4:30AM News on WRAL - Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Shot in 4K ultra high definition. Your number one source for local news. WRAL News, coverage you can come on. Finally, the news is pulling away from us. That means sunshine and cooler temperatures for us. I'll show you what it will feel like. Cars targeted what police are saying about break-ins and a break-in investigation near the state fair grounds. Plus, fun and safety. Before the state fair Bill Gates open, crews are making sure every ride is ready to go. What inspectors are doing today to keep families protected. A lot of news to get to here on your Wednesday morning. Happy to help you get your day started here. Let's get right over to meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner. And Elizabeth, we are starting off the day, nice and cool. We are. Here's a live look at downtown Raleigh right now. Pretty quiet. The flags there at the legislative building, all looking still. 56 is our temperature, due point 54, so it's nice and cool, just a couple of degrees cooler than yesterday. The big difference you'll notice is skies are clear this morning, and we'll see a lot more sunshine than we did yesterday. Finally, yesterday afternoon, we broke out of the clouds, but it was pretty cloudy for the start of the day. Our temperatures are solidly in the 50s this morning, 58 and Fayetteville, 57, Rocky Mount 52, and Roxborough, and our hour-by-hour forecast is nice and comfortable. Lots of sunshine, a little warm. than yesterday with mid-70s. But tomorrow we have a front that'll come through. That's going to bring us some of the coolest air we've seen so far this season. I'll show you some chilly mornings in our forecast coming up. Elizabeth, thank you. This morning we are working to learn more about a crash on US1 that left the car on its top. The crash happened around 1 a.m. in the southbound lanes near the 1010 road exit. The WRL breaking news tracker was there as crews got the car turned back over. We have reached out to State Highway Patrol for any information about what happened and whether anyone was hurt. A three-year-old boy is dead and three more people are hurt after a crash in Samson County. This is the scene from the WRL breaking news tracker on Autry Mill Road near Highway 13. That's just outside of Fayetteville. Highway Patrol says an SUV ran off the road, overcorrected and veered off the left shoulder before flipping several times. The three-year-old died at the scene. Three other people who were in the SUV, including two children, were taken to the hospital. One was flown by helicopter to a hospital. Wilson. Troopers believe speed was a factor. They also believe the driver was the only person wearing a seatbelt. Well, this morning, police are investigating car break-ins that happened near the state fair grounds. WRL's Alley Catlbar is there in the WRL breaking news tracker in Alley. This happened while parking lots were slammed. We're talking about full for the Chris Brown concert at Carter Finley. Laura, we know that these parking lots will be full at the Carter Fitness Stadium near the state fairgrounds and near the Lenovo Center for the upcoming next week and a half for that state fair and upcoming concerts. Our Raleigh police did confirm with us that an officer was out here taking reports of car break-ins. They were in the area of the state fairgrounds. Broadcastify radio traffic does indicate that officers with NC state police also were taking reports and investigating car.

car break-ins in this area. We know thousands parked their cars and lots around the stadium and fairgrounds for Chris Brown's concert last night. We have reached out to NC State Police. We're trying to find out how many cars were targeted. Also, where this all happened. We are staying on top of this story. Reporting live in Raleigh, Al-Qad the Bar, WRAL News. And speaking of the North Carolina State Fair, it begins tomorrow. So today we are expecting to get a look at how state officials make sure the rides are safe for families. WRL's Flynn Snyder is live at the fairgrounds in Raleigh. In Flint, inspectors will be looking at nearly 100 rides. Yeah, hey Laura, good morning. They'll look at everything from the classics like the giant Ferris wheel to even new additions like a giant pendulum that loops riders 360 degrees called the Colossus. Officials from the State Department of Labor will be on site today demonstrating how they inspect each ride from each bolt to wire. It's a process the department says is rigorous to make sure rides are good to go before families arrive. Officials can also look at each ride's training, maintenance and inspection records. They'll be busy with at least. three new rides at this year's fair. State law requires portable rides to be inspected at each new location set up. And rides aren't the only thing officials will be looking at. They'll also be on site today checking hundreds of food options at the fair. We'll have a look at how those will be inspected coming up in our next half hour. Flint Sider, WRL News live in Raleigh. And don't forget to visit WRL while you're at the fair. We're in our usual spot right next to Dorton Arena. Dan Haggerty and Ashley Rose start things off tomorrow at 2 p.m. You'll find a comprehensive guide to the state fair on WRL.com. Well, downtown Raleigh could get quieter. At last night's city council meeting, people had the chance to weigh in on changes to the city's noise ordinance. The proposed ordinance sets a decibel limit based on location, time, and day of the week. During the public hearing, some business owners shared concerns that not as much noise may mean limiting customers, which could mean less of an income. So neighbors who are supporting the ordinance say they want to make sure it actually is enforced. When an unreasonable noise ordinance gets passed, it doesn't just turn down the music. It turns down our ability to pay rent, support our families, and keep people employed. We hear the music and we hear every single note of almost every concert. It is loud and clear, not just the thumping bass. So this noise ordinance will go back before City Council next Tuesday. A teenager is in the hospital after being stabbed in Raleigh. Sky 5 flew over the scene around 4.30 p.m. on Dillmark court. Officers didn't release the extent of the victim's injuries, only saying his condition is stable. Police have other teens in custody related to this investigation. No word yet on what charges they could face.

Meanwhile, people in Durham want city and county leaders to do more about shootings in their neighborhood. The city of Durham and Durham County leaders have a joint meeting tomorrow. People in East Durham say there have been seven instances of shots fired in their community in the last seven weeks. They took their concerns to City Council last night playing audio recordings of the gunfire in their neighborhood. We're seeing this dramatic increase in gun violence. And it's actually quite amazing that more people haven't gotten shot or killed with just the recurrence and the level of violence that we're experiencing. The latest Durham police data shows 33 criminal homicides this year. That's up from 28 at this time last year. Well, voting rights advocates are heading to court next week for a trial with election implications. North Carolina Republicans approved new rules before last year's elections. They say the changes promote election integrity. The Southern Coalition for Social Justice and other civil rights groups say the new rules will disenfranchise legitimate voters so they sued. There are more details about this on WRL.com. Happening tonight, former Vice President Kamala Harris is holding a special event at the Deepak. For the first time, she'll be telling the story of one of the wildest and most consequential presidential campaigns in American history. Tickets are still on sale. Every ticket includes a free copy of Harris' new book, 170 days or 107 days, that is, about the race for president of the United States. That event gets started at 7 p.m. The Senate is still at odds when it comes to a government funding bill. Today marks two weeks under a government shutdown, and it's the fifth longest shutdown in U.S. history. Senators failed last night for the eighth time to pass the House-pass government funding stopgap bill. The bill needs 60 votes to pass. Both sides are digging their heels in. Meanwhile, today is payday for many U.S. military members. The money comes from the Pentagon's research and development budget. In Congress, a stand-alone measure to pay troops is getting growing bipartisan support so far that has been unsuccessful. A report on the economy that was due out today will be delayed until next week because of the shutdown. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the Consumer Price Index for September won't be released until October 24th. The shutdown has also stopped data collection for the October report set to be released next month. Well, let's get a look right now at RDU. RDU we know is not playing a video of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that blames Democrats for the federal government shutdown. RDU said the airport has received a request to play the video at TSA checkpoints. That request is currently under review. Several major airports, including Charlotte, have refused to play that video. We have more news to come here just ahead now, helping our heroes. A new program is making it easier for veterans to transition into civilian careers. How state leaders say it could strengthen North Carolina's workforce plus. A stretch of NC12 near Rodanthi is back open, but another section on Ocricoak Island is closed. What crews are doing today to keep both areas safe for drivers?

lead exposure and health issues. With chronic exposure to lead, you can get a bunch of different problems, such as kidney disease, high blood pressure. You can get neurotoxicity, so peripheral neuropathy, like pain and nerve pain, and it can cause some immune problems as well. The makers of both tell NBC News the levels of lead and their products are within recognized safety limits. This morning, NC12 on Okrakoak Island is closed due to ocean overwash. That closure is between the northern ferry terminal and the National Park Service pony pins. The Hatteras Okrakoak ferry route has been suspended as well due to weather conditions. That road is expected to reopen at 6 p.m. Meanwhile, another stretch of NC12 near Rodanthi is back open. The highway closed after ocean water breached dunes. The stretch of road reopened after last night and crews will reinforce those dunes today. Well, we have a significant update from the town of Chapel Hill now regarding Chantel recovery. Three months after Chantel here, we have now learned over half of their residents in public housing like Camelot Village are now back in their homes and the rest are expected to return by Thanksgiving. This comes again three months after that tropical storm flooded apartments there. Trail repairs also will begin this week with the Boilin Creek Trail, then Fordham Side Path and Morgan Creek Trail as well. Looking ahead now, traffic will be on the top of many minds as the fair kicks off tomorrow. The Chris Brown concert last night at Carter-Findley Stadium served as a test run of what we may see over the next few weeks. That same night as the fair starts, Billy Eilish starts the first of back-to-back nights of concerts at the Lenovo Center. Ultimately, organizers suggest giving yourself extra time and taking alternate routes if you're heading to any event around the fairgrounds in the next couple of weeks. There will be two shuttles carrying people into the fairgrounds. The Go Rally shuttle will run from Garner Station and the Go Durham Shuttle from the station on Pettigrew Street. Now, you can also ride share to Gate 1 on Hillsborough Street. Of course, rides chairs are very helpful. And if you do drive, there are free parking lots close to the fair grounds. Those are the bandwidth dogwit lot and cardinal lot. You can find a full fair guide on our website at WRL.com. And we certainly do have the purse. perfect fair weather with cooler temperatures moving in. Meteorologist Elizabeth Gartner is tracking it all for us, Elizabeth. Finally, our low pressure system, we just were looking at that over the Outer Banks. And a good reason for that was this low pressure system that affected us over the weekend. It's much farther away from us today. So it's finally starting to move away. In its wake is going to be air coming out of the north, which will be nice and cool for us. This is a live look at downtown Raleigh right now, nice and quiet. 56 is our temperature. We'll hold in the 50s all the way up until around 10 a.m. It'll be a nice cool start out there this morning. Our temperature in Durham's 56, 57, and Rocky Mount 58 in Fayetteville. It is 60 down in southern pines, but 55 in apex, 54 in Kerry, 55 in Garner and Nightdale. So most of us are heading out the door into the mid-50s, but it'll be a warm afternoon. Highs in the upper 70s to right around 80 almost in Fayetteville with lots of sunshine. We will see a big drop in our temperature as we see this cold front come through tomorrow, and that will help to deliver some cooler temperatures. As a matter of fact, some of the cooler.

mornings that we've seen so far this season. We'll take a look at our temperature change right now. Temperatures are close to normal, signified with the yellow shaded areas. As we move forward in time, watch the blues take over much of North Carolina. High pressure builds in with a northerly flow and keeps our temperatures nice and cool as we get at least through the end of the week. So tomorrow's 69, Friday 69, but Saturday we're back up to 77. So the first couple of days of the fair are going to be nice and cool. We take a look at our temperatures for tomorrow morning. It's like. to be a little cooler than this morning, some up mid-40s to low 50s. And then for Friday morning, that's going to be the really chilly one. 30s in Roxborough and South Hill will likely be 43 in Fayetteville, 41 in Durham. So that's going to be the really chilly one. And we haven't seen temperatures in the low 40s since last April. Temperatures will be pleasant in the afternoon again Thursday and Friday, upper 60s. But other than that, we're mainly looking at mid to upper 70s. Our next best chance of rain comes overnight Sunday with a front. I'll walk through that and I'll show you how it could affect your weekend plan. Elizabeth, thank you. Your time now is 450. A new show girl drama is topping the charts. We'll take a sneak peek at two powerful new stories making Hollywood buzz and fashion reinvented. A North Carolina scientist is growing real leather, no slaughter, and no synthetics. How this breakthrough could change the fashion world just ahead. Welcome back. The Mega Millions Jackpot is the biggest it's been this year, and it's still growing. It's up to $625 million after no one got the grand prize last night. That's the 11th, the largest jackpot in the game's history. The cash option on the jackpot is more than $288 million. The next drawing is Friday. You can watch it live during our 11 p.m. newscast on WREL. The life of a showgirl dominates the chart plus previews of rebuilding and Marley Matlin, not alone anymore. Here's David Daniel with today's Hollywood Minute. The eldest daughter of an old woman, Ophelia lived in fantasy. Taylor Swift is living at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. The 12 songs on The Life of a Showgirl fill the top 12 spots on the chart, led by The Fate of Ophelia. It's the first album ever to place all of its songs in an uninterrupted string at the top of the chart. Keep remembering things that are gone. It makes me feel like there are things we lost that I'll never remember, you know. Here's a look at the first trailer for Rebuilding. Josh O'Connor plays a cowboy who loses his ranch to a wildfire, then finds family and community as he tries to recover. Rebuilding opens in select theaters November 14th and across the U.S. November 21st.

A tribute to a trailblazer. Marley Matlin, not alone anymore, explores the life and career of the actress, author, and accessibility advocate. The American Masters documentary, made by deaf and hearing collaborators and shown primarily in ASL with stylized captioning, is now streaming on PBS.org. In Hollywood, I'm David Den. A North Carolina scientist has found a way to make real leather without killing a cow. It's grown from living cells in a lab and could reshape sustainability in the fashion industry. Engineer George Engelmeyer grows leather using cells taken from a living cow named Angel. She still grazes at a sanctuary in New York while her cells are cultivated in a Raleigh lab. The process uses natural fibers as a base, forming sheets of genuine leather without slaughter or synthetic plastics. I chose to focus first and foremost on never harming the animal. The animal is still alive at Sweet Farm Sanctuary in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Plant-based fabric materials, the entirety of the process is plant-based. And so no animal products are used anywhere in our process. Pretty interesting. So the company cultivated biomaterials is already selling jewelry and wallets made from the lab grown leather in hopes to expand into handbags and watch bands. He says the process could dramatically cut emissions and water use tied to traditional leather production. Fair food focus with the state fair opening tomorrow. Inspectors are checking every food booth for the crowd arrives before the crowd arrives and what they're looking for to keep you safe. Plus, shop smart before you buy that tempting souvenir at the fair. Five on your side shares three simple ways to protect your money. And Wawa grows. The new store opens today in Wilson and the first customers are getting freebies. We have a look at the company's big plans for North Carolina.