We have breaking news this morning. We learned four of 62 People Killed in a plane crash in southern russia were children. We told you about the crash last night at 11 00. The dubai plane tried to make a second attempted landing in bad weather with gusts 30 to 50 miles an hour. When the plane landed, the wing touched the runway and began to break apart, then burst into flames. Investigators are trying to figure out why the plane broke down, killing everyone on board. This is north tryon street at 11th. Two cars had damage and at least one person was injured. We are asking police if any charges will be filed. Greenville police say down by 17yearold deon day macky, a selfdescribed gang member. Police stopped to talk to him about a gun when he took off running behind a house. He fled, we gave pursuit, and without demonstrating any force or exacting any force, our officer was shot and killed then mr. Macky took his own life. He reportedly fired a gun, hitting jacobs several times, who did not draw fired their weapons. Jacobs was a decorated iraq war veteran and father of two with one on the way. Two students found a body near bravard campus around 6 30 p. M. Last night in a wooded area behind the maintenance building. Authorities havent said if the body is male or female or if its a student but they are bravard police and the fbi are investigating. Now leaders are pushing for immediate extradition of a paris terror suspect after spending four months on the run after the november terror attacks that killed 130 people. Police captured him yesterday in belgium and he was shot in the leg with a gun battle with authorities in brussells. A man walked channel 9 through the moments he was robbed at gunpoint in front of his home minutes from south park mall. He said he was so scared, he gave the suspect the pizza he was holding. Reporter the victim says what shocked him the most is the time this all happened. 10 00 thursday night, he was robbed, and he said hes been out much later and has always ive not seen this before. Reporter around 9 30 thursday night, he was robbed at gunpoint along the 4000 block of kings gate place in the Strawberry Hill community, a neighborhood hes always felt safe. The only thing i thought, just let me give it to them. Reporter he says he came home later than usual and went out to get pizza when he would normally order in. Providence road, nobody was behind me. When i took a left turn right there, i knew somebody was behind me. Reporter two men were waiting at his door when he got out of the car. I saw the gun, it was pretty big. I dont want to take any chances. Reporter the men took his credit cards, cash, even his drivers license. He says its an illinois drivers license because he if it was not me, it would happen to someone else. Reporter a spokesperson here says police have yet to make any arrests. David petraeus is coming back to give more testimony regarding benghazi was cut short. Lets not forget the castro regime has been guilty of countless human rights violations. President obama plans to advocate for better respect for human rights and a visit to people previously victimized by the cuban government. American airlines wants to operate daily flights between charlotte and cuba. One would fly out of the american hub here in charlotte. Charlottes mayor is still in the Mecklenburg County jail right now. He was brought here to face sentencing on voter fraud charges earlier this week. Its not clear when he will be bussed back to a federal prison in virginia. Construction to fix a potentially dangerous leak on canceled for this weekend. Crews were supposed to fix a leaky water main in the inbound lanes near sunny side avenue on i77. Charlotte water tweeted yesterday afternoon that unforeseen circumstances forced crews to stop work. Last month seeping water started icing over, creating Hazardous Conditions for drivers, and several crashes during the morning commutes. The irish ambassador to the u. S. Will serve as the grand marshall of the 2016 st. Patricks day parade and discuss ireland and europe in a time of change and challenge with a small group of business and community leaders. The charlotte goes green festival begins at 10 00 this morning and the st. Patricks day parade begins at 11 00, so traffic is definitely impacted in charlotte. We have some festivities in charlotte causing problems this morning. Patricks day parade with lane closures between 5 00 a. M. And 8 00 p. M. Well see about 3,000 marchers, 12,000 attendees, a lot of foot traffic as well. Tryon 9th street down to third, then turn off toward college street. You can use any of those streets that run parallel as your alternate. 6 08 right now. Major changes coming to Mecklenburg County job applications. This week Board Members voted to approve and initiative called ban the box. They are taking the box off the application that asks about a persons criminal record. The county commissioner says the county will still perform background checks and says the move will give people second chances. Were going to be welcoming to people and were not going implicit bias prevent us from hiring someone. The changes will take effect right away. Troopers are trying to figure out how a driver crossed the center line in Lincoln County and caused a crash on highway 27 near vale. Witnesses say they saw the pickup truck driver slumped over the wheel before the truck veered into the path of a larger truck. One witness had to drive off the road to dodge car parts. Talking nascar everywhere, dust, all you seen, tires, axls going up in the air, everything. Thought i was going to die. We are asking about possible charges after a fire was intentionally set in a cms School Bathroom that caused hundreds of students to evacuate. It happened yesterday morning more than 500 students were evacuated. Cms is only saying it was a caught fire. A woman says she had to jump on her Daughters School bus after a man approached her car with a gun. She backed out of the driveway and got on her daughters bus down the street and told the driver someone was trying to kill her. A s. W. A. T. Team training nearby jumped in to search for the suspect. I was so scared, i couldnt remember if he said get out, i got a gun, or get out. Deputies arrested wesley wright, charges with attempted robbery with a deadly weapon. Take a live look outside, starting out almost 60. This is sort of the beginning of a cooldown. Already we are starting off in the 50s, 60s across the carolinas, cooler in the but the main difference for today compared to the past couple days, we wont see much of a warmup from here on out. Well keep that chance of rain around. St. Patricks day parade going on this morning as well as all the other festivities in uptown, have that rain gear just in case. We have increased rain chances for saturday, and a look at the hourly forecast after the break. Investigators say a dallas man is accused of stealing 18,000 worth of gas. The reason he was able to steal 9,000 gallons and how easily he transported all the gas. And a Major Company coming to charlotte is bringing hundreds of jobs. This is something that was part of what we moved here for. The reasons the company picked charlotte and what the move says about the citys future. First, a South Carolina town is a high risk of seeing the zika virus. Next, help Officials Say they shouldnt panic. Good saturday morning, starting off with 59 degrees and not much traffic on the roads. We have mild weather the start off but rain is coming our way. More on that in just a bit. New this morning, investigators are looking into new evidence that could be critical in the investigation shooting in raleigh. Officers looked into a bullet hole in the side of a house near where an officer shot and killed a man while trying to serve a warrant. The family attorney told police about a bullet hole on the side of the house near the scene. If connected, it could offer more clues about the shooting. The wake County DistrictAttorney Says it could be two months before the state finishes the final autopsy. Witnesses say the officer shot him in the back last month, triggering major protests. This week raleigh city leaders approved a program to give police body cameras. It is not clear how soon they would get them. New Research Shows charleston is among a handful for the zika virus, the mosquitoborne virus linked to birth defects and paralysis. 50 u. S. Cities were found to be at risk for a potential outbreak and charleston is among 9 cities at high risk. Officials say they need help to be sure there are no locally transmitted cases. Here in North Carolina there are 6 confirmed zika virus cases and Officials Say each patient got the virus while traveling out of the country. The risk of locally transmitted cases in the u. S. Is minimal. Officials say a drone came within 200 feet of a commercial plane approaching l. A. International airport. It had flown closely over it yesterday when the plane was about 500 feet in the air. Police are now looking for the last week we told you two planes had to change paths to avoid hitting a drone. It was far enough away from the airport but flying higher than the faa regulations allow. Congress is trying to be sure a drone doesnt interior with flights at charlotte airport. A program would test radio signal technology, and spot a drone in the air and the location of the person on the ground flying it. Great weather for the past couple days. Changes just in time for the weekend. Not very convenient for sure. We are tracking some clouds out there this morning. This is a live look at a gorgeous start this morning. Its a little warm, little muggy the past couple days, we wont see temperatures skyrocket. The humidity is starting to rise as we bring in a chance of showers. A lot of things are going on today. Youll want to be sure you have the rain gear on hand. Taking a look at futurecast 7 00 this morning, its been consistent with keeping a couple showers pushing through the foothills and mountains this morning. Well keep one or two showers around through lunchtime, then the best chance of rain across the region is around the dinner time hour, 5 00, 6 00 this evening. Then its continuing to push off to the east through areas of rockingham. As you can see, not an impressive amount of rain well see. In some cases, we may not see any throughout the day today. If youre out and about, a lot of festivities going on today. Have that umbrella just in case. Its going to be cooler out there. Are here, the last full day of winter. 63 today in the charlotte area, and shower chances continuing throughout the day. Lower around lunchtime and that picks up in the evening areas. Into the south, also very cloudy. Everyone will have the clouds but not everyone is seeing the rain today. 61 by lunchtime, mid60s in the afternoon for chester. And we are still at about a quarter inch of rain for the month and we are almost to the end of the month, our second driest march on record. Well see a little chance today and tomorrow. More on the hour by hour forecast through sunday and how much rain we could see through the weekend. Then monday through wednesday, we dry things out. Bad news for those suffering with allergies. First day of spring and we have heard in the mid50s. If you were a little anxious the garden started, protect it monday and tuesday morning, temperatures below freezing. So heads up for that. Got to get through the weekend first. Great tool for using that, out and about that weekend with the Severe Weather app. Download it now. Great tool to have. Get a look at the interactive radar to see whats happening in your neighborhood. And check out hourly conditions as well. Great tip for watching out for your garden. I know people were getting yards ready to plant. Our coolest weekend so far this month. New this morning and trending on social media, northern iowa. They pulled away to ncaa victory last night with this game winning buzzer shot. Just 2. 7 seconds when Paul Jesperson banked the half court shot, knocking off texas 7572. Police say a dallas man stole 9,000 gallons of gas. Coming up, the way he was able to sneak away with it and who alerted police to the theft. And a Major Company is opening a branch in charlotte, bringing 400 jobs. The factors that made charlotte stand out. First, People Living in belmont want the state to retest their water. Next, what neighbors said officials never did, and the pr good morning, lets get an update on when the rain is going to move in, coming up in a few minutes. Neighbors yesterday gathered to call on the state to retest their water. Last year the state told people near the Duke Energy Plant not to drink their well water because of elevated levels of metal toxins. This month the state sent out letters saying the levels are safe to drink. The only thing that changed was the states willingness to protect us. How do you expect us to erase a whole year of fearing our water . Water for cooking, cleaning and drinking ever since last years order came out, they say they will keep boiling it until they are convinced the water is safe. Duke told us that scientists have shown this would not contaminate wells. And neighbors can meet with the department of Environmental Quality about coal ash concerns. This tuesday there will be a hearing at 6 00 at gaston colleges dallas campus. There is be another march 29th also at 6 00 in hickory. We have been covering the coal can find all the past coverage at wsoctv. Com. We have a lot going on out there, st. Patricks day parade, and people may need the rain gear. It is going to be a split weekend. Today well have clouds, better chance of rain. But it will be warmer. Tomorrow we have a few showers in the late day hours but its significantly cooler. Tomorrow will be our first day below average in temperatures since the first day of the month. So our second day of the month, kind of a split weekend to talk about. Another look at the hour by hour forecast here, and well talk about temperatures below freezing as well. Well have a look at that in the next half hour. And this is how we start spring. Thank you. For 20 years people have pushed for a public beach in Mecklenburg County. Now theyre seeing the dream come true. The major impact on lake norman and when you can start swimming. And police say this man stole how he was able to take it and who caught him, coming up. First, a Major Company opening a location in charlotte. Chosen and why some say chos this morning rain is on the way to the charlotte area, moving east right now. The timeline for when the rain will hit and when well see colder temperatures as well. A Major Company is opening in charlotte, bringing several hundred jobs with it. The reason they chose the queen city. From the charlotte cam, time now 6 29, 59 degrees. Good morning and thank you for joining us. Im britney johnson. We are tracking showers moving in. We have areas of South Carolina and georgia, as well as up to the north. We are starting to see those fill in this morning, mainly a brief little shower for areas to the east. Temperatures are very mild, upper 50s in charlotte, 53 in hickory and low 50s in the mountains this morning. Heading throughout the afternoon, temperatures will make it into the mid to lower 60s. As we keep the clouds and chance of rain around with us, if youre heading to the baseball game against Florida International or any afternoon plans, hold onto that rain gear. More on the rain chances coming up in less than 10 minutes. And you can track the out when the rain is hitting your neighborhood by using our wsoc tv weather app, with current temperatures and a look at the radar. If you plan to head to the Blue Ridge Parkway this weekend, youll run into some closures. Crews are blocking off small sections for two to three days at a time until the end of the month to remove large trees and debris in the area. They usually do this during the winter months. The parkway closures impact bikers and walkers too. We are following breaking news this morning. Overnight we learned a plane crashed in southern russia, killing all 62 people on board, including 4 children. It happened last night when the fly dubai plane tried making a second landing attempt during bad weather, with winds 30 to the Russian EmergencySituations Ministry says when it landed, the wing touched the runway, began to break down then burst into flames. There was some that said black lives splatter, just basically saying they didnt feel like we had a point. Some students said they have deleted the app following the comments on there. Others say the universitys response wasnt fast enough, allowing more posts to surface. University officials have sent an email condemning the posts and encouraging discussion. East Carolina Police simple assault and ethnic intimidation. They say thursday night at a bus stop racial slurs were used and the president released this same 6 33 right now. A Major Company is coming to charlotte with hundreds of jobs. We broke down the multimillion dollar investment. Paypal has ten other Operation Centers an reported 9. 2 billion in revenue last year. This decision is big for the queen city. 400 new jobs here in charlotte, North Carolina. I think its great for the city. Something thats part of what we moved here for. After a national search, paypal chose charlotte to open its 11th operations center. Engineering talent, the labor pool and Economic Opportunity here in charlotte. Reporter new positions include customer service, engineering and technology. The Company Plans to advertise for jobs in late may or early june and start training in september. Were going to develop software for our payment system. We are going to manage risks from the Cyber Security perspective. Paypal will bring 400 new jobs and a 3. 6 Million Investment by the end of 2017. This comes as the jobless rate is up in charlotte, up to 5. 3 in january. One resident told us the Economic Outlook is promising. Its always difficult when the markets have been so volatile. Opportunity for them here. We have more on the jobs at wsoctv. Com. New this morning, isis released a new video showing hostage and british journalist john cantoli, targeting media kiosks where isis propaganda is distributed. This is the first message from him since february 2015. He was kidnapped in 2012. Today dozens of teachers and students are expected to march in uptown charlotte, saying immigration and customs agents are targeting students for deportation. The march will begin at 4 30 p. M. Government center at 6 30 tonight. Last month we told you this student was arrested and his mother says it happened at the bus stop where he was waiting to go to school. In a statatent, a spokesman said a judge ordered his deportation, adding that officers picked him up outside his home, not at his bus stop. They try to avoid sensitive areas like schools and churches. You could have to pay to park at the airport this spring. Officials say daily and hourly rates will still be available but travelers will be encouraged to avoid top rates by booking and paying for parking in advance online. Lincoln county deputies are searching for this man and they say hes armeddage dangerous. Investigators say bobby fish was following a womans vehicle earlier this week. Pulled up alongside her and fired a shot into her car. Police say fish and another car pulled in behind her and eventually took off. This week president obama will be in cuba. At the top of the hour, the leaders our president will meet and what he hopes to accomplish on the trip. After two decades of fighting for a public beach in Mecklenburg County, its becoming a reality. At 6 45, the major impact on lake norman, and when you can go swimming. And spring officially begins tonight, but the Winter Weather coming up, how well the coming u welcome back, 6 40. Nice start to the day with temperatures fairly mild. But were tracking changes moving in. Already this morning temperatures have dipped into the mid40s for many areas, 53 in hickory and 58 in charlotte. So really its pretty mild here this morning thanks to lots of cloud cover, 55 in chester. By this afternoon the clouds are going to stay with us and well have the chance of rain. Well have our first day in the 60s since march 7th. Temperatures are going to drop 10 degrees. More on the fiveday forecast and chilly overnight conditions coming up in less than 5 minutes. Residents get to vote on a controversial retail development, which would include a Sporting Goods store, costco and six other businesses. Some neighbors signed a petition against it, worried home values will suffer. Town leaders are expected to vote on the development monday. Apple is expected to go smaller this year during the spring News Conference on monday. The headliner is expected to be a smaller version of the iphone and smaller version of the ipad pro. For the first time in nearly 90 years, a u. S. President will visit cuba. At the top of the hour, what president obama hopes to accomplish during the trip. And after two decades of fighting for a public beach in Mecklenburg County, its finally a reality. At 6 45, the impact it will have on the county and when you can start swimming. First, police say this man stole 18,000 worth of gas. Steal thousands t good morning, take a live look outside. We are tracking some rain new this morning, we have learned when Emergency Responders arrived at the scene of the San Bernardino attack that killed 14 people, their scanner communications were broadcast live on the internet. A police fire and medical agency says that created potential danger for them, since people could hear their every move. Yesterday at a legislative hearing, the Police Lieutenant said its a precarious situation for first responders. Since those shootings, Law Enforcement and medical personnel have been evaluating how they responded. 14 were killed and 22 were injured and the shooters died in a shootout with police. Investigators in Lincoln County revealed how they caught a man accused of stealing 9,000 gallons of gas. Deputies say this man was in video showed him taking gas on security cameras. Thats how they helped track him down. His job with public works gave him access to a county gas card. Investigators say in three months he pumped 18,000 worth of gas, most of it into huge drums. They get by with it, then try more and more and more. Another Lincoln County worker alerted authorities to the fuel purchases. Gibson is charged with fraud. Some lawmakers may return the interest collected on taxpayer refunds to taxpayers. If you owe money to South Carolina, youre required to pay interest. The state newspaper reports the money currently goes to pay for childrens program. When lawmakers decide on the budget july 1st, they will choose whether to send that back to taxpayers. In the last three years, the interest would have amounted to 14 million. Road project way behind schedule. Its the university boulevard extension project that started in 2013 and was supposed to wrap up last spring. Almost a year later, it is only 30 completed. Its unexpected. We dont know, you know, whats going to happen from daytoday with the construction. The city says they could not get the contractor, triangle grading and paving, to finish the project. The city fired them last month. Some areas already have light rain for this morning. Although we have a high rain chance, not everyone will see the rain and it wont be particularly heavy. Thats the good news. If youre in areas down to the south, york county, rock hill, out toward rockingham, may feel that light mist out there this morning, some light rain early this is the trend. Showers are going to be very spotty, hit or miss. Not everyone will see the rain today. Here we are on the futurecast, some showers up in the mountains. Well stay up in scattered areas throughout the lunchtime area. It includes the charlotte area so if youre heading to the parade, other festivities this morning, races going on, make sure you have the rain jacket to be safe. Well keep the rain chances around throughout the afternoon, but they are spotty. Not everyone will see the rain and its not an allday rain event. Throughout the overnight hours tonight, you can see the line of showers pushing through the charlotte area around lunchtime. We have clouds to start tomorrow, maybe a little sunshine, but Early Morning hours tomorrow are good to go on the roadways. Through the morning hours. The next line pushes through during the dinner time hour tomorrow. With this, well have cooler air to deal with. We may have snow showers up in areas of boone, elk, places like that. Heading throughout sunday night and into monday morning, our last round of showers should be pushing out of here. How much rain are we talking about . Not that much. About a half inch in most areas around the metro, a little less in the mountains, maybe a half inch of snow for areas like jefferson and boone. Not the best of news because we need that rain. Its been so dry here this month. The good news is any rain we see, maybe a rumble of thunder but nothing too severe for saturday or sunday. Tomorrow temperatures are about 10 degrees cooler. This is the trend as we head into the workweek, with highs monday and tuesday, charlotte temperatures dropping to about freezing, so frost is a concern. Of course freezing conditions up in the mountains as we start the workweek. We have the rain chances, unfortunately just in time for the weekend as we head back into the workweek. Warmer temperatures return, highs in the low 70s by the middle of the workweek. Get our live weather app to get alerts and hourly forecasts for android, iphone and ipad devices. Very helpful if you have plans out there. Looks like it will stay mild but you could still enjoy things. For the most part, yes. Happening today, National Safe week celebrated with a the relatives is the Safe Place Agency for Mecklenburg County. It celebrates National Safe place week every year, which raises awareness about runways. Todays walk is 8 00 to 1 00. Residents have called for a public beach at lake norman in Mecklenburg County. Right now the only one is about 30 miles away. Yesterday leaders say the first public beach is opening memorial day weekend. Leaders have been trying to bring swimming to the lake since 1997. I think the people that live here, hopefully people in the entire county will take an opportunity to come up here and have some fun. Lead, say its expected to provide a boost to the local economy. Last year more than 21 million came into lake norman and officials hope this year theyll top that. Park officials will charge it can hold about 500 switchers and fit 127 cars in the parking lot. People are invited to take part in the next phase of the master downtown process. The Planning Department will host a series of design workshops later this month and during those, people can develop and test new ideas for the downtown area. March 21st through march 24th they will have meetings at 1 00 or 6 00 at concord city hall. A South Carolina town is on the shortlist of cities with a virus. Coming up, the help Officials Say they need now, and why people shouldnt panic. And president obama will be visiting cuba this week. At the top of the hour, what he hopes to accomplish on this trip. And all eyes are on the ncaa tournament right now with some Florida Gulf Coast awoke a giant and johnson was an animal, with 8 blocks and 7 rebounds. He said he was disappointed two nights ago. The coach says his team is fortunate to come out with the win. One of the worst halves we have played all yearlong. First 10 minutes of the second half, we were really good. Bryce blocked so many shots around the basket and that was huge for us. For us, we feel very good to still be here. They will play providence tonight at 9 40. Duke advanced with a win over unc and will battle yale after they upset baylor. The coach says the win was thanks to plumlees play and if he doesnt play well, they dont have a shot at advancing. The number of times our most important player is marshall. If he plays well, we have a chance. If he doesnt, we dont have a chance. Unc squaring off with villanova, an uphill battle, trailing by 7 in this one. Villanova was too strong, under 5 seconds to play before the half, unc one and done after the 8656 loss. The hornets are solidifying why they make noise in the nba playoffs. Walker and jefferson each had 21 points in the 109106 win. Right now they are the 6th seed in the playoffs and will host the Denver Nuggets tonight at 6 00. The changes we have been talking about all week, theyre here. We are tracking some rain as well as cooler temperatures we are going to have a seasonal afternoon temperature wise, temperatures topping out in the low 60s. But we have that rain threat. Coming up, well go hour by hour to give you an idea for your plans. Thank you. Thank you for joining us this morning. Eyewitness news saturday morning continues in one minute. St this morning, rain popping up across the area and a major cooldown that will have us in the 30s this week. And taking a live look outside, still pretty clear in spots but we are tracking rain in many other areas. Thank you for joining us this morning. Im britney johnson. Meteorologist Christine Rapp has been tracking the system moving through. And we are seeing a few showers out there, lots of clouds to start across the metro area. Temperatures are mild, starting off in the upper 50s. 57 by 10 00 a. M. , and keeping that rain chance around as well. Not everyone will see the rain today but theres a chance as you head throughout saturday, so coming up in about 10 to 15 minutes, well talk about the rainy saturday, and see temperatures dropping at or below freezing. Ill let you know when those temperatures arrive, coming up. And you can always track the current temperatures and find out when the rain will hit your area by using our wsoc tv app, with hourly forecasts and Current Conditions and a look at the radar. We are following breaking news this morning. In the last 20 minutes we