crofton meadows elementary, and rachel carson elementary in montgomery and whitehall alimentary were all honored. the schools were selected based on high performance or significant improvement in math and reading. still to come, credit card debt, new numbers show many are eliminating what they owe. >> 7 on your side with catching up on your debt, and new numbers showing americans are starting to clear credit cards. the average debt was cut 11% last year. the average balance is now $6600 down from $7400. hard to believe but tax season is here and virginia residents are being given a new option for filing online. nearly 2.7 million people in virginia file their returns on line last year. officials say it filing online is safer than paper returns and also speed up processing of refunds. can you believe it, getting close to april? >> after february, in d.c., february can produce some fairly potent snowstorms even march and early april. >> i'm not complaining the way things are going. >> today, 0.7 inches of snow at reagan national airport, not much tomorrow. tomorrow night freezing rain.

they had a clean up for rachel carson and al gore.he thing is this, toxic schools aren't just a problem here in los angeles. look what we found in the bronx of new york. it's a charter school called ps51. >> i need your lunch bag. >> okay. >> she's helping her son get ready for the first day of school. brandon seems excited. his mother seems nervous. >> i always burn myself with this. >> this is more than a case of first day jitters. >> i cannot wait to get to school. >> in august, just weeks before school started, she saw this emergency meeting notice taped to his school. ps51, in the bronx. that night, she joined an auditorium packed with worried parents. chancellor dennis opened with a dramatic statement. >> i want to start by apologi apologizing to you. >> he followed with disturbing reviews. >> your school came with the result we were not satisfied with with an elevated level of tce. >> it's a correspond sin general. it can cause parkinson's, cancer and death. tests tce levels at 100 times worse than what's considered safe. >> ba

the education department says the rachel carson elementary school in maryland has made significant advancesn school assessments. 98% of the students are proficient in advanced reading and math. good for them. white hall elementary has nearly 98% of the students profirpt and advanced reading and math and the parents of white hall students are noted for their extreme involvement in school. we all know that's what it takes is a lot of parent and community involvement. over in fairfax county, virginia, secondary students treated a big-named star at a recent assembly. take a look at this. ♪ that's right. that was first lady michelle obama joining the cast of tv show "i-carlie." and who doesn't watch? a bit of random dancing broke out. her appearance was to help thank military families for their sacrifice. the show's main character is a daughter of an air force colonel. i watch that with my kids sometimes. always random stuff that breaks out. >>> it was a party with a purpose at the washington convention center recently. 85,000 of you helped make this year's health and fitness expo one of the bes

they also had a $3 million clean-up at a school named for rachel carson and al gore, a school ironicallyfor environmental studies. the thing is this. toxic schools aren't just a problem here in los angeles. just look at what we found in the bronx, new york. it's a charlotter school called ps 51. >> she is helping her son brandon to get ready for the first day of school. brandon seems excited. marisol, she seems nervous. >> i always burn myself with this. >> reporter: this is more than just a case of first day jitters. >> i cannot wait to get to school. >> in august just weeks before school started marisol saw this emergency meeting notice taped to brandon's school. ps 51 in the bronx. that night marisol joined an auditorium packed with worried parents. chancellor dennis walcott opened the meeting with a dramatic statement. >> so, first, i want to start out by apologizing to all of you. >> reporter: he followed the apology with disturbing news. >> we decided to do environmental reviews. your school came with a result that we were not satisfied with an elevated level of tce. >> tce is a ca

ducks geese you know i don't know what's going on here this this is like rachel carson's nightmare today you know we're having a silent fall here and you know where are the birds where's the wall live. just don't see this is really unusual i've never been on this river and seen it. you can even hear a bird chirping you know. i think the worst story would have to be. the worst story would have to be the kids we let slip through the cracks. the kids that. didn't get any help early on. because if you look back if you look back in school history and if you talk to families. with those probes or hear their gait. and we didn't know it. hundreds of towns and cities have diminished even died and industry pulls up stakes . but these downs in oklahoma began to die because industry arrived way back when it would have been impossible to know the dimension of destruction they'd be left with or who would be hurt by it back then jobs trumped everything maybe they still do back then they had no concept of the future. but now we are the heirs of our grandparents mess. and here we are about to shoot the p

. >> the five other honors schools include ring factory, rachel carson, white hall, and pocomoke elementary in worse tcester county. all six of the schools the want to compete for a national blue- ribbon. >> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> sarah caldwell checking on your morning commute. it is nice out there. no delays. you can see a bit of a slowdown on the outer loop northeast corner. the j.f.x. running smoothly into town. no problems on the north side in the area of towson. 48 on southbound 95 as you make a pass the beltway northeast. 47 on the harrisburg expressway. this is the site of the disabled tractor-trailer. all lanes are getting by just fine. volume is picking up in that area of the outer loop of 140. this is beltway at the b-w parkway. no delays report on 295 southbound. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. let's get the latest from ava marie joining us live this morning from the inner harbor. good morning. >> everybody loves the little competition. you have a chance to win some tickets to the big game on sunday. little ravens heads are painted and y

rounding out that list is montgomery county's rachel carson elementary. of the schools will get to compete for a national blue ribbon. other topa look at stories at this hour. authorities in howard county have uncovered a house of horror filled with dead animals. there were four animals still alive, but conditions inside the home were terrible. the water, food, or heat. police believe there was a person living at the location, but no one is believed to of been there for more than a week. it is unclear how long the animals were unattended. and a two-story fire ripped through a home in -- 82 alarm fire ripped through a home in owings mills. -- 82-alarm fire ripped through a home in owings mills. residents say that kids smoking a shed may have started the fire. and police to identify the body that washed ashore yesterday in annapolis. tither cordray of somerset county was found monday morning. he was one of three people tossed into the chesapeake bay in december when their sailboat capsized. one of the passengers survived, but cordray had been missing ever s

the rachel carson school has made significant advancements in school assessments. 98% are efficient orh. the second school is whitehall in buoy. parents are also commended for their involvement in the school and activities. >>> you hear about people who can't live without their smart phones. there may be some truth to people being addicted to the internet. a study was done and found abnormalities similar to people who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. there should be further studies to determine whether the brain irregularities happened before or after the onset of the addiction. >>> when our broadcast continues tonight. what a deal today means for the medical marijuana industry in d.c. >>> a judge rules on whether lindsay lohan is satisfying the terms of her probation. >>> we'll get a state of the redskins report from one of their players who b ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] combine a pnc cashbuilder visa credit card with a pnc performance select checking account and get up to 1.75% cash back for just about every purchase. learn more and apply today at pnc.com/cashbuilder. pnc bank. for the a

rachel carson elementary in montgomery county. whitehall elementary in prince george's county.nd pocomoke elementary in worcester county. the program honors schools that show high performance or significant improvement in reading or math, many of which have economically disadvantaged students, including woodholm, where 42% participate in free and reduced lunches. >> we differentiate the lunches. we meet with them during lunch. we spend time with them. >> reporter: and many students appreciate the faculty's hard work, knowing their education ensures a bright future. >> you have the good intelligence to get a job, to get money, so you can have your own house. and you can just live happily. >> reporter: the blue ribbon schools will now go on to compete for the national awards which are announced in september. i'm andrea fujii, wjz eyewitness news. >> and for the past four years, all nominated maryland public schools also won national blue ribbon awards. >> quite an honor. >>> still to come tonight on wjz eyewitness news. lost in the wilderness. what a man did to survive in subfree

rachel carson elementary in montgomery county. white -- whitehall, and pocomoke.t shows high performance or significant improvement in reading and math, many of which have economically disadvantaged students. including woodholm, where 42% participate in free and reduced lunches. >> so if a student is struggling in any way, we meet with them during lunch, we spend time with them. >> reporter: and many students appreciate the faculty's hard work, knowing their education ensures a bright future. >> we have the good intelligence to get a job, to get money, so you can have your own house, and you can just live happily. >> reporter: the blue ribbon schools will now go on to compete for the national awards, which are announced in september. i'm andrea fujii, wjz eyewitness news. >> for the past four years, all nominated maryland public schools also run national blue ribbon awards. it's a very big deal. >> absolutely. congratulations. in today's healthwatch, coffee drinking helps reduce the risk of diabetes, apparently. a new study found three compounds contained in the b

rachel carson. white hall elementary in prince george's county, and pocomoke elementary.rogram honors schools that show high performance or significant improvement in reading and math, many of which have economically disadvantaged students. including woodholm, where 42% participate in free and reduced lunches. >> so if a student is struggling in any way, and we differentiate with them the lessons. we spend time with them. >> and many students appreciate the faculty's hard work, knowing their education ensures a bright future. >> we have the good intelligence to get a job, to get money, so you can have your own house, and you can just live happily. >> reporter: the blue ribbon schools will now go on to compete for the national awards, which are announced in september. i'm andrea fujii, wjz eyewitness news. >> andrea, thank you. happiness is the most important piece of that puzzle. >> absolutely. it is. >>> for the past four years, all nominated maryland public schools also won the national blue ribbon awards. >> impressive. >> which is so significant. so congratulations to

rachel maddow, fred armisen, sharon van etten, everyone! [ cheers and applause ] and the greatest band in "late night," the roots, everybody! [ cheers and applause ] stay tuned for "carson