. this is wjztv, and wjz.com, baltimore. from the city to the counties to your neighborhood. now, it's complete coverage, it's wjz, maryland's news station. horrible crash. a charter bus filled with children and parents plunges

off a ramp killing one person. >> reporter: tonight the rush to save dozens of passengers and investigation into how this happened. hello, everybody. here's what people are talking about. a dramatic scene, a tour bus tumbles down an embankment, one person died. kelly mcpherson explains the bus was carrying children and parents who were visiting washington dc. >> reporter: at least 4 people had to be cut out of this wreckage after their bus plunged down this embankment. the driver died. a group of 11 tourists, including 4 children was returning home to pennsylvania after a trip to dc. >> we have seen bus wrecks

before. >> reporter: the sky ramp, which is empty in the middle of your screen is where the bus was driving when it went down around 4:00. major highways were closed or clogged. >> our intent is to get traffic moving as quickly as possible. >> reporter: it crashed through a guardrail and fell through 45 feet of vegetation. two other cars crashed nearby. the bus did not lands on any other vehicles. >> reporter: first responders took hours to search the areas for victims, even bringing in the k99 unit to help. two elderly passengers were in critical condition. it typically investigates a fatal crash. a chopper is taking pictures. >> as far as the cause of the crash, it is far too early to speculate on what caused the crash. all we know is what -- just

prior to entering the sky ramp. >> there was one other person involved in the cash who refused treatment at the scene. now will speak to many of the witnesses, many of whom are still in the hospital tonight. reporting live, kelly mcpherson. thank you, kelly. now the drivers body is at the state medical's examiner's office. stay with wjz for any updates on the crash. ready for the worst. the remnants of a tropical storm are moving into maryland. to prepare for possible flooding, sandbags were distributed tonight. the streets around city dock are notorious for flooding. bernadette woods are tracking

the system tonight. let first go to bob with a live look. >> reporter: it's really getting juiced up. just south of the city, the rains are moving in and south to us into virginias and carolinas. it is heading due north and will be heavy at times and during the day tomorrow we do have flash flood watches in effect and coastal -- the entire region all day tomorrow into the evening hours, too. also a high wind watch for the eastern shore and the beach areas as well. bernadette woods joins me now from the out back with a close look at the storm and what we can expect rain wise. >> reporter: declassified from an extra tropical storm, however, it is still spinning out there and throwing a lot of moisture our way. and the overall pattern is

already directing moisture our way. the thing is along this path you can see with the arrows what's going up and down the highway to draw all the moisture northward. so over this region you see it's heaviest up to 6 seasons. it's something we are concerned about. we will keep you updated. right now back inside. first warning coverage continues now. kei jackson explains what's being done around the region to prepare for all this rain. >> reporter: is notorious for flooding. the city is bracing for bad weather and citizens can do their part to be prepared. city workers clean a storm drain on federal hill. staff inside the office get in standby mode and monitor

events. remnants of a tropical storm as the city of baltimore getting ready for battle. >> we're going to focus on flooding and the winds. i think we're going to be okay on storm search. >> reporter: maryland was hit hard when hurricane is he ysabel dumped rain in 2006. wind or saturated ground will bring down trees which in turn will snap power lines. >> what we could see is several thousand power outages as a result of trees and limbs coming down. >> reporter: in others it's times dumping massive amounts of dirt. the city admits they just don't have the manpower to clean out every one. and the city is urging residents to have adequate supplies in case of power loss. >> enough water for three days,

a working flash light and a radio. >> in addition to water and a flash light, also suggests that residents have a first aid kit, even food for your pet. >> reporter: experts also urge families to talk and come up with an emergency plan. and live radar and the updated forecast. log on to our website, wj z.com. pay for performance announce a trail blazing plan to reform the school system. moving to base teacher pay on student performance. tonight city schools are tallying the plans but some teachers have questions. >> reporter: a groundbreaking -- before an auditorium packed with -- instead rewarding teachers based on performance. teachers will also get a 2% raise next year. tonight teachers shared their

concerns. >> i believe teachers should be held accountable but also students and parents also have to be held accountable also. if i'm teaching second grade and the students come to me, [ indiscernible ] it's not about whether or not you move them from the 2nd grade to 3rd and kindergarten. how much -- >> reporter: some parents of students we talked to applaud the changes. >> there's always room for improvement. i think that teachers are the most important government officials we have. president obama has been pressing for the changes. last month his administration awarded maryland $250,000 in the race to the top program. the assist a safe school

program explains why would be key. >> any time you are dealing with an evaluation of somebody's performance you need to be fair. >> reporter: believes the agreement will benefit both teachers and students. >> need to honor those who are working harder, the more [ indiscernible ] while at the same time insuring that everyone has the opportunity to [ indiscernible ] >> reporter: and a contract still need the approval of the teacher's union. disbanded. baltimore police are doing away with an elite drug enforcement operation due to officer misconduct. after the suspensions of 3 officers in two different units. the plain clothes officers spot crime in northwest baltimore. right now police are not saying much about the suspension citing an internal investigation. family members are honoring

the university of virginia student killed this spring. has set up the one love foundation. love's boyfriend was charged with killing the student. to build a turf lacrosse field at her high school. the school will also create a scholarship in her name. legend cal ripken, jr. is getting into the jerky business, beef jerky, that is. the iron man is working with a new jersey company to sell a line of beef jerky called ripken power shred. it will be in stores next spring. you can find a link to that website. just click on this story. say what you want, but i like beef jerky. >> reporter: must be good for you. it's live tv, anything can happen, even a not so tough mistake. >> i don't know what to say,

this is a complete accident, i'm so sorry. just minutes away, the host of a top model competition is feeling sick after a big mistake. what she did and how the contestants reacted. a plane lands without its landing gear. tonight hear from the pilot that brought it down. at a time when it's hard to get a job, this transmission facility is adding them. that story coming up next. a very stormy thursday headed our way, the first warning forecast coming up next. ,, old gibbs canning company.

,, today these factories are full of dot com businesses. and now my job is helping maryland create new economy jobs. training new math and science teachers investing in our institutions of excellence pioneering new cyber security jobs and giving an old gm plant a jump start building electric motors. i'm barbara mikulski. i approve this message so you'll know i'm fighting for you.

♪ storyteller: hey diddle diddle the cat and the fiddle the cow jumped over the moon. then quickly fell back to earth, landing on the roof of a dutch colonial. luckily, geico recently helped the residents with homeowners insurance. they were able to get the roof repaired like new. they later sold the cow, because they had all become lactose intolerant. call geico and see how much you could save on homeowners insurance. two governors, two different approaches. even in good times bob ehrlich did not make education a priority. he increased college tuition by 40%, cut school construction by $200 million, and ehrlich voted to eliminate the department of education while serving in congress. but martin o'malley, even in the toughest of times, has made record investments in public schools,

new school construction, and o'malley froze college tuition four years in a row. with martin o'malley, our children always come first. it is 67 degrees with some light rain in central marry lands right now. the complete forecast is coming up. tensions remain high in europe after the suspect of a terror plot. called for a terror plot on numerous cities in france, germany and. they were going to be similar to the raised in india which killed 266 people two years ago. the plot was in its first stages. the man behind the times square bombing was planning a second attack. he boasted about a plan to

detonate another bomb two weeks later. some argue he should get a life sentence. he is being hailed as a hero. it happened saturday night when the landing gear malfunctioned. passengers took video as con rough was able to keep the plane from scratching. the veteran pilot said it was the biggest challenge of his career something i'm retired navy and this is the most significant incident i have ever had in the 32 years that i have been flying. >> reporter: over 60 passengers and crew were aboard the delta flight. the landing gear problem is similar to one that forced an emergency landing last night. it was pulled from the

brink of certain closure, but it's growing. as ann collins reports, soon we will see the company's first volt electric cars on the streets. >> reporter: governor o'malley checks out the new bolt. general motors manager excited. >> on an electric charge you get 40 miles and then the engine regenerates that and you get another 300 miles. >> reporter: in january the company announced it would create hundreds of jobs and will invest 323 million more. >> these new jobs might seem small in number, but this is the beginning. this is the down payment.

this is about jobs tomorrow. >> we have got to work every single day to save jobs, create jobs, improve the conditions that allow us to make the transition into this cleaner greener economy. >> reporter: earlier it was announced it would be made here. today they announced they are making another component but they won't say exactly what it is. gm says it is making its investment here because it has a good -- with the union. one says he loves this environment. >> we stop is line, we fix it immediately if there is something wrong. the people have more hands on control of the product as it comes out. so they have much more pride in what they do. >> reporter: when gm's new equinox comes up for

production. the first electric motors are expected to be produced in white marsh in 2013. this may be the most awkward moment in tv. watch what happens with the announcement of the top models competition. >> it's you, kelci. >> reporter: well, everything looked good except for one thing. the host said the wrong name. she was told of the mistake and had to explain everything to the contestants live on tv on stage. afterwards the show producers decided to award both women the top prize and avoid a major lawsuit. >> she is the granddaughter or niece of rupert mor dock. >> that's bad. >> and the circumstances. we have a very stormy thursday headed our way. take a look at radar, just tons

of rain heading into our region overnight. just literally coming up i-95 and out all a matter of hours before it gets into our region. and some of the rain could be heavy tonight and tomorrow. temperature wise now we're at 67. winds are beginning to turn east northeast at 10. tonight 8 inches. elkin, 72. the warm tropical air starting to move in. it's just going to really give us a tremendous amount of tropical weather. east northeast winds. those coastal flood advisories, that's going into effect later on tonight. also a flash flood watch, the entire region, we could see rainfall amounts 3, 4, 5 inches

in some areas. that could cause some rivers to overflow. the gun powder, some of those rivers will probably be close to flood stage sometime during the day tomorrow. the remnant of nicole has become kind of elongated. that will be the main system and we've got two main slugs of moisture. tonight maybe a short break, then more rain tomorrow and tomorrow evening. right now it's just beginning to move into our region. so south of us that's where the heaviest rain will be and it's moving toward the baltimore and central parts of maryland. tomorrow that will be across central parts of maryland. but it quickly moves out and by tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow evening we start seeing some drier air to the west. some clearing and on friday and

saturday, clearer conditions. the bay temp runs 74, 75. tonight rain developing. low around 65, 63. will be heavy at times, maybe a thunderstorm thrown in. next 5 days, by friday it's all said and done. 72 cooling down tore the weekend. low to mid-60s, a real fall feel by saturday, sunday and monday. it's time, thank you, bob. starting at 4:55 a.m. for the forecast. get ready for their biggest rivals, their latest on the [ female announcer ] remember this promise? [ man ] martin o'malley -- taking on bg&e to stop the rate hikes. [ female announcer ] never happened -- your bill went up 72%. and o'malley gave the bureaucrat who approved the rate hike a huge raise. now martin o'malley promises we're moving forward.

the fact of the matter is our economy is doing much better now. [ female announcer ] really? nearly 7,000 marylanders lost their jobs last month. four years ago, martin o'malley misled us. now he's just making stuff up. bob ehrlich. we can do better.

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[ female announcer ] mcdonald's new chicken flatbreads. all out awesome combinations of juicy, grilled chicken topped with roasted garlic aioli and a natural four-cheese blend. mcdonald's chicken flatbreads. the simple joy of new discoveries. ♪ it's time for the steelers to lose. yes, it is. >> reporter: they have won three in a row. let's see what the ravens can

do about that. the ravens and steelers have two of the toughest defenses in the league. plus pittsburgh doesn't have roethlisberger. and if rice is unable to play, it is likely, meaning a busy day for mcgahee. he's heard all the talk about what a defensive struggle this game figures to be. mcgahee welcomes the challenge. >> no doubt about it. they are going to talk the talk, we're going to walk the walk for them. that's just it. >> reporter: the ravens made an unexpected roster move to add safety ken hamlin to the roster. but after they made the move, coach said it's likely price will be added back to the rest r roster back in the season. the ravens head to pittsburgh

and you can see that game right here coverage kicking off at 1:00 and we continue when the game is over. it's our post game show, a full day of ravens. in baseball the orioles played the final road game of the season. in tampa bay, has clenched a playoff berth and they padded their home field advantage tonight handing out 20,000 free tickets. all of those tickets were claimed, it made for a crowd of 37,000. thanks to starting pitcher, his best. 7 shut out innings. 7 strike outs. top of the 7th, line drive, both come around to score. 2-0, an oriole victory winning

2 out of 3 on the road against the playoff team. the birds fly home to open a series tomorrow night. and finally, football for females, this is actually hard hitting stuff. it is the baltimore charge. they play their home opener taking on the tampa breeze. this was a light practice. they actually wear helmets and play full tackle. baltimores, they lost their opener on the road, we will hear from the ladies tomorrow. language ray. garters are optional. thank you, mark. thank you, mark. monk(music playing)

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police in india are getting some interesting new ones, ten monkeys are helping with security at common wealth games. their job is to chase off smaller stray monkeys. if all goes well the elite squad may get their own tv series, anyone ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,