>> she wanted everybody to know god. especially her children. the church doors were open and she did everything she could to have her children in church. >> reporter: that is how melissa huggins jones mothers described her mother in court nearly three years after she was killed in her apartment. >> she had blood on her face and everywhere. >> reporter: a construction worker testified about the morning in may of 2013 when huggins jones 8-year-old daughter found her mom lying in bed in blood and asked for help. he he buried his head in his hands as he told the 911 operator it was too late. the young man on trial for the murder, travion smith sat quietly in court. ronald anthony already pled guilty to first degree murder. sarah redon hasn't yet gone to trial. police say the group was

huggins jones was beaten to death and said smith was an murder. >> they are both going to tell that you smith is the person who first hit melissa huggins jones. >> reporter: his defense attorney insists smith is not to blame and was manipulated by his friend ronald anthony. >> anthony who is already serving a life sentence for the murder of huggins jones is the one responsible for her death. >> reporter: this trial is expected to last several weeks. smith could face the death penalty if convicted. live in raleigh, raleigh, wncn news now. what started a fire at a home off wade avenue? started on brooks avenue after 3:00 and backed up traffic. no one was home, there is some smoke damage. bernie sanders campaign will not challenge the results of last night's iowa caucus. hillary clinton eked by with a victory walking away with 23 delegates compared to 21 for sanders.

doesn't plan to recount any of the close results. for the republicans ted cruz won. up next new hampshire's primary tuesday. raleigh city leaders are declaring a major makeover to help alleviate heavy traffic. the six forks road corridor calls for different road styles along a two-mile stretch of six forks road from lynn road to north hills and the beltline. we're live in this busy area downtown and breaking down this plan. good evening, steve. >> reporter: the idea to make over this road goes back to 2012 web the city council talked to residents. consultants two years ago took the suggestions and created a plan given to the council today to create what some are calling raleigh's midtown main street. as a north/south connector six forks carries some of the largest traffic volumes in the city. has a lot of traffic generators adjoining the street.

especially with the new buildings going up. can i only see it getting worse. some improvements to the road are much needed. >> reporter: this 127-page plan contains those much-needed improvements. >> think it's a step to help maintain traffic flow and provide a lot of facilities for bicyclists and pedestrians in a safer way to travel in those modes. >> reporter: the plan calls for different styles of roads between 440 and lynn road. sometimes creating a parkway- style boulevard or a more urban boulevard in high density areas. >> it needs to be restructured how you get to the parking lot. that is a lot of where the traffic backs up at, where you come out of the parking lot and try to get on to six forks road. >> reporter: as development continues along six forks the plan would help guide the kinds of things that would be built, and adjust speed limits. >> we look for a consistent speed limit along six forks in that area. >> reporter: he says it would

step, to design the corridor. that corridor may also require land taking to make the road wide enough to handle six lanes at a medium. all this could take about five years. >> i wish it would be a lot sooner. >> reporter: now, planners say that this is one of the cities, in their words, higher priorities. how to pay for it? some of the money would come from future transportation bonds. that was one item discussed. today leaders approved an application for a $40 million grant from the federal government. the competition among several cities is an incentive for leaders to use more innovation and technology while planning the future of their communities. the system responsible for severe weather in the mississippi valley is taking aim at the carolinas. >> chief meteorologist wes hohenstein is tracking the storms and the impact they could have on us tomorrow. >> good evening. we cooled down today after last night's cold front. now we wait on a warm front and

and, some showers and storms. some of which will be in our area tomorrow. we are dry now, albeit a little cloudy. the storms are packing a punch. several tornado warnings you see in red, yellow is a thunderstorm warning, green is a flood warning. so some powerful storms now that will weaken as they move into our area tomorrow. so there's our warm front. that is going to come through overnight. and actually bring our temperatures up tomorrow. then the cold front comes through tomorrow night and drops our temperature again. somewhere in between we've got some rain but not really through tomorrow morning. tonight we'll keep it mostly cloudy with mid-50s. we drop to 50 at midnight, then the warm front comes through and we actually come up a bit, temperaturewise for tomorrow morning's commute. but it will be dry. the afternoon commute looks to be wet and stormy. i'll walk you through the entire day hour by hour, talk about how much warmer and then how much colder it's going to be coming up in a few minutes. >> you can track the changing

downloading the wncn weather app free for apple and android. look for it in the app store. speaking of wetter weather, a rainy day in san francisco is not stopping the fun ahead of super bowl 50. >> theresa in the city by the bay tonight with the latest on all the action. those black and gold pants good evening. >> reporter: good evening. it's now just cold and windy out here in san francisco. but i talked with some fans today and they didn't seem to mind about this inclement weather. in fact they said they are focused on making memories and then counting down the days until their team takes to the field to battle it out. at levi stadium crews hard at work prepping the field to make it perfect for the panthers and broncos for their matchup on super bowl sunday. caterers are pulling in and security is already in place. the fans, it's all about basking in the moment.

in san francisco two large convention centers have been set up where fans can customize a jersey for themselves. throw passes to cardboard replicas of players and even say hi to former players walking by. >> he's just walking by. hey, curt warner! >> despite the raindrops fans just brushed them aside, instead focused on catching balls and snapping shots. >> glad to see everybody wearing their jerseys, supporting their team. >> the best part about it was we get -- to eat. >> reporter: as for the real players, well, the team was all on hand for opening night. with cam in crew hamming it up fielding questions from what inspires them to inquiries about the now famous versace pants he was sported wearing off the plane. >> did you say i'm going to kill them with these? >> absolutely, it's super bowl 50. the mantra, the colors are

the black and gold in my closet was limited. >> reporter: the broncos bus was in a crash monday but they were in great spirits. >> i am excited about this week, looking forward to playing in this game. i'm going to focus on that. then deal with the other stuff after this. >> reporter: speaking of the weather, well, come sunday, super bowl sunday, it's supposed to be about 70 degrees. so people can ditch their gloves and look for some sunscreen because levi stadium is known to give people sunburns. so be aware if you have tickets to the big game. >> thank you. plenty of people buying panthers gear. we stopped by pro sports in breyer creek where jerseys and t-shirts were flying off the shelves. it's places like these state leaders want to you shop so make sure what you are buying is reputable. they say there are plenty of scams and counterfeit items.

please don't buy from these folks because frequently it's organized crime that gets it here, it's organized crime that sells it. they enlist street people to help sell. >> while it may be cheaper state leaders say there's sometimes even ties to terrorism. the attorney general roy cooper had a warning making sure people do their homework before buying super bowl tickets or travel packages as there are scams out there for those as well. we have the stories and much more about the panthers during the super bowl 50 in a special section of wncn.com. look for the banner on the home page. new at 6:00 -- three teens behind bars in cumberland county charged with throwing overpass. deputies say several 911 calls from drivers led them to mile marker 65 at sherrill baggett road where they say they found the teens in a white bm w. they face accusations of throwing rocks on five vehicles, most freight liner trucks.

at $2 a,000 -- $250,000. more on the death of nicole lovell found death in north carolina over the weekend. police say she was stabbed the same day she disappeared from her home. the mother also spoke talking about her daughter's passions and drive after battling health issues for years. >> nicole had had a passion for pandas. music, dancing, dreamed of being on "american idol." some day. her favorite color was blue. nicole was very lovable. >> two virginia tech students are charged in connection with her murder. north carolina faced one of the biggest environmental disasters in our state's history two years ago today. a pipe burst at duke energy coal facility north of greensboro spelling tens of

into the dan river. today environmental regulators and the utility are still working to clean it up. lawmakers gave the company until 2029 at the late toes do so. our extensive coverage of the coal ash investigation continues on wncn.com. a special section of our web site is dedicated to our past stories, just scroll over the investigates tab on the home page of wncn.com. the state's top educator responding to allegations of misspending. still ahead, the spending in question and why the state superintendent says the department of public instruction is playing by the rules. >> a local man saved by a sudden shock. another reminder of the importance of heart health, tonight's "what's next." >> first check of traffic. i-40 and u.s. 70.

smoothly. cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the u.s., february is american heart month. >> according to the cdc more than 70% of people out of the hospital die but a medical device could help reduce that number. >> mike gonzalez introduces us to a carey man saved by a sudden shock. >> reporter: ray gupton owes his life to his cardiologist. the 63-year-old suffered a massive heart attack at his home outside of raleigh in his yard. i didn't know how serious it was. >> reporter: according to the cdc more than 700,000 americans have a heart attack every year. >> poor heart function, just had a heart attack and while they are recovering there's a risk of character arrest. >> so -- cardiac arrest. >> reporter: so the doctor described ray a life vest, a

>> no question it helped. >> reporter: it continuinguously monitored his heart beat and 18 days after his heart taryk. >> i was in a chair watching television -- about 3:00 in the afternoon. and i passed out. i was out for about 40 seconds. and during that 40 seconds my heart quit beating and it was just quivering. this life vest the sensors in it picked up on it and it shocked me. >> it is constantly monitoring the rhythm and detects a tacky cardia. if the patient remains in it it shocks the patient. >> life-saving thing. i don't know how to explain it any better than that. >> reporter: with "what's next," mike gonzalez, gonzalez "wncn news now." >> the risk is 30 days after a heart attack.

doctor ultimately decided on an implantable defibrillator for the long term. for more information visit wncn.com. an update to a story we reported last night at 11:00. today state leaders to voted to allow the city of raleigh to build a rest room and kaffiray in moore square -- cafe in moore square. construction could start this summer. the state superintendent says her department is not violating any spending rules. today she responded to a letter from state senate president pro- tem phil berger who questioned how money is being spent at the department of public instruction. he says he's concerned some money budgeted for literacy training is instead being used to fund domain strafe costs, where the -- administrative costs where the ga cut funding. >> they required them to cut $2.5 million out of its operation budget. and we are doing that and we will provide the necessary documentation as to the

>> dr. atkinson says the money is being used as was required by budget. berger meanwhile urges the state board of education to take corrective measures at its february board meeting. an early spring for north carolina at least according to sir walter wally. >> along with punxsutawney phil, they didn't see a shadow, that again means early spring. to break it down we have a team of researchers on this for you. wally has been right about half the time. he's even been named one of weather channel's go-to groundhogs. important. where did he go to get his meteorology degree again? that. too. let's look at the radar, this is something we're going to be concerned with tomorrow. storms for our friends in alabama, mississippi and tennessee tonight. you see the red here? tornado on the ground in western parts of alabama. the good news, storms will weaken by the time they get

some heavy rains and maybe strong winds tomorrow afternoon and evening. today we cool down but remember it was 72 yesterday and when you cool down from 72, 60s cooler but still pretty nice and that is where we were today about. we've got upper 50s and low 60s. as we head throughout the evening we're awaiting a warm front. so temperatures are actually going to go down a little and up a little overnight. clouds are not going anywhere but we'll keep it dry through tomorrow morning's commute. we'll go down to 55 at 8:00. low 50s late tonight. then 1245 warm front comes through and watch as our temperature nudge up a little bit. so 54 is what you'll have when you walk out the door tomorrow. we've got two frontal systems we're watching. there's the warm front. not a lot going on now other than clouds in the tar heel state. so warm front overnight and then cold front tomorrow night, but it's what's ahead of the cold front that has us a little concerned. it's going to be a little disruptive i think tomorrow morning on the ride home from school and work. the ride to school and work

so let's pick it up late tonight, again there's the clouds, there's the warm front. that passes through and that is why it's going fob a little warmer -- to be a little warmer tomorrow morning. for the morning commute we have clouds but generally dry weather. notice the storms still back to the west at that point. 11:00 a.m., storms just starting to push into our area, probably starting as just a little scattered rain showers, then a line most likely moves through. here we are 3:00 entering the western part of our viewing area. we'll stop it at 5:00 and 6: 00 coming through the heart of central north carolina. from hoke and cumberland county through highway 1 and triangle and parts of virginia, continuing to push through probably clearing our area, the worst of the storms by 8:00 or 9:00. then there's the cold front. that front comes through and it's going to be cooler on thursday and we might have a few scattered showers for the thursday morning commute but otherwise most of the day starts to dry out and clear out. again tomorrow, especially afternoon and early evening we remain in a marginal risk of severe weather.

but still a threat nonetheless. damaging wind and heavy rain our biggest concerns. there's a very, very isolated chance for a tornado but it's pretty close to zero so again we'll watch for that heavy rain and those strong winds, especially in the afternoon and evening. and it's going to be warmer so it will be warmer again tomorrow. wet weather comes in the afternoon and we'll not see any sunshine. your 7-day forecast has sunshine and a continued roller coaster ride. again a warm and stormy day tomorrow, everyone's going to get this at some point. we cool off with leftover rain early thursday. then the supis back out on -- sun is back out on friday but will feel like february. 49 for a high there. we get into the weekend, we'll keep it dry. temperatures in the low 50s saturday and sunday. watch out, friday is going to clear out but look at friday morning, saturday morning and sunday morning. all starting in the 30s. we bring a little rain back into the forecast next monday and tuesday. so our 3-degree guarantee high tomorrow, 70.

a little warmer than we thought so unfortunately no money from us and our friends at allen kelly for the american heart association but the monthly total still sits at $100. they help build healthier lives free of cardiovascular disease and stroke and we've been doing this -- they've been doing this for a long time. don't forget, fred is red day

women. today the state abc commission met with bar and restaurant employees on chapel hill.

spotlight the last several months after the state fined and suspended alcohol licenses at two places there. they believe an underaged person was served a drink and he got behind the wheel and killed a child what's america's best-selling brand of trucks? you're in for a big surprise, pal. actually, you're not. it's ford f-series, again. and, it wasn't even close. same trucks that have been leading the industry for 39 straight years. why? game changin' innovation. like f-150's high-strength, military-grade aluminum alloy. which helps make it stronger, more capable and more efficient than ever. innovation. it's why f-series is making

we have our own furry faced forecaster on groundhog day. >> i thought you were talking about wes. just joking. >> busy day tomorrow. it's going to be warmer, it's going to be windy. in the afternoon and evening it will be wet for everyone. it's one of those few days in the year where that kind of describes it best in the 7-day forecast. just saying wet. we could get some heavy rain, some storms with some damaging winds and it's going to come through in the afternoon and evening. also comes with a cold front. you can see tomorrow is the only 70-degree day we have,

>> see you tonight at 7:00. tonight, victory lap. ted cruz reshapes the race handing a surprising loss to donald trump in iowa while marco rubio's strong showing gives hope to mainstream republicans, but it's hillary clinton, declared the winner in a very late call by the party with a razor thin margin over new zika fears.