gallons on board. once they get everything moved out of the area, they're going to have to mop up, they believe, about 100 gallons of fuel. that's going to take a little while. we're expecting to see tie-ups in the area into rush hour here. the hope is that around 5:00 or so, they may be able to open at least some lanes in the southbound direction that will allow people to go south on route 50 or at least south on route 3 and jump on route 50. that should help out with the rush hour situation. we'll keep an eye on it. still an ongoing situation here. crews on the scene trying to mop it up, clean it up, and get that truck out of here. eun, back to you. >> megan mcgrath, thanks so much for that update. we'll check in in just a bit. >> let's go to danella sealock, checking it out on the roadways. >> good morning. i think the best bet, if you're making your commute is jump on 324 and avoid route 3 all together. if you're traveling on i-270 in maryland, have an accident there

as well at montrose road, traveling 270 northbound. this steaccident is taking up te of your left lanes. if you're traveling on the beltway, beltway is faring much better. not seeing any problems if you're traveling on the beltway in maryland or virginia. virginia avenue, outer loop and inner loop, you're clear in both directions. ten minutes as you make your way from i-95 to i-270. >> danella, thanks. >> tom kierein is here to tell us about our forecast. we had a wet and rainy start so far, tom. >> you know what that means, fender bender weather. we could have more accidents as the morning commute continues. right now at reagan national under a cloudy sky. there's light rain now. 57 degrees there. we've got a southerly breeze, and the radar is showing an area of rain that stretches from alabama into georgia, the carolinas, eastern tennessee, eastern kentucky, and all the

way up through our region and out to new england. they're getting snow in parts of texas, oklahoma, into missouri and illinois this morning. and the close-up view of the radar showing a batch of light rain across northern virginia, east and west virginia, the district, and much of maryland advancing southwest to northeast. that will be with us here for the next few hours. actually may get a bit of a break in another hour or so. right now it is mild ahead of that cold front that's off to our west. it's in the 50s for the mountains all the way to the atlantic beaches. mid and upper 50s in prince george's, arlington, fairfax, and montgomery counties. sunrise at 7:12. throughout the day, occasional showers. should be mild upper 50s to low 60s through the rest of the daylight hours. overnight tonight, mostly mild with rain on the way. could be snow in the forecast. we'll talk about that coming up. don't look at me like that. >> tom kierein, you said it. >> stay tuned. >> thank you, tom. today is sentencing day for

former prince george's county executive jack johnson. johnson pleaded guilty to taking bribes from developers in exchange for favorable treatment. he faces up to 14 years in prison. johnson's life leslie is a former prince george's county council member. she pleaded guilty to destroying evidence in connection with this corruption case and could face up to 18 months in prison in her sentencing this friday. we will be in the courtroom for the sentencings of jack johnson. as soon as it happens, we'll let you know right here on nbc 4 and on our website, nbcwashington.com. breaking news out of afghanistan. police say there's been some sort of explosion at a shiite muslim shrine in the capital city of kabul. at least 15 people have been killed. hundreds of people have gathered there for a festival. not clear whether the explosives were actually planted in the shrine or whether a suicide bomber attacked. >> the family of a missing wssc worker who disappeared in the

triadelphia reservoir is thanking searchers for looking for him. troy duckett was working for the wssc's hunt management department. his boat was found, but crews have seen no signs of duckett. they'll head back out this morning to continue searching for clues. opening statements begin today in the case of a suburban hospital maintenance worker charged with killing his supervisor. according to the "washington examiner," a jury was seated in the case yesterday. prosecutors say that keith little admitted to stabbing his boss, roosevelt brockington jr., to death on new year's day. they say that brockington gave little a poor employee evaluation and told him he would not be getting a raise. and scheduling is set for today for a man who shot a transgender woman. 20-year-old darrell willard pled guilty to assault back in

september. police say the transgender woman was sitting in her car on savannah street when willard shot her. he was initially charged with assault with intent to kill. he later accepted a plea deal that included the lesser charge of assault and a five to ten-year prison sentence. just days after more than 30 occupy d.c. protesters were arrested, the group is planning to erect a tent city in mcpherson square. 31 protesters were arrested sunday for refusing to leave this plywood structure, which was deemed unsafe. the "washington examiner" reports organizers plan to put up three 32-foot long army tents complete with wooden floors and heat. they will serve as a warm space to host group meetings in the winter months. organizers say they are negotiating a permit with the national park service and plan to have the tents up next week. >> it's time to take back the people's house for the people. d.c. delegate eleanor holmes norton rallied another group of protesters on the national mall as they plan to visit congress today.

they call themselves the people's camp, and they're organizing a week of protests to, quote, take back the capi l capital. today demonstrators who include the unemployed, labor unions, and local group our d.c. will protest on "k" street. president obama will once again push congress to extend the payroll tax cut, which is set to expire at the end of this month. yesterday he urged republicans to keep their word to the american people to not raise taxes. the white house says taxes on the average family would increase by $1,000 if the cuts are not extended. meanwhile, senate democrats have put back their proposed extension in the hopes of winning the package. republicans are expected to introduce their own plan. now to decision 2012. in the day ahead, former vice president dan quayle is expected to endorse mitt romney for president. it will happen in paradise,

arizona, where quayle has a home. he served under president george h.w. bush. he's stayed out of the national spotlight in recent years. republican presidential hopeful newt gingrich is rolling out a new ad in iowa. >> some people say the america we know and love is a thing of the past. i don't believe that. because working together, i know we can rebuild america. we can revive our economy and create jobs. >> gingrich is in the lead in iowa in the latest tracking polls. the gingrich campaign is spending more than $200,000 of air time in iowa over 14 days. mitt romney, rick perry, and ron paul are already airing ads in iowa. this morning loudoun county officials will decide whether to ban all christmas displays on the county courthouse lawn after one controversial display was torn down. a mother and son put up this display of a skeleton wearing a santa suit nailed to a cross as one of the nine approved displays this season, but the

skeleton was quickly torn down by a woman who said she saw it as offensive. both the display and its vandalism have stirred strong emotions. >> i think it's extremely, extremely sad there's somebody in this county who would try to basically debase christmas like this. >> the message to me at least is that the meaning of christmas, which is about faith and family, is dead and has been replaced by commercialism. >> i'm torn. i also believe in freedom of speech. >> christmas displays on the courthouse lawn were banned back in 2009. that was overturned by the board of supervisors. displays are now allowed on a first come, first served basis. 4:39 is our time. ahead on "news 4 today," solving a decades old mystery. why the fbi may finally be closing the book on the d.b. [ female announcer ] at verizonfios.com,

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contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. good morning of the. i'm meteorologist tom kierein in stormcenter 4. allow yourself extra time this morning. we've got rain. just scattered showers moving south to northeast this morning.

temperatures are mild. we're in the 50s much of the region from eastern west virginia all the way to the atlantic beaches. now 57 at reagan national. we'll stay in the 50s through the morning hours and then climb into the 60s. mid-60s this afternoon with occasional showers. sunrise at 7:12. sunset at 4:46. by then we'll be near 60 degrees. it will be a mild evening. hovering near 60 with more showers from time to time this evening. it does look like colder air moving in. chance for some snow tomorrow night. we'll talk about that, look at the end of the week and weekend in about ten minutes. danella, how's traffic? >> good morning. overnight accident still has route 3, northbound and southbound, closed between route 50 and route 450. just this morning, if you're making your commute, just take route 3 if you're traveling southbound and get on route 424 here. if you're traveling from route 3 trying to head northbound, again, i would just take 50 and get on 424. that seems to be the best option as you're making your commute. traveling i-270 in maryland,

still seeing there's an accident this time northbound at i-270 at montrose road, and it's blocking your three left lanes, making the commute in virginia on i-95, it looks really good. not seeing any problems in either direction. now back to you both. >> thank you very much, danella. 4:43. 58 degrees. a new twist in the sexual abuse investigation at penn state. why some are accusing jerry [ female announcer ] at verizonfios.com,

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welcome back. one of the men accusing syracuse basketball coach bernie fine of molesting him admits he's guilty of sexual abuse as well.

he admitted to sexually abusing a boy who was 13 and 14 years old. he was at a camp he worked at. he toll the ap he anticipates changing one of his pleas to guilty. someone involved with penn state accuses jerry sandusky of trying to tamper with witnesses. sandusky said he has stayed in touch with some of the alleged victims, including having dinner with them over the summer. sandusky is accused of abusing eight boys over a 15-year period. the preliminary hearing is set for next week. all eight of the victims are expected to testify. head coach joe paterno and some of the board members of sandusky's three mile charity invested in a major real estate deal in 2002, around the same time sandusky was accused of raping a boy in a penn state locker room. this is according to the website the daily. paterno and three second mile

investors just secured financing to build a $100 million luxury retirement community and also reportedly developed a golf resort, a coaching website, and a chain of convenience stores. paterno and the charity have come under fire with some people questioning when each knew about the abuse case. today a two-day sentencing hearing begins for former illinois governor rod blagojevich. in june he was convicted on 18 counts of corruption, including trying to sell president obama's senate seat. he could face more than ten years in jail. that would be the stiffest sentence for corruption in that state's history. the judge says he will announce the sentence tomorrow. ratings agency standard & poor's is warning it may have to carry out an unprecedented mass downgrade of euro zone countries if leaders can't come to an agreement on how to resolve the european debt crisis later this week. they placed the leaders of 15 euro zone countries on credit watch negative, including those

of germany and france. the warning prompted germany and france to say they would take all necessary measures to ensure the stability of the european economy. that news sent stocks around the world down, including the asian stock markets. right now european futures are down, and u.s. futures are up. a d.c. council committee has passed a sweeping ethics reform bill just days after councilman harry thomas jr.'s home was raided by the fbi and irs. the ethics bill is pieced together from more than a dozen proposals, and council chair kwame brown says it will pass the full council by the end of the year. after the vote, council members met to discuss thomas' situation. some members say they want him to step down while others want the investigation to play out. >> certainly, if these allegations are proved true, it's an outrageous breach of the public's trust. >> thomas is under investigation for allegedly using $300,000 in city money to fund personal trips and expenses.

he has denied any wrongdoing but agreed to repay the money. the head of the federal aviation administration has been placed on leave after a weekend drunk driving arrest in fairfax. police pulled over 65-year-old jerome "randy" babbitt saturday night on old lee highway in fairfax. officers spotted him driving the wrong way in the wrong lane. attorneys and faa officials are now under discussions about his employment status. today prince william county supervisors will get a staff report on the storm damage at holly acres mobile home park in woodbridge. the county is trying to figure out what to do with the property that sat in a federally defined flood way following the massive flooding in september that badly damaged 65 trailers. they demollished the property and tried to keep owners from rebuilding, but a zoning board reversed the decision. just last week, that decision was successfully appealed. winds are in the forecast today for southern california, and they should allow power

crews to get to work. thousands near santa barbara have not had electricity since the storm blew through last week. near hurricane force winds knocked down trees and power lines. overnight gusts were expected to reach some 45 miles an hour. a wind advisory remains in effect through this afternoon. wow, they've had winds there for quite a while. high winds. >> since last week. and that same cold air mass that created winds in california is over the central rockies. right now in yellowstone park it's 21 below zero. in san antonio, texas, it's only 35 degrees. while here we're in the 50s to around 60 degrees. there's a front between here and there, and that front is what's giving us some rain now. let's take a look at the radar and show you what's going on. right now at reagan national, it is cloudy. there is some light rain there. it's 57 degrees. the radar is showing a general

flow coming from the southwest to the northeast. we see that white, that's snow in parts of illinois and missouri and oklahoma and southeastern kansas. and that area of snow is associated with that very cold air that's in the midwest now. yes, it's going to be creeping closer to us. meanwhile, between now and then, we'll have passing showers. right now getting light rain in washington and howard and frederick and around baltimore. to the west, getting light showers in fairfax, loudoun, and the northern shenandoah valley, panhandle of west virginia, morgan and berkeley counties, jefferson counties there. temperatures are generally in the 50s from the mountains to atlantic beaches. right now in the mid and upper 50s, prince george's, fairfax, and montgomery counties. for today, we'll have our sunrise at 7:12. we'll have occasional showers throughout the day. allow yourself a little extra time this morning. the roads are all wet. it's fender bender weather. we're going to have that with us all day long. temperatures climbing into the low and mid-60s this afternoon.

a mild evening with more showers. sunset at 4:46. we'll be into the upper 50s by midnight. by dawn tomorrow, the mid-50s. that may be the warmest part of the day tomorrow. we'll have occasional showers in the daylight hours on wednesday. then after sunset wednesday evening, when some of that cold air in the midwest moves in, there may be enough moisture left to change over to a period of wet snow that may accumulate. it does appear just on grassy areas. the road temperatures are just too warm for it really to get much accumulation. we could get an inch or two on grassy areas of wet snow wednesday night into predawn thursday. then sunny and cold after that. thursday into the weekend then cold. morning lows below freezing. now, danella, how's traffic? >> good morning. traveling northbound and southbound on route 3, still seeing trouble. route 3 is shut between route 450 and route 50. if you're making your commute, be aware of that traveling southbound on three. it's best to get on to 424 here.

traveling on route 3, i would jump on 50, again connect to 424, and just continue my commute if that's the way i'm going. crews are hoping to have the road reopened by the morning rush hour. we will be watching this for you all morning long until it is reopening. if you're traveling on i-270 in maryland, good news. that accident is clear northbound. it was taking up three of your left lanes at montrose road. here's the view. you can see traffic is flowing quite nicely on i-270. not seeing any issues for you there. if you're taking the beltway in virginia, i'm not seeing any problems on the inner or outer loop. now back to you. >> good news. thanks very much, danella. problems are mounting on and off the field for pro football player ndamukong suh. the detroit lions defensive tackle crashed his car into a tree early saturday morning and first told police he was trying to avoid a taxi. now two women have come forward with injuries, and they say there was no taxicab and that suh was just trying to show off. the crash happened in suh's hometown of portland, oregon. he is suspended for two games

for an incident on the field. suh stomped the arm of green bay's evan dietrich smith when the lions played the packers on thanksgiving day. tonight the nba will release the full schedule for their nba season. the announcement will be made at 7:00 on nba-tv. we now know that five games are scheduled for the tip-off on christmas day. they include boston celtics at new york knicks, miami heat against defending champion dallas mavericks, and orlando magic at oklahoma city thunder. nba will play 66 games this season. the washington capitals are starting to produce, but the team can't buy a win on the road. they fell 50 5-4 to the division leading panthers last night for their fifth straight loss away from the verizon center. caps were down three goals at one point and tried to make a comeback but fell one goal short. they'll try to get back to their winning ways in ottawa tomorrow. 4:55. coming up, i'll take a latte, bud.

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any crust, any toppings -- only ten bucks when you carryout. and only at your pizza hut. the same woman who claimed

to be a relative of the infamous hijacker d.b. cooper said the fbi is close to solving the case. in august marla cooper came forward and said she believed her uncle was behind one of the country's biggest mysteries. marla cooper said the fbi now told her the investigation is winding down. the fbi did recently admit it is conducting forensic tests, including partial fingerprints that could be linked to the case. cooper's story became part of crime lore after he hijacked a plane, demanded ransom money, and jumped from the airliner over oregon. cooper's body has never been found, but several people have claimed to be relatives of the criminal. there's still at least three weeks until christmas, but you might be surprised how many people say they are already done with their holiday shopping. according to a new survey by america's research group, more than one-third of u.s. shoppers bought all their gifts in november. those that did not finish said they are now taking a break from shopping. that's because the shoppers sent more money than they planned to on black fridays.

credit card gets a rest. >> starbucks will sell beer along with a cup of java. the coffee chain will now test out alcohol sales in some of its chicago stores. if everything goes all right, starbucks says it could sell beer and wine across the country. right now only stores in the pacific northwest sell alcohol with the coffee. >> so you going to buy a beer with your half caf? >> i don't know. i don't want to go into starbucks having it smelling like a beer joint, like a nightclub in the morning. >> in the morning, right. >> a nightclub in the morning, not a good smell. >> stay with us. "news 4 today" continues right now at 5:00 a.m. a developing story on the roads this morning as crews are still scrambling to clean up a massive