my wife is in the hospital. and i think buncombe county should be responsible. >> larry: why some parents say the school system put families at risk. >> darcel: our weather team coverage at 6 starts now. now from western north carolina's news leader, this is news 13 at 6. >> darcel: news 13 has our team of meteorologists and reporters tracking the very latest at this hour with the snow. >> larry: : 're going to hear from parents who are upset. and a heads up from police that black ice is expected. >> jason: we've got a winter storm watch that's already been issued from 7 o'clock tomorrow evening to 7:00 a.m. in the morning. we're talking sigigficant snow and ice. we gotta throw that ice in the equauaon because there is going to be cold enough air to produce

right now we've got our storms exiting. it's mostly light snow but still falling in some of the highest elevations. certainly a couple to several inches on the ground.. 20s and 30s for temperatures now. it's cold enough, folks. we are talking black ice a big issue tonight. even though the roads have been treated in many cases, there's still a lot of water on the roads that will refreeze in some cases. this is our first storm moving out. here's our second storm moving in tomorrow evening. it's going to be a big one. down to 29 by 11. >> zack: jason had mentioned that there's certainly more snow on the way. let up for the moment but there's certainly some ice to be concerned with if you're heading home or out this evening. snow chances for indeedthursday and friday. it's a wintery mix. it's going to be starting off

then we're going to transition things to snow. but the roadways is certainly going to be a topic of conversation that we're going to get for the next 74 hours. saturday, we start to slow things down. i think there's still something we want to monitor. by the afternoon hours, that's when we start to break up the system. now the wind is also going to be picking up just a little bit. but we are going to be monitoring that and certainly going to bring you more information on wlos for the next few days. >> larry: thank you, zack. we already have school closings for tomorrow. you're going to see them running on the bottom of your screen. >> darcel: a buncombe county school bus parents are angry at district officials for putting families on dangerous roads by not cancelling classes. >> larry: news 13's ashlea surles has more on that story. ashlea, the district is standing by their decision.

they say they made the best decision they could based on the information this morning. >> it was just going down the hill at a pretty safe speed and the ice got the better of us. >> it just kind of started going sideways down the hill. i kind of screamed a little bit. my heart was a little in my knees, in my feet. i was very, very panicked. there. and so if it goes off the side, it can roll down that hill. so yeah. and i've seen lots of cars do that. >> ashlea: kids were kept inside the parked bus. and kids were notified they could trek down the hill and

wanted. dot crews salted the road. in just about an hour, the bus was able to continue on its route. >> i kind of wished they had just canceled school. >> we got a phone call saying they were releasing school early. then we got another call later that the kids were going to be dropped off at the end of our road, which is two miles away. that we had to go get our kids. well the road was solid ice. >> ashlea: by this afternoon, his wife was at mission hospital. she hit a patch of ice and slammed the family truck in to the tree on the way to pick her three kids up at the bus stop. >> my truck has damage. my wife's in the hospital. and i think buncombe county should be responsible. >> ashlea: now this morning there was also a second incident

school bus. it happened in black mountain. a hit and run driver rear-ended the school bus. there was minor damage. they were able to hunt down that driver and cite him. they say that was not weather related. >> darcel: our team coverage continues with the look at snow in our western counties. rex hodge found quite a bit of it in both haywood and jackson counties. rex, how are people responding to it? >> rex: until today we haven't had much of it so some are welcoming it. a lot of students either didn't have to go to school at all or they got out early. if you're driving in this stuff, it could be very nerve racking. during some heavy snow fall at midday, dot plows were running east and west to keep up.

to pause and reroute. folks buying snow melt, shovels, insulation and sleds. >> hopefully we'll get a little bit more. get stocked up real good. hopefully we'll sell a lot of it. >> rex: law enforcement advises caution on the roads, of course, bridges and overpasses. and leave plenty of time to get to where you're going and plenty of space between you and the next vehicle. the experts say there are things you should have in your car including blankets, shovel, flashlights, and extra batteries for those flashlights, and also a spare cell phone in case you have to call help on 911. also extra winter clothes can help. a first aid kit, food and drink if you get stranded for anytime.

haywood county, rex hodge, news 13. >> larry: and be sure to stay with news 13 as we follow what's happening with this snow. we'll be posting updates on our facebook and twitter pages as well as wlos.com. also on our website, you can sign up for text alerts for school closings, weather and traffic alerts. >> darcel: an update now. new charges are filed against a candler man accused of scamming home owners. marshall adam spears is now charged. the charges stem from work never completed at homes. one victim says she paid spears more than $2,000 to redo her deck and roof and he only nailed down a few boards. the sheriff's office is now looking for more victims. >> we are asking people, anyone that might have come in contact with mr. spears who might have had work done my mr. spears and he hasn't completed that work to

>> darcel: spears is scheduled to appear in court on another charge. >> larry: a restaurant in downtown asheville is implementing a no tipping system. the owners of blue dream curry house says it helps them provide a living wage to their employees. it also closes the pay gap between kitchen employees and servers. they say feedback has been great so far especially from customers who understand how tips supplement worker's wages. >> it takes a team. servers aren't the only ones responsible for great service, great food. it's the entire team. the whole group works to make that happen. >> larry: servers will now make 12.50 an hour. that's the living wage in asheville. all employees will also split a bonus based on the restaurant's monthly sales. >> darcel: asheville is in search of a consultant to help

problem. the idea is to develop a strategy based largely on research of other cities. what they do and which aspects might work best for asheville. the plan is intended to include everything from improved technology to possible changes in hours and pricing. officials say while there have been studies done in the past, this one is different. >> usually when you do a parking study it's to say can i put a parking garage in x or y. in this case we're trying to get something that will help us develop strategies that we want to use in the next ten years. >> darcel: another plan is parking lot satellite. there's really a wide range of why people do this. >> larry: the state of solar. the impact on the industry after north carolina ends its tax

ne >> darcel: the new year may bring some new challenges for the solar industry. >> larry: can the business survive the loss of north carolina's tax credit. >> darcel: our frank fraboni is with us. are they worried? >> frank: local members of the industry are certain they're not going anywhere. workers installing solar panels on a home in pisgah forest are convinced their business has a bright and sunny future. >> part of the reason i got in this industry is because i feel it has a big . >> frank: there's still the federal government 30% tax another five years. >> this is an industry that's here to stay.

people still want this technology to help with energy needs, protect the environment and save money. >> there's really a wide range of why people do this. >> frank: including the value solar panels can add to your home. >> there's now a way for appraisers to officially give valley to these systems on people's homes. >> frank: the industry now boasts a nationwide work force of more than 209,000 employees. more workers, they say than oil and gas construction, which has been on the declinin >> as long as you're okay to be on the roof it's not overly hard. >> frank: utility skilled developers build five megawatt or 30 acre farms and bigger. last year the company had roughly 28 projects. the most since opening its doors in 2006. we will build as much or more in

he says the credit helped get the business off the ground. and now it's so large, the value of the energy it produces can sustain the industry. >> the cost of solar has come down probably 65% in the last five years. >> frank: lower costs combined with environmental concerns some believe will continue to keep solar climbing. >> we see still an incredible interest in solar. >> frank: some solar industry representatives admit cheap gas and oil is creating a short-term head win in solar. if you have a story you'd like us to investigate, you can write us here at reality check at wlos.com. larry, darcel. >> larry: we have a lot going on with the weather this evening. >> darcel: lots of snow to track, jason. >> jason: oh yeah, there's even more data coming in that we're now tweaking the forecasts. snow totals aren't going down,

19 to start this morning. that's why we had the black ice issues. more of those issues tonight. black ice in the high elevations mostly. warmer tomorrow. but then our winter walop comes our way. here are the heaviest snow events. the blizzard stands out.

we're going to get now your news 13 skywatch weather. >> jason: well i mentioned before the break that we are going to tweak those forecast snow totals and that's because we are seeing new data come in. thursday overnight, the rain and freezing rain begin to mix. and then towards dawn friday, we already have freezing rain and sleet changing to snow as early as late morning. maybe even sooner than that. the afternoon on friday is going to

that's going to last right in to saturday. be prepared for dangerous and impossible travel at this point. don't get out unless you have to. have an emergency kit if you absolutely havavto travel. something like a blanket, of course in there, food, water, cell phone, batteries and a flash light along with a shovel. be prepared for power outages as well. when you throw ice on top of heavy wet snow, we're certainly going to see a lot of weighing down of those trees and branches breaking off. we've got a gfs model, the american model which has been the one that keeps the storm to the north. if that does happen, we're going to see more of an icing event initially through the heart of the blue ridge from asheville, north of charlotte up in to southern virginia. but that snow is probably a go for you all throughout the event in to higher elevations across western north carolina stretching up in to the shanendoa river valley in to

then you get in toain farther south of there. this is still the gfs model showing the back side of it for asheville. but the european model is colder. it goes south in the track. less ice and more snow with this track. and so we're blending the two but thinking more is going to be the idea here when it comes to snowfall and even ice accumulation. so tonight, no weather worries. in fact, skies may clear out a little bit. keep in mind the black ice may be an issue. here's 9 o'clock. already seeing the moisture come up. some of this will be rain. notice the pink and the blue, that indicates where a mix of freezing sleet and snow will be. it looks like sleet, freezing rain and snow and changing to snow and snowing off and on. big time snow bands working through friday and through the evening.

impossible to get around by friday evening. 18 inches plus, that includes the balsams, macon county, southern haywood. in to northeast buncombe. it includes northern mcdowell. it also include's northern burke. in the royal blue, much of western north carolina. that's eight to 12 inches of snow. in this turquoise, southern rutherford, back over to southern mountain valleys. then you have to deal with ice on top of that. we could see up to a quarter inch of freezing rain and sleet mix up. that's really going to complicate things and cause just impossible travel by late friday in to the afternoon. 20s for lows tonight in the area. our temperatures will be in the 40s for highs tomorrow. we'll get above freezing. but our temperatures will certainly get colder as the

even though we get above freezing on friday, i think that number may come down because the snow will fall pretty heavily. zack, this is going to be one for the books. >> zack: i think it may. upwards of maybe 20 inches at times. >> jason: the european has held true and that's usually the one that we hone in on because the gfs model has had its issues. >> jason: now we're seeing that shift go down a little further if it keeps picking up that certainly going to have an issue. >> jason: back over to you guys. >> darcel: a big move for one of

luke tells us which school will >> luke: north henderson high school announced today that head coach whity had stepped down. in just a short time this afternoon, the previous head coach at roberson who resigned. dimwitty spent the last

record last year. the first winningest season since 2000. panthers quarterback cam newton as their mvp and as their offensive player in the year in the nfl. this is not the official nfl mvp award but it's still great for cam newton. the first quarterback ever to have 35 passing touchdowns and ten rushing touchdowns in one season. a spot in the nfc championship game against the arizona cardinins this sunday. coach is counting his blessings. it's made for a winning combination for the panthers all season. >> i couldn't ask for two better young players in luke and cam. to me it's tremendous that we're in that type of a situation that on both sides of the ball you have your primary leader. that's great for any coach.

arizona cardinals scheduled to kick off in the nfc championship game sunday night in charlotte. that should be fun. they hope to stay that way. the bulldogs will need to win at high point tonight in the battle for that top spot in the conference. asheville entering the day with a record of 6 and 1. tonight will be a big challenge. asheville will tip off at high point tonight at 7 o'clock. here's a look at the big south conference standings. winthrop in fourth with coastal carolina in fifth place. carolina at 5 and o in the acc off to its best conference start since roy w wliams has been the head coach. several players who can score a

game. unc and lake will kick off tonight. looking forward for some inside basketball tonight. >> jason: a little break tonight and early tomorrow. then it's back to the storm. winter storm warnings for many of us.