the impasse on capitol hill that may force lawmakers already on holiday break to come back to washington. and the u.s. raises concerns after the death of north korean dictator kim jong-il. good morning. i'm angie goff. >> good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. eun yang has the day off. welcome to "news 4 today." it's tuesday, the 20th day of december, 2011. taking a live look outside, 50 degrees. hardly feels like the middle of december. >> it is so different than what we were experiencing yesterday, tom. >> what a dramatic change. it's going to be staying above freezing all the way into the weekend. we will not be needing our heavy winter coats and gloves and mittens, probably not until next week. right now around the region, we've got temperatures in the 40s most locations. 48 now at reagan national. temperatures around the region are in the 40s to near 50 degrees. we'll hold steady with the temperatures throughout much of

the rest of the day with quite a bit of clouds. we have a few breaks in the clouds off to our west. overall, a cloudy start. some light rain getting a few sprinkles in far southern maryland, eastern shore, and drifting off towards the east. a cloudy day. 40s through the day. may briefly climb to low and mid-50s in the afternoon for an hour or two. sunset 4:49. a look at the evening planner at 5:11. danella, how's traffic? so far travel speeds look pretty good right now. let's start with the inner loop at 65 miles per hour. on the inner loop at route 50, you're at 65 miles per hour. and if you're traveling in montgomery county on the outer loop past georgia avenue, you're at 65 miles per hour. if you're commute takes awe cross the american legion bridge, here's a look right now. not seeing any major issues on the inner loop, outer loop looking pretty clear as well. >> thank you, danella. a fight on capitol hill

where the fight over the payroll tax break is getting ugly. democrats are criticizing house republicans after they blocked a veet on a senate backed plan that would extend the tax breaks to millions of americans for two more months. here's a live look at the capitol, where house leaders had been scheduled to vote last night. today they push for their own alternative plan. republicans say it's a full year extension or nothing, claiming the two month extension is too short and creates uncertainty for taxpayers. they want senate democrats to return from vacation, and democrats say they had a deal until it was scuttled by hard line republicans. >> what is happening is a partisan convulsion driven by the tea party. >> are you willing -- are you at least willing to work over the holidays so that maybe the american people might have a little better christmas. >> senate majority leader harry reid said he is not willing to come back from vacation and not

willing to negotiate until the house passes the extension bill. if no deal is reached, some 160 million americans will see more taxes taken out of their paychecks. today president obama and vice president biden will attend a special ceremony at andrews air force base. last week president obama marked the end of the war at ft. bragg, north carolina. the white house says it's too early to tell whether the death of kim jong-il opens the door for better u.s. relations with north korea. right now u.s. officials are keeping a close eye to see how north korea's army of more than 1 million will adapt to the newest leader kim jong-un. meantime, kim jong-il's body is lying in state in a coffin dressed in a khaki tunic and covered by a red sheet inside a

memorial palace in pyongyang. the body of his father, kim il-song is also elsewhere in the building. when broadcasting the death of kim jong-il, people began bursting into tears and crying. kim died of a heart attack over the weekend while on official duty. he was 69 years old. his funeral is set for next wednesday. today the trial is set to begin. bradley manning is tried for treason. yesterday a digital crimes investigator found more than 10,000 diplomatic cables and other classified information downloaded on manning's computer. the hearing is to decide whether manning will face a court martial. if convicted, manning could face the death penalty or life in prison. today the man who confessed to trying to bomb the martin luther king day parade will be

in court. a judge is scheduled to sentence kevin harbom. police arrested him back in march. the 36-year-old confessed to planting a backpack bomb along the parade route in spokane. the bomb was discovered before it could explode. >> new from overnight, firefighters battle the flames at a northwest d.c. apartment building. this morning police are trying to figure out who shot and killed a man outside a busy shopping mall outside the nordstrom store at the towson town center. many continued their holiday shopping without knowing a shooting occurred. no one could enter or leave the mall while they investigated. stores did turn over surveillance video to the police, but no word on whether security cameras caught the shooting. police have not released the identity of the victim. d.c. police are also trying to figure out who's responsible

for a deadly shooting in northeast washington. last night homicide investigators were called out to the 1000 block of taylor street north and east. d.c. police are not releasing too much information. no arrests have been made. meanwhile, two boys were shot last night in the 3400 block of 22nd street in southeast washington. no word on their condition. police have made no arrests in the case. d.c. police are asking for your help to solve a sexual assault case. detectives say a woman was walking along blaine street northeast on sunday night when she was approached by a man who forced her into the alley at knife point and sexually assaulted her. the man is described as a thin african american, about 40 years old. he was last seen wearing blue jeans and a red hooded sweatshirt. if you know anything about this case, you're asked to call police. emergency crews are scrambling to help stranded drivers as severe winter storms continue to pound the southern plains. interstate 40 was shut down from

amarillo, texas, all the way to albuquerque, new mexico's border. things were nearly worse for 100 people who needed to be rescued in the texas panhandle after getting stranded in blizzard conditions. several inches of snow have already blanketed states from new mexico up to kansas. tonight marks the first night of hanukkah. the national hanukkah memorial will be lit during a ceremony on the ellipse that begins at 4:00 this afternoon. after the ceremony, traditional potato pancakes and doughnuts will be given out. traditional menorrah kits will be given out. the official menorrah will be lit. it's 32 feet tall. hanukkah is the festival of lights, and it lasts six nights. maryland gambling to raise money

at progressive, you can bundle your home and auto policies and save. don't worry, tiny people. flo is a gentle giant. bundle home and auto at progressive.com. 5:10 is our time. right now we have 50 degrees -- 49 degrees. excuse me. >> either way it doesn't feel too bad outside. definitely better than yesterday. >> doesn't feel like winter. here's tom. we don't have any snow anywhere in the region. maybe a few sprinkles of rain overnight. right now all around the area, we are in the upper 40s to near 50 degrees. we'll hold steady through the rest of the morning with

temperatures under a cloudy sky. there have been a few sprinkles, those areas of moving green. they've been out in far western maryland and northern west virginia. getting a few sprinkles in far southern maryland into southern calvert and st. mary's and across the potomac and into the northern neck and on the eastern shore that's drifting off to the east. we'll have the clouds with us throughout the day. here's your day planner. we'll stay in the 40s. maybe briefly low to mid-50s early to midafternoon. by late afternoon, back down into the 40s. sunrise 4:42. sunset 4:49. a look at the west pattern through the rest of the week into the holiday weekend coming up at 5:21. danella, good morning. how's traffic? traveling the inner loop of the beltway, an accident as you approach university boulevard. i'm seeing you slow just a bit as you make your way towards this accident. traveling on i-66, no major delays just yet. here's the view at sudley road. traveling east and west on 66

outside the beltway. inside the beltway, here's a look at glebe. making your way from the beltway to gw parkway, you're at 64 miles per hour. taking the rails this morning, so far they're open with no reported delays on the metro, marc, or vre. now back to you bh. >> danella, thanks. 5:12 is the time. ahead on "news 4 today," the cost to get around. cost to get around. analysts a

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now to decision 2012. exactly two weeks from today iowa republicans will head to their caucuses beginning the process of selecting their party's nominee. who that person will be is still a very fluid decision this morning. a new national poll shows a dead even race between two

candidated. a new "washington post"/abc news poll finds newt gingrich and mitt romney tied with 30% nationwide. ron paul is still at a distant 15%. gingrich meanwhile will be in virginia to headline a fupd raiser for virginia republicans. it's happening at the hilton richmond hotel. tickets range from $25 to $150. virginia governor bob mcdonnell will also be there. former vice presidential nominee sarah palin said it's not too late for someone else to jump into the race. she said the republican presidential nomination is still up for grabs. during an interview on fox news, she was asked whether she is thinking about running. she said, quote, who knows what will happen in the future. in october palin said she was no longer interested in running. d.c. police need your help catching armed robbers targeting 7-elevens in the district.

surveillance video shows the robbers rip out a cash register and point a gun at the cashier. one of the men is also seen robbing a 7-eleven in bladensburg northeast an hour earlier. police are trying to figure out if the same men are responsible for robbing two other 7-elevens in november. drugs and weapons worth $7 million are off the streets this morning thanks to a two-year undercover sting operation. take a look at all these weapons. d.c. police and federal officers showed off their weapons yesterday. they were able to seize more than 160 firearms and hundreds of pounds of drugs. they also arrested 70 people. investigators say some of the weapons are linked to unsolved crimes in the district. officers in prince william county were treated to a free holiday meal provided by the friends and family of a fallen police officer. hector and teresa detomo

organized the dinner in memory of their son paul detomo. he died responding to a call in d.c. in november of 2010. they chose to have the dinner prince william county because that's where their son lived, and they wanted to show appreciation to their hometown. >> we are having this dinner to remember our son and show appreciation to police officers in our own area. >> businesses, organizations, and individuals donated the food, drinks, and desserts. some 300 police officers turned out for the dinner. the detomos plan to make the dinner a holiday tradition. today people in the district will get more help to live where they work. d.c. mayor vincent gray and gallaudet university president alan hurwitz will announce a new initiative called live where you work. it encourages employees to move closer to work by offering help on down payments and closing costs for home buyers. the d.c. office of planning developed the matching

homeowners grant program. the city of alexandria will try to push ahead today with plans to redevelop its waterfront. a special committee is expected to present its final report to the city council today on the proposed project. the city plan would connect and increase the open space along the potomac and add public piers while also allowing three warehouses to be converted into hotels or housing. opponents have blocked the plan several times. concerned about the rezoning and increased traffic. they want the water houses torn down and turned into parks. >> maryland officials say online lottery officials could have a new way to boost revenue for the state. they saw $1.7 billion in sales for its traditional games during the fiscal year that ended in june. more than $519 million in directed to maryland's general fund, and that money is distributed among several programs, including education and public safety. the lights are back on at

candlestick park at san francisco. after two power outages. the first outage delayed the start of monday night football, the game between the steelers and 49ers by about 30 minutes. there was also a second outage in the second quarter of the game, which made the stadium go dark and suspended play for several minutes. the 49ers say the preliminary cause appears to be a transformer failure. the 49ers went on to win the game 20-3. >> no one had a candle in candlestick park. >> you would think there'd be at least one. >> better to light one candle than curse the darkness. tom kierein with the weather. >> we have a lot of darkness this time of year too with the early sunsets and late sunrises. it's the darkest time of the year right around now as we approach the winter solstice. right now around the region under a cloudy sky, we're in the

40s to near 50 degrees right around the bay as well as farther to the west, 40s to near 50. we will stay this way for several hours. sprinkles to our south getting these areas in green in calvert, st. mary's, and charles county farther to the east in the eastern shore and farther west, a few sprinkles in stafford county and maybe out here in the panhandle of west virginia. we have just a slight chance of an additional sprinkle later today. sunrise 7:22. we'll be in the 40s through much of the day. although it may briefly get into the low and mid-50s by later this afternoon. this evening cloudy. by dawn tomorrow the low 40s. rain likely tomorrow. looks like a wet day on wednesday. afternoon temperatures up near 60 degrees. the rain should end wednesday night temporarily. a little sun back thursday morning. cloudy thursday afternoon upper 50s. does look like a chance of rain thursday night into friday morning. and then a little sun may come back friday afternoon. then a cloudy weekend coming up

for saturday into christmas eve. could get some rain as well as late saturday night and into christmas morning. may dry out a bit sunday afternoon into monday. danella, how's traffic? >> good morning. accident on the inner loop of the beltway. this is as you pass georgia avenue. right now only the right lane gets by. i can see some delays as you make your way towards this accident. going to keep watching this one for you. further up i-270, early morning construction right at route 80. really slowing you down heading northbound on 270 at urbanna. at that point, only the left lane is getting by. i'm still seeing delays as you continue your commute northbound on 270. southbound slow from urbanna, leaving urbanna, making your way towards clarksburg. once you get towards the clarksburg area, seeing nothing but green. this is the view from west montgomery avenue. so far as you make your way towards the spur, you're in the clear. angie, back to you. >> thank you, danella. how much did you spend on gasoline this year? the average american household will spend nearly $4,200 on gas

by the end of the year. that's more than 8% of the median household income. that's the highest share in 30 years. right now let's check current local gas prices. the state average for a gallon of regular gas in maryland is $3.20. in virginia the average is $3.14. the district comes in at $3.39. and in west virginia it's $3.32 for a gallon of regular. today we'll get an update on the cost of the first phase of the multibillion dollar dulles rail project. state and county leaders are meeting with the dulles corridor advisory committee this afternoon. the project will eventually extend the metro rail system all the way through tyson's corner through dulles airport. this comes amid new concerns that the first phase of the project which extends the metro from falls church out to reston could cost an additional $150 million. that part of the rail system should be open in 2013. new from overnight, former penn state football coach joe paterno is out of the hospital.

a person close to his family says that paterno has shown improvement after doctors treated him for a broken pelvis and lung cancer. the longtime coach turns 85 tomorrow. he was admitted last week after breaking his pelvis in a fall at his home. doctors kept him hospitalized to make it easier to give him cancer treatments while he recovered from the fracture. the health problems came after penn state trustees fired him last month in the aftermath of child sex abuse charges against his assistant coach jerry sandusky. the washington wizards are back on the court as they get ready for the upcoming season. the team is playing the philadelphia 76ers on the road tonight in the team's second and final preseason game. they'll try to have a better showing than they'll have on friday night. the wizards dominated the sixers in the first preseason game at the verizon center. afterwards, coach flip soaunder called out the team's young starter john wall, saying he

played terribly. and the capitals will need a little home cooking to get them back on their winning ways, they hope, when they take on the predators tonight at the verizon center. the caps are trying to bounce back after losing on the road to the colorado avalanche 2-1. the puck drops tonight at 7:00. and students living on a cruise ship in southern maryland are packing up and will move back into regular dormitories once school starts up again. more than 200 students from st. mary's college lived on this cruise ship while crews cleaned up their school dorm. they were forced to move out for two months because of mold in the dormitories. school officials say that health and air inspections have deemed those dorms now safe. they can move into the dorms after the holiday break. well, dog owners in alexandria, the city's leash law is about to change again. the council rescinded an amendment passed last month that would have made it illegal to use only an electronic collar.

the council now says it will reexamine its current leash laws and work on new language that can hopefully make everyone happy. dog lovers sent several letters to the city council, and several business owners complained because they attract dog owners not wanting to keep their pets on a leash. this has been going back and forth for a while. as a dog lover and a dog owner, something that you take very seriously. >> the issue of letting dogs off of the leash. i won't ask you publicly whether you do that. >> oh, no, i don't. i don't. he's a 100-pound lab. >> it's not safe for others and not safe for the dog. >> absolutely. a lab is a great dog, and it's friendly with everyone, but you just don't know. you don't know the situations that others have had with animals either. you want to be mindful and respectful of that. our time right now is 5:26. coming up, how troops returning from iraq will

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the senate did its -- they did their job. they produced a bill. the house disagrees with it. >> house republicans try a new

strategy to keep your taxes from going up in less than two weeks. and the president's plan to mark the end of the war in iraq today and bring home more troops to their families. good morning. welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm angie goff in for eun yang. welcome to "news 4 today" on this tuesday, december 20th, 2011. we're taking a live look outside, and, yes, it's a beautiful, beautiful morning. the weather outside has people asking, is this december? is this winter? >> is this a dream? we are sort of entering a period of suspended reality here over the next few days. it's going to be unusually mild here for late december. in fact, we'll have above freezing temperatures each day all the way into the weekend. good morning i'm meteorologist tom kierein under a clear sky at 48 degrees. should not have any travel problems weatherwise this morning except in far southern

maryland and northern neck, eastern shore, they're getting a few sprinkles of rain right now. right now temperatures are above freezing in the 40s to near 50 throughout the entire region. from the mountains all the way to the atlantic beaches. montgomery, arlington, fairfax, prince george's county, district of columbia, in the upper 40s now. those little patches of green, those are sprinkles of light rain now near stafford county, across the potomac into charles, st. mary's, southern calvert along the eastern shore drifting off to the east. here's your day planner. sunrise at 7:22. throughout the morning, 40s to near 50. may briefly get to the low 50s or maybe even mid-50s farther to our south by early afternoon. and then late afternoon back down into the 40s. a look at your evening planner at 5:41. here's a look at the tuesday traffic. good morning, danella. >> good morning. traveling the inner loop of the beltway, still seeing the crash taking away all but your right lane. only the right lane gets by the accident. this is as you pass georgia avenue. going to keep watching that because i can see some delays as you make your way towards the

accident there. traffic continues on the inner loop making your way towards route 1. not seeing any issues for you. your volume is increasing on the inner loop as well as the outer loop. you're still traveling at speed. if you're taking the beltway in virginia, this is the view at gw parkway. inner loop and outer loop is clear. i'm not seeing any major issues for you. nothing in the roadway right now. joe, back to you. >> thank you, danella. the white house says it's too early to tell whether the death of kim jong-il will open the door for better relation ins north korea. right now u.s. officials are keeping a close eye to see how north korea's army of more than 1 million men will adapt to the newest leader kim jong-un. right now kim jong-il's body is lying in state in a glass coffin dressed in khaki and covered in a red sheet inside the memorial palace at pyongyang. s kim jong-il's father is on

display he iswhere in the building. korean state tv broadcast what it says are people learning of the death of kim jong-il, people bursting into tears and crying hysterically. the government says that kim died of a heart attack over the weekend while on a train on official duty. he is 69 years old. his funeral is set for next wednesday. the showdown between democrats and republicans continues today on capitol hill over extending a payroll tax break to millions of american workers. things are getting ugly after house republicans refused to even vote on a senate plan that extended the tax break for two months. nbc's tracie potts is here with more on what lies ahead. >> angie, good morning. good morning, everyone. >> reporter: one democrat says it's the weirdest thing he's ever seen. 83% of republicans before they left town on the senate side supported this two-month extension. they couldn't come to a longer term agreement. so they agreed on a two-month extension. but their colleagues in the

house won't even bring it to the floor for a vote, we learned late last night. initially, they said they were going to reject it. now not even bringing it up for a vote. instead, what they did last night was vote to hold a conference, a few democrats, a few republicans, from both sides, some of whom would have to come back from vacation to try to work out what they want, which is a full one-year extension, which is ironic because just a few months ago republican leaders were against extending this payroll tax cut at all. nancy pelosi on the house side, harry reid, democrat on the senate side, both say they're not sending anyone to this conference. now you've got a true stalemate less than two weeks before this 2% is supposed to be taken out of your paycheck. again, starting january 1st. everything seems to be in limbo. and right in the middle of that, 160 million working americans wonder what that paycheck is going to look like at the end of the year. >> tracie potts, thank you. members of the occupy d.c. movement will be meeting today in mcpherson square to talk

about their future plans. the meeting comes after a number of protesters were arrested outside the white house. take a look at the scene last night on pennsylvania avenue as police arrested nearly a dozen protesters. those led away will likely face charges of disobeying police orders to leave. the group was protesting part of a defense bill that allows the president to detain people suspected of terrorist activities indefinitely. a maryland community wants to know why a stretch of lights along a busy road remain off despite a pair of deadly accidents this weekend. at least a dozen streetlights are out on veers mill road between connecticut avenue and randolph road, leaving the community in darkness. two pedestrians were killed in separate accidents along that stretch of road. neighbors we talked to are worried about more accidents. >> a lot of times i see women and children with strollers walking. at this time of year, it gets

dark early, and there's no visibility. >> we called pepco about the problem, and they sent a crew to check out the lights. but at this time they have not repaired or replaced a bulb. so the streetlights remain off. today president obama and vice president biden will attend a ceremony at joint base andrews. the president will welcome home u.s. troops from iraq. president obama marked the end of the war last week meeting with troops in ft. bragg, north carolina. the withdrawal ends a nine-year war in which 4,500 americans were killed and 32,000 were wounded. another day of home coummii for area families. more than 200 soldiers will arrive on a flight at 9:00 this morning. the remaining members will return this evening. one local soldier brought tears to his daughter's eyes after surprising her at school. tamara and kevin masseola attend

the st. columba catholic school in oxon hill. their recently deployed dad, colonel masseola surprised them. he had been serving in afghanistan. he was still on tour but was given leave for the holidays. his daughter cried as he walked out on stage. >> a lot of things are going through my mind like, oh, my gosh, that's my dad. should i run up and give him a hug, or should i just stay in my seat? >> i was just happy, and then i just gave him a hug. >> god is good for letting him come home now, and i'm very excited. i'm very happy to see my dad. >> i bet he's excited to see her and her brother as well. masseola is working with the american government to help set up the court system. happy family. >> a christmas they certainly will never forget. our time 5:37. coming up, how one store hopes

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5:40 is our time. we have 50 degrees here in the nation's capital on this 20th day of december. very close to the winter solsti solstice. we've got to ask tom kierein what in heaven's name is going on. tom? >> somebody is living right. at least those who don't like snow anyway. snow lovers are unhappy. it looks like we don't have any chance of snow into the weekend. a touch of rain each day beginning tomorrow and into the weekend. this morning we have a little bit of sprinkle activity in southern maryland and eastern shore. temperatures in the clouds are in the 40s to near 50 degrees all around the region. over the last 12 hours, we've had the clouds rolling in since last evening. that area of green you see on the screen is sprinkle activity

in southern maryland, calvert, st. mary's, charles, southern prince george's, and across the potomac into stafford county drifting across the bay and over into the eastern shore. throughout the rest of the day, remaining cloudy. may briefly get low to mid-50s early afternoon. sunrise 7:22. sunset 4:49. a cloudy evening. we'll be in the 40s through the evening. a look at the rain chances each day, beginning tomorrow and into the weekend in ten minutes. danella, how's traffic? three vehicle crash slowing down the inner loop of the beltway past georgia avenue. you're slow as you make your way towards the accident. have to stick to the right. only two right lanes get you by. as you're making your way towards georgia avenue on that inner loop, you are bumper to bumper at this time. also seeing rubber necking delays on the outer loop at colesville road as you make your way towards georgia avenue. cars are slowing down to see what's going on. police be aware and cautious on the outer loop and inner loop of the beltway because of this accident. i'll let you know when it clears. traveling i-95 making your way northbound at lorton, i am

seeing volume as you connect to 395. no accidents to report at this time. angie and joe, back to you. >> thank you very much, danella. [ dog barking ] mom! breakfast? in this house?

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we are in the final stretch of holiday shopping. today toys 'r us is making it easier for santa to do his shopping any time day or night. news 4's tracee wilkins is live in bailey's crossroads where one store is getting ready to open and stay open for around the clock for a while. tracee? >> reporter: good morning, joe. in 15 minutes they're going to open up this toys 'r us, and it's going to stay open nonstop. i personally had a horrible experience at toys 'r us as a kid, and i remember going into the store and thinking too many choices. i'm overwhelmed. haven't been back since. for other people who don't feel

that way and enjoy having all of the options they offer, they do have lots of sales going on as well. this would be the latest chain to dive into extended store hours. now, we saw a number of chains shift and extend regular black friday hours, and there were strong black friday sales this year. so naturally, there are some changes this holiday season as well. according to research done by visa, 77% of you have not finished your holiday shopping. in fact, just 8% of you wrapped up your shopping by the first week in december. that's the lowest number since they started recording this kind of shopping data. as of december 7th, nearly 37 million people have not started their shopping. some are waiting for bonuses. some want better deals. some are just good old fashioned procrastinators. so the experts say that you all are the people most likely to spend a lot of money just to get something, anything to give. coming up at 6:45, we're going

to have tips for some of you last minute shoppers to make sure you don't fall into that trap of spending, spending, spending. tracee wilkins live this morning at bailey's crossroads. back to you in the studio. >> i for one will be listening. tracee, thanks very much. the clock is ticking to send out christmas cards and presents before the holiday. today is the deadline to send first class mail in time for christmas. tomorrow is the deadline to send priority mail to reach your loved ones, and thursday is the final day to send packages by express mail. the longer you wait, the more expensive it's going to be to mail your packages. shoppers try to knock out last minute gift lists. one man made a report breaking donation to a local store $20,000. all of it went to help people who have items on layaway at the kmart store in prince frederick, maryland. a man store employees are calling an angel donated $20,000 to pay for christmas layaways for 150 people.

layaways for things that include toys and clothes. gwen beacraft showed up at the kmart with her children to make a payment on christmas gifts only to find the entire $300 bill had been paid in full. >> how surprising or shocking? >> i feel like crying. i'm just really blessed right now. >> the man who gave the donation told kmart to take care of the kids and make sure they have a very good christmas. this morning two more baby jesus statues are missing in spotsylvania county, virginia. this comes just days after a baby jesus statue is recovered by police. officers are now trying to track down stolen figures from the south point shopping center in a store off route 3. last month someone stole the baby jesus statue. a woman was caught after posting a picture of it on her facebook page. and police in fredericksb g

fredericksburg, virginia, are looking for someone who vandalized a ball field. cal ripken baseball program is designed to help at risk youths in the area. you can see from this video from chopper 4, it caused a lot of damage there. unbelievable. two teenagers are safe this morning after being rescued in a steep canyon. the cousins were hiking when they got lost in a narrow section of the echo canyon just outside of phoenix yesterday. lucky for them, they did have their cell phones on them. the boys, ages 13 and 14, tried to call their parents first but then called 911. firefighters were able to reach them using long rope lines. no one was hurt. and severe weather in colorado is to blame for a deadly accident involving a prison van. icy conditions caused the van to lose control and roll over on a highway killing a guard and one inmate. eight other prisoners and other staff members were taken to the hospital with serious injuries. several other accidents were

also report eed around the stat. southern colorado is expecting between 8 and 16 inches of snow from this same storm. >> such severe weather, wow. in new mexico they're also getting hit hard by this strong storm. police were forced to close parts of interstate 25 and several other highways because of poor visibility. the los alamos national laboratory and several schools were shut down forcing them to clear as much as 16 inches of snow off of the roads in those areas. as you mentioned, it's such a contrast with severe weather we're seeing in parts of the country compared to the mild temperatures we're waking up to this morning. >> we're on the warm side of that storm. it's going to be bringing rain to us here tomorrow. we've had a few sprinkles here tonight. we may have a few here this morning. there's a small chance of that. good morning. i'm meteorologist tom kierein at reagan national. it's at 48 degrees. we've got a calm wind. there is capitol hill in the

distance. under this cloudy sky on this tuesday morning. all around the region, temperatures are in the 40s to near 50 degrees from prince george's, arlington, fairfax, and montgomery counties, we are just hovering in the upper 40s to near 50 as well as around the bay and the eastern shore. across the potomac into charles, southern prince charges. across the bay near cambridge towards salisbury getting a few sprinkles there. a few sprinkles trying to reach the ground up toward mt. airy into northern and western howard county. sunrise, 7:22. throughout the day, we'll have a lot of clouds. we'll be in the 40s through the morning. may get into the low to mid-50s briefly by midafternoon. sunrise 7:22. sunset 4:49. this evening a cloudy evening down into the 40s through much

of the evening. during the day tomorrow, we will have a lot of clouds around and some rain likely through the morning into the rest of the evening. the rain should end by wednesday night. some sun back on thursday morning. highs into the 50s on thursday afternoon. it does look like the possibility of more rain returning as another quick area of low pressure zips on through. that would be thursday evening and perhaps into early friday morning. drying out briefly again friday afternoon with highs into the 50s. as we take a look at the holiday weekend -- by the way, today is the first day for hanukkah. as we get toward the christmas holiday on sunday, does look like a chance of rain again. this time is looks like saturday evening. santa is going to need wheels on the sleigh as we start off and

see sun returning. danella, good morning. how's traffic? >> outer loop of the beltway, still seeing delays on the inner loop. this is past georgia avenue. you're slow as you make your way towards the accident. 10 miles per hour. at this time, only two right lanes get by the accident that's blocking two of your left lanes. i'll show you as you make your way. looks like it's about to get out of the roadway. this is the inner loop. looks like they're clearing the accident because this was jammed just a moment ago. that's the good news. outer loop, still a little crowding at university boulevard as they make their way towards the accident. a lot of crowding just a minute ago slowing down to see what's going on. looks like that accident may be out of the roadway for you. i'll double-check in exactly ten minutes. if you're taking the rails, no reported delays on the metro, mark, or vre. angie and joe, back to you. >> thank you very much, danella. today we're going to get an update on the cost of the first phase of the multibillion dollar dulles rail project. state and county leaders are meeting with the dulles corridor advisory committee this

afternoon. the project will eventually extend the metro rail through tyson's corner to the dulles airport. this comes aamid new concerns te first phase of the project, which extends from falls church to reston could cost $50 milli n million. that part of the rail should open up in 2013. how much did you spend on gasoline this year? looks like the average american household will spend nearly $4,200 on gasoline this year. that's more than 8% of the household income. that's the highest share in nearly 30 years. right now let's check on current gas prices. the charge in maryland is $3.20. virginia, the average is $3.14. the district comes in at $3.39. in west virginia, it's at $3.32 for a gallon of regular. >> here's a question for you. ever wonder what doctors are scribbling down on your medical chart?

you're not alone. a new survey shows 90% of patients would like to know what doctors write about them in their medical chart. nearly 30,000 surveyed believe knowing would improve their own health. doctors, on the other hand, would rather things stay the way they are. they say giving patients access to their notes would lead to unnecessary worry and would be too time consuming to answer all their questions. >> we want to know even more. you probably know someone who's gone to work coughing and sneezing, supposedly like a good employee. co-workers might not feel so good if you do. >> if you're not feeling well, i'd much rather you go home than tell me about it while you cough in my general direction. >> etiquette director anna post says it's correct that someone can infect someone else with a virus from up to six feet away. fever, aches, chills, and extreme fatigue are the most typical flu symptoms. and the only one with a red nose who needs to show up for work

this week is, you guessed it, rudolph. the wizards are back on the court today as they try to get ready for the upcoming season. the team is playing the philadelphia 76ers on the road tonight in the team's second and final preseason game. they're going to have a better showing than the game on friday night. the sixers dominated the wizards in the first preseason game at the verizon center. afterwards, coach flip saunders called out the team's young star john wall, saying he played terribly. and the capitals hope a little home cooking will get them back to their winning ways when they take on the predators tonight at the verizon center. the caps are trying to bounce back after losing on the road to the colorado avalanche 2-1. puck drops tonight at 7:00. good luck caps. not having a great season. >> despite the loss, not happy to see the wizards. despite how john wall played, they still did a lot for the fans. did a meet and greet, let kids

come in, get autographs. "news 4 today" at 6:00 continues. why some neighbors be