we'll go to nbc's ron allen who was covering this investigation and what is unfolding in sanford, florida. ron, how are the local police in sanford responding to this mounting pressure today? >> reporter: they're holding their ground, not backing down from their conclusion that zimmerman acted in self-defense. there seems to be no effort to arrest him or to monitor him. we have no idea where he is or whether the police know where he is if they wanted to arrest him. they are basically letting the state investigators and the federal investigators who are here move forward and see where that goes and on the other hand the city officials, the mayor, city manager, what are more accountable to the public are responding more sim pathetically and promising to get to the bottom of things. >> we heard yesterday the -- that his girlfriend was on the phone with him with martin when this attack occurred. has she been interviewed by police? did the police say they did a thorough investigation and talked to her before they came

to the conclusion that this was self-defense and no charges should be filed? >> reporter: no. she did not come forward until recently. and the way the family, the martin family attorney has explained it is that she just didn't want to come forward because she was afraid because there was too much pressure and that's one question for her and her attorneys, why are you coming forward now? why weren't you here when the police were trying to do a thorough investigation almost three weeks ago? when that gets to court if it gets to court there are some people who would say that would be dismissed as hearsay evidence. even though it sounds emotional and powerful. and there is perhaps some ring of truth to it but that is certainly an issue. the larger part of the case now i think is the public outrage, growing outrage, the fact that people can listen to these police tapes and what they hear is zimmerman tracing, tracking down the young teenager and they see the stand your ground law as totally irrelevant to the situation where someone is pursuing somewhere else. that's the big thing that people

here are zeroing in on. how can it be self-defense when you're chasing someone else? >> well, if the grand jury hands up a decision are we looking at murder charges there in florida or would this be more of a civil rights case, a federal case? >> reporter: well, the federal government has said that they don't think there are a lot of federal charges they can bring in this case and it is more likely that there will be state charges if there are any charges at all. there is a whole litany from manslaughter to murder to various counts of murder, various intense 'tis of murder if you will or illegal shooting. i don't know exactly the laws here in florida but there is a whole litany of violent charges that could be brought against zimmerman if in fact the grand jury finds there is some wrongdoing. again, at this point the local authorities are standing by the contention that he is -- he acted in self-defense and it was justified although i can tell you that we talked to one of the

authors of the state law, the stand your ground law, and he said, clearly, he does not think the statute was intended or should apply in this case. again, because it's everyone's understanding that zimmerman as a self-proclaimed night watchman pursued the young man. if you are pursuing someone the whole notion of self-defense goes out the window according to that legislator who wrote the law. >> interesting. all right. well, this is certainly fascinating and certainly has a lot of people upset. ron allen, thank you so much from sanford, florida. we appreciate it. we are learning more about the 28-year-old man who told police he shot trayvon martin. george zimmerman is from northern virginia and moved to florida after graduating from osbourne high school in manassas ten years ago. news 4's jane watrel continues our team coverage live now from manassas. >> reporter: the zimmerman family were fixtures here in manassas. george zimmerman's mother gladys

even performed bi-lingual weddings at the prince william county courthouse before the family moved to florida. it was front page news at manassas. the man at the center of the shooting death of an unarmed teenager was a 2001 graduate of osbourne high school. >> just an impressive family. they really were. >> reporter: george and kay hull lived across the street from the zimmerman family for over two decades. the retired minister says george zimmerman's mother who was fluent in spanish worked for prince william county government for 28 years before retiring. young george was active in the catholic church. after moving to florida after graduation george zimmerman returned to the home a few years ago with a request. >> he came over and he asked me, do you mind if i ask you to give me a recommendation for the police department so they'll know who i am and what i am and how you think about me? i wrote a very positive -- because he was a very positive guy in my eyes. and i'm shocked.

>> reporter: hall says zimmerman was applying either to virginia state police or prince william county. at any rate, he says he stayed in florida. he eventually became a neighborhood watch captain who confronted and fatally shot 17-year-old trayvon martin who was walking to a local convenience store to buy candy. so far, no charges have been filed. >> when i heard george zimmerman it passed crossing my mind and i thought, well that's sanford. besides, it couldn't be george. he wouldn't do anything like that. >> i didn't connect it. i didn't even think about our friends down in florida. i thought, you know, this is some other guy that's done that. carrying a weapon which maybe he shouldn't have been doing if that's the kind of mentality he's got. >> reporter: george zimmerman's brother roberto also lives in the manassas area. we went by today to try to seek a comment but there was a no trespassing sign on his front door. reporting live from manassas,

i'm jane watrel. >> thank you, jane. the shooting in florida has some neighborhood watch groups thinking about the job they do. news 4's derrick ward got reaction from some local groups about how the case is impacting them. that's coming up at 5:30. a woman from southeast d.c. is charged with assaulting a police officer after authorities found her children wandering alone this morning in the hall of their apartment building on stanton road. both children are under the age of 2. police say just as they were taking the kids away the mother showed up and got into a fight with the officers. she was arrested for assault. she could face additional charges. the children were taken to the hospital to make sure they were okay. investigators are hoping new surveillance video will help them track down the man who allegedly assaulted a teenage girl on her way home from school. this attack happened around 4:00 on monday on a path along pickett road in fairfax county. erika gonzalez joins us live from the scene with reaction from those who heard the cries

for help. >> reporter: good afternoon. a fairfax county public schools bus driver tells me that she heard the teen scream for help and that it sent chills down her spine. >> it was the loudest, pitching, horrifying scream, and it was -- it must have lasted five minutes. >> reporter: this bus driver, who has chosen to remain anonymous, says she was finishing her route monday afternoon around 4:00 when she and several other students heard a girl screaming in the woods off pickett road in west springfield. >> the way that these trees echoed it was horrendous. i don't want to ever hear it. don't want to ever hear it again. >> reporter: she says she and the other students ran to see if they could find her but no luck. fairfax county police say a 16-year-old girl was walking home from woodson high school along this wooded path when she was reportedly assaulted by a man. after a struggle with her alleged attacker, police say the teen ran to a nearby home for help while the man bolted.

detectives say these pictures may in fact be of that man. he's described as 18 to 27 years of age, around 5'8", 170 pounds, with short, black hair, and wore a white t-shirt and shorts. police say he may have driven off in a white four-door honda accord early 2000 model. neighbors say the wooded path has been helping students and parents take a short cut to the nearby schools for years. dozens of students in fact walked past our cameras while we were there. police are asking anyone that may have any type of information about this incident to contact them as soon as possible. we're live in fairfax county tonight, erika gonzalez, news 4. and now to the weather. this winter broke a record. it was the warmest winter ever. chief meteorologist doug kammerer is here with details. hey, doug. >> pat, do you see something on the screen there i just showed you? i told you it would come out.

the sun is making its way across the area right now. some sunshine with temperatures of 68 degrees. i do expect that number to go up during the next hour or so to around 70 but 68 right now with winds there on the calm side. we'll continue to stay calm. a few peaks and pokes of sunshine is what we're seeing right now. 70 in culpepper and fredericksburg. 71 in la plata and down toward waldorf. fairfax, manassas around 66 degrees. out toward leesburg where we've stayed in the clouds the current temperature is 64. as far as storm 4 radar goes no rain to talk about right now. don't expect to see any of that rain until you move down to the south of richmond down around norfolk and just to the west of roanoke all seeing some shower activity but for us we are on the dry side. overnight tonight, don't expect any showers. just expect mild temperatures and once again we could be dealing with some locally dense fog early tomorrow morning so you want to make sure you watch out for that. coming up in the forecast i'll show you what else you have to watch out for and it happens this weekend. >> all right. thank you, doug. to the latest in the republican presidential race. mitt romney coming off a

commanding win in the illinois primary. he soared to his first big midwestern victory last night by a margin of nearly 12 points over rick santorum. analysts say romney's lead in delegates is almost insurmountable for his opponents. >> we thank the people of illinois for their vote and this extraordinary victory. thank you so much. >> the win gave romney some much-needed momentum. today former florida governor jeb bush the brother of former president george w. bush endorsed romney and encouraged other republicans to rally around his candidacy. romney is in maryland this hour and is hosting a town hall. maryland, d.c., and wisconsin will hold primaries on april 3rd. the next primary is the saturday and that's in louisiana. meantime, a new poll is suggesting that virginia voters favor president obama over any of the republican contendors. the quinnipiac university poll shows romney trailing the president by eight percentage

points among virginia voters. mr. obama leads rick santorum by nine points. the president's lead over newt gingrich 19%. according to the poll mr. obama leads ron paul by ten points. now to the south of france and the siege involving the suspect in the recent murders of four people at a jewish school. 300 police are surrounding a building where 24-year-old mohammed merah is holed up. the standoff is entering its 19th hour. police have been in contact with merah, also a suspect in the shooting of three soldiers. he says he carried out all seven killings in the name of al qaeda. he has told police he'll surrender sometime at night. no word on if police will wait on him or storm the building to force him out. residents of an afghan village say revenge was the motive behind a deadly shooting spree allegedly carried out by a u.s. soldier. 16 civilians were killed in the rampage. staff sergeant robert bales is now in solitary confinement at

fort leavenworth in kansas while the military investigates. pentagon says the investigation includes the claims from villagers that days before the shootings u.s. soldiers upset about a roadside bombing told them they would pay for the attack. a marine corps captain from virginia was buried this morning at arlington national cemetery. michael quinn was killed in a helicopter crash last month in arizona. he was one of seven people who died in the accident. governor bob mcdonald has ordered flags at the state half staff in his honor. coming up next on news 4 at 5:00 a huge boulder slams into a home and two cars and puts an entire community on alert. a woman sets an unfortunate record trying to smuggle drugs into dulles airport. the head coach of the new orleans saints suspended by the nfl for trying to cover up a bounty system but the punishment doesn't stop there. it could be the next big thing at the movies and tonight a local theater is offering a

sneak peek of "the hunger game."

residents said they heard a rumbling sound then they saw this. a huge, 25-foot boulder mad broken free from a hill side in southeast ohio. it landed right on the front of this house.

smashing two vehicles. it also took out utility poles and damaged an underground water line. the family was home at the time but, fortunately, they were in the back of the house and weren't hurt. this happened around 10:30 last night in athens, ohio. the family can't go home until engineers determine whether that hillside is stable. you don't want a boulder on your house but how about thousands of bees on your roof? a guy in georgetown has that. he loves it. he's an urban bee keeper and his hives have become the buzz of the neighborhood. >> this is a frame of bees. >> reporter: while the thought of being this close to bees might make you nervous -- >> i don't like bees. i'm allergic. >> urban bee keeper jeff miller is right at home looking at his honey combs. >> i've always been interested in food and cooking and starting my own garden and i was having a hard time getting any fruit to set. you know, tomatoes weren't growing, peppers weren't growing. so i did a little research and understood the importance of

pollination and knew we didn't have that many in the city so i started a hive or two. >> reporter: he now runs the nonprofit d.c. honey bees and that hive or two? >> installed 60 hives last year. we're ontrack for over 60 this year. >> reporter: he offers hive kits even to weekend classes to get people interested. >> just want to show you how gentle. >> reporter: your starter hive would come in a box just like this one with one queen bee in 10,000 workers bees. you dump it into a wooden hive. within six weeks you have 25,000 bees. in recent years the u.s. honey bee population has been drastically hurt by colony collapse disorder. a variety of pair sights and diseases are killing tens of thousands of bees every day. >> when you lose a species at the rate that we're losing it, it's a scary and dangerous game. >> reporter: miller breeds bees that are genetically strong to help avoid disease and hopes that will help. >> we think of them as an endangered species. >> reporter: right now he manages 25 city hives at schools, gardens, and urban

farms and three here at this church. >> our garden thrived last year with the bees pollinating. >> reporter: the vegetables here are used to feed the homeless. bee keeping regulations in the district are a bit ambiguous and in maryland and virginia the rules vary by county. >> so now i get to taste the honey. let me see. it's unbelievably good. >> we call that georgetown gold. >> reporter: in georgetown, news 4. well, aside from pollinating your garden and flowers, one hive can yield 60 pounds of honey each year. for more information on urban bee keeping go to our website nbc washington.com and just search for bees. >> isn't that cool? >> that is cool. >> very cool. >> i have a neighbor who does that. >> they've been at it a little bit more this year? >> yes. they do stay close to home. >> they don't bother you. >> no. they don't. and i don't bother them. >> that's probably the more important thing. >> you kept your word. the sun came out. >> we got a little sunshine. behind us the white house right there seeing some sun. a lot of people enjoying the

cherry blossoms this time of the year and of course now we have sunshine to walk along the water front this evening. it's going to be a really nice evening. take a look and you can see the clouds starting to break up across the region. we are going to see temperatures respond to that i think at least a couple degrees between now and say 6:00 or 7:00. talking about the warm temperatures. you know how warm we've been over the last two weeks but you also may have thought just how warm was this winter? well, to give you that answer, this is the warmest winter ever recorded here. we go back about 140 years. 2011-2012 the average temperature 45.6 degrees. an average winter is 38.2. we were well above that and look at the record back in '89-'90. that used to be warmest winter. 44.1 so we beat it by a full degree and a half. it may not sound like a lot but in weather talk that is a huge number. so a very, very warm winter out there and it continues to be warm as we move into spring. 68 degrees the temperature out there right now. winds on the calm side.

we're starting to see sunshine and i expect the temperatures as i mentioned to move up close to the 70-degree mark. 70 fredericksburg. 70 in easton. 73 as the temperatures have climbed over the last couple hours around la plata and down toward waldorf. hate look at these numbers. 85 in chicago right now. 7 of the last 8 days have been in the 80s. all of the last eight days have set records and not just by a degree or two. some of the records are being shattered by upwards of 10 degrees and that warmer air will move our way so yes it will get even warmer here. i think we'll be into the 70s tomorrow and most likely into the 80s on friday. so you're thinking hey. that sounds great. this may not sound great. here is the next storm down toward dallas. and you can see a ton of rain. some areas picking up three, four, five, six, seven, eight inches of rain over the last couple days. and all of that rain and that storm is going to move our way. we are going to see the potential for some rain here this weekend and not just some

rain but most likely a lot of rain. no rain right now. tonight i think it's going to run into the potential for dense fog. as far as our temperatures go the next couple days here we go. 77 on your thursday. 82 on friday. beautiful for friday. get out and enjoy whatever you can on friday. because i don't think this weekend is going to be too nice at all. if you're thinking about doing some things inside the house this is your weekend to do it. 67 on saturday. a high of 58 on sunday. i expect rain both days. some areas could see a lot of rain. we could be talking 1 to 2 inches of rain and if it comes together like i think it might on sunday, we could also see some pretty strong winds on sunday and i went 58. that may be optimistic. >> all right. >> thanks. >> yikes. we may need to wear helmets. okay. >> i don't know if it's helmets but something. >> thanks. coming up next, the shooting of the unarmed teenager in florida hitting close to home. the scandal is impacting local neighborhood watch groups. he wasn't on drugs or alcohol. tonight the wife of the kony director reveals what started

his bizarre behavior in san diego last week. spend your day sitting at a desk? we have a workout for you. the new routine that helps you slim down with stretching.

big fallout from the scandal in the nfl. >> what's it all about? >> huge news around the league today. they came down really hard on the saints for participating in

a bounty system that paid players for big hits. their head coach sean payton suspended for the entire season. their general manager mickey loomis suspended for eight games and the team loses two first-round draft picks. elsewhere the broncos thought they've traded tim tebow to the new york jets for a couple draft choices, a fourth and sixth round pick, but the deal may have hit a snag for financial reasons. meanwhile, the boys and girls high school city basketball championships crowned at verizon center last night. strike up the band for the 46th annual abe pollin city title games. coach frank oliver and his squad taking on good council. tight game. third quarter. ronnie bell knocking down the three. she had 12 points in the game. the warriors were down by two going into the fourth and in the fourth good council commits another turnover. green gets the bucket. woodson wins, 64-54. it's the warriors' third city

title in five years. sophomore breenan huet is the game's most valuable player. >> it feels real good to win a game the game and i'll see them next year. >> this team is very special to me. i definitely it's been a pleasure to coach them for four years. this is a real program and how you run one from start to finish. hopefully we'll he be a model for the city on how to raise our kids because we are an extension of their family. on the boys' side, taking on the coolidge crazies. early on check this crossover out. great move by tillman dunbar. drops it off for tim higgins for the dump. up by six early. later in the first, here come the colts. collin cumberlander with three of his 15 but cool inge was still down by 10 at halftime. in the second half paul vi playing some d. dunbar with the pilfer over to kevin dorsey who scoops it up and in.

paul vi wins 70-64 the panthers' first ever city championship. senior guard patrick holloway and pal vi have played underdog all year but wind up as the top team in the area. had a lot of pressure going in the game to prove to everybody that we can compete with the best and i think that's something we proved tonight. >> you know, what a wonderful, in a first class operation, i just told the mayor, first class operation. what a wonderful experience to be in this city title game. we made history this year with paul vi and it was great to finish this way. to see all these kids smiling. as a coach when you get a chance to see your kids smile for their last game they played in the season it is really special. >> congratulations. they've been getting it done all season long and a good season for the ladies and the boys. >> thanks, dan. up next a man found dead inside a burning car. now police are combing the scene for clues to a local

murder-mystery. >> more highway signs in our area being removed because after failing the latest round of safety inspections. >> reporter: and got the ipad 3? some say it is too hot to handle. what apple is now saying abou

a fast forward through the headlines. fairfax county police want you to take a close look at

surveillance photos of a man that may have assaulted a teenage girl on her way home from school. the attack happened at 4:00 monday afternoon on a well traveled path along pickett road. a school bus driver says she and several students heard the girl screaming in the woods but when they ran over to help didn't find anything. >> a mother is charged with assaulting an officer after police found her children wandering alone this morning in the hallway of an apartment building in southeast. both children are under the age of 2. when the officer tried to take the children away the woman allegedly scuffled with them and she was arrested. mitt romney's win in the republican presidential primary in illinois appears to be giving his campaign some momentum. today former florida governor jeb bush the brother of the former president j.w. endorsed romney and encouraged other republicans to rally around his candidacy. let's fast forward to our weather, doug. up to 70 degrees right now. we're seeing breaks in the sunshine and breaks in the clouds with some sunshine. but look to the west. elkins, west virginia 80 degrees.

charleston, west virginia 85 degrees. i think we will get into that warmer air tomorrow. temperatures in the mid to upper 70s and then well into the 80s i think on friday before things change in a big way. one more time i'll have the forecast in about ten minutes. >> thank you, doug. tonight civil rights leaders are putting more pressure on florida police to arrest the man who shot and killed an unarmed teen. last month a neighborhood watch captain shot 17-year-old trayvon martin. he told police the teen attacked him but martin was carrying just a bag of candy and a drink. demonstrators are demanding justice as a federal investigation gets under way. news 4's derrick ward has more on how the case is impacting neighborhood watch groups in this area. >> reporter: they would shun the term vigilantes. the orange hat patrols have been fixtures in the district for decades and kim matthews has been involved in the effort for 20 years. numbers have waxed and waned but the idea behind it has remained the same. the incident in florida has led

to some contemplation about her efforts here. >> yeah. i have to think, how does it make people look at somebody like me. you know, walking on the street as a vigilante type or whatever. it's not at all what we -- our thing is practically social these days. >> reporter: matthews has actually signed the online petition calling for george zimmerman's arrest and fellow orange hat member says the florida incident goes way beyond the pale as what stanton park sees as their goals. >> it is a terrible tragedy. we would never consider going armed. our only weapons are cell phones basically which we use, have used on a couple occasions. >> reporter: likewise in fairfax county, virginia guidelines are clearly spelled out in a state where existing gun laws give more leeway to those who choose to arm themselves. it is not encouraged on the neighborhood watch. >> in our program we don't advocate any weapons of any kind either. we get a lot of questions about that in training but, you know, from our perspective we

shouldn't need to arm yourself in that way to do a basic neighborhood watch. >> reporter: matthews and matioli believe their efforts are still needed. on this day she cleaned up glass from a car window that was opened. both of these folks have been victims of street crimes themselves in this very neighborhood. on capitol hill in northeast, derrick ward, news 4. a former mount rainier, maryland police officer will spend the next decade in prison. today a judge sentenced 27-year-old gene jillette to 20 years with half of the sentence suspended. he pleaded guilty last november to several charges including attempted murder. prosecutors say last summer he lured a 19-year-old man to his home and shot the man after he refused to perform sex acts. if he's convicted for another crime after he gets out, he'll have to serve the other ten years. a record drug bust at dulles airport. customs officers nabbing a woman accused of trying to smuggle nearly five pounds of heroin in

her stomach. authorities released this picture of what they found inside 52-year-old bola adabese. they say she swallowed 180 heroine pellets worth $150,000 on the street. it's the heaviest human smuggling attempt that airport has seen. she has been charged now with drug smuggling. a milestone and special honors for maryland senator barbara mikulski now the longest serving woman in the history of the u.s. congress. this afternoon colleagues recognized her accomplishment with remarks from the senate floor. mick ulsky has been on capitol hill for 35 years. she was first elected to the house in 1976 and won her senate seat in 1986. last saturday she surpassed massachusetts representative edith norris rogers who served from 1925 to 1960. chances are you have seen the red top parking meters in d.c. do you know how they work? a lot of drivers say it's

confusing so city leaders have suspended the program. who in the meantime can park at the red top meters? tom sherwood has the answers. >> reporter: the district government has installed nearly 500 discounted red top meters, mostly downtown. they were intended for use only by drivers with valid disability permits. they're a good deal for those with permits. >> you get to park for double the time. so you pay the prevailing rate but you get double the time. >> reporter: but tuesday the mayor and d.c. council delayed the program for at least 90 days because of confusion over the new red meters. handicap meters were blue and many of those are still on the street. so what about the red meters? can anyone park there now? yes, they can. >> as of right now, anybody can park at those? >> that's correct. >> reporter: disability rights activists who want more and more accessible parking on city streets agree there is too much confusion. >> a lot of people are very confused about it. >> reporter: the national

council on independent living says a delay is a good idea and it says the city is right to find a policy that's fair and cuts down on widespread abuse of placards. >> there is fraud. i don't think anybody debates the fact that there's fraud. so if we're going to do something like this, let's take the time to think it through and do it right. >> reporter: bottom line, as of right now, and the next 90 days, drivers with disabilities who have a permit displayed can park at any meter for free and for up to twice the time on the meter but not park somewhere all day. that is still illegal and subject to fines. in the district, tom sherwood, news 4. >> the city's promising to do a better job at educating the public before it starts any new disability parking program and is still hoping to have about 1500 red top meters reserved for drivers with disabilities when this program does begin again. after the break, new details about the kony director's very public meltdown. tonight his wife reveals what

sparked the bizarre chain of events. important news for allergy sufferers. antibiotics could actually make that problem wor

today jason russells wife says the director's breakdown appears to be psychosis. tmz footage purportedly shows russell last week ranting naked on a san diego street. his wife says stress, exhaustion, and dehydration led to his condition. she says he'll be hospitalized for several weeks. russell's outburst came amid the sudden success and scrutiny of

his video which targets african warlord joseph kony. in less than a month it has more than 84 million views on youtube. our wednesday's child this week had the opportunity to get up close with some elephants. anthony is a delightful bay with some lang wunuage skills that me delayed. he still showed how much he loved his special day. barbara harrison with his special story. >> we'll go have fun. >> reporter: it was anthony's day at the circus but before we took our seats in the stands, anthony wanted a chance to see what was going on before the big show began. and being a curious 7-year-old, anthony wanted a closer look. he is a pretty brave guy and walked right past one of the giant elephants, sized her up, and just kept going. but who could resist asia the elephant? anthony decided to back up for a closer look. >> you ever see an elephant before? >> reporter: dustin the clown offered to introduce anthony who had never been this close to a real giant elephant and he

proved he wasn't afraid when he was willing to give asia a little treat. >> unfortunately, anthony has been in foster care for most of his very young life and we are hoping we can get someone to come forward and care for him and help him progress and do well in life. >> reporter: anthony still has a lot of growing up to do before he can fit into these clothes. >> greatest show on earth. >> reporter: the ring master welcomed anthony. >> over the top. you like it? >> reporter: a clown showed him how to juggle. >> he is not very verbal but very affectionate. he loves to give hugs. he likes to play with soft, colorful animals. >> reporter: anthony got a big, colorful elephant to take home from the circus -- soft and cuddly, just right for hugs. a mommy and daddy would be the perfect ones for giving some hugs back to anthony. barbara harrison, news 4, for wednesday's child. >> if you have room in your home and heart for anthony call our special adoption hotline at

1-88-to-adopt-me and also logon to our home page at nbc washington.com. up next, problem at the pump. a ball of fire sends people running for cover at a gas station. how a quick thinking clerk kept the situation from spiraling out of control. a big honor for an nfl hall of famer who has ties to our area. and in tonight's what's your workout? how stretching can transform your body into a lean, mean fighting machine. doug, you'r already there. >> that's right. get it done, baby. i got to tell you it's going to be a nice evening no matter what you think about doing. tonight is looking great. however, if you have plans for this weekend, a big storm is heading our way. i'm showing you what i'm talking

a fast thinking attendant may have saved the day at a gas station in south florida. the driver of an suv drove in front of another vehicle yesterday and then crashed into a pump. this was in miami beach. that sparked a huge fire and the drivers frantically ran from the area and the station attendant saw what was happening and hit the stop button and that avoided a larger disaster. there were no injuries. v dot will remove two highway signs tonight on i-95 after failed inspections. the faulty signs are near 118 for thornburgh and exit 126 for spotsylvania. two northbound lanes will be closed near exit 118. that's going to start at 9:00.

repairs for the exit 126 sign will start tomorrow night. both signs have gaps in their support structures. this all started last month after a sign fell on to a truck on i-66. a big honor for a d.c. native and nfl hall of famer. three, two, one. today a stretch of n street northwest was renamed willie wood way. it's between first street and new york avenue where he grew up. wood graduated from armstrong high school before beginning a allegedary career with the green bay packers. he was a standout free safety in the 1960s until his retirement after the 1971 season. some people have been complaining the ipad 3 may be too hot to handle. testers with "consumer reports" found the newest tablet can heat up to 116 degrees when plugged in and running certain games. 10 degrees warmer than the ipad 2.

apple says the new device has a much larger battery life and it operates well within its thermal specifications. the company does recommend, however, not using the ipad in environments above 95 degrees. and if you suffer from sinus infections put down those meds. new guidelines released by the infectious disease society of america find 90 to 98% of sinus infections are triggered by viruses. researchers say if you take antibiotics it could cause side effects and add to treatment costs and increase the resistance to those drugs. sinus infections can be bacterial if symptoms linger for ten or more days. doctors suggest you ease your pain by flushing out your system with fluids. if you spend your day in front of a desk or just don't get much exercise, then you probably need to work on your flexibility. now there is a new fitness class that promises to get you lean and mean and transform you into what they call a flex-a-babe.

we asked them. what's your workout? >> four, five, six, seven, nice and long. flat back once. >> we're cramped in front of computers all day and so it is good to get out and move around a little bit. >> if you're sitting on the couch rowan nlging or watching tv your body is always cramped up in some different position. >> your arms up, five, six, seven eight. >> this is basically a class that involves many different genres. we start with isolation, head, shoulders, torso, hips. knees, ankles, just to warm everything up first. but then after the isolation i like to do a series of laterals to the side with hamstrings stretches and also to the front. just to warm up the core. hamstrings, back, then i like to take it to the ground where we do more hamstring stretches. >> two, three, four. >> end up working our way into

our splits which we all love because they feel so great. one more eight count. then we do a few things just for the core and the arms. a few yoga poses. i mean, something that is simple as coming in, stretching for a little bit, and doing a few strengthening exercises could definitely relieve, you know, some of the every day stress that we have. >> challenging i think is the right word. it wasn't incredibly difficult. it's something that i think is accessible that anyone can do because the way she taught it she allowed you to modify it. >> you are more aware of your body and how to present yourself. >> one, two. >> you fit in your clothes, getting rid of muffin tops, getting rid of saddle bags and things like that. with something like this over time, you know, those things will start to disappear. you start to look longer and leaner. >> the flex-a-babe class takes place every sunday at jordan's paradise a fitness studio located in mount vernon square neighborhood in northwest. well, people in our area are

getting a sneak peek at the hunger games. the wildly popular book that's heading to the big screen. here is a live look at the regal majestic theater in downtown silver spring. it's advance screening starts in ten minutes. "the hunger games" opens nationwide on friday. it's the story of a futuristic society in which teens are forced to fight to the death on television. movie industry insiders have predicted it could gross $150 million on its first weekend. here's doug with a final check on our weather. how does it look? >> looks pretty good for this evening. right now take a look at this shot. a beautiful shot. some of the cherry blossoms out there, temperaturewise, at 70 degrees right now. winds out of the northeast only about 3 miles an hour. winds aren't a factor. the clouds that we've seen starting to give way to some clearing and temperatures have responded. 68 right now for belmar vary. college park 70 degrees. 62 the cool spot toward annapolis and hunting town right now at 68 degrees. radar, storm 4 radar nothing to

show you here but once again watch what happens when we widen out. we've got a lot of rain coming our way and here it is down to the south in through mississippi and louisiana. some areas already picking up 3 inches of rain today. some severe weather here but the severe weather for us is not going to be a factor. it is just going to be the rain. this storm just sitting and spinning here and it's going to do something similar just in time for our weekend. overnight low temperatures tonight not too bad. you know we're going to stay on the mild side because that is where we've been. 57 in washington for an overnight low. 52 in leesburg. 50 in martinsburg. watch out for the fog again. if you still have fog this morning and most of us did you will most likely see fog again tomorrow morning. some of it could be on the dense side especially south and east of washington. tomorrow afternoon. look at the high temperatures. 77 in washington. going for a high of 81 in fredericksburg. 74 in annapolis. petersburg, west virginia 84 degrees. temperatures are going to warm up very, very rapidly tomorrow and into the day on friday. once again starting off with some cloud cover early and then

the sunshine, maybe a shower or even a rumble of thunder tomorrow with a high of 77. 82 on friday. some areas i think will get into the mid 80s. no problem on friday and then saturday and sunday it's going to be fairly rainy. i think some areas could see 1 to 2 inches of rain. 58 on sunday. that could be optimistic for a high temperature. and then the cold air moves in behind this system. most of you will wake up to temperatures in the 30s on tuesday. you think, that's cold. that's still where we're supposed to be this time of the year. it is march. thanks, doug. let's take a look at what we're working on for news 4 at 6:00 tonight. vance? >> hi, pat. coming up tonight they were working at a construction site in the city today when they found something that forced them to shut down a couple streets. we'll tell you more about that. mayor gray responding tonight to calls for a campaign reform in the city. we'll hear what he had to say. and some special white house visitors today got a personal escort from the secret service. they do that every couple years

or so don't they? >> yes. they do. >> as they should. >> you know, good for them to catch them. those little ducklings go crazy. >> careful. >> they scoot along quickly. >> see you at 6:00. coming up next a discovery inside a burning car at least to a murder investigation in prince george's county. >> and for all your news, follow news 4 online. search nbc washington on facebook and twitter. ♪

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police are trying to solve the case of a man found shot to death inside a burning car in prince george's county. >> investigators made the discovery around 1:00 this morning in the 11,000 block of palmer road in fort washington. tonight the victim has been identified but the killer is still out there and the motive? a mystery. tracee wilkins reports. >> around i'd say quarter to 1:00 this morning there were about five gunshots. >> reporter: this neighbor who did not want to be shown on tv says the shots she heard outside her fort washington apartment building got her out of bed. police say they responded to the berkshire at harbor place apartments in the 1100 block of palmer road for the reports of shots fired. once on the scene the first responding officers found a vehicle on fire. they pulled the victim from the vehicle and tried to extinguish

the fire. >> about ten minutes later the police started to arrive and, you know, fire trucks and i seen the car was engulfed. i didn't actually see who was in the vehicle. >> reporter: police have now identified the victim as 33-year-old marcelas jackson of the 600 block of manden road in green belt. they say he was shot multiple times and pronounced dead on the scene. they are still working to figure out how his vehicle caught fire. they don't believe that the fire was intentionally set. people who live in this community say, this is not their norm. >> i'm pretty sad about it and fearful. >> reporter: prince george's county police say that at this time they still don't know exactly why jackson was here at this apartment complex and they are still searching for a motive and a suspect in the case. in fort washington, i'm tracee wilkins, news 4. that is it for news 4 at 5:00. news 4 at 6:00 starts right now.

there is a new clue tonight that could help police catch a man who dragged a girl kicking and screaming into the woods. >> it was the loudest pitching horrifying scream and it was, must have lasted five minutes. >> but we begin with the florida shooting case. there is still no effort to arrest a man who shot and killed a teenager who was holding a bag of candy and a can of iced tea. good evening. i'm jim vance. >> i'm doreen gentzler. protests are growing over the shooting of an unarmed black teenager in florida last month. there has been no arrest yet tonight and officials in sanford, florida are standing their ground and claim the physical evidence and the testimony prevented them from arresting the man who shot and killed trayvon martin. we've learned the shooter has strong ties to northern virginia. he grew up here. >> reporter: demonstrators today calling for the