ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 4pm - December 30, 2025

Episode Date: December 30, 2025

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Hi everyone, eyewitnesses at 4 o'clock is on the way right now. And we have the latest on the breaking news we've been covering today. A small plane gets blown off a runway here in the triangle after getting hit by a gust of wind, how that pilot is doing, Duan Hogard live on the scene. And firefighters battling a house fire in southern Durham, what we know about what happened, and this big firefight in the Bull City. And we have some just released numbers from the CDC showing the flu is very high here in North Carolina and 19 other states, why this is not covered by the flu vaccine this year.

Eyewitness News at 4 begins right now. Right now, live coverage from your local news leader, keeping you connected to your community and your first alert forecast. Here's what's happening where you live. This is ABC 11 eyewitness news. And first at 4, we're tracking. in the Arctic air that's around here in North Carolina. We're glad you're joining us on this Tuesday afternoon.

I'm Steve Daniels. Barbara and Amber have the day off today. We started the day off in the 20s. It's been warming up a little bit and things are looking better throughout the rest of the week. Let's join Cruz Medina right now with the latest on where we are with the attempts and what we can expect in the days ahead as we get ready to celebrate the new year. Cruz. Well, Steve, it's going to be seasonable by then. But as far as today goes, if you've been outside for any amount of time, you know how cold it's been with that wind whipping at times.

And compared to this exact time yesterday afternoon, we're running 15 to 20 degrees colder than this exact time yesterday. But it's not just here. It's to our north, our south, and back to our west toward the mountains as well. And those tipters locally have only reached the middle to upper 30s across the northern half of our region and lower 40s down in the sandhills. So if you are heading out to something like the Carolina basketball game tonight out in Chapel Hill as they take on FSU, prepare for those cold temperatures if you're going to be out and about. 32 is that tipter walking into the game and then as the game is wrapping up, tipter should be down in the 20s. So one thing for certain, it is definitely going to be a chilly night here locally.

Tipters go all the way down into the 20s, which is actually below where we should be for this time of the year. We have a clear sky, that northwest wind continues, but it will relax a little bit as we go into tonight. And tomorrow will not be quite as breezy as what we see or what we've seen throughout today. So temperature's for your morning commute should be in the 20s tomorrow. By the time we're getting into the mid and late morning hours, tipters will be in the middle of the 30s. And then those high temperatures tomorrow will top out closer to where we should be for this time of the year. So right around 50 degrees for Raleigh and Durham, low 50s for the Sand Hills.

So Fayetteville and Lumberton at 52, and then 40s across the northern tier toward the Virginia border. Coming up, we're going to take a dive into some even warmer temperatures that we could find in your seven day forecast. Stick around. You don't want to miss it. Yeah. Good forward to hear and all about the warm up crews. We'll see it soon. Thank you. New here at 4, an emergency involving a small plane in Lewisburg. It happened this morning at the Triangle North Executive Airport.

This plane actually ran off the runway after getting hit by a gust of wind. It happened around 9.30 there at the airport on airport road. And according to Franklin County Emergency Services, the pilot now has minor injuries. DeWan Hogarth, live on the scene, he's been there through the day. Dowan, explain to us exactly how this happened? Yes, Steve. At least right now in the 4 o'clock hour, just within the past, The last hour and a half or two hours, that plane, which was right over my right shoulder here, has since been a move from an embankment off the runway as the FAA is continuing right now in their investigation. A local pilot was able to walk away with minor injuries following this crash landing at Triangle North Executive Airport in Lewisburg.

And when we get a phone call about a plane crash, I think a lot of things go through our mind. Nicholas Thorpe, the director of the Franklin County Emergency Management Department, says his team then assesses the number of people involved, the type of aircraft, along with info from 911 dispatchers. We get on scene, it's a small airplane, one passenger, we start to ease up a little bit, but we still are taking all the precautions we need to make sure that person's being taken care of, and the scene is made secure. It happened around 9.30 this morning when the pilot whose identity has not been released was flying patterns for approximately seven minutes when a strong gust of wind knocked the pilot off center line in his approach for landing.

He took out a couple lights and fixtures that are next to the runway, and he ended up in the embankment next to the runway. These pictures showing some of the damage to the plane, including the wing and its landing gear. The Franklin County Emergency Management Director says airport staff trained for this. I mean, Christmas is a widely traveled season, right, or a holiday season we're in a lot of travel is happening right now. We're grateful that we have dedicated staff here all the time in the county that's able to respond to any kind of incident. In airport staff, they tell me weather conditions at the time of that incident were about 25 miles per hour. That's not enough to close the runway, but seeing that this is a public airport, the staff here does not actually make the determination to keep the runway open or closed.

It must stay open at all times. And the pilot always has discretion on whether or not he or she chooses to fly. We're live in Lewisburg this afternoon. Duane Hogarth, every 11, I witness news. Yeah, pretty frightening incident for the pilot of that single engine plane in Lewisburg today. Dewan, thank you. Let's go to Durham now. Authorities investigating a house fire on Broad Road and a neighborhood off Sharon Road.

fire officials called to the scene just before one this afternoon, and you can see they were dealing with this very heavy smoke coming from the front of the home. Thankfully, everyone was able to get out of the home safely. No injuries reported there. We're working with the Durham Fire Department to see if they have determined the cause of that fire. And New It 4, we're getting our first look at the man who allegedly robbed a bank in Durham. Take a look at the pictures there on your screen. Police say this guy is wanted for robbing the First Horizon Bank on North Gregson Street just before 2 o'clock this afternoon. He didn't appear to have a weapon. And if you know who that is, the Durham Police Department would like to hear from you.

In Wake County, a 19-year-old has been arrested in connection with a shooting that happened at Southeast Raleigh High School back in August. The Raleigh Police Department says that shooting happened in the parking lot near the stadium during a football scrimmage. There were no reported injuries. Now a 19-year-old Cameron Owens is charged with discharging a firearm on educational property. Discharging a firearm in city limits and injury to personal property. His first court appearance is coming up tomorrow. Now to the fallout over an alleged. social media posts by the leader of Shop Local Raleigh, a growing number of local business owners

now calling for the resignation of the group's executive director. The anonymous Facebook message now attributed to Jennifer Martin was in response to a Wake County mother wanting advice about her transgender child transitioning from female to male who wants to play on a boys volleyball team. Elena Athens joins us live now in Raleigh. You've been asking about the law here in North Carolina surrounding anonymous online messages. That's a point of curiosity for a lot of people in this situation. Tell us more, Elena. Yeah, and Steve, I also spoke with several small business owners and nearly all of them only felt comfortable speaking off camera. One person says that she understands that people do have a right to their personal opinion.

Most said they were concerned about this post that was put on a professional page by a business leader. So Jennifer Martin is the executive director of the organization Shop Local Raleigh. More than a thousand people have signed their name to an online petition calling for Martin to a positive. and undergo sensitivity training. Martin is accused of posting anonymously last week on a professional Facebook group and dismissing transgender youth. The page moderator later publicly attributed the post to Martin. That administrator now has legal representation but has not yet issued a statement on his client's behalf. Eyewitness news did reach out to attorneys to see if there were any legal ramifications for outing someone who post anonymously. A lawyer says a moderator does have the

right to unmask comments, and this is a cautionary tale. There would be an argument that that is protected by the First Amendment right to freedom of speech, that I have every right to disseminate personal information about somebody who said something, and, in my view, hold them accountable. So ABC 11 is the media partner for the Raleigh Christmas parade presented by Shop Local Raleigh. I have been reaching out to Martin throughout the day for comment. I have not heard back. Live outside the Raleigh, I Witness News Center, Elena, Athens.

ABC 11. I witness news. Elena, thank you. Let's turn to these new numbers from the CDC today, releasing data on the number of people getting the flu right now, and it's giving us a better idea of how quickly it's spreading across the country. The agency says cases are very high in 20 different states. New York State, in fact, is having the worst flu outbreak they've ever recorded. More than 71,000 cases in one week alone. Cases are being linked to a new flu strain called subclaid K.

It's a kind of influenza A. It's so important to note here, the flu season this year is earlier and strong. than last year. And if we remember, last year was one of our highest hospitalization rates. And flu season generally runs from October until May. And right now at four, we're taking a closer look at those metrics here in North Carolina. We are one of those 20 states with very high flu activity right now. And we now know why so many people are getting sick. The CDC says that new variant is not covered by this season's flu vaccine. Michael Perchick joins us now in downtown Raleigh with more. According to NCDHHS hospital emissions for flu,

like illnesses have increased nine straight weeks across North Carolina. As holiday travels ramped up, unfortunately, so is the flu. This subclade K variant of the flu that's been circulating this year is spreading very, very efficiently. And hospitalizations are increasing. It's why doctors are stressing people take precautions. If you're having symptoms, if you're not feeling well, to stay home, try not to get others sick, maintain good hand hygiene, and I cannot stress this enough, It is not too late to get the flu shot.

The flu shot really helps where it counts. It can prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and death. While infants, the elderly, and those with preexisting conditions are typically most at risk, everybody can feel its impact. Eric Stein worked with family's fighting flu, a nonprofit his family helps start after the death of his sister, Jessica, from the virus. I want to honor my parents, honor my older sister, do what they did and give back and teach people about the importance of flu, prevention, and taking the flu seriously.

A key part of that is knowledge. I tell everybody, trust your own body. If something's wrong, you know it's wrong, then you're probably right because you know what you're feeling like all the time. Go get tested. Coming up at 5, we speak with the team at Cape Fear Valley Health, plus what Wake Med and U.N.C. hospital are seeing when it comes to flu cases. In Raleigh, I'm Michael Perchick, ABC 11. Michael, thanks. We'll see you next hour for that. Now let's take a look at some other local headlines in your 4 o'clock speed feed.

First, we have an update on an armed robbery investigation in Wake County. A guy named Willie McGee is now behind bars after getting released from the hospital today. McGee is charged with two counts of attempted murder after he got into a shootout with Rocky Mount Police after the bank robbery last Friday evening. McGee is also charged federally for this bank robbery in Zebulon the same day. Police say he went into the First Citizens Bank demanding money. Authorities say he threatened people with explosives and he got to away with more than $3,000 and he drove way in that big rig right there. That's how they were able to track him down. McGee was found by police in Rocky Mount. Police say he shot at officers. They returned fire, hitting McGee. Fortunately, no officers were injured. He is now being held without bond. The Raleigh Police Department announcing its latest hiring event. It's on Saturday,

January 10th at the Raleigh Police Academy on Law Enforcement Drive. You can talk with recruiters. You can even take a PT test right there on the spot to see if you might be ready for the RPD. registration is open now. And the North Carolina Zoo will be closed next week. They're shutting down from January 5th through the 9th for staff training and also park maintenance as well. The zoo and its hiking trails will reopen on January 10th for normal winter hours. That's the speed feed here at 4 o'clock. Let's talk about the countdown to ring in 2026 and New York Eve preparations are underway all across the country and right here in North Carolina as well.

And as we're counting down, we can tell you in New York City, that famous crystal ball got a test run ahead of the Times Square ball drop. It'll be watched by millions of people around the globe and by you right here on ABC 11 on Wednesday night. Here's ABC's Reno Roy with more. The countdown to 2026 already underway, and this New Year's Eve celebration in New York's Times Square is expected to be bigger and better than ever. Four drops, four midnight moments. Rita is going to be here with me in Times Square. We love doing this together. Ryan Seacrest hosting New Year's Rock and Eve with actress and singer Rita ORA across four time zones.

And today, the famous crystal ball doing a test run. Around the country, security being put to the test, including in New Orleans. National Guard joining police on Bourbon Street, where a car rammed into a crowd during last year's celebrations, killing 14 people. In Times Square, thousands of officers being deployed, including drone and harbor teams and additional screenings inside the security zone. The public should expect to see thousands of NYPD officers deployed throughout Times Square, the entirety of. the New York City Police Department is going to be working between December 31st and January 1st. The NYPD expecting hundreds of thousands of people to gather in Times Square tomorrow. It's fun. People are enjoying a good time, but there is a lot of respect we have for that moment

when all eyes are on the ball. And there is this significant moment of unity with everyone. And looking at the big show by the numbers, we are expecting a really fun one this year. It'll be eight hours long with 90 songs and 42 performers, including the iconic Diana Ross, hitting the stage. Rina Roy, ABC News, New York. All right, Rina, thanks. And don't forget to join us tomorrow night as we ring in the new year. All the fun begins at 8 o'clock with part one of Dick Clark's primetime New Year's Rock and Eve with Ryan Seekrest. And then we hope you'll tune in for a half hour of eyewitness news.

We'll be here at 10 o'clock on Wednesday night. That's followed by part two of the New Year's Rock and Eve with Ryan Seacrest beginning at 10.30. Are you ready to turn up for the new year? Fayetteville's annual Cool Springs District. New Year's Eve Spectacular is back with another great year of entertainment and activities. For a fifth year festival park in downtown Fayetteville is home to the celebrations. They'll have food trucks, children's activities, all kinds of music as well, including Bubba Sparks, Young Jock, and an R&B group called 702.

That is coming up Wednesday night in Fayetteville. Coming up here on eyewitness news, we'll dive into the new effort to find Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. The wreckage from that plane is such a mystery. The plane disappeared, you might remember, more than a decade ago, with 239 people on board will have the details on this new effort just ahead. And boosting security, hundreds of national guardsmen will be on patrol in the Big Easy as New Orleans prepares to honor the people killed in that terrorism attack one year ago in the French quarter. And within the past 90 minutes, we learned about the passing of the granddaughter of former president, John F. Kennedy. We'll get into that coming up after the break. First, Cruise wants to show us how things are looking on the roadways right now.

Yeah, Steve, it's actually looking pretty good. I-40 at Airport Boulevard. This is the second day in a row where it looks like the volume of the traffic is actually decreased. So this is good news if you're traveling through the air for your evening commute. But as we head to break, here are your traffic hotspots brought to you by the first alert weather team. Your first alert that we could have some low visibility. Warmer air working in. More clouds around tomorrow.

The next chance of rain that we're watching. Always tracking, always alerting. Wing gust will be up around 30 miles an hour. Your first alert forecast team. ABC 11. I Witness News. Watch Don. New here at 4, the National Guard is getting deployed in New Orleans for New Year's Eve and other major events. Nearly 800 state and federal law enforcement officials will be downtown in New Orleans in the French quarter.

It comes after that ISIS-linked terrorism attack last year on New Year's Eve. You might remember a former American soldier radicalized by ISIS drove a rented pickup truck through a crowd on Bourbon Street. killed 14 people. The governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, has ordered flags to fly at half staff across the state in a four-day long period of remembrance for those victims beginning on New Year's Day. And we've got a huge contingent of state police and state law enforcement and National Guard and all hands on deck with the New Orleans Police Department. You know, I did a tally during our briefing and it appears that we're going to have close to 800 law enforcement downtown and then the French quarter and I think that that's that's going to be

outstanding. And they have a big job ahead. The National Guard will be helping out with security for New Year's Eve and also the Sugar Bowl and then into Mardi Gras as well. Now to Australia and an update on that mass shooting on Bondi Beach in Sydney. According to police, the two men accused of killing 15 people at that Hanukkah festival are not part of a broader terrorist cell. The commissioner of the Australian federal police as investigators believe Saeed Akram and his son Navid Akram acted alone. Happening today, there is a new search for Malaysia Airlines flight 370, more than a decade after that plane disappeared.

You might remember that Boeing triple seven and the 239 people on board vanished in 2014. It veered off course on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Some debris has been found, but the majority of the wreckage is still missing. And today, a marine robotics company is beginning a new underwater search in that part of the world. They'll be paid $70 million, but only if some. of that wreckage is found happening today federal investigators moving the wreckage of that helicopter crash outside philadelphia and southern new jersey those two choppers collided in midair on

sunday after taking off from a nearby airport 71 year old michael greenberg died at the scene and the other pilot 65 year old kenneth kers died from his injuries yesterday at the hospital investigators have been combing that debris field 100 yards long trying to figure out exactly what went wrong why those two choppers crashed into each other while flying side by side outside philipel Philadelphia. During this chilly weather we're having around here, Cumberland County opened some warming centers to help people out today. It includes the social services and public health departments, libraries, parks and rec centers, the transit hub and the Salvation Army of the Sand Hills as well. They'll be open today and tomorrow during normal business hours. The Cumberland County White Flag Shelter will also be open at night. And that is important. We need to be looking out for each other, cruise, because it is chilly. You just showed us off the top of the hour how much colder it is today than this time yesterday because of that Arctic air that's around. Yeah, we started out in the 20. this morning. This afternoon's even felt pretty cold with the wind whipping at time. So we're going back into the 20s tonight, Steve. So those shelters are definitely going to come in handy. Now, as we go into the next few afternoons, those temperatures will start to rebound closer to where they should be this time of the year. So for reference, you can see our average high for this time of the month. And the triangle region is 52 degrees. We'll be at 50 tomorrow, 52 and Thursday. Then as we go into the weekend, a little warmer temperature is rising into the mid-50s then. So that's going to feel nice compared to. the 40s that we had today. Now here's a live look at RDU. We've got a crystal clear blue sky out there and it's been a bit windy even at this hour. You can see the camera kind of vibrating here

and tipters only in the upper half of the 30s. So if these hold as our highs, then it's going to be cooler than what we forecast for today. But regardless, those tipters have felt like the 30s all afternoon with that wind whipping and some of the warmer spots have only reached 43 like in Fayetteville at this time. So this evening, stepping out to walk the dog. You'll want to be bundled up for that. Maybe even put your dog in a sweater. Who knows? Tipters will stay in those 30s though as we go through the evening and then by tomorrow morning, that's where we reach the 20s for lows tonight. Here's first alert predictor. Northwest winds continue overnight. We'll have a little batch of clouds passing through. Those should clear out by

the time we get into morning. So tipters waking up in the upper 20s to around 30 degrees. We'll see more sunshine into the afternoon. 3 p.m. reaching those highs around 50 and then late in the evening, of clouds coming through as the disturbance moves in but there's not really any moisture for it to work with so that is going to keep us dry even as we go into tomorrow so the daytime hours will be coldest in our northern counties tomorrow tipters there for highs only make it into the upper 40s for the sand hills those could be some of the warmest spots making it into the low 50s but once again the farther north you are that northwest wind is going to have more of an effect on you bringing in that cooler air so 40s from roxboro over to henderson and roanuck rapids 40s 4 in Rocky Mountain Wilson tomorrow and then low 50s down in the sand hills now from there high pressure starts moving in but we also have another disturbance coming in from the north that disturbance will keep us divided from the cold air so to our north it'll be cold as we go throughout the day on Thursday and then to our south we're kind of in that air mass so staying a little milder in our region so that's as we enter the new year but for New Year's Eve plans if you are celebrating that tipters will be in the the 40s and upper 30s for most of the evening. So you'll want to dress warm for those plans as well. Your first alert, Accuweather 7-day forecast shows the 50s for this weekend. As we go into Saturday, that rain chance looking to miss us a little more to the south at this time by Sunday cooling down briefly and then a little warmer as we go into the start of next week. Steve.

Okay, sounds good. It'll be great to feel around here after this Arctic air gets on out of here. Cruz, thank you. We're learning some new details about the upcoming inauguration of the new mayor in New York cities, Iran Mundani. Coming up at 4.30, we'll tell you about the high profile politicians taking part in that ceremony in the Big Apple. And here in the triangle, American Airlines announcing some brand new flights from RDU to Chicago O'Hare in the new year. We'll tell you about it coming up. We are back now on eyewitness News at 4 with some news you can use. And American Airlines is expanding service at the RDIU Airport to one of its major hubs. Beginning in February, they'll add two more daily flights to Chicago O'Hare, bringing the total on

some days to six flights between here in Chicago. American says it's part of their spring expansion in Chicago, offering more options to more customers. More people are buying homes across the country. The National Association of Realtors says contracts to purchase previously owned homes jumped unexpectedly last month, rising 3.3% compared to October. That index tracking sales is now up to its highest level in nearly three years. And the experts say that's because there are lower mortgage rates, making homes a little more

affordable for many people. Driving around here is getting a little easier on your wallet. The national average for a gallon of regular gas is down $0.4 in the past week. And Gas Buddy says prices are down more than $0.22 a gallon compared to a month ago here in North Carolina. The average cost of regular gas is $2.65 a gallon chance to save a little money at the gas pump. And that's news you can use here at 4 o'clock. Coming up here on eyewitness News, Governor Stein now offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest in the murder of a barber. who was killed inside his home.

The details on that just ahead. Also coming up, we have an update on the Fayetteville woman who died from her injuries in an apartment fire. And the young child, a one-year-old, she is fighting for her life in the hospital. And more people statewide are playing the lottery, but a smaller percentage of revenue is going to North Carolina schools.

Eyewitness news talking to the state auditor to find out what's going on here. Get you and your crew to the big shows with Go Transit. Go connects to all the main concert venues like TD Coliseum in Hamilton and Scotia Bank Arena in Toronto. And Go makes it affordable with special e-ticket fares. A one-day weekend pass offers unlimited travel across the network on any weekend day or holiday for just $10. And a weekday group pass offers the same weekday travel flexibility from $30 for two people and up to $60 for five by yours at go-transit.com slash tickets.

Eyewitness News uncovering some new details today about a Fayetteville apartment complex linked to a deadly fire yesterday that claimed the life of a 35-year-old woman named Portia Corals. Her one-year-old little girl is in the hospital with very serious injuries. Penelope Lopez is in Fayetteville with the latest for us. Officials are still trying to piece together how this fire started. We learned that the last fire inspection report was completed earlier this year back in February. and it had no violations. That thick smoke, ain't nobody survived at.

Dramatic video shows the moments Fayetteville firefighters rushed to save two people from a fire Monday afternoon. Firefighters responding to a call at Kensington Place apartments off of Yadkin Road around 1 p.m. She was a kind of harder person. She had a hard to go. She'd be out here with the kids. Neighbors reporting the call after seeing smoke on the second floor.

CPR on the infant. Eyewitness news learning 35-year-old Portia Quarles and a one-year-old were inside the home. Neighbors telling ABC 11 the one-year-old girl is Quarles' daughter. And it's, this is hard. And the one-year-old still remains in critical condition. Coming up in the next hour, hear from one of Quarles' friend why she says this loss is being felt across the community. Reporting in Fayetteville, Penelope Lopez, ABC 11, eyewitness news. Governor Josh Stein is offering a $25,000 reward right now for information leading to the arrest in connection with the murder of a barber in Gastonia back in 2021.

His name was John Moore. He was found dead inside a home on Allison Street. Police say he was shot and killed during a home invasion. Surveillance video shows three people wearing a mask and toting guns breaking into the home on the night of the crime. Anyone with information about that case should contact the Gastonia Police Department or the FBI. IWitness News is diving into a new audit focused on the North Carolina education lottery. A recent annual financial review found while lottery ticket sales surged last year, payments to North Carolina public schools actually declined. Sean Coffey went one-on-one with the state auditor, Dave Bolick, to try to find out why. When you look at those numbers in black and white, $1.2 billion in additional revenue,

and $20 million less year over year contributed to the public education, it begs the same. serious questions. State auditor Dave Bullock speaking with eyewitness news today after his office announced they're conducting a performance audit of the North Carolina Education Lottery, the first in more than 15 years. It's past time for a performance audit to be completed by the North Carolina state auditor's office. So that's what we're doing. According to the office of the state auditor, in 2024, the lottery reported total annual revenue of $5.4 billion, with $1.07 billion transferred to North Carolina's education lottery file. In 2025, revenue rose to $6.6 billion, but the amount for public schools fell by $20 million.

Meantime, Bullock's office says the percentage contributed to public schools has fallen from 23% in 2023 to 20% in 2024 down to 16% in 2025. The public deserves specific answers as to exactly why the lottery has been able to generate that much more money, yet they have contributed year over year. less to public education. In a letter, lottery officials blamed the decline in the share of revenue transferred on players buying fewer high-margin jackpot tickets and playing more lower-margin digital games, decreasing their profits, saying, quote, the NCEL experienced success with digital instant games as it dealt with an unexpected downturn in traditional higher-margin games.

This led to a lower-profit margin in fiscal year 2025. Now, that in and of itself doesn't mean that there's any malfeasance, Doesn't mean that the folks at the state lottery aren't doing all that they can. But what it does say is there are some tough questions that need to be asked and answered. In Raleigh, Sean, Cawfey, ABC 11, eyewitness news. Sean, thanks. And Dave Bullock says lottery officials have been fully cooperating. And at this point, his office has not found any evidence of wrongdoing. Eyewitness news reached back out to the lottery today, as well as the Department of Public Construction.

But so far, we have not heard back. We'll let you know when we do. For the second year in a row across the country, we have surpassed 25,000 whooping cases. It's another sign of the risk of falling vaccination levels. The infection can lead to severe illness or death, especially in young children. The CDC reported nearly 28,000 cases this year and 13 people died. According to the Pan American Health Organization, most of them were kids under the age of one. The CDC recommends routine, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccination for all babies and kids under the age of seven through a five dose series beginning

at two months of age. More musicians have canceled their upcoming concerts at the Kennedy Center for the performing arts in Washington. It comes after the board voted to add President Trump's name to the building. The Cookers, a jazz band, was scheduled to perform tomorrow night. They've canceled. The group didn't cite a specific reason for pulling out. Christy Lee was also scheduled to perform on January 14th. She announced her cancellation on Instagram, saying canceling shows hurts,

but she said, quote, losing my integrity would cost me more than a paycheck. Instead of playing at the Kennedy Center, she'll play a live show from her home. The Kennedy family has been vocal in its disapproval of that name change. In New York City, the mayor-elect Zaraan Mamdani will be publicly sworn in at a City Hall inauguration ceremony coming up on New Year's Day. The ceremony will feature Mamdani being introduced by fellow New Yorker, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders will administer Mamdani's oath of office during the City Hall ceremony. Mamdani is 34 years old. He describes himself as a Democratic socialist, and he will take office at midnight on no.

New Year's Day. All right, around here, we're tracking the canes. They picked up a big divisional win. Jackson Blake scoring on a power playing overtime last night to beat the Rangers three to two. The canes are atop the Metro Division right now. They'll look for a third straight win tonight on the road in Pittsburgh. And Duke football is on the road getting ready for their bowl game. They are in El Paso right now playing Arizona State in the Sun Bowl. They'll play that game on New Year's Eve. Kickoff is at 2 o'clock on 1 o'clock. Wednesday afternoon. And NFL football returns to ABC 11 this weekend, a double header on Saturday. Panthers and the Bucks at 3 o'clock, the NFC South Crown on the line, followed by the

Seahawks and the 49ers at 7.30, and of course, we'll be here for eyewitnesses right after the game. Today we lost a Grammy-winning gospel singer and the granddaughter of former President John F. Kennedy. We'll tell you about that coming up. And we'll have the details on their passing, as well as some other well-known faces. We lost in 2025 from Pope Francis to Malcolm Jamal Warner. And also coming up here on eyewitness news, a thief steals some musical instruments from a store, but then something really unexpected happens after he returned to the store. We'll have the details on that. Straight ahead here on eyewitness news.

Eight-time Grammy-nominated gospel singer and composer Richard Smallwood has died. The total praise musician died today at the Brook Grove Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Maryland because of complications from kidney failure. Smallwood earned many honors in his 20-plus year career, including several dove awards, stellar awards, and also a Grammy. He was 77 years old. We've also learned about the passing of Tatiana Schlossberg. She's the daughter of Caroline Kennedy and designer Edwin Schlossberg. She revealed her terminal cancer diagnosis back in November. She's the granddaughter of President John F. Kennedy and she learned she had acute

myeloid leukemia after giving birth to her second child in May of 2024. She was 35 years old. Now we're going to take a look at some of the other notable people we lost during 2025. I have to say you play well. Oh, oh God, Annie. Good afternoon, everyone. You won't be this to me. You can keep a secret. I'll tell you how my first three... ...bunasera.

You can be my wingman anytime. Just a bit outside. Oh, look, it's so lovely. I don't care what the scoreboard says at the end of the game, in my book, we're going to be winners. I, Richard Bruce Cheney, you solemnly swear. And we take the Lakers back to the big board. Here we go.

From now on, I'm number one, me, Margaret Houlihan. Good afternoon, everybody. Ah! Killing me, killing me softly with this song, killing me softly with this song, killing me softly with this song, killing me so, I was just I was just wondering if you had the chance to check gossip girl recently. I was made for loving you, baby. You were made for loving me. I want to fight them.

They'll kill us. Maybe. You want to die? Do you? Love is never having to say it. The prominent lives lost during 2025 from ABC News. Coming up here on eyewitness news, all aboard will take you to the Model. train show that's on display right now in Durham.

And the touching story of a medical pioneer being reminded of the lives he saved thanks to his groundbreaking research. One really important part of the holiday season for a lot of us is letting our families know what they mean to us. But for one woman in California, it's also been about letting her grandfather know how much he means to countless other people all across the country. Here's Danny New with their story. Those are all books I wrote. A medical pioneer being reminded of the research he conducted and the lives he's saved. There was over 3,000 comments, mostly photos of families.

Over the past few weeks, this video has picked up millions of view. and thousands of comments on social media. You wrote that. As people watch 93-year-old Dr. Marshall Lindheimer, who now has dementia, hear about his groundbreaking research to treat and diagnose the pregnancy condition preeclampsia. Thank you for your help. His granddaughter, Isabel, and her boyfriend, even read Dr. Lindheimer, a letter that President Obama wrote to him in 2009, saying, quote, few have worked harder in support of the health

and well-being of women and infants. I brought up Obama, just kind of casually I said something to see if he would say anything. He's like, oh, I know that guy. He's my friend. Dr. Linheimer has had dementia for about three years, but this year brought him a devastating heartbreak when his wife of 65 years Jacqueline passed away suddenly. However, he still kept his routines.

Like reading the paper and also checking the mailbox, which is why on social media, Isabelle started letting people know they could message her to send him cards and letters. Oh my gosh. Soon they started to arrive one by one to his California home. Some from nurses. Mothers and babies are better protected because someone long ago asked the right questions and cared enough to answer them.

You. And some from survivors. This letter reads, quote, I know because of your work, three generations of women in my family survived their pregnancies and were able to have healthy babies. Now it's like, it's clicked. And every day when he checks the mail, he's like, oh, I've got another letter. And I don't know, it's really nice for him. So if you want to write to him, you can message his. at Drizzy on the go on social media, or you can message me.

I'll give them to her. And at first, they were mostly Hanukkah cards for Dr. Linheimer, so she wanted me to emphasize it now. Any greeting card will do. In New York for ABC News, I'm Danny New. We want to take you to New Jersey now, and the owner of a vintage guitar store says two mandolins were recently stolen when a guy put them in his jacket and walked out of the place. This video is now going viral.

But four days later, that guy who was caught on the store cameras at a change of and he returned the mandolins to the store. I noticed someone opening the door, bending down, and then splitting. So I walked over there, and there, in the shopping bags, two mandolins. I said, I couldn't leave it. Okay, that thief also included a note with an excuse saying, hey, sorry I did that. Sorry, I stole your stuff. Turns out I was drunk.

Don't blame me. Blame the cocktails for that one. I don't know how well that excuse. would work. I know the time, Steve. And I don't know what the, what the police had to say about that, that either. Blame it on the drinks. Yeah, I'm sure that they weren't too thrilled. Hopefully no one's blaming anything on the drinks this New Year's Eve, right? All right. So going forward through the next few days, we're at least going to warm up a little bit, which is welcome. Yeah. So tipters tomorrow will be around 50 degrees, which is slightly warmer than what we had today where most of us have been in the upper 30s, lower 40s. So as we go into Thursday, it gets even warmer, lower 50s there, mid 50s by the time we get. We get into Friday. So we're starting the new year on a seasonable note with those pictures in the 50s. Now for this evening, if you're stepping out, this is a live look at Durham from our mutual tower sky cam. It's only 39 degrees. So don't let that sunshine fool you. It is definitely going to be a chilly evening across the region. So if you're heading out to a show

at Deepak tonight, grab your thick winter jacket, you'll need it with those tipters in the 30s before and after the show. Here's how tomorrow shakes out. We start today in the 20s. afternoon highs will top out in the upper half of the 40s to low 50s. We will see a decent amount of sunshine during the first half of the day. Some clouds roll in and will stick with us as we go through the evening hours. So if you're going to the district New Year's Eve spectacular down in Fayetteville or if you're going to watch the acorn drop in Raleigh, whatever you are doing for your New Year's Eve plans, tipgers will range from the 40s to upper 30s across Central North Carolina.

So it's definitely going to be chilly as we go into the new year. but also this weekend, trending drier as we see that system pass to our south, keeping those rain sheds is pretty low. So by Sunday, dipping down quickly into the upper 40s and then back to the mid-50s as we go into the first full week of the new year. Steve. Okay, Cruz, thanks very much. We are getting ready right now for eyewitness news at 5 o'clock. Coming up here, we'll tell you about the state health department offering some free radon testing kits, what you need to know about the potential risk of elevated radon inside your home and how it could affect your health.

ahead to a big matchup in Chapel Hill tonight, the Tar Heels facing the Florida State Seminoles for a big ACC matchup. Trey Miles will be joining us live from Chapel Hill with more in the game and one Carolina player sharing his story about playing in his hometown. And we'll be getting our first look at the Illuminate Art Walk Sip and Stroll event that is happening this evening in downtown Rale. How you can take part in that. They'll have upcoming tours and you can sip and stroll and check out all the lights there in downtown Rale. That's coming up at 5 o'clock. All right, time to get all aboard for the next story in Durham. We'll show you the holiday model train show that is now on display.

A lot of families are loving this one. We'll take you inside, show you what it's all about. Coming up here on eyewitness News.