welcome to news4 this week. hi, everyone, i'm veronica johnson. we are going to show you some of the more interesting local stories making news this week. among them, a marine becomes a millionaire in one night. why he says good karma was on his side. a machine that melts away fat? no, it is not science fiction. women who tried it, they weigh in on how it works. and dogs rescued from a war-torn region come to our area thanks to a local man. he is known by some as the dog whisperer of baghdad. first today, are you sure that you're getting every

penny's worth when you fill up your gas tank in the numbers on the pump display may not always tell the full story. the i-team's tisha thompson explains what to look for. >> reporter: think you are watching every penny at the pump these days? >> many, many. probably thousands. >> reporter: you've got nothing on elizabeth conky. every day, she's on the road inspecting gas stations in maryland. >> all inspections are unannounced. >> reporter: for the state department of agriculture. and boy, can she stop the meter on a dime, or in this case, a penny. >> my greatest job skill is being able to stop exactly at five gallons. >> reporter: to make sure customers aren't getting shortchan shortchanged, she uses these specially calibrated containers, they look a lot like milk jugs. first, she makes each pump starts and stays on zero for 30 seconds. >> i pump until this says five gallons and then i read how much was actually dispensed. >> reporter: there is a toll

perhaps. if the pump dispenses too little or too much, she can shut it down. >> i do find errors. >> reporter: theaters in keep rolling after you stop filling up can also put a pump out of commission. >> we would like to check them once every year but due to so many pumps versus so many inspector it is once every two years. >> here now because i just had another child and gas prices are going up. >> reporter: kevin jones called the news4 i-team after seeing inconsistencies at the pump with his new car. >> you're getting, you know, 23 in a 20-gallon tank, you have to wonder. >> reporter: he has had the same issue with his motorcycle, a ten-gallon tank that seems to hold 12 gallons of gas? >> with it being a machine, it could be that it's not calibrated or it is just off. >> reporter: to find out how of the an pump is cited, the news4 i-team dug through hundreds of maryland's most recent inspections. in just montgomery and prince georges county alone, 57% of stations had to be reinspected

for different kinds of violations. most were for small technical issues, but 12% were cited for short-changing customers. one of the worst, a rockville station, shorted drivers by almost two gallons. but it's not always bad for the driver. 16% were cited for giving more gas away than the pump showed. that's acceptable. that's approved. >> reporter: back in montgomery county, no problems with these pumps. they each get the orange sticker of approval which customers should always look for when filling up. >> now i am going to give the station the gas back. >> reporter: unlike you and me, when she's done filling up, the gas goes back because now, more than ever, every drop is worth a bundle. tisha thompson, news4. >> oh, i'm definitely going to be looking for that orange sticker now. the i-team has scores of information and gas pump inspection reports on our website. all you have to do is go to

nbcwashington.com and search gas pumps. if yo if you're curious about your gas station. some of us might be paying extra just to pay bills on time. we are talking about the fees that can depend on how you choose to pay your bill. liz crenshaw explains. >> shame on them. that's all i have to say. >> reporter: verizon wireless's plan to impose a $2 fee back in december did not go over well consumers. >> it's crazy. i'm not going to pay $2 for that. >> reporter: verizon's fee would have charged $2 if they chose to make a single payment online or over the phone using a debit or credit card. they said the fee was to use the efficiency of those transactions. >> you shouldn't have to pay a fee to pay your bill. it doesn't make any sense. >> reporter: in fact, verizon wireless said back in december it reversed its new fee in response to customer feedback. the uproar prompted us to look

at utility bills to see if other companies make you pay to pay. here's what we found. when making a single payment online or over the phone, with pepco you will pay a fee of $4.95 if you do it with a credit card and $1.95 with your credit card. washington gas, $4.55 extra if you pay using your debit or credit card. dominion virginia power, it costs you $3.95. northern virginia electric cooperative, $2.45, credit or debit. all these fees are for the same bill payment method verizon wireless decided to retract. >> paying your bill

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esteemed poet nikki giovanni and local students recently entertained passengers with poetry at reagan national airport. students competed in poetry slam

at one of the airport's terminals. giovanni helped judge the competition along with a poet from alexandria, amy young and author vincent young. some very happy kids. now to a huge opportunity for some very talented young musicians. some d.c. public school students got a chance to perform with jazz professionals who work with artists like wynton marsalis. as tracee wilkins reports, you put the two together, you get a very sweet sound. ♪ >> reporter: when victor going picked up the clarinet at age 8 in new orleans, it was purely for medicinal purposes. his mom thought it would help with his asthma. >> mother knows best and helped me throughout my life and still working today. >> reporter: eighth grader mikhail davis of hart middle school in southeast d.c. picked up the trombone two years ago, for different reasons. >> i wanted to learn new things -- learn a new instrument, so i saw this and i said, all right, i'm gonna try this. >> reporter: but today, these

musicians are playing together, one a professional artist who plays in wynton marsalis' band. >> wynton and i went to kindergarten together and so we have a very long history. >> reporter: and another who is just beginning to write his own musical history. this opportunity is thanks to the capital jazz project, a music training program made possible through partnership with the washington performing arts society, d.c. public schools and jazz at lincoln center. the program provides free instruments, class instruction, performance experience and opportunities to work with jazz greats. >> i think it's an honor, 'cause most people don't get a chance to play with professionals, so this is truly a blessing to them. >> we hopefully will just spark their curiosity to go out and start researching to music, researching about life, because jazz music is about life. it is america's art form. >> i love the different styles of playing the instrument. and also how they work together, even without a conductor, since

we used conductors. >> reporter: today, these students jam with the wynton marsalis band at the duke ellington school of the arts, but who knows what tomorrow will bring. do you see yourself in a jazz band or do see yourself in a marching band? where do you see yourself? >> well, i see myself in both, actually. >> reporter: this program began serving three middle schools in d.c. they are now serving seven schools, 300 students and they are hoping to expand the program even more. in northwest, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. >> i'm sure they learned about improvising, too. what all of us do sometimes to get through life. well, coming up, she turned her personal tragedy into hope for others struggling with breast cancer. how a local woman is making a big difference. and a new tool that can melt fat. why doctors say this one is different from other body-shaping devices. stick around. it's coming up, next.

a local woman coping with breast cancer is now using her struggle to help other patients thrive. and her work has put her on the grio.com's list of 100 african-americans shaping the future of our country. angie goff has more on her mission. >> reporter: naima karmo was born a warrior. a native of liberia, she survived three wars. she arrived in america and faced the biggest fight of her life. >> i was taking a shower and felt a lump in my breast. >> reporter: she was only 32 and what she heard next still haunts her. >> the doctor said you are too young to have breast cancer, forget about it. come back in six months to year. >> reporter: karmo did have breast cancer and by the time she did come back six months later, the lump had doubled in size.

>> i had this beautiful 3-year-old daughter. after getting diagnosed it was rapid speed from there your whole life turns upside down. >> reporter: at a time when support was badly needed, she found herself more alone than ever, her fiance walked out on her while she was undergoing treatment. now she was struggling as a survivor and a single mom. >> i thought i can sit here and cry about this and feel sorry for myself or i can use my life to make others live and that's what i chose to do. >> reporter: undergoing her second round of chemo, lying in bed, losing all her hair, she founded the tigerlily foundation. to this date, her mission has helped an upwards of 10,000 women, ages 15 to 40, educating them, advocating for them and paying everything from mortgage to child care bills. karmo has been to capitol hill, too, introducing a bill for early breast health education, even catching the attention of the first lady. >> lawn bowling. >> reporter: but it is back in her virginia home, tigerlily

headquarters, where this mom on a mission feels the most power. now cancer-free, continuing her work to help other women beat breast cancer. >> had some pretty amazing experiences but the best experience for me is to live and give life to other people. >> reporter: for the grio 100, i'm angie goff, nbc4, washington. >> she is quite the woman. well, a lot of us might wish for a quick way to slim down. now some doctors say they have got a new device that's helping people melt the fat away without going under the knife. news4's erika gonzalez has the details. >> i was concerned about aging a little too quickly. >> i felt like through exercise, i was hitting a wall, all of a sudden, 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. >> reporter: enter excelis, the latest device that promises to

melt inches from your waist and age from your face. >> the excelis is a brand new unique radio frequency device that has the ability to target both fat for body contouring and superficial collagen for skin tightening. and it does it with no pain, no downtime and virtually no side effects. >> reporter: d.c. dermatologist dr. dale isaacson and marilyn burson is say this is one of the first devices that can work on all body parts, everything from eyelids to necks to love handles and thighs. they say it works by first cooling the surface of the skin and 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 go ahead and 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 what happened she calls her turkey neck, says she noticed a difference after just one treatment, and so did her husband. >> when a man notices, it's really pretty amazing. >> reporter: this is sandra before and this is after three treatments. pam leighton is trying to slim down her tummy. she was considering a tummy tuck, but was attracted to excelis because it's cheaper. >> other surgeries are $6,000, and this is, you know, half of that, for the most part. >> reporter: both women say the treatment does get hot but it's bearable. there is also no recovery time. doctors say there's minimal side effects, but it's not for patients who have pacemakers. all right, we have got a feel-good story. coming up for you next, how dogs abeen a donned overseas are getting help from the man known

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thousands of dogs in iraq have been abandoned or neglected their entire lives. well, now some are finding new life right here in the washington area and it is all thanks to one maryland man known to some as the dog whisper of baghdad. melissa mollet has this story. >> life is good, isn't it? >> reporter: for andrew neeson, it was love at first sight. >> she's a total sweetheart and we really bonded very closely. >> reporter: he fell in love with two face, she is a mutt he found living on a firing range in iraq. he was working as a security contractor. >> as a form of therapy, i reach out to the stray animals and care for them and they cared for me. >> reporter: during his seven years overseas, he became a foster parent to dogs living on

the streets. >> became nope as the dog whisperer of baghdad. >> reporter: they spend their lives scrounging for scraps and hiding for survival. andrew would visit two face and her siblings every day. >> times when we were like this a rock and mortgage wore fly overhead. >> reporter: friend john shank also spent time there. >> open hunting season on dogs, that was their way of controlling the population. >> reporter: while andrew was spending thousands on dog food, surgery for one dog hit by a car, even paying people to help protect the pups. >> i was a very good student of poker. >> reporter: with the help of the spca international's operate baghdad pups rescue pro, he was able to send some to the u.s. sarah is now in bel-air. barney lives in sinksburg and mr. bear in ross lind. andrew sent out an e-mail trying to find two face a home. >> she was escorted with armed security. >> reporter: john saw this photo of her and he was sold. >> she has definitely got us wrapped around her paw.

>> reporter: andrew says he considers saving one of these dogs one of his biggest accomplishments while he was overseas, the issue, cost and security. there are hundreds of dogs that he wanted to help but only four have been able to make the trip. >> i had dozens lined up at different stages. >> reporter: so far, operation baghdad pups has sent more than 300 dogs state side. eight are scheduled to arrive in the u.s. soon, five need homes. >> you made it, kid. you hit the lottery. >> reporter: in northeast washington, melissa mollet, news4. >> those here have hit the lottery. for more information on adopting the dogs that will be arrive nfgt state soon or to donate to operation baghdad pups, visit nbcwashington.com. hey that's all for news4 this week. i'm veronica johnson. thanks for joining us. hope you love the show and see you next time. call her.

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