today." on air, online, wherever you are, "wncn today" starts now. >> right now on wncn, a bank manager in wake county is being hailed a hero for stopping an armed robber right in his track. and new developments in a massive raid at a local animal shelter ks what investigators discovered. plus, the carolina panthers are super bowl bound. how you can help them send off in style today. hello and good morning. >> good morning and thanks so much for watching "wncn today". i'm maggie newland in for mike gonzalez. >> and i'm stefan chase, a look at traffic as always, checking in with meteorology alyssa corfont. >> we're looking at clearing skies and those clearing skies paving the way for colder

if you remember yesterday, we had the 20s, 30s, 40s. almost areawide this morning right now we're in the 30s. at freezing in sanford, siler city, here in raleigh we're at 34. durham, 37. south hill, you're checking in right around 35 degrees this morning. so here's your forecast for this friday, plenty of sunshine. a little bit of fog though as we do start off our friday. and that will be mainly south around the sand hills. 45 lunch time, plenty of sunshine. near normal later today, our normal high is 52, i'm expecting a temperature right around 51. i'll have a closer look at your weekend ahead in just a little bit. but let's check in with traffic as you get ready to head out the door on this friday morning. this is i-440 and athens drive, just a few cars in this direction. good news if you're heading out this way. no accidents, no slowdowns and very similar conditions on our live drive map, all green around 440 and south of the city on

and weather in about 10 minutes. great news to start off this morning, the carolina panthers are heading soon to the west coast to prepare for super bowl l. >> exciting stuff. the team will get a huge sendoff from friends this afternoon in charlotte. wncn's emma wright joins us live in the studio with more. >> reporter: well, fans have been preparing to send them off in style, the team has been preparing for one of their biggest games ever. they say right now they're just focusing on practice and they're using this break to rest up. on the practice field, the panthers say it's business as usual. >> coach still has the same routine, as always. he working, we had no time off. [ laughter ] >> reporter: off of it, corner back josh said he's trying to drive out the noise. >> i know there's going to be a lot of lights and hype going down in san fran, haven't seen it yet, but i've been hearing about it. so i'm anticipating that. >> reporter: charlotte is preparing to send the team off in style.

the town blue for today's big sendoff raleigh. >> for us older guys, it's always nice to get a longer break and rest up and recharge a little bit. so i'm not complaining for the extra time. >> reporter: the team says they'll need all the energy they can get when they go up against the broncos and their legendary quarterback, peyton manning. >> if you throw in, you know, an interception, god allows me he to be there for it, probably going to, you know, bow to him. because, um, that's how much i really think about the guy. >> all right. today's rally happening at noon in uptown, the team will actually leave for the west coast on sunday. maggie? >> sounds like fun. a bank robber whose crime was cut short by a quick thinking manager. it at the pnc branch in zebulon, see it all unfold on surveillance video. the bank manager saw the armed suspect and held the door shut so he couldn't enter. the

door with the gun but the manager just wouldn't budge. the man then gave up and ran off. investigators believe he may be driving a dark gray vehicle with black rims. if you know anything, call zebulon police. today crews will head back to hope county animal she will -- shelter to rescue dozens of animals, a search warrant at the animal haven shelter yesterday morning after complaints from neighbors and other agencies. they found around 600 animals, many showing signs of neglect and in need of medical care, they found 15 dead dogs buried at the shelter. one shelter volunteer tells wncn she was shocked by the claims and never witnessed any signs of neglect. >> to me, it's aa shock does care for the animals. and not the way it's been portrayed. >> the owners were arrested on animal cruelty chargers --

bonded and released from jail. deputies in wilson county searching for these two, jimmy and patricia williams, accused of animal cruelty. investigators say they found 21 dogs, two igan -- iguanas on the couple's property, only nine of the dogs were alive. they abandoned the property and had the utilities cut off more than a week ago. today, johnston's county dss building reopening after a bed bug after it was found in the lobby. pest control came out and cleared everything and determined there was no active infestation. governor mccrory not giving up on bringing a massive csx facility to our state, but they get to decide where to go. the proposed site in selma no longer a viable option, fierce

csx needs to find a new spot for the facility. >> i think it's a great project and most in north carolina would think it's a great project the way they go about acquiring that land and where that land is and certainly the next step now. >> csx asked in an e-mail statement it's committed in the project and working with stake holders to move the project forward. hundreds of veterans looking for jobs got a chance to show off their skills. companies like home depot, time warner and the city of raleigh were all at vonn towers at carter family stadium for a job fair. organizers believe 150 people will be offered a job soon. and service members moving to our state, the number is soaring. the north carolina va secret says north carolina has climbed to eight veteran population as the highest ever. it's added eight more veteran service locations statewide to help. in wake county veteran population has jumped more than

time check for you on this friday, 4:36. a raleigh woman's attack feet from her home, the message she has for the thieves. >> plus this: . michael phelps and two nonswimers. [ laughter ] 1905 well, what is the olympic gold medal winner doing here? the answer coming up later. >> i don't know if i want to know the answer, honest!

clinton you're at 37. i pinky promised my little girl a fabulous garden party for her birthday. so i mowed the lawn, put up all the decorations. i thought i got everything. almost everything! you know, 1 in 10 houses could get hit by a septic disaster, and a bill of up to $13,000. but for only $7 a month, rid-x is scientifically proven to break down waste, helping you avoid a septic disaster. rid-x. the #1 brand used by septic professionals in their own tanks. now, your wncn weather forecast. >> in weather center now with meteorologist alyssa corfont and it's friday! >> yes! >> going to be a good one? >> a perfect one, if you ask me. plenty of sunshine, temperatures in the 50s. that's normal for this time of year. better than last friday. >> that's for sure!

let's talk about your out the door forecast. you're getting ready for it, here we are. 6:00 a.m. temperatures should be in the mid 30s, 35 at 7:00, 36 at 8:00 a.m., back close to 40 by 9:00 this morning. as far as what you need to know before you drive in, mret clear -- pretty clear skies, remember the sunglasses. patchy fog south of the triangle and overall much colder than where we were yesterday. let's get to the foggy conditions right now on our visibility map, reduced visibility, up to five miles, dunn, fayetteville, clinton, 7 miles raeford, 6, not bad around the sand hills we'll tell you if these change or worsen throughout the morning. as far as the temperatures are concerned, you're at freezing in siler city and sanford. you're noticing a bigger temperature drop down the sand hills, you were in the 40s. this morning, 37 in clinton, 37 in raeford. around the north carolina or virginia north carolina border, 34 in south hill, 33 in roxboro.

so your forecast for the theks few days -- next few days, 51 our high, plenty of sunshine, maybe see a cloud or two mixed in from time to time, overall today it's going to be breezy. wind gusts this afternoon approaching 25 miles per hour. then we head in to the weekend and a beautiful one we are expecting. 55 tomorrow, plenty of sunshine, the 60s are here by sunday. and it does look like those 60s will going to hang around as we head in to early next week. i'll let you know when rain arrives and that will cool us down, coming up in your complete forecast. maggie? >> definitely looks good for the weekend, thank you alyssa. looking ahead, one of the cars used by pope francis for his pennsylvania visit last fall is on auction, two fiat 500 model cars. one of them remaining on display at the pennsylvania autoshow, the other auctioned at a black tie affair.

bunny for the trix cereal, cinnabon will appear on the new release. the tiny fur ball beat out 7,500 other rabbits in the company's nationwide search for a new mascot. time now 4:42. the so-called affluenza teen is back in the u.s. and is expected in court today. still to come, what today's hearing will determine. plus, talk about dedication. a vet walks two miles in the snow to take care of the newest addition to the duke lemur center. look at that little lemur!

just had to get to "wncn today" what you need to know right now. >> 4:44 your time on this friday. this morning's top stories. a super bowl sendoff party takes place today in charlotte for the carolina panthers. the rally can kibs -- kicks off

>> thousands are going to take part, they leave on sunday, facing the broncos february 7. the search is on for a would-be bank robber, stopped by a quick thinking manager. happen ted pnc brang in zebulon. investigators believe the suspect may be driving a small, dark gray vehicle with black rims. if you know anything call zebulon police. front runner donald trump's absence from last night's debate put the spotlight on rivals ted cruz and marco rubio, they were confronted with video clips suggesting they had changed their positions on imgrigs. that's one of the -- immigration, that's one of the most contentious issues on republicans. walmart is shutting down more than 150 stores nationwide including this one in durham. the move has many communities infuriated, walmart opened a year and a half ago, putting a smaller family-owned grocery store out of business.

desert areas. the search is on for the people who mugged a woman just feet away from her home. emmy is still shaken up, tuesday evening as she was walking from her car to her home on east davies street, three thieves hit her, threw her to the ground and grabbed her bag, her phone, wallet and green card in that bag. according to the police report, it's valued at $248. a gofundme page set up for her has raised more than $9,500. and the woman says she's incredibly grateful as for those thieves -- >> i hope they're caught, i want my day in court with them, i want their parents to know what they do at night when they're out. >> officers are patrolling the area, if you have any information on this crime, please call them. no charges expected in an

pledge to the hospital, a case of underage drinking. a duke spokesperson says the 19-year-old was crushed to the er late tuesday after a party at randolph hall in east campus. duke partially lifted a ban on sorority activities, a move that was blasted by robert and anne champion, antihazing advocates whose son was killed in an famu hazing ritual. >> it tells me the university isn't taking it seriously. >> duke says the victim is expected to make a full recovery. today a court hearing is taking place for chicago police officer charged with murder. a status hearing will be held for van dyke, accused of shooting a black teenager 16 times and killing him. indicting that he acted without lawful justification when he shot mcdonald. van dike pleaded not guilty.

is expected in a texas courtroom. ethan couch, now 18, arrived from mexico yesterday morning. authorities tracked down couch and his mom after an international manhunt. he missed a probation hearing after killing four people in a drunk driving accident in 2013. today's hearing will determine whether couch will receive bond or be moved to an adult prison. right now, we're getting an inside look at the deadly shooting during a traffic stop of an armed occupier of a national wildlife refuge in oregon. an fbi plane captured the scene. officials say finicum's vehicle tried to maneuver around the snow bank. officials say when he got out of the trunk, he reached toward his pocket and was shot. the fbi says there was a loaded 9 millimeter semiautomatic handgun in his pocket, four people still in the refuge. breaking news at this hour,

-- contner has passed away. known for the classic "somebody to love" and "white rabbit". it is a day of clean up for people in south florida, a tornado hit dell ray beach. winds up to 85 miles per hour, knocking down trees, fences sxrks power lines. more -- fences and power lines. more than 700 people lost power, fortunately no one hurt. monster blizzard last week was one of the records. noaa says it was the most powerful snowstorm to hit the southeast in decades, hitting parts of the midwest and causing flooding along the new jersey coast. let's get to this great story of the morning, baby lemur born during last week's storm is doing okay at the lemur duke center. a vet had to walk two ailes in the snow to check in on the newborn, the little guy. she said the first month of the lie mur's life -- lemur's life is critical and she wanted to make sure it was doing okay, the

doesn't have a name yet. any suggestions? >> he's so cute! >> i think they need to name it something with the winter weather, he was born in the snow. that's just my input, being the meteorologist, go figure. here's your hour by hour forecast, 36 at 8:00 a.m., 45 by noon, climbing in the 50s, a nice warm up from where we've been the last few days, breezy later today, keep an eye on those wuchts, they could -- wufrts, they could -- wind gusts, they could reach 20, 25. live picture out at the raleigh durham international airport. 34 degrees, right now very cold. especially compared where we were 24 hours ago here in the triangle. showing you the big picture right now, satellite radar composite showing skies clearing. it's hard to see that on our live cameras because it's still so dark outside. the rain pulling out the east coast, few snow showers towards the mountains and virginia, that's all that's really here around the mid-atlantic. as we head throughout the day, plenty of sunshine heading our way.

sunglasses again, i know you haven't had to use them over the past few mornings but that sunshine sticks around throughout the afternoon. clear skies overnight well during this time of year, we know it's a recipe for very cold temperatures and that's what you're going to wake up to tomorrow morning. temperatures likely going to be in the 20s below freezing as we head throughout our saturday, the sunshine sticks around, the warm up continues as well. each and every day over the next few we're going to see warmer and warmer temperatures. right now though, hmm, not warm by any stretch of the imagination, 34 south hill, 36 henderson, the upper 30s, excuse me, around the sand hills, 39 fayetteville, 37 dlinton -- clinton and raeford, enough of a breeze to make an impact. it feels more like freezing in fayetteville than it feels like the 20s. 26 in siler city, 27 your current wind chill in roxboro. so again, you're going to need that heavier jacket as you head for the door on this friday morning.

raleigh, 50 durham and 54 in fayetteville. fast forward to tonight, i talked about those clear skies leading to colder temperatures 29 degrees our overnight low. and as we head in to your weekend forecast, 55 on saturday, 62 on sunday, looking really nice all weekend long. unseasonably warm weather continues for early next week, at 66 on monday. groundhog day is tuesday, 65 here in the triangle, then our next cold front comes through mid week and has going to bring us a better chance for rain. wednesday in to thursday, also ushering in cooler temperatures by thursday afternoon. 4:52 right now on this friday morning, time to check in with traffic. here's i-440 and athens drive, not a lot going on in this direction, on this friday morning. if you're heading out, just drive safe and get to your destination on time. let's go ahead and check in with traffic. oh, go back to traffic here and you're looking at speeds heading in to durham, 67 miles per hour

hour, if you're coming up on 15, 49 miles per hour. i'll have more on your traffic and weather conditions close to 5:00 a.m. >> thanks, alyssa. oh, take a look! we have a lot of aw moments. meet calley, the watson family rescued the 14 week old from south of the bully rescue. >> i bet everyone watch waching at home -- watching at home had the same reaction. we want to feature your furry friends, if you got the pictures, here's the e-mail address, pets@wncn.com. >> reporter: do you hate it when you're talking to your friends and they take a cell phone call and you can't get their attention? i'm in west virginia where because of this technology, there's an official federal quiet zone, no cell phones allowed.

i'm carrie sanders, have welcome back 4:55. researchers at unc wilmington may know what killed a humpback whale on cary beach. someone discovered it on wednesday. they performed a necropsy, likely dying of a parasite that made damage to its organs,

one of cam newton's biggest fans is the envy of all his friend, jaden was lucky enough to get a football from him at a game earlier this year. newton's known for handing those balls out to kids after the touchdown. back home in raleigh, he has a picture of the incredible moment framed right on his wall. >> i was telling him cam, cam, come over here and he gave me the ball and fist pumped me just crazy. it felt like i won the lottery. >> yeah, it's probably worth something too, good for him. andize -- he's predicting a blowout win when they take on the broncos at the super bowl. he says the score is going to be 50-0. i think he's right. thank you, jaden.

up outside of a chicago nike store, to buy the new air jordans. the newest jordans will cost shoppers $650 a pair. wow. that's a lot of money. all right, barbie is getting a big makeover that mattel hopes will appeal to everybody, offered in three shapes, tall, pe it [ bleep ] -- petite, curvy, you can get the original barbie. working to change her look for the past two years to make her more realistic and diverse. the company not said when the new doll will be in stores yeah, can't wait to see that. this is fantastic, a good thing for all the little girls and boys too. >> wanting the new barbies right away. >> i wouldn't mind! okay, so 18 time olympic gold medal swimmer phelps accomplished another goal. >> this time out of the swimming tool, to get -- swimming pool to

miss it, he rips off his shirt with two other guys and the curtain closes and opens seriously? where do you think you're going? to work, with you. it's taco tuesday. you're not coming. i took mucinex to help get rid of my mucusy congestion. oh, right then i'll swing by in like 4 hours. forget the tacos! one pill lasts 12 hours. i'm good all day. wait! your loss. i was going to wear a sombrero. only mucinex has a bi-layer tablet that starts fast, and keeps working. not 4, not 6, but 12 full hours. start the relief. ditch the misery.