my constituents. reporter: harry thomas, jr., 51 years of age apologizing for his crimes today. a short time before that inside the u.s. district courthouse he told a federal judge that he was guilty chargessed of two felonies while in office as a d.c. councilman. in a plea bargain agreement that forced him to resign from office last night thomas admits to stealing more than 350,000 public dollars that had been earmarked by the d.c. council for youth baseball programs. >> time and time again, mr. thomas used for his personal gain taxpayer funds that were intended to benefit this city's most important resource, its children. reporter: u.s. attorney says harry thomas, jr. had help, people in nonprofits that he had identified helped kick back huge sums to thomas which he converted to his personal use. more than $58,000 for a luxury suv, nearly $24,000 for a motorcycle, 19,000 for air travel and luxury vacations,

$7,000 for personal clothes, $5,000 for restaurants. >> almost immediately upon taking office he made a decision that he was going to systematically steal funds. reporter: d.c. at large countsman vincent orange had represented the -- councilman vincent orange had represented the same ward 5 area as thomas. he was in the courtroom today. >> harry said guilty as charged, i mean just, you know, the pain inside. reporter: romaine thomas, a long time democratic political activist and mother to harry thomas, jr., she was also in the courtroom today. >> they're my children and the lord right now, so i'm just blessed. reporter: harry thomas, jr. tonight is free on his own recognizance due back on may 3rd for sentencing. bruce johnson, 9 news now from downtown washington. after today's hearing the council held a meeting about how to move forward. it set the date for a special election to fill thomas' seat. that will be may 5th.

chairman kwame brown suggested getting rid of the youth investment trust, but other council members disagreed saying it still helps out d.c. kids. a judge did not hesitate today to give a grandmother the full recommended sentence for killing her granddaughter. carmela dela rosa was convicted of throwing that little girl off a walkway at tysons corner. reporter: i'm peggy fox in fairfax where carmela dela rosa received a jury recommended sentence of 35 years in prison for killing her granddaughter. what do you guys think about the sentencing? is it fair? >> a little harsh. reporter: before receiving the sentence the 51-year-old grandmother stood before the court and cried as she said, "i'm very sorry for what i've done." and she apologized to her daughter cat and james whose daughter she killed. >> her motive was jealousy, anger and revenge. reporter: on november 29th as the family walked out of tysons corner food court she picked up and threw her 2 1/2-year-old

granddaughter angelyn ogdoc off a 50-foot high bridge to her death. >> it's been a long arduous case for the family. they suffered greatly. >> she loved her granddaughter and would never do anything purposely to hurt her. her mental illness is the only reason, the only explanation for what happened. reporter: >> that was peggy fox. police are looking for the driver in a hit and run crash in oxon hill. that person struck a man and woman this morning in the 6200 block of oxon hill road. both went to the hospital. we don't have word on their condition now. police say they did recover some evidence and believe the victims were hit by a gray compact car there in oxon hill. family and friends are still trying to figure out how to pay for the funeral of another accident victim. nick clayton's short troubled life ended suddenly in a bethesda car crash early new year's day. his mother died just six months previously. his home had been condemned and

nick had apparently struggled since discovering his brother dead of a heroin overdose 10 years earlier. his friends want to bury him next to his mom and brother at the gate of heaven cemetery in rockville, but they have no idea how to cover the costs. >> it's really scary, but i have faith, you know. nick had a good heart. he would do the exact same thing for any one of us. >> we want to give him a nice funeral, you know. he deserved it. he really deserved it. he was a good kid. >> snowden funeral home is accepting donations by phone or check to cover the costs of a service and burial plot for nick clayton. republican presidential hopefuls head into their final weekend of campaigning before the first primary and it will happen tuesday in new hampshire. as danielle nottingham reports, a not so close race in the granite state is making south carolina increasingly important. reporter: rick santorum continued his campaign across

new hampshire before big crowds and big questions. >> i was wondering how you say that you want less government control except you say the gay and lesbian people shouldn't be married, adopt kids and serve in the military. >> but it's not a right. it's a privilege, same thing with marriage. reporter: mitt romney returned to new hampshire but started in south carolina where he focused his attacks on president obama. >> what would happen if we elect someone without experience to the white house? now we know. reporter: a new poll of south carolina voters shows romney gaining 17 points since last month knocking a stumbling newt gingrich to third place. rick santorum jumped from 4% to a second place 19% of ron paul is rallying supporters in nashua hoping to dent mitt romney's big lead and a state whose motto is live free or die should be friendly territory for the libertarian leaning candidate. >> the message is still developing. this message is still trying to get out there and i think he's

making headway of. reporter: paul hasn't been in new hampshire since december. jon huntsman is hoping voters notice. >> i'm betting that politics is still done the old-fashioned way in this state and nays you have to be seen, heard -- that is you have to be seen, heard and felt. reporter: huntman picked up a critical endorsement from the boston globe which chose him over romney, the former massachusetts governor. >> santorum is looking to continue his surge in south carolina. his campaign says he'll go back there on sunday. the fight over the virginia republican party loyalty oath is growing. today the aclu said it will file a federal lawsuit if the party doesn't get rid of it. the oath requires virginia republican voters to sign a pledge to support the candidate that wins the state's primary, whoever that is. the aclu says that puts a severe burden on those voters. the civil rights group told inside nova the voters who do not feel they can make this promise in good faith will be

deterred from exercising their right to vote in the republican primary. in maryland opponents to the state's dream act have a new ally. the legal watch group judicial watched asked the maryland circuit court dismiss a lawsuit aimed at blocking a state referendum on this issue. over the summer people against the law collected more than 130,000 signatures to get it put on the ballot this year, but cost of maryland sued. judicial watched argued the referendum is a voters right to keep the government in check. >> what a way to wrap up the week, clear skies and temperatures in the 50s. let's keep it nice for every one's friday plans. >> i think so. a spring-like night. we hit 53 here officially. i'm up on the ladder. i'm going to take the lights down. i have one more mild day tomorrow as well. you know how it is when it's in the 20s and 30s and your hands are freezing and the cords are

frozen. this is the time to do it. it's still 53 downtown, 55 gaithersburg, 52 leesburg, 48 now in fredericksburg, 46 in oakland but still not bad. satellite picture, a few clouds high and midlevel, now clear skies. for tonight we're looking at a very nice night, clear skies, chilly with temperatures in the 30s across the board and winds a little breezy southwesterly at about 10, occasionally 10 to 15. we'll come back and talk about a cold front that will roll through tomorrow. we'll let you know what that means for sunday and a look ahead to next week. you would think this warm weather would be killing ski resorts while raking in green fees, but we'll show you a place open for both skiing and golfing. that's ahead. but first virginia governor bob mcdonnell approved state funding for the dulles metro project, but he's got some strings to attach. we'll explain next. 9 traffic now is brought to you by geico.

virginia is offering up more state funding for the dulles metrorail project. the fairfax times reports governor bob mcdonnell signed off on the funding agreement for the project and that includes an additional $150 million from the commonwealth, but, yes, there's a but, there are strings attached. mcdonnell wants his two new appointees to be seated on the

metropolitan washington airport authority board. he also wants to ensure the project contracts don't violate virginia's right to work laws. the airport authority president and chairman plan to meet with the governor's staff to see what they can work out. now you'll have to judge for yourself. take a look at this photo. does this belong in a high school year book? the young lady there says yeah, i want it in the year book, but the school and year book editor say no. this is too racy. that student is 18-year-old sidney spees and she's considering legal action against colorado's durango high school to get that photo in the year book. sidney says she plans to be a model and this photo is a good expression of what i am as a person and cindy apparently has her mom's support. okay. you thought it was nice outside today, wait until this weekend. yes, in january. topper tells us how warm it will get in his full forecast coming up.

but first paying for parking by cell phone, city leaders pitched it as being with oh, so convenient, but it's costing some people hundreds in fines. we'll explain what's gone wrong. is

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. after entertaining people for almost a century the old town theater in alexandria is closing its doors for good. the theater will show its last movies this weekend. old town opened in 1914, the first permanent theater ever in alexandria. over the years it's shown

everything from vaudeville acts to puppet shows and even modern day hollywood thrillers. the theater's new moderns, pma properties, say they'll probably rent the old town out for retail space. paying for parking by phone has become very popular in d.c., but for a couple dozen people a day convenience has turned into serious frustration. elizabeth stone has received three tickets by mistake so far and has paid more than $150 in fines and overdraft fees. the company that supplies the software says they're working to fix this problem. park mobile said it could be a technical delay and ddot said it could be humaner roar on the part of the officer. -- human error on the part of the officer. stone just wants it fixed. >> overall i've been frustrated, but there's no better alternative that i can see. it's a broken system. >> 99.75% of the time the transactions work as designed. the system works great. people like it.

there are a few occasions where people get tickets in error and those tickets can be adjudicated and we're obviously working to ensure that doesn't happen and try to reduce the number of those. >> let's talk about some numbers. ddot and park mobile say there are about 25 mistakes out of 10,000 daily users. they say they're working with the affected folks and the system to correct the problem for everybody. after struggling so far this season area ski resorts will be open for business this weekend despite the mild weather. iron which i so will the got courses -- iron which i so will the golf courses. -- ironically so will the golf courses. we'll show you where you can do both. reporter: freezing cold and then up to 60 degrees today has made for a loot of fun. call it the liberty mountain resort biathalon. that would be skiing over here and golf over there. >> i have the greatest job in the world.

reporter: steve martin is manager of mountain and golf operations. >> i can make money on both sides of the street today. >> i'm skiing in the morning and i have a 1:00 tee time this afternoon, january 6, 2012. reporter: just 36 hours ago it was in the teens and 20s here. ski liberty was wildly pumping water to make manmade snow. finally getting the mountain open from top to bottom for the first time this season. are you relieved? >> i am relieved. respect eric flynn is the general manager. >> it was a little bit of a late start, but we're open now. people are coming out. it's going to be great fun this weekend. now i could totally see you skiing and golfing in one day. >> i've never done that. i do have friends that have done that. it would be like a perfect day, wouldn't continue? >> did you see how excited that

woman was. >> 63 today. the record was 73. it was more like mid to late march. we are looking at at least one more mile day tomorrow, a cold front goes through -- mild day tomorrow. a cold front goes through tomorrow evening. let's start with a weather cam, shot of the white house live, a great night, a light jacket probably should do it. temperature is down to 53. it is january, air mass is dry. so temps will fall a little tonight, winds south, southwest at 8, dew point up to 30 and pressure steady at 29.85 inches of mercury. let's talk about what's going to happen. look at the temps, 56 bethesda, 55 gaithersburg, 51 andrews, 54 great falls, 54 in reston. temps are in the 30s overnight, but that's mild for this time of jeep. mild, cooler, you're okay tonight -- year. mild, cooler, you're okay with

a light jacket. we'll watch a storm monday problem pass to our south. right now we're thinking maybe light rain in the northern neck, maybe as far as southern maryland. earlier in the week we thought it may produce light snow and/or rain, probably not quite cold enough. for tonight, clear, chilly, lows in the 30s and winds southwest at about 10, occasionally 10 to 15. look at the lows. everybody stays above freezing tonight which is kind of unusual for january. 35 gaithersburg, 36 rockville, 39 arlington, upper 30s college park and bowie. to the west mid-30s. still 36 in reston is not too far off the average high, 34 in leesburg and manassas down towards middleburg. tomorrow morning mostly sunny, breezy, grab your sunglasses, 30s and 40s, winds southwest 10 to 15 ahead of the front. by afternoon, partly cloudy, breezy, mild again but some increasing clouds as the cold front approaches, but highs 54

to 59. winds will turn northwesterly at 10 to 15 behind the front. zone forecast, well, our friends in oakland are still in the upper 40s, mid-50s in cumberland and hagerstown and winchester, almost 60 in culpeper, 56 in leesburg and fairfax. upper 50s by the bay. there's a small craft advisory for the bay and tidal potomac. there's the cooler weather. everything is relative, i suppose. 409 sunday behind the front, 50 monday -- 49 sunday behind the front, 50 on monday, maybe a sprinkle south of town. beautiful day tuesday, clouds coming in late. we're back in the 50s. a soaking rain on wednesday and perhaps some arctic air wrapping behind that thursday and friday. >> then things will be swift weather. >> yeah. like january. >> like they -- sweater weather. >> yeah, like january. if you're looking for a new

job, there's a website that can help you get into a field that almost guarantees getting hired. we'll talk about that after the break.

the one thriving finance and real estate secretary -- the once thriving finance and real estate sectors are struggling to do better, but one sector is doing better, computer sciences and some students are turning to technology to make big money. >> hey, how are you? reporter: 21-year-old zach sims is one of the masterminds behind the new site cocadamy. in the first four days of the year alone the free site has

signed up 130,000 new tuesdayers eager to crack the code -- users eager to crack the code of learning code. >> it's pretty staggering to see the numbers of people that signed up. reporter: proof positive that there's still a massive craving around the globe to develop the next big thing. >> i think programming is the most important skill in the 21st century and i think people are finally starting to realize that. there are a lot of women and people that wouldn't traditionally be learning to program. reporter: learning code is a first step and can ultimately lead to finding a job in an economy starved for computer professionals and young people are taking notice. new york institute of technology's manhattan campus is seeing a 40% rise in applications from students who might have been lured into once hot professions like finance years ago. >> this is not just a cycle. this is here to staith. reporter: the dean of the institute says demand should remain robust for years. >> not just about coding because coding can be outsourced. it's more the thrill of

inventing and creating new technology, new software of. reporter: one success story at the school, 21-year-old robert pinkerton who only weeks ago received his diploma. >> i graduated this december 2011 with a degree from nyt in computer engineering and i received about 10 potential job offers in the time of maybe a month and a half. >> what happened? reporter: meanwhile back at the office i took a stab at my first line of code. >> now you need the parenthesis right next to there. reporter: i see. zach sims says even though who never become crack computer programmers can still benefit from learning the code. >> floss a great book awhile ago -- there was a great book a while ago about programmers be programmed. it's sort of a better way to live your life to understand what you're using of. reporter: a great resolution as we enter 2012 and my first ever computer programming grade? >> passed with flying colors of. reporter: he has to say that.

he's sitting right there. watch out, mark zuckerberg. a big reason for the jump in applications, the staggering number of kids, majors, who get hired, 94% of nyu computer science grads got jobs last spring. 94%. that is our report. i'll be back mere at 11:00 along with -- here at 11:00 along with topper shutt looking ahead to the weekend. don't forget we're always on www.wusa9.com. i'm anita brikman. have a great weekend.

now, "entertainment tonight," the most watched entertainment newsmagazine in the world. katy perry's preacher parents speak out about their daughter's divorce. >> you know why my daughter is where she is at today? >> what they're telling the congregation about katy. then, drew barrymore's new ring. britney spears. steven tyler. jessica and justin. "e.t.'s" engagement report card. which couples will actually make it down the aisle? i'm back. >> mary hart returns to "e.t." today and she's taking us backstage with brad and george. >> they tease each other. >> plus, her most candid moment from the palm springs international film festival. >> i can't believe what you said up there. mr. gyllenhaal. >> he said my name. hollywood's exorcism obsession. from the exorcist to this new horror movie,