>> patti: good morning virginia, it is wednesday february third, 2016. i'm patty martin. we are seeing rain this morning. melissa is in the weather center. tell be a wet day. >> melissa: hopefully you grabbed the umbrella everybody in the house will need the rain gear. jump to radar. cloudy skies. steady rain moving to the heart of virginia now. a batch moving through roanoke. more to come later this morning. the latest look at weather through the 6:00 hour. temperatures in the 40s. low 50s in danville. 43 in lynchburg. 51 in danville. 42 in roanoke. 46 in brookanymore. 42 in hot springs. you notice we are seeing the rain moving in. what do you and your family need?

the rain boots. umbrella and dress in layers. it is cool now tell be a mild day for us. almost spring like with the temperatures. which we will see sun so everybody could enjoy it. with the heavy rain up to two inches and highs in the 60s. we will look at the forecast coming up. patty? >> patti: this morning we are still working to find out exactly how 13 year old nicole lovel crossed paths with a virginia tech student charged with killing her. 13 year old met david eisenhower online. hear mother told the washington post she met him on a social media app she had not heard of. cyber crime experts want parents to know what kids are up to in their digital world. >> selfies. panda bears, i'm taken. part of nicole lovel's social media store e. she was like so

trying to fit in. for kid like nicole was bullied. the internet can be a vicious community, says cyber crime investigator stevanders. >> when we were kids in schedule if we were bullied it happened at school and the kids go home. now with the online syria bullying. it follows the kids where they go. >> reporter: as kids like nicole seek approval of others they may go to places where a world of fantasy and danger lurks. >> we are allowing or children to access and meet strangers we would not invite in our home. that's what we do as patients. >> reporter: what do you do? know what is coming in and going out on your kids cell phone and gaming apps. everything. >> parents need to be proactive. they have to take the time. it takes time.

>> patti: the days of let the kids be the tek satisfy once need to be over according to schoolings and investigators. you can buy apps to mirror your kids phones. we have more at wset.com. and a lot conditions to unfold surrounding nicole's murder. in the next half-hour we'll tell you about her funeral arrangements. follow the storeo your website wset.com as well as our abc 13 facebook page. the driver of a truck that was hit by a train in roanoke has been transferred to the burn center at lake forrest. johnny collins is in fair condition. william linebury died at the scene they feel were in a power work truck trying to across spring hollow when a freight train hit them there is an aep lot on the other side a private

both sides of the track. they don't know why the truck crossed with the train coming. a faith accident in roanoke. gregory was dead. davis lost control of his car on garden city blvd. hit a trailer hold inging pipes. there was another person in the car. that person is okay. speed and alcohol plab factors. a judge set a trialidate for the lieutenant charged with felony election fraud. bill maze one of three who ran for sheriff last year. a grand jury indicted hem after an investigation in a citizen's complaint finding maze did not live in campbell county. the charlotte'sville attorney is a special prosecutor on this case. danville officials say the investigation in danville

allegations of misconduct from employees. police start a 19 among investigation with help from state police and the danville common wealth attorney. six employees were convectd and all resigned or fired. and there are now multiple new safe guards to make sure this does not happen again. one an automatic vehicle location so supervisors monitor in real time where city vehicles are and how they are operated. city officials say they are working to implement an electronic time and attendance system. a policy to let employees report wrong doing by other workers. here are a few numbers from this investigation from the city. 200 hours of interviews. 200 hours of reviewing time sheets. 150 hours reviewing contracts and 100 hours of reviewing credit card statements. kim larking tells us the taxpayers deserve bfrment there is a light at the end

the work on river front park in lynch burke. crews have been working there for years. now kate brooks has more. >> reporter: the james river project will ensure cleaner water enters the river. >> pipe will convey that water to the wastewater treatment plant. >> reporter: project start indeed january of 2014. supposed to be done in march of 2015. then october now may of 2016. more than a year from the original completion date. why the delay? kim mitchell says digging found poor soil. there were weather delays. delays from working near the railroad. and historical artifacts were found, toochlt >> we had to move the sensitive archaeological finds they had to be removed carefully. >> reporter: not just the

put off the ground breaking of their new expansion because of it. >> we wanted to break ground before 2015 was over in talks with the city and further keep nothing communication we had to put our project off. report report the kids love seeing the construction and enjoy an exhibit dedicated to the project mason square can't wait much longer. >> look forward to use the space. >> reporter: department of water resources says they should be on schedule this time. >> we don't have anymore unknowns to deal with. >> patti: amazement square will break ground this spring. they have a traveling common for two years that exhibit will be here in february of 2017 regardless of whether they are ready or not. a roanoke woman proving her herran cest office buried at green greenfield. cheri lewis filed a lawsuit from

the county will do an archaeological review to see if there are graves and hold off in moving the bellings. they want to move buildings to bring more businesses to the business parks. general assembly set up a voter reverend up weather right to work laws should be in the state constitution. virginia is a right to work state. workers don't have to join a union on work. yesterday's amendment is necessary so the current laws are not changed in the future. still to come, do you know there is a quick way to look slimmer, taller and confidence? you answered, no. stand up. we will have more on the power of posture on health check. 40s and 50s. 42 roanoke. 43 in lynchburg. 51 in danville. you see the rain moving into the state. we could hear rumbles of thunder

melissa has your forecast after >> melissa: good witness standednesday morning. here is a snapshot what you need to know. it will be breezy.

most totals half an inch. we could see some areas in excess of two inches. a wash out for most of the day. we'll begin to dry out later this evening. latest look at pinpoint, the rain is filling in for the area. got steady rain moving across i-81 move to the east roanoke. lynchburg seeing cloudy skies. light drizzle. the bulk of the rain arrives at 8:00 sticks with us until 4:00 p.m. we have a flash flood watch from bedford to the west in affect until 6:00 p.m. this evening. grab a jacket as you head out. if is 43 in lynchburg. 51 in danville. 41 in martinsville. 41 in black burg. 42 in roanoke. look at the nice warm up. tell feel like spring. we will into the 60s. not going to be a good day to be outside.

some thunderstorms. it is thanks to the cold front continuing to march to the each you see from the southeast. the gulf coast up to the northeast. we see rain. got snow on the backside of the low temperature is bringing a one-two punch to the eastern half of the country. prediction center put areas to the south and east lynchburg that marginal risk. the greatest threat will be gusty south wind up to 30 miles per hour. and of course, the heavy rain we'll track throughout the day. attacking you through future cast. look at the line of storms moving through lunchtime from char lotsville to martinsville. heavy rain continues. steady rain into the afternoon. if you have to work late tonight, we will see skies clear later on about 7:00-8:00. mostly cloudy over night. partly cloudy for your thursday. latest look at future cast

over an inch in some areas, a soaking for you gos. temperatures in the 60s. it will fall as rain. 63 in lynchburg. 60 in lecting ton. 66 in danville. over night temperatures behind the front they will fall. we will be in the 40s as we are wake up tomorrow. thursday and friday sunshine, temperatures in the 40s. looking good through the weekend the rain increases looking ahead to next week. check your weather photo of the day. look at that beautiful sunset. halifax sunset bob brown sent in. if you have weather photos remember to send them at weather@wset.com. here is tech bytes. >> hey in tech bytes amazon coming to a mall. the retail jooinl giant opened the first store last year. now amazon is look to open 400 stores.

>> what is app? reached a mile stone the instant messaging app has 1 billion active users. they share 42 billion message. 1.6 billion photos and 250 million videos a day. >> i'm tired. >> facebook android app is blamed for eating more than just your time. >> some of us thought this. tests showing uninstalling the app the 20% of the bat re's life sxand better performance.

>> those are your tech bytes >> patti: this morning's health new the three million american women at risk for drink while pregnant.

bearing age who drink alcohol not on birth control. it could pose a risk to their babies if they are preg mantle and not know it. it affects 40,000 babies a year. >> a quick fix to look slim are and tall are improving your health? there is. you don't have to be a movie star to get it. carl has detail in health check. >> reporter: stand up straight. sit up. sounds like nagging it is helpful advice. >> good posture is alining your joints and body in a way that puts the least strain on muscles. >> reporter: we often have bad posture. the big of the mistakes are head forward. slumping the forward and leaning to one side. >> over time you can have neck pain. headaches, upper back pain.

>> reporter: you can work to improve your posture. sit properly. >> feet on the floor and hips against the chair. back against the chair. her head is neutral. in line not far forward. >> reporter: to check, try the wall test. stand two inches away. if you are good your shauleders issue head and butt ox should touch the wall and slide your hand behind your back. >> imagine a string pulling from your head to the sealing. >> reporter: for today's health minute. >> patti: a look at the most viewed news stories on wset.com. a man is dead following an accident in roanoke. many of you are logging on to read about how a sexually transmitted zika virus confirm indeed texas. lynchburg residents weigh in on the search for a new city

log on to wset.com your sou these lil' chickies and lil' doggies are small, -but they're intense. -oh, yeah. small but intense like my niece, hannah. oh, yeah. and you, uh, take karate? yeah she does. show him how intense you are, hannah. -yah! yah! ah! -(karate sounds) oh, my... hey! yes! now finish him. -bow to her, peter. -i'm not gonna bow to a... bow to her, peter. (gong) big flavor in a little package. new lil' chickies and lil' doggies. and grab a burrito and drink for $3.00 delivered in two minutes--

3 dennis another acc heartbreaker for the hokies last night on the road at syracuse.tech trying to snap its four-game losing skid. first half, justin bibbs launches three of his team-high 16 points.final 20 seconds first half, zach leday is free for the jam, hokies led 30-24 at the break, leday had 13. tech led by 7 with less than two minutes left, but michael gbinije drains a

to force overtime. orange go on to beat the hokies 68-60. 3 dennis big opportunity for the lu men, hosting big south co-leader winthrop. the flames fans on their feet for this one! 1st half, ezra talbert gets the big block in the paint. ritchie mckay's squad off to a fast start. later in the first, ac reid dials up from long distance and buries the three! reid a perfect 5-5 from behind the arc in the first, lu up 44-26 at the half. in the second, the eagles cut the lead to 5, winthrop's xavier cooks with 2 of his 26 points. but the flames battle back! john dawson great shot here! liberty beats winthrop 88-77. 3 on the high school hardwood, e.c. glass hosted jefferson forest. jf made it two straight road upsets. they won at rustburg monday, at e.c. glass last night. 59-54 the final, more highlights and scores at wset.com. 3 dennis rockbridge county has hired its new head football coach. he's mark poston, who's coached the past three seasons at nelson county and is a former eastern montgomery head coach.

sprint cup champ tony stewart has been hospitalized with a back injury after an all-terrain vehicle accident on the west coach sunday. 3 dennis the lynchburg school board approved the appointment of elizabeth masencup as new e.c. glass athletic director. cup. that is a look at sports. >> melissa: look at your weather. steady to heavy rain moving in the heart of virginia. you see that steady rain moving along the i-81 corridor. next batch will medicare it here in the next couple of hours. have that rain gear ready. we have the marginal risk. darker green color that the storm prediction center issued to the south and the east of our viewing area. main threats for us locally will be the heavy rain and the gusty wind up to 30 miles per hour. for the afternoon. i want to look at future cast wind gusts into the day. by lunch gusts up to 20 miles per hour.

winds will relax later tonight. behind the front. will be breezy over night and thursday. not going to deal with that gusty wind. rainfall totals we have been saying half an inch pecking up two inches when it is said and done that could lead to flooding of small creek s ands and streams watch out for that. tell be mild. morn morning temperatures in the 40's and 50s by lunch. low to mid 60s for the afternoon. we will school off tonight behind the front. lows in the 40s. a check of the next seven. we got sun thursday, friday and saturday. yes, a bit of cooler weather highs in the 40s over night lows falling in the 20s. patty, back to you. >> thank you. coming up in the next half-hour. this morning we hear from the devastated mother of nicole lovel. this as a suspect charge indeed

death faces new charges. danville doctor a victim of

there is >> patti: today friends, family and a community will begin to say goodbye to 13 year old nicole lovel. visit visits tonight 5:00-8:00 the fun ral is tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. we are learning about what lead up to nicole's murder. nicole told friends she would sneak out to meet her boyfriend david an 18 she met throughkik. stacie snyder a neighbor who's twin played with nicole. says before she vanished nicole showed the girls dave you'd's picture and showed texts they shared and said she would be sneaking out to meet him. snied ared her girls told the police that when they asked. she did not learn about this until nicole vanished. kikbase indeed canada was active

investigation. david eisenhower is charged and natalie keeper is facing a new charge accessory benefit the murder. yesterday we learned an autopsy shows the 13 year old was stabbed to death the final autopsy will not be available until late march. mary pedit says natally be in court this month on the new charges. originally arrest warrant stase lovel was killod saturday. the warrants will be changed to show she was killodded with the same day she went missing. lovel's mother choked up when she spoke about her daughter at the press conference. >> she had a passion for pannedace, music, dancing. american idle. some day. >> patti: following yesterday's press conference the only time she'll be discussing the case

a lot continues to unfold surrounding nicole's murder the search is not over am stick with abc 13 for coverage today as we learn more and follow the story on our website wset.com as well as on our abc 13 facebook page. >> melissa: good witness standednesday morning. after 6:30. you gotta have the umbrella and rain gear. jump to radar, seeing the steady to heavy rain pushing into virginia. lynchburg it it is a matter of time. a look at weather. cloudy skies in lynchburg. 43. 51 in danville rain reported in roanoke. they are at 42. 46 in brooknil. rain in black burg at 44. heavy rain in hot springs they are at 42. it is a cool start. you want the jacket. dress in layers.

you need the rain boots, umbrella as today will be a wash out. a 100% chance for rain. breeze and could see wind gusting out of the south up to 30 miles per hour. temperatures climb in the 60s. the rest of the work week is dry. we got a cool down. i will have details coming up. patty? >> patti: opening establishments are scheduled to begin in a couple of hours in the trial for the six charged with killing a reserve police captain. opening statements will begin at 8:30 in roanoke. yesterday, 12 jurors and four alternates were seat indeed the trial. last year a judge declared a mistrial after a defendant took a list of juror names. the search continues for those who shot a danville doctor and another man. someone shot doctor neil while he was walking home from work

happened on monday night on mt. vernon avenue upon doctor neil was in stable condition. his neighbor has been released from the hospital. >> they have not had this type of crime in that area. not to say it never has been. but in the recent past we have not had that type of crime we had larcenies and break in's. >> patti: police don't have suspects. a private source is offering a 10 thousand dollars reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those involved. new this morning, a pastor 1 victed of helping a woman flee the country rather than share custody her filed with her former same 6 partner is headed to prison. a judge ordered mill are to surrender to serve a 27 month sentence that had been delayed. on monday a court in new york upheld miller's conviction for

country with her daughter isabella the millers are not related. police department has two new receives on staff. thompson and tuck are were sworn in yesterday. both of them began employment on january 27th. thompson grew up locally and four year's response. tucker grand jury grew up on the south side and has three yearary response. a new college pole found 50% think it is more important to protect the rights of americans to own guns than control gun ownership. 41% think gun control is more important. others think background checks should be mandatory at gun shows. now that the iowa caucuses are over the presidential candidates are setting siteos new hampshire. the candidates have been

less than a week away from that primary. >> reporter: for the victous in iowa the celebration is short lived. >> i'm so thrilled i'm coming to new hampshire after winning iowa! >> reporter: a week before the next round of voting hilary and bernie are hoping the iowa results will give them a boost. >> political revolution conditions next tuesday here in new hampshire. >> reporter:een clinton's in are circle acknowledges a win will be tough. >> we near a fight to the finish. >> on the republican side trump says he is more confident about his chances to win in new hampshire but defends his finish in iowa. >> there were 17 people who decided now you have 11. i come in second i'm not humiliated.

in a bitter contest. >> six weeks ago, donald trump was saying every day i was his friend and loved me. i was terrific and nice. and now i'm aggravating. >> marco rubio is defending himself from attacks after a strong finish in iowa and is striking back. it is calculated. trump admitting that last debate may have hurt him. we expect him next week. abc news washington. >> patti: virginia tech professor who dissolved the water crisis in flint, michigan will testify before congress this morning. mark edwords in environmental engine ooerg will speak at committee. the hearing will look at the situation in flint and review the epa's administration of the safe drinking water act in the

sweet briar college is getting a gift for environmental science program. the brew are fund awarded a two part gift. one is 500 thundz over three years the other a 500 thousand dollar challenge grant to be matched. one of the programs that will help is the land atmosphere research station that collects data. you are looking at the research tower at station. a potential change is coming for home school students the chambers approved legislation to allow home schooled students to participate in public school sports. measure is known as the t let bo bill. passed yesterday and the house last week. a similar measure passed last year but vetoed. the legislation creates a double standard for student tleetsz. you can weigh in for a new city manager in lynchburg.

describe the characteristic of a good candidate. give candidates an idea what challenges they could experience. hear the profile at february ninth council meeting or go online at wset.com, current city manager will retire at end of june. still to come, president obama is visiting a mosque today. we will tell you why in today's looking ahead. looking ahead to the weather, tell be rainy. you can see it starting to move in and it is cool. 42 roanoke. 51 in danville.

>> melissa: tell be a wash out wchdz here is what you can expect today. 100% heavy rain begins this morning. continues into the afternoon. the rain will move out later tonight. we could see thunderstorms and the one-two inches totals across the heart of virginia. latest look at pen point radar, beginning to see the steady rain moving into parts of bedford, lexington and amhurst. roanoke, rocky mountain. everybody will see that rain today. you need the umbrella and the rain boots with lots of rain on the way, we got a flash flood watch until this evening for counties highlighted in green. until 6:00 p.m. tonight. temperatures in the 40s and low 50s. 43 in lynchburg. 42 in roanoke. 45 in blacksburg. 51 in danville.

41 in martinsville. the reason for this rain, strong cold front continuing to push to the east. we got our low pressure system toward the great lakes. you notice it is quiet. high pressure will influence our weather. we gotta get through the rain today. storm prediction center put us in a marijuana nal rescue to the south and each threats will be winds up to 30 miles per hour. as well as the rain. time it out on future cast. you notice our line pushes around the lunchtime hour. good day to bring the lunch and stay at work or school. and we got another line that pushes through just in time for the afternoon commute. seeing lingering showers. future cast developing some later. the bulk of the rain will move out and clearing skies partly cloudy for thursday. highs today. 63 in lynchburg.

63 in bedford. 64 for smith mountain lake. 66 in brooknil. all the way from south boston. 65 in martinsville. western virginia low 60's. these are spring like temperatures. 63 in roanoke. 62 in castle. gusty winds up to 30 miles per hour. over night tonight mostly cloudy. rain ends. lowsall in the 40s. waking up to a temperature around 40. tomorrow morning. a look at next seven. 63 that will be the warmest day. if you like mild weather. enjoy it. we got lots of sun thursday, friday and saturday. temperatures falling back where they should be this time of year. looking great for the weekend. reason chances increasing, look ahead to next week. patty? back to you. >> patti: the criminal case against bill cosby will resume today in pennsylvania.

testify indeed a pretrial hearing that he barred the state from prosecuting cosby a decade oomphing cosby charged with sexual assault from the alleged rape of a woman at his home in 2004. he denied wrong doing. cosby's lawyers want the charges dropped. dozens of women accuseding cosby this is the only criminal case filed against him. bomal visit an american mosque as president. visiting the islamic society of baltimore today. a senior administration official says the president will celebrate muslim-americans contributions to the nation and reaffirm the importance of religion freedom to our way of life. he visited mosques over access never one during his presidenciy. nfl announced who will sing the national anthem it is, lady gaga.

yesterday she announced she will perform at david bowie's special tribute at the grammys and sing at oscars at the end of the month. you may see v dot crews on the road work to improve safety. they will install traffic signal on major roads. you see the back plate makes the lights easier to see. includes cruelty 29. 4060, 58 and 11. drivers can have lane closures while the work is being done it is scheduled to start this week.

the zika virus in texas this is so, let me get this straight -- u.s. cellular has the phone you're looking for, a network that's built to give you coverage way out here where the other guys don't, and 6 gigs for only $40 a month. that's a lot less than verizon and at&t. so, why on earth would you ever go with one of those other guys? switch to u.s. cellular now and get 6 gigs of data for $40 a month plus get $300 back.

>> patti: all right. well, if you are squeamish you

scientists discovered a new species of arack nid they are a mon monster. kidnapo master bo heap us. they are classified separately. they are closely related spied are like arack nids sometimes called daddy long legs. they look scary they are harmless to people. kind of like daddy long legs. >> melissa: i don't like a spider creature. >> patti: i saw them on the play ground as a kid. they can't bite humans. >> patti: i would rather see a snake in my house than a spider. >> melissa: i will give you the snakes. >> patti: you take the spieders. >> melissa: we will all take rain. >> patti: a lot of it. i saw a bit driving in.

windshield and heavy rain arrived this morning. if you have not left the house grab the umbrella want to give you a tour of this storm. you see counter clock wise circulation. low pressure system headed toward the great lakes. got a bit of snow mixing with freezing rain of the sleet you see the pinks and purples. for us temperatures way too warm. the 60s. we are dealing with severe weather through alabama headed through atlanta now. we will see the stronger storms arriving at our door step today. latest look at satellite and radar. steady rain moving on i-81 from roanoke up to the lexington area and seeing showers moving to amhurst. lynchburg is dry. cloudy skies, rain is on the way. storm prediction center issued the marginal risk for the south and east that is darker green. locally, heavy rain.

could hear rumbles of thunder as we head to the day. let's look at gusty wind. we could see gusty 15-20 miles per hour today. winds will relax as we head over night hours. and of course, widespread one-two inches possible across the area. if you have the rain boots may be a good day to break nel out. patty? >> patti: thank you. health officials say a patient in texas acquired the zika virus through sexual transmission. patient was had sexual contact with an ill person from another country. the virus can be spread through sex. a french company is the first to announce tell attempt to develop a vaccine for the zika virus. the past our company launched a vaccine research and development project to target the virus. effort to over ride obama's

repeeled provisions of obama care failed in the house. the billed have stripped federal funding from planned parent hoochltd vote fell short of the 2 thirds need. the affordable care act will stay in place through the final year of mr. obama's term. g. o. p. leaders knew they would lose the vote but hope to use the issue to convince voters to elect a republican president. 2 senior military leaders say women should be allowed sign up for the draft. marine general robot neller told the committee every american who is physically qualified should register for the draft. general mark nilly said he agreed. acting secretary of the army murphy told the hearing it should be put to eya national debate.

ohio floor retired and wanted to buy hisk-9 partner. his best friend has to go to auction due to ohio law. this morning we have a happy update. retired police officer matthew partner. he developed a close bond over theater years of working together. he was not like family he was family. hiky retired from the force after 30 years he could not buy him and take him. a go fund me page raise the 60 thousand dollar to help him buy a jacques more than what was needed needed extra money goes to the police dog organizations and charity. this morning the latest on

lovel and the kevin >> patti: one of the people charge indeed connection to the murder of a girl is facing a new charge. natalie keepers faces accessory before the murder. david eisenhower charged with murder and kidnapped. a prelimary autopsy sos nicole was stabed death. final 'will not be available until late march. lovel was killed around saturday. the new findings tell that lovel was killod wednesday, the same day she went missing. nicole's fun ral is tomorrow. visit today 5:00-8:00 p.m. in black burg. opening statements in an hour for the trial of six charge indeed connection to the death of a reserve police captain. opening establishments will gwen at 8:30 in roanoke. yesterday, 12 jurors and four

for those charged in connection to kevin quick's death. a judge claimed a mistrail. virginia tech professor will testify before congress this morning. mark edwards will speak before the u.s. house oversight and government reform committee. looking at the situation in flint and review the epa's administration of the safe drinking water act in the city. if you have not seen the rain hang on, it is coming. >> melissa: i'm calling it wash out wednesday. >> patti: all we will see. >> melissa: until 4:00-5:00. showers lingering but one-two inches. watching for flooding, flash flood watch for areas west of bedford. 43 now with over cast skies in lynchburg. the rain is arriving for the area.

rain tell be breezy. wind gusting up to fur miles per hour. temperatures mild. feeling spring like. in the 60s. epijoy that warm weather. sun returns for the weekend. the temperatures back in the 40s. >> patti: that will do it for

good morning, america.