quarters. authorities say these guys were pilfering thousands of dollars in unrolled coins, so you can imagine just how heavy and bulky they would have been, like something out of a spy novel. they say after their rounds they would stop here under this overpass. they'd take the money, stuff it in a plastic bag and take the bag, throw it in the bushes. then they'd go check in at work. then they'd come back here after work and grab their share of the loot and head home and authorities say all of this is captured on surveillance tape. mcdade was supposed to empty fare machines that were full and replenish machines that were empty. haile was supposed to keep an eye on him, but investigators say the two worked together to steal. the cop deposited $10,050,000

in unexplained cash in his -- $150,000 in unexplained cash in his bank account in just the last three years. >> unbelieve. reporter: make you mad? >> it does make me a bit. you would think you would have more internal controls and accountability for something. reporter: investigators say that the cop used his share of the earnings in part to buy virginia scratch-off lottery tickets like this. his winnings since 2008, more than $50,000. metro says it has launched a top to bottom forensic audit to check into this, figure out what was going on, make sure it doesn't happen again. it is relieved of duty the revenue officer, the guy that supervises the revenue center here, but i will tell you what. with metro looking at a fare increase coming in this is a major black eye.

>> wow, bruce, your explanation is amazing. thank you. well, a big boost tonight for the effort to reopen the washington monument. >> matt jablow is in for anita tonight. this is a pretty big deal. >> the iconic landmark has been closed ever since the earthquake, but today got 1 step closer to reopening thanks to a multi-million dollar reopening to a d.c. businessman. kristin fisher joins us live from the national mall. when is the monument scheduled to reopen at this point? reporter: that's the bad news that. date is still about a year and a half away, but what this donation really means is that the national park service finally has the funding to fully repair the washington monument. a helmet camera captures members of the daredevil difficult assessment team as they rappel down the washington monument last september. they found about $15 million in

damage, chips and cracks up to an inch thick in several of the marble stones. >> there have been cracks in the monument. obviously there's no crack in the support of and admiration of our first president. reporter: four months later d.c. philanthropist and businessman david rife rubenstein announced he's donating $75 million to cover repair costs. the rest of the money will come from matching federal fund as proved by congress last month. >> this is a complex job. this is a one of a kind structure, but please rest assured that the national park service will get it right. reporter: that guarantee and the gift behind it led to a rare appearance from the man the monument's named for. >> in my mind it echos the very early days of the formation of this country in which much of our war for independence was indeed funded by private individuals. reporter: the washington

monument was built with $1 private donations. now it will be repaired with money from one man who's lived the american dream. >> i come from very modest circumstances and i'm very fortunate to have achieve the wealth beyond what i ever expected. kind of want to repay a debtly to the country and that's really -- debt i had to the country and that's really what's behind it. reporter: right now they are designing repairs. in august they'll begin making repairs. construction is expected to last between 10 and 12 months. so we're looking at june, 2013 at the absolute earliest before the monument is back open to the public. >> thanks, kristen. parts of our area could see some winter weather tomorrow night. topper, winter weather coming back for our winter? >> well, it would be a novelty, wouldn't it? >> yeah. >> yes, it's possible. talk about tonight because we see some snow flurries tonight or snow showers, clouds have

come back, winds whipping up a bit. it's kind of chilly but average for january, 40 downtown, upper 30s in the burbs, 36 gaithersburg, 39 manassas, 34 frederick and hagerstown, 32 in oakland as you cross the divide. satellite picture, radar combined, sun and clouds rolling back in. you see snow up in pennsylvania and that's where most of the snow will be. we talk about it shutting off right on the mason dixon line that. probably will be the case. there's snow in east and west virginia that could creep over the mountains later. rush hour is fine but mostly cloudy, breezy, clod, flurry or snow shower possible -- cold, flurry or snow shower possible. we'll come back and because of tomorrow night's activity there are some winter storm watches. we'll tell you where they are posted. >> all right, topper, look forward to that. just two days before the south carolina primary rick perry is out of the republican race for the white house and he's throwing his support to one of his former rivals.

daniel nottingham has more on what's been a pre -- danielle nottingham has more on what's been a pretty busy day on the campaign trail. reporter: it's been a pretty interesting day here filled with dropouts and damaging accusations. rick perry is headed back to texas and throwing his support behind newt gingrich. >> newt is not perfect, but who among us is? reporter: perry's exit from the race and his endorsement came just minutes after abc news released an interview with gingrich's second ex-wife marianne. she says gingrich asked her if they could have an open marriage so he could carry on an affair with his current wife calllista. reporter: and you said? >> no, no. that is our marriage. reporter: on the campaign trail today he refused to comment on his ex-wife, but brought his grandson on stage and played up his family ties. >> both of my daughters are prepared to speak on the record with any of you who would like

to talk to them. several other people who knew the situation are prepared to speak on the record. i'm not getting involved. reporter: it's now a fight between newt gingrich and rick santorum for south carolina's social conservative voters. santorum was here in mt. pleasant rallying supporters who say they like his chances in saturday's primary. >> if they look at the issues and decide for themselves, i would think more people would choose rick santorum than anyone else. reporter: today santorum got word he actually finished on top in iowa, besting mitt romney in the keokuks by 34 votes and the front -- in the caucuses by 34 votes. a new poll from the american research group shows romney neck and neck with gingrich with one more day to turn the tide of momentum. it's unclear if perry's exit will give gingrich a boost, but gingrich says he will stay on through florida no matter what happens here on saturday. in north charleston, south carolina, danielle nottingham.

now back to you, derek. >> we should note for you all the candidates will debate each other one more time tonight and voters will head to the polls on saturday. an update on that abandoned baby left in northeast d.c. d.c. police are pouring over clues to try to find the baby girl's parents. she was pronounced dead soon after she was discovered sunday night on the steps of the home on channing street. officials with child and family services are getting the word out that the city will accept babies, no questions asked, less than 14 days old. >> our message today is please don't panic, that there is a safe haven. there are safe havens throughout the city available. all of our hospitals, to bring the infant and have someone who will care for the baby and also be able to help the family, if necessary. >> now all district hospitals are designated as safe haven

locations. the city will care for abandoned newborns and then place them with parents who will love and care for them. tonight parents at 1 elementary school are keeping an eye -- at one elementary school are keeping an eye out for a suspicious man in a red pickup who has been shouting at kids walking to and from school. he's been seen parked outside clermont elementary in alexandria. this has happened at least five times in the past few weeks police tell us. lindsey mastis brings us the story. reporter: children noticed a strange man hanging out near their school time and time again. it worried them so much they told police and now investigators want to find out who this suspicious man is even though -- >> he has not done anything illegal. obviously the concern is that this individual is taking actions that are consistent with what we'd expect around -- that aren't consistent with what we'd expect around young children. reporter: the man in the red truck parked close to the

school and when children would walk by he'd shout out to them. the police will not tell us what the man said. >> we were just very concerned and we don't like things like this happen and scare our kids and scare our community. reporter: police say it happened three times in december when kids were on their way to and from school. now detectives are looking into two more incidents, one last week and one last tuesday. >> the vehicle is an old red pick jump truck, probably has dents on it -- pickup truck, probably has dents on, it sounds like it has some rust on it. reporter: parents say they let their guard down but not anymore. >> in a neighborhood like this i didn't think it could happen actually. in this school everyone knows everyone else. >> it's nice to see kids walking up with dogs and friends and stuff and right now they can't do that. >> they love school, but we've been telling them they have to be careful. don't talk with strangers of. reporter: police are urging parents to talk about stranger danger with their kids. >> know where the safe houses

are. know where your friends are. walk in pairs. walk in groups of. reporter: police say the man is described being in his 30s, possibly hispanic or middle eastern and has a goatee or moustache. he was wearing a ball cap, blue jeans and a white jacket and parents are invited to attend a meeting tonight at 7:30 at the school. a move is now underway to bring a new bag tax to virginia. two state lawmakers want people in virginia to pay 20 cents for every plastic shopping bag they use. one of the sponsors delegates of mount vernon says the fee is not meant to raise money but to cut down on pollution. three similar bag bills died in house committees last year. d.c. and montgomery currently have five cent bag taxes. coming up just how did an suv wind up driving 1/2-mile into a subway tunnel? we'll tell you just ahead. also nearly five months after that east coast

earthquake aftershocks are still rattles louisa county, virginia. we'll get a check on how the residents are dealing with all that lingering damage when we come back. [ audio difficulties ] deal chicken is working hard to find only the best deals in town. here's today's deal just for you. snuggle up to a cozy $50 off brand-new pajamas from pajamagram.com.

rough weather co-complicate the search for victims on the cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of italy. 11 people are confirmed dead so far. >> while investigators work to piece together what happened to the costa concordia we are now hearing the recording of the first call between the ship and shore. here's the latest from giglio,

italy. reporter: the italian coastguard called the costa concordia to ask about reports of trouble on board after the ship ran aground. a crew member did not say the ship has hit a reef, only we've had a blackout. we are checking on the condition. the coastguard asks if passengers have been told to put on life vests. the answer, i repeat checking the conditions of the blackout. family members continue to arrive in giglio as authorities release the identities of more victims. four french passengers, one spanish and one italian, plus a peruvian crew member, a retired couple from minnesota is among the 21 still missing. italian authorities say they're worried about the weather forecast. rough seas are expected and the ship could slide off the rock and sink. if the fuel tanks break, the 500,000 gallons of fuel on board could cause an

environmental disaster. rescue crews set off controlled explosions trying to open more areas of the ship for divers. >> i want to still find someone alive and anyway, we're going to find everybody to give them back to the family. reporter: crews are racing to complete the search before bad weather sets in. cbs news, giglio, italy. >> the ship's captain is under house arrest and could face charges of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship. passengers say they saw him having dinner with a young woman that night who later helped to translate evacuation instructions. she says the captain did not abandon ship but stayed on board and helped to save passengers. subway service was interrupted in san francisco today by an suv in one of the tunnels. the driver was about 1/2-mile inside the narrow tunnel when

it became stuck. he was arrested when police arrived on the scene. the subway spokesperson says it's unclear why he drove into the tunnel. well, prince george's county unveiled a brand-new emergency alert notification system today and that will allow residents to get emergency notifications and alerts through e-mail, text messages, even pages. now the system covers amber alerts, severe weather along with school and government delays and people who sign up will get updates and sometimes instructions on where to go and what to do. well, caught on tape, an armed robbery in takoma park. these two suspects are wanted for holding up a sunoco gas station on january 5th in the 6300 block of new hampshire avenue. these suspects might be linked to other crimes in the area, so police want to hear from business owners in takoma park to see if perhaps they have been targets. an ice storm in the pacific northwest is now blamed for the death of a child. investigators say the body was

pulled from oregon creek where a car was swept away from a supermarket parking lot, no word yet on the child's age. another child and man were rescued last night. meanwhile the search is still on for a missing adult in a creek in albany, oregon, about 70 miles south of portland. people all over the pacific northwest are coping tonight with icy roads, power outages and snow melt. the storm is also having impact on airline travel. three runways were shut down at sea-tac airport in seattle this morning because of ice on the runway. transportation department workers have been out throughout the day spreading salt on the roads. the bad news is there could be more snow there tomorrow. it does not sound like a lot of fun in the pacific northwest. >> the only good news is that snow will turn to rain tomorrow. then it will just make a mess. we've been through that here. >> unfortunately, yes. >> we are looking at a weak cold front tonight, maybe we get a flurry out of it. this is a live shot brought to you by michael and son of the

white house, very nice. there's no problems tonight with the roads. the commute is dry. we have a flurry in tonight, but no worries, okay? temperatures, well, 40, about average, dew point 19, winds out of the south at 14. they're out of the south because the cold front is still to our west. the winds will have a southerly component until the front goes through late tonight and really most of the precipitation is going to be north of town. let's zoom in. here's our little system now in parts of ohio valley spreading clouds and some showers all the way down to kentucky and tennessee, but the energy and most of the snow is moving straight from ohio into pennsylvania. the good news for our skiers, the canadian valley will get some snow and snowshoe as well. for us clouds on the increase, best chance of a snow shower or flurry will be north of town until a little later tonight, probably around midnight or so. let's talk about temps. 38 in arlington, 37 in bethesda, 37 great falls, 38 reston, temps pretty uniform.

this is about average, 39 college park, 38 beltsville, 37 in andrews. so here's the deal. a touch of winter, that's about all we can say is a touch, not exactly a slam or grasp of winter, but maybe a flurry or snow shower tonight, no worries in the metro area. i have no idea why they're treating i-95, but they are. they're probably bored out of their minds. in the morning we have some clouds and the clouds come back friday afternoon. then a mix will develop late friday night. that we're more concerned about and it's going to be more widespread and could be a problem late friday night and saturday morning. if you have young drivers in your house, get them home by 10:00, 11:00 tomorrow night. tomorrow morning skies return partly cloudy, snow continuing west of the divide and the clouds come back in here in a hurry by 1:00 tomorrow. then look what happens. they thicken up by evening. so both commutes are fine tomorrow, but by about midnight we've got some mixtures just out towards manassas and leesburg in the panhandle of west virginia as well.

it will be a mix most of the night friday night into early saturday. the only exception will be charles county in southern maryland. you folks probably will have rain. tonight mostly cloudy, breezy, cold, flurry or snow shower possible, 28 to 32. we had teens and 20s this morning. returning partly cloudy tomorrow and cold, temps 28 to 36. by afternoon the clouds come backouts again. you'll need a coat all day, high temperatures around 40, winds easterly at about 10. talked about this earlier. here are the winter storm watches late friday night through saturday morning. it includes washington county, all of the panhandle of west virginia, cumberland and back across the divide as well. next seven days, looks like. this we are looking at temperatures upper 30s tomorrow. the mix develops tomorrow night and then low 40s saturday, should turn it looks like to rain saturday late morning in the immediate metro area, don't anticipate any problems all day saturday. sunday another cold rain develops, maybe makes early and boom, here comes the warm air,

mid-50s on monday, tuesday book your tee time, low 50s on wednesday, showers and rain late wednesday night and early on thursday. it is thursday and got great picture of lake ridge, virginia, of a fat robin from john. go to our website www.wusa9.com. i did a blog on this. they're not uncommon to be seen here. they winter here, but when you see them, it means there's nothing going on. when it gets cold they go in the forest and forage. go to our website and whisk on the weather tab to send us -- and click on the weather tab to send us your weather shot. >> i think that robin got burger king delivery. >> with a large fry, right? still ahead, everybody, security teams in london training for a possible terror attack during the coming summer olympics. you'll have to open your wallet wider to send that text or download an app. one wireless provider is

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it has become a sad but familiar story, another american business icon has file ford bankruptcy protection. eastman kodak has struggled to regain its focus in the world of digital photography and

technology. the former blue chip company has secured nearly $1 billion in financing to keep it afloat as it moves through chapter 11 proceedings. at&t is raising the rates on smartphone and tablet date plans for new customers. these new charge goes into effect starting january 22nd. the wireless provider says the increase in mobile usage is the reason for the hike. date plans will increase by $5 range from about 20 to $50. verizon and t-mobile ended their unhinted plans last year. sprint remains the last national carrier to provide unlimited data plans. ipads have become such an essential tool for elementary and high school students that apple is now jumping into the textbook business. it is launching a new version of its ibook software. apple's ibook 2 will display books, vivid video and other interactive features. schools can buy the books priced at $15 or less for students. an edgar allan poe fan

tradition has come to an end. poe fans waited past midnight at the writer's grave in baltimore, but the mysterious figure known as the poe toaster was a no show for the third year in a row. the tributes of the anonymous man in black who leaves three rowses and cognac at the grave are -- roses and cognac at the grave are thought to date back to the 1940s. he was supposed to be on one of the flights that crashed into the world trade center on 9/11. coming up why actor mark wahlberg is now apologizing for what he said about that tragic day. reporter: i'm scott broom in bethesda. coming up pepco gives orders on trimming trees, so what happens in this neighborhood when they finally start to work. >> hopefully they'll lose power and we won't. reporter: a big neighborhood controversy is coming up. reporter: i'm peggy fox. five months after that big earthquake i'll tell you how this high school is going

modular.

nearly five months after an earthquake rocked mineral, virginia, aftershocks continue in the small town. yesterday an aftershock hit louisa county and once again rattled the frayed nerves of residents. >> since august two schools remain closed because of the damage to the buildings and they're still unsafe. we sent our peggy fox out to louisa county to get an up close look at how these schools

are trying to rebuild. reporter: i'm peggy fox at louisa county high school damaged ever since that its quake in august. they're putting the finishes touches on to get ready to move into a modular campus. >> building k classrooms, building k classrooms. reporter: it takes more than a, b, c to move an entire high school. it also takes h, k and p. >> we have to get this site all ready for february 1st. reporter: that's the day 1,400 students at louisa county high school go back to class in their new temporary buildings on their school's parking lot. they'll be right in front of their old building. >> of course, our flag, we'll be hanging it up. reporter: which was severely damaged in the august earthquake. >> it was very frightening and they were very frightened, but they've settled in and i think the trust is back. reporter: then? >> we had an aftershock yesterday in the morning and it was 2. something and every one of us just froze like again, but, you know, we're okay. reporter: the high school students have been sharing the

middle school next-door. each school has been operating alternating days including saturdays for the younger students. >> we made it work, yes. reporter: the superintendent dr. debra petit says she's grateful to the parents. >> parents have not complained and stuck with us and as of february 1st we'll be back on the normal schedule. reporter: teachers won't have to drag materials to and from the classroom anymore. >> i'm looking forward to getting back on to schedule, having a five-day week. reporter: it's as normal as can be with 22 buildings including a library, cafeteria and fitness area. the principal says he's expecting to be in these temporary buildings for about three years. at some point a decision will be made on what's more cost effective, to repair the old building or tear it down and rebuild it. i'm peggy fox in louisa county, back to you. >> thank you. the number of fema damage claims has more than doubled over the past few months in, part because of the cold weather. folks would turn on their pushes or light a fireplace and

-- furnaces or light a fireplace and realize they've got a problem. five counties have been added to be covered by fema aid, but residents need to get claims in by march. a lot of name calling and finger pointing in one bethesda neighborhood tonight, the result over a dispute of a tree trimming and removal by pepco. pepco has been fined $1 million is on orders to clear vegetation from power lines, but as scott broom reports, things are not going smoothly in chevy chase west of. reporter: welcome to chevy chase west in bethesda. >> wee lose power constantly. reporter: -- we lose power constantly. reporter: it's a neighborhood where trees routinely tangle with power lines. pepco started removing some of the county-owned trees this week, this one clearly diseased, but abruptly quit before the job was done when some residents objected outraging this neighbor billy bow. >> it's probably controversial to the psycho environmentalists but to us normal people that

lose power five times a year it's a great idea. reporter: are you an environmental whacko? >> not the last time i checked. so. reporter: that's arnold braun who objected when pep toe tried to take down this tree -- pepco tried to take down this tree in front of his house without any warning. >> i think they decided they'd rather take heat for doing too much rather than doing too little. >> hopefully he'll lose power and we won't and he'll see what it's like. >> it's a really fine line. reporter: there are lots of points of view. >> i'd rather go without power myself for a couple hours rather than have a whole tree that's been growing for 100 years lobbed down. >> i've been waiting for them to cut it down for years. it's dangerous of. reporter: for now there will be no more work. the pepco crew moved to the next neighborhood until a review by the county sometime next week. so for pepco it's damned if they do, damned if they don't. trimming operations are suspended in this neighborhood

while it all gets worked out and meanwhile you've got to wonder how much more this conflict would get ramped up between neighbors if the power went out. in bethesda, scott broom, 9 news now. >> pepco responded today by reminding scott they're under a public service commission legal order to remove at least four years of overgrowth from the entire system. the budget for that this year alone is $7.5 million. there is word tonight of a settlement in the phone hacking case involving rupert murdoch's now closed news of the world tabloid. the media company agreed to pay damages to 36 high profile victims. among them actor jude law. the company now faces about 60 hacking lawsuits. the victims claim the tabloid invaded their privacy by intercepting voicemail messages. some settlements involve hundreds of thousands of dollars. there are some concerns that britain's best known river the thames could pose a security threat to the summer

olympics. today scotland yard and the royal marines conducted training tests on the water to make sure they know how to work together on the 210-mile river. they want to make sure the river doesn't give problems or terrorists a foothold for attacks. mark wahlberg is apologizing today about comments he made about the 9/11 terrorist attacks. the actor was originally scheduled to be a passenger on one of the flights that crashed into the world trade center. wahlberg told men's journal magazine, "if i office that plane with my kids -- if i was on that plane with my kids it wouldn't have went down like it did. there would have been a lot of blood in that first class cabin and me saying we'll land somewhere safely. don't worry." those comments drew an immediate fury from relatives of the victims of the attacks. wahlberg quickly backtracked saying his answer came off as insensitive. police detain three of oprah's bodyguards after they get in a scuffle with the

media. don't forget we are always on on www.wusa9.com. stay with us. we'll be right back.

police briefly detained three bodyguards today that were working for oprah media. >> they scuffled with local media at a senior citizens home in india. it was winfrey's first trip to india where she's filming her show oprah's next chapter. the security guards were released from custody av apologizing for the incident. -- after apologizing for the incident. a nonpartisan group called political parody says the u.s. ranks behind 87 other countries of the percentage of women in parliament. they say women make up only about 17% of congress, but 51% of the population.

still sometimes there's a reluctance to get involved. >> of course, i care about women's rights and fairness, blah, blah, blah but that doesn't get you across the line. it doesn't move people or we'd be there. so we can say we've got to draw from 100% of our talent pool. that's just smart. women are very reluctant to run. >> today's briefing was held at the national press club. about 50 female leaders are taking part in this effort. a recent study by the american university school of public affairs identifies some of the reasons why women choose not to run for office. among them, women are more likely to perceive the electoral environment as highly competitive and biased against them. women are less likely to think they are qualified to run for office. female potential candidates are less competitive, less confident and more averse to risk and women are less likely to receive the suggestion to run for office and women are still responsible for the majority of child care and

household tasks. still too come thousands taking advantage of record low mortgage rates to refinance. we'll tell you which way the numbers went today. >> we got a cold front to the west and maybe a flurry tonight. not nearly as cold tonight as last night, but grab a coat, 40 downtown, 36 gaithersburg, 39 manassas, 34 frederick. we'll talk about a much better chance at winter weather coming up. but first hungry all the time? why it might be connected to how you're sleeping at night next in our health alert. -dad, why are you getting that? -that's my cereal.

is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. is it a robot? no. is it a jet plane? nope. is it a dinosaur? [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] inside every box of heart healthy cheerios are those great tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. stickers? uh-uh. a superhero? ♪ kinda.

[ male announcer ] and we think that's the best prize of all. ♪ if you are not getting enough sleep, it could ruin your new year's diet. a small study by swedish researchers looked at 12 men over two nights. the first night they didn't let them sleep and the next night they slept normally. the results showed even though their blood sugar levels were the same both nights, the men were hungrier after getting no sleep. in other health news if you're planning to have a baby this year, you may want to

start planning the first trip to the dentist. experts now say children should have their first dental exam by the time they're 1. anita brikman has more on these new recommendations and tips for taking care of your baby's teeth. reporter: with her daughter elly jane avil always stressed good dental hygiene and like millions of other moms made sure her child saw a dentist by the age of 3, but newly revised guidelines say kids should make that first trip to the dentist even sooner, in the first year of life. >> going to the dentist is not top of mind. you think about vaccinations and well visits and getting the proper nutrition and learning all about that. so yes, this is surprising news of. reporter: dentists say those first few teeth can tell a lot about your child's future. by the time they go to school one in four kids will have cavities and by the time they're teenagers that number doubles. >> the child experiences tooth decay in their baby teeth, they're more likely to have tooth decay in their permanent teeth it. begins a process that's very

difficult to stop. reporter: dr. paul castro is the chief of dentistry at nationwide hospital. first he says move a baby off the bottle as soon as possible. brush his or her teeth early and often to get them used to it the idea and never give your child sweetened drinks during the day to pacify them. >> confine intake of sugar to mealtime and don't let a child have access to a cup with sugar in it throughout the course of the day. reporter: anita brikman, 9 news now. >> anita adds once cavities form they can be very difficult and expensive to stop. americans spend a staggering 295 million-dollars a day in dental expenses. virginia schools will soon offer a new digital education program. the aim is to encourage students to use technology and social media safely and responsibly. it will be a 3 1/2 hour course designed for students in grades 8 and 9 and the topics will

cover everything from cyber bullying to online research. private companies that develop the course say they'll provide that program at no cost to the states or local schools. now tonight a warning from the antivirus softwaremaker mack a fife, a flaw in one of its products -- mcafee, a flaw in one of its products could make your pc vulnerable for an attack. the product at risk is called mcafee staff for total protection and at least one customer has fallen victim to a hack attack. the company says engineers are working to fix the bug. just day after several websites shut down in protest of two anti-piracy bills making their way through congress, federal prosecutors in virginia shut down one of the world's largest file sharing sites. the founder of megaupload.com is charged with violating existing piracy laws. the is site is accused of

costing copyright holders more than $500 million in revenue. in the last 10 minute we've gotten word that hackers claim to be attacking the department of justice website as a result of this case. we'll keep you posted as we get more information. now if you've been waiting to refinance your mortgage, you have not missed the boat. freddie mac says the average rate for a 30 year fixed mortgage is down to tree .88% and that is -- 3.88% and that is the eighth record low in a year, wow is right. new information tonight about those problems with toyota accelerator pedals but it still doesn't explain what went wrong. this is a study by the national research council. it confirms last year's finding that the unintended acceleration problems were not caused by an electrical malfunction. you'll recall toyota called back more than 8 million vehicles between the end of 2009 and 2010 after several accidents.

gentlemen? >> thank you, lesli. >> topper, what's this talk of snow? are you getting worked up a little? >> hardly. we may see a flurry tonight. we do have a better chance of a wintery mix tomorrow night that could be more substantial but nothing to break out the meter. this is the capitol and the flags are whipping in the breeze. we still have a southwesterly wind because the front is still to our west. it's just chilly outside, not crazy cold, just about what it should be for crying out loud. it's mid-january, 40 downtown, humidity 43%, more moisture in the air as the cold front gets closer. it's producing pretty good snows through ohio and pennsylvania. these snows will make it into our mountains west of the divide. there's some precip down to the south pushing through the try cities area around knoxville -- tri-cities area around

knoxville, tennessee. no worries for the evening commute. temps, upper 30s primarily, 37 in rockville and great falls and reston, 38 sterling. temps to the east similar, 39 college park, 38 beltsville, 36 laurel and 37 down toward andrews. so here's the deal. a touch of winter, maybe a flurry or snow shower overnight, no worries for the metro area. now friday there will be morning clouds and then afternoon clouds, another system coming in quickly and a mix will develop late friday night probably before midnight. so get the kids home. friday night about the worst night for this wintery mix to develop. all right. tonight 9:45, most of the snow out in the mountains near the divide and the clouds give way to sunshine tomorrow morning, but then they come back very quickly. in fact, by 1:30 most of us will have overcast skies, at least high and midlevel clouds. then look what happens. the evening commute will be fine, but we get past the

evening commute and we are looking at the potential for a mixture to roll in here as we go through the night. 7:00 we're in pretty good shape, but as we get into the evening and late evening, we see snow breaking out, even downtown northwest and in the pink is a mixture. that's going to be around all friday night into early saturday. you folks in southern maryland don't have to worry. it will be just rain there. mostly cloudy, breezy, cold tonight, a flurry or snow shower possible, lows 28 to 32, but no worries. now tomorrow morning returning partly cloudy and cold, temps 28 to 36 and by afternoon clouds come screaming back in here, high temperatures around 405. temperatures will be in the upper -- 45.

temperatures will be in the upper 40s to near 50. here's the deal losing steam and worse than that is paying money to see your team lose, so you can't blame local fans for looking elsewhere for entertainment. >> we found an area boasting competition just as good as the pros. kristen is here now to explain. >> thanks, guys. the bay area shuckers are the new guys in town. they promise the excitement of an nba game, but without emptying your wallet and they already have a better record than the wizards. these guys are not the wizards, but they are pros. >> the wizards aren't the only pro team in the area. reporter: the bay area shuckers are a first year expansion team in the atlantic coast professional basketball league or actbl. sometimes they don't make it to the nba and play overseas to develop their game. d.c. area ballers have a chance to do it right here.

>> two basic goals in mind, one to have a family friendly environment where families can enjoy basketball together and then again provide an opportunity for these guys to share basic skills and move up to the next level. reporter: the team is made up of all local talent including former maryland terrapin adrian bowie. bowie still plays overseas but uses the actbl competition as another way to improve his game. >> it's a great opportunity for anybody in the d.c. maryland area and i'm just appreciative for this opportunity and hopefully just starts the pipeline for many other players to come. reporter: it's only a 14-game season, but players say it's just as exciting as the real thing. >> it's pro basketball and i think once fans get out here and see the guys, the level of play. reporter: but it's not about competing with the nba. it's about getting there. >> we do our job right, most of these guys aren't here next year to give them the forum to showcase their skills and move on to the next level. reporter: for about $40 you

can take your whole family to the game. the shuckers home court is centrally located between baltimore and d.c. in severn, maryland. lesli, back to you. still ahead virginia's governor has talked about privatizing the commonwealth liquor stores, but wait till you hear what one virginia delegate thinks they should sell. then a little later it may not feel like summer, but that doesn't mean it's too early to think about a summer job. up next inspiration in 140 characters are less, local educators are setting the standards at a cool school.

cool school time is here and this week the big yellow bus is making a stop at wise high school in upper marl brother. you'd be hard for to us find a high -- marlboro. you'd be hard to find a high school student in your house these days. >> as mike hydek reports, the kids think this school administrator is pretty school. >> good morning, everybody. respect of. reporter: . reporter: how do you like that kind of wakeup call? more than 1,800 students at this high school get one from their assistant principal on a regular basis. >> we are now streaming lively. reporter: they're all following william blake on

twitter. >> you get energized, hyper. you're ready for the day. >> they are on twitter 24/7. i wake unat 5:30 in the mortgage, go work -- wake up at 5:30 in the morning, go work out and they're already tweeting at 5:30 in the morning. reporter: more than half the school checks out his tweets, videos and calls to action. >> always remember to be amazing. >> that's it. right here is why. reporter: he's a one-man show bursting with energy, enthusiasm and school spirit. >> somebody would be i don't want to go to school today. yes, you. do you're ready to have a good positive productive day. >> let's go, ladies, let's go. reporter: he's not just pumping up school pride with the microblogging site. mr. blake uses twitter to solve student conflicts before they happen. >> how you doing today? reporter: one weekend he saw a disagreement ramping up between

two groups posting on twitter. so he involved parents and administrators and by monday he had the students in his office calming them all down. >> the first thing they say how did you know? i said i'm following you on twitter. good game last night, man. reporter: his ability to connect with students on their level makes him pretty popular. >> come on now. >> it's amazing how many students reach out to him and how many students are like oh, mr. blake and so it's really helped us here to keep that going. >> how you doing? this is actually our news respondent. reporter: chances are you couldn't stop him if you tried and the students wouldn't have it any other way. >> and always make sure to follow the pumas at all times. have a great day, guys. >> that's my kind of school administrator. if you have an idea for cool schools, please e-mail mike at mhigh deck at