right now, temperatures are 20 to 30 degrees colder than this time yesterday, and this cold weather is expected to stick around. coming up, storm team 4 ahead on how cold it's going to stay in the week's chance for snow, as well, coming up. and tough questions about why firefighters failed to help a dying man who was just steps away from their station. today, lawmakers go face to face with the family of the victim at a hearing as new allegations of poor response come to light. good morning, and welcome to "news4 midday," i'm barbara harrison. it's monday, february 24th, 2014. and we begin with angie goff

and the hearing on the first responders. >> it's only a matter of hours before we know why firefighters failed to help a dying man who was just steps away from their station. news4 will be at a hearing regarding the questions of the breakdown of communication between d.c. emergency responders. tommy wells is leading the oversight hearing which starts at 2:00. the focus, the five firefighters who failed to help 77-year-old medrick mills who died from a heart attack outside of their station. in addition to hearing from mills' son, the mom of a man who died in a similar situation four years ago will also testify today. stay with news4 and nbcwashington.com for the very latest developments to come out of this hearing. barbara? >> thank you, angie. another controversy surrounding ambulance response times may also come up at that meeting. it's a story you saw first on news4 at 11:00. sources tell us a fire truck had to take a toddler to a hospital because an ambulance wasn't nearby.

the toddler was having a seizure around 5:00 friday night when paramedics decided not to wait for the ambulance, which was seven miles away. chief kenneth ellerbe said it was the right thing to do. >> it was a good idea. it was the right decision to make, and it was a good decision for the patient. >> ellerbe says he is looking at increasing the number of ambulances on the streets every day from 39 to 45. well, after a brief tease of spring, and it was nice, winter, though, is back. storm team4 meteorologist tom kierein joins us with the first forecast for this mod midday. tom? >> it was feeling like spring over the weekend, and now feeling like winter. it is still february, after all. feeling like february now. as we look at the live view from the sky watcher camera and tinnily town, this scene on friday, there was quite a bit of snow on the ground. but it's now gone after a couple days over the weekend when the temperatures got in the low to mid-60s. beautiful blue sky now. but look at the difference.

it's just in the 30s north and west of the metro area. only a little above freezing in hagerstown. closer to washington, only 43 degrees. that's 21 degrees colder than it was this time -- this time around yesterday afternoon. and around the bay, southern maryland, it's in the upper 40s. already around 50 degrees, though, fredericksburg, near culpeper, charlottesville, in the 40s. and we will have temperatures remaining colder than average for the week ahead and the possibility of some light snow coming in on wednesday. a look at that coming up in just a few minutes. barbara? >> thank you, tom. no>> a northern virginia community is mourning the death of their longtime mayor. vienna mayor m. jay seaman died over the weekend. we have more from vienna. >> reporter: it's a somber day here in vienna, many learning that longtime jane seaman passed away sunday. last year, she announced she had lung cancer. >> it's a shame that we lose a good citizen like the mayor.

>> reporter: vienna resident jeff donley said he's known the mayor for 20 years. >> she's a beautiful, personable lady, great personality, always thought about the people. she took her job very seriously. >> reporter: she moved to vienna in 1968. she was first appointed to town council in 1996 after her husband, a then councilman passed awayment she filled his council seat and ran for re-election twice and won. in 2000, she decided to run for mayor and won every election since. >> it's a huge loss for vienna as far as somebody who put so much into ensuring that vienna remained the great place that it is. >> reporter: she was diagnosed with lung cancer last year, and though the long time mayor decided against running for another term, she continued to work through her illness. she was here just last week. >> even when she wasn't feeling that great, she was, like, you know, this is my responsibility, this is what i signed up for.

and i think that says a lot about who she was as a person. >> reporter: town councilman howard springsteen said she was the face of vienna for so many years and will be missed by everyone. back here live now, you can see this bunting was put up by town employees. obviously, she is very, very missed. we know now the vice-mayor will take over mayor seaman's spot. within 45 days, the council will appoint somebody else. the person -- their term, i should say, will be up in june, when hers would be. live in vienna, melissa malay news44. israeli police say a maryland murderer smuggled a gun into the jail where he had been held for two decades. sunday afternoon, sham you'll shinebahn opened fire. the 34-year-old was serving a 24-year sentence for killing and dismembering a maryland teen. he fled to israel with his father shortly after the remains

of the person he killed were found back in 1997. an investigation into how sheinbaun got the gun into prison is under way at this time. we're working to find out the name of the man killed near the congress heights metro station. he was o of two men shot last night near alabama avenue and 13th street in southeast d.c. the second victim is expected to be okay. investigators are looking into what led to that shooting. and a new report is out this ndscape of ecation in d.c.e let's go to the live desk now. democratic candidate doug duncan has formally filed the papers to make a run for his old job. duncan filed with the montgomery county board of election to be on the ballot in june. in that primary, he will face two-term county executive isaiah leggett and county council member phil andrews. duncan served three terms as

county executive starting in 1994. in 2006, he withdrew from the governor's race citing clinical depression. now, recovered, duncan says mental health is an issue he wants to address if he is able to be elected this time around. we've learned that doug duncan has formally filed the papers to make a run to be county executive. that's the latest from the live desk. barbara, back to you. >> all right, thank you, angie. and now, on that report out this morning that shows a changing landscape of education in d.c., parents now have a lot of choices when deciding where to send their kid to school. news4's megan mcgrath is live at the wilson building with more on that. megan? >> reporter: well, barbara, there is a lot of choice out there for students here in d.c. if you take a look at this chart here from the 2012-2013 school year, you can see that onl about 25% of d.c. students went to their neighborhood school, the school that is in the boundaries of where they live. others chose to do other things. 42% of d.c. students actually

went to charter schools instead. another 23%, well, they went to a d.c. public school, but they just didn't go to their neighborhood school. they went to a school outside the drawn boundaries of where they live. and the question is, is that a good thing? is that a good system? is it good for the students here of the district of columbia? it was 1968, if you can imagine. that was the last time that the school boundaries here were reviewed. and so, now the district is taking another look. a lot has changed since then. they're taking a look at the system, trying to see if it's in the interest of the children, if it's the best system in place. they're going to be looking at the school boundaries. they're also asking questions about school choice. do parents like it? do they want more of it? do they want less of it? do they think that it hurts neighborhood schools by offering all of this choice? these are the questions being asked, and they're going to take a look at those boundaries. and in a few months, they'll come up with a plan.

>> many families are choosing their neighborhood school, and many families who aren't choosing their neighborhood school have lots of different reasons for doing so. so to be sure, in some cases it's because they don't feel it's the quality of the neighborhood of the school is something that they're happy with, but there's lots of other reasons that families make those choices. >> reporter: and they're going to be taking a look at the other reasons, why people are choosing to send their children to the schools that they're sending them to. now, parents and students can have input into this process. there are a few months to go here before any decisions are made. so it's died open right now. you can actually sign up to be a part of a focus group. you can go to

the navy is holding a drill today in hopes it will prevent tragedies like last year's navy yard shooting. all navy bases and installations in our area will conduct a security drill called solid curtain citadel shield. the annual exercise makes sure the navy is prepared to respond to a variety of threats at its facilities across our region. the drill will last all week. the united states could have its smallest army since world war ii under defense secretary chuck hagel's new budget. it would reduce the army between 440,000 and 450,000 members. it had been 570,000 after september 11. the budget eliminates the entire fleet of air force a-10 attack

aircrafts, but this should tell you how hagel sees the future of national defense. funding won't be cut for special ops or cyberwar fare. and we're following a developing story in ukraine. the acting president of ukraine announced today that the campaigning for the country's president will begin tomorrow. right now, there's a warrant out for the arrest of former president viktor yanukovych. he was last seen leaving kiev on friday after months of protest over his moves to strengthen ties with russia. the ukrainian government wants to put him on trial for mass murder, but they have to find him first. anger boiled over last week after snipers attacked protesters in the bloodiest violence in ukraine's post-soviet history. and right now, president obama is meeting with governors from across the country. they're in town for the national governors association meeting. the president hosted them for dinner last night at the white house. he told them he'll count on them to get things done when congress fails to act.

>> i want to make sure that i have the opportunity to partner with each of you in any way that i can to help more americans work and study and strive and make sure that they see their efforts and their faith in this country rewarded. >> now, not all governors may be willing to work with the president. louisiana's republican governor, bobby jindal, told the "washington post," the president's policies are making the division between democrats and republicans worse. and for more on the president's meeting with governors right now, we're joined by domenico montanaro, nbc's deputy political editor. good morning. >> good morning. >> there are some governors who are laying low during this time here in washington. is chris christie actually here? has he had any friendly meeting with the president? >> well, that's one notable exception to who is laying low. christie's skipping the white house meetings. he's also skipping his own press conference today at 1:15. instead, we'll hear from jindal, who's the former chairman of the rga, and some other republican governors.

you know, is this because of the bridge scandal that's enveloped his administration? possibly, because certainly there'll be a lot of questions about that here in d.c. but he says it's for his daughter's 18th birthday, which she turns today. so he wants to get home for that. so work-life balance is what he's saying. >> he was here over the weekend as the governors were seen around town. and john dingell. longest serving congressman in u.s. history. >> in history, yeah. >> tell us about why he's decided to retire. >> entered in 1955. he's worked a long time on health care, in particular, and, you know, he worked on not only the affordable care act but medicare way back in the day. >> that's right. >> when that was finally implemented. so this was a big deal for him to be able to see it -- see the affordable care act through. you know, of course, he's getting older. been there since 1955, like we said. so i think at some point everyone expected he would

retire. >> there has been talk that his wife could replace him. >> never know. she could be somebody -- she's a name in d.c. who a lot of peo e people -- >> deborah dingell. >> that's right. on the board of gm, and somebody who -- you know, always a good source for a lot of reporters to talk to. >> right. and they have been talking for years that she would replace him if he ever retired. he's the 20th member to announce that he will retire, and there are a lot of people out there -- how many retirements are we seeing? >> well, you know, it's not as much as i think people will say, you know, there's so many retirements now. but if we would go back and say, this time, in the cycle, in 2010, 2006, this is when you start to see people, you know, announcing their retirements, because there's still time for candidates to get in. you can't wait too long, otherwise people miss filing deadli deadlines. >> let me ask you about the military cuts we just talked about. is this going to turn into a political fight, you think? >> you can bet it probably will.

without earmarks anymore, it's very difficult -- there's no levers that people can use to say, you know, this is what i've done for my district. well, one of the things they can do for their districts, there's a lot of jobs -- we know in virginia and other places where the military is an important aspect of that state. and when you've got places that are known for shipbuilding or for other kinds of weaponry building, that means jobs, and you can bet the congressmen in those districts will fight hard to stop the reductions. >> all right, domenico, thank you. a lost folks talking about the weather today. we'll talk about that, too. tom is here. do we have a story we're going to read first? we do. today, the supreme court is hearing the obama administration defend its limit on greenhouse gas emissions from factories and power plants. industry groups in republican-led states say the epa is overstepping its

authority because congress hasn't approved them. the white house says it has the authority, though, under the clean air act to do that. and now, storm team4 meteorologist tom kierein. i was just anxious to get him in here. i want him to stand up and tell us -- well, you don't have to stand up -- but talk about the snow. are we really going to get more? >> i know. after that wonderful weekend, talking mid-60s on saturday and again on sunday, melted all of the snow we had back on february 13th, most of the area, that snow is gone. we'll add a little more, but not yet. the storm team4 radar is scanning the sky. we have no snow, no rain, a gorgeous blue sky, lots of sunshine. there is the washington monument, the jefferson memorial under this beautiful blue sky. no snow there. it is 43 at reagan national. very dry. dew point down to just 12. humidity only at 28%. wind out of the northwest. it's gusting around 10 to 15 miles per hour. it will stay blustery as we get into the afternoon. a chilly monday by contrast from yesterday. and it's just in the mid to

upper 30s in montgomery county. loudon county's upper0s. near 40 in much of fairfax county. prince william county, the low 40s, and farther south and west there, the mid-40s fredericksburg, though, now up to 50 degrees. areas east and south of washington are in the low to mid-40s, and we'll hold steady in the mid-40s into the afternoon with the wind getting a little blustery through midafternoon. lots of sunshine. and then, the temperature will gradually drop back down into the upper 30s by late evening. then it's going to continue to drop, and all the way down to the 20s by dawn on tuesday. average high this time of year is 50 degrees. each day, though, the high temperature will be below 50. the coldest days, next several days, will be on wednesday, and again on friday. and it does look like we have a possibility of some snow on wednesday after we get to near 40 tomorrow afternoon. increasing clouds. and then, on wednesday, now it looks like in the morning we'll have some light snow.

1 to 3 inches around the metro area. that will be over quickly, and will end by mid to late morning as the latest timing on that. some sunshine getting back in the afternoon, just barely getting above freezing, so a lot of the snow will stay around for a while, all the way into thursday morning when it'll be down into the teens. but then, thursday afternoon should make it into the low 40s, and so a lot of the snow will be melting. then cold again as we get into friday. friday morning, down to just near 20 degrees, afternoon highs on friday should make it into the mid-30s. and then, a bit milder as we get into the weekend. should be a bit milder on saturday, and gend on sunday. we'll have highs saturday, the mid-40s, quite a bit of cloudiness around. and then on sunday, sunshine breaking out, partly sunny, afternoon highs in the upper s 40s. and that is going to show the trend as well starting off next week, too, at least with highs near -- the average high -- 50 degrees, as we say good-bye to

february and hello march. march marches in on the weekend with temperatures in the 40s each afternoon. so that's the way it looks. maybe this'll be the last snow of the season coming up, although we've had them in march. >> yeah. >> the chances of getting a big snow in march, very, very small. >> and this one is not going to be very big. >> does not look big on wednesday at all, no. >> all right, thank you, tom. it is 11:22. voicing concern, a doctor's group is warning parents to think twice before using one of the drugstore clinics. we'll tell you why. plus, from howard university to traveling around the world to sing, we'll introduce you to the living legend jessye norman. first, here's a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com. [ male announcer ] attention small business owners:

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a heads-up for paernlts this morning. the american academy of pediatrics says you should think twice before taking your sick child to a drugstore health clinic. some parents choose them because they're cheaper and have longer hours, but they said the parents should stick with the pediatrician that's already developed a relationship with you and your family. one reason, the pediatrician can detect subtle problems that might otherwise be missed. >> we see children from birth through age 21, sometimes older. and so, we have -- we have an understanding of that child and that family dynamics. >> right now, about 20% of patients at cvs minute clinics are between the ages of 18 months and 18 years old. a representative for cvs says its minute clinic plays a complementary role in kids' health care and does not replace a pediatrician. if you own an apple computer, keep an eye out for an update that should protect you from hack attacks.

the tech company say it is will release a software update soon. it will protect against the same security flaw that was just fixed on iphones and ipads. the problem involves the way software recognizes digital certificates used by banking websites, g-mail and facebook to set up encrypted connections. without the fix, a hacker could pretend to be one of the sites and gain access to your personal data. well, today we'll get a look at what could be the next big smartphone. samsung will unveil its newest galaxy smartphone today. one feature some people want to see is a fingerprint sensor similar to the rival, the iphone 5. the big reveal is happening at an event in spain. facebook ceo mark zuckerberg will deliver the keynote address. samsung says it will show the latest take on the smartwatch. it's 11:27, and right now, the world's most wanted drug lord is behind bars. coming up, the role the u.s.

wants to play in keeping him there. plus, this video has parents in disbelief this morning. a principal dragging a kindergarten student down the hall. the punishment she received, and why some say it doesn't go far enough. and morning sunshine doesn't do much toarm things up for us this morning. storm team4 meteorologist tom kierein will be back with how long our temperatures will stay so low.

right now, mexico's top drug lord is in a mexican jail, but a retired dea agent says it will not stop drugs from coming into the u.s. another expert says his arrest could create more violence. he expects a power struggle within mexican drug cartels. mexican marines arrested joaquin guzman over the weekend. he escaped from a mexican prison in 2001. the u.s. wants mexico to extradite him to face at least seven federal indictments here.

and this morning, we're waiting to hear the sentencing for a former virginia marine. this past november anthony taglianetti was convicted for the shooting death of a school superintendent. reid and his wife were having an online relationship at the time of the shooting. he blames the online affair for pushing him to drive more than 400 miles to shoot reid three times, resulting in his death. he is facing 25 years to life behind bars. and we're working to find out more information about a man shot in northern virginia. the shooting happened last night near north payne and wyatt streets in old town alexandria. he was found with a gunshot wound to the chest. he was rushed to the hospital in stable condition. the shooting has no connection, police say, to the recent murder of music teacher ruth ann ladatto. right now, prince george's county police are handing out

fliers in connection to a triple murder hoping someone will come forward with information. saturday night, police found the bodies of weldon mason, stacy white, and ortiz olah, all in olah's apartment on marlboro pike in the capital heights neighborhood. they worked together at a retail store in laurel, maryland. police are offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in this case. today, in annapolis, the maryland senate will debate two bills to decriminalize marijuana. one bill would make it just a civil offense to have less than 10 grams of pot. you'd be fined, but wouldn't face any criminal charges. the other bill would make it legal for adults to carry small amounts of marijuana. you'd have to be at least 21, though, to do that. no change, no problem. you'll have more options to pay your parking meter in bethesda this afternoon at 1:00. montgomery county executive isaiah leggett will celebrate the first smart parking meter installations. you'll be able to pay street meters using your credit card.

the county department of transportation will replace the tops of 840 street parking meters in bethesda. the work is expected to take about a week to be finished. now, you're going to have just a few more hours to sign up for a group that will work at curbing cyber bullying, an idea that began after the leader of one of the area's biggest school districts started getting threatening tweets. angie goff is here with more on how you can have a say on what's being said online. angie? >> barbara, you have until 5:00 p.m. to apply to be a part of the cyber civility task force for montgomery county schools. the campaign was just started by the superintendent, joshua starr, here. he hope it is will open up talks about civility on twitter and other social networks. the task force is starr's response to what he says was disturbing behavior by students and parents online. the school leader was the target of threatening and offensive tweets following his recent calls on snow days. some were so disturbing that

staff reported them to security. and so far, we checked and we're told that 180 people have applied. you can, too, on school district's website. barbara? >> all right, thanks, angie. and speaking of snow days, all of the playing in the snow that we've had this winter means some of your kids are getting less time on the playground right now. prince william county is cutting elementary school recess from 15 minutes down to 10 minutes starting today. the school board's decision allowed the county to adjust one day to the end of the year. but it's a very unpopular compromise with some people. one parent started a petition on change.org calling on the county to give back the recess time. it has nearly 1,500 signatures on that petition. we're going to check in again with tom kierein on the latest forecast, which includes a little more snow. tom? >> yes. accent on the little. and it is cold. got a blustery wind from the north and west that just penetrates even my puffy coat. and we've got a gorgeous blue

sky. time is on our side. only a few more days left to february. it's certainly feeling like february now. 43 at reagan national. 30s farther north and west. south, though, it's near 50. fredericksburg over toward parts of central virginia, southern maryland, in the mid-40s. highs this afternoon should hover near 50. parts of north central virginia in the mid-40s around the metro area. highs only near 40 farther north and west. snow potential for wednesday morning. 1 to 3 inches is likely around the metro area. in the darker blue zone. the lighter blue zone, an inch or less. and it'll stick, because the temperatures will be right in the upper 20s when that snow falls on wednesday morning. so that may cause some problems for the wednesday commute. and then, as we get into thursday and friday in the rest of the week, we'll have temperatures below average, and we'll have highs reaching just near 40 tomorrow, and again on thursday after we get the snow in wednesday. and then over the weekend into the 40s on saturday and sunday.

barbara? >> okay, tom, thank you. right now, wildlife officials are investigating the death of a 30-foot-long whale in the chesapeake bay. the whale was found near an island at the maryland-virginia border yesterday morning. the virginia aquarium's stranding response team conducted a rare on-boat necropsy on the animal. they're now studying tissue samples to determine what type of whale it was and how the animal died. and this morning, we're getting a look at disturbing video showing a connecticut elementary school principal dragging students down hallway. take a look at this video from 2012. this is principal carmen dixon, dragging a kindergartner through the halls. another clip shows dixon pull the same child by the hood. the video was just released, but dixon has already been punished. she's currently on a six-month unpaid suspension. she'll be back on the job next month. some school administrators and parents say dixon should be fired.

>> you're not supposed to put your hands on anybody else's child. >> you don't know the situation she did, it may have triggered something more traumatic for the kids, and that's not right. >> the client's actions, the attorney says, were within board policy guidelines in using reasonable force. maryland has the third-highest foreclosure rate in the country. the naacp says that's far too high, and it's hosting a rally to call for a six-month freeze on foreclosures. they say lawmakers need to change state policy. the rally begins at 4:30 at the statehouse in annapolis. more than two weeks of olympic competition is officially over today, and russia can now call it a blockbuster success. take a look at the final medal count. the host country came out on top with 33 total and landed the most gold with 13 gold medals. the u.s. came in second with 28. norway, canada, and the

netherlands round out the top five, just off the pace of the u.s. the cauldron is barely cold in sochi, and already the world is turning its attention to the next olympic games. but that attention is shedding light on some major problems for the host of the summer games, and that's reo. chief global correspondent bill nealy has the progress report. >> reporter: reo, the site of the next olympics. but behind the smiles and the excitement serious concerns. >> it's just a huge bay of sewage. >> reporter: this bay will host olympic sailing. it's filthy, and reo is struggling to clean it up on time. reo's mayor concedes it's a problem. >> this is one of our biggest challenge. we can -- we have to show that we are able to deal with these things. >> reporter: this is the site of the next olympic games. it's a building site. the officials in charge of the

olympics are telling reo to speed up. there's not a single day to lose, they say. they won the games in spite of being the least prepared to host them. the city's feeling the heat from olympic officials. they're worried. are you? >> of course. of course. i have to worry. that's my job. i worry every day. >> reporter: brazil has seen its worst riots in decades over the cost of hosting the olympics and this summer's soccer world cup. many are angry, too, that thousands of reo's poorest have been evicted to build olympic facilities. this man fears his family is next. "brazil has the olympics," he says, "but no justice." new homes have been built to house some of the evicted, but the demolitions continue. they watched the winter games, baffled at some events. next, it's their turn.

they love a party. but will it be on time? every city official i talk to says reo will be ready. the international olympic organizers say this city needs constant supervision. the road to the reo games won't be easy. back to you. >> and that was nbc's bill nealy reporting. before reo hosts the olympics, it will host, as we just heard, the world cup, and that's coming up this summer. 11:41 is the time now. the laundry product coming under fire for staining clothes. plus, a woman who is described as one of the greatest sopranos of all time. how this living legend ended up at howard university, and then at ho[ male announcer ]nd then pillsbury grands biscuits.

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school in augusta, she was an exceptional student and outstanding member of the choir. she was chosen to compete in a single competition in philadelphia. on the way home with her choir director, they stopped to see the sites in washington, d.c., and decided to visit howard university. she sat in and sang along with a class at the famed howard school of music. the professor was impressed. >> she said, how old are you? and so, i said, i'm 16. i just turned 16. i am all grown up. and so, she said, well, how -- where are you in high school? i said, well, i said, i have another year. and she said, well i suppose you have to finish high school before you could come to school here. i said come to school here? at that moment, she went down to the dean of the college and said i want to teach this child. make sure that she comes to howard university. that's how i happened to have a scholarship to howard university. >> reporter: after graduating, she moved to europe where she wa

we're following several developing stories right here on nbc4 today. first, in just a few hours, the d.c. fire department will have to answer for some high-profile mishaps. we'll be there as council members try to get to the bottom of communication problems among first responders that have been connected to several deaths. and right now, president obama is meeting with governors from across the country at the white house. the governors are in town for the national governors association winter conference. just a few moments ago, president obama appealed for help from the governors to help boost the economy.