good morning, everyone, and welcome to "news4 midday." i'm barbara harrison, it is monday, march 12, 2012. we begin with new information about prince william county virginia. a mother pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor child neglect in the death of her son. she left her 2-year-old son in the back seat of the family mini-van for more than seven hours last june as she went to work as a veterinarian. under the agreement she will serve 400 hours of community service at an animal shelter.

a judge also sentenced her to six years probation and she received two years suspended sentence. prosecutors dropped three more serious charges, including felony murder. prosecutors agreed to negotiate a plea because murphy took responsibility for her actions. murphy was distraught during the plea hearing this morning. right now the university of maryland student is undergoing an emergency mental evaluation after getting arrested. the 19-year-old, alexander song, is accused of threatening to go on a shooting rampage on campus. news4's megan mg grath cgrath in college park with reaction. >> reporter: right now alexander song is facing a misdemeanor charge, violation of the education article. he's also undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. now here on campus all is normal. the students are going back and forth to class. but as you would imagine, song's arrest is the talk of college park. jeff says he lives in the same

dorm as alexander song and when he saw the police lights sunday, he knew something was wrong. >> chaos really. all you hear was sirens and here you are pretty much in a seclude part of campus but you just heard something was happening somewhere. >> reporter: internet postings brought song to the attention of police. song allegedly planned to randomly kill students on sunday, writing, "i will be on a shooting rampage tomorrow on campus. hopefully i kill enough people to make it to national news." there was also this warning -- "stay away from the mall tomorrow at 1:30." song was arrested on campus around 10:00 a.m. sunday morning. this morning students expressed relief that a potential shooting spree was averted. >> i mean it's happened in the past on other campuses but for the sole intention of getting famous, i guess, really just like a weird -- i don't even know how to describe something like that. >> you always hear about it happening on other campuses, but then you don't think it would happen at your campus. so i don't know, you feel far

removed from it but you're really not. >> reporter: and police did not find a weapon on alexander song when he was arrested. they didn't find any weapons in his dorm room either. now we're expecting to learn more about this case later on this afternoon following a press conference. reporting live in college park, megan mcgrath, news4. the state of virginia began its defense today in a lawsuit filed by parents of two students killed in the virginia tech mass shooting. nearly five years later, the university's president says he does not believe he made a mistake that day. 32 people were killed during the massacre on the blacksburg campus in april 2007. the families of two of the victims filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the school. they say university officials botched the response to the shootings. they're each seeking $100,000. turning to our weather now, beautiful sunshine out there. is it going to be a warm week? let's find out from tom kierein. >> good morning, barbara. off to a cool start this morning but now temperatures are

beginning to warm up. all around the region now we've hit the 50s to near 60 degrees. right now richmond's at 62. reagan national 56. our nearby suburbs now in the mid 50s. that includes fairfax, arlington, montgomery, prince george's counties. all these areas in green are in the upper 50s and low 60s. much of the eastern half of the nation is going to be having a warm day today and a mild pattern for the rest of the week as we have a southwesterly and southerly flow. now we have plenty of sunshine here now but you can see there are clouds closing in to west virginia now. those areas in green are areas getting some rain across western west virginia, into ohio. and that will be approaching us by later tonight. for the rest of the afternoon expect increasing clouds and temperatures climbing into the 60s to perhaps even low 70s across parts of virginia. that would be perhaps around

fredericksburg to culpepper, warrenton, toward that region. mid and upper 60s, winds out of the south around 5 to 15. we'll look at the weekend in a couple of minutes. >> thank you, tom. police are looking for a driver responsible for a hit and run crash involving several cars on the baltimore washington parkway in landover. the crash happened this morning on the northbound lanes of the parkway at route 450. park police are looking for the driver of a dark colored honda odyssey minivan with heavy front-ent damage. no serious injuries were reported. tonight you can share your opinions about a potential plan to widen the baltimore washington parkway. the beltway city council meeting will discuss the new study on the parkway by the federal highway administration. it says even if a third lane was added in each direction, it would not improve the traffic situation. estimated cost of the project range anywhere from $340 million to $565 million.

the meeting starts at 8:00 tonight at greenbelt city municipal building. let's check our midday traffic now. any problems out there. >> good morning, barbara. let's start with the rails. we have scheduled track work slowing you down just a bit. track work is on the orange line as well at green line so you're going to see delays on both lines in both directions. over to the roadway we have some road work slowing you down. this is the inner loop of the beltway at robinson terminal. as you get closer to braddock, the left lane will be taken away by road work. we are seeing some delays in this area but the travel speed not so bad. you're at about 45 miles per hour making your way from the interchange to the dulles toll road. that trip taking 17 minutes at this time. back over to you. we are following breaking news out of indianapolis right now. we've learned a child and bus driver both died in a school bus crash. police say the bus driver somehow lost control of the bus and hit a bridge around 7:45 this morning. rescuers took two other children to the hospital with critical

injuries. our nbc sister station in indianapolis is reporting that more than 30 children were on that bus ranging in age from 5 to 16. police don't know yet if the wet weather out there may have played a factor in the crash. d.c. police are on the lookout for a man and woman seen leaving a restaurant shooting in columbia heights. a witness tells news4 two men were arguing about a woman when one pulled out a gun and shot the other in the chest. it happened yesterday morning at the i hop on irving and 14th streets in northwest washington. victim was taken to the hospital and is expected to be okay. the restaurant was briefly closed while police interviewed witnesses. it's since re-opened. today the man suspected of sending suspicious letters to members of congress will be in court. on friday police arrested christopher lee carlson in portland, oregon. over the past month several lawmakers and members of the media received letters that contained a white powder that turned out to be harmless.

maryland senator barbara mccullsky was one of the lawmakers who received such a letter. those letters are not connected with the ones that arrived at d.c. schools and restaurants last week. federal investigators are hoping they can find a suspect after two more were discovered on saturday. authorities shut down the blt steak restaurant on i street on saturday. a restaurant employee there opened a letter that had an unknown white powder inside that turned out to be harmless. the other letter was not opened and that restaurant was re-opened shortly afterwards. now to a developing story out of afghanistan. leaders in that country are outraged at an american soldier who they say murdered 16 civilians. president obama has already apologized for the murders but as nbc's tracie potts explains, this latest incident damages already-strained relations. >> reporter: afghanistan's president calls it terrorism. a u.s. soldier shot and killed nine children, three women and

four men, just 500 yards from a u.s. military base in southern afghanistan. he's in custody. >> these incidents, and in particular the short distance between the incidents that we've seen in recent weeks are a burden and are of concern. >> nato's sitting in a tinder box and this could be the spark that unravels our presence in afghanistan. >> reporter: president obama called president karzai sunday to apologize saying, "we'll investigate and hold the shooter responsible." karzai, in a statement, calls it an intentional act that will never be forgotten. one month after accidental burnings of the koran sparked deadly protests. >> unfortunately, these things happen in war. you had an israeli soldier killed worshippers by a mosque. you just have to push through these things. >> reporter: in washington lawmakers say this latest incident underscores why we need to get out. >> our timetable is pretty good. we're moving out as the president said and i think that's the right thing to do.

>> reporter: but perhaps not too quickly. >> we should not forget that the attacks on the united states of america on 9/11 originated in afghanistan. >> reporter: of course the big concern today is possible attacks on u.s. soldiers in afghanistan now. the embassy there is warning americans in that country to watch their movements, stay away from large crowds, and keep their travel plans private. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. 11:10 is our time now. coming up, why the priest who denied communion to a lesbian at her mother's funeral is in trouble again. plus, we're hear from the parents who were kicked off that plane after their child threw a tantrum. and why the president is taking a big hit over the pain at pump.

the catholic priest who denied communion to a lesbian at her mother's funeral has been placed on leave for intimidating behavior towards parish staff and others. he serves at st. john newman catholic church in gaithersburg. archdiocese says the suspension is not related to the communion incident last month. artist barbara johnson says the priest denied her communion because she lives with another woman. archdiocese apologized for what happened there.

today american journalist marie colvin will be laid to rest. she was killed three weeks ago along with a french photographer during a bombing in homs, syria. there will be a funeral service and private burial in new york. colvin worked for the british newspaper "the sunday times" for 25 years. she was 56 years old. rick santorum has new momentum in decision 2012 today. he picked up a win from the caucus in kansas. the victory comes ahead of critical primaries tomorrow in alabama and mississippi in the presidential race. santorum gained 20 of 40 delegates from saturday's win in kansas. he's still a distant second behind mitt romney in the total delegate count. despite romney's lead, santorum says he hopes undecided voters look past the numbers. >> so the math is not the issue. the issue is vision. the issue is that governor romney having outspent me 10-1 is still not able to close the deal and is not on a path

himself to get to this. that's why we need to let this thing sort out. >> santorum says he does not believe true conservative republicans will let romney become the gop nominee. newt gingrich is cranking up his criticism against mitt romney ahead of tomorrow's primaries. former house speaker said on fox news romney is the worst republican front-runner since leonard woods' 1920 campaign. gingrich called romney a weak candidate and said nearly all conservative voters oppose him. gingrich declared that he will be a strong contender in the race for president after he wins tomorrow's primaries. the virginia general assembly agreed to a special session to try and make a deal on the state budget. the general session ended saturday without an agreement. governor bob mcdonnell's two-year, $85 billion proposal has faced partisan disputes. democrats want $450 million in additional spending, including $150 million in education and transportation. the special session will start

on march 21st. well, today in maryland, lawmakers will resume debating a bill banning smoking while in your car. the bill would outlaw lighting up in a car with a passenger younger than eight years old. supporters say this bill helps cut down on second-hand smoke which is extremely harmful to children and added it will be easier for police to enforce because kids under 8 have to be in car seats. the leaders of virginia and maryland are making their voices heard in the 2012 presidential election. bob mcdonnell and martin o'malley were guests on "meet the press" yesterday and clashed on the economic issues facing america. >> this election is about jobs, economic development, taxes, spending, debt and deficit. i think on each of those issues, this president has really failed -- >> o'malley agreed that the economy is the number one issue this election but argued that we'd be in much worse shape without president obama's economic policies leading the

way. that rhode island family is speaking out after getting kicked off a flight because of their daughter's temper tantrum. dr. colette view and her family were boarding their jetblue flight from turks and caicos back to the states when 2-year-old natalie started throwing a tantrum. eventually her parents got her under control but the pilot announced that because the family was not following faa regulations, they would be kicked off the plane. the family spoke to matt lauer on the "today" show about this incident. >> we were seated at the back of the plane. there were only a couple rose behind us so the flight attendant was right there and i got natalie strapped in and i sort of turned to her and said we have her under control. we have her strapped in, can we go now? and she said, the decision's been made. >> jetblue released a statement saying the family's inability to get natalie in her seat caused a safety concern and that's why they were asked to leave the plane. we've got a gorgeous day

started out there already. will it last? let's find out from the meteorologist tom kierein. >> beautiful morning under way. great pattern here for outdoor recreation and exercise. if you have the luxury of having the afternoon off, enjoy. the only thing is that the pollen count is probably going to be jumping as the day progresses and as the week progresses as well. so many flowering trees are now beginning to really bloom. right now 56 at reagan national. we've got a southerly breeze coming in off of the chilly waters of the potomac so there right at reagan national airport may not be quite as warm as elsewhere. just a little way away from the waters. it will be certainly warming up later this afternoon. right now all around the region, we are in the 50s and low 60s. 62 now in richmond and closer to washington, all across northern virginia, most of maryland, nearby suburbs in prince george's county, montgomery county, as well as in fairfax an arlington, it is in the mid and upper 50s now. the view from space is showing a clear sky now for the most part

just a few cloud to the north and east of washington. those are traveling off north and east. but farther to our west we do have increasing clouds now coming into west virginia. this area of green is a zone of potential rain that is right now beginning to reach the ground near pittsburgh, all the way down to charleston, west virginia. that's advancing to the east but probably not getting closer to the metro area until, oh, perhaps around 7:00 or 8:00 this evening. now the close-up view of the satellite image showing a lot of sunshine here now and for the rest of the afternoon, here are the high temperatures i anticipate. we'll probably make it into the upper 60s right around washington, nearby suburbs and throughout much of maryland. right near the bay water it is going to be cooler with a breeze off the waters. water temperatures in the bay are still only in the 40s. but farther to our south across north central virginia, ought to make it into the low 70s from culpepper to warrenton, manassas, fredericksburg. out west in the shenandoah valley, most locations mid and upper 60s. mid 60s to low 60s out of the mountains when the rain arrives

in the next couple of hours, western maryland and into west virginia. over the next 48 hours this area of green, these areas are potential areas of rain and by dawn much of it will be moving off to the east by tomorrow morning. then behind that we'll get some clearing, some sunshine back tomorrow, maybe a few isolated showers, maybe a thundershower around by tomorrow afternoon or early evening. after that we'll get a mostly clear sky as we get into wednesday and this mild pattern continues all the way into the end of the week. for the rest of this afternoon becoming cloudy by late afternoon but lots of sun early to mid afternoon but temperatures climbing upper 60s around the metro area to low 70s in virginia. southerly breeze around 5 to 15. overnight tonight looks like we'll have some light rain moving into the metro area perhaps around 8:00 or so. mid 60s early evening before any rain moves in. but then after some rain begins we'll drop back into the 50s. mid 50s by midnight. then by dawn tomorrow we'll be down to near 50 and the rain should be tapering off and ending right around the morning commute. but morning commute could have

some wet pavement around but drying out after that. sunshine back and temperatures climbing into the mid 70s tomorrow afternoon. again there is a small chance of an isolated shower or thundershower on tuesday afternoon into early evening. after that we'll clear out and a beautiful day looks like for wednesday. morning lows near 50. afternoon highs the mid 70s. then on thursday, increasing clouds but another mild day, near 50 in the morning. afternoon highs low 70s. that's ahead of some rain that may be moving in perhaps off and on friday, friday night, into saturday. mild both of those days near 70. sunday some sun back and into the mid 60s. >> looks like a line-up of late april temperatures there. >> or actually early may. >> we'll take them! rain or no, i like the temperatures. thanks a lot, tom. we'll check on the midday traffic again. >> well, for our travelers crossing over the 14th street bridge, be aware, you have some road work taking place in the right lane so you got to stick to the left to get by.

the good news is volume is very light as you cross over the 14th street bridge. not seeing any delays at this time. over to the beltway in prince george's county, live look right now at central avenue. inner loop and outer loop, not seeing any issues in this area. travel speeds for you -- 60 miles an hour as you make your way from route 50 to i-95. it will only take you nine minutes at this time. beltway in montgomery county, no issues to report at this time. back over to you, barbara. 11:22 the time. still ahead on "news4 midday" -- pastels, perfect for spring. we're ready for them. we have hot trends for you for the season. plus, what whitney houston's daughter had to say in her first interview after her mother's [ female announcer ] with xfinity,

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whitney houston's daughter says she's doing well and coping with the loss of her mother. in an interview with oprah winfrey, bobby kristina brown says she still feels houston's presence. brown says she and her mom were best friends and they always took care of each other. she says she still talks with houston every day. >> i can hear her voice in spirit talking to me an telling me, you know, keep moving, baby, you know? i'm right here, you got you.

>> i got you. that's what she said all the time. >> yeah. she's always with plea. i can always feel her. i can always feel her with me. >> is that what you hear in your head, "i've got you"? >> that's all i hear. >> houston died last month at a beverly hills hotel bathroom. authorities are still trying to determine and official cause of death. one of the stars of the oscar winner "the artist" will attend the white house correspondence dinner. the dog is going as a guest of the "washington times." four-legged star will attend the dinner with his trainer. no word if the jack russell terrier will choose the fish or filet. jimmy kimmel is hosting this year's event on april 28th. ♪ it's the new british invasion. the boy band called one direction. they made their u.s. national network debut on the "today" show this morning.

young men formed the group while competing in the british version of "the x-factor" back in 2010. hundreds of young girls camped out overnight to get a glimpse of these young men. 11:26 now. in the next half-hour of "news4 midday" -- the national average for a gallon of gas is on the rise again. we'll tell you how drivers here are dealing with the pain at the pump. plus, put on your dancing shoes. a local school's getting ready for march madness. and tom kierein tells us about the rain headed this way and the warm week ahead. stay with us, we'll be right

right now on "news4 midday" -- a university of maryland student is getting an emergency mental ovalati evaluan after police say he threatened a mass shooting on campus. 19-year-old alexander song was arrested from maryland yesterday. officials say song posted threats online. gas prices keep going higher and higher. the national average of regular jumped 12 cents in the past two

weeks. right now the average $3.80 but depending where you live in our region you can pay above or below the national average. news4's tracee wilkins reports. >> reporter: a month ago the national average for a gallon of regular was $3.51. that's when we started to talk to you about gas prices getting higher as we approached spring. over the weekend the national average reached $3.80. here it is $3.83. here in beltsville outside the beltway live serious commuters where they're just about five miles from the city. during rush that commute can last for more than an hour. mostly idling and burning gas. >> i'm actually filling up my car at least three times a week. >> reporter: so these drivers have been paying close attention to the rise of prices at the pump. >> $49.83. >> what do you make of this? >> it's time for a smaller car,

i guess. i don't know. >> reporter: some say they've had to change their lifestyles to manage the costs. >> i drive from here to d.c. every day. i have three kids that i have to take to school, bring back. so it is really -- we have to really cut down on a lot of our expenses because if i to put a lot of money in the tank. >> reporter: d.c. drivers are paying about $3.99 for a gallon of regular. maryland's average is $3.79. virginia's is $3.69, and in west virginia, they're paying about $3.86 a gallon. while we have yet to reach the record high of $4.11 etjuly of 2008, some analysts s that's a record we may eventually beat in just a few months. >> i just think it's speculators driving the price and we're victimized by it and there's nothing the little guy can do. >> reporter: analysts are predicting though once we hit spring and get into summer we're going to be experiencing some of

the highest gas prices in the country right here on the east coast and it looks like that is the trend that's happening here. where is the cheap gas? well, aaa says it is in wyoming. right now they're paying $3.30. in beltsville, tracee wilkins, news4. higher gas prices are hurting president obama's approval ratings this election year. a new "washington post" poll shows 46% of americans approve of his overall job performance. when it comes to gas prices, 26% of those surveyed said they approve of how the president is -- they say that they approve of how the sprez handling gas prices. that's 26% say they approve of the president's handling of gas prices. right now a senior georgetown prep in maryland is trying to ease pain at pump with a one gallon challenge. the 17-year-old created a car that he says goes more than 200 miles on just one gallon of gas. he is putting his theory to the test today.

he's driving from new york to d.c. using a combination of gas and battery powered electric motor. he plans to take most of the back roads to get here and travel at low speeds to successfully complete his challenge. going to check in again with tom kierein. what kind of weather is he going to be traveling through driving from new york today, tom? >> beautiful weather until late in the afternoon, early evening. that's when there could be some rain moving in. right now though look at that blue sky. sky watcher camera looking to the north. you can see the high-rises of bethesda off in the distance and on the horizon there is sugarloaf mountain way up on the frederick county line. as we look at what's been happening over the past 12 hours, we've had quite a bit of sunshine this morning. clouds are closing in on western maryland and western west virginia. shenandoah valley east though lots of sun. to the west there is some rain falling in ohio, just coming into west virginia. ahead of that, temperatures are in the 50s to low six fizz now

and it will continue to climb this afternoon. all these areas across much of northern virginia will see it near 70 to the low 70s. right around washington, the rest of maryland and much of the shenandoah valley will be in the 60s. out in the mountains where the rain will commence earlier, it will only reach the low to mid 60s. then some of the rain arriving in the metro area after sunset and into the evening. tomorrow, partly sunny, mid 70s, maybe an isolated afternoon shower. mild wednesday, thursday, could get some rain friday and saturday. that's the way it looks. >> all right, tom. thank you. we'll check on the midday traffic again now. >> good morning. well, on the rails still watching them for you. if you're taking the green or orange line, metro single tracking. as for scheduled track work, will you see delays on both lines in both directions. i-66 eastbound at gallows road, left lane blocked due to road work. delays continue as you head to the beltway.

under speed at 39 miles per hour from fairfax county parkway to the beltway, taking 15 minutes. along i-270, much smoother ride. no issues as you travel northbound or southbound on i-270. clear all the way as you connect to the spur. march madness is here and the georgetown hoyas are going dancing. hoyas players and coaches gathered to watch selection sunday unfold. hoyas are the three seed in the midwest region. they play the 14th seat belmont bruins on friday in columbus, ohio. winner of this game goes on to play either san diego state or north carolina state. the virginia cavaliers are also going dancing, seeded 10 in the west bracket. they open up against seventh-ranked florida gators on friday in omaha, nebraska. this is virginia's 17th

tournament appearance. the winner of this game will play either missouri or norfolk state. the virginia commonwealth rams once again find themselves in underdog in the tournament. vcu is the 12 seed and opens up against 5 feed wichita state. winner of that game plays either indiana or new mexico state. and loyola university in maryland has a real tough task. 15-seed greyhounds will play number two seed ohio state on thursday in pittsburgh. the winner of that game plays either gonzaga or west virginia. so the field of 68 is now set. now it is time to fill out your brackets and there are many of you who definitely go mad this time of year with college hoops. a new survey from yahoo! sports shows fans spend an average of 75 minutes just filling out their brackets. people fill out an average of 4.5 brackets with 14% filling out more than six.

bosses do keep a close eye so caution calls. 1 in 7 people who were asked said they did call in sick to work so they could stay home and watch the games. this week the 40th annual whitney m. young junior gala will be held in washington, d.c. we're joined bit president and ceo of the urban league, monty cooper. also michael aiken, and todd hefner. welcome to you all. we want to hear all about it. start with you. tell us all about the gala, when it is and why is it named after whitney m. young jr. >> well, i can't take any privilege in that. it was done before i came to the league and i've continued the tradition along with the board of directors. by the way, these are two of my board members. so i have to be good. it's been a wonderful exercise. it is a fund-raiser obviously. but we also want to make sure that people understand the

legacy of whitney young as well as the legacy of the greater washington urban league. so we have a good time. we raise hopefully a lot of money and we're going to be at the marriott and will have a silent auction with some wonderful prizes and as you can see from the invitation, it is exciting. just looking at it, some folks are up there, jim hanley. it is going to be a wonderful event. again, lots and lots of auction items, for example, a trip to the dominican republic, a trip to south africa. two 55-inch television sets. lots of big prizes. and we accept credit cards. >> why don't we ask them -- that's always a good idea. why is rinegold involved? >> the work the urban league

does from promoting homeowner ship to providing food xhod diz spans everything from social services to social justice. you don't find many organizations that have that as their core and we are proud to support it. >> they are wonderful. >> todd, what about enterprise rent a car? >> enterprise has been involved for the last 12 years. it really started out in a corporate office where our president and ceo joined the national urban league board and he dwindled it down to the local regions. so personally i've been involved for the last 12 years and been able to co-chair the event for the last ten years. for enterprise it's just been great to give back to the community and see the results of what we're doing. >> sounds like a fun party, too. >> oh, yes, absolutely. >> you're also going to honor somebody from abc 4 so we want to hear about that. >> aisha ka rema is one of those behind the scenes, soft spoken individuals. people don't realize what she does in this community. her presence is tremendous. so we were proud to honor her.

your president jackie bradford is also on our board of directors and you all are great contributors and supporters as well. so we want to make sure that we honor her and you know, we've got your two nbc 4 newscasters and the weather person. not girl. and we'll also have several other people, bob brown who was sent by nixon to go and retrieve whitney young's body from -- so we're going to honor people who have done all kinds of things that most people don't know about. our goal is to tell you about them and it will be a wonderful evening. >> sounds like it is going to be a great evening. thank you both for coming. todd, it is great to have you and people can get involved by calling or -- >> going online, www.gwul.org or

202-265-8200. >> thank you all. 11:41 the time now. still ahead on "news4 midday" -- an alert for parents. hidden key effect that could turn your stairs into a hazard. plus, what to wear this spring. we'll look at some of the hottest trends. stay with us, we'll be right

♪ so, this is delicious okay... is this where we're at now, we don't care anymore? we just eat whatever tastes good? excuse me? [ man ] like these sweet honey clusters, they're awesome so no way they're good for you. but i guess that's okay right? actually there's a half a day's worth of fiber in every ... why stop at cereal? ya know? cancel the gym membership. bring on the pork chops and the hot fudge. fantastic. are you done sweetie? yea [ male announcer ] fiber beyond recognition. fiber one.

a new study points out a danger in homes many of us never really think about, and that's staircases. researchers in ohio looked at stair-related injury cases involving children. their study found a child under the age of 5 is rush to the emergency room for a stair-related injury every six minutes in the u.s. a quarter of cases happen when babies fell while being carried downstairs. many injuries were as serious as concussions. >> so this shows in many hopes the first step is longer to the remaining steps. as a patient you take a step and

your mind is tricked into thinking all the remaining steps will be the same length. >> you end up overstepping and falling down the stairs. >> right. which is particularly bad when you are carrying a child. >> experts say the number of stair related injuries has fallen in the last decade. experts recommend wall mounted safety gates at the top and bottom of stairs to prevent even more cases involving babies. the virginia state fair could return to its old turf. that's what operators say if they get the money to support it. according to the richmond times dispatch, the richmond international raceway offered to host the fair but last week the owner filed for bankruptcy, fired his staff and canceled the fair. raceway hosted the fair just outside richmond for 63 years before moving to a park near king's dominion in 2009. stocks are mixed to start this week. let's check in with cnbc's hampton pearson. he joins us live with more on that and the rest of the day's business headlines. >> happy monday to you. we've got a mixed bag of stocks so far today.

traders are really waiting for the finishing touches on that greek debt deal, but also concerned about signs of growth in china. slowing at the end of the year and that's not good for the global economy so right now the dow's up 20. the nasdaq down 11. the s&p down two. investors are waiting for more news to find out a plan to help greece avoid bankruptcy later this month. finance ministers from 17 countries that use the euro are meeting to try to hammer out more details of the bailout. top leader from the european central bank say the euro countries will probably suffer a very mild recession this year. meanwhile, china's economy also showing cracks. the country's premier lowered china's target rate for economic growth and last month china had its biggest trade deficit in a decade -- $31.5 billion as imports swamped exports. here in the u.s., it is all about gasoline prices at the pump. now $3.80 a gallon nationwide up from $3.56 a gallon a year ago. and no surprise, ridership on

mass transit is up 2.3% according to a new survey from the american public transportation association. 10.4 billion trips last year, the highest since 2008 when -- you guessed it -- we saw gasoline prices top $4 a gallon. stocks on the move today. defibrillator maker zoll medical maker jumping to $92.76 a share after its board agreed to a buyout offer from a japanese corporation. >> busy day. >> could be, absolutely. well, it's already feeling like spring outside and now we are getting ready to change up clothes in our closets, putting away boots and getting out the open-toe sandals. we're ready for that. jennifer is here to show us some examples of what's hot this spring. welcome. >> nice to see you. >> tell us a little bit about these candy store colors. >> it is funny because are you

wearing them yourself. we're seeing the return of pastels for the first time in a really long time. and i think what's most interesting about the trend is you're often color blocking with them. you could take that jacket and wear it with a pair of mint green pants or lavender pants and it is kind of a repeat of that color blocking we saw so strongly last year with brights. now we're seeing it with pastels. >> can you wear that look as a work look? >> i think it depends on where you work but i think you can. some of the colors are pale yellows or pale greens and i think you can. or maybe you're wearing a solid look like this. >> you are talking about mixing colors. any no-nos to tell us about? anything you wouldn't put together? >> i mean, i think super bright and super pastel are things that don't -- i think that in a way that looks a little more dated, a little more like what your grandmother might have done. i think stick with -- if you're going to pair brights, pair a

yellow and red. if you' if you're pairing pastels, similar situated colors. >> you say designers are also looking at tribal prints and that kind of thing from africa and the pacific islands. >> that never really goes away but it is very big this spring. i think this is what we're seeing right now is a donna karan piece. she was inspired by haiti. the nice thing about these things is that they feel good on and especially when it is hot. i think if you're wearing something from one of these hotter xlimts hot er climate it just makes you feel a little bit cooler. >> we've got to get our arms in shape for these outfits. >> we understand lady-like structure is in again. >> yeah. the nice thing about is that it kind of tugs you in and makes you stand up straighter. this dress is fabulous because it even has a little bit of extra something. those are fins on the back of that dress. but i think they accentuate rather than make you look -- >> is that a bustle? >> it is sort after bustle.

that's a vivian westwood and she does dramatic things like that. but for the right person, it is a nice -- >> some of us don't need any extra there. >> i know. i'm not sure i do. >> i think i may go for something else -- although, i found we could cover a multitude sins. >> that's the thing. people don't realize prints and structure like that draws the eye to the structure, not to you. >> you mentioned color blocking. that's still in. >> yeah. color blocking ining is still what i like about it, this spring we're seeing a lot of things -- this is a dress from a designer called raul. you're seeing it all in one piece. also seeing shoes that are color blocking so it almost takes the work out of it. >> that has been around for now about a year. >> not going away. >> looks like it is exciting to see these spring colors. >> it is. today's perfect. a perfect day to get out and wear pastels and tribal prints. >> thank you so much for coming to see us again. >> yeah! happy spring.

>> we're ready for it. thanks a lot. our time is 11:51. coming up, why car accidents are more common today. plus, meteorologist tom kierein will be back with more on the warm week ahead. we'll be right back. hi. tomorrow morning on "news4 today," the annual d.c. tradition that turns heads and stops traffic. plus, a big day for redskins fans. team's future could get even brighter. to whom dan snyder could be writing a big check. wake up with us bright and early from 4:2

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if you're feeling a little tired today, you're not alone. research shows it takes a few days to recoup after this weekend's beginning of daylight savings time. several studies say it is so bad, there is an increase of car accidents and work related injuries the week after the time change. e >> it is an annual ritual. we all know that. but doctors say changing the body's regular rhythm, even by an hour, can actually cause pretty serious impacts on how we function every day. one of the big concerns today is falling asleep while driving. according to aaa, the week after the clocks spring ahead there is an 8% increase in traffic accidents. the agency says sleep

deprivation played a role in 1 of 6 deadly car crashes the week after daylight saving. there's also a health risk involved with daylight savings, including workplace accidents and even the number of heart attacks people have. doctors say today and tomorrow there is a 10% uptick in heart attacks reported. the opposite is true when falling back in october when the risk decreases by 10%. last, but not least, a penn state professor tells us that you are more likely today to participate in what's called cyber loafing. you and i would call that surfing the web at work. that's because the increased fatigue leads to massive productive loss, apparently. a sleep specialist says it takes about five days for our bodies to adjust to the time change. the question is what can you do about it? they say getting to bed earlier, eating dinnerle earlier and getting more sunlight early in the day helps your body deal with the time change sooner. >> we'll have to try and do those things. we'll take a look now at some of the stories we're

following for news4 this afternoon. we'll have the latest on the desperate housewives lawsuit from los angeles. deliberations begin this week in the case of the actress who says she was kick off the show after complaining about her treatment at the hands of the show's creator. plus, gaithersburg's erin willette joins us in the studio to talk about her dream of winning it all. at 5:00, laptops on the fritz. lots of things can fry your computer and many of them are the user's fault. liz crenshaw has some simple things that you can do to keep your laptop running smoothly. for all the day's news, join us for news4 beginning at 4:00 this afternoon. time for a final check on the forecast. >> we've had lots of sun this morning but the clouds will be closing in. the latest satellite image shows that area in green, that's rain. east of there, clouds heading toward the shenandoah valley and will be moving toward the metro area in another three or four hours. right now it is near 60 degrees in washington.

fredericksburg, up to 65 now. ought to hit low 70s there. here are the high temperatures expected around the region for this afternoon. a gorgeous day, glorious sunshine now but we'll have those clouds on the increase. a dry pattern into thursday, maybe more rain friday and saturday. a mild week coming up. see you tomorrow morning. >> that's "news4 midday" for today. thank you for being with us. tune in for more news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and tonight at 11:00. hope you plan to join us tomorrow. have a terrific day and we'll have a ter[ clanking ]d we'll think we should have bought pre-assembled furniture? [ telephone ringing ] wait. [ male announcer ] some business decisions are better than others. the best decision is switching to verizon. you are good to go.

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