WRAL Newscasts
Noon News on WRAL - Wednesday, July 3, 2024
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I'll let you know when we near record heat coming up. - Also dozens of people including two juveniles face criminal charges following a coordinated effort in Durham. What we know about the people arrested in Durham is part of Operation Targeting Violent Crime. - Some early risers got quite a treat this morning as a bright light streaked across the sky. NASA Ambassador Tony Rice joins us live to explain the spectacle that was seen across the viewing area right before sunrise. - And back to that breaking news as President Biden has reportedly acknowledged that his candidacy for re-election is in jeopardy. Good afternoon to you, I'm Jeff Hogan. - And I'm Renee Chu, thanks for joining us. Now according to a New York Times report, polls are plummeting, fundraising is drying up, and interviews are going badly. WRAL's Chris Lovinggood is in the WRAL Live Center with more on this, Chris. - Well Renee and Jeff, yes, if you look at the article, kind of details specifically what happened here, but this is what we're running with at noon as this key ally, this key Biden ally says that Biden knows he may not be able to save his candidacy for president. This is because of Biden's poor performance last week during the presidential debate between him and Donald Trump. Now even the president has acknowledged he didn't perform as well as he could have. Biden is slated to do several appearances this week as we approach the holiday, even doing a network TV interview. But I should note, within the past 15 minutes, we have seen on social media that the White House is denying this report. This is the ex-account for Andrew Bates. He is the White House senior deputy press secretary and the deputy assistant to the president. He says, "That claim is absolutely false. "If the New York Times had provided us "with more than seven minutes to comment, "we would have told them so." So here's what we're doing at WRAL News. At 1230, join us again because we are going to be hearing from Will Dorn with our NC Capital team. We're gonna talk a little bit more about what this news means, what it could mean also for the president's run for running for the White House to stay in his position, but also what the North Carolina tie to all of this is. - All right, Chris, we'll wait for that. Unimaginable damage is how locals are describing the destruction left behind by Hurricane Beryl, in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Now the storm is roaring toward Jamaica. While people in the Caribbean are dealing with this damage and impending landfall, Hurricane Beryl is bringing us near record heat. WRIO's Cat Campbell is live in the WRIO weather patio right now, the 4th of July scorcher on the way, Cat. - Right, and that heat dome, that big array of high pressure that's steering Hurricane Beryl is centered right around where we have that pink right there. That is the excessive heat warning. We're going to see that shifting toward North Carolina in the coming days, and that is why it is going to be so hot. I do expect that we should see some heat advisories issued as we get later into the week. We're forecasting 98 degrees on the 4th of July tomorrow. The record high 101 set back in 2012. We'll keep an eye on the records we should come within two degrees on Friday when we forecast 100 degrees. 102 would be the record on Friday and Saturday, and we're forecasting 99 on Saturday. Keep in mind the heat index should be near or above 105 degrees for the next three days, especially on Friday and Saturday. That's when the heat index could be closer to 110. Town by town tomorrow, upper 90s across the board, some mid 90s though in our eastern counties. And we do have the opportunity for a few pop-up storms. We wouldn't see any during the day, so if you're headed to the pool, you should be nice and dry. It's as we get toward dinner time as early as 5 o'clock, but better chances between about 6 and 9 p.m. that we could see a few storms roll through. This model is worst case scenario with some storms, 8 and 9 o'clock around the triangle, moving south and east, but we should dry out shortly after sunset. I'll have a closer look at how much more rain we could see after this coming up. - Cap, thank you. - We're following news of the arrests of two dozen people in Durham over the past couple of weeks. Police say it's part of an initiative to address a surge of violent crime in certain areas of Durham. WRL's Monica Casey is digging into this story for us. And Monica, two people under the age of 18 are among those facing charges. - That's right, state law means the identities of those two juveniles are protected, but we do know they are charged with carrying concealed guns. And that's a charge a lot of people in this group of 24 are facing. I went through each arrest warrant that Durham police made and it's clear that a lot of these crimes are centered around the sale of drugs and the weapons used. Three locations, W.D. Hill Recreation Center, Edgemont Park and Unity Village Park came up in those warrants. We know Durham police were focused on the areas of McDougal Terrace, Cornwallis Road, and Fayetteville Street corridor with these arrests. That is where we've seen a lot of violence in recent years, including six people shot on Fayetteville Street in a span of just 10 days last month. Now, over the course of these arrests, Durham police seized drugs, a scooter and 11 weapons, I will be speaking with an investigator later today about how these arrests can lead to stopping more violent crimes. 128 people have been shot in Durham so far this year. In Durham, Monica Casey, WRL news. - Chatham County Sheriff's deputies have recovered the body of a 52 year old man who drowned at Jordan Lake. This is the fifth drowning we've covered there in a year's time. W.R.O.s Julian Grace tells us what we've learned about the man who died and efforts to improve safety there. Julian. - Well, Jeff, on this beautiful day, it is a very somber moment here along Jordan Lake. This is near the area where the victim drowned. He has been identified as 52 year old Eduardo Martinez. Let's go to video from the night of that drowning our crews were here as EMS crews worked away trying to find the victim. This is what we found out. Martinez was at the lake with his family who saw him struggling in the water, but they could not reach him in time. The Chatham County Sheriff's office received a call about the incident on Tuesday around 847 in the evening. And then after an extensive search, emergency crews recovered his body later that night. Once the holiday weekend approaches, it brings more visitors to Jordan Lake. And the Chatham County Sheriff's office is emphasizing the importance of water safety and following swimming regulations. There are still so many questions out here tonight. Specifically, what can you do if you see someone in distress along the Jordan River here? How can you improve response times? We're asking those questions. Today, we'll have more for you on that later tonight at four and five o'clock. For now, reporting along the Jordan Lake, Julian Grace, WRL News. To increase safety, the Chatham County Sheriff's office recommends people wear a life jacket while at Jordan Lake. Also, be sure to swim only in designated areas. Supervisor children closely and be aware of water conditions and your surroundings. Millions of people will be on the road starting today for their July 4th trips. AAA says this will be one of the busiest holiday travel periods ever. Here's WRL's Laura Levine. We're here off of I-440 where holiday travel is in full swing. More than 2.2 million North Carolinians will travel 50 miles or more away from home according to AAA. And of that number, 1.9 million will do so by vehicle. So yes, we're talking about nearly 2 million vehicles on the road. Drivers can expect heavy traffic and congestion this year. AAA predicts we'll have 100,000 more drivers than we saw last year. The holiday travel period was extended this year. That's what's a little bit different. With more people working remote, more people started leaving for their destinations earlier this year with plans to extend vacation throughout this weekend. For those with schedules and not as flexible, here's some advice on when to head out for your trip today. Avoiding just rush hour times. Avoiding those peak times. We're talking about between three and five, three and six. If your travel plans allow you to leave earlier in the morning or late in the evening, that's when you're gonna experience the least amount of congestion during this travel period, although it's still gonna be crowded out there. And here's some good news. Her road trip is gonna cost you a lot less than it did last year. Gas buddy predicts that the national average for gas will cost $349 for the 4th of July. That's the cheapest it's been since 2021. Lola Veeam, WRL news in Raleigh. - Here's a look at the average gas prices right now. According to AAA, the state average is 330, just two cents more than a week ago. In Raleigh, it's 336 a gallon. Same as yesterday. The national average is sitting at 350. For the lowest gas prices in the country, North Carolina ranks 14th. Now, if you're heading south on your road trip, you can find lower prices in South Carolina. The average price there is eight cents cheaper than here in North Carolina at 322. - And Renee, airports will also be crowded today. AAA expects the number of people flying for the holiday to set a new record, nearly 7% more than last year. If you're headed to RDU, airport management says, get there at least two hours early, two hours before your flight takes off and reserve a parking spot a day ahead. And here's something you might wanna keep in mind if you're traveling by air this holiday weekend. If you have trouble with your flight, Instagram may be the best social media platform to get in touch with your airline. A social media customer engagement platform revealed 27% of customers that took their travel concerns to Instagram got answers. Travel experts say it's a good idea to reach out on social media and then pursue some form of in-person customer service. - Not a whole lot of movement on the Dow Jones industrial average as the stock market will close at one o'clock today in advance of the 4th of July holiday Dow Jones. Industrial average down 70 points, S&P 500 is up by around 20 points. NASDAQ, the biggest mover and shaker, up triple digits, 123 points. - Next at noon, SpaceX sent another batch of Starlink satellites into orbit, but the lift off from Florida included a fly by North Carolina. A NASA ambassador explains what many of our viewers are talking about today. - And a woman from Chicago still missing in the Bahamas. Where the search stands after some of her personal items were found. - Plus possible second thoughts about President Biden's run to stay in the White House. New reporting on how important the coming days will be for his future. - Keep watching WRL news over the Air Channel 34 and Spectrum Channel 1257. - I'm Victoria Cash and I want to invite you to a place called Luckyland. Where you can play over 100 social casino style games for free for your chance to redeem some serious prizes. So what are you waiting for? The best way to discover your luck is to spin. So go to luckylandslots.com, that's luckylandslots.com and get lucky today. At Luckyland. - No purchase necessary. VGW Group, boy prohibited by law, 18 plus terms and conditions apply. - Three, two, one, zero, liftoff. - Another batch of Starlink satellites is now floating in space. Just before five this morning, SpaceX launched another Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Falcon 9's first stage returned to Earth as planned, about eight minutes after liftoff, setting down on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Well, this morning's launch created quite a buzz from so many of our viewers all across the triangle and beyond, joining us to talk about what was in the sky is NASA Ambassador Tony Rice. Tony, I know you've seen a lot of these Starlink launches. So this is old hat to you, but for us, this was the highlight of the morning because even on our WRA live cameras, we could see that path. And what you noticed was that rocket trail was so defined. Why was it? - Yeah, so this happens just about every week. There's a launch from Cape Canaveral. But this one was a little bit rare because of when it happened. So what you were seeing there was the rocket exhaust. And I've heard people describe it as looking a little bit like a jellyfish, which I think is a pretty good description. It never gets old happens. Beautiful to see in the sky. What you're seeing there, as the rocket gets higher and higher in the atmosphere, that exhaust expands 'cause there's less pressure up there. Like I say, we see this happening about every week, but this one was rare because of when it happened. When these launches occur in the hour after sunset, or in this case, before sunrise, still dark down here on the ground, really kind of dark in the sky, but the sun's just high enough to catch that rocket exhaust and illuminate it so it really stands out and we can really see it. - And what's the purpose of all these launches every week? What's the mission for this? - Right, this particular launch was with the Starlink satellites, which is providing internet service. There's about 6,000 of them up there. SpaceX plans to put over 42,000. This one had about 60 of them that are all gonna be put into orbit. We'll have an opportunity to see those particular satellites, the ones that were launched this morning. Tomorrow a little bit after 5 a.m. And if you miss 'em tomorrow morning, if you look around the same time on Friday morning, they will look like a string of pearls, like a string of several lights moving slowly across the sky. - Really quickly, when might we see something like this again in the morning for us? - Yeah, it all depends on when the launches occur. So I'm not sure when the next one will happen where something like this will happen. We will definitely try and catch it and give you some warning ahead of time on WRAL.com. I'll have an article up a little bit later this afternoon with more details on how you can see this one. But you know, this one was just really rare. It was the right place at the right time. - And along with Tony's blog, a lot of the viewer photos who, viewer sent in those beautiful photos from this morning, we also have that on WRAL.com in case you weren't up to watches. It's quite phenomenal. Thank you so much. - Thanks for having me. I'd say jellyfish, string of pearls, space brings us so much cool stuff. It was really neat to see this morning. Kate Campbell is out on the WRAL weather patio as we bring it back down to Earth here. The temperatures are now on what's going up, Kate. - Yes, they are. At least it's not terribly humid out here, but it's pretty hot today. You can tell the difference. Check out our WRAL weather watcher photo today. That's from the launch this morning that Tony was telling you about. Sherry, thank you so much for sharing from Andrew. What a treat for the early morning risers to get to see that this morning. We're up to 87 now here in the triangle. Our high yesterday was 88. We're already at 87 and it's just noon. So we'll certainly be in the 90s again. 85 degrees in Fayetteville at this hour. If you're heading out for an afternoon walk, we'll be right around 90 at two o'clock, 92 at three o'clock. So it's hotter. If you can find some shade, some trees to walk under, it's not that bad out there. We did finally get to see some rain to start the week, but we need a lot more rain. The new drought monitor is out and it came on a day early because of tomorrow's holiday and a big update. There's now severe drought in part of our state and part of our viewing area. Parts of Wayne County, Wilson and Edgecombe counties are included. This includes Goldsboro and pretty much the entire rest of our viewing area is included now in the moderate drought and that accounts for 75% of the state. So three quarters of North Carolina is under a moderate drought right now. Certainly not what you want to see. The good news is we do have some moisture that's going to move in from the Gulf of Mexico. This is not necessarily tied to barrel, hurricane barrel, but just more of a moisture flow that we would see set up during the summer months and that's going to help our storm chances climb. These are going to be better chances for afternoon and evening storms. So it's summertime storms we're talking about, but with more moisture around, we should see greater coverage on the radar. And unfortunately, a few of those storms could pop up tomorrow evening. We'll be dry throughout the day for the 4th of July as early as the storms could get here would be between five and six o'clock. But I think our best chance for storms will be six to nine o'clock. And that would be from the triangle North. And then we should see those storms die down after sunset, looking ahead to Friday, 100 degrees. Again, it's likely to be dry during the day on Friday. It's a late afternoon into the evening that we could see some storms. Greater coverage should be across the western half of the state Friday, but we will see that shift to central North Carolina here over the weekend with greater storm coverage. Let's talk about hurricane barrel. It remains a powerful category. Four storm winds 145 miles an hour. It's looking less likely of a direct eye hit to Jamaica. However, they're still going to see really big impact from the storm, dangerous winds and flooding. It should strike Mexico as a hurricane near Cancun as we get into Friday. And then we continue to see more evidence that this would head towards South Texas toward the Mexico border as we get into early next week. And it's unlikely we would really see any direct impacts from barrel here locally. But since the US will be impacted, we'll certainly be watching this one. Temperatures keep climbing. We've got three days in a row with highs in the upper 90s to lower 100s. The heat backs off a little bit Sunday in the next week, but the humidity stays very high. So the heat index is going to be in the triple digits every day for the next seven days excluding today. - Good afternoon. I'm Chris Lovenga back here in the WRA Live Center. We're seeing from our news partners over at the Fayetteville Observer about new warrants for Avante Devon, the woman accused of killing her two adoptive children, Blake and London Devon. A rest warrants mention that Fayetteville police first learned Blake with missing after a mental health crisis at the Devon household. And that led to the Department of Social Services stepping in. The warrant alleges that Avante Devon became nervous and asked a family friend to impersonate Blake during a DSS visit, which that friend confirmed in police interviews. The warrant also notes that during a search of the family's home on Eichlberger Drive, they found physical and biological evidence and there is video, testimonial and physical evidence of abuse and torture endured at their home. I should also mention that there is apparently some surveillance video as well showing Avante Devon in two of our adopted children buying a red cooler from Walmart, which investigators believe that is the case in which London, and Avante Devon's remains were found inside. A new treatment to slow the early stages of Alzheimer's is ready to hit the market. The how qualified patients can receive those doses at a fraction of the price. And if you're looking for a show in the sky without all the noises July 4th, a drone show is the way to go, how some teams are learning to program devices for a spectacular celebration. It is Ryan here and I have a question for you. What do you do when you win? Like are you a fist-pumper? A woo-hoo, a hand clap or a high-fiver? If you want to hone in on those winning moves, check out Chumba Casino. Choose from hundreds of social casino-style games for your chance to redeem serious cash prizes. 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The FDA has approved Eli Lilly's drug to treat Alzheimer's disease. The drug is called cassumba and targets toxic plaques in the brain. It was shown to slow progression of Alzheimer's by 35% over 18 months. The drug is taken through monthly infusions and is estimated to cost more than $12,000 for a six-month course. Lilly says Medicare coverage and reimbursement is available for eligible patients. Netflix is starting to phase out its cheapest ad-free plan. Subscribers to the basic plan are being notified of the end date for their service, and then they're being asked to pick a new plan with or without ads to continue watching Netflix. Now, the basic plan charged just $9.99 a month. The cheapest ad-free plan available now goes for $15.49. Earlier this year, Netflix had said it would eventually discontinue the basic plan. And those are your business headlines. I'm Samuel Marcellus at the Nasdaq Market site. Google's Translate app gets a major update to help speak your language. The company announced its largest edition of languages with the help of its language model powered by artificial intelligence. Google Translate's latest update features 110 new languages from frequently requested Cantonese, a dialect of Chinese, to the African tonal language known as FAR. We continue to follow a new report suggesting President Joe Biden may not continue in the race to the White House ahead, reaction from local lawmakers. Plus, I need them on the island to act like it's their child is missing. A Chicago woman is missing after going on a yoga retreat in the Bahamas. Her family and friends plea for answers and the recent discoveries in the ongoing search. First, here's a look at the winning lottery numbers. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] 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. 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Welcome back this noon. We do want to take you back to that breaking news we first reported at the top of the hour. President Joe Biden is reportedly weighing whether to stay in the race for the White House. The New York Times broke this story just before our newscast in WRAL's Chris Lovinggood and WRAL state government reporter Will Dorn have been getting reaction from local lawmakers and join us live right now in studio, guys. Yeah, Jeff, we were just talking about this before we got on here. But, you know, well, the implications of President Biden possibly stepping out of the race would be huge for Democrats. But we have just learned in the last 30 minutes that the White House is denying this claim. Yeah, they say that he is not talking with allies about stepping out. And we saw his first stop after that poor debate performance on Friday was here in Raleigh. And he said that he is still up for the job. So I don't think it's irresponsible to think about what if scenarios, right, considering something like this. So let's say Biden does bow out of the race. What are the options that Democrats have? Well, you've got Kamala Harris, the vice president, would be the most obvious pick to replace him. But, you know, there's all sorts of speculation about who else might step in if it's not her. Even some talk about Governor Cooper, right? And he's got that meeting that he's going to have with the other Democratic governors across the country right now that he's having a meeting with Biden today. Yes, today, Democratic governors, including Roy Cooper from here in North Carolina, are meeting with President Biden to air some concerns about that debate performance and the state of the 2024 race. What comes next? What is the plan? And, you know, Roy Cooper has been floated as a sort of dark horse pick in the past, potentially for president, potentially as a vice president pick and say that Biden stays on the ticket when he was here in Raleigh. He said that he may even put Cooper on his cabinet. Should he get reelected? And mind you, Governor Cooper, not running for Governor again in North Carolina, even as his position is waning down for being in the governor of North Carolina, he's still very active talking about education across the state. But even right now, after last week's performance, Biden's performance in the debate, former President Trump, he's kind of taking a win. You've got that. And the Supreme Court ruling that he does have some form of presidential immunity. Yeah, Trump has a lot of momentum right now, both from the Supreme Court in that ruling and also in the polls that you're looking at, you know, after that debate, we've seen, you know, a handful of polls have been conducting the last few days and all of them have shown that Trump is either staying steady or gaining momentum as people continue to have concerns about Biden. And again, just to be clear, this is a key Biden ally that is saying this according to the New York Times, but as we just learned within the past 30 or so minutes, the Deputy Press Secretary is saying that these claims are false, even saying the New York Times, had they given us an additional seven minutes, we could have told them that. So we're going to be watching very closely. President Biden also expected to be having some sort of TV appearances, even having a network interview at some point this week. So we'll be watching very closely. - Chris and Will, thank you. A desperate plea for help from family and friends of a missing Chicago woman, Taylor Casey, was reported missing in the Bahamas on June 20th after she did not show up for her yoga class. Since then, some of her personal belongings have been found. NBC's Maggie Vespa spoke with Taylor's mother, who says this has all been a nightmare. - I need them on the island to act like it's their child is missing. - An American mom, whose adult daughter disappeared from the Bahamas is sounding alarms and sharing photos of the tent where she says 41 year old Taylor Casey was staying, showing her bed and Bible. The Chicago youth program director vanished two weeks ago from the Shivananda Ashram yoga retreat on Paradise Island. Her family and friends traveling to the compound last week, now pleading with American authorities, including the FBI to get involved. - The state of the investigation in the Bahamas right now, how would you characterize it? Non-existent. - Casey's loved ones alleging Bahamian police and mishandled the investigation leaving that tent a potential crime scene open to the public and never distributing missing persons posters. They had police and staff at the retreat told them they'd initially alerted some guests, but not all, that a woman had disappeared and asked Casey's family not to approach guests, explaining. - They were on vacation and they wanted to respect their privacy. - The family fearing Casey may have been targeted with the US in January issuing a level two travel advisory to the Bahamas warning of rising crime. Meanwhile, police there say their investigation has been thorough. - We used our drone technology. We used our canine. We abused our divers. - Authorities in the Bahamas telling NBC News, investigators found Casey's phone in the ocean, but that her passport is still missing. The yoga retreats saying in a statement, we did our best to provide Casey's family with support, meeting with them along with the police and US Embassy representatives on two occasions, adding their providing guests with regular updates about the disappearance and guests were encouraged to speak freely when Casey's family visited. That family growing more desperate by the day. - What do you think happened to your daughter? - I have no idea. That's what I'm trying to find out. Please, please people, help me find my towel. - That was Maggie Vespa reporting. The State Department spokesperson says it has been closely working with Bahamian officials on the case. The FBI had no comment. - Only on WRAL, a devoted dad is on a mission to help police find his son's killer. Raleigh police say this man, Ernesto Torres, Torres, stabbed 32-year-old Aaron Heath. Heath later died from his injuries. His father, Kato Muhammad, says Heath was a loving son. Muhammad also talked with people near the scene, asking if they knew what happened to his son. (air whooshing) - It hurts me bad, man. It breaks my heart to know this is where my son bled out. He took his last breath right there. - Muhammad says he is working to offer a reward for the arrest of Torres Torres. - Two students who were pulled from a car and shocked by tasers during 2020 protests has settled the lawsuit with the City of Atlanta. Tonight, a pilgrim and Messiah Young were sitting in a car while in traffic caused by protests over George Floyd's killing. Both were HBCU students at the time the police confronted them. On video of the confrontation, police could be heard shouting that Young had a gun and placed the two under arrest. However, no gun was ever found. Each will receive a million dollars as part of the settlement. Still to come, one demographic is seeing a rise in new HIV infections, which group now makes up a third of all new cases. - And did you know there's a type of vegetable oil in soda? Soon it won't be there anymore why the FDA is banning that additive. Get more stories that matter to you on the WRAL News app. Customize your feed based on categories like education, business or entertainment. Make sure you have the newest version on your devices. (dramatic music) (upbeat music) - Lucky Land Slots, asking people, what's the weirdest place you've gotten lucky? - Lucky? In line at the deli, I guess? - Uh-huh, in my dentist's office. More than once, actually. - Do I have to say? - Yes, you do. - In the car, before my kids' PTA meeting. - Really? - Yes. - Excuse me, what's the weirdest place you've gotten lucky? - I never win and tell. - Well, there you have it. You could get lucky anywhere playing at luckylandslots.com. Play for free right now. Are you feeling lucky? - No purchase necessary. VGW Group would be operated by law 18 plus terms and conditions apply. (upbeat music) - Right now at 1243, we are 85 degrees in Raleigh. Doesn't this look beautiful with those puffy clouds? In the blue sky, lots of sunshine out there will be in the 90s by late afternoon. You're watching WRAL News available on YouTube TV and the WRL app on your TV or streaming device. Tonight, you can head out to Morrisville for a night of fireworks, food and fun. The town is hosting its red, white boom, Fourth of July event tonight. It's going on from five until nine at Cedar Fork District Park. There will be live music, food trucks, games and more. Feel free to bring chairs and blankets and they will have water stations set up around the park. You can also celebrate Independence Day early tonight in Garner from five until 10. You can head out to Lake Benson Park and see some fireworks. There will also be food vendors there as well as a kids zone with inflatables. Kids will love that. - Yeah, Renee, we know fireworks are synonymous with the Fourth of July, but with hot and dry weather, fireworks are the last thing the Forest Service wants to see. Janelle Finch spoke with some high school students in Colorado who are programming a drone light show as an alternative to fireworks. (wind blowing) Remote controls and four sets of propellers are the future of holiday celebrations. But the most power. - For priorities, does this look good? - Comes from the brains of the operation. - Bradchets, project management, thanks. - Reese Wider and Abby Reichert are students at Longmont High. They plan to light up Longmont on the Fourth, but fireworks will be left at home. - Drones in general are being used in pretty much every industry now. - Reese and Abby are on the St. Rain Valley Schools Innovation Center drone performance team. Teens are learning to put on drone shows from concept to design to flight. - Super amazing to have this opportunity as a student. - Opportunities like this are increasing in popularity. Reese says it's time more people saw the benefit of drones. - I'm surprised that drones haven't become bigger, quicker, because there are so many environmental benefits. Like, they aren't very loud for pets and other people that might be noise sensitive and they don't cause fires. - Both Colorado natives, they know how easily fire can lead to devastation. - Anything that we can do to prevent that sort of stressor on anybody is crucial. So things like drone shows are a really good outlet for opportunity for that. - That's why Reese and Abby don't want to wait. They say students can power the start of change now. There's so many applications for this and I think it's just really fascinating how many opportunities there are. - Watch the landings make sure we're smooth, I've checked the notifications, perfect. - Ingenious, right, that was Janelle Finch reporting. The drones are best seen from within a quarter mile and visible up to a couple miles away, not nearly as far away as fireworks can be seen, but without the fire risk. - And the big question a lot of people have is, will Mother Nature put on a fireworks show for the 4th of July? Meteorologist, Kat Campbell, out on the W-R-A-L weather patio with a look at what we can expect for the holiday. - It looks like the fireworks shows tonight are gonna be in great shape. We'll cool off a little bit more tonight since the air is drier. Now, it feels more humid today compared to the past two days, but you know, the worst of our summer humidity is when dew points are in the 70s. And our dew point right now is at 60. So it's not all that bad out there right now. Tomorrow night between about six and nine o'clock from the triangle north, we could see a few storms out there. So we've got a 30% chance of storms tomorrow night. During the day, we should be pretty dry tomorrow, 98 degrees, 100 degrees on Friday, 99 on Saturday, and 92 on Sunday. The best chance for storms will come Saturday and Sunday. We're going to see a lot more moisture available and with a front hanging out nearby, that should trigger better coverage of our afternoon and evening storms. And the good news is, given that our drought continues to expand across North Carolina, we do have growing storm chances that will last into next week as well. So some relief from the hot dry conditions is on the way next week. It'll still be very humid though. If you're headed to the pool tomorrow to celebrate the 4th of July, should be a nice day out there. We heat up quickly by 10 a.m. 83 by lunchtime 90. We're in the mid to upper 90s throughout the afternoon hours and staying in the 90s, even during the evening. So it's still hot for fireworks tomorrow night. If you are traveling today headed to the mountains, you should have pretty dry weather to head west, 82 degrees in the mountains. We're in the low 90s here in the triangle, and if you're headed to the beach, it's a really nice day to head east. Temperature should be in the low to mid 80s, a couple of upper 70s there toward the outer banks. But Carolina Beach, looking good today, 86 degrees. You can see all the tents there for shade. You need it. It's gonna be heating up at the coast to make sure you bring your sunscreen and make sure that you review your rip current safety. There is a moderate risk of rip currents up and down the North Carolina coast today, and we expect to see another moderate risk tomorrow. If you are headed to the beach for the 4th of July, tomorrow here's your forecast for you. We're looking at high temperatures in the mid 80s. There could be a couple of upper 80s, just inland and a similar forecast for Friday. I do think storm chances will be lower at the coast compared to what we see here locally. Hurricane barrel continues to move to the West Northwest quickly as a category for hurricane. It's expected to impact Jamaica tomorrow, and then Mexico as we get into the day Friday, eventually impacting South Texas on Sunday. And that's where most of the model plots bring it now. We first told you about that trend two days ago. The biggest impact should be heavy rain. Could be a strong tropical storm, or perhaps a week hurricane by the time it gets to Texas. And most models have a kind of fizzling out over Texas. So I wouldn't expect to see really any impacts in North Carolina the way it looks now. Let's take a look ahead over the next seven days. Once our storm chances ramp up over the weekend, they're gonna stick around into early next week with afternoon and evening storms possible each day. Doesn't mean you're gonna see rain and storms every day, but you certainly should have some better chances. And it's good to see a change of pattern in this drought. - Ken, thanks for that. Champagne and caviar will cost you extra, but you can tour the world like a millionaire, the rideshare company that is putting yachts and water limos in rotation. - Must be nice. The winning mega millions numbers are four, eight, 19, 31, and 45. The mega ball is 11. The mega pliers four, are you in this? Maybe you could go around and some yachts. (upbeat music) - Looking for excitement? Chumba Casino is here. Play anytime, play anywhere. Play on the train, play at the store, play at home, play when you're bored. Play today for your chance to win and get daily bonuses when you log in. So what are you waiting for? Don't delay. 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Martinez was with his family, but they were unable to save him. This is the third drowning at Jordan Lake since May. - Millions of people are getting ready to hit their road for their Independence Day trips. - Triple A says more than two and a half million people in North Carolina will be traveling this week. Almost two million are driving, and that is a hundred thousand more drivers than last year. Drivers can expect heavy traffic and congestion, and they remind drivers best to avoid rush hour times by leaving early in the morning or later in the evening. A Colorado family needs help after their dogs started a fire in their kitchen. This home security video shows the dog jump on the oven, switching on the burner, and there's just happened to be a cardboard box on top of the stove, which ignited. Firefighters were able to put out the flames, but the upstairs is unlivable. Insurance is helping with repairs, but the family is displaced until those repairs are complete. - Uber is now offering boat services to popular vacation spots in Europe. Travelers can book a private yacht or water limo in places like Venice, Athens, and Ibiza. The company is also expanding its boating services to Paris, just in time for sightseeing ahead of the Olympics. To give you an idea of the price, a private yacht for up to eight people for the day, and Ibiza costs about $250 per person. - Our pets of the day are a bonded pair of boys seeking their forever home together. Petey and Phoenix. Phoenix excels in hugs and chasing the red dot. Petey loves being brushed and playing with springs and mice. At five years of age, these two boys are very easygoing and would make a wonderful addition to any home. Petey hasn't met a wet food he doesn't enjoy, but Phoenix is on a special diet. If you think these boys might be right for you, why not fill out an application? Can Angel's website and come in for a visit? - The Raleigh Police Department is talking about its second quarter crime stats. Coming up this afternoon at four, we're taking a closer look at the numbers and hearing about the plans to reduce the crime. (air whooshing) - Breaking news, Fayetteville Police have identified the man who was killed after a shootout. The scene unfolded while officers were trying to serve a warrant for first degree murder on Ivanhoe Court near Morgantown Road. Officers say Shakur Williams was killed after exchanging gunfire with officers. He was wanted in connection with the murder of Willie Russell that occurred on Seneca Drive on May 12th. The SBI has assumed the lead on this investigation. - NBC News Daily is up next on WRAL. Your next local news updated, 30 minutes. - You can get breaking news updates anytime with our WRAL News app. Have a great day, everybody, and safe travels if you're traveling for the July 4th holiday. 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