Here is a look at the top stories on this Wednesday, January 9, 2013:

At 6:53 hear Washington Bureau Chief Jamie Dupree explain how we're on track for a fifth straight annual budget deficit of at least $1 trillion.

At 7:10 hear Governor Rick Scott explain his plan to eliminate the sales tax manufacturers pay to buy new equipment. 

At 8:23 hear Jamie Dupree explain how the NRA will have a voice in the WH effort to curb gun violence. 

The Big Three Stories on Jacksonville's Morning News:

1.) January thaw. We'll have temps in the mid-70's today and even warmer into the weekend. Beyond a slight chance of rain this long stretch of warm air will be dry and sunny. We'll challenge record high's this weekend when we push 80. The average high this time of year is 65 and the average low is 41.

The warm weather may have you thinking about a trip to the beach. But you'll want to stay out of the water because two Great White Sharks have been tracked in Jax Beach. The largest is nearly 3,500 pounds and 16 feet long. A second Great White was recently located as well topping one ton.

2.) The new GM. We'll be introduced tomorrow to David Caldwell, the new Jaguars General Manager. Caldwell has been in the NFL 17 years, most recently the director of player personnel in Atlanta. Owner Shad Khan says he wants to assure Jaguars fans the best days are in front of us.

3.) More red ink. We've discovered the the U.S. government ran a budget deficit of $1 billion in December. The latest numbers out of the Congressional Budget Office shows the first quarter deficit of nearly $300 billion. At that pace we'll see the fifth straight year of a federal deficit over $1 trillion. Our Washington Bureau Chief Jamie Dupree reports the deficit went down a bit in December because of a jump in federal tax revenues both from both personal and corporate tax payments.

The NRA will have a seat in the White House. Vice President Joe Biden is putting together proposals on curbing gun violence that he can take to President Obama by the end of this month. Today, Biden looks for suggestions from gun-safety organizations and victims groups when he meets with them at the White House. Thursday, Biden meets with gun rights groups like the National Rifle Association, which is fighting tighter gun restrictions.

Prosecutors in Colorado are expected to call their final witness today in the preliminary hearing for James Holmes. The former grad student is accused of killing 12 people and wounding dozens in a movie theater in July. Yesterday, authorities testified that Holmes spent more than two months putting together an arsenal allegedly used in the attack and bought tickets to the midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Returns'' nearly two weeks before.

Four lives cut short in an intense house fire east of Atlanta. New this morning, one child survived because his mom threw him out of a window. WOKV's Richard Sangster reports the victims are three boys and one girl. They range in age from an infant to seven years old. The mother and a grandmother that lived at the home survived. It's unclear at this hour how the fire started.

A first for the the Washington National Cathedral. It will soon begin performing same-sex marriages. Cathedral officials say the church will be among the first Episcopal congregations to implement a new rite of marriage for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender members.

If you drive Blanding Boulevard to work you're soon going to see new billboards popping up. The Clay County Commission just voted to lift the ban on digital billboards. But they will not be able to go up on U.S. 17 or Kingsley. The ordinance includes a mandatory requirement that every digital billboard put up will mean three static ones be taken down. In another vote, commissioners shot down a zoning ordinance that would have allowed veterans groups and other nonprofits to have electronic game machines at their facilities.

After WOKV brought you the story of a meth cook operation busted in a Southside baseball dugout, we're looking deeper into the psyche of those who use methamphetamine so you know what to look for in your neighborhood. Sergeant Chuck Mulligan with the St. Johns County sheriff's office says they're seeing an uptick in users because it's cheap in a bad economy. Mulligan says it can cost thousands of taxpayer dollars just to clean up a small cook. Not to mention the threat a volatile and flammable meth lab presents to the public.

A Jacksonville councilman is proposing legislation that would prevent convicted sex offenders from running or owning ice cream trucks. Councilman Don Redman drafted the legislation after hearing about Jackie Hall, a convicted sex offender who was trying to own and operate an ice cream truck in Clay County. The law would require anyone looking to buy or run an ice cream truck to get a permit from the city that only is available after a background check.