jay siltzer good morning. here is a look at current conditions across the region. your day planner shows temperatures warming by noon. coming up, i'll show you our 7- day forecast for both the mountains and upstate. 3 3 3 3 3 it is the biggest single day in the presidential primary and it is already underway. as reid binion reports, hillary clinton and donald trump are poised for super tuesday wins. 3 3

3 stick with news 13. we will continue to cover super tuesday throughout the rest of our morning show. you can find complete election coverage on our website ... wlos dot com. we have an "election 2016" page where you can view upcoming events and the latest from the campaign trail. 3 3 the buncombe county democratic party hosts a town hall with 20-16 candidates. about 50 people showed up to meet candidates for county and state elections yesterday. the candidates explained a little about themselves and why they are running which is what voters say they came for. 3 "i'm new to asheville, just moved here, so i want to see who these people are and educate myself." the north carolina primary is march 15th except for the races for congress. their primary was

districts were redrawn by court order. 3 3 3 starting today, you can expect to pay more for many services in north carolina. that's because sales tax is now added to labor costs. news 13's lauren brigman joins us. lauren, where you live makes a difference when it comes to the sales tax rate you pay? the state sales tax rates range from 6-point-seven-five percent to seven-and-a-half percent... and vary by county. for example, a car repair that includes 200-dollars in labor fees... will now cost up to fifteen-dollars more. 3 this measure passed during last general session and is part of the state's new budget. you can expect to pay more to hire someone to repair your home or vehicle... among other services. the sales tax even expands to things like clothing and shoe repairs... as well as professional car wash detailing. it is estimated that the tax will generate almost 85- million-dollars in revenue. the new tax is part of the republican efforts to reduce

favor taxes based on consumer transactions. 3 coming up at 6, i'll tell you where legislators say that money will go. jay... back to you. 3 3 3 deputies in mcdowell county are searching for a missing woman, and a man her family believes played a part in her disappearance. melanie burleson was reported missing friday. her family says the 36-year-old mother of two was last seen at a party with walter mitchell. he has a long criminal history in the area. mitchell has gone to jail for accessory to murder and kidnapping. he has also been arrested for assault three times. 3 i'm fearing that he has hurt her really bad or even maybe killed her, i don't know. it's just this is so out of melanie's character, it's so not like her that's why we're all so worried.3 deputies say mitchell is not a suspect in the case but is wanted for questioning. he did not show up for a court date yesterday morning in an unrelated case. if you have any information, contact law enforcement. 3

asking investigators to reopen a case ruled a suicide last summer. felicia reeves was found hanging in the bathroom of a motel in new jersey. a week before, she went missing from the rainbow motel in hendersonville. her family says her disappearance was uncharacteristic and evidence on her autopsy was blatantly wrong. cacalina public press reporter frank taylor found more discrepancies. 3 frank taylor, carolina public press reporter at the end of the day, i can't tell you that they will investigate further and not find that this was in fact a suicide. but i don't believe that enough questions have been asked by those in authority.3 the carolina public press has compiled a google map that trails her final moves. you can read their entire investigation on our web site... wlos dot com. 3 3 3 happening today... leaders of the n- double a c-p will hold a press conference in raleigh, in response to an officer involved shooting. yesterday uring a chase, a white police officer in raleigh shot and killed a black man wanted on drug charges. family members say

after the shooting, a small group of protesters started chanting "black lives matter." the police chief says a gun was found near the suspect, and promises a thorough investigation. 3 3 an asheville man is behind bars accused of tasing two police officers. ronald patton is charged with assaulting an officer and resisting arrest. it happened saturday when officers tried to arrest patton on an outstanding warrant. they say he became violent and grabbed a stun gun from one of the officers. warrants say he tased one officer in the head, and the other in the torso. they suffered only minor injuries. 3 3 a man from mitchell county is sentenced to prison after he was found guilty of statutory rape. jeffery dye will spend up to 30byears behind bars for sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl when he was 23. dye must also register as a sex offender after he is released from prison. 3 3 3 3 in this morning's newsreel... a virginia man is expected to plead guilty of the murders of two college students. "jesse

with killing 18-year-old hannah graham and 20-year-old morgan harrington. prosecutors say they were planning to seek the death penalty if the case went to trial. matthew is already serving three life sentences for sexual assault. 3 authorities in peru say thay are sending the military to help areas affected by floods that hit the country over the weekend. scientists blame el nino for the heavy rains and severe flooding. several areas of the country were impacted. peru's ministry of defense says it will deploy 250 soldiers to help clean up and rebuild damaged towns. 3 american astronaut scott kelly will return to earth along with two russian cosmonauts today. kelly is wrapping up a full year on board the international space station. he now holds the american record for time spent in orbit. the capsule is set to land in kazakhstan at about 11:45 tonit... our time. 3 3 3 3 we have an early bird gets the win giveaway this morning! we are giving away a family four pack of tickets to dollywood! just go to facebook

the winner will be announced just before 7 this morning. and coming up, we will get an inside look at the exciting new roller coaster coming to the theme park! 3 3 3 google is admiting one of its robot cars played a part in a crash. coming up... what the car was trying to avoid, when it hit a bus. 3 and news 13 wants to hear from you so we can continue to tell relevant and meaningful stories. go to wlos dot com and click-on the "your voice" news survey to share your

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3 it's 5:xx. let's take a look at business headlines. stocks slide at the start of the week. the dow was down 123 points yesterday to end trading at 16-thousand 516. the nasdaq was down 32 points ending at 45-57. 3 3 as consumers shift more to online purchases, retailers must figure out what number of

best for their business. so far this year, walmart announced it would close 154 us stores, macy's will close 36 and sears will speed up the closure of 50 stores. however, smaller specialty chains like h&m are on the rise. they offer a rapid turnover of stylish, yet inexpensive items. 3 a google self driving car has the first accident in which the car was at fault. according to the california d-m-v, on february 14th a self-driving lexus s-u-v was testing the streets when it struck a bus. the google car was looking to move into the left lane to avoid sand bags placed in the right lane. the car anticipated an approaching bus would slow down, but it did not. there were no injuries, just some damage to the google car's fender. 3 gatti says it 3 is about to break the record for the fastest car in the world. the french carmaker

yesterday at the geneva motor show. it is called the chiron (chee-ron). and bugatti promises it will be faster and more powerful than all its previous models. we still don't know *how* fast it can go but it's been capped at 260- miles-per-hour for road use. the price tag... two-point-six- million-dollars. 3 3 3 "i thought hey at least i get to enter, right? so we just came in here and mind blown."3 a big moment for some young students. how they left a mark on the henderson county sheriff's office. 3

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bloodhound puppies. the henderson county sheriff's office stopped by clear creek elementary school yesterday with two new members of his team... and to announce their new names. meet "echo charlie foxtrot" and "bailey lola snifferdoodles" they are four months old, and deputies in training. their names were chosen by the students through a contest. fifth grader lillian stone says she was shocked to find out deputies picked her submission.. "snifferdoodle". 3 i thought hey at least i get to enter, right? so we just came in here and mind blown. i win and i walk up there, my hands are shaking and everything just in my mind is just flashing.3 members of the sheriff's office say the visit is just as important for the puppies, who will need lots of socialization before

3 3 3 3 here is a look at what you can expect for the next three days. 3 3 3 sharing the rarest of birthdays. the local triplets who defied huge odds to be born on february 29th. >> i'm alex trebek. if you're age 50 to 85, please listen carefully. the lock i want to talk to you about isn't the one on your door. it's a rate lock

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with no obligation.3 a new ride is coming to dollywood! it is called the "lightning rod", and is the world's first "launched" wood roller coaster. joining us

dollywood. wes, thanks for being here. what exactly is a

coaster? when will it open 3 up? how fast does it go? when the director takes the video, wes when the director how fast does it go? up? when will it open 3 up? how fast does it go? 3 how fast does it go? up? how fast does it go? when the director takes the video, wes will talk us through the ride. 3 3

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>> now, in high definition, from the western north carolina's news leader, this is news 13 this morning. >> >> holly: if you want to get a little nutty today, it's perfectly okay. today is national peanut butter lovers day. >> jay: there is even a web site dedicated to the day. >> ingrid: did you know peanut butter is consumed in 90% of u.s. households. i love peanut butter. >> jay: i do, too. your favorite brand? >> ingrid: the natural crunty. >> holly: we do peter pan. >> ingrid: let's talk weather

we are not talking rain but we will. we have clouds to start. 8 a.m., 43 degrees up from the 30s which we are at right now in some locations. 54 at 10 a.m. and lunchtime 59 and we will start to see some rain fall later on this afternoon. but, who can see some severe storms? i will tell you in just a few minutes. heads up for drivers in weaverville, a new construction project may impact your commute, jaclyn? >> jaclyn: right, a portion of ox creek road is near the elk mountain scenic parkway. dot plans to reopen thursday evening but keep in mind if you live in weaverville or southeast of weaverville, that might slow you down a little bit. getting a look at travel time, things are slow on patton avenue, i-240 westbound is slow, traffic is slowing between the bowen bridge and i-40 this morning. gets a closer look at i-40, things are looking good from haywood county to buncombe county. it will take you 25 minutes to get from the maggie valley exit to smoky park highway.