in our region exposed pepco's shortcomings since the last time they had a rate increase. now a year and four movements after the spike, they're asking for more money again. >> at the end of the year, we'll been 3,000 miles of treeline that's been trimmed. the underground cable that's been renewed or replaced, the new technology put on the system. >> reporter: pepco president thomas graham says the efforts aren't cheap and he's asking for $64 million. if the maryland public service commission approves the proposal, maryland customers will have to pay an additional $5.56 a month. >> i'm not happy about it at all. >> reporter: she's one of many residents left in the dark and cold when snow blanketed her neighborhood at the beginning of the year. pepco has failed her before and she isn't hopeful a rate increase will solve the liability issues. >> i think that the performance hasn't been good. you call them up and they don't come and i call them and i gave up. amaybe next year they'll ask for another $5 or $10 and who is going to guarantee the quality to going to increase in.

the question is what does pepco deserve?well, the giant utility company is asking for a rate hike of over 68 million bucks, and the customers are saying hold on a second. not so fast. our ken molestina explains why pepco wants more of your money. >> reporter: a significant snowstorm and hure in our region exposed pepco's shortcoming since the last time they had a rate increase. now they're asking for more money again. >> at the end of the year we'll probably will be about 3,000 miles of cable. they need to replace the noo new technology on the -- new technology on the system. >> reporter: those efforts aren't cheap and he's asking for $68.4 million. if the maryland public commission improves the proposal, that means maryland customers will have to pay an additional $5.56 a month. >> i'm not happy at all. >> reporter: one of the residents who was left in the dark and cold when snow blanketed her neighborhood at the beginning of the year. pepco has failed her before and she isn't hopeful a rate increase will solve liability is

. >>> now to a $1 million death penalty for pepco. a lot of people in maryland are not satisfied with the fine and it comes as the utility company is trying to raise rates. jackie bensen joins us live from silver spring. this neighborhood has been frustrated with inconsistent service. >> reporter: it has been and montgomery county executives have heard plenty of complaints about pepco. >> the million dollars may seem like a lot but it really isn't when you think about the tens of millions of dollars that people lost while they suffered through the horrendous power outages. >> reporter: a county executive reacts to news that pepco has been fined $1 million for inadequate service to customers from the late '90s through the blizzard of 2010. the problems were poor communication with customers to inconsistent tree trimming policies and most significant it could affect future rate hikes like the increase proposed by pope co. >> that might be significant in this ruling. it may mean tens of millions of dollars they might otherwise get from t

the report found that pepco supplied inadequate service. poor communication and inconsistent tree trimming practices were cited as reasons for the fine. pepco is required to submit a five-year plan on how it intends to improve reliability. >>> several metro rail cars remain out of service this morning as the transit system plans to inspect the cars through the end of the week. on tuesday, a friction range came off a 5,000 series train on the blue line damaging two trains behind it and stranding passengers for up to two hours under ground. why the ring came off is still under investigation. but officials say a possible failure of the hub, which holds the ring in place, could be to blame. at least 16 cars with hubs from the same batch are out of service. >>> breaking news right now, at least 57 people are dead and more than 00 injured in a series of bombings akrod baghdad this morning. iraqi officials say at least 12 mrafts went off during the early morning attack in nine neighborhoods around the city in what is believed to be a coordinated s

. >> pepco customers who have expressed their frustration with the utility after the last few weather events have a small measure of retribution. the maryland public service commission fined pepco $1 million for failing to properly maintain its system over a period of years. the psc also noted customers were left with outages for far too long. the commission says the fine was prompted by an usually high number of complaints about pepco's reliability. pepco will also have to file an updated five-year work plan to improve communications and service restoration by the middle of february. >>> a maryland state panel voted to pay $168 million to lease about 4700 slot machines for maryland largest casino. it would be located at arundel mills mall. under maryland law, the state rather than private casino operators are responsible for buying or leasing slot machines. governor martin o'malley supported the lease. maryland controller peter franchot was against it. >> overweight kids are more likely to develop asthma. there is a new study in the journal pediatrics showing children who are overwei

. - la empresa de electricidad pepco ha sido multada por problemas de mal servicio, la compañía que dejosiones a residentes frustrados y oscuras no se atrevió a apelar, nos informan. >> reportera: se acabó el recreo a pepco y le salió caro el juego, la comisión de servicios públicos de maryland impuso una multa de 1 millón de dólares a la compañía tras la cantidad de quejas de usuarios por intentos por el servicio, más bien por la falta del servicio. no reporta la comisión afirmó. >> concluimos que pepco fracaso es intento de proveer un servicio aceptable en el 2010 al igual que en años pasados. >> reportera: >> reportero: no responder las acusaciones decidió no apelar la multa, la compañía que presta servicio casi 800,000 usuarios en milán, virginia y washington ha sido fuertemente criticada por prolongados servicios en la región y por falta de comunicación. >> creo que la multa está bien. >> la multa está muy bien y ojalá otras compañías de electricidad también aprenden la lección. >> para que se pongan realmente la mano en el pecho, en mi barrio hubo un día en que se cayó un poste, do

after a four-month investigation into pepco's reliability and service, a report found that pepco foundnadequate service on both storms and fair weather days on the late nients. poor communication and inconsistent tree trimming practices were cited as reasons for the fine. residents in forest glenn where outages are common say they're pleased with this penalty. >> it was good and i was happy about the surprise. >> you have to cut back those trees during the summertime. maybe they'll learn. >> well, i guess they kind of had it coming. >>> the commission will also require pepco to submit a five-year plan on how it intends to improve reliability and quarterly reports updating the commission on this progress. this fine comes as montgomery county proposed a rate increase. something county officials say they plan to vigorously contest. some say the proposal could raise rates as much as 8% and would help customers improve reliability. >>> walmart is pulling a batch of infant formula from more than 3,000 stores nationwide. this after a baby in missouri became sick and died from an infection. th

. >>> just a day after pepco requested a rate hike, the csp -- the pcs, excuse me, fined the utility $1 million for failing to properly maintain its system over a period of years. the psc also noticed customers were left with outages far too long. the commission says that the fine was prompted by an unusually high number of complaints about pepco's reliability. pepco will also have to file an updated five-year work plan to improve communications and service restoration by the middle of february. >>> a surveillance camera has been set up across from a courthouse holiday display that is causing a storm of controversy in leesburg. the crucified santa skeleton has been vandalized three times since it went up earlier this month in front of the loudoun county courthouse. last time the vandals removed the skeleton's legs. leesburg police set up a surveillance camera at the request of the county sheriff's office. there's no word if the camera has caught the vandals in action. the skeleton is one of ten holiday displays on the courthouse lawn. >>> still to come when we come back, u.s. troops

the reports found pepco provided inadequate service. poor communications sxin consistent tree trimming practices were cited as reasons for the fine. residents in forest glenn, where outages are common, say they're pleased with the penalty. >> it was good and i was happy. >> you have to cut back those trees during the summertime. maybe they'll learn. >> well, i guess they kind of had it coming. >> the commission will require pepco to submit a five-year plan on how to better update service. >>> the utility has requested a $68 million rate increase been something county executives say they plan to vigorously protest. the company is asking customers to help pay for measures that would improve reliability. >>> multiple prince william county police officers are on administrative leave after shooting and killing an armed robbery suspect. it happened yesterday afternoon. police pulled a car over connected to a home burglary in wood bridge. the passenger was arrested, but the driver took off into the woods. after refusing to drop his gun, office

. >> at 5:34, a day after pepco asked for a big rate increase, the utility got slapped with a huge fine instead. >> we could see the sun. sure doesn't feel like winter temperaturewise. howard's seven-day forecast coming up at 5:14. >>> welcome back to 9news now on this friday eve. it is 5:13 this thursday morning. another warm day even though is winter. i saw a little ground fog on my way in. >> especially west of town. what's so funny, mike? >> i'm sorry. you said ground fog. i saw lots of ground animals. i saw a possum, a fox, a deer all on my way to work. >> and a partridge in a pear tree. >> you didn't drive past the zoo, did you? >> no. >> you got everything out there. from our why witness weather watchers to my right. we do have some fog in spots. not so much here in the metro. west of of town, south of town, that's where it there is potential. even the lower eastern shore. still got school for a couple of days. winter concert tonight. >> very nice. >> good times. all right. bus stop forecast, patchy fog. little peek or two of sunshine. we start in the 40s and 50s. sunrise still a

zpr pepco officials promised to pull out all the sfops to get the power back on after hurricane irene. now they want maryland customers to pay for it. pepco officials have filed a request with the maryland public utility commission of a rate adjustment of $68 million. pepco wants to bill customers for the additional resources necessary to restore power to customers after the hurricane. and as well as the ongoing effort to improve its service. if the increase is approved the average residential customer in maryland can expect to pay pepco at least $67 more every year. >>> someone has some money and may not know it. a winning powerball ticket was sold in d.c. so far no one has come forward. it is worth $200,000. the drawing was december 17. it was sold at the four seasons convenience store. that's on south dakota avenue in northeast. the winning numbers, 13, 28, 49, 51, 59, powerball, 33. in case you are you on of luck there, the next powerball drawing is tomorrow. that jackpot, a cool $104 million is. >> somebody will have a happy holiday. >> i know. give me your dollar. i will go buy

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 cu

pepco needs the money in part to pay for resources used up during hurricane irene. the rate hike would start in july. that's if they approve it. >>> this winter warm spell is bringing along some rain. so could it put a dampening on our holiday spirits? topper tells us about it in his forecast. also ahead, cheers of joy. local families welcome home loved ones who is been in harm's way. u.s. troops among the last to leave iraq. stay with us. yeah, i'm married. does it matter? you'd do that for me? really? yeah, i'd like that. who are you talking to? uh, it's jake from state farm. sounds like a really good deal. jake from state farm at three in the morning. who is this? it's jake from state farm. what are you wearing, jake from state farm? [ jake ] uh... khakis. she sounds hideous. well she's a guy, so... [ male announcer ] another reason more people stay with state farm. get to a better state. ♪ >>> the washington, d.c. veteran's affairs medical center and wusa9 salute all who serve at home and abroad this holiday season. >> i'm from arlington, virginia. i want to giv

they will learn. >> well, i guess they kind of had it coming. >> the commission will also require pepco to submit a five-year plan on how they intend to improve reliability, and quarterly reports updating the commission on their progress. >>> turning to the weather, after a foggy start out there, we have another mild day in the works. tom kierein joins us. sunshine right now, tom? >> a little trying to come through. a rather thick overcast. we're seeing fuzzy sunshine. it's just past 11:00 in the morning, and in the wake of the rain last night, we did have a little bit of fog this morning, but that's long gone. a little bit of sunshine in and out for another couple hours, and then we will cloud up later this afternoon. right now temperatures are climbing into the mid-50s throughout much of the region from the shenandoah valley to the chesapeake bay, and we're in the mid-50s in prince georges, arlington county. and it should be near 55 degrees there in the mountains today. in the metro area, we will be at 60 degrees in the next few hours. it does look like rain on the way tonight. we wil

government approved a to cut the nation's pepco. there is a series of meetings in week to deal with the debt crisis. treasury secretary tim geithner to push european for quicker and more .ecisive action we're not the only ones keeping with the european debt crisis. metallica. -- so is metallica. more on that later. >> that this strange. looking forward to that. 4:37. >> still ahead, details on a murder was accidentally released on bond. the blind out why he's being again.d and will have an update on when fansnjured field after the .klahoma state university game what the school president is setting about the violence. first, a beautiful picture of setting about the violence. first, a beautiful picture of the capitol [ dog ] i am a rockstar. my coat? solid gold. my insides? pure platinum. [ female announcer ] a healthy outside starts inside. new iams simple & natural has chicken as its number one ingredient and zero fillers. it works inside for health you can see on the outside. [ dog ] i can't be a rockstar on the outside if i'm not

la comision de servicio publico de maryland multo a pepco con un millon de dolares, por no mantener elcio de manera correcta durante aÑos y por las largas y frecuentes interrupciones que se produjeron durante las pasadas tormentos invernales... la comision dice que el caso se inicio despues de recibir un inusual numero de llamadas con quejas de los clientes y funcionarios electos, relacionadas con la confiabilidad de la compania... el proceso se inicio formalmente en agosto del 2010... hoy las lineas del metro corrieron sin problemas despues del accidente ocurrido ayer en la linea anaranjanda a la altura de la estacion de lenfant plaza... pero como medida de precaucion, las autoridades del principal sistema de transporte de la ciudad ordenaron la puesta fuera de servicio de 16-vagones y tambien la inspeccion de mas de 190 unidades de la serie 5-mil como el involucrado en el accidente... una pieza del sistema de freno del vagon se solto paralizando el sistema por varias horas... los vagones que estan siendo inspeccionados son de los mas nuevos en la flota y fueron puesto en circulacion

. >>> pepco says the $1 million fine is a lot but they are not going to fight it. the problems range from poor communication with customers to tree trimming. >> there are decisions we didn't necessarily agree with from the public service commission. we are beyond that. we are back to work and executing our plan. we are back to making process improvements. we have hired a number of additional customer service representatives, we doubled phone line capacity, made improvements. we have done a lot of things since september. >> pepco president tom graham says shareholders will be paying that fine. >>> a pennsylvania man is in big trouble after getting caught trying to smuggle large amounts of drugs into the country. charges have been filed. he tried to hide $300,000 worth of heroin inside soccer clothes. he tried to reenter the country after a trip to bolivia. he sewed ten pounds inside the lining of soccer pants. >>> local firefighters recognized for a life-saving decision. >> the medical unit is five miles away. i said we are not waiting. we picked the child up and pu

. >> pepco won't appeal its $1 million fine. the maryland public service commission hit the you utility with the fine for subjecting customers to long outages too often. it also ordered pepco to file a detailed and updated work plan for the next five years. >>> u.s. treasury is going green. the u.s. green building council awarded the historic white house neighbor a lead gold certification yesterday for its efficiency and power savings. the 175-year-old building is the old toast get this certification. >> time to reveal the answer to our question of the morning. which was 55% of us hate it when a coworker does this. is it a, hums a song. b, calls out sick. or c, interrupts us while we're working. >> yeah, mike, what's the answer? >> the answer is a, hums a song. >> oh, well. sounds like a buzzing bee or something. we'll have one more check on traffic and weather right here when 9news now returns. >>> so, you may or may not know this. one more thing before you go. in the senate, it is ok to say to your constituents neverry christm

. >>> the service commission find pepco for long power outages. the electric company was fined wednesday for failing to maintain its system properly for years and subjecting customers to lengthy outages. >>> we are days away from christmas now and plenty of people are still trying to get some of that last-minute shopping done before the big day. criminals are counting on this. we have tips to stay save. >> reporter: abc2 is working for you through crime checker. tonight we want you to think twice about parking while doing your holiday shopping. park in a high visibility area and check for lighting. prior to arriving at the shopping center, lock all of your valuables in the trunk of your vehicle. leave the store with others. ask security top escort you to the car. you want to watch for people who may be tomming you -- following you. if you suspect you are being followed, report it immediately. security remains tight at the mall and other shopping centers. if you'd like to check out some of our past crime checkers, head to our website. >>> here's a

pepco decides to shed more light on a dark and dangerous >>> armed robbers targeting 7-eleven stores in the district. surveillance video shows the robbers tear out a cash register and point a gun at the cashier. a 7-eleven seen being robbed in blade bladensburg one hour later. >>> after 11 days of starvation, the hunger strike appears to be over for all but one occupy d.c. protester. according to "the washington post," 3 of the 4 protesters broke their fast yesterday. the lone holdout vows to continue his hunger strike into christmas. the four protesters began their fast earlier this month, trying to force congress to take up the issue of congressional voting rights for the district. >>> several occupy protesters will likely face charges after being arrested during a protest outside the white house. this was the scene last night on pennsylvania avenue as police began rounding up nearly a dozen protesters after they failed to listen to a police order to leave the grounds. the group was protesting part of a defense bill that allows the president to detain people, including u.s. citizen

. >>> right now want pepco is reporting nearly 2,000 outages. nearly 700 of them are in the district. and we just have one school closing to report this morning. schools in pendelton county, west virginia, will open two hours late today. >> now let's get the weather report from tom kierein. >> i'm not tom kierein. i'm cha grinned. i see your fingers pointing right now. we did get some snow that fell between 10:00 p.m. and midnight, but the ground temperatures were so warm, it did not accumulate. but commuters are happy. 371 inches of rain at reagan national yesterday. that set the record easily. we have the wind gusting and all of a sudden it's winter again. we have winds gusting from 20 to 25 miles per hour. yes, out in the pendelton county and parts of west virginia and western maryland got 7 inches of

pepco is working to repair that right now. for now your streets are closed. if you're taking new york avenue heading outbound, this ongoing construction takes up the roadway. just have to stay to the right. no major accidents or delays just yet. looking pretty good in d.c. if you're traveling this time in maryland, i-270, you're in the clear at falls road. in fact, traveling southbound and northbound, your lanes are open. no major delays. definitely no accidents. but seeing wet pavement, give yourselves extra time while you make your commute. and out of virginia at i-95, this is the view at the occoquan heading northbound. i am seeing your volume increase, but you're not delayed at all at this time. southbound, you're completely in the clear. travel speed northbound at 63 miles per hour. to get from the occoquan to the beltway, that trip right now only takes 11 minutes. joe, back to you. >> danella, thanks very much. >>> our time is now 5:22. this morning a virginia woman is alive after she jumped from the roof of her burning house. this happened in henry cou

pepco is on the scene working to fix the problem and reopen the area. >>> congress will finally approve an extension of the payroll tax cut just days before it was set to expire. house republicans are bowing to pressure by democrats and fellow republicans in the senate to agree to a two-month version of the tax cut. the senate passed a version of the bill last week. house speaker john boehner demanded a one-year renewal of the tax cut, and he insists that's still the best policy. >> when you look at this, it's another short term extension. this creates uncertainty for job creators. i used to run a small business. i know how this works. and kicking the can down the road for a couple of months does cause problems. >> law makers are vowing to negotiate extending the tax cut next year.

pepco has been find a million dollars for failing to maintain its system properly and subjecting customersng islands. maryland public service commission issued the fine as they received an unusually high number of complaintsch the company must also file detailed work plans how they will handle things for the next five years. that's got to be filed by mid- february. justin. >>> now, maryland's most powerful doppler radar and the forecast certified most accurate by weatherra. >> 5:18. sometimes you don't have to say a world because the picture does all the talking for you. look at the temperatures right now. 49 degrees in baltimore after a record high of 62. it's 65 in hatteras and charleston. 62 manufacturing yesterday's high currently the temperature in charlotte 67 mont golry. get the idea this is warm -- montgomery. you get the idea this is warm stuff. freezing in chicago is warm but that's when you step back into wentry type air. you will notice a couple streamers and old boundaries off the coast and we have the resurgeent moisture out of east texas that's great for them. southern arkan

nearly 300 pepco customers are in the dark. 91 in d.c., 6 in prince george's county. we invite you to stay with news4 for the latest on the storm. we are on the air tomorrow morning at 4:30 for updates any time of the day we invite you to our website at www.nbcwashington.com. >>> rockville pike at alpine road is back open after a deadly accident. a montgomery ride ones but struck and killed a person at 6:00. an accident reconstruction team is trying to figure out what went wrong and who is at fault. the police have not released the identity of the victim. >>> the search is on for the predator who sexually assaulted a woman in a laundry room. police say the 28-year-old woman was attacked at an apartment complex in gaithersburg at 10:00 this morning. a man followed the woman into the laundry room, pulled out a knife and assaulted her. police only have a vague description of the suspect. >>> a gathering outside the white house marked the end to the day of action by occupy d.c. thousands of protesters took part in the demonstrations today. there was demonstrations against

at 7:00, thousands of people in maryland lost power when hurricane irene hit way back in august and pepco spent tens and millions of dollars getting their lights back on. but now, utility wants those same customers to help foot the bill. we'll tell you what the company has in mind on 9news now at 7:00. >> we'll see you then, derek. still ahead, the last american air force troops make their way home from iraq and we are there for their first stop at dwi. topper. >> well, if you thought it was mild today, you are correct. let's take you out with the numbers. officially 57 and 45 at national. our average high is 45. average low is 30. record 66 and 2. we'll come back. we'll talk about if milder air is going to roll in here tomorrow and thursday and when and for how long you'll need your umbrella. >> a big boost for some of the most popular museums in the washington area. >>> melwood and wuas9 salute all who serve at home and abroad this holiday season. >> i want to say happy holidays to my father. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices... in more ways than ever. and our

pepco will have to update a five-year work plan to improve communications and service restoration. that has to happen by the middle of february. >>> a green alert tonight that could impact the health of everyone breathing the air in this country. >>> today the environmental protection agency announced it is cracking down on pollution from the nation's power plant. the goal cut the amount of mercury and other toxic mutants released from some of the nate's oldest facilities. critics say it will just threaten jobs and electric reliability. >>> and several airlines say they will not be taking part in the european union's new cap and trade program. this morning the court of justice upheld a lawsuit against the plant. that means after january 31st, all airlines using european airports need to pay for the greenhouse gases it emits. if they run out of credits they'll need to buy or trade for more of them with another airline. >>> he prompted the families of the victims he would help them. at a memorial in arlington national cemetery, the families paid tribute to the memory of the 275 peopl

. >> it have you called the county or pepco? >> quite a few times. >> reporter: tonight we called and they sent out a crew while they decide whether to repair or replace the bubbles jackson worries about the accidents. >> is it going to happen continuously. >> reporter: at this hour, police are investigating these accidents and they want more information about them. now, as for the residents they're going to continue to call popco and shine a light on the problem until the street lights are back on. back to you. >> thank you. >>> blizzard warnings in half a dozen states as a major weather system sweeps across the central parts of the country. new mexico hit by heavy snow shutting down roads there. icy conditions caused an accident involving a prison van in colorado. and that same system is heading in our direction this week. doug kammerer is here to tell us what to expect. >> that system will make its way our way. 50-mile-per-hour winds in colorado. storm 4 doppler radar nothing to show you right now just until you move just ove

. >> we called pepco about the problem, and they sent a crew to check out the lights. they have not repaired or replaced the bulbs, so the streetlights remain off. >> the national hanukkah memorial will be lit during the ceremony on the ellipse that begins at 4:00 this afternoon. after the ceremony, traditional potato pancakes given out. free menorrah kits and dradles will also be given out. hanukkah is the jewish festival of lights and lasts eight nights. very nice. 4:38 is the time. >>> considering buying a home? how officials just may convince how officials just may convince you to move into we were so blessed when we had triplets. if by blessed you mean freaked out about money. well, we suddenly noticed that everything was getting more expensive, so we switched to the bargain detergent, but i found myself using three times more than you're supposed to and the clothes still weren't as clean as with tide. so we're back to tide. they're cuter in clean clothes. [ laughs ] thanks, honey. yeah. you suck at folding. [ laughs ] that's my tide. what's yours? [ female announ

. >> pepco's president says the company's $1 million fine is harsh, but no plans to appeal. they fined the power company for inadequate service to customers from the late '90s to the blizzard of 2010. it ranges from poor communication to customers to tree trimmings. >> decisions we didn't necessarily agree with but we are beyond that. we are back to work and executing the plan. we are back to making process improvements. we have hired a number of additional customer service representatives, we made process improvements and done a lot of things since september to improve service for customers. >> weapon coe president says shareholders will pay the fine. when news 4 at 4:00 continues, the kardashians fight back. why they are livid about a story in a tabloid magazine. >>> kanye west throws a tantrum. why he threatened to kick an entire section of fans out of his concert. >>> prince william shows off his dancing. does he >>> don't believe everything you read on your phone. a new study shows people are more likely to lie in text messages. researchers show people will lie 31% more

a partnership with washington gas, and pepco, and in washington with d.c. water, and with their support and others coming in and providing resources, we're able to expand the program. >> what you need are volunteers, and you need dollars. >> absolutely. these are tough times. you hear from a lot of corporations that used to be major supporters and they are now saying it's tough and we can't help you like we're used to instead of saying we can't help you at all. >> we are encouraging you to call and if you can help with volunteers or make dollar donations to the greater washington urban league, call our phone bank. we will have more in just a few minutes. >> barbara? >> thank you, pat. >>> our time is 11:21. still ahead, the secrets of a perfect holiday party. today we will tell you about hanukkah. you want to see this one, and the keys to better mental health in 2012. joshua winer runs down the top five. first a look >>> holiday parties, some celebrate christmas. we have advice on a hanukkah party. what a beautiful setup you have here. blue is obviously the

i know pepco has been working hard to remedy some of those. we'll just wait and see.n mind tomorrow it is going to be very, very windy out there. forgot to push the button for five-day. matt should have done that for me, too. >> he's the mvp tonight. >> he is. did you see that five-day forecast? i think they only left it up about three seconds. generally upper 40s to lower 50s for the next several days, mixture of clouds and sun. new year is looking pretty good at this point. >>> speaking of new year, final preparations are underway for the most famous new year's eve celebration. workers hoisted and bolted 2,600 crystal panels to the famous ball in new york's time square. if you've never been here for this, just once. organizers say this year's design pattern features friends holding hands around the world. it is a wild night. >>> do you own a twitter account? think again. how a court decision could change the rules of social media for everyone. >>> i'm dave feldman in the newsroom where the pro bowl was announced tonight and guess what? your redskins have -- well, i'

pepco is on the scene working to fix the problem and try to reopen that area. >>> also new from overnight, montgomery county firefighters put out a blaze at this home on bluff terrace in silver spring. it started around 1:30 this morning, and the cause is still under investigation. everyone inside was able to get out just fine. >>> today congress will apparently, hopefully, finally approve an extension of the payroll tax cut just days before it was set to expire. house republicans are bowing to pressure from democrats and fellow republicans in the senate and agreeing to a two-month renewal of the tax cut. the senate passed their version of the bill last week. house speaker john boehner had demanded a one-year renewal of the tax cut and insists that is still the best policy. >>> wh >> when you look at this, it's just another short term extensi extension. this creates uncertainty for job creators. i used to run a small business. i know how this works. and kicking the can down the road for a couple of months does cause problems. >> lawmakers say they will negotiate to extend the tax cut next

pepco is the real winner, collecting money on the electric bill. >> send us a photo or video, the e-mail address is lights at wusa9.com. you can post photos and videos to our facebook page. include your name and where you live. >> coming up next in sports, the caps finally get an offensive explosion and the terps narrowly avoid an upset. >> time for another check on the question of the morning. 66% of women never do this. is it a, mow the lawn. b, clean their purse or c, shovel snow? >> facebook friend tammy says this is a woman's perspective. it must be b because i mow the lawn and shovel snow. the only time i clean my purse is when i change it to another one. >> keep the guesses coming. we'll reveal the answer at 6:53. yeah, i'm married. does it matter? you'd do that for me? really? yeah, i'd like that. who are you talking to? uh, it's jake from state farm. sounds like a really good deal. jake from state farm at three in the morning. who is this? it's jake from state farm. what are you wearing, jake from state farm? [ jake ] uh... khakis. she sounds hideous. well she's a guy, so... [ m

right now, pepco reports about 2,400 customers in the dark.heny power, bge and novec have only a few outages each. smeco has only four outages. charles county public schools in maryland will open two hours late. shennendoah schools have been two-hour delays. >>> break it down for us, tom. very cold this morning. a lot of flooding in the area. >> what a change from yesterday morning. it was around 60 degrees and now we're around freezing near much of the region. we see behind us a gorgeous sunrise is under way. sunrise is up around 7:15 this morning. but it was a wet day yesterday at reagan national airport, set a december record. we've never had a day in december as wet as we did yesterday. we got over 3 inches of rain at reagan national airport. yes, indeed, we had that wet weather. this is what it looked like yesterday at 6:30 with the radar. that was that moderate to heavy rain that came through. we did get a quick burst of snow in northern virginia and into maryland by around 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 at night. but it was so fast and it didn't la

. >> we called pepco about the problem, and they sent a crew to check out the lights. at this time they have not repaired or replaced a bulb. so the streetlights remain off. >>> today president obama and vice president biden will attend a ceremony at joint base andrews. the president will welcome home u.s. troops from iraq. president obama marked the end of the war last week meeting with troops in ft. bragg, north carolina. the withdrawal ends a nine-year war in which 4,500 americans were killed and 32,000 were wounded. >>> another day of home coummii for area families. more than 200 soldiers will arrive on a flight at 9:00 this morning. the remaining members will return this evening. >>> one local soldier brought tears to his daughter's eyes after surprising her at school. tamara and kevin masseola attend the st. columba catholic school in oxon hill. their recently deployed dad, colonel masseola surprised them. he had been serving in afghanistan. he was still on tour but was given leave for the holidays. his daughter cried as he walked out on stage. >> a lot of things

right now, pepco is reporting 2400 out aenls up in the past hour.t 2,000 of them are here in the district. dominion workers have restored service to nearly 1700 passengers in the past hour. right now, they tell us only 162 customers are in the dark. allegheny power, bge and novak have a few out aenls each and speco has zero outages. the weather is causing school delays as well this morning. charles county public schools schools in maryland will open two hours late today. schools in virginia and schools in pendelton county west virginia will have a two hour delay. >>> a few snowflakes fell overnight. the big concern is

at this point, as they remove the final branches, pepco is here on site, and they're going to remove the wires. that is their main concern because, whenever we have wires on the ground, they could be energized. they believe the power is still cut off. they want to be sure everyone is safe in the area. give it 30 to 40 minutes or so. just a reminder, with the rain coming down, always never touch a live wire with any type of object. stay ten feet away if a situation like this happens to happen to you this morning. back to you, joe. >> angie goff reporting live. angie, thanks very much. >>> actor alec baldwin got himself kicked off an american airlines flight for refusing to stop playing a game. he was playing words with friends on his ipad when a flight attendant asked him to turn off his device. the plane was parked at the gate. when he didn't comply, the "30 rock" star was asked to leave the plane. at least one other famous passenger on board says he thinks the move to kick baldwin off t flight was a bit drastic. >> i didn't think there was no problem. i felt alec baldwin was turning