they are campaigning for the change on county job job applications today. steve crump joins us live from uptown. what impact could this have? >> well, you know when you look at it on the stur fast it appears that mecklenberg county is taking a queue from the city of charlotte that enacted a similar program. and today backers of that ban the box effort gathered here at the government center to get more support for that measure. now, it's all about providing second chances and by getting rid of questions as it relates to criminal histories applicants will have a chance to state their case or what happened to them in front of county employers. however there is something we need to understand. it does not preclude background checks but sponsors feel that the job applicants will get a serious look. >> when are mecklenberg county commissioners expected to take

>> very soon and quickly. when were here inside of the government center today when folks gathered to talk about this measure they say they want to do it on march 16th one day after the election. and one other thing to point out, the county commissioner, this is her idea but says she has bipartisan support. and one of the people that is backing this is republican jim pucket. >> steve crump covering this today. >> a chapel hill bar linked to a drunk driving crash will reopen. he is not here is one of two bars cited after chandler and his friends were allowed in despite being underage. investigators say after leaving he drove drunk and caused a crash that killed three people. one of the victims was felicia harris from charlotte. >> the story is sickening. two 4-year-old children told

assaulted over a period of five months including at a gentleman's club. the four people are accused in engaging in sex acts including intercourse with those two children. the victims told investigators one of the locations of the crime was a strip club in myrtle beach where one of the suspects was a dancer. >> and alex giles is live following an accident what do you have? >> video just into the newsroom from our crews in the field this is colony road a car flipped over. that is colony and fairview there. you see the vehicle flipped on its side. the driver told our crew that a woman ran a red light and struck his vehicle. no reports of injuries but the crews are telling us traffic was backed up on the roads because of that accident. we will keep watching this and wait until it gets cleared out. >> the airbags deployed there. >> last week we showed you this

exploding in a man's pocket. now, a north carolina man lost his eye because of a similar situation. christopher started using e cigarettes to help him quit smoking. he was driving and the battery exploded. oh, my god. i grabbed the rag and put it on my face as i was putting it on my face, i noticed there was a pool of blood. >> roberts had to be airlifted to chapel hill where he had surgeries burns on his chest 50 stitches in his nose and his left eye it to be removed. >> often called the unsung heros of law enforcement. officers and deputies who guard the jails. a story rarely told but four officers in rowan county sat down with david whisenant to talk about an experience that saved a life. >> inmate fell out he was in

started cpr. >> it was in november an inmate in the rowan county jail had a heart attack. and the only thing between him and death was the quick work of these four detention officers led by sergeant r pittman. >> there are different things that come into play. >> such as how do you watch the others when you have one on the floor who is dying? >> i made the workers go back into the laundry room. >> after securing the others he rushed to the fallen inmate with the officers. >> checked pulse. no pulse. started cpr. >> belief vines is an emt and did cpr while they went in for an ambulance. and with all of that combined effort, the life of that inmate was saved. >> because the man is getting another chance at life. >> and while the people they watch over may be looked down on

brings a different perspective. >> i would not treat anybody any different. no matter what their charges were. >> the inmates spent weeks in the hospital but is back in jail awaiting trial. he sees the officers but has yet to thank them. yet should it happen again to him or any of the other 200 inmates here, these officers say they will be ready to respond. >> he lived. and we all done it. >> in salisbury david whisenant wbtv on your side. >> right now back to the alert center alex giles has breaking details about a shooting in uptown. >> we have sky3 live on the scene. we will jump there and show you the live pictures in uptown charlotte 8th from and north tryon. crews on the scene. we have been seeing medic in the area. and sty 3 has been there. and what we are hearing is that one person has a gunshot wound. you can see the crowds of people out there. this is uptown charlotte.

north tryon. officers are out there. we are not sure if they have loaded the patient into the ambulance yet. we will keep watching the situation. you are looking at a live picture right now this is in uptown charlotte. a reported shooting. one person with a gunshot wound we are not sure how serious the injuries are but we are going to watch this and press police for information and bring you the latest details. >> all right thank you. >> you know, great day to be outside and we are going to see a warming trend. >> meteorologist lyndsay tapases is in the first alert weather center. >> today we got back into the low to mid-50s but that was still a little bit below average. our average high is getting closer to that 60 mark. over the weekend we will be closer to that level for saturday and sunday. maybe a little bit above by sunday. sundown 6:22.

and 54 cornelius, 54 belmont. 54 hickory. 51 morganton and 35 in boone. our cooler spot on the map. and future-cast temperatures if you have plans for friday evening, 7:00 p.m. we are down to 49 in the city. down to 46 at 9:00 p.m. and it will be cold tonight in the 30s by midnight heading home late we are down to 41 and tomorrow morning we will start out in the mid-30s in charlotte closer to freezing on 40 and 29 in boone for early saturday morning temperatures before we recover nicely for saturday afternoon. we will have the rest of your weekend forecast details and the next seven days coming up in a couple of minutes. here is traffic with tonya rivens. >> thank you. your first alert traffic is sponsored by people's bank. let's check in on independence boulevard by albemarle road. we are familiar with the construction zone. a couple of accidents and problems around independence and monroe road. let's start with monroe road. two accidents one at thermal

and sardis road is a great alternate route to get around this and on independence boulevard we have this accident at wallace road close to w.t. harris. idlewild is a great alternate route and congestion is starting to build on independence as well. eastbound at least two miles, beyond sardis road north three miles of stop-and-go traffic. back to you. >> it is clear charlotte's south end as transformed over the past 10 years. >> but one section has not received the memo of the future

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the neighborhood south end's construction boom forget. the brook hill village is at the corner of remount and south tryon and has untouched for a generation. ely portillo with the "charlotte observer" is looking into why. first of all those not familiar give us history of brook hill village. >> brook hill village is at remount and south tryon. at a prominent intersection and developed in 1950 with single storey bungalow apartments.

all since 1950. that is quite a longtime. >> these are rentals which we have seen torn down in south end in particular why is that not happening here? >> it is a prime spot for redevelopment. it is a huge site and we have seen rentals torn down but there is no changes here. and part of that reason it is a complicated ownership structure there is one company that owns the ground. and another company that owns the buildings. so that makes it hard for anyone to come along and say i will redevelop this site because you have to negotiate with two owners. >> and the location is good. i'm thinking the view. you see uptown and lots of development close by. are folks eager to get in there? >> there are deals that have been tried to put together but nothing happened yet and the other part of the story is that those units are rundown there are reservoir of affordability some are renting for less than $400 a month and people are

have lived there for decades who do not have anywhere else to go and they are worried if they have to find a new place to live. >> that is the broader issue. this story is in sunday's paper. >> and on-line at charlotteobserver.com. >> interesting stuff. check it out. appreciate it. have a great weekend. >> back to you. >> just a reminder we are on your side giving you access to free legal information today. a live look at our patterson studio where volunteers are waiting for your calls. they are on the fine phones. call... you're watching wbtv news first at 4:00. all across america families are coming back to time warner cable for a whole new experience. we came back for internet speeds so fast even the kids are impressed. oh she's impressed.

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paul cameron live in the studio. four shootings in less than 24 hours. tonight we will hear from a mother who had to protect her kid as bullets flew through her home. and could mint hill flight from the charlotte-mecklenburg school district?

the city decides to form its own school district. >> thank you. breaking news in uptown new information into the alert center. >> alex giles is following this. alex? >> we can tell you they have cleared the scene in uptown that shooting was at the intersection of north tryon and east 8th street and one person was transported to the hospital. and their gunshot wound was a nonlife-threatening injury they were hit in the leg. and we are working to get more information and that is video from sky3 that we shot we are told by cmpd that the victim is not being cooperative with the officers. officers working the investigation but it might be difficult because that victim is not cooperating. nonlife-threatening injuries and they have cleared the scene. east 8th street north tryon in uptown charlotte. back to you. >> all right thank you.

bookstores could be making a comeback. barns and noble says the website are not doing as well but business is booming at the physical bookstores. they will launch stores in the next fiscal year. >> i am excited to hear that. >> coming around again. >> my fondest memories with my dad and my brother and sister is going to barnes and noble on saturday morning and dad saying you can choose one book. i like the page. i do not want to swipe. >> with the e readers it's not the same. update on traffic the friday evening commute underway. >> we have problems in cabarrus county. this is bruton smith boulevard on i-85. no problems in this area but highway 73 in concorde in kannapolis they have problems. i-85 northbound an accident. and the left center lane is

enough time at the moment for a commuter to get on poplar tent road. and there is a lot of congestion in the area. and southbound a lot of problems as far as commuters heading from rowan county down to cabarrus county. at least two miles of stop-and-go traffic. and back towards the city, a look at i-85 and statesville. flowing rather nicely. i invite you to join me sunday for sunday morning soul inspiration v101.9. tune in for the best in gospel music. back to you. >> thank you. >> first weekend of march is upon us that means we could get any kind of weather. >> you never know. but the sunshine today is a good sign and it is looking like it will continue. meteorologist lyndsay tapases here again with your forecast. >> usually in like a lion as far as march but it will be the opposite for us. we have a quiet pattern ahead over the next couple of days. the warming trend will start

57 is what we hit today and average high is 59 and tomorrow that average will come up to near 60. so tomorrow the first day that our average high gets back to 60 . that will be nice. 53 outside right now in the city. we'll pull up the towercam shot and there is cloud cover overhead and this will clear out during the nighttime hours and filter back in in the second part of the day tomorrow. 52 salisbury. hickory 54. and 35 in boone as we are coming up shortly on the 5:00 p.m. hour. we have a little bit of cloud confirms. and the radar is dry for the time being. and yes, we are focusing how beautiful the weekend will be rain-free-for-all of us. we have a weak quick-hitting disturbance that will be moving through tomorrow night. on future-cast tonight is quiet and tomorrow morning is quiet

see showers show up by the time we head into tomorrow evening. this is 8:00 p.m. i think what it's printing out east of the mountains is overdone. your best shower chance is going to be in the mountains. outside of there, maybe a quick-hitting brief shower through late tomorrow night. look at the time stamp this is 10:00 p.m. saturday. tomorrow night after it's dark nighttime hours midnight or so and anything that comes through is gone by sunday morning and that leaves us with a nice balance are not weekend. just to show you how light any of this shower activity would be look at what it's printing out for amounts. cannot squeeze out a 10th of an inch. closer to a 10th into the mountains. where your shower chance will be better. so the coverage is going to be low just a small blip in what is a nice weekend. upper 50s saturday. low 60s sunday and that will start us off with the nice

mid-60s monday and not only are we in the 70s but it's looking dry, too, it looks like right now our best rain chance does not return until late friday night and into saturday of the following weekend. got a nice stretch on the way. back to you. >> thank you. next, a north carolina man spent two decades behind bars for a crime he says he did not do. we will show you how he spent his first afternoon of freedom. >> a shout-out to our facebook fan of the day. we appreciate you. go to wbtv.com/facebook. and hit the like button for your opportunity to be our fan of the day.

on wbtv news is sponsored by... cheers for a man set free after spending 24 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. a judge found him guilty of molesting his daughter. >> his daughter said it was a lie. and more than two decades later a judge freed him with the help of the wrongful convictions clinic. dudley is happy it's all over.

it's over now. no malice, no anger. i just want to live my life. >> dudley's first stop this week, a north carolina favorite he got himself bojangles and spent time with his family and friends and lawyers. they stood by his side all these years. >> i'm happy for myself but i'm happy for him because i know it feels real good to be free. >> it's just such a happy occasion. i just [inaudible] >> in order to be pardoned the district attorney must dismiss the charges and his attorneys are hopeful that will happen soon. >> quite a story. >> next on wbtv news, jury deliberations underway in the trial of a former charlotte businessman accused of assaulting his wife and shooting at officers. a verdict could come coup at any moment. >> and we are live in rock hill where neighbors witnessed four

a mother's description of

>> keep it >> announcer: wbtv on your side. wbtv news starts right now. >> right now closing arguments in the case of a charlotte businessman accused of shooting at officers. we are live as the jury decides

ambien as his defense. >> and we have a team of lawyers ready to take your calls to answer your legal questions for free. the number to call is there on your screen. >> first four shoots in less than 24 hours. tonight you will hear from a local. >> i made my kids wake up and we got on the floor and that is when i called 9-1-1. >> a local mother describing protecting her kids as bullets flew through her home. >> nice to have you here at 5:00 p.m. i'm maureen o'boyle. >> i'm paul cameron. one of the shootings resulted in 2016. >> as we said we will get to that report in a moment. first, we want to turn to our russell. the mayor of matthews says full speed ahead to break away from charlotte-mecklenburg schools. >> last night he met with the mayor of mint hill to go over the game plan. and dedrick russell talked to mayor taylor and joins us live

>> well, paul, i can tell you the mayor tells me in 10 days, cms town council will vote on a resolution that will declare split up from cms is the right thing to do and he believes other towns will begin to pass similar resolutions. the matthews mayor tells me in addition to a resolution he will create a task force that will consist of citizens to investigate what needs to be done to form their own school district. the mayor and parents just believe cms is just too big and just cannot cater to matthews needs. this split was brought up again because the mayor is uneasy with discussions concerning cms' new student assignment plan he thinks the district will transport students to other schools throughout the county. cms school board members tell me that will not happen but that is not good enough for the mayor.