if it's possible to take anything positive out of something so tragic, it would be how thankful we feel that there are people like josh who are unflinchingly interest in the most trying of sometimes for those they know and those they don't. >> thank you for joining us.

i'm andrea rhone. jc is off today. that was gabe weissman, the brother of joshua weissman, the first member of the alexandria fire department to die in the line of duty in more than 100 years. funeral services are about to begin for the fallen paramedic. peggy fox is live in alexandria with more. peggy. >> reporter: the funeral begins in an hour at 1:00 at temple bethel here on seminary road. the procession has been going on for the past hour and we saw casket, we saw procession of hundreds of alexandria firefighters and paramedics and their equipment coming in. the firetrucks, the ambulances. we saw flags being raised. they have closed down seminary road here for this procession. this huge, huge american flag flying up above as the procession has been going underneath. many people here paying their respects, saluting as the casket goes by.

joshua weissman was 33 years old when he died in a freak accident, trying to save someone he thought was in danger in a burning vehicle on i-395 last wednesday night. it was raining, he was jumping over one jersey wall to another. and there was a drop 30 feet down and he fell between the two bridges and died several days later. we have his family here to pay their respects, of course, and many firefighters filling in for the alexandria firefighters and paramedics who are all here at the service. a little more of that joshua weissman. he has been a firefighter since he was 16 years old. he started volunteering in central new york, and he had been here in alexandria working as a paramedic for the past seven years. mostly stationed at station 206, right down the road on seminary. when the funeral is over,

joshua weissman's body and some of the paramedics and firefighters who worked in the station will go by the station there on the way to ivy league cemetery, so of course the burial will take place right after the funeral. and we'll have more on joshua weissman and his funeral procession this evening. but first, let me tell you we talked to the fire chief, and here's what he had to say. >> this day will be a lot of ceremony, a lot of reflection, and the key for us will be we won't forget joshua when all of this is gone and we go back to work, he'll number our minds and hearts for a long time to come. >> reporter: now, you're looking at a live shot inside the temple, the funeral actually gets underway at 1:00. but of course the pre-ceremony going on right now. and we'll have the details of what happened in there this evening, beginning at 5. after the funeral once again, the

body and the family and through the alexandria firefighters and paramedics will head over to ivy league cemetery on king street in old town. and interestingly there's a memorial there, memorial circle that was put up back in 1855, dedicated to seven firefighters who lost their lives in a building fire. so -- and joshua will be remembered there as well. peggy fox reporting live, back to. all right, thank you. and joshua weissman's funeral begins at 1 p.m. you can see it streaming live on our website at wusa9.com. and for a complete list of road closures and detours for the funeral, visit wusa9.com. the story is on our front page. turning now to the trial of george huguely in virginia. bruce leshan has been covering this story from charlottesville and joins us now. bruce, you were telling us --

earlier that the jury has been on break, coming back at 12:30. bruce, what happened this morning in the case? >> reporter: well, what happened this morning was no witnesses because one of huguely's lawyers is sick, but they are hoping to get started again at 12:30. the judge really desperate to get through this trial. and he told the jury that he really hoped that he would get -- they would get through the majority of the defense's case by the end of today. we could see closing arguments sometime tomorrow. he says he wants to get this case to the jury by the weekend. we might go a little late tonight, though, to get there. >> we have any idea who is on the witness list for the defense should they be able to call this afternoon? >> reporter: welsh they do have to send out a list of people they may call to testify. they don't always call all of them of one person on that list is a chevy chase neurosurgeon

named ronald yousinski, a skeptic of shaken baby syndrome. he testified in a case you may remember from a few years ago, the kaplans who were falsely accused of injuring their daughter. so we expect him to come in and testify about yardley love's brain and whether he saw any injuries there. there is also a videotape apparently of yardley love and george huguely at a bar here, a bar, restaurant, place called boiling heights, very popular, and apparently they were quite friendly and fine, and yardley love introduced george huguely to his -- her cousins. so that videotape will likely come in too. >> bruce, you said the judge would like to wrap this up quickly have have closing arguments. will there be court monday, a holiday weekend? >> reporter: no. in fact, if the jury doesn't -- if the jury gets this case, they will deliberate on

saturday. but then if they don't reach a conclusion by the end of saturday, they aren't going to come back until wednesday because there's the holiday and then there are other matters that the judge needs to deal with that he already has on his schedule for tuesday. so we're looking at wednesday  if they don't decide by saturday. >> thank you, bruce leshan reporting live from virginia. district police are asking for help finding a suspect behind an attempted sexual assault. surveillance video captures a speck that you see in the video now as an hispanic man, in the 3200 block of 16th street northwest. it happened just before 2:45 a.m. on monday, january 16th. anyone with information is asked to call d.c. police. a move is underway to keep joshua powell from being buried near the two sons he killed this month. crimestoppers of tacoma, washington is buying gravesites surrounding the final resting places for charlie and braid own powell. their father set her house on fire when a social worker

attempted to get in. josh powell is effected in the disappearance of his wife two years ago. there are plans to bury susan powell near her sons when her remains are found. sentencing expected to be handed down today for the underwear bomber. he has already pleaded guilty to trying to blow up a detroit bound passenger jet in 2009. the nigerian's lawyer is challenging a mandatory life in prison sentence. he claims it's cruel and unfair because he was only the only one hurt in the incident. he was burned badly when he tried to ignite the bomb hidden in his underwear. coming up on 9news now, andrea mccarren's campaign against underaged drinking receives national attention. details just ahead! plus, dr. phil weighs in on the latest issue with anita brickman. we'll be right back.

it all starts at home. and that's why we want to get in message out. as a reporter and all three of you can understand, i felt like

i could not cover one more carload of drunk kids wrapped around a tree and interview one more set of grieving parents without trying to do something with this extraordinary reach of the media, to affect positive change. so we will absolutely be staying on this story. what began as a week's worth of reports quickly extended to a month's, and there's now no intend sight. >> that was andrea mack mccarren on this morning, this morning. only on 9, all this month we've been tackling the subject of underaged drinking. our anita brickman visit the los angeles studios of dr. phil mcgraw, who shared his concerns and advice about this teen epidemic. >> and you drink little less than a quart every night that you're drinking, and you think you don't have a problem? >> no, i could stop whenever i want. >> reporter: the stories on dr. phil's show called partying to death are shocking to most parents, who want to think that

will never be my kid! this young woman, victoria, is a hard partying college dropout who has to stop drinking now because she's pregnant. her mother and dr. phil are convinced she can't without professional help. same goes for experts in the audience. >> you can have the baby and it can have fetal alcohol syndrome, where it could be mentally retarded, because of you. >> they finally break through her denial and she agrees to go into rehab. in all one on one interview dr. phil says kids are growing up faster than they used to, surrounded by internet images that glamourize binge drinking and parties. involvement and parental involvement are more important than ever. >> we're not the only voice in our child's ear so we bettering be the best voice in their ear. >> what happens from the parental role where the voice is absent? >> when people come in and say, okay, i've got a 15-year-old kid here that is out of

control. i say, i want to know what were you doing when the child iowa 5 and 6 and 7, because that is when they get this air of entitlement, this air of non- accountability to their parents. you got the tail wagging the dog. if you want a teenager that is making the right decisions and in control, you need to start early. and if you're saying well, great, if i heard this five years ago, i would have done that. but i didn't, so help me now, today. this is where you need to be prepared to do whatever it takes to get that child under control. >> dr. phil says the first step is taking away smart phones, computers, video games, which kids can think of as entitlements. he says they're privileges that need to be earned and an out-of- control teen doesn't deserve them. anita brickman, 9news now. you can hear more of her interview to with dr. phil about underaged drinking tonight on 9news now at 5, right after the dr. phil show at 4 p.m.

still ahead on 9news now, close quarters. rescue crews called in to save a toddler stuck inside a machine. >> we're dealing with rain here at the midday hour. take you out with a look at live doppler radar, some yellow means the moderate rain around manassas, back towards warrenton, towards d.c. we'll have more on today and this weekend storm's potential when we return!

welcome back to 9news now. a two-year-old kentucky girl is safe again this afternoon after being rescued from inside one of those clog game machines. caitlin somehow managed to work her way inside the machine. crews were called in to use the saw to cut her free. she was reunited with her grandmother the owner says he will look for ways to prevent a similar situation in the future. >> so many questions. i'm glad the baby is okay. i laugh only because the baby is okay, because it's somewhat -- >> could have turned out more -- >> and had a happy ending. >> thank goodness some will we have a happy ending after this dreary forecast. >> we'll be okay friday and saturday. sunday maybe rain and snow. still a possibility. the moisture has to get here, we've got to be cold enough. got you'll sorts of conflicting data, but a storm system will

approach sunday which has folks for wintry weather. i can tell you this afternoon is going to be a wet one. we've got temperatures which will slowly creep up towards the 50-degree mark. winds south at 10 so it's kind of raw out there with the rain, and temps in the 40s this morning. winds south at -- into the afternoon, at 10 miles an hour. by this evening, things will be improving. by 5, i think much of the rain will be through except for south and east of town. we're mostly cloudy and by 9 we're seeing some breaks. 46 degrees and look, the wind shifting northwest at 4. so that will mean a system is pulling away and slightly dryer, cooler air tonight. up see the rain going back to west virginia. now we're seeing some yellows and oranges closer to home. so the light rainshowers we've had for most of the morning, now turning into some very heavy showers off to the west because faulkier county and prince william county

especially, enhancement northern charles county weakening but look for manassas to woodbridge, back down towards warrenton, seeing a little less now but cromwell seeing, it to quantico, all moving northeast and that's why we've got moderate rain at times for the next couple hours some showers today. nice friday and saturday, but a storm approaches late saturday night into sunday so rain or snow a possibility to finish out the weekend. temperatures raw in the shenandoah valley, low 40s. mid-40s with upper 40s in easton. raindrops on the lens, 46 degrees. feeling like 41, though, with the wind at 10 miles an hour. this piece of energy here, this will come across the southern u.s., activate another storm system for saturday night, sunday. today, the heavy showers down on the deep south extends up towards new england, where it turns into snow. our forecast, 50ish with luck

this afternoon. rainshowers diminishing this evening. breezy tomorrow, we start in the 30s, we finish 54 with good deal of sunshine. partly to mostly cloudy saturday and 52. by sunday, rain and or snow. north and west a better chance for all snow, south and east a better chance for mainly rain and president's day we're looking a lot better with temperatures back in the mid- 40s. and dryer conditions. it is thursday at 9 and that means it's time for pet line 9. becky joins me from lab rescue. you've got a nice big black lab. i grew up with a black lab so you had me at hello. >> that's pacino. and he was a stray. and it's hard to look at this gorgeous well bred dog and think he was roaming the streets, but the reason he was is because they didn't neuter him. so 90% of our dogs we find that are intact end up as strays, and so better reason to neuter and spay your dogs. >> and it's really so important

there because we have true many animals like this, and even if it's a good dog, they get excited and they run. >> yes, they're running! and so he was found in as a stray and is scheduled to get neutered next week, but he is a mellow, mellow boy. he's around five years old. he was snoring in the grown room. and you can see he just loves affection and belly rubs. >> good guy. >> and he'll make a great family pet. we're not going to place him with small children because he was a stray. there's no history. but any older kids than 10 and great mellow laid-back affectionate dog. >> any information on pacino is on our website, wusa9.com. go to the pet line section. you're a good boy! stick around, we'll be right back in just a moment.

welcome back to 9news now. opponent coming out against the controversial proposal in maryland. the governor wants to shift half the costs of teachers' pensions to the counties. local leaders came together. in annapolis wednesday to blast the idea and accused the state of attempting to balance its budget at the expense of the county government. the teacher pension issue is causing an outcry, with it now the howard county executive ken holloman and there's also a lot of buzz about his political future. we'll ask hymn about that.

thank you for breathe here with us. >> thank you for having me. >> if the governor's plan goes through, howard county would be forced to bear the burden of half the teachers' pensions. can you do that? >> it would be dever stating. and yesterday montgomery county and baker and folks around the state joined us to make that case. a lot of the attention is focused on the federal budget situation, the state budget situation, but local county governments are really where basic services are provided. schools and public safety and public roads and things like that. and our budget, our revenues have been squeezed tremendously as well. >> we expect the executive from the various counties to say. that but if there is a political future for you beyond that, as governor of the state, is this an idea that would have merit, because the governor says it's only fair that everyone shares? >> the issue is the boards of educate set the salaries for teachers, so what the governor proposed is senn the bill not to the board of education but to the county government and give us no relief on a state

mandate of how much we spend on education, and so we really think we can't afford it but we also know these are tough times in the state level and so we're willing to talk and discuss. we've given -- a lot of state cutbacks to local government over the last few years to get us through these tough times but we've got to have more of a collaborative approach. >> governor talking about increasing gas sales tax, 6% over three years, 18 cents more on top of what you -- that's hard. >> it is. i served on the governor's transportation commission. there's no question we need to more investment in transportation. you only have to drive around or take the metro in this area to know that. but my frustration is we haven't really sold it to the public. and so we haven't told people, you know, would you pay the value of a cup of coffee a week to get home a half hour early to see your kids? here are the roads that will be improved. we haven't done that! >> we have just 30 seconds. >> sure. >> just 15 seconds. you would be the environmental candidate i see you have --

powered by solar panels? >> the first solar powered tool in maryland. we'll see where the future leads. >> when you make that decision, come back to 9news. >> love football here. >> thank you very much for being here with us. that's 9news now at noon. we'll be back at 5:00. check us out 24 hours a day at wusa9.com. have a great day!