the law goes into effect january 1st. the governor signed the bill at exactly 5:14 this afternoon nanned by senate president mike miller who opposed the bill and house speaker michael busch who supported it. afterwards i spoke with several gay couples who attended who said they could not believe that this day has finally arrived. >> our family has been fighting for this for a long time. so it's a very exciting day for us. >> it really sends a message home that every child and their families are valued, that there's safety, that there's legal recognition and protection. >> reporter: keep in mind the celebration might not last long. opponents of gay marriage are trying to put the issue on the ballot in november and polls have consistently shown that maryland residents are pretty evenly split on same sex marriage. we shall see if the law stands up. >> yes, we shall. matt, thank you. timothy buzbee may have attacked more women than any other rapist in maryland

history spreading terror in a way most of us didn't feel again until the infamous sniper attacks. today more than three decades after those rapes a montgomery county judge sentenced buzbee to more than three life sentences. bruce leshan reports on justice done for more women. >> i'm an 18-year-old lifeguard that you raped. >> reporter: justice delayed but not denied. four courageous women confronted timothy buzbee at his sentencing in a montgomery county courtroom. >> the rape at the hands of timothy buzbee helped to kill off the person that i was supposed to be. >> reporter: judge nelson rupp looked right at buzbee and said this to him. "you are an evil sexual predator. the intent of the life sentences is that you never ever go free." >> we know he's a repeat sexual offender who preyed upon young women in his county for over a period of what now looks like six or seven years. >> reporter: he was known as

the aspen hill rapist. he was already serving two concurrent life sentences after admitting raping a dozen women, but he was eligible for parole when new dna tests on old evidence tied him to five more attacks. >> i didn't come here and i didn't expect any magical healing. that's a lifelong process, but i hope i'm not done. >> reporter: cold case detectives suspect buzbee attacked at least 24 women, not just in aspen hill, but from rockville to silver spring. he kidnapped and raped a 15- year-old sister of one of the women who spoke against him and returned years later to rape her. but what is perhaps most remarkable is the resilience and success of the now middle aged women who survived his attacks. >> that guy doesn't define me. he didn't and he doesn't. >> reporter: bruce leshan, 9 news now. >> now buzbee told the judge that he knows the pain he's

caused and that he's truly sorry. the prosecutor is not so sure buzbee is sorry, but he does say he knows for certain that he has not been rehabilitated. you can file this next story under you got to be kidding me. the man police dubbed the east coast rapist has confessed to raping two teenage girls in virginia back in 2009. it turnings out aaron thomas only admitted to -- turns out aaron thomas only admitted to a crime after a police sketch failed to depict him properly. thomas was in a courtroom today and the judge found him fit to stand trial. authorities believe the 40-year- old is responsible for rapes and other attacks on 17 women from virginia to connecticut over the span of a decade. she's not taking any statements. >> reporter: she's a public official. >> but she's not seeing anyone today. >> are we seeing a bit of a pattern here? there are new questions tonight about karen toles. that's the prince george's county county council member now under cute any for allegedly speeding more than 100 -- scrutiny for allegedly

speeding more than 100 miles an hour on the belt way. police are investigating whether officers gave her special treatment for that high speed incident last week and now we learned that toles may have received nothing more than a warning last summer as well. police were conducting radar speed enforcement on route 4 near upper marlboro and sources tell us toles spotted them traveling at an extremely high speed before slamming on the brakes and told over and allegedly told the officers her car was having mechanical trouble. they never got a solid speed reading on radar that time either and never ticketed toles. tonight police in leesburg are commending a student whose action may have eliminated some violence at their student. he told his parents a classmate was considering some sort of violent act. the police looked ball it and determined the classmate in question -- into it and determined the classmate in question was in need of some psychiatric help. that child is now set for an evaluation.

tonight violent images being used to teach math at a d.c. public charter school sparking outrage. we've learned the teacher who downloaded those questions from a home schooling website has now been fired. >> reporter: i'm peggy fox in northeast washington with an update on thacks claus sieve story we brought you about those vie -- that exclusive story we brought you about that violent math problems. the teacher who gave them to her 3rd graders at the trinity public center charter school has been fired. dr. beverly wheeler, the ceo of central city public charter schools which oversees its trinidad elementary school in northeast fired the teacher who sent these math problems home with children. the stories deal with fantastically morbid and violent topics. here a tiger catches africans, americans and indians and cooks them in ovens. >> i found them violent and racist of. >> reporter: wheeler said instead of using the school resources for the mandated 20 homework problems on monday, the 3rd grade type offer to

unloaded them off the home -- grade teacher downloaded them off the homeschoolingparadise.com website. >> the teethers apparently just sent them out, incurred -- the teacher apparently just sent them out, incredibly bad judgment. >> reporter: several parents say the teacher who was a minister would never have sent home those problems unless someone made her do it. >> even if you were told to send it home, you know it's wrong, you will not send it home. >> of. could this have been the most beautiful day of 2012 so far? may be, top. what do you think? >> could be, but they keep getting better and better really. we hit 70 today. so march indeed came in like a lamb. here are the temperatures now. if you're headed out, grab a light jacket, 56 downtown, sprinkling of 40s now, 48 gaithersburg and frederick, 55 in manassas, still 62 in fredericksburg. winds will die down, still a little breezy at this hour. for tonight we'll say clear to

partly cloudy, colder, about wayne blanket night, lows 36 to -- a one blanket night, lows 36 to 44, winds calming down northwesterly at about 10. we will come back and talk about the prospect of more thunderstorms and we still have two snowflakes on the seven-day to explain. coming up cherry blossoms could soon be in bloom, but will they peak especially early this year? but first details on a controversial bill that says single parents contribute to child neglect and abuse, that story after the break. stay with us.

being a single parent contributes to child abuse and neglect, that statement according to republican wisconsin state senator glenn grothman and he's sponsoring a bill which reads in part and promoting those campaigns of materials the child abuse and neglect board shall emphasize nonmarital parenthood as a contributing factor to child abuse and neglect. that bill has sparked some angry comments online, no word yet on what chances it has of actually becoming law, but it does give us a chance to spark some conversation, especially in light of some of the things going on in that presidential campaign in an age where there are nearly 14 million single parentings out there raising nearly 22 million kids. is it fair to stigmatize the whole group as contributing to neglect and abuse or is it just common sense to point out that two married parents are better

than one? send us your thoughts, mcginty's mailbag, mailbag at wusa9.com or get on our facebook page. the u.s. senate voted today to keep a controversial obama administration birth control rule in place. now that rule which is part of the president's healthcare plan requires health insurers to cover contraception for employees of some religious institutions. if the employers object, then insurance companies have to pick up the cost and provide it for free, but republicans in congress and the catholic church leaders wanted to cancel that rule altogether arguing it's a matter of freedom of religion. talk about a gorgeous day of weather to mark the first full day of spring, but it can't really last, can it? no. topper will have your full 9 news now forecast right after the break. but first we remember the life of a conservative media activist andrew breitbart. he passed away today unexpectedly. we'll tell you about it. stay with us. [ male announcer ] this was how my day began.

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

tonight political types on both the right and the left are remembering andrew brietbart, the conservative media activist clapped and died late last night in l.a. -- collapsed and died late last night in l.a. he was only 43 years old. he was instrumental in investigating the sexting scandals that forced new york congress member anthony weiner to resign. tonight in parts of the midwest the forecast carries the possibility of more tornadoes and that is not what

folks want to hear in places like ridgway, illinois. that small tune was one of many places happen -- town was one of many places hammered by the tornadoes that swept across the midwest yesterday and killed at least 13 people. the thick brick walls of ridgway st. joseph's catholic church no match for the whirling winds 200 miles an hour. >> history and god's hands have took care of it all these years and i guess it was time for it to go. >> after a day of clean-up this will be a night of watching, waiting and yeah, praying. the national weather service is calling for a new round of severe storms to roll through parts of the midwest sometime after midnight. a lot of people have been worried today's nice warm weather could cause those cherry blossoms to come out early before the festival gets started in april. today the national park service announced their annual blooming forecast and kristin fisher has the predictions for peak bloom in the tidal basin. >> reporter: the cherry blossoms will bloom early but

not too early. it's looking like the best weekend to see them is going to be the last weekend in march and that's about a week earlier than usual, but you can see why. just look up here and you can already see that the green is starting to poke through some of the buds. >> there's been a lot of speculation about the warm weather and that speculation is correct. >> reporter: rob defayo has been predicting the cherry blossoms peak bloom for the last 20 years. >> i've been right 16 out of 20 times of. >> reporter: with that kind of record people pay close attention to his annual forecast. >> going to be sometime between march 24th and march 31st. >> reporter: it's the first time in his entire career that his peak bloom prediction hasn't gone into april. in fact, it's so spring-like around the tidal basin that many people came here today thinking that the blossoms might already be out. >> we came out today hoping that we would find some.

we live in kazakh stanley because we work for the government over -- kazakhstan because we work for the government over there and it's minus 20 degrees over there today so much we're taking full advantage of the gorgeous weather. >> we driver -- today, so we're taking full advantage of the gorgeous weather. >> we drove into the city and saw some of the trees and thought 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 peer harbor and hiroshima -- pearl harbor and hiroshima and we're still enduring that friendship today. i didn't understand the significance of the gift of friendship when i took this job 20 years auto, but die get it now. >> reporter: since -- years auto, but i do get it now.

>> reporter: since -- years ago, but die get it now. >> reporter: these trees will be ballooning at some point during the predicted -- blooming at some point during the predicted period. the only danger is that these blooms may be gone during the tidal festival. >> you've for the to think of it, six weeks long there was always part of the festival where the blossoms were going to be gone. >> yes, but also when it's six weeks long some part of the festival they're going to be there by the same token. let's talk about that. they have lengthened the festival considerably. the estimate now is march 24th to the 31st. i would lean toward the 24th if you're making plans. average is april 4th and 5th. the festival now runs from the 20th of march through the 27th of april, pretty much the entire spring. the main enemy is going to be wind and we have had reports where we've had peak bloom which is 50 to 70% bloom last 17 days. as long as we don't get much

wind, we can eke out a long period of a gorgeous bloom. we'll see what happens. >> here's a live look outside with our weather cam brought to you by michael and son, still 56 downtown, winds out of the north at 17. they will settle down after midnight and the pressure continues to recover, 29.83 inches of mercury. so we're looking at the meteorological winter in february, so 18 to 29 days in february, 50 degrees or higher. it was the fourth warmest february on record. these records go back to the 1800s, the third warmest meteorological winter, which is december, january and february, and we mentioned this last week, only two lousy inches of snow, the third least amount of snow since records were kept in 1887. that was the first winter. right now temps in the 40s and 50s, 53 rockville, 48 gaithersburg. it will be cold tonight, so grab a jacket if you're going out. 56 college park, 54 in beltsville. we're looking at 56 in springfield, 54 in reston and

50 already in leesburg and 55 in manassas. so mild and then warm and then colder. so stay with me here. colder tonight. grab a coat. dry through the morning commute. we may not be as lucky tomorrow evening and then cooler but mild on friday and then wet friday night and saturday morning and derek was talking about those same thunderstorms in parts of the midwest that could hit tomorrow. we could see those tomorrow night and saturday morning. we'll keep you posted. clear to partly cloudy tonight, colder, a one blanket night, 36 to 44 and winds settling down northwest at 10. by morning partly cloudy, chilly. you'll need a coat, 30s and 40s and by afternoon clouds on the increase, some light rain possible late, high temperatures 55 to 60, east, southeast winds keeping us from hitting temperatures well into the 60s again. so your day planner, dry to start, some clouds late but dry at noon still, maybe light rain or showers by evening, but 55 to about 60, pretty good deal.

next seven days looks like this, saturday showers and thunderstorms at least through the morning and windy and warmer, temperatures in the mid- 60s and colder over the weekend, a flurry possible sunday night and also monday afternoon, temps in the 40s, even 40s on tuesday, but as you know, it gets warmer very quickly, 50s wednesday, 60s thursday. let's get to our weird news file tonight because most pet tricks you see on youtube or on the web involve a dog or cat doing something maybe clever or funny, but this dog is grabbing page views just for standing very, very still. this is mattie, a 2-year-old red tick coon hound and her owner is a photographer who noticed that her pup has the ability to stand motionless. so she can stay seemingly precarious poses and they end up on humphrey's blog called appropriately mattie on things, a super serious project about dogs and physics and there's a new one every and mattie

just puts up with it. she's very even tempered. >> that's weird. very good. good sense of balance. >> we want to hear what you think. send your e-mails to mcginty's mailbag, the address mailbag at wusa9.com. 9 news now will be right back.

in the mailbag tonight prince george's county council member toles says she's taken a driving safety course and will surrender her county car till that's done, but none of you seem to think she ought to get off that easily after allegedly topping 100 miles per hour on the beltway and today we reported maybe something like that happened last summer as well on route 4. james says the county simply deserves better. i don't think it was fully emphasized that this speeding not only risked the county's car and toles life, but the lives of other drivers and the lives of the police officers. if there's insufficient calibration to legally prosecute, the evidence would appear sufficient to cause suspension for at least two weeks. a medical and psychological evaluation are also needed. a traffic school session she's proposed seems woefully inadequate. henry says bottom line here is you and i could not have gotten that deal. my daughter was issued a

citation for emission test registration suspension that was taken care of and they still issued the ticket and now threaten to suspend her license if she doesn't pay. the councilwoman was doing 105 miles an mauer on the beltway which is reckless -- an hour on the beltway which is reckless driving and they issue a warning? this is pure preferential treatment. then there is this on that ad in the metrorail station which finishes off with the line go to hell, barack. devon is outraged. the ad is despicable. this is the most disrespected president ever and it's because he is a black man. no other explanation is available. metro says this is a first amendment issue and i agree with metro. there's nothing overtly racist or anything threatening to the president. the guy who bought the ad has a movie critical of government run health reform and wants some attention. it's not nice, it's not respectful, but to my mind go to hell falls within the range

to the nasty things you get to say to your leader in a free country. you may have some nasty things to say to us. put them in the mailbag. the address is mcginty's mailbag at wusa9.com. we hope not, though. that's our report for tonight. bye bye.

now, "entertainment tonight," the most watched entertainment newsmagazine in the world. the desperate housewives' new catfight in court. >> nicollette sheridan versus creator marc cherry? did he struck her in the face? >> she was traumatized at the time. plus, will teri hatcher, eva longoria and marcia cross testify against their former wisteria lane neighbor? the latest from the trial today. ♪ davy jones' final hours and the 911 call. could he have been saved? >> i'm getting 'em. start driving him. >> and what you don't know about his young wife, reports of abuse and why his daughters skipped his wedding as fellow teen idol david cassidy comes to "e.t."