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tv   9 News Now at 6am  CBS  December 16, 2011 6:00am-7:00am EST

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miles per hour. there's a bit of a breeze out there. that means you want a light jacket as you step on out but later on today you will need more than that light jacket. cloud cover will increase. we'll be in the 40s until about 9:00 but by noontime, 1:00 though, we start the see more cloud cover but at least our temperatures start to inch up closer to the 50-degree mark. then later on this evening if you're going out on the town for friday night, temperatures dropping into the 40s by 5:00. we'll be in the 30s overnight tonight. monika? well, overall we're not looking too bad. we have a couple of small incidents to tell you about around town but first of all if you're heading to the beltway i think you will be okay. there's an accident right now on the northbound side of i-95 just past route 198 again it's the northbound side blocking the right lane. i think you're going to be okay southbound it may just attract some attention. but no real problems heading down toward the beltway. let's take a look outside right now. if you're going across the american legion bridge using 270 and heading south there have been two separate incidents in the tyson's area,
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disabled vehicle on the outer loop after route 7 and on the inner loop before route 123. that one is in the right lane. both loops of the beltway just know the two problems. if you're planning to head into springfield, there are no problems there. just slow in woodbridge. route 4 at the beltway looks fine through oxon hill. we'll go back over to our graphics just want to tell you a big heads-up. metro delays on the orange line to vienna fairfax. so just keep that in mind for the travel plans as well. coming up in my next report, another look around the their at 6:11 -- area at 6:11. a new normal that's not a good one. another threat of government shutdown averted. >> seems like we keep talking about this. congress will vote on another temporary funding measure today. but it keeps us going just until the next shutdown threat. >> surae chinn is live on capitol hill to tell us what's in the latest deal. >> reporter: it doesn't matter if hanukkah or christmas is
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just around the corner, president obama says uh-huh congress, there's still unfinished business, take a listen. >> congress should not and cannot go on vacation before they have made sure that working families aren't seeing their taxes go up by $1,000 and those who are out there looking for work don't see their unemployment insurance expire. >> no more show boats, i think it's just time to legislate and i think america needs to see us earning our paychecks. >> reporter: both sides seem to be toning down their rhetoric. two major bills ron the table right now. there's been a compromise on the massive $1 trillion spending bill that would fund the government no next october. the -- to next october. the second major issue though is extending the payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits. the senate is expected to vote later on tonight or tomorrow.
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back to the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits extension. they're working on a plan b. and not over yet. andrea and mike? >> surae chinn reporting live this morning. and congress has another important job that affects local workers. it involves metro transit benefits. without action federal workers' benefits would go from $230 a month down to $125 a month. metro says congress must act by wednesday and that's the deadline for employers to make changes to their workers' benefits. if there's no action, it would take at least a month before any new changes could be made. big brother will soon be watching over high school students in fairfax county. late last night the school board approved the use of indoor surveillance cameras at the high schools. the vote was 8-4 in order to get these cameras though, high school principals had to show community support which they were able to do. cameras can go now in cafeterias and hallways and
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other common places, they cannot go in locker rooms, bathrooms and classrooms. cameras will not be mandated in every school but they can use them and the county estimates they will cost about $880,000 to install. in a few hours a court- martial begins for bradley manning. he's accused of engineering the massive wikileaks release of classified documents. his court-martial is being held at fort meade in maryland. that's because it has the largest military courtroom in the washington area. manning could face life in prison if convicted. he's accused of downloading classified documents on iraq and then handing them over to the wikileaks website. d. c. mayor gray is hoping the federal government will pick up the tab for the costs related to the occupy protests. the two encampments on the square and freedom plaza have cost the city more than $1.5 million sing october. the district is routinely reimbursed for costs like that.
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jessica doyle is off this week. we're here with you at 6:0 still watching your money however. i'm in the web center. you still have to do some online shopping right? well, then stop procrastinating. because today is known as free shipping day. thousands of online retailers will send you purchases for free. and they guarantee delivery by december 24th to your home or anybody in the continental united states. the website to go to, freeshippingday.com. it boasts nearly 2600 online stores. and some pretty big names too. wal-mart, sony, dell, toys "r" us, bass pro shops among them and there's quite a few. a few do require a minimum purchase however and read the fine print. however, a few also are featuring some deals like 20% off. the website again freeshipping.com. remember check the return policy when shopping online. you want to make sure that you can bring them back to the brick and mor star tores if
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you're not happen -- mortar stores if you're not happy with the purchase. one thing you might pick up at the store you don't want is buyers' remorse. mike sugarman tells us why it may be backfiring. >> reporter: oh, those black friday bargains just came out at you. on local saturday, cyber monday, just couldn't pass them up but maybe you should have. >> i bought a pair of michael jordan tennis shoes that was $180. >> reporter: millton johnson of richmond is now walking around in $40 slip-ons no athlete, professional or amateur would lend their name to. >> couldn't afford them. ♪ >> reporter: smart? and he's not alone this time of year. >> there's certainly a lot of reports right now that returns are up. >> reporter: bargain binging has turned into buyers' remorse, stores are giving back almost a dime of every dollar spent in returns.
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that's 30% more than in better economic times. >> you want to shop with a list. you don't want to deviate from the list and more importantly you want to have your list with you when you go do shopping. >> reporter: otherwise you may be asking for help. >> thank you for calling 888- 995-hope. how can i help you? >> reporter: at the consumer credit counseling service is very busy time of year. especially with shoppers whose eyes are bigger than their wallets. >> a lot of people immediately think about gifts, think about company. are you going to have visitors from out of town? think about the food expension. that is lot of expenses that go beyond the gifts. >> that was mike sugarman reporting. and mike says some good news if you do get remorse, many stores have looser return policies around the holidays. in particular, giving awe little more time to -- you a little more time to bring the items back. 6:07 and five minutes, security concerns at some of d. c.'s government buildings, wait until you see the results of a shocking report. and it might be a shock when you step outside this morning.
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it's warm. look at the temperature here. it's 6 -- 56 degrees and it's not going to last though. your weather first is next right here on 9news now. yeah, i'm married. does it matter?
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you'd do that for me? really? yeah, i'd like that. who are you talking to? uh, it's jake from state farm. sounds like a really good deal. jake from state farm at three in the morning. who is this? it's jake from state farm. what are you wearing, jake from state farm? [ jake ] uh... khakis. she sounds hideous. well she's a guy, so... [ male announcer ] another reason more people stay with state farm. get to a better state. ♪
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good morning, 6:10 on this friday morning. i'm olga breese in for howard bernstein.
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we have some mild temperatures so far this morning but the cold air is marching through. lower 50s to the north and west but notice a few 40s are popping in on the regional map. monika? we're going to take a live look from sky 9 at the beltway in tyson's corner. i've been telling you for a while about problems there. this one is on the inner loop before route 7 alodge the right side. crews are on the scene and delays begin well before 66. more on that coming up in my next report. back to you mike and andrea. thank you. this morning japan's prime minister says the fukushima plant is no longer leaking radiation. this comes nine months after the earthquake and tsunami. and making news now, pieces of tsunami debris are washing up on the west coast. a bulk of the debris coming across the passivation won't reach the u.s. until next year. today a judge will sentence home run king barry bonds. he was convicted on obstruction
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of justice charges and could face up to 21 months in prison but prosecutors are pushing for house arrest and community service. writer christopher hitchens has died. he was an outspoken atheists who criticized celebrities and politicians. he died from cancer and he was 62. some of the district's most high-profile local government buildings are apparently vulnerable to bomb attacks. >> that's the finding of a report put out by the d. c. protective services police. that department conducted a series of undercover tests. >> as ken molestina reports. one of the buildings includes the city's main headquarters. the wilson building. >> reporter: the details of the findings are shocking. >> where did you all get the information? >> reporter: if even the mayor gray appeared to be surprised by it. >> someone was able to get some fake explosives in here? what's to say that one day they won't bring in the real thing? >> that could happen. that could happen anywhere out
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in the community as well. >> reporter: the operation by pspd lasted a full 12 months ending in june of this year. undercover officers and recruits were able to sneak fake bombs past contracted security officers several times. at the wilson building, it happened at least three times at both entrances. the phony cell phone explosives made it inside undetected. during these exercises undercover officers used devices similar to this simulated pipe bomb. the only building that passed with flying colors was this one, police headquarters. the report says both attempts to sneak in bombs were stopped immediately and police action was taken but that reaction failed to happen in other buildings tested including one judiciary square. the security officers failed to catch a phony bomb in a book. now those who work nearby are voicing their concerns. >> there'll be another oklahoma city and there'll be another 9/11 on our hands. >> you have some people that are really good at doing their job and others that you know,
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just 9 to 5. >> reporter: they represent about 1700 security officers in the district. and they're calling for an overhaul of the companies who failed the test. >> this is not the officers, this is the training that this companies are providing and the quality of training they are providing. >> reporter: it's important to point out that several different company also failed the test. now a spokesman for d. c. protective services police department, the department that oversees the companies, said in a statement quote -- we conducted these exercises for weapons, motionestives -- explosives, devices and contraband. everything that could compromise the safety and security of a district government building. mayor gray is going to continue to look into this and see in any changes need to be made. ken molestina, 9news now. and one of the tests outlined by the report. an undercover officer hid a simulated bomb in a book. security officers put it through the metal detector several times examining it after each attempt and after several attempts those security officers finally called their
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manager. coming up on 6:15. olga breese is in for howard bernstein and we start off with the mild forecast. >> absolutely a pleasure to be in this morning and temperatures though are dropping off. in fact, we're already starting to see some of the 40s creep in across the western and northern locations. right now though most of us are doing well. partly cloudy skies and cloud cover will continue to move on through and more cloud cover in the afternoon. your day planner today will have us dropping as the front moves through i would say the next hour or so, we will slide into the 40s. that means by 9:00 we'll see about 48 degrees. and then midday and late day, more cloud cover, but rebounding a little bit. highs your daytime highs today should be right around 50 degrees. that should happen between 1:00, 2:00 hour, close to 50. then by 3:00 and 4:00 we slide back into the 40s. high temperatures though are going to be fairly nice for today. bus stop forecast, we'll
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definitely see some cool temperatures and make sure the kids have the layer as they step out the door this morning. 50s for the most part until those 40s start to creep on through. we're looking at a forecast today that is going to require a little bit of protection from that sun glare on the morning commute. but then again by noontime more in the partly cloudy range and cooler conditions later on this afternoon. as we become mostly cloudy that means the moisture is going to start to move in from the south and southwest. some light rain is possible to the southern zones and we could see seminaries moving into the extended forecast. satellite and radar has been pretty calm for the 48 hours, some cloud cover streaming on through for the morning. but most of the moisture staying away but we're going to tap into a little bit more of that later on this evening and overnight. right now temperatures are starting to drop off. we're already seeing gaithersburg and baltimore, moving into those 40s. still 51 for baltimore but the next update will feature much cooler temperature and we're
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having a little bit of a breeze as well. that means that we have the feels-like windchill cooling things down as well. so keep that in mind this morning. the forecast overall is going to stay fairly moderate. we'll get back to the seasonable temperatures and middle range 40s as we head in to the eastbound. by the evening hours moisture comes up and expect rain across southern maryland later on this evening. that could get closer to the beltway as we head into the overnight hours. so here's how we are looking for your forecast. the next three days ahead not too bad. seasonable temperatures both saturday and sunday with the middle range 40s but the seven day forecast is definitely going to feature some of snow flurries possible as the temperatures overnight get back down below freezing, monika? a couple of pretty big problem right now in virginia. first of all want to start with the beltway upper loop side. right before route 7 in tyson's corner, work continues on the accident. just beginning to move it to the shoulder but delays have we
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gun. they start well before i-77. stay to the left to get by the activity and now beginning to affect 66 as well. trying to exit to the inner loop of the beltway. robe that for your travel plans right now. to the american legion bridge, that's doing fine heading southbound on the beltway to the tyson's area but also just north of leesburg on route 15, just south of lucketts road at new valerie church road. there's an accident and i know sky 9 is headed out there as we speak on the west side of town. in the meantime i suggest that you use loyalty road instead. another quick look live in newington. right now route 7100 an accident reported along the right side. go further north to the 14th street bridge where there are no problems to report along 395 to the 14th street bridge and into downtown. coming up in my next report, another look at the two accidents in virginia at 6:25. andrea? it is time for our morning light segment. showing off your holiday
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displays all month long and we have just one word for this -- wow. ♪ >> whoa! not just wow, whoa. >> that is amazing. this is video sent in to us from clen venus of potomac falls, virginia. it's one of five videos she's posted on jew tube and there's a -- youtube and there's a reason why. there's some that don't even blink at all. she says this was inspired by filipino celebrations of christmas. >> beautiful, that's incredible. just e-mail us a picture or video. the address is lights@wusa9.com. you can also post it on our facebook page. be sure to include your name and where you live. time now 6:19. coming up next in sports -- >> look at that. >> wait a minute, i forgot. sorry the capitol christmas
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tree. to me i like the lights bet oren the capitol than the -- better on the capitol than the white house. >> this christmas tree, the capitol christmas tree will be illuminated every night through january 1st. >> beautiful. okay. now we can go. 6:20 is the time. next in sports, see who did all of the scoring for the caps last night. plus, andrea's least favorite nfl team moves closer to a wild card berth. right now it's time for another check on our question of the morning -- >> our facebook friend joy says -- i love music and flowers. that's sweet. >> isn't that nice? keep those guesses coming to our facebook fan page. we'll reveal the answer right here at 6:49.
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at 6:23. i'm olga breese in for howard bernstein. cold air is on the doorstep. the cold front moves on through and next hour temperatures should be down into the 40s in and around the region. the day planner for today on the chilly side. temperatures right around 50 degrees around noontime, 1:00 and later on this evening we drop back down into the 40s. mike? all right. thank you olga. in sports alex ovechkin would like to see the winnipeg jets a little more often. >> ovi had 65 career points against that lone franchise. the most against any other team in the nhl. >> there was just one goal last night between the caps and jets and guess who scored it? yep. ovi. break it can tie with just 7 # -- breaking the tie with just 75 seconds left in regulation. neuvirth blocked all shots he faced. this sunday the redskins hope to get back on the winning side visiting the giants.
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d. c. is trying to knock new york out of the first place in the nfc east but la ron landry was placed on injured reserve last thursday. he was toad surgery is the -- told surgery is the best option to get better. thursday night football last night with the dirty bird falcons hosting the jaguars, matt ryan had three touchdown passes for atlanta. two of them to roddy white. atlanta tops jacksonville 414614. the falcons improve -- 41-14. the falcons improve to 9-5. >> jacksonville just let go of the coach. matt ryan is a really nice guy. i know you don't like atlanta but it is what it is. up next a big sign of progress on the 11th street bridge project in the district. a blame game between a local company and the post office, caught in the middle children hoping for toys this christmas. monika? >> live look from sky 9 on the inner loop of the beltway where accident clean-up remains along
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the right side before route 7. delays out of annandale heading north out of 395. details coming up in my next report. you're watching 9news now. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices...
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paid by america's wireless companies. it's simple -- more spectrum means more freedom. for everyone. 6:29 and we are back. this is the place you can always get your weather first.
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take a look at the capitol christmas tree. beautiful. 54 degrees. and windy on the hill. the lights are on. >> and they're not supposed to be. it's 6:30. and they were supposed to have gone off around 11:00 last night. >> maybe some sort of delay. they had trouble lighting it. maybe an 11 minute delay. >> i think it's pretty. >> the clouds going over the capitol. absolutely beautiful this morning. >> glad we can show you this beautiful start to your day and thank you for starting your day with us. i'm andrea roane. >> and i'm mike hydeck, olga breese is live on the weather terrace this morning. probably. look just a light jacket that's all she needs this morning. >> the party is almost over. it is noticeably schooler and we have the of -- controller and we have the temperatures dropping. -- cooling and we have the temperatures dropping. 40s by the 9:00 hour and then cloud cover later on this afternoon. not expecting too much of a warmup for today. slight shower possible tonight and we could see snow flurries in that extended forecast. i'll have all the details just
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ahead. now monika has the timesaver traffic. a look at a map. an accident on the inner loop of the peltway here before bush beltway here before -- beltway here before route 7 in the tyson's area. delays beginning in at least annandale all the way to the accident scene. table lanes have been open now but the damage is done. now let's go just north of leesburg on route 15. south of lucketts at new valley church road. an accident we believe is blocking both directions of route 15 between whites ferry road and lucketts road. right now the only suggestion i have is to use loyalty road just west of the point. again route 15 is blocked off with this accident. the northbound side of i-95 in springfield. overall delays beginning in newington where there was an accident reported at route 7100. also the district, using the sousa bridge. no problems to report here on
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any of the anacostia river crossings in the district. it's incident-free and speaking of the district, i have a commuter alert. it's a huge step forward on a big road project in the district. today mayor gray will cut the bib ron on the -- ribbon the new 11th street bridges. they carry interstate 295 over the anacostia, the freeway bridge will open this weekend heading into downtown. the southbound side will open next week. but when the project is done, guess what? you can take the freeway from downtown washington over the anacostia on northbound 295 into maryland and right now you have to take new york avenue or pennsylvania avenue to go northbound. a lot of the virginia drivers are going to be so happy to hear about this. you know the ones that take the 11th street bridge, they can go straight up to the beltway much easier, no u-turns involved. >> very nice. >> that will be next week. >> new york avenue will be happy about this too. >> they will be very happy. >> thanks monika. a chevy chase village
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police officer is recovering from a crash. you can see right below right here. his car flipped over -- excuse me, her, her car flipped over last night near brookville road and thorn apple street. police say she was on duty when her patrol car collided with another. the other driver was also hospitalized. now a story just in to 9news now, a win for schools in maryland. the associated press is reporting maryland is among nine states to share $500 million in education grant money. it's part of president obama administration's race to the top initiative aimed at young kids especially those in prek. part of the catch though with the money is you have to make policy changes that are pushed by the white house. this morning at 9:00, two penn stat administrators are due in court. they're accused of not responding strongly enough to reports children were being same abused. gary schultz is now retired. tim curley was theth director
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and now an -- athletic director and now on leave. prosecutors say they were both told ovibos by failed to fact -- of abuse but failed to act. scott broom will be in the courtroom as well covering the story. scott will have reports on 9news now later today and at wusa9.com. a heart-breaking discovery in montgomery county. the body of a missing wscc worker has been found. charles duckett was discovered yesterday in the tridelphia reservoir. he went missing two weeks ago during a deer hunt. a medical examiner is performing an autopsy; however his body shows no sign of trauma or foul play. one of these days congress will get around to permanently funding the federal workers out there but for now avert # another shutdown with another temporary measure. surae chinn sleeve on the hill with another -- is live on the hill with another deal to get this dean. >> reporter: good morning to
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you. you know there's nothing like threatening congress to do more work to get them to compromise and come up with a deal. >> we can come up with something that would get us out of her at a reasonable time -- here at a reasonable time in the next few days. >> mr. president, i might just echo the remarks of the majority leader, we have been in discussions, useful about discussions about how to wrap the session up. >> nonsense go on forever. republicans do things in the district they wouldn't do in their home jurisdictions and you have to get off of that. do it but don't use the district as a sacrificial lamb. >> reporter: well, it's not official yet, but a deal would prevent 600,000 federal employees to not be furloughed tonight. but they do vote on it later on today and the senate votes tonight but again d. c. usually the big loser in all of this because republicans don't want
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the district to use its own funds to fund abortion services. of course a lot more coming up and it still doesn't even touch on unemployment benefit cuts and also the unemployment and tax payroll cuts. if the compromise doesn't come up by the end of the year, taxes go up january 1. back to you. >> surae chinn live at capitol hill this morning. it appears things really have turned around in arlington national cemetery. the place where we bury our war dead camened fire after severe -- came under fire after severe mismanagement accusations. however in its report the government accountability office says the watchdog group says more improvements needs to be made. two administrators were fired after an investigation uncovered wrongly identified grave sites and some really shoddy recordkeeping. a local company teamed up
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with toys for tots to collect gifts for children this holiday. but there's a problem. avery hest real estate says they sent 4700 mailers but they say the post office never delivered the flyers and so far they've only collected 35 toys. >> i would have known that the post office wouldn't deliver our mailing i probably would have taken the $2,000 that we spent on it and just bought toys for the kids. >> however the post office says it did mail out the packets and therefore won't be reimbursing the company. if that were the case she would have received the one she sent to herself. avery he is will be open this weekend to take donations. it's hard protecting our freedom and getting holiday shopping done. thanks to the u so here in d. c., more than 1,000 active military moms and dads will have something special for their children. project elf is a unique holiday gift program because it matches
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the military families' wish list to sponsors in the community. that way the child gets exactly what they want for christmas. the uso of metropolitan washington doled out the goodies last night at fort belvoir. in nine minutes a story you will see only on channel 9. >> father outraged by the vehicle that takes his special needs son to school will get some answers. they will be going down all day. we'll be in the 40s by the afternoon. coming up next a look at the weekend forecast. keep it mere with news -- here with 9news now.
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good morning, welcome back to 9news now. 6:43. the mild temperatures are slowly slipping away. >> yeah, i'm watching them drop off one by one. but we will see if you're going out the next hour, say hour and a half, you're in good shape. it's not that bad yet. but we have starting to see some temperature 40s -- we are starting to see some of the 50s creep on in -- 40s creep on in especially to the north and west. on the cool side with the forecast today but i call this seasonably cool. after all normally about 45 degrees for the high. so even getting to 50 today is going to be quite nice. we will increase the cloud cover through midday and late day. mostly cloudy by the 5:00 hour, and temperatures will drop back down into the 40s but with the
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winds it's going feel cooler. we have a bit of a breeze working right now and there's some bit of windchill at the moment. satellite and radar looking pretty good. just looping for the last 12 hours but the cloud cover has been hit or miss overnight. we have had some partial clear asking that's really allowing things to cool off right now. we see increased -- we will see increased cloud cover into the afternoon and evening hours. for most of us though the party is already over. now at 49 for gaithersburg. sitting at 41 for hagerstown. culpeper still 47 but when we update the number at the top of the hour, deft back down into the 40s. here's what it feels like outside though when we have the winds from the north and northwest moving in. knock it down another couple of degrees so keep that in mind. might not neat the jacket this morning but you want it later on this afternoon. highs today daytime highs should be about 50 degrees at reagan national airport. lower 50s. the 40th to north and to the
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west. in toward the afternoon, but not too much more as we head in toward the weekend. so overnight tonight you will see a stark difference. most areas will be at or below freezing. we'll hold on to 36 in the city center. but we'll see the freezing mark north and west of town. that means that as that moisture comes up from the south we could see a little bit of showers possible across some of the southern regions late tonight. reason for that rain drop there in the friday forecast. for saturday, kicking off your weekend with chill hi temperatures, the 45 degrees the high. we'll be about 45 for sunday as well but with the overnight lows near 30 and 32, we do have an opportunity for some flurries late night on sunday into monday. but not expecting any significant accumulation. monika? well, you know virginia commuters are really not liking the life too much right now and that's because it's really tough ride on the inner loop of the beltway beginning in aonian dale going to route 7. an accident there along the right side for quite some time. although it was moved off to the right side, it's still
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squeezing by and of course catching everyone's attention and it's also affecting 66. let's take a live look at 66 overall delays through centreville and then again as you head from nutley street to the beltway. watch out for this heavy traffic as you head for the beltway. these are all the people trying to exit on to the inner loop. be aware of that just now heading out the door. back to the maps another pretty big accident this one's north of leesburg on route 15 closed down. actually right now they're alternating traffic through the area between whites ferry road and lung ets road but be aware of that and maybe choose an alternate route to get around that. a last live look on the outer loop of the beltway at university boulevard. overall delays leaving new hampshire avenue to silver spring and georgia and then the pace improves more at 6:58. the d. c. school busing system for special needs students is being scrutinized
quote
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again. >> a judge was the first one to raise safety and reliability issues. now it's a parent speaking out. >> delia goncalves has the story only right here on channel 9. >> she was still not adequate even though they have the minivans. >> reporter: marvin tucker is no stranger to questioning the school system. now the parent is raising new concerns. about why all these buses are parked in lots and not picking up special needs kids like his own. instead he saw this minivan outside his house one morning. >> kids are still getting to school late which is in violation of the judge's order. kids are being late every day and still an issue with most parents across the city. >> reporter: parents are on edge sending their children out in vehicles and often times not knowing when they'll come back home. >> well, the fleet reliability will solve a lot of those problems. when we have the vehicles that can run the routes effectively and reliable, that will resolve a lot of the complaints. >> reporter: we took mr. tucker's complaints straight to
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the head of transportation for the state superintendent. >> we own 95% of our own fleet so those vehicles that are in our repair shops, we own them and right now going through a fleet disposal process. some are not worth repairing. >> reporter: so the system is moving to smaller multipurpose seeks like the metro -- vehicles like the metro access vans in some cases the vans since they transport an average of kids five a route. and we're told as long as the passenger numbers stays low, they are legally allowed the use those fan -- to use those vans instead of buses. but as for tucker he says the stop sign on buses make them a safer way for children like his own to get to school every day. in fact, tucker has now demanded his son no longer be picked up in a van but in one of the 800 school buses currently on the roads here in d. c.. but the department insists that these new vans and the drivers are safe. in northeast, delia goncalves,
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9news now. >> our time coming up on 6:49. it is also time to reveal the answer to the question of the morning. >> and our facebook friends always get a look at it first. today's question is -- >> if you look good, you feel good. the answer is b., wearing makeup. >> better to -- >> that does feel good. a check of the news before you go is coming up next.
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at bank of america, we're lending and investing in communities across the country, from helping to revitalize a neighborhood in brooklyn to financing industries that are creating jobs in boston or providing funding for the expansion of a local business serving a diverse seattle community and supporting training programs for tomorrow's workforce in los angeles. because the more we can do in local neighborhoods and communities, the more we can help make opportunity possible.
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and welcome backst it's 5:52. temperatures dropping down into the 40s this hour. still 56 degrees at reagan national airport. again that's changing for cast today will feature lots of
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clouds particularly midday and late day. a high right around 50 degrees toward the middle of the day. andrea? today is friday, december 16th. here's a check on the news before you go. a court hearing today for oscar ram row ortega-hernandez, he's accused of shooting at the white house last month. today's hearing will focus on his mental health. he became obsessed with president obama. the first family was not home at the time of the shooting. the coast guard has not found a missing boater. he fell into the water last night near charles county. another person on the boat also fell out and was rescued. changes this weekend to the beltway interchange with i-66 starting tomorrow, drivers going from eastbound 66 to the inner loop will no longer merge on the left. they'll merge on the right instead and that should make it easier for drivers heading to tyson's corner. "the early show" starts in just about six minutes. >> erica hill has a preview of
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the top of the hour. >> just ahead on "the early show," newt gingrich and president obama, the two main targets last night at the republican presidential debate. the final debate for the candidate before the iowa caucuses. we have live for you from iowa this morning and bob schaffer is here with us on set from new york city. also the so-called barefoot bandit. colton harris-moore accused of the two year crime spree. much of it allegedly done barefoot. he's set to plead guilty today. also ahead, with just one week left, and less if you're counting the days until hanukkah, we'll let you know a few shopping tips for you including the all-important shipping news, that's ahead on "the early show." thanks erica. >> one more check on weather and traffic when 9news now returns.
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in our one more thing morning, we hope the saints and patriots meet in a super bowl but it could be a big payoff for somebody else. >> get this, tim tebow one of the spokesman for jockey underwear and undershirts, sensation in denver winning all the games, if they get to the super bowl and win it. jockey is going to give away $1 million worth of products, and one person is going to win $15,000. is a lot of people think this is unlikely but because tim tebow the number 15. >> i thought you were going to
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say 1,000 pair of under-- 15,000 pair of underwear. >> olga? well, we definitely looking at a forecast today that's going to be on the cool side. we had that treat, it's over. daytime highs today around 50 degrees, down into the 30s later tonight and yes there's annuitants for a few flurry -- an opportunity for a few flurries in the forecast into the weekend. the cool air is here to stay. monika? average live look from sky 9. northbound route 15 is blocked here before lucketts road. use route 661 instead. southboundize has been opened. a look at 66 jammed from nutley street trying to get to the inner loop. the accident along route 7 remains along the right side and a look at 270 which is normal. >> join us monday morning starting at 4:25. you can see tebow face-off against the patriots on channel 94:15 here. have a great weekend -- 9 at 4:15 he

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