tom sherwood, news 4. >> of course, all that traffic is never good if you have to go. if you do have to go, we have one of the best places to go. the best bathroom in the country, one of the best. these are the renaissance in crystal city. it got second place in the nation in an online poll. tens of thousands of people voted. clenliness, style, usability. that contest, contested by a gasoline provider of restroom hygiene products. if you have to go, go there. >>> the last thing neighbors expected to see on their quiet neighborhood. up next, stripes. the story of zebras roaming in loudoun get the technology they love, on the network they deserve. like the powerful droid charge by samsung, or get the samsung stratosphere, and for a limited time, get twice the data for the same low price. verizon. >>> as promised, we have something wild. zebras. they are running loose in the neighborhood. a residential neighborhood for sure. looks like something you would see in africa, not lauden county, virginia. imagine the homeowners surprise. imagine your surprise. look out your wind

the intent is to improve the business. >> reporter: tom sherwood, news 4, washington. >> there will be a hearing before any changes are made. >>> a baby jesus statue is back where it belongs thanks in part to facebook. it was stolen from a nativity scene in fredericksburg. the person who stole it made a slip up. pat collins explains. >> reporter: they found the baby jesus. >> praise god. that's wonderful. >> this is what christmas is about, baby jesus. >> reporter: it's not how the story is told in the bible, but baby jesus returned to the manger in the arms of this policeman. you have been on the job how long? >> 43 years. >> reporter: you have recovered a lot of stolen property? >> yes, i have. >> reporter: have you ever recovered anything like this? >> no, i haven't. >> reporter: baby jesus stolen tuesday night. he weighed 80 pounds. he had been stolen before, some years ago, so they filled him with concrete to keep it from happening again. that proved to be something less than a wise idea. now they say little baby jesus weighs 60 pounds, he lost 20 pounds after he was taken from he

tom sherwood, news 4. >> of course, all that traffic is never good if you have to go.you do have to go, we have one of the best places to go. the best bathroom in the country, one of the best. these are the renaissance in crystal city. it got second place in the nation in an online poll. tens of thousands of people voted. clenliness, style, usability. that contest, contested by a gasoline provider of restroom hygiene products. if you have to go, go there. >>> the last thing neighbors expected to see on their quiet neighborhood. up next, stripes. the story of zebras roaming in loudoun [ mom ] hey guys. guys... [ female announcer ] pillsbury cinnamon rolls with cinnabon cinnamon are an irresistible sunday morning idea. nothing calls them to the table faster. sunday morning ideas made easy. [ younger brother ] oh, do you want it? yeah. ok, we'll split it. [ female announcer ] made fresh, so light... ...buttery and flaky... this is half. that is not half. guys i have more. [ female announcer ] do you have enough crescents? >>> as promised, we have something wild. zebras. t

tom sherwood joins us live from the wilson building downtown d.c. with the latest on the story. tom? >> reporter: the new ethics bill would have tougher reporting requirements and tougher penalties. for awhile, it looked like the bill wouldn't pass. d.c. ward 4 keown till member muriel bowser worked for months to get it down to one sweeping law. >> this is an issue that affects the entire council. i absolutely support getting it before the full body sooner rather than later. >> reporter: michael brown was threatening to hold up the bill for more discussion. council chairman kwame brown appeared to vote and insisted the bill will pass before january. >> we are going to do what's necessary to make sure that we pass a comprehensive ethics reform bill this year. >> reporter: chairman brown is under investigation for alleged campaign violations and friday, fbi agents in a separate investigation raided the home of councilmember harry thomas jr. chairman brown told reporters he showed up to be sure an ethics bill passed without delays. >> get an ethics reform passed. councilman bowser,

tom sherwood is at the wilson building with more on this. tom? >> reporter: everyone knows there's a heavy cloud of ethics hanging over the council. there were efforts today to fix things. >> good morning. >> reporter: d.c. councilmember muriel bowser worked to boil the bills into one sweeping law before her government operations committee. >> this affects the entire council. >> reporter: at large, councilmembers michael grown and vincent orange were threatening to hold it up for more discussion. it would have put up discussion until next year. kwame brown showed up to insist everyone vote. >> we are going to do what's necessary to make sure that it's -- that we pass a comprehensive ethics reform bill this year. >> reporter: he is under investigation for alleged c campaign violations. friday, fbi agents in a separate investigation raided the home of harry thomas jr. chairman brown told reporters he showed up to vote to be sure the measure passed without delays. >> i want to make sure we get an ethics reform. councilmember bowser, the staff, have

that's what this will bring. >> reporter: tom sherwood, news 4, washington. >> they say they hope to see locals share in their project and decide what to build early next year. >>> chelsea clinton is the daughter of former president bill clinton and secretary of state hillary clinton. she has joined nbc news and will make her debut on "rock center." she'll have the story on a woman in arkansas. >> reporter: helping kids has been part of her life. after her husband died and four children nearly grown the former edge educator decided to quit her well paying job to devote her life to serving the kids. >> we heard a few gunshots earlier. >> right. >> the gunshots aren't abnormal? >> no. for our children, it's just their world. >> reporter: it's on streets like these where she offers hope to hundreds of kids surrounded by crime and poverty. >> our kids are punished because parents are unable to do or provide for them. i don't think it's fair. if i feel like children ought to have someone in their lives that will fight for them or help them. >> we invite you to tune into rock center for mo

tom sherwood has more on the growing backlash. >> reporter: for more than a month, protesters challenging economic disparity set up a peaceful camp at mcpherson square. clash with d.c. police wednesday, blocking rush hour traffic. 60 people were arrested. sunday, u.s. park police arrested demonstrators after construction of an illegal housing frame in the square. some are urging city and federal officials to shut down the camp sights for health, safety and commerce reasons. on wamu politics hour friday -- >> there's not a city in the country, except the washington, d.c. area that accommodated them. we are a flash point of trouble. mcfepherson square will be a toc waste dump for a couple years to clean it up. >> reporter: the mayor told nbc 4 on the viewpoint program that airs sunday morning people are losing patience. >> people are increasingly losing their patience because of the infringement on business. it's a balance. we support their right, of course, to exercise their first amendment rights. at the same time, we will not tolerate bending the law. >> reporter: if they want to complai

tom sherwood has more. >> reporter: this bill makes major changes in the ethics laws but some complain it doesn't go far enough. >> aaye? all opposed? ayes have it. >> reporter: after hours of debate, the d.c. council passed the tougher ethics bill on a voice vote. >> the issue of the public thinks the council members are corrupt or not serious enough do you think this will solve that issue? >> we have been serious about ethics reform. i think the bill reflects that and it's just really important we move forward and get at all the questions answered. >> reporter: the bill debate already was intense but adding to the drama was ward 5 council member harry thomas jr. who was besieged by reporters. even sitting on the council thomas declined to say much to news4 or any reporter. >> my attorneys will address any questions about my case. >> reporter: the fbi and irs raided thomas's home in the northeast neighborhood seizing vehicles and boxes of papers. it has embarrassed council members who want him to take a speed leave of absence. others say thomas should be allowed to defend himself whil

tom sherwood reports. >> the boxing capital of the world, washington, d.c. [ applause ] >> reporter:dnesday, mayor gray was hosting a press conference to welcome a big boxing match to the city saturday joking about the rough and tumble of city politics. >> i get to attend some boxing matches periodically. believe it or not, some are outside this building. >> reporter: the mayor said little, but let the process play out when it comes to the investigation of harry thomas jr. whose home was raided by the fbi and treasury agents last week amid allegations he misspent $300,000 in city funds on his own lavish lifestyle. >> let the justice system move forward and take the appropriate action. >> reporter: now, gray for the first time went beyond the legal niceties to talk about the probe if wrong doing is found. >> assuming it's true, it's a bad situation. again, i can't get into the details of it. i don't know that many details about it. >> reporter: for the first time, the mayor talked sympathetically about the impact on the thomas family. >> i have known him, i have known his family for y

. >>> you can watch the rest of viewpoint hosted by tom sherwood sunday at 7:00 a.m. at 6:00, find out why local businesses are fed up. >>> police bust a ring responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of thefts. how the groups technique proved to be their undoing. >>> gearing up for game time. the army/navy game heads to fedex field. >>> we know the identity of a pet injured and far from home. >>> the washington humane society is taking action after a tragic mistake at an area animal shelter. the news 4 i team got the team and found a series of problems that led up to an awful accident. tisha thompson has the story. >> they run two animal shelters in d.c. it's the only animal welfare agency in the country. tonight, one employee is no longer working there after a mistake that left a family heart broken. when pets go missing in d.c., they usually end up here at the new york avenue shelter run by the washington humane society. more than 8500 pets impounded here in just the last year. including zzoe. she ran off one day with the dollar and leash still attache

tom sherwood has that story. >> reporter: with millions of dollars spent on snow equipment and plan iningfficis say they are ready for the fast approaching snow season after a tough 2011. >> the snowstorm on january 26th that left traffic across the region snarled for, in some cases, hours. we got the vehicles, the people and contracts in place to help. >> reporter: he cited several new plans including announcing school closures by 11:00 p.m. three, to work with federal officials for an orderly release, or provide shelter in place options. >>> one of the big problems we experienced, as you may remember is -- intersections for a half hour. >> reporter: the district government has 750 city workers cross trained for snow removal operations. there are no budget problems this year. >> we certainly see that a heavy snowfall can shut our city down. i think we have to reassure everyone in the city, including the federal government, which has an impact on the nation. when washington doesn't work, a lot of the country doesn't work. >> reporter: tom sherwood, news 4, washington. >>> despite the plan

i'm tom sherwood here in northeast washington. back to you. >> tom, we'll be checking back. thank you. >>> the investigation of councilmember thomas is just one of three that involves the u.s. attorney and the city officials. another involves mayor vincent gray and started with a question about whether his 2010 campaign secretly paid suleman-brown to aggressively attack then-mayor adrian fente. that investigation has grown beyond brown to look into the large amounts of cash that were brought into the gray campaign. a third investigation involves kwame brown and his 2008 campaign for re-election as an at-large councilmember. that probe includes a trail of unreported contributions and expenses that total about $300,000. in that case, the u.s. attorney's office is reviewing the money trail. be sure to stay with news 4 and nbcwashington.com for continuing coverage and for updates on this fbi raid of councilmember thomas' home. we will have new reaction from mayor gray tonight at 6:00. >>> and we are following some breaking news out of montgomery county tonight where police are s

tom sherwood is in the newsroom with more on the story. >> taxi drivers would have to learn more about city streets and a new gps system would keep track of where they go and what they charge. there are more than 8,000 licensed cab drivers in the district. two-thirds of them individually owned with little control or recordkeeping on how they work and who they serve. the hotel industry wants reform for tens of thousands of visitors. >> they are operators of hotels in washington, d.c. the taxi cab industry needs improvement in the city. it's often cited as the worst among u.s. cities. >> minimum wage job. that's what you are turning this thing into. >> some angry drivers disrupted a meeting where vincent gray called for a sweeping overhaul of the taxi industry. >> we have to upgrade the cabs and the industry to match the substantial improvement of overall washington. >> mayor gray who won the election with the support of cab drivers is proposing them to accept credit cards and have gps to track their movements around the city. realtime recording of fares to be recorded. >> the idea is to

tom sherwood has more. >> reporter: whether it's a $2 billion developnt of homes, shops and offices at the convention center or downtown hotel, the city of washington is booming. >> you know, you can feel it around the city. it's alive. dynamic. the city is clearly on the grow. >> reporter: i have seen more baby carriages, too. >> absolutely. young families are moving in. it underscores it important investments we are making in public education. >> reporter: the city leads the nation in percentage growth. nearly 3% over the past year. outpacing in percentage, states like texas, alaska and colorado. it's the greatest boom since the 1940s in world war ii. stoney's has been in business since 1968. >> it's amazing how much it's changed since the early '90s. it's ginger fied to the young 20s and 30s are moving in here. >> reporter: about 17,000 people added as city residents. some of them are happy to say why. >> we have been enjoying it. it's a pleasant city to live in. >> i graduated from college in 2010. i thought i wanted to be a lawyer or politician. i moved here, changed my mind. i wo

tom sherwood has the story. >> the doors in the john wilson building are showing the festivity of the season. various government agencies like the cfo office are hosting modest in-house parties paid for with donations. this is the upscale washington court hotel. it's the festive scene for thursday night. now a controversial d.c. keown till party. $7,000 to $8,000. mainly because of how it's being paid for. some councilmembers are using money from the constituent service funds, the semipolitical $80,000 accounts some complain are slush funds rather than money to help needy constituents. >> what we found is only an average of 12 cents for every dollar of this money was spent on real needs. >> reporter: what about council parties for themselves and staff members? >> it's a bad idea if you are not going to involve the constituents. >> reporter: brown is defending the party saying it's for the staff. >> right now, america is struggling. columbia is no exception. every year, we have a holiday party that we provide for our staff that work so hard every day, working with the residents of the

tom sherwood has more on this. >> it's been a tough year for both of them. they say they will work harder to bin back public support. >> happy holidays. >> reporter: mayor gray was celebrating at the d.c. public department. the poll results were no reason to cheer. 34% approval rating and a high negative of 53% disapproval. some of the numbers are bad. what is your thought about it? >> well, i mean they probably reflect what happened earlier in the year. we recognize that. >> the research poll shows fenty and williams would easily defeat gray. gray's first year in office is marred by controversies and the ongoing federal probe into the campaign and federal law violations. gray is focused on doing his job on crime. >> we want to keep doing those things and show people that the choices they made were the right ones. >> reporter: the worst poll numbers were for kwame brown. 23% approval rating. with just that 23% approval rating, one of the lowest ever for city officials, the polling showed 57% disapproved of kwame brown's work. the 13-member council has fallen

. >> tom sherwood has the report. >> reporter: thousands of students attend howard university comingous school on georgia avenue northwest. now five female students say the school failed to react quickly enough. >> he said inappropriate things to me. he came on to me. was aroused, rubbed up against me, trying to kiss me in his office. >> he asked me to come into his office. he came pretty close to me and touched my chest area. which i was not expecting. i did say something and i rushed out. >> reporter: the lawsuit filed this week in federal court alleged george bright engaged in overt sexual harass mat going back to 2010. one said she was verbally, sexually and physically attacked. the employee was convicted in court on misdemeanor of sexual abuse. the suit is asking the court to instruct howard to publicize and support a strong sexual harassment policy. they ask for monetary damages for the students. >> they had a duty to protect the students. these students come from all over the world. >> reporter: in a statement to the media, the university said when the university administratio

. >> the other author is tom sherwood. >>> still ahead, an incredible reunion for a family and their pet. one dog showed up after disappearing eight years ago. >>> your house may look fe >>> for the second straight year, d.c. is topping the list of best cities for business. the market watch study compared 102 cities taking into consideration how much business is considered and how much they boost the local economy. washington was given praise for job growth and personal income. boston, mass and omaha, nebraska. good for us. >>> holiday decorating is big tradition for many this time of year. are you keeping your family safe? last year, there were 13,000 people ending up in emergency rooms as a result of holiday decorating accidents. liz crenshaw has more on holiday hazards to easily prevent. >> trying to be as individual lent as possible. >> reporter: at the consumer product testing center in rockville, maryland they showed us the reality of holiday hazards. how a live, dried out tree like this can go up in flames in seconds. >> a dried out christmas tree can burn faster than newspape

tom sherwood joins us to explain what this means. >> what this means is clear. ethics or the lack of them are causing a lot of problems in city government. with both council chairmen kwame brown and ward five council member harry thomas jr. facing separate federal criminal probes, thomas' house was raided by the fbi recently. the council for months struggled to write a new ethics law. >> this amendment lays out the procedure. >> reporter: chairman brown tuesday offered the amendment to allow for the first time council members to vote to expel any member in serious ethical cases. ward 5's thomas under grand jury review for allegedly misspending $300,000 in city funds on himself sat quietly as the chairman introduced the amendment. >> let me state clearly expulsion should be used for cases in which the council determines that the violation of laws in the most serious nature including those violations substantially threatens the public trust. >> reporter: council voted to force more disclosure of campaign contributions and funds raised and spent for inaugurations,

he told tom sherwood the federal investigation of him and two d.c. councilmembers is a serious distraction in the city. he doesn't believe the probes are racially motivated. >> i have not been asked to appear before anybody at this stage. >> but you would go, obviously? >> absolutely. >> i guess you would have to go. the u.s. attorney is african-american. attorney general, eric holder is african-american. do you get a sense the probe of three elected officials who are african-american in this city is tied to a racial consideration? >> i don't know anything of the sort, tom. i certainly would conclude comfortably that the u.s. attorney will investigate issues that are put before them no matter who they are about. >> the viewpoint program airs sunday mornings at 7:00 a.m. >>> flash floods drenched parts of prince george's county last night. now the people who live there are assessing the damage. more than three inches of rain fell in upper marlboro. water street near the courthouse was closed after creeks overflowed. it's the same location where floodi

. >> the other author is tom sherwood. >>> still ahead, an incredible reunion for a family and their pet. one dog showed up after disappearing eight years ago. >>> your house may look fe [ female announcer ] what would you call an ordinary breakfast pastry that's been wrapped in a flaky crust stuffed with a gooey center toasted up all golden brown then given a delicious design? a toaster strudel. pillsbury toaster strudel. so delicious...so fun. mom, we're dying. no you're not, you're just hungry. make some totino's pizza rolls. we don't have any! front... left, totino's. [ male announcer ] well done mom! less drama, more fun! totino's pizza rolls. laces? really? slip-on's the way to go. more people do that, security would be like -- there's no charge for the bag. thanks. i know a quiet little place where we can get some work done. there's a three-prong plug. i have club passes. [ male announcer ] now there's a mileage card that offers special perks on united, like a free checked bag, united club passes, and priority boarding. thanks. ♪ okay. what's your secret? ♪ [ male announcer ]

one of the authors of the book is tom sherwood. >>> people who think micro chipping their pet always works might want to reconsider that. why veterinarians are warning about potential problems. >>> one family says at & t ruined their holiday. >>> and talk >>> a lot of people think if they put a micro chip in their pet and the pet goes missing they have nothing to worry about. a local family thought they were protected. but we show you why veterinarians are warning about the problems associated with micro chips. >> brandy crowley said that the moment that her kids saw zoe it was love at first sight. >> she would sit on our laps and run off a ball. >> reporter: zoe came with a micro chip injected under the pet's skin that contains the owner's contact information. >> she said all we would have to do is wait for whoever find her to take her to a shelter. and the shelter would notify us. >> reporter: but the phone call never came. >> we scanned for a micro chip and the only information on the chip at the time was the pet store where the dog was purchased. >> reporter: stephanie shane says

is tom sherwood. can you see sherwood on a movie set trying to boss people around? >>> on our friday night broadcast, moment of truth for newt gingrich. can he withstand the attack he's now undergoing into a crucial weekend? >>> nothing doing. tonight the outrage over this modern day do-nothing congress and a look at what's still not done as they skip out of town for the weekend. >>> on the move in search of jobs. tonight the road warriors descending on one american city hoping to land the hottest holiday temp job in the nation. >>> and making a difference on the home front for this nation's wounded veterans and their families. some real r & r and it's on the house. some real r & r and it's on the house. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good evening. there are just 25 days to go until the iowa caucuses. that's when the campaign season becomes real for a lot of people. and it's getting real rough in the normally polite republican party. newt gingrich is surging. he's ahead in national polls. he's ahead in iowa and south car

. >>> i'm tom sherwood on the rapidly redeveloping 8th street in northeast washington. here is something different. a developer asking what you would build. i'll have the story, coming up. >>> how you could throw a holiday party with treats that look like they came from a gourmet bakery. >>> coming up tonight at 6:00, a home improvement store is facing criticism after pulling an ad. it has the muslim community [ female announcer ] at verizonfios.com, you can choose your channel package. ♪ you can choose your own internet speeds. ♪ you can even choose to chat with a live person. ♪ now you can choose to save $35 a month for fios tv, internet and phone for just $79.99 a month, plus get a $300 verizon visa prepaid card with a 2 year agreement. but hurry, offer ends soon only at verizonfios.com. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. >>> a family in croatia transformed their property into a winter wonderland. more than 1 million christmas lights. the display includes more than 112 miles of cord and took more than six months to set u

tom sherwood, news 4, washington. >>> the d.c. police say they are going to work with the city council on issues of nightclub security after a deadly fight in dupont circle. it happened last weekend outside a place called heritage india on connecticut avenue. one man shot and killed. five others shot or wounded. jack evans represents dupont circle area. he plans to propose a new legislation. that bill would require restaurant that is operate as nightclubs to hire off duty officers as security. >> whether the right balance is having the establishments with those events having their own security inside or hiring police officers for the outside, you know, we'll work with the councilmember to see what's the right balance. >> police still have several witnesses to interview. at this point, they have not made any arrests. >>> a howard county man is behind bars after he stole from a church and preschool. he's charged with burglary, theft and credit card abuse. he stole musical instruments from a church. he robbed a preschool twice. he us

tom sherwood is on pennsylvania with more on the preparations for the heavy winter. tom? >> reporter: wendy, mayor gray said last year's snow response was inadequate. he thought the city would do better this season. with millions of dollars spent on a newer model of snow equipment and planning, officials are ready for the fast approaching snow season after a tough 2011. >> the snowstorm on january 26 that left traffic across the region snarled or in some cases hours. we have the vehicles. the people and the contracts in place to prepare us for snow events large and small. >> reporter: the mayor cited several plans, one to announce school closings by 11:00 p.m. the night before. two, to allow more city workers to telecommute from home and to work with federal officials to more orderly release thousands of employees or provide shelter in place options. new efforts to keep intersections clear. >> one of the big problems we experienced as you may remember is the blocking of the box. many of you may have sat at intersections for a half hour. >> reporter: they have 750 city wor

tom sherwood is in the news room with that story for us. tom? >> reporter: this isn't good news for either city leader. chairman brown ranks the worst in the poll. >> everybody excited about christmas? >> reporter: he was celebrating the season. the polling results were no reason to cheer. gray has 34% approval rating and a high negative of 53% disapproval. some of the numbers are bad. what is your thought about it? >> well, they probably reflect what happened much earlier in the year. i recognize that. rmp the research poll taking in the last week shows that even african-americans that backed gray with more than 80% of the vote last year now show only 48% approval compared to 37% disapproval. his first year has been marred with the ongoing federal probe to the 2010 campaign and law violations. gray says he's working on crime, education, housing and jobs. >> we want to keep doing those things and show people the choices they made were the right ones. >> reporter: 23% approval rate ing for kwame brown. one of the lowest ever for city officials. t

tom sherwood is here to tell us about that. >> this is no late night diner, either.t's employing more than 300 people and it's an endorsement of the new d.c. downtown. street life downtown includes this outdoor holiday market at 6th and f street drawing crowds through the end of next week. >> busy. i'm glad the weather turned out for us. >> reporter: it's a seasonal attraction. the growth and downtown business is drawing new people every day. just a few blocks up f street and 14th, the hamilton restaurant is going through last minute rehearsals for the opening sunday night. the downtown area's first 24 hour, seven day a week restaurant. this is different. it's going to be 24/7. >> yeah. >> reporter: tom is president of the group. he says the growing 24/7 life of downtown is the reason. >> you get out of a movie. where can we go to eat. at midnight, there's not a lot open. if we say 24/7, people are positive we are here. >> people in the white house are working all night long. all the restaurant employees and hotel employees all other the city. they get out late and t

i'm tom sherwood live in northeast washington. dorene, back to you. >> all right, tom. thank you. >>> we continue our coverage now with the i-team's tisha thompson who has reaction on all of this. have we heard from the mayor? >> we have. he has started it to put statements out. he's been in new york all day today. we've been in touch with his spokesperson, who gave us this statement. he says, i continue to support the investigation into these allegations so that justice can run its course for the sake of the district. i hope the investigation is concluded quickly. meanwhile, word spread quickly through the wilson building today, where thomas and his fellow councilmembers work. some councilmembers didn't want to talk, but those who did say we need to wait and see what comes out of today's events before making any decisions. >> clearly, it's a serious situation. i think there's been a lot of angst in this building that the u.s. attorney proceeded with the investigation. i'm hopeful we'll get to a closure very quickly. >> the presumption of innocence is something very, ve

news 4's tom sherwood is in the news room with more on the story. >> h street never recovered from the 1968 riots. now new businesses open there nearly every day. one of the old businesses on h street snooes is smokey's barbershop open since 1966. they have seen it all. especially the new bars and restaurants that brought new life to the area. >> it's change. i think it's a good change. you know, something new. different. great change. >> just across the street from smokey's is this unusual sign. a developer is asking people to recommend the best business needed in the neighborhood. >> what would you like to see across the street? >> a grocery store or something that would benefit the neighborhood. >> the ask the community idea is the brain child of two young developers who say they are serious about turning the space into something people in the community want. >> the system was broken. all the decisions were being made from the top down by big money from wall street. they let people who live in a neighborhood have a say, be part of developing their own neighborhood. >> they have crea

tom sherwood has more. >> he did not get into details. he says he doesn't know the details but knows how the city is affected. on wednesday, mayor gray was hosting a press conference, joking about the rough and tumble of city politics. >> i do get to attend boxing matches periodically. some of them are outside of this building. >> reporter: the mayor said little but let the process play out when it comes to the investigation of harry thomas jr. whose home was raided last week. thomas misspent $300,000 in city funds on his own lavish lifestyle. >> let us know what is involved and take the appropriate action. >> reporter: gray went beyond the legal niceties. >> assuming that is true, it's a bad situation. again, i can't get into the details of it. i don't know that many details about it. >> reporter: again, for the fist time, he talks sympathetically about the family itself. the history of city and human services. i have known him, his family, his mother, his father. he's somebody i have known. i know his wife. i know their kids. this has t

coming up, tom sherwood asks the mayor about the poll results. we'll find out who else is battling low numbers. >> pepco's president says the company's $1 million fine is harsh, but no plans to appeal. they fined the power company for inadequate service to customers from the late '90s to the blizzard of 2010. it ranges from poor communication to customers to tree trimmings. >> decisions we didn't necessarily agree with but we are beyond that. we are back to work and executing the plan. we are back to making process improvements. we have hired a number of additional customer service representatives, we made process improvements and done a lot of things since september to improve service for customers. >> weapon coe president says shareholders will pay the fine. when news 4 at 4:00 continues, the kardashians fight back. why they are livid about a story in a tabloid magazine. >>> kanye west throws a tantrum. why he threatened to kick an entire section of fans out of his concert. >>> prince william shows off his dancing. does he >>> don't believe eve

back out here live, we are joined live with tom sherwood who has been following this investigation since it first began. you follow the city council as well. what can you tell us about what is going on here and the fact that we are actually seeing investigators here at his home? >> this has been expected for sometime. this is one of three investigations by the attorney, and city grant money was supposed to go to youth groups, and he used that money instead to buy a luxury vehicle, to take luxury golfing trips and all other kinds of things. we have been waiting for the u.s. attorney to act on it, and now that the fbi here is, and there's another investigation on gray with his campaign and the money spent and then a third investigation, with brown and if he misspent money. >> reporter: with folks not familiar with thomas, and his father was also sitting. >> tommy thomas was elected in 2006 and re-elected last year despite an aggressive campaign by a republican candidate that pointed out there was a lot of discrepanci discrepancies. before that, thomas was preceded by his family, and so thi

tom sherwood, tell us about this. >> the city lost population. that was reversed in the last decade. the growth continues. >> whether it's a downtown hotel upgrading the entrance or a $2 billion redevelopment of the old convention center sight, the city of washington is booming. >> you can feel it around the city. it's a live dynamic. the city is clearly on the grow. >> reporter: i have seen more baby carriages, too. >> absolutely, young families are moving in. it underscores the important investments we are making in public education. >> reporter: they announced the city leads the nation in percentage growth. nearly 3% over the past year. outpacing the percentage states like alaska and colorado. the greatest boom since world war ii. this bar has been in business in downtown locations since 1968. >> it's amazing how much has changed since the early '90s. they are all now moving in here. >> reporter: 17,000 people were added as city residents. some of them are happy to say why. >> we have been enjoying it. it's a pleasant city to live in. >> i gra

i'm tom sherwood. we have a guest i think everybody knows. mayor vincent gray. ank you, tom. i'm glad to be here. >> i have a lot of questions to ask. >> you always do. >> all the reporters said this is what you have to ask the mayor. we're going to talk about some of the things you want to talk about. first of all, it's almost a year you've been in office. some days it feels like three days you've been in office. it seems like three years. >> absolutely. >> how are you doing after three in office? >> we're doing fine, tom. we have had a great year. you and i have set certain priorities when we came into office. >> i have all four of them down. i'm going to ask you about each one. >> and we have added a couple. i will be happy to talk about those, sustainable d.c. and self determination. we have to talk about that. >> but sit a seven-day-a-week job for you. >> it is. i've always been a workaholic. it needs into my personality. i love being around people. i love having the ability to work with folks and move them to another place. it's probably one of the most rew

. >> tom sherwood, thanks. >>> turning now to the weather. it was a chilly start to the workweek, folks. the good news, it's going to get warmer here. >> chief meteorologist doug kammerer here with an update. hey, doug. >>> good news. you could say good news. temperatures on the warmer spot. temperatures moving into the 50s, close to 60 degrees. but, we have talked about this before. anytime you get that warm this time of year, you are probably going to deal with some form of precipitation. that is coming in the form of rain over the next couple days. 50 degrees out there now with a dew point of 30. winds out of the south at 8 miles per hour. a mild night across the region. it's going to be a nice night out there as we see the temperatures remain around that same number, upper 40s to 50 degrees. right now, 54 toward fredericksburg. as far as the rain is concerned, no rain out there now on the radar. there's a chance, maybe a shower but that's it. most of it not reaching the ground. if it does, it's only a sprinkle. the good night wake-up fore

tom sherwood is here to tell us about her first anniversary. >> she replaced the hard charging michelle many didn't know what to expect. they do now. just over a year ago, kaya henderson replaced michelle as chancellor of the d.c. public schools, many wondering if school reform would falter. >> fromáíw6ington,tz the politics -- >> reporter: on the politics hour, she explained a style that's kept reforms coming. without the harsh tones of michelle. >> it seems to me, a lot of the rancor has fallen to the wayside. >> i'm a lover, not a fighter, tom. >> reporter: good nature aside, she is harsh herself on the need to blow up old ways of teaching that drives some modern day students away from education. >> these kids come with a different set of sensibilities, a different set of things that engage them. we have to blow up school. nowhere in our lives do we sit down and have a rotating cast of characters stand and talk to us for 45 minutes. >> reporter: the renewed schools are investing in technology to reach those students. >> they come alive. they are in it. they are competing against them

tom sherwood is here with the story. >> who doesn't love a holiday party? the council has one every year. this year, the big issue in government is ethics. this party for some doesn't look so good. the doors in the john wilson building are showing the festivity of the season. various government agencies like the cfo office are hosting modest parties paid for with donations. this is the upscale court hotel near capitol hill. it's the festive scene for thursday night's controversial d.c. council party. about $7,000 to $8,000 because of how it's being paid for. some keown till members are using money from the constituent service funds, the the political $80,000 account that is some already complain are thinly disguised slush funds. >> we found an average of 12 cents of every dollar was spent on real needs. >> reporter: what about council parties for themselves and staff members? >> it's a bad idea if you are not going to involve constituents. brown says it's for the staff more than the councilmembers. >> we are all struggling. every year it's a tradition to ha

tom sherwood has been covering this story all day long and from the beginning and joins us live fromashington with the latest. >> reporter: jim and wendy, federal agents are still coming and going from the house here as they've been doing all day. it's been a long day for them and for harry thomas jr. this is a major step up in the federal investigation of him and the spending of hundreds of thousands of dollars in city government funds. just after dawn friday, federal agents raided councilmember harry tommy thomas' house on this cul-de-sac in northeast washington. federal agents towed away an expensive motorcycle and thomas' new chevy tahoe. federal authorities confirmed they took action in an ongoing investigation, but they declined to even confirm it was thomas' house. federal authorities, including the irs, are investigating thomas for allegedly taking $300,000 in city grant money for youth sports and spending the money lavishly on himself. thomas has denied wrongdoing, but after a separate investigation by the d.c. attorney general this summer, thomas agreed to repay the entire

he stopped by and told tom sherwood the investigation was a serious distraction in the city. >> nobody would want to be embroiled in this stuff, tom, and certainly not one, and let alone, three. i think one needs to look at where the city is. the city is doing very well at this stage. >> to watch the rest of the interview with mayor gray, watch nbc 4's "viewpoint" on sunday at 7:00 a.m. >>> the air is fresh and cool and temperatures are beginning to climb now. we have quite a bit of sunshine from the skywatcher camera. and off in the horizon is prince georges county. temperatures are beginning to warm into the mid-40s throughout much of the region. reagan national at 44, and still cold in the mountains where the snow pack is still on the ground. it's in the low 30s there. we have quite a bit of sunshine for the rest of the afternoon, and then clouds close in from the north and west this evening, and winds shift into the northwest. tomorrow morning, down to the low 30s down to near 30 degrees, and we will have the sky clearing out by then. a mostly sunny saturday. and highs reaching mid

the mayor stopped by our studios for nbc 4's "viewpoint" program, and he told tom sherwood the federalestigation of him and two d.c. council members is a serious distraction. >> of course nobody would want to be embroiled in this kind of stuff, tom, certainly not one, let alone three. but i think one needs to look at where the city is. the city is doing very well at this stage. >> you can watch the rest of the interview with mayor gray on nbc 4's "viewpoint" sunday morning at 7:00 a.m. >>> this morning investors around the world are closely monitoring a very important meeting, hoping that meeting brings a solution to the european financial crisis. cnbc's brian schactman has more on this. >>> futures look good, strongly to the upside. we are still hanging on every word coming out of the summit in brussels. 18 member countries agreed to stronger rules to contain the debt crisis, but british prime minister david cameron really putting a fly in the ointment, looking for safeguards for the uk's financial markets. european markets a little bit higher. asia lower overnight. here in the u.s. w

tom sherwood is here now with more on the story. >> we have several ethics scandals going on in the city. ethics reform is the number one city issue. some say this ethics bill isn't tough enough. >> it is important. >> reporter: both council chairman kwame brown in ward five member thomas jr. facing separate criminal probes, thomas' house was raided by the fbi recently and the council for months struggled to write a new ethics law. chairman brown tuesday offered the amendment to allow for the first time council members to vote to expel any member in serious ethical cases. ward 5's thomas under grand jury review for allegedly misspending $300,000 in city funds on himself the sat quietly as the chairman introduced the amendment. >> let me state clearly expulsions will be used for cases in which the counsel determines the violation of laws in most serious nature including violations with substantially threatens the public trust. >> reporter: expulsion provision requires a vote by citizens next year before it can go into effect. the counsel also voted to force more disclosure of campaign con

we just learned from tom sherwood ward 5 representative harry thomas jr. was not present. federal and irs agents raided thomas' northeast d.c. home on friday and seized luxury vehicles, financial records, and other items. he's under federal investigation for stealing more than $300,000 from a youth charity to pay for vacations and cars. that's what he is accused of. sources told news4 if they showed up they would not have voted on the bill and was urged to not attend the meeting. d.c. council chairman brown is working to schedule meeting among the council members to discuss the thomas raid. there are reports brown may remove thomas from any committee to avoid possible conflicts during the investigation. >>> jack johnson will learn his fate tomorrow for federal prosecutors call one. notorious collection schemes in maryland state history. johnson, former prince george's county executive, is accused of taking bribes from developers and in exchange for favorable treatment. he pleaded guilty a and faces up to 14 years in prison. his wife, leslie, is a former county council memb