virginia northbound, it looks like it is a clear shot pretty much on the prince william parkway up to the mixing bowl and we'll say basically a light volume at that point. as we head in back to the overview, we'll zoom into i-66. take a live look eastbound there. no problems or issues from centerville moving all the way in toward and beyond 123 to the beltway. a gradual build-up expected in the next hour. traffic will be lighter than normal with all of the folks being on vacation this week. travel times... more traffic coming your away at about 5:09. one man is dead and another one may not survive after a freak accident at a carwash in rockville. >> a car had just gone through the flagship carwash center when it suddenly accelerated striking two employees. 9news now reporter's kristen fisher is live at the scene with more on the investigation. good morning, kristen. >> reporter: good morning, jessica. good morning, mike. montgomery county police are calling this a fatal pedestrian collision. now, it appears to be an accident. the driver of the car that struck those two employees was also an employee right here at this carwash in rockville. so, he is reportedly just very upset over what happened. so, the big question right now facing police is exactly why and how did this car just careen out of control. now, this all happened just around 6:00 yesterday evening. a flagship employee was driving a customer's jeep grand cherokee out of the carwash and up to the drying area when suddenly the car just accelerated. it hit two other employees, pinned them underneath and dragged them all the way across the road. the car finally came to a stop after striking a telephone pole on the other side of the street. it just so happens the rockville city police officer, chris day watched the whole thing happen. he was in line to get his car washed and scrambled to render first aid. >> i was actually first on scene and i came running up and i observed two males pinned underneath the vehicle. one, when i arrived, there was a large group of people trying to help out. when i got on scene, i observed one male saying it hurts, it hurts, it hurts and i observed legs sticking from out underneath the vehicle. >> despite officer day's immediate presence on the scene and several bystanders trying to help, there was really only so much they could do. a 44-year-old employee, oscar you on a subio is in critical but stable condition at a local hospital. 48-year-old you on a seda, he unfortunately died yesterday afternoon shortly arriving at the hospital. sad story and definitely a freak accident it sounds like out here. back to you. >> so, kristen, so far, as they start looking into this, investigators have any idea was it personal or possible mechanical error? any idea yet? >> that is the big question. that's when investigators are focusing on right now. some of the scenarios they're looking at are possibly -- they're going to be inspecting the car's mechanics seeing if there was anything at fault there. they're going to be looking at weather conditions and specifically, one more thing to look at is were there any chemicals on the pavement. sometimes when you're exiting a carwash, the roadway is a little bit slippery because of the chemicals that they use to clean the cars. so, that certainly is going to play a part in this investigation as well. >> thanks, kristen fisher live in rockville this morning. we'll check in with you a little bit later. rescue crews pulled a second body out of the rubble of a furniture store outside of detroit, michigan. >> an explosion reduced that store to a pile of rubble. rescuers quickly found the owner alive. and he's been upgraded from critical to serious condition now. but later in the day, they found a body of a salesman and then late last night, a woman's body. she said to have been a clerical worker at the store. authorities believe the explosion was triggered by a natural gas leak. helicopters finished evacuating an entire town in australia. flying dozens of people and their pets to safety in addition to hundreds who had already left. authorities say it is the first time they have ever evacuated an entire town. this weekend, the dawson river is expected to crest well above flood stage for a second time. ironically, some flooded towns are running short of water. >> the new york medical examiner has now determined how a fashion designer from northern virginia was killed. sylvia cache was strangled then drown in a bathtub in a new york city hotel. it is the tragic end to what had been a local girl makes good kind of story. cache was found dead three weeks ago in a manhattan hotel room. her boyfriend has since been arrested in the case. an armed robbery in manassas wasn't committed with a gun or a knife. but with a big stick. the robber entered with a stick or big branch and attacked the store clerk. the employee grabbed a hammer to try to defend himself only to get trapped behind the counter. after a few big swings, the suspect jumped over the counter, grabbed the clerk and threw him to the ground. then he made off with the cash. thankfully, the employee was not seriously hurt. if you have any information in this case, you're being asked to call the police. well, if you didn't snatch up your tickets to the d.c. inaugural ball yesterday, you're too late. the city finished giving out 7500 free tickets to the concert yesterday. the event will of course celebrate vincent gray's inauguration as the district's newest mayor. it happens sunday at noon. chuck brown will headline at the d.c. convention center. time for the latest your money report. jess has some good news from the markets. >> it is the kind of news we've been waiting a long time for. as for today, expect it to be another light day of trading ahead of the new year's holiday. but that is ok because the dow jones industrial average already up 11% for the year to its best level since august 2008. of course, before the financial crisis hit. part of the reason why, strong corporate profits have been pushing stocks higher. checking the numbers for you. the dow stands this morning at 11,585 closed up almost 10 points in trading yesterday. the nasdaq rose just more than 4 points and the s&p 500 was up about a point. 20 million is how many vehicles automakers had to recall this year. it is largest recall year in the u.s. since 2004. toyota recalled more than seven million vehicles to fix faulty gas pedals, floor mats that could trap accelerators. general motors recalled about four million vehicles and japanese automakers honda and nissan recalled more than two million cars and trucks. before a cap kept millions of gallons of oil flowing into the gulf some thought it would force bp out of business. not the case. bp will wind out shelling out more than $40 billion covering cleanup, fines and lawsuits resulting from the crisis. it is predicted bp will turn a profit of $26 billion in the next year. the company also sold off more than $21 billion in assets shortly after the disaster. it is estimated nearly five million barrels of oil spewed into the gulf during the three- month long ordeal. still ahead, they got hit last week by the same storm system that eventually became the northeast blizzard. but now the southwest is dealing with more bad weather. >> the passing of one of its greatest ambassadors. >> meteorologist tom sater in for howard. no need to show you radars. the closest precipitation is now entering west virginia. it won't be here until late saturday. until then, let's take a look at numbers. we did drop one in the last hour. we'll probably drop one or two more for your day planner today. yesterday, we hit 48 degrees. i don't think we'll get that warm. but still mid-40s aren't bad. 41 at noon. rich ard has our timesaver traffic. >> we take a look at the early toll road virginia. route 28 passing route 7 into the beltway, still a light volume of traffic. just a gradual build-up of volume expected in the next hour to two hours. we'll take a complete look at traffic coming up in a few minutes at about 5:18. mike, jessica? >> making news now at 5:10. the west coast gets hit by torrential rain. >> southern california cleaning up after yet another powerful storm. heavy rain triggered a mudslide wednesday blocking part of the highway in orange county. the same storm brought snow to the sierra nevadas and blizzard conditions to the mountains in arizona. a prosecutor says defense attorneys for michael jackson's doctor will claim the pop star caused his own death. dr. conrad murray charged with involuntary manslaughter. murray's lawyers are expecting to claim jackson dosed himself with a much higher amount of an anesthetic than which murray had administered. preliminary hearings are scheduled to start on tuesday. a criminal probe has been open into whether or not delaware republican christine o'donnell broke the law by using campaign money to pay for personal expenses. the case has not been brought before a grand jury though. o'donnell set a state record by raising more than $7 million but she failed to win the senate seat. >> ralph friedgen has coached maryland's team for the last time. we'll have highlights from the military bowl at 5:23. at 5:34, which local cities are having the biggest problem with housing? and at 5:50, one of the northeast mayors is using twitter to help residents dig out from the snowstorm. it has been an interesting month. so many mornings i've put on gloves and long johns and the last week has been wonderful. >> today, you almost don't even need a coat. >> one layer will do today. >> just one. >> put the other five or six away for awhile. >> in fact, the first day of the month we topped out at 65. that was very early in the morning. temperature dropped in the 50s. that was really the only day that we were above average for the last couple. so, three days above average. today, i think we'll get up above average. average high is 44. first satellite picture, few high clouds have been drifting into the area. yesterday's high, thin clouds were thicker. it kept the temperature from falling too much. the clouds moving in late. actually are allowing the temperature to drop a little bit. not very thick. not a real thick blanket you could say. we had a few patches of clearing. a couple of degrees cooler to start the morning then yesterday. we'll probably end the day a couple of degrees cooler. areas of purple is where we get a little bit cooler temperatures. 24 in luray. i wanted to show you the eastern shore into southeast parts of virginia. you can see the snow pack doing -- salisbury, 15 degrees. on the flip side, where the snow pack is, even atlantic city at 16. look off toward the west. it is 35 in cleveland. that's much warmer than we are at 29. 33 in charleston. warm air knocking on our door and moving in. about 46 today. seasonal temperatures again, 44 is the average. tonight, under cloud cover. high and mid-level clouds. winds will be light. high pressure over the region. eastern u.s. should be pretty nice. as far as the warmth in the middle of the country. but rainfall and a good swath of rainmaking its way up from the tennessee valley up toward pittsburgh which could be looking at a little bit of frozen precipitation. out west if you're traveling, it is cold. it has been wet. we know about the flooding in southern california. the problems are going to be northern areas of arizona where they need chains to drive across mountain passes. a lot of snowfall in our mountain zones. in fact, mammoth mountain, the ski resort in california has picked up more snow than any other ski resort in the entire world. that's the place you want to go if you can get there. high pressure over our place. here is the rainfall stretches from the great lakes all the way down to the big easy. our snow potential meant nothing for us. this is great. the only precipitation we're going to have is rain late saturday. the northern tier states getting hit hard with another eight to ten inches of snowfall. holds the rain at bay. we warm up tomorrow. today not bad. in the 40s. we'll watch the cold front. i think will pass through late saturday night. it could stall in the area on sunday. so, after you look at the high temperatures today, i've got better news for the next three. as we get into the 50s tomorrow and still dry. saturday, the first half of the day looks really good. the second half looks wet. but who can complain when you're at 56 for a high to start off 2011 and temperatures not bad for the first week of the new year as well. richard has our timesaver traffic on this thursday morning. good morning, richard. >> good morning, tom. we're still checking out the green light conditions overall. no problems or issues of any major significance. in arlington, virginia, we're shut down because of accident investigation eastbound north fairfax drive is shut down between north taylor street and randolph. so, do look out for the detour in effect there. the overall -- overview, no major problems or issues. a light volume of traffic once again as we zoom into the outer loop beltway in montgomery county. take a live look. it will show quite clear conditions both loops between 95 and georgia avenue, a build- up in the next hour on the outer loop. that will be about it. looking at the travel times, no real problem there. on eastbound 66 going from 7100 to the beltway. 10 minutes there. the beltway, 395 up to the toll road virginia. 13 minutes we're saying eastbound toll road itself going from hunter mill road out to the beltway about six minutes there. coming your way, more traffic in a few minutes around 5:25. mike? >> thank you, richard. a couple of sad notes to pass along this morning. acclaimed jazz pianist and composer and professor billy taylor has died after suffering a heart attack. he grew up mostly here in washington. he moved to new york after graduating from virginia state college. he profiled many other jazz musicians for the cbs sunday morning show. and he also served as artistic director for jazz at kennedy center for the last 16 years. billy taylor was 89. the oldest daughter of the legendary von trappe family has died in maryland. ing a ath von trappe was the oldest of the seven children whose lives from the basis for the movie "the sound of music." she died yesterday of congestive heart failure. agathe von throp was 87 years old. just before we head to the break, time now for the question of the morning. >> this morning's question deals with nutrition and healthy eating. according to a recent survey, 1/3 of americans do not believe it when a food label claims a product is this... well, i love a deal on a designer bag as much as the next girl! love! i love love love! as a buyer for t.j.maxx, i'm always on the hunt. i check out the shows. i see what's happening on the street. and i work deals directly with the designers. so when i score... you score. gimme a fashionista... i'll make her a maxxinista. t.j.maxx. let us make a maxxinista out of you! good morning, everyone. meteorologist tom sater in with you on this thursday morning. 29 degrees. we did drop one degree and we could drop one more. yesterday's high, 48 degrees. pretty nice. winds are calm. i think because we're starting a couple of degrees cooler really for most locations today. we may end the day just a couple of degrees cooler than yesterday. but not a bad day. this is just the beginning of what will be a pleasant couple of days. 41 by noon. on our way to 46. 50s starting tomorrow. >> dry day today. more in a minute. >> thank you, tom. the friedg is not the only person leaving maryland. >> at least they're going away with one final win. dave has highlights in your morning sports. >> reporter: good morning, everybody. not quite sure what the next move will be for ralph friedgen. he was a successful offensive coordinator at georgia tech and coached in the pros but whatever he does, he'll look back at this week and pat him.self on the back. remandatory classy despite getting his walking papers from the school and yesterday his team gave him quite the send- off. military bowl. he was walking the grounds. east carolina was outclassed. scott had himself a day. 200 yard rushing and a couple of long touchdowns. 51-20 the final. afterwards, friedg basking with the military bowl trophy, receiving congrats from his players then the emotions of it coming to surface. >> bittersweet, you know. you like being around him for the last time. that's the difficulty. i'll be there for them. >> make sure they went out with a bang. we had to make sure he went out a winner. >> ralph friedgen won't be around next season and neither will wide receiver tory smith. he announced after the military bowl he's turning pro. he caught 65 passes and 12 touchdowns in the season. >> maryland basketball was a winner last night. georgetown loses to notre dame in the big east opener. have a great day, everybody! >> weather permitting, the capitals will be playing outdoors saturday at the winter classic in pittsburgh. so, yesterday, they practiced outside for about an hour in chevy chase. defenseman matt green said they've been looking forward to the outdoor class with the penguins all year. well, the nfl is fining brett favre $50,000 for failing to cooperate with this investigation into whether or not he sent lewd photos of himself to a former new york jets employee while they were both with the team. the investigators could not determine if any wrongdoing actually happened but they say favre was not candid in his interviews during this. duke basketball coach mike has passed his old rival for second place in all-time wins in college basketball. coach's blue devils beat unc greensboro giving him his 880th career victory. he trails his mentor, bobby knight who has 902 wins. a closer review finds more problems with the facts than a virginia history textbook. plus, just how much airfares are expected to go up next year. quick check of the traffic now. richard, over to you. mike, we'll take a quick look at foxhole road in canal in the district. no problems, no issues, hardly any traffic as a matter of fact with clear pavement. we'll have a complete look at traffic in a few minutes at about 5:30. 9news now will return after these messages. welcome back. i'm jessica doyle in for andrea roane. >> i'm mike hydeck. richard andrei will have traffic in a moment. we start with tom who's in for howard who has your weather. >> if you liked yesterday, you're going to like today. it gets even better. we haven't been able to say that very much this month. temperature actually yesterday topped out at 48. we may not get that warm today. that was a little bit of a bonus. today, still mid-40s which is very nice. 50s in store for the next 24 hours. let's take a look at where we are currently. 27 in springfield and arlington. college park as well. rockville reporting same numbers. gets a little cooler like 21 in laurel and sterling and reston. on a larger scale as we run through the numbers, 25 in leesburg. there are a few teens out there. frederick at 18. at least the winds are calm. and so really, we don't have to show. >> map of wind chills. and really don't have to show you radar. i'll show. >> regional picture because there is rain approaching the region but it is going to stay out of the area today. notice the colors of pink there could have a little brief period of some freezing drizzle in some of the mountain zones if you're traveling by automobile out there for the morning hours. but it will change over to rain. today's high, 46. get the very latest from richard andrei on our timesaver traffic. >> a good thursday morning, tom. we're check out the yellow light conditions. we do have one incident in virginia to look out for on eastbound north fairfax drive. we're shut down because of accident investigation there between north taylor street and north randolph again on eastbound north fairfax drive. in the overview, no problems. we check out a light volume of traffic for the most part. zooming into i-395, we'll take a look there live. no problems or issues going all the way from duke street on up to the 14th street bridge. clear both ways on 395 going back to the graphics, we'll zoom into the district. and take a live look at 16th street. no problems or issues there. it looks like we're very quiet, clear pavement and nothing to hold you up at all if you're heading out this morning at this particular time there. checking the trains, no issues there. metro is reporting on-time. vre also on time. no problem from the marc train system. next traffic report at about 5:38. mike and jessica? >> thank you, richard. this morning it seems the weather is causing problems in many places except around here. >> several cities in the deep south are now coping with serious street flooding. heavy rains triggered flash floods in lafayette, louisiana. you see the pictures now. some of the drivers didn't turn around. instead, they ventured into the floodwaters which reached up to their headlights in some cases. passenger anger is boiling over at some airports in the northeast. where people are still trying to get out after sunday's blizzard. some travelers have rebooked their tickets multiple times and still can't leave. the airlines were still working yesterday to get all of their crews positioned correctly and that led to more delays and cancellations. a horrific accident during a normal everyday errand. an employee was driving an suv through the flagship carwash in rockville when the vehicle suddenly accelerated, struck two other employees, one died and another one has life- threatening injuries now. 9news now reporter kristen fisher joins us live from the scene with more on the investigation this morning. kristen, over to you. >> hey, mike, it does seem to sound like a freak accident but this investigation is continuing. now, i want to show you guys exactly what happened. this was around 6:00 yesterday afternoon. and an employee was driving a customer's car out of this carwash and up to the drying area and that is when the car suddenly accelerated, striking two other employees, the car ran across the street, pinning those two employees underneath the car and then slammed into that telephone pole. again, those other two employees were pinned underneath the car. now, several bystanders including the driver of the car, tried to help the two men. in fact, a rockville city police officer was also in line to have his car washed and he watched the whole thing happen. despite the almost immediate response, it wasn't enough to save the life of 48-year-old you give even you on a sado. oscar is in stable but critical condition. the driver is just devastated by what happened. montgomery county police are now investigating this incident. they don't know why this car suddenly accelerated. some of the things they're looking at are -- this was a jeep grand cherokee. they're look at the jeep's mechanics, the weather conditions, they're also trying to see if there were any slippery chemicals on the roadway at that point in time, all things that are going to be looked at as this investigation continues. back to you. >> thanks, kristen. we'll check in with you in a little bit. a culpepper man has just been indicted in the murder of a fellow patient at a state run mental hospital in petersburg, virginia. investigators say george phillips strangled 22-year-old justin davis last february. yesterday, fauquier circuit court judge sentenced fill top 20 years in prison for the crime. he committed one year ago today that wound up getting him sent to the mental hospital in the first place. phillips wounded two deputies while trying to escape from a fauquier county courthouse on december 30th, 2009. an update on controversial textbooks being used in virginia. historians have found even more errors in the social studies book our virginia past and present. the state's department of education ordered the review after they saw it claims thousands of black soldiers fought for the confederacy. the book has the wrong number of states in the confederacy and the wrong year for the start of world world war i. governor bob mcdonald has already ordered a full review of the state's textbook selection process. washington's archbishop has another honor to add had to his resume. the pope has named cardinal donald wuerl to a prestigious council. it works to enhance spirituality within the church. archbishop wuerl was just elevated to cardinal last month. ok. time now for another your money report and jess found out which local town had the worst housing development busts. >> obviously we've all gotten hit pretty badly the news is cities in montgomery and loudoun counties have been hit the hardest by the slowdown in home building. the pace of new development has slowed to a tiny fraction of what it was during the boom years. gaithersburg and rockville in montgomery and percentville and leesburg in loudoun saw the most dramatic drop-off in the rate of home construction. the numbers were compiled by the census bureau. if you're looking to fly any time next year, be ready to pay extra. according to fare compare, airlines are going to jack up fees once again. american, delta, united and continental are raising prices. the increase you're looking at may be $10 more for a one way ticket. the airlines are blaming the rising cost of fuel for the price hikes. the heavy snowstorm that pounded the northeast this week caust cost retailers about 10% or a billion dollars in crucial post-holiday sales according to the research firm shopper track. but experts say it is not enough to derail a holiday shopping season that's expected to be one of the best ever. black friday again the busiest shopping day of the year. over $10.5 billion in sales coming in second. shoppers picked up $7.8 billion in gifts. week after christmas accounts for 10% of total holiday spending and it could make this year the best holiday shopping season ever. we need it. economywise. >> we like the gifts, too. >> coming up, a warning about just how dangerous overdoing it on new year's eve is for underage drinkers. that's more coming up. >> a crazy food fight in one town in spain. take a look at that. good morning, everyone. meteorologist tom sater in for howard on this thursday morning out on the terrace where it is pretty nice actually. temperatures slightly cooler than they were yesterday morning. let's take a look at some of the numbers we have across the area as well. as far as the cloud cover, it has been thin veil of cloudiness. rain is going to hold off until late saturday. even though it is entering the region. today's high temperature, slightly cooler than yesterday's 48 for a high. about 46. much more in a few minutes. richard andrei is in with our timesaver traffic. good morning, richard. >> tom, good morning again. checking out a bus fire at nicholson lane. traffic is light enough. we're getting by without a delay. that will still attract a bit of a spectacle as you go on by there. we'll have a complete look at traffic coming up around 5:47. mike? >> thank you, richard. a new study out this morning shows just how many young people will have way too much to drink tomorrow night. the substance abuse and mental health services administration served hospital emergency departments and they found -- they surveyed. they found on new year's day, 2009, about 1980 visits involved underage drinking compared to 546 visits of the same kind on an average day. which is a 263% increase. and much higher than the rate for other holidays like memorial day or 4th of july. and if you overindulge this week, please don't get behind the wheel. you have a solution. the washington regional alcohol program is offering free rides through its sober ride program. it runs through 6:00 a.m. saturday new year's day morning. just call 1-800-200-taxi and you can get a free cab ride home up to what normally would have been a $30 fare. >> now to something fun. bystanders might mistake it for tear gas at first but people in a spanish town are actually pelting each other with flour. the flour fight festival takes place every december 28th on the day of the innocence. people can avoid getting messy by paying a fine which goes to local charity. there are also holidays involving fights with oranges and tomatoes in spain. >> oh, my goodness. it must take forever to clean that up. that's a riot. good stuff. ok. 5:41. final economic reports of 2010 are coming out later this morning. >> a mayor of one city is using twitter to find out where help is needed most after the blizzard. >> just as we head to break, let's see who's celebrating a birthday today. >> baseball hall of fame pitcher sandy colfax turns 75. today show hosts, both of them, 53. so weird they celebrate a birthday together! sean hannity is 49 years old today. tiger woods is 35 and lebron james turns 26 today. happy birthday if it is your birthday today. tom is here with some good news for all of us today. >> great news. >> we got a present yesterday. made it up to 48. actually had a present the day before. we were up in the 40s, too. if it is a degree or two, that's a stocking stuffer. >> absolutely. >> all right. we're looking at some pretty good numbers ahead though. today, still in the 40s. 50s right around the corner. the warmest since the first day of the month. so, again, we're going to say good-bye to the chill and the winds. the winds are light. let's take a look at where we're going. 29 degrees currently. we've been holding there in the last hour. the wind chill values, the same. because the winds are calm. now, on monday, we had a wind gust up to 55 miles per hour at reagan national. tuesday, it was 38 miles per hour. and then yesterday, 26. so, there were still a few winds out there during the morning hours. today i think we'll be hard pressed to see a 15-mile-per- hour wind. winds will remain calm. temperatures are still going to respond thanks to maybe late in the day, a south breeze at maybe 5. that's all we can drum up as far as winds am we've got great news. it does look like sure, we're still going to be wet on new year's day. at this time, it looks like it will be the second half of saturday. now, that front moving into the area may stall across the area so if you have plans on sunday, we'll have to monitor those. it will be rainfall and light variety but it may hang around instead of just a saturday night rain. high clouds, a few breaks here and there. temperatures are dropping. you could see how much colder it is on the eastern shore because of the snow pack still in effect out there. still on the ground. 23 in culpepper. on a larger scale, you head out to the west. look at the numbers are much better than what we're having. the darker blue, charleston, 33. 34 columbus. 35 in cleveland. it is warmer in cleveland than it is here. we're going to do better than that as far as the high temperatures go. 46 for a high today. not quite as warm. 44 is the average high. we've only had a couple of days that have been above average this month. and two of them have been the last two days. i think we'll drop down to about the freezing mark. not bad. the big story is out west. major storm system and heavy, heavy amounts of snow in parts of arizona moving into new mexico. well in advance is the rain. it looks like it is getting pretty close to home here for us. it will hold off. you have plans in the northern tier states, you'll have to call ahead. a lot of folks waiting to get on a flight out of the area. you postpone those for awhile. look how close the rainfall is getting to the area. i think really it will hold off until saturday. a lot of this is going to move up to the north of us. maybe some light, freezing drizzle for the morning hours for western maryland. but that's about it. very good news as high pressure is in control. and will stay that way for the next -- well, next 24 hours at least. 46 degrees for a high temperature as we take a look at the next three days, how about 51 tomorrow. that's mild. we keep mostly cloudy skies. there is the chance of rain late saturday. if the front stalls, it will hang around into sunday. but pleasant conditions and seasonal temperatures to begin 2011. richard has our timesaver traffic. good morning, richard. >> good morning, tom. we're checking out yellow light conditions now. a couple of problems to look out for. bethesda looks like a bus fire clearing on nicholson lane westbound near 355. latest word, only the left lane was getting by there. not a major back-up because the traffic is light enough still. in arlington, virginia, we're shut down because of accident investigation eastbound on north fairfax drive. that shut down eastbound between tar loy street and randolph. check the overview, no other problems really. light volume of traffic out there. zooming into i-66 looks quiet still as we take a live look going from route 50 all the way into the beltway. no problems or issues so far at least. looking at travel times, no real problem, outer loop beltway, montgomery county, i- 95 to 270, about ten minutes. 95 southbound, 216 to the beltway, 295, d.c., 295 northbound going from the beltway up to the 11th street bridge, about 7 minutes of drive time there. next traffic coming up your way straight up at 6:00 in just a few minutes. mike and jessica? >> thank you, richard. this morning, the labor department releases its weekly jobless claims numbers and a report on pending home sales will also come out. >> preeti arla has more on the final snapshots of the economy in 2010. >> reporter: for every couple steps the economy takes forward, it seems to take another one back. >> these days, not a terrible economy is as good as you're going to get. >> layoffs are slowing, holiday spending as surged and the stock market has hit its highest point in two years. but americans don't seem to be convinced. a weaker than expected report on consumer confidence shows people are still jittery about the economy, especially when it comes to unemployment. >> i think it is just a psychological factor that is affecting the consumer. will i lose my job? if i do, it is going to be very difficult to get one. >> fewer americans are also getting federal help lowering their monthly mortgage payment. the reason the pool of eligible homeowners is declining is they conclude many can't be helped. that's pushing the number of foreclosed homes up, keeping home prices down. scottie baldwin has had his houston home on the market for three months and hasn't gotten so much as a nibble. >> nobody's talked to us about it. and nobody's contacted our realtor about it. >> while home prices are expected to keep falling through the middle of next year, gas prices aren't. >> it is insane. >> gas is averaging $3 a gallon again and some industry analysts say it could reach as much as $5 a gallon by 2012. preeti arla, cbs news, washington. >> jump starting the economy will top president obama's agenda next year. he's expected to announce his choice for top economic advisor when he gets back from his hawaiian vacation next week. making news now at 5:50, the northeast got hit sunday! now, the weather is wreaking havoc out west. police in arizona shut down parts of the state's main north/south highway because of snow. there were more than 100 reports of vehicles sliding off roads in just three hours. fortunately though, no serious injuries were reported. houston, texas, several spots hosted a record one-day rainfall total that led to street flooding. just in time for the evening commute there. drivers proceeded cautiously through the waters reaching past their bumpers in some cases. more rain is in the forecast today. rainfall totals expected to be much lower this time though. more residents returning to scituate, massachusetts. the coastal town got a double dose of snow and storm surge. that surge put sand, rocks and boulders from the beach inland. every seaside home needs some sort of repair. get this. when it comes to social media, the mayor of one new jersey town is turning to social media to help clear the streets of snow. >> cory booker is using twitter to find out resident -- to find from residents which streets need clearing, who needs supplies and where they can find more plows. >> we've gotten diapers from people, delivered food, one pregnant woman who was going into labor, at least thought she was, we were able to get there before the ambulances could and we got an ambulance unstuck. >> in newark, booker says he's been inspired by what he's seen after the storm, people coming together to help each other. he says maybe there is a lesson in the snowflakes. individually, they're a bit weak but when they stick together, there is some strength there. we're going to answer our question of the day when we get back. >> plus, a new name, same huge beer selection. a favorite d.c. watering hole reopens after a brief shutdown. . welcome back, everyone. meteorologist tom sater in for howard on this thursday morning. you will not have to wrap up in several layers. 30 degrees am we're back up to 30 after dropping into the upper 20s. winds are calm. your day planner shows some promise. in fact, we've been in the 40s the last couple of days. why end the trend now? 41 at noon. on our way to 46. we'll have filtered sunshine throughout the day. cloud cover will start to thicken later on tonight into tomorrow. rain will hold off into the second half of new year's day. more in just a minute. jessica, mike? >> let's answer our question of the morning. >> morning's question deals with nutrition and healthy eating. according to a recent survey, 1/3 of americans don't believe when a food label claims the product is this. a, fat free. b, natural. or c, low in sodium. which is it? >> we're a bunch of cynics. the answer is b, natural. in a just had been released survey, one in three natural and organic consumers were either not at all confident in current natural labeling. >> the survey also found two and three were very interested in a uniform standard to certify products that are labeled as natural. another one in four were somewhat interested unlike organic products, there is currently no government regulation when it comes to the natural food market. >> well, today, a man in china will attempt to break his own world record. >> what will he be doing? he's trying to best his own mark for the longest ice bath. his current record for sitting in a tub with ice in it is one hour and 44 minutes and his goal today is to go six minutes longer. how does he do it? he says it is all in his head. >> the brain, you have the thermostat, like a thermostat. it is called the hypothalamus. and i need control inside my head and then to work the body. >> ok. hoff also currently holds the world record for swimming under a 57.5 minutes and running barefoot for 100 miles north of the arctic circle. he hopes the performances will raise global awareness of climate change. >> you go, hoff! >> the hoff. >> yes. that sounds familiar, doesn't it? >> the brickskeller is dead. long live the bier baron. last week, the famed d.c. watering hole known as the brickskeller was shut down. >> fortunately, fans only had to mourn their loss for a few days. now, the same doors have reopened with a new sign. as derek mcginty tells us, the bier baron is like its predecessor when it comes to offering a whole lot of beer. >> reporter: on the walls, in the fridge and on a gigantic menu with more than 500 varieties, beer is king at the new bier baron! >> beer lovers can expect really fantastic beers. we've got a couple of ladies on the staff that are just fantastic. fantastic beer people. >> reporter: eve meyer is one of the beer people. >> i just really like beer and you know, whatever sells, we've kept. we've kept the good ones that people don't know too much about but should learn about. >> reporter: meyer was working here when the bier baron used to be the brickskeller and now the new owner megan merrifield is serious about holding on to what made the famous old bar so special. >> the bricks literally are amazing. the memorabilia is irreplaceable. we love it. >> reporter: but the owner says what she did not know was the brickskeller had recently gained a reputation for having a lot more varieties of beer on the menu than they had actual bottles in stock. and that's one legacy merrifield says the bier baron could do without. >> if we don't have it, it will be crossed off on the menu. we'll work off of that principle. everything that you order is available, every time. so, you don't need a second choice. >> reporter: all of the fancy brew doesn't come cheap. $4 or $5 will get you the basic. for the cham pain of beers, how about $75! >> it is kind of -- it tastes very champagney. it is very l.i.e. >> reporter: you don't have to be a connoisseur to drink here. merrifield insist the whole idea of stocking so many brews is that there's always something for everyone. derek mcginty, 9news now. and besides a cold glass, the bier baron is offering jobs. the new tavern is looking to hire more kitchen staff. you're watching 9news now at 6:00 a.m. i'm jessica doyle. andrea, angie and howard all off today. >> we thank you for joining us. i'm mike hydeck. richard andrei will have traffic in a moment. >> tom sater of course is here with the weather. looking good. >> it is looking good. did you enjoy yesterday? >> we got up to 48. >> very nice. >> we may not get to 48 today. we'll come close. i think you know, mid-40s, why not. after an entire month of being in the 30s. barely topping out at 32 degrees, the numbers aren't bad. 27 in arlington. laurel at 21. great falls, 22. leesburg, 25. manassas, a chilly 19. numbers are slightly cooler than they were yesterday at