randy: 4: 30. good morning to you. thursday, december 24. i'm randy price. antoinette: i'm antoinette antonio. emily is off this morning. stories we're following right now, deadly storms tearing through the south. the damage reports in overnight. randy: a troubled chipotle restaurant in boston set to reopen. the changes for the location at the center of a norovirus outbreak. antoinette: new revelations at the mbta after one operator is fired. the history of tampering with trains. randy: all those stories ahead, but first with it still raining in spots, this has been the scene in some areas and flooding

antoinette: heavy rains move through the region, danielle, this is not going to be the case as the day continues. danielle: you can see the heavy downpours we saw early this morning pushing offshore. scattered showers south of boston to plymouth to the cape area and provincetown. we have a couple more showers here near southern new hampshire and nashua and worcester county. is slowly working its way through our area this morning. that is also going to bring in warmer air and the other thing morning is some fog. we have had some locally dense fog, especially on than nantucket, the cape. fog will be dropping off as we head towards lunchtime and then it is all about the warmth. 51 in boston. 47 in worcester.

that is warmer air that is headed in our direction. as we go through, the next 12 hours in boston, take a look at what's going to happen. by about lunchtime, we're in the upper 60's. the record for today is 61 degrees. we may touch near 70. now a look at the roads. jeff? jeff: it is going to be a nice ride this morning. most people have the day off the wed roads will make it a little bit slippery. it is a good ride. the zakim and bunker hill bridge in good shape. the ride from the south, six minutes from derby street. the turnpike is in very good shape.

randy: good morning. assessing the damage. antoinette: we're tracking the new information as it comes in. doug? >> at least eight people are dead after the storms. three people were killed in mississippi, including a 7-year-old boy. tearing through homes and claiming some lives. in arkansas, torrential rain and 60-mile and hour winds brought down this tree, killing an 18-year-old, and trapping a baby, who was later pulled to safety. streets flooded in alabama and southern indiana, as storms moved through, just two days before christmas. crews are now searching for survivors in the hardest hit areas. rescuers say there are several people still unaccounted for. we'll bring you new information as we get it. antoinette? antoinette: thank you. other stories we're following right now, a woman is suffering serious injuries after she was struck by a car in holliston.

around 5:00 last night along washington street. the driver, a 53-year-old man from florida, did stay at the randy: more trouble for rival fanduel. state to ban daily fantasy sports gambling. the state's attorney general says the sites are clearly games of chance or skill, both of which are banned under state law. last month, new york and nevada used similar reasoning to ban the online sites. antoinette: a chipotle flaunt boston will be reopening today shut down. nearly 150 people sickened in a norovirus outbreak. is live with the clean bill of health. here are ready to get the restaurant expected to open its doors this morning. that's more than two weeks after the cleveland circle location was closed. boston college students, became sick after eating here.

but loyal customers aren't running back too soon. >> i love chipotle. i'm not sure if i'm going to go back. >> corners were cut somewhere. have i a feeling this is going to be it for that. reporter: the employee who came to work who was sick has been fired, as was the manager who asked the worker to finish his shift. it's been a tough year for the company over 50 customers getting sick with e-coli at the country. chipotle is now making changes to the way it prepares food. randy: new this morning, a new report, raising questions. over the last 16 years, two other mbta employees were accused of tampering with the train's control equipment. the

driver. both were disciplined. the latest revelations come amid the firing of this man david vazquez who t officials say tied a cord around a throttle on a red line train. that train then took off without vasquez. he denies tying the throttle and is appealing his termination. antoinette: u.s. marshals are tying a stash of money, found in safe deposit boxes in massachusetts, to a former state representative from dartmouth. that state rep. is doing time for embezzlement. investigators say john george attempted to hide 1 million dollars in cash. the bills were found tuesday, stuffed into safe deposit boxes. george is currently serving a six-year prison sentence. he was ordered to pay nearly $700,000 in restitution, but claimed he had less than 190,000 in assets. antoinette: right now, police in salem are trying to track down two christmas thieves. they say a man and woman stole presents, intended for toys for tots.

offender registry board last week, without identification, and made off with $1,000 worth of presents. police are asking anyone with information to come forward. randy: right now, a man police call armed and dangerous is on the loose charged in bank robberies across state lines. matthew martin was supposed to be sentenced for 3 robberies in vermont, but never shows up in court. in the past few weeks, police believe he carried out more crimes in new hampshire. police are offering a 5,000 dollar reward for information leading to martin's arrest. cards from a little boy are banned from the prison where his father is held. antoinette: the safety concerns over the gift. plus -- >> it is absolutely the best time, christmas. antoinette: dedicated volunteers spreading christmas cheer in wakefield. their concern for the future of this tradition. danielle: showers in parts of the state this morning but that

randy: 20 before 5:00 on this christmas eve. the spirit of christmas was celebrating in wakefield.

town by sled. this is a holiday tradition there. antoinette: now it is facing an uncertain future. kids. each child is shopped for specifically getting five to seven wrapped gifts apiece. >> it is absolutely the best time is christmas. there is just nothing like it. these kids, you see the looks on their faces. >> we'll go down like a street where it is quiet. the music is playing. you'll see a little kid in a window who looks out and it just makes the night. reporter: but after 25 years, many members of the team feel like it is time to retire. they are hoping some younger neighbors will pick a up the reigns and keep that tradition going. oh, those faces. you just don't want to let them down. randy: a middle school cafeteria

randy: what the school says she stole. and why she said she would do it again.

antoinette: still range out there. i can't believe it is not snowing. it is christmas eve. danielle: we had some thunderstorms last night, if you can believe that. temperatures starting to warm up. 60's in spots already. i want to talk about how much rain we picked up. impressive totals, especially in marion where you picked up over 2 1/2 inches of rain. brockton, over an inch and a half of rain and auburn, mass, an inch of rain. you can see the heavy downpours working their way through and now we just have a couple of spot showers out there on local live radar. you can see south in boston, plymouth, down around the cape, a couple of light showers ongoing and then a couple more in worcester county and then up too. i expect a couple more showers

once again in the afternoon. best chances in the afternoon. the south coast cape and islands as a cold front pushes on through. first we have to talk about that warm front because it is slowly chugging along and getting closer to boston, which is going to mean we're going to warm up and potentially go past records today. we'll go past records in worcester and boston. going for 68 degrees in worcester and 70 in boston, you can see why. look at this. we're already at 65 in plymouth. it is 51 boston, 47 in worcester. warmer air is pushing in slowly. it is going to take its time but by lunchtime i expect most of us to be back in the 60's. the reason, we have pretty strong winds in the south and west now although northern areas under a northern wind. that's why we're cooler. you're eventually going to get the southwest wind.

warm up nicely. i think in order to get to the 70's today we're going to have to see a couple of breabs of sun. if we see them, we'll hit 70. if not, we may stay in the upper 60's. notice it is indicating some breaks in the clouds. it is a mostly cloudy day for the most part. a couple of showers maybe in the afternoon near the cape and islands. otherwise we start to clear out by tonight. we're still going to have to introduce fog once again in the forecast. overnight tonight dropping into the 40's and 50's in most locations. tomorrow, we're still pretty mild for your christmas day. it looks like most of us will stay dry for christmas day. another warm front bringing in warmer air even though we're in the 40's on saturday. we're in the 50's on sunday. now let's turn our attention to the roads.

ride. the traffic volume throughout the morning will be light. here is the southeast expressway coming in past colombia road. no problem there. a 10-minute ride between braintree in boston. 10 minutes from 128 automatic way in through to the o'neill tunnel. route 3 itself is also in fine shape. antoinette: new hampshire's state prison system is facing a lawsuit over holiday cards. prison officials banned cards and drawings after finding prescription drugs smuggled underneath stamps or stickers and even smeared between layers of crayon drawings. now the aclu is suing on behalf of an inmate who's 3-year-old son sent him a thanksgiving card.

us. it is a major priority for us on a daily basis. antoinette: the aclu says the state went too far and claims there are no documented cases of drugs being smuggled in that way. randy: right now, the death of a teenage prisoner is under investigation. the 18-year-old was found hanging in his cell at the essex county correctional facility last night. anfelnin feliz, of lawrence, was awaiting trial on armed robbery and other charges. antoinette: police confiscate more than 100 firearms in a raid in warren. 45-year-old daniel peristere was arrested at his reed street home. police say he made a concerning threat. officers seized these firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. peristere faces several charges for possessing firearms without a license. randy: another death is linked to a takata airbag explosion. this is the eighth death attributed to the issue. federal investigators say the

5 months ago was caused by an airbag explosion during a minor accident. the feds say they're expanding their recall of takata airbags to include hundreds of thousands of honda, mazda, and subaru vehicles. so far, 19 million american cars containing the faulty airbags have been recalled. antoinette: economic headlines this thursday morning. staples is fighting back, as the federal trade commission tries to block its merger with rival office depot. the framingham-based chain says the ftc is overstating how fiercely the two companies compete saying there is plenty of other competition in the market. injunction to block the merger earlier this month. antoinette: asian stocks mostly higher today, taking cues from overnight gains. right now, stock futures are down on wall street, after a light day of trading ahead of christmas. the dow gained 185 points yesterday to close at 17,602. u.s. markets will only be open

randy: a look at your trending stories this morning. a cafeteria employee in idaho is out of a job for giving away a meal. the school let go of dalene bowden, saying she stole from the cafeteria. bowden says she served lunch to a child, who didn't have any money. so far, the school has not commented on the allegations. bowden says she loved her job, but she would do it again for the child. antoinette: a muslim family from london is turned away from their dream vacation to disney. 11 members of the mahmood family, including 9 young and teenage children, were turned away at the gate as they were about to board for los angeles. they say they were not given any reason why they couldn't fly, and believe their religion and appearance had something to do with it. travel regulators say they cannot comment on the case for privacy reasons, but that religion plays no role in matters of immigration. randy: an illinois woman is reunited with her wedding dress

tornado. a farmer found the dress while hauling debris from the april tornado off his land. through a post on facebook, the farmer was able to track down the owner, who had lost her house in the twister. and get this before he gave it back to her, he had the dress cleaned. antoinette: that was very nice. randy: the force awakens at a home in california. antoinette: the impressive light show on display set to a very famous theme song. then new on the eyeopener at 5:00: protecting your heart from holiday stress. easy ways to ease the tension,

mornings. they' re bad breath, bad hair and a bad case of the mondays. p and organized wardrobes that help you pull it together. p they' re showering, shaving, and shuffling. p and bathrooms that get big families out the door. they' re number ones, number twos, and a number of ideas for three. life' s morning madness. and comfortable, organized r bed and bathrooms r

4: 54 this christmas eve morning. time for your early news to go. antoinette: a chipotle restaurant in boston at the center of a norovirus outbreak is expected to reopen today. that's more than two weeks after the cleveland circle location was closed. about 140 people, most of them boston college students, became sick after eating there. city inspectors say the entire restaurant has been disinfected. the employee who sparked the sickness was fired, along with the manager who told the worker to finish his shift. randy: a jogger is hurt after being hit by a car in hanson. this happened on winter street yesterday. a hanover woman was taken to the hospital, but her condition has not been released. the driver of the car who also struck a utility pole has not been charged at this point. antoinette: police are investigating a double shooting in boston's jamaica plain. two men were shot at a complex on centre street. one was shot in the shoulder, the other in the thigh. they were found in the hallway, on two different stair landings. both are expected to be ok. the commissioner says it does not look like the shooting is gang-related.

hospitalized after they were shot during a nine hour standoff in texas. police arrested the suspect in odessa, after the man barricaded himself in an apartment. they say he had shot two officers, who were trying to serve him a warrant. the officers are listed in fair condition. antoinette: black lives matter protesters shut down a busy mall and try to close an airport in minnesota. the protesters briefly shut down the mall of america in minneapolis, to protest last month's fatal shooting of a black suspect by a white police officer. they also blocked roads and shut down security lines for nearly an hour at the airport. police say 15 protesters were arrested. antoinette: dramatic video out of china as a firefighter is forced to jump out the window of a burning building. the firefighter was responding

apartment. he was lowering a hose when his suit caught fire. he attempted to slide down a pipe, but it broke sending him crashing to the ground. he was not seriously hurt. randy: the hyatt hotel schain claiming it recently found malicious software and hackers may have obtained credit card numbers and other information. antoinette: the celtics head home for christmas with a win in their stocking. they took on the hornets down in charlotte last night. kelly olynyk led the way with 20 points. and as a team, the c's pulled out 25 assists. 102:89 the final. the next stop for the celtics detroit, to take on the pistons

randy: quite the impressive holiday display in california. as you can tell, the homeowner is a big star wars fan. he used 200,000 lights to put on this themed show. and he's done it before. he says people come from all over during christmas time to watch. antoinette: you couldn't see my reaction under that. now we're awake. good morning, danielle. danielle: i don't remember. that is an impressive light show. want to talk about something else that was impressive. last night we had a couple of thunderstorms roll through parts of the area. since then, the heaviest rain pushing on out of here. we had a couple of showers working across parts of the south shore. down at the cape, very hit or miss light stuff out there this morning. begun, this is all associated

its way across and then we'll watch this cold front come through later on today. that warm front already bringing in record warmth to providence. providence at 65. boston, worcester, you're up next for this warm air. in fact, we could be surpassing that by lunchtime or so. 68 in wus. it is not just that record we're trying to break. we're also going to break the latest first snowfall on record, especially in worcester. that was christmas eve. that is christmas eve today. we don't have any snow in the foreseeable future. in fact, to date, we should have 6 phony 9 inches of snow. what we are going to see is chances for rain, especially saturday and even in to sunday. the next seven days will look like this. temperatures are very mild for christmas day. 61 degrees.

cloudy type of day.