you do?." >> larry: a plea deal tonight for a couple charged in the death of a toddler who was accidentally shot in their home. >> we need to be able to move on. >> larry: details from their plea and reaction. >> ashlea: the public weighed in tonight on duke's proposed natural gas fire plant. >> tell them to go back to the drawing board. >> ashlea: we are hearing questions and concern about the project. >> larry: and changes for the thomas wolf auditorium. >> it's fun to be there. >> ashlea: tonight, a look at the plans that are expected to cost millions. now from western north carolina's news leader, this is news 13 at 11:00. >> ashlea: a plea deal has been reached for a henderson county

>> larry: james and heather stepp were originally charged with manslaughter for the accidental shooting of abigail newman newman. >> ashlea: jerrika, they pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. >> jerrika: yes, they pleaded guilty to storage of a fire arm with access to children. the authorities say all parties agree with that plea deal. >> one of the guns were loaded on the table and i didn't know it. >> reporter: october 26th, that unspeakable tragedy happened. >> abigail was two years old at the time and the wound was fatal. very tragic situation. >> reporter: the toddler was accidentally shot by a shotgun the district attorney says was left on a table.

sentence, that's suspended, of course. they have to pay a fine. more important to me was that the weapons confiscated by the sheriff's office in the case must be forfeited. >> reporter: while pleading guilty to a misdemeanor might get the stepp's children back. >> this is something that both families are going to have to deal with really for the rest of their lives. clearly the parents of the child and clearly the stepps. this is just something that is tragic. they did not intend to happen. >> jerrika: as you've just heard the da say, the stepps' guns from forfeited to the sheriff's office. jerrika insco, news 13. >> larry: well this just in to the news room, one person has

haywood county. it happened just before 9 o'clock tonight near the clyde exit to the great smoky mountain expressway. the driver hit an embankment and was ejected from the vehicle. we don't know yet who the driver was yet. we'll bring you the latest information as soon as we get it. >> ashlea: a north carolina utilities commission is holding a hearing. the hearing is for the commission to listen to duke customers. news 13's aaron adelson has been inside the hearing. aaron, what are people saying tonight? >> aaron: mostly people are questioning if we need what duke proposes. this meeting on it's fifth hour now. still going. dozens of people signed up to speak. power plant will primarily be

units. a third back-up unit in the future. with the third, the plant would double the current plant's output. 15% in the next decade. most people have asked for more renewable energies. >> taking on huge costs to transition to natural gas makes no sense when cleaner, renewable technologies are ready now and will continue becoming more cost effective. >> we don't just build them for what we're seeing today. so we have to build these plants projecting a little bit out in to the future. >> aaron: duke commits to build some solar and wind energy output. but the application does not ask to do that now. they need to get rid of the old plant before figuring how much land there will be for solar panels. >> larry: partrtof the mountains are about to be under a freezing

>> ashlea: and there are several school closings and delays tomorrow. buncombe county is on a two hour delay. and henderson county is closed. a listing is scrolling on the bottom of your screen. >> jason: still rain in most cases. i've been monitoring this situation closely for you. temperatures stay above freezing in most cases now. you can see here in the leicester carpet sales news13 sky cam network downtown black mountain. still seeing light rain. it looks miserable. pretty much is. up. this is going to shift a little farther to the east. some steady and moderate rainfall coming down from macon county. you can see a clear distinction along i-26. much more significant amounts down toward the southwest. where 1/3 of an inch has fallen. temperatures holding in the 30s mostly in the mountains. and the freezing rain advisory

swain all the way up to avery county for some light ice accumulations. i think we stay above freezing in asheville. cloudy skies begin. 40 by the lunch hour with a little bit of sunshine. i'll show you much warmer weather and when it appears in the forecast. stick around. >> larry: while many of us are still shoveling snow, a mountain church is baling water. nearly the entire church was flooded with three inches of water. pastor and his congregation are determined to make sure the church bounces back. >> something big is coming on the way. you know. as far as, you know, through god, you know. some insurance companies call that an act of god or whatever. lawyers do. we're just looking for an act of god to make the building bigger and better.

will be held in the building next door. >> ashlea: wintery weather is still creating challenges for first responders across the mountains. enka candler firefighters say they're relying on four-wheel drive vehicles before pulling out tankers. one woman said they went above and beyond the call of duty. they shovelled the snow and ice off her stairs and carried her down to the ambulance which couldn't make it up the hill. >> you gotta have a love for that job. i mean, you really do. i just couldn't believe that. for them to be out there doing that with the weather like this is kind of incredible. >> ashlea: firefighters say when they have to chain their tires they can't drive faster than 35 miles an hour so it limits their response time. >> larry: the city planning committee received a report recommending big upgrades for the thomas wolf auditorium.

project. what is the cost, frank? >> frank: well a design firm out of chicago offered a wide range of $15 million for a relatively basic renovationon and then as much as $37 million to essentially gut it and start over. the question, is it worth it? >> it's a beautiful old building. it just is an old building. >> frank: constructed in 1939 first call the city auditorium. at a glance, it holds the aura of a grand theater venue. but look closely at peeling paint that often falls on to the audience below. a 70's era sound system hidden in the ceiling that no longer works. no one argues that thomas wolf is in serious need of repair.

building that would be worthy of this community in that old building. >> frank: it offers a glimpse of what a better access and amenities for the customer. also behind the scenes upgrades appealing to production companies. davis says it needs to follow the major renovation of the u.s. cellular center next door which was $13 million. he believes as much as 37 million for a total redo is worth it. >> compared to building a 80-90, $100 million stand alone building, it's a good repair and it's one that will take us in through a good bit of the future. >> i think we have the opportunity to be the nashville of the east. >> frank: josh stak is part of

he says a new and improved thomas wolf will go beyond. >> musicals and one-night things that in the current condition the venue might not be able to support. the auditorium deserves to have a new skin and attracts more economic stimulus to the area. >> frank: speaking of economics. who pays for the renovation? now the main arena here was done through a combinanaon of city, county, private and tourism dollars. and also the issue of naming rights. that happened here with u.s. cellular center. there could be naming rights here with or without the name thomas wolf. that's the question there. reporting live in asheville, frank kracher, news 13. >> ashlea: a mountain rescue following the winter storm. a wlos technical engineer was stranded on mount pisgah monday while working near our

he was about 400 feet down an embankment embankment. a black hawk helicopter was flown to the scene. he was in good condition and did not need any treatment. >> larry: donald trump says no thanks to those hosting an upcoming debate. how rival ted cruz is responding to that news. >> ashlea: we've got breaking

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>> larry: breaking news in oregon tonight. shots have been fired in the arrest of an armed militia group. one person who was the subject of a probable cause arrest was killed. the leader, amon bundy and five others were arrested this afternoon. bundy's group seized the headquarters of a wild life rescue. we'll keep you updated on this situation right here on wlos.com and on news 13 app as soon as we get more information. >> ashlea: and donald trump has found a stage he doesn't want to stand on. he's been teasing whether or not

and now we know. >> larry: tonight, one of his rivals is throwing down the gauntlet. brandi hitt has the latest. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the next president of the united states, donald j. trump. >> let's see how much money fox is going to make on the debate without me. okay. >> reporter: trump's campaign now confirming he is bailing out of thursday's republican debate in iowa with the return of moderator megyn kelly. >> your twitter account has several disparaging comments about women's looks. >> reporter: ted cruz saying the frontrunner dropping out of the debate shows a lack of respect for voters. and he issued this challenge. >> if he's unwilling to stand on the debate stage with other candidates then i'd like to invite donald right now to

with me between now and the iowa caucuses. >> i don't know what he is. >> reporter: on theemocratic side, both bernie sanders and hillary clinton's campaigns are energized. and also concerned about voter turnout next monday. >> we will win here in iowa if the voter turnout is high. >> if you go to the caucus on monday night and stand up for me there, i will work my heart out for you as your president. >> reporter: brandi hitt, abc news. >> larry: jason, some areas to

>> jason: yeah, a little freezing rain. that may complicate matters in the morning for the morning commute. otherwise rain continues for most areas. and we'll have that icy start for some. i'll show you where. when will that rain end completely? i'll show you when, too. the threat for ice non-existent in asheville. 40 by the lunch hour. 44 by the end of the day towards drop-off. i'll show you bigger changes that lie ahead towards the weekend. >> ashlea: and things get tense

weather. >> jason: as i mentioned earlier in the show, we're monitoring the situation closely. these temperatures close to freezing in some cases. i still think a lot of the moisture is going to be out of here once we get to freezing in those areas farther north. nonetheless, there are the showers still coming in. we still have that band of moisture to deal with. farther south there's moderate rain for you. all the way in to brevard and stretching in to southern haywood county. pretty decent showers.

30% chance of any lingering moisture. dropping those chances significantly thursday, friday, saturday. don't expect any measurable rain those days. we begin to warm up in the weekend. 38 degrees right now. light showers around. no wind. that's a good thing. it's already cold and damp enough. any wind would really hinder any warm-up. 50 degrees in greenville. cloudy. no rain just yet but you're on the way of seeing rain. the rain will linger longer through the day thursday for you. wednesday you'll see that shower activity as well. there's the cold front on the move tonight and tomorrow. slowly making its way east ward and agonizingly slow process to clear you out in the upstate and piedmont. it's going to be an interesting go. certainly more rain down there early in the day. a little bit of a system coming in thursday night in to friday. and kick up those winds as well. there's the future cast overnight tonight. showers moving east. by midnight, there they are lining up across the blue ridge

notice the upstate here, 6 o'clock in the morning, 85 corridor, morning rush going to be a little wet. those clouds will linger there before getting a little bit of sunshine. mostly clear skies thursday and early friday. sunshine on the way. rainfall amounts not that impressive. a quarter to half an inch south. temperatures in the 30s tonight. again, it's going to be chilly. cold enough for freezing drizzle. highs tomorrow should climb back in to the 40s. mid 40s in asheville. look for 50s. and in to thursday, we'll warm it up a bit more. friday is cold at 40 degrees. 60s return for the weekend. how about that? saturday and sunday. even monday into tuesday, we're talking highs in the 60s. we'll call that chilling before thrilling. yeah, there you go. temperatures in the upstate getting colder, too, the next

eventually you're back in the 60s for the weekend.

mostly sunny skies saturday >> ashlea: four people were arrested today during a meeting at unc chapel hill.

the the protestors were charged with disrupting an official meeting. they objected to spellings work for george w bush and with her work with university of phoenix. part of a highway was shut down today because of a water main break. it happened in lake forest. the road itself started to break away from the pressure. a detour was set up while authorities got it fixed. >> larry: after a couple of days of phone calls, e-mails and meetings things have fallen in to place for a big super bowl rally in charlotte. organizers are expecting a huge crowd. >> we expect the park to be full. we're guessing that there will be thousands of people in the park for this rally.

being worked out such as which panthers players will take the stage to fire up the fans. unc asheville tries to keep their share of first place in the big south.

presbyterian tonight at kimball >> stan: four-way tie for first in the big south for women's hoops. presbyterian at unc asheville. they are 7 and 2 along with gardner webb and liberty. lady bulldogs ready to play. kayla webb will find shatori major. asheville leads 19-12. later in the game, it's sonora vindoekel.

this time from way outside. another triple. unc asheville wins 68-59. they're now tied forirst with liberty. the flames beat the other first place team, gardner webb tonight. make it 14. bryant crawfwfd finishes the dunk on the other end. kevin thomas, drives, puts it in. about a minute 20 to go. here comes virginia, malcolm from the corner. down to four. now down to one. now three seconds to go. they get it in the corner. watch this shot. it's good at the buzzer. what a shot. and that's your game winner as darius thompson kills the deecons.

first place christ school at asheville christian academy. two great players. hits the jumper but the lions trail 55-45. a couple of plays later, the big crowd goes even crazier because shepherd will drive. cash knocks down to three. that cuts the lead to single digits. fourth quarter, though, belonged to the greenies. william fleming will find john folkerson. jam. christ school starts to pull away. couple plays later, folkerson lays down. watch what he does with it. one hand, two hand. christ school wins 76-56. >> it means a lot. it helps our team confidence wise headed in to our conference tournament.

know we can beat them. >> stan: prep basketball affected in buncombe, henderson and asheville city schools. girls 64-44. mus . >> ashlea: stan, every time i see you, virginia just did poorly. tonight, i'm like i totally redeemed myself. >> stan: and what a way to win. >> jason: weather goes a little cooler tomorrow. you'll notice clouds lingering through early afternoon. we get a 50/50 sun and clouds. 44 degrees for the high. look at that chill down. there's a 20 degree difference >> larry: crazy. we'll take it. thank you for joining us tonight. remember you could always check us out on wlos.com.