body. >> the resignation comes as no surprise. the congresswoman announced it sunday on her website. >> i will step down this week. >> surprising is the fact she is able to stand here on the house floor just one year after she was shot in the head. but her colleagues on both sides of the aisle say if you know gabby giffords, even that is not surprising. >> gabby's courage, her strength, and her downright fortitude are an inspiration to all of us and all americans. >> she has brought the word dignity to new heights. >> with her husband, mark kelly, watching from the balcony, giffords handed a resignation to an emotional house speaker. she is stepping down to focus on her recovery. some day she can return to the life she loves in public service. >> i will recover and will return and we will work together again for arizona and for all americans.

sincerely, gabrielle giffords, member of congress. >> in washington, kristin fisher, 9news now. >> giffords cast a last vote today on legislation she herself sponsored. it penalizes drug traffickers who use low flying aircraft to smuggle drugs into the u.s. from mexico. that bill passed unanimously. another farewell today. this one for penn state football coach, joe paterno. the official three-day mourning period will conclude tomorrow. there's a big memorial service in the penn state basketball arena. expected to admit he fired shots at the pentagon. the 24-year-old is scheduled to appear in federal court for a plea deal in alexandria. the marine corps museum was hit by bullets in 2010. he is charged with destruction of property. >> police are looking for the man who tried to rob a prince

georges county elementary school. a teacher at fort foot elementary school said the suspect tried to hold up the front office. he fled the scene after being scared off. the school went into lockdown, but students were later dismissed. there were no injuries. traffic around the springfield mixing bowl, it can be chaotic on any day. there was another obstacle this morning. traffic was brought to a halt. this all happened this morning on the inner loop of the beltway near the exit to i-395. pieces of the sign were left dangling near the roadway. so the left lanes had to be shut down for hours while crews went to clean up the mess. a well known local chef is fighting back against the district and its high grossing speed cameras. those cameras help the city pull in more than $40 million last year. bruce leshan has the story of chef jeff and his act of defiance. >> i'm bruce leshan in northwest d.c. where a brand-

new speed camera here on fox hall road caught a famous chef three times in three days, costing him $425. now he is planning to hire a guy to stand down there and warn everybody else with a big sign that says, speed camera ahead. >> from one of my busboys, they have to work 10, 15 hours to pay $125. i'm okay. i can afford it. but it's still a lot of money. >> the camera only started issuing tickets last month. tons of people are still unaware it is there. >> i just talked to three of my guests who all got tickets. you can buy a will the of food for $150. >> d.c. police sent me an e- mail saying a, speed kills. b, the cameras work. c, neighbors ask for this camera, and d, chef jeff is doing exactly what everybody

should do, slow down. in northwest d.c., bruce leshan, 9news now. >> that's hefty. in maryland, the fines are a lot less than in d.c. $40 for a speed camera ticket and they still get people's attention. i know. virginia just uses red light cameras with fines of $50. we all know distracted driving can kill and a virginia state lawmaker wants the state to get tougher on what it is motorists do. republican delegate has introduced a bill that will make behind the wheel behavior a crime, from applying makeup to eating lunch. >> we are all driving more distracted than we should be. taking people's lives and creating misery. >> a tall order to sell people. >> how would you enforce it? they can't even enforce texting. >> efforts to strengthen the law beyond that failed. there are a dozen distracted

driving bills that have been introduced. the verdict is not guilty for an exsheriff deputy accused in the stun gun death of a man in maryland. it took the jury a couple hours to reach their decision. >> the surviving family of 20- year-old jerel gray sued for $145 million, today they got nothing. >> i have to go to my son's burial plot. >> he's not the first person and he's not going to be the last person to die from a taser. so until they get it straight, you want to see more families here. >> he died four years ago in this frederick apartment complex after being jolted twice by the taser. a former county deputy corporal, who was responding to a report of a fight. trial testimony showed gray was tased the second time while he was lying face down on the ground. because he did not respond to commands to show his hands. it turned out, he was already unconscious. >> this is a tragedy. >> former corporal says the

incident weighs heavily on him. experts testify he was following proper police procedure. >> tasers are a useful tool. they have saved many lives, much more than they have taken, if they have taken any at all. >> it was a hard thing to do. >> jury foreman said deliberations were emotional. >> if this didn't happen, if this didn't happen, well then this wouldn't have happened. you can play the what if game all you want. what happened, happened, and there was no intent to kill this boy. >> the family's attorney, gregory latimer was near tears. >> i love this country. >> today's verdict clears the way for maryland police agencies to continue using tasers without major modifications to training. according to chuck jenkins, frederick county sheriff. in baltimore, scott broom,

9news now. president obama traveled to iowa today launching his push for his economic agenda, echoing some of the messages he layed out in last night's state of the union address. >> we aren't going to go back to an economy weakened by outsourcing and bad debt and phoney financial problems. that's not how america was built. we're not going to go back to that. >> the president is following up his state of the union speech with a three-day campaign road trip. he is set to visit five key states it bring his ideas to the voters. meantime, republicans fighting to take back the white house. the president is out of touch at campaign stops in florida. the gop presidential front runners took aim at the proposals he laid out for the nation last night. >> this is the president who talks about deregulation, even as he regulates. who talks about lowering taxes as he raises them. >> he had a clever political promise that we aught to make sure everyone who earns $1

million to pay 30% in taxes. it is perfectly classic left wing. >> the florida primary is next tuesday. mitt romney and newt gingrich in a close race so far. there's a new place to grocery shop. the fresh market opened its doors in congressional plaza on rockville pike today. management says the store has a friendly old world european atmosphere. it has a bakery that produces fresh bread and pies daily. also large produce and organic sections at this new store. all right, an incredible light show in the skies last night. check this out. the northern and southern lights represent some of the earth's most dazzling natural displays. green and orange skies over northern finland. this a result of the massive solar flair. top. >> yeah, when that magnetic

field hits the earth's atmosphere, it happens. we didn't see them here. let's talk temperatures. very nice. it's cool, but not cold. temperatures in the 40s. 43 winchester. 45 in leesburg. up towards frederick and hagersdown, upper 30s. satellite picture, radar combined. thickening up now. we are seeing some returns. some green over the panhandle of maryland and west virginia. that's not reaching the ground just yet. so for tonight, mostly cloudy, yous chilly. some showers possible by dawn. north of town. we'll come back and talk about just how much rain and showers will fall tomorrow and the prospect of thunderstorms tomorrow night. the days of square pizza and mystery meat are behind us. coming up, first lady, michelle obama champions to bring

healthier lunches to our school cafeterias. >> it makes you gag. >> i was scared. the first time, i was scared. i didn't know what was happening. >> okay, so this is what they're talking about. thousands of birds in a kentucky neighborhood turned the sky dark as night. those stories and more just ahead.

ready, aim, fire, some people in a kentucky neighborhood are shooting off allowed air cannon as a last resort, trying to get rid of swarms of blackbirds. like clockwork, thousands return every day and with the flock comes a big mess as you can imagine. some townspeople blame the birds droppings for illnesses that have gripped the community. >> the other kids in the neighborhood have been getting sick. we are all dealing with respiratory upper infections. i don't know if we can blame it on the birds, but it's all the birds fault. all these problems came when the birds came. >> there is no clear answer as to why these birds have selected lagrange as their gathering spot. people living there will keep shooting off the air cannons until they hopefully move on. attention j.c. penney shoppers. they will do away with deep discounts. starting next month, penney's will offer three types of price

structures. every day pricing, best prices, and month long deals. it's going to send out shoppers booklets. good-bye to mystery meat, hello whole grains. requiring less salt and fat and more fruits and vegetables are coming to school lunch programs in the fall. as peggy fox reports, the first lady was out sampling a healthier lunch in fairfax county where the standards are already in place. >> 200 kids jump to their feet as the first lady of the united states entered their cafeteria. some of the lucky second and fourth graders at park lawn elementary school got to go through the lunch line with mrs. obama who came to promote the new nutrition standards. >> when we send our kids to school, we have a right to expect that they won't be eating the kind of fatty, salty, sugary foods that we are trying to keep from them when they are at home. >> they boost the variety of

fruit, vegetables, and whole grains. only 1% low fat or fat free milk is permitted. and in two years, all grains must be whole grains. plus, another change, children can't just say no this time says dianne with the school's nutrition association. >> kids will have to put a fruit or a vegetable on their tray before they come out of the lunch line. it's great, because it gives kids an opportunity to try something that they might not have wanted to pick up on their own. >> the first lady says making sure children receive good nutrition isn't only about their health. >> kids can't be expected to sit still and concentrate when they are on a sugar high. >> 60% of the children at park lawn elementary qualify for the free and reduced price meal program. mrs. obama pointed out for children that come from struggling families, those school meals may be the only food they get all day, so they must be good and good for them. peggy fox, 9news now.

>> coming up on 9news, we'll see if topper's forecast is a good deal for us. it's been pretty mild. plus, people behind this scene not the -- the sign, i should say. we'll talk about what is wrong there. i'm sure you can figure it out. we'll be back in two minutes.

a refresher course in spelling could be order for the people in this next story. the word school is misspelled

and it's been this way since the summer of 2010. the word above it is also wrong, missing an i in crossing. >> i was like, really? >> everybody makes mistakes. >> okay, but why so long to fix it? somebody finally did. the road signs were corrected tuesday. new york city blames a utility provider for the spelling mistakes. but since the summer of 2010? it's 2012. really. >> i hope someone noticed and couldn't get around to doing it? >> that's what i'm hoping. >> all right, 49 today. i mean, okay, not our 54 like yesterday. >> still so nice. >> we cannot complain. going back to the birds, they were blackbirds in the story we got before. i got an e-mail from amy saying there are dozens of crows every day. >> i was seeing swarms of them. >> i don't know what's going on. i have seen them since

december. i don't know what's going on. if i find out, i'll let you know. let's start with a live look outside and we're looking at the live weather cam brought to you by michael and son. shot of the capital. temperature wise, still very comfortable. i mean, in terms of what it should be this time of year. temperatures in the mid 40s. 44 officially at national. dew point 32. wind east, southeast at 8. and the pressure is falling now at 30.25 inches of mercury. humidity 63%. satellite picture, radar combined. we'll zoom down to texas and parts of the gulf coast. this is our next system. it will bring us rain and showers and a thunderstorm. hammered texas. i mean, they had severe weather, they had tornadoes. and now look at this line of showers and thunderstorms raking through louisiana. there are some tornado watches at this hour. now as far as we are concerned, we have clouds tonight. stays on the west side of the mountains tomorrow. i would take your umbrella, but not looking at anything heavy tomorrow.

temperatures, 45 bethesda, 46 in rockville. 45 in arlington. low 40s in reston. 42 there and 43 in college park and also up near beltsville. so locate the umbrella. chilly tonight. the morning commute, wet, mainly north of town. i think gaithersburg and frederick and maybe leesburg and maybe the panhandle of west virginia. the evening commute probably wet for all and then thunderstorms are possible overnight on thursday. here's the deal. 1:00 tomorrow, some showers north of town. certainly back in the mountains. notice it's all green. precipitation type, not really a problem with this one. in the morning, a few showers south of town. but by lunchtime, we have coverage. by evening, we have more coverage as we get into 8:00, about 24 hours from now. look what happens overnight. look at this line of showers and storms that rolled through early in the morning on friday. so get ready for that. the good news is, they'll roll out of here. for tonight, mostly cloudy, chilly shower possible. 34 to 39. now tomorrow, maybe a shower in

the morning. cool, temperatures in the 30s and 40s and by afternoon. some showers, just not a will the of activity tomorrow. the heaviest activity is tomorrow night. temperatures 45 to 50. winds southeast at about 10 to 15. all right, next seven days. we get rid of those showers early on friday. we are back in the mid 50s on friday. nice over the weekend. we raised temperatures a little. upper 40s on sunday. cold for one day on monday. then back in the 50s on tuesday and wednesday. anita will be back with more 9news at 7:00 right after this. [ male announcer ] this was how my day began.

a little bird told me about a band... ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours... everyone else buzzed about the band. there's a wireless mind inside all of us. so, where to next? ♪

a virginia woman is on her way home following a daring rescue by navy seals in somalia. details of this president obama is applausing tonight. >> the same u.s. navy seals that killed osama bin laden rescued american jessica buchanan. seal team 6 parachuted into somalia in the dark and ambushed pirates holding buchanan and her danish colleague captive. special forces killed nine pirates in a gunfight.

then freed the aide workers who had been held hostage for three months. both will soon be reunited with their families. president obama didn't mention the raid in his state of the union address tuesday night. but just before he spoke, he congratulated defense secretary, leon panetta. >> good job tonight. good job tonight. >> president later called buchanan's father to report the good news. his daughter was free. intelligence reports suggested the 32-year-old was getting worse and made the mission more urgent. >> we followed as we always do advice of the special operators. this was incredibly daring. these guys are absolutely mind blowingly effective at what they do. >> u.s. officials say the kidnappers were heavily armed with explosives nearby. president obama says he could not be prouder of the troops who carried out the top secret operation. tina krause, cbs news. what a great outcome.

buchanan has been taken to a safe spot. they are giving her medical treatment before she makes the flight home to virginia. >> good news. >> it is. and that is our report. i'll be back tonight with topper at 11:00. don't forget, we are always on at wusa9.com. i'm anita brikman. have a good night, we'll see you tonight.

now, "entertainment tonight," the most watched entertainment newsmagazine in the world. what's wrong with demi moore? the latest on her health crisis tonight. >> the 911 call came from demi's l.a. home. >> did she have a seizure? is she getting dangerously thin? what we know about her treatments. plus, new video of her daughter rumer at the hospital. but where is ashton? then, first shots of heather locklear after her hospital emergency. dr. phil's 79-pound anorexic. drinking beer to lose weight? >> i weigh 79 to 82 pounds. >> drinking a six pack and then purging. can she be saved? >> i'm crazy. plus, diabetic paula deen's new controversy. caught eating a cheese burger and fries. how brad pitt saved his oscar-nominate