horn] i am sam sweeney. horn] i am sam sweeney. jummy: (elephant sound) there's a big difference between making noise, (tapping sound) and making sense. (elephant sound) (donkey y sound) when it comes to social security, we need more than lip service. our next president needs a real plan to keep social security strong. (elephant noise) hey candidates. enough talk. it's got a lot of what we were kinda talking about. [mother] yeah but this neighborhood,i feel like the kitchen is light and bright,new. we should definitely go see it. [agent] hi...welcome i'm maggie.melanie.maggie. so nice to meet you. [mother] this is brendan. [agent] hey brendan. living room. [dad] hey. [mother] hey sweetie. [dad] sorry about that. what about thihis? this looks good. [brendan] no. [mother] isn't it so great?i think we found it. [announcer]redfin pays its agents based on your happiness... that's real estate, redefined. jummy: welcome back. we have a 7 on your side health matters alert. the world health organization is announcing

alison: our sam ford shows us if you don't -- sam sweeney shows us if you don't like driving in this weather, take a spin indoors. >> good afternoon. the snow may have stopped the auto show for a couple of shows but it couldn't stop the four-wheel drive vehicles from getting in the convention center downtown. this is the 74th year for washington autoshow. take a look behind me. 750,000 square feet, 700 cars and 40 auto makers in total. the guy that makes it happen is right here. john, this is the biggest year yet. tell us what people need to come see. >> we have as many cars as you just mentioned co. find your next car at the show. tonight we have roman range from the wrestling world to sign autographs in the public. we have extended our show hours to put up $10,000 prize for somebody coming during the week.

reporting outside the united states courthouse in alexandria, sam sweeney. jummy: coming up, challenging gun control laws. the changes being considered. another celebrity death. remembering a founding member of the eagles. tennis players speaking out. what some of the stars are saying about match fixing allegations. the has the latest on the potential snow. ♪ we stop arthritis pain, so you don't have to stop. because you believe in go. onward. today's the day. carpe diem. tylenol® 8hr arthritis pain has two layers of pain relief. the first is fast. the second lasts all day. we give you your day back. what you do with it is up to you. tylenol®. jummy: the debate over gun laws is glowing in virginia. second amendment advocates rallied, voicing their support for pieces of legislation, including allowing gun owners to carry concealed weapons without a permit. the governor has vowed to veto any attempts to weaken virginia's gun laws. 7 taking a look at gun laws in america. scott pfirman will be live on to compare u.s. and european gun laws. the music world is mou

i am sam sweeney, abc 7 news. kimberly: good work. found say that they have the suv involved in a deadly hit and run on new year's day. 36-year-old jerome butz in washington. he died at the scene. his family is heartbroken. they are asked -- asking for help. so far, no arrests. president obama is back in washington tonight. the first family returned from their vacation in hawaii today. he says that he is fired up for his last full year in the oval office. the president's first battle of the year is taking shape. issuent obama will executive orders on increasing background checks on purchasing handguns. stephen tschida was in chantilly. featuringraw, a show more than 1000 tables covered in guns. for some, there is another motivation. >> obama is the reason. thank you, obama. some gun this worries shoppers. that's all of these rules are coming out. every month, there is a shooting. people want to be protected. reporter: some were thrilled to find just what they wanted. ar-15 lower. gun show the three-day drew massive crowds. when asking

and federal workers had a three-hour delay and sam sweeney is in washington with how things are going. sam: after three days of shutdown, public schools are back open and the sensible's were welcoming their students back into school. they are not the only ones headed back. the federal government also opened its doors for the first time. the ec this morning, school bells rang for the first time since thursday. so what did they do with their free time? >> i worked on my homework because we had a lot that we went sledding and we had a snowball fight. sam: it was hard to tell who was more excited to get back. kids or parents? >> yes. i mean, no. we enjoyed this special time together. schools were shoveled and the staff were ready to go. >> the sidewalks are clear and the buildings have heat. we are ready to go. sam: despite a three-hour delay, federal employees were eager to get back. >> it was a nice unexpected rake but i'm ready to get back in. becauseg in in advance we have a lot of work to do today. sam: the school district says the federal government will have a lot of people downtow

sam sweeney is there to show us the situation. sam: good afternoon. it looks more like an ice skating rink earlier this morning. a water main erected in front of this house around 4:00 this morning and it was a site like you rarely see. asam poured off the street water rushed down the road. 6:30, though flow of water was slowed, but they did not fully fixed the issue until late this morning. by 7:00, salt trucks took to the road to break the sheets of ice. have beenl like there a lot of water main breaks over the last year, you are right. pipes have broken been fixed in 2015 alone. reporting a montgomery county, sam sweeney. jummy: hopefully that will get cleared soon. we want to get a check of the roadways. with one are starting big issue getting into d.c. if you're heading inbound, you can't 80 flashing light. see the flashing lights. near eastern avenue. some of these flashing lights, they are letting two lanes to the left get by. we have the one right lane blocked. everyone is looking to see what is happening. it is causing a delay. let's move to

i am sam sweeney, abc 7 news. autria: while some are calling for service, thousands are calling for action. they are holding a stop the violence march in prince george's county, and jeannette reyes is in landover with the latest crime numbers and how organizers plan to combat it. jeannette: no match for these people who came out, layered up and armed with a simple but strong message. >> young kids need some guidance , and that is what they are trying to do, trying to get the kids to do things. just keep kids on the right track. -- onemessage is simple county, one voice, stop the violence. we just want the violence to stop. jeannette: organizers say this movement cannot go on without participants. if you would like to participate, this is an ongoing year-long campaign. they will be reaching out to the communities and educating the public on how to stop the violence in prince george's county. jeannette reyes, abc 7 news. planningirline workers a major protest at the mlk memorial in southwest. in the spirit of nonvio

i'm sam sweeney in northwest. alison: first, the new developments with the man blamed for the horrific alison: the man accused of driving without a license and causing this horrific crash yesterday in largo is a free man tonight. maryland bureau chief brad bell confirmedded that juan sanchez posted bond for outstanding warrant. in the previous case the license was suspended after he failed to appear in court. the crash killed angela jefferson. so far, sanchez has not been charged in that case. leon: in 50 years at the corner of 15 and l street in northwest washington, the "washington post" was no stranger to controversy. after all it brought down a president and challenged world leaders. now the post moved to a new home the controversy remains at that location. this time it's because the historic building is being demolished. sam sweeney is live to tell us more about this. the neighbors are pretty upset about the demolition project. tell us why. sam: they are furious. this building as you said is being demolished

at the auto show, i'm sam sweeney, abc7 news. steve: get the car out now and enjoy the snow. let's show you the satellite and the radar. the clouds are here for the evening hours. moving overnight it will range from 27 to 37 degrees. 53 for the high on sunday. the bigger picture in the next seven days wow! look at wednesday of next week. >> there are areas where they are blocking off the traffic to get through and reopen it. normal top of the beltway. you can see from bethesda to get to silver springs. it's closer to river road that we will see the volume. let's talk about how slow we are traveling. souter loop from the american legion ridge to tysons in teens. then the crash, still in d.c. we have problems with potholes. there are a lot here breach drive and waterside drive. we pull out so you can get an idea of the low traffic. that is a look at traffic. back to you. alison: thank you. coming up next at "abc7 news at 4:00" -- not every advertised sale will save money for you. we try to get you to buy more and then save more. how to identify the real deals coming up next. j

i'm sam sweeney, abc7 news. michelle: thank you, sam. still ahead here on abc7 news -- fighting through the traffic last night. jay korff was literally walking in the middle of the i-66 parking lot. coming up, he will join us to share the frustratn many of you are still feeling. jonathan: here is a live look outside this evening. this is the calm before the storm. on the right side, calm and tranquil. on the left is a map of what is coming our way. we are getting set and we'll have the tra jonathan: there is no denying last night was a nightmare from top to bottom. in the middle of it all, our own jay korff, one of our reporters was stuck in this traffic. instead of just sitting in the vehicle he got out and started talking to folks. that i want were stuck for hours. everybody has a story to tell about how long it took them to get home last night. it's not often you get to walk out on interstate like that. jay: one of the more bizarre experiences of my career, i got to tell you. we felt and we personally felt the outrage of the people ou

i am sam sweeney, abc 7 news. jummy: the overwhelming response was no with only 14% of people saying yes. there is still time to vote. head to our twitter page. people have question about the response to last night jk snow and the preparations. with charlie of maryland state highway administration. >> the storm got a little more intense than what was predicted. we started calling ein a extra resources. -- we started calling in extra resources. treating theare roadways, deicing ramps, bridges, and overpasses in preparation for today jk commute -- today's commute. jamie: secondary roads and side roads, we have the ice. the big picture now, it is one of the first times in over 20 hours we have seen mostly green. prince george's county, green on the beltway. patch, 16 miles per hour. we had an earlier disabled vehicle. 395, crossing the bridge, another slow spot. we are not seeing too much that you have to worry about. delays are scheduled because of track work. metro bus, icy conditions still. is in place.plan delays

sam sweeney has a look at the complicated issue. sam? sam: michelle, a hearing today that went back and forth. this bill would give d.c. residents and those who work here some of the best medical and family leave benefit in the country. 16 weeks in total. a complex bill. i will cost hundred of billions of dollars. many family groups support it but there are those who caution against it. national experts and member of the bowser administration spoke about the bill and answered questions for hours today. the primary focus is how the new fund will be paid for and what the benefits may be. experts from several non-profit say the benefit include more family stability, better productivity in the work place. less dependence on government assistance after the leave end and lower rate of the workplace turnover. calling it a win-win for everybody. the bowser administration says the program could run a deficit of more than $400 million and stun job growth. something they say is unsustainable. >> under either analysis, however, the proposed pay leav

sam sweeney shares his day to experience. snow is gone and the washington auto show is officially open. it's so much to do out here. this is the place to be this weekend. 700 cars in 750,000 square feet. whatever you are looking for, it is here. this year's auto show has it all. the star of the show, the tired of -- the toyota hydrogen car and a fingerpainting corvette. you can drive before it wrapped her simulator. this is the exhibit -- drive the simulator. this is the exhibit that has everyone talking. the last person touching the car gets to keep it. they have not showered or changed their close in near -- their clothing and nearly four days. , they havehey sleep to be touching the car. the show runs through sunday night. from cool cars to cold water, this weekend you might want to check out to the maryland state police polar plunge. it's at 10:00 tomorrow morning and it is all for a good cause. the proceeds benefit special olympics maryland. this is video from a few years ago. if you are not brave enough to take the plun

sam sweeney shows us where they are feeling the chill this morning. sam: good afternoon. where it looks more like an ice skating drink this morning. water main rupture around 4:00 this morning. it was a sight like we rarely see. off the street as the water rushed down the road. thousands of gallons per minute fills front yards and covered the roads. by 6:30, wsse slowed the flow of water to control the problem but didn't fix the issue until late this morning. by 7:00 a.m., salt truck took to the roads to break up the thick sheet of ice. if you feel like there have been a lot of water main breaks in the last year, you are right. they fixed nearly 2,000 broken pipes in 2015 alone. reporting in montgomery county, sam sweeney, abc7 news. alison: washington suburban sanitary commission says it is ready to respond to whatever problems that 2016 brings. so 2015 was the second busiest year for breaks. then 2011, they had 1918 repairs. the agency responded to 1943 the year before. but 2010 set the record. 2,125 repairs. jonathan: it makes you wonder at some point are we going to r

sam sweeney is joining us live to explain why that is. sam?who would think the building would make headlines again? today it is. demolition began on the iconic building a few days ago. the people who live in the condos surrounding this building are not happy. the city issued the demolition company here a permit to work 24 hours a day. seven days a week. from now all the way through the end of april. normally the permits are only issued in emergency situations. when people's lives or the property are in danger. neighbors say that is not the case here. they are not happy about it. they want answers. >> the district did a great job when they came up with the noise control regulation and when they came up with the permitting regulations with respect to construction and afterhours activity in particular. we would like them to stick to their own regulations. >> now we reached out to the properties at the demolition crew in charge of the project. they told us that the 24-hour permit is necessary because it would allow them to work in the overnight ho

jonathan: "sweeney todd" is in the news -- sam sweeney is in the newsroom for what you need to know. kimberly: happy new year. sam: take-out is never going to be the same. no more foam containers. this takes effect today in the district and the montgomery county. prince george's is not far behind. they will adopt it in july. in prince george's county, no more selling cigarettes to minors. you can be slapped with a $1,000 fine. if you hold a virginia driver's license's license you can add an emergency contact on your file. now you know everything for 2016. announcer: "abc7 news at 5:00". on your side. kimberly: tonight the search is on for a driver who hit and killed a pedestrian this morning. the crash along minnesota avenue southeast came hours after another car jumped a curb, hitting four people in north weth d.c. brianne carter is live at the scene with the latest on both investigations. brianne: just here tonight you can see the debris. people here outside of a popular nightclub where this all happened early this morning. as you mentioned, police now filing charges. identifying t

reporting live in southeast d.c., sam sweeney, abc 7 news. >> sam, thank you. as we mentioned, marry lan, d.c., virginia under states of emergency now. >> yeah. right now, we have what you need know. jummy? jummy: the states of emergency have started. as you mentioned. you cannot park along the snow emergency routes. vehicles that are parked will be towed and you will be paying for it. in fact, our reporter is in the district where she tweeted pictures of cars being towed at this hour. in maryland, the governor is authorizing the use of 2700 piece of snow equipment. you encouraged to coop the consider off the road if possible in maryland. in va are a, v-dot crews on 24 hour operations. you need move the cars off any major roadways so they can get to work. also in virginia, 500 national guard personnel have been authorized for possible assistance to bat this storm. now let's get a check around the rest of the he region with john. hi, john. john: jummy, good afternoon. we don't have snowflakes here yet. i got to tell you the maryland highway crews have been busy

reporting live at rfk stadium on mounds of snow, sam sweeney. back inside to you. jummy: it will take a while for all of that to melt. coming after the break, brian is all of that to melt. coming after the break, brian is back with one fina having lots of devices in your home can really slow your internet down. so keep things moving with 100% fiber optic fios, the fastest internet and wi-fi available, with speeds from 50 to 500 megs. it's no wonder we're ranked highest in customer satisfaction by jd power. now, for $79.99 a month online, get 50 meg fios internet, tv and phone for your first year. or with a 2 year agreement, get $300 back. go to getfios.com or call 1.888.get.fios. jummy: thank you so much in thing you joining us. have a great day. >> drama, emotion, excitement, and maybe, just maybe, confetti shot from a cannon. it's time to play "who wants to be a millionaire." [dramatic music] ♪ hello, everybody. i'm chris harrison. welcome to the show. are you guys ready to play "who wants to be a millionaire"? [cheers and applause] that's good, 'cause we have a

sam sweeney explains thousands of workers were forced to find a new way to get to the office. sam: good afternoon. this is one of the biggest areas of downtown d.c. and shut down for six hours to cars and pedestrians. police and investigators canvass the area foot by foot from k street to m street to search from evidence from the overnight shooting. the first 911 call came in around 2:15 this morning when the police showed up to 18th and l. there was no shooting victim. moments later, a man suffering from gunshot wounds turned up more than three miles away near the georgia avenue petworth metro station. police won't say why he left the scene but say he suffered non-life threatening injuries and was taken to an area hospital. meantime as the sun came up, folks heading to work had to navigate a three-block crime scene. the officers turned people away for more than six hours and employees had to find alternate entrances to the building. >> i guess i will find another way into my building. through the parking lot or something. very annoying. the six-hour investigation is standard o

reporting on the anacostia river i'm sam sweeney, abc7 news. michelle: others spent the holiday honoring dr. king's calling for action. jeanette reyes went to landover where they were marching to stop the violence. jeanette: the frigid temperatures were no match for people who came out layered one a simple and a strong message. >> a lot of kids need something to do other than violence. the kids are on the right track. >> one county, one voice. maybe we can trickle to montgomery. we want the violence to stop. jeanette: the movement cannot go on without participants. there is an ongoing campaign to raise awareness on how to stop violence in prince george's county. reporting in prince george's county, jeanette reyes, abc7 news. michelle: thank you. others took today to channel dr. king's push for equality and fair wages. we have more on that push at 4:30. jonathan: now a developing story out of falls church where police are looking for a person who started shooting outside a popular theater three. men were injured. northern virginia bureau chief j

sam sweeney at the hearing and live with both sides of the argument here. hi, sam. sam: good evening. this bill if passed it would give those who live and work in d.c. some of the best family medical leave in country. 16 hours -- 16 weeks in total. some were for it and some were against it. the primary debate is cost. it would cost for 16 weeks of leave for adoption of a child, if you need to care for a sick relative or take care of one's self. >> those who support it will help those attract top talent. many of would would benefit the hourly wage employees. >> those at the bottom need full wage replacement. they are on the brink to begin with. sam: the bowser administration supports the bill but has concern about the cost and what it would do to the job growth. >> the proposed paid leave program would not be sustainable without changes to the structure or subsidy by the government. sam: most focus on cost. some say there is a $165 million surplus in the year but the ceo says it could run $400 million deficit. advocates say the bill is worth the cost. >> this is grea

same sweeney has been in northwest all morning were crews have been loading the snow on the dump trucks. sam: there is a flurry of activity in northwest near dupont circle at 19th and l. this snow pile is one of thousands around the district. crews are doing their best to remove this snow. you can see this truck, they are loading those every few minutes. at this site alone there are 45 dump trucks that have been working 24 hours a day to get this snow out of the district. we received 24 inches of snow, 4400 miles of roadway. a monumental task for these crews in the city has been doing a fantastic job. today they brought in crews from connecticut and indiana with specialized equipment to help this process. this has been a major operation. the city says they are on schedule today. the goal is to get the downtown area cleaned up and the federal government can open again tomorrow. city government is open today. as you can imagine with these roads blocked, many roads have been reduced to one to two lanes. it would have been a nightmare if all of the businesses and the government were open today.