9 news now at 11:00 p.m. brought to you in hd by verizon fios. >> this is 9 news now. "this broadcast realtime captioned by becky lyon." let's get right to it. will it snow or not? let's go straight to our meteorologist for the storm alert. >> it is cold outside. the cold air is in place. we have everything we need for a little bit of snow. a storm is going to develop. let me show you this graphic. it does the job in explaining this. a storm will move off the coast of georgia. it will develop. this is the first possibility. track a away from us. track b if it hugs the coast we are looking at snowfall all the way to new england. track a will most likely be the developing track. this is good news. however, this is just a computer model.

more models as time rolls on. they will start to agree with each other and as you get closer to the development of that storm it is usually a good sign when the models start to agree with what is going to happen. so right now we have got the moisture. it is starting to brew but i don't think everyone is quite out of the woods yet. we will explain more about that in a few moments. back to you. >> thank you. the other thing people are talking about the benching of donovan mcnabb. dave owens is here with more on the decision. >> when donovan mcnabb was benched back in 2008 that was a clear signing shanahan was unhappy. what happened today was i'd say rather unexpected. head coach mike shanahan announcing donovan mcnabb was being benched for the second time. rex grossman will start against the cowboys on sunday. mcnabb has certainly

struggled. heading to the pine. no guarantee he will be back next year. >> i could not guarantee him that he would be back next year. i can't guarantee that. what i can guarantee i said to him i will be honest with you. i will evaluate the situation. i'm not sure what we will do in the college draft if we were able to get the top quarterback in the draft if there was a young donovan mcnabb or maybe a sam bradford. >> mcnabb's agent not pleased. " disrespectful is not enough of a word. ambassador of the league to treat him this way is beyond disrespectful. the other part of this equation rex grossman said donovan was classy throughout the rest of the ordeal. we will hear more about the redskins in a few minutes. what led up to a deadly accident at the king street metro station. it happened just after 6:00 p.m. alexandria police tell us a

woman was running towards the station when she was hit and killed by an airport shuttle van. the driver did stop. >> just in time for your holiday travel a federal investigation concludes the faa is dropping the ball on one key aspect of airline safety. that is the maintenance of the planes thrown by the country's biggest airlines. gary neurenberg reports in some cases the faa is years behind schedule. >> reporter: an inspector general says the federal aviation administration is not reviewing the maintenance programs of the nation's airlines often enough or effectively enough. >> in every one of the eight airlines that the inspector general looked at, the inspections had been delayed more than five years and in some cases they were delayed nearly eight years. >> reporter: the "associated press" got the secret report on the maintenance program. >> it is certainly not as quick or as effective as it should be. >> reporter: maintenance is a continuing problem. this investigation was prompted

by reports of huge maintenance oversights at southwest airlines two years ago. southwest was fined 7.5 million. congress told the inspector general to check on other airlines. >> looked at eight major airlines. the eight airlines that carry something like 90% of the passengers in this country. and found that the inspections were taking longer than five years at all eight. >> what are you going to do? >> i'm going to keep flying when i have to. although, you know, it is a bit concerning to do that. >> i want to know what people are doing to rectify this problem immediately but until then i'm going to get on my flight and head home for the holidays. >> reporter: the faa said it has made major changes to the program to improve it. gary neurenberg 9 news now.

texting. then the whole cell phone. transportation department recommending banning cell phones at all behind the wheel. it would make it illegal for the nation's 4 million commercial drivers to reach for, hold or dial a cell phone while operating their vehicles. new at 11:00 p.m. the report is out on those delays passengers had to endure this summer. the federal railroad administration mark and amtrak mismanaged the breakdown that left riders stranded in heat for hours by not calling for help from the police sooner. the report calls for shorter length trains to put less train on locomotives when it gets so hot outside. now we have got extra chilly december weather and time to get ready for the out of time rush for the holidays. 2. 6 million people in virginia will travel away from home in the next two weeks. 1. 8 million marylanders will do the same.

3.5 increases over last year. the majority of those travelers say they plan to drive. and a lot of those motorists may head north through the i-95 tolls in delaware. even though things are looking pretty smooth and pretty empty right now be prepared for some big time backups. that's because of construction at the newark toll plaza. things were so bad over the thanksgiving holiday those tolls were suspended. holiday shopping is in full swing this weekend. not much time left. but the good cheer can be spoiled in an instant. many local police departments are counting more crimes related to shoppers and as britany morehouse reports, often the suspects are following their victims straight from the stores. >> it was just like shock at first. >> reporter: from one shopper to another, bill smith has a story to share. it comes after he shared a facebook play-by-play of his try to -- trip to tyson's corner. >> reporter: he said he also planned where he would park. >> it was a well lit parking

garage. it was a busy time of day. >> reporter: and yet his car window was smashed when he went in for a bike to eat. he had just opened up his apple store big ticket purchases. >> i would say there is probably a 99.9% chance that they saw me put something into the suv. did they follow me from the apple store? >> reporter: in georgetown a few weeks ago a woman was followed and robbed of two laptops. so we decided to test the theory. do you notice if someone is following you? i'm going to pick a more believable candidate for criminals and that would be my photographer. i'm going to give him this web cam so he can follow shoppers. we stopped in bethesda. he picks his first family.

one son stopped. we approached them. >> did you see him following him? >> no. i saw you. >> i didn't see you at all. >> not at all. >> reporter: neither did our second target. >> i didn't notice him. i did notice you but i did not notice him. >> reporter: she waited outside for two more. >> i feel like i may have noticed you but not in any type of should i be worried kind of way. >> reporter: she says in retrospect she didn't think she was the victim. britany morehouse, 9 news now. >> interesting experiment. one tip britney and james learned from this exercise. you can still scare off a criminal. simply keep an aura of awareness. constantly looking at who is around. it expects to handle 800

million pieces of mail this coming monday. >> the u.s. marine corps picked up 1000 toys from the virginia chester brook academy campuses today. they will all go to toys for tots in loudoun county. you can see some of the toys we collected here. you can drop off a new unwrapped toy to any local fire station and be part of toy drive 9. help us out. you have until tuesday to donate. an interesting new poll from u.s.a. today shows people are split when asked if they would prefer their office holiday party or donate that money to charity. still ahead, some pit falls for you to avoid on the holiday party circuit. but first, an update on the story we have been following on tainted water wells. the agreement to clean up the contamination is next. jail we salute all those that

serve at home and abroad this holiday season. >> i'm in kuwait. i want to give a nice happy holidays to my mom at templeton heights and my dad in washington, dc. merry christmas.

concerns on what's in the

water. the senator says the defense department and epa have signed a legally binding agreement to clean up a contaminated site at fort deitrich. a cancer causing solvent has been found in the water since 1991. any new hospital should be built in germantown. two proposals one by holy cross to build in germantown, the other by clarksburg community hospital to build a new facility in clarksburg. in the end, the commission says it feels the holy cross plan on the montgomery college campus would better serve the future needs of the community. a public meeting on the matter will be held january 20th. worried about lead in your family's drinking water. today congress sent president obama a bill aimed at significantly reducing the amount of lead that can get into our tap water. it will set much more strict

standards for plumbing fixtures. you know that tax cut package president obama signed today also contains something for folks who ride metro or use car pools. the new law keeps in place their monthly benefit of $230. it is aimed at encouraging mass transit. several workers in our area take advantage of it. after years of cutbacks in this economy it appears that this holiday season the office party is back. but before you dust off your party clothes, remember how you behave could make or break your new year. we take a look at some holiday party pit falls. >> reporter: the recession took a toll on holiday office parties with many companies eliminating businesses bashes over the last two years but it looks like the festivities are making a comeback in 2010. the society for human resource management found fewer employers cutting holiday parties due to financial constraints. down to 12% this year from 20% in 2009.

if you haven't been to a holiday gathering in a while, one thing to remember is the key word in office party is office. >> let your hair down but don't let it down all the way. and by that i mean, again, have fun, talk about things that you don't normally talk about at the office but also don't go crazy. don't have too much to drink. >> reporter: not overdrinking seems obvious but it is something many office revelers forget especially on the company dime. while experts say a hearty partier rarely loses a job credibility can take a hit. >> maybe they haven't been given an assignment or career advancement opportunity because they just weren't acting appropriately at a holiday function and they weren't seen as having the maturity level that the organization may be looking for. >> reporter: and in the age of social media it can carry into the new year and beyond. >> anything with social media you have to be aware of. once something is posted out there it is out there. >> reporter: also be sensitive about the photos and video you

post as coworkers. you'll have to work with them long after the party is over. >> such good advice. we turned to facebook to ask you, what's the weirdest thing you've seen at an office party. brandon miller writes "a coworker getting so drunk she got on the table and started dancing and the table gave way and she ended up on the floor." another posts coworker comes out of the bathroom with toilet paper coming out of the back of his pants." another observed there sure are a lot of december babies. maybe these previous comments have something to do about it. share your story on our facebook page wusa 9. a couple of good samaritans got a sick in the pants for doing a really good deed. they found two deers. they broke up the ice and saved

the animal. a natural resources police officer watched this. right after the rescue he wrote both men a ticket with a $90 fine. what for? you see, neither man wore a life vest. >> and he didn't say anything. we went in and out of water numerous times. he didn't stop us at all. >> no, we didn't have life vests on but we are not 16 years old. you know. there were personal floating devices in the boat. >> that's tough to believe. both men say they will fight the ticket in court and they also say they would do it all over again to save that deer. ticket or no ticket hopefully no missteps for the district's long awaited residents when they make their public debut tomorrow. the zoo officially introducing its seven lion cubs and reveals their names. some of those names were chosen by the public as part of a contest. >> cheese. >> cheese. yes, there he is. leader of the free world commandner chief and white

house pooper scooper. yes, president obama himself cleans up after the presidential pooch, bo. time for questions. mr. president, what do you do for fun? >> a lot of times i walk bo at night and that's fun. sometimes i run around with bo. although sometimes i have to scoop up his poop because i don't want to just leave it in the lawn. so if you guys have a dog you've got to walk your dog too. and clean up after him a little bit. >> can't say for sure but we are kind of doubting that the plastic scooper is adorned with the presidential seal. everybody has got to clean up after the dog. >> the alpha dog. master. >> you have been talking about track a, track b. and what will this mean for the weekend. >> latest information has come out and still looking pretty good for us. >> that's good. w will take that.

>> any forecaster or meteorologist will tell you there is always some doubt because this is a storm over the ocean. it is going to be a big storm. and you never really know until it develops. more on that. i will tell you what we do know. temperature got up to 39 today. how about that. that's nice. yesterday was only 27. so 39. that's almost balmy. refreezing occurring. average high 46. haven't seen this since the first day of december when we were actually above average that is. i think one day we did 47 degrees but it has been colder than it should be and it continues to be that way. the average low is 32. we are below that now. not much of a wind. only at 3. that's good news. the winds have been light and they will remain light. this is the outside story. some areas are clearing and that equals a drop in the temperatures. some areas actually have seen some cloud cover move in. we will enjoy some sunshine for the first part of the day tomorrow. refreezing of roads. a number of accidents already this evening in and around the area even on the major interstates. but the big offshore storm. it is still going to be moving in. it is still going to develop.

it is still going to develop and be massive in size. it will still trek to the north. new england will get hit. but how close to us will it really form? that's the big question. 29 degrees. 23 in easton. 18 in georgetown. big story will be out west. you will hear stories about mud slides. they will be measuring the rainfall. maybe 8, 9 inches and maybe more than that in l.a. but a little bit of freezing rain in nashville over towards knoxville. in is the beginning of the energy that will help our storm system form off the coast. right now an area of low pressure down off the coast of georgia going to help transfer some energy out here and it does look like it will form and it will move forwards new england. if you've got plans to boston that could be even a worst-case scenario. high pressure. little bit of sunshine in the morning. increase of cloud cover. look at the moisture. getting close to home here. this is just a computer model. it could make its way far north of st. mary's county. maybe dorchester county. we won't know until this develops late tomorrow night and into sunday. but the moisture comes pretty

close to home. any deviation of 100, 200 miles is going to throw this moisture on top of the cold ground. let's look at the positive. it moves out of the area andmorphs up and stalls in new england. that's going to keep us on the cold seat for a while. no warmth here. 36 sunday. 32 for a high on monday. that's the coldest day of the next seven and may be a better chance even some flurries or light snow on tuesday. we will be watching this one closely. monitor it throughout the week. >> you've got two runners here. we are not happy. >> it is just not helping. it is just too cold. >> what is going on at redskins park? >> i'll tell you. that's a great question. a lot of people out there wondering. i mean how and why this was done the way it was done. players arrived in redskins park and discovered a new game plan for cowboys week and involved a new trigger man. why number 8 is replacing number 5. ralph and donovan may

have more in common than they thought. out at college park next.

and now 9sports with dave

owens. the best sports in town. redskins, cowboys, part ii. marquee match up. not tony romo versus donovan mcnabb. romo is hurt. he has an excuse. maybe mcnabb wishes he was hurt. shanahan is benching donovan mcnabb again and is starting rex grossman. now that they are mathematically out of the playoffs he needs to see more of grossman and evaluate him for next year. teammates weren't aware of it until this morning. surprised? >> people say, yes, they are surprised but at the end of the day you don't have time to be surprised you've got to go with it. >> unbelievable opportunity to go down to dallas in this rivalry game and show what i can do with this offense and this team. and i'm very excited about it. >> i believe he deserves the right to show us what he can do. i believe in him wholeheartedly. everybody believes in the second team quarterback. can you go out and get it done?

we will find out. >> by the way category, the nfl players association has filed a grievance on behalf of albert haynesworth. he was suspended the final four games for conduct detrimental to the team. standing to lose 850 grand. the case will be heard in arbitration. just a month ago new maryland athletic director kevin anderson guaranteed ralph friesen would return for 2011. he is rethinking that. several sources including the post will ask ralph to retire and accept a buyout. december 29th. in a teleconference today anderson wouldn't guarantee ralph's return and says expect and announcement regarding the program's future early next week. he won 75 games in ten seasons. third all time winningest coach at college park and led the terps to seven bowl games and was a.c.c.

coach of the year this season. now offensive coordinator jeff franklin was to be the coach after ralph but he took the vanderbilt job today. it is his first coaching job. time for our prep basketball game of the week. iv hundred34 -- 3400 of you logged on. att action. all about team. four players averaging double digits. let's take a look. friday night hoops in arlington. both coaches getting their teams all fired up, ready to go. early on. patriots playing some defense. how about kevin bailey? only listed as 6-foot but he has mad hops. tight ballgame. watch him knock down this

jumper. but take a look, guys. bailey with a whole pitch and pop. 56-47. >> wakefield. doing such a great job. his kids played hard and i just told our guys to run our best offense. it is a shot they are taking. >> congreats, coach. you can log on to the website and vote for our game of the week on our sportscast on friday night. but again, a big day at redskins park. we will continue to follow it over the weekend. >> yes. going to be a tough one. all right. thank you. we will be right back. [ male announcer ] the face of hunger in this country is all around us.

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. let's make sure i've got this right. big coastal system that kind of skirted away from us. >> by the hair of our chiny chin chin. >> looks like it will stay offshore. southern maryland will get a bit of snow. if it backs up westward we could see an accumulation. >> that's it for 9 news. have a go ahead weekend and we will see you back here monday. captions by: caption colorado, llc 800-775-7838 email: comments@captioncolorado.com