>> christine: tougher restrikes on abortions may come to south carolina. sign. >> john: good morning, thanks for waking up with wbtv news on this wednesday, now 5:30 i'm john carter. christine sperow. good morning, get you caught up on first alert weather, another a-coming. >> al: a very warm day, getting up in the 80s for most of us outside the mountains. we'll take you in lincolnton, currently clear and 64 degrees, not much of a breeze. you're dry this morning, should stay that way all day long. 56 in hickory, 58 statesville, 52 morganton, cooler there, you get from i-85 southward, in the 60s for the most part, 64 wadesboro, monroe, 65 charlotte, 62 rock hill. at the bus stop, lots of sunshine, 64, a very mild start to the day, come home we tack on 20. and we may get above the record

chance of rain, westerly breeze at 10-15 miles per hour. orlando magic or when i lived in florida the orlando tragic in town to take on the hornets, 73, tipoff forecast. mostly sunny skies expected. that is your forecast, take a look at weekend details in a couple minutes,5:31, check in with chris. >> chris: traffic sponsored by toyota of north charlotte. starting your wednesday morning commute with a live look, independence expressway at briar creek, volume building toward center city this morning. if you're come outbound from rock hill, 22 minutes, 63-miles-per-hour. concord to center city, 17 minute commute and lake norman southbound on 77, 15 minutes, 63 miles an hour. most of our major interstates are running in the green, but we have a few slow downs here on 74 going outbound toward matthews this morning. maybe a few slow downs up on north tryon. we do have road construction to tell you about. this lasts for 30 more minutes

boulevard at north tryon, closed through 6:00 a.m., it will reopen at 6:00, but closed again tonight and overnight in thursday morning. you're never more than seven minutes away from weather and traffic on wbtv news this morning. >> john: governor pat mccrory will be in charlotte today anking voters for passing the $2 billion connect nc bond. the referendum passed by 2-1 margin last night. money will go toward new buildings at colleges, water and sewer upgrades and improvements to state parks. wbtv's mark davenport learning this live in charlotte this morning, and this was a big victory for the governor, wasn't it, mark? >> reporter: john, yeah, he called it a big win overnight. the governor is hitting the road stopping at three different places across our state, will be thanking voters for passing it, by the big margin of 2-1. he called it a big win. i want to show you his schedule give you an idea where he's going.

going on to guilford then mecklenburg on the campus of cpcc. connect nc will invest $980 million in the 17 universities, like unc charlotte, cpcc, app state, $350 million to community colleges across the state for new construction, repairs and renovations. rest is going to state parks, building and repairing water and sewer systems for towns and towns and city, and had and the national guard will get money as well. >> i want to let you know maybe north carolina could be a role model how we ran this bond campaign and developed the bond campaign. >> reporter: mccrory told that crowd in raleigh last night this was the best thing voters could have done for future generations of north carolinans. i'm mark davenport, wbtv on your side.

precincts. a polling place had to stay open 30 minutes later because the chief judge overslept forcing the precinct to open late. the cabarrus county board of election tells us the late start only affected four voters. poll problems led to a site in rowan county and another in catawba county to stay open until 8:00 as well. on your side with continuing coverage of the primary on wbtv.com. that is where you can see the results for every election. you can click on the link at the top of the home page. >> john: as you get ready to head out one cities dealing with major problems this morning. get over to kristen miranda with details live in the alert center. >> kristen: john and christine, a couple of hashtags, metro

people in the washington d.c. area facing a nightmare of a commute. the entire metro rail system is shut down today. this follows a series of electrical fires on the tracks, the latest fire was on monday, it led to a lot of delays, they are shutting down the entire system to take a really close look at all what 600 jumper cables they have to look at on the metro system to make sure everything is working fine. everyone is taking to social media using metro pocalypse and metro mageddon. employers are telling people to stay home. as we get live pictures and new images, i'll bring them to you. >> christine: wow, a big deal there, thank you, kristen. governor mccrory is slamming the obama administration's decision to bar oil drilling off the atlantic coast. in a statement yesterday,

move is a political favor to far left activists. he says the decision could cost north carolina thousands of new jobs and the needed revenue for schools, infrastructure and beach for nourishment. >> john: nikki haley will almost certainly sign a bill banning abortion past 19 weeks in the state. the republican governor says she can't imagine any scenario in which she wouldn't sign it. the bill could be on her desk soon. house is expected to vote today on a compromise the senate passed last week. exceptions if the mother's life is in jeopardy or a doctor determines the fetus can't survive outside the womb. officials in huntersville eased the ban on alcohol at public events. that is according to our news partners at the charlotte observer, a policy will allow licensed vehiclelicense vendors to sell beer or wine at gatherings sponsored by the town. they hope it promotes tourism and get more people to come to festivals.

your commute as some of you are heading out the door. watching a dozen cameras, i-85 at 29/49, up in the university area, traffic moving smoothly, seeing a good bit of cars on the roads in the 5:00 hour, just watch for that if you are about to head out the door. you're never more than seven minutes away from weather and traffic on wbtv news this morning. here is meteorologist al conklin. >> al: we had a string of warm weather, we will continue the string today, getting up in the 80s most of us east of the mountains. there is much colder air back to the west of us and that is going to move in but not today. numale fishing forecast, 64 this morning, 80 at lunch time, 83 record-tying 83 late this afternoon. virginia is a teacher of the three and four-year-old class at bethlehem united methodist child development center where they

with celebrating fish on the pond, morgan, jessa. way to go, you're our big catch of the day. take a look at numbers here going forward, 80s today, 70s tomorrow, 60s and 50s over the weekend. what i don't show you is that the lows at night will be in the 30s for four straight nights. we warned you about this not to plant just yet. there is a possibility we could get frost around here early next week, we will talk about that in the seven day planner in a couple minutes. back over to you. >> christine: nasa officials want to start disaster on a spacecraft on purpose. >> john: the reason why, coming

5:39, 21 minutes before 6:00. >> christine: 5:42, look at what's trending. >> john: nasa wants to set a large fire in outer space. they want to know how fire in space would be different in space than earth. nasa does emphasize it would be set in an unmanned vehicle. >> christine: that is good. >> john: delicious works of hart, using my favorite treat. >> christine: robin welling loves to make creations out of peeps. she made these peep versions of elsa, sleeping beauty, arielle, jasmine and list goes on. >> john: i can think of a more delicious treat than that would be. >> christine: no, thank you. jonathan stewart is ready to

with the capapon mood after my first off season workout. the nfl season is 175 days away and counting. not that we're counting. >> christine: we are counting. >> john: let's go, how about it. >> al: unfinished business. 17-1. here we go. let's see what happens, not feeling anything like football season out here today, talking about unseasonably warm weather, nearly record-tying record here. spring is four days away, 20th, over the weekend, but it has of this month. with temperatures that have been well above average every day up in the upper 70s, lower 80s. hit 80 yesterday, do that and more so today, a chance to get in the low, middle 80s.

cool front back to the west. colder air will get in here, going to break, as i mentioned will come in several stages. night time lows will be chilly. futurecast, this is this morning at 8:00, a couple cloud cover, spotty showers develop. that is the frontal system rest of us as i told you yesterday, there will bring a couple clouds, that is it, 4:00 this afternoon, breezy, mostly sunny skies, few clouds around this evening, no big deal. clear skies, clover leaf elementary school in statesville, dry conditions, fog not an issue at all, no fog here in charlotte, very mild this morning. at 64 degrees, actually 65, jumped up another degree. southwest breeze at 7-miles-per-hour, humidity level 58%. temperatures across the area as we look ahead to 8:00, mostly in the 50s to 60s. stop this at noon. well in the 70s and late this afternoon, believe charlotte will run at 83, which would be a

back in 1945. high pressure is over us now, here comes the frontal system, here we are this afternoon, a few clouds. that front will go by, our temperatures are cool in the 40s tonight, then tomorrow, a nice day. mostly sunny, we'll have temperatures that will get in the 70s in the afternoon, then we get a reinforcing shot of cool air that comes in friday. breezy, in the 60s, then we turn our attention what is happening here. this front will stall along the gulf coast that will allow low pressure to develop, this is forecast to move our direction over the weekend so, from late saturday through at least mid-day sunday our rain chances go up. the timing on this may be that it is fairly dry for moist of saturday, sunday looks very unsettled. afternoon probably isn't much more than a couple showers but saturday night through at least mid-day sunday it will rain around here as the low pressure cuts across our viewing area. 63 is the normal high, headed for 83, sun-up at 7:32, sets at 7:33. tomorrow, mostly sunny, 75,

on friday, in the 50s, increasing clouds followed by rain late saturday in early sunday. look at temperatures, notice the lows at night, 38 after the rain ends, we could be very close to freezing here monday morning and again tuesday morning. so that is a time frame i'm going to be focusing on. keep an eye on the temperatures could get quite chilly early in the week. that is the forecast check in right now with chris, first alert traffic. >> chris: traffic sponsored by toyota of north charlotte. 5:47, wt harris at north tryon closed for another 10, 15 minutes for lynx blue line construction. scheduled to reopen here at 6:00 a.m. we also have an accident on wt harris, to i-85 you see the delays there coming up wt harris toward i-85 this morning, be aware of that. looking live i-77, clanton road in charlotte, volume beginning to pick up, still running along smoothly, most of the majors are

just a couple slow downs, again, independence boulevard outbound 74 and over toward albermarle and wt harris boulevard. in center city, the john belk, brookshire running in the green, no problems there, coming in to center city tonight, the hornets taking on the magic, time warner cable arena at 7:00 p.m., expect heavier traffic in and around the arena area. you're never more than seven minutes away from weather and traffic on wbtv news this morning. >> john: speaking of traffic, how much time do you spend in affic each year? in the 6:30 half hour, how much the average american does spend in traffic and tell you if shared made thecharlotte made the top ten. >> christine: kristen miranda getting news first as it is happening. the morning is always changing,

the break. we built our factories here because of a huge natural resource. not the land.

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>> christine: welcome back to wbtv news this morning. >> john: 5:51, get over to kristen miranda with new details on tough punishment for an american visiting north carolina, live in the alert center. >> kristen: coming down this morning, i can give you details as we look at video. this is otto warmbier, 21 years old, university of virginia student, sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in north korea. here's why. apparently he tried to steal a poppropaganda banner, sentenced by the high court this morning. he wanted the banner as a trophy for the mother of a friend. he says he was offered a used car if he could take it that is why he said he took it but now for that effort, he will get 15 years of hard labor in north korea. and clearly, a rough, rough morning for him this morning. we'll follow this story as it develops throughout the day today.

a homeless man from san francisco will receive $100,000 reward for pointing police toward two orange county inmates who escaped from jail. the men escape in january and were the subject of a manhunt several days, two target employees and a man whose van was stolen by the escapees will split the remaining $350,000. >> john: president obama could name a new supreme court nominee. sources say they're done with the vetting process for someone to replace antonin scalia. republicans have vowed not to vote on anyone the president nominates. >> christine: let's check back in with meteorologist al conklin. >> al: out there this morning, look at our fronts, we have a frontal system back to the west. switch gears, there you go, thank you, we have this frontal system that is going to push through today, may pop off a shower in the mountains this morning, rest of us i believe will be rain-free through the

eventually while we get in the 80s this afternoon, cooler weather behind the front will make inroads on the weather. downtown belmont in front of city hall, dry out there, excellent visibility, not much happening in belmont. 65 in charlotte, 64 monroe, 65 in gastonia, you have 50s up here through the i-40 corridor toward shelby and 40s around boone. for today, a record-tying 83, we might get a degree or so above that this afternoon this. record set back in 1945, a full 20 degrees above average. going forward, 80s, 60s, 50s, lows at night in the 30s. folks, i'm here to till, we have a major chill-down on the way, rain chances go up as well. i'll give you details in the seven day planner in a couple minutes. right now check in with chris, first alert traffic. >> chris: al, thank you. first alert traffic sponsored by toyota of north charlotte. wt harris north tryon scheduled

overnight construction involving the lynx blue line. live look i-77 clapton road, volume build, travel running along smoothly, checking drive times, gastonia, 321 to uptown, 18 minutes, 17 minute there's and green light from gastonia up to 485. christine, over to you. >> christine: wbtv has the most complete live team coverage of campaign 2016.

races, you're this broadcast sponsored by subaru south boulevard and subaru concord.

wbtv news starts right now. >> christine: a record number of ballots cast, this morning the results are in from north carolina's primary elections. democrat hillary clinton and republican donald trump were the big winners in the presidential primary. >> we are moving closer to securing the democratic party nomination and winning this election in november. >> john: on your side with team coverage of campaign 2016, kristen miranda is in the alert center breaking down the presidential primary result in other states, mark davenport has results i inorth carolina gubernatorial primaries. good morning, welcome to wbtv news this morning on this wednesday, it is march 16th, 6:00 a.m., good to have you with us, i'm john carter. >> christine: i'm christine sperow, we'll get to those results and more fro across the area. get you caught up on the forecast.

>> al: a very mild start to the day, this is the last of the truly unseasonably warm weather. we have a cool front coming through later today, not much moisture with it but plenty of cooler air behind this and it will get progressively cooler as we go over the next four or five days. today, different story, mostly clear out there this morning. very mild, fog not much of an issue in center city or in your neighborhood, 63 degrees, very mild, that is where we should be for the high this time of year and that is where we are at 6:00. 64 belmont, 66 cornelius, harrisburg, 65, 61 ballantyne. for today, mostly sunny skies, it will be breezy, unseasonably warm, near record high temperature of 83. much cooler weather on the way, plus our rain chances go up, weekend forecast right around you're never more than seven minutes away from weather and morning. here is chris, first alert traffic. chris: al, thank you, traffic sponsored by toyota of north charlotte. we'll take a live look on i-85 statesville avenue, volume

kannapolis, certainly increasing this hour. if you're coming out of gastonia from 321 in center city, 18 minutes, average speed 68-miles-per-hour. you've got the green light from 321 up through lowell and mcadenville on belmont and 485 this morning. charlotte commute looks good. 485, 77, 85 all running in the green, seeing very few delays, we do have an accident though on wt harris boulevard up to i-85 around university city area, and as we slide up in lake norman coming southbound, 77, running in the green from davidson all the way down to 485, so the lake norman commute right now parked at 14 minutes with an average speed of 69 miles an hour. that is a check of traffic, john, over to you. >> john: a record-setting day for campaign 2016 in north carolina. the state board of elections says the state set a record for the most number of ballots cast in a primary election in state history.