every threat. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. homeland security says they are addressing the problems, but they are no easy, cheap solutions they are finding. right now at 5:00, raising the stakes in the search for a killer in alexandria. a push to solve the murder of ron kirby. new details coming out about the shooting at a colorado high school. what the gunman had written on his arm. crews working fast to repair a water main in d.c. during commute. we'll show you how things are progressing. good evening, i'm wendy rieger. >> i'm barbara harrison in for jim handly. tonight, storm team 4 is tracking rain in the area. >> let's go to chief meteorologist, doug kammerer. what's in store? >> we have showers across the area. they are going to fall in the form of rain and snow showers as we move through the rest of the area. tonight, storm team 4 radar talking about where the rain is. it's around the d.c. metro area.

southern maryland, calvert county, along the chesapeake a lot in the way of shower activity. this is all part of a system that is way up toward the northeast, bringing boston a lot of snow. there's another piece of this system back toward the west. it's going to move in overnight and the next few hours. i expect the rain and/or snow to increase. take a look at the temperatures here. 39 in d.c. if that was to fall as snow, and it may later tonight, it's most likely not going to stick. 60 in charlottesville. the coldest areas, you may not see any of this as it should stay to the south. we'll talk more about this and a major temperature swing. 30s today, 60s by saturday. we'll talk about that coming up in a minute. >> thank you. we are just getting details about a man arrested in culpeper, virginia for bringing a knife to an elementary school. police arrested the 28-year-old

woman into ag richardson elementary school. they held him in the office until police arrived. this is after he surprised a woman in the back of her car. police found zip ties and cloth gag. police do not believe he had any reason to harm students or faculty at the school. investigators say they found things written in marker on the arm of gunman karl pierson and a latin phrase whemeaning the dyes been cast. it could indicate who pierson wanted to shoot. he injured one other person in high school before injuring himself. police are upping the ante as they track down the killer in

a high profile murder case. someone shot and killed ron kirby. darcy spencer is live with more on a new reward fund. darcy? >> reporter: wendy, ron kirby was a well respected transportation planner here for the last three decades. his murder remains a mystery. as you said, a reward fund has been set up to generate leads in the investigation. al exand ria police chief says it will start with several thousand dollars. he's asking the community to n contribute to build the fund. police are trying to track down everyone he had contact with in his personal life and his business life. now, they do believe he was targeted but they still don't know why. we spoke to his widow today after the press conference. >> i hope that people will make a contribution to the reward fund. i can't imagine anybody would have hurt my sweetheart in our

home. and i just hope this helps, because i would sure like to know what happened. i don't understand how anything like that -- i have never known anyone who has been murder ired, let ea loan a man at the peak of his professional life and private life. i just can't understand it. i really hope that the public will support us. >> reporter: police are trying to track down his contacts he had with people. a certain window of time before he was killed. i'm going to have more on that coming up on news 4 at 6:00. reporting live, darcy spencer, news 4. tonight, the medical examiner is trying to determine how a man died. his body found along the beltway this morning. he was found dead around 9:00 between georgia avenue in silver spring. no other details released. no word on what may have sparked a fire at this home in

prince george's county. chopper 4 flew over the scene this morning in landover. we are told the fire started on a back porch and spread. one person made it out safely, but they will need to find another place to stay tonight. no word on what caused a fire in a condo in d.c. it started on the fifth floor. the condos on calvert street. two people taken to the hospital are expected to be fine. three people were displaced by the damage. the damage is expected to be in the tens of thousands of dollars. two women assaulted at ben's chili bowl. this is surveillance of him. he grabbed two female customers, then ran off. anyone with information is asked to contact d.c. police. we are keeping our eye on repairs to the water main breek on connecticut avenue downtown. it ruptured overnight.

traffic was snarled for hours and nearby business zs were forced to close. crews spent the day making repairs. things are slowly returning to normal. chris gordon is joining us at connecticut avenue and n street to show us how things are looking out there. >> reporter: good evening, this is the choke point for traffic. behind me, it is not moving in the southbound lanes. we can say that things are improving. d.c. water crews worked about 17 hours to bring this water main break under control. d.c. water repair crews worked for hours cutting out the broken section of the 12-inch main that burst around midnight flooding connecticut avenue making a mess of the morning commute. all three southbound lanesiyu o connecticut avenue were closed. then, about mid-morning, they opened one lane and vehicles were guided by d-dot officers through the busy intersection at

connecticut and n. >> i had to fight through traffic. once i got here, the building had limited access. >> reporter: it was closed. the second time in a year because of a water main break. this restaurant was closed during lunchtime. they reopened this afternoon once water service was restored. we got a close look at the pipe that burst. it was installed in 1949, making it 64 years old. it is not the oldest pipe in the city. d.c. water tells me the average age of pipes here is 77 years old. it split causing heavy debris and mud to flow down connecticut avenue and 18th, piling up on n street northwest. take a look at the condition of 18th street. it is uneven and appears to be buckled. officials are trying to determine if it is stable or has been undermined by the water coming from the break up there.

18th street is a main commuter route home tonight. workers with the golden triangle, a business improvement district that serves this area cleaned up mud that clogged intersections. >> there have been spots where there's a lot of debris and it's difficult for pedestrians to navigate. obviously, pedestrian safety is one of the first things we look at. >> reporter: you are looking now, live at the sidewalk on connecticut avenue. the work crews just about finished. they are putting a temporary patch on the sidewalks. we are told the sidewalk will be fixed permanently and portions of the roadway repaved at a later time. chris gordon, news 4. all throughout the area and across the country, you will find lines le these of people hoping to win tonight's mega millions jackpot. the total soared to $636 million. it's the second highest lottery

jackpot ever. thanks to changes of the game, your odds of winning are worse than ever. 1 in 259 million. later on, we'll look at the odds and why you have a better chance of death by vending machine. a pediatrician who pled gill toy child important was sentenced to 18 months in prison. the 74-year-old entered a guilty plea anddmitted he downloaded and views sexual images of children. he treated children for more than 40 years. prosecutors say there is no evidence he abused any of his patients. congressman frank wolf says he is retiring next year. the republican from virginia served 17 terms. david culver joins us now to explain why the congressman is not running for re-election. >> barbara, here is what's interesting about this. all of virginia's political leaders work together pushing the relocation of fbi

headquarters to springfield. we happened to be there and so was congressman frank you are looking at video. at the time, he knew something his colleagues were not expecting. he announced he will not run for an 18th term next year. he did it via an e-mail distribution. wolf served more than three decades. his service is virginia and shenandoah valley. he wants to retire to focus on human rights and religion issues. >> i think frank certainly put in his time and has acquitted himself well in representing the people of virginia. i'm going to miss him as colleague and friend. >> reporter: the big question for political analysts, who is going to take his tenth district seat? we took that question to local leaders while we were on the hill. we are going to bring their answer to that at 6:00. plus a look at wolf's impact on

northern virginia. in the news room, david culver, news 4. we know one of the candidates running to replace frank wolf, salahi. it's been so long since he was in the news, i forgot how to pronounce his name. this incident got them on the very short lived reality series, the real housewives of d.c. the bipartisan budget deal is headed for final passage by tomorrow. a vote of 67-33. every democrat supported the mee republicans voted for it. the deal spares them budget cuts, but some republicans oppose the plan because of cost of living on veteran's pensions. virginia versus maryland. the showdown over the future of the fbi headquarters and the two sights that could be leading contenders.

you may have your mega millions ticket in hand. did you know where you buy it affects your options, if you win? the d.c. council going forward with a hike in

with the stroke of a pen, prince george's county new minimum wage bill went into law today. they signed the legislation

which raises the minimum wage to $11.50 an hour by the end of 2017. workers will see the first increase next october when the rate goes up to $8.40 and hour. it will continue to increase until it reaches the goal in 2017. >> it's part of an effort to create a regional minimum wage. $11.50 an hour by 2016. tom sherwood joins us with details. tom? >> it started with a fight over walmart wages. now the new law will apply city wide. it had been a tense summer of loud, anti-walmart demonstrations. the bill died when mayor vincent gray vetoed it and they couldn't pass enough override votes.

>> thank you, thank you. >> reporter: in contrast, today was worker and community groups that gathered as it has d.c. council prepared to vote for a new law, not just for walmart, but all workers. >> d.c. advocates led a courageous and unstoppable movement for all of our workers. >> the council unanimously passed a new minimum wage bill. this bill guarantees sick leave for workers. >> minimum wage, not necessarily a living wage and we'll continue to find ways to keep the pressure on. we need to take care of working women and men. >> reporter: it will raise the current minimum of $8.25 an hour to $9.50 next summer then rise a dollar a year to $11.50 until 2016. after that, inflation. mayor gray proposed $10 an hour

and a steady future increases. he says he will sign the new law. there's an effort to get voters to approve $12.50 an hour. that may be on the ballot next year. workers of giant and safeway reached an agreement on a contract. the two sides were in negotiations for months. there are 17,000 employees in giant and safeway stores just in our area. cold tonight, huh, doug? >> chilly. some areas below freezing, others above freezing. some of you above 40. it's going to have an impact on what you see tonight. right now, low clouds hanging down in the way of light sprinkles coming through the d.c. metro area. don't be surprised if you are getting ready to head out. take the umbrella with you. currently, at the airport, 39 degrees. winds are calm. we are not seeing a lot of the

rain coming down across the area. north and west, you may not see anything at all. 33 in martinsburg. 29 in hagerstown. 41 down toward fredericksburg. there's warm air south of that. charlesville at 50 in southern portions of virginia. warm air to the south. that will stay south. we are in the cooler air. we have showers right now coming through d.c. and a few more back down toward the south. fredericksburg and staff ford seeing shower activity. it's light. we saw steadier activity along the chesapeake and st. mary's county. the district and the beltway, 50 seeing showers. they are light. they will stay that way throughout the evening. then a storm system moves through. it's to the west. it's near ohio. it's going to come through and lift some of this back in across the region. i expect to see more widespread showers develop overnight.

as temperatures cool a bit. some of the showers, rainshowers may turn into snow showers. let's show you what future weather does z. at 6:00, the showers to the south. it's a good job there. 11:30, notice where the snow is, gaithersburg, manassas, fredericksburg. most of it will stay rain across the area. d.c., gaithersburg, maybe snow falling. i'm not worried about temperatures. they will stay above the freezing mark. not going to worry about the sticking on the roadways. it will not be a big deal at all tonight. by 2:30, it's out of here. i's a quick system. just like what we saw last night. cumberland saw an inch, that was about it. we were not expecting much, we did not get much. same tonight. tomorrow, cool. it's what we are going to be seeing. i think it's going to stay cool all day. that's it. say good-bye to the cool air or the cold air, at least for now.

say hello to the very warm air. a major change in the pattern, the jet stream bringing up warm air from the south. we raise temperatures by 25 to 30 degrees between now and the day on sunday. that's going to come, however, at a bit of a price. most of the time, it means rain. 49 on thursday. up to 57 friday. friday looking good. a chance of showers on saturday. only 40% chance. not a washout with highs of 63. 67 on sunday. i would not be surprised to see some areas hit near 70 on sunday with a chance of rain. the heaviest rain comes late sunday into early monday then as you can see, cooler weather moves back in in time for christmas. guys? >> thanks, doug. it's going to be a nice christmas for thousands of children in d.c. and virginia. 40,000 toys collected during the angel tree campaign. the salvation army organizes this event.

look at the bikes and the other toys. parents will be picking up the presents, taking them home and putting them under their trees. >> he's going to play. he's going to ride this through the house. he's going to enjoy it. >> news 4s richard gordon helped kick it off this morning. 13,000 kids in our region are going to benefit from this angel tree program. reason for concern about violent crime. the murder rate is going up for the first time in years. coming up, we ask police chief cathy lanier about keeping the city safe. drivers on the dulles toll road not getting the message and the tickets are piling up for something called backtracking. two of the tallest players on the wizards forged a strong friendship on the team. we'll introduce you to the

former president, bill clinton and basketball star kobe bryant are part of a new team. next month, they will join forces to lead a panel on kids and sports. the round table will take place in california and include coaching, health and support.

they worked together on a homeless initiative, too. there is excitement surrounding the wizards right now. >> last night, the team won for the first time in new york in seven years. dianna is here with a great story about what is working for them. >> you always here athletes talk about good chemistry and how important it is to have on the team. two of them are best friends, bffs. they are from two different countries, speak different languages, but somehow finish each other's sentences. it helps them and local restaurants. >> we like good food. >> of course. >> to be international. >> the restaurant -- >> the big guys on the team may be the perfect match. both close to seven fetal,

averaging 15 points and ten rebounds a game. gentle giants that describe their bonds like this. >> he is my soul -- >> soul mate -- >> on the court. >> you are married, right? you have two marriages. >> i don't want to use that word because, it's not like that. >> it's a brotherhood we have. sometimes we don't speak to each other, but we make everything correct. we just know what we talk. when he's walking into the locker room, i know what he's thinking. >> theyom backgrounds. one from brazil, the other poland. they are adjusting to life in america. >> i don't think english. >> i'm improvising, too. >> their improvising on the hardwood helped them to the best

start in years. maybe the key is being on the same page. >> i like to enjoy life in a nice way. yeah. >> just enjoy it. >> we don't like fake airport. i'm 100% sure he will agree with me. fake airport. there's no shortcuts to what we do. >> deep thoughts from those two. it's almost impossible to get a word in with them. they have played with each other internationally over the years. this is the first nba team they have played together. one guy that will be happy to have him back. guys. >> they are a good couple. >> they are. bffs. >> thanks. right now at 5:00, new evidence in the shooting at a

new jersey mall. >> new reaction from the people who knew the victims. >> they were in tears and still some of them still are. >> a young lawyer shot and killed in a car during a carjacking. what police found when they found the stolen suv. prince george's county officials came to d.c. to drop of proposals. meanwhile, officials in virginia say it's all in for the location. i'm tracee wilkins. coming up on news 4, the latest in the fight for the fbi. how the suicide of a state senator's son could bring real change to the mental health system in virginia.

a fast forward through the headlines. in just over five hours, someone could become a millionaire six times over. the mega millions stands at 636 million bucks. that's the second highest in lottery history. traffic is moving again as crews replaced a second of the 12-inch water main that broke along connecticut avenue. one lane is open so there are still delays through the busy downtown area. the sidewalk is still closed. the long time republican from northern virginia is not seeking re-election when his term ends. he represented the tenth district for 34 years.

he will focus on matters of culture and the american family. scott macfarlane at the live desk. >> we are learning several space walks will be needed to fix issues at the space station. nasa ordered multiple space walks to fix a broken cooling line. two americans will start it to replace a pump that's causing a problem. the first walk scheduled for saturday. we learned a planned shipment supposed to take off from virginia is delayed until january. half of the cooling system and non-essential equipment turned off. the astronauts are still safe. at the live desk, i'm scott macfarlane. for the first time in five years, the murder rate in the district is going to go up in 2013. what is behind the change? >> mark segraves put that question to d.c. police chief

cathy lanier. >> we've had four or five children, infants, children under 4 killed this year as a result of domestic violence. it's troubling. we have a lot of work to do. >> reporter: last year, the murder rate was the lowest since 1960. 2013 has been a different story. most notably, the mass killing at the washington navy yard. so far this year, 103 people murdered in the district. well above the 88 murders for all of 2012. even a county for the 12 people killed in the navy yard shooting, more murders this year compared to all of last year and there's still two weeks left. overall, violent crime is down. >> we are seeing less shootings, less gang violence on the streets. we need to work with partner

agencies and social services to get at what's behind cases like that. >> reporter: she's worried about the increase of domestic violence, several of which added to the murder rate. >> we have seen an increase in domestic violence. it's troubling because we have seen that go down year after year. a lot of the cases are children. so, very troubling. >> reporter: in the district, mark segraves, news 4. there's a search for someone who could be burglarizing stores in wheaton. this is damage left at subway on randolph road. a store employee came in and saw the windows busted. nobody was hurt. a boost for mental health funding in virginia. governor bob mcdonnell is talking about what's driving the changes in his budget proposal. he says on the radio today, the issues took on greater urgency

after the incident happening to creigh deeds. it happened the morning after the younger deeds went under a psychiatric evaluation and was turned away. >> we are doing this because it's a tight knit community. when you have a loss in the family like senator deeds, it affects everybody. it's going back to virginia tech and before. it's the nature of mental health and such. if things are not properly managed, there's opportunity for unfortunate outcomes. >> mcdonnell's new budget adds $38 million for how to state serves people experiencing a mental health issue. the showdown over the fbis headquarters is entering a new stage. tracee wilkins is live in d.c. where the decision over fbi sites in maryland and virginia will be made. >> reporter: yes, this is where they are going to make that decision and we don't know all

of the sites that have been submitted. what we do know is that two locations have been made very public. right now, it's between virginia and maryland. plans from prince george's county leaders to relocate to greenbelt are in the hands of the administration in d.c. >> we are excited about the proposal we put together. from the beginning, we have all the maryland state behind our proposal. >> reporter: meanwhile, in virginia, the commonwealth heavy political hitters support bringing the fbi to springfield. >> it's not only important for the springfield area, but northern virginia. >> reporter: both sites meet the minimum richlt. the springfield site is less than half from vre and metro. greenbelt's proposed site less than a tenth of a mile from metro. both sites offer the required

space and security. it will take more than location to win the bid. the other agencies nearby is what makes the difference for them. >> cia, the pentagon, the dia, the spatial agency plus existing fbi facilities. all are located within a very decent proximity of this site. >> reporter: prince george's officials say it works against the commonwealth. >> these are sensitive national security things. it may not be wise to place a cluster of those resources so close together here. >> reporter: the dsa is working with a loose schedule right now. we are hoping to know which location will be chosen by the spring. then it moves into the next faze of all of this. coming up at 6:00, we hear a lot about greenbelt. what is ironic about this city is it was built for federal workers.

more on that story, coming up. tracee wilkins, news 4. a young lawyer shot and killed in front of his wife. police narrowed their search for the gunman in the shooting at the new jersey mall. if you are hitting the roads for the holidays, why traffic could be worse than last year. >> rorter: i'm liz crenshaw. a way to comparison shop for the best deal without leaving the store. my story is coming up. we are looking at rain across the area. got me choked up a bit. maybe a snow flake

police are investigating a rape in silver springs. scott macfarlane is at the live desk with more. >> it happened friday. police released surveillance video of a person of interest. look at your screen. police want to talk to this woman seen leaving a star. they want to talk to her in connection with the rape in silver spring. a woman was grabbed by a man while taking out the trash, then sexually assaulted. it's not clear what she has to do with the rape case but they want to talk to her as soon as possible. at the live desk, i'm scott macfarlane. get ready for company on the roads if you are traveling for christmas. this could be the busiest travel season ever. the roads will be more crowded.

chris shows us one gift to expect if you are driving home for the holidays. >> reporter: even if there's a repeat of the horrible weather around thanksgiving. aaa is predicting 94 million people will head out for the holidays. >> the fifth year in a row of increases. the most people ever traveling for the holidays. >> reporter: what the weather will be a week from now is unknown. the travel club says recent winter storms contributed to the lowest gas prices in three years. >> fewer people are driving when the roads are icy. eman goes down. for most consumers, supply and demand is in your favor at the pump. >> reporter: most of the travel will be by car. >> mexico, about 24, 25 hours away. >> louisiana. coming on back. >> reporter: a projected 4.5 million motorists will be a breakdown of some sort. aaa says americans aren't

letting anything come between them and a trip to be with family and friends over christmas. chris nbc news. you are more likely to get hit by lightning than win the lottery. the list of awful things that could happen to you rather than you winning the lottery is longer than you think. how high the odds are stacked against you. how much does the color of santa's skin matter? the bizarre debate sparked by a fox news segment last week

a carjacking ring is suspected in that deadly shooting at the upscale mall in new jersey. a 30-year-old lawyer was killed after he was ambushed by two men who demanded the keys to his range rover. those who knew him say he would not have fought for that car and most likely died trying to protect his wife. we have the report. >> reporter: the carjacked suv was found and removed from behind a home a few blocks from route 78, a main road to the mall a few miles away. the victim, a 30-year-old originally from toms river, went to short hills for holiday shopping with his wife who watched as her husband of two years was shot. >> a terrible tragedy. a wonderful young man. had a whole life ahead of him. >> reporter: as the suv was taken to a garage where

investigators would go over every inch, a second suv was hauled away from the same location. the owner a victim of carjacking. >> the last couple days, they brought the cars over here. >> how do you know? >> you can tell. if it's two cars riding this close, one is stolen, they gonna hop out and get in the next car. >> reporter: later, police and detectives came back to go through an abandoned home. it's not clear what, if anything they got. it is believed they got some good surveillance video from a home across the street. at a law firm where he once worked, co-workered talked about the syracuse grad who went to toms river. >> they were in tears and some of them still are. it's disbelief. when ever there's these kinds of violent acts, it's a horrible thing. to find out it's someone you know and someone who had just

incredibly charming personality makes it sad. the funeral will be held tomorrow. a heads up for anyone taking the dulles toll road. the metro washington airport authority is cracking down on drivers who cut through the airport to cut past the toll booth. officers cited 100 delivers as they set out to backtrack. they had signs up to warn drivers they would be cracking down. the tolls are expected to go up from $1.75 to $2.50 in january. could get messy in some of our parts later tonight, right doug? >> yeah, all right starting to do that in the district and southern maryland. storm team 4 radar, you can see where the rain is coming through fairfax county and through 66, then right out route 50. that's where we are seeing the showers right now. some of them coming down at a good clip. it's heavy rain here. still down to the south,

fredericksburg, quantico and king george county, we are seeing the rain there. this all is just a swath of moisture moving through. there is colder air back to the north and west. it's going to try to move on in here. some could switched over to snow later on. it's the only thing we are talking about here. we are going to see the rain with the cold front making its way through the region. as the low pressure drives by, the rain changes to snow around midnight. montgomery county, fairfax and prince george's county changing to snow. with temperatures that got up to near 40 degrees, it's going to be hard for it to stick. it may fall from the side, but that's it. then we turn attention to this area of high pressure. we are on the east side of it. it's cool once again tomorrow. then it starts to move down to the south. the mild air moves in. by friday, that area of high pressure moves to the south, we

get a southwesterly wind and we are on the mild side. temperatures mid to upper 50s. some of you near 60 on friday. that's just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. this kind of weather, that iceberg melting. we are talking 60s. not tomorrow. 40 in d.c. 39 in bethesda. let's talk about the warm up. still cool tomorrow. look at the next couple days. 49 on thursday. 59 on friday, 63 on saturday. we'll see a chance of shower activity saturday. not a lot. better chance of showers sunday especially late sunday. high on sunday of 67. some of you make it up to 70 beings. we have to watch for that, too. back to the 50s, then the 40s for the middle of next week. warmer air moving our way. >> what are the odds of that? the mega millions drawing is now the second highest ever. 636 million. before you go and plop down cash for the tickets, consider the

odds. 1 in 259 million. jim handly is here with a look at other things far more likely to happen to you. >> ever since mega millions added higher numbers to the ticket, hitting the big one has become tougher. how tough? you have a better shot at becoming famous. 26 times more likely you will become the president of the united states and you have a better shot at being a film star or dating a supermodel. 1 in 88,000. acting or modelling not your thing? try golf. a better chance of hitting two hole in ones in a round of getting drafted to the nba and fans, a better shot at a perfect ncaa tournament bracket. on a morbid note, more likely to die getting struck by lightning and eaten by a shark or get this, more likely to be crushed by a falling vending machine. hate when that happens. of course, you'll have zero

chance of winning the lottery if you don't buy a ticket. we'll have all the winning numbers here at 11:00 on news 4. >> if you do win, do you have to tell everybody? some states require you to hold a news conference when you hit the jackpot. others let you remain anonymous. we have a story on our home page, www.nbcwashington.com. it takes a look at the rules for our area. just in case. news 4 your health, odds are getting better you will survive cancer, a big victory in the fight against lung cancer. new numbers show death from the disease are continuing to go down in the united states. rates are falling faster than in previous years. the decline is thanks to people kicking the habit. fewer people getting lung cancer, that means the number of cancer deaths are also down. looking to save cash? here is a great way to do it. window shop for a product at a local store and buy the same

thing cheaper online. >> it's called showrooming. now the brick and mortar stores are trying to get back in. liz crenshaw has holiday help for you. >> 40% have done it. visit a store. you have seen a sweater or tv you like, go home and buy it online for a cheaper price. now, brick and mortar retailers are embracing the showroom trend by encouraging people to check the prices in the stores. best buy is calling itself the ultimate holiday showroom. pull out your smartphone or tablet while you are in best buy. try to find the same item online for a lower price. if you do find your item cheaper online, show that lower price to customer service. best buy then matches that price. one stop shopping, while still getting the best deal. target is also in on the showrooming trend. it offers free wi-fi in its

stores and has that price match guarantee. so, if you find an item cheaper at amazon or walmart, show proof to customer service and target will give you the lowest price. now, you might be asking, how can stores max the online prices and still stay in business? it's true, the store can lose money when they price match a camera, but can make up for it by selling a camera bag or extra lens, forexample. the key to get people in the store, then at least it has a fighting chance to make the sale. bottom line, don't be afraid to look for deeper discounts online while still shopping in the store this holiday season. for more on showrooming, head to our website, www.nbcwashington.com/liz crenshaw. this coming weekend will be the busiest of the year for buying and decorating christmas trees. local firefighters have a warning for those of

♪ well, who's surprised it is the fastest selling item in i tunes history? target isn't going to stock beyonce. when an album gets released

digitally first, it hurts the beyonce's fifth solo album sold 800,000 copies in the first three days. facebook is trying to make it easier to donate to charities. they launched a donate button. click donate, you will be able to enter credit card details and contribute immediately. tfox news anchor is stickin up for kelly. she stirred somethinge should be culturally neutral. kelly said santa is just white. yesterday, o'reilly backed the sentiment saying the spirit transcends racial boundaries. a black santa at a mall in baltimore says the discussions about race have gone too far.

>> santa has no color. santa is about love and embracing people. santa makes you feel better after you left him than you received him. >> santa luke worked at the mall 28 years. for the most part, kids don't care about the race of santa claus. before you switch on your christmas tree lights tonight, make sure you are keeping the tree in good condition. today, firefighters provided a vivid demonstration on what can go wrong. zachary kiesch shares a few steps to keep the holiday safe. >> reporter: tis the season for christmas tree opping. >> literally, in one minute, it went up in smoke. >> reporter: the fire department replicated what can happen from a short in wires. they claim the lives of 400 people and injure 1600 more. >> over the course of the years

i have been involved, the number of home fires created by christmas trees and decorations, i couldn't count. >> make sure your tree is watered, keep heaters away and throw away lights with cracked or frayed wires. there were a few folks on central avenue in kettering today. >> did pretty good. pretty good. nice set of trees. >> if you are in the tree business, it doesn't get better than now. this weekend will be the busiest weekend for shopping for christmas trees. today's demonstration is a stark reminder for people who want to enjoy a safe holiday. >> we leave the lights out. you know, we keep our tree home more so than just leaving it on while we are out. you never know what can happen. >> reporter: reporting in prince george's county, zachary kiesch, news 4. new at 6:00, big changes days away for people who own