>> it cost three times as much as locking someone up for life without parole and can't be reversed as an innocent person is executed. >> reporter: while delivering a long list from job creation to education as examples of areas where maryland is better off, o'malley singled out transportation as an exception. >> we have the worst traffic congestion in the country. nothing to clap for. >> reporter: the governor proposed a 1% sales tax dedicated to transportation, despite republican and democratic concerns. now, reaction to the speech lined up mainly along party lines with democrats saying it's a solid blueprint for 2013. while republicans said the governor seemed to have his eye more on the presidential run in 2016. several republicans said o'malley was short on details. >> it had nothing to do with the state of where maryland is today and had to do with where he would like to see the progressive agenda spread to

the left of the nation. >> and the agenda is more to do with the national agenda than the state or favor with various interest groups. >> the democrat said the governor's goal was to put lawmakers to work. >> i think he's being realistic and what he was doing is laying out what he accomplished with the help. >> it's the legislative process. we'rep certain as to what people are willing to support and not willing to support. >> reporter: the next two months will reveal what lawmakers will and won't support. the general assembly lasts until april 8th a. the maryland statehouse in annapolis, tom fitzgerald, fox 5 news. activists on both sides of the gun control debate were on alcohol today for the first senate hearing since last month's shooting massacre in newtown, connecticut. among the witnesses who testified, the former arizona congresswoman gabby giffords. giffords, who is still severely impaired from being shot in the head two years ago, told lawmakers now is the time to

take action. >> speaking is difficult but i need to say something important. violence is a big problem. too many children are dieing. >> a range of gun violence victims will testify at the senate hearing and the nra's chief executive, wayne lapierre. law enforcement officials and constitutional experts. a new poll finds a majority of americans say politicians are exploiting the sandy hook tragedy. the survey conducted by reason group found 52% believe elected officials are using the deadly shooting for political gain. 41% feel politicians are acting responsibly, sun% undecided. new at 6, john curry addressed the senate for the -- john kerry addressed the senate for the final time today. he discussed the honor of serving in the senate and got choked up when talking about

some of his fellow politicians. >> standing here at this desk that once belonged -- at this desk that once belonged to president kennedy and to ted kennedy, i can't help but be reminded that even our nation's greatest leaders and all the rest of us are merely temporary workers. >> reporter: william mo cowen is appointed to fill kerry's vacant senate seat until a special election is held in june. on severe weather watch tonight, a large storm system makes its way to our region and this is video of the tornado touching down in a daresville, georgia, outside of atlanta. the news crew captured -- captured the twister. sue palka is in the severe weather center now. what can we expect? >> i think it's going to be a long night. looking for heavy rain and strong winds. we're beginning to see thunderstorm warnings of our own and that is to our south.

and let me start with sentinel radar. not much rain in the d.c. area and it's been to the north of us or to the west and it's continuing to move very rapidly from south to north and can you see what is going on around the region right now. i want to let you know we have a new flash flood warnings and starting with the severe thunderstorm warnings that popped up and it affects southwestern orange county and nelson county. those storms are moving east at 45 miles an hour and so we will watch those for heavy winds and a flash flood warning for a couple of areas, including faulkier, loudoun, warren and clark and portions the counties until 9:30. we have seen half rain and what we call training heavy bands of rain. in extreme western montgomery county and through loudoun county in particular, right around the leesberg area about

an inch and a half of rain has fallen and you're going to get more and watch the flash flooding potential especially -- and parts of the area, i know, we have been warm the last few days and the ground is hard a few inches below from being frozen last week and there is a lot of runoff with these. giving you the bigger picture, more to come. the frontal boundary is well to the west and we're going to stay in the tropical air and have waves of heavy rain and some isolated thunderstorms moving up from the south. i wanted to give you an idea of how extensive this is with the wind advisories all the way from new york state and to the gulf coast. we'll watch for the heavy rain and maybe some potentially strong winds a little bit later tonight. i think the heaviest of it is probably still a few hours away, but we're seeing a bit of action. we'll talk about the seven-day forecast when i join you in a few minutes. >> could be worse. could be snow. >> that is it. that's for sure. >> yeah. and the rain received part of a massive storm system has left its mark throughout the midwest. the power damage structures,

took don trees as they headed our way and left a trail of overturned cars in its wake. the high winds and half wins, knocking out thousands -- power for thousands in arkansas and track the forecast with the weather app and. >> a developing story from perhaps georges county. authorities are investigating an accident on the beltway that created a massive backup and some much is people, including four firefighters were injured. the driver was not at fault and paul wagner has more. >> reporter: the driver had just left the scene of another accident on the inner loop between route 50 and 202 come he attempted to make a uturn through a gap that was reserved for emergency vehicle. as the driver made the turn, the tractor-trailer ran into it

from behind. from sky fox, can you see the gap in the median where the driver of engine 28 was trying to turn. when the engine was hit by the tractor-trailer and that collision support both vehicles tumbling to their sides, injuring all four firefighters and the driver of the 18 wheeler. an suv was also struck and leave turned. the welcome forced police to close the beltway creating a massive traffic jam in both directions, which tied up traffic on the secondary roads leading into 495. >> the cause of the accident is still under investigation. it's a very complicated investigation involving many parts. the prince georges county police department special operations division collision mike newmans is and cotruction unit is heading that investigation and preliminarily, we believe that the tractor-trailer involved in this accident was the favored driver. >> police say emergency vehicles can use the turnaround even when not on an emergency

call. and three of the injured firefighters were treated and released. the 40, a 29-year-old man s still in a baltimore hospital. we're told surgeons are trying to reattach the 7ered right arm. the condition of the others are still unclear at this hour. >> and. the edge virginia now. a former culpeper police officer was not sentenced and that conviction being challenged and after the jury went home, a clerk found two dictionaries and a thesaurus. the judge will decide whether to rule a mistrial. remember these? muslim activists take on the controversial ads on metro and closing in on the competition, how research in motion plans to revamp the blackberry. scott. >> and at sub:00, trying to

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. muslim activists taking on controversial campaign ads of their own. they will begin next week and organizers say they aim to reclaim jihad from anti-muslim extremists from sharing struggles posters and using lines like my. >> odd, modesty is not a weakness. and last year, this ad sparked controversy for calling them safe ans. metro police -- the spike and theft between january 13th and the 26t. 39 devices were new hampshired on the metro system, up from 19. the first two weeks of the year. the police say while the figures are down from the same time last year, they're urging riders to be proactive. spirit airlines offering daily non-stop low cost flights

from bwi to vegas, the service starts april 25th. fast become a growing airline of note in the area. black perry stand. ahead on the news edge. the newest software unveiled. the average cupcakes, the create of the sooner bowl snacks can you take to the big party. pa y. >> luke, get excited. i will be able to meet you. >> luke duffy is taking miss texas 2012 to the rotc military ball. the date arranged thanks to atube video. he thought it was a long shot and asked her to the dance. she was flattered and told him yes live on the evening news. . . we gotta sell the car. where would we even start?

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is it a comeback? blackberry is trying to reinvent itself with the black perry 10. the phone has a new version and offers a touchscreen now and time outs a hub feature, bringing in all of your messages, e-mail, twitter, facebook linked into a universal in-box and that a lone sounds like a nightmare and light talk to pete anderson. you're working with developers developing apps for this thing and released in march and that is seems like it's a techy, and i am interested in it and that this is a prime opportunity to get into the space. >> and i would say that that is a long time coming and this is the answer to the smartphone call and started with the

introduction of the iphone. >> that said and your point well-taken, blackberry has done well in the corporate world, particularly the government. a lot of government workers in town, obviously, have it and can they leap into the other space? >> i think they're going to like this and that features a fantastic camera. there are a lot of things about it that they're going to love and what remains to be seen, are people going to choose between black perry and iphone andandroi be d? and that is a competitor and slightly. >> sounds like it's catching up. >> we're in a feature world and that is going to leap frog and 8 megapixel camera and having your work home profile and that is making it nice and there is a lot of features going to leap

frog the market and some inno vacations are moving fine. >> and the idea is to access the stuff in one place. >> all right, and appreciate your time. absolutely. >> the wii u may have been a flop. the holiday sales were disappointed. it launched in november with a solid 400,000 units sold and analysts predict they will have a cheaper price tag this spring. sue. and there is lots to keep track of. 72 degrees in d.c. and somian and heavy wind. the wind and rain are big threats and we're starting with the live radar picture showing you some severe thunderstorm warnings that are issued to the south and there is some heavy

rain and some damaging within inside and this is from the south and racing to the east. what we have done is this and g how strong the winds are and capable of taking down tree limbs with the gusts to 16 and 58 miles per hour and imbedded in the storms to the south and closer. some concern that we're going to have damage. and there is some strong wins imbedded and i can't call them thunderstorms. honestly, folks, there is no lightning showing up and incredibly heavy rain, the pounding rain and some strong winds and heavier duty showers grabbing the wins and bringing them to the surface. in the yellow and to the south, severe thunderstorm warnings and i will take to you sentinel radar and show you the rain is not moved into d.c. yet and

that is to the west and south. and let me put this in motion. you can spotlight the area that we showed you close up that has the strong wins. warrenton, hartwood and into the 95 corridor. it may not be too long before you see some of those and when that comes to water, there is a lot of that, too and thaflash flood warnings, including parts of loudoun, faulkier, clark and warren and they spotlight the area with the heavy rain and within the areas, we have seen about an inch, inch and a half and there is more to come and to the south it goes down and key have some verying very cold air and that heavy rain comes in later tonight and there is not going to be a lot of thunder and lightning and some

winds gutting to 50 and closer to 60 miles per hour and temperatures will drop on thursday and into friday and we'll continue to keep an eye on the gusts at the moment we're picking up gusts and that are close to 30 miles per hour and they will be stronger in the heavier downpours and there are more on the way. the fox 5 accuweather seven-day forecast, about 47 degrees tomorrow and again, it will be dropping throughout the day and we had to 31 degrees tomorrow night. mot that cold tonight, and windy and wet. a chance of a few flakes on friday and some flurries, a quick snow shower and on to side night and sunday and -- on saturday night and sunday and february is back and that is ageing -- ending with a big game. >> a bakery in new york has creative recipes, how about a chicken wing cup cake? there are five other choice,

salsa and chips, pepperoni, pizza, corn bread and chilly and buzz light lime cupcakes. maryland hits the road against florida state. down a man. scott smith is up next with the sports edge. >> and this cake and dance, bringing it down on the old school dance cam at a pacer's versus rock exchange. and appearing slightly embarrassed by the son. the son

welcome to the verizon center. i'm scott smith. a big night for basketball. of course, we have four area teens in -- teams in progress, including maryland,ga virginia tech, american and georgetown hosting seton hall at 7:00. the hoyas look to keep the good

times rolling and had big wins against ranked teams, notre dame and louisville. seton hall in this building, 2 and 5 in the big east play and the hoyas found out last year, february 21st, suffering annan- point loss to the pirates, the worst loss of the year, in fact. the hoyas are aware of that and they're on guard. >> they beat us good last year, and i think our guys, we did remember, they saw different clips and the tapes as we prepare for this game. >> and we do remember last year and we are trying to take that as motivation, you know, to come back and play very good against them. >> and he was embarrassed last year and there is a lot of focus and stopping the scores and executing. they play the tough matchup zone and that is on to our

offense to keep going. >> the and maryland tries to bounce back from last saturday's 20-point loss at duke and with that road date at florida state. enters with a 3-4acc record, putting them in the middle of the pack and that strides are being made. >> unfortunately, i have been through this a few times. building programs, starting young teams -- we're on schedule, guys. there is no panic here. in me, but i would love to be undefeated in the league? yeah. the schedule are tough, especially on the road. >> and-for-those keeping track, super bowl xlvii kicks off in less than 100 hours and both teams met with the media and that story line is that two coaches are going against one another that happened to be brothers. the first time ever. in meeting with the media, the big brother, ravens head coach

john hour bah as big brothers do against the little brother, jim harbah. >> and everybody -- everyone is attacking today. enthusiasm unknown to man kind. every coaching room is a glow with some video on. >> our guys are excited for football and they're prepared to attack this day with an enthusiasm beyond anything that ever is known to mankind. we're topping that, too and ready to go. >> two final notes, the redskins news, the longtime special teams coach danny smith absented the same position with the steelers and bradley beale, he won't be playing tonight against the 76ers. he has a wrist injury. good news, he was voted to the rookie sophomore game coming up during the all-star game. coming up at 7:00, georgetown and seton hall. we'll bring you highlights at 11:00. >> thank you, scott.

>> good luck, ray-ray. >> denver mayor michael hancock doing ray loses' signature dance. fulfilling hissen of the bet with stephanie rawlings blake. it stems from the january 12th game where the ravens beat the broncos. a last look at the weather, sue? [ indiscernible ] -- severe weather warnings got expanded and they come up toward the fauquier county area. orange, culpeper, warrenton and bolton, winds gusting to 60 in your area. be careful of those trees. >> the latest at 10 and the news edge at 11. see you then. @ñ [ female announcer ] why settle for plain bread?

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