samtani. traffic momentarily and mr. bernstein starts with weather first. >> not so much here in the metro. we still have a lot of rain in and around d.c. but north of town and places in upper montgomery, howard county, frederick county, carroll county, 1, 2 inches and 3-inch report from shippensburg, pennsylvania and even up to hagueers town an inch of grassy surfaces. yes, there was snow. another pithy storm even underperformed this year. i know snow lovers are not happy. today, sunny looking good. the 20s and 30s this morning but 41 by noon. and those 20s and 30s means slick spots out there. by 5:00 45 with highs mid- to upper 40s. for a good day ahead. so there's our rain snow system pushing through yesterday afternoon and it's quickly moved out of the atlantic away from us. just a few clouds left behind but starting to break up to the west. that's why we've got clear to partly cloudy skies and with the clouds breaking up we're

down to 26 now in hagerstown. loudoun county, fairfax, watch out. there'd be some isolated slick spots in morning. anything that wasn't treated but highway crews were all over there. 34 now at reagan national. cambridge 37 and i'm looking at highs this afternoon, right about where they should be for february. with a 46 in d.c.. maybe even 49 up in baltimore and 44 for hagerstown. it is now 5:0 is. monika with the timesaver traffic. i'm very happy to say i have nothing but good news all around if you're on the beltway or if you're traveling elsewhere right now. thins are looking great. -- things are looking great. all the major corridors very light this morning. here we go, we're going to over to 27 # first, coming out of frederick, no problems to report on i-70 or 270. all lanes are open and traffic is moving well. route 355 and east-west highway no problems to report here as well as you come in from frederick along route 355. back to the maps and this time

to the other side. 395 the vw parkway out of baltimore looks great. we'll take a live look near bwi airport, over at i-97 and route 100 very light as well. coming up in my next report, we'll go south into virginia at 5:10. back to you andrea and mike. and alexandria paramedic is in critical condition after falling from an overpass on interstate 395. >> this was last night. the paramedic was responding to a car fire when he fell 20 feet below. delia goncalves live with the latest on his condition outside the northwest 4079. good morning. >> reporter: this is a scary story, no one really knows what happened but he did fall 20 feet into a creek. a rocky creek. we now know the name of that paramedic who's here in critical condition at the hospital. he is 33-year-old joshua weissman of bristow. a seven year veteran of the department. we now have obtained the

picture of this 33-year-old paramedic. weissman was responding to a car fire on 395 near glebe road yesterday evening when he got out of his car, and get this -- somehow he fell through a gap in-between the two spans of the bridge. he dropped 20 feet into a rocky creek below. >> medic units are dispatched with engine companies on autofires to provide medical assistance. they were responding as part of that initial response. they came up on the -- autofire first. the other person on the medic unit reported immediately what had happened and at that point we dispatched additional resources to deal with that issue as well. >> reporter: now weissman was reportedly in cardiac arrest when he was pulled from the creek. and we're told by witnesses on the scene that crews worked feverishly to revive him. we'll have more from those witnesses coming up in a half hour and explanation as to how

he could have fallen from that bridge coming up in my next report, in the next half hour. >> thank you delia. live at washington hospital center this morning. police in prince george's county are searching for answers this morning after a man was shot and killed in river dale. officers went to 61st place after getting a call about 10:00 last night. the victim was found inside a home with the gunshot wound. he was taken to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead. investigators believe victim was sitting on his front steps when he was approached by two masked men who shot him. the man wanted for sexually assaulting a girl inside a d.c. elementary school has been arrested. police say 21-year-old davon rashad wood entered the elementary school last week and assaulted the child. more testimony in the charlottesville, virginia courtroom yesterday in the george huguely murder trial. wednesday the first witnesses took the stands for the prosecution including the mother of murder victim

yeardley love. huguely is charged with killing love, his ex-girlfriend, in 2010. prosecutors say a drunk huguely broke down love's bedroom door, beat her and left her to die. defense attorneys say huguely had no intention of killing the young woman. the trial is expected the last two weeks. city hall has fired the chief and the deputy chief of the district's protective services police department. the "washington post" reports chief lou cannon and his deputy benjamin pied ra were let go. the protective services department handles the building security and law enforcement on d.c. government property. prosecutors may not wind up charging current and former d.c. employees who got employment benefits if they collected less than $20,000. the "washington examiner" reports this mean that most of the people could avoid criminal charges. the attorney general nathan

says anyone who received less -- more than $20,000 could still face criminal prosecution. this comes though after 90 employees were suspended after a probe they allegedly committed unemployment insurance fraud. 40 other people are implicated in the scheme. 5:06. time for the latest your money report of the morning. >> jessica doyle is here, unemployment numbers go down and market goes up. now all of a sudden greece is the word and it goes back down. >> greece is the word. i love it. well, greece is still the word. we're looking over across the pond. coronetting with that -- continuing with that today. european finance ministers are meeting in brussells to try to discuss a second massive bailout for greece. trying to avoid bankruptcy for that country. checking the numbers here at home -- shares of groupon have plunged before the bell down 15% in afterhours trading. they were supposed tainting from a loss to a -- to swing from a loss to a profit, that

didn't happen. but overall sales were strong. this was the first earnings report as a public company. washington, d.c. among half a dozen apple stores across the world that are expected to be hit today with protests. the so-called ethical iphone campaign is trying to bring to light what protestors see as concerns over how apple suppliers treat their workers in china and other locations. it's from online petitions. many news organizations have covered the harsh and allegedly dangerous conditions in china. this has become kind of a quiet scandal for the company that they've been very reluctant to talk again. >> it's very mum for the most part. >> it was a topic of conversation at the consumer electronics show. >> a lot of people have been talking about it. what's next? >> deals for your sweeties. trip deals just in time for

valentine's day. we have some ideas for you. >> she's poking -- listen. >> thanks jess. >> we're sticking up for maggie. 5:08. maggie -- los angeles elementary school at the center of an alleged sexual predator scandal is expected to reopen its doors to students now. >> we're back with your weather first in less than two minutes. stay with us.

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just about 10 after 5:00 on this thursday morning and we should have a couple of slick shots even though we had rain and snow and the roads were fine. those surfaces they can be a little frozen this morning but a good day ahead. lots of sunshine. and temperatures back to -- about average. going to see highs in the mid- to upper 40s. 30s and 20s this morning. 46 by 5:00 p.m. right now monika. timesaver traffic. thank you so much howard. good morning everybody, here's northbound 395 at the pentagon, looks pretty much like this coming pretty much the beltway -- up from the beltway into the 14th street bridge. more on virginia roadways coming up once again in a couple of minutes. andrea back to you. thank you monika. here's a look at other things making news now. washington state lawmakers have passed legislation which would legalize same sex marriages.

governor chris gregoire will sign the bill next week. opponents have promised to challenge the legislation in court. if it becomes law, washington state would join new york, connecticut, iowa, massachusetts, new hampshire, vermont and the district of columbia in giving gay and please ben couples the right -- lesbian couples the right to marry. a los angeles elementary school to reopen today, the first time since the entire staff was replaced. two teachers at the elementary school were arrested last week on charges of committing lewd acts on children. the case grew wednesday and authorities said they discovered hundreds of new photos that one of the teachers allegedly took of students. a german man has won the annual empire state race for a second seventh time. they climb 86 flights of stairs or 1,576 stairs before finishing on the observation deck. thomas dold completed the run in just 10 minutes, 28 seconds.

all right, 5:11. we're back with your weather first in about three minutes. and monok will bring you the latest road conditions in her timesaver traffic report.

. good morning and welcome back to 9news now. it is 5:14 on this thursday, the 9th of february. we had some snow in the area, people did see something measurable but a lot of us just saw a little bit of rain. >> not around the beltway. >> now we move on and hoping

for winter somewhere else down the line? >> somewhere else down the line. it's going to be back here though in a couple of i das, a little d.c. of day -- of days. a little break. but rain and snow showers friday night and personally flurries and -- potentially flurries and snow showers on saturday. the cold air is moving in and it should be good. they've had little snow but they're going to be making snow and i think additions will be pretty nice heeding into the weekend. bus stop forecast, skies are clear to partly cloudy out there. temperatures range from the upper 20s to -- excuse me, the mid- and upper 20s and mid- and upper 30s. now with that keep in mind we had some wet roads and anything that's not treated. i'm going to say it over and over this morning. could be some slick spots out there and please just remember that and we're going to have a nice day today with plenty of sunshine where it did snow, places like oh frederick, and up in toward howard county. damascus and upper montgomery county. even up to per industry sill. a lot of melt -- percyville.

a lot of melting as the 11:00 temperature will be 40s northwesterly winds at 10 miles an hour and it's a little bit late in the day and highs into the mid- and upper 40s and we're driving home with sunshine and 45 degrees at 5:00 p.m. right now on the clear to partly cloudy skies. we've got upper 20s and this is what i'm talking about. the back areas here in upper montgomery county. you could have slick spots with upper 20s. leesburg 30 degrees along with sterling. parts of rural loudoun county or rural prince william county or parts of fairfax, where temperatures are still below freezing, we could have the slick spots. in people's exhibit, 33 degrees -- prince george's county, 33 degrees at andrews and 35 at baden. even columbia is 32. almost 2 inches of snow across parts of howard county and that was one of the higher totals. the outside the white house this morning on the michael & son weather camera. generally clear skies we've got. just a couple of clouds out

there. 34 but with the wind it feels like it's 25 just a bit of a windchill to contend with this morning. and as we're looking at the big picture across the u.s., one system on the west coast here but really a little piece of energy coming out of the rockies, the southwest and moisture coming into south texas. these guys going to move to the east. not a lot to work with here. but they're going to combine to be your next weather maker tomorrow night. that's going to produce some rain and snow showers. oh by the way, this is the system that got us yesterday with the rain and the snow. had a report of 2 inches from bill in smithburg up to camp david. we're going to say good-bye to that storm quickly. be left with plenty of sunshine today and a little bit of a warmup. some milder air moving in for today and tomorrow. the temperatures today in the mid- to upper 40s and tomorrow, around 50. but here comes ha arctic boundary as we get into friday midday with snow showers in kentucky and indiana. watch ow this stuff advance -- how this stuff advances east and by evening, we could have a couple of snow showers into

west virginia and western maryland and maybe overspread the region with rain and snow showers overnight friday into saturday morning and saturday, we're going to get some flurries and snow showers with that as well. your highs today, mid 40s in town. maybe even 50 well south of washington. down towards fredericksburg. 46 today. tonight we're back in the 20s and 30s with light winds. 50 tomorrow but glad those nighttime rain and snow showers are lingering snow showers on saturday. windy and colder, 38. breezy and cold on sunday, 32. and we warm it back up to 40 45 by monday -- 45 by monday. monika samtani, a quiet morning going don't we? we do and i'm not used to having to scrape the windshield. took me a few extra minutes to do that and you may find icy conditions on the lesser traveled roadways but other than that we're in good shape overall around town. i'm taking you out west first: dulles toll road from the airport to wolf trap you're okay. 66 through centerville you're okay. we'll take a live look in the

tyson's area, no problems to report here as well on the toll road and route 7. we'll taking but a to the maps and this -- take you back to the maps and the time to the northbound side of i-95. still pretty quiet across the occoquan river. live to springfield on the northbound side and again just the volume building, normal for 5:18 in the morning and a live look as well at the 14th street bridge. coming up in my next report, we'll go to maryland. back to you mike and andrea. now another look at the question of the day -- the answers are hysterical this morning. the question of the day -- >> donna wrote on our wusa9 facebook fan page --

>> log on to wusa9's facebook fan page and leave your response and we'll read some of them and have the answer in about an hour and a half from now.

5:22. clearing skies this morning after yesterday's wintry mix. some areas though did pick up a couple of inches of accumulation up to submitburg and up to -- smithburg and up to camp david.

even an inch in damascus and parts of frederick county. anything that wasn't treated could be a little icy in spots. we've got some mid 30s though in town and along the bay. this morning, well, we're looking at nothing but sunshine. low to mid-30s here for 9:00. by noon though we're punching through the 40-degree mark. to manassas and culpeper and southern maryland. 42 in cambridge as well. we head toward the afternoon, now we're talking mid even upper 40s and those are going to be the highs for the day. might even flirt with 50s south and we're driving home with plenty of sunshine and temperatures still ranging in the low to mid-40s. back to you. thank you howard. the wizards play host to the new york knicks. and georgetown takes on the number two team in the nation. kristen berset has those stories and more in this morning's sports report. >> good morning everybody. georgetown, and syracuse is one of the most storied rivalries in the big east conference but this past september the orange

announced they are leaving for the acc. last night could be the last meeting between these two at the carrier dome. syracuse students camped out since last friday for this one and they force overtime. in ot, game tied at 61. chris joseph, with the monster three gives syracuse the lead. hoyas trying to tie the game up but jason clark, turns the ball over. syracuse escapes with a 64-61 win in overtime. placing coach jim boeheim on the third all time -- third on the all time win list with 880. tony bennett. hosting wake forest. cavs running away with this one. up 27. mike scott wide open for the jumper, virginia wins 68-44. bob huggins' west virginia hosting notre dame. game tied at 45. notre dame's grant breaks the tie with a three pointer, the irish beat the mountaineers 55-

49. the big rivalry game on tobacco road. unc, duke. duke it trailed for much of the game but with time running out, austin rivers hits the buzzer- beater. duke wins 85-84. so it would have been prime opportunity for the wiz to get something going last night because the knicks were depleted with yours. but late in the -- injuries. but late in the second quarter. wall with the driving layup. he had 29 points last nile but the wizards are still the wizards. no defense, look at that jam. that's jeremy lin. knicks win 107-93. that's a quick look at sports, have a great thursday everybody. the pentagon prepares to announce new rules regarding the role of a woman in the military. and duet to get away for value -- do you want to get away for valentine's day? jessica doyle will have some doles in the next your money segment. we'll be back. ♪

♪ the snow is snowin' ♪ the wind is blowin' ♪ but i can weather the storm

♪ what do i care how much it may storm? ♪ ♪ ♪ i've got my love to keep me warm ♪

good morning and welcome back to 9news now.

i'm andrea roane. >> and i'm mike hydeck, snow brush for some, maybe an ice scraper for others, an doe yay, zip. >> i had wet stuff mixed with rain. not very pretty. >> up where i live in montgomery county, it was flocking to the trees and sticking around very nicely. gorgeous little snow and even better than that? driveway and the loads stayed wet -- roads stayed wet and not even a concern there. this is almost as if it's a perfect light snow up there. if i had that up in frederick and parts of car rom county, even close to 2isms of snow -- 2 inches of snow here in hagerstown border. this morning though we're quiet and the skies are clearing and we have a good day ahead. just have to watch out either scraping the car in spots or isolated slick spots. we're at 34 at reagan national but many areas especially west and north of town are below freezing this morning. we have a little bit of a breeze to talk about windchills in a moment. noon, sunny and 41 on the 5:00 sunny and 45 with highs in the mid- to upper 40s.

so definitely jacket and glove weather this morning. as the storm system pulls away, skies are clearing behind it. so we're looking pretty good out there. temps they're down in the upper 20s to around 30 in many areas west of town but la plata is freezing too. manassas and fredericksburg, isolated ice as well. windchills this morning down in the 20s in most areas, moen k? this time around we're going to take a look into maryland. i'm very happy to say that overall things have been looking great everyone the fact that you may have -- other than the fact you may have to scrape off the windshield. inside the beltway looking fine through cheverly. no problems through annapolis or baltimore this morning. a live look planning to go over to the beltway near university boulevard. still moving at the speed limit past 270. back to the maps whether this time all the way down to southern maryland. route 4, route 5, route 301 out of brandy wine into alexandria

across the river here and over to 95. traffic is ming well. a live look at -- moving well. a live look at the beltway at lute 4. again no problems to report on the beltway. coming up in my next report, we'll go into virginia at 5:39. back to you andrea and mike. this morning virginia state police are trying to determine how a paramedic responding to a car fire went from being rescuer to being a victim. it happened last night. >> the medic fell off the overpass on i-395 over four mile run and he landed in a rocky creek below. delia goncalves is live outside washington hospital center in northwest with the latest this morning. delia, good morning. >> reporter: good morning mike and we're told that paramedic was reportedly in cardiac arrest when he was pulled from the creek. so certainly a very scary situation for his colleagues who were working on him. now, he's in critical condition here at the hospital. and this morning, we have a little new information in regards to that medic. he is 33-year-old joshua weissman of bristow. he's a seven year veteran of

the department. weissman was among the first on the scene of that car fire yesterday when we're told he pulled his vehicle over on the northbound lanes of 395. he got out to cross over the highway to reach that burning car. and the southbound lanes. that's when he somehow fell in- between a gap in-between the guardrails separating the two spans of the bridge, the northbound and southbound lanes. his fall into four mile run creek, 20 feet. >> they were all rushing kinds of to help their buddies out you know. i'm so sorry for his girlfriend or his wife. she came down there and i said a little prayer for you know. and i hope he gets better. >> i started crying. and then i got down and started praying. right? but that man that worked -- that man that worked on him you know what i'm saying? that man worked -- it was like 20 minutes and would not stop. he wouldn't give up. >> my first reaction is how do you fall over like?

i still depth know how he fell over. >> reporter: and you can imagine just by listening to that sound just kind of the shock and the concern that lots of folks had and the question, how did he fall over? a question that still really unanswered at this very early stage in the investigation. however we can walk through some possible causes but it's still unclear exactly how he fell through that gap 20 feet down to that creek below. virginia state police hopefully will get to the very bottom of this investigation. back to you. >> thank you delia goncalves outside washington hospital center this morning in northwest. republicans say they are vowing to reverse a new federal policy which would require faith based employers to provide birth control coverage in their insurance plans. house majority leader john boehner denounced that rule wednesday calling it an attack on religious freedom. the white house says president obama is sensitive to the objections and looking at ways to address them.

women in the military may soon be able to serve in roles which would move them closer to the front lines, the pentagon is expected to propose a new policy today which would let women serve in roles at the battalion level. the new rules would still ban female troops from actual combat duty. ban prevents women from serving in infantry, armor and special operations forces. 5:34. time for another your money report. >> jessica has valentine's day travel deals. >> take your sweetie away for valentine's day? this could help you out. orbitz is out with the top destinations and joining us now with the list is janine, senior editor with orbitz.com. thank you for joining us, what destinations are on this list? >> we saw that most travelers are actually heading out over if the's weekend to celebrate -- president's weekend to celebrate. in fact 56 more travelers are heading out than the prior

weekend and over president's weekend, las vegas is the number one destination which was also interestingly voted the sexiest city in the u.s. by the survey responsibilities. coming in second -- respondents. coming in second is new orleans, popular not just for the holiday weekend but also mardi gras and then coming in next was new york, san francisco and rounding out the top five was orlando. >> i got to get in straight. so washington was not considered the sexiest city in america? what's up with that janine? >> i know right? vegas made number one, miami where i'm coming to you from from the break water hotel was number two and new york was the third sexiest destination. >> if we're talking romantic weekend, some hotels are actually out there offering special amenities for value teen' dais. what kind of -- valentine's day. what kind of amenities are they offering? >> things like champagne. breakfast in bed, a lot of couple spa services like couples' inroom massenings, and

even things like -- massages, and even things like rose petal turn down service. you can choose from a lot of amenities to make it more romantic. >> that sounds fantastic but love, we all love a deal. what kind of deals are you guys finding? >> new york city is actually one of destinations where i'm seeing some of the best deals. compared to what you usually see in new york. you can fly airfare plus three nights staying at a four star hotel like the hilton in new york, right next to rockefeller center from under $500 per person over the long weekend. so really fantastic rates there if you're looking for a city escape. also if you're looking for somewhere a little bit warmer, miami, a popular destination, a little bit more expense i. look at spending around $700 to $800 for airfare and three nights here. but you can go to orlando and spend just around $500 for airfare and plus three nights at a four star hotel. >> that was jessica doyle there. okay, your doctor may not be telling you the whole truth. we have the results of a new

survey you might want to pay attention. and your father may be putting you at greater risk for heart disease. we're back in two minutes with weather first.

it is 5:38. 34 degrees in washington although we have a bit of a windchill making it feel like it's in the mid 20s but some of the temperatures north and wastable freezing and please -- west below freezing and please consider the possibility of black ice out there. take it slow this morning. over the next few hours any ice will be turning quickly to liquid or evaporating with the northwest wind and even stronger than that early. as temperatures the morning climb to the mid- and upper 40s. still a few chances for snow in the seven day forecast. right now merchandise to monika with a look -- inside to monika with a look at timesaver traffic. just getting word on the accident on route 50 manied in just outside -- in maryland just outside the beltway with

only one lane getting through. i should have more on that accident coming up in my next report. back to you. thank you monika. here's a look at other things making news now. most doctors say they're not always honest with their patients. a new survey in the journal of health affairs finds more than half of doctors admit to making a patient's prognosis sound better than it actually is. one out of five doctors also say they didn't fully discloses the medical mistake for fear of being sued. and one in ten admits they've lied to a patient in the past year. a new study suggests fathers are passing on heart disease to their sons. british researchers found a mutated y. chromosome from fathers can double a son's risk of coronary disease. scientists say this may explain why men tend to develop heart problems earlier than women. a new study finds tai chi is more effective than other exercises were patients -- for

patients with parkinson's disease. researchers in oregon compared stretching resistance, training and tai chi. tai chi improved posture and stability and helped prevent falls. it is 35:4 is. let's see -- 5:41. let's see who's celebrating a birthday today, february 9th -- if it's your birthday, happy birthday. we'll be right back. people! look at you!

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somebody help me down. good morning, welcome back to 9news now. coming up on 5:45.

thursday, friday eve. what do we have to look forward to? >> some nice days today. a nice start tomorrow. another strong cold front. so maybe some more rain and snow showers tomorrow night into saturday. as we turn sharply colder for the weekend. so -- that's what we have o to look forward to in a nutshell. the expanded version, the bus stop forecast and we've got clear to partly cloudy skies although most areas are now clearing out there with temperatures in some cases below freezing, the upper 30s in the warm spots along the bay. southern maryland and parking lots of the -- parts of the lower eastern shore. sets at about 5:35, 5:38. by 8:00 we're about 34 but with the northwest winds at 11 it's going to feel like the upper 20s here if washington. noontime temp sunny and low 40s. 46 at 4:00 and that's about the high for the day. mid- to upper 40s out there. and by this evening 8:00, clear skies and 40 degrees. won't have any problems tonight except it's going to be chilly.

i think lows tomorrow morning back in the 20s and 30s. gaithersburg 27 and keep that if mind as you go out. that has areas even down to western charles county 32- degree readings. some slick spots out there. anything that wasn't treated but a lot was. 34 at reagan national and 36 at the pax river naval air station. but the windchills now the mid 20s in most locations with some low 20 windchills to the north and west. fredericksburg winds rather light. good visibility. clear skies there in our michael & son weather camera. 34, feeling like 25. dew points have dropped into the mid 20s giving us a relative humidity at 73%. it's cold in bismarck at 9. it's much colder in areas across central and eastern canada and a little chunk is going to be coming down into the u.s. for the weekend. sunday is going to be cold around here but we get a shot of cold air and it quickly

pulls out. what we're looking at today. sunshine, milder temperatures. well up in the 40s. then we're going to watch a front. there's that arctic boundary i'm talking about. you can just see it friday morning coming into wisconsin and michigan and it's going to pass chicago by midday. with some snow showers. kentucky into indiana seeing some rain and snow showers. we'll get into friday evening now. that front's past toledo and past indianapolis and ahead of it. maybe a couple of sprinkles here by evening and then in the night look at this. some rain and snow showers again. friday night so you're going out tomorrow night, you'll have to watch that. could be just a little bit of concern and that will be the case into saturday morning also with some snow showers as the colder air pours in. today mid 40s in town. maybe near 50s south and just a hair cooler up toward hagerstown and western maryland. breaking down the next three days. 46 today. tonight 20s and 30s. tomorrow increasing clouds and 50 with some nighttime rain and snow showers. turning the snow showers saturday. windy and colder and breezy and

cold on sunday and then we recover some on monday. monika samtani's in and it's been a pretty good morning so far? >> it has been a pretty good morning so far but we have a problem. here's what it looks like from sky 9. this is the inbound side of route 50. the john hanson highway. one, two, three, four lanes blocked. traffic squeezing by with fire, rescue and a tow truck at the bottom of the screen has arrived as well but you've already got a one mile backup and that's growing quickly trying to get to the beltway inbound on route 50. let's go to the maps so i can show you what it on the inbound side of route 50 right before the beltway. from mitchellville you will find the accident before you hit 495. stay to the right or the left to get around it. 270 no problems to report out of gaithersburg. route 12 is where the lanes divide, your lanes are open. coming up in my next report, more on the accident in route

50 another 6:00. now to buddy check 9 with andrea. thank you monika. in today's buddy check 9 report, it's a question breast cancer patients should ask before surgery. what type of anesthesia will you be getting? the answer could make a difference in rain shower recovery and risk -- recovery and risk for reoccurrence. laura is a nurse. she works with physicians in the washington hospital center. but last summer o'brien was a patient at the hospital. she had been diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. >> i had no idea. my thinking is -- negative? oh, that must mean okay you know. >> far from it. triple negative is one of the most rare and aggressive forms of breast cancer. but it's usually diagnosed in black women and in younger women. >> it's quite terrifying. >> prior to surgery, laura had several meetings with her medical team. one question she had for them that most patients don't ask is -- what kind of anesthesia

would she be getting? she had a biopsy then a lumpectomy. the doctors used regional nerve blocks and anesthesiologist said this technique offers several advantages to breast cancer patients other general anesthesia. >> there's decreased pain after the surgery. there is decreased tumor recurrence. with nerve loss and also there's decreased chance of chronic pain that sometimes happens with breast surgeries a year after the surgery. >> the blocks allow the anesthesiologists to give less medicine to give the anesthesia which prevents some of the toxic reactions that can happen with anesthesia. >> the breast surgeon says less toxins means less stress on the body which can help reduce the risk of a reoccurrence. >> it reduces the body's trauma response. if we keep the immune system up. we keep a better chance of having a good outcome. >> i think it's wonderful. it's you know -- just makes it

so much easier. >> bottom line is, ask your medical team before breast surgery if you are a candidate for regional nerve blocks anesthesia. and it is the 9th of the month. call your buddies and remind them to do a breast self-exam or schedule a mammogram if they're over 40 and make an appointment for a clinical exam. that could be a lifesaver. or leave the reminder to 9news now, text buddy check 9 to 25543 and our thanks to washington radiology associates for sponsoring if alerts. another look at the question of the day now -- >> anna wrote --

>> log on to wusa9's facebook fan page and leave your response and we'll have the answer an hour from now. passing a school bus will now cost you an extra $250. and a ex-wife of a former beatle prepares to testify on the britain phone hacking scandal. we're back in three minutes with your weather first. how are your heating bills looking so far this winter? mother nature has been watching out for your money too. i'll explain that coming up at 6:07. you're watching 9news now. ♪

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denny's new sizzlin' skillets are here for a limited time. so strike while the iron's hot. starting at $4.99. only at denny's. america's diner is always open. 5:55 on this thursday morning, it's cold out there and in some cases a little slippery. we had the rain and the snow and notice temperatures this morning north and west of town

upper 20s to around 30s. so anything that's snot treated some of the rural areas, the back roads maybe your driveway, might be a little slick this morning. be careful going out to get the paper. this morning, well we're looking at temperatures by 9:00 low to mid-30s. sun is going to be out and in a few hours the slickn't wouldn't be an issue. midday, 38 degrees for washington. low 40s along the bay which then this afternoon -- and then this afternoon, great deal of sunshine and a nice february day. thank you howard. a five cent bag tax proposal in prince george's county has been killed. it died in a maryland general assembly committee just a day after it won unanimous support from the prince george's county council. a bill which could impose a statewide five cent bag tax in maryland is still pending. d.c. and montgomery county already have five cent bag taxes. you can get a $250 fine from now on if you pass a stopped school bus in frederick county, maryland. the council's board of -- county's board of commissioners

voted to increase the fine. you can also be ticketed if you're caught on school bus cameras. on the single day last year a statewide survey identified 7200 violations. a new museum and education center is about to open on lincoln's birthday. it's across from ford theater where president lincoln was assassinated. the museum's goal? explore lincoln's life and his legacy. organizers want the project to become a destination for learning about the 16th president. the museum plans to have a free open house on president's day. and then formal tours will start on february 21st. a former beatle's wife is set to testify in britain about her phone being hacked. >> and brad pitt is behind the ebay auction for charity. bigad shaban has that and more. >> reporter: heather mills will testify about voice mails from mccartney she says were hacked. rupert murdoch's news

international settled all of nearly a first wave ovulates including one -- of lawsuits including one filed by see enfamiller. brad pitt's charity organization is holding an auction on ebay to feature items donated by celebrities. some of them are on display in new york including donations by sarah jessica parker and actress paula patton. >> honestly i've always been so impressed with brad pitt's dedication to make it right. >> reporter: pitt started the charity in 2007 to help rewomen homes in new orleans. actor and star gary busey filed for bankruptcy in los angeles. he lists more than half a million dollars in personal debt. the filing says he has less than $50,000 in assets. the new film "the vow." stars channing tatum as a man who gets into a car accident with his wife. played by rachel mcadams. >> you know what i am right?

>> you're my doctor. >> the movie is based on the true story of kim and cricket carpenter who overcame the crisis. >> to think this actually happened and she forgot everything about just him and you know, like what would i do? >> reporter: "the vow" opens in theaters on friday and that's your eye on entertainment. bigad shaban, cbs news, los angeles. >> thank you for watching 9news now at 6:00 a.m. good morning, i'm andrea roane. >> i'm mike hydeck, here's monika samtani. >> on this day, howard bernstein gets us started with the weather first and we got a tiny taste of winter yesterday. >> you really had to be well north and west of d.c.. this is a scene in urbanna yesterday. or leesburg excuse me, leesburg, virginia where they had a little winter. i know a touch of winter. out in percyville, a report of an inch there. fredericks down and damascus an inch to 2-inch totals there