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4:30AM News on WRAL - Tuesday, July 9, 2024
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And the White House is addressing visits to the White House by a Parkinson's disease expert. What they're revealing for us this morning. For 30 is the time, bring you inside our WRAL studio here on a Tuesday morning. Don't be fooled out there by the temperature. It is humid and sticky. I'm Jeff Hogan. And I'm Renee Chu. Yes. Summertime in North Carolina and a heat advisory today, Elizabeth Gardner in the W-R-E-L Severe Weather Center, Elizabeth. We are racking up these heat advisory days. We really are. I'm coming up in just a few minutes. I'm going to show you how many we've had this season and how unusual that is. Feeling like 104 to 106 seat advisory is in effect for the entire viewing area. Of course, it goes into effect at around 11 and stays with us through the evening. It's one of those days you don't want to really be outside doing much once we get past lunchtime. We have a small chance of a shower this morning, but a better chance with some scattered storms this afternoon. Very similar to yesterday. We didn't have a whole lot of coverage yesterday and we won't see a lot of coverage today either. We'll check out future cast this morning. It's nice and clear. It's beautiful morning. Enjoy how we have it. We begin to cloud up a little bit around lunchtime and then just a few isolated showers will pop up for us. So not much coverage for thunderstorms today. Take a live look at RDU this morning again, it's a quiet start, but it is warm and sticky. 78 right now and the dew point is 73, so a very warm sticky start. Our high this afternoon climbs to 98, so we're close to 100. Again, with that heated advisory, I'll show you how many more days look like this, but I will say we still have a good chance of rain toward the end of the week, something that I think we'll all be looking forward to. Help us on the way for those who take care of your children. Governor Roy Cooper approved over $67 million to help keep childcare centers open. WRAO's Laura Levine joins us live from the legislative building in Raleigh this morning. Laura, this comes a week after federal funding came to a stop. Yes, Jeff, well, it was about two weeks ago when we were here and saw childcare advocates rallying at the General Assembly, fighting for more funding. And now with this passage of this bill, we know the money will go towards things like raises for staff as well. Governor Cooper signed a bill providing emergency stoppage funding aimed at helping childcare centers keep their doors open. The measure would authorize $67.5 million in state spending on childcare 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 mini childcare 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 the $1 billion budget surplus. So in a statement, Governor Cooper said lawmakers need to do much more by extending these grants through 2025. He said our children's future and economy depend on it. Senator Levine, WRLU News, live in Raleigh. This morning, crews are working to restore power to a million people in the Houston area after barrel hit Texas as a CAT1 storm. Houston's main electricity providers says more than 2 million people were out of power at one point. Barrel brought torrential rain and 80-mile-an-hour winds to the area, causing flooding and storm surges. At least three people were killed in the Houston area. This storm is expected to weaken to a remnant low today. A&O Renee is not just Texas, but Louisiana is also seeing the impacts of barrel as well. Good morning. I'm Chris Lovingett here in the WRLU live center, showing you some video from around different parts of Louisiana as you see here on your screen. There have been downed power lines, trees that come down, damaged infrastructure, and you'll see here exactly what I'm talking about on your screen. Now, despite all this, the front is still threatening flood in certain areas of western Louisiana as well, but we have also heard of several tornadoes where possible in these areas. Of course, it will take a while before weather experts are able to get more information on this. This just goes to show you the severity of the damage brought to not just Texas, but Louisiana as well. A person is heard after a shooting in neighborhood in Wayne County. Deputies responded to a home on Sleepy Creek Drive near Dudley, just before 9 o'clock last night. This is video from the WRLU breaking news tracker. Wayne County Sheriff's Office says this was a domestic situation. Video traffic from Broadcastify indicates more people may have been involved. We actually have three patients with this call, the shooting victim, and then two other patients as well. We reached out to Wayne County authorities to learn more about what happened and about the condition of the person who was shot. Today, heads of state from around the world will meet in Washington, D.C. for the NATO Summit. Let's look at the Capitol building this morning. The summit marks the 75th anniversary of the military alliance that began after World War II. Some analysts say President Biden's candidacy could be the main focus instead of foreign policy. Biden will also try to convince allied countries to continue support for Ukraine. This comes after Russia yesterday, launched its first major attack in months. We're going to find out the name of the woman who died after her car crashed into a power pole in Goldsboro. It happened just before six last night at the intersection of ash and center streets. Two people were in the car at the time. The woman who died was the passenger. The driver was ticketed for speeding and failing to stay in the correct lane. A Raleigh woman who says an Uber driver dropped her off in the wrong place on purpose, is calling for improved safety measures. Camille Richardson, who is blind, will be joined by a group called Disability Law United for a news conference today. She says the driver left her more than a mile away from her destination after an Uber ride in May. Disability Law United says this highlights safety concerns and discrimination faced by disabled rideshare passengers. Their news conference starts at 11 this morning at the offices of Disability Rights, North Carolina. This morning, there are questions about who a Parkinson's expert was seeing during several visits to the White House. New York Times reports the expert also visited during the Obama administration at least 10 times. President Biden's Dr. Kevin O'Connor released a letter last night. He says the president has not seen a neurologist outside of his annual physical. The news comes as President Biden again reaffirmed his decision to stay in the race, despite some calling for him to step aside. First Lady Joe Biden was in North Carolina yesterday for a campaign event. She did not directly address recent calls for her husband to step aside. She did say Joe has made it clear he is all in. She also stressed their ties to the military, including her son, and Biden's commitment to veterans and their families. That's the decision that he's made. And just as he has always supported my career, I am all in too. First Lady's visits is not the only campaign stop. The Biden team is making to North Carolina this week. Vice President Kamala Harris is set to visit Greensboro Thursday. A memorial ride in Rocky Mount took a surprising turn that seriously injured two motorcycle riders. They were with hundreds of other bikers when a witness says a car pushed them off the road. This happened during the Big Mike Memorial Ride on Saturday. The ride was organized to honor a beloved employee of Flying Iron Harley Davidson. A witness says Linwood and Amy Mercer were knocked off their bikes when a car merged into the line of motorcycles on US 64. They were airlifted to a hospital in Greenville and are expected to recover. Rocky Mount Police say no charges have been filed at this time. When you pick up a carryout meal, you'll now be able to get a cocktail to go along with it. Governor Roy Cooper signed the bill into law yesterday. Any cocktails that are sold to go must be sold along with a food order. They can no be no bigger than 24 ounces and they must be sealed. States first allowed the state first allowed restaurants and bars to do this during the pandemic. Today, you can help teachers in Wake County get the supplies they need for the school year. Now through August 26, you can team up with WRL and tools for schools to support local teachers by donating to the classroom supply drive. Teachers say their out-of-pocket spending exceeds, on average, more than $900 a year. They need supplies like pencils, post-it notes, notebooks and more. To find a drop-off location near you and more information on how to donate, go to WRL.com and search school supplies. 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 Aroni 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. Through 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. We're going to hit up really quickly. We also have a small chance for showers and thunderstorms, not going to have a lot of rain today or tomorrow to cool us off, but that does change later in the week. I'll show you it coming up. Jury selection gets underway today in Alec Baldwin's criminal trial for the Rust movie set shooting. Baldwin is charged with involuntary manslaughter. The shooting on set killed cinematographer Halena Hutchins and injured the film's director Joel Sousa. It's unclear if the actor will take the stand to testify. Baldwin left the courthouse in Santa Fe, New Mexico yesterday afternoon after a hearing to go over pre-trial motions. The judge ruled Baldwin's role as a producer of the Rust film is not relevant to the trial. Baldwin has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and maintains that the gun malfunctioned. The trial is expected to last about 10 days. If convicted, Baldwin faces up to 18 months in jail. A group of young hikers reported missing near the royal fire in California is back home safe this morning. Police knew something was wrong when they were doing a sweep of the fire and discovered the teen's cars in a parking lot Sunday night. A helicopter search crew spotted the hikers around 7 Monday morning. They say one of the older teens who knew the area led the hikers away from the royal fire. After five hours of hiking, they made it to a command center. Still, it was a nervous night for parents who are relieved their kids were found safe. Relief. So relieved. So happy. It's just, you know, that period of time when you don't know what's going on. It's like, I know all these kids are capable, but yes, it's a pure relief. The royal fire has burned more than 200 acres. The cause of that fire is under investigation. The county deputy Ned Bird will be honored with a bridge in his name. County Commissioners approved the move yesterday in remembrance of the deputy who was shot and killed on the job nearly two years ago. The Auburn Nightdale Road Bridge over the Nus River will be renamed the Ned P. Bird Bridge. It is near the place where Bird was killed in August 2022. Wake County Sheriff Willie Rowe says this is just one more way Bird's legacy will live on. It's just a way that we can rally together and know that Ned knows that we haven't forgot him and that he's forever in our hearts. Two brothers, Arturo and Alder Marine Satello are charged with Bird's murder. They face life in prison if convicted. There's no timeline yet for when the DOT will approve the name change for the bridge. Durham police arrested a man accused of assaulting a woman on a go Durham bus. Yer say these surveillance pictures from the bus show Le'Andre Holman and he's accused of punching a woman on a bus June 25th. Holman is charged with assault, inflicting serious injury and assault on a female. A scary situation on a lake in New Hampshire and safely thanks to a teen's heroics. A bystander captured this video from July 3rd showing a boat speeding around in circles. Well when does to say the driver of that boat fell into the water and you can see a 17 year old boy timing his jump off his boat and onto the runaway boat. And once he got on he was able to cut the engine and bring that driverless boat to a stop. The boat didn't hit anything and no one was hurt. Hundreds of people from around the world were still drawn to Death Valley National Park yesterday even though the region known as one of the hottest places on earth is experiencing a dangerous heat wave. A motorcyclist died from suspected heat exposure at the park Saturday as temperatures soared to 128 degrees. Honestly it's definitely shocking. I don't know how anything can survive out here. You can definitely feel the heat on your skin and I can see how it's probably the hottest highest heat record out here but it's definitely interesting to see. Park officials are warning visitors to stay hydrated, bring sunscreen and consult their doctor before visiting if they have a condition that may be worsened by extreme heat. And if you had plants to visit there, I mean go there the heat wave, oh that sounds miserable. We're having our own heat valley here, meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner in the W-R-L Severe Weather Center. Yeah those are extreme temperatures there. January, I mean that sounds like a lovely place to visit in January doesn't it? You know when it's cold and it's really warm there still, I don't know people do interesting things that's for sure. Alright we're waking up to clear skies this morning just a hint of a breeze here as we take a look at the legislative building here in downtown Raleigh. Our temperature right now is 78 so it is a warm start this morning, just a light wind out of the southwest at 3 miles per hour. Our dewpoint is up at around 73 right now so it feels very sticky and heavy this morning you just step out the door and we'll hit 90 degrees by lunchtime. So we do have a heat advisory, this in effect for the entire viewing area today, it'll feel like 104 to 106 this afternoon, it'll really start to feel hot by lunchtime so if you have anything that you need to get done outside you want to do it well before lunchtime. The average, you may say wait a minute, we've done this a bunch this year haven't we? And we have the average heat advisories for the year is between 8 and 9 and the average excessive heat warnings 1 to 2 for us here. So let's take a look at the calendar and we've seen 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 already heated advisories just in this last month and it's only the ninth and then 2 already excessive heat warnings which happened last Friday and Saturday so it has been a very hot month so far and it doesn't look like that's going to change anytime soon. For today, 98, 97 in Raleigh, 98 in Fayetteville we do have a small chance for thunderstorms but it's not likely that that's going to help to cool us off at all. Looking at 105 this afternoon and again tomorrow certainly possible that the weather service would post another heat advisory again for tomorrow so we just we do continue to add those up. Our dew points at 73 and that's what it's all about we have so much moisture in the atmosphere that your skin just can't help cool off your body there's nowhere for your sweat to evaporate to and that's what cools our body so we're going to continue to see those high heat indices for the next several days and so just keep that in mind. It would be nice to have some rain to come through. I love Tori Dupree's shot from McCoy she sent us this weather watcher photo yesterday with thunderstorm coming through and we have a better chance for that later this week. We'd love to see your weather watcher photos go to www.wrl.com and search weather watchers. Satellite and radar is quiet right now but we do have the potential for some pop up storms later on this afternoon we get all the way to lunchtime and see a bit more cloud cover filling in and then just one or two little cells pop up most of us won't end up seeing rain today. But as we do it may just feel a little bit more steamy. Now we have a big pattern change coming Thursday into Friday, Thursday some of our eastern counties may see some rain but Friday it looks like it could be a soaker for us 84 degrees so a cooler day I'll show you how much rain we might see and how much it could help coming up. We needed and we know it could help. Thanks Elizabeth. Starting this fall Johns Hopkins Medical School will be free for most students the requirements for those students to qualify. It's a wild weather spotted off the North Carolina coast where this video of a water spout was captured. 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June was the 13th straight month of record warm temperatures and then Friday was the hottest day ever at RDU airport reaching 106 degrees when it's that hot outside the less that you want to do is get into an even hotter car five undersides Killy Arthur shows us how to quickly cool down your ride fast and without wasting fuel. Automatic start is a convenient way to get the cool air flowing in your car on a hot day but not the most efficient your car's air conditioning works much better when you're actually driving because the faster the engine turns the faster the AC compressor runs which lets the system cool more effectively consumer reports method also uses less fuel once you hit the road turn on the air conditioner and open up all the windows for 10 to 20 seconds crank the fan once cold air starts flowing through the vents roll at the front windows but keep the rear ones cracked open for another 10 to 20 seconds this pulls cold air to the back of the car if you have passengers in the back seat turn off recirculation mode so the air in the back doesn't get stale and hot adjust the AC temperature to its lowest setting and make adjustments to the fan speed and direction to keep you comfortable this will actually make the AC efficient will dry out the air more and can save some fuel another word of advice if you're stuck in stop and go traffic and you've got a newer car with an auto start stop system you may want to turn it off while this feature saves fuel by shutting off the engine when you're stopped it may also shut off the car's AC compressor which you'll need to keep cool kelly arthur 5 on your side good to know don't you just take opening your door of the parked car when sitting out in the sun oh it's like an oven just as you should check AC filters at home consumer reports say you should also check your car's cabin air filter to make sure it's clean a dirty filter prevents optimal air flow replacing them is usually inexpensive and simple to do yourself all right take a look at this video taken in oak island yesterday you can see what appears to be a water spout right there yeah right off the coast and another photo here showing a different vantage point these are courtesy of our w-r-l weather watcher and intern Ethan Clark John Hopkins medical school will be free for most students starting in the fall thanks to a billion dollar donation from former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg the free tuition will be available to all students who come from families that earn less than three hundred thousand dollars a year john's Hopkins will also cover living expenses for students from families with a yearly income of less than one hundred seventy five thousand dollars the university says nearly two thirds of students will immediately qualify a heat advisory is in effect today the high temperatures will stick around Cumberland County is opening cooling centers throughout the week to give you a place to cool off county department of social services and department of public health lobbies will be available during normal business hours you can also use any county library location to escape the heat parks and recreation centers and the faithful area system of transit will be available as well this morning more than a million people are without power in the Houston area after barrel hit Texas the new concern this morning with dangerous temperatures in the forecast and another scary moment on a Boeing flight when one of the tires falls off during take off your heart it's the only one you have fortunately you also have a choice expert cardiologist talented surgeons highly skilled specialists all of whom chose wake me why the main reason is the same reason patients choose wake me everything you need for the best possible care is right here learn more at weight med dot org wake med heart and vascular physicians your heart your choice save big this summer with great deals all in the king supers app get juicy Washington red cherries for two ninety nine a pound then get ten for ten on items like lays stacks rice or only and sparkling ice sparkling water for one dollar 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 seaside for details 52 80 exteriors James Hardy sighting is a low maintenance sighting may primarily of cement that resist flame spread and repels wood one insects and woodpeckers through the month of July you'll receive free rigid foam installation with the purchase of whole house sighting that's installing additional insulation behind your sighting for free but only for the month of July call today for more details or visit 52 80 exteriors dot com 52 80 exteriors dot com a James Hardy preferred contractor 52 80 exteriors the altitude of quality [MUSIC PLAYING]