degree reading at 5:00. sun is up 6:52 setting at 5:52. clear skies overnight. for the most part a few clouds have rolled in but the thicker clouds out to the west. i think toward midday some of that is going to be over here. that's why it's not going to be nearly as pretty midday as it is early. down to 19 in manassas. culpeper at 21. heard earlier from newland, 25 degrees there. prince frederick 27. a little frost on the wind shield. 33 here in town and 22 in frederick. with sunshine giving way to some high clouds later on today, high temperatures in the upper 40s in the northern shenandoah valley to maybe mid- 50s in a couple of spots like culpeper later on. it's 5:00 a.m. monika is in time saver traffic. still no notes. i'm liking that. yes. everyone is behaving themselves out there. things are looking great. everything is moving at or above the speed limit all around town. there are no big issues to

report. if you're coming out of southern maryland, you're looking good out of accokeek, brandywine, route 5, route 4, route 301. we'll take a live look outside right now if you're planning to head over to the sousa bridge along pennsylvania avenue. no problems to report as well across the anacostia river. we'll go back over to our maps this time to the north side of town. looking great on the beltway between college park and bethesda. all lanes are open. no construction to worry about. 95 is good out of baltimore. 270 out of frederick. we'll take a live look in wheaton on connecticut avenue. no problems on all of the main corridors as you head south to the beltway. coming up in my next report, we'll go to virginia at 5:09. back to you. a lengthy investigation lies ahead for mission after a deadly crash in landover, maryland. >> the driver of a speetding bm -- speeding bmw left control, left the roadway and flipped and slammed into a kfc restaurant. delia goncalves is at the scene with more on what police have been able to sort out so far. good morning, delia. >> reporter: good morning,

mike, andrea. it's quite the scene out here, even at this early hour, several hours after the investigation. police now confirming that four people were injured here, one person dead. the person who passed away was indeed the driver of the speeding car. take a look at the destructive path this car led. police say that the car flipped over, went air born at the citgo gas station.  you can see hit several items, including overturned this clothing bin. that's completely turned up side down. careened through this parking lot, slammed into the kfc. the windows that were smashed now covered in plywood. the female driver was thrown from the vehicle. police say she was traveling more than 100 miles an hour down mlk highway when the car went airborne, flipping over for about 100 feet we're told colliding into a parked suv outside of kfc and finally crashing into the restaurant. on the route the car hit

several items including we're told a fence, a trash can, and a tree. the four people who were injured, including one person who was a passenger in that speeding car, and the driver who was sitting in a parked car when the car was hit in the back end by this bmw that was speeding down the road. take a look you can see even some of the concrete pilings here outside of the restaurant were knocked over as women. we're also told parts of the vehicle, including the wheel went airborne 20 feet into the air and take a look at that little damage on the top of the building that mark is showing you right now. we're told that is where some of the pieces of the wheel actually punctured and became embedded into the building. so it was a massive scene out here. the investigation lasting well into the early morning hours, this early morning and police are still trying to piece

everything together. we'll have more on their investigation coming up new at 5:30, including their theory as to why this car could have been traveling so fast. back to you, mike, andrea. >> wow. unbelievable. thank you, delia goncalves reporting live from landover. just about 5:04 now. one person has died after a fire in southeast washington. it started last night at an apartment building on good hope road. firefighters performed cpr on a middle aged woman taken from the basement level amount but they couldn't revive her. no other serious injuries reported. investigators are still looking for the cause of the fire at this point. sad news to report a. 2- year-old girl pulled from a burning home in district heights, maryland has died from her injuries. firefighters resuscitated little mariah hood after finding her in her bedroom but the injuries were too severe. a 9-year-old and three adults survived the fire.

investigators say it started after something left on the kitchen stove. yesterday crews completed repairs and fire inspectors gave the okay to hold classes at a high school in d.c. students had to be evacuated friday when a fire about out in part of the building undergoing repairs. no students were hurt but two prrts were treated for -- firefighters were treated for minor injuries after one fell through the school's roof and hit another firefighter. hundreds of women spent president's day protesting outside the virginia state capitol building. they were rallying against a handful of bills working their way through the general assembly which could put severe restrictions on a woman's right to have an abortion. among the bills in question, one that would define an embryo as a person and make it a crime to destroy the embryo. five minutes after 5:00. you hear the music. that means it's time for the latest your money report. >> jessica doyle is here with today's headlines and 13 could ablucky number for wall street today -- to be a lucky number

for wall street today. >> will the dow make the run to 13,000 today after the market reopens from the long holiday weekend. we'll have to see if news from overseas about another greek bailout would help. global markets have been mixed today. checking the numbers from here at home, on friday the blue chips added nearly 46 points. the nasdaq was off by 8 and the s&p 500 rose by about 3. as for greece, while protesters riots over more measures, leaders within the european union have agreed to give the struggling country $170 billion in bailout loans. details still being worked out on this deal, but without the rescue package, greece would have defaulted on its debt next month and that would have caused another financial crisis. eight more weeks to get your taxes done. and the i.r.s. is warning consumers about the most common ways taxpayers get cheated. topping the list of this year is identity theft. one of the ways thieves steal your data is through phishing or using sketchy e-mail or websites to get you to submit your information. the agency also warns about tax

preparers who may not be on the up and up, something that you definitely want to look out for. it's always good to take recommendations. >> exactly. what do you have for us in the next half-hour? >> when will the new iphone be out and what will it look like? there are more rumors out there. >> saw it yesterday on twitter, people musing about it. powerful storms blast the country's midsection. and we'll have more on the damage and wind and whether or not any of the remnants are coming this way. plus, this time united nations inspectors hope to learn something concrete about iran's nuclear program. we'll be back.

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9 after 5:00 on this tuesday morning. heavy jacket needed. we have temperatures in the teens. 19 in manassas with lots of 20s out there. we'll have a decent day with a few more clouds than this morning. this morning starts out sunny and chilly. we have readings in the 30s now. about 40 at 9:00 at reagan national. noontime temp 46. partly to mostly cloudy this afternoon with highs between 50 and 55. i'll see you in five minutes and talk about even warmer temperatures before the week is out. here's monika with time saver traffic. we're going to take a look at the bw parkway up at route

175 in jessup. no problems as you leave this point heading through laurel and greenbelt and down to the beltway. coming up in my next report, more on maryland roadways at 5:17. making news at 5:10, one person died when the severe thunderstorm hit a mobile home park in southern oklahoma last night. high winds flip add mobile home killing one -- flipped a mobile home killing one person and injuring another. chicago police have issued one citation to the owner after funeral home and they say many more could be on the way. investigators shut down the carter funeral home after finding it had no power, standing water and improperly stored bodies. some relatives are still trying to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones. united nations inspectors have arrived in iran to see if they can get any answers about the country's nuclear program. the team hopes to visit a military base why where iran is suspected of working on a nuclear weapon. iran's government claims it's only pursuing nuclear technology for use in power

plants. we've seen the polls change dramatically in the g.o.p. race. some of them make some noise but if money is what gets results, mitt romney is still leading the race for the g.o.p. nomination. that story at 5:28. at 5:23, why national fans have reason to be optimistic as spring training gets under way. at 5:14, howard only has us going below freezing once in the seven-day forecast. we'll be right back.

good morning. welcome back to 9news now. 5:14 on this tuesday morning. a nice day on tap today after a beautiful day yesterday. >> a little cold. >> it's winter. >> winter? don't remember that. >> a new definition of winter 2012. >> la nina is weakening and we can't have this like this next year, right? there's always hope for next year, snow lovers because ain't much hope for this year for sure. today is a cold one. temps in the 20s, even isolated upper teens right now. as we start looking at the bus stop forecast, bundle up. gloves, jackets. probably could get away without the wind but it is going to increase. sunrise at 6:52. we are looking at a sunny day today as temperatures get to about the 40-degree mark here in town at 9:00. by noon, though, a few more

clouds. 46, south wind at 13 with a 5:00 p.m. temperature of 51. still partly to mostly cloudy and highs today between 550 and 55 which -- between 50 and 55 which is still several degrees above average. we've got clear to partly cloudy skies. temperatures down to 21 in culpeper. manassas 19 at last check. 27 gaithersburg. easton across the bay also. richmond, they had anywhere from 4 to 6 inches of snow on sunday and is 25 degrees. we have clear skies out there on the michael & son weather camera. maybe a patch or two of clouds up high. good visibility, 33, winds calm with a dew point of 26. the barometer is coming up for the moment. but low pressure middle of the country. saw that video out of oklahoma a few moments ago. this is the storm system that brought that severe weather. see a line of showers here coming through tennessee now into kentucky. on the northern side of this,

we've got the snow falling so we've got the cold air coming behind the storm. ahead of it the mild air is coming up. that's what we're going to be dealing with as this storm tracks northeast. we'll be seeing milder and milder air over the next few days. as we get possibly into thursday, i think that will be our warmest day. we could be well up into the 60s in many areas. we are looking at clear skies with those clouds starting to thicken as we head toward midday. some showers in eastern north carolina will likely just affect coastal areas this afternoon. going up into western pennsylvania, maybe a trip to pittsburgh today, you're going to run into some showers there as well as we head into the latter part of the afternoon. we might be able to get some of this cloudiness out of here late this afternoon. so tonight clear to partly cloudy. temperatures back in the 30s to around 40, not as cold. tomorrow in the afternoon look how the showers develop north and west of us. by 4:00 p.m. looks like some of those could be around for the first part of night tomorrow night and thursday morning still maybe an isolated shower but thursday is going to be the milder day i

think with highs potentially in the mid-60s. if we had sunshine on thursday, 70 might be attainable but i don't think that's going to happen. 50 today, mild tomorrow, 60. chance after shower in the afternoon, maybe an early showers thursday, mid-60s because of the extra clouds or else we'd be even warmer. friday a better chance to see showers, around 60. a strong cold front comes through so a blustery saturday. maybe a flurry in the metro, 41. then we recover to 47 on sunday. it is 5:17. i toss it over to monika who is looking nice in that dress today. >> thank you so much, howard. good morning, everybody. things are looking great outside as well. no problems to report on the beltway and all the major thoroughfares heading to the beltway i think you're going to be just fine this morning. we're going to head to the north side of town on 270 out of gaithersburg down to rockville and bethesda down to the point where the lanes divide. you're looking great. we're going to take a live look

near route 28 at shady grove hospital. no problems to report in this corridor right now through the rockville area. we'll take another look at the maps and this time to the other side. 95 coming out of baltimore, route 29, all those major corridors as you head south toward the beltway are looking g. the beltway still running at speed limit through silver spring right now. now we'll go over to route 50. as you leave the bay bridge toward annapolis,. it's running incident free. we're going to go into virginia next time around at 5:24. 5:18. after a promising start to the road trip, the wizards are struggling again. >> the caps coach changes goalies in an effort to stop the madness. highlights coming up next in sports. we want to take a look at our question of the day. the average person does this for 25 minutes every day. is it a, read, b, spend time in the bathroom or c, complains about something. >> our facebook friend rob wrote, these days complain about something would be hours,

not minutes. >> log on to the wusa9 facebook fan page and leave your response. we'll reveal the answer during the 6:00 hour.

5:21 on this tuesday morning. bundle up. it is cold out there. we have a few areas well to the

south and west in the upper teens while we're holding on to the low 30s here in town. a few clouds out west. still partly to mostly sunny. we turn partly to mostly cloudy midday but 46 here in town. upper 40s in cambridge at 49. this afternoon we're going to make a run 50 to 55, maybe a little more sun to finish out the day. >> thank you, howard. there's hope building among nationals fans heading into the 2012 season. >> while the caps will have to find the net if they want to make the post-season, kristen berset has highlights. good morning. the only consistency the caps have found since the all-star break is that of losing games. it's been over a month since they've been able to muster any sort of winning streak. the look at bill hunter's face last night speaking volumes. carolina scores in the first few minutes. anthony stewart gets past

thomas thomas. take you a look at your captain and it pretty much sums it up right there. it's an awful performance by the caps. randy whitman and gang ending to -- looking to end a two-game skid. slamming it down. they would eventually take a one-point lead but the suns go on a 31-6 run to end the third quarter as they crush the wizards 104-88. of course this time of year with spring training opening, everyone is optimistic about their own team, but rt return of a healthy jordan zimmerman and steven strawsberg saying his -- straussburg saying his arm feels better than it ever has, it's normal to be optimistic. position players report next weekend. that's going to do it for your morning sports. have a great day. americans are feeling a little bit better about our

economy. we'll tell you why coming up. plus, we'll have more on the investigation into a deadly crash that could have been much worse since the car struck a restaurant. here's monika. if you're planning to head into northeast, here's new york avenue at 9th street no problems here or on the bw parkway route 50 heading through sheverly trying to get into the district. more on area roadways coming up at 5:29. you're watching 9news now. stay with us.

good morning. welcome back to 9news now on this tuesday morning, fat tuesday morning. i'm andrea roane. i'm mike hydeck. thanks for joining us. glad you're here. good morning, howard. a man who spent a couple of fat

tuesdays down there. >> if you're a friend of mine on facebook, my wife scanned in some photos from the early '90s. >> howard in a tuxedo reporting live. >> i looked very young. let's get you going here. this morning you're going to need a coat for sure. we have some cold temperatures to start your tuesday. day planner, we've got sunshine, cold temps, light winds now but the winds are going to pick up and the clouds are going to increase some. not going to abthick, dense overcast but more like mid and high level clouds. mid-40s at noon becoming breezy with highs between 50 and 55. that 33 you see there, that's at reagan national. with some of the clear skies and light wind, temperatures in the suburbs have really dropped out into the 20s. a few more clouds, high thin clouds coming in now with 19 in manassas. got 21 for culpeper and catlett. 21 up in frederick this morning. on the bay annapolis is at the

freezing level. 24 across the bay in cambridge. 26 down in southern maryland and here in d.c. that's 33. we'll climb to about 53 this afternoon. upper 40s in the shenandoah valley. warm spot today perhaps culpeper with a little luck you get toward 55. time for a traffic update. here's monika. >> i'm happy to say it's been relatively nice outside right now. if you're planning to head out to work using all the major thorough neigh fairs i think you're going to be just -- thoroughfares i think you're going to be just fine. we'll take a live look at 66 at route 50. again a few brake lights between -- between 50 and 123. along 95 leaving the occoquan river, you're still doing well all the way up into springfield. we'll take a live look there where you're just going to see the volume now forming in the main and hov lanes to the beltway. 395 at 14th street bridge still

looking good here as you head into downtown. we'll go into maryland at 5:38. anne arundel police are sorting out a bizarre case of road rage involving a couple who had just gotten married. >> the confrontation played out monday afternoon in crofton, maryland. the newlyweds were jumping in and out of their ford explorer at a red light and people in a pt cruiser next to them got annoyed and made some obscene gestures. then witnesses saw the groom get out of the ford explorer. >> the ford explorer drive got out, approached the pt cruiser. the guy in the pt cruiser opened the door and reached out like this. it looked like he punched him. >> the explorer driver had actually been stabbed but that didn't stop him. police say he got back in the driver's seat, rammed the pt cruiser pushing it into a dish. they fought outside the wreck until emergency crews got there. both are recovering. the pt cruiser will be arrested once released from the hospital.

an investigation is under way into a deadly crash in landover, maryland. the wreck nearly injured people eating at a kfc when a speeding car ended up striking the restaurant's window. 9news reporter delia goncalves is live at the scene with more on what happened. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. a dramatic scene even several hours after the investigation in the crash. take a look at the windows. those were shattered. you were talking about that. the car careened basically into the building crashing into those windows. however, you can see they're now covered up in plywood, even the doors covered newspaper plywood. amazingly people -- more people were not hurt considering this crash happened right around dinner time, 6:30 yesterday. but it was a holiday so maybe fortunately that's why only four people injured. the driver died. she was ejected from the vehicle. her car traveled police say a hundred feet flipping over and

going airborne starting at that citgo gas station. the female driver was thrown from the burning car. her passenger, though, we're told by police actually survived the crash. the bmw crashed into a parked suv in the kfc lot. that driver we're told was sitting in the vehicle and that driver was hurt but expected to be okay. police say the bmw was traveling down mlk highway near sheriff road more than 100 miles an hour. >> we've ruled out there were no pursuits at the time. neither prince george's county nor the district of columbia was engaged in a pursuit at the time. we're still working on other details outside of that glr take a look at some of the damage. you can see this clothing bin completely overturned. that's just one of the many things this car hit on its way eventually into the kfc. they're saying a fence that was torn down, you can see the fence that separates the citgo gas station and this kfc, this

fence has been completely torn down. so this car came straight through and actually tore down this fence, a tree, a trash bin, a clothing bin and continued to the kfc. police are also looking to see if alcohol was a factor in this crash. back to you. >> delia goncalves with that live update. today testimony begins in the south capitol street shooting trial. the five defendants are being tried together. they're accused in a series of shootings in march 2010. those shootings ended with a drive-by at a funeral for one of the earlier victims. four people attending that funeral were killed and a handful of others were wounded. the defendants face life in prison if convict on the the most serious charges. the trial is expected to last two months. maryland voters may be getting the final say when it comes to the so-called dream act. they'll be doing at it -- doing it at the polls in november

possibly. casa de maryland and other advocacy groups have filed a suit saying the measure was not subject to a public vote but the judge disagreed. the law would allow some illegal immigrants to pay in state tuition at colleges. maryland senate could take a final vote next week on a bill that would legalize same- sex marriage. montgomery county state senator brian frost says it should pass out of committee today and that would send it to the senate floor. the legislation has already made it through the house of delegates. that's where it died last year. maryland senate narrowly approved same-sex marriage last year so it could possibly do it again. 5:34. time for another your money report. jessica is here with gas prices. $4 mark in this area, i saw a report last night $5 mark in california. >> it's crazy. unfortunately we've never seen gas prices this high this early in the year. this is a new high for february. the national average has hit $3.53 a gallon, that's up a

quarter 25 cents since january 1. here is the really bad news. expoarts predict the price -- experts predict the prices at the pump could reach a new record of $4.25 by late april. the 25 cent jump in gasoline prices is sustained over a year and would cost the economy $35 billion right when things are getting a little bit better. right now aaa says local gas prices are averaging $3.65 a gallon in our area though some people in the area have already seen gas prices push over $4 a gallon. consumers are feeling a little bit more satisfied with what they're buying in stores. overall customer appraisal of retail product and services rows 0.7%. overall amazon.com took first place but despite the overall improvement, customer satisfaction still has not caught up with prerecession levels. if you're waiting for the new iphone, you may have to wait a while. many news outlets are reporting apple will launch the latest

version of its smartphone in september or october. feature wise the rumors are that the iphone 5 will be a big upgrade and the screen will be bigger, too. they're talking about a 4-inch screen on the iphone. >> wow. >> six more months. >> can you just leak these things? they keep coming out with new ones. >> like the designer dresses you can rent for the red carpet and send it back. jessica will be back in just a few minutes with today's daily deals. plus, here are two strange bed fellows. the world's largest chocolate bar as part of a healthy lifestyle campaign?

5:38. a cold morning out here.

clear to partly cloudy skies. we're near 30 degrees in northwest. some areas in the suburbs to the west and southwest down near 20 degrees. here's a look at the day planner. we start sunny. we will see increasing clouds, mid and high level clouds as we head toward the middle of the day with temperatures by 1:00 in the upper 40s. for the afternoon highs between 50 and 55. a little bit breezy, too. let's ge inside to -- let's go inside to monika. 95 northbound in triangle coming out of stafford to this point and all the way up to springfield, just a few brake lights but no big deals to report at this time. coming up in my next report, we'll go into maryland at 5:48. time to save you some money today with a look at some of our favorite daily deals. howard was saying we're hitting the 60s this week so how about some spring cleaning. but you don't have to take the vacuum out of the closet for yourself. kgb deals is offering a daily zeal with maid easy. they'll clean a studio o one or

two bedroom apartment for $55 or for $99 you get cleaning service for three bedroom, three bath home that's normally $190. heading over to best buy, their deal of the deal, a gateway all in one computer, $349.99. that's a 19% discount, a savings of $80. and today is the last day to take advantage of the president's day big sale at sears. they're offering 30% off some appliances, 50 % off some tools, 60% off some mattresses and 40% off some spring apparel. if you've -- if you have an offer you've seen or you're a merchant with a deal for our viewers, i'd love to hear from you on facebook. a debate is under way about a proposed tourist campaign in colorado that has people saying "wtf" in this case wtf stands for welcome to fruita,

colorado. designers are hoping the billboards will attract attention and more visitors. the public will get to weigh in on the wtf idea before city leaders make the final decision. the world's largest chocolate bar is traveling the country as part of a get healthy campaign. the. it's 3 feet high, 4 feet high, 21 feet long and weighs more than 12,000 wounds. it travels in an air conditioned ride with staff and that crew is part of the think big but eat smart nationwide tour. the huge candy bar helps draw attention to the message that treats are okay, just in moderation. >> the candy bar is that thick. that thick. mitt romney may be slipping in the polls but still holds an advantage in this campaign, the war chest. that's coming up. plus, there are 18 hours, 20 minutes left to join the nation's most famous mardi gras celebration. happy birthday, speaking of celebrating. people celebrating today, record executive david getton

turns 69. the former first daughter tricia nixon cox is 66. william peterson is 59. kelsey grammer is 57, the ghost whisperer actress jennifer love hewitt is 33. and ellen paige turns 25 today. happy birthday if it's your birthday as well.

good morning. welcome back to the 9news now. for a lot of thu is the start of a -- of you this is a the start of a short week. >> occasion ago showers before friday. the temps will be way up there except this morning. they are down. >> thursday it looks like silly warm. >> like mid-60s. if we get enough sun thursday,

we may make a run to 70 but i don't think it's going to happen. we have readings down in some cases down to 19 this morning. very cold morning out there with clear to partly cloudy skies. we're going to have a milder afternoon for sure. here we go. at the bus stop forecast bundle up. jackets, gloves. leave the ear must haves at home. there's no -- ear muffs at home. there's no wind. you can stand it. 5:52 on the sunset. with some luck we'll see the sun set. we'll definitely see the sunrise at 6:52. by noong, partly to -- by noon, partly to mostly cloudy. south winds will be picking up at 134 miles an hour. some -- at 13 miles an hour. some gusts could be 20. this morning it's cold. 32 annapolis with the mid-20s off to the south and east of us. you'll notice great visibility on the michael & son weather

camera this morning, 33. reagan national reporting mostly cloudy skies with calm winds. barometer 30, 32. that's risen a lot from yesterday. the dew point at 26. so the air kind of dry. humidity 75%. we've got a jet stream coming on shore in the northwest so it takes a dip out west and stays cold out there. here's a big storm carved out by that jet. in the south the warmth is building and it's going to be drawn northward thanks to this storm going through the upper midwest. on the east side southerly winds. that's bringing in the mild temperatures and that's what we're going to be dealing with. some of the clouds and showers here, well, more of the clouds than the showers are going to be coming across the region later. i think the rain threat stays well west of us and north of us as we go through the afternoon. here we are at noon. see the showers through pittsburgh and cleveland. maybe a little snow mixed in in northeastern ohio and northwestern pennsylvania. for us mostly cloudy. if we can get this past us fast enough, we may end up with a

decent evening around here before a few more clouds arrive. here we are by midnight with the clouds around and rain and snow showers in the mountains. we'll head toward tomorrow morning with sunshine. again another day where the clouds will thicken up. in the afternoon north and west of town, stop the clock at 5:00 p.m., here are the showers. heavier showers in parts of west virginia. this will come across mainly our northern suburbs as we go through the nighttime hours. early showers possible again on thursday but friday that's going to be our best chance for rain the way it looks now before we turn colder. 53 today, breezy. a few more clouds middle of the day in the afternoon. mostly cloudy tomorrow. around 60. after being around 40, 30s to around 40 tonight with a late shower wednesday into thursday morning. thursday mid-50s. friday we have a much better chance of rain and showers around 60 before turning much colder saturday. low 40s with flurries and snow showers and a little recovery by sunday and monday. >> it's 5:48. monika santami, i have not seen

you with notes once this week. >> isn't that great? that means it's great news for commuters. if you're hanking to head out on the beltway or any of the major thoroughfares to the belt ware, i think you're going to be fine. the north side of town where you don't have much in delays leaving college park toward silver spring, bethesda, 270 looks great out of frederick. we're going to take a live look from sky 9 heading for the beltway. just a bit of a slow exit here. as you come in from annapolis, i think you're going to be fine. all lanes open. nothing to worry about early this morning. back over to the maps. this time to the west side of town at the american legion bridge crossing the river here. no problems at the dulles toll road out of leesburg. 66 out of gainesville. we'll take a live look at the legion bridge. no problems to report out of bethesda and tysons corner all lanes are open. coming up in my next report, another look into virginia this time at 6:00. back to you. >> thanks, monika. campaign 2012 now. the arizona and michigan

primaries are one week from today. former pennsylvania senator rick santorum is leading the g.o.p. presidential hopefuls in many of the polls now. >> but former massachusetts governor mitt romney may have more of what it takes to win a long campaign against an incumbent president. money. susan mcginnis reports. >> it's great to be at the heartland. >> rick santorum was joined by his family at a campaign stop in grand rapids, michigan. >> we actually get a chance to spend some time together this week. >> santorum is leading in the polls and talking like a front- runner. he ignored his republican rivals focusing his attacks on president obama. >> whose side is he on is the question? we need someone that's on your side. >> reporter: michigan is mitt romney's home state but with the primary just a week away, he's trying do convince voters that santorum is not the right candidate for the economy. >> i don't think it's appropriate for us to keep raising the debt ceiling every year. he voted five times to raise the debt ceiling. >> reporter: romney has plenty of cash to help him catch up in the polls.

his campaign raised $6.5 million last month and the super pack supporting romney raised $6.6 million. newt gingrich's campaign is also very healthy financially. he raised more than $5.5 million in january but the former house speaker remains far behind in the polls. gingrich is now promising voters he'll get gas prices down to between $2 and $2.50 if elected. >> why are gasoline prices so high? it turns out that barack obama is for expensive gasoline. >> reporter: ron paul is campaigning in north dakota. he continues to concentrate on caucus states believing that will help him pick up delegates. susan mcginnis, cbs news, washington. making news now at 5:51, today jury selection is scheduled to begin in the death of a rutgers university student. darne robbery is facing charges in the death of his roommate.

a group of students at the university of virginia are on a hunger strike. they're part of the living wage campaign. they want officials to improve benefits and compensation, including raising the minimum wage to $13 an hour. just over 18 hours left to party in the big easy. today is mardi gras but there was plenty of fun last night on bourbon street. the carnival will shut down at midnight at the start of ash wednesday. coming up, how escalating tensions with iran could cost you even more at the gas pump. next in today's heroes central, we recognize a local group that make sure people have a safe place to play and learn after school lets out. a big new live event just opened in the washington area and a lot of the events come at a steep discount. i'll tell you all about it coming up at 6:06.

you're watching 9news now. lighting up channel 9, dr. j.c. hayward. >> hi, j.c. hayward. i just want to say happy anniversary and thank you. i don't know if you remember but back in the day i was at university of maryland, my junior year. i got a job as a production assistant/intern back in those days we were called. and i remember how kind you were with me. i remember going out on stories and bringing my copy back to you and asking you what do you think, what do you think i should do i remember you giving me hair and makeup tips. yup, hair and makeup tips and telling me how i could be angel berroa, do better. you saw something in me that i didn't even see in myself at the time and i thank you. i wish you nothing but continued success. continued success and lots and lots of love. happy anniversary, j.c. hayward. so strike while the iron's hot. starting at $4.99.

only at denny's. america's diner is always open.

a cold start to the day. 20s in many of the suburbs. low 30s in town. definitely a jacket, glove sort of morning. this afternoon, though, won't be so bad. we'll have a few clouds starting to arrive to the west, culpeper by 9:00. temperatures there in the 30s to around 40 here in washington. look at the cloud cover here. mid and high level clouds. no, sir going to rain from this -- not going to rain from this but it will dim the sun. maybe a couple spots near 55 in the south and west. driving home will be partly to mostly sunny and 51. over to you. >> thank you, howard. in northeast washington, there's a place where kids can go after school and lose

themselves in fun and learning. >> there are sports, games, tutors, food, and most of all a caring atmosphere. j.c. hayward salutes the beacon house in this morning's heroes central. >> reporter: every afternoon youngsters flock to the beacon house. after signing in, they can take part in a myriad of activities. >> a place to do my homework, do tutoring, go to football games, like everything. >> reporter: 16-year-old angel gray has been coming here for seven years. now she mentors other youth. >> how you today? good to see you. >> reporter: the program is the dream of reverend donald robinson. 20 years ago when he started the beacon house, crime was high in the neighborhood. drugs were rampant. and youngsters were on the wrong path. >> so after just seeing the conditions that these children lived in, i decided i would try

to find a program that i could be a part of or start one of my own to try to help these children and lift them out of the situation they were in, i know. >> reporter: his dream worked. educational programs improved reading and math skills. athletic programs taught discipline and leadership principles and the youngsters came because beacon house was fun. for over 21 years beacon house has been nurturing young people and changing lives. although most of the young kids that come here are from the edgewood terrace neighborhoods, no one is turned away. by the way, beacon house has been named one of the best small charities in the washington, d.c. area. during the school year, staff focus on homework assistance, a nutritious meal is offered, and music and art are included. through the years the hard work has paid off. more than 63 young people have

left the program to go to college. what kind of grades do you get? >> all as. >> reporter: i'm j.c. hayward, 9news now. >> today most of the kids in this community finish high school and teenage pregnancy and crime rates are onthe beacon house and the other programs j.c. features, go to jchayward.com. thank you for watching 9news now at 6:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. we're glad you're here. happy tuesday. happy fat tuesday in fact. i'm mike hydeck. and monika santami. traffic momentarily. howard bernstein is here with weather. i was there last week. >> louisiana native. weather wise got a cold start with sunshine. we've got some clouds which will be moving n. partly to mostly cloudy midday. by 5:00 we may get a bulk of these clouds through