this is "news4 midday." good morning, everyone, and welcome to "news4 midday," i'm barbara harrison, it's wednesday, may 30th, 2012. and an elementary school janitor in prince william county is facing assault charges, police say he attacked a student at school. the 7-year-old boy say the janitor assaulted him last friday at enterprise elementary school in woodbridge. >> reporter: a janitor who worked here at the enterprise elementary school in prince william county for years, is now facing charges for assaulting one of the kids that goes to school here. parents are reacting.

after nearly 20 years of working as a janitor here at enterprise elementary school, prince william county police say that edward scresengost of unionville, made a bad decision. >> a student who was seven, claimed a school employee, a janitor, that was pushing a dolly, hand cart down the hallway cornered him up against a bulletin board and just pushed him. this encounter wasn't provoked by the student in any way. it was just a random event. >> reporter: police charged 59-year-old janitor with a minor charge of assault and battery, he wasn't arrested, but he was taken into custody and released 0en a summons to appear in court. school officials say they're not taking it lightly. >> i think our employees understand is that our expectation is we keep our school friendly and safe for students at all times. that's the expectations of our parents, students and of our administration and that's the way we intend to keep it. >> reporter: parents we talk to

say while they're happy, police and school officials swiftly reacted. they are with holding judgment. >> we got it from both sides of the fence, we can't just look at it from a child's eye. he say or she say. so you know, i don't know. >> reporter: prince william county school officials say the janitor has been with the system and the school for some time. they say he's been the janitor at enterprise since 1996 and before that he was at woodbridge middle school. no word yet on when he's set to appear in court in prince william county, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. the janitor has been placed on routine administrative leave while police investigate the incident. new today, a search is on for a shooting system in silver spring. it happened after 8:00 this morning in the 2200 block of wimbledon court. here's a view of the scene from chopper 4. police say the victim's injure i ryes are not life threatening, police say the two men know each other and the shooter ran from

the scene. metro is trying to determine how a work he got pinned under a train. the man worked at the shady grove maintenance yard. rescuers used large equipment to lift the train and free the man. the process took about an hour. the worker went to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. he worked with metro for 25 years. we want to check on the midday traffic with danella sealock. good morning, danella. >> good morning, well checking things out if you're planning to take metro right now, metro is not reporting any delays on any of the lines. now let's over to the roadways. 66, you know how it goes, road work continues again today. eastbound, 66 as you make your way past nutley and even continuing eastbound to cedar, you can see the left lane is blocked by road work there. you are just a bit under speed, about 48 miles per hour, 12 minutes to get from fairfax county parkway to the capital beltway. taking the beltway in montgomery county, we had an earlier accident that tied things up on outer loop at georgia avenue,

it's gone. and your commute looks smoother, a live look at colesville road, back to you. okay, thank you. we'll see you again shortly. looking at the weather now, some clouds, some blue showing, though, meteorologist tom kierein joins us with the first forecast for this wednesday. tom? >> good morning, yeah, after a cloudy start, we had some of the showers around dawn, well we've had a little sunshine breaking out over the last couple of hours. but it's still wet. south and east of washington, the area in green you see. that is some rain that is now right along the atlantic seaboard into the eastern shore, lower part of southern maryland, across the bay into the northern neck. now the rain is beginning to become affected by the remnants of tropical depression beryl, which is now barrelling through east north carolina, with very heavy rain there. it's going to be near hatteras later today and then head out to sea, close enough to keep some rain locked in along the atlantic seaboard and perhaps into the northern neck as well for the next few hours. all of these areas in yellow are in the 70s, we're in the mid 70s

in the metro area now, reagan national is at 75. and later today, we should climb another few degrees, with some breaks in the clouds during the afternoon. we should make it into the low 80s, maybe mid 80s, parts of areas to the west and northwest of us. where there's going to be more sun. and we'll also have the lower humidity moving in. so a pleasant pattern. and it's going to get cool tonight. we'll look at that. how cool will it get and changes on the way for the weekend, too, all the details in a few minutes, barbara? >> thank you. a police officer is facing charges in the deadly shooting of a culpepper county woman. this morning, we're hearing from her husband, in a news4 exclusive. a special investigative grand jury delivered a four-count indictment against officer daniel harmon wright. he shot and killed 54-year-old patricia cook during a confrontation in a catholic school parking lot back in february. cook was unarmed. virginia state police originally said harmon-wright fired his gun

when cook rolled her window up on his arm and dragged him through the parking lot. a special prosecutor says that was not true. cook's husband tells us he's releeved that harmon-wright was indicted. >> on one hand it's relief and on the other hand, it's showing me that progress is going on. that the system does work. >> harmon-wright's mother was also indicted on three counts of forgery of public documents. police say bethany sullivan was in the culpepper police chief's office, she is the chief administrative assistant when the force hired her son back in 2006. harmon-wright is being held behind bars. he's due in court on june 8th. the transportation safety board of canada is now leading the investigation of a deadly mid-air collision in northern virginia. u.s. investigators reveal the two planes involved are owned by employees of the faa. and the ntsb.

the federal agencies are not allowed to investigate their own employees. the crash happened monday in fauquier county. two people from one of the planes died after it crash-landed in a wooded area and caught fire. the pilot in the other plane survived. remains in the hospital this morning. his name and condition have not been released. new this morning, fire forces two families out of their homes. the fires in northwest d.c. and silver spring, both happened around midnight last night. we were there when firefighters arrived at the first house on n street in northwest just before midnight. the fire damaged a bedroom and the back porch. the row house next door also has smoke damage. no one was hurt. and then just after midnight, firefighters were called to this house fire along hail place in silver spring. we're told it started in the kitchen. no one was hurt in this fire. the causes of both fires are under investigation this morning. and right now, the scripps national spelling bee is under way. the preliminaries began this morning. 24 contestants from d.c.,

maryland and virginia are among the spellers. news4's melissa mollett is live at the national harbor where all the action is happening, good morning. >> good morning, barbara. a lot of nerves i have to say inside the maryland ball room here. a lot of the air-writing you see on tv. they're are some of the words they've had to spell this morning. anomaly and ebola. >> mesmerize. m-e-s-m-e-r-i-z-e, mezmerize. >> divided into three rounds, it is based on a point system. now contestants have a spelling exam on tuesday and today, each of them will get a try on two different words. metro area has two dozen contestants in this year's bee, one from the district, nine from maryland, 14 from virginia. one of the smallest stars here, is lori ann madison of woodbridge, virginia, at six years old, the youngest

qualifier in the history of the bee. she's scheduled to take the stage and spell her first word of the day in a couple of minutes. we spoke with the second youngest contestant, he's eight years old, from baltimore. >> i didn't feel that nervous. i asked the questions and then i said the spelling. c-a-p-r-i-c-i-o-u-s. >> you feel pretty good about it? >> yes. >> is it a big relief once you're done? >> it is? >> if they say it's correct, it's just relieving. >> good point. now we will know know who made it through today's rounds until 5:30 tonight. only 50 of the 278 kids spelling today will actually move on to tomorrow's semifinals. those winners will then head to the finals which will happen at 8:00 here at the gaylord hotel tomorrow night. live at the gaylord hotel, melissa mollett, news4. barbara, back to you. y-o-u. >> thank you very much. and we can't wait to get a

winner. hopefully somebody from our area. 11:09. someone from the romney campaign could take some lessons from those young spellers. coming up on "news4 midday" -- where this embarrassing mistake showed up. look at that. plus, frightening fall from a rock climbing wall.

a deadly week in afghanistan has claimed the life of a local soldier. 51-year-old chief warrant officer, john pratt of springfield, virginia was killed monday when his helicopter crashed near kabul. a soldier from maine was also killed in that crash. today, two more nato service members died, one in an insurgent attack, another by a homemade bomb in southern afghanistan. three local government employees and eight policemen have also died in fighting this week. november's presidential showdown is officially set. mitt romney has locked up the gop nomination with an easy win in texas. but the milestone is being overshadowed by one of his biggest supporters. angie golf goff is live with more. >> on a day that mitt romney should have been celebrating his ticket to the november ballot. he was instead deflecting new drama over president obama's birth. first, let's start with his win in texas. romney won nearly 70% of the

vote and earned at least 88 delegates. now according to msnbc, that gives him 1,174 delegates. 30 more than he needed. but that victory party didn't last long. romney's choice to celebrate the win at a fundraiser in vegas with donald trump is drawing some major heat this morning. especially after the real estate mogul made these comments on cnbc's squawk box. >> a lot of people are questioning his birth certificate. they're questioning the authenticity of his birth certificate. i don't consider myself birther or not birther. but there's a major questions here. >> romney responded to the comments by saying that he does not agree with everything his supporters say. but that he still appreciates their vote in november. unfortunately, the embarrassment didn't end there. what's wrong with this picture? romney's new iphone app called with mitt. america misspelled, it's wrong.

as you can see, it's not exactly the perfect start for the nominee. back to you. >> thank you so much. romney's win is shining a renewed spotlight on virginia governor bob mcdonnell and his chances of becoming a vice president nominee. it puts mcdonnell on many vice presidential short lists for now the governor isn't taking the bait. >> anybody who gets a call from the party's nominee and said, hey, you can help our country, you can help our party, of course you'd listen. but, look, i've got the best job in america, the job held by thomas jefferson and i'm not looking for anything else. >> mcdonnell told wtop yesterday that he's not being vetted by the romney campaign and that he is planning to finish his term as governor, which ends in 2014. later today, kenyan mcduffy will be sworn in as the newest d.c. councilmember, representing ward 5 and replace harry thomas junior. thomas resigned after admitting

he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in government funds. mcduffy won a special election earlier this month. the former prosecutor held a position in mayor gray's administration before running for this office. he'll serve the rest of thomas's term, which runs through 2014. storm 4 meteorologist tom kierein joins us with a look at the forecast. starting to clear up a little bit now? >> after last night's driving hard rain, it sounded like a circus tumbling team on my roof. a lot of lightning and heavy rain. since then we've begun to dry out. we still have the cloud cover over capitol hill. and it's 75 with a few little breaks in the clouds at reagan national. and humidity is beginning to drop some of the drier air. the dryer air beginning to move in on a normally breeze. look at this photo rotation, it looked like a near tornado. taken by jen near berriville, virginia, before the big storms came in late yesterday

afternoon. here's another photo of some ominous-looking clouds, these were right over interstate 70, heading towards washington. near hagerstown. out in washington county. that is a, very ominous-looking cloud. that was the leading edge of those heavy downpours and those thunderstorms that came in. well, right now, we can see the circulation of tropical depression beryl right now it's right along the outer banks. just heading towards cape hatteras. a lot of heavy rain here, all of these areas in yellow and orange in eastern north carolina. some of it now across the virginia border. and some moderate showers to the east of assateague, along the atlantic seaboard. it will keep it socked in with clouds and rain on the eastern shore. west of the bay, it's drying out. all of these areas here where you see washington points west. all of this area in color to the east around the bay and the eastern shore, still getting some rain. now, for us over the last several hours, we've had the morning sprinkle activity taper off and the cloud cover breaking up to our west. got lots of sunshine in west

virginia, panhandle of west virginia to western maryland, shenandoah valley. few breaks in the clouds here, too. to the south of washington. as the day progresses, we'll get more sun. look at the rain we had from last evening's heavy downpours, over two and a half inches here parts of the panhandle of west virginia. nearly two inches in montgomery county, about an inch around the blue ridge and parts of southern maryland. reagan national had about half an inch as the lines of heavy downpours and thunder and lightning did come on through. right now temperatures are in the 70s. 75 at reagan national. 70s throughout most of the region, into the mountains. we'll stay this way for another our or two. but then we ought to warm up into the afternoon and evening. we'll have a clearing trend, overnight tonight into tomorrow morning. we'll have a clear sky and much cooler weather beginning to move in by dawn tomorrow. during the day on thursday, a beautiful day, a mostly clear sky, delightful weather for the afternoon hours, some breaks in the clouds. we'll have temperatures hitsing the low 80s by mid afternoon. lower humidity moving in.

overnight tonight, sunset, 8:26, cooler weather with light breezes. we'll be falling back down into the 60s by midnight. during the day tomorrow, after the cool start, near 80 and during the day on friday, increasing clouds with some showers and storms moving in. perhaps during the afternoon, into saturday morning. and then some sun become on sunday and monday. we'll have our temperatures in the 70s, both of those days. and maybe more rain coming in on tuesday. that is the way it looks. barbara? >> all right. tom, thanks so much. we'll check on the midday traffic now with danella. what is it looking like? >> still watching road work. traveling along 395, northbound, at edsall. just have the left lane here blocked by road work. and then on i-66 as well. we'll take a look again, 66 closer look, your left lane is blocked also as your make your way toward the beltway. a live look at cedar. the cones start to come up right at nutley and they continue and your travel speed, a bit under speed, not bad at 49 miles per hour. and the trip on i-270, no issues north or south.

barbara, back over to you. >> you wonder what the heavy breathe something over here? >> i hear it, i hear it. i can't wait to find out what it is. >> you'll want to see. still ahead on "news4 midday," what happens when your child does not get into the first pick of their colleges? we'll tell you how to deal with the stress. plus we'll introduce you to some well-dressed pups and tell you how you can help with homeless animals. but first, here's a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com. [ male announcer ] are you paying more and more for cable

and enjoying it less and less? stop paying for second best. upgrade to verizon fios tv, internet and phone for just $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years with a two-year agreement. act now and we'll add a special bonus: $250 back. but hurry, this offer ends june 2nd. unlike cable, fios is a 100% fiber-optic network that delivers america's fastest, most consistent, most reliable internet plus the best tv picture quality. why keep paying so much for cable? switch to fios for just $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years with a two-year agreement -- plus your special bonus: $250 back. save $600 in your first two years. but hurry. this incredible offer ends june 2nd. call 1.877.707.fios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities that's 1.877.707.3467. at 800-974-6006 tty/v.

or visit us online to save even more. fios. a network ahead.

the washington humane society's 25th annual black tie gala is going to be held this weekend at the washington hilton and four-legged friends are welcome at the ball. danielle bays and diana foley are joining us with other folks from the committee and they brought along their pups who are getting dressed up for the ball. welcome to all of you. thanks for coming. >> thank you. >> i'm not sure that the pups are so happy to be here and be told to be quiet and sit down. but they're ready to dance, aren't they? anyway, there's, that's coming up in why don't you start by telling us, why don't you introduce your friends first with us. >> well we have four wonderful girls here. there's estrella, angelique,

ginger and bert, these are available from our new york avenue adoption center. we hope they'll also be at the bark ball. >> let's hear about the bark ball. an annual event. >> it's one of the largest fundraisers for the washington humane society. it will be held this saturday, june 2nd at the washington hilton. there are tickets still available. it's the only black tie event in washington, d.c. where you can take your animal friend along to celebrate the evening with you. >> and they're actually supposed to come dressed. top hat and all. >> the humans are going to be dressed up. so the animals should be dressed up. and we have dogs beautifully dressed by barkley square, a long time partner of the washington humane society. they'll be in attendance at the bark ball as well. >> barkley square are the designer of this he is outfits that they're wearing, is that right? thank you for bringing the outfits along for them to wear. >> how many years have you been

doing this, the bark ball? >> the bark ball has been going on for 25 years. this is the 25th year. there will be some surprises at this year's bark ball to celebrate. >> he's excited about something. like he likes his tutu that he's wearing. >> tell us about the humane society and the how these dogs can be adopted. >> maybe you can tell us. he's pretty busy. >> the washington humane society has two adoption centers and you can view our animals either on our web page, washingtonhumane.org or visit the shelters in person. we have a whole variety of dog, as well as other types of companion animals, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, really a perfect companion animal for any family. you can view them by visiting our web page or our shelters in person. >> how can you buy tickets for the bark ball and do you have to have a special ticket for your dog as well? >> you don't have to have a

ticket for your dog. you can get all the information at washingtonhumane.org or barkball.com. >> it supports all of our very important programs and services. >> some of those programs would include what? >> humane education program, humane law enforcement. our adoptions programs. >> i see. and now these that you brought with you, are also available, you say? >> they're all available for adoption and looking for their forever families to take them home. >> they know you, don't they. >> they know that this is what their chance to get out and be seen and maybe find their perfect family. >> thank you so much all of you for coming and to your wonderful pets that are in search of homes. >> they seem to be very happy to be here. >> very excited. >> for more information on the bark ball and the washington humane society. log on to barkball.com. again, thanks for coming. >> thank you.

coming up in the next half hour, an impromptu protest at chuck brown's memorial. the move that upset hundreds of fans. plus tom kierein will be back with a look ahead to more comfortable weather we're going to have around here and tower fiing moments for a father, his daughter takes a huge fall. find out what she said after hitting th

right now, a janitor at a prince william county elementary school is facing assault charges. a 7-year-old boy told police that ross shenkroft attacked him friday. he said the janitor pinned him against a bulletin board with a cart. pushed him and walked away. the boy was not hurt. also right now the scripps national spelling bee is under way. the preliminaries began this morning at national harbor. 24 contestants from d.c., maryland and virginia are among the spellers. the youngest speller is a

6-year-old from woodbridge. and right now at the white house, president obama is signing the reauthorization of the export-impact bank. the president backeded bank's renewal, he said it could play an important role in creating american jobs and selling american products around the world. earlier this month, some scca conservative lawmakers argued it should be abolished. without the congressional extension, it would expire tomorrow. the weather almost ruined a chance for fans to pay their last respects to music legend chuck brown. [ chanting ] >> hundreds of fans sang and danced while waiting to go into the howard theater for a public viewing. but heavy rain and lightning stopped the celebrations. police temporarily closed the doors and warned the crowds it was too dangerous to stand outside. the abrupt move frustrated some of the crowd. >> as soon as we got here, they closed the gates, the line was

around the corner. and they say, due to safety, they had to stop it because it was lightning and them rails right there, if somebody was holding on and the lightning hit, so they cut it off and they was starting to arrive. >> extra officers were called in to calm the crowd. police later reopened the theater doors and continued the viewing. chuck brown's casket will now be moved to the washington convention center. a public memorial service will be held there tomorrow. the ceremony begins at noon. the public is urged to take metro due to limited parking in that area. and new this morning, an earthquake off the california coast happened last night there, the 4.0-magnitude quake struck off the coast of malibu in the channel islands region. people throughout the los angeles area felt the quake shortly after the 10:00 p.m. pacific time. fire officials say there are no reports of damage or injuries from this quake.

[ speaking foreign language ] in italy, an aftershock hit during a reporter's live shot during the northern part of the country. you can hear the reporter say there's been another tremor, a very, very violent tremor. at the time rescuers were working in the area, looking for survivors. this morning, crews found the body of a missing worker there. a building collapsed in that 8 5.8-magnitude quake that struck yesterday. the death toll now stands at 17. no one else is missing. we understand. the quake injured at least 350 people, it hit a section of the country known for its agricultural products. officials say companies lost $18 million worth of a special balsamic vinegar, which can go for as much as $1900 a liter. we're going to take a look again at our weather, to see what tom has to tell us, when we can expect the sunshine in full out there, tom. >> it's coming out partially around the metro area and it's

out full in the mountains of western maryland and west virginia. here's the view from space with the radar superimposed the areas in color are where we're still getting some rain, eastern shore, lower part of the bay. southern maryland. northern neck. some of the showers associated with the remnants of tropical depression beryl. as well as the front that came through yesterday. but it's getting sunnier to our west. we'll eventually have the dry air move into the metro area by mid afternoon. right now we're in the low to mid 70s much of the region. reagan national at 75. we should make it into the low to mid 80s by mid afternoon with the sunshine beginning to increase, it should be mostly sunny by sunset and a clear evening and a cool start to thursday in the 50s. afternoon highs tomorrow near 80. lots of sun, a delightful day with low humidity. clouds close back in on friday. might get some showers and thunder friday afternoon and evening. that might linger into saturday morning, but then the rest of the weekend looking dry. highs in the 70s on saturday and sunday. and first part of next week. maybe tuesday some more rain.

i'm back in a few more minutes with another update. barbara? >> thank you. we're making it easier for you to keep up with the changing weather, here's jim handly with more. >> you'll get our new app, complete news weather and traffic coverage. now able on your ipad, iphone and android devices, be first to know with our breaking news alerts. get up to the weather updates and check the scene to plan your weekend. know what's happening on the roads before you get behind the wheel. with our real-time traffic updates. see the latest in sports, medical and consumer headlines. and share your favorite stories easily to facebook and twitter. take news4 wherever you go. download our free app today on nbcwashington.com, or search nbcwashington.com in your app store. all right. we're going to check on the

midday traffic now with danella sealock. >> good morning, barb remarks right now i'm checking out the beltway. traveling the beltway across the american legion bridge, inner loop in this area, nice outer loop as you make your way to virginia, a live look at robinson terminal inner loop. you can see construction in the right shoulder lane. not slowing you down and we'll check the outer loop speeds from the dulles toll road to the interchange, at 57 miles per hour. not bad. and if you're heading towards the wilson bridge, clear in both directions. you can see hardly any volume at all. if it could always be this way, about 60 miles per hour from van dorn to the wilson bridge, it will take you seven minutes. barbara, back to you. >> where are all the people? >> they're working. >> thanks a lot, danella. if you're one of the millions of virginia commuters who use ez pass, vdot wants to know what you would think of paying a monthly fee. the agency is accepting public comments on its proposal to implement a $1 monthly charge

for ez pass, vdot says it needs the money to keep up with the costs of operating the program. it hopes to make a final decision on the proposal next month. in a week, maryland's largest casino will open its doors to the public. news4 got a sneak peak inside maryland live at anne arundel mills. it's the size of three football fields and will start off with 3200 slot machines. another 1500 electronic games will be added later this game. the venue will also include six restaurants, shops and space for live entertainment. maryland live opens next wednesday night at 10:00. it closes regularly at 2:00 a.m. during the week and 4:00 a.m. on the weekend. voters will likely get to decide if maryland keeps its same-sex marriage law. opponents submitted 113,000 signatures petitioning referendum. that's more than twice the number needed to make the issue

a referendum on the november ballot. lawmakers approved the same-sex marriage legislation earlier this year. it goes into effect in january. today, roger clemens is starting to tell his side of the story in his perjury trial. the former star pitcher's defense team begins making its case. his lawyers are expected to take two weeks to call witnesses. the government rested its case yesterday. clemens is charged with perjury, making false statements and obstruction of congress. prosecutors say he lied when he told lawmakers he had never used performance-enhancing drugs during testimony more than four years ago. the judge in the john edwards trial is making the jurors work longer today in hopes that they will meet, reach a decision. it appears they are not close to reaching a verdict, though. in a lighter moment yesterday, the judge walked into at courtroom and announced quote, the jury has sent a note, they've reached -- and after a dramatic pause, she finished

with -- a good stopping point. that brought out some laughs in court. edwards accused of using nearly $1 million in campaign contributions to hide his pregnant mistress during his presidential run in 2008. virginia tech is a step closer to adding new surveillance cameras to improve campus secured. the university hired a northern virginia company to install a video security network with as many as 2500 cameras across the campus. the contract with x-7 systems integration is worth nearly $1 million. university police have talked about a centralized security camera system for years there. campus safety once again became a prominent issue in december when a campus police officer was shot and killed. people who live in prince george's county can virtually ask the county's police chief anything tomorrow. as long as the questions are less than 140 characters on twitter. you can tweet questions to prince george's county police

chief, just send a message to pgpdnews. that's p@pgpd news. that's all one word. part of the county's transforming neighborhoods initiative. a high school baseball coach in prince william county is accused of sending inappropriate messages to an underage student. police say 28-year-old richard teller has been communicating inappropriately with a 17-year-old female student at brentville high school since february. police were tipped off on friday. they say nothing physical happened between teller and the victim. police arrested and charged him with indecent liberties. and police in fredericksburg are asking for your help in finding a peeping tom. for the second time in a week, a college student saw a man looking into her bedroom window. according to the fredericksburg

"freelance star" it lapped on saturday night, along augustin avenue. police say neighbors believe the man was there for a while, because they found a bunch of beer cans outside the window. police believe it's the same man in both cases. a florida girl is recovering from a frightening fall from a rock climbing wall. the fall was caught on camera. take a look. >> oh! >> it happened saturday at the martins/giants game in miami. as soon as the game was over, 11-year-old emily davis was the first child to scale the rock-climbing wall. after she reached the top, her safety harness failed and emily fell 20 feet to the ground. she landed on her back. her parents raced her aside, fearing the worst. >> all i was thinking is, because you see that? and i'm just thinking, be alive, be alive. that's all that was in my head. >> it's heart-wrenching to know

she had that impact. 20 feet up in the air, your worst nightmare. >> emily davis is still in the hospital. doctors say she suffered a concussion and severe bruising, but didn't break any bones. she is expected to make a full recovery. the marlins released a statement wishing her well. the cause of the accident is under investigation. it's 11:42. still ahead, how students can deal with the pressures being put on them to get into top colleges. plus the major change that apple's ceo wants to see. [ male announcer ] are you paying more and more for cable

and enjoying it less and less? stop paying for second best. upgrade to verizon fios tv, internet and phone for just $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years with a two-year agreement. act now and we'll add a special bonus: $250 back. but hurry, this offer ends june 2nd. unlike cable, fios is a 100% fiber-optic network that delivers america's fastest, most consistent, most reliable internet plus the best tv picture quality. why keep paying so much for cable? switch to fios for just $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years with a two-year agreement -- plus your special bonus: $250 back. save $600 in your first two years. but hurry. this incredible offer ends june 2nd. call 1.877.707.fios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities that's 1.877.707.3467. at 800-974-6006 tty/v. or visit us online to save even more. fios. a network ahead.

we've just learned that our youngest speller, the one from woodbridge, virginia, lori ann madison just spelled her first word and she got it right. so she is still in the competition. she had to spell the word, dirigible, and she got it right and she's sailing along. she's got the hardest word behind her at this point. good luck to her as she continues. we've got quite a few virginia, maryland and d.c. spellers out

there in the national spelling bee. we wish them all good luck. with her being the youngest, we send her a special good luck. apple wants to see more of its products made in america. ceo tim cook said it's relying on low-cost manufacturers in china. cook said he'd like to see products assembled in the u.s. and exported around the world. his comments came at a digital conference in los angeles. right now apple is preparing for its next big product launch set for june 11th. big losses on wall street this morning. let's check in with cnbc's jackie de angelis, she joins us with more on that and the rest of the day's business headlines. >> hi, barbara the european markets, are slumping and that is impacting the u.s. markets today. right now triple-digit losses on the dow, down by 141 points. the nasdaq lower by 33. the s&p 500 lower by 16.5. meantime, research in motion, it's a stock to watch today, after falling as much as 15% in

the after-hours session last night. the struggling blackberry maker warning of a first quarter loss, an operating loss, has hired advisers to review all strategic options including an overhaul of its business model. many analysts asking the question, is r.i.m. up for sale. r.i.m.'s stock down 90% from its high in 2008. pepsi teaming up with twitter to launch a summer music series. they'll offer free song downloads on its twitter page and will stream video of live concerts over the next few months. pepsi is being tight-lipped about the concert line-up but has already recently partnered with katy perry and nicki minaj on ad campaigns. and the stigma of buying a foreclosured home may be fading. a new survey finds more than two-thirds of home buyers say they would likely buy a foreclosured property. now, another wave of foreclosures are expected to hit the market as banks and other lenders work through a backlog

of paperwork. back over to you. >> jackie, thanks so much. with more college applicants each year, it's more difficult to get into what are called the top colleges and universities. that leads us to the question, are too many high school students overstressed and overworked in pursuit of going to one of those top colleges? and is it really that important to go to one of those colleges? dr. joshua winer joins us with answers to those questions. this is the time when they're all comparing where they're going. >> finding out where they're accepted, right. >> it is a stressful time for students and parents, do you hear that a lot in your practice? >> i hear it a lot. kids are so relieved now to finally figure out where they're going to be going. it gives them a chance to relax a little bit. but the time, the whole junior and senior years, it's a pressure cooker for so many kids. they're so worried about where they're going to college. they see it as a referendum on whether they've been good students and good people, essentially. >> i've heard from families

whose kids have not gotten in anywhere, even when they've been good students in school. that's really weird. >> it's so difficult with more applicants applying to schools that a lot of kids are having a tough time getting into their colleges of their choice. who do you blame, the parents, the kids or the schools, pushing the kids trying to get into colleges that are in that top ten or top 20? >> i think the blame goes to all of them. i think the schools have a, an incentive to get the kids into top universities because it makes them look better. the schools want kids to take more a.p. classes, advanced place. classes and pass the tests for those because it helps their high school ratings. the parents want to have bragging rights, they want to feel good about where they're telling their friends their kid is going and some kids are just driven kids who want to succeed and they want to be able to feel proud about where they're going and tell their friends. >> is it being financially beneficial?

is that what you think everybody's goal is. when they graduate from a certain college they're going to be able to make more money? >> i think that's one of the most important goals for a lot of people. we know that kids who go to college, according to the pew research center make $650,000 more over the course of their careers compared to just people with a high school diploma. and i think people think if they go to a top-tier university, it will increase the likelihood they'll get into a better graduate school or make more money in whatever career they choose. >> will a person graduating from a top 20 university make more money coming right out of college than someone who went to let's say a number 50 school? >> yes. they will make more money. yes, they will make more money. the big question there is, is it the school they're graduating from? or is it something about the applicants and the people who go to these top-tier schools? they're smart, hard-working, they persevere. is that the quality that enables them to do better professionally over the long haul? there was a study done in 1999

by an economist, and what it did is unique, it took students who were equal, equal s.a.t. scores, equal in terms of their academic acts and they compared those who went to top universities to those who got accepted to top universities, but chose to go to other universities instead. followed them out over time and found they were equally successful from a financial perspective. >> i think i'm most concerned about the kids and the pressure that they're feeling. that they've disappointed somebody. is that what you hear from your patients? >> i do. i think they're worried that they're disappointing their parents. i think that they just really want to succeed. some of them. i don't think that this applies to every student, certainly. i think it applies to those students primarily who are shooting for being the a students. these are the kids who are feeling the pressure cooker. these are the kids staying up late at night studying. sacrificing their sleep and getting engaged in numerous extracurricular activities, sports and so forth. because they want to do

everything they possibly can to boost their resumé to college. >> tell us what can we do for these kids, if they're dispointed right now as parents, as teachers, as school administrators to make them feel good about themselves. to look forward to wherever it is they're going to go. >> i think they need to realize that where you go to college is not the most factor in determining long-term success. it's a factoror. but what's more important is how hard you work, your personality, your ability to make connections with people. your willingness to persevere. all of those factors need to be stressed to kids. they're still young, there's still plenty of time. and there's countless examples of tremendously successful people out there who did not go to top colleges and universities. >> true. so let's tell them to enjoy themselves over these next few days as they get out of school and get ready for the next stage. thanks so much for coming. and next week, dr. winer will be answering your questions. you can email your questions on anything from depression to addiction to relationship

problems, mail it to "news4 midday" at nbcuni.com. time, 11:52, coming up, remembering a grammy-winning folk musician. plus, meteorologist tom kierein will be back with another check on the forecast.

♪ ♪ grammy-winning folk musician, doc watson, has died. he was known for his lightning-fast style of flat-picking guitars and his bluegrass music. president clinton honored watson with the national medal of arts in 1997. watson lost his eyesight when he developed an eye infection as a child. he died yesterday at a hospital near his long-time home in north carolina. watson was 89 years old. may is asian-american and pacific island heritage month. we at news4 are proud to honor their contributions to our region. several community leaders received awards for their

achievements at a ceremony in our studios. news4 joined mcdonald's had in presenting a $5,000 donation to asian-american lead, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping young asian-americans in our community. we're going it take at stories we'll be following this afternoon. coming up at 4:00, a child traded away some prized possessions for a dream trip. the then 9-year-old boy did something that made his parents very proud of him. and tonight at 5:00, nightmare neighbor. a restraining order and her alleged antics caught on tape. our time now, 57 minutes past the hour and tom is here with a look at the forecast. tom? >> sun continuing to break out. west to east. and moving toward the metro area. but all the area in green is rain on the eastern shore, southern maryland, parts of the southern bay. into southeastern virginia. that's associated with the

remnants of tropical depression beryl. the remnants of that tropical storm, just around hatteras now. we're into the upper 70s around the metro area, reagan national is at 78, later today, low and mid 80s. beautiful day tomorrow, more rain friday afternoon and evening into saturday morning. otherwise, the weekend looks great. see you tomorrow morning. >> that's "news4 midday." thank you for joining us, we invite you to tune in for news at 4, 5, 6, and 11. and you'll want to join us for "news4 midday" tomorrow. see you in the morning. [ male announcer ] are you paying more and more for cable and enjoying it less and less? stop paying for second best. upgrade to verizon fios tv, internet and phone for just $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years with a two-year agreement. act now and we'll add a special bonus: $250 back. but hurry, this offer ends june 2nd. unlike cable, fios is a 100% fiber-optic network

that delivers america's fastest, most consistent, most reliable internet plus the best tv picture quality. why keep paying so much for cable? switch to fios for just $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years with a two-year agreement -- plus your special bonus: $250 back. save $600 in your first two years. but hurry. this incredible offer ends june 2nd. call 1.877.707.fios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities that's 1.877.707.3467. at 800-974-6006 tty/v. or visit us online to save even more. fios. a network ahead.