44 baltimore, dulles at 43 degrees and to the south, 45 degrees for frederiksburg. as winds continue to pick up, right pow sustained winds any where from of -- right now, sustained winds any where from 6 to 14 miles an hour. they will be gusty today that has already begun. look at this 24-mile per hour wind gusts national airport, 25 at dulles, 30 winchester if you are especially flying any where today you might want to call ahead and check out to make sure you don't have any delays, sunny day, gusty winds, winds will start today min niche later on into the early -- diminish later on into the early evening hours. >> thanks. new this morning, north koreans cry for their dear leader, tens of thousands of weeping mourners lined the snowy streets of the capital for the state funeral for kim jong il. most cried and clutched their chest as a hear made its way

through the capital, they are adhering to two days of mourning for the leader who died more than a week ago. also funeral services will be held for u.s. park police officer who died responding to a call earlier this month sergeant bane was trying to help a man who had fallen or jumped from the key bridge when he collapsed. he later died at the hospital. the procession will head to u.s. park police headquarters downtown dc then back to virginia to the fairfax memorial park cemetery. traffic will be greatly impacted keep that in mind. >> another 7 eleven store in the district robbed, thieving targets the 7 eileen, 800 block maryland -- eleven avenue 800 block maryland northeast they are not sure if this is connected to other 7 eleven robberies in dc. almost 200 participants will take part in the quote

unquote, active shooter exercise, at the anand dale campus northern virginia, community college a bunch of people with guns will run around you will hear noise and commotion it is just a drill it is intended to improve the public safety abilities and response should there be an actual emergency police and firefighters among the responders, this has been in the planning stages for several months. all the gop candidates are shifting from a race driven by debate, to a real ground game in iowa. >> they are descending on the hawk eyed state making a final push for votes that could make or break their campaigns too. hi sherry. >> hi sarah, hi steve republican voters as we all know haven't been able to make up their minds for months with no clear front runner in the national race the gop candidates decided they can't surrender iowa, former massachusetts governor mitt romney now making a final push in a battle with ron paul at the top of the polls plenty of voters remain undecided which has the other candidates

scrambling to get their votes they are logging miles across the hawk eye state's 99 counties, trying to appeal the caucus goers who could make or break campaigns, they are taking jabs with dualing bus tours any sense of civility seems to have been tossed out the window. >> huge difference between the conservatives and the camp regan tradition. and the philosophy of the massachusetts moderator. >> why should you settle for think thing less than an authentic conservative who will fight for your views and values, without an apology. local insiders say evangelical christians are key in iowa whoever wins them should win the caucus. at this point, could deal a knock out blow to any candidates while a win or better than expected finish could propel candidates going into the first primary in new hampshire a week later sarah. thanks sherry. >> governor perry was one of the candidates who failed to

get enough signatures to get on the primary ballot, the perry campaign says virginia voters should be payable to choose among all the candidates not just the two who gathered the 10,000 signatures needed. mitt romney and ron paul did that, but newt gingrich, michelle bachmann and rick santorum did not. democratic senator ben nelson of nebraska is resigning he is not running again in 2012. republicans considered the seat as a prime target he lost support in nebraska after voting for president obama's health care reform bill. he has voted with republicans on a number of year uh. on christmas day, -- issues. >> on christmas day, a baby made news after his encounter with the president. >> kids are unpredictable, you never know what they are going

to do. >> 8 month old cooper wagner wasn't crying on christmas if president obama was santa, cooper gave him a mouthful. >> holding his teeth, his bottom teeth like not just touching his face he had his teeth >> it took his parents merideth and captain greg wagner a few minutes to realize where coopers five little fingers ended up. >> i was so embarrassed, so embarrassed, i was like i am so sorry. my heart was beating, so fast, i could barely breathe i thought i was going to cry >> they were business see smiling for the camera. >> after merideth pulled coopers hand out of the president's mouth, they took another photo with us because the first one was with the president's face all reared back. >> since he doesn't realize the scene he has caused now his parents plan to immortalize this picture perfect moment. >> plan on getting them printed and framed we've got the

newspaper printing the article for us and trying to you know make like a scrapbook or something for him so, hopefully we can get it signed, this trip or maybe another trip. >> president obama got a laugh when he told marinefamilies he thought the baby just liked his quote, big nose. in los angeles, casey spiegel, fox news. >> well, we may soon know the agreement reached between harry thomas and district attorney's office over unpaid student loans he owes $16,000 in unpaid loans the ward 5 councilman already under investigation for funneling thousands of dollars of city money for personal use. >> warning about a police fundraising scam in virginia a form is being circulated sol liting donations -- soliciting

credit card information for donations. any such requests should be ignored. drivers in the district don't need loose change to feed parking meters any more. almost 2 million parking tickets given out in the last year according to triple-a parking enforcement wrote almost 5300 tickets per day in the fiscal year that ended in september, since september they have given out 315,000 tickets the typical parking ticket in dc runs between 25 and $100. two garage fires appear to be the work of an arsonist the first one 10:45 p.m. monday night the detached garage and all con at no times burned down a few minutes later a second call came in, a couple blocks away there the homeowners lost two cars. investigators have not determined the exact cause looks like the fires are linked and both deliberately set. i feel lucky no body was

hurt but feel bad because my car got burned. >> no way that had to be prehead tated. >> -- premeditated. >> they found the caps of marine flairs they could be linked to a number of other crimes that have been plaguing that community for the last few weeks. >> maryland man suspected in a series of carjackings expected to be in court. 50-year-old henry sanders is accused of three attacks he abducted older men from parking lots and tried to force them to with draw money from atms. >> virginia bank still closed days after thieves stole all the money from the atm machines it happened some time between christmas eve and christmas afternoon. prince william county police say a team of bank robbers broke into a vacant store next to the bank and blasted a hole flu the adjacent wall to get in thieves disabled the alarm

system and wall cameras before tearing open the atms and stealing all the cash. >> that would be my greatst concern if your security system can't protect you to protect my money maybe i need to find a different bank. >> interesting point. so far credit union executives have made no comment a sign taped to the door says the bank is closed because of communication problems with the corporate office. >> bizarre investigation in virginia a frederiksburg family says someone broke into their home before christmas and opened all their presents not a single one was stolen they got in breaking a window, police have not release add motive. >> another odd break-in, this one at a baltimore county museum, crooks made off with an historic patch work quilt covered in laws and legal writings from the 1860s and a phrase maryland the the free state. the historical park wants it back and there is a cash

reward. now we know what caused the deadly christmas morning house fire in connecticut that killed two people and three grandchildren the fire was an accident caused by hot fireplace embers still smoldering when thrown away inside the house neighbors were awakened by a scream shortly before 5:00 a.m. they rushed outside to help but at that point it was already too late. >> three security contractors released by the iraqi army after being held more than two weeks two are americans one from long island new york the other georgia. the iraqi ministry of defense rejected paperwork prepared on their behalf by iraqi ministry of interior, the men were not charged with any crime. another example why you might want to thing twice before you post something on facebook a mexican anti poverty official fired after posting a comment suggesting poor people smell bad it reads quote truth

is, this smells impressively bad poor things. that comment was retweeted on other sites, he offered an apology on his facebook page. >> cheetah the chimp passes away at 80 years old. >> how a child 's relationship with their mother effect their weight. top year's headlines when we come back 

>> sad day for movie lovers, back to black and white when cheetah the chimpanzee was known as the playful sidekick for tarzan. well, cheetah died it died of kidney failure, he was comic relief back in the 1930s series he loved to see people laugh and loved to finger paint and was out going. cheetah the chimp was 80 years

old of course he starred alongside olympic gold medal swimmer, johnny. a new animal swings into illinois' brookville zoo, a one month old white gibbons joins his mother father and brother. the zoological society says 80% of the population has disappeared. johnny the sea turtle is now free. he washed ashore in europe. hundreds showed up to wish it farewell it spent the last three years in rehabilitation in portugal before being sent to a marine laboratory in sarasota. experts believe the turtle likely got caught in the gulf stream and carried to the netherlands. >> federal government comes out with a more simplistic way of

understanding what foods to eat. >> one of the deadliest foot bourn illnesses hit it is united states. dr. danny alvarez. >> with plenty of health related news grabbing the headlines this past year, we are going to take a look at a few of the years big stories, here is a case of something new the food mile an hour bid gives way to simple -- food pyramid gives way to a simple food shaped. in phoenix a 27-year-old woman delivers a baby girl who develops outside her uterus, a woman gives birth to a 16-pound healthy baby boy >> un announces eradication of the deadly animal disease now only the second in all human history to be successfully wiped out the first smallpox.

>> 57-year-old charla nash reveals her new look following a full face transplant the surgery the result of a chimpanzee attack in 2009. >> in uk, a student from cardiff discovers a technique the prevent people from dying of breast cancer. >> listeria, tied to tainted cantaloupe on colorado farm kills 25 people to date becoming the deadliest food bourn illness to hit the u.s. since 1924. uk based glaxo smith kline agrees to pay $3 billion to settle investigations into the company's sales and marketing practice. >> in u.s., 17% of children and adolescence are obese, triple the rate from previous generations now recommended children get their cholesterol checked between the ages of 9 and 11. >> new report finds, 1 in 5

u.s. adults now use psych at trick medicine and more -- psychiatric medicine and more than one in u.s. women take drugs for mental health. u.s. rate dropping for the third straight year. >> experts suspect the poor economy is behind the trend that was the year in help, in new york, dr. manny fox news. >> kids who start out with bad relationships with their mothers are more likely to end up obese as teens, researchers found kids with poor emotional bonds with their mothers as toddlers were more than twice as likely to become obese by age 15 compared with kids who had healthy relationships. thousands if not millions of americans will make a new years resolution to lose weight. in colorado they are getting paid to shed the pounds, kaiser permanent colorado is offering

cash to residents who lose weight and keep it off. first time a statewide effort kiosks with scalevideo cameras have been placed throughout the state. you can make any where from 15 to $150 every three months, dropping the pounds. >> we can now say people have tried everything. >> first i have heard of that one. >> coming up he spends his free time thanking those who serve our country. >> they are risking their lives, fighting for us our freedom and our country. >> he is a pint sized patriot and doing a great job we will hear from some of those who are grateful for his time and what he is doing. >> also check with annie. >> hey, steve, so our cookies are done, decorated and you know these make for great party desserts but, you can also give them as gifts if you are attending a new years eve party this saturday. marina is showing us a creative way to package these up and take them as a house warming gift. coming up we will learn other

options as well. first, today's trivia question, how many bee trips from flower to hive does it take to make a pound of honey. >> wow. >> 10,000, 20,000, 40,000, or 60,000. and you wonder where they got the term busy bee. >> if you want to guess now head to our facebook page fox 5 morning news back after the break. >> and we thought we were busy 

>> i love this stuff. a cool discovery at the bottom of the atlantic ocean could date back to world war ii. a plane discovered off jupiter florida. if he is right, it would be the second hell diver wreck found under water in the last two years one plane was found off the coast of hawaii in january 2010. the plane's flew during the

early 1940s in world war ii. modern day now a young boy trying to make a big impact on soldiers heading off and coming home from the middle east, greeting soldiers coming through harts field jackson international airport. >> i am on my way back. >> reporter: approximately 300 soldiers made their way through harts field jackson and 8-year- old cody jackson was here to greet as many as he could. >> reporter: what do you tell them when you meet them? >> thank you for protecting us. >> he will come up to you and give you a piece of candy and say thank you for your service and salute you. he is so cute. >> they are risking their lives fighting for us our freedom and our country. >> reporter: his mom says her son comes to the airport dressed in fatigues about three times a month to shake hands, salute and give a small token of appreciation to troops

deploys or coming home. >> this was his idea it started in wal-mart and would take forever to get out of a wal- mart for all the veteransoldiers, you would see in a wal-mart and he would walk through an airport one day and saw all the soldiers and there was the military section there and it just turned into tradition. >> that is great i love to see that. that is wonderful you know, these kids, and stuff, come up to us all the time and thank us. >> reporter: cody's parents tell me his grandfather was in the military and he too wants to join when he is old enough. reporting from harts field jackson international, julia renaileds, fox 5 news. >> imagine winning, $77 million. but you don't cash in. well, that is what happened to one person. they probably won't celebrate with champagne but if you do, we will have champagne 101 what you need to know before you head out on new years eve. >> final preparations speaking of new years eve under way in

new york for the big bash in times square more details on the theme for this year's crystal ball. 9:25 a.m. 

>> look at that guy, the 16- foot croc stole a lawn mower from a worker early wednesday. >> did you hear him yelling let it go. is the croc going to listen to him. >> elvis the croc didn't want to give up his new toy one worker had to lure him to the other side of the enclosure while other pulled the lawn mower from the water and fished for elvis' teeth he lost teeth. >> wouldn't you move them out of the enclosure if you are going to mow the grass. >> tough to get lawn service.

>> he fell in love with that lawn mower. well, we had rain for the lawns yesterday today sunshine out there, so but we've got wind, sorry. >> good mix. >> good mix that's right. >> water and sunshine. >> exactly plenty of wind today to talk about however, and satellite radar composite showing you that we've got no clouds to speak about and a little bit of light snow activity earlier into the course of the morning hours over the areas of the west that has since now stopped a few flurries other than that, not much else going on here is a look at current temperatures 45 degrees national airport, 44 baltimore, 45 degrees to the south at frederiksburg, 43 dulles, 41 degrees martins burg, 38 hagerstown and temperatures pretty much in the range, pretty much the same most of the morning hours not much difference here, winds are what we are watching closely, sustained winds now any where from 6 to 21 miles per hour,

winchester had some strong winds just about all morning long 16 hagerstown, 18 dulles, they are gusting even stronger than that and by the course of the afternoon there is a chance we could see wind gusts some locations up to 40 miles an hour, 25-mile per hour wind gusts right now dulles, 25 winchester, 23 gaithersburg, 24 dc. 23 martins burg. look at cumberland, 33-mile per hour wind gusts that is an indication where things are headed. definitely hang on to your hat you will feel that as you are driving any where, especially over any bridges or passes. plenty of sunshine departing low pressure system with associated cold front ridge of high pressure moving in. fairly strong but other than that things will be calm and quiet across the area not much else happening today your high, 45 degrees sunny skies, winds will start to improve tonight cold tonight, 27 degrees your overnight low, westerly winds 10 to 15 miles an hour still on

the breezy side cooler in the burbs mid-20s or so. 5 day forecast isn't looking bad. clouds move in friday into the course of the weekend a few weak disturbances to keep an eye on doesn't look like any precipitation from them at all maybe it will be windy again. >> thank you 9:32 a.m. final preparations under way for the country's most famous new years eve celebration, let's head to times square where workers hoisted and bolted 2600 crystal panels to the famous ball in times square organizers say this year's design pattern features friends holding hands around the world. >> beautiful design each year, changes 288 of the triangles, this year was let there be friendship, last year was let there be joy and courage a whole patch work of our hopes and dreams. >> focus on friendship this year the ball drop in times square has a rich tradition

dating back more than 100 years to 1907 each year the event attracts a huge crowd expected to be more than 1 million people to watch the ball drop saturday night many more watching at home a good time for sarah to break out the bubbly. >> that's right steve i know you are jealous here. saturday evening you might be thinking about ringing in the new year with bubbly this morning we have ramon with us to teach us about champagne thank you for coming in i have been looking forward to this all morning. you are in here -- oh, he is already getting going early. marcel's restaurant, specifically has received big awards these are the sparkling wines or champagnes we will find there. >> absolutely. >> what do you have first off let's talk about some that are budget friendly also maybe when it comes to taste, what are the best ones out there. >> well, there are thousands of champagnes,. >> sure. >> what we are doing, we will

taste three different ones, inexpensive side, for champagne, then one moderate one more expensive champagne is known for being a celebrator drink, we have more than 100 champagnes on the list plus sparkling wines, cheers. >> cheers. >> now tell us a little bit about this one what is the price range >> about $30 retail, this is from france. >> $30 is not bad at all. >> not for champagne it is normally a lot more expensive this is something you can enjoy and not feel guilty about. >> give us an idea a lot of times you thing of champagne is something to toast and celebrate and bring in the new year this can be paired well with different foods at many restaurants as well give us an idea what this would pair well with. >> anything seafood related,

shell fish oysters, champagne are a famous combination. this one, from a different village. much more exclusive. >> you know how to do that very well. >> about $50 retail, and the trick to opening champagne is let the cork just explode. like a whisper. so that is delicate you don't lose all your bubbles. >> what is this like compared to the other one we just had here. >> the second one is reserve, a little more exclusive, mainly shard they, fine we see the bubbles, finer and more elegant they dance in the glass. a little more crisper. >> okay give us tips too when you are out in the restaurant trying to choose, a different type of either champagne or sparkling wine what are criteria or things you should think about our look for >> different restaurants

different wine lists, marcel's, just or flagship, a little more casual, we have a buttele bar in bethesda, rock and roll and fun and bravo virginia, so what you do, decide what your budget is going to be, decide what the group is going to do, what you are toasting to you pick the champagne. you ask the wine steward. >> this is true champagne. >> all are true champagne but this is king or queen of champagne >> i could hear by the noise you made this is best. >> this is exclusive not very rare but very very expensive and krug is known for being the royalty within champagne itself much more delicate, 18-barrel has a little more of oxidation, carbonation process much more complex and champagne, true champagne is a real white wine that happens to have bubbles.

>> are they truly they have to be when called champagne they are from that region of france. >> only be from france only from the beautiful region, northern most wine making producing region in france. >> okay and we want to thank you ramon for coming in today, we appreciate it. >> cheers. >> cheers. we will drink up a little later on it is a little early in the day for that thanks for coming in. >> happy new year . >> go to myfoxdc.com information about marcel's and back the you steve. all right coming up several fast food restaurants are closing in maryland, plus, how you can get free help finding a job first, before we head the break, today's trivia question how many bee trips from flower to hive does it take to make a pound of honey, 10,000, 20,000, 40,000 or 60,000 either way at this point isn't that a lot?

the answer coming up later on if you want to guess now head to our facebook page fox 5 morning news will be right back  [ child ] it's so cool!

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if you are a fan of warby's you will have to -- war by's you will have to work harder -- arbys you will have to work hard tore find a location. the decision the close the restaurants was based on financial difficulty a statement on the website says it is in talks with the corporate office no decision whether to reopen any of those restaurants at this point. >> if you are looking for a job and need help, placement firm, challenger, grey and christmas inc is offering free search advice to callers nationwide call the number on your screen between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. the number there, is also on our web links, on myfoxdc.com.

some body out there will start the new year with a nice chunkover change the winning mega millions ticket for last night's drawing was sold in new york state the estimated jackpot, $260 million, so here are the winning numbers, 23, 32, 33, 39, 43, and mega ball 8 in case you were in new york state when you bought that and by the way the winner of the christmas eve power ball draw hog bought the winning ticket in elkton maryland still hasn't come forward. >> best to do so sooner than later the winner of a $77 million power ball jackpot lost out it was 180 days, the ticket for the june 29th drawing was sold in georgia unclaimed power ball jackpot prizes are returned to participating states. can you imagine? >> missing out on that. just didn't check your ticket. >> don't even want to thing about it. >> coming up she dropped her debut album earlier this year,

the daughter of bonnie wailer from bob marty and the wailers, sits down with fox 5 to discuss her latest music. annie yu later talking about cookies. we will be right back 

our annie yu is showing us how easy it is to create professional iced cookies for that big new years eve bash. do you think she is crashed from the sugar rush. >> are you getting upset we keep saying how easy this is to do? >> first of all steve knows me well we have had a lot of

cookies and sugar, right kim? yes. second, it is easy, i promise i am just not very good with my hands and doing crafty things but if you% your heart and mind to it you can do -- put your heart and mind to it you can do it. thank you for having us out here kim. kim will show us a fancy trick for packages. >> right this is a fan we usually put together, with our gourmet cookies makes it a little more festive gives it a little more height very simple. >> so this is tissue paper. >> right just tissue paper both of them are actually tissue paper this is a cellophane you can do it singly but this gives it textured look. >> and dimension. >> crinkle it, gather it all the way to the end. >> kim. >> once we get to the end. >> we are supposed to show people how easy this is.

>> you totally bypassed me hold on. >> but you do this every day. >> all the time. >> when you get to the end you are going to tie a knot in the center, and hopefully you end up with a fan. >> that is cute. >> here i want to finish mine so i am scrunching. >> keep your hand on it and tie in the center. >> and all you are doing is just getting -- you could buy like a tonne of this for less than $5. >> yeah. >> and bake the cookies like we have been doing all morning long. okay then what? >> just let it open up. >> look at that, that is darling >> i messed up on mine but look it doesn't look that bad right guys? we take this. >> take it over add it to our gourmet cookie pie. >> this is the cookie cake you can easily give this for a house warming gift buy a plastic and simple box at the craft store. >> gathering this. >> gathering it up. >> and then just tie it around that adds a lot of color and

dimension that is really pretty. >> we add our ribbon to it and once we've added ribbon we open this all up, make it a little more fuller looking. >> yeah. >> and add our gift card, add balloons. >> look at that. >> isn't this darling? this is a very very simple gift. >> yes. >> that you can give to some body for new years eve or use the cookie cake as a center piece for your table. marina here has other things going on what are other options for packaging kim. >> we do -- well, we buy a lot of our baskets at like michaels, ace, just different sales, but we try to do gourmet packaging and cute little snow men for the winter themes can be used all during the winter season. >> yeah. >> we have our gourmet boxes we do individual decorated cookies we also have -- >> i love this. >> little containers that will

hold three or four cookies maybe party favours. >> i watched them make this all you do is take a simple pail put styrofoam in, look how cute they added a ribbon. you can check out more of cookies by design logging on to our website myfoxdc.com but again you can do this at home it is simple and looks professionally done back to you in studio >> it looks great. >> holly thank you oh, holly, five and a half hours this morning, annie thank you. >> long morning. >> she did it to me before i am getting her back. the wailers. >> recently alison seymour spoke with the singer song writer about her music. >> the artists name is sen section love this is her latest release called love letter and, she and her brother are in studio today, welcome. >> thank you for having us.

>> would you introduce the conga player. >> this is my brother. >> nice to meet you as well >> i said royalty you could be that on your own you happen to be the daughter of bunny wailer of course of bob marly and the wailers what was it look growing up in your home. >> a lot of music, but i was shying away from it for awhile you know it was just so much i thought maybe i will be a fashion designer but once people heard my voice and my song writing talent, i just had to step in and do the right thing. >> it is so interesting i was reading you were raised in two cultures one atlanta georgia the other in kingston. >> yes. >> that must have been interesting. >> yes, half my life ten years here. >> right. >> it definitely shaped my experience but i can relate on both sides equally. >> wonderful. >> it is. >> your music speaks to

conscious topics and good story telling, i was going to ask you where that comes from but i know it is in your dna why is it important to you. >> well, i like to up lift people and even my friends, my family i like to you know i am just love sensi love explains a lot in jamaica we translate it to high grade music. even when i am older, 40, 50, i am still going to have a good song, i don't want to say oh, my god. >> so love let letter who is it a love letter to? >> everyone. >> i like that. >> i am going to sing hey you, a medially with a bob marly classic. >> welcome to washington this is sensi love. ♪ [ music ] 

>> before we take off time to say good morning to our facebook fan of the day. jaclyn says she loves sweets and horror movies as well. i like a good scary movie once

in awhile. >> post a comment under jaclyn's photo, find us searching fox 5 morning news. >> full-time for the answer to today's trivia question, how many bee trips from flower to hive does it take to make a pound of honey. >> there it is. >> i was going to guess 40,000. >> well, you know, only 40,000 >> i had no idea. >> 40,000 for one pound of honey hope you guessed correctly on our facebook page thank you for trying at least. >> okay. >> savour that honey. >> buzz right along, plenty of sunshine across the area windy, winds could gust up to 40 miles an hour. plenty of sunshine the rest of the week new years eve is looking good. not doing too badly. >> hang on to your hat for sure. >> reason to be festive. looks like it will be great. >> like all that sunshine at least