. good afternoon. i'm jessica doyle. jc hayward has the day off. cherry blossom is coming. the forecast is between march 24 and the 31st.

the mild winter means the bloom is a bit earlier than normal but is not a record. also this year's festival will last for five weeks instead of two weeks as in previous years. and the annual cherry blossom parade will feature maries on monday and -- osmond and skater christie yamagucchi but the festival others is always about those blossoms. >> when you do the math, it comes around the 24th to the 3 1st. if we go into bloom and stays cool, we might get the 18, 17 days we had a bunch of years ago. but if it gets hot, maybe 7 to 10 days. >> for comparison purposes, peak bloom in the last three years have been march 29, march 31 and april 1. today's weather certainly won't hurt the budding process. meteorologist howard bernstein

is out there. a really beautiful day today, howard. >> we've already got 70-degree readings southwest of town. we're not that far behind right now. a beautiful taste of spring here on the first of march. let's just talk about this winter and one of the reasons why those blooms are going to come up so early. i gathered some statistics for you. i want to go to the weather graphics. 18 of the 29 days in february we hit 50 degrees or more. so that's really warm. in fact, when you look at the numbers, this was one of the warmest februaries we've had. in fact, it was the fourth warmest february. if you go back to december, january, what we call meteorological winter, it was the third warmest. i'm a snow lover. this has been depressing. only two inches the whole winter. i know some of you out there are saying this has been a great winter. i appreciate that perspective as well. today we're looking at plenty of sunshine, brirve westerly -- brisk westerly winds but see the clouds here? making a big difference in

temperatures. mid-50s north. 72 in richmond. 70 fredricksburg and culpeper and we're sitting at 68. we'll get warmer before the afternoon is out. when i come back in a few minutes, we'll talk about the upcoming weekend. there's more rain and a cooldown as well. back to you. >> thank you, howard. in five hours maryland will become the eighth state in the nation to recognize same-sex marriage. governor martin o'malley is scheduled to sign the bill at 5:00 tonight. terms of the bill stipulate that same-sex ceremonies cannot be performed till next january. that gives opponents enough time to mount a referendum effort. they are expected to collect more than 50,000 signatures needed to put the issue on the november ballot. across the potomac, a key virginia state senate committee took up the so-called tebow bill today. it's the measure named after n.f.l. quarterback tim tebow that would allow home schooled children to play on public schools sports team. delia goncalves has more. >> reporter: this mother has been home schooling her

children for 12 years now but she feels there is something the public schools can offer her kids that she can't at their how down county home. >> we're not asking them to automatically give us a spot on the team. we're asking for a chance to try out. >> reporter: parents of home schooled children have voluntarily chosen not to participate in the free public education according to one person in order to educate their children at home. in making this choice, these parents have also chosen to forego the privileges incidental to a public education. >> i've been playing sports with my public school friends for years and want the chance to keep playing with them. i also think i would have a better chance to be scouted if i was in a high school team. >> reporter: star athlete testified for the bill. home schooled children only have meet six of the 12 requirements in order to play, this mom says that's not true. the only requirement they don't

meet are the ones called for school attendance. >> they're definitely held in a higher standard in terms of having to have two years worth of experience and academic progress. in the high school situation they only need a semester of academic process. >> reporter: delia goncalves, 9news now. a short time ago the committee defeated the bill by a vote of 8-7. the same committee also vetoed a bill that would have allowed virginia schools to start before labor day. two more american troops were killed today in afghanistan. they died in an attack believed to be tied over burning of the occur ran. -- quran. conservative blogger and activist andrew breibart died unexpectedly overnight. his investigations led to the resignation of former congressman anthony wiener among others. his website big jornallist --

bigjournallist.com said he died of natural causes. he was 43 years old. a show of solidarity in chardon, ohio. students returned to class enmass. this is the first day of school since a shooter killed three students and wounded two others on monday. prosecutors are expected to formally file aggravated murder charges against suspect t.j. lane sometime today. they want to try him as an adult. some scary moments in charles county this morning. david middle school and north point high school were on lockdown while police handled a barricade situation about a half a mile away from those schools. within the last 30 minutes we learned the suspect was taken into custody and the lockdown at those schools was lifted. on capitol hill, president obama's health care law just took center stage in the senate. republicans were trying to overturn the part of the measure that would have allowed employers and insurers to opt out of requirements which violate their moral or religious beliefs. but less than ten minutes ago the measure was defeated.

randall pinkston has details. >> reporter: senators started their day debating legislation that knocked down the president's policy on birth control coverage. it is an amendment that left insurers and employers opt out of any requirement they object to on moral or religious grounds. >> it will allow any employer or insurer to deny coverage for virtually any treatment for virtually any reason. >> it's about americans being able to live out their faith without the government choosing which doctrines they're allowed to follow. >> reporter: this debate comes on the heels of a battle over birth control and whether employers with their religious affiliation must cover the cost of contraceptives when their beliefs forbid using them. the requirement is laid out in the president's health care reform law. a few weeks ago he reworked the policy so insurers pick up the cost of coverage if religious employers object. republicans argue their legislation is aimed at protecting first amendment rights. democrats call the g.o.p.

proposal an outright attack on women's rights. >> decisions about health care, especially personal decisions like contraceptive use should be made between a woman, her family, and her doctor. it should not be made by the government. >> reporter: democrats are expected to keep making that argument as they fight to hang on to support from women and independent vote thers election year. randall pinkston, cbs news, washington. >> once again that amendment was defeated about ten minutes ago. whether we come back, third graders solving matt problems involving ter -- math problems involving terrorists and cannibals? it's happening in our area. we'll show you some home video from on board that cruise ship that was stranded in the middle of the indian ocean.

today is the day google's new privacy policy kicks in. here's what you need to know. this policy puts all the data google collects about you across all of its various services and companies in one place. that includes everything you do when you're logged in across google, gmail youtube and many other sites. we're now hearing stories from passengers who were on a cruise ship stranded in the indian ocean. the costa allaying gra --

allegra was towed in after it lost power at sea. many people slept on deck because it was so hot in their rooms. as for food they ate cold cuts and fruit. passengers were given the option of flying straight home or spend a few days in a hotel in the seychelles. costa allegra also operates the ship costa concordia that killed 25 people. students were asked to solve math problems featuring animal mutilation and terrorist training camps. it happened at the trinidad center city charter school in northwest washington. here's peggy fox' story you saw only on 9. >> reporter: the blood thirsty aliens then sucked blood of 828 teachers and left them for dead. >> shocking. >> reporter: parents are shocked over these math problems that were sent home with third graders at the trinidad center city public

charter school. here's one about cooking african-americans, americans and indians. >> she put the people equallily into nine enormous ovens to bake. how many desperate people were in each oven. >> it's the holocaust. it's too horrific to think about that this is the kind of learning tool we're giving to children. >> reporter: the math problems came from the home schooling paradise website under third grade multiplication and division. but many of the questions seem to come from violent video games. >> i look at everything that he brings home and that wouldn't work for me. he wouldn't even -- it would probably be put in the trash and i would bring it to the administrators, the steepers, the principal -- the teachers, the principals. >> reporter: a boy named john swallows 585 marbles and died. only nine friend comes for his -- came to his -- friend comes to his funeral. >> she's a minister and if she

does this, she had to follow the curriculum. who makes the curriculum? number two, i taught third grade for four years. when i was teaching, nothing like this was there. >> reporter: peggy fox, 9news now. >> center city issued a statement saying it was looking into the matter. we hope to have an update on this story tonight at 5:00. when we come back, the 20 minutes that may have saved dozens of lives in the midwest and howard is back with a forecast. it's really nice out here but we've got another system which will likely bring us some rain as we head toward the weekend. want to take you to break with a look at the allergy update. the rain has knocked down the tree pollen but mold spores like it when it's wet. they're now in the high category. i'll have the seven-day forecast when we return and it's petline thursday. don't go anywhere.

across the midwest, people are picking up the pieces following a series of devastating tornadoes. at least 12 people died over a 24-hour period. homes, businesses, tourist attractions destroyed. one hospital says it had a 20- minute warning, enough time to move patients and save lives. check out the scene in new england this morning. while we of course enjoy spring- like conditions, they're getting snow and a lot of it. some could see up to a foot of snow today. howard, wow. we're lucky. >> maine, new hampshire, you

can go skiing there but around here, spring has sprung. it's really, really nice out there. one of the neat things about the tornado warnings that they got, they just installed this dual polarization radar in that part of the world. we just got that upgrade about the 24th of february. this spring season any storms headed our way, us here and the national weather service, we have beret dares to detect -- better radars to detect this stuff. this weather should reassure you that spring is here. it's march 1. we're off to the races. it's a great day out there. temperatures are headed towards 70 this afternoon in d.c. maybe some low 70s locally. mid-70s south of town. but north of town, you get up toward maryland, pennsylvania border, you guys are going to make the low to mid-60s at best. more clouds up there. we'll start to see temperatures drop off as we head toward the afternoon hours. some cooler air works its way in and the winds are also going to be a factor. we could get gusts toward the 30 mile an hour range. it's still pretty darn nice when you consider the average high is 51. those winds are gusting to 25

in washington but 35, 36 here in cumberland. we've got other areas gusting 20 to 25, even down in fredricksburg where right now it is a warm 71 degrees. look at the difference north. there is some cloud cover toward the pennsylvania border so hagerstown is 55. martinburg 5. mid-50s from easton to cambridge. 69 at the pax river naval station. la plata, manassas at 66. a fine thursday afternoon. looking outside on our michael & son weather camera, a couple of fair weather clouds out there. mostly sunny, 68 and dry. the humidity is 32%. despite the gusts winds west, northwest at 10 miles an hour. talking about a lot of weather out west. could be a severe weather outbreak, another one tomorrow. of course the ohio and ten -- across the ohio and tennessee valleys. the snow flying across new york state, new england into maine. winter not dead there but you can almost put a fork in it for

us except sunday night. may get a few flurries in here. to the south we've got the clear skies. we're going to stay with the sunshine today and tonight the clear skies. tomorrow clouds will increase late in the day. here we are at 11:00 and i'll advance it to 6:00 p.m. we may have some showers in by then. tomorrow night into saturday morning, that is when the showers and storms come through so that by saturday afternoon, i think we're looking at a northwesterly push. drier air moves in. mild saturday. cool other sunday. as we look at the forecast, temperatures today 70-ish, give or take a few degrees. tonight down to about 35 in the suburbs, 40 in town. 59 tomorrow with a chance for a late shower so a cooler day. mild on saturday with the showers and storms mainly in the morning, 64. sunday we're cooling off to 48 degrees. as we head towards monday, chilly and sunday night could even be a few flurries. i know, it's march. we have these big swings.

by wednesday we are back to 60 degrees. outside on this gorgeous day, we have a couple of sweet puppies. christie is joining me from the adoption center. tell me about these guys. >> this is babs and that's bessy. they're going to be three months old on march 4. they are pekingese-llaso apso mix and they are available for adoption. >> how big are these guys going to get? >> they're going to be small dogs. >> 20 pounds, 30 pounds? >> up to ten pounds. >> my dog is 25 -- up to 20 pounds. >> my dog is 25 pounds, very manageable. their demeanor? i have no knowledge of this breed. >> pekingese and llaso apso will be playful dogs. usually they like to be bossy and they're like having a little general in the house. if you train them well and play with them, they usually do fine. >> you brought two puppies in. you have a lot of puppies

coming in now. >> yes, we do. we'll have more available at the center and so that's what we wanted to raise some awareness of that we are coming into puppy and kitten season right around the corner. >> getting a puppy now, you could work with them, train them, just have a great pet for many, many years. how can people contact you? >> they can go to our website or call us at the center at 304- -- [ inaudible ] >> or you can go to our website wusa9.com and go to the petline section.

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what a great way to get ready for spring. a local restaurant has a special festival coming up. right now omar rodriguez is here. he's head chef of the restaurant in penn quarter. what are you making? >> it's a traditional mexican dish that mexicans make in their household. and we have a squash from mexico. you can find it in the grocery stores here now. >> like a whole foods and look for something that looks like this guy right here in the front. >> you can find it at whole foods. we're putting in cauliflower, green swisschard, all things you can find in yours grocery

store. >> this is a vegetarian option. >> excellent vegetarian option, vegan option. it has garlic, onions, a simple sauce to make. you roast everything, puree it and you're done. >> this smells fantastic. let me ask you about the festival you have coming up. this is march 5 through the 8th. >> the 18th. >> the 18th, okay. >> the second week we're celebrating tequila. we'll also in that time be doing tastings. we have various distillers coming in. >> i'm stepping back because there's lots of popping going on. >> they'll be doing tastings of their products and we'll be doing special dinners that people can buy tickets to. you can come in and we'll do pairings with both cocktails

anded food. the distillers will be there to talk to folks as well. >> for people who aren't maybe tequila people, there will be options as well with pairings or go for the tequila. >> you have to kind of go for it. we're celebrating a traditional thing for mexicans. they're proud of that i want to put that in the front. that's why all the foods inspired by those beverages. i'm putting tequila in this dish. >> the fragrance that just came off of that is amazing. for folks who are unfamiliar with this, what kind of cuisine? >> traditional mexican. we do small plates. we do something similar to spanish tapas. definitely have to stop by and tie all the beverages that we have. >> i know whaim' going to have for -- what i'm going to have for lunch. i have this ready. thank you so much for coming in. what are the dates for the fess val? >> runs from the 5th to the 18th of march. >> i plan on coming to visit

you. thank you so much. >> thank you. that's it for 9news now at noon. of course our next newscast comes to you at 5:00 p.m. you can check us out 24 hours a day on wusa9.com. everybody, enjoy the weather and have a fantastic day.