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 Claire Overton. We'll get to your top four at 4 in just a moment. But first, we always have a look at commuter traffic and weather. Let's bring in 22 News Meteorologist Brian Lapis. Brian, yet another day where I didn't leave the building, but it looks awfully sunny from the inside. Yeah, actually, it was kind of cloudy during the middle of the day, so you didn't miss much. Okay, I didn't see that part. Yeah. Yeah, all things considered, it was not quite as spectacular as yesterday, but this run of dry and relatively comfortable weather continues. And actually, we're just kind of updating the forecast here, and not much rain here even next week. That's good. Yeah, let's take a look. I don't know if we're in a drought, but I don't like walking through rain. Not yet, but the brush fire danger is not great right now. That's the situation. Anyway, let's talk about traffic. And here we are. traffic is pretty light or at least flowing normally up and down the valley and the pike looks pretty good no major backups downtown so that's also good news temperatures with the clouds are a little bit cooler than we expected 53 Springfield 51 Greenfield 52 Westfield Northampton and 53 right now in Pittsfield and there are the clouds it stayed grayer a little longer than we expected and that's why it's a little cooler than we expected here this afternoon there is some clearing but the significant clearing may not make it in here until after sunset we will track uh more than our fair share of sunshine though for tomorrow with our 22 News Storm Team Skycast Claire a springfield man has been sentenced to prison for sexually assaulting a child according to the Hampden County District Attorney's office the jury found a 39 year old Ismael Freitas Rodriguez guilty of six counts of raping a child. Court documents state that the victim was 12 years old at the time of the incidents, which happened in April of 2023. Freitas Rodriguez now faces 18 to 20 years in state prison. A Massachusetts man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old in Putnam, Connecticut, nearly six years ago. According to the Connecticut state officials, 61-year-old Miguel Aponte Cardozo of Webster, Massachusetts, assaulted the minor on and before November 22nd of 2020. He was found guilty of first-degree sexual assault, risk of injury to a minor, and fourth-degree sexual assault. Aponte Cardozo is scheduled to be sentenced on January 19th. The upstate New York wildfire that spread into the Berkshires has been fully contained. The wildfire, which grew to over 250 acres, began Sunday morning in the New York town of Berlin and it had spread partially to Williamstown, Massachusetts. Governor Healey eventually deploying the Massachusetts National Guard to support the efforts, which fire officials said made a huge difference. The American Red Cross and Salvation Army are also helping support those battling the flames. The fire department and the police and emergency management, all the wonderful community partners that are here with feeding, making sure that there's water there's water, Gatorade, even just for a smile. Even though the fire is contained, Forest Rangers will continue working to prevent the fire from growing again. The Suffolk County Sheriff's Department is pushing back on parts of Monday's Boston Committee hearing examining in-custody deaths at its facilities. Officials said in a letter to 22 News that they would not allow incarcerated people to testify virtually, citing security concerns. Sheriff Stephen Tompkins says he did not go to the hearing because of the ongoing policy reviews but defends the department saying all allegations are taken seriously and that most correctional staff members perform their duties professionally. An independent investigation into the jail death of Springfield resident Chico Kenny is still ongoing. This after Kenny's mother testified that the sheriff's department lacks accountability contributed to her son's death. And now we have another look at today's weather. Brian is back with us. Brian, He said it's fairly cloudy right now, but they're now moving on later in the day. Yeah, we've got some clearing that will arrive probably close to sunset, for better or for worse. And then we've got a bright day tomorrow, and the weekend still is on track for being dry. So these are good things. I don't want to give it all away right now, though. So let's get to it. Hide the lead. Keep a sneak peek. Yeah, exactly. Okay, so you can see the clouds overhead right now. And then off to the west, a little hole in these clouds. and the clouds will be thinning as we move into the evening hours. Case in point, 22-news storm team skycast, 5 o'clock. The clouds starting to clear, mostly clear by 7, and mostly clear overnight tonight. Now, with a light breeze out of the south-southwest overnight, we could catch a little bit of fog. In fact, if you look closely, you can see some of this dull gray in the valleys of the Berkshires and in the Pioneer Valley. So some patchy fog as the sun rises tomorrow. And then we give way, that fog will lift to a mostly sunny day. Plenty of sunshine here tomorrow and a warmer day. Our next best chance at 70 degrees is tomorrow with a high of 66 to 70. I expect that we will be cooler on Friday. We'll show you with our 22 News Storm Team 7-day forecast on 22 News starting at 5. Trending today, the Massachusetts lottery is giving new meaning to the phrase scratch and sniff. The $5 and $10 winter holiday-themed scratch tickets, Candy Cane Cash Blowout, are the state's first-ever scented holiday tickets. The tickets fittingly smell like peppermint, making them the perfect stocking-stuffing gifts. Scratch tickets have been on the decline for the lottery's ticket sales from 70 percent of all sales in 2021, now down to 52 percent this year. For a look at what we're working on for 22 News starting at 5, we'll tell you how residents and officials in Cussetonics are responding to a water leak that has caused discoloration and a state of emergency. Plus, the Holyoke City Council is asking residents to share their input on data centers and whether they would be beneficial to the city. And finally, we'll have more on what the U.S. Attorney's Office says they will investigate and prosecute ahead of the midterm election. traffic is running pretty smoothly here for this time of day look at that just a mild back up at the end of slow down i guess you could say at the end of 291 where it merges with 91 on the pike and otherwise 91 looks good and the pike looks pretty good in the berkshires and into the worcester hills as well our run of dry weather may have no end we'll talk about it on 22 news starting at five thanks brian and thank you for joining us this afternoon for 22 news at four join us on tv tonight starting at five and you can get all your local news and weather updates anytime on our website, WWLP.com and the 22 News mobile app.