ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 6pm - February 21, 2026

Episode Date: February 21, 2026

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Right now, live coverage from your local news leader, investigating new information tonight, and your first alert forecast. Here's what's happening where you live. This is ABC 11 eyewitness news. All right now at 6th, as tensions between the U.S. and Iran continue to rise. Members of the Iranian community here in the Triangle are urging the U.S. to take action against the Iranian regime. John Dowding, speaking with those demonstrators today. We'll have a live report from him shortly. And a call for peace, community members in Durham coming together tonight for a visual, honoring those who have lost their lives to gun violence. And we're learning more about a deadly car crash that closed a section of I-440 last night, what we know this evening about the person killed, and the man now facing charges in connection. You're watching eyewitness news at 6 tonight. I'm Dwan Hogarth, so glad that you chose to spend this half hour with us here on Saturday evening.

Now, tonight, one man is dead, and another man is facing charges after a car crash on I-440. It happened last night right there on the belt line between Glenwood Avenue exit and Lake Boone Trail. Investigators say the initial collision involved several cars. Those cars were moved to the shoulder of the highway. And while crews were clearing the scene, investigators say Jack Neville was speeding when he hit the back of another car. That car hit Eduardo Valdez, who was standing outside of his vehicle that was involved in the initial crash. Valdez died from his injuries. Neville is now facing multiple charges, including misdemeanor death by vehicle.

In Fadeville, a man is facing charges tonight after police say he was involved in a deadly hit and run. It happened a little after 1015 last night at the intersection of Ramsey Street and Fernwood Drive. Police say motorcyclist Ian Gaskins was traveling south on Ramsey when a car traveling north on Ramsey turned left on Fernwood Drive hitting the motorcycle. Gaskin died there at the scene. The driver of that car kept going but was later identified as 43-year-old Roberto Coton Jr. He was arrested and faces multiple charges, including felony death by motor vehicle and driving under the influence. He's being held tonight at the Cumberland County Detention Center. Well, in Raleigh, local Iranians in the Triangle held a rally on the move this afternoon,

and they put the former Iranian flag on their cars driving all the way from Briar Creek to downtown Raleigh. This all comes as ABC News reports the U.S. military assets have moved into place for possible strikes against Iran. And John Dowding is joining us live this evening during this half hour. in downtown Raleigh. John, good evening to you. Now I do believe that this latest rally is done by the Iranians here in the Triangle and they have a lot that they want to voice

their concern and their support over. Absolutely, Dawan. And good evening to you as well. Now this car rally actually just wrapped up a few moments ago right here in downtown Raleigh. And as a reminder to our viewers, also last week, the same group of Iranians here in the Triangle held a rally outside of the Wake County Courthouse as well.

Organizers we spoke to for this all say this is meant This is meant to encourage the Trump administration to take action against the current Iranian regime in power right now. Now, Iranians are the triangle we spoke to today, say they want two main things right now. Freedom in Iran and an end to that regime. Many we spoke to today said today's car rally has been to shore up support for the Iranian people here in the United States and draw attention to what they say is in need for U.S. intervention in the country. Now, one man we spoke to today said he has friends and loved ones. he lost to the violence in that country. It says the only way to assure his family's safety

is for US action in Iran. We want to be our people's voice and we want American government just stop telling help is on the way and act right now. President Trump act now, please. Again, those in the community just wanting to keep this conversation, wanting to keep this topic at the forefront

of the national conversation as well, which is why they keep having these events here in the triangle. Coming up later this evening, we'll be hearing from other Iranians we spoke to here today, who tell us why they say that inaction creates more danger and a more dangerous situation for their loved ones and friends still living in Iran at this time. Live here in downtown Riley this evening, I'm John Doutting. ABC 11, eyewitness news. All right, John again, thank you for your reporting. We'll see you all this evening on eyewitness news at 11. Meanwhile, in Durham, community members in the Bull City holding a vigil tonight for those who have lost their lives to gun violence.

and it comes after multiple deadly shootings in Durham in the past couple of weeks, many of which involved young people. Community members using tonight to call for peace and to talk about the ways to stand against gun violence. Durham police say there have been nine homicides so far this year. And just yesterday, Durham Mayor Leo Williams announced that the city is partnering with the University of Maryland's Violence Reduction Center to develop anti-violence strategies. In Fayetteville, more than 100 people showed up for a youth violence conflict seminar. today at Massey Hill Recreation Center. The Interactive Workshop featured community leaders and organizers. They talked about things like bullying prevention, anger management, and building healthy relationships.

In Johnston County, the NAACP Johnson County Branch, hosted their MLK Junior Parade today. People lined up along Smithfield's Market Street to honor the life of the civil rights leader himself. This year's parade featured Doris Wallace as Grand Marshal and comedian Jay Darrell as parade master of ceremonies. Let's go ahead and talk college hoops. Tonight, Duke men's basketball on the road in Washington, D.C., where they are set to face off against Michigan, number one ranked Michigan, I might add, in less than 30 minutes.

Trayvon Miles traveling with the team. He's live there at Capital One Arena there in D.C. Now, Trey, a lot of folks, I know it's still early. I mean, there's a little bit of basketball left, but people are calling this a potential final for preview. What say you? Unbelievable environment inside of Capital One Arena right now. You can't see around me, but there are thousands of fans on this concourse.

And you said it. There's a special feeling in the air because this is quite possibly a Final Four preview. We're still a couple of weeks out from the NCAA tournament, but this is widely known that these are two of the best teams in the nation. A special moment here in February, a very rare non-conference meeting in February, where you get two of the top teams. arguably the top two teams in the country coming together. I will say there are a bunch of Michigan fans inside of this place. I see so much maize in blue. If I had to guess, I would give about 70% Michigan fans to about 30% Duke fans.

I would say right now I did catch up with a few Duke fans outside. They are super excited to be here and about this matchup. Great matchup. Got to see it. It's going to be epic. And when we win, it's going to be historic. I actually went to high school with Grant Hill, and I've always been a Christian Leitner fan. This is about as big, this is about as big of a test as they're going to get before March.

I'll put it out there right now. We were looking for tickets. We still need a ticket. We don't have one yet. We're checking our Stubhub. So I'm hoping those guys did make it inside. But speaking of StubHub, we've been checking ticket prices as this is one of the hottest tickets in college basketball this year. It feels like just looked on my phone not too long ago to a couple of sites.

And the get-in price, meaning the seats up in the rafters are running for around $500. So you can tell this is the place to be tonight. Duke, Michigan, third-ranked Duke versus number one Michigan inside of here. Going to be epic. Coming up in sports later on, we'll talk about the actual matchup and a rematch of the 1992 national championship game. All right, well, if this is any preview to what things are going to look like toward the beginning of April, when we actually get to the final four, this is going to be a nice little preview matchup, so we'll see you after tonight's ballgame.

Thanks so much, Trey. Well, still ahead, President Donald Trump is expressing his outrage tonight after losing a major Supreme Court battle. The court was striking down most of the president's tariffs, ruining them illegal. The new order, the president has now signed opposing a 15% tariff and what it could mean for you and your wallet. And hundreds of cupids hitting the streets of Durham today. Check them out here. Later in the show, we'll look at the annual. triangle undy run.

And here's Don now. Nice little segue on that, right? Undies and then Don. And probably some people who should have been in their undies. Right. Like me. There you go. All right, we're taking a look at first alert Doppler.

Tonight tonight, it's dry out there, but it will change overnight. We've got rain headed in. We'll talk about that in your complete forecast. Next. At Medcan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of good health, from the big milestones to the quiet winds. That's why our annual health, Health Assessment offers a physician-led, full-body checkup that provides a clear picture of your

health today and may uncover early signs of conditions like heart disease and cancer. The healthier you means more moments to cherish. Take control of your well-being and book an assessment today. Medcan. Live well for life. Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. All right now at 6th, President Donald Trump is raising the threat of new tariffs, and it comes after the Supreme Court. I struck down his emergency tariffs yesterday, the high court calling the tariffs attacks that only Congress can levy and that the president does not have the level of authority.

Here's ABC's senior White House correspondent Selena Wayne tonight with the latest. President Trump today escalating his trade war and his war of words with the Supreme Court. The president now says he's putting a 15% tariff on every country that's up from 10% just yesterday using a statue, allowing him to impose tariffs for only 100. 50 days. Well, what you have is the president reacting in a stubborn way in support of his tariffs. Yesterday, the Supreme Court struck down Trump's cornerstone tariffs ruling only Congress can impose taxes. Today, the president calling the decision ridiculous, poorly written, an extraordinarily anti-American. I'm ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what's right for our country. In the six to

three decision, the court's liberal justices joining with three conservatives, Chief Justice John Roberts and two justices appointed by Trump, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett. I think it's an embarrassment to their families. You want to know the truth, the two of them. Some $142 billion have already been collected from the original tariffs. The question now, how does that money get returned? Even the Supreme Court in their briefing said, use the word, this will be a mess, in quotes. Two thousand companies have already sued the Trump administration to get refunds for the original tariffs paid by some 300,000 importers as countries and companies around the world brace for the new 15% tariffs.

Selina Wang, ABC News, Washington. All right, straight ahead. A restaurant on the rebound, a popular restaurant in Chapel Hills, Eastgate Crossing Shopping Center reopening tonight, months after Tropical Storm Chantal. We'll tell you which business that is and how the greater community is still looking to fully get back on his feet. Eyewitness News. We are local news weeknights 4 to 630 and 11. All right. Welcome back. New tonight, a beloved Chapel Hill restaurant that made it through tropical storm, Shantal last summer, opened its doors to customers again today. ABC 11's time, George, showing us how their long road to recovery is finally paying off.

Stepping inside Kippos, the Alibu kind of represents a timeless ability to have faith and believe in. is taking a journey to owner Georgios Bakatsyas's native Greece. The place is pretty much reborn. The kitchen, the wood-fired grill, the bar back open. Of course, we brought back all new equipment, all new finishes. A far cry from what it looked like when Chantal hit, the water rising as high as six feet. We could have had a beautiful Greek taverna by the island,

so you only swim there. That could have been possible. It's been a tough past year. Last summer, floodwaters tore through Orange County, Tropical storm, Chantal, devastating multiple homes and flooding businesses in the East Gate Shopping Center in Chapel Hill, including Kipos. It's been a long road to rebuild. We didn't have as much luck with the insurance that we'd like to have, but we were committed to bringing this restaurant back because it was very important. One of the only things that survived the flood, these family photos from Greece.

Of course, this restaurant when I opened it, it was honoring the ancestors, and they were more resilient than I will ever be. So that's the least I can do is to make sure that this restaurant comes back. And today, finally getting to put aside some of that toughness and resilience and just celebrate. Extremely exciting. So exciting, I can be do jumping jacks through the ceiling, through the roof. In Chapel Hill, Tom, George, ABC 11, eyewitness news. All right, Tom, any thanks. Meanwhile, how about this site to see in Durham today? Hundreds of runners hitting the streets wearing nothing but they're undergarments. It was all a part of the Triangle's annual Cupid's Undy Run.

The event raises awareness of neurofibromatosis or an F, a genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body. All right, tonight we've got Chief Meterall and just John Schwinnaker in for Cruz Medina tonight. So for one, the weather has just been absolutely perfect, but I know it's not going to stay that way. So what do you see here on your radar from that? Yeah, this afternoon was your outdoor time. Good day for those runs and things like that. Tomorrow's going to be wet around here. Let's talk about that rain right now.

Live. Doppler net tonight, scanning the sky. It's dry. We'll head live into the Bull City. Clouds have rolled in this afternoon, 59 degrees, mostly cloudy, on a wind that is east-southeast at six miles an hour. Winds have swung around out of the east now.

55 is your temperature in Rocky Mount, Smithfield, 56 in Lillington, 57 down in Fayetteville, 61 in Burlington. If you got plans this evening, maybe headed out to dinner tonight. The good news is we stay dry. It's not as warm as last night. Temperatures will fall through the 50s

and we go on for ABC 11 after the game tonight. Those numbers will be in the lower 50s. We'll bottom out tonight in the 40s. Normal for this time of year is 35, so we'll still be above it, just not as warm as last night. 44-year overnight low in Raleigh, 39 in Roxborough and rain moving in after midnight. Satellite radar composite shows the clouds rolling through and working out of here. We've got this system working up the coast, another system back to the west. Those are good combined to become a nasty area of low pressure that works its way up to East Coast.

We'll talk about our area first. First alert predictor forecast model as we go through the overnight into tomorrow. There's the rain arriving 3, 4, 5 a.m. It will be a wet start to the day if you're headed to church services in the morning. Those numbers will be in the 40s. By the afternoon, we see that system pulling out of here. It could bring a few snowflakes to North Hampton and Halifax counties, but nothing you're going to have to shovel.

And then it races up to East Coast. Here's that low. Notice it pushes up toward Boston, New York City, D.C., and it becomes almost a hurricane-like structure. with that perfect eye around it. That's going to roll right up to East Coast and it becomes a classic Nor'easter. They could see 12 to 24 inches of snow

up the East Coast. Because of that, they have blizzard warnings in effect from Cape Cod all the way down through New Jersey. We've got winter storm warnings in effect through central Pennsylvania and winter storm or winter storm watch is still in effect as well. So lots of nasty weather headed our way.

It will stay north of us, though. We will just see rain. Forecast looks like this for tomorrow, No 48 degrees. Showers around Durham 47, 57, 53 in Fayetteville. Your first alert, seven-day forecast shows those numbers continuing to stay in the 40s, Monday 45. Tuesday, 47, still cold, not as breezy. Then we start to warm back up. Wednesday, 61, Thursday, 64, Friday, 59 degrees.

And on Saturday, last day of February, 64 degrees. So we will warm up as we head toward next weekend, but expect those showers as we head through. your Sunday. Duan? All right, I'm ready for the 70s to come back already. Me too. All right. We're going to pause for a quick time out, but when we come back, Trayvon Miles will have more from Washington, D.C., as Duke is preparing to face off against number one ranked Michigan on about 15 minutes or so. But as ABC 11 is celebrating Black History Month, we are proud to present a streaming special for you this weekend. Tomorrow at 5.30, we invite you to join us for stories showcasing the resilience, courage, and creativity

that exemplify the African American community. You can find it wherever you stream. eyewitness news. Welcome back to ABC 11, I Witness News at 6. Trayvon Miles joining you live from our nation's capital, where we've got a big one. It's really hard to put into words just how heavy things feel inside of this building. You know something special is going on inside of that concourse here shortly. As we see number three Duke take on number one Michigan in what should be a great, great game.

A lot of people think this could be a final. preview because these two teams have been two of the top ones of the nation all year. Could be a top four Final Four preview depending on how the bracket shake out in a few weeks. Michigan is such a complete team. 25 and one on the season, so worthy of being called the nation's top team. With that being said, Duke will not back down tonight. The same way that they refuse to back down in the 1992 National Championship game against Joanne Howard, Chris Weber, and the FAB 5.

That matchup gave Mike Shoshesky back-to-back titles his second championship in 1992. This is not a national championship game, but the feel inside of this place is close. Feels like as close as you're going to get with two of the top teams in the country squaring off in a neutral site. All right. Let's get to some other ACC basketball today. Up in Syracuse, the University of North Carolina, got a much needed victory over the orange by 13. Carolina welcoming back center, Henry Vissar, to their lineup after he missed the last two games. He had 19 points in that victory today.

UNC with a much-needed win as they try to navigate things still without Caleb Wilson with the ACC tournament coming up. DeWan, I am so excited to be here. I sent to somebody earlier. It's a really good feeling when you could be anywhere in the world and you are exactly where you want to be tonight. This is going to be a special one. We'll be live from here at 11 o'clock with the reaction as well. Well, Trey again, thanks so much. And like two things.

So one, if you take it back to the 90s, yes, you have Steve Fisher and an incredible Fab Five. I know a lot of Duke fans, they like how that turned out. But even this year, there's a lot that you can say should Duke end up going home with the win tonight of what that means for the ACC, what that means for the tournament coming up. And then even a greater statement that you can make is having that momentum ride with you these next several weeks before you end up having to play UNC again because we know how salty they are for how things turned out in Chapel Hill

a couple of weeks ago. Well, Trey, we'll see you again a little bit later on after tonight's broadcast and after the game ends. We'll look out for you for those recap and those highlights. That's going to do it for I when it's news at 6 again.

Thank you so much for choosing us. Tonight, it's NBA right here on ABC. We'll catch you at the conclusion of that basketball game. Have a great night.