hour winds. we'll come back and look at the doppler. >> also tonight in your only local news at 7:00. early warning, documents show metro was warned about mixing electrical components years before a deadly crash. back in class, the student removed from her classroom for not standing for the pledge of allegiance has her apology. plus, off the streets, two men in custody after an attack on an 11-year-old girl. i'm armando trull in the 8700 block of carol avenue. montgomery county police say an 11-year-old girl led them to this home last night and they say two men took that girl from a park and raped her. >> you know, why? why would you do it to anyone? >> melquicide sorto and marcos torres accosted the middle schooler and followed her to a

park near her home. >> they forcefully grabbed her, took her to an apartment in carol avenue, where they raped her. >> it's a big, emotional thing for us. but, we are just trying to stay strong. >> i'm andrea in germantown, where late this afternoon, montgomery county school officials delivered two letters of apology. one from roberto climeto middle school. >> an american flag flies outside the middle school. when a 13-year-old student refused to stand before it during the pledge of allegiance, a teacher called school security. >> if they did something wrong, i think they should apologize and they did the right thing by apologizing. i believe when you stand up for the pledge, it's a sign of respect to america. >> this afternoon, the school system sent home this letter, stating it was the teacher, not

the student who broke the law. students were told no one will be permitted to intentionally embarrass you if you choose not to participate. >> i'm scott broome at the national transportation safety board, where we learn today metro officials apparently ignored a written warning about the electronic system, it uses to keep trains from hitting each other. the focus is on electronic signalers. metro had been warned in writing in 2004. do not mix electronic components or they might not work. >> i'm not familiar with that c c correspondence. now to fort totten, where the new components were installed five days before the crash that killed nine. on june 22, disaster struck. families of victims said they were stunned by what they were hearing. veronica was one of nine people killed.

>> i know i don't want to get on metro anymore. my grandkids cannot get on metro anymore. >> and a reminder about tonight's engineer drill on metro. just after midnight, the system will start going through a scenario, involving two gunman. don't be surprised if you hear what sounds like gun shots or you see a lot of emergency vehicles in that part of town. the drill is expected to wrap up before the system opens tomorrow morning. we just grew too big, too fast. that's what toyota's president and ceo told congress about the safety lapses that led to the recall of 8 million vehicles. he apologized for the problems with sudden acceleration and stressed the company would never again blame its customers. initial reports of the problems with the accelerators were chopped up to driver error. it came from san diego, where mark sailor, his wife, his daughter, and brother-in-law were killed in the crash. >> i'm here to speak for my

four children and for the safety of the consumers throughout the world. >> i would like to extend my condolences to the members of the family for the accident in san diego. i would like to send my prayers again and i will do everything in my power to ensure that such a tragedy never happen again. >> toyota plans to offer customers in home pickup of vehicle, reimbursable for transportation costs, and free rental cars while the repairs are going on. and speaking of cars, let's get outside. it's rush hour, patranya in the traffic center. it's moving well. >> that's right. just a little bit of late volume on the outer loop from i- 95 to 270. still about a 20 to 25 minute ride, but it looks like it is easing a bit after 7:00. checking out real time maps,

our sensors not tracking any incidents heading westbound, still slow. those red and yellow cars are bad news past 123. and we have an accident to report. this is root 50 and some possible lane block cadges here. be aware of that. and as we head live into the district, the wizards game started a few minutes ago, be a little bit busy downtown, but metro running on time. >> all right, thanks patranya. a simple misstep appears to led to the death of a trainer at sea world today. it happened at orlando park and it may not be the first time this whale was involved in a deadly accident. erica fisher is live in orlando with the latest on this. a lot of folks shocked, erica. >> reporter: well derek, this is certainly a devastating day for the family of this trainer, as well as this park family dawn was 40 years old with a decade of experience in training killer whales. in fact, she was the top trainer here at sea world in

orlando, but sadly, around 2:00 this afternoon, deputies say she slipped and fell into the whale tank and that's when the whale attacked her. now as you mentioned, this whale, tilly has a checkered past and he is the largest in captivity at 22 feet long and more than 12,000 pounds. such a monstrous animal, really. and today we heard that witnesses say he was agitated earlier in the day, trainers actually told audience members that just before deputies say she supposedly fell in, but witnesses tell a different story. take a listen. >> and she watched from underneath that overhang and said hey so and so, we are ready to go. i don't know what that meant. and he was getting a belly rub, because he was upside down. he came back around right up to the glass, popped up, started

thrashing and her shoe flew off. called out to the girl, and sirens immediately started to go off. >> so you heard there, sounds like a violent attack, according to that witness. she was there with her five- year-old daughter. pretty scary time, i'm sure. was it a violent attack or did this trainer just slip? we'll find out in cell phone videos and other videos that are released in the upcoming days. it is a somber feeling around this park as it has lost one of its family members. live in orlando, erica for 9news now. >> thank you so much for that. today's incident certainly not the first case of an animal attacking its trainer. back in 2007, attacks by two tiger at zoos in san francisco, san antonio, and denver killed two people and left two others injured. the year before, another whale attacked a trainer at sea world. he was lucky, he got away with

a broken foot only. critics and animal rights activists said zoos are cruel and wild animals aught to be just that, wild. what do you think? share your thoughts. the address is mailbag@wusa9.com. just hours after delivering a 45 page opinion on what he thought maryland's highest court would do. doug announced the state will start recognizing same sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions immediately. he also says state agencies aught to start giving gay couples the rights they have been awarded elsewhere. >> and same sex couples in the district will have to wait longer to get their marriage licenses. the city was supposed to start issuing those licenses next tuesday, but the first day is being pushed back to wednesday. the dc council passed that law back in december. congress was not in session on one of the days the council thought it would be, so the date has changed. scary moments at one of the

nation's nuclear power plant and wait until you hear what caused it. plus, you may get a jolt from a morning cup of coffee, but could something the same size as that power your entire home? the answer coming up.

investigators now think melting snow was what shut down

the calvert power plant last week. two reactors shut down at the plant last thursday and that caused the loss of power to some safety systems. federal inspectors believe melting snow leaked through the plant's roof and on to an electrical brakier. and just a week after president obama made the renewed push toward nuclear energy, the vermont senate voted to close that state's only nuclear plant. the yankee plant started operating in 1972. today's vote means it will start operating after 2012. gives its legislature a say over nuclear reliances. forget going the power grid, the maker of something called the bloom box says it has a much better idea. the startup company unveiled its new fuel cell today. the device is just the size of a cup of coffee, but it packs a

punch. >> it simply has a panel and one of our little home energy servers. together, it will give you electricity day and night. and also be able to charge your automobile. >> those fuel cells would be stored in a box the size of a filing cabinet. that technology is pricey. it costs $700,000. bloom was hoping to offer it for a few thousand dollars by the next decade. coming up, some local residents are struggling to recover from that last winter storm and there's another one out there. topper is watching that system as it moves closer and closer. your latest forecast is straight ahead.

whether it is 6 inches or 1 inch, they have had it with the white stuff this winter. they are still adding up the cost from the last two storms.

in every neighborhood of the district, there are gutters hanging or down from this winter's storms. >> these are very unusual times. >> state farm insurance has 5,000 claims from the past two snows. clients are being advised not to wait for authorization before starting temporary repairs. >> we want them to do is try and prevent any further damage from the melting of the snow. >> snow is lingered around dugout parking spaces and allies. and street corners where approaching vehicles are sometimes hidden by piles of snow and ice. >> we do have some road clearing problems here. serious road clearing problems and trash collection problems. >> the last name is hazard. she has some important advice for mayor fenty, following the snow removal efforts. >> more training. i saw a lot of plowing techniques that are not very good. >> patterson says alternate parking would allow the city

trucks to plow from curb to curb. >> they weren't able to remove it quickly enough. g prevented crews from repairing and replacing a loft street lights. these private contractors tell me there might be hundreds of lights this don't work in this area alone. lights they can't get to because of all the bad weather we've had. >> channel 9, howard bernstein on what we can expect for the rest of the winter, just as importantly, how we might approach coming snowstorms. >> we have been dealing with this for months. >> are you calling us wimps? >> we are all tired of it. >> thanks a lot, howard. bruce johnson, 9news now. >> and topper isn't tired of it. the big concern is the wind and that's why officials throughout the entire dc area are urging residents, prepare yourselves. many folks turned to tree trimming services to clear out the fallen trees from the

previous storm, and to reduce the threat of getting more damage. pepco tells 9news now to plan ahead. >> we tell folks to be prepared, to have an emergency kit at home and that starts out with batteries. batteries and nonparishable food. when the lights go out, you aren't going to be able to use your home phone. have a phone that works. >> all kinds of stuff you need. they also want to put the reminder out there that if you use a generator, put it outside the house. we will say it again, and stay away from downed lines. if you see downed lines, report them. that is 877-737-2662. we love giving advice, so i thought i would beat you to it. >> i think mother nature has done a good job trimming our trees. we are looking at 30 to 40-mile per hour winds here no matter what happens with the track of

the storm and the amount of snow. here's your forecast first, the next three days, tomorrow will be flurries. temperatures will make it above freezing and won't feel like it with the winds. and then we have a better chance of accumulating snow thursday night and friday. temperatures in the mid 30s on friday. windy friday and saturday, and flurries are still going to linger on saturday, although no accumulation. you're going to the mountains, it's going to be incredible out toward garrett county. it's going to snow through saturday afternoon and looking a the a foot. here's what we think. this is through friday night at 8:00. a trace to 2 inches across the immediate metro area, and just north of baltimore, and then you start getting in the meat of the storm. 6 to 12, as you get up towards philadelphia and southern sections of new jersey and further up than that and we are talking 12 to 24. that's going to be -- that's the bulls eye. we talked about this all week. tonight, breezy and cold.

rain will change to snow. less than an inch. and quite frankly, with the temperatures above freezing now, nothing is going to stick on the roads tomorrow morning. shouldn't be a problem. winds northwesterly. let me show you live doppler. you can access this on our website. you can see the radar filling in around, but it is all rain at the present time. it will turn to snow slowly, but again, i don't think it will cause any problems late tonight or early tomorrow. all right, let's go back to the computer. here's what is going to happen. a little bit of a snow or mix tonight and it goes away in the morning and then as the storm system does a loop. this is going to make land fall around new york city and loop back into pennsylvania. snow will work its way in here on thursday night and friday. that's the best chance of accumulating snow. the winds will pick up and be scary on friday morning. scary looking, anyway. 39 right now in brookeville.

tomorrow morning, just flurries. and by afternoon, again, just flurries. snow showers tomorrow night. highs 36 to 40. upper level low spinning there, is forcing this system further out to sea and consequently, we are going to miss the big snows as they develop off the carolina coast and then makes land fall. i'm going to call it land fall, because it's almost like a hurricane up around new york city. windy through saturday. maybe we make it to 40 on saturday with some snow flurries. we are dry sunday. march 1 is meteorology spring. mid 40s on tuesday, and mid and low 40s on tuesday and when derek makes it to march, he is thinking it's all over. >> i'm hoping. >> would you walk on a bring made out of spaghetti? that's not stopping the bridge building experts, who won gold medals seven years running in this world championships. while this sure is proof they

have a championship for anything in the world, seven in a row is pretty good. last year's team set a new world record. a pasta bridge that could hold 977-pounds. the contest goes down in canada march 5. this year's team getting el dente for the competition. hey, i know somebody who makes a nice sauce. we want to hear what you think. send your e-mails to mcginty's mail bag. the address, mailbag@wusa9.com. 9news now will be right back. 

in the mail bag tonight, outrage at bob marshall, who seemed to suggest women who abort their first pregnancy might be punished with god by a disabled child. andrea would seem to say at all. as the mother of an 11-year-old boy with autism, i am here to say god gives children with special needs who they know has

the potential to love them for who they are. this is a blessing, not a punishment. others have to question, delegate marshall, what did you mean to say? and then there was this. punished because she would not stand up for the pledge of allegiance. the teacher apologized for kicking the kid out of class. the school apologized too, but ray says no apology should have been necessary. refusing to stand for the pledge of allegiance was a disruption in the classroom. if the child was allowed to stay, it would set a bad example for the rest of the students. it should be the parents for not teaching their child respect. john from fredericksburg said the child is within her right, but to remove her from class, to label her, that is an even bigger crime against our

constitution, rights, and our flag. ray has the better argument. standing up for it, not standing up for it was just rude and disrespectful. certainly, we all have the right to be that way, but i don't mind if our schools are trying to teach kids there is a better way to behave. the best way to voice your thoughts, mailbag@wusa9.com. that's it for tonight, wusa9.com is always on. bye. g÷g÷uññ

john edwards sex tape details revealed. this is "entertainment tonight." explicit. >> yes, he is naked. >> explosive. >> he is aware that he's being taped. >> andrew young and his wife speak out as the tape is locked away in court. >> the woman is holding the camera. >> their jaw-dropping new details. >> he is performing sexual acts. plus, new information about john's scandalous affair. >> and i'll tell you rielle's secret nicknames for john. charlie sheen and wife brooke in rehab. "the latest news." what will happen to their kids? plus, tiger woods' children in the eye of the storm. can the embattled couple save their family. tv's "supernanny" sounds off. >> these two adults will need to come together. terrifying new animal attacks. crazed cats caught on tape.