. this is a possession of alcohol case. >> 9 wants you to know the legal consequences of underage drinking. now our cameras are in a courtroom of teenagers sitting in judgment of their peers. plus topper is tracking a quick return to umbrella weather that may include a thunderstorm or two. and some nervous moments for mitt romney as the primary in his home state goes down to the wire. this is 9news now. >> for most of the evening it was too close to call, but less than an hour ago the major networks declared mitt romney has outlasted rick santorum to claim victory in the michigan primary. >> it was one that romney had to have. here are the numbers we have. in michigan romney got 41% of the votes. santorum came in with 38%.

ron paul was third with 12% and newt gingrich who did not contest was in the single digits. as for arizona which also held a primary, romney was never threatened there. he easily won with 48% of the vote and rick santorum came in with 26%. just a few minutes ago an obviously relieved mitt romney stepped in front of his supporters to say what a night. >> thank you, michigan. what a win. this is a big night. thank you, guys. [ cheers and applause ] >> you know, a week ago -- it was just a week ago that the pundits and the poleters were ready to count us out. but across michigan and arizona i kept on meeting moms and dads and students and grandparents and they were worried about what is happening to this great country of ours. and i was confident we could come together today and take a giant step towards a brighter future. >> we came into the back yard of one of my opponents in a race

that everyone said, well, just ignore it. you really have no chance here. and the people of michigan looked into the hearts of the candidates and all i have to say is i love you back. [ cheers and applause ] >> well now for those candidates, it is off to super tuesday where voters in several states, including georgia and the all important ohio, will begin to wrap this thing up for the gop. or not. and don't forget, we have complete 2012 campaign coverage on our website at wusa9.com. there is disturbing news from the pentagon today. a few months ago, the defense department revealed that the unidentified remains of nearly 300 service men and women had been incinerated and then dumped into a landfill. >> and now we're learning today the same things happened to victims in 9/11. it took place at dover air force base in delaware. matt jablow following the story and joins us live with the latest. matt. >> reporter: anita, today's new was a real body blow for friends

and family members of victims of 9/11 who say they have been led to believe for the past 10 years that their loved ones remains had been treated with the utmost dignity. >> it was just like a dream. >> reporter: scott says september 11th, 2011 was the worst day of his life. >> i lost my right hand person. >> reporter: after years of trying to heal the emotional wounds of that terrible day, he feels like his recovery has taken a significant step backwards. >> this is definitely opened up some old wounds. >> reporter: you see, his wife janice, a budget analyst for the army, was one of 184 people killed when american airlines flight 77 slammed into the pentagon on september 11th. >> she was one of the last remains to be identified. >> reporter: only parts of her body was found and he was assured by the defense

department that any unidentifiable body parts would be buried at a mass grave in arlington cemetery. >> that's correct. >> reporter: so you might be able to imagine what he was feeling when he learned today some unidentified human remains were incinerated and dumped in a landfill. >> i'm angry. >> reporter: a 20-year army veteran who retired as a major, he feels like the organization that he devoted much of his life to has let him down and more importantly let his loving wife down as well. >> it's going to take me awhile to recover from this tragic news. >> reporter: having said that, he add ed that he's comforted by the fact that most of the people responsible for improperly disposing of 9/11 remains are no longer with the defense department, though he believes the majority of them got off without being sufficiently punished. >> most of them have retired or separated from the service. and i don't know what they can do in terms of bringing them -- holding accountable. but i'm hoping something can be done. >> reporter:

for their part, pentagon officis said simply that they deeply regret the pain of today's news that has caused so many friends and family members of september 11th victims. anita and derek. >> matt jablow, thank you. prince george's county commissioner karen toles is in hot water tonight after allegations she was driving recklessly in excess of 100 miles an hour and led police on a chase. now what has so many people talking, though, is she got away with what appears to be nothing more than a slap on the wrist. ken molestina is outside her home with more on exactly transpired. ken. >> reporter: yes, anita, this happened last week on the capitol beltway right at about branch avenue. a source within the police department telling us the council woman was going 105 miles per hour in a 55-mile per hour zone. and if that's not shocking enough, she was only ticketed for an illegal lane change and was simply given a warning for going more than 100 miles an hour. now, here is what police are

saying. according to the police, an issuance of a warning citation for the speed is consistent with the discretion applied by police officers. a traffic violation were captured on the in car camera and it will subject to command review. at the moment the video will not be released. the council member told she released a statement saying i was leaving a meeting and was late for my next appointment. i consider moving violations serious matters and i regret the incident and will pay the fine. i told you earlier today i went to the office and i was escorted out of the building. that's why we're out here at her house. we have been trying all night to see if we can get further comment, further explanation as to why she was going that fast. but the council woman has been a no show here at her house as well. back to you. >> we need an explanation,

though, matt. thank you for trying to get it. the virginia state senate would require a bill that would require a woman to und go an ultrasound before she -- undergo an ultrasound before she undergoes an abortion. the senator is expected to sign the new version. now virginia would become the 8th state to require women have ultrasounds before abortions and be offered descriptions of the fetus. new tonight, police have released the 911 tapes surrounding the deadly school shooting that happened in ohio. >> 911, where is your emergency. >> we just had -- we just had a shooting at our school. we need to get out of here. everyone is running away. >> where is the student with the gun? >> i don't know. he was in the cafeteria and everyone just started running. >> do you see the shooter? >> no. >> 17-year-old tj lane admitted to opening fire inside the

school yesterday morning killing three students, injuring two others. danielle parmentor was one of them killed. tonight his parents speak about the ordeal. >> they were still doing cpr on him. it was bloodied. they were yelling at him. fight. fight. fight. he tried. he did. he tried. . >> we said don't go. don't go. >> don't go. >> he fought. he just didn't have no brain

waves left. >> i think about going to a funeral and picking out a casket. what is that? picking out a casket for your son. we were supposed to go and pick out colleges and we were supposed to go visit ohio state next month. i'm mad now. i'm mad. >> prosecutors say lane chose his victims at random. that it was not about bullying but "someone who was not well". memorial for all the victims are being held tonight and tomorrow. classmates will return to school friday. well, some montgomery county teenagers are facing the consequences for being caught drinking under age or doing drugs. but in an interesting twist, their fate is not being determined by adults but by fellow teenagers. and this is not a mock trial. it is the real thing. andrea mccarren is here to tell us more. andrea. >> derek, for the first time ever, we were allowed to bring our camera into a montgomery county courtroom where juvenile offenders learned their sentences. punishment handed out by their

peers. it's all part of the county's teen court now in its 15th year. >> all rise. the montgomery county maryland teen court is now in session. >> all right, ladies and gentlemen, please have a seat. >> in a rare glimpse behind the scenes of a court proceeding, we meet 17-year-old mikayla, a senior. >> this is a possession of alcohol case and also a furnishing alcohol. >> what began as a small alcohol gathering of friends at mikayla's house exploded via facebook, twitter and text. >> i got a text message that said can i come over. i said sure. he walked in with six other guys. five minutes after that there were about 10 more people that showed up. >> did you put it on facebook yourself? >> no. >> this party. mikayla is the first teenager of the evening to face a jury of her peers. >> i think the biggest thing for me is to see the way they react and how sad it is to see some

kids that really don't care. >> anything like this happened with me, i would probably just have to go grab my shovel and start digging my own grave. >> 90% of people that came were not invited. took over my house. disrespected me and then left me to deal with it. >> you invite six, 10 friends and then the whole world comes? did you not think that that was a possibility? >> with no adults in the house, mikayla was helpless. only later did she wish she had called police. >> it grew out of control. i tried to tell people to leave but, of course, they're not going to listen. [ sirens ] >> within 10 minutes after that, there were cop cars in my neighborhood. 30 seconds after that, everyone just dispersing. and i left alone at my house with the remains of a party. >> the jury asked mikayla why she drinks at all. >> because everyone does it. >> she appears to be garnering the sympathy of the jury. she is a good student, does

volunteer work and holds a job. but she admits her behavior during a college visit the weekend before. >> i was staying with a friend who took me to a frat party and just to blend in i just had one drink. >> a juror asks how she would feel if any of the colleges to which she's already been accepted re sind her admission? >> i would be devastated. >> the no nonsense judge is baffled by her response. >> you would be devastated if anybody found out, if any of the colleges that accepted you, and you went down to one of the colleges that accepted you and went to a frat party and drank. the jury goes off to deliberate. mikayla's unusual sentence right after this break. also ahead tonight, an eyewitness describes a local cyclist getting hit by a truck, dragged for 30 feet and surviving. plus in our health alert, sleeping pills and dying. a new study says certain popular sleep aids have a frightening

new risk. that's coming up.

we take you back into the courtroom where the jury returns with an unusual sentence.

65 hours of community service, an evening of jury duty and a 500-word eulogy for a hypothetical scenario in which a friend leaves mikayla's house and dies in a drunk driving crash. >> there has to be some severity of punishment that will help them finally realize what they're doing is wrong and they have to stop. >> handing out the punishments makes it very hard to do the act yourself. i mean, you're seeing what these kids have to do directly. like you're seeing how these punishments aren't fun. >> everybody just does it. they think they're supposed to. they think they have to. and so here we are drinking, drinking, drinking. this is the tip of the iceberg. >> in closing, the judge describes an underage drinking party in which a young man died of alcohol poisoning. as he lay on the floor, everyone continued to party around his lifeless body. >> most of the time nothing terrible happens at many of

these parties. when it turns bad, it is really awful. so don't ever assume that you're going to be on the good side of that line. >> police and court employees say a lot of teenagers consider getting an alcohol citation a badge of honor and they falsely believe a juvenile record will not haunt them later in life. just one bad decision by a teenager can completely change their college choices and impact their future career. for more information on teen court, including how to become a volunteer juror, go to our website wusa9.com. >> thanks, andrea. a man on a bicycle gets run over by a flatbed truck, dragged for 30 feet, but he does not die. it happened this morning in northwest dc right at u and 11th street. an eyewitness named lee whack was just a few feet away when the whole thing went down. >> some of the front wheels hit him and then the back wheels hit him as well. so it was -- he was rolled over

several times. >> we do understand that cyclist was not wearing a helmet. not that this would have necessarily made that much difference in this case. he was rushed to the hospital. tonight there is no word on his condition. the truckdriver did stick around on the scene. the cause of the accident still under investigation. in tonight's health alert, could your sleeping pills kill you? according to a study published in the medical journal, this was a yes. this was an exhaustive 10-year study of people taking sleeping pills. they sound people that took ambien or lunesta were dying. whether you take several dozen pills a year or a few, the risk of death may triple. >> i've had a few sleepless nights and i've taken a few in my day, what is killing people. >> that's the frustrating part. the research isn't clear. but they did see this absolute

correlation in the heaviest users of the drug class. the death risk was five times higher. cancers were higher too. it could be that people who need these heavy duty sleep aids long-term may be sicklier to begin with. they may have undiagnosed sleep apnea, that may be part of their problem. but there is also the chance of becoming dependent and it's more dangerous than we thought. that's not totally answering the question. i know the researcher said he went back and double-checked his results again and again because he couldn't believe it. but once he saw the pattern and saw it repeat, he felt like he had to put it out there. >> all right. thank you. well, caught on tape, a massive dust storm in arizona. take a look at this video. it's in phoenix. it happened yesterday. this storm caused power lines to fall, created hazardous driving conditions and the wind gusts were up to 65 miles an hour. it looks pretty bleak what you can see of it. thankfully no injuries were reported. >> talk about bad visibility. >> yes. that comes up on the highway. >> you have to pull over.

>> if you can see the side of the road. >> exactly. all right. we have some pretty big time rain coming our way tomorrow. and perhaps not one but two rounds of thunderstorms possible. how about that to close out february. let's take a live look outside. this is our live weather cam brought to you by michael and son. that is wisconsin avenue. to the left is northbound on wisconsin. and temperatures not too bad. they have levelled off a little bit. 44 downtown. we're looking at dew point now of 28. that's come up a little bit, which is good. and we're looking at winds out of the south, southwest at 5. pressure falling a little bit at 30.35 inches of mercury which is understandable as the storm system begins to approach. let's zoom in. big time thunderstorms through eastern kansas and western missouri. and i point these out because we're probably going to deal with a couple of thunderstorms again tomorrow. probably late morning, early afternoon one round. and then probably another roundabout maybe 9:00, 10:00 tomorrow night. in the meantime, we have clouds rolling in. these echos are not reaching the ground. the air mass is too dry.

but it is moistening up a little bit. it looks like the rain will get in here towards the end of the morning commute. if you get into work early, you'll be okay. if you get into work 8:00 or 9:00, pro blly wet. so do -- probably wet. so do not leave home without your umbrella. the evening commute probably wet and then thunderstorms likely also. as i mentioned, not one but maybe two rounds of storm late morning, early afternoon and then again about 9:00, 10:00 tonight. eerily in the morning if you're -- early in the morning in you're south of gaithersburg and southern maryland, you're fine. but notice light showers hagerstown and frederick. by noon a batch rolls through. this is pretty activity indicated by yellow. so that's pretty moderate rainfall. and then we get into the evening and get a little bit of a break. i think the road will remain wet. and then another batch comes in here about 9:00 or 10:00. now we're seeing oranges which is heavier rainfall. the only thing heavier than that is red. so this is pretty impressive for

the latter part of february as we go into the month of march. after that, skies clear. showers begin to lift to the north and we're going to be left with a nice thursday. overnight increasing cloudiness, breezy and chilly. winds out of the southwest becoming easterly 10-15. by morning showers and rain developing late or mid-morning. temperatures 30s and 40s. so grab your umbrella. and then by afternoon, rain, shower and thunderstorms. you name it, we've got it. high temperatures around 30. winds will turn out of the southwest at about 10-15. so next seven days, once we get through tomorrow, we'll have a great payoff day on thursday. march will come in like a lamb. 66. and then friday we're in pretty good shape. maybe a shower late. better chance for rain, showers and maybe even more thunderstorms on saturday. and winter makes a small little come back in the 40s on sunday

an monday. tomorrow, of course, is leap year. and if you want to know more about that, go to our website. it's on my blog tomorrow morning. >> we want to look out for leap year babies for our health alert. so what is more exciting than the michigan primary. apparently the caps. >> apparently the caps. it was a good night. the caps looked down and defeated early on. it was a thriller at the verizon center tonight. caps coming through. plus could the wizards make it 2 for 2 for washington teams tonight. find out next in sports.

now 9 sports with kristen berset, the best sports in town. >> if the playoffs had started today, the capitals would not be playing. but they have a great chance to pick up grounds during the current five game homestand. tonight they're hosting the islanders. the caps got off, they were hot not until the last final five minutes. troy brower knocks in the past. exciting night. and then a few minutes later with time winding down. brower again tieing things up. alex ovechkin scoops it up and the captain comes through.

3-2. the caps jump winnipeg and are now 8 in the eastern conference. >> every game is big right now. you know, it's like it's playoff hockey. we're all battling and florida won. we have to win. . >> the st. louis rams are willing to trade their second overall pick in this year's draft so the redskins better start gathering their bar girning chips. -- bargaining chips. they need to get themselves a new quarterback. nfl opening day will be played on a wednesday. something that very rarely happens. that's because the league doesn't want to overlap president obama's closing speech of the democratic national convention. the all star festivities have come and gone. now it's time for the wizards to get back on the court and look to improve on their 7-26 records. wizards visiting milwaukee tonight. in the second, the wizards are down 18. brandon gennings and the bucks out to mike donley for 3. he finished the night with 28 points. but like the caps, the wizards

got hot late. down 1 with just seconds left. john wall the jump shot to take the lead. but the bucks say this one is ours. tipped in the winning basket at the buzzer. wizards lose a nail biter 118-119. a must win game for west virginia tonight against depaul. the seniors brought in their final home game. kevin jones big 3. 22-16 on the night. he leads the big east in scoring. daryle bryant for the back door reverse layup. he had 28 points, 4 steals. west virginia wins 92-75. finally tonight from the east coast hockey league, coming off the bench a wheeling player starts the fight and then the toledo coach does this. >> here he goes. >> loses it. going nuts on the bench. throwing water bottles. look it. brandishing a hockey stick. [ laughing ] >> not a good example, as you can imagine. the coach was ejected from the game. but not a good example.

>> not at all. >> okay. we'll be right back.

that is 9news for tonight. thank for staying up with us. >> we're always on at wusa9.com.