carolina pick 32 first. it has been more than two years since four members of a triangle family were hurt while exiting a ride at the state fair. >> the owner of the vortex entered an alford plea. that means that he understands that the court will have enough evidence to convict him -- that the prosecution will have enough evidence to convict him. he entered a plea without admitting to guilt. >> what everyone agreed upon is that what happened was horrific. this was the ride we are talking about. it was called the vortex known for its spins and flips. prosecutors say that an electrical box was be a sanged just so that the ride would pass inspection.

accidentally, the safety bars didn't engage and riders focused on the ride were thrown 15 feet to the ground. now, prosecutors say that ride owner joshua macaroni told the ride operator to rig that ride. in the court, his attorney put the blame on the ride operator. keysha gorham and her son were in court. they were badly hurt. tony is now blind in one eye, suffers from seizures and can no longer work. keysha got up in court and through tears told the judge this has torn their lives apart. they did settle a civil suit against macaroni and his family's business last year. she told me just a few minutes ago that they would give that money back in a minute if they could have their health and their lives back.

for quite a while and you will hear her tearful testimony in court. >> tragic day. julia sims live in raleigh, thank you very much. we all remember that story. federal investigators are expected to look into the cause of a deadly plane crash in union county. officers say that the pilot died. the plane went down around 7:00 last night in a wooded area. investigators are still trying to figure out what caused the crash. officials have not released any information on the pilot's identity or where the flight originated from. >> a milestone for the state's oldest american church, providence baptist church marks 150 years of existence. the church started as one-room school house and now boasts a congregation of more than 1000 members. the church long influenced the community and the state with members like lorenzo lynch, the current pastor and father of

and the board of trustees voted unanimously to remove the name of charles acock from a building. he improved the state's education system but also promoted white supremacy. uncg is not the only university to take on the issue. unc chapel hill is also removing references on buildings to the former governor. in honor of plaque history month, tonight, we continue our living the legacy series. the program honors four remarkable individuals living the legacy of dr. martin luther king, jr. tonight, mikaya introduces us to a woman who dedicated her life to improving the lives of people in foster children. >> you can watch her story

10:55 on fox 50. today, wral salutes a volunteer to this country and to the airborne and special ops museum in fayette ville. the museum had a special ceremony for retired lieutenant colonel al alvarez. gilbert baez joins us live from fayetteville with his story. gilbert? >> reporter: this is an incredible story. al alvarez is part of the greatest generation, those who served in world war ii. more importantly, he is my friend. i was honored to share a portion of his incredible story. >> this is the smiling face school kids and visitors have seen in the lobby of the airborne and special operations museum two days a week since it opened more than 15 years ago. retired lieutenant colonel al alvarez is a world war ii vet who stormed omaha beach on d- day.

that i remember the most about d-day was the deaths. i was laying in the weather and was two inches above the ground. everybody was getting hit. >> alvarez has been sharing his war stories for years to the young ang young at heart. he fought ways hi through europe, saw come gnat korea, vietnam and the dominican republic but the 92-year-old warrior says he remembers fighting the germans in world war ii like it was yesterday. >> you have to remember i was 18 years owed. i was a tiger. i think i cried. they scared the living bejesus out of us. >> the family is giving him the ultimate honor of highlighting his career, placed at the entrance where he has been

>> the city is a military town that knows a lot about military and, especially falling out of airplanes. >> knowing an awful lot about falling out of airplanes. that is not a swan song. he plans on continuing to volunteer on fridays and wednesdays here. he is 92 years old. if you get a chance, come down here and shake his hands as a former army officer, i'm going to give you a salute, al. rangers lead the way. thank you for your service. >> oh, smiling al. what a great guy. i have to come down to meet that guy. gilbert baez, great story, man. thank you. who wants a raise? who does not, right? see how america's largest employer is padding the wallet

ever wondered if a mixed bag for stocks this friday. the dow is down 51 points, nasdaq up 17 points, s&p down just a bit. for more, go to wral.com, click on business. more than a mall wal-mart workers are getting a raise tomorrow. minimum pay es 9 to $1 an hour y fofull-time worker will jump 3%. it's phase 2 of a massive pay increase. wal-mart employs more workers than any other u.s. company. downtown raleigh starting construction on a new place. this is formally named the moore square station. it will include larger waiting areas, restrooms, info booth,

>> this has been here for probably at least 30 years. it's become dated. and downtown has grown up so much around it. we really need to change how this station interacts with, you know, all of the businesses. >> sprucing things up. city officials want to approve the future of raleigh in the triangle. renovation work will take nine months to improve. tomoatt ne. th this a tool that lets you know how much hours your roof gets the sun each year. and go to solar maps. if your home is an area of the

little sun, you may not be able to go solar. om that point, you need to do some math to e if that will save you money >> that's very neat. >> cool. >> i think i have too much shade. >> we get a lot of fun in the front of the house but the back is dark. >> bitter and sweet combine to make a delightful local dish today. >> coming up, brian and lisa show you a tasty way to spice up your salads. and bee keepers in california are keeping an extra

find out why ten days left until nbc joins wral. here is a look at some of the programs coming to wral. the voice, the black list, the tonight show starting jimmy fallon and saturday night live. look for nbc programming starting on february 29th. >> love jimmy fallon and saturday night live. all this month, we are looking for bays to prepare south carolina sweet potatoings. >> we're going to make a roasted sweet potato with kale so you can have sweet salad with warm salad. does that work.

>> so we've got our diced north carolina sweet potatoes >> nothing like hot leaves. >> pretty good, now. >> add beats, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, raisin and pepper and combine well. >> i was going to give you a bigger bowl. >> yeah. >> but tom, the photograph, felt like you could do it in a smaller bowl. >> hmm. >> he had faith in you. >> i tried to do him proud here. i lost a raisin or two. >> that's not terrible. >> not terrible >> that's all i'm going to do. >> you're good. spread this out on a large baking sheet. >> spread it out evenly and head to the stove. in a sauce pan, we had some butter, chopped north carolina pe san and fresh thyme. stir until the butter melts. cover for about an hour. a simple mixture of cherry vinegar and dijon mustard.

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d a dive here is a look at the top stories on the wral tv took page. welcome home for paratroopers that came home early after being deployed in iraq. the video has been viewed by 25,000 viewers and dozens added their comments. you know, you can't get enough of this stuff. feel free to head over to wral tv facebook page. tell our local patriots thank you. thank you very much. friendships may fade but the love of a sibling last as lifetime and facebook is exploding with an adorable video posted this week. >> i brought you a hamster.

[ giggling ] >> you can just feel that embrace. six-year-old abbigail stout and her big brother daniel collapse in this hug of happy tears after she surprised him with the gift of a ham center. daniel had been doing extra chores to save money to buy his own pet. his sister used the money from her birth to purchase the hamster for her big brother because he was working so hard. >> isn't that sweet? >> how awesome? >> hamsta. >> today, we expect to learn more about the virgin galactic's new space rocket. the company is preparing to resume testing for the first time since the accident destroyed the original and killed one of the two pilots. the first space ship 22 broke apart in october of 2014 when

unlocked the system and handled the slow and stablizing craft. we cannot help but fawn over our pet of the day. what a cutie. this is lena. tiffany, tell us about her. >> she is an adorable two month old lab mix puppy. she has five other siblings waiting at the building also needing a home. when she is not hanging out in someone's lap, she can be found playing with her siblings, rough housing, playing with the toys, eating a whole bunch of food and being wigly and adorable. we definite hi have a lot of puppies that still need homes and since they are so young, they are easy to train into whatever you want, hunting dog, couch potato, someone to hang out and hang out with the kids.

>> i want to i am totally blind. i lost my sight in afghanistan. if you're totally blind, you may also be struggling with non-24. calling 844-844-2424.

a company in hot pursuit of a suspect. >> stopped for a parole violation. wasn't having any of it. >> see the crazy moment he's cornered, and still finds a way out. [ bleep ]. >> he is in pretty bad shape. >> dr. matt takes in a scared pup. >> this dog was legislated to be put down. >> just wait until you see the result. a shocked dad gets a new corvette from his son. >> happy birthday, dad. >> find out why this kid's got that kind of dough. plus, the buzzword for your shot at a new ipad mini and an

interview that ended in a stolen laptop. so here's what happened after the cameras cut. see the clue that cracked the case. looks like something out of a video game. >> all this takes place in downtown hannibal and it is about to get really real. after this dude, they stopped him for parole violation and he wasn't having any of it. >> whoa! that's worse that parole violation now. >> oh, he kept going. he rolled over and around that car and just kept it moving. the cop car backs up, turns around and pursued him.