kristen wright is in northwest d.c. with the big reveal. >> the bewilderment of surprise. loved ones secretly waiting in the wings at dunbar high school in d.c. >> something big was about to happen. i just didn't know what it was. >> with quiet confidence, michael isn't usually the center of but today, he is. none of the students knew what was about to happen. and then -- >> it's my privilege to announce the dunbar high school recipient this year of the steven joel fracenberg scholarship. >> a full ride to george washington university. >> the recipient is michael inaga. >> calling my name, and the students were cheering. it was just a moment that i will never forget. >> this young man has made dunbar proud. >> a lot of people ask me why dunbar, and i point to michael as an example. he's why. >> michael's on track to be valedictorian. >> we are so happy and thankful. >> and wants to study mechanical engineering. >> i knew from the moment that i wanted to go to college that i had to find a way to pay for it, and it's really expensive and nobody in my family can do that for m

news 4's kristen wright is live with the mayor and police chief just held a news conference about this. good morning. >> reporter: social media really is the key. ithe missing children and missing persons. there have been questions and concerns in d.c. over the number of missing juvenile cases this year alone. so the message though here today from the mayor and police is that the number of missing persons in the city including children is not going up but the city is bringing more attention and awareness to missing person cases through social media and press releases for every critical missing case. that is a new thing. police say the numbers there have been 708 missing persons cases this year. 674 of those are closed. 34 are still open. police are urging everyone to join their fight in finding these people by using technology. >> this initiative has however drawn an increased awareness to the number of missing persons we have in our city. i think this awareness is a good thing but i also think perspective. first, the overwhelming majority of our reported missing persons quickly return

>> kristen wright has new information for us first at 4:00. >> washington's iconic cherry blossoms are in trouble. the bitter cold temperatures we have been feeling this week are killing some of the blossoms that were too close to that beautiful peak bloom that so many come to washington to see every year. the trees here, some of them, just bare. the national park service inspected the trees right here around the tidal basin this morning and found widespread damage. temperatures fell critical 24 degree mark that we've been talking about. the next two nights, more bitter cold is coming. so, is there any hope for the cherry blossoms? the park service has scientists who are studying some of the blossoms that were in the earlier stages of growth to see how, if at all, the cold has impacted them. to see if those blossoms will survive and bloom. we'll show you that process on news 4 at 5:00 and 6:00. see you then. >> well, here's a live look at reagan national airport where planes are coming and going mostly as planned. 62 flights were canceled today. that 's a lot better than tuesdy where a