this is the sort of scene or chief meteorologist topper shutt longs for this time of year and tonight his prayers may be answered at least when we look ahead to the weekend. let's go right to top. >> that was nice, wasn't it? actually some of that same energy and moisture in new mexico and the four corners will try to produce a storm here getting into saturday night and sunday. let's start with summing things up. this what is we know now and it's only thursday. here's the deal. coastal storm sunday. that looks likely. exact placement of the storm not written in stone yet. you can keep saturday night planned. that is not going to change. so don't worry no matter what changes with the forecast you can go out saturday night. your worst case scenario light rain after midnight. it does appear everything will start as rain. rain changes to snow around 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on sunday and the critical hours on sunday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on sunday. good news is monday is is

holiday, so we're in good shape -- is a holiday, so we're in good shape. it's going to stay mild for a while, but don't let that fool you. this coastal storm begins to wind itself up sunday. we'll come back and talk about some of the scenarios and look ahead to the entire holiday weekend. two weeks ago we each started taking a closer look at the epidemic of teen drinking. when we did, we didn't realize what sort of backlash it would create. >> i was flabbergasted, then frightened and then angry because it felt like an orchestrated facebook and twitter campaign of hate. people put my home address on the internet. there were calls for revenge and retaliation against my family. i'm now in about my 27th year as a reporter and i have never seen anything like this. >> after that interview words of support just started pouring in via e-mail, phone and on our

wusa9 facebook page and they came from all across the country. jim posts as a paramedic in the minneapolis area, i deal with the consequences of teen drinking frequently. great job, andrea. this story is tv journalism at its best. liz writes, "i'm shocked that the parents ridiculed your reporter for this investigation instead of their child. they should be ashamed. society needs to wake up and parent." tonight we are still working to get some answers from the district's alcohol regulators about andrea's very first report. in it we focused on town square market on macarthur boulevard in d.c. tonight after weeks of questions from 9 news now we are trying once again to find out why the city has not cited that store for selling to the underage customers we reported on. that's where scott broom picks up on our investigation. >> reporter: 9 news now first exposed montgomery county teens crossing the city line to buy

booze at town square market on macarthur boulevard in northwest on february 1st. since then washington alcohol regulators, the agency called abra has claimed it's tried and failed to do a similar sting. tonight the store remains open and montgomery county police tell us just last friday they busted two more teens crossing the city line with alcohol from town square market, more underage buying nine days after andrea mccarren's first report. >> we are out there friday night and observed several individuals going to the store and ended up following a car with two people in it back into maryland. they were two 19-year-olds who purchased two bottles of liquor. >> reporter: montgomery county sergeant mark white told our ken molestina tonight in december police wrote 36 underage alcohol possession violations to teens who got the booze at town square market and white says montgomery county police reported all those incidents to d.c. police.

>> we communicate to metropolitan police department who was very receptive and helpful. they were going to forward it on to their alcohol unit of. >> reporter: abra confirms they received a phone complaint and told fox 5 news that they were investigating before andrea's first report. so why does the store remain open? aren't 36 violations written by a neighboring police agency enough to take immediate action? abra says it's launched an investigation, but it's prohibited from talking about it or answering our specific questions. so abra insists it's still working on it even though montgomery county police have written 36 violations from way back in december presumably with the names and addresses of the kids involved and the police say some underagers continue to buy at the store. scott broom, 9 news now. >> we have to add to scott's report our offer to give abra officials as much air time as they need to explain all this

still stands. so far they have declined. we've got a lot more on this story right now on www.wusa9.com and you can watch all of our reports there. we've also got some advice for talking to your kids about alcohol and drugs. want to share your comments? go to our website and the wusa9 facebook page. you know where to go. today a full honor guard, a fire truck covered in black bunting and hundreds of mourners accompanied the body of a paramedic killed in the line of duty to his final resting place. >> reporter: i'm peggy fox in alexandria where thousands of people came out today to pay respects and say good-bye to paramedic joshua weissman who died in the line of duty. hundreds who never knew joshua weissman stood in the rain and drizzle to honor a man who gave his life rescuing others. 33-year-old joshua weissman lost his life after falling through a 20-inch space between two bridges as he attempted to reach a burning car. >> i'll never forget the moment

looking over the side of that bridge and seeing josh. >> reporter: joshua died a few days later. his station's fire truck carried his body from funeral to burial at ivy hill cemetery. >> josh did a fine thing and he did a lifetime of fine things. >> reporter: a fellow paramedic talked about joshua's quirky sense of humor, commitment to the job and his love 6 life. >> a wonderful story -- love of life. >> a wonderful storyteller. he always made us laugh. he is not here to do that now, so it's up to us to pass on his stories. the third u.s. infantry regimen typically conducts the honors for burials at arlington national cemetery. tomorrow that group will conduct some cannon firing drills, so don't be startled if you hear some loud booms in the area tomorrow between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. the maryland house of delegates opened a debate to legalize same sex issue and a final vote should come

tomorrow, but at this point the outcome is unclear. supporters are still trying to lock down the last of 71 votes needed to pass the legislation. lobbyists on both sides have been trying to sway republican and democratic lawmakers through the week. this into the newsroom, you can now add new jersey to the list of states where the general assembly is giving same sex marriages a thumbs up, but that doesn't mean the unions are a done deal. governor chris christie said he will veto the bill once it gets to him. we'll keep you posted. tonight on 9 news now at 7:00 your king size snickers is losing its crown, one major candymaker announces big changes that welsh ringgits snacks. oh, no. we'll tell -- that will shrink its snacks, oh, no. we'll tell you why. a plea for carmakers to stop distracted driving. but first construction comes to a halt at the site of the world trade center. we'll tell you what happened next.

safety teams are investigating a construction accident at the world trade center site. a construction company says a cable on a crane snapped and that crane dropped metal beams 40 stories damaging a flatbed truck. no one was hurt in the accident, but subway service was disrupted for about an hour. when that project is finished, the skyscraper will tower 1,776 feet above ground. >> but what if instead of always building up architects decided to build down? it is the idea behind this earth scraper project. the building would go 65 stories underground. it would stretch almost 1,000 feet below the surface. the idea is to build it in mexico city with a glass core that would allow natural light to filter all wait down to every level. two russian astronaut as

board the international space station took a spacewalk today. they were repositioning a construction crane on the russian side of the space station. they also installed shielding on one of the station's he'dest compartments to protect against small bits of space junk. the station's four other residents, american, russian and dutch, monitored the spacewalk from inside. still ahead should flags fly at half staff in honor of whitney houston? we're delving into the debate coming up.

new at 6:00 tonight the federal transportation department is asking carmakers to design dashboard technology such as internet browsing that will automatically shut off when a car is in motion. the government guidelines are aimed at reducing distracted driving and those accidents it causes. the guidelines would exempt electronic warning systems, though, that alert you to potential collisions. the judge in the yeardley

love murder trial was forced today to postpone more testimony until tomorrow after one of george huguely's lawyers called in sick. bruce leshan is in charlottesville and lets us know what to expect in the next couple days. >> reporter: the judge is still in a big hurry to wrap up this case and so we may get to the end of witness testimony tomorrow, friday and then get to closing arguments either friday night or saturday morning. here is what we are expecting from the defense. we're expecting a chevy chase neurosurgeon, a guy by the name of dr. ronald uscinski. he is a skeptic of shaken baby syndrome and he may well testify about the injuries to yeardley love 's brain. we are also expecting a videotape that purportedly shows george huguely and yeardley love together either the day of or the day before yeardley love's death.

it is taken apparently by a surveillance camera at a local watering hole, a place called boylan heights. we are not expecting to hear from george huguely's family during the direct part of this case. they're here, but they will likely only testify if and when there is a penalty phase. in charlottesville bruce leshan, 9 news now. >> huguely's lawyers are trying to convince jurors that his sometime girl friend died not from a beating at the hands of the former lacrosse player, but by suffocating into her own pillow under the effects of alcohol. should flags be flown at half staff for whitney houston's funeral? governor chris christie says yes and issued an executive order to do, so but as kristin fisher reports, not everyone approves. >> my plan is to have flags fly at half staff on the day of her funeral. >> reporter: with those words new jersey governor chris christie ignited a firestorm on

twitter. he's fielded countless tweets from angry constituents like danielle who wrote are you serious? wit any is no hero. our flag is -- whitney is no hero. our flag is not to be lowered for a junky to which the governor replied her struggles with substance abuse are a different topic. the governor again defended his decision wednesday at a news conference. >> i believe drug addiction is a disease and i think that she struggled mightily with that disease and i don't believe that that diminishes the cultural contributions that she made to this state. >> reporter: so we asked about a dozen people here in tenleytown what they thought about the governor's idea. was it appropriate? their answers were mixed. >> i think that's a perfect idea. >> i find it to be a stupid idea. >> reporter: supporters say it's a fitting honor for an american icon. >> her voice will still continue to come through

people. shears a hero through her music. so yes, i think it's proper. >> reporter: but opponents argue the honor should be reserved for members of the military and elected officials. >> i don't know what her contribution is to the welfare of this country, so i see no reason to lower the flag. >> reporter: kristin fisher, 9 news now. >> governor christy points out he has lowered flags to be flown at half staff for all of new jersey's fallen soldiers and police officers. he also ordered flags to be lowered last year for saxophonist clarence clemons. what do you think? join the conversation on our wusa9 facebook page. the conversation in the weather center? snow. >> yes. some new information in. keeps the storm farther south, has less of an impact on us, but it's only thursday and we're talking about a sunday time frame here. >> he's seeing that glass half full. >> now else would you do it? we're talking about a sunday time frame. it's a matter of how much we see in terms of changes or shifts in the forecast. let's look live outside.

this is our live weather cam brought to you by michael and son. still very nice. most of the showers are in southern maryland, a couple sprinkles, but for the most part moisture is out of here. we're 45 downtown, pressure steady over the past couple hours, 30.06 inches of mercury, winds out of the south at 7, a very high dew point for the middle of winter. let's go over the points again, coastal storm sunday. keep your saturday night plans, no problems. it will start as rain about everywhere. rain will change to snow 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. sunday and the critical times still appear to be 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. sunday. these bullet points don't really change. the question is how much moisture gets in here. i mean the critical times will always be between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. sunday. the question is are they going to be moderate, heavy snow or a little bit of light snow? we'll keep you posted. again it's only thursday. satellite picture radar combined, some of the energy and moisture is actually back in the southwest now producing

some rain in arizona, new mexico, snow north of albuquerque and beneficial rain in west texas. that's fantastic news. they are in the midst of an over a year long drought. most of our showers gone into southern maryland. we're in pretty good shape, a couple sprinkles possible, but that's about it and we'll see partial clearing. here's a look at the live doppler, most of the activity barely hanging onto southern calvert and st. mary's county. a good time now before this weekend's storm to download our weather app. 43 bethesda, arlington, 46 college park, 43 great falls and reston. so the lull before the storm, yeah, maybe. showers end early tonight. breezy and mild friday and still mild on saturday with fading sunshine. high clouds come in on saturday. showers ending early tonight, partial clearing and chilly, 34 to 40, winds become northwest 10 to 15 after midnight. by morning partly cloudy,

breezy, chilly, 30s and 40s, still more like march than february and by afternoon mostly sunny, breezy and pleasant, need your shades, high temperatures 50 to 55, winds northwest 10 to 15. next seven days great on friday and we're looking at some clouds coming in saturday, rain saturday night, could change to snow sunday, temperatures around 40 but falling sunday and chilly on presidents day but dry and boom, we're back in the 50s tuesday through thursday next week. >> thanks, top. we celebrate the drama that could be coming in the weather. >> the weather drama. >> we're used to drama with the redskins and the wizards, but now it all seems to be with the capitals. alex ovechkin reacts today to being called out by a former teammate. plus the terps are on the outside looking in now, how well can they do without their star point guard? sports is next.

i'm anita brikman with this health alert and one more reason to skip sugary sodas. a danish people looked at people drinking the same amount of soda, milk or water every day for six months. the soda drinkers had more fat deposits in the liver and around their organs. that kind of fat has been linged to diabetes and hard disease. disease-- heart disease. [ male announcer ] this was how my day began.

a little bird told me about a band... ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours... everyone else buzzed about the band. there's a wireless mind inside all of us. so, where to next? ♪ now 9 sports with kristen berset, the best sports in town. >> in the past week or so we've seen the wizards go from disheveled to impressive and the caps have gone from first

place to a drama filled mess. from complaints about not playing to questioning a player's dedication, yesterday's former capital and current goalie coach olely kolzig -- olie kolzig said the recent problems with alex ovechkin's problems had to do with his perception of being a rock star. today ovie addressed those comments kind of making light of the situation like ovie does. >> i just want to look like him. he's a rock star. actually he was and right now he's on retirement. >> look at a player like ovechkin, he wouldn't be who he is if he didn't work hard, but like all the great ones this are nights where you may not be giving everything, but your skill makes a difference and help your club win the game, but we all learn you have to be reminded once in a while if you're working hard all the time, that's when you become unstoppable. no lack of drama. the nfl may get one of its most colorful characters on the field. clinton portis and all his

alter egos and crazy costumes want to play football again. portis said he was too heartbroken to play last year after being released by the redskins. major league baseball has lost a legend. hall of fame catcher gary carter passed away at the age of 57 from brain cancer. he was diagnosed less than a year ago. nicknamed the kid carter was an all time all-star -- or 11 time all-star slugger who played for montreal and the new york mets. mark turgeon has never been one to hold back. at the beginning of season he was frank about how bad his time looked and how uncertain he was for a rather successful season, but the terps began to gel midway through and despite struggling in the acc were playing better than coach anticipated until they were thrown a curve ball. the terps have to finish the season without point guard keyshawn howard out with a torn tcl. today once again turgeon doesn't hold back. >> i thought we were starting to be a lot better than

everybody thought we were going to be and i thought we had a chance to win a lot of games down the stretch. we still get to may, still have a chance, but -- play, still have a chance, but it's just tough. >> okay. time now to vote for our high school game of the week. for boys clint orchard and rockville, potomac and we'll have the winner for you tonight at 11:00. >> that's a good lineup of games for sure. >> great games. >> that's it for us. the cbs evening news with the cbs evening news team is next. >> that's right. >> at 7:00 derek is here with our area's only local newscast. don't forget, we get things started at 4:20 5 a.m. >> that's it for -- 4:25 a.m. >> that's it for us. have great night.