voted for it. as soon as the ceremony begins, we'll bring it to you live. for now let's go back to the studio. >> thank you so much, matt. we will bring you that bill signing live when it happens and if you want to watch the ceremony in its entirety, we are streaming it live on our website www.wusa9.com. tonight reaction to a story grouse saw only on 9, violent im-- you saw only on 9, violent images being used to teach 3rd graders at a d.c. charter school. we've gotten tons of comments in support of and against the teacher who assigned the controversial homework. for example, joan writes what is this teacher thinking and mike says whatever works to get the kids to learn is good in my book. however, tonight 9 news now has learned the teacher who assigned these math problems which we'll talk about was fired. peggy fox talked with the ceo of the center city public charter school today. i was a little blown away i have to say when we saw the content of these. >> exactly.

most people are. these are the math problems that were sent home with 8-year- olds. some of the problems deal with killings, shootings, even cooking africans in ovens. the ceo of city center charter school says sending these home with children is an unforgivable mistake. >> absolutely distressed. >> reporter: dr. bevel wheeler, the ceo of -- beverly wheeler, the ceo of center city charter schools fired the teacher who sent these math problems home with children. >> he killed 163 terrorists, 296 murderers and 206 arsonists. how many criminals did he kill on average each day? it's a killing image. it's a horrific image. >> reporter: the stories deal with fantastically morbid and violent topics. here a tiger catches africans, americans and indians and cooks them in ovens. >> it doesn't follow anything that we do. we're of character, excellence

in service and i found them to be violent and racist. >> reporter: wheeler said instead of using the resources provided in the school for the mandated 20 homework probables on monday, the 3rd grade teacher -- problems on monday, the 3rd grade teacher downloaded them off the homeschoolingparadise.com website. >> the teacher had gone online, was trying to do homework problems and independently just sent them out, just incredibly bad judgment. >> reporter: several parents insist that the teacher who they say is a minister would never have sent home those problems unless someone made her do it. >> we were told that the teacher didn't want to give these problems to the students to take home and was ordered to do. so. >> that's not true. >> reporter: is it a mistake worthy of being fired do you think? do you think that it's bad? >> we think it's that bad. even if you were told that that's what you were supposed to send home, if you know it's wrong, you will not send it home. >> so who would write these crazy questions? well, a guy named chris murphy is the creator of the home

schooling paradise website and he said he was tired of hearing children say that math was their least favorite subject. so he wanted to create these problems that were free to teachers, parents and students all over the world and he wanted to make them exciting so kids would get into math and love it. >> but there's a difference between exciting and shock value, inappropriate. we go down the line. >> well, there are a lot of other problems on the site that decent have to deal with killings, have a lot of kind of grewsome imagery, bugs and things -- gruesome imagery, bugs and things like that and there are a lot of positive comments on the website, but there is a negative comment specifically about this and how parent felt they were inappropriate and he said well, too bad. i think this is more important getting the kids excited about math. so you don't have to go to the website. >> obviously a teacher here paid the price. peggy fox, thanks for getting to the bottom of it. we want to take you live to annapolis where the maryland governor martin o'malley is about to sign the bill legalizing same sex marriage in maryland. we are still awaiting that

event. as you can see, the crowd has gathered and there is a lot of anticipation for something that will be historic in the state of maryland. we've been telling you all afternoon that maryland will become the eighth state in the union to legalize gay marriage. let me tell you what the other seven are, massachusetts, connecticut, iowa, vermont, new hampshire, new york, washington and the district of columbia. those are the places where gay people can get married, same sex partners can get married even as we speak today. i should also note for you, though, 30 states have constitutional amendments banning same sex marriage. so obviously it's still quite controversial and even in the state of maryland which is liberal and has watched its state lawmakers vote to approve gay marriage, there's likely to be a referendum where voters will have their say. we understand now that we're moving on to the school shooting in ohio. a 17-year-old is now charged with three juvenile counts of aggravated murder in a school shooting that killed three fellow students and

wounded two others. t.j. lane is accused of opening fire monday in the cafeteria at chardon high school. he is planned to be tried as an adult which could mean life in prison if he's found guilty. within the last hour the coach who witnesses say put his own body directly at risk and drove lane out of the cafeteria spoke out for the first time. >> i don't know why this happened. i only wish i could have done more. i'm not a hero, just a football coach and study hall teacher. the law enforcement, first responders that came to our aid that day, they are the heros. >> earlier today hundreds of tearful students and their parents walking hand in hand across the streets and across the miles made a march back to school in honor of the victims. the students are scheduled to be back in class tomorrow.

tonight police in leesburg are singing the praises of an area middle school student whose actions may have prevented a violent attack at a school out there. they say a simpson middle school student told his parents that a fellow student was considering some sort of act of violence. they called the police and the police immediately started an investigation. the cops tell us the threats were made verbally and through the social media. >> the child who first noticed the questionable post on the social media site, for him to step up and have the courage to do that and to say something instead of just blowing it off or dismissing it allowed us to get into the investigation early enough. >> officers say the student in question was in need of psychiatric help. that child was taken for a mental health evaluation after investigators contacted his parents. right now in annapolis the bill signing ceremony, well, it hasn't quite started yet, but when it does, it will make maryland the eighth state in the country to legalize gay

marriage and again that is the statehouse in maryland in annapolis where we await governor martin o'malley who is supposed to step down those stairs, sit down and begin the signing ceremony. we also understand before he signs the bill he will speak and we'll bring that to you live when it happens. a neat it a? >> reporter: i'm on the -- anita? >> reporter: i'm on the weather terrace and many people have worried this extra warm weather could cause our cherry blossoms to bloom early before the festival. today the national park service announced their annual blooming forecast and kristin fisher joins us from the tidal basin with predictions on peak bloom. >> reporter: the cherry blossoms will be blooming early but not too early. the best weekend will be the last weekend in march to see them and that's about a week earlier than average, but you can see why. i'm not going to touch them, all right? but you can already see that the green is starting to peek out of the buds. >> there's been a lot of

speculation about the warm weather and that speculation is crescent. >> reporter: rob defayo has been predicting the cherry blossoms' peak bloom the last 23 years. >> i've been right 16 time. >> reporter: with that kind of record people pay close attention to his annual forecast. >> got to be sometime between march 24th and march 31st. >> reporter: it's the first time in his entire career ha his peak bloom -- that his peak bloom career hasn't gone into april. many people came here today thinking the blossoms might already be out it's so springlike. >> we came out here hoping we might find some. we work in kazakhstan and it's minus 20 degrees there today. so we're taking full advantage of the gorgeous weather. >> we traveled into the city and we did see some flowering trees, so we thought well maybe the cherry blossoms might be

starting to come out a little bit, but i guess they're not quite there yet. >> reporter: but in just three weeks they will be and this year marks 100 years since the first planting of the japanese cherry trees on the tidal basin. >> who would have thought 1912 would have happened, a gift of friendship would have endured such things as pearl harbor and hiroshima and we're still enduring that friendship today. didn't understand the significance of the gift of friendship when i took this job 20 years ago, but die get it now. i really -- i do get it now. i really do. >> reporter: pretty amazing to think that there are still about 100 cherry blossom trees around the tidal basin from that original 1912 shipment. now since this is the centennial the festival is expanding the dates. it's not just two weeks like normal. it's now six weeks long. so without a doubt these trees are going to be blooming at some point during the festival.

the only danger is that the blooms could be so -- they could be blooming so early that the blooms are gone for the last few weeks of the festival. >> well, it is spectacular. >> reporter: i'm basking in the sunshine here just for a little bit the 1st day of march. >> reporter: even if they do month. early, they can sometimes last for 17 days and the main enemy is wind. so it's possible that things could work out in terms of blossoms and when the festival is. the estimate as kristen said the 24th to the 31st. now average is early april the 4th to the 5th. when we say peak bloom, we mean 50 to 70%. the earliest ever is march 15th. so that was back in 1990. the latest is april 18th set back in 1958. my hunch is we'll be closer to the 24th and maybe even a little bit earlier because there's just no cold air in sight right now after we get through sunday and monday. temperatures, 64 downtown, 57 in gaithersburg, 63 in manassas and we are also looking at 59

in leesburg. it's cold on the other side of mountains. for everybody else warm, still 73 in fredericksburg. tonight clear to partly cloudy, colder, grab a coat if you're headed out. i know that seems counterintuitive because it was 70 today, one blanket night, 36 to about 44. we'll come back and talk about rain, thunderstorms and snowflakes. we got them all in the seven- day. one of the hottest tickets in town for spring, the online lottery opened for this year's white house easter egg roll this morning. the announcement was made through a video featuring the first dog bo, a commemorative red bo egg featuring the first dog paw print is included in a special collector's egg set. the event takes place monday, april 9th. the easter egg roll lottery closes this sunday march 5th at 10 a.m. you can enter this lottery through the white house website. and we want to go back live now, if we, could to tonight's historic ceremony in annapolis. we see everyone gathering

there, the governor welcoming. let's listen in for a moment. >> the president of the maryland state senate mike miller. [ cheering and applause ] >> to my left is speaker of the house mike bush. [ cheering and applause ] >> and we're joined by so many people here including lieutenant governor anthony brown. [ cheering and applause ] >> attorney general gansler. [ cheering and applause ] >> and so many members of the senate and the house of delegates. i just have a couple of 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 of 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 threat that unites all of our work here together, it is -- if there is a thread that unites all of our work here today, it is the thread of human dignity, the dignity of work, the dignity of a job, the dignity of every child's home, the dignity of every individual. we are one maryland and all of us at the end of the day want the same thing for our children. we want them to live in a loving, caring and committed

home that is protected equally under the law. let's sign the bill. [ cheering and applause ] >> do you want to move these? okay. >> take some of these. >> martin o'malley the governor of maryland, you just heard him, he is prepared to sit down and sign this historic legislation making maryland the eighth state in this country to legalize gay marriage. of course, as we said many times you can't run out and get married tomorrow in maryland even though the bill has been signed. both side expect there will be a referendum on this come november if they can collect the prerick zit signatures. >> in fact, they need 55 -- the prerequisite signatures. >> in fact, they need over

55,000 signatures to put this on the ballot. the penalties are being passed out, the governor flanked by the speaker of the senate and of the house of delegates. >> we watched how this played out last year where everybody expected it would have passed, but then in the house it was held up because some of the black lawmakers and some of the democrats who were expected to support it said my church member constituency does not want this bill, we cannot support it. but you just heard the governor say the bill is signed, but the fight is not over. >> no. by no means. in fact, the catholic church has been a staunch opponent as well as traditionally african american churches in keeping marriage defined as between main and woman. again, this is a motley -- a man and woman. again, this is a hotly contested issue throughout the country. there have been many places including california with referendums where the votes have been overturned and it's expected that will end up at the supreme court. >> here in maryland there will

be i'm sure an extensive and expensive campaign around this referendum as it comes around the presidential election in 2012. it will be fascinating to watch it unfold, but as of now maryland has made some history, the eighth state in the union to legalize gay marriage. >> governor o'malley had told his supporters he would really work to make this happen after that narrow defeat last year and tonight he did address the clergy, talked about religious freedom and the idea of making this about greater human dignity for all people, all families in maryland. >> all right, folks. we will get back to that story because it's not over yet, but we're going to move on right now to outspoken conservative author andrew breitbart who died today. his website said the 43-year- old died unexpectedly of natural causes. now brietbart was known for his criticism of the mainstream media. he was also behind some investigations that led to the resignations of former congress member anthony weiner and

former agriculture official shirley sherrod. brietbart's fans say they'll remember him for exposing government corruption and bias in the media. the u.s. senate voted to keep a controversial obama administration birth control rule in place. this requires health insurers to cover contraception for employees of some religious institutions. the rule is part of president obama's healthcare plan. republicans in congress and catholic church leaders wanted to cancel out of that rule and argued it was a question protecting religious freedom for their institutions. well, today's vote was 51-48 expectedly close. we will take a closer look at these developments on the birth control issue and insurance coverage at 6:00 on 9 news now. a measure to let home schooled kids in virginia play high school sports is dead. a state senate committee rejected the so-called tim tebow bill. it is named after the famed broncos quarterback who was home schooled but played at a florida high school. supporters of the measure say parents of home schooled children pay taxes just like everybody else, so their children should have the chance

to play interscholastic sports. opponents said it would be unfair to let home schoolers play without meeting the same eligibility standards that public school students have to meet. people in the nation's midsection are bracing for yet another round of violent weather. this last system brought at least 27 tornadoes and some of them were deadly. terrell brown is in a place called ridgway, illinois, where a small town has lost a community treasure. >> reporter: the thick brick walls of st. joseph catholic church were no match for the 200-mile an hour winds that roared through ridgway, illinois. >> history in god's hands have took care of it all these years and i guess it was time for it to go. >> reporter: martha spark's father and grandfather helped build st. joseph's and since then it's weathered many storms. told the clean-up crew salvaged the church's three bells and is presented spark with one of the bricks. >> i got a brick from st. jo's

church which i'm going to cherish the rest of my life. >> reporter: church members are determined to rebuild starting with the front door and the marble altar. wednesday's tornado left both of those untouched. forecasters say the ridgway tornado and at least 26 others formed wednesday when cold rocky mountain air collided with warm wet midwestern weather. they stretched from kansas to tennessee and over a period of 24 hours killed at least 12 people and injured hundreds of others. an ef2 tornado hit the country music mecca of branson, missouri. there were no fatalities. it wrecked parts of the town. residents credit the 35 minute warning from a new radar technology called dual polarization that sends out both horizontal and vertical pulses that can pinpoint tornadoes more accurately. >> we're going to know if that's debris and that's a tornado. >> reporter: 44 dual polarization radars are in place nationwide and there will be 116 more by year's end.

residents hope they won't need another warning. more bad weather is expected friday. terrell brown, cbs news, ridgway, illinois. >> man, that is some rough, rough weather. >> we actually have a moderate risk of severe weather tomorrow through kentucky and tennessee again. when they put a moderate risk out two days in advance, that's pretty great. >> didn't they have 154 tornadoes in this last month or something and isn't the average 40? >> the average is 40 or 50. remember they have to be -- sometimes you see a tornado and it's the same tornado. they're going to have to be cut town a little, but still it's probably -- down a little, but still it's probably at least double or triple. >> very active season. >> now we had rain and thunderstorms here yesterday, but check out what the storm did in massachusetts north of boston, wooster. look at that snow, pretty good snow actually. they had 3 to 6 inches and reduced visibility, kind of a heavy wet snow. it snowed into new england in. boston it kind of mixed with rain and snow and back and

forth, but north and west of town it was an old-fashioned snow. it came in like a lion there. it came in like a lamb here. all right. temperatures, here's our live weather camera brought to you by michael and son, still very nice. it's not 70, but it's in the 60s.  64 downtown, dew point 36 pressure recovering 29.74 inches of mercury. i know it was 70 today, put if you're headed out tonight, grab -- but if you're headed out tonight, grab a coat. here's the deal. 18 to 29 days in february we're 50 degrees or warmer. it was the fourth warmest february on record. it was the third warmest december through february, which is what we call meteorological winter surprised of december, january and february, third warmest for us and we talked about this earlier, only 2 inches of snow. that is the third least amount of snow for us and we're talking records going back to

1887 and 1888. mild, then warm then cooler. it's going to make cents in a minute. colder tonight -- sense in a minute. colder tonight, a dry morning commute, cooler and mild friday and wet friday night and also saturday morning. we're going to see thunderstorms here friday night into saturday morning. for tonight clear to partly cloudy and colder, a one blanket night, 36 to 44, winds settling down and become northwesterly at 10. everyone is above freezing tonight, a little bit colder, though, 37 in gaithersburg, 38 rockville, 43 downtown and 38 or 39 toward college park, 38 reston, 36 in manassas and also out toward leesburg. now tomorrow morning partly cloudy, chilly. you'll need a coat, 30s and 40s. winds thankfully light out of the east at 10 and by afternoon increasing cloudiness, cooler, light rain possible late, high temperatures 55 to 60, winds east, southeast at about 10 to 15. the next seven days this will

make the head lines kind of make sense now. tomorrow we're looking at light rain or showers late in the day, 57, so a little bit cooler but still mild and warmer saturday with rain showers and thunderstorms, maybe ending late morning, early afternoon in the mid-60s and then colder sunday and yes, we still center a snowflake in there, looks -- have a snowflake in there, looks like there could be a flurry late sunday or sunday night and then temps go back up by this time next week it. is thursday and we thought we'd send this into you. this is a nice best shot. ely of virginia sent this, the sunlight coming down into the field. it was nicely done and did he all the things you're supposed to. i had to kick out a really good one yesterday. it had no name on it. >> that was nice, composition with the clouds. thanks, top. >> peaceful. >> we'll be back in a minute. ♪

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kaiser says its goal is to double the number of patients it serves in the mid-atlantic region. a man for the university of maryland college park to -- a plan for the university of maryland college park to share resources and combine programs with the university of maryland baltimore has been approved. the school's board of regents okayed the day today. the chancellor says the collaboration will tract new research funding and create jobs in maryland. several months ago the regents rejected a plan for the schools to merge. >> reporter: i'm scott broom in prince george's county where we have new details tonight about yet another alleged speeding incident involving county council member karen toles. when i come back, you'll see what happened when we tried to get her to talk about it again today.

back to breaking news in annapolis where maryland governor martin o'malley just signed the same sex marriage bill. >> we carried that live and now we go to matt jablow who joins us from the statehouse with more reaction. >> reporter: at 5:14 this afternoon governor martin o'malley made history by signing into law a bill making maryland the eighth state in the country plus the district of columbia to legalize same sex marriage. did he so with hundreds of same sex marriage supporters in attendance. two of those are with me now, robin ziger and stacy williams who live in silver spring but got married just about two years ago in d.c., correct, ladies? >> correct. >> reporter: tell me what this day was like for you.

>> unbelievable. i've been in this movement for a long, long time, political activist and it's a very surrealistic day. i guess that's about the only word i can think of. i'm very excited. >> reporter: stacy, did you think this day would ever come? >> didn't, but i'm very glad it did. >> reporter: what do you think it will take to make sure it stays law through november so it passes the referendum, if it is made into a referendum in november? >> i think we'll have to keep doing what we're doing. we have to get out and let people know it's really important that they vote this year. obama is pretty much a shoe-in or at least i think. so so we need to make sure everybody votes and votes for it. >> reporter: robin, why is this important not just for people who are homosexual in maryland but for all marylanders, do you think? >> well, this is a civil rights issue and fairness issue and i think really if you live in a free state, that's just the way it needs to be. >> reporter: do you ladies intend to get married in maryland once the bill becomes law, assuming it does, in

january? >> yes, of course. i can't wait. i'm more excited than i can tell you. >> reporter: tell me for a second if you would about just sorted of the feeling here. i get a bit of a sense of what it's like with hundreds of people looking on, but from your perspective what does it feel like here? >> i actually overheard somebody say it feels probably like what it feels to be at the academy awards. she said the air was so wonderful and a real positive tension, if you'd want to call it that, just a lot of excitement. >> reporter: stacy, i was chatting with a woman next to held as the bill was actually being signed. her knees were getting weak. did you get sort of that feeling yourself? >> i did. i cried. >> reporter: ladies, thank you very much. we appreciate your time and perhaps we'll see you down the road. >> thank you. >> reporter: now back to you in the studio. >> matt jablow live in annapolis, historic day there for sure.

she's not taking anything. >> she's a public official. >> but she's not seeing anyone today. >> now there are new questions tonight about possible special treatment that the cops may have given to a prince george's county council member already under scrutiny for allegations of driving upwards of 100 miles per hour out on the beltway. >> today scott broom reports he's learned she may have got off with another warning last summer after a suspected high speed incident on route 4 near upper marlboro. >> reporter: police are not making an official comment on this, but i have been able to confirm through sources that council member toles had a by star encounter with prince george's county police here on route 4 in upper marlboro last summer when she ran into a special operations division doing a radar speed trap. the team wearing safety vests and holding radar guns spotted a car approaching at extremely high speed, but the driver slammed on the brakes and pulled dramatically to the shoulder before reaching the officers. it was county council member

karen toles who got out of the car and started inspecting it claiming she had a mechanical problem. did she get a ticket? no, she did not because a source says officers never got a rock solid speed reading on radar. the incident is revealed as toles continues to duck media questions about an alleged high speed incident on the beltway near branch avenue february 22nd. a police officer's in-car camera recorded 105 miles per hour while trying to pull her over in a county vehicle. toles got a ticket for unsafe lane change but again only a warning for the speed. because police commanders say the officer involved could not confirm the speed with radar. >> we're going to assess, review. >> reporter: an executive inquiry will be held by police brass and an inspector general to determine whether the council member is getting special treatment. >> she's not taking any questions. >> reporter: like the private security guard she got at

iverson mall wednesday when the media tried to ask her questions. can you at least tell us what happened on the roadway? and today at the county administration building a security officer hoping to shoo us away during an unsuccessful attempt to catch toles outside the building before council business today. >> no loitering. >> reporter: i'm not loitering. i'm here on legitimate business. >> reporter: toles did appear at one public meeting but with media standing by was an abrupt no show for a second meeting. a spokesman communicating by text said that toles will have no further comment. county executive rushern baker told me today that special treatment for public officials should never be tolerated. he said he's confident the police department's inquiry will get to the bottom of this. scott broom, 9 news now. >> toles has issued a written statement apologizing for the february 22nd incident and will voluntarily stop using her county car until she's completed a driver safety class.

democracy, education and improve student access to higher education are just some of the demands of the occupy d.c. student protestors. a few hours ago they gathered at mcpherson square and marched over to sally mae and the department of education to show their demands. the protestors say there are egregious inequalities in our education system. fire department response times should soon be reduced for folks in loudoun county. a groundbreaking was held today for a four bay fire station and shared spaces for operations and is expected to open in the spring of 2013. still ahead on 9news passengers talk about their nightmare at sea after their crippled cruise ship is finally towed back to port. >> what a gorgeous day. high temperature made it to 70 degrees. we'll come back, talk about big changes and when you'll need

your umbrella and we might even see a snowflake. up next caught on tape a tour group gets up close and personal with that grizzly bear. don't forget we're always on at www.wusa9.com. stay with us. we'll be right back.

caught on tape a close encounter with a grizzly. larry griffiths and his wife were on a group trip to a partial park in alaska when a grizzly -- to a national park in las when a grizzly came charging at them. -- in alaska when a grizzly came charging at them. this happened two years ago, but the couple just knowhowsed the video. the grizzly -- posted the video. the grizzly got so close to the breath the group could feel the

bear's breath on their back and could even get what i of what he smelled like, but eventually -- get a whiff of what he smelled like, but eventually he wandered off. this guy, a 6-month-old red kangaroo named mike it's said doesn't belong in a neighborhood and needs to go says an hoa. he's being trained to someday help disabled adults. he goes out for 20 minute runs or jumps around a completely fenced yard and if isn't a threat to anybody. -- and it isn't a threat to anybody. a modesto california teacher left his wife and kids to move in with his 18-year-old form are student. >> 41-year-old james ironically named hooker resigned as a teacher and club leader last week at james enoch high school after investigations were launched into his relationship with that student. his girl friend is 18, jordan

powell, a senior and used to be a student in hooker's class. the situation has cast a dark cloud over the school where one of hooker's daughters is a student. >> he's like 41. she's like 18. so it's legal, but it's gross. >> definitely wrong for him to have purr pursued her -- pursued her in any way while he was a teacher. >> hooker said he started dating paul after she was 18, but her -- powell she was 18, but her mother believes it started before that. still ahead he may look like the guy next-door, but he's actually a world class marshal artist. taking care of our troops serving overseas and their families back at home, what you can do at the grocery store next.

you'll find more than just the usual array of groceries at your local giant's supermarkets this month. all giant stores will be selling care packages for the military. there will be stations where kids can also make cards sent

to the service members. giant foods banded together with the uso of metropolitan washington to launch the campaign. a sigh of relief tonight for more than 1,000 people aboard the costa allegra. >> they are back on dry land after a fire left the ship adrift at sea for three days. tina krause with the story. >> reporter: passengers made their way off the crippled cruise ship on the island nation. she spent three days at sea with no rung -- they spent three days at sea with no running water and no air conditioning. >> the heat is unbearable. we had to spent most of our nights on the top deck. >> reporter: the problem began monday when a fire broke out in the engine room. passengers prepared to abandon ship while the crew battled the blaze. >> we all went to our life stations and there was a point where we thought we were going to have to lower the boats. >> reporter: the crew put out the fire, but the ship stalled. a french fishing boat worked to tow the ship for three days as passengers and crew lived on

the deck. food supplies were low. all they had to eat were cold sandwiches and helicopters dropped in freshwater. >> just a matter of inconvenience not having enough food, not being able to rest well at night. >> reporter: the ship's captain says it's too early to tell what caused the fire. >> because there is always an investigation in progress. >> reporter: this is the second disaster at sea in just over a month for costa cruise lines owned by florida-based carnival. in january the costa concordia hit rocks off the coast of it's and sank. 25 people died in the katz -- coast of italy and sank. 25 people died in the disaster including seven who are still missing. >> the cruise line did provide tour buses so passengers to get to the resort of their choice or directly to the airport for flights chartered to take them home. hopefully a much nicer experience is ahead for a couple marking their 60th

wedding anniversary. joan and isadore schwartz in connecticut spent their honeymoon at the waldorf astoria. their room cost $16.80 per night back then. so guess what they'll pay for this day? $16.80. it's a long standing policy at the waldorf astoria returning guests celebrating a milestone like this get their original room rate. for the record, these rooms now run about $319. often after a marriage the next step is babies and while they're generally all sort of cute in their own ways, their names not always so much. today for some reason ugly baby names was one of the top trending topics on twitter. alyssa writes any fruit, plant or type of food, cupcake, flower et cetera. adrian posts anything longer than four syllables and lala says i'm pretty sure we can sum it up and say eggburt is an

ugly baby name. hollywood is legendary for this. some of the names the actors come up with. >> gertrude, i've not heard that name in a while. had myrtle. >> boy, your family is full of names. >> we had some winners when we were having kids. none came from the family. everything was new. probably wise. >> 70 today. it's going to be cooler tomorrow but mild. let's take a love look outside, our weather cam brought to you by michael and son, nice shot of the white house. we actually have temperatures falling a little bit. we did top out at 70, but now downtown we're looking a temps in the mid-60s and some of the burbs in the mid-50s. the pressure is recovering 29.74 inches of mercury. so here's the deal. it's going to be mild, then warm and then colder, colder tonight, grab a coat, a dry morning commute, may not be as lucky going home tomorrow, a cooler but mild on friday and

wet friday night and saturday morning and we're talking maybe some more thunderstorms, maybe some big thunderstorms. tonight clear to partly cloudy, colder, just a one blanket night, lows 36 to 44 and winds northwest at about 10. while we won't see temps below freezing, it's going to be much colder. the temps last night went up. lows last night were in the low 50s. 37 will seem a bit chilly tonight, 38 rockville, 43 downtown, 39 college park, 38 and 39 in bowie, 40 in waldorf, low 40s in arlington and springfield, but 38 reston, 37 sterling and looking at 36 in leesburg and also in manassas and over toward middleburg. tomorrow morning dry, partly cloudy, chilly. you will need a coat, temps in the 30s and 40s, calm winds out of the east at 10. by afternoon increasing cloudiness and cooler but still mild. light rain is possible late, highs 55 to 60, winds east, southeast 10 to 15 keeping the temperatures down a bit.

so here's your day planner. to start chilly, dry, 36 to 44, by noon still dry, 53 to 58 and by evening some light rain or showers possible, 55 to about 60. still not a bad day. now the next three days this is typical march, all right? upper 50s on friday, maybe a shower or light rain late. showers and thunderstorms friday night into saturday, back in the 60s and then on sunday colder with a snow flurry possible, temperatures in the upper 40s. so we've combined quite a bit of weather in those next three days. next seven days cold monday and we're keeping a flurry in on monday, too, mid-40s getting into next tuesday. now it is march, of course, and it can't stay cold long. why would it now? mid-50s on wednesday, back to the mid-60s on thursday. i think those cherry blossoms are going to come out closer to the 24th than the 31st. >> there you go. >> family trying to make plans. think on the early side. some news to share tonight

with cbs and former 9 news now sportscaster james brown. today j.b. was named special correspondent for cbs news. he'll still be the host of nfl today in football season, but now he'll contribute reports, everything from 60 minutes to the cbs evening news. >> congratulations. our area has a strong martial arts community that has produced one of the best athletes in the sports. >> kristen berset it here too tell us about a local guy -- to tell us about a local guy kicking down the competition. >> mickey lee has become one of the most decorated martial artists in the country. in elementary school mickey lee was an overweight kid and an easy target for bullies. he tried getting involved in different types of sports, but nothing clicked until he was introduced to martial arts. that's when his body and his life started to change and the bullies backed away. >> after starting to learn martial arts i stopped getting

bullied. i got a lot more physically fit and very self-confident. >> reporter: mickey's mom melanie saw how much fun her son was having, so she decided to give the sport a try, too. >> makes me feel young, stay young. so i would say growing young. >> reporter: now the two turned their passion into a career teaching others at coles martial arts academy in bethesda. >> martial arts you can use for self-defense. you can practice. you can compete. >> reporter: when he's not in the studio, mickey is competing all over the world. he was recently featured on espn at the international sport karate association world championship and just last month named world grand champion of the oldest and most prestigeous karate association. >> mickey lee out of maryland. >> reporter: and his mom is there by his side as coach and cheerleader. >> it's amazing and then

actually i help him out. i'm not the best performer, but i'm a really good coach. >> reporter: days, said oh oh, mom -- as said oh oh, mom has a sword. mickey also teaches martial arts club at georgetown university, an organization mickey started there when he was just a freshman. back to you. still ahead women's groups are claiming victory tonight after a vote in the battle for contraception coverage, a very controversial one. >> reporter: he may have been the most prolific rapist in maryland history, a man who terrorized montgomery county much as the snipers did. today his victims speak and a judge tells him he will spend the rest of his natural life in prison. up next taking high school hoops to the next level, see what students are working on at a local cool school.

time to take you to another cool school. this week we're going hi-tech in the district and time for march madness. as mike hydek shows us, a basketball and net are still involved, but the players are the difference of difference. of-- are the difference. >> reporter: he's a leader. >> designer piece, move the balls and actually it's a holder. >> reporter: and after four

years on the phelps high school first robotics team a proven winner. >> we are actually the highest ranked team in d.c. we usually come in at least in the semifinals almost every year. >> because we can hold three balls at once. >> reporter: terrell lowry loves engineering and showing the new team members what it takes to succeed. this year the team will build, program and control a robot which scoops up two basketballs very quickly. the higher the basket, the higher the point total. thankfully they are good at this. >> three, two, one. >> reporter: what's really cool, the team has some pretty impressive mentors. >> we'll be able to move it between matches. >> reporter: like engineer leo yon from the u.s. department of transportation. >> it's fun. i can't tell you how much fun it really is. >> reporter: that's exactly the point, to get students to

see how physics, electronics and math can be a blast. >> being able to engage your interests, your major in a practical competition, that's also fun. >> reporter: being involved in first robotics goes way beyond that. not only do they get to apply what they've learned, but colleges notice if you're in the program, too. >> there's certain schools that will give you money automatically just for being a participant and some of our students have taken advantage of that. >> reporter: which is a good thing for senior co-captain keila saunders because she's just one of many students planning to shoot for the stars. >> i want to work on spacecraft for nasa. >> reporter: with robotics hoping to be her first liftoff. now that's cool, mike hydek, 9 news now. >> nice shot. you have a cool school or program, we would the to hear from you. e-mail mike at wusa9.com. this is 9 news now.

>> i've signed the bill. a historic moment tonight as maryland joins seven other states and the district as being the other other places where same sex couple can legally get married. our matt jablow was right there when governor martin o'malley signed the bill about 45 minutes ago and, matt, talk about the mood in annapolis tonight. >> reporter: it's a day gay rights supporters in maryland have been looking forward to an awfully long time, the day governor o'malley signed into law making maryland the eighth state in the country plus the district of columbia to legalize same sex marriage. the bill barely passed both houses of the general assembly last month. the law goes into effect january 1st. the governor signed the bill into law at 5:14 this afternoon at the statehouse along with senate president mike miller who voted against the bill, house speaker michael bush who voted for it. >> we are one maryland and all of us at the end of the day want the same thing for