loss of government jobs. some frightening moments today along metro's blue and orange line lines near l'enfant plaza. a series of explosions followed by smoke in the rail cars. tonight, metro says a friction ring, which is part of the train's brake assembly simply fell off a moving train. metro ordered the immediate inspection of brake assemblies. and it will also look into passenger complaints about the incidents, including why metro employees didn't tell them what was going on as they were stranded on underground trains for some 30 minutes. >> since the train was leaving l'enfant plaza, there were two explosions. sounded like the train hit something metallic. the train was poling out of the station and then there was a very loud bang and explosion. you can start to smell smoke. >> 300 passengers had to be led by firefighters along the tracks and out to safety in complete darkness. some complained they had to pay fairs upon being evacuated. >> the dc city council has given a final approval, which will allow members to remove lawmakers for criminal wrong doing and misconduct. this comes as several members and mayor vince gray drawn the scrutiny of federal and local investigators. the story from bruce johnson. >> harry thomas joined a majority today. >> thomas had not one word to say in support of the legislation and he continues to deny all interviews. weeks ago, the fbi and irs raided the councilman's home in northeast as part of a federal investigation into his converting some $300,000 from the kid's baseball program to its personal use. council chairman today called the ethics bill a milestone for the legislators. it establishes an ethics board and code of conduct. legislators will be allowed to keep outside jobs, but the amount they can keep has been cut in half to $40,000. >> the major change in the bill today is that the council members will no longer have to wait for allegations or convictions. they gave themselves the authority to expel members for misconduct. >> expulsion of a member is something radical. >> the councilman says the bill falls way short. and he refuses to back off his position. the council members should not be accepting donations from city contractors. bruce johnson, 9news now. >> today, a federal appeals court heard arguments for and against in a lawsuit challenging maryland's congressional redistricting map. the plaintiffs say dilutes the african american vote. the general assembly approved that map in october, many black lawmakers were themselves on board. no word on when the court will have a decision, but today the judges did say that some changes in the map may be necessary. the u.s. government has wrapped up its case against bradley manning. the army intelligence officers in court for a hearing that will decide if he aught to face a court marshal. prosecutors accuse manning of providing u.s. secrets to the wikileaks website. his lawyer says that damage did little to do to national security. the defense side will start tomorrow. jewish people all over the world are celebrating the first night of hanukkah. hundreds showed up for the annual lighting of the national menora. office of management and budget director did the honors. hanukkah celebrates the miracle of a life that burns for eight days out after single day's worth of oil. okay, first it was that crucified skeleton santa claus. now it is the church of the flying spaghetti monster. and as peggy fox reports, people in leesburg say they are just getting tired of this display fight down in the neighborhood. >> i'm very disgusted. >> the church of the flying spaghetti monster distorts a nativity scene replacing the baby jesus with yes, a baby spaghetti monster. the caption reads, touched by an angel hair. pasta, that is. >> if you want to put an atheist poster here that says i don't believe, that's fine. you have the right to do that. but don't go to the extent of making fun of my religion. some say signs like this and the crucified skeleton santa are proof of a war on christmas. >> i'm a director where american atheists and if there were a war on christmas, i would have gotten a memo. my point is, there is no war on christmas. >> rick was raised a baptist and even celebrates the season with decorations, a tree, and angel ornaments. he became an atheist when he was a teenager. >> we're in your family. we're at your job. we are your cops, your lawyers, your salesmen, your it guy. >> he's an atheist activist professing his nonbelief everywhere he goes. >> i believe separation of church and state is a vital issue for the survival of our republic. it's important. >> he says as long as loudoun county lets the nativity scene on the courthouse lawn, his groups will keep on coming with their displays. >> since crucified santa skeleton went up last week, people haven't been able to keep his hands off of him. he has been vandalized and stolen. now, there are parts missing again. >> take it all down. if you want to put a nativity scene up, put it in front of your church, front yard. doesn't have to be at the courthouse. >> in leesburg, peggy fox, 9news now. >> okay. what do you think about all this? are these displays just plain old getting out of hand? and should leesburg ban all of them just to tap down all the controversy? this is an example of our first amendment at work? the address is mailbag@wusa9k. the deeper we get into winter, the warmer it gets. talking about 60s? >> we might hit 60 on thursday. even right now, it's still pretty mild. let's start with the satellite picture. we have moisture heading our way. a lot of clouds in place. so i don't see much happening tonight. you want to go outside and walk the dog and enjoy what is really a balmy night. 50 downtown. 46 in gaithersburg. 45 in manassas. for tonight, well, mostly cloudy. that won't change. relatively mild a. shower possible. lows holding in the 40s. that's where our highs should be. winds over the southwest at 10. we'll come back and talk about a stronger system coming in tomorrow and let you know if you need your umbrella all day and look ahead to the christmas day forecast and redskin forecast. the last few soldiers still in the rock finally return home to see their historic homecoming. but first, thousands of maryland lost their power and now, now they are being asked to pay for the repairs. we'll talk about it. that's up next. well commuting by train in virginia could soon cost you more. the virginia railway express is proposing a fee hike and that would cost someone riding from fredericksburg to union station 30 cents each way. the fare hike would bring in an extra $3.1 million and hope that money would offset expected cuts. if approved, the fare hike would take effect next july. people have an extra few months to apply for federal aid for damage caused by august earthquake. fema extended the deadline to apply from january 3 until march 5. homeowner, renters, and business owners can apply for money to help with repairs. people in maryland could still be dealing with hurricane irene next year. that's because pepco wants them to pay for the utilities cost. it filed for a rate adjustment. a rate adjustment that would raise rates by $5. 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 give a shout out to my family in new jersey. my mom and dad and sister up in maryland. and all my friends in the d.c. area. happy thanksgiving and merry christmas. miss you guys and see you soon. today, president obama attended a ceremony at andrew's air force base marking the end of the iraq war. the president welcomed home the top commanders and they returned with the u.s. forces iraq flag bringing a symbolic conclusion to the war. during that ceremony, president obama made no formal remarks. and the end of the iraq war is resulting in a flood of troops returning home this week. many are first setting foot on u.s. soil out at our airport. the last 300 troops to leave iraq finally arrived. scott broom is at bwi tonight to report on this historic homecoming. >> this is what the end of a nine year war looks like here on the home front. that's emily walton from woodbridge and there's her dad. air force major, thomas walton, finally clearing customs. >> what did you think of that? >> that was incredible. totally surprised. didn't expect to see everybody here. very exciting. >> i'm happy that it's over and everyone can come home. >> walton was one of 300 returning airmen who seemed stunned by this greeting at bwi. >> we're thanking them and they are thanking us and we don't know why they are thanking us when they are doing all the work. >> this year i get to help put up the tree and do the decorating. >> it's good to come home to a homecoming like this and to a beautiful girlfriend and a country that cares. >> most still had iraqi dust covering their gun case. some grabbed a taste of home right away. others called family and friends two phones at a time. and staff sergeant alexis johnson had this. >> what is that? >> the key to the door to my office in baghdad. >> as the last to go, they literally turned out the lights and turned the key on nine years of war in iraq. >> i was the last one out of the building. walked basically went from my office to the c130 and flew out. >> everyone coming home today is acutely aware it's one war down, but one more to go. yes, the end of the war in iraq is a moment in history. but many of those coming home today expect that afghanistan is in their future. at bwi airport, scott broom, 9 justice of the 9news now. >> at one time, the air force operated 24 different air bases inside the nation of iraq. well, dreading the wait for your flood to grandma's this week? skype is giving you a free way to pass time. the online chat and video service is offering an hour of free wifi. all three d.c. airports are included. down load the skype app and then they can sign on. skype's offer starts tomorrow and runs through next tuesday. a lot of people like the idea of snow during the holidays. like certain weather man we all know. but probably not quite like this. the blizzard making its way across the midwest drops almost a foot of snow right on parts of crest today. a highway patrol dispatcher out there says the entire south western part of the state is shut down. blizzard conditions have also closed highways from new mexico to texas. drivers are stranded. in fact, in at least five different states. so you like that snow too, don't you? >> that's a little crazy. it is going to get milder tomorrow. there's no arctic air anywhere in the country. >> going to melt some of that snow? >> the roads are much better now. we're looking at temperatures in the 50s today. maybe 60 by thursday. are you going to be okay with that? >> i'm going to be okay. >> let's start with the satellite picture. we'll zoom out to this storm and in terms of what is left of it winter wise, there's not much of this storm. a little bit of mixed precipitation and extreme, extreme north eastern kansas and north western missouri. that's really it. and really we're looking at all the snow pulled out of much of eastern colorado and kansas. they will be able to clean up and it will melt a little bit. as we go eastward, it's rain in chicago, rain in detroit. you think late december, that would be a lock for snow. no. now we have a cold front just to our north. a little colder to the north. 40s. south of the front 50s. it's not exactly an arctic boundary. temperatures still 49 at bethesda. 49 arlington. 50 at the airport. 50 in college park. even though sterling is checking in at 50. 47 in reston. 48 in leesburg and 45 in manassas. all right, so we're looking at milder conditions, but it will turn wet. tomorrow will be the wetter of the day so far this week. mild again tonight. you'll need your umbrella on wednesday. even milder on thursday. we should stay dry on thursday, by the way. more rain comes in thursday night. that's going to be even heavier rain than what we will see tomorrow. the most part, tomorrow we'll see light showers and maybe a rumble of thunder. this is late tonight. a couple sprinkles west of town after midnight. i think in the morning, we're okay with clouds. yes, hagerstown westward out toward comperland, could have a wet commute with light activity. by lunchtime if you are walking around. this is 1:00, showers possible. pretty much anywhere around the metro area. it's all green. it's all light activity. put this back into evening and most of us get shower activity by this time tomorrow night. so again, the ride home could be wet, but nothing super heavy coming our way. actually appears that thursday night's rain was much heavier than wednesday's. clouds return quickly on wednesday, but should stay dry during the day on thursday. for tonight, mostly cloudy, mild, maybe a shower. temperatures in the 40s. winds southwest at 10. by morning, mostly cloudy, breezy and mild. a shower possible. you will need the umbrella at some point in time. 40s and 50s. mild wind. a warmer wind. by afternoon, breezy and mild with rain and showers. maybe a thunderstorm. high temperatures 55 to 60. now the next seven days, again we get a break on thursday. during the day, but then rain thursday night ending on friday. we get a break on saturday for the redskin game and rain comes back in here christmas night into early on monday and then we get a break on tuesday and derek, temperatures hang around 50, which as you know is warm for this time of year. >> saturday not looking bad at all. >> for the game it's much better. >> all right, there are times when the weird news veers into the just plain freakish and this would be one of those times. to where else isn't the uk where doctors had recently operated on a 76-year-old patient only to find inside her gut, a felt tip pen. you can see it there on the x- ray. turns out, she had claimed to swallow that pen 25 years ago when she slipped on some stairs with the pen in her mouth. don't ask. no one believed her. the pen had been inside this lady all this time. yet it was not making her sick. doctors took it out anyhow. here it is. and then they used it to write the word hello on that piece of paper. the pen still works. like i said, just plain freakish. >> wow. >> we want to hear what you think. send your e-mails to mcginty's mail bag. the address, mailbag@wusa9.com. 9news now will be right back. in the mail bag tonight, the wusa9 facebook page tracking your passions on the government's inability to make the deal to preserve that cut in the payroll tax and extend unemployment benefits. heather says all this politics affects real people. my husband's unemployment just ran out. we are barely making ends meet as it is and we haven't heard if there's another extension in the works. he has been on one interview in six months. we aren't able to do christmas and i have no idea how we'll pay our rent for january. my salary alone isn't enough. but robert says it's not all the congress' fault. obama was on tv now complaining about the house not voting on a bill passed by the senate. how about those 15 bills the house passed but democrats won't let them come up for a vote in the senate. he'll complain when it's about the republicans. he talked about the house playing politics. he talks out of both sides of his mouth. he should call the senate back and make them do their job. well except i think the president and the senate would argue they already did their job by passing the two month extension and everything would be just fine if the house would get on board. let's be real, it's all about politics now. somehow though i'd like to hold out hope lawmakers will get something done. the address is mailbag@wusa9.com. that's our broadcast. i'll be right back here tonight at 11:00 along with anita brikman. sign on any time you like at wusa9.com. we'll see you a little bit later. bye bye. now "entertainment tonight," the most watched entertainment news magazine in the world. the tale of two kates. duchess kate in a daring black dress. low cut, black velvet. was it an homage to the dress worn by diana. and katie holmes, wearing her own creation. in new york city with tom. black stockings. >> i am living the dream. ♪ i don't want to miss her on the holiday ♪ >> justin bieber's christmas concert. >> sorry, wrong room. >> and punking his fans backstage. we showed you the kardashian's christmas card. see what it took to get made. >> mckenzie phillips. horde shame. >> i spent a year in the closet. heroin and cocaine. >> finding stashes of pills.