i'm peggy fox. i'll have your story. >> taking more than a mugshot from criminals, the push to collect more dna in virginia and how one sheriff says it could have saved hannah graham's life, you know... there's a more enjoyable way to get your fiber. try phillips fiber good gummies. they're delicious... and an excellent source of fiber to help support regularity. mmmm. these are good! the tasty side of fiber. from phillips. >>> a followup tonight on small tolls that turned into big fines. one springfield business owner is facing thousands of dollars in fines. >> as peggy fox tells us, the state is saying pay up or else we'll get ahold of your company's bank account. >> these are a stack of toll violations. >> reporter: dan rossi is part owner of maj construction in springfield which faces $47,000 for fines and fees for what started as a 43-cent toll violation on the express lane. >> my assistant made a mistake. he checked a box that said we would replenish it as necessary. >> reporter: rossi thought

peggy fox has been on top of this developing story. she tells us what went down today. >> reporter: richard torres is operations director in falls church. he says they had no idea some of their customers they'd loaned cars to had driven on the express lanes in april of 2013 until a year and a half later. >> they let it go for a long time. >> reporter: transurban which operates the express lanes insists drivers are notified after the first violation. >> you knew nothing about these hot express lane violations until you received the summons? >> that's correct. >> never one notification? >> never one notification. >> reporter: attorney burnhart says it points to responsibility at trans urban. >> does anybody think a respected business would ignore a letter collecting a few dollars and wouldn't pay it? >> reporter: in fairfax county district court today there were about a dozen people settling hot lanes violations. i spoke with one of them. he says he has an easy pass and couldn't understand how he racked up a violation. he says he was not

i'm peggy fox, the story coming up. >>> a slippery night could get even worse by morning. good evening. >> i'm lesli foster. those temperatures are hovering right around the freezing mark and black ice is is a threat for the early morning commute. >> first alert chief meteorologist topper shutt is here to tell us if you'll need extra time in the morning. >> probably a good idea. in fact we with extend our yellow alert until 9:00 a.m. tomorrow because we're adding fog to the forecast. temperature is 3 t 25 in gaithersburg, 34 in leesburg and 36 in manassas, still 36 in d.c. but as we mentioned earlier you don't have to see the temperatures exactly 32 for ice to form. what is black ice is? it looks wet but it's actually frozen. that's black ice. slowdown and also be careful walking. your driveways will freeze first so be careful walking to get the paper or walking the kids to the bus stop tomorrow. let's talk about visibility down to one mile at dulleis s, half mile in leesburg and mile and a quarter up toward gaithersburg so we have fog and black ice. if you drive early tom

. >> the mandate comes from the national leadership organization and as peggy fox tells us, many sorority women are fighting back. >> reporter: some students here think this ruling is punishing the entire greek system here for something that never happened. that rolling stone article that depicted a gang rape at that fraternity house, a story that has since been debunked. >> i don't know if that's really the necessary measure. >> reporter: this weekend is a big one for uva fraternity. on bid night requests go out to selected students for membership and celebrations follow, but sororities have been ordered not to go. >> i think they should be able to party together. i don't think them being together is the problem. i think the manner in how it's approached, the entire culture is the issue. >> reporter: the order has come from the sorority's leadership organization, the national council. >> i think they're more concerned with the safety of the girls and their sorority and they don't really want them to go out and do anything bad this weekend. >> reporter: an angry student started a petition

peggy fox was in court today and talked with the family today. >> reporter: gregory holly's family accepted the plea deal allowing eric smith to avoid the death penalty. still it was painful to see and hear the man who murdered their father. >> he won't be out hurting anybody else. >> reporter: the holly family including four grown sons and their mom wiped away tears during the sentencing of their husband and father's killer today. >> that's all we can ask from the system and i think my father would be okay with the sentence. >> reporter: gregory holly was a retired army officer and former atf explosives agent. he had stepped out to walk the dog february 20th last year when he was gunned down. eric smith, a neighbor who did not know holly, robbed him and shot him dead. >> if he hadn't been out there, somebody else, it would have been somebody else and that's how i think of my father. he was always putting himself out there for others. >> reporter: in a guilty plea smith received two life sentences today. >> we feel justice was served. are we happy with it? nothing is going to bring our dad

i'm peggy fox reporting live. >> hang onto your pat, peggy. remember, you can get the latest weather conditions and closings and headlines by down loading the wusa9 news app. it's free. >>> today a judge sentenced 30- year-old liam adepo to two years in prison for a hit and run killing a university of maryland student. prosecutors dropped other charges in exchange for the guilty plea. police say i struck and killed 22-year-old cory hubbard as he crossed route 1 in college park last january. adepo will have to serve three years probation after he's released from prison. >>> it appears it will be up to an arbitrator to decide how rabbi gary freundel and the synagogue will part ways. he was terminated in november when he was accused of secretly videotaping women in a ritual jewish bath. he was supposed to be out by january 1st. however, his attorney says he needs more time. >>> $50 million, that is how much the suns of carol glover, the woman who died after this metro smoke incident almost three weeks ago are suing metro for. debra alfarone has t

. >> peggy fox joins us from chantilly where a muslim community is speaking out over what islam is all about. >> reporter: this is a community that goes back to the basic first teachings of islam which have to do with peace. there are 1.5 billion muslims around the world and the imam here said if they really believed in violence, there would be a lot more of it. in muslim communities right now there's a feeling of being misunderstood. >> the true meaning of islam is peace. >> reporter: they feel wrongly associated with the attack on the satirical newspaper charlie hebdo by terrorists who claim to be avenging the prophet muhammad. >> which prophet would say go do this to protect my identity? no prophet would do that. >> when ignorant muslims responded to the ignorance of these cartoonists -- >> reporter: the imam at the mosque invited us to hear his sermon today. >> no matter offensive something was that someone did, the holy book teaches us that human life is precious and sacred in every situation. >> reporter: a controversy at duke university is shedding light on the strong negative p

peggy fox joins us now. peg? >> reporter: well you know, fairfax county police released the name of the shooter this week, but family and friends say it is not enough. and they wonder why no medical attention was given to an unarmed man shot by police. >> there is a lot of things in this report that to me seem to be put there to sway public opinion. >> reporter: jeff stuart saw his friend john gear shot by fairfax county police officer adam torres. stuart was standing next to john's father after police were called to the home because of a domestic dispute. >> he is the only one who knows why the trigger the pulled. >> reporter: fairfax county police finally released torres' name and some other details about the shaling but gear and stuart disagree with it. >> they are going to have to clarify. the entire time i was there, there was no firearm displayed. >> reporter: stuart does not believe john threatened police nor did he see any negotiator. just several officers with their guns drawn. >> when he was at the fron

peggy fox tells us the decisions are made at about 4 a.m. >> terrible. they should have opened today. >> reporter: thousands of school buses sat parked today on dry pavement, just a dusting of snow fell, not even enough for although idle plow trucks to touch. >> devastating. the weather is devastating as you can see. i've got my hood up. >> reporter: some fairfax kids were happy deciding that they were owed one from last tuesday when schools stayed open despite a storm that cause dangerous slick road conditions. fcps caught the wrath of parents and students when they stayed up in that snowstorm last week and then later schools closed because 75 buses wouldn't start in that frigid day. today's decision was all about the forecast. >> the conditions were predicted pretty much the same. in fact, today was supposed to be worse than last week. >> reporter: goeff plattenburg is the guy who makes the call for fairfax county schools. >> it was slick when it started coming down, sticking immediately. some of the overpasses and bridges were slippery immediately. ou

last september a jury found him guilty of 11 counts of corruption and peggy fox covered the six week trial and today spoke with a juror about what she thinks should happen next. >> reporter: the federal probation office has recommended bob mcdonnell serve no less than 10 years in prison, but hundreds of supporters have written letters requesting leniency for bob mcdonnell and his attorneys are requesting 6,000 hours of community service instead of jail time. 1 juror says that would be a travesty of justice. >> the people can do -- good people can do bad thing. >> reporter: robin trujillo was on the jury that convicted former virginia governor bob mcdonnell and his wife of corruption. >> we talked and we went through reams of documents and talked about the testimony and looked at all the evidence. it was just overwhelming, but also it stared us in the face. >> reporter: she's disturbed by the many letters written to judge spencer asking for a lenient sentence and community service instead of jail time for mcdonnell. you've been in touch with the jurors. is the consensus that he needs

i'm peggy fox. a live report is coming up. >> police shoot an innocent bystander inside a southeast barbershop. i'm surae chinn with that story coming up. >> but first, snow is no longer the problem. it's the dangerously low windchills that will persist until tomorrow morning. thanks for joining us. i'm lesli foster. >> and i'm derek mcginty and it is all because of the freezing temps. we are hearing about school changes for tomorrow. prince george's county of maryland opening two hours late. in virginia, fairfax, prince williams, warren, page county, all are opening two hours late. our updated list is at the bottom of your screen and on the wusa9 app. the question of the night, how strong will those winds get and how low will the windchills go? topper shutt is back just in time to tell us the story. >> i think winds will be over 30 miles an hour at wind night. that will drive windchills to 15 below. these are straight temperatures. 21 downtown. in the teens in the suburbs. down to 14 in hagerstown.

for now i'm peggy fox reporting live in richmond. back to you. >> word of the mcdonnell sentence hit social media instantly, of course. folks are commenting both there and to our stephanie ramirez who was out in arlington today talking with folks about the outcome. >> reporter: i'm stephanie ramirez at the virginia square george mason university metro stop where there are a lot of folks coming through here and also a lot of opinions on former governor bob mcdonnell's sentencing today. >> i'm not trying to throw anybody in jail, but two years, it seems like what he did was pretty wrong. it sounds like maybe there's a political favor somewhere. >> he should be punished, but i think two years is fair. >> i think three years would have been better i think. >> wasn't really upsetting because politician. >> reporter: it's a shame, though. >> that's the way it is. he's a politician. that's what we expect. we've become expecting that from our politicians. >> i hope it will prompt them to get some ethic rules in the assembly. >> right now we'

our peggy fox was in the courtroom and she's followed this case from the start. what did mcdonnell say about his punishment? >> reporter: well, he thanked judge james spencer for his mercy with his sentence, but the former governor maintains his innocence. he said he made mistakes but never committed any crimes and he's hoping his convictions will be overturned on appeal. >> i'm a fallen human being. i've made mistakes in my life. >> reporter: after receiving a two year sentence, much lower than it could have been, bob mcdonnell thanked judge james spencer for his mercy but said he disagreed with the verdict. >> deeply sorry, but i would also say to the great people of virginia that i have never ever betrayed my sacred oath of office. >> reporter: the prosecution argued for a sentence of 6 1/2 years. >> when someone receives payments, when someone receives gifts in exchange for public actions, those are bribes and it will be pursued. >> reporter: judge spencer said he took into account mcdonnell's military service and the sentiments from the hundreds of supporter

and if it is our students, more power to them, that's all good. >> reporter: peggy fox wusa9. >>> well, it's back to class tomorrow as we said earlier in fairfax county schools that they are wanting a two-hour delay. >>> there are some new information tonight about the man charged with abducting hannah graham who might face murder charges in the near future. which is straight from the public defender representing jesse matthews and his fairfax sex assault case. they said that there will be much more serious charges coming in. and with the bodies of graham and morgan herrington were found. where the judge ruled against allowing cameras inside that courtroom for the trial on their alleged 2005 sex assault, which is scheduled for march. >> there is a lot of speculation as to how they would impact cameras with the evidences, but not much if any. and that in fact there's a lot of the people that think that cameras would fool everybody's behavior. and i think that is what 30 years of their experience has shown. >> reporter: our debra alfarone called the commonwealth attorney and they said it

in richmond, peggy fox, wusa9. >> that sentencing hearing begins tomorrow 10 a.m. the defense will put on character witnesses and is expected to take a few hour. mcdonnell's wife maureen will be sentenced separately next month. >>> some negative reaction over the latest revelations in a 16- month-old police involved shooting. for the first time fairfax county police are releasing the name of the officer who pulled the trigger in the john geer shooting. hank silverberg joins us live from the fairfax county courthouse with some reaction from today's news. >> reporter: we are talking about john geer who was shot by police in 2013 during a standoff. in that statement released today some new information that he was apparently shot when he briefly lowered his arms during negotiations with police. we now know the name of the officer who shot him. >> it changes nothing. we're at the point we should have been 17 months ago. >> reporter: that's mike curtis from the watchdog group called justice for john geer. he says the one page statement from fairfax county police chief ro

i'm peggy fox reporting live in richmond. back to you. >> thank you, peggy. bob bk donnell is the first -- mcdonnell is the first former virginia governor to be convicted. a legal analyst will be in studio and break down the >>> yellow alert day with good reason this morning. boy, we had a lot to talk about as far as commute is concerned, school times. >> the storm overperformed. that's one way we put it when we get more snow we expected. we expected snow. we expected it to start before dawn and end by noon. that's what happened and we expected a nasty commute. but yes, we got more snow than we anticipated. got news is it looks like the vast majority of the accumulating snows are over. allyson rae has been with me all morning. we've been tracking the storm. here she is with the very latest. >> now we're tracking where the snow s what's leftover. most of the accumulating snow is over. what we'll be left over with are a couple more flurries, emily the district, farther south and off -- especially the district, farther south and off to the north, 270, we'll cont

our peggy fox talks to the family on wednesday. their daughter jennifer has a form of epilepsy that is not controlled by medicine. they and other family members say that the only thing that works is canworks can bus -- cannabis oil. >> i look for the rights to follow her chest. that's how we do. >> reporter: moments before lisa smith's comments, her 14- year-old daughter had a seizure right there in the hearing room in front of the legislatures. lisa smith told lawmakers that it is what they would deal with every day. >> she had over 1,000 seizures last year alone. >> reporter: the families came with their children, pleading for help as they want the access to medical marijuana in the form of cannabis oil because the legal drugs, they don't work. >> her bills are half a million dollars that this is what half a million dollars of the bills look like from 2014. >> reporter: and after the pharmaceuticals gave jennifer collins hallucination and psychotic fits. with the doctors urging, jennifer and her mom moved to colorado for the cann

i'm peggy fox. at 6:00 i'll tell you what one former federal prosecutor thinks. >> reporter: all charges dropped in the domestic violence case against former redskin fred smoot, what he wants to do next and reaction from his ex-girl friend. >>> folks, get ready to see some flakes fly through the dmv for your morning commute. thanks for joining us. i'm jan jeffcoat. >> i'm derek mcginty. the wusa9 first alert weather team is calling tomorrow a yellow alert day and erica grow with more on when and where it's expected to hit. >> the when is the main problem. the snow will fall during that morning commute. in fact, it's going to start further west of us before sunrise. this system will head toward us west to east. you can see the winter weather advisory is in effect for the entire immediate metro area and all points north and northwest of that going into effect at 4 a.m. and be with us until 1 p.m. tomorrow. the snow arriving before dawn even in the peltway it will get here before sunrise. most of the s

i'm peggy fox. the story is coming up. >>> and later a sizzling look at how mcdonald's makes those famous yummy >>> we are concerned about the roads. we're not talking about a flash freeze, but some slick spots as you hear it all the time to walk in to get the paper, to welcome the kids to the bus stop as your driveway would freeze first. let's start with the picture, these pictures are fantastic, are they not? they sent this in from southern maryland. and that you have a little bit of snow today. enough to cover the ground if you will and again go to our website and check this out. we're looking at a live temperature change. temperatures are 36. dew point is 30. and that is actually important because i think it will allow the temps to go around freezing downtown and a little bit below freezing in the suburbs. the snowfall totals about three and a half. in virginia about almost three inches. a new market three inches. we'll see virginia in about two inches and german town about three and a half inch

peggy fox, in richmond for wusa9 news now. >>> we are just getting started on wusa9 news now at 5:00. can president obama find common ground with g.o.p. law enforcement on urgent issues. we have that story at 5:30. plus -- >> plus, snow is in the forecast tomorrow. who will get hit the hardest and when, coming up in copper's full forecast. >>> but next, a house on fire and a webuyanycar.com has helped thousands of people let go of all the hassle that comes with selling or trading in. we make selling your car truck or suv fast, safe and fair with three simple steps: one -- get your free online valuation. two -- drive to your local car-buying center. three -- walk out with a check in as little as thirty minutes. buying cars is all we do. all makes and models and no dealership pressure we'll even settle your loan or lease. so, don't wait. get your free online valuation now at webuyanycar.com. alfarone,. >>> love, courage, sacrifice and tear, all part of this next story. a 1-year-old girl escaped from -- a 12-year-old girl escaped from her family home but the little girl ran back into the

peggy fox has been looking into the new devices which police departments are using them. >> we did know that the united states marshal's service has spent $180,000 on these devices known as ranger r. they look like fancy stud finders. the motion detector radars were first designed for the military to use in afghanistan and iraq. tanks, machine guns, hi-tech robots, the military style tools are now part of many police departments, but another tool that's not on display is causing concern. >> it's one thing to use over the skies of yemen, but that doesn't mean it should be used in downtown roanoke. >> reporter: the aclu's technology expert is alarmed by these new radar devices that can detect motion behind walls. radio waves can pinpoint movements as slight as a person breathing from a distance more than 50 feet away. >> there are sensitive places where the police have no way of going, at least without a warrant. >> reporter: according to usa today at least 50 police departments around the country are now equipped with them. >> cell phone tracking technology, drones and now this radar equ

peggy fox is in boston where people are all bundled up tonight. >> reporter: yes. see a lot of people out here with this face including me. it's cold! the thermometer says it's 35, but it feels like it's in the 20s and when these winds kicked in today, they took a lot of people by surprise. the hill that's home to the most recognizable monument in washington just might be the windiest spot in town. >> it's a very windy day. >> reporter: the high winds certainly made for a bad hair day. >> a little windy out here. within two tourists from australia don't mind it's -- >> reporter: two tourists from australia don't mind it's summer back home. >> how you doing in the wind? >> it's freezing, dude. it's really cold. >> why you out here? >> because it's washington. >> reporter: military ospreys navigated the strong steady 35 mile-per-hour winds. down river at bradley point you could watch planes coming in for some shaky afternoon landings. >> it could be worse. it could be snowing. >> reporter: yeah. we had some of that this morning, but it didn't stick. the winds will be

peggy fox looks into the decision to close fairfax county schools today. >> reporter: fcps caught the wrath of parents and students when they stayed open in that snowstorm last week and then later schools closed because 75 buses wouldn't start in that frigid day. today's decision was all about the forecast. >> terrible. they should have opened today. >> reporter: thousands of school buses sat parked today on dry pavement, just a dusting of snow falling, not even enough for all those idle plow trucks to touch. >> i am from switzerland. so i don't understand it. >> reporter: today's decision to close schools has a lot of people scratching their heads. >> devastating. the weather is devastating as you can see. i've got my hood up. >> reporter: some fairfax kids were happy deciding that they were owed one from last tuesday when schools stayed open despite a storm that caused dangerous slick road conditions. cars and buses skidded off the ice. some people wound up in hospitals. >> two different days, two totally different outcomes. >> reporter: goeff plattenburg is the guy who makes the ca

peggy fox, wusa9. >>> and coming up on wusa9 steven spielberg joins holocaust survivors at the site >>> today marks the 70th anniversary of the day the soviets liberated auschwitz concentration camp, word world leaders along with survivors went back there to celebrate the regain of freedom they found piles of bodies and prisoners close to death most of them jews. >> for me a survivor of auschwitz, to forget the horrific experiences and during the concentration camps even for one moment is impossible. >> the nazis killed more than 1.1 million people at auschwitz before the concentration camp was liberated most survivors are in their 80s and 90s and this could be the last big anniversary many of them will be able to attend. >>> president obama now in saudi arabia where he's getting acquainted with its new ruler and he's paying respects to his predecessors. 79-year-old king salman assumed the throne after his brother king abdullah died, soud -- saudi's part of a coalition fighting against isis. >>> a missing georgia couple is over investigators found an suv belonging to bud and june runn

peggy fox is in charlottesville with the story. >> reporter: at uva sororities have been ordered to stay away from fraternities for this big party weekend coming up. some call the order irrational and sexist and many say they're being punished after this rolling stone article that alleged a gang rape at that fraternity house, a story that has been deboninged. coming up see what students here -- debunked. coming up see what students here are saying. >>> today a republican led house committee killed a proposal to gradually increase the rate from the current minimum wage 7.25 an hour to $10 an hour. supporters say the extra pay could help low income workers get out of poverty. those against it say it would put more people out of work. >>> a half century wait for justice is over for nine civil rights protesters known as the friendship nine. they went to jail in 1961 after ordering at a whites only lunch counter. >> this morning the surviving eight activists had their convictions vacated. >> reporter: the courtroom erupted in applause after a south carolina judge threw out the convictions of

i'm peggy fox. coming up at 6:00 we'll have neighbors' reaction and find out how that message got removed so fast. >>> now the washington redskins name change debate, this time a civil rights group that's worked closely with the nfl. earlier this month the group complaint about how the redskins conducted their search for a general manager. now the fritz collard alliance says it's time for the name to go. owner dan snyder is on record saying the redskins name is intended to honor native americans. >>> pope francis and a catholic news agency are confirming what we heard last week. the pontiff will visit d.c. as part of a three-city u.s. trip next september. pope francis discussed the news on a trip to rome today. other cities on the tour include new york and philadelphia. >>> we're just getting started on wusa9 news at 5:00. joe biden drive-by, shots fired outside the vice president's residence in delaware, that story at 5:30. >> plus topper is back with your extended forecast including what could be

. >> peggy fox joins us live from x county courthouse us where other lawsuits stand. >> reporter: these are the 29 violations that one maryland man is fighting. the fees total about $30,000. transurban has a first time forgiveness policy and caps its fees at $2,200, but many defendants say they did nothing wrong and shouldn't have to pay anything. >> it would be similar to mickey mouse suing you. >> reporter: david burnhart is an attorney representing several clients sued by the transurban, the company that operates the 90 fever and 495 express lanes. >> as -- 95 and 495 express lanes. >> as far as i can tell transurban is a fickal name. the corporate names are different. -- fictional name. the corporate names are different. >> reporter: he said the suits have passed the statute of limitations. wednesday burnhart was successful on getting two h.o.t. lane lawsuits thrown out when he protested the person representing transurban was neither an attorney nor an employee of the company. >> that's a legal matter and we'll address this in the court. >> reporter: the transurban spokesperson woul

in richmond, peggy fox, wusa9. they would allow doctors to recommend the use of two kinds of cannabis oil to troop epilepsy that does not respond to other drugs. the virginia governor is out of the hospital, getting back on his normal schedule. the governor was released from virginia commonwealth university's medical center this morning after having fluid drained from his lungs. now he broke seven ribs when he was thrown from the horse while on family vacation in tanzania last month. they discovered the punctured lungs after being admitted to the hospital on monday for shortness of breath. >>> coming up, how the leaders would vote on the abortion bill to coincide with today's march to life for the u.s. supreme court. >>> a local man that will need your help in finding the father that he never knew. i'm andrea mccarren with the >>> only on 9 tonight, finding their long lost father. all other options to find the man that they never met and the story has been shared on our facebook page and website for more than 2,000

i'm peggy fox reporting live in chevy chase. >>> montgomery county police are also investigating a case of vandalism at a church in silver spring. someone sprayed over the sign at christ congressional church. the song had black lives matter and you can see the word black crossed out replaced with the word all. >>> wusa9 first alert weather. >> we are tracking a clipper wednesday. we'll put the futurecast into motion here, 6 a.m. wednesday morning. we have clouds, but now it appears to be a dry morning commute with temperatures above freezing. by 10:00 39 downtown, 34 in the suburbs, maybe 35 in leesburg, some snow beginning to break out toward luray and orange but temperatures above freezing. lunchtime looking at a little snow maybe south of leesburg west of 15 and also around manassas. the green is all rain and we're looking at the potential for a little bit of snow, but surface temperatures are above freezing. so if it snows, it's going to more than likely melt. by 6 p.m. it's gone and pretty good snows will fall west of the divide. looking ahead we are tracking a clipper wednesday. w

peggy fox with yet another story of an e-zpass owner getting hit with massive fines from small tolls. she's live in falls church with more. >> reporter: this is what he told me today. can you imagine if the federal government took a small tax, say $1, and added thousands of dollars on top of that? that's essentially what the state of virginia is doing with these express lanes operated by a private company. >> these are a stack of toll violations. >> reporter: dan rossi is part owner of maj construction in springfield which faces $47,000 in fines and fees for what started as a 43-cent toll violation on the express lanes. >> my assistant made a mistake. he checked a box saying that we would replenish it as necessary. >> reporter: rossi thought his e-zpass account was set for automatic replenishment. >> when they sent the second set of fines, i sort of dug my heels in. i said that's nuts. i'm not going to pay $100 in the worst case for a 43-cent toll. i'm not doing it. >> reporter: fees and fines mounted and so did more tolls despite his efforts. >> like your bank account if you have ove

. >> peggy fox covered the trial. she's back in rich richmond -- richmond now. how much time do you think he'll get? >> reporter: well, a former federal prosecutor thinks bob mcdonnell will receive between six and nine years behind bars. the federal probation officers recommends mcdonnell receive no less than 10 year and up to 12 1/2 years behind bars, but mcdonnell's attorneys are requesting the judge forego prison time and sentence the former governor to 6,000 hours of community service instead. his sisters tell me that they believe their brother could do a lot of good at several nonprofit organizations and supporters have written some 400 letters to judge jail spencer asking for leniency many requesting no jail time for bob mcdonnell, but one juror says not only would that be a slap in the face to the jury's work, but it would also send a bad message. >> as citizens it should bother us that okay, the people we put in office and trust can betray us, can do things that are illegal, you know, whatever they want to do and they just look the other way, but if it w

peggy fox has been covering this trial since day one and joins us live from richmond with the latest. >> reporter: bob mcdonnell as you not faced a minimum 10 years in prison or more, but today judge james spencer first reduced those guidelines from a minimum of 10 to 6 1/2. then he used his judiciary discretion after listening to the sentiments of hundreds of people considering the defendant and the crime, he gave bob mcdonnell only two years behind bars. >> thank you. i'm a fallen human being. i've made mistakes in my life. >> reporter: after receiving a two-year sentence, much lower than it could have been, bob mcdonnell thanked judge james spencer for his mercy but said he disagreed with the verdict. >> deeply sorry, but i would also say to the great people of virginia that i have never ever betrayed my sacred oath of office in my way while i served as the governor of this great commonwealth. >> reporter: it was clear judge spencer was moved by the 450 letters written in support of of mcdonnell and pleading for leniency. the prosecution argued for a sentence of 6 1/2 years. >> i t

peggy fox was in the courtroom today where the defendant had a surprise visitor. who was that? >> reporter: it was his father. a soon as deputies brought in jesse matthew, he looked to the back of the courtroom and nodded at a man. that man confirmed after the hearing that he is jesse matthew's father. i asked him was it good to see your son? he said yes and declined to say anything else. his son is charged with attempted capital murder and rapublic defender argued for a gag order complaining that commonwealth attorney ray morrogh may have already tainted the potential jury pool by talking about the alleged victim who is a mother now and lives in india. >> we imposed the gag order because i think it's important for the public to have information about how the process works. i think it promotes confidence in the courts. i'm actually proud of our court system. i think our judges and lawyers on both sides of the fence do a good job and i think the public is well served if they can have access to that. >> reporter: the defense attorney argued for funds to pay a dna expert successfu

. >> peggy fox attended a muslim service in chantilly today where followers are speaking out about what islam is all about. >> reporter: in muslim communities right now there's a feeling of being misunderstood. >> the true meaning of islam is peace. >> reporter: they feel wrongly associated with the attack on the satirical newspaper charlie hebdo by terrorists who claim to be avenging the prophet muhammad. >> which prophet would say go do this to protect my identity? no prophet would do that. >> when ignorant muslims responded to the ignorance of these cartoonists. >> reporter: the imam at the mosque in chantilly invited journalists to hear his sermon today about blasphemy and the charlie hebdo attack which he says muslims everywhere condemn. >> no matter how offensive what someone said, we are taught human life is precious. >> reporter: they tell me it goes back to the first basic islamic teaching of peace. >>> local pakistanis gathered in dupont circle tonight to condemn terrorism in pakistan and elsewhere and remembered the 141 children and teachers killed in a school attack in pesha

. >> eric smith will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing gregory holly and peggy fox was at the sentencing and talked to holly's family. >> reporter: the holly family was okay with the plea deal which allowed eric smith to avoid the death penalty. still it was painful for them to see and hear the man who murdered their father. >> i think my father would be okay with the sentence. >> reporter: gregory holly was a retired army officer and former atf explosives agent. he had stepped out to walk the dog on february 20th last year when he was gunned down. eric smith, a neighbor who did not know holly, robbed him and shot him dead. >> if he hadn't been out there, somebody else, it would have been somebody else and that's how i think of my father. he was always putting himself out there for others. >> reporter: in a guilty plea smith received two life sentences today. >> we feel justice was served. >> reporter: smith who turned 26 yesterday apologized for the terrible pain i caused. >> he wouldn't -- he caused. >> he won't be out hurting anyone else. >>> right now prince george'

. >> reporter: i'm peggy fox, how much time could bob mcdonnell receive in prison when he's sentenced tomorrow? >> reporter: a maryland soldier is laid to rest at arlington national cemetery. i'm andrea mccarren. i'll have the story coming up. >>> the first significant snowfall this season is headed this way. good evening. i'm jan jeffcoat. >> i'm derek mcginty. the crews are already on the roads prepping for what's to come and meteorologist erica grow is here to explain. >> it's the timing that makes this a significant event for our area. you can see the winter weather advisory has been posted for the counties highlighted in purple. that includes the entire metro areas, the surrounding counties of the beltway and the national weather service criteria for an advisory are if you get an inch or snow or more during one of the rush hours. so that is the reason for the winter weather advisory being issued in the first place. your timing here, the snow arriving before dawn, most of the snow will be during that morning commute. so we will have reduced visible because of those snowflakes, but

we'll leave you with one more look at bow-bow t >>> i'm peggy fox in richmond. coming up here from the governor and some of his family members. >> new leadership for the redskins, who may join the front office. >> reporter: a live look from the dashboard cameras of my mobile newsroom, i'm scott broom. coming up the prospects for tomorrow morning's commute. >> parents are frustrated. schools saying they're sorry. >> clearly it was not the best decision. >> but it wasn't ad about day for everyone. >> -- wasn't a bad day for everyone. good evening. i'm jan jeffcoat. >> and i'm derek mcginty. fairfax, prince william county and arlington counties say classes will start two hours late tomorrow. >> we expect more districts will follow suit especially because the snow is not going anywhere soon. meteorologist erica grow is tracking very cold temps on the way. >> that's right. now that the snow is gone we generally have very cold nights after that because the fresh snowpack allows temperatures to dip quickly. we got 4-inch of snow at the capitol building, 2.8 in montgome

. >> reporter: setting the record straight, i'm peggy fox at a mosque in chantilly. coming up hear what muslims say is the meaning of islam. >>> tonight we're getting a look at the ntsb's first report on the metro tragedy. i'm jan jeffcoat. >> i'm lesli foster. 44 minutes, that's how long the electrical malfunction that filled a metro train with smoke continued before power was shut off to the affected rail. >> bruce leshan breaks down the response time from the l'enfant metro station. >> reporter: this preliminary report helps us make some more sense of the timeline of this tragedy that killed 1 woman and sent 86 people -- that's a new number -- 86 people to hospitals. we also got our first look at the damage the arcing that caused all the smoke. these are pictures of the electrical arcing damage on the third rail. the ntsb now says that this was about 1,100 feet ahead of the train that was stuck in the tunnel. now the mayor said on thursday that she did not know exactly when this happened. now we do. the ntsb says a breaker at one end of the third rail trimmed at 3

peggy fox, more on this story, coming up. >> a raging fire nearly kill as family of five. reactions to is sink hole in hyattville. >>> it is illegal to carry a gun on to school property, but if some virginia lawmakers get their way, you will be able to pack heat right into a school after hours. thank you for joining us. i am lesli foster. >> and i am

peggy fox joins us live where some kids who joined that twitter frenzy are now claiming victory? what is that all about, peggy? >> reporter: well you know we didn't have a flake of snow today, but fairfax schools, they were closed because 75 buses had trouble starting and officials didn't want to take the chance of having those kids stuck out in the cold. but many students, some from mcclain high school who tweeted their anger in criticism when fairfax went to school in this snowstorm on tuesday. well they are taking a little credit today. >> it's about being able to get your voice out there. >> reporter: twitter gave the students a huge megaphone this week. they would close trending worldwide. i was relieved and went back to bed. sitting at the desk in the snow with a caption, "i don't know what's wrong." >> was it cold sitting out there in the snow? >> it was really cold. i ran out and i was done in less than a minute. >> reporter: students tweeted and even painted a poem. >> they face accident, traffic, and they would close out cps. >> reporter: today with no new flakes, they

peggy fox has another h.o.t. lane toll nightmare from virginia coming up at 6:00. >> trending now what happens when comcast changes a customer's name to something far more profane. >> and a local man's attempt to win the narrator: gas prices are down helping middle class families.to impose title ii regulations on your internet meaning new government taxes and fees. every month: you'd pay more. 11 billion dollars a year in new taxes and fees. internet freedoms can be protected with the white house and congress working together, but imposing new tax increases through public utility style regulations will hurt middle class families let's protect the internet we love without regressive taxes and fees. no to title ii. >>> taking a look at stories trending you on your thursday comcast is apologizing after changing a customer's name to a swear word on a bill. >> regard owe brown was changed to -- ricardo brown was changed to expletive brown after the spokane man and his wife argued with the company over a bill. get this

peggy fox has that story coming up at 6:00. >> and trending now the actor who almos recognized in last night when you've got something to share, you need upload speed. and only verizon fios gives you upload speeds... ...as fast as your download speeds. and the fastest wi-fi available from any provider. period. so join the millions who get the difference fios makes... ...and see how sweet it is. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v >>> let's go trending right now. a botched repair job on king tut's iconic mask is causing a bit of controversy in egypt. >> it's flooded our facebook account as well. a lot of people are talking about this on social media. apparently a worker at the museum broke off the ancient beard while changing a light in the display case. that worker quickly tried to glue it back on with epoxy which experts say should only be used as a last resort. you can see the remains of the glue on the gold and blue braided beard. a tourist caught the shabby repair job on camera. fixing the beard is going to be a hairy process. >> the museum

. >> reporter: taking the religion back from terrorists, i'm peggy fox in chantilly where a muslim community is speaking out against that attack on charlie hebdo, but today during friday prayers the imam also had something to say about freedom of speech. >>> the national transportation safety board has released a preliminary report into monday's tragedy at metro's l'enfant plaza. thanks for joining us. i'm jan jeffcoat. >> i'm lesli foster. that report helps us make more sense of the timeline of the tragedy that killed one woman and sent 86 others to the hospital. here are some of the highlights of that report. the ntsb says a breaker at one end of the third rail tripped at 3:06 on monday, but the other breaker at the other end stayed on until it was shut off by metro control 44 minutes later. they didn't get those ventilation fans activaterly -- did get those ventilation earlier, about 10 minutes before the first breaker tripped. there were two trains involved, one in the tunnel, 1 in the station. monday's tragedy is eerily similar to an incident that happened at a metro station nearly 15 y

peggy fox reporting live. >> that's a big problem and a lot of people have been dealing with those sky high thieves. >>> trending now an elephant terrorizes the visitors at a national park. >> and was it racist? we're going to tell you about a skit from last night's golden globe awards that has people sougz when the flu hits, it's a really big deal. the aches. the chills. the fever. an even bigger deal? everything you miss out on... family pizza night. the big game. or date night. why lose out to the flu any longer than you have to? prescription tamiflu can help you get better 1.3 days faster. that's 30% sooner. call your doctor right away. and attack the flu virus at its source with prescription tamiflu. tamiflu is fda approved to treat the flu in people 2 weeks and older whose flu symptoms started within the last two days. before taking tamiflu tell your doctor if you're pregnant, nursing, have serious health conditions or take other medicines. if you develop an allergic reaction, a severe rash, or signs of unusual behavior stop taking tamiflu and call your doctor immediately. childr

i'm peggy fox. coming up reaction from the victim's family. >> reporter: another grim discovery tonight at the scene of that waterfront mansion fire in annapolis. i'm scott broom. coming up also reactions to the heartbreaking photos released by the victims' family. >>> a system moving our way bringing rain and snow triggers tonight's yellow alert. this is i-81 in woodstock, virginia, where the snow is sticking to the grass. thanks for joining us tonight. i'm jan jeffcoat. >> i'm lesli foster. where is this system going to hit the hardest and how will it affect our weekend plan? let's get right to chief meteorologist topper shutt with your forecast first. >> if you have plans tonight and you're inside the beltway, you're fine as long as your windshield wipers work, heavy rain. ifup toward hagerstown and winchester, you're under a winter storm warning. you might want to get off the road after 9:00. the winter weather advisory still includes montgomery company. it does not include th district. it does

peggy fox will have more on that surprise visitor at 6:00. who was it? >>> a three alarm fire broke out in a loudoun county warehouse today at a commercial data center under construction on smith switch road in ashburn. the spokesperson for the developer says the fire was minor and will have little impact on the operation. no one was injured, but a firefighter was tape to the hospital as a precaution. >>> today president obama unveiled a plan to make a college education more accessible. he proposed using federal and state funds to pay for the first two years of community college which would allow students to gain those necessary skills in today's workforce. andrea mccarren joins us live from the white house with details of the plan and some local reaction. >> reporter: president obama is on his way back to the white house this afternoon, but earlier today in tennessee he outlined a plan that could benefit as many as 9 million students across the united states. >> today i'm announcing an ambitious new plan to bring down the cost of community college tuiti

i'm peggy fox. coming up i'll tell you how many police departments have these devices and how some people are trying to stop them. >>> the wusa9 weather team has designated tomorrow a yellow alert day. thanks for joining us. i'm bruce johnson. >> i'm lesli foster. topper shutt is tracking a clipper heading our way. let's talk about where this storm is now and whether this will impact us going and coming