you're watching news 4 today on your side in high definition. >> good tuesday, everyone. welcome to the last half hour of "news 4 today." . 6:30 as we get you going on this 8th day of february. thanks for getting up with us. fat tuesday. >> you said 8th. >> yeah. well it's fat tuesday. >> it is. >> i got that right. >> tomorrow is ash wednesday, beginning of the lent season. hey, enjoy today. we can tell you some stuff, activities going on. >> yeah. you can get into the fat tuesday spirit with new orleans, and i'm sure the crowds are a lot calmer on bourbon street >> you know what? the weatherer is actually going to be several feet in northern nevada as it is down in new orleans. so we ear going to be checking in with alex and tim study baker talking about a nice warm stretch. first in your news this

after being struck and killed morning. highway patrol troopers say 18- year-old chille bar tells was walking in the lane south of bowers mansion around 1:00 a.m. investigators say bartels was hit by a driver also traveling northbound in the same lane. bart,ls was pronounced dead on scene. troopers say the driver pulled over, and is cooperating with the investigation. the driver was the only person in the car at the time of the crash, and was later -- on warrants not associated with the deadly crash. jury selection is underway this morning in lion county five years after a little boy was murdered in silver springs. cody wallace has spent the last five years in jail, waiting for his trial to start. after the judge decleared a mistrial in 2013 because of several errors on the part of the district attorney office. wallace is charged in the death of two-year-old thomas con nell. wallace was -- little boy's death.

the trial is expected to last three to four weeks. republican state senator growing bower is seat. bower submitted to governor sandoval yesterday, saying he was resigning effective february 20th. senate republican caucus spokeswoman jody stevens says bower is accepting a visit in the u.s. department of justice. bower served as the attorney of nevada for two years before he was appointed to the state senate back in 2011. now the race is one of the three most watched in the state senate. democrats have endorsed reno brisbase. time is 6:53 on this tuesday morning. it is fat tuesday. people in new orleans are getting ready for one of the year's big parties. don't worry.

celebrating the big festival. alex? >> reporter: good morning, sam. only 6:30 in the morning, but we are -- celebrate mardi gras. like you said it's fat tuesday. and talk about an annual event. good morning. go good morning. how are you? . >> great. thanks for joining us. let's talk local. everything here is going to be local, local, local. a lot of food, a lot of auction items. >> correct. we have many local restaurants. we have casinos, and we have all the distributors and the winery. a lot of different places >> now, you've been to the event before. tell us a little bit what years past have been like and what people can expect tonight. >> well, we have -- as i said, 20 include stations. so you can come in. there will be music. we'll have lot of people here. we expect more than 1,500 people in this room, and it will be quite a party.

you just wander around, pick up food, pick up little samples of wine, and spend your time with your friends. >> reporter: and the thing that's really unique about this fundraiser as opposed to other ones you want to see around town, is you guys help out several different organizations in our community. for that full list, visit our web site. if you want to learn more about how you can attend, make sure you just visit our web site. reporting live, i'm alex knito. back to you. >> all right, alex. thank you. a $20 million bond has been approved by sparks city council members, and the money will go to projects that -- in the sparks

we'll have more on that. the water levels in the truckie river are shockingly higher than they were in the summertime. during the drought this past summer, the level was as low as 6 cubic feet per second. compared to these past months, it has risen to a couple hundred cubic feet per sec. february and march were crucial months for the truckue river, and lake tahoe has soon significant changes. a bond approved by spark city council members to finance phase 3 are off truckie train realign. . the project is about ho '0% complete, directing the drain further downstream to sparks. align. of the brain is expected to minimize flood.

estimateed at $27 million. nineteen million of that is going to require financing. city officials say the remainder will be paid by the city of sparks sewer customers. construction cowell begin as early as this summer. all right. let's take a quick peek outside. doesn't sound like we'll be getting any moisture anytime soon around here, tim, but i guess we just have to look at the glass half full. >> yeah. good for getting outdoors. the weather hasn't been all that conducive to being outdoors over the truckie meadows last several weeks or months. >> very telling in that. >> they are for sure; that's right. we're beginning have good weather for getting -- the whole 7-day forecast is quiet and dry and very warm. but of course, as you mentioned, the moisture situation, of course, want to see some more of that. not so much. we will see some melting in the mountains that could lead to high river levels over on the truckie for a little while as well.

respected and. wanted to point out, we mentioned the warm trend over the next several days. so warm we're starting to look at the records. we're not really too close to the records. we get closer by thursday and friday. these first two days will be several degrees from the records. either way, well above. the average for this time of year is 50 degrees. we're going for 61 today, even warmer for the second quarter half of the week. by friday, that's when we're closest to the record. forecasting 66 for now. 67 was the record. that was also set 1 year ago in 2015. 61 degrees later today in reno sparks with mostly cloudy skies. of course high pressure in the win theertime. if you've been around here long enough, you know that can lead to some concerns as far as air quality is concerned. so far so good. the temperature inversion is there. the smog has not been build up all that much. that's good news. air quality. we'll let you know if any of that changes. 7-day forecast coming up. back over to you. >> thank you very much, tim. let's take a look at our roadways this morning,

getting on your morning commute. highway patrol joining us over the phone. good morning to you, trooper. >> good morning to you, guys. we're currently on the scene of a property damage accident westbound on 80 just west of roth drive. it's not blocking any lanes. other than that, all the other highways in the area are looking smooth and incident- free for you this morning. they're all traveling at speeds. somebody called in a couple days ago, per nevada law, while you're driving and approaching any intersection, crosswalks exist at any intersection, whether there are pavement markers indicating that or not. keep that in mind traveling our city street. always keep an eye out for pedestrians. join that great weather. be safe, and take care. coming up, we're going to take a look at how the market is kicking off on your tuesday morning, see if we can hopefully bounce back after yesterday's selloff.

we'll be right back. down about 43 points. nasdaq is down 11 points. here's the stories making national headlines on your tuesday. federal reserve chair janet yelen expected to address congress, out line the fed's out look. unclear how much she'll say. . sectors have clouded the out look for potential rate hikes in 2016. well, gouging by oil companies could be one

for a gallon of regular gas than elsewhere. fuel experts and consumer advocates also say that a high-stake tax and more rigorous regulations have kept prices high as oil prices have plunged in recent months. . right now under $30 for a barrel of oil. let's toss it over to meteorologist tim study baker with a bit of a hot streak. hey, tim. >> . >> very warm temperatures together with high pressure in place over the next several days. the entire forecast is dry for us, and we're looking at sun with well-above average temperatures, at least for the next several days. the inversion still persisting. the temperature inversion itself is there. the haze has not been building up very much in that inversion, so that's good news as far as the air quality is concerned, but we will still keep an eye on the air quality. right now good air quality and a green burn code. a warm trend is out there on

everyone single day in reno sparks in forecast is in the 60s. some days warmer than others, of course,. we'll show you in a moment. mostly clear to clear skies. calm winds and 82% humidity. single digits start on the eastern side of the state, 20s and 30s for the western side. as a result, eastern nevada will get into the 30s to near 40 degrees today. western nevada, the 50s to near 60 degrees today. so a warm one, well above average for this time of year. high pressure is in place, so lot of sun for the day today. perhaps a few more clouds mixing in for the end of the week and into the weekend, but still warm temperatures as well. 30s to near 40 for eastern nevada, 50s to near 60 western nevada today. these temperatures are well above average this time of year. in reno sparks, we're forecasting 61, which is 11 degrees above average this time of year. 50s in western nevada, the elevations as well. that's an inversion signature. so with the temperature inversion, we continue to watch the air quality again. not too many issues there yet,

of that visible smog in some of the more populated valleys. average this time of year is 50 degrees. so we're well above average for this time of year in reno sparks, and elsewhere around the region. upper 50s today in carson city. to the low 60s by the time you get to your wednesday, thursday, and beyond. and we're in the 60s every single day on the 7-day forecast for reno sparks. over to you. new hampshire takes its first in the nation primary status seriously, and voters in small towns take pride being the first of the first. they turned out to vote after the clock strikes 12. >> reporter: the first votes new hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary weral lid after midnight. only nine votes were cast in

john kasich won among are republicans. experts say dixville notch has a good record for predicting republican party nominees. >> since 1968 they've not necessarily predicted the republican who's going to win the republican primary in new hampshire, but has predicted who the ultimate out come is. >> case itch won with 0 votes. trump got 4, and chris christy 2. sanders won the democratic contest with 12 votes to clinton's 7. in the town of mid- sfield ted cruz won the ballot. clinton won that contest for democrats, receiving 2 votes to sanders 1. even if 100% of voters turn out, the towns can't make a difference in the overall tally. has more a symbol i can importance. >> it shows the people in new hampshire take this very seriously. >> these small-town results -- for most of the day, the only officiallial lid

>> most polling stations in new hampshire are open between 8:00 a.m. eastern and 7:00 p.m. eastern. there are about 20 communities across the state that leave the polls open until 8 p.m. . a michigan family has filed a lawsuit over the toxic levels of lead in the drinking water in flint, michigan. tap water was contaminated after the source switched from detroit to the flint river in 2014, a cost-cutting move made while the city was under state financial management. the corrosive river water was not properly treated, and caused lead from pipes to seep into the drinking water. family's lawyers are now suing the city and state in the first individual lawsuit stemming from the contamination. a new policy from the nfl will restrict those convicted of certain crimes from attending the combine. the league will ban athletes

annual scouting combine in minneapolis if they've been convicted of assault offenses or weapons offenses. ''the usa today" report said troy vincent signed the new rule in a memo sent to teens days prior to the super bowl. prospect who is refuse to submit to a background check will also be barred from participating. tens of thousands of -- have shown up at the syrian border, desperately hoping the gates will open. turkey is currently hosting more than 2.5 million syrian refugees. growing numbers are taking a toll on many of their cities. the number of refugees in some areas is almost equal to that of the local population. the town of kalise has already been affected by the conflict in syria. tim, over to you. >> all right. thank you very much. if you've been traveling today, we have heavy delays

check with the airline for what's happening in the nevada museum of arts. >> kyle roberts -- the reed raiders as well the with wanted to show you what the former bulls coach is saying about the super bowl star. that and more coming up in less . >> thank you very much for that, melissa. virgil green >> virgil just posted a photo on his fan page. pretty cool. >> very proud of you guys. let's toss it over to tim, get a look at our forecast. mans it's march. >> yeah, it is. it's feeling a lot spring-like. very warm temperatures. lot of sun for today, perhaps a stray here and there. a few more clouds wednesday through the weekend, but temperatures well into the 60s. low 60s today, mid-60s wednesday, thursday, friday in reno sparks.

we're way above average. >> way above. thank you, tim. thanks for joining us, everybody. ''today show" is next. much more on the primaries

we'll have mor how schools are overcrowded and the district underfunded in order to accommodate for the students and the growth our region is seeing. plans. we will update you on those and

talking about today.