8AM News on WRAL - Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Here, Fivo! Come, Fivo! Who's a good girl? Did you say your dog's name is 5-0? Yeah. Ever since I opened my go-green checking at Coastal Credit Union, I'm earning up to 5% annual percentage yield. It's all I think about. So I named my dog after it. 5-0! So while she fetches sticks, your go-green checking fetches you more money? Yep, she barks better, and I bank better with Coastal Credit Union. Visit coastal24.com to start earning more. Federally insured by NCUA. Membership eligibility required. Now, breaking news from WRAL, coverage you can count on. Right now on Fox 50 at 8 o'clock, a deadly crash. One person killed in a crash on US 64 near Lizard Lake Road. What we know about the crash as that road is back open now. And a cold front is bringing some light showers this morning. I'll show you what to expect as we head through the rest of the day. And locker room divide, a U&C assistant coach reportedly suspended during the WRL investigation. New drama within the tar heels under coach Bill Belichick. We have that and a whole lot more in this 8 o'clock hour. We always appreciate your time. I'm Ken Smith. And I'm Michelle McConaughey. Yeah, we have a lot to get to, but first we have to talk about the weather. Beautiful look at southern pines behind us. Some areas seeing a little bit of light sprinkle that rain will be on and off today. Let's get over to meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner. going to be a washout today. Definitely not. Take a look at this very narrow band of rain stretches up the I-85 quarter and then back down toward just south of Greensboro towards Charlotte. It's not likely to get much more intense, but it may grow in coverage over the next few hours. A few sprinkles in Chapel Hill and Durham and then up the I-85 quarter up toward the Virginia line and not quite to Roanoke Rapids, but all that's pushing eastward. So looking at parts of Franklin County, JD Vance County, Warren County. You're going to start to see if you like. showers as well. It goes up that chance to 50% right around lunchtime through the middle of the afternoon, but I wouldn't expect it to be very heavy even then. The showers that rolled through Durham just a little while ago are producing some wet streets there. 70 is our temperature with a Mike DeWine point of 68, so it's a really warm, sticky atmosphere as you had out the door. Temperatures are going to range from the upper 60s to right around 70, which is 5 to around 10 degrees warmer than yesterday. So it's a pretty big change. Now we hit 86 for the high yesterday, so our highs this afternoon will definitely be. cooler with the clouds lingering. And then a big drop in our temperature and some breezy conditions tomorrow. I'll let you know when you need to grab a jacket, Ken. All right. Happening now, the W.O. Traffic Center, the usual congestion that we see on the southern loop of the beltline. There was a crash on I-40 Westbound near Gorman Street, but that has since cleared. But you're seeing an eight-minute delay on that southern loop of the beltline. Now, for those of you trying to navigate that northern loop of the beltline, you're listening to us on 101.5 HD3. You're looking at a 15-minute delay because of the real. jam up between the I-440-87 interchange and Capitol Boulevard. It eases up just a little bit as you get around 6 Forks Road, Wade Avenue and Glenwood Avenue as well. Now, many of you use I-540 as an alternate east-west route, and right now you're looking at a 13-minute delay between Lewisburg Road and over to Wade Avenue. So those are some things to keep in mind as you get ready to head out the door this morning. As for other wards coming into the Capitol City, you're looking at a seven-minute delivery coming in from Apex and U.S.

West 1 North, an 11-minute delay for our friends in Wake Forest. And if you're coming in from Nightdale, you're navigating I-87, you're looking at a nine-minute delay. Over in Durham, very little to no delays in terms of heading into Bow City this morning. You're looking at a four-minute delay for those of you in Wake Forest trying to get over to Durham on Highway 98. You're getting ready to head into the car. Tune us in on the radio, 101.5 HD3. All right. Thank you, Ken. Breaking news right now. Traffic is moving along U.S. 64 West near Lizards Lake Road after a crash that left at least one person dead. Ellie Calabar spent several hours on that scene as crew is removed debris. That deadly crash impacted traffic here on US 64 for nearly four hours. And you can see why. This is video from the WRAL breaking news tracker. You can see crews they're trying to strap the car back together just in order to tow it away. That car is destroyed. The roof is missing. Listen to this police radio traffic of what first responders saw as they showed up to the scene. Is 64 westbound this lizard lick? vehicles on fire in the trees. We have a traumatic 63. We have a car fully engulfed into the trees. And when we got here around three this morning, we saw that tree wedged in the front of the car. We're working to find out what led up to this crash. Reporting in Wake County, Alley Cad the Bar, WRAL News. A neighbors say shots fired at a wrongly apartment complex this morning went through a window and into a room where children were sleeping. This happened at the Raleigh Millbank Apartments off North Raleigh Boulevard. Police say someone fired shots around 1245 this morning. No one was heard, though. Officers are trying to learn whether the shooting was random. At last check, no arrests were made. We are working to get more information about a motorcycle crash in Raleigh. This happened on South Saunders Street near Grissom Street. This is video from the WRL breaking news tracker around midnight. No other vehicles were involved. We've reached out to Raleigh Police for more details and the condition of that motorcycle rider. This morning, major developments on a divide in the UNC football locker room, The Athletic, owned by the New York Times, reporting Tar Heel's assistant to coach Amont Hawkins has been suspended in connection to extra benefit allegations. W.O.L. is Kelsey, Kelsey, this suspension is not the only major development for coach Bill Belichick's program. Yes, Ken, from the New York Times to the Dan Patrick show, the chaos within UNC football is gaining national attention. Just last night, UNC cornerback coach Armand Hawkins was suspended. This from a new report from the athletic, the reason allegations of providing extra benefits. A text message was sent to all athletes and ticketed sports reminding them that selling their complimentary tickets could impact their eligibility and violate NCAA.

rules. W. REL also confirmed the Hulu documentary about Bill Belichick and UNC football is scrapped for now. Our own Pat Welter broke all this news. He explains conversations he's been having with national news outlets, including NBC. We've been reporting on this about a divided locker room, lack of communication, disorganized overall toxic culture with the tar heels. Took people a little bit behind the scenes of the process of working that story and what we're learning next. And we are staying on top of this story so you can follow our coverage all day long on W.R.L.com. Just search keyword Belichick. Kelsey Coffey, W.R.L. News live in Chapel Hill. And be sure to tune in to our afternoon newscast starting at 4 p.m. for more coverage. Pat Welter is in Charlotte today for the ACC tip-off. He'll be getting much more about Belichick on the UNC football locker room. A state task force in charge of lowering child fatalities in North Carolina is now focusing on social media. Critics say social media can be bad for teens' mental health, sometimes even with deadly consequences. North Carolina has sued TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram over such concerns. And Governor Dostein signed a bipartisan bill this summer to restrict cell phone use in the classroom. Otherwise, state lawmakers have struggled to enact new regulations in social media companies. Will Doran explains why. Social media companies do spend a lot of money on lobbying, a lot of money on political donations. They're pretty powerful. So this is definitely going to be a political fight that we continue to see probably for years to come here in North Carolina. For the latest from today's discussion on social media, go to www.com. A state-level version of President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency also meets today in Raleigh. Republican state lawmakers set up their own committee on government efficiency after Trump made headlines earlier this year with efforts to cut costs. WRL state government reporter Will Doran says this state-level effort will take more time than at the federal level. So far, the state committee has also been much less active than the federal Doge Group. Today's meeting will be just second since being formed. in January. You can head to WRL.com later today for more on what this government efficiency group wants to focus on. Former FBI director James Comey will be arraigned today. He's charged with making false statements to Congress and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. The Justice Department accused him of lying to lawmakers about whether he authorized an FBI media leak. President Trump has been very vocal about his dislike of Kobe for investigating his 2016 campaign. Critics say the charges are revenge, but President Trump insists what's happening is about justice, not revenge. There have been reports of people close.

to the case on the prosecution side saying the case should not move forward. I believe that Mr. James Comey will ultimately be vindicated. I think there's going to be strong grand jury misconduct motions, vindictive prosecution motions, and selective prosecution motions. Two North Carolina prosecutors joined the legal team prosecuting former FBI Director James Comey, Nathaniel Lemon, and Gabe Diaz were part of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Raleigh until transferring to the James Comey case in Virginia. The mayors of Durham and Fayetteville now know who their opponents will be in next month's election. Yeah, let's take you through the results of yesterday's primaries. Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams will square off with Councilwoman Anaghi Bell in the general election. They were the top two finished in the primary vote. And in Fayetteville, incumbent Mitch McCullivan will face off against Councilwoman Kathy Keith Jensen after the primary results. In Durham, City Council vote, Matt Copac and D'Andre Freeman, the Adrenna Freedom, advance in the Ward 1 race. In War 2, it's Shenetta Burrs and Mark Anthony Middleton. And in War 3, Chelsea Cook and Diana Medoff move on. You can find a full list of the results on WRL.com. Well, Raleigh City Council approved the rezoning of land at peace and west streets to make way for a 30-story tower. The council chambers was packed last night with supporters in green and opponents in red. This approval means the building height limit at that intersection is now 30 stories. That's compared to 12 stories, which is what was originally zoned for. Those supporting the move tell WRL's approval shows they're supporting an investment into the future, but those against it fear their historic homes. will now be dwarfed by a skyscraper. This is well above and beyond all the different plans and policies. It's two towers, 306 feet and 240 feet, would be completely overwhelming for the neighborhood, and it's completely outside policies and plans. And there are still a lot of questions that remain. WRL has reached out to the developer to learn when the project will break route. School employee in court, an Edgecombe County teaching assistant out of a job because she is accused of child abuse. What investigators say happened on school grounds that led to the former staff member facing charges. And a recall alert to tell you about a software malfunction could put you at higher risk of crashing your Toyota, the vehicles that could be affected by this issue. And a little light patchy rain out there around Durham and Chapel Hill, as well as some of our northern counties. I'll show you where that's headed and how long it sticks around. Tomorrow starts tonight. The energy you have, the patience you show your family, the focus you bring to work. It all begins with sleep. I'm Megan Giggling with Parkway Sleep Health Centers. If you've been putting off getting help because you thought it would take months, Parkway is different. Most patients start care within weeks, not months, with convenient virtual visits and home sleep studies. Because life is better when you sleep well. Parkway Sleep, your fastest path to better sleep. Start today at ParkwaySleep.com. Sound sleep. Sound health.

Want to sell your home just like that? Snap away the stress and contact sold it in a snap.com. Why deal with the costly repairs and endless showings? Sold it in a snap offers a smarter way. Simply provide a few quick details, schedule an in-home walkthrough with the Jim Allen Group expert, and get your personalized cash offer in a snap. Skip the selling hassles and reach out to sold it in a snap.com today and get your competitive cash offer. That's sold it in a snap.com. 815 with your tropical update tracking tropical storm Jerry, which is slowly strengthening out in the Atlantic, could become hurricane strength by late tomorrow or early Friday. It looks like it'll have minimal impact to land as it turns out to see. Here's where it is right now. Sort of northeast of South America here and, of course, the Lerd Islands east of that as well. As a matter of fact, about 800 miles east of the Ljord Island. It's moving fast. Northwest to 23 miles per hour with winds right now at 50 miles per hour. Again, could become a hurricane by late tomorrow or early Friday. It makes a northerly turn just before it hits the Leward Islands and then another northeasterly turn before it hits Bermuda, which is good news. Bermuda will still have some impact. And typically we would have some rip current danger. But instead, over the weekend, we're going to see a low developing along the coast that's likely to have even more impact than that. We'll go over that coming up in just a few minutes. My family in the Virgin Islands, very relieved by that new path. Now, back here at home, Lake Wheeler Road, I-40 Westbound, you can see the usual bump. a bump in congestion that we see this time of the morning. If this is part of your morning commute, here's what you're looking at. You're looking at a seven-minute delay between the Beltline and US1 this morning. If you're thinking about navigating that northern loop of the Beltline, here's what you're looking at, a 17-minute delay, because we're seeing a real jabber between the I-4807-in-change and Capitol Boulevard. It eases just a little bit as you get around 6 Forks Road. All right, thank you, Ken. Today's students, staff, and community leaders will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new Bowling Road Elementary. At a few quaverina school adds 800 more spots to serve students in the community. Today's ribbon cutting ceremony will be at the school on Bowling Road. It'll also be outside weather permitting. Remarks from district and local officials begin at 10 a.m. In Edgecombe County, teaching assistant, accused of hitting a child, is supposed to be in court today. Family members say the victim is five years old and has autism. Regina Gray was charged yesterday with assault by strangulation and child abuse. Investigators say the school district notify the sheriff's office about the incident at G.W. Bullock Elementary School. The organization Disability Rights, North Carolina, says people with disabilities are vulnerable to assault. The group says schools have an obligation to... deal with it through hiring and training? I think that it's essential that hiring be deliberate and thoughtful and include real screening for the ability to regulate a caregiver, educator's own emotional responses to difficult situations.

The Edgecombe County school system says Gray has worked at that school since December of 2024. She is no longer an employee and is out of jail on bond. We tried to reach out to her, but we're unsuccessful. Toyota now recalling more than 300,000 vehicles for... Issues with the rearview camera. Federal traffic safety regulators say camera may not display when backing up, increasing the risk of a crash. Toyota says the malfunction is caused by a software problem. The 2022-2020-25 Toyota Tundra hybrids and the 2023-2020-25 Sequoia hybrids are included in this recall. You can take your car to the dealership to get an update to fix that issue free of charge. Ken, here in the WRL Live Center, a little update for those who hadn't seen it. This is Frida Parton, Dolly Parton's little sister. And she was talking about the other day about how she was asking for prayers for Dolly, who hadn't been feeling the greatest. But she wanted to clarify and said, I wanted to clear something up. I didn't mean to scare anyone or make it sound so serious when asking for prayers for Dolly. She's been a little under the weather. And I simply asked for prayers because I believe so strongly in the power of prayer. And she also says it was nothing more than a little sister asking for prayers for a big sister. I think many people, myself included, youngest stuff. of 11 can definitely attest to. You just want to make sure that your loved ones who are older are okay. But she again clarifying that just a little under the weather, but we'll be looking for an actual update for Dolly herself throughout the day. A lot of people will be looking for that update. Thanks, Chris. Well, today, Durham Parks and Recreation is reopening celebration for the Sherwood Park Playground. The 25-year-old playground was demolished to make room for a new one. There are also other amenities such as a three-court pickleball facility. Today's celebration runs from 3.30 to 5 at the park on Cheek Road. Well, some of North Carolina's coastal forests are being depleted, now being called ghost forests. Let's get to meteorologist Chris Michaels, and this week's Super Moon can actually play a role in their demise in today's Ask the Meteorologists. Say Chris. Hey there, Ken. Yes, Elizabeth was actually the one to make me aware of the fact that some of our coastal forests are being depleted and looking like that. They're being depleted by saltwater, believe it or not. Due in part to rising sea level, their trees, though, in these forests, they rely on. fresh water so the salt water doesn't really mesh very well. North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality recently said that we're expecting sea level rise along the southeast coast of 1 to 1.4 feet by the year 2050. And then you've got to look at the tide. The tide is a long wave that moves back and forth due to the gravitational pull between the sun and the moon. So when you have a full moon and a super moon like we've had, sometimes you get that king tide, which is an unusually higher tide. There you see that super moon from earlier in the week. Thanks to Melissa out of Garner for sharing that with us. And so when you look at the official forecast, yeah, the king tide is forecast along parts of the east coast as we head into the weekend. Couple that with the fact that we have a nor'easter that's forecast to ride the east coast and we could be looking at some pretty big issues along the outer banks. Elizabeth back with you in just a minute to talk in more detail about that storm.

And Chris, in that same vein, cleanup begins today in Derek County after nine homes collapsed into the ocean in Buxton during the, during and after hurricane, Emelda passed by North Carolina. The county's debris removal contractors started picking up debris from the collapsed homes earlier this week. The county manager says the cleanup is happening on an expedited schedule due to the potential of some inclement weather this weekend, as Chris just mentioned. Yeah, all eyes will be on that inclement weather. We've had some pretty nice weather dry and really warm, but that is coming to an end. Meteorologist Elizabeth Garner and the WRL Severe Weather Center, a cloudy look over Franklin. And in Franklin, we've had a few sprinkles. You may or may not really be able to tell. I can tell on this monitor where there's definitely been a little bit of light patchy rain. You can sort of see a little rain shadow there where the cars have been parked. But it's not been heavy by any means. It's not enough to cause you any problems for the morning commute. It is great. and warm out there. You think it's gray and cool, but it's actually very warm ahead of this front. On the other side of the front, however, that all changes. And we have some chilly air in our forecast. Along that front, just a very small band of rain moving through. It's starting to get a little closer to some of our northeastern counties, Halifax and Northampton, moving through JD Vance and Warren County, the southern part of Granville County, all the way back here toward Chatham County. So just a line here. That line may just stay right there. We may see very little rain down to the south. until later on this afternoon. And it may sit there and just produce some patchy light rain. Nothing's going to be heavy out of this, certainly. But around Durham and Chapel Hill, we're seeing some showers and then up the I-85 quarter. Here's a look at Futurecast, and you can see at lunchtime, that line just sort of sits there. So that's going to be, you know, two or three hours, four hours maybe. And then gradually it shifts eastward. And it's out of here by five o'clock, maybe an isolated shower in our eastern counties around dinner time or so. And then after that, we begin to clear and the temperatures start to fall. How much rain? Well, anywhere from a 100th to a tenth of an inch. I mean, that is minimal amounts of rain. The bigger issue may be a load that develops along the coast over the weekend. That may develop right along that same front. This one's looking much more serious, especially for the outer banks. Two to four feet of water above the regular high tide means that we could see more homes falling into the water on Hatteras Island. The wind is likely to be gusting up to 50 miles per hour and certainly a lot of erosion overwash on Highway 12. some rain. It's likely that we will, but what we see should be, you know, just some scattered showers and some gusty winds. It'll be much more significant along the outer banks. And we'll be talking more about that as we get closer. For us, a 30% chance of rain Saturday, 40% chance on Sunday. Those numbers may change as we watch that system developing, but just be prepared for some clouds and some wet conditions this weekend. Elizabeth, happening down the double air traffic center. We'll take a spin around the beltline starting with that southern loop of the beltline. You can see the usual congestion that we see. This time of the morning, and you take a live look at I-40 and Lake Wheeler Road. You're navigating that area this morning, listening to us on 101.5 HD3. You're looking at an eight-minute delay. Nothing really that's going to make you late, but keep that in mind. The northern loop of the beltline, we're also seeing some congestion building as well as we look live at I-440 and Newburn Avenue. So if you're navigating that northern loop of the beltline, here's what you're looking at, a 14-minute delay. So it's actually looking a lot better on that southern loop of the beltline because we're seeing the... real jam up between 440 and 87 and Capitol Boulevard. It eases just a little bit as you get around Wake Forest Road. Another check of news weather and traffic after the break.

North Carolina football is back. Join High School OT Saturday, August 8th for the 2026 High School OT Jamboree at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park. Watch some of the state's top programs hit the field, including Wilson Hunt, Union Pines, J.H. Rose, Rollsville, Southeast Raleigh, Wake Forest, Cardinal Gibbons, Millbrook, Southern Durham, and Middle Creek. Bill Gates open at 3 p.m., J.V. kicks off at 4. Varsity action starts at 5. Get your tickets now at high. school OT.com. As you get into your car, tuned to WRL News Plus on your radio and Raleigh on 99.3 FM. In Durham, 96.5 FM and everywhere on 101.5 HD3. Good morning and happy Wednesday. Time now is 826. I'm Michelle McConakey. Let's get over to meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner and the WRL Severe Weather Center. A couple spotty showers right now. Great skies out there and just a line of rain. It's a very small band of rain. Very little actually falling out of this. But you may see a sprinkle or two in our northern counties. That's going to include Durham and Chapel Hill up through Henderson, Lewisburg, and on toward Rhode Oak Rapids. Hour-by-hour rain chances do go up a little bit right around lunchtime into the middle of the afternoon. But nothing that we see to do. It looks like it's going to be terribly heavy. On Fox 50, we'll walk through future cast for you. Wilson, Durham, Fayville, all cloudy. The temperature is close to 70 degrees. It's very warm and muggy. We'll see a cooler afternoon than yesterday with highs in the upper 70s. Can't. Happening now, Elizabeth, the new morning commute. Boy, look at this jam up on the southern loop of the beltlines. We look live at I-40 and Lake Wheel of Road bump at a traffic. That's just a morning congestion that we see this time of the morning. No crashes to report. You're looking, even though as jammed up and is that look, you're just looking at a set. seven-minute delay running through that southern loop of the beltline. In terms of other major routes coming into the capital city, you're looking at a seven-minute delay coming in from Wake Forest. But the other troubled spot is I-87 coming in from Nightdale. You're looking at a 16-minute delay. I'll have another update on your morning commute at the bottom of the hour on Fox 50. Thanks, Ken. At least one person is dead after a fiery crash on U.S. 64 on the road. The WRL breaking news tracker was on the scene as first responders investigated. That crash shut down U.S. 64 West. for about three hours. The road has since reopened. No word what led to that crash or the victim's identity. And a state task force in charge of lowering child fatalities in North Carolina is now focusing on social media. Critics say it can be bad for teens' mental health, sometimes even with deadly consequences. For the latest on today's discussion, go to wRL.com. We'll have more weather, news, and traffic on Fox 50. Shot in 4K ultra high definition. Your number one source for local news. WRAL News, coverage you can come on. Right now at 8.30, a fiery crash. Traffic is inching along a Wake County Highway after a deadly accident. That highway now back open, though. A look at the backups right now. And I'm tracking a cold front that's bringing just a little bit of light rain across their area. I'll let you know if that changes as we head through the afternoon. Fragile Football Program, the suspension of a UNC football coach highlights the dysfunction.

off the field. Lots more to get to in the Bill Belichick era there in Chapel Hill. Glad you're with us here at 830. I'm Ken Samoa. And I'm Michelle McConakey. Still a lot of news to tell you about in this half hour. But first we have to start with meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner and the WRL Severe Weather Center. A lot of us not seeing that rain right now, but it's very light in some areas. It is. And a lot of us are just not going to see much at all out of this front. You know, sometimes a cold front comes in and, you know, really brings us some strong thunderstorms, some heavy rain. Not this one. This one's pretty wimpy, which is fine. I mean, really, we need the rain, but we could definitely do without the thunderstorm. So all the way from Silor City through Durham and Henderson up toward Roanoke Rapids, there's this narrow band of light patchy rain that has started to fall across the area. That band may expand a little bit, but it's not likely to get much heavier. That expansion over the next couple of hours all the way through around the middle of the afternoon. And then maybe a quick shower or thunderstorm in our eastern counties around dinner time. Now, we are looking at some damp conditions here in Durham. and we had that shower rolled through. 60 is the temperature, 2.68. That's a very summer-like feel as you're heading out the door. 69, Fayetteville, 70 in Goldsboro, 71 in South Hill. Our temperatures are about 5 to 10 degrees warmer than yesterday. Now, we're at... Afternoon highs will be cooler than yesterday with the clouds. And a few isolated showers will keep it in the upper 70s. Tracking a low that could have some pretty big impacts to our coast over the weekend. We could see some rain here too. Elizabeth, we're tracking some trouble with some of our major routes that start on the southern loop of the Beltline. I fordn Lake Wheeler Road. You can see the bumper-to-bumper traffic this morning. You're looking at a nine-minute delay if you're navigating that part of the Beltline. That northern loop of the Beltline, we're still seeing some congestion there as well. These are the westbound lanes coming toward. this morning. If you're navigating that northern loop of the beltline, you're looking at a 12-minute delay. We're seeing the real jam up between 440-87 and Capitol Boulevard. It eases just a little bit as you get past Six Forks Road. The other issue is that I-87 in the southbound lanes near I-540 interchange. You're seeing two lanes a block. That congestion going all the way back to Smith Fuel Road this morning. So if you're coming in from Nightdale, you might want to get off on Smithview Road, work your way over the pool. because right now you're looking at a 23-minute delay coming in from an ideal this morning. Just an eight-minute delay if you're coming in from Wake Forest. You're getting ready to head into the car. Tune us in on the radio 101.5 HD3. All right. Thank you, Ken. Breaking news right now. Traffic is moving along Lizard Lick Road after a serious crash earlier this morning. Alley Calabar spent several hours on scene as crews removed debris. That deadly crash impacted traffic here on US 64 for nearly four hours. And you can see why. This is video from the WRAL breaking news tracker. You can see crews they're trying to strap the car back together just in order to tow it away. That car is destroyed. The roof is missing. Listen to this police radio traffic of what first responders saw as they showed up to the scene. Is 64 westbound this lizard lick? The vehicle is on fire in the trees. I mean it's traumatic 63. We have a car fully enclosed into the trees. And when we got here around three this morning, we saw that tree wedged in the front of the car. We're working to find out what led up to this crash. Reporting in Wake County, Alex Padilla Bar, WRAL News.

A neighbor say shots fired at a Raleigh apartment complex early this morning went through a window into a room where a child was sleeping. This is video from the WRL breaking news tracker at the Raleigh Mill Bank apartments off North Raleigh Boulevard. Police say someone fired shots around 1245 this morning. Nobody was hurt. Officers were trying to learn whether the shooting was random. No arrests have been made. Division in the locker room. WRL investigates reporting uncovered the problems inside the UNC Tar Heels football program under Coach Bill Belichick. WRL's Kelsey Coffey is live outside Keenan Stadium this morning, and these new developments were uncovered by WRL, Kelsey. Yes, Ken, from the New York Times to the Dan Patrick show. Chaos within the UNC football program is getting national attention. Just last night, UNC cornerback coach. Armand Hawkins was suspended this from a new report from the athletic. The reason, allegations of providing extra benefits. A text message was sent out to all athletes in ticketed sports, reminding them that selling their complimentary tickets could impact their eligibility. and violate NCAA rules. WRL confirmed the Hulu documentary about Bill Belichick and UNC football is scrapped for now. Our own Pat Welter broke all this news. He explains conversations he's been having with national news outlets, including NBC.

A convicted sex offender arrested at a Fayetteville child care facility is due in court this afternoon. Detective saw Calvin Elliott enter the facility on Sand Hill Road in Fayetteville just before six last night. He is now behind bars charged with being a sex offender on child premises. The sheriff's office arrested him for the same crime last month. And in Edgecombe County, teaching assistant accused of grabbing a child by the neck is expected in court today. Family members say the victim is five years old and has autism. Regina Gray is charged with assault by strangulation and child abuse. Investigators say the school district notified the Sheriff's Office about the incident at G.W. Bullock Elementary School. The Edgecombe County School system says Gray worked at the school since December of 2024. She is no longer an employee. She is out on bond. Saving big on groceries. Viva and your side says five steps you could take to save big money. And chatbot impact, a mission to protect mental health of young children. Heading to break from summer to fall. That's what today's cold front will do to our weather. Meteorologist Elizabeth Garden timing out, scattered showers of drop in humidity and when the winds will pick up.

North Carolina football is back. Join High School OT Saturday, August 8th for the 26 High School OT Jamboree at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park. Watch some of the state's top programs hit the field, including Wilson Hunt, Union Pines, J.H. Rose, Rollsville, Southeast Raleigh, Wake Forest, Cardinal Gibbons, Millbrook, Southern Durham, and Middle Creek. Bill Gates open at 3 p.m., JV kicks off at 4. Varsity action starts at 5. Get your tickets now at high school. OT.com. 842, check-end dole dopler 5,000 radar. narrow band of light rain that's moving across our area right now, all the way from Chapel Hill and Siler City, up toward Lewisburg-Henderson and toward Rhode Oak Rapids and Field. It's just this narrow band. It's likely to sit here and very, very slowly drift southward. It may expand a little bit in coverage, but it's not likely to get any heavier than it is right now. 50% chance midday into the middle of the afternoon, and then we may see a few evening showers and storms in our eastern counties, but not going to total up very much rain today in the rain gauges. 70 in Wilson and Durham. 69 in Fayetteville, so it's a warm and sticky start this morning. After school practices right around 3 o'clock in the afternoon, temperature close to 80 degrees, and then just a gradual drop in our temperature and a small chance for some rain. We'll talk about a better chance for rain over the weekend. Coming up, Ken. Elizabeth, keeping track of the morning commute specifically that southern loop of the beltline. We've seen the usual morning congestion there around I-40, Lake Wheeler Road. It begins to clear up just to date once you get around the corner there on Gorman Street. That's Southern Loop of the Belt. you're just looking at a six-minute delay, even though traffic looks like it's really inching along with six minutes. I don't think it's going to make you late this morning. So the real troubled spot is I-87 does a crash right before the I-540 I-87 interchange. It's causing quite a bit of a delay. You're looking at a 25-minute delay. So I would recommend getting off on Smithfield Road, working away with the pool road, and then back onto the Beltline. But for our friends in Wake Forest, you're just looking at an eight-minute delay at this hour. All right. Thank you, Ken. This morning, a new push in North Carolina to address the link between social media and suicide. The state child's fatality task force meets today to talk about the impacts of AI chatbots and companions on kids. North Carolina has sued TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram over these concerns about kids' mental health. State lawmakers, however, have struggled to enact new regulations on social media companies. Look for updates on today's discussion on wRL.com. And the Way County School Board is extending its deadline for applicants to fill its vacant seat. The board voted last night to push that deadline back two weeks to November 14th. That's because some applicants were confused about which documents they needed to submit. Some also were not sure if they lived in the district, which is mostly an apex. So listen, between inflation and tariffs, the cost of what grocery shopping is, is no joke. Five on your side's Ashley Rose shares five steps you can take to save big on your grocery bill.

Food prices have risen 24% from 2020 to 2024. That's according to a report from the USDA's Economic Research Service. The experts at Consumer Reports shared five steps you can take to save big on your next grocery run. Step one, shop with a plan. Don't just bring a list. Be realistic about the week ahead. It might be a good idea to shop for some meals that are good leftovers or can be frozen to avoid overbuying in food waste. Step two. Go for the generic or store brand products. With staples like orange juice, coffee, cheese, and yogurt, you can save between 30 and 70% if you switch from a name brand. A third option, going meatless. Consumer reports estimates it can save you nearly $1,000 in one year. Step four, correctly storing your groceries so produce lasts longer. We're talking about produce, salad greens, and berries. And finally, joining your favorite grocery store's loyalty program often leads to greater discounts or member-only coupons. Ashley Rowe, five on your side. Amazon is adding facial recognition technology to its new ring cameras and doorbells. The new feature is called familiar faces, and they say it'll recognize familiar people such as family, friends, or neighbors. Homeowners can then tag them in the ring app so the next time they can be identified by name rather than a generic person at the front door. But privacy experts are concerned because people are being recorded without their consent. Well, the clock is ticking the Supreme Court ordered Google to make changes to its app store. Google's parent company, Alphabet, asked the court to pause a judge's order that sided with carry-based epic games. The ruling in the antitrust case requires the Play Store to allow rival apps to be downloaded by customers. The order also requires Google to allow external links that can bypass its billing system. Our teacher of the week is carrying on a legacy of educators in her family. We're at Glen Elementary School in Durham to surprise this very deserving kindergarten teacher. Raise your hand. Who else wants to share? I love your beautiful pictures. Every time Nancy Gonzalez walks into her kindergarten classroom at Glen Elementary School in Durham. Stefan, what's it? you see. She is living out a childhood dream. I used to set my stuff, animals out, and I would like pretend that they were my student, so I have always known that I was going to be a teacher. And right there on her classroom door is a picture of Ms. Gonzalez as a kindergartner. I mean, the caption says it all, loving kindergarten since 2004. Whether she's communicating in Spanish or English, Ms. Gonzalez says this is all about making sure her very young students have a solid academic and social foundation. They go from very little knowledge about letters and numbers. And then at the end of the year, they're readers and writers. And it's, I don't think there's any other grade where you see that big of a transformation. But when we pull it away, it looks bigger, doesn't it?

But Ms. Gonzalez, her classroom is her happy place, her students, part of her extended family. So it's really cool to get to create that bond. And for a lot of students, I am their first teacher. So I tell everyone there's nothing more magical than kindergarten. Ms. Gonzalez, you are W. REL's Teacher of the Week. Give her a big hand. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you so much. Absolutely love walking into those classrooms. If you'd like to nominate a teacher, go to weryl.com and her Teacher of the Week in the search box. Well, a commonly prescribed opioid may not be doing much to ease long-term pain. A new study questions the effectiveness and safety of tremidol, a drug often seen as a safer alternative. The study concluded the synthetic opioids benefits for chronic pain are limited and may not even reach the minimal threshold patients can feel. Researchers found that tremidot also had an increased risk side side effects like nausea, dizziness, constipation. even cardiac events. Well, whether it's your left or right side, we're talking about sleeping right now or in the back of your stomach. Most people tend to go to sleep in the same position every night, but does your sleeping position really matter? Sleep experts say no sleeping position is considered better than the other, although it's natural to move it around, but if you're constantly tossing and turning, that could be a sign of restless leg syndrome. So if you're feeling you're doing a lot of repositioning and just feel the need to move, restless legs does not need to just be in the legs. It can be in the arms. It can be the whole body. So if there's a feeling of constant need to move, that might be a reason to see your physician to have that investigated because that's a very treatable situation. Also, some people who snore may have sleep apnea. Experts recommend they avoid sleeping on their backs. more you know. All right, let's get to meet ourologist Elizabeth Garner and the WRL's severe weather center. Today might be a good day to take a nap on the couch. I love it. I think every day is a good day to take a nap on the couch after as early as we get up, that's for sure. But no, you know, yesterday was a really great day to be outside. It was on the hot side at 86, but the Mike DeWine point, the humidity was on the lower side. The humidity is really bumped up ahead of our front, which is typical. We tend to see a southerly flow ahead of a front. And, of course, some showers have developed along this front. But it is a very wimpy band of rain, that's for sure. We'll zoom in here. And you can see from just west of Sanford over around. the sand hills and then up the i-85 quarter toward roanoke rapids that's where we're ending up with some rain that continues to fall right around durham it's this band has been fairly stationary for the last several hours and future cast shows it continuing to be fairly stationary between now and lunchtime that still doesn't mean that we're going to see a lot of rain i mean maybe in this area where it's stationary we would get a quarter of an inch but eventually it will slide eastern and then after say dinner we may end up seeing one more band of some showers in our eastern counties but

This is not going to be a big rainmaker, really, for anybody. But we do continue to have the showers, just the light rain falling there in Durham. You can see the wet conditions there. 70 is our temperature and our Mike DeWine point is 68, which feels very much like summer. 68 southern pines, 71 in Goldsboro, 70 in Durham right now. It's 71 in Garner and Nightdale, 69, in Holly Springs, and an apex. It's a real warm start out there, five to 10 degrees warmer than this time yesterday. Our highs in the upper 70s in Raleigh and Durham today, 82 in Fayetteville, with just some patchy light rain. As our cold front slides off the coast, it's going to open the door to the cool air. Notice how everything turns blue. That's the chilly air that arrives by tomorrow. So we go from 79 today to 69 tomorrow. And then we'll hold it near 70 all the way through the weekend. Our normal high is 76. We're going to see some cool mornings too. Of course, it's 70 right now. We'll drop it more than 15 degrees tomorrow morning to 53 and then on into the 40s on Friday and the 50s over the weekend. So it's going to feel much cooler. We'll see lots of sunshine, but breezy conditions tomorrow. Behind the front, we'll see Gus tomorrow 25 to 30 miles per hour. Kane's home opener. We'll see sunshine if you're going to be tailgating ahead of the game. It'll be a little bit breezy. At the end of the game, temperatures will be in the 50s, so you may want a jacket. We're watching the weekend very carefully. A coastal low could develop, bringing some more damage to the outer banks. We could also see some showers, so keep checking back with us for that. All right, thanks, Elizabeth. And before we go to break, here are your winning NC education lottery numbers. We'll get another check on weather and traffic next.