Transcripts For WUSA 9News Now At 6am 20101216

26 or so by 9:00. by noon, we've got 27. snow starting to pick up and it will be light to moderate all afternoon. temperatures are going to hold in the upper 20s. maybe near 30. right now, we're looking at temperatures which are in the teens to our north and west. below 20. certainly cold enough to support the snow around here. and the snow is coming. you can see it on the satellite and radar. the snow showers are leaving from the north. look at the big area from southern ohio, kentucky, southern west virginia all marching east and because of that, we've got all sorts of winter weather advisories posted with warnings down south with the heavier snows and mixed precip. richmond to roanoke. heavier stuff in west virginia. white. that includes everybody. that's one to three inches. look at the blue here. some of the areas have closed. northern neck, southern maryland, they can see three plus inches of snow before the storm pulls away later on tonight. probably before midnight. details coming up on snow totals locally. at about 6:14. rich and andre is here with time saver traffic. >> still getting the all clear as far as the roadways are concerned. roadways are still dry for the most part although in the district, northwest, we do have some ice on the road there. rock creek parkway. you can see it is a little bit icy at that point. take it easy going on by. no back-ups as a result of that. there is the good news. also on the beltway, maryland beltway, we do find slowing on the outer loop between university boulevard and georgia avenue. nothing to hold you up for too long at this point. then taking a look at i-95, bw parkway, prince george's county, southbound on those roadways still clear as you make the move down from baltimore. now on i-270, the southbound side, we'll find slowing going into i-370. no problems moving to the beltway. i-66 looks like an incident eastbound on the shoulder past 234. some slowing on inbound 66 from 50 to about 123. we'll have more of a look at traffic coming your way at about 6:12. mike, andrea? >> quick correction. panel county public schools in virginia will open two hours late today. paige county public schools are not closed. paige county virginia schools, two hour delay. ok. 6:03. here is a look at what's happening today. >> the house could vote as early as today on the tax cut deal. wednesday, the senate overwhelmingly approved a measure which approves benefits. >> d.c.'s mayor elect vincent gray is expected to announce kenneth ellerbee as d.c.'s new fire chief later today. ellerbe is the fire chief in sarasota, florida. the nigerian man who authorities say tried to blow up a detroit-bound flight is due back in court today. umar abdul will be arraigned on two new charges. each carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. it appears a mistake using a space heater forced ten people out into freezing temperatures overnight. >> the fire spread through an apartment complex in aspen hill. 9news now reporter kristin fisher is live at the scene with more on the dramatic rescues from that complex. kristin, good morning. >> hey, good morning, mike. you can see the fire is clearly now out but it took fire fighters several hours to get this fire under control. it all apparently started right here in this ground floor apartment. that's all that's left. you can see how charred out it is down there. but take a look at what it looked like last night. that fire department was the first one on the scene. the fire broke out just after midnight. but this thing quickly escalated to a two alarm fire. firefighters had to rescue several people from their balconies but fortunately, only one person was injured. minor injuries. they were taken to the hospital after inhaling too much smoke. while they were trying to get out of the burning building. in total, three apartments were damaged. two significantly. one just had only minor smoke damage. now, ten people have no home to go back to. with just nine days left until christmas. so, what about a cause? well, as mike was saying, firefighters say that preliminary findings with pointing to a space heater that was left far too close to some flammable materials. we don't know what exactly but it could be anything from bedding, linens, a blanket to curtains, towels, anything like that. it just really goes to show you why it is so important to follow the directions on space heaters this time of year. it also shows you why firefighters are always so wary of them and why they tell people even when it is this cold outside to be extra cautious when you're using those to heat your home. back to you. >> kristin, thank you. our time right now, 6:05. here is a look at what happened while you slept. >> salt trucks will be preparing for today's expected snowfall. they started doing that yesterday. late last night in fact, crews in maryland, virginia and d.c. pretreated the interstates in the area roads. the road crews are hoping the salt and the pretreatment will prevent a repeat of those accidents like we had on many interstates including 270 last friday. >> one person was killed, three others were hurt after an early morning crash in laurel, maryland. it happened along laurel bowie road near muikirk road. it shut down the intersection for most of the night while investigators reconstructed the crash. it has since reopened. with just a short time ago, a suspect accused of shooting at police and the possible robbery was taken into custody. >> the incident started last night when a robbery victim spotted a man who looked like the robber and then phoned police with a clear description. then the cops saw the suspect in a drugstore parking lot and approached the man. >> that suspect produced a handgun and fired it at the officer. the officer returned fire. the officer was not injured. we're not sure if the suspect was struck or not. the suspect took off and fled on foot down swan road. >> eventually, the suspect was taken into custody with no incident. no word yet on the charges. this is the second time in six days someone has opened fire on a prince george's county cop at close range. >> a drug range in the district is no longer in operation. federal immigration and customs officials shut it down and arrested eight suspects they say are all mexican nationals. all of the suspects claim to have ties to the powerful drug cartel la familia. people were arrest in the our area as well as in georgia and north carolina. lawyers for wikileaks founder julian assange will try once again this morning to get him released from police custody. in britain. his attorneys hope to have bail reinstated after prosecutors stopped that move tuesday. assange was granted bail initially under some very strict conditions. he needs to wear an electronic tag and post $316,000 in cash for the bond. they said they will contribute including michael moore and bianca jagger. >> i think that the most important thing in our system of law is justice, due process and freedom of expression. >> now, assange's legal team says it has collected about half of the money they need to get him out of jail if the decision is in their favor. acaping is not being prosecuted for leaking the secret documents on wikileaks. he is instead accused of sex crimes against two women in sweden. >> as if deciding what to get your family members wasn't enough, now many have to think about holiday tipping. >> and when one in ten americans is out of work and pinching pennies this season is serious, the dilemma becomes tougher. so, how do we show appreciation for those we get help from throughout the days of the year? jill schlesinger has advice. >> lisa chang loves her job. she has never missed a day of work because she knows she's man's best friend's best friend. >> through rain, blizzard, snowstorm. we gotta take the dogs out. they have to do their thing. >> she does her thing year around for a salary that hasn't made her rich but she is richly appreciated. >> i get a lot of nice tips, believe it or not. i get from $100 going up to $500. >> that is lucky. because the truth is that three out of four americans don't tip their dog walker. or their gardener or their mailman. and only one in ten tip the garbage man. >> americans plan to tip their service providers about the same amount as last year. with a median tip of $35. that's at the upper end of the range. >> peter post, emily post's great-grandson says tipping with cash or gifts is good manners even in tough times. >> probably to fewer people in our lives who are providing the services that arele will important to us. >> here are our tips for the holidays. don't skimp on valued employees. evaluate who's most important to you and helps you most frequently. like your child care provider, elder care provider or dog walker. for in-house help like housekeepers, nannies, personal caregivers or dog walkers, get at least one week of wages. for baby-sitters, hairstylists and personal trainers, give the cost of one session. the paper delivery person, trash collector and gardener should get a smaller cash gift. for cbs news, i'm jill schlesinger, cbs money watch.com. good advice. >> it is good advice. >> willing to pay for good service because it is few and far between these days. >> our time is 6:10. talking about a rude awakening. >> dozens of car owners had to buy new tires. after someone decided to slash them. this is not the first time this has happened. ice breakers mints with icy-cool flavor crystals. ice breakers. stay cool. welcome back. 6:12. we've learned we have a couple of -- information to pass on to you. the culpepper schools are now on a 2 hour delay. we'll stand by to see if they do more than that. stafford county, virginia and paige county schools have gone from two hour to now closed. paige county is now closed. they had initially announced a two hour delay. now they've gone closed. the snow is coming. it is not leaving. so, we will are likely see a couple more. let's talk about the day planner. we have snow on the way. right now, 23 and cloudy. by 9:00, snow and south and west of washington. lightly, 26. light to moderate snow this afternoon. temps hold in the upper 20s with minor accumulations. i'll have the totals in about three minutes. right now, here's richard andrei with time saver traffic. >> good morning again. it looks like we're checking out good traffic conditions. no problems passing bowie. all lanes are open there. we'll have a more complete look in a few minutes at 6:18. mike, andrea? >> thank you, richard. it is 6:13. here's what's making news. we're learning more about the man who held a florida school board at gunpoint on tuesday. his name is clay duke. his wife says he was pushed over the em by the economy and he was frustrated over her losing her teaching job. security guard wounded him in a brief shoot-out. duke died after he actually turned the gun on himself. a greek lawmaker made the mistake of walking out of parliament as thousands of angry protestors were on the march. staff workers eventually rescued him and fortunately his wounds are not serious. those demonstrators are very angry at deep government cutbacks. drivers in arlington are really hoping their tires survived the night last night. >> they woke up to find several of them slashed and flat yesterday morning. this is the second time in two months someone has gone through this boston neighborhood slashing tires. the vandals targeted cars lining the streets of culpepper, 19th and cameron. >> this is the third time my truck has been hit this year. all of my tires have been slashed. all of my brand new tires. i'm tired of paying for these tires. i don't have money. >> i don't know if it is gang- related or what. but it needs to come to a stop. >> people in the neighborhood tell 9news about 30 tires were slashed. if you have any information about this crime, you're asked to call police. 6:15. howard is dashing all over the studio trying to make sure the computers are ready because he has a lot of information. >> just hearing stanton getting reports of snowfall finally reaching the ground there. it is coming up the shenandoah valley. it is going to get over to culpepper into washington. that will take really the next three, four hours to happen. so, i think by 10:00 or so, we'll probably be seeing the beginning of the snow in washington. up north, frederick, maryland, it may take you toward the noon hour. snow is definitely on the way. momslikeme bus stop forecast, we do have a quiet morning. the morning commute should be fine and quiet and cold and not windy. just cloudy. mid teens to mid-20s except in the shenandoah valley. sun sets at about 4:47. as we break down the day planner, by 9:00, especially south and west, the light snow will be falling. 26 degrees. noon, 36. temperatures barely budging up to around 29 by 6:00 p.m. good news is the winds will be light. other good news, we know this is coming. so, the road crews will be out there. however, it is cold. anything that's not treated will certainly have sticking snow. some of the lesser traveled roads, side streets, driveways, sidewalks, they'll get slick. winter weather advisory doesn't cover martinsburg but winchester. it doesn't cover hagerstown. to the south, winter storm warnings down for richmond and roanoke. satellite and radar, we've seen the clouds move in since the early morning hours. here's some of the snowfall showing up in west virginia. this is not reaching the ground. some of the blues here getting real close toward charlottesville now. live doppler 9000, we're picking up some of the returns as well. this is virga. not reaching the ground. see it is ragged looking here. worth of winchester. almost. give them another 30 minutes or so. that snow is headed toward us. temperaturewise this morning. teens and low 20s. reston is 18. hay market in manassas, only 16 right now. 19 in columbia. and andrews and baden at 17 degrees. lleytonville at 18. cloudy skies. and the air is dry. humidity is only 55%. first batch of snow will take a little bit of time to evaporate. you can see it coming in here now. we're going to watch it. it all matching off to the east with a heavier amount south. want to show you the snow totals before we get to the extended. as we head toward 5:00, almost two inches here in fredericksburg. some areas south though by the time the system is done through tappahannock, that's 3.2. a general one to three is what we're expecting with lighter amounts north, heavier south. 29 today with some light to moderate snow this afternoon. 38 tomorrow and saturday. by the weekend, we've gotten rid of the storm. then -- say that again? spots ilvania schools have closed. tuesday could have another snow system around here. here's richard andrei with time saver traffic. >> looks like we do have some incidents in the area to mention. we have the report of an accident first of all inner loop of the beltway. prince george's county. take it easy through there. some of the travel part of the roadway may be block off there. we're getting reports of another crash to look out for on southbound 270 near the i-70 interchange up toward frederick county. on southbound 270 moving inbound, it will be slow from germantown to montrose road. heading in toward virginia on the inbound side of i-66, the incident still on the shoulder just past 234. again, it is off the travel part of the roadway. in the direct, some ice still a problem. rock creek parkway around p street, traffic does get by there in the section of northwest. some ice on the road to contend with. the next traffic update coming your way in a few minutes at 6:24. >> thanks, richard. it is time to showcase the morning lights this morning. a chance for you to show off your holiday spirit. >> and this morning, we get a photo from evanton. this is his family's dog, max. max is hanging out in front of the christmas tree in waldorf, maryland. we thank evanson and max for sharing this photo. >> we would like to see your holiday displays as well. e-mail a picture to lights at wusa9.com and make sure you include your name and where you live. >> our time is 6:19. sports is next when the news continues. >> it appears redskins donovan mcnabb could be riding the pines this weekend. we put the question to mike shanahan. hear what he has to say coming up next.  welcome back. 6:23. snow on the way. not here yet. as we look at the satellite and radar combined, you'll see the moisture moving in from the west to the east. reports just starting to snow in the stanton area. we're going to see that snow move our way over the next few hours. so, dry early today. the morning commute should be all right. light snow south and west by 9:26. light to moderate snow will accumulate in spots. one to three inches. temperatures topping off in the upper 20s. >> it is time for 9 sports with brett haber. the best sports in town. good morning, everybody. you know how we always refer to the caps as the highest scoring team in hockey? not anymore they aren't. after six straight losses including two shutouts, the caps are now the ninth highest scoring team in hockey. last night didn't help the numbers. trying to end the losing streak against the ducks, caps struck early. nick behind the net. out front to brooke who pokes in the back hand. 1-0 caps. they had plenty of chances to increase the lead. look at the puck right on the goal line. swept away at the last minute by ryan. then here is ovechkin. he hits the post. caps never lit the lamp again. it went to overtime tied at 1. same guy, ryan with the game winner and the caps lose 2-1 to the ducks. losing streak now at 7. the albert haynesworth situation gave us a glimpse at mike shanahan's playbook for dealing with guys he doesn't like. he embarrasses them, he benches them. and then he runs them out of town. his dealings with donovan mcnabb are starting to take on the same odor. espn reported yesterday that shanahan may sit mcnabb on sunday in dallas in favor of rex grossman. an act that would seem to suggest mcnabb's future in d.c. is rather bleak. and the coach didn't exactly quell those rumors yesterday. >> i don't go through the starting line-ups. i've told you guys that before. >> we talk about it every week. sooner or later, you come to the game. you'll find out who's starting. >> if i spent too much time on that, i wouldn't focus on the task at hand. so, i really don't worry about that. >> just when the haynesworth drama ends, the mcnabb drama resumes. i'm brett haber. have a great thursday. our time is 6:25. all they were trying to do was keep warm on a very frigid winter night. >> now nearly a dozen people are displaced after a fire rips through an apartment complex. we'll have a live report from the scene. richard has your check on traffic before we head to break. >> we're taking a look now as we scan the live sky 9 along i- 270. we've got a report of an accident at 270 near the eaks- 70 interchange. look out in that vicinity. 9news now will return after these messages. lightning fast. lightning strong. verizon 4g lte. rule the air on the most advanced 4g network in the world. ♪ [ children laughing ] ♪ [ female announcer ] sometimes, if you wish hard enough, you get exactly what you want for christmas. welcome to christmas town -- a busch gardens celebration. discover the wonder at christmastown.com. coming up on 6:30, thanks for starting your day with us. i'm andrea roane. >> i'm mike hydeck. howard bernstein on the weather terrace. this is a live look at union station this morning. goodness gracious, cold once again. we're in the 20s. colder in the suburbs. howard, are you bundled up out there? >> i am. the one key, the winds are much lighter. even though it is very cold. low 20s here. teens in the suburbs. you have the gloves, the earmuffs, it is not so bad. we have wind gusts 30 miles per hour. snow is on the way. little red on the horizon. as they say, road in the morning tweeness -- red in the morning means a warning. by midday, we're going to have snow. in fact through the afternoon and early evening it will be snowing. several inches of accumulation, highs are only going to make the upper 20s to possibly 30 south. here is the snow we're watching. it is moving in from west to east. snowing now almost to stanton. craigsville west of charlottesville along route 42 reporting snow. we'll take again several hours for the atmosphere to moisten up because it is so dry. we'll see snow starting midmorning out to the west and southwest and mid to late morning here in washington. lots of teens in the suburbs. anything that falls will stick. on untreated surfaces. as far as the snow accumulations that we're looking at, the white areas, that's a general one to three and that's just about everybody but there are pockets off to our south now. potentially three, three and a half, four inches locally. winter storm warning south. we have winter weather advisory going in over the next few hours. we'll be back around 6:43. richard andrei steps in with timesaver traffic. >> we do have some problems out there to report. we have the accident clearing now prince george's county on the inner loop near allentown road block the left-hand lane. that will cause. >> little bit of a problem going on by at that tige lar point. also in the beltway montgomery county, i-95 to georgia avenue, about a 15 minute drive in that particular section. at least you will find all lanes open there. inbound on new york avenue going into the district. there will be some slowing from the times building especially to bladensburg road. also in virginia, i-395, slowing on the inbound side especially between ethel road and seminary. beyond that point, no problems over to the 14th street bridge. inbound on i-66, the disabled vehicle near i-234, still slow on eastbound 66 from 50 to about 123. the next traffic report will be coming your way in a short time at around 6:46. mike, andrea? >> richard, thank you. >> it appears a mistake using a spice heater forced ten people out into freezing temperatures overnight. >> it was cold. the fire spread through an apartment complex in aspen hill. that is where kristin fisher is with more on the rescues and what people are dealing with there now. kristin, good morning. >> good morning, michael. when this is all said and done, this will be a case study into why you should be so careful when using a space heater this winter as it just gets more and more cold. really some freezing temperatures this morning as we've been talking about now. montgomery county firefighters are saying that there was a space heater that was located just inside this basement apartment here. and that is where the space heater apparently was. that's where the fire started. you can see that it quickly then spread up to the two apartments directly above that initial apartment. now, that escalated to a two alarm fire. montgomery county firefighters responded shortly after midnight. several people were indeed rescued from their balconies. incredibly, only one person was injured. nothing life-threatening. that person was taken to the hospital after inhaling too much smoke while trying to get out of the burning building. in total, we've got three apartments damaged. two significantly. one just minor smoke damage. and ten people have been displaced because of this fire. this morning, they're staying with either friends and family or they've put in a temporary shelter. they've been put inside a temporary shelter with the help of the red cross and just now, some people have arrived to actually begin the process of boarding up this building. protecting it and protecting all of the belongings that are inside if they aren't too burned up. so, it has really been a very trying morning for people here at this apartment complex in aspen hill. and just one more thing i want to point out. as firefighters deal with these -- battling the fires in such freezing temperatures, once again, we're seeing the water which firefighters were using to fight this fire has now frozen all over the walkways and in the parking lot here making for a pretty dangerous condition as people want to head out and get to work this morning. back to you. >> all right. let's face it. money is tight for just about everyone and now the rough economy is being blamed for a spike in shoplifting this holiday season. to help crack down on the crooks, police in fairfax county are doing much more aggressive patrols at high end shopping malls. so far, officers have managed to recover several thousand dollars worth of stolen merchandise. one bust alone netted more than $58,000 worth of clothing and perfume. >> they're very organized. they have -- they know what they want to steal. they usual will i have multiple players. multiple vehicles. >> there are so much going on. >> the shoplifters are getting more aggressive assaulting officers, even carrying guns. if stolen items don't get recovered, mall managers say someone has to pay and ultimately, that cost gets passed on to you, the consumer and customer in higher prices. as we said, how tough are the times? just ask santa or santa's helpers. >> he knows. one of the helpers, lorie chapman works at the post office in brentwood. she sorts through some of the letters to santa and she says in many cases, wish lists are not for luxuries. but necessities in the letters she's opening. not what people want for christmas but what they actually need. >> there is a grandmother who wrote a letter in. she had her grandkids. she had six grandkids and she was asking for help with shoes, hats, clothes, scarves, maybe a toy but definitely she was looking to keep them warm for the winter and provide for them. >> chapman is sharing the letters with people in our area who are writing to help out santa this season. >> wusa9 is doing its part to help out. we've teamed up with the marine corps reserve for toys for tots. you can see you can donate toys to any local fire station through december 22nd. find out more information at wusa9.com. just click on toy drive 9 and they're collecting from 7:00 until 10:00 at union station this morning. still to come, we all know smoke and a high fat diet could increase your chances of having a heart attack. >> if your mom or dad had one, you're even at greater risk even if you live a healthy lifestyle. we'll explain why. try this. ♪ ♪ it's that chocolate ♪ it's that whipped cream ♪ it's that caramel, and espresso you mix in ♪ ♪ i must be, i must be, i must be, i must be ♪ ♪ i must be dreamin' [ male announcer ] for the first time at mcdonald's -- your two favorite flavors together. new mccafé caramel mocha. well? what do you guys think? perfect. [ male announcer ] the simple joy of sweet harmony. ♪ ba da ba ba ba hi, may i help you? yes, i hear progressive has lots of discounts on car insurance. can i get in on that? are you a safe driver? yes. discount! do you own a home? yes. discount! are you going to buy online? yes! discount! isn't getting discounts great? yes! there's no discount for agreeing with me. yeah, i got carried away. happens to me all the time. helping you save money -- now, that's progressive. call or click today. welcome back to 9news now. 6:41 as ♪ moves in. more schools in our area are closing or delaying. >> here is the latest list. we get started in maryland. calvert county, charles county. st. mary county. all closed. >> in virginia, clark county, fauquier county, frederick, king george, orange, all schools closed. also in virginia, paige, shenandoah, spotsel spotsylvania, shenandoah. >> fredericksburg county schools are code red and stafford county is running a code 2. now, howard, you've been talking about one to three inches. you're talking about untreated surfaces. that's where we're going to see problems. i saw a sign i had never seen before at connecticut and nebraska, one of the portable signs saying weather pavement treatment. beware. that was supposed to happen today. starting at 10:00 a.m. >> that's probably some of the pretreatment, the solution that's suppose to the keep the road a little bit -- >> this is a sidewalk. >> people slipping on the sidewalk. >> want to talk about culpepper county. by 8:00, they'll make a decision. >> your advice to them? >> the snow is coming. if the snow was leaving, ok, a delay is warranted but with the snow coming, i think a lot of the districts are doing the safer than sorry thing. i think is applicable. >> let's get you going on the day planner. bus stop forecast for those areas that aren't going to school today. it is dry this morning. i think the morning commute is going to be ok. cloudy and cold. temperatures running teens to mid-20s. now, in the shenandoah valley down south toward harrisonburg, the snow will be starting within the next few minutes. however, culpepper, that snow may not get to you until 8:00 or 8:30. it is definitely on the way. our day planner today. by 9:00, light snow south and west. mid 20s. we'll all be seeing snow by midday. 27 and light to occasionally moderate snow at time. temperatures by 5:00, upper 20s. not a big storm. timing and the cold means any untreated surfaces will be seeing accumulations. clouds have been moving in. here comes some radar returns now all snow cold enough to support that. but very little of this is reaching the ground. let's go to live doppler 9000 hd. you can see here for new market, harrisonburg, the very ragged nature of the returns. however, south of charlottesville, see the darker blues. some of this is starting to reach the ground down south of i-64 and even in stanton. we've had reports of a few flakes within the last half hour. all right. winter weather advisory goes into effect from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. tonight. south toward richmond. a winter storm warning is in effect. they could have slightly more snow or a mix. they have raised that to a warning. temps are running in the low 20s in town. 25 at the pax river naval air station. upper teens in the shenandoah valley. this stuff is easily going to stick. 23 at national. the air is dry. you see the first returns, it will take a couple three hours for it to saturate. humidity is 55%. a little virga for a few hours. evaporation of anything that falls that doesn't reach the ground is virga. but then the darker blue, southern ohio, southern west virginia, southwestern virginia, some sleet and freezing rain potentially mixing in down south as well. greensboro, north carolina right now has freezing rain. as far our snow, on the future cast, by 1:30, the numbers have been just a tweak. 1.3 potentially. two inches in culpepper and fredericksburg. we'll have two inches on the ground by 1:30. this is why the schools are saying let's be safe on that. charlottesville by 3:00 could be doing 3.2 inches of snow. only an inch up in frederick by 3:00. by 5:00, 2 in manassas. two and a half, almost three inches in fredericksburg by the time this thing pulls out. very little additional accumulation. so, a general one to three today. starting later this morning. 29. tomorrow and saturday, upper 30s. yesterday, we talked about that coastal storm sliding south and east. i've pulled it off the map. i think it will miss us. saturday, sunday, monday in the 30s. by tuesday, another chance for some snow. highs in the low 30s. let's get a traffic update here. almost 6:46. here is richard andrei. >> it looks like some incidents still to report out there. if you're make the trip outdoors. it looks like an accident clearing prince george's county near allentown road. it looks like traffic gets by without too much of a major problem. in prince george's county, southbound on 301, report of an accident at excalibur road. take it easy going through there. also if you're taking a drive on i-270 southbound near i-70, we're getting an accident report of an accident still clearing there. that may be a bit of a problem. beyond that point, we're definitely looking at some slowdowns from the boulevard going down to the split. there is about a 30 minute drive. virginia, i-95 northbound looks like we're still looking at the slowing from the prince william parkway up to orton. as far as the trains, it looks like the metro orange line, this is a little behind schedule. the mark trains, the number 872, 876 and 880 about 25 minutes late. another look at traffic at about 6:58. mike, andrea? >> thank you very much, richard. we have another school closing to report to you in madison county schools. they're closed this morning. it is 6:47. we have an important health alert about family history and your heart. >> there are some new statistics out which say a person's heart attack risk is increased if other members of the family have had one especially at an early age. anita brikman has more. >> reporter: at just 32 years old, ann visits her cardiologist every three months to have her blood pressure and heart checked. with plaque in her arteries and high blood pressure, she's at risk of having a heart attack just like her mother did in her early 50s. >> she died when i was 18 years old. and of a massive heart attack. >> a report released late today from the american heart association shows women like anna are at a 70% increased risk of having a heart attack if one of their parents has had one early in life. for men, the risk doubles. >> if we have a family history, we really need to pay attention to exactly what our risks are for heart disease. that means getting cholesterol checked, getting blood pressure checked. >> it is not just your parents. if a brother or sister has heart disease, your risk doubles whether you're a man or a woman. there is some good news in the report. deaths from heart disease and stroke in the united states are down. but operations and procedure to treat these conditions are up. almost 30%. >> so, though we've treated it, and the death rate have gone down, let's make no mistake. people are actually more unhealthy than they've been in the past. we figured out the treatment. now, we have to figure out the prevention. >> if i don't take care of myself now, i'm going to die early, too. i don't want that. >> anita brikman, 9news now. >> whether or not there is heart disease in your family tree, it is for all of us to know our numbers so to speak, blood pressure, cholesterol, both good and bad levels as well as sugar or glucose levels. these can all be red flags for a heart attack in the future. our time right now, 6:49. 23 degrees. we'll be right back. you're watching 9news now. >> we're four days away from the latest edition of d.c. sports.net. this morning, campus correspondent play of the day comes to us from melanie shooting. bell feeds b.j. for the big time two-handed dunk. they defeated st. vincent 79- 68. nice throwdown. for the latest scores, highlights and feature stories and more play of the day clips including some from your local school, log on to d.c..high schoolsports.net. set your pace to island time. rich chocolate over creamy coconut. almond joy and mounds. enjoy more. cloudy skies now. watch some snow getting up toward lymphburg reporting snow. it will take several hours film for it to get here. it is coming this afternoon. we'll have snow, upper 20s. and maybe one to three inches by the time this thing pulls out. mike and andrea, over to you. >> howard, ok, 6:53. here is a look at some of the headlines. one person hurt. ten people need a new place to stay after a fire rips through an aspen hill, maryland, apartment building. the flames broke out early this morning in the 2900 block of hewitt avenue. investigators believe a space heater sparked the flames. >> the house could vote as early as today on president obama's tax cut deal. wednesday, the senate overwhelmingly approved the measure which extents bush era tax cuts and long-term unemployment benefits. the nigerian man who authorities say tried to blow up a detroit-bound flight last christmas is due back in federal court today. umar abdul mutt alla will be arraigned on two new charges. each carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. "the early show" begins in just five minutes. >> right now, harry smith tells us what's coming up at the top of the hour. >> i'm harry smith. still haven't picked out the family christmas tree? time is running out. we'll tell where you to find the best trees this late in the season coming up on "the early show." thank you, harry. our time is 6:54. >> one more check of traffic and weather when 9news now returns. the chill of peppermint. the rich dark chocolate. york peppermint patty. get the sensation. get selsun blue for itchy dry scalp. strong itch-fighters target scalp itch while 5 moisturizers leave hair healthy. selsun blue. got a clue? get the blue. welcome back. 6:57. just starting to seat flakes in the shenandoah valley toward harrisonburg and lynchburg right now in the snow. it is moving toward the east. from the west. it is snowing pretty heavily across parts of west virginia, southwestern virginia right now. you can see the darker blues. the lighter blues, that's not reaching the ground yet. that will take a few hours. as far as the snow potential, the white area, general one to three inches. some of that blew off to the south. fredericksburg, pockets in southern maryland. could be seeing three, three and a half. we'll watch that for you. as far as the sev-day goes, the snow starts later this afternoon through the evening hours. tomorrow, saturday, sunday and monday will be dry. we've taken that coastal storm out. temps holding in the 30s. another chance of snow will be here on tuesday into tuesday night. let's go over to richard andrei who has timesaver traffic. >> it looks like we do have some incidents to report still inner loop, capital beltway accident left shoulder by allenton road. at least it is off the travel part of the roadway. may cause a brief delay. prince george's doubt, accident clearing, two left lanes on excalibur road. slide off to the right to get by. northbound on 395, definitely some slowing. look for break lights on the beltway going to seminary road. again as you approach the pentagon mooing to the 14th street bridge, all lanes should be open. next report coming your way at about 7:25. mike, andrea? >> an electric holiday display is lighting up salt lake city, utah. >> at an aquarium, they're using an he'll to power the christmas tree. an electric he'll. right next to the tank. electrodes in the water pick up the he'll eel's voltage. >> an eel. >> who knew. >> absolutely. >> "the early show" is next. they'll have more on the president's tax deal making its way around capitol hill. >> that's anny helping me out today. we'll have another newscast at noon. until then, get your news, weather, traffic, doppler at wusa9.com. >> we'll see you tomorrow morning at 4:25. have a

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