blossoms, because of the warmer temperatures, this winter, the national park service says the trees are expected to bloom on march 18th that's this sunday. and this it is a few days earlier than first predicted. the all-important peak bloom will happen between march 20th and 23rd, also earlier than expected. >> if you don't have those cold nights coming in, basically nothing put the brakes on these things and they keep moving and over a 24-hour period they will go twice as fast as the temperature were to drop a little bit down into the 30s. so, what they are doing is normal. it's just back in the first of march when i made my forecast, i just wasn't expecting these unseasonably warm temperatures. >> the parks service says the blossoms will be at peak when the cherry blossom festival opens on march 20th but they won't last until the end. so how is the weather impacting you feeling it out there? causing trouble for a lot of folks who suffer, as many of us do from allergies. >> meteorologist veronica johnson is live outside the station with some expert advice. hey, veronica. >> hey there, guys. remember to hydrate. the temperatures come along so quickly, these warming temperatures hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. so you don't -- you know, suffer any more. and talk about suffering because the warmth today, 80 degrees, yeah the wind's blowing around, wind gusts 20 miles per hour and it is blowing around a lot of pollen. take a look at the pollen count for today it is high, 129 grapes per cubic meter for cedar, sign press and june per. i spoke to folks at walter reed medical center and said the last 14 years, we are seeing trees pollinate a lot earlier, right now, with warm conditions, we are running not just double but triple the average. >> mm-hmm. >> i'm joined now with dr. jackie, you have been in already this season talking about the pollen and what to do, things to do or not to do, like keeping the windows down if you do suffer. give us a few more pointers since we're seeing this really stick with us, the high pollen count, we know that's going tonight case because it's looking dry, it's looking warm for at least the next 14 days. it is beautiful out what you want to do when your nee is not suffer from the pollen outside, keep those windows closed, sadly, means keep the air conditioning on, especially at night. you don't want to have unnecessary pollen. don't think if you turn on your little air purifier that that will do the trick for u what we are always telling patients is start early with your medicine this year, we should have said start in early february. haven't said yet, start now, maintenance medications, things you are meant to do every single day don't save it for a rainy day or when your symptoms get really bad. >> i have friends that do that all the time, start feeling better so you stop taking your medication, but then, whammy, when pollen spikes back up, you are suffering. >> they ration t they ration it and say let me wait until i'm bad. by that time, the tornado of pollen hits and you there's no way out. take your medication now, feeling symptoms, absolutely take it and the beautiful weather we hope lasts many, many weeks. >> exactly. speaking of the forecast, dr. jackie, thanks for coming n. >> sure. >> look at what we can expect wind-wise a breeze around the area today, winds up to 20 miles per hour, helping to blow that pollen around, dr. jackie, you know that you have been out most of the day. meanwhile, as we advance through it, some of the neighborhood stations across the area today, you know what, we can go ahead and get you that one of those location, one of those locations was college park, maryland. that's where i was today, talking with a group of students, a group of fourth and fifth graders, coming up in minutes, this evening, 67, 65 degrees at 9 and 11 p.m. again, looks like these very warm conditions are going to continue for a while. take dr. jackie's advice and do just that make sure you take a minute, your medication. >> take a shower before you go to bed. don't sleep with the pollen. make sure you get that all washed off, out of the hair, off the eyelashes. wake up happier in the morning. >> excellent. in a couple of minutes, i'm going to tell you about something you're going to be able to see in the night sky and it could be glowing tonight. >> lovely. >> back to you. >> all right, veronica, thank you. the latest gas prices show the price at the pump is above the $4 mark for the second day in a row in the district. according to aaa, the average sits at $4.01 and even jumped a fraction of a penny overnight. and it will cost you much more than that at the watergate exxon on virginia avenue in northwest. just one gallon of regular will set you back $5.39 there. maryland's average went up a penny to 3.82 overnight. in virginia, drivers are paying 3.71 on average, one cent more than yesterday. west virginia had the same increase, the average there 3.87. 100 brand-new slot machines arrived at maryland casino today. the casino at the aroundel mills mall will feature state-of-the-art slot machines and table games but the $500 million private censure has had its share of controversy. one of the major concerns being traffic. developers to say they plan on making improvements to the area like adding lanes and about 5,000 parking spaces. they also plan on creating more than 1,000 jobs. the casino is expected to open this june with the second phase opening in the fall. now to the republican race for the white house. campaigns are evaluating strategies in light of the results last night, the primaries in alabama and mississippi. rick santorum swept the races, giving him more conservative credibility as well as some momentum. meanwhile, newt gingrich says he is not leaving the race and mitt romney finished in third place in both states, but won the caucuses in hawaii and american samoa. in the end, he actually won four more delegates last night than santorum. the next big contests are missouri on saturday, illinois, tuesday. military involvement in afghanistan will undergo a major shift next year and the window for diplomacy is rapidly shrinking for iran. those were the major topics today during the joint news conference between president obama and british prime minister david cameron. brian mooar has our report. >> reporter: with porch and pageantry, president obama welcomed british prime minister david cameron to the white house. but they share some sobering challenges, perhaps none more pressing today than afghanistan. >> this is a hard slog. this is hard work. >> recent days have reminded us just how difficult our mission is and how high the cost of this war has been. >> reporter: as the two leaders spoke, u.s. defense secretary leon panetta was on a surprise visit to afghanistan where he reminded troops this decade-long war started with 9/11. >> and the reason you're here is to make damn sure that never happens again. >> reporter: there was a security breach as panetta landed and before meeting with the defense chief, these warriors were forced to surrender their weapons. that extraordinary measure underscores the high tensions after weekend killings of 16 afghan civilians, allegedly by an american serviceman. weeks of violence have this country on edge and the objective in doubt. back in washington, the two leaders were in lockstep on a 2013 transition of power and a 2014 pullout. >> we will not give up on this mission, because afghanistan must never again be a safe haven for al qaeda to launch attacks against us. >> we are going to complete this mission and we are going to do it responsibly. >> reporter: cameron and obama on common ground, fighting to finish an unpopular war. the president and the prime minister were also in agreement on other issues ranging from syria and iran to rebuilding our battered economies. on capitol hill, brian mooar, news4. >> as is tradition, president obama and the first lady presented gifts to the prime minister and his wife, samantha. those gifts include white house chef jackets and barbecue grill customized with american and british flags. and for the camerons' three children, personalized american-made bean bag chairs, each featured the presidential seal and embroidered with the child's name. safe to say they won't have those already. when news4 at four continues, an actress known for her role as a serial killer becomes a new mom. plus, a second chance for a dog rescued from the war zone in afghanistan. and later, we told you about a wave of detergent thefts in our area. now the crime i was shocked to find out how many couples don't sleep in the same bedroom. but in the sleep number store, we hear it all the time. nine out of ten couples disagree on the firmness they want in a mattress. i sleep on the couch. with our bed, the sleep number setting represents the firmness that you like on your half of the mattress. you can have it your way and i'll have it mine. so we save a lot of marriages. at our semi-annual sleep sale, save on our most popular bed sets. plus, free standard shipping but only through march 18th! only at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699. actress lindsay lohan may have driven herself right into some more trouble a man in los angeles claims lohan was attempting to make a u-turn when her porsche grazed his knee and she drove off. los angeles police say it happened outside a hookah shop around midnight. they say her car was surrounded by paparazzi at the time. police didn't take a hit and run report because they say there were no injuries or damage. lohan tweeted about the incident saying "this is all a complete lie." former illinois governor rod blagojevich is enjoying his last day of freedom before reporting to federal prison. he was convicted of trying to set u.s. senate seat he left vacant -- that was left vacant when barack obama became president. chris clackum has more on what blagojevich has been up to and how he plans to spend time before prison. >> reporter: just as he has been doing with neighbors recently, rod blagojevich will step outside his chicago home later today for one last word before heading to his next home, behind bars. at the federal prison near denver, colorado, the former illinois governor will become prisoner number 40892-424 for the next 14 years. that was blagojevich's sentence on federal corruption charges that he tried to sell the u.s. senate seat vacated by president obama. during two trials, blagojevich refused to apologize and maintained his innocence but the fbi had sigh cretly recorded him, frying trade the senate seat for a higher paying federal job, which former obama chief of staff and now chicago mayor rahm emanuel said would never happen. >> my thoughts are right now with patty and the kids. >> reporter: other than those meetings with the neighbors, blagojevich has mostly, of late, sec included with the family. >> incredibly close family and continuing to be close and spend all their time together. and they are really just loving each other and spending time together. >> reporter: a physical reminder of family is the only person a.m. item he will get to wear in prison, his wedding band. chris clackum, nbc news. actress charlize theron can add mom to her res may. the 36-year-old star adopted a baby boy. her public cyst released a statement saying she is proud mom of a baby boy, jackson. she won an oscar in 2003 for her portrayal of a serial killer in the movie "monster" and shield be back on the big screen in the upcoming "snow white & the huntsman". a new list of the best states for women is out and maryland is ranked number three. the list was released today by i val lan. the female-focused site placed connect number one, followed by hawaii. maryland beat out massachusetts and california to take third place. chief correspondent for ivillage.com, kelly wallace, broke down what factors were considered in this state analysis. number of businesses owned by women, median earnings, laws on the books. are there laws on their books for access for breast feeding, parental leave. also is there access to family planning and contraception? is the right to choose in a state's constitution? all of that was taken into account and we will, drumroll, in the days ahead reveal where virginia ranked, but fair to say, it did not come out in the top five, while maryland did. >> the other 45 states were also rank bud will be revealed five states at a time over the next ten days. d.c. was not included in this report. you can follow the rankings by visiting ivillage.com/50 states. not all of the victims in the fighting in afghanistan are human. an abused dog found in the war-torn country is getting a new lease on life in our area now, thanks to the compassion of american soldiers. jane watrel has the story. >> this is dog in its glory. >> reporter: if polybravo looks i like he is enjoying the good life, he is. this fun-loving puppy is enjoying his new home in alexandria after being rescued from the streets of afghanistan. >> several of the soldiers that had been out doing security patrols spotted a stray, a little stray white pup that was bleeding from the neck and just was winter. >> reporter: this shows polly fighting for an infection after a too-tight dog collar became embedded in his neck. caught in the chaos of war, american soldiers notified the afghan stray animal league, an arlington nonprofit that works to rescue dolls and cats. it helped arrange the 8-month-old's 8,000-mile journey. laurie green captured polly's arrival on her cell phone, touching down at reagan national airport shortly after noon on tuesday and into the arms of his owner. >> hey, beautiful. >> for a dog that's about through what he has been through, he came out of the crate, right up to emily and immediately bond and kissed her and he was just such a happy dog for what he's been through. >> reporter: now there's a whole new world to explore and people to meet. polly's first few hours here have been one of wonder. >> been fascinated by toys, running on the hardwood floors downstairs, fascinated with the grass and calf dough fills. >> reporter: he still has few more trips to the vet to heal the scars around his neck but his heart is 100% here, in america. in alexandria, jane watrel, news4. >> she kept the name polly, even though he was a boy, and added bravo because he was so brave. the items in your kitchen, we are being shown those items in a house wears show. we have an alert for dog owners, the feds need to you help them track dune what's help them track dune what's behind a series of 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 bold statement. you're saying breast cancer is not going to win. (woman) and it has to end, but it starts with us. it is the most rewarding experience i have ever had in my entire life. we can do this. you can do this. we can all do this together. (man) register today for the... because everyone deserves a lifetime. so she is back indoors. did you wash the pollen off or did you bring it into the studio? >> i brought it in here. >> i you noticed some itching. >> i brush it had off. dr. jackie would say that is not good enough. that was a great tip at the end. >> that is a good one. >> tend of the day, take a shower, get rid of the pollen. >> pillow cases, everything. >> exactly. well, i got a chance to give some kids some great advice today, all about weather. i really should have added talking about poll ton it, since it is crazy. i had them do their own weather presentation in front of the class. i picked all the kids that were the shyest. >> holy redeemer school. >> aren't they cute? >> great looking bunch. >> with. >> -- we talked about weather what to do in thunderstorms. great questions and left me with this, they know what to do in weather like this make sure you stay hydrated, like i had said, gave me this wonderful little mug, liquid doesn't spill into the weather computer. >> nice and cold. >> yeah. yeah. i'm going to be working on that there you go getting a shot of that so, we are talking about this pattern sticking around for a while. the only thing that's gonna help us is when we get these shots, a little bit of rain in here, relief from the pollen, but that is not going to help cherry blossoms in a couple of minutes, talk about the revised cherry blossom forecast, 80 degrees, winds gusting up to 20 miles per hour. mean while, other temperatures, hagerstown at 77. look at la plata, 80 degrees, too and look at fredericksburg, virginia, good afternoon to you, folks. 84 degrees right now, 82 in charlottesville. so, plenty warm all the way down through virginia and south of d.c., as i open it up, you can see not a cloud to be found in the sky, but tomorrow, different story. tomorrow, more clouds, and even the possibility of seeing a shower or thunderstorm across the area. so, we are talking about warmth for the evening, overnight period, 71 degrees at 7:00, sun sets at 7:15. the clear, starry sky. something glowing in the night sky, more on that that minute. midnight to 1:30, wall what nasa is going to be doing. beautiful evening though, we will continue with that southwest flow, warm conditions, sunshine across the area, here is where the showers and storms will be popping tomorrow. toll west i-81, right over the mountains, getting that lift, down across southern maryland, southern virginia, then we go quiet. then for friday afternoon, once again, a chance, a better chance, the best chance of seeing rain all week long, that is going to allow us to cool down a little bit by the weekend. so, pleasant evening, temperatures dropping from the upper 60s to the low 60s. for tomorrow morning, another great start, 50 to 57 degrees, lighter south-southwest wind. by tomorrow afternoon, we take to up to right around 80 degrees, 73, north and west. may warmth for sure across the area. here is a look at your four-day forecast, 83, 78 for friday, 75 for saturday and 70 for sunday. we get a little bit of a cool down this weekend but still running well above average. coming up in a couple of minutes, we will take a look at the extended forecast, again, a little bit more on what nasa is going to be doing and if you recognized pie day today. i have a little treat for you two. >> pie day? >> good, we like that an edible prop. >> think about it. pie day. we are hungry. >> 3.14. >> oh. that's what it s that explains t. >> what a tease. all right, veronica, thanks. if you wanted some cold weather, here is a look, a 25-year-old musher is now the youngest person to win the iditarod dog sled. that is up in alaska, of course. he lives in alaska. his team slid across the finish line in nome last night, the first to complete the race. >> he is a third generation racer, his father won the iditarod in 2004 and his grandfather is competing in this year's race. in addition to bragging rights, he gets $50,000 and a new truck. sounds good, huh? >> here we are in short sleeves today and they are all bundled up still. still ahead on news4 at four, cliffhanger ending at the desperate housewives trial in los angeles. welcome back at 4:30, everybody, i'm jim handly. >> i'm barbara harrison. because of the mild weather, the national park services is revising its cherry blossom forecast, the trees along the tidal basin and mall will bloom earlier than predicted. by march 18th is what they are saying and they will be at their peak bloom between march 20th and the 23rd. that means the blooms will be there when the cherry blossom festival opens but though probably won't last until it's over. 100 brand-new slot machines arrive at the maryland live casino today. the casino at the aroundel mills mall will feature 4700 state-of-the-art slot machines and electronic table games. the casino is expected to open this june with the second phase to come in the fall. latest gas prices show the price at the pump is above the $4 mark for the second day in a row. at least here in the district. according to aaa, the average have 4.01 and even jumped a fraction of a penny overnight. maryland's average is at 3.82 a gallon, virginia, 3.71. both averages up a penny overnight. coming off yesterday's hot day, stocks ended on a flat note today, the dow gaining just 16 points, the nasdaq picking up about a single point. the s & p 500 wound up one point lower. closing arguments under way in los angeles at the desperate housewives wrongful termination case brought by one of the show's former actresses. the final day of testimony had as many plot twist as one of the show's episodes and craig melvin reports, it even had a cliffhanger. >> why did you have to do this? >> reporter: surprise and suspense were once the staples of "desperate housewives." what happened in court tuesday could have easily been one of the show's season-ending shockers. >> it was a bombshell in the sense that nobody saw it coming. >> reporter: first, a mystery witness was revealed. we learned it was long-time staffer michael reinhardt who left a voicemail for nicolette sheridan's attorney over the weekend. >> i received an e-mail soon after nicolette filed suit. it regarded having it come in and wipe clean the hard drives of the producers in response to the correspondence they have had e-mail-wise about firing nicolette. >> reporter: reinhardt is the man who helped build the show's colorfully suburban set and has been with the show since the beginning. he says he came forward to get the truth out. sheridan's lawyers had hoped his testimony would help prove her character, edie brit, was killed off when she complained executive producer mark cherry hit her in the head. but a hollywood reporter inside the courtroom said it did not go well. >> ultimately, he was not that credible and even he couldn't be sure exactly what he read, couldn't be sure who it was sent to, didn't have a copy of it he had very little detail. >> reporter: then 48-year-old sheridan took the stand and gave a brief version of what happened on the set in september 2008. in a trim bling voice, she said, "he was dismiss sive and he hit me." but shortly after her testimony, the judge threw out the battery complaint genschagains against g there was not enough evidence. >> i'm thrilled by the judge's decision but i'm going to withhold commentary on this matter until the entire case is revolve bud i'm going to lunch now and i'm a very happy man. >> reporter: judge did not toss the wrongful termination claim against the show. sheridan's lawyers insist that was their main focus all along. >> the case is about being fired for being hit and complaining about it at work, which is worth $5.7 million that's what it's b. >> reporter: on wisteria lane, nicolette sheridan found herself battling teri hatcher, felicity huffman and eva longoria n this cliffhanger, it is abc and touchstone. >> and abc and touchstone disvib by the butte and air the show and say they conducted a full investigation and found that nicolette sheridan has not been mistreated or had not been. sheridan's lawyers are going to continue looking at the computer hard drives and if they find something, the judge says she could stop those closing arguments. george clooney used his hollywood celebrity to draw attention today to the humanitarian crisis in the sudsen. the actor and others went up to capitol hill this morning to testify at a senate foreign relations committee hearing. clooney described the horrors he witnessed firsthand during a recent trip to the region. he said military planes regularly dropped bombs on villages there he met a 9-year-old boy who had his hands blown off. >> there is a long list of things we can do that won't cost lives or much money. there are two two sides to these core issues. we can't give the lives back. we can't replace that young boy's hands. we can put an end to it if we work together as a nation and international community and it can start here. >> clooney said the u.s. should track down and prosecute war criminals the same way it does terrorists. we first brought you this story here on news4, tide laundry detergent becoming a hot black market commodity for crooks. turns out this isn't the only area where retailers can't keep it on store shelves. now, more on what stores are doing to stem the rising theft of tide. >> reporter: it has been on store shelves for 60 years, a laundry detergent with over 2.7 million facebook likes. >> it has been around for a while, so don't need to think about it too much anymore. >> reporter: christian buys tide but others are out to steal it, from minneapolis, st. paul to mission viejo in orange county that orange bottle is liquid gold to criminals. >> are you serious? >> reporter: check thought surveillance video from a maryland supermarket earthquake the suspect loads his cart with 15 to 20 bottles of tide and takes off out of the store to an awaiting getaway car. 40 minutes later, his acomp police is seep selling the load to a nail salon. why tide? it is popular and can be pricey. >> i use a cheaper brand. >> reporter: with this crime wave, retailers like cvr are considering special security measures to keep tide tied down. >> police say they believe it is popular to trade the deofficer iter gent for drugs. when we come back on news4 at 4:00, our app of the day is perfect for anyone who likes to take pictures. a millionaire on trial for manslaughter turns the tables on prosecutors, now claiming he is the victim. people! look at you! texting...blogging... all this technology, but you're still banking like pilgrims! get high yield free checking at capital one bank. why earn bupkis, when your checking could earn five times the national average!! and free atms anywhere. five times the national average!!! that's new school banking. sign up for high yield free checking at a capital one bank. what's in your wallet? somebody help me down. are you ready to take your cell phone picture taking to a whole new level? >> who doesn't love this? everybody -- i got a brand new razr here, i took this wonderful, artistic picture of wendying reer in the newsroom there she is now, on my razr. this happens to to be our app of the day. wendy has more about this whole cool new feature you have got on this app. what is this about? >> this is called camera awesome. we put up this lovely picture of pat muse. you can make it awesome. look at this you can pick any number of these presets, that's called roman holiday. this is called more cowbell, added a real richness to it. you can do something, you know, old-fashioned black and white. look how it really changes the color of her shirt. suspect that interesting? you can kind of give it sort of a old-fashioned buried treasure, it's called. then hit on the filters, the filters can really crisp it out, give it a seep ya tone. you can resize it. you can send it out and post it and stuff. filters, you can add texture to t textures are kind of interest. cancel that one. this is great on your iphone and you can -- when you take the picture of someone, you can then fix it up and make it awesome. camera awesome. you can download our app for free. search nbc washington on itunes and you will get it. >> that is really -- >> suspect that cool when news4 at four returns, the next generation of kitchen convenience being shown off at the annual house wears show. i think we are ready to party here. >> sweet tooth. >> pie day. >> yum yum. >> look at this it is pie day. why is it pie day? if you are in engineering, science, you know, it is 3.14, march 14th. and interesting that for pie day that we have a pie that is round. pie, 3.14 approximately, a much larger number, but it is used to represent the ratio between the circum friends and the diameter of a circle. >> tell us about what is this? >> brothers, too, mine drove me crazy. move on, we have a lot to talk about. you heard us mention that the blossoms would be peaking early you march 20th to the 23rd. that means that 70% of the blossoms will be in peak by that time. with any wind or anything, certainly not going to hold on until the end of the festival, talk about that blooming period right up until, or at least 14 days. the other thing we are talking about is this launch that nasa is doing, means between midnight and 1:30 in the morning, i don't know if you are going to be out, someone that works that shift, the nasa facility, what they are going to be doing is launching five rockets at wallops islands that is going to be to help understand the jetstream, jetstream 60 to 65 miles up, they are going to be releasing a chemical from the rockets into the jetstream, milky white and telling me that you should be able to notice it as far south as the south carolina border and as far north as new hampshire. so, hey, we didn't get to see the northern lights, right? so maybe we will get to see the milky white streaks in the night sky, maybe someone out there will take a picture for me and send it in. we will certainly put it on. 80 your warmth, winds gusting up to 20 miles per hour, breezy out there so the wind settles down, you know what, that warmth is going to stay around the area. 65 at midnight, then upper 50s inside the beltway tomorrow morning, as far as your forecast goes, next couple of day 83 tomorrow, second warmest out of the workweek. storms for friday, mainly during the afternoon, looking pretty likely, 60% chance. weekend cooler at 75 and 70 degrees, no rain for the weekend. rain returns on tuesday, so will those high temperatures, back up to 80 degrees wednesday of next week. you just took the whole plate. you are not going to share. >> don't you worry about that we will take care of it. >> if you solve this equation i give you, you can have one. >> make my brain work for this? i'm already in a sugar coma. >> sure smells good. if your idea of fun is to spend time browsing in bed, bath and beyond, there is an event for you u. >> yeah, it is the home and housewares show in chicago, where hundreds of new getting ans are demonstrated every year. the 2012 show just ended. lee ann trotter has the highlights. >> this is the insulated to go food container. >> reporter: gone are the days of sack lunches. this new adult lunch collection from alladin makes it easier to bring leftovers and salads to work. >> you can squish your greens down taking them to go, when you're ready to eat your sal late, you can pop it open like this and the bowl is 72 ounces so it is big enough to toss all of your greens together and tonight make a mess all over your deck. >> reporter: wanna add avocado this three in one avocado slice from xo gets the job done in seconds. >> just scoop the fruit out. >> reporter: staying fit and healthy is getting a lot easier and less expensive thanks to home health appliances like the slow juicer. >> it is the slow juicer that is proven in labs to provide more juice, more value and more nutrition. >> reporter: but if you prefer a smoothie in the morning, hamilton beach's new blender takes fruit in a whole new direction. >> it is called wave action t actually changes the direction. everything gets pulled down into the blade so it creates smooth results every time. >> reporter: after all that cooking comes the cleaning. starting in the kitchen with the new itouchless drying rack. >> you turn it on, there is a hot warm air coming out from this. >> reporter: a quick fix in the family room, rubbermaid's ben ta line means no more having to find storage space for your storage bins. the lids act as either a lid or a tray. >> reporter: and it is even getting easier to help your kids clean, at least their hands, with the help of soap time. >> the base recognizes which bottle is being played and is going to entertain with a light show, songs and facts. >> reporter: lee ann trotter, nbc news. >> i want the avocado cutter. did you see that? >> cool stuff. >> a bump of things. >> blender looks good, too. both of them. on news4 at four, something is making dogs ill around the country. >> and the government needs pet owners to help them track down the source. i'm wendy rearing, on news4 at 5:00, he was convicted of killing a 74-year-old woman. the man spent 12 years in prizesprizson now free tonight. yes, let's do this. >> a local math teacher's unusual lesson plan. and then at 6:00, caught on tape, a guy uses pepper spray while robbing a store it is a sign of the times, soon, you won't be able to find new ver eggs of encyclopedia britannia in homes or bookshelves. it is no longer printing editions of its reference book. >> it was first published in 1768 in scotland. it is considered the oldest english language encyclopedia t will keep running out of editions until it runs out of the current stock of 4,000 books. online versions will still be available. barbara, we remember this. this was the updated, the condensed version you would get every year. >> we have about 24 -- >> the whole set alphabetized, took up a whole bookcase. >> all that information is right in here. >> right in there >> which makes more sense, huh? >> i don't know. >> that kind of mix. >> i would toss this out the door it is like 16 pounds, doesn't fly well. the government needs dog owners to help figure out what's been sickening hundreds of pets. health experts tell us more than 600 dogs have come down with a mysterious illness, possibly tied to chicken jerky pet treats. at least three popular brands of treats may be associated with kidney failure and other problems. wagon train, canyon creek ranch and my low's kitchen home style treats are all named in the complaints. most of those treats are made in china. the fda says they need pet owners to submit complaints and samples of street treats to help them try to solve these cases. and still ahead on news4, a tactical turnaround at the drunk driving trial of a millionaires a sudden twist today in the manslaughter trial of a millionaire in florida. john goodman is charged in the accident that ended in the death of a 22-year-old man. the case has received a lot of attention because the defendant adopted his girlfriend to protect some of his riches. and as mark potter reports, goodman now claims he is actually a victim. >> the case of the state of florida versus john goodman. >> reporter: john goodman is charged with dui manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident in which 23-year-old scott wilson was killed by drowning in a canal. in her opening statement to the jury, prosecutor ellen robert said right after speeding through a stop sign and crashing his bentley into willson's car, goodman left the victim to die. >> he hit scott wilson, pushed that hyundai across the street, through the dirt and it rolled into the canal upside down. scott wilson didn't die from blunt trauma. he drowned. and what did the defendant do? he walked away. >> reporter: the prosecution says goodman who ounce the international polo club in wellington, florida, had been partying and drinking with friends before getting in his car. >> three hours after this crash, the defendant's bac was point.1 twice the legal limit. >> reporter: but defense attorney roy black had another explanati explanation, the bentley malfunctioned and roared out of control through the stop sign. >> all of a sudden, the car surges forward. you see him trying to control this enormously powerful car. unbeknownst to john goodman, the throttles that run the fuel into the engine are not working properly. >> reporter: at the time of the incident, goodman was not drunk and only drank heavily after leaving the incident scene to find a phone because his cell phone was dead. >> for the next hour, the only pain relief he was able to find comes from a bottle of alcohol. >> reporter: black says goodman did not abandon wilson because in the dark, he didn't know he had been pushed into the canal and he says before calling 911, goodman called his girlfriend, heather hutchins, because he was delirious from the accident and hers was the only number he could remember. last year, goodman adopted the 42-year-old hutches to protect some of his wealth. >> it has been reported that goodman and the victim's family reached an undies closed monetary settlement in the civil case though none of the attorneys is talking about that. if convicted in the criminal case, goodman could see 30 years in prison. and that's news4 at four. news4 at five starts right now. he was convicted of killing a 74-year-old woman. tonight, michael hash is out of prison a freeman. good evening, i'm barbara harrison in for jim handly. news4's chris gorden has the story from culpepper, virginia. >> reporter: michael hash arrived in handcuffs and shackles, seeking his release from prison after serving 12 years for the murder of 74-year-old thelma trackens, he was convicted in 2001 but weeks ago, a federal court judge vacated his murder conviction, citing misconduct by the prosecutor and police. after a brief hearing, hash was ordered released on conditions that he doesn't leave virginia, that he resides with his parents, reports to a caseworker weekly and posted a $10,000 bond. his restraints were removed and he was transported back to be ale natural county where he will be released. lawyers with the mid-atlantic innocence project worked for years to get hash released from prison. >> we are very happy that mike's going to be home with his family tonight and we are really looking forward to working with the special prosecutor as he decides whether or not he is going to retry the case. >> reporter: michael hash will return here to the culpepper county courthouse for another hearing on april 16th, but the