in south carolina and have them spend their money here. >> reporter: paul will resume campaigning thursday after heading to capitol hill on wednesday to vote on whether to increase the nation's debt ceiling. bigad shaban, cbs news. >> well, if you missed the first 18 of them, the candidates have one more debate thursday before saturday's south carolina primary. on friday, we'll get the final results from the iowa caucuses in the preliminary returns, mitt romney did indeed win by eight votes over rick santorum. president obama plans to accept the democratic nomination for president in charlotte, north carolina, that will take place september 6th. he will give his acceptance speech outside the bank of america stadium. the 74,000 seat stadium is home to the nfl's carolina panthers. the convention will only last three days instead of four. it is scheduled to open on labor day at the charlotte motor speedway. some of the internet's biggest web sites have gone

dark. wikipedia, the blog boing boing and the cheese comedy network have shut down in protest to the sopa, antipiracy bill critics say will end the internet as we know it. it aims to crack down on copyright infringement. if sopa passes, they would be able to complain to law enforcement officials and get it shut down. it could lead to americans losing access to thousands of sites across the web. u.s. capital police say last night a smoke bomb was thrown over the fence at the white house as hundreds of occupy protestors massed outside the gates. no one was arrested but people inside the white house had to exit on pennsylvania avenue as the situation was being resolved. this is was taken when the group was demonstrating on the u.s. capitol. they were beating drums in an attempt to have their voices heard by the nation's leaders as they came back from recess. the grand jury formal will

i has charged oscar ortega hernandez with attempting to kill the president. police arrested him days after he fired up to a dozen shots at the white house. during a december hearing, a judge ordered him held without bond. the washington suburban sanitary commission is look being to raise your rates to help with operating costs. wssc is proposing a 7.5% increase on water and sewer fees. this would be for residents in montgomery and prince george's counties. customers who use about 210 gallons of water a day would see about a $5 monthly increase. the fallout from the corruption scandal involving former d.c. councilman harry thomas jr. continues. 55-year-old james garvin is expected to plead guilty later today in u.s. district court. he was form alley accused of helping to funnel about $300,000 in city funds to the ward five democrat. a golf pro, he's the third person charged in this alleged

scheme. last friday, marshall banks pleaded guilty to helping cover up thomas' actions of funneling the money. culpepper police need your help. they're trying to find this woman here in the red sweatshirt, wanted in a counterfeit scheme at walmart. this was late last year. it involved $6,000 in fake money. police have already arrested this woman. alanna lesli miller. officer say she would give a walmart cashier fake money in exchange for walmart reloadable money cards. if you have any information on this crime, please call culpepper police. prosecutors say a man suspected in several home invasions in montgomery and prince george's counties has admitted to committing the crimes. in a hearing yesterday, prosecutors said ray admitted to a detective he invaded homes in montgomery and prince george's county. police say he bound six victims at a home in temple hills including a child and sexually assaulted one person. police say just days earlier, he also tied up a family in

bethesda and sexually assaulted their cleaning lady. officers found and arrested ray in north carolina over the weekend. the civil trial of a former frederick county sheriff's deputy is underway in baltimore. the trial comes after the november 2007 death of 20-year- old gerald gray. gray's parents claim former deputy rudy used excessive force when he fired a stun gun to subdue their unarmed son. they're seeking $145 million for what they say was a wrongful death. the state medical examiner could not determine the exact cause of death. 4:34. here is a look at other things making news now. insurance companies could be on the hook for up to $800 million from the loss of the coastal concordia cruise ship off the coast of italy. the death toll has risen to 11 people. 23 others are still listed as missing. among them, an american couple, barbara and jerry heil. the captain allegedly abandoned

the cruise liner and is expected to be released from jail today and placed under house arrest. an iraq war veteran accused of stabbing four homeless men to death in southern california is expected to be arraigned today. prosecutors say of comp poe had already picked out his next victims when police arrested him friday night. if convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of life in prison without parole. seattle, washington, bracing for a major snowstorm. that city is used to getting rain quite a bit of the time. could now be facing up to ten inches of snow today. making roads extremely treacherous there. the snow has been falling on part of western washington in oregon. our time is 4:35. at 4:41, a major american food producer announces a round of layoffs. the federal government is developing a plan to develop an effective way to treat and prevent alzheimer's. >> we're back in two minutes with your weather first.

good morning. time now, 4:38 on your wednesday morning. it is blustery out there. fairly mild. temperatures in the 40s. but looks like we'll get down into the upper 30s as the morning progresses. by noon, lower 40s. lots of sunshine. you will want your sunglasses for today. right now, it is in the upper 40s under partly cloudy conditions. here's monika with your traffic. good morning. >> good morning, anny. good morning, everybody. here's 270 at falls road. it pretty much looks like this coming down from frederick down to the point where the lanes divide. no problems across the american legion bridge west side of town. more on maryland roadways coming up at 4:47.

>> thanks, monika. it is time for the first your money segment of the morning. >> here's jessica doyle with that. >> good morning. we're smiling but i'm the bearer of a little bit of bad news today. we'll put this on the world's bank so it is not really our fault. world bank is warning of impending global economic slowdown. it cut its growth forecast and cautioned developing countries to prepare for shock. it is blaming a recession in europe and weak growth in india, brazil and other developing countries. as for wall street, lots of economic and earnings reports on the agenda today. companies like ebay and goldman sachs are set to report profits and we're going to get reading on inflation, the manufacturing sector and the housing market later this morning. checking the numbers, the dow stands at 12,482, rose 60 points in trading yesterday. nasdaq was up by 17 and the s&p 500 was better by about four and a half points. kraft foods plans to cut 1600 jobs in the u.s. and canada this year as it prepares to split its businesses in two. the cuts will be made among

sales, corporate and other business units. kraft announced in august it would split into two independent companies. a global snacks business and north american grocery business. netflix is now the subject of a lawsuit. a group of shareholders claims the subscription movie rental company gave false statements about its business practices and contracts that propped up their share price. once the alleged fraud became parent, the suit said netflix stock suffered a nosedive. the company is not commenting on the suit. big allegations there. been a rough ride for netflix and its shareholders in the next year or so. >> they tried to bump the stock up by moving to streaming. that went over like a lead balloon. >> kind of destroyed the business for awhile. >> thanks, jess. >> you got it. >> that snack machine in your child's school may not be as bad as we once thought. >> we'll have more on that story plus your weather first in less than two minutes. stay with us.

4:42 on this wednesday morning. halfway through the week. you said it was 60 at midnight?

>> it was 60 at midnight. temperatures dropping as we speak. it is fairly mild as you're stepping out the door. temperatures will fall through the morning hours. it has been kind of crazy this whole winter where you've been getting shots of spring weather, fall weather. not a lot of snow though. right now, we're talking about the breezy conditions. it is gusty out there. that's the big story for this morning. right now, it is 47 in downtown. partly cloudy. we've got northwest sustained winds at 22 miles per hour. gusting over 30 miles per hour. so, kids, hold on to your hats as you're heading out to school at the bus stop this morning. partly cloudy, breezy and cold. 30s and 40s as temperatures will drop this morning. sunrise this morning is at 7:24. for the rest of today, so we'll drop temperatures but then get down to probably upper 30s by 8:00. by noon though, only in the low 40s. that's pretty much it for any warming up today. then by 4:00, back down to 39.

mostly sunny. breezy throughout the day. 8:00 in the mid-30s under clear skies. ok, so breezy this morning. that's the main storm. weather head line for today. grab your coat and the sunglasses. clouds return for thursday and cold again for friday to finish off the shorter work week. our satellite and radar picture showing us the cold front has pushed through for the most part leaving behind it some cold air and then also we've got high pressure building in so we'll see lots of sunshine today. and through part of tomorrow. right now, it is 47 in downtown. 46 in college park. 43 in rockville. vienna, 42. reston in the lower 40s. numbers will continue to drop this morning so don't let the mid-40s fool you. you can see the cold front right behind it. look at that. we've got 30s in pittsburgh. 20s in lexington. this is the cold air that's going to push in this morning and this afternoon. that's why i've got winds coming out of the northwest bringing in this cold air.

here's a look at the national satellite picture. i've gotta mention the northwest. seattle, portland, they're just getting hammered with lots and lots of snow. even down to the valley and maybe even the coast. winter storm warnings and watches are posted for this area. some place getting two feet of snow up in the higher elevations and the cascades. in our area, we're look at just sunny conditions. the snow is well out to the north and west of us. parts of pennsylvania and upstate new york. highs for today, we'll cool down the upper 30s through this morning but then get up into the low 40s for downtown. 37 in gaithersburg. 38 in leesburg, manassas in the lower 40s. annapolis, the low 40s. there is a gale warning through 11:00 for parts of the bay. a small craft advisory through this evening. pax river will be in the near mid-40s. here's a look at your next three days. so, tomorrow, increasing cloudiness, breezy. temperatures near mid-40s. a slight chance for a sprinkle

or a passing flurry. nothing major. friday is cold. in the mid-30s with partly sunny conditions. here's your next seven days, for the weekend, mid-40s with some rain possible saturday afternoon and saturday night. on sunday, milder in the low 50s, partly cloudy. then on monday and tuesday, mid- 50s with a chance of some showers on monday. tuesday, maybe also seeing more rain but still on the mild side for january. here's a look at your timesaver traffic with monika. good morning. >> good morning, good morning, everybody. here's what it looks like on the beltway. not bad at all. for the construction crews that had to work overnight, they were in luck with 50 degree temperatures at midnight. right now, they're just about finished with their overnight construction. usually clears up right before 5:00. here's what it looks like on 95 coming down from baltimore, there had been construction in the fort mchenry tunnel in the right lane. that should be moved over shortly. if you're coming down from baltimore down to the beltway and into college park, we'll take a live look at college

park here. no problems to report. on the outer loop, leaving route one heading over to the silver spring area, you will be ok. that's the topside of your screen here. all the way into silver spring and 270. we'll take a look again at the maps. no problems to report. the bw parkway, remember what happened on route 50 yesterday over in davisonville? everything's fine there. no problems from annapolis to the beltway. a quick look at the beltway south side of town here at route 4. we're looking good on route 301 and route 5 as well out of brandywine. coming up, we'll go into virginia at 4:55. back to you, andrea. >> long-awaited improvements could be coming to clarksburg. montgomery county executive ike leggett unveiled the capital spending plan which provides $50 million to complete three roads in clarksburg village and aurora hills. the county wanted to head off a plan by developers to charge homeowners for construction of the new road. >> we move forward with a plan that i think will get us beyond this point. that is now before the county

council and i hope and expectation that they would approve this request. >> however, the new budget does not address incomplete projects like the clarksburg town center. construction on it is still not complete even though ground was broken more than a decade ago. shrinking budgets are taking a toll on public preschool programs. new figures suggest roughly a quarter of the nation's 4-year- olds and more than half of the 3-year-olds do not attend any form of preschool. the national institute for early education research at rutgers university says children from low income families who start kindergarten without going to preschool start school about 18 months behind their peers and they may never catch up. the federal government has an ambitious new plan, they're putting one together to treat and hopefully prevent alzheimer's. >> the obama administration told scientists they want treatment option which work and they want them by the year 2025. terrell brown reports.

>> reporter: hustle patterson knows all about the devastation of alzheimer's. his mother, edith has struggled with it for seven years. he's encouraged to hear the government is finally taking it on. >> it is like cancer. it is something we need to find out more about if anything. i think that's a great move on obama's part. >> reporter: the obama administration is developing the first national plan for tackling alzheimer's. the goal was to develop both prevention and treatment by the year 2025. the alzheimer's association says the goal is realistic if the commitment is really there and the funding. >> we're going to see in the coming months why this is a plan that will remain an aspiration or whether it is a battle backed by the resources needed to really end this disease. >> reporter: president obama signed off on the alzheimer's project last year and a committee of his experts is now under a deadline to finalize the strategy. the group is in a two-day meeting to hammer out its game plan. over five million americans suffer from alzheimer's which gradually breaks down memory, thinking and behavior but it is the only disease among the top

killers for which there is no prevention or cure. >> just someone taking the initiative is a good thing for me. >> without better treatment, doctors expect alzheimer's to grow dramatically as the population ages. possibly affecting 60 million americans by the middle of the century. the government is hoping it can stop the trend before it happens. terrell brown, cbs news, washington. the alzheimer's association says it expects to see a final plan by some point during the springtime. coming up at 6:47, what the association says needs to happen for this national plan to work for both patients and caregivers. a new study looks at the rate of blood clots after knee and hip replacement. researchers found one in every 100 patients having a knee replacement and one in every 200 patients having hip replacement will suffer a blood clot before leaving the hospital. the findings in the journal of the american medical association say patients and their doctors need to take clots into account when weighing the risks and benefits of these surgeries.

you've heard the phrase we're not getting any younger. apparently we're not getting thinner either. americans aren't putting a department in the country's obesity problem. the centers for disease control and prevention shows 1/3 of adults and 17% of children were obese between 2009 and 2010. the same exact results from 2003. researchers also say there hasn't been an increase in the fact that it stayed the same is a concern. this could lead to an increase in diabetes cost which links to the disease -- other diseases down the road. mainly because type two diabetes is linked to obesity and gets worse as team page. >> this is not a license to pig out but research suggests junk food at schools is not causing students to gain weight. a pennsylvania state university study looked at students from fifth grade to eighth grade. while there was a significant increase in the number of students exposed to junk food at middle school, there was no increase in the percentage of students who were overweight or obese. in fact, the number actually

decreased. researchers say childhood obesity policies need to target eating habits at home. ok, time now for the question of the morning. >> what is the one thing 73% of men said they do not want to do on the first date? is it a, pay for the entire date? that's what i would go with. b, go dancing. well, that, too. c, talk about an ex. >> yes. >> log on to facebook.com/wusa9 and leave your response. we'll have the answer in the 6:00 hour. >> we have a bonus to our facebook question of the day. if you like us on facebook, you can start posting your guesses to our question on a brand new kindle fire in the 9news now great tablet give away sweepstakes. >> here's how it works. click on our facebook page. it is facebook.com/wusa9. now, click like. but if you already like us on facebook, click on the give away tab on the left side of the page. you can enter. your entries are being accepted until january 31st.

two lucky winners will be selected at random. each win a brand new kindle fire tablet. you need to be 18 years old to enter. we'll be right back.

good morning. the time now, 4:55. it is a windy start out there. but temperatures will get down into the upper 30s by 9:00 this morning. it is fairly mild right now in the mid to upper 40s. by noon, only warming up to low 40s. afternoon highs will be in the low 40s. lots of sunshine though. breezy with winds out of the northwest. at around so to 20 miles per

hour. gusts higher than that. here's monika with your traffic. good morning. >> good morning, anny. good morning, everybody. we'll take a live look. pennsylvania avenue headed for the sousa bridge and southeast. this is a good indication of all of the potomac and anacostia crossings this morning heading into the district. more on area roadways coming up at 5:01. back to you, andrea. parents and students at the university of maryland are relying on the generosity of donors and corporations to try to save the university's swim and dive team. $11.5 million is needed to keep the team. yesterday, a group met with the university's athletic director to lay out the plan. so far, they've raised $1 million. we're very confident in our ability not only what we've already done in ten short weeks in terms of raising a million dollars, key prospects but putting together a legitimate business plan that we're fully confident we can execute over time. >> choosing the school, i never, ever thought this might happen or obviously i think it would have changed my decision.

but it so shocking to everyone. no one saw it coming. >> the deadline to come up with the $11.5 million is june 30th. the swimming and dive team was just one of eight varsity sports teams on the chopping block because of budget short falls. 2011 was an amazing year for tropical rains. you remember right here, irene and lee pummeled our region with record-setting rainfall and flooding. our buddy, meteorologist howard bernstein is at the steamboat weather summit, tough assignment. recently spoke as one of the country's leading tropical weather experts to get his thoughts on the 2012 hurricane season. >> well, it wasn't a directive from a tropical storm or hurricane, irene and lee caused big problems for millions of people. >> we had two storms track over fairly similar areas back to back. especially with irene and then lee, neither one was going particularly quickly. especially lee dropped a tremendous amount of rain as it

went northward. >> the doctor is one of the country's top tropical meteorologists. i asked him if we could see more events like irene and lee. >> it is governed by mid latitude weather patterns which aren't predictable forethan a few days in advance. >> are we the safest place in the east coast? >> maybe up in maine and new hampshire, too. >> what's 2012's hurricane season looking like? >> what we're monitoring this year is there is a potential we could have an el nino develops, warmer than normal waters there mean less storm activity in the atlantic and the east coast. >> while it may be the middle of winter here in colorado, the doctors from the colorado state university will issue their initial forecast for the 2012 hurricane season on april 4th. at the steamboat weather summit, i'm howard bernstein, 9news now. >> he went a long way just to get some snow, didn't he? good morning. thank you for watching 9news now at 5 school. a.m. i'm andrea roane.

>> i'm mike hydeck. here is the d.c. metro area, 47 degrees. >> no snow. >> here's monika samtani with traffic momentarily. >> i've been saying how lucky the construction crews are to be working in 60 degree weather at midnight. >> overnight construction, not a bad gig. >> not last night. we have a cold front that has moved through. what's left behind is much colder air. don't let the 47 fool you. it won't be a mild day by any means. temperatures will drop over the next several hours. into the upper 30s. then not a whole lot of warming up. here is a look at our day planner forecast for this wednesday. it is also windy out there. no wind advisories in effect but we'll see -- we're seeing winds out of the northwest at this hour. by 9:00, 38 degrees. so, we'll get chilly. and then we see lots of sunshine. by the afternoon, only warming up a couple of degrees from 38 in the lower 40s by noon. that's pretty much our high. we'll see northwest winds at around 10 to 20 miles per hour.