last year, there were 485 assaults on metro trains. that includes 75 aggravated assaults involving guns, knives or other dangerous weapons used with the intent to rob, kill or rape. 17 assaults were reported on metro buses last year, including 41 involving a deadly weapon. 34 assaults happened in metro parking lots and metro bus stops weren't immune to violence. so far this year between january 1 and july 1, 900 assaults have been report on metro trains. another 80 on metro buses. to put all this in context a metro spokesman says the current crime rate on metro rail is just over five in 1 million riders. the current crime rate on metro bus, less than one in a

million. we put all the documents we obtained online. just go to our website. >> while we still have you here, what are the stations that have the most crime? >> it was interesting to see, without a doubt the two where the most assaults occurred were gallery place, chinatown and the plaza -e. police now looking for the clues to a brutal assault in capital shiites. a 70-year-old woman was severely beaten as she leapt in her bed in the 500 block of drum avenue. >> reporter: ta knee agreen awoke to her 70-year-old neighbor, who had just been

severely beaten by an intruder, leaving a trail of blood. the victim crossed the street to green's home. >> i insisted she would go to the hospital. >> reporter: because she didn't think she was that badly injured. they had beat her so severe in the face, her eye was split. >> she right now suffers from a broken nose, fractured eye socket and also bleeding on the brain. >> reporter: police say the suspect broke into the elderly woman's drum avenue home overnight, ransacked the house but nothing appears to be stolen. even when detectives found the victim's purse, it still had all her cash and valuables inside. >> reporter: from the first occurrence, she and i think

them not finding it, they took vengeance out on her. >> reporter: anyone with information should call prince george's county police right away. in capital heights, 9news now,. it is going to be a grim holiday season for a family living in southeast dc. flames broke out in the 700 block of congress street this morning. three firefighters were unaccounted for, but they did make it out safely. the house belonged to the mother of lee washington. >> stressed out. her nerves are bad. >> >> we are just trying to get her in better spirits. especially because we were going to have 30 or 40 people in our house for christmas dinner so everything is in the house.

investigators are still trying to determine what caused the fire. the brand new air jordans are feeding a shoe frenzy across the country. mayhem ensued. the police had to use pepper spray. as many as 500 people began gathering after midnight. >> reporter: what time did you get here? >> at 4:00 in the morning. >> reporter: why did you have to stay out here and get these shoes? >> the air jordans, everybody wants these. everybody. these come out about every six years, i would say. i just needed these. >> reporter: just needed them. he paid 190 bucks for them as well but says he will never actually wear them.

he said he has to keep them in mint condition. by the way, four people attempting to buy the shoes were arrested at the lake forest mall. after a week of high stakes, capitol hill drama, congress quietly passed the extension of the payroll cut today. they took a political beating for holding it up. the senate majority leader harry reid said everything we do around here does not have to wind up in a fight. they call it a mission of love. volunteers with the mission of love charities spreading some holiday cheer today. they were handing out food baskets and toys from their headquarters in haupt heights maryland. charities still accepting donations from the remainder of the year and of course into next year. the calendar says winter but our milder temperatures are tricking our freeze and flowers into thinking it is more like

spring. >> not christmas like. >> reporter: usually two days before christmas we are bundled up inside around decorated trees. >> i came from california so it is basically the same in california. >> reporter: usually we are not seeing things like this. spring bulbs pushing through the ground, daffodils threatening to burst their blossoms too early and they are ocherry tree buds. >> we are concerned on and off with the weather like this the trees are going to get nined and. >> david christie says don't worry. >> reporter: a lot of your spring bloomers will send leaves up even in the late winter or during the fall and then spring the flowers will bloom just as you would expect.

>> reporter: the bulbs and cherry trees can't bloom until they get a certain amount of very cold weather. >> inside of here is a little embryonic flower. this flower is not going to rise up here until it has met the minimum chilling requirements. >> reporter: rest assured the blossoms will come when they are supposed to. there is plenty of time to plant more bulbs. out here at the christmas tree lot, i think i would rather have corn for popping as the song goes. peggy fox in mcclain. annie, we have to look on the bright side don't we? >> reporter: we sure do. we are talking about pretty good weather here as a lot of folks are heading out of town. the family coming into town to celebrate the holiday weekend. we have quiet weather setting up, lots of sunshine. a few clouds rolling in tonight, but we are talking dry for saturday, christmas eve and

christmas day. right now temperatures are falling. it is chilly out hire. 48 degrees downtown. 50 down south in fredericksburg. culpepper. 46 degrees. definitely colder compared to the last few nights. lows in the 30s under light winds. i have your full forecast for christmas and the redskins, coming up a little bit later. back to you. a high school student says he is being discriminated against for his choice of foot wear. a look at his fight to wear high heels to school and why administrators say he can't do that. still ahead on 9news now. home for the holiday. a local national guard air unit returned from afghanistan. you are going to see some of them, still ahead. but first it is called aero shot. we'll tell you about the move to keep a caffeine inhaler from hitting store shelves january 1st.

hi we are stationed in germany and are saying a big hello and merry christmas to uncle bob. some members of congress are calling for more research before a caffeine inhaler hits the store shelves. the inhaler, called aero shot -s scheduled to be released at the first of the year. boston and new york will be the first test markets but not everyone is on board with the device that allows you to inhale your shot of joe. each shot of the inhaler contains about 100 milligrams of caffeine. coming up on 9news now, holiday travel is a real hassle

right? apparently not this year. we are going to head out live to cw i marshall airport

from the bedroom you could see the fire and that work me right up. and it was absolutely terrifying. we got out of there as quickly as we could. i'm watching the house burn up and i'm sitting there saying, there goes everything. these days you don't have to lose your house in a fire to know what it's like to be left on the edge in the cold. the shelter gave us a place to stay. and citizens energy helped the shelter with heat. i'm excited to finally have a place of my own. citizens energy is helping us with the oil. citizens energy was created to help the forgotten ones keep warm. we asked the big oil companies and oil producing nations to help. only citgo and the people of venezuela said yes. and this year, in spite of soaring fuel prices, congress cut home heating assistance nearly in half. while people need help more than ever. for the last seven years, citgo has helped families and homeless shelters in good times and in bad. thanks joe and thanks citgo.

so if you need help staying warm this winter give me a call because no one should be left out in the cold. best wishes and happy christmas to my family out in maryland, my mom, brother, sister-in-law, all my other siblings. love you guys, see you soon. we turn our attention now to all the people trying to get home for the holidays. unlike most holiday seasons, this one is pretty mild so far. and for airline passengers, that is making for some clear skies and smooth trips.

our scott broom is live at the airport with the story from there. >> reporter: things are going great here at bwi tonight. there are not long lines. the security system is working great. but what is really great is what is going on downstairs. the reunions, i call it kiss and cry time here at the airport and grandparents are within their rights to go overboard >> reporter: hugs breaking out, everywhere you look. the romantic kind, the kind two sisters give when it's been a long, long time yes, it is the holidays at the airport and for granted parents it is no holds barred. anening gallon is from bethesda. granddaughter marion is from atlanta. >> she knows santa is going to find her in maryland this year. >> reporter: meanwhile over here, that is nancy greeting six-month-old grandson chance

from fort lauderdale. >> he looks like a little elf. his dad is in kuwait. >> i'm very proud of the men and women over there. i hope he comes home safely, that is all. >> reporter: there is john bailey meeting grandkids berkeley and sadie from phoenix. >> it is nerve welcome back and go also sad because we don't get to see them every day. seeing them when you do makes it more special. >> once you get here, you forget about all the crying and screaming and cheese crackers all over the seat. it will be a memory for all of us. >> reporter: 43.3 million people traveling this holiday season by air. a lot of them obviously kids and grandparents which low as some of the rest of us down but after seeing all that, i would say it is worth it.

reporting live at bwi airport where things are moving smooth tonight, scott broom. a happy homecoming today for servicemen and women. approximately 175 members of the 113th wing were welcomed by the families at the former andrews air force base. the deployed airmen included pilots, and care craft mechanics, intelligence specialists and all kinds of other great folks. they were the first air guard f-16 combat unit in afghanistan. the international space station will be home for a trio of astronauts. their trip concluded with today's rendezvous with the orbiter. they are going to spend the holidays with three other astronauts already on board the space station. back here on earth, you are keeping your eyes on the

national weather picture. because it is kiss and cry central as scott broom would say. >> reporter: the good news is things are looking really quiet. i think good weather for santa to get everyone ready to drop off all the presents for all you good kids out there. as you are heading into the christmas weekend, we are talking about high pressure dominate ago cross the nation. it has been pretty quiet. a couple of spots we are seeing snow. here's a look at the national picture where at the satellite radar we are going to zoom into new mexico. icy conditions, even a major interstate being closed and drivers being stranded on the road. as we head over to the mid-atlantic, our friends giving us pleasant condition. tomorrow should not be as breezy, but it will be another chilly one for saturday as you are finishing up your shopping and getting ready for christmas. here's a look at your temperatures right now.

it does feel chilly out there. 45 in arlington. 45 also in springfield, sterling mid-40s and out toward andrews air force base also in the mid-40s. downtown 48 degrees. temperatures will continue to drop. it is chilly tomorrow. we do get milder. dry and cold for tonight. chilly for the redskins game tomorrow afternoon and christmas day is looking dry and even a little bit milder. for tonight, going out to do some shopping maybe, partly cloudy and cold. bring out the jackets and gloves if you want. a two blanket night. the winds will be light tonight. lows tonight 35 around downtown. low 30s for leesburg. 33 in fredericksburg. for win chest and martinsburg, and hagerstown. here's a look at your saturday forecast. you will need a jacket if you are heading out earlier in the day. the winds in the northwest at 5

to 10. mostly sunny and chilly, highs will be around 45 degrees. here's a look aour zone from the. cumberland 40. low to near mid-40s. around downtown mid-40s, gaithersburg, 5. 46 toward the eastern shore. redskins game mostly sunny and cool. i hope you are in the sun for the game tomorrow afternoon. temperatures near 45 degrees here's your 7-day outlook. milder for christmas day. monday upper 40s, dry. tuesday watching a system to the south of us. temperatures get down into the low 50s. and we are looking at possibly more sunshine for the end of the week. plenty of sun, i'm going to run over here and i'm told i need to wrap things up. >> she is a little winded but that is all right. she made it back to the set. speaking of getting up and

going, it sounds like alex is getting his life back. >> he struggled at the beginning of the season. we finally got good play out of him. he put on one of his best perform man's this week synergraft plus the terrapins get much needed help tonight on the court. those stories and more. the year 2011 we were there with you. we were there for you. when you glanded change, we were your voice. when you needed help, we cared enough to give. >> we except you saved. when it mattered to you it mattered to us. we will continue our commitment to serve you.

alex has struggled out the gate, scored just one goal in 12 games and last thursday he finally notched his tenth goal of the season the longest it has taken him to get to double digits. but he has sloan flashes the superstar is in there. it is a matter of bringing him out more than once every few weeks. >> he is playing good. he is playing very well. and you know, he is playing an all around game the hits are up and he scored a few big goals for us. >> reporter: the one constant for the captain has been at goalie. since replacing him three weeks

ago newbie has allowed three goals in three games. the redskins will have to find another running back to take the load off roy helu. the rookie is battling toe and knee injuries. it would be a big loss for the skins if he can't go. helu has been quite impressive as of late. >> reporter: he has been really turning it on this last month. he has confidence to him. he runs tough. all right terrapins head coach markture gin has done a loot with a little this season. after losing their.guard to a broken foot that left the terrapins with six scholarship players. des spited that they have managed a 6-3 record. tonight they get added help. keyshawn howard is back and will debut. perfect timing for a terrapins squad that has been steadily improving over the course of the season. >> he looks great. has no pain in his foot.

played every drill, every practices. >> things are getting better for us. he is definitely a big help. and finally tonight this is from the coyote panthers game generally speaking you want to check the other guy's teammates, not your own. that is shane, joan and cal o'reilly. i think o'reilly, yeah he gets the brunt of that one. you have got to watch out where your teammates are. hockey gets a little crazy. but you don't want to be the one who has taken out your own teammate. >> that has to hurt when you take out your own teammate, that has to feel worse. take it easy out there, would you? >> that is it for us on 9news now at 6:00. derek will see you for our area's only local newscast and we hope you have a fantastic

christmas this weekend and happy holidays again.