WRAL Newscasts
6AM News on WRAL - Tuesday, June 25, 2024
[TAKE VO] VO Live from WRAL news headquarters in Raleigh, your number one source for local news. WRAL news coverage you can cut off. [TAKE VO] Our dewpoint is down a little bit compared to yesterday. I'll show you why it may feel a little bit more comfortable. But we still have lots of big heat in our forecast. [TAKE VO] Medical marijuana is one step closer to being legal in North Carolina. How lawmakers are moving the bill forward by making it more strict on users. "Apple is pumping the brakes on its plans for a campus in the triangle. Why it's pushing its billion dollar plans back by years." [TAKE VO] Heartbreak for some and big celebrations for others at the Olympic track trials. How our local athletes are faring as they try to secure their spot on the team for Paris. [TAKE VO] Sprinting there to the finish line. Meanwhile, we're at the starting line here. Good morning everyone. It's six o'clock on your Tuesday morning. [TAKE VO] I'm Jeff. We look at that sunrise down there. Coming up. Joining us right here on set. It was with Gardner Meantime in the W.R.O. Severe Weather Center right there. A different look over Roxborough. Good morning. [TAKE VO] Very pretty here too. The sun's just about to pop up over the horizon. That is going to be one big hot sun for today. Yesterday, at least up through around lunchtime. We had some cloud cover making it feel a little more comfortable to be outside. We won't see that today. But what we will see is our dewpoint that's a little bit lower this time yesterday. Our dewpoint was 75. And now it's 67. It's not a big difference, but one that you might notice. If you're going to be out for a little while, say walking the dog, or just headed out for a stroll this morning. It is 73 in the triangle, so it is definitely warm. It's definitely sticky, but just a subtle change from yesterday. A little more comfortable. 72 Fayetteville, 69 Goldsboro, 65 in South Hill. If you're headed out for a run this morning, it might make your run field just a little bit better. Our temperature though at lunchtime, nearly 90, and we'll climb to 95. Yesterday, we had some thunderstorms. We're going to take a pause from that for a couple of days. I'll show you when we're back to wetter pattern. Coming up, Ken. It's 6-0-1 of us, but happening now in the W-A-R-O traffic center. We've got reports of wrongly policed working this serious crash on New Hope Road in the northbound lanes near Lewisburg Road. It's right near the Lewisburg Road, Capitol Boulevard split. We're not seeing any major problems in the air, so not a problem for your morning commute this morning. Also around the triangle, all the major routes are delay-free this morning. Let's give you a look outside and show you exactly what's going on. This is I-40 at Rockquarie Road. All lanes flowing smoothly at this hour. This morning, medical marijuana is moving closer to becoming legal in North Carolina. The state's Senate passed a bill last night, and now it is on the way to the house. W-A-R-O's Laura Levine is outside the legislative building this morning. Laura, this new version of the bill comes with some restrictions on the future use of marijuana. Yes, Jeff, we know that this has been a debate for years now here in North Carolina, and now a stricter version of a medical marijuana bill did pass the Senate late last night. So this is a last-minute effort to push a legalization bill over the finish line as we're wrapping up this legislative session. Now, the bill would ban North Carolina from allowing fully legal marijuana, even if the federal government legalizes it. That's meant to win over skeptics, specifically on the religious right. They're concerned that medical marijuana would be a first step toward recreational legalization for all adults. The bill now goes to the state house where it remains to be seen if this change will win over enough support. Laura Levine, W-A-R-O News, live in Raleigh. Good morning. I'm Chris Lovinggood in the W-A-R-O Live Center with a breaking update from the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Dr. Vivek Murthy, saying that he is declaring gun violence a "public health emergency." He had some quotes there saying America should be a place where all of us can go to school, go to work. Without having to work, that's going to put our life at risk. He also said that people want to be able to walk through their neighborhoods and be safe. I want to put up on your screen here just a couple of points of what he's calling for in response to this. He's going for a ban on automatic rifles, introducing universal background checks for purchasing guns, regulating the gun industry, passing laws to restrict gun use in public and penalizing unsafe storage of weapons. We'll be looking to see if he'll be making any sort of live appearance possibly on today for NBC News. But this is a significant update here, considering the increasing number of injuries and deaths involving firearms across the country. Thanks, Chris. Apple is delaying its plans for a massive campus in Research Triangle Park. The billion dollar project is expected to be one of the largest in our state's history. Now it's on pause for up to four years. Back in 2021, Apple announced plans to build a 1 million square foot research and development campus in RTP. It planned to bring 3,000 jobs with salaries averaging $187,000. State commerce officials approved an Economic Incentives package that included grants of more than $400 million. Now, the company has delayed the start of the project after a review of its real estate. We can't afford a Commissioners chair, Shanica Thomas, says despite this pause, she believes Apple remains committed to making Wake County home. It's going to be huge for the region, and we still look forward to that. I don't think anything has changed except construction timeline. Governor Roy Cooper says he's spoken with Apple executives. He says they pledged their commitment to still build an RTP, adding that it will be among Apple's most significant campuses. A toddler and an adult recovering this morning after a car being chased by police crashed into them. The crash happened at Trion Road and Lake Wheeler Road in Raleigh. Garner police say officers were chasing a stolen car when the driver ran a red light and hit other cars. Two people who were in that car were being chased and ran from the car. Police were able to track them down and arrest them, along with a third person who stayed in the car. Everyone who was hurt in the crash is expected to be okay. The impasse over how to use a billion dollar budget surplus remains in place at the state where you're looking live right now. The House has already said it will not take up the $31.4 billion spending plan the Senate passed last night. Both chambers want a large expansion of the state's private school voucher program. Both also include some money to help stabilize child care centers when federal funding decreases July 1. But the House budget also includes small additional raises for teachers and state employees and a bonus for retirees. The Senate budget does not. The Senate leader Phil Berger says the House should pass the Senate budget because it covers the spending they agree on. There's not anything that we've passed within that that the folks in the House have indicated or at least the majority in the House have indicated they're opposed to. So I hope they take it up, but obviously it's up to them. If they don't reach a deal by July 1, the two-year budget that's already in place will go into effect. But that billion dollar surplus would go unspent. The extreme heat we're feeling this week could mean delays in getting a trash picked up. Raleigh Solid Waste Services is taking extra measures to help protect its staff. That means there may be delays in collection. You should have your trash cans at the curb until they're emptied. The city will not issue fines for this during this period. New this morning, a large brush fire in Halifax County is now out. Crews responded to the fire on Ida Road and Bartholomew Road in Enfield. Around 6-30 last night. Officials say a large area of woods was on fire, as well as several logging equipment and fuel trucks. Fire departments from Halifax and Ash counties worked for nearly four hours to put out the fire. No word on what caused it. Education advocates are spending the day speaking out from North Carolina public schools. North Carolina Justice Center and every child in C are behind the Education Advocacy Day. The groups will meet with lawmakers about public education issues. They'll focus on issues like funding the Leandro Plan and opposing private school vouchers from public funding. They plan to be at the General Assembly at 10 this morning. The cargo ship that crashed into a major bridge in Baltimore in March is finally out of the port. It will arrive today in Norfolk where it will get repairs. The dolly sailed out of Baltimore yesterday. It spent two months under the wreckage of the bridge it destroyed. And then another month docked nearby. Crowds of people watched as the ship sailed beneath the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on its way out. About 1,500 cargo containers that remain on the ship will be offloaded in Norfolk. Today Wake County Schools leaders will consider some changes to your child's school meals. Board members say they're interested in applying for more school-free meals for them. They are also considering adjusting what's in the alternative meal kids get when they don't have enough money in their accounts. School leaders are always also looking at ways to lower the amount of food waste. The Board's Policy Committee will talk about the options during a meeting that starts at 3 today. Some local athletes are moving on to the Team USA Track and Field Finals. Raleigh native and Wakefield High graduate Veronica Fraley finished third in the discus throw and will move on to the finals. Dylan Beard, who trains at NC State, also qualified for the next round in the 110-meter hurdles. And in the men's 400-meter finals, Durham's Caleb McRae got seventh place. Unfortunately, he did not make the top three, but he will likely make the team to compete on a relay. Tennessee Volunteers are the winners of the College Baseball World Series. They held off a comeback effort from Texas A&M last night for a six to five win in the decisive game three. It is the first time Tennessee's baseball team has ever won a national championship. A woman vanished after traveling to the Bahamas. Her families call for her safe return after she went to the islands for a yoga retreat. And we'll have even more of those athletes that are moving on to the Team USA Track and Field Finals. We'll have the nail-viding moments from yesterday. It's a warm start again, 60s and 70s. Our humidity is a little lower this morning, but we'll still see a high heat index this afternoon. And even higher tomorrow, I'll show you how much above 100 will go. As you get into your cartoon to WRAL news plus on your radio in Raleigh on 99.3 FM. In Durham, 96.5 FM at everywhere on 101.5 HD 3. [MUSIC] 6-12. This is a beautiful sunrise, isn't it? That sun just popped up over the horizon here in Sanford this morning. Mostly clear. We had some cloud cover yesterday morning, but it looks a lot clearer today. That means it's going to feel a little bit hotter this afternoon. It was somewhat on the comfortable side, somewhat. Yesterday, up through lunchtime with some clouds, but we're not likely to see those clouds today. 66 in Lewisburg, 68 Tarboro, 65 in South Hill. A few 60s on our map this morning. Most of us, though, are in the low to mid 70s already. If you're headed out for some exercise, you might notice the humidity is a hair lower than it was this time yesterday. It's still going to be a very hot afternoon at 95, feeling more like upper 90s to around 100. Speaking of 100, that's likely to be our high tomorrow. I'll show you what it will feel like with the heat index coming up, Ken. Alright, Elizabeth, happening now in the wio traffic center, that crashed a North New Hope road at the Lewisburg Road near the Capitol Boulevard. Split completely cleared right now. You can see from our map, nothing but green showing up, which is what you want to hear this time of the morning, especially if you're just getting ready to head out. Here's a live look at I 440 and Lake Boone Trail, traffic in both directions flowing smoothly this morning, and that's what you want to hear, Jeff. This is a mystery that some folks are trying to figure out. The family of a Chicago woman who was last seen in the Bahamas says she disappeared and she went to the islands for a yoga retreat. Her name is Taylor Casey and her family says she hasn't been seen in nearly a week. Royal Bahamas Police Force says she was last seen in the area of Paradise Island, which is connected by bridge to the city of Nassau. It did not say whether foul play is suspected. Her family is pleading for help finding her and urging anyone with information to contact police in the Bahamas. A big holiday weekend coming up next week and Americans are expected to travel in record numbers. AAA says it expects to see more than 2 million North Carolinians travel for 4th of July. Nationwide, more than 70 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more. More than 60 million of them will travel by car. Several dramatic finishes and one dramatic fall highlight Monday night's action at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials. W.R.L.'s Michelle Mcconicki is here with a nail biting moment and reaction. Oh, Jack, this first moment was heartbreaking. The reigning Olympic champ, A Thingmo, fell on the opening lap of the 800 meter final and the distance. It just proved to be too much. Nia Akins came away with the victory, but you can see a Thing fall right there. And in the final moments of the men's 400 Quincy Hall running a personal best, he earned his first Olympic trip. And then check this out. This was so close. An epic battle in the women's 5,000 as L. St. Pierre prevailed by two hundredths of a second over Elise cranny for that win. They will both cross the pond. Elsewhere on the track, a huge win for Anna Hall. She just had knee surgery back in January. The journey to get here has been so much harder than I ever imagined. And I'm just so thankful that we finally made it. Yeah, she should feel so proud. Monday provided some extreme highs and devastating lows. But that's how it goes, right? The track and field trials will return for more action on Thursday. That is also when the gymnastics trials get underway. That's starting with the men. Exciting moments there, Michelle. Thanks. A 14 year old is recovering after a shark bit him on North Topsel Beach by standards helped the teen by putting pressure on the wound and wrapping it with towels until first responders got there. The police chief says the boy wasn't very far out into the water when he was bitten. It was an individual that was in the water. Not very deep. And he had been bit apparently by a shark. Nobody really saw the shark come or go. Got a pretty good gash in the thigh or the lower part. What in ordeal? Experts say it's best to swim in groups and close to the shore. Sharks are more most active around dawn and dusk. We're going to bring our viewers into the WRL Live Center for a breaking update we just received from investigators in Wayne County. We have learned about a pedestrian being hit and a crash. This is specifically in Mount Olive. This happened on slap out road near Manly Grove Church Road. And if you look here, this is where the intersection is. It looks like it's where a lot of different farmland is in that particular area. Stay Highway Patrol, Wayne County Sheriff's deputies and other investigators are on the scene. And the WRL breaking news tracker is on the way. Rising flood waters have caused a dam in Minnesota to fail. The dam is on the Blue Earth River about 90 miles south of Minneapolis. And look at this damage. It suffered a partial breakthrough Monday and that rushing water has wiped out some buildings. It's putting nearby homes in danger. Roads in the area are closed. Just getting washed out right there. We've sun up right here. Elizabeth Gardner in the WRL Live Center. We could use any kind of water, some sort of rain. Not going to get too much. We're not going to get any really the next couple of days. We do change our pattern a little bit starting Thursday. And I'll show you when we'll have a stalled front. And how that could help us a little bit. It is awfully hot looking already in Goldsboro. Isn't it? Whoa, here comes that big giant sun. Apex Partley Cloudy, Partley Cloudy and Chapel Hill, courtesy of Top of the Hill Restaurant. And of course our newsroom there in Fayetteville. A little dappled sunshine there. We did have a front move through yesterday. There were some scattered storms. We had a few severe thunderstorm warnings. And we even had right there in Wayne County in that southeastern corner. A teeny tiny little spot of real estate ended up seeing about an inch and a half to two inches of rain yesterday. But that was about all we saw in our viewing area. That front is moved away and this high pressure system is building in. High pressure systems typically bring dry conditions. This high, rotating clockwise, has brought down a slightly slightly drier air mass. So it's not quite as sticky this morning as it was yesterday. But, you know, it is still on the muggy side. So here's what happens on Thursday. That high sticks with us today and tomorrow and it's just hot and dry. But Thursday, front comes in and as it gets closer to us, it'll bring a few scattered storms and showers Thursday. There's Thursday at 6 p.m. It may stall and bring more showers and thunderstorms on Friday. There's 2 p.m. Friday. There's 6 o'clock. You know, it looks like some decent coverage maybe on Friday. And that front will gradually wash out. But continue to bring us the potential for a few pop-up showers and thunderstorms as we get into the latter part of the week. This is a look at that tiny little pocket there just southeast of Goldsboro there with an inch and a half. And we had one of our weather watchers send us a photo of as much as two inches of rain in the rain gauge. So, you know, a few folks saw that. Today and tomorrow will really virtually stay dry. But 60 percent Thursday, 40 on Friday, 30 on Saturday. So we get back into that chance of a few afternoon showers and thunderstorms and our forecast rainfall through the weekend. The blue shaded area is about an inch. So if we could get an inch of rain in parts of our viewing area, boy, that would be much needed rain. Because look at this. Our percentage of normal rainfall for most of us is going to be zero in the past 30 days. There are a few pockets where it's yellow and maybe a little bit higher. But boy, boy, do we need the rain. Tropical satellite things are fairly quiet right now. We're watching what's happening down here across the Yucatan Peninsula into the Bay of Camp Peachy at 20 percent chance. There could be some development there in the next week or so. But it's pretty quiet in the tropics because we have dust from the Sahara Desert moving across from Africa. And that is a very dry air mass, not conducive to tropical systems developing. Yep, 100 degrees. If we hit that 100 tomorrow, it'll be the second day this week coming up in just a little while. We'll talk about how many 100-degree days we typically see in a summer kit. Oh, Elizabeth, say it isn't so. It's 620. Look at this. Nothing but green showing up on a map at this hour. Listen, if you got some more, just knock on it somewhere because this is unbelievable. All the major routes in Wake County, we're talking about the Beltline I-40, the alternate route that we send people on. I-540, nothing but a delay fee this morning. And that's great news. Let's take you outside and show you exactly what way this is backing up on. We've been talking about I-440 and Lake Bloom Trail. Both directions, free and clear at this hour. Ken, thanks, a Durham restaurant needs major repairs after a car smashed through the kitchen. What could hold a restaurant up from reopening even after that damage is fixed? A freaky Friday is making a return to the big screen. We'll have a look at the sequel that's now in the works coming up in what's trending. This What's Trending report sponsored by Rugged Home. Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lowen are returning and reuniting on the big screen. Can Swiss hear now with What's Trending Ken? Yeah, Renee and Jeff, both stars share this video you're about to see on social media showing them on the set of Freaky Friday 2. Disney says the sequel involves the daughter of Lowen's character. Other than that, producers are keeping quiet about the plot. The movie is due to come out sometime next year. Can you believe the original Freaky Friday came out in 2003? So, sequel coming out more than 20 years later. And it was Jamie Lee Curtis who brought up the idea and her interest in doing a sequel to Disney producers. Now it's in the works. Yeah, now Lowen has a kid. Yeah, that's right. The daughter's grown up. It's going to be exciting to see what that plot is all about. How about this? Will Smith returning to his hip hop roots? The BET Award says Smith will debut a new single in a live performance at the show Sunday night. He already has one new song out. Light him up from the Bad Boys Ride or Die soundtrack. Of course, that movie doing very well in the box office. Oh, yeah, it's killing it in the box office for sure. He's kind of leaning into his hip hop roots a little more lately. I think it was April. He jumped up on stage at Coachella and sang one of his old songs as well. So, BET Awards are just, they're happy to have him grace their stage. I always think of him as a Fresh Prince. Exactly. Okay, thanks. Film crew will be shooting a TV series on UNC Chapel Hills campus. It'll affect traffic and parking between July 8th and 10th. UNC says filming will largely take place outside. Maccorkle Place and surrounding buildings if you're going to be around the area during those days and times. You can expect delays. The road and parking closures will be in effect. We are unsure which TV show will be shot there, though. Red Hat Amphitheater is expecting a record-breaking year. A big boost to the local economy. The City of Raleigh says it has 51 concerts on the books for this year. That's the most it has hosted in a year and nearly three times the number. Since it opened in 2010. The social means an increase in revenue for nearby businesses. The City says Red Hat contributed more than $17.5 million to the local economy last year. A bill to legalize medical marijuana is getting closer to becoming law, but the new changes to that bill. There's a catch. What it means for the future of recreational marijuana in our state. And it's a warm start. We've heard our temperatures in the 60s and 70s. I'll show you what it will feel like this afternoon with the heat index and why it's likely to feel so much hotter tomorrow. And the home of the Carolina Panthers is in line for some major renovations. The deal between the team's owner and the City of Charlotte that will bring big changes to Bank of America Stadium. (upbeat music)