early voting will wrap up in 60 minutes. we have seen lines out the door this morning. why so many decided to vote today indead of tuesday. >> hundreds have gathered after a week of violence in rock getting from officers. >> temperatures are warming up quickly. it's already 74-degree miss -- it's already these are the long lines we've been seeing all morning as thousands of people pack local libraries to vote early. you only have an hour to go and

i voted this morning. i waited about ten minutes to get in so not too bad. elsa gillis is in south charlotte where lines have been out the door there. elsa. >> reporter: the line is out the door here at south county regional library as people exercise their right to vote. some voters told me they waited for 40 minutes to cast their ballot. and poll workers say the turnout is has been steady. and campaigns making one last effort to reach voters. voters tell me it's worth it to wait in line now. make sure they fulfill their duty so they don't have to worry about coming out on and happy to see so many people turning out to vote. >> i'm absolutely thrilled to see all of these people out. i think this year people really recognize the importance of voting. >> for every american to get

duty. >> reporter: early voting ends at 1:00 today so if you want to vote early you have one more hour. elsa gillis channel 9 eyewitness news. >> now if you don't have a chance to get out to vote today, you can vote in tuesday's primary election in north carolina. the polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.. channel 9 learned thousands of people have switched their affiliation. we dug through the numbers and found more than 20,000 voters switched parties between the first of the year up until february 19th. more than 10,000 democrats switched to either republican or unaffiliated. switched. and more than 5,000 unaffiliated voters picked a new party. voters say it's because of the candidates. >> i feel like the candidates are fluctuating a lot. views are coming out more and people are starting to switch over their vote. >> i think it's the candidates

>> today the political world is closely watching the latest donald trump campaign events after this rally in chicago got way out of hand. trump supporters and protestors clashed last night at the university of illinois where his rally was scheduled. police arrested five people including a journalist following several fights. university police, chicago police, and state officials all stepped in. trump said he met with police 30 minutes before he decided to shut down the event. >> i don't take responsibility. nobody has been hurt at our rallies and we have -- i've had 25,000-35,000 people. >> after trump canceled the rally, the situation grew even more chaotic. at least two police officers were injured. you can see one of them right there. that officer he has blood running down his face. police say one officer was hit in the head with a bottle and

both officers have nonlife threatening injuries. trump's rivals on both sides of the aisle are responding to what happened in chicago. >> when you have a campaign that disrespects the voters. when you have a campaign that affirmatively encourages violence, you create an environment that only encourages this sort of nasty discourse. >> there is only one presidential candidate that has violence at their events. >> local campaign officials say that trump will be in hickory on monday. our partners at the hickory record report trump will be at lenoir ride university monday morning but the university has not issued any conformation -- confirmation that trump will vote the campus at 10:00. democratic candidate hillary clinton will be in charlotte monday. she will be at an event from 5:30 to 8:30 at the grady cole center.

election coverage on our website at wsoctv.com. just scroll over the news tab and click on elections. happening right now more than 100 people are gathered in rock hill to stop the violence. this a week after a string of shootings in rock hill left an 18-year-old dead and several others injured. community leaders, residents, and rock hill police officers gathered in freedom park for this because i care march. they're trying to stop that violence. one officer we spoke with said everyone has to work together. >> it takes us working with the community to do this. community working with us. >> there is also information tables set up by service organizations, churches, and other groups. the event runs until 2:00 this afternoon. rock hill police officers and detectives are investigating all of those recent shootings. also happening right now a group working to fight crime in charlotte. the million youth march is hosting an event that is calling on local teenagers to

they want to have an open discussion with teenagers about how to curb crime. the event runs until 1:00 p.m. at the hope haven center on north try on street. in just a few hours charlotte city leaders will learn if the city is one step closer to winning millions of dollars for transportation projects. five finalists will be announced in the national smart city challenge to get a $40 million grant. each finalist will receive $100,000 to hone their proposals for the final selection process in june. charlotte is up against 76 other cities. the cities all pitch their best ideas to make transportation safer, easier, and more reliable. the d.o.t. wants to see how cities would increase mobility, safety, and address climate change. city leaders told channel 9 they are confident charlotte has a shot at winning the $40 million and says the competition has created great conversations about transportation goals. last month channel 9 sat down

tear and former charlotte mayor anthony fox. he said the city needs to come to a consensus on a strategy that embraces buses, light rail, streetcars, and new roads. the winner will be announced in june but this afternoon we are set to learn about the five finalists. we will let you know if charlotte is among them following the announcement this afternoon in austin, texas. you will be able to find those results on our website wsoctv.com as well as right here on the air. taking a live look outside. check that out. a beautiful day. i think i see one cloud there. but over all a lovely sunny day this saturday. >> and i've had to check the calendar. yes, it's still the month of march but it feels like may. at least it has been the past couple of days. we do have patchy clouds on satellite and radar and dealing with spots of fog in the mountains. temperatures are climbing quickly. 74-degrees in charlotte. 77 in lancaster. 56-degrees in boone.

a little bit on the muggy side as well. if you are heading out to white water center, it will be great day for it. in fact, warmer. close to around 80 degrees later today. make sure to grab the sunscreen as you head out the door. but the warmth will lead to the threat for rain tomorrow. i'll have the timeline for when it arrives coming up. a growing number of carolinians are having their tax returns stolen. how you can protect yourself and your money. >> plus a battle is brewing over plans for a 14 story hotel

why cornelius residents sa neighbors say they are ready to fight a massive hotel being planned in cornelius. channel 9 obtained an image of the proposal.

it would be the first on lake norman with more than 300 rooms and a manmade beach. it would be at a busy intersection and between two housing complexes and neighbors don't want it. >> this is not a big city. people take the bus here. they walk with their dogs. they walk with their kids. they jog. this is not a place for a big hotel. >> the developer still has to submit plans to the planning board. north carolina's lottery director says the state could collect more money if it expands the number of games it offers. the biggest bump could come from adding video lottery terminals. similar to video poker. any new games would have to be approved by lawmakers. right now scratch off and state run drawings are expected to generate $2 billion in sales. of that $529 million will go toward education. the price of gas is going up.

at the pump this spring. >> it's the third driest march on record but i'm tracking rain on the way. ly take you through there are those who say we cannot defeat a corrupt political system and fix a rigged economy. but i believe we need to lift our vision above the obstacles in place and look to the american horizon. to a nation where every child can not only dream of goingto college, but attend one. where quality healthcare will bea birthright of every citizen.

where women receive equal pay and a living wage is paid to all. an americawhere after a lifetime of labor, there is timefor rest and grandchildren. a nation that defends our people and our values, but no longer carriesso much of that burden alone. i know we can create that america if we listen to our conscience and our hearts and not to the pundits and the naysayers. i'm bernie sanders. i approve this message,

davidson police are investigating after a nude picture of a davidson teenager was sent around and even ended up in the hands of teachers. the search warrant reveals the photo was taken by the teenager who says she sent it to her boyfriend. an unknown sender sent it to two teachers at the community school of davidson. parents say they are saddened to hear of this happening. >> i just think that kids do things. i mean, different ages that we go through we might make a mistake. it's sad when something like that becomes really public. >> according to the warrant because the incident took place online, it could be a case of cyber bullying. the former marine who started the wounded warrior project says he is opening to returning and restoring the groups reputation.

top executives thursday night after reports of lavish spending. the shakeup happened after former employees claimed the charity wasted millions of dollars meant to help veterans on five star hotels and alcohol. all of this comes as they push for a temporary fix to become a permanent law. in 2014 congress passed the veterans choice act. allowing vets to see private doctors. it started as an emergency response to a crisis and allegations that officials were manipulating wait time data. >> i believe that veterans should be able to choose in their community if there is a local provider they want to go to, they should have that choice. >> we checked the most recent wait time data for charlotte and we found about 11% of vets are sill waiting more than 30 days to get an appointment. earlier this week veterans had the chance to see a new va health care facility in

the clinic on tyvola road has been years in the making. veterans will still have to go to salisbury if they need er or urgent care. we've got good news. we could see a plentiful peach crop in south carolina. growers and agricultural officials say during the winter there is just enough cool weather to insure a good crop. no late season cold snaps means that the fragile peach blossoms are still intact. last year south carolina produced about 70,000 tons of peaches. second only to california. great weather makes you want to sit outside and enjoy a nice peach. i love how this is shaping up. >> it feels like summer than it does spring. we skipped that season. but we do have changes on the way as we head through the rest of the weekend. a little bit of hazy sunshine. if you have stepped outside already, you will feel that warmth. we will see more clouds as we go throughout the afternoon. it's quiet right now on live early warning doper 9 but i'm

here's a view from our boone camera. you can see low visibility. we will be dealing with that over the next couple of hours and eventually that will lift but it will still be cloudy foothills. that is keeping the temperatures 56 in boone. 67 in hickory. 74 in charlotte. and 75 in monroe. you can see the warm air in place yet again. we will continue to climb close to 80 degrees today. a lot of events going on around town including green on the green if you are heading out there. grab the sunscreen. it will be warm and muggy close to 78 degrees by 4:00. and then cooling to the low 70s by 6:00. also the up state baseball we have back to back games today. a few spotty showers are possible. but temperatures will still be warmer in the mid 60s. as we go through the day today, future cast brings a few sprinkles at best. most will stay dry though. and then we'll keep the clouds around through this evening. if you plan to head to uptown for the hornets game leave the

9:00 upper 60s. it will be a mild and muggy night ahead. and don't forget before you go to bed, set the clocks forward an hour for daylight saving time so we lose that hour over night. tomorrow that is when we are tracking a better chance for rain. by 7:00 in the morning for early risers if you are heading out for a walk or run, we will keep a few spotty showers mainly west of the charlotte area. as we head toward lunchtime some steadier rain will move through. we are not expecting a washout tomorrow afternoon so if you do have plans outdoors, you don't have to worry about canceling the plans just keep an eye to the sky and download our weather app so you can track the rain as it moves through. this will continue through sunday evening and on monday still lingering showers possibly even a storm as well. your forecast for tomorrow average. not quite as warm as what we have seen over the past several days. but we should be around 62- degrees this time of year.

using our threat tracker for this weekend, the main concerns will be rain, it's not going to be very heavy. certainly not what they saw off to the deep south where they've had massive flooding and severe storms. rainfall totals around half an inch and that goes through about monday. so we will see the heaviest rainfall totals in the mountains. here in the charlotte area. up to about half an inch we'll be tracking that for you and john will have more updates coming up at 6:00 today. so your five-day forecast shows it will be a mild and muggy afternoon upper 70s. we set our clocks forward an hour before we go to bed and then tomorrow staying cloudy off and on showers still some the rain clears. it's still going to stay warmer. upper 70s to low 80s. i was looking for one good thing that will come of this rain for the weekend. allergy suffers we need all the rain we can get. >> we can use that help especially considering we might

>> thank you. we spring forward. losing sleep can trigger serious health related issues for some people. preliminary research found the over all rate for stroke to be 8% higher for the two days following daylight saving time. the health experts point out daylight saving time doesn't necessarily cause the stroke and there are other major risk factors like high blood pressure and high cholesterol. we have been telling you for weeks experts say you will see gas prices continue climbing throughout the summer. but one ashville business owner says he's had to raise his price up $0.20 in a 48 hour period. at both of his gas stations. >> summertime it typically goes up. but you know, i think all the old people are trying to cut supplies to get it to go back up. >> aaa of the carolinas says there are many factors to the price hike. lower than expected prices over

prompted a number of refineries to adjust maintenance schedules. they have also cut production in response to abundant supply and refineries will start switching to their summer blend which tends to be more expensive. right now you will pay $1.77 in charlotte. that is $0.03 lower than the state average. and south carolina you will pay $1.63 a gallon. you can always track the prices in your area before hitting the road this weekend. just head over to wsoctv.com, click on the traffic tab, and scroll to gas prices. tax season is here and if you haven't filed yet, you may be surprised to find someone else did in your name.

hi, guys!spring is almost here and youknow what that means! easter is hopping along. so, if you're looking to stretchyour dollar this easter holiday, just look at these savings atyour local walmart. charlotte, in head-to-headshopping, the total amount saved atwalmart vs. bi-lo

why shop anywhere else? fill your basket with walmart's every day low prices and getbig savings. start shopping with walmart'severy day low prices today. and see what you could save. (donkey sound) (elephant sound) there's a big difference between making noise, (tapping sound) and making sense. (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. give us a plan. a growing number of carolinians are having their tax returns stolen. there was nearly a 100%

complaints by those in north and south carolina all related to tax or wage fraud. it's an issue effecting people nationwide. >> in the process of buying a home, leo had a disturbing revelation. >> there is a company that has used my same social security number for their tax purposes. >> reporter: he thinks he caught it in time and hasn't cost anymore anything else. hundreds of thousands of americans are dealing with identity theft. a new report from the federal trade commission says it received half a million identity theft complaints in 2015. more than a 25% increase year over year. >> fraudulent tax filings is when somebody uses your information to file a tax return with the refund in your name. employment fraud is used when somebody takes a consumers information, name, social security number and uses it to get an appointment. >> reporter: there are ways to

make sure you are shredding all personal documents. keep your antivirus software up to date, and beware of filing your taxes. he says the irs will pay you your return but it will be a hassle. he knows because it happened to him. >> you can do all of those things. you can be safe online. you can take care of your personal documents and still be a victim of identity theft. >> a 2013 government report found the irs paid out $6 billion in fraudulent tax returns. channel 9 eyewitness news. >> if it happens to you, the ftc has a website to help you report and recover from having your identity stolen. you can find that link on our website wsoctv.com. just click latest links. more than one million taxpayers are at risk of losing their 2012 federal tax refund. a federal law gives taxpayers a three year window to claim an irs refund so taxpayers have until next month to collect more than $950 million.

carolinas to see just how many people didn't file a 2012 return. in north carolina more than 29,000 people did not file. they will see an average refund of about $619 per person. in south carolina more than 12,000 people didn't file. and they would see a return of $633 a person. it's a good incentive there. you have a beautiful day ahead for you. getting very close to the 80s.

tracking some rain heading tracking som warm and muggy today. upper 70s. a few sprinkles possible but a better chance of rain tomorrow. don't forget set your clocks forward an hour before you go

and john will be looking over the data as it comes in this afternoon and let you know how much rain you can expect through tomorrow and monday but we need the rain we're telling you is the third driest start to march.

thank you for joining us this thank you for joinif you're doing everything rightbut find it harder and harderto get by, you're not alone. while our people worklonger hours for lower wages, almost all new income goes to the top 1%. my plan -- make wall street banks and the ultrarich pay their fair share of taxes, provide living wages for working people, ensure equal pay for women. i'm bernie sanders. i approve this message because together, we can make a political revolution and create an economyand democracy that works for all and not just the powerful few.

>> sucker punched at a donald trump rally. wait until you see what else happens behind the scenes at trump rallies. then, hulk hogan's ex-wife in tears. >> i gave him everything that i had. >> the shocking letter she wrote to her ex. and ... >> i just can't take it. >> the hit oj simpson tv movie portrayal of prosecutor marsha clark. how real was it? plus, what is it like running 12 miles a day with a full blown baby bump? training for the olympics and she is eight months pregnant. ride. >> you look really not happy. >> and ... what's inside this box that brought a grandma to tears? now, inside edition weekend.