we begin with breaking news from montgomery county. police are investigating a homicide there. thank you for joining us. i'm j.c. hayward. police tell 9news now that a 24-year-old man was shot and killed on stewart lane just before 7:00 this morning. authorities initially thought that the victim was a

pedestrian struck by a car. however, shell casings left at the scene showed that the victim was actually shot. police are still looking for a suspect. well, police have towed two vehicles from that scene and the investigation is continuing. we're going to turn our attention to the republican presidential race. many g.o.p. voters in iowa have not settled on a candidate. terrell brown reports that the candidates have just one week to win over a large group of undecided voters. >> michele bachmann, rick perry, newt gingrich and mitt romney are all converging on iowa today for a final week of campaigning before the state's first caucuses in the nation. the latest polls show the former massachusetts governor is locked in a three-way race with ron paul and gingrich. many iowa voters say they're undecided which is giving hope to bachmann, born in iowa and

rick santorum who has visited the state more than any other candidate. the former pennsylvania senator was hunting and then hit the campaign trail. he's visited all 99 iowa counties and is looking for a late surge. bachmann is scheduled to travel to ten counties today on her bus tour. gingrich plans three stops in dubuque. texas governor rick perry is on a campaign bus tour through iowa. he's running a campaign ad that takes aim at washington lawmakers. his rivals, bachmann and paul. faw washington is the problem, why trust a congressman to fix it? >> many political analysts believe paul may have the best chance of winning in iowa. the texas congressman has a loyal base of supporters in the state. some who have not been stopped working. but in a race that's cycled through front-runners, iowa is still anyone's to win. terrell brown, cbs news, washington. former utah governor jon huntsman has not campaigned in iowa. he's concentrating on the new

hampshire primary that is being held january 10th. meanwhile, president obama is considering whether to allow yemen's outgoing leader into the united states for medical treatment. ali saleh agreed to step down last month after months of violent protests in his country. he's seeking treatment for injuries he suffered when rebels stormed his compound earlier this year. the man accused of killing two people and kidnapping a 2- year-old boy on christmas eve is now in custody. police arrested 27-year-old jamal lewis clemons yesterday afternoon. richmond police along with u.s. marshals surrounded a home where clemons was staying. he would not come out. police got a key, went inside and got him. >> officer opening up the door, made an announcement. he gave himself up on his own voluntarily without any incident. >> police say that clemons shot

and killed edward bowmer jr. and robin clapp. police say that he stole an suv to get away and that vehicle had a 2-year-old boy inside. police do not think that clemons knew the child was there. the boy was later released unharmed. the family of 33-year-old mitchell smith of bladensburg still have not heard from him. they last saw him as he left on an amtrak train for birmingham, alabama. smith was completely blinded in the shooting that occurred a decade ago. well, it is nothing new to learn that taxpayers' dollars can be watched on -- wasted on lawmakers pet projects. one side of a so-called wasteful project is right here in washington, d.c. actually in columbia heights. our jessica doyle explains that waste can be a matter of opinion. >> reporter: this ihop in columbia heights has found itself on a congressional hit

list. it has been called out on republican senator tom coburn's 2011 waste book. a list of 100 projects around the country that some see as a waste of taxpayer dollars. >> unfortunately, the federal government has subsidized directly or indirectly, not only flapjacks but grass-fed cow butter, beef jerky and mushroom pea zas. after a menu like that, it is taxpayers who are reaching for the antacid. >> reporter: 766 thousand dollars in government revitalization money helped build the 1-year-old restaurant in the area once slated by crime and vacant lots. now, it stands in a diverse neighborhood that still offers subsidized housing along with luxury apartments. a one bedroom across the street from ihop can cost as much as $2700 a month. some people have taken to calling this pancakes for yuppies. your reaction? >> i don't know about that. there are all kinds of people that eat there.

>> reporter: the opening of the minority-owned ihop created 150 jobs in columbia heights. 95% of which went to d.c. residents. opinions are mixed if the project was worthy of revitalization dollars in a community that's already come a long way. do you think that that's a waste of taxpayer money? >> absolutely. if it was meant to fix something, why would you build an ihop? i think it was a waste of money. >> reporter: wasteful? >> i don't think it was wasteful at all. it helps the neighborhood. the neighborhood is still evolving and changing. it is a good thing. >> no, i don't think it is wasteful. i wish we would get to a point where there are other people not making decisions for us here in d.c. he needs to mind his own business. >> reporter: is it a waste to spend taxpayer revitalization dollars to build an ihop in columbia heights? one thing's for certain, the debate is as hot as the pancakes. jessica doyle, 9news now. along with ihop, other projects labeled by the

senator's office as wasteful include $10 million to fund a pakistani version of sesame street and $113,000 for a video game preservation center. in total, the 100 items add up to more than $6.5 billion in subsidies. >> 100 sears stores are shutting down. company executives project the closings will ren vate more than $140 million. kmart's declining sales were blamed on a drop in clothing and consumer electronics sales. still to come when 9news now continues, going to take a look at the restaurants and bars around verizon center. now that the wizards have finally started their season. >> prince fill sip reunited with the royal family after spending christmas in the hospital. i'm heather kovar in london with that story.

the islamic state of iraq

is now claiming responsibility for last thursday's wave of bombings in baghdad. 69 people were killed. the group released an online statement saying the attacks were a show of support for students in prison. the bombings were the first major attacks since u.s. troops completed a full withdrawal from iraq earlier this month. prince phillip left the hospital today. he rejoined the royal family after spending the christmas holiday weekend getting treated for a blocked artery in his heart. heather kovar has more. >> reporter: 90-year-old prince phillip left the hospital after four days. the queen's husband smiled and waved as he headed back to the family's estate in eastern england. he flew by helicopter to the hospital friday, complaining of chest pains. doctors treated him for a blocked coronary artery. the prince missed the royal christmas celebration including christmas morning church service but he had company as he recovered his

grandchildren, prince william and prince harry stopped by to wish him well after christmas lunch. the queen and their four children also visited on christmas eve. >> the queen broadcast an annual christmas message. she spoke from here at buckingham palace about finding strength in difficult times. >> friends and communities often find a source of courage rising up from within. indeed, sadly, it seems that it is tragedy that often draws out the most and the best from the human spirit. >> the queen mentioned her trip to australia this year with prince phillip. she said they saw the effects of the flooding and how families and communities came together to support each other. it was a busy year for the prince who, despite his age, is said to be in generally good health. the prince saw his grandson, prince william mayory kate middleton in april. president obama visited in may. he was fitted with a stent to

keep a coronary artery open. heather kovar for cbs news, london. prince phillip is expected to slow his hectic schedule. his treatment could also include changes to his diet as well as medications routinely prescribed for heart patients. coming up next, olga has our forecast. >> what started out as a very light shower around the 9:00 hour has turned in into a pretty steady rain. when will we see the sun come back and will our temperatures ever get out of the chilly 40s? i'll have your full seven-day forecast when 9news now continues.

businesses around the verizon center are feeling better this afternoon because the wizards are back! the team hosted their first regular season game last night after the nba lockout delayed the start of the season by nearly two months. kristin fisher has more. >> back playing ball and back to bringing the fans to their home court in chinatown after the nba lockout. >> you hear the word lockout, we get scared. so, we were hoping they would resolve this as quickly as possible and come back. >> scott is the general manager of the district chophouse and brewery. it is located one block away from the wizards home court. the five month long nba lockout was a brutal way for all of the bars and restaurants near the

verizon center, especially the gallery place which is literally next door. >> of course we were concerned about the lockout. we look forward to any event at the verizon center. >> they average 15,000 fans per game, far below the league average but that still is almost 700,000 people a season parking, eating and drinking at these bars and restaurants. >> there is definitely a noticeable spike when the wizards play next door. >> reporter: what's important as the washington wizards are for the restaurant, the only thing worse than an nba lockout would have been an next hl lockout. almost every restaurant isn't afraid to admit its biggest source of business is the washington capitals. i'm kristin fisher, 9news now. well, wizards fans booed kris humphries aka, the former mr. kim kardashian. but he scored 21 points for new jersey. d.c. blows a 21-point lead as the wizards fell to the nets

90-84. the wizards will visit the hawks tomorrow night. crews in prince george's county began picking up christmas trees for their recycling program. if you missed it, you can bring your tree to three county facilities. other parts of our region have christmas tree recycling programs set up. and the district of columbia, you should put your christmas tree out between january 2nd and january 9th. any trees picked up by the 14th will be recycled. after that, you can put the tree out with the trash. now, in fairfax county, you can put out any tree shorter than eight feet on your regular recycling day through january 14th. if your tree is larger than eight feet, call your trash collector. in montgomery county, you can put your tree out on your normal recycling day all the way through february 3rd. do not put the tree in a

plastic bag. in charles county, the county will mulch your tree through january 14th for free! there are 11 recycling sites around the county. you can go to our web site, wusa9.com. we have details on all of the places around the region. go to wusa9.com. now, olga is here with the weather. i think you need to keep your umbrella handy. >> yeah t is going to be a little bit damp and dreary for the remainder of the afternoon. i think until sunset. we're in for the chilly temperatures. we're dealing with a wind chill right now. also tomorrow, we're going to have some winds that are going to be pretty fierce into the afternoon. so, it is going to be kind of a mixed bag for the next two days before we get into some very decent weather to round out the end of december. right now though, our skies are mostly cloudy. we have some winter moving on through. the rainfall so far hasn't been too bad. the steadiest rain is now just moving into the region. we're starting to see that across the d.c. metro. temperatures right now are in the lower range to middle 40s.

we're going to hover right around 45, 46 degrees. most of the day. a few locations, mainly down to the south and off to the west could inch up toward 51. it won't be too bad temperaturewise in the afternoon. when you factor in the wind chill, it will simply feel like the 30s and 40s for most of the day today. we start to clear out. 6:00 to 7:00, our transition hour. partly cloudy. even pretty clear overnight tonight. so, here is how we're looking long-term. we have mainly cloudy skies, all of the moisture moving through. the good news is that the steadiest rain, the heaviest, the yellows and reds have moved off toward the north and toward the east. most of us are just getting the moderate rain at least for this hour. moisture is widespread all around so you don't want to be without that umbrella for the remainder of the day. at least the daylight hours. then we'll start to see some clearing later on. the sunshine will return although we'll have some heavy rain this afternoon, we'll clear things out nicely and cool it down tomorrow where we struggle to reach the lower range 40s and the winds

tomorrow will make it feel cooler as well. the new year's forecast is looking great. outside right now, we do have the 40s as we are a little bit rain-cooled as the moisture is coming on through. but at the airport, it is actually feeling like 41 degrees at this hour with the wind out of the east near 3 miles per hour. the future cast brings the steadiest rain in right around 3:00. i'll set this forward from 12:15. notice it gets a little bit clearer right after 7:00, 8:00, later on tonight, we'll look pretty good during the overnight hours. with the clearing skies and very few clouds tonight, temperatures are going to take a tumble again. a cool start to your wednesday morning and then the remainder of that forecast look pretty good as well. the rain potential is not very large. we're only less than a quarter of an inch right now. most of us will see about 3/4 of an inch by 7:00 tonight. we're not expecting any totals over an inch except in the heavy downpour areas. highs today around the upper 40s to near 50 degrees for the city center. most of us like frederick and

leesburg will stay into the middle and lower 40s. the next three days, it is a bit of improvement every day. first we bring back the sunshine on wednesday. push our temperatures to 41 degrees because of that breeze, it is going to be quite cool for tomorrow. then we slowly inch forward. 44 degrees under partly cloudy skies for your thursday. by friday, we're back to 50 degrees. we're feeling pretty good. by saturday and sunday, we're dry for the holiday weekend. and then we bring back those 50s for monday as well. 9news now will continue after this.

i am one on one today with

one of my newest best friends. her name is amy ginsburg. she's the president and ceo of one of my favorite organizations because they just put me on the board. and let's talk about media kids because it provides such a service for youngsters in the metropolitan area. >> it does. what neediest kids does is help kids in ten different school districts here in d.c., maryland and virginia get the basic essentials they need. things like eyeglasses, coats and clothing, socks and underwear, school supplies, uniforms, all of those basics that you need in order to get an education. >> in order to learn. >> exactly. >> you can't see and you can't hear and a lot of kids go to school in tattered clothes. they don't want to go to school. they stay out of school. >> exactly. >> this is just a fantastic program. now, let's talk about how the kids get it because teachers see the youngsters. >> right. >> they don't embarrass the youngsters. >> no, not at all. a teacher notices that johnny

can't see the white board or that mary has stopped coming to school and it turns out it is because she doesn't have a coat and it is 30 degrees outside. they type in a few bits of data into the computer, out spits a purchase order and the family takes it to one of our vendor partners. staples or target, safeway, we have a uniform company. that way the family gets to purchase their goods just like any other family. >> they can get whatever they want. >> exactly. >> for a certain amount of money so they can pick a red coat or whatever. so, the kids actually get an opportunity to participate. >> yes. and there's something so wonderful about getting that purple coat that you really want or the pink backpack that you really want. >> all right. now, i had a friend ask me if i'm a teacher, how do i find out about neediest kids. what should school systems do? >> go to our web site, www.neediestkids.org. and all of the information is there.

>> we're going to put you on my web site at jchayward.com. we're going to link you on there. >> great. >> so if someone wants to get information about neediest kids, if you want to be a volunteer with the program, please go to their web site and by the way, you have a great fund-raiser coming up in january. i will be there. let's talk about it. >> it is called decadent delights. it will be on january 21st down at the carnegie institute of washington. and basically, it is a chance to break all of your new year's resolutions by enjoying chocolates and desserts and wine from various bakeries and total wine and more. it will be a wonderful time. >> there is information on your web site about that. i want you to come out and support. i just love this program. it is just a fabulous program. it leaves people with dignity. it is not a program where it is just a handout. not saying anything is wrong with that but the family goes to the store and they're able to pick out the things that they want. >> absolutely. >> i congratulate you and all of your staff members and please, if you would like to

contribute or be a partner, go to neediestkids.org. thanks for being here, amy. >> thank you. >> thank you for being with us. come back and visit us at 5:00 and stay dry!