this could cause delays during the afternoon commute. we've got the cones out. through february 19th, this right lane will stay closed. right now 2, 77 could be used. it's looking -- right now, 277 could be used and it's looking good. most of the roads are leading aren't see anything delays. 31 miles per hour heading in the south end from south boulevard and off to the north heading towards it 77 at 56 -- towards 277 at 56. stephanie? we return to our team coverage of the freezing temperatures. it is causing your home ago furnace to work harder and could even break. >> crews are busy making sure everyone has heat. she is live for us. >> reporter: john, that's right.

lower, the furnaces and heating units inside are working harder. i don't know about you guys, but i like it pretty warm. so right now this apartment where we're at we have the temperature set to 75 degrees. we rode around with a acosta heating and air conditioning and we've been going with them to the calls they had for broken heating units. this resident says his mother's house has not had heat for a week. she's been away from home because she had surgery, but her son called a repair company because she's coming home soon. acosta heating and air says most people are surprised when it gets cold that the heaters don't work. >> when we have a big cold snap, someone might not know that their unit is not working correctly until it gets this cold. >> reporter: that's why they say it is a good idea to get routine maintenance on your unit so you have it when you

we did check overnight with several companies. they have been getting a steady stream of calls for service because of broken units. they are answering calls for things like broken lines thermostats and frozen drains. >> angela, thank you for that. this tractor-trailer literally fell apart while driving down the interstate. it looks like the trailer collapsed in the middle. troopers say it even split in two about 9:00 last night. the trucking company said this is extremely rare and it's not clear how it happened. the driver was able to pull off the road safely. trie troopers say no one will be charged. we toasted a slide show of the damage on the home page, wsoctv.com. breaking news overnight in york county, police are investigating a deadly crash around 9:40 last night on sutton springs road.

involved and both were going northbound when one driver hit another car from behind. that driver ran off the road, hit a tree and died at the scene. the other driver was okay. authorities have not released the victim's name. we are asking if alcohol or speed played a factor in this. in about three hours, eight new highway patrol troopers start their fist day of work in and around -- first day of work in and around charlotte. they have been short 22 troopers for a while. we were there this time last year when the highway patrol welcomed its largest number of recruits in decades, but it wasn't enough, though. the shortage caused other troopers to work overname, costing the state more money and caused troopers to get behind while responding to crashes during last year's snow. cms superintendent ann clark will lead the district for another year. >> reporter: last year's debate

joe bruno is live at an east charlotte elementary school to lay out the controversy for us. joe some. >> reporter: ann clark's first day with an extended contract will be spent here in shamrock gardens greeting bus drivers pore bus driver appreciation day. all of them are facing reassignment in coming years as part of the controversial student reassignment plan clark launched. a key reason board members wanted an extension was so she could see it through. white board members wanted clark on another year but african-american board members argued against it. after two hours of debate, the board vote 6-3 to -- voted 6-3 to continue with the. some expressed concern with how now. >> we lose a great part of our

believing in us or trusting that we can do the job. >> reporter: coming up in 30 minutes, the backlash ann clark is receiving from parents whose children may have to go to a new school because of her controversial reassignment plan. joe bruno, channel 9 "eyewitness news." this morning, we're asking cmpd whether a handgun found in myers high school was loaded. officers charged 17-year-old montez smallwood with possession of a handgun by a school property. cms leaders say the gun was found after school hours notified. no one was hurt. overnight, we checked with huntersville police who told us they have not arrested the man who robbed the student at knife point at a local college campus yesterday morning on the edge of the northeast parking lot at central piedmont community college.

but not seriously injured. the students say the campus is small and pretty much everybody knows each other. >> never expected something like that to happen here, especially in the broad daylight. >> police say the robber ran off. school officials say they'll wait until the investigation is over to decide if they'll make any changes in security. attorneys hope to wrap up jury selection and get to opening statements in the trial of a gastonia man accused of killing his girlfriend's newborn. jason ward is charged with murder in the death of the 3- month-old in 2013. doctors say the baby girl died of blunt force trauma and showed signs of abuse. prosecutors expect the trial to take up to three weeks. attorneys say medical specialists will play a key role. the father of 13-year-old nicolau develop, the virginia girl whose body was found in north carolina is talking to dr. phil about the college

nicole vanished january 27th. her body was found four days later in suri county. two virginia tech students are charged in the case. today on dr. phil, her father explain what he and his wife did to protect nicole and weighed in on the students charged in connection with his daughter's murder. >> her mug shot looks like she has a scar going down her face. i'm pretty sure that would have abouten my daughter trying to fight back. >> you can catch dr. phil today right here on channel 9 at 4:00. isis will most likely attempt direct attacks on the u.s. in the coming year. yesterday, homeland security believes the top three threats facing the u.s. right now include eyeis, homegrown terrorists and cyberattacks. >> isil's leaders are determined to strike the u.s. homeland beyond extremist attacks.

extremists are active in 40 countries right now. last year there were 60 arrested of homegrown extremists. chicken processing plants many monroe could create an additional 50 jobs. tyson foods is one of the top five. back in december, county commissioners improved incentives worth up to $225,000 for the expansion. a cumberland county man says the solution to the coal ash debate is to use it to create jobs. tommy hall and his friends are spreading the word about a discovery they believe could change lives for the better. he says he can make durable road materials. hall said several manufacturers have contacted him with questions but so far no deal on the table. here's heatologist keith

cold air coming in today. >> yes. i mentioned yesterday morning how the 20s to the north would be here. now there are teens to the north that will be here tonight. there's even more cold air. look at this, 16 below zero. wow, up in international falls. the source region where the air is being pushed in from, check out banner elk where we're at 3 right now. the mountain is already tapping in. we'll show you the time line for the neighborhood and how we could be close to record lows by tomorrow morning. back over on the roads. any trouble showing up yet? >> we have a stalled vehicle out to the north. we have north near east way drive. no alternate route needed. we watch the traffic actually build for the interstates. 85 from the university area heading south through the lower connector heading over towards sugarcreek.

the closer you get to i-77 interchange, it's plenty of room heading over to the interchange with i77. students at some community colleges could have trouble getting getting financial aid because of other students who default on the loans. the changes are putting some in a bind and why more schools are opting out of financial aid that towne students say they -- that students say they need. in an effort to attack a spike in crime, more than a dozen criminals are back in jail. the criminal activity police say the men were involved in and the items officers seized during the raids. the family of a 17-year-old who set a fire that killed his baby brother say they are disappointed he'll spend the next 15 years in prison. >> i'm not going to have any investigator tell me to my face that he is a cold-blooded killer when he cries at disney

>> next, the disturbing 6:14 right now. a york county father says he will never get over losing two sons. >> his son was sentenced to 15

fire that killed his son joshua. he pleaded guilty. he set the fire in march 2015 while his parents were away. he said he tried to save his brother but prosecutors said that was not true. they added that morgan even had a cell phone but never called 911. morgan's parents say their son is innocent, but they agreed to the plea to avoid the risk of a murder trial. >> i'll never get over losing my little boy. i'll never get over my other son being accused of the loss of our little boy. >> prosecutors said morgan was fascinated by fire and set a small one in his own room only two weeks earlier. morgan told the judge he loved his little brother. today, family, friends, and fellow classmates will honor three muslim students shot and killed near unc chapel hill one year ago today. prosecutors say craig hicks shot and killed dia bearcat and

february over an ongoing parking dispute. family members say people still remember the good that the three did for the community. >> they went to the dmv last week, and then this lady looked at the paperwork and saw my son's name and looked at me and said, you know, he helped build my home. >> a campus-wide moment of silence will be held before a memorial inside of that school today. the court-martial of sergeant bowe bergdahl is on hold for now. the judge issued a stay of proceedings while they wait for the appeals could are the to share whether class fayed evidence should be shared with the defense team. he deserted his team in 2009. the trial force of the court- martial will be held in fort

north carolina's medicaid is running under budget. state spending on medicaid is $181 million, below the nearly $2 billion set aside for the fist six months of 2016. the finance director expects medicaid to remain under budget this year. new this mother, more people are falling at least two months behind on making car payments. usa today says more borrowers qualifying for loans and new car sales booming are behind this issue. the total amount of new car debt is up in the fourth quarter up nearly 12% the same as previous years. more people are visiting crowders mountain state park setting a visitors record for 2015. more than 100,000 people visited the park last year, up

governor pat mccorey announced it was a statewide record- setting year for north carolina's 39 parks. over 17 million people made a visit increasing attendance by 11%. someone's still going to go out there this morning. they just need a lot of layers. >> all of that good stuff. meteorologist keith monday will tell us how cold it's going to get for the rest of the week, too. >> it's not going to get any better. itp will just keep getting worse. see how the clouds don't make it much past the high country? the west wind dries the clouds out before we get here. there will be tons of sun shine today. in the mountains, there will still be a little light snow. the future cast data doesn't add up to much. even up at beach mountain, we rarely get another additional inch through tomorrow morning. not going to add the insult to injury.

before most of you get back to the freezing point. the teens in the mountains feels more like zero. so the bitter cold lasts monday. you'll need the sunglasses along with all of the other layers on. we'll shoot for 39 today, but for many of us, mid to upper 30s and the windchill will keep settling in. the winds are strong picking up in the mountains. watch the colors fill in, in charlotte today. the winds are going to be gusting over 20 to 25 in the metro providing windchill values in the 20s here. it's the mountain windchills, which will be much more severe. windchill advisories will be in the mountains for tonight. i'll show you that in the futurecast coming up. tomorrow morning, even without the wind, it's already bitterly cold, close to a record low early in the day on thursday.

yeah, you think it's going to get worse? yes it will be from here on out. we still hover near 40s for highs for the weekend. the next surge of cold air will drop us in the low teens sunday morning. we haven't even seen the coldest part of this blast yet. so valentine's plans, i'll have details after 6:30 in. let's get to the roads at 6:20. what's happening, mike? >> not seeing any big slowdowns coming south out of the university area. so if you are heading out in the next couple of minutes. still too early for any big delays, but things are getting thick, especially south charlotte. 77 pushing towards the top of

there are still no problems coming out of york county. nearly 100 families left without heat handcuff a worker cut -- after a worker cuts the line. >> i'm praying that individual and personal agendas are set aside to do what is right for the school district. >> ahead at 6:30, the steps school officials will take in the coming weeks before deciding if reassignment is a viable option. >> air fares and add-on fees are going up. one thing is getting smaller. that's the seat sizes. next, the vote lawmakers will take tomorrow to try future flights more comfortable.

that feeling. you know the one. that "grand-slam, aced-the-presentation" feeling. multiply that feeling. it's the deal of all deals. a moment worthy of celebration. now multiply that. you're everyone's hero in the championship of all championships it's that feeling. multiplied. introducing the new multiplier scratch-offs. a chance to win. and a chanceto multiply your winnings.

yea, that fe 6:25 now. some frightening moments during

night when head coach williams collapsed on the sidelines. >> he was walking back to the huddle when suddenly, there he goes. he goes down there. williams, who has a history of vertigo has been treated for dizziness. >> i had vertigo attacks in the last 17 or 18 years. this is the first one during a game. every attack that i've had is when i jerk my head quickly. >> he did return to the end of the game to shake hands following the tar heels big victory. the wife of church pastor shot and killed last june says not a day goes by that she doesn't think about her husband. >> i still find that one day i am going to see him. i know that he's looking down on me and the doors and smiling down on us. >> pinckney spoke ahead of a forum on faith and race.

there but continues to build on her faith. pinckney carries on her husband's work while supporting the affirmative action. airline fees are shrinking but one lawmaker wants to regulate the size of the seats. the seat act is an amendment to the reauthorization bill. the committee will vote on the bill tomorrow. the airlines introduced slimmer seat scenes allowing them to squeeze more seats on the planes. guns and dangerous weapons off charlotte streets after a giant operation. next this morning, the charges the suspects face now and the reason it was easy for officers to track them down. >> beautiful clear skies this morning. you see venus hanging out there. . >> ab clark has the

year, but she's already taking heat. the fiery words from parents

(donkey sound) (elephant sound) there's a big difference between making noise, (tapping sound)

(elephant sound) (donkey sound) when it comes to social security, we need more than lip service. our next president needs a real plan to keep social security strong. (elephant noise) hey candidates. enough talk.

thank you, new hampshire. we are going now to south carolina! >> just like that all eyes are now on south carolina in the 2016 presidential campaign. the biggest question over the next week in which candidate stands the best chance in the palmetto state. take a look at this. it's ten degrees colder now than it was yesterday morning. we're pin pointing how much further the temperatures will drop. ash, avery and watawba county schools are closed today >> this cold air has parked itself in our area. >> and the mountains have had some of the worst with snow-covered roads. the higher rooftops will stay very snow covered with temperatures still well down

we're at 23 at charlotte douglas. it's 19 and it's closer to charlotte already falling into the teens. it will get colder before the morning is done and you need the layers all day long today. it doesn't do much to warm us up but the windchill will make it feel colder. our time is 6:31. we're getting back to mark taylor in the traffic center where we see if there are any troubles. >> reporter: this is just up from sharon adds you head through the next couple of minutes. expect a minor impact for the ride only. >> 321 near the state line medics responded. traffic flow is showing right

if it does, we'll let you know about that as well. also in york county, carolyn boulevard has a stalled vehicle right at 77. one after the other, dozens of parents made passionate pleas about a plan that could send thousands of students to different schools. parents made their case for and against redrawing boundary lines. >> "eyewitness news"'s joe bruno was live to explain their concerns. joe? >> reporter: many worry better school performance will cause their children to go to different schools. dozensch parents packed the room last night to talk about the controversial student reassignment survey that's currently under way. some hope the results present an even playing field.

dramatic change in the district. >> take this opportunity to reduce the concentration of high profit schools. >> dismantling successful schools within communities carefully chosen by parents will not fix the fundamental problem of failing schools. >> reporter: here's what's coming next for the controversial plan. the survey comes to an end on february 22nd. there will be a consultant that will be hired by the end of the month. they will vote on whether to put the plan into action for the 2017-2018 school year. joe bruno, channel 9 "eyewitness news." time now is 6:33. starting today, presidential candidates will make south

the rates remane wide open. donald trump is coming off of a strong wind in the new hampshire primary with 35% of the vote. among democrats, bernie sanders got 60% of the vote to easily beat hillary clinton. >> the government of our great country belongs to all of the people and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors. >> we are going to do something so good and so fast and so strong, and the world is going to respect us again, believe me. >> those results make south carolina even more important in determining which candidates will make it to the march primaries. the big question is if any candidate will gain enough support to compete with trump. analysts say kasich may strug until south carolina where voters tend to be more conservative and religious. that could bode well for ted

winning iowa. many of the candidates will be part of a forum in rock hill tomorrow. the rhymery is on the 20th. the democratic primary is on the 27th. experts say democrats in south carolina are more moderate and diverse than in new hampshire and will likely favor clinton. as things heat up, channel 9 will have you covered. we have a special vote for you section. new for daybreak there is a push for to you pay less in income taxes. a group said it should be a priority when the legislature returns in april. right now, a single person doesn't have to pay taxes in the first $750 they make. lawmaker maze consider increasing that by $1,000. the changes would cost the

lawmakers have to offset or increasing taxes. weapons and drugs with these 18 men accused of violating probation or parole following the multiagency events. it led to 15 weapons including two stolen ones, drugs and more than $25,000 in cash. it was all seized in mecklenburg county. and violence. done. >> the chief announced overall crime was up 10% in 2015. operation. documents against a former

stealing money says the embezzlement goes back five years. the fbi started investigating when the children's fund noticed discrepancies and stole from a men's ministry. he heads to court on monday. the carolina panthers' locker room is empty after the players cleared out lockers. players have mixed emotions. they are proud of a record- breaking season but disappointed in the super bowl loss. some player maze leave but they hope the bond -- some players may leave but they hope the bond sticks around. >> the locker rim will never be the same. he says they will figure out what they can do to get back in contention.

deer on street corners are starting to pack up and leave town opinion before they do, you may be able to get a good deal pittsburgh. shirts that were selling for $35 beforer bowl. >> it's for the people. they shopped with us and we are trying to give back a little. >> shirts like this are not envelope licensed but he says they will be back next year. blocking the obama administration's plans to limit gas emissions. under the epa's state power plan, they will be required to reduce based on energy consumption. the carolinas have filed a federal lawsuit clenching the plan. for now, the plan cannot be

legally challenged. tonight, crews reach a milestone in extension to the link mentdz blue line extension. it is expected to start running next year. nearly 100 families have their heat back on this morning after a contractor ruptured a gas line while installing google fiber. this happened in a mallory creek neighborhood yesterday. piedmont natural gas crews repaired the natural gas line, which we learned impacts 89 homes. a homeowner told us she was inside of her home when she noticed her heater blowing cold air. >> i would like them to be careful. just imagine if this was your own family, and you cut the heat to their house? what would you want to have happen. how can you prevent this from happening again. we have weather and

>> bad timing on that, that's for sure. >> here's meteorologist keith monday and this isn't even the worst of itp. >> i hate to say it. it's not going to warm up that much at all today. it's going to get worse into the weekend. i'll have that for you coming up here in ten minutes. the clouds and wouldn'tens friday light know. the higher rid's a line where the temperatures and how especially knot in the mountains dangerous windchill values into this afternoon and tonight. let's get back on the road pore the morning drivep. >> independence boulevard at pierson drive, you see the slowdowns we're seeing minor to moderate delays right now so

newest wreck is west of interstate 77 near reese road. a medic is responding to this one. at this time, i'm thinking minor delay only. the traffic is building 77 out of cornelius. no accidents there but inbound central at rose haven, this is having a small impact on your ride. john? the contractor who walked away from a massive project is now being sued. ahead, the problem the company admitted to having. >> temperatures are plummeting so people are cranking up the heat. >> identity thieves don't just

>> kid updating you on the major news, weather and traffic you need to know before you walk out the door this morning. cms superintendent ann clark will remain on the job despite calls for the district to find a new leader. >> the school board debated along racial lines last night. before the vote, joe bruno is live to explain what happened during that debate. joe some.

clark has faced criticism about diversity in charlotte mecklenburg schools. one-on-one, parents came to talk about her solution. clarks wants to survey the parents are teaching right now. the results could dramatically make up the results of the district and where they attend. that was reason enough to vote for her to stay in the position longer. the board voted 6-3 to extend the contract until june 2017. a national search is under way once again. a new timetable will be launched at the next school board meeting. joe bruno, channel 9 "eyewitness news." branning news overnight, a tractor-trailer fell apart while driving down the interstate in huntersville. you can see it looks like the trailer collapsed and troopers say it even split into two. look at those pictures there night. the trucking company central

is extremely rare, and it's not clear how this happened. they said the driver was able to pull off the road safely. troopers say no one will be charged. today, jurors will begin deliberating in a murder case dating back to 1990. deputies say murphy shot a couple inside of their home. he was arrested in 2010. murphy's lawyers claim there is no physical. >> in about three hours, eight new highway patrol troopers will start their job. the shortage has caused other people to work overtime costing the state more money. christians celebrate the beginning of lent leading up to easter. the priest applies ashes to

attend church services. this is from last year where st. peters episcopal church offered blessings on the weaks. if you are planning to be outside for that or any other events, lots of layers. >> below freezing temperatures cause furnaces to work extra hard. as heating and rye pair companies, they are busy now. >> reporter: john, that's right. temperatures are dropping and staying low, so naturally you head to the thermostat to crank up the heat, but heating repair companies say that if you haven't had the heat on for a while, you may notice that your heating unit may be broken. acosta heating and air told us they were inundated with calls from broken meters.

low and staying that way, they got it fixed yesterday. they are getting a steady stream of calls overnight for people who need to have their air fixed. le you'll want to do routine maintenance on your furnace and, you know, change things like your air filter here. you can see that's the best way to avoid having a costly repair bill. reporting live in south charlotte, angela hong, reasonable. >> p we haven't seen anything yet. >> it's going to get colder as the week rolls on. we have a winter weather advisory for ash, avery and goes into tomorrow morning. avery county under a windchill

more dangerous windchill values work their way in. lower teens in the mountains. boon and jefferson is 10 below or worse as the wind picks up. it will make it feel colder throughout the day today. we'll get back to freezing or above by lunchtime. tons of sunshine, but the wind will start to kick in more as the day goes on, similar to yesterday. we'll take that temperature and really chop it down. in the mountains, nearly 20 this afternoon. the big impact is the dangerous windchill values. even this afternoon, we're below zero with the windchill. ours feel like in the mid to upper 20s. back down to 10 below zero in the mountains and get worse as

tomorrow morning, we'll wake up to hickory in statesville. single digits with the dangerous values in the high country. another blast of cold air comes in keeping us 40s saturday, and only 35 on sunday. there's the worst of this. if you are out late saturday for valentine's plans it's very cold. barely close to freezing. as the blast of cold air rolls in, we'll watch the next storm system that could bring winter weather. we'll stay on top of all of the changes. just look at the numbers before you go out the door with our wsoc-tv weather app. we're talking cold temperatures. >> i was hoping we would be done by now. >> i know.

the inhere. thanks, keith. here's traffic team 9's mark taylor. >> reporter:: starting to see significant delays on inbound. 13 miles per hour as folks make their way inbound from sharon and i would avoid it. use monroe or central avenue. blocking right the lane hate lane. we're just of interstate 77. we have delays on cherry road and parkway south at 77. stephanie? checking wall street futures for your wednesday, the dow is up 132 points. the nasdaq is up 57 points. new troubles for the contractor who abandoned this road project on independence boulevard. the company that just filed a $12 million lawsuit and the

damaged off the coast will d off the coast will a royal caribbean ship damaged in an extreme storm will return to port in new jersey today. >> you can see 30 foot waves out the windows, and the furniture sliding around. there were no serious injuries. the ship was on its way to florida. in a statement sent to usa today, the cruise line suggested the extreme winds and sea conditions were unexpected. passengers will get a refund. "good morning america" will have more on the ship's return coming up right here after "eyewitness news" daybreak. channel 9 has learned that the company that insured the independence widening project is now suing debeer contribution for $12 million after the company stopped working on the project. liberty mutual filed the suit and is now responsible for hiring a new company to finish the job.

admitted in november to having financial difficulties, inability to perform operations and inability to pay bills. debeer has not responded to our request for comments. mark taylor is following big delays on independence right now. mark? >> reporter: center lane blocked causing big backups up through the extent. it hops from east way drive. if you are heading out and you typically use independence boulevard, i aed jump on monroe road or central avenue. right now, 13 miles per hour. earlier accident at rose haven. that's clear. so we have delays heading eastbound towards eastbound 77. i would use 21 to get around keith? it is cold this morning, but even though we have a lot of sunshine all day today, it's not going to warm up. barely close to 40. tonight, it'll be colder tomorrow morning than it is

so we have a long way to go before we can say we have a really warm backup. >> no time outside for a while. all right, thanks, keith. >> your local news continues with "eyewitness news" this morning on tv 64.

>> join us now as good morning, america. political earthquake. outsiders donald trump and bernie sanders win big in new hampshire. >> we are going to make america so great again, maybe greater than ever before. >> tonight is nothing short of the beginning of a political heavy rugs. hillary clinton suffers a huge double-digit defeat promising to take the fight to the entire country. it's not whether you get knocked down that matter, it's whether you get back up. >> and john kasich with the surprising surge into second. >> if you don't have a seat belt, go get one. >> while marco rubio finally makes an admission about his stumble in that abc news debate. >> i did not do well on saturday night. >> as he battles for third place, who's in, who's out?