22News at 4: Digital Edition 11/5/2026

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to 22 News at 4. I'm Claire Overton, and 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 storm team meteorologist, Adam Strumpko. Adam, welcome to the 4. Claire, it's nice to be here. Good to be with you. Yes, and as we were just talking, it's not quite a beautiful day outside. We are seeing some showers. Are those going to be prolonged throughout the rest of the day? Yeah, it looks like we're going to continue with the showers. It's on the mild side, not quite as warm as yesterday. We almost made it to 80 degrees, but we'll be dealing with the showers. We need the rain, and it looks like we're going to be dealing with several rounds of rain over the next 24 to 48 hours. Here's a look at the traffic, and really not any major issues. A few slowdowns on 91. We've got a slowdown on Route 57. Getting on to 291, some slow traffic. 91 up towards Holyoke, some slow traffic up that way. Route 5, it looks like, actually, in Holyoke. So keep that in mind. Route 202, Westfield into Holyoke, looks like some slowdowns. Mass Pike, 291 getting on to the Mass Pike, and Route 20 some slowdowns. Overall, not too bad out there. Let's take a look at the temperatures. And it is another mild afternoon, not quite as warm as yesterday. But look at the temperature, 70 degrees right now in Springfield, 67 in Westfield. Northampton at 66, 67 in Greenfield, 65 in Pittsfield. We are dealing with that rain, and that rain is going to be continuing on and off tonight and through the day tomorrow. We'll show that to you in just a couple minutes, Claire. Thanks, Adam. A West Springfield man is facing multiple drug charges following his arrest in Holyoke this past Monday. Police arrested 37-year-old Emmanuel Rivera after stopping him on the corner of Appleton and Elm Streets. Police say Rivera had an active arrest warrant for allegedly trafficking cocaine and fentanyl. He was found with heroin, cocaine, cash, replica Glock-style BB gun and drug paraphernalia scales. He's now facing additional drug charges including possession with intent to distribute Class A and Class B drugs. We have the latest on the trial of Matthew Farwell. The defense for the former Stoughton police officer accused of murdering Sandra Birchmore rested their case yesterday. Prosecutors say Farwell strangled Birchmore to death following a nasty argument where he ended their relationship. Investigators believe he killed Birchmore to prevent her from telling the truth about how long the two had been intimate. The defense argues that Birchmore committed suicide, pointing to her mental health struggles. Closing arguments from both sides are expected to be given tomorrow. We're learning more about the deadly fire in Dorchester that claimed the life of a Boston firefighter earlier this year. According to the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services, the three-alarm fire was sparked by lithium-ion batteries. Third-generation Boston firefighter Robert Kilduff Jr. died while battling that blaze after falling from the third floor of the home. Officials say his actions helped save five people trapped by the fire. Now, fire safety advocates are urging residents to take precautions when they're using devices powered by lithium-ion batteries. The Massachusetts Water Resource Authority has withdrawn its transfer application to draw millions more gallons of water a day from the Quabbin and Wachusett reservoir systems. That's according to a social media post by State Representative Aaron Saunders. The proposal would have drawn an additional 20 million gallons of water from the reservoirs each day. It drew controversy from local and state leaders who argued that the Quabbin was already down over 12 feet compared to 2024. Opponents also argued the proposal failed to identify which communities would receive the water and that it did not meet state legal requirements. And now we have another check at today's weather. Adam is back with us. Adam, we're seeing some green on the screen behind you, which is good for us right now when it comes to those brush fires. Yeah, we haven't had rain in almost three weeks, so we definitely need some rain because the brush fire danger was getting pretty high. We did have some fires out there, especially last week. Here's a look at our sky cast as we head through this evening. Lots of clouds around. It's going to be raining all the time. We have evening plans. Tonight, just have the umbrella handy, but I wouldn't cancel them. As we head towards midnight, I think we have a little bit better chance of seeing the rain kind of moving back in. You can see that as we head through the overnight hours. Not too much as we head into tomorrow morning. A lot of this heaviest rain is going to be staying off to our east, but we're going to continue the chance for showers kind of on and off throughout the day tomorrow. There we are at noontime. You can see a lot of the activity staying just to our east, but you can see trying to move into eastern Hampden and Hampshire County. As we head through Friday afternoon and then lots of clouds around through the evening hours, early evening hours chance for those showers. And then as we head overnight into Saturday, we may see a little bit of clearing taking place and then the clouds tend to fill back in. And then Saturday afternoon we have another chance for some showers. You can see at three o'clock an area kind of moving into the Berkshires. And then as we head into the afternoon and evening hours, some more showers. So it's not going to be raining all the time, but we're going to continue to have shower chances right in to the at least the start. The near-billion-dollar Powerball jackpot has been won after last night's drawing. According to game officials, the $847 million grand prize went to a lucky winner in the state of New Jersey. The cash option is over $363 million. It was the 10th largest Powerball jackpot of all time. The jackpot now goes back to $20 million, and the next drawing is this Saturday. McDonald's is celebrating the holiday season early this year with a new lineup of specialty drinks. Starting today at participating restaurants, you can purchase several limited edition selections, including the Frosted Cranberry Splash with Sprite. It's described as Sprite infused with the flavors of cranberry and orange. Topped with a cold foam and cranberry sprinkles. There's also a Red Bull Frosted Cranberry Energizer, which combines the flavors of Red Bull with Frosted Cranberry. That also features cold foam and sprinkles. And then also you can try a cookie butter frappe, latte, or iced coffee. And now for a look at what we're working on for 22 News starting at 5. We'll tell you how a new report from a Holyoke-based non-profit shows how previously incarcerated people can get access to higher education. Plus, how a local health and wellness fair is helping supply residents with resources from local organizations. And finally, we'll have reaction from local marijuana dispensaries following the failure of a ballot question that would have banned retail sales of recreational cannabis. Adam? Well, Claire, here, a last look at traffic out there, and again, not too many issues out there. Slowdowns on 91, Route 57 in the Springfield area, getting on to 291, you have some slowdowns, and 291 on to the Mass Pike. Route 5 in Holyoke got some slowdowns up that way. 91 north, though, from Holyoke to Northampton moving pretty smoothly. A few slowdowns, 202, Holyoke and Westfield, but overall, not too bad, Claire. Thanks Adam and thank you for joining us this afternoon for 22 News at 4. Join us on TV tonight starting at 5. And you can get all your local news and weather updates anytime on WWLP.com and of course the 22 News mobile app.