so, basically in the higher elevations, this is again tonight through saturday morning. the areas you see shaded in yellow, that's the watch. including cumberland, winchester, hagerstown, frederick county, shenandoah, grant. the wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain coming in tonight. quarter inch of ice possible. so, for the rest of today though, we're not worried about winter weather until late tonight. we'll see cloudy conditions. temperatures topping out only in the upper 30s. winds out of the north at 5 to 10 miles per hour. right now, 27 in manassas. gaithersburg, 34. so, it is cold out there. all right, so cold day today. again, overnight through tomorrow morning. that is sleet and freezing rain. i'm worried about the slick conditions on the roads. kids driving out tonight come in earlier and then sunday is cold once again with some showers. here's a look at your traffic with monika. good morning. >> good morning, anny. we're getting word of police activity, a barricade on the 1200 block of the potomac avenue in southeast.

this is just north of the southeast southwest freeway. be aware of that as the information comes in. i will give that to you. just a heads up on that though. toll road looks fine there. had been construction on the inner loop north of the toll road, cleared by now. no problems on 66. we'll take a live look. if you're planning to head through the fairfax area, we're looking good all the way to the beltway and inside the beltway as well through falls church and over to the roosevelt bridge. we'll go back over to the map. this time, to the beltway again, no problems to report all around town. 395 looks good. we'll take a live look there. northbound 95, 395, nice and clear up to the 14th street bridge. in my next report, we'll take a look into maryland at 5:09. back to you. the resignation of harry thomas jr. has left an empty seat on the d.c. city council. he pleaded go the two weeks to go embezzling more than $300,000. >> now the potential candidate can start filing to run for thomas' ward five seat. delia gonsalves is live at the wilson building where

apparently if you want to get in this race, you have to get in line. >> it is a long line. there are 20 people who are all vying for this position within the wilson building. but the official process to begin filing begins this morning at 8:30 at the board of elections. a process will last until february 15th but one candidate already jumped the gun. his name, kenyan mcduffy, long- time resident, attorney and civil rights advocate. he filed paperwork yesterday. candidates need at least 500 signatures to be on the special election ballot to replace disgraced former council member harry thomas jr. who, as you know, pled guilty to stealing city money for his own personal gain. he is likely to spend two to three years behind bars. coincidentally, that's just as long as the remainder of his term. so, whoever wins the special election will likely be in the council seat until 2014.

>> march 15th is the date of the special election for ward five. that's open to all voters regardless of political party who are registered to vote in ward five. >> is unity possible in the short time span that we have before the next election? >> oh, definitely not. but you know, the thing is that it is going to be a step by step process. right now, where we currently are is that serve jockeying for their -- everybody is jockeying to see how they can get this particular seat in order to be in control. >> reporter: now, there is a power struggling happening in ward five right now, that was debbie steiner. i sat down with her yesterday. she's a long-time community activist, a former member, commissioner of the anc. she says right now, everyone is jockeying for positions and power control in the ward. she's calling for unity. we'll have more on her efforts to kind of bring the ward together and move forward beyond this corruption that has

really broken things apart in that ward. we'll have that part of the story coming up in a half hour. back to you. mike? >> really disappointed people in the ward as well what has happened. thank you, delia gonsalves reporting live from outside the wilson building in northwest. >> the final debate before tomorrow's south carolina primary started off pretty fiery last night. moderator john king began by asking newt gingrich about an interview with his ex-wife, marianne where gingrich asked her for an open marriage after he began seeing his current wife. >> i think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office and i am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate with a topic like that. >> the people have to sort this out but i think setting standards are very important. i'm very proud of my wife of 54

years is with me tonight. >> let's get on to the real issues. >> rick santorum accused newt gingrich and mitt romney of being too willing to work with the left. the winner has become the republican nominee in the last eight presidential elections. >> as you can see in that video, there were just four candidates on the podium at last night's debate because texas governor rick perry dropped out of the race earlier in the day. perry told his supporters in charleston that there was "no viable path to victory." he gave his endorsement to former house speaker newt gingrich. president obama spent the night fund raising in new york city. his largest crowd was at the famed apollo theatre. he raised the big cash at some private events earlier in the evening including one at the home of spike lee where a few dozen guests paid more than $35,000 each. the four events racked up more than $3 million for the president's re-election effort. it is 5:05. time for the latest "your

money" report. jessica is off. we have the headlines for you. major markets in asia picking up steam on the positive closes in the major u.s. markets. it looks like europe is posed for some gains this morning. trading day gets underway at this hour. the dow yesterday here at home, 45 points to the plus side closing at 12,624. s&p 500 rose about six and a half. students at the university of maryland could see tuition go up again under the new budget proposed by governor martin o'malley. it calls for a 3% hike at all of the und campuses. tuition rose by the same percentage in 2010 and 2011. during his first term in office, governor o'malley kept tuition rates unchanged. well, if you're looking for ways to improve the space in which you live, the home and remodeling show gets underway today at the dulles expocenter. more than 200 exhibitors are showing off their products to improve every room in your home and some outside spaces as well. you can get ideas on things like better organizing your

closet or upgrading the cabinetry and finishes in your kitchen and bathrooms. the show runs today through sunday. >> i love those shows. >> two metro workers accuse of skimming more than $100,000 from the fare machine. details coming up. >> plus, a northern virginia lawmaker wants to study having state abc stores sell marijuana as well as liquor. well, even though we haven't had much snow this year, we expect some to show up eventually. we'll get some driving tips on how to drive when it is snowy and icy outside.

it is 5:09 on your friday morning. bundle up. temperatures are cold. they will stay cold throughout the day. it will be a gray day. here's a look at your day planner for today. temperatures in the 30s. getting to the upper 30s by late this afternoon. increasing clouds for mostly cloudy conditions. we do have a winter storm watch in effect for areas hraofpbg the blue ridge and west of it. that starts tonight through saturday. around the entire d.c. area, wintry mix of snow, sleet and some freezing rain expected and it can be icy tomorrow morning. here is monika. good morning, mon. >> we'll take a look at the sousa bridge coming in on pennsylvania avenue. the big story in southeast, a police barricade at 12th street and potomac avenue southeast, just knot of the freeway going at an either -- going to pennsylvania avenue, apparently the suspect has been apprehended that should be

clearing shortly. we'll keep you posted on that situation. in the meantime, we'll take a look at traffic again at 5:17. >> 10 minutes after 5:00. here's what's making news this morning. concerned parents attended a meeting last night at clairemont elementary school in alexandria. a man has approached children on their way to and from school. so far, the man has not committed any crime but police are interested in speaking with him. he apparently is driving an older red pickup truck. >> two metro employees are charged with stealing thousands of dollars from the transit system. horace mcdade was assigned to collect money from fare machines. metro police officer john haley is accused of coordinating his schedule with mcdade's so they could siphon off perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars. a house delegate from northern virginia is asking how much money the state could make by legalizing the sale of marijuana. david englin wants to find out if the state could profit from selling pot at the 330 abc

liquor stores. if inglin wins his approval for the study, the findings could be presented to next year's general assembly. >> if you're looking for something to do indoors this weekend, we'll review a handful of movies debuting at 5:38. >> one community's complaints lead to pepco suspending its tree tridging operations. >> next at 5:15, if you make it through the weekend, the 7-day forecast has temperatures in the 50s. we'll be back. [ mom ] hey guys.

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good morning. welcome back to 9news now. 5:14 on this friday morning. we have some -- a wintry -- we used to go dreaded wintry mix coming our way tomorrow. >> tonight, right? >> i'm concerned about the roads being really slick especially late tonight and early tomorrow. good excuse to plan on sleeping in tomorrow if you can. for today though, we're looking at increasing clouds in the afternoon. it is a cold start out there. we start with our mike al & son weather camera. partly to mostly cloudy weather conditions. temperatures are generally in the 30s and 20s. in downtown, 38 degrees. it feels like 30. the winds are out of the north- northwest at 12 miles per hour. we had that winter storm watch in effect.

it starts tonight. goes through early tomorrow. frederick county, shenandoah, wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain. you see the areas highlighted in pale yellow. basically along the ridge and west of it. and when you see this watch in effect because we could see some really icy conditions and some snow, up to a quarter inch of ice possible. that ice also possible here in the d.c. area. we'll show you that in our future cast. now, this morning, it is partly cloudy and cold. as the kids are heading to the bus stop. temperatures in the 20s and 30s. your day planner for the rest of today. temperatures will be only in the mid to upper 30s but this afternoon, with clouds increasing, kind of a gray day for today. so, here's a look at our weather headlines. so, morning and afternoon clouds. morning and evening commutes though are looking just fine. wintry mix though by 11:00 with some slick roads. especially by tomorrow morning. then the mix changing over to some light rain on saturday. we did see some snow showers go up to the north of us and we just see cloudy conditions out

there now. another area of low pressure coming this way bringing us some precip starting tonight. feels like 30 in downtown. pax river, 33. easton is 30. culpepper, you're cold at 25 degrees. around the beltway, 30s and 20s. 38 in d.c. arlington, 35. bethesda, good morning to you. 34. sterling around 34 degrees. here's that future cast. this is going to show you when that winter weather is coming this way. now, this afternoon, we had cloudy conditions. tonight by 11:00, you can see the peak of the wintry mix. blue is the light snow. we'll see this impacting the entire d.c. metro area especially overnight. we could see it get pretty icy out there. tomorrow morning, also it sticks around. then by the afternoon, temperatures are on the rise. we'll start to see some wintry mix change over to rain. so, i am worried about the roads being very slick tomorrow morning as a quarter inch of ice is possible. all right, so, cumberland, the forecast today, warming up to

only 33 degrees. snow falling out there. hagerstown, martinsburg only in the mid-30s. winchester, 36. warrenton, 36. culpepper close to 40 degrees. around downtown, upper 30s. andrews air force base, 38. annapolis, 39 degrees. here's how your next seven days are shaping up. again, that wintry mix is overnight tonight and early tomorrow morning. get the teen drivers, have your kids come home early tonight. not a good night to be out late. saturday, rain in the afternoon. temperatures in the lower 40s. on sunday, near 40 with some showers possible in the afternoon and evening. more light rain. monday and tuesday, milder, in the 50s. we dry out by tuesday. for the most part, on wednesday. here's monika with your timesaver traffic. good morning. >> good morning, anny. if you're planning to head into southeast d.c., we want to give you a heads up there. has been a police barricade for awhile now. just above the southeast southwest freeway in and around the area of 12th street and potomac avenue. what we're hearing from d.c.

police is the suspect has been apprehended. the closures will remain in effect for about another 30 minutes. again, on potomac avenue and 12th street and in and around that entire area, watch out for the barricades. what are you going to do? either stick to the southeast southwest freeway or pennsylvania avenue to get around that barricade. now, we'll take you over to a live picture if you're planning to head over to the southeast southwest freeway using the sousa bridge, this is what it looks like. no problems to report coming along pennsylvania avenue and into southeast d.c. last live look at the parkway, looking good at route one. no problems on the bw parkway in through cheverly. and into northeast. more on what the situation in southeast at 5:25. back to you guys. >> thanks, monika. >> were you one of the thousands of local drivers who got stuck in last year's carmageddon snowstorm? >> thank goodness i wasn't. but coming up, howard bernstein takes us into the cold and snow for tips from winter driving

schools. now, let's take another look at the question of the day. 60% of americans have one of these things in common. is it a, they lose their wedding ring. b, their underwear doesn't fit or c, they repeatedly forget e- mail passwords? >> here's a look at the response you posted on the facebook fan page. ronald thomas wrote c. we're a nation that is repeatedly proven we have short attention spans. >> that's true. log on to the facebook.com/wusa9 page and leave your response. we would love to read it on the air and we'll reveal the answer in our 6:00 hour. >> here's a bonus. if you like us on facebook, post your guesses to our question on a brand new kindle fire in the 9news now tablet give away. click like on our facebook page. it is facebook.com/wusa9. >> if you already like us, thanks for that. you can still be involved in the sweepstakes. go to the give away tab. you can enter through january

31st. two lucky winners will be selected at random. each will win a new kindle fire tablet. you need to be 18 years old to enter.

temperatures are in the 30s. for the rest of today, we'll stay in the 30s. 33 by 8:00. may see some breaks of sun. cloudy day for the rest of the day. temperatures topping out in the

upper 30s. by 8:00, around 33 degrees. we do see some wintry weather headed this way. sleet and freezing rain. late tonight, starting before midnight, going through the overnight hours and through tomorrow morning. so, i would plan to stay in saturday and if you can, just go ahead and sleep in. otherwise, it will be very slick out there. here's andrea and mike. good morning. >> sleep in. ok. if anny says i should sleep in, i guess i'll have to. you may have heard us mention howard bernstein is on assignment this week. he hasn't been able to produce very much snow here because he's gone. so, went to colorado to a weather conference to check out snow there. >> while he's enjoying the snow in colorado, he has also learned some lessons that can help all of us if we face another carmageddon like last year. here's what howard learned at winter driving school. >> the majority of people who visit steamboat springs come for the skiing, there are some who come for an entirely different reason. on the outskirts of town, frozen paths make up the training course at the

bridgestone winter driving school. over the past 29 years, more than 78,000 people have taken class here and the first thing they teach -- >> you need to consider very, very carefully, do i need to be out there. do i need to be out there driving? >> just driving in the conditions makes it worse for everyone. >> when tires roll over ice, all we're doing is polishing it. so, the surface becomes slicker and slicker. >> reporter: all of the cars at the school are equipped with winter tires that help with traction. instructor reminds students who don't have winter tires -- >> things you may have experienced here at our school at 20 to 25 miles per hour might not work at a speed that's over 10. >> as the snow was flying, it was finally my turn behind the wheel for an avoidance maneuver test. >> hit it. >> you hit it. >> but this is school. so, i was given another chance. >> you have to physically move your head, look where you want to go. and your hands and your feet will follow. >> just like skiing.

one of the things that kurt really emphasizes with the students is that less is more. there is less traction so you need less speed and less input. don't be accelerating and steering or braking at the same time. just do one of those at a time and the odds are you will be a lot safer when conditions get like this. at the bridgestone winter driving school in steamboat springs, colorado, i'm howard bernstein, 9news now. >> a bunch of people may jump into the race for the former councilman's seat. >> pepco customers complain utility crews are damaging their neighborhoods by trimming trees. 5:25. here's monika. >> a police barricade in southeast d.c. here is a map where you see that diamond, that's where the police activity is. at 12th street and potomac avenue southeast. it should be there for about another half hour. i'll keep you posted on that situation and other area road conditions at 5:30. you're watching 9news now. we'll be right back.

welcome back to 9news now. happy friday. >> weekend is almost here. i'm mike hydeck. hi, monika samtani. >> i'm glad i'm here, too. >> slow getting going. >> i need five more cups of coffee. anny hong is in for howard today. the weather, it is going to turn -- let's say different. >> you know, i'm glad the timing though is going to be really overnight tonight. and tomorrow morning because we have a lot fewer commuters for sure. of course, people still go to work on the weekends but not as many. i think for the rest of today will be a gray, cold day. then we see the changes coming late tonight. if you've got dinner plans, try to make them earlier. here is a look at the winter watches. you see the areas in yellow. basically northwest of town. frederick county, shenandoah, grant. this is where we're looking at a winter storm watch. in effect through -- starting tonight and then going through tomorrow. now, for the rest of today though, for this friday, we're

seeing partly cloudy conditions in the morning. a little bit of sun and then we'll see increasing clouds once again. temperatures topping out in the upper 30s by late this afternoon. under cloudy skies. 27 in manassas. 33 in gaithersburg. lower 30s out toward winchester and martinsburg. 28 in la plata and downtown, it is in the upper 30s. here is a look at one model and thinking how much snow we can get by tomorrow morning. maybe almost an inch around downtown. this may be overdoing it. around gaithersburg, more than an inch. close to two inches from martinsburg and frederick, the farther north you are, the more snow and ice you can see. so, for today, a cold one. only in the upper 30s. getting ready for the wintry mix tonight and tomorrow morning. stay off the roads if you can. here's monika with your traffic. good morning. >> good morning. it is a good morning because we only have one hot spot. good morning, everybody. if you're planning to head into southeast d.c. and you're heading out the door, there has been a police barricade just above the southeast southwest

freeway here at 12th and potomac avenue southeast and the surrounding area. now, authorities there, d.c. police are saying it shouldn't be too much longer. they have apprehended the suspect. but they're just going to wait until everything is done before they can reopen those roads. so, in the meantime, use pennsylvania avenue as your alternate route or the southeast southwest freeway. we'll take a live look outside on the northbound side of 395 here at the 14th street bridge. nice and quiet, the length of 395, we'll take a look at the roosevelt bridge. looking great. no delays to report. and the last live look on the west side of town, american legion bridge also fine between bethesda and tysons. more on area roadways at 5:38. back to you guys. >> the special election to replace d.c. councilman harry thomas is set for may 15th. now, the candidates are getting ready to jump in the race. >> thomas resigned his wart five seat two weeks ago then pleaded guilty to embedelling money intended for city youth programs. delia gonsalves is live at the

wilson building with more on the slew of people who hope to fill that open seat. good morning, delia. >> that's right, andrea. good use of that word. there are a slew of folks, 20 people i'm told, the field of hopefuls, pretty large. all wanting to get into the wilson building and call themselves the next ward five council member. including some folks who are currently commissioners on the anc, some party leaders and even some newcomers to elected office. one of them, kenyan mcduffy. he got a head start on his election bid. filing paperwork at the board of elections and ethics yesterday. the special election as mike mentioned, will be held may 15th. hopefuls need to collect 500 signatures before getting on that ballot. many say the ward needs change after former council member harry thomas jr. admitted to stealing city money for his own personal gain. the thomas family has been very influential in ward five for decades now. since his father first held the

council seat. so, as you can imagine, the corruption conviction is a huge blow and has divided the ward but at least one community member that i spoke with yesterday is calling for unity and a fresh start. >> it needs a serious leadership on all levels. we do need to have a way to bring the community together to say ok, this has happened. it is something that i know it is hurtful. but we can get beyond this and we can really move on. >> reporter: it is really the goal for everyone involved. getting beyond this corruption scandal. moving on as a ward and as a stronger ward. but i also asked debbie steiner, a long-time activist and she says you know, we can't really make it happen in the short time period, in the four months we have before the

special election. so, while she is calling on a vigil or she's calling on some kind of unity formation for all of the members of the ward to get together and say we need to move on as a unit at this point. the process to begin filing begins today at 8:30. it ends february 15th. andrea, mike, back to you. delia gonsalves reporting live from northwest. >> another big computer outreach involving the virginia technologies agency, for five hours yesterday, virginia state police be could not perform background checks, run fingerprints or register sex offenders. last april, state police lost internal and external communication capabilities for a week during a software update. and an outage in august 2010 crippled several state agencies for days. thur thursday, federal agents raided the d.c. offices of cogent communications group. sources tell 9news it is linked to federal investigations today

shutting down megaupload.com. that's one of the world's largest file sharing sites. its founders are now accused of violating atie piracy laws. hackers have tried to retaliate by going after the department of justice web site. a lot of name-calling and finger pointing in a dispute over the removal of trees and the trimming that pepco is doing. pepco has been fined a million dollars and it is under orders to clear vegetation from power lines. but as scott broom reports, things aren't going so smoothly in chevy chase west. >> welcome to chevy chase west in bethesda. >> we lose power constantly. >> it is a neighborhood where trees routinely take well power lines. pepco started removing some of the county-owned trees here this week. this one clearly diseased but abruptly quit before the job was done. when some residents objected. outraging neighbor billy bao. >> it is probably controversial to the psycho environmentalist

but to us people who lose power, it is a great idea. >> are you an environmental wacko? >> not the last time i checked. >> he objected when pepco tried to take down this county-owned tree in front of his house without warning or discussion. brawn called it totalitarian tactics. >> i think pepco got so much political heat. they decided that they would rather take heat for doing too much rather than doing too little. >> now, i mean hopefully he'll lose power and we won't. he'll see what it is like. >> it is a fine line to walk. >> there are lots of points of view here. >> i would rather go without power myself for a couple of hours rather than have a whole tree that's been growing for 100 years knocked down. >> i've been waiting for them to cut it down for years. it is dangerous. >> for now, there will be no more work here. the pepco crew has moved on to the next neighborhood until's are view by the county sometime next week. so, for pepco, it is dammed if they do, dammed if they don't,

trimming operations are suspended in this neighborhood while it all gets worked out. meanwhile, you gotta wonder how much more this conflict would get ramped up between neighbors if the power went out. in bethesda, scott broom, 9news now. hopefully, we'll go back to that neighborhood if and when the power does go out. pepco officials say they're under a legal order to remove at least four years of overgrowth from the entire system. the budget for that this year, $7.5 million. >> interesting, it is a county tree but the county can't do what it would like to do with its tree. interesting. in theatres this weekend, a couple of new films centered around a historical event. >> there are a couple more that feature female firefighters destroying almost everything in their path. previews of both coming up.

adaptive from a best selling book, it tells the story of an 11-year-old boy who lost his father in the world trade center attack. oscar shell makes a discovery among his father's belongings and it leads him on a search around new york city. red tails is inspired by the tuskegee airmen.

cuba gooding jr. and laurence howard star as the combat unit who fought their way through the register disof white commanders to get their shot at real combat missions. >> mixed martial arts star jumps from the cage to the big screen in haywire. she plays a highly trained operative who works for a government security contractor. after she's double crossed and left for dead, she searches for answers while she's trying to evade assassin. >> kate beckinsale back in a starring role. the latest edition of the underworld film series. underworld awakening. humans have discovered the existence of two immortal species, the vampires and the vulcans. they discover humans have launched an all-out war. >> terrible thing when that happens. >> the fireworks started with the very first question in last night's republican presidential debate. that story is coming up.

>> plus, evacuations, 10,000 people in temporary shelters now after a wildfire approaches reno, nevada. more on that coming up. the 2-4-6-8 value menu's

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good morning. welcome back to 9news now. it is friday. we have an interesting wintry mix approaching our area. >> we do. good news for those skiers and snowboarders who, if they make it up there safely after the icy conditions, they'll deal with some nice, fresh powder this weekend. we've got some changes coming this way. not until later tonight. let's start with our michael & son weather camera. mostly cloudy conditions out there. and temperatures are generally in the 30s here around town. 38 degrees. it feels like 30. mostly cloudy. winds are north-northwest at 12 miles per hour. here is a look at the winter weather watch out to the northwest of us. including towns of hagerstown, martinsburg and winchester and cumberland down through the area. you see in yellow.

this is starting for tonight. and goes through saturday morning. because of the chance for some wintry weather. around the immediate d.c. metro area, also, we'll see probably some icy conditions by early saturday morning. now, the kids heading to school this morning, no need to worry about ice. partly cloudy out there. it will be cold. temperatures in the 20s and 30s. for the rest of the day today, it will be a gray day. we'll see some peeks of sun to start out the morning. by noon, mostly cloudy. temperatures topping out in the upper 30s by late today. winds will be out of the north. so, for today, morning. then afternoon clouds. morning and evening commutes look fine. and then mix arriving by 11:00 p.m., slick roads. we talk about mix, including the snow, sleet, then changing over to freezing rain. that wintry mix changes over to light rain by saturday as temperatures get to around 40 degrees. our satellite and radar picture showing to the north of us, getting some snow showers through another area of low pressure coming this way to bring us that wintry weather

tonight. feels like 30 in downtown. fredericksburg, 34. culpepper, colder. hagerstown is the cold spot at 17 degrees. around the beltway, temperatures generally in the 30s. mid-30s for arlington. lower 30s for great falls. laytonsville, 32 degrees right at the freezing mark. here is the future cast. time-out. what's coming this way and when? today, cloudy conditions. a fray day out there. then you see the blue. this is a light snow coming in tonight by 11:00. the pink is the wintry mix. sleet and freezing rain. this encompasses the entire area, especially overnight. then early in the morning as well. so, i think roads will get icy. the ice can coat the power lines. maybe some trees. so, power outages not completely out of the question. ice potential. generally in the pink. it is about up to a quarter inch of ice i think. we'll see higher amounts out to the northwest of us. especially out in oakland and petersburg.

we'll see the ice there. maybe even around .4 of an inch. your forecast, cumberland, 33. winchester, martinsburg, mid- 50s. manassas also in the mid-30s. around d.c., upper 30s and gaithersburg, 37 degrees with increasing clouds today. here's your seven-day outlook. there's the wintry mix late tonight. get the teens off the roads earlier tonight. tell them curfew is 9:00 p.m. saturday, lower 40s with wintry mix changing to showers in the afternoon. sunday, some light rain possible. better chances to the south of us, still cool. temperatures in the upper 30s close to 40 and milder for monday and tuesday. here is monika with your traffic. >> boy, we're lucky that this is not hitting any sort of rush hour. it will be on a saturday morning where you've got lighter volume. that's good news. the good news right now is things are looking fine all around town with the exception of one spot on the beltway south of town, we'll take a live look on the inner loop of the beltway. you'll hit the brakes right

around van dorn street trying to get on to southbound 95. a disabled vehicle on that ramp. we'll take a look live in springfield on the northbound side of 95 now which is looking fine just that volume coming up from route 644 trying to get to the beltway. lanes are open on the northbound side here. we'll go a little further north now on 395 here at the 14th street bridge. just fine. no delays right now heading from landmark to the 14th street bridge. everything is doing well in this corridor. coming up in my next report, we'll now go into maryland at 6:00. mike and andrea? >> thank you, monika. there is one less candidate but just as many fireworks in the race for the republican presidential nomination. >> texas governor rick perry dropped out of the race before last night's debate. as susan mcginnis reports, it was a feisty final round to see who could win over voters before saturday's primary. >> you chose to start debate with it. don't try to blame somebody else. >> newt gingrich kicks off the debate on the defensive blasting the moderator's first

question. >> i'm appalled you would begin a presidential debate with a topic like that. >> he fumed after being asked about his ex-wife, maryian. she claimed thursday gingrich once asked her for an open marriage when he was having an affair. >> he asked to have an open marriage and i refused. >> the story is false. >> let's get down to the real issues. >> mitt romney faced more questions about his tax returns. he still insist on waiting until april to release them and only if he's the nominee. but he wouldn't say how far back they would go. >> i don't know how many years i'll release. i'll take a look at what our documents are. >> reporter: romney is fighting to hang on to his lead here in south carolina. with voters going to the polls tomorrow, recent surveys show gingrich closing in. gingrich could get another boost now that he has the backing of rick perry. the latest g.o.p. dropout. but rick santorum tried to crush that momentum, accusing the former speaker of acting

ear ratically. >> -- ear radically. >> you have that moment that something's going to pop. >> the jabs are expected to continue today. >> you're overly sensitive. [ laughter ] >> reporter: the last full day of campaigning ahead of tomorrow's make-or-break primary. susan mcginnis, cbs news, charleston, south carolina. in less than 15 minutes, we'll be joined by a political analyst for his take on who won last night's g.o.p. presidential debate. making news now at 5:51, a new audiotape has emerged from last friday's cruise shipwreck off the coast of italy. it is a ship officer tells port authorities there is a blackout on board but this conversation took place 30 minutes after the ship struck a reef. 11 people are confirmed dead. 21 are still missing. a state of emergency is in effect right now in reno, nevada. 10,000 people are in temporary shelters. wildfire is burning along u.s. 395 and it is scorching about

4,000 acres. the weather has been improving overnight. which may help the firefighters get things under control. if you want to own a piece of american history, christie's in new york kicked off his two week americana auction. it covers three centuries of paintings and other pieces made in this country. sales are expected to reach $23 million. all right. question of the daytime now. once again. 60% of americans have one of these things in common. is it a, they lose their wedding rings. b, their underwear doesn't fit or c, they repeatedly forget their e-mail pass words. >> here is a response julie wrote. i'm going with b, their underwear doesn't fit because undies never fit right and the reason it is only 60% is because the other 40% have given up and aren't wearing any. [ laughter ] >> log on to our facebook.com/wusa9 and leave your response. we'll have the correct answer in about an hour. >> of course, here is 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. click like on our facebook page. it is facebook.com/wusa9. >> if you already like us on facebook, thank you. you can still enter the sweepstakes, too. go to the give away tab on the left side of the page. you can enter through january 31st. two lucky winners will be selected at random. each will win a brand new kindle fire tablet. >> millions of women are joining an online bulletin board called pinterest. more on why it is now a top ten social networking site. >> never heard of it. >> up next, a look at the rebuilding process for a couple of schools seriously damaged from last summer's earthquake. we'll be right back.

the time now, 5:56. happy friday, everyone. bundle up. it is a cold start out there once again. it is going to stay cold. temperatures will be in the lower 30s all the way through the noon hour. increasing clouds today by late today. temperatures topping out in the upper 30s. we do see some wintry weather coming late tonight and overnight. some light snow, freezing rain and sleet a possibility. stay off the roads early

tomorrow. here's mike and andrea. good morning. >> good morning, anny. thank you. >> nearly five months since an earthquake rocked mineral, virginia. aftershocks still continue in the small town. >> the latest one hit louisa county two days ago. since august, two schools remain closed because damage to the buildings have rendered them unsafe. peggy fox says an update on efforts to get students back to campus in a few weeks. >> i'm peggy fox at louisa county high school, damaged since the earthquake back in august, they're putting the finishing touches on to get ready to move into a modular campus. >> building p, classrooms. building k, classrooms. >> it takes more than a, b, c, to move an entire high school. it takes h, k, and p. >> ready for february 1st. >> that's the day 14 hundred 00 students go back to school on their school's temporary parking lot. >> they'll be right in front of their building severely

damaged. >> it was very frightening. they settled in. i think the trust is back. >> then we had an aftershock in the morning. it was 2.0. every one of us just froze. but we're ok. >> 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. >> superintendent dr. debra pettitte said she's grateful to the parents. >> parents have not complained. they've stuck with us. as of february 1st, we'll be back on the normal schedule. >> reporter: teachers won't have to drag their materials to and from the classroom anymore. >> i'm looking forward to getting back on to schedule. having a five-day week. >> the new modular campus has 22 buildings including administration buildings, a cafeteria, a gymnasium and this is the library. >> our flag, we'll be hanging it up. >> in louisa county, peggy fox,

9news now. >> that was peggy fox reporting. >> the number of fema damaged claims have doubled in the past few months in part because of the onset of cold weather. people have discovered problems the first time they used their furnaces or fireplaces. residents with earthquake damage must submit their claims to fema by march. and thank you for watching 9news now at 6:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. >> friday is here. we're glad you're here with us. i'm mike hydeck. good morning, monika. anny is in for howard. >> we see some changes coming this way. not until later tonight. no problems. we'll see cloudy conditions. kind of cold out there. we do have a winter storm watch to tell you about. areas northwest of us including frederick county, shenandoah, cumberland. this is starting tonight through saturday morning primarily. and it looks like we'll see some ice, some freezing rain and slt.