Good Wednesday morning to you…

Weather: A little warmer. The last gasp of winter starts to finally loosen its grip just a bit, as we see highs reach the middle 50s under sunny skies today. Nighttime lows will dip down to the freezing mark again, but with any luck that will be the last time we do so this season. Highs will get up to the lower 60s on Thursday, but scattered showers roll in on Friday.

Fugitive takes his own life. A man wanted for domestic violence and aggravated stalking charges was cornered in a house near Trussville on Tuesday, but as SWAT teams and U.S. marshals moved in, the fugitive shot himself and died. Timothy Todd McHugh, 39, was considered dangerous by police, as he had threatened to shoot them or himself if caught. McHugh barricaded himself in his house near the I-59/I-459 interchange, but after negotiations broke down, a single gunshot was heard. A robot camera sent inside the house found McHugh dead.

Supreme Court considers gay marriage. The highest court in the land will finish two days of oral arguments today as they take up to separate but related cases regarding whether same-sex marriage should be allowed nationwide. One appeal concerns California’s Proposition 8, which bars such marriages in the state; the other concerns the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton, who has since denounced the law.

Sports: Indians take down Rockets. Scott Falkinburg drove in the winning run in the fifth inning, as host Pinson Valley edged Gardendale 2-1 in baseball action Tuesday. Earlier in the afternoon, the Indians put up 18 runs in the first inning — the third highest in AHSAA history — as they mauled Center Point 23-1. Gardendale also won an easy victory in an afternoon game on their home field, bashing Minor 17-0. Elsewhere, Mortimer Jordan and Hayden each won their first Class 5A Area 12 games of the season… Softball: Chelsey Deloney scored three times, and hit a two-run homer off the top of the outfield fence, as Gardendale beat Corner 9-2. In other games, Emmie Waldrop smashed a pair of two-run blasts as Pinson Valley blew away Center Point 16-1 in four innings… Soccer: The United States men’s soccer team escaped Estadio Azteca — the home of the Mexican national team and the toughest soccer venue in all of North America — with a scoreless draw in a World Cup qualifying match Tuesday. Mexico had multiple scoring chances, but the Americans’ back line held firm. The draw increases U.S. chances of making it to another World Cup out of the CONCACAF qualifying rounds.