calling you an organized crime figure. >> is he? >> reporter: yes, he said you were -- as an organized criminal. >> i see. >> reporter: mayor gray, who denies any wrongdoing, declined on monday to respond to brown's latest accusation. but gray on sunday called for an investigation by the city attorney general and the d.c. council. the council has since sent the matter to the independent inspector general, charles will bee. >> we indicated yesterday we were fine with wherever it was referred. we suggested the inspector general. >> reporter: council member mary shea who oversees the mayor's office says this is demoralizing and she wants answers quickly. >> what we need is a prompt, effective look at this by a neutral, independent entity. and is that would be the inspector general. let's clear the air. this fellow is making even more outrageous charges every day. >> reporter: but others say the federal u.s. attorney needs to investigate this scandal. >> all of these allegations are very troubling, and so what i recommended is that the mayor call upon the u.s. attorney to do a very thorough investigation, quickly. and get to the bottom of this. >> reporter: the u.s. attorney's office on monday told news4, the u.s. attorney's office takes any allegation of corruption very seriously. gray's advisers are glad the mayor and not someone else was first to call for an investigation. now we'll see what it all leads to. >> tom, what a distraction. how long might this investigation take? >> it could be months. we could have the attorney general looking at this, the inspector general, the u.s. attorney could be looking at this. it could be months. but, you know, if somebody would get in there and start putting people under oath, jack evans would say put them under oath and see what they say. >> yeah. all right, tom sherwood in front of on it. thank you, tom. police in prince george's county are investigating after a shooting involving one of their officers. it happened just after 2:30 this afternoon in the 1800 block of ray leonard road in palmer park, maryland. police say they were responding to 911 calls about a man waving a gun at a teenager on the corner. they say when they arrived they ordered him to drop the gun, but the suspect allegedly started pointing it at the officers. the man was shot and taken to a hospital. there is no word on his condition. he has not been identified. the man identified as the east coast rapist is being held on a $1.5 million bond tonight. aaron thomas appeared in court in connecticut this morning, where he asked authorities what took them so long to track him down. julie carey has more on what finally brought this 14-year manhunt to an end. >> the alleged east coast rapist now has a name. aaron thomas. and in his first connecticut court appearance, prosecutors described a doctor jekyl and mr. hyde personality when it came to women. as thomas faced the charges against him, the task force that brought the alleged serial rapist to justice met at the prince william county police headquarters to talk about how the elusive predator was finally identified. >> it was a week when the predator became the prey. >> reporter: for 14 years, the truck driver's path of terror covered 400 miles, with 12 attacks on 17 victims. in maryland, virginia, connecticut and rhode island. then on february 25th, a special website was launched with the fbi's help. that and the electronic billboards flushed out the crucial tip. it came from someone who called the crime solver's number saying they had first-hand knowledge about the case and said thomas had taken credit for the first known attack in forestville, maryland back in 1997. >> we always suspected a tip would lead us to a successful conclusion. >> reporter: aaron thomas was already on a short list of potential suspects, in part because of a 2003 assault conviction in virginia and a 1992 d.c. drug case. once the tip came in, police acted quickly, putting thomas under surveillance in new haven, connecticut, where he lived with his girlfriend and 5-year-old son. they retrieved a cigarette he discarded, matched its dna from the evidence at the rapes and made their arrest. fairfax county detective john kelly got to give the victims the good news. >> there was significant outburst of emotions, and as we recognize, these are lifelong pain and injury here. and they're just extremely happy now that we're going to have accountability. >> reporter: while it's likely thomas will be prosecuted first in connecticut, prince william county commonwealth's attorney tom ebert is ready to charge him on charges that could carry a life term. >> anybody worse might be the d.c. snipers. but other than that, i don't think anybody is worse. >> reporter: in prince william county, julie carey, news4. investigators are convinced there are more victims who have not yet come forward. they are reactivating the website with the hope that others who encountered aaron thomas will get in touch. a powerful and deadly storm swept through the south, and a surveillance camera captured the moment a tornado hit louisiana. take a look. it happened saturday in the small town of rayne. store employees were standing at the front door only seconds before the power was knocked out and the door was blown wide open. one person was killed, 150 homes were also damaged. a winter storm buried parts of new york once again by 5:00 this morning, some parts of the syracuse area already had a couple of feet of the white stuff. schools all across central new york closed because of the conditions. this is the fourth snowiest winter on record for syracuse. the weather around here was pretty wild, too. some people in montgomery county saw rain to light snow in the rockville area. and in oaksville, virginia, rising waters caught at least one driver off guard. meteorologist veronica johnson joins us with a look at the conditions. >> hey, dorene. yeah, this was one wild storm, for sure. areas picked up close to 3 inches of rain up to the north. frederick county, maryland, down no into loudoun county. you can see the amounts right there. 2.83 inches over the last 48 hours. just one reason why the river is over flood stage right now. should be dropping below flood stage later tonight. mean wilg, of course, there was snow in the northern and western suburbs. we've got another weather system that's going to be coming in this week, but i think that the cold air will not be fast enough to catch up to the moisture that will be leaving out. we're going to talk about that storm in just a couple of minutes. our temperatures right now outside, they're in the 40s. it's going to be a cold night. we could see some more black ice over parts of the area. we'll have more coming up. thanks, veronica. gas prices have jumped at least 40 cents in the past month, according to the american automobile association. the average price for a gallon of gas in d.c. is now up to $3.62. maryland drivers are paying about $3.48 a gallon, and in virginia, you get off a little better. $3.41 for a gallon of regular unleaded gas. the rising gas prices are adding to the pressure on president obama to take action to address the crisis in libya. and today, arab nations pressured the president to set up a no-fly zone over libya. but the president applied some pressure of his own today. steve handelsman is live up on the hill now with more on that part of the story. steve? >> reporter: jim, thanks. good evening. president obama today is not rushing to send in american jets or to sell u.s. petroleum reserves. but he didn't hesitate today to warn the men who were keeping moammar gadhafi in power. concerned about escalating warfare in libya, and more air attacks against libyan civilians in what looks like a military comeback by moammar gadhafi. president obama reminded libyan generals they could be tried for war crimes. >> i want to send a very clear message to those who are around colonel gadhafi. it is their choice to make how they operate moving forward. and they will be held accountable. >> reporter: mr. obama faces two choices. does he set up a no-fly zone over libya to ground gadhafi's jets? arab states today said do it. but team obama is cautious. >> any action should be the result of an international sanction. >> reporter: do something to help now, argued a bush administration veteran. >> and you could provide covertly anti aircraft and anti tank weapons to the rebels, so they can impose their own no-fly zone. >> reporter: obama choice number two. with gasoline prices averaging $3.50 a gallon and rising, crude oil prices today touching $1.18 a barrel, because libya has stopped selling oil. should the president sell some of our emergency stash? the 726 million barrel u.s. strategic petroleum reserve, stored on the gulf coast? oil analyst dan weise says do it, when gas hits $4. >> at that point, we'll be inflicting real pain on middle american and low-income families. >> reporter: that points could be days away, as the libyan crisis drags into week four. but no decision yet by the obama administration on the oil reserve or the no-fly zone. and no sense that in the white house they feel they're in a rush. i'm steve handelsman, news4. jim and dorene, back to you. >> all right, steve, thank you. concerns over oil prices got the week off to a rough start on wall street. the dow dropped 79 points today to finish at 12,090. the nasdaq was off 39 points to end at 2745. and the s&p 500 off 11 points to close at 1310. when we come right back tonight on news4 at 6:00, sounding the alarm. one of the world's most active volcanos is rumbling again. police are investigating a man in connection with the disappearance of a pregnant mother, and he's not her husband. learn how the driver of a duck boat tour was distracted the day of a deadly crash. the family of the longest surviving world war i veteran is in a battle with lawmakers over how he should be honored. and hakem, what's happening in sports? >> in sports, a george washington professor gets his money's worth a colonial's basketball game. the capitals need overtime in florida. and why the iron was so unkind ♪ [ male announcer ] new inventory. ♪ new equipment. new trucks. new hires. ♪ new space. ♪ new markets. achievement seizes new opportunity. ♪ go to pnc.com/cfo to see how we can help your cashflow situation. pnc. for the achiever in us all. secrets about the life of a missing pregnant woman have investigators tonight on a new course. bethany dekker's family said there were no problems in her marriage. but court documents reveal that she's been involved with another man. john schriffen has the latest now from loudoun county, where the search continues. >> she's my oldest, and we all love her dearly, and it's so hard not knowing anything and not being able to reach her. >> reporter: last week, the family of 21-year-old bethany dekker made an emotional plea to the public to help find their daughter. the george mason university student, who has a young son, and is also five months pregnant, has been missing for more than a month. authorities originally said her husband, he meal dekker was the last person to see her alive. but according to these court documents obtained from a search warrant, it was another man. the documents say bethany had a boyfriend named ronald rodldan not only lived her, but was pregnant with his child. roldan admitted to being the last person to see her alive. but he also made conflicting statements to when he first noticed bethany's car still parked outside her apartment complex in ashburn. the court documents also say the family knew about the other man, who was described as controlling and abusive by dekker to her family and friends prior to her disappearance. >> he live in here. >> reporter: and he lives here with his mother? >> yes. >> reporter: and he's been living here about a month now? >> yeah. >> reporter: okay. how long has the mom lived with you? >> around two years. >> this woman says she lives with roldan and his mother in this house c. she checked and said he wasn't home when we came back. last week authorities combed through the house for any evidence that could help find the missing woman. while the loudoun county sheriff's office would not comment about what, if anything, was found, they said at this point, there are no official suspects, just people of interest. so what is the missing woman's family saying about this new development? well, through a spokesperson, they say they are not going to make a comment, because they do not wish to interfere with the investigation. meanwhile, authorities say there is still hope of finding bethany dekker alive. however, since her disappearance, there's been no activity in her bank accounts or phone records. in ashburn, john sliver schriffen, news4. loudoun county authorities are still working with u.s. military officials, trying to bring dekker's husband back home so they can question him face-to-face. dorene? a tug boat pilot was distracted and on his cell phone the day a barge crashed, killing two tourists last summer. the accident happened last july on the delaware river in philadelphia. two hungarian tourists were killed when the barge being pushed by the tug boat collided with the disabled duck boat. today a national transportation safety board report was released. it found that the pilot of the tug boat had just received news earlier that day about a medical emergency involving his son. and was likely preoccupied. some family and friends of the nation's last world war i veteran are critical of the way the nation will honor his memory. frank buckles died last week at his home in west virginia. he was 110 years old. he lived longer than any other veteran of the first world war. buckles' daughter says he wanted to lie in honor at the capitol rotunda as a tribute to the millions of americans who served in world war i. but house and senate leaders have indicated they believe a more fitting setting for his memorial would be the amphitheater at arlington cemetery. >> over the weekend, frank has grown through the social media sites to not only represent the world war i veterans, but all veterans of the united states. this is about honor for what frank buckles represents. >> the effort appears to have stalled for now, but some west virginia lawmakers are hoping that there will be action in the coming days. president obama has ordered all government facilities to fly the flag at half staff the day corporal buckles is buried. some students in arlington had a history class today they'll never forget. president obama stopped by wakefield high school today, with australian prime minister julia gillard. they recognized teacher collette fraley, named virginia's teacher of the year. the president got in a few digs and some laughs for cracking a joke at the president corps. he said farley left her job as a journalist to become a teacher, because she wanted to do something useful with her career. ouch. >> yeah. well, good thing she didn't go into politics, then, right? >> exactly. then there's that. still ahead on news4, the final homecoming. the "discovery" space shuttle crew left some things behind at the international space station. >> a popular peanut butter brand being pulled off the shelves tonight. and another big storm is brewing. you read wow, look at this. spewing up to 80 feet high from one of the world's most active volcan volcanos. the kilauea volcano putting on quite a light show. experts say the crater on the eastern side of the volcano collapsed, unleashing a torrent of steam and lava. geologists say there are indications there could be more eruptions coming. kilauea has been consistently erupting since 1983. the u.s. geological survey has a web cam of the volcano, and you can find a link on nbcwashington.com. you should search the ward volcano. >> impressive. the shuttle "discovery" is headed home for the final time tonight. the shuttle undocked from the international space station this morning and spent the last nine days at the station. astronauts left behind a new and improved storage center. supplies, and humanoid robot. the schultz is expected to return to earth on wednesday and then "discovery" will be retired and sent to a museum. >> wow. >> a retirement home, right? >> and who can't use more storage space, right? >> exactly. you've always got -- >> people on the space station. >> that would be neat to see. >> it would be. fascinating to see it in person. so after a rainy, awful sunday -- >> right. >> kind of beautiful today. >> beautiful today. the wind kind of crazy this morning. but beautiful today. not so good, though, in other parts of the country, because we got the heavy rain here. other parts of the country, still had snow on the ground. so when the snow melted and the rain came, this is what happened. and this is not a good thing. up in western connecticut, this is the south berry area. heavy rain, snow melt in the western parts of the state. so it really reached homes and swallowed up cars, rescuers had to get to people with front-end loaders and rescue them from their water-soaked houses and, in fact, the people who live there say this is the highest water that they have seen in decades there. all right. let's head on over and talk about the next weather system that's going to be moving through the country. i think it could be a bigger storm than this last storm over the weekend. high temperature today, 48 degrees. and that was at 4:00 today. the low, 33. so under the average. but the next couple days probably some seasonal temperatures coming our way. and your precipitation for the month, hey, we're over that by a little bit more than a half inch for the year, we're down by three quarters. but again, with another system coming in this week, we could easily erase that deficit. 44 degrees, the current temperature. our wind now just at 9 miles per hour. it's out of the north, some dry air for the area right now. here's a look at the temperatures this morning. easy to see why those locations north and west had some very icy conditions. most spots to the north and west, loudoun county, up through frederick, were below freezing this morning and this time of year when there is more moisture in the air and it's cold enough, it doesn't take much to squeeze out some snow, either. and that's exactly what happened. this is where it still is on the ground. western portions of the state of maryland and most of eastern west virginia. on top of that, we still have snow through the midwest and over into the northern rockies. and that's where there's a new system already getting its act together. this system will be making its way eastward. you can see already some snow, and that's where the cold air is. chicago at 33. of denver at 25 degrees right now. and look at the south. in the 60s and 70s. new orleans, dallas, 60 and 64 degrees. currently. so it's what's going to happen is, we're going to have a clash of air masses again. warm, moist air moving one way. the cold air another. a very active jet stream. so there will be more snow, 6 to 12 inches to the north. more severe weather to the south. tuesday to wednesday and thursday, it's heavy rain for us. so there may be some airport delays, atlanta to dallas. airport delays, too, chicago to denver, but for different reasons coming up this week. the next 48 hours here, we've got high pressure over us. so again, pretty calm, light wind for tomorrow morning. some high clouds through the day tomorrow. then we'll be on the other side and have more of a southerly wind so, in fact, we're going to start warming up. as we go through wednesday, we'll see more clouds moving in. but i think the rain is going to hold off until we get to late wednesday evening. wednesday night and then through the day on thursday. but with this much moisture coming in, for thursday morning, we could be looking at some fog, and i think temperatures thursday early that will be pretty mild in the mid 40s to start the day on thursday. for us this evening, 46 to 36. again, wind that's easing down, a nice, clear sky. then a pretty cold start to the day again tomorrow with a big range in temperatures from 21 to 32 degrees. partly cloudy sky through the day. that's about it. it's going to be fairly nice tomorrow. seasonal, calm, dry. 46 to 52. a look at your four-day forecast. there we go. rain, only a slight chance late wednesday. but look at thursday. from 45 to 54, and may even have a thunderstorm coming through the area on thursday, too. and then friday, will be kind of like today, back to blustery and chilly. so as far as the weekend goes, again, daylight saving time. back to that, and we'll take a look at the forecast in a few. >> okay. thanks, veronica. still coming up, security changes are being made after a new spike in violence on a local high school campus. there's a new bag tax in the works tonight and it's not just for stores that sell food. and a traffic nightmare could be only months away along some of the busiest roads in our region. plus, accusations that the numbers just don't add up for a university president here who says he has to travel to do his job. coming up in sports, virginia commonwealth trips up george mason again. two overtime periods not enough for the american university eagles. but 48 seconds of overtime for but 48 seconds of overtime for the capitals is all they need. somewhere in america, a city comes to life. it moves effortlessly, breathes easily. it flows with clean water. it makes its skyline greener and its population healthier. all to become the kind of city people want to live and work in. somewhere in america, we've already answered some of the nation's toughest questions. and the over sixty thousand people of siemens are ready to do it again. siemens. answers. police in prince gorges county are now investigating a deadly police shooting. it happened just after 2:30 this afternoon in the 1800 block of ray leonard road in palmer park where the police headquarters is. police say they were responding to 911 calls of a man waving a gun at a teenager on the corner. the suspect allegedly pointed the gun toward officers. the man was shot and he later died at the hospital. today president obama warned moammar gadhafi and his generals they will be held accountable for war crimes. he also said the u.s. and nato are still considering possible responses that could include military action. the search continues tonight for a pregnant ashburn, virginia woman. court documents say bethany dekker's boyfriend, ronald roldan was the last to see her alive back in january. dekker's husband is currently serving in afghanistan. changes are coming to a prince george's county high school after a food fight there turned into a brawl. >> parents say that incident is more evidence that high point high school in beltsville is out of control. but pat collins says officials aren't taking action. >> reporter: a heavy police presents at high point high school. this, after an incident last week, when a food fight turned into a brawl that led to the arrest of six students. are things out of control at high point high school? >> i think they are. i truly think they are. >> reporter: meet now linda grenados, the head of the high point booster club, a member of the ptsa. and she says fighting at high point can be an everyday occurrence. there are numerous fights throughout the day at high point. my gosh, i mean, we can have three to six fights on one day. but this is daily. >> reporter: so how bad is the truancy problem here? linda de escanada says there are some students who ride the school bus to high point, get off the bus, but instead of going into the building, they go out in the neighborhood. at the end of the school day, she says, they come back to the school, get on the bus, and then head home. are kids in control here? >> i truly believe the kids have been in control at this school for the last couple months. >> reporter: tonight, a new action plan at high point high school to lay down the law. monica goalson is the assistant superintendent. >> we have added additional security and an assistant principal to the school that will start this week. we met with the staff after school today to review policies and procedures and make some changes. we're going from three lunches to four lunches. security will be outside, 20 to 30 minutes prior to dismissal to make sure students are not coming back on school property. >> reporter: things are tightening up at high point. >> definitely, they're tightening up. >> reporter: so attention, high point high school students. get on your best behavior. or else. i'm pat collins. news4, prince george's county. letters about the changes are going home tonight with high school parents at high point. the parent-teacher association is planning a meeting for tomorrow night. a teenager from montgomery county was killed in an early-morning car crash in germantown. 18-year-old kristen merger died after her car crossed the double yellow line and hit an on coming car. it happened at brinks road and route 27. she is a graduate of damascus high school. she was home from college on spring break. investigators are looking at whether icy roads might have played a role in that accident. the other person in the crash was not seriously hurt. paper or plastic? montgomery county is one step closer tonight to joing the district in creating a bag tax. county exec ike legit introduced a proposal to add a five cent fee for all stores. that goes further than stores selling food. he says it would reduce waste on county roads and waterways and encourage people to bring reusable bags. >> we know that this for some is a transition. but i believe that this is the future, both for our environment, for our quality of life, and what we represent as a community. >> the measure now goes before the county council. if it's okayed, legit said it would raise more than $1 million for litter cleanup in just the first year. the maryland lottery says the state's two casinos are cashing in. officials say the casinos generated $12.2 million last month. that's up you from 10. million in january. the lottery says february's figure brings the fiscal year total for both facilities to $50.5 million. there was a showdown today between students and the president of the university of the district of columbia. the controversy is over travel expenses. as derrick ward reports, the university's president is speaking out now, even as students demand his resignation. >> reporter: it's a pivotal time for the university of the district of columbia. >> the university is moving really forward, really fast. >> reporter: a new community college just opened, and there are campuses in if egypt and england. but travel, trips over the last two years to those campuses and others have brought criticism. some of it from students who protested at the campus today, seeking the president's resignation. so far, as travel to egypt and england are concerned, sessam says the egyptians insisted he come, and england was on the way back. but first-class travel was more troubling. he says he needs the extra room because of circulatory problems in his legs. issues have also been raised about luxury suites at hotels. >> i don't -- i don't know what the hotel costs. to be perfectly frank, i don't make my travel arrangements. my office does the travel arrangements. they make the arrangements. i don't know what they did. we can look at that. >> reporter: he says he's called for an internal audit on expenses. wrc 4 request found the purchase of a lincoln navigateter. >> my employment contract says we'll give you $60,000 to buy a car, so i bought a car, paying taxes on it, paying insurance myself. and i use it almost exclusively for university business, because there is nothing else around here. running back and forth to meetings, taking my colleagues around to meetings, we spend a lot of time on capitol hill, just because congress is so important to us. >> reporter: he admits that record keeping has been problematic, but he says he's working on that, as well. >> i myself requested an internal audit, which is going to go and just show that receipts and the numbers. and that's fine. because everything i do is receipted. everything. >> reporter: now, the president's explanation still weren't enough to assuage the concerns of some students protesting here. and they say their next move is a civil lawsuit to try to get him out of office. at the university of the district of columbia, derrick ward, news4. the d.c. council is also looking at udc spending. protest organizers say they will present hundreds of signatures from students supporting their cause. coming up, fellow tennis fans were in for a treat. wimbledon is doing something it's never done before. of. and we've got some simple tips that could help your welcome back. we've got a nice monday evening out there right now. it's dry, 44 degrees, the temperature. light wind out of the north now at 9 miles per hour. we're going to be dry tonight, we're going to be dry tomorrow. and even most of wednesday. but not all of wednesday. 31 to 32 will start the day tomorrow, below freezing most spots. most neighborhoods. and then a high tomorrow around 50 degrees. there will be some clouds moving through, and then more clouds coming in late wednesday. look for rain wednesday night, and look for some pockets of heavy rain through the day thursday. this next weather system could be bigger than the last, bringing more than an inch of rain. and then we're going to be brisk and blustery for friday, and could have another brief shower coming through our area saturday, but saturday, the weekend coming up, doesn't look anything like this past weekend. dorene, jim? >> thanks, veronica. tennis fans who can't make it to wimbledon this year can still feel like they're right in the middle of the action. this year, the final four men's and women's matches will be broadcast in 3-d at movie theatres around the world. that makes tennis the latest sporting event to enter the 3-d realm. soccer fans got a chance to watch the approximate 3-d version of the world cup. it's part of the million million partnership with sony. that could be fun. >> yeah, pretty cool. >> i can't wait to see that. the ball coming at you. >> yeah. big screen. >> that would be pretty good. we're going to be talking college hoops, our college basketball teams. the capitals back on top. and why no amount of money could ♪ [ male announcer ] america's beverage companies are working together to put more information right up front. adding new calorie labels to every single can, bottle and pack they produce. so you can make the choice that's right for you. ♪ tough monday for our neighbors. au, what a loss for the eagles. a nail-biter in the end. >> jim and dorene, march madness is already beginning. we have it already. we have selection sunday coming up this week. so a lot of teams watching and waiting in the area. and you know what happens in the month of march in college basketball evokes a bucketful of emotions. you have joy, anger and maybe the worst feeling of all, heartbreak. american university is feeling that after losing in double overtime to lafayette last night in the semi finals of the patriot league tournament. what hurts even more, the eagles went 21 and 8 in the regular season, but because they play in a small conference, making it to a develop vanlt postseason tournament is a long shot. the eagles beat lafayette in their regular season finale. different yesterday. tied at 53. troy brewer with a chance to win it. oh, my goodness. in and out. the eagles were 3 of 16 from beyond the arc. that hurts. and, oh, the bench. they wanted it so bad. we go to double overtime. just over three minutes to go. eagles with the ball. the senior drives a stutter step up and in. american up six. less than 7 seconds to play. au leads by one. lafayette brings the ball up-court over to jim mauer. oh, man. bureaus the three-pointer. the leopards take a two-point lead with a half second left. eagles need a miracle. last chance and they don't really get a chance because with a half second, not really getting one. american loses to lafayette, 73-71 in the patriot league semis. an absolute heartbreaker. >> i'm really sorry that -- that this team could have -- bring back the championship to where it belongs. and i feel personally responsible for that. >> they made big shots, and we/i i think missed the shots. and kind of like nate said. i feel really guilty for it. last year is the playoffs, now this year, this game. i think i have got to take a lot of blame for it. >> the guys are understandably disappointed. and you know, this is the kind of thing that -- whether you're college age or, you know, you'r a 50-year-old coach, it's the kind of thing that sticks with you. and hopefully with time, you know, that pain, that disappointment, will subside a little bit. >> tough way to go out. and you know, when i watched that, i look at that, that's passion right there. >> it is. >> that's big-time passion. nick hendra, two seniors. that's just tough for them. to see them -- >> very tough. >> the emotions on their face. >> tough to watch. >> as fans, yeah, you watch and you go, wow and feel bad for the kids, because you really want them to do well. >> because they are kids. >> exactly. and george mason's 16-game winning streak, longest in the nation, it's over. none of us here at nbc 4 are on the cnaa tournament selection committee, last time i checked, but george mason is a lock to make the big dance. the patriots' resume, remarkable. they won their regular season title, and they also had an 8 and 4 record against the top 100 teams in the country. for now, though, they'll have to sit and wait after losing to virginia commonwealth in the semi finals of the caa tournament. in richmond, here's how it went down. first half, vcu up by one. long with the ball here, goes the length of the court, drives, scoop shot and one. the patriots take their only lead of the game. later in the half, luke hancock throws it to mike morrison. pretty play. george mason goes six minutes without a basket. rodriguez drives, kicks it back to jamie skene. he has a run. commonwealth 79-63. the rams knock the patriots out of the caa tournament for the third year in a row. hometown hockey. capitals defenseman mike green stated for the first time today since taking a second hit to the head last month against the rangers. green is likely suffering from a concussion, but the team is neither confirming or denying the injury. meantime, the capitals are back in first place after beating the panthers last night in florida. capitals' dad making their fourth annual road trip. first period, caps down 1-0. ovechkin passes to backstrom and he says you're so not stopping this shot. one-timer past clem ensign, backstr backstrom's 17th of the season. second period, 1-1. caps on the offensive. john carlson fires, but the rebound to boyd gordon, right place at the right time gives the tap tals a 2-1 lead. final minutes, 2-1 caps. panthers have a 5-on-3 advantage. we go to overtime. 48 seconds into overtime, caps not messing around. alexander semin with the puck passes to marcus johan son, back to semin, game over. his 23rd of the season, caps win 3-2 in o.t., their fourth straight victory. all of them by one goal. you can call them the cardiac caps. go ahead. so yet that win now sets up a first-place showdown tonight against the tampa bay lightning. a good one. back to college basketball. robert kazmir is a part time professor in washington. he was honored for his financial contributions to the athletic program. he was ejected in the second half. >> what? >> yeah. okay, in the circle, robert kazmire and his family being honored. but he gets a bigger ovation in the second half, sitting courtside, one of the referees einjects him from the game. apparently he must have said something. he doesn't want to leave. school officials come over, they have to stop the game. finally gets up, throws his hands in the air. fans love it. he told the "gg hatchette" i told the ref he was of the worst i ever had seen, and he wasn't worth the $1600 they were paying him. and that was it, end quote. >> whoa. >> he also said the ejection would not keep him from making further donations to the school. >> just not going to donate to the refs. the nationals rallied today 14-9 in spring training. broois harper, two rbis. >> strong start. thanks, hakem. coming up, getting good gas mileage in three easy steps. >> and for all your news, follow news4 online. search nbcwashington on facebook, and we're on twitter, too. check your pantry. a popular peanut butter has been recalled over a possible salmonella break. the company that makes skippy peanut butter has recalled two of its varieties. the reduced fat creamy and reduced fat chunky peanut butter. they come in 16.3-ounce jars and expiration dates between may 16th and may 21st of 2012. the recalled jars were sold in 16 states, including virginia. no one's reported getting sick from the peanut butter. with gasoline prices pushing $4 a gallon, more of us are looking for ways to save money. the discovery channel is offering three simple ways to ring more from your gas tank. first, if your car has a gas mileage meter, use it. experts say drivers who use the meters tent to get 10 to 15% more per gallon. second, warming up your engine can waste gas. and decrease resistance and increase your gas mileage. tonight on "nbc nightly news," there are correspondents in every corner of the country. to find out why are gas prices so high, and will it get better soon, the coverage begins right after this broadcast. there are concerns tonight that the federal government's brac project could cause gridlock on your commute. starting september, the bethesda naval hospital in maryland and ft. belvoir virginia will have more traffic. chris gordon on the potential problems. >> reporter: the national naval medical center in virginia will absorb patients and medical staff from the walter reed army hospital, putting thousands of additional commuters on wisconsin avenue. which also serves the national institutes of health. without federal funds, plead leaders fear an already congested commuter route could become a parking lot. >> we have had funds for a number of years, including bills that passed out of the house. despite the very good efforts of our senators, we continue to hit some roadblocks in the senate, and they're working to overcome those now. >> reporter: in northern virginia, traffic on the interstate 95-395 corridor is already bad. brac will add 18,000 department of defense jobs served by route 1, which is two lanes in each direction. the mark center in alexandria will offer work space for an additional 6,400 dod employees, which could cause substantial delays on seminary road, and traffic. trying to get on to 395. >> it's going to be bad. it's going to be bad. it's already bad now with just the construction people coming in. so i can't even imagine when it starts up. >> reporter: not everyone is complaining. for example, the owner of this local restaurant. >> we're actually looking forward to, you know, the -- the 6400 new jobs. we're looking forward to the traffic, actually, for us. >> reporter: the brac increase in traffic couldn't come at a worst time. mid september, when workers return from vacations, the kids are back to school, and everybody is on the road. chris gordon, news4. the virginia and maryland delegations in congress are worth together to try to get more federal money for highway repairs needed because of brac. >> one more check on the weather forecast. here's veronica. >> nice quiet start to the workweek. we like it that way. and tomorrow morning, you might want to eat something warm, because it's going to be a cold start for us, with most locations starting out at freezing. at least for now, we're at 44 degrees. we've got dry air that's moved in, and our winds that are settling too. by the time we get to 9:00, we're down to 39, and 36 by 11:00. and 5:00 to 7:00 a.m. tomorrow morning with mostly clear to partly cloudy skies. 31 to 32. that's inside of the beltway. other locations will be down into the 20s tomorrow morning. a high of 50. no problems tomorrow, and really much of wednesday will be quiet, too. rain moves in wednesday late evening and night. and then it's going to be a soggy one thursday. the high, 54, after starting out in the mid 40s. and thursday, we might even have a passing thunderstorm armound the area. and then brisk and blustery for friday. there's a look at this upcoming weekend. if you're looking that far ahead. again, it's daylight saving time that starts sunday at 2:00 a.m., but a chance for a shower, a brief shower on saturday. sunday right now, in the low to mid 50s with sunshine and a little bit of light wind coming through. >> all right. the shortest weekend of the year coming up. >> don't like that. >> thanks, veronica. finally tonight, we have an update for you on ralph, the pelican. remember him? it was a month ago that we reported on ralph. normally, he would be living in a warm climate, but hurricane earl blew him all the way up to canada. he ended up stranded in nova scotia for the winter. it took weeks to sort out the 35i7 paperwork, but finally he's headed to an animal sanction area in north carolina. a chevy deally donated the transportation and threw in a custom paint job that explains his destination. that bird is traveling in style, isn't he? ralph will spend the rest of the winter, what's left, in the sanctuary, and will be released in the spring. ralph, remember, was found on the roof of a strip club in nova scotia called "ralph's place." he seemed to be quite comfortable there, last we checked. that is where he got nice name. wonder how he