came to another blue state, maryland, as you say, the hometown of his state campaign chairman, robert ehrlich, where he gave, what is for him, a speech that isn't typical on the campaign trail. virtually no mention of maryland issues, painting himself instead as different from other candidates in the race. >> i'm not in this race as the next step in my political career. i don't have a political career. my career was in business. i spent 25 years in business and went on to the olympics. i have been in government four years. i want to get america right again. >> romney knows many americans are simply sick of politicians and wants to paint himself as being someone else. the primary is april 3. not winner take all, most of the delegates will be based on what

wins with an additional ten. we said blue state maryland, also on april 3, another blue state day, a primary in d.c., also in wisconsin, , which makes it a third on april 3. louisiana's primary this weekend. despite finishing well behind romney in illinois, santorum has no plans to work out. someone says that point is starting to draw nearer. today, former senator and candidate, bob dole, said he stayed in the 1988 nomination for too long and santorum is getting to the same point. also on the campaign trail, president obama made a trip to a giant solar power plant. he chastised his political opponents who belittled that energy source. >> this is creating jobs,

generating power, helping to keep our environment clean, making us more competitive globally. you would think that everybody would be supportive. of solar power. that's what you would think. and yet, if some politicians had their way, there won't be anymore public investment in solar energy. >> president obama says solar energy is part of his all of the above strategy, which includes everything from oil and natural gas to wind and go thermal energy. right now, the parents of trayvon martin are getting ready to take part in a march up in new york city. it is being called the million hoody march because the 17-year- old was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and he was shot and killed in florida last month. tonight, we are learning the man who shot martin, george zimmerman, has roots in our part of the woods. >> i'm peggy fox. a neighbor says he came back

recently to ask for a recommendation to be a police officer, but zimmerman never made it and never became a cop. the neighbor thinks the fatal shooting in florida was zimmerman's attempt to prove he could be a cop anyway. the neighborhood watch captain of shooting an unarmed black teenager in florida. grew up right across the street from george and kay hall in manassas. >> when i was convinced they must be talking about the same guy, i was shocked. >> zimmerman is at the center of national outrage after shooting trayvon martin, who only had skit led and iced tea with him. a few years ago, george zimmerman came back to virginia and asked him to write a recommendation for him to become a police officer. >> it was like he was trying to prove something. that he could handle this himself. he didn't need help. >> peggy fox, 9news now. despite saying he's ready to turn himself in, the man suspected of killing seven people in france is still holding police at bay there

tonight. as elizabeth reports, the standoff started early today. >> hundreds of french police officers surround the apartment. inside they say is 23-year-old mohommed. a man they describe as a self- jihaddist. >> as the policeman tried to approach the door, the individual fired through the door. >> two officers are injured, residents living nearby evacuated. the gunfire stopped and the suspect starts talking. investigators are gradually learning more about the man believed to have opened fire to jewish school monday, killing four people, including three children. >> he claims to belong to al- qaeda and wanted revenge for the children. and he also wanted to take revenge on the french army because of it foreign intervention. >> also believed to be connected to the murders of three soldiers last week. police say he has been under surveillance for years and saying he spent considerable time in afghanistan and

pakistan training with al- qaeda. french media report detained his brother, mother, and girlfriend. i'm elizabeth reporting. in fairfax county, police think they have a good lead on the man who attacked a 16-year- old high school student this week. now this happened monday afternoon on a path near woodson high school. >> reporter: i'm kristin fisher outside woodson high school in fairfax where police believe they now have a picture of the man who assaulted a 16- year-old student on this path two days ago. police believe that man was caught in these surveillance photos. 20 to 40 years old, 170-pounds, he got away. two days after the assault, the path is heavily trafficked by students. >> you are talking hundreds of kids that go through here every day. >> this public school employee wants to remain unanimous, but she is speaking out because of what she heard on this path two days ago. >> i hear this blood curling

scream. i mean scream like horror. >> today the school's vice principal is standing guard, but many parents and employees are calling for a permanent solution. >> one thing is a light, widen this up. if this was wider and clearer, the kids would feel safer. >> in fairfax, kristin fisher, 9news now. >> coming up tonight at 7:00, funding fights. loudoun county asked for more time to look at phase 2 of the dulles metro rail project. we'll tell you what that could mean for the future of the silver line. that's at 7:00. still ahead in this half hour, spring has sprung. so naturally, it must be snowing somewhere. we'll tell you where it's falling. topper. >> nice, i know. i know. we'll take you out with the almanac. as nice as it's been all day. 70 officially at national. 59 was the low. averages are still 59 and 39. record high today 89. we'll come back and talk about when the 80s return. we'll also talk about a price we may have to pay for those

80s. but first, a local business owner takes her case all the way to richmond. the dog fight details are next.

an update on that arlington rumor. the federal appeals court heard arguments. arlington county told her to cover up that mural on the side of her business because it amounts to an ad, but the mural is simply artwork, complimenting the dog park next door and covering it up violates her right to free speech. we don't have word yet when the court might rule in this dog case. senior legislators met in richmond today to take another stab at hammering out a budget plan. the current one, the current budget is set to expire at the end of june. no word on any significant progress in today's meeting, but we do know voters aren't happy about the stalemate. a new poll finds just 38% of voters there approve of the

legislator's performance right now. virginia tops the list of the best states in which to make the living. moneyrates.com looked at average income, cost of living, state income tax rate and the unemployment rate to create this list. washington state, texas, illinois, and colorado round out the top five. coming up on 9news now, they are one of those things everybody loves to hate, parking meters. the latest on the fight for the best spaces up next. the nfl is handing down severe punishments in the bounty program that saw players rewarded for delivering big hits on opponents. tell us what was behind the harsh penalties tonight on the cbs evening news.

beginning today, the dc government no longer reserving roughly 10% of parking meters for handicap drivers. for the next 90 days, anybody can use the discounted red top

meters which allow twice the time for parking. bruce johnson reports the change promises to keep everybody fighting for those coveted spots all around town. >> two tickets for being parked in the same spot in the same day. >> almost everybody arriving to pay the parking tickets in the district has its story. >> you took a cab down here to pay your parking tickets? >> i didn't want to get a ticket. >> the city's parking enforcement efforts are always criticized. >> ridiculous. >> come as no surprise to hear, few people can agree on the latest change. the d.c. council approved legislation that stop reserving the red top meters for disabled meters. those drivers argued today there are not enough meters to go around. >> if they are going to do this, they should have a couple couple meters on every block. >> the government needs to take a pause on this.

>> everybody can park which allows for up to four hours parking compared to two hours at the regular meters. the emergency also means that handicap drivers go back to being able to park anywhere at any meter for free with the handicap on display. >> parking, as so many of you realize, that is a premium. our goal is to create turnover parking. >> a bigger problem, not addressed, might be people with phoney handicap. he spots 8 to 9 fraud ewe 9 fraudulent. he doesn't have the enforcement authority. >> we know that they are parking at the meter and some key areas that we need to have turn over parking. >> 4 to 500 meters had been in place with another 600 waiting to be installed. that won't happen now. bruce johnson, 9news now. >> the d.c. council will

revisit the issue in 90 days after he submits a report with what he is trying to accomplish. the biggest risk to police officers not necessarily bullets or flames. it's getting hit by a car while they are stopped on the side of the road. tonight, authorities are out with a big campaign to tell us about a law that says you have to move over and slow down. >> i'm bruce leshan in college park. in maryland and in virginia, but so far, not in d.c. if an emergency vehicle is pulled over to the shoulder, with its lights flashing, you are required to move over one lane. if you can do that safely, or to slow down to a safe and prudent speed. search move over on youtube and the carnage is stomach churning. the latest estimate suggests nearly 400 police officers, firefighters, highway crews, tow truck drivers, and other workers are struck and killed every year. nearly 10% of all the

occupational fatalities in america. >> move over, i mean, it's not that hard. >> police and fire trucks will be sporting this bumper stucker, but here's something else to get your attention. the fine, $115 and one point. if someone is hurt, $750 and three points. in college park, bruce leshan, 9news now. confirmation tonight that our warm winter was in fact the warmest on record. the national weather service says from december's winter sole season solstice, it was 2 degrees higher than 1989 to '90. of course, it stands to reason that after a warm winter, the first day of spring would bring snow somewhere in the u.s. this is video from oregon. no one close to us, skiers and snow boarders found themselves with a few inches of fresh powder to hit the slopes, but the road to get to the resort, a little less fun to navigate. >> it's been snowing there for

four days. >> has it really? >> five days really. >> wow. >> pretty cool up there. >> it is. i know a lot of people in this area who are snow lovers did miss it this year. >> go back to that warmest winter, only 32 days we hit 32 degrees or lower at national. only 20 days did we go below freezing. as we have this battle of winter and spring, it's getting more like a normal spring weather map and that produces big thunderstorms and flooding and we'll take you down to louisiana. a place called prairieville and they got a lot of wind. they have strong storms, possible tornadoes, and also up to four inches of rain. they are still under a flood watch through tomorrow morning. the tornado watches have expired right now, but they are looking at tremendous amount of rain to come with the same frontal system that could get us over the weekend. not good news. all right, no reports of injuries. we'll take a live look outside. this is our live weather cam

brought to you by michael and son. you lose the banner for just a second, you can see how green the grass is. i think they have done their work on the white house lawn. that looks pretty sweet, doesn't it? all right, we'll talk about temperatures. 70, that's as warm as it has been so far and as nice as it has been so far. seeing clearing skies skies. temperatures, we're looking at satellite picture first. a lot of thunderstorms again down in louisiana. this is the batch that went through louisiana this morning and hammered. now in portions of mississippi and for the most part, the next 24 hours, this is going to be the battleground of big thunderstorms, west tennessee, western kentucky, and right along the mississippi river. that same front will go through here, but not until saturday. it will take a long time to march through the mississippi river and here. that is typical of spring. some breaks in the clouds. a pretty nice evening now. 70 downtown. 70 in college park. 66 in great falls and 66 in

bethesda. but some temperatures as warm as they have been all day. 67 in reston. so, we're looking at a very warm finish to the week. i mean, unbelievable. more fog late tonight and fog early tomorrow. don't think it will be as widespread tomorrow. warmer on thursday, maybe a storm. warmer friday, maybe an afternoon storm. and that storm could be hefty. so for tonight, partly and mostly cloudy, fog returns. lows in the 50s. winds southeasterly at 5 to 10. tomorrow morning, early fog, but partly cloudy and mild. 50s and 60s. winds turn southwesterly, that's better if you want dryer air in here and that will happen as it will erode our clouds and by afternoon, partly cloudy and warmer. shower or thunderstorm possible. high temperatures 75 to 80. next seven days, it is going to get warmer, believe it or not. we're talking 80 degrees on friday. pretty good chance of thunderstorms and some of those could be hefty. scattered showers and storms. some rain and showers on sunday

back into the 60s. and then next week, nice, bright but brisk monday and tuesday and back in the mid 70s on tuesday. we have to pay the piper. >> cherry blossoms, bright but brisk. >> they are hanging on. >> that's good. i'm driving in, put the radio on, bounty gate, it was a huge day in sports. an eventful day, especially in the nfl. major penalties handed down. we'll tell you if the redskins are involved. plus, the skins get an up close look at their potential qb. good news for nats fans. all that and more coming up next in sports. [ 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? ♪

now, 9sports with kristen berset. >> robert griffin iii didn't need to show off today. he is expected to be taken first or second in this year's draft, but he decided to take advantage of the opportunity. participating in pro day at baylor university, poting to rest any doubt that he is an elite quarterback. he completed 95% of his passes today, showing off his speed and his accuracy. the redskins contention totaled

nine people, including mike shanahan, dan schneider, and gm, bruce allen. what they saw most likely validated the price they paid to get the second pick in the draft. >> the owners are great. obviously coach shanahan is as advertised, they gave up a lot of picks and you know, to be able to move up to that spot to pick a player, if it happens to be me, they showed me that i can get along with them. >> before the redskins got a chance to see rg3, they hosted him and his fiance at a local hooters. mike shanahan, bruce allen, all taking time out to chat with fans and pose for pictures. from their potential starter to a potential backup, the redskins will host johnson. johnson was drafted by tampa bay in 2008. the gm at the time was bruce allen. we expected the nfl to lay down major punishments for bounty gate. but the discipline ended up being more severe than many of us originally thought.

defensive coordinator has been accused of implementing a pay for pain scheme. he paid players money for big hits that injured opponents or knocked them out of the game. the entire organization including coaches and front office were also investigated for knowing about the scheme that was in place. here's what the sledge hammer, the league brought down on the saints. fined several hundreds and thousands of dollars, lose two draft picks, the league suspended sean payton for one year, and gregg williams is with the rams has been suspended indefinitely. the redskins, however, have been cleared of any involvement in bounty scheme. also today was announced that denver broncos traded tim tebow to the new york jets for a fourth round pick. that trade hit a snag because of money. over $5 million the broncos want in exchange. now jacksonville is reportedly back in the race for tebow mania. the nationals made a big

announcement today that has been over shadowed by all this nfl news. steven strosberg will be the team starter on opening day. this is his first opening day start of his career. that game is april 5 in chicago against the cups. good news for the capitals as they continue their playoff push. dale hunter hinted that nicklas backstrom may return to team practice next week. he hasn't played a game since he suffered this concussion earlier in the year. and good news at a college park you terps fans. confirms that guards, terrell, will return his junior year. the sophomore guard led the acc in scoring this season. so, great news for the terps. they need to have him back. he was amazing. >> and following march madness. >> march madness starts up again tomorrow. that's all for 9news now at 6:00, stay with wusa9 for the cbs evening news and derek is back at 7:00. topper, you're there, too.

>> i'll be here. >> see you later.