13 minutes, 49-miles-per-hour, providence road from the arboretum area inbound to center city, 16 minutes, 38 miles an hour, and concord to center city running at 18 minutes in the mid 60s. that is a check of the morning commute. christine -- you're never more than seven minutes away from weather and traffic on wbtv news this morning. kristen? >> kristen: very good, chris, thank you. mitchell county schools are now on three-hour delay. they are all starting to roll in. we'll keep you posted right here on wbtv. fewer students in charlotte-mecklenburg schools are being suspended. according to a state-wide report released yesterday the suspension rate in charlotte-mecklenburg schools declined nearly 8% last school year. the drop-out rate remained the same, incidents of violent crime rose about 11%. as we reported last week, the crime rate in schools state-wide increased about 2%. >> john: last night's republican presidential debate is getting a lot of attention on social media. we'll go over to mark davenport

coming in live to the alert center right now. >> mark: yeah, john, this is an account on twitter, they gauge reactions from the debates. they did that for the gop debate. here. this is on apple tv, the top tweeted moments in the debate when trump defended his university. second most tweeted when cruz told troop top trump to relax. he called him little marco, that was the third most tweeted. who gained the most followers? real donald trump, john kasich, marco rubio, ted cruz didn't gain as many. the final shares around the gop

interesting, trump, no matter good or bad, still getting a ton of attention, 62% of the conversation on twitter was around donald trump, ted cruz, rubio tied, 16 and 15, kasich down at 7%. trump, no matter what he says, people talk about it. back to you guys. >> kristen: we're following breaking news, police dealing with quite a mess in northwest charlotte after a car crashed in a rite aid store. >> john: ashton pellom joins us live with more on this. so ashton, what happened? >> reporter: hey, good morning, john. i'm being told around 3:30, two men used the car and rammed it in the front door to steal a couple items. i'll step behind the camera and give you a closer look here at the damage. you can really see the door right there, that is the front entrance to this rite aid, just done away with. you can see pretty much the frame right there taken out of shape, both the doors right now broken.

i've been told by the manager whoever did this, they did get away with a couple items, they want to specify there was nothing stolen from the pharmacy area, maybe items from the front area of the store. i was told that police were just a couple blocks over so they got here very fast, right now those suspects or people who did the crime are out here on the loose. police are still looking for them right now at this hour. you can see police are still out here on scene right now. things still developing out here at the scene. soon as i get more information i'll update you on air and online at wbtv.com. reporting live in charlotte, side. >> kristen: wow, quite a scene. members of the charlotte-mecklenburg naacp were in uptown last night, protesting law. >> it's our time. >> it's our hope. >> the group will hold a moral march to the polls, they are against the voter i.d. requirement and the shorter

early voting started state-wide ysterday, ends on march 12th. >> john: looking ahead governor pat mccrory will make a stop in catawba county today, visiting united sewing machine company in conover. the company's 30th anniversary celebration. >> kristen: charlotte based bank of america cutting jobs, according to bloomberg, they will dismiss 150 trading and investment banking employees next week. no word how many of those jobs are in charlotte, though. good news for people here in charlotte who work for costco, they are raising wages for entry level employees to at least $13 an hour. the highest paid employees make $22.50 per hour. >> john: a grateful family is making a donation. they donated more than $300,000 for a new pediatric ambulance. came from michael and kelly hughes whose son was treated at

after falling out of an ambulance but suffer nod permanent damage. a toddler called 911 for a different kind of emergency. the sheriff's office posted this on facebook. a two-year-old girl told the operator she needed help getting dressed. so a deputy responded and help her put her pants on. a family member was home but didn't realize the toddler made the call. >> kristen: night owls rule in charlotte. groupon ranks the queen city as one of the top cities for people who stay up late. the company used sales data to see who was searching searching for late night deals on beer and wine. charlotte was no. 3, behind hartford, connecticut and san diego, california. you think sales data for coffee, groupon ranked minneapolis as the top city for early birds. let's get a quick check of the roads this morning. everything looking pretty good right now. not too many people on the roads. you can see the roads are dry which is great news. chris larson is going to keep an

very latest in a couple minutes. remember, you're never more than seven minutes away from weather so let's get over to meteorologist al conklin. >> al: all right, thanks a lot. right now, kristen, roads are drying out that is good news. storm system that came through very much rain across most of the viewing area. different story in the mountains where we have a lot of school delays and a closure, watauga county schools are closed because of on-going snow. a nice clearing trend through the day here today, numale fishing forecast, mostly cloudy, 39, parcelly partly sunny, this is great weather to do trout fishing, what mike did, three times this week. left charlotte heading up to stone mountain where he fished the stone mountain river, look at that, beautiful brook trout. way to go. a veteran, served a couple tours with the army in iraq, he is happy to be home and in the water up there fishing in the

59 degrees what we should have this time of the year, close to that today, above that over the weekend, i'll talk about where the temperatures are headed beyond the weekend in the seven day planner in a couple minutes. back over to you, john. >> john: changed coming to the >> kristen: what students think of the new version of the test is just ahead.

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in 2009. >> kristen: she is 91? >> john: she loves the boss. have you ever been frustrate and wanted to vent without saying any four letter words? i can't do it. >> kristen: maybe these suggestions will help. >> where the smurf are we? oh, shitaki must room. >> tell me the whole sleazy story, mr. french tickler. >> cursing without cursing features 30 films getting creative letting out the frustrations without saying the bad words. >> john: um-hmm, yeah. >> al: like rain, snow. those are four letter words. >> kristen: you don't have that

>> al: no, no. clear -- we'll be all right here let's move on. before something bad happens and the fcc comes down on us. we're looking at drier conditions across the viewing area. one exception is in the mountains. storm system came through last night, boy, it didn't generate much rain. plenty of rain in eastern carolinas and mid-atlantic. snow showers in the mountains, most of the schools are delayed, watauga county schools are are closed. but i think we'll look at drier today. this is our futurecast, this may be optimistic, trying to clear us out, first thing this morning. in the mountains you will see sunshine, mostly sunny for the rest of us, rebounded yesterday only 47 degrees, today should be ten degrees milder getting up to 57, dry conditions, that is the key this morning. even though we had rain, this is belmont, main street from city

railroad tracks, dry here in charlotte, but kind of damp the air is very damp, a lot of cloud cover, humidity levels almost 90% right now, 38 degrees in charlotte, not much of a breeze. we are going to dry out. 34 in belmont, 38 ballantyne, arboretum, 38 cornelius, and oakdale and up toward coulwood. 39 rock hill and lancaster, we'll go from the 30s this morning, mostly cloudy to mostly sunny by late this afternoon. no chance for any precipitation, 57 again, a little below average. going to be colder, evening temperatures will be in the upper 30s, overnight lows, 20s to low 30s. 34 here in charlotte, and then highs tomorrow we rebound nicely, mostly sunny skies, wind up near 60. increasing cloud cover tomorrow afternoon. high pressure is with us tonight, we'll be dry heading out for friday evening.

us tomorrow afternoon, this is 4:00. we get in cloud cover and there is a small chance as the front swings through, and high pressure builds back in the area will promote plenty of sunshine, prettier day of the weekend will wind up being sunday because i think it will be almost total sunshine throughout the day. our rain chances saturday evening, very low and that will be the case going forward as well. just isn't any big storm system on the horizon coming our way, enjoy a nice warm-up if this is your kind of weather, now moving through march and as we get deeper in march we get warmer and warmer. normal high is just about 60 degrees, 57, shy of that today, at 60 tomorrow, 63 sunday, 66 monday and in the 70s here we think tuesday, wednesday, thursday, still very low rain chances, more cloud cover but that's about it. that is the forecast, 5:44, check in with chris, first alert

>> chris: lookingivelooking live at i-85, everything running smoothly as is the case with most of the major highways. yet to see delays southbound out of lake norman. in center city, john belk, brookshire, both highways running in the green. if you're heading in center city for friday night out, the hornets are in town against the pacers at 7:00 p.m., heavier traffic around the arena this evening. you're never more than seven minutes away from weather and traffic on wbtv news this morning. >> john: we do want to update you on school closings right w. avery county schools are now closed, joining watauga county schools closed, so keep that in mind. avery county schools are closed. just ahead after 24 years after wrongly being put behind bars, a man is released from a north carolina prison, we hear about the life-changing day. >> kristen: mark davenport is

from all around the country, all around the world, even. we'll check back in with him in

5:46, this is wbtv news thank you for starting your day with wbtv news this morning. >> kristen: 5:49 now welcome back. we want to remind you of the school closings and delays, they have been rolling in and changing a little bit. pay close attention. avery and watauga county schools are closed. mitchell county schools on three-hour delay. ashe and alleghany are on two-hour delay. keep that in mind. >> john: welcome back to wbtv news this morning. go over to mark davenport with details on north korea's nuclear ambitions, new information

>> mark: a big headline on cnn.com, nukes need to be ready for use coming from kim jong un, the warheads need to be ready at any time for use. he has been saying something like this the last couple days. they are flexing their muscles against the sanctions against north korea, that is the big headline on cnn.com, another day, another statement from kim jong un saying the nuclear warheads need to be ready for use at any time. >> john: new this morning, police in baltimore are investigating after two school officers were caught on camera hitting and kicking a young man. a video shows 44-year-old anthony spence and another officer slapping and kicking a 16-year-old. an attorney for spence said they thought the boy was trespassing, the officers are on paid leave pending an investigation. >> kristen: students showing support for a teacher in south carolina who says she was forced

her were passed around. more than 3,000 students signed a petition demanding leeann arthur be reinstated. as we have reported, she says a 16-year-old student stole her phone, copied nude pictures on that phone and then shared the photos with classmates. >> john: tech groups and civil liberties advocates are lending support to apple in the fight with the f.b.i. they are refusing to unlock the phone of one of the san bernardino terrorists so the f.b.i. can get evidence. supporters have filed friends of the court briefs saying following the order would increase the risk of hacking and putting unnecessary burden on companies. >> kristen: the redesigned sat exam is getting good reviews. students who took the test this week say it is not so trickie, more straight-forward a shorter. the new exam focuses more on real world learning an analysis. it debuts nationally tomorrow.

becoming a big hit online. >> i know. >> oh! >> john: a little frightened after waking up from surgery at an animal shelter. dennis, a surgical assistant did his best to soothe the puppy. has 10.5 million views. >> kristen: that makes me cry. >> john: isn't that sweet. they were taking good care of the puppy.misha will be just fine. >> kristen: you're never more an seven minutes away from ather and traffic on wbtv news is morning. re is meteorologist al nklin. >> al: thanks, kristen. acking low pressure, last ght's storm system that is ving away, high pressure is ving in, so typically that omotes sunshine and that what we will be seeing today. arting off with clouds but the end result is going to be increasing amounts of sun like futurecast this morning, again the mountains are getting snow but we'll be looking at drier conditions everywhere else, even there that snow will give way to

afternoon, 4:00 in decent shape, mostly sunny. afternoon temperatures up in the seasonal 50s. maybe a little bit below average this time of the year. 38 overcast in charlotte, still snowing in boone, 32, everybody else in the 30s but safely above freezing. hickory, 34, gastonia 38 as is monroe, 39 rock hill and 35 around salisbury. today, look for partly to at times mostly sunny skies, going from 39 this morning, where it is cloudy to 52 at lunch time, 57 late this afternoon with improving conditions. our weather headlines on this friday morning, clouds on the decrease, unlike yesterday when they were increasing, weekend forecast holds promise, we do have a front that will bisect the weekend. i see a major warm-up in the forecast all this cover in our seven day planner and have that starting at 6:00. right now, it is 5:53, check in with chris, first alert traffic. >> chris: al, thank you, first alert traffic sponsored by toyota of north charlotte. check your drive times this mrning, if you're coming up

center city, 17 minute commute and lake norman southbound at 15 minutes, 67-miles-per-hour. here's a live peek at i-77 west boulevard, volume of traffic heading up, picking up as you make your way toward center city this morning. looking at wider regional view, 321 from lincolnton to york, no problems. 601 between monroe and concord in the green. 5:31, johnston van wyck up in the charlotte area, no problemsthere. ain, most of the charlotte mmute major highways ntinuing to run in the green is morning. at is a check of traffic, kristen, over to you. the search for the next superintendent of charlotte-mecklenburg schools has been a very hot topic. school board members are asking a former colleague for advice, coming up at the top of the hour we will tell you what was said. >> john: third graders told to write a journal fast they journal, as if they were

how officials are responding. you're watching wbtv news this morning, it is five minutes before 6:00.

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dunkin's new grandde burrito -- a breakfast burrito packed with big southwest flavor. go grande with veggie or sausage today. america runs on dunkin'. >> wbtv on your side. wbtv news starts right now with breaking news. >> john: that breaking news in northwest charlotte, here's a live look along belhaven boulevard where police are investigating a smash and grab burglary at this rite aid store. wbtv's ashton pellom is there, he's gathering new information an will be joining us in a moment with a live report. >> kristen: fight off challenges to the non-discrimination ordinance. jennifer roberts responds to state lawmakers who call eight threat toit athreat to public safety. >> john: mark davenport in the alert center.

the bali strait, we'll have updates in a few minutes. >> john: welcome to wbtv news this morning at 6:00 a.m. here on this friday, march 4th, good to have us with us, i'm john carter. >> kristen: i'm kristen miranda in for christine sperow. a few school closing and delays. avery and watauga county schools are closed. mitchell county on three-hour delay, alleghany and ashe county schools are or two-hour delays this morning. charlotte with meteorologist al conklin with the first alert forecast, snowy in the mountain, al? >> al: it is. they had two inches of snow in the mountains overnight. at least in the population centers. the main roads are just wet but the back roads are certainly snow-covered. low pressure that came through with rain for most of us brought snow to the mountains as we talked about yesterday, pushing away, high pressure building in and even in the high country things will clear out. if you look closely the snow is falling from the street lamps this is king street in boone from resortcams.com, it is

is 32 degrees in boone but the windchill factor is 22. 38 here in charlotte, everybody else outside of the mountains is safely at or above freezing, 38 arboretum, 38 ballantyne, 34 belmont, north of town it is freezing now from morganton, hickory, statesville, 34, 38 in monroe, 40 around wadesboro. outside the high country, it will be mostly cloudy until late this afternoon. rest of us see a decent amount of sunshine and rebound to 57 degrees, ten degrees above yesterday, improving conditions. we'll talk weekend forecast around the corner because you're never more than seven minutes away from weather and traffic on wbtv news this morning. here's chris, first alert traffic. >> chris: al, thank you.first alert traffic sponsored by toyota of north charlotte. as you roll in friday morning commute, looks pretty good out there. this is a live look i-77 toward the rest area and the south carolina state line. north and southbound traffic volume just beginning to increase here across the charlotte area somewhaha john belk over to the brookshire