WRAL Newscasts
Noon News on WRAL - Tuesday, July 2, 2024
We take care of the things in our life, knowing proper maintenance and upkeep will extend the life of what we love. Do you give the same attention care to your own body? Staying fit and eating right are key. Equally important is supporting health and mobility with chiropractic. Chiropractic keeps your body aligned and running smoothly. Help extend the life of your engine with chiropractic. Find yours at nciro.org/chiro Live from WRAL news headquarters in Raleigh, your number one source for local news. WRAL news coverage you can cut off. It is a picture perfect day out here on the WRAL weather patio, but the heat is building back in just in time for the holiday weekend. I'll let you know how hot it will feel coming up. And new legal troubles for a local mayor with a history of arrests for driving while intoxicated. The new charges could put Robert Williams' political future further in jeopardy. Plus, some plain passenger said they thought they were going to die. How else they described their flight from Madrid to Uruguay. What caused the pilot to make an emergency landing? Well, here's a comfortable afternoon on the way for us, but by the 4th of July, the intense heat will be back. It's returning. Good afternoon to you. I'm Jeff Hogan. And I'm Renee Chiu. Thanks for joining us. Meteorologist Kat Campbell is out on the W-R-A weather patio with a look at how hot it's going to feel this holiday weekend. I'm happy to be out here on the W-Bario weather patio today because this is really going to be the only day you get to enjoy this nice weather. Tomorrow, we're back in the 90s and on Thursday for the 4th of July, look at these numbers. 98, the high here in the triangle. 97 even in Roxborough. 98 for Fayetteville and Southern Pines. Mid 90s in our eastern counties. But let's talk about the heat index because the humidity starts to go up on Thursday. 102 is what it will feel like in Roxborough 105 in Raleigh, 104 in Durham and 106 in Fayetteville. That puts us near heat advisory criteria. And we're going to start to see the risk of heat exhaustion going up for the holiday. So please be careful if you're going to be outside a lot. Make sure you have a lot of water with you, a lot of sunscreen, and stay cool. Even for fireworks, it's going to be hot out there, 94 at 7 o'clock, 87 at 9 o'clock. And by 11 o'clock, it is still 83 degrees for fireworks, just a 20% chance of a storm early. But that chance should quickly taper off as we get near and after sunset, which is good news for the fireworks. It'll be partly cloudy out there Thursday night. Let's talk about the dangerous heat building because it lasts not just through 4th of July. All the way through the weekend, it gets worse Friday, 100 degrees. The heat index certainly over 105 this weekend. We continue to monitor a Category 5 hurricane. I'll have the new track for barrel coming up. And Cat, at least three people are dead after the major hurricane hit several Caribbean islands. Video shows the damage after Hurricane Barrel slammed Barbados. Barrel made landfall in Grenada as a Category 4 and then strengthened to a Category 5. At a maximum sustained winds of about 160 mph, it is in its most recent update. The National Hurricane Center said the storm was still intensifying. Barrel is now headed toward Jamaica. A local mayor faces scrutiny again after being accused of driving drunk for the fourth time. Sharpsburg Mayor Robert Williams was stopped by Rocky Mount Police Monday night. W.R.L. Sean Gallagher is in Sharpsburg with additional information about this latest arrest. Sean. Thank you. Yeah, Renee. Since 2018, Mayor Robert Williams has one election half as many times to represent Sharpsburg as he's been stopped and arrested for DWIs. With that number you said his fourth time yesterday. A viewer sent us a video of what we believe to be the arrest of Williams. Rocky Mount Police could not confirm this was Williams in the video. But tell us Williams was pulled over in a white Dodge pickup truck that you can see to the right of the video. And the shirt he's wearing matches the yellow shirt in his most recent mug shot. Rocky Mount PD says they received a call of a reckless driver on Wesleyan Boulevard just after 530 Monday evening. He was arrested and charged with DWI, driving while license revoked, open container and a concealed handgun permit violation. This is his second DWI charge this year and fourth since 2018. The town of Sharpsburg confirmed the arrest saying in a statement Williams' authority as mayor remains suspended after the board took action in January. We've also reached out to the town of Sharpsburg's mayor Pro Tem who's the person who takes over when the mayor is unable to fulfill his duties. We're looking for answers about the future of Mayor Williams, whether they're looking into his conduct and if they're going to consider removing him from the position of mayor at some point because of this. But they have not responded yet. Sean Gallagher, WRAL News, Sharpsburg. Good afternoon. I'm Chris Lovinggood in the WRAL Live Center. Taking a look at some breaking news from the last hours. The Manhattan DA's office says it is open to delaying former President Donald Trump's sentencing to brief his motion to set aside his criminal conviction. This, of course, coming after the Supreme Court ruled that he does, in fact, have some presidential immunity when it comes to particular situations. They're just in the process of right now of having that to a lower court to figure out what specific situations would require the president actually being able to use presidential immunity in his case there. Trump's team filed a letter yesterday seeking to challenge his conviction because the Supreme Court again ruled them that yesterday. And so the prosecution's office is now asking for at least two weeks in order to file a response to that motion. We'll be watching very carefully to see what actually becomes of that come July 24th. A Fayetteville dad who lost his eight-year-old daughter to gun violence is sharing his thoughts about better protecting children. Fondockery's daughter, Genesis, was killed last July. She was shot by an 11-year-old at her babysitter's house. Since her death, Docery has been on the front lines, pushing for communities to do more to protect children from gun violence. After the latest death of a child, we've reported two-year-old Manaria Spears in Durham. He says that communities need to hear the call and step up. Pants, what are we doing on our end? What is our responsibility? You know, we push it off on the politicians and our legal system and our protection agencies. At the end of the day, we can no longer neglect our responsibility. Genesis Docery's story was featured in the WRAL documentary "Unsafe North Carolina Kids Dying From Guns." You can watch it on WRALDoc.com. We have new video into our newsroom of that flight that encountered severe turbulence injuring about 30 passengers. The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner was flying from Madrid to Uruguay. When passengers say the plane went into a dive over the Atlantic Ocean, went just to say the passengers who were not buckled into their seat got tossed around, some even hit the ceiling, the pilot regained control and landed safely in Brazil. The passengers were put on another air Europa plane to continue the trip to Uruguay. More than 100 people are dead after stampede at a religious event in northern India. The incident happened at a prayer meeting in a village about 125 miles southeast of New Delhi. Most of the victims are women and children. Although the cause of the stampede is not immediately clear, officials believe sweltering heat played a role. The temperature there was around 90 degrees with humidity levels, around 75 percent pushing the heat index beyond 110 degrees. Expect to see big July 4th crowds at RDU and airports across the country. The TSA says eight of the 10 busiest travel days ever have already happened in this past month. W.R.S. Kelsey Coffey looks ahead to the very busy week at the airport. Right now, two of the five parking areas here at RDU are full for the rest of the week. Today we're in the central parking deck. Now you can tell that there's still some spots left here, but let's take you to video now from Mother's Day weekend when RDU had a one day record. Nearly 59,000 people travel through RDU on Mother's Day. Looking ahead now to the 4th of July, we're expecting record breaking numbers. More than 5.7 million Americans are expected to fly this week. That's a seven percent increase from last year, a record high according to AAA. We want to encourage our customers. Try to get here two hours early for domestic flights and three hours for international. That leaves you plenty of time to get through the ticket counters, get through the checkpoint itself, and get to your gate. And remember, most airlines board 40 minutes before the flight actually leaves. If you're headed to RDU this week, you want to give yourself a little bit of extra time and one of the best ways to do that is to book your parking in advance. So they're still parking available in the express lot and the premiere lot, but be sure to book your parking at least 24 hours ahead of time. Kelsey Coffey, WRL News at RDU. 4th of July celebrations are coming early to the town of Wendell. Fireworks will be on display tonight at Wendell Community Park. That's on West Third Street. Gates open at six. Fireworks started at nine. There will be more than a dozen different food trucks out there as well as outdoor activities and music. As we get closer to the holiday, the City of Durham is mourning people about the dangers of celebratory gunfire. In the past four years, two people in Durham have died in connection to celebratory gunfire. Although gun shots into the air may not target a person, falling bullets can hit people and damage property. Anyone caught firing shots into the air could face a $500. Indiana Republican Victoria Spartz is charged with carrying a gun through Washington Dulles International Airport. TSA spotted the unloaded firearm in her carry-on during a security screening. Carrying a weapon in a luggage in an airport terminal is a class 1 misdemeanor. Spartz is the first Ukrainian-born member of Congress. I want to bring you back into the WRLI Center for a breaking update within the past 30 minutes. Rudy Giuliani has been disbarred in New York. This was because of comments and statements made during the 2020 election. He's been at one point he was suspended his license that was for practicing law up there. But now this is actually disbarring him from practicing law in New York. The court said the seriousness of Giuliani's mixed conduct cannot be overstated and that he misused his position as former President Trump's personal attorney and campaign, making false statements, some of which were purged to the court, the lawmakers, and of course the public. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has noted some inflation progress as well as big Tesla gains in the last day or so, and we're looking at the Dow Jones industrial average not responding well to any of that. We're looking down 70 points right now. As we look at it this new NASDAQ is in positive territory. It is up 23 points right now. The S&P 500 is up marginal 7 points. Meantime, next at noon. It's an active time of year for deer. How a Kansas woman managed to avoid serious injury to herself and her baby when they gained an unwanted passenger. Also, not lost in space, not even stranded according to NASA. What it's going to take to get two astronauts back to Earth and why they're delayed. Plus it's heat, fires, flooding, and rain across the U.S. at 1230 the new rule from President Biden to deal with extreme weather in the workplace. Keep watching WRL news over the Air Channel 34 and Spectrum Channel 1257. 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. Sound sleep. Sound health. I've got Dan Morgan here on the pod. Say hi, Dan. Hey, how's it going today? It's going good, man. Tell us who you are and what you do. I'm Dan Morgan. I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan and Morgan, which is America's largest injury law firm. That's pretty awesome. I think I saw a billboard of yours recently that said 20 billion won. 20 billion is an insane number. Yeah, 20 billion recovered. It's actually, I think, somewhere north, probably closer to 22, 23 after this year. And each year we get bigger and better and our army grows. So the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on. Awesome. So how does someone get in contact with Morgan and Morgan? What would I do if I got into an accident? Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. That's pound 529 from your cell phone. We are always open. Our call center is always waiting to take your call. 24/7, 365. Wow. Dan Morgan. From Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. Thanks for coming by the show. Thanks for having me. Visit ForThePeople.com for an office near you. A mother in Kansas is grateful. She and her infant son are alive after she hit a deer on the highway. The woman was traveling home with her baby in the backseat when she noticed a deer on the opposite side of the road. And before she knew it, the animal burst through the windshield, landing on her lap. All she could do was stay focused on protecting her son, making sure he was okay. While the deer still in her lap, she managed to get her car to the shoulder so she could pull her son out of the backseat. I tried to slow down, but it didn't work. When he smacked my windshield, I pretty much didn't know what to do. But I was like, I got my little one in the backseat. Let's get to the side of the road. Yep, get to the side of the road first. The dealership says the deer caused about $15,000 in damage. The mom says she is lingering back pain, but she's grateful that she and her baby are okay. That is incredible. NASA insists two astronauts who are onboard the ISS are not stranded in space, but they definitely will not be returning on Friday as planned. NBC's Tom Costello explains the hold up. Right, but let's go forward into Starliner. On board the International Space Station, astronauts Sonny Williams and Butch Wilmore are still waiting to learn when they might return home. Everything's been fantastic. The spacecraft is handled remarkably well. Two weeks ago, they provided a tour of their spaceship. And liftoff of Starliner in Atlas V, carrying two American heroes. Built by Boeing, Starliner launched on June 5, five years behind schedule after a series of engineering setbacks. Then once in space, more problems. Five helium leaks, which NASA says are not a major concern. But more concerning, five engine thrusters shut down as Starliner prepared to dock with the space station. While four came back online, NASA wants to understand the problem before Starliner leaves the station. This is their only chance because that section of the ship that contains the thrusters, the service module, is designed to burn up on reentry. So astronauts Williams and Wilmore's 10-day visit is turning into a week's long stay. I want to make it very clear that Butch and Sonny are not stranded in space. Our plan is to continue to return them on Starliner and return them home at the right time. There's plenty of food. There's plenty of resources up there. There's plenty of clothing. They will be absolutely fine for an extended period of time. Before they launched, I asked the crew if they were confident in their ship. Does this spaceship feel like it's ready for prime time? Yes, that's the short answer. Absolutely yes. That's the long answer. That was Tom Costello reporting. NASA engineers will begin replicating that thruster problem on the ground in New Mexico, which is expected to take at least two weeks, leaving a return date up in the air. Okay, well, we're not stranded in North Carolina. No desire to get away when we have such nice weather. Right now, meteorologist Kat Campbell is out enjoying the sunshine and this refreshing air out on the patio. Oh, man. It is so nice out here today, Renee. I wish we could hold on to this forecast for a long time. The air is crisp, dry, temperatures are in the 80s. This is just perfect summer weather. But we've got to talk tropics. It's that time of year, though, typically during early July, we're not tracking category five hurricanes. You know, usually we're tracking maybe a tropical storm, maybe a category one hurricane. Barrel is the earliest category five hurricane on record in the Atlantic Ocean Basin. So this is really a significant storm that we continue to monitor. It's tracking to the West Northwest at 22 miles per hour. So it continues to move quickly. There should be some impacts in the form of heavy rain to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. But the next area of concern for more direct impacts would be Jamaica. So if you do have travel plans there in the middle of this week, be prepared for more significant impacts there. And then toward the end of the week, especially during the day Friday, we could see a hurricane impact. Cancun, Cozumel, Mexico, again, were very popular vacation spots this time of year. At that point, it doesn't look like it's going to be a strong of a hurricane closer to a cat one or cat two. But as we see the storm pass closer to Jamaica, it should still be a major hurricane. And then the new trend that we've noticed and we first started talking about this yesterday is that little bit of a turn to the north towards South Texas as we get into Sunday and perhaps early into next week. The European model ensembles were the first to really pinpoint that trend. We first told you about it yesterday afternoon. It continued last night and into today we're seeing more models clustered to bring some of the rainfall to Texas still too early to really tell if we could see impacts locally or not. The most likely scenarios that we would not see any rain from barrel. We'll continue to watch it though. This area of high pressure is what's going to steer barrel due west for a little while as it tracks through the Caribbean. But as it pushes further to the east, we could see that little bit of a turn to the north toward the end of the weekend and early next week. The other thing this high pressure does brings back the big heat to North Carolina. It is going to be extremely hot for the holiday weekend. Be prepared for our heat index values to be back in the triple digits and likely over 105. 81 out there right now with the humidity low. It just feels exceptional outside here in the triangle. And really it's 81 there at Dick's Park and 81 in Fayetteville at Segris Stadium. Your muggy meter today, it feels great. Two points are in the mid 50s, a low number, less moisture in the atmosphere, less sticky feeling like we have been most of the summer. So go outside, get your afternoon walk in. It is a absolutely perfect date to do it today. I got my walk in this morning and it just felt incredible. It almost had just a little bit of a fall feel to it or early spring feel to the air. Tomorrow you may want to head back to the pool to cool off. High temperatures tomorrow are going to climb back into the lower 90s. The humidity isn't terrible. Tomorrow it's kind of our transition day. But the big heat, the big humidity are back for the 4th of July and they're going to last through the weekend 100 degrees Friday, 99 degrees on Saturday. But Saturday and Sunday feature a better chance of storms. And I'll have a closer look at that on feature cast coming up. Alright, Kaniyax, we finally have it. Within the past 30 minutes we have seen it. The official regular season schedule for the Carolina Hurricanes, they released it just shy of about 12-01. They'll open the season at P and C Arena and that will be on Friday, October 11th and they're hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Hurricanes will begin the season at home for the seventh time in the last eight seasons. Kane's looking to make this the fourth consecutive season with 50 wins. So you've got Slavin, that's got the contract extension. Ron breaded more, sticking around a little bit more. We have a new GM, so what will this season look like? We'll find out when the season begins. Our work's October 11th at home. In NC State grad took the title of cheese rolling champ in England. Now that she's back in the U.S., the WRS sports team wanted to ask her about this unique competition and how she got the win. WRAL's Pat Welter will share Abby Lamp's story today on our news at four. Then Hurricane Barrow is one of the strongest storms to hit this early in the season. WRAL's climate change reporter, Liz McLaughlin, explains what this could mean for the rest of the season and how climate change plays a role in it. And a new study shows women managers can improve a workplace that benefits found when women take the lead. And if you owned an iPhone 7, you could get a cut of a $35 million class action lawsuit that deadline to submit a claim and how to find out if you're eligible. We take care of the things in our life. Knowing proper maintenance and upkeep will extend the life of what we love. Do you give the same attention and care to your own body? Staying fit and eating right are key. Equally important is supporting health and mobility with chiropractic. Chiropractic keeps your body aligned and running smoothly. Help extend the life of your engine with chiropractic. Find yours at nciro.org/chiro. 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 help. A waffle fry pool float is just one item Chick-fil-A is selling and it's new summer line of merchandise. And auto dealership systems are expected to be back up by Thursday. Those are among today's business headlines with Maribel Aver. The massive outage at auto dealerships could be over by July 4th. CDK Global expects all of its dealers to have access to its management platform by late tomorrow or early on Thursday the 4th. The company was hit by two cyber attacks in mid-June that knocked out its vast system used by nearly 15,000 auto dealerships. CDK software is used for everything from keeping track of sales, scheduling maintenance, and even paying employees. The cyber attack could cut auto dealership sales by 100,000 vehicles or about 7% according to an estimate from JD Power. The merger between Six Flags and Cedar Fair has been completed. The deal brings together two big regional amusement park chains. Worth an estimated 8 billion. Combine the operate 42 theoparks, water parks, and resort properties. The companies say the financial flexibility from the merger will allow it to invest in new rides, attractions, and technology. The new company will operate under the Six Flags name and its stock is expected to begin trading today under the ticker symbol fun. Chick-fil-A is now selling summer merchandise. You can get a large waffle fry pool float, a chicken sandwich towel, or a cow print bucket hat. And if you're looking for something a little more active, there's a pickle, pickle, pickle ball set, and of course, a cow print water bottle to keep you hydrated is also available. You can check out the full line at the chain's new online store, shop.chickfil-A.com. And those are your business headlines. I'm Maribel Abert, the Nasdaq Market site. Having more female managers in the workplace is good for business. This is according to a Harvard study. If our female managers are better at building rapport with teams made up of men and women. This leads to better communication, better organization, and in turn, better production. Researchers found when men managed other men, they too had good results. And the scene was true when women managed other women. But the study found when men and women worked together, it is best to have a woman in charge. Sounds like my house. Tomorrow is the deadline to submit a claim in a class action settlement for iPhone 7s. A $35 million settlement stems from a lawsuit concerning an audio defect with the 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus. In order to be eligible to file a claim, you will need to have owned either of the models between September 16, 2016, and January 3rd of 2023. You're also eligible if you complain to Apple about an issue that's been covered in this settlement. You can find more details at smartphoneaudiosettlement.com. Chocolate chip muffins sold at Aldi are being recalled because of allergy concerns. The FDA says this four count of bake shop muffins could trigger a serious allergic reaction for people who have walnut allergies. The recall of muffins are labeled with a lot number. NF-1142Y. No illnesses have been reported. Production of the muffins stopped as soon as walnuts were discovered. Just minutes before our newscast, President Biden addressed extreme heat in the workplace. The new rule he's proposing to protect workers and why could face opposition. Also, improving pedestrian safety and Durham, how federal funding will help make the streets safer. And here are your winning NC education lottery numbers. ♪♪ Each year, millions of North Carolinians visit a 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 health care 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've got Dan Morgan here on the pod. Say hi, Dan. Hey, how's it going today? It's going good, man. Tell us who you are and what you do. I'm Dan Morgan. I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan and Morgan, which is America's largest injury law firm. That's pretty awesome. Why do you guys think you win so many cases? The insurance companies and other companies that we go against know that we're going to take it to the end that we believe in the case. So we fight for every dollar and we're not afraid to go that extra mile for our clients. Our insurance companies, like, actually afraid of you guys? We don't bluff. We take it to trial and we are not strangers of getting very, very, very large verdicts. Awesome. So how does someone get in contact with Morgan and Morgan? What would I do if I got into an accident? Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. That's pound 529 from your cell phone. Our call center is always waiting to take your call. 24/7, 365. Wow. Dan Morgan. From Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. Thanks for coming by the show. Thanks for having me. Visit ForThePeople.com for an office near you. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Much of our country is dealing with a record-setting heat wave. Here at home, we've already had several extremely hot days. Our meteorologists say temperatures locally hit 100 degrees earlier than usual in the season. And we've had a heat advisory in place four times since June 23. Within last 30 minutes, President Biden rolled out a new rule to address excessive heat in the workplace. WRL's Noah Klein explains the plan. Noah. In less than an hour ago, President Biden officially announced this plan to protect workers from extreme heat. We're talking about farm workers, delivery drivers, construction crews, landscapers, many others. Here's a take a look at this. There's some things the Biden administration wants to do to keep workers safe and their workplace accountable. Require employers to have an emergency response plan for dealing with heat illnesses. Train employees and supervisors to ensure they know the signs and symptoms of heat-related illnesses. Establish rest breaks and ensure shade and water both provided. President Biden spoke from Washington D.C.'s Emergency Operations Center moments ago. We're going to continue to follow what he says specifically. For now, I want to give you three big changes that would have a big impact on North Carolina. This, of course, a big deal. Just consider the farming industry alone. State agencies estimate 150,000 people work on farms in our state. You might recall a situation last year in Nash County, involving the depth of a worker in September. Family members said he died of heat stress. Not everyone is on board with this proposal back in April. Florida's governor signed a bill banning local governments from requiring heat and water breaks for outside workers. The plan is in the works to make it safer for people to walk around Durham. In less than three hours, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will visit the Bull City to explore how a federal grant will be used for the project. WRAO's Laura Levine explains, "We've seen a lot of crashes and crime in the area where this project is happening." This funding would help improve pedestrian safety along bus routes that are high traffic or in high traffic areas like this one along Fayetteville Street. You know, there isn't enough lighting here, enough benches, as well as signage to keep people safe. And this is what leaders aim to improve. Here's a look at the area of focus now on your screen, The Holloway Street Project, which is the city's busiest transit route. It's also seen high crime and traffic fatalities. It starts at the eastern edge of downtown Durham. The goal is to help riders feel more comfortable and secure at the bus stop. They want to build new sidewalks, upgrade the bus stops, improve crosswalks, install new lighting, add bike racks, and ADA-approved ramps. The Transportation Secretary today will celebrate the recent announcement of the $12 million grant to improve 33 intersections in Durham. He will meet with some of the small business owners, as well as community members that will be directly impacted by this investment. The construction for this project will begin in 2026 with the goal to be completed by 2027. Laura Levine, WRAO News in Durham. In less than 30 minutes in the capital city, Raleigh City Council is expected to meet to consider rezoning more than 700 properties for the New Bern Avenue corridor of the bus rapid transit. Among other issues I'll be discussing. People who live there are worried about higher density development and that current homeowners and renters and businesses fear they might be pushed out. Planners say their goal is to build up these communities near the BRT line with the benefit to existing residents and businesses in mind. An evening session is also planned for 7 p.m. tonight. All 17 UNC system schools now have guidance on how they should comply with the diversity, equity and inclusion policy repeal in a four page letter obtained by WRAO. The university's legal staff guides chancellors on how they should address 13 topics on their campuses. The topics include curriculum, research, service and more. DEI policies were repealed in May after UNC Board of Trustees voted to reallocate more than $2 million to campus safety. You can read more on the guidance on WRAO.com. A bill that officially defines anti-Semitism is now law in North Carolina. Governor Roy Cooper signed the bill yesterday. Critics worried the bill could impede First Amendment rights. It passed the state legislature almost unanimously. Governor Cooper says it's needed because of increasing cases of Jewish people being targeted. Supporters say a law like this could help with education and also with hate crime prosecutions. Learn more about this law on WRAL.com. This two-year-old Manari Spears was tragically killed June 27th, a week after someone shot her during a drive by shooting on East Cornwallis Road in Durham. And now only on WRAL, her mother is sharing a message to the person who shot her. A bullet grazed 20-year-old Sheikresha Spears during that shooting, and a 22-year-old man was also shot. Spears says her daughter loved to play and smile and because of the shooter those things will not happen again. Whoever did it, I just hope guilt eats you like inside and out, can't eat, can't sleep. You can't do anything without thinking about her. So just come to the front and do what you've got to do. A family has started a GoFundMe account to help pay for Manari's funeral expenses and you can find ways to help as well on WRAL.com. Goldsboro police are looking for the person responsible for shooting a man last week. It happened just before 730 Friday night on Harris Street. This is video from the WRAL breaking news tracker. The man Shy was taken to the hospital where he is still in critical condition as for a description of who did this or where that person may have been seen. Police have not provided any information. Helping amputees with this bionic invention. Why this prosthetic is unique and how those who've used it said it feels natural. This may surprise you. A serious crisis among construction workers. Why so many are dying by suicide at an alarming rate? Be sure you have the latest version of the WRAL News app. You can keep up with breaking news, weather alerts and watch our live newscast anytime on your favorite device. 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. Breaking news. The designer can give you the kitchen of your dreams. I'm Dana Merrill, the owner of the designer in North Raleigh. 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 www.thedesigner.com. I think it has some big puffy clouds over Beaufort here in this noon hour. Beautiful look down towards the coast. I hope they have the same temperature and same lack of humidity that we are enjoying right here. We are getting a better idea on how many people who work in the construction industry struggle with mental health issues. Data from the CDC says the construction industry has one of the highest suicide rates compared to other industries. The CDC says 56 out of 100,000 men in construction died by suicide in 2022. Construction executive in charge of health and safety says construction workers face constant project, cost and time pressure and work long hours, along with having issues at home. Encouraging news about the benefits of consuming cocoa extract or very dark chocolate. Researchers say not only does it reduce several cardiovascular risk factors, but it also appears to lower blood pressure, bad cholesterol and blood sugar. The study's author came up with a few examples of the low blood pressure, bad cholesterol and blood sugar. The study's author costed that consuming excess chocolate of any kind can lead to high sugar and saturated fat intake and that can negatively impact heart health. If you have pain in your hands from using your cell phone, you're not alone. Phone hand or tech law is that pain in the hand that's caused from holding your phone for extended periods of time. It can cause small tears in the muscle, causing your hand to swell and become stiff or sore. Experts say it's similar to tendonitis or carpal tunnel syndrome. The best ways to alleviate the pain, less screen time, put down that phone, stretch your hand, or use voice control features. Now, this might sound like something from the 70s television series, the $6 million man, but MIT says it has created a bionic leg that restores natural walking speeds and steps. Take a look, it uses sensors placed between the reconstructed amputation site and the bionic leg to transmit electrical signals to the nervous system. A patient says the new prosthetic feels natural as if the limb were made of flesh and bone. Very promising. We've all heard the term, use it or lose it. Coming up, the dire effort to preserve a dying language used by some tribal nations. Plus. I just got hit. I just got hit. Oh my gosh, I just got hit. The conditions that contributed to this electrifying experience for a group of campers. We take care of the things in our life. Knowing proper maintenance and upkeep will extend the life of what we love. Do you give the same attention and care to your own body? Staying fit and eating right are key. Equally important is supporting health and mobility with chiropractic. Chiropractic keeps your body aligned and running smoothly. Help extend the life of your engine with chiropractic. Find yours at ncchiro.org/chiro. So the reason I chose William Peace was because of their stellar game design program. It's very rare to find a game design program in the United States at all, the day alone in North Carolina. And this place seemed like the right place for me for where I wanted to go and the connections I could make within the program. Turn your hobby into a career in one of the highest paid professions in the country with William Peace University's simulation and game design program. Master design, 3D modeling and programming in a state-of-the-art space with the latest and most remarkable technologies available. Find out more at peace.edu. And welcome back. This has never happened in the 20 years I've been here at WRL, where in the studio we have the fire alarm going off. We're trying to figure out what's going on here and as soon as we figure it out, but clearly it's hard to hear me, so we're going to go to a break. We take care of the things in our life. Knowing proper maintenance and upkeep will extend the life of what we love. Do you give the same attention and care to your own body? Staying fit and eating right are key. Equally important is supporting health and mobility with chiropractic. Chiropractic keeps your body aligned and running smoothly. Help extend the life of your engine with chiropractic. Find yours at ncchiro.org/chiro. I've got Dan Morgan here on the pod. Say hi, Dan. Hey, how's it going today? It's going good, man. Tell us who you are and what you do. I'm Dan Morgan. I'm Dan Morgan. I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan Morgan, which is America's largest injury law firm. That's pretty awesome. Why do you guys think you win so many cases? The insurance companies and other companies that we go against know that we're going to take it to the end that we believe in the case, so we fight for every dollar and we're not afraid to go that extra mile for our clients. Are insurance companies actually afraid of you guys? We don't bluff. We take it to trial and we are not strangers of getting very, very, very large verdicts. Awesome. So how does someone get in contact with Morgan and Morgan? What would I do if I got into an accident? Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. That's pound 529 from your cell phone. Our call center is always waiting to take your call 24/7/365. Wow. Dan Morgan. From Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. Thanks for coming by the show. Thanks for having me. Visit ForThePeople.com for an office near you. Okay, we have an update. There is no safety issue here at this station. Our engineers are working on trying to figure out how to turn the fire alarm. So it's been going off here for a little while, but I've been told we'll keep going with the news here because we have more stories. We want to let you know about, hopefully you can hear me. There's a sense of urgency to save a language spoken by less than 400 people worldwide. The Muskogee Nation in Oklahoma is looking for creative ways to preserve their native language. The director of the Muskogee language program creates bright posters with words and phrases. She's even gotten language curriculum into 30 different public schools. So the tribe looks to heal while revitalizing the love of the language. Our elders, you know, they were forced into boarding schools where they weren't allowed to speak Muskogee and they were punished for speaking English. And then those that didn't get forced into a boarding school, even at their public schools, their teachers would punish them for speaking in their native languages. And we apologize for the fire alarm. Just keep hanging in with us here. The College of the Muskogee Nation launched a Muskogee dictionary app to help people learn the language. It can be downloaded on Apple and Android devices. I'll give it a shot here today. At least 17 majors on a hike with a youth group in Utah are suffering from injuries after lightning struck the ground where they were walking. Starting on a hill, spoke with the campuses at the near death experience. My mom, I would just like to thank you for signing me up for this. Dozens of youth on a six mile walk near Salina Canyon in Sevier County, not ready for the weather to change. Dude, Mom, what is it? Peyton Bailey and her friends were on track with their church group when the unexpected shocked them. I just got hit. I just got hit. I just got hit. When it happened, I saw the light and then it just felt like a baseball or something hit the top of my head. When the lightning struck, I think it was so powerful that like it felt like a whole weight was put on our head. Like it felt like something hit us. But we were wearing hats and we think the metal on our hats attracted it. A few feet in front of her, Peyton saw some of her friends fall to the ground. I fell and I was on the ground and I remember getting back up and I just saw him on the floor seizing. It was such a weird feeling. I can't even describe it. According to the Sevier County Sheriff's Office, some 50 youth in the group from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints felt the lightning shock, though it appears no one was struck directly. My mom and dad were also with a different company and they had a boy just completely fall down. The Sheriff's Office says the wet ground acted as a conductor. Seven youth were rushed to local hospitals and two were flown to primary children's with serious symptoms including numbness and partial paralysis in their arms or legs. I just think I just felt really shaken after everything. I was gone a Mahia reporting and took a lightning story to get the fire alarm off in here. Lightning does though seriously kill about 20 people each year in the United States, hundreds more are injured. In 2023 there were 14 lightning related deaths reported. I suppose there's a first time for everything. My ears, Jeff's ears still ringing from that loud fire alarm. Well I suppose you want to be outside if there's a fire alarm meteor. I'll just can't gamble. Out there on the weather patio. Hey Kat. Hey Renee. You guys hung in there. Way to be true. First Jeff and Renee. Great job. Well all of W. Well our entire staff was out here. This is the safety place during fire drills in the W. Royal Gardens. So we had a whole studio audience out here earlier. Everybody's gone inside now but man Carolina Beach is hopping today. Look at all those people out there enjoying the holiday week. 82 degrees right now. It's a beautiful day to be at the coast. However there is a risk of rip currents. It's a moderate risk for our east facing beaches. The exception along the outer banks where there is a high risk for rip currents for part of the outer banks. Keep that in mind. If you're headed to the beach this weekend you need to pay close attention to the flags flying. If they are red do not get in the water and make sure you're reviewing your rip current safety with your family. Let's take a look at tomorrow's highs. At the coast, low to mid 80's. It's going to be a beautiful beach day tomorrow. Thursday for 4th of July. Upper 80's for most of our coastal towns. Some low 90's closer to Newburn. It's going to be hot at the coast but it does look dry for 4th of July. 98 in Raleigh and Fayetteville. About a 20% chance of a storm here. The better chance of a stray storm would be in the western part of our state for Thursday. Let's talk about the humidity that's cranking back up in the coming days. Today was the exception especially for July. It feels so good. Two points are in the 50's. That means we're comfortable on the muggy meter by Thursday, Friday, Saturday and lasting all the way through the weekend. That tropical very humid feel returns. Let's talk about storm chances tomorrow. We're likely to be dry during the day. 92 is our forecast high. It's hot but not really all that humid just yet. It's as we get into Thursday that we see our southwest wind really returning into the area. 98 degrees on Thursday. We've got about a 20% chance of a stray storm. That would come as we get closer to the late evening hours. We'll keep an eye on that for you. But once the sun sets that really helps to limit any lingering storm possibility. That's good news for fireworks. Friday, a slightly better chance of a storm. I have seen a trend this afternoon toward better storm coverage Friday afternoon and evening. Right now we have it at about a 30% chance. There is a chance we may need to bump it up to 40%. We're going to analyze some of the new data. Check in for an update at four o'clock. W-R-L weather watchers. Thanks for those of you who have been sharing your pictures with us. Tess Murrow, a loyal W-R-L weather watcher. Check out this shot from Durham. Thanks so much for sending it. If you have a W-R-L weather watcher photo you'd like to share, go to W-R-L dot com and search weather watchers. Here's your seven day forecast. It is a hot one. So hopefully you made the most of yesterday. And today, temperatures are going right back up for 4th of July and lasting all the way through the weekend. 100 degrees on Friday, 99 on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. We're still going to be in the mid 90s. But at least we've got better storm chances as we head into the weekend. So hopefully we can pick up a bit more rain. We can still use any that we could get. All right, Kat. We'll be out there with you soon. Mercifully we are wrapping things up. Every day we're hearing. Look at a few of the headlines that we're following for you today. The Sharpsburg mayor is facing his fourth DWI arrest since he was first elected in 2018. You're looking at new video of the latest arrest. Robert Williams was arrested yesterday in Rocky Mount. He faces several charges, including DWI and driving while license revoked. Sharpsburg's mayor pro tem has been in charge ever since town commissioners voted to strip Williams of his duties in January. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will be in Durham today to explore how a federal grant will help make streets safer for pedestrians. $12 million is going toward making Holloway streets safer. The project aims to provide safe access to bus stops along the street. WRL has reported on several hit and runs in that area in the past year. The funding will also help build sidewalks, upgrade bus stops and install new lighting. As we get closer to the holiday, the city of Durham is warning people about the dangers of celebratory gunfire. In the past four years, two people in Durham have died in connection to celebratory gunfire. Although gunshots into the air may not target a person, falling bullets can hit people and damage property. Anyone caught firing shots into the air could face a fine up to $500. Why did the UFO cross the road? That's what a deputy was left asking when he pulled over this otherworldly vehicle over the weekend. Check it out, a deputy patrolling in Interstate of Missouri pulled over this silver spaceship car for a lane violation as well as having an expired license plate. The deputy gave the driver a written warning and sent him on his way. The driver was headed to Roswell, New Mexico for the annual UFO festival. The sheriff's office made to point out that those friendly humanoids come in peace. Tickets for a popular winter event in the triangle are on sale now. The North Carolina Chinese Lantern Festival returns to Kerry's Cocobooth Amphitheater from November 16th through January 12th. It features more than 40 all new handcrafted displays. Each has more than 100 parts and thousands of LED lights. I love taking my daughter there. It is a musty. You can get your tickets on the Boost Amphitheater's website. Those are stunning photos right there also as well. Renee's too modest. She took all those pictures. An iconic three by three grid puzzle just turned 50 years old, but it isn't showing any signs of retiring. We're talking about the Rubik's Cube. There it is. Erno Rubik, 79 now created the iconic puzzle. That was July 1st, 1979. It took a month of twisting and turning for him to solve it. The current play on this thing, the world record stands at 3.13 seconds. That's incredible. Our pet of the day from Pawfect Match Rescue is the perfect combination of Callman Playfall. Renee was found as a stray in South Carolina, gave birth to her puppies on a porch out in the cold. She's a mix of a retriever and beagle, good with everyone she meets as well. She's housebroken, knows basic commands like sit and wait to meet Renee. Contact Pawfect Match Rescue. Today's the 30th birthday of a man who disappeared mysteriously in Benson more than seven years ago coming up in our news at 4. We're hearing from the family of Cole Thomas still looking for answers in his disappearance. What a day. We're going to enjoy some peace and quiet. Look at this afternoon. Can you hear me? NBC News Day lays next on WRAL. Have a great day. Keep watching WRAL News. Over the Air Channel 34 and Spectrum Channel 1257. We take care of the things in our life. Knowing proper maintenance and upkeep will extend the life of what we love. Do you give the same attention and care to your own body? Staying fit and eating right are key. Equally important is supporting health and mobility with chiropractic. Chiropractic keeps your body aligned and running smoothly. Help extend the life of your engine with chiropractic. Find yours at ncchiro.org/chiro. If you're a facilities manager at a warehouse and your HVAC system goes down, it can turn up the heat. Literally. But don't sweat it. Granger has you covered. Granger offers over a million industrial grade products for all your operations, including warehouse HVAC maintenance. And even better, they offer access to experts and fast delivery, so you and your warehouse can both keep your cool. Call 1-800-GRANGER. Click Granger.com or just stop by. Granger. For the ones who get it done. Hello, it is Ryan. And we could all use an extra bright spot in our day, couldn't we? Just to make up for things like sitting in traffic, doing the dishes, counting your steps, you know, all the mundane stuff. That is why I'm such a big fan of Chumba Casino. Chumba Casino has all your favorite social casino style games that you can play for free anytime, anywhere, with daily bonuses. So sign up now at ChumbaCassino.com. That's ChumbaCassino.com. Sponsored by Chumba Casino, no purchase necessary. 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