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. this is 9news now. >> thanks for joining you. i'm derek mcginty. anita is off tonight. we have two top stories this evening. a stay of execution for an admitted killer. but first some breaking news for you. southwest flight 2294 forced to make an emergency landing in charleston, west virginia. the crew noticed damage while they were traveling 30,000 feet up over charleston and the cabin depressurized. the 126 passengers and five-member crew are all fine. both the faa and the national transportation safety board are investigating what could have caused the hole. we'll update you on wusa.com as

we get more information. a convicted murderer escapes death because of possible double jeopardy. paul warner powell was scheduled to die tomorrow but the u.s. supreme court put off that execution. he was tried a second time because he wrote a letter to prosecutors describing how he raped and killed the 16-year-old manassas girl and how he tortured his sister. his original conviction was overturned because they could not prove rape or robbery but the letter sealed his fate. andrew stack has an interview. >> reporter: to say the least, the prosecutor was a little dumbfounded. he told me in addition to being convicted twice, paul warner powell has been denied a stay of execution twice. so the 11th hour really caught him off guard.

>> if we can make a capital murder case we will. >> reporter: that was the attorney paul eber before he built the first case against paul warner powell in 2000. this is eber today. >> i was surprised in this case the supreme court had already denied it twice on this case. >> reporter: eber won a capital murder conviction for the first time in 2000 for the murder of the 16-year-old stacey reid and the abduction, rape and attempted murder of her 14-year-old sister. powell was sentenced to death but the virginia supreme court overturned that sentence in 2001 stating an order for the charge to constitute capital murder it must have been prufb he raped or rob -- proven he raped or robbed. >> he chuckled the system all along. that's his he personality. he tormented the mother and took great pleasure in what he had done. >> reporter: if it weren't for a letter from powell taunting

paul eber in between, there might not have been a second trial. in that letter he bragged he attempted to rape stacey before killing her. the letter gave eber the fire power he needed for a second trial and, again, powell was convicted and senteed to death. but today a petition before the supreme court has garnered powell a last minute stay. >> i do feel sorry for the victims in this case. those folks came a long way hoping they would get some solis and some closure. and now they're going to have to wait. >> reporter: well, if you thought an argument for double jeopardy would hold much watt water. but pou -- water. but power argued evidence of rape had been shown. now they have to decide whether they he was unconstitution alley tried twice. now, the death of a female

sailor in fort myer. that body was found this morning. the navy says it will not release any more information until they contacted her next of kin. it has 108,000 family he members and retirees. tomorrow day two of the senate confirmation hearing sore sonia sotomayor. the role of the court is to apply the law, not make new law. and one senator offered his prediction for the outcome. first is here judge sotomayor. >> many senators have asked me about my judicial philosophy. simple. fidelity to the law. >> unless you have a complete melt down, you're going to get -- melt down, you're going to get confirmed. >> if there's going to be a melt town, it might come tomorrow. that is when members will have their chance to grill the judge on her beliefs and past statements. well, we're following a

story out of philadelphia that has captured national attention. now a discrimination lawsuit has been filed against a swim club. that suit says the club discripple nated against the -- discriminated against the children because they're black and hispanic. that was made out of safety consideration because there were too many children in the swimming pool. protestors lined the streets for a third consecutive day. >> if those children felt discriminated against, it is so sorriful to us. -- sorry rowful sorriful to us -- sorrowful to us. >> we shouldn't be treated different because we're all people. >> the club had refunded the camp's money and the children don't want to go.

sheriff's deputies arrested three people for the murders of two people but they believe as many as eight others may have been involved. the billings were shot to death while nine of their special needs children were at home with them. the couple had devoted their lives to helping children with disabilities. and there is new information in tonight's michael jackson case. toxicology reports could be completed this week. also, last week 9news now report thad los angeles city -- reported that los angeles city employees set up a website asking the singer 's fans to cover the cost of jackson's memorial service. well, today la's mayor criticized his staff for setting up the site and said the city is responsible for protecting public safety and should pick up the tab. it should be a land issue, the county board issue that garners any attention -- gar nerz any attention.

-- garners any attention. it's a controversial islamic school and this hearing was anything but quiet. we have more on that from the information center. >> reporter: derek, almost 50 people signed up to speak at tonight's hearing. but a lot more were there to vote supporting condemn the international academy's proposal to expand its campus. some of those opposing the expanse were concerned by the international textbook. >> which talked about killing jews. it talked about assaulting christians. >> reporter: others called isa founded it a breeding ground for terrorist. >> we believe this is being taught in the school. >> reporter: not true said the academy's school and parents. >> any of the children you will never have this feeling. >> my school has teachers,

doctors, educators, politicians, musicians. >> nothing. >> no, not terrorists. >> reporter: last year the director was convicted of failing to report an allegation of a abuse made by a 5-year-old student against her father. >> the father, the male muslim, is running the show. and the little girl has no rights. >> reporter: the school has since revised its curriculum and textbook and consultants founded these books do not contain inflammatory material. >> the hostility is based in my judgment on lack of knowledge. >> reporter: some neighbors oppose the expansion siting traffic congestion and traffic accidents. >> we signed the petition because we're concerned about safety of the neighbors and our loved ones. >> reporter: and in fact, the fairfax board of supervisor stressed that its decision will be made on land use issues and

not on any matter related to the school's teaching. the final vote has been deferred until august 3rd. reporting live for 9news now and wusa9.com. >> armando, thank you. on now to a 9news now follow-up. police tell us two double murder case was some eerimieilitars are not connected. al'r teitngking about the dewits found dead last year and six weeks before that the killing of the loftons killed in the same community. >> the cases weren't connected and we kind of suspected that all along but we needed more eyes and ears to take a look at it. >> the serial killer is s ettw. s of killerss scary.ei erthay, you want them to be caught. >> people heer no made arrest nz either -- arrests inheit er of the double murder but a special task force is still gathering

clues. a dc judge ready to introduce evidence for banita jacks accused of killing her four daughters. they found the daughters in the home while serving an eviction notice. the house transportation appropriation settlement committee approved money tonight and this is is the first payment since the full funding grant agreement was signed back in par by the department of transportation -- march by the department of transportation. so far the government has kicked in $440 million into the project. metro is monitoring the computerized train control unit every day. this comes after the urging of officials after last month's crash. they had been testing it on a monthly basis. fou it's done every -- now it's done every day. the national transportation safety board says even daily

reviews are "not sufficient combtion". have you seen the pedicabs around the mall. >> reporter: do you know what you're getting yourself into it? there is no rules or regulations regulating this mode of transportation. there is no consensus whether they should be treated like tax ease or bikes for hire -- taxis or bikes for hire. >> you follow bike rules or taxi cab rules. >> there's rules. basically we're a taxi cab. so we're supposed to follow all of the highway rules and lights and everything like that. >> you look more like a bike than a cab. >> yes, exactly. >> reporter: so where is your helmet? >> i don't wear one. >> there you go. well, one thing we did find out, to operate a pedicab you do have to get a business license. and topper is here with the weather first. it looks like the good weather is surviving.

>> it's a very, very comfortable evening. a few clouds will give way to clear skies, derek. and we're getting kind of spoiled here in mid july. here is the forecast first. overnight clear skies and cooler. low temperatures 55-65 downtown. that's a pretty good deal for this time of year. winds will be light out of the northwest atutit abo 5-10. atteermpesur reshtight now are i the 7ri p0smarily. l.t a p nnaioat few 60s. mainly in the 70s. even winchester checking in at 70. we'll come back and talk about a few clouds overnight. but then a great day tomorrow. and we've been lucky so far. heat has got to come back. we'll tell you when the heat is going to role back in. derek. >> thank you, top. well, up next aex tting t mishap. us stay up for your meypl save tip of the day. we're going to save 100 bksuc in less than two minutes.

i'm lesli foster with your money saving tip of the day. before you pay meoror f fn ex ae ed wnt-ar -oryra f fn an tearnd wy,edntterais ln tois is they 're notaylw athors wthhe yseau bos mt mro psctdu do .n're bakur dgin tghe edextenped fiod

h orftri maj aanlippli toppers paid an average $146 rfoherar eovxte. cer tagf o outtenay ssy t t twen'arre clebo a cut theer tms an d cs.dion you buy a v aexy erpe ivy ite tha wtarranty keghmat e.sens butse cheouck yr credit card first. many card cpanies extend your warranty for free. for more money saving tips, log on to wusa9.com and click on living smart. . first month of my administration, to pull our economy -- >>. [ loud noise compen. >> goodness. ] >> sorry about that. >> he got a bit of a surprise when one of his teleprompters sort of crashed to the floor right in the middle of things. no harm done but he's going to need a new one. and speaking of falls, a teenager in new york found out the hard way that texting while walking may not be a much better idea than texting while driving. she was walking down the sidewalk and didn't notice that

a certain manhole was uncovered. and you guessed it, she fell into the sewer. >> there was no warning of a big open hole. >> a manhole. how could my kid fall down a manhole. >> it shouldn't have happened. it was a simple, splngehi >>. soonstir f in l,g. elirheit t c wy is looking into why that manhole was left uncovered. chances are none of you muggles saw the new harry potter film yet. it's installment number six in the potter series. it opens nationwide on wednesday. many of the early reviews are in ive.any'tthe prey p > >>d nasa will try one more time on wednesday to> send the e tlutendeavourtlo e. int thacshtle was a set to launch early this evening but with only minutes left nasa scrubbed it because there were thunderstorms around. well, when endeavor does finally lift off, it will dock with the

international space station and astronauts will unload the final piaef o giant space labora >>. a little tidbit for you. wusa9.com is teaming up with history beat.com where you can find all types of interesting facts. again, historybeat.com. check it out. >> cool. so what's up with all of these thunderstorms? >> well, they're all well south of us now. and we're looking at just spectacular weather for mid yule. it's un-- mid july. it's unbelievable. low humidity. it looks like temps tomorrow will be a little lower. the humidity will also be lower tomorrow and even wednesday. here is your forecast first. the next three days not bad. 86 tomorrow. just niles. 88 on wednesday -- just nice. 88 on wednesday. a little humid but not uncomfortable. and then 90 on thursday. maybe more like 91 or 92. a chance of a few thunderstorms on thursday.

not crazy hot on thursday. all right, weekend flanking me either side if you're watching in hd, and we hope you are. overnight clear skies and cooler. there are a few clouds now but i think we're going to clear out. lows 55-65. that is a bargain. winds northwesterly at about 5-10. temps right now either side of 70. 70 in belle haven. 69 in brookville. we're looking at 69 in chantilly. 68 already in charles town and 68 in edinburgh. lows tonight very nice. 55 in grape falls. 58 in tyson. 56 in fairfax. not often you can turn the ac off in mid july but you can tonight. 50 in bets daxt 56 in -- in bethesda. tomorrow sunny and spectacular. 50s and 60s to start early. winds northwest at 0. any time we can keep that northwest wind, that's a pretty good thing. high temperatures in mid 80s and

winds still northwesterly at ten. that is indeed a bargain. all right, zone forecast remember all six zones are still on our website at wusa9.com. sunshine. 83 warrenton. low humidity. 85 in springfield. maybe 86 in stat ford. but still with low humidity, it's going to feel comfortable. downtown mid 80s. mid 80s in laurel. low to mid 80s on the water. 83 in north beach. and, again, no winds to speak of so no small craft advisories. a pretty nice day to be on the water with sunshine and low 80s. that's a pretty good deal for this time of year. all right. next seven days, 86 tomorrow. sunshine. upper 80s on wednesday. we'll call it 90 on thursday. some thunderstorms. a break on friday. upper 80s. and then temperature-wise not bad saturday, sunday and monday. we hold in the mid 80s. but there is a chance for showers and thunderstorms each of those days. best chance probably will be on sunday. but, again, highs holding in the mid 80s. another seven day with just one

90 on it. that's not bad. >> no, it's not. the bad news unfortunately is for manny acta. >> it is. and i don't think it blows anybody away. when you have the worst record in baseball you probably know this is going to come sooner or later. >> you think he would find a way to be mad. >> it's the end of an era for manny acta, the national's manager. ryan zimmerman is going to speak out on the firing and we're going to tell you wct asa' dismissal gives a new title in town. those stories ahead.

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and now, 9 sports with sara walsh, the best sports in town. >> it was exactly one month ago today a report was published saying manny acta's dismissal was em was eminent. in acta's two and a half season as washington's manager, the team was 94 games below 900. the nats are heading into the all star break with a 26 and 61 record, leading the league in errors and the bullpen that has been awful. and that is not acceptable to

the owners. >> we want to still make something out of this season. and so we're making this change today in hopes that we can kick start it in a way that makes the pieces come together better than 26 and 61. >> the tough thing is what we did today is to replace a very good baseball guy with the hopes of jump starting an underachieving team. >> now, acta was not made available today but issued this statement through the team. i want to thank the nationals for giving me the opportunity to be a major league manager. it was a great learning experience. i have had no regrets. i would like to extend a special thank you to the fans for being supportive the last two and a half years. well, all but one of washington's players will have days to let the news digest. the lone exception being the national's own. and when ryan zimmerman met with the media, the firing of his manager was hot topic number

one. >> i think the manager a lot of time is the scapegoat. and he can't go out there and play for us. a lot of this stuff this year has been the players not playing up to their capabilities, i think. and he's kind of taking the fall for us. and unfortunately this is what it takes to open some people's eyes. >> clearly clicking your heels three times and making a managerial moves is not going to solve the issues overnight. but somebody has to take the job and that someone is ron jiggleman. he is now the nats local. he has gone to montgomery high school. the all star game is tomorrow. the homerun derby nelson cruz again. cruise had five in the -- cruz had five in the final round. even if there were, this guy would still take the title. milwaukee fielder getting his sixth homerun to win it. he is the homerun derby

champion. pro athletes under is always someone younger to take their spot. and if the caps need a reminder, it is there this week. development camp started this morning. it invited prospects to take part. and while change is important in the sports landscape, the manny acta firing now means out of the three teams here, brudro who took over in november of 2007 is our longest tenured coach. even he didn't know. >> oh, gees. i don't know if that's good or bad. we better keep winning. [ laughter ] >> it's good. i'm just happy to be here. i got my break. it's more than a dream. >> living the dream. we like the attitude. finally after giving a speech at his friend mcnair's funeral last week, he is calling it quits.

he had more than 1,000 yards receiving. more than 10,000 in his 12-year career. he is calling it quits. >> a time does come when enough is enough, even if you can perhaps still go. >> it's nice see them go off on their own times because sometimes we don't see that. >> you have to fire me. i'm not quitting. >> he's made his money. in tomorrow's washington examiner, the feds seize 12 million cigarettes from a storage shed and a delegation looking into creating federal safety standards for subway. that'som aw llroheor t er.m in t ( rock music playing )

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well, coming up next, the david letterman show. and what is on dave tonight? here is a little bit of what he has to say about the president's and tomorrow's all star game. >> president obama will actually be at the game. he'll be in the broadcast booth. he's going to be working in the broadcast booth during the all star game. that's cute. but let me tell you something, you know the economy is bad. [ laughter ] >> when the president has to take a second gig. that is not a good sign. [ laughter ] >> never a good sign. well, there was plenty more of that where it came from. and dave's guest tonight kelly clarkson. and that is 9news now for tonight. thanks for staying up with us. and don't forget we're always on at wusa9.com. as we just noted, letterman is up next. we'll see you later. (announcer) the official $5

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