station with news in high definition, this is 9 news now. this morning the search is on for a robbery respect who escaped from a local hospital. good morning. i'm andrea roane. welcome to 9 news now. howard is here with weather. angie has the traffic. i think we didn't get the minimum moment. we are dressed down and you are sparkly. >> you look great, don't worry about it. the sun will be out and that will be sparkling but the colder air is moving in an we will be cold the rest of the week and when i come back we will talk about a possible weekend storm around here. that's changed since monday. talk about what is happening. see the lake effect streamers in pennsylvania, ohio and new york. cold air coming over the warm lakes. that's the sure thing that the cold air is moving in and temperatures in the upper 30s here. lower 30s culpeper, winchester, hagerstown. 19 in oakland with wind chills this morning in the 20s to lower 30s. keep that in mind as you go out and of course in the mountains wind chills in the single digits. temperatures not moving much. highs at 40. at times it will gust over 20 miles an hour. hello, everybody. thanks for joining us. it is wednesday, we are half way through the workweek and we will help you through the rest. 50 westbound at the east-west highway. watch for crews. 270 southbound taking it outside. no fog this morning. finally a clear commute. let you know you are okay from 121 to the split. okay. on the inner loop in virginia. 95 to 66, looks like a nice commute here, as well. and 395 northbound. we opennen this door and show you the northbound trip and it appears we have incident an accident free. this is actually 95 south of dumfries. i want you to know the drive toward the mixing bowl, the lanes are wide open. that's the traffic. now, over to you. the search for a robbery suspect is entering the fourth hour. montgomery county police say the man escaped this morning from shady grove hospital. alex levine know is live from the search area with more. good morning, alex. >> reporter: good morning. we are on downeytown drive and great seneca highway. moments ago there were more than a half dozen montgomery county police officers, k-9 units and a chopper in this area. they just pulled away. here's what we know. montgomery county police officers are surgerying for a man who escaped from custody at the hospital. police picked them up after a robbery last night at an exxon on crabs ranch highway. he was admitted to the hospital and treated for injuries. the robbery suspect escaped from custody at 2:00 a.m. a few hours ago. he's believed to be wearing turkish colored hospital scrubs. right now there are 30 officers on the ground searching in a wooded area. we are working on more details for you. if you have any information on this, you are urged to call montgomery county police as soon as you can. 9 news now and wusa9.com. police are also on the lookout for two robbers who hit a wendy's restaurant in woodbridge, virginia. it's the second armed robbery in a local wendy's in two weeks. in the latest case the manager was forced in to his office and hit in the head with a revolver. the robbers got money from a safe and ran out the side door. investigators don't know whether the two holdups are linked. this morning a dc police officer is in custody facing murder charges. police chief lanier says reginald jones served as a lookout when two men were shot along fourth street in southeast. one of the men died from his wounds. jones has been with the department for six years and reportedly helped to arrange a drug robbery which led to the shooting. the man accused of killing chandra levy in 2001 has pled not guilty in superior court. he has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges. he is serving a ten-year sentence for separate assaults in rock creek park. dna evidence has proven a dc man's innocence after 28 years in prison. >> happy to -- happy i'm a free man and i'm going home and i'll talk to you later. that's all i want to say. >> reporter: donald gates walked out of a federal prison on tuesday in tucson, arizona. in 1981, the judge found him guilty of raping and killing catherine shilling in rock creek park. but recent tests show he is not a match for the dna found on the victim's body. the same judge then ordered him to be released from prison. >> jess is a doyle has the "living $mart" report. some economic reports and ahead of those events overseas markets are trading higher today after wall street gave background yesterday. the dow dropped 49 points from a four month high an the nasdaq dropped 11. and the s&p lost 6. the fed is expected to leave interest rates unchanged when it wraps up a two-day meeting this afternoon, but investors want to hear from what policymakers have to say about the future of rates. a report yesterday showed wholesale inflation is on the rise and could force the fed to hike rates. mcdonald's customers will soon be able to get free wireless internet with their burgers. the fast food chain says in the beginning of january it will eliminate the fee for wireless access. drink some coffee, some internet and not so bad. >> may help the other medicine go down easier. talk about your tip coming up. >> this time of the year we are thinking new years, hanukkah, christmas and we also have to think of taxes. we will bring you year end strategies people should think of. the senate voted down a plan to allow u.s. citizens to import low cost prescription drugs. it was offered as an amendment to the health care reform package. of the local senators, barbara mikulski voted against it. jim webb voted in favor. all of them are democrats. the dc city council voted to legalize same-sex marriage in the nation's capital. it passed by an 11-2 margin. mayor fenty promised to sign the bill but congress has the final say whether it becomes law. if congress approves dc could issue marriage licenses to same sex couples in march. pay as you throw. that's the proposal regarding trash disposal in frederick county, maryland. the idea works like electricity or water service. the more you use, the more you pay. in this case, the more you recycle the less you pay for trash service. the next hurdle is to get the legislature to approve the plan. the fee structure hasn't been set yet. officials have something to brag about this morning. vdot completed the new northbound i-95 lane ahead of schedule. the fourth lane will be open to drivers starting this morning as they head through lorton to the district. it's just one portion of the state's project to widen i-95. a walter reed patient gets an experimental transplant. that story is coming up. plus, the white house selects a future home for some of the prisoners housed at guantanamo bay. and the morning beverage habits may help protect you against a disease that strikes tens of millions of americans. it is 8 after the hour and you are watching 9 news now. nine minutes after the 5:00 hour. drivers are moving on the dulles toll road past the beltway, or 66. you will be just fine. we will have more traffic and weather coming up. in the news now a preacher who helped to pioneer evangelism has died. oral roberts has died. he founded the university in tulsa which bears his name. oral roberts was 91. authorities now say there's little chance to find the climbers on monday hood. they have been missing for five days. even if their location is known, search crews could not get to them because of avalanche dangers. president obama has ordered the government to buy the state prison in some son, illinois. it currently holds 200 inmates but has room up to 1600. if congress grants approval, as many as 90 detainees from guantanamo bay would be transferred there. it is scheduled to close next year. hundreds of thousands of h1n1 doses are being recalled. details coming up. plus, president obama tells americans how they can save money and help others get new jobs. here's howard. the colder air is moving in. you will feel it this morning. and over the weekend you might be feeling something else. we will talk about a possible storm around here. (dial-up modem) remember when connections to the internet sounded like this - when high speed internet was out of reach of most american families and small businesses? as recently as the year 2000, only three percent of american families had high speed internet. then competition drove innovation - spurred private investment, and the internet took off - at record breaking speeds. at at&t we're taking the lead - investing some thirty-eight billion dollars in our wired and wireless networks over the past two years. last year alone we invested more than any other public company in america. and at at&t we support a national plan that makes high speed internet available to every american family in the next five years - because we know that now is not the time to stall momentum or to stifle innovation or investment. the future is at stake, and at at&t, the future has always been and at at&t, the future has always been our business. at&t... your world... delivered. storms have drenched south alabama with as much as a foot of rain. a number of roads were closed. creeks and streams rose quickly and at one point water could be seen rushing through the reservoir. looking for one of the fastest and cheapest ways to save money and put americans back to work? president obama says making your home more energy efficient. the commander in chief visited a home depot in alexandria yesterday. he called on congress to give americans new incentives to retro fit their homes. >> if you saw $20 bills just sort of floating through the window, up in to the atmosphere, you would try to figure out how you were going to keep that, but that's exactly what is happening because of the lack of efficiency in our buildings. >> reporter: the home retro fitting plan is part of the president's initiative to jump start job growth. it calls for spending on infrastructure and tax cuts for small businesses. >> good morning. >> good morning. how are you? you are one of our little green men and retro fitting homes is something. >> i am going to retro fit my home in january because the builder, and you know who you are should have done a better job insulating it. i shouldn't have a cold bedroom in a 5-year-old house. >> let it all out. >> spending my own money on something i shouldn't have to. i'm angry about it. a fort meyer child development center is closed. we just got that word in. it could get interesting as we head to the weekend. colder, though. breezy today and tomorrow. highs of 40 and friday maybe not getting to 40, in the upper 30s. late subpoena saturday and sunday. we will talk about that in a moment. the momslikeme.com forecast. temperatures in the 30s. sunrise 7:20. we will reverse that trend soon. solstice is coming up next week. 40 with a northwest wind. sunset 4:48. then tonight, clear and quite cold. lows in the 20s and northwest wind five to ten. so wind chills tomorrow morning in the teens. the cold air coming in. you can see the lake snows to the north. the skies have cleared out this morning in most areas, although the mountains still have clouds and in the low 30s in shenandoah valley. cumberland 32. culpeper and orange, 28. on the bay annapolis is 30. good morning from lou anne, patuxent river 39. and here in washington 36 degrees, as well. the dew point in the teens. northwest winds at 14 giving us a wind chill of 27 degrees. so cold out there. we have the lake snows here. country is pretty quiet. another system in the northwest. and then point to what is happening in texas. this subtropical jet bringing more rain, south texas, northern mexico. this continues to be an active piece of energy. the subtropical jet stream during el nino winters like we have stays active and that's one reason we are seeing a lot of the storms. as we head to the weekend this is a possible scenario by saturday morning low pressure off the coast of florida a dying low in the valley. the energy is transferred to the coastal so this is a possible, po possible storm track. not written in stone. we may be seeing snow toward us or if the low is out here we get nothing. if this low is more here we get more than light snow. so this is a possible track. we'll be watching it. if it changes it changes but right now it is something we have our eye on. the next few days very quiet around here but cold. looking at the seven-day forecast, temperatures low 40s falling in the upper 30s by friday. mid-30s over the weekend. again on saturday night, sunday morning maybe snow and next week snow falls with the winter solstice at 12:47. here's is a sparkly angie goff. >> yes. and you know what, pretty much i'd like to say my report is sparkly clean. that's because we have hardly any incidents or accidents out there. we are clear past 50 to the capital beltway. checking on the gw parkway, notice the nice green cars. we are okay to 123. on the outer loop great north of the district. the live shot from the colesville road area. still however are watching one accident. this is on 55 -- 50 in maryland, heading westbound making your way to the east- west highway. show you route 4, route 5 and crane highway and show you there are no incidents or accidents to report out here. andrea, now, back to you. >> thank you. in the living well headlines, health officials are recalling hundreds of thousands of doses of the h1n1 vaccine. the centers for disease control believes 800,000 doses made have lost their potency. they were designed for young children between flee and six months of age. however, they don't believe the children that received the doses need to be revaccinated. the key to curing breast cancer maybe in your cabinet. they believe that curry proud per may help stop the growth of the cells. starting your morning with coffee or tea could reduce your chance of developing diabetes. according to a new review of 18 studies published in the archives of internal medicine, drinking three to four cups of coffee per day lowers a person's risk of type ii diabetes by 25%. and decaf seems to have a similar affect. an insurgent's bullet in afghanistan december toyed his -- destroyed his pancreas now the airman has gotten an experimental transplant. the pancreas makes insulin and without it people suffer from life-threatening diabetes. so doctors took sent his damaged pancreas in miami who extracted thousands of insulin making cells and transplanted it back in to him. >> the airman is recovering well and gaining strength every day having undergone 11 surgeries in the 20 days since his wounding. >> the 21-year-old airman was shot at close range last month in afghanistan. it took the military 72 hours to transport him to walter reed. coming up, we will have more on a record-setting transplant with local ties in our next half hour. plus, trade rumors start to swirl for some of the best- known wizards. more on that next. it is approaching 5:21. 36 degrees. you are watching 9 news now. geico and wusa 9 salute all who serve at home and abroad this season. >> hi, my name is major martin, currently deployed to southwest asia. we want to wish a warm happy holiday greetings to my family and friends in washington, d.c. including eileen, wade hampton and all of my other friends back in dc. miss you guys, merry christmas and happy new year. see you all in 2010. xjxjxjxjxjxjxjxjxjxjxjxjxjxjxjxj here's a look at who's celebrating a birthday today -- in sports the capitals are taking on an old friend last night in denver. the avalanche are coached by former washington player joe sacco but the current caps didn't hold back. ovechkin with his first assist since hurting his finger last month and later thomas had the deflection giving washington a- 0 lead. the avs tried to get even by playing dirty but after a nasty hurting of mike green, he comes to his defense and caps win 6- 1. the wizards visit the kings in sacramento amid growing speculation one of their stars may be headed elsewhere. tuesday you the -- was the first day trades were allowed in the nba. the wizards are 7-15 on the year including an embarrassing loss to the lowly clippers on monday night. butler or antawn jamison may be trade bait to help them load up with younger players. news out of redskins park this morning. portis made surprising comments about his future with the team. the pro bowler said he wouldn't be surprised if the redskins cut him loose before the next season began. portis, who is due $7 million this year said -- another huge company says it's ready to pay back bailout money. details coming up. plus, questions why the dc fire department has left an employee who's now a top prior official in another state on their roster. and officers have fanned out across montgomery county in search of a suspect who escaped custody overnight. it is 5:26. here's angie. traveling southbound past jessup, laurel and beyond. lanes are wide open. no incidents or accidents to report. more realtime traffic and the wednesday weather with howie when 9 news now returns. stay with us. in the last few minutes we found out police have caught a suspect that had escaped. thanks for joining us. this wednesday morning. goff goff will have the traffic including the i-95 span is making things easier. >> at least they can see where they are going. >> to fog around. weather changed big time. the warm humid soupy air mass is out of here and a brisk colder air mass is replacing temperatures. mid-30s in town. low 30s west and northwest and teens in garrett county. patuxent river 39. and wind chills now most areas in the 20s this morning. obviously i like to show oakland and johnstown with the wind chills in the singling digits because it always make me say it could always be worse. think of that. 36 right now. going up to 40. winds in in spite of the sun will gust over 20 miles an hour. it is 5 listen 30. angie has the latest on the traffic. >> i sure do. first let me clear my throat. we are waking up here, too. hello, everybody. 95 northbound. right now everything is clear of incidents or accidents but we are seeing a good amount of volume from the prince william parkway to lorton. after that 395 northbound this appears to be moving well between duke and seminary and crossing the 14th street bridge. to the district we go, inbound new york avenue. here's your shot if we can get there. kristin, switch the camera for me. here we go. we are all clear through the district and looks like from times building to bladensburg road the delay is not here yet and 270 southbound. you can see the road, you can actually see it this morning. that's a good thing. fog cleared out the next couple of days and from frederick to the split no problems to report. andrea, over to you. >> thank you. an undercover sting operation in northeast washington has had dramatic results. the washington examiner reports the operation helped to break up an international heroin ring. dc police ran the sting out of a fake auto body shop over the last several months and officers recovered a million dollars in narcotic and 123 illegal guns. a six-year veteran of the dc police department now faces murder charges. police chief kathy lanier says reginald jones served as a lookout two weeks ago when two men were shot in the 4300 block of port street southeast. one of those men died from his injuries. next to the lean of duty death of a police officer, nothing impacts a police officer more than to know one of our fellow officers has betrayed that trust when the rest of us put our lives on the line every day. >> reporter: 9 news now spoke with officer jones in 2004 when he graduated from the police academy. then he told us he wanted to be "a positive influence." to others -- two others are also charged in this case. why is a deputy fi