worried.. the father of a bedford boy suffocated by his mother now knows how long he'll spend in prison. what the commonwealth's attorney has to say about michael smith's role in the crime. and an image on facebook leads to death threats against a school in galax. what the owner of the page has to say about the picture. good morning, it's just after 5 o'clock on wednesday, january 27. a few stray showers early followed by a slow increase in sunshine

a proposed wind farm is gaining steam. botetourt county supervisors have voted unanimously to move forward with the next planning steps for the wind farm. but as wdbj7's noell saunders reports, several peopel who live in the area still have a lot of questions about the project. a packed room with a lot of concerns about virginia's potential first commercial windfarm. botetourt county board of supervisors opened the floor at tuesday's meeting to anyone who had questions or statements. "most of time not all the time but most of the time localities are left worse off then when they started" "i don't have a problem with it, if they want to set one up in my yard they can set one up

the developer, apex clean energy spoke on the project it's calling the rocky forge windfarm. the company says it is going through all the necessary steps and rules in order to build it. "the botetourt ordinance was very thorough on what studies was required of us and we also have alot more studies to do down the road whether that's the state or federal agencies" botetourt county voted unanimously to move forward with the planning and zoning commission's recommendations of the next stages in the process. the county is in full support in bringing clean energy to the area. "i'm somewhat of a conservationist and i approve it. i have looked at this hard enough and i really believe it is. i'm also a hunter. i'm on the mountains and i can't see anything wrong with it" on monday, rockbridge county board supervisors botetourt to delay the zoning application for the project for 90 days until to give them a chance to learn more about it. boteourt acknowledged their resoution and said

time frame of the planning. "it's one step along the way and we're excited to have so much support along this path but there is still alot of work to do" noell saunders, wdbj7 the developer, apex clean energy will now start going through a state process. we have new details on an attack involving a hammer in amherst county. we first told you about it yesterday. the sheriff says it appears that the argument was over child care issues. holly jo morgan davis is charged with aggravated malicious wounding after a dispute with her neighbor turned violent. investigators say she attacked manuela andrews with a claw hammer sunday night. andrews was rushed to the hospital with cuts on her head and chest. the father of a bedford boy who was suffocated by his mother now knows his sentence for crimes related to the child's death. prosecutors do not believe michael smith had anything to do with the murder of his 2-year-old son, jordan. he was charged with conspiracy to manufacture meth and several counts of child abuse in

a judge found him guilty yesterday and sentenced him to four years in prison. randy krantz/ commonwealth's attorney: "we did feel very strongly that mr. smith should be held accountable for his level of wrongdoing. that was not necessarily the same level of wrongdoing as ms. witt." smith's wife, shana witt, was convicted of murder in august and sentenced to 52 years in prison. prosecutors say she put a stuffed animal over her son's face and left it there until he stopped breathing. the search continues for a virginia man who held a family hostage and abducted his former mother-in-law. authorities just outside of richmond say olene brooks was taken from her home thursday night. they say dana william broke into a home, zip-tied and duct-taped the family, then held them at gunpoint for hours. brooks' husband was found murdered in the same area where she disappeared.

arewill grab that jacket this morning still finding some slick conditions out there and snow covered roads in around the area be you notice most of the temperatures through our region are above freezing right now forty roanoke forty lexington thirty five martinsville thirty six blacksburg thirty six galax he knows bluefield below freezing at 28 hot springs below freezing coming in at twenty nine degrees were even other areas still finding some slush out on the roadways of taking easy this morning had alina light showers drive through our area still clipping parts of the south side will continue to head toward the east and him will start to see some dryer air building in from the west will see a slow increasing sunshine today a little bit closer and shows say southeastern parts of charlotte county southeastern parts of halifax county seeing some sprinkles a be down toward southern henry county just south of the matter martinsville metro area seeing a little been the way of sprinkles but everyone else relatively quiet maybe a little mist here and there but as we head through the morning everyone should start see that shut down the wind ups with a

a light breeze high temperatures getting back up into the low and middle forties here's a frontal boundary that came through late last night continues to head toward the east once it passes to our entire area and heads toward the coastline this area of high-pressure will take it's place and that will give us some nicer weather the demo a week little clipper system that could bring some snow showers to the mountains a west virginia as you head toward later thursday evening into friday morning but nothing really more than that severe you go you forecast ronald valley low to mid forties 40s with a slow increasing sunshine lynchburg loving stint appomattox mid forties down toward southern virginia still a couple showers taking place there be u2 will see increasing sunshine today highs in the mid forties slow process though newer valley southwest upper thirties low forties toward stuart highlands greenbrier valley a west virginia mainly in the thirties moderate a little bit cooler 29 for high slow increasing sunshine seven day planner mostly sunny on thursday 46 friday will call

not bad at all mid to upper fifties nearing sixty on monday early next week maybe astray shower here and there but no worries about any frozen precipitation temperatures will be well above freezing at that and now police are investigating death threats against a school in galax. the picture is a meme, mocking ptsd for veterans. now the chestnut creek school of the arts is receiving threats because of it. page it was published on says he didn't upload it. he claims someone hacked his account trying to hurt him. the problem for the school is that his facebook page lists the city-run business as an employer. but they say those who know them know they would have nothing to do with this. keith barker/galax city manager: "looking at the people that actually responded to the facebook page, they were not local citizens, they're not local people that are familiar with the school, what we do, what we stand for. our local people people know we wouldn't support something like this." for more on this story, head over to wdbj7-dot-com.

bureau is warning people about a new scam. a patrick county man received a letter this week, claiming to be from capital one bank. it said a final notice deadline was in effect, and to contact the office immediately to receive a prize. the signature at the bottom of the letter is that of founding father benjamin franklin. the bbb says scam attempts will often use recognizable names to appear legitimate and will often target senior citizens. appalachia's coal industry is taking another hit. alpha natural resources plans to lay off more than 800 miners and dozens of support staff in neighboring west virginia. 60-day warning notices were sent out on monday, with the layoffs happening around march 25th. officials say the cuts are the result of an oversupply of coal and a dramatically lower demand that's driven prices to "unsustainable levels." sprint is getting rid of 25-hundred jobs. the company says it's part of a plan to cut two-point- five-billion dollars from its budget and turn business around. sprint is closing call centers in virginia, new mexico,

texas. the red cross says it's in desperate need of blood and platelet donations, and the recent severe weather is to blame for the short supply. in southwest virginia, 13 blood drives had to be cancelled because of the snow storm that started around this time last week. that means 400 blood and platelet donations went uncollected. donors are urged to make appointments to help save lives. the president at ferrum college has announced she's retiring.. jennifer braaten was the tenth president at the college and the first woman to take the position at the school. she started at ferrum college fourteen years ago in 2002 and plans to retire this summer. she says her reason is because of serious health issues that have happened within her family. jennifer braaten: "i love my professional life, it's been wonderful to be at ferrum college with this great community i still think a priority is things we always talk about--faith, family and friends and now is the time for me to spend more time with family." during braaten's time at the school, enrollment increased

academic programs were enhanced. a search committee is being formed to look for her replacement. we're keeping an eye on road conditions around the area this morning. your i-hometown traffic report is coming up after the break. a candidate in the race for the 5th congressional district is suspending his campaign. why ericke cage says he's removing himself from the race. and a popular attraction featuring dinosaurs is set to reopen in natural bridge a local animal clinic is encouraging people to get their female cats spayed. why doing this is important for your pet's health, and how you can get it done at a reduced cost coming up later this

a few sprinkles sunshine this afternoon. high today near 42.

snow and ice this morning. campbell, amherst and pittsylvania counties have the worst road conditions right now. main streets and highways are cleared throughout our area but you may run into isolated slick patches. virginia department of transportation crews have been working 12-hour shifts since thursday to clear this snow. road work could slow you down on the monacan parkway in amherst county. the northbound left lane is blocked from the town line to the route 60 ramp. that lane should re-open in about 45 minutes. this is a live look at i-81 in christiansburg from a vdot traffic camera. we're not seeing any major problems so far this morning. after only 10 months of campaigning, democrat ericke cage is ending his race for congress in the fifth district. we sat down with cage yesterday. he said it was an uphill battle to find enough funding to support his campaign. despite his best efforts, cage says he was not able to attract the attention he was looking for from high dollar donors.

continue to work toward the values he held during his campaign including high quality education, economic prosperity and equal opportunity in rural virginia. democratic campaign: " have loved to have but i feel like we it didnt' work out but that doesn't mean that we are not successful in raising attention to the very important issues. on taking some hopes to get back into the education field. he says come election time, he will support the democratic nominee. employment for december set records in the state of virginia. december was the 21st consecutive month of year-over- year employment growth in the commonwealth. also last month, the governor's office says virginia had the lowest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate among the southeast states and the fourth-best rate among states east of the mississippi river. a local man is planning to re-open a dinosaur attraction in natural bridge, four years after the original park was closed because of a fire. mark cline will soon open an attraction

kingdom ii across from the natural bridge zoo. cline said people will take a self- guided tour with a spin on civil war history, while running into more than 25 automated and stationary dinosaurs. he says it's too early to predict what the impact of the business will be, but thinks the attraction will bring more attention to the area and give families a bite of history. mark cline: "i do think that overall this is going to bring more people into the area and i think it will be some good news for natural bridge as well." cline said construction is expected to begin in the spring and the park should open around june. customers flock to smith mountain lake during the summer, but this time of year is tougher for businesses there. how some of them manage to stay afloat during the winter months. and plans to renovate halifax county's court house have been in the works since 20-12. why supervisors

see them. 50stemperatures starting off in the thirties and forties across many hometowns yep forty in roanoke fifty alanna chilly twenty six chicago had outside new york city right now forty four degrees a little closer home clifton middle school covington right now thirty seven degrees winds are calm peek wind us around twenty two miles an hour since midnight so we will see a light breeze throughout the day with a few higher gusts now the radar most of the activity already exited the area were finding relatively quiet conditions but as he head down toward the halifax county charlotte county even henry county pittsylvania county don't be surprised see a little mist a sprinkle or two but that should come to an and relatively quickly and a lot a slow increasing sunshine temperatures continue to drop off a little bit of that will rebound through the afternoon into the upper thirties low to

tonight partly cloudy with athe temperature around 26 in with the melting again today and the freezing tonight could have some slick spots tomorrow morning and this is been be quieting down with the weather you see five planets is you heading out early in the morning you see mercury, venus, saturn mars and jupiter just predawn ubl to see that through say february twentieth something to check out now though finding relatively quiet conditions and things are warming up climate center says will see warmer than average temperatures for the first week of february soak you like the warmer weather good news for you here you go you forecast across the area what can you expect today temperatures into the thirties 30s and 40s with a slow increasing sunshine head out tonight partly cloudy and cold. lows in the teens and 20s seven day planner thursday friday into the weekend looking pretty good on that a few mountains snow showers highs over the we can early next week in the upper 50s to near sixty degrees overall that snow but there are small businesses that are open all year round. staying open during the winter is no easy task. some small

become jacks-of-all- trades. the general store does laser engraving, opened a quilt shop in the basement, and is attached to a coffee and sandwhich shop. vitazen, is not only a vitamin store but also sells pet food and offers yoga classes. while some stores have closed over the year, these small business owners say they've found the key to success. brett keister/owner, vitazen: "probably the big thing at the lake is consistancy and being there for your people, open when they need you and always providing what they want." if small businesses don't get creative, their only other option may be to either cut back hours during the winter or close for the season. virginia lawmakers in richmond honored vicki gardner yesterday for her success as executive director of the smith mountain lake chamber of commerce. she received a standing ovation from the state senate. she's back at work, working part-time and feeling good. she survived the shooting that killed our coworkers alison parker and adam ward. gardner says the recognition was an

halifax county leaders say they have almost finalized the court house renovation plans - and they want you to see them. the board of supervisors chairman says the designs are 99- percent complete and in agreement with the leaders involved. the county has been under court order to improve the court house since 20-12. the county's attorney and architect will be presenting the plans at a public meeting tonight. dennis witt/board of supervisors chairman: "we think they deserve the opportunity to see the plan and to make comments about it. so, it's kind of a big time in this very long drawn out process we've been through." the public meeting starts tonight at 5:30. if there's a positive response, leaders will move forward with the next steps. construction is set to begin this fall. the university of virginia's men's basketball team holds on to win a close one against wake forest. highlights from the road win in sports. and a high school in our area is looking for help from veterans of the nfl

stadium. followed by a slow increase in sunshine today. high: 42. sports pkg virginia's basketball team went to the wire before pulling off an improbable win over wake forest last night. here are travis wells and zac glover with

basketball team hadn't won on the this season, starting 0 and 3. tony bennett's team tried to buck the trend last salem against wake on tobacco road where they didn't well. malcolm brogdon certainly did his part. uncle malcolm comes up with the steal and scores at the other end. uva trailed by as many as 9 in the first half but cut it to two by the break. the demon deacs extended the lead to 14 midway through the second half, hitting from long range and from in close and things didn't look so good for the hoos. down 7 in the final minute, brogdon gets a three to go down. he finished with 28 points tonight and the lead was down to one. wake made one of two at the line before the cavs got it to darius thompson and he throws in the moon ball high and off the window for the game winning three. virginia survived in dramatic fashion, 72 to 71 over wake forest. here's zac glover from winston-salem. zac glover: uva was on the verge of their fourth consecutive acc road loss when darius thompson

his one and only shot of the entire game capping off 18 virginia points in the final 70 seconds to win the game. darius thompson/hit game winning shot: i was trying to get a foul call at first, didn't get the foul call and threw it up and it happened to go off the backboard and went in. i didn't even see it go in actually. i fell on the ground and then i happened to look over and see all my teammates running at me jumping up and down so i guess i made the shot. i do trick shots all the time in practice, just throwing up crazy shots so i guess it worked for me tonight. tony bennett/virginia head coach: they were saying stuff in the huddle, let's keep trying, you never know, you never know but deep down in side, if i'm being honest, you say this isn't happening. we were very fortunate. zac: so with the win, uva moves to 16 and 4 overall, 5 and 3 in conference play and they will look to get their second acc road win this weekend at louisville. in winston-salem, north carolina, zac glover, wdbj7. have a great day everybody. i'm travis wells, wdbj7. a local high school is looking for help

stadium. galax high school is in the middle of its capital fundraising campaign to put turf down at the football field. they've made a request of the miami dolphins alumni association to make a 700-thousand dollar donation to help them. head football coach mark dixon played for the dolphins from 19-98 to 2003, making him eligible to ask for the donation. the school doesn't know when the association's board of directors will make a decision. police are looking for the gunmen in a shooting at a homeless encampment in seattle that killed at least two people. why the city's mayor is asking people to stay away from the crime scene. we have new details about why a texas grand jury has handed down indictments against two anti- abortion activists. the tapes the grand jury was also investigating. and, there's now an app to alert people whenever there's a police shooting.

aren't happy about it. others are wounded after a shooting at a homeless encampment in seattle. the incident happened last night. a police source says several men were involved in the shooting, but they haven't yet arrested anyone.. seattle mayor ed murray called the shooting an active crime scene and has asked people to stay away from the area. according to a t-v station in that area, this is the biggest shooting scene in seattle since 20-12. the mayor also says the are was scheduled to be cleaned up later today. donald trump says he won't show up for tomorrow's republican debate. don champion explains why trump's history with fox news has a lot to do with why he dropped out of the debate. the latest escalation in tensions came after fox news released this press release tuesday... saying in part -- "we learned from a secret back channel that the ayatollah and putin both intend to treat donald trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president." the statement set

front-runner off: (sot trump / marshalltown, iowa) when they sent out the wiseguy press releases a little while ago done by some pr person along with roger ailes, i said bye bye." trump has been at odds with fox news since the first gop debate...angry at host, megyn kelly, for allegedly questioning him unfairly. just yesterday the billionaire candidate took to instagram asking his followers if he should participate in yet another debate moderated by her. (sot fox news megyn kelly) trump is not used to not controlling things -- but the truth is he doesn't get to control the media in a statement, the network says trump is still welcome at thursday night's event and will be treated fairly. -nats- locked in a tight battle for first place - ted cruz is offering to debate trump one on one: (sot ted cruz/ fairfield, iowa) (sot cruz) this is all about his not being willing to defend his record. he's being afraid. 90 minutes, you and me, mano y mano, lincoln-douglas style and if that scares

with trump's absence -- seven gop contenders will take part in tomorrow night's prime time gop debate...the seventh of the campaign season. don champion cbs news new york. we are learning more about why two anti-abortion activists were indicted by a texas grand jury charged with investigating undercover planned parenthood tapes. an attorney representing one of the indicted activists who made the videos says the two plan to turn themselves in to investigators. both are charged with tampering with a governmental record, a felony. they're accused of using fake driver's licenses and posing as buyers for fetal parts. michael dorf/cornell university constitutional scholar: "this could set a dangerous precedent and chill undercover investigations by legitimate journalists." the video showed planned parenthood leaders discussing fetal tissue and appearing to talk about the price for such tissue. it maintains that it does not profit from the sale of fetal tissue and only recovers its costs. the grand jury cleared planned parenthood on

w/stinger)) thatgood morning kimberly good morning everyone we are starting off gray some sprinkles little mist and drizzle even a shower here or there but things will improve the cold arctic air well up into canada where in the 40s 40 roanoke 50 alanna forty seven new orleans but some cooler air will be pushing in our direction over the next couple days before we start to see some that warmer weather building in as we head toward the weekend across the virginia tech campus clouds there but relatively quiet conditions temperature right now at thirty five degrees just above freezing west northwest wind around ten miles an hour making it feel like it's twenty eight so is you had out maybe for classes morning deftly want to dress accordingly can see a line the showers continuing to push now into eastern parts of virginia will start see some of that dryer air working in behind

expecting a slow increasing sunshine snow showers up toward western parts of pennsylvania for our area not much really going on now but though showers are exiting we will start see that dryer air mixing in over the next say six to twelve hour since today a slow increase in sunshine low to mid 40s mid forties thursday friday forty three degrees but look at saturday sunday monday we are well into the fifties to near sixty degrees today dropping off a little bit more and that will start to rebound a little is maker way through the afternoon with that increasing sunshine that exits start see little more sunshine but we will have a few clouds from time to time and then that coastal storm moves up toward the north and east close enough that it may throw a few clouds our way on thursday that's about it woodson snow showers in the mountains a west virginia late thursday into early friday you forecast across the area low to mid forties across the roanoke valley head over toward lynchburg center virginia low to mid 40s increasing sunshine southern virginia gretna south boston charlotte courthouse mid forties still a chance for

see a slow increasing sunshine mid to upper thirties to the newer valley southwest up toward the highlands greenbrier valley west virginia twenties and thirties for you and your first alert wtvj seven day planner where in the 40s pretty much for the rest of the week but by saturday sunday monday were into the fifties to near sixty a looks like a pretty nice weekend ahead with astray shower possible sunday and jailbreak are still missing. a prosecutor in orange county is quoted as saying "they let hannibal lecter out." officers are warning the public about how dangerous they are. they're asking the public for help locating them. (officer phuong nguien/orange county sheriff dept.) it is extremely important for them to reach out to us and let us know because they are extremely armed and dangerous" two of the men are linked to vietnamese gangs -- leading investigators to check out suburban communities where the men could be hiding with friends. police are also investigating whether they had inside help with the escape.

escaped through the roof of the orange county jail since it opened in 1968. once found, the three men face felony charges that could put them in federal prison for up to a combined 15 years. an attorney for the so-called "affluenza" teen says his client could be returning to the u-s soon. he says ethan couch wants to drop his appeal, allowing him to be deported from mexico. attorneys say it is not up to mexican officials to decide when or how couch will return. couch and his mother, tonya, were found in mexico last month, weeks after a warrant was issued for his arrest on a possible probation violation. tonya couch is back in the u-s and charged with hindering the arrest of a felon. the nearly four- week old standoff in oregon appears to be over, after police intercepted the group and made several arrests. shots were fired after the f-b-i and oregon state police made the stop, but it's not clear who shot first. one person died and six others were arrested, including militia leaders ammon and ryan bundy. the incident happened at a traffic

refuge where the protesters have been staying. new this morning: a federal appeals court will decide if county commissioners in north carolina can open their meetings with christian prayer. today's arguements will be the first time a federal appeals court has considered government prayer practices, since the supreme court upheld christian prayers at town hall meetings in new york in 2014. the aclu sued the rowan county commission in 2013 on behalf of three people who said the prayers were discriminatory. we're learning more about the investigation into a deadly railroad crash in philadelphia last may. investigators say the amtrak engineer was chatter from other train operators. transporation safety board is expected to release new details in the accident on february 1st. this includes clearing up rumors that the engineer was using his cell phone at the time. the crash killed eight people and hurt more than two hundred others. a new smart phone app alerts users whenever a police shooting happens. it's called archives

only gives the name of the victim and the location. but the developers in texas have caused a lot of controversy with this app, especially from police officers. (cpl. jerry neufeld / amarillo police department): "it's going to allow for more social rumors, more social widespread anger and discontent with law enforcement. we're going to put out that an officer was involved in a shooting in wherever and so you're going to have people making comments and re-tweeting and posting and all this stuff before they even know what happened." civil rights attorney jeff blackburn says the app is a step toward transparency between law enforcement and the public. but he does think more information should be included to allow people to form their own opinions on what's really happening. a similar app in development lets people know when an officer is killed. the u-s has taken another step to improve its relationship with cuba. the treasury department announced yesterday it's removing more of its restrictions on cuba. starting today it will get rid of financing restrictions on most exports. the u-s will also allow more cuban commodities to be exported.

cuba under 12- specific guidelines, they will now be allowed to do more while in the country. the changes come because of direct talks between the u-s and cuba, which began about a year ago. president obama plans to propose new laws to help americans save for retirement. 30-million additional americans may be able to access retirement savings as a result of the plan. the president's ideas will appear in the 20-17 budget which will be submitted to congress next month. some of his other ideas include requiring companies to offer plans to part- time workers and allowing americans to defer taxes on retirement savings. we're watching the roads for you this morning. your i-hometown traffic report after the break. kitten season is almost here and if you don't want kitten grandparents anytime soon it's time to spay your cat. how you can get the operation done easily

next. afternoon. high today near 42. traffic in pittsylvania 20 minutes. the southbound right lane of route 29 is closed by the goodyear boulevard ramp. many roads are still covered in a layer of morning. campbell, amherst and pittsylvania counties have the right now. main streets and throughout our area but you may run into isolated slick patches. virginia department of transportation crews have been working 12-hour shifts since thursday to clear this snow. bridge work could slow you down on i- 81 in botetourt county. the northbound right lane is blocked at mile marker 165, which is near one of the route 11 exits. it's expected to re- open in about 20

around the corner and that means un- fixed female cats will be going into heat. this can lead to a new litter of kittens which many people aren't prepared to deal with, but a local clinic is offering cheap fixes to try and combat the issue. wdbj-7's shayne dwyer is here with us this moring. good morning shayne good morning kimberly. mountain view spay and neuter is able to offer deep discounts because of local government grants and other fundraising efforts. the clinic says these operations are proven to help control the pet population and help prevent pets from dying in shelters everyday. for many people our pets are just like our family, which means they need health care just like us, although the operations aren't exactly same. corie prater with mountain view spay and neuter, corrie what has you pumped up this february? this february is beat the heat, there is still may be snow on the ground but we're beating the heat. so what are we doing in february what kind of specials do you have? petsmart charities has given us a grant to allow us to fix 420 female

february, we want to get them fixed before that first heat cycle comes in. why is it so important to do this? if you talk to anybody in the animal world they call the spring kitten season and that is exactly it, cats can go into heat three times a year and with litters of kittens getting born three times a year it's a problem we need to get on top of. why should people get the operation even if they think their pet doesnt need it? absolutely throw it out the window, number one it helps reduce the euthanasia rate at local animal shelters and pounds, and number two not only does it help with that, but it helps your pets health, female cats and dogs can get cancer, it helps with their overall health and will just make them a happier pet. and it's a same day procedure? absolutely you bring them in one morning, drop them off, you can pick them up that afternoon in roanoke shayne dwyer wdbj-7. a little boy in canada is the middle of a medical mystery.

confused about his condition. and three guys in new york spent their snowy weekend making an igloo. what they decided

was all finished. 40sgood morning everyone checking out today's weather almanac average high this time of year forty six degrees average low coming in at twenty eight we should see the low to mid forties today record high seventy five setback 75 set back in 1999 record low to set back in nineteen eighty seven wac a see any of those so far three inches of rain this month and for the year without a trace you late yesterday were line the showers drove through forty right now roanoke in lexington forty three lynchburg forty two smith mountlake forty one and danville will drop off a little bit more over the next the hours and rebound a little is we head through the afternoon right at the freezing mark louisburg 3229 in hot springs and thirty two in with bill watch upper some slick spots there line the

as a drips to the east over time we should see a slow increasing sunshine as we head through the afternoon see a bite forecast maybe some miss drizzle this morning more sunshine this afternoon would temperatures in the low to mid forties as this front continues to exit the region high-pressure builds in we have a clipper system that's can a try to drop down later thursday bringing some snow showers to the mountains a west virginia but today early clouds fall that up would slow clearing during the day temperatures in the upper thirties low to mid forties pretty much through many hometowns tonight partly cloudy cold would've that teens and low twenties again a watch out for slick spots tomorrow morning and your seven day planner will have partly sunny conditions thursday friday would temperatures in the forties over the we can were back up into the fifties 50s to near 60 on exactly sure what causes his reactions. the medical mystery

by the medical community in canada, so the boy's family is asking experts in the u-s for help. the little boy has lived in the stollery children's hospital for the past 15 months. he's been diagnosed with dozens of allergies, but his reactions -- such as losing consciousness and going into shock -- are confusing doctors. (dr. isabelle chapados/ pediatric endocrinologist) "it's not allergic. it's another type of reaction that we have never been able to pinpoint." he will not survive without a proper diagnosis -- so the family has planned a conference call with the national institute of health in the u-s. a go-fund-me campaign is also helping with some medical bills, which is certainly helpful since his dad is being laid off from his job soon. transgender athletes could be allowed to compete in this summer's olympic games without having gender reassignment surgery. the proposed rule change would be a milestone in olympic history. transgender athletes have been allowed in the olympics since 2004, but only after surgery and two years of hormone therapy. the rule change establishes hormone-based criteria. medical chiefs also

change that allows female-to-male transgender athletes to compete in the male category without restriction. three new york residents indulged in the snow last weekend by building a special igloo and advertising it on a rental website. the "boutique winter igloo" was made in 6 to 8 hours. they put in some candles and a blanket and listed it for 200-dollars per night online. lots of offers came in, but the website took it down. instead, the guys are using the igloo to attract the ladies. (patrick m. horton/greenpoint): "they're definitely fans, they get pretty giddy as soon as they get inside and see how luxurious and romancing it is inside. i think the candles are a nice touch". the igloo can fit about four people, and they say its cozy. there's a new officer in town at an oklahoma city police station. even officers need to be protected, and an unlikely volunteer has been doing just that. this station used to have a skunk problem -- so officers have enlisted a feathered friend to help out. thanks to this goose, the skunks have stayed away. a mosquito-borne virus has made its

doctors have for pregnant women. a new study says all adults should be tested for depression.

helping to fight it. on this date in 18- 88, the national geographic society is founded. in 19-43, americans bomb the germans for the first time in world war two. the first atomic detonation happens at the nevada test site in 19-51. the u-s officially ends its role in a cold war conflict in 19-73 and in 20-10 on this date, "the catcher in the rye" author j.d. salinger dies. a few stray showers early followed by a slow increase in sunshine

department has confirmed an adult resident of virginia has tested positive for the zika virus. this comes as a warning goes out to pregnant women or those trying to get pregnant to avoid travel to several countries including parts of the caribbean. there is concern that the mosquito borne zika virus in brazil is linked to an increase in cases of babies born with a condition where the babies brain and skull do not develop properly. carilion clinic's chief of infectious disease told wdbj's jean jadhon- while it is scary- it also should be kept in perspective. dr. thomas kerkering: it's probably inevitable that it comes because it is moquitoe borne but on the other hand it's not transmitted person to person and we actually do have better mosquito

these other places and in many of these places there are open sources of water where mosquitors can breed and although we have those we don't have them in the numbers dr kerkering agreees wih the cdc guidelines advising pregnant women to avoid travel to numerous countries and territories in latin american and the caribbean including puerto rico, mexico and haiti. a government advisory group has recommended all adults, including pregnant women and new mothers should be screened for depression as part of routine health care. it's because mental health issues often go unnoticed. new treatments for depression are offering new hope for patients. depression affects about one in 10 american adults. right now, there's a clinical trial at mass general hospital in boston that's testing a promising non drug treatment called "near infrared light. dr. paolo cassano, psychiatrist, massachusetts general hospital: "the near infra-red light thru the forehead gets to the powerhouse of the the cell which are the mitochondria and leads to more energy in the brain area that

source of light." the light also decreases inflammation in the brain and increases the connections between neurons - all of which seems to help a person feel better. it's still in the experimental phase, but patients in the trial say they believe the treatment works. here's a look at what has people talking on facebook this morning. former house majority leader, tom delay says the justice department is ready to file charges against hillary clinton. the fbi is investigating the democratic presidential candidate to see if she mishandled classified information while she was secretary of state. slinton has denied any wrongdoing. -------- donald trump says he won't participate in tomorrow's republican presidential debate. his campaign manager says the decision was made because of tension between trump and fox anchor megyn kelly. thursday's debate is the last one before the iowa caucuses next week. -------- and, actor arnold schwarzenegger has announced plans for a conan the

conan the conquerer, but still needs a director. it would be the third movie in the series. a wind warm may be one step closer to reality in botetourt county. coming up, what the company has done so far to get the project off the ground. and police are investigating this controversial facebook picture uploaded in galax. now the city manager is responding to threats

from it. his son is sent to prison for suffocating their son. how long michael smith will spend behind bars, and why prosecutors say he needs to be held accountable. police are looking for the virginia man who held a family hostage and abducted his ex mother- in- law. how they say he committed the crimes. and in mornin'

talking live with the western virginia