Noon News on WRAL - Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Showing mention at 15:03 — highlighted below
Transcript
110 segmentsAnother chance for thunderstorms today. I'll walk you through the timeline and let you know if you'll see any severe storms. New search warrant. More information about the woman accused of shooting two attorneys in downtown Raleigh. What we're learning about her pass plus an additional threat she's accused of making. TST kicks off. Soccer teams from around the world are in carry to play for a million dollar prizes. What you need to know about all the action plus all the traffic around Wickmet Soccer Park. A lot of cloud cover, very sticky out there, and another round of storms is possible today. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Renee Chu. I'm Chris Leving it. Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. Meteorologist Amy Wilmuth is in the WRIL Severe Weather Center to show us when the storms could move through. So what's the timeline, Amy? Today it's going to be very late in the day, likely after sunset, maybe a little bit before sunset. And I think most of the activity will be focused in our northern counties. Right now, our radar is nice and quiet. Just a couple of sprinkles here and there. Today, the difference between the last couple of days and today, most of the energy is up to the north. And so that's where we have a higher threat for scattered showers and storms and the potential for severe weather. Our northern counties are under a level one severe threat today. The biggest threat would be some damaging winds. some heavy downpours, but with most the energy north of the triangle, there's certainly a better chance for those storms in the northern part of our viewing area. So hour by hour, just a small chance for rain during the evening commute. It's really after that that we have about a 30% chance of a stray shower or storm. So let's check out future cast. This is around 7 o'clock this evening. Still no rain in our area, mainly to the north of us. But once we get to around 8 o'clock, again, it's mainly our northern counties seeing the bulk of the shower and thunderstorm activity. and that could continue until around 10, 11 o'clock tonight before it moves out of the area. And we do have the chance for another round of storms tomorrow. And we'll talk more about that coming up in about 15 minutes. This is a live look at Clinton right now, a little breezy out there, a lot of cloud cover. It's definitely on the muggy side. We have some gusts at 23 miles per hour in Fayetteville, 24-mile-per-hour gusts right now in Rocky Mountain. It's definitely warm as well with temperatures in the 70s and 80s. These numbers are going to be more comfortable over the weekend, and I'll also talk more about that coming up in just a bit. I'm Laura Levine in the WRL Live Center this noon. We have an update on the death investigation related to an apparent dog attack in Chatham County. Investigators in Chatham County now say that they have arrested this morning. Someone in connection to this case, we're talking about Dennis O'Keefeulkner. He now faces a one-count involuntary manslaughter. Of course, this stems back to that March 19th investigation. Early in the investigation, he was charged with three counts of misdemeanor, allowing animals to roam at large, prohibited. counts of misdemeanor for vaccination violation. This all happened on Austin Road, as we know where Betty Austin was found deceased with those animals surrounding her. So of course, we're going to continue to follow the latest and a new information that continues to come from this investigation. Quite a development in that story. Laura, thank you. The woman who is accused of shooting two attorneys in Raleigh was apparently on law enforcement's radar nearly nine months ago. Gwendolyn White will be held behind bars with no bond as she goes through a mental health evaluation to determine if she can proceed to trial. WRL Sean Gallagher joins us now. So, Sean, walk us through what we've learned about what happened nine months ago.
Well, Renee, Raleigh Police put out a patrol advisory about Gwendolyn White back in August after she allegedly called in a threat here to the Duke Raleigh Hospital on Wake Forest Road. That document meant to be an internal heads up to officers about potential hazards. All of this, part of a long paper trail of incidents involving White, including the latest motion filed yesterday during her court appearance as the courts determined her capacity to proceed with a mental health exam. The document indicates White has no memory of Friday's shooting because she claims a car crash she was involved in a month ago. It also says she believes there are constant threats on her life from law enforcement and neighbors because she refused to turn over schematics of the Pentagon to the police. She also claims both herself and her mother were poisoned, which caused her mother's death. Now, the motion indicates White will be held at Central Regional Hospital in Butner for no longer than 60 days as she goes on. this mental health evaluation, but her case is expected to be back in a courtroom here in Wake County in about two and a half weeks, though it's not determined at this point if that will be delayed as we wait for the results from this continuing mental health exam. But of course, we will keep up with it as it goes on. Outside of Duke Rally Hospital, Sean Gallagher, WRL News. Sean, thank you. We have all our coverage of the Wake County Courthouse shooting on the WRL YouTube channel. You can find Gwendolyn White's civil case history, witness accounts, and video of her being taken into custody. It's all in a playlist labeled attorneys shot outside Raleigh Courthouse. A former Greensboro adult video store worker is suing former lieutenant governor Mark Robinson. He wants to collect money that he spent defending himself during Robinson's 2024 run for governor. Lewis Money conducted interviews with WRL and other media outlets in 2024 about the Republican politician. Money said Robinson used to frequently visit his porn shop. Robinson sued money for defamation, but then dropped that lawsuit after losing to Democrat Josh Stein. On a recent podcast, Robinson admitted to a pornography obsession. Money says that it's proof Robinson's defamation lawsuit was, quote, political theater. And now he wants a court to force Robertson to repay the thousands of dollars he claims he lost after being sued. Robertson's attorney for the defamation case did not immediately respond to our request for comment. The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is spreading faster than the response. This morning, Uganda ordered the immediate closure of the border with Congo as more than 220 deaths are now believed to be linked to the outbreak. NBC's Molly Hunter reports. The International Rescue Committee warns this could become the deadliest on record without urgent action. This morning, fears about the Ebola outbreak are growing as cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo are surging, surpassing 1,000. Communities are afraid. People are dying. They are looking for support. There are a lot of rumors that are circulating infodemic everywhere. The WHO is expanding its outreach, sharing information about how the virus is spread.
We're raising awareness to prevent the worst, this woman says, carrying a megaphone through this refugee camp. But how are we supposed to protect ourselves? Another woman asks, we don't even have soap. As the international response ramps up, the New York Times reports the Trump administration plans to send Americans exposed to Ebola to Kenya rather than bringing them back to the U.S. citing three people with knowledge of the plants. The Times reporting that public health service officers are now being trained to deploy to Kenya. In past Ebola outbreaks, like back in 2014, infected Americans were flown home for treatment in specialized medical units. During that outbreak, some patients were treated at the same number facility, now monitoring Americans exposed to haunt a virus on a cruise ship earlier this month. The U.S. has already evacuated two American doctors from the DRC to Europe. Dr. Patrick La Rochelle, who has flown to Prague, told the Washington Post he speaks with his colleague Dr. Peter Stafford regularly, who's receiving treatment in Berlin, and adds he's doing, quote, a lot better. Dr. La Rochelle, who's still asymptomatic, also said he felt proud to be an American when he was safely evacuated, adding, what hurts is knowing that is not available to the vast majority of people, and certainly not to my friends in Congo.
And today we learned that the number of hauntivirus cases linked to a cruise ship at the center of the outbreak has increased to 13. Spain confirmed a second case among the passengers who are in quarantine. Haunted viruses are rodent-borne viruses that can infect people and cause illness. Three people have died from the most recent outbreak. However, there have been no new deaths since May 2nd. And happening now here in the WRL Live Center, amazing new video coming in of the moment of when two divers found the five missing miners who were trapped in that Laos, Thailand, a cave here. This is a video that was posted on Instagram by diver, Amiko Pasi. He says that you could see them there huddled on a rock. Their head torch is still illuminated. The five villagers who had been trapped almost a week now, missing, unknown if they were alive or dead for eight days inside the flooded caves. He says, what a feeling here. this post. The task so far has been far from easy and everybody involved has done amazing work. Fighting the villagers provided only a brief relief though he says because of course we know two others are still missing at this time and they're not able to extract them from the cave just yet. Oh, goodness. Well, hopefully the people who were recovered, their health is otherwise great. Thank you, Laura. Well, the battle for millions of dollars and prizes is happening right now in Kerry. I'm talking about the soccer tournament. It is bringing tens of thousands of soccer fans to watch dozens of teams from around the world play to win. And W. REL's Carly Haynes is live at Wake Met Soccer Park in Carrie, where all that action is happening. And Carly, some pretty big names are here for this six-day tournament. It is a star-studded event, and you mentioned some of those prizes. It goes beyond the million-dollar prize for each tournament. They also get a chance at winning this, and that's for the winning team of each separate tournament. So that includes the men's team. For the first year, we have the mixed tournament, and then also the women's tournament. And look at the detail on this. This is thousands of beads. It took months to make, but it's not for keeping. It's actually for smashing. So the winner of each tournament will get to smash. Their winning ball at the very end. And we've already seen some celebrities take the field. So, for example, we have the Kings League All-Stars. They got started just about an hour ago against City Soccer FC. Kings League is led by FC Barcelona icon and all-star defender Gerard Piquet. It is their first time at TST. We know Dreamville FC. That's backed by the label of North Carolina native J. Cole. They won their match today. to two and the fans are out here for the matches for the activities and of course a chance to meet some of those celebrities everybody here loves the game and you can just feel that walking around you see the excitement on people's faces when they see a certain player a certain team and it's just a different atmosphere than a regular soccer game too which is really cool And Kings League All-Stars will play again. That will be at 6.45 this evening. And then in just about 30 minutes, former NFL wide receiver, Chad Ojosenko, will take the field. So we mentioned it was a star-studded day of events, and it'll continue throughout the week. Carly Haynes, WRL News, live and carry.
Just make sure you tell Chad Otocenko it's pronounced Kerry, not Kari, so he knows that, Carly. Well, WRIL will have coverage of the first day of TSD all day long, and we are going to be at Weight Mac Soccer Park for the entire tournament. And just a heads up, we're also going to broadcast some games live right here on WRL. And just a reminder, we are expecting huge crowds of people, especially in this area. So we want to be mindful of congestion if you're traveling in and around the Saka Park. We know that East Chatham Street is going to be experiencing some heavy delays with that flow of traffic of people trying to get in and out of the park. So your best friend is going to be southeast Maynard Road here, taking Chapel Hill Road to get around the area. We know from previous reporting last year there was a little bit congestion, but the flow was pretty steady. Something still to be mindful this weekend. through Monday. Leave that area to game traffic only. All right. Thank you so much, Laura. Tonight, the Carolina Hurricanes will hope to further their quest for the Cup. We are less than eight hours away from game four of the Eastern Conference final in Montreal against the Canadians. The canes lead the series, two games to one. They got wins in overtime for games two and three. The Cains have dropped just one game during their entire play of runs so far. The Cains are emphasizing the need to keep the pressure on their opponent during each game. It's a staple of our game in the sense. It's a five-man forecheck where, you know, when those guys are going back for pucks, they're like, oh, crap, I've got to go back for a puck again. So, you know, it's a compliment to our forwards in the way they forecheck and make it miserable for them. Puck drop for tonight's game is at 8. Tune into our 11 p.m. newscast for all the highlights. Well, next at noon, fainting while waiting for the Pope. You can see the moment the Holy Father stepped in after extreme heat got the best of a follower of Christ. And taking a lunar ride, a preview of the companies working to build full-sized versions of vehicles that will traverse the moon. And all about aluminum, where the beverage industry is being affected most because of the war in Iran. Plus, what's being done to curb concerns right here in America. Coming up next, sea storms moving in with WRL's exclusive dual Doppler 5,000. Sponsored by the WRL Weather app. Download now for live radar.
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We have some new information this noon about former Attorney General Pam Bondi. She announced today that she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, reporting this news to CNN earlier today. This comes, of course, after she left the Justice Department in April. Pam Bondi said that she is undergoing treatment, including having surgery a few weeks ago, and tell CNN that she's still recovering and doing well. Now, President Donald Trump fired Pam Bondi as Attorney General in early April, and Todd Blanche is now serving as actor, Attorney General. She is scheduled to testify on Friday in the House Oversight Committee's Jeffrey Epstein probe as well. Laura, thank you. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara has resigned after investigators discovered he had interfered with an investigation. The mayor says O'Hara came under scrutiny last year after a complaint that O'Hara was having inappropriate sexual relationships with city employees. While the accusation was not substantiated, investigators later learned that he did interfere with that probe by deleting a contact card from a cell phone and telling another person. about the details of the investigation. Former President Joe Biden is suing the Justice Department over plans to release recordings tied to a memoir project. Biden filed a lawsuit yesterday seeking to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts. Now, these are from private conversations with a ghost writer during work on his 2017 memoir. The case follows a Freedom of Information Act request from the Heritage Foundation, and that organization later sued for access to the materials. Biden's attorneys say the DOJ recently reversed its decision to withhold the records, and Biden argues the conversations contain deeply personal. Personal information protected from public disclosure under federal law. Well, looks like Volvo can keep selling vehicles with connected car technology in the U.S. In January of last year, the Biden administration finalized rules to effectively ban nearly all Chinese cars and trucks, and this was because of concerns the software could spy on American drivers. I should say this was something that was done during the Biden administration, not during 2015. 2025, I should say. Volvo is a majority owned by Chinese automaker Gile, and it currently imports nearly all of its cars from Europe. Pope Leo helped a man who fainted while waiting in line to shake hands with him at St. Peter Square today. Rome is dealing with record spring heat. The pontiff rushed to the man's side as staff offered him assistance. And they ushered the man away in a wheelchair while holding an umbrella over him to protect him from the sun. Rome is under a red alert tomorrow as well.
No record heat for us this week, but we certainly have a very, very humid air. It is. Right? I mean, this humidity is just something else. It's pretty thick out there. That's going to change this weekend, which is good news. Got to wait a few days. Yeah, definitely still muggy. We have a little bit of a breeze out there today, which is helping it feel a little bit better as well. So the next weathermaker, it's really the same weathermaker we've had over the last several days. It's this frontal boundary that's to the north of us. Most of the energy today is either to the north of us or well to the south of. us. We still have some energy so we can't roll out an isolated shower storm, but most of those should come in the northern part of our viewing area. The severe risk today, there's a level two risk over parts of Virginia, a level one out of five risk for our northern counties, and the biggest threat would be some damaging wind gusts. But this won't happen until much later in the day. I think we're probably okay through the evening commute, aside from maybe a shower or two. Most of the storms will hold off until after the commute, and again, focused in the northern part of our viewing area. This is around 10 o'clock tonight. Still some storms in our northern counties. And then tomorrow morning, mainly dry, we'll have some clouds across the area. Notice the coverage tomorrow of storms is not very big at all. I'll keep the 30% chance for storms in there for now. But most of you, I think, are going to stay dry through the day tomorrow. About a 30% chance today and tomorrow, a 20% chance Friday. And then models indicating we have a slightly better chance for some rain on Saturday. That would be late in the day. Sunday and Monday looked dry. And it went ahead and bumped up. Tuesday's rain chance to a 20%. For now, it does look like we could see at least a couple of isolated showers or storms. The forecast rainfall. Okay, so anywhere from a tenth of an inch to about a quarter of an inch possible in the next week or so. We get a new drought monitor tomorrow. I don't expect big improvements. Maybe in our southern counties because they've had some really good rain over the last few days, but we still need 11 to 14 inches within one month to get us out of this drought. And in the next seven days, a tenth of an inch to a quarter of an inch, that's not going. to do it for us. Spring so far, so this is for Raleigh. Still the driest on record, despite the recent rain that we've had. We've had almost four inches at RDAU. That puts us at about six and a half below normal for the spring months. Coming up in the next half hour, I'll talk more about the percentages of whether or not we're going to get out of this drought or not anytime soon. It does not look good. But again, it'll be interesting to see the new drought monitor tomorrow. I don't expect big changes, though. Live look at Fayetteville, one of the spots that's had some good rain. In fact, they have an inch above normal for the month of May. They're doing pretty good down there for the month of May, but definitely cloudy there, a little breezy. Temperatures are in the 70s for most of us. It's also very muggy with Mike DeWine points in the low 70s. So Renee is right. It definitely feels sticky. If you're headed to the soccer tournament and carry, prepare for the humidity. It'll be warm this afternoon. And then an isolated shower storm, but I think most of those will stay north of Kerry. So we have some storms possible today and tomorrow. Friday, we're looking good. Storms are possible Saturday. Sunday, the humidity drops should be beautiful with highs back in the mid-70s. Nice. Yeah. Not bad about that. All right, thanks, Amy. All right, getting Raleigh's storm ready. As hurricane season begins this weekend, Raleigh is spending millions of dollars to handle flooding concerns across the city. So, new at 530, find out whether the city's stormwater systems are ready for the next major storm.
Plus, families want answers. Parents and students are speaking out after several students were left out of a local high school yearbook. New at six, what the Chapel Hill Carborough District says went wrong and the steps now being taken to make it right. Plus, hot lawsuit. Carnival Cruise passenger says a walk across the pool deck left him seriously burned and now he's demanding millions of dollars. What the lawsuit says passengers were not told before stepping onto the deck. Just reminder, if you see breaking news, maybe you have a story tip or you took video and pictures of weather where you are. Go ahead and report that to us at w.org.com. here in the WRL Life Center. The Trump administration has refunded more than $20 billion in refunds so far in tariff refunds, I should say, to importers and shippers, according to a court filing. Now, this comes after the Supreme Court struck down the cornerstone of President Donald Trump's trade policy in February. You may remember the administration had relied on authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to collect more than $165 billion in country-specific tariffs from importers since the state. start of Trump's term. The High Court found that these tariffs exceeded that the permitted response there. So now those tariffs are being refunded. They're looking at $85 billion total that's being processed right now with $20 billion already being sent out. This is something we've been telling viewers was possible given the situation. Okay, thank you, Laura. Well, time is running out for Krispy Kreme employees to cash in on a data breach settlement. The lawsuit stems from a 2024 data breach that exposed employees' data. Well, now those employees can cash in on a $1.6 million settlement. The average payout is expected to be about $75. However, employees with documented losses could earn up to $3,500. People who were affected have already been notified, and the deadline to submit a claim is June 22nd. A Carnival Cruise Line's guest is suing the company for $5 million. The Florida man claims that he burned his feet on the ship's pool deck. A passenger allegedly burned his feet while walking barefoot on the decks aboard the Carnival Magic. This was in May of 2025. And according to his lawsuit, the man had second-degree burns while making the roughly 20-step walk between the ship's pool and deck chairs. The suit claims there were no signs warning passengers. about the risk of getting burned by the deck's surface. More than two dozen carnival guests over the six years prior to the incident suffered similar burns on the cruise lines ships. Spotify wants to be the home of everything audio-related. It's now bringing narrated magazine articles to the app. Premium subscribers will be able to access the service as part of their 15 hours of audio book listening per month. Customers can choose articles from several publications, including Vogue, Rolling Stone, and GQ. No subscription? No problem. You can purchase standalone articles for $1.99 each.
I wonder who's like narrating it, though, like different voices? Like Morgan Friedman? I don't know. I might try that service. Or maybe Chris Lovinggood down the room. Hey. You have a good audio voice. I would happily do that. Well, coming up on our next half hour, a man was injured in a shooting at a Durham apartment complex. The information that we have confirmed with police and the status of the investigation. Also, why the war on Iran is now being blamed for a shortage of aluminum. That's essential in manufacturing cans for sodas and other products. What U.S. companies are doing to make sure the aluminum supply does not run out. And here's a look at your winning North Carolina education lottery numbers. Now, breaking news from WRAL, coverage you can count on. As I'm breaking news are following as St. Augustine's leaders are answering some questions about the school's financial trouble. It's part of one of two hearings today related to its bankruptcy filing. Lawyers representing federal agencies are president at this, and that includes the IRS and the U.S. Department of Education. Their attorneys ask questions, alluding to allegations that school incorrectly used millions of dollars in federal grant money. The SAU board chair confirmed investigations are happening. And in court, the chairwoman said she believes this may link the efforts to make payroll. Now, we have reported on St. Augustine University's financial problems for years. And in some cases, we spoke with employees who said they were not getting paid for an extended period of time. Police are investigating after a man was found shot at the Oxford Manor apartment in Durham. W.R.'s Kelsey Coffey arrived on scene in the W.R. Breaking News tracker and is working to find out more on the victim's condition. Officers spent nearly three hours here outside of Oxford Manor investigating after they found a man that was shot four times. You're looking at video from the WRL breaking news tracker where you can see crime scene tape surrounding part of the area. Police say that man was rushed to the hospital. We're working to get an update on his injuries. Police say they're still searching for that shooter. Now just for context, Oxford Manor is an affordable housing community here in Durham. In the last couple months, the city announced plan. to add more security cameras and lining around the community after five shootings happened here in less than a year and a half. Right now we're working to get an update on plans to install that new system as well as an update on the search for the shooter. Kelsey Coffey W.O.R. News in Durham. A report shows teacher union memberships plummeted in our state. In fact, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute says the state has seen the second biggest drop in the past 20 years. And that's significant because the state hasn't even passed any reforms to weaken unions, unlike in other states. The North Carolina Association of Educators is the state's biggest teacher union. It held a rally on May 1st, you may recall. Thousands of educators from all across the state demanded more school funding. It's unclear, though, whether that rally boosted membership.
And today in Johnson County, the town of Jay Clayton is kicking off summer there. A free event in the town square will celebrate the last day of school. There will be water, slides, music, games, and activities for all ages. And the party is today from 3 to 6 p.m. A great way to usher in summer. Well, the war on Iran has been blamed for skyrocketing gas prices, shortages of fertilizer for farmers, and now parts of the world are noticing aluminum shortages. Caroline Elliott looks at whether Americans should be concerned. A shortage of Diet Coke for some is worse than the 2020 shortage of toilet paper. In India, where Diet Coke is only sold in cans, the recent scarcity of aluminum due to the Iran War has sparked, quote, Diet Coke parties with loyal consumers decorating cans of their favorite beverage as a token of their support. So basically, this is our way of an ode to the entire shortage of Diet Coke. And with the... I think a lot of people are, you know, trying to sort of keep the Diet Coke as an aesthetic, as a keepsake. But here in the United States, aluminum industry leaders say it's unlikely shelves will go bare of the beloved beverage anytime soon. Yes, this is serious. Yes, they are having to work hard to adjust, but that they are doing exactly that. Aluminum Association CEO Charles Johnson says its members have been closely monitoring the situation in the Strait of Hormuz. The disruption from the Gulf and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, it's really serious for our industry. It represents a large-scale supply chain disruption, one that we, on a scale that we haven't seen in many years. And out of time when gas prices have already skyrocketed due to the chokehold in the street. Our view is that it is a temporary increase. Johnson says it's no surprise Americans are growing increasingly concerned about aluminum. Still, he says the industry is making real-time adjustments and working hard to secure the nation's supply does not run dry. So we are investing in the U.S. economy like we never have before. We're putting more manufacturing right here at home, and we're recycling more. And that was Caroline Elliott reporting. While there may not be a shortage of aluminum cans here in the U.S., aluminum prices are going up. They've now surged to four-year high since the war began. Local law enforcement teamed up this morning for a 10-mile run for a very good cause. Oake County Sheriff's Office held its annual torch run for Special Olympics, and this is video you're seeing here of the staging area for Wake County deputies at Little River Park in Zebulin. Members of Zebulan PD handed off the torch to Wake Deputies. They passed it to Nightdale Police who handed it back to Wake County deputies. And from there, the deputies ran the torch to Raleigh. Participants say it's such a great way to build camaraderie and raise money for Special Olympics. It's a grassroots fundraising organization that helps provide money to Special Olympics to benefit athletes for health screenings, special events, and that sort of thing to help them, you know, feel included and get a sense of teamwork and, you know, get some workouts into. And listen to this. Since it started, the law enforcement torch run raised more than $30 million for Special Olympics, North Carolina. That's amazing.
Big win all around. Well, the Coachella of soccer is now underway in Kerry. We are talking about the soccer tournament. TST brings together top players, celebrities, and clubs from all around the world to compete for three $1 million winner-take-all prizes. The tournament includes 48 men's teams and 16 women's teams, as well as a new... mixed tournament. Fans get up close to the action over the next six days, which feature over 160 high stakes matches. There's live entertainment, international food, as well as giveaways. And count on WRL for live reports from the tournament in our later newscasts. Well, the benefits of boredom. Why feeling bored is something for children and parents to embrace, not fear once the kids are on summer break. Plus building a moon base. The company is working with NASA to build special lunar vehicles to go along with it. Our team is working to bring you exclusive stories. And for coverage you'll only find on WRL, visit WRL.com and search the word only.
Breaking news here in the WRL Live Center, the Sanford Police Department releasing new information about an overnight house fire. They have identified the person who was killed, and we now know it was a Lee County. school board member who died in this early morning fire. Police say a 59-year-old Marcus Mason was found dead inside his home. Firefighters responded to the house fire around 2.30 this morning. When they got there, Sanford Police detectives were called to investigate the death. The Lee County School Board website has Mason's name and address listed as the same address where the fire happened. He was just sworn into the school board this February or January, I should say, an official said that the cause of the fire is still under investigation. Laura, thank you. A Washington state man caught on video hurling a coconut-sized rock at an endangered Hawaiian monk seal is due in court in Honolulu today. The defense attorney for the man says his client was trying to protect sea turtles from what he says he thought was an aggressive sea lion. The video drew widespread condemnation and demands for prosecution in Hawaii. When a witness confronted him. The man told them he did not care and was, quote, rich enough to pay any fines. Hawaiian monk seals are a critically endangered species. Only 1,600 remain in the wild. If convicted, the man faces up to $70,000 in fines and prison time. Saudi Arabia deployed drones this year to help enhance security during the Hajj pilgrimage. Nearly two million Muslims are performing Hajj rituals in Mecca. Today marked the first day of Eidt. Hundreds of thousands of people will circle the holy site of Kaaba and Mecca. And in the city of Mina, more than one and a half million Muslims took part in stoning rituals. The stony rituals, if you didn't know, honor the prophet Ibrahim's rejection of Satan's temptation. Up next, a special surprise. One local teacher is making such a big impact in the classroom. Her students say she feels like family. See the emotional moment when she's honored as our teacher of the week. Plus, good boredom. For parents wondering how to keep the kids busy all summer long, experts say you may not have to do as much as you think. While a little boredom could actually be a good thing for kids.
Well, our teacher of the week is a favorite among her third grade students. And W. REL's Ken Smith visited Greenhope Elementary in Wake County to surprise a teacher known for treating her students like family. You can sit on the carpet. You can sit at a desk. As far back as Abby Shari can remember, she wanted to be a teacher. Very good. Ms. Shari says when she was the same age as her current students, she felt a deep connection to her school. I had really good memories. I had really good teachers growing up. I felt really welcome. I could really visualize how I could fit into that community. Excellent. So that was a multi-step problem, right? Ms. Shari strives to create a sense of community in her third grade classroom, helping her students experience that same connection she felt growing up. I really think about my own teachers as a teacher, and I use some of their old tricks that I remember worked with us. And sometimes my parents will refer back to, oh, do you do what Ms. Kagle used to do? And sometimes I do. I got those tricks up my sleeve from my own teachers. Okay, keep going. You're doing great. Always a cheerleader for her students. Ms. Shari says she loves... to see them helping each other jelling and thriving over the course of the school year. They come to you each year and you have a starting place and it so clearly grows so fast. There's such an explosion of learning and their capabilities and independence grows so much. Ms. Shari, you are W. REL's Teacher of the Week. Give her a big round of applause, class.
Congratulations. Hi, thank you. Nice to meet you. You're welcome. Nice to meet you too. Congrats to her. And hey, if you'd like to nominate a teacher, go to w.r.com and enter Teacher of the Week in the search box. Summer break is just around the corner. And if you're feeling a little anxious about having your kids home all day, you're not alone. A psychologist at Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital says it's important for parents to remember that kids do not need to be entertained every minute of the day. Being bored can actually be a good thing. Research shows it can help foster creativity and imagination. I think anytime there's a transition period, so whether that's from school into summer or even at the end of the summer back into school, anytime we have a transition period, there's some opportunity for unsettled feelings or uncertainty about what's next. And it does feel like a big responsibility to keep your kids happy and occupied for months on it. Let them play outside. There are a lot of things you can do for free. Some examples include going to the splash pad at the park or visiting the library. Many museums and zoos also offer free or discounted days for families. See, and when she was younger, Amy Wilmuth, when she was bored, would look up at the clouds and wonder, what makes all that? And now she's a meteorologist. So kids, be bored, be a meteorologist. Living the dream, yes. Weather-wise, it looks like we have some rain still on deck for us? Yeah, a couple of spotty showers and storms are not as widespread as the last couple of days, but we do have a chance. And you can feel it if you step outside. There's a lot of moisture out there. It's very muggy again today. I do think the best chance for showers and storms will come in the northern part of our viewing area, seeing a little bit of shower activity there. right now, but the bulk of the activity is well to the north of us across Ohio, West Virginia, northern parts of Virginia. We did get an update on the severe risk. Nothing changed for us. It's still our northern counties under a level one risk. There's a level two risk, though, that has been expanded to the west to include those areas that are starting to see some showers and storms. Again, a few storms possible for us. Most of them will be in the northern half of the viewing area. Most of it after the evening commute, about a 30% chance of a hit and miss showers and shower and storm. and within any of those storms, we'll see some heavy downpours and some gusty winds possible as well. So it's a 30% chance for today. Tomorrow I'm keeping it a 30% chance. I think a lot of people are going to stay dry tomorrow. I don't think it's going to be widespread. Just a 20% chance on Friday. A 40% chance for some late day showers and storms by Saturday. And then Sunday gets here. No rain in the forecast. And I think it'll feel better. The humidity will be down. I'll look at the rainfall over the last seven days. So we've had some good rainfall, especially in our southern counties, in these areas where you see the purples and reds. That's where we've seen the most rain, close to three inches of rain, not quite as much in the northern half of our viewing area. The new drought monitor comes out tomorrow. So if we see any improvements, I think it would be in the southern part of our viewing area. A look at May rain so far. So we've had about a...
an inch and a half in Raleigh, still an inch below normal for the month. In Fayetteville, you're doing pretty good. 3.73 inches. You actually have a surplus of an inch of rain for the month of May. So again, if we see any improvements tomorrow, it would likely be in the southern part of our viewing area where they've had more rain over the recent days. I really still think the state of North Carolina is going to stay in a drought, though. We might see some minor improvements, but this is a product from NOAA that shows us the... chance that we're going to get out of this drought within a month and almost the entire state, a zero percent chance that we're going to get out of this in the next month or so. So definitely not good news. It'll be interesting to see the new drought monitor that comes out tomorrow morning. Looking ahead, June 4th to June 10th, we have about a 30 to 40 percent chance of above normal rainfall from around the triangle and points to the south. So again, the southern half looking like a better chance in the coming days. For today, it's the northern half that has a better chance for some storms, warm and breezy, high. in the upper 80s today this evening a stray shower or storm possible mainly in the northern half of the viewing area still a few storms tomorrow looking dry Friday some scattered storms late on Saturday but beautiful as we end the weekend Sunday with highs in the mid 70s All right, well, thanks for that breakdown for us, Amy. New quarter alert. A new coin is about to hit circulation, and it's designed to celebrate a major moment in American history. Up next, the unique details people will soon see in their pocket change. And here are your winning mega millions numbers. 1-549-51-59. The megaball is 7.
You got golf down in Pinehurst and soccer over and carry. Well, as we wrap things up, here's a look at a few of the headlines that were following today. New court documents reveal the woman accused of shooting two attorneys in Raleigh was on law enforcement's radar. We're talking about nearly nine months ago before her arrest. Gwendolyn White is in jail without bond while undergoing a mental health evaluation. Court records reveal a series of claims and past incidents that includes an alleged threat made to Duke Raleigh Hospital last summer. The document indicates White has no memory of Friday shooting. because of a car wash she was involved in a month ago. And her next court date is scheduled for June 15th. Police are investigating after a man was found shot four times in Durham. It happened this morning around five at the Oxford Manor Apartments near Old Oxford Road. Police on scene say they found him behind an apartment building. He was taken to the hospital. Police say no suspect is in custody. Well, tonight the Carolina Hurricanes continue their quest for the Cup. The canes are in Montreal for game four of the Eastern Conference final against the Canadians. The canes lead the series two games to one after getting overtime wins in games two and three. Tonight's puck drop is at eight and tune in to our 11 p.m. newscast for all the highlights. We now know the companies that will build full-size versions of lunar terrain vehicles. NASA says each rover costs about $220 million. Astrolap plans to create one. to transport both astronauts and supplies. The smaller Pegasus LTV is from Lunar Outpost. It's designed to move slightly faster. It says both are essential for NASA's plans to build a moon base. Well, looks like the U.S. Mint is rolling out the third of five new quarters in honor of America's 250th anniversary. The government will begin shipping out the coin honoring the Declaration of Independence on June 1st. It depicts the Liberty Bell ringing on one side. and Thomas Jefferson on the other. The other quarter designs honor America's 250th, which are the Mayflower Confact Quarter, the Revolutionary War Quarter, the U.S. Constitution, and the Gettysburg Address Quarter. Our pet of the day is a dapper gentleman, ready to bring snuggles, charm, and a little extra joy to your home. We're talking about sprinkles. And hopefully the picture will load here. Trust us. Sprinkles is sweet, gentle, affectionate. Loves curling up close to the people he trusts and keeping them company throughout the day. Sprinkles is a kind of cat who will greet you at the door, happily lounged beside you on the couch, and remind you that life is simply better with a cat around. Sprinkles can also be adopted with his brother. Jimmy's, who you might remember was last week's pet of the day. Okay, contact Cat Angels and see if you're interested, and you can find that picture on their website. The cat might be invisible. I'm not sure yet, but check the website. Seriously, it's there. Well, weight loss coverage cuts. We're talking about that, as North Carolina lawmakers could soon make major changes affecting coverage for popular GLP-1 medications. So, tonight at four, what it could mean for patients who rely on the drugs for weight loss. Thanks for spending your lunch hour with us. NBC News Daily is next on WRL and your next local news update in 30 minutes. And as always, you can get breaking news updates anytime with the WRL News app, plus your latest weather reports with the WRL weather app. Hope you have a blessed day today. Keep watching WRL News over the air channel 34 and spectrum channel 1257.