jim bradley. channel 9 eyewitness news. >>> now tonight, charlotte mecklenburg schools says that it's reaching back out to state and county health officials for direction on what it calls appropriate next steps. mecklenburg counties health director told channel 9 he is not recommending testing at hope well. problem if cms wants to allow it. commissioners kid well and pucket plan to keep pushing on this issue. we've been reporting on this issue since the summer of 2014. see past coverage by going to wsoctv.com. look right inside jim's story on the 9 investigates page. >>> high clouds acting as a perfect backdrop for a sensational sunset. this is the view from the queen city. it's the same all over the carolinas with these high clouds. nothing going on on live early warning doppler 9. through the midlands, highway 74. through charlotte. a few clouds over the foothills and northern mountains. it's chilling down pretty quickly. down to 29 in banner elk. 43 at boone. 41 jefferson. low 50s along the i-4

you're enjoying the cheap gas reporter jim bradley found out this might not help you in the long run. >> no question. anybody who's driving is seeing the savings when they fill up with gas prices like we see in charlotte. but it's a two edged sword. the lower oil prices are a big reason people are seeing drops

in charlotte, jim bradley, channel 9 eyewitness news. >>> malachi green's passing brought tributes from many, including the governor, the state. you can find a list of them on our website. go to wsoctv.com. >>> all that sunshine we saw today, it was great. but it didn't do anything for we're exactly where we were i'll show you how much that will change as we head through the weekend. >>> trash pick up could soon be eliminated for homeowners in pick up the bill. >>> we should not be punished by our choice in housing. >>> next at 6:00, why the city says the property taxes enough to keep up that service. o keep up tha steve: today is your lucky day. woman: (surprised) oh, my goodness mark: you've just won - a thousand dollars! woman: that'amazing! that' amazing! (shrieks) woman: ok, nice job. mark, way better than yesterday. maria, that delivery felt alittle forced. and steve, steve: yeah? woman: i am still missing that raw emotion. woman: pretty awesome for atuesday, but tomorrow is hump day, so let's really bring it! lucky for life. win a thousand dollars a day, >>> this is channel 9 eye

tonight at 6:00, eyewitness news reporter jim bradley asked the energy giant officials why it is taking so long to get the lights on in some neighborhoods. >> winds are still whipping across charlotte's canopy tonight. and so are questions, on why last night's storm seems to be taking so long for power crews to respond to. eddie hayes told us his west charlotte home has been without power since yesterday afternoon. >> and why are they -- when are they saying it might be back on? >> tomorrow. >> think about that. yonts like that. >> it's been a long day for trees are down all over town. more than a few of them in hard- to-access backyards. but duke says it was last night's high winds that slowed down repair crews considerably. >> we saw high winds that were greater than 35 miles per hour. so we were not able to put our crews up in the elevated bucket truck to make repairs. >> reporter: by this afternoon, the winds had died down. many haven't seen it yet. she wondered why there aren't more power crews out working. >> i don't think it should take that long. bring some more help in here. >>

jim bradley, channel 9, eyewitness news. >>> and it was just last week, that we learned the current ceo, michael tarwater was paid $6.6 million last year. chs has not released any detail about gene woods' salary at his job in texas. he was paid $1.8 million in salary and compensation. >>> they're starting to return to the carolinas, just in time as the next winter storm takes shape. did you ever notice how the charlotte area is always on the bubble of rain or snow when we come back, we'll show you why. >>> you expect some city employees to make overtime pay. but some making so much they doubled their salary. >> how confident are you >> how >>> breaking news tonight, these repairs along busy independent boulevard won't be over any time soon for drivers, just within the past 20 minutes, we learned from the d.o.t. that the westbound lane, just before 277, into uptown, will be closed until 4:00 tomorrow afternoon. now, right now, traffic appears to be moving pretty smoothly there now. we will continue to watch for any backups and alert you throughout the night. >>> new developments. a 25-ye

live at the health department, jim bradley, channel 9 eyewitness news. >>> tonight the political dust is settling from the redistricting battle over north carolina's congressional district lines but the voting has all ready started leaving questions for 2016. mecklenburg county's election office told us they've all ballots. election director michael dicker son said they're waiting for the judges to approve the map drawn by lawmakers last week. they'll photoif i voters once the next month's primary is over. >>> the state's ncaacp fired back against the new maps. using political data in place of race which they say is also illegal. >>> supporters say the maps are fair and legal. >>> tracking rain across the carolinas. how much more we'll see before it ends. >>> this family lived in fear. escaping a war zone dayed before the home was bombed. now refugees are living in the carolinas learning to adapt to american life. >> it's daunting. the number of things that they need to learn and get in place to function here as a family of seven. >> next at 6:00, how they're their lives while >>> we'

you're enjoying the cheap gas reporter jim bradley found out this might not help you in the long run. >> no question. anybody who's driving is seeing the savings when they fill up with gas prices like we see in charlotte. but it's a two edged sword. the lower oil prices are a big reason people are seeing drops in their 401k. with prices now in the 140s in spots, filling up is leaving a lot of money in a lot of wallets these days and leaving a lot of people like bob mckinney with more options on how to spend it. >> groceries, medical bills. all types of bills. >> economists say the impact is tangible for just about everyone. >> that's like a 3% pay raise after taxes. that's a pretty significant amount. >> but record low oil prices that are driving the price of gas down also have a downside since they're part of the reason the stock market has >> unfortunately my stock portfolio is like gone down since the first of the year. >> in fact, not even today's big wall street rally has made much of a dent for the stock market. even with a gain of 2% today since the first of the year, the dow j

in raleigh, jim bradley, channel 9 eyewitness news. >>> republican lawmakers are still hoping the u.s. supreme court will stay, the appeals court order that called for these new maps in that happens previous voting boundaries would return and congressional primaries would go back to march 15th. we're breaking down how this could shake up your district and who's all ready considering a possible run. >>> tomorrow will be the big day in south carolina. >> the number of voters headed out to the poles for the south's first primary is expected to be record breaking. presidential candidates on both each other. but republican candidate ted cruz facing a bit of extra backlash from a voter in illinois. a judge heard arguments today from a man named lawrence joyce who says that cruz should be disqualified since he's not a natural-born citizen. >> ted cruz has known about this issue for years. and he could have done something about it. he didn't lift his little fifier to do anything about it. >> cruz was born in canada. his rival donald trump has also threatened to sue cruz over his citizenship.

in raleigh, jim bradley, eyewitness news. >> and because of the pending changes to the congressional district's candidates will have to refile. the filing period will begin on march 16 and end on march 25. and there will be no runoffs as jim mentioned. the voter, whoever gets the most votes, would win. >>> eyewitness news reportedder will be there again in raleigh the scheduling change. watch eyewitness news at 5:00 for complete coverage. >>> breaking news right now out of gaston county where authorities seized 23-pounds of meth during a traffic stop. this woman and four men are all charged in the case. each faces up to $250,000 bond. by now, we're asking what led police to make that traffic stop. >> in the last 90 minutes, medics said five people were injured in a serious accident that shut down an intersection in southwest charlotte. you can see heavy police presence tonight. medics said four people were taken to cmc. one with life threatening injuries and another with potentially life threatening injuries. the other two had minor injuries. what caused that crash. right now, police

as jim bradley shows us, a panthers fan and active duty soldier from charlotte, is about to make a trip he will never forget. 3 draped in a star spangled panthers jersey... zach harrill is living a dream even he has a hard time comprehending. i'm still kind of in shock honestly that 3 weeks ago i was in kuwait and now i'm going to the super bowl. clutched in his hands are 2 tickets.... they're ...that'll get him in to see what could be the biggest game in panthers history. just a couple of weeks ago he was making this video with national guard buddies while on deployment in kuwait... get loud.. .and keep pounding! zach managed to get leave to come back to charlotte for the nfc championship game when his dad offered his tickets. and when his dad got super bowl tickets through the panthers psl lottery... well, zach found himself asking the military for a little more time...22:39:04 they were nice enough to extend me one more week of leave so i could stay and i'm going to the super bowl. he'll wear the same jersey he's had on while watching every game on tv this year in kuwait.... hadn't w

eyewitness news reporter jim bradley is in raleigh following today's votes. follow him on twitter @jimbradleywsoc9 and watch for full reports. >>> a water main break in concord caused several people to go without water for several hours. this is near george lyles parkway around 1 o'clock this morning. we're asking crews what caused the break and if they've been able to fix it since then. channel 9 will update you as soon as we get information about that. iredell county health officials have confirmed a second case of mumps and are investigating several more possible cases. our partners at the statesville land mark report that both cases are linked to the same workplace. three cases of the virus are confirmed in our area. unc chapel hill expert explained why we may be seeing those cases now. >> they circulate and the outbreaks are genetically different than what is used in the vaccine. >> it is important for people to get evacuated. there is a -- vaccinated. >> faa officials will be in union county investigating a deadly plane crash we told you about last nigh

eyewitness news reporter jim bradley will be there. watch eyewitness news at five for complete coverage of the emergency session. >>> state republicans hope the u.s. supreme court will grant channel 9 learned the supreme court is altering the schedule following the death of justice antonin scalia. justices will not hold their scheduled closed door conference tomorrow. that means there will be no orders issued in 24 pending cases. it is not clear whether the redistricting case is one of those. >>> republican presidential candidates donald trump, jeb bush and governor kasich will be holding a forum in south carolina. marco rubio joined ted cruz and ben carson for a separate town hall. rubio got personal speaking about race and growing up as a cuban american. they attacked donald trump saying they used trump's own words and dr. carson defended the qualifications saying the u.s. needed to know someone who knew how to solve problems and not just talk. governor nikki haley will be on the campaign trail with marco rubio. >> we say that every

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 libert

. >> eyewitness news reporter, jim bradley, found restaurants across charlotte with c ratings. he asked why they're allowed to stay open, despite major risks for food-borne illness. >> reporter: the charlotte area is filled with restaurants. more than 2,000 of them. and the vast majority of them post an a rating in plain view, with sanitation scores in the 90s. last three months of health inspection reports in mecklenburg county, we found 33 restaurants, where with more troubling bs, that got 80s. and more than a half dozen with grade of c. the lowest score they can hand out. when they have a c, they're going to have critical violations that would be on that report. >> that could lead to food- borne illness. >> yes. >> they scored 73.5 in november after the county saw the dish washer used his hands to rinse off the prep sink with meat debris. then didn't wash his hands. it was graded c in january, when inspectors observed rotted celery, cabbage and spoiled meat. despot got a 77.5. >> would you eat in a restaurant that is in the 70s? >> i would not. can special do remain open --

eyewitness news reporter jim bradley just stepped out of a special meeting in raleigh to break down the changes they're considering. >> the legislature wasn't supposed to go back into session until later this spring. the government asked for a special session to vote on redistricting maps that the federal judges said are unconstitutional and needed to be redrawn by tomorrow. the house and senate convened after 10:00 this morning but almost immediately went into recess to have further talks about the maps which made huge changes to congressional districts in north carolina. including the go that touch charlotte and its voters. the mass run constitution, the legislature was ordered to redraw them. it would create three safe districts for democratics. and ten for republicans. democratics i talked with today say republicans have the votes to pass what they want but they say the fight may not be over. >> if in fact it does not meet the requirements for the judges, then they'll draw them. i asked the other day just what the process was once it leaves us. if they're not happy with what's being

jim bradley breaks down what the driver of the big rig was trying to do and what has neighbors so concerned. jim? >>> yeah erica, this is the section of randolph right before sharon amity where this happened. witnesses tell me it happened like this. there was an 18 wheel flat bed in the parking lot that witnesses say tried to back out of here across all five lanes of traffic. before it could get to the construction site across the street, it plowed into a car coming down the road. a mangled white cadillac sat in the middle of a shut down randolph road this morning the windshield was gone but we could see parts of it in shards spread across the back end of the flat bed. the tractor trailer driver was backing up going to this >> across all five lanes. >> yes, sir. >> emergency crews helped to pull the driver out. dave looked on with plenty of concerns. police and troopers questioned the driver. they say there's no regulation requiring a spotter to stop traffic or alert drivers to a vehicle crossing their right of way. not even in areas routinely congested as cotswold. >> people, even when the

an eyewitness news reporter jim bradley is there in raleigh listening to the debate fist hand. coming up, he'll have a closer look at it and what this means for voters throughout the state. >>> new developments involving mumps cases in the area. lincoln county just confirmed a case it was looking into is not the virus. cabarrus county still waiting on results to confirm its case. new tonight, eyewitness news reporter tina terry talked to experts trying to understand the recent out break and keep it from spreading. tina? >> well, yes, alison, tonight health workers are trying to understand why these cases are all of a sudden popping up, in the mean time, they are encouraging people to go and get their vaccinations if they haven't all ready and to protect themselves in other ways. daily sanitizing is an everyday practice here and with news of the mumps, the owner is even herself and the kids she cares for. >> i constantly wash the children's hands. and sanitize the daycare toys. to keep germs down. >> things the cabarrus county health department says everyone should keep in mind

jim bradley, channel 9 eyewitness news. >>> north carolina ncaa leaders are discussing how to best target voters in light of the pending redistricting changes. the chapter expressed concerns over the timing of the primary and is working to educate voters. the head of the chapter told channel 9 the group is waiting to see how state lawmakers proceed. they expect to release more details tomorrow. >>> as all the retricking talks continue, a pole released today show the majority of north carolinians won nonpartisan congressional districts. 59% of voters want the law drawn along party lines. 9% are against that move. and the rest don't have an opinion. >>> turning now to a developing story, cases of the mumps virus in our area, it was late this afternoon that lincoln county confirmed to channel 9 that a potential mumps case that it was looking into is not the virus. so far, two cases have been confirmed in mecklenburg and iredell. six other cases are still being investigated. the cabarrus health alliance says it has one of those cases and it's currently waiting on test results to confirm if it

eyewitness news reporter jim bradley is in raleigh as >> reporter: well not quite as much drama here in raleigh today as we saw yesterday. but today is still important. today is if day changes to congressional district maps and the primary election calendar are expected to get official and final approval from both the house and the senate here at the legislature. this morning house members have been debating the new maps which were redrawn on the order of federal judges who ruled them unconstitutional. the changes in the maps that were okayed by the senate yesterday cause a dramatic shift in the boundaries for the twelfth congressional district that will be compacted entirely into mecklenburg county. the senate will vote today on whether to move the congressional primary date from march 15th to june 7th. and eliminating primary run off elections completely in 2016. we'll follow the developments and check in on the impact this will have on voters and candidates. we'll have more today on eyewitness news at 5:00. eyewitness news. >>> a local man accused of the common appliances police s

and we will have eyewitness news reporter, jim bradley there in raleigh for you tomorrow. watch eyewitness news tomorrow of this emergency session. >> a filibuster to stop south carolina senators from voting on a roads bill could continue for days. senator tom davis took to the floor for hours tonight. he does not support the bill that could raise taxes by more than $700 million for road and bridgework. it would also cut income taxes by about $400 million. >>> new developments tonight, police executed a search warrant on a charlotte business after some ipads were stolen from several area schools. police said that their investigation led them to players wireless. it's a phone repair shop. and that's where they say they found one of those stolen ipads. tonight, taja jamal is facing several charges, including possession of stolen property. >>> alert shoppers and neighbors helped catch a man who police say kidnapped and raped a woman in rock hill. police say antonio wiley attacked a woman yesterday near a busy shopping center off they say that shoppers saw him force the woman

we're asking duke and more on what they say, with eyewitness news reporter jim bradley, coming up tonight at 6:00. >>> now, let's go to meteorologist vicki graf who is surveying the damage throughout vicky? >> reporter: and strong winds up to 50 miles per hour, caused the more than 120 wind-damaged reports across the carolinas since yesterday. most of the damage came from trees like this one behind me, falling over. across charlotte, we saw trees this fell this morning on top of the house in south while a mother was inside with her three children. thankfully, no one is injured. but there say the loof damage to the house. and in elizabeth, megan manor said strong gusts caused this massive tree to fall, it was so huge, it spanned three front yards. thankfully, the houses were not damaged. and nobody was injured. but it did fall right on top of millner's car, crushing it. >> it's kind of overwhelming. i can't believe it covered our entire front yard. but i'm just really -- i feel very fortunate because it didn't hurt our house or us. so i'm focusing on that, which is good. >> reporter: and w

. >>> eyewitness news reporter jim bradley will be in raleigh this morning for the emergency session. watch eyewitness news at five for a complete coverage. >>> it is expected to be another busy day for republican presidential candidates as they try to drum up support days before the south carolina primary. presidential hopefuls jeb bush and john kasich will hold campaign events in our area today. at 5:30, bush will be in rock hill for a town hall and kasich will hold a similar event in indian land. a town hall, cnn is hosting in columbia tonight with rival donald trump. republican candidates marco rubio, ted cruz and ben carson answered questions from voters in greeeeille during a similar event. they discussed a variety of topics from immigration to the replacement of late supreme court justice antonin scalia and explained what sets them apart from the others. >> i can guarantee you i've had more 2:00 a.m. phone calls than all of the rest of them. had to make life and death decisions. i can look at that field of candidates running today and tell you without any hesitation that no one

. >>> jim bradley will be in raleigh today for the senate vote on the change. you can follow him on twitter. for complete coverage. >>> today is the deadline for people in north carolina to register to vote in the presidential primary. voters must give the registration form to the county board of elections to be eligible. today is also the deadline to change party affiliations. primary is march 15th. >>> breaking news overnight. a water main break in concord for several people to go without water for hours. this is the scene near the east lake apartment complex around 1 o'clock this morning. we are asking crews criteria what caused the break and if they've been able to fix it. we'll update you as soon as we learn more. >>> while you were sleeping, channel 9 learned new information about a deadly plane crash in union county that we told you about last night. >> the faa is expected to be at this. eyewitness news reporter angela hong is live there now to explain what we learned overnight about the pilot who was killed in this crash. angela? >>reporter: yeah, john,

bradley. jeff, i heard an interview with jim. he talked about one of his appearances with the buffalo bills and when they played the giants, no one gave them a chance. he never was able to win. it just made me think about what the panthers are going through. no one give them a chance but they still came out victorious. >> a lot of people felt like the panthers were the favorite. i talked to a lot of people. i felt they had to play out of character in order to lose and by golly, they did with seven sacks and four turnovers. short and to the point, they played better than we did. that is blunt. he was short in his press conference but he was one of those guys that took some knocks tonight and i thought they were better offensive play. cam newton had to scramble and cam newman have the run. he was running the crossing routes. i sat up in section 203. >> they are saying different things tonight, first congratulating denver. obviously they say you cannot turn over four times and expect to have the victory on estates like this. >> they

jim. last time we saw xshey were getting run outy they lo to atlanta by 30 points. tonight a closer contest with the wizardut a silar outcome. pick up the action in t third, bradleyl on the run out. scores a game high 22 is. sixers eventually ll bind bias many as 25 pot they geithe to within nine in the frth. and theni stauskus, sixs down 983. wizard put a w later. john wall with the triple double. an ai to beal. sixers lose 106-94. >>> to the e flyers coinue to make up groundn that chase for playoff spot. thursday's win er nashville lled flyers within four ints of the fal wi ca spot. they havecored 14 goals in the last three games all victories. and tomorrow afternoon nicer will host ril rgers a tm they are chasing in the standings. >> they have been playing good hockey and, we are ting to catch up to the rangers right now. so, plang at home against them vusly it will be a great chance for the fs, fansre excited when we play rangers. so iwill be eited play in that game a it should be a good game. >> a flyers alumni game tonight in ang. ga ftured representative from every ca have flyers hockey cding bobby ae, danny briere, not tt long outf hockey sws that no rut

bradley. and this is my best friend of six years, sassy. thanks, classy. i'm barb adams. i'm from scottsdale, arizona. i have a magnificent man named jim. he has two kids and we have two pets that are famous -- gomez addams the cat and neil diamond the dog. and we also have a celebrity at our house. our little bichon-poodle mix. [ laughs ] okay. have you been rehearing this for months? that was really... [ laughter ] that was quite good. all right, kate and cristen, let's hear from you. hi, pat. i'm kate. i'm here with my friend of 15 years, cristen. we're both born and raised and still live in los angeles. i work for the city of west hollywood, and i have a masters degree in urban planning from u.c.l.a. and... hi, pat. i'm cristen. i work in the music industry booking concerts. i'm also finishing up my doctorate in clinical psychology. kate and i have been friends since high school when we used to share a best friend. we still hang out all the time. we cook together, work out, go to concerts. and i have to say hi to my grandma. she's watching at home. she watches every single day. so, love you, grandma. and we love her, too. thank her