airlines to allow pilots 10 hours to rest between shifts to prevent them from flying fatigued. that's two hours more than current rules. >> america's skies are the safest they've ever been, but we can always do more. >> reporter: in addition the 10 hours of rest, the new rules also require 30 consecutive hours a week off the job, and flight times must be no longer than eight or nine hours. pilots and airlines must also take joint responsibility in reporting fatigue. pilots must confirm with the airline they are rested and fit to fly before each flight. if they don't, the airline must remove them from duty. >> the traveling public expects an alert and rested flight crew every time they get on board a plane. >> reporter: safety advocates have been recommending stricter rules for more than two decades. the effort got a new push after the 2009 crash of a regional carrier's plane near buff roy, new york, which killed 50 people. a national transportation

safety board investigation found both pilots of the delight were likely suffering from fatigue. until now the regulations covering pilots and their work schedules haven't changed much since the 1960s. passengers we talked with trust their pilots to be ready to fly. >> i'm tired, and i don't want to be flying a plane or driving a car. >> reporter: airlines have two years to comply with the rules which apply only to passenger flights. car go carriers are exempt because of cost. the fda says it will uncle them to comply any way. manuel gallegus, cbs news new york. it is estimated the changes will cost the industry almost $300 million. and we have an update now on tuesday's catastrophic commute on the orange and blue lines. tonight metro says it's pulled 16 of its series 5000 rail cars out of service after a break on one of those times of cars nearly fell apart. nearly 300 people had to be

evacuated between the smithsonian and plaza stations. metro says it is still trying to figure out why that brake failed. today president obama calls house and senate leaders trying to get them to end their standoff over extending the payroll tax cut for millions of americans. the senate passed an extension at the end of last week and went away for the holiday break; but then the house refused to pass the measure saying it wanted a one-year extension instead. >> mr. speaker. mr. speaker. i would like to ask for unanimous consent we bring up the bill to extend the tax cut for 160 million americans. as you walk off the floor you're walk away just as the president has walked away from tax taxpayers. >> we're here, we're ready to go to work and we're hoping

they will appoint negotiators come to the table and resolve the differences. >> the tax cut would add up to about a thousand dollars. out on the campaign time, newt gingrich says congress's failure to extend the payroll tax cut is a dereliction of duty. he says specifically the senate's decision to recess without extending the tax cut for a full year is a real example of why americans are sick of politics. gingrich is in arlington tonight. we'll have more tonight at 11:00. >> derek over on the wusa 9 facebook page, michael hammond is asking us to do more about the stop online piracy act. here is an update. today the house of representatives postponed a hearing on the bill designed to stop internet users from stealing content that doesn't belong to them. critics say it will kill the internet as we know it

new at six tonight, the largest settlement in history over unfair residential lending practices. today the justice department announced that bank of america will pay $335 million to settle claims one of its units discriminated against african- american and hispanic borrowers. the money will be used to compensate victims of countrywide financial corporation between the years 2004 and twin. a two-year-old little girl is safe tonight after she was left alone in a dirty and eroded apartment for a whole day with no food. and now her 24-year-old father is behind bars. >> reporter: i'm julia goncalves outside the capital heights apartment building where police rescued the father tuesday after getting an urgent call from her mother who was and still is in the hospital. police say this man 24-year-old anthony benson left his daughter home alone in their first-floor -- the property manager unlocked the door to

find the little girl severely malnourished in a diaper wearing only a sweater. we looked up benson's record and discovered a laundry list of charges dating back to 1987, including armed robbery and assault. new information tonight for all those pep cocustomers who expressed their frustration with the utility after the last few weather events and the response to them. today the maryland service commission fined them for a million bucks for failing to properly maintain its systems over a period of years. it noted the customers were left with outtages before too long. they say it was prompted by a high number of complaints about the reliability. pepco will have to update a

five-year work plan to improve communications and service restoration. that has to happen by the middle of february. a green alert tonight that could impact the health of everyone breathing the air in this country. today the environmental protection agency announced it is cracking down on pollution from the nation's power plant. the goal cut the amount of mercury and other toxic mutants released from some of the nate's oldest facilities. critics say it will just threaten jobs and electric reliability. and several airlines say they will not be taking part in the european union's new cap and trade program. this morning the court of justice upheld a lawsuit against the plant. that means after january 31st, all airlines using european airports need to pay for the greenhouse gases it emits. if they run out of credits they'll need to buy or trade for more of them with another

airline. he prompted the families of the victims he would help them. at a memorial in arlington national cemetery, the families paid tribute to the memory of the 275 people killed. an ambassador said moammar g&a daffty must have ordered the bombing, but the families are hoping for the arrest of others. you are not alone to find the truth. i would be happy to hug you. >> the fbi director said he homes for more arrests in the attack soon. coming up tonight at 7:00 imagine spending five hours every day on mass transit just to get to and from work. that is the reality for one maryland mom or at least it was. the special christmas present that will give her a lot more time at home.

looking forward to that story. still to come in this half hour, you heard about secret santas helping people out with the layaway? tonight hear how someone came through for a woman relying on medication to make it through the day. >> it's windy out here, but a warm wind. still mild. check out the numbers, high temperature 60 today at national, low of 47. average is 45 and 30. records on this date, didn't miss it by much. we'll come back and talk about how long the mild air will last and when the next round of rain rolls in. also coming up next it may not have made the count to -- now culpepper virginia is in the running for another honor. the details coming up

among temperature finalists when it comes to main street. district of limoia residents have fought for the same rights for decades. the census bureau says new numbers shows the district of columbia is growing faster than think state in the country. in fact, the city's population

grew by 2.7% between april of 2010 and july of this year. texas, alaska and colorado, they round out the top five. still ahead, no mountains of snow growing at local ski resorts this season. how they're coping with our winter warmth coming up

as peggy fox reports, the family is amazed at the secret santa's generosity. >> only on, baby. >> kelly rector lost her job

because of her disability, post- concussion syndrome. from a brain injury she suffered in a car wreck eight years ago. now the 31-year-old is prone to memory loss or worse if she doesn't take her medicine. >> if i don't have it, there is a chance i could have a stroke or i could have a sees your. >> reporter: because she doesn't have a job, she doesn't have insurance and often can't afford the medicine. it's about $170 a month. >> i was already worried about how i was going to pay for it. it's really hard for me to pay my bills as it is. >> reporter: then this morning, her mom called with a big surprise. >> it was a shock the pharmacist said someone paid for her medicine this month. >> they asked for someone who didn't have insurance that needed help for her prescriptions and mill daughter was chosen. as an act of generosity during the holiday season a customer wanted to hip someone with their prescription costs, so we picked you. your has been paid in full by this kind individual as a merry

christmas. >> reporter: we don't know much about the secret santa other than she's a woman 30 years old. the pharmacist said she was so determined to help someone pay for medicine they can't u couldn't afford that after being told the first time they had to get approval she came back the next day to get it done. kelly and her mom can't thank their secret santa enough. >> you have all my thanks and my prayers and blessings, and you don't know how much you've helped us out. >> in pennsylvania, peggy fox, 9 news now. >> in case you can find kelly find a job we would like to do our part. here is information we want to pass along. she has a business administration degree and is skilled in media, arts and music. an update on a toys for tots drive that hit a snag. we told you about a realtor way behind on his collection efforts of the toys after its fliers seemed to get last in the mail. today we heard from the folks at avery head. they told us our story helped them collect more than 700 toys in the end, and they delivered

them to quantityco today. coincidentally a lot of the clients told them "we started getting the mailer in the last few days. as we hit the first days of winter, looks like santa is about to deliver a lump of cole so to speak to our region's ski resorts. many open, but just barely after weeks of unusually mild weather. liberty mountain resort has 1,200 seasonal part-time employees sitting idle. the resort managed to make snow during cold nights last week, but hasn't been enough. >> i think people will be really surprised once they see how quickly we can turn a mountain that doesn't have any snow into a mountain that does. if we get some halfway cold temperatures, around 28, 29 degrees over two or three days we can start skiing. we'll open up slopes very quickly. >> a lot of waiting for that. this map shows the region's resorts. the ones open in green. but in most cases snow is limited. hopefully we'll see the map. even if not, topper what's the chances they're going to have snow?

>> well, the key is when it gets cold enough for them to make it. and i think it will saturday night christmas eve and christmas night. so we'll have a couple of nights in the upper 20ss. so as far as national snow we won't see that. >> right. >> another round here. >> nothing -- nothing around here. >> and the resorts that are open -- of course, winter green is open, the limit and snow shoes are open and. let's start with the big picture the radar and most of the showers are history, most oz the bay. we're going to have a respite before another storm takes hold in the tennessee value by into tomorrow night. these showers are pretty much gone. there were some thunderstorms. see the lightning up here? there were some thunderstorms in pittsburgh today. most of the showers east of 90 and east of the bay. in fact, a couple of leftover showers just headed across the bay, and that is it. showers will linger west of the divide from cumberland west there will be lingering showers tonight. temperatures still 61 in

college park, 59 in arlington, bethesda and rock hill, 59 in springfield. let's put things in perspective, and 61 in sterling. all right. let's talk about what's going to happen. here's the deal. mild through thursday. it will be mild again tonight. both commutes on thursday will be dry; but rain rolls in quickly thereafter rain thursday night. looking at heavier, much organized rain than we saw today. today. an inch across the metro area, dry, cooler on friday. a quick hitter on thursday night. we'll salvage a pretty decent day on friday. the future cast by tonight clouds linger but all the showers are well gone except for the mountains. then we advance it 7:00 in the morning, clouds coming back at us, but no green blob. so it's dry, a dry morning commute. this time tomorrow night looks benign right now. a couple of showers around orange; but then the moisture comes streaming in here very

quickly. this is midnight friday. you see yellows and oranges, moderate to heavy rain. we're going to see an inch across the board in the metro area. the good news it moved out quickly. this is friday morning at 6:00. i think this is a little bit slow. all the showers will be gone before the commute on friday. for tonight showers ending early, mostly cloudy, quite mild. 45 to 52. and mostly cloudy to mild to start on thursday. maybe a light jacket, 40s and 50s. by afternoon mostly cloudy, stays dry. despite the clouds, temperatures still around 60 degrees. next 7 days it will get cooler into friday. temperatures go back into the low 50s still above average. chilly on saturday the drive the redskins games near 40s, near 50 for christmas. really i got a drop in there, but looking more and more like it will be dry christmas night and dry monday, tuesday and wednesday next week with highs around 50. >> thanks. not going to mention, some mentioned the skins lose this

weekend. >> yeah. some people are thinking about that. but not that many people. tim topper, tis the season for auditions. one redskins player put on notice. hey we need to see more from you. we'll tell you who the wizards look better last night. the rookie will tell you exactly why and it's time to get serious. the big game coming up for the hoy i can't say [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices...

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nd now 9 sports with dave owens, the best sports in town. >> it was one of the quietest signs of the off season. occurred in that sliver of time before the nfl lockout went into effect. talk about the acquisition of themoway. at the time hailed as a major upgrade to a possession in desperate need. it hasn't work out, trust me. he got hurt almost immediately, and he hasn't been healthy. he's missed three games, minimal impact. now a defensive coordinator was blunt. he said he needs to see what he can do in the next three weeks. trance late they want to see if they want to keep this guy around or not. >> not too concerned about that. whatever recommends i get, opportunities i get i'll make the most of them. whether it's one rep, fourth quarter recommends, it's on his call. just want to be ready. >> a nice band-aid. mike shanahan announced they'll be back at redskins park, able

to work out with trainers, but won't do activitys with the team. starting a four-game suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy. numbers don't always tell everything. in this case it does. the wizards played better last night. they lost but played better. john wall didn't turn it over as much. he's much more aggressive. the team was back to work today; and afterwards sounders the head man said the offense was good at times last night, but he really liked the intangibles. >> there's no question, not even from the first game; but, you know, we've gotten better defensively. a little more aggressive, rotations were better. what i would like to see is the young guys finish it up at the end. a good experience to may against a veteran team. some college hoops. not. have you seen the ranks lately? georgetown is 16 in the country. a big one coming up. memphis in town, rematch they played in maui earlier this season when the hoy i can't say

upset them thursday night. stay tuned. >> i don't think there's any lack of confidence or -- you know, we know we escaped with our team. >> a lot of challenges when you win the first game. you know they'll come out harder next game. they're going to be trying to beat you because you beat them the first game. >> all right. feel-good final story here. in 2005 braylon edwards promised 80 eighth graders he would give them scholarship money if they graduated high school with a 2-5 gpa. 79 of them did it. they graduated this year, $790,000 to the kicker. almost his entire salary. so braylon is doing a good thing, but -- >> very good thing. >> yeah. he gets it right. >> [ laughter ] >> it's a very good thing. >> and that's all for 9 news at 6. stay with us. the cbs evening news is next. the obama write-offs is a good thing. >> no. >> we have the area's only

local newscast. >> always on at wusa9.com. have a good night