after snow, sleet, and rain. right now, road conditions are improving, but we couldun into new problems tonight. >> you are right about at, aaron. watch ave a winter storm that is separate from what we have out there right now, we still have an advisory in som of the spots. still seeing some heavy snow and some freezing rain. we will break it down, what the rest of the afternoon has in store, coming up. >> and new developments in the political future of lieutant governor justin fairfax in virginia. a push to impeach the democrat accused of assault be could on hold.

>> announcer: news4 midday starts now. good morning, and welcome to news4 midday. i'm molette green. >> i'm aaron ghlchrest. depending on where you live, you saw snow, sleet or plain rain overnight or a combination of all three. the result, a long list of school delays and cancellations today. each federal workers were given this ance to sleep in morning. here's the thing. the threat of bad weather is not over. some areas could see more snow tonight. with the latest on that we are joined by meteorologist lauryn n ricketts, whate expect next. >> we can expect this to continue on. we will hit a lull in the precipitation but for the most part it is a dreary monday leading into a wet tuesday. you probably didn't so all that much snow out there. we weren't calling for a lot. it was just the timing of it. there is a picture on the right side of our screen of i-70.

if you are north of 70, you are going to stick with snow and pockets of sleet throughout the remainder of the day. watch this rain line slowly eat away at this pink. that's warm air coming in. rain.eans a lot of this isust g th s national weathervice went ahead and extended the winter a weatherisory until 10:00 a.m. on tuesday. we have round two coming. that will bri us more wintry weather. we will talk about for who, cong up in just a few minutes. >> all right, lauryn. >> who. >> t farther north you go the more snow you will see. >> news4's nicol jacobs is in frederick this morning. what are you seeing? >> reporter: first i can tell you, when students first woke us morning, they were on a two-hour delay. and then, before you know it, it was canceled altogether. frederick county public schools

canceled schools. many people were queioning why. some agree, saying that there was mixed precipitation. there is rain, there's snow flz sleet, which is what it's doing now, a little off and on. let's look at some video that we shot of a local park this morning. very picturesque. you can see, there is not much coverage. it is really just a dusting. but it is quite slippery. that's something that one mother pointed out to us earlier when we were out there today, especially she says, on the secondary roads. s sohe agrees and gives the school a thumbs-up. >> it is really outside. when we got the two hour delay, i looked outside and was hoping that it would be closed. it is, so we are going to enjoy ourselvestoday. >> reporter: is that an nconvenience as far as work goes >> not really, because i work down the street so i can walk there and bring them there if need be. it works out find for me. >> reporter: because of the

mixed precipitation we have seen a lot of vehicles taking precautions driving slower. m dot highway administration says they want drivers to be very careful and make smart travel decisions as they are out on the roads today. they are crews will be out w the l clearing the roads and treating the roads the better part of the day, as well as tomorrow. back to you. >> nicol jacobs in frederick, maryland, for us. thank you. the crisis in the commonwealth continues this morning. virginia's top tee elected leaders show no signs of stepping down in theic with a of their individual scandals. lieutenant governor justin fairfax, accused of sexual assault seems most in danger of being forced out of office. but an evident to begin itch peachment proceedings against him today have been stalled. ote, additional conversations need to take place before anything is filed. two women used fairfax of sexual assault. he insists the encounters were

both nsensual. a spokesperson for the lieutenant governor says he is e aggressivelyloring options for a thorough investigation into all of the allegations. we arenginally hea from virginia governor ral northam. he sat down for his first televised interview since a racist photowas discovered in his medical yearbook. northam called the days since the scandal broke difficult. but despi calls from lawmakers in his own party to resign the governor says he'soi not anywhere. >> virginia needs someone that can heal. there iser no bettern to do that than a doctor. virginia also needs someone who is strong, who has empathy, who has courage, and who has moral compass. >> northam also said it is up to his lieutenant governor and attorney general to decide t whethery will resign in light of their respective scandals. virginia voters are split on what northam should do.

a new "washington post" shar schoolws poll s 47 think he sould resign. 47% say huld stay. that same poll also shows he is getting support from african-americans in the state, moor than half do not think he should step down. president trump isg tak his fight for a border wall to the southern border today. he will be inl paso, texas. back in shgton, negotiations hit a snag over the weekend. lawmakers havological friday to hammer to out a deal. phrasy pots explains. >> i believe we all have come here in good epfaith. >>ter: with just four days to go, lawmakers working on a deal to avoid a goverent shutdown are at a standstill. >> i will say 50/50 weet a deal. i hope and pray we do. >> we could end up in a train wreck. e>> reporter: the confere committee negotiating border security is stuck on how much prison space to set aside for immigrants who committed crimes and how aggressively agents wila goer those who haven't. that is reportedly holding up

democrats agreeing to a nding for a barrier at the border. >> experts on securing it say these are our top three priorities. we need money. yetin they are s zero dollars for that. i don't understand it. >> reporter: the white house says we could see a shutdown miday. and president tru still declare a national emergency to pay for the border wall. >> what you will probably see is the president say yeah, okay, and then i will go find the money someplace else. >> if the preside has something on his desk and wants to veto it we need to the veto. >> reporter: the emergency declaration is not the only way president trum t can get money build a wall. the big money is on capitol hill. and right now thatallet is closed. the white house says president trump might be willing to sign another temporary budget extension to prevent a shutdown at the end of this week and give lawmakers more time. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. as manyye federal emp prepare for the possibility of being out of work, the airline industry will outl the risk

of another shutdown. the association of flightat ndants will hold a press conference at reagan national this afternoon. you will recall during the last shutdown tsa saofficersty inspectors, and others were forced to work without play. several tsa checkpoints around the country were closed because there were not enough workers. new this morning, manassas police identified the person responsible if ar non-credible threat against schools. the suspect is stonewall middle school student. that teen is responsible for making a threat on social media on friday targeting schools in manassas. as a precaution there will be policel pat at schools in manassas. the fight to mine uranium in virginia hear from the man who started the legal debate. the race for the next president is getting crowded, including a histoc number orif

long serving congressman walter b. jones jr. has died. he served 13 t ams for district in eastern north carolina. while jones worked on a number was hisittees i about-face on the iraq war that defined his career. he supported the war in 2002, but after attending the funeral services for a marine sergeant he wrote a letter of apology to the marine's family he went on to write similar letters to more than 11,000 relatives of dead u.s. service members. congressman jones was 76 years old. now to decision 2020. the cldwded f of democratic presidential candidates sntinues to grow. minnesotaator amy klobuchar annound her candidacy as know covered her rally in minneapolir yey. >> as one faith leader reminded me this week, to pursue the good, we must believe that goo will prevail. >> her campaign team ordered 100

gallons of hot coco and 100 gallons of apple cider to keep her supporters warm there. the e-term senator was reelected last year partially by winning dozens of counties president trump won in 2016. >> here's what bothers me. the time we get to 2020, donald trump may not even be president. in fact, he may not even be a free person. >> massachusetts democratic senator elizabeth warren there making her second presidential campaign stop in iowa over the weekd. warren tol supporters that presidential candidates must work to change the s brokentem in the country. >> we are joined now by senior r political edi mark murray with more on the growing field of democrats running for president. historic number of women in the field so far. the number could grow. wh do you make of this? >> it is going to be a big field. now all of a sudden we talking about 15 or 20 candidates. as you mentioned, tre are four

united states senators who are women. you have five total u.s. senators who are in the field.ve potentially more. some current and former governors might actually jump into the race i am glad you played the clips between klobuchar and waen. to me they represent kind of polar ends of the messaging modebate for ats. on the one hand of elizabeth warren, almost the fighter, the reformer as she mentioned in that kplip and in her announcement speech she had the name fight 28 times in her announcement speech. versus klobuchar who was talking about bridge building, healing, g. of course you are going to have the message, the democratic nominee will be in t middle. those are at least are the polar extremes right now. i am not sure what democratic voters want. we will find out a year from now. >> andus how much they be thinking, with such a large group already this early in the campaignseason. how do you size all of that up? >> we have to see who gets in the field.

we talked about the people whol aredy in. we are waiting on joe biden the former vice president, does he get in. beto o'roare does get in. of course there is bernie sanders. i think we are going the look af ld that is going to have 15 or 20 people. tollave debates we ave to have back to back nights to be able to fit them all -- we can't even fit them all on o age. i think the question then becomes who raises the most money, who has a message that penetrates? and then makes iowa so important on the febru 3rd caucuses. >> you mentioned betoo' ark. president trump is holding a rally in el paso. o'roark will hold a rally literally acros thestreet. why are they getting so much attention. >> the president is going to be there. he always commands a lot of attention. what is noteworthy to me is when president trump has a rally it is usually to his supporters. in el paso county, he only got 26% of the vote inl so in

the 2016 election versus hillary clinton's nearly 70%. texas is a red state but the area he is going to ie a b area. there it moo be more people who turn out for to o'roark than the president himself. >> it will be interesting to tch all of that. we need to talk about virginia and what's going on ther you have t governor doing his first network interview saying i m staying, i am not going anywhere. how is that faring? what are you hearing already? >> i'm hearing i think the status quo, every hour,very day that goes by it does seem that somehow ralph northam is going to be able to stay in . offi we heard democrats across the political spectrum call for his resignation. >> right. >> that doesn't do a good. i think we need to see the overall stability of all three top office holders on the staff, in the only northam, but fairfax and attorney general mark herrine it is possi that one or two of them eventually resign. remember, democratson't want

to be in the position where all three resign at the same time and tn aepublican becomes the acting governor. >> you have -- obviously, this is something that everybody is watching all over the country. what is the greater impact, ree scandals in virginia, increasingly democrats, whaats thenal impact on democrats do you think? >> this is certainly not good news. democrats when they want to talk ing, coming up in virginia and the issues that want. now they end up having better representation in the house of delegates than they had ever before even though republicans are in contr they want to be able to get things done. it is hard with all of that happening. let's see now thet months play out. particularly once the leadership is solidified, how they tssk abouts of race, how the presidential field develops. i am not necessarily sure this is going to impact virginia in 20 or even the next governor's race in 2021. whether it impactst o not i think depends on what ends up happening in the weeks or months ahead here. >> we will all be watching.

>> and coveringsu for . >> mark murray. >> thank you mark. now to a battle over uranium incohe onwealth. it is the material that fuels nuclear power plants. and it is currently mined in the western united states. but now virginia land owner wants to dig it out of his er pr. nbc's ann thompson takes us to the land in chatham where the idea is digging up controversy. >> reporte the roots of walter cole's family tree are deep in the soil of southwest virginia. >> these calculatttle have beene land for 50 years. >> reporter: 1,050 acres owned byix generations of coless. now walter wants to mine what' underneath. walking along this dirt road on the farm virginia tech geologist bob barner shows us what the eye can't see. a>> me might fin little rock. this is what the uraum ore looks like. >> reporter: to get at it he wants to build mes on his

land. but radiation fears led to local opposition a a fight over state and local laws that's gone all the way to the supreme court. you are not a pariah in town? >> i went to cocktail parties this christmas. some of the people were for me. d some were against me. i still got along with them snoou. >>eporter: now the questio is which law will prevail. the state of virginia banned uranium mining. but coles and his cbapanies ed by the trump administration argues that ban should be preempted by the a. toic energy act. coles argues virginia pe overst its authority when it banned mining. worried about the safety and management of radioactive waste arguing that's the responsibility of the federal government. >> we have got the virgini people's back. >> reporter: but deborah and others who live in the river basin say any waste to lead to environmental disaster for 2 million people. >> if a uranium mine is built, r this r will become contaminated with radioactive

water. y >> reporter: c guarantee that any waste would not pollute thete ground >> you would have protective and monitoring systemsm downstr that would catch itwod ever see downstream. >> reporter: protections ver potential. to be decided as a matter of law by the highest court in the land. ann thompson, nbc news, chatham, virginia. sunshine and the 50s return to our forecast this week. lauryn will let us know when. >> plus, meghan markle's em

we are learning new details about the british royal family, cluding the development that 97-year-old prince philip has voluntarily stopped driving after a recent crash. >> voluntarily. word there.ey at the same time, meghan mark

markle's father released a personal letter that theuchess reportedly wrote to him. nbc's lucy calf on and off reports on these royal headlines. >> reporter: a lot of royal news from this weekend. prince philip, the 97-year-old duke of he had enborrow voluntarily surrenderingdr his iver's license in the aftermath of a carrash he was involved in. i want to get to the news of meghan markle and her continuing dad.with thomas markle speaking out again, sharing an intimate five page letter meghan wrote to him after the wedding. in this emotional letter meghan wrote she never heard from her father that he would be coming. nor did she receive messages from him about his heart attack. meghan wrote, daddy it is with heavy heart that i write this, not understanding where you have chosen t toe this path, turning a bland eye to the pain causing. she went on to pleaouwith him,

if alllove me like you tell the please, please stop, please stop lying, please stop creating so much tame, please stop exploiting m relationship with my husband. those pleas fell on deaf ears as thomaset markle gave ther to the daily mail. not something the expectant mother probably wants to be dealing with at this stage. this will morning, seattle continues to d out from a record-setting snowfall. the city known for rain has had its snowiest february in 70 years. another one to two inches expected to fall today. on person died since the storm hit last friday. the store brought six to ten inches o snow. it made travel treacherous. i have a fend who moved out there last year. he keeps posting, they tol me

it never snows in seattle. >> he with a can't complain when we look at that video about what we had this morning. >> not at all.e >> wu out this morning. >> i was out and about. i was just petting furry animals. >> molette likes to stop in the woods everyow and then. if something runs by, she just -- >> bamby. >> little deer, bunny. >> well, youe didn't h to wear your boots out there. rain boots but not a lot of sn w boots becau didn't get a lot of snow. but we had schools cancel because we had a litee bit of ut there. not everybody saw it. a lot of places got some rain. if you were north west you saw a little bit more snow. in fact i am still seeing snow covered grounds out therepe ing on where you are. listen, we have cloudy conditions. this is what it is going to loou like all throu the day. we may hit a break in the precip later on this afternoon. for the most part we are looking at a cloudy and dreary day. they shaved back the winter teather advisory. how they have ed it. a lot of the areas in purple now

until 10:00 a.m.tu on day. we will continue to see this weather winter advisory go until tomorrow morning mainly because we have another bout of winter weather overnight tonight. not for everybody, though. you can see the system being. one wave passing through right now. another wave off to the west is going tassing through as we head into tonight. listen to this, if you are mainly northf i-7 to 0 you are going to see snow and you are going to mve snowh of the day. you are holding onto the cold south of i-70 all the freezing rain and sleet has now changed over to rain. there is pockets of freezing rain out there. v dot and all of tm were out there last night and the day before treating everything. up here since we are getting snow and we will continue to have snow, frederick county, washington county, carroll county baltimore city and north, you are going to ctinue to see minor accumulations of snow because you are holding onto the cold air. likely to see snow and sleet in the afternoon while everybody else changes overn to r with

some spotty freezing rain. temperatures above the freezing mark in most places. watch the locations that are t just att freezing, ma. that's where we could have issues especially with secondary roads since they did such a good job treating the roads last night. an playing, mainly rain. we h could a lull this afternoon. tonight more rain comes back and temperatures drop. i think her ind.c. we will be above freezing. i don't think the roads will be all that bad. but we will have a chance to see slerk spots out we will talk about your future cast. we have got a winter storm watch moin effect. of this is coming our way. i will let you know for who. that's coming upn about 12 minutes. okay. >> thank you lauryn. newed a midday, a man killed this morning trying to cross 95 in maryland. what we have learned about the accident. plus tax return disappointment. why the amount of yr refund is likely less than last year. and what you can dabout it.o

>> announcer: you are watching news4 the publisher of the "national enquirer" is once againac pushing b against claims by jeff bezos that they tried to extort and blackmail him. but as an attorney for davidpe er is on defense over allegations from amazon's ceo, a hollywood actor and journalists are also weighing in as well. >> in these new accounts accusing the enquirer of doing the same thing to them. let's get the story. >> reporter: this morning, has the jeffez leaker been revealed? the brother of bezos's alleged mistress is denying reports he leaksed the text to the "national enquirer." a lawyer for david pecker is refusing to confirm or deny if it was michael sanchez who is also a reported supporter of president trump. the lawyer saying the source was someone close to the couple, and had giveth information to

enquirer for seven years. michael sanchez denied his involvement to the "washington post," who is owned by bezos. it comes as pecker's attorney is pushing back on claims jeff bezos mad in an extraordinary blog postulate last week. >> it absolutely is not blackmail. nd not >> reporter: the amazon founder wrote that represent for american media, inc., threatened to release intimate textsnd photos between him and his alleged mtress if he didn't post what he calls a false public statement saying he didn't think ami's coverage was politically motivated and end his investigation into how they got previous texts which they published shortly after bezos announced mis divorce. nbc news has not independently reviewed the e-mails in bezos's posts. bezos had pointed to ami's connection to the saudi government as well as president trump, pecker's aorney

stressing the inquirers dealing osth bezos were just journalism. >> i think b and ami have interests in resolving their differences. >> reporter: since bezos' post othee come forward saying they too were victims of the samepractices. actor terry crews a tweeting mirksor, tried to silence me. roland pharaoh and the "associated press" investigative team detailing similar efforts against them. this morning a tabloid known for its salacious headlines is today making its own front-page fodder. >> that's nbc's miguel alma gare reporting. in response to the allegations pecker's lawyer says he is not aware of any bla by ami employees. developing this morning, maryland state police areve igating a deadly pedestrian crash. the crash happened early this morning on southbound i-95 at

maryland route 216. police say timothy lewis of mount rainier wasle killed w he was trying to cross the highway. we are told the driver of the h car tha lewis as well as other witnesses stayed at t charges against the driver haven't been filed. prince georges authories reiterate this morning always wear your seat belt. three people died in a single car crash. police say none of them wore seat belts. the accident happened yesterday morning on martin luther king highway near glen willow drive. dinvestigators believe tver was not speeding but lost control. a fourth person in the car was seriously injure today we are hoping to learn more about the investigation into a weekend house fire that killed a man in alexander rhea. the trouble started saturday morning on areal court. neighbors could only watch as the fire sprea house there. the firefighters say the cold temperatures made it lard to fight. >> the conditions that our firefighters met when they got here were in the extreme nature.

so the body fluids, the sweat when they come outsides instantaneously dropping their body temperatures. >> despite the cold the fire was put out quickly. sadly, firefighters were not side.to save the man right now it the appears the fire started because of an unattended hicandle. morning two kids in a pilot are okay after their small plane crashed in northern virginia. it happened yesterday in culpepper county. look at you can see half of the plane on route 3, and the other halfn the brush. virginia state police say the plane had engine failure after it took off from warrenton airport and t pilot had to make an emergencylanding. > with over two months to the april 15th tax deadline a disturbing reality is settling in for millions of americans. ynew tax law that took effect lastr could haunt taxpayers this year.

kathy park is crunching the numbers. >> reporter: this tax season might be remembered f one thing, many unhappy returns. the probably have to pay federal taxes more this yearr than ebefore. >> reporter: because of changes in the way you file, the average taxed refund dro 8.4% fm 2035 last year to 1865 according to new figures from the airs. >> not thrilled about it. >> reporter: and 30 million americans will be writing checks rather than cashing them. that's 3 million more than if president trump's tax reform had not passed. the irs tells nbc news, some way receive a smaller refund or even poteially owe tax, especially if they did not check and adjust their withholding in 2018. but the news wasn't bad for everyone. 80% of americans received a tax cut, according to the tax policy center. he reform has benefitted by more money in my paycheck. >> reporter: financial experts say there is still tim to make adjustments. is there anything that we can do

to reduce our tax burdenefore the deadline? >> you can still contribute to an individual retirement account an ira to reduce your taxable income. you ilve up until a5th to do that if you qualify. contributions to a health savings account could also help reduce your taxable income. >> reporter: while several deductions disappeared in the ul overha experts say you can still deduct mortgage interest rates and charitable donations. options to ensure you are not left with ais dimng return. kathy park, nbc news,yo new . olympic skier lindsey vonn's historic career came to an end over the weekend. >> vonn competed in her final women's downhill world chpionship in sweden after, contracting l earlierast week. there was some doubt if she would be able to race at all.t buhe most decorated woman in world cup skiing history was able to take a much deserved bow at theottom of the hill. vonn took home a bronze medal in

yesterday' race. she is now the oldest skier to every medal at the world championships. stellar career. and much more ahead for here, even after wskiing. >> sl be an ambassador of that grouporhe sport. do you ever ski? >> no. >> no. i don't -- get on these little slats and throw yourself down the mountain. >> i want to wear the outfit. so lame. anyway. okay, see what happened when a young gl fell into a panda exhibit. the frantic effort to rescue hee as t of the pandas approach. >> wait until you see the video. another wave of precipitation is headed our way, too. snow, rain,r both in you neighborhood? neighborhood? that rocking chair would look grahh, new house, eh?e. well, you should definitely see how geico

could help you save on homeowners insurance. nice tip. i'll give you two bucks for the chair. two?! that's a victorian antique! all right, how much for the recliner, then? wait wait... how did that get out here? that is definitely not for sale! is this a yard sale? if it's in the yard then it's... for sale. oh, here we go. geico. it's easy to switch and save on homeowners and renters insurance.

. this is like something out of a movie. caught on camera in china, the rescue of a young girl who fell a panda enclosure. >> my goodness. >> you can see the rescuers here

lowering the stick to the little girl as two pandas approach. then the third one comes up there. officials say they dton't appear attempt to attack her. then a security guard reaches ra down and her hand to pull her up. state media reporting the girl not hurt and there is an investigation into how she ended up in that enclosure. t >> you betre should be an investigation. >> i remember that scene from anchor man, from the first anchorman moe. i joke because she is fine. she didn't get hurt there. i remember, with the bears in e same situation. >> panda main yum. >> will frell being cuddled by the -- anyway. >> yeah. >> that would not have happened h this case it gone another way. >> you know they don't eat meat, pandas. >> yeah. >> theoretically -- >> her thesh vors. >> let's move on. >> nice to move on. >> she could have en fine. >> -- they are herbivores.

>> i have seen pictures from the zoo where they are rolling around. everybody seems to love the snow over there at the zoo. but they are probably not loving the wet weather.ro it is outside here in the d.c. area. that is an oicial term, gross. that's what it is outside, dreary, gross, wet. if you are north, that's where you are seeing thesn . this afternoon we have know north of i-70. and just wet south. south of i-70 in maryland you are talking about rain with pockets of freezing rain. it is going to be chilly and wet throughout the afternn. chilly and wet tonight. to be slick spots tonight whereo temperatures below the freezing mark. with the snow sticking around through northern maryland you could have an additional one to e inches possible. i know you already have an inch or two on the ground, another three are possible. pecially to the north. mixing around the metro area,

mainly west the shannen doha valley tonight. rain south. eventually this all turns to rain early tomorinw mo and we could have some flooding issues as a frontal system comes through bringing with it over an in of rain. stl have the winter weather advisory. they have tripped it a little bit b now it is until 10:00 a.m. on tuesday morning. look at the rain right now. this is a big system. the fst punch. we still have the second punch, which is way out here. it is coming through later on tonight. snow north of i-70, a little bit of rainith pockets of freezing rain. we will hit a lull later on this afternoon. let's go and shou. 70 here. snow to the north. rain to the south. as we continue through the afternoon the rain line tries to waver back and forth along the i-70. but mostly snow and pockets of rain for the commute me. it could be slick out there but most temperatures are above the freezingmark. nday night, cold air starts to

filter back in as the second punch of precipitation comes through. and then by tuesday morning, most of us will see rain. but there's going to be a little bit of freezing that's why we have a storm watch out there. this will all change to rain through the morning. it could be heavy at times through tuesday, could pick up an inch of rain and we could have flooding concerns. all gone before wedneay morning. and we have a winter storm watch off to the west.ho we will you the ten-day day forecast in ten minutes. all this week, use 4 i working to put a smile on people's faces with random acts of kindness. this morning's firstg stop com up. how you can help out. who is more unlikely to who is more unlikely to spend a little bit ofoney m [p ohone ringing] remember the way we used to do things? hey man... like connect with friends? dig it! or get in shape? or sell a house and pay a real estate agent a big commission. [crash]

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starting to creep up. analysts expect prices to keep rising since wholesale costs are

also going up. in maryland you are paying on avere $2.22 per gallon. gas is running $2.05 in virginia. in d.c., gas is $2.50 a gallon n. west virginia the average is $2.2al ov we are in good shape. prices are 32 cents lower than they were a year ago. valentine's day it is not the year's most important holiday but remembering it can keep you in good standing with your significant other. chris clackham shows you ho stay out of the dog house. >> reporter: it is crunch time fors florists acr the country now that valentine's day is just hours >> we start planning for it at the end of december. >> reporter: although the percentage of americans celebrating the romantic holiday has been steadily declining, the amount of money to be spent romancing those you love should be a record this year. e >> what they going to be buying is everything from gifts and cards, flowers,,f cour and even experiences. >> reporter: all of which adds up to the average personpi

drop just over $160. and a bank rate survey found men more likely than women to spend more on valentine's day, and younger millennials leading all age groups at spending the most. we flo don't have calories. they don't make you fat. >> reporter: how long you have been married also matters. according to retail me not's sarah skir boll. >> couples that have spent ten years or more together w l spend $350 whereas couples who yearseen together two will spend 100, $105. >> reporter: getting ready for the day that is dear to the heart o millions. chris clackham. nbc news. >> don't care about the amount. just the thought. put some thought intoeright whatt is. >> i need flowers, though. >> can i write that -- flowersou don't make fat. >> they don't. >> got it. >> they are good for that. if you are on a budget there

is a less expensive way to he ow you care. maybe write a love note. >> i like that. this morning the "today" show launched a special series, show the love. today jenna bush hager participated in a writing workshop on why love letters are so important especially in this age where communication revolving around text messages and emojis reigns supreme. jenna talked about a note that her husband left her after a very difficult week. i hink we go through life so bombarded by things and so quickly that we forget to stop. ere is something about a letter that's forever. >> your love is like theost it note with stick figure figures of ship passi you left from me on the bathroom mirror when i returned home late. i had been flying most of the day and was dehydrated and thirsty for home, foru. yo >> poetic. >> the pressure. >> theday" show is sharing the love, too. they are asking people in their crowd to write messages of love

and put them on this giant board. you can also tweet a message with the hashtag share the of lo. the messages will be delivered to the ronald mcdonald house later this week. there is a new option for parents who want to correct their child's eyesight without surgery. kids pop this special contact lens in before bed and then take them out in the morning and then they can see clearly. but there are some potential risks. doreen againstler is working for your hlth to explain. >> reporter: at the eye doctor's office 8-year-old celine gets checked out to make suresi her on is still on point of like the majority of children with vision problems, celin is near sighted and wore eyeglasses for years. >> it is sort of annoying. >> reporter: but last year she switched to a swesh contact lens called orthocare toll gee or orthok for short. theyreshape and flatten a child's cornea while they sleep.

they pop them in before bed and take them out in the morning. the curvature bends light in the eye and kids see clearly all day. there is the potential for eye infections if children don't practice proper hygiene and lens cleaning. infection serious enough could cause serious damage. coming up tonight on news4, an optometrist talks about what he has seen with this firstnd that. it isopular option for kids who play sports. it is expensive and usually not covered by insurance. that part of the story tonight on news4 at 5:00. now.sports news for you th is a big week for baseball fans. season gets started. nationals pitchers and catchs report to springg train west palm beach florida on wednesday. makes you feel like spring is right around the corner. >> would love to have that be the case. >> you know, whethert is

helping someone with their grocery or surprise flowerdo delivers r acts of kindness always bring smiles. this week we are spreadi t some ofs kindness all over our area. >> i had the wonderful experience of dropping off some special treats to our four legged friends at the h rescue alliance in northwest dc. check out ergy th he came in weighing 13 or 14 pounds. doing so well. she thrives on love like any animal here. we have also got gucci doing very well. look at what we brought in for random acts of kindness from news 4. a little bit of goodies. we have more, too. we are challenging you to commit a random act ofll kindness this week. here at the humane rescue alliance at the new york avenue location. lauryn lipsy you can talk about your number one wish list item? >> that's always monetary donati donations. with financial support we can expand our reach and help more animals with monetary support.

we have an in kind wish list on our w. site as we >> we will put a link to that wets on our website as well. let's show a list. to, blankets, collars, towels, food, leashes andmore. t's check out that list and commit a random act of kindness thisweek. all right? paul volunteers three days a. we 's super volunteer. you can do that, too. that is the latest from northwest d.c., backyo to >> do something nice every day this week for someone shoo big.n't have to be anything just a small gesture. it will go a long way. coming up, celebrating music's biggest stars. >> welcome to the 61st annual grammy awards! >> alicia keys was a big part of theminight. co up, a look at the other mople andoments being talked

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. music's biggest light happent night. and you didn't watch? >> why do you got to call me out like we have work, we had to be to work early if morning. the grammy's hosted by aliciaos keys inangeles. here's a wrap up of the night's highlights. >> this is america. >> childishmb gao. >> he was a no show at the

grammys but his presence was felt in the win column scoring for award, including record of the year and song of the year, the first r song to do so. >> golden hour, caskacey musgra. aves won album o the year. and dua lipa was best new ytist. >> tha so much. >> lady gaga won three awards. incling best pop solo performance and best duo performance. she performed s theg without bradley cooper. >> i know he wants to be here. bradley, i loved singing this song with you. >> the show paid homage to three legendary ladies, dolly parton for her legendary career. diana ross for her 75th birthday, and a tribute to the queen of soul, aretha franklin, who passed away last year. ♪ >> the longest ovation of the night went to a non-musician,

former first lady michelle obama obama joined a lineup of prominent women to talk about the power of music. >> music has always helped me tell my story. >> reporter: other surprises includes drake erging from back stage to claim the trophy for besap song an award he says isn't necessary to be fulfilled as a musician. >> you have already won if you have people who are singing your songs word for word, if you are a hero in our hometown. off the gramm age, bb rex's gown is sparking conferring b abouty image. last month she made waves on instagram when she revealed designers didn't want to dress her due to her ze. after she shared her horrible experience a lot of ais designers wanted to dress her. ultimately moon sory designed her gown.

she called it a cinderella moment. >> size 8, that's considered too fat f adesigner. ridiculous. before we head out, lauryn ricket i had rexa in my head. lauryn ricketts i w hereh a last look at the weather. >> you look great in your dress, too. >> thank you. i appreciate it. it is a new let me talk about this snow real quick. we have got snow to th north of i-70. this is what to expect, mainly snow north. could have a lull in the precip today. going to turn into a wtry mix tonight. snow tomorrow. wednesday and thursday, plenty of n. >> lauryn, thank you so much. that does it for news4 midday. thanks we are bac.k

we're live in five. four. three. two. one. >> sally, can i introduce you to somebody? looking like a mother of pearl. i don't know.were those pearls? are you living your best life? yes, she is.n just lea in. that's me. >>ou better let 'em know. >> you wish you dressed my fat . >> playing. >> i would say so. how are you? i've been waiting for you.u. >>