failed to plow through the thick, shifting ice. the passengers pounded that ice into a helipad as they belted out seasonal tunes. today, shifting ice nearly scuttled the mission again. overnight, rescue teams opted to take advantage of clear skies and the passengers took off, homeward bound. meantime, the passengers won't actually step food on australian soil until probably mid january because the ship has a scheduled stop to resupply a base in antarctica. they will return before the crew of the russian ship, they are staying with their vessel, stuck in the ice. back to you. right now at 5:00, a monster winter storm. more than 90 million people across the midwest and the

northeast bracing for a blizzard. >> this will be followed with what could be life threatening cold weather. it is coming on queue, folks. snow is falling across the region. we are already under a windchill advisory. >> here is a live look of conditions as a school district makes plans for tomorrow. stafford county schools are opening two hours late. >> parts of the northeast getting ready. here is a live look at massachusetts, outside the boston area. this massive winter storm is already crippling travel across the region. we have a team of live reports to break down the regional and national impact of the storm. we begin with chief meteorologist, doug kammerer. >> the snow is coming in earlier than expected. the snow is already piling up. some of you reporting one to two inches of snow. we'll show you storm team 4 radar. you can see where we are seeing

the snow to the west of i-95. rain to the south around waldorf, annapolis, leonardtown. marshall, leesburg, gaithersburg and frederick, snow. we have seen accumulations. not only on the grassy surfaces, but the road surfaces, too. we want to take a lot of extra time tonight. it's just getting started. we are going to see it occur through the night, the cold air moves in and all of this changes to snow. leesburg, gaithersburg, clarksburg, all seeing snow right now coming in around the area. bethesda also reporting the snow. two to four inches to the north. leesburg, one to three. d.c., maybe one to two. that's where the winter weather advisory is associated. we will see that through 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. as we look toward the day tomorrow, the biggest factor is the wind and windchills. windchill tomorrow is brutal. an advisory in effect until noon tomorrow.

windchills, zero to ten below zero. that includes everybody to the west. we'll talk more about the numbers, coming up. right now, we go to kristen wright. she's in bethesda where it's been snowing for an hour. >> reporter: right, doug, it is just the beginning. look at the traffic along river road, first. actually not too bad. it is certainly wet. we have really, the big snow flakes that are falling at this point. but, they are not sticking. that's really the good thing at this hour because as we know, rush hour just beginning. it's not sticking yet, so far. traffic, as you can see, really moving at a pretty good clip. now we haven't heard, yet, from montgomery county schools as to what their plans are for the morning. we will certainly let you know as soon as we do know. jim, just the beginning. gonna be really cold, though. prepare for that. >> kristen, thanks so much.

well, it could be worse. folks in minnesota are dealing with bitter cold temperatures trailing the winter storm. a sign in international falls reads 40 below zero. an experiment by a reporter shows an egg freezing in less than five minutes. the snow in chicago isn't keeping people from getting out. they are trying to keep the sidewalks clear as the snowfalls. check out the scene in lima, ohio. wind and snow creating white-out conditions this morning. the winter storm is taking aim at the northeast. boston expecting up to 14 inches of snow overnight. there is now a state of emergency in new york and in new jersey. >> this storm is creating massive problems for the airlines, as you can imagine. boston's logan airport is going to shut down at 8:30 tonight. looking at the map of delays from the faa, new york is reporting a wait time of five

hours. three hours or more in chicago. adam tuss is live at reagan international with more on the travel problems. adam? >> reporter: it's a messy situation and getting worse. right now, we have a little bit of light rainfalling. some sleet mixed in. as you saw massive delays and cancellations and yes, that is leading to travel headaches. the setting in the midwest, literally chilling. heavy snow has been falling and it's headed to the northeast. one of the family's laboring to get home, jessica and her two daughters trying to get to minneapolis. >> our flight failed with the navigational system and the skies were so cloudy that the pilot couldn't see and we had to land early. >> reporter: they started the day at 5:00 in the morning in columbus, ohio on a flight to minneapolis. they had to land add dulles and

catch a shuttle to reagan. now, they are pacing. >> we are trying to rebook a flight. i'm hosting book club at my house tonight. >> reporter: hopefully it's still on. this is the story across the country. look at detroit and indianapolis. planes trying to make it through the snow. airport officials at reagan national are telling people, take this one seriously. >> the places that are going to have heavy snow or blowing winds, airlines don't want to operate in those conditions. better to keep the planes out in advance. >> reporter: some airlines proacttively cannesling flights to the northeast. once that happens, a domino effect flows through the airline system. for some, waiting, there's just enough time to grab coffee before the flight. dena headed back to st. louis. sad to be leaving, but happy to be on the next flight. >> we are leaving family, but it's okay. >> reporter: bittersweet? >> yeah. >> reporter: back here live at

reagan national, expect delays and cancellations to grow to places like new york and boston. we checked in with amtrak. they are running a modified snow service tomorrow between washington and boston. reduced frequencies with trains there. we are back next hour with an update on flight status and yes, the travel headaches. reporting live, adam tuss, news 4. to gaithersburg we go where it is really starting to come down. shomari stone is live there. what are you seeing? >> right now, it is cold. we are seeing the snow coming down. we actually left news 4 and nebraska avenue. as we enter the gaithersburg area, the snow really started coming down. just beginning to h right now. accumulate. come to the ground here, not much, just a little. over time, we are expecting more snow. what i'm really concerned about is the roads. you can see this road. it is wet here. tonight, meteorologist doug kammerer told me we can expect freezing temperatures, of course, and that wet road could

turn to ice. a lot of folks are coming out. they get off work and see their cars and the snow on the windshie windshield. going to have to clean it off to get in their car and outd of here. the last thing you want is for this snow to freeze overnight, then you have to use this thing and clear it off. just to make sure your car is ready, think about going out tonight and just clearing off your car because tomorrow morning, if we have those freezing temperatures, i'm sure it's going to be difficult to get into your car and go to work. we'll have to see what happens. no word on school closings or anything like that. we'll keep you updated. follow the story on our website at www.nbcwashington.com. live in gaithersburg, i'm shomari stone, news 4. >> the storm team 4 weather app is a good tool to have at your fingertips as it has storm moves in. download the app from itunes or google play. this weather will have a big

impact. news 4 today will be on the air 30 minute early. the coverage begins at 4:00 a.m. to let you know about road conditions and school delays. moving to a headache, developments for the redskins search for a coach. there were six empty head coaching positions in the nfl. today, two of them officially filled. >> the redskins weren't one of the teams making an announcement. dianna russini sat down with zí and she's here to tell us what she learned. >> he didn't want to go on camera, but sat down for 45 minutes to give us an update. we know that former chicago bears head coach lovey smith and penn state head coach, bill o'brien are officially out of the mix, their hirings announced today. with smith going to tampa bay

and o'brien making deal with the texans, here is what we learned. they have met and interviews seattle seahawks coordinator. jim caldwell met with bruce allen yesterday. this coming saturday, the team is scheduled to meet with panthers defensive coordinator, sean mcdermott. the skins asked permission from the giants to talk to their defensive coordinator. record because he feels it's unfair to share for those involved. all the names have one thing in common, they are all nfl assistan assistants. what about the guys in the college ranks? allen spoke to meåi09 that as well. about ten minutes. >> interesting. nformation.ing. a lot of people think robert griffin iii may have a big say. we'll share that in a few minutes. s the numbers

a big drop in crime. county officials tell us it's not only good for the people who live there, it's good for business. tracee wilkins is live to break down the numbers for us. she joins us from largo. >> reporter: we are outside wegmans where they held the conference. they believe the numbers are good for business. 9n fro whilelows thepñ of ofk;s9 ó116 beginning. >> overall crime is down from last year's his to ha historic . >> reporter: the focus of a gathering of state and county leaders inside wegman's. the backdrop picked for a exec >> these numbers mean a lot to business owners. we always want to send the message that prince george's

county is right for business. >> reporter: a 2010 executive took office and appointed the chief of police.27%cih/nw in÷.⌟ experienced a 38% drop in homicides, 38% drop in violent crime and 27% drop in property crime. it's down 27% in overall crime. >> to have reduced homicides since 2010 by almost 40% is a huge, huge accomplishment. >> reporter: while the numbers are significant, there are higher incidents of crime than any other suburb. the chief says it's time to push harder. >> we are just getting started. withm in all. this is just to brief the community about where we are in 2013 and where we are going. >> reporter: the county ended with 56 homicides in comparison to 64 last year. it's down significantly from the triple digit rates of year's past. one murder is

one too many. p00z3zp) neednxye[eporter: pri county officials say it's help. county murdernj8]b rates.=xlr county m crime, at least when it comes to murder rates. eight homicides in montgomery county compared to 15 the year before. 4c2fax county, eight mu year. :çéx

keep in mind, that number includes the 12 victims of the navy yard shooting. while there were more murders in violent crimes declined. whee driving caught on camera.ik camera.ik 0wron o j ã

right now, more than 200 plows are getting ready to hit the streets of washington. this is a look at the salt trucks loading up to treat the roads. it's going to impact your trash and leaf collection. if you haven't thrown out your christmas tree, you may have to wait until the storm passes for the department of public works to pick it up. it doesn't look bad gathering snow in your yard. the storm crippled parts of the northwest. >> areas to the north will feel the brunt of the storm. we have a team of meteorologists tracking the storm. we'll have the details on what to expect as it moves through the air yachlt. >> let's continue with the weather channel's jim cantore up in boston. you are about to get hit hard,

huh? >> reporter: yeah. what's amazing, this is the pregame. you are the main event. it is coming this way for blizzard-like conditions on the south shore. let me show you how far reaching this is. let's start in chicago. this was a thin, lake-effect snow band that developed. cold air over the warm water equals instability and snow. it almost looks like a thin needing and pencil when you line it up on the radar map. it dumped on chicago. we had 18 inches on the north side of the city. incredible. also, it is cold. temperatures in the single digits. we go to cleveland now, more of the same. cold air over the warm lake equals lake-effect snow. this is a combination of the upper air support of the system. the same thing giving you the precipitation is what moved through earlier. in boston, ten inches of snow north of boston. temperatures in the single digits. windchills below zero. this storm is going to crank.

we will see 12 to 18 inches of snow in the boston, metropolitan area. we are awaiting a big announcement from the governor, deval patrick. he got massachusetts up and running last time. he may do the same thing, shutting down mass transit, shutting down operations, not closing the airport, but shutting down operations and parts of the interstate system so the road crews can get out and clear it. by tomorrow, at noon, everybody is going to be done with the storm as it pulls off. guys, this is just phase one. we are going to deal with a historic cold air mass that could come into the east central part of the country and keep temperatures in many cities below zero. boy, welcome to 2014, guys. >> exactly. >> jim cantore, hang in there. >> in with a bang. >> it is already starting to pile up there, doug. it's getting worse and worse. >> if they can stay on top of it or ahead of it.

>> that is what they are dealing with. this snow we are getting now is going that way. they are talking a major nor'easter. blizzard conditions. we are not going to see those type of conditions here. we are expecting accumulating snowfall. the cold air rushing in behind. it will be the coldest air we have seen in years. this is leesburg, the snow coming down around the leesburg area toward route 7 and the areas in leesburg picking up one to two inches of snow already. i'm getting lot of pictures via twitter. you can tweet me @doug kammerer. snowing around the downtown area. we have light snow falling. winds out of the east at 7 miles per hour. the 38 degree temperature is key. as long as temperatures are above freezing, the roads should be fine. look at leesburg, down to 32. 30 in winchester. 30 in frederick.

these are the areas we are having problems. 34 in gaithersburg, above freezing. the snow is coming down at a good clip. gaithersburg, we are seeing it on the roadways. waldorf, calvert county, fredericksburg, all rain. to the west, leesburg, gaithersburg, germantown, all snow. they reported snow as early as 3:00 this afternoon. bethesda is reporting snow. everybody is going to see accumulation. we are not done yet. this is the first round of things to come. you can see the moisture making its way up interacting with the cold air. you can see the rain/snow line drifting to the south, too. it will continue to do so. two to four inches to the north. the weather service has a winter weather advisory through howard and montgomery county, northern fauquier and places to the north. let's time this out for you. i'll show you what we are expecting as this continues to

move through. snow to the west. showers toward the east. around 8:45, the rain/snow line moving south. waldorf getting in on the snow. fredericksburg and d.c. ending to the west. you are getting your heaviest snow right now, leesburg. around 11:30, seeing the heaviest snow from d.c. to the chesapeake bay. 3:00 a.m., everybody back in the snow as the storm ramps up off the coast. that's when the cold and the wind develop. we are in for a nasty, brutal friday morning. veronica johnson in the storm center now. she's got much more on what to expect when you wake up tomorrow. >> that is for sure. everyone will get the cold and everyone is going to feel that wind. right now, we are taking look at the latest data coming in. itis not too windy out there right now. by 1:00, 2:00 a.m., the winds pick up. the wind advisory, winds gusting to 40 miles per hour, maybe over

that for a brief period of time. we have it covered here until noon tomorrow. that's everybody. any loose items around the house, now is the time to secure them, if you can. you take that wind and factor very low temperatures. folks, they will be dropping down. temperatures tomorrow, down into the 20s for a high. put it with the wind and it's frigid across the area. a windchill advisory early tomorrow morning. our windchills below zero with an air temp, 18-22. the coldest air we have had to deal with in quite some time. we have another wave set to hit next week. >> tom sherwood and amelia segal will be in early tomorrow morning. tom will be here, amelia will be out in the storm team 4 x 4 tomorrow morning. tune in for that. sunshine tomorrow, but it's not going to help. a high of 23. windchills between five and ten all day long. 42 on sunday with showers moving

in late. will turn to snow on monday. but not a lot here. not worried about the snow on monday. worried about the next round of cold. next week, it looks colder. a high of 20 on tuesday, back to 30 degrees on wednesday. we have got brutal winter-like weather making its way in here now. wendy and jim, i think this is just a start for what's to come for the rest of the winter, 2014. >> saturday evening, 16 degrees. yikes! >> saturday morning, waking up to 16. >> yikes! >> we have been warned, thank you. the fbi is chasing a banker accused of fraud for years. the simple way they caught up with him who made off with millions. >> drivers speeding past stopped school buses. now they are going to pay. coming up next in sports, what role will rg 3 have in the

at least two people have interviewed for the redskins head coaching job. there's more on the way. >> dianna russini is just back from redskins park where she talked to the team's general manager today. >> if the redskins don't go with a proven nfl coach or coordinator within the league, they may look to the college ranks. i asked bruce allen about that. art briles says the redskins

have not reached out to him for the job, that would reunite him with his former quarterback, robert griffin iii. he gave no indication they had plans to talk to him what so ever. bruce allen was optimistic and energetic about finding mike shanahan's replacement and vowed the organization will be different next year admitting there were many mistakes made this past season. i asked if robert griffin iii will have any say in the search. allen said rg 3 will not have any involvement in the coaching search. there are several more college coaches being mentioned out there. the redskins reached out to stanford's head coach, david shaw and have yet to hear back. they expect the interview process to continue for at least another week or two. we could be hearing about a lead candidate soon. wendy? jim? >> thanks.

right now at 5:00, distracted driving. >> more than answering a phone call. drivers caught on camera. we'll show you the real dangerous distractions behind the wheel. >> reporter: yet another bank robbery. i'm david culver in sterling. we are going to map out the robberies and tell you what police are doing about it. we are already seeing snow across our region. that may not be the biggest weather concern. more storm team 4 coverage, next.

hello, everybody. chief meteorologist, doug kammerer taking a look at the clock tower at wegmans. snow coming down harder toward the west. this is montgomery county around 270. you can tell what's happening on the roads. that is 270. notice the road there. the road is starting to get covered. the temperatures are dropped below freezing. we are going to see a lot of problems to the west. if you are west of i-95, temperatures are dropping. the snow is coming down quickly. we continue to see the issues as we move on throughout the rest of the hour. this is the radar, storm team 4 radar. here is leesburg and gaithersburg. we are seeing the heaviest snow. it will continue for the next two, three, maybe four hours. you may pick up one to two

inches. down toward the south and east, this is where the rain/snow line is. clinton, waldorf, we are seeing the rain. we will transition to snow as we move through the rest of the night tonight. we are not done just yet. we continue to watch as the moisture continues to make its way up from the south. a lot of moisture to the south. it continues to move up to the north through the night tonight. i-95 could be a mess. then the cold air comes in. we are talking frigid air with a windchill near zero by early tomorrow morning. we'll talk more about it in a minute. >> we have been warned. thank you, doug. who has the right of way? that's the question investigator have to determine after a metro bus collided with a woman in a wheelchair. >> it happened as she was crossing w street at mlk. pat collins is live at the scene. pat? >> reporter: jim, a woman in the hospital tonight after a bizarre

accident involving a metro bus and her wheelchair. you are watching anthony rogers as he talks to his wife in the hospital. his wife, injured today after her wheelchair collided with a metro bus. what did she say? >> she said her hip and knee is on fire. >> reporter: feels like it's on fire? >> she's in pain. >> reporter: she is 43 years old. she had a stroke when she was 14. she's paralyzed on one side. she gets around using this motorized wheelchair. >> she's a normal mom, you know what i'm saying? she goes to her appointments, doctor appointments every day to take care of her daughter. she has a 17-year-old daughter. >> reporter: she was coming home from a doctors appointment when it happened, a collision with

this vehicle. a metro bus, headed to minnesota avenue. vehicle number two, a small battery-powered wheelchair. the scene, the intersection of mlk and w street in anacostia. the bus was trying to make a right hand turn. she was trying to cross the street. this could turn into a case of who had the right of way? at the intersection, the sign says no right turn on red. that means a legal right turn must be made on the green light. at the intersection, a large sign says yield to pedestrians while turning. there are cameras on the bus. there are security cameras at a nearby building. cops were here retrieving video as they investigate the accident. this incident is still under investigation by d.c. police. live in anacostia, pat collins, news 4.

a mother charged with leaving her 4-year-old daughter outside a casino while she gambled is now out on bail tonight. police arrested her on tuesday after they found her daughter cold and crying in their car in this parking garage outside the maryland casino. security video showed brown went into the casino eight hours earlier. she's accused of child abuse and neglect. we asked the i-team to look into state records to see if this is a bigger problem. the maryland gaming and lottery commission has reports of children left in cars outside casinos five times last year. all but one happened during the summer months, when kids weren't in school. two were left outside maryland live. these numbers don't include the arrest this week. the search for a bank robber who got away in loudoun county at the pnc bank in sterling. we noticed a trend in these

crimes. david culver reports on police battling this spike in bank robberies. >> reporter: we watched the police bloodhound tracking a scent. loudoun county deputies hoping it will lead them to this man, the suspected bank robber. describe the scene when you walked out to look across the street. >> then i got scared. >> reporter: around :00 this morning, a man struck this pnc bank, got away with cash. across the street at this day care, january was interviewing for a job. >> i noticed the calmness of the sphere and everything was handled. she protected her children well. >> reporter: you can see behind me, the police tape came down. the trouble is, this is one of a string of recent bank robberies across northern virginia, really. i talked to fairfax county police, they admit there's a spike. >> we did have an up tick in bank robberies. we had 17 the entire year of

2013 versus eight in the year 2012. >> reporter: take a look at the robberies in the past month. an alexandria bank hit december 13th, then herndon. the bank inside this giant, robbed. here is a look at the suspect in that case. eight robberies in three weeks across northern virginia. our inboxes flooded with picture after picture of different suspects. itis not clear if all the robberies are connected. as of now, no arrests. >> i'm not surprised though. >> reporter: why not? >> because, just the way the world is today. >> reporter: in sterling, virginia, i'm david culver, news 4. it's still early in the season but there are already widespread reports of the flu in nearly a dozen states. taking a look at the data from the cdc, virginia is one of those with widespread reports. maryland had local reports and

the district, sporadic cases. the best way to protect yourself is get a flu shot. doctors are getting a lot of patients with the h1n1 strain of the flu. it's the same one that reached pandemic levels in 2009. most strain that is take a toll on the old and young, this has a big impact on people 18 to 49. you can always get the latest information on www.nbcwashington.com. just click the health tab. finally, rescued. a team of researchers stranded on a ship stuck in the ice near antarctica are safe. how they finally made it out. a banker accused of faking his own death to escape with

at h.h. gregg's new year's sale save up to 30% on appliances, electronics, furniture, and more. this 32-inch led tv, $179. samsung 55-inch led tvs, $799. plus, get a washer or dryer for just $288. and, get 24 months special financing on purchases $299 and up. start your year off with huge savings at h.h. gregg's new year's sale, now through january 4th.

>> getting a helicopter to take us home. >> thanks, everyone. >> there they go. helicopters rescuing dozens of scientists and tourists stranded in the antarctic ice since christmas. passengers stomped out the ice around them to create a landing pad. the rescue flight came after several ice cutters failed to plow through the thick ice. all of the 52 passengers are now on an australian ship in that area. a search is under way off

the coast of dubai for an american university student who disappeared while spear fishing. the 35-year-old went free diving with two other friends about 20 miles off the coast yesterday. he was wearing a wet suit, flippers and goggles. his wife says he never resurfaced. boats and divers searched for him today. they were vacationing in dubai. a former georgia banker accused of defrauding investers out of money. aubrey price made an appearance in court. officers pulled him over tuesday saying he had several ids. initially, he wouldn't give up his name. he's been on the run since 2012 when he wrote a good-bye letter to his family. he's been hiding as a migrant worker. if convicts, he could face 30

years in prison. we'll show you what's being done about drivers who were too impatient to wait. i'm liz crenshaw. time to think about recycling that christmas tree.

all right, stormy weather, here is a look at the snow coming down in gaithersburg, falling fast near the airport, at air park road. it's a coming. we have snow in the region, but 5,000 miles away, sunny with a slight breeze. president obama took advantage of that island weather hitting the greens with the prime minister. no word on which world leader came out on top. >> they are certainly glad they are not here, especially in the northeast where they are going

to get hammered with a mess up there. doug? >> they are going to get hammered. we are, too, in our area. some areas reporting one to two inches of snow to the west in montgomery and loudoun county. the storm team 4 radar show whagwhaing what's happening here. the rain and snow to the south. scattered power outages, for sure. it will feel below zero and there will be a hypothermia risk. can we go to max one? we are talking about the snow coming in. down toward the south and east, waldorf, still rain. starting to see a mixture here. same with fredericksburg, leesburg, baltimore, annapolis, reporting snow at this time. the heaviest through leesburg, back through blue month, gaithersburg, clarksburg. this is the area that is going to get hit hard here. we have seen one to two inches.

we will see another one to two inches. winchester, some areas reporting over two inches here. you are starting to see the back edge move out. that's going to continue to occur. then we see the area of low pressure move up the coast. that will develop and more snow develops as it moves in. winter storm warnings to the north including carol county. two to four inches in our area as far as the blue goes here, the purples. loudoun county under the winter weather as visery. we are going to see snow around the d.c. area. snow to the west. here we are around 5:00 this afternoon. that's what we were seeing. here is 8:45. notice, everybody is still in the snow. the heaviest, right around the blue ridge off to the east. if you live in the higher elevations of the blue ridge, you will see more snow than this, upwards of three to six inches. around d.c., 8:45, that's when we think the heaviest snow will

develop. 11:30, still snowing. heaviest snow, montgomery county, washington, southern maryland. you are seeing rain right now. it will change to snow for you. everybody seeing snow around 3:00 in the morning. that's when things get cold. the wind starts to move in. the rain, the snow begins to stop. look at this. 23 for a high tomorrow with a windchill around 10 degrees. that's as high as it gets. it starts with a windchill of zero tomorrow. the same thing tuesday and wednesday. the coldest air in years making its way in not once, but twice. we'll continue to keep you poeszed. mon school buses have extra equipment on board, surveillance cameras. >> the news 4 i-team scott macfarlane revealed the problem last year. he joins us now with more on what he has uncovered. >> state records found more than

1,000 drivers illegally passed a school bus in montgomery county of the the course of one day last year. today, the county installed new equipment with the hopes of cracking down. you are about to see a recent violation in bethesda, nearly ten seconds after the bus stops, a driver zooms by. if it happened today, the driver could get a ticket from police. illegal pass a bus and a camera will notify the police who issue a ticket. they will deploy 20 more. erica says she's long been worried about her young children boarding buses. >> you can't take your eye off the road. you never know when someone is going to dart out. i have seen it happen before. >> reporter: a news 4 record found 7,000 school buses illegally passed by drivers in one day in 2013. >> we hear it from our drivers

all the time. it's scary to drive the bus, koch kids get off and see a car coming. >> reporter: the drivers caught on the camera before issuing the tickets. the tickets will cost $125. no points on the license. montgomery county does not expect to earn much revenue from this surveillance. other counties have tried this. how often are they citing drivers? that part of the story tonight at 6:00. scott macfarlane, news 4. yes, i have smoked crack cocaine. >> toronto mayor, rob ford, two months after his crack confession, ford is running for re-election. he is the first candidate to show up at city hall registering for the mayoral election in october. ford resisted intense pressure to resign. city council stripped him of almost all his powers. a 10 year-old disabled girl wants the makers of american

girl dolls to introduce a girl just like her. she posted this youtube video making her request over the weekend. she created a petition. she has a form of muscular dystrophy. she says the doll would help other girls understand what it's like to be disabled. the "duck dynasty" family launching guns. they will release nine shotguns as well as two semiautomatic rifles and pistol. all the guns will come with an american flag bandana like the one worn by willie, one of the characters on the show. even though the holidays are behind us, some chores need to be done. >> liz crenshaw reports now, jurisdictions in the area are making one chore easier for residents to complete. >> we are talking about the job of taking down the christmas

tree. as sad and tedious as it can be, the job can be simple and environmentally friendly. it was pretty and cute, now the evergreen has to go. you stripped it of the -- if you have a wooded area, place it on its side. it's a perfect habitat for birds and other critters. if you want it gone from your sight, good news. when you place it on the curb, it's life is not lost in the landfill. in fact, they smash and crush the trees. they are whizzed and chopped and turned into mulch for the garden. we are not filling up the landfills, but churning up useful garden stuff as well. here are the rules for recycling that tree. for all jurisdictions, the tree must be free of all decorations.

in d.c., christmas trees will be picked up for recycling through january 11th. put your tree on the curb next to your trash container. if you live in fairfax county, put the tree on the curb for recycling during the first two weeks in january. in arlington county, trees will be picked up january 6 through january 17th on your regular trash collection day. loudoun county offers five locations for residents to drop off christmas trees for recycling through january 19th. those locations are the loudoun county landfill in leesburg. the lovettsville game protection association. franklin park, the south riding town hall and claude moore park in sterling. if you live in prince william county, take your greenery to the compost facility in manassas. novec in gainesville the landfill in manassas or the state park in wood bridge.

in alexandria, curbside for those who receive collection service from the city january 6 through 17th. montgomery county recycles christmas trees year round. put your tree at the curb by 7:00 a.m. on your recycling collection day. in prince george's county, residents place trees at curbside before 6:30 a.m. by february 1st. you can find all this information on our website, www.nbcwashington.com/liz crenshaw. leave it up until march and they will take it away on recycling day. >> thank you, liz. bad driving habits revealed. the cameras don't

most of us are aware of the dangers of texting behind the wheel. there's a new study that says other things we do every day while on the road can be just as dangerous. here is a live look at the american legion bridge. this study looked at drivers who share our roads here in the dmv. >> reporter: a teenage driver zips down the road. watch the upper left. he looks up, he looks down. he is clearly distracted, by his phone, bottom left. he doesn't realize he's headed straight into a curb.

if you drive, you have seen it. >> eating, putting on their make up, dialling on the phone, doing all kind of things. >> reporter: things like not looking at the road. a study of d.c. area drivers shows how bad the distracted driving problem may be. researchers at the national institutes of health and virginia tech found 10% of our time spent behind the wheel, we are doing other things like reaching for the phone, dialling and eating. >> when drivers take their eyes off the roadway for two seconds or longer, crash risk increases dramatically. >> i think it's more than 10%, really. this is the ones being caught. however, i think it's not safe. >> reporter: especially for new, teen drivers. here, a young driver does something with his phone. seconds later, he slams the brakes to avoid hitting a jeep. distracted driving was the number one cause of crashes in

montgomery county in 2012. to crack down, police are enforcing maryland's new cell phone laws. >> i'll be optimistic saying i believe it's going to decline because people are having to pay more attention. >> you see it so much, you don't think there's anything different about it. it's what people do when they drive. >> reporter: in montgomery county, kristen wright, news 4. right now, a snowstorm is falling in our area. it started this afternoon in northern virginia. we have just learned that staff ford county schools plan to open two hours late tomorrow. we should only get a few inches or so. people further north and east, they are going to get slammed. from philadelphia to new york to connecticut and boston, a blizzard could drop more than a foot of snow. hundreds of flights have been canceled. looking at pictures from