. >> at a press conference today about robberies in the area, metropolitan police chief cathy lanier says blair's concern is

cathy lanier talks exclusively to news4 how police got their man. >> reporter: black lives matter ison this new year's eve. >> we're counting down to 2016 by showing you how our region and the world are celebrating the new year. >>> off the top at 11:00, we'll take you live to times square where a million people are about to ring in the new year but security concerns are putting a damper around the world and evacuations ordered overseas. we will take you to one of the biggest events of our area. the biggest party live going on now in new york city hundreds of thousands packing times square with several thousand police officers keeping an eye. sara is there with some excited revel revelers. >> good evening, we're about an hour from midnight when the ball drops and what a crowd it is, more than a million people all packed in tight from around the world. some started lining up as early as 11:00 in the morning, showing real dedication to what many consider a bucket list item, new year's eve in times square. while they've been waiting, performers have been performing. including carrie und

rahm emanuel's team reaches out to chief cathy lanier. her response in an exclusive interview coming up. jonathan: deadly end to traffic stop involving the oregon occupiers. are things coming to a conclusion or are they heating up again? michelle: was it an empty promise or a simple misunderstanding when some montgomery county residents wake up to find snow-blocked streets? the plight as they wait for a plow coming up on abc7 news at 4:30. jonathan: we are now learning more about the officers and the refuge in oregon. michelle: tension boiledover. we have the latest on the investigation. >> time for everybody in this illegal occupation to move on. there doesn't have to be bloodshed in the community. >> law enforcement officials speaking out on the deadly shoot out with anti-government protesters. >> let me be clear. it is the action and choices from the armed occupiers that led us where we are today. actions are not without consequences. >> we are told members of the armed group on the way to the community meeting when gunfire erupted in

mayor muriel bowser and police chief cathy lanier announced an agency to have an orchestrated effort to put robbers behind bars. it takes a concerted effort from all of us to focus on this uptick in robberies before gets out of control. stephen: the news conference held just hours after a robbers/day man at a metro station. manfter a robber slashed a at a metro station. as the speakers spoke at the podium, somebody focused on our news van nearby. this type of crime has residents fed up. >> if everybody else's working, they should be working, too. kimberly: one week into the van of the district hospitably polystyrene, it appears that are complying. city inspectors are checking food trucks and other vendors. so far they have issued just to tickets and offenders have 30 days to phase out foam containers. after that, they could face a $100 fine if they do not comply. some say that paper and plastic containers are more expensive and do not hold heat as well. fire at theg annapolis yacht club. club members will operate out of the harbor grill restaurant at the city. while their facility is

police chief cathy lanier spoke with sister station is channel 8. for me, the timing is not right for me to be looking for another job. i love washington, d.c. this is where i have spent my whole adult life as a police officer and i love working for mayor bowser. she is a great leader for the city you i love my police department. knownk everybody says you and it's time to go, but i say not right now. kimberly: lanier has been with beenince 1990 and has chief the last nine years. the justice department and the city of ferguson, missouri, have for systemicl changes to the police department in response to the 2014 shooting of michael brown. it would avert a federal civil rights lawsuit as well. the plan calls for more thorough training of police officers and changes to the use of force procedures. the city council must approve the plan. a vote is set for february 9. coming up -- concerns over the zika virus. how health officials are responding. going above and beyond, how one local officer's stop turned to do something quite different. devon: and warmi

. >> police chief cathy lanier is known for saying you're stupid if you commit a crime outdoors anymoremay be right. >> it ain't worth it. it ain't worth it. >> you can't do nothing no more nowadays. maureen: it feels like winter. for skewers it's time to enjoy the slopes. abc7 with liberty mountain resort for opening day today. that is john gonzalez giving skiing a chance with a photographer next to him on a snowmobile. liberty mountain is open until 10:00 tonight. white tail and round top resorts are also now open. leon: let me tell you. if you fall three times you will want to be on the snowmobile. maureen: i understand john didn't fall at all. leon: he says it was his first time ever. doug: took him two and a half hours to go down the bunny slopes. no, he did well. leon: way to go, johnny. doug: so here is the deal. 43 and 44 are the averages. this day goes into the book officially as above average day. owned by a little bit. here is the pattern i was talking about. the first three days of the month the above average temperatures. the last three below. this is a different pattern th

burton is best known for publicly criticizing policeg po chief cathy lanier on severalal occasions aboutepartment'a staffing shortage, the dismantling of the department's drug and vice units and the rise in homicides across the district. .term doesn't end inch april 1. i'll finish my term, work on the cases that i've been working ong do the necessary things to transit and move on. police chief cathy lanier lan e-mailed fox5 local news a a statement saying congratulations to the newly elected leadership, these hard working members clearly won the confidence ofid their colleagues. i look forward to working with i them. there's some speculation that one of the reasons burton mayuro have lost his see the as chairman of the police union could surrender the pay raise controversy. we'ved out to the newly electede chairman, matthew mall and we ad expect to hear from him in the coming days. > thank you very much.ou v a maryland appeals court will ap hear arguments on march 4 on whether a baltimore police officer charged in the death off freddie gray should be forced tt testify against his colleag

police chief cathy lanier urged people to stay home once the storm starts. >> don't take this storm for granted. this is 36 hours of a major storm. >> reporter: are we talking life-and-death potential from this storm? >> absolutely. >> reporter: most of the schools tomorrow, but the district's 544 trucks and plows as well as 39,000 tons of salt are ready to battle the storm. >> the tomorrow is really just started to get geared up, digging into louisiana, tornado warnings in parts of mississippi and then it runs into the cold. blizzard watches out include parts of new york city, as well as philly, blizzard warnings in baltimore and d.c. and a huge area under winter storm warnings. a broad area that will see one to two feet of snow. friday, we're deepening friday night arriving in washington, d.c. by the evening hours, into new york city by saturday morning. just grazing southern new england saturday night. in dark blue, one to two-foot snow totals, covering a huge area. 6 to 12 in new york, probably the toughest forecast across the board, 18 to 24 in d.c., and 18 to 24 in roanoke, virgin

police chief cathy lanier urged people to stay home once the storm starts. >> don't take this storm for granted. this is 36 hours of a major storm. >> reporter: are we talking life-and-death potential from this storm? >> absolutely. >> reporter: most of the schools in the region are closed tomorrow, but the district's 544 trucks and plows as well as 39,000 tons of salt are ready to battle the storm. >> kris, thank you very much. well, it will be a battle to travel tomorrow on the roads, here's david begnaud. >> reporter: marge varre is one of thousands of people who thought they were getting out ahead of the storm. she was supposed to fly to the caribbean tomorrow for a two-week vacation. >> they just said charlotte airport is closed tomorrow. there goes our plan. we have to come up with a new plan. >> reporter: so far more than 1,000 flights scheduled for friday have been canceled. at least eight major airline carriers have issued travel waivers, allowing passengers have flights at over 50 airports to rebook and avoid getting stuck or charged a change fee. philadelphia international is

cathy lanier says it's gone beyond stealing cell phones. >> this is a different trend and we have toadjust and refocus or efforts before it becomes a bigger increase. >> reporter: the chief said there have been 45 robberies city wide since the 1st of the year and not all involving innocent victims. the mayor has done a series of anti-crime events this week. >> reporter: it's an organized effort on your part to show crime is number one on our agenda. >> crime has always been number one on our agenda, public safety in general. >> reporter: there are 300 pending robbery cases in court right now with more expected from the task force. >> but this is critical because it connects the public calling in information, the police arresting and using technology between our departments and the prosecutor's office. and the task force also is working on getting witnesses and victims to testify in more cases. many of them are afraid to do that. with more digital evidence they think witnesses could be more comfortable. coming up at 6:00, we'll talk about 911. it's a crucial part of the crime fighting

police chief cathy lanier says the time to be outside hass passed. >> no matter how pretty the snow is na storm like this, if you go outside while this thoarpg of storm is going and the winds are blowing, you're really putting yourselves at risk. >> reporter: hundreds of national guardsmen across the region have been activated to help first responders get to calls as the snow piles up. scott, d.c. is asking other states for help, asking for equipment. >> pelley: kris, thank you. in the carolinas, the danger is ice, and mark strassmann is mark. >> reporter: scott, bands of sleet like this fell all day in charlotte, but the real fear was a forecast of freezing rain that could turn this city into an ice-glazed nightmare. snow was falling during this early-morning traffic accident, a fatal accident. discovered until eight hours later. weather-related car wreks have killed six people, at least, in three southern states. duke energy has called in 2800 out-of-state line workers to help restore power, and, scott, the utility reports 30,000 power outages in the carolina glz thanks, mark. eric f

police chief cathy lanier urged people to stay home once the storm starts. >> don't take this storm for granted. this is 36 hours of a major storm. >> reporter: are we talking life-and-death potential from this storm in. >> absolutely. >> reporter: most of the schools in the region are closed tomorrow, but t e district's 544 trucks and plows as well as 39,000 tons of salt are ready to battle the storm. much. well, it will be a battle to travel tomorrow on the roads, rails and in the air. here's david begnaud. >> reporter: marge varre is thought they were getting out ahead of the storm. she was supposed to fly to the caribbean tomorrow for a two-week vacation. >> they just said charlotte airport is closed tomorrow. there goes our plan. we have to come up with a new plan. >> reporter: so far more than 1,000 flights scheduled for friday have been canceled. at least eight major airline carriers have issued travel waivers allowing passengers with flights at over 50 airports to rebook and avoid getting stuck or charged a change fee. philadelphia international is no stranger to travel nightmar

police chief cathy lanier. when you shovel your car out from on the streets, it's illegal to put your furniture out there and save your space. no saveies in d.c. back to you. >> thank you, mark. we are already starting to hear about some schools closing on monday. frederick county public schools in maryland will close. university of maryland, touson university, and anne arundel community college all closing on monday. we also have a long list of churches closing in the morning. you can find them running on the bottom of your screen and on our nbc washington app. >>> and tomorrow's game between the capitals and the beng wins at the verizon center has been postponed because of the storm. if you had a ticket for tomorrow, it will be good for the makeup date. >>> dangerous driving conditions in fairfax county tonight. >> news 4's darcy spencer has been monitoring this snow in tysons. you've been at a gas station. what's the fuel situation looking like? >> reporter: very much so. we've been camped out here at this g

. >> if you are involved in a minor accident like nobody is injured chief cathy lanier says don't call police. >> so we tell the residents or visitors if you're involved in a minor accident. exchange information with the other driver and clear those vehicles because when they sit and wait for a police officer to respond and then there's no police report then that blocks up traffic even more. >> reporter: chief lanier says pf all of the calls they received last night only 10% actually required a police report. of course, a lot of you are still recovering from last night's treacherous commute home. >> yes, indeed. news 4's david culver heard from fairfax county leaders who say vdot was caught off guard. >> it was chaos. we were overwhelmed. they seemed to have been caught off guard and maybe in the preparations for the larger, vent. >> we also stopped by this hardware store in culpeper, virginia. take a look at the shelves, empty. no shovel, no snow blowers and no salt. they do expect to get more shipments tomorrow morning and customers are so anxious to get their hands on the snow-relat

earlier this year, the mayor and cathy lanier announced a plan to combat the increase in store robberies like you saw in the video. business owners are worried. >> concern about walking down the street, you never know who will walk up behind you and rob you. >> always number one on our agenda, public safety in general. >> reporter: the mayor says most robberies are done over and over again by the same small group of people. she says locking up repeat offenders should be a priority. in this latest robbery on the video they're offering rewards up to 10,0$10,000 for informati that leads to an arrest and conviction in this case. you can also call the department anonymo anonymously. live here in northeast d.c., i'm shomari stone, news4. >> thank you, shomari. we want to get you those powerball numbers again. we had a problem with our graphic. here they are. that first number is 77, followed by 2, 63, 62, 11 and the powerball number again, 17. >>> developing tonight, the u.s. is still trying to figure out exactly what kind of bomb naerk naenaerk -- north korea tested and a if it was a hydrogen

coming up we'll hear what police chief cathy lanier has to say about the policy change. >>> yesterdayction crews sealed the roofs on the new apartment units. they'll include community center, parking, and playground. they open this fall and hundreds have already applied to live there. >>> a major recall to tell you about if you buy beef from walmart. a supplier says one of its meat products could be contaminated with wood. husband kin meat company is recalling its black angus vie beef patties with vidal ya own. they have a date of july this year. >>> search b4ufly. >> get it. before you fly. >> they say the app also supplies a status indicator that tells viewers about proceed with caution or flights limited. right now it's only available for apple devices. >> that's an app for everything stay with us. this is something you need. the real thing. stay with us. "news4 today" continues at 5:00 a.m. >>> metro doing damage control after two days of problems. a train carrying passengers separated causing major delays. what riders can expect this morning. coming up on 5:00 a.m. good morning,

police chief cathy lanier urged people to stay home once the storm starts. >> don't take this storm for granted. this is 36 hours of a major storm. >> reporter: are we talking life-and-death potential from this storm? >> absolutely. >> reporter: most of the schools tomorrow, but the district's 544 trucks and plows as well as 39,000 tons of salt are ready to battle the storm. >> kris, thank you very much. well, it will be a battle to travel tomorrow on the roads, rails and in the air. here's david begnaud. >> reporter: marge varre is one of thousands of people who thought they were getting out ahead of the storm. she was supposed to fly to the caribbean tomorrow for a two-week vacation. >> they just said charlotte airport is closed tomorrow. there goes our plan. we have to come up with a new plan. >> reporter: so far more than 1,000 flights scheduled for friday have been canceled. at least eight major airline carriers have issued travel waivers, allowing passengers have flights at over 50 airports to rebook and avoid getting stuck or charged a change fee. philadelphia international is no

chief of police cathy lanier saying that's a no-no. >> nobody has the legal right to save their own spacelong public streets. keep that in mind. as attempting as it is, once you dig your car out, when you pull out, that space can be taken by someone else. >> reporter: you can see behind me here live at 14th and u, a lot of pedestrians, a lot of cars sharing the road. of course, the mayor and her officials want everybody off the road. another thing they're asking you to do, if you do get outside with that shovel, they want you to clear out the fire hydrants in front of your homes and businesses. they say that is critical to first responders getting into your neighborhood. that's the very latest down here in northwest washington. jim and doreen? >> we hope people listen to the mayor's warnings so they can get the roads clear. >> mark segraves, thanks so much. >>> from the district, we go to virginia to check in with david culver. >> he has been out in cla clairington today. david? >> reporter: yeah, as soon as you come to me, i pull down the mask. one thing you notice, the folks out and abo