ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at Noon - January 27, 2026

Episode Date: January 27, 2026

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Right now and I witness news at noon, don't let your guard down, the melted snow and ice still at risk of refreezing overnight. We're tracking the changes across the triangle. And troop deployment, what we're learning about the deployment of North Carolina National Guard to the Middle East. Sean Coffey is live with those details. And Duke and its quarterback reaching a settlement, clearing the path for him to take his talents now to Florida. It's the news at noon. Right now, live coverage from your local newsleader. Today's top stories you need to know and your first alert forecast.

Here's what's happening where you live. This is ABC 11-I-Witness News. Another first alert day. Good Tuesday afternoon. I'm Amber Rupenta. And I'm Barbara Gibbs. The extreme cold continues to impact recovery from the ice storm. We have live eyewitness news team coverage.

Our new first alert storm chaser is on patrol in Durham. Tamara Scott's tracking the road conditions in Wake County. But let's begin with Peterologist, Quaylin Murphy, with an update on the potential for continued ice melt as well as this weekend's potential for more wintry weather. Hey Kuelan. Hey, good afternoon. Thankfully, we have the sun out there that's helping to get our melting started. The high temperature today, 38 degrees, so we will climb above freezing, ultimately, but it's going to feel like the 20s this afternoon. We started off in the frigid air this morning with low temperatures down into the teens 9 degrees for Siler City. This is where we sit now, and you can see most locations are below freezing still, February 32, but it's still going to

to take us some time to get to right around 32 degrees feels like temperatures in the teens and the 20s so feels like temperatures for the rest of the day will be in the 20s back into those low 20s later on tonight clear skies will continue through the afternoon with those gusty winds it's going to feel colder but this will also help to evaporate some of that moisture on the grounds as well so we're tracking more refreeze potential tonight with the melting happening in spots most common on bridges and overpasses but also those shaded roads we have to look out for and we want you to be careful on sidewalks and steps those can be a danger zone to the weekend we go we're still tracking that potential for some winter weather due to a coastal storm that will develop off of our coastline it's forecast to get a bit stronger too right now our confidence is in the moderate range that the low develops in the golf later this week and ultimately tracks over florida and near our coastline but a high confidence that will have plenty of cold air in place to make the snowfall if we do get some what's low on the confidence right now is the track of that low pressure this is going to be the key to getting that pre-sip around here. Maybe starting as early as late Friday night, but for sure this weekend.

There's a lot of details that we still have to iron out. We're still several days away and we'll continue to make those changes to the forecast as necessary. We'll have more details on that whole 70 forecast coming up in a few minutes right now. Back to you. We're going to stay calm and watch things how they develop. Still time to change. As you heard from Clay and though, it will be dangerously cold again overnight, resulting in that black ice concern for drivers. That's right. Our crews are out tracking the trouble spots today. Tamara Scott joins us live from the village district and Raleigh Tamara. Good afternoon to you.

How's it going out where you are? Hey, good afternoon, guys. You know, we've been all over the area this morning, first starting on the highways and interstates, and those for the most part have been cleared. We were really keeping a close eye on the exit ramps, the go and exit ramps. But now we're in a neighborhood.

We're by the village district here on Park Drive. And there's a bit of a traffic jam happening here, but we want to show you how it's dry on some parts here, but still ice remaining on others. And in this particular area, this is a hill you're going down. And right at the end of the hill where that stop sign is, all of this ice. So you have to come in very, very slowly and break. Even when you start breaking, we're still sliding at this point.

My photographer Jim is breaking. And then we just stopped right there at the end of the stop sign because you were still sliding. I don't know if you heard also all of that ice underneath. And then when you turn right here, all of this is ice that looks like it's starting to melt because the sun is finally hitting it. But you've got to think there are a lot of areas still that are covered with shade that are not getting as much sun. So it's going to take a little longer for those areas to clear up as well. So just keep in mind if this is what your neighborhood looks like or somewhere near where you are, you're trying to get to the store or get to work. Keep in mind, this is what it may look like.

Just take it slow. You don't want to be rushing anywhere. Back to you. No, you do not. And we don't need that stress. All right, Tamara. Thank you. Good advice.

First alert, storm chasers also out on the roads. Take a look at this. There's a lot of shade here. So this is on Durham Avenue, on sunset Avenue, and you can see those patches of ice and snow there because no sun during the day is hitting it. According to officials in the Bull City, crews will be treating secondary routes to improve road conditions, but you can see what you're dealing with on many of those secondary roads. So urging drivers to use caution, look out for those shady spots especially. Yeah, and it's going to take a minute for that to melt all. Travel conditions are improving at RDU Airport today, but not everything is completely back to.

normal. You see the camera shaking a little bit there. Flight aware is reporting more than 30 flights canceled at RDU Airport today. Nationally, 1,500 flight cancellations. In the meantime, American Airlines says the recent storm has been the most disruptive storm in American Airlines' 100-year history. The airline canceled more than 9,000 flights and expects impacts to be felt for two more days. And local government offices are opening later today due to the icy roads. Wake and Orange offices are opening now at noon. So, They just opened their doors. Durham County opening at 1230, but Bull City operations started at 11, and Raleigh City offices opening earlier this morning at 10 o'clock.

And as we continue to clean up from this weekend storm and keep an eye on some possible snow showers next weekend, be sure to download the ABC 11 app. We'll keep you up to date on what's happening in your community. We'll new this noon, a major send-off for hundreds of National Guards members from across our state. A ceremony was held today for 800 members of the 1-120th Infantry Battalion. of the North Carolina National Guard as they now mobilized to the Middle East. Sean Coffey joining us live outside Dorton Arena with more. Hi, Sean. Yeah, hi Amber and Barbara.

Those North Carolina National Guard members will be mobilizing in support of Operation Spartan Shield. A spokesperson for the North Carolina National Guard said that they'll be leaving sometime in the next three weeks, and they'll be stationed at a base in Kuwait. And this is something that's been scheduled for these guard members for years and will help them improve the battalion's mobility and their ability to respond to domestic threats and emergencies with greater efficiency when they get back. It's likely the 800 or so members that were recognized today will be overseas for about a year. I think it's a range of emotions. One, we're going to miss our families. We're going to miss our communities. But two of excitement, right? Every soldier signs the data line to do exactly this. That's to serve our country. Today's ceremony included remarks from army leadership as well as from elected officials. Operation Spartan Shield was first launch in the Middle East back in 2012 and it includes units from all service branches.

Lab in Raleigh. Sean, Coughby, ABC 11. Eyewitness News. All right, Sean, thank you. We are learning new details this afternoon about the man charged with hitting a woman with his truck before crashing into a neighbor's home. This all unfolding on Alta Crest Lane and Garner, we're now learning the suspect. 32-year-old Nathan Tharp served as a military police officer in the Army from April 2017 to December

2019. There's some surveillance video there. He had no deployments and left the Army in the rank of private first class. He's now facing several charges. connected to this incident. And as for the family's house that was hit, you can see their home is considered structurally unsafe now.

Neighbors have created a fundraiser to help them rebuild. Well, now to some breaking news. Duke University quarterback Darien Mensah is free to move on to another school. The university reached a settlement, allowing Mensa to freely enter the transfer portal, despite signing a multi-year $8 million contract. Last week, Duke took legal action.

Duke filed for and was granted a temporary restraining order to keep MENSA from enrolling in another school, but MENSA, who is heavily linked to Miami, was still permitted to enter the transfer portal. Eyewitness News is working to learn more details of today's settlement, but Duke Football released a statement through social media saying, quote, we are committed to fulfilling all promises

and obligations Duke makes to our student athletes when we enter into contractual agreements with them, and we expect the same in return, end of quote. A statement from Menza's sports agency says He is grateful to do for reaching the resolution. And breaking right now on Wall Street, the Dow taking a 500 point drop. It appears investors are concerned about a drop in United Health Stock. We are keeping an eye here on the board to see if the Dow does rebound.

You can see right now it's about 375. We'll keep an eye before the closing bell this afternoon. And in Durham, the principal at Eno Valley Elementary School steps down. This comes after an indictment alleging she, and two other DPS administrators were not fully forthcoming surrounding an investigation of child abuse. Dr. Tuna Wright is facing three counts of felony obstruction of justice and one count of perjury. This is connected to a November 2024 incident involving a six-year-old girl who was allegedly tied to a chair by a teacher. Dr. Wright's resignation is effective as of January 31st. DPS officials tell us her status remains suspended with pay until the end of the month.

The actor who starred in the Academy Award nominated movie The Blind Side is now fighting for his life. That story just ahead. And there's been a change in tone from the White House as the backlash grows following the shooting death of Alex Pretty in Minneapolis. That story in two minutes. And some students attending class on Zoom. What a surprise they got. New York City's mayor Zoraamondani showed up on their Zoom. We'll have that at 1230.

Watch Lauren Johnson tonight on ABC 11.I Witness News. Now to the latest in Minneapolis, the man at the center of the immigration crackdown in Minnesota is expected to depart the state as part of a leadership shuffle. And it comes as President Trump is now facing growing scrutiny within his own party over ICE tactics following the shooting death of Alex Preddy. ABC's Armando Garcia is in Minneapolis now with the latest. With protests targeting Border Patrol commander at large Greg Vivino in Minneapolis, the Trump administration now attempting to change tactics, putting borders R. Tom Homan in charge in Minnesota. Well, Mr. Homan is the point. for cooperating with state and local authorities and corresponding with them, again, to achieve this level of cooperation to subdue the chaos on the streets of Minneapolis.

Sources tell ABC News Bovino could be leaving the city as soon as today. New video shows protesters and observers on the scene six minutes before the fatal shooting with Alex Preti. They sounded whistles as federal officers assembled by a donut shop to begin an immigration enforcement action. You can see the officers prepare pepper spray. He arrived a few moments later and is seen holding his cell phone seemingly to record the operation. Shortly after he was shot and killed, Homeland Security investigations said the FBI arrived to collect evidence, including Pretty's phone and the gun he had a legal permit to carry.

Customs and Border Protection officers involved in the deadly shooting were wearing body cameras. The agency says the footage is preserved, but it's unclear when or whether the public will see it. Minnesota state officials have asked a federal judge to order the preservation of all the evidence, saying they have serious concerns that Trump administration is capable. of a thorough, transparent, and unbiased investigation. The Justice Department argued the court should not be micro-managing. In the hours after the shooting, Bovino accused Prady of wanting to massacre law enforcement. But now there has been a shift in communication between the president and Minnesota's Democratic leaders.

Trump said he, quote, seemed to be on a similar wavelength on a call with Governor Tim Walz about working together. Wall said the president agreed to consider reducing the number of federal agents in the state. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frye said he told President Trump that the city would continue cooperating in what he called real criminal investigations, adding that people should be prosecuted for the crimes they commit, not where they're from. Armando Garcia, ABC News, Minneapolis. Leaders of some of the biggest companies based in Minnesota are now calling for calm after the second shooting death of the state involving an immigration officer. The CEOs of companies like

Target, Best Buy, United Health, and 3M all signing a letter calling for local state and federal officials to work together. Before that letter, most of the court, Corporate giants in the state had not issued any public statements about the enforcement surge and unrest. A hearing today on Capitol Hill to look at what caused the mid-air collision between an airliner and an Army helicopter in D.C. one year ago. That story new at 1230. And Raising Kane, the grand opening of a new restaurant near NC State's campus to a lot of fanfare. That story in two minutes. And the sweet story about a man who walks dogs at a local shelter.

He refuses to skip any days, including snow days, as you say. and holidays. Today you can hear from the candidates for Raleigh City Council. A local citizens advisory council is hosting a virtual forum tonight where community members can ask questions to the six candidates. The event begins at seven tonight. It's on Zoom and the primary is coming up March 3rd. In noon, Raleigh's first Raising Cain's restaurant is now open. The chicken finger chain is located on Hillsboro Street across from NC State's campus. A community kickoff started at eight this morning with some lucky customers

winning free food for a year. This is the second raising canes in the triangle. The first one opened in 2023 in Chapel Hill. Due to hazardous road conditions, the annual Durham City Council Martin Luther King Jr. and three observance has been postponed. The event originally scheduled for today has been rescheduled to Tuesday, February the 24th. Well, today's bitter cold is not impeding the journey of those Buddhist monks trekking through North Carolina and bound for the nation's capital. Today, the Walk for Peace will head from Lewisburg to Warrington. The monks are making a 2,000-mile pilgrimage from Texas to D.C. And in effect, to promote peace and national unity.

All right, let's get a check of this forecast. I know all lies, Quaylan, are to the weekend now. Yeah, we're watching increasing confidence that we'll see some winter weather for the weekend. So we want you to get ready for that. As our model runs continue to come in, they're indicating that, again, this pattern will be sufficient for that to occur. Central North Carolina has a 60 to 70% chance of seeing moderate impacts with this event. The uncertainty with this event is still on the track of that coastal load. That's going to be key.

This is an evolving forecast, so do expect changes. Here's our Euro and American models and both the snapshot here is showing that snowfall for the area. In terms of chances, we're now up to a 30 to 50% chance to see some snow for Central North Carolina, a little bit lower for areas back to the west, a 10 to 30% chance right now, including the triad. You need several ingredients, including cold air and that cold air is here. It's not going anywhere. We'll actually get another surge of colder air with a deeper digging trough into the end of the weekend. This weekend, the core of that cold air will range from Pittsburgh all the way down into the Carolinas and the trough stretches all the way down to the Gulf South again.

So we're going to stay quite cold. The ingredients, as I mentioned, the positioning of the low. That's the big question mark right now. We'll have plenty of moisture, enough cold air with the position of that high to the north. So what happens into tomorrow is the cold front comes to. through it brings some clouds in the morning. We'll have high temperatures in the upper 30s with sunshine by the afternoon. A few passing clouds on Thursday were still dry. High temperatures will be in the mid to upper 30s. That front settles along the Gulf South and that's where we'll see a low pressure developing somewhere around the Western Gulf near Texas and Louisiana. That low is going to track east over Florida and end up somewhere off of our coastline. Last weekend system was more of that inland track and that's why we had that mixture of pre-sip. But it looks more like a classic track for us. or offshore. So this will be an all snow or nothing event for us if that low sets up offshore. And this is the critical component to the forecast for the weekend. A reminder, we are right now

four to six days out. So we've been managing the patterns and watching the trends. And right now we're trending more likely. I don't have any answers for you as far as specific timing goes or the totals. I can tell you that it looks like Friday night into early Saturday. we could see some snow showers, but more of an evolving event with accumulation potential Saturday into Sunday is the early look right now. Plenty of model runs still to go looking for that consistency. And of course, we'll nail down that timing. Probably Wednesday night and a Thursday, we'll have a better idea with our in-house models.

For now, we're tracking sunshine, cold conditions, and very gusty winds out there at times, too. Feels like temperatures are in the teens and 20s for the time being wind speeds right now, five to 15 miles per hour. Those are stained. It's going to help with the evaporation today, but it's definitely going to keep us colder too. There's a clear sky across the region. So this afternoon, temperatures right around the mid to upper 30s, close to 40 in the sandhills this afternoon. We'll have those clouds passing through tonight and tomorrow.

That'll make it feel colder, of course. Teens and 20s out the door tomorrow, but there's your sun for the afternoon. So back to more melting potential through the afternoon hours of Wednesday. Here's that long-range forecast for high temperatures, and we're stuck in the 30s through Friday. 20s on Saturday for the high 31 on Sunday. Those lows will be down into the teens this weekend. But oh boy, it's going to feel colder single digits this weekend. And that snowpack, if it happens, that will make it feel colder too.

I don't have any budgets and temperatures through Monday. We're in the upper 30s, but we do sneak into the 40s next Tuesday. But the pattern right now shows basically below average temperatures through the middle of February. Back to you. All right, Kwaylan, thanks. Nurses walking the picket line. details on the strike impacting more than 30,000 health care workers. And it is the end of an era. The scramble for seats on a Southwest Airlines flight is now over. And business is booming at

Goodwill stores will explain why in two minutes. Watch Steve Daniels. Tonight on ABC 11, I Witness News. It is day two of a strike by thousands of nurses and health care professionals across California and Hawaii. 31,000 nurses, pharmacists, physicians assistants, and others walked off the job demanding better pay. and staffing in their dispute with Kaiser Permanente. Picket lines at hospitals stretch across California and Hawaii. Some non-urgent and elective surgeries are now being rescheduled. Kaiser says it's offered a 21% pay raise.

They call that the company's strongest national bargaining offer ever. Adding patients deserve our full attention, not prolonged disputes. Union members say that they're eager to reach a deal. We're giving up our paychecks. This is our third time out. We don't want to be here. We're frankly tired. being out here. I don't feel like we should be out here. In the meantime, the largest ever nurses

strike in New York City is now in day 16. The union touts a deal on health benefits, but disputes over pay, staffing levels, and workplace safety remain. Goodwill is doing more than good. The largest thrift store chain in the world says it exceeded $7 billion in revenue last year. That's not only a record setting high. It's also a 7% hike from 2024. Annalysts say the uncertain economies, slow job growth and a rise in costs, have more people shopping at Goodwill stores in order to save money. Goodwill gathers roughly 6 billion pounds worth of goods on an annual basis. Items that end up not getting sold in their stores are then sent to outlets where they're sold at major discounts. Officials say they plan to add at least 50 new Goodwill stores

nationwide this year. Southwest Airlines' new assigned seating policy is now in effect. As of today, Passengers can choose their seat in advance for an extra charge. That includes the ability to select seats with extra leg room. Everyone else gets a seat assigned at check-in. It's a big change for the airline which used to let passengers choose any open seat once their boarding group was allowed on the plane. And a new report just released today on consumer confidence. Brand new here at 1230, why it's now the lowest since 2014. And the winter ice storm impacting several states other than North Carolina, plus an update on the rising death toll.

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