The girls and their sorority and they dont really want them to go out and do anything bad this weekend. Reporter an angry student started a petition to revoke the mandate. She wrote it perpetuates the idea that women are inferior sexual objects and called it degrading and others say it smacks of discrimination since only the sororities face the restrictions. Reporter you havent heard of anybody going against the rules . I dont think so. Theres too much that could happen. Reporter that petition to the national pan Atlantic Council to revoke the mandate already has more than 2,000 signatures. In charlottesville, peggy fox, wusa9. Tonight we learned more heartbreaking details in that devastating fire that killed six family members in an annapolis mansion. We know what caused the blaze. It was the heat from an electrical outlet that ignited items under a nearby Christmas Tree. Debra alfarone was there and joins us live now from annapolis. Reporter so many people had so many questions, mainly how can a 16,000 square foot mansion burn to the ground and no one get out alive . Tonight we are learning investigators are saying if it wasnt for the existence of this Christmas Tree in the home, this could be entirely different. The fuel from the Christmas Tree created the significant amount of fire and heat for the fire to spread as quickly as it did. Reporter an immeasurable tragedy sparked by something that was supposed to bring happiness, a Christmas Tree. An electrical fire near a real Christmas Tree as tall as 15 feet high led to an inferno that don and sandy pyle and their four grandchildren alexis, kaitlin, charlotte and wes were unable to escape. As a father of two, i cant imagine the horrendous pain of losing these innocent children. Reporter this video from the National FirePrevention Association shows a dried out tree on fire on the left and a watered tree catching on fire on the right. Investigators are cautious to say they dont know if the free at the pyle mansion was tree at the. Mansion was dry, but they do say it was cut down more than 60 days prior to that fire. This fire e result of a tragic accident that occurred at the absolutely worst possible time while the pyles and their grandchildren were sleeping. Reporter investigators did confirm there were smoke alarms working in that home. They will not say where the pyles and their grandchildren were located. They did say they want to be respectful to the family but also said that that great room and the sleeping areas were connected. Live in Anne Arundel County tonight, debra alfarone, wusa9. A fairfax woman is held without bond in connection with hitting two people and taking off. Arlington county Police Arrested 39yearold Alexandra Mendez this morning. They say she hit a man in the parking lot of the victims car dealership and then took off yesterday afternoon. 40yearold shake is in critical condition. The father of three small children and owner of the mk auto dealership was hit not once, but run over a second time. Not only did she hit one car, but she hit four cars and then she basically attacked two people with her car and almost killed one. A second man who tried to stop mendez was struck in the leg. Mendez has been charged with two counts of hit and run and driving on a suspended license. D. C. Police have granted permits to eight people to pack heat in the city. These would be the first approved since police began taking applications for concealed weapons permits in october. The Washington Post reports so far 66 people have applied, many cases still pending and more than half of the applicants live in the city. Police denied permits to 11 people so far. President for attorney general faced tough questions right off the bat today. As Craig Boswell tells us, if she wins senate approval, lynch will become the first black woman to serve as attorney general. Reporter with introductions aside republicans prepsed attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch about whether she shares the politics of her predecessor. I will be Loretta Lynch. Reporter gop lawmakers spent a good deal of time quizzing her on immigration policies of president obama. Do you believe the executive action announced by president obama on november 20th is legal and constitutional . As ive read the opinion, i do believe it is. This is very troubling to me. Reporter lynch defended the president s executive action delaying deportation of millions of illegal workers but with a caveat. I think citizenship is a privilege. Certainly its a right for those of us born here. Reporter lynch came to the hearing with her list of issues topping her agenda as attorney general including healing tensions between minority communities and Law Enforcement. Were all in this together and the concerns of Law Enforcement, a safe and free society, are the exact same concerns of every resident of every community. Reporter the 55yearold top federal prosecutor for parts of new york and long island also wants to vigorously pursue cyber criminals and pledge better relations with congress if she wins confirmation as attorney general. Lynch needs just 51 votes to win approval, but any senator can put a hold on the nomination process for any reason. A half century wait for justifies is over for nine civil rights protesters. Justice is over for nine civil rights protesters. They went to jail in 1961 after ordering at a whites only lunch counter. This morning the surviving eight activists had their convictions vacated. The courtroom erupted in applause after a South Carolina judge threw out the convictions of the civil rights protesters. Doug massey told cbs News ReporterMichelle Miller he knew this day would come. Perseverance, perseverance. We knew that eventually all of this would come to fruition and it would have to be stopped. Reporter you knew that. I knew that long time ago. Nobody asked. The men are considered pioneers for refusing to be released on bail known as the jail no bail strategy during the civil rights movement. Get this. The lawyer who represented the men in the case was there for todays court proceeding. The judge who reversed the decision is the nephew of the judge who convicted the men. Coming up if you are looking for some cute and cuddly companionship that wont land you in jail, uber may have just the thing for you. So was it a fashion statement, a political statement or maybe nothing . Coming up why some are making a big deal about the first lady bearing her hair in saudi arabia. Good news, winds dying down, bad news, very cold night ahead, midteens in the suburbs, 18 in rockville and bowie. Tracking a clipper tomo the Washington Post journalist tells us a reporter has been held since july. Officials say hell stand trial in irans revolutionary court which mostly hears cases involving security offenses. He has been an iranian american who holds dual citizenship. Hundreds of comments on our Facebook Page today on the first ladys wardrobe in saudi arabia. Mrs. Obama left her head uncovered today. Some saudis took to twitter suggesting she was somehow immodest, but it turns out westerners arent really expected to cover their heads that way and other first ladies have visited without doing so. One person wrote had she worn one, she would have eviscerated her for acting like a muslim instead of an american. Im very tired of the second guessing. Shes our first lady and knows what shes doing. Some hail her for launching a fashion flow a in an ally country but diplomacy in an ally country but also a place where a blogger was dealt 1,000 lashes today was a fun day in the office for some people in and around d. C. I hear from our Stephanie Ramirez there were a lot of hugs going around. Stephanie is live in our newsroom with more on why that might be. You both know especially we get a little excited when our food deliveries arrive, but today i found a delivery even better than food. Puppies and puppies kissing puppies are even better. Templeton and franco are part of a group of 10 puppies that went out wednesday in teams with the cab company uber where patrons instead of hailing cabs paid a 30 fare to play with puppies for 15 minutes. People swarmed around them as soon as they heard. Great. Any way to boost them playing around on a wednesday. Its awesome. Its like the perfect outlet just to come and kind of say okay, im taking a break. They give so much energy. Now i get to go back to my boring meeting. Play with the puppies because they get experience in socializing in different experiences. Theyve never been in an elevator. They had their first elevator ride. I think theyre just enjoying it actually. Its a process. Reporter more importantly its exposure for them. All the pups that went out today are also up for adoption at washington Animal Rescue league. Weve never done anything like this, kind of puppies on demand. It was a great idea brought touts by animal plan to us by Animal Planet and uber and we thought its a good way to get the word out about the washington Animal Rescue league. Reporter the little guys are called ambassadors hoping with these little paws theyll spread enough awareness to get some of the older dogs adopted as well. An animal looking for a second start. This was for today only from 11 00 to 3 00 with lots of potty breaks in between. It coincides with the puppy bowl february 1st. Thats why Animal Planet helped mahappen. The money from the 30 fares goes to the washington Animal Rescue league. Would you pay to play with a doggy . You have one at home every day. He might get jealous. I might just send the money anyway. Thats a very good cause. He might be saying where you been . I say this all the time instagram, follow toast meets world. Its a little calf. You wont be sorry you did. You dont follow toast meets world. Ill have to look it up. Its great. Its all about adoption and supporting these care centers and no puppy mills. Lets start with tumbling temperatures. We forget it was 52 on sunday, pretty nice day. Then we had clippers come in and coastals develop and temps started tanking, 46 monday, 37 tuesday, 39 today officially at national. Temps are a bit below average of 42. Lets start with a live look outside, our live michael and son weather cam, winds still northwest at 13, but they will die out by midnight. 35 downtown, but the dew point is in the Single Digits for crying out loud. This is a dry air mass. Temps will tank tonight with calm winds, clear skies and snow cover. Colder tonight as winds diminish, bus stop temperatures 14 to 30. Well watch this all night and see how fast we fall. Dry morning commute, no worries. The clipper brings us a cold front quickly and behind it arctic air returns on friday afternoon. Temps will start to fall. It will be blustery, maybe winds up to 30 miles an hour. 8 00 tonight get ready for a cold clear night, 20s, 25 leesburg, 30 downtown. By 10 00 were in the low 20s in the northern western suburbs and down to fredericksburg youre 27, 25 in la plata, pretty cold. By tomorrow morning some high clouds approach quickly with temperatures in the upper teens and low 20s. The clouds roll through by 9 00, still upper 20s downtown, mid20s in the burbs. Then the clouds thicken. As the system passes to our north, it brings up milder air. Now were 38 downtown at 1 00 and 40 in culpeper. Some areas south of 66 will make it to 40. By 5 00 here comes the cold front. It pushes through, develops a couple showers, got to go pretty far north, the magenta, a mixture of rain and snow showers and boom, its gone. By 7 00 in about two hours its moved across the delmand out into the atlantic ocean. Its a quick hitter. Tonight clear early, very cold, a few clouds by dawn, lows 14 to 24, wind northeast at 10. 20s to start on the day planner which means teens in the burbs, 33 by 11 00 and 38, clouds increasing by 1 00. Next three days blustery friday. Theres the down arrow for temperature, 33 low thursday, 33 high friday, still cold saturday, temperatures in the mid30s, but its quiet cold. Next seven days here comes our mix sunday. Some models are trending colder and lighter which would mean all snow but a light snow. Plan on something sunday afternoon and evening. Cold on monday and tuesday, another system next wednesday with highs in the 30s. Weve got a lot of other stuff going on, too. Basketball, coming down to the stretch run. Its getting there. March madness is almost here. Last 10 games of the docket, mark turgeon with a little mental House Cleaning today, nt wusa9 news is sponsored in part by your local toyota dealers. Now wusa9 game on sports with dave owens brought to you by xfinity. About 25 minutes ago we introduced you to new caps coach barry trotz. A few weeks ago i was calling him the hockey whisperer, a quiet guy pressing all the right buttons, his team responding. He might want to start using his adult voice. Suddenly the caps losing four straight, tied for seventh in the east. Tonight plenty of motivation in the building. Sid crosby and pittsburgh playing a visit, crosby a game time decision with the dreaded lower body injury. Whats been the caps problem lately . Simple, no d. Were just giving up too many goals right now. Four goals in this league if youre trying to beat everybody 54, not going to do it. Last four game weve given up four goals. The verizon neighbors wizards currently playing in the pacific time zone, so only vampires can keep up with them. Washington rallying to beat the lakers. 9892. John wall 21 points, 13 assists, nine rebounds. Hes been dealing with that injured calf. Maryland basketball was blown out at indiana last week, outplayed for the most part by northwestern sunday. Two games does not a season make, though, but as Kristen Berset reports, wednesday was time for a little introspection. Reporter after a tough week that ended in an emotional victory over northwestern, coach mark turgeon sat down with each player to get insight how they if the felt about the season and their confidence level as they head back out on the road to face another big 10 opponent. They get it. Theyre fortunate. It was a fun ending. The way we won the game kind of gives us confidence moving forward that youre never out of it and 11 down with three to go its Pretty Amazing comeback. So it gives us confidence. Just watching film the other day, we build confidence off our defense. We basically did a whole lot of defense, not offense. Thats where we get our confidence from. This team is confident and believe in one another. Thats the big thing. Every environment you go to its going to be hostile. Everyone will come out all together. Reporter the last time ohio state and maryland met was the acc big 10 challengin 2013. The buckeyes beat the terps by 16 points. Its the memory and feeling of that defeat the terps say they are using for extra motivation as they head back to columbus. In college park, Kristen Berset, wusa9. Lets see if theyre motivated tomorrow night. Our game of the week poll keeps trucking along. Go to the polls and vote. Thousands of you already have, four great games to choose from. Take the code next to the game you want. Text it to 25543, highlights tomorrow night. You know i love that. Local basketball teams doing very well so far. Georgetown fell the other day, but theyll be okay. Lots of action for march madness. You want to take us out with a little weather . Super cold, teens in the burbs, mid20s downtown and were tracking something north of downtown tomorrow and pelley tonight frozen solid. Flood waters from the noreaster turn homes from iceboxes and wreck others. I never saw it. Pelley anna werner is in frigid new england. Meteorologist eric fisher on the storm thats coming next. Nancy cordes has the confirmation hearings for americas top Law Enforcement officials r official. And the best information for republicans . Youre not eric holder are you . No, im not. Pelley which cars are safest. And Michelle Miller with the men who took on jim crow. We were students tired of the status quo. Pelley today, a half century later, justice. We cannot rewrite history but we can write