icing especially on secondary roads. anything not treated by d.o.t. will have issues for the next couple hours. south of charlotte, indian land. east along highway 52, ansonville, toward albemarle, it's starting to taper off as you work your way to the west. but here the dug is dan. the future cast calls for steady mist or drizzle to come through tonight. freezing rain early on in the charlotte area. then it changes to all rain by 8:00 or 9:00 tonight. that helps roads tremendously. but through the foothills and the mountains, this rain eventually changes all rain. and troubles are being felt toward the foothills and the high country.

slick roads all morning long. on top of breaking news. updating us live with the clean up. >> i just got done talking with the highway patrol here in catawba county. they tell me right now they're currently working nine different wrecks along a two mile stretch of interstate 40 near the claremont avenue. you can see one of those wrecks where a tractor trailer went from the eastbound lanes across into the westbound lanes. all of this being blamed on that freezing rain that's formed black ice on the ways here. >> like these accidents along highway 31 south of hickory. firefighters scrambled to get to one driver after another. >> i hit the icy patch on the bridge there. and that's all she wrote. fish tailed. tore my hail hitch off. >> we could see the problems on

txus held in the low 20s this morning. they responded to dozens wrecks in a few hours. >> y'all be careful. that's all i'm telling you. y'all really better be careful. >> the d.o.t. used brine on the black ice along highway 321. but part of the afternoon, the freezing rain transitioned over to sleep. but firefighters got little rest as the accidents continued to pile up this afternoon. and those firefighters still busy out here right now along interstate 40. that's the second tractor trailer that's jackknifed. it's about three football fields away from where i'm standing. both of them started in the eastbound lanes and that i mean over into the westbound lanes. the westbound lanes shut downright now in catawba county, i can tell you a d.o.t.

down, came back, dumping spirit and salt on the roadway. still very quick. temperatures in the upper 20s in catawba county. reporting live from dah ba county, dave faherty, channel 9 eyewitness news. our storm camera. you can see the roads look wet. be careful if you're heading that direction. there could be ice on the roads tonight. this system reaches from texas to new england creating headaches for travelers. we spoke to stranded passengers whether or not are trying to get home at the airport. see the latest conditions and track the storm at the wsoc-tv weather app. it's free for android and apple devices. now to another major story tonight the unexpected death of the supreme court's longest serving justice and the direct impact it could have on you. >> the supreme court could soon take on critical local cases. anything from voting to prayers at local government meeting. tonight liz foster went to

could mean to those cases. >> skalia was on the supreme court for 30 years and some say was looked up to as the lead conservative. his passing impacts decisions on future court cases and some pending here in north carolina. following the passing of supreme court justice jahi ya, political expert dr. michael says we could see the balance of the nation's highest court shifted. >> he was the conservative voice on the u.s. supreme court. >> future decisions could weigh on who president obama nominates as his successor. obama hasn't said who he's considered but some are being discussed as possible pickings. both have been confirmed by the senate. >> that's going to be a powerful tool that the president can use to say these are people that you have all

why not do them for the u.s. supreme court now. >> meanwhile controversial issues hang in the balance, including labor unions. two north carolina cases. one on prayer in meetings and another on redrawing lines. >> they could say to both issues, we hear these arguments later next year in the next term. >> but the deadline is moving for the state congressionallal districts. some are worried votes could be lost if the voting districts are redrawn before the primary. the congressionallal district debate came here to charlotte today. tonight at 6:00, more on the next steps that will have to be decided by the supreme court. liz foster, channel 9 eyewitness news. >> liz thanks. president obama says he'll

if the supreme court decides any rulings before a successor is approved. there's a chance that there could be a tie. pnc is offering a 5,000- dollar reward. investigators say this man got money from a worker at the fifth third bank on pineville matthews road in january. and then they say he also stole from the pnc bank near the arboretum on saturday. cats is considering raising bus fires. cats could get rid of the ten ride pass discount or raise fairs by 10 cents. both plans include increasing past prices for certain groups. they're trying to offset a budget short fall. either option would take effect july 1st. there's only a week left to take the survey about cms's reassignment plan. i wouldn't just shift thousands of students across the

communities. all new tonight, eyewitness news reporter electron is a ash well learned there's a new campaign behind the bush for diversity. >> tom believe breaking up the district will provide equity and balance. and others say they want their child to go to the school that's closer to home. hi i'm joanna. >> my name is a. both took to facebook in support of better diversifying the district. their stories explain why. >> the exposure i had to different cultures, ethnicities, religions, it gave me a lot of experiences. it's not only the building blocks of who i have become intellectually and who i am as a person who em brays and

justin perry says the goal is to facilitate discussion around cms reassignment. a controversial plan that would impact all students in the district. >> what we want the community to do, figure out ways to break down our concentration of poverty and provide greater i can wety. >> not all ants are board. thousands have all ready signed this petition to keep a child is' skyzoom assignment based on where they live. still perry hopes the voices will open some minds. >> we were hoping it'd be successful. >> now after parents weigh in on ther is vaio. the board will vote on goals for this decision making process. that will be done on their next meeting which is february 23rd. thank you. and you have until next monday

in on the reassignment proposal. we posted a link to the survey on wsoctv.com. just look for it inside alexis' story on the home page. we're covering the carolinas county by couldn't tonight in union county some students may notice special guests in their classroom this week. the board of education is hosting a teacher for a day program to show state lawmakers and candidates what it's like to be a teacher. the visit was canceled because of the weather. there was no school. but there will be more throughout the week. last year channel 9 was there with state senator jeff jackson who spent a day in the mecklenburg county classroom. at the time teachers challenged lawmakers to see if they wanted teaching assistant jobs. >> in iredell county tonight students jaseysed up their last snow day built into the calendar. school district leaders tell us they're not sure how they'll make ouch the time.

year. in one county says he's lucky to be alive after he lost control of his truck this morning. he flipped his truck on to the side. test pretty banged up. a good samaritan saw the crash and helped pull him out of the truck. one person was taken to the hospital for a minor injury. chief meteorologist steve udelson tracking the rain and still some freezing happening causing issues for people heading home tonight. >> especially along i-77. including charlotte. that's where it's still freezing on contact. i'll show you how soon that will end and a heavier batch of rain rolls in. parents on a time crunch after cms delayed a decision to cancel schools. we're asking what the process is to make the call. hundreds of thousands of

to find new health insurance next year. or go without it. if you can't get insurance, what do you do? >> she dies. >> action 9 investigates who's most (phone ringing)you can't deal with something, by ignoring it. but that's how some presidential candidates seem to be dealing with social security. americans work hard, and pay into it. so our next president needs a real plan to keep it strong. (elephant noise) (donkey noise)

we're following two breaking stories coming in. avery county schools will be on a three hour delay tomorrow. in huntersville the fire department tweeted out that all lanes on the 485 outer loop near the 77 bridge are shut down. crews say they're dealing with a crash involving eight vehicles. huntersville fire says one person was injured out here. we have calls out to find out whether the weather played a factor. elsa gillis is headed there now as well. we'll pass it along as it comes in tonight. a decision could devastate hundreds of thousands of families across north carolina. >> action 9 started investigating as soon as the ceo of blue cross blue shield said it may stop offering affordable health care act plans. action 9's jason stoogenke found out who will be impacted the most. >> i'm told this could impact

in north carolina. enough to fill bank of america stadium behind me four times. now, at the very least, all of these folks will have to find new plans which can be especially difficult for some who will go without insurance. >> my mom and my dad have diabetes. >> and patty has it too. she takes insulin everyday. >> this saves my life. >> she's had trouble getting health insurance because of her preexisting condition. >> the insurance companies we checked out before we retired would not insure me. >> and the affordable health care act came along. patty and her husband tom qualify. so they can't be turned down for coverage. they chose blue cross and worry what happens to them if the company stops offering aca plans. >> not knowing about anything is stressful. >> blue cross is the only

in all 100 north carolina counties. in some counties, it's the only option. if you live in one of those counts, you'd have two choices, get a plan in another county and go farther for your health care, or go without insurance. unc charlotte professor michael thompson calls it a horrible situation for consumers. >> it sounds like they're pretty much out there. you have to wait and see what happens and see where that leaves you. for the most part, yeah, the consumers in this town, they'll have few or no choices. >> if you can't get insurance what do you do? >> she dies. >> i don't know. i don't know if i'd be able to afford my insulin. i don't know what i would do. >> they never pictured being in this situation. after all tom says he spent 25 years working in health care. and thought he did everything right guaranteeing coverage for him and patty in retirement. so in the mean time, there really isn't much you can do. id uses if you do want to do something though, thompson says

federal and state lawmakers. tell them your individual story. so maybe they can plan ahead. we're live uptown, jason stoogenke, channel 9 eyewitness news. another tricky situation if you don't have health insurance, you can be charged a fee if you don't have any good options for insurance, the state insurance department is all ready looking into it and contacting health officials. we posted a link to blue cross blue shield's website on wsoctv.com as well as a link to find your representative's contact information. look for all of it inside jason's story on the action 9 page. we ended up getting reports that there's ice on that bridge in huntersville. 485 outer loop near 77 where eight cars were involved in a crash. let's check in with steve to get the latest on the freezing rain and temperatures outside right now. >> it continues to fall. i'm tracking the back edge of the freezing in through pineville, uptown before 6:00,

from monroe. 6:30 salisbury and marshville it's falling as rain, freezing on contact. it's very difficult if not impossible to drive on and it's starting to accumulate. indian trail, wesley chapel, mineral springs to monroe, all seeing that steadier freezing rain, indian land south through lancaster, still freezing on contact. but down toward lancaster and west to rock hill and edge moore, temperatures have nudged to about freezing. it'll no longer freeze on contact. still 30 uptown as well as in concord and gastonia. 28 lincolnton. so as the warmer air begins to flow in later on tonight, it'll be the foothills and the mountains that are the last folks to change over to a steady rain and no longer a freezing condition. in the charlotte area, by 7:00 or 8:00 tonight, we'll nudge just above freezing and that will be the end of it. temperatures will be in the mid 30s. it's not the end of weather issues. look at this line of storms closing in on georgia.

get very busy with powerful storms. by midnight or 1:00 a.m. the showers arrive in the mountains. much weakened. we won't hear thunder. but there's heavy rain. thankfully by that point the high ri country will be above freezing. the last of the rain clears the charlotte area by 5:00 a.m. early rosiers may see rain toward eastern stanley county. temperatures tomorrow morning rise. we'll be in the mid to upper 40s in the charlotte area. 50 or better highway 9 and east on highway 74. still in the 30s to low 40s in the mountains and foothills. here's the future cast tomorrow clearing us out by lunch time through the afternoon, nice again. there will be another batch of rain arriving in the mountains late tomorrow night as another disturbance pushes through. hour by hour temps, 55 is our average high. it's hard to believe given what evidement with over the weekend and today. we're going to soar into the upper 50s tomorrow afternoon before it cools off a little

see another batch of dryer air, finally begin to push on in. behind that next system. so we're talking about temperatures managing to climb on into the upper 50s for the next several days. our five-day forecast reflects that. we have the sunshine coming back, warmth, in fact, we're above 60 degrees as we head into the weekend. hang in there. >> not much longer to go. we have to get through this evening. thanks steve. government agents raided this local home. now i've uncovered federal claims that this man was involved in a scheme to recruit others to help him steal thousands. >> you're saying you did nothing illegal. >> i'm not saying that at all. >> i'm asking him about the

he set up to take the a mother is hoping a website

county girl who vanished 16 years ago. the website was launched at the beginning of january. it gives a time line of the events surrounding the case and urges people to come forward with any information that might help find the girl. it was 16 years ago on valentine's day when she disappeared after leaving her hem. she was just nine years old at the time. investigators think she was abducted all the evidence in this case has been retested. including her book bag that was found in the woods a year after she disappeared. there's a 45,000-dollar reward for information. new evidence could provide a major break in a unc chapel hill murder case that remains unsolved. it was more than three years ago when faith was found beaten to death in her off campus apartment. now a voice mail has been uncovered that appears to record the moments leading up to faith's murder. an analyst spoke to crime watch daily, a show featured on tv 64. he says you can hear faith

recording and then pleading to be let go. >> i found a lot of evidence. i think there maybe some -- there maybe some stuff in here that will solve the crime i think. analysts say there was also a man in the room and can be heard in that recording. you can hear more of the recording and what it means for the murder case tomorrow night on crime watch daily. the hour-long show is dedicated to the case. it starts at 8:00 on tv 64. well stocks are closed today for the president's day holiday on wall street. the stock numbers we gave you early in the news cast were from friday. they were so good we wanted to tell you about them again. the markets do reopen tomorrow. we're staying on top of the rain and the freezing rain causing major issues on area roads tonight. this is a live look from independence boulevard where we're behind the road crews there treating the roads. we have a crew headed to huntersville where all lanes of

77 bridge are shut downright now after a crash. we'll have the latest once our crew arrives next at 6:00 as well as the latest weather conditions for your

neighborhood now from the news team that's covering the carolinas, this is channel 9 eyewitness news at 6:00. for the past hour, eyewitness news has been tracking the snow, ice, freezing rain, and bitter cold temperatures. it's a system bringing winter weather to every corner of the charlotte area. tonight we have team coverage looking at the impact on the roads now that the sun is setting and the hundreds of flights canceled at charlotte's airport. also how the storm will change

night. thanks for joining us. in the last 45 minutes, charlotte mecklenburg schools said classes are back on for tomorrow. i'm scott wickersham. >> and i'm erica bryant. steve udelson is leading our coverage tonight. >> the back edge of the steadier precipitation falling as rain but freezing on contact. just now clearing uptown. check out live early warning doppler 9. through uptown to south park toward ballantyne. still raining and freezing on contact. almost to mount pleasant, up toward china grove and salisbury seeing it as well. it's going to continue to slide to the east. temperatures are trying to struggle to freezing in rock hill. changing it over to plain old rain. here's a look at the time line on when the rain will come to an end. concord at 6:20, monroe at 6:35. marshville just before 7:00. and on to the east, it clears

31 in charlotte, rock hill, albemarle, almost there. at freezing and lancaster and chesterfield. mid 20s in hickory and statesville. notice boone at 33 degrees. this red line on the future cast, that's the 32-degree line. forecast to start to slowly lift north as we head through the evening. the good news is, precipitation will become more spotty. more like drizzle. by 10:00, it's north of charlotte. but i-40 especially still under the gun for really nasty conditions through at least 10:00, maybe 11:00 tonight. and that's where our own john ahrens is up toward troutman in iredell county. john? >> yeah steve, this precipitation has been very interesting. it's coming down now as a light freezing drizzle. it was picking up a while ago. now it's very light. but the area above is so warm, as it falls, it actually stays liquid for a good amount of time. not just because the roads were treated. this is because of the warm nature to the precipitation. then in a little bit of time,