,, it's oysternomics 101. you start with a u.s. senator named ben. by helping restore thousands of acres of oyster beds, he kept hundreds of oystermen on the job... which keeps wholesalers in business... and that means more delivery companies... making deliveries to more restaurants... which hire more workers. and that means more oystermen. it's like he's out here with us. he's my friend, ben. i hope he's your friend, too.

players get cash rewards for injuring opponents. >> hello. here's what people are talking about. super bowl winning coach banned for the year. sports director has more on the punishment. mark. >> reporter: vick, it's a scandal that goes back three years. football is a hard hitting game

but the new orleans saints took it too far using a bounty system that played players to injure the opposition. the nfl found that the saints not only paid for knock outs but lied to the league when questioned about it. head coach pays the biggest price, a one year suspension and forfeiture of his salary. >> that'sen -- that's unheard of. >> we need to change the culture. this type of behavior and accepting this type of a program is not going to be tolerated. >> >> reporter: former saints coordinator is suspected to be the leader and may be barred from ever coaching again. two seasons ago new orleans came to baltimore as defending champs and it included this

saint's cheap shot with an illegal blow to rice when he was on the ground. the play drew a 15-yard penalty. quarterbacks were the main target including kurt warner. >> there were games that it seemed they went beyond what was normal in regards as to when they were going to hit me or how they were going to hit me. >> reporter: now, the players who participated in the bounty system will also be punished but the league is consulting with the player's union beforehanding down those convictions. >> this is the first time a head coach has ever been suspended. teens rallied together for an unarmed teenager who was shot in florida. the group wants police to arrest george zimmerman for killing tray vaughn martin.

he was walking home with candy when gunned down. zimmerman claims to be acting in self-defense. a stand off is unfolding now the france. riot police are using explosions to force out the man suspected of killing a jewish teacher and his young students. we explain the dangerous situation is changing minute by minute. >> reporter: several explosions and gunshots were heard in the city overnight outside the apartment where a suspected killer was held up. the blasts were to intimidate. the 24 year old frenchman drove to a jewish school and killed a teacher, his two young sons and a little girl. hundreds of mourners gathered in

jerusalem. the president said france must remain united. police believe he also murdered three french soldiers at an atm earlier this month and escaped on a motor cycle. he was planning to kill another soldier soon. france's interior minister says the suspect claims to have connections to al-qaeda and seeking payback for the killing of palestinian children in the middle east. >> police say the suspect injured three officers in the raid when he shot at them from a window. mitt romney comes to maryland campaigning for votes. he comes to the town hall meeting. he's trying to keep the momentum rolling after a big win in illinois last night. in washington, maryland's senator is honored for earning

a spot in the record books. law makers pay tribute to her today for becoming the longest serving woman in congress. she has spent more than 35 years fighting for the people in maryland and baltimore and she says they're the ones she works to defend every day. >> i want them to know though i've now served in the senate 12,008 892 -- 12,892 days i will never forget them. >> she gets praised for her tenacity. tonight city hall flooded with angry home owners with bills hundreds and thousands of dollars too high. meghan has more on the fight at city council. >> >> reporter: some say they're

in danger because of their water bill. city home owners waging war over water bill mistakes. so what do i do? do i pay your inflated water bill of $530 or take care of my child? >> reporter: wanda has been fighting for a year and now just found out her home is in sax sale. >> now i'm being threatened to lose my home when i've done all i could. >> reporter: 2300 property owners are due to lose their homes because of unpaid water bills. >> i won't do laundry until absolutely necessary. >> reporter: an audit of public works shows widespread billing problems. the city is now issues 4.2 million dollars in refunds to 38,000 water customers.

>> it >> reporter: the department improving the system replacing old meters with new digital ones. the department has increased the number of meter readers so each and every home is read accurately each quarter. >> we want to make sure the customers get their accurate bill. >> reporter: something the customers say they want too. the department of public works has ated -- added extra customer service representatives to help people. >> meghan, thank you. counsel president will introduce the tax sales due the unpaid water bills on monday. the mayor has spoken out against the move. a cemetery is trashed and police are looking for the vandals. take a look at the damage in new market. at least 20 tombstones knocked over and could take as much as $26,000 to fix them all. more than one person has to be

responsible for the mess. a circus controversy brewing downtown. they're accusing the circus of cruelty to animals and elephants in particular. the same thing that sparked a feud. more on the clash. >> reporter: that's right. peta says it's a show of shame and cruelty. maryland families with children made their way downtown the see the circus and animals. >> we like to see the animals and clowns. >> reporter: what do you think of the circus? >> it's fun and i like it. >> reporter: many were faced by animal rights activist from peta. >> the only way to get a wild

animal to perform tricks is by using violence and intimidation. >> reporter: unlike me and other actors, elephants do not choose to perform. the mayor responded saying she could use the support on other city issues. ring ling brothers says they go by all federal standards. others say they respect peta's right to protest and don't want to see animals abused. >> do they have proof of it? if they do then i understand. if they don't, i don't understand. >> i like that they have the cool animals and do cool stuff. i don't like that they're abusing the animals. >> reporter: peta, the people for ethical treatment of animal says they will give $5000 to

any employee to show them using a bull hook on an elephant. >> they will be in baltimore until sunday, april '1. dialing for change you'll have to dial some different digits starting saturday. if you get a new phone number it will have a 667 area code that's because the state is out of the 410 and 443 numbers. it offers another 8 million possible combinations of phone numbers. coming up, a gas station that erupts in flames and the thing that sparked the fire. >> hi, everyone. i'm jessica. we're here in washington d.c. where the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. >> a summer-like end to the

week. your forecast coming up next. ,,,,,,

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it's 58 degrees with a few clouds. your complete weather forecast coming up. a boulder breaks free in ohio and smashes into a house. the 25-foot wide rock crushed two cars, knocked down utility

poles and damaged a water line. the family was home and no one was hurt. they're blaming the weekend's heavy rains for loosening the boulder. a massive tree falls on a mail truck the dallas. gusty winds from a thunderstorm caused the tree to fall on the truck. in more than 20 years of delivering mail he said he's never seen anything like this. >> it's scary. other than that, it turned out to be okay. i can tell the grand children about it one day, you know. >> and the mail carrier you see was not hurt by the tree. panic spreads when a gas pump explodes in miami. an suv crashed into a pump and it immediately burst into flames. a driver cut off another suv,

lost control and slammed into the pump. no one was hurt. a record breaking drug bust at the airport. a woman arrested for five pounds of heroine. her stomach was abnormally rigid. she had pellets in her abdomen. united airlines flight left san francisco but forced to make an emergency stop in alaska when the plane's laboratory malfunctioned. when they returned the next day there was an issue with the cooling fan. they had to stay a second night. united apologized and is issuing refunds. your eyes could be paying the price from sitting in front after a computer. doctors recommend using eye

drops or grabbing a pair of glasses to cancel out the lights. taking a break from the screen every 20 minutes is also suggested. it's a sign of spring. washington's cherry blossoms showing off their beautiful blooms. >> reporter: in washington d.c., the perfect day for a picnic. or even a spot of tea. >> we call it tea on the title basin. so much fun to pull out the fine china and silver and do it. >> reporter: the 100th anniversary of the japanese giving 3000 cherry blossom trees to the united states, a symbol of the blooming friendship between the two countries. why do you think it's important for people to see this? >> it's a reminder that people can say thank you in many ways.

>> we're here to come see the cherry blossoms and have lunch and a couple of beverages. >> reporter: the festival typically runs two weeks but they've extended it three more in honor of the centennial. >> this is going to tell the story of how this has become a celebration. >> reporter: it's the first time the visitors can take in the view from the martin luther king jr. memorial. over a million visitors is expected to come here for the cherry blossom festival. in washington d.c., i'm jessica, wjz eyewitness news. >> harbors say peak bloom is today through saturday. >> you got great weather. it's going to be warm. looks like showers here by saturday. some of the blooms will be

falling into the river there. taking a look at the temperatures, it's a mild night. awfully warm today but warmer tomorrow. 58 now and the humidity way up again. see how close the dew point is. we're two degrees away from ground fog and low clouds forming. 30 on the barometer. higher pressure over us. very late winds. 64 in washington. 56 in ocean city. tonight temperatures are not going to drop a whole lot more because the dew point is so high. a few more degrees. eastern sure was quiet heavy. i don't think we're going to see quiet as long or as thick as it was today. when thoses skies clear out, temperatures are going to search tomorrow. 55 is the normal high tomorrow. it's crazy. 35 the normal low. we haven't seen that in a

couple of weeks. 89 and 8 are the records on this day. everybody is just about dead calm. there's weather to the west and low pressure over oklahoma. showers over portions of western mississippi, arkansas, a lot of louisiana had thunderstorms today. some of the moisture is moving into the ohio valley. eventually, that low is going to head toward our region and toward the north and drag some of the moisture with hope, we need to rain. looks like we see scattered showers here by saturday, maybe a thunder shower and as the front approaches on the weekend with cooler air, we'll put some steady rain here on sunday as it will begin to cool down. in the meantime, thursday and friday, if we get rid of the clouds early enough, we could get to 80 degrees in --

degrees. south winds in the bay that just might get us there tomorrow afternoon. for tonight, maybe fog in some areas. in the morning mid-to upper 70s. friday is the warm day, 81. shower and thunder shower on saturday. clearing out with 65 on monday. >> okay, bob. thank you. coming up, a big news day for the nfl. the saints scandal and a tebow trade. we'll have why the trade almost didn't happen next in sports. ,,

here with our wjz 13 sports report. lots going on now. >> nfl two days in a row stealing the head lines.

we told you about the saint's penalty about paying player for injuring opponents. the other story is tebow going to the new york jets. to new york for fourth and sixth round draft picks. they have mark sanchez as their starting quarterback and tebow to be used for a running option. as far as the ravens, mark anderson signs a big contract with the buffalo bills. this is one day after he met with the management here in baltimore. he had ten quarterback sacks with the patriots last season. the ravens continue to seek help on defense after lose b foreplays. baseball news, -- britain has no structural damage in his shoulder but treatment for the

discomfort is going to be no throwing for a week and it will be six weeks before he's ready to pitch in a game. that means he certainly won't be part of the starting rotation opening day, april 6. tommy hunter pitched today's exhibition against toronto. this was his first start of the spring after being bothered by back pain. he went five innings today. he said i have work to do. adam jones has been doing more work lately. two more hits today. his second home run of the spring, the orioles end up losing 6-3. college lacrosse. tigers playing mercer university the atlanta. 17-8 tiger victory milestone win. the 400th victory in their

history. basketball's march madness continues tomorrow night. syracuse top seed in the region. the orange takes on wisconsin and boston. the 6' 8 sophomore is their top rebounder. syracuse, wisconsin. ohio state and cincinnati. we'll be here late tomorrow night but it will be exciting. >> yes, it will. >> yes, it will. >> ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

ben learned about a homeless boy who had an infected tooth, and the boy died. that made ben really sad. he wrote a law so every kid can see a dentist. we have special dental van that goes from school to school. he even helps make sure we learn how to brush our teeth. he's my friend, ben. i hope he's your friend, too. i'm ben cardin, and i approved this message. here's something we don't see everybody. firefighters showing their feminine side in fancy gowns. the videos are on the internet. firefighters were dressed up for a fund raiser but when the

pick-up truck came by they got into action and managed to put out the flame in minutes. brides often go to extremes but in romania they are taking it ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

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