4PM Digital Newscast 9/4/2026

streaming from the 22 News Broadcast Center. This is 22 News at four p.m. Digital edition. Good afternoon, everyone and welcome to 22 News at four. I'm C. R. A. Speller. We're gonna get to our top four at four in just a moment. But first, let's have a look at your commuter traffic in weather with 22 News Storm Team meteorologist Brian Lapis. Brian, the roads are getting a little busy out there, as we predicted. I was driving around today. I was in Greenfield for a little bit. It's a little busy, long weekend. Everybody's out there a little annoying, right? We have to go to work. And, you know, so yeah. Anyway, let's take a look. Traffic is a little slow. This is interesting. I 91 northbound kind of coming off of the of the Mount Tom Range here between Holyoke and little East Hampton Bend there. So just keep that in mind. I guess it's actually in Holyoke. But anyway, we've got a little slow down there. I 91 northbound. We've also got a little slow down at the I 90 I 91 interchange some construction there. And as Sierra mentioned, the commute is getting underway, and you can see that things were a little slow on I 91 southbound in Springfield and I 91 northbound in Long Meadow. All right, let's take a look at temperatures now, and you can see here that we're in the low to mid eighties and most spots 87 Greenfield 84 Springfield 83 Westfield 82 in Orange 76 in Pittsfield and our clouds and radar showing what you're experiencing a lovely day. Humidity is dropping fairly quickly. There's a pleasant breeze out of the northwest, I believe, and most of the holiday weekend will be okay. There's one segment of the weekend that we're a little concerned about. We'll share with you with our 22 new storm team Skycast. A mistrial was declared today in the murder case against Lindsay Clancy. The decision came on the seventh day of deliberations after the jury notified the judge that they could not agree on whether Clancy was criminally responsible when she strangled her three young Children in 2023. The deliberations took a dramatic turn when the judge said he was going to declare a mistrial before suddenly changing course and giving her defense attorney a chance to appeal to the top court in Massachusetts. But the court denied the emergency appeal to stop the judge from declaring a mistrial. The decision leaves the case unresolved and allows prosecutors to try Clancy again. Springfield police are asking for your help in finding a man who's been missing for three weeks. They say 34 year old scott Mathersill was last seen on august 14th leaving his program. Mathersill had texted the staff that morning and has not been heard from since he's described as 6 ft one and was seen wearing a town fair tire work uniform. He may also be in need of medication. The trump administration rejected appeals for federal disaster relief from both massachusetts and Rhode Island. Following this february's massive snowstorm, leaders in both states had appealed the initial rejection announced in july. Governor Maura Healy said massachusetts far exceeded fema's threshold for relief, noting that the state incurred approximately $45 million in eligible disaster costs. Meanwhile, fema told her sister station in Rhode Island, the state did not meet the required threshold. Governor McKee says the state is deciding now whether to take more legal steps. Smith College is mourning the recent loss of alumna Gloria Steinem, a woman's rights advocate who graduated from the college in 1956. In a statement, Smith College President Sarah Willie Labrenton said quote Steinem was more than an iconic historical figure. Steinem offered return often return that is to Smith College to speak with students and encourage them to continue to advocate for social justice. The president says Steinem was a generous mentor who embodied the college's mission that educating women changes the world. All right now for another check of today's forecast with brian lapis. All right, pretty good weekend on the way. We might run into a few raindrops though tomorrow afternoon. Let's take a look at what's happening right now. MGM free music friday 7 30 this evening. The Blanford Fair is open. Three county fair is happening. Our camera operator lane has deep DNA in the three county fair. It's gonna be a great weekend for the three county fair. And what else? Oh, the stone soul festival is happening as well this weekend. All right. So anyway, I digress scattered clouds now and I'm expecting a dry evening as well. Five o'clock here this afternoon temperatures are still in the eighties. I'm expecting a fairly quick cool off though. So we'll be in the seventies and sixties here for much of the evening hours and notice mostly dry, mostly clear through 10 o'clock and mostly clear overnight tonight with temperatures at a bottom out in the fifties here tomorrow, sunshine at seven o'clock, sunshine at 10 a.m. By noontime though, some clouds are developing and look out. Some scattered showers are now likely here tomorrow afternoon and potentially into tomorrow evening as well through about eight ish tomorrow evening. We could see some scattered showers. So if you have outdoor plans tomorrow, keep an eye on the radar on the 22 news app. High temperatures tomorrow will be cooler as well. 74 to 78 tomorrow's tomorrow's high temperatures. That's what we're expecting. We'll update weather for sunday and monday on 22 new starting at five. Trending today, Massachusetts Governor Maury Healy announcing a first ever $1.8 million student loan repayment award. The new plan offers up to $7500 a year to eligible recipients who work in early childhood education. 248 people were part of this inaugural award. The program is expected to open for a new round of applicants next spring. The president of the Massachusetts State Senate commended the award saying quote helping our early educators repay student loans will keep people in the field so we can make early education more affordable and increase access for Massachusetts families. The Springfield Regional Chamber is accepting nominations for this year's Super 60 awards. The annual program recognizes western mass businesses and nonprofits for their growth performance and contributions to the region. There's several awards up for grabs honoring established businesses, brand new startups and organizations giving back to their communities. Nominations are accepted now through september 11th and the award ceremony is taking place at the mass mutual center on november six and here's a look at what we're working on for 22 new starting at five. We have the latest details after city leaders in Springfield announced a lawsuit against MGM Springfield plus health health officials in Pittsfield are gearing up to offer free flu and COVID-19 vaccinations for homebound residents and the UMass Minutemen began their football season with a victory will break down the latest on the game. Traffic is running. Okay, we've got a little bit of a backup here on I-91 north in Long Meadow, something to keep in mind as the evening commute starts. This backup may grow a little bit and otherwise a little slow down on I-91 north near Mount Tom and Holyoke in either direction looks pretty good and uh slightly slower than usual traffic for this time of day in downtown Springfield. Most of the weekend is dry. We'll update those chances for showers tomorrow tonight on 22 news starting at five. All right, brian, thank you and we thank you for joining us this afternoon for 22 news at four. You can join brian and myself on tv starting at five and get all your local news and weather updates anytime on W. W. L. P. dot com in the 22 news plus app.