of mcpherson square. d.c. mayor vincent gray sent a letter to the national parks service requesting officials move the camp and consolidate it with the one at freedom plaza. gray says the health department found deplorable conditions at mcpherson square because of a rat infestation. the mayor asked for reimbursement to keep the camps on federal land safe. this morning a baby found in a tent at that occupy camp is waking up with her mother. police arrested samuel mack on wednesday after he left the 13-month-old girl alone in a tent in the cold rain. news4 spoke exclusively with the baby's mother who did not want to be identified. she says mack is a friend who occasionally watches the little girl. she says she had no idea he was taking her to occupy d.c. >> my aunt says her clothes have been smelling like mildew when he brings her back, and there's rats down there. i thank god that she's here. that nothing happened to her. >> police say the child was left alone at least 30 minutes before

someone noticed her alone. mack pleaded not guilty to child cruelty charge. a judge released him on his own reconnaissance. he's due back in court next month. a first check of the forecast. it wasn't that bad when we woke up. boy, just like that a huge change. >> especially for those who went to bed around 9:00, 10:00 last night. it was in the 50s. it's in the thirths n30s now. the winds whipping up to nearly 40 miles per hour. i said we might have snow in the viewing area, we do. take a look at the radar. there's a big area of snow that stretches from michigan across indiana, ohio, all the way to kentucky, west virginia, pennsylvania and, yes, now into maryland. we are getting some snow, the area of white you see in washington county, in western loudoun county, and in frederick county, maryland, getting snow. might get a quick dusting to an inch on the grassy areas there. may be a few snowflakes trying to reach the ground in northern montgomery county. and the temperatures are down to near freezing or below freezing from the blue ridge west.

in fact, elkins, west virginia, is now just 20 degrees. 39 at reagan national. mid 30s in the nearby suburbs west and north of washington. here are the latest wind gusts. had a gust at reagan national to 37 miles per hour. pax river had a gust of 39. all of this surging in along a cold front that's swept through and is crossing the bay. a lot of cloudiness around. we ought to see sunshine breaking out this morning and winds whipping up to 50 miles per hour from time to time. we'll be hovering near 40 through the daylight hours. then the temperatures will plummet tonight. a look at your evening planner in ten minutes. danella, how's traffic? good morning. slick roads are going to be a problem this morning. you got to give yourself extra time. let's start on prince george's county southbound, 210 prior to livingston road. still have an accident there. it's blocking the right lane. crews are clearing it as we speak. but just use caution as you're traveling in the area. i'll give you a look right now, wet roads. this is the beltway at new hampshire avenue. the good news, the volume is

light at this time. again, slick roadways are going to cause you problems all morning long. this is the beltway in virginia, inner loop and outer loop. accident free at this time. if you're traveling in virginia along i-95 at backlick road, no major volume, and i'm not seeing any accidents at this time. i'm back in ten minutes with another look at your traffic. back to you both. >> thanks. today a second person charged in connection with the crime that led to d.c. council member harry thomaser ee ejr.'s conviction is in court. charges were filed against marshall banks yesterday. founder and president of a nonprofit group which prosecutors say helped filter government funds back to thomas. the former council member pled guilty last week to stealing more than $35,000 in city money. marshall's hearing today will be in the same courtroom where thomas appeared last week. also today, we could learn which republican presidential candidates will appear on the ballot for virginia's primary. a federal judge in richmond expected to rule on a lawsuit

filed by texas governor rick perry. he filed that suit after failing to submit the 10,000 signatures required to appear on virginia's ballot. if perry wins his case, he along with newt gingrich, rick santorum, and jon huntsman, could be put on the ballot. all of the candidates have their work cut out for them in hopes of catching mitt romney. the former massachusetts governor has his biggest lead yesterday according to a tracking poll. voim ahead of the vote with 34% of registered voters, more than twice the percentage of republicans who favor rick santorum, in second place with 15% of the vote. newt gingrich is third with 14%. ron st. paul before him with 13%. rick perry and jon hunt man bring up are the rear with 5% and 2% respectively. social conservative leaders are expected to decide this weekend whom they'll support in the race for republican nomination. more than 150 conservatives will meet on a texas ranch today and tomorrow to discuss which gop candidate to support.

the family research council president, tony perkins, will be among them. he says attendees will hear from surrogates for all of the gop candidates and asked for whom the social conservatives will support, perkins says he's seen movement toward rick santorum. a proposed spending spree could give teachers and staff at fairfax county schools reason to celebrate. the budget was announced, and it includes a 9% increase in spending. most is aimed at hiring 700 new employees, most of them teachers, to accommodate nearly 4,000 new students expected to enter the system next year. it would also unfreeze pay for current teachers and raise custodian salaries. >> i liked that they were going try and compensate the teachers more. i know that they have been waiting a long time in not getting some of the compensation that's due to them. they work very, very hard. >> summer school, which had been cut in previous years, would also return in limited form. maryland public schools are

celebrating this morning after being ranked number one in the nation for the fourth year in a row. education week gave the state an overall grade of b-plus in its annual report. maryland got especially high mark for its early education programs and for its college preparation for high school students. virginia ranked close behind with a b average, along with new york and massachusetts. the district was given a c-minus. a scam warning from pepco. the utility company says nearly two dozen customers have received calls about a so-called green dot visa credit card to make payments. the call also advises customers to call another number and wire money. pepco says you should call its customer service number immediately if you're contacted. it has notified federal officials about the scam. and d.c. police are trying to stop a rash of robberies in northwest washington. officers held a public meeting last night to discuss their efforts. investigators received as many as seven cases in a 24-hour period in neighborhoods near

western and connecticut avenues. most happened during evening hours. investigators say the thieves have stolen cell phones to keep victims from calling for help. today marks 30 years since the tragic air florida plane crash in the washington area. this happened during a snowstorm, january 13, 1982, near what was then national airport. the runway had recently reopened, but the pilot had never flown in snow before and took off without inspecting the plane. that 737 crashed into the 14th street bridge and then ended up in the potomac river. 78 people died. rescuers managed to save five people including a flight attendant. >> wow, those images -- >> wow, hadn't seen that video before. difficult to look at. >> yeah. it is now 4:37. 37 degrees. ahead on "news4 today," not responding well to threats, the warning the white house is sending to iran about what could spark military action against them. a chance for drivers to catch a break. how the district is hoping to get people to pay off those unpaid parking tickets. plus, bundle up before you head out the door. it is cold and windy out there.

a look at your forecast with your weather and traffic on the 1s, next.

20 minutes before the top of the hour. 37 chilly degrees at our studios. it's colder in other places. there was some rain that fell this morning, and the wind, let may tell you, the wind, you're going to feel the cold air if you're heading out. >> i walked in, my hair was all over the place, covering my face.

looked like i had been through a hurricane or something. tom, what's going on out there? we've had a cold front sweep through. that's kicked up the wind, it's also creating snow. on the radar, i was talking about this yesterday. we are getting snow into northern frederick county, advancing north, east, and south. the green zone is rain. still raining in southern montgomery county, the district, prince george's county, fairfax, and along interstate 95 toward fredericksburg and in northern charles county. also rain in howard county and anne arundel county. the light snow into frederick and washington counties may accumulate on the grassy areas, but melting on roads. temperatures now are in the 30s throughout most of the region except some of the highlands out in west virginia now are below freezing, and these are the latest wind gust. gusts to 35 to 40 miles per hour as the cold front has swept through. the gusts will be higher later today. we could have gusts to 50 miles per hour this afternoon. temperatures hovering around 40 degrees.

this evening, sunset at 5:08. winds should diminish. temperatures near freezing near sky. cold weather for the weekend. more coming up in ten minutes. danella? good morning. volume's light in our area. we'll head to i-270 and take the trip together. no accidents at this time. slick pavement, but you see green as we head south toward rockville as we make our way from clarksburg, i'm not seeing any issues at this time. i'll give you a live look at shady grove. wet roads going to slow you down. no accidents on i-270 north or south but possibly slick conditions. please be careful. traveling 395, this is the view at shirlington circle. on 395, volume is very light north and southbound. you're clear actually from the beltway even as you cross over the 14th street bridge and make your way into the city. i'm not seeing really any issues for you yet. but i'm back in ten minutes with another look at your traffic. aaron and eun, back to you. >> thank you. 4:42. still will to come, the impact of downsizing.

the changes already in store for thousands of american troops stationed overseas. plus, too much bad press. the impact the school says the sandusky sex abuse scandal

this morning the obama administration and iran analysts believe iran's threat to close the strait that ships millions of barrels of oil to the middle east. "the new york times" reports the u.s. is using a secret channel of communication to warm the zeem leader that the u.s. will respond if iran closes the shipping route. the tension between the two countries has intensified in the last few weeks. the u.s. has sanctioned three companies connected to iran because of iran's nuclear program.

[ technical difficulties ] lawyers asked the south carolina court to delay his criminal trial on campaign finance charges because edwards is sick. they say he's been diagnosed with a serious medical condition but won't say what he's suffering from. edwards is charged with using campaign funds to hide his pregnant mistress. edwards has pleaded not guilty. the trial scheduled to start january 30. penn state university is reaching out to alumni in hopes of repairing the school's image since a recent child sex scandal. today, school president rodney erickson will travel to new york city. he held a town hall near pittsburgh wednesday night. he's taking questions on how the school handled the child sex abuse case against jerry sandusky. the former assistant football coach is charged with more than

50 counts of child sexual abuse. penn state fired long-time head coach joe paterno after the sandusky allegations went public. erickson says he's not had time to speak with paterno since then. sandusky has acknowledged showering with boys but denied molesting them. an alabama judge has signed an order declaring natalee holloway legally dead. the girl's father filed a petition last summer to make that declaration, hoping it would bring closure for the family. her mother said she opposes the move but will not take legal action to stop it. holloway was 18 when she was last seen during a senior trip to aruba in 2005. no one was ever charged in connection with her disappearance, and her body has never been found. this morning, actress heather locklear is waking up in the hospital. paramedics rushed her to the hospital yesterday after her sister called 911 for a medical emergency at locklear's house. a hospital spokeswoman says her parents are at her house caring for her. locklear stayed overnight for evaluation. no word on what caused that medical emergency.

locklear starred in "t.j. hooker," "dynasty," and "melrose place." family and friends held a vigil for a teen gunned down over a pair of basketball shoes. someone shot david robinson in the back and stole his $200 nikes while waiting for a bus -- while he was waiting for a bus on foote street sunday morning. robinson leaves behind a girlfriend who's expecting a child. >> he actually was just showing me pictures of the baby. he was very excited about having a baby. he grew close to my son, who is 1 years old. he was getting prepared to be a father. it's sad that someone didn't know what they were taking away. >> police say shots were also fired at the getaway car. no arrests have been made. police are offering a reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in this case. brace yourself for delays if you are taking metro this weekend. the transit agency is using the long holiday weekend to do major track work on the blue, orange, and red lines. starting tonight at 10:00, shuttle buses will run between l'enfant plaza and eastern

market on the blue and orange lines. the two stations in between, federal center southwest and capital south, will be closed. on the red line, trains will be single tracking between dupont circle and friendship heights as well as between tacoma and forest glen. trains should be back to normal schedules by tuesday morning. if you have a parking ticket in the district, now is the time to pay. there are just two weeks left in the city's ticket amnesty program. it allows people to pay only the face value of any ticket written before january 2010 without paying any late fees. payments can be made to the dmv, at the dmv, by phone or on line. some students in northern virginia will get to see first lady michelle obama's dance moves today. the first lady plans to visit hayfield secondary school in fairfax county and will have company from nickelodeon, apparently. the cast of "icarly" will join her. they're promoting an upcoming episode that features mrs. obama. she's thanking military families for their work. on the star, amanda cosgrove

plays the daughter of an air force colonel. the first lady will participate in "random dancing," which is a staple of the nickelodeon show. >> random dancing always cheers things up, right? i know you are a big proponent of random dancing. >> just saying, a little song and dance never hurt anybody. >> not at all. >> just putting it out there. 4:51. the weather is serious. goodness, gracious. the winds are whipping, temperatures are plummeting. >> yeah, it's raining and snowing in areas just to our north. right now, we've got a cold surge of air coming in from the midwest where there is a tremendous difference in temperatures. right now at ocean city, it's 51. elkins, west virginia, is 19 degrees. reagan national now is at 39. and the cold air surging in changing that rain over to snow, get something snow right now in northern montgomery county, western howard, and up into frederick county and carroll county. and this may accumulate a little on grassy areas. maybe a dusting to an inch, especially out in northern frederick county and into

eastern washington county. right along south mountain there and catoctin mountain there could be an inch or two. moving north and east. locally temperatures to the mid 30s in montgomery county and fairfax county. arlington county now is in the mid to upper 30s. prince george's county and parts of southern maryland are still hovering around the low 40s. pax river is 53. but they just had a wind gust and the front coming through at 39 miles per hour. just had a 37 miler gust at reagan national. winds will increase throughout the day. sunshine breaking out. we could have 50 mile-per-hour gusts this afternoon. temperatures will be hovering around 40 degrees through the daylight hours. after sunset, it will drop down to near freezing. sun sets at 5:08 under a partly cloudy sky. frigid by dawn saturday. in the low 20s. tomorrow's highs only the mid to upper 30s with a gusty wind that will be not as heavy as today. not as strong. and then on sunday, some sunshine, but teens in the morning, mid 30s in the afternoon. martin luther king day now looking a little warmer. highs in the low 40s.

then maybe wild rain on tuesday. how's traffic? good morning. taking the beltway, got to show a disabled vehicle. this is the outer loop at robinson terminal. stepping in just so you can see them. the good news is he's not slowing you down, not seeing issues. if you're traveling the inner loop, i'll give you a travel speed. if this is your compute in virginia, you're at 55 miles per hour. to get from the interchange to the dulles toll road, right now that trip will take you 14 minutes. traveling 50 -- i'm not seeing any issues on 50 at all as you make your way from the bowie area. eastbound connecting to the beltway -- sorry, westbound connecting to the beltway, eastbound, as well, you're pretty much in the clear. travel speed westbound from bowie to the beltway, you're at 61 miles per hour. and the rails are open with no reported delays on the metro, marc, or the vre. back to you. >> thanks. close but no cigar for the virginia cavaliers in their bid to beat the hated duke blue devils. virginia missed two three pointers in the closing seconds of the game. they fell to duke 61-58.

the cavaliers haven't won at duke since 1995. this loss snapped virginia's 12-game winning streak. uva now 14-2 on the season. the cavs are off until next thursday when they take on georgia tech in charlottesville. it has been a roller coaster ride in the season for the capitals so far. two players are being recognized by the league for their contributions. captain alex ovechkin and defenseman dennis wideman have been selected to play in this year's nhl all-star game. this is ove's first straight appearance at the mid season exhibition game which ties a franchise record for wideman. it will be his first trip to an all-star game. he's currently the fifth highest scoring defenseman in the league. the all-star activities take place january 26th through the 29th in ottawa. looking for fun tonight but don't want to spend a lot of money? you're in luck. tickets to the wizards gum are going for $5 on stub hub. cheaper than a movie ticket. the only catch -- you have to

watch the 1-9 wizards -- who wrote that? come on. on the other hand, they're taking on the first place philadelphia 76ers. if $5 is more than you want to spend, tickets for monday's wizards-rockets game going for $3. >> we need fan support. that's part of the equation. i'm hoping that we -- >> i might just go. >> you should go just to support the local team. all right. so so much for the importance of a good head coach. >> apparently many football fans think there's a little divine intervention going on with the nfl playoffs. i think you know what we mean. especially when it comes to the denver broncos. according to a survey, 43% of people think god is helping tim tebow and the broncos win. it appears republicans have more faith in the tebow-god connection. 54.2% of republicans surveyed say the man upstairs is helping the broncos. just hink so. there are a lot of people

praying for their football team. put it that way. >> yeah. a lot of people tell you over and over again, prayer works. don't stop beright? if it works, go for it. >> i like that. all right. 4:55. 37 degree. coming up, paying more to fly. a look at the airlines hiking fares and how much more tickets are going to cost you. and a change of tune for a luxury carmaker.

we're only two weeks into 2012, and airlines are hiking their fares. delta sparked that increase by hiking roundtrip fares for long-haul routes by $20 earlier this week. that was quickly followed bide matching hikes at usairways, southwest, airtran, american, and united. experts say the more expensive tickets are in response to rising fuel prices. consumers will also see a jump in advertised ticket prices come the end of the month when new rules will force airlines to include taxes and fees in the prices that they quote. mercedes benz has apologized for using a controversial image to promote its cars. it used this picture at the consumer electronics show. the communist regime leader and symbol became a symbol of communist revolutionary movement in the '60s and '70s.