WRAL Newscasts
7PM News on WRAL - Monday, June 24, 2024
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 healthcare that helps people with all sorts of different painful conditions, such as headaches, neck pain, back pain, sciatica, and various different musculoskeletal conditions. But did you know that your doctor of chiropractic can actually help you improve your overall level of health? Visit nckiro.org/info for more. ♪♪ Breaking news, there are reports that Apple has paused its plans to build a campus in RTP. The big heat isn't going anywhere. I'll show you where the mercury is climbing this week. Plus, I'll show you who could see rain and who will have to keep their sprinkles going. Social media video shows a Fable Police Officer punching his Belgian metal wall like this one. They're machines, basically. The military uses them as tools, the police use them the same way. Fable Police are investigating. A 14-year-old boy bitten by a shark on our coast. We hired like a lot of emotion. How a witness who's sharing these photos is describing the chaotic moment that happened. ♪♪ Now, breaking news from WRAL, coverage you can count on. And that is where we will start tonight at 7 o'clock. Apple is pausing plans for a massive campus in Research Triangle Park. Thank you for joining us, I'm Dan Hagerty. That billion-dollar project was expected to be one of the largest in our state's history. Brian Schrader tracking this huge development in the WRAL Live Center, Brian. Big, big news, Dan. Just in the past 15 minutes, WRAL has confirmed that Apple has decided to delay the start of that campus in RTP, a government official with knowledge of the company's plans tells WRAL that the company briefed state officials about this last week. The plans were first announced back in 2021 to build that campus near Louis Stevens Drive in Little Drive, just north of 540 there in the RTP area around Morrisville. We reported in December that Apple had filed documents with Wake County planners detailing what to expect. There are 700,000 square feet of office space for 3,000 employees at least with the build-out beginning in 2026. But there are reports that the company has asked for another four years to begin that project. That matters because if Apple doesn't meet certain criteria, then they won't get the full amount of $800 million in state incentives. Now, this comes just about a month after VINFAST, that electric car maker, announced that it was delaying plans to build out a facility in the Triangle in the Moncure area. So, a lot going on here. We're working to gather more details about it. Aaron Thomas is on this story, and he'll have more tonight on our news at 10 and 11. Brian, thank you. We're also tracking two weather headlines tonight. We have the risk for severe storms in parts of our area, also the dangerous heat with temps climbing this week. Storms have pushed out for the most part, but the heat is not letting up. It could feel like 106 by Wednesday. Meteorologist Kat Campbell is in the WRAL Severe Weather Center with the details on both of these weather stories, Kat. Well, Dan, tomorrow we get just a tiny dip in humidity, but it's enough to make a difference. 95 is still the high, but the heat index won't be much higher than that. Dangerous heat returns quickly, though. Wednesday 100 degrees is our forecast high, and then you take into account the humidity. The heat index is over 105, and that's why we're considering a WRAL weather alert day on Wednesday. There could be a heat advisory Thursday and Friday. The heat index still in the triple digits outside with really no big relief in sight. The heat index right now, 106 in Fayetteville 109 in Clinton, 93 here in the triangle at this hour. We did have a cold front pass through. That brought a few storms to our eastern counties earlier this afternoon, and it brought some beneficial rainfall to a few neighborhoods, but not enough rain for us. We are going to see a North wind kick in behind this front, and that's why we get that brief humidity drop for tomorrow. We've got some better rain chances on the way, though, later this week. I'll outline when you have the best chance to finally see some rain for your garden and your grass coming up, Dan. We need it, Kat. Thank you. Some frightening moments at the North Carolina coast, a shark bit a 14-year-old boy. It happened at North Topso Beach over the weekend. WRAL's Aaron Thomas is in the studio joining us live now, and I guess one of the silver linings here, Aaron, the boy is expected to be okay. Again, that's the good news, Dan. In fact, a family member tells WRAL that this 14-year-old went into surgery and is recovering with medics, saving his leg and foot from the bite. Now, people at the beach helped the boy by putting pressure on the wound and wrapping it with towels. Well, Witness describes hearing a lot of commotion near the beach access number four. It was a busy day for first responders. Two officers and EMS were already at the beach responding to a report of someone else being found unconscious. As they were finishing up that call, they found out someone else had been bit. The police chief of North Topsoil says the boy wasn't very far out in the water when the bite happened. 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 lower part. Now, WRAL investigates has covered our fear of sharks on our coast before you can get all the information on WRAL.com. Aaron, thank you. We were going to try and go to the live center there. That's why we had that a bit of a delay, but we're going to check back in with Brian and see what he has in just a bit. In the meantime, a popular Durham restaurant closed indefinitely after a car crashed through the side of the building. There's stunning surveillance video of this. It shows the moments that Akia came flying through the wall. Imagine if any of the employees had been working there. Luckily, no one was there at the time. No one was hurt at all in this. None of the employees or customers, I should say. The manager there tells WRAL that speeding was an issue in that part of Fayetteville Street in the past, and he says he's relieved. There were no injuries this time. Greatful. Greatful that everything came out okay. Nobody's hurt. Fortunately, it is a damage to the building, but that is repairable. We can fix that. That's not an issue. We're just glad that everyone was okay. Durham police say Brandon Lovett was cited for reckless driving. He was hurt, but not seriously. While construction should be completed quickly at that restaurant, the reopening is subject to the health department approval since the crash was in the kitchen. Video of a Fayetteville police officer punching his dog several times after a traffic stop, he's getting a lot of attention on social media. The police chief saying that the incident is under investigation, and we want to warn you the video that we see of this is a bit disturbing. WRL's Gilbert Beige took the video to a professional dog trainer to get some perspective on this. So this is a Belgian melon wab. The military and civilian police use the dogs to sniff out drugs and for apprehension. Video shows a Fayetteville police officer punching his dog, so what was that all about? The incident happened over the weekend after a traffic stop in a Walgreens parking lot. The video was about 12 seconds long. It shows a Fayetteville police officer punching his Belgian melon wab at least three times. As the officer attempts to take the animal back to his patrol car, it looks like the dog sniffed at him. That's when he grabbed the animal by its snout and lifted it off the ground. This is what a Belgian melon wab is trained to do. Shelley Dresser is a former canine handler for the Washington DC Police Department. This is a retired police dog named Mako. But he's a bike dog. He is trained to take down a control of suspect on a calm, collective bite. It's a little hard to see in the video, but according to the police department, the canine was biting the officer. We're told the punches were thrown to get the dog to release. Are you surprised that he punched the dog to try to get a release? No. There could have been a different way, like if he was wearing the right kind of collar, then he could have pulled them off at. But in that set of circumstances, your brain just reacts to what you need to do to protect your body and protect yourself. The police department released this statement about the incident, which says the Fayetteville police department is aware of a video circulating of an interaction between a canine officer and his canine. The incident is being investigated by our internal affairs office. We want to ensure to our community we take the concerns seriously and are taking all the necessary actions. So once again, this is not the dog in question. Fayetteville police say they are conducting an investigation to get to the bottom of what happened. In Fayetteville, Gilbert Bays, W.R.E.L. News. And along those lines, the police chief is asking anyone who witnessed that incident to contact his department. Back here in the W.R.E.O. Live Center, when it take you live to downtown Raleigh in the state legislative building where any moment now we're expecting the state senate to begin voting on its budget plan, a $31.4 billion budget proposal. You might remember last week we told you that the state house had approved its own budget plan. And right now, both sides are at an impasse. One of the key differences is that the house budget includes hundreds of million dollars more on small additional raises for teachers and other state employees. The house says that it's not even going to consider the senate's budget plan here. Of course, you can read more on W.R.E.L.com in our NC Capital section. We'll do. Alright, Brian, thank you. The manufacturer of popular weight loss and diabetic drugs, Osempic and Whigovie, announced it's investing billions of dollars, billions into Johnston County. Officials are calling it the largest science investment in the state's history. It's a story W.R.E.L. First brought you last week. The $4.1 billion investment will quadruple the size of the company's Clayton facility and add 1,000 jobs with a minimum salary of $69,000 a year. Something that will bring benefits to the entire region. And this enhances, without a doubt, the living standards of employees and it provides substantial tax revenues that support public safety, infrastructure, schools, and so many others of the needs of families and businesses. The manufacturer says that this should help supply issues also with Whigovie and Osempic. The company announced it saw a 31% increase in sales last year due in large part to the drugs, construction of the expanded facility is expected to be finished by 2027 through 2029. Coming up, the cost of family meals may continue to rise. That's because of no rain and crops dying in the heat. See how it may affect your family's budget. Plus, Red Hat Amphitheater is on track for a record-breaking year. We're going to get a look at their growth in downtown Raleigh. 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 health care that improves mobility and overall health while keeping your posture in tip-top shape. Find yours today at nciro.org/poster. ♪♪ Today, groups on both side of the abortion debate gathered in Raleigh. Today, marking two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The ruling led to the state law changes across the country and here in North Carolina. Our state law bans abortions after 12 weeks. There are some exceptions, though. Some groups are fighting to maintain any restrictions while others are fighting to get rid of them. A reproductive rights rally was held outside of the state legislative building this afternoon. Women from all over the state joined the sponsors of the rally, the North Carolina National Organization for Women, and the ERA North Carolina Alliance. For many of these women, this was a personal issue. We have to stand in our power and demand more. We need to demand more at the ballot boxes. We need to demand more by sending emails, by having phone calls, calling elected officials, watching and protecting women, and helping support our community to make sure that everyone has safe access to the care that they need. Just a few hours earlier, not far from the legislative building in that group, there was another group on the other side of the issue, and they gathered there. The NC values coalition came together, brought women together from across the state to talk about how the Dobbs decision has or is impacting them. Some focused on the changes in state law. Others spoke about their personal experiences. Unfortunately, because North Carolina now has the most liberal abortion law in the southeast, our state continues to be an abortion destination. Women from neighboring states are always going to regret their abortions and remember that they brought their babies to North Carolina to die. The battle over abortion rights continues to play out in courts across the country. Fourteen states have fully banned abortions. Abortions are legal in all the states you see in yellow. More voter resources are coming to Wake County. This summer, the county's public libraries are partnering with state elections staff to help people make sure that their voter registration is up to date and answer any election questions that they have about Election Day. You can get your voter photo voter ID, which is now required if you don't have a state issued ID. The events are happening at eight local libraries on Saturdays. This summer, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., they run through August 17. The first debate of this year's presidential election is just days away. The debate is this Thursday at 9 p.m. It will air right here on WRAL. And back here in the WRAL Live Center as we continue to follow that big breaking news that Apple is delaying the construction of its campus at RTP. We are hearing from Apple since we reported this at the top of our newscast. Apple saying that it is deeply committed to growing our teams here in the triangle area. Also, we have heard from Governor Roy Cooper saying I've spoken with officials at Apple and they have emphasized their commitment to build this transformative campus here in North Carolina. We're also hearing from Wake County Commissioners and officials at RTP and they're all reiterating the same idea that Apple still is committed to the triangle just on a longer timeline. Alright, thank you for that update. We'll continue to get more of those for you throughout the evening as we learn more. Anytime dry, hot conditions in our state are taking a huge toll on farmers as well as everybody's wallets. Big cash crops that farmers rely upon for their own families are withering under a long heat spell. WRL's Gerald Owens explains how it trickles down to all of us. The Robertson family in Wayne County invested a lot of time and money on farm crops like corn. Betsy Robertson holds one of this season's disappointments. And when that pollination doesn't occur, the kernels don't develop. Overall, for us, if it doesn't rain, this is kind of what we end up with. Wade Robertson says the impact has hit farmers far and wide. And we're not just having a hot weather here in the US and the southeast. We're having it around the world. NC State economist Mike Walden calls it a strong chain reaction in the agricultural market, including a rise in costs at the dinner table. In other words, what people want someone bought at the grocery store in the meat area this year. It's likely up double digits. He projects the cost could go up by 25% over last year. This impacts everything from soybeans, peanuts, even tobacco. A crop that has helped farmers cover their losses in the past. The plan is really under stress. The farm service agency's executive director Bob Etheridge sees no change in the forecast. It's one thing not to get rain, it's another thing when you have a day after day of 95 to 98 to 100 degrees. The loss has taken a toll. You hear mental stress right now for farmers. That's a big thing. They're mental well-being. Because it is stressful to know you're losing thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Gerald Owens, W.R.E.L. News. A little farmer right there getting ready for the job. Bob Etheridge also says that not only are farmers losing their crops, but they're also losing their investments. The money that they use to buy items like diesel fuel and seeds. Of course, we'll take a live look right now outside at Beaufort. Just absolutely gorgeous as we take a look there at the coast. Wasn't like that all day today. Those severe storms actually hitting parts of our coast. A meteorologist Kat Campbell joining us with some of that severe weather that moved out. And more on the heat that they were talking about and that our farmers are dealing with across the state. It's been really rough. We're sitting at zero to 10% of normal rainfall over the past 30 days. Clinton was one of the lucky spots, though, that saw some rain earlier today. It was just a couple of lucky neighborhoods that saw the rain in the eastern part of our viewing area. But I did want to give a shout out to Melissa Hayes for sending in this picture. I had asked on her five o'clock news for some photos of rain gauges in the areas that saw rain. In Walnut Creek, which is southern Wayne County, she actually saw over two inches of rain. So at least there was some rain there today. But most of us are bone dry. I mean, the grass is crunchy at my house today. Past 30 days, 0% of our normal rainfall for a lot of our viewing areas. So we've been dry for more than two weeks in some places. And we don't have any widespread soaking rain on the horizon. However, we have some rain in the forecast. We at least have a chance would likely be less than a quarter of an inch unless you get a thunderstorm that sets up over your house. If you need to keep watering, at least there will be an opportunity for rain, but not enough to stop watering your gardens or your lawn. 20% rain chance on Wednesday, 60% Thursday. Thursday is going to be our best chance for rain over the next seven, a 40% chance Friday, down to 30% Saturday, and perhaps another better chance by Sunday. We did see a cold front move through today, and that's what brought some storms to the eastern part of our viewing area. Behind this front, we get a north wind, so our humidity goes down a little bit tomorrow. It's still going to be pretty hot out there tomorrow. But let's talk about Thursday, our best chance for rain. 93, we are rooting for you, farmers. We hope that this shows up right at your house. Just 60% chance. Again, this isn't going to be an all day soaking rain, but during the afternoon and evening, we should see some scattered storms return to the forecast Thursday. We're also keeping an eye on the tropics. A lot of people have been asking on Facebook or on my email, you know, what are the chances that maybe we get a good tropical system, a weak one to come through, or at least some remnants that could help with our storms. This could help with our dry pattern. Well, it's not looking good. The only area that we're watching over the next week is right in here. As it moves all the way closer to the Bay of Campeche, the Yucatan Peninsula, there is only a 20% chance it develops. There's a lot of Sahara dust out in the main development region of the Atlantic right now, and that's going to put a pause on tropical development for a little bit, which is good news in some ways, but, you know, a very weak tropical system or some remnants could really help us out, which is how dry it's been lately. And that may be our only way of escaping a drought as we move throughout the next couple of months, something to keep in mind. 95 for the high tomorrow. We had 97 today. We're going to be up to 100 on Wednesday. Be careful out there Wednesday in the seed, and then hot human conditions continue through the weekend. You just don't see those triple digits in the forecast all that often. No, we only average one day in the triple digits a year. All right. Thank you, Kat. Our area will be well represented in this summer's Olympic Games. You're going to hear from a local diver who sealed his trip to Paris over the weekend. 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. Red Hat Amphitheater on track for a record-breaking year. The city of Raleigh says it has 51 concerts on the books. That's the most concerts it's hosted in a year. It actually nearly triples the total from when the venue first opened in 2010. So just consider that growth. With the spike in concerts comes an increase in revenue also for the businesses nearby. The city says Red Hat Amphitheater has contributed more than $17.5 million in economic impact for the community just last year alone. Andrew Capobianco, the pride of Holly Springs you could call him. He's qualified for the USA Olympic diving team for the second time in his career. And he's ready to show the world what he can do on the biggest stage yet again. He won a silver medal at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. His focus now is preparing his mind and his body to compete against the best in the world in Paris. I was really happy with how it went. It's been a tough road to get here with some injuries and just some stuff like that. But I'm just really proud of myself and really thankful for everyone that helped me get here. He's a very, very good diver, but he is a ton better person. A good message from Dad there, huh? So in a few weeks Andrew is going to head to Germany for an Olympic pre-camp as they call it, where he and his teammates will allow their bodies and their minds to adjust to the time change. And it's everything they got to do to settle in before they then head to Paris. American athletes are also competing in the team USA track and field trials. UNC's Ethan Strand is going to be racing for a spot on the Olympic team tonight. He qualified for the men's 1500 meter final with his performance at the trials on Sunday. So best of luck to him. Another athlete competing tonight who has some ties to our area is Dylan Beard. He trains with NC State. Beard is going to compete in the 110 meter hurdles. Again, that is tonight. Good luck to all of them. Track and field Olympic trials start actually in about 30 minutes. So please stick around right here on WRAL and tune in. You'll be watching some of the people who will be competing for our country looking for those medals in Paris. Thanks for making WRAL news your choice for local news. We'll see you back on Fox 50 at 10, you know, WRAL at 11. Until then have a great night. 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 thedesignery.com.