story at 11 as the same sex marriage bill now awaits the governor's signature. opponents are already working on getting the issue before maryland voters in november. >> 11 news reporter kai reed is live at the newsroom with a closer look at the session 2012 report. >> according to one republican lawmaker, a website that will include the petition for signatures has already had hundreds of hits since yesterday. the legislation passed the house and senate and gotch o'malley is poised to put his signature on it but to pass same sex marriage in maryland faces big hurdles. a petition application with the state board of elections this morning. and an approval will clear the way for bill opponents to start gathering the 55,000 -- 5,736 signatures to put a same sex referendum on the ballot in november. >> we will allow the citizens of maryland to vote on whether we're going to have marriage between a man and a woman or whether we're going to expand that definition here in this state. >> a recent "washington post"

poll found that 50% of marylanders support same sex marriage while 44% are opposed. >> do you think a referendum would be successful? >> i think that we'll be successful at referendum defending the bill. i think that we will defend the bill and that -- and maryland quite frankly will be the first state to win a referendum in this country. >> that's their prerogative. >> it's no surprise that the petition process has started. lawmakers have made reference to a referendum for some time. and he expects a long but successful battle ahead. >> etc. always very, very difficult to get the signatures you need in maryland. there are very stringent rules and tough rorments but we're going to make sure we follow their rules and make sure that we get in at least double the amount of signatures we need. >> i have faith that marylanders see this again as an issue about rights. as an issue about -- rights and responsibilities. and about their neighbors. and they don't turn their backs

on their neighbors. >> the state board of election has proved the -- approved the petition language it will go onboard. the board has seven days to do. that signatures have to be collected by june 30. reporting live in the newsroom, kai reed, wbal tv 11 news. >> a doomsday budget is being prepared at nape list. every -- at annapolis. everything is on the table including taxes and fee increases. legislators are considering a half billion dollars in spending cuts and level funding as an alternative to tax and fee increases proposed by governor o'malley. including the sales tax, and income tax hike on those who earn $100,000 a year and tax on medical adult day care based on nonmccrery day of service provided by those services. also on the table, the splitting of the combined costs of teacher pension and social security with local jurisdictions. session 2012, the buildup would

make it a primary offense for using a hand-held cell phone while driving is now on its way to the senate. right now, it's a secondary offense which means officers have to stop you for another violation before writing a cell phone citation. still on top of what's going on with your tax dollars, and laws that could affect you each and every day of the session, with 11 news reporter david collins. you can see his daily session previews on our web site. wbaltv.com. be sure to click on "session 2012." >> four days before crucial g.o.p. primaries, mitt romney outlined a far reaching plan today to gradually delay americans' eligibility for medicare and social security. campaigning in detroit where he was born, romney called himself a car guy but can he win his home state where rick santorum is threat tong steal a victory? 11 news reporter steve handelsman has tonight's commitment 2012 report. >> desperate to win in his home state, mitt romney came to detroit promising to cut income taxes.

>> 20% down, across the board. >> romney reminded michigan he opposed the auto bail out. >> we should get the government out of general motors so that the future of that compp company is determined by the -- of that company is determined by the demands of the marketplace and not by the preferences of bureaucrats in washington. >> ford field looked almost empty. the setup candidates usually avoid. and claiming hometown loyalty romney again just sounded rich. >> drive a mustang and a chevy pickup truck. and ann drives a couple of cadillacs actually. >> mrs. romney's 2007 and 2010 cadillac s.r.x.'s together would cost about $57,000 at car max. auto workers protested romney saying let detroit go bankrupt. anger that rick santorum hopes to rip up among republicans with his new ad. >> on the side of michigan voters, not romney. he supported the wall street

bailouts while turning his back on michigan workers. but rick santorum's made in the u.s.a. plan changes everything. >> santorum surged changed romney's plan. forced him to attack. and changed romney's image. no longer the inevitable nominee. even though he's fought back to even in the latest polls. >> i think michigan is a toss-up on tuesday night. but if mitt romney loses michigan, i think it's going to have major repercussions across the nation in this race. >> no one knows it more than the native son. >> i'm steve handelsman. wbal-tv 11 news. >> also today a suspicious envelope was delivered to the office of senator barbara mick -- barbara mikulski but law enforcement determined the powder was harmless. severa recenved similar threatening letters. >> a frightening experience for a man and woman who bought a new laptop at the westfield nape list mall. as they walked back to their car laptop in hand, suddenly three men appeared and attacked the couple and grabbed their

laptop. 11 news reporter sheldon dutes has more now from annapolis. >> that robbery happened inside of a parking garage here at the mall and although no one was seriously hurt, shoppers say they're rethinking tir safety. >> pretty crazy to think that something like that would happen. at such a nice day as this. >> amanda richardson enjoys shopping at the westfield mall because she doesn't have to worry about her safety. >> i feel like people should be able to come to a nice area like this and shop and not have to worry about people attacking them. coming out of their cars. >> an arundel police have stepped up their patrol after a strong-arm robbery. a middle aged couple were walking to their car in a parking garage and three men walked up to them. >> a struggle there and attempted to get their property scompun able to get property from the female and were able to take away a laptop computer from the male. >> that's when police say the men got into a car and took off. >> we have received information that the vehicle that the suspects were in was a stolen vehicle and confirmed to be stolen. it's a black b.m.w., and with district of columbia plates and

we're trying to get that information out to the public. >> the car's d.c. tag is dy-1567. police canvased the area looking for the suspects but couldn't find them. as the search continues, shoppers are thinking twice about their safety. >> and probably just be more aware of what's going on and keep your keys in your hand and -- >> look around and make sure i'm aware of my surroundings. . >> police have only a vague description. suspects but they're having anyone with information to dahl -- anyone with information to call. >> there is now a second arrest in a violent case of road rage in anne arundel county. police believe this man was the second person responsible for a high-speed road chase and crash. it happened in the area of route three north and churchview road in odenton, they say the passenger in the other car had an argument which led to the chase and eventually ended in a crash. we're also told that at one point that sudbrook stabbed

furlough who was taken to the hospital for treatment. and the identity of the person struck by an amtrak train, sky 11 along the 400 block of web lane and officers pronounced the victim dead at the scene along the railroad tracks at the end of the road. at this hour, police have not provided an age or gender of the victim. >> some breaking news to pass along to you from prince george's county. seven fear fighters were seriously hurt and a house fire where the -- started around 9:30 tonight on the 6300 block of 57th avenue. that's in riverdale. all were taken to washington area hospitals. five people were burned out of their homes tonight after a fire swept through three rural rowhouseness eastern baltimore county. the firefighters were called to the scene at around 3:00 this afternoon to winbrook road in the colgate neighborhood. it took the crews almost two hours to get those planes under

control. despite the damages, luckily there were no injuries. >> a change within the state university system in tonight's education alert as the president of the university of maryland university college is placed on indefinite leave. the chancellor of the system announced that suzanne aldridge's leave and a short letter sent wednesday to students and staff, 11 news requested more information but a spokesperson declined to elaborate simply saying that it was a surprise. umuc is the largest public university in the united states with more than 90,000 students. many of whom live overseas and take classes online. meanwhile, a vote of no confidence for dr. reginald avery. he's president of copin state university. members of the faculty are pointing to problems including the number of cabinet level staff members and increase in the university's debt and the institution's failure to give out hundreds of thousands of dollars in need-based aid to students. that letter was -- that was sent to avery will also be forwarded to the university of maryland system leadership.

affery was named coppin state president in 2008. >> howard kyly is narrowing down a search for a new school superintendent. let official search to replace retiring superintendent dr. sidney cousins started last year. that's when howard county hired a consultant firm to help conduct a national search. >> pretty much on schedule now. and the board hopes to be meeting with the consultants the week of march 6. and that we should have some list of candidates at that point. >> we're hoping for a superintendent that listens to his or her educators. we have some processes for that now. there's one seed or two seeds on policy review committees. for teachers. but that can be done better. more people can be brought into it. >> and if all goes as planned howard county could hire a new school superintendent by the spring. straight ahead will dr. conrad murray be released any time

soon? a judge's decision for a request for bail for the man convicted in connection with michael jackson's death is coming up. >> a man tries to get away with a secret service car. how that incident is connected to the president's daughters. >> plus air jordan frenzy across the nation. so much so that it's led to arrests including here in maryland. [captioning made possible by consetellation energy group] >> a strong cold front and strong winds and a much chill-year upcoming weekend. right now in baltimore, temperatures are falling, 40's now, winds out of the west gusting to 33 miles an hour.

>> as the investigation continues into the allegations against former penn state coach jerry sandusky the university

has received a federal subpoena. investigators want to know if members of the school's board of trustees made payments to keep the scandal from going public. the subpoena requires all of the board members' names and contact information dating back to 1988 and records of payments made to sandusky. a doctor convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of michael jackson will not be released while the case is being appealed. the presiding judge in the trial of conrad murray has denied his lawyer's request for bail. judge misme pastor denied the bail because -- michael pastor denied the bail because he said it's a danger for murray to practice medicine and he could flee the country. under current sentencing guidelines, murray is likely to serve half of his four-year term. >> and in what was not the wisest choice he ever made a man is under arrest tonight after attempting to steal a secret service car parked outside of a school that president obama's daughters attend. the attempted theft occurred outside the sidwell friends school in washington, d.c., this afternoon. man tried to drive away in the

vehicle. the suspect, josh gibson, has been arrested and charged with carjacking. and this was the scene at mondawmin mall that played across the country as crowds of people waiting for a chance to buy the newest air jordan sneakers got out of hand n florida a swat team was called out to handle the situation as the crowd stormed the mall's footlocker. disturbances among large crowds waiting to buy the $220 pair of shoes has prompted several stores in several states to cancel the release. >> sneakers. sneakers, man. that's what it really is. some people out here are trying to get -- i'm wanting them for my feet. >> yeah, that's a problem. these shoes are being sold online for up to $2,000. and we received a text tonight from a very clever viewer who says in a little omage to the nancy sinatra song these shoes are made for walking and that's

what they do but what fool is willing to pay more than what the shoe can do. >> viewers north and east of the city a less than fragrant way to start the day. just call it plain stinky. a major oil leak in south jersey led many people to the south including maryland in a plume of what smelled like natural gas. 11 news reporter lowell melser has more from howard county. >> over at the bel air volunteer fire department, the action started early. >> the calls increased in volume between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m. and declined around 11:00 a.m. but we've received and responded to frocksly 40 calls for service. >> before 7:00 a.m. calls started calling in about a possible gas leak that seemed to be concentrated in a large area that consumed most of the northeastern part of the county. >> a detective, you -- something isn't adding up with this because the calls were concentrated and such a quick amount of time. >> after a few phone calls to other jurisdictions, and with

help from the county's emergency operations center, the smell was linked to the pallsboro refinery which had major oil leak to the tune of 6.6 million gallons. affecting folks who live in pennsylvania, delaware, and cecil, harford and north baltimore counties in maryland. >> actually, smelled like natural gas. and that was what was concerning me. was any time you have a strong odor of natural gas, obviously the issue of explosion and the catastrophe that can result from that, that was a concern. >> ironically, bob thomas who is the public information officer for the harford county emergency operations center, said that he smelled it as he left his south harford county home this morning. thomas says atmospheric conditions were so so the oil fumes stayed close to the ground and pointed out there were no threats to anyone's health. >> none have posed any significant risk to the citizens in the county.

>> i'm lowell melser. wbal-tv 11 news. >> now, your 11 insta-weather plus forecast with chief meteorologist tom tasselmyer. >> well, a lot warmer just to our south than it was here in town. as a matter of fact, almost felt like summertime in richmond. 81 degrees down there in central virginia. while the afternoon high, marshall, was 49. warmer than that in the morning and we'll show the official almanac in a moment. the afternoon temperatures were only in the 40's to 50 here. 70's and 80's just to our south. and look at all that blue and purple to the north and west. that's what's coming in now. so several air masses colliding over the mid atlantic region today. the end result about a 10th of an inch. the official high was officially before dawn when we were in the 50's and it cooled off and stuck there with the clouds and the showers in the area. but record high of 79 will stand for yet another year. even the low eastern shore that's saw temperatures in the 70's cooling off now. strong cold front went through. triggered heavy showers and thunderstorms.

and some wind damage reported in wakamako county and those are moving out and some snow is coming in. lake enhanced snow showers now hitting western maryland where temperatures are falling. 75 this afternoon at salisbury and dropped 20 degrees down there. we're in the 40's. 30's just the rest of us. and 20's now at oakland. where there is strong gusty winds making it feel even colder and those winds have been pushing east throughout the day. a peak wind gust of 48 miles an hour. b.w.i. marshall. up here in the catock ton mountains -- in cacotocin mountains, still gusting to 35 in southern delaware around georgetown. and there is a wind advisory at least until midnight. and another few minutes and it may be extended past that for a few hours. depending on how these winds behave here in the next few minutes. western maryland, the wrnt storm or wrnt weather advisory make that, in garrett county for several inches of snow. those westerly wind hit the west side of the mountains,

squeezed out the moisture and with the colet air in place -- cold air in place, three to five to six inches of snow in garrett county. east of the mountains a partly cloudy sky and windy and cold. 30's and 40's to start the weekend. and that front will continue to pull away as high pressure drifts on in. the air up here is quite cold. that's where the air mass is coming from for the weekend. so expect a more february-like weather pattern at least for a couple of days. and if you're going up into the mountains not only the wind and the wind chills but several inches of snow during the day tomorrow. and a fleury or two is possible as -- flurry or two is possible as strong westerly winds continue. all-out sunshine for sunday and monday and chilly through the weekend, monday starts yet another warm-up. 43 to 48 tomorrow. gust to 45 miles an hour. sunup at 6:46. gale warning on the bay. that will go into the middle part of the day tomorrow for gusts of 35 knots and then tomorrow night the wind should start to diminish on the bay. snow in the mountains saturday. but lots of sunshine on sunday. eastern shore, main emphasis is on the wind for tomorrow.

still gusting to 45 miles an hour. and that will make those 40 degree temperatures feel like they're in the 30's. lower eastern shore may sneak a 50 degree reading in there but the gusts will make it feel a lot colder than that. temperatures stay chilly through sunday. then warm up to 57 monday. and by the middle of next week another round of showers or thunderstorms. >> one of the most important conversations the ravens will have this off-season. gets started this weekend. and it centers on joe flacco. we'll tell you all about it next in sports. >> friday, february 24, and tonight's megamillion jackpot an estimated annuity of $83 million. to win that jackpot, let's see if we can make you a millionaire tonight. our first number tonight is 27. that's followed by one. up next we have 16.

the next number is 25. and the final is 18. now for the megaball number,, 27, one, 16, 25, 18, and $94 million. good luck and play on, america. let me get that door for you... [ man ] i loved my first car... sometimes the door gets stuck... oh sure. ooh! [ man ] ...and then, i didn't. um... [ sighs ] [ man ] so, i got a car i can love a really, really long time. [ male announcer ] for the road ahead, the all-new subaru impreza®. ♪

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>> now 11 sports with gerry sandusky. >> ravens and joe flacco would like a new long-term contract before the start of next season. this weekend they will start to find out how realistic of a chance they have to do that. flacco's agent plans to meet with ravens officials this week at the nfl scouting combine. to begin the conversation to

frame a new contract. he wants flacco to be one of the top five q.b.'s in the nfl. flacco has one year remaining on his existing contract. and reed a year left on his contract and plans to honor it. ravens general manager ozzie newsom said today at the combine that reed has spoken with head coach john harbaugh, and reed told the coach, he will return next year for his 11th season with the ravens. loyola's men's basketball team can only get to the ncaa tournament by winning its conference tournament. but the greyhounds still want to collect a regular season conference title along the way. but those hopes evaporated this evening in new jersey. loyola taking on ryder on the road. eric eberle, left hand slam. loyola and ryder exchanging the lead throughout the game. and a wild final minute. loyola's dylon cormier on the drive. the scoop for the lead. for the one-point lead. did not last for loyola. 33 seconds left in regulation. novard gaston in the lane and

rolling hook shot goes. and one. and ryder goes ton beat loyola 83-79. loyola wraps up its best season under coach jimmy paston. and the terps making good use of crushing north carolina. and coming out of the blocks, hot on the offense tonight, 20 points for thomas. gets two more. splitting the defenders wraparound lay-up off the glass. maryland and number five terps knock off carolina 84-64. terps include the 24-4. the postseason has arrived for high school basketball teams. the 41st annual baltimore catholic league tournament tipped off at stevenson university. number two st. francis running seventh against seventh seed loyola. st. francis in white. tavon sadler. his third three of the first half. working the fast break. taylor jonofski with the

lay-up. and st. francis, lay-up game. costly over on the baseline putting it away. and then st. francis finishing strong with the defense. tommy hearn with the strip. and the win, st. francis over loyola. second game of the night, number three john carroll, and john carroll's jared jones with the basket and draws the foul. great game in this one. two-point final. running the break to perfection for john carroll. and never touching the wood on the entire fast break. 6-0 run. tyrus fleet from the corner for three. and good. and then john carroll back in front in the second half. it's ge geffen off the glass. those two were big as john carroll wins 58-56. busy weekend for danica patrick who will drive in her first-ever daytona 500 on sun but won't wait until sunday to get rolling in daytona. patrick will drive tomorrow at the track.

today she won the pole position for the season opening nationwide series race at daytona. patrick becomes the first woman to win a pole position in a nationwide series race in 18 years. >> i'm just happy that i could turn the wheel and push the pedal down and start on the pole. >> sometimes it's just that simple. the forecast never that simple. tom tasselmyer will show you why straight ahead.

the car on the left was filled up with low detergent gasoline. while the car on the right was filled up with bp gasoline with invigorate. which helps clean and protect its engine so it can get a few more miles per tank than the car on the left. go a little farther with bp gasoline with invigorate.

>> no shorts today or for the weekend. >> i would hold off on the shorts for a little while. >> hold off on the shorts. >> windy out there. hold on to everything. it will blow away if you don't. flurries west of us in -- and west of pennsylvania and winds gusting over 40 miles an hour so a 45 degree day will feel like 30's. and we warm back to the mid to upper 50's and monday and tuesday and by mid week the last day of february a chance for a couple of showers and thunderstorms again on wednesday. and then it's welcome to march. on thursday and friday. >> not bad. >> we'll take it. >> that's it look at our news. thank you very much for joining us. >> "the tonight show" with lay leno is next. -- with jay leno is next. [captioning made possible by consetellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

>> announcer: it's "the tonight featuring rickey minor ni