now. >> news now. >> tennis in the fall and track and field and outdoor boche ball in the spring. this is 9news now. >> for the first time since may of 2008, the dow jones industrial average hit the 13,000 mark today. but it couldn't quite sustain the momentum. today's flirtation with prerecession levels was fueled by strong corporate earnings from macy's and home depot. it also was helped by the deal to help greece avoid bankruptcy. that rescue package was approved by the other euro's. >> a big topic come election time, but as tara reports, tonight the republican presidential candidates are focused on each other's money machine. >> mitt romney tried to win over voters in michigan. >> i care about michigan. this is personal for me.

>> he is fighting hard to win a state where he was born, but polls show rick santorum is in the lead. that is putting romney on the offensive. >> i don't think rick santorum's track record is that of a fiscal conservative. and so i think that will ultimately be interesting in this process and lead to my getting support. >> arizona also holds a primary next tuesday and santorum made a campaign stop there, highlighting his conservative record and taking on president obama. >> president obama says i'm going to give you the right to healthcare. give me your money, give me your freedom and we will provide for you. when the government gives you rights, they can take those rights away. >> the candidates are using a new and powerful weapon in the race for the white house. super packs are raising millions and millions of dollars for their campaign ad. >> last month alone, super political action committee supporting romney raised a

combined $17 million and spent $24 million. there is no limit to how much money an individual or corporation can donate to a super pack. one of gingrich's biggest donors says he might give as much as $100 million to the super pack. tara for cbs news. the white house. >> president obama took some time today to praise congress for extending the payroll tax cut. he called on congress to keep its focus on those americans struggling in this economy. >> in the coming months, a will the of phoney political debates focusing on the next election. i hope we spend time focusing on middle class americans and those who are struggling to get into the middle class. we have more work to do. let's do it. >> part of that payroll tax will hit federal workers in the wallet. the plan is for new government workers to contribute about 3% of their salaries toward their retirement. other federal workers contribute only about 1%. and that will help to pay for

extending unemployment benefits. and some republicans are talking about freezing federal workers pay until 2014. the critics say another freeze would mean federal workers will have contributed $60 billion to reducing government costs. virginia governor, bob mcdonald says he will sign a bill that will dediscriminate against whomever they choose. passed the measure today. it allows agencies to deny placements that conflict with their religious or moral beliefs. another bill that requires drug testing of virginia welfare recipients, but that bill is expected to die in the state senate. the fda is taking steps to try and stop a massive shortage of cancer drugs. the agency will temporarily allow the importation of a drug for ovarian cancer that has not been available for new patients in months. a second supplier will produce a preservative free version of

methotrexate to treat bone cancer. but there are still 280 drugs on the shortage list right now. the u.s. supreme court will once again confront the issue of race in university admissions. it is a case brought by a white student who was denied a spot at the flag ship campus. this is going to be the first time the court weighs in on this issue since its decision in 2008, which it endorsed the use of race as a factor in admissions. >> jurors are scheduled to begin their deliberations in the murder case tomorrow. bruce leshan has our look ahead. >> the satellite truck, the microwave trucks from local affiliates and national networks in place ready to broadcast the verdict when it comes in from the jurors. they are preparing to start deliberating tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. in the courthouse. they have plenty to think about starting with that video tape from george huguely.

the video tape interrogation with the police just hours after yeardley love's death. and you almost have to wonder if that is a struggle for prosecutors because the jurors could hear the surprise in george huguely's voice. the prosecutor said that is the surprise of a young man who has just admitted to murder. the defense attorney say no, it is yen genuine shock and horror. they said he never did anything violent enough to kill her. they argue that she suffocated. in charlottesville, 9news now. >> a woman with a long list of driving offenses is dead tonight. after her car went airborne and crashed into a landover restaurant. it happened last night at the intersection of sheriff road and martin luther king highway. our scott broom is live. i understand eyewitnesses came buy the scene in the last hour and a half. >> yeah, really dramatic

accounts from them. the woman who was driving the car has been identified as 29- year-old helena louise smith of washington. these witnesses gave compelling accounts. i need to show you around. there is sheriff road and over here is martin luther king highway. this is a citgo parking lot where i'm standing and it's right by a car wash where some employees were standing just a few feet away from where i am last night when this all happened. the black 1993 bmw hit the kfc restaurant after being out of control for 200 yards. witnesses at the car wash next door still in disbelief. >> i have seen this car flying down the highway. >> i saw the car coming, i didn't know it was a car. >> i mean, he was going 100, 110. >> seemed like a tornado coming. >> he was flipping, flipping, flipping. >> the girl that was inside the car came out. the car flipped one more time and landed on her.

>> 49-year-old hellena louise smith was the driver, according to police. a male pass passenger and a customer are hurt. smith's cousins are in shock. >> i have no idea why she went that fast. >> while the smith family grieves, others wonder how it could have been prevented. smith was accused by state police less than a month ago of driving 91 miles per hour on the interloop near central avenue. she was also charged with driving on a suspended license with an expired registration. yet, she and the bmw remained on the road. until this tragedy. >> and investigators here in prince georges county tonight are still trying to figure out how fast that car was going before he hit the kfc last night. reporting live in prince georges county, scott broom, 9news now. >> coming up on 9news now at

7:00, teachers getting plastic surgery without putting out a dime and the school district that is millions of dollars in the red left footing the bill. we'll explain how this could happen. >> still ahead in this half hour, barbecued or pan fried may not be the only questions about your next burger. we'll tell you why the meat may be its own choice. topper. >> actually, a pretty nice day. chilly right now. here are the numbers. a little bit above average. 50 and 32 go in the books. record high is 75. record low 7. we'll come back and talk about march-like weather tomorrow and april-like weather on thursday. >> and metro's silver line gets closer to opening, the transit agency is asking for your help to name the new station.

metro wants your help on

its extension to dulles international airport. it's asking you and everybody else about what to name the station's on the silver line. there aren't many rules, but the name needs to be relevant. build off geographical features, names of cities or communities or landmarks within walking distance of the station. you also need to keep those ideas to 19 characters or less and make the station name you anemic to cut down on any confusion. you have until march 21 to submit your ideas on metro's website. >> a teenager in michigan is being hailed a hero. he left a car. austin smith and his 74-year- old grandfather were working on the brakes of a buick century. the grandfather was underneath. the car suddenly slipped off the blocks and pinned the grandfather off and lifted the front end of a 2,000 car high enough. how did he do it? he doesn't know. >> no clue. probably out of adrenaline.

i couldn't do it right now. >> thank god it was here, because me and his grandmother. it would have been over. >> as you can see, austin's grandfather suffered a bad cut, but it could have been a lot worse. still to come, the fight over a fallen tree. find out why the people who own the land where he fell are letting it stay there for a little while.

meatless meat. beef grown in a lab could be on your dinner table in the not too distant future. scientists developed meat protoe types that will fool the biggest burger fans. another working to make a meat alternative out of plants. >> we have a class of products that just totally rocks and

cannot be distinguished from the animal base product that it replaces even by very hard core foodies. >> vegetarians will be happy. buyers take note, don't be surprised if this so-called meatless meat costs more than the meat you buy now. is it art or trash? >> a montgomery county homeowner is turning a tree do into a massive statue. >> this is the tree when it came down. >> this is a picture of the 400-year-old tree that came crashing down during a strong storm. >> lived here my entire life. this is a tree that i used to sit under. >> jason hired a different jason to turn it into a work of art. >> the sculpture here, the majestic eagle coming in to land. >> i'm trying to do something

patriotic. i want to make this a commemorative that honors our soldiers. >> jason has been working on this for the last six weeks, but he has been getting briefed, but he has the paperwork to prove it. a county housing -- failing to remove solid waste from their property. >> it has never been called rubbish. >> they were threatened with a court date and fines up to $750 a day. >> you have a government official who is abusing his power and misreading what the law was intended for. >> it's been four months since they received that first violation. that's four months of stress and legal fees. but just this afternoon, i got an e-mail from a county spokeswoman and it reads, since i spoke to you this morning, we received correspondence from the property owner indicating that the remaining standing tree section will be converted into a piece of carved artwork.

we are dismissing the citation. >> it's shocking back in december when we sent them the contract, they didn't read it, but as soon as there's a news crew out, evidently, they learn to read. >> in silver spring, kristin fisher, 9news now. >> the county is notified us that they are dismissing the citation, but they still have not contacted the homeowner or his attorney. the statue should be complete by mid march. a mild winter is acrossing the maple syrup season. snowfall down, and that's raising concerns about a lackluster maple syrup crop. the weather when the sap flows out matters more than the weather leading up to it. they hope it gets cold. u.s. maple production hit an all-time high. i didn't know there was a maple syrup crop. >> we have a problem when the maple syrup is not going to be

just right, topper. >> we also talked about this off air. we are going to have a lot of mosquitoes and ticks. >> get ready. >> all right, let's have a live look outside. this is off our rooftop camera. looking northeast on wisconsin avenue on your left. look in the background, you can make it out. that's in wilson high school. and we are looking at this brought to you by michael and son. it's a nice evening. you'll need a coat. it's 49 downtown. winds out of the south at 14. dew point is falling. 49 without a wind. with a wind, it feels cold, especially since we don't have any sun. that will change tomorrow and change on thursday. satellite picture radar combined, is this a system we showed you yesterday. in kansas city and oklahoma city, it has fallen apart. rain and shower activity in

pennsylvania and new york state. all the precipitation is staying to our north. we have gone clear to partly cloudy tonight. i think we're going to stay that way overnight. temperatures, 40s in the suburbs. 46 in bethesda. 47 in rockville. 46 in reston. 50 in college park. 47 in beltsville and 46 in laurel. so, here's the deal. milder and then warmer. breezy and just chilly tonight. windy and milder on wednesday. more like april on thursday and winter will return this weekend. won't stick around long, but it will return. breezy and chilly a. one blanket night. winds southwest 10 to 15. everyone stays above freezing tonight and we are looking at temperatures in the mid to upper 30s. 40 downtown. 38 in college park. 37 in bowie. 37 in reston and 36 in sterling and maybe 35 in middleburg. tomorrow morning, partly cloudy, breezy, grab a light

coat. 30s and 40s. by afternoon, partly sunny, windy and milder. high temperatures near 60 and winds out of the southwest at 10 to 20 and gusty. we'll break it down. chilly to start. 36 to 44. kids will need jackets, but in the 50s by noon and 56 to 61. a few clouds come in late. a pretty good day. the next seven days, it gets warmer. temperatures on thursday. maybe an early morning shower in the upper 60s. it will get cooler on friday. some showers possible friday morning. temperature about 59, but then falling during the day. cold over the weekend. low 40s. maybe some snow flurries on saturday and more rain or showers on monday. >> we'll be ready. >> the terps take on miami tonight. >> they are welcoming back george mason's coach who has been doing well in miami, but with the regular season winding down, the terps have a handful of chances left to make a case for the big dance and tonight,

like lesli said, familiar face back in the area. plus, ted lashing out after his capitals embarrassing performance last night. find out what he said coming up next.

now, 9sports with kristen berset. the best sports in town. >> it is now or never for the maryland terrapins. they have four games left in the regular season and a tough road ahead. coming off their most lopsided loss of the season. a 27 point beat down by virginia. looking to rebound tonight against miami. the last time these two met on february 1, miami squeak by in a heartbreaking double overtime victory. the terps have won just two games since and are now playing without point guard. >> since he went down, we made some strides in practice with guys and maturity. we'll see, four games left, hopefully we can do something positive down the stretch. >> tonight's game means the return of former george mason head coach, jim in his first year of miami. the hurricanes are 16-9. or

fifth in the acc ahead of the terps. the hurricanes upset duke earlier this month. >> at a time when they are supposed to make a surge, they can skidding further and further from contention. last night was undoubtedly their worst performance. they were outshot 40-17. turned over the puck 20 times in route to a shutout. the players afterwards called their performance embarrassing and slack. this morning, the owner expressed his disappointment on his blog saying that was the worst game of the season. came up small when we needed to come up big and win a game on the road. another wasted opportunity to get two points and move up in the standings and unacceptable performance. the capitals need to finish 500. at least 500 to make the post season. the folks at baseball america released their list of top 100 prospects in nationals young outfielder, bryce harper, leads

at number one. part of the opening day roster. he's getting there early, working hard. time now to vote for our high school game of the week. among your choices this week, oxen hill lauren, thomas johnson, and whitman at bethesda chevy chase for girls. finally, the wizards used his day off to promote heart health speaking to a group of young kids at perry street charter school. he suffers from a heart defect that was diagnosed after he was drafted by the lakers in '05. required surgery. he is talking to the kids about nutritional, things to eat, making good choices to protect your heart. >> taking care of yourself so you'll be in it for the long haul. >> that's all for 9news now at 6:00. >> cbs evening news is next. have a great night.