ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 4pm - February 20, 2026

Episode Date: February 20, 2026

Eyewitness News at 4pm - February 20, 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi everyone coming up right now on eyewitness news at four. A devastating blow to President Trump's sweeping tariffs, the Supreme Court in Washington, ruling that most of them are illegal. It's a decision President Trump says is deeply disappointing. And I'm ashamed of certain members of the court. Absolutely ashamed. We'll have live coverage from Washington this afternoon, showing you what this means for the ongoing trade war.

And a murder suspect who shot at Raleigh police officers as they tried to execute a search warrant making his first court appearance today while law enforcement experts tell us the helmet that SWAT officer was wearing likely saved his life. And tensions flare during a meeting about the recent surge in crime in Durham that steps the mayor, Leo Williams, says he's hoping, will keep people safe. I witness news at 4 o'clock 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 11I Witness. News. Right now at four, Supreme Court decision sending a gut-wrenching punch to President Donald Trump's

sweeping tariffs, the high court ruling, most of them are illegal. Thanks so much for joining us here for the news at four. I'm Lauren Johnson. Hi everyone, I'm Steve Daniels. We are keeping an eye on the economy here on eyewitness news following that news. And I want to show you the closing bell on Wall Street right now here at 4 o'clock. You can see the Dow closing up 230 points, almost a half a percentage point, close to 50,000. And the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ also closing. up today. The tariffs have been a cornerstone of President Trump's economic agenda, and now the president is fighting back announcing new plans to impose global tariffs in a different way. ABC's Christian Cordero joins us now from Washington with more on this landmark ruling.

Hi, Christian. Hey, Lauren and Steve, great to be with you both. So the administration tried arguing that the president used his emergency powers correctly, citing the emergencies as the inflow of fentanyl and the trade deficits. But today, the Supreme Court decisively disagreed. Today, a visibly frustrated President Trump called the Supreme Court's decision a disgrace. The six three majority opinion strikes down most of his sweeping tariffs against dozens of trading partners. How ridiculous is that I'm allowed to embargo them? I'm allowed to tell them you can't do business in the United States anymore.

We want you out of here. But if I want to charge them $10, I can't do that. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion that the president does not have the authority. to impose tariffs without approval from Congress. Justice Brett Kavanaugh was the only one of the three Trump handpicked for the court to side with him, writing that he disagrees with the court's opinion, but adding he believes Trump may find another way to impose tariffs. Trump today announced his plan to do just that through a different statue. Today I will sign in order to impose a 10% global tariff under section 122 over and above are normal tariffs already being charged.

The majority opinion considers Trump's tariffs attacks, which only Congress controls. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, responding. Today's SCOTUS decision was a win for the wallets of every American consumer that carried the burden of Trump's stupid trade war, and now he's doing it all over again. The Yale Budget Lab estimates Trump's tariffs cost the average U.S. household more than $1,600 a year. The revenue the government brought in from the tariffs topped 142. billion dollars last year and it's now unclear if the government will have to pay that back. We're live in Washington. Christy Ann Cordero, ABC 11 eyewitness news. Yeah, a lot of fast-moving

developments in this entire thing today, Christian. Yeah, thank you. And you can look for the latest in the Supreme Court tariff ruling coming up on World News tonight with David at 630 following eyewitness news at 6. Here at home, a murder suspect who allegedly shot a police officer in Raleigh last night, made his first court appearance today. That shooting happened at a North Raleigh apartment complex on Woodbend Drive right off 6 Forks Road. The suspect, 26-year-old Solomon Owens is accused of killing Joey Adams. He's the father of five who was found shot to death in his car in Garner last week. And while the police were trying to arrest Owens for that murder, he had a shootout with police,

hitting one of the officers in the back of the head. Elena Athens was in the Wake County courtroom today when Owens appeared in front of a judge. No cameras allowed in court today, but explain to us what happened there, Elena. Well, the suspect either looked down or around the courtroom as the judge was going through all of these charges. The majority of them are in Wake County, but he is facing two weapons charges out of Durham County. So according to a court document, Owens used an AR pistol when he fired at a member of law enforcement. Solomon Owens is now facing 13 charges and was ordered this afternoon to be held without bond. Owens allegedly murdered one man in Garner and is also charged with attempting to kill a Raleigh SWAT member.

Police say the 26-year-old first murdered, Joseph Adams, February 9th. An arrest warrant was issued and as law enforcement was trying to take him into custody in Raleigh, the police chief says he opened fire. The arrest warrant says Owens shot officer Jay Rich in the back of the head. That officer was wearing a ballistic helmet at the time. The officer was sent to Wakemede Hospital, treated and released. A law enforcement expert says that equipment, intense training, and advanced paramedics in the field likely saved the officer's life. This wasn't a regular Raleigh police officer that was shot. It was a member of their SWAT team. They have more armor, more protective equipment. They're going in with a plan. This isn't just something that they're

kind of routinely doing. They know this is an armed suspect. He's wanted for murder. The likelihood he's going to shoot is great. And so they're going to be very well prepared. So that expert says, unfortunately, officer involved shootings in this country have increased over the last few years. A look at the data. We'll have that coming up at 6 o'clock. For now we're live in Raleigh. Elena Athens, ABC 11. I witness. And one key question still on answer the motive for murder. In that case, we still don't have any clear details from Garner PD about the fact pattern they're establishing. We're looking for more on that. Elena, thank you.

New at four, a school in Apex had to be put on lockdown as police chased a person wanted on multiple felony charges. Police say it all started around noon when officers tried to pull the suspect over. The person drove away and later ditched the vehicle, took off running while fleeing police say the suspect crossed through the grounds of Lufkin Middle School. That school was placed on lockdown out of an abundance of caution. officer set up a perimeter and eventually took that suspect into custody near 1010 Road. All right, let's turn our attention to the first alert weather. If you stepped outside today, then you know it is warm. It's beautiful.

Temperatures reaching the upper 70s today. Yeah, check out this dog taking a dip at the lake at Umstead Park in Raleigh for a little bit of a cool down. Donna's here now with more on this warmth we've had today. We had a quick shot of rain, at least where I was in Raleigh this afternoon. But these are clearing up now. Yeah, we saw heavier batch of showers work through between breakfasts. and lunch and now they're out of here not seeing any showers on the first alert doppler net tonight let's head live to uh downtown durham on the mutual tower sky cam city of medicines at 73 right now those skies

are clearing out on a southwest wind at 13 this is where we started the day i just want to show this to you because it's it's pretty interesting oxford was at 41 roxborough was at 43 50 in raleigh now look at the current temperatures you've rocketed 30 degrees in roxborough we're up to 73 now in raleigh we We still have a shot at breaking the record. Upper 70s down in Southern Pines. You're almost 80 degrees, 76 in Fayetteville, and 73 in Goldsboro. So let's first alert you to the evening ahead. Maybe you're headed out tonight for a walk or to dinner on a Friday evening.

Temperatures will fall through the 70s by 10 o'clock. Still very warm, just 63 degrees. Nice night ahead. We'll talk more about that. And we'll first alert you to a big cool down. Today the warmest day of the next seven. We'll tell you about that in the seven-day forecast coming up in just a bit. Lauren.

All right, Don, thank you. Now to some other local headlines in your speech, the first deputies in Cumberland County making an arrest and an arson investigation there. Flames breaking out last night at the family farm store on Sunnyside School Road in East Fayetteville. 53-year-old Larry Baldwin facing multiple charges, including breaking and entering. This is the second suspicious fire at that building in just the past month. Thankfully, no animals inside were hurt in fire. Chapel Hill Police are searching for the people responsible for multiple car break-ins. Police say there have been 21 reports just this. month. The most recent ones happening at two hotels along Fordham Boulevard. The thieves have

also targeted apartment and businesses and their parking lots along that road. Nearby, officers are looking into vehicle break-ins at a church, an apartment complex, and two homes in the area of Weaver Dairy Road. Police are urging everyone to take the precautions needed to protect their property. A fire engineer with the town of Kerry is now facing dozens of new charges of child exploitation. We first told you about this case yesterday involving 59-year-old Mark Sousy. According to arrest warrants. The investigation involves images of sexual images of girls ranging in age from five to 13 years old and they date back to 2014. That is your speed feed Steve. Back to you. All right now, right now at four, an explosion of emotions was seen during the news conference held by

the Durham Mayor Leo Williams. Today the mayor talked about crime, but his remarks were interrupted by community activists who say they are tired of seeing people hurt and killed on Durham streets. Akila Davis live now at Durham City Hall and overall crime is down according to the the fourth quarter crime report from 2025 that just came out. But a lot of people feel more needs to be done to fight crime. Steve, that's right. You know, tensions boiled over at the mayor's press conference today. He was announcing an effort aimed at combating crime in the Bull City.

And then things took a turn. We have a plan in place. And when crime is high, we're going to stick to that plan. When crime is low, we're going to stick to that plan. Durham Mayor Leo Williams announcing that the city is partnering with the University of Maryland's Violence Reduction Center to develop. anti-violent strategies when a group of activists interrupted. Nothing. Okay. You have no nothing. Forcing him to end the meeting early. His

announcement comes as just days ago the police chief announced a drop in violent and property crime. There have been 22 shootings so far this year, nine of which were homicides. Larsonie tops the list for crimes committed by kids. Frustrated residents who attended the press conference spoke with eyewitness news about their concerns. I don't impose some plan that we've never heard of we've never seen. You're bringing folks from 10 states over to tell us what we need to solve the problems in our community. And it breaks my heart and I will stand in coalition with anybody who's going to be for these youth. Come to my Booth City, the real one. That's right. The real

Bois City. That's what I want to do. Come to mine. I get into emotional, but lives are being lost. They had at five, we're taking you more into that meeting. You heard there how things got very tense, got very emotional. Why the mayor is so confident about this new violence reduction plan and its success. Reporting live in Durham, Akela Davis, ABC 11, eyewitness news. Yeah, just so passionate the people's remarks and their frustration, really, with crime in their city. Yeah, he apologized for his emotion, but what's happening there is very real. It absolutely is.

Yeah, Akila, thank you. So I'm here on eyewitness news at 4. will take you inside the push to make IVF more affordable. Today lawmakers gathered in Raleigh to discuss more ways to make the technology more accessible, what leaders say needs to be done and the impact it could have right here at home. At a royal search underway in London what law enforcement is looking for after the guy we used to know as Prince Andrew was arrested because of the alleged ties to emails in the Epstein files. And we're taking a live look at I-40 New Bird Avenue right now.

Traffic sailing along on both sides just fine. We hit a break here. Your traffic hotspots brought to you by your first alert weather team. The ABC 11 First Alert forecast team is working to keep you safe. Oneies across the region. Some cloud cover starting to build. That rain is going to push on through. A cold air coming in.

The first alert forecast team. Only on ABC 11, I Witness News. Eye witness news. We are local news weeknights four to six 30 and 11. New at four, North Carolina, Congresswoman Deborah Ross and other state leaders held a roundtable to discuss reproductive health care. The group talked about a variety of things like access to things like abortion, IVF, and contraception. Ross says she and another group of lawmakers are proposing a pro-IVF bill to help with coverage. Their hopeful President Trump will sign it.

So we've introduced legislation. I am policy co-chair for the Democratic Women's Caucus. This is a very high priority. But this is also going to depend on who's in charge. And Donald Trump has said he's pro-IVF. So if he gets a Democratic Congress and we pass a pro-IVF bill making it so that people can get that coverage, we expect him to sign it. Last year, the White House proposed to offer a discount on certain drugs that are used in IVF treatments. Today, the CDC released a new map tracking flu cases across the country. And as you see, South Carolina, Alabama, and Texas, some of those states showing high levels of flu. But North Carolina falls under low flu activity. There have been 279 flu deaths in North Carolina this season, but ER visits are

significantly lower than a few weeks ago. Flu season runs through May. In Europe, investigators in London are searching the home of the man formerly known as Prince Andrew after his arrest yesterday. Police officers were seen today outside the gate of Andrew's former mansion. He was arrested yesterday on suspicion of misconduct in public office. There are questions about whether he shared confidential information with Jeffrey Epstein while he was serving as a British trade envoy. Andrew's arrest comes after the Department of Justice in Washington released millions of documents tied to Epstein. Kudos to the UK for taking the first step for saying, you know what, we are going to arrest somebody who has held to one of the highest esteems out there, somebody who was a former prince. The case is not tied to any allegations of sexual misconduct and Andrew was released without being charged.

A new ABC News special diving deeper into the case involving Andrew and his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, the prince, the predator and the arrest. is now streaming on Disney Plus and on Hulu. And back here in our area, the sun is shining brightly on this Friday afternoon. Feels great. Hard to believe it's February. I know. You had some rain earlier. I saw rain and some more rain in the forecast. Really could put a damper on the nice weather. Don, back with more on what will happen to us this weekend. Hi, Don.

And it really felt like a springtime rain in some spots with that heavy shower, just a quick burst of the heavy rain and feeling more like spring around here today. But it's going to cool off as we head into next week. We'll talk about that coming up. Nothing to show you on the first alert Doppler net tonight. It's dry. You've got Friday night plans. Great night for it.

Taking a live look on the self-help sky cam, 76 degrees right now, downtown Fayetteville. Looking at Segras Stadium, almost time for the woodpeckers to return. The next game, I believe, is ECU playing College of Charleston down there. And that's happening on the 25th of February. But boy, it is college baseball season. It's just about real baseball season, too. Let's check temperatures across the region. in that warm air surging in from the mountains.

78 Southern Pines, 75 Siler City, 73, Raleigh, Durham, 64 in Roan, Oak Rapids, compared to yesterday at this time. Pretty much the same temperature east, but those Western counties have really warmed up, 5 to 10 degrees warmer than yesterday. Tonight, we'll see the numbers back into the 50s for lows, 51 and Henderson, 53, Raleigh. Normal is 35, so it'll be 18 degrees above average for this time of year. Satellite radar composite shows those showers are racing out of here. And now we're done with the rain for a while. If we zoom it out, you can see high pressure back to the west tonight. They're seeing some big snows in parts of Wisconsin and upstate New York and through New England. But around here, nothing but dry air for the next few hours.

First alert predictor forecast model as we go through the overnight into tomorrow 10 o'clock in the morning. We'll see or 11 o'clock tonight. We'll see temperature still around 60 degrees. So a warm evening, it's a dry evening. After the rain today, if you've got Friday night, Friday night plans, you're going to be just fine across the area. Wake up 7 o'clock. Could be a few scattered showers around. Our best chance for showers will be through midday again. So tomorrow could see some showers in the morning, but it's out of here by the afternoon. Just not as warm. That front has dropped through. We're getting into some of the cooler air.

So instead of being in the 70s tomorrow, we'll be in the 60s. Then as we head into Sunday the overnight, this is our best chance for widespread rain. This is 4 o'clock in the morning between 4 and 8 a.m. We see those showers working through. It clears out. Seeing a little white to the north. As this pulls out of here, it may end up as a few snowflakes. Nothing you're going to have to shovel.

But up in Northampton, Halifax and Mecklenburg County, you could see a few snowflakes Sunday night before that moves out of here. Surface map shows the low tracking to the east on Sunday, mostly cloudy, colder with the showers. As we go toward Monday, there are those snowflakes pulling out of here. Monday, partly sunny and chilly. feels like temperatures on Monday back in the 30s, so be ready for a cold start to next week. For today, though, we saw 70s and tomorrow we're in the 60s, partly sunny skies, 62.

That's about the average high across the region. I'll look at temperatures from around the area tomorrow. You'll top out at 60 in Garner and Kerry, 59 Bahama, Wendell, 61 in Carborough, slides south, 62 down at Fort Bragg, 61 in Goldsboro, 62 in Sanford. You go north, 60 Roxborough, South Hill 59, Rocky Mount Tarborough, and 60 down in Wilson. Your seven-day forecast shows those temperatures in the 60s on Saturday, Sunday, 50 degrees. We'll see Monday 46, Tuesday 47, Wednesday, 60, and Thursday, a chance of showers late in the day, and 63 degrees. So cooler to start next week, guys, at brisk breeze on Monday. will make things feel like we are in the 30s. Can you believe after what we're having today, Don's talking about some snowflakes for some of us on Sunday night? I know, I know.

I don't think we'll see any in the trial, but certainly north and east in our viewing area, you could see a few and nothing you're going to have to shovel. Okay. Don, thank you. You bet. Coming up in the next half hour, a change in the legal case over Fayetteville's fire station for both parties, agreeing to take the case to mediation instead of the courtroom,

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A new here at 4. There's a new lottery game and you might want to try your luck at it. Yeah, this Sunday, the North Carolina Education Lottery is debuting a new game. It's called Millionaire for Life. It's a chance to win $1 million for the rest of your life. Steve Daniel, sign us up. Every night, players

will have the chance to pick five numbers from 1 to 58 and a millionaire ball number from one to five. This is the lottery's first new draw game launched since 2004. Let's go. Yeah, it's a good payout. Sunday.

Runners in Raleigh get ready to lace up again. Registration for the 2026 Run for Love 5K is now open. It's a community raised through Dorothy Dix Park, benefiting Raleigh Pride and the LGBT Center of Raleigh. It's happening on Saturday, June 6th at 9 a.m. You can register individually as a couple or as a family or a team. So I'll head here on Eyewitness News, a petition started by some parents at Wake Forest Elementary School,

school sparking some much needed change at the school. Changes coming after the school was dealing with a lot of heating and cooling issues for the kids in the classroom. Plus the big event, blanketing the Raleigh Convention Center this weekend after the break. We'll take it inside QuiltCon where one little girl's work has earned her the top spot. We are local news. ABC 11 eyewitness news continues now. New at 4. We're learning more about heating fixes coming to a Wake Forest Elementary School. Yeah, parents still eyewitness news.

their kids have been dealing with heating and cooling issues, hot and cold inside their classrooms for years. And they say it took those parents getting a petition to get the fixes they needed at the school. John Dowding talked with some of those parents. He has more now from Wake Forest. Wake Forest Elementary School parents tell me the heat went out a few times here back in December and tell me their concerns about fixing the problem fell in deaf ears at the district. But after a petition circulated around the community here, changes are coming to the school starting on Monday. My kid got in the car after school and his hands were frozen. Like he was like, feel my hands.

And I was like, oh my gosh. Parent concerns heating up in Wake Forest tonight. Families contacted eyewitness news after last week's Wake County Public Schools Facilities Committee meeting. The meeting discussed heating and cooling upgrades coming to schools. During last week's meeting, district officials revealed the list of schools getting heating and cooling upgrades across the district. Not on the list. Wake Forest Magnet Elementary School. Parents say they want to know why the district did not include their children's school on the list of upgrades.

Even after parents say the heat went out at the school a few days in December, more than 200 parents signed a petition to get the district's attention, demanding heating fixes and greater transparency from district leadership. In light of the petition, district officials now say the school will get a new boiler. I guess I'm just curious what the criteria is for that decision making. We've had three days since, you know, December that we have kids sitting in classrooms in 50 degrees and teachers trying to teach in that environment. How is this not an issue? District officials say the work to replace that boiler here at the school will begin on Monday. Coming up here at 5, the reason why district officials say this school was initially not on the list of schools that would be getting a heating and cooling upgrade.

In Wake Forest, I'm John Dowding. ABC 11. High Witness News. Thank you. Water customers in Apex and Carey may temporarily notice a slight change in the taste and scent of their tap water. Starting next Friday, the towns will undergo its required yearly water disinfection changeover. The process involves temporarily switching from the chlorine and ammonia combination, which is ordinarily used to disinfect both Carrie and Apex's water to chlorine only. That means you may notice a slight discoloration in the tap water, but it will not impact the safety or quality of your drinking water. The process is expected to take about six weeks. All right, let's take a look at some other 430 headlines right now in your speed feed.

First of the North Carolina Attorney General is helping fight hunger across North Carolina. Today, Jeff Jackson kicked off the annual legal feeding frenzy food drive at the Raleigh Food Bank. It's a partnership between his office and the Bar Association and the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. In Durham, after months of planning and interviews, renovations and preparations, the market on Market Street is officially open. It's a new retail incubator spot that's hoping to help people find more access. there in downtown Durham and make that access more affordable and accessible to sell their stuff. Selected businesses get a year-long lease and they will get some hands-on coaching on developing their business as well. One of the largest modern quilting events in the world has taken over downtown Raleigh.

It's called QuiltCon. It's underway at the Raleigh Convention Center. It runs for four days and it features a quilt show, community outreach quilts and special exhibits. We talked with one young Quiltcon competitor. Her name is Lorelei Daxon, and she says her inspiration for quilting actually came from her family. from her family. It's mostly inspired by actually people for my life, my pets, my friends, my family. I thought about like a friend's personality and a color and photos that kind of like

represented them and made that together into one block. And this is pretty cool. The Raleigh Convention Center is buying Lorelai's quilt and they'll put it on display for the next year. QuiltCon hosted close to 600 quilt displays this year from people all across the country. The event wraps up in downtown Raleigh. Sunday. And the Triagles annual Cupid's undy run returns to Durham tomorrow. Runners taking the streets in just their undies, as you see here. The event raises money for neurofibromatosis or

NF. That is a genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body. The run is happening at 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon at the Motor Coal Music Hall. And Lauren Don says the temps are going to be in the low 60s tomorrow, so maybe that's long undy stuff. to me. All right, some more drove suggestions for people. There you go. Steve, thank you. The city of Fayetteville and W.B. Brawley, the contractor for the stalled construction of Fire Station 4 have decided to drop their lawsuits and try mediation instead. This decision comes after the project was put on hold in 2024 due to extensive structural problems. We're focused on not just our firefighter self today, but that we go home at the end of a 30-year career just as healthy as we came

in the door. The new multi-million dollar building on Brad Boulevard was plan to replace the current station for, which is the city's second oldest fire station that's still in use. That new station is expected to help emergency crews respond faster to about 5,000 homes in the area and will have equipment to protect firefighters from cancer risk. If mediation does not work, both sides have a year to file their lawsuits again. So I'll head here on eyewitnesses, saying thank you to its customers with a free breakfast biscuit coming up after the break. We'll explain how you can get your hands on that free breakfast. And how about this? Popular fast food change to Poli making its downtown Raleigh debut.

Where in the city, the restaurant is expected to open its doors this summer. And as we go to break, here's a live look at the Raleigh Skyline on this Friday. Temperatures beautiful outside, 73 degrees on a February Friday. It's amazing. It's beautiful. Okay, it's time now for news you can use. Stephen, I have a debate, but we'll get to it in just a minute. Chick-fil-A, though, is serving up a special deal for customers. Yeah, they're giving away free breakfast biscuits this month.

Chick-fil-A-1 members in North Carolina and across the country can get a free chicken biscuit when they order on the app. That deal runs through February 28th, only during breakfast hours, of course, and you don't need to buy anything else. Okay, if you've been thinking about picking up some new candles before spring, you are in luck. Bath and Body Works offering a pretty great deal on all of its candles for a limited time. You can save $10 on every in-stock candle. That includes those single wick and the three-wick candles. Both of those are on that sale. Yeah, and if you live in Raleigh and you like Chipotle, we've got some good news for you.

They are coming to this spot right here on Hillsborough Street and Glenwood Avenue. Basically the top of Glenwood South, they're expected to open sometime this summer. That'll be the second location there on Hillsborough. They have that other one down toward NC State. And here's the debate. Yeah, so do we think that's downtown Raleigh? Would you consider that to be downtown Raleigh is what Steve and are asking? You say no, Steve, right?

I say it's a couple blocks away from there, Hillsborough and Glenwood. Okay, and I say it's downtown. So let us know what you think. Yeah. All right. That is news you can use. We'll keep debating whether it's just fault lays in downtown Raleigh. But it's coming to Raleigh.

All right, coming up, fighting against segregation. As we celebrate Black History Month, eyewitness news is sitting down with two men who came together during the Jim Crow era to push for an integrated swimming pool right here in the triangle. And all these people at this wedding could not contain themselves after a little kid in the audience interrupted the ceremony with that little boy blurted out that had everyone, including the bride and groom, laughing out loud. As we celebrate Black History Month, we take a look at a story of two men who changed history in Raleigh at a swimming pool.

One, a black championship swimmer who could only train at a pool at Chavis Park. And another, a white college student who hatched a plan with four African American teenagers to integrate pools at Pullen Park. It wasn't a lot of swimmers at the time. In that summer of 1962, four brave African American teenagers decided to take a swim at a place they weren't well. And it wasn't weird because we came up in the era. We didn't have a chance to mix like we do today. Herman Hinton remembers being allowed to swim at Chavis Pool, the Black Pool. He wasn't one of the four who tried to break the color barrier.

He was busy trying to make his point competing as a swimmer. I was just as good as they were. I better. I think I was better than they were. I was just that good. He loved to swim and was one of the best in Raleigh, black or white. But he could only watch swimming. watch swimming at Pullen, not go in the water.

Everybody deserved to be equal, but that'll never happen. So that's why this image is so striking. You buy the tickets, and, you know, if a black person went up and tried to buy a ticket, they would not get sold a ticket. Ray Raphael now lives across the country, but that summer he came down from New York to North Carolina as a teen to tutor black students. So we devised a scheme. There was two whites, myself and another and a friend.

I went up to the ticket booth and said, six tickets, please. And they gave me six tickets. The teens handed in their pre-bought tickets and away they went. And we went in and passed our tickets to the poor teenage kid who was taking them right by the locker room door. And he's kind of startled. As they jumped into the pool, chaos erupted. I was scared. Really scared.

The picture shows the pool lined with teens. kids and parents, appearing unsure of what was going on. The reaction was rather immediate. People notice it, and a lot of them just quickly get out of the pool. Ray says it was nearly 45 minutes they swam integrating the pool on their own terms. The public announcer says, will the black people and their friends please remove from the pool? This is the white pool. The famous picture of the Reverend Percy High, then a teenager, exiting the pool under the watchful eye of the city's parks director.

We hear on the loudspeaker, this pool is closed. Everybody has to leave. The city of Raleigh immediately closed the pools, all the pools, drained and left empty. That February, 1963, the city changed its mind on the public pools. Mayor Inlow saying, all pools are open to the public. I just feel like we were on the right side of history. All of this triggered by a white 18-year-old from New York and four braided black teenagers who thought, color should not matter.

And as we continue to celebrate Black History Month this weekend, ABC 11 presents a streaming special this Saturday and Sunday at 530. We invite you to join us for stories showcasing the resilience, courage, and creativity that exemplify the African American community. That's wherever you stream eyewitness news. Let's take a look at today's top trending stories in real news. First, a pretty wild scene playing out on a roadway in Florida. A runaway cow had to be lassoed after it got out and to start.

decided to go on a joy run dash cam video from the Collier County Sheriff's Office in southwestern part of Florida shows the cow's owner on horseback chasing after the animal deputies joining in the chase the cow was eventually caught and taken back home a wedding ceremony in Scotland was interrupted by a whole lot of laughter when the couple's young son spoke up with his very personal concern I'm hungry. Okay, you heard everyone laughing out loud there. They couldn't contain themselves. The little boy shared that he was hungry. Mummy, I'm hungry, he said.

Hopefully he was able to enjoy some food there at their reception. All right, let's go over to Katania, Italy now, where police say a dog was caught on camera illegally dumping that trash. Police say the dog has been spotted on camera several times, trotting down the street with a full bag there in its mouth, and then dropping it right there on the side of the road. They think the dog was trained by its owner to go out and dump the trash. We don't know yet if they faced any consequences for that trash dumping situation in Italy.

But he seems to know exactly what he's doing, right? Is that illegal dumping? Well, I don't know. Maybe he's just he's following his chore list. He's getting along pretty quickly too, right? It's an obedience dog. All right, knew it for the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher has officially named it's triplet Asian small- clawed otters.

The male pups are named Nick. B'Lew and Bodie. They were born in December. They aren't on public display just yet, but they will be soon after their parents, Millie and Binks teach them some very important otter skills. They don't look very happy about their names, do they? They don't. They look like they're frowning about that. Maybe that's the newborn face. Okay, we'll have to ask them. What's on your mind about those names? I think a zoologist in the building. We've got questions, Don. Absolutely. I'm sure they'll give us some sort of answer. You never know what they'll say. Talk weather tonight. What a gorgeous evening out there after some showers passed through today. We're in some warm air. The cool front not dropping through to later tonight. So we'll stay dry on the first alert Doppler net. Take it a live look out at I-40. It must be a Friday night. Everybody headed home to volume is huge on our Sheraton Sky Camp, mostly cloudy still. Those clouds clearing out in a southwest wind at 13. Here's the low temperatures. We started in the 40s to the north, 60s to the south. And we are now in the 70s in many locations. A look at the

the next 12 hours. We'll stay in the 60s through 8 o'clock tonight by midnight. If you got Friday night plans, staying in the 60s all the way through midnight. We'll only drop into the mid-50s by 4 or 5 in the morning, though. We do expect some showers to work through. As far as rain chances go, Saturday, we're talking in the morning. Sunday, this is morning as well, and then we dry out as we head into next week. Your 4-day forecast at 4 o'clock showing those temperatures tomorrow. Light showers in the morning breaking in the afternoon, just like today, 62.

Sunday, some showers, breezy, especially in the morning. Sunday night could see a second round of showers pushing out of here. Monday will be very chilly, 46 with feels like temperatures in the 30s throughout today, and we'll still stay cold with sunshine on Tuesday. We do warm up back up, though, next week. We'll talk about that in the seven-day forecast coming up at 5 o'clock. For what else is coming up at 5 o'clock, let's go back to Stephen Lauren. Okay, Don, thank you ahead and all new at 5.

The Better Business Bureau was out with a new list of the top scams impacting people in our area last year. The ITT troubleshooter Diane Wilson breaking down which ones cost consumers the most money and what you can do to avoid falling victim to those same scams. Plus the local group that advocates for immigrants is raising the alarm about those voter verification letters that went out earlier this month. Why the group's leader is worried those letters may scare members of the Latino community away from the polls. And we're getting close to prom season, which as you know, can get very expensive very quickly. And we'll take you to Apex where the annual prom shop is helping make dress dreams come true. for some way county girls it's coming up on eyewitness news at five in a few minutes our friend kelly rippa has now been gracing our screens here on a bc 11 on live for 25 years and this morning

live with kelly and mark celebrated kelly's special anniversary in a pretty big way yeah the show was full of blast from the past special guest to wish her well cam really richardson got to go backstage for all the fun for kelly rippa it is fittingly a silver celebration february 5th 2001 so crazy it nervous now. The day she stepped into the role of co-host of Live, right by Regis Philbin's side. And run respect, it feels like I've always been here for my entire life. But if I'm really doing the math in my head, it feels like I've been here three years. How long she initially thought she would last in the position. Through the years, Kelly has spent an hour each weekday morning with other co-hosts, her current partner in crime, husband Mark Consuelas, who joined live in

23. He brought something special to the show that I don't think we even knew that we needed. To mark the occasion a very special show filled with one surprise after another, a visit from someone near and dear to Kelly, now retired executive Art Moore, who made regular appearances on camera during his 36 years at live. Having Art Moore be here was like the biggest surprise and truly like the moment I almost completely lost it. Who's her favorite child? watching her three kids grow up here on live has also been a gift what scares me is heights it's been a world win unforgettable Halloween extravaganzas the show dropping anchor in places all over the globe with a team that's like family executive producer michael galman helping to lead the way i just got to benefit for the past 25 years

from this already well-oiled machine this was all of about showing Kelly loads of love. All the accolates? When you hear these things, does it make your skin crawl? Yeah, the whole thing made my skin. I don't know if you were watching the show, but I love interviewing people and getting to talk to other people

about what they're doing. And so having the entire show be about what I've done feels really itchy. You know, I don't think the show is really about any of the hosts as much as it is about the audience. The audience is what makes our show. For Kelly, the secret sauce for a quarter century and counting. Thank you.

What a special anniversary for Kelly, who's part of our daily lives here on ABC 11. I know, and time does fly when you're having fun, right? Yeah. Coming up here on eyewitness News, a hobby turns into a booming business. In today's North Carolina made, we introduce you to a local jewelry maker who expanded her business from her dorm room to stores all across the state.