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tv   Fox Morning News  FOX  December 30, 2011 7:00am-9:00am EST

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found a few things the government got right this past year. short segment but we will take care of it in 30 minutes. i'm steve chenevey. >> and i'm sarah simmons for allison seymour. tony perkins has the latest on our weather. >> good morning. once again we've got a lot of clouds out there this morning but we are going to have a pretty decent day today as far as our temperatures go. partly sunny skies, plenty of clouds to go around now and we will see a good amount of cloud cover during the course of the day but partial sunshine, couple showers could develop overnight and move through the area, no big deal there. the weekend looks good with daytime highs in the 50s, but then things change next week and we are looking at daytime highs in the 30s by the middle of next week. so big differences. current temperatures around the region, we are at 38 degrees now, just gone up to 38 degrees here in washington, 30 in baltimore, 28 in manassas, 29 at dulles airport in leonard
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town 39 degrees and winchester 46. forecast for today, warmer than it was yesterday. looking for a high in the low 50s. we will have more details on that forecast coming up in just a little bit. tucker barnes will be back in a few moments. right now let's get an update on traffic from lauren demarco. >> westbound route seven at columbia pike blocked with an accident. we have that earlier from sky fox. it does remain closed at this time. you can do a quick workaround using the shopping center parking lot, follow the direction at the scene. montgomery county, sky fox now over the scene of this water main break. this is 410 east-west highway east of connecticut avenue. down to one lane in either direction so watch for delays if you're headed westbound on 410 east-west highway approaching connecticut for the inbound trip this morning. let's head on to trafficland, see what else we have got. here on the beltway route 50 in prince george's county, no problems for you all the way
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around toward the american legion bridge today so running smoothly on the beltway this morning. 95, 395 no real problems for you heading across the ak quan river, everyone running at speed. we do have some reports of delays heading from shirlington towards glebe, after that nice drive into the district, 66 and 270 both incident and accident- free. that's a check of your, fox 5 on-time traffic. top story now, a stabbing outside a d.c. nightclub. this happened outside of mood lounge in the 1300 block of 9th street northwest overnight. police confirmed two men were stabbed, one stabbed in the stomach, the other in the back. but no word on their condition. d.c. mayor vince gray and kathy lanier holding a news conference. currently 108 homicides in 2011. if that holds it would be the lowest since the early 1960s.
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that's a major improvement over 1991 when the city was in the midst of a crack epidemic. mayor gray attributes the decline in part to community policing and strong neighborhood leadership. these past games deadly on montgomery county roads. this morning a man driving a motorcycle was killed on the beltway. kevin hinnant junior of laurel crashed in silver springs. witnesses say hinnant lost control while traveling at a high rate of speed and hit a guardrail. lanes in that area shut down but have since reopened. police have still investigating a crash that killed two young women on university boulevard in silver springs yesterday morning. the suv they were traveling in veered off the road and hit a retaining wall. last night family and friends gathered to remember 19-year- old at that marra -- tamara johnson and 22-year-old jenice richards and parade for james who is now dealing with serious
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injury. police identifying a driver of a pickup killed in a crash. he was killed after he crossed the median in bethesda and crashed into the bus. the metro bus driver and several passengers were taken to the hospital. the sprint to the finish this weekend as we are now just four days away from the iowa caucuses. mitt romney is apparently feeling good about his chances while he and ron paul battle for first, rick santorum comes on strong. nicole collins from capitol hill. >> reporter: iowa rejected mitt romney four years ago but this time around his prospects appear to have brightened. >> how are you? good to see you. >> reporter: appearing confident and campaigning hard in iowa's final stretch, former massachusetts governor mitt romney pulling his largest
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crowds yet and arguing he's the most electable. >> i think people know me pretty well because i ran four years ago and they want to make sure that whoever we nominate can actually beat barack obama. >> reporter: a new poll has romney inching ahead of ron paul in iowa while rick santorum over takes newt gingrich for third place. >> do better than a week ago. >> reporter: however a new american research group survey paints a different picture with gingrich in second leading paul and san to your knowledge -- san to santorum. keeping his eye on conservative south carolina. >> considering i'm 20 points ahead in some of the states it will be fairly foolish for me not to stay in the race. it is a long way from here to picking a nominee. >> reporter: texas governor rick perry trying to claw his way back into contention with attack ads. >> asking a congressman to fix washington. >> reporter: and michele bachmann's campaign losing another key staffer, her political director now gone
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after her iowa chairman jumped ship to support ron paul. mitt romney campaigns today with new jersey governor chris christiewhom conservatives urged to join the race before christie endorsed romney. in washington, nicole collins, fox news. >> virginia voters will only see two names on the republican primarily ballot, mitt romney and ron paul, only two who qualified after collecting the 10,000 signatures. newt gingrich gathered 10,000 signatures but some thrown out because reportedly gathered fraudulently. saying he is acting independently of the gingrich campaign. rick perry's first effort to get his name on the virginia primary ballot failed. a federal judge denied his request for an emergency order requiring the state's board of elections to place him on the ballot. instead the judge set a hearing for january 13th. that's four days after the ballots must, printed by law. a loyalty oath could lock
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virginia voters into who they choose in the state's march republican primary. fox's sherri ly is live in the newsroom why with some -- with why some of the g.o.p. politicians think it is a mistake. >> reporter: the loyalty oath is impossible to enforce and carries no legal weight. someone could sign that pledge and then vote for whoever they want in november but it is stirring up quite a bit of controversy inside and outside the virginia republican party. before virginia voters cast their ballots in the republican primary in march, they can be asked to sign a so-called loyalty oath promising to support the eventual republican nominee for president in november. sign the pledge or you can't vote in the primary. it's part of a seldom used state law that says political parties can set the primary requirements including the signage of a pledge by the voter of his intention to support the party's candidate when offering to vote in the primary. but republican delegate bob marshall of manassas says hold on a minute. >> but you want to have
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mandatory voting for someone you never sheared of -- heard of you don't know and might not be running for office right now. so for the republican party to depart so far from what the founders wanted i think a mistake. >> reporter: virginia lawmakers approved the pledge or oath in 1999. at the time sponsors said it was needed because the state does not have party registration which means any registered voter can cast a ballot in a presidential primary. >> i don't think there was a malicious thought about this but i don't think they felt this out very well. >> reporter: and people voted for it, though? you voted for it too, you said? >> '90 it was voted for but not a big deal. i read about 1500 bills a year. i'm going to miss some things at some times but this question didn't come up that it was actually going to be imposed. >> reporter: but now it has come out and marshall is calling on voters to ask the state board of elections to rescind its approval. he's also asking the attorney general if the ruling meets the law's deadline requirement 90 days before the primary. this one set for march 6th.
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and last night delegate marshall did send a formal letter to the attorney general asking for an opinion on that 90 day rule. we did contact the virginia g.o.p. but did not hear back. when it comes down to it, this is what it's all about. since anyone can vote in the republican primary, the loyalty oath is meant to discourage nonrepublicans from sabotaging the vote. steve. >> thanks. the first family continues its hawaiian vacation. yesterday the president laid a wreath at a memorial honoring those killed back in the attack in pearl harbor in 1941. the president joined by first laid michelle obama -- first lady michelle obama. this marks the 70th anniversary of the attacks which claimed the lives of nearly 2400 americans and brought the u.s. into world war ii. time now 7:09 on this friday. up next, a look at this year's list of words that one group thinks should be banned from the english language
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altogether. dave ross also joins us to take a look at the redskins' last game of the season. it's 10 minutes past the hour. my name is ashley.
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i was using cascade actionpacs. they just didn't have that spot free look. when i took the finish challenge, i could tell there was a difference. my dishes had a shine on them. i'm moving on to finish quantum. take the finish challenge. get up to half off.
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making headlines this morning, the debate over so- called murderabbelia back in the forefront. items once owned by infamous killers are being sold on a website. the calculator that belonged to seung-hui cho just listed at $3400. isn't that crazy? >> yes. >> national campaigns fighting to have the sale of murderabilia banned. he's the man who sued the city back in 2003 over the ban on handgun ownership. that was ultimately overturned by the u.s. supreme court in 2008. heller had been asking for over
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$3 million. final preps are underway for the new year's celebration in new york city. organizers did their annual confetti air worthy test yesterday, very important apparently. more than 1 million people are expected to converge on times square and security as always expected to be tight. there's an annual list of banned words and phrases out for 2011. >> this go around's there are about a dozen that made the cut for 2012. the list uses the criteria of misuse, overuse and general disuselessness, this year's winners include baby bump. beyonce, everyone was talking about that. shared sacrifice, win the future and they also want to cast out occupy, amazing, man cave and the new normal. the annual list started as a publicity ploy by the university on new year's day in 1976 and since generated tens of thousands of nominations.
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>> here i was planning to occupy my amazing man cave in 2012. i guess i'll have to change my plans. >> good one. >> right. you ever done times square for new year's eve? >> no. >> yeah. a lot of people. it's often very cold, though, too. this year temperatures will likely be in the 40s. >> which is pretty good. >> not bad at all and dry this weekend, generally up and down the eastern seaboard. kick it off, current temperatures, cold to start your morning and it will be chilly for the next couple hours but unlike yesterday when we did get out of the 40s i think today topping out in the 50s so should be a nice afternoon for us. 38 right now in washington. there's cold air, boston is 29. out to the west, temperatures in the 50s this morning. little rock is 50 degrees and i'm looking for some cold, not a whole lot of cold out there, minneapolis 29. that's still unseasonably warm for this time of the year. some of the warmer air you see off to our south and west will get in here starting later this afternoon and stick around all
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weekend long so our temperatures will trend well above what we would consider to be seasonal normals here as we get into the end of 2011 and the first day of 2012. satellite radar, not a lot to show you, cold front out to the west. that will work in here later today so expect increasing cloud cover after morning sunshine. kind of a partly sunny day today, shower or two later today and breezy around here tomorrow behind that frontal system. if you're headed well north and by well north i mean northern new england, vermont, new hampshire into maine, whether winter weather advisories. >> the green blob? >> yes. one to 3 inches of snow up there. that's the highlight across the country. five day, 52 today, weekend, mid-50s, sunshine, breezy tomorrow and get ready for cold, tuesday's daytime high just 33 degrees. >> you're relishing in it, i can tell. >> you're going to get changes in about a 48 hour period. check in with lauren with a check of traffic.
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>> i like low pressure. high pressure, forget that. we are going to see green blob, red blob. makes it easier to understand. we've got a disabled vehicle on the ramp from eastbound old keen mill road to northbound i- 95 so you cannot access that ramp at this time but the good news is we are really not seeing much in the way of crowds on the roadways today. take a live look from traffic land at i-95 as you head northbound through the mixing -- nothing. your lanes are open. nice trip as you continue onto the beltway or 395 really not seeing anything in the way of volume delays this morning. 395 a little further north as you head past weave road, on -- glebe road, on and off the brakes there. 66 looks good here through manassas, no problems reported in centreville. 270, nothing to report out of frederick. off and on the brakes with volume as you head through
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rockville down toward the split but minor, much lighter than a typical morning rush. nothing to report on the beltway in montgomery county but keep in mind east-west highway east of connecticut avenue we have the water main break and you are down to just one lane in both directions. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. steve and dave ross over to you. >> thanks. time to check in with dave with a look at the forecast for the game on sunday. >> yeah. >> here's my question. >> yeah. >> for sunday. >> sure. >> because we talked before about this being kind of a meaningless game. >> yeah. >> but i really think the redskins are going to do well. i think pride on the line is going to outplay the eagles realizing last week their season was over. they still had a chance for the playoffs and now they are done. i don't think they have anything to play for. >> as ah redskins fan do you really want the redskins to win this week? you always say yeah. >> at this point, yes. >> well, i mean -- >> if you're not going for a top three pick i think at this point, you're going to get a top 10 -- >> yes. and mike shanahan wants to win. he knows his representation is
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-- reputation is on the line. $7million a year. that's an awful lot of money to pay a head coach that right now, let's be honest, has not gotten the job done and he's measured, he knows it, by wins and losses, 610-10 last year, so far 5-10 this year. he wants to go to philadelphia, beat a divisional rival. no playoffs at stake or anything like that but he wants to win. he was asked yesterday very politely does he think -- is there any doubt in his mind that he's coming back next year. >> well, no, there's no doubt in my mind, you know. hopefully there's no doubt in dan's mind too. that would be the guy to ask. no. like i talked to him about when i first got here, i sedan if you don't plan on me coaching here five years and doing it the right way, you're hiring the wrong guy. it's going to take time to do it right. >> mr. social mediaer -- mr.
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snyder made himself were available. mike shanahan stands up there every wednesday and thursday and speaks to us. >> let me ask you quickly, obviously no matter what we think, there's a game that's going to be played on sunday. >> yep. >> if you look at this as a game that the redskins have to win, what do you see going up against philadelphia? because you don't know who they are going to play. mccoy has been gimpy. >> they said they are going for the rushing record. the redskins get ready for a lot of mccoy on sunday. he's 120 yards back but the eagles say they want to try to get him the record which is an odd thing to say. >> i don't think i would do that to risk hurting him. >> you're televising the game plan. >> look at adrian. >> i think we are going to see a lot of evan royster again for the redskins. his office is all time high. he wants to be back here. we will find out if sunday's last resume is enough. >> is helu healthy enough to
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play? >> i don't think so. one guy, lorenzo alexander. he got a good guys award. the bad news the last two guys that got it are no longer here, something that -- >> wait a minute. >>is -- >> pro bowl. >> in his acceptance speech. take a listen. >> i do appreciate this. hopefully i don't end up like the last two or three guys and say here, even though the last two guys did go to the pro bowl. i do appreciate it, i like a lot of you guys, made a lot of friendships and i appreciate the award. >> we'd like to see him go to the pro bowl as a member of the redskins. >> beautiful, wouldn't it? >> yeah. >> recently went out to a middle school, spoke to a bunch of seventh graders out there, they sent me all of these thank you notes, probably over 50 and i wanted to pick out a couple because they are kids.
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here's one from ian. he says he thanks me for coming to eagle ridge middle school and says i look for you on fox 5 but i don't see you all the time but very good. tell tony perkins i said hey. he always makes me crack up. your friend ian. >> excellent. >> you got another fan out there in ian. >> did ian make the golf club thing himself? >> i don't know. it's pretty nice artwork. >> and he knows you so well. >> this says thanks so much for coming in. i do have a big favor to ask. if you ever meet justin bieber could you get his number then come back to eagle and give it to me? it would mean so much? thanks for putting up with my questions. haley, we don't have a direct connection to justin bieber. if you do steve -- >> no. with as much as my love for justin bieber -- >> you've seen him in concert. >> i would be more than happy if you gave every 7th grader in the country his personal number because i think that is entertaining. >> he's on twitter. i'm sure haley can get ahold of him on twitter.
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it wasn't even so much the sports they wanted to know about justin gene and they said -- justin bieber and they said i notice you guys don't get enough sleep. >> very observant. >> thank you, dave. happy new year. >> next hour we are going to have salary cap 101 on twitter. we are going to talk about what the redskins might do in the off-season. >> inside financial scoop for us. good deal, dave. send it back to sarah. on this friday if you are a verizon customer you're going to want to stay tuned. up next more on their new fee for paying their bill. then we are live with a look at the family fun you can have at first night alexandria this new year's eve. should be fun. stay with us. 
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holds corporations -- sears holdings corporation has a list of the closing stores. sears grand located on national park. the company announced it will close hundreds of sears and kmart stores in 2012. the company is still trying to figure out when the store will shut down. paying your cell phone bill is about to get more expensive. starting january 15th, verizon will charge customers a $2 convenience fee for using a credit card or debit card to pay monthly bills. the charge will apply to people who make one time payments online or by phone. it's not going to affect those who set up automatic payments. the company made the announcement on their website saying it will help cover the costs of credit card transactions. 7:27 right now on this friday morning. stay tuned next. an update on our top stories. a look at "washington post's" lists of the biggest government oops and things the
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government got right this past year. stay with us. it's 7:27. over 200,000 people are hospitalized every year
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with flu complications. lysol disinfectant spray is approved to kill over 50 germs on surfaces. this includes cold and flu viruses. so we recommend using lysol every day. checking this morning's top stories happening overnight, a stabbing outside of a d.c. nightclub. this one happened outside of mood lounge in the 1300 block of 9th street northwest. police confirmed two men were
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stabbed, one in the stomach, the other stabbed in the back. so far no word on their condition. a seldom used virginia state law under the microscope as voters in the commonwealth could be asked to sign a so- called loyalty oath which promises to support the eventual republican nominee for president in november. or you can't vote in the march primary. republican delegate bob marshall of manassas is pushing to have the loyalty oath rescinded. president barack obama laid a wreath at the memorial honoring those killed in the attack on pearl harbor in 1941. he was joined by first lady michelle obama. after a moment of silence they scattered water pedals in the water there. this year marked the 70th anniversary of the japanese attacks which claimed the lives of americans and brought the world into -- u.s. into world war ii. >> amazing memorial. have you ever been there? >> no. would love to go. >> the oil still bubbling up from the boat that sank. >> all these years later.
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>> incredible. not going to be hawaiilike around here but on the mild side for the next couple of days, temperatures in the 50s. >> okay. i'll take that. >> 50 for new year's weekend and go into the first night activities tomorrow night, i know we got an old ton alexandria; is that right? >> yes. >> annapolis has a big one? >> yeah. >> conditions fine. temperatures in the 30s and low 40s. as you're out and about during the weekend here, ideal conditions. breezy tomorrow but with high temperatures in the 50s, no complaining. 38 right now in washington. cold in spots, baltimore currently 30 degrees, 29 out at dulles. off to the south and to the east we got the air station, 38 for you, 34 in fredericksburg. ocean city 39. going to be a decent day today, not going to be bright and sunny but with partial sunshine and temperatures a little warmer than yesterday it should be a comfortable afternoon for us with highs expected to be in the low 50s. we got a little cloud cover moving through at the moment. again, not going to amount to much during the course of the
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day today. kind of a repeat from yesterday. i think a little bit more sunshine than yesterday but still a lot of clouds around, a cold front out to the west but most of the energy will stay off to our north and west so we are not going to see a lot of rain with it but later tonight during the overnight hours a few showers and then breezy tomorrow behind the front. but with sunshine and mild temperatures both saturday and sunday going to be a good looking weekend for us. for today, partly sunny skies, yesterday's daytime temperature of 44, today 52. winds out of the south at five to 10 miles per hour. later tonight, lots of clouds around, could be a few showers out there as well, 41 your overnight low so warmer overnight tonight into tomorrow morning than we are this morning. winds out of the south at about five to 10. here is your weekend forecast. colder weather on the way, 50 saturday and sunday, we start the cooldown monday, check out tuesday's daytime high, it is going to be windy around here as well on tuesday. 33 degrees. yeah. just in time for january. that's a look at weather.
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let's look at on-time traffic and see if anyone is going to work. >> an accident westbound route seven the left lane blocked at this point after columbia pike. want to watch for that. other than that we really don't have much going on. want to take a look at trafficland, decided for this traffic hit that we are going to look at pretty pictures so you'll see that the roads are nice and empty, beautiful sky there as you travel 66 inbound toward the beltway. nothing in your way. look good through manassas and centreville as well. 95 making the trip out of woodbridge also looking good. skies pretty here. as you travel from newington into springfield, volume there, heading toward you is the northbound direction the main lanes traveling the beltway route 50 and prince george county, no -- prince george's county nice. east-west highway east of connecticut avenue still dealing with the water main break that has you down to one lane either direction. no problems on the beltway.
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pretty picture from our tower cam. how do you like that? that's northwest d.c. >> i like it a lot. a lot of sunshine as we end the year. as we talk about the end of 2011 it was a year looking back of ups and downs for the government and this week ed o'keefe broke down what went right and what went wrong and ed is here this morning joining us to talk more about that. i'll tell you something they've got right, giving people vacation this time of year so the rest of us don't have traffic to deal with. let's focus first on the negative and end on a positive note for 2011. >> sure. >> what was the number 1 thing that the government messed up this year? >> we talked about it a lot and we in the end kind of determined that this whole situation at the dover air force base, the mortuary scandal it didn't happen in 2011 but we found out about it then. the idea that you've got troops deploying to afghanistan coming home from iraq, they have held up their end of the bargain and appears that some folks at the air force did not, 274 service
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members their remains ended up in a landfill, others body parts misplaced. horrific story. not a the -- the kind of thing you want to hear when others had a year or two to go in those deployments. >> and also coming off the heels of what happened at arlington cemetery and that freshened the minds of a lot of people too. this wasn't just jury decision -- your decision. this went out to the readers as well? >> in the end we sat there and said looking at all the things the government is responsible for and this is just me and a few other colleagues, we thought after spending a year looking at this stuff, talking to you guys about a lot of it, we felt these are the things they screwed up the most. >> let's talk a few more things that went wrong this year. the government shutdown, it did seem like every couple of weeks we were talking about this? >> government is supposed to function and every six weeks
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there was some doubt it wasn't going to happen. bottom line government supposed to function and didn't and caused a lot of different topics for a lot of different agencies. >> the bad right now, federal waste, fraud and abuse and i tell you what if you could find somebody that could do a mass audit of the federal government, i think they would be, you know, the next bill gates maybe. >> they would find a lot of money for sure. this is the one that readers ranked as number 1, situations like dead federal workers, you know, still receiving their retirement benefits, people who erroneously collect tax credits that are not supposed to and the irs does nothing to track down those people. >> how much are we talking here? >> $110 billion in what's called improper payments that went out to fraudulent contractors, people who bilked medicare or medicaid and others who simply collected tax credits they weren't supposed to but we will talk about why it's a good thing in a few moments. >> first as we stay on the bad theme here, pick one federal agency that had a really bad
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year. >> the faa without a doubt. their administrator arrested for dwi. you had, you know, air traffic controllers asleep in the air traffic -- the towers. you had a guy who misdirected a flight with first lady michelle obama and then you had workers furloughed during one of those spending impasses and they went a few weeks without pay. >> also on the air theme, tsa getting bad attention too. >> because of the enhanced screenings, still facing a lot of changes. they had certainly their share of headaches this year. >> not all bad. what went right? what did the government do that got a little congratulations out there? >> the number 1 thing was federal disaster response whether it was hurricane irene, whether it was blizzards across the country, there were $11 billion plus disasters this year and fema if you talk to democrats, republicans, governors, members of congress and the people on the ground, they said they did admirably,
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did really well. the trick will be next year once the payments are done and once all the assessments have been made, does fema do the follow-through. so far, so good but turned themselves around since katrina. >> let's visit this whole government waste argue: you said you could find some good in this. >> while $110 billion was paid out erroneously, down considerably from previous years and the obama administration to its credit since the summer has really put a big effort behind trying to d redundant spending across the government and so far they have done a good job, whether that's the swag that agencies give out or, you know, $16 muffins that may or may not be served at conferences that are hosted by federal agencies or just other examples of ways that they can cut back and ways that governments and families are cutting back, they are making an effort. again, we will have to keep an eye on it in the new year. >> looks like that's the atheme here is -- that's the theme here is efficiency, making it easier for folks who are trying
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to get a job with the government. >> this is an administration so far that has made an effort in trying to make it much more efficient and in the end save money and they keep at it, they will do it. >> that's 2011. we will see what happens in 2012. happy new year, my friend. ed o'keefe from the post, federal eye, you can check it out at the washington post or at myfoxdc.com. time now 7:40. up next, a look at what's going to cost you more in the new year, including a rising fee for virginia drivers. and one for maryland shoppers. then a local jewelry store wanted some of elizabeth taylor's jewels. they ended up with this paper necklace instead. wait until you hear what they paid for this. stay with us. we will be right back.
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heads up to you if you drive the dulles toll road. starting sunday the rate at the main toll plaza will increase to $1.50. tolls on the on and offramps will remain at 75 cents, though and another increase kicks in on sunday, this one in montgomery county, stores will be required to charge customers 5 cents for each paper or plastic bag that they use. there are some exceptions, though, including for
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prescriptions or doggy bags at restaurants. a local virginia jewelry store now able to display some of elizabeth taylor's jewelry. well its piece has no gemstones or jewels but what you see is the newest addition to jewelry by design in woodbridge. it's actually a really well done paper necklace but it was owned by the late elizabeth taylor and one of taylor's boyfriends gave it to her as a joke, young man by the name of malcolm forbes you may have heard of. it was one of the pieces auctioned off in new york this month and while it may look like paper the store's owner says it is oh so much more. >> elizabeth taylor was icon, a legendary collector of jewelry, so what we were buying was a piece of her history for our customers to, you know, engage with to be able to look at, to try on and feel like they were part of what elizabeth taylor was about. >> the owner also bought a real piece of taylor's jewelry she will put on display with the
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paper jewelry. i know you're wondering what was the cost of the paper jewelry. it went at auction for a mere $7000. >> wow. >> you look at it, though, it looks like the real deal, like you -- >> it looks phenomenal. >> it does. it's pretty impressive whoever did that. >> i don't think you're going to pass it off as the real thing if you're going to wear it. back to the bag tax that is going into effect. >> yes. >> i'm in the grocery store the other day and they are like you want bags? and i'm like no, i'm going to save 10 cents. so i saved 10 cents but i had 20 items in my hands. dropped them, broke something. >> i can see you doing that. >> you realize, mr. cheapskate over there, the idea is for you to bring your own bag to the store. >> i get the idea. >> so you don't have to carry it down the street. >> i learned a lesson. don't try to save that nickel. let's get right to the temperatures here in washington. if you're going to be walking down the street later today, you won't need a jacket.
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-- >> do you need a dime? >> yes. 38 degrees right now in washington, 30 in gaithersburg, 36 in leonardtown, 32 in fredericksburg. partly sunny skies expected, not going to be a perfectly sunny day but i think we will get a little more sunshine than yesterday. should be a mild afternoon with highs expected to be in the low 50s. as we get into nighttime hours, futurecast, frontal system approaching, that will bring us cloud cover, could bring us a sprinkle or few showers during the overnight hours and then breezy behind it so expect a breezy day tomorrow, but with sunshine and temperatures in the mid-50s both saturday and sunday, it should be a great weekend. hard to believe it's the end of the year and new year's eve, that kind of thing this weekend with temperatures in the mid- 50s. if you like cold weather check out tuesday, high 33 with wind. >> look on the that drop-off to tuesday. losing 10 degrees a day. check in with lauren demarco and find out what's happening with traffic.
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>> head out to some of our trafficland cameras, i believe. here we are at the beltway in virginia as you head past van dorn street, making your way toward the woodrow wilson bridge. we do have an accident reported in northwest d.c., west virginia avenue at mount olive at roads south of new york avenue so watch out for that. also the wreck in virginia, bailies crossroads area route seven westbound left lane remains blocked. this is 270 at the lane divide there. everybody running smoothly. no problems on the beltway in montgomery county but i do want to mention east-west highway east of connecticut avenue still down to one lane in both directions for the water main break. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. >> thanks. if you need a sober driver this holiday weekend to keep you safe, washington's regional alcohol program will once again sponsor the sober ride program. you can get a free cab ride
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home up to $30. the program runs from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. to january 1st. also a heads up for metro riders today. the transit agency running extra trains this afternoon to help commuters leaving work early in advance of the long holiday weekend. as for new year's eve and new year's day, metro will operate on a normal weekend schedule. saturday from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. and sunday from 7:00 a.m. until midnight. got to say good morning to today's facebook fan of the day who is marla dawson. not only celebrating being fan of the day but sell operating a -- celebrating a birthday. happy birthday to you, marla. thanks for watching and thanks for sharing your special day with everybody. if you would like to be monday's fan of the day, find us on facebook, search for fox 5 mornings news and then post a comment under the birthday girl's photo. now 7:48 on this morning. hard to believe but tomorrow is new year's eve. >> i know.
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where did the year go? if you are looking for family friendly fun, annie yu has an idea for you. hi, annie. >> reporter: good morning. break out the dancing shoes and come down here to old town alexandria. we are going to get a sneak peek at their annual new year's eve bash going on this saturday. coming up we are talking to organizers and getting a sneak peek at one of the entertainers that day so stay with us on fox 5 morning news. 
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7:52 right now. if you're still looking for something to do with the entire family tomorrow to ring in the new year, annie has got you covered this morning. >> got a lot going out there and she joins us now from the torpedo factory in alexandria, virginia with more. hi, annie. >> hi. we are here live at the torpedo
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factory and first one in alexandria started in 1994 and they have tons of activities, music and entertainment for the entire family. and it's very, very affordable. and joining me now to talk more about it is the vice mayor, and one of the artists here at torpedo factory. >> happy new year. >> i can't believe it's already 2012. >> i i can't either. >> it is. there's nothing you can do to stop it. >> i know. tell us about the event for those who aren't familiar. >> first night is the celebration of the arts, kick it off at 1:00 with a scavenger hunt, about 6:00, 7:00, our performances kick in, 18 venues, over 30 performers, over 100 performances here in alexandria. it's a safe, affordable family friendly celebration of new year's and we are going to outdo new york this year. new york drops one ball. new york drops one ball at midnight. we are dropping 6000. >> 6000 balls. >> no way.
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>> yes, we are. >> reporter: at midnight. that is quite a sight. >> that's right. >> reporter: what's the benefit to having this event every year which seems to get bigger and better every year? >> there's a lot of economic activity. people are down here, they are shopping in our shops, they are in the restaurants. but they really get to experience old town, hopefully they will come back. there's a broader economic benefit, but we -- we are known for our arts here in alexandria and it is a celebration of the arts with music and dancing and, you know, puppets, children's activities, all, you know, celebrating the arts, promoting the arts here. >> reporter: it really is a true celebration of the arts and lisa, tell us about that being one of the artists here at the factory. >> i'm an artist here at the torpedo factory and we are pleased once again to be one of the venues. we have the best fans we think. it's rocking in here. and we are also sponsoring some events, making crowns and hats and buttons and doing makeup on saturday here during the day, so we are kicking off the event
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here. and we are just excited to be a part of it. we are here seven days a week year round making art and just having all sorts of things going on and -- >> reporter: speaking of making art, you made this? >> yes. >> reporter: who how gorgeous that is. >> a little recycling, a little art. >> reporter: i want to give our viewers a sneak peek into one of the entertainers for that night and over there we have miss keira moran, a singer and songwriter. you can catch her this saturday at scheffler. >> i'm your wonder girl. hey there, i'm your wonder girl, please say i'm your wonder girl, say that i'm your wonder ♪ ♪ girl. >> yeah, say that i'm your wonder girl. [ singing ] >> ♪ to the sound of your voice ♪
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♪ i want to see your face >> reporter: if you would like to come out this saturday, here's what you need to know. tickets are $20 and children 12 and under are free. how great is that? you have over 100 musical acts sprinkled around old town. definitely get your ticket, log onto myfoxdc.com for all of the information. back to you in the studio. >> thank you so much. 7:56 right now on this friday morning. the second to last day of 2011. when we look back, floods, snow, drought, heat, wildfires, the u.s. experienced more weather ca at that time fees -- catastrophes in 2011 that caused a billion dollars in damage than the entire decade of the 1980s. >> interesting. that's even after the dollar figures are adjusted for inflation as well. coming up in our next hour, more on why weird weather could become the new norm. it was an automatic. everyone was -- you know, jumped right in. >> and a tremendous show of support after a car crash devastates several local
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families. the story coming up after 8:00. stay with us. it's the perfect time to find great deals
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this is fox 5 morning news. while a lot of you take a long holiday weekend, the g.o.p. presidential hopefuls are hard at work trying to muster up every last vote ahead of the highly anticipated iowa caucuses. we will take a look at the latest polls ahead this hour. then voters in virginia in the virginia primary may be forced to sign an oath promising to vote for a republican come november. it's legal but it's causing all kinds of controversy. we will take a closer look. floods, snow, droughts, heat, wildfires, the u.s. experienced more weather catastrophes of a billion dollars or more than the entire decade of the 1980s. hard to imagine. that even includes when you adjust those dollar figures for inflation. more on how this weird and wild weather could become a new norm for us. we will talk about that with an expert. 8:00. glad you're with us this friday morning. i'm steve chenevey. >> and i'm tony perkins in for allison seymour this morning. tucker barnes with us as
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well. good morning. >> hey, guys. no weird or wild weather expected this weekend. >> pretty calm this week. >> i guess it is weird. unseasonably warm. >> temperatures in the 50s this weekend. >> yes. nice looking forecast. kicking it off with a cold one, seasonably cold this morning. temperatures in the 20s and low 30s, should be again a decent day today, not going to be perfectly sunny but at least partly sunny this afternoon and dry. 38 right now in washington at reagan national, lots of temperatures below freezing, baltimore 30, dulles 29, 29 in hagerstown, upper 30s in oceanside. easy forecast. we will wake up with partial sunshine out to the west, the green you see, that's rain shower activity, most of that will stay north and west of us later today and tonight but that cold front will get through here, could bring us a few showers we will say overnight tonight and into tomorrow morning and then kind of a breezy and cool start to our weekend but by tomorrow afternoon, mid-50s, tomorrow night we should be nice and dry for new year's eve and sunday
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looks good too. i'll have details on the weekend here coming up. mild conditions, high temperatures in the 50s later this afternoon. >> thank you very much. see you in a bit. good morning to lauren demarco with traffic. hi, lauren. >> hey, you guys. we have been following an accident in northeast d.c., west virginia avenue at mount olivette street, south of new york avenue so watch out for that. also if you're traveling on east-west highway just east of connecticut avenue, we've got a water main break, watch out for the crews, and got you down to one lane in either direction. live look at our trafficland cameras because other than that things are looking very good on the roads, very light volume, continuing this holiday week so as you travel 270 you shouldn't find any delays out of frederick all the way down through germantown and rockville into bethesda running at speeds, and a nice and easy trip for you. on the beltway in montgomery county, no problems to report. then continuing into virginia you'll find your lanes open across the american legion bridge. here we are near old dominion,
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a little bit of volume there but for the most part everything running smoothly, 66, incident-free, 95, 395 and virginia no problems if you are traveling northbound and the on other side of town, route 50 the john hanson highway also looks good at this time. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. this morning's top story, a tabbing -- stabbing outside of a d.c. nightclub, happened outside of mood lounge. police confirm two men were stabbed overnight. one in the stomach, one in the back. no word this morning on their condition. when it comes to crime, though the district could have its lowest homicide rate in some 50 years. d.c. officials say that if the city's current number of homicides holds for 2011, 108, it will be the lowest since the early 1960s. still not a low number but a major improvement over the 479 homicides reported in 1991 when the city was in the midst of a crack epidemic. the mayor attributes the decline to community policing
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and strong neighborhood leadership. he recent rash of deadly accidents continues in montgomery county. just this morning a man driving a motorcycle was killed on the beltway. police say kevin hinnant junior hit a guardrail. lanes in the area have shut down but since reopened. meanwhile police investigating a crash that killed two young women on university boulevard in silver spring. the suv they were traveling in veered off the road and hit a retaining wall early yesterday morning. last night family and friends gathered to remember 19-year- old tamara johnson, and 22-year- old jenice richards. they also prayed for desaleen james who is now dealing with serious injuries. and police are now identifying the driver of a pickup truck killed in wednesday's crash that also involved a metro bus. 49-year-old nikanu edor of
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silver springs was killed after he crossed the median on rourkeville pack -- rockville pike in bethesda and crashed into a bus. still no word on what caused him to lose control. the metro bus driver and several passengers taken to the hospital. six days away from the first votes in the republican presidential race and yet another lead change in iowa. this morning mitt romney has taken the lead over ron paul and the new numbers show a surprising surge from another g.o.p. candidate. sherri ly is in the newsroom with the latest on the race for the white house. >> reporter: this has been one of the most fluid races in recent history. mitt romney is now the front runner but in the iowa caucuses it's still very much up for grabs. the dark horse could be rick santorum. he has gone from obscurity to iowa's number 3 spot. that is ahead of newt gingrich. the former house speaker continues a three week slide from front runner to fourth in some polls and in this quickly changing landscape leading up to the iowa caucuses, mitt
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romney has taken the lead edging ahead of ron paul. now, the last few days that texas congressman was the front runner. now paul slipped to second in those polls and given the changing dynamics, no one has given up. >> everyone wants to win iowa. i'm not going to predict who is going to win. i think it's too difficult to know who is going to show up at the caucuses but i want to get the support of the people of iowa. >> folks are looking at the candidates, they are doing the analysis and they are deciding that we stack up better than everybody else and i've always believed that was going to be the case and i'm gratified that iowans are seeing it the same way. >> while romney has the lead in polls the numbers have been changing day to day in iowa as all those undecided voters make up their mind. since august, six different people have held the lead there. there was michele bachmann who has now fallen in the polls to dead last, rick perry who sedate gaffe seems to have cost
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him, romney, and herman cain who isn't even in the race anymore. there's no telling what will happen on caucus day. >> without a doubt. sherri ly for us in the newsroom. as of right now virginia voters will only see two names on the republican primary ballot. those numbers mitt romney and ron paul. they are the only two who qualified after collecting the required 10,000 signatures. newt gingrich turned in 10,000 signatures but some were thrown out because they were reportedly gathered fraudulently. now an attorney and tea party activist from ruston is stepping in. jonathan mosely filed a lawsuit on gingrich's behalf saying he's acting independently of the gingrich campaign. and perry's effort to get his name on the ballot failed. a federal judge denied his request for an emergency order requiring the state's board of elections to place him on the ballot. instead the judge set a hearing for january 13th. problem is, that's four days after the ballots must be printed by law. seldom used state law stirring up controversy ahead of the republican presidential primary in virginia. voters in the commonwealth could be asked to sign the so- called loyalty oath, which
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promises to support the eventual republican nominee for president in november. if you don't sign it, you can't vote in the march primary. bob marshall of manassas wants it rescinded. >> but you want to have mandatory voting for someone you never heard of, you don't even know and might not be running for office right now. so for the republican party to depart so far from what the $14 wanted, i think it's -- founders wanted, i think it's a mistake. >> marshall has sent a formal letter asking the attorney general if the ruling meets the law's deadline requirement 90 days out before the primary. voters head to the polls march 6th. from record high gas prices to more speed cameras popping up in d.c., aaa is out with its best and worst list for 2011. we will share it when we come back. but first flood, snow, drought, heat, wildfire. the u.s. experienced numerous weather catastrophes in 2011 costing billions of dollars. coming up, more on why extreme weather could become the new
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time now 12 minutes past 8:00 on this friday morning as we check stories making headlines this morning. some of the stories include north korea where folks are happy with their new ruler. i think they pretty much have to be happy with their new ruler. the country is quoted united around kim jong-un. they are warning not to expect any changes in the country now that un is in charge. president obama laying a wreath at the memorial honoring those killed in the attack at pearl harbor in 1941. he was joined at the u.s.s arizona memorial by michelle obama. after a moment of silence they scattered pedals in the water. this year marks the 70th anniversary of the japanese attacks which claimed the lives of americans and brought the u.s. into world war ii. also in hawaii, an eye
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catching eruption on the big island. the kilauea volcano continues to spew lava and flames. it has been continuously erupting since 1983 but this is the first time since 2011 that lava is actually entering the ocean within the park. park visitors can hike about 4 miles if you want to get up to as close as they will let you get to the site. this year brought with it significant snowstorms, heatwaves, droughts and the like so what might 2012 hold? joining us now to talk about that is dr. msanjin lead scientist at -- thank you, doctor, for joining us. good to see you this morning. tell us in your view and in your organization's view, what were the big weather stories for the year? >> well, 2011 was a real doozie. it's pretty hard to hype this any more than it really is. we had probably three to four
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times as many big weather disasters and when i talk about big weather disasters, i mean over a billion bucks worth of a loss of life. usually we get three or four a year. last year we had over a dozen and we had probably 100 weather-related events that we would consider natural disasters. so big year. hurricane irene was a big one, the drought in the southwest was huge and continues to be a big problem, flooding in the midwest, and then the tornados that wiped out, you know, entire little towns. >> and obviously these are catastrophic events and a lot of scientists attribute these various events to a variety of circumstances, but in your view in your organization -- and your organization's view, is it really all mainly about one thing? >> no. it is really -- it's a complicated question. you know, it's very difficult to really be able to pin any particular weather event on a single factor. so what happened in 2011, we
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think, are four things. we have the thing called la nina, which is a natural cycling that happens in the oceans with ocean temperatures. we had the cold air pouring down south from the arctic, it's unusual, it happens every few years, and then we had two other things. one is the back drop of a long- term trend of climate change and then finally people are simply living in places that are less and less defensible. so people living in canyons, people living on the edge of rivers, you know, far out on the coast, these are places that, you know, historically have been inundated by storms and such. >> and that's one of the things that, i mean, obviously, these events have been catastrophic when you talk about billions and billions of dollars but one of the reasons for the high dollar figures is that irene, for example, moved along most of the east coast where you have heavily populated areas so that's part of the equation as well, correct? irene was a big, fat, wide storm and we got the path
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pretty correct on that one. the intensity was different but the effects of it was dumping a lot of water down on an area that was already saturated with water. you didn't get a salt water intrusion, you got a fresh water intrusion so rivers started flooding, people's basements started flooding and states like vermont got badly hit but that happened because there was so much moisture in the atmosphere. the moisture is there partly because the world's temperatures are hotter now which means it can hold more moisture. >> let's talk about that, the global warming as expected of it -- aspect of it. i almost hate to use the words global warming because it's become a political term now more than a scientific term. but what impact do you think that's having on nature? >> well, the first thing is most people sort of agree that global warming is happening. the part where people tend to argue about is how much humans are contributing to it. so that's sort of a slight
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difference there. but now in terms of climate change, you know, global warming, you know, it's going to have a big impact particularly in the southwest where you have had ongoing drought and fires and those aren't getting any better anytime soon. so if you are a farmer or rancher in the south-southwest, producing beef in texas, this is something to really worry about because, you know, it's going to affect food prices in the country but also going to impact your livelihood. so i think that's the first big impact that you see with climate change. the second one is climate change adds a lot more merge into the atmosphere and the -- energy into the atmosphere and it has to be released, often in terms of moisture so when it rains it comes down hard. it's no longer a sprinkle, it's a deluge. that's the big challenge with it. >> and i'm out of time but ask you quickly, do you think we've got more of these type of catastrophes in store during the next year or several years?
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>> well, good news is next year is going to be a linen i can't year as well but a weak one so i don't expect it to be as bad but long-term trends like heating and drought in the south are unfortunately going to continue until we get a better handle on how we manage water and how we manage energy. >> dr. m.sanjayan thank you for talking to us. >> thank you. happy holidays. >> same to you. 8:18 right now. going to get to tucker barnes with a look at our forecast. this is the time we do a little something extra. >> it's time for what we call the cuteness factor of the day. >> let's get to it. time now for a my 1st five photo of the day. somebody is surprised. >> what a great, great picture. >> i can't wait until allison comes back. this is juliana, everybody. >> is that a slam on us, tucker? >> yes, that is a -- >> we were genuinely -- we love this picture. >> oh, you do?
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>> yes. >> tell me about it. >> well, i just said i love it. it's a great picture. >> break it down and make it more simpler for you to understand, tucker. >> she is cute. >> she is extremely cute and get this, she is excited to learn the toy she opened for christmas talked and played songs. >> what a agreement moment, though, just to capture that. >> my favorite thing. >> almost like they anticipated the reaction she is going to give. >> my favorite photo every year at christmastime is to get connor when he sees all the gifts under the tree. >> we appreciate you sending in your picture and what a great photograph. i'm glad christmas worked out for you. to send us your child's picture, go to myfoxdc.com and click on mornings. >> and allison will be back on monday, tucker. >> technically probably her parents sent it in, not juliana herself. >> she might have send it -- sent it in. you know, kids and twitter these days.
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very resourceful. >> didn't we do a -- a story about a 2-year-old kid. breezy around here tomorrow but with temperatures in the 50s we can't complain to end the year and kick off a new year. right now 37 in washington, we have fallen back a degree in the past hour or so, out to the west, look at st. louis, 51, 48 in nashville. that's headed in our direction, those warmer temperatures so for the next couple of days our temperatures are going to trend well above what we would consider to be normal and in fact i think we will be good 10 degrees or so above normal for both saturday and sunday. satellite radar, shower activity approaching, that's a cold front that will get in here later tonight. i think the clouds will start to spill into the region later today. we have already got cloud cover associated with the cold front at the moment so we will go with partly sunny day, dry today, maybe a few showers tonight. most of the area dry. but can't rule out the possibility of a shower and then behind it breezy but sunny tomorrow. check out the five-day forecast. going to be absolutely gorgeous
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around here for our holiday weekend. 55 tomorrow, breezy at times tomorrow night, no problems if you're headed out to any of the first night activities, dry conditions expected. 56 on sunday. if you like cold, check out tuesday, daytime highs 33 and windy, yeah. let's get to some on-time traffic and lauren demarco has got your latest this morning. good morning, lauren. >> you know what? you guys are like an old married couple with the bickering, you and tony. >> i don't know what's going on with that lately. >> and steve chiming in. i like it. we have a couple of accidents right now in d.c., 14th street southbound at pennsylvania avenue northwest and then west virginia avenue at mount olivette road in northeast d.c., so watch out for police at both of those intersections. let's move along to trafficland see what we've got going on. very light volume again as you head northbound across the 14th street bridge into d.c., no problems for you there. we do still have the wreck bailey's crossroads route seven westbound, right lane remains blocked at columbia pike. 66, nothing to report for you,
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nice trip here leaving route 50 fair oaks all the way into the beltway running very well, no delays there. beltway looks good in montgomery county past university boulevard. east-west highway east of connecticut avenue still dealing with the water main break, down to one lane in either direction. no problems to report in prince george's county. lanes wide open on the beltway at route four. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. that's it for me for the day. >> trying to play peace maker with the weather guys. always plenty to talk about when it comes to road-related issues here in the d.c. region and aaa out with the list of best and worst for transportation in 2011. making the best list, emergency legislation to end arrests in the district for expired tags. new safety laws in maryland. a drop in distracted drivers on the beltway. the opening of the icc. and progress on construction projects. that's the good list. now here's the bad list, the worst for 2011. record high gas prices, the
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highest number of hit-and-run crashes in the nation. the january winter storm that stranded commuters. transportation funding dead lock and controversy over speed cameras. tough to argue with any of those. >> uh-huh, you're right. it is coming up on 8:23 now this friday morning. coming up next, a look at this year's list of words that one group thinks should be banned from the english language. >> we will see how many we can squeeze into the story in the next half hour. also live with family fun you can have. brighten up. it's new year's. we have a new year to look forward to. we are going to be down in alexandria checking out new year's eve plans. there's somebody that looks happy this morning. stay with us. we will be right back. 8:23. >> tribute to the rock band kiss. @
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that car driver kasey kahne apologizing for expressing his disgust with public breastfeeding. he issued a statement on facebook after making comments about a woman he saw breastfeeding at the supermarket. he also apologized to a twitter reader who he called a profanity. the apology comes at the same time that mothers are staging a nurse-in at target stores around the country. the protest happened yesterday in response to a texas target overreacting to a mother bread
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feeding in public. those two incidents not related. the annual list of banned words and freezes -- phrases has been released. >> about a dozen words made the cut for 2012, the 37th annual list by michigan state university uses the criteria the misuse, overuse, this year's list includes baby bump, shared sacrifice, win the future as well as occupy, amazing, man cave and the new normal. the annual list started as a publicity ploy by the university on new year's day in 1976 and has since generated tens of thousands of nominations. of course the words aren't really banned although some may wish they were. >> i think lake superior state should stop using the word use, they misuse, over use and uselessness. >> misusing the word use. ban that one next year. day 27 right now. it's friday morning and that means we are just two days away from game time. the redskins gearing up for their last game of the season. will they make a statement on
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sunday or will they fizzle out the way the rest of the year has gone. >> what kind of statement could they make? >> that we are a 6-10 team and not a 5-10 team. >> during the off-season to get a winning record, we have got a closer look when we come back. dave ross joins us. >> we are not quite as bad as you think we are. it's the perfect time to find great deals
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welcome back. it is 8:30 right now. technically 8:31 if you're on a minute to minute basis. tucker is with us for the forecast. up and down things the next couple of days. not a bad weekend. >> nice a mild, temperatures in the 50s but the down part is early next week our temperatures are going to fall. >> january making its announcement known. >> let's kick it off with the headlines. partly sunny, yeah, kind of a repeat from yesterday. a little more sunshine than
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what we had around here during the day yesterday, but with a frontal system approaching from the west we will have clouds moving in a little later today. a couple of showers overnight. it's a possibility. much of the area should be dry here but it's possible that i think after midnight a few showers move in with our cold front. weekend looks good, saturday sunday plans outdoors, you could probably go for it, temperatures in the mid-50s tomorrow night for new year's eve, temperatures back in the 40s but we should be dry, so this year looking pretty good here for our new year's eve celebration and then we mentioned the down part, colder next week, high temperatures by tuesday with some windy conditions around here, only in the low 30s, yeah, we haven't done that at all this winter. right now we are in the 30s, 37 in downtown washington, 30 in gaithersburg, 34 in quantico. should be a warmer day than yesterday and low 50s for daytime highs. clouds moving through at the moment. a mix of clouds and some sunshine during the course of the day. here's your frontal system i
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mentioned and again the cold front is actually out into illinois. that will get in here later tonight and bring us the chance for a few showers and then just kind of breezy conditions behind it. in fact our winds even with some sunshine around here tomorrow will gust at times to about 25 miles per hour or so as an area of low pressure gets dragged up across the northern great lakes there. forecast looking forward to the next couple days fine, here you go, later this afternoon, 52, partly sunny conditions, breezy tomorrow. new year's eve forecast, overnight lows in the upper 30s and low 40s and your cold weather gets in here by monday, really you're going to notice it by tuesday, daytime highs just 33 degrees, cold. that's a look at your forecast. tony and steve toss it back to you guys at the desk. >> thanks a lot. this weekend, sunday, the 5-10 redskins take on the not going to the playoff eagles, hoping to improve the record, of course. >> many fans have given up this year and are looking ahead to next season but our own david david david joins us with a special guest to talk about the burgundy gold's off-season
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plans. >> there are a million questions associated with this team right now. of course the quarterback question is always the number 1 question. who better to break it down than jay -- thanks for coming back in town so you can come join us and do a little tv spot with us. let's talk about shanahan first and foremost. we heard yesterday he said basically look i'm coming back. i mean, don't ask me. i'm pretty confident that i'm coming back. ask dan snyder. second year of a five-year deal. are there any questions about whether or not he'll come back? >> no, i don't think so at all. i think the owner when he brought coach shanahan here understood this is a rebuilding process and there's going to have to be patience. you can't constantly turn over coaches every other year and expect continuity to develop and for some sort of plan to take hold and so there should be no issues about coach coming back next year. >> but the brass tacks, he has not gotten the job done so far, correct? i know it's rebuilding, when
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you only have 6-10, that's not up to his standards. >> although i think injuries really decimated that offensive line this year and set them back and then there was the john beck period there for four weeks, that's -- >> don't bring that up. it's the holiday. >> that's 1/4 of your season and so, you know, there were some other things outside of roster development that set the team back this season. >> very good. let's talk about that quarterback situation because in this town we know they love a good quarterback controversy better than a political controversy. so rex grossman unrestricted. he they had this week he's never been more confident in this offense. is that a guy lobbying for a job or contract? >> you could make the argument he's a little too confident in this offense given some of his decision making but i think what a guy knows an offense, there's a market for him whether it's here in washington or back in houston where they
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could use a backup quarterback in -- >> to go back. >> yes, because he knows the offense. i suspect they will make a push for him to come back to washington next year. >> you think he will be here? >> i think a good chance he'll be back. >> good chance. i heard that. fred davis is unrestricted free agent. we talked about him last time you were here a couple months ago. do you think anything has changed over the last month? he's been out obviously the last four games. how does that affect his status as an unrestricted free agent? >> i think he did enough on the field when he was eligible to create a market for himself. now the question is do you as the washington redskins extend him a multiyear contract extension or do you franchise him for one year and make him prove himself one more time because this is really the first year in his four years in washington that he has been productive at a high level. then if you do a multi year deal with a fred davis you can structure it to mitigate the risk against any future suspension. >> let's bring him back one more year for another contract?
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>> you have to see where chris cooley is too and he's in the final couple years of his contract. so you have to make a decision there in terms of what is cooley's future and compare that against what's fred davis' future as well. >> you know everybody is talking about rg3 in this town. it's going crazy on twitter and facebook. let me ask you j.i., the redskins probably will have a top 10 kid. >> it depends upon how the predraft goes. first he was declared for the draft one. he has a degree, heisman trophy winner, nothing more for him to accomplish. assuming he declares, i don't think if the redskins end up with the number 7 overall pick he's going to be there at number 7. what you could see is, you know, the next quarterback after luck and rd3 is a ryan -- that's a name redskins fans need to look at. >> the consolation prize? >> yes but don't take him at seven. you could see the redskins
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trade back and take him. but if rg flips then he's -- >> we talked about. tell it to everybody as an agent what you have to go through to talk to a kid like rg3 who has not yet declared himself eligible for the draft. >> because he has a certain level of note notoriety given his success, go through whatever protocols they have in place because he's a special kid. not your normal student athlete. you go through all the protocols, he comes from a great family, military family so they are not going to do anything under the table. it helps you sell yourself as an agent that we didn't do anything to go around people's backs to try to get to you. we want to do everything by the letter of the law. >> real quickly i have a theory out there about peyton manning and i just want to ask, if andrew luck goes number 1 to indianapolis, should the redskins be interested in bringing a future hall of famer to d.c.?
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>> no. when you trade for that contract, that's a pretty expensive contract that you would end up having to trade for. you've got a $28 million option bonus. expensive deal. >> the money man says no. this is why dan snyder had you under his employ for as long as he did. >> maybe that's why i'm not there anymore. >> anytime you're in town always a frequent guest. guys, he says no to peyton manning, too much money. >> i've got to go with the guy that knows the numbers. i'm with you. thanks. 8:39 right now. if you're a verizon customer, stay tuned. up next, more on -- this boggles me every time these corporations do this. they want to charge you a fee to pay your bill. that's the real deal. >> it was an automatic. everyone jumps right in. also we are going to talk about this tremendous show of support after a car crash devastates several local families. we've got their story coming up in just a bit.
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stay with us. ÷÷xxpxúú@@ 
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welcome back. it's 8:42. sears holdings corporation has released a partial list of the stores closing and so far we have losing one place in this area. it's the sears grand located on
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baltimore national pike in he will " eloquit city. the company still trying to figure out exactly when the ellicott city store will shut down. paying your cell phone bill is about to get more expensive. starting january 15th, verizon will charge customers a $2 convenience fee for using a credit card or debit card to pay monthly bills. the charge will also apply to people who make one time payments online or by phone. it will not affect those who set up automatic payments. the company made the announcement on their website saying it will help cover the costs of credit card transactions. ions. if you're looking for work, check out our job shop. today's job of the day is valley health, looking for a fitness instructor at warren memorial hospital. for more on this job and many others, go to myfoxdc.com, click on the job shop tab at the top of the home page.
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it's 8:43 this friday morning. hard to believe. but tomorrow is new year's eve. >> been a long year, hasn't it? >> yes. >> if you're looking for family friendly fun, our family friendly fun annie yu has an idea for you. annie. >> reporter: hello, steve and tony. we are live at the torpedo factory and every year old town puts together this family fun fest. take a look at these cute kids and their face painting. teddy the clown is here and mr. professor art safari here as well. teddy, how long have you been coming out to this? >> over 10 years now. >> reporter: what are you making me right now? >> this is a bubble gum machine. >> reporter: cool. look at this. that's so cool. and how appropriate. there are going to be 6000 balls falling from the sky. >> that's right. >> reporter: we are going to have all of this and coming up, stay with us on fox 5 morning news. thank you very much. that's so cool. 
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a tremendous show of support after a car crash devastated local family.
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>> the community held a fundraiser in frederick last night rallying around hopeful kids who came to america in search of a better life after their only parent died suddenly a week ago. fox 5's beth parker has their story. ory. >> reporter: annise mowy was a widow, a single mom with five children. >> hero mom. >> hero? >> yes. >> breaks your heart. >> reporter: her husband died of cancer 10 years ago back in their native burma, but had never changed her outlook. >> joyful all the time. >> reporter: she brought the children to america in 2008. they were granted political asylum. >> we are grateful to be in this country, especially on friday. >> reporter: their american dream ended ainterruptly the -- abruptly the saturday after thanksgiving. mowy and her coworkers stopped in traffic on their way to work when they were rear-ended. annise was killed, five children who had already lost their dad lost their mom too. 19-year-old tuan is now the guardian of her siblings.
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>> when my mom is here, i don't have to worry about everything, you know, but now it's challenging. >> reporter: challenging? >> yes, life is hard. >> reporter: now, this accident hit the frederick community hard. in all, 11 kids were directly impacted, meaning they either lost a parent or had a parent seriously injured. of those 11 kids, eight go to school here at frederick high. >> i first started in the educational system 40 years ago and this is probably -- this has probably been the most tragic incident or event that i have had to deal with. >> reporter: school guidance counselor nancy davis helped rally the community. >> they still had to carry on their daily life with rent and food and shelter. >> reporter: the younger kids have dreams of soccer and singing. ing. >> reporter: the oldest says it is harder to dream now. >> when my mom was here, i have
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a lot of plans with my mom for my future and my family. but now i don't have like plans. we have put our everything in god's hands. >> reporter: two of the children will graduated from high school in the spring, seeing them walk across that stage was their mother's dream. in frederick, beth parker, fox 5 news. >> there are accounts set up for the children and the other families affected by the accident. if you would like to help, just visit our website at myfoxdc.com. let's start the new year off on a good note. first -- >> annie yu is getting a sneak peek this morning and joins us now from the torpedo factory in alexandria. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. i just wanted to make sure i got this in here. it's my gum ball machine that teddy hooked me up with, teddy the clown has been coming out here for over 10 years and been out here this morning making fun balloons and of course we
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have face painting going on as well and joining me now is clare molido. the wonderful thing about old town is i think there's so much to see in addition to the festivities going on saturday. talk a little bit about that. >> absolutely. we want people to come down to old town for the day, have dinner, even stay overnight with one of our special hotel packages that's in conjunction with first night. but that's not all. because first night is really just the beginning of the new year and there's so much to do in alexandria that we want alexandria to be on everyone's new year's resolution list where you can try something new and creative and that's going to include civil war dance classes at the tavern museum, the art league school is offering a dozen weekend workshops and then also a celebrity chef series at the spice and tea exchange. if you want to leave the cooking to someone else, you can check out alexandria restaurant week which is going to be january 13th through 22nd, and all of the details on
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these are on our website which is visitalexandriava.com. >> reporter: thank you very much. a lot of things going on. we will link that to our site. another cool thing about this event is that it's green, for the second year in a row they have partnered up with dominion. why was it so important for you all to partner up aga year? >> we part 93rd with them last -- partnered with them last year and we saw how important this event was to the community and how much people enjoyed it so it was important for us to come back and support it. >> what are you guys doing to make this a green event? >> in order to green this event, dominion has gone ahead and purchased renewable energy credits, purchased enough credits to cover all of the electricity that will be used throughout the event. in doing so, we ensure that that amount of electricity comes from a renewable source such as a solar or wind farm. and in doing so, we are able to actual reduce co2 emissions by over 12,000 pounds. >> reporter: wow, really neat. what's also really neat is the fun hunt and it's the third
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annual fun hunt and every year there's a different theme. thank you very much. i have to go down here, a lot to cover in this segment here. that is why professor art safari and lauren mccracken and of course elizabeth moon joins us part of the fun hunt committee. lauren, you were the one to come up with the clues this year. >> that's right. >> reporter: how did you get the opportunity? >> well, i've been working with alexandria archeology music in the past and made some scavenger hunts for them before so i figured why not. >> reporter: and elizabeth, how do you come up with a theme every year? because it changes. >> it does change and we look at really what's going on in alexandria with the history and this year we looked at george washington and there was so much george washington centered items, things to go see. it worked out really well. >> reporter: how does this work? tell us about the fun hunt. >> it goes -- it can go for -- if you run it, it can last 20 minutes or if you take your time, you could go for over an hour and it's just -- it's a fun way to really take in old town during the holidays and learn a little bit and spend
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some time with the family. >> reporter: and i understand mr. art safari helped you with the questions, right? he doesn't speak but he can nod so thank you very much and you look great this morning. happy new year to you. if you would like to find out more information about the first night alexandria, log onto our website, myfoxdc.com, it is just $20, people, and children 12 and under are free. it doesn't get any better than that. back to you in the studio. >> $20, can't beat that. >> nope. pretty good deal. annie, thank you. we have had a lot of great guests this year and you've been a part of a bunch of them, tony. >> a lot of the comedians who were on were a lot of fun. coming up we are going to take back at some of the laughs. >> great to look back and see that and see where they have come throughout this year as well. big name, shepard smith, our friend up in new york takes a look at some of the top news headlines from 2011. devastating natural disasters, the demise of ruthless dictators and the reported death of the most wanted man on earth. i'm shepard smith, coming up a
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look back at the biggest headlines of 2011. 
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it's marla dawson, it's hi birthday standard -- her birthday today. she is 37 today. we hope you have a great 37th birthday and beyond. you get to be fan of the day throughout the entire weekend. three days to celebrate. she says she wants to share her special day with everyone. we are right there with you, marla. have a great birthday, have a great day today. if you would like to have the honor of being our facebook fan of the day on monday, find us on facebook by searching for fox 5 morning news, become a friend and then post a comment under marla the birthday girl's photo. that will do it for this friday. happy new year. let's turn things over to tony to take us up to 8:00.
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>> happy new year to you. right now at 9:00, saying goodbye to 2011. we are less than two days away from the new year. >> and the crew in times square is getting all that confetti ready for tomorrow night's big bash. we are going to take a look at the preparations and also it is a night of country. >> that's right. comedian robby carrington who will host fox's new year's eve show joins us live later with worth on -- word on the guests that we can expect to see on that show. >> and he needs to keep it clean, i think, right? >> yeah, that would be good. also pressing strings joins us. >> a local band about to release its third album. we are going to talk about the new project and they are going to perform live here for us. warming up. they sound good. >> i like the music this week. had a great week for our weather. been pretty nice, sunny, you know. >> not too bad. >> nothing to really complain about, tucker. >> this entire month our temperatures have been well

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