hampshire and eastern avenues in takoma park. the suspect said she needed help cashing a check. police say another woman led the children away while the victim drove the suspect a mile to this bank of america. that's when things turned. >> she told the victim that she had a gun and threatened to shoot the victim. if the victim did not withdraw several thousand dollars worth of money from the victim'sback bank account. reporter: this is clear surveillance video of the suspect. the victim says what she took was part of her life savings. >> i've always been the type of person if you ask me for something and i have it, i'll give it to you, but i just don't like people to take anything from me. >> we're particularly outraged when suspects prey on the more vulnerable members of our community, the very young or the very old. >> i'm sure somebody else is getting the same thing done to them right at this moment somewhere. i hope they get caught.

today i just hope they get caught. reporter: and this grandmother says if it weren't seeing these small children including an infant, she probably wouldn't have stopped to help. now if you were in this parking lot at murray's steaks here at university and new hampshire and you remember seeing a woman with these three children, you're asked to call police. police are also looking for a possible second case. they just say it's too early to link the two together, but the same m.o. of trying to cash this check and go to a bank account and withdraw money. back to you both. >> surae chinn live, we appreciate it. tonight we're getting a look at deadly cruise ship disaster in italy from space. this is a new satellite image of the cost a concordia -- costa concordia on its side just off the coast and it gives you a different perspective just how large the ship. is 11 people are dead, 21 still missing and officials are now starting to identify the

victims. while rescuers wait to restart their search after the ship began to move again this morning, we have more. reporter: rescue workers say the chances of finding anyone alive inside the wrecked costa concordia are slim. >> to me it's more about the real possibility. reporter: the committee is in charge of a special rescue team brought in to navigate through the murky water inside the ship. >> you can see your hands in front of your mask, nothing more. reporter: rescue efforts stopped wednesday after rough seas moved the cruise liner. officials say if the ship slips off the rocks, fuel could leak. this barge is loaded with equipment that will help dutch crews drain 500,000 gallons of fuel from the cruise liner. that process is not expected to begin until rescue and recovery efforts are over. one of the 11 victims has been identified as a hungarian

musician who worked on board. he went back to his cabin to get his shrine. family members are arriving on the island of giglio looking for their loved ones. >> i hope that i find some more information. i know that the rescue team is doing their jobs. they're doing a good job. reporter: kevin robelo said he's more concerned with finding his brother than pointing fingers. the captain the costa concordia francesco schettino is under house arrest and faces several charges including causing the shipwreck. are asking the -- prosecutors are asking the judge to change his mind and send the captain back to jail. today veterans armed with resumes showed up for a major job fair at the washington convention center, the first in a series hosted by the veterans administration. more than 13% of iraq and

afghanistan vets cannot find a job government figures show. managers from at least six federal agencies will accept applications until 7:00 tonight and there are also representatives from 20 private companies and in some cases veterans are being hired right on the spot. do you know what for the youngist of those veterans ages -- youngest of those veterans ages 18 to 24, the jobless rate is up to 30%. they've been injured in combat, it is 75%. peggy fox joins us now to tell us about an organization from around hire that's trying to do something about those harsh numbers. >> it's a local nonprofit that for 40 years has been finding and creating jobs, work for people who otherwise could not work, people with disabilities called mvle, and they believe these folks are willing and able to work and now they are taking on veterans and wounded warriors. brandon gilbert is beating the odds on two fronts. he's a young iraq war veteran who has a job, not among the

30% who don't, and the war left him with a brain injury. >> in iraq i was a combat engineer which i did a lot of things with explosives. reporter: he's thankful he's not among the 75% of people with disabilities who are unemployed. the nonprofit employer mvle helped him find a job with the federal government through a program called working warriors. it also found work for these two veterans who found the job market brutal. >> in the old days you'd have probably five to 20 jobs, get a call back and get a job within a month. it's not like that now. they're going to look at factors other than someone who served their country for x number of years or even greater that you served and were wounded. reporter: mvle is branching out from its sole mission. for 40 years it's found and created jobs for people with disabilities. now the organization provides daily employment opportunities such as potpourri making for 600 people with disability's.

the potpourri project started about three years ago when mdle was looking to find more work for its clients. they decided to make and sell their own ability nation sensations. you can find them in grocery stores across the country including giants. >> we have folks who have some more need in terms of rehabilitation, so they require more assistance and help. they might even need a nurse to be in the building with them, but we still see them as part of a viable workforce. reporter: so 600 people with disabilities and they hope to grow that number of wounded warriors and veterans and help them find jobs, too. >> more working warriors is a good thing. thank you. today maryland governor martin o'malley outlined a budget plan calling for 20% of state residents to pay more taxes. on to the plan, individuals making $100,000 a year and families with an income of $150,000 a year will get back about $191 less than last year.

>> this is to get us through this recession in advance of other states and in order to protect the priorities of our state and the futures of our children, there's things we need to ask of one of another in these difficult times and this is one of them. >> governor o'malley's budget plan includes $311 million in new revenue. 182million of that would come from capping income tax deductions and phasing out exemptions for high income earners. if you are stumped by all this, that's where our scott broom steps in to try to help you make sense of some of these numbers. >> they gave me the marker and the white board, so let's do the numbers. the income tax is not the only tax they're talking about in maryland. they're talking about a gas tax, flush tax and an online shopping sales tax. how much is it going to cost you? under the governor's profile on the income tax side, he's talking about individuals with

100,000 in income, couples with 150, by reducing the personal exemption costing those families $10,091 a year. let's talk about the gas tax -- $191 a year. >> let's talk about the gas tax. there are proposals to hike that as high as 15 cents per gallon. we're talking about potentially as much as $144 in additional taxes if that passes if you have two drivers in your family. then there's a flush tax, a wastewater fee we pay to protect the environment. the governor is talking about doubling the $2.50 a month tax. that would cost families an additional $30 a year. here's the tough one. trying to expand our 6% sales tax to online shopping. the governor thinks he might be able to raise about $20 million in revenue by doing that. if there are 2 million maryland households, that's $10 per household for a grand total of potential new taxes in maryland

of $375. that's a lot of money. in the newsroom scott broom, 9 news now. >> scott scott scotty, thanks for that breakdown. we got a 9 news now update. police released a statement regarding the search for an abandoned baby that died left on a doorstep. police still need your help and encourage you to come forward with any information about this case. the baby died early monday at the hospital not long after a neighbor discovered that little body on a doorstep in northeast. the baby was covered just with a towel and the temperature at the time was about 28 degrees. 55-year-old james jimmy garvin pleaded guilty to a single felony this morning in d.c. federal court in

connection with that embezzlement scheme involving harry thomas, jr. the prosecution says garvin helped thomas embezzle more than $300,000 that should have gone to youth programs. garvin faces up to three years in prison. they have yet to face the sentencing day. is he free on his own recognizance. garvin is a general manager at the lincoln golf course in northwest d.c. we'll have much more at 6:00. meantime today dozens of people protested the deportation of a 59-year-old illegal immigrant from hagerstown. that took place outside the baltimore headquarters of i.c.e. and kristin fisher spoke with the family as they tried to get immigration officials to reconsider. reporter: these protesters are chanting listen up, i.c.e. we are in the fight. they are fighting for the release of josefina rodriguez saggy in the shadows of baltimore's i.c.e. headquarters. >> we are here today because this deportation is unjust. reporter: the 59-year-old

grandmother of four was first arrested last june for driving out a license. she was released on house arrest, but last week she was taken to an immigration detention facility in ocean city. her son doesn't speak english but agreed to speak with us through a translator. >> she's not a criminal. she never did anything wrong to be in the process of deportation. >> the sort of message around why josefina is critical because she's a grand ma, no criminal record. she does have u.s. family and significant deep ties to her community. reporter: what makes this case unique is it directly contradicts a new policy by the department of homeland security, a policy that would prioritize deporting criminals, not 59-year-old grandmothers. >> as a country we have limited resources and we want to focus those resources on deporting serious criminals of. reporter: criminal history or not, the fact is josefina has been living here illegally and she's been doing so the last

six years. still her family is asking i.c.e. to reconsider. >> she is a good person. thieves hurt anybody. we're really sad. we're really hurt because it's an injustice. reporter: kristin fisher, 9 news now. >> so far i.c.e. has declined our request for a comment. however, a spokeswoman says they will issue a statement shortly about josefina's case. we'll pass it along to you when we get it. it is a battle between hollywood and silicon valley with washington in the middle. still ahead some popular websites got together to protest legislation they say amounts to censorship. >> we'll check in with attorney and find out more about our chilly forecast -- with topper and find out more about our chilly forecast as well, but next a new study shows women may not need bone density screenings as often as first thought. we'll be back.

new medical findings released in the last hour may cause drops rethink the way they diagnose and treat osteoporosis. -- doctors to rethink the way they diagnose and treat osteoporosis. >> many older women may not need to be tested as often for bone loss. randall pinkston takes a closer look at the ramifications. reporter: 79-year-old roberta wallace has a bone density test

every two years. doctors use the test to diagnose osteoporosis which causes bones to become brittle and more likely to break with age. now a new study finds women over 65 with normal results may not need to be retested for years. >> they are very unlikely to develop osteoporosis over the next 10 or 15 years and they can be assured that they don't need to have repeat bone density testing. reporter: a bone density test uses x-rays to determine how much calcium is in the bone. the lower the density, the more likely the bone will fracture over time. right now there are no formal guidelines for screening, but most insurance companies pay for bone density tests every two years. >> our practice i would say would be closer to five years if someone had a normal boone density test. reporter: wallace hopes insurance will keep covering regular bone density tests even if the study shows some women may not need them.

>> i don't think that preventive medicine is the way to save money. reporter: because preventing a break or fracture at her age is what's most important. randall pinkston, cbs news, new york. >> osteoporosis is the most common bone disease affecting one out of every 5 women over 50 in the united states. it's no secret that drinking during pregnancy can cause birth defects, but a new study found babes are most vulnerable to alcohol during the second half of the first trimester. the researchers looked at drinking patterns of nearly 1,000 sprig women and the results showed at this time babies are at the highest risk for developing physical and cognitive disabilities. so the take-home message, no amount of alcohol is safe at any time during pregnancy. another aftershock rattled louisa county, virginia this morning. the 2.0 tremor is at least a 60 second aftershock -- the 60th

2nd aftershock since august 20 -- 62nd aftershock since august 23rd. we are over it now. >> however, the weather situation not always so accommodating. >> no, but today actually it wasn't our 58 of yesterday, but it's average for january. >> and feels bitterly cold. >> if is average and it felt every bit like feeling like 20 degrees out there. >> we get these kind of winters and our blood will thin like living in the south. >> is that what happens? >> some of us have thin blood all year-round. >> that's true. let's take you out to where it is snowing in olympia. this is washington. they've had anywhere from 18 inches -- actually about 13 inches to 19-inches. they're getting hammered again tomorrow. so fantastic. want to go skiing in the pacific northwest, that's probably the best place to go. >> vancouver whistler. >> on the flip side there was actually severe weather yesterday in kentucky and with the thunderstorm we showed you

lightning right on the missouri/kansas border, remember? that was produced by big thunderstorms and this is in simpson county, kentucky and just demolished some homes, no reports of fatalities, some minor injuries, but it's unusual to have tornadoes in january, but. out of the question. all right. for us here's our live shot, very nice view of the capitol brought to you by michael and son, a few wispy clouds, for the most part clear skies tonight, calm winds and dry air mass and that spells a very cold night. down to 37 already at national, the dew point 11. remember the dew point yesterday in the mid-40s? 11 is the more commonplace in the dead of winter. winds out of northwest now at 15. they will die down after midnight and really allow the temp to fall. 30 in rockville, 30 gaithersburg, 34 in reston, upper 30s downtown and college park and 35 in beltsville.

we're looking at mid-30s across the board, reston to sterling and back into leesburg. so here's the deal. chilly through the weekend, not crazy cold but just chilly through the weekend and, in fact, we've had a wholesale change on sunday's forecast. i tweeted that a minute ago. we'll explain that in a minute. much colder tonight, clear, fading sunshine tomorrow. so by tomorrow afternoon we'll be mostly cloudy and then we're looking at friday, bright but brisk, nice way to end the week, umbrella needed on saturday and perhaps auto sunday. here's our futurecast -- on sunday. here's our futurecast. we'll put that into motion. clear skies tomorrow morning, need your sunglasses early. clouds overspread the area towards lunchtime. we'll look back to the west. we have a cold front you pushing through. snow gets very close to us along the maryland/p.a. border and the divide as usual. midnight to friday maybe snow showers up near hagerstown back into winchester, but really for the most part the activity stay as to our north as the front moves through.

-- stays to our north as the front moves through. tonight lows in the 20s, winds light. in the burbs we're talking low 20s and probably low 20s in reston and fairfax, 23 reston, 23 rockville, upper 20s downtown and over in arlington. tomorrow morning partly cloudy, cold, bundle up. of, temperatures in the 20s and 30s, thankfully winds light. by afternoon increasing cloudiness, breezy, chilly, make an evening flurry primarily north of town, high temperatures in the low 40s, winds pick up southwest 10 to 15. next seven days chilly through the weekend, rain saturday and chilly. then on sunday we've added some light rain, could even mix with sleet north and west of town, temperatures only around 40, not a big storm, but it does get mild on monday. we delayed it by one day. things change, my friend. that's why i have a job. morning showers on monday and

tuesday and 50 on wednesday. >> topper, you will always have job security. coming up royal relatives of pippa middleton fighting back against the paparazzi, but what can you do? next why 2 million residents in our area might soon be paying more for our water. first we take you out to the outdoor amphitheater, the best in the world, according to old star, no. 1 the dte energy music theater formerly known as the pine knob outside detroit well known to our good friend lesli. writ rocks in denver came in second and the wolf trap in vienna no. 3 in the whole world. no. world. we'll be right back.

we have a consumer alert if you live in montgomery or prince george's county your water bill could be going up. the washington post reports the washington suburban sanitary commission is asking for a 7.5% rate hike for water and sewer fees. that amounts to $5 a month for most customers. that increase is not as bad as

it could have been. both counties approved an increase for up to 8.5%. nam gas futures tumbled to their lowest level -- natural gas futures tumbled to their lowest levels in a decade. the average for a household bill will be about $670 this weekend. that's a quarter of what heating oil homeowners will pay. their average bill will be $2,400 this winter. the price is being driven higher by iran's threat to shut down a key oil route to the country if it is hit by sanctions. an update on a series of gasoline thefts in annapolis. police have arrested six suspects accused of drilling holes in gas tanks of 11 vehicles and making off with the fuel inside. police say they responded to 86 calls over the past 24 hours. the transportation security administration says they intercepted a possible weapon at lynchburg regional airport

in virginia. a won had a dagger disguised as a -- a woman had a dagger disguised as a hairbrush in her carry-on. the dagger was several inches long made of ceramic. the woman was stopped but not arrested. pippa middleton said britain paparazzi needs to back off. lawyers for prince william's new sister-in-law are threatening to get a court order to stop photographers from hounding her, but the 28- year-old party planner it's said should tread carefully with the media especially since she has a book coming out later in the year. >> she's have to be careful how she plays this game because you need to avoid a backlash. >> some freelance photographers say they don't really care what the lawyers say. she's in the public view. she's public property, but her lawyers sent out letters to agencies that buy photos from the paparazzi warning them to stop using them or face a possible lawsuit. still ahead a new poll finds mitt romney with a solid national lead in the republican

presidential race, but newt gingrich surging in south carolina. we'll have the latest from the campaign trail. but first some popular websites are down today. it's a protest against these anti-piracy bills before congress. we'll hear that debate coming up next.

you may not have been able

to access wikipedia or several other websites today. dozens of them suspended their services 24 hours to protest two anti-piracy bills before the house and senate. the online sites argue the legislation puts free speech at risk. if you clicked on wikipedia any time today, you saw this ominous warning. the online encyclopedia along with redick, boing boing and many others closed their doors for a 24 hour period to protest anti-piracy bills before congress and users say the decision by lawmakers will have a large impact on them. >> i say that a very important source of knowledge will be taken away from me and my family. reporter: the two bills stop online piracy act or sopa or hipa that protects ip act regards the download of movies and other content.

if passed, it would cut off those services. >> the unprecedented power it gives private companies and the government to take down things that are suspected of privacy and infringement, there's a real lack of due process. so that can be abused by pretty much anyone. reporter: the film and recording industries and media companies support the legislation. the motion picture association of america says, "neither of these bills implicate free expression but focus solely on illegal conduct, which is not free speech." but some internet companies like wikipedia and privacy advocates are incensed. >> free speech implications of this, it's like saying there are a few bad books in the library, so we'll just lock the entire library. reporter: one internet giant, twitter, decided not to join in the blackout. its ceo dick costolo tweeted wikipedia's decision was foolish. the white house admits piracy is a problem but says the bills limit freedom of expression, but both sides vow to fight on

to protect what they see as essential aspects of their business. wikipedia and other protest site says will be dark until midnight eastern standard time. joining us now to debate sopa is sandra a starr, executive director of the copyright alliance and mark amara from the net distribution. you think this gives the industry too much power? >> it is about the power and about the power of millions of americans who use the internet everyday that i think have finally woke up to what's happening in washington d.c. and really in an unprecedented way have said these bills that tend to be worked out in back rooms and are rammed through congress, when they have a chance of fundamentally changing the way we interact with the internet and use the internet shouldn't go through that quickly. >> but don't the copyright holders have real reason to be scared? we saw the music business basically go under because of all that free downloading.

they have a reason to be nervous about what's going on, don't they? >> there is some reason to be nervous, but what should motivate them is actually some anticipation for being able to use the internet in a way to create more revenue for them and more opportunities to reach a global audience. this is an industry that tried to put out of business the cable television industry, tried to make the vcr illegal, tried to put the ipod out of existence and those three categories of technologies are now their biggest revenue source. >> we heard analogy in that package now that this bill is like saying to a library you got a few bad books, so you have to close down. what's wrong with that? >> it's fundamentally incorrect. the bill goes after foreign websites that are primarily designed and operated to sell entire infringing combs of copyrighted works and counterfeit product -- copies of copyrighted works and counterfeit products to u.s. citizens. cheetah without any proceeds

going to the -- they do that without any proceeds going to the artists. the creative community fundraise there, distribute our content there, deal with our fans there, make connections. >> i want to cut you off quickly because our time is short. some argue basically what you're doing now is -- the company, ies, for example, that went on strike today, say they'll be -- the companies, for example, that went on strike today, say google and those will be forced to put all their information out for examination. >> the legislation has safety clauses in it that say no site has to monitor its users and no site takes any liability for that. >> as of now this bill is in a lot of trouble in both the house and senate. are there compromises that could happen to make this work out well for everybody? >> there have been a variety of

compromises offered up throughout this process. when the bill started out on the house side, it looked much different than it does now. the manager's amendments added much tightened definitions, added various statements and clauses to make sure there's no first amendment impact, no impact on free speech, on operation of the digital millennium copyright act and nosiests aren't subject to any tax mandates. they dropped the dns provisions. >> getting a little jargony here. i have to call the time. thank you very much for being here. some new technology is now available that could be a lifesaver for some heart patients in montgomery county. the updated electrocard yam system makes a diagnosis possible -- electric cardiogram system makes a diagnosis possible on the way to the

hospital. it translates heart rhythm and vital signs to the hospital staff and the lifenet program is now in full force. >> it is a program that al lieus our paramedics -- allows our paramedics both on our transporting ambulances as well as our engine companies to transmit much better data in the realm of electrocardiograms and reducing our door to balloon time of our patients suffering from acute myocardial infarction or heart attack. >> the results of the ekgs are immediately accessible on desktop computers and smartphones. up next a high speed chase ends with a wipeout on a california freeway. don't forget. we are always on at www.wusa9.com. stay with us. we'll be right back.

caught on tape a motorcycle crashes at the end of a high speed chase right outside l.a. police were going after this motorcyclist and his female passenger when the bike just wipes out in hacienda heights. both the man and woman were not

seriously hurt, though you can see the sparks fly as they drag across the ground. that motorcycle was apparently stolen. the driver was tiffin into custody, don't know what kind of -- taken into custody, tonight know what kind of shape the bike was in -- don't know what kind of shape the bike was in after that. there was a groundbreaking ceremony today for the $40 million facility. president alan sessions says the building will become a gateway to the community, the community's only public university. the supreme court ruled today telemarketers can be sued in both federal and state court. now the case involves a lawsuit claiming a debt collector made repeated annoying calls to a consumer about a student loan debt. initially that lawsuit was thrown out, but now the high court is allowing the suit to proceed. it could be the end of a tradition in baltimore. fans of writer edgar allan poe

are planning what could be final vigil tonight to watch for a mysterious visiteddor. for decades a man in black dropped off a rose and some cognac at poe's grave. the tradition dates back to the 1940s, but the visitor hasn't appeared since 2009. the curator said he'll wait one last time tonight before calling an end to it all. it's a show that revolutionized crime drama, a look at a big change for the cast of csi. it's getting cold out here. the winds died down, but check out the temperatures. everybody is in the 30s. remember 58 at midnight last night? that's a distant memory. we'll come back and talk about clouds on the increase and maybe a couple snow flurries. deal chicken is working hard to find only the best deals in town. here's today's deal just for you. 50% two for one tickets at the

home remodeling show january 20th through the 22nd.

just three days to go until the south carolina primary and tonight a new cbs news poll shows mitt romney with a solid national lead, but as susan

mcguiness reports, that's not keeping his republican rivals from turning up the heat on him or each other. reporter: mitt romney had reason to smile as he rallied supporters at a south carolina college. a new cbs new york times poll shows romney pulling ahead of the competition among republican primary voters nationwide. >> if there's ever been a time a nation needs a real leader who knows how to turn things around, it's now. reporter: with just three days until south carolina's primary, the other candidates are running out of time to cast the frontrunner. they're taking jabs at the multi-millionaire's admission that he pays an income tax rate about 15%, a rate much lower than many americans. >> we're going to name our flat tax the mitt romney 15% flat tax. reporter: the other candidates argue mitt romney is too moderate to beat president obama and as they try to win over conservative voters, they're attacking each other. newt gingrich insists he has the best chance to beat romney and says it will be helpful if

rick santorum and rick perry dropped out. >> if conservatives come together, we beat romney decisively. if conservatives are split, he might squeak through. reporter: but santorum argues he has a better shot than the former house speaker. >> the arrogance of mr. gingrich to suggest that i don't have the experience to run a national campaign, to win a national campaign. finished tied for first in iowa. he finished fourth. reporter: rick perry says he's not going anywhere either. they meet thursday for final debate before the south carolina primary. susan mcguiness, cbs news, washington d.c. texas congressman ron paul left the campaign trail in south carolina today. he came back to d.c. for a house seat on the debt ceiling. we'll have more on -- vote on the debt ceiling. we'll have more on that at the top of the next hour. the washington post/abc

news poll asked 1,000 adults who they blame for the country's economic problem. 29% do blame president obama, but 54% put that blame squarely on former president george w. bush. the new york stock exchange's big board went down for a little while today on wall street. they blame a technical blip. it did not seem to have much impact on the trading day. the dow was up 100 points, nasdaq closing 42 point higher and the s&p 500 rising 14 1/3. virginians have a new option for filing taxes this year. the free file program is expanded from last year to include more forms. so this year you can file a 76 return and all kinds of other -- a 760 return and all kinds of other schedules online. virginia is one of 22 states taking part in the free file day. on february 1st the irs is

teaming up with several companies like turbo tax, h&r block and jackson hewitt to let people file taxes online for free. maryland is not taking part. >> well, top, it is chillish. >> temps are falling quickly right now. >> did you say chilly or chillish? >> chillish? i was going to say you created another word. >> this is what he does. >> just making sure. another word to his dictionary. >> we'll take you out to colorado where we don't have these winds. these winds gusted from 50 to 60 miles an hour and skiing out west is great, but with those kind of winds -- >> i'm surprised they didn't close the lifts. >> i know. good news is they're getting a little snow in colorado, but most of the snow is falling in the northern rockies like wyoming and utah and places out to the west coast actually. let's look outside, beautiful shot of the capitol, generally

clear, falling temperatures, 37 the low so far today. dew point's 11. remember yesterday's dew point in the mid-40ors? this is more like it. winds are -- 40s? this is more like it. winds are northwest 10 to 15. you're headed out, 30s now, but it feels like the mid- to upper 20s. it's down to 30 in gaithersburg, 33 rockville, 34 arlington. out to the west low 30s in reston, 33, 34 in great falls and to the east 36 in college park and 34 up toward beltsville. so a much different air mass. we're talking about 20 to 25 degrees colder today parished to this same time yesterday -- compared to this same time yesterday. chilly through the weekend, much colder tonight obviously, fading sunshine tomorrow and then friday will be a nice day, bright but brisk. an umbrella will be needed

unfortunately for saturday. so here's the futurecast. we'll put this into motion and take you into thursday morning, clear skies, no clouds or anything. so you'll need your sunglasses. then clouds come back at us towards lunchtime. we see the snow get pretty close to us, up across the divide but right along the maryland/p.a. border. by 7:00 tomorrow just a few clouds here, a possibly flurry northeast of town here north into frederick and northeastern pennsylvania. we then clear out quickly friday. clear tonight, cold, two blanket night i think, low temps in the 20s, light winds. in fact, temperatures downtown upper 20s and plenty of low 20s in the burbs, gaithersburg 22, reston 24, 27 springfield. tomorrow morning partly cloudy, cold. bundle up the kids, temps in the 20s and 30s, thankfully not much wind. by afternoon clouds come in, breezy and chilly, make an evening flurry, high temperatures in the low 40s.

winds increase 10 to 15. next seven days chilly friday but sunny. then we're looking at kind of a chilly rain saturday, temperatures low 40s and maybe even light rain on sunday every sunday. it will get milder next week, in the 50s tuesday and wednesday. >> such a joyous weekend. >> we got football. we don't care. >> somehow you're going to make it through, okay? wizard fans haven't had much to root here at the verizon center this season. >> no. but that all changes tonight as the wiz kids host a home ground star ground star. kristen berset is live now. reporter: it's the best versus the worst tonight, the wizards not much to cheer for. oklahoma coming in has the best record in the league and hosting hometown boy kevin durant. you know the fans will cheer for him. durant is grade wait of

montrose christian picked -- a graduate of montrose christian picked second overall in the draft. started the season with four straight games over 30 points. he's exciting to watch and even harder to stop. >> kevin is the most versatile player to probably ever play the game. his overall game as far as offense and defense, but durant is in a league by himself. >> he's an amazing player with hartal he is and the wingspan he has, the things he does on the floor is almost unheard of and for him to be so young playing at the level he's at, he's most definitely by far one of the best players in the lead. reporter: the thunder provided a successful model for rebuilding the team, kind waft wizards are trying to do right now. in '07 while they were still in seattle they won just 20 games and next year they were in oklahoma and started 3-32, but after a change in culture they've had back to back a 50 win season and made it to the

finals last year. here's what they say is their little secret. >> i think it's just hard work. everybody on our team committed to winning and getting better and player development. everybody does a good job of wanting to get better and as you can see now, it's been working for us. reporter: very well hidden secret, hard work. that's what it takes, but the wizards have talked about how they're looking at the thunder as to have a model for rebuilding, but tonight the first versus the last and the hometown boy kevin durant in town town and roger mason just walked behind me, another hometown fan. a local golf pro lands in the rough for chewing some green, the latest fallout involving a former d.c. councilman still ahead. thousands of veterans packed this convention center looking for the same thing, a job. details are coming up. but first a music legend

lands in the hospital, the latest on merle haggard's condition up next.

country music star merle haggard is sick. doctors are treating him for pneumonia at a hospital in macon, georgia. he checked in after cancelling a show on short notice. he has also canceled the rest of his concert dates for the month. merle haggard, 74 years old. the original lead singer of

the wiggle has rejoined the group. you remember this. greg page left the kids band in 2006. he had to fight a rare nervous disorder. the 40-year-old who plays the yellow wiggle as parents will be familiar says they plan to record new cds and dvds before embarking on tours of the u.s., australia and england. we'll take that as a sign that he's getting better. actress marge helgen berger is turning in her badge. >> she says she's ready for something new. reporter: marge helgen berger knows what to look for at a crime scene. she's played investigator katheryn willows on the original csi the past 12 years. now she's ready for a change. >> i don't feel like leaving before the party's over. i just feel like it's my time to kind of step away. reporter: we met up with the actress at the csi experience,

a traveling who done it exhibit where visitors play crime solvers. crime solving made helgen berger a star and at an estimated $375,000 per episode, one of the highest paid actresses on tv. >> as great as a show as csi is, it is kind of a basic formula. so i look forward to a different genre and different character. reporter: after a tearful good- bye taping the last show the producers made it clear her character could return for an episode or two. >> katherine survives, yes. i wouldn't have wanted to have to be a play corpse and have my body autopsied on that show. reporter: for once she doesn't have a clue what she'll do next. >> her final two episodes air tonight at 10:00 right here and if you want to take part in the

csi experience, it's open in new york's time square until march. this is 9 news now. another guilty plea tonight in the harry thomas, jr. swellment scandal. a well known golf -- scandal. a well known golf pro admitted in court today that he helped thomas steal thousands of dollars from youth programs. >> no comment. >> you know a lot of people. a lot of people in town you know. how could this happen? reporter: that's jimmy garvin, one of the best golfers in the area leaving u.s. district court today as a convicted felon. >> i've never had any difficulty whatsoever. he's the first one to get to work, the last to leave. reporter: garvin is the manager of the links and golf course, a member of the african american golfers hall of fame. the 55-year-old is also a board member for a nonprofit called links and 21, a program for the city's youth. marshall ba