ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 5am - December 15, 2025

Episode Date: December 15, 2025

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Right now, live coverage from your local news leader, breaking stories from overnight and this morning, and your first alert forecast. Here's what's happening where you live. This is ABC 11 eyewitness news. Good Monday morning, Carolina. Welcome on December 15th. I'm Bianca Holman in for Joel Brown this morning. And I'm Anna Rivera. Thanks so much for joining us. Right now, a cold weather advisory is in effect this morning. Yeah, definitely one of the coldest mornings of the year. end of the season. Of course, these are your current temperatures, but we do have some feels in the single digits. More when to expect a warm-up in my forecast. And the plunging temperatures forcing emergency shelters to open their doors will break down where those

experiencing homelessness can go. Winter health risks for seniors, how you can protect your older loved ones from the dangerously low temperatures. All right here at the top of the hour, it's time for a check of weather and traffic together. We're checking with meteorologist, Krala Merphi, cold, cold, cold, hat, gloves, scars, all the thing. Everything, yeah, dangerously cold this morning. We're not going to warm up much at all today. We do have a first alert day for this cold weather advisory until 9 o'clock this morning. It covers the entire viewing area.

That's because it feels like temperatures in the single digits possible this morning. We're already seeing some of those playing out here early on. It's 16 degrees right now with the view into downtown Raleigh. We do have a light wind out there, so it's making it feel colder. That's our wind chill. The current temperatures, though, all around are ranging from 12 to around 19 degrees. Right now, teens in the Raleigh area and Chapel Hill, 16 and Sanford, Southern Pine, 16, 14 in Lewisburg, Goldsboro at 17 degrees. But when you factor in the winds, it feels like five degrees.

And notice these are the actual winds right now and coming in at around two to five miles per hour. So wind chill values are on the single digits for many locations. These are some clouds working through at this time. Those batches of clouds will push to the south. High pressure keeps us nice and cold through the afternoon. And so dress properly for the bus stop that means lots of layers. If you don't have the heavier coat, make sure all extremities are covered 16 degrees on the way into school,

37 on the way home, but it may feel like 33 when you factor in a bit of wind. Clear skies through this evening. We settled back into the upper 20s at 6 p.m. And down into the low to mid-20s by 10 o'clock tonight. Good news is this is a short-lived burst of Arctic air. We will start a warming trend tomorrow. And we'll be into the low 60s by Thursday. We also have some rain in the forecast, too.

I'll first alert you to that in my full forecast. in a few minutes. Right now is a good time to download the free ABC 11 app. It's a great way to stay up to date on current weather conditions. Plus you can always check. Versa Lord Dauponet and the 7A forecast any time checking those roads, weather and traffic together. Anna, back to you. Well, Quillan, overall, pretty quiet on the roads as you would expect this time of morning. We do have our first crash, though. Good news is it is minor. It's at Perry Creek Road and Capitol Boulevard. You can see it's not causing any slowdowns. Let's take a live look outside at the DOT cameras now. This is 440 and Wake Forest Road. If we can bring that up, there it is.

how light traffic is and so far so good and right now eyewitness news has team coverage as this dangerous cold grips the region jemise price is live in raleigh with a breakdown on the white flag shelters that are opening across the county and tamar scott is live to tell us how this bitter cold weather can impact different populations specifically the elderly but first let's go straight over to jemise price to tell us where people who are experiencing homelessness can go to escape the cold good morning good morning anna and bianca It is simply just too cold for anyone to be outside for an extended amount of time. And that's why Wake County has issued the white flag alert.

And those white flag alerts are issued when the temperature drops below 35 degrees, along with those dangerous wind chills. So here's a breakdown of the shelters for single men and couples without children, the Church of God and Shepherd. That is open on Hillsborough Street. As for single women, they can make a stop over to the First Baptist Church on the first Baptist church on. Salisbury Street and families with children can go to the Salvation Army of Wake County on Capitol Boulevard. And we spoke with an emergency department doctor at Duke University who also shared a few tips and signs to look out for if you have been in the cold for far too long. Take a listen. The things to look out for when it's really cold outside, first, numbness or tingling

and your fingers or toes, this is your body trying to tell you that it's not warm enough. The things that are even more concerning are clumsiness or trouble using your hands, uncontrollable shivering. This is kind of the next step that we worry about. And then really the 911 emergencies are if you develop confusion, slurred speech, blistering, sleepiness, or if your skin remains numb, even after you've attempted to rewarm it. Now coming up, what you need to know about your kids standing at the bus stop today, plus tips and signs that you should also look out for when it comes to our young kids. We're live in Raleigh, Jimmy's Price, ABC 11, eyewitness news. Jimis, thank you.

And as we continue to track the cold weather, we are looking into the different impacts, the change in temperatures can have on different populations. Yeah, and so we know that seniors, they're a group that is at high risk. So we're going to check in with Tamara. She has some tips on to think about when you check in with grandma and grandpa, mom and dad. Tamara. Hey, good morning guys. Yeah, we know that this cold weather can absolutely have an impact on our more vulnerable communities like our elderly community, especially those who have a decline in memory, right? So here are some things that you need to be aware of. Duke health officials say that older adults need more attention because they have a higher chance of being affected by the cold weather. The changes in temperature make it harder for them to be aware of their body becoming too cold. So some tips to be on the lookout for is to be careful of frostbite, poor blood circulation. can increase the risk of frostbite watch for hypothermia this can lead to serious health issues like heart failure or damage to their kidneys or their liver also make sure that they're

staying warm indoors what the officials say they also want to make sure that you're checking on your loved ones balance certain medications that they take can increase the risk of falling and you know during times like this and even throughout the year they are more at risk for loneliness and isolations certainly during this time make sure you're checking in on your neighbors and your friends back to you all right Tamara thank you Now to the latest in the deadly Brown University shooting that happened this weekend. Law enforcement describing a person of interest as a man in his mid-20s from Wisconsin. And we have learned that they actually released that person, but they had arrested somebody and had a person in custody after a gunman shot and killed two students and wounded nine others on Saturday.

And that happened on campus. Police say that they're sorting through the evidence and they hope to have more developments coming up this. week as they continue to investigate. So we've also learned that one of the students injured went to a school in Durham. Kindle Turner was a former student at Durham Academy, class of 2025. And so in a statement to eyewitness news, the school said in part our school community is rallying around Kendall, her classmates and her loved ones. And so we will continue to offer our full support in the days ahead. According to the school, her family says that she's in critical but stable condition. Rowley police are investigating after a man and a woman were found dead at an apartment

complex. Police responded to Foxwood apartment shortly after 3 o'clock in the afternoon on Sunday near Northern Wake Expressway and Fox Road in North Raleigh. Police say they found a woman and man both shot to death inside of the apartment there. We're told police are still working to learn more about what led to that shooting and how the two victims knew each other. And we're learning new details about a bizarre chain of events that played out in Robinson County Sunday morning. The sheriff's office says 36-year-old Cheyenne Wood stole an ambulance in the town of Maxon. crashed into a car, then shot the driver of that car. 74-year-old Marie-Marie LaClear later died at the hospital.

Woods is now charged with first-degree murder and is being held in the detention center without bond. As the holiday season is underway, the annual booze-it-or-lose-it campaign kicks off in our state today. The state says authorities in all 100 counties will increase patrols and sobriety checkpoints trying to catch impaired drivers. The campaign runs through January 4th to make sure North Carolina Road, are safe for the holiday season from Christmas till the new year. This morning, an update on the tropical storm, tropical storm shantile recovery efforts in Chapel Hill. And the Eastgate Shopping Center was hit hard by the storm back in July. We'll hear from business owners and how things are looking there.

And it is cold this morning. These are your wind chill values some of us down into the single digits. Unfortunately, not a big warm up today. With feels like temperatures low to mid-30s, we do see a warming trend starting tomorrow. More than that my forecast. Canada's Wonderland is bringing the holiday magic this season with Winterfest on select nights now through January 3rd. Step into a winter wonderland filled with millions of dazzling lights, festive shows, rides, and holiday treats. Plus, Coca-Cola is back with Canada's kindest community,

celebrating acts of kindness nationwide with a chance at 100,000 donation for the winning community and a 2026 holiday caravan stop. Learn more at canadaswunderland.com. 511 and welcome back on this Monday morning. It is a first alert day. We track some cold air out there this morning with some single digit wind chills and spots. Thankfully we are dry this morning, but the air also really dry too with dew points down into the single digits. So maybe some extra moisturizer for today. Here's a live look from RDU. Clear skies out there. These are current feels like temperatures down the seven in Burlington, Roxborough, eight in Rocky Mountain Wilson, Goldsboro. It feels like 11 those teens around the triangle. Highest today. Only around the mid-30s will have winds from the north initially. And then more of a switch. by the afternoon leading to a warming trend tomorrow. Some cold air for the Gulf Coast, too. We'll have your full forecast coming up right now. Back to you. All right, Kualael, thank you.

Turning now to Chantal recovery after terrible flooding hit Chapel Hills, Eastgate Plaza. Now businesses are reopening just in time for the holidays. 82-year-old Cinderella Rigsby runs the shoe repair shop and just reopened three weeks ago after being closed for four months. She said Tropical Storm Chantal brought so much flooding and setbacks. Her supplies and machines were destroyed. by the storm. But now that she's open, she's busy fulfilling Christmas requests. Business is going good. It's good. Phone ringing all time. And as you can see, you're sitting there,

you've seen all of them coming in the door there now. And that's the way it's been here since I've been back. There are still several businesses in Eastgate Plaza that have not reopened. 512 now. Make sure you stick around for Good Morning America. Oh, yeah. Ahead at 7, remembering legendary actor and director Rob Reiner behind so many. beloved movies. We're taking a look back at his life and his career. Watch Amber Rupenta. Today on ABC 11, I Witness News. Billionaire philanthropist McKenzie Scott continues to share her wealth. Scott recently donated $24 million to Robinson Community College. RCC says the gift will be used to help expand access to

education and workforce training, which they say will give students the skills for family-sustaining wages with the hope of supporting the region's economic growth. The largest single gift in the college's history. Just last month, Scott also donated $63 million to North Carolina A&T University and $50 million to Winston-Salem State. The Durham Public School Board has added another year to the contract of Superintendent Anthony Lewis. Lewis's contract now runs to June 2029. The school board voted unanimously expressing confidence in Lewis's performance. Lewis took over Durham Public Schools last August on a time when the district was navigating issues with teachers pay as well as a shortage of bus drivers. Gary Academy is working to make private school more accessible by covering the cost of tuition for some families.

The school announced its initiative called the Charger Promise that would cover the full cost of attendance, including tuition, dining, transportation, before care, and extended day programs for families earning $100,000 or less. Applications are currently open for the program. The financial aid will be offered for the 2026-27 school year. Save the date. The Wake County School District is set to hold a community engagement meeting regarding the Liggin Magnet Middle School renovation project. The meeting is set for January 8th at 6 p.m.

The location for that meeting has not been decided. The historic school opened in the 1950s as an all-black high school. It eventually became a junior high after integration before becoming a magnet middle school. Wake County is planning to renovate the school, But the question over whether to tear it down and rebuild on site or stay with the existing structure is raising concerns with the community. All right. Here goes a live. Look outsides. The view of downtown Raleigh from our Pindo SkyCam 301 Hillsboro Street. It's the first alert day. And so right now a cold weather advisory remains in effect until 9 o'clock this morning.

Yeah, this is definitely one of the coldest mornings of the year so far. We're looking at some feels like temperatures in the single digits too for some of you as well. Good news. We have a warming trend taking shape starting tomorrow. That'll take us right through pretty much the end of the week. So today will be the coldest 37, the high near 50 tomorrow, near 60 Wednesday, Thursday, even into Friday. And then a little cooler for the first part of your weekend, low 50s. But this cold weather advisory, again, goes until 9 o'clock for feels like temperatures in the single digits. Right now we're at 16 degrees in Raleigh. That's your actual air temperature. Temperatures right now in Clinton, Fayetteville, 19 degrees, 18 in Smithfield. It's 12 in Oxford. 16 Roanoke Rapids, 12. degrees in Silers City and Goldsboro at 17 degrees right now it feels like 11 there but some single-digit wind chills for Roxborough also Burlington and even Fayville down to nine degrees on the feels like temperature Rocky Mountain Wilson down to eight degrees we have a little bit more wind out there in some spots so it's helping those wind chill values to drop a little bit lower as far as the clouds go we do have a few clouds working over the sand hills communities right now everywhere else clear skies these clouds will punch south so we'll have clear skies for all of you today so it's going to take us a while to get to the 30s though we're going to be to be be in the 20 still at 9 a.m. 31 degrees at noon today. So if you're going to walk to your favorite spot to grab some lunch, make it a quick, quick brisk walk this afternoon. 37 at 3 o'clock with sunshine. We're back to those 20s at 6 p.m. and then low to mid 20s tomorrow morning. So across the country, seeing some pretty quiet conditions, there is a disturbance around the

Great Lakes and that'll pull some clouds our way late tonight tomorrow morning. But aside from that, we'll focus on high pressure and its movement. So we have this trough over the eastern and half of the country right now. This trough starts to lift north into the evening hours and a ridge of high pressure starts to build over the region through Wednesday and Thursday. That's going to help supply that warming trend that'll take us through the end of the week. So this afternoon, mid-30s for high temperatures, lots of sunshine. Again, a few clouds rolling through early tomorrow morning before they head out of here. We'll have sunshine for the rest of the day Tuesday. High temperatures approaching 50 degrees tomorrow afternoon. And then by Wednesday morning,

we're still on the cold side, but in the 30s. So you'll notice a big change there. And we're looking at some clouds early Wednesday morning to increase throughout the day. That's ahead of our next system. These temperatures will climb into the upper 50s Wednesday afternoon. And then we get ready for some rain potential on Thursday with the front. It looks like the rain comes later in the day on Thursday. So this morning commutes will be on the dry side. Front passes through early Friday morning. That gives us dry conditions Friday and into the start of your weekend. A week disturbance may bring a stray shower on Sunday, but for now I'm keeping that rain chance on the low side. So first alert day to kick off your Monday, 37 degrees, our high temperature

this afternoon. Tonight's going to be mainly clear and cold 20s with some clouds arriving into early Tuesday morning, 49 degrees of high temperature Tuesday afternoon, upper 50s Wednesday, near 60 degrees Thursday with some rain arriving late, maybe an isolated storm. Friday, a damp start with that front passing through, but they will turn clearer and drier with highs in the upper 50s Friday, a little bit cooler Saturday with a few clouds. Highs low 50s and they were back to those 60s on Sunday, which marks the start of winter officially. 520, the time. weather and traffic together. Back to it. Well, Quailing, right now, the road's looking pretty good. We do have our first crash of the morning, but it is minor. No injuries involved with this. It's at Perry Creek Road

and Capitol Boulevard. You can see traffic not affected by this either. Let's take a live look outside. This is 40 and South Saunders. Traffic's starting to fill in slowly, but so far I have not seen any breaklights. We've got a few sequels at the box office this weekend that we're battling it out. Which one hop to the top? Straight ahead. We'll break down the top five. And you can now catch up with breaking news and the latest headlines with the ABC 11 eyewitness News podcast. Listen anytime or anywhere. Just follow ABC 11. I with this news wherever you get for podcasts. We'll be right back. Watch Don Chwenig.

Get to know yourself and your roots better with Ancestry DNA. Want to know where your family comes from in northern France? Maybe you'd like to see how your genes influence certain traits like diet, fitness, and allergies. There's so much of you and your heritage to discover. Visit Ancestry.ca and get started with an Ancestry DNA kit today. Tonight on ABC 11, I Witness News. The company behind the Roomba is filing for bankruptcy. Here's ABC's Hannah Batta with this morning's TechBites.

In today's TechBites, trouble for the maker of Roomba, the company that makes the famous robotic vacuum, I-Robot, has filed for bankruptcy after struggles with foreign competition and U.S. tariffs. I-Robot says Rumbas will continue to work normally throughout its reorganization. Next, the Kindle feature meant to answer all your questions. Ask This book was announced in September but is now available to U.S. readers. It lets you ask a question about what you're reading and gives spoiler-free responses limited to information you've already read. And finally, the UK drawing up new rules to regulate cryptocurrency starting in October of 2027.

A bill calls for crypto companies to meet standards more aligned with the U.S. than the European Union. The British finance minister says it would strengthen consumer protections. Those are your TechBites. I'm Hannah Bata. Have a great day. No, I can say it all. Is that Ophelia? That's the name of that song?

I don't know. I haven't listened to it. This is a good one, though. Well, it's been a December to remember for Taylor Swift. Her new Disney Plus specials dropped this month, and she continues to dominate the charts. The life of a showgirl. just marked it's ninth week at the top of the billboard 200 album charts. Swift has had more weeks at number one than any solo artist in the chart's history.

Wow. Okay. And now to look at the weekend box office, jujutsu Kaysen execution made fifth place this weekend on the ticket sales of $2.1 million. The three cool, now you see me, now you don't, landed in the fourth place. with 2.4 million. Wicked for Good held on to that third spot with 8.6 billion. Friday nights at Freddy's 2 fell to second place and with $19.5 million. In its third weekend in theaters, Zootopia 2 rebounded from second to first place with $26.3 million, bringing its domestic box office total to $259 million. $113 million in film and entertainment grants have been approved for three production

shooting right here in North Carolina. That's according to Governor Josh Stein. The governor says that the projects are estimated to create more than 4,800 jobs in total supporting North Carolina film crew professionals and small businesses all across the state. And so we're told that the productions include the hit series, The Hunting Wives, which shoots near Charlotte, as well as a new series coming to ABC called R.J. Decker, and that is set in South Florida, but it's being filmed in

New Hanover County. Finally, an independent thriller called Widow has also been approved for grant funding after completing filming in the triad. 526 now. It is a first alert day and right now a cold weather advisory is in effect across our region. Yeah, how soon we could see warmer temperatures. Meteorologist Quailan Murphy has your forecast in our next F hour. And the former UNC Rex nurse accused of sexually assaulting patients is expected back in court today. What we know about the hearing. We'll be right. Thank you.