Safe and warm. Eyewitness News Reporter joe bruno continues our Team Coverage over on wilkerson boulevard. It is 20 degrees over there. Heating up were seeing drivers coming in. You can see lots of the buses are heating up. Many drivers preparing to head out on the routes. Theyre preparing to pick up children right now. The cms officials bringing them early to heat up the buses, if they arrive at the school early, they will wait in the lot and keep kids inside so they dont have to wait in the cold crews are working, the frigid overnight temperatures not enough to stop them from continuing on the i77 toll lane project. On the streets of uptown, we spotted people in huge blankets trying to sleep. Many of the homeless shelters were at full capacity. From the bus station outside the epicentre there, were plenty of people trying on stay warm before they make it home. Were not used to this cold. This is the coldest weve ever had. Cold for us is 82. And we spoke with aaa and a representative told me they had a handful of calls for dead batteries but are anticipating more as people wake up and try to head to work. Joe bruno, channel 9, Eyewitness News. Just about 5 03. The frimg yid weather the frigid weather can cause damage to your car. They drain the life out of your battery, if yours is five years or older it runs a higher risk of dying. That can cost you it 200 depending on what kind of car you have, the type you need. The cold can affect your tire pressure which can affect your mileage. Warming up your car for five download our app. You can use the live interactive radar. Get Severe Weather alerts, hourly forecasts, download the weather app for android phones, iphones and ipads. Breaking news overnight, a fire forced a clips family out of their home and out into these cold temperatures. This started at 2 00 this parkway. It happened started in the chimney spreading smoke throughout the home and raising Carbon Monoxide levels. Crews had to rescue a fourmonth old but the child is expected to be okay. They were able to vent the house, turned on the heating system so the family was able to go back home. A major story well be following for your day ahead. Several candidates will be in rock hill. Theyre hosting a debate at 6 00 tonight but not everyone will be there. And senator ted cruz confirmed their performance. Rick santorum will stand in for marco rubio and donald trump hasnt said whether he is going. Winthrop University Political sciences Scott Hoffman says he expects candidates to start stepping up attacks against each other from here on out. South carolina is a win or take allstate and defeat can spell the end for a campaign. We have Political Consultants who are used to knives in the back and weve seen dirty politics here. Trump is leading in all polls and expected to win next weekends primary but cruz could make a strong case with christian voters and pull an upset. Hillary clinton, who holds a huge lead over Bernie Sanders is expected to win their primary in two weeks. Clinton and sanders will faceoff in a debate tonight in wisconsin. Sanders claimed victory in New Hampshire while clinton won in iowa. Count on channel 9 to be at find out what they have to say tonight on Eyewitness News at 10 and 11. Were following a developing story out of caldwell county. Both sides involved in a 25yearold double murder case will meet again this afternoon to make further motions in this case. Yesterday we told you the judge declared a mistrial in william murphys case after a jury could not reach a verdict. He is accused of killing mark and jenny sea crest in 1990. The defense might offer a plea in this case. More people are expected to testify today in the trial of a gastonia man accused of killing his girlfriends baby. Channel 9 was inside the courtroom as the childs mother broke down in tears on the stand. Jessica waller said her 3yearold daughter did not have bruises the morning before. She received a fatal blow to the head in 2013. Police charged jason moore with the murder of the girl. Her daughter at the. Laugh and play, you know, all the time. She would cry. The little girl died from a fractured skull and had burns and bruises on her body. The attorney said he did not hurt the child. Channel 9 is staying on top of breaking news in oregon. Weve learned several new developments. The four remaining armed protesters at a National Wildlife refuge are expected to surrender. Franklin graham is expected to meet with the group once they turn themselves in to the fbi check point at 11. We learn the father of ammon bundy, the leader of the group is now behind bars. The fbi arrested cliven bundy on the way to the refuge. They will formally announce his charges later today. New this morning, the u. S. Army plans to deploy hundreds of soldiers to southern 500 will help forces push back the taliban. They will not have active combat roles. Staying on top of other news stories this morning, u. S. Officials say russia has proposed a march 1st cease fire in syria one official says the u. S. Believes the russians are giving themselves and the Syrian Military three weeks to launch harsher attacks on opposition forces. The u. S. Is worried the opposition could suffer irreversible losses. A representative is fighting to raise the minimum wage to 10. 10 dollars. Gilda comp hunter brough proposal. It wont raise costs for businesses and she wants to see taxpayer money used for higher wages. Be hiring for this years season. Theyre looking for cooks, cashiers and servers. It is scheduled for the Home Plate Club in uptown. The home opener is april 14th. Right now we want to give you live pictures from blowing rock. Look at that wind. That is making it feel worse in the mountains and of course, the snow on the ground, a reminder, avery and Watauga County schools are closed again today. Ashe county schools are on a threehour delay. We have weather and traffic every ten minutes. Here is meteorologist keith monday in Severe Weather center 9. It is absolutely brutal in the counties. It is cold in charlotte but dramatically worse when wl is the wind is. Where is wind is. There are clouds banked up against the mountains once more and a few flurries are up there. I dont expect accumulations but tomorrow, the snow machine will pick up more in the mountains. Ill show you in the futurecast they will fly east of the mountains. It will be a very cold weekend and well talk about this the next several days. Looking at more winter weatatr potential starting to work its way back into the carolinas. Our time is 5 10. Lets get you on the roads on this early thursday. Were checking boulevard in the area of briar creek. Traffic volume is light and not seeing big issues. No slow downs. No lane closures as they make their way up towards the bend. We have reports of utility work closer towards 277. Were heading in the area to check it out. I can tell you there, are no slow downs if youre communication in from union countyty drive Time Technology showing green conditions coming out of monroe inbound. Drive time, 50 miles an hour from 601 to 485. That is 11 minutes. If youre headed towards 485 from east john street towards providence road. 72 miles an hour. That will take five minutes. Taking a unique approach to reduce crime. Ahead at 5 45, the specific changes the department made that is helping them identify problem areas. Frightening moments for workers at this gastonia demolition fight after a man fell into a 12foot hole. He was in shock for a second. At 5 30, the feature that made it easier for them to get ignition interlock devices ignition interlock. A suspect in a 15yearold drunk driving case is back in North Carolina after he was captured in california. Miguel garcia was drunk and hit and killed tony setliff the second. He faces charges of Involuntary Manslaughter among other charges. He is due in court tomorrow. New this morning. M. A. D. D. Says ignition locking systems have kept more than 1. 77 million drunk drivers off of the road since 1999. The device is wired into a blow into it to start the car. Currently 25 states require the device including the carolinas who install them when someone is convicted of driving with a bloodalcohol level of. 15 or more. It could save lives if every offender was required to use them following the first arrest. The new developments of a man who shot two deputies was found in florida. He was inside this panera in hartford county. Shooter, david evans likely shot the deputies because of the uniforms. He just took out his gun and shot him in the head after the officer asked him how was your day. The suspect took that action because he is wearing a police uniform. Evans was also killed in the shoot out. The Sheriffs Office said the deputies had dealings with him in the past and had a warrant virginia could start lec cuting death row inmates if it runs out of drugs for lethal injection. They approved it yesterday and it will head to the senate. They dont have enough because some companies dont want their drugs used in executions. South carolina offers death row inmates the choice of electrocution or lethal injection. A charlotte super kitchen will serve breakfast in the new upgraded headquarters in charlotte. It currently provides more than 800 breakfast and lunches per week. Now the staff can add a dinner service. Ive never seen anything like this where different agencies are working together dynamically to bring about change in the the centers move that matters provided funding while the piedmont Natural Foundation donated 50,000 for an expanded commercial grade kitchen. We have weather and traffic every ten minutes. Here is meteorologist keith monday in Severe Weather center 9. As promised, temperatures this morning, colder than yesterday morning. These are not the promises we like to keep. It keeps getting worse as the week goes on. Well bottom out today, climb a little bit and toward the weekend it will just drop again unfortunately. 20 charlotte. 19 statesville. 16 salisbury. 15 albemarle. Stay with us through 5 30 and 6 00. Youll notice more teens will show up. Wind is light. The sky is clear. The numbers will keep going down. Thankfully the 20 degrees feels like 20 degrees. Little wind at all. No windchill but in the mountains were seven degrees below zero at boone. Well be 10 to 15 below zero. Big time chill will last all morning. Yesterday to get back to the freezing point. Well have plenty of sunshine out there today. 36 at noon. Very slowly warming up. Only may go up a couple degrees warmer than yesterday. Hit 38 on wednesday. Today, 41, it is a small bump up but overall. It feels about the same. Other than a few flurries in the mountains. Today is when well see more snow as we begin to move in here and flakes will fall across the i40 corridor into our friday. Here are the accumulation numbers. An inch at mountain tops but definitely under an inch east of the mountains. You may see snow falling around hickory and statesville. Well see more clouds than snow for sure. I wont expect any travel issues outside of the mountains. Well keep a low shot but that is the next wave of cold air. As the next storm system rolls in through monday. That is where things become interesting. Well have the cold air left moisture comes in with the system, the wintery mix is looking likely. Well show you on the futurecast data where the system is and how quickly we expect that to roll in. It does not affect valentines day plans. It is just cold. Temperatures will fall quickly below freezing by about 6 and 7 00 when youre out late saturday into sunday morning. Were looking at the numbers there falling quickly into the 20s. Turning into teens as we head into sunday morning. Our fiveday forecast, the weekend always in view, we have plenty of sunshine for the next few days. More clouds come in first half of tomorrow. A few flakes arrive. That is the next blast of cold air. It will drop us into the 30s. We have not seen the coldest of the stretch yet. That comes for saturday and sunday. All eyes will be on monday as some Winter Weather will work eventually a storm system would come in. Lets get you on the roads for this morning. Still pretty quiet . Were monitoring the wreck in burke county. It is westbound towards cosby road, exit 98. Were not seeing big delays in the area. Green conditions actually in both directions if youre headed towards morganton. Back in charlotte. Closer to town. 85 to the west side. Northbound commute checked in with Highway Patrol earlier from Gaston County northbound out of cleveland and back into charlotte. Not seeing problems southbound as well for folks heading over into gastonia this morning so were keeping you updated here on channel 9 and on twitter as things come in, ill update you. Follow me trafficteam9. Crime in huntersville is down 10 despite rapid growth. Ahead at 5 45. How adding one employee made a big difference on where they neighbors are expected to attend mooresville town hall to speak out against a retail development. Why it is a poor choice for their part of town. International drug traffickers aree tricking seniors into bringing drugs into the united states. The steps officials are taking to protect older people from channel 9 is monitoring wallhannel 9 is check this out, bro. Whats that, broheim . I switched to geico and got more. More savings on Car Insurance . Yeah brofessor, and more. Like renters insurance. More ways to save. Nice, brotato chip. Thats not all, brotein shake. Geico has motorcycle and rv insurance, too. Oh, thats a lot more. Oh yeah, im all about more, teddy brosevelt. Dozens of senior citizens, including one from North Carolina are being held in foreign prisons guilty of Drug Trafficking but none knew they were committing a crime. Traffickers are tricking the elderly into smuggling the goods. Theyre contacted online and believe theyre meeting a Love Interest or picking up lottery winnings over seas. They will take an all expense paid trip and are given what they think is candy or a suitcase with hidden compartments to be given as gifts but they say theyre the idea that my dad is now a convicted drug smuggler sentenced to six years in prison. He had no prior criminal history of any kind. Not even a speeding ticket. A federal Committee Plans to expand efforts to protect seniors by educating them on how the scam works and building on existing awareness programs at Nursing Homes and community centers. Good news this morning, while air travel demand is growing, airlines are starting to offer lower fares. The u. S. Department of transportation says the average domestic ticket is 372, down 6 from a year earlier. Executives say fares are based on supply and demand. The companies are keeping most of the savings from cheaper jet fuel. Joe biden was in North Carolina to push for change in Cancer Research april head at daybreak, the key recommendations researchers say can help develop cures more quickly. The futurecast data through severe windchill values will continue in the mountains. Major retailers are trying to bring in new stars brin now at havertys furniture, its our annual president s day sale. Which means its the perfect time to create the perfect home. Everything in our store is on sale. Plus, were offering thirtysix month, no interest financing. Come in today for our best prices of the year. With havertys, your home can be perfect. Even when life isnt. Sfx knocking. Were early the president s day sale. From classic to contemporary, havertys. Home owners in mooresville are concerned about plans to rezone the neighborhood to make room for huge box stores. The reason they say it is the wrong part of town for such a big development. Cold weather is dominating the carolinas this morning get these things warmed up so kids can get on a nice warm bus. That is a good thing. Theyll be waiting out in the cold temperatures. County schools will be closed once again today. They havent gone to school all week. Ashe county is open but on a threehour delay. Lets check the first forecast. Meteorologist keith monday in Severe Weather center 9 and he is tracking just how cold well get today. Unfortunately, well still get colder as the morning goes on. One city in particular, it is albemarle. Youre down to 13. Ive seen that go down two degrees every hour here for the last two hours. It is dropping fast. 17, statesville youre going down. 20 in charlotte. Well see teens before the morning is done. Already have the teens in the mountains. That is not the issue. They may take a good chunk of the day to get the numbers on the Positive Side of the windchill scale. Little wind in charlotte compared to yesterday. Once the wind picked up it felt a lot worse. It will feel like 20. Plenty of sunshine. Dry weather headed into the weekend it is really going to be the story of the next week, another bigger weather maker will be here and could make for travel issues as we head back to work and school by next monday. Lets get you on the roads for this morning with mark. Traffic picking up. Quiet on the south side of town. Were looking 77 to the 485 fly over getting on to the ramp way. Not much happening here northbound checking clear. Checked in with Highway Patrol out of york county so you folks are doing fine. Rock hill heading northbound into charlotte this morning. Checking the drive times, green conditions north coming in from rock hill. Northbound towards fort hill. 61 miles an hour. So far so good. Johnson road out of ballantyne to i77, 70 miles an hour. On independence boulevard where there is a utility project. Channel 9 is following a developing story. Mooresville town leaders will decide whether a controversial project should move forward. Angela hong is live at Raleigh School. This project calls for several new stores to be built right wher