warnings -- maria: also severe thunderstorm warnings in effect, harvey? harvey: a portion of rhode island and southeastern massachusetts, another coming east from the berkshires. those of the two strongest areas of storms. let's focus on this one first. you can see that that does include somerset, talk on the edge of it -- totten on the edge of it. tremendous number of lightning strikes and a lot of hail with that particular cell. in our area, we find bridgwater rain in totten, and as it moves to the southeast, berkeley, waverley in line to get a piece of that storm. i would not be surprised if we

evening, southeastern mass appears to be the targeted area. we could see the activity become more scattered and weaker. thunderstorms of moved are some of the area, but places like hartford, concord, new hampshire , has not happened yet. at the cape, a little bit cooler. excessive heat warning or heat advisory depending up talk about the weekend changes in a few minutes. ben: all right, harvey. a controversy in new bedford after a man facing heroin distribution charges is approved to coach pop warner in the city. maria: newscenter 5's nicole estaphan explains he never made -- it quickly changed. chest but he will not be able to coach. nicole not on the roster this : year, or maybe ever again. the decision made friday by new bedford bears pop warner co

parks department. after a well liked coach, 39-year-old sharik mendes was charged in a heroin drug traffiking ring. >> i think it shocked the whole city those that liked him and , those that didn't. nicole perhaps no one more : shocked than conceicao, who wrote a letter to the judge at the request of mendes. he says at the time he believed mendes story, that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. he had faith in the >> he does a great job with the kids and it is sad to see it end up this way. nicole earlier this week a judge : agreed to let mendes continue to coach, sparking controversy. that conceico letter, at the forefront. but conceico says after a closer look at the charges, he changed his mind. >> good things come to an end. easy money will get you in trouble. nicole: according to court documents mendes sold heroin at h.e.a.r.t. gym and was a large-scale distributor of heroin in new bedford. we caught up with him friday,

mendes will be back in court on september 13 for a plea hearing new bedford, nicole estaphan, wcvb newscenter 5. ben: jc: -- maria: the ntsb hoping to get new information from that data recorder recovered from the sunken el faro. that ship went down last october during hurricane joaquin. all 33 crew members were killed including three with ties to massachusetts. the ntsb hopes that whatever is found on the data recorder will help loved ones find closure. >> we only to those who perished, the families and loved ones, from this tragedy to support accidents like this from taking more lives. maria: the el faro was headed to puerto rico when it sank. ben: right now, a warning to americans in thailand after a wave of deadly bombings. there have been explosions in at least four areas of the country, including popular beach cities. at least four people are dead and dozens more hurt. it's not clear who carried out the attacks. maria: lots of action in rio today at the summer games. ben: team usa winning more

about -- then later -- >> what is your opinion of whitey bulger? >> he does not care about me.

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sweden. the swede scored first in the 61st minute and then alex morgan tied things up in the 78th. but then hope solo was outmaneuvered for the win. for the first time in history, the u.s. olympic women's soccer team goes home without a medal. the u.s. women have never failed to take home the gold areas one day after becoming the first african-amer individual metal in swimmer, simone manuel was back in the preliminaries. abby whitesell also advanced. in the women's shot but, -- shot putt, michelle carter qualified, breaking the 90 meter mark. in quarterfinal tennis, steve johnson failed to andy murray of

murray could become the first tennis player to a back-to-back singles olympic gold medals. archer allison and this to the quarterfinals in men's individual archery. and simone biles is still basking in the glow of her gold medal performance thursday. she put on a master class in the art of gymnastics, but is not resting on her laurels. >> i minute very good place. hopefully i can carry that into the final. is not easy being green when you are the lipid diving pool. they still have not solved the problem of the green out g in the water. it has disrupted the olympic schedule. >> we need to have this faster and easier.

along, it does not offer any threat to the health of the athletes. maria: so, they already have a gold medal, a place in american history and now a cereal box. , we're talking about the final five. among them needham's own aly raisman. kelloggs has announced plans to release special edition boxes of special k with them on it. kelloggs already sponsors simone biles. the boxes will feature a photo of her with her all-around gold on one side and a photo of her with the rest of the final five on the other. ben: that is awesome. maria: i love it. i still have the michael phelps wheaties box. maybe i should not eat that cereal. ben: i would not eat that. it would be stale. maria: you can deftly say that this visitor was not ben: welcome. a texas man opened his garage and found a nine-foot alligator. the quick action he took to get rid of it. harvey?

ben: former penn state assistant football coach jerry sandusky has broken his silence. the 72-year-old convicted child molester took the stand for the first time today. he's trying to have the 2012 conviction overturned. sandusky forcefully denied the charges he sexually abused 10 boys. he also told the court it wasn't

testify four years ago. sandusky is currently serving 30 to 60 years in prison. he never took the stand in that trial. an urgent search is underway for several people still missing after an apartment building exploded in maryland. at least two people were killed, dozens more are hurt including three firefighters. it took crews nearly 10 hours to get the fire under control as it tore through the 4-story building late wednesday night. federal investigators say residents reported the smell of gas weeks ago. the cause is under investigation. one person is dead tonight after a tanker truck explosion in texas. look at that. massive flames could be seen from miles away. the flames, not just the smoke. the tanker truck collided with an suv early this morning. the crash caused a fire that engulfed both vehicles. it eventually spread to a nearby store. gas flowing from the tanker also caught fire spreading to a responding fire truck.

lifetime -- you can imagine you see what i'm about to show you -- for a texas homeowner. when he opened his garage door and walked in he was greeted by a 300-pound alligator. needless to say he was shocked to find the near 9-foot gator there, since the door had been closed. wranglers were brought in to remove it. the gator was not to happy about that. but now he has been brought to a new home at a nearby home. ben: if the door was closed, how to the gator get in? maria: what is your best guess, harvey? harvey: there was a time when the door was open. what else could it be? maria: real smart. harvey: smart, i don't know about that. we have real strong thunderstorms. also until 6:00 in western massachusetts -- those are the lines we are following. let's concentrate to the south.

the strongest part has been in rhode island and northeast connecticut. there is the lightning, still a lot of it with this particular cell. especially around northeastern connecticut and there has been hail as well. there is rain and lightning. you see that index perry and plimpton. being affected as it moves to the east. this cell moving through the berkshires looks like it may have weakened a little recently, but that had real strong wind with it. we may get reports of wind damage from the western part of the state. we will see this after sunset, and it will diminish in intensity and also aerial coverage.

part of it is overcast. it does not show you what goes on. the next town over may not get a drop of rain. it's hard to get the widespread rain with this type of situation. 86 in boston. boston did have a downpour before that happened. and then harvard in the mid-to-upper 90's. still feeling over 100. all right, so the heat warning is in effect until 7:00 tonight with a heat advisory. tomorrow, there probably will be a heat advisory. it probably will be from west of worcester. it will still be a very hot and humid day. there will be a break. here in eastern mass, northeastern mass, perhaps the south shore, a backdoor front,

that will certainly help the temperatures from getting out of control. if you are back along harford and springfield, you will be in the 90's again tomorrow. you know what? yes, you will not feel as hot, but sunday we go right back into it just like today, just like yesterday, going to feel over 100 again. beach and voting tomorrow, or maybe occasional low clouds, and shower or thunderstorm. keep an eye on the sky. it will be cooler along the shoreline. the cape may still be 80 or higher. there you see it. i would definitely put sunday as an impact day. heat and humidity all over again and all through this time, there can be occasional showers are thunderstorms, but probably not total aerial coverage, and certainly not all the time. temperatures next week to not

quite as oppressive as we are experiencing. maria: jc: all right -- maria: all right, harvey. just what harvey was talking about -- we're still dealing with heat hazards and serious humidity. and there are some things to keep in mind as you head outside. first men sweat more than women. that means they're more at risk for dehydration and that can lead to other health issues. second, drink before you are thirsty. in many cases, by the time you really need the water, it's too late. so hydrate throughout the day. and watch your medications. me higher risk for heat stroke including blood pressure drugs, antihistamines, and anti-depressants. ben: more money is on the way for zika virus research. the white house is transferring 81 million dollars within the federal health budget because of the current impasse in congress. congress is on vacation for seven weeks. 34 million of that will go toward work on a vaccine to combat the virus which is now being transmitted by mosquitoes in a section of miami. the first day of school is fast

all the supplies? dr. tim johnson has a health checklist. dr. johnson: kids will soon be trading in swimsuits for backpacks, but even before the morning bell rings on the first day of school, it is not too soon to take steps to make sure your child gets the year off to a healthy start. the american academy of pediatrics has helpful tips. first, sleep. your kids may need more than you think hours if they are between 13 and 18 years old. start moving summer bedtimes earlier a few minutes a day. next, breakfast. a morning necessity for children. research shows a nutritious breakfast helps kids perform better at school. and before you let them out the door, remember a backpack should not be heavier than 10% or 20% of your child's wait. go through the backpack weekly and remove unneeded items or

packed nearer the center. for more information, check out the website -- you will get a gold star. with this medical minute, i'm dr. timothy johnson. maria: ad blockers are standing up to facebook after the social media site announced it was taking a stand against them. earlier this week facebook announced it will start showing ads to people who have desktops that currently use adblock plus. two days later, add block plus found a way to block tm designed to keep your social media free of marketing spam. facebook is planning to fight back and even add block's creator admits the site may develop a code to block its filter. you can now enjoy the deep fried twinkie in the comfort of your own home. ben: when are you going to buy them? maria: never. walmart is now selling them. the hostess products hit the shelves in some walmarts yesterday. a nationwide rollout will happen next week on august 16. but that in your calendar there. the deep-fried twinkies come in

chocolate. ben: you would not buy them, because knowing you, you would hand make them. maria: i would hand make them, bred them, throw them in a pan. ben: next at 5:30 p.m. -- a man serving life in prison for a murder he says he didn't commit blames crime boss whitey bulger. 5 investigates, coming up. maria: that at 6:00 we continue , tool new tonight, we're hearing from the woman who performed cpr on him. ben: also new at 6:00 forget , about living large. boston thinks small housing may be the way to go maria: and a rattlesnake caught in a quincy neighborhood. the role experts believe the weather played in the unwelcome

ben: 5 investigates taking us inside a massachusetts prison a man who blames notorious crime boss whitey bulger for his decades behind bars. maria: mike beaudet talked with fred weichel on the eve of new court hearings that could possibly set weichel free. >> we met up with fred weichel where he lived. did you ever think 35 years later you would still be locked up? >> no i was very naive and , believed in the system that an

how it works. mike weichel is serving life : without parole for the may 1980 murder of robert lamonica in braintree. did you murder robert lamonica? >> no. mike absolutely not? :>> 100,000% no. mike: weichel's conviction was based almost entirely on the testimony of one witness a teenager who was drinking in this park just after midnight right in this area. the teen got, at most, a 3-second glimpse of the fleeing -- over in this area, about 100 feet away -- 180 feet away. he identified weichel as the killer. and here's where whitey bulger comes into the story. >> i think he played a key role in this case. the biggest part was the night of the murder, i know it was him who gave the police my name. mike in letters he wrote from : prison several years ago, bulger revealed he knew weichel was not lamonica's killer and confided that before the murder bulger had talked with the real killer who had a beef with the murder victim. bulger didn't name the real killer in the letter but referred to him in code as l-a

bulger says he advised the boxer to act first, to kill lamonica before lamonica killed him. >> right. mike who is the boxer? :>> it's common knowledge that tommy barrett is the boxer. mike in 1982 barrett wrote a : confession letter to weichel's mother, gloria. i haven't had a good night sleep in almost a year because i know fred did not kill bobby lamonica. i did. yes, gloria, i killed bobby lamonica, barrett wrote. in weichel's previous attempt to get a new trial in 2003, barrett took the stand under subpoena, but refused to answer questions, against self-incrimination. what's your opinion of whitey bulger? >> he don't care about me, i'm just a pawn in his game. there's nothing personal. mike: do you feel like you were one of his victims? >> absolutely. absolutely. i'm just one of the lucky ones that's alive to talk about it. mike: alive, yes, but more than half his life spent behind bars.

murdered? >> i was in the exchange in downtown boston. mike: he spoke briefly with connolly, the fbi agent who handled whitey bulger as an fbi informant. he declined to appear in court as an hour by witness after whitey bulger told him to stay out of it. according to a letter from the u.s. attorney's office, that was verified i a former whitey bulger in your case, do you think the system was corrupt? >> this is a corruption trial. mike: do you think you will get a new trial? >> i do not have a clue how the judge will react. i believe i have enough to prove i am innocent. mike: the da's office sent as a statement saying -- the commonwealth is prepared to

addressing those claims outside the hearing. coming up at 7:00 you'll hear , from the local police chief who is a national expert in witness identification. he feels so strongly about the problems with weichel's prosecution that he's speaking out against his own district attorney's office which is fighting to keep weichel locked up. mike beaudet. 5 investigates. ben: we will look for this at 7:00. in the meantime, we have breaking news. lifesaving teamwork as a little boy is pulled from a hyde park pool. mari starts right now. harvey: tracking strong thunderstorms than the threat for part of the area this weekend. ben: a little boy found safe hours after being taken by a shooting suspect, his father. maria: rough ride -- the violent flight out of boston that injured passengers, even dislodged a toilet. ben: unwelcome guest at a quincy home.

drawing it out. >> from boston from news leader, this is wcvb newscenter 5 at 6:00. maria: the radar tells the story, stormteam 5 tracking strong storms. hello, everybody. i'm maria stefanos. ben: and i'm been salmon know. let's get right to harvey leonard. harvey: very, very strong activity. storms in rhode island. earlier, southern portions of worcester county. that is where areas like charlton took it on the chin with strong, gusty winds, heavy rains, and lightning. a very strong sell past just to south and west of providence, rhode island, all in the last few minutes. you can see that clearly. here's the lightning that went

hale also tracked with the strongest of these cells. i want to also show you in southeastern massachusetts, the eastern side of this extending eastward. swansea, north of fall river, totten, involved in the storms as well. another area through the work shirts was a severe thunderstorm warning. it has weakened some to the east. as we follow this through the evening, that could get to the worcester hills, and this area through southeastern mass, scattered activity that will diminish after sunset tonight. temperatures have temporarily cooled, but cut the downpours. new hampshire and portsmouth still in the low 90's. those places feel like it is over 100. we had an excessive heat warning