WRAL Newscasts
6AM News on WRAL - Tuesday, July 9, 2024
Kerry, get ready for the exciting new go-carry downtown loop! Enjoy easy access to downtown destinations like downtown Kerry Park, Kerry Regional Library, the Kerry Theatre and more. The loop operates Thursday through Sunday every 25 minutes and it's free to ride. Driving downtown, park at the town hall parking deck and hop on the downtown loop. With the new go-carry app, you can effortlessly plan your trip and track your bus in real-time. The app is free to download and use. Visit go-carry.org to learn more and start your journey today. Live from WRAL news headquarters in Raleigh. Your number one source for local news. WRAL news. Coverage you can cut off. The entire viewing area under a heated visor is starting at 11 a.m. I'll show you when it will start to feel like the triple digits. It could be up to 106 feeling like this afternoon. A slight chance of thunderstorms later on today that may cool us down just a touch. Beryl slams Texas and leaves a trail of destruction behind the damage it caused as well as what those folks are still facing here this morning. And starting today, you can donate to the tools for school community supply drive. Coming up, how your donation can help teachers suck their classroom this year. Your takeout orders can now come with a cocktail to go. What's allowed in the new alcohol bill Governor Cooper just signed into law. I suppose it's happy hour somewhere. A different kind of happy hour right now. Good morning, everyone. It is six o'clock. We're happy that you're with us and look at this beautiful sunrise. I'm Renee Chiu. I'm Jeff Hogan. Yeah, welcome to your Tuesday here. Thanks for spending the early part of it with us. As we look at the sunrise, beautiful. Okay, you step outside 70s, you see on the temperature, but the heat index today is going to be ridiculous. And it's so muggy when you get outside on this, you really feel it when you step outside this morning. It feels like 104 to 106 this afternoon. Once we really get that heat going, that heat advisory, of course, it goes into effect at 11 o'clock this morning, but it doesn't expire until 8 p.m. I mean, look at this. We're not going to see our temperatures dropping back down into the 90s until maybe closer to eight o'clock. This is our feels like temperature. This is the heat index feeling like 106 for a good chunk of the afternoon. We do have a small chance for showers and thunderstorms. It's a 30% chance mid to late afternoon. A few isolated thunderstorms are likely to pop up, but the coverage looks pretty minimal. So most of us will end up staying dry today. But the chances of rain continue to go up, especially as we begin into Thursday and Friday, Friday, we could see a good soaking rain for part of the viewing area, and we'll take a look at that coming up. Pretty sunrise across the viewing area right now, just a little bit of cloud cover. It looks gorgeous and wrong spirit right now. 78 degrees in the triangle with a 2.73 though, so it's very warm and sticky. Our actual high this afternoon, 98, of course, which puts us in the danger zone with that heat advisory. Eric. Yeah, Elizabeth, definitely going to have the air conditioner with you when you're out on the road today. But you know what? So far, so good on the roads. A lot of green all the way across our map this morning. Taking a live lookout sign right down. This is I-40 at I-440. You can see the city off there in the distance, and those folks making their way in for work this morning looking pretty smooth there at this point. Same situation as we take a look in Durham, NC 147 at Erwin Road. Things looking very nice there as well. Of course, we know it's going to get busy later on this morning. We'll let you know as things change. People in Texas and Louisiana are cleaning up this morning after barrels slammed through those two states. More than 2 million homes and businesses in Texas are still without power this morning. While the heat index is expected to hit triple digits today, so no AC in those conditions. Goodness. What was once Hurricane Barrel made landfall on Texas Gulf Coast yesterday before weakening into a tropical depression. Three people have died so far in the storm. There were more than a dozen reported tornadoes in Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas as a result of the storm. Several communities in Louisiana have reported downed trees, power lines, and damaged infrastructure. And because of those downed lines, Jeff, I thought it would be pertinent to at least show this outage map here. Good morning. I'm Chris Loving. Good in the WRA Live Center. This is power outage.us and this essentially shows what the outage situation looks like in Texas. You'll see there on the eastern part of the state where that cluster of counties is. This is indicating more than 2 million customers without power. Now, this is kind of looking different though when we go to the Louisiana map. Same website, different state, only about 23,000 plus customers without power. Looking at Encore, this is the company that provides energy to Texas. This is their post on social media last night. The ex-social media platform showing where the possible tornadoes may have popped up and I'll leave you with this. Entergy, another electric company. This is what they dealt with. That downed power line. See that damage there? I do. What a mess. Chris, thank you. The state's child care providers will get 67 and a half million dollars in funding. Governor Roy Cooper signed the Stop Gap funding bill into law yesterday. It's designed to fill a gap in funding that happened when federal subsidies for child care came to an end on July 1st. The new funding is expected to be enough to keep child care providers open for several months. Lawmakers are working to fund a more permanent solution. Another new law signed by Governor Roy Cooper could change the way you order takeout. Now you'll be able to get a cocktail to go along with your meal. WRA's Laura Levine joins us live in the legislative building this morning. There are still, Laura, some restrictions that come with these new laws. Well, during the pandemic, when downtown Raleigh looked a little bit like this, a ghost town, very quiet and empty, bars and restaurants were able to sell mixed drinks and cocktails to go. But now it's making a comeback. Not only that, it is a permanent change. The state has officially legalized to go cocktails, to go drinks must be sealed and sold with food. They cannot be more than 24 ounces. Other alcohol changes in this law includes ABC stores can now sell gift cards. They can be open on New Year's Day, July 4th and Labor Day. Airport vendors can now sell drinks that can be carried around the terminal and beer and wine can be sold at community college sporting events. Now listen to this, the state still does not allow ABC stores to be open on Sundays as well as happy hours. Laura Levine, WRL news live in Raleigh. Democratic lawmakers will gather for a closed-door meeting today to talk about their concerns about President Joe Biden's campaign. Ahead of that meeting, the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus says he remains fully in support of Biden. Congressman Stephen Horstford spoke with CNN last night. He says Biden held a virtual meeting with caucus members Monday and he feels Biden is fit to serve as president. No member of the Congressional Black Caucus has broken against Biden yet. And Renee former president Donald Trump says he does not think Biden will step out of the race. Trump spoke by phone with Fox News, Sean Hannity, live last night. He said if Biden were to step down, he believes the Democratic Party would back Kamala Harris for president. It would seem to me that from a political standpoint, that's who they're going with. They're not even talking about alternatives. And it seems that if he gets out for whatever reason, and I don't think he wants to get out, but if he gets out, it will be her. Trump's interview on Fox News came after Biden spoke with MSNBC's Morning Joe earlier in the day. In that interview, Biden firmly declared he is, quote, "not letting up in a letter sent to Congressional Democrats." Biden said he believes he is the best person to beat Trump. Police and Rocky Mount say thieves broke into a jewelry store at the Golden East Mall. Police say the break-in happened on June 23rd at Gold Rush outlet. Investigators say they are following up on leads to find out who the thieves are. The FBI is helping Rocky Mount police with the investigation. Police have not confirmed how much was stolen from the business. Covering Wake County this morning, you can help teachers who have to spend their own money on supplies for class. WRL and tools for schools are kicking off a donation drive today. WRL's Kelsey Coffey joins us live from Wake Forest Road this morning. Kelsey, we know those donations can go such a long way when parents give a mean so much to the teachers. Jeff, those donations can really make a big difference. It's hard to believe that we're even talking about back to school so soon, but you can see that the sales are already happening here at the Staples on Wake Forest Road and this is actually one of the drop-off locations that you can use for the supply drive. 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. Let's take you to video now from last year's Community Supply Drive. 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 to find a drop-off location near you and more info on how to donate. Just go to our website WRL.com and search school supplies. Kelsey Coffey, WRL News live in Raleigh. Mark Robinson, who's running for North Carolina Governor, plans to hold the campaign fundraiser today hosted by a controversial church in Western North Carolina. Leaders of Word of Faith Fellowship in Rutherford County are hosting the event. The church has been accused of engaging in criminal behavior including 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 topics including his opposition to gay rights, his opposition to abortion, and his support for traditional gender roles. People in Northern Wake County now have a new ICU closer to home. WakeMed North is opening its new ICU today. It's a nine-bed unit there. The addition is expected to reduce treatment time, also cut down on transportation barriers, with fewer patients having to be transferred to other area hospitals. WakeMed officials say the new ICU is fully staffed with new hires. Tomorrow, a scheduled siren test will happen at the Harris nuclear power plant. This comes after people got an alert to their phones from the plant yesterday that turned out to be a false alarm. Duke, this is the text message. Duke Energy says there was no emergency. The utility says the plant is operating normally. It's investigating why the sirens went off Monday. Disturbing charges after a series of thefts from cemeteries in Cumberland County, the prophet investigators accused a woman of making through swiping memorial bases. Plus, the United Airlines plane loses a tire during takeoff. We'll show you more of this shocking video. And a high of 98 this afternoon. We have a heat advisory that begins as early as 11 a.m. So just take it easy out there this afternoon. Some changes coming our way. Look at that cooler high of 84 on Friday. That comes along with a soaking rain. I'll show you how much we could see coming up. As you get into your cartoon to WRL news plus on your radio in Raleigh on 99.3 FM. Indurum 96.5 FM at everywhere on 101.5 HD 3. Are you ready to buy or sell your home? The Jim Allen Group is a nationally recognized and award-winning real estate team in the Triangle. Dedicated to providing exceptional service to meet your needs. With the latest insights and expert market knowledge, they'll make your home buying and selling journey as smooth as possible. Don't wait. Head over to Jim Allen.com and start your next move today. That's Jim Allen.com. The Jim Allen Group. Your partner in real estate. Here's Brandon with Parkway Sleep Centers. Tired of waiting for a sleep treatment? At other sleep centers, it can take six to eight months just to get an appointment and cost you thousands more. Not Parkway Sleep Health Centers? We schedule you within weeks and we'll save you money too. We have over 20 years of experience serving the Triangle. Let our expert team help you sleep better sooner. End your sleep problems. Live your best life. Experience the Parkway Sleep Difference. Visit parkwaysleep.com and start your journey to better sleep today. Parkway Sleep Health Centers, Sound Sleep, Sound Health. 613. We have a heat advisory that goes into effect at 11 o'clock this morning. This afternoon, it'll feel like 104 to 106. So it's another one of those days that you don't want to overdo it outside. Once we get past lunchtime, you know, we're pretty much done with doing anything outside. It's just going to heat up so quickly. You don't already feel like 103 by lunchtime and it'll be in the triple digits in terms of the heat index all the way until around seven or eight o'clock this evening. We have a small chance for thunderstorms later on today, but those will be isolated at best so most of us won't end up seeing any of those today. Pretty sunrise happening right now in Raleigh about to pop up right past those buildings downtown 78 in Raleigh, 76 in Fayetteville and 78 in Durham. It's very warm and sticky start right now. We'll see highs in the upper 90s this afternoon. Eric. Oh, Elizabeth, taking a look at traffic here this morning. We've got a crash that's popped up just north of the Beltline here just in the last couple of minutes. Taking a closer look, you'll see this is right up here. Wake Forest Road, southbound near New Hope Church Road. Those centers not picking up any major delays or issues as a result of that crash, but something you'll want to keep in mind if you're headed through that area. Otherwise, our picture looking pretty good on this Tuesday morning. Traffic flowing nice and smooth out there across the roads, including an I 40 and 440. Thanks, Eric. The White House says a visit from a top Parkinson's disease specialist earlier this year was part of President Biden's annual physical exams. In a letter, the White House says Dr. Kevin Kanar has been the neurology consultant to the White House Medical Unit since 2012. Visitor logs show the doctor has visited the White House at least eight times since last August. The White House says Biden has not had a neurological visit outside his annual physical. The logs do not provide reasons for Kanar's visits. A Sanford woman is charged with a bizarre and troubling crime. She's accused of stealing at least 100 vases from graves at two Cumberland County cemeteries. 21-year-old Savannah Bourgeois is accused of stealing from Cumberland Memorial Gardens and Rockfish Memorial Park in June of last year. She's accused of selling dozens of those vases that are worth in total about $34,000. She sold them to a scrap yard for just over 600 bucks. She's charged with felony larceny and obtaining property under false pretenses. Boeing is making headlines once again after another scary incident. A wheel flying off a United Airlines plane on its way to Denver. W.R.S. Michelle McConnicky is here now with a shocking video. Michelle. Yeah Renee, this is scary. We want to show you that video right away. The tire fell off of Boeing 757. It happened yesterday at LAX right after takeoff. You can see it here bouncing on the runway. Then we'll show you the moments that the tire actually fell from the plane. It happens right here. The United flight was carrying 174 passengers and seven crew members. You may remember back in March, something similar happened during takeoff. Another United plane was forced to make an emergency landing in LA. The tire slamming into cars in a parking lot. None of the pilot of the flight yesterday did not notice that that tire had fallen off. An Allegiant Airlines flight saw what happened and immediately reported it to air traffic control. The jet landed safely in Denver. No injuries were reported, but it's so scary. The cause of this boat fire in San Francisco Bay is under investigation. A 40-foot boat caught on fire shortly after it left the dock area there. Coast Guard says two people abandoned ship and were rescued by another boat. One was taken to the hospital. They are doing okay. Start of Paris Olympics 17 days away now. Ahead of the games, today's Craig Melvin is sitting down with LeBron James to talk about how Team USA basketball is getting ready. They also talk about LeBron's legacy on and off the court, including the chance to play with his son, Broni, on the Lakers. When it comes to basketball, it's the greatest accomplishment that I've ever had. I don't know all that's individual, but there's no greater accomplishment that I've, that I, that will be over to overtake me being on the same floor as my son, so it's the greatest thing that's ever happened. Coming up Thursday on Today, you can hear more of that interview, including why LeBron wanted to suit up for Team USA one more time in Paris. It is 6/17 and making it through an extremely hot day. That's a great accomplishment. You're all just a Elizabeth Gardner in the W-R-L Severe Weather Center. We deserve medals, Elizabeth, everybody in the triangle. We do, we do, yeah. Earn that medal by staying inside this afternoon. We're watching them for the potential for if you isolated thunderstorms that might help to cool off one or two folks, but we're just not going to see a whole lot of coverage. Right now, we take a lot of look at Dule Doppler 5000 radar and all is quiet. And we did have a few isolated storms yesterday and you can see up here around Northampton and Halifax counties. We saw a few pockets of up to two to three inches of rain. Also, they're just a tiny little spot there in the northern part of Franklin County at two inches. And then down here around Hope County, Moore County, we saw about a quarter to a half an inch, but you can see how much of our viewing area saw nothing yesterday or just a trace. And so that's going to be the same thing again for today. We're just not going to end up seeing a whole lot. Of course, we're watching the remnants of barrel here. This storm has, of course, continued to produce severe weather as the low pressure system that is now the remnants of barrel continues to move northward. Overnight last night, there was a tornado watch, the red shaded area, and we also had several tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm warnings. Matter of fact, there's a new severe thunderstorm warning just north west of Memphis right now. So this will continue to produce some damage and some heavy rain as it treks on up toward the great lakes. So in terms of barrel, it's now just a tropical depression. It is becoming just a low pressure system really heads north. The heavy rain from the system stays to the west of us. And so we don't end up seeing any of that rain. But we do have our own system that is likely to develop to help to bring us some showers and thunderstorms. Today, it's just your regular isolated pop-up storms that we tend to see fairly often during the summertime. Not much to see. On Wednesday, we're going to see a cold front coming through tomorrow. That's going to bring us a slightly better chance of some storms. And then this front is going to stall over us and continue to bring us a good chance for some rain. This is a look at the rain from barrel as it moves on up toward Chicago and the great lakes. Notice the rain here. We're going to see a low developing and helping to bring us as much as two to three inches of rain in some places. So there's a look at barrels. It moves on up to the north and of course a path of some heavy rain. And then we start to see some of this tropical moisture moving off the Gulf Coast and the Atlantic to bring us as much as one to two, maybe even a bit more rainfall than that in some places as we get into the day on Friday. So 50% chance Thursday and 80% chance on Friday. And some of the rainfall totals look like this for us. Some of our eastern counties that may see more rain on Thursday could total as much as three plus inches. The rest of the viewing area, maybe an inch and a half to two and a half inches. So we've got some good looking rain coming our way by the end of the week and some cooler temperatures too on Friday with a high of 84. But today and tomorrow looking hot, we'll talk about our potential for a heat advisory tomorrow coming up here. Elizabeth, a lot of people staring at that Friday forecast with fingers crossed waiting for that rain. We'll take a look at traffic right now. Things get a little busy out there this morning. I want to direct your attention to one crash in particular and it's going to be up here north of the Beltline Wake Forest Road, southbound near New Hope Church Road. We're not seeing any major issues on the sensors because of this one right here. But something you really want to keep in mind, those two roads very busy as our morning commute gets underway. So you'll want to be looking out for that. Otherwise, things looking good out there on the roads, including out at I-40 at I-440, traffic moving nice and smooth on those interstates for your Tuesday morning. Wake County is remembering the life of Deputy Ned Bird, the new way local leaders are keeping his memory alive nearly two years after he died in the line of duty. NASCAR fans now have a larger-than-life way to celebrate the king, how this new sculptor and Charlotte showcases his legacy coming up and what's trending. And here you're winning NC Education lottery numbers on your screen right now. We're back with What's Trending in a Moment. Your heart, it's the only one you have. Fortunately, you also have a choice. Expert cardiologists, talented surgeons, highly skilled specialists, all of whom chose WakeMed. Why? The main reason is the same reason patients choose WakeMed. Everything you need for the best possible care is right here. Learn more at WakeMed.org. WakeMed heart and vascular physicians, your heart, your choice. Save big this summer with great deals. All in the King Super's 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 Super's app to save big today. King Super's, fresh for everyone, prices and product availability subject to change, restrictions apply, see site for details. Today in What's Trending, another popular movie from years ago has a sequel in the work. Shocking, isn't it? Fans are getting excited about reports of a new The Devil Wears Prada movie. Disney's reported the working with the screenwriter of the 2006 movie on a second film, Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt are in talks to reprise their roles. No word yet of Anne Hathaway will return, but I hope so. I hope so too. She's busy with another sequel, actually. Princess Diaries 3. A few days ago, she said the development is in place and she can't really say anything else about that, so it may be because she's busy on another movie, but Miranda Priestley, you gotta have Meryl Streep in if Meryl Streep is in "I'm On Board." Bring 'em all back. Yeah. A new exhibit celebrating the legendary Richard Petty is now on display at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte. A larger-than-life version of Petty's legendary hat was Unveiled Monday. Petty's whole family was there for the big reveal, and it's big. Yeah, it's a statue. They rolled it out at the All-Star Race in North Wilkesboro, first time they saw it. Now it'll be there at the Hall of Fame where folks can go see it, and up closer, so pictures of all his family on it and everything else, race cars, all the cool stuff. It's really a nice tribute to the King. Yeah, very fitting. Baseball fans are honoring the legendary Willie Mays at the home of the San Francisco Giants. Oracle Park hosted a celebration of life ceremony for the Hall of Famer last night. Mays died last month at the age of 93. The park also opened an immersive exhibit where fans can see pictures and memorabilia from Mays' career and life. It'll be open through the end of the season. Child care providers in North Carolina are getting funding from the state. What's included in a new bill and what lawmakers still need to do to keep them open for good? And a Raleigh woman, who is blind, wants change after she says an Uber driver intentionally left her in the wrong place. The push she's leading today for new safety measures on rides. And we'll have a heat advisory in place today. Temperatures expected to reach the high 90s. This is a live look at Ritesville Beach right there. You want to just cool off in your mind. Coming up meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner has a look at the triple digit heat index we will feel once again today. 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. For more details, visit 5280xterears.com, 5280xterears.com, a James Hardy preferred contractor, 5280xterears, the altitude of quality.