we're told four children all elementary school aged with minor, nonlife threatening injuries which, of course is good. but maybe you can hear in the background, there are horns blaring as drivers, motorists coming home from work are getting frustrated with the scene here. chopper 7 overhead right now giving you a clear picture of what's going on but again to recap here good news this is not a bus crash but instead a bus driver who had to take action and slam on the brakes to avoid the collision that jostled around 56 children inside the bus. injuries are all nonlife threatening. in silver spring aim kevin lewis, back to you. >> could have been worse. to update the breaking news we've been following you all this afternoon, attempted armored truck robbery in chantilly. this started at eastern marketplace plaza and ended with an arrest about seven miles away on fairfax county parkway. diane cho is one of the first reporters to get there to the scene. she's joining us now live with the very latest.

diane? >> leon we are now learning new details into what happened out here. we are being told that one of the suspects was hit several times by gunshots and he is now in critical condition. we're told it started here behind me at the capital one bank as the armed security guards were trying to take money inside to the bank, apparently those two suspects approached them and tried to rob them and at some point as the armed security guards are trying to get away, they ended up here across the parking lot in front of the grocery store. that's why you saw those images earlier out here of the armed guard truck here parked in front. authorities said one of the suspect fired the shot and that's when the two dunbar security guards started firing back hitting one of the suspects involved. the sheriff tells us a witness inside the grocery store saw the suspect running about 100 yards away to get to their car to take off. because we're so choice to the fairfax county border loudoun county authorities alerted the fairfax county police department and gave them the description of the suspect's car.

now, not long after that, they found that vehicle off old plains road in fairfax county parkway. the driver was taken into custody for questioning and the passenger was taken to an area hospital. >> probably the most brazen thing that i've been since i've been on the job. exchange of gunfire in the middle of the day by the shopping center in front a bank very frightening situation. fortunately, only the suspect got hurt. only one of the two suspects got hurt. and no citizens got hurt. that's a good thing. >> and again we're told by security guards were not injured throughout all of this and again, one of the suspects is now in critical condition at an area hospital. the other suspect, we're told is in questioning now with authorities. in chantilly, diane cho, abc 7 news. >> thank you, diane. now, as diane mentioned, police caught up with the suspect just a short distance away from the original scene. jay speaks up our team coverage

where they were arrested along fairfax county parkway. jay? >> leon this is literally the spot where this vehicle was pulled over by fairfax county authorities. what's new on this scene is moments ago, with an f.b.i. escort that red burgundy taurus was taken away by a tow truck. so yeah just as diane said loudoun county authorities gave that bulletin for the burgundy taurus and a short time later fairfax county police unit was able to pull over that vehicle without incident thankfully and they were able to arrest one of the men immediately. the other person has sustained a potentially life threatening gunshot wound and was medevaced off to inova fairfax hospital. we are just off the fairfax county parkway northbound lanes. it's just starting to open up so i think the real issue right now is the fact that traffic is once again starting to move well just north of 50 on the fairfax county parkway. but certainly, fairfax county authorities and loudoun county authorities are grateful that

they were able to work together to bring this to a conclusion. live in the fair lakes area of fairfax county abc 7 news. >> all right, jay. thank you. >> all right, let's turn now to the weather. get ready to step into the freezer. >> that's right. temperatures could be dropping into the single digits tonight. chief meteorologist doug hill in the storm watch 7 weather center. it sounds brutal. >> freezer doesn't sound like a bad choice. no winds blowing in there. it's going to get tough. let's get started first off from the belfort furniture weather center, winter weather advisories. this one in the form of a wind chill advisory. goes into effect at 7:00 to 10:00 in the morning. wind chills in the areas shaded in blue just added by the wakefield virginia northern virginia office so i suspect later this evening, some other counties may be added to that growing list. 30 in gaithersburg now. 28 in hagerstown. temperatures falling north and west and that cold air is coming this way. current wind chills 17 in gaithersburg. 14 in hagerstown. 29 at reagan national.

but all of these values will drop except the winds fortunately they'll go up. temperatures down, wind chills down. overnight and by the morning, temperatures at 17 above. and the front coming here saturday night, even stronger and colder. a lot to share in a few minutes, alison? >> see you then doug. thank you. new at 5:00 action from maryland's acting transportation secretary after concrete fell off a bridge on to a car from the beltway this week. today, pete rand ordered all state-owned bridges like the one at suitland road inspected as soon as possible. that covers 27 bridges built before 1969 with traffic underneath. no one was hurt in tuesday's accident. metro is going back to the drawing board to find ways to raise more money without raising rates. stephen tschida covering metro tonight live from headquarters where we were expecting a rate increase today. stephen? >> yeah alison we were expecting that we spent hours

inside this building waiting for metro's finance committee to approve this plan but the proposal drew such sharp criticism overwhelming opposition that when it came right down to it the finance committee didn't have the stomach to approve the plan. it still could get harder and costlier to catch a metro train. >> not happy with the idea of fares going up. >> the proposal still is on the table. metro needs to come up with $46 million in fiscal 2016 to cover a reduction in revenue from the jurisdictions it serves. here's the current plan. raise fares 10 cents. run fewer trains and eliminate late night service and reduce low productivity bus routes. essentially, cut the bus routes with fewer passengers. >> not in favor of that either. >> the proposed cuts and fare increase drew sharp criticism from the business community which maintaining fewer trains will cut into profits. passengers fear metro will get so expensive, it will put more cars on the road. >> people who use public transit

and, you know, more expensive to do that than drive. >> the board listened and delayed a vote. the likely alternative getting area jurisdictions to kick in more cash. >> district is prepared to pay its share of whatever is necessary to avoid any service cuts or fare increases. >> if it will help improve the system and it will, you know increase you know or decrease train delays and make traveling experience a better thing for all of us i don't think there's any reason why we shouldn't all be a contributor to that. >> ok. so metro has two weeks, 14 days to come up with an alternative method to generate $46 million in savings and new revenue. now, if it doesn't find another method this plan this controversial proposal will likely go on to the full metro board. reporting live, stephen tschida, abc 7 news. >> ok stephen, thank you. one more note here today, the national transportation safety board gave abc 7 a chance to see

some of the damage from that deadly smoke incident on the yellow line last month. these areortions right here of the third rail cover board and the electrical system components from the tunnel near l'enfant plaza station. we're going to have much more on all of this coming up tonight at 6:00. >> update now to a story that we've been following. d.c. father has pleaded guilty to answer in the death of his infant son. 20-year-old brown appeared in superior court today. brown's plea means that he could face between four to 10 years in prison. his 1-month-old son was found unconscious back in october when police responded to a home on trenton place in southeast washington. the infant later died at the hospital. >> a federal appeals court will hear an appeal of the decision to hold the dzhokhar tsarnaev trial in boston. he, of course, is the surviving suspect in the boston marathon bombing. tsarnaev's lawyers have pushed

for that trial to be moved out of massachusetts for months. jury selection is under way. the first u.s. court of appeals will hear that case next thursday. and witnesses say many people were killed in an explosion in a crowded market in nigeria today. we vaenhaven't been able to get any firm numbers on number of people killed or injured. the militant group boko haram is suspected in this attack. >> a man is expected to find his trial date tomorrow. jesse matthew is facing rape charges from a case in 2005. that trial was supposed to start next month but pushed back after the defense requested more time to prepare the case. earlier this week matthew was indicted on first-degree murder charges in death of hannah graham in charlottesville. a vigil is set to begin at dupont circle in an hour and a half for three university of north carolina students who were shot and killed this week. services were held today in raleigh raleigh for the victims.

police say that craig steven hicks shot the three after an ongoing dispute over a parking space. but their families insist the killings were a hate crime against muslims. >> well as the anniversary approaches of the disappearance of ralicia rudd from a homeless shelter, d.c. mayor muriel bowser unveiled her plan to get families out of shelters and into permanent homes. sam ford explains bowser's plan to solve the city's homeless problem. >> the playground outside of the homeless shelter was built in memory of the 8-year-old who hasn't been seen since march of last year. today, mayor muriel bowser launched her initiative to get homeless families out of shelters and hotels and into permanent homes. >> help them identify units available across the district of columbia. >> she plans to hire who she calls navigators or home finders to work with inspectors or social workers whose jobs are to get into homes, people like 22-year-old alison thomas who has an 11-month-old in her arms

and is 8 months pregnant. she had been staying at one of the city's motels for homeless families until bed bugs drove her back to her godmother's couch. >> it's stressful because i can't be on the street with a baby. >> running the show for the mayor will be the one who said she cut the homeless population by a third for the obama administration. >> the solution that works for veterans works for all people. >> d.c.'s homeless population is actually down since she disappeared a year ago from 827 to 760 today but still, far too many and bowser like her predecessor wants to close d.c. general. >> d.c. general was built as a hospital. and as such it is not the optimal environment to raise families. >> and we're looking live at the

relicia rudd playground. 255 families are calling this shelter home. and the shelter space is so tight in the city that young woman alison thomas that you saw with the baby said she was told there was no bed bug free space in the motel. and no beds left. >> thank you. coming up on abc 7 news at 5:00 a major road in d.c. may not be closing but find out when work will be closing some lanes along interstate 395. >> and then a little later, the plan to push for relief for virginia families dealing with children with epilepsy. >> plus with all the attention on the measles outbreak, find out what other ailments may be quietly making a comeback. >> and police find a suspected killer on of all places the second floor of the courthouse. coming up i'll explain how they say a low level clerk may be tied to a ganglan

>> only on 7 tonight, a montgomery county court employee charged with murder. maryland bureau chief brad bell tells us how she is allegedly involved. >> it was a crime that horrified

neighbors. >> heard some gunshots. big gunshots. >> that was back in december 2012. 21-year-old jesse campos is murdered execution style. >> shotgun. >> it took more than two years to build a case but last week police announced the arrests of 26-year-old steven slink webster and 26-year-old imani cooke. campos was cooke's drug dealer and upstairs neighbor. she allegedly gave campos cash to replenish his supply of marijuana. when he didn't pay it back it's alleged webster and another man, the father of cooke's children both members of the bloods gang killed campos. according to court documents, jesse campos was killed in his apartment right up here number 402. then the killers came downstairs here to number 203 to hide out. that's the apartment of imani cooke. until her arrest, she still lived in that unit and since last may, worked in the

courthouse in rockville in the lands record office. that means the homicide detectives who had been pursuing her for two years often walked right past her way to trials. cooke is charged with first degree ma spokesman for the state's attorney says she never had any access to inside information. >> separate department. >> it has nothing to do with criminal records or indictments or any kinds of filings in the criminal justice system. >> now, miss cooke used to work up here in the second floor of the courthouse in that land records office. when she comes back she's likely going to spend some time down here. that's where the holding cells are. now, we're told that this investigation is continuing. there is a third person mentioned in the charging documents but not specifically named. he is believed to be the actual triggerman in this case. they also talk about a handgun used in this murder that they say matches up to a handgun used in at least one other murder in

another county. in rockville, brad bell abc 7 news. >> we're getting a first look at an unbelievable piece of history. now, take a look at this. you've seen this now. this is the first known footage of chicago's eastland ship disaster. it happened 100 years ago, july of 1915. 844 people were killed when a ship heading to a company picnic capsized in the chicago river. the footage was dug up from a grad student who was looking for some material on world war i. this was the largest loss of life in the great lakes ever. >> interesting. >> incredibly great film condition for 100 years old. yeah. >> amazing. >> all right. let's talk about what's ahead of us. >> it's going to get quite breezy and much colder tonight. and then it's going to get windy and much colder saturday night and sunday. two arctic cold fronts we've been talking about. the first one through and the next one on the way. let's start things off.

first thing is first this evening. get a look at the time lapse from washington lee high school in arlington. it has been an interesting day with rain showers, sprinkles, snow showers and snow flurries. changeable skies and gusty winds. now more rapidly falling temperatures and clearing skies. it's all good out there except it will get mighty chilly tonight. as far as the numbers, here's what we have for you right now. 3 it 32 degrees in manassas. feels like it's 28 right now. not really terribly cold yet. it's 27 degrees in frederick. winds out of the northwest at 15 and feels like it's 15 above. all those values are going to change. it will get windier and colder and the wind chills will drop. because of all that wind chill advisoryies are up starting at 7:00 tonight. perhaps more counties will be added here as we see at what rate the temperatures fall and the winds are sustained. for the moment we're starting to get drops now. 28 degrees in hagerstown. 30 in martinsburg and winchester. still 39 at andrews and reagan

national airport. chills dropping as we expect into the teens north and the metro area now. feels like 14 at hagerstown. 29 now at reagan national airport. there's plenty of cold air. it keeps building and rebuilding across central and northern canada so we're getting a first chunk of it coming through our part of the world right now. temperatures will continue to drop tonight. we're calling for an average wake-up temperature tomorrow morning of 14 degrees. the range is 7 to 17. wind chill is the important number, that's what it feels like when you send your kids to the bus stop or metro, wind chills at or slightly below zero tomorrow morning. it is a cold blast. not hyperbole. it will be a cold blast coming and tonight, there's more cold air banking up in canada. take a look at these numbers. 16 in chicago. 9 in minneapolis. look into canada. farther north you go the colder it gets. that's the cold air mast that's recharging and then it's going to dump south aided by the jet stream, strong upper level winds will bring all that south and east and we'll feel that effect

as you go through saturday night and sunday. for tomorrow a lot of sunshine and then we'll look ahead to the day on saturday with the approach of this front. make it into the upper 30's saturday before the front arrives. saturday night the winds are going to tank or really increase. the temperatures will tank and we'll have snow showers to deal with and in fact when you wake up on sunday morning, air temperatures are likely to be in the single numbers. it will be tough out there. 14 in the morning for an average. 24 at midday. 29 in the afternoon and as far as the next seven, they're all over the place. but real extreme weather, i think, will be late saturday night and sunday morning. wind chills could be 10 12 13 below zero even in the immediate metro area sunday morning we could have winds gusting, 40 possibly 50 miles per hour. calm it down on monday. by tuesday and wednesday, the possibility of snow or a mix changing to snow. so definitely a winter weather pattern setting up i would say. >> going to be tough. well, should we blame the groundhog? >> yeah. i think we should. >> we know how you feel. about our friend the groundhog up in pennsylvania. >> still ahead here folks, find

out why one particular police department is interested in catching up with punxsutawney phil for a little face to face. >> he looks like a criminal. >> there is mounting excitement over a movie being released this weekend. i'm suzanne kennedy. i'll tell you why this movie is making some people upset about how it could be negative towards women. i'll have that story straight ahead.

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>> well first there was the book and now of course, the movie. "50 shades of gray" is about to make its big screen debut but its release is not without controversy. >> suzanne kennedy is outside of the cinema where the movie will be shown in a few hours. what's the word suzanne? >> leon and alison this is one of many movie theaters in the washington metropolitan area that will be showing this movie. in fact, we just had a couple of people go in for a screening that is going to take place at 6:30 tonight. those folks are very excited about this movie coming out, there are others who are not excited about its release. it is one of the most talked

about movies of the season. >> i don't do romance. >> a film 50 shades fans have been anticipating for months. >> i'm so excited. >> but the erotic drama is not without controversy. >> the film really is a porn movie. >> the movie based on e.l. james' wildly popular book is the story of a college student who gets involved in a sadomasochistic relationship with an older man. critics say the film glamourizes sexual violence against women. >> if you remove the glitz and the glamour and the powerful job, it's a story about domestic violence and sexual abuse against women. >> a backlash against the movie is being seen on social media. one person tweeting -- please don't support "50 shades" by seeing it in theaters. supporting domestic abuse isn't cool. the movie is expected to have a big opening weekend with an estimated $60 million in box office revenue. despite the concerns about the

message it sends about women and violent sex there are fans who are looking forward to seeing it. >> a lot of sex driven. that's not what i'm looking at. >> i think it's just playing into the ultimate female fantasy of having a man that just sweeps you off your feet. >> the national center on sexual exploitation is asking people to forgo going to this movie. boycott it if you will and instead, take the money they would spend here at the movie theater and instead donate it to a domestic violence organization. reporting live in northwest washington, suzanne kennedy, abc 7 news. >> thanks suzanne. there's always hot tub time machine 2. >> completely different. >> measles seem to be getting a lot of attention these days. >> that's right. but still to come find out why some cases of whooping cough are raising flags tonight. >> plus the idea to close down interstate 395 is on the back

burner now. that doesn't mean you won't have to deal with some closures next week. we'll tell you where and when just ahead.

>> new information tonight in a murder mystery at a hotel in northwest washington. as brianne carter reports, the victim's wife reported him missing the same day he was found dead. >> take a look at this

surveillance video, this is who police are calling a person of interest in the death of d.c. lawyer david messerschmidt. watch as the unidentified person climbs the stairs looking directly into the camera. on the next floor, notice as he or she now has their face covered. search for the person comes as we're learning more about messerschmidt's whereabouts. according to this report messerschmidt was last seen on this capital hill neighborhood inside his home. when he didn't return home a person believed to be his wife filed this missing persons report just before 2:00 a.m. on february 10th. hours later, according to the police report, 30-year-old messerschmidt was found unconscious inside a room at the donovan hotel. this video of the person of interest was taken inside the hotel hours earlier. since april of last year messerschmidt worked at the downtown d.c. law firm. before that the ohio state

graduate was an employee at the d.c. office of mayor brown. in a statement, one said "we are stunned and saddened to hear this news. our thoughts are with david's family." police meanwhile are asking anyone with information to give them a call. a $25,000 reward is being offered in the case. brianne carter, abc 7 news. >> and it is time now for a look at the day's top stories. one robbery suspect is in custody. a second in the hospital with gunshot wounds after trying to rob an armored truck in chantilly. it happened outside the capital one bank on eastern market plaza. both robbers managed to get away after the shootout but they were later arrested on fairfax county parkway at rugby road. >> metro's board is delaying a vote on fare hikes and service cuts. that follows weeks of public feedback, rather, on the controversial proposal. now, metro officials say they're looking at ways to raise money without raising the rates. metro says it will revisit the

issue at a later date. >> and after some flurries this morning, get ready for the bottom to drop out. temperatures are expected to drop into the single digits in parts of our area tonight and we may not make it into the 20's on sunday. chief meteorologist doug hill will have the updated forecast coming up in 15 minutes. >> "7 on your side" with the health alert now and a new warning for people who use public transportation in san francisco in the midst of the measles outbreak there. bay area rapid transit or bart as it's called out there is warning commuters they may have been exposed to measles after an infected man rode some of the trains. the employee rode trains between lafayette and san francisco in the morning and evening commutes between february 4th and 6th. >> measles is very infectious. it becomes airborne so that if i had measles, anybody who is in this room even an hour after we leave can become infected with measles. >> the infected person also ate

at a restaurant near union market. san francisco health department says that both bart and that restaurant are notifying customers. and more alarm bells in california are ringing. people are worried the vaccine for whooping cough may be losing its potency. 11,000 people caught that virus last year. many of them lived in places where vaccination rates as high as 98%. doctors say that while the vaccinations don't prevent all cases, they do make them less severe. >> when there was no kind of protection, there are commonly hospitalizations, there were deaths sometimes permanent disabilities. organ damage, permanent brain damage. >> even though the case is in california hit a four year high last year doctors say it's still important to get your vaccine. they're especially worried about it spreading to children who were too young to get the vaccine. >> all right, leon. 7 is on your side now with a consumer alert about a deal involving two on-line travel sites.

expedia is buying its rival orbitz. this gives expedia access to the brand as well as other brands like cheap tickets and hotel club. the portfolio already includes hotels.com and hot wire. some new developments in plans to close a big part of interstate 395 in the district. the bottom line here it's not going to happen. crews are from d street in northeast, they are starting to put equipment in place. full project to create three new city blocks with 2.2 million square feet of mixed use development will hit full stride coming up this summer. all right. let's get a check on how our traffic is shaping up today with bob emler in the wtop traffic center. hi, bob. >> hi there, alison. on 66 traveling westbound just volume delays headed out. sunshine not much of a factor anymore now that the sun has set. still plenty of volume out towards centreville. inner loop out of tysons

heaviest from 123 headed to 270 and eastbound 66 into falls church does bog down a bit as well. route 1 to the occoquan and headed south from quantico towards stafford, plenty of volume there. no incidents along the way and things are generally doing well out there on 270. let's take a look and see how it looks, though. doing ok here at copper road at 117. it starts to slow down after this point headed up towards clarksburg and 395 southbound coming out from the pentagon towards landmark. lanes are open. moving pretty well with volume delays. i'm bob emler with 103.5 wtop radio. >> thanks, bob. coming up on abc 7 news at 5:00 your social life in the after life. a look at facebook's plan to let you control your page from the great beyond. >> and then a little bit later -- >> rights contained in the bill of rights do not come from the constitution. they come from god. >> the battle over same sex marriage is heating up in alabama. >> and tonight at 6:00 speed limit change baffles both

commuters and those in charge of the road. abc 7 gets to bottom of it and what drivers need to know to stay safe and av

>> they are having a reliable

tool to single dangerous highs and lows is key. more and more people are turning to a new tool to help and we're talking about alert dogs. >> do they work? "7 on your side" i-team investigator joce sterman is wanting to find out. joce? >> leon at least some customers of a virginia based company will tell you no they don't. they signed big contracts and they claim they ended up with nothing more than just a pricey house pet. >> really thought that it's really amazing. and it's probably a special thing that anybody can give me. >> at 11:00, this virginia woman and others tell us their hopes quickly turned to disappointment after they signed contracts for as much as $20,000 for those dogs. they hope that working with the virginia company that offers diabetic alert dogs would be the answers to their problems. for some it is. a life saver and many of them.

there is absolutely no standard and the kind of service dogs and it's the problem that they want to change. >> representing puppies to be -- >> tonight at 11:00 in our alert report the "7 on your side" i-team showed us what we found in the science behind at least one company's claim and let you know who else is investigating. joce sterman, abc 7 news. >> all right. thank you joce. >> coming up at 5:00, someone needs to be held responsible. >> all right. find out why police in one state are taking their frustrations out on punxsutawney phil? >> certain type of marijuana is gaining a great deal of support from lawmakers from richmond and giving parents plenty of hope. i'm jeff goldberg. coming

>> northern virginia bureau chief jeff goldberg introduces us to one woman who says it can make a big difference in her

child's life. >> when beth collins first took her cause to richmond in january, she was met with a chill. >> when a lot of legislators heard the word "marijuana" they were like no thanks. >> as collins started sharing stories of her 15-year-old daughter jennifer who has epilepsy and suffers up to 300 small seizures a day, she explained the therapeutic power of marijuana oils which have nothing to do with getting high. >> we're asking for medicine. >> a year ago beth and jennifer left their family in fairfax and moved to colorado where marijuana along with the oils is legal. drops under her tongue three times a day dramatically reduced jennifer's seizures and no side effects like with other drugs. but they wanted to come home to virginia and join other families in the fight. >> never underestimate the determination of parents when protecting their kids. >> on tuesday, the house of delegates voted 98-0 making it easier for virginians with epilepsy to use marijuana oils. the similar bill has passed the

senate and governor terry mcauliffe is a supporter. >> i don't think it's going to be a cure all for epilepsy syndromes. i think it's going to be very meaningful. >> for all of us it provides hope. if we can save one life it's worth it. >> they may be moving forward with marijuana oils in richmond, that's probably all for the moment. the republican-led legislature has shown no interest in pursuing medical marijuana and certainly not marijuana for recreational use. in arlington, jeff goldberg, abc 7 news. >> newly released education numbers are a bit of a mixed bag for our area. nationally the high school graduation rate hit a new record of 81%. but in d.c. that number is the lowest in the country. 62%. that means only 6 in 10 high schoolers will earn a diploma. the nationwide growth was spurred by greater awareness about dropouts and schools hiring specialists to keep teens in class. well, people from across the

internet are flocking to this web cam of two educated eagles. this feathered couple has been nesting on the barry college campus in georgia since 2012. now they're expecting, mom and dad are watching over two eggs in the nest. the eggs are expected to hatch at any time. >> we'll look ahead here to what's coming up tonight at 6:00. first look at the charred components blamed for the smoke incident that killed a metro passenger and injured 80 more. a shocking revelation from the prosecutors in the case of a d.c. rabbi accused of secretly videotaping women as they undressed for a ritual bath. how many women may be victims. that coming up tonight at 6:00 right here. >> we have new information on the stormwatch that's happening in new england. again. it is snowing today in boston. blizzard conditions could hit that area again this weekend. this morning, commuters face big delays on the t as shuttle buses replaced many trains so crews could clear snow and ice from the tracks.

that led to more traffic on the roads. some say it took them two hours to get from one station to another on the shuttle. oh, man! and it's not just people having problems with the snow in bean town. check out this picture, a boat was stuck in the snow. in the middle of an intersection. a truck was towing it when it got stuck on a snow bank. neighbors didn't want to wait for another truck to tow it so a lot of them just grabbed shovels. >> wishful thinking to be on a boat. a new hampshire police department is ready to place the blame for all that record snowfall. it issued an arrest warrant for, you guessed it, punxsutawney phil. the police department said he saw his shadow signalling six more weeks of winter he didn't say anything about all the snow. so on the department's facebook page, they consider phil to be armed and dangerous. then again, phil is probably just hiding in his hole knowing that the winter will be a long

one. >> what's the charge? perjury? >> i don't know. doug said it -- >> endangering public safety could be one. >> that's what it did. as long as people take their anger out on the road and not on the professor, we'll be good to go here. you won't like some of this news that we have to share. turning colder or the coldest of the season. all happening over the next few days. first up we got a little -- a couple more counties added to the growing area under the wind chill advisories loudoun county and all of montgomery county starting from 7:00 tonight to 10:00 in the morning. uncomfortable overnight and early morning because of the combination of temperatures and strong and gusty winds. right now, temperatures are dropping west and north of town. 28 in hagerstown now. down to 39 at reagan national

airport. check out the wind chills, teens or 20's. single digit to around zero tomorrow morning. they'll be pockets around the city with two or three below zero. clearing skies, and we'll keep the gusty winds and the air temperatures by morning 7 to 17 degrees below zero. so very radical change over what we dealt with during the day. plan ahead for your kids, for yourself getting off to work. whole different kind of pattern through the day tomorrow. all due to this arctic high pressure moving behind the cold front. we'll have the sunshine. it will be cold. we'll warm to the upper 30's. when the front arrives late in the day with the snow showers and the temperatures will plummet as the storm system racing where storm is going to intensify off the coast of new england, that's how they'll get the blizzard watch which they have now and we'll be the recipients of bitterly cold air, very strong winds sunday morning, air temperatures in the single digits. winds could gust 40 to 50 miles per hour. we could have wind chills over many parts of the area, 10 to 15 below zero on sunday morning. big changes coming.

tomorrow, 29 is the highest temperature with sunshine and breezy weather and then we'll take you through the next few days. 39 on saturday. sunday, 19. colder than that especially the wind chill and then to round out the holiday weekend, 28 degrees on monday. that is it, back to you guys. >> excitement. r.g. >> all the mothers in waiting. >> that's exciting. >> now hear this robert griffin iii celebrating his birthday today. he's telling the world he and his wife are expecting their first baby. this afternoon, he posted this message. the picture of r.g. 3 kissing his wife's belly with the words "big thank you for making this birthday a special day. this year's gift will change our lives forever. #boy or girl." i add who will sponsor it? let's go to basketball where the

national player of the week comes from g.w. jacquel jones has been the a-10 player of the week seven times. >> she's listed at 6'4" but her game is even bigger. >> tell everybody how tall you are. >> we're -- you're look at this week's national player of the week. >> when you see that what's that like? >> cool to be able to say that. i feel like it goes back to the team. always been, you know, ready to play. >> in the last six weeks jones has averaged a double-double. 15 points and 10 boards and she's excited about the honor but says it's always been team first. >> within that infrastructure and, you know we're look at a championship. >> jones played high school ball in maryland but born in the

bahamas bahamas. she's believed to be of one three players to get a scholarship right out of high school in the bahamas. in the bahamas, there's not a lot of people will get to see you play. to be able to come over and get better play. >> at g.w. robert burton, abc 7 sports. >> all right. one week from today the nationals pitchers and catchers will report to spring training. let me take you to the camp in arizona. lou dunlap is the batter. when he took a ball four high and tight, he went after the pitcher sort of. the ump held him back. sort of. and lou then went to first. lou dunlap won the m.v.p. award for the camp. he also was the award, look at him, 88 years old taking umbrage. he was going after the pitcher. 88 years old. you know doug went to that fantasy camp. >> went to high school o

>> trending now, facebook is giving its members more options to decide what happens to their accounts after they die. the social networking site says it will let users pick someone to manage their accounts post mortem. the so-called legacy contact would be allowed to post information, respond to friend requests and update photos. leon? >> alison right now it is legal for same sex couples to get married in 37 states and the district of columbia. those are the states in the areas that you see here highlighted on the map in yellow. alabama is the newest state to be added to that list. as karen traverse reports, at least 22 of the state's 67 counties are not issuing licenses just yet after conflicting orders coming from federal courts and some strong sentiments from the chief justice of the state's own supreme court. >> on monday alabama became the 37th state to allow same sex marriage. but it's been a week of confusion, conflicting legal signals and for many same sex couples, bitter disappointment

and frustration. state judges in at least 42 alabama counties out of 67 are not issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples. these couples went to get their marriage license in mobile and both struck out. >> for us to get married. >> trying to figure out why we don't have the same rights as other living breathing human beings. >> the confusion began when the u.s. district court judge overturned the voter approved ban on same sex marriage. the state's conservative supreme court justice then ordered state judges to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. he told abc news this week that only he has the authority over those judges who issue those licenses. they don't have to follow the federal judge's order. >> the redefinition of the word "marriage" is not found within the powers designated to the federal government. >> several same sex couples have gone back to the judge asking her to force the mobile county

probate judge to issue the licenses. today's hearing ended with no resolution. the judge said she'll rsoon. for many same sex couples in alabama, the waiting game continues. reporting from northwest, karen traverse, abc 7 news. >> and that does it for us here at 5:00. coming up just ahead here at 6:00 charred metal and singed wires. what we're learning from crucial evidence in that metro smoke incident that left a woman dead. >> why are the speed limit signs in one virginia town wrapped in plastic? is this a cover-up? bureaucratic nightmare or something else? we'll explore all those questions in a live report coming up. >> and the newevelation from prosecutors investigating a rabbi accused of spying on women as they undressed. abc 7 news at 6:00 starts right now. >> first tonight, an arctic blast is bringing dangerously cold and windy conditions to our

area. chief meteorologist doug hill is in the weather center with this winter weather alert. doug? >> temperatures now in the 30's outside the belfort furniture weather center. later tonight, they'll drop into the single numbers to teens. quite a few jurisdictions under wind chill advisories from 7:00 tonight until 10:00 tomorrow morning north and west of the city and through the northern neck and the eastern shore as temperatures fall tonight and the winds pick up wind chills will drop now. in allegheny county maryland already down to 12 degrees with the wind chill at 2 below. 28 in germantown and the wind chill in the teens and those values will continue to drop off through the evening hours. in fact, right now, wind chills ho7 in gaithersburg. still feels like 31 near andrews but that will all change in the overnight as we drop between 7 and 17 and have wake-up wind chills at or