>> we are not simply concerned about protecting religious institutions. we are concerned about the impact at redefining marriage has on all of us. >> a new poll finds that 50% support same sex marriage and 44% are opposed. those with differing opinions packed the senate committee room. speakers got two minutes each. the hearing was expected to last four hours. the civil marriage protection act cut the budget talks governor martin o'malley is the agenda. >> we want the same thing for our children, the opportunity to live and loving, caring, committed, stable homes protected equally under the law. >> the governor was asked to explain the difference between issuers bill and last year's version. -- between this year's bill and last year's version. it further limits punitive actions against religious

organizations for failing to perform same-sex marriage. >> i think everybody recognizes in the last week or so -- >> republican senator nancy jacobs is referring to kgo mallees statement calling those who change their mind last year cowards -- referring to keep o'malley's statement. >> all couples, regardless of sexual orientation, deserve the same legal protection and rights under the law. >> you don't take away someone's civil rights because of what might happen. you can deal with that later on. make sure we get the civil rights done now. >> the fayed community sees it as a moral issue. -- the faith community sees it as a moral issue. a hearing date has not been set in the house, although the bill is jointly referred to the judiciary and help the government committees. david collins, wbal-tv 11 news.

>> now to florida where sunshine state voters are casting their ballots today in the fight for the gop presidential nomination. polls say mitt romney will come out on top in this winner-take- all state. sally kidd is in tampa for the last minute campaigning. >> mitt romney is spending primary day here in tampa. newt gingrich is over in orlando tonight. the latest polls have given romney a 13 point lead. the sunshine state win is a huge prize, a 50 delegate haul, and is winner-take-all. mitt romney worked the phones at the tampa headquarters. he attributes his lead in florida in part to a more aggressive campaign style, telling reporters he was outgunned in south carolina. >> i will not stand by and let another candidate define me. the candidate recently attacking

me has been quite sad and painfully revealing about the speaker. >> newt gingrich has seen his momentum evaporate over the past few days, but he says he sees a path to the nomination. >> romney is not getting anywhere near majority here. >> some florida republican voters believe he should fight it out, all the way to the convention. >> i think it is good for the parties to have opposition with each other. in homes and their skills. >> other republicans say a protracted fight would hurt the party. >> i look at the overall candidates and think it would be the most delectable in the general election. -- the most electable in the general election. is a two-man race in florida, with santorum and ron paul trailing and have essentially written off the state.

>> there are 32 days left in cells and -- until super tuesday. before you cast your ballot, check out our profiles on the politics pages of our website, wbaltv.com. >> authorities in baltimore city are investigating a deadly police involved shooting that began as an attempt to stop the vehicle in baltimore county. lowell melser has been tracking the bizarre turn of events. he joins us with late breaking details. >> this certainly was not your typical police chased car. actually ended here in south baltimore in front of this lowe's earlier this morning. at this point, police are still not releasing that the name of the suspect or giving any possible reason why he was so anxious to run from police. police activity lines the patapsco village shot in plaza on annapolis road in south

baltimore early tuesday morning after a suspect is shot and killed by baltimore county and anne arundel county officers. the bizarre situation unfold around 2:00 in the morning when a baltimore county officer tried to pull over a nissan. the vehicle fled in got away. moments later, another baltimore county officer noticed the same vehicle on 695 and tried to stop it, but it got away again. the same officer noticed the nissan had crashed in the southbound lanes of 95 and pulled over to investigate. there ended up being some sort of trouble. the suspect said he had begun and ended up stealing the officers cruiser. the officers were later able to track down the cruiser to the parking lot of this motel 6. when they arrived, they noticed a black suv racing out of that parking lot and then stopped it. three people got out, but a

ford, the suspect, who police believe stole the cruiser, got behind the wheel and took off. >> we believe it is the same individual that was struck. the individuals that were taken out of the suv are being questioned by homicide detectives. police did recover a hammer from the scene. >> baltimore county, now joined by anne arundel county police, gave chase until the suv crashed into a police vehicle in the 3200 block of annapolis road. that is when officers fired on the suspect, who was later pronounced dead at shock trauma. >> it was members from baltimore county and anne arundel county. >> the baltimore county officers were all veterans with 19, 18, and five years' experience. the officer from anne arundel county was also a veteran with 19 years of experience.

a possible suspect on was never found. >> all four officers have been placed on routine administrative leave. police officers tillis by working together through the three different jurisdictions, using radio communication, they were able to avoid a high-speed chase that they say may have resulted in innocent sitters -- innocent citizens being injured or even killed. >> we now have an update for you. preliminary toxicology reports reveal that both drivers in the deadly accident on route 50 over the weekend driving under the influence. that is according to state police. investigators say 19-year-old brittany walker was behind the wheel of a car traveling the wrong way that crashed sunday morning. she and the two passengers in the car died when they collided head-on with a car driven by 59- year-old heavy and -- terry davis. >> a suspect is dead tonight

after authorities say he was involved in the attempted theft of a lawn tractor in northeast. barry simms has the latest on that investigation. >> police tell us they are looking for four suspects. they could face serious charges because a death occurred in the commission of a felony. >> this john deere lawn tractor and this stolen chevy pickup or evidence in an attempted theft that ended in the death of a suspect. maryland state police say 35- year-old david rowland was ejected from the vehicle as they attempted to escape. >> an employee at the lowe's store which has not opened yet saw five suspects in a pickup truck loading a john deere tractor from the back of their lot. >> the employee closed the day trying to stop the suspects, but

they were determined to get away. >> they were able to push their way under the gate, and along more came off the truck. >> as they continue fleeing, they collided with a car driven by a 34-year-old chesapeake city man. orange markings on the roadway show the path as it aged did the shopping center not far from route 272. the grand opening for the store does not happen until thursday, but apparently it became a target for thieves monday evening. the manager declined to comment. they are reviewing surveillance tape from nearby businesses, looking for clues. >> they are continuing the investigation today, looking for four suspects. we are not sure if they are all male, but we believe several of

them are. there may be a female involved as well. >> court records show david rowland was convicted of theft and burglary in 2003. he was also convicted of theft in 2011 and was on probation. his probation was scheduled to continue until september of this year. state police are asking anyone with information about this crime to give them a call. reporting live from cecil county, barry simms, wbal-tv 11 news. >> tax season is now in full swing. >> unless you do it yourself, avoiding the costs of tax preparation can be quite a challenge. how you might qualify for free professional bonds. >> the build up to super bowl 46 is taxing. that is coming up later in sports. >> we will see how long this warm weather continues as we

track some wet weather. right now is still incredibly mile, 60 degrees at the mile, 60 degrees at the airpor

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pure adrenaline. whee whee wheeeeeeeeeeee! everything you love about geico, now mobile. download the new geico app today. whee wheeeeeeeeeeee-he-he-heeeeee! x a top u.s. education officials spent the day in baltimore pitching the student loan forgiveness program. there was a panel discussion at the university of maryland baltimore today, urging students to consider the program that promises to forgive loans if

they agree to work in public- service after graduation. last year, students left school with an average of $25,000 in student loans. >> we have still many still predict to many students leaving college with debt that cannot afford to pay back, much less the burden of debt that you can afford to pay back, but the difficulty of watching that paycheck every month to make sure those ends meet. >> for more on the loan forgiveness program, visit our website, wbaltv.com and click on education amar. >> taxpayers will slow to moderate incomes can take advantage of what is called the cash campaign. it stands for creating assets, savings, and hope. single taxpayers who made less than $25,000 or families making less than $50,000 are eligible for the program. maryland congressman elijah cummings is urging those who qualify to use the service.

>> we have people who have been certified by the irs to prepare the returns. they have helped 16,000 people over the last 11 years, and we are trying to help another 9000 teixeira. >> for a list of the tax preparation sites, you can visit our website, wbaltv.com. >> now, your insta-weather forecast with chief meteorologist tom tasselmyer. >> january 2012 makes you think there is no winter around. actually, parts of western and northern canada and alaska are suffering through one of the worst winters on record. record-setting snows on the south coast of alaska to the coldest january temperatures in central and northern alaska. fairbanks at about 30 below zero. they are getting too rigid close to the high for the day. -- they are getting close to the high for the day. that tells you they are in for

some severe arctic cold across this part of the world. 62 degrees before it is below zero and in one town in alaska. south of the u.s.-canadian border, is a relatively mild nationwide with the exception of far northern new england. 10 inches of snow around caribou tonight. today in baltimore, 66 officially at bwi marshall, 68 degrees at the inner harbor. normal is only 42 degrees. we did not make it to the record high of 69. nothing in the rain gauge yet, but that is going to change. this month is only going to rank 26 on the list of all-time warmest january in baltimore. we have had some warm winters in the past, including 1932, 1937,

and 1933. a really warm decade there. this year, incredibly mild, not much snow, but not record- setting. 49 on the coast down at ocean city. the naval academy has been bouncing back and forth between the 50's and 40's, depending on which way the wind is blowing. otherwise it has been mild state wide and will stay in the upper 30's in the coolest spot. the lows tonight will be more -- warmer than the typical high. caribou is at 9 degrees right now, but the next system coming our way is generating just rain. for our region, scattered showers tomorrow, temperature still above normal. a little batch of rain south of us thursday morning and then we are back into some sunshine and around baltimore as we head into

the end of the week. tomorrow will be cooler than today, but still above normal. maybe a little wet snow in the mounds on thursday. the eastern shore, temperatures still in the 60's tomorrow, low temperatures thursday. spotty showers as the system moves by. a pretty good chance of rain will hit ocean city on thursday, with a high of 53. winds of the southwest on the baby with waves about 1 foot. -- on the bay with waves about 1 foot. a chance for a shower on sunday. it might end with some wet snow showers on monday. >> this is 11 sports. >> like getting sand out of bathing suit, it takes time for the pain of a historically awful lot to go away. nine days later, we are getting there. tuesday is media day during

super bowl week. that means anyone who wants to talk football in indianapolis can do so. the sounds of media day crime in the, for your viewing pleasure. >> there is a great -- media day in indy. >> when i got to the team, it was always red sox and yankees. i don't think the one is disappointed that it is the giants. >> they put me in this situation and said this is what you are going to do. i keep my mouth shut and do what i am told. or, i could have been at home watching at this point. >> this is a fine opportunity, a fun day. just have a lot of smiles, answer some questions and try to understand that this is a great day and great situation to be in. >> the super bowl text question

for this evening, which quarterback do you think will perform better on sunday? " for tom brady or eli manning. standard text messaging rates will apply. 67% expect big things from eli manning. the second year tied in caught 17 touchdowns. he appeared in a walking boot after new england won the afc title. whether he plays it is the million-dollar status question. >> i am improving every day. when you are heard, you want to improve every day.

i am just trying to get stronger every day, listening to the training staff, i am dealing up and getting stronger. -- healing up and getting stronger. i am going in the right direction. >> super sunday is just five days away. you can catch the game at right here on wbal-tv. our extensive coverage kicks off at noon just-in-time for the start of super bowl 46. it is commonly referred to as were the lakers and that other team play. last month -- last night griffin did it again. i take it back, he has never done this before. kendrick perkins, the dunk of the year. lebron james and said so be it twitter.

-- lebron james agreed and said so via twitter. stay

an attempt to stop a car and baltimore county ended up with a stolen police car and a deadly shooting in the city. parents are act -- anxiously awaiting the results of an air quality

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>> another day in the 60's tomorrow the the chance for showers, and slightly cooler as we head toward the weekend. [captioning made possible by constellation energy group]