WRAL Newscasts
8AM News on WRAL - Wednesday, July 3, 2024
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And the search for a missing swimmer in Jordan Lake is in day two. Teams were on scene there this morning. We are bringing you a report of what investigators have shared so far. And if you notice more traffic on the roads today, that's because holiday travel is in full swing. Just ahead, we have a look from Triple A on the best times to hit the road. Thank you so much for joining us this morning on WRL news on Fox 50. I am Chris Lovinggood. We've got plenty of news stories to get to you. But first, we want to get you started with your weather forecast, with the meteorologist, Anthony Baglione. You know, Anthony, it's a lot different. We don't have the golfers out there on Pinehurst. Yeah, it makes for a definitely big difference for us, but it's still going to be, I think, a pretty good day out there as far as kind of the weather is concerned. It's feeling decently comfortable, just a little bit of humidity, but not off the charts by any means. And I do think we'll start to see things get a little bit more packed as we go through today. Our beautiful Pinehurst camera, you can see it looking good there in that green grass, although we could use some rainfall across the area. We're at 73 there in Raleigh, 71, Fayetteville, 64, our cool spot, relatively speaking, in Roxborough Upper Sixties, therefore, South Hill. We really start to see that return, though, to this pattern that we had last week with some hot and humid temperatures. Today, we'll feel just fine. We get to tomorrow, it'll start to feel more uncomfortable. 103 is the actual, or the feels like values you had outside tomorrow. 109, by the time we get into our Friday, and that trend will continue into the weekend, rain chances are gonna be pretty minimal as far as something to cool us off. We also have this product here from the National Weather Service showing relatively low impacts from the heat for us today, that does start to climb into the weekend. We're gonna go over, though, any and all rain chances, Brett, coming up here in a few. - Thanks, Anthony. Let's take a look at traffic right now. 802 on a Wednesday morning, I'm Brettonys in for Ken Smith. And right now, we are looking pretty good across the board. No incidents to report, nothing on our map right now, just a lot of green, which is what we typically see, especially on a holiday, especially approaching a holiday. 885 at Ellis Road. This time in the morning, sometimes we see some backups along this stretch on the Durham freeway, but we're not seeing any of that right now either, which is really good news. Over on the Beltline itself, we're looking green all the way across. And on I-40 westbound southern part of Raleigh, we're looking good for coming in from Johnson County. You gotta work today, you are looking in the clear as well. No delays out there so far this morning, Chris. - I know delays is good. Thanks, Brett. WRL is following a breaking news story in Rocky Mountain. Police were on the scene of a shooting at an apartment complex. Nick Pearlin was there and the WRL breaking news tracker. - The Rocky Mountain Police Department spent the majority of their morning investigating a shooting that happened in this parking lot of the Rolling Meadows apartment complex here in Rocky Mountain. Now I do wanna get you to this video from the WRL breaking news tracker. And you can see a crime scene unit as well as investigators taking pictures of some of the cars. You can see them here opening up the doors of this white cars. They try to investigate more and figure out what exactly led to this shooting. We do know this shooting happened at some point early this morning. We're still trying to work with Rocky Mountain Police to find out if anybody was hurt. In Rocky Mountain, Nick Pearlin, WRL News. - For the third time in recent weeks, a swimmer vanished while in Jordan Lake. Search teams were looking in the water near Martha's Chapel Road into the early morning hours. And WRL's Kelsey Coffee is at Jordan Lake right now this morning. Kelsey, we know crews left there around 120 this morning. (air whooshing) - Chris, exactly. And we're working to find out if they found that swimmer. We're trying to see if they're gonna come back this morning and continue their search. And they left here around 130 this morning. We'll give you a look now at video from the WRL breaking news tracker so you can get a look at that search. They were here for nearly five hours. Crews were dispatched around 845 last night. The search was focused at Martha's Chapel Road in Farrington Road. Take a listen to radio traffic from when crews were dispatched. - And it may have possibly 52 years of age. Color will flag down the first responders if I was a lot of cars apart on the side of the roadway. Same as possibly been in the water for over 20 minutes. - And we've reported two drownings at Jordan Lake since late May. So this is just a reminder as we're going into the 4th of July holiday to be safe out there on the water. We'll be sure to keep you updated on this search. Kelsey Coffee, WRL News, live at Jordan Lake. - And millions of people are getting ready to hit the road for their Independence Day trips. Triple A says this will be one of the busiest days of the holiday week. WRL's Laura Levine is off the belt line in Raleigh this morning and Laura, a record number of people are expected to hit their destinations. - Yes, Chris, right now we are right off of I 440. You can hear just how busy the traffic is right now. 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 drivers on the road. Drivers can expect heavy traffic and congestion this year as Triple A predicts we'll have more than 100,000 drivers more than what we saw last year. It's best to avoid rush hour times by leaving early in the morning or later in the evening. The holiday travel period was extended this year with more people working remote. Triple A tells us more people started leaving for their destinations earlier this week with plans to extend that vacation throughout the weekend. - They're doing these really big bucket list trips that they were saving from 2020. They're just now getting it all together. They're now getting the whole family friends together and they're taking these really big trips. So, travel's bounced back in a big way and I think that's what we're gonna see. If Memorial Day was an indicator, the fourth of July is gonna be really, really busy. - And that road trip this year is gonna be a little bit cheaper for you. Gas buddy predicts that the fourth of July, a national average price of gas will be $3.49. That's the cheapest it has been since 2021. Laurel Levine, WRL News, live in Raleigh. - Now, some people would actually celebrate those gas prices, right? Here's a look at the average prices right now. According to Triple A, the state average is $3.31. Just a cent more than a week ago. In Raleigh, it's $3.36. The national average is $3.51. And for the lowest gas prices in the country, North Carolina actually ranks 14th. If you're headed south on your road trip, you can find lower prices in South Carolina. The average price there is six cents cheaper than North Carolina at $3.25. Airports will also be crowded today. Triple A expects the number of people flying for the holiday to set a new record. We're talking about nearly 7% more than last year. If you're headed to RTU, airport management says, you may want to get there at least two hours early and reserve parking a day ahead. People in Jamaica are bracing for the arrival of Hurricane Beryl. The storm remains a very powerful category for Hurricane. The National Hurricane Center is forecasting this to be a significant threat for Jamaica. It says that Beryl was the strongest storm ever recorded in the Atlantic in July. That was before it weakened slightly to category four. It was already the strongest storm ever in June. At least seven people were reported killed in the devastation Beryl has caused across the Caribbean. Jamaica's Prime Minister says that this is something that people need to embrace. - But we are taking this precautionary stance now because it is easier to be prepared when you're standing on your two feet than when you are in the midst of a hurricane struck down. - Hundreds of people who are evacuating the island arrived at Fort Lauderdale Airport last night. Airlines adjusted their schedule to help as many people as possible, get out. New this morning Delta Airlines says a flight from Detroit to Amsterdam was diverted because of spoiled food. The flight landed safely at New York's JFK airport this morning, that was around 4 a.m. The airline says it discovered the portion of the in-flight meal service was spoiled. Medical crews were on site to treat any passengers or any crew members who ate this food, but it's not clear how many people were sick. Delta says it is investigating how the food got spoiled. And there was a show in the sky here locally in North Carolina. The launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 was visible just after five. The rocket is carrying Starlink satellites into orbit. Now, if you have photos or videos of this launch folks, we would love to see them. Go to WRIL.com and search the words weather watchers. An SBI agent and three police officers are on administrative leave because of a man being killed during a shootout. Here for a woman who says she fears for her safety and her children's safety after that situation. And a homeowner discovered what started a fire at her home when she looked at the security footage. We're going to show you the moment a dog turned on the stove, creating that flame. I'm thinking he's not going to be getting any dog treats anytime soon. We talk about where we're headed there here as far as our weather's concerned. But we're going to really start to see our muggy meter crank up here into the weekend. Today, though, is looking just fine. Head outside and enjoy it. We will talk about how high those temperatures climb after the break. Hey, everyone. It is Ryan Seacrest here. Ready to heat up your summer vacation? Get ready. Things are about to get sizzling at Chumba Casino. Your summer getting a whole lot hotter with a special daily login bonus waiting just for you. So sign up now for reals of fun and reals of prizes right here at Chumba Casino with yours truly. Join me at Chumba Casino.com and dive into a summer of social casino fun. Sponsored by Chumba Casino, no purchase necessary. VGW Group, forward we're prohibited by law, 18 plus terms and conditions apply. (upbeat music) - I don't know who's controlling the rights field beach camera, but you're doing a great job this morning. That nice little pan to set the scene, right? Looks pretty cool this morning. As you're looking live here, watching WRL news available on YouTube TV and the WRL app on your TV or your streaming device. All right, Anthony, let's see yours. Where's your pan happening? It's just a static camera shot you've got there. - I was gonna say, your camera wins. Mine's just, you know, hanging out and enjoying, but yeah, that camera is fun to watch sometimes because I think it's automated Chris. We're gonna go every so often, but it helps to give the nice vantage point. I did though, turn a little bit this camera just so you can see the pier off in the distance. It's a little deceptive to our Carolina beach camera because some of the shots look beautiful, looks peaceful and it's still a nice shot, but it's a little bit choppy out there. You see, it's a little bit rough. We do have yellow flags flying there for moderate rip currents across our coast. So not a lot, but it stays like today where it can be very deceptive where you head out there and it doesn't take much to kind of get pulled out in that rip current. It will not pull you under, but it just may pull you out and a lot of people start panicking when that happens. So if you can just take a breath, it will eventually get you out of it, but that's something hopefully we won't see much of here through the weekend. Let's talk about the beaches though. Of course, today we're talking temps in the low to mid 80s. It should be decent out there across the area. For July 4th, it'll be hotter. 86 their nags head, 84 emerald isle. Close to 94 surf city. It'll come with a lot of sunshine. Tomorrow though, we'll be the more humid day, but all in all, looking like a probably very packed couple of beach days headed this way. We get closer to the mountains. 80 degrees for a place like Boone. We go 90 for Asheville. It's gonna be so nice to sunshine, warm, low humidity. Today is just gonna be a great day if you are headed in that direction as well. Maybe going for a hike. Just keep that heat in mind for Asheville in those southern areas. We're in the 60s and 70s right now, 73 across the triangle, 68 for Roxborough. We quickly though, the next couple days climb, 98 for an actual high temperature tomorrow. Feels like values on the right. Yeah, we're gonna get back in the hundreds. 103 tomorrow, 109 Friday. That would potentially put us into heat advisory criteria for the weekend. That's something we'll be watching, but just definitely we've seen it before already this summer. Take those heat precautions and you should be okay. Where we're seeing some very turbulent weather, unfortunately. Let's check out the tropics. This is hurricane barrel. This is the latest advisory as of eight o'clock this morning. No major changes to report still a category four storm. It's taking a lot of moisture though here. You can see Jamaica is right about there. They have hurricane warnings out. There's numerous watches warnings out in this direction. This continues to show that track though. Category one hurricane right before it gets closer to Mexico and then it brings that in as a tropical storm. We are not looking at a category four hurricane getting into Texas or getting into Mexico, but that's something we'll still watch. 92 today, we go to 98 tomorrow. 100 degrees triple digits on our Friday. Scattered rain chances though do return as we get through the weekend and next week, Brett. - Thanks, Anthony. Let's take a look at traffic right now. Here at 815 on this Wednesday morning, we do have one crash to tell you about that is in the downtown area. It's off of Harrington Street, our near Harrington Street. We're gonna zoom in on that. It's off of West Jones in Harrington, but no delays on the sensors. Not seeing any big backups, which is really good news. All of our major routes right now are still in the clear this morning, which is good news as well. US one to try on road. If you're coming in from the apex carry area, you don't have a lot of company right now on US one. It's a pretty light traffic right now, light traffic volume throughout the triangle so far this morning, Chris. - Brett, I'll take it here in the WRA live center. We have new information from Durham Police about how this vehicle ended up like this early this morning. Quite a series of events. I'll walk you through it. It all started just after one this morning. A Durham police officer pulls over a car on Horton Road. Police say shortly after being stopped, the driver of that vehicle put the car in reverse and then hit the Mark Patrol car. They say the driver then drove toward the officer who was standing outside his patrol car and the officer was able to get out of the way, thankfully. The driver kept on driving and Durham Police started a vehicle pursuit. Police say the vehicle that they were chasing then hit two parked vehicles and that caused the car to overturn here on Denfield Street. The driver then tried to run, but officers were able to track him down a short time later and that driver was taken to a hospital. No serious injuries and we're told no officers were injured. But quite a chain of events there in Durham at one this morning. - Very active for early in the morning. Thank you Renee and SBI agent and three Fayetteville police officers are unadministratively because a man was killed in a shootout with them. Investigators say this happened while officers were trying to serve a warrant for first degree murder and that happened on Ivan court near Morgantown Road. In video obtained by WREL, you're going to hear police order the man put a gun down and there was the exchange of gunfire between the man and the officers. - Put it down, put it down. - Oh my God. (screaming) (beeping) - I know that was very jarring for you to hear. There is a pause for a moment when the man hits the ground but then more gunfire from officers after that man appears to move. WREL spoke with a woman who fears for her safety and her children's safety after this happened in their neighborhood. - It's alarming 'cause I'm like, all right, what kind of community am I in? Is this safe for my children? - We are actively working to find out the name of the man who was killed and the next steps in this investigation. Excessive heat and weeks without decent rain have devastated crops in Eastern North Carolina. Congressman Don Davis is asking for an emergency drought declaration and that's because much of Eastern North Carolina has moved from abnormally dry to a moderate drought. Farmers say crops like corn and tobacco are seeing significant damage with 75 to 100% of corn crops lost to relentless conditions. - It's an unfortunate thing. You plan all year to grow a crop and you see it in the field doing well and then something that we have no control over and that can come along and take that from you. - Feel for him, that's the livelihood. Congressman Don Davis says there is a need for federal resources as the farmers combat inflation as well. Alaska's Denali National Park remains close today. It's because a wildfire is burning near its entrance. Additional teams arrived yesterday to help fight this fire. Evacuation orders were issued for the park earlier this week and Denali management says there has not been an active wildfire in that area for the last 100 years. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to address Congress later this month. President Biden will meet with him during his visit on July 24th. A source is saying that this meeting will likely happen at the White House. Tensions between Biden and Netanyahu have escalated in recent months. Some US leaders have grown increasingly frustrated with the way Israel has executed the war with Hamas. Meanwhile, a ceasefire and hostage deal in the war has stalled. A home security camera captured a dog setting a Colorado spring house on fire. Look at the video yourself here. The dog jumped on the oven and managed to switch on the burner, which if you look, there were boxes on top in those caught fire. Now everyone was okay, but the family is out of their home because of this fire. It has been a historic year for NC State Athletics. You know about the basketball and the baseball teams, but what about cheese rolling? A former NC State student has become a big timer in that sport and WROs Pat Welter hit the hills to find out how she's getting her role on. Abby Lampey is on her role. My friends are gonna be like, what'd you do today? I'm like, I rolled down a lot of hills. The former NC State student is the two time women's Cooper's Hill cheese rolling and wake champion. My regard for my life is very little. That's right, she's the best in the world at chasing cheese. How's that feel? I'm a little dizzy. She discovered the annual competition on YouTube and decided to make Gloucester, England to stop on a trip to Europe. This is a double Gloucester wheel. It is about eight pounds, 3.6 kilograms. It rolls down the hill at speeds of 70 miles per hour. At Dorothy at Dick's Park in Raleigh, she put her engineering degree to use. So two years ago, I practiced forward rolls and tumble rolls. But nothing can really prepare you for this. The first time I went down, I realized I was going sideways down the hill when the tree line started to shift. This year, I was bouncing a lot on the hill. So I was getting a lot of air time and people came up to me after. They were like, you got up 1.5 meters. I was like, I felt like I bounced a lot. Victory never tasted so dry aged. It's very pungent. You have to have it with other things, like jam spreads. Well, Pat, it's your turn now. Abby, my wife is nine months pregnant and I promised her I could not go to the hospital before her. But it's gonna be a good a time. All right, let's get cheesy. Oh my god. I'm going sideways. That welter. WRL sports. All right, that's a little bit too much dairy. I would rank that performance right here. It was pretty good. Good job, Pat. An North Carolina church found something worth studying when it removed a rotten tree from church property. They found old wine bottles, Chinese porcelain, a clay jug and dozens of other artifacts beneath the soil. And it turns out the items may be 300 years old. Christ, a Episcopal church in Elizabeth City was built 200 years ago, but clearly someone might have been there first. We made this discovery of a home that was in existence when the church was founded. So this gives us a great insight into what life was like here, 200 years old. State archaeologists are now studying the artifacts and they'll get to decide what to do next with them. Pretty cool find though. If you want to kick off the 4th of July a day early, we have a few options for you. We've got a rundown of the local fireworks show that you can start watching tonight. And if you're heading the road, it's expected to be busy. We'll tell you about the best times to hit the road for the 4th of July. (upbeat music) - Your heart, it's the only one you have. Fortunately, you also have a choice. Expert cardiologists, talented surgeons, highly skilled specialists, all of whom chose WakeMed. Why? The main reason is the same reason patients choose WakeMed. Everything you need for the best possible care is right here. Learn more at WakeMed.org. WakeMed Heart and Vascular Physicians. Your heart, your choice. - I'm Victoria Cash. Thanks for calling the Lucky Land Hotline. If you feel like you do the same thing every day, press one. If you're ready to have some serious fun, for the chance to redeem some serious prizes, press two. - We heard you loud and clear. So go to luckylandslots.com right now and play over a hundred social casino style games for free. Get lucky today at luckylandslots.com. - No purchase necessary. VQW Group, void prohibited by law, 18 plus, terms of condition supply. - As you get into your cartoon to WRL news plus on your radio in Raleigh on 99.3 FM, in Durham, 96.5 FM at everywhere on 101.5 HD 3. - Good morning. Your time is 826. I am Chris Lovinggood. We'll get you your weather forecast with meteorologist, Anthony. - Back to the on. - Chris, we're starting to heat up the next couple days. We're going to see highs continue to climb here from the low 90s today up close to 100 tomorrow. Feels like values though for our Thursday, Friday, probably all the way through the weekend. We'll be in that 100 to about 110 range. So that's going to be kind of a change you will notice. As far as rain chances are concerned, we really could use some. And I do think over the next seven days, a decent chunk here from the triangle back to the west could see several inches possible, which is going to be good. And then that does start to drop off there for our southeastern counties close to an inch, Brett. - Thanks Anthony. Let's take a look at traffic right now. And now just have that one crash that's out there in downtown. The rest of the triangle looking good. 540, 440, and I-40. All looking clear so far this morning, which is really good news. We'll zoom in on that earlier crash at West Jones Street. It's near Harrington Street, but no delays in the sensors. We're going to make sure that that is in the clearing stages at this point. This is I-40 at Avon Ferry Road, and things are looking pretty good out there on I-40 right now, Chris. - All right, thank you, Brett. Today is expected to be the most crowded day on the roads as people head to their independent state destinations. AAA predicts nearly two million vehicles will be on the North Carolina roads during this holiday travel period. If you want to avoid the congestion, try leaving later in the evening. And search teams worked into the early morning hours because a swimmer vanished while enjoying Lake last night. That man disappeared in the water near Martha's Chapel Road in Farrington Road. We reported about two other drownings at Jordan Lake since late May. Next on Fox 50, how a driver used a remote control to switch license plates during a high-speed chase. And up next on today, how gym fluencers are causing controversy at gymnasiums. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Your heart, it's the only one you have. Fortunately, you also have a choice. Expert cardiologists, talented surgeons, highly skilled specialists, all of whom chose WakeMed. Why? The main reason is the same reason patients choose WakeMed. Everything you need for the best possible care is right here. Learn more at WakeMed.org. WakeMed Heart and Bascular Physicians. Your heart, your choice. - 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. - Now, breaking news from WRAL, coverage you can count on. - Now at 830, a shooting investigation underway at a Rocky Mountain apartment complex. What we have learned from that scene, we'll take you there. As we get ready to head here into our July 4th, lots of people likely hitting the roads, traveling in the skies. We're going to talk about the heat that is returning to our forecast coming up. - And the search for a missing swimmer at Jordan Lake coming up the questions that remain unanswered this morning after an hours-long search. - Plus today is shaping up to be one of the busiest days on the road this holiday. We're going to tell you when you should hit the road to avoid those peak traffic hours. - Thank you so much for joining us this morning on WRAL News on Fox 50. I am Chris Lovinggood. Yes, it's going to be busy on the road, but you want to know what it's going to look like when you hit the road, maybe today or tomorrow. Don't worry, we've got meteorologist Anthony Bagley on to cover you. - Chris, so far so good here this morning. It is going to be a warm start for us and it will still be warm this afternoon, but it's not going to be off the charts humid or anything super uncomfortable today. If you're flying, for instance, lots of blue skies. We do have some clouds right there. I think it should be a decent forecast overall. There may be some issues though as you get closer to the Ohio Valley. There's a cold front that's coming through them. We leave satellite and radar kind of on the wide view so you can plan here. Across our entire region, we're looking fine. There may be some showers down to the south and then you notice that cold front all the way back up towards St. Louis. As that gets closer places like Indianapolis, Chicago, Columbus, Ohio, they may have some delays. It's not necessarily going to be super impactful, but you notice that kind of starts to get going right there. Some of those storms could be a little bit stronger out into the plains. That gets further off to the east. We are still looking good across our region, even heading down toward a place like Florida. You should be okay. Just some usual old summertime at thunderstorms pushing through them. I'll pause this here as we get closer to early tomorrow morning. Still looking fine, but things really start to heat up as we get closer to our July 4th. High is near 100, Brett. - Thanks Anthony. Let's take a look at traffic at 831 here on your Wednesday morning. I'm Brett Neeson for Ken Smith. - Just have that one downtown crash here in downtown Raleigh that's near West Jones Street. It should be in the clearing stages. That icon just lingering for us. We're on the rest of the triangle though. We are looking pretty good, all green across the board right now. And here's 87 at Hodge Road, free-flowing in both directions so far this morning. Chris, things are pretty easy out on the roadways. - Looks like it, thanks Brett. Breaking news this morning, WRIO is following. Police in Rocky Mount are investigating a shooting at an apartment complex. Nick Pearlin was there and the WRIO breaking news tracker. The Rocky Mount Police Department spent the majority of their morning investigating a shooting that happened in this parking lot of the Rolling Veterans apartment complex here in Rocky Mount. Now I do want to get you to this video from the WRIO breaking news tracker. And you can see a crime scene unit as well as investigators taking pictures of some of the cars. You can see them here opening up the doors of this white cars. They try to investigate more and figure out what exactly led to this shooting. We do know this shooting happened at some point early this morning. We're still trying to work with Rocky Mount Police to find out if anybody was hurt. In Rocky Mount, Nick Pearlin, WRIO news. - Within the past 30 minutes, we have learned from Durham Police what led to this crash that ended with a car overturned in the woods. Renee Chu just brought that to us not long ago. This happened on Denfield Street just before 1.30 this morning. Investigators are saying this all started when an officer made a traffic stop. They say the driver of the stopped car, put the vehicle in reverse and then hit the officer's patrol car. They say the driver then drove toward the officer standing outside his patrol car, but that officer was able to get out of the way. But the driver kept going. Police say that it hit two parked cars on Denfield Street and that caused the car to flip and land on its roof. The driver is now at a hospital with non-life threatening injuries, but charges are pending in this case. Search teams worked into the early morning hours because a swimmer vanished while in Jordan Lake last night. That man disappeared in the water near Martha's Chapel Road and Farrington Road. WRAL's Kelsey Coffee is at Jordan Lake this morning. Kelsey, this is the third person to disappear in the water there in recent weeks. - Chris, it is and I just reached out to the Chatham County Sheriff's Office within the past 15 minutes or so, still waiting on an update. So far we haven't seen any signs of crews returning here to the water to search for that swimmer, but we'll be sure to keep you updated on whether they found him. But let's take you to video now from the WRAL breaking news tracker so you can see some of that search from last night that lasted nearly five hours. Crews were dispatched around 845 last night. The search was focused at Martha's Chapel Road and Farrington Road, taking a listen to radio traffic from when crews were dispatched. - Panic Mill, possibly 52 years of age, probably will flag down the first responders. If I was in a lot of cars or parked on the side of the roadway, same as possibly been in the water for over 20 minutes. We reported about two other drownings here at Jordan Lake since late May. So this is just a reminder this morning to make sure that you're safe out on the water as we're headed into the 4th of July holiday. We sure to stay on top of what happened here with this search. Kelsey Coffee, WRAL news, live at Jordan Lake. - And millions of people will be on the road starting today for their July 4th trips. Triple A says this will be one of the busiest holiday travel periods ever. Here's WRAL's Laura Levine. We're here off of I440 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. Triple A 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 in 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. Your 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 and Raleigh. - So here's a look at the average prices right now. According to Triple A, the state average is $3.31. In Raleigh, it's $3.36. The national average is $3.51. And for the lowest gas prices in the country, North Carolina ranks 14th. If you're heading south on the road trip, well, you can find lower prices in South Carolina. The average price there, six cents cheaper than North Carolina at $3.25. Airports will also be crowded today. Triple A 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 R&U, airport management says you may want to get there at least two hours early and reserve parking a day ahead. Today, Hurricane Beryl is moving toward Jamaica. Beryl remains a very strong category four storm. The storm has already left at least seven people dead. It already was the strongest storm ever recorded in the Atlantic in June. And yesterday it became the strongest ever recorded in July. The National Hurricane Center is forecasting life-threatening storm surge in Jamaica. Government officials are urging people to stock up food on water and batteries. Hundreds of people who are evacuating the island arrived at Fort Lauderdale Airport last night. Airlines adjusted their schedules just to help as many people as possible get out. A woman is recovering because of a fire that broke out at her home in Carthage. Firefighters say that when they arrived at the home on North Niagara Carthage Road yesterday, they found a dryer on fire. The woman was stuck inside the home and they were able to pull her to safety and she is expected to recover. The fire was contained to just the laundry room in the house. A driver who led state troopers on a multi-county, high-speed chase is in the hospital this morning. Troopers tried to stop a Jeep. It was speeding and they were trying to stop it for reckless driving on I-95. Now, this was near the Johnston and Wilson County lines yesterday afternoon. That's when the driver led troopers on the chase and then reached speeds of 160 miles per hour. Nash County deputies deployed stop sticks and that caused the Jeep to lose control and crash. The driver and passenger were both hurt but are expected to live. State troopers said that the driver had a remote control registration plate and he's accused of using that to switch between a South Carolina and a Maryland plate. And that driver does face numerous charges. Today, President Joe Biden will meet with a group of Democratic governors as concerns about his status and the presidential race grow. Sources say that some governors have been pushing for this meeting. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz organized a governor's meeting, a call, in fact, on Monday after last week's debate. A source says that governors are reluctant to go public with their concerns because they don't want Biden to dig in further. There's no word yet on whether Governor Roy Cooper is expected to be on today's call. We'll be watching for that though. Former President Donald Trump's sentencing in his Hush Money case, it's on hold for now. Trump was scheduled to be sentenced July 11th and now the judge has postponed that to September 18th. Trump's defense team is challenging the guilty verdict. That's because the Supreme Court ruled ex-presidents are entitled to presumptive immunity for official acts. Thousands of people are out of their homes because of this, a fire in California. We're gonna bring you a new video of the Butte County fire that has burned roughly 12,000 acres. And two college rivals are teaming up to take on Team USA. Do not adjust your screen. Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese are putting their past behind them to help the team warm up ahead of the Olympics. And we're getting you a live look this morning at Carolina Beach. Oh, it is nice and people are getting out nice and early. It's warm today, but nothing compared to tomorrow's Fourth of July heat. Anthony Baglione will walk us through the near record heat coming our way. Each year, millions of North Carolinians visited Doctor of Chiropractic for a variety of different reasons. And because of the opioid epidemic, that number is expected to grow. Chiropractic is a drug-free, natural form of healthcare that helps people with all sorts of different painful conditions, such as headaches, neck pain, back pain, sciatica, and various different musculoskeletal conditions. But did you know that your Doctor of Chiropractic can actually help you improve your overall level of health? Visit nciro.org/info for more. I chose William Peace because of the personalized education it offers, which allows students to truly know their professors. It's really possible to make genuine connections with your professors and learn intentionally here and dive deep into what you're passionate about. A 12-to-1 student to faculty ratio is just one of the many reasons students choose William Peace University. Extra attention starts day one for career planning with their Career Services Center. Find out all they have to offer at peace.edu. (upbeat music) - I'm gonna get you a nice look this morning at Ritesfield Beach. That's right, I'm not yelling. I'm just gonna whisper to you as you're looking this morning. Beautiful day there, beautiful sky and it's gonna be a nice one out there. Something we're tracking, of course, your weather forecast as you're going into the 4th of July holiday. We've got meteorologist, Anthony Baglion, looking for your forecast today. - Yeah, Chris, I instantly got more relaxed there when you started talking about the beach and enjoying here as we head into the holiday. Our weather's gonna be relaxed. Thankfully, as we head through the next couple of days, we take a live look outside our beautiful shot, our zebulin camera, the grass actually looking okay currently. We need some rainfall though across the area. I'm gonna show you our latest drought monitor here. This came out probably five, 10 minutes ago or so it was just brand new here for us. Little bit of improvement, a tiny sliver there east of Fayetteville where we have seen even worse conditions. Unfortunately, Goldsboro now included in a severe drought currently. We need some rainfall. Looking at this map, I am very thankful because this is our weather prediction center outlook over the next seven days. Potentially two to two and a half inches could start to set up there where we see that purple color showing up around the triangle back to the west and then it does drop off but still maybe at the most about an inch in Goldsboro over the next seven days. When does that come in? Does that affect our holiday plans? Let's talk about that. So here's a look at those rain chances. Very, very spotty at best for us tomorrow. The better chances would be from the triangle to the north. There's a chance for all of us but it's not gonna be enough I don't think to cancel plans. Friday it goes up just a little bit and then especially Saturday Sunday with it being so hot with the sunshine and I think we could get some bubble up storms. Those will be kind of more scattered in coverage here for this weekend. So that's something we're watching. Across the region right now though, we're looking quiet. There are some showers and storms down to our south. That's really where they should stay. I don't anticipate really any coverage for us as we go through today. Just a nice mix of sun and clouds. It should feel comfortable. A really nice summer forecast overall. Could be a few issues though as you get back toward the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, that cold front gets closer. That mainly will stay to our north but that could allow some issues to form there for the airports if you're driving up in that direction. We're quiet here though on our neck of the woods. You can see just a lot of sunshine and a few clouds floating on through. It is not quiet unfortunately with this big system Hurricane Barrel. This is the latest advisory on this one. Still a category for Hurricane. It's continuing to track. There's the Yucatan Peninsula Cancun right about there is a category to Hurricane and then it will likely get closer to the let's say Mexico, Texas area by the time we get into Sunday and Monday as a tropical storm. One other area behind that has a low chance of development, nothing major with that but we'll be watching it closely. 98 for us tomorrow for 4th of July. 100 degrees on Friday. Scattered storm chances very much needed through the weekend. We go to 93 there guys as we get into Monday next week. (upbeat music) - Thank you Anthony. Tomorrow is the 4th of July. I guess we're celebrating a little earlier there as you heard the music. There are plenty of fun things for you to do with your family. WRAL Lifestyle editor Kathy Hanran is here with a list of children's parades and early celebrations too. - So the 4th of July fun kicks off tonight in Wake Forest with fireworks at Heritage High School. The band of Oz will take the stage at 615. Fireworks start about 9.30. It's gonna be a lot of fun. Also tonight Morrisville, they're holding their big event. Red, white and boom festival. 5 to 9 p.m. at Cedar Fork District Park. Live entertainment, food trucks, fireworks and that's not all. Over in Garner, we've got more fireworks. Over at Lake Benson Park, gates open at 5 p.m. The celebration is gonna include the North Carolina Symphony, fireworks, vendors, so much fun. - So what about tomorrow? Will there be any like children's parades during the day or anything? - I love going to the earlier celebrations 'cause I have a smaller child. So Durham's got a big thing going on tomorrow. They got something at Durham Central Park. And also a few more parades. We've got Nightdale Station Park. They're having a big event. A bike parade, food trucks, inflatables, splash pads gonna be open. It's gonna be 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. This is like their big celebration without fireworks this year. Then we go over to Wake Forest. Back over there at 10 30 a.m. There's a big children's parade. Then a market from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Wake Forest Community House. That's a big deal too, always a good time. Then Apex is doing their big event. The parade of wheels at noon in downtown. All non-motorized vehicles are welcome. Wear your helmets. Then they're gonna have the fire department out there for a splashdown. So bring a towel, it'll be a lot of fun. - Yeah, it should be, it looks like a good one. All right, you can also see a list of even more for the July events, including a map of where to find the fireworks. It's all on WRO.com, just search the keyword fireworks. Thanks, Kathy. The calls for President Joe Biden to step out of the 2024 presidential race. They're growing. A Democrat in the House has become the first in his party to publicly call for Biden to leave the race. Lloyd Doggett of Texas released a statement yesterday. He cited Biden's poor debate performance last week. Even Biden said he didn't perform as strongly as he could have. He said the stakes are too high and that he called him Biden to make the quote, "painful and difficult decision to withdraw." And one of Biden's primary challengers says that she is back on the race. Marianne Williamson is joining the call for Biden to withdraw. She says that she wants an open convention in Chicago where Democrats can select a nominee. All right, we have some video to show you. As thousands of people are out of their homes this morning, as this fire in Butte County, California just rages on. This is north of Sacramento. The fire has burned dozens of homes and has burned through 12,000 acres. About 13,000 people were ordered to evacuate yesterday. And at last check, the fire was still not contained. We're talking more than 500 firefighters who have to fight this. Evacuation shelters have been open to help the people who have been displaced by this fire. Here locally an 84 year old man is in the hospital after crashing his small plane in North Carolina. This happened just to our West at Lexican Airport around eight o'clock last night. Two per se, the plane crashed while trying to take off. This plane never got off the ground and it flipped over at the end of the runway. The pilot was pinned inside and may have suffered a head injury. The FAA is investigating this case. Only on WREL, a devoted father is on a mission to help the police find his son's killer. Raleigh police say that this man, Ernesto Torres Torres, stabbed 32 year old Aaron Heath. Heath later died from his injuries. And 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. - 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. - Grieving father. Muhammad says that he is working to offer a reward for the arrest of Torres Torres. A family is demanding answers because their loved one, a Chicago woman, disappeared while attending a yoga retreat. That happened in the Bahamas. 41 year old Taylor Casey on your screen was last seen on Paradise Island, June 19th. Management at the retreat reported her missing the next day. Police then found her phone in the ocean. Her journal and other personal items were found, but police say they have not found her passport. The news comes as a shock to her family and her friends back in Chicago. - I want all of Chicago, all the world to know that she is very loved and it's a wonderful person that her disappearance is very unlike her. She's not one to just disappear. - Authorities in Bahamas say that they have deployed divers, drones, tracking dogs and its ongoing search. And the U.S. State Department is even involved in this investigation. - In your entertainment news, Kate Winslet is honored and we have a first look at an inspirational drama. David Daniel has that and more in the Hollywood Minute. - I'm completely overwhelmed. - Yet another reward for Kate Winslet, the Hollywood Walk of Fame star and the Oscar Emmy and Grammy winner has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Munich International Film Festival. Winslet was on hand to accept the honor and introduce the European premiere of her passion project, Lee, about fashion model turned war photographer Lee Miller. The film opens in U.S. theaters September 27th. - I would just go, "Hey, I can sing, I can sing." - Not for a while and Wilson is taking time off for health reasons. The heart singer says a recent operation revealed cancer. While the surgery was successful, she says doctors told her to take the rest of the year off. So heart has postponed the rest of its current Royal Flush tour, though Wilson says, "I absolutely plan to be back on stage in 2025." - Can you imagine how cute he is on the own? - We can't just look away. The state ain't no family. - Are you sure these people want us? - I know they do. - You can call me Mama. - Here's a look at Sound of Hope, the story of Possum Trot. The film is based on the true story of a small town in East Texas that embraced 77 children in the foster system who no one else wanted. The inspirational drama opens in theaters on Thursday. In Hollywood, I'm David Daniel. - Kaitlyn Clark has been the talk of the WNBA, and now she's officially an All-Star. The team was announced last night as 11 other players joined Clark, including, look at this, dramatic pause, Angel Reese, and her teammates, Alia Boston and Kelsey Mitchell. This marks the first time Clark and Reese will play together on the same team in this year's game. It's set to look a little different. The All-Stars name tonight will take on Team USA ahead of the Paris Olympics. Tip-off is set for July 20th at 8.30 p.m. in Phoenix. And before we go to break, here's a look at your winning lottery numbers. It's of course from yesterday, Tuesday, July 2nd. Give us a little bit, and we'll get you another check on weather and traffic. That's next. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Here's Megan with Parkway Sleep Centers. - Our sleepless nights affecting your life, Parkway Sleep Health Centers can help. We've treated sleep disorders in the Triangle and beyond for over 20 years. We offer sleep studies, office visits, CPAP machines, supplies, and more. And our streamlined process allows us to see you sooner, and usually saves hundreds of dollars. - And 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. 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