3 time/temp ... u-k has its first tournament game tonight. who they're playing and how you can watch it, just ahead. but first, local connection to president barack obama's supreme court pick. we hear from n-k-u's president about his time working with merrick garland, next, on good morning 3 learning more about president barack obama's supreme court pick. n-k-u's president tells us what it was like to work with him on the oklahoma city bombing case. 3 march madness kicking into high gear. we preview tonight's u-k game in des moine. 3 and an all-day celebration in the tri-state. many irish pubs will open early for saint patrick's day. 3 good morning 3 cincinnati.thanks for joining us on this *******i'm john lomax.and i'm sheila gray.the stories of the day are coming up. first a check of the weather. here's meterologist john gumm. 3 we begin this morning warren county. a woman is in jail, suspected in the death of her stepson police say she used a cruel punishment at a home on boulder drive in franklin. anna ritch is accused of putting the four-year old victim's legs in scalding hot water. austin derrick cooper was reportedly not breathing yesterday morning and died at the hospital. right now, ritch is only charged with child endangering. investigators are still trying to determine how austin died and if the charges should be upgraded. 3 loved ones of a girl who police say died at the hands of her boyfriend are speaking out. hailey hall was beaten about two weeks ago in the parking lot of a club on kellogg avenue ... and the 16 year old died earlier this week. suzanne foster was hailey's friend, and loved her like a daughter. she says she didn't approve of the boyfriend .. especially after hailey stopped by with a bruised face. 3 "talk to me tell me i'll help you he did this to you i already knew he beat her up" to face a murder charge in hall's death. he's had run-ins with the law before ... drug cases against him have been dismissed.. and he's been charged with witness intimidation in the past.. suzanne foster hopes witnesses to hailey's beating will come forward. 3 a covington man is in jail in the dayton area, accused of assaulting a police officer. his arrest stems from an incident tuesday night on i-675 near beavercreek. police pulled over vincent lyday for speeding. they say he got combative during a field sobriety test.. knocked over an officer.. and tried to push the officer into oncoming traffic. police say lyday was also driving with a suspended license. 3 an aurora e-m-t accused of stealing money from his department is sitting in the dearborn county jail this morning. craig whitham disappeared last month after admitting to stealing more than a hundred thousand dollars from aurora's emergency rescue budget. he turned himself in yesterday. investigators say whitham stole the money to support his gambling habit. 3 senate republicans say they will not act on the president's supreme court election. just minutes after president obama introduced merrick garland.. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell said no. mcconnell is adamant that whoever is elected president this year should make that pick. he says it has nothing to do with garland's credentials.. the harvard law grad is the chief judge on the u-s court of appeals in washington.. considered the second most powerful court in the land. but, president obama says what sets garland apart.. is his temperament. 3 "fidelity to the constitution and the law has been the highlight of my professional life. if the senate sees fit to confirm me to the position to which i've been nominated today, i promise to continue on that course." mcconnell called garland to tell him to not even bother showing up to meetings today. because he won't meet with him. some g-o-p senators, however, have said they would meet with garland. 3 the president of northern kentucky university worked with judge garland nearly 20 years ago. local-12's angenette levy sat his time on the okahoma city bombing case. 3 geoffrey mearns: "this is actually a piece of the murrah building." n-k-u president geoffrey mearns' office has reminders of his time as a member of the government's prosecution team in the oklahoma city bombing case. the man who oversaw the investigation: federal judge merrick garland. geoffrey mearns: "i met judge garland in the spring of 1997." garland worked for the justice department at the time and interviewed mearns to be a part of the government's prosecution team in the trial of terry nichols - timothy mcveigh's accomplice in the bombing. geoffrey mearns: "judge garland impressed me immediately as a very bright and intelligent lawyer." 186 people died in the terror attack. mearns says garland knew the world was watching. geoffrey mearns: "he understood the broader context in which we were operating. that we weren't simply trying to get a conviction. that we were trying to conduct ourselves as representatives of the united states in a way that would bring respect for the outcome. not just many reasons why mearns wasn't surprised when garland's name came up as a possible nominee for the highest court in the land.geoffrey mearns: "he has the interpersonal qualities of modesty and humanity that i think make him suited to have served so well as a federal judge." at n-k-u, al, local 12 news. 3 our question of the day has to do with the nomination.. should the u-s senate hold confirmation hearings on president obama's nominee for the supreme court? you can vote by going to the story at local-12-dot-com. 3 now to our coverage of march madness. the first four games have wrapped up in dayton. last night's early game was holy cross versus southern. holy cross won 59-55. they'll take on number one seed oregon friday. the late game was michigan versus tulsa. michigan won 72-67 and now has to face number six seed notre dame. 3 iowa will be glued to their t-v's tonight. the number four-seeded wildcats will be taking on number 13 seed stony brook in the first round of the tournament in des moines. the wildcats ended their season strong with a win in the s-e-c tournament. stony brook is making its first ever appearance in the post-season. the game is scheduled to start at about nine-fourty.. and you can watch it right here on local 12. 3 u-c and xavier play their first tournament games tomorrow. local 12's aly cohen is in spokane to cover u-c taking on saint joseph. and brad steinke is in saint louis for x's game against weber state. look for reports from both of them starting today as the teams start getting ready. 3 not only is today a great day for basketball fans as march madness gets going. it's a great day to be irish.. saint patrick's day. local bars will be packed with people watching games and places will be opening early to serve irish breakfasts as people begin their all-day celebrations. this is video from molly malone's in covington. they start serving at seven. local 12's perry schaible is heading that way right now and we'll catch up with her at five to see the crew getting ready for the big bash. 3 time/temp interest rate to remain unchanged for now. what prompted the federal reserve to hold off on an increase, just ahead. plus, a closer look at problems on election day. the differing opinions about how hours were extended at local polls and when people were notified. 3 but first, new but first, new information surfacing about bergdahl desertion case. the reason the army sergeant says he left his post in afghanistan, next, break two3 good morning... (ad lib) 3 we're learning new information about the case of army sergeant bowe bergdahl. newly released documents from a military investigation show bergdahl's reasoning for afghanistan in 2009. bergdahl said he was trying to draw attention to what he saw as leadership problems. other documents show army doctors diagnosed him with a personality disorder. bergdahl is facing a general court martial in august.. on charges of desertion and 3 frank sinatra junior carried on his famous father's legacy with his own music career.. right up until his dead...the sinatra family says he died unexpectedly of cardiac arrest while on tour in daytona beach, florida. despite a long music career, "junior" was perhaps best known for being kidnapped at the age of 19. that plot was foiled by the f-b-i. he eventually worked for his father as his musical director and conductor.frank 3 the federal reserve is keeping a key interest rate unchanged in light of global pressures that risk slowing the u-s economy. as a result, fed officials expect to raise rates more gradually this year than they had envisioned in december. officials now see two, rather than four, modest short-term rate during 2016. 3 time now is xx temperature is xx a new goodwill opens in west chester today. some of the fun they have planned for the grand opening, just ahead. plus, a closer look at green foods. on this saint patrick's day, liz bonis tells us which are the best for you, coming up, on good morning break three3 3 happening today.. goodwill opens its newest store in west chester. it's on cincinnati-dayton road, near the intersection with tylersville. a grand opening celebration starts at nine a.m. with free donuts. there will be food and fun all day plus drawings for gift certificates every 30 minutes. the new location will also offer a convenient drive through donation area. 3 great parks of hamilton county is trying to gather information from the public about how to improve facilities. so tonight ... a first listening session. it's from six to eight- thirty at william henry harrison high school's activity center on west road. great parks staff will be there to outline some plans for the parks and get feedback. more listening sessions will be held throughout the county over the next two months. 3 this morning we know the numbers.. 41 percent of election day. and the big day hit a snag in southwest ohio.. when a judger ordered polls to stay open late. but there is some discrepancy about how it played out. here's local 12's joe webb. 3 this is a copy judge dlott's order. she says it was time-stamped at 7:21 and sent to secretary of state jon husted's office.husted has a different story. we got a call at 7:32, 2 minutes after the polls were to have closed from somebody in federal judge susan dlott's office letting us know the judge had provided an oral order for us to hold the polls open in hamilton, butler, clermont and warren counties until 8:30 pm.husted says he received no written order until 8:13. regardless, hamilton county voters voted up until 7:30 and the polls closed. locally, no one knew what was going on between the judge and the secretary of 8:01 pm from the secretary of state's office. some times pollworkers, if they've finished their procedures by 8 pm...they had left before we had even received a court order.long before. poland got the secretary of state's email at 801 but not the court order until 8:14. we made every effort to reach the pollworkers and instruct them that the polls were to remain open until 8:30 and the poll workers did their best to process the voters.less than 100 voted in hamilton county between 7:30 and 8:30. some were turned away. two elections in a row extended hours led to late returns. in ohio, we are a place where legal issues surrounding elections seem to flow freely. and this was just the latest in a line of federal 3 judge dlott says she can't explain her reasoning but said there were adequate facts to support her court order. the u-s district court clerk's office stays open during elections just for cases like this where there are voting complaints. 3 now here's bob with a local 12 3 3 it's hard not to love st. patrick's day when we are all just a little bit irish.but march is also national nutrition month.. and eating green could bring you a lot more than just good luck.local 12's liz bonis reports.. it could also bring you good health! 3 {**pkg **from the water that flows green --to the beer that is brewed green --the color green -- everywhere as we celebrate saint patricks day - {** sot ** take one of vickis faves -{** sot **< vickie / 5:43: 30 my favorite green vegetables is cabbage>{** vo **and you have a perfect pairing along with for fiber that fights belly fat or waist weight. for evelncia's fav's --{** sot ** < evelencia / 5:49: 32 my favorite green foods is cucumbers, spinach and collard greens.>{** vo **you have the perfect formula to help save your sight.eat green avocado's and you have nutrients for smooth skin --add some of debra's favorites {**sot **< debra 5:43:00 broccoli and collards..,mmh ..how do you prepare those? steamed broccoli, and boil the collards sometimes mix the other greens with em.>{** vo **and you have the the formula to help fight heart disease.limes can help your hearing green peppers can help fight colon cancer and finally cucumbers,, they well if you ask evelencia..they are the low calorie food -- that puts you ,,in a good mood:{** sot **< 5:49: 40 i take my cucumbers and i peel it a little salt, little pepper, and some vinegar, and it put it in the fridge and let it marinate for about two hours and it's a good healthy snack.> 3 the corn beef with the cabbage.. or bacon with the collard greens doesn't cancel out the goodness.. but it does adds some extra calories.. so you may want to eat a little less meat..and a lot more greens! 3 saint elizabeth is teaming up with the y-m-c-a to open a new health living center in northern kentucky. saint elizabeth is donating a million dollars to create a new healthcare facility at the r-c durr y-m-c- a in burlington. the initiative will bring healthcare professionals to the y to help with prevention and lifestyle changes. it will bring physical therapy and other services directly to the y. a groundbreaki ng will take place in the fall with an anticipated grand opening in the summer of 2017. 3 prom season wil be here soon. and this weekend, local teens can get help dressing up for the special night. cinderella's closet will provide formal wear for girls from 4:30 until eight tomorrow and nine-thirty the closet is open at two locations - the immanual united methodist church in lakeside park and the centre point church in liberty township. 3 time now is xx polar bear escape at the cincinnati zoo. how it happened and how it was resolved, just ahead. plus, in the top ten of u-s skylines. we'll tell you where cincinnati's was ranked, coming up, on good morning mmm... i can't believe it has 40% fewer calories than butter. i i can't believe it's made with real, simple ingredients. i can't believe... we're on a whale. [whale] i can't believe they talked me into this. i can't believe my role isn't bigger. real, simple ingredients. unbelievable taste. oh it's real! enjoy i can't believe 3 we're doing a saint patrick's day themed facebook question day. we want to know: what is the luckiest thing that's ever happened to 3 we want you to join the conversation -- just *like* the local 12 page on facebook to share your thoughts. 3 3 (show open) 3 now at five.one day after a car tumbles into the ohio river.a woman caught in the 12- car pileup tells us about those terrifying moments. 3 helping people get back on their feet.we'll tell you about the new program cincinnati city council is considering. 3 3 good morning.good morning. we'll get to those top stories in just a moment.but first we meterologist john gumm. 3