randy: good morning, it's wednesday, august 3. i'm randy price. emily: i'm emily riemer. stories we're following on the eyeopener right now, police are on alert in billerica after two armed robberies. the evidence they're using to track down the suspect. randy: donald trump taking a hit from his own party. how he's fighting back. and the surprising support for his rival this morning. emily: a first for boston. the marijuana facility opening today and the concern coming with it. randy: good morning, cindy. a little cool out there this morning. cindy: you got it. quite a difference from the past few mornings. 64 degrees in town, the wind is light and we have some fog we are watching. reduced visibility on the north shore, beverly at a quarter mile, the same out toward orange.

temperatures moving down to the 50's. in lawrence, it's 59, 52 in jeffrey, even worcester in the upper 50's and some pockets of lower 50's. it's a cool start, skies clearing and high pressure will dominate today. we will see sunshine all day long. light wind turning on sure, so the sun is up at 5:39, temperatures jumping into the lower 70 along the coast, lower 80's over the interior, 82 i worcestern. let's get you elected the roads. olessa: good morning. so far, it's a quiet start. we are what's left of the overnight construction, not a lot on 93 south. we're picking up shortly by the leverett connector and on the expressway. south of town, problem free, 395

some construction on 128 south by route 3. trains and buses starting on schedule. randy: right now, an armed robber is on the run accused of targeting two stores in billerica. emily: the crimes were committed within a half hour of each other. the eyeopener's sera congi is live outside the store that was first on his list. sera? sera: police are reviewing surveillance video here at 129 liquors and a second store down the street to try and identify the suspect. the first call came in just before 9:00 p.m. for 129 liquors on salem road. police say a man with a knife was trying to rob the store. it's unclear if he got away with any cash. as officers were investigating that crime they got another call about a similar robbery two miles away at jim's quick stop. a clerk there was so upset she

nobody is believed to have been hurt. police not releasing much information. we're expected to learn more about the crimes later today. live in billerica, sera congi, wcvb newscenter 5. emily: other stories we're following right now, a salem, massachusetts man is held without bail accused of strangling his wife of 27 years. prosecutors say the victim, carmela saunders, had two restraining orders against douglas steeves, jr. steeves turned himself into police yesterday. he alleged killed his wife inside her salem apartment after he got a phone call from her new boyfriend. randy: two men are behind bars this morning accused of threatening police in salem. police pulled kelvin mendoza and emanuel rodriguez shonyo over yesterday, after they allegedly drove the wrong way down a one-way street. officers say one of the men referenced recent police shootings across the country and the officers took that as a threat. they found a handgun, rifle, and ammunition in the vehicle which

prosecutors say the men were using a phone app to monitor police scanners. emily: balloons were released into the sky in boston, to honor the life of a little boy who drowned last week at carson beach. a wake will be held today for kyzr willis after dozens attended a vigil for the boy last night. willis drowned after he wandered from his summer camp at the curley community center. the vigil a chance to thank those who helped look for the 7-year-old. the boy's death sparked changes camps. but willis' family says those came too late. >> it shouldn't take -- it just shouldn't. >> he is never coming back to us. we just want to know what happened. emily: the family has said they want to see consequences for willis' death. randy: boston's first medical marijuana dispensary will be opening today. the eye's juli mcdonald is

ahead of today's grand opening. julie co certainly a milestone for the city. the dispensary opening up here today in downtown crossing. it's run by patriot care corporation, using marijuana grown at a facility in lowell. and though it's boston's first dispensary it's far from the state's first. there are six other medical marijuana dispensaries in massachusetts. the first opened in salem last june, after voters approved the law in 2012. that was followed by facilities in ayer, brockton, brookline, northampton, and lowell. and since that first opening, more than 21,000 patients have purchased more than 4,000 pounds of medical marijuana. boston police have worked closely with patriot care for this dispensary to ease concerns about drug-related crime that could be spurred by the opening. today's ceremony starts at 10:00 a.m.

emily: new this morning, massachusetts state senate leader ken donnelly is recovering from brain surgery. donnelly had a tumor removed yesterday according to a post on his facebook page. doctors for the arlington democrat say they're pleased with how the surgery went. he was admitted to the hospital over the weekend after experiencing medical difficulties as the legislation session ended. randy: commitment 2016, new twists on the presidential campaign trail this morning as unrest in the republican party appears to grow. the eyeopener's antoinette antonio is here with the antoinette: this morning a top republican donor and fundraiser is jumping ship endorsing hillary clinton. hewlett-packard chief meg whitman says she can't support a candidate who, in her words, has exploited anger, grievance, xenophobia and racial division. this comes hours after donald trump went after members of his own party. refusing to endorse house speaker paul ryan in his re-election primary next week. and calling new hampshire kelly ayotte who's been critical of

last night in somerville, democrat elizabeth warren went after trump again after he accepted a retired veteran's purple heart saying he always wanted one and this was much easier. >> just when you think that donald trump can't pull another one, can't demonstrate more clearly how disqualified he is to be president of thete to top even himself. antoinette: last night, trump's running mate mike pence fired back at president obama's assertion that the gop nominee isn't qualified to be president insisting it's the current president who's unprepared to serve. all of the candidates will be back on the campaign trail today. emily: a warning to commuter rail riders. expect weekend service disruptions next spring. that's when the state will

bring all rail lines into compliance with federal safety standards. right now the providence-stoughton line is the only one with positive train control a mechanism that helps trains avoid collisions. a night out in boston and around the country. randy: the efforts to bring police closer to their communities. a new push to get funding for a zika virus vaccine. the demand from local politicians to help stop the spread. emily: a possible brea alzheimer's. the hope it's giving for the first time in an exclusive report. cindy: nice and clear out there other than some patchy fog -- a

randy: a national night out in boston for police and the community. emily: and recent violence brings a new significance to this summer's gathering. last night, some 200 boston residents gathered in dorchester for music, games and food and a meeting with officers. many in the community tell us it helps shape a positive view of police for them, and their children. especially after recent controversial killings of suspects by police in louisiana of officers in dallas and baton rouge. city leaders say the night out makes a difference. >> your first interaction with the police officer, particularly today, makes a big difference. we have to continue to do that every single day. emily: more than 16,000 communities across the country celebrated national night out. giving some college applicants a second chance. randy: the university taking a

los angeles. we'll tell you the unique material used to make it.

randy: nice out there this morning. emily: it feels much better. cindy: i had the window open last night, the fan on. i know, what a change. things are quiet around here and it will be really nice. i want to show you what's

tropical storm develop. this is strengthening and could become a hurricane before it makes landfall. there are tropical storm warnings through central america and mexico so this is a store we will be watching pretty closely and it may continue to strengthen as it moves westward. landfall is expected a little later on this evening, we expect the forecast to become a category one and then it will continue to drift westward. this will have quite an impact on us and that is something we are watching. a quiet day weather-wise and noticed that the dew point is a little over 60.

where we have some fog in the visibility is down, about a quarter-mile in beverly. there are patchy areas where there are some dense spots so keep that in mind as you head out this morning. even though we are in the 60's, notice the 50's showing up down to the cape and north and west of town even into worcester. a lot of sunshine through the day over 60's. lower 80's today away from the coast line stop around this high we have low humidity with dew point temperatures running in the 50's the next couple days, but there is sticky air to the south and west and that is what we will focus on by thursday when you will feel the humidity jump up saturday into sunday. enjoy the comfortable air while it is here.

around 60; leave the windows open tonight again. a cool start tomorrow morning. later thursday into friday, the humidity returns, and you will feel that as well. the temperatures heading up toward thursday and friday. mid-80's tomorrow, friday around 90. showers and thunderstorms coming friday night, but by 11:00 p.m., all the activity is off to the west. it will really be during best opportunity of getting showers and thunderstorms. behind that we will see the sunshine, lower humidity. a pretty nice stretch over the next few days. olessa: thank you. a quiet start on the roads; here's a check outside. hard to see on this camera, but just an occasional set of headlights. let's check out the rest of your right. that overnight construction is mostly clear the way, just a few

mass avenue. south of town, no problems. route 3 looks nice and light, the pike is 15 minutes eastbound 495 to 128, and construction by route 3 is gone. trains and buses on th schedule. emily: right now there are growing calls for help to fight the zika virus as the state of florida launches a new assault on potentially dangerous mosquitoes. aerial spraying starts today in greater miami. ground spraying, fighting standing water and handing out bug spray are apre the cdc says mosquito populations are not coming down. 15 people have now contracted the virus in miami's winwood neighborhood. >> this is sometimes referred to as the cockroach of mosquitoes. it can survive about anywhere it can breed -- it is an indoor mosquito. emily: massachusetts congressmen stephen lynch and mike capuano both tell newscenter 5 congress must go back into session to come up with at least a billion

president obama had asked for the emergency funding before the recess. randy: your health now, only on 5 -- a major breakthrough in the fight against alzheimer's disease. a new treatment that appears to reverse some effects of the disease. a drug known as t3d-959 is in the early stages of testing. it works on the theory that alzheimer's is a type of diabetes on the brain. the drug treats the earliest stages before memory problems develop. >> the cells in the brain likely see cells in the body are not able to use glucose as much stuf. the goal of the medication would be to enhance their metabolism. randy: the phase two study involved just 36 patients. significant memory improvement was seen in 53% of the patients. a much larger study is expected

emily: americans aren't getting taller. but a new study claims we're getting wider. the new cdc report finds the average american weighs 15 pounds more than they did 20 years ago. that's for both men and women. but researchers claim heights stayed the same from 1988 to 2014. randy: your economy this wednesday, construction is finally expected to begin on that multi billion dollar casino in everett. wynn tells the herald they will have the final license needed to start the project after months somerville city leaders recently asked the state department of environmental protection to stop the project but lost. google is getting into the drone delivery business. the tech giant will start testing a program called project wing in the united states. the announcement was part of a larger drone initiative announced yesterday at the white house. that plan also includes $35 million in funding to research

checking the markets, asian stocks slipped overnight following wall street down. right now u.s. stock futures are lower. today, investors will be watching for a new report on oil and gas inventories. emily: trending stories, new york university says it will no longer take into account the common application's checkbox on criminal history. nyu says it's an attempt to reduce barriers, by giving a second chance through higher education. the school plans to focus on more specific questions about crimes such as violent incidents. 600 colleges. randy: pope francis wants the catholic church to consider allowing women to become deacons. the pontiff set up a vatican panel, six men, six women to , study the issue. currently the role of deacon is restricted to men. they can preach and preside at weddings but cannot celebrate mass, as priests do. there is no sign the vatican will discuss allowing women to serve as priests. emily: a fashion designer in los

you might not be able to tell, but it's made out of more than 500 white k-cups. erin shannon cleaned and cut all of them, and even used the filters in some cups. she's calling it her k-cup couture line. randy: i actually like it. probably makes some noise. you will hear her coming down the aisle. [laughter] emily: a foul ball mishap in the stands. fan. then new on the eyeopener at 5:00, mosquito fears are growing. so we put bug sprays to the test. which ones keep your family

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emily: time for your early news 4:55, to go. randy: police are looking through surveillance in billerica after an armed robber targeted two stores. the first call came in just before 9:00 last night. police say a man with a knife was trying to rob 129 liquors on salem road. as officers were investigating they got another call about a knife-wielding robber two miles away at jim's quick stop. nobody was hurt. out on bail after pleading not guilty to charges he inappropriately touched a patient during an exam. in court yesterday, dr. nikhil patel's attorney said his client denies the charges. a longtime patient accused patel of fondling her monday morning, while she was in his dentist chair. randy: a former whitman police officer is facing charges. accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from veterans. prosecutors say glenn pearson managed federal military benefits for 8 vets.

and diverted nearly $86,000 to himself in the form of cash withdrawals. the herald reports pearson was fired from the police force after allegations of sexual harassment and making false reports. emily: new york city police commissioner bill bratton is retiring from his post. he announced his retirement yesterday after serving as the city's police commissioner for two years. that follows an earlier career in boston in the 1990's. he also served as commissioner in los angeles. will leave next month and take a consulting position. randy: an illegal campfire is blamed for sparking this massive wildfire in california. the soberanes fire destroyed at least 57 homes, and killed one person, as it scorched more than 43,000 acres. police are now looking for whoever lit that campfire back on july 22.

new hampshire is reducing the number of moose hunting permits this season, as the state tries to stabilize a declining moose population. this year's lottery is down to 71 permits, from last year's 105. there are estimated to be only 3800 to 4,000 moose in new hampshire. emily: the red sox come out on fire against the mariners in seattle. david ortiz gets them on the board in the first with an rbi single. in the fourth hanley ramirez sox up 2-0. it's four-nothing sox when seattle gets on the board in the 8th. but they never stopped. a solo homerun an rbi single and this three-run homer puts the mariners up 5-4. that would be the final. game three is tonight at 10:10. tense moments between a reds infielder joey votto and a fan. votto chases after a foul ball near the stands while the fan

the fan's shirt in disgust. but watch closer. the fan never touches the ball. votto realizes his mistake later, and returns to apologize to the fan, even giving him a signed baseball. you know, the heat of the moment. maybe just sit down, sir. [laughter] cindy: he got a there you go. a couple things -- it is still kind of dark out there, and the sunrise will be getting later in later. the sun isn't coming up officially today until 5:39, and look what happens -- august 23, that 6:00 a.m. mark, we are losing the time. these are getting shorter but

high pressure in control and wall-to-wall sunshine. a great day to sneak away to the beaches -- water temperatures are holding close to 70 with lots of sunshine with an east-southeasterly wind keeping things cool. we are going to see the temperatures come up more, low 80's inland, but look at the temperature trend. by friday we are back around 90 head toward the weekend with increasing humidity. it is warm with sea breeze is at the coast line but still not very humid. it will eventually lead to showers and thunderstorms and friday night there's a frontal boundary that gives us the best chance of showers and storms -- not a washout, but the next chance of needed rainfall. once that front goes by, temperatures trend down.

as the eye-opener continues. >> now, on newscenter 5's eyeopener -- emily: two robberies, one manhunt, the pattern suggesting a repeat the is at work in billerica. randy: new england lawmakers versus donald trump. some harsh words as the republican fires back at his own party. emily: upgrades on the way at the mbta, but that could mean delays first. when passengers will start feeling the effects. on the eye for this wednesday morning. >> boston's news leader. good morning. this is newscenter 5's eyeopener. randy: also on the eye this morning, a very close encounter on a whale watch. why this incredible view is even more special than it appears, ahead. good morning, i'm randy price. emily: and i'm emily riemer with cindy fitzgibbon. it is still early out there that you can feel the difference in