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

jim. >> tom sherwood. thank you, tom. >> breaking news in fort washington, maryland. where a fight broke out at a high school basketball game. it happened at friendly high school. the scuffle in the stand. tonight, a student, assaulted an officer in the bleachers. they both fell. another officer tried to assist the first one. and deployed pepper spray. five students arrested. the officer who fell was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. >>> metro is trying desperately to figure out why parts of wheels are falling off of its trains. for the second time in as many weeks, the train lost part of its wheel while passengers were on board. derek ward joins us. >> we are here at west falls church. on the other side. a sprawling maintenance facility where work is going on as we speak. as we said, the work was facilitated by the incident that happened on the orange line earlier today. the work started this evening. and is expected to continue through the weekend. at metro rail services facilities like this one in falls church. ordered inspection, of 464 trains. trains with

tom sherwood was recognized as one of its eight washingtonians. ical style, sherwood brought the unique political situation in to his thank you speech. >> you know, we're not respected on capitol hill or on the congress or by the president because of our lack of abilities in this town but we respect ourselves here today. we respect each other. our local washington is only as good as the people active in it. i mean that with all my heart and thank you for this award. thank you. >> and another thing about tom, he is a very funny man. the magazine has given the award now for 40 years. way to go, tom. >>> well, that's all for news 4 this week. i'm veronica johnson. thanks for joining us v.. have a good one. see you back here next week. -dad, why are you getting that? -that's my cereal. is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. is it a robot? no. is it a jet plane? nope. is it a dinosaur?] [ male announcer ] inside every box of heart healthy cheerios are those great tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that c help lower

tom sherwood has the latest. tom? >> reporter: barbara, embezzlement, a lavish lifestyle, it all came crashing down today. for months, harry thomas jr. has been denying wrong doing in council duties. >> i was not going to settle on something i did not do. i think my integrity is more. if you asked me who i wanted to see, i think about my children, first. >> reporter: they are charging him with counts of stealing 3 $353,000. and filing false income tax returns from 2007 to 2009. he's expected to appear in court tomorrow to respond to charges. normally indicated thomas will plead guilty and reached a plea agreement. he's is son of harry thomas sr. and was reelected in 2010 but dogged with complaint he was misuses city money. federal fbi and irs agents got into the case and raided his house leading to the plea agreement. they are criminal, not civil charges. he faces almost certain jail time with the plea agreement. he's expected to resign from the council soon. now, thomas is due in federal court tomorrow at 11:15 to ap

afterwards, there were spaces freed up, and that's what we're hoping for. >> reporter: tom sherwood, news 4, washington. >> the district will offer a grace period for parking in february, but then the city will start writing those tickets. >>> a new report shows our area has some of the best and worst driving laws in the country. d.c. and maryland both got green ratings, which means there are multiple laws to keep drivers safe here. virginia, though, got a red rating, putting it near the bottom of the category of driver safety. virginia got that low rating because it doesn't have a primary seat belt law or a no-teching-while-driving law. the report was compiled by the group advocates for highway and auto safety. >>> for a montgomery county woman who served four tours in afghanistan, the road to happiness always leads home to her daughters. this week, she surprised the teens by coming home early from overseas. as darcy spencer represents, the tearful reunion takes place at a restaurant where owners were touched by her story. >> oh, my god! >> reporter: air force captain charissa jacks

tom sherwood has been breaking news on this story all week and was inside the courtroom when it all unfolded. he joins us live from the district court in northwest. tom? >> reporter: just before court, thomas resigned as ward 5 council seat. now, he's a convicted felon. harry thomas jr. walked out of federal court friday a convicted felon. he pled guilty to stealing $350,000 in city funds intended for youth sports and spending it on his lavish lifestyle and filing three years of false income tax returns. >> i want to apologize to those i let down including my constituents, the mayor, councilmembers and others who serve the city tirelessly. >> reporter: his friends and lawyers ushered him to a waiting car. he could get prison time up to three or four years. in court at high noon, thomas firmly said guilty as charged in the plea agreement reached. >> to my family, who is with me today, i deeply regret the pain this has caused each of you. >> reporter: now the board of elections is expected to meet next wednesday and declare the seat vacant in ward 5. i'm tom sherwood live at the district court

we love tom sherwood here.ieve he said something nice for a change. >> he always says things nice, you just have to filter through it sometimes. >>> beautiful look outside right now at 6:40. look at that. 28 degrees. a touch of the sun glowing in the horizon. tom kierein telling us about these cold temperatures. will the sun heat us up at all? >> not much today. we are into an extended period of cold weather. it is down into the teens throughout most of virginia, maryland, west virginia now, except near the bay waters and the tidal potomac. reagan national at 26. montgomery, arlington, fairfax and prince george's counties, only in the upper teens now. a few wispy clouds in the shenandoah valley. peaking near 40 this afternoon. here is your evening planner. sunset at 5:14. cloudy this evening. mid 30s near midnight. after midnight, might get a few flurries north of the metro area. greater chance of snow on the weekend. we'll talk about that in ten minutes. how is traffic now, danella? >> 395 northbound pretty he

. >>> i'm tom sherwood.nual march for life came to capitol hill today fighting to ban abortion. i'll have the story coming up on news 4 at 5:00. >>> plus, digital textbooks may be the way of the future. what one local school system says they're moving forward with paperless curriculums now. we check in to "access hollywood" test. "access hollywood" test. "access hollywood" test. "access hollywood" >>> fast forward through the headlines. a woman was hit and killed by a school utility van in the parking lot of samuel chase in temple hills this morning. police say the van backed into the woman. there was no school today. they're not sure why she was there. her identity has not been released yet. >>> as a makeshift memorial grows around the statue of joe paterno with penn state we're learning more tonight about funeral plans. there is a public viewing tomorrow and wednesday followed by a private funeral on wednesday and public memorial service on thursday. the legendary football coach died sunday from complicati

. >> okay, tom sherwood reporting. thank you, tom. >>> today, prosecutors describe the thomas case as a dark chapter in d.c. politics. they said the investigation is far from over. our live team coverage continues with pat collins. he's at the u.s. attorney's o office on 4th street northwest with more from there. pat? >> reporter: jim, let me start with housekeeping. you know the resignation letter handed down last night biharry thomas jr.? that wasn't voluntary. the prosecutor made him do it. harry thomas jr., they say he treated d.c. taxpayers like they were his own private piggy bank. some things harry thomas jr. bought with your money. a victory motorcycle, $23,745. an audi suv, $58,575. airline tickets, $19,000. there were clothes and restaurants. well, you get the idea. >> time and time again, mr. thomas used for his personal gain taxpayer funds that were intended to benefit his city's most important resource, its children. >> reporter: there was no holding back today. in strong words, members of the justice commu

. >> tom sherwood with the late developments today. all day at the wilson building live for us. thank you, tom. >>> there's been a lot of reaction at the wilson building. news 4 pat collins has been getting reaction from city leaders today. pat continues the live coverage at the wilson building. pat? >> reporter: doreen, an em bar r raszing day for our government. a councilmember indicted on felony charges. there's calls for his resignation, talk of jail time, weeks of whispers and rumors. today, they became a reality. at the wilson building today, the main topic of debate, the plight of harry thomas jr., charged today with felony theft of federal funds. from mayor vincent gray, this statement, given today's filing by the u.s. attorney's office, i urge councilmember thomas to resign and focus time and efforts on defending himself in court. that resignation would likely be tendered to council chairman kwame brown. do you think he should resign? >> i have not yet received his resignation. i expect to receive it. >> reporter: should he leave office? it could have dire consequences f

that's whe we find tom sherwood with more on the story. >> reporter: normally in the late afternoon, this library would be filled with families, today the doors closed because of an unscheduled visitor. just before the normally quiet 1:00 opening of the washington highlands library branch, there was a crash. >> looked down the hall, and i'm like, what is that? a deer was laid out across the floor. he got up, he started charging back here. so we ran into the workroom and closed the door and locked ourselves in the workroom. we were in there the majority of the time, we could hear him banging, running into the walls, the stacks and the chairs. >> reporter: the deer broke through the plate glass window. fortunately no children were there. >> it could have been a disaster. i'm glad it came in when it did. we were in the back area. >> were you calm? >> no. >> reporter: officials say the deer was badly wounded and animal control officers later euthanized it. workmen began clearing up the mess with hopes the library will reopen wednesday. and again, no one here was injured except the deer.

afterward there's were spaces freed up. >> reporter: tom sherwood, news 4 washington. >> the city is just starting to install these new red meters, there will be a grace period for parking in february. >>> two more arrests in connection to a deadly shooting on u street. jamaal coats killed after leaving a funeral. as the funeral procession formed two rival gangs got into a dispute and gunfire began. one suspect was arrested a few hours later. 23-year-old marcellus jackson and kier johnson both charged with first degree murder. >>> in stafford county, deputies are looking for the suspect behind three church burglaries that occurred in the past week. the churches are all within eight miles of each other. the first break-in was on january 3rd at the north stafford church of christ. there was another one the next day. and a third happened early this morning at ebenezer united methodist. overnight someone broke a window, kicked down an office door, made off with the safe that contained $9,000 in gift cards. >> it looks like they were going through closets, drawers, looking for something t

now sources are telling news 4's tom sherwood that apparently thomas has talked about offering up hisoint here is the jail time issue. apparently, he is balking at the notion of serving up to three years behind bars. thomas agreed to repay $300,000 in city funds. he allegedly used on his own lavish lifestyle. but yesterday he failed to make the first installment of $50,000. chairman kwame brown and the mayor are also under federal investigation. yesterday council member jack evans talked about the ethics bill that's being considered today. >> until the investigations by the u.s. attorney are resolved involving the mayor, the chairman, and council member thomas, it's always going to be with us. it's just going to be a cloud hanging over our head. getting into an ethics bill passed tomorrow, it's a first good start, it's a good bill we did. again, these investigations will always be the lynchpin before the council can move forward. >> and that council beginning to move forward today. with that ethics bill, the council will take up that bill at 10:00 this morning. again, to reiterate, so

tom sherwood joins us with more on the story. tom? >> doreen, no sleeping, no cooking, no camping. the park service is acting after high level complaints that it has been too soft on the protesters. >>> occupy protesters have since october camped out mostly peacefully on federal parkland but that's about to end. park service rangers and park police descended on both camp sites friday attaching bright green notices to any tent or structure in sight. the notice warns that the federal park service will begin enforcing no camping rules as of monday, noon. no tent stakes in the ground. no cooking. no sleeping. and any tent must always have one flap open for officers to see inside at any time. >> i need a definition of camping. >> reporter: the tougher government response comes just days after members of congress complained that park service officials were allowing illegal camping and demanded action. >> it's another signal that we are pushing hard enough for a change that we are getting some resistance or pushback. >> the loosely organized protesters friday suggested some are ready to r

tom sherwood has our report. >> reporter: just before the normally quiet 1:00 opening of the library,re was a crash. >> looked down the hall, and i'm like, what is that? a deer was laid out across the floor. he got up, he started charging back here, so we ran into the workroom and closed the door and locked ourselves in the workroom. we were in there the majority of the time, we could hear him banging into the walls and running into the stacks. >> reporter: a fright inged deer had broken through a plate glass window, fortunately no one and no children were there. >> it could have been a disaster. but i'm glad it came in when it did. we were in the back area, so we were -- >> were you calm? >> no. >> reporter: officials say the deer was badly wounded and animal control officers later euthanized him. and workmen began clearing up the mess with hopes the library will reopen wednesday. a passerby who showed us his cell phone video was as surprised as everyone else. >> the computers and everything, he knocked all of that over. he got blood on the wall and everything. >> tom sherwood news 4

here is the dark side of tom sherwood. he tweets. o old to tweet. >> yeah's tweeting machine, all right. sherwood was one of eight recipients of the award this year. the 40th year the magazine has given it out. congrats, tom. the district's only public university is getting a new student center. the university of the district of columbia broke ground today on the $40 million facility this afternoon. the city funded $35 million for the project. a student fee will pay for the remaining 5 million. the student center is just one piece of a major renovation project for the van nuys campus in northwest. >>> coming up, an unusual crime spree. >> you, me, look at this and see, an old grease dumpster. people look at it and see an atm. i'm pat collins. the story coming up. news4. >>> a virtual blackout, some of the web's most popular sites shutdown. >>> and bouncing your baby to a better >>> fast forward through the headlines now. >>> prince georges county police are looking for a woman who force and 84-year-old woman to withdraw thousands of d

thank you, tom sherwood. it as state, there is a state of emergency declared in washington state after a monster snowstorm brought things to a standstill knocking out power to tens of thousands and causing hundreds of cars to slide off the icy roadways there. two deaths blamed on the storm. the airport in seattle forced to shut down for several hours after icy conditions there made it impossible for flights to take off or land. the emergency declaration allows the use of national guard troops to help deal with the aftermath of the storm. >>> president obama went to disney world today pledging to make america the top travel destination in the world. he announced an executive order to speed up visa processing in china and brazil. the president says it could create more than 1 million american jobs over the next decade. >> this is what this is all about. telling the world that america is open for business. making it a safe and simple as possible to visit. helping our businesses all across the country grow and cr

tom. here is the dark side of sherwood. he tweets! he's too old to tweet. >> the neooews in all that is advance knows what a tweet is. >> take that! >> there's always got to be a little roasting involved. >> and tom sherwood, too. >> yeah, he probably tweets more than all three of us put together. >> you know he is doing it right now. >> we are happy for him. it was a very nice celebration. congratulations to tom. >> yep. >>> it's freezing out there tonight, veronica. >> it's freezing out there. i just tweeted a few minutes ago, yeah. we have a pattern change here. the weather pattern is going to be picking up the pace, and that means every couple days we will be getting a weather system, and by early february, when that line comes out there at target, folks may be standing out in line in real cold air. we're complaining about it already for sure. this is a time lapse from seattle, washington, of the snow that they got there. yeah, they were due to get about ten inches of snow and they have gotten less than that, and they picked up fo

tom sherwood, news 4, washington. >> prosecutors say the investigation continues to determine whether other people played a part or role in thomas's scheme. >>> nbc news has learned that naval investigators have now spoken to all four of the marines who appear in a video that has sparked international controversy. the video appears to show the four marines in afghanistan urinating on the bodies of three taliban militants who were killed. all four marines are now back in the united states. navy officials say investigators are still tracking down information on who created this video and posted it online. agents are also using computer forensic techniques on the video itself. today the commandant of the marine corps appointed a three-star general to oversee the entire matter through prosecution should charges be filed. >>> coming up tonight a community mourning the victims of a tragic air florida plane crash. >>> a cold blast of air across the region. how long is this going to last? >>> and hello everybody. welcome back. i'm meteorologist doug kammerer. right here in storm center 4 watc

tom sherwood has our report. >> reporter: it was the 39th annual march on the nation's capitol to oppose abortion. there was prayer. the national anthem. ♪ >> reporter: and there was marching by the tens of thousand marchers from around the country marched up to capitol hill and to the supreme court. the message? the same as it was for the first march 39 years ago. overturned roe vs. wade and outlawed abortion. >> our precept this morning that when you're going to defend life it's like david going up to the giant goliath. >> i'm here because i believe in the sanctity of human life and i believe that children, that unborn children have a right to life. >> reporter: despite the cold, wet weather the marchers say the annual march will continue every year until america hears their call. >> i feel like it's a duty we have to live up to, to do something that's right. and that means going out and showing your faith. that's one of the things we're all doing right now. takes a lot of courage to come out here and do it but it's something we have to do because someone did it before us and it is onl

tom sherwood reports. >> reporter: d.c.oes closed circuit gambling but the internet promises new sources of revenue. the online games law passed without public hearings. citizens complained the d.c. lottery has rushed to put the games online. >> everybody wants to rush through this thing. there is nothing to rush through. you got to put it right. you got to make it right. >> reporter: even d.c. inspector general charles willoughby said the city's lottery contract was modified after the council approved it. >> a review by the council of a contract such as this means nothing if the contract can be modified at some later date and to be something different than what the council approved and that's what this smacks of. >> michael brown the chief sponsor of online gambling, council member marion barry and lottery officials insisted everything was done legally. >> in the opposition side you can't make things up. >> ward 6 council member wants to start all over. >> if this is such a good idea, if we have such confidence to do this,

no one loves this city like tom sherwood. >> our congratulationses to tom.est part was watching tom walk up in the stage, interrupt vance and try to cut him off, try to wrap him up. that was -- that was entertaining. we are happy for tom and we are also very proud of him. >> yes. >>> coming up tonight onews4 at 11:00, new court documents just filed in the jerry sandusky case. we are going to take a close look at them and let you know what they say. >>> also ahead a high school student beaten and robbed for the change in his pocket on a popular path in montgomery county. >>> plus, the latest on a severed head that was found near the hollywood sign and a new discovery today. those stories and more coming up on news4 at 111:00. >>> so, how cold is it going to get the next couple of days? >> the next couple of house, below freezing in the next couple of hours, right. then tomorrow morning, starting out in the 20s throughout much of the area so, one of the coldest mornings that we have had all year long, 31 degrees by 11 p.m., 27 degrees at 7 a.m. tomorrow. a lot

tom sherwood reports. >> reporter: microsoft is a worldwide company with a modest presence in the districtit says it wants to help city train workers for the future. >> i'm here to tell you, if you're looking for what the skills require for any job, you are going to have to have it just at a certain minimal level you need to possess i.t. skills. >> reporter: creating more jobs is the number one priority for his, especially east of the riff we are unemployment is high and many modern work skills are low. >> we got people over here who need a job, we have got people over here who have jobs and the city is acting as the bridge. >> reporter: microsoft says it will train several hundred students and teachers, no precise numbers are given and the program that will include training by howard university math and technology faculty. >> students of comer are ten times more likely to attend a school where they will not be exposed to advanced math and science course offerings nor will they have the ability to be taught by highly qualified teachers. we need the vital and necessary ex-poe he is e exposu

tom sherwood is here with that. is that going to get anywhere? >> no city wide recall has been successful in the district but this is more trouble for mayor gray and chairman brown. ♪ america >> reporter: mayor graves celebrating environmental issues wednesday at an elementary school in southeast washington. while downtown at the d.c. elections board, formal papers were being filed to force gray into a recall election, saying he has been a poor mayor caught up in scandal. >> could much pleat grassroots efforts, i think the citizens of d.c. are willing to move on this. i have opinion receiving nothing but phone calls and e-mails. >> reporter: butler a strong supporter of adrian femmety, the map defeated in 2010 and filed papers against kwame brown. gray dismissed the recall effort. >> people who were supporters to of the previous may here said that i hadn't done the job. i will take that on with anybody. i feel we have done an excellent job. >> you have a public debate with fred butler? >> i said we will be happy to debate that i'm not going to de

it brings back a lot of memories and fondness. >> reporter: tom sherwood, news 4, washington. >>> moremillion people have visited the new king memorial since it opened last year. the first family celebrated dr. king's legacy by doing some volunteer work. the president along with his wife michelle and daughter malia helped spruce up the library at brown education center in d.c. president obama used the event to help paint a clear picture of dr. king's words action. >> if you look at that speech talking about dr. king as a drum major, what he really said was that all of us can be a drum major for service. all of us can be a drum major for justice. there's nobody who can't serve. >> the president painted a quote from dr. king on the library that read the time is always right to do what is right. and the first lady painted the words "i have a dream." >>> well, our little crazy weather pattern is going to continue and we're going to actually get some rain mixing in with cold air a little bit later. let's get the latest from our chief meteorologist doug kammerer. our weird little winter is j

back to you. >> tom sherwood, thank you. >>> there was good economic news in the district today. the annual audit showed that the city finished last year with a $240 million surplus. the largest since the economic downturn started. about 50 million came from under spending. the rest indicates an overall improving economic picture for the city. district officials say the city has one of the best balanced sheets in the nation. >> i think many know i campaigned on restoring fiscal stability to the district finances and rebuilding our reserves. and today i can say we've done just that. >> reporter: top city officials going to new york on thursday for meetings on wall street to discuss the city's bond rating. we'll turn now to the weather. getting a surplus of sunshine out there. >> you never get too much. >> never get too much. the mercury is about to start moving in the right direction, huh, doug? >> big time during the day tomorrow. out there today. temperatures still a little bit above the average high. right now currently sitting at 47 degrees as that sun is beginning to make its

tom sherwood has our report. >> reporter: everyone seems to have a gripe about city cabs.l member muriel bowser was blunt about how cabs routinely ignore her ward in upper northwest washington. >> did you hear me? i know everybody in this room knows about it. the first thing i ask is why can't the people of ward 4 get a cab? >> reporter: there are thousands of cabs in the district but no one really knows how many are working any given day, where they go, or don't go. hundreds of cab drivers showed up monday at a hearing on a bill that would bring a lot more order to the d.c. cab industry. from a minor thing like maybe painting all cabs the same color to requiring new fare boxes that with the gps system would record not only the fare but when and where a cab goes. how long it takes. would accept credit cards and record how much money cab drivers actually make. the general manager of the sprawling washington hilton hotel complained too many cabs don't even turn on the heat or air conditioning to save gas. >> we really shouldn't need to do this but in the summer time all of o

tom sherwood, news 4, washington. >>> now in a statement after the bank's guilty plea today u.s. attorney ronald mate ron said the banks, quote, stood by while tomas stole the money. he said the case is a warning to others not to participate in public corruption schemes. >>> hayfield secondary school students in alexandria got a preview of things to come when first lady michelle obama joined the cast of nickleodeon's tv show "i carly." ♪ >> a little bit of random dancing broke out. the appearance promoted mrs. obama's appearance on "i carly" monday where she thanks military families for their service during a q & a session a few students actually booed the first lady when she told them about legislation to add more vegetables to school lunches. not always popular. >> oh, come on. it's just vegetables. still ahead, speaking of health, we're going back to the washington convention center with more on the exhibits you'll find this weekend at the nbc 4 health and fitness expo. >>> also ahead a mother's search for a killer. a cold c >>> a live look now at the washington convention cen

i'm tom sherwood live at the king memorial. back to you. >> what a beautiful day it was for this.ou. it was a lovely day. as the nation marks the martin luther king jr. holiday today, the king center in atlanta is honoring his legacy online for the first time. the center is allowing some 200,000 mlk documents to be available online. those documents reveal the scholar, the father, and the pastor. there are even notes about the ending of king's iconic "i have a dream" speech. view those documents at the king center.org. >>> and it was indeed a lovely day for this, a cold day though. >> it was chilly but as long as you bundled up we had the sunshine. not bad at all and a little wind. the wind from the south is going to warm us up in a big way. you know, a lot of people saying, hey. if it's going to be cold i want some snow but then you get a system that comes in right now and unfortunately that's going to bring in warm air and it's not going to be snow. it's going to be all rain once again across our area. maybe light sleet in parts of the region as we make our way through the rest o

tom sherwood was the first to report t resignation this evening. >> the plea deal has been in the works for weeks. tonight he admits what he's always denied. harry thomas, jr. has battled controversy over allegations of wrong doing since winning a second term in 2010. thomas announced tonight he's resigning immediately and will plead guilty of felony charges are of stealing $353,000 in funds and reporting false tax reports. he said in a statement i will plead guilty to committing two federal crimes. i am resigning my position as a member of the council effective immediately. i made some very serious mistakes, i was wrong. thomas said in his statement i want to apologize to those i have let down. i deeply regret the pain that this has caused. today i am taking the first at the toward making things right. thomas is due in u.s. district court friday morning to begin the formal process that is expected to lead to a prison sentence of up to three years. thomas is the first d.c. council member in modern history to resign for criminal matters. a very sad day for his city. >> the people in his

. >> tom sherwood, thank you, tom. >>> tonight, we are getting a closer look inside the federal investigation of harry thomas jr. to see how the scheme worked. pat collins continues our coverage live outside the u.s. attorney's office with more and the man who helped bring him down. pat? >> reporter: doreen, harry thomas jr., he treated d.c. taxpayers like they were his own personal piggy bank. some things harry thomas jr. bought with your money. a victory motorcycle, $23,745. an audi suv, $58,575. airline tickets, $19,000. there were clothes and restaurants, well, you get the idea. >> time and time again, mr. thomas used for his personal gain taxpayer funds that were intended to benefit the city's most important resource, its children. >> reporter: there was no holding back today. in strong words, members of the justice community denounced harry thomas jr. as a common crook who stole from the children of the city and betrayed the trust of the people who live here. >> the victim is the whole of district of columbia, including its youth. the offender, who is a different kind of opportunist, on

tom sherwood, thank you, tom. >>> a winter blast. we woke up to bitterly cold temperatures this morning. enough to make folks dread stepping out the door. >> it was rough going. >> we have live team coverage on the problems the weather caused for commuters. we start with doug kammerer in storm center 4. it was bitter, doug. >> it was extremely cold out there. you mentioned how bitter the temperature was this morning. really, the first time we have seen arctic air come in here. the low temperature earlier this winter, only 29. we beat that by 12 degrees. down to 17 in washington. it was down to 14 in manassas. ten in gaithersburg. seven the morning low in winchester near virginia. they saw snow late last night. one degree above freezing. windchill, 28 degrees with the winds out of the south-southwest at 6 miles per hour. current temperatures around the freezing mark. to the north and west, below freezing. 28 in gaithersburg, 28 in martinsburg. to the south, a little bit warmer. 36 in fredericksburg. 36 toward culpeper. storm 4 doppler

tom sherwood is here with the new developments today. tom? >> there's a rush of rumors and reports.hing is clear, this thomas corruption case is near the conclusion. harry thomas jr., his home was

tom sherwood has more on this. >> jim, last night, we reported the plea deal was in the works. it's not a done deal but thomas could do prison time. fbi and irs agents went in his home. at a memorial service wednesday for prominent lawyer vinney cohen sr., declined comment on the report tuesday night. that report said sources say thomas' attorneys and prosecutors are close to a plea agreement where thomas will plead guilty, resign and serve time in prison. you are pursuing whatever you had to in your own time? >> we can't talk about anything. it's not the time anyway. >> reporter: the memorial service forced a delay in the plea discussions because vinny cohen jr. is an attorney prosecuting the case. some say thomas was secretly indicted. >> none of the comments came from his group or team. nothing from the office of the u.s. attorney. the people who know the most haven't said anything. take that into consideration. >> reporter: sources tell news 4 a deal could be reached by the end of the week. thomas did not show up for a counsel session on wednesday. should he resign soon, an

. >> tom sherwood reporting from the wilson building. thank you. >>> reaction has been swift and strong at the wilson building. some of his colleagues are urging him to give up his seat now. pat collins spent the day getting reaction from city leaders and continues coverage at the wilson building. pat? >> reporter: jim, all the weeks of whispers and rumors today became a reality. federal felony charges against harry thomas jr. a councilwoman was one of the first to call for his resignation. >> finally, there will be resolution. it's been a cloud hanging over the council for some months now. i wish him strength and dignity, but no one is above the law. he has to accept the consequences of what he did. >> reporter: at the wilson building the topic of debate, harry thomas jr. charged with felony theft of federal funds. from mayor vincent gray, this statement -- given today's filing i urge councilmember thomas to resign and focus time and efforts on defending himself in court. that resignation would likely be tendered to council chairman kwa

tom sherwood joins us with the story. tom? >> no city wide recall effort has ever been succeed but that doesn't mean they couldn't be troubled. mayor gray on wednesday was hosting his biweekly news conference on all sorts of routine issues. absolutely excited to be going to concord new hampshire. >> reporter: downtown at the d.c. elections board, formal papers were being filed to force fray into a recall election, saying he has been a poor mayor, caught up in scandal. recall leader fred butler. >> complete grassroots efforts, i think the citizens of d.c. are following move on this i have been receiving nothing but phone calls and e-mails. >> reporter: butler was a strong supporter of adrian fenty you can the map gray defeated in 2010 >> reporter: butler is a strong supporter of adrian fenty, the map defeated in 2010 and filed papers against kwame brown. gray dismissed the recall effort. >> people who were supporters to of the previous may here said that i hadn't done the job. i will take that on with anybody. i feel we have do

. >> reporter: tom sherwood, news 4 washington. >>> still to come, some doctors say the joke about beingy be truer than we know. >> i think it's wonderful, because these are stories that should be known, they should be heard. >>> the widow of a tuskegee airman >>> two local elementary schools are among six in maryland being honored. the rachel carson school has made significant advancements in school assessments. 98% are efficient or advanced in reading and math. the second school is whitehall in buoy. parents are also commended for their involvement in the school and activities. >>> you hear about people who can't live without their smart phones. there may be some truth to people being addicted to the internet. a study was done and found abnormalities similar to people who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. there should be further studies to determine whether the brain irregularities happened before or after the onset of the addiction. >>> when our broadcast continues tonight. what a deal today means for the medical marijuana industry in d.c. >>> a judge rules on whether lindsay lohan is

tom sherwood is in our news wood now with more. >>> downtown city streets can be a battleground for parkinge new plan changes some of the rules. those rearview mirror hanging handicap placards can be a real help to those who need help. parking at city meters for free. there are dozens and dozens and dozens of spots like this all over town with these free park spaces. the city has no idea which ones are real and which ones are not. >> really, there is fraud. there is abuse of the system. and the real incentive for that is that you can park for free. >> beginning this month. d.c.'s installing special red top meters downtown. and in parts of southwest. for the first time, to reserve meter spaces on the streets for handicapped motorists. >> this is currently something we don't have in the district. >> reporter: the big change is handicapped motorists will have to pay the meters rather than parking for free. it's a move to cut down on the incentive to cheat. the red handicap meter will allow longer time to park. >> if it's two hour parking on a block, you'll be able to pay to park for four hours

tom sherwood, news4, washington. >> in addition that citizens summit on february 11th, the mayor announcen order big public gathering, his office will deliver the state of the district address on february 7th. >>> the rising price of copper is creating a new wave of criminals. several home minutes on montgomery county say copper gutters and down spouts with disappearing. since this past november, more than two dozen homes in the potomac area have been vandalized. after copper gutters are stolen, they are traded in at scrap yards for crash. >> have occurred to them that it is an easy thing to do and nobody is expecting it and if you know how do it quietly, maybe you can get away it, especially if you come around after they have all gone to bed. >> police say in more than one care witnesses saw a gold, beige or brown pickup truck taking off. today, copper prices settled at the highest price in more than four months at nearly $3.83 a pound. >>> new bears to the metro to dulles project, otherwise known as the silver line. lawmakers in loudon county are in a budget-cutting mood and that is cau

tom sherwood joins us now live from the national mall where the announcement was made this morning. hi, tom. >> reporter: hey, jim. the washington monument is one of the most popular places in the nation's capital. nearly 2,000 people a day would ride up to the top of the monument and many of them would walk down. but it's been closed since that august earthquake and despite today's generous gift, it won't reopen any time soon. the iconic washington monument, it appears as stately and impressive as ever. but looks are deceiving. it's severely damaged. a rare earthquake here last august cracked the historic stone structure. inspection teams inside and out documented $15 million in damages. millions more than the u.s. park service could afford. >> please join me in giving him thanks for his generosity. >> reporter: now stepping to the rescue thursday was local billionaire businessman david rubenstein. donating $7.5 million to pay half the restoration cost. >> as soon as i heard about the earthquake i thought because it's an important symbol of our country if i could help in some modest

yesterday several sources told news 4's tom sherwood that this federal criminal investigation appears to be drawing to a close. we're just waiting to find out what the result of this investigation is going to be. now today the d.c. council is set to take up an ethics bill that stems from all these allegations of political corruption. that meeting starts at 10:00 this morning. reporting live from the wilson building, darcy spencer, news 4. joe, back to you. >> darcy, thanks very much. >>> while snow storms could bring some headaches for district property owners and businesses, council members will vote on a new bill today allowing city inspectors to issue tickets to property owners who don't clear snow from adjacent public sidewalks. homeowners could face $25 fines. businesses could face fines ten times that amount. $250 or more. the proposal says sidewalks would have to be cleared within eight daylight hours after the snowfall has stopped. if the bill passes, it wouldn't take effect, though, until after this winter. >>> it may be more than just protesters inhabiting the occupy d.c. ca

. >>> i'm tom sherwood.is famous for passing out parking tickets but an advocacy program to encourage you to pay up is about to run out. i'll have the story coming up. >>> then tonight at 6:00 employers reveal the most outrageous excuses they've gotten from people coming in late to work. se here's a friendly reminder. it's your last chance to get verizon's reliable high speed internet and phone for small business for only $84.99 a month. call 1.866.solutions now or visit verizon.com/solutions. only $84.99 for high-speed internet and phone. plus your choice of either no annual contract or a two year price guarantee. call 1.866.solutions or visit verizon.com/solutions today. hurry -- this offer won't last long. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 1-800-974-6006 ♪ [ male announcer ] combine a pnc cashbuilder visa credit card with a pnc performance select checking account and get up to 1.75% cash back for just about every purchase. learn more and apply today at pnc.com/cashbuilder. pnc

tom sherwood joins us to tell us what you need to do. >> we all hate parking tickets.t here. if you've got really old ones sitting around this is a good time to pay them off. d.c. writes millions of parking tickets for millions of dollars every year. but a lot of them don't get paid even though they double in penalty after a few weeks. many people just don't like the city's aggressiveness. >> i'm not too happy about the parking ticket situation. >> now b 2 at window number four. >> reporter: now a six-month amnesty program in which you pay the face value of any ticket written before january, 2010, but not any penalties, is ending in two weeks, january 27th. some are rushing to pay thousands in back tickets. how much did you owe in tickets? >> try 3,000. >> reporter: the d.c. dmv even alerted people already referred to collection agencies. >> they sent out about 108,000 notices to individuals alerting them that they have tickets with their collection agency that's eligible for ticket amnesty. >> reporter: it's a lot of money involved. $233 million without the added pena

tom sherwood, thank you. >>> a new report out tonight suggests thousands of jobs could be created by federal efforts to clean up the chems. this report from the chesapeake bay foundation concludes federal spending concludes it could support about 230,000 jobs in the region over the next 14 years. the spending would be necessary to meet requirements set by the epa to reduce pollution in the bay. however, house lawmakers have passed a series of bills that could affect the spending productions. some republicans and business groups argue certain regulations hurt the economy. >>> parking fees in montgomery county have gone up. drivers have to pay an extra ten cents an hour to park at meters in silver spring and north bethesda. it also affects the pay by space garages. the price hike took effect new years day. the county raised the price of monthly parking stickers. >>> not cleaning up after a snowstorm could get costly in the district. what they're planning for home and business owners who don't shovel. >>> also tonight, starbucks rings in the new year with a new price list. how much more

tom sherwood reports. >>> from colorful camp site tents on freedom plaza to a soaring tsoar ing tipi at mcpherson square occupy protesters have since october camped out mostly peacefully on federal park land but that is about to end. rangers and police descended on both camp sites friday attaching bright, green notices to any tent or structure in sight. the notice warns the federal park service will begin enforcing no camping rules as of monday, noon. >> i need a definition of camping. >> reporter: the tougher government response comes days after members of congress complained park service officials were allowing illegal camping and demanded action. the loosely organized protesters friday suggested some are ready to resist, others less so. >> i guess they weren't facing any pressure before and now from congress, from higher up they are facing pressure. >> this movement is based upon economic repression and inequality and if we can't be in a public park there ar lot of other places we can be. the fact is people believe in this movement and it doesn't matter if they kick us out of some

news 4's tom sherwood will have more on this story coming up on news 4 at 6:00. >>> more than three dozenstrict could be closed or converted to charter. if they don't improve or draw more students a study commissioned by mayor vincent gray confirms the most under performing schools are in the city's poorest neighborhoods. d.c. school chancellor ky henderson is reviewing potential schools that may be closed because of under enrollment. the study says that new charter schools could be established to replace some the public schools about 40% of the city's 77,000 students are in charter schools right now. >>> a huge setback for northern virginia school officials and advocates who want to get rid of the so-called kings dominion law. that law requires the virginia school calendar to begin after labor day. today senate health, education, and welfare committee, that committee voted to kill several bills that would allow the district to set its own calendar. tourism lobbyists argued starting school before the labor day weekend would cost the state much needed late summer tourism dollars. educators

tom sherwood is here with more on how the mayor plans to move forward amid the scandal. >>> doreen, thomas stole money intended for children. he is gone but some are asking shouldn't there be more outrage? even the d.c. government directory shows no sign of harry thomas jr. or his ward 5 office. and the d.c. elections board meets wednesday to set a replacement special election in may. thomas left federal court friday a convicted felon for stealing more than $350,000 in city funds intended for youth organizations and tax evasion. he'll be sentenced in may to as much as four years in prison. mayor gray who for months urged citizens to await the judicial process did call for thomas to resign but declined to comment on his crimes. news 4 monday first showed gray the 21-page court document detailing thomas's many thefts from children's programs. >> i think we are trying to figure out how to move fron this. >> are you personally also outraged? >> oh, yeah. >> knowing him and his whole family? >> i know tommy and his family well and i have a lot of compassion for them in this situation but at the

news 4's tom sherwood is here with more on that part of the story. >>> thomas took money intended for children's programs. they are the victims in this case and some people are asking where is the outrage? at the wilson building monday, thomas's former office was locked up tight. his name was removed. even the building directory showed no sign of him or ward faude. he left federal court friday a convicted felon for stealing more than $350,000 in city funds intended for youth organizations and tax evasion. he'll be sentenced in may to as much as four years in prison. mayor vincent gray, who for months had urged citizens to await the judicial process did call for thomas to resign but declined comment on his crimes. news 4 monday first showed gray the 21-page court document detailing thomas's many thefts from children's programs. >> i think we're now trying to figure out how we move on from this. >> are you personally outraged? >> yes. >> knowing him and his whole family? >> i know tommy. i know his family well and i have a lot of compassion for them in this situation. but at the same ti