50s, still a solid 10 to 14 degrees above average. now we got a couple light patches of drizzle fizzling out toward salisbury. cloudy finish to the day in the state capital. that's what most of us saw as the sun set. the overnight hours down to 40 or so by midnight. a dry but chilly start first thing tomorrow morning. temperatures will stay cool for a day or two before they really begin to warm up. we have the complete forecast straight ahead. the general session kicked off in annapolis. although there are many of hot button issues that can come up for a vote, many are likely to affect your wallet. >> a lot of challenges before us. >> reporter: maryland's 2013 legislative session started today in annapolis with the focus on raising taxes. citing a shortage in funding for

road construction, governor martin o'malley said the state is desperate it raise more money. one plan would raise the state sales tax from 6% to 7%. another plan, considered by o'malley would raise the gas tax. it's something he tried last year when gas hovered over $4 a gallon. he's hoping for more success but in the all legislators agree. >> let's see if the money is necessary. i'm not for a gas tax or sales tax at this point. >> what we need to do is start spending the transportation dollars on the things that were allotted for. if we do that, we don't have to raise any taxes. >> reporter: but the money has to come from somewhere. >> it's too soon to make an assessment. it's my hope we will have a revenue source for transportation. >> reporter: raising taxes is a tough proposal in these economic times. the legislature will probably not make a decision until the end of the session.

in annapolis, don harrison, abc2 news. >> for much more on what to expect this legislative session, just head to abc2news.com and click on the state news tab. while maryland is considering tougher gun laws, we could be seeing them at the federal level. >> vice-president joe biden sat down with victim groups and gun advocates. today bidden was clear. the administration will do something. >> i want to make this clear that we are not going to get caught up in the notion that unless we can do everything we won't do nothing. >> president obama wants rec men dations by the end of the month. a courtroom of victims in the colorado shooting sat through another hearing to see in james holmes will stand trial. we have much more on the deadly

trap set in holmes' apartment. >> reporter: after three days of testimony, james holmes' preliminary hearing is over. >> you had all that team to plan it writing, talk about it. no you're not ill. >> reporter: the plan included stockpiling weapons, ammunition and booby trapping his apartment. it involved a room full of trip wires, explosive materials and a gas loan soaked carpet. they said holmes left a remote outside the apartment hoping someone would pick it up and trigger an explosion that it with detract police. the theater shooting was played

out in the 911 tape. >> hard to think of livesng torn apart. >> reporter: the defense said they will not call witnesses and the judge will decide if the case goss trial. many of the survivors believe holmes should be up for the death penalty. >> many people know that's what justice s you can't get away with killing 12 people. >> today the prosecutor showed several photos james holmes took on his phone. in some he was wearing black contacts and in one it show as glock pistol. now to an update on a story our abc2 investigators first uncovered at christmas. baltimore police arrested this man. his name is marcus evans, and charged him with first and second degree assault for the attack on a man on christmas night. we talked to the mother of kenneth shaw. they both said was a hate crime.

shaw ran to the store for a few things. on the way back, he was cold and beaten by a group of five men for at least 10 minutes. now police are still investigating the attack but have not confirmed whether it is a hate crime or not. want to watch the flu spread without getting any of the germs? you cran do it thanks to the maryland department of health and mental hygiene. they track it on a website called flu watch. you can watch cases week by week with the flu being a sporadic problem to a widespread problem. they're able to map out how the flu progresses using a variety of sources. now you can help the state track the flu threw maryland resident influenza tracking survey. the report is also tracked to

hospitals. they only have to report a flu case when a patient stays overnight because of their illness. >> for much more information, just head to abc2news.com/ flu for our flu guide. we've got a quiz for you to test your flu q and links the map. a cheaper version of the iphone could be on the way. >> and microbeads will be taken out of soap. why the company said they could damage you. >> cloudy with a couple patches of drizzle. also a little rain. we'll talk about how things shape up as we move through the weekend. that's straight ahead. let's play:

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good day on wall street. the dow jones up. the nasdaq up and the s&p up almost four. apple is apparently working on a cheaper version of the i-phone. the change is prompted by a surge in android powered device. the report says the less expensive iphone could be available later on this year. >> they're great at getting your

hands clean but those microbeads that are in soaps could be bad for the environment. the company that makes dove soap said it will stop using them by the year 2015. the tiny beads are made out of plastic. the problem is when they go down the drain, they can end up in the ocean where they're swallowed by marine life. the company said it is looking for an alternative to the my cree beads. the end is year for paper. social security is giving two months to switch to electronic deposit. the treasury department says mailing costs $4.6 million per month. those who switch over will still get paper checks after march 1st and they will contact them in a more personal direct way.

we call 911 for emergencies. at least that's what we're supposed to do, right, when this happens. this story will leave you shaking your head. this woman called 911 to get out of several speeding tickets. >> the app that everybody is talking about this year, coming up next.

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all right. the sun has set. 48 degrees at bwi. most spots today reaching the low 50s, did not make the upper 50s. here's why. weather in motion, cloudy. that was the scenario statewide. here in the capital, absolutely.

in kent island cloudy sky to finish out the day. how about havre de grace, cloudy, yeah. just not a day we could find much spufnlt as a result mostly cloud -- sun. as a result, mostly overcast. we did not find much more than 52, 53 degrees. the winds did shift into a more warm direction. they're out of the southwest. that's a milder breeze. temperatures as a result slow to fall. it will eventually be in the low to mid-30s at daybreak tomorrow but it's going to take all night to get there. to the west some lightly scattered showers roll in. they diminish as they enter the state but as a result there was a little bit of drizzle at times. as we look at future trend model, we pick up nothing but passing cloud cover, especially in the afternoon. on friday clouds increase. friday night as we've been

talking about, there will be a round of showers with the disturbance pushing through friday night and lingering into early saturday morning but there should be improvement and temperatures will begin to rise. the mild air is poised to move in but not for another 48 hours. look at the numbers to the south ear. 70 in charleston. 64 in atlanta. 66 in montgomery. we look forward to a mild surge. if you're a skier, you want to go out toward whisper, the mountains of pennsylvania. coming our way, cool air for the next two days. not january like but cooler than it's been and struggle to get out of the 40s. that mild air is ready to surge in through the weekend and to the far west we look at conditions mild right now. believe it or not, 52 degrees in denver today, but by the time we get into the weekend, the cold blast arriving, so we're only in the teens for that 4:30 kickoff.

there will be the possibility of a 10% to 20% chance. looking like true mountain winter in denver. tonight 36 with a new clouds. 51 or so tomorrow, a mix of sun and clouds. by tomorrow morning mid-30s. that, plus, cloud cover means friday. no warm up. colder before the warm surge pushes in saturday and sunday. right now let's look at a pretty good weekend. chance for showers. then into sunday, goreious in the low to mid-60s. so that's helping set up a cooler and rainier next week. it looks like october. so it is what it is. >> i like what it is.

>> all right. this is something. the morning commute on the new york ferry went terribly wrong. >> the ferry crashed injuring 59 people. the ferry hit a dock in lower manhattan, tossing some passengers in the air. >> it crashed. everybody, who was standing, fell forward and people in their seats got thrown forward. >> basically, it was, you know, 60 to-0. it's what happens when -- the boat slows down. people get up to get off the boat. when we hit the dock, everybody went flying. >> the coast guard records show the sea streak has been involved in other docking incidents. in january of 2010, a whole was -- hole was punched through the

boat. and then there was another tear. nobody was injured in those incidents. police say a wisconsin woman called 911, right? and lied to aindividual traffic tickets. the woman would make calls to 911 about serious crimes in progress. police said here's an example of one eye was driving through the lot of kmart. i see a lot of suspicious activity. about five guys in the back. >> police said they were able to trace the call to a phone number linked to jackson. she is facing charges and the hearing is set for later on this month. childhood obesity is a problem but a community partnership is doing something about it. >> it's part of the program and sherrie johnson has more . >> reporter: students from ham

sted academy are enjoying the state of the art feel. they're taking advantage of the center. >> i think it's great. you get to get activity and you get to come out here and just get to experience different kinds of things, such as turf instead of grass. >> reporter: it gives student has safe place to exercise, learn, play and build healthy life-styles. >> it's important to give them some physical activity. we got to get them up moving around. they come back more focused. >> reporter: the pat tar son park youth center features a new multicenter turf field funded by a $3 million grant. the new educational building will soon be equipped with computers for student and offer

academic tutoring plus art and dance classes. >> in baltimore, obesity, diabetes are big issues. we believe it's important for mind, body and spirit to have things such as this. >> reporter: students are excited about the opportunities. >> now students can work on their projects outside of school. now they don't have an excuse because the city of baltimore is supporting them. >> reporter: another community partnership making a difference. the educational building should be completed within three weeks to allow students taking classes. 15 schools are using the facility. it's a shutout. some of baseball's biggest stars will not be getting into the hall of fame in coopers town.

no player received enough votes to make this into cooperstown. 37 names were on the ballot including barry bonds, roger clemons, all embroiled in that steroid scandal and two of faced perjury charges. former red sox and oral pitch curt schilling was on the ball -- orioles pitcher curt schilling was on the ballot. >> there's a difference between getting in on the first ballot o. getting in. >> craig b ijio led the pack. forget about the hall of fame, we have fan test on the way. you can get your tickets. it starts at 11 on saturday,

january 19th. there will be interactive games. so get out to the convention center on january the 19th and support your baltimore orioles. coming up all new at 6:00, after the shooting at sandy hook elementary, a cecil county deputy worried about the safety of his children. how they're taking action. this creditor's flu season has claimed the lives of 18 children. we'll tell you how to keep your child from getting sick. we have those stories and whole lot more coming up at 6:00. before copd...

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the consumer electronics show is on in las vegas. there are tv's out of price reach. >> but are more affordable things. >> reporter: all around this packed convention you'll find different applications for smart phones. >> pulls it out of the real world and gives them a broad are understanding. kids can learn that milk comes from a cow, comes from a goat. >> reporter: and different ways of protecting them. >> we've done tests, hammer drops, bb guns, drills, and pocket book with nails. >> reporter: so we have a demonstration. >> yes. >> reporter: others have put the technology in electric cars. >> it lets you look for directions easily on this huge 17-inch touch screen.

it scrolls in and out. we have a rear view camera. it's the high definition camera. >> you can put the top down and cruise in style. >> yes. >> reporter: many gadgets are exciting advancements of popular inventions but there are a few complete originals. >> you can use your eye gazing combination with the keyboard and mouse. just look at what you want to click and hit the key. >> i'm looking at nine, and nine comes up. looking at two -- that's amazing. >> the consumer electronics show lasts for days, so we'll be bringing you of the latest gadgets as they're unveiled. that is always a huge event. coming up next, a cecil county deputy is receiving

praise on keeping his daughter's school safe. all right. police are on a high speed purr suit with three officers ending up injured. >> two construction workers killed what he car plowed into them. >> lawmakers are back at it in annapolis to kick off the 2013 session. we'll tell you how this session could affect your money. first, breaking news we brought you earlier. two prince george's county men were killed in cecil county when a car loud into them. >> they were in a clearly marked construction zone. roosevelt leftwich joins us with the latest. >> reporter: the state highway administration identified the two victims. one is victor jackson and one