according to the mayor, have been camping out since october. >> i think that's ridiculous. i think that will never work. >> reporter: as you can imagine, mcpherson square protestors were not pleased by the request to close down. >> everybody here cannot fit in freedom plaza. >> reporter: nor by the qualifications. >> it's clean here. >> he confirms the national park service received mayor gray's letter at mcfearson care but can't comment beyond that. this morning, a teen still fighting for his life after being shot yesterday morning. he's one of three victims hit during a shooting in southeast d. c. around the same time. all of the shootings were within a 20 block radius on alabama avenue, 4th street and wheeler hill road.

this unfolded near martin luther king jr. elementary school. police found clothing and a weapon not far from the school. the other two victims have expected to be okay -- are expected to be okay. police appropriationing to catch the -- promising to catch the crooks. >> in the past few months several armed robberies in the parks and chevy chase but the people responsible always make a quick getaway. >> reporter: as ken molestina reports the chief addressed the concerns personally. >> reporter: the targeted northwest neighborhoods are often quiet and peaceful although not immune to crime this is the first time these robberies have been abundant and aggressive and they're happening in different pockets of d. c.'s second district. >> we're doing a lot of different things. >> reporter: worried neighbors packed into a church thursday night for a meeting to address the problem. the chief of police as well as other brass were on hand the get their message across. >> reporter: we will catch them. >> reporter: some neighbors say it can be dated back to last november but as of january 1st police confirm the spike in

crimes have gone up drastically. in all cases men armed with guns are approaching their victims near their homes and robbing them. there's no specific suspect information but police say it's the work of a group of about three street thugs targeting the well to do neighborhoods. >> that's very unsettling. >> reporter: investigators are asking anyone to give them a call no matter how minor the complaint may be. kathy lanier says it sometimes leads to a case beingsoeverred. >> they'll start reporting suspicious activity and give us the tips they need. >> reporter: those who are living in fear here are hoping the cops hold up their end of the promise. >> it's the uncertainty of knowing whether or not the police are going to catch someone and put an end to this crime spree. >> reporter: there aren't my m leads in the investigation but police are looking into a two door dark colored mitsubishi

that's being used in at least some of the crime. they hope now that the word is out to neighbors the tips they need to solve the case will start to come through. i'm ken molestina, 9news now. a recent heavy main made for -- rain made for a sticky situation in clinton, maryland where a man there had to be rescued after being stuck in the mud. it was at the regional park yesterday afternoon. the man sunk in the mud where a large lake had been drained. prince george's county collapse team rushed into the scene and laid down some boards and pulled the man to safety. if you get a call saying you need to pay your pep cobill using a potential prepaid credit card. this is a cam. that's your arrange -- scam. that's your warning. pepco says nearly two dozen customers have received a call. they're told their electricity will be shut off unless they pay using a green dot visa card. customers are told to call another number where personal information is obtained and money take fran the card.

pepco says you need to remember this, its agents will always be able to give you the name on the account, the address and the past due balance. the fbi and secret service are investigating this scam. now here's a deal that is real. thousands of dollars worth of help to bring down the heating bill. prince george's county department of housing and community development is offering free assistance to eligible households. an energy autoforwill come to your house and fix the problems. this is up to $6,500. to be eligible, you must meet income requirements, be elderly disabled or have a family with children less than 5 years old. call -- for the help. 4:34, here's a look at other stories this morning. a fallen soldier was remembered yesterday. in his hometown of woodsboro, maryland. specialist ronald wildrick died back on december 11th after his he was hit by improvised

explosive device. or ied in afghanistan. he was not only being honored as a hero but he was also a father. he leaves behind two daughters. the alabama teenager who disappeared in aruba has now been officially declared dead. natalee holloway went missing in 2005 on the last night of her high school senior trip. her body was never found. she was last seen with joran van der sloot who remains the only suspect in her disappearance. now yesterday, van der sloot pleaded guilty to a 2010 murder of a woman in lima. the two year anniversary of the haiti earthquake was remembered in northwest d. c. at the embassy. more than 316,000 people were killed in the 7.0 quake in 2010. recovery has been slow. half a million haitians are still living in temporary camps. celebrations to honor reverend martin luther king jr. get underway today. students from watkins elementary school in the

district are visiting the lincoln memorial this afternoon. there they will recite king's i have a dream speech from the same steps where he spoke back in 1963. the national park service will have a wreath laying service sundayed a noon and -- monday at noon and monday a wreath laying will take place on the new king memorial at 8:00 a.m. now some use king day as a way the give back to the community and on 9news now at 6:00 a.m., how you can get involved in giving back. time now, 4:36. the iphone 4s pretty popular right? wait until you see though what some customers did when they had trouble getting one. and fallout continues after controversial video of marines urinating on taliban fighters. now some are coming to the defense of the fighters. that story at 4:48. keep it here.

4:38. front coming through now. we've got rain showers, little bit of snow up to hagerstown and in the mountains right now but get rid of that very quickly. mid 30s at 9:00 and recover to maybe 40 but a very windy day with a wind advisory north and west. we'll talk about that and a cold week in about five minutes, now with monika samtani now with the age causing problems on the roads. this were and at 11:00 last night on canal road a car hit a tree and brought wires down. it was blocked between arizona avenue and reservoir road and right now it's been temporarily reopened. you can go ahead and use it on the inbound side. we're on area roadways coming up in my next report,. 4:39 and i am watching your money. wall street is having its best month since october. and we're going to have to see the earnings out this morning from jp morgan chase can help sustain that rally.

green arrows overnight. checking the numbers the dow stands this morning at 12,471, it added almost 22 points in trading yesterday. nasdaq meantime was up almost 14 and the s&p 500 was up by 3 points. if you live in maryland, you will not be seeing an increase in your state taxes. at least that's what maryland state senate president mike miller says. he made that promise during a speech at the state's economic development association yesterday. governor o'malley pitched raising the sales tax as a way to pay $1 billion budget deficit for roads and for bridge repairs but miller believes the gas tax increase is a better option. a positive sign in the housing market. realty track reports that foreclosures fell to their lowest level in 2007. according to the online marketer filings were down 34% last year and although this sounds like good news, the company says the declines are largely due to delays in paperwork. apple has to postpone the

sales of its iphone 4s in its beijing stores today. angry customers and gangs of scalpers threw eggs at the flagship store. the reason why? the store was opening up late. hundreds of people lined up to buy the smart phone. the store says et canceled the opening due to fears about that. and its employees, customers can still buy it online. i know what you're going to say. >> what is this. >> it's a phone people. >> that's ail i'm saying, you're right. >> and you're absolutely right, it's phone. >> come on man. >> but pretty cool. coming up at 4:42 now. some parents are calling for a bald barbie. them one. at 4:450, what's behind the push. and you don't have to give up the morning cup of oj. why the fda is not recalling orange juice after fungicide contamination. [ mom ] hey guys.

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with cinnabon cinnamon are an irresistible sunday morning idea. nothing calls them to the table faster. sunday morning ideas made easy. here's a better idea... pillsbury grands! flaky layers biscuits. in just 15 minutes, the light delicate layers add a layer of warmth to your next dinner. pillsbury grands! dinner ideas made easy. welcome back, first weather time now. glad you're with us, changes are acoming and boy did i see ponding on the roadway on the way in. did you get it? >> still have rain now and it will be out of here in the next hour and then the cold and the winds. >> i was surprised because i step outside expecting the arctic air and it wasn't there yet. >> but you get up so early. a lot of folks out west are already feeling the cold and what's coming in right now and when you leave work today. you won't be surprised at all.

you will get it in a big way. the cold is coming and it's already here in spots. we start off though with a wind advisory, that's going to be the big player for the day. north and west of town. this covers howard, montgomery, loudoun, northern fauquier and points north and west of the shenandoah valley. winds that could get 50, maybe 55 to the high peaks out west and that goes until 6:00 p.m. the rest of us certainly will have a windy day but not -- not as windy as those areas in the advisory. we have gusts now and they're now 29 at andrews, 47 rat national airport. that's the highest wind gusts although down south. 39-mile an hour gust at the patuxent river naval air station and that will be the case today. lots of wind. the bus stop forecast, on the right side for this one. partly sunny, windy and cold. 35 to 45 still milder south and east of that sunrise at 7:26. and then today, our day planner, well, we'll get some sunshine but a windy day.

mid 30s at 8:00. near 40 at noon and that's going to be the temperature high. we're going stay around 40 degrees, maybe holding in the upper 30s. look at the winds though. west to southwest, 19, 20, 19, these are the sustained winds but at times those gusts 40, 45, maybe 50 miles per hour and at 8:00, we're back to 37 and with winds and temperatures around 40, windchills today stay in the 20s. indoor recess for sure. check this out. a lot of snow going into western pennsylvania and just a little bit clipping parts of northern and western maryland. you can see it right around hagerstown where we've got the blue coming in now. that would be snow. the rest of the area looking at the rain showers and now most of it getting east of 270 and east of 95 here. lighter rains into charles county. prince george's county. d. c. just about done here in the district. but montgomery and howard county, little bit more to go. there are the showers from braiden up to -- baden up to upper marlboro and calvert county. howard and montgomery counties and you can see the rain showers there but you get back

towards around potomac and great falls and virginia, you're done with the rain for the most part. and up 270 in urbanna, frederick, some light showers still going on up there to mount airy. we have a little bit of snow into far eastern washington county, northern frederick county into smithburg and myersville seeing a little bit of that. but this stuff should be gone in the next 20, 30 minutes. the temperatures you can see they're coming down. we've got good visibility here on the michael & son weather cam with light rain on the hour at reagan national and a west northwest winds at 24. the temperatures are coming down because this is rotating to us, this is going to be a ton of snow in garrett county in the ski areas, could pick up a foot or so. 40 degrees today, windy. wind advisory until 6:00. 34, breezy conditions tomorrow. after being in the 20s tonight. sunday, 34. less wind. so that will be the nicer day of the weekend. by monday, mlk day, 42. milder tuesday in the 50s but we'll turn wet as well and then back in the 30s wednesday and

thursday. monika? every week we seem to get that one little day of respite. and then it gets cold again. that's what to expect this weekend and with the cold conditions some icing conditions may occur as well. right now though it's warm enough that you have the wet rows and be aware of that on the northbound side of 95 though right now it looks fine to the occoquan river and into springfield up on to 395. a live look first into springfield where all the lanes are open coming up from route 644 you can see a few people out right now. although it's friday morning light, see the beltway. then we'll take a look at 395 at the 14th street bridge. the lept of 395 looks pretty much like this right now as you head up from landmark to the 14th street bridge and into downtown. this time on the west side of town on the maps, looking good on 66 and the dulles toll road. in herndon year, inbound on the dulles toll road looks fine. coming up in my next report, we'll go into maryland, mike? conservatives are now defending mitt romney against

the attacks from newt gingrich and other candidates because some analysts say it looks more and more like romney may be the party nominee and you know howup ares get behind the nominee -- republicans get behind the nominee eventually. he's trying to also send a message to the gop, it is time to stop bickering. meanwhile, newt gingrich continues to pull out all the stops against romney after a big infusion of cash. ignoring the call to stop the attacks on his rival. gingrich is blasting romney comparing him to former massachusetts presidential candidates michael dukakis and john kerry. >> just like john kerry he speaks french too. >> sorry, that's kind of funny. this weekend leaders from across the country from -- the nation will meet in texas to try to agree on a romney alternative. and stop him from getting to the white house. two of the four means seen in a -- marines seen in a video

urinating on dead taliban nighters in afghanistan -- fighters in afghanistan have been identified based in camp lejeune. while their actions are being condemned by their superiors, other people are coming to their defense. gary nuremberg explains. >> reporter: the video shows what appears to be marines urinating on fighters. >> leon panetta was joined by damning statements from the chairman of the joints chief, commandant of the marine corps and the secretary of state who promised anyone involved -- >> must be held fully accountable. >> reporter: the white house press secretary. >> it's deplorable. reprehensible. and unacceptable. >> reporter: but online, one blogger wrote -- i do love those marines, i don't care that these marines wee weed on murderous savages, they won, victory tinkles so what? 9news now at 7:00 -- >> this kind of conduct is a major violation of the law of war, first because it's wrong,

it's still immoral conduct even though you can sometimes relate to the horrors and frustrations of the battlefield. >> reporter: visitors worry that some -- >> will try to demonize the entire armed forces, the marine corps which has a lot of individuals that are not this type of character. >> the marine corps to me is something of -- that's like this statue behind me, it's pride, it's honor. and that -- that wasn't pride and honor for me. >> reporter: more than 100,000 marines remain in afghanistan. a taliban statement making it clear it increases the risks to the american forces. >> the americans will see with their own eyes. >> reporter: david martin reading is taliban statement -- to understand the anger of afghans at seeing the video, remember the incensed outrage and fury felt by americans when our troops were dragged through the treats of mega-- streets of

mogadishu after they were killed in fighting in 1993. nearly 19 years later some can clearly recall the images and clearly still feel rage at the way our forces were treated. the images on the new tape could like wise influence afghan views of america for years. gary nuremberg, 9news now. barbie has been an astronaut, a teach herb and a doctor among other roles, now there's a call for the doll to be bald and beautiful. new jersey mom jane bingham is trying to get mattel to make a bald barbie to help young girls cope with cancer. her daughter's friend has leukemia. now she started is facebook campaign to encourage the doll maker to make the doll. bingham lost her hair. so far, mattel sent her a form letter thanking her for her support. orange juice is not going to be pulled off shelves after all. the food and drug administration will not make

that order to recall oj that is believed to be contaminated with a fungicide because the low levels of the residue are not harmful they say. coca-cola says it was the company that alerted the federal regulators about the fungicide in its minute maid and simply orange brands and the orange juice of its competitors as well. a second drug company says it plans to market a new form of the highly addictive pain kaler hydro-- painkiller hydrocodone. they fear a national arms race. the drug would be manufactured by the israeli based teva pharmaceuticals. it says the drug is in the final stages of testing. pretty women who take drugs forpy -- pregnant women who take drugs for depression may be putting their babies at risk. they're more likely to give birth to babies with high blood pressure many their lungs. the chances of developing the

problem are low but still advise doctors to use caution when they treat depression in pregnant women. well, the american heart association says it is safe for heart and stroke patients to have sex. the association says sexual activity accounts for only a small number of heart attacks but patients should consult the doctor first. 4:53. are we doing according to money.com? >> no, we are doing question of the day. >> time to do the question of the day for you. jessica? >> leave your answer on our facebook page and i'm wondering if they have this job before they married the millionaire or after they married the millionaire. that would change my answer. facebook, let us know what you think. we'll be right back.

welcome back. 4:5. your weather first on this friday morning and you'll notice we have some rain around. this has changed to slight snow in some counties but not really expecting much in the way of problems other than wet roads. we have temperatures this morning which will drop into the mid 30s and recover barely to 40 degrees this afternoon. and the winds at times could gust to 50 miles an hour so wind advisory in effect north and west until 6:00 p.m. monika? we're going to take a look live over in frederick on i-70 east of i-270 as you head to 270. heading south from this point, to the point where the lanes divide and over to the beltway here at university boulevard.

no problems to report this morning. more on maryland roadways coming up in my next report. back to you mike and jessica. thanks monika. everyone seems to have tim tebow fever nowadays. >> i'm sort of in. i am too. colorado governor john hicken hooper took some time out of the state of the state address the say some words about the denver broncos. >> indulge me a moment as i use 15 words of this speech and that would be in honor of tim tebow. 15 words to take a little football. -- to talk a little football. good luck to the resilient denver broncos, beat those new england patriots on saturday night. >> it sounds like the audience didn't mind the shoutout one bit. as the scene here there, the broncos are actually taking on the -- the broncos are taking on the new england patriots. what's that? broncos are taking on the new

england patriots saturday evening. it's going to be a tough game in my house because maggie and i are patriots fans but we are really excited about tim tebow. it's going to be pretty interesting. >> are you going to have the wings there too? >> oh, yeah. >> get the wings and pizza going? >> oh, yeah. absolutely. okay -- last night it was the critics that had their say. >> critics choice awards were handed out and it was the artists who took home the most? suzanne marquee has the results. >> reporter: a black and white silent film, the big winner at the 17th annual critics' choice awards. >> i think it touches an audience the way few films have in memory. >> reporter: "the help" also got three awards. >> i tell you i'm very lucky i got on this ride early on by loaning the director money to make the movie and then feel obligated to cast me in it. so yeah it was a smart move on my part. >> reporter: "the help" won best ensemble, best supporting actress for spencer and best

actress. >> viola davis, "the help." >> five hours on the bus going to acting classes, and i was 14 years old and coming from very challenging circumstances. i absolutely knew i wanted to be an actor because i wanted to be somebody. >> george clooney. >> reporter: best actor went to george clooney. what's it like to be validated by the critics. >> it's nice because i've been invalidated by them a few times in my career. but it's nice because i get to talk about sean penn. >> reporter: he handed penn the joel segal award on the second anniversary of the quake in haiti. >> it's so important to us that it happened on this night. >> reporter: christopher plumber took home best supporting actor for his role in "beginners." >> being honored by a critic is like being honored for a re