even his own brother posting this on facebook. i have made it my practice not to endorse political candidatesto endorse political candidates. i don't think it is my responsibility to point people to a candidate but rather to point people to jesus christ as the ultimate and the only hope for mankind and the problems we face as a nation. that was by jonathan falwell. most students we spoke with today say they support fal's well's decision to support whichever candidate he chooses. >> we are allowed to have our own views. jerry has a view, and he is endorsing trump, then let him do so. but we should be strong enough as christians to make our own choices. that is what we should be doingthat is what we should be doing. >> we value him a lot since he is our president. >> reporter: following yesterday's endorsement, trump tweeted that the endorsement was a great honor. lu then released a statement saying it does not, quote, support or oppose candidate for public office and falwell's

in a "washington post" op-ed. he wrote that trump is an ethical and honest businessman and the country needs someone to bring it back to the brink the same way that liberty was made great again from 1987 until today. priscilla kaiser, abc 13 news. good evening to you. many of you have been scraping snow, pushing it away, making these monstrous snow piles. show you this view as we look out over lynchburg. you can see these huge piles of snow. keep in mind that some of this as it melts and runs into the parking lot, it is going to refreeze overnight tonight as temperatures will be dropping back down below freezing. don't have to worry about any additional rain or snow. we did see a few small showers very early south and east of lynchburg. that rain has moved away. your hourly forecast show by 11 p.m., many of us will see some refreezing with 20s in the morning.

coming up a little later, we will show you when rain will return. the stand jawvr between anti-government protesters and law enforcement in oregon turned violent overnight. members of the armed group that took over the national wildlife refuge on january 2 were on the way to a meeting last night when a shootout erupted. the man who had been acting as the group's spokesman was killed. and another protester was wounded. the fbi held a press conference just a few hours ago saying they gave the armed group ample opportunity to leave peacefullyopportunity to leave peacefully, eight protesters were arrested following that shootout. a federal judge will not throw out several charges in the death of a waynesboro police captain. the daily progress report say a judge denied a defense motion saying their arguments did not have merit. earlier this month defense attorneys for two of the six people charged in kevin quick's death argued that from charges should be dropped because they were not acts of violence. the trial is set to begin on monday. a virginia tech researcher who brought to light water

now be working for the town. flint's mayor karen weaver announced today she hired mark edwards to oversee all water testing done by the state and federal government. she says he will be fully independent and get paid through private donations. the michigan's governor said evans is part of a 17-member group of experts selected to find long-term solution to flint's water problem. tonight we are answering questions about the zika virus. a half dozen cases have popped up in the u.s. including here in virginia. officials confirm the virginia case in the northwest part of the state. the virginia department of health says right now the zika virus is not a major concern here. that virus can't be transferred from person to person, only from mosquitoes and because it is so cold, we don't have mosquitoes right now. doctors think there might be a link between the zika virus and birth defects. they are advising pregnant women to stay away from the

>> if a woman gets bit by this mosquito and gets the zika virus infection during her pregnancy, it increases the chances that her baby will be born with something called microcephaly. a very severe brain defect and the brain doesn't develop normally. >> mark: the state department says once it begins to get warmer, zika could be a bigger threat because not only can mosquitoes give the virus to people but if a person with a virus is bitten by a mosquito, that can become a carrier canned effect people. and the dam heart in white mill needs to go, so says danville's engineering department. city engineers say this dam isn't safe. valerie bragg is live in danville with more on this suddanville with more on this sudden push. sal vis? >> reporter: danner, a year ago the new ymca was built near it, and now more people than ever are start fog spend time there. there are signs posted all around warning people of the danger, but still, the city's

is not worth the risk. >> reporter: tammy mckinney sees her grandson every day, but only like this. 5-year-old colton carns died four years ago when he got pulled under a sedan near dan daniels park. >> holiday are no longer the same. family portraitsfamily portraits is the same. nothing is the same anymore because you are missing part of your family. >> reporter: more than a year later, the dam was removed. now city workers want the one by the white mill gone too. >> serves us no purpose to leave the dams for another familiar three have to suffer a twraj dee like ours did. >> reporter: she and her daughter use the riverwalk and pass by this sign every day. lapen believes that removing the dam can make it a safer journey for little stephy. >> i think having that option will allow, you know, to have more kids playing outside without having to worry about -- where it end up.

rescue people. fire fighting was his dream. he may be gone, but his grand mom says he is still making dreams come true. >> how many people has he rescued by having the dam removed. if he is a part of this if this has prompted the city to say we have lost a child. and lost a city -- why not remove those. that is what he loved to do. >> reporter: the project will cost nearly $100,000. the city's engineering department will submit their proposal to citcouncil next week. if approved, they will have it removed by august. live in danville, valerie bragglive in danville, valerie bragg, abc 13 news. >> danner: good to see they are using that as a way to fight that -- that tragedy. she is only 19 years old, but one sweetbriar college student is already a world champion. how she is able to get to be a

and ch award-winning coverage you can count on. >> danner: a lot of sighing going on right now. >> mark: a cool picture you showed us with the ice piles around town. dporj gorge kind of looks like giant piles of mashed potatoes. >> mark: all right.

have a cravehave a craving to eat that much mashed potatoes -- it does, look like giant piles of mashed potatoes especially when it gets dirty a little bit -- anyway, areas of snow will be refreezing and by tomorrow morning, we will see lows between 23 and 28. then tomorrow afternoon, we will be able to melt away some of those snow piles away. 43 to 50 for your highs tomorrow. right now we are looking live out soared the peaks of otter. another beautiful sunset. you can see high clouds in the distance and some color in the western sky. 43 degrees right now. the air is also drier than it was yesterday, and the wind is light. the wind will be pretty much a nonfactor for tonight. temperatures everywhere in the 40s with 30s closer to blacksburg. 36 in blacksburg. if you were watching us from hillsville, 36. 45 in danville. 45 in south boston. here is what it looks like across virginia. we have dry weather, and we are going to stay dry into and

a few small showers early this morning have left the region. we are also watching up to the north and west as we are going to get another cool front moving in by late tomorrow and into friday. basically going to short live, reinforce the cold air in placereinforce the cold air in place. only going to be a short-lived, a brief cool down that we are going to see before we see the big warm-up moving in. for your thursday in the morning, waking up to dry weather. we will have sunshine during the morning with the few high clouds mixed in and mostly cloudy skies for many of us beautifulduring the afternoon. the closer we are to the mountains, more sunshine in that direction. if you were traveling south into the carolinas tomorrow, there will be some areas of light rain in that direction. jumping ahead toward your friday. that is when we will see a weak cool front moving in which will keep the weather in the 20s in the morning and highs in the 40s. we will see some areas of snow in the mountains and that know will be staying on the other side of the mountains. friday afternoon looks cool and dry for all of us. for tonight, we are going to see some refreezesee some refreezing with lows

amherst, 25, appomattox, 27. altavista in the upper 20s. south boston, rather, 27. and 26 for smith mountain lake. dress warmly in the mornings we will be you off to a cold start. by lunchtime to 42. mid-40s into the afternoon and back to 30s tomorrow evening. around the rest of the area, bedford at 46. smith mountain lake 47. amherst, 47. watching us from lexington, 45. and 48 for appomattox. quick check ahead for your saturday. really enjoy the weather on your saturday. we will be you off to a cold start in the morning. at 10 a.m. in the 30s and 55 at 1:00, and upper 50s during the afternoon. cool and dry for your weekend. your seven-day forecast shows that by sunday, we will see highs reaching the 60s. so this will be the warmest weather we have seen so far for 2016. mid-60s coming up on monday. then rain chances are going to be increasing next week toward next tuesday and wednesday.

she won an individual title, but in sweet briar student says it was a team effort.

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sweetbriar college is known for top-notch writing program so its writers are used to winning. >> mark: 19-year-old>> mark: 19 equestrian super>> mark: 19 equestrian superstar is a standout on that squad. she got back from a big win in europe, but she slowed down long enough for suri crowe to catch up with her. >> reporter: mcklail is really something special. i am a writer myself, and i can tell you that -- i am a rider myself and the long hours of training and commitment it takes are critical to success. not only does she have both of those, she has a magic touch with the horses she rides and now it is paying off on the world stage. >> reporter: she was practically born in the saddle. at age 19, mikala benjamin has been riding most of her life. those long hours in the barn have paid off. benjamin was chosen as one of

in december at the world equestrian finals in germany. she won the show jumping competition. >> i remember a bunch of the other student riders, like the golden oldies saying i can't remember the last time team usa won show jumping. >> reporter: team usa placed third overall. sweet briar riding coach said benjamin's hard work and connection with horses is what gives her that winning edge. >> i definitely think that makes somebody more well roundmakes somebody more well rounded to understand the animal and to be able to work with the animal and not expect them to be a machine. >> i am kind of used to getting on something not knowing it for very long and just try to get along with it. >> reporter: benjamin is grateful for a long list of people who helped her get to this level and particularly to derato, the horse she most often trains with. >> i love moments like this where i really like to snuggle. >> reporter: engineering student will compete on the world circuit this summer,

but mostly having a blast. >> i love it. i love that i am able to do what i really want to do on the international level. i am having the time of my life. it has bane lot of fun. >> reporter: mikala has been selected to ride for the team in ireland and spain this summer, but will continue to focus on her engineering studyfocus on her engineering studies the rest the time. she is quite the rider mark and danner. >> mark: and she likes to snuggle.

you go right now, wendy's is investigating fraudulent charges on customers' credit card bills. have you checked yours? the fast food giant learned about that problem. cyber security experts are investigating, and in the meantime, wendy's wants to you watch for unauthorized charges on your card. toyota for best-selling automaker. the japanese automaker sold 10 million cars. the fourth straight year that toyota has taken that title. this came despite toyota having to recall millions of cars due to potentially faulty takada air bags. volkswagen second followed by gm. jpmorgan chase is upgrading their new atms with new technology top.withdraw using your smartphone.

cash by using a one-time pin sent to their smartphone. jpmoreen in the next phase, that customers will be able to withdraw cash just by tapping their phone to the atm. >> mark: it is just going crazy. you heard 6 you heard of guns and other

assassination you have cann customs officials arrested a man who have not ants in his pants but birds. the man was flying from -- flying from cuba to miami. customs officials say he was concealing six exotic birds in a fanny pack and three more in his groin area. the birds were turned over to the department of agriculture. it is a violation of federal law to smuggle live animals into the u.s. >> danner: all right. >> mark: we don't make this stuff up. >> danner: no, we don't.

a judge called the most violent murder in lynchburg knows his fate. mona kosar abdi was in the court room as dominic moss was sentenced. the latest at 6:00 -- >> mark: plus ... >> at this time she doesn't have the medication with her and we want to make sure she is able to get that medication as soon as possible.

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bc 13 news. >> mark: tonight, there is mixed reaction following the endorsement of donald trump by liberty university president jerry falwell, jr. >> frep students and alumni, -- especially from students and alumni some who believe trump a strong christian man and others wonder where he stachbdz religiously. priscilla kaiser joins us live with more. priscilla? >> reporter: liberty students