creighton's corner elementary school in ashburn. now doctors are warning be prepared for the week ahead because as kids head back to school the number of flu cases could climb. here's northern virginia bureau reporter david culver with a look at how local hospitals are preparing. >> the symptoms you need to look out for, coughing shortness of breath and fever. doctors say they are worried because despite this recent spike in flu cases they tell me we have not yet seen the worst this season. >> if the symptoms are bad, short of breath and coughing you may need some help for a couple of days in the hospital. always play it safe. come to the er and get checked out. >> reporter: the medical team working overtime at inova alexandria emergen room. >> i don't think we hit a plateau yet. but it's definitely been inundating our er here. >> reporter: the doctor would know. he's chief of infection control here.

he tells me a big part of the spike is that the flu shot isn't doing the job. in years past it's about 80% effective. >> this year 52% effective. covering half the flu antigens. i still recommend a flu shot. lessens the symptoms and the swert of the illness. >> reporter: while treating the flu with tamiflu medication has been successful the doctor warns a shortage of that drug could cause added problems. >> if the number of cases keep spiking eventually we'll have a shortage. >> reporter: the staff here and at area hospitals are not taking any chances. they recently put up these signs. they have new visiting policies telling folks that if they are under 16 they are not allowed in and no more than two visitors per patient. now we have posted more information on our nbc washington app when it comes to the cdc's most recent report when it comes to flu deaths.

you can find that again by logging on to our app. in alexandria i'm david culver. >> latest flu activity map from the cdc shows widespread activity across most of our country right now and that inclmaryland. there are localized cases in d.c. doctors say the best way to protect yourself is the flu shot. make sure you wash your hands often. don't touch your eyes nose or mouth. and if you do get sick limit contact with others and stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone. developing right now traffic is backing up on a busy commuter route in northern virginia as crews try to repair a water main that burst early this morning. it happened on columbia pike and bailey's crossroads near gordon street. jackie bensen there with some drivers who are growing impatient. >> r we got two things going on here. we'll show you one right behind

me. work to repair this 16-inch water main and i'm not an engineer but i do think that piece of pipe on the ground is the water main in question. that work while it is being done requires columbia pike to be shut down between blair street and tyler street. we have some pictures of what the traffic looks like right now. they were taken just a few moments ago and the traffic is pretty bad, folks are just telling us it has been a long wait to go a short distance. we also have some video to show you of what it looked like when this water main blew and buckled columbia pike here in the bailey's cross road area early this morning. there was a great fear that water would be cut off for an extended period of time. that didn't happen. but these repairs are causing traffic slow downs and we talked to motorists just a short time ago. >> it's been really bad. i've only gone half a mile in 40 minutes. >> i turned in one block over and been sitting here for 20

minutes. >> almost there. >> my house is one block away. another 20 minutes. >> reporter: so good news most of the folks in this area have water. bad news if you are headed home tonight and have to use columbia pike in the bailey's cross road area fairfax county it's not going to be an easy trip. live in fairfax, county jackie bensen news4. let's look at our forecast. we'll have a cold night in our area and some cold weather finally moving in from canada doug? >> what's that wendy? >> cold air moving in from canada? >> yeah. that's where it comes. coming in from canada. i couldn't hear you. right now we're talking about cold air exactly. making its way in from canada and that cold air the coldest we've seen so far this season. right now 33 degrees in bowie, 30 degrees in gaithersburg 40 in washington 36 in fort belvoir. we're already below freezing in a couple of locations and it will be a very cold night tonight. something else we're watching. we got a storm making its way

here for the weekend, some of the worldest air for new year's eve. this weekend a storm either off the coast or back to the west. coming up i'll show you where the storm will go what it brings for your weekend and what to expect temperature wise for new year's eve. right now the sun is up and it's wednesday morning in southeast asia. crews on the scene of that airasia crash are still calling it a search-and-rescue mission. after three days they know the plane crashed into the java sea. so far they say they have recovered as many as six bodies and debris that includes a life jacket. emer exit door. and a suitcase. we found out what relatives are doing now in honor of their loved ones. >> reporter: the worst fears were realized today for relatives of passengers aboard a missing airasia flight when they looked up and saw bodies appear in the sea via a live feed from one of the search helicopters.

>> you know it's an experience i never dreamt of happening and it's probably an airline's ceo worst nightmare. >> reporter: after three days of searching the java crews discovered bodies and debris just ten miles from the plane's last reported position. indonesian authoriti confirmed the bodies and wreck jagr from the airasia passenger jet with 162 people on board that disappeared sunday. >> it's a horrible horrible experience. >> rep recovery crews will continue scene at an their efforts on aisha low area in the water where they see a large dark shadow. >> i am confident that they know more or less the position of the aircraft so we should be able to locate it. >> reporter: relatives have chartered a plane to fly over the area and pray for their loved ones. divers are preparing to search for more bodies and body bags and coffins are being prepared

at the nearest city. more trouble for airasia today after one of its jets over shot a runway in the philippines. the airasia zest flight was landing in stormy weather when the plane skidded off the runway. 159 passengers and crew members on board. they evacuated the airbus a 320 using emergency slides. a local woman says she got heartbreaking -- >> where's your mic? >> later she learned he's actually alive and well. a story you first saw on news4. she talked with our pat collins about this unusual case of mistaken identity. >> reporter: raymond robinson alive and well. startling news since last week police told his mother he was

dead. gunned down in a shoot out with the cops. >> i told all my family and, you know my mother and everything. it was devastating news. then i had to call everybody back i talked to my son and they thought i was delusional. >> reporter: 3:00 p.m. december 24th christmas eve, police caught a robbery suspect off naylor road in southeast. they say he a gun. that he shot at police. that they returned fire and the suspect was shot and killed. 2:00 a.m. december 25th two detectives come to karen robinson's home. the detectives ask to see a picture of her son raymond robinson. she shows him this picture and then they give her the bad news. >> they looked at me and i looked at them. you know how somebody looks at you when they will give you some i said don't tell me. i broke down. they said we're so sorry ma'am. i said how do you know it's my son. and then they said do you have a picture of him. i showed him a picture that i

have of my son and they said yeah we're sure. >> reporter: 10:00 a.m. december 25th karen gets a phone call. it's her son raymond. he wants to wish her a merry christmas. >> he says merry christmas mom. i said who is this? he said mom it's raymond. i said boy they said you dead. they got you out being dead. and he said no. he said i'm alive standing here. >> reporter: 6:00 p.m. december 29th a detective comes back to her house to apologize for the mistaken identity. >> what do you make of this? >> i think they should make a positive i.d. on a person before they come. anything could have happened. i could have had a heart attack. >> reporter: in a statement d.c. police say proper protocol was not followed in the identificati process.

they say the department is investigating how this occurred so that it doesn't happen again. the man really killed in that shoot out with police has been identified as 33-year-old gregory marcus gray of no fixed address. in northwest, pat collins, news4. a 2-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his mother inside a walmart store in idaho. police say the woman was shopping with her four children when the toddler reached into her purse and the concealed gun in there went off. the woman's name has not been released. we learned she was in the area visiting relatives. investigators say that woman did have a permit to carry a concealed weapon. congressman at the center of a storm of criticism is reaching out. we'll tell you what he's saying now about his speech before a white supremacist group. >> news4 i team investigation in what's cost potential home

buyers tens of thousands of dollars and how their dreams of ho were shattered. law enforcement officers gathered to honor a c

final farewell today for a

fallen county officer in charles county maryland. corporal james clagett with the sheriff's department there in the county was killed in a car accident on sunday. after doing what he loved to do and that is helping others. today hundreds of people attended his funeral. the emotional tributes began early this morning. our chris gordon has our report. >> reporter: chopper 4 followed the thin blue line of motorcycles and patrol cars from across our region driving through waldorf, maryland. corporal jamel clagett is being remembered as a passionate officer, protecting innocent by standers from harm helping anyone in need and once paying from his own pocket for a hotel room for a homeless person. corporal jamel clagett was 30 years old and was known for acts of kindness. on sunday morning december 21st

after working the midnight shift he brought breakfast tore the communicatio sta before driving home. he was killed when his car hit a tree. >> corporal clagett was a very compassionate indi >> repor near the end of the ceremony there was one final police radio call made to corporal clagett. ap 447, your watch has ended. you are gone but will not be forgotten. >> as a dispatcher hearing that last call it's a lifeline and not hearing him respond, it's really sad. >> reporter: corporal clagett leaves behind a loving family including a brother who serves with the prince george's county police department truly a brother in blood and a brother in blue. from waldorf, maryland chris gordon news4. pressure is mounting on house majority whip steve scalise tonight. to step down from his leadership

role. the republican from louisiana admitted to speaking to a group of white supremacists in 2002 when he was a state legislator. he said he didn't know the views of the group at the time. the southern poverty law center is calling on scalise to step down. house speaker john boehner and other republicans are supporting scalise who released a statement today saying in part quote it was a mistake i regret and i elm fatigually oppose the divisive racial and religious views groups like these hold. we have got some cold weather already here. already upon us. >> we haven't seen a lot of it so far this winter and really this is going to be one of the first shots that we see and maybe teen coldest air we see so far this winter. still not saying a whole lot. temperature out there right now has been on the cold side. very cold evening currently. we're seeing 40 degrees at the airport. winds out of the northwest at 13 miles per hour. what about temperatures around the suburbs? that's where it gets colder faster. 30 degrees in gaithersburg 30

back towards the martinsburg area and 32 down towards luray. many areas below freezing. we'll don't drop and many of you will be close to that 20 degree mark early tomorrow morning. no rain no snow on the radar, we're not going see anything any time soon. we'll be dry for the next couple of days and take at that look. clear skies. that wilw things to cool. to the north cold air moving down from the great lakes. that's why we have any clouds in the great lakes. few areas of lake-effect snow but that's it. not a whole lot in the way of storm systems out there and that's why we're on the dry side. again we'll be on the cold side. down to 30 in d.c. 21 in manassas. 2 2i7b leesburg. 21 in gaithersburg. 29 in annapolis. you say that's pretty cold but that's close to average. average low temperature is actually at 30 degrees. we'll be right at average tonight. tomorrow we'll be below average by about four or five degrees. 39 in d.c. 36 in gaithersburg. martinsburg 36 degrees.

our friends down in culpeper 37 degrees. much sunshi. even though we have sunshine cold for new year's eve and we're talking about a wind chill too. make sure you're wearing those coats, make sure you're wearingsunglasses the hats. tomorrow night it's going to be one cold evening, your wednesday night or wednesday 39 degrees but take a look at what we expect to find around the midnight hour. we're talking dry and cold. actual temperature around 26 to 33 degrees. that's cold enough. but you add a little five to ten mile-per-hour wind makes it feel like 20 to 25 degrees. again a very cold night tomorrow night. if you're heading out for new year's e night be safe. 42 degrees for the winter classic. looking good on new year's day. 44 on friday. this weekend watching a storm system we talked about it yesterday. this storm looks like it is going to stay on the inland track wasn't that track we get warmer up to 52 degrees on sunday. we'll see rain move in lay it on

saturday. this storm is mainly rain. we say mainly rain because it will start off fairly cold on saturday morning if this rain moves in fast enough we could see freezing rain maybe some sleet or snow mixed in early but then changes to all rain. this is not going be a big event for us. sunday this is all in the morning by the afternoon we could be drier and temperatures at 52. no bad out there before things cool down. colder air follows and yes chance for snow next tuesday. how big of a chance? not that big. >> that's not very big at all. thank you, doug. jim handly is at our live desk. breaking news out of canada. >> some violent news. violent story coming out of edmonton canada. nine dead in separate but connected likes. here's what we know from the cbc. nine people found dead in those locations in edmonton and fort saskatchewan. four people were found inside a home among them two children. also a woman was found inside

another home and a man believed to be suicidal believed to be the gunman was found in a nearby restaurant where windows had been blown out a mercedes suv was smashed and the side window was found in front of that restaurant. word yet on a motive but according to the cbc nine people have died at three separate but between connected locations. we'll bring you more as it comes into the live desk. back to you. a major home builder under the spotlight. coming up why some people who saved for years to buy a home ended up paying thousands for a place they will never own. final push under way to beat a year end deadline. we'll find out whether the department o can deliver on a promise to have street cars running on h street in the next couple of days. >> fraternity hazing why a local student wait ad year to file a suit against

former president george h.w. bush is spending his first night at home in more than a week. the 41st president was released from a hospital in houston, texas today. he was rushed there last tuesday by ambulance suffering from breathing pr. the fa spokesperson said the former president is grateful to the doctors and nurses for their superb care at the hospital. at 5:00 we told you there's a good chance that the

district's new street car service could start tomorrow. how much will it cost you news4 transportation reporter adam tuss has the details. >> reporter: d.c.'s long awaited street car service expected to start soon. and when it does start you probably won't have to pay a dime to use it. a source with direct knowledge of the program tells news4 the service will most likely be free at first to get riders used to the system. that news makes h street visitors like joe happy. >> yes. free is always better. >> reporter: what still is not known whether or not the city will make its own deadline of delivering street car service to passengers by the end of this year as in the end of tomorrow. >> the all-important question when do you thin it will start? >> oh, man they have been saying that for years. i would say hopefully within the next like three weeks i would imagine they would finalize everything. >> repor these signs an indication a special event planned for tomorrow right here

on h street and we're told the event is street car related once service does start here there will be a learning curve to get used to it all. even at this hour district department o officis are meeting to decide whether or n street car service can start. we're told it's 50-50 whether or not the mayor cuts a ribbon here tomorrow. on h street adam tuss news4. a reminder that you can not park along thet car route on new year's day even if those cars aren't running yet. if you're in the lane you'll get a ticket opinion it's expensive. don't forget parking rules will also be enforced near nationals park on thursday for the winter classic. and if you're heading out wednesday nit to ring in the new year metro will be open until 2:00 a.m. next new action against a dangerous college ritual the steps one leader is taking to protect local students. scratch your chance at instant money. the lottery ticket trouble

cleaning out shelves and why it will be a while before you can cash in again. >> finding a dream home turned into a nightmare. showing you how one small cla

tonight a report about one of the most popular custom home builders in the country. >> tonight their customers are

telling how they lost tens of thousands of dollars trying to buy their dream home and what you need to know so it doesn't happen to you. this is where edward singleton pictured himself living a custom home in loudoun county built from the ground up. >> it was roughly four bedrooms three and a half baths, with wood floors and a kitchen. >> working as a spectacle education teacher in loudoun county edward said he saved for a decade for the nearly $20,000 down payment he made on this home. >> my vision was a new home. maintenance free. >> four years later edward is still living in his old house with a broken furnace and no air conditioning fighting to get his life savings back. >> it doesn't make any sense. >> natasha brown said she too lost her entire down payment when she tried to build a custom home in prince george's county. >> 52,000 to put my daughter

through college. >> both signed contracts wi toll brothers which list itself on its web side as leading builder of luxury homes. i want sells more homes here in the d.c. virginia and maryland region than anywhere else. it owns its own mortgage company, tbi mortgage. edward and natasha said they could have used another lender but decided to go with tbi because they were promised free upgrades. >> if you don't take the mortgage lender you lose all the goodies. you lose the chef kitchen. you lose the finished basement. you lose whatever it is offered in closing. >> but after signing contract they were told they didn't qualify for their original financing offer. instead, they say they were oft or no loan at all meaning they lost their dream home. and their down payment. >> i was told that my debt to

income ratio was too high. >> after you had signed the ch after. >> they say they were never preapproved for a loan and the news4 i team found out they are not alone. tbi never preapproved a loan in the s but the company's financial statements reported $125 million in revenue since 2006 by seizing down payments from cancelled contracts. class action lawsuit against the company even alleges toll brothers made more money cancelling contracts than selling houses after the housing market collapsed. in a statement toll brothers tells us in each of these instances we retain the original buyer's deposit to mitigate the actual losses we incurred but only after many attempts to work with those buyers to save their deals. ultimately the retained deposits were not enough to cover those losses and reported revenue were gross amounts that do not reflect the losses the

company actually sustained. >> toll has a mortgage contingency clause that's really different. >> this is a real estate lawyer who teaches other attorneys on how from tent clients from losing down payments. he says toll brothers has one of the most confusing contracts in the business. >> when i have a buyer that's buying a toll brothers home i spend about an hour explaining paragraph four. >> he says many of his clients mistakenly think it says if something goes wrong with their loan they can get their down payment back. but in reality he says the contract allows toll brothers to seize the down payment, fein it changes the terms of the tbi loan. >> if you look at the toll cases they are all people who have saved money and are trying to invest that money in a home. these are all really responsible people. >> in his statement toll brothers says our success drives from selling homes to buyers who actually close. not retaining deposits from people who don't. the company says edward and natasha walked away from their

agreements and that they commit valuable land and invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in resources to its custom homes. >> my clients loses $45,000 in legal fees. designee said he has gotten some of his clients their money back but only after a long and expensive fight. >> they both have reached out to their governments to try to get their money back but how can you protect yourself? the key is securing a mortgage before you sign a contract or even walk into the sales office. and he says always seek legal advice before signing anything. the iteam broke down that contract on our website so you can see what customers think it says and what lawyers tell us it really means. find it at nbcwashington.co . there is some positive news

for homeowners in prince george county. property values there are on the rise again. state data show tax assessments were up 23% in prince george's. the average home price is now $215,000 as of last month. that those is still significantly below the $335,000 it was back in december of 2006. prices at the pump dropping fast but the gas tax is getting ready to jump 45% in virginia. come january 1st the tax will go from 3.5% of the wholesale price to 5.1%. that increase is part of a back up plan to pay for transportati products in virginia. th original plan was to use money from internet sales tax collections. congress failed to pass legislation requiring all online retailers to charge that tax. hazing accusations against a

local college fraternity could bring changes to maryland's law. new at 6:00 tonight why is hazing accepted as the norm by some. as prince george's county reporter darcy spencer explains because it makes some fraternities more popular. >> one of the biggest challenges is it sort of disguised as tradition. >> scott roberts is with the psychology department at the university of maryland. he studies the culture of hazing at universities. >> what the research shows us is we're subconsciously motivated to justify the experience we endure and do worse hazing we're more subconsciously like the group and the process. >> reporter: he says bowie state sunt kevin hayes' complaint that he suffered this bruise after being beaten by a wooden paddle points to that culture. it's something he's trying to change as a member of the hiv/aidsing prevention task force. >> we need to be confident we can make important gains here by engaging students educating them and empowering them to stand up against something they

know shot this the right twi treat another person. >> reporter: that student did not pursue cl charges. instead he filed a civil lawsuit against the fraternity. >> we should not wait for somebody to get killed before we act. >> reporter: this maryland senator has tried to strengthen maryland's hazing law but last year the bill didn't even make it out of committee. even after compelling testimony. anyone convicted of a misdeamnor charge faces six months in jail and a $500 fine. >> you know that's the cost of a few kegs over a long weekend for some of these frats, and so i'm introducing legislation to increase to it $5,000. >> reporter: he says it happened when he was joining the alpha phi alpha fraternity which the chapter is on suspension. >> i don't want this to happen to anyone else after me. >> reporter: in bowie, darcy spencer, news4. the search in ohio for a missing toddler from maryland is now a recovery operation. police spent the day centurying

a park in columbus ohio for 14-year-old cameron beckford. within the past half hour they told our station in that area they plan to return to the site tomorrow with dive teams. they also say that the story that the mother told them that she left the little boy on a stranger's porch last friday may not be true. cameron is from frederick, maryland and his father reported him e boy's mother called him to tell him she could no longer care for the boy. the mother is now in custody and facing several charges. convicted murder good morning cooley is not giving up his new chance for a new trillion. he's serving a prison term for killing his former girlfriend back in 2010. both were students at the university of virginia. the lawyers are asking the state supreme court for the second time to hear their argument for an appeal. they believe his reits were violated during his trial. the state's high court refused

to hear that case last month but the lawyers are asking the court to reconsider that decision sign of tensions between new york city city police and the mayor. the drastic inaction that's now being taken on new york's streets. >> a new turn in the investigation of a theft ring at a mail processing plant. we'll report why the investigation is now focusing on cell phones. >> and temperatures fall over the next couple of days and right now the wind chill and with only a five to ten mile-per-hour wind it feels like 33 in d.c. 28 in gaithersburg and 28 in culpeper. cold night for sure but a lot colder tomorrow. >> our survey question of the day what are you doing new year's eve. most of you say you're going to spend it with your family and your friends

it's the time of year for making lists... at chevrolet, we've made it onto a few lists in fact this year, we've been at the top of more awards lists than any other car company. now during the chevy year end event put us on yours. choose a cruze in stock the longest and get cash back for 20 percent of the msrp. that's over four thousand two hundred fifty dollars on this cruze lt. find new roads at your local chevy dealer. a state trooper in wisconsin is recovering now after a dangerous traffic stop. he pulled over a man suspected of drunk driving on friday.

during that stop the driver hit the gas while the trooper had his hand in the car. that dragged the trooper about 50 feet. he fell on the side of the road beside passing traffic. police stopped that driver later that night but he got away again. he was finally arrested when he showed up at work. that police officer is lucky. there's a new report that shows a growing number of officers died in the line of duty this year. 126 local, state and federal officers were killed in 2014. that is a 24% jump over last year. 15 were killed ambushed style like the one earlier this month in new york city. and that is the highest rate in two decades. the national police memorial says it's evidence of the growing danger that officers face. >> we should remember there are 900,000 men and women in law enforcement who go out each and every day putting their lives at risk for our safety and our protection. >> california led the nation

with 14 police officers killed followed by texas, then new york and then florida. been a dramatic drop in the number of arrests in new york city following the execution of the two police officers there. according to the "new york post" nypd traffic tickets and summons for minor offensives were down 94% last week. when compared to the same time last year. parking violations were down 92%. drug arrests down 84%. one police union has warned its members to put their safety first and not to make any arrests unless absolutely necessary. the city's mayor held a private meeting today with union leaders. gift cards, other valuables missing from a mail processing facility in capital heights. we first told you about this story earlier this month and now we're finding out how deep this issue goes. scratch off lottery ticket

>> can you tell me what it must feel like to have such a significant event in your town featuring your team? what was that like? >> it's a big thank to you the fans. >> we'll have more of our conversation with ted leonis the owner of the caps the wizards, the mystics coming up on our broadcast tonight on news4. as the busy holiday season begins to wind down valuable mail is now believed to be stolen or lost inside the major

u.s. postal service processing facility in capital heights, maryland and as news for scott macfarla reports, pricey mail items go in but don't come out where they are supposed to. >> reporter: the feds say there was a razor blade and hundreds of sliced envelopes found inside the building and more than $9,000 in gift cards missing. special agents are investigating two employees at the u.s. postal mail distribution center in capital heights for stealing gift cards. the feds obtained a search warrant to check the messages inside one of the employees phones for evidence. those same specialing agents also investigated the valuables lost by angela odom of bowie. >> it was at the capital heights post center. >> don't know where it went after. >> no. >> last year she reported a box filled with $1,200 worth of christmas gifts for her grand daughters missing. mail tracking shows it was seen inside the same capital heights distribution facility. investigators told news4 they

ruled out employee theft in odom's case and those two workers they are looking into are targeting only gift cards. the postal service this afternoon declared odom's box and all of those gifts inside lost. they don't know where it is. >> it didn't arrive. they didn't get anything. >> reporter: a deeper review by news4 shows mail theft may be n than you think. records show nearly 1500 investigatio into mail theft by posta year. nearly $10 million in fines and stolen loot recovered. our agency reports the feds expect to spend $60 million investigating cases of mail theft in just one year. that includes this latest investigation he at the processing center at capital heights. scott macfarlane news4. if you want to try your luck with lottery scratch off tickets in the new year you won't be able to do it in the district because aflac of tickets and it's costing the city mill long

of dollars. the chief financial officer for the district sent out a letter today warning about a loss of about $15 million in lottery revenue. a contract dispute is keeping new scratch off tickets from being printed. it could take two months before the tickets are back in the stores. i was wondering what was going on with that. >> that's it. >> i would go in look for my scratch ticket. they are gone. now we got the answer. >> so this weather? how cold is it going to be? >> you know, it's going to be cold for this time of year. we're talking about temperatures even today temperatures were right around average and it was chilly especially for you folks that are maybe downtown or somewhere in the shade, and the sunshine not that bad. right now 40 degrees. temperatures will continue to drop. down to about 35 degrees by 11:00 tonight. once again bundle up. the wind chill will drop five degrees off those temperatures so the wind chill will be around 30. nothing on the radar.

we'll be clear. tomorrow same deal sunny and cold. temper 35240 degrees. we will be below average tomorrow and with the ten, 15 mile-per-hour wind the wind chill will be near 30 just about all day long. some of you in the suburbs in the upper 20s and the city around that 30 32 degree mark. this is what it will feel like tomorrow morning. in the suburbs it could feel teen 18 19 for the wind chill. by tomorrow afternoon near 30 for just about everybody and then tomorrow night late tomorrow is new year's eve. if you're going to be out around 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, wind chill near 20 degrees. a very cold night tomorrow night. if you have any plans to head out for any of the festivities bundle up. a high on wednesday of 39 degrees. on thursday a high of 42 degrees. that's the day we're talking about the nation's capital hosting the capitals against the blackhawks down there at nats park. looking pretty good. the forecast really really nice. i think 39 degrees around noon. 42 degrees around 3:00. that's right when we start the

third period. rather breezy. wind chill there. if you're going to the game make sure you bundle up. chilly at 6:00. 44 degrees on friday. 43 on saturday. i do think saturday we'll off with maybe frozen precipitation, maybe some freezing rain or sleet, maybe even snow but then changing over to all rain this weekend's event should be an all rain event and most of it ends by sunday morning. see that snow there on tuesday. not a very big deal as of right now. >> all right. sports coming up. talking hockey. >> one of the capital's top defensemen may be out for the winter classic. plus concerns about the start time for the game.

i'm jim handly. we're just getting words from nurse 4 transportation reporter adam tuss who is tweeting the d.c. street car will not open tomorrow. the goal was to have it opening by the end of this year. that's not going to happen. again according to news4 transportati reporter adam tuss the street car will not open on h street as has been hoped and rumored for tomorrow. from the live desk i'm jim handly. hockey players who as kids --

>> wasn't that cool. >> normally got up and expected to play on ice. we don't have it like that down here. might not even have it like that on new year's day, right? we have an issue that whether they can play. >> they can play just the time is the issue right now because of the sun glare. something that will be discussed over the next few days. down there at nats park everything is complete. the winter classic is off to a smooth start except for the sun glare issue. according to multiple reports the caps have been advised as a team that the game time could change because of the glare. we'll know soon. that's not stopping brooks light from counting down the hours. listen to him. >> i would say it's starting to become real now. like you can touch it. you can see it. you're prepared for the winter classic. we knew for months we had it. i have some family and friends coming in for it and some people already here. but now to see the rink and facility it's right there in our hands.

i can't wait. >> so before brooks can get on to the ice the capitals had a media skate today down there. our incredible photographer right there, that's chris making sure the ice is ready. putting together these amazing stories about the winter classic. amelia is out there on her case is. she played hockey. and then the legend. he gave us an update on the ice. >> i believe for the first time skating on it fast quick. just go out there and have fun. that's what the old guys will do and make sure nobody gets hurt. rain snow and everything else so i believe we'll have good weather and i'm excited for it. >> some more news for the caps. one guy who may not actually be out on the ice is greg orpick. he left last night's game

against the islanders and suffered an injury to his right knee. didn't look good. he to be helped off the ice despite the excitement for the winter classic the caps are playing it safe for their defensemen. we'll be cautious. he's a pretty important part to our team. we'll do what's right for the and he knows his body better than anybody. just talking to him. he feels that he'll be a game time decision. >> give him as much treatment as possible. it will be disappointing, obviously, being in the winter classic game. >> winter classic new year's day right here on nbc 4. pre-game at 11:00 a.m. puck drops at 1:00 p.m. and our latest classic face off we had to ask the caps how many teeth have they lost playing hockey? >> just one. >> lost one tooth?

>> yeah. but wisdom teeth don't count. >> half. i lost it way back when i was a kid. >> in my second season i got hit and my two front teeth. i pulled my mouth guard out and they came out in my mouth guard. >> four or five. all the teeth right there. >> playing hockey probably seven. all the front ones. >> kind of gross. >> terps on the road facing michigan state. take this one all thepoints. terps led 17-14 at the half. second half those here comes michigan state, right here. forbes knocks down the three. spartans led by five with under 3:00 to play.

big ten over there for maryland. my teeth are right here. >> doing the news isn't quite that

on the broadcast tonight -- wreckage recovered. the worst fears now confirmed about that passenger plane that disappeared three days ago. now investigators try to close in on what caused it to drop out of the sky. line of duty. a dramatic increase in the number of cops killed on the job this year. and police advocates worry it's part of growing animosity towards the government. the big plunge. just before the ball drops so are temperatures drastically throughout the nation. but would you believe this is the warmest year on record? and peace and quiet. grades are up, suspensions are down, and this school district credits a technique that goes back thousands of years. "nightly news" begins now.