holiday shopping season is right around the corner and mark barger say this is year could be the most active in a while. >> reporter: on your mark, get set, and shop! believe it or not, there are just ten weekends left to shop for the holidays. and that could mean crowds earlier than usual. the national retail federation predicts the strongest holiday sales in three years. forecasting consumers will spend

mark barger, nbc 10 news. >>> first glance, you may not believe it's not human. a very lifelike robot is unveiled in japan. we'll give you a look at what it can do. wow, look at that. >>> well, let her do the work and we'll go out to play with it in nice weather like this. sunshine is bright today and it gets sweeter tomorrow. but then there are changes ahead heading to the weekend. the seven-day forecast when i come back. >>> i like how you think, bill. let's take a look at the top stories trend right now on nbc10.com. >>> this just in, a judge postponed the cases of three of the four remaining defendants facing charges in the death of a florida a&m drum major. the judge delayed the trial monday at the request of attorneys for three of the defendants. the trial of dante martin began as scheduled today with jury selection. it is expected to last a week. now all the defendants were charged with manslaughter in the hazing death of drum major robert champion. it has been three years since champion died after being beaten. prosecutors say it was part of the band's ha

holiday shopping season is right around the corner and mark barger say this is year could be the most active in a while. >> reporter: on your mark, get set, and shop! believe it or not, there are just ten weekends left to shop for the holidays. and that could mean crowds earlier than usual. the national retail federation predicts the strongest holiday sales in three years. forecasting consumers will spend a whopping $617 billion, 4.1% more than last year. >> so i think there is a lot of optimism about the fact that we're going to do much better this year than a year ago. >> reporter: here's why experts say, despite hiccups last week, the stock market has been strong. the job market is improved. and the gas prices continue to fall. many con about their personal finances and the combination is pushing consumer confidence higher. >> regardless of income, i think people are going to be spending a little bit more, but they are also very promotional. so consumers are going to be looking for great deals before they shop. >> reporter: with so many americans hyper sensitive to deals, retailers

mark barger, nbc news. >> cvs hasn't commented.ite aid says it's continuing to evaluate mobile pay options. experts say the two drug retailers risk consumer black lash for blocking apple pay if users grow to like it. and keep an eye on target. it's also part of the currentc group. but it's also one of the retailers that apple says supports apple pay. >>> big changes coming in our weather. don't let the beautiful scenery around us fool you. >> swings all over the place. we were saying a 30-degree jump from tomorrow from where we're going to start in the morning and more changes from where the temperatures will start falling off as we move through next week. let's talk about what's going out there right now. exercise impact forecast for the evening, sun sets at 6:19. pretty good evening. our temperatures again will be dropping from the mid and upper 60s to the low 60s by 8:00. so good evening for taking in a run. but i'm not sure how many people want to do that run after the marine corps marathon. nice and dry conditions all through

not even halloween yet, but some people are starting to think about the holidays and as nbc 10's mark bargerts, shoppers will be opening their wallets more this year. >> reporter: on your mark, get set, and shop. believe it or not, there are just ten weekends left to shop for the holidays and that could mean crowds earlier than unusual. the national retail federation predicts the strongest holiday sales in three years forecasting consumers will spend a whopping $617 billion, 4.1% more than last year. >> so i think there is a lot of optimism about the fact that we're going to do much better this year than we did a year ago. >> reporter: here is why experts say. despite hiccups last week, the stock market has been strong. the job market is improved, and gas prices continue to fall. many consumers are feeling better about their personal finances and the combination is pushing consumer confidence higher. >> regardless of income, i think people are -- they're going to be spending a little bit more, but they're also very promotional. so consumers are going to be looking for great deals before they

mark barger, nbc news. >> seems cringe worthy but in a sweet way. >> very sweet way.he best material comes from real life experiences. use something loony like that to get that in motion. >> thank you so much for joining in the fun today. our next newscast is tonight at 5:00. >>> you can also get all the news you need at nbcbayarea.com. we hope you have a great day today, go giants. see you in a few hours. today on "access hollywood live", real husbands of hollywood kevin hart, forest and nelli are hear taking over the show. it will be wild. and a booty call and we will explain all that. >> why martha stewart once again dising on gwynneth >> why martha stewart once again dising on gwynneth paltrow. she can't if ♪ blow your mind ♪ bang bang i know you bang bang over you. >> stole the show with "dancing with the stars"and right here right now a real husnd

mark barger, nbc news. >> wow. >> they could be dealing with this for the next couple weeks. as that lava finally makes its way into the ocean. that's what happens out there in hawaii. that's how those islands were built and will continue to be built. >> amazing pictures. thank you, doug. >>> who is the heiress behind virginia school's $40 million gift. >> and a jet blows a tire on landing so why are others stuck on the ground? >>> your newspaper subscription is up, and it's time to renew. watch out. this is another way scammers are trying to get your money. i'm erika gonzales and i'll >>> you're watching news4 at 4:00. ♪ >>> fans of taylor swift have a chance to double their pleasure. madam due sew's wax museum. swift is a popular fixture at the museum in new york. before the original wax figure was created, the figure spent time with a team of artists from madam tuso's. >>> this afternoon, a small boarding school in our own backyard is celebrating the largest ever gift to a secondary girl school. the fox craw school in middleburg received $40 million from alum ruth bedford,

nbc 10 national correspondent mark barger has details. >> the sounds of a molten menace.a 2,000 degree flow of lava inching across hawaii's big island, incinerating everything in its way. lava started back in june. it's from the kilauea volcano. it's taken that long for the lava to run downhill 13 miles. moving at 10 miles an hour, the lava has claimed at least one home. as many as 50 others as well as a school are potentially in its path. >>> it means we are shutting down, we will notç have studen. >> for residents, the advancing plume of smoke consumed by the lava. >> came into this world naked, i'm going out naked. i ain't taking this with me. the memories i can take. >> reporter: soon memories will be all that remains of buildings in the lava's path. mark barger, nbc 10 news. >>> next on nbc 10 news at 5:00, why doctors may have uncovered new insights into the causes of autism. >>> plus, are colleges contributing to the skin cancer problem in why doctors say they're making it too easy for students to go tanning. >>> this is nbc 10 news. >>> a new study revealed more

here's nbc's mark barger. >> reporter: police now say this man, 43-year-old darren vonn confessed to murdering at least seven women in gary, indiana. >> he expressed interest in notifying police of other criminal incidents he was involved with. >> reporter: the case unfolded late friday night when police found a woman strangled to death inside this motel 6 in nearby hammond, indiana. a tip led police to a home in gary, where they arrested vann without incident. during his interrogation, vann confessed to that one murder, and six others. after confessing to the killings, vann led police to the remains of six women in abandoned houses throughout the city. >> from speaking with my investigator, this seemed like he just wanted to get this out and get it over with. >> reporter: neighbors to the abandoned homes were shocked by the discoveries. >> it's just crazy that somebody would do something like that and spread bodies everywhere. >> reporter: these seven bodies may not be all. >> it is possible that investigation will lead to more victims. it could go back as far as 20 years, based on

nbc's mark barger shows us how it works. >> reporter: ever since cell phones first hit the market, wirelessers have been competing to offer better coverage. >> can you hear me now? >> reporter: and whether you're in your basement or the middle of nowhere, zero bars can be frustrating. that's one reason t-mobile is making the push for wi-fi calls. >> wi-fi calling lets a phone user send and receive both phone calls and text messages, but they come over a wi-fi connection rather than a cellular connection. >> reporter: it's a feature t-mobile has offered since 2007, but now -- >> it's back in the spotlight because apple is now offering wi-fi calling as an option on the iphone 6. >> reporter: the feature is built in to t-mobile's newest pho phones. but keep in mind -- >> if you want to use wi-fi calling as a built-in feature, you do have to have both a phone and a wireless carrier that's supported. >> reporter: and more carriers are. sprint now offers it for some of their android powered devices. >> both at&t and verizon are planning to offer wi-fi calling sometime in 2015. >> reporter: the fe

as mark barger reports, four people are dead, including the pilot. >> we know it is a flight safety building hit. >> reporter: seen from a distance, plumes of thick black smoke bill lowed from a building at the wichita airport. >> the airport crews arrived first, reported heavy smoke and plane and what appears to have been an aircraft striking the building. >> reporter: a twin engine beechcraft king air slammed into a building used to train pilots. officials say the plane lost an engine on takeoff and was attempting to return for an emergency landing when it crashed. >> firefighters of course engaged in a horrific firefight for several minutes. we now have the fire under control. >> reporter: at least three people inside the bg were killed as well as the pilot of the plane. >> look how high it was. he didn't have enough altitude to do much of anything. i think it happened to him by the time he applied the power to the time he hit the building was probably less th 30 seconds. >> reporter: one victim is listed in critical condition. as many as 100 employs were irns the buildi the building at t

mark barger, nbc news. >>> coming up, philadelphia is relaxing its marijuana laws.bc 10's monique braxton has a preview. monique? >> reporter: rosemary, after the break, we're going to talk to police about how they plan to approach this whole measure that eases the punishment for marijuana possession. >>> a good sunday morning. you saw monique's hair blowsing in the breeze. a little windy outside. winds gusting near 28 miles per hour in spots. also a cool start. there is a flag blowing as well. more about the wind today, the cool temperatures and a cold overnight. that's all coming up. >>> right now on nbc 10 news today, the cruise ship carrying a dallas health care worker being monitored for ebola is back in galveston, texas.

mark barger, nbc10 news. >>> talking sports now. here's a live look at lincoln financial field. the eagles hope to put another notch under the win column this weekend. they're going the take on the giants on sunday night right here on nbc10. fortunately it sounds like rain should not be a factor. coverage is at 7:00 in the evening with "football night in america" and kickoff at 8:20. stay with us after the game for our exclusive postgame show. and this will be followed by nbc10 news. >>> "nbc10 news today" continues in just a moment. we'll check in with nbc10's matt delucia live for us this morning in philadelphia with a warning for kmart shoppers. matt? >> reporter: rosemary, we're talking with shoppers about this latest data breach. what they're saying about it, coming up. >>> i can see the rain is still coming down throughout most of our area. i'm tracking how long it will stick around, how long it will affect your weekend. that's all coming up in my first alert seven-day forecast. ♪ this flu season... remember this. your immune system doesn't work the way it did when rock wa