and of course pastor is appearing weekly and a couple times sunday at jones united methodist church. her at jones united memorial methodist church. i'd like to take a moment to thank the members of the committee for their support and participation. as i always say, something like this cannot happen without a committee of people involved. with us today, trevor hunnicut, who started the program off, who say member of the board of drorves the society. lamont bishop is a stalwart member -- where are you? in the back. he's a represent of senator mark leno's office. b.j. jones from public utilities commission is here. stewart. from the public library. and pete fitzsimmons and tannish col -- hollins and camille dawkins. camille is over here. without camille and tannish rkt , none of this happens. so let's give them a round of applause for their wonderful effort. the society's primary mission is to enlighten, to inform, to inspire and to empower. we achieve that mission in a variety of ways. almost always in partnership with others. through our current partnership that trevor spoke to with t

important that everyone who is part of the community at my church have understanding of the bible and the scripture. st. marks united methodist show up this past sunday at 10:00 from south africa. i don't know how they got there, they just came by the church. there's four churches along the road. they happened to take us and asked what time is service and they stayed and seemed to be engaged. >> so, if you're going to hear reverend ron preach, you may have to go by a few other churches. how about the roman catholic's come home campaign. >> they're reaching 250,000 people. attendance has gone up. they're running the campaign through the month of january. so, i'll see how they do. i think that we protestants need something. >> and some longing and an invitation to come home. >> go out and find a religious community and give it a chance. in 2012, you'll be more blessed. happy new year to you, brother. good to work with you. 11 years, we've been here doing this. blessed new year, we'll see you again for mosaic.

. >> miss mary hines was a member of the eastern united methodist church here in east baltimore for over she taught sunday school here. today, family and friends came to eastern united methodist church to honored miss mary hines. could she was a person that dave and dave and dave. unconditionally -- that gave and gave. nothing bad could be said about her. >> such a tragedy. >> miss mary lost her life on january 5 in what investigators first thought was a fire in her home. an autopsy later determined that she had been stabbed to death. police have made no arrests in this case. today's memorial service was to honor all the good she had done in her life. a teacher and principal and church members say she was a fine person. >> she was my third grade teacher. she was a strong disciplinarian who gave a lot of love, and i will always remember her for that. >> miss mary hines will never be forgotten. her legacy will go on. it has just begun. we will miss her dearly, and we pray that -- she was truly a pleasant person. [unintelligible] >> a native of baltimore, she retired from the baltimore scho

the first happened yesterday at the ebenezer united methodist church. ays that the sheriff's office warned him about other church break-ins just the day before. >> go figure that the next morning we are burglarized. we have only lost what we lost. it could have been worse. i am disappointed. >> the brigance also happened at a baptist church and north stafford church of christ. thieves took tv and cash. they have caught up with the dapper bandit. he looked like a well dressed new york city businessman when he robbed 10 banks and in december. he was arrested yesterday afternoon. >> officials in fairfax county would like the fbi to relocate there. yesterday, they agreed to urge the fbi to consider moving its complex to springfield. that location is close to metro, vre and amtrak. if the fbi considers moving, it means more than 1 billion -- since there building downtown needs more than $1 billion of repairs. >> ward 5 residents have a clear picture of where to turn for help after the resignation of their councilman. last night kwame brown hossted a question

the thefts took place at united methodist church, and north stafford church of christ. >>> another plea today surrounding the corruption case that brought down former d.c. council member, harry thomas. >> i'm surae chin at the federal courthouse in d.c. where there's more fallout from the harry thomas corruption scandal. marshall banks walks out of federal court on this friday the 13th. he pleaded guilty to u.s. code section 666. one count of knowing about the embezzlement scheme and failing to report it. jamison is banks' attorney. >> this is a tragic attorney and the citizens of the district of columbia are hurt by this and understandably so. >> come on. >> according to court documents, x councilman, harry thomas, feared $400,000 through bank's nonprofit organization. more than 300,000 was kicked back to thomas for personal gain. the money was supposed to be used for the youth group's baseball program in northeast. according to its website, professor banks is still a faculty member at howard university. he faces three years in prison. in northwest, surae chin, 9news now. >> coming up

marks united methodist church. i've been there two years and it's my 39th year in ministry. it's nice to go from the large oakland congregation and being the associate pastor at glie, and now, that same church, we had about 40 members. great in out reach and great in fellowship and hospitality. i think we still need to grow in terms of numbers and in terms of spiritual development. i like bible studies and i have a great bible study, i think. people come and i want more of that to happen. 86% of the people in the country have a bible in their home, but how many read it and know what's in it. everyone who's a part of the community at my church needs to have an understanding about the bible and the scripture. >> what time is your sunday service? >> 10:30 every sunday morning. someone showed up from south africa at 10:00 last sunday. they came by the church. there's four churches along the road. they didn't have to take us. asked what time and i said 10:30 and they stayed and seemed to be engaged. >> if you other going to hear reverend ron preach, you may have to go by other chu

. >> they came through the window and kicked down a door at united methodist church just this morning. >> drawers were open. drawers had contents spilled out on the floor. >> pastor mark miller says they stole a safe. >> inside the safe were hundreds of these gift cards worth thousands of dollars. they were supposed to help the church and people in the community. >> we give gift cards to people in need and then we also sell gift cards to our church members and part of the proceeds of the sale then go to our building fund. >> the burglars hit up two other churches in the area, stealing flat screen tv's, and cash. >> really takes a different kind of individual to steal from a church. >> police have no suspects, nor a description of the person or people responsible. but what about -- >> our christian faith teaches that everyone stands accountable for their decisions and choices. god certainly forgives. >> the criminals could face years of jail time. in stafford, virginia, i'm lindsey mastis, 9news now. >> right now, police are checking to see if any of those stolen gift cards can be trac

suv richardson was driving, led police on a chase and crashed into a stone wall at bel air united methodist church. charging documents show the teen confessed to shooting his father to death but why he did it is still a mystery. >> it's a changing world. it could happen anywhere. it's not really -- it's really surprising but i mean, things happen. >> reporter: richardson is a student at c. milton wright high school in bel air, he charged as an adult with first degree murder. right now he's held without bail at the harford county detention center. >>> all new reaction to a controversial decision made by outgoing mississippi governor haley barbour. he pardoned at least four convicted killers as part of a prison trustee program. among the inmates released,-day forecast gatlin, convicted of fatally shooting his estranged wife in 1993. the sister of the victim says he served less time than her sister lived. >> it's completely unfair. he's in jail for up to 18 years, she was 20 years old when she died. and had her child laying in her arms when he shot her in her head. and he's pardoned? >> democratic la

at ebeneezer united methodist church they got away with $9,000 in gift cards meant for the needy. >>> today the first lady will launch a new effort to help future doctors better treat veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and other mental health injuries. it's part of the joining forces campaign which calls for more support for military families. more than 100 medical schools have already agreed to step up training, as well as ptsd and traumatic brain injury research. the defense department estimates that nearly 213,000 military personnel have suffered traumatic brain injuries in iraq and afghanistan since 2000. >>> mortgage giant fannie mae will soon have a new leader. michael williams is stepping down as ceo. williams was picked in 2009 to run fannie mae a year after the federal government took control of it and freddie mac. he and other executives faced tough questions on capitol hill in november over millions of dollars in bonuses they received since 2009. williams will stay on as ceo until a successor is found. >>> the food and drug administration is increasing i

the most recent incident happened early yesterday morning at ebenezer united methodist church. only an empty states was stolen. the pastor says the sheriff's office had just warned him about other church break-ins before. >> go figure. we are very blessed to have only lost what we lost. could of been a lot worse. >> i'm not angry, but disappointed. >> break-ins also happened at a baptist church in hartwood. and north stafford church of christ. >> there's good news for auto makers and banks this morning. ranking the nation's best- selling beer is. rob nelson has those stories and more. >> good morning. auto sales remain in high gear. although industry executives at the american auto show in detroit say --said the continued success is the result of more continued demand and more. the lincoln mkz sedan was unveiled and goes on sale this fall, the first of seven new lincoln models. bank failures were down 41% last year. regular riregulators have not to close any banks this year so far. coors light sales are ahead of budweiser. but light is still number one in the overall trend of li

a ceremony for mary hodge at east united methodist church. no arrests have been made in this case. she was found stabbed to death in her home earlier this month. >> in this session 2012 report we will learn more about the governor's agenda. today is described as his first "tweet up" which is a gathering of people who normally only communicate on twitter. he plans to help develop off-shore wind power. >> penn state grieving the loss of joe paterno. he died at a hospital near the campus on sunday. his coaching career was cut short by a child sex abuse scandal. more from the campus of penn state. >> thousands of people gathered to pay respects to a football coach that seemed like so much more. more like a member of the family. joe paterno who died of lung cancer on sunday brought joy and pride to this campus for generations. it was paterno the icon penn state fans mourn. >> we are here to honor joe. we brought our granddaughter up. >> he's been a fan for a very long time. >> still there are uncomfortable questions about the end of his storied career. such as what he knew about the all

the most recent incident happened early yesterday at ebenezer united methodist church.en. the pastor said that the share of's office had just warned him the day before. >> go figure. the next morning we are burglarized. we are blessed we only lost we lost because it could have been worse. >> the break-ins have also happened at a baptist church and stafford church of christ. at this point police to not have descriptions of any suspects. they are asking anyone who knows what is going on to let them know. 5:35. 36 degrees. >> still ahead, news that is hard to swallow. why the fda is investigating imported orange juice. >> residents in ward 5 may be worrying were to turn for help. >> how are things outside? the weather and [ toilet flushes ] i come in peace... i come in peace. ttvwkun+og#wvs#q'ppu;v?2v.ac=u0l4(p/wlÑkñ0k9%"@n+fg@ú"ox@ but you go in pieces. [ female announcer ] you can't pass mom's inspection with lots of pieces left behind. that's why there's charmin ultra strong. tt>fb@u!÷#w9"qqú a'pv,p&új[,4 ttvwkun+og#wvs#q'ppu;v?2v.=u1lt%p/wlÑkñ0k9%"@n+fg@ú"(.h its diamo

at first pastor neal tollboom of the united methodist church believes that fixing his church's damaged steeple will be a relatively simple mission. >> steeple's been around for about 140 years. we hired a company to go up and take a look at the condition of the steeple. >> the work which is still in progress two weeks later begins november 3rd, 2011. it's about 1:30 in the afternoon when the worker's bucket becomes wedged against the steeple. they're stuck 122 feet in the air. church officials call the morristown fire department, who raise up their own ladder, but it's too short. next they try the neighboring town's ladder truck. >> second ladder was -- had maybe another 3 to 4 feet of reach above what the original ladder was because of our positioning and our angle, but it still wasn't close enough. >> the pressure is on. a crowd has gathered and word is out to the local new york city news media. a police helicopter arrives, but it's too dangerous for it to get close to the bucket. so rescue from above is out. and rescue from below is impossible. the firefighters really need a miracle

investigators say he broke into ebenezer united methodist church, ramoth baptist, and north stafford church of christ. deputies say stevens stole tvs and other electronics along with $9,000 in gift cards. police say a tip led them to stevens. he was found living in a shed in a vacant home. >>> a second person has now pleaded guilty in the corruption scandal of former d.c. council member harry thomas jr. a leader of a nonprofit youth organization admitted that he wrote checks to thomas who then spent that money on himself to fund a lavish lifestyle. tom sherwood has our report. >> reporter: marshall baits is a 71-year-old professor at howard university and a founder of langston 21st century a nonprofit to encourage young people in sports and academics. but operates at langston golf course in northeast washington. but friday marshall banks walked from u.s. district court after pleading guilty to a felony charge of writing checks from his foundation to one controlled by harry thomas junior. the checks worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and more. thomas pled guilty last week to two fe

reporter: when ebenezer united methodist church pastor mark miller got to church this morning -- >> these front offices were rifled through, drawers open. reporter: you see, tuesday sometime between 2:00 and 7:00 in the morning someone broke into their church. >> somebody, one or two, i don't know how many folks, managed to break in through a window here sometime last night in the wee hours of the morning, probably 2:00 or 3:00, also managed to kick in a door into our finance department. reporter: he says the suspects somehow opened the locked closet door and stole the church safe. >> in that closet they found a safe that we basically used for gift cards. it's part of our fundraiser for our building program. also gift cards that we give to people in the community who are falling on hard times and so that safe was carted out of here. it's about a 200-pound safe. reporter: inside that safe, just under $9,000 in gift cards. oddly enough none of the tvs, computers or expensive equipment was taken. >> the initial thought is how could somebody do that to a church, you know? and so you're kind o

. >> we were traveling through the town of bel air and finishing at the bel air united methodist church when he crashed into a cinder block wall. >> reporter: neighbors say this is not the first time he has had to call about a disturbance in this house. they say the victim would often have fits of rage and scream obscenities at his family. >> he would be working in the yard and just start terribly screaming, and horribly, terribly, verbally abusive. >> reporter: officers have responded to the house a dozen times. most of the calls for help came from right inside. >> that said, homicide detectives have not confirmed a motive in this murder as they investigate. richardson is being held at the county detention center without bail. in bel air, weijia jiang, wjz eyewitness news. >> richardson's bail review is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. >>> a shocking case of animal cruelty to tell you about tonight. police say this man, 43-year- old gary wallace, jr., threw a dog off a second-floor balcony sunday night in owings mills. he faces animal mutilation, and animal cruelty charges. a woman pi

. >> they're traveling through the town of bel air and finishing at the bel air united methodist church, when he crashed into a cinder block wall. >> reporter: neighbors say this is not the first time they've had to call 911 about a disturbance. they say the victim would have fits of rage and scream obscenities at his family. >> and he'd be working on something in the yard, and screaming and terrible cursing. and horribly, terribly verbally abusive. >> reporter: this woman said the abuse was so violent, she thought he would hurt someone. and is guessing the teen acted up in desperation. >> now i wish i had followed up on that lead more. >> reporter: officers have responded to the house a dozen times. most of the calls for help came from right inside. >> reporter: and that said, homicide detectives have not confirmed a motive in this murder. they investigate richardson is being held in the county detention center without bail. we're live, weijia jiang, wjz eyewitness news. >> richardson's bail review is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. >>> the polls are open in the nation's first presid

. >> she touched lives every sunday at the easton united methodist church, the adult bible study teach for years. albert davis is saying that word of the murder shocked the church. >> you know from one shock treatment to another. it gets worse. >> reporter: now, he has a message. >> god knows what you have done. we pray that god will trouble you, that you will come forward. >> reporter: church members pleaded with ms. heinz to move out of the baltimore community, but she lived in the home for 50 years and would not leave. meghan mccorkell, eyewitness news. >> thank you. >>> city homicide detectives are asking anyone with information on the murder to give them a call. >>> meantime, city detectives have arrested a serial rapist, clifford is behind bars this morning accused of raping two women and attempting to rape a third. in each case, he blindfolded the women. dna evidence was found. >>> a torler officer and pnc bank is on his way to federal prison for a major scam. tommy phillips was sentenced to 27 months in prison for stealing $313,000. he used the money to pay off debts and buy je

breaking into three churches in stafford county in just about a week. 24-year-old brian christopher stevens was arrested wednesday. investigators say he broke into ebenezer united methodist, remoth baptist church and north stafford church of christ. deputies say stevens stole thousands of dollars in tvs and electronics. a few days later he allegedly stole $9,000 in gift cards from ebenezer united and is now facing charges that include breaking and entering and grand larceny. >>> president obama's calling on congress now to give him more power to streamline federal agencies. in order to build a leaner, more effective government. in a speech to business owners at the white house today the president said he would start by compressing six major economic departments into one. another proposed change involves congress. >> the department of homeland security was created to consolidate intelligence and security agencies, but congress didn't consolidate on its side. so now the department of homeland security reports to over 100 different congressional panels. that's a lot of paperwork. that's a lot of reports to prepare. >> reporter: last time a president had the power mr. obama

church. the third at ebenezer united methodist many someone broke a window and kicked down an office door ande off with a safe that contained $9,000 in gift cards. nothing like this has happened in his 17 years with this church. >> we try to be as careful and diligent as we can be in terms of security and safety. we recognize that as much as you would like to think a church wouldn't be broken into. it happens sometimes. >> thousands of dollars in televisions and computers were stolen from the raymond baptist and north stafford church of christ. investigators have no suspects. >>> there's a big change coming in the way the district handles parking spaces to reduce what it says can be widespread cheating. the city is going to begin reserving specific meters for the disabled. those motorists will have to feed the meters and no longer park for free. tom sherwood is in our news wood now with more. >>> downtown city streets can be a battleground for parking. the 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

they've struck twice already, three churches so far, the most recent this morning at ebenezer united methodist. someone stole a valuable safe that stored gift cards for the needy. >> in that closet we found a safe that we basically use for gift cards. it's part of our fundraiser for our building program, also gift cards tay we give to people in the community who are fall -- tay we give to people in the community who are fall -- that we give to people in the community who are falling on hard times. >> police are asking anyone with information to call them. >>> details are in tonight on metro's proposed fare hikes and they had just about everybody. bus and rail fares will go up 5% in next year's propose the budget. parking would go up -- proposed budget. parking would go up and paper fare cards, $6 during peak hours, $4 in off peak hours, a surcharge during the busiest periods on weekdays eliminated and a few riders could pay less. >> if you travel during the peak of the peak today which most of our regular customers do going to work, those people will see no increase. fares will actually decrea

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 they could snatch and take. and this particular safe that was taken was something that could be carried out. and so i guess they figured they could carry it out. it is surprising they were able to find it. it wasn't very obvious. it wasn't in an obvious place. >> the gift cards are sold sunday mornings to help the church raise money. they're also given to people in need. thousands of dollars in televisions, computers and electronics were stolen. >>> the d.c. council is considering legislation that would make it easier for same sex couples to file for divorce. the bill allows gay couples who married in the city to get divorced even if they no longer live here under current law, one member of the divorcing couple must live in d.c. for six months. six state as how same sex marriages but d

retired united methodist ministers that is doing that because active ministers could face penalties or the possibility of being defrocked. and, so that's going to be up for grabs. in the episcopal church, you still see this slow breaking apart in the whole worldwide anglican communion over some of these issues, interpretation of scripture, and there are a lot of court battles and individual congregational battles going on there too. >> and e.j., the pope is scheduled to go to mexico and to cuba. >> you know, the vatican's relationship with cuba has been fa i happen to be in rome when pope john paul's trip to cuba was announced and there have been some interesting differences of opinion. the vatican has tended to be in favor of a gradual, peaceful transition from the castro regime. and the fact that the pope is willing to go there speaks to this desire for a gradual change. some of the cuban community in the united states, the catholic cuban community one should say, are very uneasy about this. they would like a sort of harder push to get that regime out. so there have been some arguments over the years between our cuban community, particularly in south florida, and the vatican. it wil