>> team coverage from chicago to hollywood startsnow. we begin with the stunning news out of chicag a short time ago prosecutors dropped all 16 charges against actosie smollett. >> it is a surprise reversal for the "empire" actor who told two e he was attacked by people then investigators said he orchestrated the talk. >> the police and mor not happy. the mayor calling it a whitewash of justice. >> our tea coverage begins with nbc's danshenaman. >> first a victim then a suspect andow all charges dropped for jussie smollett. >> i've been consistent since day way. >> the c county's officein rele a statement saying after reviewing all facts and circumstances in the case including mr. smollett's volunteer service in the ntcommunity and agree to forfeit his bond to theity of chicago, we believe this is a just outcome to theofesolution

the case. >> the state dismissed the charges. 1 jussie smollett had faced felony counts for allegedly lying to police. >> i would not be my mother's son if i was capable of one drop of what i was accused of. >> on january 29th smollett reported being attacked by two men saying the assailants yelled racial and homophobic slurs during the assault. nearly t weeks later, twoon perss of interest were questioned and then released without charges. days later, smollett was indicted. >> this is a whitewa of justice. >> today chicago city leaders angered by the deal. >> they chose to hide behind secrecy and broker a deal to circumvent the judicial system. in. eporter: the actor >> i'd like nothing more to get back to work and move on with my life. >> reporter: the drama might not be over quite yet.

dan shenaman 4bs news. e > we put together a time line how the jusollett drama has played out, search jussie smollett in the nbc washington app. our coverage of the story just smtting started. lett was dropped from the final episodes of "empire" this season so what does today's news mean for that show? we'll g an update in a few minutes. five local high school students involved in a serious crash. here's what we kno right now. chopper 4 was over the scene in prince george's county just after noon today. a car and an suv crashed on good luck road near palimar drive in grn belt. we're told seven people were injured, five were high school students. two people may have been ejected. the injuries rain from critical to minor. ja jackie bensen will be arethe

upcoming conference. the man who police say shot two ppleutside of a district height's town home h been released. a man hunt spurred lockdowns at several nearby schools. one man died from his injuries, and the woman is recovering. police say the w deceasedt to the town home to continue an andment, it turned physica that's when they were shot. police say they opened fire and the man who did will remain free pending the outcome of theio investig chopper 4 captured the aftermath of a wild police chase on i-95 this morning. montgomery county polde officer tr to pull over a stolen van, the driver sped off, driving thg wray onto the interstate. the man crashed in the woods and the driver darted across severao lanes traffic. an officer captured the man and

put him handcuffs. we're working to learn the driver's name and the chaes he's facing. a crack down on the robo calls that bomb bard your smart phone. consumer reporter susan hogan here with a look at what this settlement means. >> it involves four companies and multipl individuals and pch company used robo calls for differentposes but they all aimed to do one thing, scam consumers. the fdc said one company used robo calls to pitch everything from auto warrants to home security systems a debt relief systems. another promised to lower consumer credit cards interest rates. the third is accused of asking people to donate cars, boats for fake charities, and the final scam is to companies offering to

make them show up more prominent in google. in all of these cases, the fdc reached multimillion dollar settlements. the companies agreed to stop making robo calls. >>he fdc says stopping robo calls remains one of its most important priorities. they are such a nuisance. >> don't we know it. pat? a man is facing multiple charges in connection with a hit and run crash people are calling intentiona i the victimn this case a 66-year-old woman who died last night. this unfolded sunday evening outside the woman's home on clover hill road in manassas. investigators say the victim and suacected driver knew other. news4's pat collins has the story. >> when heit her, it was like a bomb went off. >> reporter: and then h body flew across, up in the air -- >>p the air, across the

hood and hit the ground. >> reporter: and he kept on going? >> he kept o going. >> reporter: how fast was he going? >> estimate for me, i would say he was probably going -- when he passed me here, he was probably do 50 miles an hour or more. >> reporter: the victim, shamsa begum murdered in front of her home in manassas cityne it happe sunday evening. neighbors say someone threw a brick through her first floor window. when she went out to see what was going on, she was struck and killed by that hit and run car. a short time later the driver of the car arrested at a nearby seven eleven. he's been identified as 29-year-old, muhammad taha. he's fromontgomery county, maryland. >> the victim and the spect know each other. at this point we're still investigating the nature of that relationship. >> now the suspect in this case is charged with dui hit and run

as well as second degree murder. >> some more breaking news coming in this afternoon. one of the world's highest paid athletes facing a sex assault accusation. connor mcgregor reportedly under investigation in ireland after a of sexual ed him assault in december. mcgregor was arrested inan januy released pending further investigation. earlier today he announced his retirement from ufc. a spokesman for sireland' police service would not say if he's a suspect in the case. he was among the top five highest paid athletes in 2018, raking in some $25 million that year. the president announcing his plans to dismantle the affordable care act. the president says republicans will come out on the w ning

end. >> the republicanar p will soon be known as the party of health car you watch. >> democrats are criticizing his latest effort to dismantle obamacare. they say americans made it clear in the midterm elections that the law is popular. polling repeatedly shows that health care is the most important issue for most voting americans. the president's national ergency declaration at the mexico border will be allowed to stand for now. t this afterno democrats failed to garner enough votes to veto the president's plan. this has the ptagon plans to end billions of dollars on a new wall. >> we're responding to the president's direction --he >> reporter: pentagon is shifting a billion dollars tofu nd trump's border wall. >> given legal order from the

commander in chief, we are executing on that order. >> reporter: an emergency order that could divert $4 billion from as many as 150 defense projects aroun the countrynd the world. lawmakers continue to challenge the process and the plan. >> to look at the pentagon as a piggy bank/slush fund where you can go and grab money when you need it, undermines the credibility of the dod budget. >> reporter: the first transfer moves money to the army corp. of engineers to build 18 foot high fencing. the president vetoed a measure that would have blocked his order. a move to overturn the veto failed to get the necessary votes this afternoon in the house. >> there is a crisis at the border that can no longer be de ed. >> reporter: the next effort to stop the order could come in the

cotets. >> the ustates constitution is extraordinarily clear about who has the power of appropriation, it's not the 'resident. >> reporter: th claiming it ol w.atvies hejay gray nbc news. the supreme court tsing on a bipartisan fight over political gerrymandering today the court is hearing two cases that focuses on the way congressional districts a drawn. one involves maryland's sixth districts. republicans say democrats drew it to boost their ownparty. north carolina it's the democrats accusing republicans of d the same thing. outside the court today, lots of passionate lepe including larry hogan and arnold schwartznager. >> the citizens should be cking their representatives.

>> i'm so excited to be here toda and to fight the gerrymandering and to say we must terminate gerrymandering. >> there are people fighting a changes, including maryland's attorney general and sixth district representative fp the supreme court is expected to make its decision by june. a secret service officer was hurt after a car hit him this mornin he was on a motorcycle at the entrance of the vice president's home when he was struck. that's the grounds of the naval observatory near 34th andtt massachus avenue. when e there on the sce the officer was placed into the ambulance. no word on the extent of his pinjuries. d.ice are investigating. vice president pence was not there at the time of the crash. a bombshell in the jussie smollett saga. all 16 charges against him dropped. >> still ahead, reaion from hollywood. scott evans from "access" joins

us with what could be next for the actor's "empire" career. local students with a unique campaign. an a little bite cool side today, even with plenty of sunshine oute. th temperatures well below average today but we're moving back in the right directi startingon

take a look out there today,

that is new video of the cherry blossoms today in stage 4. the temperatures going in the right direction for a bloowe >> e upping peak bloom now likely happening on monday into next week wit temperatures toward the end of the week helping to bring theom blo out. >> see you back here in a minute.ta we'ring 70oppele. it's been called a public health crisis facing our ch dren. >> p problem on e c uarette is growing. aaron gilchrist spo to local students doing their part to raise awareness. >> most days i'll see one person juul, it's in the classroom or hallway. >> it'sg not sneakina cigarette under the bleachers any more. a million more kids year compared to 2017 skipping the tobacco burn and going for the nicote infusion of e cigarettes. >> we've seen this issue presenr in school, that was our

inspiration for the project. >> reporter: the proje was an anti-vaping media campaign. the slogan, be cool don't juul, a not to the country's most popular vaporizer brand. and they hit that message hard. the video at theenter of their media blitz featured their classmates a s theg "thank you, next". the new millennium's just say no. >> we made a video that aired on our high school and middle school show. >> people were questioning what are the negative effects of juuling after seeing it. it's done a good job getting t word out there. >> reporter: e cigarettes and vaping have only been around 10 years or so. the cdc reports a 78% increase in use among high school students from 201 to 2018. early testing found vapor may

contain toxic and cancer causing chemicals. it may be a gate way to real cigarettes. the cdc says it can lead to addiction and har brain development. >> a jewel pod has the same amou of nicotine in 20 cigarettes. we thought that was powerful that people needed to know. >> that made it onto 4,000 flyers for students to absorb for two weeks. >>s they were walking into the hallway, they were see our flyers and take a second thought. >> reporter: the girls wantedeto heir peers on social medi >> if they think about now and how it could affect them in the future, soe nted to like help them think more about what they were doing to themselves. >> reporter:aron gilchrist, news4. turning now to the weather.

when are we going to warm up, doug? >>ur ay. friday looking great. saturday, part of the weeke looking good. then we go back downhill. >> we're wready. are ready. we need nice weather, a nice streak of it too.t not j one or two days, but how about three or four days. today is dry, but you step outside itoo on the side. temperatures well below average today with a little bit of wind. plenty of sunshine across the area rht now, nothing but blue skies. rrent temperature at 52 degrees winds you on of the north at 12 miles per hour. we have a wind chill in parts of the areas. sitting at 40s in the north, 52 d.c., 52 down towards frckericksburg. o the west wind chills are in the 30 right now with that 10 to 15 milewin hour . it's a chilly day, especially for late march where the average temperature is 60 degrees.no

need for the umbrella. you will not need that. jackets need the tonight. a chilly night. a lot colder because we ha the clearing skies, dry air making its way in. the storm system that came through yesterday well out to see. you can see it spinning here, and you can see the cold air driving down toward the south. this is the cold air damming we've talked about. bringing cloud covercross the atlanta, georgia area. watch clouds go down the mountains. so co. tomorrow, temperatures a little bit warmer, 54 degrees, all sunshine. as breezy. so slightly warmer. but it's going to feel better tomorrow without the breeze. starting off the day a little bit on the cool side. your school day forecast this should say wednesday. 33 degrees at the bus stop, a cold start to the day 45 at

recess, 54 by the time we're picking up the kids. sun rise at 7:01 but it will be r before 7:00 starting thursday morning. that's good news too. thurpeay, that'sng day for the nationals. 64 degrees. a great day thursday, but even better on friday. even better on saturday. anybody know who's t going a game saturday? >> i wondered. i know a guy. >> do you know a guy going saturday? leon and i talked about this yesterday, he's like doug,y loo at tickets. i'm not inviting you, just look at my ckets. that's what he said. 75 degrees, perfect day for baseball and you're going to have a great day down there. i'm going to have the rest of the ten day forecast and the rest of the weekend because we go back down temperature wise i'll have that coming up with amelia she's joining me at 4:. still time to invite a good friend of yours. >> nothing like going out the and smelling grass for the first time. you get it thursday.

>> that's true. >> you're not bringing me thursday. >> that's fine >> only two tickets, doug. a popular local grocery in store cha closing locations in virginia and maryland. >> tracee wilkins looks into what this could mean for employees and the shoppers. first scott evans shares reaction from hollywood to the breaking news in the jussie

we have some breaking news to report. a juvenile has been struck. it hapned just moments ago in rockville, hit apparently by an suv. is happened near rockville pike near veers mill road. these are live chopper 4 pictures of the scene. apparently the juvenile is still trapped be beneath this suv and has suffered sious injuries. this is a juvenile hit near rockville pike. they're waiting for emergency g crews t to the scene. apparently the young person has beenur seriously i and is still under the suv. c we'llontinue to follow the

story on air and on line. late developmentsean the ng news that prosecutors have dropped the charges against actor jussie smollett. all the charges. now we're getting lots of reaction.cl ing some from celebrities now. scott evans from access joins us now. scott, this news of his arrest came out, smollett too lot of hits from celebrities out there. what reaction are you hearing now? >> i think right now, leon, everybody is totally surprised. the charges droppe totally unexpected. it was a turn of events in e case against jussie smollett. chicago pd seemed sure of his guilt in making a false police report. it was all announced in an emergency court hearing today. and afterward he spoke to press. >> first of all i want to thank my family, friends, the incredible people of chicago and all over the country and the world who have pra for me, who have supported me, who have shown me so much love.

no one will know how much that s meant to me. i will forever be grateful. >> a lot of people are asking a lot me questions. all 16 felony charges rdropped hiord wiped clean, court records sealed after he wa indicted by a grand jury earlier this month. but the mayor upset, theri poli suendent upset. it's still far from over. the fbi is investigating the hate letter that jussie smollett received thathe police claim he sent himself. thethe investigation into attack is still ongoing. still a lot of questions. the bro who were paid by jussie smollett $3,500or tra training, why would they beat him up? why is the judge sealihe records? could this be police misconduct or misconduct on the side of the prosecution? >> wh t's his deal we

show? >> i think that's one of the mar questions left unanswered. how will "empire" move forward? it seems his cast mates f the most part were supporting him. i imagine they will continue toe support him s all charges have been dropped. since they've all been droppedr you won is there any reason to withhd him from the show we'll wait to see how they handle that. but i think there are a lot of other questions out the. we're going to do a deep dive tonight in this story on "access," but thrown to say the least. t a stunner. i thought we got stunned by the ncaa tournament erthe weekend. this was bigger than that. >> brother, this is even bigger than that. >> thanks, scott. scott evans with "access". pat, back to you. we made i topring and molette green is still sharing tips to get fit for spring.

then signs an old battle i coming back to capitol hill. blayne alexander is l weh what could be next in the over your health care. he went from doing his homework in the back of his family's car to becoming an academic scholar. i'm david culver here in loudon county. just ahead o student's incredible and

if you are just joining us at 4:30 right now we are following some breaking news. officials expected to hold a news conerrence aft five local high school students were involved in a serious crash. chopper 4 over the scene on good luck drive i b greent today, we are told seven people were hurt, five high school students among them.we l have coverage for you, jackie bensen is thereo keep it tuned and we'll keep you updated. president trump took ap victory capitol hill today. >> he attended his first lunch with senate republicans since thend of the special counsel investigation. now he appears to be looking forward to a new fight. the final dismantling ofe. obamac democrats are pushing back on both fronts. blayne this is a reversal on the justice department's part. >> reporter: pat, you know today

is a busy day on capitol hill, leh s start we renewed battle over obamacare, something republicans have vots doz of times to repeal, twice upheld by the supreme icourt. an appears nearly a decade afterda the affe care act was signed into law, the battle over obamacare is back. president trump renewing a ight in congress over health care. >> the republican party will soon be known as the party of health care. you watch. >> reporter: the president joining senate republicans for lunch on capitol hill has his administration in a new court filing says it supports the full dismantling of the affordable care>>act. e need to replace it with a health insurance system that looks like sebody designed it on purpose. >> reporter: it comes as delawar democrats unveil their plan to trengthen the affordable care

act. republicans did say during the campaign that they weren't there to undermine the preexisting condition benefit, and herehey are. >> reporter: the presidentpr imed for the new fight over healthcare. emboldened after special counsel robert mueller's investigation, according to a summary from attorney general william barr found no evidence of collusion, but no conclusion on t question of obstruction. >> the mueller rept wasgreat. it could not have been better. >> reporter: but democrats digging in, sayings i not over yet. now putting a deadline on their demand to see the full report. in a letter to attorney general william barr, six top house ue democrats ring he release the full findings of the report by april 2ndtoone week from y. and even some republicans who support the release of the mueller report say thein dea is not realistic. meanwhile an official from the justice department said it would

take weeks not months for the attorney general to make some version of the mueller report public. le pat. >> so we have to keep on waiting again. okay. and we will. thank you, blayne. blayne alexander on capitol hill. w heartbreak after three apparent suicides involving people personally the school shootings in parkland, florida and newton, nnecticut. >> the victims all died in the past week. jeremyhe richmond father of a 6-year-old girl killed at sandy hook elementary apparently killed himself yesterday. >> and in florida, a graduate of marjorie stoneman douglas high school took her own life. her mother said she suffered with survivor's guilt and ptsd but never sought help. just this past weekend a soomore from the school has always died by apparent suicid

>> we're still crying at night. still scared of loud noises. >> it's still affecting us. >> i'm afraid it's going to open up a floodgate. i really am. becausegeven the str people that i knew thought about it right after. >> you can see and feel them struggling with , still. >> i know. >> joining us is dr. ava dooms wh suffers in adolescence, and events like these shootings can triggerci s. should we assume that anyone who's been through this is suffering in silence? >> you don't wt to assume that, but you want to be ready to get them the help they need if someone can identify they're in need of help. you want to form a network within your own community to help ideify those that might not be able to sew calvo how

they're feeling. if someone is suffering in silence, you want to join together. >> the florida shooting happened last year. sandy hook happened in 2012. clearly people live with for some time. what kind of warning signs do you need to look out for and what's the best way to react if you notice a warning sign in someone y love? >> after you suffer a trauma, it's often nmal to have changes in your mood and sleep and appetite and suffer in other ways. after some time, those symptoms then become more of a chronic condition if they're not improving. so you want t make sure that you're kind of looking at the symptoms that are going on and really saying, it doesn't matter how much time has gone on. we need to really treat this and find them the appropriate treatment when they need it, at

the time that they do, no matter how long. >> what about parents in these situations? what should they be talking about with their kids? in particular you mentionedam before we on camera, events like what happened in new zealand m be triggers for what kids are going through? so what shouldarents be talking about? >> you wantt to know wur child knows. have them explain it back to you and then give them the truth. you want to limit their access tonformation on the news about things that might trigger them they come home talking about it from school and make sure ey're getting the right information. nhe best thing to do is listen and let childe heard. >> so very portant. >> thank you so much for coming in. very good insights. we hope youelped someone today. >> thank you. if you or someone you know is struggling with depression or thoughts ofsu ide, there is help out there. we have a list of local resources underng the cg minds section of our website at

nbcwashington.com. still ahead, a local succest y. >> a young man from virginia coming out on top despite all the odds he's faced. >> no matter what you want to do, if you want something, go get it.d you'll a way toet it done. >> david culver has his inspiring story next.lu last year the wettest year on record ever for our area. we a looking at a dry stretch of weather for this work week, but this year we continue toea t weer records. weer records. i'm goi to have mornge

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there's some new nbers out showing that spring could be a rainy spring. >> amea draper here with a closer look at why. what's the word, amelia? >> as we continue to see warming temperatures we'll see more raid heavier rainfall events. we're not at the end of march yet and this is the wettest 12-month time period from an april to the end of march ever on record, guys. it's not just by a little bit. it's by an astounding 9 inches of water. putting thatn terms of snow, that would be almost 8 feet of snow. also looking at numbers, any 12 month period on record, shis is thond wettest. i have to say thank you to capital climate on twitter for ifying these numbers to me.

this is in part to the increase and downpours as we see warmer temperatures overall, more rain in the atmosphere. so what you're noticing here i the downpours going from 1950 t. 20 i mean rainfall events of an inch or more. notice the trend line, it is going up and up, guys. >> wow. okay. >> after we spent a year where welmad raint every weekend. >> as we stay at storm team 4, the trend is your friend wedo t think that's changing any time soon. >> the grass and flowers will love it. >> a chilly day outside today. doug and amelia will come back with how cold they're going to get tomorrow. plus they'll have an update on our spring allergy forecast. >> reporter: tre are 12 shoppers warehouses in prince george's county and now it looks like the grocery store will be closing its locations. i'm tracee wilkins, what that means for shoppers and

employees. >> reporter: martha stewart and snoop dogg are hollywood's it couple. first again net posed this photo of herself and her daughter, and her daughter said mom you didn't have consent for that. serena williams hopes to invest in female african-american entrepreneurs. if you want to pitch serena, the information is on her instagram account. the promo for martha's and snoop's new shos quite titanic. >> i'm flying. >> maybe you remember in 2017 they spoed the iconic pottery scene from ghost. those two, the pick me up we

need

if you're just joining us at 4:45 let's get you caught up with 4 things to knto. >> prosecu in chicago dropped all charges against r jussie smollett today. in january he said he was attacked by two people. investigators later said he set up that attack. mayor emanuel calls the decision to drop the charges a whitewash ofjustice. a news conference getting under wayge in prince ge county, officials discussing a crashscnvolving five high ol students. news4 jackie bensen i there at the news conference and she'll have a live report here up. g police say a juvenile has been hit by a vehicle in ckville, chopper 4 over the scene on rockville pike.

police say there are serious injuries. we'll keep you updated as we learn more about that. the federal trade commission cracking down on robo calls. today they announced settl cents with foupanies for sending outll cas, they tried to sell services misrepresenting their motives. they agreed to stop sending the calls and pay millions in fines. from living out of his car to winning national championships.t' >> one stud inspiring journey from homelessness to success is ale exa to his classmates. >> david culver shows us how the student is now hoping to pay it forward. >> reporter: he invisions his success. >> at my desk i hav a picture of university of virginia sitting up there. so that's my goal. >> reporter: he started at northern virginia community college in 2017 after gduating high school. photos show a happy teen with plenty of friend photos do not always reveal the

dark realities behind tt ight smile. >> we were hopping around from motel to motel to car, car, and it was -- i think my seventh grade year was the roughest year of my that's when we had to live in the homeless leshel >> reporter: after his mom lost her job the two of them spent years struggling. he had t step up and help out. >> we're a team. m the end of the day she' mother, she gave birth to me, me into the world. it's something that -- sorry. >> reporter: on campus he's workg hard, fulfilling 19 credit hours and takes part in several clubs. when he's not here,he's working full time at best buy, he's risen the ranks to management. he provides not only to himself but also his mom. >> he's energized, motivated,

he's amazing. >> reporter: he's been mentoring him, t helping him a four year degree. >> he seizes the opportunity. >> reporter: he hopes to one day pay it forward by starting a nonprofit of his own. >> no matter what you want to do, you can find a way to get it done. >> reporter: a determination to overcome a pain filled past, turning struggle into success. in sterling, virginia, david culver news4. he already won two national scholarships for his academic ess, his story has been circulated around campus and wil probably encourage a lot of other students to find that motivation for themselves t >> not just students. anyone who hears that >> yeah. he pulled himself up and out. >> way to go. what do we have coming in here right now? we have the baseball seasoge ing ready to kick off, we need a stretch of good uff. >> last year baseball started off on a cool note. i remember. >> it was quite cool.

this year going to be i will be down there, as well as the nbc 4 crew will be down there all day excited because today we're talking about sunshine coming for the opening day and not just that but temperatures above average. plenty of sunshine. we have lot of -- still a lot of, you know, darkness out there as farhes gray and the brown as far as the trees are concerned. but o thing we're starting to notice, notice some of th starting to look a little greener. we're starting to green up a li this is really green here. that's turf, though. a little turf field.ay anbut starting to. you may have noticed your grass starting to grow in your yard as well. almost tim to get out the lawn mower. 52 right now, plenty ofsh se dropping to the 40s, down to 39 by 11:00. going to be a chilly day to start tomorrow.n 47rockville. a deceptive day, plenty of sun but a breeze comes in and makes

it feel cooler. nothing on radar currently. the big deal, look at the wind chill. in hagerstown. 37 ocean city. but we do have a warmup. that's going toome with a couple of things. one, that's going to come with a lot of a sunglasses everybody feeling really good except for us allergy sufferers. >> absolutely. the pollen report has the trees coming in high, mold spores low, weeds and grasses are absent.ou as was saying, moving toward the end of the work week we get wthds out o south, which is already in full bloom. all of those allergens are going to be headed our way. time to get on the seasonal allergyci me. as we talk about bloom watch and the cherry blossoms at the tidal we hit stage 4 yesterday, a fun stage name, peduncle elongation.

then we have the puffy stage and then peam.bl peak bloom projection, april 1st. heading down you're going to get a show. i think the best time to go is she first through the fifth. peak bloom considered when 70% of the blossoms are open. tmperatures are biggest variable in bringing out the blooms. once they're heout, peak bloom does last a few days down there. speaking of that, satury will be t better of the two weekend days i think to headdaown to the basin based on the weather forecast. we have some rain in the forecast on sunday. on saturday it's breezy, ld, hitting a high of 75. ice weather for the kite festival on saturday. >> yes. you mentioned p knuckle, my grandmother played it all the time. 64 degrees. today looking very good, very nice, 73 and saturday. a nice series against the mets

there. great for the nionals at nats parks. sunday much cooler and cool.zy and look at next week, on the cool side for sure as we move into the first full week of april. but late next week alsooong pretty good. i know it'sea knuckle. >> but will peduncle be take place next week too? >> no. we think peak. so no more peduncle elongation. for the past weeks we've been giving you tips to get fit spring. >> not too late to get started. here are some ideas for you, things you can do at home without going to a gym. jump rope. this provides benefits of a full bodyworkout in 15 minutes. >> you can do pushups, very portant for the upp body and

they can strengthen yond lower backcore. >> finally, squats. they can help improve upper and lower body strength and your balance as well. >> molette green has it going. >> we haven't had a status update on her mission. >> well, you see. she's doing it. >> we have to get some numbers. way to go molette. jim and wendy standing by in the news room. >> what's. comi >> we're tired watching molette. >> we finished our squats and jump rope. >> you parents knowhe time you spend shuttling kids place to plac can add up. >> there's a new ride sharing service in our area designed to lp you ease up on that mileage. how d adam tuss explains it's promising to keep your kids safe andlessen your stress. >> gettingtu free by tapping into the power of social media. it may be easier than you think. >> susan hogan explains how you

can use your post to get freebieser no maow many followers you have. the reception for the virginia governor since the blackface scandal that almost

doug kammere.c. air arocery closing and they won't telni what's hap and it's infuriating the workers. >> tracee wilkin has more. >> i'm shopped, surprised. >> it's hard saying good-bye after decades of shopping. >> keep it open. keep it open. >> reporter: these people who consider shoppers food warehouse their neighborhood grocery don't want to see it leave. >> where are we supposed to go. >> reporter: they have a new parent company that wan o of the retail business. that's left people wondering what's next, including workers. >> to many people this job is all they have. >> reporter: president of the united food and workers union represents nearly 2,000 shoppers foodn employees our area, most

work in prince george's county where there are 12. stores he said he's frustrated because the new owners aren't saying much about what's a coming what it means for workers. >> they want to know what's going on and they're frustrated with being kept in the dark. >> reporter: theounty is considered to be a food desert, meaning it lacks healthy option. >> l of these stores that we're talking about, they're in communities where that store that is the main source for fresh pro deuce and healthy food options. >> rorter: the new owners have not responded to calls for comment. this as the customers are dreaming about what could be next. >> i'd le toee a trader joe's. >> reporter: giant has bought some of the shoppers that have closed in northern virginia andn montgomery . prince george's county officials are saying they're fairly certain they can fill all of

these stores when they close, but aren't saying who's geterested and buying them. in prince ge county i'm tracee wilkins news4. right now at 5:00. >> this is a whitewash of justice. >> all charges dropped against actor jussie i'vsmollett. >>e been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one. >> the surprise about face. why did it happen, and the angry eruption from the police. >> do i think justice was served, no. plus stepping out of the shadows. virginia's governor bac in northern virginia for the first time since the black face scandal that almost brought down his administration. i'm susan hogan tapping into the power of social media and how you can create posts that will score you free stuff. >> announcer: news4 at 5:00 starts now. and hi, everybody. first at 50 tonight a shocking reversal in the jussie smollett case.

prosecutors in chicago dropping all charges against the "empire" actor. >> that announcement stunned the city's police department today. the commander called it, quote, a punch in the gut. >> the mayor tostunned, as you saw there. leon harri o begin coverage at the live desk. >> just an unbelievable turn of events for jussie smollett and the police and the state's attorney's office in chicago. the actor claimed he was attacked by two men inn apparent hate crime. but after an investigation police say imowasett who staged that incident. a grand jury agreed, indicting the actor on 16 felony counts just weeks ago. in a statement today the state's attorney office said this, quote, after reviewing all the facts a circumstances dropping ole charges is a, quote, appropriate rion to this case. smollett spoke minutesater outside the court. >> i've been truthful and consistent on every level since