wjz, maryland's news station. >> making history, maryland is on the verge of legalizing same sex marriage. >> the closed vote and final step that will make it official. >> hello everyone. >> here's what people are talking about tonight. >> a bill to allow same sex marriage in maryland. the governor aexpected to sign it but that may not be the end of the story. we have more on the big step.

meghan. >> reporter: well, it was a big vote in the senate. very tight 25 in favor and 22 against. it is a major victory for supporters of same sex marriage. with that, the bill to legalize same sex marriage goes to the governor's desk. >> this has been a difficult issue for many people but we came together and we're moving forward. >> it's just a remarkable day for the people in the state of maryland. >> reporter: the torn senate president mike miller voted against the bill. >> there's no doubt about it. >> reporter: many opponents competent they'll be able to get same sex marijuana on --

marriage on the ballot in november. >> this day will change our lives forever. we'll be able to tell our children about this day and be sharing this with friends and family. >> it's unbelievable and hard to wrap my head around it. >> reporter: the house passed the bill last week. tonight several delegates watched as the same happened in the senate. >> it is wonderful to know that marylanders believe my rights should be equal. >> reporter: now both sides say they're ready for a new fight in november. the governor says he plans to sign the civil marriage protection act within a week. reporting live, wjz eyewitness news. >> meghan, thank you. the legislation is set to take effect in january 20/13. >> the next step for george hughly. he will more than likely spend the next two and a half decades in prison for killing love.

they recommend he be sentenced to 26 years. the judge can either accept that sentence or reduce it. jessica has reaction of the verdict from love's hometown. >> reporter: college students react. >> i think he deserved what he got. it's tragic. it's hard to think about. >> reporter: yardly love's mother and sister gave this statement. it is truly devastating to wake up each day and realize she is no longer here. her contagious smile, kind spirit and gentle touch has left this world. we know heaven has an angel like no other. we will perform works of kindness in her name. sadly, she says domestic

violence cases on college campuses are all too familiar. >> many college campuses have places for young people to go when involved in this kind of relationship. >> where love attended high school issued this statement. yardly will always be one of our girls and no, we will never fill the void left by her death, we pray that those whose lives have been altered may find piece. there has been strong reaction to the second degree murder and people are saying it's not enough punishment and follow the statement up by saying whatever the punishment won't bring love back. wjz eyewitness news. >> now, the jury considered testimony from nearly 60

witnesses before convicting hughly. >> the fbi searching for men accused of shooting a man. >> baltimore county police catch a man posing as an officer in a phony police cruiser and tonight they want to know who else he may have fooled. we have more on the local police impersonator. >> the police are trying to determine the extent of the actions. baltimore county police say this man has been impersonating a cop. the officer became suspicious when he got out of the car wearing a police uniform. >> he gets out of the car wearing a virginia state uniform and the car is equipped

with lights and sirens and other police equipment. >> reporter: he was charged with impersonating a police officer. he lives in this house in park field baltimore county. eyewitness news knocked on the door but there was no answer. one neighbor tells the news that he has lived on the street for years and been nice and helpful. that same neighbor says that crown victoria in question led them to believe something about him wasn't quiet right. police say a search of the suspects house turned up badges for baltimore city, county and maryland state. all police patches were found as well as police uniform and equipments. they don't know if he made illegal traffic stops but they hope to find out. >> we department he perhaps may have. >> reporter: right now it's unclear if any other

jurisdictions are investigating the suspect. >> thank you. anyone with information about this case is urged to call baltimore county police. >> several marines die in one of the worst ever training accidents for the marine corp. no one survived the crash. the victims not yet identified. two more american troops killed during protest in afghanistan. they opened fire over the burning of the koran. >> the president of syria and his top officials are under crime tonight. more than 100 people died today and the u.n. says they are on the brink of civil war. now they're getting an

ultimatum. >> we must never lose site of what this is about. a regime making war on its own people. families suffering on cities under siege. a nation brought to the brink of chaos. >> for the last few days hospitals are unequipped to deal with the patients. among the scored of injured are three western journalist. today they issued a plea to the world to get them out safely. 15 year old spent three months carrying the wounded out of syria. three days ago he was carrying a wounded on his back when he stepped on a land mine. hillery will meet tomorrow to demand humanitarian aid be

allowed into syria. >> there is also call for them to help the rebels. >> jobs are on the line as the postal service tries to trim its budget. they're planning to close or consolidate more than 200 this spring. four of those are here in maryland. the move will save the agency $2 billion and means mail delivery will slow down too. a different kind of visitor drops in at the beach on ocean city. the first time they've been allowed on the sand. you can only ride horses on the beach during the off season. >> and you have to clean up after your horse. >> i was going to say, somebody's going to need to do that. >> that's the rule. coming up, a close call on the train tracks. see the frightening impact when a train slams into a car. >> pepsi is ready to roll out a brand new drink. what makes this version of the

soda so different. >> a very warm but windy friday on tap. i'm bob with your complete first weather forecast coming up next. ,,

[ dog barking in distance ] ♪ [ guitar: power chord ] ♪ [ hard rock ] [ snarls ] ♪ [ continues ] [ thunderclaps ] [ announcer ] the van beckons like no van before. the technology-packed honda odyssey.

it is 54 degrees and cloudy in central maryland. your complete forecast coming up. a woman in delaware barely escaped death after making a wrong turn. this shows her driving an train tracks. her car became stuck but with a train baring down she wasn't leaving the vehicle. they pull the woman out just in time. the train left the car mangled. there were no injuries. a pharmacist in washington state makes a split second decision during a robbery attempt. she blasted him with a shot of pepper spray. the security cameras show the man running out of the store. police arrested him and say the suspect is wanted for two previous robberies at that same

pharmacy. >> a surprising ruling ends the trial of an alabama man accused of murdering his wife on their honeymoon. the judge said prosecutors failed to prove he intentionally drowned his wife for insurance money. a man loses his life in an explosion on the eastern shore. they say he was probably trying to steal copper from a business. a high voltage equipment burned his body beyond recognition. authorities say it's part of a resent wave. >> and cases such as these have risen dramatically along with the price of copper. wjz investigates people risking it all. we take an inside look.

>> people are risking their lives for copper. stealing it from electrical boxes and cell phone towers because the price has skyrocketed. its disrupted aircraft and put the power grid. this shows men ripping it down and taking off in just four and a half minutes. in the past two years, authorities in maryland have arrested more than 400 people but many times those behind the theft get more than a slap on the wrist. mike was stunned when copper thieves took power cables from dozens of boats at his dock that could have caused them to sink. >> some of these boats have

high-tech electronics and things and they just went for the copper. >> they -- somebody heard noise outside. >> he lives in the homeland neighborhood where many of the homes have copper gutters and thieves see them as targets. >> it's not like in a back alley. somebody could stop a truck and yank something off and dash away. >> george spent thousands of dollars to replace the copper leaving him shaking and angry. >> here we are like sitting ducks. >> when copper is stolen, thieves take it to scrap dealers for quick cash. >> this is around a thousand pounds and it's about $1400. it adds up quick. >> george has been in the scrap metal business for more than

30s years. >> there's going to be people come try to sale you something they've stolen. >> because at today's prices, it's a problem that's not going away leaving victims outraged. mike, wjz eyewitness news. >> under new maryland law scrap dealers cannot buy certain items that are frequent target items of thieves. >> pepsi hopes its next product will shake up the soda market. the soft drink is between regular soda and zero calorie diet drinks. it contains a mix of three artificial sweeteners and high fructose syrup. the next time you go to

mcdonald's, take a look at your chicken nuggets. a woman says the face of george washington is right there. president nugget has been frozen for three years but is now on ebay. the woman will donate the proceeds to her church's youth camp. at one point there was 251 george washington's. dipping sauce the extra. >> looks more like moses to me. >> you can do that with clouds. any day there's nice puffy clouds you can see all kinds of faces and imagines. >> no chicken nuggets. >> who would eat george washington's face anyways. even warmer tomorrow and a warm night. 54 now. humidity up a little bit. notice showers north of us and south of us but nothing around the d.c. area.

barometers holding steady. winds shifting out of the east, north east at 8-milings -- miles an hour. locally, some showers north west over southern pennsylvania. 52 up there and 56 over washington and 65 degrees today. 48 the low so far. 47 and 28 are the amples -- averages and the record today 78. right now the winds are out of the east. tomorrow afternoon they'll go back to the west, north west and get very, very strong late in the afternoon. by tomorrow evening we may see strong wind gust 35-40 miles an hour. some of the high peaks could see wind gust 50-55 miles per hour. damaging wind gust possible and that's why they have a high wind warning out. the rest of the region under a

high wind watch. we're actually under a wind advisory and also a fire weather watch with all the wind going on late tomorrow afternoon and rather try conditions unless you see some descent rain. now, a front is going to go through the area later tonight. that's what's causing some of the showers to break out. tomorrow we get into warm air for much of the afternoon and a cold front from the north west and drop temperatures late tomorrow night. the air becomes windy all afternoon and much cooler tomorrow night after a high in the low 70s we drop back into the 30s tomorrow night. still above normal but the winds tomorrow gusting to 49. so tonight scattered showers mainly north and south right now but a mild night. 46 tomorrow. shower or even a thunder shower or thunderstorm, 73. it might get to 75 or 7 6.

windy and cold in later in the day. warming up again under sunny skies mostly. 55 and 58 on tuesday. >> coming up, optimism in the orioles campus. they wrap up the first week of spring training. >> mark ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

here with our wjz 13 fan sports report. >> time for the crack of the bat down in sarasota. the orioles first full squad workout is tomorrow. nick will ease into work out after having abdominal surgery. brian roberts is expected to participate in team drills. he will be closely watched after coming back from

concussion symptoms. there is no time line on his full return. on the opposite end of the spectrum is matt who is coming off his best season. he talks about living up to the hype in our spring report. >> it's definitely a good year permly to be able to make the first all star game and win a first. 2011 aover and -- is over. >> a career high for matt, orioles first full squad workout is sarasota tomorrow. officials with the u.s. doping agency are angry tonight. braunitessed positive for

testosterone -- synthetic testosterone in november. it was overturned because of the irregularity of how it was shipped to the lab. he is the first player to win an appeal on a performance enhancing drug suspension. lebron james and the heat. the heat was on in south florida. jeremy lin loses the ball and james will finish with a slam dunk and the heat beats the knicks. carmelo scored 19 points in defeat. two qualifying races at daytona today. final lap of the first run, danica patrick pushed into the infield. she will slam into the retaining wall and walk away unhurt. she will now use a back up car

for the 500. tony stewart and matt kenseth won the races ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

it's the big one that didn't get away. this monster lobster pulled in off the coast of maine. it weighs 27 pounds. this is a lot of surf on your surf and turf but hold your butter and appetite after spending some time in maine state aquarium he was released back into the ocean. >> he ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,