icy conditions anticipated on the roads and highways tomorrow morning after a mix of sleet and rain overnight. hello, i'm bruce leshan johnson. thanks for joining us this sunday night.

freezing rain causing delays. we'll have delays at the bottom of the newscast throughout the night. federal employees add viesdsted to stay off the road. workers can get an excused absence until tomorrow morning. federal offices will open at the same time at 11:00. monday, what can we expect? let's go to olga brees in the weather center. >> i think people will be wise to take it slowly in the morning. if you can delay your start a little bit until conditions improve that would be in your best interest. right now we are seeing cool conditions in and around the area. we spent most of the afternoon and evening in the 30s right around that freezing mark and we're popping in some of those conditions right now, some of those temperatures on our doppler 9000 radar. we're definitely going to see the cool conditions overnight tonight. things will begin to warm up as we head through late morning

and into the afternoon but until that. there is a freezing rainadvisory. that will cover all of us in the entire metro area until 6:00 a.m. the best risk for these poor conditions will be during the 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. hours after sunrise. it will be a little bit slow, but a slip in the daytime heating if we can call it that. we'll see a rise in temperatures as the winds start to move in from the south and the southwest. future track does put a lot of that pink on our map here, which means that until about 9:00 or 10:00, there could be some tricky going out there on the road. already getting school delays in for many of the areas, including two our delay already. prince william county. you can get all those updates on our website. i'll let you know how long the rain will last on monday and how our conditions might improve. bruce? >> thanks, olga. what are the conditions out there right now. armando trull has been checking out the highways around the region tonight. he joins us from arlington. what do you see? >> reporter: right now, things

are going pretty well. behind me, that portion of 395, traffic flowing smoothly. there is no ice on the road right now. tomorrow morning things could get worse in spite of the best efforts of transportation officials. virginia's department of transportation says it will deploy 770 trucks tonight to pretreat state highways with salt h in the event of the icy weather bearing down on us. the district will have 70 trucks on city roads and maryland says it will deploy trucks as needed. all jurisdictions are urging motorists to use extreme caution on the roads, especially bridges and elevated portions of highways. authorities are telling drivers to give themselves plenty of time to arrive at their destinations tomorrow morning because traffic will be moving slowly and the spinouts and accidents that normally take place under these conditions aggravate delays even more. bruce, as you mentioned, federal agencies will be open

two hours later tomorrow at 11:00 instead of 9:00 and of course the 9 news now morning team will be on top of anything that changes overnight. folks, stay tuned for that, because we'll you know what you need to know. reporting live in arlington, i'm armando trull. back to you. >> thanks a lot for that. tonight, family, friends and athletes are remembering joe paterno who died this morning at the medical center. penn state fans have been gathering at the statue of the long time coach outside beavers stadium. the paterno family released a statement saying he died as he lived. he fought hard until the end, stayed positive and only thought of others. scott broom has reaction from penn state in college park tonight. >> reporter: here at a statue memorializing joe paterno outside beaver stadium, a candlelight vigil continues late into the night with lots of mixed emotions about his death. >> he shouldn't have gone out like this. >> reporter: there is grief here. >> this is really sad. >> reporter: but there's anger and blame, too.

>> the stress was just too much for him to handle. i think he went out in a very unfair way. >> the best they could do to terminate him is via a phone call. that's just horrendous. i can't let it go. >> joe paterno is my role model since i was 5 years old. >> reporter: one came with a cutout of the iconic coach. there are candles, signs and flowers. >> it's a shame. >> reporter: his death rubs the emotions raw all over again. >> sow, yeah, the way things ended up for him, a little bit of anger. >> the way he went out, i think he's a person who did so much for the university, made penn state as well-known as it is. and i think the way he was treated in the end was horrible. >> don't pray for joe. pray to him. he's a saint. >> reporter: paterno's death opens up a whole new emotional deballet here. how will -- debate here. how will the university who fired him honor him in death. we got a hint from the acting president tonight who mourned him saying he's a great man who

made this university greater. in state college, scott broom, 9 news now. >> we'll have more from penn state later tonight in sports plus. congresswoman gabrielle giffords says she's stepping down. in a video release today on youtube, giffords says she's giving up her seat in the house to devote more time to her recovery. the arizona democrat was shot and wounded last year in her home district. six people were killed, a total of 13 injured in that senseless attack by a lone gunman. i have more work to do on my recovery. so i'll do what is best for arizona. i will step down this week. i'm getting better. every day, my spirit is high. i will return. >> her office says she plans to

attend president obama's state of the union address on tuesday. tonight, the president said giffords is an inspiration and the very best of what public service should be. he said giffords and her husband, astronaut mark kelly, have taught us the true meaning of hope in the face of despair and determination in the face of incredible odds. tonight, prince george's county police are investigating the shooting involving one of their own. it happened early this morning in the 2600 block of keating street in temple hills, maryland. two officers were responding to a reported domestic disturbance when they saw a man trying to leave the residence. officers used pepper spray and a taser to try and subdue the man. they say the man tried to take one of the officer's guns. the other officer fired her service revolver before the suspect fled the scene and tonight police are looking for 30-year-old joseph kourme. they're not sure if he's been wounded. a woman convicted in the

brutal murder of her athletic shop coworker faces sentencing this week. a jury convicted brittany norwood in november of first degree murder in the death of her coworker, jayna murray. prosecutors will ask for a life of prison. according to a presentencing report obtained by the washington post, prosecutors say she's an evil, cunning and pathological liar beyond rehabilitation. norwood's lawyers are expected to argue their client really needs help for mental illness. norwood killed murray inside the yoga shop where they both worked. a silver springs family escapes injury when a fire destroyed their townhouse. the fire started at 7:30 tonight. investigators don't know what caused the blaze but say it appears to have started in the basement. fire and rescue units in both montgomery county and prince george's county responded to the blaze which threatened to

spread to an adjoining home. >> this is an extremely hazardous situation with townhouses that adjoin one another. the fire very easily could spread up into the attic and into the other townhouses. we were able to safely put crews in the adjoining townhouses to inhibit the spread of the fire. the fire did spread into the adjoining townhouses. there's moderate damage in those two townhouses. the original townhouse of the fire is completely destroyed. >> firefighters say they'll have to rip open the back of the townhouse in order to fully extinguish the blaze in the basement, because the first floor collapsed into the basement. divers searching the wreck of the costa concordia recovered another body today. that brings the number of known dead to 13. the body of a woman was found today underwater at the rear of deck 7. she was wearing a life jacket. 19 people still missing off the coast of italy where the giant cruise ship capsized after hitting the rocks. that was over a week ago. the four republican

presidential hopefuls are taking their messages to florida ahead of that state's upcoming primary. tomorrow is the first of two debates this week. a lot of observers say it's now down to a two-man race. danielle nottingham reports tonight. >> reporter: mitt romney arrived in florida rallying supporters. >> i need your help. i need you guys to go out and work. >> reporter: the former massachusetts governor is working to get his campaign back on track after a major defeat in south carolina. romney's also trying to stop a controversy over his taxes. he now says he will release his 2010 tax returns and 2011 estimates tuesday. >> we just made a mistake in holding off as long as we did. it just was a distraction. we want to get back to the real issues in the campaign. >> reporter: fresh off his comeback victory in south carolina, newt gingrich attended mass in washington, d.c. he's trying to build on his big upset, keeping his

attacks focused on romney, calling the former governor a moderate struggling with his identity. >> i think he's been dancing on edge, trying to figure out how to find a version of romney that will work. >> reporter: florida is a very different battle. here in south carolina, evangelicals and conservatives made up a majority of the voters. but florida is a more diverse and much bigger state. that requires organization and a lot of money. rick santorum vows he will not give into the pressure to drop out, despite a third place finish saturday. >> we're going to go out and campaign all up and down the state of florida. >> reporter: ron paul says he'll skip florida. he finished fourth in south carolina and will now focus on states with caucuses. danielle nottingham, cbs news, columbia, south carolina. >> early voting is already underway in florida. more than 400,000 people could cast absentee ballots in that state. coming up tonight on 9 news

now, tragedy at a campus when a deadly fire ripped through a student's house. an overnight apartment fire sends families running from their homes and neighbors running to help. that story when we come back.

>> three college students are dead after a fire ripped through an on-campus house. the blaze started early saturday morning at an off- campus student house near merit county. two students from connecticut and a third from new york diedin that blaze. one of the victims is carrie fitssimmons. her neighbors are stunned. >> she was a wonderful girl. >> four students managed to escape the flames by jumping out of windows. tonight, the fire-damaged house than bulldozed. investigators still trying to determine how the fire started. roughly a dozen people have been displaced after an early morning apartment fire. dozens more responded to the high rise building to help their neighbors try and get out safely. surae chinn reports from laurel, maryland. >> it started in my apartment, and my smoke detector didn't go off. >> reporter: she says her family rushed out of her

burning fourth floor apartment. >> i brought my friend over so she can hold my daughter, because i don't know what to do right now. my daughter was with me and my brother was with me. >> reporter: the flames were shooting out of the six story building when crews arrived at the horizon square apartments around 4:00 sunday morning. 70 firefighters responded because of the high rise buildings. >> it was really scary. i mean, you know, first thing you wake up, you hear the fire alarm. we have a lot usually here, but walk in the hallway, actually smelled the smoke and stuff like that. it was horrifying. >> i heard everybody else's smoke detectors go off but mine. only reason why i came out is because the smoke started coming out of the vent. >> investigators will try to find out if the smoke detectors were working, but the fire cleave says the building itself had their own smoke detectors in the stairwell and hallways for just such a problem. >> people started coming out. you had senior citizens. people were little kids moving

a lot slower than usual. when you walk out the front, it was just flames. looked like the furnace had actually exploded. >> no one was injured. fire and water damage destroyed three apartments. the fire chief says they're still trying to figure out the cause, but they don't suspect foul play. in laurel, maryland, surae chinn, 9 news now. >> the red cross is helping displaced families. most of them have been moved to another apartment within the complex. investigators say the fire caused an estimated half a million dollars in damages. it's going to cost you more to mail a first class letter. starting today, postage rates increased for the first time in 2 1/2 years. it now cost 45 cents for first class postage, that's a one cent increase. the hike does not apply to forever stamps purchased before today. the cost of sending packages and other mail also goes up. they hope to generate $900 million in new revenue. still ahead on 9 news now, a new exhibit in town that michael jackson fans will want

to check out. and freezing rain tonight on could make for a messy monday morning commute. stay with us.

>> the wax museum unveiled its new exhibit, the michael jackson experience. it pays tribute to the late teen of pop with a new wax edition. members of the dance studio were on hand for today's opening. the exhibit features three michael jackson features from various stains of his career. get this. visitors can also record a video of themselves singing their favorite michael jackson song. which begs the question, your favorite michael jackson song? >> it will have to be thriller. >> i just love the whole story of thriller. >> great video. >> uh-huh. we've got serious weather out there. >> we do. it's starting to move in now. we are seeing a little bit of that freezing rain around the area. a lot of areas so far this evening have been spared. that's because our temperatures right now are still hovering around that freezing mark. we're sitting at 32 degrees at reagan national airport right now. we dipped down a little bit into the early 30s earlier in

the evening. right now the winds are fairly calm. our view from the michael and son weather camera is not too bad at the capitol building. we have cloudy skies. those are sticking around well into the afternoon tomorrow as the rain continues moving on through most of the forecast for tomorrow. we will see the opportunity though with our freezing rain advisory of getting some of that wintery mix in here early hours in the morning. it looks like the currenttemperatures have been holding steady. again, we sit around that 30 degree mark for most of the day today. still at 30 for arlington and bethesda. actually we've come up a degree or so at reagan national airport to 32 at this hour. with the winds calm, it won't be too much of a change, at least until we get to sunrise. for most of us, the entire metro area, the freezing rain advisory will stick around until 6:00 monday morning and then the best opportunity to see that freezing precipitation will be west of i-95. a few areas north of town as well. there will be a few slick spots

on your morning commute. the reason for many of those delays we already have in place for tomorrow morning, your driveway will be a little bit slippery. the sidewalks as well. if you're walking on the morning commute, be careful as well. on monday, we're expecting the afternoon to be cloudy with rain. at least a milder temperatures will change all of that wintery mix to pure rain by late in the day. so here's how we look for your forecast for the short-term. lows tonight around 26 to 32. we'll keep our winds fairly light out of the north. we'll still be cold, down into the 20s. 29 at reagan national airport. we'll see about 26 across frederick, maybe 28 for leesburg. but in all, a very chilly start to your monday morning. here's what futurecast has to say about the rival of some of that -- arrival of some of that precipitation. we're already seeing a little bit of freezing rain and drizzle down toward the national airport a little earlier on this evening. this has been kind of hit or miss. the forecast model does bring in a little bit more opportunity for that just prior to sunrise. if you are getting that serial start between 7:00 a.m.

and 8:00 a.m. you will see a little bit of that slick stuff on some of the roadways and overpasses. then as we get into midmorning and late afternoon, mainly rain event for most of us by late afternoon, we start to taper off and still a little precip lingering around on your monday night and into tuesday morning. but the forecast will show much improvement as we go into wednesday and into thursday. more of that to come. for monday afternoon, it will be mostly cloudy, but with those mild temperatures moving back into the upper 40s to near 50 degrees with a southerly wind. things will start to improve late in the day on monday. then the highs for tomorrow are looking well above average. most of us will be sitting into the upper 40s. that includes gaithersburg down toward manassas. we should see 50 at reagan national airport. much warmer across the bay as temperatures push toward the middle range 50s. so the weather pattern for tomorrow morning, the key hours you'll want to pay attention to will be early on. i would say between 6:00 and 7:00 a.m. when we're hovering near that

freezing mark. then much improved by noontime. spot showers on and off throughout the day as we move out of the 40s and into the lower 50s for most of us. seven-day forecast is going to look fairly good. first three days are quite mild. monday, tuesday in the 50s. still looking good on wednesday with 49 degrees. by the time we get into that part of that seven-day forecast, although we are going to be drying things out a little bit towards the early portion of the week, the next system is going to work its way back in here and bring us more rain opportunities as we move from wednesday into thursday. now, that is another front that's coming on through. it's going to cool us off during the overnight hours. but at least we're staying at or above freezing as we get toward the end of the week. tomorrow morning it's going to be our toughest challenge of the week. >> again, federal workers don't get on the road until 9:00 tomorrow. that's the advice we're getting. northwest washington, an international game of skill and contemplation. ten students from the washington area played chess

against ten students from mont enagro. they were played in hopes of building international friendship. >> because chess is an international game, everyone plays by the same rules. now through the use of the internet, we are able to complete with people from all over the world. >> today's match is part of a series of international matches between students from this area and other countries. coming up, the ravens were so close to a trip to the superbowl. that's ahead in sports plus. we'll have a preview just ahead.

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>> amazing, another game lost by a big mistake. >> as good as these football games were, inches, little things, not completing the process, mr. lee evans, it was huge. i'm spent. what a day of football. year in and year out, it's some of the best football we see. i'm talking about the conference championships for the rights to go to superbowl xlvi, indianapolis. as bruce johnson said all day, the ravens were on the brink but billy cundiff shanked it. misses a 32 yard field goal. it was a bad shank. the ravens fall in the worst way. ray lewis says don't just blame the kicker. >> we didn't do it. we didn't do it. and that's it. there's no, oh, man, what about

this, what about that? not one play lost this game. >> we didn't come back with a victory but we laid it all out there. that's all you can tell them. you're proud of them for what they did. >> bruce, like you say, it was a tough defensive battle. a couple of good offensive plays. davis was huge, 112 yards receiving. eli manning was the better of the two quarterbacks by a mile. 316 yards. giants moving on. we're going to have full coverage of that coming up in just a moment. the giants winning it in overtime in san francisco. a big day of sports requires all the big guns. they're here. our double coverage team is in the house to talk about the entire day of sports. football, cats, wizards and the passing of joe paterno this morning. it's a big show and coming your way in a minute. but as you look at vernon davis there going 73 yard, what a great play. dunbar high is having a great post-season.

>> i'm going to see eli is no longer payton's little brother. >> no, he's out of that shadow now. want to recap now? >> under the freezing rain advisory until 6:00 in the morning. we will see slick spots to start out but a dreary day on monday. >> thanks for watching. tune in tomorrow morning for 9 news now beginning at 4:25 for all that important information. have a great week, everybody. thanks a lot. bye. look! here she comes! ♪ she'll be comin' 'round the mountain when she comes... ♪ ♪ when she comes. ♪ it'll be spinning new chrome wheels when it comes. ♪

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