days notice before a furlough can take effect. those notices are expected to come this friday, march 1, which means furloughs could begin in april and federal workers will have to cut their own personal budgets as best they can. >> i'm very upset. >> what's it going to do to you personally if you have to be furloughed? >> it's going to hit my pocketbook, for sure. i'm concerned. >> this group of women work for the department of health and human services. they are all worried about forced furloughs that could start by april 1. >> i have one-year-old twins and my husband works also and so you know, we are concerned because if i'm furloughed, it will look back at my paycheck. >> they haven't told how many days payday would lose, but it could add up to 20% of their salaries. >> i started 529 plans for my children and i would have to significantly cut back on that,

and i guess we'll have to see, you know, there's not -- i don't have a lot of discretionary spending. >> david, a general council for the american federation of government employees says federal workers have suffered enough. after three years of pay freezes. >> it needs to stop. they need to quit treating federal employees as an atm and deal with the tax loopholes and other changes that are going to balance the budget. >> if federal workers get furloughed, it's not just their budgets at home that will get cut, but every place else they spend money, also. >> restaurants, new clothes, entertainment, even lunch at a food truck. >> everyone is going to hurt from this sequester. >> you guys are worried in. >> yes, we are worried. >> some federal workers say forced furloughs imply their work is not valued and their pay not important. and that makes them angry. >> we are just like everybody else, whether you are in private industry or the federal government. we all need our paychecks.

>> we all work real hard. >> we may be cut one day a week. that's going to hurt. especially the lower grades. i feel bad about that. >> the union says the average federal worker makes around $60,000 annually. they are trying to lesson the hardship by asking agencies to allow employees to choose their furlough days and allow those who can afford furloughs to take more on voluntarily. allowing coworkers who cannot afford them to keep working. a swap to help out a more needy coworker. >> the threat of government furloughs has federal workers in our area upset and that's why wusa9 started a petition. asking, should the congress face penalties if federal workers have to be furloughed? you want to weigh in? go to wusa9.com. find the petition on the home page. >> as expected, prince georges county police announce an arrest today in the murder of a

capital heights 15-year-old. central high school honor student, markell ross, was shot and killed as he walked to school back in september. 20-year-old trayvon bennett, who was arrested in november, allegedly on a robbery spree since may of 2011. police say ballistics tests show bennett was the gunman in this case as well. at a press conference, issued a warning to bad guys. >> the message here is no matter how long it takes us, we will fine you. we will bring you to justice and we will hold you accountable for your senseless choices. >> according to a codefendant in the robbery case, bennett tried to rob markell ross before shooting him. >> people fed up with youth violence are speaking out tonight. debra is live in forestville to explain. debra. >> this event is organized by several radio stations and calling this a state of emergency. after basically six prince georges county public school students were murdered within

six months, people here at this town hall moting tonight say this is absolutely an emergency meeting. again, it is going to be from 6:00 to 8:00 tonight and it is organized by several radio stations. they are expecting 500 people to pack the instituteland recreation center in forestville and it is organized by the radio one washington family. that's 93.9, wkyf, and several other stations. an opportunity for people who live here to talk to the real players who have real muscle in ending this violence. leaders from prince georges county like police chief, mark mcgaw, and walter kirkland. listen in. >> i'm sorry, it sounds like we're having a problem with that sound bite. i talked to a couple different people here and they say what they want to do is end this

violence. there's a lot of things that everyone has to do. it's everyone who has children that attend these schools and everyone that calls this community home. again, we'll be here between 6:00 and 8:00. at the suitland recreation center and we'll be talking to people. we have a full live report later on tonight at 11:00. debra, wusa9. >> thank you, debra. also today, prince georges county police announce an arrest in the murder of geraldine mcintyre. james ward stabbed her death, sold her tv and sold it for $40. jim graham reprimanded by his colleagues today and graham did not object to his punishment. the veteran lawmaker was admonished for offering to trade his vote on the lottery contract if the company dropped its bid to develop a property owned by metro. >> there is certainly the

appearance if there was an effort of undue influence. >> and no financial gain on his part. that doesn't weigh in here at all. >> the council resolution acknowledges that there is no crime. >> to my constituents, i think we are in much better shape. we can move ahead. people know my dedication to constituent services. >> elected officials are required to hold themselves in such a manner as to not adversely effect the public's confidence and the integrity of the government. >> graham was stripped of his oversight authority of the city's alcohol industry. pope benedict is changing church law before he steps down. in this revision means that cardinals will not have to wait 15 days. the vatican wants the conclave to select a new pope in time for easter week. keith o'brian will no longer be part of the conclave. he stepped down after ackizations that he behaved

inappropriately with other priests 30 years ago. tonight, a local elderly couple are dead and officers are searching for a man they want to question. a man with a violent past. dead are 80-year-old nelson slack and his wife. they found their bodies yesterday in the home in plains, that part of fauquier county. >> at this point, the autopsies are underway. all i can tell you is there appears to be trauma to their upper body. >> it's shocking. never known something like that to happen around here. >> they will be missed and we're still trying to get to the bottom of what really happened. >> now wanted for questioning, 60-year-old john wesley jeffries. officers consider him armed and dangerous. he has been wanted for recent felonies in spotsylvania county and they have been searching for jeffries, but so far, no luck. several law agencies are after him. coming up rings we'll go in depth on sequestration.

the automatic budget cuts will happen on friday. doesn't look like there will be a deal. when you look at the percentages, it's not that much of the federal budget, so why will it hurt us so badly? i'll ask an expert at 7:00. >> see you then, derek. coming up at 6:15, we'll examine some specific ways in which d.c., virginia, and maryland could feel the impact of sequestration. and right after the break, be careful what you wish for. why women may soon have to register for the military draft. topper. >> actually, pretty nice out here. we have clear skies, here's the high and low today in the ball park of average. 48 and 30. averages are 50 and 33. record high 84. that sounds nice. record low, 1 below. you know, we are behind over an inch. we're going to come back and talk about heavy rain rolling in tomorrow.

ladies, listen up. it may soon be time to register for a military draft. the obama decision to allow people into combat open the doors for females to be called into duty. we didn't have a draft and no plans for one any time soon. but men ages 18 to 24 are required to register for selective services. and legal experts say women may soon have to sign up as well.

>> one of the world's most popular furniture makers has been las sews into europe's scandal. investigators in the check republic found traces of horse meat in ikea's frozen meat balls. they have been pulled off the shelves in europe. company officials say there's no cause for concern here in the u.s. but horse meat has been found in products labeled as beef in at least four countries. after the break, how those automatic spending cuts could impact maryland, virginia, and d.c.

we are now just four days away until those $85 billion in automatic spending cuts kick in. the white house released a breakdown on how they say each side will be affected. joining us now is david jackson. he's live in northwest. david, thanks so much for joining us. let's talk about this breakdown and this was released by the obama administration. they say schools could lose about $533,000 and $1 million set aside for environmental protection would go away.

>> education being the primary area where most of the cuts would fall. that's the area that president obama has been emphasizing the last several days. >> you take a look at maryland and you see the number is higher. schools can stand to lose $14 million and take a look at the defense cuts and get an idea how critical defense employees are going to feel this. 46,000 employees just in maryland would be furloughed. >> and also virginia. defense is probably the second biggest area that president obama likes to talk about. in fact, he's going down to newport news to talk about how these cuts will affect that industry. national defense and education are his two primary things. >> states would face, what was interesting, we talk about 14 million gone, plus an additional $13.9 million for children with disabilities. and 90,000 workers. this is a big deal if this could impact us in the way the

obama administration says it will. >> let's not forget that virginia is a very pivotal state, politically. the first department. democrats want to keep it. so you'll be hearing talk about how these cuts will affect virginia and you'll see the white house trying to blame congressional republicans for it. >> and republicans seem to intimate this scenario that the president painted might not be as bad as we think it's going to be. we're in this, or else, situation, with four days to go until sequestration. these issues go right up to the wire. do you sense that there will be a resolution by friday or we'll still be talking about this? >> i'd be surprised if the money will go through. and no one really knows. president obama says the cuts won't take effect right away. it will take weeks, perhaps months before we know what the true impact will be be. >> the next crisis after this one is the debt ceiling. so we go from one crisis to the

next. it seems like this is how we do things, unfortunately, in this country right now. david jackson with u.s.a. today. thanks for your time. >> thank you. >> meantime, the federal judge is hear arguments on how much british petroleum will have to pay for the worst oil spill in u.s. history. 11 workers were killed. millions of gallons of oil spilled after a rig explosion in the gulf in 2010. bp says the environment tall disaster cost the company more than $24 billion. convince the court the company is liable for more than that. another big snowstorm pounding the nation's midsection. kansas, oklahoma, parts of texas as well. blizzard-like conditions led schools to cancel classes. wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour, built large snow drifts. something they don't see too often. the intertait was shut down. no flights have been going in or out since sunday night. snowstorms. >> you have to go to texas to get snow? >> the panhandle can be crazy.

i have a friend that lives in dallas. he had two consecutive white christmases. sometimes you have to go south. >> we can't remember the last real white christmas. >> i know '89 we had a white christmas and white thanksgiving. let's start with a live look outside. take a live look outside at our weather cam. we have clear skies right now. clouds will roll in. 46. high was 48. dew point is low. 20. but i think as far as we are concerned in the metro area, we aren't looking at any mixed bag. our problem will be heavy rain. the pressure beginning to fall at 30.18 inches of mercury. there are advisories west of us. west of the blue ridge, i-81 back into the mountains and of course this is a winter weather advisory. pretty much for sleet and freezing rain. this is a winter storm warning west of the divide. i think hagerstown and winchester, you might start out tomorrow morning with a brief

mix, but you'll go to rain by afternoon and not have any major problem. here's where the precipitation is. this storm has everything. it has a tornado watch and severe weather ahead of it. the tornado watch covers a good chunk of alabama and into mississippi and here's the heavy snow back in the plain states. so we have signs, we are okay tonight and we'll be okay tomorrow morning. temperatures 40 in germantown. 42 in reston. we're looking at 46 in college park. 40 at andrews and 44 down toward waldorf. so the good news, this is the only good news, a dry morning commute. a wintery mix i-81 and west. the metro concern is going to be heavy rain tomorrow afternoon. and a flood watch goes into effect tomorrow afternoon. and a flood watch for the immediate metro area afternoon and evening. so, i think that might be expanded. we'll keep an eye on that. tonight, increasing clouds. 28 to 36. winds light, east southeast at 10. by morning, mostly cloudy, breezy. dry in the metro, but a

mountain mix starts. temperatures in the 30s and 40s. and by afternoon, windy and chilly with rain heavy at times. winds easterly at 15 to 30 and gusty. highs 45 to 50. so, obviously we have a yellow alert tomorrow with heavy rain in the afternoon. 46. 57 on wednesday. breezy and milder. may take a while to get the sun back and a sprinkle early. breezy and colder on thursday. we fair well to february, kind of march-like day with highs in the upper 40s. next seven days, march rolls in on friday. cloudy, temperatures in the mid 40s and mid 40s on saturday. maybe a flurry and low 40s on sunday and monday. temperatures keep going downhill. so a cold start to the month of march and i tweeted this out last night. you want to go skiing, it's going to snow from wednesday night through sunday in the mountains. enjoy. >> okay. if you like baseball, you could keep your eyes here. >> yeah. >> talk to me because i'm

keeping my eye on the nats. a lot of eyes on one guy. geo gonzalez for not good reasons. i'll explain in a minute. he has been the man at center of allegations. he will put that in the rear- view mirror about doing what he does best. look at this guy here. bringing in the hardware. in

now, here's dave owens at the wusa9 cadillac sports desk. >> geo gonzalez never saw a camera he didn't like. the smiling man, until this spring, once alleges surfaced connecting him to performance enhancing drugs. he's become the running man, as in run away from the camera. those allegations have since waned. now he can get to doing what he does best. using that left arm to throw a fastball at 95 miles an hour. today, not an ideal start, not getting any help from the reserves. don't know that guy's name. that's why we'll have full highlights of geo at 11:00. a lot of eyes on him. people want to see how you are really pitching. we'll have the full deal tonight. all right. nats, of course, open the regular season april 1 at home against the marlins. you can see that game first pitch right here on wusa9.

105 is the start time that day. then stay tuned for live coverage following the game. >> yankees, orioles, grapefruit league. adam jones hitting this rock like it's a grapefruit. to the gap, to the wall. a lot of guys hitting the ball hard today and brian is looking good on the mound. two innings of shutout baseball. spring training play, i should say. so good for them. caps making news this afternoon. has been sharing time with michael, and was due to be a free agent at the end of the campaign. what it means in the big picture, probably not much. we have two excellent, young goalies. and maryland football isn't far away, believe it ladies. spring practice is saturday. just to get you all penalized, here is the upcoming schedule. west virginia at mnt bank stadium. virginia visits in october.

as does syracuse in november. all right. lamont peterson believes boxing has a drug problem. so the d.c. native wanted to do something about it. he did. he took an olympic-style drug test and he failed it. lost a title belt in the process, but feels like a greater purpose was served on friday fright, he won the only title he had left. today he stopped by wusa9 studios to show off his hardware and i asked him once again, was taking that volunteer test worth it? >> i'm glad you asked that. it was well worth it. at this point, you know, vital was the company we used and you know, already they have changed a few of their rules because of my failed drug test. >> a man with a bigger purpose, how about that? all right. >> that's it for us.

good night.