metro says it will stipulate...or "accept" liability forrthe crash..that's little consooation to kenneth hawkinst his older brother in the june 2209 train collision. the should've stepped up in the beginning and reached out to tte victims and the families and said, we apologize for the accident and &papologize for taking the life of your loved one.the trannit agency has settled with a majority of the victim's families. but the ourt documents are the fiist public admission to fault. ninn people were killedd 52 others injured when he red lines trains collided during rush hour. the n-t-s-b criticized the transit agency--- saying the accident was preventable. it found that automated systems should hhve stopped the trains frrm being on the track at the same time. metro riders wonder what took so long for the agency to admitt fault.the timing is kind of slow. i think it should've you know came about a little it has taken them a little re. amount of time to do that but i can't see who else's pesponsibility it would have been besides metro. thoughts?how much money it takes to make a penny and nickel...a

kenneth hawkins' brother dennis was among those killed in the accident. >> we waited 2 1/2 years for them to finally come out and say this in which we've known since day one. >> reporter: in fact, admitting liability may be a shrewd legal maneuver if a judge accepts the stipulation it was all metro's fault. there's no need for the jury to hear the shocking details. according to washington trial lawyer jeff jacobavitz. >> they're trying to take that issue away from the jury. >> reporter: with no emotional testimony about fault in front of a jury, it may end up the victims' families get less. at ft. totten, scott broom, 9 news now. >>> right now visitationunder way in honor of joshua weissman. the -- visitation is underway in honor of joshua weissman. it's taking place at a funeral home on west braddock road near king street and quaker lane. there will be some road closures over there tonight and again tomorrow for the funeral. >>> tonight investigators say they want to take a closer look at whitney houston's prescription medication. shelby lynn updates on the search for what killed th

kenneth hawkins' brother dennis was among those killed in the accident. >> here we waited 2 1/2 years for them to finally come out and say this and which we've known since day one. >> reporter: in fact, admitting liability may be a shrewd legal maneuver if a judge accepts the stipulation it was all metro's fault. there's no need for a jury to hear all the shocking details. according to washington trial lawyer jeff jakabovitz. >> it's unusual, but by doing that they're trying to take the issue away from the jury. >> reporter: with no emotional testimony about fault in front of a jury it may end up that the victims' families get less. at ft. totten, scott broom, 9 news now. >>> a visitation held tonight for joshua weissman, the alexandria paramedic who died last week while responding to a car fire on i-395 in arlington. his colleagues are now rallying around his family. >> joshua's family is our family. so we're doing everything from at the upper echelon all the departments are getting together doing mutual aid. >> that's one of the reasons we're here is to take care of his family and m

. >> reporter: kenneth hawkins' brother dennis was among those killed in the accident. >> here we waited 2 1/2 years for them to finally come out and say this and which we've known since day one. >> reporter: in fact, admitting liability may be a shrewd legal maneuver if a judge accepts the stipulation that it was all metro's fault. there's no need for a jury to hear all the shocking details of just how badly metro's systems failed and the warnings that were ignored. according to washington trial lawyer jeff jacobovitz. >> we messed up. that's what they're saying and it's unusual in these types of cases, but they're trying to take away that issue from the jury. >> reporter: with no emotional testimony about fault a jury might give families less, but to some riders admitting liability after 2 1/2 years looks like a step forward. >> at least admit they're wrong and make them know what they did wrong and they can move forward. >> i just want them to fix the lines, make the service better. >> reporter: now seven of the nine families have already settled out of court in these compensation cas

dennis hawkins was one of the nine who died. 9news now spoke with his brother kenneth. >> here we waited two and a half years for them to finally come out and say this and which we've known since day one. >> metro has reportedly settled lawsuits involving seven of the nine deaths. metro spokesman would not discuss those settlements but he says they won't have any impact on metro's operating budget. >>> he's looking for ways to fix a $1.1 billion budget shortfall in maryland. governor martin o'malley says shifting half of the teacher pensions from the state to the counties would really help that as you might imagine, however, that proposal is not sitting well with county leaders across the state. officials spoke out against that proposed shift. >> in prince george's county we're facing $126 million deficit in fy 13. if the shift comes to us, you're talking about another $34 million. we're already having to make cuts. >> governor o'malley says shifting some of the pension costs is the only fair way to fill the state's budget gap which again is $1.1 billion. >>> campaign 2012 now. the front