Shot to death in their home. Investigators spending most of the day on black fir court. News4s derrick ward is there live with new details about this family tragedy. Derrick . Reporter well, you know, its all about those questions now. What exactly happened in this home here on black fir court . This home occupied by a family that moved here a short time ago and was endearing itself with the community. Now this home the scene of a double murder. There were no outward signs of trouble at this house on black fir court. Neighbors say the fricker family lived there a short time. These folks just moved in three months ago. They fit into the neighborhood well. Its one of those neighborhoods where everybody is very friendly. Reporter but it was a womans scream that woke another neighbor 5 00 a. M. , Fairfax CountyPolice Arrived shortly and they found three people shot. Buckley fricker, her pronounced dead at the scene, a third person not identified was taken to the hospital in critical condition. We know several other people were in the home at the time of the shooting and police are investigating them. Any threat . They have everybody accounted for. Reporter buckley was an attorney specializing in practice in elder law. News4 found this advertisement on they are website. Assisted living facilities are generally less than 7,000 a month in this country. Reporter Scott Fricker worked for the federal government. Three children ranging from college age to middle school age. A family now fractured by violence, a Community Left to wonder why. Its sad. I dont know what really happened, but its devastating. Devastating news. Reporter and that why question is what police are trying to answer at this very moment. We understand, again, they are interviewing the occupants of this home and hopefully they will have some answers to this tragedy very soon. We are live in reston, derrick ward,ws year and a baffling mystery, too. Derrick, thank you. The executive director of a shelter for victims of Domestic Violence has been fired. The news comes after Tracee Wilkins reported on deplorable conditions at the Family Crisis Center of Prince Georges County. Something the director sophie ford denied. Reporter you think the food is fine, the Room Temperature is fine, interest isnt a mold issue, thats what youre saying . That is what im saying. After our story aired, county officials inspected the shelter and told us they found concerns leading to fords termination. Only on news4 this evening, a man busted for a brazen crime. Accused of stealing from teachers purses in classrooms during the school day. Police tell us the man targeted schools in both montgomery and Prince Georges Countys. As our county bureau chief Tracee Wilkins reports, it is reporter this is video you will see only on news4. Nakeem is in custody. Blade enz berg police, the lead agency in the case say he was caught wandering the hallways of private and Public Schools in Prince Georges County on a mission to find teachers purses. Hed walk around the schools, enter classrooms that were unoccupied at the time. He would steal credit cards from the teachers purses, staffs purses. Immediately leave the school and go to various stores. Reporter police say they have video of sheffield in target, safe way and sometimes giant using stolen credit cards and debit cards. Most of the teachers didnt realize it until they were contacted by their banking institutions. Reporter we were with Bladensburg Police at 6 00 a. M. When they stormed his germantown apartment and searched his mercedes seen in video cameras. We were able to document the suspect entering or walking the School Property or driving onto the School Property in his vehicle. He would then walk around the schools, try doors, find entrance. Reporter sheffield is a published author. His book, admire my style, is available in amazon. He poses next to expensive cars and takes pictures while shopping in Louis Vuitton and sacks 5th avenue. Stores few teaches can afford. It is a horrible and cruel target. Absolutely. Were just glad that, you know, none of the teachers approached him and students approached him inside the schools. This could have turned violent. Reporter the International School here in bladensburg was one of many targeted. The Prince Georges CountyPublic School system wants to figure out how this man was able to breach their security. In bladensburg, im Tracee Wilkins, news4. Wow, what an incredible story. News4 has learned Montgomery County has completed a security review of all of its00 administrators launched the county wide review after allegations of a rape inside Rockville High School this spring. A School Official tells news4 the reviews are complete. Details found remain confidential because it i am facts confidentiality. It shows a recommendation that the School System bolster recruitment of staffers that are bilingual and hire more women for the post. Prosecutors dropped charges in the rape case. We are following a couple of developing stories for you tonight. First in San Francisco where the fbi announced the arrest of a man for planning a Christmas Day attack on pier 39 in San Francisco. According to the fbi, Everett Jameson was inspired by isis and told an under cover fbi agent he wanted to carry out an attack using sploes explosives. He was arrested at his home in Northern California on wednesday. Jameson is a sniper. He is facing terrorism charges. And one person in custody after a wild incident in a parking lot at lambo field. He came back to confront the man who fired him. They say he hit five cars in the parking lot then drove into the loading dock where he crashed to a stop and was taken into custody. The engineer of that deadly Train Derailment in Washington State told crew members that train was going too fast just seconds before it flew off the tracks. That is according to new information tonight from the ntsb which clocked the final speed at 78 miles an hour, more than double the speed limit. Investigators also say cameras do not show the crew using any personal electronics. That derailment killed three people and injured dozens more. The ntsb says tonight its full investigation could take up to two years. President trump has officially signed the tax plan into law, giving him his first big legislative win since taking office. The president said he wanted to keep a promise to sign it into law before christmas. He said people should notice changes as early as february. Some other changes may not be as noticeable until 2019 when you file your 2018 returns. The bill provides permanent tax cuts for corporations and temporary tax relief to most individuals. And just a few hours ago, the president arrived in florida where hell be spending the holidays at his maralago resort that he calls the winter white house. Before leaving washington, he said that he had no regrets. He also signalled that one of the big legislative efforts he plans to tackle next, infrastructure, which he believes can garner bipartisan support. There is nothing quite like being home for the holidays. Its something that many of us take for granted. And this year hundreds of local families will get to experience the feeling for the first time in years. Story. Im not going to miss this week. Reporter tamisha jackson is leaving the hotel where shes been living with her two young children. Tamisha, somage and ava have been bouncing around homeless shelters the last three years. The last four months they shared this bed in this crowded hotel room. It was crazy. I wouldnt wish this on nobody. Reporter but today somage will get to sleep in his own bed. The jacksons arent the only family who will have a place to call their own this christmas thanks to ra d. C. Government program launched two months ago called home for the holidays. Our goal is to place 400 families by mid january, technically what were calling the end of the Holiday Season, as of today we are at 285. Reporter looking back at three years of living in homeless shelters, tamisha says the experience has made her and her children stronger. I never felt less of a mother, but i feel more of family. I feel more whole. I feel as though they have a safe haven. They have somewhere they can call home. Reporter and while somage is looking forward to enjoying his own bed, hes also looking forward to christmas in his new home. Its gonna be great and im happy that i spend time with my family on christmas. And that i get a lot of presents and ive been great. Reporter do you think santa is going to find you in your new home . Yes. Reporter if you want to know how you can help, the d. C. Department of Human Services says they have money for more homes for homeless families. What they need are landlords to step forward and offer to rent them apartments. In the district, mark segraves, news4. Thanks, mark. Micro blading, its one of the hottest beauty trends in our area. The procedure similar to getting a tattoo. But how do you know youre in the news4 iteam goes under cover to find out. Plus, new revelations about the sex harassment scandals up on capitol hill, and the new legislation being proposed now to deal with the issue. Plus gift cards drained before you can use them . How to protect yourself from [ splash ] [ horn sounds ] dang ok, i gotta run. Hey, wait, theres something i need to tell you dang. Dang dang dang. Dang. See zero in a whole new way. Get zero down, zero deposit, zero first months payment, and zero due at signing on select volkswagen models. Now with the people first warranty. Congress has left town for the year, but minutes before departing, there were several revelatiab capitol hill. Scott macfarlane helps cover the hill for us and joins us to explain. Scott . Erika, first some 11th hour news from the senate. Senate leaders have red. C. Ed details on how many taxpayer funded lawsuit settlements they approved since 1998. More than a half Million Dollars worth. Several for age discrimination and at least one 14,000 settlement in a sex harassment case. That is in addition to more than 100,000 tax payment of suits settled in the house in the past decade. Those released from the senate were released after a formal request from tim kaine who asked the data not be kept confidential by the upper chamber. Another development, the House Committee on administration said it will require members of the house be personally liable to pay the cost of any sex harassment suit they settle. Mayor democrat Anthony Brown said there will be a reduce the frequency of sex harassment in congress. It is no surprise that there are almost two dozen bills that have been introduced in congress to take a look at and reform the process. Whatever we ultimately do, we need to make sure that, number one, we are providing a safe workplace. Number two, when we have allegations of misconduct that we can pursue them in a transparent manner. Congress wont reconvene to consider these changes until january 8 and they must approve them to become law. They must do so before the end of 2018. Jim . Scott, thank you. Most americans say Sexual Misconduct is a major problem in u. S. Society wherever people go to work, train, or learn. And too little is being done to protect victims. According to a new poll by the associated press, nork center for Public Affairs and research, those sentiments hold sway with women across party lines and a majority of men. But republicans, say not enough is being done to protect the accused. Virginia Governor Terry mcauliffe making his 38th and final appearance on wtops ask the governor this morning. The democrat has only a few weeks left before he leaves office. He says hes leaving the commonwealth in great shape. During his time in office, unemployment has dipped to rates not seen in virginia in nearly a decade. Weve built a new virginia economy. We are structurally at full employment today. Record 2 1 2 billion, in our deficit when i walked into office, and the budget i left on monday with money for everybody and money in the cash reserve is a strong, strong budget. Virginia has the fourth lowest Unemployment Rate among major u. S. States. When asked on wtop today, mcauliffe said hes not ruling out a president ial run in 2020. I havent ruled it out about it . Let us know. Im not sure. Let us know how, you know, how the process goes. Thats what hes campaigning for. You know i am. Its not going to happen christmas. We were talking the other day we might have a piece of energy coming through. Still coming through. If you live to the west and im talking about areas like martinsburg and hagerstown, just a little bit early on monday morning, most likely before we get up and get out of here. That will be out of here by the time you are waking up. Lets take a look and show you whats happening outside now. We have the cloud cover and some nice mild temperatures. Average high this time of year, 45 degrees. Right now were at 54, winds out of the south at 6 miles an hour with those clouds. Around the rest of the region, 56 in fredericksburg, 46 in frederick. Warm air trying to Merrill Lynch trying to move in all day. Well stay on the mild side overnight especially into the day tomorrow. Storm team4 radar not showing much in the way of rain. It is trying to move in. This is not hitting the ground clouds are definitely here. Heres the rain and you can see it is actually some enhanced rain, some thunderstorms in little rock. But all that rain moving right in towards our region overnight tonight. Whats that going to mean for your saturday . Lets take you hour by hour here. First off 11 00 tonight, if youre heading out to dinner with friends or the move iz, no matter what youre doing this evening, i think youre going to be fine through at least midnight. By around 2 00, 3 00, 4 00 a. M. , here comes the rain. Notice its just about everywhere. Also notice by around 7 00, 8 00, 9 00, its from d. C. Northward. If youre south fredericksburg leonard, it will be warm. Thats where were expecting the wet weather. By noon just about everybody on the dry side with the exception of areas to the west. If youre traveling tomorrow and youre heading out 270 and eventually out 70, pittsburgh, ohio, West Virginia, expect rain. That is the one area that i think youll see rain just about all day. Now, even in the d. C. Metro area and i95, therr wet side during the late afternoon. So, traveling from d. C. To philadelphia up towards new york or down towards richmond, expect some rain tomorrow afternoon. By around 6 00, 7 00, it starts to pull on out of here and then the cold air moves in. Watch this go from rain snow mix over to just plain snow. Thats the cold air moving into West Virginia and eventually into our region during the day on sunday. So, your forecast tomorrow, 64 is what im going tomorrow. Period of rain, periods of rain. Breezy and warm. Its going to be breezy with winds upwards of 20 to 30 miles an hour. Christmas eve no problem. 46 with some sunshine, some cloud cover, too, but not a bad afternoon. Monday, Christmas Day, 39, falling temperatures, wind chills in the 20s all day. We could see some 30 mile an hour wind gusts on monday, too. So definitely christmas going to be on the cold side. 41 on tuesday, and then watch what happens here. We go down in a very big way. Ive got five days in a row below freezing. This is the kind of very cold air that sets up and produces ice on the potomac could freeze completely over during this time period. Chance of snow friday and saturday. Even the potential for a bigger storm late next week. Were going to talk much more about that the next couple days. Coming up at 5 45 well break down christmas for you and the shopping forecast the next few days as well. Thanks, doug. Shes 70, hes 83, and they are both in trouble after police got a whiff of something during a traffic stop. Yeah, something indeed. What they told cops after being caught with more than 60 pounds of pot in their trunk. Im Darcy Spencer in adam morgan. They lined a city block for a chance to see santa. Illell you what else w tas their plans to spread Holiday Cheer have gone up in smoke. A couple who were in their 80s busted for having 60 pounds of pot in the back of their pickup truck. Wow, thats a haul. They got stopped in nebraska as they drove from california to vermont. Police say they had high grade marijuana worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. They had the good stuff. The couple told officers the pot was for Christmas Presents. Cant imagine my grandmother showing up to my house with a big bag of p hundreds of children are enjoying their early Christmas Present. A Community Health organization has been hosting a special holiday event for kriids for th last three decades. News4s Darcy Spencer was there as they got to meet santa and take home a new toy. Reporter they stood in the cold for hours. For a chance to see santa arrive not on a sleigh, but on a fire truck in mary center in adams morgan. Merry christmas. Reporter santa delivered Holiday Cheer and some sweets to hundreds of kids who didnt mind the wait. Tell us, what was it like getting to see santa in person . It was so amazing. It was so amazing in a fire truck and it was sort of silly. I hugged him. Reporter did he hug you back . Yes. Reporter some of these families have been waiting since 8 00 in the morning. The event doesnt start until 1 00 in the afternoon. Once inside theyre going have a lunch and each child will walk away with a free toy. Okay, here we go. Reporter once inside they were greeted by merry center staff. They were expected as many as 1,000 people to show up for the annual event. 2, 1. Reporter kids got to sit on santas lap and get a photo, a treat for the whole family creating lasting memories. Perhaps best of all for these kids, an early Christmas Present volunteers handed out the toys. Did you get exactly what you wanted . Yes. Reporter what exactly is this . Its like cinderella with a fairy godmother. Reporter merry center is a Community Health organization that has several locations in the d. C. Area. They serve residents from more than 100 countries. A way to give back to the community and make sure every child is happy this Holiday Season. In northwest, Darcy Spencer, news4. The holiday rush is here. How families are tra reunite. And for everybody waiting until the last minute to get those holiday gifts, weve got the run down on hours leading up to christmas, whats open, whats closed. And a local woman makes history as the first black woman to make the u. S. Olympic speed skating team. Tonight she shares her inspirational sto ry what if more of the came from Renewable Resources . What if the electric grid could detect, fix and even prevent Power Outages . What if our grid were less vulnerable and more secure . What if all these what ifs became a reality . Well, they are. At dominion energy, were completely transforming our power grid. To move from what if to whats next. Dominion energy. Youre watching news4 at 5 we are working to learn more about a double murder in reston. The victims are Scott Fricker and his wife buckley. Police tell us someone shot them in their home on black fir court. We dont have information on a suspect or motive yet, but police say there is no public threat. Only on news4, a maryland man is in custody this evening in connection to a school theft scheme. Police say he went into at least eight schools in Prince Georges County and stole credit cards from teachers purses during the school day. The School System tells us its trying to figure out how he breached security to begin with. Storm team4 keeping a close eye on the timing of some rain rolling into our area. Doug kammerer in the storm Center Tracking it all for us. It is definitely going to be a cold christmas but a white christmas, meh no, but and a wet start to the christmas weekend tomorrow. That rain, though, not moving in just yet. Rain not hitting the ground yet, but it is to our west and were in for a rather wet saturday. You can see the rain down to the south and a pretty good amount of rain, too, making its way our way. As it does so, it will move in early tomorrow night and tomorrow morning. Look at the current temperatures well into the 50s in most locations. Tomorrow even warmer than that. Im going to update you what to expect tomorrow, take you hour by hour again in about 15 minutes if you have some weekend plans for you, we have your impact forecast coming up in just a minute. Thanks, doug. You can stay one step ahead of the weather no matter where you are or what youre doing this Holiday Weekend. Just open the nbc washington app to get the latest from storm team4. Well, the system bringing us rain tomorrow is dumping snow in the northeast tonight. We are monitoring any impacts at the airport. So far we are only seeing happy reunions at the gate. News4s Kristin Wright shows us some of the best from reagan national. Reporter the holidays at reagan but more importantly you want to get the bags so we can see grandpa . Reporter family and remembering what it means. It means getting together and enjoying each other and just sharing what weve missed. Reporter grandma from great falls, virginia, havent seen her girls chloe and jenna in over a year. They look older and talking a lot. Reporter jackies son and daughter daughterinlaw live in qatar in the middle east. Its nice to be back home and have familiar food and sights and sounds and things like that. Reporter the lines re airport are getting long. They always do. But we stick together, us girls. Yeah. Reporter for the family, every bit of waiting this Holiday Season is worth it. Were going to do some playing in the yard and drawing and usual, open smores and spending time with family. Opening presents. Spend time with our family, very important. Reporter and you know what else theyre doing . Theyre taking the girls down to disney. So, its going to be such a memorable holiday for them. Now, outside the airport here, traffic moving along, getting a little bit heavier. Were definitely noticing it seems to be the calm before the storm. Erika, back to you. You got the best assignment there, my friend. There is nothing like seeing those reunions at the airport this time of year. Thanks, kristin. Lastminute shoppers are running out of time to cross off their christmas lists, but we are working for you helping you squeeze every minute of the shopping schedule in there. Most National Chains will be open Christmas Eve until about 6 00. We found that kohls and macys and walmart are on the list, but keep in mind even 24hour walmarts will close at 6 00 on sunday. However, one big name store is procrastinators. You can shop at most target locations until 11 00 on Christmas Eve. Area malls will close at different times. Mostly between 5 00 and 7 00. Remember, anchor stores may have different hours than the actual mall itself. All right. Practice saying this name with us. Its a name youre going to hear a lot of as we gear up for the Winter Olympics in south korea. Raised right here in Northern Virginia at 17, she has become the first africanamerican woman to qualify for the u. S. Olympics speed skating team. And if her skills on the ice dont win you over, her personality will. News4s david culver caught up with her in reston. Reporter lacina has the routine down. For the past 12 years shes trained at skate quest in reston, virginia. She is soon headed to south olympics. Yeah, very, very surreal. Reporter its been her dream to compete in the olympics since the last winter games. Her goal . To go to the 2018 olympics, but id be really young. And i did. Reporter you can see how personable and even giddy at times she can be just in conversation. But notice when she hits the ice. She gets focused. That determination started young and she said she owes much of it to her dad. He had sacrificed so much that i dont even i dont even know. Oh, man. It takes a lot of work. Reporter in 2005 he brought her to the u. S. From their native ghana separating the family. My journey was never easy. I worked hard, but i made it. Reporter one day they happened to pass by skate quest in reston. And i saw a sign that said skate. And my dad signed me up. Little too fast. But skating, figure skating. So, probably she should just go and try speed skating. Reporter 12 years later shes now the first black woman to be part of team usa olympic speed skating. This is what this country is, its diversity and different. So, and like thats exactly why im representing u. S. , because theyre different. Reporter her dad likes to remind her how far shes come. As we were interviewing her, he handed her something shed never seen. What that . Oh, my goodness. Holy cow. Reporter 2005. Thats the first lesson. I think ive ever had and this is the date where i made the olympic team. Reporter you kept it. Oh, my god, i didnt know. Reporter heve take credit for her success. God saw me through it, he planned it all. I was just reporter he admits being part of the facilitator, parenting, he still doesnt have a cell phone. Maybe now its time for her to get one. Its coming down the road. Reporter as they prepares to skate on the international stage, she believes the many sacrifices are well worth it. Even with all the hard work, like and all the crying, all the tears, i would do it again because, like, i had double the laughter with that. Reporter look for that golden smile. It warms even the chillest of winter sports. In reston, virginia, david culver, news4. How can we forget that name or that laugh for that matter . Good luck to her. We are going to be more of our olympic coverage in our nbc washington app. All you have to do is just search olympics. How much do we love her. Boy, shes so focused. Shes so personable. Its infectious. It is. I love that go pro camera we had up. Cool angle. Thanks, david. A moment between a boy and santa goes viral. Still ahead, the one item on that boys wish list thats led to a major show of support from strangers. Plus, what agents at the airport found when they looked closely at a box full of those it feels good to be back. Now to a story that has the attention of millions of iphone users. Iphone has been hit with a massive lawsuit. It comes days after apple admitted it slows down older model phones as they age. Now, the tech giant says it uses a feature that reduces processor speeds in iphone 6 and 7. A man filed a class action complaint in california today. It claims apple purposely slows down phones with older batteries to get you to buy a new, more expensive phone. I think that its a well thought out plan by apple to make sure the consumers come back and buy the latest and greatest phone. Now, apple isnt on this lawsuit, but apple does say slowing down processors stops older phones from unexpectedly shutting down and prolongs the phones life. They are a popular stocking stuffer, but just ahead of christmas, customs officers say they busted a big load of counterfeit beats headphones. Officers seized more than 200 pairs of the popular Wireless Headphones that they say had a fake beats by dr. Dre trademark on them. It came to an air cargo warehouse fr warehouse at dulles from china earlier this month. The headphones could have been worth more than 18,000. One of the hot new beauty trends in our area is called microblading. How do you know if youre in safe hands . And when you get this done, the news4 iteam goes under cover tonight to find out. And scammers draining gift cards before you can even use them . Ow to protect yourself ifgift really . Really . Really . Really . Really . See zero in a whole new way. Get zero down, zero deposit, zero first months payment, and zero due at signing on select volkswagen models. Now with the people first warranty. Z2m7ez z16fz y2m7ey y16fy doug is back joining us with a check of the cold christmas forecast that is coming our way. Its going to be chilly. It really is. All up and down, you know, our region, the temperatures are going to be crashing during the day on christmas. Wind chills are going to be knot 20s. Its going to be a lot colder. Tomorrow were at 64. Christmas day it could feel like 24, a 40 degree temperature difference over the next couple of days. Out there now, though, a nice evening if youre thinking about getting out and about on your friday night. Traffic is not even all that much. 54 degrees dropping to the 40s by 11 00. I have showers in at 11 00, but i really do think were going to be on the dry side right on through the midnight, 1 00, 2 00 hour before the rain moves in. Ill time it out for you in a second. 46 belvoir. Temperatures will cool a little. Tomorrow theyre going to go right back up. Take a look at the rain, its trying to move in here, still fairly dry in the atmosphere. Were going to see this move in a little later overall. Watch out. If you are heading out say around 11 00, 12 00 or coming back in, you may want to take the umbrella just in case because i think most of the rain is going to stay just off to our south and west. Lets time it out for you. Heres the 11 00. A computer model doesnt have rain in our area at the 11 00 hour. It doesnt bring it in until 2 00, 3 00 in the morning. Tomorrow morning i think well see rainfall across parts of the area. Most of the area to the south remains dry. By noon, we are all on the dry side with some warmer temperatures and then the rain comes back in during the late afternoon. If youre going to be traveling could be a little on the tough side. What about those Christmas Parties . If you have some of those, yeah, somara has you covered. Lets go ahead and take a look. This might be lighter coat weather. Temperatures in the 50s, really throughout the night, upper 40s just aroun frame. As doug was saying, not really a wash out by 11 00 p. M. For those who are going to be out late staying at your friends house, coming back at 2 00, 3 00, you might have windshield wipers moving. Overall cloudy as we head through the overnight hours. For my late Day Christmas shoppers, later day shoppers, we are looking at rainy day saturday. May be the best time to get out there if you dont want to contend with the rain, in the afternoon and evening, we get hit with the second punch, in southern maryland, it will be breezy for your afternoon. Sunday where drying out. Temperatures, though, in the mid 40s. Were onto something, right . The temperatures are dropping. 60s on saturday, 40s on sunday and by Christmas Day as doug said earlier, highs in the 30s, upper 30s. But with these wind chills feeling much cooler, 6 00 a. M. Is going to feel around 30 degrees in the district. You move farther out, winchester already feeling like the low 20s. We head throuou morning, at this point youre opening the gifts, temperatures are going to feel like the low 20s. Really upper teens and far out towards areas like northwestern maryland, could feel like the single digits. So, going to be pretty chilly on christmas. Nonetheless, a beautiful day. Doug . Out there we are expecting plenty of sunshine on christmas. Thats a good thing. 46 on Christmas Eve. No problems there. 39 chris may day, 41 on your tuesday. The bottom falls out. We have highs in the 20s four days here. Yes, we are right now predicting a storm, friday into saturday. How much snow or what are we going to be seeing . Still way too far out. Ive gotten a lot of calls today. Some of you saying my app says 3 to 5 inches of snow. First off, download the nbc washington app. We would never put out any kind of snow totals this far out so do not believe the hype just yet. It is something we will continue to watch, though, right here from the storm center. You know you can count on us, not those other guys. Than other app. Come on, nbcwashingtom. My face. This local woman wanted to tryout a popular new trend, but says she ended up traumatized and in major pain. Its the cutting edge of beauty and the news4 iteam went under cover to see just how safe microblading is in our area. Investigative reporter Jody Fleischer found plenty of artists and salons operating without a license. And theres not much the state can do about it. The color reporter christina hernandezs face is her business. Thousands watch her makeup tutorials on facebook so she likes to tryout products and services and share with her fans. I wanted to get my eyebrows microbladed, like all the rage. Reporter microblading is a permanent form of cosmetic tatooing where tiny needles pushes pigment in little lines to look like hair. I dont have time every p pencil and fill in. Reporter its supposed to be fuller natural looking browse to last for years. Thats not what happened when she walked into veras spa in september. Extremely painful. I could feel the cuts were really deep. I expected some swelling, but i looked like someone just took a pen to my face and just drew lines wherever they felt like it. Reporter christina filed a complaint with virginias board that over sees licenses and was surprised to find there was already an open investigation into veras spa. I didnt put great weight into researching this place. Reporter if she had, she might have seen this one from ashley harden. Two days after her microblading procedure she said her skin was inflamed and swollen. So she went to a doctor. He said it was an infection where the area wasnt properly cleaned. Reporter plus her brows are not the color or shape she wanted. Buyer beware. Reporter it salons for permanent tatooing. People doing it also have to be licensed individually, but board spokeswoman mary boroughs vaughn said it might not mean what you think. It doesnt mean youre good at it, it means youre minimally competent so consumers have assurance they are dealing with professionals who are not going to hurt them. Not necessarily that theyre dealing with the cream of the crop. Reporter she said state investigators only respond to complaints. They do not drive around checking for licenses or looking for violations. So, we sent an iteam producer under cover and she quickly found both. Have you been microblading reporter along maple avenue in vienna, all three virginia lions offered microblading services, but state records showed none had a license that allowed that. Plus the state requires microblading be done in a separate sterile room, not out in the open. You do them right mere . Reporter but we found state investigators have no way to shut 24ethem down. We can only go into licensed ac law. Reporter vera spa was a licensed facility and the owner who goes by the nickname lynn also had a license, she did when our under cover producer paid her a visit. But pala soto doesnt think so. Shes a licensed instructser. Five women including christina came to her asking to correct the brows after visiting vera. I cant believe this person is still working. Reporter when she first saw christinas brows, she asked if she had been to vera spa. Wood has permanently surrendered her tatooing license. We tracked her down and tried to ask about the states ongoing investigation. Im with nbc4. I left you a message. Youre lynn. No, im not. Reporter you are lynn. One of our producers talked to you. I went in feeling beautiful and i left feeling like a clown. Reporter despite her experience. Its not quite the lesson she planned to give her fans. Would i do it again . Not without checking a license, not without reading all the reviews. Reporter we reached out to some of those unlicensed salons. A few thought their cosmetology license allowed microblading. The state says it does not. If there are negative findings that could keep the spa from opening later. Jody fleischer, news4 iteam. This originated from a tip from a viewer just like you. If you have an idea for an investigation, contact our iteam. Look upstate licenses for cosmetic procedures. Just days after learning theyd endure salary cuts and possible layoffs, the Washington City paper has a new owner, and that means some relief for its staff. Local businessmen and k owner purchased the paper for an undisclosed amount. He believes in journalism and its role in the community. The first step is to make investments to help stabilize the newspaper. Im p going to measure success here as a financial success. Its going to be measured on the impact we have in the community. Are we an important voice, are we doing important things . And ultimately from a business point of view after making money, longterm sustainable and can you stand on your own. He says aside from being owner he does not plan to have any day to day role with the paper. Two things that will not change, the paper will remain a print publication, and it will continue to be free. A special moment caught on camera. A passerby snaps a photo of a 12yearold and a mall santa, and now the picture, its going viral. Still to come on news4 at 5 00 tonight, the heart warming story behind the image. Im melissa mallay with a look at your first four traffic skbt Holiday Weekend. If youre traveling for the holidays, youre not alone. 97 million other americans are as well. Plan ahead. Travel at offpeak times if you possibly can. The easiest days to hit the road, whats being estimated by aaa, expected to be Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and new years eve, pretty standard every year. Busiest roads this holiday, same as they typically are. Expect 66, 95, maryland northbound, 95 virginia southbound, and 270 northbound especially. Talking about 95 in virginia, the express lanes will be on a Holiday Schedule so saturday and sunday southbound all day, Christmas Day northbound all day, and tuesday the 26th, northbound closing at 11 . Southb00ou if gift cards are on your holiday list, youre going to want to hear this. Scammers are draining those cards before they can even be used. Thats right, the bad guys can actually steal the value from the card by scratching off the back where that pin is located. They then replace the sticker. Experts say you can protect yourself by getting gift cards online directly from the retailer, or pick up cards kept behind the counter or in packaging and register the card as soon as you get home. Its a sweet moment between a little boy and santa that quickly went viral. This is actually from may the boy praying with santa about his Fathers House and the familys mounting medical bills. They talked to the boy in texas about how their sons prayer is being answered. The journey is a long one. Reporter this christmas their familys wish list has few wants, but one very big need. All of a sudden i plummet and i get i cant walk from, you know, here to the end of the road without being winded. Reporter jason coker has been in and out of the hospital for a blood disorder for two years. The most recent scare was a about a week and a half ago. It was fresh on his son jacobs mind. And if you ever saw it reporter when he went to see santa on tuesday. All he asked for, all he wanted was for me to help his dad. He said he had a lot of pain. Reporter santa explained his expertise is in toys, but offered to pray. So, they did. And i asked that the lord would help him with the pain and help him to have enough pain. Reporter jacob and santas moment at the shop was noticed by another mom in line. She snapped a photo, shared it to facebook, and opened the door to an outpouring of support for the cokers. I have no real words. Its just been heart warming that that many people out there, you know, believe and care. Reporter strangers have offered to help with bills, Christmas Presents and, yes, prayers. Thank you. Thank you very much for your prayers, for your thoughts, for your help. For making this a christmas our children will never forget and we will never forget. Reporter . Garland, deanna zoga, nbc 5. News4 at 6 00 starts now. First at 6 00, storm team4 keeping a watchful eye on your Holiday Weekend weather. This is a live look at the radar as we b rolling in to our region right here at home. The holiday rush is on. We appreciate you starting your weekend with us. Im Erika Gonzalez in for doreen tonight. Im jim handly. First at 6 00 tonight, wherever you are going, whenever you are leaving, we are working for you tonight. This is a live look at i270 at clarksburg road in maryland. Some volume, but no major issues right now to report. If youre headed to the airport, get there early. Security lines can be just as bad as highway traffic jams this time of year. And check out the live tracker. Wow. Flight aware. Com, where is the United States . That is an what i want this is what it looks like when 2. 7 Million People are flying for the holidays. A map full of yellow birds. Lets get to the storm center now where doug and somara are tracking everything you need to know about this Holiday Weekend forecast. Hi, guys. Hi, it looks like a lot of those planes are headed to florida. We have much colder air moving