Transcripts For WRC News4 Midday 20130214 : vimarsana.com

WRC News4 Midday February 14, 2013

Good morning. An olympic athlete now accused of killing his girlfriend. Heres pistorius leaving the station early this morning. He was heading to court. His first hearing was scheduled for this afternoon. Its now been postponed until tomorrow to give forensic analysts more time to investigate. Police say pistorius shot 29yearold Reeva Steenkamp at his home in a gated complex early this morning. She was hit four times in the head and arm. Right now theyre interviewing witnesses they say heard things that happened there earlier in the evening. At a press conference this morning they answered questions about previous calls made to that house. Related to the person whos been arrested but i can confirm that there has previously been incidents at the home of mr. Oscar pistorius. The allegations of domestic nature. Now some Media Outlets were reporting that 9 olympian may have shot his girlfriend after mistaking her for an intruder. Already her facebook and twitter pages have scores of tributes. Just yesterday steenkamp tweeted about her excitement for valentines day saying what do you have up your sleeve for your love tomorrow . Then later on, it should be a day of love for everyone. Now the couple have been dating a couple of months. Steenkamp was a Law School Graduate and was considered one of the top models in south africa. Keith . What a sad story. Thanks melissa. Right now, moms of gun for gun control are lobbying congress to pass strict gun control measures. The mother of 15yearold Hadiya Pendleton is on capitol hill right now. That teen was shot a week after she marched with her school at the inauguration. Tony is live on capitol hill now. He spoke with pendletons mom. Maybe he can tell us how shes doing now. Tony . Well, barbara, if you take what she says for face value, shes doing okay. But i can tell you i spent a few minutes with her this morning and she is still in absolute shock and pain, not doing too well. Shes in town. She spent tuesday night with miss obama at the state of the Union Address and then today, as you mentioned, she and some volunteers will be delivering teddy bears here on capitol hill, hoping to sway some of the officials here to change some of the laws pertaining to gun violence. Im just trying to keep them moving and keep her name out there. This cant be for nothing, because she was a special kid. Cleopatra pendleton, the mother of slain 15yearold hadiya cant even show emotion as she talked, still in just absolute shock after the shooting death of her baby girl, a majorette gunned down in a chicago park just weeks after she performed at president obamas inaugust vags celebration. Im very different than i was, obviously, before the incident. Reporter miss pendleton is in washington after accepting an invitation from Michelle Obama to attend the state of the Union Address that took place tuesday night. But it was not their first meeting. Miss obama traveled to chicago to attend hadiyas funeral just a few short days ago. Lets pause now for a moment of silence to remember the children and educators lost in newtown. To remember those lost in aur a aurora. And Virginia Tech and columbine. Reporter and here at the Childrens Defense Fund offices in the district, patty hasler takes a moment of silence to remember all those lost by senseless gun violence. She along with hadiyas mother and 20 volunteers are heading over to capitol hill to deliver teddy bears with a broken heart, urging members to tighten loopholes in gun transactions. Tell me why in the world would anyone not agree that you should get a background check before you buy a firearm . This is one of the many victims of gun violence. Reporter even though cleopatra just buried her daughter, this is a cause she wanted to be a part of. Im happy to help. Thats who i am. Thats who weve always been. And hadiya always loved the kids, you know. So its what i can do to assist. Im honored. And barbara miss pundleton says she plans to hit every office here on the hill and after that she will be headed back to chicago. That is the latest from capitol hill. Well send it back to you. Thank you, tony. Switching gears, area roads are finally drying out on this thursday. This was the colesville road at the beltway in Silver Spring during this mornings commute. It was one of dozens of accidents in maryland because of slick and icy roads. Anne Arundel County Police reported 60 crashes between 6 00 and 8 00 this morning. Traffic in Northern Virginia wasnt much better. This accident brought heavy traffic on the Fairfax County parkway, at rolling road and springfield, virginia. Icy conditions even closed part of the Memorial Bridge during this mornings rush more on the roads in just a minute. First have the temperatures climbed above freezing yet to melt that ice . Tom kierein joins us with the first forecast. Yes, thanks to that sun we just saw there in that live picture of the washington monument, probably about 9 00 we were above freezing, just about the entire region. Since then weve been climbing into the 40s. Right now, weve got temperatures into the mid 40s. Last night we got some snow, we got some rain. That snow, this is what it looked like 12 hours ago. It zipped through and left about a half inch to an inch, mainly on grassy areas. But it made all of the roadways, sidewalks, and steps wet, and they stayed wet until about 4 00 in the morning, then the temperatures dropped below freezing. And as a result we had the iciness, and starting at 4 30 this morning we were warning about that. The patchy ice all around the region. And it stayed that way all the way until about 8 30, 9 00 this morning. Now its into the mid 40s in montgomery county, arlington, air fax, prince georges. Closer to washington right now, upper 30s. Montgomery, prince georges the low 40s. Now low and mid 40s in the district. And arlington and fairfax also the low and mid 40s. And even a bit warmer this afternoon. Well talk about that and big changes on the way for the weekend coming up in just a couple of minutes. Keith . All right. Tom see you in studio in just a few. And lets take a look at the midday traffic now, see if theres still problems on the roads. Danella . Good morning, barbara. Much better. Still seeing some trouble spots but nowhere near what we were facing earlier this morning. I270 southbound, crash at Quince Orchard road. Crash has been moved to the Left Shoulder lane. You may still see delays. Connecticut avenue, northbound at the beltway, construction blocks two of your right lanes. Over to the beltway traveling the inner loop at connecticut avenue, a work zone happening right now. Well take a live look, actually lets head there now. Heres a look at it and you can see just along the right lanes, two of them, in fact, thats where the cones are, stick to the left to get by. Thank you, danella. Redskins fans, if you want to take a little road trip today you may want to head to richmond. You still have time to make it there for the groundbreaking on the teams new training facility. The Washington Redskins Training Center will be built near the Science Museum of virginia. Virginia governor Bob Mcdonnell will be at todays ceremony. The Training Center should be completed in time for Training Camp this summer. Just minutes ago we received new information an an elderly mans death in alexandria. His body was discovered in his home. Megan mcgrath joins pus whap did police just tell you . Well, keith, just a short time ago Police Released the name to me of the 94yearold who was found dead inside this house that you see behind me. Hes been identified as elmer rohrs. Again, 94 years old. Found last night around 7 00 by his stepson inside this home on hole li street. He was suffering from trauma to the upper body. Thats all police will say at this point. They say the autopsy is happening right now so they dont dont have a cause of death so they are just classifying this as a suspicious death. But we are expecting to have more information very soon after that autopsy is completed. Now, residents who live here on this street, they say this is a very nice family that lives in this home. They are stunned by what they heard about last night. All the Police Activity and word that one of their neighbors had died. They say that this family, though, did seem to have an issue with breakins. That there had been a number of breakins here at the home in recent years and that they actually recently put in security equipment at the house. Can you see in the upper corner there, theres a surveillance camera thats pointed down at the front door. There are also flood lights on the side of the house and signs advertising that theres an alarm system here. What do you know about that situation . I just know there were several breakins. Thats it. I dont know what was taken or anything. But just their house . Not any of the others . To my knowledge, no one else has been burglarized. I think its been targeted several times. So, yeah, its its a little strange. And police have a report of a breakin last november and theyre researching other years to track down what neighbors say was a pattern of breakins here. Now this was the scene last night around 7 00 p. M. When the discovery was made. Police called to the scene by the stepson. He entered the home, and found his stepfather bleeding. He was pronounced dead here on the scene. Neighbors say that the family owned a number of rental properties in the area, off of route 1, and that they would often see tenants coming here to the house on holly street to drop off rent checks around the first of the month. As for activity here today, we have seen very little as of yet. But what i was told was that investigators are en route back to the scene. Last night when they were collecting evidence, it was raining, it was dark. They want to come out in the light of day to take a closer look and were expecting to see them here shortly. Megan mcgrath, news 4. Still a lot of questions to be answered. Thanks, megan. Our time right now 10 after 11 00. And coming up, president obamas headed to georgia right now. How he wants to change when children are first introduced to school. Plus, a big airline merger. Was announced just a few hours ago. Well tell you what it will mean to travelers now, and in the future. And were going to introduce you to two military wives in our area caring for their Wounded Warrior husbands. We treated them to valentines [ male announcer 1 ] verizon fios is the Fastest Internet in america. Just ask pc mag. [ male announcer 2 ] cable cant touch fios upload speeds. Its hard to imagine anyone ever beating fios. Theres no doubt fios is the fastest in the country. [ male announcer 1 ] after 110,000 speed tests, nothing came close to fios. Now, get fios internet, tv and phone including a free upgrade to supercharged fios quantum internet speed. All for our best price online just 94. 99 a month for 2 years. Plus, get 250 back with a twoyear agreement. Or get your free upgrade at the same great price with no annual contract. Fios is 100 fiberoptic. Thats why its americas fastest, most consistent, most reliable internet. With no usage caps. Switch to fios for just 94. 99 a month and get a free upgrade to fios quantum. Plus 250 back with a twoyear agreement. Visit verizon. Com superbonus. Theres nothing like fios. And as pc mag says [ male announcer 2 ] if its available, you should get it. Right now, president obama is on his way to georgia to unveil his universal preschool plan. Hell be visiting the College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center in decatur. Its the second trip in two days to push initiatives he introduced during his state of the Union Address. Today we expect him to outline how to make preschool accessible to all kids nationwide. Georgia was the first state to offer voluntary prekindergarten to all 4yearolds, regardless of a familys income. New this morning, former secretary of state Hillary Rodham clinton is being honored at the pentagon at this hour. General Martin Dempsey just presented clinton with the highest award he can present to a civilian. The honor has a long name. Its called the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff joint distinguished civilian service award. Youve moved diplomacy into the 21st century. Youve recognized that there are limits to hard power, and that we need both hard power and soft power. All the while, remembering that its the investment of your personal time that builds relationships. General dempsey added that Hillary Clinton has been a steadfast supporters of the military. More so, he said, than any other secretary of state in his career. Were learning new information about pope benedict, the 16th health. The vatican said he hit his head and bled during his trip to mexico last march. The vatican said that accident had no relevant role with his plans to step down at the end of this month. This morning the pope told cardinals hell be hidden to the world once he steps down february 28th. And storm team four meteorologist tom kierein, joins us now to look at our forecast. Hey, tom. Yeah, what a crazy start to the morning with the iciness we had around for the morning commute. Fortunately it all melted off by about 9 00. Now weve got the bright sun, and got a little bit of snow last night. And thats what students at Riverside Elementary School in alexandria wanted to know all about. Snow, and different types of weather. I visited that school in the mount vernon section of alexandria earlier this week and we are all watching us right now. The second graders, a shoutout to you there at the Riverside Elementary School. It was a lot of fun talking to all of you. And we had a lot of great information about different types of weather. And the teacher there on the back, third one from the left, sherry brick was the one who invited me to this terrific school in alexandria, the Riverside Elementary School. We had a lot of fun. Theyve already had a unit on weather there. Take a look at what happened last night. Look at that. The snow came down pretty hard. This was in bethesda, and it did come down pretty hard in many areas north and west of washington. Enough for a coating that melted on roadways and then accumulated on grassy areas and turned to ice this morning when we got down below freezing. Now its 44 at Reagan National. Winds gusting out of the northwest around 15, 20 miles an hour. And its mostly sunny right now. There was that snow we had last night, between now and then weve had sky clearing out. Weve got lots of sunshine now. A few clouds beginning to move into the mountains right now. But theyre going to stay pretty much to our west. And these are the temperatures now around the region. Were in the 30s, montgomery county, points north and west to near 40, and its in the mid 40s. Arlington, fairfax, the rest of Northern Virginia, including alexandria at the riverside elementary. Right now there about 45 degrees as Prince Georges County write now, in the mid 40s. These are predicted highs for the afternoon. Probably around 50, right around washington, upper 40s farther north and west. And low 50s parts of Northern Virginia. But mostly, most of the region right around 50 degrees during the afternoon. And then, this evening, well have the temperature drop back down to near 40 degrees by midnight, under a partly cloudy sky is the way it looks right now. Lets go forward here over the next couple of days. Just a few clouds this afternoon and then overnight tonight partly cloudy. During the day on friday, by friday evening an area of some snow may move our way similar to what happened last night. Leaving, perhaps, some snow on mainly grassy areas again and many of the same areas may get the same amounts. Maybe a half inch to an inch on late friday night and then on saturday morning a lot of it pretty much gone, but still some snow showers perhaps. A small part of that out of the mountains during saturday afternoon. Next couple of days, big changes. Forecast near 50 this afternoon. Mid 50s tomorrow afternoon before any of that snow comes in late, probably not until mid to late evening. And then ending during the Morning Hours on saturday. Colder for the weekend. Highs just in the 30s, on saturday and sunday. In fact, sunday morning down to just near 20 degrees. Maybe down to near 20 again on monday. Monday afternoon with sunshine ought to make it into the mid 40s. Highs near 50 tuesday, chance of some rain. That is the way it looks. All right. Thank you, tom. And were going to check on the midday traffic again. Danella, whats the latest . Im still checking on that earlier accident. 270 southbound at Quince Orchard road. It is blocking your Left Shoulder lane just a bit sluggish as you make your way toward the accident. Head over to i95 and check out some delays here in maryland. As you travel from 198 to the beltway you are slow, and this is the reason why. Closer to 212, just past powder mill road youre going to see construction blocking two of your right lanes, and so just a bit slow to the beltway. Under speed, just about 41 miles per hour. Will take you 15 minutes to get from 216 to the beltway. Barbara and keith . Thanks, danella. Its 19 minutes after 11 00. Still ahead on news 4 midday on this valentines day, theres one lucky couple that doesnt have to choose between love and money. Whos that . Plus, meet a local

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