WRAL Newscasts
4:30AM News on WRAL - Thursday, July 11, 2024
An official message from Medicare. A new law is helping me save more money on prescription drug costs. You may be able to save, too. With Medicare's Extra Help program, my premium is zero, and my out-of-pocket costs are low. Who should apply? Single people making less than $23,000 a year, or a married couple who make less than $31,000 a year. Even if you don't think you qualify, it pays to find out. Go to ssa.gov/extrahelp, paid for by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Now breaking news from WREL coverage you can count on. Breaking news. Wildly fire crews battle a house fire in the historic Oakwood neighborhood. Also breaking news out of Cumberland County this morning, a crash involving several cars at the same intersection where a deadly accident happened earlier this week. And did you see any thunderstorms last night? It did help to clear things out just to touch. Our hour-by-hour heat index is a little lower today than yesterday. Won't talk about why. And today, Vice President Kamala Harris' sixth visit to North Carolina as pressure grows for President Biden to leave the presidential race. It's still no change apart from the president. He says he is still all in in the race. We are all in today here on this Thursday morning, Friday eve. As we like to call it, I'm Renee Chu. I'm Jeff Hogan. We hope you're all in as well. Checking out some news here as we get our Thursday started. Elizabeth Gardner and the WRS severe weather center. He said a little better, but it's one smidge at a time, I guess. Yes, a little bit better. You know, it's not feeling like October by any means, but we did have that round of thunderstorms that moved through overnight last night. For most of us, we'll talk about how much rain we saw coming up. But it's brought us a slightly lower dew point. Now, 67 still pings on the muggy side. But yesterday at lunchtime, it was 77. So that 67 is a considerable drop. Now, it is 75. It's warm out there. So this is just a little subtle difference. But it makes a big difference in what it'll feel like this afternoon. Yes, it's going to feel like 98 to 99, but that doesn't put us in the danger zone. Yesterday, it was feeling like 105 to 110. So it is a little bit of a change for us. We also have a small chance for thunderstorms this afternoon. And even most of that will be fairly late and mainly in our eastern counties. You can see at five o'clock, some of those showers and thunderstorms kind of creeping in toward Rocky Mountain or so. We'll have a better chance for rain tomorrow. And we'll talk about why that is coming up. We'll see a high this afternoon in the mid 90s. Elizabeth, thanks. Breaking news, Cruz responded to a house fire in Raleigh's historic Oakwood neighborhood. The emergency call came in around midnight. This is video from the W.R.A. Breaking News Tracker on Elm Street. We're working to learn the extent of the damage to the home and whether anyone was in the house at the time. We're also working to learn more about this morning, a three car crash in Fayetteville. Video from the W.R.A. Breaking News Tracker shows the aftermath of this crash on Ferguson Road at Pamela Drive. This is the same intersection where a deadly hit and run crash happened Tuesday night. This crash happened at about 11 15 last night and we're trying to find out whether anyone was hurt. A lightning strike is to blame for a house fire and carry. Fire crews got to the three story home on Carpenter Upchurch Road around 9 15 last night. They say the fire started in the chimney before spreading to an upper story room. Those were able to put the fire out in about 20 minutes. No one was hurt. Today, Vice President Kamala Harris is traveling to Greensboro as President Joe Biden faces pressure to abandon his re-election bid. W.R.A. Let's Kelsey Comfy joins us live from the legislative building in Raleigh and Kelsey. Vice President's visit is at a pivotal time for the Biden administration. Jeff it really is and we're just hours away from her visit to Greensboro and then the American flag is flying above the legislative building this morning. And it's quite symbolic as North Carolina will play a key role and who is elected to lead our nation in November. Harris made a stop in Charlotte last month. Today's visit to Greensboro marks her sixth visit to our state this year. This comes as President Biden faces pressure to abandon his re-election bid. Biden trails behind President Trump by several points in recent polls. Biden's campaign is focusing on narrowing that gap in this battleground state. One North Carolina by fewer than 75,000 votes back in 2020 and we'll have a crew in Greensboro this morning to keep you updated on Harris's visit. Kelsey Comfy, W.R.A. News live in Raleigh. Security preps are underway for next week's Republican National Convention as Donald Trump prepares to announce a running mate. Officials are putting up fencing in downtown Milwaukee where about 50,000 people are expected to attend. During the convention, former President Trump will be formally selected as the Republican nominee. New polling shows how close the race is between Donald Trump and President Biden here in North Carolina. A Bloomberg poll conducted last weekend shows in a two-way race, Biden is three points behind Trump. This morning, pressure is mounting on power companies in southeast Texas as over a million people are still without electricity, days after hurricane barrels slammed that state. People are struggling to find places to cool off as temperatures there swelter. Officials in Houston are sending patients to the energy arena home of the Houston Texans because facilities don't have power. The facility there will be staffed with doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals as well as EMTs. The outages are also affecting some fire stations and that's concerning as triple digit heat is expected in some parts of that state throughout the weekend. Take a good look at this video. It shows the moment a car slammed through the wall of a Selma business on July 4th. The driver at the time was being chased by Selma police. The owners of Surfin Turf on Anderson Street are now working to reopen. The lawnmower store was closed for the holiday when the crash happened. Thankfully, there was no one inside. Since the crash, the community of Selma has rallied around the business owners. A great sport in the community and we've had a lot of phone calls, a lot of big reaching out, trying to help us out, give us stuff, you know, they've been really good to us. The driver of the car was 37 year old Tyrone Jones. Store owners say police found him hiding in a back room behind a pile of tires. He was taken into custody. For the first time, a Democratic Senator is publicly calling for President Biden to end his reelection campaign. Senator Pat Welch of Vermont makes the call in an op-ed from the Washington Post. In it, he says he respects Biden, but he says Biden should withdraw, quote, for the good of the country. Welch joins nine Democrats in the House of Representatives who have also publicly urged Biden to leave the race. Tonight, the president will hold a solo news conference tonight. Biden is scheduled to take questions from the White House press corps at 5.30 this evening. He won't be speaking at the White House, but rather at a nearby convention center where the NATO summit is happening. President Biden will also speak with NBC News Lester Holt in a one-on-one interview next week. They preview on NBC Nightly News on Monday, and then the full unedited interview in a primetime special that night at 9. Then stay with NBC News for special coverage of the Republican National Convention at 9.30. It's all right here on W.R.E.L. Dangerously, high temperatures can be especially deadly for infants and small children. Pediatric doctors say it's extremely important to know the signs of heat exhaustion in babies. Doctors at Duke and UNC tell W.R.E.L. Heat is especially dangerous for infants because they have no way to communicate. And because they can't tell you what they're feeling, you need to be aware. Anytime that your baby is not responding to you as well as it usually does, so if your baby usually is smiling at you, laughing at you and suddenly stops doing that, it's important to check the baby carefully to make sure that the baby is feeling OK. Some of the signs of heat exhaustion include pale, clammy skin, listlessness, nausea, and a fast, weak pulse. Today, Raleigh and Wake County leaders will talk about the region's triumphs, challenges, and priorities for the future. They'll be speaking at the annual State of the City Council and Schools event. The Raleigh Chamber is hosting the sold-out luncheon. Guests will hear from Raleigh's mayor, the Chair of Wake County Commissioners, the Wake Schools Superintendent, and other leaders. It runs from 1130 to 130 at the Raleigh Convention Center. I'm looking forward to them seeing the event. W.R.E.L. is the media sponsor, and you can watch the event live on woriel.com. We'll also have coverage on our later newscasts. State education leaders want to make a change that could help more people become teachers. College students who want to become teachers have to take what's called the Praxis exam. It measures certain academic skills. Non-traditional teachers don't have to take it, but the State Department of Public Instruction says teachers who pass the Praxis test in college don't perform better as teachers than the ones who never took it. Later this morning, the State Board of Education will consider asking state lawmakers to no longer require it. The change could allow hundreds more people to become teachers through a traditional college program. This morning, we're hearing from two astronauts on the International Space Station. As NASA insists, they are not stuck in space. There is not an option. That's why we are staying here now. How they're working with engineers on Earth to fix the issues with their spacecraft. Plus why some doctors are now calling on the FDA to halt sales of popular nicotine pouches. And this is a live look at North Hills. The rain has moved out and the temperature is feeling a little more tolerable. Full meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner, with a look at when we could see showers and storms again. America. We are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. At Grand Canyon University, we believe in equal opportunity and the American dream starts with purpose. To serve others in ways that promote human flourishing and create a ripple effect of transformation for generations to come, find your purpose at Grand Canyon University. Private. Christian. Affordable. Visit GCU.edu. We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is helping meet rising demand. And we're working to do it responsibly. Our next-gen, tankless facilities reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our operations by more than 90% compared to our older designs. Working to provide Colorado with energy that's affordable, reliable and ever cleaner. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's energy and progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. From the WRAL Severe Weather Center, North Carolina's most experienced team of meteorologists. A little bit of a change this morning as you head out the door right now. It is 442. The humidity is a little bit lower. It doesn't feel like the fall or anything like that. Definitely a little better feel than it was yesterday thanks to those thunderstorms it rolled through overnight. Here's a live look at Apex this morning. Our temperatures are still warm. Don't be wrong. It's 80 in favor right now, 80 in Rocky Mountain, 78 in Tarobro. So that rain last night didn't do anything to drop our temperatures. But it did bring us an ever so slightly drier air mass. So we don't have a heat advisory for today. It is going to be hot. It's a little more comfortable walking the dog this morning. Our temperature will climb into the mid-90s and it will feel like upper 90s instead of 110 like we saw yesterday. We have a small chance for rain today, but we're still on track for a fairly wet Friday. I'll show you how much rain we could see. This morning, the involuntary manslaughter trial of actor Alec Baldwin will continue in New Mexico. Opening statements started yesterday, nearly three years after cinematographer Elena Hutchins was fatally shot on the set of a Western film Rust. Prosecutors accused the actor of playing make believe with a real gun while the defense team said the gun had been checked and was safe. Three officers and a crime scene technician testified yesterday. Baldwin has pleaded not guilty and says he didn't pull the trigger. If he's found guilty, he'll face up to 18 months in prison. The trial will resume this morning. There is growing health concerns over nicotine pouches and they're growing popularity among teens and young adults. The most popular brand is in. The company sold more than 130 billion cans in the U.S. within the first three months of this year. 32-year-old Will Lomis says he quickly got addicted to Zinn. Soon he was using up to 20 a day. After a year, he started having severe stomach pain, but doctors didn't know why. He got an ultrasound, I got a colonoscopy, and all they found was that my stomach was inflamed. Doctors say nicotine can have side effects, including gastrointestinal issues, mouth ulcers, and elevated heart rate. While the FDA is still reviewing the safety of Zinn and similar products, several medical organizations have asked the agency to stop sales. Zinn maker Philip Morris says in a statement it is committed to developing products that are scientifically substantiated as a better alternative to continued smoking. Two astronauts are speaking out from space after their return home aboard Boeing Star Liner had some unexpected delays on Day 35 of what was supposed to be a 10-day mission. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams insist they remain confident in their Star Liner spaceship. "I have a real good feeling in my heart that the spacecraft will bring us home. No problem." The team has been on the space station far longer than anyone expected after having a problem with the ship's thrusters. Engineers on the ground are working to replicate the problem here on Earth so they can instruct the astronauts on how to fix it. NASA wants to ensure the thrusters don't fail again when the astronauts return to Earth. Williams and Wilmore's homecoming is now planned for some time later this month. Newly released video shows a dramatic rescue of an injured hiker on Oregon's Mount Hood. Authorities say a 55-year-old hiker from Arizona was critically injured after falling 700 feet down a frozen surface Saturday. A couple of off-duty military medics saw him fall and were able to reach him to help. Two forest rangers were in the area and also helped to get the man off the mountain. He's in the hospital in critical condition. A legendary track and field coach now has an interchange on the belt line named in his honor. State DOT announced yesterday the interchange of I-440 and Newborn Avenue is now the coach George Williams' interchange. Williams' coach both men's and women's track and field at St. Augustine's University for 44 years. In that time, the team's brought home 39 national titles. Williams was also the head coach of the 2004 U.S. Olympic track and field team. DOT says the signs in his honor will go up at a later date. Happening today, Clayton's downtown social district goes into effect. The new ordinance is similar to several others in downtown areas. It allows people to carry alcoholic beverages outdoors while inside the zone. All drinks must be purchased at local businesses and personal containers of alcohol are still not permitted. Particularly, this rower had a close encounter in the Atlantic Ocean. Tom Waddington was rowing to benefit a mental health charity Sunday when a large pot of whales surrounded him. He believes there were more than a thousand long-fined pilot whales swimming up close to him. Waddington says it was an amazing sight, but also kind of scary. Mesmerizing. Yeah. Yeah, so many of them. Meteorologist Melissa Gardner in the WRL Severe Weather Center and we'll take progress here. At least the humidity dropped a little bit. It's not really much cooler this morning, but when we have those thunderstorms moved through, it does switch our wind briefly to northerly, slightly drier air mass this morning. And it's not looking, it's not feeling like the fall by any means, but just a touch more comfortable. But here in Stepulon, they've got the water going on the lawn there. We did have some rain yesterday. In some places we saw as much as an inch to an inch and a half, but not everybody saw that much coming up. We're going to talk more about how much you may have seen where you are and how much more is coming for tomorrow. But stepping out the door is 75 degrees with a due point of 67, and that is considerably lower than what we saw around lunchtime yesterday. We'll have our temperatures in the 70s up until around 9 or 10 o'clock this morning, and we do have clear skies. It's going to be a pretty start this morning. We have a top of the tower lit in blue for the clear skies. We did have those thunderstorms develop at late evening and overnight last night, you can see this gorgeous view of some of these towering clouds in More County from Heidi Rabsdenek. So thank you for sending us that. If you have some photos you'd like to share with us, go to WRL.com search weather watchers. Around town today, 92 in Durham and Raleigh, 92 in Fayetteville. The heat remains. It's not quite as hot as yesterday, but it will be a similar in terms of our temperature, but definitely a much lower due point yesterday at lunchtime. It was 77 right now. It is 67. So feeling just a little bit more comfortable, but definitely still in the steamy zone. And then tomorrow we jump back up to tropical and it stays that way well into next week. So we do have some more big heat headed our way. Our hour by hour heat index today definitely lower. It is 99, but it keeps us out of that danger zone, which is really really starts at around 105 and continues to 110 still at 99. You definitely want to just not overdo it. We should have a big break for tomorrow. We'll see a high of 82 that heat index at 83, but that means of course the trade off is pretty much an all day rain. And I think at this point, a lot of folks would welcome that. This high pressure system is pushing this front across our area, but it's going to stall here in Eastern North Carolina and that's where most of the rain will end up being today. You can see that. We'll kick things off just after lunchtime. You can see that rain closer to the coast, Edgecombe County, maybe Sampson County sees a stray shower and then that starts to back up and you can see how that backs up pretty early in the day and starts to bring us a chance of showers and thunderstorms probably as early as mid morning. So Friday looks like a wet day, 90% chance of rain with a high of 82. But over the weekend, we're back to just the afternoon and evening storms and the temperatures creep up, 90 on Saturday, 96 on Sunday. It does look like a great weekend to head to the pool to stay cool and you'll need to do that next week also with those temperatures in the upper 90s. Coming up, we're going to talk a little bit more about the timeline for the rain on Friday and how much you'll get. Thanks Elizabeth for 50 is the time right now. rapper Flava Flav is embracing his new role. It's called water polo, how he is helping the US women's water polo team achieve their dream of competing in the Paris Olympics. Because it's not over yet, we'll tell you about track 5 and the star-studded cast. We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is helping meet rising demand and we're working to do it responsibly. Our next gen tankless facilities reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our operations by more than 90% compared to our older designs. Welcome to provide Colorado with energy that's affordable, reliable and ever cleaner. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's energy and progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. An official message from Medicare. A new law is helping me save more money on prescription drug costs. You may be able to save too. With Medicare's extra help program, my premium is zero and my out-of-pocket costs are low. Who should apply? Single people making less than $23,000 a year or married couples who make less than $31,000 a year. Even if you don't think you qualify, it pays to find out. Go to ssa.gov/extrahelp paid for by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. You can add keeping cool this summer to the list of things costing more. According to new energy projections, look out for a nearly 8% increase across the country. It's more than $700 on average more to cool a home. Five on your sides, Kelly, Arthur shares the five steps you can take to keep your bill as low as possible. It's hot in North Carolina. That is no secret, but this year is record breaking. It is the hottest summer on record, the hottest year to date. And when you look at lowest temperatures, those are at their highest as well. While we can't control the weather, we can control our habits. First, ease off the AC by a few degrees. This might cause some heated arguments in your home, but adjusting your thermostat between 7 and 10 degrees for 8 hours a day can lessen your bill by 10%. Next, use a fan to make up the difference. Using one can make the room feel 4 to 5 degrees cooler. Third, invest in some technology by using a smart thermostat. You can set it to eco mode, easily saving some extra cash. Next, repair leaky AC duct work and fill in holes and cracks around doors and windows to keep the cold air in and that hot air out. Finally, our fifth piece of advice, put down your curtains. That's going to help keep the sun out and keep you cool. Kelly, Arthur, five on your side. If you're craving some fresh summer produce, you'll want to visit the state farmer's market today in Raleigh. Summerfest is happening, celebrating local products and produce. The Market Festival runs today from 11 to 2. You can enjoy free watermelon slices, free peach samples and free tomato sandwiches. Yum. There will also be a grilling demonstration and activities for the kids. It's been a fun story to follow. Rapper Flava Flava is getting in the water now at the US water polo team. He's their official hype man. They've recently played a game with the women's Olympic team. He signed a five year sponsorship deal with both the men's and women's teams. Part of the deal is making a financial contribution to the women's team. There he goes. Jump on in, says he wants to give the team confidence to achieve its goals of winning gold in Paris. That's what I'm trying to do with these girls, to give them a more powerful feeling, a more confident feeling to go out and get that fourth gold medal. It's great to be able to have someone like that around that just immediately brings that enthusiasm that's infectious. You heard him. They've won three in a row now going for the fourth in a row. Flava Flava Flava will be in Paris with the team and we're told he'll be linking up with NBC's special guest commentator and fellow rapper Snoop Dogg at some point. Flava Flava Flava, perfect hype man. Get ready to head back to the swamp. Another Shrek movie is in the works. DreamWorks Animation says Shrek 5 will hit the big screen. July 2026, that's 16 years after the last installment was released. Mike Myers is returning to voice Shrek. Cameron Diaz will voice Princess Fiona. Eddie Murphy will reprise his role as Donkey. Murphy said in June that Donkey is also getting his own movie. Donkey. That's great. What's believed to be the most expensive home in North Carolina history just sold for nearly 14 million dollars. The closure happened last week. The home is on Figurate Island. It's just north of Ritesville Beach. Very exclusive community there and last year the island saw another sale of 13 million dollars. To learn more about this historic sale you can visit our website and get the full story on WRL.com. Jeff finally sold his beach house. Oh yeah. Yeah. Today Vice President Kamala Harris will be in North Carolina as President Joe Biden faces pressure to abandon his reelection bid where she will visit this afternoon. Also more plain trouble and this time with an American Airlines flight the moment one of the tires blew out right before takeoff. And a chaotic scene at Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium after Columbia's KOPA America's Semifinal win over Uruguay. What players accused the fans of doing. An official message from Medicare A new law is helping me save more money on prescription drug costs. You may be able to save too. With Medicare's extra help program my premium is zero and my out-of-pocket costs are low. Who should apply? Single people making less than $23,000 a year or married couples who make less than $31,000 a year. Even if you don't think you qualify it pays to find out. Go to ssa.gov/extrahelp paid for by the US Department of Health and Human Services.