WRAL Newscasts
7PM News on WRAL - Thursday, June 27, 2024
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We're finally tracking rain chances when the chances highest this weekend. Good to have you with us here at seven o'clock as we take a look at the radar right now. Most of those showers have pushed off to our east now at this hour. Some of that rain though in the last few hours did bring some relief, some relief to the intense record breaking heat that we have been feeling. Take a look at some of these temperatures. Yes, still in the 80s, still feels like it's in the 90s in most places, but we'll take it. Thank you for joining us. I'm Dan Hagerty. Meteorologist Kat Campbell is in the WRAL Severe Weather Center. We will see more dangerous heat this weekend, Kat. We've got some big numbers on the way this weekend. We should be over 100 again for the heat index as we get into both Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Tomorrow, 93 in the heat index, 99. 95 on Saturday, a bit more cloud cover Saturday. And then 93 Sunday with a heat index in the triple digits. But, look at next Monday and Tuesday. There is some more relief in sight. High temperatures as we get into early next week should be in the upper 80s to lower 90s and with lower humidity. It's gonna make a pretty big difference outside. We saw a little bit of rain earlier today. The rain has since cleared out of here. If we look at our 24-hour rainfall, most of us are in the green and that's just light rainfall. For most of us, it was a trace of rain. Samsung County did see some higher totals, but definitely not enough rain to put a dent in our drought. And the drought is growing last week. None of the state was under a moderate drought. This week, over half of the state is, and that includes really much of our viewing area. The sandhills abnormally dry the warning stage before you get to a moderate drought. We really need any rain we can get. I'm keeping an eye on a couple areas to watch and the tropics, I'll let you know if they could bring any relief coming up. - All right, talk to you then. Thank you, Kat. The woman accused of the unthinkable, of torturing and murdering her two adopted children, could face the death penalty. Avante Devon faced a judge for the first time today and is in jail with no bond as we speak. She's accused of killing Blake and London Devon, who have been missing for years. WRL's Fayetteville reporter Gilbert Bays was in the courtroom today for her first appearance and gives us more insight into this case. - Well, the arrest that happened yesterday comes months after the Fayetteville Police Department executed a warrant at some of the homes where the children used to live and they made some gruesome discoveries. - Avante Devon was calm as district court judge Caitlin Evans read the charges against her. Two counts of first-degree murder, concealment of death, kidnapping and felony child abuse. - They arrested her yesterday, it didn't matter. Our later they didn't call with us. It's just hard to find them from me. I'm sorry, how in the world can somebody do that? Somebody else. - Devon is being represented by a private defense attorney, Bernard Coddlin. - Have you had a chance to talk with her at all? You're standing beside her in court? - Yes, I've met with her. - What's her demeanor, what's she like? - Well, she's obviously upset. Very concerned about the allegations. - The allegations are disturbing. Investigators say Blake and London Devon are presumed dead. Their disappearance went unreported for years. Authorities searched the homes where the children used to live and made a gruesome discovery. They found a metal burn barrel with partially human remains. They believe the children were physically abused by their adoptive mother. District Attorney Billy West says the case is one of the most heinous he's ever prosecuted. - Talk about the difficulty when you have a long period of time, evidence that may be gone, witnesses disappear, that presents some challenge. - Yeah, there's always challenges and cases that occur, the allegations or they occurred years ago. But again, I would just credit all the agencies involved, particularly the Fayetteville Police Department, for getting us to this point. - Now, even though Avonte Devon's is locked up, this is still an ongoing investigation. If she's convicted on the murder charges alone, she could face the death penalty. In Fayetteville, Gilbert Bays, WREL News. - Meantap, she's gonna be back in court in Cumberland County on July 17th, that is for her probable cause hearing. Meantime, WREL's Chris Lovinggood spoke exclusively to a former caseworker who says that she was assigned to work with the Devon family. Catherine Hubbard says between 2011 and 2013, she was the foster care caseworker for the Devon family when they were in Madison County. That's where they were before moving to Fayetteville. On Monday, before all of this, she drove five hours to talk to WREL investigates and shared documents from her caseworker days involving the Devon's, as well as her batch to prove her connection to all of this. It was then days later that the news broke of Avonte Devon's arrest and the grim details surrounding Blake and London's murders. - These children also have lived and continue to live with the repercussions of almost 10 years of, probably 10 years of abuse, neglect, starvation. - Now, Hubbard asked, how is it three different Department of Social Services agencies all allow these children to be adopted by Avonte Devon? Hubbard says the Department of Social Services in our state bows out a responsibility of a child once they are adopted. She thinks that DSS should have an extended responsibility after an adoption, maybe a year or two. WREL has been following this story since the beginning of the investigation. Chris Lovinggood has been following it since the very beginning. He's gonna unpack even more background on this case on the WREL Daily download. You can listen to that right now wherever you get your podcasts. A school resource officer is accused of using a taser on a teacher in Johnston County. That's according to some new warrants WREL obtained, which detail this encounter. That officer allegedly said she would often taste middle schoolers. WREL's Chelsea Donovan explains what else was found out about this case. - Former police officer Tavares actually started here on the force in 2020. She resigned in April of this year, actually two months before that Selma middle school teacher reported the alleged assault. These pictures are of former SRO and Selma police officer Dania Tavares, getting nominated for the Crystal Apple Award at Selma middle school where she worked. And this is her reading to children. But right now the 26 year old former police officer known by her students and teachers as Jersey is under investigation by the SBI. A newly returned search warrant obtained by WREL states the district attorney in Johnston County asked the SBI to investigate an alleged assault. They were contacted on June the 10th. On June the six, a middle school teacher reported the assault to the principal and Selma police took a report. The teacher disclosed Tavares assaulted her with a taser between October and November of 2023 during Selma middle school's first period. It goes on to say the teacher asked Tavares what the taser was and Tavares responded by saying, quote, I am going to taze you with it. The teacher responded by saying, no, you're not. Tavares repeated, I am going to taze you with it. Tavares then tazed the teacher according to the document, making contact with the teachers left hip area. The teacher screamed and told Tavares that it hurt. Tavares responded by saying she did not do it full force and that she had tazed kids around here and they don't act like that. The teacher asked Tavares if she tazed any middle school kids in which Tavares responded the ones that I know their parents. We tried to call Tavares today, but she didn't respond. Tavares has not yet been charged. This is currently an active investigation. Chelsea Donovan, WRL News, Johnston County. - I'm Brian Schrader of the WRL Live Center. All new at seven o'clock, we're getting some pictures from Fayetteville firefighters of a pretty big woods fire they had to deal with earlier this afternoon. Sel started around 130 on Dandridge Drive near Freeport Drive on the northwest side of Fayetteville. A five acre woods fire that at one point threatened some homes in that area. You can see where they're working to protect those townhouses there. Fayetteville fire officials and North Carolina Forestry Service got that fire under control. They say there's no danger right now, but there is some lingering smoke, they believe will last for the next day or so. - All right, Brian, thank you for the update. UNC police are investigating a string of break-ins on and near the main campus area. Since Tuesday, in fact, police have been called to Beatty Hill, Craig, Parking Deck and Fraternity Court. In total, they've taken eight reports of car break-ins. UNC police are reminding anyone, when you put your stuff in your car, make sure that it's not visible, that you lock your vehicle and that the alarm is turned on. So in less than two hours, a historic presidential debate will begin. Taking a live look now, this is the stage where it will all happen in Atlanta, where President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will face off for their first debate this election season. This is also the first time that a current president and a former president will debate each other. Biden will likely zero in on things like abortion rights and threats to democracy. Trump is expected to focus on the economy and the border during the 90-minute debate. CNN is gonna be the news agency hosting this, but you can watch it all play out live right here on WRAL, starting at nine o'clock. Immediately after that debate, President Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden will fly here to our area, landing in Raleigh. The president's itinerary showing he's expected to arrive at RDU just before two tomorrow morning. WRAL has learned that Biden's will be here for a campaign rally at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds tomorrow afternoon. You can count on WRAL to cover that, of course. The president's visit, everything you need to know here in Raleigh. And then former President Donald Trump, also on the campaign, the campaign trail tomorrow, attending a rally near Norfolk, Virginia. The loudest house in the NHL might be getting even louder. - Ronald James will stay in Raleigh for another 20 years. Coming up, how disagreement will lead to a much larger entertainment district. - Plus, most of our state is under a moderate drought status right now. An area lakes are lower than they've been in years, here why it won't affect your water uses, though, coming up. - Good posture is essential to good health. Unfortunately, at least half of computer users have posture-related back pain. Other daily activities and hobbies can also contribute to weakened posture, causing spinal misalignment and discomfort in our bodies. Luckily, chiropractic is here to help. Chiropractors provide a drug-free form of healthcare that improves mobility and overall health, while keeping your posture in tip-top shape. Find yours today at nciro.org/poster. - Save on a Riley Break Parts Cleaner. Get two cans of a Riley Break Parts Cleaner for just $8, valid in-store only at O'Reilly Auto Parts. ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Riley ♪ ♪ Auto Parts ♪ (upbeat music) - Well, it's official. The Carolina Hurricanes will stick around. They're staying in Raleigh for another 20 years. Today, the owners of PNC Arena gave final approval to a 20-year lease with the hockey team. But along with that comes this new vision of a much larger entertainment district down there. As WRL's Destiny Patterson reports, its owner says it will become a destination of its own. - Over the next several years, you might be coming here for more than just a game or a concert. - It becomes a destination, they have places to eat, places to drink, places to hang out. - It's all part of this vision to transform PNC Arena into part of an entertainment district. It's been compared to Battery Park and Atlanta. - This is the largest economic development project in the history of our city. - Thank you very much. (applause) - The Centennial Authority Board owns PNC Arena. They approved a 20-year lease in development agreement with the Carolina Hurricanes. The hockey team will be able to develop a total of 80 acres of land around the arena. The owner of the Carolina Hurricane says they're thrilled to start transforming the 80-acre campus around the arena. Quote, "The expansion of our dynamic sports "and entertainment offerings beyond the walls of the arena "will provide fans with a world-class experience." - You've got a little bit Francie State, you've got a little bit for the public at large. - The vision includes restaurants, a hotel, a live nation music venue and housing. - I'm very excited about the live nation music venue. There's also some other things that they're talking about putting in here that might be sportsbook related. - It's empty parking lots, most of the day and most of the year. All of a sudden you have people living here and destination the game changer. It opens the door for a $300 million project to renovate the inside of the arena as well. - You know, the next five to 10 years, this place is not gonna look like it looks today. But the thing that we're trying to do here is bring a feel and an experience that is nowhere in North America. - At this point, it's too early to say what it will look like. Eisley says that's an accept determining what the enhancements will be on this building. Renovations on the arena itself are scheduled to start next summer. Destiny Patterson, WRL news, Raleigh. - Let's keep talking about sports because we got the countdown to the summer Olympics in Paris and man, we're less than a month at this point. Really exciting. Lot of buzz around our local athletes. NC State's Catherine Burkhov, for instance, she's gonna raise the 100 meter backstroke for Team USA after finishing in the top two of the Olympic trials. A five time NCAA champion, a six time ACC champion, Burkhov said qualifying was special. There's a lot of pressure on these athletes, of course. Burkhov said she's grateful that she can turn her attention now to Paris. - I was so relieved just because this has been such like a lifelong dream and missing it by a little bit, a three years ago was really hard. And I definitely learned a lot from it. So I think I was a little scared of reliving emotions like that, but I was just so relieved when I saw the, that I hit the wall second. - Burkhov and Team USA will start training in Kerry at the Triangle Aquatic Center in early July. Good luck to all of them. How exciting. WRAL is your home for the Summer Olympics. That is our Liz McLaughlin. She is gonna be out there in Paris to bring us live exclusive coverage and content right here on WRAL. It all starts July 26th. Man, my lawn is brown, basically at this point. Maybe yours is too. Despite though, this moderate drought for a majority of the state, it should have, it shouldn't have an impact on our water usage. Falls and Jordan Lakes are at their lowest levels on this date in the past six years. Both are nearly a foot below average, but Raleigh Water says there's no need to panic. Even with the area using roughly 55 million gallons of water a day, capacity concerns aren't an issue right now, despite the moderate drought. For the area, Falls Lake is at 93% capacity. - We can use different reservoirs to make sure that we can meet our demands. But Falls Lake is a very large reservoir. And so it has a lot of buffer, I guess if you wanna call it that, to manage through dry weather. - Raleigh Water doesn't anticipate any restrictions for using water, but they always encourage people to only use what they need. And my lawn is saying, I need more, Dan. Meteorologist Kat Campbell joining us now. The weather has just been so hot, the sun has just been beating down on all of us. Our lawns, pretty much everything is scorching, Kat. - Absolutely, it's been super hot, super dry, and it's been like this for weeks now. We don't have any significant pattern changes ahead. Temperatures right now, sitting in the low to mid 80s, and at least we got just a few sprinkles today, but it didn't add up to much in our rain gauges. I guess better than nothing, but the clouds were really nice. They helped to keep our high in the upper 80s at RTU. So we broke our stretch of 90 degree days. The cold front is passing through, it's a very weak front. It's not gonna have any impact on our temperatures or our humidity. But let's talk about the wide satellite picture here, because there's two areas to watch in the Atlantic basin now. One, a bit closer to Central America, and one in the main development region. It's actually not very common to see things develop in the main development region this time of year. That's typically as we get more toward the heart of hurricane season, like August and September, but this is pretty early on. We are seeing very good signs of development as this tracks to the west over the next seven days that chance that it will develop is about 80%. And the next name on the list is barrel. If we look at the model plots, really zooming in here, because I know this is peak vacation season for a lot of people. If you're headed toward the Caribbean, this is gonna be one to watch. Monday into Tuesday, we could see it pass over the Leeward Islands and eventually tracking near or just south of Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and potentially closer to Jamaica. So this is gonna be one to watch for us, as we get into next week. Look at all the warm water that it's moving through. The red actually doesn't just mean warm water, it means above normal temperatures. So we expect the ocean to be pretty hot in the main development region during the month of June and July and hurricane season, but temperatures are really running well above normal for the sea surface, temperatures. That's an issue because that's what's allowing these storms to strengthen. There's the other system that we are watching. It's gonna be crossing over the Yucatan Peninsula, about a 30% chance that would develop and it could bring some rain to Mexico, but we're really not looking at that one to be as significant. So we'll keep an eye on these systems for you. Here locally, over the weekend, high temperatures are gonna be in the 90s. Our best chance for rain would come Sunday with a cold front. That chance, still not 100%, but a 60% chance tomorrow and Saturday, a chance for a few pop-up summertime storms during the afternoon. Now, those tropical systems are not looking likely that they would bring us, any rain here in North Carolina. We're pretty dry early next week. Some rain in our southern counties. And then 4th of July, our forecast high 99 degrees. Dan. - Getting hot again. All right, Kat, thank you. Still ahead, shocking video shows a woman and her dog's close call with a big bear in our state. You're gonna hear from her about this encounter. Next. (upbeat music) - 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. - 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 one student of 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. - Disbelief, that's the best way North Carolina woman could describe her emotions after a black bear charged at her and her service dog right in their backyard. This is just minutes away from Audrey Thompson and her golden retriever, amazing grace. They stepped out of their home. You see the bear over there in the corner. They didn't see the family of bears there at the bird feeder. - No, no, Grace, come. - So all I could think is do not fall. Do not fall. Do not fall. - Grace, come. - You will be eaten. - Oh my goodness, Grace, this is the way the bear charged. So she says that the mama bear hit the patio so hard that the entire deck shook. She says that they feel lucky that this was not worse. It was a perfect storm scenario. You had the mother bear protecting not just the reliable food source there with the bird feeder but also protecting her four cubs. Very lucky that wasn't worse. Take a look at this adorable, less dangerous baby otter that was spotted at the outer banks. National Park Service employee captured this photo of the pop exploring the body island spit. River otters are actually quite common on the outer banks, typically in sound side waters. They usually keep their distance though from humans though a photographer got a nice shot there. Families can get a break from the heat this weekend by checking out the Lego convention in Raleigh. It's one of the many events coming up in the triangle. W.R.L. lifestyle editor Kathy Hanrahan has all the details in out and abouts, best bets. (dramatic music) Lego fans will wanna head to the Raleigh Convention Center this weekend for BRIC universe. This fan event will include exhibits, building zones and lots of Lego merchandise. General admission tickets are available for Saturday and Sunday. Tickets start at $20 at the door. On Saturday, there will be more than 50 food trucks on Fayetteville Street. The downtown Raleigh food truck rodeo is from noon to 6 p.m. Admission is free. And dinosaur fans will wanna check out the Sweet Valley Ranch in Fayetteville this weekend. The venue's annual dinosaur world exhibit is open for the season and features a walking trail with more than 40 dinosaurs. The exhibit is open through August 9th. These are just a few ways to get out and about this weekend. Kathy Hanrahan, W.R.L. News. - I can't say I took the kids to the Lego event when it came last year. It was a lot of fun, some really amazing kind of artwork, the things that they build are amazing. We appreciate you being with us here on W.R.L. News and making us your choice for local news as we take a live look at the presidential debate stage in Atlanta where tonight at nine o'clock, the former president and current president will debate. We'll see you back here later tonight on W.R.L. - Keep watching W.R.L. News. Over the air channel 34 and Spectrum channel 1257. - 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. 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