welcome to "news4 this week." >> hi, everyone. i'm veronica johnson. we're going to show you more of the interesting local stories making news this week. among them riding a relic. we hop on board some of the original rail cars. plus bringing hollywood to d.c. the effort being made to have shows and movies about d.c. filmed right here. and are you a puffer? the warning being issued about the dangers of warming up your car. but we begin with a major shakeup for students and parents. the search is underway for the next superintendent of montgomery county schools. dr. joshua star announced late this week that he is parting ways with the school system.

larry bowers has been named interim superintendent. the school board still isn't saying why star is leaving but star said the board wanted to go in a completely different direction. meanwhile there is encouraging news for the future of thousands of young men and women in a neighboring county. prince georges county is reporting the highest graduation rate for students. more than 76% last year. that's more than a 2% increase over the previous year. and the dropout rate fell by nearly two points. prince georges county found out what's driving the success. >> reporter: looking back renee smith knows how she lost her way in school. her grade point average dropped after a disconnect with her teacher. now a senior with a 3.5 average she's planning for college. >> i feel like i could do better. >> reporter: renee is one of

many students here at central high benefitting from improved faculty training. stronger student accountability resulting in an 8% increase of graduates. the highest of any school in the county. >> like if you have adults around you who are engaged with you and really want to see you succeed and they really push you, then i feel as though once you have those people pushing you, you'll push yourself as well. >> reporter: ceo kevin maxwell is celebrating an increase in the 2014 graduation rates countywide. 76.5%, it is the highest on record for prince georges. he credits a change in school culture. >> you have to get people to buy into we're going to put a system here and get results. when you start seeing results, it's wonderful. >> reporter: school counselor doreen hogan says providing more opportunity for students to recover and get credit during the regular school year has made a difference. >> night school was almost $500. summer school was $500. a lot of students cannot afford

that. that's what would break down and cause our graduation rates to be so low. >> reporter: hispanic and latino students experienced the highest increase with more than 4% in the graduation rate. african-americans more than 2%. i'm tracee wilkins, news4. what's the ultimate reward for a student bound to inspire here students. maggie hawk was given the award considered the oscar of education. she has been teaching at yellow spring elementary for 12 years. it's the same school that she attended and where she found her inspiration for teaching despite struggling with dyslexia. >> this is the reason that i wanted to go into teaching. i loved all my teachers. they gave me that passion that drive and i wanted to instill that in my students. >> reporter: the . >> the award will go towards her

son's college fund. arie will open a u-line in northeast. the building is perhaps best known as the site of the beatles first concert. rei will occupy the first of the arena. the outdoor supply company has a couple of locations in maryland and virginia. this will be the first store for the district. hey, lights, camera action are the three words you're hearing less of around here. even as more and more tv shows about washington, d.c. are created. as news4 tom sherwood reports the city is now in the midst of a big effort to knock down some of the hurdles that production crews face. >> reporter: many tv series and movies are all about washington. but rarely are filmed in washington. it's not dreaded security concerns, but bureaucracy and money. >> what i'm tried to do is bring

life back to the avenue. >> reporter: jack evans wants movies made here. one step? debt control of the saef. the sidewalks are controlled by the federal park service. >> so you have everybody in charge which means nobody's in charge. >> reporter: he and vincent orange are pressing legislation to take over the avenue. guidance redevelopment with shops and cafes no prohibited and offer tax incentives for movies shot in d.c. >> lincoln filmed in of all places the capital of the confederacy in richmond than in d.c. >> reporter: ron dickson runs local studio 202 here. he says d.c. is perfect for the industry. >> currently we're out of the game because we don't have available funds. certainly not on a level that maryland and virginia has. >> reporter: and joseph martin has scouted washington scenes for movies for years.

>> when we do big shoots by the lincoln memorial, we're setting up tents and need carpenters electricians. there's a whole army of people. >> reporter: in the district tom sherwood, news4. >> okay. so most of your d.c. shows have bad stand ins. see our whole list of the most obviously fake d.c. sets and share some of your own by going to nbcwashington.com and search d.c. movies. well, she just had been hit by a dump truck when they jumped into action to save her life. valerie tilly met the deputy marshals who came to her aid last june. they were honored for their heroism. she was on her way to lunch when the truck hit her and pinned her in d.c. the marshals out to lunch themselves say instinct kicked in. >> handed me a squeegee, a car squeegee, and we tied that up on

her leg and tightened it down and were able to stop the bleeding. >> they didn't have to do it but they did. and i'm thankful and i'm grateful because of what they've done. i'm still alive. >> she lost one leg but is optimistic she will be able to walk again one day. well it's one of the most popular museums in the district. but it soon won't have a home. the spy museum may be on its way out. and after 50 years she's calling it quits. the impact a local postmaster is leaving behind.

say it's not so. a popular museum may be moving out of town. the international spy museum is vacating its penn quarter building. news4 has learned it's having a bit of trouble finding a location. their search may take them away from our location. in fact, several other cities are trying to lure the museum

away from here. museum officials tell news4 that they would like to stay in the d.c. area and they're doing everything they possibly can to try to make that happen. hope they do. well, it'll be the end of an era for metro and it could mean an improvement for your safety while riding the rails. news4's transportation reporter shows us just how long some rail cars have been in service and what will happen to them next. >> doors opening. step back. >> reporter: come locke along for a ride on cars number 1,000 and 1,001. they are the oldest on the metro fleet. you are on the oldest metro rail car. you believe it? >> i believe it. i don't know what year it is but i believe it. >> reporter: the cars were built in the early '70s and rolled into service on march 27th 1976. opening day for the metro system. with metro under the microscope

for safety there's a focus on getting hundreds of these cars off the tracks. they were involved in the deadly 2009 crash on metro's red line and after that event the national transportation safety board was highly critical of these cars calling them uncrash worthy. >> while you're on the train, you can feel the train is already making a lot of noise. >> reporter: today we caught these cars on the brand new silver line. you can tell which series of rail car you're on by looking at the number on the top corner of the train. you see metro needs to keep these running to handle crowds. they're planning to replace them with the brand new 7,000 series rail cars which are expected to roll out in the coming week. you can see our behind the scenes tour of our rail cars by searching 7,000 series rail cars on nbcwashington.com. and for some riders like emily smith and the worn out carpet,

enough alone to start the replacement process. >> it is. it just feels old. >> reporter: so what happens to the old rail cars once they're replaced? well, take a good look at them now. metro tells us they're going to be torn apart and sold for scrap. along the silver line, adam tuck, news4. >> that's old. there could be a reduction of flights at the montgomery county air park. reduce the number of training flights at the airport and to close the airport each night at 11:00 p.m. the maryland aviation administration supports that move. the air park is now open 24 hours a day. neighbors have been pressuring the country to review airport operations a a plane crashed into a house near the airport in december killing six people. that plane was not on a training flight. for the first time in 50 years, customers are seeing something different at the

general post office. a postmaster retiring. she said in all her years she didn't call in sick and didn't use all her vacation time. the filmont post office is the last in louden county located in a general store. both her and the customers that she serves say they're going to miss each other. >> i love my work, but i love my people, my customers. they were very special to me. >> and i am so grateful to know her. i'm going to be the hound of laura and i'll be looking for her. >> first to report this morning on her retirement. for a link to hear more about her plans for the future, visit nbcwashington.com and search postmaster. well, it's a simple sign that could draw thieves right to your home. coming up the news4 i-team

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before you head out to warm up your car you need to watch this story. cold warnings are bringing out unsuspecting drivers. it shows you how quickly it's happening. the i-team's scott mcfarlane went undercover to show you. >> reporter: a morning routine playing out in so many neighborhoods this time of year. warming up the car while waiting inside from the cold. but watch this. recent surveillance video from a beltsville home. a white car idling in the driveway as another vehicle slowly drives by, backs up. within second a man hops in the

white car and takes off. thieves call them puffers because of the puff of ignition coming out of the back. they're easy to spot even from far away and easy to steal. >> people usually again think their driveways are safe. >> reporter: the i-team spent several cold marngs with the wave team. washington area vehicle enforcement. >> we make several arrests throughout the day. >> reporter: we are not showing their faces because they work undercover not only looking for cold car thieves but warning potential victims too. >> the one right next to us is lit up as well. >> reporter: in an upper neighborhood we first spot that giveaway puff of smoke from a bmw. within minutes we're surrounded by other unintended cars. >> we've had one, two three, four. -- >> including this honda. >> go ahead and pull up. >> reporter: officers approach them to talk about car thieves. >> i have to take that into consideration. it's a one-car family and i wouldn't want my car to be

stolen. >> reporter: vanessa valdez says she didn't realize it's illegal to leave your car unattended in maryland. >> i have to actually be with the vehicle. it would be a $70 fine. >> reporter: but this day no fine. >> nine times out of ten there aren't. >> reporter: escalating a stolen car to a possible car jacking. gas stations also easy pickings according to the wave officers. >> that one right there. he just went inside. >> reporter: when they steal the cars, they're not stealing the cars to keep them. >> correct. this is a special process. >> reporter: many of the cars end up being sold online or overseas. investigators found this in a shipping container before it headed to africa. >> this is their job. they get up in the morning just like you or i get up in the morning. >> reporter: organized teams use the cars to sometimes commit other crimes.

as our i-team cameras roll we spot this car going through gas stations and speeding. they suspect the riders may have been looking for a car to steal. police find marijuana and a gun on the guy. >> possible connections to a car ring drug team, and now a homicide. >> reporter: cameras caught this man sliding into a woman's car as she pumped gas. first stealing her purse. then when she goes inside, they take the entire car. that car theft one of 244 already this year in prince georges county. that's down slightly from last year, but police say it's also reason to keep the keys with you in your hand or pocket while you're fueling up your car and why you should avoid the early morning warm-ups in the driveway. scott mcfarlane, news4 i-team. >> i know you want to watch and you can. to watch those car thefts caught on camera go to our website on

with nbcwashington.com and click on investigations. how would you react if there was a tree about ready to fall on your house? when "news4 this week" returns, a local man stays cool, calm, and collected under pressure. chicken imported to the u.s. has been in the news a lot lately. and many food labels don't even mention where they came from. one way to get chicken that hasn't crossed an ocean is to look for the label with my name on it. perdue is the first company to have the usda go beyond what's required to verify that our chickens are raised on farms, right here in the usa. because we believe that's what it takes to bring your family a fresh-tasting chicken. perdue. we believe in a better chicken.

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oh, my goodness. take a look at this. 320 foot furnace from a steel mill in maryland. it imploded and came thundering to the ground this past week. this was from a steel mill at sparrow's point that closed about three years ago. this big furnace was the only thing that was left and it was demolished to make room for a business development that's soon to go up on that site. when a tree's about ready to come down on your house, you might get just a little panicky, right? not this one man from montgomery county. we showed you some video of chris fisher's home in forest

glen after the wind blew a tree into a second floor bedroom. now listen to his 911 call. >> it's actually falling on my house right now. yeah, it just fell on my house. >> that came from a recent wind storm. those gusts were up to around 50 miles per hour when that tree came down crashing into his home. well, that's all for "news4 this week." i'm veronica johnson. thanks for joining us. we leave you with celebrations at high schools around the region as football stars picked where they want to go to college. until next time remember, be kind be safe, be happy.

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right now on news 4 today, your weekend is beginning better yesterday. temperatures reach around the 50s. chuck is timing out that warm up. >> dead or alive. why u.s. officials don't trust claims by isis that an american hostage was killed in air strikes by jordan. >> how much jail time virginia's former first lady is looking at. why maureen mcdonald could avoid it all together. >> "fifty shades of grey" is turning a travel experience for you should you want to join in. good satur