kelly: don't forget to spring forward. eileen: that's right, adjust your clock ahead one hour. the sunset tomorrow at 7:10, so

should be a nice day. high of 52. 55 monday, rain showers tuesday. kelly: thank you so much for

[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] kelly: it was a turning point in the civil rights movement, and across the country celebrating the 50th anniversary of the selma riots. reporter: they came in the thousands. people from all over alabama and the entire country made the pilgrimage to selma to honor the sacrifice of hundreds of protesters brutally attacked by state troopers in 1965, a day ultimately known as bloody sunday. >> i want to thank each and every one of you who marched

across the bridge on bloody sunday. reporter: and the ultimate sign their efforts made a difference the first african-american president thanked the marchers for their contribution. president obama: we gather to honor the courage of ordinary americans who braved the tear gas. reporter: while there was talk about the past and what happened 50 years ago, president obama made sure to the size that was a lot of work to be done. president obama: all of us need to recognize the change in our actions and attitudes are those we teach our children. reporter: those comments echoed by civil rights leaders working to make a difference, like martin luther king iii. >> i think voter education and registration creates participation.

reporter: a black president speaking freely and marching across the edmund pettus bridge, a dream many thought impossible, especially those in the same spot 50 years ago under different circumstances. ryan nobles reporting. kellye: the search is underway across two states for three men suspected of robbing eight banks in the area. investigators say they are becoming more daring with every successful robbery and as brianne carter reports, that is a cause for concern. >> they go in and put everybody on the floor and they rob the tellers. brianne: watch as these brazen suspects walking into this bank and demand money. the suspects who hide their identities with sunglasses, hats, masks, even fake beards are called by the fbi "the black cat and it's." the fbi say they have robbed eight rank's across the region

in two months, the latest monday afternoon, this wells fargo in falls church. >> they have now gone beyond the norm of what most people rob before they are caught. brianne: the authorities already have a number of clues come including surveillance images and the description of a possible getaway car. they will likely try to follow the money. >> they usually spend it on drugs, cars, whatever it might he. that is a defense where law enforcement and the fbi will look. brianne: the fbi says the suspects are increasingly dangerous, most recently holding a gun to a customer's head and jumping over the counter to gain access to bank vaults. >> clearly they would like to catch these guys sooner than later, before somebody does not lay down and gets shot. i think we are moving in that direction if they are not caught soon.

kellye: d.c.'s embattled fire department is getting a new leader. the former fire chief of seattle, gregory dean, is taking the post. stephen tschida looks at the challenges he faces. stephen: i'm pleased to announce the leader gregory dean, the next fire chief for the district of columbia. mayor muriel bowser tout at the choice as a man of a couple schmidt, action, and cooperation. she cited his 10 years leading seattle's department. >> i'm pleased to be here come excited about the challenges and look forward to working with the men and women of this department. stephen: last year, cedric mills died outside of a fire station where emergency medical take nations failed to respond to cries for help. two months ago, delays hampered the rescue of stranded passengers on a smoke-filled metro train. a woman died.

days ago poor communication and cooperation with arlington fire during another incident on metro. >> staffing, resources, and trading is the easy key. as long as you press all three areas, we will be successful. stephen: he will also repair and replace the fleet and create hundreds of job openings. >> i understand there is a staffing shortage. i understand there are challenges. stephen: stephen tschida, abc 7 news. kellye: the d.c. council must approve the appointment. if confirmed, he will replace eugene jones, who served as the interim chief after kenneth ellerbee step down last summer. the fairfax county board of supervisors as approved a pay raise for future members. each member of the next board will make $95,000 per year a 25,000 other increase. the chairman will take home

$100,000. the pay raises are the first in seven years. coming up on saturday news extra, a major announcement from the longest-serving woman in the history of congress. maryland senator barbara mikulski will not seek a sick term in congress. -- will not seek a sixth term in congress. eileen: andy temperatures will be springing forward just like daylight saving time.

kellye: maryland senator barbara mikulski will not run for a sixth term in a year. she has been in congress longer than any other woman in history. but her pending retirement does not mean she is going quietly. brad: she is four feet 11 inches, but her giant shadow has loomed over maryland politics since 1976. she became one o powerful centers -- powerful senators. barbara mikulski: i will not be seeking a sixth term in the united states senate. brad: she said there is no health problem, but at age 78 she has decided not to wage another campaign. senator mikulski: i had to decide how i would spend my time, fighting for my job or

fighting for their job will stop do i spend my time raising money or do i spend my money raising hell? brad: her combative career drew praise from the president to other senators. >> she has been a powerful force for our state. brad: even in her neighborhood, there is a sense her timing is right. >> she has been here a long time. >> i think there should be term limits in congress, so i'm glad she's retiring. brad: now, who comes next? there are several, including from montgomery county and prince george's county and baltimore county, along with former governor bob ehrlich and martin o'malley. we asked the senator if she had a particular favorite to succeed her in the u.s. senate. she said no, not ready to talk

about that yet. she said maryland has a lot of talented politicians and those people will waste no time telling you have qualified they are for her job. in baltimore, brad bell, abc 7 news. kellye: while the early talks focused on martin o'malley, he said he will not run. instead, congressman chris became the first to say he will run for mikulski's senate seat in 2016. that set off a chain reaction, clearing the way for former abc 7 anchor kathleen matthews to run for congress. she said she will run for the congressional seat currently held by van hollen. she will run as a democrat. ahead, the national park service has announced when the cherry blossoms should reach peak bloom. find out if it is earlier or later than usual.

kellye: february's wintry weather turned back to peak bloom forecast for the cherry blossoms. the park services they will hit peak bloom april 14, the last weekend of the cherry blossom festival. in the last five years, the initial prediction was right twice, including last year.

so we will see. eileen: looking forward to it. when we talk about cherry blossoms, you know the spring is right around the corner. i cannot wait for tomorrow's weather because it will be really nice. tomorrow is going to be just as nice as today, if not nicer. 42 right now at reagan national. this time last night we were already into the teens and low 20's. this is a big improvement. clear skies, calm wind. overall, quiet through the nighttime. 37 manassas, one of the cold response,42 baltimore and annapolis. winchester 45 degrees. this temperature change is remarkable. it is 32 degrees milder right now than this time yesterday at dulles airport. light southerly breezes responsible for the warming temperatures today. the wind is calm at reagan

national, but breezy at andrews and dulles. the wind shifting out of the northwest, but it will be mild. the high temperature today, 49 degrees reagan national. it felt so nice, but we were still a few degrees below average, which is 53 this time of year. 67 the high today in st. louis, 70 degrees kansas city. we are not pushing that any time soon, but we will be approaching 60 the middle of the week. satellite radar, quiet. a little weak weather front to the north bringing portions of snow to northern new york and pennsylvania. rain through parts of west virginia but a lot of that has dissipated. other than patchy clouds, it is quiet. 34 degrees the low temperature in d.c., upper 20's the far northwest suburbs.

remember to turn your clock ahead one hour before going to bed as we switch to daylight it will be darker in the morning at sunrise, but the sunset will be 7:08, so extra daylight to enjoy. overall, the forecast looks nice. we start in the 30's, climbing to 47 degrees by 1:00 p.m. lower 50's. a breeze out of the northwest between 10 and 15 miles per hour. we start the work week off quiet monday, 55 degrees, 52 tuesday. the next weather system will bring rain showers. wednesday, getting close to 60 degrees. next friday and saturday another west system -- another weather system but things looking nicer as we spring forward. kellye: a major improvement thank you. when most of us are sick we take a day off, but for a local teacher, taking too many sick days was not an option.

and her cancer is not slowing her down. >> i want to cry. >>reporter: it has been an emotional school year for seneca ridge teacher beth carter. this seventh grade math teacher who rarely misses class would have to skip school for surgery and chemotherapy. >> i told him i would try to be there is much as i physically could. reporter: dr. saying stay -- said staying in class could open or to infection, centering team of she sad to stay home. >> i was crying. it was frustrating, why can i be there to teach? reporter: the frustration turned into fortitude. her determination to fight kicked in. she decided if she could not be in the classroom, the classroom would come to her. >> jack, tell me, what did you get for the new ordered pairs? reporter: her husband's

company, cicsosco, installed web cameras at home and in her classroom. the students remain engaged. >> your graph should look like this. it enables me to feel like i'm still in the classroom. i can interact with the kids, they can talk to me, i can talk to them, i can see what they are doing, they can ask questions. reporter: a substitute teacher watches over the class while ms. carter leads the instructions. loudoun county school officials say they fully support it. >> she is one of our best, and when she said she wanted to continue and had the means to do that, i was excited. i said great, let's do it. reporter: and ms. carter takes extra credit knowing her students are learning more than just math. >> for them to see that sometimes life does not give you everything you want, but you

still have to get up and face it with the best that you can. reporter: ms. carter's final round of chemotherapy is scheduled for march 17. she will have a few weeks of radiation hopes be back in the classroom all-time in the fall. jummy olabanji, abc 7 news. kellye: quite an inspiration. coming up, 7 on your side to protect el

kellye: a bill in the maryland

general assembly would remove sugary drinks from children's menus. they will have to be ordered separately. supporters say the change would help fight obesity, but opponents include several trade groups. an elderly disabled woman is out more than $300,000. the police arrested her longtime repair man. kevin lewis explains why. kevin: this is the bethesda split-level that the police say that gary knighting preyed building the disabled elderly homeowner for repairs. he charged $10,000 to patch up the backyard patio fence and $15,000 to install a new roof. in the end, the disabled homeowner paid over $300,000.

this neighbor is stunned. >> i guess she trusted him. once somebody does a job for you, i guess they have trust. >> they are good at determining what the victim will pay. kevin: in some cases, victims lose more than a million dollars. >> that is what is so sad as they gain their trust, they confuse them, sometimes intimidate them. before long, they have taken their life savings. kevin: knighting has convictions for crimes including document fraud and identity theft. detectives say the state of virginia suspended his contractors license and in maryland he was working without one. >> i had no idea. it's just awful. i feel really bad for her. kevin: kevin lewis, abc 7 news. kellye: knighting'