clock keep it far enough away from you. >> davis said to try to avoid using your smart phone when the bars in the corner are low. that means the phone is searching for a signal constantly and said that increases the radiation output. thanks for joining us for 9 news now at 5:00. 9 news now at 6:00 starts right now. state highway crews are right now pretreating the highways, gearing up for another blast. but the main concern right now is the bitter cold. right now temperatures are in the 20s and they are dropping. here is topper with the breakdown outside. >> and as the winds die down, temperatures will fall like a zone before the clouds come in after midnight. let's start with the temperatures. these are straight temperatures and not even windchill temperatures. it's only 30 downtown but 25 in gaithersburg. 27 in leesberg. mid-20s in manassas. barely above freezing in

fredericksberg, only 32 in culpeper. satellite picture, radar combined, clouds entering southwestern virginia and eastern kentucky and tennessee. that's the leading edge of the system we have to deal with tomorrow. because of that, winter weather advisory posted south of town, calvert, fredericksberg, stafford county, doesn't mean you won't see snow in manassas and d.c. and gaithersburg, you will. and we'll break that down in a minute. and overnight, increasing clouds by dawn, lows 16-24 and winds west southwest at 10. we'll come back and tell you if it's snowing in time for the morning commute and how much will fall. a ring of suspected mexican drug cartel members goes down after a joint sting operation between the feds and d.c. police. the group was reportedly looking to bring and sell large amounts of crystal meth here in the d.c. area. our ken molissina explains. >> reporter: streets like those are where drug investigators

say crystal meth was headed before they busted men that are mexican nationals and claim to have ties to the mexican cartel known as la fam illia. they have crippled the country. >> we have dealt with members of that organization so we know they were trying to set up shop in d.c. >> reporter: that cartel operates out of mexico and deals mostly in the transportation of drugs. one of the men arrested lived in temple hills. >> no society should be plagued with drugs and this is just terrible. >> that right there, i don't need to be around it. >> reporter: most of the crystal meth peddled here are about the size of ice cubes here but they say the people were trying to bring into the area crystal meth about the size of icicles, similar to this clear tape. >> highly addictive, dangerous. normally when we've made

seizures in the past in this area we were talking ounces or single-digit pounds. what we've seized over the weekend was 80 pounds of crystal meth and gallons of liquid form to make the meth. >> reporter: and now authorities say the men were arrested throughout our area as well as georgia and north carolina. they estimate the street value of all of this crystal meth is about $3.5 million. lesli. >> ken, thank you for that. and another bust. this one at area shopping malls. fairfax county police say they have made several arrests in east coast shoplifting rings. our delia gonsalves is live outside of fair oaks mall. and delia, you say police are reporting an increase in this, this time of year? >> reporter: absolutely. a record number of arrests and seizures of money and of stolen merchandise. they are blaming the economy for this spike and shoplifting. but thanks to some aggressive police work at area malls like here at fair oaks, they've managed to make a lot of arrests and recover several

thousand dollars worth of stolen merchandise. one bust, for instance, netted more -- more than $58,000 worth of merchandise. most work undercover waiting to catch the thieves. >> we were at $14,000 in stolen merchandise stolen recovery and my year already this year is at $22,000. >> reporter: police say shoplifters are getting more aggressive and assaulting officers and even carrying guns and shoplifting items more than $200 is a felony. and this is certainly very important for the customers perspective because mall managers tell me if these stolen items are not recovered, someone has to pay and in the end it ends up costing you more in higher prices here at the mall. lesli. >> delia, thank you. now to a terror alert. two senior iraqi officials say al-qaeda is planning suicide attacks against the u.s. and

europe during the compass season. apparently the iraqi government uncovered the plot from insurgents they have in custody. additional charges against this man, the suspect of the 2009 christmas day terror plot. a federal grand jury in detroit issued an amendment indictment against umar farouk abduhl and charges him with possession of a destructive device. the amended indictment said the man and others conspired to kill nearly 300 people on northwest flight 253. he is representing himself. his stand-by counsel had no comment today. a tax compromise that would effect you, me and millions of americans has passed the senate. now it heads to the house. and a vote there could take place as soon as tomorrow. we are talking about the plan that would keep most of those bush era tax cuts from ending this year. it would extend them another two years. >> everyone should understand this is one of a major

accomplishment of any congress. >> and the fate of the bill in the house is uncertain. some democrats say it's too generous to the rich and some republicans prefer the cuts be made permanent. president obama is urging both sides to hold necessaries to the elements they don't like -- hold their noses to the elements they don't like and vote yes. and a repeal to the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that openly barred gay service members. president obama and others are trying to repeal the policy. they are anxious to get a vote this year. in a city with about 10% in unemployment, metro has hundreds of job openings but can't fill them. the transit agency needs hundreds of drivers to operate buses and trains, but because of stringent new requirements, the qualified pool of applicants is shallow. according to the washington post, it's going to take the company at least two years to fill all of the vacancies.

we have an update now on a dui crash from september. 24-year-old shammicca adams faces charges stemming from that wreck on september 8th. you may remember she ran into a restaurant in adams morgan. 26-year-old julia back winter, an international student was killed. on tuesday she was indicted on involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, driving while intoxicated and driving under the influence. add apps is scheduled to a -- she is expected to appear in court soon. and all i want for christmas is a jacket. these children aren't looking for thrills, they are looking for necessities. we'll tell you about this after the break. please don't. [ sound of gunfire ] >> it is tough to watch. disturbing information on a shooting at a school board meeting in florida. stay with us. we'll be right back.

now to the video that has everybody dropped their jaw. this is a shooting caught on tape at a school board meeting in panama city, florida. and we warn you, this video may be disturbing to some people. >> please don't, please don't. please. [ sound of gunfire ] >> police say the ex-con that you saw firing at the board had circled the date on a calendar found in his mobile home. investigators say it is evidence that clay duke had been planning this attack for sometime. district officials also confirmed that duke's wife had been fired earlier this year from her special education teaching post. despite shooting at point blank range, duke missed his targets completely. and the 56-year-old kept shooting until a security guard wounded him and then he turned the gun on himself. it is now illegal to sell, resell or manufacture drop-side cribs. the cpsc announced a unanimous

vote to outlaw them after 30 infants and toddlers died after getting caught between the crib side rail and the mattress. the new safety standards require manufacturers to make stronger support and hardware as well as improved safety testing. tomorrow lawyers for wiki leak's founder julian assange will try once again to get him released. he's been held in jail for a week. an appeals hearing is tomorrow and his attorneys hope to have bail reinstated after swedish prosecutors squashed the move yesterday. he was granted bail under strict conditions. he has to wear an electronic tag and post $316,000 in a cash bond. some notables say they will contribute to that fund, including michael moore and vieh arranga jagger. >> i do not agree with everything he's done but i think the most important thing in our system of law is

justice, due process and freedom of expression. >> assange's legal team has collected about half the money they need in cash to spring him if the decision is in their favor. assange is not being prosecuted for leaking secret documents but he is accused of sex crimes against two women in sweden. next, letters to santa. and sackarin got a bad wrap after all. it turns out it's not so bad for you. we'll talk about the change in position after the break. ♪

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hello, i'm petty officer first class will moseley in atlanta, georgia doing training on my way to afghanistan. at this time i would like to send a happy thanksgiving to my fiance tony mallory in waldorf, maryland and my kids and two my uncle in ft. washington and his family. i love you all and i'll see you

soon. santa said his elfs have been busy making toys but some kids don't want them this year. instead they are asking for the bare necessities that all of us need, shoes, hats and coats to shield them from the bitter cold. lindsey mastis caught up with one of santa's helpers to find out why this year's lists look different. >> santa, what i want for christmas is -- >> what do you think anthony wants? video games, b, an ipod, or c, none of the above. >> my room is like full of toys so, i just want to take some out and give them away. >> reporter: anthony and his classmates at st. anthony school in washington are writing letters to santa and many aren't asking for much because they don't need much. >> there are a lot of kids less fortunate than me. >> asking for clothes, shoes,

boots. >> reporter: horry chapman is a shelter. she's at the post office in brentwood reading santa's letters. some are heartbreaking. this one from a little girl saying her mom lost the house over the summer because of a scam. they were homeless but now together and all she wants is some christmas cheer. >> it's a reflection of the people just in need this time of the year. >> reporter: chapman said the economy has taken its toll and kids know that. she's sharing letters with people in the community that are willing to help santa out and get these kids what they need. as for anthony, he decided to ask for just a little something. >> a guitar and to love my family more. >> reporter: in northeast washington, i'm lindsey mastis, 9 news now. >> if you want to participate in the letters to santa program, contact your local post office. this has sparked a lot of discussion on facebook. kristin miller said, quote, it is truly sad what we are going through. and this time of year things

always get harder. bills get higher, whether you buy gifts or not. larry j. evans said it is simply the world we are living in. sad and touching. then we have mia, supermom of two who said it makes me want to cry, if only things could go back the way they used to be. >> we want you to keep the facebook discussion going and maybe you'll be moved to help. and if that story moved you to help in another way, we are partnering with the marines for toy drive 9. and so you can donate a new unwrapped toy to any local fire station. and you can see around us we have gotten a great response but we need your help. you have until december 22nd to drop off your donation. remember the old commercials that told you about the dangers of saccharine? well it turns out the experts smoke too soon. it is an artificial sweetener and found in many products. but in the '80s it was dubbed a cancer-causing agent. today the environmental protection agency said it's not a health threat after all and

they are dropping it from the hazardous substances list. say that fast. usa today has the full report. and to read it go to wusa9.com, scroll to the bottom and click on usa today. work crews in tennessee say they have a sure-fire way to beat the snow and ice. they're secret is beet juice. workers are spraying roads with salt and beet juice. they say the mix is biodegradable, noncorrosive and it works. they say it keeps the roads clear of the snow and ice. so should we be adding that to our arsenal? >> but it's not red. how can it be real beets? i'm kidding, i know. >> well it's -- you know. come on. >> well if it works. here is the thing, it's so cold, we did make it above freezing today, 34, but the know is very dry. and dry snow is easy to drive on. >> so that's the good news.

but there won't be a lot of snow. i'm not breaking out the bred-o meter. 27 up in rockville, up 270 north and still in the 20s. up in gaithersburg 25. out to west, 26 in fairfax and 27 in reston. and these are the straight temperatures. there is not much of a windchill factor tonight. but it's plenty cold. 32 at college park. 26 in laurel, and even 28 over toward davidson and down toward andrews. small weather event but potentially a high-impact. why? because the morning commute is fine but the evening commute could see light snow and it doesn't take much to throw into the monk wrench. accumulation of about an inch and more toward the south, toward fredericksberg, seeing 2 inches and richmond might see 3

or 4 inches. stay off i-95 south. tonight very cold, 16-24 and winds west southwest at 10. so the winds calm down for a change. look at the lows. plenty of teams in the -- teens in the burbs. 18 in rockvilles, 16 in gaithersburg. upper teens in college park and bowie. and plenty of teens to its west. fairfax 19, reston 18. 17 in sterling and mid teens for leesberg, manassas and out toward middleberg and upperville. now there are advisories to the south of town. and this kind of shows you where we think the bull's eye will be. culpeper through fredericksberg and through southern maryland. from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. tomorrow. you think well i live in montgomery county and i'm not painted blue. well, you're still going to get snow. the advisories for the most tonight are south of you. now that said, let's look at the future-cast. in the morning we're in good shape but by lunchtime we start to see amounts creeping up. two tenths of an inch on the

ground in gaithersburg and maybe an inch in fredericksberg. so it will be a case where it snows in culpeper and then manassas and then downtown and then up into baltimore and gaithersburg. and by evening, over an inch in manassas, over two inches in fredericksberg and almost an inch downtown. we go through the rest of friday, about an inch or so for us in the immediate metro area but over 2 inches in the bull's eye. light snow late in the morning. i think the morning commute is fine. but by afternoon light snow with light snow accumulation, more to the south and highs only 25-30. winds light southwest at 10. next seven days, light snow tomorrow and a break on friday, upper 30s. we tone down the snow over the weekend. why? because the coastal storm will be far south and east of us. the storm is on the map though. we get a break on monday. more light snow is possible on tuesday, lesli. not a big storm. and then looking at temperatures still in the 30s with sunshine on wednesday.

so very cold for the next seven days and just nuisance type stuff. >> thank you, topper. we have breaking news. there has been a shotting in the past hour in prince george's county. apparently someone fired shots at a prince george's county police officer. it happened somewhere in suitland. the officer was not hit. the officer did return fire. it's not clear whether the suspect was hit. we do know the suspect fled. this happened near a rite aid store in the area of silver hill road and swan road in suitland. there is a lookout for a black male wearing a purple jacket and pants. we're going to take a break and come back with sports on the other side.

we were so focused on that botched extra point last sunday we didn't spend much time discussing that donovan mcnabb was decent against the bucs. a quarterback rating of 101 and he still may get benched this week. multiple reports saying shanahan is considering sitting mcnabb in favor of grossman, an

act that would suggest his future with the team will be brief and the coach didn't do anything to quell the rumors today. >> i don't go through the starting lineups. i've told you guys that before. we talk about it every week. sooner or later, you come to the game and find out who is starting. >> i think if i spent too much time focusing on that, i wouldn't focus on the task at hand. so i really don't worry about that. >> this is from practice today. redskins worked out for the first time in years on their artificial turf field because all three of their grass fields were frozen. baseball now. and why would a guy in the prime of his career, who is already playing on a team favored to win the world series next year leave that to join the nationals? well jayson werth could give you $126 million reasons why. that is what the contract is. and today he was introduced to the city. he's averaged 29 homers over the last three seasons and said

he believes in what mike rizo and the learners are building here. >> the team is better than people think. the last few years they've been young and a littlein experienced and made some changes, got some guys in that are going to help and i'm on board for that and i think we're going to surprise a lot of people. >> the caps will try to snap their six-game losing streak against the ducks tonight coming off the 7-0 beat down against the rangers on monday, the worst defeat in three years. finally maybe the most heinous act of violence we've ever seen by an athlete against an official. this is a high school game in florida. he shoves the ref and then comes back for more and body slams him to the ground there. the refs refused to continue the game. they left the building and until it turned into a forfeit and that young man today was suspended from school and kicked off the basketball team.

you can not do that. >> well let's hope he learned a lesson because that is not good conduct anywhere. tas it for us -- that is it for us. cbs news is next. topper will have more on the forecast at 7:00 and 11:00. good night.