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8AM News on WRAL - Thursday, July 4, 2024
Breaking news, the designer can give you the kitchen of your dreams. I'm Dana Merrill, the owner of the designer in North Raleigh. And I am true Merrill. I am the project manager. The designer is a lovely kitchen bath and closet remodeling company. We do pretty much any of the utility spaces in your house. If you want to store things in your cabinets, if you want to work on things on your countertops, if you want to have a floor that can get wet or muddy, we're the place to help you fix your home up. We are the designer in North Raleigh, located at 3030 Wake Forest Road in the Holly Park Plaza. We would love to see you or visit our website at thedesigner.com. Live from WRL news headquarters in Raleigh, your number one source for local news. WRL news coverage you can cut off. A crash in Johnston County left one man dead, which we per say about the crash and the car they say is stolen. And it is a beautiful start for us on this holiday with a lot of people likely headed out across the area. We're going to talk about our beach forecast and back here at home coming up. And today is the 4th of July. The local celebrations happening tonight, including the Durham Bulls game, we're going to get you caught up. Thank you for joining us here this morning on WRL news in Fox 50. I am Chris Lovenga, totally wearing a red, white and blue tie, definitely not red, white and purple on accident. We've got meteorologist, Anthony Baglione, right now getting you a live look outside of Carolina Beach. I think it passes, Chris, I think you're good. It looks super red, white and blue to me. Happy 4th of July to all of you at home. Yeah, it's a beautiful start for us out there. You can see the Carolina Beach camera. I love looking at this one any time of the year, but still it looks really nice when you know there's going to be a lot of people out there. Be careful, I will say. We still have moderate rip current threats, which can be kind of deceptive where you see the moderate. You think, no, that's okay. It's not quite to the high category. Just be careful. There could be still some rough currents out there. We've seen several stories, unfortunately, of people here across the country, just having issues with rip currents. Where we go here into tonight, fireworks is going to be a nice festive evening for us. We're watching a small chance just for some passing storms as we get closer to about 8 o'clock or so. That's not going to amount to much, but I just want to make you aware that that's a potential. Over the next couple of days, check out that 100 degree reading tomorrow. That will be the hottest out of the next seven. Our normal high is 91. We go to 96 on Saturday. A little bit of a break though into next week. It's due to rain chances on the way. Very, very much needed rain chances. We're going to go over when those arrive kind of and give you a better idea of those rain chances coming up. All right, we'll check back in with you, Anthony. Thank you. WRO is following breaking news from overnight. A man was killed because troopers say he drove off the road in a stolen car in crashed. This happened on Cleveland Road in Johnston County west of Smithfield around one o'clock this morning. The WRO breaking newscat news tracker captured this video of the damage to the vehicle. An investigator on the scene told us that a woman was also in the car and she seemed quote dazed and confused when they talked to her. And WRO is working to learn more about the crash that left this vehicle overturned. You'll see here on your screen. The WRO breaking news tracker got this video last night around 11. The vehicle crashed along I-40 near US-1. Notice the windshield and the front of the vehicle are destroyed here. We're going to update you when we learn more about what led up to that crash and how the driver is doing. If you're looking for some Fourth of July fun, well, the Durham Bulls has you covered. You can grab a hot dog, watch a baseball game, and afterward, a fireworks show. WRO's Kelsey Coffee was at the debat this morning with the details of what you can do tonight. [transition] Happy Fourth from the debat tonight's Bulls game is going to be the perfect way to spend the fourth with your family. And of course the ballpark is empty right now, but in just a few hours, this place is going to be packed with fans ready to enjoy some baseball and an epic fireworks show. Check it out. Now that's the sound of the Fourth of July. You're looking at video now from last year. Buying a ticket to tonight's game will guarantee your seat for the fireworks show. Gates will open for general admission at the end of the seventh inning to watch the show, but space inside the ballpark is limited. Tickets are still available online and that game will start tonight at 6.35 and the fireworks show is scheduled for tonight at 9.15. Kelsey Coffee, WRL news in Durham. Hurricane Beryl is making its way toward the Cayman Islands this morning as a category three storm. It has killed at least seven people and caused widespread damage in the Caribbean. Jamaica is still under a state of emergency this morning even after Beryl passed the island yesterday. Footed shows fierce winds and rain slamming the nation, but no deaths have been reported in Jamaica. Meanwhile in the U.S., a hurricane advisory notice has been issued in Texas. With Beryl's path uncertain, state authorities have warned people in coastal areas to stay prepared. And WRL has been reporting more drownings locally here, at least lately we have. An 18-year-old died yesterday because they were pulled from the ocean in Nag's head and two other swimmers managed to make it to shore. Tuesday night, a carborough man drowned while swimming in Jordan Lake. Chatham County investigators identified him as Eduardo Martinez. He was visiting the lake with family. They saw him struggling in the water, but they could not help him. This was the third drowning at the lake since May. You'll notice more law enforcement patrolling the roads and the waters today and through the weekend. Operation Drywater, that is why it begins today. Operation Firecracker boozed and lose it, it already began. These annual campaigns promote sober boating and driving during the holiday. Operation Drywater runs until Saturday and that reminds people to stay vigilant on the water. It's also meant to reduce crashes and deaths during the busy holiday week. Warren's reveal new disturbing details on the deaths of Blake and London Devon. They claim Avante Devon, their adoptive mother, forced others to help her hide the deaths of her two children. According to records, Avante Devon forced a sibling to buy tools to dismember Blake after he died in 2017 from starvation and abuse. Records shows she made a family friend impersonate him during a state check-in. After London died, Warren said Devon forced a former household member to remove and destroy carpet, flooring and other evidence and one defense attorney says Devon could face the death penalty unless her team proves her innocence or gets her a less severe punishment. What would they have to determine? You look for those mitigating factors. You know, did they have serious mental illness? You know, what was their life growing up? Warren say Avante Devon told one of her adoptive children to take the blame because she would get the death penalty, but they wouldn't due to their age. She's due back in court July 17th and it could take months before a verdict is reached. Investigators say the man killed in a shootout with Fayetteville police was Shakur Williams. This happened Tuesday at an apartment complex. Officers say that they were trying to serve a first-degree murder warrant. Police say Williams barricaded himself inside an apartment for hours. He eventually came out and got into a shootout with officers, but then died at the hospital. Williams was wanted for the murder of Willie Russell on Seneca Drive back in May. Three Fayetteville police officers and an SBI agent are on administrative leave. Today, the team from Beyond the Call of Duty will stop at the Wake County Sheriff's Office with their traveling fallen law enforcement memorial. It's called End of Watch Ride to Remember. The group is on a 73-day ride to honor fallen officers through the country, and while here, they will honor the life of Deputy Ned Bird. He died in 2022. President Biden says that he is staying in the presidential race, even as more Democrats ask him to bow out. The president and vice president held a conference call with campaign staff yesterday. Officials say that he was direct, saying to aides, quote, "Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can, as simply and straightforward as I can. I am running." End quote. A new Wall Street Journal poll says that the president is falling further behind former President Trump. Biden now trails by six points, and 80 percent of people surveyed said they consider the president too old to run again. Seneca's federal tax debt continues to grow. The IRS has filed another lean against the financially struggling institution. That lean is for $1.1 million. That brings the amount of tax liens filed this year, this year, to nearly $10 million. School leaders say that they are exploring several options to raise money, and this would help the school catch up on unpaid salaries and other unpaid bills, which are the subject of lawsuits. The DMV is reopening. It's more county license plate agency. It's happening in Robbins on July 10. The office has been closed since January 31 when the operator contract ended. The location will be the same on South Middleton Street. It'll be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. In Johnston County, your children and teenagers can get free meals. This is through the county's summer feeding program. It's held every Monday through Thursday for students 18 and under. Breakfast will be offered from 8 to 9 a.m. And then lunch will be available from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. You can pick up the meals at 1709 South Bright Leaf Boulevard. Durham will kick off Independence Day with a parade and some happy activities to do in Oval Park. We're giving you a look at the gathering from past years. It's the oldest public Independence Day celebration in Durham. It's celebrating 75 years without interruption this year. Hundreds of historic flags will decorate the park on Western Club Boulevard. The parade is going to take off at 10 o'clock this morning. Wake Forest July 4 celebrations will continue this morning with the town's annual kids parade. Look at them. They're having a good time. This is video actually from a previous year's parade. Kids are encouraged to come out on their bikes and line up on North Main Street for the parade. And that starts at 10 30 this morning. The fun will continue with a festival and holding park at Heritage High School. And that is starting at 11. As the summer temperatures climb, so does the amount of gun violence reported across the country. We are going to look at the factors that could be contributing to the rise in violence. And nothing to see here. Just a bear making himself right at home in someone's house in Colorado. No big deal. This morning you'll hear about what it took to relocate this animal. Anthony. And Chris, we did just get a brand new update here in the tropics on Hurricane Beryl. Still a category three hurricane winds are at 120 miles an hour. We're going to go over though the latest track show you where this is potentially headed and a closer look here at home coming up. 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. Breaking news, the designer can give you the kitchen of your dreams. I'm Dana Merrill, the owner of the designer in North Raleigh. And I am True Merrill. I am the project manager. The designer is a lovely kitchen bath and closet remodeling company. We do pretty much any of the utility spaces in your house. If you want to store things in your cabinets, if you want to work on things on your countertops, if you want to have a floor that can get wet or muddy, we're the place to help you fix your home up. We are the designer in North Raleigh located at 3030 Wake Forest Road in the Holly Park Plaza. We would love to see you or visit our website at thedesignery.com. Look at that. Plenty of whirling happening over at the Whirling Giggs Park over at Wilson on a beautiful day this Independence Day as you're looking live right now. Watching WREL news available on Spectrum and the WREL app on your TV or your streaming device. Yeah, it looks nice outside, but does it feel nice out? Well, it's going to get a little hotter and Anthony back in the home tell you why. Yeah, it feels a little sticky out there for us. And I think as we go through today, that's going to be some very similar theme over the next couple of days even for us. Where we're looking at currently here, this is the Climate Prediction Center map. And so all this is showing pretty much is a look ahead from our current forecast that goes out seven days. This one goes out a little bit farther. What we're seeing there, any of those red or kind of orange color contours showing up, the darker they are, the greater the chance of the above or below normal conditions happening. And so you can see where it's really dark out west, they're talking some extreme heat the next little while below normal across the central parts of the country. We are still talking about temperatures above normal. Our normal for this time of the year is 91. So that would still be above that. It could be 92 and technically verify, but we're still going to be seeing a warm stretch. Here's a look at the precipitation or rain chances. This is good for us above normal, including most of the state of North Carolina as we get into the next couple of weeks. We need some rainfall and I do have multiple chances that we will talk about here in a second. Otherwise, beautiful shot there. Our Carolina Beach camera. I am sure lots of people headed out there today. It's a little bit not super crowded quite yet. So if you're headed to the beach, you're looking good here as far as a lack of people so far. 77 currently around the triangle where it's 68 for our eastern counties there in Goldsboro. We head for a high of 97 this afternoon. So it is going to be hot. It's going to be humid. We go through the day itself. There's going to be a chance for a few showers and storms coming through. It's not a lot of coverage, but it's coming in at a time right around fireworks for us. So I just want to make you fully aware that that potential is at least there. Here is seven o'clock this evening. So you notice from the triangle to the north, there is the chance for some moisture to be showing up. I don't think it'll be a lot. I think some of that may evaporate actually as it gets closer to the ground, but still often on showers and storms are possible this evening. Coverage is going to be about 30% for us tonight. Let's talk about the tropics. This is our brand new update on Hurricane Beryl. No major changes. It continues to just slowly weaken. It's still a very strong storm category three hurricane. The latest track there takes it across the Yucatan Peninsula, Cancun. Lots of people there potentially for vacation just enjoying as a category one hurricane. So that's not great. Gets up toward Mexico and Texas as a tropical storm. So much, much weaker compared to the category five hurricane that we had even a couple days ago, but still a strong system. 100 degrees. That is what we're going for as we get into tomorrow 96 Saturday and then into next week. Scattered shower and storm chances stick with us. So that's going to be a good thing in this forecast. All right. Thanks, Anthony. A former Boeing inspector claims scrap parts were used on the assembly line at the 787 Dreamliner factory in Everett, Washington. Meryl Myers worked as a quality control manager at Boeing for 30 years and he estimates that beginning in the early 2000s, roughly 50,000 parts that were deemed unsuitable to fly were taken out of an internal scrap yard and then used to build planes. He says those parts range from small items like screws to more complex assemblies like wing flaps. Myers says this was done to meet deadlines and he also believes this is still going on based on conversations with current employees in a statement Boeing did not dispute Myers allegations. Two people were injured during a shooting at a mall near Chicago. Investigators say this happened after a fight between four people yesterday afternoon. Two men with gunshot wounds were taken to the hospital. The mayor says the shooter is believed to be one of the four people involved in this fight. So far, no one is in custody and the weapon used in the shooting has not been recovered. But gun violence is most prevalent in the summer months with peak shooting deaths each year. Gary Baumgarten reports why July 4th is uniquely dangerous. While summer is a time for fun in the sun, data from the gun violence archive reveals this season is rife with shootings citing how the months of June, July and August have had the highest total number of mass shootings over the past decade. It's an epidemic out here with this crime. You know, we're trying we're battling it every day. The nonprofit organization reports that throughout the last 10 years the 4th of July was the number one day for mass shootings involving four or more people. For my family, this 4th of July is the 730th anniversary of the total annihilation of our lives. It's a tragedy. Keeley Roberts and her family struggle with every day they attended an independent state parade in Highland Park, Illinois in 2022 where a gunman killed seven people and injured dozens of others, including her son Cooper. Do you know how nervous Cooper is every day? Can you imagine the emotions he continues to feel as an eight year old who was shot and almost killed and left paralyzed? But what's behind the surge in summer shootings? Researchers have pointed to the fact that there are more parties with drinking in the summer and how previous studies have shown that hotter weather can raise people's tempers. This comes as reactions continue pouring in from the surge in general's comments late last month when he declared gun violence a public health crisis. We're losing lives, so I think it's much needed. An NC State engineering professor and students developed a virtual robot to improve human mobility. This demonstration right here shows a student running with a portable exoskeleton that weighs about seven pounds. AI technology helps the device learn and adapt to individual needs so they can walk, run, or climb steps as you see here with less effort. How Sue says that it is designed to help with our older citizens or other people with mobility impairments. Typically it requires about one hour for a person to walk on the treadmill to let the robot figure out how the robot can coordinate with humans, how the robot can assist a human motion. Users can even run with this. Sue says that the system can save as much as 24% of the user's energy. NBC has announced they are bringing sportscaster A.L. Michael's voice back to the Olympics through the use of AI. Now the network plans to recreate Michael's voice for daily recaps of the Paris Summer Games on Peacock. The new tool will feature content like event updates and athlete backstories. Michael's is the current play-by-play announcer for NFL Thursday night football games on Amazon Prime. He was made famous by his Olympics broadcasts including the Miracle on Ice back in 1980. Just a reminder, WREL is your home of the Summer Olympics. Our reporter Liz McLaughlin will be in Paris bringing you live reports. We will also have live coverage all day from July 26th to August 11th. That is over on WREL. Breaking in the WREL Live Center, a big verdict just came down in Norway. A man was found guilty of terrorism after that 2022 deadly shooting at a pride festival in Oslo, Norway. So this is a liar. Matipur, he's in Iranian-born Norwegian and a court just sentenced him to 30 years in prison. Two people were killed and nine seriously injured in that attack, mostly outside a popular gay bar. That shooting two years ago shocked Norway which has a relatively low crime rate. This 30-year sentence for Matipur is the highest penalty in Norway since terror legislation was changed in 2015. New numbers from the Department of Education say the nation's student debt total is now more than one and a half trillion dollars. The report also shows almost half of the borrowers have made a loan payment. They haven't actually made a loan payment since the pandemic paused was lifted last September. People who haven't restarted payments will have until September to make one before it's reported to credit bureaus. Many plans for federal student loans cancellations have been paused for rejection by the Supreme Court. General Motors faces penalties for failing to comply with emission standards. The automaker will pay nearly 146 million dollars because older vehicles from the company do not meet federal fuel economy requirements. The EPA reports GM trucks and SUV carbon monoxide emissions are 10 percent more than what the company claimed on its compliance testing. The EPA says the vehicles can stay on the road but they cannot be repaired. GM says it did not commit any wrongdoing. This independence day we are hearing some of the stories of America's first veterans. Volunteers have worked with the National Archives to transcribe military pension files from the Revolutionary War. Unlike today soldiers had to show why they were in need of financial assistance and a pension. This special project started last year with the hope of finishing in 2026 for the 250th anniversary of America's independence. Every word that's transcribed becomes searchable in the National Archives catalog and when it's searchable it means that it's accessible to the entire world. Stories from the files will be shared with the National Park Service. A family in Colorado found a massive bear just chilling hanging out under their deck. Look at this thing right here. The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Department responded to a call in the southern part of the state. The team was able to successfully sedate the 400 pound bear and take it to a more remote location. Wait for it. It's about to get out the truck. It's going to move at some point. There we go. They're letting him out of there. Hope he has a fun time out in the wild. A medical emergency behind the wheel caused a driver to crash through a home in Moore County. We are going to take you to the crash site to get you what we are learning from Troopers this morning. [Music] Ryan Seacrest here. When you have a busy schedule it's important to maximize your downtime. One of the best ways to do that is by going to Chumbah Casino.com. Chumbah Casino has all your favorite social casino games like spin slots, bingo, and solitaire that you can play for free for a chance to redeem some serious prizes. So hop on to Chumbah Casino.com now and live the Chumbalife. Sponsored by Chumbah Casino. No purchase necessary. VGW Group. Void where prohibited by law. 18 plus terms and conditions apply. 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. Happy Independence Day to you. Time right now is 826. I'm Chris Love and good. We'll get a check on your weather forecast with meteorologist Anthony Baklion. Chris is going to be a hot one for us today. Tim's climbing to close to 100. I don't think we'll quite get there but tomorrow we should hit triple digits. I have us right about 97 this afternoon. It comes with a chance for a few showers and storms closer to this evening. Not a lot of coverage but you can see over the next seven days we have a lot of rain chances with probably Saturday night into Sunday being our best chance. Not a total soaker this weekend but just some much needed rain. 88 there Sunday we climb back up into the low to mid-90s Chris as we get into next week so it is going to be hot and humid for us. I think, Anthony, a man was killed because investigators say he drove off the road in a car they say was stolen. This happened on Cleveland Road in Johnston County west of Smithfield around one o'clock this morning. The WRL breaking news capture tracker captured this damage to the vehicle. An official on the scene tells us that a woman was also in this vehicle and Warren's revealed new disturbing details in the deaths of London and Blake Devin. They claim a Vontay Devin hearing your screen forced others to help her hide the deaths of her two adopted children. The records say that Devin made extended family members impersonate Blake after his death by tools to dismember his body and destroy the evidence. She's due back in court in July 17th. And you'll notice more law enforcement patrolling the roads and waters today and this weekend too. Operation dry water begins today and runs until Saturday. Operation Firecracker boos it and lose it. It's already started. The annual campaigns promote sober boating and driving to reduce crashes during the holiday weekend. Next on Fox 50 the latest update from the Carolina Hurricanes roster and up next on today, bleachers perform live on the plaza. Breaking news the designer can give you the kitchen of your dreams. I'm Dana Merrill, the owner of the designer in North Raleigh. And I am true Merrill. I am the project manager. The designer is a lovely kitchen bath and closet remodeling company. We do pretty much any of the utility spaces in your house. If you want to store things in your cabinets, if you want to work on things on your countertops, if you want to have a floor that can get wet or muddy, we're the place to help you fix your home up. We are the designer in North Raleigh located at 3030 Wake Forest Road in the Holly Park Plaza. We would love to see you or visit our website at thedesignery.com. 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. And 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. Shot in 4k ultra high definition. Your number one source for local news. WRAL news coverage you can come on. A man was killed because of a crash trooper say involved a stolen vehicle in Johnston County. This morning what we know about others who are in the vehicle. And the weather is calling for us this morning, but we have some big time heat back in the forecast. We're going to talk about just how high our temperatures climb coming up. And a deep app will be sparkling tonight after the Durham Bulls game. What you need to know about the fireworks show and other big 4th of July celebrations across the area. Plenty of those happening. We'll get you caught up. Thanks for joining us this morning on WRAL news and Fox 50. I'm Chris Lovingett. We'll get you started right with your weather forecast with meteorologist Anthony McLeone. Yeah, I want to start off with the deep app because it is going to be busy here as we have the fireworks later on today. Beautiful forecast for us right now. We see lots of sunshine out there. It is hot though and it's going to be humid. So that's just going to be kind of the summery feel we have for us the next couple of days. Our current temperatures though, when we look at the actual air temperature in the upper 70s, it feels about that. There's not much of a heat index factor currently. It feels like close to 80 there in Raleigh. Clinton actually, I think that sensor is probably malfunctioning a little bit. I don't think it's quite feeling like 61, but it goes to show we're okay so far this morning. But we climb to right about 93 there at our fireworks forecast tonight. That's after a high temperature of 97 this afternoon. There's a limited chance. So you notice those percentages not zero for us to get just a few showers. Maybe some thunderstorms coming through, not severe weather thankfully, but you can see future cast continuing to indicate this. And I think it's doing a pretty good job actually of showing this system up to our north. Just kind of draping a little bit farther to the south where I can't totally rule out an isolated storm this evening. It shouldn't be much, but we are tracking many more storm chances though on the way we'll talk about when they could get here in a few minutes. Check back in with you, Anthony. Thank you. A man was killed because trooper say he drove off the road in a stolen car and crashed. This happened on Cleveland Road in Johnston County just west of Smithfield around one o'clock this morning. The WRO breaking news tracker captured this video of the damage done to the vehicle. An investigator there tells us that a woman was also in the car and she seemed quote dazed and confused when they talked to her. If you're looking for some fourth of July fund that they're on bulls. Oh, they've got you covered. You can grab a hot dog, watch a baseball game, and afterwards there's even a fireworks show. WRO's Kelsey Coffee will take us over to the Durham's Bull Athletic Park to show you what you can do tonight. Happy fourth from the debap tonight's Bulls game is going to be the perfect way to spend the fourth with your family and of course the ballpark is empty right now, but in just a few hours this place is going to be packed with fans ready to enjoy some baseball and an epic fireworks show. Check it out. Now that's the sound of the fourth of July. You're looking at video now from last year. Buying a ticket to tonight's game will guarantee your seat for the fireworks show. Gates will open for general admission at the end of the seventh inning to watch the show, but space inside the ballpark is limited. Tickets are still available online and that game will start tonight at 635 and the fireworks show is scheduled for tonight at 915 Kelsey Coffee. WRL news in Durham. A driver was injured because they crashed their SUV through a building in Moore County. I want to show you video from the W.R.O. breaking news tracker. Just see right here the damage. You can see it done to this Toyota. Troopers tell us that the driver had some sort of medical emergency before the crash yesterday afternoon. That happened on US 1 North of Atkins Road in Vass. Troopers say no one was in the building when it hit. The driver is expected to be okay in this. Cornwallis Road in Durham is back open this morning. It was closed because two vehicles crashed into a tree near Bainbridge Drive. This is video showing the emergency response on scene there. Please tell us that the tree fell into the road and then knocked down a power line before 10 o'clock last night. Two cars then ran into the fallen tree, but no one was entered. Hurricane barrel is making its way toward the Cayman Islands this morning as a category three storm. The storm has killed at least seven people and caused widespread damage in the Caribbean. Jamaica is still under a state of emergency this morning and no deaths have been reported there. Barrel caused widespread damage on Union Island and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Hurricane left massive destruction behind there, severely damaging 90% of houses on that island. A hurricane advisory notice has been issued in Texas here stateside with barrels path uncertain. State authorities have warned people in coastal areas to be prepared. We are expecting to get an update this morning about a cybersecurity case that is affecting the town of apex. The town is experiencing a network outage. That means people cannot make payments or submit permit applications electronically. It's still unclear though if personal data from residents and employees have been compromised. Emergency services are fully operational. A retired FBI agent with a background in cybersecurity shared why hackers see local governments as prime targets. If you look at the top five areas that bad guys are looking to attack its municipalities for several reasons. They have limited resources like the cybersecurity workforce is very limited as it is. Those of us that are in the cybersecurity world are having a hard time finding people to do the cybersecurity job. He says it's likely personal information that was stolen from the town's base. Back in 2020, WRL reported on cyber attacks in Rocky Mount and Durham. Cyber specialists are calling for more safeguards among local governments as threats evolve over time. Nine North Carolina stores face thousands of dollars in fines for putting the wrong price on their items. A few of the stores are in our area. The Dollar General on LaBelia Road in More County faces a $900 fine. The state says that it charged 14 items and in fact overcharged them back in February. It since passed an inspection in May. In Way County, the target on Market Center Drive in Morrisville faces a $1,300 fine. It has 17 overcharges in February and March too. It passed an inspection though back in May. Some Democratic governors say that they stand with President Biden with a after a conversation they had with him. Governor Roy Cooper was a part of the meeting yesterday and released a statement saying in part quote Donald Trump is in an existential threat to our democracy and everyone in the room agreed that defeating him is imperative. This comes as questions mount over whether Biden's campaign should continue after his performance at last week's debate. We asked all seven congressional Democrats from North Carolina if they believe the president is fit to run for re-election and if he should stay in the race. Three said yes to both questions. Congressmen, Congress women rather Deborah Ross and Valerie Fusci and Congressman Wylie Nickel. He should stay in the race. I do because I think he needs to his policies are good. He's fit for office right now. Nickel says the debate has led voters to question how Biden's age will affect his performance. Congressman Don Davis said the president quote needs to step up. A spokesperson for Representative Alma Adams said that she did not have enough information for comment. Jeff Jackson and Kathy Manning did not respond to our questions. Jordan Martinuk is staying with the Keynes for at least another three years. The long time Carolina forward is signing a contract worth more than three million dollars per season. Martinuk, Jordan Stahl, Sebastian Ajo, Andres Fechnikov and others will be the familiar faces returning but there will be a lot of familiar faces going to other teams. Martinuk says that while he wishes the team could stay together he is so excited for his teammates who are moving on. If you're driving to a 4th of July cookout or maybe a poll party here are some of the best and worst times to be on the road. AAA reports the best time to travel today before noon. You still got some hours. You may want to avoid being on the road between 2 and 7 p.m. Those will be the busiest hours. Then tomorrow you will have the best luck driving before 10 a.m. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. will be the most congested time that day heading into the weekend. And if you're driving on the road you may want to look at the gas prices here. AAA just released this update not long ago. The state average is $3.33 per gallon. In Raleigh it's $3.37 and it's below the national average of $3.52. For the lowest gas prices in the country North Carolina actually ranks 14th. If you're heading south on your road trip you can find lower prices in South Carolina. The average price there, eight cents cheaper than North Carolina. And if you're still looking for something to do tonight you can always catch the July 4th fireworks show at Dix Park. The fun starts tonight at 6 o'clock. You can expect music and games and plenty of food. The fireworks starts at 9.30. Just a reminder though there will be no parking at Dix Park. There is though free parking at downtown parking decks and NC State Centennial Campus. Free shuttles will take people from more square to Dix Park starting at 5.30. The town of Garner celebrated the 4th of July just a little bit early. Last night there was an impressive fireworks show. You can see for yourself. Nope just two. All right a big crowd gathered at Lake Benson for the annual July 3rd Independence Day celebration. There were games, music and a lot of food. Other fireworks displays happened last night in Morrisville, Apex and Wake Forest. Just a reminder a cooling shelter will be open in Durham today. That's opening at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. It'll operate until the heat backs off. At the Durham Rescue Mission crews are working to provide space for anyone in need of cool shelter and food too. Passengers that were traveling to Amsterdam, well they had to have their flight diverted to New York. How an onboard meal was responsible for making dozens of people sick. And for many people today is all about heating up the grill, scarfing down some hot dogs and on Cully Island the race is on to see who can eat the most. More on the annual hot dog eating contest that's happening this morning. And we're going to get you a live look this morning in Zebulun over the 4th of July. A live look here. It's pretty calm for the time being but well it's day that way. Anthony Baglione will share his forecast for your fireworks show this evening. [Music] Breaking news, the designer can give you the kitchen of your dreams. I'm Dana Merrill, the owner of the designer in North Raleigh. And I am true Merrill. I am the project manager. The designer is a lovely kitchen bath and closet remodeling company. We do pretty much any of the utility spaces in your house. If you want to store things in your cabinets, if you want to work on things on your countertops, if you want to have a floor that can get wet or muddy, we're the place to help you fix your home up. We are the designer in North Raleigh, located at 3030 Wake Forest Road in the Holly Park Plaza. We would love to see you or visit our website at thedesignery.com. Sell your home in a snap. Sold it in a snap by the Jim Allen group simplifies the home selling process. You're guaranteed a cash offer. With the number one real estate team in the triangle, just submit your info and schedule an in-home walkthrough. Learn more at solditinnestap.com. Welcome back to the 843 here on this July 4th morning where we are starting off calm. It is hot and humid across the area though. A lot of sunshine for us through the majority of the state looking pretty good right now. Our live camera there the d-bap going to be very busy later on today with the fireworks celebration and just kind of enjoying all the fourth festivities. Where we sit right now though temperature wise, let's talk about that because we're not too bad currently. We're seeing temperatures mainly in the 70s. It feels like 79 there, Raleigh Durham, 70 in Roxbury. The majority of us are all right but it's just kind of a noticeable difference compared to yesterday where our humidity levels have started to go up. 97 is where we should hit this afternoon. That is well above where we should be for this time of the year. It's going to be pretty dry for us overall but then we get into tonight. There's a slim chance of a shower, maybe a thunderstorm coming through. I'm hopeful that we'll see a good amount of dry time today but I just want to make you aware at least that that potential lies there this evening. Let's time it out here on Futurecast so we start off this morning. We're fine. We get closer to lunchtime still looking dry at that point. Just a mix of sun and clouds for us today. It will be hot and humid though. We get into this evening. There's this disturbance up to our north that may try and bring a little bit of moisture closer to let's say the triangle to the north as we get into that fireworks time frame. It won't be a lot and there won't be a severe risk with this. There was one outline yesterday. They've taken that out but there's 11 o'clock. It's just enough where we have some of those pockets of moisture where we could see some of those coming down. Let's talk about where we have a lot of moisture right now. Hurricane barrel in the tropics. It's a category 3 hurricane. This is the latest advisory that came out at 8 o'clock this morning. It's still holding its own. I got to say it's not necessarily weakening too much. We have some wind shear that it's dealing with. Anytime wind shear starts to increase it's actually the winds kind of above the storm system kind of blown around making it a little bit turbulent. A well-formed storm system wants virtually zero shear. We have a lot out there right now that may try and continue to weaken this. That's why over the next couple of days it approaches Cancun as a category one hurricane and then the Mexico Texas coastline as a tropical storm. That will also though keep in mind here if you're headed to let's say the Gulf Coast, Florida even into Alabama, Mississippi they're expecting some big-time rip current threats here the next week or so. 100 degrees for us says we get into our Friday 96 into Saturday still 90s next week with scattered storm chances here just about every single day. Anthony thank you. The people who planned the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia have been ordered to pay money to the victims. That's coming from a federal appeals court the white supremacists and nationalist groups who have to pay more than two million dollars according to this. This will be paid to the people who suffered physical or emotional injuries during the rally. One person was injured and nearly 20 others were injured because a man drove his car into a crowd of counter protesters. He's currently serving a life sentence for murder and hate crimes. Just a tragic update to that home explosion that happened in Wisconsin on Tuesday. A 68 year old man who was rescued died there. First responders say that the victim was found in his basement calling for help. He was flown to the hospital where he later died. This happened and the explosions just left family members and neighbors reeling in the aftermath. People living as far away as 12 miles say that they felt this explosion. The cause though that's still being investigated. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the US will soon announce more than 2.3 billion dollars in military aid for Ukraine. Austin made that announcement during a meeting with Ukraine's defense minister. He says the package will provide new air defense interceptors, anti-tank weapons and other critical munitions. The US has been announcing regular packages for Ukraine since Congress approved nearly 61 billion dollars in Ukraine aid. Great Britain is set to enter a new political era. The polls are open right now for a crucial general election. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to be ousted and if that happens it would bring a 14 year reign of conservative rule in that country to an end. Current polls show the opposition labor party is expected to win. That would bring in a center left government headed by former lawyer Keir Starmer. Whoever wins though will become prime minister and then form a government. During this week's busy holiday rush some people are hitting unusual travel snags. One Delta flight traveling from Detroit to Amsterdam was diverted to New York City's JFK airport. That's because of spoiled food served on the flight yesterday. Authorities report two dozen illnesses but everyone declined medical attention. Officials say passengers were rebooked to other flights last night to their destinations. I was actually a little nervous that that I had eaten the ticket. We bought tickets to see Taylor Swift tomorrow and you know if we miss that I'm gonna swim across the ocean. Delta apologized to customers and says that it will investigate. Dry air and gusty winds are not making fighting a wildfire in California any easier. 70 miles north of Sacramento investigators say the Thompson fire has burned more than 3,000 acres since it started Tuesday. It has destroyed multiple structures and forced about 13,000 people to evacuate their homes. This is just one of several wildfires burning throughout the West. With a massive heatwave now in effect the concern is for authorities that warm weather warm weather and cold drive education could lead to more fires. Nightdale is temporarily suspending its large yard yard waste service. Starting Monday it will be out of service for two weeks. It comes as the truck has to undergo some maintenance. Public works will still run the routes for yard waste to pick up that trash. People in Durham now have a new way to help reduce food waste in the community. The food scrap drop-off bins have been set up and once you can see one at City Hall. The other is at a waste disposal and recycling center on East Club Boulevard. You can download the compost here app to unlock the bins and you actually any of these food scraps there. You can dump them. The scraps will then be converted to compost. Kerry also has a program kind of like this. It has added multiple drop-off locations due to popular demand. Carboro town leaders are reminding people to be alert when outside because of an increase of bear sightings. The police department didn't say where or when the bears were spotted. The state's division of wildlife reminds people not to feed bears and to lock up and secure any potential food sources. You also don't want to leave your pets outside overnight or unsupervised or tips are available online. There'll be a different type of celebration this Independence Day at Nightdale with no fireworks. The decision happened because of a a prank that happened during last year's fireworks show. Authorities told WREL that someone lit a fountain firework in the middle of the crowd. Now many people thought reasonably that sound was gunfire which caused mass panic and led to groups of people running and taking off. No one was injured. Instead there will be a family-friendly celebration earlier in the day. At Nightdale Station Park there will be a bike parade, live music, food trucks, inflatables and more starting at 9 a.m. It will have the splash pad open to help you cool off just in case you're a little too hot. That celebration goes until 1 p.m. If you're staying in tonight you can catch a fireworks show over on WREL. The Macy's 4th of July fireworks spectacular is tonight. Watch that on WREL from 8 to 10 p.m. And the city of Wilson will celebrate Independence Day with fireworks throughout tonight that is at the Wilson County Fairgrounds. Gates open at 5 p.m. with the show beginning around 9.15 food trucks will be available. Here's your hungry. AI assistants take over a new film and a time and place has been set for the Beetlejuice sequel premiere. Here's David Daniel with our holiday minute. Hello Aya. Welcome home. Hello world. So we stick up a bunch of cameras. We call them eyes. I'm not crazy about having them everywhere. Honestly, you hardly even notice. A family takes in a digital assistant that starts to take over in a frayed. As the smart home device learns about the family it begins to anticipate their desires and make sure nothing interferes with what she thinks they need. John Cho and Katherine Waterston star when a frayed opens in theaters August 30th. Have you checked Italy? The sequel to Beetlejuice is heading to Venice. Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. Dang. Now I've said it three times is set to hold its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on August 28th. Tim Burton's long-awaited follow-up to his 1988 original arrives in U.S. theaters on September 6th. And what's July 4th without a hot dog eating contest? Oh probably a healthier lifestyle but that's okay. An official weigh-in ceremony was held yesterday for participants in the Nathan's annual hot dog eating contest. The competition kicks off this morning at 10.30 and starting with the women's competition. However, a bit of a plot change this year. The event is expected to go on without its reigning champion, Joey Chestnut. He set the current record of 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes back in 2021 but he will skip the contest to compete against soldiers at Fort Bliss in Texas. If he can't be in Coney Island we certainly support him being with the troops honoring our armed forces. If you didn't hear the hot goss in the glizzy world, Chestnut was banned from competing at Nathan's this year. That's because he signed an endorsement deal with impossible foods. A brand that sells meat substitutes as you know. Nathan's famous 4th of July hot dog eating contest dates back to 1972 and today's winners will bring home $10,000. Not sure the next time I'm going to be able to say hot thoughts in the glizzy world but I got to do it today. Before we go to break here are the winning lottery numbers and we'll get another check on your weather in your traffic that's next. Sell your home in a snap. Sold it in a snap by the Jim Allen group simplifies the home selling process. You're guaranteed a cash offer with the number one real estate team in the triangle. Just submit your info and schedule an in-home walkthrough. Learn more at soldininestap.com. Looking for excitement? Chumba Casino is here. Play anytime. Play anywhere. Play on the train. Play at the store. Play at home. 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