ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 5am - January 6, 2026

Episode Date: January 6, 2026

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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. Back in the swing of things at 5 a.m. Good morning, Carolina. Welcome on this Tuesday. It's January 6th. I'm Joel Brown. And I'm Anna Rivera. Thanks so much for joining us today. This morning, we are following breaking news out of John. Dunstan County. Right now, authorities are searching for two suspects after high-speed chase ends in a crash, what we know about the investigation underway. And Duke Health begins implementing visitor restrictions as flu cases rise across North Carolina will break down what you need to know about the new policy. And it's going to be a chilly start today, but compared to yesterday morning, it is actually running a little bit warmer. We do have some spots of fog developing out there, though.

I'll tell you when that could clear coming up in your first alert forecast. And we begin here in the breaking news center. Right now, authorities are searching for two suspects who led state troopers on a high-speed chase that ended with a crash in Johnston County. Yeah, our breaking news crew right there on the scene, a trooper tells us a trooper tried to pull over a driver on I-95 and 4 Oaks. The vehicle did not stop, prompting the trooper to begin a pursuit. During the chase, the suspect hit a Chevy Traverse. We're told that person in the traverse was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. after the crash that two suspects ran away from the scene.

Right now, authorities still looking for them. We'll keep you updated as we learn more. Otherwise, traffic is really quiet right now. Our crash count's still sitting at zero. We see that little bit of orange in the corner of your screen. That's that fog in Roxborough that Cruz was just talking about. So keep that in mind if you're going to be heading out there. Let's take a live look outside at the DOT cameras.

This is 40 and Jones Sausage Road. Traffic still really light. All right. Anna was just talking about I want to show it to you here on the map so the visibility are severely reduced as you work your way back toward the triad so areas like Roxborough seeing half mile of visibility gets even worse back toward Burlington only a quarter mile there and then there's going to be some spots of patchy dense fog sprinkled throughout central North Carolina so

this is actually a look at uptown Roxboro this is Main Street there and you can only see the glow of the street lights and that's because the fog has moved in and it looks like it's continuing to get thicker as time passes so just keep in In mind, you could encounter some of that fog through the morning. By this afternoon, that's not going to be a problem anymore, but we are going to keep some of those low clouds around. So overall, today is going to be one of those mostly cloudy days. Tipters should reach the mid-50s by the time we get into the noon hour. And then our highs today will top out in the low to mid-60s. So lower 60s toward the North Carolina, Virginia border, mid-60s for Raleigh, mid-60s down in Fayetteville and the rest of the sandhills. And then we could see 70 degrees in some communities tomorrow. We'll talk about that very warm forecast coming up and just like. the second back to you. Okay, Cruz. Thank you. Starting today, Duke Health joining the list of local hospitals tightening restrictions on visitors as flu cases continue to rise across the state. Restriction at UNC health began yesterday. Bianca Holman's live at Duke Rally Hospital now with what you need to know about the new rules. Bianca, good morning. Good morning, Joel.

So those numbers are rising with the flu. And you know, there are other respiratory illnesses that are out there like RSV and COVID. And so that's why these hospital systems are putting these temporary restrictions in place. So as far as Duke Hospital and their systems all around the area, they are not permitting children under 12 to unless they have prior approval into the hospitals. Also, patients can only have two visitors and they are encouraging visitors to wear a mask when visiting their patient here at the hospital. So here is also what we've learned about the flu numbers that are going up and rising across the country. But the new numbers also show across the country there's a record-breaking levels of few flu cases. The agency estimates there have been at least 11 million people who've gotten sick,

120,000 people who have been treated in hospitals, and 5,000 people have died from the flu this season so far. So nine children have died from the flu complications across the country. Two of those children were right here in North Carolina. And last season, a record-breaking 289 kids died from the flu. highest number since the CDC began tracking the numbers back in 2004. We're seeing positive test rates double over the past two weeks, mostly related to more folks gathering, right? There's more travel, more gathering.

We are at the peak of flu season. We are also seeing other viruses, not just influenza, but also RSV, COVID, and other respiratory viruses as well. now medical experts remind everyone the vaccine is still very helpful if you plan to get that wash your hands frequently and if you're able to stay home from work and school if you're sick and if you must go out wear a mask if you're sick when you're going to be around others so again joel the other hospital systems in our area have these temporary restrictions that are similar but again check out their website before visiting wake med u and then also cape fear back to you all right bianca thank you and the raleigh city council Council is set to address several topics today, including the effort to reopen the Raleigh Convention Center and the new project underway at City Hall. Tamara Scott joining us live now from downtown Raleigh with a breakdown on those discussions. Tamara, good morning. Hey, good morning, Anna, yeah, the Raleigh City Council, they have a lot on their plate this afternoon. During their meeting, they'll give us important updates and give citizens a chance to give their input on some projects.

So they'll meet twice today, first at 1 o'clock, and that will give an update on the Raleigh Convention Center. The council will learn more about the recovery and discuss what's next in terms of repairs. And the council will also get an update on the new City Hall project that's aimed to be completed in May 2027. Right now construction is more than halfway done. Then at seven, there will be a public hearing for the rezoning of North Hills. The request would allow for increased building height ranging from 12 stories to 37 stories and four different zoning districts throughout North Hills and six forks across nine different properties. Now, attendees will get a chance to hear the full proposal from the developer and the planning committee. Now, their meetings today start again at 1 o'clock, followed up by their main meeting at 7.

Back to you. We'll be right there, Tamara. Thank you. Now to those remarkable moments in a New York City courtroom Monday deposed Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro standing before a judge pleading not guilty to federal drug trafficking charges. Maduro made his first appearance in court on the narco-terrorism charges the Trump administration used to justify capturing him. in bringing him to New York. The courtroom appearance was Maduro's first since he and his wife were seized from their home on Saturday in a stunning middle of the night military operation. It kicks off the U.S. government's most consequential prosecution and decades of a foreign head of state.

Now to the new details in Wake County on the upcoming trial of accused Headingham mass shooter Austin Thompson and the effort by his attorneys to keep evidence out of view from the jury. Yesterday, his defense attorneys filed six new motions ahead of next month's trial. Thompson is accused of killing five people during a shooting spree in 2022. His trial is scheduled to begin in less than a month, and yesterday was the deadline for both sides to file motions. Defense lawyers asked the judge to restrict certain cell phone and computer data. Thompson's lawyers say much of the evidence prosecutors want to use is either extremely old or undated, and there's a serious danger of looking at anyone's phone search history with a retrospective view and finding evidence

to support a theory that's convenient. Goldsboro Police are asking for the public's help to solve the murder that could soon go cold. 40-year-old Derek May was shot and killed last year on July 13th at a Dominican restaurant called summer nights on East Ash Street. No arrests have been made and detectives now pleading for anyone with information to call Goldsboro Police. 5.08 now and this morning on eyewitness news, new details into an I-team investigation into a Durham Foundation accused of not paying its employees. Improving elevator safety, what the state labor department is doing to increase the number of inspections happening across North Carolina. And I'm taking you back outside to Roxborough, and you can see the fog has moved into uptown there. So on Main Street looking very foggy, some of the rest of us could encounter that fog this morning as well.

We'll talk about how this warm air is actually leading to the fog coming up after the break. Welcome back and thanks for sticking with us on eyewitness news this morning. It's pretty warm out there, at least as we start today, compared to yesterday, and this afternoon is going to feel warm, more like a spring day as Tipters hop into the mid-60s for highs. Now, we are going to see lots of clouds today, and that's because we're seeing that warm air come in off of a breezy southwest wind. That's replacing that colder air that we've had recently, and it keeps getting warmer as we go into the middle of the week. I'll take you outside. This is Durham from our Mutual Tower Skycam. Tipters this morning are in the upper 30s, but as kiddos head out to the bus stop, should be in the low 40s and from their 60s as they head home from school.

Your seven-day forecast is coming up in about five minutes. Anna. Okay, Cruz, thank you. And we now have new details in an ongoing I-Team investigation focused on a Durham Foundation accused of not paying its employees all across the triangle. The North Carolina Department of Labor filed a motion in court yesterday to try to force the Courtney Jordan Foundation, CJF America, to provide the pay records. This comes after the state agency received more than 30 complaints from 4,000. employees about not getting paid. If CJF fails to produce the documents, the Labor Department

is requesting that the employer be held in civil contempt for failure to comply. You can watch that full report from the I-Team troubleshooter Diane Wilson on our website, ABC11.com. North Carolina's backlog of elevator inspections has been completely cleared, according to the State's Labor Commissioner. Luke Farley delivering the news yesterday, Farley says when he took office last year, one out of every five elevators in the state was not inspected each year. The commissioner says he ordered a top-to-bottom review of the Labor Department's internal operations and credits targeted improvements for a dramatic increase in inspection efficiency, achieving the highest level of compliance in the department's history.

512 down straight ahead this morning, how state leaders plan to recognize the victims and survivors of human trafficking. And tracking the new flu, tracking the new flu numbers. The virus spreading rapidly across the country are going to break down the latest data from the CDC. Plus new childhood vaccine recommendations, what this means for your children. Watch Amber Rupenta today on ABC 11 eyewitness news. This morning we're highlighting human trafficking prevention month. Governor Josh Stein announced a new campaign to raise awareness.

Today is honorary wear blue day for state employees, 11 state government, buildings in downtown Raleigh will be illuminated with blue lights from Wednesday through Sunday in honor of victims and survivors. Stein also declared January 11th as Human Trafficking Awareness Day. He released a statement saying, quote, human trafficking is a crime that thrives in darkness. That's why we must shine a light. North Carolina is among 30 states with very high flu-like illnesses. That's according to new data from the CDC. The new numbers also show record breaking levels of flu cases nationwide. The agency estimates, at least 11 million Americans sickened by the flu,

120,000 people treated in hospitals, and 5,000 people dying from the flu so far this season. The agency reports nine children have died from flu complications across the country. Two of those children were from North Carolina. Last season, a record-breaking 289 kids died from the flu. That's the highest number since the CDC began tracking it in 2004. The CDC announced it is changing the childhood

immunization schedule. Health Agency is removing the universal recommendation for multiple shots in what it calls an attempt to mirror the schedules of other developed countries. Some of the vaccines and immunizations that are no longer universally recommended include RSV, flu, and COVID-19, as well as the hepatitis and meningitis vaccines. Pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk announcing its popular weight loss drug week Govi is now available in pill form and will be manufactured right here in the triangle. The company says the new prescription pills will be formed at its facility in Clayton, then packaged at its site in Durham. This is the first FDA-approved GLP-1 drug available in pill form, and it will be cheaper than the injectable version.

Doctors say it could improve access to the drug. Some patients just can't tolerate the injections because of injections, like local reactions. So having pill form is a wonderful option. and currently the highest pill form that's about to be released will be about $50 cheaper than the injectable form of Wigovi. Again, the new pill is available only by prescription. All right, 518, let's take a live look outside on this Tuesday morning of view of downtown Raleigh from the Pendo Skycam at 301 Hillsborough Street.

39 degrees now and warming up again. Cruz says we're getting into the 60s. It's going to be nice. I'm going to definitely have to go for a hot mom walk today. Hot mom walks. In January, that's a rare thing. I was going to say you're going to have the shorts on for that, I imagine. And the kids, the kiddos won't need their big jackets today.

It's a win for everyone. So those tipters are not just warm today. They're going to stay warm for the near future. As tipters actually push even warmer by tomorrow, we can see those highs around 70 degrees. going into Thursday, dipping down into the 60s briefly, and then 70s again for Friday and Saturday. Now, hear me good here. You're going to want to enjoy this warmth because it's not going to last long. It is still the winter season after all, and we're going to see those tipters come down into the 50s for highs by the time we get into Sunday.

So enjoy the warmth while you can. We've got the tipter's pushing near 70 tomorrow. Tomorrow's the pick of the week. So it's going to be mostly sunny day as high pressures and control. And as we go into Thursday, we'll see the clouds increasing again. And that's ahead of our next week. weathermaker that could bring a little bit of weekend rain that's going to come throughout the day on Saturday. So just giving you an early look. And for the time being, our main focus for this morning is going to be the spots of fog that we're seeing across the region. So this is a live look into Person County, Main Street there in Roxborough. And you can see it's pretty foggy up there. The visibility down to a half a mile. It's even worse in Burlington, only a quarter mile there.

And Lewisburg looks like you're seeing some fog as well. So not all of us are going to deal with the fog this morning, but areas that do see it could be locally dense. So just keep that in mind. That should clear by mid morning. Then for the afternoon, you'll see those temperatures by noon already reaching the mid-50s. Keeps getting warmer into the mid-60s for areas like the triangle this afternoon. So breezy southwest winds are pushing those tipters up into the 60s. And those southwest winds are going to keep us mild tonight as well. So tipters tomorrow will be near 50 degrees starting out. It'll be mostly cloudy when you wake up. Could be another spot or two of fog. And then by the afternoon, we see the sky's clearing as high pressure starts to move in once again so tipters tomorrow

very comfortable very spring like tomorrow is the pick of the week if you ask me and break out the shorts while you can because by the end of the weekend once again you'll be needing that jacket so tipters tomorrow will be the warmest in the sand hills but that's because tonight those areas will also only drop it to the 50s so you're already starting out with an advantage tipter's staying pretty mild into the the morning hours that is obviously not the case right now though temperatures are only in the 40s for this morning, so tomorrow starting out the day will be a little milder than today. Tomorrow's highs are also warmer than today, reaching to around 70 in the triangle, 72 in Fayetteville and 67 and Henderson, and your first alert, ACUweather 7-day forecast. This shows that rain chance that I was talking about on Saturday,

so that'll mainly be an afternoon and evening thing. If you're planning ahead for the weekend, this doesn't look to be super widespread, so just make sure you're checking back for updates on our forecast. Look at Sunday, though, going down into the 50s, and we'll stay in those 50s. as we go. It's the start of next week as well. Anna. So right now the road's looking really good. Our crash count still sitting at zero. Cruise, of course, was talking about a little bit of fog that we might see that's building in north of Durham. Maybe if you're going to be traveling in Roxborough this morning, you want to be aware of that. You can see that on the traffic map as well with that orangey yellow color.

I'm not sure if we have DOT cameras, but if we do, there we go, Forty and Jones Salsage Road. You can see that traffic has started to fill in. We've also got a stalled car on the westbound side. on the shoulder, though, so it's not causing any delays. So just keep that in mind if you're getting ready to head out right now. Things looking pretty good. 522, and make sure you stay around for Good Morning America. Ahead at 7 o'clock, actress Ashley Tisdale, on why she left her mom group and her message to other parents. And you can now catch up with breaking news and the latest headlines with the ABC 11 eyewitness news podcast.

You can listen anytime or anywhere. Just follow ABC 11, I Witness News, wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be right back. 525 and new this morning, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is closing its doors. The CPB's Board of Directors says it voted in favor of dissolving the organization following Congress's decision to end its federal financial backing. CPB made its debut in 1968 and funded PBS, NPR, and hundreds of radio and TV stations across the country for decades. A new Lego brick packed with technology is being unveiled at CES this week. Here's ABC's Hannah Baton with this morning's TechBites.

In today's TechBites, Lego goes high-tech. The new smart brick packs a speaker, lights, and a tiny chip inside a standard-sized Lego brick. It's meant to be used with other smart pieces with which it can interact. The new pieces will debut in upcoming Star Wars sets. HP has packed an entire computer into a keyboard. Company just unveiled the Elite Board G1A. It has an AI-ready processor, and the company says it's designed to be, easily serviceable with modular components.

The keyboard is expected to launch in March, no word yet, on a price. Starlink is offering free internet access to new and existing customers in Venezuela following the capture of President Nicholas Maduro. Parts of the country lost connectivity after the military operation. Company says it will be free through February 3rd. Those are your TechBites. I'm Hannah Batah. And a big happy birthday to Wheel of Fortune, the popular game show,

premiered on January 6th, 1975 on NBC, making it 51. It was created by TV legend Merv Griffin. Pat Sejack and Vanna White began hosting it in the early 1980s and became some of the most popular hosts in the history of the game shows. The show went on to become one of the longest-running syndicated game shows in American TV history and one of the most popular TV shows in the world. The show has aired over than 6,500 episodes. Happy birthday wheel.

Be a wheel watcher. Right now, a community is mourning after the murder of a Raleigh school teacher inside of her home. According to police, she called for help as the brutal attack was happening. This morning, we're hearing exactly what dispatchers heard and what responding officers saw when they arrived at the scene. Plus, a preview of the 2026 Economic Forecast Forum giving us a closer look at North Carolina's economy that's straight ahead.