Smoothly. Youre never more than seven minutes away from weather and traffic on wbtv news this morning. John bus drivers were out early in the cold temperatures, starting up their buses to make sure they are warm when the child climbs on board. Take a look at these temperatures, it is brutal cold out there this morning. Today bus drivers are getting special recognition for the work they do. Mark davenport is following that story live right now. Good morning, mark. Reporter good morning, john, it is not just today, all week long, this is bus driver appreciation week. Today they are getting something special, the bus drivers that go over to Shamrock Gardens elementary, they will meet with superintendent ann clark just before 8 00 this morning, she will be thanking each one of the drivers that shows up for getting your children there safe every single day both in the morning and back home in the afternoon. All about taking care of the bus drivers and this week all about the theme love the bus if you love the bus, make your your driver knows that. A great job in keeping you safe on that school bus going to and from school. We also pulled the proclamation put in effect by governor pat mccrory, hes our North Carolina governor and in this proclamation he talked about how the 13,000 school buses across North Carolina hold more than 790,000 students, get them safe to School Every Day and the School Bus Drivers they drive thousands of miles every single year and they also do it in different weather conditions like today, very very cold outside, the bus drivers get there early this morning to make sure the school bus is warm so when they pick your children up, it is warm for them as they head off to school. School bus driver Appreciation Day is to day and all this week. Thank your School Bus Drivers. Back to you guys. John you can track the temperature no matter where you are. Download the wbtv weather app, it is free in the app store. Christine parents showed up express concern over the controversial Student Assignment plan. John Board Members say the goal is to make the schools more diverse to help with student achievement. Some parents dont see it that way. Ashton pellom joins us live in chlotte with more on this important story. Ashton, what were the parents saying . Reporter hey, good morning, john, things got heated and passionate sometimes at last nights meeting. Some parents want the board to protect their neighborhood schools, others saying they want change and diversity coming to their schools. Parents packed the cms Board Meeting last night to speak about their opinions on the Student Assignment. 25 people spoke, some expressed concern about cms busing students to schools to achieve that diversity, but busing is not something the board discussed. Board members say there are other ways besides busing to create diverse schools, we heard from parents on both sides of the issues, including one parent of a cms graduate who said reassignment shaped her daughter when she went to lenoirrhine, she realized she had been the white minority. She has said it was here years at west charlotte that prepared her for the working world. Dismantling Successful Schools within communities carefully chosen by parents will not fix the fundamental problems of failing schools. Reporter the board will vote on Student Assignment goals at the next Board Meeting. That plan do cogo in effect in the 20172018 school year. Well keep you posted. Reporting live in uptown charlotte, ashton pellom, wbtv on your side. Christine ashton, thank you. 5 35 now, back to Kristen Miranda in the alert Center Getting headlines just in. Kristen we just got a release from the Charlottemecklenburg Police Department i want to show you. Kenton johnson, cmpd is looking for him. Do you recognize him . Know where he is . He cut off his electronic monitoring device yesterday, wearing that device because he was ordered to do that by the courts as a can be of pretrial release. He is facing charges of larceny from auto offenses, stealing out of cars. They are looking for this guy now, he was last seen in the area of the east trade street, so if you know him or know Kenton Johnson or know where he is, cmpd wants to find him and make sure they know where he is so he can stand up to those charges that he is facing. Back to you. Christine thank you, kristen. John new this morning, hearing from the widow of reverend clementa pinckney, he was one of the nine people shot and killed at Emanuel Ame Church in charleston in june during a bible study. Jennifer pinckney spoke at a public forum on faith and race at Duke University. This is what she had to say about her late husband. I want him to smile down on i want him to smile down on me, the girls. I want him to be proud. I want to carry out the work that he was trying to do. Dylann roof is facing state and federal charges in connection with the massacre. Co face the Death Penalty if convicted. Christine Vice President joe biden will visit Duke University in durham to talk about the work being down to eliminate cancer. President obama has called the effort a new national moonshot. A highlight of the state of the Union Address you may remember, he announced biden will lead the effort, a cause personal to him, his son beau, lost his battle with brain cancer in may. A live look at the commute, maybe youre heating up your car right now before you head out on the road. I77 at the clanton road exit and traffic for the most part is pretty light, this north and southbound traffic moving remember, youre never more than seven minutes away from weather and traffic on wbtv news this morning. Here is meteorologist al conklin conklin. Al thanks, christine, we have snow showers that are falling in the mountains, in and around boone you can see still light snow that is falling but they have picked up from three to five inches around the boone area, so that is pretty stout snow, you can see the streets are covered up where they have not been plowed. The treatment is not working now because of the temperature. N umale fishing forecast, 36 at lunch time, getting back to 40 this afternoon, our big catch, pam of mooresville sent in a picture of rp on the right with his buddy cole on the left. They like to team up and got a nice catfish at the pond behind rps house. They like to fish there during the warmer weather and swim over at coles house. Both are honor roll students in the sixth grade, 12yearolds in mooresville, youre our big take a look at temperatures, going to stay cold, i dont see us getting close to average until tuesday of next week and in between may be a storm system we have to deal with late in the weekend in early next week. Ill highlight that in the seven christine much more to cover for you here on wbtv news this morning. How much do you expect to pay for a gallon of gas for the rest of the year . Were on your side with the governments predictions. John making travel more comfortable for new moms. Added. Dunkin donuts unbelievable selection of breakfast sandwiches freshly made all day and now you can enjoy two english muffin egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches for 4. Thats breakfast whenevs. donkey sound elephant sound theres a big difference between making noise, tapping sound and making sense. elephant sound donkey sound when it comes to Social Security, we need more than lip service. Our next president needs a real plan to keep Social Security strong. elephant noise the new caramel macchiato from dunkin donuts. Let handcrafted layers of espresso, milk, and a caramelflavored swirl uplift your mood. Indulge in a hot or iced macchiato today. America runs on dunkin. Christine wbtv on your side, important date to watch, experts are here in our studio right now to answer your questions about handling finances. John lets go live to Kristen Miranda in the credit kristen . Kristen i hope people take advantage of this opportunity, 8666250143. All of these folks are here and people all over the country are able to answer your financial questions this morning. How are you . Im well, how are you . Im good, thanks for being here. People hear this thing and they think is this organization in it to help me, tell me about clearpoint. Clearpoint was established in 19 of1964, a nonprofit, we are credited with the Better Business bureau and also credited with the council on affiliations and what we do is provide credit counseling to address issues. Student loans, reverse mortgages, credit cards, provide all of that assistance to individuals that are in need of it. We have all that, thank you starting to ring i dont want to keep you from answering them. Were here to help to you day. Take advantage of that, 8666250143 is the number, they will be here until 9 00. Lines will ring here and people get questions answered. Al that was a big hit the last time we had those folks, time of the year, christmas bills come in. Yesterday we married from the panthers and they are packing up and heading home, this came in from Kings Mountain this, little guy said this is jacob in Kings Mountain, second grader, hes sad but still pounding and a little sign i still love the panthers, its okay, cam newton from jacob. There you go. John that is terrific, that is a fan. Al he feel like a lot of us, we still love you, well keep pounding and looking ahead to super bowl 51. Cold air in place across the no hurry to be dislodged, you have seen how weve continued to chill down. Over the weekend, 50, yesterday, 42, today we may not get book 40 get back to 40. In the high country, snow showers continue to fall, we taubed about that quite a bit, another inch or so during the day. 23 degrees, clear condition in charlotte, not much of a breeze, but trust me, that wind will be picking up as we go through the day. 13 in boone, 24 morganton, 19 salisbury, 25 wadesboro, lancaster, 21 shelby, rock hill, gastonia, 23 charlotte. We do have to factor in the wind. 2 below in boone, feels like 19 statesville, 21 gastonia, 15 rock hill and 14 in monroe, a cold start out there. Temperatures will be in the mid 20s this morning and notice the west breeze, again, lots of sunshine, no issues there, you also need the heavy coats, scarf and gloves. May get back to 40, with the winds out of the west at 19, 20, 21milesperhour, going to spend most of the day in the 30s. It will be dry outside the mountains for the foreseeable future, if you have outdoor plans, again, you wont have to deal with rain or snow, that may change dramatically on monday. The models are not real consistent on what they are seeing here, but one thing is for sure, something is likely to come along on monday and will bring inclement weather our way. May start as snow sunday night, change to rain, all going to depend on the track on that. That is the situation that were monitoring. Right now confident enough to go with the idea of a 70 chance of precipitation here from late sunday night into monday and notice the monday morning low, if that is the case, were in trouble here early on, we could have ice and snow then between now and then, really not much of any weather other than the fact it will be very cold, normal high is 54, in the 40s or close to 40 the next three days, then in the 30s and that set the stage for potential problem for president s day, we will track it for you. That is the seven day forecast, check in with chris, first alert traffic. Chris al, thank you, first alert traffic is sponsored by toyota of north charlotte. Taking a live look this morning, this is i85 heading out toward bruton smith boulevard, that is inbound traffic coming toward you, volume of traffic across the charlotte area starting to pick up but most of our major highways are running in the green. Now if wt harris is part of your morning commute, know you will find a malfunctioning traffic signal at Robinson Church road, so that may slow you down if youre in or outbound along wt harris, overall, no significant accidents early on this wednesday morning. That is a check of traffic, youre never more than seven minutes away from weather and traffic on wbtv news this morning. Christine this morning, we recall because of failing brakes. Plus, there are new concerns about the zika virus, not far from charlotte. All new in the 6 30 half hour well tell you where Health Officials say they have found a confirmed case of the virus. The current time youre planning your day with wbtv news this morning. Christine this morning, breastfeeding mothers traveling through atlantas Hartsfield Jackson airport have secluded spots to feed babies. They have installed nursing pods. Benches, diaper changes and outlets to plug in a pump or phone charger. Predicts gas will stay under 2 for a year. The u. S. Energy Information Administration says regular gas will average 1. 985 gallon nationwide in 2016. It will be the First Time Since 2004 that u. S. Drivers have paid four year average of under 2 a gallon. Christine brake pedals on several models of pickups and suvs could fail due to faulty nut. Affected models, 2015, 2016 silver adohd. Sierra hd and Chevrolet Tahoe police vehicles. John looking to perfect your smart phone photography skills. Check out his slow motion swirl shot. Look at this. The swiss skier did it with an iphone, a tether and lots of patience. It took him two years to perfect this move. Christine that is a cool vantage point. Can you do that, you love to ski, can you twirl . John i would just like to be on the slopes i tell you right now there is skiing at Sugar Mountain and beech and appalachian because the ski conditions couldnt be more incredible. Christine youre never more than seven minutes away from weather and traffic on wbtv news this morning. Al is talking about this cold chill. Al a lot of the schools are obviously closed up there but going in a big holiday weekend, valentinesshis weekend, president s day, if you can get up this is perfect, this is what they want. This is money for those folks, a big economic boone for them. The snow is coming that is for sure. You see the pocket, there will be bursts of snow, they had three or four inches of snow overnight in boone. It continues to snow very lightly right now in and around boone, this is king street from out there trying to walk very gingerly on the snowcovered highway. Temperatures in the teens, probably going no where today, we may get back to 18 today, windy cold, 50 50 chance, i think what were looking at is another inch or so and in tonight another inch on top of that. The snow showers will continue to pile up, they are not all that intense as we go through the day. 13 in boone, 23 in charlotte, hickory, 21 shelby, gastonia, 21 rock hill. Today, lots of sunshine, start in the mid 20s, only get back to near 40 this afternoon. Under mostly sunny skies. Again, snow showers in the mountains, cold air sticks around, president s day storm, possible, well talk about it. Heres chris. Chris firth traffic charlotte. If wt harris is part of your morning commute, know there is a malfunctioning traffic signal at Robinson Church road, that may cause a few delays. Live at i77 nations ford, volume of traffic just beginning rock hill to uptown, 21 minutes. Concord to center city, 17 minute commute at 68milesperhour, and lake norman southbound, 15 and 65. That is a check of traffic, john, back over to you. John still to come instill to come, breaking down the vote to extend ann clarks contract as charlottemecklenburg school superintendent. Christine the New Hampshire primaries have ended and one big name candidate may be dropping out of the race. Well head to New Hampshire in the next hour for a report on campaign 2016. John take you live in our credit counseling phone bank studio, the phone lines are open. Were on your side with Financial Experts giving you free Financial Advice. Just call that number on the our experts standing this broadcast sponsored by subaru south boulevard and subaru concord. Wbtv on your side. Wbtv news starts right now. Christine a big decision made by the charlottemecklenburg school board, superintendent ann clarks contract has been extended through next year, but not without opposition. John the high country continuing to see light snow and high winds, a live look at king street in boone courtesy of resortcams. Com, the storm system bringing snow to the region remains in place, this morning seeing frigid temperatures across the area. Meteorologist al conklin told us what would happen and hes in the First Alert Weather Center tracking it for you. But first, let you know about school closures. Here is the list. Alleghany, ashe, avery, mitchell, watauga and Yancey County schools are all closed. That is a complete list, not select few. Good morning, welcome to wbtv news this morning here on im john carter. Christine im christine sperow, good morning, it is 6 00 a. M. , were on your side with Financial Advice for you. Lets show you what were talking about, a live look in the patterson studio where credit counselors with clearpoint are standing by taking your calls this morning. You see the number on the screen, 8666250143. No catch here, if you have a financial question, this is the number to call now and get your questions answered. John you need a heavy coat this morning, lets get started with charlottes most experienced morning meteorologist, here is al conklin. Al you need it this morning and through the day. The winds will pick up temperatures stay cold. Big plunge of old air encompassing the eastern part of the country, pockets of snow all the way from georgia, northward through the great lakes and out to the midwest and northeast. This is a wideranging system. Snow continues to fall but they have been plowing the streets, from three to five inches of