tv 9 News Now at 5am CBS December 22, 2011 5:00am-6:00am EST
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she enjoyed it. i'm andrea roane. hope you're enjoying this day. >> i'm mike hydeck. here's monika samtani with traffic momentarily. mr. bernstein, it just keeps being warm. >> it is winter officially. 12:30 this morning we hit the winter solstice. daylight will start to increase, the long nights are going to get a little bit shorter. let's get you going on this thursday morning. it is still mild out there. 40s and 50s to start. as we look at the day planner, we'll stay mild. cloudy, too. a little sun early. a little fog early as well. a cloudy day with highs in the upper 50s and low 60s. light winds, a lot lighter than they were. had some rain yesterday. the rain last night in pennsylvania. ground is moist and with some clear skies and light winds, that's a lot of fog to form. especially areas southwest, southeast of town. quarter mile in fredericksburg. we've been increased down to leonardtown. cambridge still dealing with fog. temps at 50 in washington.
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mid-50s down to southern maryland. 51 on the bay. out to the west, we cool into the low 40s from manassas to culpepper. cumberland still 52. another unseasonably mild day, highs today upper 50s to low 60s. monika? >> we're going to take a look around town right now. things are looking very good all over the beltway and in southern maryland as well. good morning, everybody. if you're planning to head over to the beltway on the south side of town, we're looking good. in southern maryland, no problems to report on route 4, route 5, route 301. we'll take a look at route 50 from annapolis as you head over to landover and cheverly. we'll take a live look at route 50. no problems to report. all along the roadway heading for the beltway. also take a look at college park on the northside of town live. no problems to report on the outer loop of the beltway on the northside as you head around 95 into silver spring. a live look on the mdot camera, no problems to report as you come in from 95 in from baltimore as well. here is the legion bridge
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looking good on the west side of town. we'll go back over to our graphics on metro, marc and vre, this morning, everything is running on time. in my next report, another look around the area. back to you, andrea and mike. >> thanks, monika. pilots have ten hours to rest between shifts to prevent them from flying fatigued. new federal rules are meant to give them a break and improve passenger safety. flight times can be no longer than eight or nine hours and pilots are required 30 consecutive hours a week off the job. the rules come three years after a small plane crash near buffalo, new york, that killed 50. the regional plane was flown by two exhausted pilots. the company that owned the plane at the time was based in manassas. the faa estimates the new rules will cost the airline industry $297 million over the next decade. d.c. police are investigating a double shooting in northeast washington. it happened last night in the 2500 block of 14th street. they took both victims to the
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hospital for treatment. both are expected to survive their injuries. police are searching for the shooter but have not released a description of their suspect. in prince william county, police have not released the name of a sho man shot and killed by officers yesterday afternoon. the officers pulled over a burglary suspect near jefferson davis highway and brady hill road in dumfries. police say the man was arm and he jumped out of the car and ran. officers tracked him down in the woods and say he came toward them with a gun which is when they opened fire. a surveillance camera has been set up across the street from a courthouse holiday display which is causing a storm of controversy in leesburg. we've told you about this before. it is the crucified santa skeleton right there. it has been vandalized three times since it went up earlier this month. this was in front of the loudoun county courthouse. the last time vandals removed the schedule skeleton's legs. no word if the cameras caught any vandals in action. the skeleton though is one of ten holiday displays on the
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courthouse lawn. >> i thought about this yesterday on my commute home. it doesn't seem like there's many people out here on the roadways and traffic has been steadily decreasing on your commute this week because more and more people appear starting their holiday vacations early. >> many have somewhere to go for christmas. >> we'll tell you more about that story in a little while. right now, at 5:04, time for another "your money" report. >> money time. jessica doyle is here. >> that's right. hey, well, we're heading into the end of the week. we're hoping for some big things when we get the jobs numbers out in a little bit later this morning. things were pretty quiet yesterday. we had a mixed showing yesterday. except for technology sector investors, not such a great day for those people. checking the numbers, dow stands at 12,107, picked up four points in trading yesterday. nasdaq though, take a look down by 25 points. definitely the loser on the day. s&p 500 was better by 2 and a half points.
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>> yesterday may not have been a barnburner on wall street but next year is looking pretty good for stock investors. our partners at "usa today" report that investment strategists are expecting average gains of 10.5% for stocks in 2012. you can thank recession fears that europe will work out its debt problem. bank of america is paying a record fine to settle race discrimination claims against its countrywide unit. countrywide engaged in widespread discrimination against qualified african- american and hispanic bor roars were 2004 through 2007. the company allegedly charged over 200,000 african-american and hispanic borrowers higher fees compared to whites with similar credit profiles. moved them into a lot of risky loans. not much you can say about countrywide that's good before the company blew up and bank of america took it over. >> just hearing that the former ceo --
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>> anthony -- >> got $400 million just to keep away from the banking industry ever again. >> it is amazing. >> exactly. >> these people should be getting homes rather than $2,000 maybe. >> yet martha stewart went to jail for insider trading. >> now what? >> what do you have for us in the next half hour? >> the new year, we're obviously all excited to celebrate the new year. not potentially going to be great for some doctors. we'll talk about that and how it could impact your healthcare. >> thanks, jess. >> you got it. >> we'll have more on republican presidential candidate newt gingrich's trip to northern virginia coming up. >> plus, bradley manning's hearing. he's the one accused of leaking things to wikileaks. it could be wrapping up today. we'll have more on that next. >> ahead in sports, a partial return to duty for some redskins busted for performance- enhancing drugs. we'll be right back.
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mild out there. we do have some fog down to the west, southwest and southeast. watch out for that. it won't be a bad day at all with partly to mostly cloudy skies early becoming overcast by midday and very mild temperatures again. we should be in the mid-40s for highs. we'll be up around 60 once again give or take a couple. we'll see some rain returning tonight. talk about that when i return in about five minutes. right now, monika samtani, what's going on? >> well, you know what? we just got word of an accident. we'll take a look at a camera on the east side of town near route 50. the accident is on the inner loop of the beltway between
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route 202 and route 50 and authorities tell us it is blocking the two left lanes. keep in mind -- keep that in mind for your travel plans. i'll have more on that and other roadways coming up in my next report. bomb blasts rah rattled baghdad as a coordinated attack killed 49 people in iraq's capital. another 167 were wounded. government officials say there were at least a dozen explosions. the attacks come days after the last troops left the country. eight u.s. soldiers have been charged in connection with a suicide of a fellow g.i. in afghanistan. the army says 19-year-old private danny chen was taunted and assaulted for months before he killed himself. chen supporters believe hazing toward the chinese-american was racially motivated. closing arguments are scheduled today at the hearing to determine whether army intelligence analyst bradley manning will go to trial. defense attorneys called just two witnesses wednesday before resting its case at fort meade.
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manning is accused of leaking classified documents to the whistle blowing web site, wikileaks. they had a tough start in life but now, 100 dogs are recovering. right here in washington. that story at 5:40. >> at 5:34, a day after pepco asked for a big rate increase, the utility got slapped with a huge fine instead. >> we could see the sun. sure doesn't feel like winter temperaturewise. howard's seven-day forecast coming up at 5:14.
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welcome back to 9news now on this friday eve. it is 5:13 this thursday morning. another warm day even though is winter. i saw a little ground fog on my way in. >> especially west of town. what's so funny, mike? >> i'm sorry. you said ground fog. i saw lots of ground animals. i saw a possum, a fox, a deer all on my way to work. >> and a partridge in a pear tree. >> you didn't drive past the zoo, did you? >> no. >> you got everything out there. from our why witness weather watchers to my right. we do have some fog in spots. not so much here in the metro. west of of town, south of town, that's where it there is potential. even the lower eastern shore. still got school for a couple of days. winter concert tonight. >> very nice.
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>> good times. all right. bus stop forecast, patchy fog. little peek or two of sunshine. we start in the 40s and 50s. sunrise still at 7:24. another couple of hours. as we head through the day, clouds will rule the day. in fact, i think before the noon hour, we'll become overcast and stay that way. upper 50s at noon. also high of 65, 61. winds northwest at 3. southeast at 5. variable and light. not much of a factor, should be a pretty comfortable day. we did have the rain yesterday. that leftover moisture with the breaks we had overnight which have aloud the temperatures to get into the lower 40s has allowed fog to form in manassas and culpepper. half-mile visibility, quantico down toward stafford, all dealing with some of that fog. down in leonardtown, southern maryland over to cambridge still dealing with some of the areas visibilities are less than one half-mile this morning. temperatures down south in the middle 50s. even upper 50s at the
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tappahannock airport. off to the west, low 40s now. culpepper up toward winchester and oakland. 39. how are they going to make snow when it is 39? they're not! that's the problem. scott broom reporting. we've got to get some consistent cold weather so the snow guns can blow. give us some cold and we can get back on the ski slopes. 50 degrees with mostly cloudy skies. that's not cold or dry enough to help any of the ski operators in the barometer right now, 30.03. there is some cold across the country out west. northern plains. in the rockies, even in the southwest. in albuquerque this morning, 23. dallas, it is colder in dallas than it is here this morning. we sit at 50 and that's just wrong for the first day of winter. snow showers, you see them and some snow from the rockies stretched out through the chillier air up in the northern mississippi valley. but down in texas, once again,
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another area of low pressure sort of reloading here. lots of jet stream energy. so, you see all of the rain breaking out. some of this is on the hefty side, too. when you see all of the yellow and orange, that's a pretty moderate rain, quickly moving off to the northeast. clouds in advance will be with us today. the rain gets here tonight. we'll put the future cast in motion. here are the clouds by noon. this afternoon, mostly cloudy to cloudy. rain by evening. and charlottesville and west virginia, spreads in by 7:00, 8:00, 9:00, you'll see the rains here. some of the rain will be locally on the hefty side. it pulls away. the next chance of showers will be christmas day and that storm might slide south of us. rain chances look less today than they did yesterday. 61 this afternoon. rain tonight could be heavy at times as we dip 40s to around 50. tomorrow, only in the low 50s. little bit cooler. chillier still on saturday. 46. christmas day, 49 degrees. slight chance of a shower. maybe a flurry, snow shower,
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sunday night into monday as we cool down into the middle 40s. monika, it looks and feels like a holiday on the roads already for most of us. >> it really does. that means if you're heading out to work, it really shouldn't be as stressful as usual. i think a lot of people have gone on vacation and that's a good thing although we do have one accident early this morning, on the inner loop of the beltway before route 50. right here, now on the left shoulder but apparently a little bit slow. otherwise, things aren't looking too bad on the northside of town. we'll take a look at the beltway at connecticut avenue. moving well here, good indication of what it looks like through silver spring. there is an accident inside the beltway on connecticut avenue at jones bridge road. keep that in mind. back to the maps right now. up into frederick coming south on 270, in on i-70, everything is fine. we'll take a live look at 270 at route 28 west montgomery road or avenue. things are looking fine here. fro problems as you head down to the point where the lanes
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divide and down to the american legion bridge. coming up, another look around the area at 5:24. andrea and mike? >> the redskins have one final chance to win their first home game since mid september. plus, george mason will have to start a new winning streak after finally falling to an opponent in front of their patriot fans. >> we want to take another look at our question of the day. it is 55% of us hate it when our coworker does this. hums a song, calls out sick or interrupts us while we're trying to work. >> unless they bring cheesecake. here is a look at a response you posted on our facebook fan page. >> sherry whitfield wrote all of the above. >> if they crack their knuckles, ex-ww! log on to the facebook.com/wusa9 page and leave your response. we'll reveal the answer during the 6:00 hour. we'll be back.
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we've got some fog in spots like fort belvoir down toward quantico and fredericksburg and over toward southern maryland. temperatures this morning in the 40s and low 50s. we'll see a good deal of clouds. some sunshine early even through 9:00, we'll be around 52 here in town. by noon, we're look about cloudy, just about everywhere with temperatures in the upper 50s. another very mild day with lighter winds. even 60 degrees this afternoon for the high. looks like some rain will be approaching areas south and west by 6:00 p.m. overspreading the region after dark. could be heavy tonight as well. generally a dry friday and saturday coming up. more on that during 9news now at 5:30. right now, let's go over to mike and andrea. >> george mason had an 18-game home winning streak. not anymore. >> plus, the redskins have one more chance to win their first home game in more than three months. here's dave owns with your morning sports. >> good morning, everybody. two in five. that's the redskins record at
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home. wow. you always hear die hard fans say there was a time you couldn't walk into d.c. and couldn't think about winning. in the last two years, washington is only 4-11 in front of the home folks. get a chance to break the five- game losing streak at home. last time they won at home, arizona week two. one of the predominant themes in the locker room is ending the streak. we must protect this house. >> of course. we want to win at home. we want the fans to have something to cheer about. the fans that we have here and the home field advantage, you definitely want to take advantage of that and give the fans that come out to see us win. >> mike shanahan announcing davis and williams will be allowed back at redskins park and will be able to work with trainers but won't do activities with the team. they're serving a four game suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy. college basketball, george mason, dr. dre, andre cornelius back from suspected credit card fraud. pierson, mack daddy goes for
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13-9. t.j. mcconnell drops it like it is hot. that's going to do it for your morning sports, i'm dave owens, have a great thursday, everybody. >> few more sports notes, virginia cavaliers won their tenth game of the season but it wasn't easy. last night in seattle, uva's mike scott made a lay-up with 45 seconds left to put the cavs up 80-77. scott ended with a career high 33 points in the win. uva is ranked 24th in the nation. the congressional bickering over the payroll tax cut could also cause problems for people on medicare and the doctors who treat them. an explanation on that story coming up. >> plus, newt gingrich has to finish up business in virginia today or he won't be on the ballot for the march 6th presidential primary in the commonwealth. monika? >> we'll take a live look at connecticut avenue at east-west highway north of this point at jones. watch out for the accident affecting both directions of
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good morning and welcome back to 9news now this thursday morning. i'm andrea roane. >> i'm mike hydeck. we're glad you're here. you want some cheesecake? >> the chocolate mousse cheesecake went like that. >> took a bite. >> keep eating. monika samtani keeps eating. she has traffic momentarily. >> i'll see you at the gym today. need to be airlifted. >> we'll take it. bring some extra forks. >> the milk would have been a nice touch. >> i'll get milk next time. we're in the same boat. >> let's get to weather. we're talking about all of this food. it is not like you need it to keep warm.
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it is warm outside. we're back in the 40s and low 50s. when i say warm, i'm talking relative for the time of year. we should only be looking at 45 for a high. yesterday, 61 was the temperature. baltimore set a record at 62. dulles set a record at 61. incredible. 50 right now in washington with partly to mostly cloudy skies. some sun this morning. little fog, too. upper 50s by noon. also with the drive home, we're looking at a dry day, a cloudy day. very mild day with light winds. the rain from yesterday, quickly has pulled away. we've got breaks out there, some high clouds. with the low level moisture, the light winds, those breaks. we've got fog especially down toward fredericksburg, quarter mile visibility, manassas, fort belvoir along with culpepper out to the east. better out in cambridge. still dealing with visibilities at about a half-mile or less. monika is stepping in here. here we are about 5:30 on thursday morning. pretty quiet still in. >> pretty quiet still. one accident on the beltway.
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luckily, it is so quiet it didn't cause much of a problem. it was on the inner loop of the beltway right here near route 50 just before that point. moved to the left shoulder quickly by authorities and you're good to go in that area. we'll go a little further north. 95 looks good out of the baltimore. no problems on the bw parkway. we'll take a live look at the beltway. here's what it looks like in college park. so, you do have a few people out. no big problems to report as we head on the outer loop past 95 into silver spring. you will be ok. back over to the maps, this time, we'll go to the southside of town. here's what it looks like in southern maryland, route four, route five, route 301 out of brandywine. you'll be ok through oxon hill and a live look into alexandria at telegraph road looking good here as well as you head on to the beltway toward springfield. coming up in my next report, another look into virginia at 5:38. back to you, andrea and mike. >> today is the deadline for presidential hopefuls to qualify to get on the ballot in virginia. >> that's one big reason newt gingrich stopped in arlington
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last night. and will make appearances in richmond this morning as well. candidates must turn in signatures from 10,000 commonwealth voters to get their name on the primary ballot march 6th. gring rich says he will easily get the amount needed. he's challenge front-runner to a debate in another state. >> i've challenged governor romney to meet me for 90 minutes in iowa anywhere, any time, timekeeper, no moderator. >> if you can't stand the relatively modest heat in the kitchen, wait until obama's hell's kitchen shows up. >> romney is slamming gingrich for criticizing some negative political ads. the former massachusetts governor mitt romney is heaping gung rich -- is hoping gingrich will have faded into before the primaries. >> more people will be making their holidays get away trying to get to mom's or other destinations in time for
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christmas. millions will be hitting the roads and boarding planes this year. surae chinn is live at national airport with more. do you see the crowd starting to gather already? >> yeah, it is getting busy here at reagan national. that's because 2.2 million washingtonians will be heading out of town. they'll either be taking the planes, trains or their cars and here are some dos and don'ts if you're taking a flight today or for the next 12 days for the holiday weekend. now, a good reminder, 3.4 ounces of liquid, gels or aerosols are ok. those are all ok. 3.4 is the limit with the exception of breast milk and formula and medical liquids, you can take more than 3.4 ounces but is is subject to inspections by tsa members. also, wrapped presents. you can wrap those presents but know if they go through the metal-detectors, go through the machines, tsa wants a closer look, they can unwrap the presents. snow globes are prohibited. they're not allowed so
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definitely don't wrap those because they'll definitely not be allowed to be taken on the plane. and also, holiday foods. a good reminder. your homemade apple pie, that is actually ok. but other food items that you might want to take to the holiday dinners such as jams, jellies, those gift baskets, those could have dressings, liquids, those, of course, will not be permitted unless you check those in your checked bags. we're seeing a lot of people going through national airport and that's just a sign of things to come in the next 12 days. back to you. >> all right, this is the time to get through the airport right now. not so many people. thank you, surae. we have an update on tuesday's catastrophic commute on the orange and blue lines. metro says it has pulled 16 of its series 5,000 rail cars out of service after part of a brake on one of the cars fell apart. nearly 300 people had to be evacuated from trains between the smithsonian and l'enfant plaza stations. metro says it is still trying
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to figure out why that brake failed. a district of columbia police officer arrested earlier this year in an internal sting operation has been found guilty of attempting to receive stolen property including electronic devices like ipads and other things. superior court judge convicted fernandez who has been on the police force for eight years. the 35-year-old is scheduled for sentencing january 27th. two other officers caught in the sting have already pleaded guilty. are you a frustrated pepco customer? well, right now, you might be a fan of maryland's public service commission. just a day after pepco requested a rate hike, the pse fined the utility $1 million for failing to properly maintain its system over a period of years. the pse also noted customers were left without outages for far too long. the commission says the fine was prompted by an unusually high number of complaints about pepco's reliability. the utility will have to file an updated five-year work plan to improve communications and
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service restoration by the middle of february. it is 5:35. time for the latest "your money" report. >> jessica doyle is back and it could be a tough new year for some doctors. >> that's right. well, of course, we've been covering for weeks the impasse in congress over the payroll tax cut extension. there is another angle to this debate. medicare doctors could see their pay slashed by about a third in two weeks' time. the payroll tax bill includes a patch that would prevent doctors from facing reduced government payments. some experts say the problems with paying doctors who take medicare are driving some physicians away from seeing seniors with medicare insurance. the nation's mail services have their work cut out for them getting the last-minute gifts to you in time for christmas. u.p.s. is the world's largest shipper expected to deliver 26 million packages today as its pace peaks for the season. deliveries are up about 6% over last year. that's a sign that consumers are buying again. fedex said it shipped 17 million packages on december
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12th. that was its busiest day ever! well, things appear to be back to normal forker have ricin wireless customers this morning. if you have service problems recently, you're not alone. the company says its high-speed 4g data network wasn't operating properly wednesday morning. that is its third such outage since april. verizon is not giving details about the cause of the outage or how many users were affected. it has about triple the number of subscribers as its next rival, at&t. when you're that big and you have problems, people are going to complain about it, especially on the internet. >> there's plenty lining up going hey! i just bought this new phone. >> thanks, jess. >> three towns in our region are among the finalists for the best main street award. that story is coming up. >> and more than 100 dogs rescued from a breeding facility could be ready for some new homes in 2012. after a little tlc right here in washington.
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outside on the weather terrace, i have a little mild out here. some temperatures still above the 50 degree mark. our day planner today, we're calling for readings to be well up in the 50s. low 60s for highs in spots. with cloudy skies taking over. a few sunny breaks this morning. a little bit of patchy fog early. winds will be light. rain returns tonight. more on that and the weekend forecast in about five minutes. right now, inside to monika. >> we're going to take a live look at 66. initial delays begin in gainesville to the prince william parkway. an accident there in the left center lane. beyond that, this is what it looks like in manassas trying to get toward centreville. coming up, another look at virginia roadways. back to you, mike. >> thank you, monika. the august earthquake that rattled main street in culpepper, virginia, not too far from the epicenter but now,
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it is named one of the semifinalists for the great american main street award. the award is based on the extent of community support, innovation and solutions to problems and commitment to historic preservation. charleston, west virginia is also among the finalists this year. if you're looking to add a four-legged family member in 2012, a washington animal rescue league will soon be seeking homes for more than 100 new dogs. the dogs were seized from a breeder in arkansas who faces animal cruelty charges. the dogs will be examine and treated for any physical problems and checked for behavioral issues before they're put up for adoption. >> well, the total amount of money allegedly misspent by d.c. councilman has now over a million dollars. that story is next. >> plus, we'll tell you which part of the country was actually getting snowed on when winter officially started overnight. >> let's see who's celebrating a birthday today. actor hector elzon dro.
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will increase here. we've got the longer days. it gets dark so early. >> think about this. in places like caribou, maine, it is getting dark about 3:45. >> that's depressing. >> our 4:45, 4:50 doesn't seem so bad. >> here is a look at our bus stop forecast, that doesn't look too bad either. patchy fog. partly sunny conditions. when the sun does come up. temperatures will be in the 40s and 50s this morning. it will be dry today. rain returns tonight. evening plans, yeah, you go out early. take the rain gear because if it is not raining when you leave, it will be raining probably by the time you come home. 52 at 9:00. we'll see temperatures climb into the mid-50s at 11. light north winds less than 5 miles per hour will turn to the south and southeast this afternoon as temperatures climb toward 60 and 61. just depends on how thick the clouds are. we're really looking at another mild day here. when of the average high is about 45. one problem this morning is the
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fog especially in places out toward fredericksburg, tappahannock, even toward the pax river air station. visibility is about a half- mile. you get closer to d.c. and north, that's where visibility is still running fine, ten miles or better. no issues there. temps, we're at 50. 60 in raleigh. norfolk in the lower 60s. we've got some cooler 40s out to the west. really, for december, this is not bad stuff at all. leesburg and haymarket are down in the low 40s. manassas, a little bit chilly. 39. still 51 in rockville and also in arlington. 45 in college park. crofton, 49. in washington, reagan national airport, officially 50 degrees. partly cloudy skies. dew point is holding at about 44. our next weather maker for tonight, it will come quickly. pretty powerful jet stream will push the rain quickly toward us. it will be here after dark. the powerful jet stream also helping to initiate some heavy rains and severe weather.
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this is a new tornado watch box out to parts of louisiana and mississippi. until 1:00 local time. that tells you how much energy the system has. the rain will push across the tennessee valley during the day today. the clouds out ahead of it will be with us along with the mild weather. as i show you the future cast, we'll see how the rain is going to move in after dark. clouds thickening up. we'll be overcast. we'll day of stay overcast. by 6:00 p.m., look at the rain getting north of interstate 64 moving in toward pittsburgh. by 8:45, 9:00, we're all seeing the rain. overnight, could be potentially heavy rains at times. this stuff should be out of here fairly early on friday. a pretty decent day tomorrow and christmas eve as well. today, mild. 60, 61. rain tonight. could be heavy at times. winds pick up out of the north. drop us into the 40s. tomorrow, cooler low 50s. saturday, even chillier into the middle 40s with partly sunny conditions. christmas day, not a white christmas.
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maybe a couple of showers possible. especially south of town. if we see any snow, it would be some flurries or snow showers sunday night into monday morning. that's about it. sorry, guys, if you were looking for snow, keep looking. monika? >> despite it being pretty light outside, we have a couple of incidents to tell you about. good morning, everybody. the beltway itself is looking fine. we'll zoom into 66 right now. there was an accident here at the prince william parkway, delays begin in gainesville heading to that point, it has been moved to the shoulder but left the slow traffic for you. we'll take a look inside the beltway at 66 at the roosevelt bridge, outside the camera shot, there is an accident, that one just reported inbound 66 at the roosevelt bridge. i'll keep you posted on that information as soon as the information comes in. back over to the maps, we'll take a look inside the beltway. 395 running well. 65 miles per hour at duke street. no problems on 66 at fairfax drive again. an accident reported closer into the roosevelt bridge.
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live look into springfield on the northbound side of i-95. quantico into dumfries and just the volume building here in springfield. coming up, i'll update you on the situation in virginia at 6:00. mike, back to you. thanks, monika. making news at 5:49. while it may feel nothing like winter here, this season started more than appropriately in denver with a big snowstorm. police are already having to help stranded drivers and the snow did not stop -- may not stop until this afternoon. by then, the city could get between half a foot and a foot of accumulation. >> walmart has pulled a batch of powdered infant formula off shelves nationwide after the death of a newborn boy in missouri who died from a suspected bacterial infection developed after being given the enfamil newborn powder. so far, the government has not issued a recall. the president obama will continue pushing for the extension of the payroll tax cut. house republicans are he us for aing to vote on a short term
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senate measure that's already been passed. demanding a year-long extension instead. >> there's new information on the federal investigation of d.c. councilman harry thomas after agents raided his home earlier this month. >> as bruce johnson reports, the probe of the ward five councilman has expanded to include another $800,000 in council earmarks. >> thomas? >> yes. >> d.c. councilman harry thomas was on the job this week voting yesterday for the new ethics bill and a small community newspaper in his ward five area. it has also been at work, the brooklyn heart beat in a freedom of information request forced the d.c. recreation department to admit federal investigators are now examining more than $800,000 from two grants that were issued to support programs sponsored by the councilman. >> did you use public money for yourself? instead of going to kids programs? >> absolutely not. i think the body of work that my life represents will one,
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defend that and secondly, the body of work in which i personally performed the clinics and other things that were involved with this were done and there was no misdirecting of funds. >> that was thomas earlier this year before he eventually agreed to repay some $300,000 that the city's ag says he misappropriated from a youth sports program. it was before his house was raided by the fbi and i.r.s. agents. councilman thomas refuses to talk to the media but an attorney for the recreation department admits in the letter obtained by the newspaper that documents relating to the two grants are relevant to an on- going u.s. attorney investigation into activities conducted by council member harry thomas and related entities. >> we have indicated -- >> mayor vincent gray's general council ordered the documents released after the recreation department sought to shield them from the newspaper's freedom of information request. the brooklyn heart beat obtained records that show one of the grants for $272,000 went
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to a ward five gang intervention initiative. the expenses included $23,000 spent at six flags amusement park, $12,000 spent at a local movie theatre. $8500 spent on the washington nationals and another $550 spent at a local go carth raceway. the recreation department has no record of who received the grants and no receipts for thousand how this money or money from the first grant was spent. bruce johnson, 9news now. >> bruce contacted councilman thomas' attorney but he refused to comment on the story. >> we'll take another look at the question of the day. it is 55% of us hate it when a coworker does this. is it a, hum a song. b, call out sick or c, interrupt us while we're trying to work. >> michelle livingston wrote i could say all three but i think in my new job, i believe c is the most annoying at the
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current time. >> log on to the facebook.com/wusa9 page and leave your response. we'll reveal the answer in about an hour. >> some eighth graders assume adult identities to find practical applications for finance. we'll explain in today's cool schools at 6:15. >> next, we'll take you to a maryland school that's launched a pilot program to teach acrannic language and culture. here's jess. >> i know it is not tax season yet but i have three reasons why you want to think about taxes very briefly over the next couple of days. you're going to save a lot of money! i'll have that advice coming up at 6:07. you're watching 9news now.
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very comfortable for this time of year. low 60s in spots this afternoon. looks like some rain will be moving in after dark tonight. mike and andrea, back to you. >> thank you, howard. there are 337 languages spoken in this country according to the federal government. 12th most popular is arabic with more than 600,000 speakers. >> with many government agencies and private companies seeking fluent arabic speakers, there is now a pilot program to teach arab culture in anne arundel county, maryland. reporter mike shue has our story. >> please find your name. on your folder. you can find that your folder has everything that you need today. >> this an arrive school class in laurel. it is getting a lot of attention because of its subject matter. arabic language and culture. >> in this day and age, it is really more appropriate we're look at arabic as an opportunity for our kids to learn about. >> targeted at elementary school children, it is no accident that this starts at schools near fort meade. >> students at this school feed
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into a middle school where we've just begun an arabic program. that will filter into our homeland program at meade senior high school. >> we're going to come back to this word. >> some arabic language is taught but it is more about the culture. >> yes, our goal is to provide students with an initial exposure to a language of culture, a people, a history. >> reporter: so far, kids and parents have responded. the four classes offered at two schools are completely full. >> the greatest part is that the word and of especially in the united states is becoming more global community. and we have connection and link all over the world. >> i think it is outstanding. our kids getting this opportunity to really prepare themselves for -- beyond school. >> mike hsu, wjz news. >> federal money covers the cost of the class which is
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about $35,000. prosecutor plans to teach an arab language course at meade high school. good for them. thank you for watching 9news now at 6:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. >> i'm mike hydeck. monika samtani is here. >> howard bernstein is here with our weather first. it is first day of winter and you don't need a coat. maybe not even hat or gloves. >> we'll be in the upper 50s and low 60s. manassas got down to 39. probably need a jacket there. it but it is going to be another unseasonably mild day. day planner calling for lots of clouds, light winds. mild temperatures. upper 50s, some low 60s. rain will return. that's going to happen tonight. any sun we see will be early along with some patchy fog thanks to the moisture we had yesterday. heaviest rains were down south of d.c. and with some breaks in the overcast last night and light winds, well, this is where we've got visibility issues from quantico down to fredericksburg
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