22News at 4: Digital Edition

Streaming from the 22 News Broadcast Center. This is 22 News at 4 p.m. Digital Edition. Good afternoon everyone and welcome to 22 News at 4. I'm Ciara Speller. We're gonna have your top four at four in just a moment but first let's bring in 22 News Storm Team meteorologist Brian Lapis for a look at your commuter traffic and weather up there Brian. Kind of feeling a little bit humid and muggy. Yeah and we've got some rain that has started to fall up and down the valley so it all tracks right. First the humidity then the rain. However there is drier air on the way. We'll talk about that a little bit later on. Right now traffic we had a major backup on the pike in the vicinity of Palmer to the Sturbridge area. As far as I know that backup is done and at least in our view here the the pike is in pretty good shape. Slight backup at the end of 291 where it merges with the pike and otherwise 91 even in downtown Springfield looking good. Let's take a look at temperatures right now 80 in Springfield 75 Greenfield 76 in North Hampton and Orange. And as I mentioned here comes the rain. If it's not raining where you are right now there will be some light showers developing within the next few minutes I would expect. We'll let you know what this means for tonight and tomorrow with our 22 News Storm Team Skycast. Brian thank you. A Chickapee high school teacher is being held on $75,000 bail after being arraigned in Berkshire District Court this morning. 53 year old Keith Harrison of Lennox is facing multiple charges including two counts of possession of child pornography and indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. Harrison pleaded not guilty to those charges. State police say the investigation began after a tip from a partner law enforcement agency. Investigators allege Harrison attempted to entice an undercover agent who he believed was a 14 year old child to engage in sexual activity. Authorities searched his home Tuesday and say they found child sexual abuse material. Following his arrest, Chickapee public schools said Harrison has been placed on paid administrative leave. Harrison is due back in court on october 8th. A palmer man is facing multiple charges after fleeing from Chickapee police and crashing into an ambulance in Springfield early on friday morning. Chickapee police say a jeep that was performing burnouts near Chickapee Street fled from an attempted traffic stop just before 1 30 a.m. The driver identified as 28 year old joseph Lomba, a palmer drove into Springfield where he crashed into an Agawam ambulance. A female passenger was ejected from the jeep, though police said no serious injuries were reported in the crash. Lomba faces multiple charges including failing to stop for police and reckless driving. The incident remains under investigation and we have another update now in the legal battle over the new Springfield courthouse. Developers Jeb Belize and Dinesh Patel have filed an amended complaint in Hampden Superior Court again challenging the Commonwealth's nearly $2 billion 40 year lease for the new Springfield Regional Justice Center. The amended complaint adds the Massachusetts Asset Management Board D. Cam and the secretary of administration and finance Matthew Gorskiewicz as defendants. It alleges conflicts of interest began before a bid for the project was submitted specifically regarding Commissioner back chairing the A. M. B. While leading D. Cam, the agency who selected Liberty Junction. This comes shortly after the developers announced they're appealing a judge's decision not to pause the state's leasing process. Belize and Patel's appeal remains pending. I 90 westbound in Palmer is back open after a multi tractor trailer crashed this morning. According to state police, the crash happened at around 9 15 near mile marker 66.6. When troopers arrived, a tractor trailer was blocking all lanes and requested for Palmer fire to respond due to leaking fluid and causing a fire. One operator suffered minor injuries and was evaluated by E. M. S. As precaution, troopers say traffic was backed up for nearly five miles. The cause of the crash is being investigated. All right, let's have another check of the forecast. We have some clouds and radar there behind you, Brian. Yeah, and a little bit of rain to go with it. Let's take a look. You can see a little batch of rain right now over the valley. So again, if it's not raining where you are right now, it will be raining. I expect shortly. Nothing exceptionally heavy here, but just enough to dampen the ground and kind of dampen the environment through seven o'clock. This wave of showers moves through and then seven o'clock we get down to kind of a chance of some scattered showers. And then later tonight, another wave of showers at 10 p.m. And overnight, another wave of showers might be a rumble of thunder in that wave of showers in the wee hours of tomorrow morning, seven o'clock tomorrow morning, partly sunny. I'm expecting most, if not all of the daylight hours to be dry here tomorrow. Sunshine at 10 noontime sun, sunshine, scattered clouds in the afternoon. Um, tomorrow, pretty good chance of being the warmest day of the week, with a high of 82 to 86 will update our weather for the upcoming weekend, even on Wednesday on 22 news starting at five trending today. The city of Springfield is now accepting proposals for next year's Shannon Community Safety Initiative Grant program. The awards are aimed at combating young and gang violence across the city by boosting enforcement and creating meaningful alternatives for at risk youth. Mayor Sarno says these funds will quote strike a proper balance of proactive youth development programs with public safety aspects. Nonprofits, NGOs and partner organizations can submit applications for proven programming and best practices. Winning applications will receive one year of funding, which lasts through 2027. After more than three years of construction, Bradley International Airport's main TSA security checkpoint is fully operational. The checkpoint offers TSA pre check touchless I. D. Which allows enrolled members to verify their identity through facial recognition rather than a physical I. D. It also features two additional security lanes and extra queuing space. Connecticut TSA officials say these updates will help reduce wait times and help modernize the airport's security. And here's a look at what we're working on tonight for 22 news starting at five. We're tracking the latest after a chickpea high school teacher has been placed on leave following his arrest on child pornography related charges. Plus, our coverage continues on how Springfield Public Schools is responding to a recent level four cyber security attack. And Commonwealth Secretary William William Galvin says the voter turnout in last week's election was higher than expected. We'll have more on those numbers tonight. Traffic running along pretty smoothly here. I 91 is good. Slight back up at the end of 2 91 on either end, actually, as usually happens at this time of day. But the pike looks good. And even downtown Springfield's traffic is running fairly normally for this time of day on a Wednesday afternoon. We'll update our chances for rain as we head into the second half of the week on 22 news at five. All right, brian, thank you. And we thank you for joining us for 22 news at four. You can join brian and myself on tv starting at five and get all your local news and weather anytime on W. W. L. P. Dot com and the 22 news plus app.