hello, i'm j.c. hayward. thanks for joining us. the g.o.p. presidential candidates are making their final pitches on the eve of the country's first primary. they are racing all over new hampshire, trying to win

undecided voters before tomorrow's critical selections. manuel gallegus is on the campaign trail. he has the latest information. [ applause ] >> reporter: mitt romney got a standing ovation from business leaders in nashua. on the final full day of campaigning before the new hampshire primary, the former massachusetts governor virtually ignored his opponents and slammed president obama. >> i don't know how we would survive four more years of barack obama. it scares me to think of the debt we would have in place. >> reporter: his supporters are buying the message. >> mitt romney is the guy that will turn the economy around. that's my main concern. >> reporter: time is running out for romney's rival to knock him down here in new hampshire. romney has a solid lead having spent much of the past two years campaigning here. >> i have such -- >> romney's closest competitor here is ron paul. >> he's the only one that can go up against obama because mitt romney has been such a moderate. he's like hardly a conservative. >> reporter: the latest cbs

news poll shows a much tighter race against the nation. newt gingrich is in second place. rick santorum has moved up to third. gingrich's focus goes beyond tomorrow's primary. >> i think i'll do well enough here tuesday night that in south carolina on wednesday morning, it will be very clear. the game is on between a reagan conservative and a massachusetts moderate. >> reporter: jon huntsman has spent more time in the state than any other candidate but still lags in the polls. manuel gallegus, cbs news, manchester, new hampshire. rick perry is skipping new hampshire. he is already in south carolina where he is looking to revive his candidacy with help from the state social conservative and tea party voters. meanwhile, members of the public are invited to participate in the search for a new fairfax county executive. braddock district supervisor john c. cook will hold a town hall meeting tonight. he will have a chance to weigh in and ask questions about the

nationwide search for a new executive. the current executive, anthony griffin, steps down from his post in april. tonight's meeting is being held at the kings park library at 9000 burke lake road in burke. it all begins at 7:30 p.m. honors today for montgomery county police officer. edward paden jr. was recognized for his actions during the 2010 hostage situation at the discovery network headquarters. paden was off-duty when a gunman stormed the building in silver spring. he went into the building and put himself in a position where he served as the eyes and ears of the s.w.a.t. team who later took down the gunman and freed the hostages. we'll have more on this story coming up during 9news now beginning at 5:00 p.m. >> come on, bud. a search and rescue dog has

been reunited with his handler. 3-year-old vito ran off last week during an open field training, size at white marsh park in bowie, maryland. vito was training with the fairfax county urban search and rescue team. the dog showed up at bowie motor works where employees looked after him. they didn't find out who he belonged to until one of them spotted the missing dog fliers late on saturday. trainer sonia heritage says she'll now be getting vito a microchip. a maryland hunter is being treated for wounds that he received when he was shot by a fellow hunter. this happened in the woods this weekend and on the 9200 block of oxon hill road in fort washington. the victim was shot in the stomach by someone in his group. police say all of the hunters are now facing charges. >> at this point, charges are going to be pending against all five of the persons because

hunting is obviously illegal in our parks. >> the 60-year-old victim is expected to make a full recovery. one year after surviving an assassination attempt, congresswoman gabrielle giffords led the pledge of allegiance at a memorial in tucson, arizona. the arizona democrat did not speak at the ceremony. yesterday marked one year since the shooting rampage. six people were killed, 13 others were injured. the congresswoman's husband, astronaut mark kelly, did address the crowd. >> tucson remains a great city, a special place, an oasis in the desert where our bonds of community were strengthened under the stress and sadness of a horrible moment.

>> here in the district, the brady campaign to end gun violence hosted a vigil at shiloh baptist church in northwest washington. the vigils were organized by the group nationwide. a 25-year-old man from the former yugoslavia has been charged in an alleged plot to attack crowded areas in the tampa, florida, area. prosecutors say his targets included nightclubs and he also intended to use a car bomb, assault rifle, and other explosives. the suspect is due in court later this afternoon. tensions between iran and the united states are building up once again. an iranian court has sentenced an american man to death after convicting him of being a spy for the cia. tara mergener has more. >> reporter: an iranian court has convicted this american of working for the cia and sentenced him to death.

28-year-old amir is a former marine who worked as a translator in iraq and afghanistan. iranian officials say hick meddy got special training before entering iran for what they call an intelligence mission. his father insists he was not a spy. his son was visiting his grandmothers in iran when he was arrested. hikmedi was born in arizona, his family is originally from iran. his parents say they're shock and terrified. iran's law gives him 20 days to appeal the verdict. the state department has demanded his release. hikmedi's death sentence is the latest in a series of incidents that is escalating tension between the u.s. and iran. his trial took place as the obama administration announced tough new sanctions aimed at punishing iran for its nuclear program. iran has stepped up its effort to enrich uranium at a new underground bunker cooring cooring to diplomat.

the u.s. and allies believe that is iran's real goal. >> they need to know that if they take that step, that they're going to get stopped. >> but tehran insists its nuclear program is only for research and energy. the new sanctions against iran make it harder for the country to sell its oil. tara mergener for cbs news, the white house. >> iranian officials have threatened to shut down the strait of hormuz. 1/6 of the world's oil supply sales through the strait to reach open oceans. still ahead on 9news now, several popular drugs are being pulled from shelves amid safety concerns. we'll have details just ahead. plus, bottoms up! a new study says red wine could help fight breast cancer. we'll have these stories and more when we come back.

a consumer alert for people who use excedrin, no-doze, bufferin or gas-x. there are concerns that the bottles could contain stray pills from other medicines or chipped or broken tablets. the recall includes certain excedrin and no-doze medicines with a december 2014 expiration date. gas-x prevention and bufferin medicines with a 2013

expiration date are also included in the recall. recent studies have highlighted the danger of too much alcohol. when it comes to risk factors for breast cancer. but anita brikman tells us, there may be one type of drink with a different effect. >> i enjoy a glass of red wine. >> for years now, we with women have been told to limit our alcohol intake to lower the risk of breast cancer. now, a new study suggests drinking red wine in moderation may actually have a protective effect. researchers at cedars-sinai looked at women who drank eight ounces of cabinner nay sauvignon or chardonnay and then switched to white wine. >> in red wine, the hormone levels, the estrogen levels decreased while the testosterone levels increased. that may be a change for risk factors for breast cancer risk. >> the doctor says it is

encouraging news because the change in hormone patterns suggest red wine may prevent the growth of cancer cells. the new findings challenge much of the current research on alcohol and breast cancer. one study late last year found women had a 15% increased risk of the disease if they drank three to six drinks a week. >> for taste, i actually prefer white wine. >> reporter: dr. shufeld says they didn't see the same protective effect with white wipe but that doesn't mean it ups the cancer risk. >> red wine has the red seed and the red grapes. that's been found to have phyto chemicals whereas white wine did not change those. >> reporter: anita brikman, 9news now. >> the antioxidants in red wine have also been touted as having a protectiveness for the heart. but there is no question that heavy drinking of any type of alcohol khrels out any health benefit. >> coming up on 9news now at noon, it has been called one of the best small charities in the

washington area. we'll introduce you to a group that provides a lifeline to the homeless. of course, howard has our forecast. >> j.c., cold and now snowing very lightly here in washington. we've got some flurries. other areas seeing some heavier snow showers but it is kind of on the moderate side temperaturewise, i mean with temperatures in the 30s to around 40. not too concerned about that. we'll look at live doppler 9000 hd and tell you what you can expect for the rest of the week when 9news now at noon returns.

24 years ago, an organization was started in alexandria to fight homelessness. community lodgings began providing housing and services to the poor. recently, the catalog of philanthropy named a nonprofit one of the best small charities in the washington area. today, i feature them on hero central. >> i think it is coming or not. then i say ok, i need to be strong. and i need to change my life. i move. >> maria es espinoza was able to improve her life and provide a secure future for her two daughters. she's just one of many whose lives were dramatically changed by community lodging.

>> i've watched families come in, like a family will come in and the negative look on their faces and you know, just sadness and then you know, after a couple of months, they come in, they're smiling with me. they're saying hey, bonnie. it is funny to watch their attitudes change in terms of i got a handle on this. >> it is estimated that 10% of all homeless people in northern virginia lived in alexandria. besides providing transitional housing, community lodgings offers youth and adult education. >> my oldest daughter is 13. she's in 7th grade. she speaks spanish, english. now, she's learning german. she got as and bs. >> each afternoon, low income and predominantly latino students come here for after school programs. they get tutoring in english

and more importantly, they learn how to avoid gang activity. >> they come in and they're demoralized and what we do is work with them, showing them that they can save money. that they can get better jobs. their children can be educated. that they can be educated and they can make it. >> community lodgings is guiding families to independence and self- sufficiency. >> when we talk about helping the homeless here in northern virginia, in alexandria, there is a dire need. we take families from the shelters and work with them so they're independent. it is successful. >> for more information about the programs offered by community lodgings, go to jchayward.com. howard is here with the forecast. >> little snow in spots right now. just a little bit. but it is really more conversational and kind of pretty. temperatures thankfully are above freezing. so, it is falling. in spots, it is falling at a

decent clip. it is not sticking. this is i-81 north of harrisonburg. you can see the snow coming down there. you can also see traffic moving just fine there. this is at exit 257 on i-81 moving just fine. we have a few flurries, occasionally bigger flakes coming down. it is 40 degrees. other than wet roads in spots, that's about the worst of what we'll be talking about this afternoon and this evening. let's show you the day planner for the rest of the afternoon. we have the threat for those flurries or snow showers, do you mean of sprinkles as well. temperatures are going to just hover around the 40 degree mark here in town. some areas north and west, even colder than that. not that much colder. 37, 38, winds will slowly turn more to the south. if you're going out this evening, even through 9:00, 10:00, especially east of 95, i can't rule out a few more of these snow flurries, snow showers going on. temperatures expected above freezing. we're looking at a chilly day today. rain and snow showers and

flurries. tomorrow though, it will be another decent day turning milder. we're back above the 50 degree mark. low 50s. by wednesday, rain develops. rain wednesday. it is going to start mid to late morning and then be with us overnight wednesday night into the early hours on thursday. some of this rain could be moderate to heavy and then behind that system, we'll turn much colder friday, saturday and sunday. your highs will stay in the 30s, maybe even colder than that this weekend. we've been watching the moisture moving in from west to east across the region. you get north of d.c., not that much precip. i know there is green here. a, it is not as bad as it looks. visibility, 10 miles, 10 miles, 10 miles. even if it snowing a little bit, visibilities at 10 miles is obscuring the visibility. some snow in the park. maybe along skyline drive, you got a little bit of stickage. other than that, roads are wet. snow flurries, light snow into northern fairfax county, about to come in toward bethesda,

potomac region as that comes across us. the bark is much worse than the bite here. temperatures in the 30s to around 40 although in stanton, that's where it is 32. we'll watch out for that. here is a look at our forecast then for this afternoon. temperatures today about 40 with the occasional rain and snow showers. tonight, 30 to 35. tomorrow, 53. by wednesday, 52. but rain developing. some of that rain could be heavy at times as we head toward thursday, mid-50s, clearing out. much colder friday, saturday and sunday. temperatures in the 30s with some snow showers possible friday night and again on sunday. stick around. we're going to the kitchen when 9news now at noon returns.

i'm one on one with rene brooks. you know the demand for locally-grown food has increased dramatically. so, what is being done to strengthen that connection? between local farmers and institutions? there is going to be a special conference that is going to be held this weekend at lansdowne. rene brooks is here to talk about that. why is this so important? >> well, like you said, the demand for local food is growing. lots of times when i come down here to speak about local food, we focus on farmer's markets. it has to be in other places like stores, like schools, lunches, like institutions like the national conference center where we're holding our tk-frps this weekend. and you know, college cafeterias, all of the different places are looking for ways to get local food into the food that they're serving. >> so, you're going to have local farmers at the conference

and some institutions so that everybody can understand what each role is. >> that's absolutely right. we do the conference every year. it is our 13th annual conference. we're focusing on the institution piece. we're looking forward to having a lot of the big buyers there, whole foods market, chipotle, blue ridge produce, bon appetit management, and we're going to have the farmers there so they can figure out how to work well together. >> now, you've brought a lunch. this is important. it is not just any lunch. this is a lunch for school kids. >> that's right. d.c. central kitchen, mike curtain, the ceo will be one of our keynote speakers, they do a school lunch program. they source a lot of food from local farmers. it is a great example of how you can, even on a budget, get locally stored food into institutional food service. this is -- i picked this up today from the middle school. this is the kind of food the kids eat each day. the chicken is forced from local farms.

in the winter, they have a little more trouble sourcing the produce locally but they work with distributors who help them do that. >> you have some chicken breasts. they look beautiful. these are from local -- >> from airshire farm in virginia. available through moms organic market and several locations in the area. the thing that's interesting is for farmers who sell at farmer's markets, they have to learn the packaging required and some of the requirements are different for being in stores. that's some of the things we'll help them work with. >> what can the average person do to make sure this happens. what can we do? >> well, when you see products like this, you can buy them. you can also ask at your stores or local restaurants or at your kid's schools or at the hospitals you patronize, whether they include this kind of food in their meals and if they don't, ask them to do it. >> ok. you want locally-farm and produced food. >> that's right. >> future harvest casa is an organization that helps to put

that together. >> all right. we'll have you on our web site, jchayward.com. wish you the best of luck at your conference this weekend. thanks for coming by. thank you for being with us. come back and visit us at 5:00. have a great day!