>> 7 news at 6:00 starts now. >> first at 6:00, winter weather moving in. the week getting off to a snowy start. a storm will be moving in overnight leaving behind a few inches in much of eastern massachusetts. >> if you're lucky enough to have the holiday off, tomorrow is looking like a perfect day to be stuck inside. here is a look at the time line and how much snow you can expect. >> exactly right. a winter weather advisory through 10 a.m. through all of central and eastern mass. not including the island, but the new hampshire sea coast and that snow is working its way in from the south. amazingly this storm system is well out to sea, but it's pushing in enough moisture to bring us the snow showers now

attention to the cold air that pushes in behind it, which could continue the shower activity that continues into tomorrow morning. here you go with that snow favoring eastern mass, but it's tricky to know exactly where the heavier bands of snowfall will set up. we really don't know until we start to see those bands identified on radar. so we'll continue to track this through the night and very generally speaking, one to two inches for most, and two inches looks to be the big bulls eye number here, closer to 4, an isolated area favoring the north and south shore. the cold air is pushing in behind it. more details in a few minutes. >> also on 7. police are investigating a terrifying attack in chelsea, a woman beaten, robbed and stabbed by three men. now police are trying to track down those attackers. live in chelsea with the latest. >> good evening, dan, people in this neighborhood are freaked

happened around here before and that's why they don't go out after dark. >> i feel like that could happen, i have to be extra careful just because this happened and i feel really bad for the woman because she must be in a lot of pain and scared to death now. >> for karen padilla and her land lady, the news is terrifying. this young woman's land lady heard the entire thing. >> she could hear it and didn't know what direction was coming from. >> scary? >> yes, it's scary because i walk here all the time to go to the store, and coming home from school, by the time i get home it's really late. >> a woman in her 20's was jumped while walking home around 9:30. investigators say three young men came out of nowhere, beat her, kicked her, slashed her with a knife and took her money and took off. people around here scared for their safety and say enough is enough. >> know the enough light and look at the street. and that's how invited the very

>> it invites trouble? >> yeah, invite trouble. they have been trying-- we have been trying to fix this street. >> people say in this area that there isn't enough lights and they've been complaining about it for years and they're saying enough is enough. one woman we did speak to said she heard the entire attack. one men kept saying to the other men, let's go, let's stop, let's go. >> a rutland family searching for suspects after an alarming attack in their own yard. the family says they saw two men beating their dog with a stick. now, they say the injuries were so bad they had to rush that dog to the vet. and live in rutland with what the family is saying, john? >> well, that dog got to come home this evening, but it's still obviously injured.

stomach to even think that somebody would do that to my dog. >> alexis thibodeau brought her dog abby home sunday evening, but she's angry and appalled after she says abby was beaten with a stick on saturday. >> i don't know why or how or like why they would even do something to an animal. >> according to rutland regional animal control, two men were attacking the dog in front of alexis' home on maple avenue. her friend ran out after hearing the dog's cries, but the damage was done. >> originally her eye was swollen shut and you can see there's the blood in her eye and if you look at her face closely, she has the wounds on her face. >> two men jumped in their black sedan and sped off. the dog's injuries were severe enough, it was immediately taken to a vet. it appears this attack was targeted, but alexis believes it was random.

wasn't it both of my dogs? >> rutland animal control are still looking for the people who did this. if you have any information that might help, you're asked to give them a call. >> the patriots are gearing up for another afc championship game the fifth time in as many years that they're looking for a shot at the super bowl. the chiefs on home turf and they're waiting to learn who they'll play next. joe. >> the separates and fans are watching in a playoff this evening with the steelers and broncos battling in denver. if the broncos win, the pats head to denver themselves, next sunday for the game. if the steelers win, the pats will host at gillette stadium. either way they're trying to feel a whole lot better, with gronkowski looking to be a game changer, gronk reeled in two touchdowns despite missing practice leading up to yesterday's game with the knee and back issue. the patriots have their swagger back.

night, it's for real, that feeling of confidence is evident as they prepare for the afc title game. >> we feel good about ourselves and we know that if we play to our potential, that we're a tough team to beat so we have to continue to focus on playing well and executing and hopefully that will work out for us. >> take a look at the game film and look at the good and bad, neve as good as you think and never as bad as you think. always something to learn from the game. >> while the offense is clicking once again with gronk and julien back, the defense has to do something at third down. why they're having issues on third down sports extra, 7 news. >> we're following more news today, an emotional surprise for

matthew trefvick is homeward found bound. and they're happy he's coming home. the phone call this hingham mother was waiting on for more than a month. >> it was matt in the company of a swiss diplomate on the way out of iran. he was in an iranian prison for reasons unknown, but he was americans. couldn't be happier. >> it's been difficult, but we've had support from friends and family members and we were able to get through it and we appreciate the help that the u.s. government has done on this. they've been great all along. >> when americans are freed and reunited with their families, that's something that we can all celebrate. >> the president mentioned his name with those that were free. >> we were grateful that he mentioned him and as scott said we're enormously grateful to

worked to bring matt and others home. he was not part of the negotiated swap of prisoners between the u.s. and iran, but he was freed with the others. he had a passion for studies. he graduated in 2008 and immediately began overseas. he speaks arabic and worked at two universities in northern iraq and afghanistan. he was continuing his studies in iran learning the fa farsi language. >> he's passionate about the region. >> his parents say he's lost a little bit of weight, but told back. >> he wants some dunkin' donuts, we'll have that ready. >> nothing specialized, but iced coffee. that's right. >> a celebration long overdue. >> police are looking for leads

a man was shot just afternoon inside a home on fasten street. he was rushed to boston medical center and neighbors are wondering what sparked the violence. >> he's not a kid he'd be afraid of. he's from an excellent family and he's not a bad kid. i don't know what happened, i was in church and when i came home i couldn't get through the street. >> police are asking anyone with any information to come forward. >> and the investigation continues after a deadly crash in peabody late last night. this was the scene on route 1 near lowell street. police say a 46-year-old man was killed in the crash. the cause is still under investigation. >> a driver and passengers make a narrowest scape when their car explodes in avon. look at that. investigators say they were driving on route 24 south earlier this morning when they heard the car making a funny noise. they jumped out just before it went up in flames.

>> and a home went up in flames in easten this morning. and firefighters responded to the fire on gardner road. no word whether anybody was injured. turning now to the race for the white house. the democrats face off, gun control a hot topic expected. >> in the battle ground state of south carolina, the stage is set for the last democratic debate of this pre-primary season and hillary clinton is in attack mode. >> that senator sanders has for years voted many times on behalf of the n.r.a. gone lobby position. >> and says that he was for gun makers and liabilities before he was against it. >> he flip flopped last night and said that he would sign on to a bill. >> tonight's debate takes place a block from the charleston church where fine people were gunned down last june, but sanders says clinton's taking

poll numbers that have sanders gaining in iowa and leading in new hampshire. >> secretary clinton and her campaign understand that, you know, they're losing ground. >> and sanders promises to hit clinton on issues ranging on health care. >> to a corrupt campaign finance system where people like secretary clinton can raise millions of dollars through super pacs, those are the issues they don't want to discuss. >> for the third candidate on the stage, former governor martin o'malley, a simple mission, get a word in edge-wise as sanders and clinton go after each other. brian mohr, nbc news, washington. >> we'll have a full wrap-up and the political editor andy hiller will share his instinct. >> and neighbors in one neighborhood are feeling

>> a auburn n auburn neighborhood targeted. cleaning up after a dozen cars were damaged by bb pellets. tonight the residents are frustrated. >> now, they're hoping the shooter will be stopped. >> wow! >> an auburn neighborhood, spending their sunday cleaning up. >> what a mess. >> at least 20 car owners dealing with a big problem after police say someone shot out their windows with a bb gun. >> kids, fund out. >> mary told us she heard about the rash of vandalism, but was shocked to find out her car had been hit. >> stupid. >> and some sumner street and boise street were hit.

>> i had 'd rather be watching football. >> things happen and it could have been worse, nobody was in the car at the time and it could have been worse. >> tonight police are still searching for that vandal or vandals. anyone with information is asked to go ahead and give police a call. >> and i'm tracking the snow that is already starting to work into massachusetts and some of us may actually need that shovel for the first time as we get into the holiday forecast coming

here's the truth -- to cut social security for the elderly and disabled vets. i disagree. in fact, not only should we not cut benefits -- we should expand them. my plan for social security increases benefits and cost of living adjustments

for low-income seniors. it will ensure that all seniors can retire with dignity and respect. i'm bernie sanders, and i approve this message. >> well, here we go. the snow is coming so get those shovels ready. i know, like brie was saying, it may be the first time that many of us need to get the shovels out and maybe the snow blowers, even? >> i don't know, i wouldn't go that far. where we might see four inches

nevertheless, it's tricky to pinpoint where they'll be, a winter weather advisory for central mass and eastern mass and stretching through the sea coast of new hampshire, through 10 a.m. tomorrow for slick travel. so if you have a morning commute tomorrow, that will be really the spot for concern. we could see that snow starting to fill in, the pay state taking a closer look at the radar. you can see even into the city of boston, definitely through the south shore and maybe some wet flakes and rain out there as the temperatures are margely just above freezing or right at that mark and i've seen some reports of that more like wet flakes and also rain. that will be changing as the temperatures drop overnight tonight. amazingly, here is our system off the shore, to see the snowfall that's kind of the first round and then we get to arctic front that pushes through into the overnight hour and brings us much colder air and possibly more snow showers and

looking ahead through the time line, 7 through 10 p.m., it's tricky with the forecast models. >> it's hard to know where the heavier bands will be. favoring the coastal areas, north shore and south shore and track it through the evening hours, as we head into the overnight hours when most of us are sleeping, another round to the west and however, there's the potential to see a snow showers or a snow squall pop up into tomorrow afternoon which could reduce visibilities very quickly and drop a little bit of novell very quickly as well. so snowfall through tomorrow morning, very generally speaking, one to two inches for most of us, and you see the two to four. as i've explained before, four inches will be isolated. most of us closer to the two inch mark. nevertheless, you will want to shovel this because the colder air moving in behind it will

we get to mid week and even the end of the week. normal high 35. is it cold for january, yes, if you compare it to normal temperatures and we've really had above average temperatures. so this is a little bit of a change for us. tonight, those snow showers, we'll see two to four inches and we need to change that and as we head into tomorrow, early snow showers and those temps slowly fall. and the winds kicking in. monday, tuesday, wednesday as well so we're talking blustery conditions and wind chill zero. tomorrow afternoon in the mid to upper 20's, but it could feel like it's in the single digits to the teens. again, tomorrow afternoon when around. so, i'd say bundle up and get those shovels out just in case. bluster why i through wednesday and possible storm next weekend, but six days out a lot of uncertainty in this, but we will

>> and now time for seven sports. >> the patriots have to be quietly rooting for the steelers because hosting the afc championship game against pittsburgh is much more promising than travelling to denver. the way tom brady and the offense look, it might not matter. brady on the way to his 10th afc championship game. 300 yards since week 10, starting with 14 straight passes completed. on passes, he completed 11 # of them. 7's dare has more with the patriots and one win away from returning to the super bowl. >> despite not knowing who they'll play in the afc championship game. the patriots holding their first week. it's the fifth time in the last five years that they've been in

>> everything is at stake. it's one game to get a chance to play for a world championship. so, it's a special week, a lot of teams work hard to get to this point and not much had the chance to do it, so, it's pretty surreal that we've been able to play in this game five years in a row and we are really excited about it. we know how to manage our expectations and we know how to ignore some of the noise that's going on outside this building and just focus on playing football. that's really what it is, it's the same game that we played, pre-season game one and it's about playing football and execute at a high level. >> and matthew later is not concerned about who they're going to play. the biggest est gest concern on this sunday is changing diapers at home for his seven week old son. >> after reeling in a team high

questions about saying he couldn't discuss injuries and it included some early drops. >> i dropped some balls that i shouldn't have, trying to do stuff, trying to make a move before i caught it and you know, i had to slow down and get back to the fundamentals and i'm going to be working with those a lot this week. we played a complementary game as a team and, you know, we've got a lot of work to do. a lot of situations that we could have done a lot better on, but it was definitely good to go out there and get a win. >> we'll have complete patriots coverage on sports extra, including who they're matching up with. the boston herald's ron bourgess to take a look at it tonight at 11:25 on sports extra. >> there will not be a super

newton and the panthers. dominant first half performance olson putting that up. wilson trying to orchestrate a comeback, seattle outscores carolina 24-0 in the second half, but they can't recover the on-sidekick with just over a minute left. the panthers hold on 31-24 and will host arizona in the nfc championship game next sunday. >> gives it up to smart and crowder for two. missed it, and ball game. >> a wild sequence in washington as the celtics are in their third straight win last night at the buzzer. celtics finally closing out a close game earning their first win in a game decided by three points or less, they're 0-5 in

the bruins headed to their tuesday night showdown in montreal, bouncing back from the three-game slide with a second straight win beating toronto at the garden, and thanks to the go ahead goal with 47 seconds left in regulation. and right now the steelers are

>> and 7 news at 6:00. thanks for joining us.

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