>> you're watching the station that works for you "good morning maryland" at 4:30. tornadoes leave a dozen dead across the midwest. we are monitoring another sis them a cohe produce -- that could produce severe weather. a challenge happening in a bill ready to be signed into law. now word of more tax increases. the debate taking a new twist in maryland. all that straight ahead on this thursday morning. like we said we begin with deadly tornadoes that left 12 people dead including missouri,

illinois and tennessee. eastern tennessee is the latest to feel the brunt of the se rear weather. official say three people were -- severe weather. officials say three people were killed after wind came barreling through and in kentucky one man says he he thought he was going to die -- he says he he thought he was going to do. >> i don't know what happened. >> no doubt. lord didn't call me is all i know. wasn't my time. >> experts say that tornado killed 6 people in southern illinois as winds were up to 170 miles an hour blasting the town of harrisburg and caused damage in branson missouri. we will have a recap of this and another system developing on this thursday. it's march 1st good morning i am charley crowson joined by meteorologist lynette charles. we got the rain from the system but the severity of the storms especially as the seasons are

changing, is something we will see for probably weeks to come. >> exactly. and no matter people think that springtime is a time fall and another time for severe weather. but whatever the ingredients come together you can have severe weather any time anyplace. that was a -- on the fujita kale an ef4 and we can see that. i have that enhanced scale up. it was the fujita scale now it's enhanced fujita scale and it starts from a zero and goes down to 5. yesterday it was an ef4, 166 to 200 miles an hour winds. the damage can be done can shred roofs and definitely very strong and damaging and powerful winds that we are dealing with. what happens with the enhanced fujita scale it measured on the damage it causes. the national weather service will go in assess the damage and rate it it was rated as an

ef-4 and that area will experience more severe weather. i will talk about that later but for our weather no severe weather or rain. it's going to be a bigger change from yesterday. we will be dry and we will warm up. i will she you the temperatures coming up as well. now let's get a check of the traffic with angela. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. it will be dry but we are dealing with a little wet conditions from the rain yesterday and last night. as you head out early this morning, be prepared especially on the interstate. possible spray as you head out. let's go ahead and talk about an early incident in brooklyn park this morning. two lanes blocking maryland route 2. this is going to be prior to bell grove road. a downed tree but police are getting you around that situation. here's a live look at 895 north of charles street look pretty good. overnight maintenance working in the tunnels. two-way traffic pattern in effect and dealing with a little fog in some areas this morning. as we get a live look at u.s. 50 at maryland 8 east of the bay bridge extra caution

heading out for the early morning drive. over to you and good morning. >> good morning. we are hours away from import. governor male signing the same sex marriage bill into lawp it will take place at 5 tonight at the statehouse. the law would go into effect next january. but there are efforts underway for a referendum to be on the ballot they have 56,000 signatures by june is to make it a he reality. we could be paying more when it comes to gas and an increase for your income taxes. all part of the budget debate going on in the state capital and sherrie johnson is here with more on the proposed increases. sherrie, what have you learned. >> reporter: this morning law makers are looking at a lot of options. governor o'malley is trying to close a budget shortfall of more than a billion dollars. one way is with new tax revenue. the general assembly has a month left to finalize the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. proposal cause calls for a --

calls for a increase in the gas and a potential replacement would be the income tax. supporters say it's the best way and opponents feel the people have been asked to do enough. >> we spend money like a drunken sailor and it's not his money to spend. it's the money of the people of maryland and they are hurting. and who doesn't realize -- he doesn't realize it. i don't think it's unreasonable to ask people that benefit from the great services to pay more for them. >> reporter: the governor proposal would also shift hundreds of millions of dollars in payments to teacher pension funds from the state to the counties. many county executives have been critical of that proposal. sherrie johnson abc2 news. all new, dundalk man will not go to prison after being accused of killing his 89-year- old neighbor. a judge made that ruling yesterday. michael hester did not kill eleanor haley in 2010. hester was charged with first- degree murder. he says he entered the hous

and found her dead after seeing water from the back door and called 911. hester's first trial endeded in a mistrial and that was in april. also new for you this morning, maryland stay police says a suspect has been killed in a police-involved shooting in a car chase in somerset county. officers were investigating a suspicious person at a nursing home last night. a chase started and ended with gunfire. officers say the suspect kid at the scene. -- died at the scene. doctors and nurses are keeping a close wap on a deputy after a suspect shot him. it took place yesterday in cambridge when os marshal fugitive as it force atold serve a warrant. suspect -- ford attempted to serve a warrant. the suspect surrendered after barricading himself in the home. and the deputy is expected to survive. police are searching for a man who exposed him testify to -- exposed himself to a pair of girl on a playground.

children say they spotted a manexposing himself in b. along a -- in bushes along a rolling road. authorities don't rule out it was the same person. gas prices are rising on a dealy basis. they risen to $3.70 in maryland for a regular gallon of unleaded. mid grade is 3.84 and premium 3.97 a gallon. both are up 6 cents in the course of just one week. there's things hidden in the gas reward programs you may not know about. four gas rewards programs at giant, safeway and sun co and wise markets and thought a lot of restrictions starting with what counts towards the points. milk, prescription meds and gift card don't count depending on where you shop. >> aid hard time filling up the car going to the grocery store. >> with giant safeway and sun co there's a cap on how much

you can same giants at 2.2 and safeway stops at dollar. find out all the programs in the websites but we made the fine print bigger and easier to read breaking it down and the sticking points for the gas rewards sakes plans in the investigator section at amount bc2 news.com. -- abc2news.com. base jumping that gave way to the thrill of a rescue. as we go to break this morning, it's thursday, the first day of march and if you are watchinggood morning maryland, news, weather and traffic coming up inminutes.

now "good morning maryland" at 4:30. good morning. we have lots of rain in here yesterday. we actually seat record on leap day. 1.64 inches of rain. the record was set in 1892. and we got .92 inches then.

so we had flood warnings back in western maryland across that area. but today, it's different out there because we can see most of the rain now pushing up towards the north and we are nice and clear around the area. as we will have high pressure build in for a little bit. but we will see another system work its way in here just in time for the weekend. but what we are dealing with this morning we have patchy fog in your pennsylvania and along the eastern shore. let's check the traffic with angela good morning how are the road. >> reporter: good morning. the roads are a little busy dealing with a couple scents howard county police -- accidents. howard county police just cleared an accident and the downed tree in anne arundel county in brooklyn park on maryland 2. northbound lanes blocked two of three northbound lanes blocked with the downed tree. police are there to direct you around that northbound 2. traveling around the baltimore beltway no trouble spots so far especially as you pass the bw parkway and i-95 on that southwest side.

and here's what you will find for those of you about to leave and -- leave and head out to harrisburg. no accidents or incidents to slow you down so far this morning. charley back to you. same sex marriage has been a huge issue in maryland and became bigger between aless by yeah and a priest. and what the priest told her when she tried to take communion. and gunfire left three studentdead after a gunman opened fire. how school official also help the students cope. and as we head to break, davie jones of the monkees died of a heart attack and we leave you with some of the sounds of one of the most popular songs. we will be back in a bit. [ female announcer ] with xfinity,

you can always expect more. like more on demand shows and movies than ever. and more ways to discover them too. plus more speed from america's fastest internet provider. so you can run more devices at the same time. ♪ feel a firework [ female announcer ] and best of all, it keeps getting better. no wonder more people choose xfinity over any other provider. ♪ love can be so mystical ♪

time for five things to know on this thursday morning. america's so-called toughest shareist will show a news --share will show a news

report. he says the group is work on the investigation on a volunteered investigation. and big ban in -- a court is scheduled to hear a fight over the immigration law in alabama. and beginning today packages of ground or chopped meat or poultry will have nutritional facts including cal list and fat and saturated fat. all mcdonald's happy meals will include aels and -- apples and fewer french fries. that has been available in this area since january. a cruise ship arrived in port at a island nation after three days of being at sea. the red cross set up tents assisting passengers who may be in need for help. a lesbian was denied communion by a priest at her mother's funeral in maryland. linda so is standing by with what happened. what have you learned. >> reporter: bar were a --

barbara johnson want to the give her mother a dig night funeral and never thought it would turn out like this. she claims the priest providing over the -- presiding over the service had a issue with her sexual orientation. a few minutes before the funeral began in gaithersburg the father learned she was a lesbian when she stepped forward to take communion he says i cannot because you lib with a woman. she says the priest walked off the altar and didn't come back until she finished her eulogy. she says it gets worse. father marcel refused to accompany her mother's body to the cemetery. she was told he had suddenly become ill. >> no family should have to suffer what we did by this man. >> reporter: the archdiocese of washington issued a written statement conceding he he should have addressed issues in a private setting. linda so, abc2 news. on this thursday morning,

the -- do you feel it was right for the priest to refuse communion during her mother's communion. leave comments at wmar facebook fan page. classes at chardon high school will not begin until tomorrow but many student will return. they will walk to school showing respects for those killed. prosecutors say the 17-year-old t.j. lane had admitted taking a 22 caliber gun and a knife into that ohio high school on monday morning firing 10 rounds andchoosing the victims at random. lane is posting a social media sites saying many were dark. >> parents need to take the time to know their children's passwords and know all the children's passwords and accounts. and they need to take great liberty to go in and take a look at them. you want privacy get a diploma and a degree and move out. >> a study at the university of wisconsin found as many as 30%

of those on facebook are talking about depressed or airchght and anger. around 30% the grief student are feeling does not compare to the grief the parents are feeling a mother of one of the victims killed is mazeed by the support she is -- amazed by the support she isgetting. >> they say you find the strength and, of course, our family it's just amazing and they are just doing everything and we are just -- they are carrying us and the state and the nation the support i didn't know. and it was -- it was that big i thought it was us. it's unbelievable how people are so great and supportive. >> a psychology says about 1 in 10 people will develop post- traumatic stress disorder after dealing with an event like this. time for politics. democracy 2012. mitt romney captured the

wyoming caucus and the marginal pry parry victory in -- primary victory in michigan is a dead heat after the count revealsrick santorum won half of the delegates. near phoenix arizona deputies rescued a base jumper. leapt from the face of the mountain but after deploying the shoot it got caught on the side of the cliff. this happened last night. initial reports indicate he appears to have suffered an ankle injury. we have learned maine's authorities found the body firefighter from florida. he has been missing for a week and neighbors have been quite stunned by what they have learned. >> i just heard that the body was found. it's no idea it was this close to home. >> police confirmed the murder involved drugs, he was firefighter buddies flown from florida to maine to help in the search. president obama has paid tribute to the million plus members of the u.s. military who served in the war in iraq.

it happened at the white house at dinner last night attended by members of the armed services from every state in the union last night. many of the 200 guests served deployments in iraq and a number of them suffered a number of serious injuries. consumer alerts you may look to save cash with the purchase of a fuel efficient car and if a new car is not in the budget, it could be time to think about preowned cars. we are work for you with ways and tips to buy and look for used cars. you want to check the mismatch paint on different parts of the automobile. that can be a sign of past collision damage and signs of flood damage that can be hints of mold or mildew or possibly discolored carpet and listen for pings while accelerating that could be a seen a engine could be on the sign of overheating. leftover food that finds its way into the waste bins going to feed the left fortunate. the concierge at the tampa international airport says the idea came after he was simply

bothered from what he saw with the needless waste of food at the airport. millions of pounds of food we are talking about headed for the pantries and the organizations like feeding america tampa bay. >> you know, every pound of donated food has a value of 1.60. when we weigh out this food today, you can see the retail value of that food and that's typical. >> it was up since september of 2010 ther at helped donate more than $1 7 -- 175,000 meals since the first inception of the program. we are two minutes before 5 and we want to talk about what we are offering at abc2news.com. yesterday, and today, the weather is going to be dominating the news. almost a dozen people killed across much of america's heartland and here's how you can keep track of the storm from your home or anywhere. go to abc2news.com look at the weather tab, click over to the

side and tornado alley on this website, you will see a number of up-to-the-minute radars and the most accurate and current news regarding severe weather throughout the country where the storms are tracking and also this is a wonderful feature watching storm chaseers live. what we see watch live now and what you will see are icons on the map throughout the severe weather maps. you will see cars and click on the cars and then you will be able to see what those drivers are seeing and this one from missouri and there might be an ad. after the 30 second ad pops up on the screen from there you will see what the storm chaseers are seeing streaming realtime live at abc2news.com and one way we are keeping you ahead of the storm and speaking of weather, severe weather seen across alabama and georgia. we are looking at closer to home, back into the studio with lynette. >> nothing for the most part for today. we will get sunshine and also

some warmer temperatures. the satellite and radar picking up on clouds back off into pennsylvania right now and points northward. we even have showers in that area. but as we go through the morning things should clear out nicely especially by the afternoon. and high pressure will do its thing for a little while. check out the weather pattern right now. because we have a warm front that's going to move into the area. that's what's going to help warm the temperatures up. we are going up this morning. and we will have this cold front pass through as we go later into the evening. so, with that temperatures will drop so we are going to be on the roller coaster ride through the next few days. but this is the first day of march that transition of february and march usually is like this. so this is not unexpected whatsoever. we look at your future trend for today and things looking pretty good going into 8 and we will see a little more activity going on getting more involved as we head into your friday. so, again, lots of sunshine and you will pull the sun shades out for today but by tomorrow we have another chance for some showers in the forecast in the evening time. and then this will linger even

as we go into saturday. saturday looks like it could be a little on the wet side as weget another front approaching area. so you can see that right here in the morning that will move through and looks like as we go later into saturday, th will clear back out but temperatures are going to drop off drastically behind that system. so for today, we are looking at temperatures and i think you might like them if you like warmer temperatures around 65 degrees. we will get more sunshine than what we had yesterday. and no type of wet weather and then your 7-day forecast looks much improved. if you like cooler conditions, we have it everywhere. here's 65 for today, 57 for tomorrow. and again the showers moving in later courtesy of the cold front and then as we check out on saturday, the temperatures comings in around 62. up and down. by sunday chillier but still above average and they we will trend a little cooler going into your tuesday and also your wednesday. let's check of that traffic with angela. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. and good morning everyone. we are doing pretty good now.

we cleared the accident northbound 2 got rid of the down tree approaching the road all lanes are opened there. we are dealing with debris in the road traveling on i-95 northbound at keith avenue. some debris to get around after you get around that, you should be good to go to the top side of the beltway. let's go ahead be a get a live look of the beltway. 695, here at baltimore national pike, things are looking pretty good. you should be in good shape inner and outer loop. as for the top side looking live at providence road, it's good drive there between i-83 and i-95 on the northeast side and, of course, we are tweeting any changes follow us this morning on twitter at maryland traffic. charley over to you. news time 4:55. we think of media empires the murdock family may come to mind. the change in leadership within the family and the possible cause for one of the family member's resignation. a natural gas line burning in nigeria. chevron taking the blame. what they are admitting to do affecting the lives of so many.

we will look at that when we go around the world and good morning maryland continues. as we go to break, this is massachusetts. severe weather to the south and snow to the north. back in just a bit.

now a good morning maryland a4:30. most communities in the vicinity of a natural gas fire have been reassured the fire and initial leak pose no threat to their health. chevron runs the company responsible for the fire. chevron admitted fish had been killed in the communities and that's the way many are like there in nigeria. evacuation in a australian town and emergency crews are on alert and five others areas seeing the heaviest rain in more than 80 years. 70 people were told to leave the home and city leaders say hundreds of homes are at risk

as rivers are threatening to burst their banks. >> greek particlement is debating a bill to rehave you been -- marl-- parliament is debating a bill to restructure. 3 million dollars in cuts is mandated. greek unions staged walkout protest yesterday ahead of antiausterity concerts. james murdock is resigning as the uk newspaper business. he is the son of the company chairman and ceo rupert may duck. he was executive chairman of a paper affected by phone hacking and plans to move to the company's new york headquarters. time to start the 5:00 hour. now "good morning maryland." historic day in