your child is in it. >> so melanie acts as fast as she can. takes only one step and then launches her body at her passenger side window as the car backs up toward her. >> well, once i realized somebody was taking my car and my baby was inside of it, it is human instinct. you do what you got to do. there's no planning. there's no thinking. you are taking my child. you're going to die. or get hurt in the long run. i took my elbow and bashed out my side window as hard as i could. >> as soon as she broke the glass with her elbow, i immediately jumped into the passenger side of the car. >> as the car speeds away with aaron now in the front seat, that's when melanie loses her grip. getting knocked unconscious. in the car, aaron is upside down. but turns out he's in a good position to use his feet. i didn't care if he had a gun. i wasn't caring about what kind of harm was going to come to me. i'm twisting my body so i'm laying on the foot of the passenger's seat and just start kicking the crap out of him out of the right side of his face, screaming a

still to come, melanie fiona.ive producers in the history of the film industry -- last night he made magic once again as "the artist" won best picture at the academy awards. please say hello to harvey weinstein. [ applause ] congratulations. you must love monday mornings after the oscars because you always seem to win about 30 of them. >> we stay up all night too which is even better. >> jimmy: how many have you won so far? >> we've been nominated for 303 and we've won 90. >> jimmy: 90. [ applause ] wow. and yet when you don't win you probably still get mad, right? >> we still stay up all night. >> jimmy: you still get angry. >> and we still party. >> jimmy: did you celebrate? >> we celebrated with about 1,000 people. first we started at the governor's ball which is very polite and nice. then we went to our place which is crazy. then "vanity fair" which is elegant. then madonna's party. >> jimmy: at madonna's party? where did madonna have a party? >> at her manager's house. >> jimmy: oh, really? was she there at t

. >> those are great combinations in terms of words to describe it melanie. it is very very cold last night could have been one of the coldest nights of the season so far on record. let's begin with a look at our maps and show you exactly what is happening we do still have a winter storm warning until 7:00 p.m. tonight for allegheny,high lands ranch pendleton, mineral, frost burg, high town, bayard, mount storm here we are talking at least any where from 6 to 12- inch offs snow, by the time this is all over tonight. already shea have gotten in excess of -- they have gotten in excess of 6 inches. wind chill advisory as well. 40 miles per hour and wind chill values expected to be some 5 to 10 degrees below 0. that is in effect until noon. now, here is a look at the areas that we are saying all in pink where we have the winter storm warning but we have snow totals, 1.5 inches german town. damascus, over 2 inches, same for lavalle maryland. frost burg, 4 inches plus. bayard west irvin yeah, they have already gotten 7 inches or more winchester just over as inch as

>> melanie, you mentioned the fund raising, how is the fundinf coming? do you have the funding theyg need to create the project? >> reporter: they still have a little ways to go.to construction is expected to cost $500 million, congress said it would kick in about half, that' 250 million. so they have had vigorous funfu raising going with privatepri donations, that's totaled around $100 million, so about 150 million to go.mill you can expect to hear a lothe more about that.t this is really the, this the is ground breaking, and the kickofi for the public fund raising asas well. you can interact with them on facebook, and i'm sure you'll bu hearing more how'l the public cn donate. >> melanie, thank you very mucho reporting from the national malt this morning. we will stream that ceremony live on myfoxdc.com. >>> and new this morning,s another rash of robberies in the district, there were six morere during a two hour periodod yesterday. and three more overnight. one happened just after midnighn along the cno canal. a woman walking on a bridge had her jewelr

we'll be right back with melanie fiona.

. >> those are great combinations in terms of words to describe it melanie. it is very very cold last night could have been one of the coldest nights of the season so far on record. let's begin with a look at our maps and show you exactly what is happening we do still have a winter storm warning until 7:00 p.m. tonight for allegheny,high lands ranch pendleton, mineral, frost burg, high town, bayard, mount storm here we are talking at least any where from 6 to 12- inch offs snow, by the time this is all over tonight. already shea have gotten in excess of -- they have gotten in excess of 6 inches. wind chill advisory as well. 40 miles per hour and wind chill values expected to be some 5 to 10 degrees below 0. that is in effect until noon.

melanie alnwick is live in bethesda with some answers to the winter spike. >>> right now, everybody wants to know what is going on. we are talking about about $3.89 a gallon here. even last week, it was going up as well and a lot of drivers, as can you imagine, are not doing the fulfill-up right now. just putting in exactly what they've got in their wallets. gas prices have spiked another $3 to $5 a gallon in just the

melanie alnwick has more on this story. >> reporter: since monday, we have been documenting customer complaints. people saying they're missing money from their tax refunds. we got a call from some more irate customers. they did pick up their refund checks this morning but here's what happened when they tried to cash them. >> they checking it now. they can't cash it. >> reporter: tax refund checks issued by tax service -- instant tax service and tax tree were kicked -- kicked back wednesday. >> they won't honor it. >> like it's a voided check. >> reporter: the manager of instant tax service said the checks were printed with the wrong sequence number. >> i can't talk about this. the problem is that there is a problem with the check sequence and we're trying to fix it. >> the check sequence? >> yes, ma'em. >> reporter: he didn't want to give us his name. >> reporter: another client was also waiting for a refund check to clear. >> i don't have any idea what they did. >> reporter: the manager said he would bring them new checks but down the street, instant tax service was shutting its

. >> good morning melanie. >> newt gingrich is back in georgia now he has herman cain by his side whatthat. >> well, he can use all the help they can get this is the around thest race i have ever covered i can say that without contradiction. three weeks ago newt gingrich was the front runner now he is a distant third and hanging on by his fingernails he has been up and down twice the big question today is can he do it a third time can he rise again, t, you are cal lazarus act we right, georgia very important his home state part of that treasure trove of ten contests, super tuesday he says he doesn't have to win, but let me tell you, he has got to win there. >> chris you mentioned this is really just a very bizarre race what effect do you think citizens united, super pack the idea one wealthy donor can keep a campaign alive. >> it does keep in the case of newt gingrich, he has one guy the owner of big casino empire out in las vegas, sheldon aidle son who contributed $11 million to gingrich's super pack apparently it is going to contribute another 10 million to a large degree he is keepi

melanie alnwick, fox 5 news. >>> apparently the average amount of money spent on the valentine's dayis $126. >> really? the average at my house zero. >> a card. this is our agreement. we will stick with that. >> that is funny. >> we enjoy each other's company. >> it's cold enough to keep your honey cozy and warm. >> last valentine's we were 70 degrees. i don't remember that. i must have been in a stupor left over from car mageddon. >> today 56 degrees. not bad. it could have been 33 like it was sunday. happy for that. a live look outside, while we can't see much at this moment, the sun going down at 5:45, if you are out and the clouds break up enough, check for venus in the western sky and jupiter as well. the planets are dome peteing with each other -- competing with each other. if you are heading out for dinner, congratulations on getting a reservation. at 7:00 there could be a spotty shower around. most will be confined to eastern suburbs. the clouds will thin out. it will be cool at 11:00 at 43. not a real wet night. what we have seen has been light and really almost spotty at th

i'm sorry, pete, t melanie just called d her car's broken dow so i'm gonna have take jake, plus dean, us luke, to football. soou'vgotta look afterhesewo. can't someone se? i've tried everybody. nest. gotta go, 'cause le andean will be at o pla. but i'm meant to be aying tennis! w do keep them entertned? i broughtoysor them. ben! told you not toringhis! they'll be fine! th is t a practical arraemen they can he a ttle game on onef the spare courts, how am supsed to-- , she's good. ght,ids, here we go. i've got se spare rackets . thks, . rick. you knowrank, don't you? anthat's lance. "lce"?hat is so cool, i ntedo call myself "smita" but dad said thereoulde too much paperrk. da youust play a nice ge the, see how long u cakeep that up. are ready? fifteen-love. karen, what aryou ing? ll, en professional nnisomen play tennis, every time thehit e ball they yell aah! and thenhey t down and eat a nana well, venus llia might, but it'sery stracting, so if u ca- why dotheyake that noise? not ke a rock or somhingade of osmium, the heaviest malknown to ma. are we gonna ay tnis or not? yeahsorr fifte

melanie had a procedure called amniocentesis.netic disorders but can also result in miscarriage. >> recent advancements in genetics helped doctors develop a safer test for down syndrome. it can be administered at ten weeks and at nearly 100% accurate. the test, maternity 21, analyzes the mother's blood and counts fragments from the dna to detect the presence of an extra chromosome significant mi fieing downs. according to geneticist at children's hospital boston, this is the beginning of a new era of prenatal screening. >> there's no risk to the fetus. a simple blood drop from your arm. this raises a provocative question of how much do we test for and do we as a society draw the line? >> ex peck tants parents are routinely offered prenatal testing for various genetic disorders. not just down's syndrome. decisions which could become more difficult. >> if it's not for down's syndrome, is it for homosexuality, is it for breast cancer, alzheimer's, autism? you're going to need to ask those questions. they're coming. >> the last four

. >> new report from the pentagon found some victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks were cremated melanie alnwick is live with details. melanie. >> good morning tony the pentagon has been look into problems, at the dover airforce base mortuary since they came to light in 2009. some 9/11 remain that is went to dover may have been improperly handled as well the report says the unidentifiable fragmented remains of 9/11 victims were cremated, put into biomedical waste containers, they were disposed of in a virginia landfill this is one practice that lead to the investigation into the mishandling of remains of fallen soldiers from iraq andafghanistan at dover airforce bases mortuary. >>> not strongly exercised by the army the chain of command and command oversight was not properly conducted. technical oversight was almost nonexistent rules regulations, et cetera, were not properly understood. >> the report did say operations at dover have greatly improved, still, some members of congress say they want to know why the family members of the 9/11 victims were not notified allison. >> do we know f

melanie alnwick is live with more details.anie. >>> good morning tony you know those revelations which came out yesterday are sparking outrage among members of congress and some victims families all of this came to light in a report that was looking into allegations of mishandling of remains of soldiers, at the dover airforce base mortuary. partial remains of victims from the 9/11 attack on the pentagon and possibly flight 93 from shanksville pennsylvania, ended up in a virginia landfill they were ordered to be incinerated and disposed of after they could not be identified. this comes after other improper actions at the dover mortuary. they are apologizing to families. >> we certainly have expressed our regret for the additional grief to families of loved ones, whose remains were handled in perhaps a less than ideal or by some measures even an inappropriate standard prior to 2008. >> since 2008, the policy has changed and now unidentified remains are buried at sea but since this information about the 9/11 victims was only a ve

melanie alnwick is live with more in bethesda. what is driving this spike in prices?>> well, there is a number of factors tony here is the thing that seems incon grew wows, demand is at a 10 year low right now but then think about the economic picture we were in a recession before things are starting to come back unemployment is lower, we have manufacturers and factories starting back up china is boosting its money supply expecting economic growth and greece was a problem for awhile now they are talking there is a debt deal there perhaps they won't go bankrupt it is easy to see why traders and people who put money into the futures market would bet demand would increase so at this point right now with this big spike there is a large speculative factor driving the prices up now. >> a switch that happens when we go with summer gas how does this play into this. >> this happens every year in winter time gas is cheaper it has to be more volatile it is cold you have to get that spark and you don't have to worry so much about evaporation in summer it is hot outside you northe

melanie, are you with us? >> i'm with you here, yes. >> harris: i'm wondering if you could fill in a blank for us. we have been wanting to talk about the daughter of whitney houston bobbi kristina and maybe the relationship that they had. and this young woman now 19 years old. >> bobbi kristina and whitney have been very close and in recent weeks have been seen together. we know that bobbi kristina is in los angeles at the moment and she will be very affected by this. a very sad situation. as far as where she is right now, this evening we do not know. >> tell me if you could kind of the makeup of what happens at the pregrammies. i mean you have a lot of celebrities staying at this hotel? i mean i know that there are gatherings and parties planned but is it unusual that you would have someone like a whitney houston staying at the beverly hilton there on the evening of the grammies? >> the reason she was at the hotel is clive davis was her mentor and discovered her and was her biggest champion in her career. she

melanie? >> a guilty verdict in the uva la crosse murder trial.amily and lawyers finally break their silence. we believe keeping kids healthy can start with healthy hands. with the lysol no-touch hand soap system healthy hands can be automatic. for healthy tips and more, visit lysol.com/missionforhealth. texting...blogging... all this technology, but you're still banking like pilgrims! get high yield free checking at capital one bank. why earn bupkis, when your checking could earn five times the national average!! and free atms anywhere. five times the national average!!! that's new school banking. sign up for high yield free checking at a capital one bank. what's in your wallet? somebody help me down. >>> welcome back. temperatures feel nice. you can feel the wetness, the moisture in the air though. it is just one of those bad hair days for some people. >> right. >> you can just feel it come down. >> a little humidity out there. >> yeah. >> we haven't done a lot of humidity. >> no, we haven't. it has been dry. >> with temperatures in the upper 40

fox 5's money reporter melanie alnwick breaking it all down. >>> the two lipsticks with the most lead found in fda testing both made by l'oreal, maybe lien color sensational pink petal -- maybelline sensational pink petal. lead is a powerful neurotoxin. that's why there are strict standards for lead in toys, jewelry, cookware and drinking water but the fda has not set lead limits for lipstick. the cdc recommends children avoid cosmetics that contain lead. >> the truth is that no level of lead exposure is safe for humans, particularly pregnant women or women who are planning on becoming pregnant. >> reporter: of the 400 lipsticks tested, more than half only had trace amounts of lead. the rest fall somewhere in between. the lowest include clinique black honey, l'oreal color juice cherry on top and of wet and wild neglect a mixers lip baum bahama mama showing price doesn't make a difference. >> there's really no telling as far as price, color, application types of none of that will give way for a consumer to understand there's lead in the lipstick or not. >> reporter: the fda says it has

melanie alnwick is live on the mall with a preview for us. >> reporter: good morning. you know, it has been almost 10 years, hard to believe, since the national museum of african- american history and culture was approved by an act of congress and later today, sometime around 10:00 this morning, president obama joined by former first lady laura bush will be here to kick off that very first phase of construction. now, some of the artifacts that are destined for the new museum are already on display here at eum. many of them collected from donation from the public, items that tell stories of family businesses, military honors and craftsmen among artifacts from the more well-known african- american figures like harriet tubman. the museum will have a place along the national mall but a presence all its own. >> hopefully, when we're done, the building will have its own presence and be magnificent but feel like it fits n. >> reporter: the museum has a very active and rib rant web site where people can go and get more investigation about the design, about the exhibits. they c

melanie alnwick is live in bethesda with some answers to the winter spike. >>> right now, everybody wants to know what is going on. we are talking about about $3.89 a gallon here. even last week, it was going up as well and a lot of drivers, as can you imagine, are not doing the fulfill-up right now. just putting in exactly what they've got in their wallets. gas prices have spiked another $3 to $5 a gallon in just the last week. we'll take a look at the average prices. the national average is $3.55 a gallon. gallon. it is costing virginia drivers who tend to cover a little bit more area, they do this as an average, it is costing virginia drivers about $428 a month right now at these prices. maryland, it is about $344 a month and in d.c., it averages out to only $107 a month but it is not really fair because a lot of d.c. drivers don't go that far. we are talking about this possibility of $4 a gallon gas. the u.s. energy information administration does have a short-term energy outlook. they said they were giving it a one in four chance that average nationwide top prices for that regular un

melanie, are you with us? >> i'm with you here, yes. >> harris: i'm wondering if you could fill in a blank for us. we have been wanting to talk about the daughter of whitney houston bobbi kristina and maybe the relationship that they had. and this young woman now 19 years old. >> bobbi kristina and whitney have been very close and in recent weeks have been seen together. we know that bobbi kristina is in los angeles at the moment and she will be very affected by this. a very sad situation. as far as where she is right now, this evening we do not know. >> tell me if you could kind of the makeup of what happens at the pregrammies. i mean you have a lot of celebrities staying at this hotel? i mean i know that there are gatherings and parties planned but is it unusual that you would have someone like a whitney houston staying at the beverly hilton there on the evening of the grammies? >> the reason she was at the hotel is clive davis was her mentor and discovered her and was her biggest champion in her career. she

fox 5's melanie alnwick is live at the mall with a preview. >> reporter: good morning. former first lady laura bush will be joining president obama along with several other dignitaries and musical guests as well. it has been 10 years since this museum was approved by an act of congress and soon we're going to start to see this five acre museum rise just across constitution avenue here on the national mall. construction is expected to take about three years with the museum opening to the public in 2015. artifacts are already being collected from donations from the public. they are already some of them at the american history museum. they will tell the stories that are sometimes overlooked in other museums. there will be areas that are there for quiet reflection. the museum will be the 19th in the known institution and is expected to be last on the national mall. coming up in just about a half hour, we'll tell you more about the ceremony. who is going to be there and where you are going to be able to see it live. we will be speaking live with the associate director of the

fox 5's melanie alnwick live at a gas station in bethesda for us with an explanation. >> good morning. you know, there are a couple of things going into this but mostly what they are saying right now is that speculation is really the main driving factor right now in what is causing those oil prices to go up. right now, we are looking right here on river road anywhere from about -- if you are going to pay cash, maybe about $3.65 a gallon. behind me, we are looking athe $3.87 a gallon. these rising gas prices are causing drivers to do a double take. they are a very big political issue. remember keystone pipeline and those sorts of things. this is not coming at a good time. we've got this political debate going on. especially when our economic recovery is fragile at best. republicans hitting the president over prices at the pump. >> the obama program has higher price, more dependency on the middle east, more vulnerability to saudi arabia, iraq and iran. exactly the wrong direction. it was $1.13 when i was speaker. it was $1.89 when obama was sworn in. >> reporter: the national average is

melanie alnwick is live in dupont circle with more details. hey melanie. >> reporter: good morning tony metro says they want the extra money $116 million to put back into system upgrades things like safety upgrades esculator upgrades and hiring more workers like police officers much of that will come from fare increases all of that revenue proposed in next year's budget, smart trip rail fares will go up from 10¢ to $1 depending on distance traveled paper fare cards would become the most expensive flat rates, $4, $6 peak one way or the board could decide on a 25¢ to $1 surcharge on paper fares, bus trips up 10¢ smart trips 30¢ cash on the bus and parking fares up 25¢ per day these are not a done deal metro board members are getting input from riders at public hearings before making a decision. >> the board will be looking at all the options that is what this is about. what people recommend if the people are asking for their elected officials to kick in more to make up the short fall that is one message that will come out of these multiple heari

with that, i want to bring up the director of the department, melanie nutter. >> good morning. i am so pleased to be here today to celebrate this environmental milestone. as you have heard, we would not be here today without the broad coalition of support and the ongoing collaboration that came together around ensuring we could reduce carbon emissions from our taxi fleet coming here in san francisco. the san francisco department of the environment is proud to have been a partner in insuring san francisco's taxi fleet is the greenest in the nation. first, on the policy front, in 2007, 2008, our department staff work with the taxi commission and cab companies to create the green tax ordinance. this collaboration resulted in a performance standard, requiring taxi companies achieve over all the emission reductions each year without mandating specific models. as long as each company's fleet met the required performance standard at an average level of greenhouse gas reductions every year, they could choose the mix of vehicles that best suits them. secondarily, regarding education, we

. - melanie ♪ host: good morning and welcome to "washington journal" on this tuesday, february 7, 2012the house and senate are in today and president obama hosts the second white house science fair. colorado and minnesota have caucuses. missouri has its primary. we will talk about that shortly with a reporter from "politic o." "the washington post" has an investigation of earmarks. the story says more than $300 million has been steered home to lawmakers' neighborhoods and districts. it is legal, but generally undisclosed. we would like to discuss this. here are the numbers. you can also e-mail us and find us on twitter. you can join the conversation on facebook by looking for c-span. let's take a look at "the washington post" front-page story. it starts off like this. host: as we go deeper into the story, it profiles members of congress and looks of the projects they have sent home to their own neighborhoods, to their own areas of interest. we can look at one profile. representative of massachusetts. "the post" reports that he secured nearly $100 million in earmarks in the last six yea

melanie alnwick has our roundup tonight. >> reporter: battling it out for arizona and michigan, rickrum and mitt romney made their sunday appearances. arizona governor jan brewer made her pick on meet the press. >> i have decided that i'm going to publicly endorse mitt romney. i think he's the man that can carry the day. >> reporter: romney hasn't yet appeared on meet the press or face the nation, but he did make a return visit to fox news sunday, where he defended comments from the weekend about the cars he and his wife own. >> if people think something is wrong to be successful in america, they better vote for someone else. >> reporter: romney said president obama should never have given time lines for withdrawal of u.s. troops. >> this president has made it more difficult for our fighting men and women to be successful in our mission in afghanistan. >> reporter: rick santorum echoed that and also fired back against criticism he's too focused on conservative values. >> the problems that i'm looking to confront are creating jobs, reducing government's role in peoples' lives and maki

melanie alnwick has the political roundup. >> reporter: these pills have become a big headache for thehite house chief of staff complained the position of the administration. >> we have broad consensus, not universal, that this is an approach that's right. we're going to go ahead and implement it. >> reporter: the white house said it will allow the church to make -- senate republicans may try to block it. >> the fact the white house thinks this is about contraception is the whole problem. it's about freedom of religion. >> reporter: on fox news sunday, chris wallace asked lou about a strongly worded letter from the u.s. conference of catholic bishops saying they have a "grave moral concern" about government intrusion. >> i think our policy is the right policy. we think this is the right way to go. >> so you're not going to change -- >> our policy is clear. >> reporter: it does potentially open a new chapter in culture wars and republicans are ready to make it an issue. >> what gives them the right to tell us what we must purchase? >> it's a government knows best attitude and it's reach

notice that melanie said she had to face a very tough decision.ing tough decisions as this test and other similar tests are developed. >> the research shows that for most women, over 90%, given the option if they know they're having a baby with downs would make the decision to have an abortion. do you think that this could lead to a world without down syndrome kids? >> well, first of all, i'm not sure that it's that high. that was one study from the u.k. the statistics may be lower in the united states. i don't think so. first of all, some women will not get the test. other women choose, as melanie did, not to abort even though they have the information. so i don't think that we're going to end up, at least in the foreseeable future, in a world without kids with down syndrome. many parents, i think, actually take the path that melanie took. and they end up very glad they did. >> and a lot of parents will choose not even to have those tests. you're presented with this barrage of tests that are on options for you. when you look at these questions an

$5.40¢ higher than this time last year gas is going for $3.76 dc, $3.61 maryland, 3.5 $4 virginia, melaniehas more on this winter spike. >>> republicans hitting the president oh prices at the pump. >> the obama program is higher prices more dependency in the middle east more vulnerability iraq and iran it was $1.13 when i was speaker $1.89 when obama was sworn in. >> right now triple-a is reporting it is 3.5 5 a gallon up 25¢ since the first of the year the white house defending the president 's policy. >> our use of foreign oil is at a 16 year low. >> a barrel of oil above $103 we haven't seen oil this pricey since last may iran dealing a major blow to two of our nations biggest alley, cutting off oil to britain and france seen as a retaliation over tough sanctions imposed on teheran by the european union, raising fares supplies will be choked off. >> the price of oil worldwide, based on the u.s. dollar any impact in supply would impact our pricing model here and lead to price at the gas pump that would effect the average american. >> melanie reporting. >>> new this morning another robber

. >> we have melanie, too.eather and lace thing. >> the leather and lace but also a pop of color. i think right now colorful lace is fun. this dress could be very dressy if you wanted to style it that way. by adding the leather, it's a little edgy, kind of tones down the sweetness, adding the black tights. this is something she could go to dinner with her girlfriends or have drinks. it doesn't have to be a sweet party dress a la charlotte from "sex and the city." >> just because the weather is dreary doesn't mean everything has to be black. >> tell us about what you have on. >> i thought what would i wear this with because it's thin and see-through but bar 3 at macy's, very affordable. i added a nude tank underneath. to have the illusion of skin. sometimes if you can black lace and you have black underneath you can't really see the pattern. and a skirt with more lace. look at the paneling effect. i really like it. >> you're a little tease. >> it helps cut your hips in half. it kind of brings the line down. >> e

melanie alnwick is live near the pentagon with details on this story. >> reporter: family members of 9-11 victims say they are surprised and frankly confused by the revelations that came out yesterday. these were just part of an investigation that has been going on for more than a year now into mishandled remains at the mortuary at dover air force base. the report says some, quote, unidentifiable fragments of remains from 9-11 victims at the pentagon and from unite flight 93 in shanksvilre cremat given for a contractor for disposal as medical waste. the incinerated remains ended up in a landfill. pentagon has been investigating problems at the mortuary after it learned that partial remains of iraq and afghanistan war dead had also been mishandled in the same way. tuesday was the first time that air force officials learned that 9-11 victim remains were also part of the management and disposal problems at dover. >> certainly, we have expressed our regret for the additional grief caused to families of loved ones whose remains were handled in perhaps a less than ideal or by some measures

bring out melanie and see what we are doing here. horizontal line in the prints and the tank. >> it's an illusion to help balance out the hips. you want to put the horizontal line where your smallest part is to balance out with the bottom. another tip. you want to look at a cross legging. showing off the ankle she has on the after is making a big deal and showing off more skin instead of the pant going down to the bottom. you will notice all of the ladies have fitted items on. show off your shape. be proud of what you have. >> there you go. >> don't hide in the baggy clothes. it won't do you any good. >> get to the gym and it's motivating. bobbie thomas, appreciate it. i don't think they heard me. if you're hitting the gym you should be eating well, too. we have a modern take on the tv dinner. first, this is "today" on nbc. >> announcer: today's kitchen is brought to you by kraft cheese. >> this morning in today's kitchen, what's on the menu? how about healthy tv dinners? lucinda is the host of "mad hungry" and the executive editoria

. >> as fox 5's money reporter melanie alnwick explains, they can't even cash their return checks. >> they're checking it now. they can't cash it. >> reporter: tax refund checks issued by instant service. >> it was rejected from pnc. >> they won't even honor it. jot montgomery told us the check had been printed with the wrong sequence number. >> i can't talk about this. the problem is that there is a problem with the check sequence and we're trying to fix it. >> with the check sequence. >> he did not want to give us his name. another client outside was also waiting for i refund check to clear. >> i don't have no idea what they did. >> reporter: the manager said he would bring them new check but down the street, instant tax service was shutting its doors. >> they are thieves. that is the bottom line. >> they stole our money. >> reporter: police were called for crowd control. then, one by one, clients were let in to get refund checks. it is not just wednesday's check processing problem. customers are angry about what they believe are hidden fees and outrageous charges to file their tax

melanie, fox 5 news. >>> put this in the far from surprised file. harry thomas jr.ed to pay up on his embezzlement settlement. make six, $50,000 payments after he stole $100,000. his office is going after to thomas thomas. the city cowl take other action. nathan did not say what the city is doing eventually. >> a police officer is accused of drunk driving. derek was arrested in st. mary's county and charged with dui. it was off duty at the time and not drinking a department vehicle. police pours have been suspended. the response team is investigating. >> tonight, more trouble news from the same school where two teachers have been arrested. find out what one mother says came home from her child's teacher's aid, plus, a pleepped to his ex-wife. have to hear what a 911 operator tells her.  >>> tonight, we're hearing a social worker's 911 call just minutes before a father brew up his house with his two young sons inside. josh powell lost custody of his children and a suspect in their mother's disappearance in 2009. eight minutes lapse between the first 911 c

brenda and melanie do their part to help. >> in the hope of maybe i'll get a good one. you know? at this point, $500 is really good one. >> officials credit the spike to a scratcher game that began in the fall, all 36 million tickets will likely sell out,. >> it's all about the scratchers games. people love the new tickets. we've got a new sodzs ticket that is selling unbelievable bli well. it's been the dimpbs is the new game? or are the poor feeling desperate? last year, sales jumped nearly 15%. consumer psychologist says the economy plays a role. >> when people feel like they have less money and security, they spend more on lottery tickets. the very people that shouldn't be buying lottery tickets, those with least amount of money are the most like tloin crease spending in a bad economy. >> the lottery says it's not just the poor playing their surveys show customers from all economic back grounds, mirroring california. whatever the reason, the winners in the end are public schools. they get almost one third of the proceeds. if the sales hold, class rooms could see $80 kblinl bu

fox 5's melanie alnwick is live in the newsroom with more. >> the jury recommended that george huguely spend 25 years in prison for the murder of yeardley love and a another for stealing love's laptop computer. judge will hold a preliminary sentencing hearing with formal sentencing scheduled for sometime this summer. 24-year-old george huguely stood stoic while the jury red the veered, guilty of second -- read the verdict, guilty of second degree murder. jurors deliberated for about nine hours deciding that the death was intentional but not premeditated. love's family testified during the sentencing phase describing yeardley's death as unbearable and leave a large hole that nothing will fill. >> what we do in court is a very rough approximation of justice in any given case. we hope that they feel some solace from the outcome that has been achieved here. >> we are, of course, disappointed with this verdict. we look forward to some corrections in what happened here tonight. >> reporter: the family of yeardley love did issue a statement. it reads in part, quote: , quot >> the judge could

melanie alnwick has more details. >> reporter: the proposed fare increases would generate more than $60 million just from rider for the new fiscal year that starts july 1st. there is not a done deal yet. they are still discussing the options but there is no question that metro needs more money. $116million more in this next budget. metro needs a massive cash infusion. to make up for the huge budget shortfall, metro's general manager is asking riders to share in the pain. >> the board hasn't approved anything. there is no assurance at this point of anything. >> keep in mind that the individuals such as myself who are on fixed incomes and who do not have deep pockets to sport a maximum fare. >> reporter: metro is rolling out a series of proposed fare increases at public forums. comments from riders become part of the record. the board will consider this before a final budget is approved. >> it is not fair to us. it is not fair to anyone who rides metro access because we are already on a budget. >> reporter: if they actually do the needed repairs that are necessary and improve the system,

good morning melanie. >> good morning tony. why weren't safeguards in place it would have presented councilman harry thomas junior from embezzling those funds that is what jim graham wants to know in this hearing today 51-year-old harry thomas junior pleaded guilty in january today verting money meant for kids into his own pockets, federal officials said thomas used his influence to funnel money away from the children and youth investment trust corporation into two entities that he created dcs attorney general says thomas spent the money on luxury golf vacations, clothing $60,000 suv among other personal expenses jim graham is chairman of the council human services committee that committee over sea it is trust corporation and he says basically simple rules of grant making with written proposals, reports and auditing should have been in place some called for this investment trust corporation to be dissolved councilman graham wants to hear from officials at the corporation before going down that road the hearing begins 1:30 p.m.