newscenter five at noon. >> thank you for joining us. the stories happening now. a disturbing report sets off a massive search, but it is a false alarm. hundreds without power in boston down.

it will be a christmas to remember for many across the conditions they had never seen this time of year. of boston. it is warm. parts of the state breaking records. danielle: we tied the degrees. we are going to watch carefully. if a goes up the degree, we will break a record. necessarily shatter the record in boston, but we will get close. 61, finch bird. 65 degree, taunton. south coast in the cape, you are very warm. through the temperatures will drop off later this evening. we are looking for a mild night

right now, a dry forecast in store. we are watching this system. we will talk about when it gets here ahead. antoinette: a mother and daughter in haverhill facing charges after a report of a baby tossed in a river. hoax. todd: it is not clear what the motive was for what we know is a hoax. a false report of a baby thrown into the merrimack river on christmas eve. a woman and her daughter are charged with making up the story. it was a massive response by police. a helicopter hovered above. rescuers searched on the ground, looking for a baby that did not exist.

two claimed they saw a man throw a baby off the bridge. by 10:00 p.m., the search was called off. detectives reviewed surveillance video and determine the call was a hoax. $10,000 bail. her daughter has been released. both will be in court on monday, charged with filing a false repeat -- false police report. boston now. the driver fled the scene. road. police are searching for the driver now. national grid reports more than 300 homes lost power. police investigating an incident prison on lockdown. officers scoured the area around

in the air last night. it all started when a corrections officer reported hearing a single gunshot in the area of harvard avenue around 3:30 p.m. state police say a man was seen running from the area. nothing was found. even family members trying to visit relatives at the prison were turned away. police say it could have been a hunter who fired that gunshot. right now bolton police are searching for this suspect after a home invasion and armed robbery. police say two men broke into a camper on century mill road on wednesday and robbed the victim at gunpoint. this is a sketch based on a the victim wasn' t seriously hurt. police believe this is an isolated crime and say the public is not at risk. new rules will take effect on

-- on jamie first -- on january 1 to limit how children are restrained in massachusetts schools. they also ban the use of devices or medication to subdue children which had previously been allowed with parental consent. the change comes amid an investigation at a holyoke school where students were reportedly tackled and staff slapped unruly students. right now searchers are still looking for survivors after deadly tornadoes sweep parts of the south. those severe storms hitting just before the christmas holiday. and that' s not the only wild weather people are dealing with this morning. abc' s bazi kanani has the latest. bazi: the christmas day cleanup after rare december tornadoes. gwendolyn jones and her granddaughter lost their home in holly springs, mississippi. at least 11 others lost their lives as tornadoes barreled through. the communities coming together

donations pouring into the warehouse. >> christmas, whether i have presence or not, that will not change christmas for me. bazi: forced evacuations. >> we woke up to the civil defense telling us we had 20 minutes to leave our home. bazi: mudslides stalled traffic. >> it is dangerous. people get crazy when you get to an exit. snow snarls the commute in other places. >> it is like we will never get back. bazi: no white christmas along the east coast. >> loving it. everyone should have a hot holiday. i am fine here. bazi: on christmas morning here, the monument snuggled in a

antoinette: boston police detectives will get significant raises. an arbitrator has ordered the city to boost their pay by more than 28% over six years. million. union leaders called it a fair deal. mayor marty walsh says he is disappointed in the decision. police in north reading are numerous car break ins. they happened near the town center between tuesday night and wednesday morning. police are asking anyone who lives in the area and has surveillance cameras in the area to contact them. right now more than 100 people are dead after a gas tanker ignited an inferno in nigeria. the explosion happened as people lined up to refill the gas canisters they use for cooking. many of them, rushing to get the fuel to prepare for christmas celebrations. it' s unclear what caused the explosion. pope francis praying for world

message from the vatican. he asked that the united nations agreement would succeed in stopping military clashes in syria and prayed for a solution to the grave humanitarian crisis there. he also mentioned iraq, libya, yemen and the israeli-palestinian conflict. the pope calling on thousands of extravagance and wealth, encouraging people to live simply with compassion. american soldiers in afghanistan celebrating christmas day at bagram airbase. troops enjoyed a special christmas meal, away from their families and loved ones. bagram airbase is one of the main us military bases in serving with nato forces are based. new at noon. an anonymous santa helping to make this christmas extra newscenter 5' s doug meehan tells s using that

>> they celebrated christmas morning like no other. under the tree, but the gift without ribbons or bows shines brightest of all. an anonymous letter. inside, a note and $200 in cash. >> god has blessed me behind -- beyond my wildest dreams. i hope this helps you and your christmas. >> she keeps asking herself the >> why me? >> of was someone else. she knew she had to pay a forward, literally.

her two grown children, she used the remaining money to buy 80 jars of baby food for a fallen on hard times. >> they were so happy. >> she may never know who granted the christmas miracle, but she has a message. >> thank you. else. antoinette: changes with airport security. away from passengers amid growing terror concerns. janet jackson will not be performing at the garden in february as planned. the medical emergency that' s got her putting the breaks on her unbreakable tour. danielle: another day where we big changes coming. shot of snow.

tradition. we' re taking you inside the white house for a look at this

praised as one of america's best mayors who governed as a pragmatist. bernie sanders passed more amendments in a republican congress than any other member. cracked the gridlock with john mccain to strengthen veterans' healthcare. bernie sanders. a consistent, principled, and effective leader. building a future to believe in. sanders: i'm bernie sanders

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antoinette: right now new rules are in place for everyone who will be flying after the holidays. scanners have been used at airports for years to help detect metallic and non-metallic objects that other forms of screening can miss. passengers have been able to ask for a pat down instead. amid growing terror concerns, the tsa is changing protocol , mandating that some passengers go through those scanners regardless. at logan, we found mixed reviews on the change. >> it does not bother me. whatever it takes to make everybody safer. >> there is enough evidence supporting the fact it might not be the most healthy option that you should be able to request a full body patdown. antoinette: you can still request a pat down, but now the tsa can deny that request. sutton' s police chief is facing a lawsuit. a veteran officer claims the chief imposed a ticket quota on patrolmen ordering them to write 20 tickets every month. that'

the allegations are part of a suit filed by officer christopher green who claims he was unfairly denied the job of police chief in 2006. a lawyer for the town says the lawsuit is just the result of a disgruntled employee. s is dipping into it' s test kitchen experimenting with , a family classic on its menu. the restaurant offering a limited roll-out of mac and cheese. the item popped up quietly this summer at 18 locations in cleveland, ohio. mcdonald' s says it will evaluate customer feedback after february. the push for a $15 an hour minimum wage is gaining momentum around the country. 13 states are scheduled to raise the minimum pay for hourly workers on january 1, including massachusetts. at least five states and 9 cities are set to consider going to $15 an hour as early as next year. in many cases, the increase will

time to adjust. boston-based draftkings has filed a lawsuit against the illinois attorney general. attorney general lisa madigan ruled that daily fantasy sports betting is illegal gambling. fanduel says it will also pursue legal action. both draftkings and fan duel are already at odds with the new york attorney general. continue operating in new york while that case plays out. the patriots have the day off after hitting the practice field thursday to gear up for their afc east showdown sunday against they' ll travel to new jersey on saturday for the game. the patriots beat the jets by a touchdown earlier this year in foxboro and have beaten their afc east rivals 8 of the last 9 times. a lot of new players will get their shot on sunday, including running back steven jackson. jackson signed with the pats this week as a power back hoping to help out a position plagued by injuries. if you'

christmas, you may want to head out and buy a powerball ticket. the estimated jackpot for tomorrow' s drawing is now up to a whopping $255 million. no one has hit the jackpot for the powerball game since t been a jackpot this high since september. 11:00. i would say merry christmas to me, winning that jackpot. danielle: we have been having nice weather. we should be thankful. we tied the record in worcester . there is some cold air out there. big changes are coming as we look towards the weekend and next week. wintry weather could be on our doorstep. we talk about that in a second. we

a mild christmas day on tap for today. cooler temperatures over the weekend with some rain coming in. saturday night into sunday. through. our first shot of winter weather is coming on monday night into tuesday. some of us will see snow from this one. it continues to trend on the colder side. we have not seen snow anywhere. average today is 6.9 inches of snow. boston. of you have been tweeting and saying it, but we are going to get it come tuesday. weekend. it looks like the rain chances are on the way up. -- with this area of low pressure. severe weather has been breaking out. all of this is heading in our

high pressure is dominating. a mix of sun and clouds out there. we are warm. take a look at these temperatures. 59, boston. low 60' s, plymouth. low 60' s on the cape. 40' s, keen. the rest of us. 59, boston. we will get close to the record in boston. . upper 40' s. rain chances enter for the evening and overnight.

as we go through the overnight hours into sunday morning, there are more showers on the doorstep. we start to warm up on sunday. on again off again showers. in the morning, there are showers around. they continue. we may get a break in the afternoon. in the evening. front. cold air works its way and. we are much colder. let me show you the timing. we have a high pressure system from the north bringing down cold air. we are watching the system with a lot of moisture. by tuesday morning.

start. it is going to redevelop. the energy will shift offshore. it looks like a snow-winter mix. the big story will be how long that will stay in place. we' re going to have to time this out for you. it is several days out. a big shift in the weather pattern. christmas day, 62 degrees. antoinette: it looks like janet jackson isn' all. the singer broke the news on twitter that she has postponed her unbreakable tour because she needs surgery. she did not mention what kind of surgery. the tour had started in august, month. jackson said every date would be rescheduled and told fans to

s a timeless tradition. all season long, thousands have been visiting the white house for tours of the first lady' s christmas decorations. our nikole killion takes us along and introduces us to some of the volunteers who decked the halls. nikole: at the white house, a timeless tradition. >> i want to thank the volunteers for creating this winter wonderland of american tradition. nikole: it is no easy feat. these photos capture the before and after as nearly 100 volunteers trim every tree and deck every hall. >> we are tired at the end of the day. it has been great. nikole: decorations were designed by caroline a herrera.

nikole: there 70,000 ornaments. >> they are handcrafted. they feature marbleized paper. of snowmen. a replication of the white house in dark chocolate. >> this is a military family, if have the paper and the stationary to do it. nikole: s dream come true. thanks to helping hands that make the house marry and bright. -- merry and bright. antoinette: volunteers were selected after filling out an application. they were invited to decorate the week after thanksgiving. still ahead meet the character , running the pumps at this gas station in new york.

antoinette: this will put a smile on your face. a new york gas station attendant dressed as olaf from frozen. daniel kendrick says he' s been picking out a costume every year to cheer up customers.

course. thousands in florida turned out to celebrate christmas eve surf-style. a perfect beach day with s in . 37 santas jumping from the sky to the sandy beaches at cocoa beach. this annual event raises