and kids over the age of 11. these are usually the only gifts these kids get every year. good thursday morning. welcome to 9news now. it is december 15th. i'm andrea rose. >> richard will have traffic in a moment we begin with weather first and a snowy forecast. >> your morning commute is going to be fine. i can't say the same for the afternoon commute. we could have a couple three inches of snow. >> three. >> one to three is my general forecast for today right now. slightly more. it is going to be a dry snow at least. it is nice and cold. but anything that's not treated is clearly going to have accumulations on it. sidewalks, driveways, some of the neighborhood streets. if they're not treated, they'll be white by probably late this afternoon. let's get you going going with a look at the day planner. quiet this morning. it is dry, cloudy. 25 by 9:00.

by noon, we have light snow in spots. that will be the same case throughout the entire afternoon. winds 5, 10 miles per hour. temperatures upper 20s to maybe 30. down south, they're look at even more snow. the white areas, southern west virginia, southern virginia, winter storm warning just about nerve a winter weather advisory around here except for washington county, western maryland and then the eastern panhandle of west virginia. you don't have it but the snow will be coming. we can see it already. the clouds are moving in from southwest to northeast. we become close and the snow not quite to roanoke reaching the ground even though it is showing up on the radar. that will start to reach around in the next hour. by mid to late morning, it will be snowing here. watch out this afternoon. let's find out about that commute this morning. here's richard in time saver traffic. >> it looks like an accident clearing on laurel buoy road. also, some roadwork from the overnight period continues. along southbound 95 at 1978 in

laurel, taking the left lane away. construction will be greeting you at the american legion bridge. left lane taken away. down the road at georgetown road, left lane closed. also i-66 still a clear drive from centerville to the beltway. next report coming your way at 4:40. mike and andrea? >> thank you, richard. >> here is a look at stories we've been following. >> ten people are being sheltered by the red cross after an overnight apartment fire in ashton hills at midnight at a complex in the 2941 block of tuite avenue. two apartments were damage and the third had severe smoke damage. some of the displaced residents had to be rescued from their balconies. one was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. the investigator says it appears it was started by a space heater placed too close to combustible material. >> as you heard from howard, the snow is on the way.

salt trucks around the region are getting ready for the expected snowfall today on wednesday. crews in maryland, virginia and d.c. pretreated the interstates in the area roads. the road crews are hoping all of this work will help prevent a repeat of all of those accidents we had on last friday. >> the tax cut compromise has passed a senate and now heads to the house. but lawmakers there have some serious questions about the plan. >> however, they know time is running out. as whit jon reports, if they don't pass this by the end of the month, everyone in america will see their taxes go up starting january 1st. >> the yeas are 81. nays are 19. >> the tax cut compromise may have sailed through the senate but it could have a rough ride in the house. democratic leaders plan to vote on the bill as early as today. but first, they want to raise the estate tax for the wealthy. a change, they say, would save billions. >> think of what you could do with that $25 billion. first of all, you could reduce the deficit.

>> some republicans are also upset over the bill's $858 billion price tag and the fact it only temporarily renews the bush era tax cuts. >> it is a bad deal for taxpayers. it will do little to create jobs and i cannot support it. >> even the slightest change would send the measure back to the senate. despite his own concerns, president obama is urging the house to pass the bill as is so he can sign it before taxes go up for everybody. >> we worked hard to negotiate an agreement. that's a win for middle class families. and a win for our economy. and we can't afford to let it fall victim to either delay or defeat. >> senate republicans have also warned against any changes. >> we ought to pass the tax legislation and keep the lights on. everything else, mr. president, can wait. >> despite stiff opposition, most analysts believe congress will pass some sort of measure in time for the holidays. whit johnson, cbs news, washington.

the repeal of military's don't ask don't tell policy went through the house, now goes to the senate. >> yesterday, the house voted to overturn the ban on gay troops serving openly. supporters of the bill in the senate say they have the votes but may not have the time to push it through before congress breaks for the holidays. d.c. mayor elect vincent gray is expected to announce his new public safety team today. gray is keeping kathy lanier as city police chief after he takes office next month. he's also expected to announce a public safety director. as well as kenneth ellerbee who is the current fire chief in sarasota, florida and a former d.c. fire official. he is expected to be named the d.c. fire chief. prince george's county police are searching for the person who fired at an officer last night. it all began around 5:30 when a robbery victim spotted a suspect at the suitland metro station. the victim called police with a detailed description. minutes later, an officer spotted a man matching the description in a parking lot across from the suitland

federal center. the officer approached the suspect and says he pulled out a gun and began firing. the officer returned fire. the suspect ran away. federal immigration and customs officials made eight arrests in an alleged drug ring case in the district. investigators say all of the suspects involved are mexican nationals and they all claim to have ties to a mexican drug cartel known as latah nina. they were arrested in georgia and north carolina. lawyers for wikileaks founder julian assange will try to get him released from police custody in britain. his attorneys are hoping to have bail reinstated after prosecutors basically squashed that move tuesday. assange was initially granted bail under some strict conditions. he needs to wear an electronic tag and post $316,000 in cash for bond. and some notables around the world say they're going to contribute to that fund including filmmaker michael moore and beyonce jagger.

>> it is coming up on 4:37. oil spill lawsuits. the obama administration filed suit against bp and several other companies involved in the gulf oil spill. >> some top executives in a wall street firm with government ties are getting ready for a pretty big day pay.

coming up on 4:40. winter weather advisory in effect later. we'll have some snow moving in probably mid to late morning from southwest to northeast and get ready for a snowy afternoon. your day planner today. no problems for the morning commute except the cold. temperatures will be in the mid- 20s here by 9:00. they're only going to climb to upper 20s. snowing by noon. snowing through the afternoon. with a couple of three inches possible by this evening. we'll have more in a moment. richard andre is here with your time saver traffic. >> howard, taking a look at westbound route 50, no problem. all the way from the bay bridge going to bowie to the beltway ramps. next time saver traffic at 4:48. mike and andrea? >> thank you, richard. it is time for the first your money report of the morning. jessica doyle has the day off. >> here is alexis christoforous with today's headlines. >> reporter: the house finally gets to vote on the tax cut bill today. democrats are considering changes including a vote to raise the estate tax.

the bill which overwhelmingly passed in the senate wednesday would save millions of americans a tax hike next year. it would also reduce social security taxes and extend jobless benefits. the government is suing bp and eight other companies in the gulf oil spill disaster. the lawsuit asks that the companies be held liable for all removal, cost and damages caused by the spill. including damages to natural resources with no cap on the dollar amount. on wall street, the dow jones industrial average lost 19 points giving up an early rally. the nasdaq gave back 10 and a half. top discuss at goldman sachs are getting a big belated payday. the ceo lloyd blankfine is expected to collect $24 million in stock next month. it is a delayed payoff from last year and goldman's record setting 2007 bonuses. holiday travel is expected to rise about 3% during the christmas to new year's period. aaa predicts more than 92 million people will travel 50 miles or more during that time.

americans are also expected to spend 3.5% more on their travel plans this year than last. and that's your money watch. for more, head to cbsmoneywatch.com. airlines are raking in record profits as you heard. yet the cost of flying continues to climb. >> some startling new odds that suggest you may suffer a heart attack just if one of your family members has had one.

>> it is all about howard and snow in the forecast. >> i love you. >> weather watch. snow coming today. snow lovers will be happy today. westmoreland county, virginia, the only closing we have. you guys have closed school for today in the northern neck. westmoreland county, virginia, we understand are you closed for the day.

snow coming. your bus stop forecast, this morning, no problems. it is cloudy. it is quite cold. that may be a problem. but no travel problems in the sense that it is not snowing. temperatures are running in the mid teens to the mid-20s. sunrise here, 7:15. not setting until 4:47 or so. keep that in mind. we have that late sunrise, early sunset. 9:00, cloudy. 25 degrees. winds also, hey, they're not a problem today. less than 10 miles per hour. south-southeast, 5 to 10. by noontime, it is snowing here in washington. it will be snowing again through 5:00, maybe through 7:00, 8:00. we could pick up several inches of snow at the highest totals here by the time the storm winds down later on this evening. temperatures holding in the upper 20s. satellite and radar, clear skies overnight. that will allow temperatures to drop. now, the clouds come in. temperatures stay down. here comes precip. you can see what looks like snow getting closer. let's switch it quickly to live doppler net hd. we're beginning to pick up the

beginning echoes to strasburg. this is not reaching the ground. it has saturated the atmosphere. you have to go down roanoke, points south and west of there. i'll show you this. darker blues that are coming in to charleston over toward southwestern virginia and kentucky. those are reaching the ground. it will take a little while for the atmosphere to moisten up. winter weather advisories have been -- they start to the south and west and go until 9:00 p.m. tonight. jefferson county, west virginia up through the panhandle here. also into washington county, maryland. you're not in the advisories. everyone else is. we're looking at a little snow. i'll get there in a moment. 22 right now. cold enough that anything that falls is going to stick. 18 gaithersberg. it is 15 in winchester. the air is also a little dry. that's one reason that early snow will evaporate. look at the relative humidity. 55%. you have a spread between the dew point of 8 and the

temperature of 22. 14 degrees. for us to get a good snow going, we have to moisten up the atmosphere. we can't have 55% humidity and get a good snow. you want to have 85, 90, 95, 100%. bic bigger picture, snow showers here. they're ending. here is the system. it is coming out of the tennessee valley. warming up in southern kentucky. we've switched over to rain. there is an area of snow and sleet, freezing rain in between. a little bit of an icy mess. the problem across parts of alabama yesterday with some ice. the snow extends really from chicago and parts of wisconsin and minnesota all the way across parts of northern north carolina. and this whole thing is moving east. for us, we're cold enough that we're going to stay all snow. in fact, we'll put this in motion with our future cast. the clouds are thickening here as we head toward the 10:00 hour, what do you see? you see the snow moving in toward southwestern areas of the state into the shenandoah valley. not quite to watching it. but by noon, 3:00, everything

stops north of the pennsylvania border. we're in the snow. we stay in the snow this evening and it finally pulls away and breaks up. by tomorrow morning, we're sitting with some sunshine and a cold day but a normally cold day for december. highs will be in the 30s. the weekend storm is going to miss us. here is the snow projections on our future cast. by 1:30, we could be almost an inch of snow. charlottesville could be up toward 2 inches. you see the white area. that's the 1 to 3 inch area. as we head toward the 3:00 area, we're at 1.3. maybe an inch and a half manassas. certainly less to the north. more to the south. as we go through this afternoon and this evening, we see how the totals start to get above 2, 2 and a half inches manassas. 3 in charlottesville and to the tap hannick airport. here is the next three days. 29 today with the snow. the coastal storm is missing us. we'll stay cold.

30s sunday and monday. next tuesday, another clipper may give us some snow then. highs to 31. richard andre is standing by with time saver traffic. >> howard, a good morning once again. luckily, dry roadways in the area for the most part. we do have ice in the district to watch out for. ice to deal with. rock creek parkway at p street. take it easy. an accident at prince george's county southbound on laurel buoy road. use a lot of caution going through there. roadwork i-270 northbound at falls road. also southbound 270, those construction zones should be clearing. capital beltway, inner loop. inner loop at old georgetown should be clearing. that construction northbound 95 still a clear shot on up to the mixing bowl. there is good news. next time saver traffic coming your way at 5:00. mike and andrea? >> thank you, richard. the cost of flying goes up every year. several u.s. airlines have

raised their fares as much as $10 per round trip. these increases are based on what they say are fuel costs and supply and demand. several airlines blame american airlines for higher fares. they say they were the first to raise their rates. higher fares come despite airlines bringing in $1.5 billion in baggage and reservation and cancellation fees just in the third quarter of 2010 alone. >> i don't feel sorry for them. >> i don't. >> unbelievable. >> yeah. >> so much i could say but not going to do it. >> we're not going to do it. >> next story now, montgomery county school superintendent jerry weiss is unveiling his budget recommendations for fiscal year 2012. the $2.16 billion plan includes an increase of $59 million. it is a 2.3% hike. it does not contain money for new programs or initiatives, he says. the budget request heads to the

county council. if it is approved by the school board which is coming up, they look at it in february. >> we have an important health alert about family history and your heart. >> new statistics have been released which say a person's heart attack risk increases if other family members have had one. especially at an early age. anita brickman has more. >> at just 32 years old. ann visits her cardiologist every three months to have her blood pressure and heart checked. with plaque in her arteries and high blood pressure, she's at risk of having a heart attack. just like her mother did in her early 50s. >> she died when i was 18 years old. of a massive heart attack. >> a report released late today from the american heart association shows women like anna are at a 70% increased risk of having a heart attack if one of their parents has had one early in life. for men, the risk doubles. >> if we have a family history, we really need to pay attention to exactly what our risks are for heart disease. that means getting cholesterol

checked, getting blood pressure checked. >> it is not just your parents. if a brother or sister has heart disease, your risk doubles whether you're a man or a woman. there is some good news in the report. deaths from heart disease and stroke in the united states are down. but operations and procedure to treat these conditions are up. almost 30%. >> though we've treated it, and the death rates have gone down, let's make no mistake. people are actually more unhealthy than they've been in the past. we figured out the treatment. now, we have to figure out the prevention. >> if i don't take care of myself now, i'm going to die early, too. i don't want that. >> anita brickman, 9news now. >> whether or not there's heart disease in your family tree, it is important for all of us to know our numbers. that is blood pressure, cholesterol for both good and bad levels as well as blood sugar or glucose. these can be red flags in the years ahead when it comes to a heart attack. >> the government has announced new federal crib safety

standards that ban the sale, resale and manufacturing of drop side cribs. the consumer product safety commission voted unanimously to approve the move to outlaw drop side cribs. this after more than 30 infants and toddlers became entrapped, strangled and suffocated in the past decade. in addition to the ban of drop side cribs, manufacturers must make stronger mattress supports and hardware as well as instituting better safety testing. >> time to remind you one of the things that's very important here to us at wusa9. we're trying to do our part to help kids this holiday season. we've teamed up with the marine corps reserves for toys for tots. >> look at all we have here in front of us. it is growing around us. you can help the mound get higher by donating a new, unwrapped toy to any local fire station through december 22nd. find out more information at wusa9.com. just click on toy drive 9. arlington police are on the

lookout for a slasher who's been targeting tires. >> the latest installment of the movie steers starring the focker family. >> before we head to break, time for the question of the day. >> a recent study on dieting found most people cheat on their weight loss effort with this food. what do you think it is? a, doughnuts. b, cookies. or c, macropeny and cheese. add your answer to our facebook page and we'll reveal it in a little while. oh, i see. a throne for the tv... room for movies... your workout gear... non-stop football... it's a man cave! the boys next door will never leave. who says we want them to?

get selsun blue for itchy dry scalp. strong itch-fighters target scalp itch while 5 moisturizers leave hair healthy. selsun blue. got a clue? get the blue. welcome back. weather first. i want to see the future cast. we have the clouds thickening up this morning. we'll see snow arriving by 9:00, not so much here but

culpepper, 20 to 25 on temperatures. here we go by noon. snow has been moving in. we'll start to accumulate with temperatures in the mid to the upper 20s. snowing through the afternoon. your 3:00 p.m. temp, 28. temperature is 29. total coming up at 5:00. mike and andrea, over to you. >> ocean down has been granted a license to operate slot machines. the grand opening of the facility just outside ocean city is set for january 4th of next year. which is really just a couple of weeks away. plans call for 700 slot machines and a track. ocean downs is also hosting 40 days of live seasonal harness racing as well. the third installment of this -- you start laughing when you start saying the name. third installment of the popular movie series meet the fockers, this one is called little fockers starring ben stiller, robert deniro of course hits theatres friday. >> we have a preview about the on-going and bizarre struggle

between gaylord greg focker and his suspicious father-in-law jack burns. >> i'm watching you. >> well, i have eyes, too. >> so? >> i'll be watching you. watching me. >> ready or not, the fockers are back. >> it is turkey time. >> in time for the holidays, the family that can't seem to get along is mixing it up again. this installment finds ben stiller's character trying to prove he can be the family's next patriarch. >> greg, are you prepared to be the god focker. >> are you laughing? >> no. >> what took six years for you to bring us another one of these? >> it was really figuring out what the story was. what the reason was to do it again. >> this time, kids are in the mix. a recipe for disaster and humor. >> i have got this. >> whoa! >> other returning cast members include owen wilson, barbra streisand and dustin hoffman

who this time around finds himself going through some changes. >> i'm going to master the art of flamenco. >> you picked a hell of a time to go through menopause. >> you believe in manopause? >> yes, i do. >> you're too young to experience manapause. >> i think there are rare cases where it hits early. i could be one of those cases. >> will there be another focker movie after manopause? >> really? >> and those wacky fockers could be back on the big screen if this installment does as well as the first two. betty wing, cbs news, new york. >> that movie opens tomorrow. good morning. thank you for watching 9news now at 5:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. >> i'm richard hide he can. >> everybody is paying attention. >> snow is on the way. we will have a dry