of maryland looking for the basic things that the government provides to any couple that's married. they want to go to the courthouse, get a marriage license, and then for the next 20, 30, 40 years argue about i finances, who's going to take financesh%who's going to take the trash out and just be a normal married couple. it does come with a lot of rights and benefits. >> reporter: so opponents now ha have their work cut out for them. they have to come up with the ballot language. then they have to get valid voter signatures to make sure that that actually will go to the poll. and as we understand now the governor is about to sign this bill. interestingly enough we have not seen much opposition here. i'm told there was an event here yesterday at the state house where the opposition did get a chance to voice their opinions pbu but for now it is all about the supporters. there is a crowd inside and any minute now the governor will make history for maryland and perhaps just start another contentious era. we're in annapolis. derrick ward. ba back to you. >> it certainly looks packed out there. we just saw general doug gansler

to the right there. he's been a big supporter of this as well. the governor certainly threw his full support behind it this time around. of course it failed last year and opponents are promising to come up with 56,000 voter signatures that they will need to put this on a november referendum. you say that you're not seeing any signs of opponents there to th this today but a lot of supporters who really have a vested interest in this. this is what they've waited for, the day and moment they've been waiting for. >> indeed. i think the opposition will now move to a different arena, different venue. we understand a lot of the congregations especially in our part of town, prince george's co county, are against this but not unanimously. we have heard from the episcopal ar archdiocese that they are actually happy about this and applaud the governor's decision %pplaud the governor's decision here and his actions and now allowed them to make these unions or perform these unions. %nions or perform these unions. in an issue like this you won't

find hejomonic or opposition but this is enough to keep this contentious at least until november with all the other things we have to think about on the november ballot. >> as soon as the signing happens we'll head back and show it to the viewers. derrick, thanks so much. and now a developing story out of prince george's county. pa about an hour ago a jury came back with a not guilty verdict on all counts against jarvis tyler in the murder of stacey seaton. th the jury deliberated three hours. tyler was accused of killing 17-year-old seaton in a bowie park seven years ago. she was pregnant at the time. prosecutors turned down a plea deal in the case that would have given tyler 30 years behind bars. he's now cleared in the case and cannot be charged again. mcdonald abraham pled guilty to second-degree murder and said he hired tyler to kill seaton. > >> emergency crews in the district right now are on the scene of an accident in northeast where a vehicle crashed into this building. take a look. it happened at a dry cleaning business in the 3100 block here

of bladensburg road when fire an and ems crews arrived they found the car partly inside the business. the search took them inside the building but they found no one injured. d.c. fire and units added support to shore up the building. th the driver of the vehicle wasn't seriously hurt. >> three teenage girls assaulted on halloween testified at a hearing today in prince wi william county. it's a preliminary hearing to determine if the charges against their alleged attacker, the so-called east coast rapist, should move forward and to a grand jury. julie carey was at the courthouse today and joins us live now in our newsroom with more on stirring testimony today. julie? >> well, it was that 2009 halloween night attack that revived the search for the so-called east coast rapist. it was a year ago after billboard campaign that 40-year-old aaron thomas was identified and arrested his dna tied to more than a dozen attacks in virginia, maryland, connecticut, and rhode island. today aaron thomas and his

alleged victims were in the courtroom together. >> aaron thomas the alleged ea east coast rapist, came to court to today appearing far different than he did in november when he a was extradited to prince william county from connecticut. now with a full beard and thick head of hair he often looked down as one by one the three teenagers he is accused of attacking on halloween night, 2009, took the stand to describe in painful detail what happened. >> very poised i thought. you know, very articulate. it it was not easy for them. certainly didn't want to be here and obviously didn't want to be a victim to start with. > >> reporter: the teens age 16 and 18 at the time were returning home from trick or treating when they say a masked man dressed in black came up behind him. josh white of "the washington po post" describes the testimony. > >> reporter: she said i felt like a gun on my back. he said, don't move. do you have any money? do do you have anything? >> reporter: the teenagers said after the man learned they only had candy he ordered them deep into the woods, told them to lie

face down and raped two of them. a third who had hidden her cell ph phone frantically texted for help even as the attacker told them don't say anything or i'll kill you. >> reporter: she said she texted man raping her friend in the woods behind cvs. call 911. >% >> reporter: one of the teens tried to avoid graphic language as she testified. >> reporter: at one point she wasn't instructed to -- she was instructed to actually use the word and she stopped, paused, and said oh, lord, forgive me, and then said the word. >> reporter: a prince william co county investigator who witnessed the first police interrogation of aaron thomas te testified. he said he got an urge and used a fake gun to order the girls into the woods. durk also said thomas expressed concerns about the composite sketch that led to his arrest. thomas told the police he

thought the sketch was incorrect. now the judge ruled the case will go forward to grand jury and also found aaron thomas mentally competent to stand trial. i'll have more at 6:00. julie carey, thank you. the so-called aspen hill rapist was sentenced today to an additional three life sentences for a series of rapes in the '70s and '80s. timothy joseph busby is already serving more than two life sentences at a state prison in cumberland. mo most recently dna evidence was used to connect busby to four additional rapes in the wheaton and rockville areas from 1977 to 1980. u%80. busby pleaded guilty to three of those rape charges on monday. judge nelson called him an evil sexual predator before extending his sentence. victims spoke after the ruling an and said, they're still feeling the effects of the crime. >> there were things like being afraid of the dark and as most of us confirmed, we still cannot

be approached by someone from behind. there are lingering effects. >> a federal grant helped connect busby to the victims. with the new sentencing busby will not be eligible for parole until he is 65 years old. as cleanup efforts get under way in the midwest, the region is bracing for the possibility of of even more severe weather. at least 12 people were killed after a series of tornadoes pounded several states. th the hardest hit appears to be the town of harrisburg in southern illinois where six people died. according to the national weather service the tornado that hit that area had 180-mile-per-hour winds. >> i heard a crackling sound, a big light, and then a big explosion. >> >> people have said it lasted 32 seconds but it seemed like it was 32 minutes. >> the weather service has moved

ahead and a severe weather expert has helped provide the earliest possible warning. anheuser-busch is donating more th than 2100 cases of water. more severe weather could arrive here tomorrow. s as for our area, today was a great way to kick off march. storm 4 meteorologist is out there in long sleeves at least today doug kammerer but it is comfortable? >> reporter: it is absolutely beautiful across the area. temperatures got up to 70 degrees at the airport. we saw 75 down around quantico a little earlier. just a spectacular afternoon and yes you mentioned march first. th the first day of spring. %he first day of spring. now as far as the temperatures are concerned, take a look at the numbers out there right now. still nice and mild with plenty of sunshine. bright, blue skies looking at that temperature into the 60s across the area with the temperature now at the airport about 67. now 64 degrees with winds out of the north at 15 miles per hour. winds are kicking up just a

little bit. a little bit of a breeze between 15 and 25 miles an hour. still in fredericksburg the current temperature there of 73. 57 though to the north in frederick and up toward hagerstown only 50 degrees there. they've stayed on the cooler side of things with a little more in the way of cloud cover. but the rest of us beautiful. high and dry as well. we're not going to see any rain across the area overnight o tonight or through most of the day tomorrow. i think we'll get through about 3:00, 4:00 tomorrow. no problem at all. then we'll start to see showers move in. overnight tonight don't expect any of that rain but we are going to cool down to about 43 degrees by 5:00 a.m. down to about 40 when you wake up and head out the door about 7:00 tomorrow morning. we'll see mostly clear skies to start but the clouds will increase. we will see a chance of showers. maybe a few thunderstorms in our area. plus our severe potential well as the western portions of our area. >> today the u.s. senate blocked a republican bid to overturn president obama's new polgsy y policy for

contraceptives. >> the motion to table is agreed to. >> >> that tabled measure was introduced by republican senator roy blunt of missouri. the blunt amendment would have allowed employers with religious affiliations to opt out of providing contraception as part of health care benefits. re republican leaders say president obama's policy is an attack on religious freedom. democratic leaders say the move to overturn is an attack on women's rights. former virginia congressman tom davis is making his pick for president. he is endorsing mitt romney for the gop nomination. the boost for romney comes days before virginia's super tuesday primary. da davis says romney is a leader who has proved many times that he can turn troubled organizations around. romney and ron paul are the only names on next week's virginia ballot. virginia law does not allow write-ins for primary elections. >>

a s.w.a.t. situation forced three schools in charles county to go on lockdown this morning. the s.w.a.t. team responded to a man who barricaded himself inside a house around 9:00. it happened on the 2700 block of bismarck drive in waldorf. north point high school, davis middle school, and diggs elementary school were all put n on lockdown. a relative of the man called police saying there were weapons inside the house and he was acting unreasonable. police took the man into custody a few hours later sending him to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. >> conservative blogger andrew breitbart died suddenly overnight. he was 43 years old. a family member says breitbart collapsed during a midnight walk near his home in the brentwood section of los angeles. breitbart had a history of heart trouble. hi his journalism website was critical of the main stream media and was highly popular with fans for its efforts to x expose government corruption. new york congressman anthony

weiner stepped down after breitbart published a lewd picture of him. the former lawmaker sent that picture to a woman in seattle. we want to head back to annapolis now live where maryland governor martin %aryland governor martin o'malley is poised to sign same sex marriage into law. >> we're joined by so many people here including lieutenant governor anthony brown. attorney general gansler. so many members of the senate and the house of delegates. i just have a couple brief remarks and then we will sign the bill that all of you have come here to witness. lieutenant governor brown, speaker bush, president miller, men and women of the maryland general assembly, members of the

clergy, and fellow marylanders. for a free and diverse people, for a people of many faiths, for a people committed to the principle of religious freedom, the way forward is always found through greater respect for the equal rights of all. for the human dignity of all. religious freedom was the very reason for our state's founding. and at the heart of religious freedom is the freedom of individual conscience. if there is a thread that unites all of our work here together it is the thread of human dignity. the dignity of work, the dignity of the job. the dignity of every child's home. the dignity of every individual. we are one maryland and all of

us want the same thing for our children. we want them to live in a loving, caring, and committed home that is protected equally un under the law. let's sign the bill. okay.

there you have it. pen to paper. maryland governor martin o'malley has signed same sex marriage into law. now this law would not take effect until january and there co could be a big hurdle to overcome. a referendum, opponents to collect 56,000 voter signatures to put this on a ballot come the november elections. a packed house there today as you see his wife and the lieutenant governor behind him there. governor martin o'malley has been working very hard to get this done in his state. and coming up next on news 4 at 5:00, how much alcohol is really in 4 loco?

the maker of the drink is feeling the heat about the new labels. >> a metro bus captures a hit-and-run. we're live in laurel with the video released just minutes ago. it's an early, peak season for the cherry blossom festival. how the new dates will

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a man is just walking down a sidewalk in laurel, maryland, h when suddenly he gets hit by a truck. no now police say they have an important clue that could help fi find the person responsible. news 4's shomari stone is live in laurel with more developments. >% >> reporter: well, detectives o hope that someone can recognize the truck you're about to see in this video captured by a metro bus dash camera. investigators say it shows a white ford, 250 super cab pickup truck jump the curb on route 198 yesterday afternoon hitting a man walking on the sidewalk. we will not show the point of impact but i will tell you that it threw the man down an embankment into a parking lot. the truck driver took off ea eastbound on route 198. the truck should have right fr front end damage and it is n interesting to point out it should only have one brake light working. no now police haven't identified the man in this case the victim in this case and are urging anyone with information to give them a call. live in laurel i'm shomari

stone, news 4. >> thanks. the federal trade commission s is reviewing the alcoholic drink four loko and how it's marketed. the drink drew national attention two years ago after some college students were hospitalized after drinking too much. at at issue is the amount of alcohol in the sweet drinks. the ftc is targeted by a write-in campaign now urging some action. last year the government forced th the maker of four loko to remove caffeine from its drinks. >> well we had a really nice day, kind of hard to get folks to go inside. >> we didn't think you'd come back in. >> >> yeah. i didn't want to. i actually tweeted i was going to call in sick today but then i figured that went out to people so they knew. >> what were you thinking? > >> including your boss. >> yeah. she may follow me on twitter. but what a day. i mean, temperatures today rea reached the 70-degree mark across the area and you might just be able to say this has been the best day that we've seen so far this year. it was just that spectacular out there with plenty of sunshine,

bright, blue skies. temperatures once again that re reach 70 at the airport. some areas reached the mid 70s down to the south talking about quantico and fredericksburg. right now current temperatures at 64 degrees with winds oust no north at 15 miles an hour. this is a cooling wind. we are going to see temperatures fall as we make our way through the rest of the evening hours as the wind gusts upwards of 20 miles an hour right now. currently much colder to the north. % 50 in hagerstown. 57 in frederick. but still 72 in fredericksburg. 65 in la plata and over toward waldorf. right now pax river and ca cambridge at 63 degrees. nothing to show you on the radar right now. i don't expect any rain overnight or even into early tomorrow. pit it's going to wait until tomorrow afternoon until we actually see some of that rain move in. so nice and warm across our region today. but then here comes this next storm and this one once again could create another outbreak of severe weather in the same location that saw it yesterday. talking about illinois, kentucky, down through portions of tennessee and mississippi and

alabama. that area could get hit very hard again tomorrow and that same front moves our way. we'll see showers first tomorrow night. maybe some rain overnight. then look at this line of thunderstorms coming through the area early on saturday morning. we'll have to watch this one very closely. pi i doubt we'll see anything severe here but if they're able to hold together we may see some very strong winds out of these. we'll continue to watch it for you right here at nbc 4. during the day on saturday we actually clear out. if we get sunshine into the day, it could actually be very, very nice. h this evening, just gorgeous. warm and breezy. temperatures 57 to about 64 degrees. te temperatures tomorrow will be upwards of 60 degrees once again i with that chance of rain late in the day. a chance of thunderstorms early on saturday with a high of 65. 53 on sunday. monday coming in at 46 with a p chance for some light snow. but don't worry. won't be much. i want you to take a look at this. i i had the privilege today to emcee a great event celebrating the first anniversary of the e senior wellness center on

georgia avenue in northwest. the center serves over 500 seniors in the area and offers classes in cooking, aerobic, dancing and other activities, all of those free. the center is funded by the d.c. office on aging and is run with the help of mary's center. had a great time out there. i am now the official spokesman and i want to say thank you to everybody who came out there today. we saw fantastic performances and just had a lot of fun. >> that's great. good way to spend your day. >> it was. they really were applauding and i wasn't sure if it was for me or the 70-degree temperatures. >> or for you because of the 70-degree weather. thanks. >> >> thank you, doug. still ahead in our broadcast this evening, drivers are furious after they have to pay a ticket or pay a fine and a council member gets off with just a warning after going a hundred miles an hour. i'm liz crenshaw. one year later the government we website that lets you sound off on unsafe products. see who is using it, coming up.

plus a virginia student prevents a potential crisis at a school after he sees a posting on a

"access hollywood" test. "access hollywood" test. "access hollywood" test. "access hollywood" test. an alleged drunk driver shut down the philadelphia international airport for a little while today. police say the 24-year-old drove his jeep into a fence and then led police on a brief chase down a runway.

they eventually caught up with him. th they arrested him and charged him with dui and reckless endangerment. th the airport was shut down for about a half hour but has since reopened. >> >> virgin atlantic is trying to make it a little easier for first class passengers to relax when the cabin lights are dim. the airline has hired, get this, a whispering coach. the coach, not as in coach cabin, will teach cabin crew to talk in a soothing voice between 20 and 30 decibels. people normally speak in a range of 60 to 70 des bells. it's part of the launch of the new first class dream suite service. i wonder how much that costs to he hear a little less. >> like an extra orange juice, sir? >> just a notch. try telling that to a thousand kids on the white house la lawn hunting for easter eggs. the lottery tickets have opened for for sale for the big roll. >> it's going to be big. the white house is promoting

this year's event using one very special white house insir. first dog bo stars in the promotional video on youtube. the theme is let's go, let's play, let's move and the event will focus on promoting health and wellness. the easter egg roll takes place monday, april 9th. more than 35,000 people are expected to attend. you can go to recreation.gov to enter. tr try to get your hands on tickets and you have from now until monday at 10:00 in the morning to to sign up. >> they just need to teach beau how to hop now. okay. we have a lot more to come on news 4. in in the next half hour, coming up, students in ohio show off their strength and unity after monday's deadly shooting. outrage after a council p member gets off with just a warning. h what other drivers have to say. ri drivers who got speeding tickets. plus why you'll now see red top parking meters all over the di dist

snunts chardon, ohio returned to school today for the first time since a 17-year-old went on a shooting rampage monday morning. the shooting killed three students and left the entire community shaken. today administrators greeted students and everyone reflected on how they're coping with the week's tragedy. >> it's going to be different. i usually see them in the hallways and their smiles and laughter and everything and it's

just not going to be there anymore. >> >> the accused shooter 17-year-old t.j. lane, was charged late this afternoon with three juvenile counts of aggravated murder. >> on the heels of that tragic shooting in ohio a potentially da dangerous situation may have be been averted at a school in our area. o%ea. police here say a student at simpson middle school in leesburg alerted his mother of a suspicious message written by an another student. another h%udent. that message was on a social networking site and it concerned police enough to take action. news 4's erika gonzalez is live in leesburg. were parents worried about sending their kids to school today? >> >> reporter: well, there's about t a thousand students here at this middle school. loudoun county public schools tells us that they had about a 95% attendance rate today and only one parent called to say they were nervous enough not to send their children to school. that aside, leesburg police are ac actually talking about one particular middle schooler and

commending him on his brave efforts of coming forward saying had he not done that, there could have been a possibly very da dangerous situation here on this campus. the lease bug police department says it got a call from a concerned mom tuesday night. the lieutenant says the woman told them her son saw an 8th grader post comments about planning some type of violent act at simpson middle school. >> were his statements disturbing? >> well, they were enough of a concern for the police department and his parents. > >> reporter: as a result, police say the 13-year-old in question is now undergoing psychiatric treatment. parents were notified about the incident the following day by phone call and e-mail. >> >> there was a threat. we're not going to lie about that. we we want your child's safety is something you're concerned about and we are too. >> they just had that incident in ohio.

of course these are, you know, these things are happening and it's scary. >> r >> reporter: mary or theman's so son is a sixth grader at simpson and she tells me she plans on having a heart to heart with her child tonight about standing up for what is right. >> it's going to be a teachable moment for me and my son. >> school officials and police agree the positive side to this story is that no one was injured and that the teen in question is going to get the help that he deserves. but the big question, will he be facing legal consequences? i'll have that answer for you tonight at 6:00. we're live in leesburg, virginia, erika gonzalez, news 4. >> >> all right. we'll check back then. thanks. >% in traffic court you're likely to find any number of people dealing with their sp speeding tickets. but prince george's council me member karen towles won't be among them. you'll recall she just got a warning after being clocked at more than a hundred miles per hour on the beltway. news 4's pat collins has the story. >> 50 actually. >> >> reporter: anthony mcclendon got a speeding ticket.

you were going 50 in a 25? >> yes, sir. >> r >> reporter: did you get a fine? >> yes, sir. >> >> reporter: how much? >> a thousand dollars. >> reporter: clifford johnson pg got one too. you got a ticket for how much? >> 125. >> reporter: you were going how fast? >> 61. >> reporter: in what kind of zone? >> >> 50. > >> reporter: we all know law and order. this is the order part. the hyattsville courthouse, traffic court. th the polilace where people with tickets come to settle the score. 'l know about councilwoman karen towles who last week was allegedly driving 50 miles over the speed limit and she just got a warning ticket. the people here? they're pretty vocal about that. what do you make of that? >> her behind needs to go to court. she should have been cited. >> >> reporter: she got a warning. >> a warning for doing 50 more h than what i'm doing. >> reporter: what do you make of

that? > >> well, you know, some people get it lucky. lucky breaks. lucky people. >> reporter: you think she was ju just lucky? >> >> i think she was lucky. > >> reporter: do you think you'd be that lucky? >> no. >> >> reporter: the police say they didn't give ms. towles a ticket be because the speedometer on the officer's car wasn't calibrated and there wasn't enough time to pace her and they didn't have enough probable cause. police say there were no special favors. in in miss towles' case, that ticket was just a warning. today like yesterday she refused to answer reporters' questions ab about the speeding incident. she did say she doesn't plan to use a county car until after she takes a driver improvement course. in prince george's county, i'm pa pat collins, news 4. >> the traffic stop will be reviewed by the prince george's county executive review panel next week to make sure everything was done properly. coming up one year later, how is a website dealing with all consumer complaints? liz crenshaw finds out.

>> plus it's going to be an early, peak season for the blossoms. th

consumers today have a legitimate concern about the chicken they eat. they want to know more about how they were raised, what they were fed. we spend a lot of time on the feed because a chicken is what it eats. [ jim ] this seal verifies we feed my fresh all-natural chickens an all-vegetarian diet including corn, soybeans, and marigolds. we actually ask the usda to come check us. we have never fed steroids or hormones and never will. no blood meal, no meat and bone meal. yuck. no animal by-products. it means when you put my chicken on the table, you know where it came from. one year later an update now on a government website where consumers tell consumers about potentially dangerous products. >> it's a website that launched with much controversy. liz crenshaw is here with a status report for us. >> it's called safer

products.gov. it's run by the consumer p products safety commission but h the data comes from consumers. the website launched last march bu but almost never got off the ground due to complaints from manufacturers and pressures from so some members of congress. i sat down with a chairman of th the cpsc for an update on his progress. >> i >> i think it's just going so well. it it is something that was needed. >> this website is what consumer products safety commission's chairperson is praising. safer products.gov where consumers can file reports about products they say harm them or their property. everything from vacuums and appliances to toy strollers, baby products, and gel fuels. injury details like seriously burned, broken nose, cracked teeth. >> someone will go online and say i bought a dish washer and the dish washer caught on fire. and here's the picture. >> after one year safer

products.gov has received more th than 6,000 reports about potentially unsafe products. thousands have searched the data base, researching products, and the data consumers provide is used by the cpsc to determine if products should be recalled. >> so these are the kinds of things that give us information on whether we should do further investigation, work with the ma manufacturer to recall the product. >> >> in fact, this past year p reports submitted by consumers provided details for two recalls. a pogo stick that was causing lacerations and an ice cream di dipper with an exploding cap. but some manufacturers and lawmakers have fought the data base, worried information posted by consumers could hurt businesses. but in the last year only one manufacturer has filed a lawsuit against the cpsc. >> it is also a website that manufacturers can use to get ve very quickly notice if their product is not performing right, if there is a danger and they can act quickly. >> reporter: one nonprofit group

says government transparency b about potentially dangerous products is long overdue. >> we were a big advocate of having this public information about injuries and death caused by products. >> reporter: nancy kohl's is the executive director of kids in danger an organization founded by the parents of a child who was killed in a recalled crib. kids in danger says dangerous pr product information must be shared. > >> having that public information out there means that parents can find that information, consumers can learn about products they may have in their homes, researchers and other people can look to see if there is emerging trends or a new product that maybe is causing a lot of injuries. >> this data base is a part of giving the consumer as much information as possible early on. >> safer products.gov you can report what you think is a dangerous product or a product can be researched. we have linked it on our web page. just search safer products. >> thank you, liz. coming up next early blooms

are predicted for this year's cherry blossom festival. tom sherwood will join us from the tidal basin. >> that's a tough assignment on a day like today. are you ready? yeah it's march, folks. march madness gets under way and dan talks with two

did you know this year marks 100 years since japan gave the gift of the cherry blossoms to the u.s.? >> we've got a lot to celebrate he here in washington. the cherry blossom festival starts march 20th and today we got the official prediction of when the cherry trees will peak. tom sherwood is live at the tidal basin with more on this year's centennial celebration. you pulled a tough assignment on

a really tough day. >> let's not get into that, pat. there are more than 100 new h cherry blossom trees here at the king memorial and over there on the tidal basin, there will soon be thousands of cherry blossom tourists. th the spring arrival of cherry blossoms each year i a blooming boom for tourism and tax dollars in the nation's capital and the whole washington metropolitan region. >> >> it is hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people coming in and staying not only in washington, d.c. but throughout the region to celebrate a lot of these different organizations pa are doing their own celebration. ho howard county is planting a %oward county is planting a hundred trees. % >> this is the beginning of the tourism season in our city and in in the region. so you think of the million plus people that will be coming to washington staying in our hotels, staying in hotels throughout the region eating in restaurants, it is a huge economic impact. >> the month-long 100th anniversary cherry blossom festival this year begins march 20 20th and includes dozens of events, a parade, and fireworks.

but always the big question, when will the delicate white flowers bloom? for 20 years, rob defeo of the national park service has made the prediction and this year he is is discounting the warm winter weather rushing things. >> some people are praying for cold air to hold the blossoms back. i don't think you have to do that. my my forecast this year for when we'll reach peak bloom and that is on 70% of the blossoms opened, will be sometime between march 24th and march 31st. >> reporter: another perennial question, how long will the blooms last? a week to 16 days depending on the rain and the wind. and again, about march 24th we expect the cherry blossoms. at the tidal basin i'm tom sherwood. ba back to you, pat. >> thank you, tochl three we don't have any cherry trees or blossoms on our front lawn but we have the same warm temperatures. right, doug? > >> we do have a couple cherry trees out here.

i'm not sure what kind they are. you can see right over my shoulder, that is a cherry tree. again, i'm not sure exactly what type it is but it is trying to bloom out here. a couple actually trying to bloom. thos those are new this year. we didn't have them last year just to make sure we're all aware. right now we're dealing with it getting a little cooler outside as we are seeing winds shift out of the north right now, the winds gusting upwards of 10 to 20 miles an hour across the region. 4 64 degrees at the airport. 65 down in fairfax county. over there toward western fairfax county, reston at 59 degrees. c across the river rockville coming in right now at 58. so a nice evening but the winds are going to bring in some cooler temperatures as we make ou our way through the rest of the evening hours. no rain out there right now and yo you can see this is a wider view. no rain at all across our area. 32 degrees for the overnight low at manassas. 40 in washington. o so that's still above average. average low temperature this time of the year 34 degrees. we'll be well above that and most areas will continue to be above their average lows and even their average highs right on through the day tomorrow.

and especially into the day on saturday. tomo tomorrow, look at this. plenty of sunshine early in the d day. but then the cloud cover. you folks down to the south and we west back toward petersburg, stanton, charlottesville, you'll see the rain first. your rain could get in there fairly early. wa washington i think will see sunshine and will warm temperatures up to 60 degrees in th the d.c. area. 61 down in manassas. we'll start future weather tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. nothing around the area. not even a cloud in the sky. then here comes the clouds. by 3:00 just about everybody is starting to see the rain. right now the lone exception may be southern maryland but then the rain moves across for everybody. co could see a couple thunderstorms u during the afternoon tomorrow as the rain moves on through and the rainh%oves on through and then we'll see just showers overnight but then the frontal boundary tries to move through. take a look at this line that tries to set up at least on this computer model south and west of i-95 in through southern maryland. on once again we could see strong storms there. we'll continue to watch it for you. there's the next four days. i'll show you the rest of the forecast coming up at 6:00. >> doug, when is the peak on

that tree? we should have our own little festival on the front lawn. >> i have no -- i'm not good at th that stuff. >> >> it's already starting to pop. >> looks like it's close. >> >> in seven days. >> >> there you go. mark your calendar. >> the cherry blossom tie on today. >> >> he's matching it. >> good. one day into march and you're already talking madness. >> >> it's march first. we are officially in march madness. it's under way. georgetown, the only local lock to make the big dance when we're talking about the teams. the american university is still alive after winning its patriot league quarter final for the coach jeff jones and gw lost to lasalle but the colonials at least clinched a spot in the a-10 tournament a great achievement for the first-year e head coach whose home coming has not been easy. >> being back home i know how cool that is. is it more difficult being at g.w. and losing because like you know so people or are you confident you'll be able to turn

this around quickly. >> >> i'm very confident we'll win. i wouldn't have taken the job if i didn't think we'd win. the losing is hard with my friends and family coming to the game. he they probably take it as hard as i do. >> >> when you look at this area an and the talent that's here, i know you've been recruiting for a long time. jeff, you've been recruiting it for a long time as well. is there enough to go around for all the schools after maryland and georgetown and everybody, the other big east? >> i think there's plenty. we don't go head to head with gw or or maryland or georgetown. there is a lot of talent, excellent students as well. so we really want to make it a priority and feel like that there's, you know, players out there that are, you know, would be a great fit for american university. >> >> you guys talked about any kind of home at home in the future with gw and au or what? >> our assistant coaches have actually talked. pw we couldn't get it on the schedule for 2013 season but

maybe some time in the future. i don't know if you're -- >> i think it would be great, jeff. i'd love to play maryland, au, george mason, georgetown. i think all of us should really play. > >> all right. o so the next step is to get turgeon and j.t. iii in here and see if you guys can agree to a h home at home. i have to ask you about jeremy lin because i know as head coach at vermont you played harvard and you told me you remember beating harvard with jeremy lin watching this phenomenon, this li lin sanity what is it like for you having coached? >> i think it's great. he was definitely a terrific pl player at harvard. i i didn't think he would be an nba player but through hard work he is reaching his goals and i think what else is great, you know, jeff and i have kind of made a career recruiting true student athletes and to see a true student athlete reach the nba and become a starter and a great player i think is awesome. > >> i would think that jeremy lin would help a school like au on t

the recruiting trail to be able to point to a guy like him. >> well, i think anybody that's not at a bcs school certainly will use jeremy lin. e he is the latest, greatest. but, you know, it's not always, you know, what is the biggest school you can go to. we believe that it's what is the right fit. if if you find the right fit and you do well, the nba is going to find you. jeremy lin is a great example of that. >> i like that recruiting pitch from jeff jones. au hoping to find some lynn-sanity in the patriot league semifinals saturday at lehigh while gw finishes up the regular season on the road saturday against davis. ke keeping our fingers crossed for those teams. t it would be nice to see somebody other than georgetown and the ncaa tournament. of course rooting for georgetown too too but the more the merrier. >% >> i'll say. we got a lot in there. >> thanks, dan. coming up next why you will now see red parking meters around the city. >> >> for all your news follow news 4 online and search us on nbc wa washington on facebook and w twitter. we we're coming right back.

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douglas kennedy, son of the late robert kennedy, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child after an incident with two nurses who tried to stop him from taking his newborn out of

the hospital. >> now those nurses are speaking out about what happened. jonathan dienst has more in this i-team report from our sister station in new york. >> reporter: don't pay and you i will pay. it will be a lot more than a couple dollars. starting today everyone has to pa pay at parking meters in the district of columbia. handicapped parking or not, reserved space or not. it's a message d.c. is sending straight to your wallet. p> >> you could get a $250 fine. i think exactly what the fine is isn't as important as having people follow what the rules are. >> reporter: used to be that blue top meters were accessible and no matter where you parked you didn't have to pay if you %ou didn't have to pay if you had a handicapped license plate or or placard. well not anymore. d.c. officials say too many people took advantage. >> there are some places you can go where you will see car after car with disability placards. we don't know that, you know, whether those are valid or not, but, you know, we have our

suspicions. >> >> reporter: drivers with disabilities who use red top meters can have extended time at the meter so if you park on a two-hour lot, you can park for four hours, but you have to pay for four hours. >> this whole thing is designed to provide more parking for persons with disabilities to make it easier for people who have legitimate tags or placards to find parking. >> r >> reporter: now this driver received a $25 ticket because even though they have a handicapped placard in the windshield, they did not pay at the red top meter. so remember, even with handicapped plates and a placard, you still need to pay at the red top meters. now if you decide to park here and you don't have a handicapped plate, or placard, you're looking at a $250 fine and possibly even having your vehicle towed. in southwest, i'm tracee wilkins. news 4. >> obviously that story was not about jonathan dienst but the

red top meters all over the city, 400 now in washington. >> that's it for news 4 at 5:00. we we thank you for watching. > n >> news 4 at 6:00 starts right o now. people are picking up the pieces after a deadly line of tornadoes hit the midwest but the threat isn't over yet. >> in maryland the governor has signed the same sex marriage bi bill into law. a local lawmaker clocked going 105 miles an hour on the beltway got a warning. others were not so lucky. tonight we head to traffic court to hear from locals with similar situations with different results. good evening. i'm jim vance. >> i'm doreen gentzler. we we begin with the battle over birth control. today senate republicans failed to block president obama's policy on contraceptive coverage. the new rule requires most employers to provide free o%ployers to provide free contraception even if they b object on religious grounds. steve handelsman is on capitol il hill with the latest. steve? >> hi, doreen.