i'm tracee wilkins live this morning in northeast. news4. >> thank you. >>> this morning we're hearing some new, chilling details of when josh powell killed himself and both of his children by setting his house on fire in washington state. authorities released the 911 recordings from the social worker who was dropping off the kids for a supervised visit. >> the kids and the father were in the house? >> yes. yes! his sons -- i kept knocking. i thought it was a mistake. i kept knock, and then i called 911. >> you saw him go back into the house right before the flames? >> he didn't ever leave the house. he just opened the door. the kids were one step of me. they were 5 and 7. he slammed the door in my face. >> josh powell lost custody of the children following their mother's disappearance in utah. police named him a person of interest in her disappearance case. >>> the former executive of susan g. komen for the cure who resigned following the planned parenthood funding controversy is now criticizing the organization. karen handle resigne

i'm tracee wilkins, live in northwest, news4. >> all right.d because of the ceremony, expect closures around the mall. parts of 12th, 14th, and 15th streets as well as madison drive and constitution avenue are affected. the closures and restrictions should last until noon. >>> and that is "news4 today." thank you for starting your day with us. >> the "today" show is next. and we leave you now about w some of the sounds from last night's white house concert. see you tomorrow. >>

tracee wilkins live in southeast. news4. >> thank you. >>> new from overnight, police are sefging a series of robberies -- investigating a series of robberies that happened in three hours. the first happened around 11:00 in friendship heights. three men held up a woman at gunpoint along wisconsin avenue. in all there were four bank robberies -- four robberies. in two cases the suspects were armed. no one was hurt in any of the incidents. police are trying to figure if nut of the -- if any of the robberies are connected. >>> moody's downgraded its credit ratings on italy, portugal, and spain. the agency may strip france, england, and austria of their top triple-a ratings. moody's blames the downgrade on the debt crisis. the news is not keeping the world's stock markets down. right now european stock markets are rallying. asian stock markets ended up today. right now u.s. futures are up. >>> the world will be watching today when the vice president of china ntsb with president obama. the two will discuss economic and sec

reporting live in fairfax county, tracee wilkins, news4. >> all right.jury selection will begin for a man who killed a maryland state trooper. wesley brown was shot to death in june of 2010 while working security at a forestville restaurant. police say brown killed cyril williams out of the restaurant because of disorderly conduct. williams allegedly came back and shot brown in the parking lot. another man, anthony milton, has already pled guilty to being an accessory to the murder. he is set to be sentenced later this month. >>> today supporters of marriage will gather in annapolis to push lawmakers to legalize gay marriage. a similar bill failed to pass last year because it did not have enough support in the house. earlier this year, opponents of gay marriage gathered at the capitol to protest a possible bill. governor martin o'malley has pushed for a bill to pass the senate and house and says he will sign it immediately if it does. >>> gay and lesbian couples will soon be allowed to merritty in washington state. today washington state governor christi

tracee wilkins is live in alexandria right now with more on what's happening. good morning, tracee. >> reporter: good morning. joshua weissman is the first paramedic to die in the line of duty here in alexandria in more than a century. so this department is definitely feeling the loss of their colleague who was more than just a colleague but a man who was considered a leader in this department. 33-year-old joshua weissman was a 7-year veteran with the alexandria fire department. his duties included training and assists those in the field. that's a little of what he did for this department. lat night there was a large crowd outside of the funeral home. hundreds gathered to say good-bye to weissman. he was responding to car accident when he fell 20 feet into a creek bed at 4 mile run in shirlington. he suffer add severe head injury and died the following day. weissman's brother made this statement last night. >> if it's possible to take anything positive out of something so tragic, it would be to say thank you to those who are there in trying times. ail of those s

in northwest, i'm tracee wilkins.ews 4. >> you know that was very cool for them. >> they were keeping up. they were good. >> no they were quite good. >> we're just getting started. what happens in vegas stays in vegas. we've heard, that is unless you are this local marine. >> i'm liz crenshaw. have a drafty house? find out how home owners are getting free help in making their homes energy efficient. my story is coming up. >>> coming up at 5:30 a 17-year-old girl murdered in a neighborhood park and almost seven years later her family waits for justice in a prince george's county courtr flooe reducing your energy bills never seemed so easy. there is a program that makes homes more energy efficient at no cost to the home owner. >> liz crenshaw is here to explain how it can work for you. >> older homes with open air drafts eat your money when it comes to heating and cooling your home. if you can't afford to fix the leaks you pay the higher utility bills. that's why prince george's county's department of housing and commun

tracee wilkins is live on the scene with the latest. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, eun. police are still on the scene. take a look behind me. you see that here in the 5000 block of call place in southeast they have about two blocks blocked off here as they continue with their investigation. we're told that around 12:51 a.m., someone was shot here in the 5000 block of call place. that person's been transported to the hospital. initially we had reports that there was someone seen running from the scene. now police are saying officially that they have no suspects, no lookout at this point. we don't have the latest information on how that person's doing, but police are still actively investigating and on the scene this morning. and the 5000 block of carl place in southeast. reporting live, tracee wilkins, news4. >> thank you. >>> right now, montgomery county police are asking for your help in finding a missing 8-year-old girl. detectives say that london marshall got into an argument with her family and left the apartment o

i'm tracee wilkins live in southeast. news4. >> thank you. >>> it is now 4:38. 43 degrees out there. >>> ahead on "news4 today," we've seen the video. now the anchor attacked by a dog is talking it what she went through and recovery that lies ahead. >>> plus, if you didn't get your flu shot, you're not out of the woods yet. where we're seeing a spike in flu cases. >>> and you may want to grab your umbrella. >>> time for weather & traffic on the 1s. good morning, happy valentine's day. this area in green may be trying to reach the ground across virginia and maryland, the district this morning. farther north and west, western maryland, highlands of west virginia, there may be a few flurries. temperatures are in the low to mid 30s. most locations are above freezing. it's in the low to mid 30s in montgomery, arlington, fairfax, and prince george's counties. upper 30s in washington, and we'll stay in the 30s through the morning hours with a small chance of some sprinkles. we've got a greater chance of maybe a few sprinkles of

tracee wilkins, live. back to you in the studio. >> amazing. thank you very much. >>> a judge acquitted the man accused of killing his wife on their honeymoon, abruptly ending his high-profile murder trial. gabe watson walked free yesterday. the judge presiding over his case in alabama ruled that prosecutors could not provide enough evidence in the case. watson was accused of intentionally drowning his wife while on their honeymoon in australia eight years ago. his father spoke after the ruling. >> this is the fifth judge that came to the conclusion that gabe did nothing intentional to harm his wife. i hope everybody can begin to heal. get their lives back together. >> the family of gabe watson's wife tina says they're disappointed in the decision, and there wasn't a lot of consideration for the victim in this case. >>> michael jackson's former personal physician says he needs to be released from prison. today dr. conrad murray will ask a judge to let him out while he works on his appeal. murray's attorney says his client also needs to find a j

i'm tracee wilkins in northwest. news4. >> all right.nk you. >>> new this morning, fairfax county is considering a meal tax that could nearly double the tax you pay on your restaurant check. we have more details. >> reporter: fairfax county estimates it needs about $3 billion over the next decade to complete all of its transportation projects. the county's looking to add a couple extra buck to your date night or family night out. the board of supervisors wants to add a 4% tax to any meal sold at any commercial restaurant. that's from the upsdiel your mcdonald's down the street. right now everyone in virginia pays a 5% sales tax. if your bill comes out, to say, $50, you're going to pay $2.50 in taxes for a total of $52.50 for your meal. with that proposed 4% increase, sales tax would jump to 9%. raising the tax on that same $50 meal to $4.50, bringing that total to $54.50. the board says the tax could raise $80 million a year to help fund things like the second phase of the dulles rail project and improvements at tyson's corner. but the c

in northwest, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. >> thank you very much. it's going to be tough to get around the national mall because of the groundbreaking ceremony. the streets affected are adjacent to the washington monument and the national museum of american history. drivers can expect closures on 12th, 14th, and 15th streets, as well as madison drive and constitution avenue. the closures and restrictions, some of which began at midnight last night, will last until around noon. >>> the man arrested in a plot to bomb the u.s. capitol will be in court this afternoon for a bond hearing. amin el khalafi was arrested friday. undercover agents gave him an inoperable bomb and gun. prosecutors say the 29-year-old was headed to the capitol thinking he was going to blow himself up inside. he is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against federal property. if indicted and convicted, he could face life in prison. >>> a charlottesville jury will begin discussing the fate of a former university of virginia lacrosse player george huguely, on

i'm tracee wilkins in northeast.>> thank you very much. >>> california's monumental decision to overturn a ban on same-sex marriage may not be a done deal just yet. supporters of proposition 8 say they plan to take their case to the supreme court. the law limited marriage to a man and woman in california. yesterday, an appeals court said proposition 8 was unconstitutional. gay rights advocates call it an historic victory, an attorney defending the ban said courts could not redefine marriage. >>> maryland governor martin o'malley is speaking out on california's same-sex marriage ruling. he appeared on the reverend al sharpton's msnbc show "politics nation." o'malley said he hopes the proposition 8 decision is a step toward protecting rights for individual freedoms. >> granted it was in california, but it interpreted a constitution that all of us live under and that all of us believe is important for the protection of the rights of individuals. >> legislation to legalize same-sex marriage in maryland died in the house

in alexandria, i'm tracee wilkins, news 4. >>> turning to the weather. get ready to wrap it up. temperatures are going to plunge and we could see snow for the weekend. >> it's actually going to look and feel like february. about time, veronica. >> yeah, about time for sure. some arctic air is going to be moving in this weekend. i'd say we got a taste of it this morning, but temperatures rebounded quite nicely throughout the afternoon. take a look around the area. this is this morning. 27 degrees in aspen hill. that's up in montgomery county, 27 in vienna, 28 in culpepper. here we are yet again with another lovely winter day. 47 degrees the current temperature. that wind light at six miles per hour. it's out of the northwest and we'll have a west early wind coming our way through the evening. 47 in anacostia and trinidad. 45 you folks to the north in rockville, colesville and even around wheaton. 47 in st. belvoir. as far as cloud cover goes, we don't have it today. it's off to the west in west virginia and down to the south. clouds will be on the increase tomorrow. we'll talk ab

that's where "news 4" tracee wilkins is live with the latest on the investigation. reporter: good morning, joe. yes, d.c. police are searching for the person who did this. they have interviewed the student who was assaulted for doing this. they triering to get information. there are d.c. police stationed outside of the school this morning, but at this point, there's no information on who was responsible. this was a very strange incident. a female student at ketcham elementary told teachers that a man walked into the school and inappropriately touched her. police were called to the school and they searched the facility. but no suspect was found. the victim and all the other students aet the school are safe, but parents are still very concerned. >> i want to transfer my kids if they don't find the person who did this. >> it makes me feel bad, terrible as parent because i have to protect my child. so it makes me feel bad. >> reporter: d.c. public schools released this statement saying dcps is treating this matter very seriously. we're working with mpd and reviewing our

news4's tracee wilkins is live on the scene with breaking developments.ood morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, joe. this accident happened just around 3:00 a.m. here on the beltway. they do have it shut down. the inner loop between connecticut avenue and rockville pike. so they're able to get the situation under control. we understand that at some point there was a vehicle fire. we understand that a tractor-trailer was involved, and this other vehicle. one person has died as a result of this accident. again, this is on the inner loop between connecticut avenue and rockville pike. if you are coming around the beltway trying to head toward connecticut, they're going to go ahead and have youo off of the road at connecticut avenue in order to get to where you need to go. so this is a

that's where tracee wilkins is live with the latest on the investigation. tracee, good morning. >> good morning, joe. police interviewed the student who was the victim of this incident. this was a very strange incident. a student at ketchum elementary said a person walked in and inappropriately touched her. the victim and all other students are safe. d.c. public school's spokesman released a statement saying dcps is treating this matter very seriously. we're working with mpd and reviewing our security meshes to ensure we the have best protocols in place to prevent a breach of our school building by unauthorized individuals. d.c. police are still investigating this incident and they're working with the public school system to make sure security measures are up to date at this facility and others as well. i'm tracee wilkins in southeast d.c., "news 4." >> tracee, thanks so much. >>> newt gingrich's white house bid will get a bit of a boost today. donald trump is expected to endorse the republican candidate. he'll supposedly announce his intentions in las vegas

in northwest, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. >>> a leading french presidential candidate got a flower shower today. take a look. the candidate is from the socialist party. his name is francois holland, at an appearance today, a protesters ran to the podium, threw handfuls of flour and said socialists were trying to kill her. security guards immediately tackled her. the candidate remained calm until his security detail hus e hustled him away. polls suggest he has a six-point lead over president nicolas sarkozy. >>> coca-cola is teaming one ocean city, maryland to become the official soft drink of the beach resort. constituent signed a five-year deal to serve only coke at all town-operated properties and events. ocean city gets a $65,000 payment and commission on sales which means an estimated value of more than $286,000. pepsi's reign as the official soft drink ends april 2nd. >>> just four days left until the matchup, much anticipated rematch between the giants and the patriots in super bowl xlvi. jim vance and dan hellie are in indianapolis all this week with a look at what's going on today

i'm tracee wilkins, live this morning from the beltway.ow going to go to danella with more information on how you can get around all of this. good morning. >>> good morning, you're right, it is a mess on the beltway. first on the inner loop. if you want you can get off at connecticut avenue northbound, make a right on university boulevard, then a right on georgia avenue. you can reconnect to the beltway if you want. look at there outer loop of the beltway, completely jammed. i'll give you a live look at new hampshire avenue. your delays start right around i-95. it is virtually a parking lot. 17 miles per hour as you make your way from i-95 to i-270. if you can call in late, this would be the day to do it. if you're traveling on i-66 eastbound at route 50, an accident in the left lane. you're slow, 25 miles per hour. back to you. >> slow going, danella, thank you. >>> 6:53. the national harbor in prince george's county could become home to a las vegas-style casino. but not without some controversy among county leaders. in a statement, count

in bowie, tracee wilkins, news 4. >> and again those cameras will operate from 6:00 a.m.at does it for news 4 at 5:00 tonight. news 4 at 6:00 starts right now. >>> d.c. workers caught double dipping. a scathing new report shows the city spent close to a million handing out unemployment checks to people who still had jobs. her murder rocked the university of virginia campus and tonight emotions run high as the local student accused of killing yardly love goes to trial. >>> the u.s. closes its embassy in damascus amid the escalating crisis in syria. >> good evening everyone. a major crackdown in the district following an almost year-long probe into unemployment fraud. officials say 130 city police, some of them still on the job,

reporting live in fairfax county, i'm tracee wilkins. news4. >> that is truly life threatening.day jury selection will begin for the case of a murdered maryland state trooper. wesley brown was shot to death in june of 2010 while working security at a forestville restaurant. police say brown kicked out cyril williams of the restaurant because of disorderly conduct. williams allegedly came back and shot brown in the parking lot. another man, anthony milton, has already pled guilty to being an accessory to the murder. he is set to be sentenced later this month. >>> a virginia congressman wants a federal panel to reject a design for a memorial honoring president dwight d. eisenhower. in a letter to the national capital planning commission, congressman frank wolf says the memorial plans should be scrapped because eisenhower's family says the concept overemphasizes his boyhood kansas background. the family wants the memorial to put more emphasis on his achievements during world war ii and in the white house. in his letter, wolf echoed the family's objection saying, "president eisenhow

live in fairfax county, tracee wilkins. news4. >> thank you. despite multiple tips and good leads, the fbi says they still have not identified the man known as the potomac river rapist. he's believed to be responsible for nine attacks between 1991 and 1998, including the murder of a woman in georgetown. they say they've conducted dna tests on a few men, and the analysis is ongoing. the fbi is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the suspect's arrest. >>> a friend of a former university of virginia men's lacrosse player accused in the beating death of his former girlfriend testified that he saw george huguely choking her months before her death. mike burnes tested that he witnessed huguely holding love in a choke hold. he's accused of killing her two months later. prosecutors said he killed her in a jealous rage. they showed the jury photos of love with bruises and swollen eyes. the defense said their client was too drunk to plot love's death. they say she was drunk and died of asphyxiation. >>> a culpeper police officer

in fairfax county, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. >>> improving weather has finally allowed salvage crewsunderwater fuel pumping at the site of a cruise ship disaster near italy. two weeks of rough seas delayed the clean-up process until this weekend. the koes that concordia hit a reef one month ago today and flipped on its side. nearly 4,200 people escaped, 15 people are still missing and presumed dead. salvage officials say it will take 28 days to remove tons of fuel from the wreck. >>> a hot tourist spot in italy has gone ice cold. the famest venice canals are frozen over thanks to a recent cold snap in europe. the freezing cold temperatures are making travel difficult and couldn't have come at a worse time for venice. the past weekend was the kickoff for the abul venice carnival which brings millions of people to that area. >>> fairfax county woman is alive after a large tree fell on her house trapping her inside. take a look at these incredible pictures. an enormous tree came crashing down in burk on sunday morning. part of it landed in the woman's bedroom pinning her to the bed. res

in northwest, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. >>> nine minutes after 11:00 is the time now. coming up on "news4 midday," why a judge delayed a high-profile trial in the worst oil disaster in u.s. history. >>> and the oscar goes to -- >>> and the oscar goes to -- >> plus, we have the oscar one chance to hunt down the right insurance at the right price. the "name your price" tool, only from progressive. ready, aim, save! grrr! ooh, i forgot my phone! the "name your price" tool. now available on your phone. get a free quote today. stay with us, we'll be right back. >>> we're following breaking news. an italian cruise ship is adrift near the say shell islands in the indian ocean after a fire broke out in the generator room. captain of the ship says the crew quickly put out the fire. all the passengers are safe but the motors are not working. cargo ships an other boats are traveling to the scene to help get passengers off that cruise ship. >>> this morning negotiators are trying to hammer out a settlement out in court for -- or out of court for the worst oil spill in u.s. history

tracee wilkins has the latest on the beltway problems. >> reporter: yeah, good morning.e're still seeing problems continue here behind me. you can see a bit of that accident here on my left-hand side. on my other side, you're seeing all of the backups that we have here because this accident. now it looks like all of the lanes are open. what they're actually doing is narrowing it down to about two lanes as you get closer to the accident. that's causing a major backup. let me give you a closer look of what the accident looks like. we don't have all of the details yet because state troopers are still working to figure out all the details. we do know that a vehicle and a tractor-trailer were involved in what is now being called a fatal accident. and we also know that at some point there was a vehicle fire involved in this accident, as well. now initially this morning, they have the inner loop shut down between georgia avenue and connecticut avenue. they have since opened up the two left lanes here. and so if you are traveling on the inner loop, you no longer have to detour,

news4's tracee wilkins is live in alexandria with more for us. >> reporter: good morning. it is hard enough for these officers, folks, who work with the fire and ems department in alexandria to lose a comrade. but to lose weissman, he was a leader in this department who not only helped to train new recruits but also was involved with the task force helping to hape the vision how this fire department would look in ten years. the loss is a major loss. this is just a preview into how the city plans on saying good-bye. this morning, around 9:00 a.m., ladder fire trucks formed an arch raise large u.s. flag in the 3800 block of seminary road just down the street from the synagogue. already hundreds of fire, ems, and police personnel from near and far have gathered outside of the bethel hebrew synagogue in alexandria. he was a seven-year veteran and duties included training and assessing new recruits in the peeled. weissman was responding to a car accident last week when he fell some 20 feet off the 395 overpass into the creekbed of four-mile road in shirlington. he suffered a se

tracee wilkins is live on the scene with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. yeah, and it is amazing that it is an actual sinkhole, that you can see that the asphalt is beginning to sink because of this water main break overnight. so here's what you're going to have to do. coming down 450 heading toward washington, you're going to have to make a right, come down this road, and then get down to route 1, make a left, and basically kind of avoid peace cross and then head into the city that way on route 1. here's why -- let me give a closer look at the sinkhole there. this all's because of a 12-inch water main that broke overnight and caused a sinkhole there. they'll have to repair it. we were told from wssc spokesmen that that means they'll have to open the road, get down, make the repair, and then properly repave the road. and they're probably not going to be able to do that until after rush hour. so for now, you're going to have to detour around this. we're expect something major backups because of this. had their is such an important route that it's going to b

news4's tracee wilkins has more. >> reporter: so the problem's been speeding around the mid school here and now the city has a solution. the speed limit is 25 miles per hour in this school zone but -- you wouldn't know it. it's been a problem with people speeding through here? >> absolutely. absolutely. and it really doesn't seem like anybody's too concerned that there's children walking out. >> reporter: the police department has added two new state cameras near the middle school. these are the seventh set of camera to be placed near a school as part of the city's safe speed program. >> speed cameras, you either love the idea or hate the idea but i don't think anybody can argue their effectiveness. >> reporter: when police study traffic patterns near the school, they found 600 violations in one day with drivers going faster than 37 miles per hour. in 2011, there were six accidents here, one involving a pedestrian in a cross walk. the chief says the city is seeing a dramatic drop in speeding in areas where cameras have been placed. now you is expecting the same near the school. so are p

fairfax county, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. >>> friends and family are remembering a local paramedic that died after falling from the interstate 395 overpass. weissman died yesterday afternoon. he was responding to a three-car crash and car fire along 395 near the shirlington road exit. weissman somehow fell from the overpass 20 feet below and into four mule creek. he was taken to the hospital with a severe head injury. the alexandria fire chief says that this is the first death in that department in more than 100 years. >> our department has no only lost an outstanding employee and paramedic but a member of our community. action dedicated co-worker and our friend. >> weissman is survived by his wife and both of his parents. funeral arrangements are pending. >>> today prosecutors plan to play george huguely's statement to police in court. the statement was taken just hours after the death of yeardley love. this is video of huguely walking into court this morning. yesterday a friend of the former university of virginia men's lacrosse player mike burns says that he -- witnessed huguely hold

tracee wilkins, news4. >>> tom is telling us we can expect changes in the weather. let's go to him now to find out atright now there's a gorgeous blue sky. live view from our high definition skyest washington an now with that sunshine and a northwest breeze, we have warmed up into the 40s just about the entire region from the mountains all the way to the atlantic beaches. 48 now at reagan national. we are in the mid 40s in fairfax, arlington, montgomery, prince george's counties. hit the low 50s farther south from stafford and spotsylvania and to fauquier and culpeper. and view from space showing clear sky, plenty of sunshine the rest of the afternoon. high pressure moves over and then we will have a front approaching bringing in clouds later tonight and then by dawn tomorrow down into the 30s and reach the mid and upper 50s later this afternoon. then climbing back only to near 50 tomorrow afternoon with rain likely moving in late morning and off and on during the afternoon. may get up to an inch of rain by time it ends on wednesday evening. and then we will have th

here's news4's tracee wilkins with why. >> gas prices are back on the rise and they're expected to get even higher. this time around it is not because of anything we've done. analysts say it is what's happening in the rest of the world. in 2008 we saw the highest prices for regular gas ever. since then, we've experienced lower prices with enough ups and downs to convince some people to change the way they drive all together. >> i have cut down on my gas use quite a bit since the past -- probably about the past year. quite a bit. my car's happy about it. it has less miles on it. >> reporter: she's not alone. americans have been cutting back on gas use across the country. that means lower demand. and you would think that we'd see some rewards for that at the pump, but that's not the case according to analysts. in fact, they are predicting that soon prices will get much higher. >> i don't have no answers for that. you know? they're making it hard on everybody. >> reporter: while our demand has decreased, it has increased and the rest of the world. according to aaa, that, coupled with mark

news4's tracee wilkins is in alexandria now with the latest. >> reporter: we are standing underneath 395 where paramedic weizman fell. we are right in between the hov lanes and northbound lanes. he fell in between that crack. 20-foot drop into the creekbed. this morning, his supervisors say he was transported in critical condition and right now he remains in critical condition they are sayinging the fact his condition not gotten any worse is a good thing. what happens when in a rescue situation, paramedics are trying to save one of their own. >> it is one of our own. we are trying to take our minds off of that. so we can do our jobs. afterwards, to her, that's another matter. that's where we have to deal with those feelings. >> reporter: 395 is wet and slick last night when alexandria fire and ems responded to a car fire in the northbound lanes of 395. 35-year-old 7-year veteran joshua weizman was on the call when something went wrong. he fell. 20 feet into a creek good it became a technical rescue where we had firefighters down in the creek as well as paramedics treating mr. weizman

news4's tracee wilkins is live on the scene with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the last detective on the scene just drove off a little while ago. they're moving to the next phase of their investigation. let me show you what it looked like earlier. we are looking at two separate scenes here. the first one was reported at 10: 46. someone called police, calling on a check on welfare in the 5300 block of 85th avenue. this is near the new carrollton metro station. patrol officers located a man lying on the ground there. he was dead on the scene. no age has been released at this point. police say that he appears to be a young adult male. now, he suffered trauma a. police are not releasing exactly how he died but are calling that a homicide. then at 11:30 at 78th and garrison road, also not far from the new carrollton metro station, another man was found on the road near the intersection lying on the ground. an adult male. this time he was found by an ambulance. that happened to be driving near the area. they say the body was fo

news4's tracee wilkins is in upper marlboro with the latest. >> reporter: closing arguments are being presented by the defense and prosecution in the murder trial of maryland trooper wesley brown. the prosecution opened their arguments with the attorney asking the jury why are you disrespecting me. why are you disrespecting me? she says, it is the last words trooper brown heard before the defendant shot him to death in front of that applebees in in june of 2010, wesley brown was shot and killed while working off duty security outside of an applebee's. the sarah began and after williams was kicked out of the applebee's by trooper brown and another trooper he picked up a gun from a friend and returned to the restaurant where he shot and killed the trooper. a friend of the accused has already pled guilty to being an accessory after the fact for hiding the gun used in the crime in his backyard. also came out that williams tried to intimidate a witness in this case as well. today the judge gave the jurors instructions and closing arguments began. the defense argued that there's no dna evid

northeast, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. >>> d.c. residents worried about increase in street robberies taking their concerns to straight to the top. armed robberies are up 106% through the first month compared to last year. last night ward 3 residents met with cathy lanier to discuss the issue. some went as far do consider getting a gun to fight back. d.c. police are doing everything they can to help stop these robberies from happening. >> we have a problem from every side. i mean, we attacked it from uniform presence to undercovers from decoy operations and beta operations and -- going after -- we attacked it from every side. >> chief lanier added d.c. police officers are working with montgomery county police because there is evidence that -- to indicate a connection to recent armed robberies in the bethesda area. >>> a maryland man could spend the rest of his life in prison after pleading guilty to two federal charges. the murder of a handyman at a fairfax county mansion. prosecutors say that reynard prader was involved in the shoo

news4's tracee wilkins reports. >> this family was found unconscious inside of their ft. washington home, and the discovery was made thanks to their sick son who helped them out from his hospital bed. a mom and her three kids were transported might medivac after they were sound suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. >> scary moment. i haven't slept the whole night. >> reporter: he says it all started yesterday evening when the 6-year-old son was playing with his dad. >> he fell off the bed, so i guess it's from the -- from whatever he was breathing. and then they took him to the hospital. they didn't know what was going on. >> reporter: prince george's county fire and ems spokesmen say the doctors at children's national medical center discovered high levels of carbon monoxide in the child's blood. the father immediately called home, but there was no answer. >> my uncle called right away, called another one of my uncles and told him come get everyone out, because gas is all over the house. >> some of the friends came and knocked on our door around 12:00 last night, and

i'm tracee wilkins, live in northwest. news4. >> thanks for that report. >>> northbound lanes of i-270 are back open after two major accidents. the accidents shut down all northbound lanes for a large part of the morning's rush hour. the first accident involved a jackknifed tractor trailer luckily no one was injured in that accident. the second was a would-car accident, four people were hurt. but there's no word of their conditions at this time. >>> and we are keeping an eye on the roads out there right now to see how things are going. and looking after we had rain on the roadways this morning with slow traffic down and, of course, we had those accidents. let's economic in with danella sealock to see how things are look. >> let's start with the rails. if you take the red line scheduled track work slowing you down as metro is single tracking on the red line between medical center and friendship heights. you can expect del nays both directions. traveling on i-270 like you mentioned, barbara, it was very tough this morning. n

alexandria, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. >> our time now is 11:11. coming up after days of protests in afghanistan, a new effort by the white house today to stop the violence turned deadly. plus, if you are one of the thousands that would like to take part in the marine corps marathon this fall we have some important information on h [ male announcer ] are you paying more and more for cable and enjoying it less and less? stop paying for second best. upgrade to verizon fios and get tv, internet and phone for an incredible price: just $89.99 a month for two years with a two-year agreement. it's an amazing deal, but it's for a limited time only. so don't wait. want to save even more? call right now and we'll add a special bonus: $300 back. unlike cable, fios delivers a 100% fiber-optic network to your home. get america's fastest, most consistent, most reliable internet, plus the best tv picture quality, and more hd. why keep paying so much for cable? switch to fios for just $89.99 a month for two years with a two-year agreement. save $600 in your first

news 4's tracee wilkins has a warning tonight for parents about the so-called pass out game. >> thissomething that goes back to my generation. >> reporter: a lot of the parents we talked with knew what the knock out or pass out game was but they were surprised to hear the dangerous challenge was making a comeback. >> they think it's fun. they think it's the feeling you get when you pass out. they think it's, you know, fun. but the parents need to elaborate that it's killing their brain cells. >> reporter: this is youtube video posted by a nonprofit group that's warning kids of the dangers associated with playing the game. but most of the pass out game video found on social media is teaching kids how to do it and the consequences are serious. >> yesterday we had three students taken to the hospital because they had passed out and what we learned was that they intentionally passed out. we also had reports from other schools that tsunamis had been seen in the nurse's office for the same thing. >> reporter: yesterday charles county public schools sent out a robo call to its parents encou

news4's tracee wilkins is live on the scene with more. >> reporter: good morning. police are investigating who bodies found in two separate locations. this is a very odd investigation. detectives are still on the scene having a conversation. they're with the medical examiner behind me there. they just removed the second body that was discovered here. this happened near new carrollton station. let me show you video and take you back. at 10:46 p.m. there was a call to check on welfare for someone found in the 5300 block of 85th avenue on the road. patrol officers located the man lying on the ground, and when they got there, they don't have this man's age but say he was dead on the scene. a young adult male. they're saying that he suffered some kind of trauma. at 11:30, there was another call from 78th and garrison. evident ly an ambulance discovered a body nearby. a few minutes ago police took the body off of the road, loaded into the truck for examination. they're not releasing ids for either of the bodies discovered near new carrollton metro, and they're not connec

tracee wilkins joins us live from the mall at prince george's where some have been in line for more than 24 hours. that's quite a shoe. i wonder if it's living up to the hype. good morning. >> reporter: yeah, i think this is the shoe that can actually catapult you into space and help you to walk on air or something like that. i mean, yes, folks are waiting for the nike foam-posite. this is a huge deal for people in line. this is now the mall at prince george's, but it used to be pg plaza. that's what's trending on twitter. p.g. plaza is trending nationally on twitter. take a look behind me here. and you can see that they have a large crowd here. and it keeps growing. people keep coming to the mall. i just spoke with police here. hyattsville police and mall security have told me that the sale is off. they are not selling the shoes here today. footlocker decided to cancel it. they're not going to be distributing any tickets, and that was the idea, that they'd be distributing tickets to folks and that some people would be allowed to go in and get these shoes that are not available yet on a

. >> news4's tracee wilkins has more. what do you see out there? >> reporter: good morning. let me show you what's going on behind me. we have wssc here on the scene trying to take care of the situation. yes, they do have a sinkhole. and it's right there at bladensburg road where it intersects with route 1. what you'll have to do because they have the road closed off, is going to the right and head north on route 1. then turn around and come back in the other direction, heading into d.c. we're here at peace cross, where this is happening. this is a major congested area any tomb of the morning. so it's going to be an even bigger mess today. plan ahead. yes, a 12-inch water main broke earlier overnight. they have stopped the water, but they still need to make repairs. they're expecting the road to be closed for sometime. we are expecting this to impact rush hour at this point. to give you more information on how to avoid the area altogether in case you need to do that, here's danella. good morning. >>> good morning, looks like you can work around on upshire, from upshire get o

tracee wilkins has more. >> reporter: good morning. he was the first to die in more than a century. when they lost him, they lost a team player and a leader in that department. 33-year-old joshua weissman was a seven-year veteran of the alexandria fire department and his duties included training around assessing the fieldle last night there was a large krout outside thorrerly wheatly funeral home as hundreds of friends, colleagues, and loved ones gathered to say good-bye to weissman. authorities say he was responding to a car accident when he fell some 20 feet off of a 395 overpass into a creek bed of 495. he suffered a severe head injury and died the following day. thousands of people, including firefighters and sworn personnel are expected to say their final good-byes today. the city is preparing by closing roads surrounding the funeral home here. closures will begin at 10:00 in the morning and go until 4:30 p.m. road closures will inclean jamie's lane, seminary road, van dorn street, hradek road and king street. several schools will also let out early. for more information you ca

news4's tracee wilkins joins us live from northwest washington with more on why prices here could soon be rising faster than the rest of the country. >> reporter: yes, good morning, joe. absolutely. i mean, to hear those prices already, knowing that folks are thinking how can they get any higher. that's what analysts are saying. we are predicted to have the highest gas prices in the nation. here in our region in a few months. according to aaa, the price for regular per gallon in the region could reach up to $4.25 by the end of april. as much as $1 higher than what they're going to be paying in the midwest. sheer why -- two philadelphia area refineries are idled, affecting east coast supplies, and it could get worse in a third refinery in philadelphia does not find a new buyer. now that's our future. here's our present. according to aaa, gas prices are rapidly moving toward the $4 mark for regular, as you said. february, in fact, is the earliest gas prices have ever gotten this high as $3.50 per gallon nationally for regular. prices normally don't head in that direction until the peak s

news4's tracee wilkins is live outside the family's home in ft. washington with overnight developments. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, joe. this is an unbelievable story. and again, a reminder of just how important it is to have a c.o. detector in your home. the house behind me now, all of the windows are open. fire department's trying to air it out. what is fascinating about there is that the family of five was discovered unconscious inside their home after midnight. it was their sick child who saved them from his hospital bed. according to prince george's county fire officials, a young child who lives in the home was transported to the children's national medical center monday evening. while performing bloodwork, doctors discovered high levels of carbon monoxide in the child's blood. the hospital could not contact the family by phone, so they called the prince george's county fire and ems and asked if someone could go and check on the family. when ems arrived at about 12:30 this morning, the mother, the father, the three children rangi

in fairfax county i'm tracee wilkins, news 4. >> we have breaking news right now. chopper 4 is at duval high school in prince george's county. these are live pictures. an officer was in the school parking lot and heard what may have been gunshots behind the school. officers have searched that area but so far they have not found anything. no one has been hurt. again, this is happening near duval high school in prince george's county. >>> pressure today for president obama to offer military support to the opposition in syria. a bipartisan senate resolution introduced today calls on syrian president assad to step down. it also calls on the u.s. to speed the delivery of humanitarian aid to the syrian people. and it condemns russia and iran for providing military equipment to syria. today marks a full week since the syrian government began bombing civilians in the city. amateur video purportedly shows explosions in the city and has been posted on the internet. it is impossible for us to verify the authenticity of the video. >>> when news 4 continues the man with the gol

news4's tracee wilkins is at the scene now with the latest.ood morning. >> reporter: good morning, eun. we're seeing the effects of new york avenue being closed between 4th street and florida avenue. take a look at how jam-packed it is here. this is the point where inbound traffic has to make that left-hand turn on to 4th street right by the pnc bank. we're going to show you a traffic camera here to give you wider view of how it's looking down the street. it is amazing. the backups that we have there. you're seeing pictures of what's happening down the street on the other end. the tractor-trailer that was involved in this accident. well, the car that slammed into the back of that tractor-trailer is now being sawed out. they called the fire department in here because they tried to pull it out with the tow truck. it is so stuck under that tractor-trailer that they needed some heavy equipment to get it out. now we're told that this is how this unfolded. that tractor-trailer stalled on new york avenue just after midnight last night, it was there f

news4's tracee wilkins is live with details. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, eun. we're standing in the area where this happened. police say that this young girl was on her way to school, 6:20 a.m., wednesday morning when this unfolded. the girl was walking near the intersection as you said of fair lakes parkway and monument drive. she says a man started following her. she said the man made comments of a sexual nature and touched her inappropriately. she told police that she had seen the man before in the bushes near her bus stop. police don't have a good description of the man, but they believe that he is in his 30s. this is the information that they are giving folks to call. they want you to call crimesolvers at 1-866-411 tips, 1-88-411-tips. or 1-866-411-8777 if you have information. back to you in the studio. >> thank you. >>> a catholic television cable tv network is suing the obama administration over its mandate that religious organizations pay for their workers' birth control coverage. the network ewtn filed the lawsuit. it claims the policy undermines reli

and district heights, i'm tracee wilkins, news 4. >>> hey they eased up on the gas. some went old school, very old school there in alexandria. presidents' day festivities rolled through the streets of old town this afternoon. dozens of people lined the streets as a parade came through the heart of old town. it is the largest parade in the nation that celebrates george washington's birthday. it's in its 100th year now. >>> and mount vernon was the place to be today. a lot of people showing up to george washington's home. it's the presidents 280th birthday. there were special events taking place all day today. some even used the day off for school as an opportunity for some learning outside of the classroom. >> we're looking at differences between the way they lived back in the 1700s and the way we live now. differences in furniture. we're learning how they prepared food. >> admission to mount vernon was free today because it was presidents' day. >>> we're just getting started here on news 4 at 5:00. up next get rid of that expanding waist line. also erase years away f

news4's tracee wilkins joins us live from the mall at prince george's county.: good morning, joe. you forgot to mention that they also glow in the dark. which is part of the reason everybody wants to get a pair of these shoes. here's the other reason -- let me show you quickly how much the shoes are going for on ebay already. here's a pair here that someone's selling, a 9 1/2 for little more than $1,000. $1,025. you go down a little further and there's some more shoes here. this one's going for $1,300. next to it, $2,000 for this pair here. that's the deal. if you get ahold of the shoes, you can sell them on ebay. perhaps that's why folks are hanging out here hoping they can get a pair of shoes. we've been told by hyattsville police, prince george's county police and also securities at the mall that they are not -- also security at the mall that they are not going to be selling the tennis shoes. we understand a spokesperson for footlocker is going to address the crowd soon to let them know no tickets are coming out. we're not distributing any shoes today. they'

in northwest, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. >> thank you. >>> this afternoon, the man arrested for the murder of an alexandria community activist will be in court. police arrested 49-year-old lynwood johnson for the murder of lenny harris. police say johnson confessed to the murder and knew harris. they say robbery was the motive. plus got a break in the case when an anonymous tip led officers to harris' body at the bottom of a well in prince george's county. harris was last seen alive in september at a rec center in alexandria. >>> 11:09 is our time. coming up the republican race for president takes another turn. what the front runners are saying about the outcome of the florida primary. >>> and who will decide if federal workers get a pay raise any time soon. stay >>> the house could decide today whether federal workers will go another year without a raise. the house is set to vote on a bill that would extend the pay freeze for another year. law makers and congressional staffers would also be impacted by the bill. president obama opposes the legislation and he wants federal civilian workers