we have team coverage. chris gordon is out in those elements. we're going to begin inside with doug in the storm center. >> it's all about the cold. the cold temperatures moved in very quickly. earlier this morning just after midnight we are at 39 degrees. then we continue to fall all day. with the winds gusting 30 to 40 miles an hour, it has been brutal out there. take a look at this. you needed the coat. around the upper marlboro. you didn't have the gloves. the pockets were what you were using even putting the hands back in the coats, the gloves and the pockets. i'll tell ya. this is the coldest air flow you've seen in quite some time. 7 the current wind chill. zero at hagerstown. 4 below in state college, pennsylvania. extreme cold for sure. look at the winds. we've seen winds gusting upwards of 30 to 40 miles per hour. now coming down a little bit. still 30 in martinsburg. that's why we have the wind chill. that will continue through the night. the national weather servicas

effect tomorrow night and saturday. now this will not become a winter storm warning. it will most likely become a winter weather advisory tomorrow night or possibly a premium rain advisory. that's what we're looking at in these areas. snow and ice. again, snow varying. and ice is the big factor. slick roads before changing over to all rain. not concerned about this in the d.c. area and points to the south. temperatures will rise quickly on your saturday. we're going to have much more on saturday's weather and the weekend. sunday's weather, interesting as well. for a completely different reason. i'll see you back here in about ten minutes. >> thank you, doug. our team coverage continues. let's take a look outside. it is not just the cold, it is the wind having an impact on you guys across our region. that includes a woman in northern virginia who almost had a tree fall on top of her car. chris gordon is outside the metro station. chris? >> what i want to tell you is this is not a normal rush hour. people are coming

out of the ballston metro station. those who have to wait for a bus are huddled together in bus stops. the good news, metro transit police are on the scene trying to keep the buses moving and get people into the warmth. now the cold combined with the wind today can cause dangerous winter conditions throughout the area. wind gusts blew through trees in arlington toppling a branch on to a truck packed across 25th street. the owner of the house, jody larkin, was inside. >> i assumed that it was my workman coming in. i heard a big crash, that's normally my door in the wind and he wasn't there. finally i looked out the window and a huge branch had come down from the tree behind us. >> reporter: she says the tree belongs to arlington county. marvin valet who was working on a construction job shows us the damage to his truck. >> my windshield here is gone and my hood. >> reporter: you

wind howl. here at the pentagon outdoor skating rink, the cold weather definitely hurt business today. you get how many skaters today? >> so far one. >> a group of about 117 coming in tonight. i believe they're from the south. so it should be interesting. >> reporter: vdot has been preparing roads and highways in northern virginia for the past 2 1/2 days spreading a brine solution in case of icy temperatures. >> we started early before the temperature dropped and everything started freezing which you can tell has already happened. >> reporter: and as you can see behind me, i mentioned the metro transit police on hand trying to keep buses moving throughout this area, trying to get people into the warmth as soon as possible. now coming up on news 4 at 6:00, how people are coping with the cold and we will hear from that one skater who went to an outdoor rink today

jim, back to you. >> all right, chris gordon. thank you, chris. we were joke that go that one skater is probably from russia. now is a good time to download the nbc washington app. he's been serving time in connection to a federal corruption probe, but former prince gorges county executive jack johnson is now out of prison. the feds tell news 4 johnson is now being held in a halfway house. our scott mcfarland and tracee wilkins broke this story this afternoon on our nbc 4 washington app. let's begin with scott. >> reporter: jonathan pleaded guilty for corruption. he shook down contractors to score bribes and gifts, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth. his wife would go to prison as well. jack johnson was scheduled to be released from prison june 10, 2017, from this federal prison in western maryland, one

largest federal lockups in the region. the u.s. bureau of prisons today said johnson is now at a halfway house. the bureau of prisons calls those residential re-entry programs. the federal halfway houses among other things are designed to help inmates get job counseling and getting their finances in order before they're released. we know from court records the prison bureau had been treating johnson in cumberland for symptoms of parkinson's. his case captured nationwide attention. news 4 captured this exclusive video of his arrest in 2010. he will remain under supervised release after his time in the halfway house after june 2017. u.s. bureau of prisons, an arm of the justice department, often transfers inmates into halfway houses in advance of their release including other political leaders who have been in prison. johnson's attorney, we should say, declined to comment. back to you. >> thank you, scott. our team coverage continues with tracee wiin

talking to lawmaker's about johnson's release. she's live at the executive office building in upper marlboro with that part of our story, tracee? >> reporter: the arrest of jack johnson shook prince gorges county. it impacted the county for years after it happened. county executive followed johnson in office and has spent all of the time that he's been there trying to rebuild what johnson's arrest destroyed. i can tell you that back when this all first happened the news 4 was first to report back in november of 2010 that johnson was being taken into custody. i was standing outside of his house when his wife leslie was first brought out in handcuffs. hours later he also would be taken out and later interrogated by fbi agents about his pay to play scheme. he accepted tens of thousands of dollars from developers to build in prince gorges county. his wife, leslie, was also charged with trying to destroy evidence the day tha

came to arrest johnson. $90,000 -- or $80,000 was found in her underwear and a check for 100,000 was found in their toilet. johnson instructed his wife to get rid of that money in a recorded phone conversation. up until that point johnson was considered a popular politician after serving as prince george's county state's attorney. we spoke about his release. >> first of all, i am glad that he is home. like anyone, he's paid his dues. i hope that people begin to treat him as though he's ready to move on with life. i hope people treat him as if that happened. it's over and we wish you the best. >> reporter: again, he is now in a halfway house and expected to be there until this summer, but that gives him a lot more freedom to come and go and also to, again, begin to redevelop those relationships with his family. surely folks here in the cou

him throughout his stay in prison, coming up at news 4 at 6:00, we speak about the release of the former county executive. back to you in the studio. thank you. new tonight, a federal grand jury indicts a former metro transit police officer on terrorism-related charges. prosecutors say nicholas young of fairfax tried to provide resources to isis. according to the indictment young believed an associate of his had successfully joined isis back in 2014. but when authorities questioned young he tried to deceive investigators about what his associate was doing. that associate turned out to be an fbi source. if convicted, young faces up to 60 years in prison. we have some major news from metro today. the transit agency will be slashing service so that it can do even more maintenance work. metro's board has unanimously voted for the serve

a lot of frustrated riders are turning to social media to vent. adam is at the metro station with what you need to know about the new hours. adam? >> reporter: it is going to be a big change for a lot of people, wendy. people really venting about this. these new hours don't take effect until july, but the ripple effect of this decision today being felt all across the system. in the end, every board member got on board with this plan. >> all in favor signify by saying aye. >> aye. >> reporter: most significant change to the time metro operates right around the corner. again, take a look at the reduction of hours that metro will make here. monday through thursday closing at 11:30 at night. friday and saturday closing at 1:00 a.m., sunday opening at 8:00 a.m. and closing at 11:00 p.m. it will last two years. for the district cutting late night hours was an especially d

>> two years is tough to swallow, absolutely. it's up to the district we'd go back to the late night hours of 3:00 in the morning. >> reporter: in the end they compromised because they'll get a progress report that adequate maintenance is being done. on social media. dear cinema, theater, bar, restaurant, concert, fund-raiser, sports team, friends, family, i can't attend the event. invite me in 2 years. but wmata's already in a deep maintenance hole. it'd only get closer to being irrevocable if this didn't happen now. they say this new maintenance plan is not like another safe track plan. >> preventing that from happening again and getting ahead of the issues and get into a cycle of doing that. that's the whole concept. >> reporter: metro's plan to fix itself soon to hit another gear. and back here now live at judiciary square as you see more riders making their way tonight.

guys, how will it all work when we have a special event like a football game, baseball game, concert? will metro make exceptions for those types of things with these new hours? i'll have that part of the story. back to you. >> adam tuss, thank you. at least six metro employees have been fired in connection with the train derailment and more terminations are expected. that move after metro says that it found that employees falsified inspection reports about safety of the tracks. this all came to a head when a silver line train derailed outside the station back in july. no one was seriously hurt. in although more than 2 dozen metro employees are facing some sort of disciplinary action. metro's gm called the incident completely intolerable. the transit agency's largest union says it will probably fight the action because they don't believe they're getting the full story. a milestone for d.c. it tops the list of big cities with police departments that use

we're going to find out exactly who's got them and why others don't. plus, facebook takes on fake news. how the social media giant plans to make sure the stories you read on their site are real. a northern virginia venue is facing a backlash over a pro trump inauguration party. the controversy over what's being called the deplorable. we continue to follow the breaking news reaction to the guilty verdict of the man accused of killing 9 people inside a ch

a look now at presidential politics. donald trump nearing the end of his thank you tour with a stop tonight in hershey, pennsylvania. trump has two more stops after tonight, one in florida, the other in alabama. they come after the president-elect questions intelligence about russian hacking and involvement in the presidential election. he also tweeted today that his move to the white house and business involvements are not complex. trump's inauguration is now just over a month away. the day after inauguration, tens of thousands of women will be planning a demonstration in the nation's capitol. tom sherwood broke the news on

have issued a permit for the women's march on washington. they plan to start at the intersection of 3rd and independence downtown and that demonstration aims to send a message to all levels of government that they are showing solidarity for rights of women, their families and their communities. that's according to the group. facebook is partnering with fact checkers now to crack down on an issue we've heard an awful lot about in months. fake news. the social media giant is making it easier for people to report madeup stories. if enough people report a story as fake, it goes to the fact checkers. while it will remain even if it fails the fact check, the story will have a visual flag that says disputed. facebook says those stories will also show up in lower news feeds. there is breaking news now from south carolina where a jury now has convicted the man who is at the center of the charleston church shootings.

33 counts ranging from murder to hate crimes. roof confessed to killing nine black worshippers at the emmanuel ame church last year. prosecutors painted him as a white supreme cyst who hoped this killing would start a race war. during the trial the defense put up no witnesses. instead, tried to question roof's mental state. the jurors will come back next month to hear more testimony and decide whether roof gets the death penalty or gets life in prison. a convoy of buses moved out of the besieged city of aleppo today. the buses are carrying civilians and rebel fighters who surrendered their last strong hold today. it's part of a new cease-fire agreement that's back on after faultering yesterday. matt bradley reports the syrian government is hailing the surrender as a huge victory. >> reporter: the evacuation of civilians from east alepp i

finally beginning. the ministry of defense said the first convoy of buses carrying some 5,000 rebel fighters and their family had left the previously rebel-held eastern aleppo neighborhood. most of them will be taken to the relative peace of idlib, a rebel-held province in northern syria. it's not entirely clear whether those buses have actually departed yet. they'll be accompanied by russian troops who are allies of the syrian regime. if you've been following this closely, you remember there had, in fact, been be a deal on tuesday to get non-combatants out of the city. that deal was delayed wednesday morning and finally scrapped. all of this as the battle for syria's largest city comes to a very violent end. aleppo's been watching more than four years of street-by-street fighting of the government and rebel opponents. the uprising will no longer lay claim to any major urban areas. it's come at a massive human cost.

some of the worst human atrocities like rwanda. even if the battle in aleppo is coming to an end, what happened there is unlikely to be forgotten any time soon. back to you. it's the first of its kind in the state of maryland. this truck is going to help get drunk drivers off the road. and we're continuing to track that frigid weather out there. doug is up next with

stronger is blasting without risking her bones. stronger is less pain, new hope, more fight. it's doing everything in your power, and everything in ours. because we don't just want kids to grow up. we want them to grow up stronger. and with your support, they will. make a gift today at childrensnational.org/givenow

there are now threats against an arlington business where donald trump supporters had hoped to hold a ball. the owner scuttled those plans. a move that the trump supporters are calling politically motivated. they are using social media to vent their anger. julie carey gives us that story from arlington. >> reporter: the event is being called the deplorable. they had hoped to hold it here the day before the inauguration. ballroom managers tell me earlier this week they were forced to turn the group away. now they and their business are being targeted on social media and some of the phone calls they've received this week, they tell me, are so threatening they decided to alert arlington county police. the deplorea ball was said to be open t

plans began to unravel earlier this week. he alleges the ballroom caved in to political pressure when word got out on social media they were hosting the pro trump event. >> the minute they did that they got a slew of comment, negativity regarding us and regarding our event and after that almost immediately after that the clarendon ballroom called and canceled our arrangement. >> clarendon ballroom managers tell a much different story. they became alarmed when they discovered the deplora ball had sold 500 tickets but no contract had been signed. they told him the ball was a no go. that's when the online attacks and phone calls began. one man tweeted, negative yelp reviews, here they come. another deplora ball supporter took to perry scope. >> if people want to call and ask why they are discriminating

first amendment rights. >> reporter: they countered sending an e-mail blast urging them to weigh in. a trump supporter tweeting, this venue will cancel on you if they do not agree with your political views. can't be trusted and don't deserve your business. while a ballroom friend writes the clarendon ballroom is a class act, highly recommend. now a statement released by the ballroom just a few minutes ago reiterates the position that there was never a firm deal for the deplora ball. the events of recent days have surprised, shaken and scared the clarendon ballroom family. we are extremely sad to be at the heart of the situation and truly appreciate the outpouring of support we've received. arlington county police confirmed they did get a call from ballroom management but they say they do not view any of those phone threats as credible threats. now when i join you on news 4 at 6:00, why the ball organizers say this whole flap might

reporting live from arlington, i'm julie carey, news 4. amelia draper and i here in the weather center watching what's going on with the very cold air but of course watching the next system moving into that cold air. >> a lot of people are talking about this online because there's the chance -- a high chance that some of us will be dealing with some freezing rain saturday morning. >> let's talk a little bit more about what's going on. she's going to talk about the freezing rain chances and the potential for a winter weather advisory which is a winter storm watch. we'll talk about that in a second. the current story is just the cold. look how cold we are. 22 degrees. winds out of the northwest at 26 miles per hour. that's the current wind gusts out at the airport. temperatures one thing. 16 in winchester, 19 in dulles. the record is 10. we'll get close to that. 0 at martinsburg, zero at

the map. you know you're talking about one cold night. nothing on the radar currently. we're not going to see anything. we're not expecting anything over the next 24 hours. we're looking back to the west tracking the next storm system here. it's aarm front trying to make its way across the country. as it does, it will move our way. we'll start off with sunshine and move into cloud cover. i want to show you here on future weather around 5:00, still seeing some sun. here come the clouds around 11:00, we start to see some snow back well to our west. we're not expecting much in the way of snow out of this. most of that can stay to the north. look around 6:00 a.m., ice and freezing rain. hagerstown, frederick, possibly getting as far south as d.c. the best chances from baltimore to frederick right on back towards martinsburg. the whole thing lifts up to the north and east. it has prompted the national weather service to list a

winter storm watch goes into effect late friday night. with everything we've been looking at, we really think it's going to hold off until saturday morning. a lot of holiday parties, heading out friday night, travels should be fine. the counties in blue, you're under the winter storm watch that could become a freezing rain advisory like doug said or winter weather advisory. this runs until noon saturday and includes carol, frederick, washington counties. frederick county, virginia. maybe snow but we're really seeing a better chance for some freezing rain that would lead to some slick roads changing all over to rain by the late morning hours. here's future temperatures. what you need to focus on, where you live, look for that 32. we're below freezing friday night. 5:00 a.m. saturday everybody is still below freezing. something falling from the sky it's either snow or freezing rain, more likely freezing rain. once we hit 10:00 a.m., notice everybody at that point, just about everybody above freezing. then by saturday at 7:00 we're

likely on sunday than saturday and the temperatures kind of unbelievable. >> it really is going from 30 on friday to 48 saturday afternoon into the 50s saturday night and then 63 is where we're going right now on sunday morning. so, yeah, a big-time weather roller coaster. we've been talking about it all day. rain chances on sunday. of course, the redskins taking on the panthers at fedex. 35 degrees during the day. very cold night at the game. tuesday, temperature at 38 degrees. another chance possible snow late next week just before christmas. look at christmas day. right now, right now ten days out at 55 degrees. not bad for christmas unless you want it cold. >> that sounds lovely. news for your health tonight. a link between abortions and mental health and it may not be what you're thinking. coming up on news 4, why as of today d.c. police lead the nation in this category.

each and every one of these bikes is going to a child in our area for christmas. today the salvation army is giving out all of these bikes and thousands of presents to families in need. tonight on news 4, how much these families appreciate the angel ee program.tr

a man was shot and

has filed a $50 million lawsuit against the department. investigators say they spotted a motorcyclist driving erratically through northwest d.c. in the lawsuit sterling's family said he was shot unarmed. he posed no danger to anyone. the washington post reports that several witnesses have already testified to a grand jury. in the lawsuit sterling's family says he was shot twice, once in the neck, second time in the back. prosecutors are investigating to see if the officer who killed sterling will face criminal charges. now we did check with d.c. police to get a response to this lawsuit. they told us it's department policy not to comment on pending litigation. at the live desk i'm chris laurence. back to you. in the district more d.c. police officers are equipped with body cameras and the district is now leading the nation in big cities that use them. this program has expanded since it started more than a year ago. as news

reports, they follow high profile shootings. >> reporter: more than 2600 d.c. patrol officers are now equipped with body cameras. >> really significant for the metropolitan police department to have the largest rollout of body worn cameras in the country. when we spoke to the vendor they said we had the biggest outlay of cameras. that's double the size of the number of cameras that we have out there. >> the $5 million program began more than a year ago with a limited rollout. today mayor muriel bowser joined patrol officers as they began their shift and strapped on the new cameras. >> we're always looking for ways to prove our legitimacy in the community and i think the rollout of these cameras does prove our legitimacy. >> the rollout of the cameras comes as police in d.c. and the nation come

scrutiny for officer involved shooting. the most recent high profile case in d.c., the shooting death of terrance sterling who was riding his motorcycle when an officer shot him. the one officer who was wearing a camera during that incident did not turn it on until after the shooting. since then the mayor has ordered tighter protocols for when officers activate the cameras requiring dispatchers to remind cops to turn the cameras on. >> the chief of police ordered our officers to confirm that they had engaged their body worn cameras when they were responding to a dispatch from our call center. >> reporter: mayor bowser said the cameras have been successful in holding officers accountable. oh, it's going to be a big night down at the mgm casino in national harbor. tonight the casino welcomes its first big musical act. it's going to be a

show. >> four-time grammy award winning group boys to men will perform at mgm harbor. the theater holds about 3,000 people making it a more intimate venue for musical acts. when you were a kid there was nothing like waking up to christmas morning. the salvation army is making that happen for thousands of families across the area. today it opened its new angel tree distribution center in washington -- in high yachtsville, rather, to thousands of bikes, toys and other presents. news 4's kristen wright was there for the ribbon cutting. >> reporter: sonya edwards is so grateful that her children will wake up to presents under the tree christmas morning thanks to the salvation army. >> me as a single mom of four, unemployed, trying to make ends meet. this is like a miracle to my family. >> reporter: salvation army

brand new bike and other gifts into sonya's van. >> without them we wouldn't know christmas. >> reporter: families in need came to the warehouse to pick up thousands of bikes, toys, other presents. tiffany garcia-lopez sees this kindness as a blessing from above. >> to me it's a great blessing because i have a child with special needs and we're a low income family. >> ebony simmons was moved to tears when the salvation army delivered presents to her home. joined by news 4's chris laurence. news 4 is an angel tree sponsor. >> she is going to be so blessed this christmas and i just -- i'm so happy. so happy. it's been a rough year for me. five. she can't wait for christmas morning. >> my house is going to be filled with joy. >> reporter: more than 6,000 children in prince gorges county and d.c. will receive angel tree gifts and about 40,000 kids across the

volunteers meeting the families means a lot. >> we have three generations here today helping out so we're excited about just giving back. >> reporter: sonya brought the salvation army a christmas card with her children's smiling faces on it. >> they've been a tremendous help to my family. i'm truly grateful. >> reporter: she says there's always hope and an angel watching. kristen wright, news 4. a lot of smiles out there today. i got to go to southeast d.c. and don a goofy hat like chris, too, and meet a 4-year-old who had a beaming smile on his face. zacaro there, he got an avenger bike, seven surprise gifts for christmas day and a little laptop, too. his mom and him live in their own apartment. last christmas they were in a homeless shelter. >> what a difference a year makes for them. chris laurence said being at that house to deliver the gifts was the greatest christmas gift

>> smiles for everybody. hats off truly to the salvation army. >> right. >> more than 14,000 gifts that they're donating around the region. it's a new movie getting oscar buzz. and its cast is in town this week meeting with the first lady. we'll have that story. and finding purpose out of loss in preventing domestic violence. how a

high stakes for the redskins in a monday night showdown. there is drama beyond the football field. >> carol maloney has more on the first game between outspoken josh norman and his old team. >> another level. i think all these cameras going to be burned right now. >> reporter: all the cameras trained on josh norman while he focuses on one cam, cam newton and whether his former teammates will test him this week. >> coach telling them no. cam the competitor, yes, so i'm looking for that guy. >> throw it to his side and let me show you why the redskins paid him that money. not many corners can get a quarterback not to press on that side. so it's a blessing in disguise. it helps his pocket and helped our team. >> reporter: redskins made him the highest paid corner in the league. now he wants to show carolina

missed. >> he tends to be an emotional guy. the good thing about josh is that it doesn't vary week to week. >> those emotions, i think they will probably come out and show themselves. i don't know what it will be because, like i said, it's the first time being in something like this. and, yeah, coming over here is making guys on this team better. >> reporter: and bring them all into his spotlight that he's happy to share. >> cam, cam sandwich. josh, yes. >> no surrender, no mercy. i had him in my group chat so looking forward to it. >> frenemies still today but going in different directions. the redskins still have everything to play for while the panthers are in the role of spoiler. from redskins park, carol maloney, news 4 sports. a new study is raising concerns about over the counter painkillers and why doctors are worried about the long-term impacts of these

today was the first meeting of the domestic violence task force that the governor of maryland signed into law and it was designed and named for a prince gorges county woman who was gunned down with her 2-year-old daughter. coming up you'll hear from that woman's sister on why she says her sister's death won't be in vein. take a look at your wind chill forecast. talking about dangerous wind chills tonight into tomorrow morning. as temperatures warm through saturday and even sunday, the

amelia, you have a couple of busy days ahead of you.

about cold to freezing rain to 60s and rain back to 30s. i mean -- >> all over the place. >> like we're going through the whole year. >> year of weather in three days. >> yeah, exactly. so we're going to be under storm team 4 weather alert through saturday morning. here are the weather headlines. still all about the cold throughout the night tonight and tomorrow. on saturday morning we will have a mix of snow and seeing freezing rain being the concern especially north of washington. that changing to some hit-and-miss showers around saturday during the midday and early afternoon hours. and i think saturday evening for most of us is going to be dry, but it's looking like a soggy sunday, but get this, going to be in the '60s on sunday. so tomorrow here's your planner. 7:00 a.m., it's brutal. 17 but feeling like zero to 10. still a little blustery out there. throughout the day we are going to be looking at a lighter wind. noon, 28 degrees. plenty of clouds. gray afternoon. 3:00 we hit our high of 30

degrees. tomorrow evening, it's dry. good for the holiday parties. around 28 by 8:00 p.m. showing you now your impact on friday. the weather still has a pretty high impact on your day. just because it's so cold you want to be outside when it's this cold. keep that in mind with the kids at the bus stop. the commute, again, a concern for some more dead batteries. i'm kind of scared when i walk out to my car tonight and if you're walking the dog looking at, again, a pretty quick walk out there especially in the morning. this is saturday, 7:00 a.m. you can open up our nbc washington app to see if you are under the winter storm watch, we talked about that 15 minutes ago. the pink here is freezing rain. the green is just plain rain. temperature warms to above freezing by about 10:00 a.m. so after that rather than icy roads we're looking at mainly just damp, wet roads saturday at times throughout the day. wet roads on sunday. sunday definitely dealing with rain. saturday best chance is going to be during the morning s.

well. 48 on saturday. we warm to 63 degrees on sunday and then we cool back down. look at this temperature drop from 63 to 28. over a 30 degree temperature drop by monday morning we're in the 30s. i can't believe this, christmas eve and christmas day are on our ten day forecast. where has the time gone this year? 45 on christmas eve day. look at christmas, not too bad out there. not looking like a great potential for a white christmas with a high of 55, guys. >> we'll take it. amelia, thanks. a maryland domestic violence prevention task force held its first meeting in annapolis today. it was named after a teacher who was shot and killed along with her 2-year-old daughter just steps from their fort washington home. news 4's megan fitzgerald spoke with the teacher's sister today who's determined to save lives. >> she basically loved anybody that she came in contact with. >> reporter: not a day goes by

about her sister and her 2-year-old daughter khloe. >> she was the bubbliest, happiest child that you would ever meet. >> reporter: in february she and her 2-year-old were leaving their fort washington home when police say they were shot and killed by khloe's father, 25-year-old deron boswell johnson. he was angry about paying child support. >> it's really, really tough for us. >> reporter: the tremendous loss hasn't been easy for turner and her family but they found purpose in so much sorrow. turner is part of the nashonte and khloe davis domestic violence task force. >> how we can help counties to better deal with the problem of domestic violence. >> reporter: senator c. anthony kneel sponsored the bill that allows people to be part of the task force. >> it's bringing together everyone under one umbrella

we can have one clearinghouse, we can know where to put state funds where it would be more helpful. >> reporter: the ideas the task force comes up with will be presented to the governor in may. it's too late to save nashante and baby khloe, but turner hopes what happens in this room will save the lives of others. >> we don't want someone else to end up with the same end results. >> reporter: reporting in annapolis, megan fitzgerald, news 4. new study is raising concerns about those over-the-counter painkillers. the study found regular use of ibuprofen or acetaminophen came with hearing loss. researchers say women who use the painkillers regularly for more than six years show a 9 to 10% higher risk of having hearing loss later in life. the study did not look at men. it did not find any increased risk for those who use aspirin.

be prone to mental health issues in the short term. that's according to a university of california study that tracks hundreds of women, about 1/4 had been denied the procedure because of their facility's rules. in the week after those women who were denied more often reported anxiety, l low self-esteem and lower life satisfaction but researchers say at six months they did not find any difference in mental health between the two groups of women. maryland state police have a new tool to fight drunk driving. it allows them to test and process drivers on the go instead of taking them back to the station. wbal in baltimore has a look at how it works. >> reporter: it is a 27,000 pound 13 foot high, $452,000 vehicle you don't want to see the inside of in person. because these seats are intended for suspected drunk drivers.

been around for years. now we'll have them on scene. >> reporter: during the holidays as police ramp up dui checkpoints and patrols statewide, this new truck will be deployed to help, a new way to test, verify, and arrest drunk drivers right at the scene. >> this will allow officers to stay on site and to do their job, which is to arrest more drunk drivers. >> reporter: officials call this a progressive leap forward. after all, they point out, maryland averages 160 dui deaths each year, deaths that are 100% preventible. >> just this year the maryland state police we've had 38 troopers hit on the side of the road. an additional 20 vehicles that were unattended at the time. >> mobile unit introduced to the public just before and just across the street from the 13th

>> christopher moore. >> reporter: memorial service honoring the victims of impaired driving crashes like montgomery county police officer noah leota. >> it's been a year. i was burying my son last year at this same time. i don't want any other people to bury their children. >> a local man really, really wanted to be santa. >> but he almost lost that opportunity after a health scare. how doctors were able to get him back on his sleigh just in time for the holidays. 4500 protective orders issued in northern virginia. still ahead the news 4 iteam gets exclusive access for

oh, that's lovely...so graceful. the corkscrew spin, flawless... ...his signature move, the flying dutchman. poetry in motion. and there it is, the "baby bird". breathtaking. a sumo wrestler figure skating? surprising. what's not surprising? how much money heather saved by switching to geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. did you know slow internet can actually hold your business back? say goodbye to slow downloads, slow backups, slow everything. comcast business offers blazing fast and reliable internet that's 10 times faster than slow internet from the phone company. say hello to internet speeds up to 150 mbps.

and add phone and tv for only $34.90 more a month. call today. comcast business. built for business.

with the polar vortex hitting our region, an effort to hip some of the youngest, more vulnerable. the children's charity foundation handed out winter coats to kids in need in the d.c. area. on hand reps from walmart to help the kids find their right size. we're told by the end of the day children's charities plan to hand out 3500 coats to kids in shelters all over our region. look at those smiles. >> i love their little bean any hats. they're just so cute. and look at this room full of toys. they are bound for children of inmates in alexandria. these are donated toys, games,

the sheriff's department operation elf. officials say this helps families in need and helps them connect during the holidays. some 250 children will be benefitting from this. and a special treat from some very special children today. santa claus paid a visit to the young patients at children's medical hospital. >> and this particular santa knows what they're going through. he made a recovery of his own just a year ago. news 4's amy cho has our story. >> reporter: for all the little boys and girls at children's medical -- >> oh, you're a charm. >> reporter: santa claus. >> merry christmas to you. >> reporter: is coming. >> are you feeling better today? >> reporter: to town. >> hi, william, merry christmas to you. his virtual presence and these physical presents were christmas cheer as only santa claus can. >> it's cool. >> being santa is the most wonderful job in the world. i get to travel all over the place and visit

girls. i don't wish this on anyone, to have to spend the holidays in the hospital. >> reporter: he knows the feeling all too well. before he was rolling down this hall on a screen. >> merry christmas to you all. >> reporter: last christmas, a heart attack on the job left him rolling down a different hospital hall on a stretcher. >> i said, just make sure they take me out the back door so they don't see me. >> the clot in his heart was in a dangerous spot known as the widow maker. luckily his doctor was able to work christmas magic. >> it is special to take care of santa. >> i guess my personal experience being there at christmas time, i don't want anyone else to have to go through that either. >> reporter: now his doctor helps with checkups and his elves help with handouts. >> do you want a barbie or leggos? >> reporter: together they all make sure santa is ready. >> bye-bye. good to see you again. >> reporter: to take the reins

amy cho, news 4. news 4 begins now with storm team 4. now at 6:00 a bitter blast of cold air across our region. people are bundled up as the temperatures fall. >> when you factor in the wind chill it is downright wicked cold out there. doug, what's up? >> oh, what's up? that wind is what's up, vance. it's been upwards of 40 miles per hour today. during the day today, the wind chills, boy, we talked about this yesterday. it was hard to believe we could be in the single digits by this afternoon. that's exactly where we are right now. hagerstown coming in at 6 degrees, d.c. at 8 degrees for a wind chill, 7 below zero in state college. the cold air here in the east and will remain here for the next couple of days. winds still gusting over 20, 25 miles an hour. 26 d.c., 29 in frederick. starting to come a little bit. that's going to be a saving grace overnight.

the wind chill all night will still be in the teens because our temperatures will also be there. the national weather service has issued a winter storm watch in effect for our northern zone. this will not become a winter storm warning. it's not that big of a storm but this is mainly for ice in these areas to the north. for tomorrow night into saturday morning. this is something we're going to be watching very, very closely. much more on this. i'll show you what to expect. i'll break it down for you coming up in about 15 minutes. now to a story you saw first on news 4. new reaction coming in as former prince gorges county executive jack johnson is released from prison. he pleaded guilty in a major corruption scheme that grabbed headlines. now he's in a halfway house where they're preparing for his return to freedom. we have the story. let's start with scott and the latest developments. scott? >> good evening. jack johnson admitted shaking down contractors for big bucks, six figures. pleaded guilty and was sed