county with a look at the conditions firsthand and the wind has been blowing you all over. >> it's been knocking me around a little bit. we have seen the white out conditions in the high country and watauga county, we're getting wind gusts in excess of 30 miles per hour. it's blowing the snow right back across roadways like this one behind me, from last night to this time, temperatures are 5 degrees colder in watauga county. look at this video we shot in avery county where the snow fell very hard at times. approaching a half a foot of snow at higher elevations. causing problems on the roads. the d.o.t. has folks working on twelve hour shifts right now. i was on the campus of appalachian state university, they're bracing for cold weather out the door tomorrow morning. pique >> i'm not excited about my 9:00 a.m. class. i'm nervous. but we have the gear.

>> we're getting hit with some of the wind gusts now. it's blowing the snow back across the roadways. making it heart on the d.o.t. crews. on top of that you have persistent snow showers that move into the north carolina mountains bringing about an inch every time we have one of those snow showers move through. they have to get right back on the roadways and plow again. reporting live from watauga county, dave faherty, channel 9 eyewitness news. eyewitness news uncovered the construction company that walked away from the independence widening project is being sued for $12 million. this is a major update to a 9 investigation we broke last week. and eyewitness news reporter jim bradley is live tonight with a closer look at the legal trouble for devere construction. jim? >> yeah erica, it's looking more and more clear that it was financial problems that drove devere to walk off this job widening independence boulevard. tonight we've learned that the bonding agent that's now

this job gets finished is suing devere over millions of dollars. the lawsuit was filed in federal court in michigan where devere construction is based but much of it revolves around the financial problems that led devere to walk off four construction projects here in north carolina. most prominent among them, the ongoing widening project on independence boulevard. liberty mutual, the bonding agent guaranteeing devere's work, says they admitted in november it was having financial difficulties, inability to perform obligations and inability to pay bills. in december they borrowed $2.5 million from liberty mutual and last month asked for but didn't receive another $4 million for and suppliers. there's something else in this first time. that's that while liberty mutual is on the hook to macchie construction projects are finished, this lawsuit says that devere and its

indemnify liberty mutual. anything liberty mutual pays out now, devere is supposed to pay back. because of that, the lawsuit is asking a federal judge to force devere to put up $12.5 million in collateral to offset what they may have to spend to hire a new lead contractor and pay subcontractors to finish the independence boulevard project and three others it walked away from. in this lawsuit, liberty mutual says it wanted to look at devere's books but wasn't allowed access. days before they walked away from the job, they sent a note saying good luck finishing this work. devere didn't respond to our request for comment. a 9 investigation into devere construction continues online at wsoctv.com. look for our past reports under jim's story right there on the home page. this story breaking within the last hour, north carolina

u.s. house district boundaries before the presidential primaries in march. late this afternoon, a panel of three federal judges denied north carolina's request for an emergency stay. a federal court ruled that north carolina's district twelve, it stretches from charlotte to greensboro, it was drawn based on the race of voters and they said it's unconstitutional. another district near halifax county was also singled out. the state plans to ask the u.s. supreme court to get involved in this. state lawmakers have been warned they may have to go back to raleigh on monday to get back to work we drawing the boundary lines. north carolina will not be allowed to hold elections until the lines are fixed. regulators plan to fine charlotte based duke energy $6.6 million. all in response to a 1014 coal ash spill into the dan river. the north carolina department of environmental quality says that fine could increase later. this afternoon, duke said it's

the penalty. the energy giant all ready agreed to shell out $102 million in fines when it pleaded guilty to federal pollution crimes last summer. in the last hour, investigators said an accidental kitchen fire killed four dogs inside a home in cotswold today. crews cut a hole in the roof to get to the flames. it took 35 firefighters to put it out. they were tipped off after neighbors say they smelled smoke coming from inside. the owner wasn't around at the time. the fire caused $25,000 worth tonight rock hill police are looking for a man wanted for attempted murder. the victim told police that this man, denzel boozer stabbed him and threatened to shoot him. the victim was seriously injured but expected to survive. when he's caught. police will charge him with attempted murder. this york county teenager will spend 15 years in prison for setting a fire that killed

greg suskin was in court for the 17-year-old's tearful apology today. and he learned why the family didn't want prison time for matt morgan. >> better to accept a deal for 15 years in prison than risk more in a possible murder trial. but no one in matt morgan's family believes he meant to kill his 14-month-old brother. on march 6th, while his parents were away. matt morgan set a fire in the living room of his home and in a bed room where 14-month-old joshua hill slept. he told deputies he went back to the bed room to try to save his brother. today prosecutors say he later changed his story. >> he said he actually never did do that. morgan watched the fire burn up died. he had a cell phone with him but didn't call 911. both his parents say he would purpose.

because we know our son. sheriff, any investigator tell me to my face that he's a cold- blooded killer when he cries at disney movies. >> this prosecutor was fascinated by fire and set a earlier. today he spoke in court about the death of his brother. >> he was the only brother i ever had. and i just wish i could have gotten to him in time. >> and morgan was allowed as part of the plea to plead down from murder to involuntary manslaughter and from homicide by child abuse to unlawful conduct toward a child. his mother said in court today she knows the evidence against him looks terrible but she's convinced he's innocent. this man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for leaving his friend to die in the street after a crash. adam reid wrecked his car on

the crash, his friend was lying in the roadway still alive when reid left. he will not be eligible for parole. the center of the u.s. political role tonight is in new hampshire where primary voters are casting their ballots. officials say the turn out for this year's primary could break a record. new hampshire is a state where bernie sanders and donald trump continue to hold on to leads right now. hillary clinton poling far behind sanders. and is aiming for a better than expected finish. she's hoping to silence the critics who suggested that she skip the state all together. >> keep showing folks that they can count on me and that we're going to make real progress together e. >> for the gop, it's really a battle for second place, ted cruz, marco rubio, john kasich, and jeb bush all within striking distance. and we'll watch the results of the primary coming in throughout the night, we'll update you on the winners and

eyewitness news at 10:00 and 11:00. a charlotte doctor accused of sexually assaulting three female patients has surrendered his medical license. the accusers say all the assaults happened in dr. mario hernandez's office during medical check ups. since his arrest, several accusers stepped forward with similar claims. indictments obtained by channel 9 say a former fire chief embezzled for years from a fund for burned children. he was investigated when the burned childrens fund noticed discrepancies in their bank account. he also stole from a men's ministry at a united methodist church. he heads the court monday. the statesville police department has a new leader. the city named 26 year veteran joe the police chief after a seven month search. he plans to focus on community

through new programs. he replaces the former chief, tom anderson who retired in july of last year. over the past three hours, talks over school spending have gotten a bit heated between mecklenburg county leaders and cms board members tonight. this is a live look at the meeting under way. a lot of moms and dads here. a huge story for the parent of any cms student tonight. another topic of discussion, the superintendent search. we could learn if the contract will be extended for current superintendent anne clark. a big story, we'll have updates and coverage on eyewitness news at 10:00 and 11:00. >> it's one thing to have arctic air parked over the carolinas, but what about marrying moisture with it. when i come back, vicki graf will show you when we have one shot of a winter storm. panthers quarterback cam newton criticized for his effort late in the super bowl. walking out of that post game press conference is getting continued support from his team and head coach. do i wish he had handled it

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ev i have a mentality. i have a standard i set for myself. and i'm not going to bend or break. as the panthers packed up their lockers, cam newton defended his actions during and

>> he's been accused of giving up near the end of the game and criticized how he acted at the press conference. he admitted he's a sore loser. >> reporter: that's right, he says he's been on the record calling himself a sore loser. today his teammates and his coach said they appreciate the fact he doesn't like to lose. they say it's that emotion and his 100% commitment that makes him a great leader. >> i'm human. i've never once said that i was perfect. >> when asked to defend his walking off from a post game press conference, cam newton says he is who he is, a player who gives his all. >> at the end of the day, when you invest so much time, when you sacrifice so much, and things don't go as planned, i think emotions take over. >> the league mvp has taken a lot of heat over his demeanor and for not diving after a fumbled football.

because the way my leg was, it could have been contorted in a way. >> because he chose to protect himself his teammates jumped to his defense. they took a break from cleaning their lockers to sing we love cam. coach ron rivera also backs him and says he needed more time to absorb the loss before facing the media. >> do i wish he had handled it differently? yes. >> ron rivera challenges critics who question his commitment. >> if you took the time to know who he is, i think there'd be more of an appreciation for who he is as a person. >> a leader they believe will take them back to the big game. >> we will be back. and i mean that. >> ron rivera says he understands the players are watching. he suggests that maybe as a public service they give the players more time to collect thoughts and emotions before

live in uptown charlotte, brittney johnson, channel 9 eyewitness news. >> no matter what you think about his actions during the game, he played his heart out. and what he did after the game didn't keep fans from showing up to support the team when they got back last night. some of the players took time to shake hands and gave high cold. for clips from players and ron rivera. and our coverage of the super bowl, go to wsoctv.com. look for the story on the home page. crowders mountain state park in gaston county set a new attendance record for 2015. our partners at the gazette reporting that over 100,000 people enjoyed the scenery there last year. that's up 17% since 2014. governor pat mccrory announced the day it was a statewide record setting year for north carolina's 39 parks. over 70 million people visited the parks. increasing attendance by 11%.

people are at the parks right now. here's chief meteorologist steve udelson. any warmth in sight? >> this is going to be the longest stretch of cold we've seen all winter long. typically by this time of year, we warm to about 55. that's pretty tolerable outside. look at the afternoon highs, right around 40 degrees. right through the weekend. potentially right into the early part of next week. about 15 degrees colder than average. as far as snow goes to match that with the cold again we're not looking at much of anything in the charlotte area. it's been confined to the mountains. 34 at mountain island lake in belmont. 35 ballantyne. waxhaw monroe, 36. statesville and hickory, 29. bus stop forecast, can i emphasize enough, you kids don't want to wear a coat inside. convince them to wear a coat. cover as much skin as you can.

temperatures will be in the 20s. it'll feel colder because of the wind. tomorrow's threat tracker for the metro, nothing falling from the sky. winds will pick up some. the cold and the windchill values, that's key. check out the future cast wind speeds, 10 miles per hour in the charlotte area. stronger toward i-40. by 2:00 in the afternoon, that's when the winds will peek in the metro. 15 miles per hour with higher gusts and winds in the mountains, upwards of 30 miles per hour. that does a number on windchill val eyes. they stay very low over night into the day tomorrow. we're talking about windchill values in the mid teen ins teens in the metro. the only snow left will be out of here across the high country. off and on snow showers continue through the day tomorrow. as far as additional accumulation, we're talking highest peeks, west facing slopes, two to four inches of snow additional, lower

coating to another inch. but it's these windchill values in the mountains, downright dangerous, all day long, follow our time line here, i mean we're talking about windchills below 0 by this time tomorrow night. they don't rise much. so for the high country, snow showers continue, travel issues on the road because of the snow, and quite frankly, the wind and windchill values, and that's going to be the big issue. thursday morning, the coldest of the bunch in the charlotte area, 16 my forecast low in charlotte. the all time record, look how 12 degrees. we're at valentine's day, it looks great. my wife likes to say cold hands, warm heart, that will be valentine's day. it's plenty cold. below freezing all day long. what about that next storm? for more, let's head to vicki. >> the models have been going back and forth on this. away. we've been telling you you need two things to get the wintery weather in charlotte.

cold air from the surface up to 30,000 feet. so models are starting to indicate there will be moisture. first in the mountains. then through charlotte through monday afternoon. as far as temperatures go, monday morning, it's going to be cold. in fact, we'll be in the 20s here from the mountains through charlotte, below freezing .but as we go throughout monday afternoon, we can look at temperatures in the upper 30s to low 40s. that will indicate a wintery mix of snow and rain. for what to expect during the weekend, we'll send it back to steve. >> temperatures for the most rt in the 30s so about 40. over night lows, as cold as they've been all winter. >> valentine's day, 35. bundle up. well identity thieves don't limit themselves to adult victims. they target children too. >> you have to think kids have nice pristine social security numbers. >> action 9 investigates the

a quick look at the day on wall street. the dow closing down, just 12 points, the ust 12

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try puffs well the panthers are back in charlotte tonight as out of town vendors are also packing up to leave. today eyewitness news reporter joe bruno learned how one pop up shop is giving back to carolina fans because of the loss of the super bowl. there were few places busier than the panthers store just hours before kickoff. >> i wasn't expecting this many people in here. >> two days later, less people and more merchandise. pretty much all of it at regular price. the out of town vendors are stuff. >> it's been good. >> adrien robinson travels through countries sellinggoer and has been at this location for a month. he took a gamble and chose to go to charlotte this year

the loss, he doesn't regret it. >> it's a lot warmer. there's a lot of rain out there all the time. you know it's raining. it's cold. everything. the snow, the mountains. >> now he's getting ready to head back to his home in gary indiana. he's selling his shirts between 5 and $10. >> it's kind of for the people. they showed us a lot of love. they were great fans. now we're trying to give back a little. >> robinson will keep selling shirts until he's all out. but he won't be gone long. he'll be back with his stand next year if the panthers return to the super bowl. in south end, joe bruno, channel 9 eyewitness news. >> that's right. the ciaa. we have that to look forward to. >> it's not going to be pleasant outside the next few days. highs around 40. lows in the teens and low 20s. as cold as we've been all winter. thanks for making us your

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yea, that fe breaking news tonight as we come on the air. what the exit polls are already telling us, right here in new hampshire. the first primary in the nation. votes being tallied. for some, a make or break moment. after months of attacks, neck and neck battles, it all comes down to this. >> polls are open! polls are open! >> our political team out in force tonight. we're one-on-one with donald trump. >> is tonight your night? >> we're with marco rubio. with jeb bush. does he need a strong showing here to survive? and john kasich. does he have late momentum? >> we're getting pounded by everybody. bernie sanders and hillary clinton battling it out. >> i love this process. i love this primary. >> her uphill battle in sanders' backyard. and we're with the voters tonight. the late deciders revealing to