as we were evacuated last night we could see just a big glowing amber where the house used to be at. so it's not a good thing. >> that fire has grown to at least 5000 acres. firefighters say the winds were not as strong today which did allow helicopters to get in and drop some water on it. because of that fire still being investigated. now to our storm watch, the winds is still a problem today for most of us along the front range keeping the fire danger real problem. up in the high country snow and cold where the problems this morning. a lot of drivers got that nasty reminder of the dangers of winter driving near the eisenhower tunnel and nearby loveland pass. the highways even shut down for a time. meteorologist chris spears live tonight near the top of loveland pass all bundled up. chris? >> reporter: all bundled up, 28 degrees up on the side of loveland pass. we had a few people e-mail and wonder what caused that rapid snowfall last night that made such tough travel.

the heart of a 14,000-foot wall of granite, you can expect sometimes mother nature brings some tough conditions. we saw that this morning. i have made a map for you. take a look at this. a little explainer about why we have such a concentration of snowfall there, powerful low pressure to the north of colorado had wraparound winds are blowing across our state. they were coming at us in a westerly fashion. for the continental divide in upslope flow. and sometimes in one area. we call it orographic lift. and that lift lets that air go higher into the atmosphere, it gets colder and makes clouds that can really produce an area of enhanced snowfall. back out here live on the side of loveland pass, the loveland ski area started to make snow. definitely cold enough. 1000 feet below me, we find mountain newsroom reporter matt kroschel. and i hear you were the only denver reporter out covering this story for our viewers both in the morning, the noon and

>> reporter: had to put these gloves and hat to good use today for sure. i wanted to show you this is kind of what it looked like a but the tunnel today as we give you a wider shot, you can see what it is right now are these snow guns working hard here at loveland. up on i-70, traffic is moving nicely right now but it was a completely different story this morning. >> sliding. it ain't fun sliding in the diesel just went oh, my god! >> reporter: winter driving conditions catching a lot of people off guard. >> i crept up through the tunnel and pulled over and stopped. so i've been up here about three hours. >> reporter: some drivers chose to pull over and wait it out. >> in colorado, expect the unexpected. >> reporter: it didn't take much to bring traffic to a standstill. >> it was more like a bunch of toothpicks but almost like

other. >> reporter: despite the warnings many truckers chose not to changeup. we spotted several wrecks around the tunnel exit. >> yeah. ready to get off the top of this mountain. >> reporter: a taste of the winter season still to come. i bet you those tire shops are going to be busy up here in the high country as folks variance a little taste of what's coming. live in loveland ski area, matt kroschel, cbs4 mountain newsroom. >> thank you. developing now involved in a crash in boulder county that injured five students. it's a case we've been following since we were the first on that crash scene last december. kelly werthmann just got out of the courtroom. kelly, the parents of some of those kids were there too. >> reporter: jim, two moms showed up, one asking for the maximum sentence in this case. another mom saying that driver elizabeth burris had been punished enough. burress was behind the wheel of

highway 17 near lyons. witnesses say that bus was swerving all over the road before the accident. five of the eight kids on board were hurt. two of them seriously. burress admitted she takes about six different medications but was not impaired at the time of the crash. burress though was eventually charged with dui vehicular assault and child abuse for that crash. in a plea deal, 40-year-old burris pleaded guilty to careless driving and the other poor investigation by state troopers and a quote media circus destroyed burress' life causing her to lose her job. before the judge issued her sentence, burress did apologize to the families affected by the crash. >> i wish i could undo it but i can't. all i can say is that it was an accident. i can say that i will never drive a school bus again. i'm terrified still to this day

kids. i love and i feel that i feel them and their parents. and i'm sorry isn't enough to take that memory of the accident away. >> reporter: and the judge has it is clear that burress is remorseful for what happened so she sentenced her to one year of unsupervised probation for careless driving as well as a $300 court fine. coming up tonight at 10:00 you're going to of the parents again of those students who were hurt were on board, two of them so -- is seriously hurt and really what they had to say about this crash that forever altered their lives. we're live in boulder kelly werthmann cbs4 news. >> thank you, kelly. new information after a homeowner says he shot a man who was trying to break into his home. that homeowner says the man monday morning was stabbing the tires of a boat trailer in his driveway. he later shot and injured that suspect who was reportedly armed with a knife and gun.

charges of felony menacing and illegal discharge of a firearm. now to another shooting this one fatal, saturday night someone shoots and kills nick lewis, a popular well-liked denver chef. tonight it's a mystery as to who did it and why. his body was found near his home in englewood on acoma street not far from broadway. tom maese and at that crime scene for us tonight. any leads in this case? >> reporter: right now police have no leads and no suspect. but here's what we do know. saturday night nick lewis was walking home to his house, about a couple hundred feet from where we're standing. four shots rang out, he collapsed near where i'm standing and joint englewood police are doing all they can to solve this case but right now they don't have a lot to go on. >> and i heard four quick gunshots. >> reporter: sherry larson fought back tears as she described the shooting death of her englewood neighbor. 33-year-old nick lewis.

they turned him and were working on him. and there was blood everywhere. >> reporter: saturday night around 8:00 the popular chef at denver's blackbird public house had been walking home from a 7- eleven near south acoma street. the single father of an 8-year- old boy was struck by several bullets and later died at the hospital. sure he police she heard a car speed away but had no other details. >> the police asked if there was an a activities and i said no. >> reporter: off-camera lewis' fiance told us his wallet and money were not taken. tuesday spray-painted evidence markers like the rest of neighbor richard burton. burton spoke to lewis' family after the shooting. he says they're struggling to figure out why anyone would target him. >> they said that he's such a nice kind guy, and real gentle. pretty sad. >> reporter: on blackbird's

they were quote having a hard time understanding how such a kind and gentle person could be taken from us in such a violent manner and as police search for answers, sherry larson is hoping for justice. >> it's a scary world we live in. you know? and i just hope that they catch whoever did it. >> reporter: now again englewood police are really come to the public's help. they want to talk to anyone in the area of south acoma street and cornell 9:00 on saturday night. if you have any information, give them a call. live in englewood, tom mustin, cbs4 news. now the attention in campaign 2016, turns to the vice presidential candidates tonight. governor mike pence and senator tim kaine will take the stage in less than two hours in virginia here on cbs4. 50million people are expected to tune in tonight. political specialist shaun boyd with a preview. sean, it's the only debate for the vp candidates. >> a recent cbs news poll shows

don't know enough about the two running mates or are undecided when it comes to having a favorable or unfavorable view of them. tonight could change that. but if history is any indication, it is unlikely to change the course of the race. governor pence spoke -- scoped out the debate stage where he has a heavy lift tonight. >> you'll see somebody was able to defend donald trump, the running mate but at the same time, take the case right to hillary clinton. >> reporter: pence will face -- face off ns has a home-field advantage. >> tim kaine has been a big friend of longwood. >> in here many times and things like that. worked out great that tim kaine to -- can head on down. >> reporter: both men have long records in public office and a style much less dynamic than the presidential candidates who may not be on stage tonight but will be at the center of this

tonight. i'll be watching as well. and break it all down for you on cbs4 news at 10:00. the debate bears right here on cbs4 at 7:00. >> thank you. coming up, a weather update people in the u.s., people being told to prepare to evacuate as hurricane matthew has our way. plus the damage from the storm in haiti. >> as far as colorado, not much right now. but you can see rain snow and cold air starting to slide down toward our home state. just how chilly we get when it gets here. and thanks the colorado hospital that helped her continue the music she so loves. a bank reports a case of possible elder abuse. now the alleged victim says he doesn't want to prosecute. because he was helping the woman with her cancer

a weather alert now for much of this country's east coast, hurricane matthew's -- the storm slammed into haiti

damage there is widespread. at least nine deaths are blamed on this big storm. all across the caribbean. now the governors of florida and south carolina are planning evacuation orders for more than a million people along the coastline starting tomorrow. lauren whitney tracking this monster storm, lauren, coastal communities back east are really bracing for store. right now it again it is over haiti. up next looking at eastern cuba and the bahamas. looking at that tracking their direction so it's going to get pretty intense pretty quickly. right now category four storm winds at about 140 miles an hour. moving at about nine miles an hour. looking at our futurecast for this, again quite a bit of uncertainty with this but as it makes its way toward the east coast, we also have lots of tropical storm watches and hurricane watch is for parts of florida. as it gets closer there are a

area of high pressure off to the east this, so that could keep it closer to the coastline. big concerns are going to be storm surge and also winds and a lot of rain in these areas. if it goes anyway one direction just a little bit it could either make it more intense on the east coast or push it out enough to see so there's just a lot of uncertainty as this has this direction but we can start to see a lot of rainfall in parts of florida southeastern side of florida starting tomorrow night. ended friday morning. and will make its way up to the coast or into the carolinas potentially into friday and saturday. we are going to keep watching this ag lot of variation but there is a chance that it gets very close to parts of the florida coast. will send it back to you. >> thank you. law enforcement getting creative to try and stop you from texting and driving. officers are posing as panhandlers in places like san bernardino. while some in idaho use a yellow school bus to catch offenders. the national safety council says cell phones played a part in more than 1.5 million crashes last year. 25% of all crashes. that's what's worse, the number

2014 and 2015. new tonight a teenage musician paralyzed by a rare illness is playing music again. today she is donating to craig hospital as a thank you for inspiring her. cbs4 house -- health specialist kathy walsh is here to introduce us to gracie fisher. >> reporter: she spent seven months in craig hospital where music therapy was key. to her rehabilitation. now gracie struggling find joy in music. >> it's been so instrumental. >> [ laughter ] >> in my recovery. >> reporter: a play on words to explain her generous donation to craig hospital. it's here at craig that gracie fisher got her music back. >> the music has always been a part of my life. >> reporter: in 2014 gracie was playing three instruments and plans to go to berklee college

she felt sick. >> so i began to feel tingling in my hands and pain in my neck. and within five minutes i couldn't walk. >> reporter: gracie had acute myelitis, a rare polio-like illness. paralyzed from the neck down. her music stopped. >> i think it was hard, accepting that i may not be able to use my hands. >> reporter: but gracie came to craig, colorado's world- renowned rehabilitation hospital. she worked with music ther sarah thompson. >> her attitude is the most impressive thing. >> reporter: gracie learned to play piano with a mouth stick. she embraced music once again. >> getting back to something that she loved and just doing it a little bit differently than she did it before. >> reporter: the check is to expand music therapy at craig. it comes from the foundation gracie started. now she is instrumental in

impressive young woman. she started her foundation with $5000 from the make a wish foundation. instead of meeting a popstar or taking a trip, gracie's wish was to start that fund to help others. >> she certainly will with this. >> yesterday will. thank you. time to check in with ed greene and get the forecast. >> as we take a look at doppler 4000, not much going on. breezy again today and it's dry so some areas still ha el paso down to pueblo county until 7:00 tonight. let's take a look at our top 4000 hour by hour forecast. snow over the high country dies down sunny skies tomorrow morning. here comes the snow up at the high country once again, much as we showed you yesterday for today, all the traffic problems they had, then as we get to

look at how close the snow is to denver, jefferson county portions of douglas county could see so snow -- some snow. then showers and thunderstorms. friday morning 11:00 almost any across the entire state. i think that sets the stage for a pretty nice weekend. here is the final system that went through. showers and thunderstorms and you can see the snow and rain behind it, cooler air is going to move down behind this front and that's going to chill us by the time thursday gets here. there's hurricane matthew. winds at 140 miles per hour. this is where it's going to be saturday, sunday off the coast of lonla hit landfall it's going to be close enough that is lawrence at we'll have the storm surge heavy rain and storms that could produce tornadoes. here's how much cooler we were then yesterday at this time. 18 degrees cooler at akron and ray, limon at 13, 10 at dia. from avon to aspen, a couple degrees warmer than they were yesterday at this time. 65 and 63, we had 81 yesterday. 45 and 47 with the start at 70 and 41, 87 and 28 the records

weather watchers 55 in buena vista, lone tree 59, 62 westminster, highlands ranch 63. everybody on the cool side. 60 and 62 right now, 18% humidity with a rising barometer. look at this, justin shaver, snow guns on in loveland. and guest snowmaking begins in copper mountain and here is mount warner, a little natural snow up there as well. temperatures for tonight, frost advisory in place as the skies clear including the greater metro. we'll be on the chilly side, 30s even below freezing in some areas. 20s for the high country, low 40s at west. for tomorrow still on the cool side with 40s 50s 60s, to have some 70s over the southeast, 40s and 50s for the mountains. here is that denver forecast for tonight, clearing skies, that's giving us that free warning, 36 and 35 downtown, could be cooler in low-lying areas, for the next several days will start with tomorrow increasing clouds, temperatures in the mid-to-upper 60s and

thursday. 53 good chance for showers, 63 on friday and there's your when i was one year old, i was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer on my spinal chord. but i spent my whole life fighting back. so you can imagine what i thought when i saw donald trump say... "i don't know what i said, ah, i don't remember!" "that reporter he is talking about suffers from a chronic condition that impairs movement of his arms." i don't want a president who makes fun of me. i want a president who inspires me, and that's not donald trump. ? ? ? jon batiste has mastered new ways to play old classics.

easy to use chase technology

in colorado, we stand together, but congressman coffman stands with donald trump and will support trump for president. they've spread falsehoods about president obama. trump: oh, no. coffman: i don't know whether barack obama was born in the united states or not.

the atlanta falcons offense put up some ihop -- some eye- popping numbers. matt ryan through for more than 500 yards. julio jones more than 300 yards receiving. and it wasn't as if that was afflicted the falcons are averaging 38 points per game. the most in the league.

the nfl in passing offense, and they are sixth best in rushing offense. a big reason for their success offensive coordinator kyle shanahan. that name sounds familiar. gary kubiak knows kyle well. the to have their broncos ties and kyle actually worked for gary back when he was the head coach of the texans. >> kyle is as a sharp a guy as i've ever worked for. attacking defenses, knowing what he wants to being around the ball of the time. great with players, knows how to get guys the ball. you see what he did yesterday. >> certainly going to be a big test for that broncos defense. showing some love to dj lemahieu, mlb batting title so his alma mater putting up a billboard for him here in town. you might notice it at oriole park white near i-25. pretty cool gesture by the tigers. cu buffs are ranked for the first time since 2005.

entering the pac-12 they are 2- 0 in conference. response to that? who cares? the buffs know there is more the head -- more the head than behind. mainly a big road trip. 3-1 start, colorado deserves the attention it's getting. but as one player put it the top 25 is nice but they don't >> dew points just because you're ranked. >> we talked about it for maybe five seconds. may be. the right to be acknowledged for what they've done put it means nothing

colder and wetter weather arrives on thursday but gone just in time for a nice weekend. >> thursday looks a little

captioning sponsored by cbs >> pelley: matthew on the move.h >> pray for us! >> pelley: a deadly hurricane plows through the caribbean. the u.s. prepares for the worst. >> if matthew directly impacts florida, there will be massive destruction that we haven't seen in years. >> pelley: also tonight, as kaine and pence prepare for their face-off, trump and clinton trade fire. >> he actually outsourced jobs to 12 different countries.an >> hillary clinton made her money as a corrupt public official. >> pelley: prosecutors decide on charges in the case of a white north carolina police officer who got rough with an innocent black man. >> get on the ground! or i'll hit you again!