body contouring and

superficial collagen for skin tightening. it does it with no pain, no down time and virtually no side effects. >> this d.c. dermatologist says this is one of the first devices that can work on all body parts everything from eyelids to necks, love handles, and thighs. they say it works by first cooling the surfafs the skin then using radio frequency it slowly heats the deeper fat tissue. this allows the fat to literally melt away. >> you just pee it out. you have to drink a lot of water with this. we advise our patients to drink a couple liters of water. >> reporter: most patients require at least four treatments for the best results. but 63-year-old sandra who is trying to tighten up her face and what she calls her turkey neck says she noticed a difference after just one treatment. so did her husband.

>> when a man notice truth in sentencing's amazing. >> this is sandra before and this is after three treatments. pam is trying to slim down her tummy. she was considering a tummy tuck but was attracted to this because it's cheaper. >> surgeries are $6,000 and this is half of that. >> reporter: both women say the treatment does get hot but it's bearable. there is no recovery time. doctors say there are minimal side effects but it's not for patients who have pace makers. layton is planning on having six treatments and hopes to be beach ready by summer. >> my hope is to get into a two-piece bathing suit once again. >> reporter: erika gonzalez, news 4. >> now keep in mind with this device doctors say the results of the body contouring should last but you need to maintain your weight and this is not a weight loss device. as for wrinkles, those wrinkles could reappear in two to three years. >> any time you can pee away fat

and it is that easy -- >> i want liz to do a does it really do that. >> that would be interesting. you had a busy weekend. did you nail this or what? >> yeah. that was a tough call. we went from no snow in the washington, d.c. area on friday with a high of 43 degrees on sunday and that is what we saw. so good stuff. down to the south though a little bit snow in southern virginia. some areas got upwards of 10 inches of snow. we were not that far away from it. first off i'll show you what's happening right now. a pretty nice day. plenty of sunshine. bright blue skies. it is simply gorgeous across the area. but hey. what would you expect in the winter of 2011-2012? a day after some snow came down to the south. why not give us 50 degrees? winds out of the west-northwest 8 miles per hour. around the region 45 leesburg. 48 la plata. 48 indianapolis and down toward the patuxent river 44 degrees. the snow line made its way up to

manassas over toward la plata, southern portions of fairfax county. everybody down to the south saw some snow but to the north there was nothing. not even a flake in gaithersburg or in frederick or over toward martinsburg all around charlottesville which picked up close to 6 inches. culpepper 3 inches and fredericksburg 2 inches. even portions of southern maryland picking up 2 inches of snow. there is the current snow cover right now including where the temperatures are. 43 in richmond. notice the temperature difference between washington and richmond. richmond cooler because of the snow on the ground. roanoke at 47 degrees. pretty good snow there close to 8 to 9 inches around the roanoke area. sunshine, plenty of that across the area today with high pressure. that moves on out of here. here comes a warm front during the day tomorrow. and we're going to see some much warmer temperatures. tomorrow a couple degrees warmer. partly cloudy skies. but thane cold front comes through and just like with most cold fronts this year these cold fronts will usher in warmer air

along with westerly winds. on wednesday i expect temperatures near 60 degrees with partly sunny skies. could see a chance of a shower or two but really not too worried about that. more of a sprinkle if anything. overnight tonight through the rest of the evening clear skies. a light breeze and chilly. 38 to 43 degrees. as we move on through the day tomorrow we'll see our numbers on the cold side tomorrow morning. 23 in the suburbs to about 33 in the city and as we move on through the day tomorrow, not bad. partly sunny. a few more clouds in the afternoon. milder becoming breezy. 50 to 54 degrees. so temperatures a little warmer than they were today. how about 60 wednesday? 67 on thursday. could be a sprinkle thursday too and then still around 62 on friday. friday right now potential is there for a big storm to come through the area. that one would be mostly rain and would be in here and then out of here bringing us a colder weekend. >> all right. again. you were well fed today. let's show our viewers. >> i am full. >> if you were lucky, too, out there you got to dine with doug. doug got a chance to follow

through on a super bowl promise today as he helped host a lunch for a couple viewers. >> shannon roguan and natalie davis were the winners of the nbc 4 fandemonium contest. the two of them have been friends since they were 9 years old. >> great story. they have grown up from news 4. that's them touring the studio seeing the cameras and all that stuff we take for granted. they look good on our set. >> they do. they say meeting and talking with vance, doreen, doug, and dan hellie was an honor. >> what was on the menu? what did we miss? >> it was good stuff. i got to tell you though. i came in here feeling fantastic. i ate this great food and then crashed completely. all the blood went right down here. it was fantastic. >> that's fun having viewers in. >> well done. coming up next at 5:00 a tv crew was at the right place at the right time to save some lives. >> neighbors helping neighbors. the dramatic 911 call as neighbors are hailed as heroes.

>> and lindsay lohan. we haven't told you about her in a while. she is getting primed to do something she hasn't done in

fans of whitney houston are continuing to grieve tonight and are visiting her grave and leaving remembrances -- flowers and balloons cover her grave here in westfield, new jersey where there has been a steady stream of people into the

peaceful grounds. police officers are standing nearby to make sure the grave site isn't touched and nothing is removed from it. houston is buried next to her father. the cause of her death is still under investigation. her funeral was held on saturday. >> meanwhile items from the life of houston are going up on the auction block. the earrings she wore in the movie "the bodyguard" and black velvet dress will be sold next week added to a long planned auction that also includes charlie chaplain's cane, clark gable's jablt frcket from "gone the wind" and charlton heston's staff from the 10 commandments. steven colbert is back. the star of comedy central's "the colbert report" will be back on the air tonight after an unexpected break. he canceled his shows last wednesday and thursday because he had to take care of his 91-year-old mother who had gotten ill. he is expected to address his

absence on the show tonight. over the weekend he tweeted he was grateful for those who offered their thoughts and prayers to his family. an-runnian state television team found themselves in the role of rescuers. the tv crew was shooting a documentary off the coast of iran when they came upon this ship on fire. sailors from the burning vessel leaped overboard, swam toward the tv crew's small boat. iranian authorities say all nine crew members were able to escape. still ahead, at 5:30, firefighters are the ones that rescue people but not cover the -- not over the weekend. neighbors saved the day. we'll tell you their story. 60 patients, 30 kidneys. the world's largest organ transplant chain is carried out. >> reporter: i'm darcy spencer live from fairfax county where transportation officials are stepping up their inspections of highway signs after one collapsed on to a passing pickup truck recently. i'll have

a fast forward through the headlines of montgomery county woman dies after falling asleep while smoking in bed overnight on maple avenue in takoma park. investigators say the 56-year-old charlotte wilson in her bedroom when her apartment caught fire. she had severe burns and she died after she was taken to the hospital. >> in the republican race for the white house one week to go now before the showdown in

michigan. it is a big battleground state. rick santorum had been surging there but now some polls show the race has tightened in the past week and that romney has pulled within four points of him. gas prices are going higher. the national average $3.56 a gallon. experts think it could hit $4 a gallon by memorial day. they're blaming the spike on the economy and turmoil in the middle east. let's check our weather for this week, doug. >> the weather for this week is really looking nice. i think we'll see more cloud cover during the middle of the week and probably breezy conditions. but we will be a lot warmer. take a look at our number right now. 49 in washington and in riley. look down to the south. 60 in jackson, mississippi. 63 in through the dallas area. that's the warmer air that is going to start to move up to our region. those areas will be in the 70s the next few days. we will get into the 60s. we'll talk more about those 60-degree temperatures plus what to expect this weekend, too. we've got a potential for a big storm coming in late this week. we'll talk about it coming up.

>> thank you. v dot crews are stepping up inspections tonight of those overhead highway signs after a huge sign came crashing down on a pickup truck on i-66 a couple weeks ago. over the weekend, crews took down three more signs after finding cracks in their anchor bolts. news 4's darcy spencer has been following this story since the first sign came down. she's live for us tonight in fairfax county. they got a lot of work to do, darcy. >> they certainly do. what i was able to find out today, there is only one inspection team that's doing more than 260 inspections on the signs. they were very busy over the weekend and took a break today for the federal holiday. they're going to begin tomorrow and i'm told v dot is going to add one additional inspection team and they're looking at also bringing in some contractors to help with this effort. take a look here. this is the anchor bolts that they're talking about. these are the bolts that hold this massive sign structure together. the driver of a pickup truck narrowly escaped being crushed

when a 30-foot highway sign and the supporting structure collapsed on to the hood of his truck. it happened on i-66 in fairfax county nine days ago. triple-a officials say it's a wakeup call. >> we can't take it for granted these things are going to last forever. >> reporter: virginia department of transportation officials say they discovered cracked anchor bolts like these on the structure. that triggered inspections of similar signs in northern virginia, all 261 of them. inspectors found cracked bolts on three more signs on i-95 at the prince william parkway and the ramp. they were taken down friday and saturday. >> rusted poles. they looked rusted or peeled, paint peeled off. >> reporter: so this may come down to maintenance. they need to replace something? >> they need to spend the money to replace it. >> reporter: officials are investigating whether the anchor beelts were faulty. there was a similar collapse on i-95 in the richmond area. >> we want to look at erosion,

collision damage, weather damage. any types of issues there may have been with this sign and compare that to others. >> reporter: officials say the signs are inspected every five years and no previous problems have been found. but some say that's not often enough. >> it's frightening, shocking. and it tells us about what happens without proper maintenance for the transportation infrastructure vnchts v dot officials again say the inspections will start once again tomorrow. all of them are expected to be done here in northern virginia by the end of march. reporting live from the springfield area, fairfax county, darcy spencer, news 4. >> thank you. wendy? a man from arlington is dead after a freak accident that involved a deer. it was saturday night on route 9 in loudoun county. it was just west of leesburg. 26-year-old rode oflo vilatoro was a passenger in a vehicle heading out west.

investigators say a deer struck by a driver on the eastbound lanes went airborne and crashed through the windshield and killed him. the driver and another passenger in the car were seriously injured. no one in the first vehicle that hit, originally hit the deer. no one was hurt. >> right now family and friends are gathering outside the home of pamela butler a d.c. woman whose disappearance still remains a mystery. butler disappeared more than three years ago when she didn't show up for a valentine's day dinner she had planned with her mom. the 47-year-old worked at a -- as a computer expert with the environmental protection agency. family members say they hoped tonight's vigil will bring new leads to butler's disappearance and help with closure in the case. neighbors in a temple hills neighborhood are lauded tonight after they helped rescue a family that was trapped inside a burning home. as pat collins reports they went in even before the firefighters had arrived. >> reporter: when the fire broke

out at donna muser's house she made a frantic 911 call to save her bed-ridden 79-year-old husband. >> this is prince george's county 911. >> hurry up. i got fire in my house. i've got an invalid in here and i have stairs that's on fire. help me. >> can you get out of the house? >> i can't get my invalid husband out. >> reporter: it wasn't the firefighters but neighbors who did the life saving in this one. darlene townsend knows this all too well. she's a medic and friend of the fire victim. >> he's unable to get around. it took about eight people to get him out. these people just went in with no thought of their own life. i mean, the smoke was unreal. the smoke got me to the point where i had to have treatment. >> reporter: in the light of day it looks bad. really bad. but not as threatening as it looked like last night. look at this ball of flame that burst out of the second floor of

the duplex home. it lit up the street. vanessa ward lives next door. through the wall she heard the cries for help. >> it was a scary thing but it was like a unity because once everyone realized and saw what was going on it was like everybody just chipped in. >> vanessa's father jumped the fence between the homes, kicked down the front door, and fought off the flames to save his friend. >> you saved his life. >> yeah. he's my friend. a good friend. good neighbor. he's like a dad almost to me. >> reporter: by the time it was over, a number of neighbors teamed up to make sure jim and donna muser were safe and sound. why, in fact, one of the neighbors even rescued the pet cat, bibs. i'm pat collins, news 4, prince george's county. >> wow. that fire caused about $55,000 in damages. no word yet on what caused it. but what wonderful neighbors.

my lord. >> i want to live next to them. they all came together. no fear whatsoever. >> my goodness. i'm glad no one was injured. after all that they even got little bibs out. my goodness. congratulations. good for them. coming up next on news 4 at 5:00 she's back. lindsay lohan prepares for her brand new gig. justin timberlake made a guest appearance on snl over the weekend but the big news is about what his girlfriend was wearing. >> he was funny. hey, plus the american hero who made us believe half a cen

the word is swapportunity. can i have the definition? swapportunity: the opportunity to swap a higher calorie snack for a yoplait light. can you use it in a sentence? mmm. swapping a 300 calorie donut for this 110 calorie strawberry shortcake is a good swapportunity. that's not a real word. oh haha it's real. [ female announcer ] delicious, creamy, yoplait light. over 30 flavors each around 100 calories. do the swap today.

unfair fees anger consumers. who wants to pay a fee just to pay a bill. remember when verizon wireless wanted to charge customers who paid their bills online or over the phone with a credit or debit card? consumers fought back. and verizon wireless retracted its plan to charge the fee. but lots of companies charged consumers every day just to pay their bills. >> you shouldn't have to pay a fee to pay your bill. doesn't make any sense. >> tonight at 11:00 liz crenshaw shares a consumer warning for you, paying to pay. and lindsay lohan will be hosting "saturday night live" on march 3rd. she is hoping this role will jump-start her comeback attempt. for several years now lohan has been in the public eye because of her multiple arrests and her bouts with substance abuse.

this is the fourth time she'll host "saturday night live." jessica biel was reportedly showing off her new engainment ring during an after party in new york. according to "people" magazine it is the first time the actress han been seen wearing it since she became engaged to her boyfriend justin timberlake over christmas. coming up on news 4 at 5:00 tonight the last link in the world's largest kidney chain gets new life. >> 50 years ago john glenn made history. we are looking back as the nation remembers the space legend. and coming up in sports tonight former redskins running back clinton portis wants back in the nfl. would he ever wear the burgundy and gold

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we have breaking news in anne arundel county. chopper 4 is over the scene in crofton. fire investigators say it is the scene of a road rage stabbing about an hour ago. a 22-year-old has been taken to the hospital. traffic is backed up there. we're marking the 50th anniversary of an historic moment in american space history. today john glenn became the first american to orbit in space. >> that capsule, that tiny capsule he used 50 years ago is on display right here at the national air and space museum. tom sherwood visited the popular display and joins us now with his story. jim, it was a big achievement. we're always surprised at how little that nine-foot capsule was. into outer space and into the history books. john glenn in 1961, 50 years ago. and right inside the national air and space museum on the

mall, the tiny capsule that carried glenn for the historic three hoshts orbits is on displ >> three times. >> three times. >> in this little thing. >> yeah. >> what did you think when you see it? >> i think that he wouldn't have been comfortable in there. >> the andrew emerson family from bethesda was part of a big crowd at the smithsonian's most visited museum. all sorts of languages could be heard as tourists relived the american achievement and how it affected them. you're looking here. what are you thinking 50 years ago? >> i was in first grade at the time. in ohio. so john glenn was my hero and i became a b-52 navigator and went to the air force because of john glenn and 50 years ago today. >> reporter: while the tourists took in the sights, john glenn this week was warning again that america is foolish to turn from the space travel and exploration. this family from san francisco and others agreed with glenn. >> space is the next frontier and you really ought to explore

it and experience it to figure out what else is out there. >> not only that but it creates a lot of jobs and interest among young people to pursue, not just space but any kind of scientific field. >> you can see the history of aviation right here. >> i think if we quit we're not going to see any more progress. >> john glenn is now 90 years old in 1998 when he was 77 he became the oldest person to travel in space. that is such a small capsule. >> when you walk by there is really no sign. >> they need a much bigger sign. i was walking past it and the person said it's right here. >> amazing. he is amazing. makes you want to go rent the right stuff again. >> thank you, tom. let's get the final word on the weather now. how are we looking, doug? >> we look great guys over the next couple days. a lot of people really happy to see this nice, warm weather this winter. we've really dodged a bullet

because we've had rough winters in the past and a lot of people say i guess what's coming is going to be a lot worse in march and april because they've got to even things out. remember the winter of 2009-2010, this winter i think evening out just a little bit between the extremely snowy winters we've had in the past and the not so snowy winter we've had this winter. just a few flurries is what we saw last night. a few flurries around gaithersburg, annapolis, washington if that and then right down in through portions of fairfax county in through portions of prince george's county down around charles county a dusting to an inch there. we saw 1 to 3 inches though around culpepper over through fredericksburg and right over toward the lexington park area in through portions of st. mary's county and the big winners charlottesville coming in with around 6 inches of snow in some areas down around the southern counties picking up 4 to 10 inches of snow. so no, most areas didn't see much but down to the south and west they saw a lot. 49 degrees the current temperature out there right now with winds out of the west-northwest at 8 miles per hour.

temperatures around the region 43 in leesburg. 48 right now in fredericksburg and la plata. waldorf both coming in right now at 47 degrees. we'll see a nice evening although i think the temperatures are going to fall off fairly quickly. we don't have many clouds in the sky at all. the sky is clear and you can see on storm 4 radar no rain to show you until we get way out to the west. that is the storm system that is going to develop and move toward our region overnight tonight through the day tomorrow and then in through wednesday. that you can see some snow on the back side but it's going to give us some extremely warm air. overnight tonight 33 in washington. 25 in leesburg. 24 in culpepper. and down to the south, fredericksburg 28 tonight. tomorrow temperatures warming up a little bit. we'll call it partly sunny with a high of 53 in washington. 50 in gaithersburg. back toward manassas around 52 degrees. 55 in culpepper. here is the next couple days showing 60 on wednesday. 67 on thursday. and then a good chance for rain and maybe a big storm on friday. could be an all day rain event with a high temperature in the low 60s. i do think it will be strong

enough to bring in some cold air on the back side but once again this year we're not seeing cold air just cool air. we'll calling it 46 on saturday and 48 on sunday. cool. >> all right. that is cool. you know we're rounding out that 67 and calling that 70. >> let's just do it. >> all right. thank you, doug. >> clinton portis talking a comeback. come on. >> yeah. believe it. they say don't cl it a comeback but be clinton you may have to. he spent seven years with the redskins before mike shanahan cut him loose last year and he is only 30. so portis feels like there is some gas left in the tank. we caught up with clinton at the palm in d.c. last night to discuss his potential comeback. it's not the career he was looking for but clinton portis was at the palm restaurant last night as a celebrity server. several former and current redskins were there helping raise money for rocky mcintosh's a grand foundation. only 26 players in nfl history have rushed for more yards than

portis and he would like to break the 10,000 yard plateau. he is currently stuck on 9,923. and he's thinking comeback. he believes he can be successful after a year of introspection. >> i have more spirituality now. i think just having the clarity, the time to put things in perspective, growing up really. you know, that was the best thing. growing up. becoming a man. becoming a responsible, understanding and ready to have fun again. i feel like it's a lot of unfinished business. i don't want to go out on those terms of not being around the last three years, you know, i took a year off to really get things in perspective and i want to continue to play football. so it's that simple. i want to continue to play and i'm ready. >> after his unceremonious release by the redskins following the 2010 season, clinton portis might find it hard to come back to the

community but says that is not the case at all. when rocky called inviting him to be involved, clinton jumped at the opportunity. >> it's lovely. i don't want to not be a part of this community. you know, i spent the last seven years of my life here so being a part of this community is crucial and having this opportunity is wonderful. >> reporter: now his focus is on returning to the nfl and he'd like the opportunity anywhere he can get it. even if it happens to be with the redskins again. >> i mean, who knows what is going to happen, man? i don't rule anything out but at the same time i think the redskins organization moved on and that's understandable. you know for myself it's just a matter of playing football again, it don't matter where it's at. >> somebody said last night on twitter maybe clinton would fit in well with the baltimore ravens backing up ray rice. the question is, is clinton going to accept the role as a backup? he's never been known as the hardest worker out there.

he talks about how his perfect practice would be sitting on a beach chair watching everybody else. so we'll see if he has changed his opinion. >> his personality has dialed back a bit. >> i think just for the camera. >> been there. thank you. >> you're welcome. >> let's find out what's in the works for news 4 at 6:00 tonight. doreen joins us with a preview. tonight on news 4 at 6:00 countdown to michigan. tonight the republican presidential hopefuls are fighting for votes ahead of next week's primary in the battleground state. plus a show of silence in virginia. the political issue that brought out hundreds of women in protest today. also help for couples having trouble trying to conceive. details behind a new fertility test for men that can be done in the privacy of your own home. those stories and more coming up on news 4 at 6:00 in just a few minutes. see you then. >> thanks. coming up next, dozens of lives changed forever after a marathon kidney swap. >> and for all your news be sure to follow news 4 online.

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an elderly american woman got her passport back 60 years after losing it because of the power of google and facebook.

betty worther lost her passport soon after she graduated from berkeley and moved to paris in 1950. the portugese med student bought it at a flea market last summer and as he sifted through the pages realized worther had traveled around the world and the passport served as a road map to her youth. he thought she might appreciate having it back and he started using social media websites to track her down. and he did. she was in paris still 60 years later and he found her there and returned her passport yesterday and they toasted with some wine as you do in paris. >> it is a small world. >> yes it is. an illinois man became the last link in the world's longest kidney chain. >> 60 patients, 30 kidneys. the long process started in august. the final transplant was done this weekend. dick johnson reports from chicago. >> don terry of joliet was the 30th recipient in a chain of kidney donations that crisscross the country and back. it is dramatically reducing what

is typically years of kidney dialysis, four hours a day, three times a week while you wait for a match. >> the dialysis is virtually keeping them alive physically and mentally they are dying. >> don received a kidney from a person in california someone possibly not unlike the sister of paulette from chicago who was not a match for paulette but agreed to be one for someone else to allow her sister to be saved with another donated kidney in the chain. >> i got my kidney september 23rd. she gave hers september 27th. we recovered here at my house. she is from mississippi so stayed with me two weeks after the transplant and my husband took care of us both. >> reporter: but not every hospital is willing to be involved in the kidney chains. something these lay ole' patients and their doctor are hoping to change. to them it is the only logical solution, the soaring demand and limited supply. >> at the national level there's as many as 20,000 people today

who may not know about this program that could be transplanted immediately through the power of chain transplantation. >> that was dick johnson reporting. that is it for news 4 at 5:00. >> stay right there. news 4 at 6:00 starts right now. controversy on the campaign trail. rick santorum goes on the attack and it could shake things up ahead of next week's primary in michigan. >> three people killed in a deadly avalanche but one skier made it out alive. she is sharing her story tonight. >> deliberations will begin this week in the murder trial of a university of virginia la crosse player. why legal experts say the suspect's level of intoxication could actually help his case. >> good evening. i'm jim vance. >> i'm doreen gentzler. we begin with the republican race for the white house. the next big contest is next week in michigan. it seemed like mitt romney's race to lose but then