well if you're an allergy sufferer you're probably dealing with symptoms this midday. meteorologist keith monday is tracking a huge rise in pollen, keith. we've seen these numbers jump dramatically throughout this week. starting throughout the week, the count was still in the hundreds. the count this morning was almost 3500 on the tree pollen count here. so it's getting worse. and it will likely get worse still as we head through the week until we get rain chances to come in and cooler temperatures. we have a little bit of a cool down today. we're at 71 now. this time yesterday we were in the 70s. still pleasant as far as st. patrick's day plans ahead. the temps will drop this weekend and the rain chance still coming in. it doesn't add up to a lot of rain but it brings a lot of chill. we'll check in with you in a few. filing for north carolina's congressional district 12 is

anchor scott wickersham met with malcolm graham who just left the board of elections to file his paper work. graham will drive to raleigh tomorrow to deliver the paper work and get on the ballot. because of the legal battle over the district lines, there will have to be a special election june 7th for district 12. >> it's the only issue on the ballot that day. in the middle of the summer and high school graduation. so we have to make a special effort to inform voters to go out and vote. alma adams is running for reelection in district 12. it used to run along i-85 from charlotte do greensboro. the new map is entirely in mecklenburg county. the state had to redraw the maps because a judge ruled current districts were unconstitutional. he ruled they were drawn based on race. lawmakers redraw the districts but groups like the ncaap say they're still unfair. now judges are considering a

lines yet again. and that's leaving a lot up in the air as candidates begin to file. today at 5:00, who else is planning to run or considering it? and how the judge's decision may effect who's in the race. new at noon, two students at lenoir rhine university are accused of helping provide alcohol to another student who later died in a crash. that accident happened this same night of a snow storm in hickory and late january. mad line died after her vehicle went off the road and flipped in northwest hickory. ale agents sited the two students for aiding and abetting the possession of alcohol after buying the alcohol from a convenient store. starting to day cms parents and employees can offer their thoughts on the 2017/2018 school calendar. the district just posted an online pole. people can choose between a longer winter break and more

right now people in northwest charlotte have the chance to learn more about the i-77 toll lanes project and how it will impact local businesses. the charlotte chamber of commerce is holing a transportation update at the pine island country club. it runs until 1:00. leaders will discuss the toll lanes project as well as the completion of i-485 and its impact on charlotte. breaking right now in north charlotte, chopper 9 sky zoom is live over morits avenue where there's a large police presence. and police just confirmed minutes ago, one woman was shot here. and as we take a zoom out, you can see several police cars there on the scene. we do know that she -- that there's nobody in custody. and we're asking police what led to the shooting. we'll keep you updated as soon as any new information comes into the news room. today we're asking for more

east charlotte that involved a cmpd cruiser. you can see the cruiser on a tow truck right there with its air bag deployed. this was on matheson avenue at the plaza last night. the other car had damage on the front bumper. we're asking if anyone was hurt and what caused the crash. early this morning, police say a pedestrian died after a crash on i-85 in concord. police shut down the southbound lanes near concord mills boulevard while investigating. they say a man was walking in the middle of a lane and was hit by a tractor trailer. they have not said whether the driver could face charges. closing arguments are expected today in the case of a lancaster man accused of killing his wife. investigators say john jent stabbed his wife elaine in 2013 to keep her from leaving him. family members say they found jent laying next to his wife's body. he faces 30 years to life in

today there's an elevated fire risk across the north carolina foothills. the national weather service put out the alert today because of the low humidity levels and gusty winds expected this afternoon. it says to check with local authorities before you burn anything and to use extreme caution. firefighters have all ready responded to multiple fires in the mountains and foothills this week. like this one in caldwell county yesterday. the state forest service believes that someone started the fire on purpose along highway 321. the service says the dry conditions let fire spread quickly. our march has been very dry to start out. there's rain in the forecast into the weekend. i'll pinpoint the timing on the future cast and explain how it may not add up to much. a new declaration in the war against isis. the terror group is committing genocide. the people the group is trying to eliminate and what this means in the effort to stop them. blue cross blue shield

that impacted tens of thousands of customers in north carolina.

problems a stocks are mixed this midday. the dow is up 86. nasdaq is down 9. blue cross blue shield says it's weeks away from resolving the problems that have impacted tens of thousands of customers across the state. the state says the volume of calls to the customer service center is back at normal levels. but the company says once they get behind, it's tough to dig their way out. they're also still having computer problems. you may remember, blue cross has been dealing with a string of issues from over billing

the wrong plans this year. customers who tried to get help were put on a hold for hours. the state insurance commissioner says some customers started having problems again once the initial issues were resolved. the company blames a new computer system. an east charlotte restaurant will likely be closed today after it caught fire early this morning. fire crews had to shut down part of albemarle road this morning. and you can see the damage right there to this mexican restaurant near central avenue. firefighters believe the fire started in the kitchen then spread to the bar and billiards area. it took 50 firefighters to get it under control. the battalion chief tells us the lay out made it tough. this restaurant has been added to over the years. so it's almost like there's four different wings to it. so just the way they're connected, you get tighter and smaller areas, you want to make sure the hidden fire isn't in the areas where the sides of

>> firefighters estimate the fire caused ant $60,000 in damages. at any moment, part of independence boulevard is expected to reopen. crews are repairing a leaky water main on the inbound lanes near sunny side avenue and 277. they shut it down today for prep work. it's the same spot crews had to close back in february because seeping water iced over creating a significant danger for drivers. the spot will shut down tomorrow night through the weekend. it'll reopen monday in time for rush hour traffic. a major declaration, the u.s. has determined isis is syria. what that official term means for the fight against isis. finger pointed on capitol hill right now over the flint water crisis. the mistakes officials say the

people's slions of all new at noon, just in the past few hours, the state department declared isis is committing genocide in iraq and syria. it's a big deal because the agency hasn't used the term officially since the 2004 genocide in darfur. bazi kanani explains what this means for the war on isis. >> reporter: the u.s. makes a new declaration against the islamic state. >> in my judgment, they're

against groups in areas under its control. >> reporter: secretary of state john kerry announced the results of his review of the atrocious actions against minority groups and the territory it controls. they've been accused of the kidnapping, rape, slavery, and muslims. secretary kerri says the extent of the crimes meet the definition of genocide. >> its entire world view is based on eliminating those who do not subscribe to its perverse ideology. agree. >> we need to go on record and declare the belief of congress that isis has without a doubt committed genocide. unanimously passing a resolution condemning the islamic states horrific acts. experts say in this case, the declaration of genocide carries no legal weight. countries are not required to act on genocide outside of

the u.s. is all ready leading the fight to rid the world of the islamic state. kerri's declaration might spur others into action. naming these crimes is important. but what is essential is to stop them. the islamic state is now the first terrorist group accused of genocide. secretary kerri said the u.s. will collect evidence and document atrocities. bazi kanani, abc news, washington. the declaration doesn't require the u.s. to take action. but the u.s. will document and collect evidence of isis atrocities and promise to bring all perpetrators to justice. one minute ago, the duke blue devils tipped off against unc wilmington in the first round of the ncaa men's basketball tournament. the duke blue devils are the number four seed in the west region. they're hoping for back-to-back tournament wins after winning year. meanwhile, the tar heels are

in raleigh tonight verses florida gulf coast. unc is the number one seed in the east region and plays at 7:20 p.m. guard marcus page says the team is extremely confident heading into the tournament. even if people are doubting their defense. >> we've always had talent since i've been here. we're starting to put it together and become a complete team this year especially and the past couple weeks. we don't have to talk about if we defended better. >> i just finished my bracket you can take a look at mine and others from reporters, meteorologists, and anchors in the water cooler section of wsoctv.com. you may want to check your pantry, bumble bee foods is recalling more than 31,000 cases of canned tuna. the company says some cans may not have been sterilized properly. that could result in contamination and illness. the cans were produced in february and have a can code

a full list of the upc codes and the best buy dates on wsoctv.com. meteorologist keith monday is tracking a nice, beautiful day outside. a little bit cooler though after our record day yesterday. >> it won't be that close to 90 today that's for sure. we're starting the step down process. which is going to get kicked into high gear this weekend. mountains are close to 60. we were at 43 this morning in charlotte. it's a decent warm up from where we are now. 70s. in clover today, great city for st. patrick's day celebrations here. a lucky day for you with lots of sunshine, mid 70s, around 76. the average high this time of year is in the low 60s. so we stay above that for now. we're about to falwell below that as we wind our way into this weekend. for your evening plans tonight, picture perfect weather st. patrick's day on main

back in the upper 60s with mostly clear sky into this evening. no weather woes out there today. we keep it beautiful again for tomorrow. keeping it dry and quiet into friday. saturday afternoon, the clouds are here. they start to roll in. the newest update of the future cast data, compared to this morning, it shows a later onset of the rain chance. with this particular run. it mostly rolls in saturday night. starting up around midnight. and stretching into early sunday morning. we'll see if that pattern stays the same as the trend here as we work our way to the weekend. either way, that's the rain chance. this will move out at the very latest, late morning midday on sunday. then we'll start to gain maybe a little bit of sunshine by sunday afternoon. but what this will do, it may not provide a lot of rain, 1/4 of an inch. it'll bring temperatures down dramatically for weekend plans. including the parade in uptown. so the clouds increasing. rain chances slowly rise late in the day. but hopefully we can keep the rain chance out of the saturday morning plans.

we may stay in the 50s for afternoon. sunday, likely trending even colder and frost and freeze concerns likely coming back in early next week. keep tabs. if you can't catch us on the news cast with our wsoc-tv weather app. download it free from the app store and google play. the five-day forecast, the weekend always in view. we have spring weather today and tomorrow. spring officially arrives this weekend. it's not going to feel like it. low to mid 50s. out the door monday morning, freezing temperatures are back. we may have a couple mornings next week where the temps are close the freezing. a couple more day of frost concerns there after. >> before spring, it felt like summer. and then spring is going to feel like winter. >> it's an odd month so far. you can see both directions of i-77 needs to be avoided. >> it's a constant headache for your morning commute, accidents and slow downs on i-77 right

starting at 5:00, channel 9 investigates why these traffic problems keep happening and what's being done to protect drivers. emotions running high on capitol hill over the flint water crisis.

congress wants to know who is at fault for the flint water crisis. right now house lawmakers are asking michigan's governor and the epa who knew what and when? all new at noon, eyewitness

breaks down the harsh words all ready exchanged. >> emotions ran high over the handling of flint's water crisis. the top democratic on the house over sight committee said this was personal as he blamed michigan governor rick snider. >> there will now be an entire generation, an entire generation of children who suffer from brain damage, learning disabilities, and many other horrible effects of led poisoning. >> this is the third hearing on capitol hill on flint's water crisis. the epa's top official gina mccarthy put the blame solely on the state, criticizing decision bis the governor's hand picked officials in flint. she said if the epa made any mistake, it was trusting the state of michigan for so long. the governor said flint's contamination was a failure of government at every level. local, state, and federal. >> we're taking responsibility in michigan. and we're taking action.

here in washington too. inefficient, ineffective, and unaccountable bureaucrats at the epa allowed this disaster to continue unnecessarily. >> the governor says the state fired or dismissed people as a result of the water crisis investigation. while epa administrator gina mccarthy says no one has been fired or dismissed at the epa over the water crisis. jacqueline fell, channel 9 eyewitness news. state agents raided the homes of a former nc state football player. the agents left eric leek's homes with computer hard drives yesterday. they wouldn't say what they were looking for. but the state has been cracking down on agents who illegally contact student athletes. leek founded a company that represents athletes. today supreme court nominee merrick garland. republicans are refusing to

garland will meet with harry reid and senator patrick lee after the senate's recess he'll meet with republican senator, chuck. students could soon be allowed to go off campus to learn about religion, the superintendent suggested the policy that would allow religion organizations to apply for the program. our partners report students would have to get parent's permission to participate during an elective class. today is like my perfect kind of day. >> it's beautiful. not to warm. not too cold. just right. temperatures in the 70s in the afternoon. very mild. changing for the weekend. steve has the outlook for the bigger chill coming in and the rain chances for part of the weekend plans as will. spring weather won't hold on all weekend unfortunately. thank you for making channel 9 your choice for news this midday. join us for eyewitness news at 5:00. have a great afternoon. now at havertys furniture, it's our spring home event, where you can create the perfect home.

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announcer: it's time

give it up for steve harvey! [captioning made possible by fremantle media] steve: ah, the fellas. what's up with you, man? how you folks doing today? thank you very much. thank you very much. hey, welcome to "family feud," everybody. i'm your man steve harvey, and, boy, we've got a good one for you today. returning for the second day, from little rock, arkansas, it's the carlton family! [cheering and applause] and from san jose, california, it's the hecht family! >> hecht! [cheering and applause] steve: everybody's here trying to win theirself a lot of cash and the possibility of driving out of here in a brand-new, fuel-efficient ford fusion right there. i got a lot of money to give away, but you got to play to get it. let's get it on. give me gabby. give me rich. let's go.

>> good luck. >> good luck to you. steve: i love this dude right here. we asked 100 men-- name something that would make you want to throw your bachelor party stripper back inside the cake. gabby. >> it was a man. steve: it was a man. wow. wow. it was a man. [ding] [applause] rich. >> if an animal came out of it. steve: if an animal came out of it. pass or play? >> we're gonna play, steve. steve: they're gonna play. jessie, how you doing today, darling? >> i'm great, steve. steve: well, let's go, then. [laughter] we asked 100 men-- name something that would make you want to throw your bachelor party stripper back inside the cake. >> his grandmother!