Wintry precipitation way up to the far north and west. At owr daytime temperatures as our daytime temperatures warm up, we might see a snow flake mix in but nothing that will stick to the ground. Your planner for today, not too bad. Winds predominantly out of the west. Well stay in the 40s particularly as we head into the later hours of the morning. Temperatures will be about 42 degrees by 11 00. By 1 00 we should hit a gh closer to 42, 44 degrees. Then things will start to back on down. As we get some more of the moisture moving on through, well see the opportunity for of the sprinkles later on this afternoon. We mainly have cloudy skies, calm winds, and our temperature right around 40 degrees. Today will be a pretty brisk one. I think that you will be wise to have an umbrella nearby but probably wont need it. The showers will be fairly spotty. Well clear things out overnight. Dry for your wednesday forecast. Cold, dry air coming in from the north. That will hold us into the upper 30s by tomorrow afternoon. Thursday looks about the same. Partly cloudy with a nye here 40. Back to you. Thank you. When you wake up this morning, itself first the first day of the new year, youre on a fiscal leverage maybe. Later today, the house of representatives will take up the bill. Where the far but the far right and far left members may decide they dont want to compromise. Delia goncalves is live on capitol hill. Happy new year. Reporter happy new year. Senators were ringing in the new year on capitol hill doing business, hammering out a last minute deal but as you mentioned the deal may not body so well over in the house. Thats because this bill does not address spending. The bill, toe, last night or early this morning i should say passed 898 around 2 00 a. M. The legislation keeps the bush era tax cuts for middleclass families, raising taxes on incomes over 400,000. The bill prevents a 27 cut in fees for doctors who treat medicare patients and stops a scheduled 900 pay raise for members of congress. It could extend Unemployment Insurance to two million americans who are out there still actively looking for a job. This shoondz be the model for shouldnt be the model for how we do things around here but i think we can say weve done some good for the country. Reporter at least the senate think theyve done some good for the country. The house still has to pass the bill for it to really become law and take effect before we fall off the socalled fiscal cliff. But some republicans say this deal will only delay the enevidentible. Well have that the inevitable. Well have that side of the story coming up at 5 30. Delia goncalves reporting live from capitol hill. You might call it progress, right . Maybe not. Something happened over there. 5 04. Time for the latest your money report. Well let jessica decide if theres any progress or any news in business. Good morning to you guys. Happy new year and happy new year to everybody. The fiscal cliff of course has been the big albatross the last few months. A big sigh of relief for stocks on the last day of the year. The markets enjoyed a late day rally in the final session of 2012. That helped to push the dow to a solid gain for the year. Checking these numbers, we can do this with a smile on our face for the year. The dow rows 7. 3 rose 7. 3 . Nasdaq was up 16 for all of 2012. The s p 500 climbed 13 . The dow closed at 13,104 after surging 166 points or 1. 3 . That gain broke a fiveday losing streak and marks the biggest rally on the final day of the year ever. The nasdaq up by 59 points or 2 and the s p 500 added 23 points or 1. 7 . One of the biggest questions about the fiscal cliff has been what will it mean for our taxes and what we do know at this point, the deal hashed out between the white house and congress includes the first increases to top income tax rates in nearly two decades. They also set new thresholds for determining what rich is when were thinking about rich while leaving most peoples tax rates unchanged. 99 of us, were not going to see any change in our income tax rate. It remains to be seen how large the tax hike will be for the top 1 of america. But the 2 thing we talked about yesterday still goes into effect. Well talk about that and the impact to the economy in the next halfhour. The Prince William county Police Department is mourning the death of one of their members killed in the line of duty. A minivan collided with a Motorcycle Police officer at the intersection of nokesville road and piper lane. The officer was pronounced dead at the hospital. Hes been identified at 35year old chris young, a sevenyear veteran of the Prince William county Police Department. Young lived in warrenton. He leaves behind a wife and three children. Maryland law allowing same sex marriage took effect at 12 01 this morning. Samesex couples have been able to get the marriage licenses since december. The ceremonies at other city halls and courthouses in maryland will begin taking place tomorrow. Thousands of people in our area enjoyed their new years eve without alcohol. One of the biggest parties around d. C. Was first night alexandria in the citys old town section. Its a Family Friendly affair complete with live music, dancing and other activities happening across 21 indoor venues like this one at the durant arts center. The coast guard has saved a group of marooned all rig workers. That story is coming up. Ahead in sports, the seahawks have ended the redskins last two trips to the postseason. Well tell you whats different this time around. Well be right back. Welcome back. Iming on ga brees in for im olga breese in for Howard Bernstein this morning. Were starting off with cloudy skies and a little bit of dampness but the rain is well to our south. Right now the moisture hasnt actually worked its way up into our area just yet. A lot of us will remain dry throughout the day today but cant rule out the possibility for a little bit after sprinkle to move on through. Temperatures will move out of the 30s. Well hit the lower 40s by Early Morning. By about noontime our High Temperature should be in the low to mid40s. And thats what were going to hold on to well into the afternoon. Overall though today its going to feel a little bit damp and dreary, although our temperatures are in the 40s right now, feeling a little bit cooler than that the highs are going to be a little cool to the north. The package handle of maryland and West Virginia panhandle of maryland and West Virginia should stay in the 30s to near 40 degrees. Were keeping a green alert today but as the cooler, drier air starts coming in on north winds tomorrow, youre going to feel the chill, even brink through the end ever the week. Mike . Thanks, olga. See you in just a little bit. Heres whats making news at 5 10. Dramatic footage filmed this week in syria shows that the city is in utter destruction in the Northern Area of the country. 95 of the people who lived there have taken off. Air strikes by the syrian army have destroyed four out of every five buildings there. 45,000 people have died in less than two years of fighting. The second firefighter killed in last weeks ambush in new york state has been laid to rest. Family, friends and colleagues attended the funeral. Police say william sprengler set his house on fire as a trap. Lines have been secured off the oil rig in alaska. U. S. Coast guard pulled the workers off the marooned rig over the weekend. Large waves and winds hit over 60 Miles Per Hour overnight are pushing the rig toward shore which means it could have run aground but they do have tow lines on it. If youre thinking about how little youre going to eat or how much youre going to work out, most americans will abandon their new years resolutions within the month. Ahead at 5 57, some tips on reaching your goals this year. How been with the how about within the hour as far as were concerned. Redskins coach Mike Shanahan talks about washingtons first opponent in the playoffs. Next at 5 15, olga tells us if theres any chance of winter precip at the start of 2013. Well be back. Good morning. Welcome back to 9news now. Coming up on 5 15, happy new year to you. If youre just getting in from the party before you go to bed, youll want to hear olgas forecast if you have to get up and go to work. Good morning. Good morning. The good news with the forecast is the morning side looks pretty good. Weve been dry. Doppler has been quiet. Clouds have rolled in and, yes, were going to keep those all day long and fairly uniform temperatures but you might need your umbrella later on this afternoon as sprinkles begin to develop, particularly south of town. Our current temperatures, the chill is on and not quite as low as weve gone the last couple of mornings, but its cold. Most of us in the lower 30s hitting 30 degrees at great falls but about 39 inside the beltway. So overall it will be a very damp and dreary day. Youre going to feel a very light wind, maybe about 5 Miles Per Hour or so coming out of the west for most of the die. That will shift late most of the day. That will shift later this afternoon. Some spotty showers will move on through. That starts to a happen after sunrise and continues into the noontime hour when temperatures move into the lower range 30s. Then by later on this afternoon, our winds become more out of the north and northwest. Thats going to bring in some cooler, drier air for our extended forecast. Overall, though, today satellite and radar is fairly quiet. As were looking at the map here, we see a little bit of a pop of some wintry precipitation, mainly at the Higher Elevations down to the south where the temperatures are much warmer it remains all rain. I think thats going to be the case for the d. C. Metro. Here are the dew points. Theyre a direct measure of the moisture in the air. So much drier air is now starting to filter on down from the north and thats going to remain the case as we head into the next several days. Overall though right now were looking at about 40 at Reagan National airport. A pretty remarkable temperature for this time of the morning. Norfolk at 46. Roanoke at 44. So there is a lot of warmth still in the region. The futurecast forecast model basically skills us with this rain opportunity. Morning hours look fine if you have to get up and about, even into the afternoon and the evening the bulk of that rain is well far south of the d. C. Metro. So i think most of us are going to get away with a fairly dry day today overall. Then we clear out overnight tonight. We start off on wednesday morning which will be back to work for most of us. The day features partly cloudy skies. Tomorrow across the d. C. Metro. But then the cloud cover will start to move on late day and Early Morning hours of thursday. Overall, though, i think were in for a pretty good stretch. High today right around the lower to middle range 40s and then tonight it will be cool. Yes, well go back down into the 20s and 30s. Well below freezing for most of us but well taper off on those showers as well overnight tonight and dry things out headed into your early wednesday morning forecast. So the good news is that we stay with green weather alerts for the next three days. Yes, the rainsnow mix is possible for today. When i say mix, i just mean a wet snow flake mixed in with that rain. Temperatures above freezing. Nothing is going to be able to stick or accumulate. Then for wednesday it will be a little brink. Mostly sunny skies but temperatures remain below 40 degrees for wednesday afternoon. By thursday a little more cloud cover comes on through. But i still think its going to be a nice finish to the week. Theres one tiny snow flake late in the day on friday. Thats friday night into saturday morning as the next system brings a little moisture close enough to us. We might even see a snow flake because overnight temperatures going down into the 20s. Notice, though, that as we get toward the end of the week with the colder air moving on through, our overnight lows are about to get much more chilly settling into the middle range, even some of the lower 20s outside the beltway. Thank you, olga. 5 18 now. The ravens and redskins both hosting playoff games this weekend. Washington will face the same opponent that send it hope the last two times the team made the postseason. Stay tuned. Sports is next. Another look at the question of the day. According to the week site called confused. Com, the most popular new years resolution is a, losing weight, b, saving money, or c, selfimprovement or education . Thanks for playing with us this morning. Priscilla larson writes i would say a slash b because the way the fiscal cliff is, you dont know if youre going to have money for food or not. Well have the correct answer in our 6 00 show. Keep it here. Well be right back. [ male announcer ] this commercial is not about getting fios; its about getting fios. That moment after you finally got it that you actually get it. When you see the difference 100 fiber optics makes, and you say woah we are not on cable anymore. When online videos arent herky jerky, you get it. Or when a movie downloads in two minutes, you get it. Last chance to get fios for just 79. 99 a month for two years with a twoyear agreement. Plus 300 back. Go to got2getfios. Com today call the Verizon Center for customers with disabilities for americas fastest, most reliable internet. At 8009746006 tty v. Verizon fios. Im halfway to your heart you have to let me know so i dont make my worst mistake turn around and let you go [ female announcer ] when sweet and salty come together, the taste is irresistible. Made with sweet, smooth Peanut Butter and salted, roasted peanuts. Sweet and salty nut bars by nature valley. Nature at its most delicious. Welcome back on this overcast turs morning. First day of the new year tuesday morning. First day of the new year. Were starting out with cloud cover. Temperatures in the 30s in and around the beltway. By about the 10 00, 11 00 hour, we should hit the lower 40s. Thats pretty much where were going to stay for the rest of the day. 42 to 44 degrees inside the beltway. Slightly lower outside. The opportunity for a shower to move on down throughout the afternoon. It will improve, though. However, well dry things out overnight. Mike, andrea . Thanks, olga. Well, you may be out of luck if you want a ticket to sundays game at fed ex field. Redskins are getting ready for their first postseason appointment this year. Thats an appointment we hope is going to be a positive one. Diane roberts has your morning sports. Good morning, everyone. Happy new year. The last time the redskins were in the playoffs was 2007 when they rallied after irreplaceable safety sean taylors death. Their opponent then is the same one they get this weekend, the seahawks but instead of traveling to washington state, the redskins will host the 115 seahawks. Both teams boast two record setting rookie quarterbacks and the teams themselves are on a roll as well. The skins won seven straight to claim the nfc east. Seattle won five in a row. Got a lot of respect for them. Everybody can see how theyve been playing. Theyre an excellent offense and defensive football team. Theyre able to run the football, score a lot of points. So its a very well coached, very well disciplined team. Theyve been playing great. If you hope to go to the game, good luck. The Team Announced all playoff tickets are sold out. Some could turn up later as extras. There are plenty of vaiblght on availability on two sites. The Baltimore Ravens host the Indianapolis Colts sunday at 1 00 right here on wusa9. Later in the day washington hosts seattle, a 4 30 game. Well wrap up both games after 9news at 11 00. Thats a quick look at sports. Have yourself a great tuesday. Happy new year, everyone. Speaking of sports, check this out. The american hockey leagues adirondack phantoms took to the ice on new ears eve wearing these spiffy uniforms. Its about as close as you can get wearing a tuxedo in professional sports, if you call that professional sports. The dinner jacket and of course bow tie very funny. Very spiffy. The senate has passed a compromise bill to deal with the fiscal cliff. Well have more on that coming up. Plus, d. C. Officials announce some major plans for the future of a heavily traveled bridge. Good morning. Happy new year. Im andrea roane. Im mike hydeck. The first day of 2013 is here. Thank you for waking up with us or staying up with us, as the case may be. Monika samtani is off and Howard Bernstein as well. Olga breese has the forecast. The clouds could in last night. We kempt it nice and dry for your new years eve celebrations, but now the moisture is getting a little bit closer to us. Lets take a look and see how things are progressing on doppler 9000. Were really not seeing too much in and around the beltway. Were looking good to the west as far as we can see. However, that moisture is starting to move on through and the Bigger Picture will show how much of that will be coming in our direction later on today. Nothing to be alarmed about, though. I think were going to have a pretty decent afternoon. Most of the bulk of that moisture, this is a storm system thats passing to our south. Most of the moisture is going to stay to the south. Unless you are from, say, about the beltway region down in toward southern portions of maryland and virginia, youll probably get those sprinkles later on this morning and another round later on this afternoon. The good news is that the wintry precipitation, the light blues and dark blues that were seeing and the pinks, thats staying out of our region. Our temperatures have not fallen below freezing during the overnight. As we progress through the day, yes, a spotty shower is possible but nothing to get too excited about. Well hit the lower 40s by later on this afternoon. I think we settle right around 42 to 44 degrees for Reagan National airport during that 3 00 hour. Then we shift our winds out of the northwest later on today. That means were in for another cool night tonight as we go back down into the 20s and 30s. Very cool but dry and sunny tomorrow. Well struggle to get out of the upper 30s. Youll notice the brinkness with north briskness with north winds tomorrow and well continue with partly cloudy skies and cooler temperatures even on our thursday forecast. Ill give you details on the extended sevenday forecast and when we might possibly see the next snow flake. Thank you, olga. They missed the midnight deadline but congress may still get a deal done on the fiscal cliff. The Senate Passed a compromise bill very early this morning. Next it goes to the house where the bill could be facing some pretty stiff opposition. Delia goncalves is live on capitol hill with an explanation on that. Delia, good morning. Happy new year to you. Reporter happy new year, mike. Welcome back, andre ya. We thought they were andrea. We thought they were close. They came to a deal last night but House Republicans say it may not look too good after all. The Sticking Point were seeing is the spending cut. The senate bill delays the spending cut for another two months. President obama said yesterday that he wanted to include that into the bill but in order to get it passed, he had to compromise himself. Lets take a look at some video shot yesterday on the senate floor of the house. The 898 vote was cast around 2 00 a. M. The bill permanently extends the bush era tax cuts for 99 of americans. Current spending levels will be offset by tax increases and some spending cuts, half to defense and half to domestic. Lets take a listen. One thing we can count on with respect to this congress is that if theres even one second left before you have to do what youre supposed to do, they will use that last second. This is a mini cliff. The big cliff still lies in front of us. The big cliff [ inaudible ] reporter certainly some members of congress not happy with this deal that was struck last night. However, mitch mcconnell, a republican himself, says this was a good deal for americans. The house is back in session at noon and will likely take up this vote right away. Back to you. Thanks, deal yarks live on capitol hill delia, live on capitol hill. Jessica doyle is back with a look at the economy and the cliff. Weve been worried for months. If we go over the fiscal cliff, were going to have a recession. Its all going to end. Its all awful. Guess what . We dont have a deal. We have outlines of a deal. We dont actually have a real big picture grand compromise kind of deal. What does this mean for our economy . Experts are saying were probably not headed for a recession but we probably shouldnt expect barn burner Economic Growth for all of 2013 either because of the fiscal cliff. With a deal on the table right now, the nation is probably looking at tax hikes on households making more than 450,000 a year. That could exert a little drag on the overall economy. The biggest economic hit, that would come from the payroll tax holiday simply going away. The payroll tax as you recall was cut by 2 Percentage Points over the last year to help give the economy a little bit of a nudge. Its not being extended by the deal struck by lawmakers. They could still extend it but probably not and it as up over the course ever the year, if you make 50,000 a year, that works out to be 20 bucks a week coming out of your paycheck going to the tax man instead. A thousand bucks less you will take home in 2013 just because of thissitiy bitty tax holiday. Youre not going to feel it at first but the end of the year youre going to notice hey, i didnt make as much this year. Just not good. Not good. Because we still dont think that the house is going to be easy to go along with this compromise plan. Absolutely. Basically the situation we have right now, we have kind of a deal on tax hikes and were kicking the can down the road on spending cuts. Of course we know spending cuts, when youre talking about the federal government, that hits washington hard. So we dont even know what its going to do to our local economy. Sequestration is still an issue for this region especially. Still on the table. Wow. Thank you. Doctors in new york are keeping a close watch on secretary of state hillary clinton. They revealed monday she had a blood clot behind her right ear in a vein that sits between her brain and her skull. The clot did not cause a stroke or any neurological damage. This is something thats not affecting the brain tissue itself. Having said that, if the clot obstructed blood from draining out of her brain, her brain would swell and become damaged. Doctors are treating her clot with some blood thinners to help stabilize it. The 65yearold suffered a concussion after falling at her home last month and it was during a followup checkup for that condition when doctors discovered the clot. The risk factors for clot include prolonged bed rest or sitting for long periods of time, being over 60 years old, being pregnant or smoking. Now to the deadly attack on the u. S. Mission in benghazi, libya. A new report says the state department made a grievous mistake by keeping that mission open. The report makes note of inadd squat security and clear skins of a Inadequate Security and clear science of a threat there. Signs after threat there. The d. C. Government has announced plans to build a enough Frederick DouglasMemorial Bridge. The projected price tag about 660 million. Construction would start in 2015. Mayor vincent gray says in the long run a new bridge would save taxpayers money over the cost of making repeated repairs to the existing bridge which is 63 years old. The douglas Memorial Bridge handles 70,000 commuters every day as they cross the anacostia river. D. C. Public works crews are starting to pick up Christmas Trees and wreaths. Tree and wreath pick yun in the district will start this week and continue through january 12. Officials say residents should remove all decorations from trees and put them where they place trash and recycling for collection. The trees will be chipped and composted after being picked up. Any tree put out after the 12th will still be picked up but as space in the trash truck allows. Still have your tree . Its coming down today. Today is the day we take it down. You have to wait till the 6th. Ill tell my wife you said so. 5 36. The emancipation proclamation was signed 150 years ago. Today you have one last day where you can see it in person. Details on that coming up. And well tell you where an ice castle has just opened to the public. It is definitely brink on the brisk on the weather terrorist. Some of us might see a few sprinkles before the day is out. Lets take a look at our day planner. We are at 40 degrees at Reagan National right now. Temperatures will dip a little bit prior to sunrise but i think were going to hold on to the lower 40s throughout the day. Looks like a chilly night tonight. Back down into the 20s and 30s and even a cooler forecast for tomorrow. Today is yow last day to en your last day to enjoy a rare display of the emancipation proclamation. 150 years ago today our 16th president Abraham Lincoln signed the document freeing slaves in the until. Today is the final day the united states. Today is the final day it will be on exhibit. Its only brought out a few days a year since exposure to light can damage the document. Today the emancipation proclamation will be on display from 10 00 a. M. To 5 00 p. M. At the archives building on the national mall. If its not cold enough for you around here, you can shiver all you want outside the mall of america in minnesota. Thats where an ice castle just opened. It is a one acre site with a 40 foot tall castle all made out of ice and icicles. It took four million gallons of water to build it. It opened this week and weather permitting, it should stay open till about president s day. Since 2000 , the skins 2008, the skins have packed up their lockers aft final regular season after the final regular season game. But this time theyre the nfc champs and they are getting ready for seattle this weekend. Dave owens has more on the redskins very improbable journey to the playoffs. Surreal is a word folks have been throwing around. How did this happen . How did the redskins go from life support to living, breathing . How did they win ten games . How did that phrase get flashed on the oversized stadium monitor . You talk about character and put character with people that have ability and a team ma plays together, you got a chance to do some special things. How did one rookie with two good legs and another one only one carry this team rushing wise to a place its never seen before . How . The teams that can run the ball and stop the run in the playoffs are the teams that win. So i think a quarterback when a team has to stop the run, theyre going to play gift defenses. Im just thankful. This is a humbling experience. Im thankful to be here. I tell everybody hes been the backbone of this offense. On the other side, how did this defense once on pace to be historically bad all of a sudden turn opportunistic . Well let this sink in a little bit longer tonight but tomorrow its back to work. Tomorrow is now today. One step closer to the first home playoff game since 1999. The mantra . 12 team tournament, fourgame season, dont be satisfied with just getting in. A victory it s. Oh, yeah. Dave owens, 9 sports. The reds skins host the Seattle Seahawks this sunday. Tickets are sold out but you can get them from the ticket brokers for a hefty price. A group of area businesses is helping break a cycle of violence. Coming up in todays hero central, we salute the organization that helps Domestic Abuse victims set up their new lives. Who is a new years baby . A couple of channel 9 family birthdays this morning. Our noon producer larry lewis birthday is today. Happy birthday and sandys daughter laura tucker. Happy birthday if its your birthday, too. Good morning. Welcome back to 9news now. It is 5 46. The first day of the new year. The first day olga breese is going to tell us whats in store for us. Were looking pretty good this morning. We didnt have the chilly overnight lows. We did get down into the 40s. Its 40 at Reagan National right now. Were starting to see a few of those upper 30s but for the most part weve steered clear of 20degree temps. Lets take a look at our current temperature. Sitting not too badly for right now. Weve mainly been safe from the chilly temperatures by the overcast skies. The cloud cover is going to stick around with us all day long. Damp and dreary for your day planner as we head out of the 9 00 and 10 00 hour. We should head out of the 30s into the 40s. And well hover right around 42 degrees for the remainder of the afternoon. You will notice a few sprinkles coming on down. Thats because theres a storm system to our south that will be passing just south of the region and that will bring us the opportunity to see a few of these spotty showers throughout the day. However, later on tonight after sunset, we start to clear out some of that moisture but we do keep the cloud cover until Early Morning on your wednesday. For right now, though, satellite and radar is looking pretty good. Cloud cover with a little bit of moisture again Southern Maryland, down toward la plata, leonardtown, fredricksburg had a few showers earlier this morning. So were looking to see this kind of spotty activity later on through the day. Overall though todays temperatures fairly chilly although were sitting in the 30s to near 40 degrees. Its feeling like the freezing mark so dont be fooled by the air temperature. You need the scarf and gloves. Future cast shows it like this breaking down the timeline for the moisture moving on through. Precipitation stays well to the north and west in the Higher Elevations. Mostly what were going to experience today is spotsy showers, maybe a wet snow flake mixed in. Nothing will stick or accumulate. Then we clear it out overnight as we head into tomorrow. Were partly cloudy and bringing in real sunshine as we head towards the end of the week forecast. Overall though, i think our next stretch is going to be very chilly as we head in toward the end of the week. Forecast for lows tonight, down into the 20s. Lower 20s for the panhandle of maryland. Teens out toward oakland and we definitely are going to see that chill in West Virginia as well. It does look, however, at least our overall picture for weather is staying calm. Thats why we have green weather alerts for the next three days. Although well see predominantly rain for today, well we might mix in a little bit of snow flakes but thats only for the northern and western locations. Tomorrow sunshine but very cool. Northerly breezes take over and the cooler, arctic air will have an opportunity to move on down into our region. By thursday were partly cloudy. Still have a little bit of a chill but the big picture youll notice is the overnight lows are going to get much more colder. Were talking about lows near 25 for both thursday night and friday night. Delia . The Senate Finally passes a fiscal cliff bill but the house may not be impressed. Imea eption plain im explain why coming up in a live report from capitol hill. Making news now at 5 49, the New York Times reports progress in the nhl labor standoff. The lead commissioner is expected to respond to a new proposal from the Players Union today. Yesterday the union responded to a nearly 300page proposal made by the league last week. They hope to start an abbreviated nhl season january 19. North koreas leader made a rare speech to his countrys people welcoming in 2013. This is the first new years address in 19 years. He became the leader after his father died in december 2011. Up to a Million People packed into times square last night to watch the giant crystal ball drop during the final seconds of 2012 and welcome in 2013. Many revelers wore blue hats and balloons. Todays hero central salute as Virginia Group thats helping break the cycle of domestic violence. Fairfax countys office of women and domestic and Sexual Violence services receive more than 3,000 calls for help last year. Now survivors are experiencing a better life thanks to the Northern Virginia coalition of churches and businesses. Jc hayward recognizes the group known as novaco. Very scary. Never been by myself. My ex was trying to take the kids. Reporter four years ago casey tack the first step away from a life of domestic violence. My husband kicked me out. I have three kids going to a shelter. They kind of placed me in novaco. Reporter novaco is a Nonprofit Organization in fairfax county. Its dedicated to help victims recover from Domestic Abuse. People end up oftentimes getting into a cycle of abuse without even realizing it and then it escalates. So it doesnt go away. Somebody doesnt walk down the hall or walk into a house and hit somebody. It usually starts with yelling, screaming, manipulation. Reporter the first step toward breaking the abuse cycle is providing transitional housing. It was a three bedroom apartment, living room, dining room, two bathrooms. Reporter novacos wide network of church and Community Counselors provide classes. The demand is high. We only serve about 20 of the need. So were constantly looking for volunteers and donations. Reporter in three years with novaco, valentine learned many life skills like Financial Literacy and career planning. They helped me find a house. They helped me with my kids and learn how to drive. Today she lives in her own home with all five of her children. The 28yearold working mom plans to go back to school for a career as a nursing assistant. Dont stay in a situation youre thinking if i leave, im going to lose everything because your life and your kids are more important. Reporter im jc hayward, 9news now. Novaco paves a path to self sufficiency for Domestic Abuse survivors. About onethird of former clients now own their own homes. If youd like to volunteer or donate, go to jchayward. Com. Click on hero central. 5 53. Lets take another look at the question of the morning up for. According to the web morning now. According to the website confused. Com, the most popular new years resolution is what . A, losing weight, b action saving money, or c, self improvement or education . Angela burton writes b, save money. Who knows what the economy is going to do. Youve got that right. Join the discussion. Post your answer on our facebook fan page. Well have the answer in about an hour from now. 5 53. Are you working out this morning or eating a grapefruit . Whatever your new years resolution, we have some tips on actually keeping them this year for a change. Well let you know coming up. I like the one about saving money. In the meantime you think the fight over the fiscal cliff was bad . Were not even close to being done with these money problems facing the nation. Im going to map them out for you and thats coming up at 6 03. Youre watching 9news. Cic evs s n usac esi. Th emesttso arow douan gw ouenelac w qteuris, lyews urxpur aayhath c dtoou sui aesn ard. Dti romnd th iserome beusitel tstngen e am. Romnd tt usit erti iru. Yofe le erisomhi th yrdog toelsagud ait the idroon d beevit dog go j. The time 5 56. We definitely have overcast skies. Portions of Southern Maryland have already seen pops of that moisture. Well continue with overcast skies today. Keep a little sprinkle in our forecast for this afternoon. However, a lot of us are going to stay dry. At 40 degrees at Reagan National airport right now, well increase a little bit as we get into the afternoon. Maybe about 42 degrees or so and then hold steady late in the day. We will begin to dry things out as we head in toward the 5 00, 6 00 hour. Looks like its going to be a chilly night tonight. Back down into the 20s and 30s. Mike, andrea . Thank you, olga. The new year is already six hours old. That means millions of americans are already in the gym or heading to the gym this morning or weighing themselves in hopes of never seeing that number again. After all the thanksgiving food, i dont want to get near a scale. Most of us who make these resolutions do not keep our goals. We have some tips on changing that cycle this year. Reporter exercising more is one of the most popular resolutions people make for the new year. To work out more and be healthier and lose weight. Reporter for many the new year means new beginnings. Research shows more than a hundred million americans resolve to change their behavior every january but only a third of them succeed. Cycle instructor nick warren says part of the reason says some of the resolutions are just unrealistic. You should set goals you can reach. I need to lose 30 pounds but ill give myself a year to do that. Im going to work two pounds a month which is moderate to average and totally attainable. Reporter another tip. Say youre going to eat better and health year, not diet. Pick one or two foods to limit. Then add more. Milk. If youre putting milk into your coffee instead of doing whole milk or half and half, try skim. Reporter youll also want to reward now your accomplishments that will keep you motivated and looking forward to your next goal. Dont make bad food your reward for being good. Also, keep a log to keep you honest. Track everything from food to exercise to sleep habits. Be it positive or negative. Thats when it really becomes a reality i think for people. Reporter and allow yourself room to make mistakes. If you slip up, just get back on track quickly. Dont wait till next year to make another resolution. Cbs news, new york. The new year is also a good time to make those doctors appointments that you put off for the last year. Just make sure you bring your new insurance card, especially if your policy has changed. We had one expert who says we dont gain that much between thanksgiving and new years, maybe a pound but its hard to lose the pound so year after year, youre putting that pound on and then two, three, there you are. And here we are saying happy new year to you to 9news at 6 00 a. M. Good morning. Im andrea roane. Dont sweat t. You gain add pound. Dont worry about it. Im mike hydeck. Monika samtani is off today. Well have hopefully timesaver traffic as the hour needs it. Howard bernstein also off. Olga breese is here. She has your weather first. Weather not too bad this morning. Most of us are still dry. I think its going to be a good start to the