[ female announcer ] during the holidays, there's a lot to get done. and safeway select appetizers help you rise to every occasion. ♪ from delectable to amazing. there are over 20 affordable safeway select appetizers ♪ to make all of your gatherings just as merry as can be. ♪ only at safeway. ingredients for life. this is fox 5 news at 10:00. cell phones banned? the ntsb issues a stunning recommendation that could stop you from using a mobile device while in the car. a stunner in state college just minutes from facing his accusers, jerry sandusky's legal team makes a game changing move. you better buckle up your

seatbelt. taxicab rates in the district could be on verge of skyrocketing. we'll begin tonight, though, with this, your cell phone and how you use it behind the wheel. good evening. i'm brian bolter. >> i'm shawn yancy. the ntsb says using your phone even hand free is just too dangerous. >> texting takes your eyes off the road almost five seconds. at highway speeds that's the entire length of a football field. >> it makes you 23 times more likely to crash. fox 5's bob barnard is in the newsroom with more. >> just when you thought it was safe and lawful to go hands free, comes this new campaign to ban the use of cell phones by drivers entirely. it's only a recommendation from the national transportation safety board aimed at state lawmakers across the country. in the evening commute tonight look closely and you'll see driver's texting behind the wheel, others talking on their phone. it's against the law here in the district of columbia and in 35 states, virginia and

maryland included, but many of us still do it. >> i have a hands free set, but it stopped working well months ago and i've been meaning to replace it. so sometimes i just take to using the phone with my left hand. >> cell phone use and texting, it's just so pervasive in our society. if people really are almost addicted to these devices. reporter: now the federal agency that investigates plane and train crashes is recommending all 50 states and the district of columbia ban the use of cell phones entirely. >> we know that all drivers when they're talking hands held or hands free, they're dividing their attention. they're not focusing on the task hand and it causes accidents. reporter: the ntsb chairman says this deadly crash in missouri last year was the last straw. investigators finding the teenage driver of a pickup truck was at fault sending and receiving nearly a dozen text messages in the minutes leading up to the highway pileup. >> there is substantial evidence to suggest that any

phone calling or texting from the car is a distraction. it's a dangerous distraction for the driver. reporter: d.c. council member jim graham uses a hands free device in his car. >> so i mean this is legal in the district of columbia. reporter: he voted to ban the use of hand-held devices behind the wheel. what about taking it the next step? >> now whether you could create that much behavior change where people actually have no cell phone in the car is going to be pretty challenging. >> we made a recommendation today. reporter: the ntsb chairman was on our 5:00 news and seen across the country today promoting her new campaign. >> there's a time and place to talk on the phone, to text, update your facebook page, but it's not when you're behind the wheel. no call, no text, no post is worth a human life. reporter: according to a new survey by federal highway safety officials, half of all drivers in their early 20s reported texting or e-mailing

behind the wheel. the survey also found most drivers think it's only dangerous when somebody else texts and drives, not when they do. >> that is the scary part. so this new push is only a recommendation from the ntsb, right? >> that's right. the ntsb can only make recommendations. it would be up to state lawmakers and in the district the city council to ban cell phones altogether. we'll see how that goes. >> indeed. we will be watching. we asked our facebook friends what they think about this. most agree with the ntsb. michael says he thinks it's a great idea. he wrote, "i drive interstate 95 every day. the people on the road texting and talking are the ones that cause the most problems." lisa wrote, "i can't count how many times someone has been on their phone and almost hit me." but ricky disagrees, writing" ntsb is out of their mind. i think they've gone too far." in the newsroom to get the latest on jerry sandusky from

the penn state university football program. paul wagner was in pennsylvania today for his first of many court hearings and a surprise. he waived his preliminary hearing. >> it was 8:30 this morning. i had just sat down inside the courtroom when suddenly the judge said is there any preliminary matters that we need to discuss? and this is something that happens all the time in courtrooms and the lawyers got up, went up to the bench, talked with the judge and they left. all of a sudden the judge said mr. sandusky has decided to waive his preliminary hearing. there was a groan inside the courtroom because everyone had come so far, but joey a men della, the defense attorney, said they -- amendola, the defense attorney, said they didn't the 2 go through with the preliminary hearing. jerry sandusky left -- want to go through the preliminary hearing. jerry sandusky left the courthouse saying he would stay the case through the 4

quarters. sandusky's attorney promised to return and explain the decision. standing at a podium in front of reporters, amendola said he and sandusky decided to waive the hearing monday night when they realized the state had the upper hand and amendola would be unable to attack the credibility of the witnesses. >> in fact, the prosecutor i think correctly stated that he would object to any questions i wanted to ask about credibility. reporter: in return for waiverring the hearing, prosecutors agreed to share -- waiving the hearing prosecutors agreed to share evidence against sandusky more expeditiously and agreed not to raise his bail. >> today was a small part in this legal process, a part this which would have been very one- sided, basically the commonwealth's opportunity to represent all the allegations its made without us having a chance to effectively defend. amendola admitted his strategy included the opportunity to hold a news conference and defend his client against his many

accusers. >> do you realize that many of these young men already have civil attorneys for the lawsuits that are being filed, have been filed or will be filed? what greater motivation and i hate to say, it but it's going to be part of our case and we're checking on it now, what greater motivation could there be been money? reporter: amendola told reporters there would be no plea deal and suggested there's been collusion between all the young men claiming they were abused by jerry sandusky. amendola answered questions for nearly an hour and when he was done, an attorney representing alleged victim no. 4 stepped forward to read a statement from his client. >> regardless of the decision to waive the hearing, nothing has changed and i still will stand my ground testify and speak the truth and he underlined the word truth three times. reporter: prosecutors say they were prepared to put 11 witnesses on the stand, all of them held at an undisclosed location away from the courthouse. jerry sandusky is facing 52

counts of sexual abuse against young boys. he remains out on bail and his attorney said there will be no plea deal. this is "a fight to the death." meantime defense attorney bernie grimm joins us with more perspective on today's developments. thanks for joining us. people have questioned jerry sandusky's defense team for allowing him to do interviews with bob costas, the new york times. was today's move stupidity or genius? >> it's interesting. i can probably count on one hand the number of preliminary hearings i waived and the reason you would do is, one is if you reach an agreement to plead the case, not the case here. the other one is a combination of things. one is the state has agreed to give over more discovery at a quicker fashion and not upset his current bail. in addition, for the last two or three months all we've heard through the media are revelations about these gruesome vile acts sandusky committed.

his lawyer had a chance to try to turn the tide today with his hour long press conference. >> he talked there for an hour and i guess had this case actually, the preliminary hearing, gone on today, we in the media would be talking about the stories the victims were telling instead of hearing from his defense attorney saying these victims are solely out for money. by waiving the preliminary hearing, people were also speculating about a deal, sort of maybe a plea deal, but you say you do not think that's the case here? >> no. both sides are locked in. sandusky said they're going to the 4th quarter. today would have been really gruesome because actually the victims themselves would have testified, but as paul related, the judge can't consider credibility, which is a very strange thing and i'm sure the viewers think it's strange, but it's just for the preliminary hearing. of course, at the trial they'll consider credibility of all victims and get into whether there's collusion or not. >> put yourself quickly into the role of prosecutor. what does this do to your case? what does this mean? >> waiving the preliminary hearing? it might upset my victims.

my victims might have been prepared to testify today. certainly if they'd been victimized psychologically this is a very traumatic thing for them to go through. so now it's just all built up and sort of the air left out of it. so i might have victims witnesses in my camp that are a little bit upset with me now. >> bernie grimm, thanks so much for coming in. we are learning more tonight about the gun used in that deadly shooting last week at virginia tech. fox 5's laura evans joins us now. >> as police continue their investigation into the fatal ambush of a virginia tech police officer, they are releasing new information tonight about the gun used to kill him. they say ross ashley bought the .40 caliber handgun legally. he purchased the semiautomatic weapon back in january police say from a licensed virginia gun dealer, although the dealer's name is not being released.

no link has been found between the 22-year-old gunman and officer deriek crouse. crouse was gunned down on the blacksburg campus last thursday during a routine traffic stop. ashley was found dead a short time later. police believe he shot himself. ashley was a part-time student at nearby radford university where he was on the dean's list. another radford student who says ashley was his best friend told a virginia newspaper that he went to a shooting range with ashley about three times this year, but he said his friend didn't seem to be obsessed with the gun or angry in any way. meanwhile a former roommate of ashley's told the same paper that he dealt with some bouts of depression, so still more information coming out. a local man killed by his car, the fatal mistake he made and he's not alone. plus a story that really stinks, a woman smacked with a hefty recycling fine. you have to hear what she was doing or not doing with her newspaper.

and is the occupy d.c. movement damaging the city park that just received a half million dollar makeover? the news edge investigates at 11:00. 

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major drug bust at dulles international airport, customs agents seized nearly 12 pounds of heroin a week ago. they found the heroin stashed in the lining of a suitcase and arrested a traveler from ghana. investigators say the heroin was headed for new york. it is the law in the district of columbia that everyone must recycle, but are city inspectors going too far enforcing that law? tonight we're learning about one rather smelly case from a district resident who has been fined thousands of dollars for not recycling shredded newspapers she puts in her cat's litter box. fox 5's matt ackland has this one. reporter: several times a week patricia white shreds old newspapers and junk mail to use as a replace.

for store bought cat litter. patricia believes it's better for the environment. >> i'm actually trying to do something really good for the environment by using the shredded paper in the cat box and then i get fined for it. reporter: eight times patricia has been fined more than $2,000 in total every total, all for placing the soiled paper inside her trash instead of the recycling bin. when patricia spoke to the trash inspector who wrote her the tickets, she says the inspector admitted to digging through trash cabs looking for violations. -- cans looking for violations. >> i'm sure the law is trying to get at everyone needs to recycle as much as possible but digging through trash in a single can or in this case a can with animal waste, that's not what recycling is supposed to be about. reporter: apparently a judge thinks that is what the law is about. patricia appealed the fines and the judge sided with the

inspector. council member jack evans says dpw inspectors are going too far and demanded a meeting with the director of the department to talk about this case. remember, earlier this year evans got involved when inspectors were handing out numerous recycling fines in ward 2. the owner of a logan circle hardware store was fined hundreds for one soda can in her trash. >> i don't know if the night before they're going around and looking in these trash bags. it seems rather bizarre. reporter: patricia says she'll try and appeal one more time. she's gathered pictures, studied the law and even has the support of her neighbors. she says she is speaking to us to point out the extremes inspectors are taking to fine resident. with a judge backing them up. >> she didn't believe me. she didn't believe me. so again that's why i have to prove that this is contaminated and it can't be recycled. reporter: matt ackland, fox 5 news. >> patricia says she recycles everything she can. she just can't see putting animal waste in the recycling

bin as the right thing to do. dpw told us one of the tickets in question was recently upheld by an administrative schwab. based on evidence patricia put recyclable items other than the shredded paper in her trash. took 5 is monitoring the crime on metro. the latest report out somehow is overall crimes on metro buses, trains and parking lots are down from a year ago. systemwide college park had the highest number of crimes at 26. southern avenue, suitland and greenbelt made the top 10. crime is down overall, but catching the criminals is proving a challenge. there were 172 crimes reported in the 10 worse stations but only 13 arrests. you can help us monitor metro. if you see something that seems wrong, snap a picture and send it to us. taking a taxicab in the district could soon cost more. the taxicab commission approved a proposal to raise fares. fox 5's wisdom martin is here

now to explain. >> the commission decided to increase cab fares and introduce debit, credit card payment options by next fall. it sounds like a winning situation to any cab driver except for the fact there are some other changes the drivers say could ruin their business. >> this city is small and not only small, most of our business is just around downtown. reporter: the way d.c. cab drives do business in the city could soon change. the d.c. taxicab commission approved a proposal to increase cab fares and make some other changes to the cab routes. the base fare would remain $3, but the per mile rate would go up from $1.50 to $2.16 and the wait time would increase from 15 to $25 an hour. it sounds like a winning profile for cab drives but -- >> it's a lose/lose situation for us of. reporter: and here's why. the proposed changes would also eliminate additional fees for additional passengers. cab drivers say that's a devastating blow for business.

>> when they find out that it's tree for four or five people, four or five people will jump in the back, pay less and that's not how we make a living out here. >> it's not to the advantage of the cab drivers and this proposal is not acceptable. >> good deal for the consumer for passengers but probably not the greatest deal for the cab drivers. >> i think it's good. i always take a cab with like five plus people, so the other party pays extra. reporter: the proposal also eliminates fees for luggage, pets and emergency fuel surcharges. some of the drivers say they were already suffering from when the meter system went into play in 2008 and say their income went down about 30% then. they say if this proposal takes place, they will lose even more money. >> the cab drivers are hurt and this proposal hurts the cab drivers more. reporter: the earliest these new rules could start would be

february. the entire meeting for january 11th will be specifically for public comment on this issue. the battle over your paycheck raging on capitol ld let you keep more of your hard inched cash headed for the president's desk -- hard earned cash headed for the president's desk, but he's threatening a veto. plus a local man killed after i made a fatal mistake with his car -- he made a fatal mistake with her car. what you need to know in 10 minutes. ? not yet. i want to buy used but how do you know what you're really getting. check out carmax. all their used cars are guaranteed. that's where henderson found the one for him.

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the house passed a bill today that would extend payroll tax cuts and avoid what amounts to a tax increase on the middle class, but the senate will not pass it because it also includes requirements to build an oil pipeline between canada and texas. democrats say that pipeline is a special interest that cost taxpayers too much money. republicans say the bill creates jobs americans are demanding. >> the house is listening.

we've passed a large bill that contains many of the priorities of our caucus and the white house. we've worked to find common ground. >> we already know this bill is dead. we need to begin real negotiations on how to prevent a $1,000 tax hike on american families. the sooner we get this vote, the sooner those negotiations can begin in earnest. >> there are several other items tacked onto that bill that democrats do not agree with. the senate can rewrite the bill, but it would have to still go back to the house. donald trump will no longer moderate a debate for the republican presidential hopefuls. the real estate tycoon gave up after only two candidates agreed to the event. newt gingrich and rick santorum said they would show up, but republican strategists feared the debate would be more like a trump centered circus. trump now says he wants to preserve his right to run as i

understand pent. as an independent. 

a warning tonight for anyone driving one of those cars with a keyless ignition. the federal government is becoming more concerned, not because they don't work, but because they could be putting you in danger. beth parker shows us how they ended a local man's life. reporter: joel pitt will always remember the final words he said to his father. >> my last conversation with my dad was i'll see you sunday for the game. reporter: but retired montgomery county school superintendent harry pitts wasn't around to watch his beloved redskins. he died december 3rd at his home in rockville. >> he pulled into his garage and stepped out of his car. reporter: that car had a keyless ignition. apparently without realizing it

pitt had left the car running in the garage under his townhouse. the medical examiner said he died of carbon monoxide poisoning. the national highway traffic safety organization says as more and more car manufacturers go keyless, a safety issue is emerging. now nhtsa says they could reduce the number of carbon monoxide poisonings by requiring each car have an alarm, a sound that you would hear, if you tried to walk away without turning the car off. they say you could also reduce the number of roll-away accidents when a car just rolls forward if that same sort of ability alert let people know that they were trying to turn the car off before putting it in park. now there have also been some situations where people's gas pedals were stuck down. the car was moving very quickly and they tried to shut it off by hitting the power button, but they didn't hold the button

down quite long enough. nhsta wants to standardize those buttons so that in an emergency the car would immediately turn off with just one quick touch. joel pitt says keyless cars should have a fail safe shutoff. >> you're far enough away from the car whether that's 20 feet or 50 feet or whatever it is, that it would automatically shut it down and this would not only have prevented my father's situation, but the other situations that you see around the country. reporter: after similar situations in florida and new york pitt says it's time for a national conversation. it won't save his dad, but it might save someone else. beth parker, fox 5 news. a nationwide holiday crackdown on drunk driving is now underway. transportation secretary ray lahood kicked off the drive sober or get pulled over campaign today. lahood says drunk driving deaths are down in 32 states and the district thanks to the work of several organizations and law enforcement officers.

>> the truth is we would never ever be where we're at today in america in terms of getting drunk drivers off our roads without good laws, good enforcement from these great law enforcement people who represent law enforcement, who take seriously the idea that driving and drinking is a serious violation. >> secretary lahood reminded drivers they also need to turn off their cell phones and wear seatbelts. it could soon cost some of us more to use public transit, not because of a fare hike but rather change in federal law. fox 5's john henrehan explains that change. reporter: currently under federal law there are foxx benefits for workers who get -- tax benefits for workers who get subsidized help from their employers with the cost of parking or the cost of using mass transit. the benefit are roughly equal. jamie shaw spends $10 a day

taking metrorail between vienna, virginia and dupont circle d.c. uses the transit benefit. >> they take it out my paycheck and it's not taxed. reporter: do you use it? >> yes. reporter: the subsidy for employer-aided parking was already built into federal law. it's currently worth $20,030 a month. in 2009 the rules -- $230 a month. in 2009 the rules were changed and transit subsidies were brought up to the same level as park subsidies and now an estimated 2.5 million people use that transit benefit, but the change was part of the temporary economic stimulus package and the enhanced transit subsidies are scheduled to expire on december 31st. unless congress acts the transit subsidy will drop to only $125 a month. because the federal parking subsidy was written into a different law, it will not only stay high, but it will increase in january to $240 a month. for some commuters it will become more economically attractive to drive to work rather than take transit.

>> i mean it's getting more expensive anyway. so i'm actually probably going to commute more. reporter: meaning in your car? >> in my car, yes. yeah, it will definitely have an effect. reporter: that may mean fewer transit riders here and in other big cities and more cars than ever on roadways. john henrehan, fox 5 news. with congress in a stalemate over bigger issues like the payroll tax cut, it's unclear whether anything can happen on this issue before december 31st. hard times are hitting a local hardware store closing its doors after nearly a century in business. also ahead a health alert for anyone looking for that summer glow in the middle of winter, the new tanning bed danger. waiting until the last minute may just pay off this christmas. fox business network's adam shapiro explains why. >> tis the season to be shopping, but are we shopped out already? retail sales rising for the sixth straight month in november, but the increase much

less than expected. americans spending less on food and beverages and more on things like cars and electronics and good news for all you procrastinators out there. amazon is extending its free christmas shipping deadline. folks who spend 25 bucks or more have until december 19th to place orders and still have turned the tree by christmas. businesses putting up fewer help wanted signs, the labor department saying companies and governments posting 3.3 million jobs in october. that's 100,000 less than the month before. and americans getting zapped to keep the lights on. the average household electric bill topping $1,400 last year. the new record high jumped 300 bucks from five years ago. that's business. i'm adam shapiro. 

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now to a fox 5 health alert, another reason to avoid indoor tanning beds, they've already been linked to an increathe deadliest type of skin cancer. new research now shows they can also raise the odds of developing the most common form of the disease. studies show young people who use tanning beds are 69% more likely to suffer from early onset basil cell -- basal cell carcinoma. if you need help with portion control, you may want to change the color of your plate. a new study found people ate more when there was less color contrast between the food and the plates they used in. other words, when there's a noticeable contrast between the food and the plate, you can see what you're eating more easily

and will likely eat less. the experts say a white plate is your best bet. tonight at 11:00 a d.c. park just got a half million dollars renovation paid for with your tax money. did it all go to waste now that the park is home to the occupy d.c. movement? the news edge investigates. also ahead. reporter: keeping your family safe this holiday season, i've got a few new tips i learned today from the consumer product safety commission. as we go to break, here's another that's my take. tonight does the d.c. ethics reform bill go far enough? >> and now that's my take with twwv vice president and general manager duffy dyer. >> last week the d.c. city council gathered to debate a bill that regards much needed ethics reform in d.c. government. let me get a few points out of way, first the fact we have to create legislation to watch the ethical behavior of our elected

officials. it should be expected, not legislated. second, you don't ask a committee of foxes to write rules that protect the hen house. so is there anyone who has paid attention to the recent antics of some council members really surprised that this legislation falls short of cents blip addressing the anything goes atmosphere -- addressing the anything goes atmosphere? any ethics reform bill that does not allow the acts to go beyond censure and removal from committees shut be a nonstarter. the bill should force members to resign their seats if found in violation of the code of conduct. it is sad to say this bill does represent the most meaningful ethics reform that the district has seen since the establishment of home rule. that said, residents of d.c. deserve a more comprehensive bill that embraces full disclosure, more restrictions on the role of lobbyists, a prohibition of city contractors contributing to political

campaigns, a ban on city contractors from employing council members and stiffer penalties for ethical lapses. i urge the city council to stiffen the backbone of this bill before putting it to a final vote on december 20th. that's my take. what's yours? go to www.myfoxdc.com and click on that's my take or send me an e-mail at tmt at wttg.com. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices...

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the presidential dollar coin is the latist victim of washington's cost cutting efforts. the white house announced today it will stop nearly all production of the coins which carry the likeness of every deceased president. the effort will save taxpayers $50 million a year in production and storage costs. the economy has claimed another local family-owned business. after 90 years mazell lumber and hardware in kensington will close its doors for good this

friday. fox 5's audrey barnes has the story of. reporter: some of jeanine mizell's fondest memories are from the hours she spent in the what are wear store her grandfather russell opened in 19-- hardware store her grandfather russell opened in 1941. my brother and i had been running the business ever since he passed away of. reporter: it's the kind of place where you can find that unusual screw or bolt and get an honest opinion about your to- do list. >> you're welcome to come around back and look at those of. reporter: mizell's delivered plywood to the white house and capitol in a horse drawn wagon back in the day. the lumberyard is all but deserted now. four generations of mizell's can no longer compete with the likes of home depot or the economy. the store closes for good this friday. >> it's i think one of the biggest shocks actually of my life because i've been coming in here my entire life. so it's sort of like been a

slow death. reporter: bob who has been shopping here for 39 years never thought this day would come. >> it's close to this neighborhood and they most always had what i wanted of. reporter: jesse wittit is one of only two employees to have a new job to go to. >> kind of sad to see it go, but what can you do? progress, i guess of. reporter: progress that means the end of another hometown business jeanine hoped to pass on to her kids. >> all my children are very upset about this development. my son is studying business in college and was contemplating coming in and running his great grandfather's business and now they don't have that opportunity. reporter: audrey barnes accident fox 5 news. audrey barnes, fox 5 news. >> beautiful day today. >> sure was. >> it wasn't too cold, what, in the 50s? >> 52. >> nice. >> above average this time of year. it's these nights that are so

chilly. last night frederick dropped to 18 degrees, but tonight is not as cold. we've got a little cloud cover trying to come in, so we won't be that cold overnight, but i'd still describe tonight as chilly. that's how we have to roll in december. we've got a couple showers in the forecast. i'll tell you when to expect them, but there's a shower that's a bit more spectacular you might be able to see a little later tonight because this is the peek of the meteor shower. look east any time after 10:00 into the predawn hours. the constellation appears to come from the shooting star gemini. a little tough to see because the moon is up now in its waning phase but still pretty bright. even so we could get some bright fireballs. definitely bundle up and try to get way from the light of the moon and keep a tree between yourself and the sky you want to look at that blocks the moon

out. this is the leftover debris from a near earth astroid that we see as the geminid meteor shower every december. good luck if you'd like to see a shooting star tonight. we're hoping the clouds will hold off a bit longer. they're trying to cooperate. a few sprinkles through west virginia and the clouds are trying to advance a bit. a dry day for the most part tomorrow. we have moisture on the way and some of that early stuff may run along the mason dixon line in the afternoon but it's really thursday when we expect to get some showers around here. so here's how the next three days look. the clouds will definitely be on the increase tomorrow, especially by afternoon, but another semi mild day for december, 52 degrees. thursday 56 degrees, the warmest day of the week so far, but also the best chance for showers on thursday and maybe, just maybe, coming through a little earlier than we thought. friday the clouds may linger a bit, but i think they'll start to clear as the day advances starting out at 54 degrees and

then probably dropping as some cooler air comes in and sets up shop for the weekend. that's the next three days. today 52 degrees as mentioned, not bad with that full soon and light wind. it's not bad to be outside this time of year. now tonight we are so much warmer than last night at this hour. d.c. is still 43 degrees. last night at 10:00 frederick was down to 21 degrees. their temperature is missing tonight, put we can pretty much guess -- but we can pretty much guess they were in the low 30s. most places are still in the 30s. we aren't anticipating it gets quite as cold as last night, still some upper 20s out there to be sure. warrenton probably drop to 29 degrees, frederick 27. winchester 30 degrees and arlington 33. so for most of us we'll have some clouds trying to come in later tonight which means we won't be quite as cold. our temperature in the district about 35 degrees. tomorrow maybe a little sun in the knowledge, but the clouds will be overtaking that sun and

-- morning, but the clouds will be overtaking that sun and the best chance of spotty showers might be across northern maryland. 52 degrees, definitely still a bargain in the temperature department. at 8 a.m. chilly at 38 degrees, some clouds at noon, 48 and by 5:00 maybe a spotty shower especially north through maryland at 49 and again, that's only a very slight chance. the bulk of this will hold off. here's what's going to be happening. the mild air courtesy of high pressure which will shift off the coast and our approaching frontal system. so we'll have the mild stuff first, mostly clouds on wednesday. then this frontal system comes through on thursday. that's the best chance for showers and the better push of cool air. that will be around for probably the midday hours, maybe not so much in the morning rush hour. we consult the futurecast here. you can see it's forecasting those clouds to come in. 8 a.m. clouds around, notice what i'm showing here. you can see a couple of showers

at 6:00 tomorrow night, mostly across the mason dixon line in pennsylvania. our futurecast is suggesting thursday midmorning we might get some showers and maybe a few moderate showers, one or two that linger later in the day and then we'll watch late friday to see what happens with this moisture down to our south. for the most part it's a pretty set weather pattern. the showers that come through thursday with a temperature of 56 degrees we expect to keep moving. we think that front will start to stall out down to our south and keeps us chilly for the weekend. governor martin o'malley is waiting for lady gaga to return his tweet. gaga has spoken out against bullying, a cause first lady katie o'malley has championed. the governor sent her an invitation to dinner on twitter. so far no response. wire down in the web center with sarah fraser from hot 99.5. everyone has been talking on the glee chat about the christmas episode. what were the highlights of

tonight's she's? >> loads of music. they did pa rye version tonight's show? >> loads of music. they did mariah cary's versions and a lot of big teases keep coming up in january. i'm sure you've been hearing all the dirt, the singer pitbull and ricky martin and gloria stefan are supposed to appear in january under one episode. i'm going to admit this. didn't know who pitbull was until about three weeks ago. >> no. >> i had heard the song. i just didn't know. >> you didn't put two and two together. >> didn't know who pitbull was, period. my sons told me. we'll move on now, i guess. he's going to be on the show. >> he's apparently going to be playing santana's brother, so that would be a huge night and on top of that we're expecting a big glee wedding as well. mo schuster and emma getting engaged and this week we have

to talk quickly about the rumors in real life. >> behind the scenes things going on between some of the cast members. what's the scoop? >> apparently ryan murphy is becoming so difficult to work with. in fact, lea michele and cory monty are doing interviews trying to deny the rumors he's so tough and make them work 18- hour days and insane demanding things. they're saying no, no, it's not true. we'll see how far those rumors go because there's always a strand of truth, something. >> where there's smoke, there's always a little bit of fire. thanks for sticking around and chatting with everybody tonight. >> yeah. it was great. the final four on x-factor and the mercy of the fans this week. the audience picking one of the two songs, we're taking you behind the scenes for the final preparations next. in minutes on the news edge more changes coming to facebook. these could save someone's life, details at 11:00. >> today's five-day forecast is brought to you by your local

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the x-factor is down to the final four contestants and the competition is tough. fox's adam housley caught up with the remaining performers and judges in hollywood. is that it's game time. reporter: it's fans' choice this week and with no room for error x-factor's final four hope viewers pick the perfect song getting them that much closer to the $5 million prize. >> obviously i want to win, but the only way too do that is stay in the moment -- to do that is stay in the moment, stay focused and work hard. >> each of us truly deserves to win, but there can be only one woman because everybody here is talented. >> i can smell it. that's how close i am right now and i'm a fighter. i don't know about anybody else, but i'm fighting for my 5 million. >> if sun real, but it is real.

reporter: -- it is unreal, but it is real. reporter: the judges are also feeling the pressure including simon and nicole who have had some issues lately. >> twice in a row nicole you've got this absolutely wrong. maybe if you spent more time in america than glean, you'd do a better job. >> i -- england, you'd do a better job. >> i think i have to stick up for myself and at the end of the day we are family. >> i've learned a lesson here. we have to trust the public. reporter: for this week's show the final four sing two songs each including one picked by the audience. >> to have the public choose is nerve wracking because they're semifinals. you know what i mean? it's a very important week. so hopefully america gets it right. >> you never know what the public is going to pick for you, man. hopefully because they've grown to know you and understand your