>> >> you are watching wbal-tv 11 news. live, local, late breaking. this is 11 news at new. -- noon. >> maryland achieves and knee- jerk achievement. education week magazine has named the school -- a major achievement. education week magazine has been the school the best and the nation for the fifth year in a row. >> maryland hangs on to its no. 1 ranking. >> obviously we are delighted

maryland has identified as number one by quality council. >> she is in charge of what students are learning across the state, but she says there is enough credit to go around. >> it gives the opportunity to recognize stakeholders across the state to have really worked together to make this the number one school system. >> as you look at this year's results, would you say there is room for improvement? >> the work is not done. certainly the focus on on eliminating the achievement gap. every parent, every educator, every child deserves to have the very best school in his or her community. >> maryland received nothing more than a b grade in a number of academic categories. it landed an a in several

categories including work force policies. >> how tough is it to remain no. one year after year? >> we want to make sure the children of maryland have the very best education. will we stay number one? of course not. but we will always strive to be number one. >> tim tooten, wbal tv-11 news. . >> students are dealing with the surprise of shutdown of their school. students with the american career institute went to school yester day to find a letter informing them it had been closed. aci blames its inability to secure additional credits. officials tell 11 news they are working to help the 1200 students affected finished their trade courses. >> we here at the maryland higher education commission are committed to ensuring they

complete the training they intended to complete when they enrolled at aci. it is important to get the skills they need to get the jobs that they need. >> those who paid out of pocket will be reimbursed by a state- controlled trust fund. meanwhile, investigators say at two-alarm fire started or run 7:30 wednesday night in west baltimore. everyone inside manage to get out safely. crews are working to determine because of that fire. and 18-year-old will learn his punishments for intentionally setting seven fires in colombia. the fires -- in columbia. the fires cost close to half a billion dollars -- half a million dollars in damage.

a tractor-trailer accident forces part of the belt way too close for the second night in a row. this picture was posted around 10:00 last night on the outer loop of the beltway. the road was closed for hours as crews cleaned up a feels bill. -- fuel spill. >> we certainly have not had a wintry winter so far. not a lot of storms. temperatures have been for the most part not too terribly cold. today is going to be one of those days when our readings are above normal temperature-wise. and yes, we picked up a few high, thin cloud out there. nice dry day today at you and there is some stormy weather in ohio and indiana and kentucky. that storm is headed this way. eventually we will see a change, at least for awhile. the trend is for the

temperatures to go up. that is one of the trends anyway. we will talk about it in the insta-weather plus forecast in just a minute to be bankrupt >> the ravens head to denver, considered underdogs, but ray lewis does not put much stock in predictions. rain knows a thing or two of about beating the odds. >> i do not get caught up in this person feels this. this person feels that. i heard someone say he likes the colts. does that make him wrong? i say he is wrong this time keeping everybody has an opinion. whatever their opinions, let them have it. no matter what nobody says, you have to play the game, and that is the way we feel. let the game played out. at the end of the day, some people are going to be right and some people are going to be wrong. >> peyton manning has a 9-0

record against the ravens overall, but baltimore has wrapped up most of their wins on the road. check out the playoff addition for a look at the proper -- prep work for the game. coming up, we will go over some of your pet questions. you can e-mail your pet questions to us or visit our website -- wbaltv.com. but first -- >> joe flacco. everyone knows someone who has had it -- the flu. had it -- the flu.

good evening, this is flo. [laughs] yes, i'm that flo. aren't you sweet! licensed phone-ups available 24/7. call 1-800-progressive. >> tomorrow, the cdc will release its latest flu numbers. they expect a big jump. viruses considered widespread in 40 states. tracy potts has more on the flu frenzy in today's medical alert. >> in boston, the mayor declared a public health emergency. they have had 700 cases so far. >> that is 10 times the number of total cases we saw last year. >> they are offering free flu shots to combat what the cdc

says could be one of the worst flu seasons we have seen in years. >> it was like something hit me like a truck. >> doctor visits have doubled in the last four weeks. some schools have closed. crowded emergency rooms are turning people away. this pennsylvania hospital set up a tent for the overflow. >> we can see them, and evaluate them, discharge them right from the tent. >> so far, at 18 children have died, including this 6-year-old from texas. >> she was daddy's girl. i do not know what to do. >> this north carolina hair salon is seen the impact on workers and customers. >> they are canceling appointments, rescheduling, coming in coughing. it has been bad. >> experts say the flu could cost employers $10 billion.

>> it could last longer, too, because the particular strain going around this year also seems to be more severe. from washington, i am tracy bought. back to you. >> alright. thank you. coming up, i will chat about the global -- golden globe awards. plus, we know who gets the oscar nods this year. >> a storm to the west and southwest that could be headed our way. details in the insta-weather plus forecast, coming up. right now, ocean city, not much action out there. 51 degrees at the ocean. here in town, 50.

>> the academy awards make their choices for the year's best out of hollywood. now that the awards are in, we look at the major nominees. >> by the people, for the people. >> a grab the most golden globe nominations one month ago. now "lincoln" has the most oscar nominations. 12 overall, including best picture, best director, best actor. among the eight other films vying for best picture -- les mis, silver linings playbook, and the life of pi. "zero dark thirty" is also in

the best picture category, but its director did not get a nomination. neither did an outlet for "argo" or quentin tarantino for "django unchained." >> clinton is the director's director. that is stunning. >> 9-year-old wallis is the youngest in the category. they are up against naomi watts and the startup "zero dark thirty." bradley cooper is competing with daniel day-lewis for best actor. the academy awards will be

handed out february 24. nbc news. >> now that we are filled in on the oscars, we turn now to the golden globes. the awards show will celebrate its 70th anniversary this sunday. for more rican expect on the red carpet, we are -- for more we can expect on the red carpet, we're joined by our guests. >> great to be here. >> before we get to the nominees, a lot of buzz about the hosting change. no longer ricky gervais. instead tina fey and amy pohler. >> i am so excited for them. it is ladies' night all the way. the best and the brightest comedians. they will be so funny. we are not getting any sense of what they are going to do, but i guarantee it is going to be a legendary night in hollywood.

i do think it will be kinder and gentler than ricky gervais. >> i think they will ride on each other more than the people in the audience. >> probably so. they are greater thanduo. is there a clear front runner in this category? >> yes, it is probably "lincoln." golden globe voters nominated three of the cast members and steven spielberg and the screenwriter. there's always room for surprises. they love "argo" and "django unchained." if they want to spread around and just give daniel day-lewis best actor for "lincoln," they could give best picture to a different film. there are only 85 people who vote, so the difference of one or two votes could cause a win or a loss for one movie or

another. >> i have to ask -- who are you wearing and does it go along with the cast? >> you know, that is interesting. we have been comparing notes on dresses. i have not yet decided. i think i have a couple more choices i want to look at. but savannah, we will make sure that we match, do not clash. it will be fun. >> so, a different color based on -- >> there is a little wardrobe solution, i think, in the works for this. >> hopefully you are on the mend their, natalie. appreciate your time. you can catch the golden globes at 8:00 p.m. right here on channel 11. >> now your 11 insta-weather plus forecast with meteorologist john collins. >> today started off with a beautiful sunrise. justin tuck then cloudiness --

just enough thin cloudiness to make the sky interesting. rain activity in the ohio river valley, back in kentucky, reaching back into the gulf coast region. that storm is eventually going to come in, but for today the rain to directory will stay west of the mountains for the most part. it looks like we will have a pretty good day here. let's look at what the temperature range will be. we have been running at close to 10 degrees above average for this time of the season. as you can see on the scale here, we have been well above that line. here is today. we have been able to go way above that line. temperatures approaching 60 or maybe even better than that. it really depends on how much sunshine we get. today our temperatures are above average. no surprise there. what you see in the green shades, temperatures in the upper 40's. once you get into the blues,

temperatures dropped into the 30's. here is the satellite-radar combination. just a few thin cloud to the west. we begin to see evidence of that storm out west. at the moment, we have a little bit of chilly air out here, relatively speaking. the warmest of the air is down to the south and has yet to come in. there are pretty good storms associated with this system out to the west. the severe weather is all down to the south. is our turn for rain comes in tomorrow's forecast -- our turn for rain comes in tomorrow's forecast. there is no mechanism in the atmosphere, note jet stream that can drive the extremely cold air down in our area. it looks like the mild temperatures will continue. we do see some clouds. nw winds at about 10 miles per

hour. we see this on-again, off-again clouds through tomorrow. it looks like the bulk of the rain in tomorrow's forecast will be later in the day, later in the afternoon, the evening hours. saturday, that will have moved east of us. rain chances will be minimal, at least in the early part of the weekend. denver, a big game coming up sunday. boy, is it going to be called. in our own forecast here locally -- not bad. we will be in the 60's over the weekend. >> all right. i am joined by dr. patrick allen, and he is here with chloe, and she looks like she is dressed for the golden globes. >> she is. >> alright, we have several questions. li writes "my dog has a severe small that affects her almost

every day. if she has about, it goes away is an -- it goes away and comes back." >> there are a couple of things. anal glands, skin infections ming year infections. have a look at that. >> my kitten loves milk. is it ok to give him a little every dead? >> moderation. milk is harder for them to digest. probably get some of the cat milk you can get from the pet store or the grocery store. >> and christina was dino "how do i keep my dog from sleeping in my bed?" >> once they get in the habit, it is hard to break. >> best but, do not do it in the first place, right? >> yes. >> thank you.

she did a good job, didn't she? if you have a pet question coming e-mail it to to us or visit our website -- wbaltv.com. coming up next, your maryland lottery pick three and four numbers and another check of the 11 insta-weather plus forecast with john. first, a look at how wall street is performing at this hour. stay with us.

>> time for your maryland lottery pick three and the four numbers. >> ♪ the maryland lottery, let yourself play ♪ >> your pick three numbers are -- 4. 5. and 9 as printed on the ball. in a moment, the pick four game, but first, celebrate the anniversary with the new scratch up. the winner can win $100,000. it is a gem of a game. or picked four numbers are -- 0. 0.

7. and the final number is 0. making pick 4 0070. the maryland lottery, let your self play. >> we will be nice for a while? >> tomorrow we do have scattered showers chances. then from sunday into next week, there are rain chances -- not terribly high, but they are there. the temperatures will be warmest over the weekend, around 64 the high, and then they start to back off. then we get a lot closer to what we would consider the average high for this time of year. >> ok. >> enjoy it while we have a. greg thank you, john. >> be sure to watch tonight.

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