museum. it will pay tribute to the art, life and klture of african- americans. -- culture of african- americans. first lady laura bush helped with the groundbreaking. tara mergener has more. reporter: celebrities and dignitaries including president obama gathered inside a tent on the national mall to mark the start of construction on the smith sonnian's newest edition, the national museum of african- american history and culture. >> this is a milestone moment not only for the smithsonian, but for the united states. reporter: lonnie bunch is the museum's director. >> it really has been an opportunity to make sure that my ancestors and all our ancestors are remembered. reporter: the new museum is slated to open on the national mall in 2015, but it already has a staff raising money and collecting artifacts. smithsonian officials say they already have more than 15,000 items on hand that will be part of the african-american museum's collection. they're working to find more material on popular culture, music and military history. they're hoping this kickoff will also help jump start fundraising. congress pledged $250 million for the museum which will cover about half the cost of building it. now museum staffers are reaching out to corporate donors and launching a website for smaller gifts online. tara mergener for cbs news, washington. >> smithsonian officials hope to tie the museum's opening in 2015 to the 50th anniversary of the passage of the civil rights act. the virginia historical society has launched a project called unknown no longer. it is an online database of previously unpublished his store cal records concerning enslaved virginiaians. some of the records contain the names of slaves, others have more details about family members, occupations and dates of birth. the database can be accessed through the virginia historical society's website. the alexandria, virginia man charged with plotting a bombing mission inside the u.s. capital will be in court today. federal agents arrested 29-year- old amine alkhalifi during a sting operation on friday. he thought al-qaida provided him with a gun and a vest filled with explosives but they were fake. sports say the public was never -- police say the public was never in any danger. al-khaleifi was in the united states illegally. jury deliberations are under way in the george huguely murder trial. the former university of virginia la crosse player from chefy chase is facing life in prison for the may 2010 ket of his girlfriend -- death of his girlfriend, yeardley love. bruce lashan has been following the trial from the beginning. he joins us live from charlottesville with the latest information. bruce. reporter: jc, i'll tell ya what, an incredible amount of stress and tension for george huguely, clearly for george huguely's family, they are here for yeardley love's family, they are here as well. the jury right now deliberating the fate. we've already lost one young life, the question is whether george huguely's young life will be spent, the evident of it, in prison. the jury started about 9:30 this morning. they were at it -- they've been at it now about 2 1/2 hours. at about the hour and a half mark they came out and asked the judge one question. they wanted to know the definition of reason. we don't know specifically how that relates to the charges against him. we can only assume it goes to this question of malice, whether he it mal ace aforethought and -- malice aforethought and whether he was acting with a reasonable mind. i have been in the overflow courtroom so i can come out and bring you the later on tbitter via bruce lashan. my colleague kristin has been in the actual courtroom. i want to bring her in and ask her, have you been able to see yeardley love's mother, her family, gotten any sense either from her or from george huguely, any kind of read there reporter: well, you know, i think for the love family, right now they're sort of placing their emotions on hold and really saving it for when this verdict does indeed come down. tell you what, though, i was really watching the jury and the word that i would use to describe them best would be just very attentive, they were really listening to the judge's instructions, making sure that they knew what they had to do. the thing i wasn't expecting was the two alternate jurors. they spent the last two weeks of their lives listening to some very emotional testimony and now they're not going to have an opportunity to say whether or not -- to have their say in whether or not huguely is guilty or innocent. reporter: unless something happens and they get called back and we were admonished by the judge in the media not to attempt to talk to those two jurors. complicated case, two different murder theories that these jurors are going to have to consider, was it first-degree premeditated murder, was it second-degree murder, was it felony murder in the commission of a robbery. that's what they're thinking about now and we're going to bring it to you just as soon as we get it. jc. >> thank you very much. the woman killed when her bmw hit a kentucky fried chicken restaurant in landover was driving on a suspended license. police have identified the driver as 29-year-old helena louise smith of washington d.c. the car left the roadway and it went through a gas station lot on monday night. it flipped over numerous times before hitting the restaurant. investigators are looking into reports that smith might have been going as fast as 100 miles per hour. smith's passenger and a man in another vehicle were injured. state police cited smith for speeding after she was stopped going 91 miles per hour on the beltway. an american war correspondent was killed in syria when government forces shelled rebel fighters. tina krauss has more on exactly how it happened. reporter: syrian forces reportedly shelled a house and the rebel stronghold of homs, killing an american reporter. 57-year-old marie cullvin was a veteran correspondent for a british newspaper. the new york native lost an eye, covering another war more than a decade ago. >> this is a desperately sad reminder of the risks that journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and the dreadful events in syria. reporter: just a kay before she died, culvin was on tv, calling the government bombardment of rebels relentless and shocking. >> i think the sickening thing is the complete merciless nature, they are hitting civilian buildings. reporter: a french photographer was also killed. witnesses say a rocket hit the journalists as they tried to escape a barrage of shelling. helicopter gun ships are helping forces loyal to president basharassad. weeks of attacks have left hundreds dead. this amateur video reportedly shows hundreds of syrian soldiers joining the rebels' fight to take down assad's government. western powers, including the u.s. have not ruled out arming rebels to help end the conflict. tina krauss, cbs news. president obama has said that he hopes diplomacy and not military force will solve the syrian crisis, however, new tactics may have have to be explored if assad continues to defy international pressure to leave power. still to come when 9 news now continues, a falling tree is causing problems for neighbors. find out why no one is bothering to haul it away. and find out what happens when a mother confronts a liquor store owner accused of selling alcohol to minors. we'll be right back. we're hearing from the local mother who tipped us off to the northwest washington liquor store that has allegedly been selling alcohol to minors for years. monday night the mother returned to town square market to confront the store owner who she says nearly destroyed her family. the maryland mother says the store sold her 16-year-old alcohol for two years and she felt compelled to see the owner in person. >> so i said are you the person who's been in the news, and he said yes. and i said where's the vodka. and he pointed to where the vodka was, and i carried it over to the counter, and he was about to ring it up and i said i'm not buying this, but you sold it to my daughter. and she was rushed to the hospital because you sold it to a 16-year-old girl illegally. how dare you. >> the mother's visit to the town square market came after our series of reports documenting how buyers as young as 14 years old were purchasing alcohol in plain sight. montgomery county police have backed that up with 38 recent alcohol citations to minors buying at town square market and crossing into maryland. go to wusa9.com for more information. andrea mccarren did the series on that report. howard is up next. >> jc, really nice out here right now. light wind, little breeze in some spots. temps up to 50. winter is not over. that comes back this weekend. look at these temps, already 60 at laurel. we'll have the full seven-day forecast when we return. , we've been combing through the day's daily dales e-mails and retailer websites to find you some deep discounts. here are some of our favorites. with spring right around the corner, how about some alfresco dining by the fire? target's daily deal is for a 33- inch smith and hawkin copper fire ball. it's going for $89.99 plus free shipping. the outdoor fireplace normally goes for $119.99 so you're getting a 25% savings. now to some car maintenance, kgb deals is is offering this one with nicole's imported car service in virginia. $7 for an oil change, normally $38. $60 for a front brake pad change, normally $140 and $75 for back brake pad change, normally $150. finally we're getting to some fun. groupon is selling a go carting package for two. pay $55 and you get a one-year membership to summit point cart and one session credit. this package usually sells for $126, so that's a 56% savings and there's also a larger package for eight people. if you have an offer you've seen or if you're a local merchant, i'd love to hear from you on facebook. i'm jessica doyle, 9 news now. there is a saying that says one man's trash is another man's treasure. well, except in this case you can change the word treasure to art. a montgomery county homeowner is coming under fire for trying to turn a fallen tree into a massive statue in his front yard. kristin fisher explains. >> this is the tree when it came down. reporter: this is a picture of the 400-year-old tree that came crashing down in jason orenstein's front yard during a storm two summers here. >> i've lived here my entire life. this is a tree in which i used to sit under when i was young. reporter: jason hired a different jason, jason swain to turn it into a work of art. >> this sculpture here, we went with the majestic eagle coming in to land under a branch. >> i'm trying to do something that's patriotic. i want to make this a commemorative that honors our soldiers. reporter: jason the artist has been working on this 11 foot tall statue for the last six weeks, but jason the homeowner has been getting grief from the county since november and he's got the paperwork to prove it. a county housing inspector cited them for failure to remove solid waste from their property. >> my artwork has been called a lot of things, but never rubbish. reporter: the orensteins were threatened with a court date and fines up to $750 a day. >> you have a government official who's abusing his power and misreading what the law was intended for. reporter: now, it's been four months since the oren steins received that first violation. that's four months of stress and legal fees. but just this afternoon i got an e-mail from a county spokeswoman and it reads, since i spoke to you this morning, we've received correspondence from the property owner indicating that the remaining standing tree section will be converted into a piece of carved artwork. we are dismissing the citation. >> to me it's shocking that back in december when we sent them the contract they didn't read it, but as soon as there's a news crew out, evidently they learned to read. reporter: in silver spring, kristin fisher, 9 news now. >> the county has notified us that they are dismissing the citation, but they still have not contacted the homeowner or his attorney. the statue, by the way, should be finished by next month. >> kind of a neat eagle they're making out of that. >> i'm telling you. something else. how are you doing? >> it's so nice outside right now. we have some showers tonight, but one more really nice spring- like day tomorrow and then things are going to change. it's still the month of february. we still have some cold air that we're going to be experiencing. we may even see a few flurries by saturday morning around here in spite of how nice and spring like it's going to be for the next 36 to 48 hours. this afternoon high thin clouds out there now, but still a good deal of sunshine. we'll see those clouds thicken up later with temperatures getting up toward 60, maybe even the low 60s in a couple of spots. winds have not been picking up yet, but i do expect them to be out of the south 10 to 15. they could gust toward that 20 mile per hour range. this evening here comes some showers. by 7:00, mainly south of town, 54. by 9:00 better chance we'll see some showers around, 52. but it looks like perhaps in the metro this may hold off until after dark. with our winds staying up, our lows will be in the 40s tonight, as opposed to the 30s weez had this morning. we have some clouds left. you can see some other clouds coming in right now giving us sunshine and then there's rain in toward southwest, virginia, that's the leading edge of some moisture that will be here tonight. check out our michael and son weather camera. pretty nice at the moment. we've got a temperature of 54 degrees with a south wind at 15 miles per hour. mostly sunny skies, dewpoint 38, so the air is nice and dry and that barometer continues to drop, 29.78, one of these achy sort of days. big changes in the barometer, thanks in part to this big storm in the upper part of the atmosphere. by the way, out west, this jet is coming onshore, this thing has been a monster. had a couple of feet of snow, wind in spots in the rockies, 100 miles an hour, all sorts of problems. but you see the storms how they've broken out today and showers into tennessee. they've been weakening, however, there's going to be enough energy coming with this little wind, jet stream, we call it in the upper levels coming towards st. louis now tonight that we've got a threat not just for some showers, but even isolated thunder overnight tonight with these showers and storms. so the clouds thicken up. here we are by midnight. notice the rain especially south of town. this is going to come across the region, a couple of pieces of it overnight toward tomorrow morning. tomorrow morning we go back into the sunshine, so the timing of the showers overnight, that works out well for most. middle of the day, lots of sunshine. we're going to have temperatures tomorrow upper 60s, potentially near 70 south and west of town. then as we head into friday morning, the rains build in with the front. it'll be outta here pretty quickly friday, but we turn cold in the afternoon and the spring party anyway is about over. 60 today, showers tonight, we dip into the 40s. 67 tomorrow with the sunshine. more showers late thursday night into early friday, windy, cold in the afternoon, 61. and then as we get to the weekend, blustery on saturday, maybe some flurries around here with snow showers, highs back in the 40s. stick around, we've got some royalty in the house. jc will explain when we return. i am so excited today because i am one on one with a real, real king. it is a delight for me to welcome king peggy. if you want to read a real sinder rel la story, this is what you want to read, her royal destiny and the inspiring story of how she changed an african village. oh, king, honorable king, how delighted i am to have you. and this is a fabulous, fabulous book about your life. i didn't know a woman could be king. >> well, now you're seeing one. a woman can be a king. a monkey can become anything she wants to be. >> i love that. young girls, are you listening? a young girl can be anything she wants to be. tell me how you became a king in a village in ghana. >> in august of 2008, i run in the morning and i receive a call, and i pick up the phone because normally over here, it's 9:00 in the morning in ghana because we are five hours ahead. so my phone rang and i was very, very reluctant to pick it up. but i said let me pick it up because most of the time my brother in australia tends to call me. but this one wasn't from him, it was from a cousin from ghana. when i picked up the phone, you know, he called me nana. nana is women in africa that has grandparents and also for queens and kings, but i was none of them. at first i thought it was a front and i was getting ready to hang up, and he said don't hang up. nana. so i talked for a moment and i just said what is it that you need. it's 4:00 in the morning in the united states, and you really woke me up. what is it you need. and he said nana, you know, your uncle went to the village and he's not coming back anytime soon, meaning the king is dead and that we need someone to replace him, and then after we did all of the names, we pick out all the names and we did all the rituals, your name came up. we have chosen you to be the king. >> this is just the beginning of an incredible story because king peggy works at the ghanan embassy here in washington d.c. still, but she has done so much for her village. they didn't have running water, they didn't have schools for the youngsters and she has really made an incredible change in her small village in ghana. get the book, "king peggy." it's a fantastic story. i'm just honor today be with the king. >> i'm honored to be with you too, i'm honored to be here. thank you so much. >> come back and visit us at 5:00. >> thank you.