welcome to "news4 this week." >> hi, everybody. i'm veronica johnson. we will show you some of the more interesting local stories making news this week. among them, holiday evenup, trips of the trade. how to make your house sparkle and shine for guests without all the stress. >> i had no indication. >> a hidden danger, risk of a condition some patients don't even know they have and a new treatment that can help. and one man who is making the holidays more special for service members gets a surprise of his own. first you probably have done it before but you can soon -- can get you loan in jail in virginia. we are talking about texting while driving. transportation reporter adam tuck has more on why you should

think twice before taking your eyes on off the road to look down at that little screen. >> you don't have to be out on the roads long to see it. drivers texting. some even cruising down the interstate at high speeds. we saw this driver rolling along at 60 miles per hour today. he just kept rolling and rolling and 20 seconds later put down the phone. here in fairfax county police are using a law fillure to pay full attention who texting or distracted behind the wheel. >> not a day goes by without noticing another driver texting while driving. the officers are doing what they can to enforce it. >> these kinds of violations have skyrocketed. in 2009, about 7,000 offenses. in 2010, over 9,000. last year and this year, close to 12,000 offenses. here in virginia, a number of bills are being drawn up that would make the penalties for texting and driving tougher.

the problem is that in the commonwealth, texting and driving is a secondary offense. meaning you can't be pulled over just for texting alone. carl rally's 19-year-old son kyle was killed a year and a half ago because of an apparent texting and driving case. kyle's car broke down near his home and kyle got out to push and he was then hit. records show the driver who hit him was his phone. >> texting. not texting, not looking at the road while driving the car which -- turns into a weapon because of the complicated way virginia laws are write wren the driver was not charged with texting while driving. the drivers do know the dangers but some still admit to doing it. >> you are admitting you have been an offender. >> yeah, i do. i try to do it at stop lights and things like that but not while i'm in motion. >> next year virginia's general assembly will consider bills to make texting behind the wheel a primary offense. so penalties could include fines or even jail time.

it is a d.c. neighborhood with a deep history and a modern edge and also has some of the coolest houses in the city. it is logan circle. every we are residents open their doors to the public for a holiday tour. if you miss it, don't worry because wendy rieger has us covered. >> reporter: they are the grand dame's of the victorian era. fireplaces roared in every room. a time when houses weren't built, they were simulcasted. the boots of civil war brass scuffed the stairs. this is logan's circle. >> the house was built by ledger films. >> reporter: loretta's house is one of the older ones on the tour. built in the mid 1800s, it also has an inreing history and it was sold to the emperor of korea in the 1880s and seized by the japanese when they occupied korea at the turn of the century. >> the koreans have been upset about that since 1910.

>> reporter: the house is now filled with jenkins and her husband's egyptians and african art. her dad's collection of depression glass. the house has a beautiful grace to it prompting her son as a child to say it was like living inside after violin. >> we had many asian guests here who when they come in always say oh, this house has wonderful feng shui. >> reporter: the house tour mixes houses that have little changed with those that reflect modern times. >> through the efforts of the very tenacious committed local citizens the beauty you see around you now has become a reality. >> reporter: over on corcoran street eddie atkins opened his home to visitors so they can see how a row house can mix the old and the new. built in 1877, atkins home served as a lovely gallery for his vast art collection. and has an impressive remnant. this breakfront that seizes your attentioin the dining room. >> at one time it was painted pink. and a former owner just

painstakingly removed the paint. it took three weeks of working every day. >> reporter: he has a secret garden. a reminder of the simple pleasure even a small oasis can bring. one must be reminded that logan circle has had a rocky past. for, it was the city's red light district and ground zero during the 1968 riots. this tour reminds us how beautifully it has risen from the ashes. and has resumed its place as a jewel in the city's crown. wendy rieger, news4. >> love that area. you may not be giving a public tour but if you are having guests over, here's some easy ways to make your holiday table shine without all that stress. liz crenshaw went to the ritz-carlton for some cleaning tricks of the trade that are spot-on for the season. >> reporter: cleaning up for guests is not just a holiday chore when you are the ritz-carlton. here at 22nd and in streets in washington, d.c., every day is a

holiday. and the man who needs to make it all shine, guzman the director of stewarding. he and his team make sure every piece to a place setting sparkles. for a recent event his team cleaned 7,000 glasses. 5,000 dishes and more than 4500 pieces of flatware. >> we want to make sure when our guests walk in the door, they -- everything issparkling. >> reporter: huge undertaking but he says that there are tricks to making it all shine. so dig out your old tarnished silver. he has a simple remedy. line a bottom of a glass or plastic tub with aluminum foil, shiny side up. add salt, baking soda, fill the tub with hot water. then let your tarnished silver soak. this is environmentally safe. >> all environmentally safe. you don't have to use any chemicals. >> reporter: no rub. >> no rubbing. none of of that stuff.

>> reporter: okay, about ten minutes. >> ten minutes. >> reporter: let's look. >> let's look. >> reporter: oh, my goodness. wow. you have a second trick for cleaning silver. what is it? >> it is toothpaste. >> reporter: yes, he said toothpaste. for a quick last-minimum fix, apply just a small squirt of toothpaste to your tarnished silver. >> just rub it slowly. the difference. >> reporter: look at that. okay. some of us have copper in the kitchen. we never use it because it always looks horrible. you have a trick to cleaning it. >> yes. copper is one of those materials that you have to clean manually. >> reporter: the trick, baking soda, lime juice, white vinegar, flour. >> you don't necessarily have to measure all of it. form a paste. >> reporter: nice paste. okay. it smells good, too. wow. two big challenges he sees every

day, lipstick stained glasses and coffee and tea stained mugs. his trick, dish washing liquid and a half a cup of white vinegar in hot water. >> ten minutes. >> reporter: wow. lipstick is gone. >> gone. >> reporter: gone. pots and pans, they get black from the stove. do you have a trick for me? >> we deal with this every day. >> reporter: okay. >> simple, simple. >> reporter: month soap. >> no soap. >> reporter: just coke or pep. >> i pepsi. pre-soak it overnight. >> reporter: this is amazing. liz crenshaw, news4. >> to think i just was looking for a way to clean my pots and pans. she is making history at her high school. still ahead -- young athlete who is breaking a record on the basketball court. plus this.

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♪ oh, boy. what a music class for students at the elementary school in southeast. the talent group sang with celebrated cellist yo-yo ma a day after he performed at the kennedy center. ma has been honored with the presidential medal of awards and a number of grammys just to name a few. the school is part of the program that brings the arts into the classroom to help boost academic performs answer. there is a student that set record breaking goal for herself

and gained a lot of loyal fans in the process. our reporter caught up with the young basketball phenom in the brink of making basketball history. >> one, two, three. defense! >> reporter: tonight's scrimmage just the warmup to history in the offing for the high school. and senior guard jasmine hill who is just two buckets from a thousand point high school career. >> this is the first time in school history that a female athlete has made the thousand point mark. so this is a tremendous bill. i want to be in my school history. and i made it. it is real big. >> real big for hill's family, too. not just mom and dad but extended family as well. where did you come in from? >> north carolina. >> orlando. >> you did? >> yes, i did. >> reporter: that's one nice auntie. >> auntie will follow her. >> it will mean the world to me. she put a lot of work into this. and i'm just so proud of her.

>> reporter: pride from her dad. >> she can take with her off the court. those are way more important than basketball ever will be. >> reporter: and the coach who saw how it all began. >> this really means a lot to me because this young lady couldn't dribble the ball from the baseline. to the free-throw line. when she start. >> reporter: really? >> and a lot of hours. >> at first i tried. then i found basketball. i made the team. i was in the fifth grade. once i made the team, i was like well, i'm going stick with it because they keep pushing me. >> reporter: next year it is howard you don't know where jasmine is already committed to play ball and study toward a possible career in sports medicine or nursing. >> good for her. well, he has a heart attack. the risk without even knowing it. coming up, an active ath let wrik man discovers an unknown danger. ♪ i -- i got it, i got it made ♪

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a heart risk here's easy to miss. nearly 40% of people who suffer from blood clots can face big cardiac problems without knowing there is even something wrong. doreen gentzler reports there is a new treatment that can stop the clots and save lives. >> i try to work out every day to some extent. consisting either of running, heavyweights, exercise equipment, biking. >> thomas loves to exercise. so when he had trouble finishing a ten-mile race last year he knew something was wrong. >> i was short of breath, my times were pathetic. really slow. i was like -- almost fearful i wouldn'tfinish. >> reporter: he had a massive blood clot lodged in his lungs. it was so big that it was pushing on his chest. >> the first time it happened, i had no indication as to what it was. i actually thought i was having a heart attack.

because i had severe pressure on my heart and i was out of breath. >> he had a sub-massive pulmonary embolism. he looked fine. he had extensive pulmonary embolism. >> reporter: that embolism was causing his heart to work harder. causing right heart failure, a condition that can lead to severe hypertension and death. most clots are treated with tpa, inova alexandria hospital radiologist keith sterling told us his condition was too severe, simply using drugs wouldn't be enough. >> his risk of death would have been far higher. >> reporter: instead they got his consent to try a new device. clinical trials a special kath catheter. >> it has you will are a sound energy that helps loosen up the clots and allows the tpa to work faster and more effectively.

>> sterling says using the special catheter reduces the amount of drugs a patient needs. so thomas only needed about a water of the medication that he otherwise would have used if he was treated with drugs alone. >> recovery time here was about three weeks before i was back resembling my strength. >> reporter: he says he's made a full recovery though doctors still monitor him for new clots every few weeks. he's also gotten back to exercising. doctors say he should avoid marathons but his goal is to run a half marathon next year. >> there is some concern about full marathon, pounding on the seat and that would then stimulate more clotting. and, you know, why take the risk? you know, 13 miles and enjoy it. >> reporter: doreen gentzler, news4. >> he does look good. next, early holiday surprise

for a man who has dedicated his time to making the season brighter for our nation's

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a maryland family's display of christmas life is impressive. don't expect to hear the sounds of the season. ♪ ♪ call me crazy ♪ here's my number ♪ so call me maybe >> you know it. they went with one of this year's biggest songs. "call me maybe" instead of the holiday classic. caribbean court in bel air. to hear the music, a sign tells viewers to turn their car radio to a certain frequency so the neighbors just don't have to listen to that over and over and over again. come on, that already sticks in your head. right? yes. it does. the organization decorate a vet puts up holiday lights minus the pop music and its volunteers have been very busy recently

sprucing up homes of military service members. derrick ward shows us this year's project included a special surprise for the group's founder. >> they spent the weekend descending upon the homes of local veterans, doing landscaping, repairs, holiday decorations. part of the decorate a vet program. brainchild of jeffrey jones. he owns classic stonescaping and garden. they teamed up with other contractors and angie's list and the effort has grown over the years. >> we decorated four community veterans and today actually a little bit after twist for me. >> that's because the home they pulled up to was his father's home. richard jones was a decorated navy diver who in later years was local pediatrician can passed away recent. >> i in addition to that his birthday is christmas eve. it is an extra special event for us. >> it had to be a tough secret to keep up until they got to jones' father's neighborhood. but jeffrey jones' decorate a vet partners pulled it off. >> this is just a way to help pay him back and his dad for his

dad's service, navy diver. and -- recently passed away. so -- we felt that this was our way to give back to the person that founded our organization. >> my husband is watching right now. he would be pretty overwhelmed. he never did let anybody dress the tree for him. >> while this crew was close to home for the founder it only served to reiterate the message why this all started in the first place. and why they are so busy this time of year. >> everybody is into getting and being so busy and we immediate to stop and slow down and acknowledge people in our community that have done so much for us derrick ward, news4. >> it certainly would be nice to decorate every vets' house thanks for joining us. until next time, be safe,