i'm jessica doyle in for andrea roane. >> she is. i can vouch for that i'm mike hydeck. how are you? hope you're here having a good day with us. grab another cup of coffee. lots to share with you this morning. here's monika santami. i was trying to be gentle there. she has traffic there. that'sen inside joke. i -- that's an inside joke. i sort of knuckle her. >> we have a -- he has a three- day weekend coming up so he's happy. we have fog in spots, mainly north where we have a dense fog advisory. areas west and even south we have to watch out for as well. we're looking at a sunny and warm start to meteorological spring on march 1. here we go on the day planner. temperatures will be dropping a little bit here. we dropped into the low 50s. we were 59 last hour. we've lost a bunch here. where did they go? they'll be coming back. 53 by noon and this afternoon mid- to upper 60s winds at times could gust over 30 miles an hour. we're looking at that fog advisory north until 8:00 this morning. mainly those counties bordering

pennsylvania and up in the west virginia panhandle, martinsburg where the visibilities have been down to zero this morning. they're up to a mile there. leesburg not only an advisory but you have dense fog quarter mile, half mile in warrenton. quarter mile at andrews as well. we're looking at frederick not bad but northern frederick county, that's where we could have some problems. partly because it's a lot colder. some areas still 61 in fredricksburg. overall we don't have any construction to worry about. things are looking pretty good. volumes are generally light around town. good morning, everybody. if you're planning to head in on the gw parkway, you're going to be fine leaving the legion bridge into downtown. no problems on the dulles toll road out of leesburg or 66 out of manassas and insides the beltway to the roosevelt bridge. a live look at 270 on the southbound side coming in from the north. there are some patchy -- there is some patchy dense fog. here's what it looks like on the roosevelt bridge on the inbound side of 66. back over to the map. this time we'll head over to

downtown area. no problems across the 14th street bridge, along 395 across the potomac river. you're going to be okay. we'll take a live look as well if you're planning to head on to pennsylvania avenue. here's what it looks like at the williard hotel. coming up in my next report, we'll go into maryland at 5:09. tim tebow has just about no ties to this region. however, today virginia lawmakers could pass their own version of what is being nicknamed the tim tebow law. >> tebow of course is the quarterback of the denver broncos. he was home schooled growing up in florida but in that state, he was allowed to play football on a high school team near his home. 9news now reporter delia goncalves has more on the tim tebow law debate. >> reporter: good morning, jessica, mike. tim tebow is not a native but the issue has been talked about for several years in virginia. this is the most progress it's made so far. but we're told a subcommittee

is scheduled to vote on the bill later this morning and if they vote this bill down, it could essentially kill the bill and this could be the end for it this year. i met with a group of home school parents yesterday. they've been home schooling their children for nearly a dozen years in loudoun county. all the kids play community sports and have excelled in their age group but they all want to take it to the next level. according to the virginia home school association, there are roughly 6,000 home schooled children in the state and only a small percentage of those kids would actually qualify to play or even try out for high school sports. >> ii was having a conversation with a friend and he was saying how he felt that home schoolchildren might take spots away. we were actually at a lacrosse game and i said to him, only two of these 15 players -- only two children that play in the

youth 15 play, there are only two home schooled children. those two future nine pt graders aren't going to be taking spots away from anyone. >> there's two teams in most schools. >> we're not asking them to automatically give us a spot on the team. we're only asking them for a chance to just try out. the biggest thing for me is to play with my friends and represent the community i've lived in for most of my life. >> critics say listen, players for high school sports not only represent the community, they represent their public high school. and since the parents of home schooled children have voluntarily chosen to take their kids out of the public schools, well, those kids shouldn't have the opportunity as the public school students have. we'll have more on what the critics have to say coming up in my next live report in a half-hour. i'll see you then. >> thanks, delia, live in the newsroom this morning. also in the virginia general assembly, failure to agree on a state budget.

the state senate voted along party lines to a 2020 stalemate and republican lieutenant governor bill bolling is not allowed to cast the tie breaking vote on the budget. lawmakers must agree on a version by july 1 or virginia could face a partial government shutdown. governor bob mcdonnell could propose a new budget and order a special legislative session to get it passed. investigators say the cause of friday night's fire that injured seven firefighters is arson intentionally set. firefighters from several companies rushed to a vacant home in riverdale heights, maryland. a car parked in the driveway led them to believe someone could be trapped inside. a firefighter, 22-year-old kevin o'toole remains hospitalized with burns over half of his body. investigators are looking into the possibility that this could be the work of a serial arsonist. a council member accused of driving more than a hundred miles per hour is not talking. she did not answer any of our

questions about her traffic stop last week. police say council member toles did not receive special treatment. the officer did not track her with radar while he was certain she was going at least 105 miles an hour on the beltway. she exited before he could pace her to confirm that. toles was given a $90 sighization for an unsafe lane change. the time right now is 5:06. i am watching your money on wall street. dow 13,000. we hardly knew you. stocks pulled back a little bit in trading yesterday but february turned out to the best for the market since 1998. checking the numbers. the dow stands this morning at 12,952 after dropping 53 points in trading yesterday. the nasdaq lost about 20. s&p 500 down by 6 for the month. the dow was up by two and a half%. nasdaq rallied by 5.5%.

if you're looking to watch a movie on netflix, you may have trouble finding some disney movies and a bunch of other films. netflix key contract with starz was up on tuesday. up like a rocket, the total value of apple stock has topped $500 billion for the first time yesterday. unbelievable. the stock rallied of course. investors looking ahead to next week's announcement when the new ipad model is expected to be unveiled. this is sort of a known entity but still. >> we know it's the most valuable company in the world but when you hear those numbers, it's still shocking. i'm not sure why. >> it's like the gdp of several countries combined. severe storms and tornadoes strike kansas to tennessee. unfortunately in one case it's deadly. we have more on that story coming up.

a judge reverses a new policy on cigarette packaging just months before it was supposed to begin. ahead in sports, farewell to the john thompson radio show. more on the legend coming up.

dense fog out there. partly cloudy. it's going to be a sunny, windy and relatively warm day today. your high temperatures will make it well up in the 60s. this morning you'll need a jacket in spots, especially north. temperatures will be climbing into the 50s to low 6 on the later this morning. -- low 60s later this morning. the winds could gust to 30 miles an hour. i'll be back in a few minutes looking ahead toward the weekend. we've got some hiccups on that road. right now monika santami with time saver traffic. on the northbound side of 395, no problems or delays leaving the beltway to the 14th street bridge and into downtown. all the crossings doing fine as well. we'll take a look at virginia roads at 5:17. making news now at 5:10 this morning, today more rain could fall on spots hit by the deadly tornadoes wednesday.

12 people died after severe storms hit states from kansas to tennessee. the greatest destruction, though, harrisburg, illinois. 60 people were killed there. so far 27 tornadoes have been confirmed. the air force' chief of staff is pointing a finger at the pentagon over the incineration of some 9/11 victims' remains. general norton swartz cite add 2002 memo ordering the insinuation of unidentified remains which were mixed with other debris. that memo did not specify dumping the burned remains in a landfill. a judge has blocked a federal policy that would have forced tobacco companies to put those large images on their cigarette packages to warn the dangers of smoking like images of smokers' blackened lungs and other things that were pretty graphic. the judge ruled these images violate free speech rights and the policy was to take effect later this year. a movie with thousands of fish might sound like a documentary airing on a nature

channel but salmon fishing in yemen is actually a romantic comedy and we have a sneak peek coming up at 5:57. 5:35, why this year's cherry blossom festival will be twice as long as normal. and march is coming in like a lamb but what happens next? howard has the seven-day forecast at 5:15.

we're coming up on 5:15. is the rain going to go away? >> the rain is pretty much gone for now. it comes back tomorrow, late tomorrow night into saturday. we'll have some of that. hopefully it's walked out a itself bit of the tree poll china was in the high category yesterday. -- pollen which was in the high category yesterday. we've god some fog we have to watch out -- we've got some fog we have to watch out for. a big range in temps. from the low 40s up near the maryland-pennsylvania boarder to the lower 60s -- border to the lower 60s in far southern maryland, down toward fredricksburg. what a range. that warm, cold mix helping to produce some dense fog. that will be around for a couple more hours. then today a sunny and windy day. by noon low to mid-60s. west winds at 16. they could be -- at -- they could be gusting near 30 at times. still on the breezy side. ten to 20 miles an hour. this morning we're saying goodbye to the showers and

storms. heavy rain. loud, really loud thunder last night thanks in part to the warm air on top of the cold air. some of that thunder gets bounced back and amplifies. that's why it was so loud yesterday. this morning you see how we've cleared out nicely. with the cold still up north, the moisture from the brains last night, that's helped the fog get going. arguably we could have dropped it across parts of montgomery county and loudoun counties because we've got visibilities in places like leesburg down to a quarter mile. martinsburg doing a lot better. they were zero an hour ago. a quarter mile in hagerstown. we'll probably see dense fog in thurmont, emmitsburg. a half mile in regard reasonton. -- in warrenton. pocks in -- pockets in north and west virginia. we're at 54. in fredricksburg it's 61 degrees -- 48 this morning i

should say. 48 lovettsville. alexandria is 55. baden still 59 degrees. columbia this morning we're looking at 50. just some patchy clouds around the capital this morning. still decent visibility, 54. national reporting clear skies and a light south, southwesterly wind at 3 miles an hour. so the storm system producing heavy snows up across parts of new york state and new england. some areas could see a foot in southern new hampshire. for us we're clearing out and will stay clear for much of the day and tonight. the next system will approach late tomorrow. could get some rain in here before the day is over but more likely we'll see it tomorrow night and the first part of saturday. with luck saturday afternoon turns out decent. 67 today. could be near 70 south. tonight we'll be down in the 40s. tomorrow upper 50s to near 60 but late clouds, late showers more likely tomorrow night into the first part of saturday. still mild saturday, 64. maybe a couple of flurries sunday night into monday. we're back to 60 by wednesday.

5:17. monika, time saver traffic. no notes. i like take. no notes. no construction to worry about overnight. some patchy dense fog as you come in from the north. otherwise the beltway just wet right now and light volumes. no problems to report on the beltway between college park and bethesda. we're just getting word of a possible accident, though, on the southbound side of 95 exiting to the inner loop of the beltway. we'll take a live look at the beltway in college park. this is the inner loop past that scene. you're going to be fine in prince george's county. this is the outer loop heading past 95 over into silver spring again. the lanes are open. back over to the map. this time we're going to head over to 270. again it's that fog you may encounter as you come out of frederick this morning and down on to 270. we'll take a live look a little fourth south in rockville here at 270 on route 28. things are moving well down to the point where the lanes divide. in my next report we'll go into virginia at 5:24. back to you. >> sounds like a plan. thanks, monika. 5:18 now. the first john thompson, the

coach of georgetown, former coach of georgetown is leaving his broadcasting job now. >> the terps have a matchup with one of the top teams in their conference. highlights coming up in sports. one more look at the question of the day. according to a new survey, this is the number one food women crave when they are pregnant. what do you think it is? a, peanut butter, b, ice cream, or c, pickles. >> this is weird. viny white says none of the above. she writes i crierved fried -- i craved fried liver sandwiches. by the way, i hate liver. post your guesses on our facebook fan page. we'll reveal the answer in our 6:00 a.m. hour.

5:22. some areas of fog especially north of town. generally we're going to have a sunny day. we'll get rid of the fog quickly. we're looking at temps in the lower 50s. we'll track up toward the noon hour. 62 degrees here in town. still going to be breezy. some upper 60s south. we'll get into the afternoon. highs are going to be in the mid- to upper 60s. might even flirt with 70 on the south side. a fixture in the d.c. sports scene for decades steps away. >> while the wizards fail to take advantage of a really bad outing by the magic. kristen berset has highlights

in your sports. good morning. you would think when a team blows a 17-point lead, turns the ball over 18 times and allows their opponent's captain to score 33 points that that team would lose the game. that is unless they're playing the wizards. brandy whitman and the wizards hosting the magic last night. wizards down 34th quarter and let's -- 3, 4th quarter and let's make it 6. the magic just too much for the wiz in the end. dwight howard had 14 points, 12 rebounds. magic beat the wizards 102-95. maryland in chapel hill. kendall marsh with the dish and then john henson comes in with the snoosh. 19 points for henson. still in the first half, working the give and go with alex, the freshman with the

jam. but carolina senior tyler zoeller was too much. tips in the henson miss. 30 for zoeller last night. tar heels win. after 13 years behind the mike, john thompson, jr. signed off for two hours a day, the former georgetown coach was funny but yesterday it was all about goodbyes and popping a little bubbly. bubbly. that's a quick look at sports. have a great thursday. coming up, we're going to take a closer look at the vote on the tim tebow law in virginia. why there's a chance the cherry blossoms will peak even before the festival starts this year. just want to give you a heads up. if you're a marc 1401 commuter, it is running late this morning. you're watching 9news now.

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happy thursday morning. welcome back. i'm jessica doyle. andrea roane is off today. good morning. i'm mike hydeck. glad you're here. lard to snap out of it -- hard to snap out of it this morning, isn't it, monika? >> sure is. >> we had tons of rain at our house yesterday. >> gully washers out there. >> there's still quite a few puddles on the road this morning. >> all the leftover rainfall, the moisture, cool temps, the fog has formed. it's locally dense. kind of a neat picture of the capitol. look at this fog bank. it's kind of rolling into town there. that's the capitol dome. >> really? >> 15 minutes ago it was clear. now boom it's being shouted a little -- shrouded a little bit by the fog. we will see sunshine today. fog early. sunny and windy.

63 by noon. by 5:00 61. highs in the mid- to upper 60s today and those winds, they could gust to 30 miles an hour. once they start kicking, we'll kick the fog out of here. there's a dense fog advisory north till 8:00 generally along 70 and the panhandle. there are areas not on the advisory like leesburg. visibilities down to three- quarters of a mile. we're seeing improvement by martinsburg. look south toward quantico at three-quarters. annual drews at a quarter. national one half mile. locally dense fog will be the story for the next couple of hours. and your temperatures ranging from the 60-degree mark in fredricksburg. i can't believe it either. to 37 in martinsburg. with the cooldown, that's one reason we have the fog. highs today in the maybe near 60 north but near 70 south of us. 67 for reagan national. it's now 5:29. here's monika with time saver traffic. other than the fog which seems like it's settling in closer into town, generally speaking volumes are light and

we haven't had any major issues to report this morning. again i just want to give you the heads up with the fog coming in, especially from the north and down along 270 we'll take a live look at route 355 along 270 as you head in toward the rockville area. here's what it looks like the great seneca highway and route 28 near shady grove. everything fine here. just the wet road conditions. this time we'll head to the south side of town along northbound 95 coming across the occoquan river. 66 coming in from manassas you'll be okay. a live look at springfield on the northbound side of 95. it looks like the volumes are on the increase here. both of the main and hov lanes heading for the beltway. coming up in my next report, we will go into maryland. back to you. 5:30 now. this afternoon maryland governor martin o'malley is scheduled to sign the same-sex marriage bill into law. >> it is in annapolis. this year the statehouse passed the bill by a narrow margin after defeating similar legislation last year. this will not take effect until

next january 1 and would make maryland the eighth state to legalize same-sex marriage. the delay from october to january gives opponents more time to try to put a statewide referendum against same-sex marriage on the november ballot. virginia children who are home schooled can miss out on opportunities when it comes to playing team sports. but that could be changing under a new law nicknamed after the denver broncos quarterback tim tebow. reporter delia goncalves is live in our newsroom. she has more on that to explain it. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. later this morning there is a very critical vote in the general assembly on this issue. if this bill passes a subcommittee on education later today, then it goes to the full senate. if it does not pass, then this bill and this issue is essentially dead for this year. the bill's sponsor has gone on the record saying since home school parents pay taxes, their children should be afforded the right to play in high school sports. but the virginia high school

league argued that point adding home schoolchildren could take spots away from the public school players. also critics claim the nearly 13 requirements public school students must have in order to play cannot be met by home schoolers. 13-year-old campbell has been a star player and testified for the bill. his mom says the only equal qualifications they don't meet are the ones that require public school tanned deans -- attendance. >> they're definitely held to a higher stfd having to have two years of experience. >> i've been playing with my friends for years and i think i would have a better chance to be scouted if i was on a high school team. >> the virginia high school league says parents of home schooled children have voluntarily chosen not to participate in the free public school education system in order to educate their children at home and making this choice

these parents have also chosen to forego the privileges incidental to a public education. and the former school superintendent is on the record saying, quote, as for priorities, home school families should fight first for access to algebra and chemistry, not football and soccer. the general assembly should, quote, take a knee on this one. of course that is a direct quote referencing tim tebow who has been known to take a knee and pray on the sidelines after the game. coming up in a half-hour, we'll have more on this debate, this contentious debate. what the critics say and what the opponents are rebutting coming up in my next report in a half-hour. back to you. >> sounds good, delia. we'll see you then. on capitol hill the house has approved a bill that would difference the district of columbia more flexible scheduling special elections. d.c. delegate eleanor holmes norton introduced the bill. it was prompted by the upcoming may 15 special election to replace former councilman harry

thomas, jr. d.c. will spend more money to hold the election because the current timing -- the rules for the current timing prohibit this race from being added on to d.c.'s presidential primary ballot next month. in campaign 2012, mitt romney cannot rest on his two primary wins tuesday night. that is because super tuesday comes next week and with the 419 convention delegates at stake, all the republican candidates are scrambling to try to get their message heard. >> that is the key building block that we have to have to move forward in the presidential campaign. >> as much as i would like to do something, i think it's going to self-destruct anyway when the money is gone. >> i'm running because i want to return the power that's gone to washington back to the american people. >> we've got work to do. i need year votes. i -- i need your votes. >> virginia is one of the ten states holding presidential primaries on super tuesday. only mitt romney and ron paul

are on the ballot. in 2008 virginia voted for president obama. the time right now 5:34. 5:35. i'm watching your money. scores of birth control pills are being crawled. -- being recalled. some are the pills are not in the proper sequence. if taken out of order, they may not work potentially leading to an unplanned pregnancy. pfizer announced a similar recall last month. you feel the pain of skyrocketing prices at pump and grocery store? that means we're all looking for more ways to save. while online couponing has been around for a while, higher prices are attracting new interests. here are some ways for coupon new byes -- knew byes to maximize the experience. experts from money talk news say first print the coupons asap, even if you don't plan to use them right away. they could be pulled down at

any time. next, take advantage of face book offers. in most cases, you have to like the product or the company's face book page and print the coupon. if you don't want the clutter of another feed, unlike the company after you print. finally, don't underestimate comparison shopping just because you have a coupon doesn't mean it is the cheapest way to buy an item. sometimes the generic version is still cheaper and just as good. here's something to keep in mind. don't forget to use the coupons. how often does this happen. we hear people say they have the coupons but forget about them in the checkout lane. >> good advice. those coupons can be sneaky because sometimes you can get a better price, even without them. so dollars and cents. later this morning, we're going to learn more about the national cherry blossom festival this year. we know this year's festival will last five weeks because the centennial celebration of japan's gift of the trees to washington. the festival dates are listed as march 20 through april 27.

however, the national park service is going to release its peak bloom prediction later this morning. because of the really mild winter we've had, this year's peak could actually happen just as the festival gets under way. >> i'm really excited. need a bargain? i've got your daily deals coming up. plus, he's only been training for a couple of months but a rockville high school student is making it look pretty easy in front ever the camera, even -- of the camera even though he's deaf.

we're in the 50s. a little bit of a breeze and the birds and critters are making noise so you know spring is here. meteorological spring began at midnight. we have patchy dense fog in spots. some areas so thick in herndon, you can't see across the street. sunny today.

low to mid-60s this afternoon if not near 70 in a few spots and the winds could gust near 0 miles an hour. right now monika with time saver traffic. maryland state police are investigating reports of an accident on the inner loop of the beltway right near old georgetown road out of this camera shot. i'll keep you posted on the situation in the bethesda- rockville area coming up in my next report at 5:49. daily deals time. we're saving you money. here's what we found after combing through the deal sites. in the market for a new stove or reridge frightor? -- refrigerator? check out sears. it's taking up to 25% off all kenmore appliances. a 7.3 cubic foot electric dryer normally $940.99 on sale for $752.79. sears is giving 10% off all other brands. this deal ends saturday. eversave.com offering a premium

vineyard wine tour. it will cost you $18. you get to taste six wines and a full glass of your favorite. there's also complimentary bread and cheese. the tour usually goes for 50 bucks and you're getting it for 64% off. finally a million dollar smile at lasting looks is offering a 30-minute laser teeth whitening session and a smiling white teeth whitening pen. that's 49 bucks. they're giving you 80% off. if you're a local merchant with a deal for our viewers, i would love to hear from you on facebook. well, i may have found someone to fill in on my next vacation. his name? kyl morris and he's a junior at rockville high school. he's one of the anchors at the student tv channel that broadcasts the school announcements. he signs his portion of the newscast because he's deaf. through an interpreter kyl told

us he wanted to take a broadcasting course after a project in a different class where he had to do a presentation on current events. >> i wanted to talk to the audience, make them laugh, be funny, have them pay attention to me and respect me. so i noticed that was a skill i had and something that i wanted to do so getting into this class was like breaking a barrier. >> very cool. he admits he was nervous the first time when he got in front of the camera but now he's pretty comfortable. he just started anchoring at the beginning of the year. great job. >> good for him. that's a great story. today tornado sirens could be sounding for a second straight day in the middle of the country. that story is coming up. plus, after controversy and some concessions from the white house, today there's a vote on capitol hill over president obama's policy for contraceptive coverage. let's see who's celebrating a birthday today. singer harry belmonte is 85.

if it's your birthday, happy birthday you to. we'll be rightback. we believe keeping kids healthy can start with healthy hands.

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. weather first and i'm loving howard bernstein's tie. >> a nice gift from my wife several years ago. blue skies and fair weather clouds. it's going to turn out to be a sunny day. we have patchy dense fog in spots thanks to all the rain we had yesterday. some spots an inch, inch and a half, even to inches. it was pouring and loud. boy, was it loud. this morning the fog is a bigger problem. we talked about the bus stop forecast, patchy dense fog. out on the weather terrace it was rather mild. i could see a few stars so a

lot of vairmt out there -- variability out there. temperatures range from the low 40s north to the low 60s well south down towards fredricksburg. so a big range out there. the day planner, we will have sunshine and breezy to windy conditions today. temperatures climbing back to the mid-60s toward lunch time. low to mid-60s. we might get to 70 if the wind direction just works out depending on how much we cool off this morning. either way it is going to be a mild and breezy day. some of the winds could gust toward 30 miles an hour. by 5:00 winds are going to start to turn northwest. cooler air is moving in tonight. we'll down to the 30s to 40 by tomorrow morning. this morning visibility is an issue with a dense fog advisory for the east and west virginia panhandle and north for frederick and caroll counties and washington counties till 8:00 a.m. you see the visibilities in gaithersburg down a half mile. leesburg a quarter mile. not in the advisory but watch out there. watch out also quantico to andrews. we've got visibilities here less than a mile and things elsewhere, especially south of town are far better because it's warmer.

so we don't have that cold-warm combination. the cold air at the surface is like a cold glass in the summertime with the moisture condenses on the outside. well, we goat the -- we get the fog. fredricksburg is 60. when we look outside on our michael & son weather camera, the capitol, if you were with me during the 4:30 half-hour, we could see the capitol clearly. we've had some fog move in off the potomac. the rivers are cooler so that's helping to force some of that fog to form. 52. even though they reported clear skies, it is foggy with the dew point the same as the temp. humidity at a hundred percent and light winds. storm system out west will give us rain tomorrow night into saturday. yesterday's storm still producing rain in western new york and heavy snows east of new york through new england. some areas of new hampshire could see a foot of snow from this while this is sweeping away from us, behind it the winds are going to kick. that's why we think we'll get the gusts to 30 miles an hour

but we'll get the sunshine and late tomorrow we'll see the clouds increase. we may get through the day without the rain till after dark. 67 today. some spots south could touch 70. tonight we're down to around 40 in washington. 30s north and west with a northwest wind about 5 to 10. tomorrow upper 50s to near 60. showers more likely at night. overnight for the first half of saturday. i kept saturday afternoon out of the rain. i'm going to be optimistic that this stuff clears toward midday. by sunday cooler, 48. maybe a flurry or two sunday night into monday morning. cold on monday, 44. but by wednesday we're back to 60. spring is springing. march 1, meteorological spring began at midnight. >> spring has sprung. >> spring has sprung. we like that. a couple of things have sprung up around town. how do you like take for a segue, howard? if you're planning to head around the beltway, things are not too bad around town. on the north side there had been an accident. they were looking for it on both the inner and outer loop of the belt ware.

we'll take a look live on the outer loop you'll find delays right after colesville road closer to connecticut avenue. i believe the accident is now on the shoulder there. you should be okay heading through silver spring and toward 270. we'll take a live look now -- actually, back to the maps. on the inbound side of 66 no problems yet out of manassas and centreville. no problems across the american legion bridge. dulles toll road looks good from leaseburg. the northbound side of i-95 initial delays right here at the prince william parkway to route 1. newington to springfield. an accident on furnace road over at lorton road as well. coming up in my next report, another look around the area at 6:00. back to you. at least 12 people are dead after violent storms in the country's midsection. with search and rescue operations still under way in some places. >> severe storms spawned more than two dozen tornadoes yesterday from kansas to tennessee and more unsettled weather is still in the

forecast for today. >> reporter: emergency crews used flashlights to search for anyone trapped after a possible tornado tore through cumberland county, tennessee. the storm hit just before dark wednesdayage damaged more than 50 homes. >> we got a backhoe to go down an old highway over here, clear it out to get the ambulance in to the people that was injured. >> reporter: more than 27 tornadoes ripped across the midwest and south wednesday. a twister with winds up to 170 miles per hour devastated harrisburg, illinois. >> it was like a growling. it was the loudest growling that i've ever heard. it was like -- it sent a death chill up my spine. >> reporter: the tornado leveled neighborhoods and left a path of destruction 200 yards wide. >> a cabinet fell over on top of me and picked me and the cabinet both up and took us about 50 feet through there. >> reporter: president obama directly called illinois governor pat quinn to get an update on his home state.

the white house is monitoring the situation in communities under states of emergency including harrisburg and branson, missouri. crews are already fixing up some of the music theaters badly damaged in branson. a tornado marched down the main street of this country music resort town. danny strictland's tour bus was picked up and thrown across the road. >> a driver, a friend of mine was still in the back. they had to pull him out. >> reporter: branson's tour season hits its peek later this month. -- peak later this month. they say it won't ruin the economy. making news now at 5:52, this morning students who attend ohio's chardon high school will return to the site of monday's shooting that killed three classmates. students, parents and staff plan to walk to the cafeteria table where student t.j. lane is accused of opening fire. the school will hold counseling before classes resume tomorrow.

the opposition in the city of homs say troops loyal to the president assad are now gathering outside the city for a ground invague. the united nations envoy to syria is calling for an immediate stop to the killing. today the senate is set to cast the first vote on president obama's birth control policy. the white house plan mandates that health insurers or employers cover the cost of contraceptives. republicans want to allow insurers and employees to opt out of any part of the president's health care law which they object on moral or religious grounds. 5:53. time for another look at the question of the day. here it is. according to a new survey, this is the number one food women crave when they're pregnant. what do you think it is? a, peanut butter, b, ice cream or c, pickles. >> nicky writes none of the above. she says it was baked goods and mexican was my first and fruit

with my second. that's healthier. keep the guesses coming. we're going to reveal the answer in about an hour. today virginia lawmakers are expected to vote on the so- called tim tebow law. more on that storying up. we'll preview a romantic comedy coming to theaters this month that co-stars thousands of fish. that bag? houston? well, welcome to savingsville. did you pay $25 for that bag fee? yeah. you did? with all the money i saved on progressive car insurance, i'll take care of that bag fee. woman: you're so kind! thank you! you guys just landed in savingsville. [laughs] yes, we did! you made my day. do you want to pay our college tuition, too?

a very good thursday morning. some dense fog in spots. that may slow you down a bit. other than that grab the

sunglasses and maybe leave the jacket at home. temperatures by 9:00 well up in the 50s, even some low 60s south. by noon we're in the low 60s. one thing today, you're going to need maybe a wind breaker. winds could be gusting near 30 miles an hour as the high temperatures get into the mid, even upper 60s. would not be surprised if south of town even we get toward the 70 degree mark. then we have a little bit of a cooldown for friday. it's sort of an unusual twist on a romantic comedy. kind of funny. it's coming out in limited release next week. it stars two well known actors from the u.k. and thousands of fish. we have a peek. >> reporter: in the movie salmon fishing in the yemen. when a sheik tries to hire him,

he reluctantly accepts. >> we need to trap 10,000 salmon, get them to the dry season when they will all die. >> reporter: the project brings unexpected friendship and love. >> i like the complexity of it. i think if it had been a straightforward romantic comedy, i might not have been interested in being in it. >> reporter: emily blunt's character works for the sheik who is willing to pay millions to bring fly fishing to the middle east. the character learns less about fish and more about faith. >> a wakening happens in him. a love is allowed in for the first time and he falls in love. it's interesting to watch that. >> reporter: mcgregor faced some challenges while preparing for the role. for starters he's no wrangler. >> we practiced a lot in car parks, on the side of the road, a river. it's something you don't -- to learn to do the actual motion, you don't have to be on a

river. >> reporter: he hopes the movie inspires audiences to reach for their dreams no matter how impossible they seem. >> you are watching 9 news now at 6:00 a.m. i'm jessica doyle. andrea roane is off today. we're watching too because we're here. how you doing? happy thursday. i'm mike hydeck. you ever try fly fish something. >> no. i heard it's hard. >> it takes a lot of practice. could be fly fishing on some of the places on the road i drove this morning. those collection areas, it's like 5, 6 feet of water in those. >> there could be some puddles that you might not expect them to be there but the rain is gone. it will be gone till maybe tomorrow evening. we'll see sunshine. once we get rid of some of the patchy dense fog in spots and a breezy day as temperatures climb up toward the low 60s later this morning. mid to even upper 60s for highs today with the winds out of