Noon News on WRAL - Thursday, July 30, 2026

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., JV kicks off at 4. Varsity action starts at 5. Get your tickets now at high. School OT.com. Now, breaking news from WRAL, coverage you can count on. Breaking news, UNC confirms an investigation into allegations that led to Michael Lombardi being placed on paid leave. We hear from UNC's chancellor and athletics director. And the drought monitor sees much improvement. I'll show you how it affects our area and what it means going forward. Accusations of racial profiling. A carry man is suing the Trump administration. The viral video he says supports his claim. Breaking news, UNC confirmed an investigation into football general manager Michael Lombardi. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Renee Chu. I'm Chris Lemigot. Thank you so much for joining us. Lombardi was placed on administrative leave on Monday, and we have been asking questions since then. Well, today we took our questions to the chancellor and head coach Bill Belichick. WRL's Monica Casey is live in Chapel Hill with that story. So Monica, you've been digging into this. What have you learned? Well, we now know that UNC learned of these concerns last week. Michael Lombardi was then placed on leave this Monday. Since Monday, we have been asking questions, including whether Lombardi was under investigation. Today, UNC confirmed the Office of University Council is investigating this matter. The board of trustees met this morning, and while they were in closed session, we spoke with Chancellor Lee John Roberts, who tells us he is disappointed about the situation. We should be focusing on our student athletes and on their success on the field and on all of the wonderful things that happen at this university every day, providing opportunities for students from every nook and cranny of North Carolina. And so it's distressing to me and everyone else in the administration entrusted with leadership at this remarkable university that this is something that we have to have to spend time on. Coach Bill Belichick also had a press availability today. WRL Sports investigative reporter Brian Murphy asked him what has changed for the team with Lombardi on leave. We've made a few adjustments, yeah, but I mean, we're working through the process.

Now, Lombardi was Belichick's first hire here at UNC. The chancellor also said here today that if something has gone wrong, they want to know about it and they want to fix it. Live in Chapel Hill, Monica Casey, WRL News. And coming up in 30 minutes, WRL sports anchor Chris Lee and WRL Sports investigative reporter Brian Murphy will join us live from UNC Chapel Hill. Chris Lee was at the team's first practice of the season while Brian attended the board of trustees meeting. Don't miss their comprehensive coverage. That's at 1230. Okay, let's go ahead and get your look outside right now, a live look at downtown Kerry Park and a beautiful Thursday, right? Well, there's a drop in humidity that will make for a comfortable afternoon. This morning's drought monitor shows much of our area has seen improvement regarding the drought situation. We've got Elizabeth Gardner on the WRA weather patio with a look at this new map. I mean, we're talking about significant changes, Elizabeth. You know, I think we're all pretty excited about this for sure. It's a big, big change, but not surprising. over a foot of rain just in the month of July, and that's more than we've seen from January all the way through June. So big, big changes coming as we've seen so much rain this month. And so you can see what's changed. The extreme drought is in red. We have just a few of our counties, just a few slivers up near the Virginia line, and then a very small part of the southern tip of Samson County. Right in the middle of the viewing area, in the triangle area, we dropped all the way back down to moderate drought, and it was just a few weeks ago that we received. seeing extreme and exceptional drought. So big, big changes. As a matter of fact, here's last week's drought monitor. And you can see a lot more of the state there on the left was in red. Of course, that's the extreme drought. And then look at the big changes. It's easy just to take a look at it. But last week, 79% of North Carolina was under severe drought and now only 41%. So it's not just our viewing area, but a good chunk of North Carolina is starting to see some improvements. For us here at RDU officially, we had more than a foot of rain in July and overall for the summer it's been almost 16 inches that puts us way ahead for those time periods but when you look back over a year's time when the drought began we're still about six or seven inches behind we're still doing great though 81 is our current temperature with a Mike DeWine point at 62 so it feels very comfortable in the shade as we look down toward downtown Raleigh and we'll see highs in the upper 80s in the triangle in around 90 in Fayetteville we will hold on to our lower humidity for another day or two, but I'm tracking the next front that could bring us some significant rainfall over a number of days. I'll show you that coming up. All right, sounds good, Elizabeth. Well, again, this morning's drought monitor showed major improvement, and we have received so much rain to improve our situation, to the point the city of Raleigh plans to lift water restrictions on Monday. W.R.S. Kirsten Clark is... Although the drought is still ongoing, recent rainfall has made it a lot more manageable than it was even just a month ago. Falls Lake is a prime example where water levels have risen more than two feet over the past week. Extreme drought conditions were almost eliminated in our viewing area, which is... now mostly facing a moderate drought. 79% of the state was in severe drought last week, and it's now down to only 41%, with the drought eliminated in some of our coastal areas. As of Tuesday, Falls Lake rose to 84% full. The lake had not been at that level since mid-April. Assistant state climatologist Corey Davis emphasizes the pivotal role July has played in the improved conditions. We're not back to normal for the year just yet, but certainly I think when we look back at this,

drought a year or two from now, we should see July as that turning point. That's when it stopped being exceptional. It started being manageable. The drought monitor reflects conditions through Tuesday morning. Most of our area saw even more rain after that. The hope now is that we see similar rain events in the future to keep digging at the deficit. At Falls Lake, Kirsten Clark W. REL News. So July has changed the picture, but are we finally turning the corner? Tonight at 6th, the WRL severe weather team breaks down where the drought stands. They break down what's improved and what comes next. A man from the triangle is suing the Trump administration for $1 million. Fernando Vasquez says that he was wrongfully detained during immigration rates last fall. He actually posted a video of that experience on TikTok, which now has 9 million views, even more than that. Elizabeth Holmes is in the studio with how the administration is responding to this, Elizabeth. Chris, the Department of Homeland Security denies that this was a case of racial profiling. But Vasquez says differently. The 19-year-old said in November he was at his landscaping job in Kerry when he was detained by immigration officials. That's the video that you see there on your screen. He says he is a U.S. citizen. He is from the triangle and even tried to show officers his real ID to prove it. He told us in an interview last year that an officer threw out his wallet and stranded him in the woods. Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina is now representing Vasquez. They say that his claim is part of a larger national process for suing the Trump administration under the Federal Tort Claims Act. The ACLU more broadly nationally filed more than 54 claims, I believe it was, in 17 states and D.C. under the FTCA yesterday. So there was a mass filing yesterday. And we, Fernando's claim was part of that. It's part of a coordinated effort across ACLU affiliates across the country to try to expose the abuse that we've seen. Now, the ACLU of North Carolina said that they are already handling at least two cases like this here in the state and expect to have more in the future. A DHS spokesperson told us, quote, a person's immigration status makes them a target for enforcement, not their skin color, race, or ethnicity. Now, we asked for clarification about that since Vasquez is a U.S. citizen. We have not heard back yet. Okay, thank you for falling that for us, Elizabeth. The former Rivers Correctional Institution in Herford County will become a 1,300-bed immigration processing center. The Florida-based Geo Group says it entered into a five-year agreement with ICE. And immigration advocates urge state leaders not to do this. They point to allegations of mismanagement and abuse at similar facilities nationwide.

The husband of a carry woman missing in Grenada now says he believes there was no foul play involved in her disappearance. Liz Waddell vanished on the Caribbean island more than a week ago. Kalyn Waddell, her husband, shared an update to the website findliz.com. It basically has a website created to collect tips in this case and post updates in the investigation. Now, while no foul play is suspected, Wadale's husband says a missing person's investigation will continue. Right now, investigators are trying to piece together what happened in the time from when Waddell was last seen on surveillance video, leaving her Airbnb to when she was spotted swimming in the water right before she vanished. Iran is threatening to retaliate against the U.S. following a fresh round of strikes overnight. President Trump says the strikes were in response to unsuccessful Iranian missile attacks against American forces in the region just one day earlier. The strikes lasted about two hours. U.S. Central Command says American military forces hit dozens of targets, including military command centers as well as missile and drone facilities. President Trump insists that negotiations are likely to happen soon. However, the Iranians say that negotiations have not yielded anything. Shell is reporting its second highest quarterly profits ever in the period ending in June. That's the first full quarter since the Iran War caused oil and gas prices to surge. Fuel companies are raking in money due to the law of supply and demand. Less oil is getting through the street of Hormuz, making the fuel that is available. more valuable and enables gas companies to charge more. Let's take a look at current gas prices. According to AAA, the average price for a gallon of gas is $4.94.9. The average in North Carolina is a little less at 376 a gallon. And here in the triangle, it is 379. Remember, you can find the cheapest gas in your area using the WRL fuel tracker. Just search fuel on WRL.com. Well, we are working to find out why several screening lanes and the touchless ID system were down at RDU. Well, this costs very long lines at Terminal 2 security checkpoints this morning. We're asking TSA these questions. How did the issues affect travelers? What caused the screening lanes and touchless ID service issues? And when will the problems be fixed? Next at noon, road rage in reverse. See how extreme things, how extreme things became when one drive chased another driver while driving backwards. Plus home explosion aftermath. We are taking you to the sight of that blast as one person recovers from serious burns. Investigating Michael Lombardy, what we learned from news conferences today from UNC's chancellor and head football coach Bill Belichick as fall practice started today.

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. North Carolina football is back. Join High School OT Saturday, August 8th for the 2026 High School OT Jamboree at First Horizon Stadium at Wake Med Soccer Park. Watch some of the state's top programs hit the field, including Wilson Hunt, Union Pines, J.H. Rose, Roseville, 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. a lot com a wild case of road rage in oregon caught on dash cam oh my god this guy's crazy he's driving in reverse right now trying to follow me in reverse Whoa, the couple's dash cam captured the terrifying moments as a driver aggressively cuts him off, leading to a frightening chase. Police say the 29-year-old intentionally swerved into oncoming traffic. You can see the vehicle backing up, going down the road, tracking the couple in reverse for more than a mile as they tried to escape. Well, the couple drove straight to the police department where officers were waiting. Smart move. Body cam video shows police pulling a black air 30 soft handgun from the jacket pocket. And his criminal history includes a 2024 conviction for assaulting an officer. Investigators are searching for a missing person after an early morning explosion destroyed a house in Canton, Ohio. The blast happened around four this morning. One person was thrown from the house and taken to the hospital. with burns to about 80% of their body. The explosion also sent debris flying into other homes. A nearby home caught fire, but no one was injured. One witness says she could feel the pressure from the blast in her chest. I was immediately calling 911 because I knew something wasn't right, running past all of our windows that were blown in, and then when we came outside, like, everybody knew something was wrong, and then we looked to the back, and this house is just on fire, like flames everywhere. You could feel the flames from the front yard. It was horrible. The cause is under investigation. The American Red Cross is assisting people who were impacted by the fire. A new report shows growing support among adults for cell phone bans at schools. A Pew Research Survey found that there are 77% of adults supporting banning cell phones in middle school and high school classes. Meanwhile, 48% of adults said they supported a ban on cell phones for the entire school day and not just during classes. More than 20 states have already enacted some sort of cell phone.

ban policy. A new dress code welcoming students to school is being met with some mixed reviews. At Tuskegee University in Alabama, bedroom shoes, bonnets, and do rags are allowed in class, are not allowed in class or cafeteria. The updated policy also requires students to wear business attire for meetings. They've been told to avoid revealing clothing in class, the cafeteria, and the convocation. And some students question the policy, but others say that's always been the norm. Being prepared for our professional careers, I see the purpose. You should present yourself in the best way possible, and a lot of that has to do with the parents. Now, when asked about the policy for our report, Tuskegee University referred to the original message sent to students. Severe storms race through northern Georgia, damaging homes, buildings and roads. We'll begin in Gilmer County. Take a look at the extensive damage to this road. The storm caused a major waterline break, leaving a massive hole beneath the road surface. Rising floodwaters washed away the road's shoulder. first before exposing a main water line underneath. The extent of the erosion forced officials to close the road. The timeline for repairs is unknown. In the city of Jasper, a lightning strike severely damaged a historic monument honoring Georgia founder James Oglethorpe. Barricades now surround the marble memorial to keep people away from chunks of scattered debris and to prevent possible injury. City leaders are waiting for word from inspectors about structural. integrity. 1216 now and we are in for a gorgeous afternoon. Meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner out on the WRO weather patio with that lower level of humidity, Elizabeth. It does feel nice. Now, it's hot. We talked about that this morning. You know, temperatures are going to be in the mid to upper 80s. If we can bring it down into the low 80s with this nice low humidity, then we'd really be on to something. But we're not going to complain. I mean, you know, earlier this month, we had highs in the upper 90s and heat indices up in the triple digits. So absolutely feels good. 81 is our current temperature with a Mike DeWine point of 62, which definitely puts us in that nice zone. Back behind me, lots and lots of sunshine overhead, a couple of little puffy cumulus clouds, but none of those are likely to produce any rain for today or tomorrow. I have 87 this afternoon in the triangle and around 90 in Fayetteville. Bulls game tonight. Temperatures should be really nice for that because we've had a nice drop in our humidity, especially if you're on the shady side of the stadium. Things are looking good. They threw out the first pitch at 645. temperatures will be in the mid-80s and then dropping pretty quickly into the low 80s and even upper 70s by the time the game is over and so we're not looking at any rain to chase you away today what we're looking at here is available moisture or another word for that is just the amount of moisture in the atmosphere that we tend to feel and call humidity so the green here is not rain but again just the humidity high pressure will continue to build down from the north and we do have a northerly flow so a drier quiet

air mass in place right now. You can see here we are at 3 o'clock this afternoon, that high positioned right above us keeping the rain away and the moisture too. But watch what happens then in the next 24 hours between middle of the day tomorrow and Saturday. You can see that moisture starts to stream back in. So by Saturday afternoon, it'll feel a little less humid. And we're also looking at a chance for scattered showers and thunderstorms starting Sunday. And once that starts, we could see another extended period of rain. We still need the rain. We really played a good game of catch up here in July, but we could still use some more to completely wipe away the drought. We'll see a high of 90 for tomorrow. That'll be the hottest day, but we're close to it today, and we'll be close to it again on Saturday. But when we settle into that wetter pattern starting Sunday, highs will be back down into the mid-80s, and that trend will continue for much of next week. So once again, we're looking at our pattern where we have a stalled front. Right down, we don't have any severe threats in the next three or four days, but we'll be watching. for that potential early next week. With the clouds and the rain, we'll continue to have those cool temperatures coming up. I'll show you how much rain we could see between Sunday and Wednesday. Thanks, Elizabeth. Coming up on our news this afternoon, license plate reading cameras helped catch a woman accused of abducting a child. But those same cameras were used to illegally run someone's license plate. Today at 5, the debate over if the safety benefits outweigh the privacy concerns. Plus record debt. Americans owe more money than ever before. So today at 5.30, 5 on your side shows off the ways to protect yourself from debt collectors. Health hack or risk. Next at noon, should you trust AI with your health questions. File on your side explores a growing trend and shares the warnings for trusting AI with your information. And fitness tracker accuracy. There's no shortage of devices on the market. A sports medicine physician offers valuable insight. And hey, if you ever see some breaking news, maybe you have a story tip or video and pictures of the severe weather where you are. Report that to us at w.org.com slash reporter. 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.

Open AI is launching a new program for academic scientists, and the program will give 100,000 researchers free access to Open AI's frontier models. The selected participants from around the world will have access to scientific literature, satellite imagery, data platforms, and so much more. Participants will also be able to invite up to four collaborators to have access. Open AI says its strategy is not to try to solve scientific problems itself, but to put the tools into the hands of researchers who can. The Senate Committee on Aging is discussing what they call the AI deception machine, deepfakes, chatbots, and the new frontier of senior fraud. This comes on the heels of a report that last year, Americans over 60 years old lost a staggering... $5 billion to scams. Lawmakers spoke out about a multifaceted approach to help seniors and others steer clear a fraud. AARP says AI use among older adults nearly doubled between 2024 and 25. The hearing explored some schemes from the perspectives of the victims of AI fraud. When they see a realistic online video of a trusted physician recommending a treatment, they have little reason to question it's authenticity. That is precisely what makes today's AI-generate deepfakes such a powerful tool for deception. This problem is no longer theoretical. It is happening right now. Some proposals to combat the scams include legislation, education, and using more AI detection tools. Well, the hearing comes as more people are turning to chat, GPT, and other AI tools for health questions. The answers are fast, yes, and they often sound reassuring and trustworthy. But five of your side's key, the author, explains they aren't always accurate.

A survey out shows that 17% of adults use an AI chat bot like chat GPT to deduce complicated health scans or answer medical questions. You may not want to do that, though. First, they may be inaccurate. Second, it may compromise your privacy. AI systems are not bound by the same privacy laws that your doctor's office is. Whatever information you tell a chatbot could be used, sold, or even stolen in a data breach. Use AI as a starting point for information, not for diagnosis or treatment, and keep your personal health information. private. If you are going to use an AI chatbot, that's okay. But make sure that you verify that information with a trusted medical source. Keeley Arthur, five on your side. So with so many fitness trackers on the market these days, it can be hard to know which one to buy or if any of them actually work. Doctors who have studied the devices say they are very good at tracking step count, and heart rate tracking also seems to be pretty accurate. But other metrics such as calories, burns, stress level, even quality of sleep, not considered... much less accurate, I should say. They are considered much less accurate. But that doesn't mean fitness trackers are a waste of money. If you opt not to buy a fitness tracker, there are other ways to monitor your health progress. And that includes documenting before and after photos of your fitness journey. We are staying on top of breaking news. UNC confirms it is investigating allegations against football general manager Michael Lombardi. UNC leaders are addressing the media's interest publicly in the story for the first time. We'll hear from the chancellor and coach Bill Belichick after this break. Plus swipe fees growing. How much customers and businesses are spending every time they pull out their card and how lawmakers are working to make the light the load a bit lighter. And here's your winning NC education lottery numbers right here on the screen.

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., JV kicks off at 4. Varsity action starts at 5. Get your tickets now at high school. OT.com. Live from W.R.A.L. News headquarters in Raleigh, your number one source for local news. W.R.A.L. News coverage you can count on. So we are following that breaking news. For the first time since UNC football GM, Michael Lombardi, was placed on leave. We are hearing from leadership at UNC. And Chancellor Lee John Roberts spoke outside the UNC Board of Trustees. Briefly this morning, he did not reveal details about the Lombardi situation, but he did say this. It's distressing to me and everyone else in the administration entrusted with leadership at this remarkable university that this is something that we have to have to spend time on. Now, today's Board of Trustees meeting happened the same time, the same day, I should say, that Coach Bill Belichick kicks off the season with the team's first practice. And WRL sports anchor Chris Lee and WRL Sports investigative reporter Brian Murphy joining us live from campus right now. And guys, Belichick did refer to the Lombardi situation in his briefing.

Yeah, guys, we received the email earlier this morning right before 8 o'clock saying that none of the student athletes nor coaches could comment on this Lombardi situation with it. We're both dressed the way that we have to govern this whole thing. Of course, Brian went to the board of trustees meeting. I went to practice earlier today. Brian, you went to the board of trustees meeting. What was happening there? What was said there about Lombardi? Yeah, unlike Bill Belichick, who basically just said we're dealing with it. Lee John Roberts was pretty strong. The chancellor of this university basically saying they learned of these concerns late last week. They placed Lombardi on a paid administrative leave on Monday. Today they announced the investigation. And what Lee John Roberts said is if there's something going wrong, we want to know about it. If there's something broke, we want to fix it. And so Lee John Roberts is a lot stronger in his comments, even though they said people would not talk about it. Lee John Roberts is very strong in his comments about Lombardi. On the Belichick side, we heard from him right before a practice began. And Belichick was probably the most. I would say lighthearted. I think we've ever seen him. He would kind of, you know, threw some jokes our way, and he seemed like he was having a great time smiling a little bit more. Practice was normal. It was just a regular practice. You know, you could see the team getting ready as their first official practice for the fall as they're getting ready for the season. So nothing new to really report there, but Bill Belichick did respond to a question about how his job has changed now that Lombardi is on leave. Yeah, well, we're working through some things. You know, we're at a particular time of year now where there are certain things that are in play and certain things that aren't in play that won't happen until later in the calendar year at some other point. So, you know, we're taking a day to day and, you know, working through the things that are on the table now.

OA County man charged with attacking a woman with a machete is due in court in about an hour. He's also accused of pouring gasoline onto her. The WRA breaking news tracker is at that scene at a mobile home park on Old Home Place Circle. This is near Wendell and around 240 this morning when we were there. We saw deputies and paramedics at that scene. And deputies say a man shattered a woman's car windows and poured a liquid into the vehicle while she was inside. The man then ran away before they arrived. Deputies later arrested 19-year-old Charlie Banyos Jimenez. Now, we know that the person who was attacked, their name has not been released, but she was treated at the hospital for non-life-threating injuries. Jimenez is being held without bond. Credit card swipe fees keep going up, and it's costing more money every year. Jen Dan Sullivan explains what credit card swipe fees are and what we can do about them. Using your credit card to pay for purchases is quick and easy, but that simple swipe can come with a lot of hidden fees. These swipe fees are set by the major credit card companies. What they do is they tell the banks that issue your cards how much to charge the store where you shop. Doug Cantor with the National Association of Convenience Store says it's the credit card companies charging merchants these processing fees, which can range anywhere from 1.5% to as much as 4%. Those fees have grown out of control. Credit card companies make billions of dollars a year charging these fees. Last year, U.S. businesses paid nearly $200 billion in credit and debit card fees. And merchants are often forced to pass that cost onto consumers, according to the Merchant's Payment Coalition. The average U.S. household paid roughly $1,200 more because of such fees last year. Consumers are completely in the dark. and don't have any way to say, gee, that fee seems like too much, or I'd rather make a different choice. The swipe fees for a debit card are less than a credit card, but retailers and restaurants are still forced to pay a processing fee. Some merchants will offer discounts to consumers who pay cash.

A new cholesterol pill. We'll explain how it works and the risks and benefits of this medication compared to traditional statins. Plus, tree falls. Who pays? Depends on whose tree and whose house. We'll explain the different scenarios and what should happen if you are dealing with this type of storm damage. Football is back. Join High School OT and 99-9 the fan Friday, August 14th for the High School Jamboree at Trintini Stadium at Wake Forest High School. Bill Gates open at 5 p.m. action starts at 6th. Get tickets now at high schoolot.com. So about one and four U.S. adults have harmful levels of what's called LDL cholesterol. It's often called the bad cholesterol, and that's because it can build up in the arteries. Yeah, LDL, you want it to be low, and that increases the risk for heart attack and stroke. Mandy Gaither, talk to a cardiologist about how a new pill could improve this. It's a once daily pill now approved as a treatment along with dieted. 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. JV kicks off at four, varsity action starts at five. Get your tickets now at high schoolot.com. Remember enjoying Saturday morning cartoons and savoring the sugary milk at the bottom of your cereal bowl? Well, Kachava's new cinnamon French toast all-in-one nutrition shake gives you all the nostalgic feels and benefits. Made with real cinnamon bark for rich, authentic flavor. Just two scoops provide the complete nutrition your body craves. Take a sip of nostalgia. Go to cachava.com and use Code News for 15% off your first order. That's Kachava, K-A-H-A-V-A-D-C-A-V-A.com, Code News. Our weather this afternoon going to be such a treat, tolerable humidity instead of tropical for late July. You're looking live and watching W-R-R-R-N News available on Spectrum and the W-R-R-R-A app on your TV or streaming device. So many people across the triangle spent most of the day cleaning up after Tuesday nights severe weather. It's kind of a headache that comes with the storm cleanup is determining who is responsible when property is damaged. Now, insurance covers your home and up to $500 for tree removal if a tree hits your house. But if a tree just falls in your yard, yeah, you're on the hook. So check your insurance policy. Second. If a healthy tree falls from a neighbor's property onto yours, it's your responsibility to cleaning up. For example, if your neighbor's tree falls on your house, your insurance pays for the damage. If it was vice versa, then it's your neighbor's responsibility. But there is a caveat. If the tree was clearly dead or dying,

and it was highly susceptible to tipping over. Well, the tree's owner is responsible. So how do you know if a tree in your yard could come down? You can look for dead branches, cracks. And if the tree is leaning more than normal, you can also keep that in mind as well. And check the ground. Look for the roots, lifting, and even mushrooms growing around the base because that can indicate decay as well. Okay, let's go ahead and swing over to meter. I'll just live with Gardner. Yes, things got a little soggy from the storms this week, but there is additional rain in the forecast, and we need it to get out of this drought. We do. We made leaves and bounds, of course, as we've been talking about all through the newscast with a nice improvement in our drought monitor. But it's not completely a race. So we're going to be still probably happy to see some of that rain early next week. This is a look at the shot from the gardens back behind me. Looking beautiful. So many gorgeous things in bloom. And it's a nice day out here since we're seeing a little drop in our humidity. Right now it's 81 degrees. Not bad at all. We have a north wind that's fairly light at three miles per hour. We jump ahead to start tracking our next weather maker. And that begins. late Saturday into Sunday with our next cold front that arrives from the west. Ahead of a front, we tend to see a southerly flow. So during the day on Saturday, we'll begin to see the humidity picking up and it will start to heat up just a little bit. Showers and thunderstorms are likely on Sunday. We could see an isolated shower potentially on Saturday. So let's jump into Saturday because tomorrow is going to be dry and sunny just like today. This is a look at Saturday at 7 a.m. A little bit of cloud cover. Could even be a little bit of fog into low cloud cover. for us early on Saturday. There's 2 o'clock Saturday afternoon. Notice a few isolated showers pop up across our area. It's not anything that at least personally would have would scare me away from my outdoor plans on Saturday. That chance of rain is really minimal. And we go through the night also Saturday night into early Sunday. Sunday morning looks pretty quiet too. There's 7 a.m. But there's a small chance of a shower. Now once we hit lunchtime and beyond, that's when we start to see more cells developing across our area. And moisture will reappear as well. So it's going to be more humid. There'll be more for the atmosphere to work with as our front gets a little bit closer. There's 10 p.m. on Sunday. More rain in our forecast Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and possibly beyond that. Because once his front arrives, it's going to hang out with us. It's going to think, North Carolina looks like a cool place to be. Let's hang around. And of course, because of that, our chances for rainfall continue to go up now through the next seven days, which takes us through Wednesday. We're looking at one to two inches of rain. So that's going to be Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. And then we could see some rain beyond that. Our percent of normal rainfall in the last 30 days has really been remarkable from the triangle area northward. You see the purple shaded area. That's where we're well above, almost 200 percent of normal rainfall. Now, still down closer to the coast around the Wilmington area. They were a little bit behind for the month, but a lot of North Carolina really started to catch up a lot in July. Officially at RDU, we've seen over a foot of rain. And for the summer, we've seen over 15 inches. So in both cases, that puts us at about seven inches ahead. However, our drought started last August. So for the past 12 months, starting last August, up until now, we're still about seven inches behind. That's not nearly as bad as we were in June. So we're really making some great forward progress. The hottest day of the week will be tomorrow with a high of 90. Saturday is going to feel pretty warm for us as well. Once we settle into that wetter pattern, we're looking cooler with highs in the mid-80s. Your top stories.

are coming up next, so stick around. Football is back. Join High School OT and 99-9 the fan Friday, August 14th for the High School at Trintini Stadium at Wake Forest High School. Bill Gates open at 5 p.m. Action starts at 6th. Get tickets now at high school.com. Carrie-based SaaS is celebrating 50 years as a technology leader. In an exclusive interview, SaaS CEO and founder Jim Goodnight talks about what's next. He says the company uses generative AI to explain its findings and leaves the decision-making to people. When we find a money laundering situation, we will then use AI to explain exactly what we found. We don't use AI to produce answers, but we use it to try to explain the answers. Good night talks about how the company started and why places like Google have studied their workplace culture. You can watch WRL Presents SaaS at 50 on WRL.com right now. So as we wrap things up, here's a look at a few of the headlines that were following this afternoon. UNC officials discussed football GM Michael Lombardi's leave of absence today. School Chancellor Lee John Roberts said the school will fix any problems that need to be addressed. Coach Bill Belchick didn't get into specifics but said the program made adjustments to deal with Lombardi's absence. Lombardi was put on paid leave last week, but the school hasn't said why, citing privacy laws. National outlets have said there was an HR complaint filed against Lombardi. This morning's drought monitor showed major improvement. We've received so much rain to improve things to the point that the city of Raleigh plans to lift water restrictions starting Monday. Just 9% of the state remains in an extreme drought. By comparison, that number was 29% last week. Well, things are back to Normud, RDU, after several TSA service lines went down this morning. The airport told us four lanes could not be used, and the touchless screening option, it was down. RTU management hasn't said what caused the issue, but did say wait times are back to normal. We have your first look at Michael B. Jim Jordan in the latest remake of the Thomas Crown Affair. And I was surprised how easy it was. But I'm not finished yet.

That's what excites me. He follows in the fashionable footsteps of Steve McQueen and Pierce Brosnan as a rich businessman turned art thief. Jim Jordan does double duty directing the film as well. Looks good. 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, Roseville, 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 ticket. Now at high school.ot.com.