Up to 1 of snow possible by later this afternoon, mainly on elevated surfaces. Were dealing with some light snow here in the tristate. But the same storm is pounding the midwest further north. Indiana. Where dozens of drivers got stuck on frozen highways. The ohio turnpike is closed right now to big trucks and trailers between toledo and the indiana state line. Because of snow and high winds. There are also long flight delays out of several midwest airports. Including ohare in chicago. Well continue to follow this developing story and bring you updates throughout good morning tristate. Were getting our first look at the man. Accused of gunning down a middletown mother with her child in the back seat. This is video of brandon carr. Following his arrest yesterday in dayton. Hes charged with killing brittany russell. Nine on your sides Evan Millward has reaction from russells family. Evan 0244 wow. So you actually have talked to him. Chris edwards oh yeah. Evan no indication it was him . Chris not at the time. Amid dozens of calls on the morning of february tenth Chris Edwards made one to a man who may have six month old daughter. Edwards 0222 he was like what do you want . I got a missed call from this number. i said wheres brittany at . Wheres my kid . I said i know you know that shes up there because she came to talk to your brother. I said, wheres my kid at . And hes like ah i dont even know brittany, leave my name out of your mouth. and he hung up. Detective is standing right there next to me. The guy who hung up was this man brandon carr. Arrested at his dayton home wednesday. Edwards 0356 sigh im just glad they got him off the streets, he cant hurt anybody else now. They arrested carr at his dayton, ohio home wednesday. Edwards 0127 im happy they. Caught the guy but in the same sense it aint going to stop what happened, it aint going to bring her back. My kids not going to have her mom. That baby whose infectious smile shined through a dark day is doing just fine edwards 0421 i was worried the shot might have busted her ear drums so i took her up there had them check her ears, check her eyes, check her respiratory, notch. Edwards vowing to be at every court hearing. Edwards 0323 i hope you rot in hell, thats all i can say. The white house is now paying attention to a 9 on your side and Scripps Washington Bureau joint investigation into problems at the cincinnati va. Va. The president s press secretary announced the white house is aware of the allegations raised in our reports. Dozens of whistleblowers told us about how they say Hospital Leaders intentionally cut key services for veterans. Dirty surgical instruments left in circulation. And alleged ethical misconduct by senior expressed faith in va secretary bob mcdonald to make sure cincinnati area veterans are treated in the manner they deserve. Certainly, secretary mcdonald takes that seriously. I can assure you that the commanderinchief takes that seriously. And were going to continue to watch these situations, moving forward forwardfor more on our ongoing investigation. Log on to wcpo. Com, where you can find all of our exclusive reports. This morning. Its being called a big win with national implications. And its also one of the biggest wins in cincinnati history. History. Xavier took down the number one College Basketball team in the nation. Nation. The musketeers jumped out in front of villanova in the first half. Leading by three at the break. They opened it up in the second half with a series of drives and jams and wellplaced passes. Six muskies ended the night in double figures. As xavier the Cintas Center was standing room only. With thousands of students and fans packed inside to watch the highintensity game. Fans were celebrating before the final buzzer went off. Leaving the game. We heard several of them muttering the words final four. Whether you like coneys. Three ways. Five way or just by itself. Today is a day dedicated to your favorite treat. Treat. It is National Chili day. And cincinnatis biggest chains are both celebrating. Gold star chilis ceo will serve lunch today at the city gospel mission. Theyll also make a donation to the mission. Meanwhile. Skyline is visiting tristate hospitals with a special bib for newborns. And a complementar y dinner for mom. And coming up on good morning tristate. Well be on the chili trail witn 9 on your sides jordan scattered snow showers for our thursday forecast with very gusty winds from the northwest. Roads should be mainly wet today as much of our snow that falls will melt. Up to 1 of snow possible by later this afternoon, mainly on elevated surfaces. Surprising pick. Theres a front runner for the Vacant Supreme Court seat. Why its a candidate the president and republicans may actually agree on. Reaching across the aisle. The surprise for a group of airline passengers. And the catch standing in the way of a were learning that president obama may have a nominee in mind to fill antonin scalias empty spot on the supreme court. And its a republican. Republican. Sources say Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval is one of the president s top choices. Its seen as a compromise. To get Senate Republicans to vote on his pick. Sandoval is a former federal judge who supports abortion rights. The fight inside the Republican Party continues to heat up. After former president ial candidate mitt romneys tough words for donald trump. Romney says theres a quote bombshell in trumpss unreleased tax returns. Suggesting he has something to hide. This morning. Trump said romneys own tax returns quote made him look like a fool in 2012. And hes now quote playing tough guy. Were getting our look this morning at an election season social experiment. And the message to voters from jetblue the airline surprised travelers on this plane with a free round trip ticket to anywhere they wanted to go. The catch. The entire plane had to agree on a single place. It came down to two destinations. Costa rica or turks and caicos. After an hour and a half of arguing. Pleading and reaching across the aisle. All 150 people settled on their destination. Costa rica. Scattered snow showers for our thursday forecast with very gusty winds from the northwest. Roads should be mainly wet today as much of our snow that falls will melt. Up to 1 of snow possible by later this afternoon, mainly on elevated surfaces. Attacked inside his own home. A tristate man. Telling nine alive. The weapon they used to attack him. And the surprising item they were after. Caught by surprise. Its just another day inside this mini mart. What happened in the next few seconds that landed a gmts animyoure watching good morning tristate at 4 30 on 9 on your side we just checked. And four people accused of robbing and tying up a middletown man with his own oxygen tank cord are still behind bars this morning. Morning. 65yearold David Caldwell says one of the suspects hit him in the head with a fake gun while three others took his television. Prescription drugs and a pepsi. He says he knows one of the suspects. 45 year old kimberly moland. She would come to his home often with one of his friends. 01 27 she takes my tube and starts to yank it all the way through there. I am strangling. Alright, i cant breathe. 33 33the defendants are facing robbery, burglary and been set at 150thousand dollars each. Happening today. A tristate man will answer to felony charges after prosecutors say he had sex with a nineyear old girl. Girl. Cincinnati Police Officers filed rape charges yesterday against this man. 26year old rolando brooks. They say brooks attacked the victim in august of 2015. At an apartment in mt. Airy. Its still not known how he knew the victim. In just a few hours. This woman will appear before a local judge. Brandi ross is charged with trying to bring a gun into the hamilton courty courthouse. Hidden in her bra. A metal detector went off. And ross was arrested by nearby deputies. Youll want to check out this next story. A kentucky man is recovering this morning. After he says an ecigarette exploded in his pocket. And the entire thing was caught on camera. Camera. This is the Surveillance Video from the shell gas station in owensboro. Watch the man on your right. You can see his pants suddenly explode in flames. Startling a nearby worker. I was shocked i was like in your pocket . I was like that you carry your bomb in your pocket . I was totally shocked and just like this my hands were on my head. Head. Employees and customers yanked the mans burning pants off. And then doused him with a fire extinguisher. He suffered seconddegree burns on his leg. But hes still able to walk. Giveaway on 9 on your side. Watch good morning tristate from 6 t0 7a for your chance to win a 100dollar prepaid watch for the weather word of the day and enter it at wcpo dot com slash win. Now lets check in with with your nine first warning weather. Weather. Light snow showers continue to fall this morning but very little of this is sticking as it falls. Our roadways are mainly wet. The bigger story this morning will be the colder air and gusty winds. Temperatures start near the freezing mark and well see winds from the northwest at 15 to 25, gusting to 40 mph. You are going to notice that push on your vehicle today spotty snow showers continue for most of our thursday forecast with a slightly better chance this afternoon as an upper level feature swings through the ohio valley. It will still be difficult for this to stick because air temperatures are in the mid30s and pavement temperatures are still warm. Id mainly look for any light snow on elevated surfaces. However, visibility could be reduced at times because of the gusty winds and scattered snow showers that will last all day. Winds will gust to 40mph. Highs will be in the mid to lower 30s. Fridays highs only hit the mid30s with mostly cloudy skies and the potential for flurries during the day. Temperatures rise quickly this weekend to the upper 40s on saturday and days will be dry and on the breezy side. Rain chances return late sunday night into monday morning as a cold front moves through the ohio valley. Morning rushsnow showerswet pavement and very windylow 32 thursdaylight, wet snow showers very windyhigh 36thursday nightsnow chances endmostly cloudylow 26fridaymostly cloudyflurries possiblehigh 35 traffic happy cities. And its not in the tristate. The sunny destinations where you can find americas happiest people. Its worth more than gold. The banquet in store for the oscars winners and losers. And the celebrity chef putting scattered snow showers for our thursday forecast with very gusty winds from the northwest. Roads should be mainly wet today as much of our snow that falls will melt. Up to 1 of snow possible by later this afternoon, mainly on elevated surfaces. Your personal wellbeing might have something to do with where you live. Live. Its list of the happiest and healthiest cities in the u s. And two places in florida are near the top. Healthways says naples, florida has the highest wellbeing in the country. Salinas, california ranks second on the list. And floridas sarasota metro area ranked number three. Fort collins, colorado and barnstable town, massachusetts round out the top five. The report measured wellbeing on several factors. Including whether people liked where they lived and where they worked. And whether they felt financially secure. As we know. It can be hard for little kids to sit still. But now. Researchers in the netherlands are finding ways to use that energy. To help them learn. They spiced up their lesson plans with exercise. Teachers say kids in tested better in math and spelling than kids in regular classes. But reading scores were not affected. The Academy Awards are just a few days away. And were learning this morning whats on the menu for celebrities after the big show. Show. 2016 is chef wolfgang pucks 22nd year crafting the food for the postoscars governors ball. This year, the menu is focused on small plates. The team of chefs will create 12thousand dishes in one and a half hours. Celebs will have 30 options to choose from. Including sushi, smoked salmon oscars, kobe beef, and alaskan king crab. And dont forget to mark your calandars. The oscars are sunday night. Right here on 9 on your side. Coverage starts at seven. And well have a look at all of the winners and big moments that following monday. On good morning forget about the bourbon trail. Cincinnati. Rolling out its own way to celebrate a special menu choice. The places youll need to visit this National Chili day. Doing a body good. Its the best way to start your day. But not for some. Why millennials are going without their daily breakfast. Introducing longhorn s big, bold, steaks. Our new center cut 10 ounce filet. Our perfectly seasoned 16 ounce tbone. And our fire grilled 18 ounce outlaw ribeye. Big, bold, steaks. Only at longhorn steakhouse. You can t fake steak. For lunch, try our steakhouse burger a live look outside right now. This is what you will be driving in this morning. Were on your side with the latest forecast and traffic conditions. 9 29they knew they could come out and get it done and they did they really did xavier fans erupt after the team rocks the hardwood last night good morning. The switch between and rain and snow started here a few hours ago. Ago. And its already causing some slick spots on the roads