ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 4pm - May 29, 2026

Episode Date: May 29, 2026

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Coming up on eyewitness news, it is lights, camera action going down in Ralewood tonight Chopper 11 flying over the Lenovo Center as the Keynes looked to reach what could be their first Stanley Cup final in 20 years. We're counting down to Pucktrak. Could the largest school district in the state be shrinking? Wake County Schools reporting they're seeing a decline in student enrollment. And the battle over data centers continues in the triangle why Kerrytown leaders are now considering a pause on development of those technology hubs. Eyewitness News at 4 starts 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. Right now, 4, we are counting down to puff drop. The canes are back on the ice tonight facing the Canadians in game 5 of the Eastern Conference final. And it's hard for some Cadyaks to contain their excitement. I absolutely love hockey season and I love these guys. An excitement to the fight on the ice. We've got you covered with team coverage tonight. Our crews are live inside and outside Lenovo ahead of the big game tonight.

Thanks so much for joining us here. For eyewitness news at 4 o'clock, I'm Lauren Johnson. And I'm Barbara Gibbs. And in case you don't know, it is game day for the Carolina Hurricanes. The Cains looking to close out the Eastern Conference final with another win over the Canadians. The puck drop isn't until 8 o'clock, but the excitement over at the Lenovo. Center's already starting. That's right. That's where we find Amber repented this afternoon. Amber's outside with the fans. Amber, how's it going?

Hey, welcome to Raleighwood. I had to break it out because that is what this has turned into here at Lenovo Center, everyone. It's game day coming in here. You can feel the vibe. You can feel the excitement. Just over Edwards Mill, it says welcome to the Stanley Cup playoffs, 2026. And it does get you really excited. The only thing missing is a little hype. But listen, there's already people out here that are tailgating. I'm sure they're going to have their hype music going, even though that the parking lots technically aren't supposed to open until 5 o'clock. Some diehard fans out here.

You know why? Because it's Friday, they probably took off work. This is a huge game tonight. Obviously, if they win, they are going to be the Eastern Conference champs. So a lot on the line, so we'll see how this goes. But yeah, they've been set up out here. I just want to tell you, parking lots open at 5 if you're coming out, and the South Plaza party starts at 5.30, and then the doors open at 6.30.

Puckrop is coming up here at 8 o'clock. You can hear the choppers overhead. That only adds to the vibe and the excitement out here. And you can see the flags over my shoulder. Can you not? There are 11. We just need one, two, three, four, five more to grab that Stanley Cup. So they're hoping to add another flag here tonight.

Let's go and see how some of these diehard fans that got out here really early for this are doing. and that is where we find Jemise Price. How's it going over there, Jemise? Hey, Amber. Things are going great so far. A lot of excitement already with those fans who started to tailgate really early. I'm here with Virginia. Her family got out here around 2 o'clock and started setting up.

Now, Virginia, what has it been like watching the Cains this season? It has been amazing. They've just gotten better as the season has gone by. And this playoff series for this particular series, it just seems like every game they're getting a little bit better each time. So we're excited for tonight. We're going to close it out tonight. All right, Virginia, show me your setup here.

I know you guys got out here at 2 o'clock. Things are already on the grill. So show us around it. Let us know what's going on out here. So right now, Jay is working on our famous bacon-wrapped pickles. We have here. We either do bacon-wrapped pickles or we do bacon-wrapped Oreos. So today it's pickles.

This is just a play-off thing. We don't do this during the season. It's just for playoffs. because we're getting them through. And then we just have a table laid out where everybody just brings a little bit of everything. And we just have snacks and goodies all along the way and everybody brings their own drinks.

And we just sit out here and just enjoy our time together in the beautiful weather today. It couldn't be more perfect. Absolutely. And we have something that's super special over here and folks hear you all the time. So Devin, show us what you got over here. You got your own siren going on.

So I'm going to find the vibes wherever I go. and I am here with this family. I've been meeting other folks today. So we are going to have a great time for folks tailgating for what we hope will be the final game of this Assyrian here. So I'll sit back over to you, Amber. Yes, they have it right. They have their own sirens sound the siren.

I love it. Janice, I love your hat game. It's quite strong as well. As we know, it is pretty hot out here outside. Tell them we said, have a great time. And we're expecting a lot more folks to come out here. You know, that's part of what makes these games so amazing is that so many people get out here in tailgate, right? It's what all of the visiting teams say just about the vibe and the energy and how hard it is to play inside the stadium because they also bring the noise.

It's one of the loudest in the country. So let's check in right now with more just about how things are, you know, getting ready for this big game tonight. Let's check in with Trayvon. Trevon, I wasn't sure if you were inside, but you are nice and cool in there. Hey Amber, yeah, I am inside and I'm telling you what I'm just sitting here thinking and this is probably going to be the easiest live shot of my entire life, right? I'm used to fans screaming behind me and noise and music going on, but just about four hours before a puck drop, we're taking you and giving you a first look inside. We are down here really close to the ice. If you've never had the chance to get down here right now before the game, the ice is nice and clean.

There's no cuts on it, right? No skates have been on it so far. You can see all the towels that are laid out 20,000 strong this place will be tonight. If you go a little bit further up onto the concourse, you see the TNT crew in their slot up there. They are waiting. They are ready. Get the feeling that everybody is just waiting for us to see something very special tonight. You see some other folks waiting up there.

As we continue to count down for Puck Drop, we still got a long time to go, even before they let fans in here. but you get the vibe inside of this place. It's something very special, is set to go down this evening. Of course, we will continue to be in here and to monitor. If you've never been this close to the ice, very cold, but I have a feeling the fans will not mind how it feels in here tonight. They're going to be bringing the heat for sure.

Oh, for sure. That's right. And the noise. I know. Trey and Amber, we will check back in with you guys in a few. And as we've been saying, if the Keynes win tonight, they will go to the Stanley Cup final for the first time in 20 years. So we went digging in our archives for some footage of that big win.

Check this out, a young Rod Brindamore when he was a player for the Canes. Brindamore spent 10 years with the Canes and led them to that big win, the Stanley Cup win that year. Check out this video from after the win. Thousands of Keynes fans taking over the streets of Raleigh for a big parade. A lot of excitement that day, and there's going to be a lot tonight. I remember it very well. All right. Well, if you're heading out to Lenovo to tailgate or to go to the game, it's a great day for it. Take a look at this bird's eye view from Chopper 11 over Lenovo.

Do we have that? Might be a little bit not as crowded right now as it will be later on. But chief meteorologist, Don Schwinnaker joins me now for more on the game day forecast. I love how those people are out there making what bacon wrapped pickles on the tailgate. It looked pretty good, did it? And we are so lucky the humidity's really gone down today. So even though temperatures will stay in the 80s for this tailgating at Lenovo, The humidity is not bad, it feels nice.

And we'll have the post game forecast in just a moment. Live look on your first alert Doppler net tonight, scanning the skies were dry across our part of the Carolinas. Officially looking live into downtown Durham, 86 right now, mostly cloudy on the mutual tower, sky cam, west, southwest wind at 9. 78 Oxford, 78 Rowan O'Crapids, 80 in Lewisburg, 85 Raleigh, 84 Carborough, 84 Fayetteville, 85 in Clinton. everybody a couple of degrees cooler, but it feels noticeably cooler with that dry air.

So here's the Lenovo Center tonight before the game 82. After for the victory party, you'll see temperatures in the 70s under mostly cloudy skies. We do see a chance of rain this weekend. We'll talk about that in your first alert forecast coming up for you in just a couple of minutes. Barbara? All right. All right. We are following breaking news right now at four.

A federal judge says President Trump cannot close or rename the Kennedy Center ruling that it cannot be officially name for anyone else unless Congress approves the name. The judge ruled that the rebranding of the Kennedy Center as the Trump Kennedy Center violates the law and order that Trump's name be removed from the building within two weeks of his order. The state's largest school district sitting a drop in enrollment. Wake County School saw a drop of more than 700 students this school year compared to last year. This is the first time the district saw a drop in enrollment since 2021. John Dowding is live from the Raleigh, Eyewitness News Center with a look at that enrollment data. And John, what are you seeing?

Well, Lauren, for context, this is a slight drop making up less than 1% of the district's total enrollment. But it's still the first time in almost five years, the district is seeing a little bit less students in the classroom. And parents were speaking to tell us that with so many different options of where you can send your child to school, it makes it a bit overwhelming. It's like hard to, you know, know what the right option is because you want to do the best for your kids, obviously. But, you know, it's easier said than done. North Carolina's largest school district joining in on a nationwide problem. Wake County School saw a drop in student enrollment this year the first time in almost five years. The district had more than 700 fewer students this year than the last school year.

It's less than a 1% drop in total enrollment. Every grade level saw a drop in enrollment except for 4th, 6th, 7th, and 11th grade. The district facing budget issues due to rising student needs, growing fuel costs, and funding uncertainty from state lawmakers. Amidst the challenges, some families we spoke to say they're sticking with Wake schools. With my son, he learns differently than my daughter. So he's in a different school than my daughter is because of, you know, how they learn. So public school has a lot of things to offer, and I think people just don't know it. Now coming up at 5, we're hearing from education experts about what they say are some of those factors influencing enrollment.

here in Wake County and also how funding issues could influence and impact some future decisions that families here in Wake County have to make. Live from the Raleigh Witness News Center. I'm John Douting. ABC 11, I witness news. All right, John, thank you for that update. Still to come, we have an update in Durham about an apartment fire. One person is facing life-threatening injuries while firefighters search for a cause.

And another triangle community is considering a pause on new data center construction. We're hearing from carry leaders as they weigh a possible moratorium. we go to break. Let's take you back to Lenovo, the bird's eye view from Chopper 11 over Lenovo as we count down to puck drop for game five. Don, we got to close it out tonight. Can you imagine what we do if we had an MLB team too? Just saying we would lose our mind. I know we would. It would. It would. It would. It would. It would. And you can see traffic moving along on both sides just fine. As we had a break here, your traffic hotspots brought to you by the first alert weather team. The ABC 11 First Alert forecast team is working.

to keep you safe. One is across the region. Some cloud cover starting to build. That rain is going to push on through. Cold air coming in. The first alert forecast team. Only on ABC 11, I Witness News. In Toronto, every arrival is a statement,

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for calendar year 2025 for the Cadillac definition of luxury. Eyewitness News. We are Local News, weeknights four to six 30 and 11. Well, now to some other local headlines in your speed feed. First, the Vance County Sheriff's Office is searching for two people wanted in a deadly shooting. It happens Saturday morning at a home on Limit. Lane and Henderson. That's where deputies found 33-year-old James Boggs shot to death. Authorities arrested and charged as 17-year-old. Four adults are also charged. Jerry LeMay Jr., Tyra Wilson, Judarius LeMay, and Crystal Williams are charged with accessory after the fact.

LeMay Jr. and Wilson are in custody. Deputies are still searching for LeMay and Williams. New details about a Durham apartment fire. It happened Wednesday night on Leon Street. Firefighters found the victim inside the apartment. That person is not. now in the hospital with life-threatening injuries. There's no update on the victim's condition. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Today, law enforcement officers from across North Carolina laced up their running shoes for a cause much bigger than themselves. The annual Flame of Hope Run made it through downtown Raleigh this morning, carrying the torch that will help kick off the Special Olympics North Carolina summer games.

The flame will be used to light the cauldron tonight for the opening ceremony. And that's your speed feed, Lauren, back to you. All right, data centers are top of mind for carry leaders who are now considering a pause on new data center development. The discussion follows similar moves by other triangle communities. Cindy Bay reports on what happens next. Kerry leaders are weighing a possible moratorium

on new data centers, a topic that dominated Thursday nights town council meeting. Officials say a pause could give the town more time to study the impact data centers may have on Jordan Lake, the region's main drinking water source. Jordan Lake is our watershed. It is our

drinking water. And 770,000 people rely on Jordan Lake for water in our region. So it is a finite resource that we share with our neighbors. So in order to be good neighbors, and because large-scale dentists centers use a substantial amount of water for cooling, this is a wise decision. The push comes as communities across Central North Carolina move to slow data center growth. Apex recently approved a 12-month moratorium, while Orange and Chatham counties have enacted similar pauses. I do know that the water usage is a big concern in the community. Aidan Hoffman says he also recognizes the growing demand for data centers.

I use AI for everything nowadays. So if, you know, data centers are needed to help us, you know, power that AI that we all use a lot every day and help us get through our days nowadays. The town would still have to go through a formal process before any moratorium could take effect. We'll have more on what comes next to head on eyewitness news. in Carrie. Cindy Bait. ABC 11, eyewitness news. Cindy, thank you. All right, let's go now to Wakemed Soccer Park and Carrie. Day three of TST underway.

Yeah, gates have just reopened for the next rounds today for the first time in the tournament's brief history. Men and women players are playing on the same teams. The tournament wraps up on Monday. So if you can't get there tonight, you have all weekend to get out there. And speaking of the weekend, Barbara, we're going to talk about the weather. I know, because there's so much going on inside, outside. It's been so sticky lately. We need that humidity come down a little bit.

We do see a nice break in it to head it our way. We'll talk about that in just a month. Well, let's talk about it right now. How about that? Let's show you the monkey meter and you'll notice the weekend, refreshing to pleasant. Now Monday it shoots back up. We do see a pretty good chance at some showers Monday.

Tuesday, Wednesday though, staying out of that humid and tropical range. So that is some good news there. Live look on the first alert Dopplernet tonight. We always start with the most powerful network of live radars. It's dry out there. Not much to show you in the way of rainfall. We'll head live. into North Hills. 86 degrees right now, mostly cloudy on a west-southwest wind at nine miles per hour.

We'll go from the 80s into the 60s tonight. Not as cool as it was last night. We will be above average as clouds roll in and that'll keep us warmer. 69, Raleigh, 68 Durham, 67 Carborough, 70 in Fayetteville, 67 in Clinton, 67 Rocky Mount Wilson, 64 in Roanoke Rapids. Satellite radar composite shows clouds working through just some high thin serious clouds we zoom it out you can see a pretty formidable system that extends from Georgia all the way up into Nebraska tonight that thing it tries to slide east but this high pressure is going to hold steady it will waver a little bit it allows some of that cloud cover and moisture to work back in overnight here's your first alert predictor forecast model as we go through the overnight notice the clouds building back in by the time we go on for ABC 11 at 11 we're in the 70s and those clouds will thicken up over night helping to hold the temperature up. Now, Saturday's not going to be a big blue sky kind of day. There's going to be a lot of clouds rolling through. There'll be lower humidity at the surface, but in the upper part of the atmosphere, there will be some moisture. And you can see as this boundary kind of shoves back to the south again, it's going to be a copy of what we saw yesterday where we'll see

some showers in the sand hills. Unfortunately, not much. And we need it in the triangle. But it will be dry for TST, so good news there. Then that pushes south tomorrow afternoon. And then skies will clear as we head into Sunday morning. You can see this boundary, this cool front right here, pushing to the south as we get into Sunday. That high pressure is gonna dominate our weather. I'm gonna do two things. One, it's gonna keep the humidity low.

And two, it is gonna put the highs in the 70s instead of 80s. And so I know we've got a producer behind the scenes named Robin, who doesn't like anything below 90 degrees this time of year. Not calling her out, but I am. So she's not happy, but most of us

will be happy with this Sunday forecast. And the good news is, For those who like it hot, it warms back up next week. Forecasts looks like this for tomorrow. Temperatures in the upper 80s in Durham, 87, Raleigh, more cloud cover as you slide south. Fayetteville, notice you got a 50-50 shot of showers tomorrow afternoon. That would be between noon and three, and then it pushes out of here. Your first alert, seven-day forecast shows 79 on Sunday.

That's the only 70 on the board. Monday is some showers working through. Humidity's back up to start the month of June, 83. Tuesday humidity drops 80, Wednesday, 83, Thursday, 86, and Friday, back near 90 degrees. So if you like it hot, just be patient. Otherwise, Sunday, really the pick day of the weekend, ladies. Man, there's plenty of time for hot. You know it's coming, and it's going to be here for a while.

So just enjoy these little tastes of spring while we can. That's what I say. All right, Don, thank you. All right. Next at four, over on Capitol Hill, Pambondi Lens, in the hot seat. The former U.S. Attorney General grilled by House lawmakers. over her handling of the Epstein files. We'll have the latest on this hearing.

And the U.S. and Iran closing in on a peace deal to end the war. What we know about this potential agreement. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi back on Capitol Hill, facing questions regarding her handling of that investigation into convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. This time behind closed doors, not under oath and not recorded. In an opening statement, Bondi claims that she released all documents required by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, adding that she did not lead every aspect of the review.

of the files, but delegated oversight to then Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, one Epstein survivor trying to confront Bondi as she arrived on Capitol Hill. We have always just wanted some baseline humanity from Pam Bondi. We wanted her to turn around in Sierra Faces. She had three opportunities at the last hearing and she didn't take a single one. So it just felt really important to remind her that we are real people. You know, she has worked with survivors in the past, so I hope that she understands the depth of our pain and the depth of our fight. And so, yes, we did try to sort of like push our way through

just to catch her eye for a moment. And, you know, she didn't acknowledge us whatsoever. Just kept walking. We do not have a comment about that from Bondi. Later today, Bondi posted on social media refuting claims that she blames acting AG Blanche for any perceived shortcomings in the Epstein case. Major developments in the U.S. Iran war negotiators have reached a tentative peace deal to extend the fragile ceasefire and begin a new round of nuclear talks. The Strait of Hormuz would fully reopen over the course of 60 days. However, President Trump still needs to approve that peace proposal. A federal judge in Virginia temporarily blocks President Trump's anti-weaponization fund from moving forward. The Justice Department announcing the creation of the $1.8 billion fund as part of a settlement

with Trump and the IRS. That fund would compensate people who, it says, were wrongly targeted by the government in the past. It's been challenged by a diverse coalition of people and entities who say that they would be ineligible to receive money from that fund. For now, money cannot be added to it and claims cannot be considered. An ICE agent charged with assault in the shooting of a Venezuelan man during an immigration crackdown is now in custody. That shooting happened back in January in Minneapolis. Ice agent Christian Castro was taken into custody this morning after the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension tracked him down in Texas. He's facing four counts of assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime. In Fayetteville, a new

Crime report shows domestic violence cases are down. Law enforcement weighing in on what may be behind the decline. And right now, the entire country is seeing the highest gas prices in years. We'll take a look at how those prices are impacting voters. And as we go to break, here's a live look at Lenovo. In Raleigh, Keynes fans getting ready for game five of the Eastern Conference final. Our coverage continues when we come back. We are local news.

ABC 11 eyewitness news continues now. Right now, the countdown is on. The Cain's hosting Montreal in game five of the Eastern Conference final. Carolina has been dominant this series, leading the HAB's 3 to 1. That's right. Well, this is a live look at Edwards Mill Road and Duraly Road in Raleigh near the Lenovo Center. Things are quiet right now, but you know it's not going to stay that long. If you're headed that way tonight, you're going to want to be cautious about all the traffic and the people.

And our Kane's coverage continues right now. Amber Repenta live at Lenovo ahead of this excitement. Amber, you've switched hats. You've got all the gear. I do. You know I love a good hat game, especially, you know, a wardrobe change. But you just can't help it because there's so much excitement in here. This is it, you know, tonight's the night.

The hockey world is ready for this big game here. Hurricane fans are technically the gates don't open until five. But let me tell you, they are out here. They have misters. They have setups like you cannot believe. Like they were born for this. They've been waiting for this their whole life. So this is going to be a rocking arena tonight.

But while this is all really wonderful that they have made it this far, huge, historical. One of the big missions of the Carolina Hurricanes is to give back. And let me tell you about the playoffs because they used these playoffs to do just that. I'm going to show you some video and some pictures of some organizations here. These are all nonprofits that the Carolina Hurricanes Foundation donated to during this playoff run every single time. They advanced in a round. They had a special grant initiative. They gave $50,000 to every single one of these organizations for a total of $150,000 to give directly back to the community and make a difference. And just a few minutes ago, we had a chance to catch up with Amy Daniels, the executive director of the Carolina Hurricanes Foundation, which really spearheads this mission. We are excited that we could offer these grants, kind of surprise and just, you know, really dedicated folks who are working so hard in the community.

We wanted to lift them up. We wanted to use our platform to be able to share and make a big impact in the community. So these are a way of just showing we see what you're doing. You're doing great stuff in and around the triangle across the state. And we want to lift you up with a special grant. So each of those nonprofits receiving $50,000, the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Triangle, the hardest yard, part of Greg Olson's Foundation, of course, he was a Carolina Panther, and then the Nate McMillan Foundation. That's a Raleigh-based nonprofit that really works with young boys right in Raleigh.

And let me tell you that if they win tonight, they're going to pick one more nonprofit to give another $50,000 to, or I should say when they win tonight. So we'll see who will be the lucky recipient of that after they win here tonight. So we'll just wait and see. Meantime, it's been a really emotional week for a lot of the players, as you may have heard. Right now, the hockey world is actually mourning the loss, a big loss of a four-time Stanley Cup champion. So we want to go right now to Kate Rogerson. She has more about the Kane's reaction to all of this. Amber, Claude Lemieux is one of the fiercestest players in the NHL. You didn't want to mess with him on the ice. Off of it, people say he couldn't have been a nicer guy, and that's especially the case for Carolina Hurricanes goaltender, Frederick Anderson.

Lemieux was Anderson's agent. Lemieux carried the torch inside the bell center ahead of game three. It was a crazy, rowdy moment of Habs fans cheering and chanting for him. Before the game, Lemieux called Freddie to make sure it was okay, and Freddie had no issue. Prior to game four, Freddie told Corey Lavalette from the North State Journal that he considered Claude family and was so happy to see him celebrated. On Thursday morning, news broke that Claude had passed away by suicide. Anderson did not speak to reporters today at Mooringsgate ahead of game five. However, his head coach Rod Brindamore was asked about what happened since Lemieux's son, Brendan, played for the team in 2024. That's tough to see that.

I mean, I didn't know him personally. I mean, obviously, if I ran into him, we had conversations and then obviously played against them. I'd be honest, hated playing against them because he was such a good player and hard to play against. It's tragic, right? I mean, it's a tough day for the hockey world for sure. Lemieux's passing made everybody stop in their tracks on Thursday when I was surrounded by media inside the Montreal airport, and we all learned the nudes. Earlier today, I was having a conversation with Hurricanes, play-by-play voice, Mike Manascalco. I asked him what his reaction was, how he's feeling.

And I asked about Freddie Anderson. I said, how's Freddie doing? He told me that the news shook him up a little bit, but he expects him to be dialed in tonight for game five of the Eastern Conference final. Freddie Anderson has played in every single game of this series. He's helped the Carolina Hurricanes have this 3-1 series lead. So his value to this team is so important, and we're expecting him to play with a lot on his mind tonight as the Keynes look to wrap this thing up and advance their way to the Stanley Cup final. Barbara, Amber, really challenging news in the hockey world has a lot of people thinking about the Lemieux's on their mind.

No doubt about that, Kate. And I know that he'll be in the game. And thank you for that, very emotional day. And also, Amber, thank you for that about all that the Cains do to give back. The pictures said so much about what they do to give to others. Great report and we'll talk to you both a little bit later. If you're hoping to see the Cains in action tonight in person, you still have time to get your hands on a ticket. We did some digging around and the cheapest tickets we were able to find available for tonight's game against Montreal, about $292,

and that's for a seat in the 300 level. ABC 11 is your home for both the Stanley Cup final and the NBA finals. You can watch both championship rounds starting right here. next week on ABC 11. New here at 4 o'clock, a new crime report from Fayetteville shows a mixed trend. Overall crime is going up, but domestic violence cases have dropped. Penelope Lopez talked to law enforcement and survivors to understand what's behind that decline. Domestic violence cases have dropped by 21% this time compared to last year.

Investigators say follow-ups are really making a difference. You matter, you're valuable, you're worthy, you're important. are the words Kimberly Carver wishes someone would have told her as a teenager. She was just five years old when she saw her mother kill her father. By 17, she was in an abusive relationship. A lot of people didn't understand. And if I would open up to them, they would say you're crazy for staying in that. At this time last year, there were 47 domestic violence cases. This year, that number has dropped to 37. Detective Phil Wan Singh says partnerships with community agencies and a 2024 grant have helped reduce repeated offenses.

We've used some of that money to buy cell phones for victims, especially in incidences where these victims' phones are getting broke on scene. Well, we can provide them one. We provide them with alternative living arrangements. Now Carter advocates for others through her foundation, Purple Trail. It's building to become independent again outside of your abuser. And Carver says if you're in this situation, reaching out can be life. saving. Coming up, my one-on-one conversation with another survivor, what warning signs she wants

you to look out for? Reporting in Fayetteville, I'm Penelope Lopez, ABC 11, eyewitness news. Penelby, thank you. While oil and gas prices are dropping across the country, there's still pain at the pump, and as we head into the summer months, how could that impact boaters hoping to enjoy a day on the water? Elena Athens joins us now live from Falls Lake. Elena, good afternoon to you. What are boaters saying to you about the impact of gas prices? Yeah, well, Barbara, a boater tells me that these gas prices have impacted his favorite hobby. If he stays out on the water all day, he says it'll run him about $150. That's between the gas to put into his boat as well as his pickup truck to haul the vessel

here. He's now only going out once a week. Cut back on how often I go and try to put in close to where I'm going to fish. Temperatures are warming up and area lakes are again becoming a go-to spot. to cool off, but this season, some people are scaling back their time on the water because of high gas prices. We found a gallon going for 519 on Falls Lake. Staffier says the price is actually cheaper than what people will pay at nearby gas stations. That cost is just for what you put into a boat's tank. You also have to fuel up a truck to haul the vessel. We're being told more people are turning to renting a boat versus owning one. More rentals and our boat club's expanding as well,

so they just pay a monthly fee and that gives us access to a boat and makes it feel like their own. So we also stopped by a boat repair company ahead at 530, how business is right now for that small business in this economy. We'll have it coming up. For now we're live at Falls Lake, Elena Athens, ABC 11, eyewitness news. All right, Elena, thank you. Still ahead on eyewitness season four, getting access to weight loss drugs will soon be easier. CVS says it's adding weight loss options to drug plans, what we know about that move, and get ready to take flight breeze airways offering a direct flight to California.

The deal they're offering passengers, but only if you book a flight by tonight. I'm Tori Johnson with your ABC Secret Savings. We're dropping limited time discounts right now. Grab your phone, get ready to shop. You won't want to miss these deals. All right, we have ABC Secret Savings, and it's all about enjoying the outdoors. Take it away, Will. We are kicking things into drive already.

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Hole in one, baby. A lot of fun there. All right, time now for some news. You can use CBS, adding two weight loss options to its drug plans. That's right. CVS Health says it will start coverage of Lilly's anti-obesceded pill foundeo June 1st. And it is also reinstating coverage of Eli Lilly's weight loss injectable drug Zepbound. That's starting October the first. The coverage will be on CVS's CARE marks standard template. The Durham County Health Department and District Attorney's Office hosting a free gun lock giveaway. It's part of the statewide initiative to raise awareness of the importance of securely storing firearms. Officials will be giving out free gun locks on Monday outside the Durham County Courthouse.

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All right. Coming up, hurricane season just days away. After the break, our first alert forecast team is going behind the scenes of the state's Office of Emergency Management for a hands-on look at how they're getting ready for any storm. We may see. And as we get a break, here is a view of Lenovo as we count down to puck drop for the game five tonight. Go Canes. Last year it was Chantal, the year before that, Helene, and this hurricane season marks 10 years since Hurricane Matthew. So the question is, what have state leaders learned in response to these historic disasters? Quailin Murphy went to the North Carolina Office of Emergency Management as they run full-scale simulations to prepare for this year's hurricane season.

make landfall near Torchtown South Carolina as a category two of hurricane on Monday. This is a test, a test to make sure the North Carolina emergency management team is ready when disaster strikes. Tell us the importance of doing these kind of exercise with a memorandation for maybe natural disasters that do occur or everything else that can happen. Yeah, these exercises are so important to making sure our state emergency preparedness team is ready and prepared to respond to any type of emergency that we could face. throughout the hurricane season. Talk to us about what you've learned from Helene and that experience that occurred in Western North Carolina. Yeah, I first want to acknowledge the staff

that are still out physically located in Western North Carolina responding behind the scenes. We've learned a lot from the state emergency response team perspective, not only in terms of preparedness, but how we interact with local jurisdictions and those emergency managers. They can't move all their supplies with them. It's not just state leaders and first responders taking part in this exercise.

Private companies are also involved. Their ability to support disaster recovery can help get much-needed supplies to people in need. We had a shelter in Western North Carolina that was short on baby formula. And that evening we were trying to figure out how are we going to get a shipment of baby formula there? We came over to the Business Surmurge Operations Center and were able to talk to several private sector partners. One had a pallet of baby formula in a warehouse outside of Garner, and we were able to work with another private sector partner that had a truck going west, and we were able to get it there before morning. This year will be 10 years since Hurricane Matthew, which is hard to believe,

but 2016 was a good example of just the cascading effects that events across the state can have. Matthew brought flooding, damage, and power outages to our state, and after this start, storm, there were also wildfires to deal with and a fuel shortage. Hazards don't care if other hazards are going on. Chantal last year created a familiar set of problems that this training is working to tackle. Chantel was a great example of that last summer where it doesn't matter if you're in the the eye of the storm. You really need to be prepared. That was the case in Matthew, in Florence, in Helene. All of our major storms of record are our testaments to

being prepared well outside of where the track of the storm may go. Quaylon Murphy, ABC 11, eyewitness news. Quaylin, thank you, and be sure to watch our first alert to hurricane season special. It's a great way to make sure you are prepared for any storm it airs tomorrow night at 7 o'clock right here on ABC 11. We'll be right now. All right, let's talk about a different kind of Carolina hurricane. That's true.

The Carolina hurricanes. The canes and the Canadians will hit the ice for game five of the eastern continent. conference final tonight. Let's check back in with Amber Rupinta out at Lenovo. Amber, how's it going? Hey Lauren, hey Barbara. It is heating up out here because the gates officially opened in just a few minutes at the top of the hour at 5 o'clock. So the rest of the tailgators that like to get here on time where a lot of people got here very early already set up. And you can see behind me. Can you see they're setting up a party? That is going to be the South Plaza party. So this place is going to be rocket. That gets underway at 5.30. And then

The doors open at 6.30. They literally say be in your seat at 745 for everybody inside. But we're going to check back in with some surprises coming up here at 5 o'clock. So we'll see you then. Oh, we love the surprise. Yeah, we do. All right. I know it's just getting warmed up out there.

I know. Amber, thank you. All right, Don, everyone that's going to tailgate tonight has some perfect Friday night weather. I just want to know if she's going to have a new hat at 5 o'clock. I mean, come on us, Amber. Not throwing down the gauntler right now, Amber, if you're still listening. All right, yeah, it's dry out there tonight. night for tailgating or whatever your plans might be. Maybe you're headed to the soccer tournament.

TST going on. Live look at a match out there in carry. 86 degrees right now. Mostly cloudy. Winds are calm. 84, Raleigh, 83, Willow Springs, 84 Holly Springs, 81 in Rollsville. 78, Oxford, 79 Roanoke Prapids, 83 in Wilson, 84 Fayville, 85 in Lumberton. If you've got plans this evening, maybe they don't include sports. You're just going out to eat tonight for a Friday evening. Should be a great night for it. temperatures falling through the 70s. Talk about some rain chances in the weekend in your 5 o'clock forecast coming up in just a bit. Ladies.