Transcripts For WCAU NBC 10 News Today At 500a 20141203

Your wednesday before temperatures eventually push into the 50s. Our range today between 51 and 54 degrees. A southwesterly wind 10 miles per hour. And as we head into the rest of your workweek, i am tracking another round of rainfall and temperatures drop down a bit. Not as bad as what we saw yesterday. So, ill go over your sevenday forecast in about ten minutes. But for now, lets check in with nbc 10 first alert traffic reporter katy zachry. Good morning. Good morning, brittney. As you said, drivers will be dealing with a foggy start. Ill show you some of the fog in our cameras in a minute, but first, a few incidents for drivers in new jersey. There is an accident on the new jersey turnpike southbound right as you pass exit 2, which is the exit for route 322. It involves a tractortrailer. Im told its jackknifed and there is a vehicle off the road. Also, for drivers in pennsylvania, in narberth. This is right along montgomery avenue at price street. There is a fire. All lanes are blocked right now on montgomery avenue at price street. You can take lancaster avenue around that scene. And then in montgomery county, in bridgeport, dekalb street, which is also route 202 southbound at west 5th street, there is an accident there involving a pedestrian, a vehicle and a pedestrian. So, be aware of that. Then, finally, drivers along 476 right at the midcounty toll plaza not seeing a ton of fog there, but it is an issue on many of our roads in our area, and especially up in berks county for drivers on 78 right now right at route 183. Theyre dealing with a foggy start. Tracy . Katy, thanks. New overnight, two people are in the hospital after a crash in West Philadelphia. This was the scene near 54th and chestnut in West Philadelphia where two cars collided about 12 45 this morning with a parked car and a traffic pole also getting hit. We also have new information on a Home Invasion overnight. Police are looking for the robber who forced a woman inside her house and stole 75 from her. It happened around 2 00 this morning on 56th street in southWest Philadelphia. Investigators say the victim was walking home from a takeout restaurant when the robber attacked. She was not hurt. And new developments overnight in the search for a missing College Student in manayunk. A higher reward is now posted as shane montgomerys friends plan to hit the streets to try and find him today. Nbc 10s jesse garys live in west chester this morning for us, where a vigil will be held today. Jesse . Reporter vai, over the past 30 minutes, i called the Police Department to try to get more information, specifics about that vigil. Officers say right now they really arent sure what to expect, whether it will be a large crowd or a small crowd, but it will be here at the Student Union on campus. Now, volunteers plan to take to the streets again later today to try and unearth clues in the disappearance of shane montgomery. They do so with an increased reward, now up to 31,000 for information leading to his discovery. The 21yearold West Chester University student was last seen leaving kildares irish pub the night before thanksgiving. Investigators say he was walking to his parents house about a mile away but never made it. Coming up in 30 minutes, why theres such a push to reexamine ground thats already been covered in this search. Ill have that for you in 30 minutes. Live on the West Chester University campus this morning, jesse gary, nbc 10 news. Meanwhile, the search will resume this morning in wilmington for a missing barge operator. The barge flipped over near the mouth of the Christina River around 7 30 last night during a routine procedure. Two workers were rescued. A third is missing. Happening today, the sentencing hearing for a former Philadelphia Traffic Court judge convicted of lying about fixing tickets. A jury found Robert Mulgrew and three other judges guilty of the crime. The judges were cleared on more serious corruption charges. Federal prosecutors said they went after the judges for granting special treatment to friends, family and political allies when it came to traffic tickets. Authorities said each judge deserves two to three years in prison. The sentencing judge can consider all corrupt behavior, even for charges that did not result in convictions. Lawyers will hold a pretrial Conference Today for cornelius crawford. Hes the man charged with murdering three children and their mother back in july in a carjacking in north philadelphia. Police say crawford and another man carjacked the driver, sexually assaulted her and then crashed her suv into the family. Keisha williams and her three children were selling fruit on the sidewalk that day when the vehicle jumped the curb. The hitandrun crash also injured another woman who was on the sidewalk that day. It is 5 05 and 40 degrees outside. Bill cosby is facing a new lawsuit. A woman is claiming the comedian attacked her decades ago when she was a teenager. Nbc 10s Monique Braxton is live in center city. Monique, a lot of people would say, how can you file a lawsuit so far after the incident . Reporter thats right, tracy. Its been 40 years since the alleged incident involving philadelphia native bill cosby, but the victim says she only discovered the emotional stress within the past three years. Looking at our video now of whats gone on involving bill cosby that weve been showing you now for more than a week. That is why the Sexual Battery lawsuit is allowable under california law. The alleged victim, judy huth, accuses cosby of molesting her in a bedroom at the playboy mansion back in 1974. She says she was 15. She also says she and a 16yearold friend met cosby on a shoot. Well, the lawsuit also says cosby took them to the mansion, gave them drinks, and she was forced to perform a sex act inside the playboy mansion. Weve called and emailed cosbys attorney for a response. Were going to do so in the next hour and let you know what response we get to our calls and emails. Live for now on the steps of the art museum, Monique Braxton, nbc 10 news. Family and friends will remember a Lehigh Valley woman who was killed by her stepfather. A Visitation Service will be held this evening in northampton for jessica padgett. She left her job on november 21st to run errands and she never returned. Her stepfather, gregory graf, admitted to shooting padgett and burying her body at his home. The District Attorney says there was a sexual motive behind this crime. In a national tv interview monday night, he said theyre trying to determine if sexual abuse happened before or after padgetts death. There will be more security at all of new jerseys Child Welfare offices. Armed guards will be stationed at the 40 state department of children and families offices. Right now, at least half of the offices have the armed guards. The added security follows the stabbing of a case worker two weeks ago. The victim was in Critical Condition for two days, but she was sent home over the weekend. The teen who helped save a Philadelphia Police officer will be honored today. Last month, joe chambers pulled a Philadelphia Police officer out of his car after an accident. Chambers got him out just before the police car went up in flames. The Delaware County council will present chambers with an award later this morning. Now from our delaware bureau, fire investigators are working to track down arsonists they believe set fire to three churches in kent county. Heres a look at the fire that destroyed the Healing Hands Christian Church in felton yesterday. That building and all of its contents were destroyed. And within hours, two more church fires erupted nearby. Investigators said they found Common Elements between the fires but no clear connection. Happening today, the aclu will announce legal action against what it calls the resegregation of schools in delaware. The aclu said it wants to focus on concerns about delaware Public Schools becoming less diverse. Research shows a National Trend toward less integration of white and nonwhite students over the last 20 years. The aclu will outline its legal steps at a News Conference in wilmington later this morning. The tower hills school in wilmington has named a new head of schools after the previous headmaster was arrested on child porn charges. The new school leader, Elizabeth Cromwell speers, will take over july 1st. Shes currently heading a school in connecticut. Tower hills previous leader, christopher wheeler, resigned last year after police raided his oncampus home and confiscated computer equipment they say contained child porn. A judge is expected to issue a verdict in wheelers case within a month. Now, your nbc 10 first alert weather with meteorologist Brittney Shipp. Good morning. Youre taking a look at the foggy skies throughout philadelphia, especially in south philly Near Citizens Bank park. If you plan on leaving for work in the next hour or two, take it easy. Not only are we seeing foggy conditions, but also showers, which will continue on and off throughout the day. We are going to see warmer temperatures heading back into the 50s. And a live look right now outside. Were also checking out temperatures at the Philadelphia International airport at 41 degrees. Our visibility is down to 1 4 mile in the poconos, just over a mile in allentown, so thats where were seeing the densest fog the fog which is the densest right now. And then were also seeing our visibility down to about 9 miles in philadelphia. But our current temperatures throughout the rest of the area, 42 degrees in mt. Pocono, 40 in millville, 37 in allentown, 38 in pottstown, 36 in coatesville. And as we progress into the rest of the afternoon, youll notice our temperatures are going to be warmer than what we saw yesterday and above average for us. Our average for this time of year in the high 40s. As we take a closer look at our satellite radar shot, were just seeing a few scattered showers moving into parts of norristown, philadelphia, allentown and starting to push into lancaster county. Everything is moving in from the southwest, and as we head into the rest of the afternoon, onandoff showers, at least until the evening. So, heres how everything will progress. By 1 00 p. M. , well even see pockets of moderate rainfall. By 2 00 p. M. , most of this should start to push offshore. So, its a foggy start. Patchy rain is expected throughout the day and temperatures, again, pushing into the 50s, which will be a nice change versus what we saw yesterday. Todays range between 51 and 54 degrees. And your sevenday forecast shows that as we head into the next few days here, 48 degrees with plenty of sunshine tomorrow. More clouds move in on friday, then rainfall moves in and sticks around for the entire weekend, including the eagles game on sunday. You just saw brittneys cameras there, patchy rain and dense fog in some areas there behind katy. So, be careful. Leave early if you can. What are you seeing, katy . Its affecting a lot of our coverage area. Its not crazy fog, but enough to make you slow up and put your low beams on, of course. So, this is in allentown, route 22 right at airport road, where you can see foggy conditions for drivers there. Were also following some fog throughout philadelphia. Route 1 roosevelt boulevard right now at 9th street looks pretty good. Not a lot of volume on the road, very typical for this time of morning. There was an accident earlier in the Oxford Circle area thats since cleared, but for narberth, driers on montgomery avenue, youll be detoured around price street. There is a fire there, a lot of activity. You can take lancaster avenue around that. And also for new jersey drivers, there is an accident on the turnpike southbound right past route 322. Tracy . A health scare at a popular new jersey pizzeria. Well tell you what Health Officials fear customers may have been exposed to at one local restaurant. Plus, a new plan to rescue Atlantic Citys crumbling casino business. Local lawmakers make a plea for help. Whats possible today . Wifi access in more places then ever before. All your favorites in the cloud and on every device. A home you control with the touch of a finger. News and entertainment that informs and delights in ways you never thought possible. Comcast nbcuniversal bringing media and Technology Together for you. Taking a live look outside. You can usually get a good view of the city from this camera that shows the aramark building and the flags, a little bit of a breeze. But there are low clouds, theres dense fog in some areas, spotty showers in others. We will get an update from Brittney Shipp on whats going to happen throughout the day, coming up. Doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital in boston are evaluating a patient who may be infected with ebola. The patient is in stable condition and is being kept in an Isolation Unit until the test results come back. Hospital Officials Say they are extremely confident that they can handle the case while keeping their staff and other patients safe. And federal Health Officials have now designated two federal hospitals as ebola treatment centers. Childrens hospital of philadelphia and the hospital of the university of pennsylvania are on the list of 35 qualified hospitals named by the department of health and human services. Government Officials Say the hospitals have the equipment, theyve got the staff and training to safely and effectively care for ebola patients. And president obamas calling on congress to provide more than 6 billion in funding to fight the ebola virus here in the u. S. And in west africa. He made that call during a visit to the National Institutes of health yesterday. He toured a lab where doctors are working on a promising ebola vaccine. 5 16. Nbc news has learned president obama will likely tap former Deputy Defense secretary Ashton Carter as his new pentagon chief. The white house yesterday praised carter without saying officially whether he will be the nominee to succeed chuck hagel, whos stepping down. Republican senators say they support carter, who has not served in either the military or in congress. The tsa says more people are trying to get guns past Airport Security. The Transportation Security Administration says its officers found 2,000 firearms at airport checkpoints so far this year. Agents found about 1,800 guns last year. Travelers who bring guns to Airport Security checkpoints face thousands of dollars in fines. Happening today, United Airlines is ending flights to Atlantic City international airport. The airline started offering flights in april to chicago and to houston, but it did not bring in enough business. The south Jersey Transportation authority says its in contact with other carriers to bring flights to Atlantic City. And now to Atlantic Citys casino crisis. New jerseys congressional delegation is turning to the feds for help. Lawmakers are asking the secretary of labor to approve a National Emergency grant to help the citys crumbling economy. Last month, the state applied for 29 million in grants. And yesterday, two new jersey state senators unveiled a new rescue plan to give Atlantic Citys casinos a tax break, allowing them to collectively pay 150 million instead of taxes for two years. Four casinos have already closed in Atlantic City just this year, and the trump taj mahal is scheduled to close next week. The Health Department is planning a vaccination clinic tomorrow after a hepatitis scare at a popular Mercer County pizzeria. A worker who handles food at rosas Italian Restaurant in Hamilton Township is now in the hospital with hepatitisa. Health officials fear thousands could have been exposed to the virus between november 10th and december 1st, and now Health Officials are trying to track down customers so they can get to their doctor right away. The symptoms could vary from severe to mild, but the significance is how contagious it is. All garbage areas have been cleaned, the bathrooms are clean, and most of the area is approved by the department of health. Thats why they allowed us to open up again. So far, no one else has reported any symptoms, but if you live in Hamilton Township and you recently ate there, you can get vaccinated tomorrow afternoon. Health officials will be at the colonial volunteer fire company. The vaccine does cost 35 per person. 5 18, weve got some wet roads out there, some foggy conditions, low visibility. Leave a little early, if you can. Nbc 10 first alert traffic reporter katy zachry has been monitoring the roads. What are you seeing . And a busy morning with accidents. Glen mills, the same intersection of another accident about an hour ago. The difference is this is route 202 southbound where the accident happened, right at route 1. You can see emergency crews are out there. Several lanes are blocked. So, be aware of that if youre headed toward that intersection. A foggy look along i95 right at upland street. Were seeing fog throughout the poconos. Were showing you video from berks county. Also following a fire situation thats detouring traffic in narberth on montgomery avenue right at price avenue. All lanes are blocked there. You can take lancaster avenue around that scene. And then, finally, for drivers in new jersey, new jersey turnpike southbound, theres a jackknifed tractortrailer. An update to this situation is the right lane is blocked. Crews are out there trying to clear it up before the morning rush really does pick up, and its right past exit number 2, which is for route 322. Now your nbc 10 first alert weather with meteorologist Brittney Shipp. Good morning. Heading into the rest of today, foggy conditions and rain showers on and off until your early evening hours. Warmer temperatures in store on this wednesday pushing back into the 50s. But heres a live look at the pocono camera in blue mountain. You can see the cameras completely fogged over. So, if youre closer to the poconos, thats where the fog is at its worst. So, just be careful driving throughout parts of those areas. For philadelphia, 41 degrees. Our wind speeds are breezy and they will continue that way heading into the rest of the afternoon. 34 degrees in the poconos right now, 37 in allentown, 38 in pottstown. Were at 39 degrees in wilmington, 45 in Atlantic City, 42 in stone harbor and 39 degrees in dover. Down to 1 4 mile visibility in the poconos, just over a mile in allentown, down to 5 in doylestown. Reading dealing with foggy conditions, down to one mile. Were down to one mile in lancaster. Improving conditions for philadelphia. And in dover, down to about 5 miles. Same thing in millville and in cape may. If youre closer to Atlantic City, you are seeing clearer skies, but we are still going to be dealing with onandoff showers throughout most of today. Its quiet right along the shore, but if youre closer to philadelphia, norristown, allentown, youre seeing a few spotty showers and probably wet roads when you leave the house this morning. So, with the fog in the suburbs and the light showers, just allow a little extra time to get to work. As we push into the afternoon, before this system moves out of here, we are going to see pockets of moderate rainfall, so we dont want that to day you off guard closer to 1 00, 2 00 for the i95 corridor. A foggy start to the morning with patchy rain expected. And as we head into the rest of today, expect temperatures to stay above average, ranging between 51 and 54 degrees. Saving st. Pauls catholic schools. The Trenton Diocese issues a deadline for the cashstrapped school. How much money is needed to keep the doors open next year. Plus, big changes in store for the billboard charts. How the music trackers transforming the way it ranks todays artists. Its 5 24. Today investors will be looking for a repeat after a record day on wall street. Landon dowdy is here with this mornings cnbc business news. Landon, good morning. Good morning, tracy. Futures are slightly lower ahead of the opening bell and stocks rallied on tuesday with the dow closing at a record high on the back of strong november auto sales and betterthanexpected numbers on construction spending. Look for data today on private sector jobs, productivity and the services sector. The dow rising 102 points to 17,879, the nasdaq up 28 to 4,755. Big changes are coming to the billboard charts. For the first time, the Music Magazine will factor sales of streaming and downloads into its weekly ratings of the top songs and albums. The move is aimed at providing a better sense of whats popular, reflecting not just sales, but consumption of music. Artists that could see a big boost include Ariana Grande and maroon 5. Tracey tracy, back to you. Makes sense. Thanks so much. Now your nbc 10 first alert weather. Temperatures warming into the 50s, above average for us, but were starting off with foggy skies and also spotty showers. Ill let you know how long these conditions will stick around. Katy . A foggy start, definitely, for drivers throughout our area. Also, a live look at route 202, right as our cameras moving to get you the best shot of the accident scene. There is an accident at the intersection of 202 and route 1. Details on it when i return. It has been nearly a week since a West Chester University student went missing from manayunk. Nbc 10s jesse gary is looking into what his friends and family are doing to make sure the search continues. Jesse . Reporter well, one of the things theyre doing is theyre going to have a candlelight vigil here on the campus of West Chester University. Theyre also taking to the streets, continuing the search. Well talk about all of this coming up after the break. Police in ferguson, missouri, are investigating Michael Browns stepfather. What hes accused of that may have him facing charges. Upping the reward nearly one week after the disappearance of a West Chester University student. A new push to solve the missing person mystery. Fog is making it hard to see in parts of our area this morning. Here is a live look, though you cant see much, from the poconos. You can see a thick blanket of fog, though. And were tracking another dramatic change in temperatures. This weather roller coaster were riding is heading up hill today. Well tell you how warm it will get. So, lots going on in the weather department. Good morning and welcome to nbc 10 news today. Im tracy davidson. And im vai sikahema. There is a lot going on. Weve got fog in center city and the poconos, a little rain everywhere. Lets get to meteorologist Brittney Shipp with her first alert forecast. Good morning. Good morning. The bright side is at least our temperatures will recover today, heading back into the low 50s, above average for us. But theres the scene. And when you head out the door, foggy skies over the city. We are checking out the most fog closer to the poconos. And our temperatures right now at 34 degrees in mt. Pocono, 37 in allentown, 38 in pottstown, 41 in philadelphia, 39 degrees in wilmington. As we head into the rest of today, expect temperatures to push into the 50s with scattered showers expected on and off throughout today. By noon, 49 degrees, by 4 00 p. M. , 51. And as we head into the rest of tonight, well see more clearing temperatures, dropping down to 44. Ill let you know whats in store for the workweek heading into the weekend in my first alert sevenday forecast. For now, well check in with nbc 10 first alert traffic reporter katy zachry. Good morning. Good morning, brittney. A lot of people in our area will wake up to that foggy start, but for glen mills, the intersection of 202 and route 1. This is the second accident in the last hour at this intersection. This is at 202 southbound right at route 1, where you can see