good evening, everyone, thank you for joining us. i'm jean mackin. tom: and i'm tom griffith. today's rain is part of a pattern that has helped ease our drought. but new hampshire is still facing very difficult conditions. jean: let's start with chief millions mike haddad to see how much rain fell today. mike: a general third to half% inch of rain. the good news now, queen city, from londonderry towards seabrook and points south and southwest, that's where the extreme drought right now, that means 20 to 30% in the rainfall deficit in that part of the state. the lower rain deficits farther north, severe drought, then moderate, then abnormally dry in the great north woods. take a look at the stats in concord. rainfall so far in year now up to 27.71 inches, that's only six

the year. so basically that means we're running about 19% below the average for this time of year. in terms of what's happening for the steady rain, that's shifting out. a little drizzle, light showers to north, before we do get the sun back during part of your friday. do we see any more rain as we go into the weekend with him all of that straight ahead. tom: while today's rain may help to improve drought conditions, the state is still asking everyone to keep conserving water as we head into winter time. why more wells are expected to go dry. reporter: the significant rainfall we've seen over the last few weeks has improved drought conditions statewide and now bodies of water like the merrimack river are finally starting to get back to normal levels after months without any real rain. in the past week alone stratford and merrimack counties are finally out of the extreme drought zone. the seacoast and southern most

less than 5% of new hampshire is now experiencing extreme drought conditions. this month's rainfall helps, but we would need another 30 days just like it to get out of the a severe drought. >> we would encourage residents to conserve water. they need to understand that when the ground freezes in the middle of december, whatever they have in their wells is what they're going to have available throughout the winter. reporter: well companies across the state have been fielding calls for months for people with dried up wells or broken pumps. live in manchester,. jean: an instreak in race for new hampshire's first congressional district and that

josh mcelveen will be moderating this matchup of three candidates tonight. he's joining us live from st. anselm college. josh? josh: stop me if you've her this before, jean. tonight on the stage, frank guinta, and carol shea-porter. this is their fourth matchup. but is there an independent greet this time around, sean o'connor has been making a late independent, in an incampaign as he tries to up end things and change the revolving door we've seen in the first c.d. tonight's debate is very important to all the campaigns, latest poll numbers according to wmur, shea-porter is leading. o'connor is well behind at 13%. but in an election cycle where the numbers and polls have been

happen. there's a lot of issues that need to be covered tonight, no question about that. and it will also be interesting to see how many people turn out in support of these folks. we'll check in with adam sexton outside the institute of politics where they should be setting up. reporter: interesting manifestation of how this race is maying out in the sign game. this time it's more subdued and there's a folks are here with their signs and it's just about equal between all three groups between guinta's people and shea porter's people she has a little more. certainly guinta has had his problems. but again as i was saying, we're seeing how this race has had the air sucked out of it by the

their primaries and things like that. but they're getting loud and we're likely to see some firefighters out here later. one of the things to keep in mind, no love lost between shea-porter and guinta, that's played itself out here in the past with sharp elbows with the signs, but today so far pretty civilized. josh: let's hope it stays that way. the debate is at 7:00 tonight, carol shea-porter, the guinta and they'll be joined by the incandidate sean o'connor. for now live at st. anselm college, josh mcelveen, back to you. tom: okay. five days before the election, josh, and the race for the white house remains neck and neck. a new wbur poll shows that donald trump is one point ahead of hillary clinton in new hampshire. and that is a notable change from the last wbur poll three weeks ago, which showed clinton

the new poll also gives gary johnson 10 points with the green party's jill stein at three points. those numbers are well within the margin of error, which is why new hampshire remains a key stop on the campaign trail. donald trump's daughter was in the state today, ivanka trump toured the founders academy charter school in manchester speaking with student there's. she also appear at a town halle vent in hollis and wrap up her visit as a campaign office in nashua. some well-known clinton in new hampshire today. scandal actress, bellamy young and al franken, franken says one of the reasons he believes in hillary clinton is her life long commitment to helping others. >> she grew up very religious as a methodist, and i think that she takes that gospel seriously, which is what you do for the least of these you do for me. tom: we're going to see a lot of familiar faces including the

donald trump will return to new hampshire tomorrow for an event in atkinson. chel i clinton will also be here tomorrow to campaign for her mother at keene state college and dartmouth college. on monday, president obama will be at u.n.h. to campaign for clinton. and then trump will be right on his heels for an election eve rally at southern new hampshire university aarena. jean: donald trump's wife me man yeah made melania made her first speech today. the candidates headed to the same state today. reporter: as election season winds down, the campaigns are gearing up. >> let's make sure that we win on tuesday and we prove love trumps hate. >> with your vote we are just five days away from the change

entire life. reporter: and both candidates are leaning heavily on their biggest supporters. hillary clinton backed by president obama. >> make no mistake, florida, all the progress we've made goes out the window if we don't win this election. reporter: and donald trump supported by his wife melania trump. >> i come here today to talk about my husband donald. reporter: in her long awaited speech, melania addresses the crowd in pennsylvania solo for the first time in the general election campaign. integrity to washington and respect for america abroad. this is not an ordinary campaign. it is a movement. reporter: both candidates wrap up the day in north carolina. a key swing state in a race that's locked in a tie. the latest abc news "washington post" national tracking poll shows clinton holding a two-point lead with 47 to

groups are more separated than ever. 22 points divide men and women, that's more than double the norm. and there's a 65-point gap between whites and nonwhites. jean: the town of perfect mack is getting out the word before tuesday about changes to its polling places. the goal is to prevent this, voters stuck in traffic for more than an hour to cast their ballots. jennifer crompton is live with what reporter: merrimack now has three polling places instead of just one. the town moderator says there will still likely be lines but nothing like voters experienced in february. merrimack officials have a plan to avoid this from happening again. last february locals hoping to vote in the first in the nation primary were backed up on route 3, some waiting more than an hour to make it to the town's only polling location.

all day long. and there was nothing we could do at that point. reporter: things had run well four years earlier when they switched to the high school as the only site. but this time a change to traffic pattern threw things into chaos. >> we kept to polls open as long as we could so people could get there after 7:00 and we just did the best we could. reporter: now they've switched back to three locations, the upper elementary school that was used for years local church, and now the new middle school. >> this map has been post all over town. reporter: their concern is that with some street assignment changes, people may show up at the wrong polling place. a dry run went well in september. but with only a tenth of the number of voters expected to turn out tuesday. do you think people are excited to vote? >> i'm not sure excited is the word i would use.

based on the number of people here. reporter: now the town has sent mailers and posted signs urging people to check which location they're assigned to, that double checking is something people in every community are urged to do. live in the studio, jennifer crompton, wmur news 9. jean: thanks. we have much more election coverage ahead, but first a former granite state fire chief faces a judge as part of an arson and their fans enjoying their first day as world series champions in more than 100 years.

imagine if hillary clinton wins the white house... then what? liberal carol shea-porter? she'll be a rubber stamp for clinton's agenda.

and you know their agenda: higher taxes. more government spending. and a weaker national defense. only frank guinta will put new hampshire first. that's the key difference in this race. frank guinta. he's on our side. i'm frank guinta and i approved this message. darien: why have the latest smartphone if you can't use it wherever you go? switch to u.s. cellular for our best plan yet: 7 gigs of data per line for only $49.

or video chat at your secret fishing spot... all for just $49. the best part? we put towers in places the other guys don't. because u.s. cellular thinks you deserve a signal that works wherever you are. switch to u.s. cellular and get a whopping 7 gigs of data per line for only $49. jean: traffic watch time. let's see how things are moving out there on this rainy thursday. we'll start with live pictures looking other 293 in manchester. a little slow going southbound near exit 5. tom: peggy james joins us live

commute. peggy: good evening, tom and jean. one note for you for our friends up in tilton, there's still a partial road closure going on on school street while they work on restoring a pole that's down. 93 north hasn't been too bad coming up from the state line. no major tieups there. 293 a little slow going through the mill yard by exit 5. just got word of a crash in bedford, everett turnpike northbound at the 293 southbound underpass, doesn't seem to be holding up traffic, be aware of that if you're going through the area. on the everett turnpike we've got building volume in merrimack between exits 10 and 11. no trouble between manchester and the seacoast. and the spaulding turnpike is heavy between exits 2 and 6 making your way north. from the wzid traffic network, i'm peggy james.

during a raid against the taliban. investigators are trying to figure out what went wrong in the nato air strikes, which also killed three afghan troops and 26 civilians. four u.s. troops were wounded. afghanistan took overcome bat operations two years ago. tom: penn state will pay a record fine for the way it handled the sandusky abuse case. the former on 45 counts of child abuse. the department of education says the school was required by law to warn students and employees about the charges against sandusky. it has announced a $2.4 million fine for violating that law. penn state says it's reviewing the report. jean: the former portsmouth fire chief was in court today in maine on a felony arson charge. rickey plumber was arrested last spring for alley starting a fire in old orchard beach that burned

plumber's explanation for the massive fire. reporter: court documents say that former chief rickey plumber admitted to setting the wildfire, but he claims it was an accident. in york superior court today, plumber pleaded not guilty to felony arson charges. over 100 firefighters responded to that april fire in old orchard beach. he was chief there at the time. plumber's vehicle was reportedly seen same area and he told investigators he had tossed a cigarette where the fire started. however, evidence of a cigarette was never found. he was arrested in may and resigned as chief. the 59-year-old plumber has spent decades in firefighting and has served as chief in multiple communities including 19 years in portsmouth, new hampshire. he retired in 2014 as fire chief in old orchard beach. plumber could face up to 30

mike: some more beneficial rain today, a general third, half inch in many spots, which puts a little dent in the drought. contrary month still leftover drizzle in a few spots with clouds trying to break. but they'll linger. lingering showers in the great north woods and part of the white mountains. there's fine mist and drizzle across central and southern parts of the state. so beneficial stuff is moving out, damp and murky for the evening, but then skies will brighten on friday. temperature wise we're back into tupper 40's north, 50 to 55 south. so right at the average for this time of year.

very close to the norm, right through the weekend and into the start of next week before we warm up a little bit as we go into tuesday. right now upper 30's and lower 40's, that's projected lows up north tonight, so holding above the average. we should drop to around 30 in places like concord and also right up through the lakes region. but tonight about 10 degrees above that. so a relatively mild start to your friday. but the cool air will be billion in from the northwest throughout friday and aoo much cooler up here and that means temperatures will be running right at the average for friday into the weekend days. in terms of sunshine, we do get quite a few clouds early tomorrow morning before it does break out and we get into some sunshine mainly during the afternoon. as for each weekend day, a couple of weak systems will dart true from north to south and that means a spot shower here or there, but a good part of each of the weekend days should be rain, and yes, snow-free. because any shower that falls in

mixed or snow. tomorrow morning quite a few clouds early. for the morning commute could be a sprinkle of rain south, flurries in the mountains. then back to full sunshine for the afternoon. and the winds busy out of the northwest as well. start of the weekend, a weak disturbance builds in from the north and west, times of sun, quite a few clouds, a few snow showers in the mountains. possibility a mixed or rain shower south, but a good part of your saturday will be dry. highmo the norm, low to mid 40's north and roar 50's south. it will feel the part of early november. and beyond that it stays quite chilly for the weekend. for both nights, very chilly, we're back into the upper 20's to lower to mid 30's by day. still quite cool on monday, there's your reminder to fall back to standard time, set the clocks back one hour late saturday night, early sunday morning. to are the big voting day on

so weather should not get in the way at all. no excuse weather wise not to get out and do your thing. jean: thanks, mike. president obama's pretty prolific on twitter, but what will happen to his social media accounts when the next commander in chief takes office? tom: the white house now has an answer to that question. >> some parents are being forced

kate: my mom and i love shooting hoops. but you know what - she could still learn a few things from me - just like i've learned a lot from her. she helped dad start his business... and she even fought to put bad guys in jail. now, mom helps make laws that help people - especially when they need it most. i'm really proud of her. and she's taught me that with hard work - i can do... anything. kelly: i'm kelly ayotte, kate: and i'm kate. kelly & kate: and we approved

tom: they are still celebrating in chicago at this hour after the cubs first world series win in more than 100 in a dramatic fashion, an 8-7 victory in the 10th inning of game 7. fans even had to deal with a rain delay, but they say that was nothing compared to an entire lifetime of waiting. city leaders are expecting a huge turnout for a championship parade through chicago tomorrow. jean: and life long cubs fans were overcome with emotion last night including actor bill murray there. you can see the famous super fan's face when the team clinched the title.

field trying to check out the mvp car, then he joined the celebration in the locker room. (no audio) jean: he then took over the reporter's microphone and went onto interview the team. tom: plenty of politicians also stayed up late to watch the the loyal white sox fan tweeted he was happy to see wrigley rocking last night. he went onto say the cubs' win was a chance even this south sider can believe in, and he asked if the team wanted to come to the white house before he leaves office. they probably will. and that twitter account will be passed onto the next president of the united states. jean: the white house now says that at potus will become the handle for the next commander in chief. twitter handles for the first lady and white house press sent

obama's tweets will be moved to a new handle, at potus44. good thinking. tom: straight ahead, pulling out the fisher cats field, why stadium workers ripped up turf with winter on the way. jean: we're still a month away from black friday, but the deals are already arriving. where you'll find the biggest bargains right now. tom: and there's still plenty of foliage out there, look at vo: ending funding for planned parenthood. taking away our right to choose. restricting our health care choices. this is senator kelly ayotte's record. ayotte voted six times to end funding for planned parenthood - putting access to birth control and cancer screenings at risk. and she supports overturning roe v. wade.

woman 2: voters definitely cannot trust kelly ayotte. vo: senate majority pac is responsible for the content of this advertising. what's kelly ayotte costing you? you're paying more for prescription medicines. kelly ayotte blocked lower cost generic drugs. you're paying high interest rates on college loans. ayotte voted against letting you refinance at lower rates. and you're paying higher bank fees while ayotte voted for special breaks to wall street executives. kelly ayotte. that's costing you. she's not working for new hampshire. imagine if hillary clinton wins the white house... then what? liberal carol shea-porter? she'll be a rubber stamp for clinton's agenda. progressive shawn o'connor? he'll be a rubber stamp, too. and you know their agenda: higher taxes. more government spending. and a weaker national defense.

ce. frank guinta. he's on our side. i'm frank guinta and i approved this message. i alone can fix it! bomb the [bleep] out of 'em. i'd like to punch him in the face. i like people that weren't captured, okay? he's a mexican! she ate like a pig... i moved on her like a [bleep] i did not say that... i love war. yes, including with nukes. blood coming out of her... they're rapists... wrong. there has to be some form of punishment. such a nasty woman. i wanna be unpredictable. ...on 5th avenue and shoot somebody... she's a slob... mber! and you can tell them to go [bleep] themselves! priorities usa action is responsible

>> i'd have to get up extra early to drive her to school and pick her up every day. jean: now at 5:30, parents across the state are making transportation plans ahead of a potential strike by school bus drivers. tom: vandals targeting political signs could help to pay big bucks, the message from police as we approach election day. mike: with the latest system pulling away tonight, it turns dryer and seasonable for friday. a look into the weekend ahead. jean: and new evidence about the long-term effects of sports

former patriots player. >> no one covers new hampshire like we do. now wmur news 9 at 5:30. jean: tonight parents in several new hampshire towns are being warned about a possible strike by school bus drivers who work for the company, first student. welcome back. i'm jean mackin. tom: and i'm tom griffith. the timberlane and hampstead school districts are putting disruption later this month. jean: kristen carosa is live at timberlane in plaistow with the details for us. kristen? reporter: jean and tom, more than 4,000 students from five towns could be affected. officials tell us they're hoping for a resolution so business can carry on as usual. busses went on schedule thursday at timberlane regional high school, a service that could be in jeopardy according to the

>> last friday we received a letter from the teamsters that represent the bus drivers and it basically indicated that they were sfg some contractual issues and so they indicated they may withhold services from the district. for me it was like don't mess with our kids moment. reporter: the school district informed parents right away about the situation involving first student and employees, as a precaution. >> we got an e-mail, a letter and a phone calm. reporter: we're told the labor dispute is over a pension officials aren't sure if the strike will happen or not, but they do know this. it would affect roughly 4500 students from five towns, something that's upsetting administration. >> we hire a vendor, we have a contract with them, and so their employees unionize mid contract, and that's complicated some of the work. but that's something they need to figure out. reporter: superintendent of schools dr. messler says the strike would not happen for at least three weeks, but they're

>> when you have a no-strike clause in a contract, you get in front of a judge and get an injunction, so that would be part of the plan. reporter: parents are also starting to organize a carpool system just in case. >> we're not quite sure what that will mean, but currently we are looking at traffic routes and those sorts of things about how we would get that many cars with that many students into our schools. we'll get through this, one way or another. but really it will be because we have great families and great the strike could happen on short notice again. no word at this time if the strike will actually happen. live in plaistow, kristen carosa, wmur news 9. jean: thanks. a seabrook police officer is out of the hospital tonight after colliding with a public works pickup truck from lebanon. both vehicles ended up off the side of route 286 in seabrook this morning. state police say the public works employee tried to make a left turn and the officer

the public works employee was not hurt. and an overnight fire it a manchester restaurant does not appear to be suspicious. the fire started at la fiesta mexican restaurant on south willow after 3:00 a.m., took about 40 minutes to put out the fire. damage was limited to the front entryway in the building. no one was in the restaurant at the time, and no one was hurt. tom: police in claremont are reminding people that defacing political signs can cost you money. officers in that removed or damaged. new hampshire law allows civil penalties of up to $1,000 for destroying political signs on public property. officials say if anyone has concerns about where signs have been placed, they should call police or the attorney general's office. jean: back to commitment 2016 coverage, tonight's granite state debate will feature three candidates, hoping to represent new hampshire's first congressional district.

race with some familiar faces. josh mcelveen is live at st. anselm college. josh: thanks, jean. it is night three of the granite state debates. the candidates in the first congressional district will be on stage tonight, and just about 90 minutes. i'm joined by the director of the institute of politics here at st. anselm. and this may be shea porter and guinta part four, but -- >> we have three podiums which is a first for a general election of independent candidate. as you know 41% of new hampshire voters are registered as undeclared or independent. so this independent candidate is sort of a new twist for general election here in new hampshire. josh: clearly the polls would indicate that sean o'connor is a bit of a long shot, but if there's ever a cycle where people are looking for something let's say phone traditional, this is it. >> this whole election has been nontraditional and we've seen in states like maine and vermont, they have picked incandidates.

looking forward to it. josh: we say this all the time, but five days before the election polls are what the polls are, but new hampshire voters are discerning, the debates are important because people change their minds. >> absolutely. these are the most educated civically engaged voters in the country, and they watch these debates. and these debates can change minds. josh: you may have a future in politics. the approval ratings just spiked. yes, it's going to be a good debate no josh: we're back in at 6:00 to talk about the issues facing the first congressional district candidates. for now, i'm josh mcelveen, back to you. tom: and a new study out of boston university confirms the theory that football related injuries are connected to brain trauma. researchers at b.u. studied the brain of new england patriots fullback kevin turner, he died from a.l.s. at the age of 46 after repeated hits to the head and concussions.

scans show he had a severe case. he advocated for players and was the lead plaintiff in a concussion lawsuit against the nfl. >> kevin used to always say it's not enough to make a difference, you need to be the difference. and i think today kevin is the difference. tom: researchers say these injuries are preventible and urge the nfl to do more to protect its players. jean: a brave decision by his family there. still investigators for car repairs, why the government is calling on one auto maker to take that unusual step. tom: getting from new england to new york just got easier. mike: a seasonal stretch continues into the weekend as far as the temperatures go, if we see bright skies or lots of clouds. >> from the outside, northeast delta dental stadium looks the same, coming up we'll show you the changes being made inside that will affect every game

when you're raised by a single mom, you learn how important it is to live within your means. i'm colin van ostern, and i took that lesson to my work in business, and it's how i'll stand up for you as governor. by cutting inefficient spending and using innovation to save tax dollars, without a sales or income tax. to create clean energy jobs, protect affordable health care, and lower college costs and cut student debt. as governor, i'll stand up for you.

family handed him a top-rated ski resort. he ran it into the ground. chris sununu cut jobs, and cut workers' hours so he wouldn't have to provide health insurance. colin van ostern went to college on student loans, became a stonyfield business manager. then a top executive at college for america. colin van ostern: i'm colin van ostern. real success is helping others get ahead. a bright new hampshire future starts with looking out for people. en all three of they come up with tsome crazy ideas., sometimes, i just have to say, "no way." so i appreciate it when annie kuster says "no" to cutting social security. she stood up to both parties to protect our benefits. annie's working to make sure we have a secure retirement. so i can worry about these guys instead. thanks, annie.

tom: another down day on wall street, down this time by 28 points. consecutive down days now. apparently foreign markets very concerned about the upcoming american elections. the s&p was down nine, the

here in new hampshire we're paying 2.19 for gas. the government wants honda to do more to fix cars with potentially dangerous airbag inflaters. jean: with 300,000 vehicles still needing to be fixed, it wants honda to hire private investigators. when the auto maker finds unfixed vehicles, it should send service trucks to those customers and repair their cars on the spot. you can now boston to new york city, it comes with a free cup of coffee before boarding, complimentary beer or wine and fresh baked pastries, you can also use the wi-fi the entire time you're in the air. tom: you need the coffee before you get on bore bows you wouldn't have enough time to drink it on board, i can tell you that.

first week of november. reporter: the start of the holiday shopping season seems to get earlier every year, which makes sense because the holidays make big bucks for stores. according to a national retail federation survey, this year holiday gift sales in november and december are expected to top $655 billion. that means the average person will spend about $935 on gifts, food, flowers, and everything needed to deck the halls. if you want toea friday rush, you can start seeing savings now. wal-mart launched its holiday gift guide, it features sale prices on items like tv's and barbie's dream house. amazon has a black friday deals store, it has sales on gifts like clothes, electronics and toys. the site will feature new deals every day, sometimes every five minutes, until december 22. happy shopping. i'm mary maloney. jean: if you need some fuel for your shopping spree, you'll fine

celebrate national sandwich day. in honor of the day, a menu research firm compiled americas most popular sandwiches. turkey tops the list, ham second, followed by chicken sandwiches. tom: wonder when they think about that in sandwich, new hampshire today. tomorrow you can wash your sap witch down with a beer honoring big papi. sam adams brewery in boston will offer big to get in line early, they only made 541 bottles, one for each home run of the slugger's career. jean: so you probably won't get a beer, but you can get a sandwich. next in sports he has run every manchester city half marathon, these going for number 10 this weekend. tom: and there's no reason to let the drought dry up your christmas spirit. what growers are saying about new england's christmas trees. jennifer: just ahead at 6:00,

drought conditions across the state, but the problems that we could still face this coming winter. plus day three of the granite state debates, and right now candidates for the first congressional district preparing to face off at st. anselm

i'm maggie hassan, and new hampshire has a very clear choice: do we keep going with a senator who repeatedly votes with the corporate special interests... or a new senator who sides with the people of new hampshire? my focus has always been on creating opportunity for working families: making college and job training more affordable. lowering prescription drug costs. and always protecting a woman's right to make her own health care decisions. these are my priorities, why i approve this message... and why i respectfully ask for your vote. i alone can fix it! bomb the [bleep] out of 'em. i'd like to punch him in the face. i like people that weren't captured, okay? he's a mexican! she ate like a pig... i moved on her like a [bleep] i did not say that... i love war. yes, including with nukes. blood coming out of her... they're rapists... wrong.

i wanna be unpredictable. ...on 5th avenue and shoot somebody... she's a slob... i don't remember! and you can tell them to go [bleep] themselves! priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising. what's kelly ayotte costing you? you're paying more for prescription medicines. kelly ayotte blocked lower cost generic drugs. you're paying high interest rates on college loans. ayotte voted against letting you refinance at lower rates. and you're paying higher bank fees while ayotte voted for special breaks to wall street executives. kelly ayotte. she's siding with corporate special interests and that's costing you. she's not working for new hampshire. >> bruins and celtics both in action tonight.

the bruins won in florida monday and they skate at the tampa bay lightning at 7:30. it's a milestone race in the queen city sunday morning. hey look, i'm on tv. the 10th annual manchester city marathon, half marathon, relay and 5k is coming up. ken martin has run the marathon every year. snhu has taken over as the lead sponsor this year and with their financial backing, millennium running was hired to do it up big time. the course has changed with the starting line in front of the well. the race beginning at 8:50 sunday morning. >> it's great, i love this race, i love getting out there and seeing all my old neighborhoods. i grew up in manchester, went to manchester central high school. and i run by my old neighborhood, i run by my neighborhood i live in now, so it's awesome. >> and our home town hero from

tonight at 6:00. jean: we saw the time you were on tv there. hey, the baseball season may have come to an end early this morning, but the fisher cats aren't waiting to next year. tom: part of the plan for a new stadium involves getting set to watch the grass grow. reporter: while they may have wished that our lawns would look as good as the turat and management it wouldn't good enough. for the past five weeks they've been going at it at northeast delta dental stadium. home of the fisher cats. >> getting ready for next year. reporter: now they're putting down the finishing touches, 90,000 square feet of sod. however, before it could get to this point, there was a lot of prep work that had to be done. >> they created new drainage system, digging trenches across the middle of the field, and

half inches of material off the field including the previous turf. put down 2,000-tons of sand. reporter: the reason all this work is being done, poor drainage at the feel was creating problems. >> if we did have inclement weather, things getting slippery out there, standing puddles, the warning tracks would putted expel then that becomes a safety issue for the players. reporter: then there was the material underneath the turf that wasn't allowing the grass to grow properly. now this new field of ktu problem. the new drainage could possible shorten rain delays and the field could end up getting more use. >> hopefully have more games on the field as well, we host the baseball championships here and a number of high school games. reporter: the fisher cats say they're planning other improvements and surprises as well, but we're just going to have to wait to find out what they are.

many parts of new hampshire today. put another dent in the drought. we've gone from extreme to severe. severe is actually better than extreme. take a look at gilford where it is murky out there, we have overcast skies, still a little drizzle, light thundershowers darting across the state. as we look ahead, clouds will linger a good part of the night before they part by late morning tomorrow. and we get a lot of sun back. speaking of the weekend, we get sun for saturday and sunday. warmer by tuesday. but for saturday and sunday looks like times of clouds and times of partial sun with maybe a spot snow shower in the mountains and a mixed shower or sprinkle or flurry farther to the south. lingering rain across the great north woods, northern white mountains, nothing showing up points south of that. but is there a little drizzle that will continue on and off for the next several hours. then later on tonight and early tomorrow morning, another weak

right over new hampshire. so we'll dawn with clouds and maybe a sprinkle of rain or snow north, and a sprinkle of rain south before we get full sun back by the afternoon. temperatures lining up very close to the norm for the time of year, as we look at future temperatures in the coming hours, we coast back, but only to around 40 far north and lower to mid 40's south. so temperatures remain well above the average for the overnight stretch tonight. but unlike yesterday and even see all this canadian cool air building from north to south over new hampshire and that will linger into the day on monday before we see a one-day warmup for election day on tuesday. notice tonight and tomorrow we've got the clouds lingering, early tomorrow morning could be a sprinkle of rain or snow north, rain south. and then full sunshine in the afternoon as temperatures slowly rise to around 40 north and close to 50 in parts of southern new hampshire. then we get into the weekend,

showers in the mountains and possibility of a sprinkle or flurry in southern new hampshire early. then more sun by the afternoon. what follows for sunday, on average a blend of sun and clouds, still the chance of a spot shower, again that would be in the form of snow in the mountains and rain or snow south, but it's isolated and a good part of your weekend will be dry. monday cold start, full sunshine, we get to election day we're going to be up near 60 before temperatures cool back down wit wednesday. and then sun and clouds on thursday. another reminder, we fall back to standard time, that means our sunset on sunday is at 4:32. tom: wow. by the way, santa claus is giving you some high marks about the drought. yes, because there's a situation out there that the christmas trees are going to be okay. jean: they're saying now that the large err trees will do just fine in year. tom: more on that coming up. a scare in the air for one curious cat.

this water tower required a team effort between people and drones. plus -- >> what's it's been like being a cub fan for 108 years? >> discouraging at times. but i never lost faith. jean: she never lost faith, she's been waiting all 108 years of the cubs drought to call them champs, tonight how this new

tom: christmas tree growers in new england say the current drought is not seriously hurting this year's some losses in seedlings planted this past spring, but many of the full sized trees under great shape and will be ready just in time for the holidays. jean: good to hear. tom: stuck 100 feet up, a cat is back on solid ground in colorado thanks to good samaritans and a drone. jean: a passer-by first heard this cat crying from the top of the water tower on sunday. armed with a drone, some cat food and water, a rescue group came in to save the day. the team used the drone to

to get the cat into a carrier. >> i was worried that he wasn't going to make it up there, he's probably so hungry. >> the structure is quite old. >> it was along the cat walk, and which is ironic. jean: the cat was probably follow directions. the cat form a veterinarian's office to get checked out, everything is okay. rescuers came up with their own name for the cat, calling their new friend, tower. tom: there you go. thanu i'm hillary clinton and i approve this message. donald trump: i could stand in the middle of 5th avenue and shoot somebody and i wouldn't lose any voters, okay?

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tom: tim proving drought conditions across new hampshire and the potential problems that still have the state urging conservation. jennifer: candidates for the first congressional district face off in their final debate before election day, what issues tail tackle. tom: and the curse is broken, we

waited nearly her whole life to see the cubs win the world series. >> no one covers new hampshire like we do. now wmur news 9 at 6:00. jennifer: not quite a drought buster, but some welcome rain fell across the state today helping to reduce areas under extreme drought conditions from 20% to below 5%. good evening, i'm jennifer vaughn. tom: and i'm tom griffith. while every drop helps, experts water. reporter: the impact of the lack of rain have been clear, dried up grass and wells and low water levels in our lakes and rivers. and while the run we've seen over the last month has been helping, officials say we need another 30 days just like to it get back to normal. >> i don't think this will put us over the top, but it won't

sight as most of the state remains in at least a moderate drought. >> it seems we get new people every day calling in, there's a lot of people that have dry wells. reporter: companies working around the clock, drilling new wells and repairing pump systems. >> the rain that we received recently is helpful, but we're still at a major deficit overall. reporter: according to the department of environmental services, conditions greatly improved over the past few weeks. merrimack and stratford counties are now coos county is the only area not experiencing drought, just abnormally dry conditions. >> every county in the state is in a deficit as far as annual precipitation, anywhere from over five inches of rain to over seven inches of a deficit. reporter: despite improvements, residents still urged to conserve water as a large part of the state is expected to start winter in a a voter drought. >> when the ground freezes in