24-year-old anthony vincent left his 2-year-old daughter home alone in their first floor apartment for a whole day. after the mother's urgent call, the property manager unlocked the door to find the little girl severely mall nourished in a heavily soiled diaper wearing only a sweater. we found a laundry list of charges dating back to 1987, including armed robbery and assault. but it was this domestic violence charge that tells more the story. arrested about a month ago, vincent was ordered to stay away from the child's mother but a week later the charges were dismissed. she never showed up to court. >> the door slamming, the name calling, the yelling. >> reporter: neighbors say police responded to the house several times. the couple only lived here for a few months. >> he was, you know -- he beat up on her. a couple of times police came out and she didn't pursue what

was offered to her. i guess the fear of him or his reaction behind it, she didn't take it. >> reporter: the mother is still in the hospital. the little girl is safe in child protective services. near republicans or democrats seem ready to budge on their demands for passing the extension. they tried to bring up the extension today but the gop blocked it and then adjourned the session. house republicans refused to pass the two month extension already approved by the senate earlier this week. instead they want the senators to come back to work out a year long deal. democrats say, no, they won't do that. they still want the house to pass the senate plan before they start on any negotiations. >> very frankly, what has happened is the republicans have taken hostage those 160 million people. >> and all we're asking for is to get the senate members over here to work with us to resolve

our differences so we can do what everybody wants to do. extend the payroll tax credit for the next year. >> president obama called both party leaders today. he praised the majority leaders for working out the bipart seen dealpartisan deal. republicans and congress now gaining support from one of the gop presidential candidates tonight. former house speaker newt gingrich. the two month extension is insufficient and he blames senate democrats for approving that instead of a full year version. gingrich also criticized what he called the game playing over the tax cut. the republican presidential candidates right here in northern virginia tonight for a campaign rally, and we will have full coverage of that tonight at 9news now at 11:00. the politicians in one connecticut town could have one group to cater their campaigns to immigrants.

he plans to ask the state legislature to pass a registered voting rights bill. that would allow any person to vote in local elections, and that includes people who are not u.s. citizens or are even in this country illegally. the bill would allow all that live in the community a say in what happens there. several cities already allow non-residents to vote. so should illegal residents get a chance to vote? they work in towns and cities and political decisions do have an impact on their lives? or should such rights be reserved for only those that are citizens. send your thoughts to mail bag at wusa9.com. well, the state of maryland has decided to lease slot machines instead of buy them. the board of public votes voted

to approve the lease today. that will pay for 4700 slots at the casino. the maryland lot ee says it will allow the state to more easily replace out dated or unpopular machines. but state comptroller voted against the lease plan. he says he's opposed to slots altogether. >> i remain disgusted by the fact that we as a state are holding on to this idea that slots are a solution to our fiscal challenges. >> slot machines are a predatory scheme that takes money from people that can't afford it. the other two board members, governor martin o'malley voted for the lease. maryland expects to bring in more than $360 million from the casino next year. an update now on our breaking news from 5:00. we are getting our first visual from the scene of the deadly shooting involving police officers in prince williams county. it happened near jefferson davis highway and brady field road in dumfries.

investigators tell us an officer shot a burglary suspect when he moved towards them and threatened them with a gun. a win for pepco customers. the maryland commission fined them a million bucks. pepco will also have to file a detailed report on how it plans to fix those issues. the psc started looking into the utility back in august of 2010 when politicians and customers complained bitterly about the summer outages. verizon wireless customers meantime woke up to spotty data connections once again. the issues is mainly on their 4 g network. the service was slow getting back to normal as the company confirmed it was working to fix the outage. this comes just weeks after a similar incident when the company saw widespread outages. you cannot beat 60 degrees

in december. but the rain has just made for a bit of a damper of a day. topper, a chance it will go away? >> it's three weeks now off to the east across the bay. windy out here but a warm wind. temperatures still around 60. let's start with the satellite picture and radar combined. we'll see all of the showers across the bay. we have a break before the next storm rolls in here. clouds are going to hang tough. 60 downtown. it's 52 in oakland across the divide. the only pocket of cold air is 45 up in cumberland. that is not all that cold. for tonight then we've removed showers. lows 45-52. winds out of the west at 10. these winds will calm dawn in about six hours or so. on the weather terrace, these are called care free roses and it's a new bud there, a new rose, it is late december and they are still blooming. these are incredible plants. but that shows you how incredibly warm it is. we'll come back and talk about the next chance for rain in a bit. it's a harbinger.

>> i hope not. 23 years looking for justice and we may now be finally seeing signs of a break through. the families of the victims remembered the bombing of pan am flight 103 at a memorial at arlington national cemetery. the ambassador of the new libyan government told them qaddafi must have ordered the attacks that killed 273 people on the ground and in the air but others carried out the plots and the families are still hoping they can be arrested. >> is there a chance that the new libyan government will arrest more people who were involved in this and extradite them to the united states? >> when we have the election not only the government, election of the council. we're more comfortable to discuss what issue is connected to this problem. >> but the ambassador also promised he would help, and if the libyan people are partners with the american. fbi director robert mueller told bruce leshan he is hoping for

more rest soon. still to come, searching everywhere just for a little snow. what local ski resorts say they need mother nature to do to salvage what has been a snowless season. but first fighting. the faa makes rule changes to make sure airline pilots are well rested. you'll want to know about that. that is coming up next. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices...

in more ways than ever.

and our networks are getting crowded. but if congress frees up more wireless spectrum... we can empower more people to innovate... putting momentum behind our economy. and we can reduce the deficit... with more than thirty billion dollars paid by america's wireless companies. it's simple -- more spectrum means more freedom. for everyone.

you know, as you pack those bags for your holiday flight, you just might want to leave the knives and daggers alone. one passenger didn't do that and, well, they got stopped by the tsa. an agency spokesman says the officer found two of the ninja style daggers inside a hollowed out book in the person's carry on as it rolled on through the conveyor belt. the passenger voluntarily surrendered the knives and the book. the passenger was not a security threat and they filed no charges. airline pilots will soon get some more sleep. the federal aviation administration announced today that airlines must give pilots 10 hours to rest between shifts. and that is two more than they have right now. the faa's new rules also limit flight times to no more than 8 or 9 hours and require pilots to get 30 consecutive hours a week off the job. transportation secretary says the changes mark a major

milestone in our safety. >> this is a big deal today. this is as far as our government has ever gone to send a loud message to the american public that we're going to continue to make flying safe. >> those new rules get started in two years. now, the faa tried to address fight fatigue back in the 90s, but they backed off when the airlines complained. the rule changed, got a brand new push after a regional flight crashed near buffalo, new york, in 2009 and 50 people were killed. investigators ruled pilot fatigue was a major factor. well, the winter officially gets going tomorrow, so what will it feel like outside. top tells us in his forecast coming up. but first. >> imagine spending five hours a day in public transportation. a local woman has been doing just that. but today she got a car. i'm lindsey mastis. that story is coming up.

the washington dc veterans affairs medical center and wusa#9d salute all that serve at home and abroad this holiday season. >> hi. my name is clifford george stationed here in afghanistan. i want to send a happy holidays to my mom, my dad, my sister michelle and brother george in silver spring, maryland. happy holidays and i love you. well, a lot of us would complain we spend way too much time behind the wheel, but

imagine trying to get where you're going by using only public transportation. and we're talking places that metrorail doesn't go. you throw two young kids into the mix, and you can begin to understand what life has been like for bethesda residents. well, today lindsey mastis was there when shaneta got the keys to a brand new car. >> reporter: this is a moment she has never experienced. >> this is the best christmas ever. my first car. >> reporter: the mother of two spends upwards of 5 hours on the bus and metrorail going from her home in bethesda to her job in gaithersburg and even to her children's day care and school. >> my son really, really wanted to do after school projects. so with the commute, we couldn't do it. >> reporter: now she's the owner of a 2001 toyota camry thanks for the vehicles for change. >> we're the only program that takes a donated car and repairs the car. >> reporter: martin schwartz for vehicles for change says

they team up with organizations like the housing authority to find deserving low income families. the car is used. it has its bumps and bruises. but it runs. and it will be able to go back and forth between bethesda and gaithersburg every single day. >> i'm already getting more hours at work. once they knew i was getting the car, they said, okay, can you work more hours. i said sure. i sure can. >> reporter: godfrey did not get the car for free. she has to pay $750. she'll do so over the course of a year. it will help her establish credit. >> this is the best feeling in the world to drive my own car. >> reporter: in kensington, i'm lindsey mastis, 9news now. >> and schwartz says people that donate the vehicles for change get a tax deduction for the fair market value of their car. well, as we hit the first days of winter after the first day of winter, it looks like santa is about to deliver a lump of cole to the region's -- coal

to the region's ski resorts. the employees have no work right now. resorts manage to make a little snow during the cold nights last week, but not enough. >> i think people will be really surprised once they see how quickly we can turn a mountain that doesn't have any mountain into a mountain that does. if we get halfway cold temperatures of 29 degrees over two or three days, we can start skiing. >> maybe so. but take a look at the map. it shows the resorts that are open are in green. but most of them have very little snow to show for it. and topper has a long face to show for that. >> i mean, i do. they can make some snow saturday night, christmas eve night and christmas night. it will be in the upper 20s. next week they might be able to make it. it's going to melt every day. then they get mashed potatoes. 60 today. our average high is 45.

our lows are above our average high. let's start with the satellite picture and the radar combined. we're going to get rid of one storm. we'll get rid of a little energy. it doesn't look like much in texas. this is going to be our next storm as we get into tomorrow night. we have about 24 hours in between storms. the clouds are going to stay tough. but the warm air is going to also hang tough and be with us right on through tomorrow night. this is the area that is now just coming into texas. you can kind of see the tropical jet coming on board here and that is going to roll in here again tomorrow night. in the meantime the first storm is pretty much gone. all of the showers across the bay. the frontal boundary is to the west of us. 60 in bethesda, rockville. 59 in arlington. 60 in springfield and 60 in reston. we would be pretty happy with these temperatures in october, let alone late december. so here is the deal. mild through thursday. mild again tonight. it looks like both commutes

tomorrow will be dry. both the morning and evening commute. the rain comes in quickly thereafter on thursday night. and behind this system dry and just a little bit cooler on friday. but we trade the 60s for 50s on friday. so not exactly in our boundary. here is the future cast. clouds hanging tough tonight at 12:45. winter will have arrived by then. it comes in at 12:30. the showers will linger in the mountains, especially across the divide. and clouds will linger tomorrow, but we're going to stay dry and mild. this is 1:15 lunch time. take a walk. you don't need your umbrella. you won't even need a jacket with temperatures around 60. look what happens tomorrow night. we're still dry and this stuff comes racing at us by 12:00 or 1:00 until the morning. now we're looking at orange and yellow. that is moderate to heavy activity. it's going to be a much more organized system. a much more dynamic system. probably an inch of rain across the board before friday morning. and i think by friday morning everything will be out of here and this model is indicating

except for the mountains. for tonight then most lou cloudy, quite mild -- mostly cloudy, quite mild. tomorrow morning mostly cloudy and mild. you'll need a light jacket. temps in the 40s and 50s and winds light and westerly at about 10 and then by afternoon we stay dry at least through the day. at least through the evening anyway. mostly cloudy. high temps around 60. winds out of the southeast at about 10. now, the next seven days, again we're a little cooler on friday. but not much. 53. we're chilly on -- excuse me, chilly on saturday with redskins game but sunny. a nice day for football. and christmas -- i think it's going to be okay. clouds come in, but i think everything slides south of us. we'll hang on to a drop right now for christmas night and then, derek, next week we're around 50 monday, tuesday and wednesday. >> not bad. unless you were counting on a white christmas. >> yes. >> it's a green christmas. >> most definitely. we'll be back in a minute.

thanks.

in the mail bag tonight, that leesburg christmas display controversy vaulting back up to the top of the pile after our report yesterday on the display at the courthouse featuring something called the flying spaghetti monster and its own weird version of a nativity scene. some christians deeply offended by that. others just wishing the whole thing would go away. we were semi planning to move to leesburg because everyone says it's so charming. now i wonder, they should probably eliminate the decorations at the courthouse since it's caused such a brew ha

ha and hard feelingdz. there are a lot -- feelings. there are a lot of folks that would agree with you. they would like nothing better. but remember loudoun county has control over this particular building and whatever goes into that display. meanwhile daryle in virginia wonders why are we hearing so much from these so-called eight yis atheist. -- atheist. if for when the time comes i am ready to defend my ago nos agnosticism. it's one thing to exercise your freedom of speech and expression, but do you need to take something sacred from others and desecrate it. do you know, while i would agree it's rude to mock someone's religion, i'll also point out that while freedom of speech is

protected by our constitution, there is no right to go through life unoffended. personally, i'm never offended by your e-mails. just drop me a line. the address mail bag at wusa9.com. that is our report. i'll be right back here tonight at 11:00 along with anita brikman. don't forget we're always on at wusa9.com. have a good evening. we'll see you later. bye-bye. ♪

[ female announcer ] this time of year you have a lot of festive meals. and safeway helps make every holiday meal a special occasion. ♪ so you can make all of your gatherings, just as merry as can be. get a safeway smoked shank half ham for just 99 cents a pound. need last minute gifts? safeway has hundreds of gift cards. including itunes and many others. safeway. ingredients for life.

now, "entertainment tonight," the most watched entertainment news magazine in the world. clooney and keibler's romantic holiday getaway. >> i may be taking a trip. >> what stacey told us about her christmas in cabo with george. katherine holiday's message with her adopted sister. steven tyler faces off with his girlfriend. >> there was some behavior i'm ashamed of. i shouldn't have done. oprah's return, put .ing 9 idol judge on the spot. >> is it possible to remain monogamous? >> for all the divorces i had, i hurt those girls deeply. ♪ >> jennifer hudson's duet with her former heavier self. as we break down hollywood's heavier slim downs. >> you shouldn't have to be deprived, should you, mark. >> no. >> kaley cuoco without her engagement ring. is she h