. >>> our coverage of today's snowfall takes us also northwest of the district i can't scott broom joinserstown. how are things scott? >> >> reporter: well gm, i'm definitely on the cold side of this as howard has been reporting. there is a little more snow out here. let me show you the view out of the dashboard camera my mobile newsroom. that is interstate 81 just north of hagerstown, maryland. howard just mentioned winchester martinsburg, hagerstown. we have pretty significant snow. about an inch or two inches and just a little bit farther to the west. we've got some snow covered secondary roads and for that reason schools are late two hours here in washington county, maryland. you can see from the dashboard camera, my mobile newsroom here on interstate 81 headed south now right through hagerstown. the road is clear and wet and we are clipping along at 55 miles per hour with some of those long game commuters headed into the metro area. they are going to be able to move just fine as we have been reporting throughout the region. but i would say there is about 2 inches of snow on the grou

as scott broom tells us tonight, family, friend and neighbors fear the worst. >> reporter: i'm scott broom on childs point road in annapolis where the search is on for six occupants of a waterfront mansion that burned to the ground today including tech company ceo don pile and his wife sandy. momentos at the gate of the waterfront mansion known as the castle, grief stricken visitors preferring not to talk to reporters. >> we're trying different measures to reach out, but so far the occupants are not accounted for. >> reporter: in all six people are unaccounted for according to fire officials. the piles had grandchildren according to neighbors. >> they were just incredibly kind, nice people. >> there were two booms, thuds really and flames shot up in the air. >> reporter: the house in ruins as the sun came up. is there any indication this is suspicious in any way? >> no. not so far. >> reporter: in annapolis, scott broom, wusa9. >> the atf is assisting tonight. it may take days for heavy equipment to uncover that wreckage and find the victims feared lost. >>> virginia governor terry mc

. >> our scott broom is in his mobile newsroom checking out the roads in maryland. tonight how smooth have your travels been so far? >> reporter: the big roads are clear and have been salted heavily. i'm on a backstreet in the germantown area, a little road called virginia pines. this is typical of a neighbor street. you can see a snowpack. they've had -- neighborhood street. see a snowpack. they've had about 3 inches. the temperature on the car thermometer now 22 degrees, so this snow isn't going anywhere overnight and this will be the kind of conditions school officials will have to assess tomorrow morning. often as we know from doing this in the past, this is often a recipe for late openings around the region, so this is definitely a reason to stay in touch with us and our early coverage tomorrow morning and also our app, wusa9, because these conditions are not great. there's a lot of slipping and sliding going on on side streets. excuse me for being tongue tied while i'm showing you these pictures on the dashboard camera. the refreezing erica has reported on is

as scott broom tells us tonight, family, friend and neighbors fear the worst. >> reporter: i'm scott m on childs point road in annapolis where the search is on for six occupants of a waterfront mansion that burned to the ground today including tech company ceo don pile and his wife sandy. momentos at the gate of the waterfront mansion known as the castle, grief stricken visitors preferring not to talk to reporters. >> we're trying different measures to reach out, but so far the occupants are not accounted for. >> reporter: in all six people are unaccounted for according to fire officials. the piles had grandchildren according to neighbors. >> they were just incredibly kind, nice people. >> there were two booms, thuds really and flames shot up in the air. >> reporter: the house in ruins as the sun came up. is there any indication this is suspicious in any way? >> no. not so far. >> reporter: in annapolis, scott

scott broom is live in frederick with the background to this incredible terrible tragedy. scott? >> reporter: yeah, the victim is just a remarkable man. he is the 87-year-old eugene smith. a truck driver who was still added at age 87, hauling milk for his company here. in frederick, maryland. the co-workers are absolutely stunned as you can see behind me that they have tripped his truck on the mir -- stripped his truck on the mirror. he was an animal lover that the animal actually slept with him. >> we were in shock. >> reporter: the co-workers are in mourning. he is such a fixture in frederick county. and featured two weeks ago, who are still driving their milk route at age 85. killed in his home yesterday by his own family dog. >> the dog at times, they would climb up and sleep with him at night. >> he loved that dog. >> yeah. he loved the dog, he loved animals. >> reporter: they say that it was an 84-pound pit bull-type dog that would attack smith as they were taking down christmas decorations at home about 2:30 yesterday. mauling the victim's head, neck, arms. the dog was a 4

we want to take you to scott broom. we believe he is in the mitchellville-bowie area with his mobile newsroom on the roads there. good morning, scott. >> reporter: good morning. behind the wheel of the mobile newsroom this morning, i'm at a little road called pointer ridge drive just south of mitchellville road in the bowie area. let me give you a look the at the dashboard camera. i'm in a parking lot as nikki was just showing you. i'd call this stuff sort of fairy dust. it's very light. i can see the lines in the parking lot underneath it but in fact it is a coating of very light snow and this is an example of an untreated surface. so if you're on a side street or a driveway getting out the door, this is the kind of thing you're going to see but very quickly here, this is a county maintained street here called pointer ridge. you can see it has received just enough brine and salt to make it a wet surface and things are moving along just fine. in front of me going to make a right turn southbound on duke, u.s. 301 which wo

scott broom, wusa9. >>> d.c. council members were hoping to get stop answers to last week's chaos in a smoke filled metro tunnel. the legislators kicked the public and media out of a meeting today with the chairman of the metro board. that move was aimed at getting information in private from board chairman tom downs and said downs cite an order to keep quiet from the national transportation safety board. he did promise to fix any problem found by the ntsb. >> no matter what the findings are, we are not challenging them in any way. our commitment is if they make a recommendation enhancement, we will do it as quickly as we possibly can no matter what the challenge or the cost. >> tom downs did tell the council members that every metro car is equipped with instructions on how to self- evacuate and it does not require unscrewing a plastic panel as one of the first responders had suggested. >>> 25-year-old lemuel brown jr. is behind bars tonight charged with murder accused of shooting and killing james birch who died

scott broom is live in annapolis to bring us up to speed. scott? >> reporter: we heard from the families today that it is a sleepover, the discoveries of the two sets that would remain today to bring us to four bodies that were recovered here with two more unaccounted for. >> it is known as the castle, so they could not tell us about it. three girls and a boy, after leveling their 16,000-square foot mansion. they revealed that they were treated by their grandparents to a dinner show. with costumes just purchased from the nearby target before a fun sleepover known as the castle. stunned neighbors were continuing to leave momentums at the roadblocks. >> for them to know that we're thinking about them, you know, just for their neighbors. >> reporter: investigators from the bureau of alcohol and tobacco and firearms say they are searching for dogs and the accelerants, in an attempt to rule out the possibility of the foul play. and in a written statement that the families of the children, they would thank the first responders saying that "life is fragil

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i'm scott broom in anne arundel county, maryland. coming up what >>> maryland's department of health is joining into the investigation into mysterious dog deaths along the waterfront on anne arundel county. >> authorities want to hear from you if you suspect your dog is showing symptoms. >> reporter: i'm scott broom in anne arundel county, maryland, where billions of tiny mussels attach themselves to about every surface under water and environmentalists are looking into the possibility that dogs coming into contact with the mussels have died. >> we took her to the emergency room and two days later she was gone. her liver toxin levels were like 4,000 times the normal level. when i looked at the area where she'd been chewing, there were hundreds of tiny muscles covering those branches. >> there are i think about 10 dogs that have died of liver- related issues in that area. only two were associated with the water. at this point we have not been able to establish any kind of connection between the dark false mussels and the dogs' ailment

scott broom is live at the salisbury daily times to tell us what our team has learned. we must warn you some of the videos and language is disturbing. scott, what have you learned? >> reporter: well, it is disturbing. the videos you're about to see and the graphic instagram posts that were made that added fuel to the fire appear to show that there are racially motivated conflicts going on among at least some students at the steven decatur high school near ocean city, but not all students and administrators arrive at the same conclusion. again these images are graphic. this cell phone video captured a white student being attacked by two african american students in the hallway of steven decatur high school in berlin, maryland, january 21st. the n word is clearly heard in the exchange. the next day another fight in the mcdonald's parking lot. an african american is taking down a white rival. the white student was badly injured. in the middle of this gasoline was poured on the fire. a racist instagram image was posted including swastikas, skulls, a noose and the phrase day

reporting live scott broom wusa9. >>> thank you scott. and of course the weather delays all running at the bottom of your tv screen. if you missed yours it is very easy to go to our wusa9 app available at apple and google play stores. >>> 6:43. time now to answer the question of the morning. experts say you can save $2500 per year by doing this every day. keep copies of receipts, avoid toll roads or pack our lunch? >> our facebook friend claudette mark said pack your lunch and lose a few pounds. >> you have this one right. pack your lunch and you can save $2500 a year. we'll our "name your price" tool helps -- oh, jamie you got a little something on the back of your shoe there. a price tag! danger! price tag alert! oh. hey, guys. price tag alert! is this normal? well, progressive is a price tag free zone. we let you tell us what you want to pay and we help you find options to fit your budget. where are they taking him? i don't know. this seems excessive! decontamination in progress. i don't want to tell you guys your job, but... policies

scott broom is in annapolis monitoring this story. >> the number of bodies found in the ruins of this mansion. and that was owned by the cyber security, who is believed to have been lost here with his wife and four grandchildren. the discovery is coming today as the families of the grandchildren issued their first statement. that they they were found by children or adults. the grandchildren and their wife believed that they were lost with their four grandchildren, ages six to eight. at the medieval times in the mills, with the costumes, just purchased from the nearby target before the sleepover known as the castle. they would continue to lead the momentos. >> and to let them know that we're thinking about them. that you know for their neighbors. >> reporter: investigators from the bureau of alcohol and tobacco and firearms are looking for dogs to search for human remains and signs of arson like the accelerants, in an attempt to rule out the possibility of foul play. in a written statement, the family of the children of the first responders say, "life is fragile. make time today to emb

. >> scott broom's got the details. >> reporter: in prince george's county where leaders say a of 40% in the homicide rate alone is proof that community policing works. >> staggering numbers. [ applause ] >> reporter: cheers today in prince georges county where three critical categories of crime are each down 9% in 2014 and homicides down a total of 40%. another key statistic tips to crime solvers are up 22%. >> those are the kinds of changes that has allowed us to continually drop crime. >> reporter: a difficult problem, 35% of the counties 54 murders last year were domestic and seven victims were children under the age of four. states attorney aeng brooks now working on training all church leaders in the county to say something when they see something in their flock. >> we want them to pray together and if it is unsafe, leave. >> reporter: with police in prince george's county, scott broom, wusa9. >>> no butts about it, smoking is out in a lot of places in ocean city, that has come may 1 because that is when new smoking restrictions kick in for the beach and boardwalk. smoking on th

reporting live in annapolis, scott broom, wusa9. >>> we just finished editing a story about a world renown violinist who played at a d.c. homeless shelter today, when we >>> topper says we've got some wet and wintery weather heading ou >>> it is the largest homeless shelter in our area. the community for creative nonviolence in northwest d.c. feeds and shelters more than 1,000 homeless people. >> today it fed more than hungry stomachs. it fed souls. debra alfarone brings you inside a story that might make you realize we're all more alike than you think. >> reporter: in a room inside d.c.'s largest homeless shelter are more than a dozen people. one with a violin, all with a story. >> we were always getting our electricity and phone cut off and one missed payment away from losing the roof over our head. >> reporter: rachel barton pine is playing it forward. as a child her family struggled with poverty. at age 20 her left leg was severed. her right one was mangled in a chicago train accident. >> my family had left the family by that point and sure enough, he became homeless. >> reporter: she

scott broom is with investigators who made that grim announcement live on the wusa9 news app late this afternoon. he joins us live with the details. >> this just confirms everybody's worse fears. this discovery today, it was made with the assistance of the dogs, in ruins of that giant mansion. the water front mansion that are still smoldering after more than two and a half days. before the snow started to fall today that the u.s. bureau of the alcohol and firearms, assisting the investigators, looking for the tech company and his wife, sandy and four of their grandchildren, missing since the home was leveled early monday. late today the announcement from the captain of the county fire department. >> reporter: this morning we were able to secure the structure to make it safe for investigators to enter a search th wi a k9 resulted in positive alerts. four people are still missing in the ruins, but the discovery that the remains will be quite possibly there, reporting live, scott broom, wusa9. >>> we have breaking news right now, as they are reportedly recommending no civil rights charges

we begin with scott broom. >> reporter: the no. 1 question here in annapolis tonight is where are the missing people and with the ruins of this mega house still smoldering it is likely the answers will take days, not hours. >> this is an active criminal investigation at this point. that does not mean that there's been a crime committed. what that means is we are processing evidence. we are processing the scene and we are conducting ourselves in a manner that should we discover that a crime has been committed, everything that we've done up to that point is valid and sustainable in a court of law. >> reporter: but so far no explanation for why no call for help came from anyone inside the house when the fire was first reported at 3:30 a.m. monday. instead an alarm monitoring service called. the house was served by propane, just one of many potential contributors to fire investigators will be looking at. >> we have active fire city burning. >> reporter: excavation here with the assistance of the atf is set to begin tomorrow. scott broom, wusa9. >> reporter: i'm debra alfarone in annapolis

scott broom, wusa9. >>> metro briefs d.c. council members tomorrow about the tragedy in the smoke filled tunnel a week ago. >> 1 council member has big questions about why some of the passengers say they had no way to even get off the train. one of the first firefighters on the scene said they banged on the railcar and told passengers to open the door and the passengers said they couldn't. >> that's a bug concern of mine. do we have -- big concern of mine. do we have a whole series of metrorail cars in which passengers can't escape from the car? >> firefighters say the backdoor was locked and a plastic cover had to be unscrewed to release the other doors. every metro car is equipped with emergency door releases. only on the two side doors in the center of the car is where you can find that. we also learned from the family today last week's l'enfant plaza victim did suffer from asthma, the family and many more remembers the life of carol glover today at a d.c. memorial service. stephanie ramirez tells us dozens attended. >> re

i'm scott broom in baltimore. coming up, the pros >> the former nfl cheer leader accused of sexually abusing a teenage boy is back in court. scott broom is in baltimore with all the details. scott? >> reporter: well, perhaps the most remarkable thing about molly chadac looked. a different look from the socialite ex-wife of one of baltimore's ceos . >> i'm able to completely be me. >> reporter: the newly toned down shadac seen in this mug shot is accused of sexually abusing a year-old boy. her lawyer says she is not guilty. >> obviously very upset. this is very difficult for her. >> reporter: but court documents lay out in graphic details alleged sexual encounters with the boy on the beach, in a parking garage, and in the delaware home. accuseddizations she brought alcohol for her son and his friends including the alleged victims. experts say the experience is a dream come true is wrong. >> a boy's chance to have healthy relationships can have an impact on future relationships. grooming was used. alcohol might be u

. >> reporter: i'm scott broom in baltimore where episcopal bishop heather cook is now facing up to 10 years in prison for allegedly drinking, driving, texting, then killing a cyclist in a hit and run. baltimore's new state's attorney marilyn mosley ticked off the charges today, felony, neglect manslaughter by vehicle, dui resulting in homicide, leaving the scene, texting resulting in death. >> speechless right off the bat. >> reporter: cyclists are stunned. >> it's tragic to begin with, but the fact that texting while driving and drunk driving, it just makes it worse. >> this is the equivalent of a pedestrian being run over on the sidewalk. >> reporter: family of tom palermo released a heartbreaking statement calling his death senseless. in baltimore scott broom, wusa9. >> the episcopal diocese of maryland released a statement today saying it's deeply heartbroken for the palermo family. a judge has not set bail for cook meaning she will at least spend the weekend behind bars. >>> new info tonight on jesse matthew, the suspect in the uva student hannah graham murder, he was in fairfax

. >> reporter: i'm scott broom at stephen decatur high school in berlin, maryland, where the mother of a boy seen being beaten in a controversial video said race hate played no part in the attack. a caught on video attack hallway of stephen decatur high school january 21st and a shocking fight in a parking lot the next day, bothiness dens where white students were -- both incidents where white students were attacked by african american rivals. a social media post went up with swastikas, and a noose and a #racewarweek but one mother said this was not a racial fight. this was two kids who had a mutual agreement to have a fight. she said her son objected to the racist social media posts made by another student. this african american student says he has no concerns. >> it's crazy because i got a lot of caucasian friends in school. >> reporter: the boy is recovering from a concussion. there have been no further incidents. at stephen decatur high school scott broom, wusa9. >>> washington nationals outfielder jayson werth has pleaded guilty to reckless driving on the beltway. he'll serve five

in bowie scott broom, wusa9. >>> some virginia students can breathe easier tonight. loudoun county canceled next week's midterm exams for middle and high school students because of lost instructional time resulting from snow days. regular classes will be held next tuesday through friday instead. >>> we've got a cold front moving through our area tomorrow, but the good news, no snow coming with it. >> this rolls through dry. it will kick up some winds tomorrow morning and afternoon. now we'll look at futurecast for this evening if you're headed out, low 30s, manassas, leesburg, maybe 31 in gaithersburg by 9:30. by 10:30 do the last walk with the dog, mid-30s downtown, everybody else 30 degrees, the crazy cold tonight, pretty much average. let's look ahead. good time to wash the car or truck, dry tomorrow and saturday. can't promise sunday, though. breezy and not as cold tomorrow, a bit colder saturday behind the front, lower temps a little bit. showers sunday could actually change to snow showers sunday night. we'll come back and talk more about that in a few minutes.

in montgomery county scott broom, wusa9. >>> d.c. snow team is ready for its first mission this winter about. 200 snowplows will be on the road by 5 a.m. tonight trucks are pretreating streets and bridges with a brine and beet juice mixture. in virginia vdot plans to have 500 trucks on the road by 4 a.m. tomorrow to treat roads in loudoun county and other roads are being pretreated with salt and sand and they will plow if there's 2-inch of snow on the ground. >>> while agencies are prepping to handle the roads montgomery county has something the average resident can do, shovel those sidewalks. county executive ike leggett said today keeping the walkways clear will help keep everybody safe. >> at first glance it does not seem to be a major problem or concern, but when you have a county as large as montgomery county, we have communities oftentimes disconnected, we have kids who are walking to school, people walking the streets, you can see the potential for danger. >> the safe sidewalks campaign is meant to remind residents you have to

we get more now from scott broom. >> reporter: it was cadaver dogs from the bureau of alcohol, back and firearms -- tobacco and firearms that assisted in making the grim discovery today. before the snow started falling today the u.s. bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms assisting anne arundel county investigators looking for tech company ceo don pile and his wife sandy and four of their grandchildren missing since the home was leveled by fire early monday. late today the announcement from captain russ diocese of the anne arundel county fire department. >> this morning we were able to secure the structure to make it safe for investigators to enter. a search with a cadaver k-9 resulted in positive alerts. as we started the process the seen -- to process the scene, we located the bodies of two individuals. we cannot specify whether they were adults or children and we still have four people that are unaccounted for. >> reporter: he said the cause of death was unknown. a process that could take days for weeks. -- or weeks. the atf sent a national response team to assist with the investiga

. >> scott broom is out in his mobile news room taking on the roads. how are they looking so far? >> last consider talked to you this evening i was in hagerstown maryland. i've moved a bit east and i hit one of those bands of snow top was talking about. i'll show you had camera. this is a ramp in maryland coming right off 227. that's north of damascus. you can see the ramp in is completely snow covered during this burst of snow we've had here which has been going on only about 15 minutes. the temperature outside the vehicle right now, 27 degrees. the stuff that's falling, despite some of the salt and brine left over on the road is sticking on places like ramps like this. there are plenty of hazards tonight, particularly underneath those bursts and showers topper was talking about. let me take you back out to the west where i was in hagerstown earlier today. as topper just reported snow pretty much over out there throughout the day today. they were able to keep up with all the light snow falling throughout the day, keeping salt on the roadways. it was the rural lanes and side stree

in annapolis scott broom, wusa9. >> don pyle made his fortune in i.t. software companies and there are a couple of them in northern virginia. along the way he made lifelong friends around the world. he was an executive at reston science logic and worked for juniper networks in herndon. friends and colleagues are remembering the man who was hugely successful in business and in life. >> don had a true love for sandy and for her boys, did everything in the world in taking care of the grandchildren and my recent correspondence with him has been we're just enjoying the heck out of our grandchildren and don never had any children. so i think it was his way of having children and being a kid again. he loved those kids. >> if you want to write a note of condolence that will be sent to the family, science logic has set up an e-mail account and you'll find a link to it on our www.wusa9.com app. >>> prosecutors say dna testing rolled out hannah graham suspect jesse matthew in -- ruled out hannah graham suspect jesse matthew in the death of another young woman last

i'm scott broom, the results of our investigation coming up. >> reporter: a healthy debate between privacy advocates, law enforcement and a virginia man. >> we're tracking a clipper. we'll talk about rain and snow showers through the metro area and which commute will be affected. >>> a christmas tree turns out to be the big contributing factor to that deadly mansion fire. good evening. i'm derek mcginty. >> i'm jan jeffcoat. a tragic accident that happened at the worst possible time, those words tonight from an atf agent on the cause of the fire that claimed the life of an annapolis couple and their four grandchildren. >> our mola lenghi spoke with experts about how such a christmas tree could do such damage. >> reporter: oh, yeah. it can be difficult to imagine that the fire that torched a sex teen thousand square foot house and -- 16,000 square foot house and killed six people began with a christmas tree, but experts we spoke with tonight say they aren't surprised, that christmas trees can be extremely combustible. >> this was an accidental fire that's very tragic. >> reporter: accidenta

in frederick, maryland, scott broom, wusa9. >>> the officials would have no history of complaints about the dog. and the bitter cold did not stop several people from coming to operate several demonstrations in fairfax county headquarters as they would call themselves justice for gear, the man who was shot by the fairfax county police officer as they had to fight in court and to wait 17 months before they released the officer's name and the details on what happened that day. the eight-year veteran police officer shot and killed john geer when he was called to the springfield home on the domestic issues. they waited an hour while geer was bleeding to death before entering his home. >> clearly somebody seemed to have made a mistake and we want to hold our public servants accountable. >> demonstrators are asking for an independent review board to look in to this case to have oversight on the police department. >>> well tonight the prince george's county police chief says it is by the grace of god that two of his officers weren't killed yesterday when a dump truck rammed the officer's cruise

i'm scott broom in the mobile news room. coming up a report from the far out suburbs. >>> well, welcome back. snowy start to the week and it's not over yet. thank you for joining us. i'm lesli foster. >> looks like i made it back just in time. i'm derek mcginty. while the snow scene wasn't as bad as perhaps advertised, you can see from this video in frederick the roads up there are wet and a little bit snowy and could get pretty slick a little bit later on. chief meteorologist topper shutt tracking cold temperatures and the a.m. commute could be in some jeopardy. >> it certainly could be. i'm a little depressed the snow is going to go north of us but just not our storm. we have winter weather advisories in effect for much of the area until tomorrow. for the backside, coastal storm and icy spots. we're concerned a little bit about refreezing tonight everywhere. out of the west you won't see much snow if at all. inside the beltway an inch or two. right along the west side of the bay and across the bay 2 to 4 inches of snow is

i'm scott broom in annapolis.he days event of the scene of the mansion fire. >>> inspecting fans, fixing radios. hardening up the electric lines. metro says they are acting now to make them safer. >>> we're tracking a foreaster. who is going to see rain and who will see snow. >> medical marijuana takes an emotional turn this morning. coming up i'll show you what happened. >>> new information tonight about the final hours of an annapolis family. thank you for joining us, i'm lesli foster. >> i'm jan jeffcoat. two more bodies were found in that water front mansion that burned to the ground monday. >> our scott broom is in annapolis monitoring this story. >> the number of bodies found in the ruins of this mansion. and that was owned by the cyber security, who is believed to have been lost here with his wife and four grandchildren. the discovery is coming today as the families of the grandchildren issued their first statement. that they they were found by children or adults. the grandchildren and their wife believed t

i'm scott broom coming up, recovering from a water main break and the sinkhole it created. >>> blackvernight and on thursday our attention turns to a clipper rain or snow shower late. >> we didn't get that much snow in the area but we're saying day two of travel issues, stephanie ramirez. >>> they want to know why commanders ordered them to release a suspect after he almost crashed in to the barricades. >> good evening, i'm gia jefcoat. >> and i'm derek mcginty. >> the family living inside a home tried to escape in their car but ha that had to be quickly bainded scott broom explains why. >> reporter: why the survivors said what looked like a puddle turned out to be a nearly bottomless pit this is the mendoza family waiting away after their car sank in to a sinkhole this morning at 4:00 a.m. while they were trying to flee the flood caused by a water main break here. 7-year-old may nor mom saying in spanish the family was trying to get out of the driveway after their basement apartment was flood. seven homes badly damaged by the flood, basements underwater, backyards, eroded like canyo

i'm scott broom.coming up also reactions to the heartbreaking photos released by the victims' family. >>> a system moving our way bringing rain and snow triggers tonight's yellow alert. this is i-81 in woodstock, virginia, where the snow is sticking to the grass. thanks for joining us tonight. i'm jan jeffcoat. >> i'm lesli foster. where is this system going to hit the hardest and how will it affect our weekend plan? let's get right to chief meteorologist topper shutt with your forecast first. >> if you have plans tonight and you're inside the beltway, you're fine as long as your windshield wipers work, heavy rain. ifup toward hagerstown and winchester, you're under a winter storm warning. you might want to get off the road after 9:00. the winter weather advisory still includes montgomery company. it does not include th district. it does include fairfax, prince william and points off to the west, never included you folks in southern maryland, not enough cold air for you guys. precip types, primarily r

scott broom is behind the wheel of our camera car now in montgomery county with results of the afternoon clean-up. how is it going, scott? >> reporter: it's going great. andrea mccarren just called and said it is a much lighter than normal commute and that is absolutely the case. i give you the dashboard camera on the mobile newsroom. this is 270 headed home outbound between gaithersburg and jermantown. this is definitely not a norm -- germantown. this is definitely not a normal commute and the roads have cleaned up nicely. after the snow quit at noon today the salt and plows have taken their effect. nobody is going to be late coming home tonight. those who did get the work will be home just in time. a lot of the problems i saw on the roads earlier today as we'd been reporting were clearly related to the timingof this storm. morning gridlock. >> keeps coming down. >> reporter: and the plows expected to clear the roads stuck in the very same crawling traffic. it is the scenario maryland highway officials warned me about last night. >> the issue will be if it hits during rush hour, all the

. >> reporter: a proposed kings dominion law in maryland, i'm scott broom in bowie. coming up reactions to the idea of forcing public school systems around the state to >>> while we are in the middle of this very cold weather take a moment to think back to summertime, the beach, a relaxing vacation and time with loved ones. >> maryland is hoping to make moments like that last longer by extending summer vacation. scott broom is in the mobile newsroom in bowie with details on the petition that incoming governor larry hogan signed today. hey, scott. >> reporter: yeah. it's an interesting idea but not a foreign one to us here at the karate academy, after school academy in bowie, maryland. we're talking about a maryland version of virginia's kings dominion law and there are mixed feelings about it here this afternoon. that's the law that would extend summer and prohibit schools from opening before labor day so that theme parks and beaches and resorts can squeeze some extra revenue out of the end of summer. what is the challenge for parents when kids are not in school? >>

scott broom wusa9. >> and they said that the smoke alarms with the escape plane would help them. the fair were rescued from the burning home of 40th street in addition to the cold temperatures. that they have encountered the conditions while battling the flames of the house. they received treatment from minor injuries and that they are still trying to figure out what caused it. >>> in about 90 minutes we should learn more about the smoke incident of the metro tunnel that killed one woman and injured several others. the ntsb is getting ready to brief local lawmakers and the media and our hank silverburg will be there live with a preview of what we can expect. hank? >> reporter: that's right. it's going on right now behind closed doors with members of the delegation from virginia. they have very specific questions as do we all about what happened on january 12 in that incident in that metro tunnel that put smoke in that car and injured dozens of other people. they are being briefed by the national transportation safety board. they will also get a briefing themselves. we have talked

in hyattville, scott broom, wusa9 news. >>> well, the folks in new york and new england are dealing with mounds and mounds of snow and commercial planes all over the country are grounded as a result of a storm still pummeling parts of the northeast. stephanie ramirez has more on thousand travelers are getting -- is live with more on whether travelers are getting around or not? >> reporter: yes. the radiators at reagan national airport serves as this woman's bed tuesday. >> on the way here i flew into boston so i am glad i don't have a connecting because i would not be making it. >> reporter: flight cancellations up north due to the blizzard 2015, as short- lived as it was in some city, still causing headaches for the second day in a row. more than 5,000 flights were canceled again tuesday. 230 of those out of reagan national airport and 273 out of dulles international, leaving some travelers happy today they n't going anywheream glad i didn't have to get stuck in that. people were diverting to ey knew they would get stuck. it is better to be stuck in miami. >> reporter: others, however,

scott broom, wusa9. >>> one day after investigators ruled the annapolis mansion fire was caused by an electrical problem they released some 911 calls. the first was from the alarm company. the second one came from this neighbor. >> their house is on fire. i happened to look outside and the flames, i don't know if anybody's called, but i mean the whole house is on fire. >> is anybody inside? >> i have no idea. >> it is on fire? >> oh, my god, it's like i'm getting ready to call my neighbor next-door. the flames are coming out of the house. >> keep everybody away and if you can find out if anybody is in the house, let us know, okay? >> okay. were people in that house, four young children and their grandparents died in the fire. >>> a 6-year-old boy has life threatening injuries after he went sledding into a passing car. the driver stopped to help. it happened last night on matthew mills road in mclean. that's where we find wusa9 reporter surae chinn. >> reporter: jan, this appears to be an awful accident on the circular driveway behind me. kids just wanting to play in the snow, what is

reporting live from our mobile newsroom, scott broom, wusa9. >> thank you, scott. drive carefully. >>> it may not have amounted to a lot of accumulation but the morning snow is enough to get students out of class in more than just one school district. delia goncalves has more now from dale city. >> reporter: the folks we talked here in dale city say the light snowfall hasn't caused any problems. it's quite pretty they say, in fact. take a look here on the main roads. you can see that it is down to the pavement. roads looking really great thanks in part to the light traffic and to the crews that have been salting and treating these roads all morning long. the only trouble spot that you will find, a light covering of snow on untreated surfaces. for instance, this empty parking lot at garfield high school. why is this parking lot empty? well, school was canceled for the day. prince william county public schools, the first school district in our viewing area to cancel classes in anticipation of this snowfall that meteorologists are now saying underperformed in our area

scott broom has taken to his mobile newsroom to anne arundel county tonight to look a bit further into this mystery. what are you finding out, scott? >> reporter: this tiny shellfish is a thing that's very common in the bay. they live here by the billions in the waters like behind me on the severn river. it's called the false dark mussel, but so far there has been little scientific evidence to back up what some pet owners have seen, which is that their dogs appear to have been poisoned by these shellfish. she was a yellow lab named sochi. >> she jumped in here. >> reporter: lindsey lowe was on the family's dock on mill creek near annapolis the saturday before thanksgiving when sochi did what labs love to do, muck around in the water and retrieve sticks, in this case a stick like this covered with tiny shellfish called dark false mussels. sochi got sick that night. >> that night she threw up a bunch of seaweed and seemed very ill the next morning. we took her to the emergency room and two days later she was gone. her liver toxin levels were something like 4,000 time the normal level. wh

reporting live in annapolis, scott broom wusa9. >> devastating news. thank you. new tonight at 5:00, a man is dead after a fire in arlington. which started this morning in the 2100 block of south randolph. the man was trapped, but they pulled him out. he later died at a hospital. it took 70 firefighters to put out those flames. >>> the annual march for life filled the streets of washington today as pro-life supporters descended on the supreme court. as mark alberts report, it comecomes congress takes on the anti-abortion bill. >> reporter: thousands march on the anniversary of the supreme court's roe verses wade decision. michael williams came down from rochester, new york with his church. jamie traveled here from long island. >> i'm here because i'm pro life. down the street the gop house took up the bill banning the use. >> the nays are 179. >> reporter: house leaders scheduled to vote to coincide to vote is to coincide with the anti-abortion rule. >> this is not a gift from the republican party to these people. this is a gift from our creator himself. >> so th

i'm scott broom in annapolis.oming up the search for victims. >> reporter: i'm stephanie ramirez in northeast d.c. where we saw a pack church today. family and friends came together to honor the life of the woman who died in last week's l'enfant plaza incident. >>> on the day we're pausing to remember dr. martin luther king, jr. an ugly slur painted on the door of a home in chevy chase. >> let's get right to peggy fox live in montgomery county with the police investigation. >> reporter: this is where officers were called out to investigate this hate crime. the racist message had the n word in it and an ugly message spray painted in large red letters on a family's garage door. >> i looked out the window and saw very clearly on the garage door. >> reporter: on a chevy chase home where a black family just moved in four days ago this is what he saw, a variation of the n word and then go home. >> it's really horrible, really shocking. >> reporter: richard and rita who live across the street hadn't even met the single m

live from the mobile newsroom scott broom, wusa9. >> powdered sugar on the donuts. we like to eat our donuts, but we don't like that on the roads. >> it didn't take a whole lot for his car to slide. >> it never does. the great call for the school systems, the fairfax county guy, it just kills me, who is they predicting 3 inches? i want to know where he got that forecast. >> you didn't predict that. >> i don't think anybody locally did. i think it goes to private forecasters that we're paying for if you live in fairfax county and they make the decision off that which is sometimes i.e., tuesday and a week ago, too. you don't need snow days for a while. a quiet finish to the week and milder weekend before the next front slams through on sunday. let's look at this picture i tweeted out, st. mary's college. they had about 1 1/2 inches. scott strickland sent this in. it's a gorgeous picture, gorgeous college if you've never been there. it's spectacular. let's talk about temperatures. let's start with a live look outside, our live michael and son weather cam, clouds are ha

family living inside a home tried to escape in their car but ha that had to be quickly bainded scott broom explains why. >> reporter: why the survivors said what looked like a puddle turned out to be a nearly bottomless pit this is the mendoza family waiting away after their car sank in to a sinkhole this morning at 4:00 a.m. while they were trying to flee the flood caused by a water main break here. 7-year-old may nor mom saying in spanish the family was trying to get out of the driveway after their basement apartment was flood. seven homes badly damaged by the flood, basements underwater, backyards, eroded like canyons. >> i couldn't believe it. i thought it was going to stop soon but it didn't, it kept coming. >> it's that time of year, we've had over 300 breaks in the system and climbing so it's probably attributed to the cold breaks any weakness. >> reporter: spokesman jerry irvine says this pipe, more than 90 years old it's been repaired and filled in. >> the water main break fixed around 1:00 and service restored to all 77 customers affected by the break the wsse picking up the tab

scott broom is keeping tabs on the preparations and how it might affect the work and schools on tuesday. how you doing scott? >> reporter: i'm doing great from front seat of my mobile newsroom this evening. how are you all? it's not going to be a lot of snow, but it's going to be cold. it's going to stick. it's all coming at the wrong time which has state highway officials in maryland, for instance, already working on it. in silver is bring highway crews hooked up plows and loaded salt and got ready for what's predicted to be a brief blast of snow tuesday. motorists in germantown trying to calculate prospects for commute and school tomorrow. >> if i'm early, i'll beat everybody else. by the time i leave 5:00, nobody on the road. >> i'm a teacher. weave just been out a -- we've just been out a couple weeks almost. so we're a little excited maybe there will be some snow. >> reporter: the maryland state highway administration an afternoon weather prediction of bands of light snow to begin hitting the baltimore beltways at 4 a.m. to 5 a.m. and continue until noon. >> we're only going to see

casino in anne arundel mills, scott broom, wusa9. >>> it appears our weekend is off to a bit of a bone chilling start. >> we can feel it already. there's a chance of a wintery mix later this weekend, but tonight we got to deal with these wind chills below zero. top, tell us more about what we're in for. >> wind chills are in the teens. the wind advisory will continue until midnight. here's the wind gust tracker, winds out of the northwest gusts anywhere from 39ers many in manassas and 37 in -- 39 miles per hour in manassas and 37 miles an hour in andrew. it's now down to 25 in gaithersburg. we talked about temps falling to the 20s by evening. it people like 11 in frederick, people like it's 14 in leesburg and manassas. lows tonight teens across the board, 18 at woodbridge, 16 in sterling, 15 in leesburg, 18 in bethesda and college park. we'll come back, talk about our storm sunday and tell you if the track has changed. >>> those wind gusts are already causing problems on streets. peggy fox is live from boston with more on that. >> reporter: i tell you what. i just got off the phone wit

let's check in with scott broom driving through southern maryland in his mobile newsroom. re closed today. there's not a lot of snow on the ground as you can see outside the window but there is enough. i said earlier it looks like powdered sugar on a doughnut, and on untreated surfaces like this parking lot that's just enough at 25 degrees so when the tires go over it, it turns into a thin veneer of ice so untreated surfaces can be really slick. i'm about to take a turn here on 301 south, which is a major commuter route where conditions will then change dramatically, as you can see me pulling out on the road, the shoulder snow covered but in the travel lanes it's been treated with salt. there's not a lot of traffic because schools are out, and that means once you get yourself to a main road this morning, if you're a commuter, you are going to get there today as you move north from here in charles county into prince george's county, and towards the metro area, the roads are more clear than even this. roadways are in good condition, on the major roadways, but the side streets

scott broom is live at the salisbury daily times to tell us what our team has learned. rn you some of the videos and language is disturbing. scott, what have you learned? >> reporter: well, it is disturbing. the videos you're about to see and the graphic instagram posts that were made that added fuel to the fire appear to show that there are racially motivated conflicts going on among at least some students at the steven decatur high school near ocean city, but not all students and administrators arrive at the same conclusion. again these images are graphic. this cell phone video captured a white student being attacked by two african american students in the hallway of steven decatur high school in berlin, maryland, january 21st. the n word is clearly heard in the exchange. the next day another fight in the mcdonald's parking lot. an african american is taking down a

coming up at 5:00 today on wusa9, scott broom will be talking to the family and where they go from here. as far as the snow is concerned, it led to many area schools, most in fact either to delay or cancel classes today. the issue for those schools, the roads. and there were numerous accidents across the region. nick giovanni continues our coverage in germantown. >> reporter: slick conditions along windy roads here in german town ended up claiming a few cars including one right here on waring station road. we're told this car ended up slighting off the road, taking out a pepco pole before it overturned. two people inside that car were taken to the hospital. there was a similar scene nearby in potomac, maryland, where another vehicle overturned along river road. that driver was also taken to the hospital with nonlife threatening injuries while the car sat on the street serving as yet another reminder to slow down and drive with caution on days like today. nick giovanni, wusa9. >>> we also had a tractor- trailer jackknife on 270 this morning. this is the scene from sterling, virginia this

. >> scott broom has been cruising the streets and he has literally the word from the road. >> we thought we were going to get about an inch, maybe 3 but keeps coming down. >> reporter: morning gridlock and the plows expected to clear the roads stuck in the very same crawling traffic. >> i don't like it. >> reporter: predictable results like this spun out truck near frederick. by declaring a two-hour delay for schools in front county officials bought some time to assess the deteriorating situation -- in montgomery county officials bought some time to assess the deteriorating situation. >> i'm a teacher, very happy i didn't drive to work. >> now a lot of those commuter routes got pretty slammed this morning. police closed connecticut avenue just outside the beltway briefly when a power pole snapped and sent wires into the road. in kensington a police officer was actually pushing cars to get them up a slick hill. on viers mill road one minivan slid out and a bunch of other cars slammed into it. a couple guys said it took them five hours to get from baltimore to ken kensington. >> it's just

reporting live from my mobile newsroom, scott broom, wusa9. >> thank you. >>> in other news today, sentencing day for bob mcdonnell. by the end of the day, the former virginia governor should learn if he is going to prison and if so, for how long. peggy fox is live outside the federal courthouse in richmond with the latest. peg? >> reporter: well, judge james spencer will be delivering that sentence this afternoon. he of course presided over the trial. he has decided one thing already, and that is that he has reduced the sentence guide lines that he's considering town to six and a half to eight years. so a surprise this morning, though, was that maureen mcdonnell, bob mcdonnell's extrained wife was here watching. -- exstranged wife was here watching. many thought she would not show up. some 200 people showed up to watch today's proceedings. bob mcdonnell's entire family is here, all five of his children, his sisters, as i mentioned his wife. we heard objections from the defendants. the judge heard those objections. and they included objecting to enhancing the sentence for what the prosecution