and a local rescue crew helping earthquake victims helping people thousands of miles away. fox 5 morning news at 7:00 starts right now. thanks, sky fox, great view of the d.c. area. it will cloud up today before we get more winter precipitation tonight and into tomorrow morning. what will it be? we'll find out in a few minutes. thanks for joining us on this tuesday morning. i'm steve chenevey. >> and i'm allison seymour. we'll get to weather and traffic. but looking ahead. federal transportation workers are off the job for a second day and furloughed because of an impasse in congress. thousands of workers are affected here in our area. we'll talk with virginia congressman jim moran. and are you tired of the cold? ways to get away to a warmer climate without breaking your budget. >> love that. and then in the 9:00 hour, tackling one of the biggest

health concerns facing our children. what you can do to fight childhood obesity when we are joined by a trainer who has worked with the biggest names. and garret county shut down again. this is the 14th snow day out of the past 17 school days for the students, staff, and everybody out of garret county. so it's been a rough spell. >> you might just ask how bad it is? this is a picture near deep creek lake. they had gotten two feet of snow along with the crazy winds. well county officials say tere are 7-8-foot piles of snow in every intersection is the city of oakland, maryland. >> great for the ski resort out thre. 22 feet of snow in garret county this winter. >> unbelievable. 262 inches, breaks the old

record. >> that was just a couple of years ago. >> crazy out there. so we have our own records set here in the washington area and we'll add to the snow total but in all likelihood an inch or less of snow. and if the temperature stays warm enough, it will mainly be rain. here is what is happening now. reagan national 39 degrees, relative humidity 62%, winds out of the northwest at miles per hour. so those winds have diminished considerably. yesterday we were dealing with wind gusts and not so much today. in new england, the snow finally wrapping up. they are still dealing with breezy conditions. we're just dealing with cloudy skies. down to the south there is the leading edge of the storm system and portions of snowfall to tennessee, kentucky and virginia and southwestern virginia. maybe a sprinkle in here this afternoon and a chance of precipitation later tonight, rain mixing with or changing to

snow. your day planner for today looks like this. plenty of clouds around. a cooler than normal day. and a cooler day than we had yesterday. 45 degrees. however it won't be as windy as it was yesterday so a tradeoff. that's a look at the weather. now let's get an update on traffic with julie wright. not looking bad now coming from the north to the south on 95 and 295 but this is a check of 270 which is jammed up leaving germantown headed southbound toward montgomery village avenue. more delays from 370 toward 28 and montrose road toward the split. the outer loop is slow from 95 to georgia avenue. story this morning is going to be new yo avenue at brentwood parkway. it is shut down in each direction until further notice and that's due to an investigation of a fatal crash involving a pedestrian that occurred this morning. so again the brentwood parkway is closed and the ramp from new york avnue to exit at the

brentwood avenue parkway. and you will find delays from south dakota avenue toward west virginia, montana. and off the green way, this is the stretch inbound of the dulles toll road. two separate accidents tieing up the left side of the road. crash number one at hunter mill road and the second toward the exit for route 7. both accidented on the -- accidents on the left side of the highway. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. the d.c. council poised to take action against marion barry. >> they will meet today to discuss the contract controversy surrounding the former mayor. sarah simmons is live outside of the council building. >> reporter: there is every indication that the council would make a vote today that would come about 3:00, whenever they finish up the regular council meeting. what they are expected to do is possibly vote on whether or not

to sensor him and take away committee chairmanship and the washington post saying it would refer public corruption allegations to the u.s. attorney's office. now barry apologized last week saying he used poor judgment in getting a $15,000 contract for his ex-girlfriend. a investigation came out on council earmarks and he is said to have misused public funds and violated public rules. barry himself also maintains that he has done nothing wrong but he did to take several thousands dollars from bride hop for loans made from him. and listen to what vincent gray had to say to reporters yesterday. >> does the council want to

take action? >> we wouldn't have an additional meeting if we won't take action. this council plans to take some action. >> reporter: what that will be will be decided this afternoon around 3:00, after the council meeting. sarah simmons, fox 5 news. two people accused of street racing facing 15 years. a judge has declared a mistrial in tavon taylor's street racing, but the prosecutor say the case is not over. >> this is a case where we're going to seek conviction on the merits and hopefully the next jury will get that. >> the man he was racing will be sentenced today. he is the one that faces 15 years in prison on manslaughter charges. police have credited a

young girl with possibly saving the lives of other kids in dale city. richard nichols barged into the home and shot and killed tanitha white and then turned the gun on himself. white's daughter ushered the kids to safety. the victim and gunman were neighbors who had once been in a relationship. the death toll is expected to rise from last saturday's 8.8 magnitude earthquake in chile which killed more than 700 people and caused billions of dollars in damage. in the meantime the earthquake ravaged nation is in need of field hospitals, generators, water purefication and satellite phones, which hillary clinton is bringing with her when she visits today. as the death toll continues to rise in chile and the need for a recovery and supplies grows, a local group is gearing

up to head to the zone. the fairfax county rescue squad will head to chile with equipment and supplies. the main mission is to help people trapped in the rubble and get them out. >> mentally everybody wants to get back into the mindset of you don't think you will go that quick, but once something comes up, an earthquake, and we're perking up. okay, you're starting to get your game face on. >> and this will be the second time this year that the fairfax search and rescue team heads to an earthquake ravaged country. last time it was haiti. for the latest on the relief efforts in chile and more on how you can help, goto myfoxdc.com. another big story we're following. tomorrow same sem -- same sex couples can apply for marriage

licenses. and d.c. superior court getting ready for a rush of couples. and in about ten minutes we'll talk with chief judge lee centreville with more on how they are prepared. and the washington archdiocese is changing his health care policy in response. catholic charities will no longer offer health coverage to spouses or newlyweds or new hires. it will continue to offer coverage to those already married. the policy change allows them to comply with the new marriage law while remaining faithful to the teachings of the catholic church. it is 9 minutes after 7:00 on this tuesday morning and now his acquittal and now the suit that o.j. was wearing on that day may end up as part of the smithsonian collection. and it's just like old times for jay leno. making his controversial duties but not without jazz from the network that made it possible. and that's coming up next. and to break, a live look

outside, the latest weather, traffic and updates on the other side of the break. stay with us. how about over here? n-- let's go back to the left. waffling is back at dunkin' donuts. for a short time only, enjoy the return of the delicious oven-toasted waffle breakfast sandwich. america runs on dunkin'. meet kerry bolognese. he says our school budget is excessive, and sides with those who will cut millions from fairfax schools. increasing class sizes and losing our

best teachers. eileen filler-corn disagrees. a mother of two, eileen is leading the fight to protect our schools from massive cuts. she'll reduce government waste and help small businesses create jobs. on march 2, save our schools. vote eileen filler-corn "i'm eileen filler-corn, candidate for delegate and i sponsored this ad." one taste and you'll understand. delicious dunkin' donuts coffee -- pick some up to brew at home. mmm! america runs on dunkin'.

the suit that o.j. simpson was wearing on the day he was acquitted of murder charges may end up at the smithsonian. after 13 years, loyals have agreed to donate the suit. the only condition is no one can profit from the deal. now the big question is does the smithsonian want it. no word on whether they will accept the acquittal suit into jay leno is back hosting the tonight show. >> yvonne on the show tonight. [ applause ] >> while she was great. did you see her? when it comes to going downhill

nobody is faster. except nbc. but other than that. >> careful now. they got you back where you wanted to be. last night he was back on the air. he had slid to an earlier loss when cone on o'brian took over the tonight show. >> how powerful is jay leno. he makes the move and then still jabbed them. how powerful. it might be nice. >> it will be interesting to see the viewership. this is the big post olympic plan. >> i have to say, i forgot. >> i did too. >> until this morning when i saw the clips. >> so that's not good. >> because you're like -- you're a fan of that whole -- >> i like it. i think nbc has just messed everything up. >> okay. so there is a friend in that opinion. >> but jay still has to buy dinner for you. >> he can buy a lot of dinners for a lot of people. let's look at what is going on across thregion as we

check out our temperatures. we're stuck at 39 degrees right now in washington. and we remain at 36 at dulles and at bwi marshall. so a cool start to the day. not as windy as yesterday though. temperatures across the nation, here we go. 39 up in boston, 37 in raleigh, north carolina. down to the south, temperatures in the 30s and 40s. 66 in miami at this hour. wichita is at 31. our temperatures in the plains have become a bit more mild over the last couple of days than what we were seeing a week or so ago. 14 in pierce, south dakota, 19 in minneapolis. and out in las vegas it's 48 degrees there. here is a look at the national satellite radar. the storm system that we are all focusing on is the one in the southern united states, bringing rain and areas of heavy rain to portions of georgia and florida. also bringing a frozen mix to much of tennessee, portions of kentucky and west virginia as well. off the coast, that other storm

system, the blizzard of last week, still impressive. it looks like a hurricane, if you look off the coast of new england as it makes its way toward europe, which does not need any more bad weather. they got one of our last storms in tact over there. five-day forecast, high today about 45 degrees and maybe a sprinkle or two this afternoon. tonight some precipitation that changes to snow overnight. we could have a messy commute in the morning. we're projecting an overnight low in town of 33. so that will give us more rain than snow. kind of a slushy mix. but in any event, only accumulation of frozen precipitation of about an inch. so this is not a big deal. that's a look at the five-day forecast. we'll have more weather coming up in a bit. and let's go to julie wright. >> and the outer loop is slowing from college park headed out toward georgia avenue.

but again all of the lanes along this stretch are open. 270 tied up leaving 109 out of hyattstown. slow traffic from germantown to mva and 370 toward the split. new york avenue, this is the story. new york avenue is open toward the third street tunnel leaving the bw parkway and route 50. it does slow at bdensberg road but the story at about 4:25 is that there was a pedestrian struck on the brentwood parkway and it is closed off between v street until further notice. so again, new york avenue is open, however it is the ramp here at the exit for the brentwood parkway that is closed and remains closed until further notice. off of the dulles toll road, delays to hunter mill road tieing up the left lane. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. more now on a big story.

d.c. superior court expecting a rush tomorrow of same sex couples as they begin to apply for marriage licenses in d.c. joining us chief judge lee satterfield. thankou for being with us. >> good morning. >> just in case someone has been living under a rock, you can give us a background on where we stand for tomorrow. >> tomorrow the law goes into affect so we expect to have a number of excited residence from the district and from the suburbs to come to superior court to apply for marriage licenses. >> are you expecting a rush. what is the fear out there for waiting for this day to come. >> the number is unknown but we do expect a significant increase. normally we will go through 10- 12 applicants a day, but we expect a significant increase so we're here to offer viewers advice on how to make this a smooth experience.

>> and it starts with what everyone has to go through. but we have a copy of the actual application. and there it is there. kind of hard to see. but one thing that stuck out to us is that now it says spouse's name one and two and is this a big change and for everyone? >> that is our standard application now. and we've loaded it on our website so you can down load it and complete it and when you bring it in tomorrow or any other day we're open, it will make the process go better. >> and let's talk about the process. what are the steps people need to follow to go through this process. >> well we're open five days a week. 8:30 to 5:00 p.m., but for those who want to come down tomorrow or during the initial rush, there are a number of things we ask that you bring with you and that is your patience because we expect this to be a long line and we want to make this a good experience for all. bring the completed application

and the exact amount of money in cash or money order and if you are registered as a d.c. domestic partnership the fee is waived so bring your certificate and the clerk will waive the fee. >> can residents go to get this information besides myfoxdc.com. >> sure. dccourts.gov. and you can find the application. >> and you talked about packing your patience. because by law there is a three- day waiting period so you won't walk away a married couple yet. >> no, that's right. we start the first day on thursday. so the first opportunity for you to receive a marriage license is on march 9th if you apply tomorrow. >> that's interesting. so don't count -- thursday is the beginning of the week. >> of the three day process. so we count the one from the

next day. >> and judge we're not talking about opinion or anything like that with this, but we have seen the people who are still out there looking to make a difference and to reverse this. legal leg for those people now, you can speak to that? >> no. the judicial code of conduct, i can't speak to matters or but i can offer advice on how to make this a good and smooth time at court. >> again and the actual ceremonies begin march 9th. >> yes. march 9th if you receive your license, you can get married any time after receiving your license. >> and is there any difference between heterosexual or homosexual couples with this process. >> the process is the same for both couples and we want to emphasize that we expect a big rush and we want people to be patient. >> all right. we appreciate you being with us. it will be a big day but if folks want to get down there. but just because you rush down

there are still days and procedural things to follow. >> that's right. >> lee satterfield, thank you for joining us. we appreciate it. >> thank you very much. >> and the d.c. government website can be accessed through myfoxdc.com. >> thank you very much. and more recalls for toyota and gm. plus how a calendar glitch left millions of playstations in a bind. and what is blooming at the united states botanic garden. that's coming up in minutes. time now is 7:22. it is 39-degree. we'll be right back. "0''cúap!8 @pçww dreams are amazing things.

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toyota officials will be grilled on capitol hill today. the toyota chief quality officer and top engineer will

testify tod before a senate committee. lawmakers want the answers of recalled cars and trucks. members of the senate commerce committee wants to know if they have fully diagnosed the cars to speed out of control and how customer complaints are being addressed. gm has announced a recall of nearly 1 million vehicles because of a power steering columns. it includes the 2005-10 chevy cobalt and the g-5. they need to fix power steering motor -- motors that can fail. they might be hard to steer under 50 miles per hour. tens of millions of users of playstation 3 were hit with a bug causing dates to change

to 1999, forcing allison to not play halo for hours. it prevented players from connecting and playing games. coming up at the bottom of the hour, we're checking top stories. >> and thousands of workers offer the job for a second day in a row because of stall tactics by one senator. that means three area construction projects on hold now. the latest from jim moran of virginicoming up. and a live look outside as we go to break. do you miss that at all, steve? >> not at all. >> we'll get the latest weather and traffic updates awe look at the 14th street bridge. traffic trying to get into d.c. we'll be right back. meet kerry bolognese. he says our school budget is excessive, and sides with those who will cut millions from fairfax schools. increasing class sizes and losing our best teachers. eileen filler-corn disagrees. a mother of two, eileen is leading the

fight to protect our schools from massive cuts. she'll reduce government waste and help small businesses create jobs. on march 2, save our schools. vote eileen filler-corn "i'm eileen filler-corn, candidate for delete and i sponsored this ad." and in hard times, sometimes, a belief in a dream, a belief in what is possible - can transform everything. at at&t, we've never forgotten that our company began in a small laboratory, with a dream and a belief, in the future. today, our wired and wireless high speed internet networks are connecting small businesses across america - in cities and small towns - to markets around the world. we know that investment in broadband high speed internet can create hundreds of thousands of new american jobs. small businesses are being formed - dreams are being launched - and real jobs are being created. at at&t, we're investing billions to upgrade and build out our wired and wireless networks. now is not the time to stall

momentum or to stifle innovation or investment. dreams, and jobs, and the future are at stake. at at&t, the future, are at stake. at at&t, the future, has always been our business. at&t... your world... delivered.

back now with a check of the day's top stories. the d.c. council could take action against marion barry. they are meeting to discuss the controversy. the council will likely vote to censure barry, severely cutting his authority and may also refer him to the u.s. attorney's office. a mistrial for the driver accused of illing eight people in a street race in accokeek. over two days the jury deliberated for 15 hours. and then three jurors did not want to convict him on manslaughter. so it was a hung jury.

they did find him guilty of wreckless driving. he'll be sentenced on those charges today but they bring no prison time and a maximum fine of $1,000. the ste's attorney said they will retry the case. the death toll expected to rise from the earthquake in chile which killed more than 700 people and caused an estated $30 billion in economic damage. in the meantime they are in need of temporary bridges, field hospitals, electric generators and satellite phones which secretary of state hillary clinton with bringing with her when she visits today. right here it's just a little bit cloudy out there th morning as we're looking down on the capitol which is a beautiful sight. as you go a couple hundred miles to the west, major problems out there. garret county maryland public schools are closed today. 14th time in the last 17 days

that they have had to close days. 262 inches of snow this year in garret county, which makes -- if you can imagine everything we had here and we had maybe a third, a fourth of what they had out there. >> dare i ask why they are seeing so much? >> they always get a lot of snow. >> because of the mountains. >> and the storms getting to crank drop more snow. this is a new record for them, 262 inches but the previous record was 235 inches sohey get a lot of snow. the issue this time around is they have gotten so much snow in a relatively short period of time that there are huge piles of snow making it unsafe. >> and if you think of the piles of snow we had here when we had 50 inches. i would be curious to see how that stacks up with the areas across the country, like colorado. >> upstate new york. >> for us, maybe an inch

tonight. >> that's nothing compared to what we've had. >> we can deal with that. here is what we know about the storm system that is coming. right now moving across the southern united states. and this is going to be an event that takes place tonight and into the early part of tomorrow. an east coast storm, however the track of this one is different so it won't impact us like the others have. first of all, there will be a limited amount of cold air for the storm to draw off of because it will be so far out to the east. storm is trending to the south and east so we'll be on the northwestern edge of this system. still looks like a close ca. you know if the storms shift, 30, 40, 50 miles it could change things. little if any accumulation in the region. that's what we expect right now. the storm would have to make big changes for it to be a big storm. we don't expect that. current temperatures around the region, 39 in washington. 34 in gaithersburg and in frederick. cool out to the west. 33 at martinsberg and in

winchester. annapolis is at 37 this morning and leonardtown at 34 degrees. your satellite radar composite, well across the region we have a lot of cloud this is morning and we'll see the clouds thicken and lower -- well they won't lower but thick enduring the course of the day. could bring a few sprinkles maybe this afternoon, a couple of rain showers here and there. and then things get underway for tonight as this storm system makes its way into our region. right now it remains to the south. it will track south and east of here but it is bringing copious amounts of rain to the southeast, including georgia and pushing into south carolina and frozen precipitation along the northern edge of that system. forecast for us for today looks like this -- over cast skies, cool temperatures, 45 degrees and maybe a springle or two here or there. and then for tonight we'll see light rain developing in the washington area. this is what we're projecting for an overnight low so we think it starts as rain, overnight mixing with or changing to snow, depending on how cold it gets and then it

may end up as rain again late tomorrow. so we're not expected significant accumulations. where you do get snow, i think it will be fairly slushy and messy for tomorrow morning. thursday and friday temperatures below normal but right now the weekend looks good with temperatures in the low 50s. that's a look at what is happening with the weather. now let's get to julie wright and find out what is happening with traffic. julie, will you accept the low s for the weekend? >> i'll take the low 50s. which mean its will be warmer because i'm going to visit my momma. it's waer down there. >> very good. wonderful for you. >> you're doing good. unfortunately our trip into northeast washington not so good this morning. it's tangled up along new york avenue from south dakota headed toward west virginia and montana and earlier we had mentioned this accident. we've been talking about it. a fatal crash which occurred around 420 this morning, closing a portion of the brentwood parkway. we're told it was a man struck by a vehicle and the vehicle stayed on-site and you'll find

as a result the brentwood parkway is closed between v street and mount olivette and traffic is denied access to the brendwood parkway from new york. so this is the camera shot from the brentwood parkway. it is closed and there is police on the scene with this on going investigation. back inside and elsewhere around town, if you are commuting 395 northbound across the 14th street bridge, it's heavy and slow from the beltway to seminary road, pentagon across the potomac and the dull toll road. jammed at hunter mill road, accident blocking the left lane. and accident number two after that at route 7 also tieing up the left lane. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. thousands of federal transportation project workers off the job again this morning after the federal government told them they are being furloughed. all because of a tug of war between democrats and one republican. the white house blames kentucky

senator jim bunking who blocked a transportation measure last week. work has stopped on major projects, including three in our area. joining us, congressman jim moran. good morning. >> good morning. >> before we talk about what we can do to solve this, let's talk about how we got here in the first place. and this is tied into a bill that has a number of other things attached to it, is it not? >> well it does. it has unemployment benefits, it has the extension of cobra, the health care benefits for people unemployed. it has federal and highway and transit funds, it has the medicare reimbursement for doctors. so without it being extended, all f those things stop. we have 2,000 federal employees who can't go to work because they're not authorized to do so in the federal highway administration. likewise, part of the national highway traffic safety

administration. in virginia we have 21,000 people who will no longer get their unemployment benefits, 400,000 across the state just this month. of course that increases to several million if we don't do it within the next quarter. likewise health benefits and specifically one of the ways that we'll see this is construction on the so-called humpback bridge on the virginia side of the 14th street bridge, that project has to be stopped because it's a federal highway administration project. and they are not authorized to work until this extension is achieved by the house and the senate. this is the fourth extension of this bill. the problem is we can't get the funding to do the six-year extension of the transportation bill and that's why we keep having to do the short-term extensions. and this is the risk we ran and

of course it happened this weekend. one senator objected to unanimous consent. >> what are the chances, congressman, that you and your colleagues can pass this jobs bill that went through the senate, the post recent one, today, tomorrow, this week, sometime? >> i think we're going to do it. we have to do it. it's not what we want. it's 10% of what the house passed. the house passed $154 billion extension for transportation and a number of other things. the senate only $15 billion. but i'm sure the house will do the right thing and get this authorized so we can get the highway projects back online. but most importantly, we can get federal employees back in their jobs and people who are without any assistance to meet their mortgage, their comp payments, their food, those unemployed folks need unemployment benefits and the health care extended so i think

the house will have to act immediately this week and get that money back into the federal government so it can function and people out of work can get what they need to survive. >> it's almost like the hands are being forced at this point, congressman. do you see though even if this only lasts a couple of days, do you see long-term damage coming out of the furloughs? >> well, i don't know that i would call it long-term damage. but, gosh, think of what it does to the morale of federal employees. a lot of federal employees will say, look, i don't need this and they'll look for other work. if you don't know whether you're going to be coming into work -- on friday when they left, they assumed the senate would do the right thing. over the weekend they were told you can't come back to work on monday because the senate didn't act. well what kind of environment is that to function in? i don't know whether it will cause long-term damage but it's not the right thing to do and it's not the right environment

we should be providing and it's very unfortunate. it's embarrassy. and it should be to the senate and to one senator who seems to be angry with the world these days. >> well hopefully -- >> he was a great catcher, but he's not a great senator. >> nobody will debate the first part of that. the send part i'll leave that up to you and your colleagues debate. thank you for joining us. hopefully you can get back on the right track. >> thank you. fresh off an olympic disappointment, alex ovechkin back in the request wet -- the quest for the cup. and enough for the snow. bring on the wave pools. some bargain deals for favorite vacation spots. now 7:41 on this tuesday morning.

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the washington capitals tomorrow night after a two week break for the olympics. after appearing with his russian teammates in vancouver, alex ovechkin is back with practicing. he won't let the lack of a medal from showing up. >> i don't think anybody would have been surprised to see if he needed today off. because he flew all night. and so just being at the closing ceremonies and everything and we didn't ask him. he just took it upon himself that he had to be here. >> also just want to say chris samuels, long time washington redskin, announcing his retirement. and very good guy and treated the media nicely and had health issues ant -- and didn't want

to risk getting hurt. >> he was a gentle giant. >> nice go. >> and alex ovechkin not the only one to fly all night and coming to work. >> i had to go down to tennessee for a death in the family. >> i'm sorry. >> but you saw some of the olympic athletes or people coming back and it's exciting. so thank you for that. >> well welcome back. we're glad you're back. >> of course i don't know who you are right now ecause i'm tired. but i appreciate it, kind sir. >> thank you, leon. >> you're welcome, jeff. the temperatures remain the same. it's 39 degrees right now at reagan national. 36 at dulles and 36 at bwi marshall. i know you are wondering, what is going on with the storm system. well there it is. down to the south its track will take it out to the east. the coldest air stayed to the

north. why? because the storm is going to be so far to the east it won't be able to draw in all of the cold air that we usually have with these storms. so for snowfall totals, light accumulations are possible. we're thinking around an inch in the washington area and frankly it could be less than that because we think some of it will be rain. so not a big deal. messy overnight. and maybe messy for the morning commute tomorrow. we'll keep our eyes on that. for the end of the week, temperatures in the mid-40s but by the weekend, temperatures in, yes, believe it or not, the low 50s saturday and sunday. there you go. that's a look at the five-day and the forecast. >> that's going to be fantastic. >> it will feel so good i think. >> i think so to. thank you, tony. >> something to look forward to, right julie? right now we're looking forward to an easy ride into work and unfortunately that won't be accessible at this point. 395 still slowing from the beltway up to seminary and pentagon across the 14th street bridge, all lanes are open. dulles toll road jammed up off the greenway. two separate accidents, the first at hunter million and the

second crash after that as you approach route 7 in the left lane. 270 still on the brakes from germantown toward the split. brentwood parkway the scene of the fatal crash involving a pedestrian still closed off between v. street and mount olivette road. that's a check of your fox 5 on- s a lot, julie. >>7:48 and signs of springs in bloom at the u.s. botanical gardens. >> let's check in with holly. >> reporter: you are exactly right. forget what mother nature has to say. spring has strung here where we are live this morning and where it has everything to dowith orchids. coming up we'll show you firsthand why you and your family will want to come schedule a first here very soon. it's all live next on fox 5 morning news. stay with us. ♪

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if you are an old-school truist, you'll recognize the music as the grateful dead. and there is ready why we're playing this. because after the winter, you'll appreciate any sign of spring. >> anything that can remind you of warm temperatures. you can take in sights and smells of the season too. just steps away from the national mall. and holly is at the united

states botanical garden this morning. good morning, happy springtime. >> happy springtime. and if you need flower power, come here and spring into season as this orchid show is underway. and we wouldn't have it without these two gentlemen. this is tom morein who is the orchid specialist and kyle wall acwho is the botanist who cure ated the show. >> good morning. >> reporter: happy spring to both of you. >> it's coming. >> reporter: no it's here. it's here, kyle. >> look at those crocuses, the harbinger of spring. >> reporter: i know you come together and celebrate all things orchids. >> the botanical garden is hosting the orchid show this year and our theme this year is the orchid. and we want to show how people

can connect with art, science, fashion, jewelry, you name it. >> reporter: i think one people may not realize is that orchids grow everywhere and in every climate which is amazing. >> they are advantageous plants. theyin habit pretty much every part of the globe except the coldest regions like antarctica and literally every kind of habitat except under water or in the ocean. >> that's understandable. we'll give them that. >> we'll give them the benefit of the doubt on that. >> reporter: and there are 25,000 different species is that right. >> yes. >> 25-30,000. >> reporter: who knows. >> who can count that high. >> it depends on the taxon imist and at least trouble that number of hybrids -- man-made hybrids. >> reporter: what do you think

makes this such a popular flower. >> color, fragrance, a sense of exotic. >> and vanilla comes from it. >> something people aren't aware of. >> and i think they're incredible diversity, and every color you can imagine and every shape and all of that has to do with the pollination biology. all of them have different things they are trying to attract to have sex with, basically. sorry. >> reporter: no. you can say that. it's fox. we like that. and also talk to me about the logistics of the show in terms of these huge entities, two of you, the smithsonian and the usbg coming together and bringing the collection together. >> well both of us have a lot more in our collections that we are even representing right here. >> different things bloom at different times of the year.

we're stronger than using collection than individually. each collection has its own strength. >> reporter: so the synergy is an explosion. >> and we fill in each other's gaps and so it's a really nice relationship. >> reporter: now you brought us some special orchids here. >> i brought in some weirdoes for you. >> reporter: i didn't want to say that but he did. i was sensitive to their feelings. >> well they don't really care, honestly. but there are some really wonderful things here. first of all, i wanted to show you this slipper orchid from vietnam. and thiss -- >> reporter: it looks like a slipper. >> and that pouch is there like an insect trap. the insect attracted to the flower will fall into the pouch and end up squeezing out through where the pollen is. they can't fly out the way they

fell in. so very interesting pollination thing with that one. and i just saw this in bloom this morning. it just started to open. do you remember the ghost orchid that they wrote that book about? >> reporter: yeah. >> any way here is a really good of example of one. it has no leaves at all, it's just a big pile of roots and that's how it grows. and it was neat to see the flowers in bloom. >> reporter: we're out of time but off only begun our orchid discussion. we'll continue to talk in our next hour but what you need to know is orchids a cultural odyssey is going on here at the united states botanical garden through april 11th. myfoxdc.com is our website. we have a link to theirs so you can find out more. and we'll continue to discuss all things orchids and spring in our next hour. back to you guys. >> beautiful. holly, thanks. >> feeling warmer already. 7:56 on this tuesday morning. coming up after 8:00, while you

have sticker shock the next time you go to rent a car. and today the supreme court takes a look at the case that could change d.c. gun laws once again. stay with us. we'll be right back. hey, you made your own lunch.

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the contract controversy involving marion barry continues. today his fellow council members will vote on censuring the so-called mayor for life, cutting his authority. we're live with a preview. and then tomorrow gay couples in d.c. can start applying for marriage lices so today udges are preparing for long lines of applicants. and we are trying to say goodbye to the cold with a look at springtime vacation als from here in the d.c. area. good morning and thank you for joining us. i'm steve chenevey. >> and i'm allison seymour. and the folks in garret county maryland need to get away. this is what it looks like near deep creek on friday. they had just gotten two feet of new snow. county officials say there are 7-8-foot piles of snow at every intersection in the city of oakland, maryland and in garret

days. there is an unwritten rule in some parts of colorado that when more than 8 inches of snowfalls work shuts down and everybody goes skiing. so i'm suring everybody has been at wisp every day. >> tough out there. as far as snow for us, if we get any tonight it will be a minor amount. i think it will be late tonight and into early tomorrow morning. maybe an inch or so in the washington area. that's all we can generate out of this storm. take a look at the satellite radar radar for this region. right now we do have clouds in over us and it will be a mostly cloudy day today. maybe a couple of peeks of sun here and there but for the most part cloudy. precipitation is to the south and west. there is a little bit of a band of some precip in west virginia and -- i'm sorry, western portions of virginia. i wouldn't rule out a sprinkle or two for us maybe this

afternoon. but most of the precipitation should hold off until the nighttime hours. current temperatures around the region, at reagan national it's 39 degrees. dulles international is up to 37 and bwi marshall is up to 38. forecast for today, over cast skies, cool temperatures. high of about 45 degrees. our normal high would be 51 degrees. and we did get to 50 yesterday but we won't get there today. more details on the forecast coming up in just a little bit. >> before we get to julie wright, we do have a heads up for drivers in d.c. as police in the brentwood area -- or actually in the area of brentwood parkway and 9th street northeast, a pedestrian was hit and killed there just a little bit after 4:00 this morning. the roads shut down as crews continue to work on this. let's check in with julie wright for a look at our on- time traffic. >> good morning, allison and steve. the road is still blocked off on the brentwood parkway. normally we would suggest south dakota avenue as an alternate

but now they are troubled out bound with a crash at v. street. so the alternate routes are limited through northeast washington. what is open is rhode island and evebening road to 8th street, but it is the brentwood parkway closed between mount olivette and v. street and the exits at the brentwood parkway. 270 out of rockville, heavy and steady in the main line and the locals toward the split. the lanes are open. here is another eye sore, in bound stretch of the dulles toll road jammed around the greenway and this slow traffic toward hunter mill road with the crash on the leave lane, a lot of bailout traffic to route 7 to the beltway. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. d.c. city council expected to take action against marion barry, possibly in the form of a censure, which would cut his authority. it could also lead to legal troubles for the former mayor.

council is meeting today to discuss an invtigation into earmarks and city contracts. we'll have much more on this coming up a little bit later. another big story. tomorrow same sex couples can apply for marriage licenses in d.c. the d.. superior court is getting ready for a rush of people. earlier this morning we spoke with judge lee satterfield about the process. >> there are a number of things we ask that you bring with you and one is their patience because we expect there to be a long line and we want to make this a good experience for all. bring the completed application and make sure you bring the exact amount of money in cash or a money order and if you are registered as a d.c. domestic partnership the fee is waived so bring your certificate and the clerk will waive the fee. >> the applications are available online so applicants can fill them out and speed up the process. and we'll link you to the site on myfoxdc.com. after applying couples still

have to wait a full three business days for the licenses before exchanging vows. actual ceremonies will take place march 9th. the washington archdiocese is changing its health care policy in response. starting today catholic charities will no longer let workers add spouses to their health care coverage. it will continue to offer coverage to those already married. the policy change allows the organization to comply with d.c.'s new marriage law while remaining faithful to the teachings of the catholic church. back to the marion barry situation. d.c. council expected to take some type of action against marion barry later this morning. what type of action is still unknown. let's check in with sarah simmons who is outside of the wilson building. >> reporter: this meeting that is expected, it's a legislative session held after the regular council meeting, somewhere around 3:00 is when they expect this to come up today.

now if they do vote to censure him it would take away his commitment chairmanship and refer public corruptions to the u.s. attorney's office. he apologized last week in saying he used poor judgment in getting a $15,000 contract for his ex-girlfriend. a week after a report of an investigation into council earmarks and misused public funds. his attorney says there are no policies on the books regulating public service contracts and barry maintains that he did nothing wrong. but he did admit to taking several thousands dollars from his ex-girlfriend for loans he made to h. it does seem clear that council is planning to do something today, but it is not known what the outcome will be but we'll follow it for you and have the latest on fox 5 news at 5:00:

back to you. >> thank you very much. we'll see you in a little bit. secretary of state hillary clinton visiting chile today to deliver communication equipment which is one of the things the country needs in the wake of last week's earthquake. secretary clinton says the u.s. will offer more aid soon. in the meantime the death toll is expected to rise from over 700 and it's a frantic race against time to pull survivors from the rubble. chile's president has ordered troops to help stop looting and deliver food and water and blankets to survivors. and here at home the fairfax county rescue squad is heading to chile. they will bring 52 people and four canines and 4 tons of equipment and supplies. their mission is to help people trapped in the rubble. this is the second time they head to a earthquake ravaged country. last time they went to haiti. heavy rainfall leaving behind a mess in parts of

brazil. authorities say in just one hour, it rained the equivalent of what is seen in 15 days. here are the results of the flash floods that destroyed homes and building, cracked roadways and left drivers stranded. even two houses collapsed because of the rain-soaked soil. just one hours worth of rain. so far no injuries reported but there you can see the extent of the damage in brazil. 9 minutes past the hour now, make it 8 minutes past the hour. >> today the court looks at a case that could change d.c. gun law against again. and then there should be a new display involving o.j. simpson. and new on what it is when we check out other stories making headline this is morning into and also taking another look at the weather which does include winter weath overnight. stay with us. fox 5 morning news will be right back. "0''cúap!8 @pçww

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it is now 8:11 on a tuesday morning. let's look at stories making adline this is morning.

a former owner of a maryland cemetery is back behind bars. larry deffenbaugh faked his death on a fishing trip during a fishing trip last year. he was caught in texas after appearing on america's most wanted. a man accused of killing eight people during a street race at accokeek was only sentenced to a maximum penalty of $1,000 in fines. and suit that o.j. simpson wore when he was acquitted back in 1995 could be seemed in history. we're talking about the suit. simpson agreed to hand the suit over to the smithsonian as well as no one profits from it. his attorneys say it's part of legal history. no word on whether they want

the suit. he served nine years for kidnapping and robbery in las vegas. and we want to get a check on the forecast. >> and just a little cuteness pick-up this time of the day. >> it is time now for the my first 5 photo of the day. >> that music means it's a baby. >> it is a baby. [ laughter ] >> oh, a funny baby. >> that is a pacifier. this is 18-month-old brooklyn. that is a funny pacifier made to look like she's smiling. >> she has a great smile. >> well, yeah. i've never seen one of those. >> no, that's very cute. >> that's very funny. she is really, cute. and mommy, she will love that picture when she's 18 years old. >> but it highlights how sparkling her eyes are. >> it does do that. >> she's a doll. >> all right. if you want to send us your child's picture, go to myfoxdc.com and click on the morning tab. here with go. let's look at what is

happening right now. current conditions at reagan national, 39 degrees, relative humidity 62%, winds out of the north at 7 miles per hour, barometric pressure down ever so slightly. temperatures across the united states. 29 in cincinnati, st. louis is at 33. let's check out dallas at 35 there. albuquerque, we don't mention them often, 30. salt lake city 34. eugene, oregon, 46 degrees. and in san fran it's 53. here is a look at the satellite radar. rain showers impacting the northern coast of california. meanwhile our storm system currently resides in the southeast. it's tracking to the east northeast. gradually that area of low pressure will move off the coast and move up the coast. but it will move out so far to the east that it will have a minimal impact on us. will bring us some precipitation and could bring us some snow but light amounts. forecast for today and the next five days, today's high 45 under cloudy skies. chance of some rain and or snow

developing tonight and into tomorrow morning. maybe an inch of accumulation, maybe less if we get more rain than snow. 42 for your high tomorrow. the precipitation lasting into the morning hours. thursday, friday, mid-40s. saturday, 52 degrees with sunshine. that's what is happening with the weather. now we go to julie wright to get an update on what is happening with traffic. julie. >> i just had the best taste in chocolate travels that somebody brought into me. it was so good. if it was a man i marry it. >> you'd be julie truffle. >> don't tell slap shot. and it's heavy and steady toward georgia avenue. southbound 270 lanes are open and the pace is is slowing working from 370 toward the split. southbound bw parkway crash at the beltway cleared to the shoulder. big delays off of the greenway. it is jam packed and as you continue inbound on the dulles toll road toward hunter road, tieing up the left side the

highway and there is bailout traffic on route 7 through tysons. big story this morning is the fatal crash involving a pedestrian that continues to close the brentwood parkway between v. street and mount olivette and blocking the exit at the brentwood parkway. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. the supreme court tackling a tough case today, one that originated in chicago but it could cause ripple effects here in the district. it has to do with whether the right to bear arms can be limited by state and local governments. steve brown in chicago with more details. >> i'm a taxpayer and citizen, why should i have to be running and hiding. i'm not a criminal. >> reporter: in a city that bans handguns, 76-year-old otis mcdonald does and legally keep a shotgun in his chicago home. >> you want to go hunting, don't you. >> reporter: it's largely for hunting but also for protection from the neighborhood drug dealers. >> they don't leave me alone

because i got a shotgun, they leave me alone because they know i will protect myself. >> reporter: and mcdonald will be there when the u.s. supreme court hears mcdonald versus chicago. the case is about whether the right to bearrms can be limited by state and loke at governments. it's an off shoot of the d.c. versus heller supreme court case of two years ago. >> the heller case is helpful to us. it's done much of the heavy lifting in this case already. >> reporter: in the d.c. case, the high court struck down the district gun ban on the grounds people in the federal territory could not be denied their second amendment rights. >> if the district had won that case, we wouldn't be here today. >> reporter: the argument being made by the city of chicago is that local government should be ble to continue to regulate what firearms can be owned and carried within their boarders. >> the city of chicago does

provide for rifles and shotguns in homes legally. i think handguns are a badoy eah. >> reporter: but mcdonald disagrees and predicted victory in the case. >> in the long run, it will be worth it, believe me. i may be going on, but it will be worth it. >> reporter: now mcdonald is not against all gun regulations. in fact, if his side wins this high court case, he hopes the city of chicago considers new legislation requiring gun safety classes for all new chicago gun owners. in chicago, steve brown, fox news. >> sounds like something we've dealt with here but the big question is how that will impact us. and joining us with justin florence. let us know how you were involved in this case. >> i was a co-author of an am eek us brief and it was about the history of stateand local

regulation of guns going back throughout 200 years of american history. >> so based on that, let's get an idea as to what the chicago case is about and how that is different from what we dealt with here in d.c. >> so two years ago as you heard on the lead in that the legislation continued a right to bear arms but because the case involved the district of columbia which is a federal district and not a state or a city, it didn't have to consider whether that right applies to those types of governments. in this case is the first time the court will consider that. so it's not just whether the federal government or federal district can regulate guns but whether any state or city out there -- and the reality is most gun laws out across the country were enacted by states or cities. >> so often when we talk about gun issues we immediately think second amendment. you're saying more 14th amendment instead of 2nd. and you can give us a brief

update on the amendments. >> the original bill of rights which included the first ten amendments was only meant to apply to the federal government. so when our country adoptioned the constitution the idea was we would have a federal government with limited power and after the civil war, during the reconstruction era, congress and the states decided it wasn't enough to say the federal government couldn't take away certain rights, that also the states couldn't do certain things and so during the reconstruction era, congress passed and states adopted a series of amendments, including the 14th, that some argue were supposed to have the right to bear arms as to whether that's part of the 14th amendment. >> so depending on how this turns out, what is the potential impact on d.c. we've been through this before. d.c. is a federal city, so would it have an impact say here more than in virginia or maryland or the other way around? >> i think it's likely to be

the other way around at first. the district has stricter gun laws than virginia or maryland, but as we've been talking about, the idea here is that states or cities that are not federal districts are add issue for the first time and so what is most likely to happen, i think if the court rules there is some restriction on states and city,s is that there will be more litigation to find out what exactly the extent of that is. so states may pass new laws, maybe new legal challenges that may take decades for the courts and the supreme court to sort out what types of laws are permissible and what goes too far. >> and not much of an impact in d.c. >> no. >> and i know you would love to take out the supreme court, but your gut on this? >> my instinct is the court will side with the challenger of the city of chicago. the way that the court voted in heller, it's unlikely that the five justices there who supported the right to bear arms are not going to take the

same view here. >> interesting to see how that works if the fallout in maryland or virginia more so than d.c. thank you for your efforts. thank you for being with us this morning. >> thank you for having me on. >> allison, over to you. it is 8:21 right now and 39 degrees on this tuesday morning. up next we'll tell you about another recall involving more than a million drivers. then winter weather may be in the forecast tomorrow, but we are getting a taste of spring today out at the u.s. botanic gardens. stay with us. fox 5 morning news will be right back.  while there are some home disasters you can't avoid, there is one you can. septic system breakdowns affect 1.2 million homes in the us each year. septic backups can cost about six thousand dollars in expense, and countless hours of repair.

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thousands of federal transportation workers still off the job this morning. furloughed because of a congressional battle between democrats and one republican. in all 41 projects and 21 states have come to a halt, including five in our area. but the white house blamed kentucky senator jim bunking who blocked the funding measure last week. an scunges of unemployment benefits -- an extension of unemployment benefits on the chopping block.

earlier jim moran gave his take on the impasse. >> the house passed $154 billion for transportation and a number of other things. then set it to only $15 billion. but i'm sure the house will do the right thing and get this authorized so we can get these highway projects back online. but most importantly, we can get federal employments back in their jobs. >> senator bunking offered to lift his objection if unspent stimulus money is used toward the cost but senators balked as that idea. gm recalling 2005-10 chevy kobe baltz and 2010 pontiac g- 5s to fix power steering. they might be hard to steer at speeds under 15 miles per hour. in the wake of the massive recalls toyota officials will have to answer to lawmakers on capitol hill again today.

the toyota chief quality officer and a top engineer will testify before a senate committee. it's the third congressional hearing in the past week for toyota. they will announce clinton administration staff rodney savener will look into -- slater will look into the transportation practices. it is now 39 degrees out there and up next we'll take another look at the forecast which does include winter weather tonight. then trying to say goodbye to the cold and welcome spring vacation. head down to reagan national and head south. the next time you might have sticker shock when you rent a car as well. and an update on how our three blizzards this winter have hit the cherry blossoms. we'll be right back.

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get rid of the "or". it's 8:30 as we take a look

at stories making headline this is morning. going to have to brace for more changes at the post office. today the post master general will announce a new business model, expected to include cutting mail delivery to 5 days a week, that means no more saturday, closing offices, rate hikes and more self-serve facilities. we'll find out more around 9:00 ts morning. today the d.c. public service commission will consider pepco's request for $44 million in rate hike money and you can expect protestors outside. a group called justice first plans to challenge the rate hike if its passed saying it would equate to a 6% increase on all bills into michelle rhee at hardy middle school meeting with the restructuring team about making hardy an application school. she will likely get an earful from parents because she is moving principal pope out of that school. and turning to tucker.

more on the big inch of snow coming. >> wintry weather on the way. but this might be it. >> what are you saying? >> you might be able to get out the barry manillow, looks like we made it. but it's looking more promising. once we get rid of this event we'll start to warm up and the possibility of warmer weather. >> that's the word i've been waiting for. >> next couple of days. we have to get through today and tonight and then we'll talk tomorrow. the current temperatures in the 30s. not a terrible start to the day. 39 at reagan national. 36 in gaithersburg. 40 in fredericksberg. 37 out in cambridge. so our high temperatures won't be quite as nice as yesterday. today we were 50 and today middle 40s. let's show you the satellite radar. and a lot of cloud cover in the forecast. the precip and rain and snow should hold off until the nighttime hours. you can seet developing, the area of low pressure across sections of georgia and that will merge off the coast and

the good news is it will push south and east of washington that we'll just be on the northern edge of this one so this will not hit us right in the nose and the worst should stay well off to the south and east. and the coldest air staying to the north. so that's why we're talking about light accumulation into the overnight hours. i think best chance for accumulations will be north and west of the city where we could see up to about an inch and then again mixing with or even just plain rain south and east as we get into the daytime hours tomorrow. forecast for today, 45 with over cast skies and cool temperatures. and temperatures next week should be in the upper 40s and low 50s. that's why i'm optimistic we could be done with the winter weather after tomorrow. and now allison, now i'm ready to vacation. we're about to give that to you. great deals. chances are you are more than ready, as tucker said, to shake

off the blizzard brain we all have and get as far away from the snow and cold as possible. but can you recharge your batteries without emptying your wallet. our next guest says there are a lot of warm weather getaways at great prices and no snowflakes where you are talking about. this is gabe silvia from travel international. we're happy you bring us good news of warm destitions. >> this is the time of the year when the sunny destinations should see prices going up, like clouds flocking to the white sand beaches but with the economics, we are seeing some great spring break deals to mexico, florida and the caribbean. >> and can i say, nickelodeon, if you are watching, did a great job of advertising. and my kids are going to nickelodeon the resort. and with the prices they have a

better chance of getting there. >> it is the nickelodeon suites, in florida. if you have kids they know the characters. jimmy neutron and spongebob. they have a golf course and a kids spa for manicures and pedicures. >> like they need that. >> but once they have gotten out there. but based on a travel of family of four for $199 per person. the dropped this -- the prices dropped this morning and airfare dropped because of some competition. so for less than $199 you can do this vacation for a family of four and stay there three nights and it's a very highly rated popular resort. >> should we see that go up as the summer wears on? >> this is when it's the highest. and as we head through spring,

prices should top. how much less could that possibly be? that's good for this time of year. >> if you want to get away, maybe just the hubby and yourself or your significant other, puerto rico has a great deal. >> they have been showing some amazing values. this is a u.s. territory so no passport is required and some of the luxury resorts on this tropical enclave are amazing. this is the resort that is part of the aldorf astoria and you're right on the water with a island that is 12 minute boat ride away. and this is a package price at $609 per person out of d.c. and five days, four nights at this beautiful resort. >> that's unbelievable. and the last one. and the mexican escape, you like cancun. >> and who doesn't. very popular. so for some of the younger folks out there, this will be a popular destination. $675 is the price on this

vacation. it's round trip out of d.c. and five days and four nights at this all inclusive and so once you hop on, everything from your drinks to -- >> eat yourself silly. >> yes. and the price has gone up, and the mexico pricing has climbed slightly so don't wait long. >> cancun is calling. i like that. all right. now once you get there, the rental cars, all of these fees involved, you might need to look at that too. price of a plane it might be ticket. our executive producer did a quick search. he looked at two compact cars and the first one is orlando. a lot of families fly down there. you may need a car. for a compact cart the base price is 582. but in that is all of the different fees. tire and battery fee, he's got the license recoup fee, the base price is 582.40 but you pay more. >> we're used to the airline

charges but this is a concept trickling down throughout the industry and car rental and resort companies are doing this and they're not as transparent until after we get the bill they will charge you with a deposit and they won't process but it will cut back on the buying power that you have on the card you use. there will be state taxes, 5- 8%. internationally the taxes can be up to 20%. so if you are traveling oversea those taxes can be high. the license fee, yes, to title and register the car they pass on to you. usually they are renting the parking lot where they keep the hundreds of cars, there is that. >> the facility fee. >> and airport locations will charge you 10% more than in an off-airport site. >> so depending on where you are, if you ha competition outside of the airport, depding on the length of the your car rental fee. >> and in phoenix, the same thing, $242.75 and by the time

you're done $369.75. but i don't know there is anything you can do about this but -- >> and just call up ahead and get a detail. >> and for a family of five, we look like a clown car getting out of that compact. and thank you so much. great deals. myfoxdc.com for the prices again if you missed it. over to you. >> you won't know until you get the family down to orlando. >> i know. 8:39 on this tuesday morning. hopefully that warmed you up a little bit. we have important news for metro riders. your commute could take longer this month. and then jay leno back on the tonight show. we'll have highlights from day one, part two, when fox 5 morning news returns. stay tuned. 8:39. dreams are amazing things. and in hard times, sometimes, a belief in a dream, a belief in what is possible -

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wow, you look great! thanks! it's this new wish yourself thin program. i just wish it and it happens. it's probably those fiber one bars you're eating. i know they help me stick to my diet. the bars are 90 calories and the fiber helps you feel full. 90 calories anhigh fiber. so that's why this diet thing is working. but it's weird because my wish for lorenzo came true. [ male announcer ] new fiber one 90 calorie bars. hungry no. results yes.

8:42 now. your trip on metro could take you longer this month. metro wants riders to be prepared for big delays even on week days. track work on the red, blue and orange lines, the culprit here. and will add 20-30 minutes to your commute from sunday through thursday night starting between 8:00 and 9:30. jay leno is back as the

host of the tonight show. last night he was back on the air in his old 11:35 p.m. time slot. he slid to an earlier time slot when conan o'brien took over a few months back but the ratings slipped. so he took some jabs at the network in the opening shot. >> we have yvonne on the show tonight. she was amazing. did you see her. when it comes to going downhill nobody is faster. except nbc. but other than that -- >> leno now back to the post that he held for some 15 years. >> that's not nice. 8:43. i mean the jab. on this tuesday morning, up next more on where you could soon do a little free wine tasting. >> plus wll reveal our job of the day today. first let's check in with holly. >> reporter: i have some free flower advice this morning. it's time to start thinking about your spring garden. if you've always dreamed of

growing beautiful orchids then stay tuned because we are live at the u.s. botanic garden hanging out with their expert orchid grower. he will give us his tricks of the blooming trade next on fox 5 morning news. stay with us. [ music throughout ] [ male announcer ] achievement: starts small... and dreams big. achievement: makes big moves... ...and takes baby steps. it helps you keep the lights on... ...and it knows when to turn them off.

achievement: is all around us. a part of our very lives. at pnc, we help make achievement happen. pnc. for the achiever in us all. oh, i did it to let the ladies know, i'm the right choice. i got the idea from general mills big g cereals. they put this white check at the top of every box to let people know their cereals have healthy whole grain so they're the right choice, like me.

(announcer) general mills is the only leading cereal company to put healthy whole grain in every box. the choice has never been easier. for whole grain guaranteed, just look for the white check. into an incredibly strong, healthy cat.he has blossomed... his coat is incredibly shiny and soft a very thick. everybody thinks he's the most handsome cat they've ever seen. [ woman announcing ] purina one for indoor cats... unlocks the brilliance of nature... with a natural fiber blend that helps minimize hairballs... and maintain a healthy weight.

[ laurie ] he's a character. he brings so much laughter into this household. and he's the best-lookin' cat there is. [ announcer ] it's amazing what one can do. more than 65 employers including government agencies and defense contractors will be at a job fair this morning. at 9:00 a.m. the doors will open to the wounded warriors and purple heart recipients and then at 10:00 everybody else is invited in. this is being held at the club of quantico on russell road. we have more information online, go to myfoxdc.com and look under web links. and while there, check out our job shop on myfoxdc.com. today's job of the day at the washington, d.c. medical training center. they're looking for a dialysis coordinator. you must by an r.n., licensed to practice in maryland with ten years of experience. for more on this job and many

others go to myfoxdc.com and click on the job shop tab at the top of the home page. good news for wine lovers. virginia is holding its first ever wine week. wine shops will add two virginia wines for sale by the glass, giving you a chance to sample local wines. it is happening march 22nd through the 28th and you could see a lit of participating businesses by going to myfoxdc.com and click on web links. that's very cool. and you won't have to go far to sip wine and liquor in virginia. governor bob mcdonnell okays a new bill. the general assembly passed legislation to allow tasting events in local abc stores. the tastings have to be conducted about a permit- holding rep from that particular spirits company or farm winery. opponents argue that a state public place is no place to give out alcohol. >> a it's always good to support your local merchants. that's all i'm saying. i will leave it at that.

>> definitely. and let's head downstairs to tony and he has is -- what is coming up at 9:00. >> and we talked about this, about the odds being stacked against minority kids with childhood obesity. a celebrity trainer isn't just working with stars, he's setting up a program to work with kids and he's been approached to do something with the wee system. mark jenkins will be here with advice for the whole family. also at 9:00, thousands of drunk driving convictions in question after d.c. police find several of their alcohol detection machines are inaccurate. what happens legally now? we will take a closer look. that and much more when you see you in 10 minutes. back to you. >> we'll see you in a few. and if you can't go on a traditional spring break you can get a taste of spring right now at downtown d.c. at the botanic gardens. >> and that's where we find

holly this morning. you are looking like fabulous with all of the orchids around you. >> reporter: i know. and if you come to the u.s. botanic gardens, you cannot pick a bloom and put it on. that is not allowed here. do not do that. they just did that special for me this morning because we're talking about the orchids and their special exhibit. but they have orchids here all year round and we've come to the orchid room whereon tuesdays they come in here and work and you are watching hard at work clive ateo because he's their expert orchid grower. how long have you been doing that? >> 27 years. >> reporter: and i understand you are self taught? >> yes. >> reporter: how did you get learning about orchids. >> a long story. i was back in england and my father passed away and i was working on an estate back there doing gardening and what happened was they had a church

just above the grounds where i work and every time the bells chimed all i could think about was my dad in the ground rot ago way so i thought i have to get away from here because i'll go crazy. >> reporter: so flowers are perking you up every since. >> and i went down to an orchid nursery about five miles from where i live, as soon as i walked into the green house i saw the beautiful orchids and i fell in love with them right away. >> reporter: the rest is history. and we'll falling in love with you. and we want you to teach us what you can about orchids so we can be as successful as you. >> you're going to learn that fast. >> reporter: i'm going to learn it in two minutes. >> okay. >> reporter: so tell me, what do i need to know? >> well most people -- orchids are very popular because you see them in the trade quite a lot. so the thing is a lot of people buy what you see there, what

the camera is pointing out, the most popular in the stores right now. >> reporter: and all of the things hanging down are the roots, right? >> the gray stuff is spanish moss and we'll show you some roots. >> reporter: here they are over here. and it's hard to tell the difference between the spanish moss and the roots. that's why i need you clive. >> this one is in a basket, like a plastic basket. >> reporter: one of the things about orchids is they don't have to be in the ground or in pots. they grow in the air, right? >> some are on the ground and others are up in the trees on pieces of wood and stuff like that. >> reporter: what do you think the biggest mistake is people make when trying to orchids. >> growing them in the home, they probably don't have enough humidity. and most of the orchidare a lot easier to grow than most people think. >> reporter: is it a problem that people over water orchids. >> they can. they tend to grow them a little

too dry. but if you have a green house, it's fine. with the humidity. >> reporter: clive, not everyone has the u.s. botanic garden to work with. >> we have a beautiful place to grow these things too. >> reporter: and you come in here every tuesday. so it changes every tuesday? >> not all of the plants. >> reporter: but some of them? >> yeah. i brought in about 28 plants this morning. so we just move them around in and among the orange plants. >> reporter: and then how many do you have to choose from? in you're bringing in 28 you bring them in from -- >> i left about 100 plants over there in bloom. reporter: in bloom over at the green house. >> for production facility. >> reporter: but at any given time you have how many orchids? about 5,000? >> we have 5,000 plus orchids in the collection and about 1200 species. >> reporter: wow! and do you have them at home. >> i grow orchids at home. and i have two green houses that don't belong to me, but i keep my collection in those

green houses. i got about 300 plants. >> reporter: really? >> i started -- >> reporter: is there any particular plant food. >> oh, yeah. there are a lot of different things you can use to feed them. >> reporter: you can give me one? i have to go. this is my last tip. >> you can use calcium and magnesium. >> reporter: you heard it from clive. >> and then there is peter's used to be a manufacturer of like a balanced fertilizer. >> reporter: very good. i got to go. but thank you so much. >> okay. you're welcome. >> reporter: myfoxdc.com is our website. we have a link to the u.s. botanic garden. and their orchid show which is in the front hall is going on through april 11th. but you can come enjoy the beautiful orchids where we are right now all year long. coming up in the next hour, we're moving on to the begonias. back to you. >> thank you, holly. and guess what, those are flowers that remind you it's almost swimsuit season. >> that's dreadful news for

some people. >> i know. but this will give us home. tomorrow morning on fox 5 news we'll look at the best swimsuits for every type. from petite to athletic and what will look best on your body, ladies. tomorrow at 8:45 a.m. so excited. >> can i say, the sport illustrated sim suit model -- swimsuit models here for us. looking at the future of hardy middle school, it's important for folks in the district. we'll bring you new information coming up. it's 8:45.

how about over here? hmm... let's go back to the left. uh... waffling is back at dunkin' donuts with the return of the waffle breakfast sandwich. two oven-toasted waffles with a hint of maple, complete with fluffy egg, a slice of melted cheese, and now with delicious sausage. so hurry in today because it's only around for a short time. america runs on dunkin'. try our oven-toasted waffle breakfast sandwich today,

that will do it for this hourof fox 5 morning news. but we have one more hour to go and for that we'll turn things over to tony and allison for the 9:00 hour. good morning, steve. we have much more ahead this

hour of fox 5 morning news. we'll talk about a man who faked his own death. he faked his own death, he was accused of bilking people out of more than a million dollars. and then he went and disappeared. he went missing, well because he said he was dead. he has now been found in texas and is now back in the area. we'll give you details on that. also childhood obesity, we talked about this time and time again, the first lady has a new initiative and it is a fast- growing problem but now a new study sheds light on obesity with children of color. how you can fight the battle of the bulge and say we don't have to be victim to our genes. >> and part of it depends on your her edit. and we'll talk about that. and we'll talk about a crab driver who is accused of taking customers to the cleaners. not the dry-cleaners. he's been overcharging them and overcharged thousands of people ng