so does this mean the city no longer needs extra funding? not so fast. matt ackland is live in the newsroom with the news edge on d.c. matt? >> reporter: so far, the mayor's plan it is to save the surplus for the future. others think differently. in fact, the president of the d.c. chamber of commerce wrote a blog titled we want our money back. the chamber is demanding the district reverse a decision last year to increase income taxes for some residents. >> $240 million richer. that is what a lot of people are saying, especially after so much talk about d.c. facing hard financial times. >> and where did that money come from? >> reporter: we're told the city simply didn't spend as much as it thought it would. still, in september of last year, the council voted in favor of raising taxes on those who make more than $350,000 a year. council member jack evans lost his fight against that tax and

now, he's calling for the new tax to be rolled back. >> something that i would be interested in is putting the income tax back down and that is just me speaking. >> reporter: couple chairman brown said everything is on the table and doesn't rule out revisiting the income tax issue. >> we say that $240 million came in and residents want to know what is in it for them? >> reporter: mayor gray and d.c.'s cf occasion against repeeling the tax. >> and we need to recognize that this is one-time money that we're talking about and this is not reduing money. >> reporter: what do residents want? $240million goes a long way. >> in housing, affordable housing, we're not fixing up some of the dilapidated homes and things like that. they have so many vacant buildings that they have moved people out of. people need a place to stay. >> reporter: all right, the chamber of commerce is second a letter to mayor gray and chairman brown tomorrow morning asking them to revisit the

latest income tax on district residents. chairman brown's office told me today that there are no specific plans yet. the chairman wants to evaluate all options, laura. >> all right, and better to be in the black than the red. >> huh. >> thank you. and from the surplus in the district to a huge deficit on the hill. a new budget report predicts that the federal government's deficit will be $1.1 trillion by the end of this fiscal year. and the congressional budget office said it will stay in the range the next few years if the bush era tax cuts are extended again. congress voted at the end of the 2011 to extend them to the end of 2012. protestors with occupy d.c. will not take down their tent of dreams that they put up over the statue of general james mcpherson unless the u.s. park police rescind its no-camping order and that is a statue that has been vandalized and the tent must come down, a standoff that could lead to a

confrontation. paul wagner joins us with the story. paul? >> reporter: this tent is creating controversy and some confronting as here. the people here had a meeting and they tried to decide how to handle the situation and park police want it taken down. how is it going to come down is the question? there were a couple of people who came here into the park to try and take it down to -- and to try to take the tent down. two men were angry and up it ever -- upset over this. >> at thirty two 30:00 this afternoon, after telling reporters he was going to cut down the tent, ring mangus, a -- rick mangus, a retiree, pulled out scissors and started cutting the tent down. the protestors became angry over this. mangus was the second of two

men who tried to tear it down and another tried before noon protestors confronted the elevator contractor. he said he was sick of the occupy encampment and wanted his park back. the tent created a bit of trouble. the mark police want to take him down and told protestors it would be removed. in a meeting that lasted more than 2 1/2 hours, they decided what to do. >> and we had a discussion and ran ideas and reach an agreement we would ask the cops, we will take it down ourselves. if they agree to not enforce this outrageous 24-sleeping hour law during our 24-hour vigil. >> officials acknowledge that is not going to happen. they expect the park police to come in and take the tent down.

the question is who there is going to be civil disobedience, how it's going to come down and there could be another confronting a tonight or tomorrow. we don't know. laura? >> thank you. and fairfax county police trying to find the vandals who damaged a mosque. they believe that it happened sunday night and that is under construction for months now. the damage will delay the opening. the vandals caused $60,000 in damage. they asking the fbi and police to investigate whether this is a hate crime. and republicans in florida hitting the polls now with the state's primary underway and mitt romney has been rising in the polls thanks to his tough approach. he's looking to convert thepo positive polls into 50 of florida's delegates. tom fitzgerald is following this one. tom, romney seems to have found

a new voice in florida. >> reporter: he's been admitting he was getting beat up by newt gingrich in the previous clashes and the campaign made a decision that they had to drop an aloof front- runner strategy and return fire with fire. it's worked so far. he's leading by double digits in most polls and the key has been attacking gingrich as a failed republican leader and having romney point out that gingrich resigned as speaker following an ethics probe. gingrich hit romney hard in south carolina recently over his wealth and taxes, but in florida, now, where's been calling romney both a moderate and now a liberal. >> i'm clearly the front runner among conservatives. hopefully we'll be able to consolidate the vote and in which case, governor romney will lose badly. >> you can't whine about negative campaigning when he launched one in south carolina

and when the people look at the different campaigns and conclude his is most negative. >> the polls will close in less than an hour, at 7:00 p.m., and they will stay open in florida's panhandle until 8:00 p.m. tonight. >> and looking ahead after florida, what is next, tom? >> and that does not look good for newt gingrich. if mitt romney closes the door on the month of january with a victor in florida tonight, he opens up four weeks of trouble. from here, they go to nevada where romney is to do well, to maine, the neighboring area of new england where romney has done strong. it's not until you get to tuesday, march 6th, supertuesday, which will include georgia, where you see an area of -- where newt gingrich will pick up delegates. the next few weeks are not looking good for newt gingrich

and romney's going to put himself in a good position with a big win in florida. >> and that is all about momentum from there. thank you for the update. president obama used a washington auto show to time out his efforts to save the u.s. auto industry. the president checked out some electric hybrids ands toed up the rescue of gm and chrysler, which saved about a million jobs and he said that some people didn't want to save the industry. just ahead on the news edge at 6, gay marriage supporters going for round 2 in maryland. a new year and a new bill and some renewd confidence. sue. and laura, a chamber of commerce day here in d.c. that is the last day of january. we broke a record at dulles. i will let you know if we can do this again tomorrow. feldy, what is coming up in sports? maybe gulf on gulf? >> super bowl media day and that is a big deal in indianapolis and some breaking news out of the midwest. we will tell i who is in and

who is out for the big super bowl coming up in sunday's game. as we move on and thage in six continues. -- and the news edge at 6 continues. 

. >> investigators made an arrest in the murder of a virginia man whose body was found in a maryland well. lenny harris disappeared september 21st and flees got a tip of the body in the well last week. investigators pulled it out on saturday. they have now arrested 49- year-old lynnwood johnson of temple hills. they say that the motive was robbery and that the two men knew each other. harris was shot to death. one person is dead and another person is seriously injured after a crash on 295 this afternoon. sky fox is over the scene near bladens bug. one car overturned and that is here. the front end of the car is crushed. a total of four cars were involved in thisback. d.c. was the first to

legalize online gambling. now, it wants to be the first to repeel the program, even before it starts. council members say they're upset with how the district's online gambling program became law and that they didn't realize they voted to approve it. council member jack evans plans to move a repeal bill out of his office tomorrow. >> a new year and proponents of gay marriage in maryland are hoping for a different result. the state senate is take up the measure. last year, a bill legalizing gay marriage passed the senate and never made it through the house. the language of the bill is now changeed in hopes to garner more support. >> and this is not right or just that the children of gay couples should have lesser protections than the children of other families in our state. >> why would we complicate that situation by redefining what is already defined by the bible?

the bible is right. >> if the bill passes, opponents say they will collect enough signatures to put the issue on the ballot and that means that voters could decide the issue in november. just ahead on the news edge at 6, enjoying the perks of the summer day during the winter. new yorkers have a new place for that. pop-up park. and first, last week, president obama serenaded a crowd in harlem with al green's let's stay together. his performance jolted a surge of online music downloads. could mitt romney's performance of "america the beautiful" in florida do the same thing with votes? you be the judge. ge. . >> for purple mountain majesty above the fruited plain.  . welcome to carmax. hi. i was on carmax dot cocom and i think i found the one. great car. and i think, it's right over there... (sighes)...

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. >> new yorkers are enjoying a bit of summer in the city.

thank s to a new concept referred to as pop-up park. >> and that is turning an indoor space into what looks and feels like a summer. here's more. >> reporter: ah, winter in central park. birds chirping, children playing, hey, that is not right. this is central park in the winter. >> it's dark inside your apartment. you don't want to go outside because you cold. >> what if you could experience an indoor oasis like this? it's befored to as a pop-up park. the creators tucked it away in an old nypd garage in new york city's trendy soho neighborhood. and park here is the creator of the director of open house. >> it's nature and we imitated a great idea. >> grass and trees, make up what he called .2 acres of spring time and it's free.

>> it's transportive. >> and they have a fair share of concrete. it's calming and which is surprising since it's not real. it does a good job of having a day at the park. >> reporter: that is the feeling he was hoping for. >> people walk in and say this is free? people don't understand that and what we like to say, you walk into a park and that is free and should generate a lot of awareness. >> reporter: it's not all altruistic. almost everything in the park, the grass, trees, pillows is paid for by sponsors. >> and we try to create the experience to be free and you might end up shopping in a good experience but we want people to walk into a public or semi public event. >> reporter: people don't seem to mind. >> they seem to get exposure this way. >> reporter: park here is open from 91 until 8 daily through rallen -- valentine's day. warren levinson, new york.

>> and skeptical of the idea at first. >> luckily we don't have to employ that here. >> no, we haven't. that will cost pop-up park outside. >> everyone was out and enjoying today. >> gorgeous. >> the windows in my house and took out some of the dust bunnies. >> so nice. >> yes. >> and i am thinking of putting my house plants out tomorrow. i'm just kidding. we're looking forward to another warm day and i'm going to make sure my microphone is on. it looks like it's on and if you're not hearing me, i don't know why. everything is good with the microphone? more pressure and watching the weather. >> i know, really. >> and we hope we're going to be there and i'll tell you what, we're looking live now outside of d.c. with the temperatures and for a little bit. boy, did we have a preview and things are really, really nice in the temperature department and we're going to continue to see the temperatures staying nice and that high temperature was 66 degrees and in dulles, 66 degrees. a new mic on and what i am

wearing is not work willing and we'll get with you guys and lit know what is going on with this in just a moment and now you know where i hide it at the spring preview for us and we're going to have another one tomorrow. looks like the temperatures will be close to these. this is the only difference. dulles broke the record, 65 and that is in 1993 and got up to 66 degrees and have some more cloud cover around tomorrow. meanwhile, 57 degrees is what we're down to and into the district, actually, 60 degrees here and most other places are falling through the 50s and that is going to be chilly again tonight and not like last night. we think clouds are going to come in and prevent us from falling into the 20s and 30s and some places around 40, you will feel the breeze and that is going to be chillier as l.60

degrees, the high temperatures and again across the region, hanging in the low 70s and some cooler temperatures on the map and there is not a lot of cold air to be found and we focus the next three days for you, tomorrow, 67 degrees and some clouds in the morning and a spotty shower. we expect a few here and there closer to sunrise. the farther west, the better you are of seeing that and in the afternoon, more sunshine and wednesday night into thursday, i think they will be hit-and-miss, the way things are looking now and on friday, sunnier and temperatures down to 51 degrees and this is your max hd satellite and radar, the clear skies the next few hours and there is some moisture getting closer and that could be our morning shower activity. we look to the gulf of mexico and a little bit of moisture collecting here and some of that will be passing across our region on thursday and that is looking like a lot of that is slightly south of d.c. overnight, temperatures not bad

at all. into the 40s. we'll probably so a shower here and there and closer to morning and still mild for january. and that temperature drop here to 47 degrees in the district. tomorrow, spotty, morning showers and could be some sun by afternoon. 67 degrees and that is not bad at all. tomorrow night into thursday, a few more showers and that is not a terribly wet pattern and that is mild with another real warm one tomorrow and if you're looking to enjoy some pop-up park activity, wait until tomorrow afternoon, laura. thursday and friday, just cooler and that might be a stormness around for the weekend. right now, we're going to keep it dry. >> okay. >> and keep an eye on things and that weekend with more confidence. >> okay. >> could be some more precipitation. >> we'll enjoy today and tomorrow. >> certainly. and it was a media today, media day at super bowl and one of the patriots was the center of attention. dave feldman is up next with the sports edge.

. >> hi, everybody. i'm dave feldman. super bowl xlvi is sunday. the pats and giants in a rematch of super bowl xlii. today was the media day. we'll hear historically some of the dumbest questions in mankind has been asked and occasionally news has come out. we'll focus on the latter. annual media day, 5,000 reporters. the pats started the q&a session at 2:00 a.m -- 10:00 a.m. and by the giants at noon. for the first time, they could pay the event, $25 to see the players and not the responses. rob grangowsky, who was walking without a boot since suffering a high left ankle sprain in the afc title game and that big question, will he be able to suit up on sunday? >> i don't know yet, we're going day-by-day and taking every day, making new steps every day and feeling better every day and that is a

positive sign. you want to keep going in the direction. i want to be there with the team, obviously, and help out and taking it step-by-step. >> and how many times did jose day, step? day. >> i day and take it step-by- step and he's on the all cliche team. and the hoyas are not as hot as they once were and still in the top 20, however and after the loss to pittsburgh and in that big east. uconn comes to town. the huskies fallling to 4-4 conference play and lost five of the last seven games and -- . >> more scared, you know, because they are, you know, they're still one of the more, if not the most talented team in the league. and so, you know, like i said, this game, the teams, good teams, every team can go on that and that is -- . >> the team. so, you know, they lost a few

and they still, you know, this is -- the champs. >> mean while, maryland's coming off of a four-point home win on saturday. the terps are 3-3 in acc play against miami and the former george mason head coach jim laranaga. and maryland with six of the nine games on the road and so far, winless away from college park. >> and that team wins games and the best teams win on the road and that is very important, you know, it's miami and that is with that 2-0 game and played 6- 4 on the road and got a chance to be involved and -- they learn how to win half of the games on the road and great teams the road. >> and to watch the game, i know you, do you're a terps fan, maryland-miami can be seen on my 20, tipoff is at 8:00 p.m. tomorrow. and right now, the best nba show is in l.a. and belongs to the clipper.

ask blake griffin. oh, my goodness. and with that epic dunk. many are calling it not the best in the season but the best they have seen and griffin with 22 points. the clipper defeated the nba best 112-100 tonight, the caps begin the second half of the season on the road against the lightning. back to you. >> and now you have the news edge. the news is always on www.myfoxdc.com. keep it here. tmz on tv is coming up next. 

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