. >> and i'm wendy rieger in for jim handly. today a state attorney in florida says a grand jury will meet next month to decide whether charges should be filed against that shooter. >> 17-year-old trayvon martin was shot and killed in february. martin was talking to his girlfriend on his cell phone just moments before his death. nbc's jay gray has more on the new developments. >> reporter: it's been almost a month. >> the guy is yelling help. >> reporter: still those cries for help and the controversy over what happened here echo through this florida apartment complex, and now across the country. >> so you think he's yelling help? >> yes. >> all right. what is your -- >> there's gunshots! >> reporter: today the justice department acknowledged investigators and agents with the fbi are now looking into the death of 17-year-old trayvon martin. martin was killed by a crime watch community volunteer, 28-year-old george zimmerman, patrolling the area with az 9 millimeter pistol after a string of robberies over the last year and a half

. >>> i'm wendy rieger. coming up on news 4 at 5:00, justice for trayvon martin.n's family heads to capitol hill in hopes of an arrest for his son. >>> these dogs are living out their retirement in our area. one could go home with you. stick around for news 4 at 6:00. vandals do thousands of dollars >>> take a look at this crash. it was tho accident. police say two people rammed a stolen jeep into this jewelry store in akron, ohio over the weekend. they were trying to break in to steal the goods. the destruction continued once they got into the store. they smashed the display cases with hammers. there you go. police chased the suspects. they managed to jump out of the jeep and away. officers recovered the stolen jewelry and the truck. the suspects are still on the loose. >>> whale watchers have a whale of a tale to tell. take a look. it began friday off the coast of southern california. they spotted a 30-foot long gray whale tangled in a huge fishing net. rescuers were called in to get it untaj v untangled. they think the whale was making a migratory trip from baj

i'm wendy rieger. >> i'm pat lawson muse. it has been described as hate crime and now an arrest in that troubling shooting at an ihop restaurant in columbia heights. pat collins is live with more on the suspect in custody tonight. >> reporter: wendy, they say it started with words of hate. that led to a physical confrontation. it ended in gun fire. and today an arrest. the trigger man in the ihop hate crime shooting turns out to be a woman. police today charged 27-year-old leshan carson in the asalt on a 31-year-old gay man at the columbia heights ihop about two weeks ago. >> what we can say is that there were some, what started as a verbal confrontation, then escalated to a p

i'm jim handly. >> i'm wendy rieger.his father, and several other demonstrators spent three hours in custody charged with crossing a police line. >> but clooney said it was all worth it to call attention to what he describes as a man made crisis in sudan. tom sherwood has our report. >> this is your third and final warning. you will be arrested. >> reporter: and with that actor george clooney, members of congress, and human rights activists were arrested friday outside the sudanese embassy along washington's famous embassy road. clooney's arrest in plastic handcuffs followed his testimony

i'm wendy rieger. welcome to news 4 at 5:00. >> i'm pat lawson muse. jim is off tonight.his evening jewish schools in our area stepping up security in response to the terrible shootings in france. news 4's shomari stone has been following developments and has the very latest. >> reporter: there is a heightened state of awareness and jewish camps in montgomery county. this shooting happened this morning in southwestern france. investigators say the man on a motor bike opened fire at a

. >>> i'm wendy rieger. coming up a dentist arrested accused of illegally prescribing pills and also facing disturbing allegations from the women he dated. dated. an never in my lifetime did i think i could walk 60 miles in 3 days. (woman) the goal is to bring an end to breast cancer. (woman) there's no doubt in my mind that komen's funding helped saved my life. the 3-day is my opportunity to help save others' lives. (woman) i'll never stop walking, not till we find a cure. it is the most rewarding experience i have ever had in my entire life. (man) register today for the... because everyone deserves a lifetime. because of his disguise. >>> it doesn't look like food but it's served in ground beef in schools all over the country. now the usda says those schools can opt to buy meat without the controversial additive pink slime. eun yang is at our news 4 super screen with more. >> reporter: this is the stuff that everyone seems to be taking aim at these days. this is a picture from the company that makes that s

. >>> i'm wendy rieger.t 5:00 outrage over the death of the maryland mother shot in kensington by her estranged husband. the victim's family is now fighting to change the law to save others. relief for you allergy sufferers. there are natural remedies that can help you deal with this record high pollen. see you in a few minutes at 5:00. >>> right now let's see what the weather is going to be like tonight. >> tonight looking okay. if you have a hot date, if you, i don't know how many of you do. i know you and i don't. >> hot date on a cold night. >> no hot dates out there right now. actually i got two buddies in town. that's what we'll call a hot date. exactly. out there today temperatures not hot at all. 52 degrees the current temperature out there right now. it is cloudy. it is cool with winds out of the northeast at 12 miles per hour. so definitely on the cool side. as you look toward the numbers around the region, 49 right now in rockville. we're at 48 in gaithersburg and right now 52 in reston. so it is

i'm pat lawson muse. >> i'm wendy rieger. jim handly has the night off.scended on sanford, florida today. state authorities returned to the scene where 28-year-old george zimmerman shot and killed 17-year-old trayvon martin last month. zimmerman is a neighborhood watch volunteer who claimed it was in self-defense but martin was not armed. demonstrators, lawmakers, other leaders who say the shooting was racially motivated are calling on authorities to at least arrest zimmerman and martin's parents say they are honored by the outpouring of support that they've gotten around the country but they're still troubled that their son's shooter is free. >> they decided on the scene to be the judge and jury and i just want this guy arrested and so he can be brought to justice. >>> federal agents are now assigned to the case and a grand jury will be seated next month to launch a new investigation into zimmerman, who has ties to our area. jane watrel is live in manassas with morn

>>> and i'm wendy rieger in the newsroom.ws 4 at 5:00 parents and business owners furious over a local sex shop's recent promotion. a new campaign in prince george's county to boost your streets smarts. who it's targeting and how it can help save your life. stick around. coming up on news 4 at 6:00 we have new details about which have new details about which vehicles will save you never in my lifetime did i think i could walk 60 miles in 3 days. 60 miles in 3 days is-- is huge. if my mom can fight and beat breast cancer, i can walk 60 miles. you just put one foot in front of the other, and you know that you're walking for such a great cause that you just keep going. (man) that you have all these people coming together for one common goal. (woman) the goal is to bring an end to breast cancer. (woman) there's no doubt in my mind that komen's funding helped saved my life. the 3-day is my opportunity to help save others' lives. (woman) i'll never stop walking, not till we find a cure. with 3 days and 60 miles, you're making a bol

our own wendy rieger has a message she wanted to share with you and our viewers. >> joe krebs, are you the gold standard. are you a great storyteller. you have a great moral compass when it comes to this business. and you have a wicked sense of humor. you are the full package and one of the last of the mohicans. we are going to miss you. celebrate by sleeping in. smoochy, smoochies. >> right back at you, wendy. smoochy, smoochies. >> nothing like a smoochy-smoochy from wendy rieger at 5:00 in the morning. >> any time of day. works for me. thank you. >> would go standard's right. goodness, joe. >> very generous, thank you very much. >>> let's go to tom kierein, he's looking at the forecast. >> we are off to quite a chilly start this morning. there's a live view from our city camera. there's the jefferson memorial. and it's partly cloudy now. reagan national now down into the mid 40s. but away from the city, temperatures are down into the 30s many locations. in fact, we've got a frost advisory. counties in dark blue including frederick and washington, panhandle of west virginia, shenando

wendy rieger, news4. >> i'm hooked.ht, well, that's all for "news4 this week." we're going to leave you with a look at a fun activity that i recently got a chance to take a part in. mechanical bull riding. don't ask me why. don't ask me why, i was just feeling in the mood! i know, it's crazy, right? let me tell you, this was a little trickier than i thought it would be. there was no place to put your feet and it was a big hoist to get on up there, but i had a whole lot of fun doing it. you can see there's just one little rope to hold on to. eventually i did fall off, but the folks tell me there that was at the national harbor, they tell me that, you know, i didn't do too bad. i made it up to i think the third or the fourth level. all right, i'm veronica johnson, and that's it for "news4 this week." thanks for joining us. hope to see you next time. ♪

i'm wendy rieger, in for dorene. >> and i'm jim vance. a rally initially planned for only 400 people drew thousands of people to sanford, florida tonight. and now leaders both in and out of that city are responding to calls for action in the killing of 17-year-old trayvon martin. today the police chief of sanford announced that he is temporarily stepping down. city leaders will allow the reverend al sharpton and martin's parents to have the floor during a council meeting on monday. and the governor of florida appointed a new prosecutor to investigate why and how an unarmed black teenager was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch captain. but the lack of an arrest in this case continues to outrage people all over the country including here in our area. shammari stone with a report now from howard university where they had an event tonight. >> reporter: tonight howard university students paid tribute to trayvon martin. at times it was very emotional. >> saddening to see someone lose their life over something so minuscule. >> reporter: ang

i'm wendy rieger. it is the end of an emotional weekend for families across at least a dozen states. after two rounds of deadly weather ripped across tornado alley. but it's also just the beginning as they try to pick up these scattered pieces of their lives. jay gray has our report from henryville, indiana. >> reporter: there is an eerie silence that hangs over the emptiness here. a quiet that comes with nightfall. after a day filled with the sounds of survival. the whine of chainsaws, the rumble of frontloaders and backthose and the steady rhythm of so many sifting through the rubble by hand. >> people from everywhere are coming to help. >> reporter: searching for anything that may be left from lives shattered by the storm. >> everybody does a little bit, it'll get much better faster. >> reporter: for more than three dozen families, though, it can't get better. their loved ones aren't ever coming back. a group that now includes little 15-month-old angel babcock. first responders found the toddler fig

. >> i'm wendy rieger. >> this is the man police want to find. phillip gilberti.s been on the run since that shooting at 9:30 this morning. lots of people witnessing this crime. we have team coverage. we're going to begin with chris gorden in kensington where all of this began. >> they were a divorced couple, estranged, according to court papers, phil had threatened to kill his wife if he ever caught her with another man. today he apparently surprised her because she was found barefoot lying in the street where she was shot to death.

. >> good evening, i'm wendy rieger sit iting in for doreen gentzler. >> i'm jim vance.gin with a law case. the second day of oral arguments. whether the government can force every american to buy health care. 26 states are challenging the law. at least one justice said today, proving the law is constitutional will be a heavy burden. steve handelsman is there with more on this.

. >> i'm wendy rieger. doreen has the night off. it's the biggest day so far. 11 states

nbc's -- nbc 4's wendy rieger is here and she has got an app that will help us find these treats. ndy? >> all you got do is come to our newsroom, there is always a big box of girl scout cookies in our newsroom. seems you walk out in the street and cookies walk up to you, if you are looking for them there is aen an app for that called cookie locator and tell where you you can find cookies nearby. here's what i love about this app. let's look at our favorites like samoas, nutritional facts, tells you how much it is the big surprise, not as bad as we thought it is. my favorite is the do-si-do. here's the thing. i turned handily onto these, look at these nutritional facts. >> pretty good. >> not bad at all. 110 calories for two, only 5 grams. here is the other thing. you want some fun, what is your cookie personality since i do like the do-si-dos, it says i am easy going, trustworthy and friendly, and who didn't know that >> a-ha. >> there are videos. the other cool thing, there's recipes, thin mint, i know that's everyone's favorite, turn your thin mints into brownies, you can turn th

. >> i'm pat lawson muse in for wendy rieger who's off tonight. breaking news this evening.unty executive john leopold is under indictment, seen in the picture we are about to show you with before martin o'malley surveying storm damage in annapolis last summer. today the state prosecutor in annapolis announced a grand jury indicted leopold for the alleged misuse of his security detail. >> prosecutors say leopold used the team for his own benefit. he is accused of inappropriately using county police officers to drive him to parking lots so he could have sex with a county employee. he's also accused of using on duty police officers t

. >> i'm wendy rieger.eaking news from calvert county war truck rear ended a school bus near route 2 around 3:00 this afternoon. there were several kids on the bus. police are reporting all of them suffered minor injuries and route 2 was closed down for a while but it is open now. now to the snow. a lot of folks thought winter was winding down. such areas to our south, some areas to our south saw big time accumulation. darcy spencer spent the day in thornberg, virginia, down in

i'm wendy rieger. >> i'm jim handly. to doug who is tracking the storm for us. >> watching these thunderstorms right now on storm 4 radar you can see where they are down to the south. much of the thunder and lightning now starting to really weaken. this was the strongest storm that came through la ray a little bit earlier. a little bit of hail back to the west. but as it made its way through the east toward culpepper county we saw a lot of lightning and then it really started to weaken. just some thunder. a little lightning and heavy rain in toward portions of southern maryland. you can see what i'm talking about here down around the alan's fresh area. in through portions of st. mary's county and then down toward the leonard town area. that's the heaviest storm. you can see right along 301 from waldorf right on down through alan's fresh and colonial beach seeing some of that weather. back toward warranton more showers. notice on here we have lightning on the map. we have turned the lightning on. there is no lightning her

i'm wendy rieger sitting in for doreen.

. >> i'm wendy rieger. we'll begin with breaking news right now at andrews airforce base where a fast moving fire has caused extensive damage to three homes on the base. the fire started just before 4:00 this afternoon in the yard of one town home and quickly spread to the two others. no one was hurt and the bulk of the fire is now out. also tonight, an und

i'm wendy rieger sitting in for doreen gentzler. >> i'm jim vance. we begin tonight with new video in the trayvon martin case. the video shows the night that the man who shot martin was taken into custody was last month after that unarmed black teenager was killed. it is what you don't see on the tape that has some people alarmed. jay gray has our report. >> reporter: this police video shows george ziman

i'm wendy rieger sitting in for jim vance. i'm8 hard to avoid right now, the

. >> i'm wendy rieger.oreen has the night off. 39 deaths is the lasting impact of friday's tornado outbreak across the midwest. and now a heavy, wet snow is adding to the misery. jay gray reports from henryville, indiana. >> reporter: the blanket of white can't hide the dark reality of what's happened here. the splintered wood, shattered glass, and twisted metal still pushes through the snow and so do survivors. >> you'll have to work through it. we don't have a chance rnch the soggy and cold conditions have made the effort a bit more difficult if that is even possible. you see, when you've lost everything, four or five inches of snow doesn't really make that much of a difference. still, somehow in all of this mess families are finding important pieces of their lives before the storm. >> we found our homeowners insurance policy. completely dry and buried in some rubble. started digging and

i'm wendy rieger. >> i'm jim handly.the university of maryland campus on edge over the weekend. police scrambled to the dorm room of a sophomore honor student who they say made claims online that he intended to shoot and kill as many people as he could. he is being held tonight on a misdemeanor charge but he is in a hospital tonight not a jail cell. pat collins joins us now live from college park with the new details. pat? >> reporter: jim, three people saw the threats online and then they called the cops. one was a former polic

. >> i'm wendy rieger.ontroversy erupts when a fairfax county teacher tells students to research the weaknesses of the gop candidates. >>> how facebook is trying to stop your boss from accessing your account. tonight at 6:00 the fda calls it an alternative to smoking cigarettes but it could backfire and encourage even more people to start using tobacco. [ female announcer ] with xfinity, you can always expect more. like more on demand shows and movies than ever. and more ways to discover them too. plus more speed from america's fastest internet provider. so you can run more devices at the same time. ♪ feel a firework [ female announcer ] and best of all, it keeps getting better. no wonder more people choose xfinity over any other provider. ♪ love can be so mystical ♪ >>> as gas prices continue to increase law enforcement says they are seeing a spike in gas theft. incidents like this one caught on tape in sacramento, california have risen by nearly 50% since january. police say while some people siphon tanks

i'm wendy rieger sitting in for doreen gentzler. >> i'm jim vance.hedown on the health care reform law. today the supreme court began hearing oral arguments on that case. one of the main issues is whether the federal government can require americans to buy health insurance. steve handelsman joins us now at the supreme court with the latest on the first of three days of arguments. steve? >>> jim, thanks. good evening. from the hh court such an epic case. people came here to the supreme court and camped out starting friday night to try to get a shot at about 120 public seats to watch the oral arguments. and the debate here today was not restricted to the supreme courtroom. outside the high court both sides rally. backers of obama health care.

that was wendy rieger reporting. you can see the film soon on hbo.>> it does. >> and the blossoms, you know, the 80 degree weather is not what they want at all. they like those nice cool mornings. people l forget our averages this time of year are upper 50s for average highs and upper 30s for average lows. that's what the cherry blossoms want. they want those cool mornings and the chilly afternoons to hang around. 80 degrees -- >> they'll get a chilly day later in the week if they last that long. >> by then the blossoms, i assure you by tuesday, gone. out of here. not a blossom petal left to be found by the time we get to about tuesday. at least on those particular cherry trees by the basin. there are other varieties around the area which may be able to hold on to flowers. but those ones down alongside the basin are in trouble. the rain drops are coming on in. flower petals have been out awhile now. 83 degrees yesterday. that got the petals dry in a ready to fall down state. the rain drops today and the drops and breezes coming in tomorrow, that's al