WRAL Newscasts
Noon News on WRAL - Tuesday, July 9, 2024
Save big this summer with great deals! All in the King Supers app! Get juicy Washington red cherries for $2.99 a pound, then get $10 for 10 on items like Lays Stacks, Rice Oroni, and Sparkling Ice Sparkling Water for $1 each, all with your card. Shuff these deals at your local Kroger today, or tap the screen now to download the King Supers app to save big today. King Supers, fresh for everyone, prices and product availability subject to change, restrictions apply, see site for details. (upbeat music) Live from WRL news headquarters in Raleigh, your number one source for local news. WRL news coverage you can cut off. Heat advisory, it affected now, of course. We're looking at it feeling like 104 to 106 this afternoon. I'll let you know how hot it will feel each hour through the rest of the afternoon. Millions of people from Texas to Louisiana are dealing with the aftermath of barrel. Michelle McConaughey is in the WRL live center with brand new numbers regarding the storm's impact. Plus, our WRL investigates team is following up on a woman charged with killing her two adopted children. The state is now looking into how she was able to adopt children in several counties. Heat advisory is in effect right now through this evening. Good afternoon to you, I'm Jeff Hogan. And I'm Renee Chiu, thanks for joining us. It is a steamy afternoon, so be sure to take it easy with that triple digit heat index out there. Elizabeth Gardner is out on the WRL weather patio with a look at how hot it feels right now. This is the fifth one that we've seen in just a matter of two or three weeks. So heat advisory, in effect until 8 p.m., feeling like at least 106 in some places and maybe even a little bit hotter than that down in some of our southern counties. Let's take a look at our temperatures and heat index together. Temperatures on the left in the blue box and the heat index in the white on the right side. So it feels like 102 right now in Durham and Raleigh. It feels like 102 right now down in Clinton. It feels like 97 in Fayetteville, 100 in Rocky Mountains and in Goldsboro and 91 up in Roxborough. And temperatures right now are anywhere from the mid-80s to low 90s. And so we still have a ways to go. Our forecast high this afternoon is for 98 degrees. And so it is going to feel dangerously hot to the afternoon. And the triangle, at least 106, potentially dropping back again as we get into the evening. But definitely a dangerous feel to the afternoon. Our actual high at around three or four o'clock is going to be around 97 to 98. We also have a small chance for thunderstorms. It's a 30% chance this afternoon. Nothing popping up just yet, but coming up in just a couple of minutes. We'll talk more about what our potential is for any rain this afternoon. And happening right now in the WRAL Live Center, people in Texas and Louisiana continue to deal with the aftermath of barrel, barrel hit as a category one storm in Texas yesterday. Difficult recovery and cleanup efforts are underway in Texas. This is video here. More than 2 million people are without power. That could take days or even weeks to get back. The storm unleashed flooding, rains, winds that transformed roads into rushing rivers like you see here, rips through power lines and tossed trees onto homes, roads and cars. NBC News is reporting right now at least eight deaths from barrel and much like we're expecting regarding these high temperatures. Texas also, they are anticipating that today as well, which can get very dangerous with these high temperatures and no power. - Michelle, thanks. New today, WRAL Investigates has confirmed the state is investigating how a woman accused of killing her children was allowed to adopt them. Avante Devon is accused of murdering and concealing the deaths of Blake and London Devon, two of her five adopted children. WRAL's Chris Lovinggood joins us now with that story. Chris, what else did you learn? - Well, when they asked the State Department of Health and Human Services, if it would investigate how avante Devon secured adoptions in Buncombe, McDowell and Madison counties in western North Carolina, a spokesperson said, quote, "Yes, NCDHHS will partner with all counties to conduct a thorough assessment of decision-making that led to selection of Ms. Devon as an adoptive parent." End quote. I also asked if Secretary Cody Kinsley would support a law change to require a DSS agency to perform check-ins with families of adoptive children post-adoption. I asked that because a former caseworker for the Devon family told WRAL exclusively she is advocating for this. The spokesperson didn't answer that directly, but instead said NCDHHS reviews and assesses policies to make sure changes happen when needed. One other question that I asked is whether Devon was still accepting adoption support money from the state when Blake went missing. That NCDHHS spokesperson said that the agency couldn't comment on a specific case. Vonte Devon is slated for a court appearance next week, but the Cumberland County DA's office told me that's mostly an administrative hearing, Renee. In about an hour and a half, the state board of elections will reconsider requests to add three more presidential candidates to the November election ballot. Down the ticket, the decision could affect major candidates' chances to win the state. WRAL NC Capital Chief Laura Leslie is live at the legislative building with a preview of that meeting coming up. Laura? Jeff, North Carolina election law makes it really hard for an independent presidential candidate to get on the ballot. The bar to get a president, to get a political party onto the ballot, is much lower. And that's what they can do is they get ballot access and then they put their candidate on it. Well, that's what the state board of elections is weighing. They have to decide in the next few weeks whether three parties have cleared that bar. Those three parties seeking to put presidential candidates on the ballot are the We The People Party with anti-vaccine activist Robert of Kennedy, Jr. The Justice for All Party with philosopher Cornel West and the Constitution Party with anti-abortion activist Randall Terry. The state board of elections considered all these party's petitions two weeks ago as the board staff confirmed that each one had the required signatures, but the board did not vote to approve any of the three, saying that they needed more time to investigate how the signatures were gathered. Republicans pushed back, accusing the Democratic majority on the elections board of trying to protect President Biden by denying other candidates who might take votes away from him. Residential, recent presidential elections in North Carolina rather have been very, very close. In unusual step, congressional Republican leaders asked the state elections board to provide documents explaining their decision and Republicans here at the legislature ordered board leaders to answer questions before the state house oversight committee. That meeting was actually scheduled for this morning, but it was rescheduled after the election board called another meeting this afternoon to revisit that issue. And by the way, our WRL news poll that we did this spring found that 55% of voters wanted another choice on the ballot. This November, besides former President Trump and President Biden. Laura Leslie, WRL news. Raleigh. A controversial church in Western North Carolina is hosting a campaign fundraiser today for Mark Robinson, who's running for governor. Leaders of the church called Word of Faith Fellowship have been accused of engaging in criminal behavior. This includes slave labor, financial fraud, and the sexual and physical abuse of children. Robinson has made speaking at churches a key part of his campaign for governor. His speeches have focused on his opposition to gay rights, abortion, and his support for traditional gender roles. Vice President Kamala Harris will be in North Carolina this week. She's expected to stop in Greensboro on Thursday for a campaign event. The vice president will also be making campaign stops in Las Vegas and Dallas this week. She's expected to be the keynote speaker at the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated's annual convention in Dallas. She's also a member. And back here in the WRA Live Center, Fifth Third Bank is in trouble. They'll pay millions of dollars in penalties after opening fake accounts and illegally getting vehicles repossessed. About 35,000 Fifth Third Bank customers were hurt by the bank's illegal actions in order to meet sales goals. Employees are accused of opening fake accounts in customers' names and falsifying records all without customers' knowledge. They also allegedly forced vehicle insurance onto borrowers who already had it then illegally triggered repossessions. Those borrowers paid about $13 million in fees. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered the bank to pay those people back. They also fined the bank $20 million. Michelle, thanks. This afternoon, we're seeing the damage inside a Rocky Mount jewelry store that was robbed. This is gold rush inside the Golden East Mall. Video the store shared with WRA all shows holes in the walls, a damage safe and equipment. Rocky Mount police say they are working with the FBI to find the people involved. Child care centers across North Carolina are getting help to keep their doors open. Governor Roy Cooper signed off on more than $67 million to help after COVID era subsidies ended last week. WRAO's Laura Levine explains, child care providers still need more to make up for the loss in funding. It was about two weeks ago when we saw child care advocates here at the General Assembly really rallying for that state funding, some even pushing for more funding for raises and bonuses for child care staff. Now, Governor Cooper has signed a bill providing emergency stoppage funding aimed at helping child care centers keep their doors open. The measure would authorize $67.5 million in state spending on child care subsidies. The emergency funds looked to help as federal funding came to a stop at the end of June, but it's still far less than the 300 million many child care advocates wanted from the state. Some argue as it stands now, this will create another funding cliff in December. This should at least buy lawmakers several months to work on a more permanent solution after failing to reach an agreement on how to spend a $1 billion budget surplus. In a statement, Governor Roy Cooper said lawmakers need to do much more by extending that grant funding through 2025. He also says our children's future and economy depends on it. Laura Levine, WRL news in Raleigh. - A burrowing deer is how a paleontologist at North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences describes a bizarre new species of dinosaur. Photonize, it's known, lived 99 million years ago in what is now Utah. Scientists believe the seven foot long dinosaur lived in burrows along river banks in an ancient delta. - With Photonize, because we know at burrowed and because its relatives have burrows that we can see, there's a lot of areas to investigate how this animal operated and what role it played in its environment. - Video game software. - A team from the Museum of Natural Sciences and NC State announced that find today, the name Photonize pays tribute to the indigenous myth from the island of Guam. - Fascinating. Next at noon, after a major surge in travel around the world the last few years, the growing phenomenon of overtourism, the popular destinations being affected. - Also a drawbridge in New York City got stuck open. What caused the malfunction and the ingenious way it got fixed. - Plus, a blind woman was dropped off at the wrong location by her Uber driver. Her calls for improved safety measures for all, but especially people with disabilities. Keep watching WRL news over the Air Channel 34 and Spectrum Channel 1257. (upbeat music) - Save big this summer with great deals. All in the King Supers app. Get juicy Washington red cherries for £2.99 a pound, then get 10 for 10 on items like Lays Stacks, Rice Oroni and Sparkling Ice Sparkling Water for $1 each, all with your card. Shuff these deals at your local Kroger today or tap the screen now to download the King Supers app to save big today. - King Supers, fresh for everyone, prices and product availability subject to change, restrictions apply, see site for details. - This is the story of the one. As head of maintenance at a concert hall, he knows the show must always go on. That's why he works behind the scenes, ensuring every light is working, the HVAC is humming and his facility shines. With Granger's supplies and solutions for every challenge he faces plus 24/7 customer support, his venue never misses a beat. Call quickgranger.com or just.buy. Granger, for the ones who get it done. (upbeat music) - Now to an issue affecting communities around the world from small towns to big cities over tourism. Over the past several years, there's been a major surge in travel around the world with some hotspots getting especially overcrowded with visitors. NBC's Emily Aketa joins us now for a closer look at this phenomenon. - With summer travel soaring to record levels, some popular destinations are now trying to slow the surge of tourists. - Yeah, it's summer, but since one has used to meet even this bad. - Look at America's national parks. - National parks are like the Disneyland of outdoors. They are super packed, super touristy. More parks are having to require timed entry reservations this summer to ease congestion, like Mount Rainier, which saw a 40% increase in visitation over the past decade. As over tourism has become a growing challenge across the country, residents in iconic destinations pushing back. - It gets busier earlier and earlier every single year. - Crowds like these have become the Norman Salem, Massachusetts. (upbeat music) It's really increasingly difficult to live in downtown Salem. - Now the city of 45,000 is trying to scare some away with new $350 licensing fees for tour guides. A massive jump from the previous cost of just 10 bucks. Tour operator Beth Crowley insists the tours aren't the problem. - The tours are actually keeping people from wandering around. It's all part of a larger travel boom. - Travelers in the U.S. spent $1.3 trillion in 2023, producing an economic footprint of nearly three trillion bucks. - And the impact of the pandemic on over tourism was to accentuate it, because frankly, we want to travel now more than ever. - A boost that in some cases comes at a cost. (crowd cheering) Recently, thousands of protesters in Spain calling out mass tourism and its impact on local affordable housing. At Japan's magnificent Mount Fuji, there's a new fee and visitor cap. And even Venice, Italy, a tourist mainstay. - St. Mark Square is super crowded. - It's now charging day trippers to help thin out throngs of sightseers. - Every major country in the world is staring down the barrel of this issue. Too many tourists in the same place at the same time. - That was Emily Aketa reporting. There are ways to better manage tourism by promoting more off-season travel, limiting numbers, where possible, and having greater regulation within the industry. - There's another mechanical failure on a Boeing jet. A wheel came off a 757 as it was taking off from Los Angeles. This video shows that wheel bouncing down the runway at LAX on Monday morning. 181 people were on the United Airlines flight, traveling from Los Angeles to Denver. The pilot was able to land that plane without incident in Denver. This is the second time in recent months a wheel has fallen off a Boeing jet operated by United. In March, a wheel fell off a 777 as it took off from San Francisco to a flight for Japan. All right, take a look at this. The drawbridge that connects Manhattan and the Bronx has reopened after getting stuck in the open position. The reason is the metal on the 126 year old bridge overheated, which caused it to swell. Fire department boats were brought in to spray water on the bridge to try to cool it off. The incident caused major traffic jams during the evening commute, but no one was hurt. - We are in for some dangerous heat, and that's prompting a heat advisory. Meteorologist, Elizabeth Gardner, is out on the WRL weather patio where it is. Steve, you're ready. - It really is. And that's crazy, that story about the bridge there between the Manhattan and the Bronx got too hot. Yeah, this heat is not anything to mess around with. You know, it seems like, okay, here's another heat advisory. And last time I was okay. Well, the thing about heat and your body is the impacts on your body are cumulative. So maybe you did fine the last few days, but eventually that heat may catch up with you. And so just don't take that chance, you know, stay inside as much as you can this afternoon. Heat index 104 to 106, I promise you, in between weather hits, I am moving right back into air conditioning. So I'm not standing out here this whole time. Temperatures again, now on the left is 91 in the triangle, but it feels like 102 when you figure in the heat index. It feels like 97 in Fayetteville, 104 in Clinton, 99 in Goldsboro and 100 in Rocky Mountains, where temperature there in Rocky Mountain is 90. And so the reason that we're seeing a heat index about 10 degrees higher than the actual temperature is we have so much moisture in the air. You walk outside and it kind of feels like you could swim through this air. And because it is so humid, your skin, the sweat that you have develop on your skin can evaporate into the atmosphere very well, because there's already so much moisture in it. So yep, it is another heat advisory. And we average eight to nine of those per year. And then we average one to two excessive heat warnings. And we've already seen two excessive heat warnings. We saw that last weekend, last Friday and Saturday. And of course, last Friday, we hit 106 officially at RDU, which broke the previous all-time record of 105. So it has been a hot end of June and first part of July, certainly we've already seen, including today, five days with heat advisory. So just be careful out there, 98 for the high in Raleigh, 101 and Durham, 99 in Fayetteville. Just gonna be really hot out there and feeling like at least 105 for today and possibly tomorrow as well. So parts of the viewing area could be under a heat advisory again tomorrow. Our dew point is 75. It rarely gets above say 75 or 76. So this is, you know, it's July. It is the hottest, most tropical kind of miserable air mass that we ever see around here. And it just continues all the way through until maybe even Saturday, Sunday into next week. We do see a cooler day on Thursday, but it's still going to be very moist out because we'll have some tropical moisture bringing us some rain, which should be nice to see. I'm speaking of rain, we're pretty quiet right now. I'm gonna be watching for isolated cells to pop up when we check back in at about 1245. It may be that they're one or two, but nothing's quite popping up in our viewing area just yet. We do have a small chance of that as we get through the afternoon. You can see maybe one or two of those around Fayetteville at five o'clock or maybe even up around the triangle area. So not a lot of coverage out there, but it does go up. For tomorrow, we have no flood threat, but Thursday our flood threat is green and then it's yellow for Friday as we see more rain rolling through. Coming up, we're gonna talk about how much we can see, especially Thursday and Friday together. - A lot of extended heat, all right. Thanks, Elizabeth. North Carolina's aging population is growing and hospital systems are working to keep up. Coming up at four, state and local health agencies share the strain they're seeing caring for geriatric patients. - Well, it's the Federal Trade Commission, filed a lawsuit against a bill pay service accused of deceiving customers and they're citing WRL's reporting. Coming up at six, five on your side explains the dark patterns a company is accused of using that we first warned you about more than two years ago. Still ahead of this new Walmart faces a class action lawsuit over deceptive pricing. How that issue came to light. - And disturbing findings about feminine hygiene products. The chemicals researchers say they found in dozens of these products and the negative impact they could have on your health. (upbeat music) - Save big this summer with great deals. All in the King Supers app. Get juicy Washington red cherries for £2.99 a pound. Then get 10 for 10 on items like Lays Stacks, Rice Oroni and Sparkling Ice Sparkling Water for $1 each, all with your card. Shop these deals at your local Kroger today or tap the screen now to download the King Supers app to save big today. King Supers. Fresh for everyone, prices and product availability subject to change, restrictions apply. See site for details. - You've heard of Pizza Hut $7 deal lovers menu, right? All these delicious items for only $7 each when you buy two or more. But something's off. I mean pizzas, melts, boneless wings, bacon, cheddar cheese, sticks, oven, big pastas, cinnamon, mini rolls. And that's not even the whole menu. I'll keep eating or digging. - You should too. Check out the $7 deal lovers menu at your local Pizza Hut. - Product availability prices and participation may vary. Additional charges and exclusions may apply. Wings included are eight count boneless. (upbeat music) - Target is making a change when it comes to personal checks from shoppers and there's a recall of some frozen chicken products underway. - Those are among today's business headlines with Maribel Aber. More than 2,000 pounds of frozen chicken products are being recalled due to concerns over Listeria. The chicken is from Alsafa. It was imported from Canada to the US in June and distributed to stores nationwide. The recalled items have the establishment number 866 inside the Canadian mark of inspection. recalled products include some halal charcoal grilled chicken items along with some fully cooked chicken patties. You can find more details at the Agriculture Department's Food Safety website. Walmart is facing a class action lawsuit over its pricing practices. A suit from an Ohio shopper claims the retailer used inaccurate price labels. It focused on multiple items bought at Illinois Walmart in 2022. The items were found to have markups of as much as 15% above the listed price. The suit says similar price discrepancies were found at other Walmart locations in Florida, New York and elsewhere. A district court dismissed the case, but a federal appeals court has reversed that ruling. Allowing the suit to proceed. Target will stop accepting personal checks as payments starting Monday, July 15th. The retailer says the move is due to the extremely low volumes of personal checks being used to pay in its stores. The target has numerous other ways to pay from credit and debit cards to cash and digital wallets and by now pay later services. The use of personal checks overall has been steadily declining. Checks made up just 3% of payments last year down from 7%. In 2020, according to data from the Federal Reserve Financial Services. And those are your business headlines. I'm Maribel Aber at the Nasdaq Market site. The future of an FTC ban on non-compete agreements for workers is unclear. This after a federal court ruling partially blocked the bit plan. The ban on non-compete was scheduled to take effect this fall, but a judge ruled the FTC lacks the power to adopt a broad rule banning practices. It determines our unfair to competition. The FTC estimates nearly 30 million people are subject to non-compete agreements. Months after a blind woman says an Uber driver dropped her off at the wrong location, she is calling for answers. Hear what they're demanding of the rideshare company coming up. And now's the time to step up and help our local kids have a successful school year. We'll share how you can donate to the tools for schools drive. First, here's a look at the winning lottery numbers. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] Save big this summer with great deals. All in the King Supers app. Get juicy Washington red cherries for $2.99 a pound, then get 10 for 10 on items like Lays Stacks, Rice Oroni, and Sparkling Ice Sparkling Water for $1 each, all with your card. 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And Shawn, what's her life been like since that incident? Yeah, for someone who's been so independent, her entire life is a blind woman. Camille Richardson says her life has been upended by this. So now, she's calling out Uber for having a driver drop her off here at the wrong location and demand they take action. Now, Richardson shared her story again with us during a press conference earlier this morning. An Uber driver dropped her off at a location of an apartment building about a mile north of where she was planning to go. Richardson says the driver walked her to a door here, knocked and left, saying he had to take someone to the airport. Richardson blind, since birth, says it's the first time in her life she's felt so helpless. The ability to be able to move through this world freely is just something I just-- I've always cherished and relished. But ever since this happened, I've always now been hesitant. It took me a month and a half to travel using any ride share service alone. I refuse to go by myself. And that's never been me, never. But because of something, I just lost trust in the whole situation. Now, here is what Richardson is asking from Uber. First of all, she wants a public apology, and she wants the driver to be terminated, and there to be harsher punishments for these violators. She also wants Uber to partner with her company to have some sensitivity training for folks like her with blind disabilities. And also, she wants them to create new technological safeguards to make sure nothing like this ever happens again. But her team tells me they're yet to get a response from Uber. Sean Gallagher, WRAL News, growling. New at noon, deputies arrested a Raleigh wrestling coach again. Authorities had previously charged him with indecent liberties. WRAL's Noah Klein is here now. Noah, deputies arrested him for something they say he did out of state. For now, these charges against Jared Lewis are out of Dane, Wisconsin. They're for first degree sexual assault of a child under the age of 13. We told you back in February about a joint investigation between Raleigh police and the FBI that led to his arrest. A search warrant, in that case, says, as part of Lewis' enterprise called World Wrestling Tours, he would take multiple juveniles to wrestling tournaments in training overseas in Sweden or India. In early 2023, on one of those overseas trips, Lewis was accused of inappropriate conduct with wrestlers after parents started filing reports with local agencies concerning allegations that were similar. That arrest warrant also said Lewis would Facebook live the wrestlers on trips, and he was observed by one of them with a cell phone in his hand while multiple wrestlers took a shower. Lewis is in the Wake County Jail without bond. Our Chelsea Donovan covered this case. She spoke with a parent whose son went on a wrestling trip with Lewis. That's on WRL.com. People in Northern Wake County now have a new ICU to call home, and it's closer to their homes. Wake Med North is opening its new ICU today. The unit has nine beds. The addition is expected to reduce treatment time and cut down on transportation barriers, because fewer patients will need to be transferred to other area hospitals. They don't have to follow their loved one to the ED, and then pack up and go to Raleigh campus. They can stay here, and we can give them the care they need 24/7 and support the other services. It'll help our surgeons out who may have a sicker patient who needs the ICU overnight after a complicated surgery. Wake Med officials say the new ICU is fully staffed with new hires. Edna will begin managing the state health plan next year. It will take over a third party management from Blue Cross Blue Shield in North Carolina. Blue Cross argued the state unfairly tilted the scales in Edna's favor during the bidding process. It had managed the plan for decades. A judge says Blue Cross could not prove its claim. About 750,000 people received health insurance through the state health plan. When you pick up a carryout meal, you will now be able to get a cocktail to go along with it. Governor Cooper signed the bill into law yesterday. Any cocktails that are sold to go must be sold along with a food order. They can be no bigger than 24 ounces and they must be sealed. The state first allowed restaurants and bars to do this during the pandemic. - All right, here's your chance to help teachers who have to spend their own money on supplies bought for their class. WRL and Tools for Schools kicked off a donation drive today. WROs Kelsey Comfy explains how your donations can really make a big difference. It may be tough to believe, but it's already time to start talking about going back to school and you can see that sales are already happening here at the Staples on Wake Forest Road. And this is actually one of the locations where you can drop off school supplies for the drive and teachers could really use your help right now. This year's supply drive comes after Wake County teachers protested in April, demanding higher pay. Teachers say they're out of pocket spending for school averages more than $900 a year. Now through August 26th, you can team up with WRL and Tools for Schools by Donating. Teachers need pencils, post-it notes, notebooks and more. - We encourage parents that when they're shopping for their own children, buying supplies, think about those that don't have that support at home. Their parents are not able to supply as they would need. There's an opportunity for them to be able to give, to give back, to be able to help teachers. - To find a drop off location near you or get more info about how to donate, just go to our website, WRL.com and search school supplies. Kelsey Coffee, WRL News in Raleigh. - Still to come, the disturbing metals found in many brands of feminine hygiene products. Ladies, what you need to know about the findings and the risks to your health. And coming up in 10 minutes, we'll chat with WRL's Liz McLaughlin about her upcoming Olympic assignment. If we're heading to Paris, the Seasoned Olympic Correspondent will talk with us about the exciting storylines and the athletes to watch for in the summer games. Our team is working to bring you exclusive stories. For coverage you'll find only on WRL, visit WRL.com and search only. (upbeat music) - Save big this summer with great deals. All in the King Supers app. Get juicy Washington red cherries for £2.99 a pound. Then get 10 for 10 on items like Lays Stacks, Rice Oroni and Sparkling Ice Sparkling Water for $1 each, all with your card. Shop these deals at your local Kroger today or tap the screen now to download the King Supers app to save big today. King Supers, fresh for everyone, prices and product availability subject to change, restrictions apply, see site for details. - This is the story of the one. As a maintenance engineer, he hears things differently. To the untrained ear, everything on his shop floor might sound fine, but he can hear gears grinding or a belt slipping. So he steps in to fix the problem at hand before it gets out of hand. And he knows Granger's got the right product he needs to get the job done, which is music to his ears. Call clickgranger.com or just stop by. Granger, for the ones who get it done. (upbeat music) - You can live right now at a steamy North Hills. There are some puffy clouds over the blue skies right there, but boy, it's hot out there as you watch WRL news available on YouTube TV and the WRL app on your TV or streaming device. - An estimated 72 million women in the US have skipped or delayed a recommended health screening. That's because women spend more time being caregivers to others or have work or family obligations keeping them out of the doctor's office. Specifically, 41% of American women delayed or skipped screenings for breast cancer, 35% for cervical cancer and 33% for colorectal cancer. Researchers say they've discovered lead and arsenic in 30 tampon brands sold in the US and Europe. Arsenic has been linked to cancer and lead can cause brain damage, learning disabilities and reproductive issues. More research would be needed to determine whether the metals leak out of tampons. Researchers say the metals could have come from the soil through the plants used to make the products. The findings did not name the brands tested. - We have a warning about a fishing scam targeting people's Apple IDs. A security software company says the attacker impersonates Apple and sends users a text message or an iCloud request which then sends customers to a fake page. Criminals could then take user credit cards, passwords and personal information. Apple advises setting up two factor authentication. - Americans appear to be more skeptical, the value of college. Only 36% of adults questioned in a newly released poll said that they have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in higher education. Nearly 25% of respondents said they don't believe students are being taught what they need to succeed. Experts say the lack of higher education could be in lower lifetime earnings. - We are closing in on the start of the 2024 Paris Olympics. WRL's Liz McLaughlin is getting ready for a trip to France, coming up. She's joining me in studio with a preview of what we can expect from this year's games. - Well, for the first time in decades, the United States has received some new panda friends. We are introducing you to the new giant pandas that we'll call San Diego home. (upbeat music) - Save big this summer with great deals. All in the King Supers app. Get juicy Washington red cherries for £299, then get 10 for 10 on items like Lays Stacks, Rice Oroni, and Sparkling Ice Sparkling Water for $1 each, all with your card. Shop these deals at your local Kroger today or tap the screen now to download the King Supers app to save big today. King Supers, fresh for everyone, prices and product availability subject to change, restrictions apply, see site for details. - This is the story of the one. As a maintenance engineer, he hears things differently. To the untrained ear, everything on his shop floor might sound fine, but he can hear gears grinding or a belt slipping. So he steps in to fix the problem at hand before it gets out of hand. And he knows Granger's got the right product he needs to get the job done, which is music to his ears. Call clickgranger.com or just stop by. Granger, for the ones who get it done. - WRL is your home for the Paris Summer Olympics, which is a little more than two weeks away. And in the past, WRL has sent a team to cover the Olympics. I will never forget being in Rio for the 2016 Summer Games. This year, Liz McLaughlin will be the one to head to Paris. And she's here with me now, sporting some pretty cool Olympic swag. This is Team USA's uniform. - That's right. I'm a poser pretending I'm on the team right now, but Ralph Lauren has been the official outfitter for about nine consecutive Olympics now. So since 2008, and this is opening ceremony. It's a wool long sleeve blazer, which is an interesting choice for the summer Olympics. Summer Games, you know, with the, it's got the official Team USA patch right there. And then I also have the closing ceremony jacket. Check this out. Sporty kind of moto look. I'm a big fan of this one, Dena. And it's paired with like white Dena. - Oh, I love this. - Whole eyebrow here. - All long pants and jackets for the summer game. We're gonna see some sweaty athletes. - And a lot of red, white and blue. - That's right, classic. - Team USA will be looking sharp. And some of those athletes, of course, will be from North Carolina or have North Carolina collections. And you'll be following those storylines. A lot of interesting athletes will be making it out there. Let's start with diver Andrew Kapobianko. - And he's a repeat in Tokyo, got a silver medal and synchronized springboard. So really exciting, Holly Springs high school graduate. So close to home here. And he barely missed in that event, but we'll be competing in the three meter springboard. Just an interesting athlete, a perfectionist. You have to be in that diving event. And I thought it was kind of interesting. On competition days, he eats french toast, bacon and eggs for breakfast. I thought it might be a protein smoothie or something. - Breakfast of champions for him. - Yeah, exactly. - Yeah, and he got silver in the last Olympics and hoping maybe gold with this new partner that he has. - And he's had some challenges, you know, a knee surgery just in December, a back injury. But he said he feels stronger than ever going into Paris and hoping to bring home a medal again. - Okay, can't wait to see what he does there. We'll also see some North Carolina representation on the soccer field, starting with men's. - That's right, John Luca Busio just announced this week on the men's roster. He was born in Greensboro, just a cool comp player. So it'll be exciting to see him on the field. And first time men's soccer will be in the Olympics since 2008, said he's feeling a little pressure there but ready to perform. And on the women's team, lots of North Carolina representation, three of that 18% roster. So we've got Casey Murphy, really passionate goalkeeper, plays for NC Courage, Aaron Fox. This will be her first Olympic Games. She's a UNC grad. I love to see that, I'm a UNC grad as well. And another UNC grad, Crystal Dunn. This will be her third Olympic, super versatile player that's fun to watch as well. So yeah, take a look at that women's team. Gonna be a lot of North Carolina flags waving, I think. - You know, you'll be closely following their Olympic journeys. This is your third time covering the Olympics. You are also in Tokyo and Beijing. And I know you know that this is, in a way, Olympic coverage is also its own sport. It's almost a marathon, isn't it? - Absolutely, it is just the most fun assignment, but you know, you just accept that you're just not gonna be sleeping, you know? And it's like every single day because you, you're doing live shots, eight hours of them, but you still have to talk to the athletes and you wanna see the events and you wanna see the excitement. - So I'm just so excited that this will be also a normal games. Of course, COVID was a big storyline in both China and Tokyo. And that was, you know, it's hard to talk to athletes. No fans in the stands, very eerie. So a lot of protocol and restrictions. - Yeah, I'm just excited to see fans around and to have that real Olympic excitement. - And really quickly, Parley Bufrancet. (speaks in foreign language) (speaks in foreign language) I love the Olympics. (laughs) - Fantastic, that was all the French I remember from high school. The Paris Olympics began in July 26th. On WRL, Liz will be in Paris, bringing you live reports. Check the in. - Merci. - Merci, Liz. - And safe travels to you. - Thank you, thank you, Jeff. - I don't know what they just said, but I'm jealous. It sounds a great time. And Liz leaves next weekend. So good luck, be safe. Can't wait for the reports. Liz with Gardener is we're having our own hot Olympics outside right here on the patio, right? - It's a treasure. I think I said, I'm really hot. I don't know. (laughs) I hope I didn't say something that, well, you know. But yeah, it's hot out here, that's for sure. We take a look at the gardens and looking pretty. There's just lots of sunshine out here. I, you know, I'm encouraging people to stay inside this afternoon and then you see me standing out here. But in between me standing here, talking to you, I'm inside that door over there in the air conditioning. So, you know, standing out here, you know, it's easier to describe what it really feels like out here. Directly in the sun with all this humidity, you know, you're gonna break a sweat really quickly, even just standing around. We do have the potential for a few scattered showers and thunderstorms. Not a whole lot really showing up yet here on dual-doupler 5,000 radar. We had a little bit of activity yesterday. Some of that down in the sandhills with maybe just a quarter of an inch, quarter to half an inch of rain. And then back up to the north near the Virginia line, parts of Halifax in North Hampton County saw two and a half inches of rain. And another spot there in the northern part of Franklin County saw two inches of rain. But most of us really, just didn't see hardly anything out of yesterday's system. So here's a look at the big picture right now. We are watching the remnants now of barrel, starting to move up through the Midwest, moving towards St. Louis and eventually Chicago. A lot of rain with this system still, but the winds are much, much lighter than they were. We're looking at the potential for some isolated severe weather. Overnight tonight, when it was farther into the deep south around Louisiana and parts of Arkansas, there was some severe weather there, some tornado warnings and some severe thunderstorm warnings. Here's a look at futurecast for us this afternoon. A few isolated showers and storms popping up. You see that around Fayetteville, and then again up around St. Durham and Raleigh. And then we get into the day tomorrow. I know cold front moves through. So that's going to bump up our chance for some showers and thunderstorms for tomorrow. We'll watch that front start to move in later in the afternoon. This is tomorrow right around lunchtime and then into the afternoon, not talking about a whole lot of rain on Wednesday, but as this front stalls, it will start to draw in more moisture from the Gulf and the Atlantic. I was going to bump up our chances for rain on Thursday and again on Friday. So you can see where the rain is from barrel, from St. Louis to Chicago, looking at as much as another say three to five inches of rain. And we're also in that pocket of red here, from unrelated to barrel tropical moisture that starts to roll in on Thursday. Here's how all that's going to play out. So here's barrel, moving up this evening into the Great Lakes and then the cold front moving through, stalling and then a low develops along it during Thursday and Friday. And that's going to help to push a lot more moisture in. And so we'll see more widespread rain, especially for Friday. So it's a 50% chance Thursday and then an 80% chance on Friday. Here's a look at some of the rainfall totals. We can see up to a quarter of an inch on Wednesday, up to a half an inch on Thursday and up to two inches on Friday. Add that all together. And some places are going to end up with as much as three inches of rain. Now that will help us to catch up, but it doesn't erase the drought and it doesn't look like we're going to have much hope through September of really getting out of our drought situation. We take a look at the Climate Prediction Center and they're still going with ongoing drought for most of our viewing area, unfortunately. We'll enjoy the cooler temperatures when we see that heavier rain on Friday with a high of 84. But over the weekend, we are back into the 90s again. - Again, all right, Elizabeth, thank you. - Sandwich at a New York deli is in high demand and the owner never saw this coming. Does this seem normal to you or is it still weird? - No, this is super, super weird. It literally feels like a dream. - Coming up how this creation has landed the owner in, well, a little bit of a pickle. - Hmm, here's a look at the winning Powerball numbers. 20, 22, 31, 33, 45. The Powerball is one, the multiplier is three. (dramatic music) - Save big this summer with great deals. 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Granger, for the ones who get it done. - To wrap things up with a look at a few of the headlines we're following for you today. - The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services confirmed to WRL that it is investigating a Vonte Devon chizzy. - Save big this summer with great deals. All in the King Supers app. Get juicy Washington red cherries for £2.99 a pound. Then get 10 for 10 on items like Lay's Stacks, Rice Oroni and Sparkling Ice Sparkling Water for $1 each, all with your card. Shop these deals at your local Kroger today or tap the screen now to download the King Supers app to save big today. King Supers, fresh for everyone. Prices and product availability subject to change, restrictions apply, see site for details. - Okay, round two. Name something that's not boring. - Laundry, a book club, computer solitaire, huh? - Ah, sorry we were looking for Chumba Casino. 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