>> they are very committed to us. we want to remain as committed to them as possible. there is a nutrition rate every year of 150 to begin with. there is hope to place many, if not most of those looking for positions in the school system. we'll work toward that. >> reporter: he's deflecting speculation that the church is emptying out to be sold. we'll have more on that coming up at 6:00. the schools that are closing have such a rich history in maryland. so many families call those schools home. a home they are closing for good. if you'd like to leave your two cents on your closings go to abc2news.com or head over to our facebook page. here's the first comment. baltimore mayor stephanie rawlings blake said drinking way too much coffee is probably the reason for her heading to the hospital last night. she was released at 2:00 this afternoon. the mayor admits she needs to quit drinking so much coffee. the 39-year-old rawlings blake says doctors told her to stay hydrated. a west baltimore family is grieving after a morning fire killed three people. it happened the 3500 block of wood brook avenue. a victim was a veteran who lost both legs in vietnam. >> reporter: tears of sadness filled family and friends eyes as they watched firefighters clean up debris from a fire that killed three of their own. >> the fire and the smoke and the flames went up and engulfed everything. like i said they were on the roof and they escaped from the third floor window. i seen him jump from the ledge to here. my cousin, tony, kicked in the door to see if think could get in. >> reporter: two others managed to escape. but the fire killed alfred goodson, his son and a female friend. he was an army war veteran confined to a wheelchair. his death leaves a void. >> he was a funny person. good hearted. do anything for anybody. just all-out gentlemen. >> he was around 65. he still had his military ways the hard ways. he was a good person. i'm hurt by what happened. nobody deserved to die in no fire that like that. >> reporter: firefighters say this home was very cluttered, which made it difficult to get inside to the victims and it also made the home go up quicker flames. for family members the pain is too much to bear. >> hurt. truly hurt. that was my favorite uncle and my aunt. that's all i knew. >> reporter: family members hope to get some answers to try to understand why this happened. in west baltimore abc 2 news. >> four other families had to leave their homes because of this damage. the american red cross is on the scene to help with food and shelter. there is no word on exact cause of this fire. baltimore county police identified the than killed outside of an east baltimore elementary school yesterday. he was 29-year-old ken wheeler. someone found his body near a basketball court in north caroline street. investigators say he had been shot. police don't have a suspect at that time trouble at the velvet rope. baltimore county police are investigating a double shooting that happened outside of the baltimore downtown night club this morning. it is not the first time this week the police had to go there. the police commissioner called for the city's liquor board to suspend the club's license. on saturday 50 police officers after a promoter overbooked an event and 300 ticketholders try to storm the place. a woman is in jail tonight in ann arundel county accused of stabbing her husband. she said they were on a boat when they got into an argument. police found her husband lying on a picnic bench with stab wounds. he is in critical condition but stable. a toddler abandoned in a gas station last month will stay in foster cash -- care. a family court judge said she's doing well and should stay with the family she's been with since she was found. duane johnson is charged with the death of the girl's mother. her body was found in a new york park. a nice day of weather across maryland. windy at times. other than that sunshine today. temperatures getting back to near seasonable levels. we like it this way. let's look at the winds. we have had gusts up to 20 to 30 miles per hour gusting to 30 in re began national in d.c. eastern e -- reagan national in d.c. right now 44 baltimore. 46 washington. dover, delaware 45. these temperatures seasonable. typical high this time of year is 50 even. tonight down to 29. variably cloudy skies. windy and cold for the bulk of the night. i think you'll like the outlook. weather getting better each day and through the weekend. the military in chile is delivering food and watter to earthquake survivors. meantime the search continues for survivors there. crews are tunneling into a collapsed apartment building. recovery is hampered by aftershocks. if you want to help the american red cross is making a pledge of $50,000. you can donate on their website. we made it easy for you. go to abc2news.com and head to the links mentioned on the air section. on capitol hill democrats are facing a steep upward climb when it comes to healthcare. they don't have a bill to vote on. as tj tells us there is push back even from within the party. >> reporter: the white house preseconds the house of representatives will pass healthcare legislation by march isth. that's when the president leaves for a week-long trip to australia. >> we are on schedule to get this through the house by. >> reporter: also the secretary of health and human services met with executives from five insurance giants. they talk about double-digit rate hikes from the companies as perhaps the best argument for healthcare reform. >> it is important to see what information you can share with me and i can share with americans about what exactly is happening. >> reporter: the president faces opposition from within his own ranks. 11 democrats say they want stronger language blocking federal funding for abortion. >> we will not compromise that principle or belief. >> reporter: house speaker says the bill is abortion-neutral. >> there is no federally funded abortion. that's the law of the land. >> reporter: house republican leader says that's not true. >> under the senate bill everyone who buys a health policy at one of the so-called exchanges, will pay a monthly abortion fee. >> reporter: republicans insist they'll carry their opposition to the current healthcare reform bill into the 2010 congressional elections. today roll calls one placed in districts of vulnerable democrats. folks, it is time to wake up and sale the flowers. floral arrangements for weddings don't come cheap. tips on how to get the flowers of your dreams. are the food labels you are reading telling you the whole truth and nothing but the truth? some regulators say no. it is an incredible video. a monster wave crashes into a crews ship in the middle of the ocean leaving two people dead. ♪ [ male announcer ] now the best seat in the house is in your house. in fact, with the fios total ticket, it can be in every room. unlike cable, only fios gives you a multi-room dvr that lets you record shows in one room and watch them in up to six other rooms. no one will ever have to miss their favorite shows again. and now you can get a multi-room dvr plus set top box free for six months when you sign up for fios tv, internet and phone. you'll get tv with three times more very satisfied customers than comcast, america's top-rated internet, and phone. get it all together for just $99.99 a month -- a great low price -- guaranteed for two years. it adds up to savings of $419 over two years. fios total ticket is an awesome value that makes every seat in your house the best seat. so why sit still for cable? call now. 1.866.685.fios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. this is beyond cable. this is fios. if you are getting married this year one way to cut the wedding costs is to cut back on the flowers. flowers can take a big chunking out of the wedding budget. there are ways to save and have a beautiful ceremony at the same time. angie hicks from angie's list has more. >> reporter: flowers can put a major dent in your wedding budgetn't on averager in 8-10% of the overall wedding budget. most future brides are faced with the same dilemma. >> we did not want to completely blow a ton of money on flowers. but it is going to make our pictures look better. >> reporter: there are ways to make that happen without blowing your budget. angie hicks from ohio-based consumer group angie's list says it comes down to doing your homework. >> first, set aside how much you want to allocate to flowers and find a florist willing to work within that budget. know the flowers you'll want. >> reporter: the time of year you are holding the big day can have a huge impacted on your flower bill. >> florist suggested staying away from valentine's day and mother's day for wedding day. that's the time of year the price of roses tends to skyrocket. >> reporter: if you want to save money chose flowers in season. keep the guest list small and reuse the nows for the ceremony at the reception. >> we are going unique and artsy. i think both of us kind of have more of a creative side and neither of us wanted our wedding to be standard. >> reporter: before you hire a florist, visit that florist store and check out photos from their past work. if they have the right talent they can use just about any flower and arrange something beautiful. a lot of smarts and a little research could actually make that perfect fairy tale wedding. >> angie's list is a consumer organization that helps people find reliable vendors in hundreds of categories including floral service. for more information check out our website at abc2news.com. click on links mentioned on the air. the federal government denied package foods are missing one crucial element, the truth. in a sharply-worded letter the f.d.a. tells big food companies labeling on the products misinformed the customers and violates regulations. >> reporter: disception is working in the aisles of your grocery store. that's according to the fade claiming labels to 17 food manufacturers are misleading. >> we hope this is a start of a battle that will lead to the war that will end deceptive food labeling. >> reporter: it includes products from freezing fish to juice to walnu . >> i'm sure they are doing whatever they think will sale the product. >> reporter: few agency took issue with labels on products like gordon fish filets that emphasize zero transfat. >> you are not fooled by the way? >> no. >> do you think they are misleading sometimes? >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: violation include an array of unauthorized health claims and content claims that can't with supported. >> companies try to get around the rules by using fake terminology such as help support your immune system or heart-healthy. these weak claims are not reviewed by the food and drug administration and are confusing to consumers. >> reporter: according to a 2008 u.s. health and diet report many surveyed said they'll often read it. >> reporter: the makers of juicy juice got f.d.a. warnings for claiming they have 100% juice. f.d.a. says you should be weary of claims like real fruit juice or that it is all-natural. manufacturers say they fully stand by their products but at the same time they are complying with the f.d.a. lindsay davis abc news new york . i loved watching the snow pile slowly start to melt down. i can see the grass now. it is great. i hope it stays that way. >> what we are seeing is a true shift in the weather pattern. we have a couple weeks of winter left on the calendar but we are getting in a spring pattern. still piles of snow in the shaded areas. 50s this weekend. it will be great. let's look outside. nice day out there. a lot of sunshine earlier. right now we are seeing more clouds come in out of the south. for the most part things have been darn nice looking in downtown baltimore. 44 degrees right now. humidity at 33%. wind has been our one weather culprit today. northwest 14. we have had gusts up around 30. it has been a bit of a windy day. that's a good thing. that means high pressure is moving out of the west providing sunny skies and warmer weather. parkville today beautiful blue sky throughout the midpart of the afternoon. then you can see more cloud cover coming in. we'll take you down to washington where you see a lot of blue skies as well. as you walk to the end of the loop, as we get into the last 30 minutes a few more clouds pushing in as we pushed towards sunset. wind gust have been significant out there the last few hours. we gusted at 30. these are some of the exclusive weather bug sites that gives you an idea of what the winds is doing. state-wide we have had gusts 20-30. the last hour we have seen them die of. gusts 24 in easton. temperature wise highs today not bad. average high temperature this part of the year would be up around 50. today we got within five degrees of that. 46 baltimore. easton 45. even the beach is at the mid 40s. things have not cooled off a lot. we are still in the mid 40s. we'll eventually cool off tonight around to 30. generally clear skies giving way to a few more clouds. if you look closely the sun is clear with cloud cover pushing out of the west. it will be not a big deal. we'll stay dry tonight despite the increase in clouds. off to the west just clear as a bell off to the west. no active weather what so ever. if you had a flight towards cincinnati, detroit off to the south and west things looking great. big area of dry, quiet weather coming in for the weekend. when we have all that sunshine and little snow pack left out there it is going to be a nice rise in the temperatures. we are talking temperatures above average toward the weekend. that's something we have not said much this season. few clouds tonight. staying dry. maybe a couple of showers well offshore. into the day tomorrow as we begin to see the clouds thin out, we get into a picturesque blue sky scenario. tonight 29. variably cloudy skies. windy and chilly. two degree guaranteed forecast high tomorrow is 45 degrees. mixture of sun and clouds. a great looking day of weather. 26 tomorrow night. we'll be colder tomorrow night. we'll get rid of the winds. take a look at the seven-day forecast. here's the outlook. things nice as we sail toward the weekend. 50 saturday. mid 50s sunday and monday. a lot of sunshine. above average temperatures. that's what we like to see this time of year. remember that air traffic chloral who was in hot water for letting his son talk over the radio? there is new information tonight that dad may have had another little helper inside the building. for trouble or toyota as owners of vehicles not covered in the recent recall are experiencing some problems. first came the game. then came the big win. this unfolded outsite of the comcast center after maryland's upset over duke was anything but sportsman like. the actions some students took on one maryland campus. they serve coffee in bikinis but the advertisement they have has customers fighting back. those stories are straight ahead. a look at news around the nation takes us to new york city. remember the story yesterday where dad let his son talk over the air traffic control tower. that really made the f.a.a. mad. dad's been suspended. what's worse, the day after the employee had his son on the radio, he brought his daughter to work and she stepped up to the mike, as well. a republican senate senator from california who strongly opposed gay rights faces dui charges after being arrested shortly after leaving a gay bar early wednesday morning. officers say the state senator had an unidentified man in the passenger seat. some speculated he would run for governor. he is divorced with four daughters. look at this. another doctor matting -- dramatic rescue in the los angeles area. this tiny terrier got more than she bargained before when she took a dip in the river. firefighters had to save her with a dogcatcher's mitt. >> she was tired and hungry. we gave her food. she seems to be happy now. >> rescuers dubbed her slash. kicking crime to the curb in your neighborhood. we have a wrap up of this week's crime checker. ♪ [ male announcer ] now the best seat in the house is in your house. in fact, with the fios total ticket, it can be in every room. unlike cable, only fios gives you a multi-room dvr that lets you record shows in one room and watch them in up to six other rooms. one dvr puts you in control of all your family entertainment. now you can get a multi-room dvr plus set top box free for six months when you sign up for fios tv, internet and phone. you'll get tv with three times more very satisfied customers than comcast, america's top-rated internet, and phone. get it all together for just $99.99 a month -- a great low price -- guaranteed for two years. it adds up to savings of $419 over two years. fios total ticket with a free dvr and set top box for six months makes every seat in your house the best seat. so why sit still for cable? call now. 1.877.717.fios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. this is beyond cable. this is fios. determine if a car is a best buy? first they drive it in the real world. and put it through its paces. they rate its fit and finish. and the amenities inside. they factor in purchase price and operating costs, fuel economy and resale value. in short, they do what you do to test its quality. the consumers digest best buys from chevy. put them to your own test. and may the best car win. prince george's county police estimate 1500 students clogged route one. >> they started banging batons and started walk. any person that couldn't run fast enough got beat. >> officers assembled in advance of the game's conclusion, fearing another out of control can mob. police describe the mob as unruly. >> they went to campus and started several fires. set a tree on fire and set trash can fires along the mall.