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Fire Truck, Bicycle Collide in Wilmington

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A fire truck and a bicycle collided in Wilmington on Saturday, leaving the cyclist critically injured.

Rain Causes Flash Flood Warning in Burlington County

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Flash flood warnings are in place until 11 a.m. for parts of Burlington and Ocean counties in New Jersey as heavy rain continues to pass through the area.

Clinton-Kaine Bus Tour Hits Pa. Stops, Wraps in Ohio

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The Clinton-Kaine Campaign's three-day bus tour through Pennsylvania and Ohio is wrapping up in Ohio on Sunday. NBC10's Vince Lattanzio and David Chang are there for the last stops on the tour. Stay with NBC10.com, the NBC10 app and our social media pages for their updates from the tour.

Police in NJ Capture Man Who Set Restaurant on Fire

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A man who police say set a South Jersey restaurant ablaze on purpose as people dined inside is in jail Sunday morning, and police are thanking the public and NBC10 for helping them track down the suspect.

Medford Township Police posted on the department's Facebook page Sunday morning that Craig Muehleisen Jr. was arrested Saturday in connection with the July 20 arson at Tarantella Ristorante, on Route 70 in Medford.

Police said Muehleisen and his accomplices first tried to use stolen, forged prescriptions to obtain drugs from a CVS near the restaurant. During that crime, police say, Muehleisen fled the pharmacy into the restaurant and lit the remaining phony prescriptions on fire in a bathroom, sparking a blaze.

The police department obtained a warrant for the man July 27 charging him with aggravated arson, tampering with evidence and a slew of related offenses. His bail was set at $120,000, and he remained on the lam until Saturday, when officers captured him.

"Medford Township Police would like to thank the public and NBC for their assistance with this case," police wrote in the Facebook post announcing Muehleisen's arrest.



Photo Credit: NBC10

Shore Bridge Reopens After Getting Stuck in Open Position

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The Mathis Bridge -- a drawbridge -- got stuck in the open position for several hours Saturday, creating traffic headaches for shore-goers.

The bridge provides a route into Seaside Heights from the west. Police set up detours after 4 p.m. Saturday, when the bridge shut down, and the bridge remained closed for several hours until it was fixed. Police said the bridge reopened Saturday night.

During the bridge closure, police in Toms River urged drivers not to attempt traveling into Seaside Heights via Route 37 east.

The only other way to reach the Barrier Island, Lavallette, Seaside Park and Seaside Heights is from towns to the north, including Brick and Point Pleasant.



Photo Credit: Postcard from SeasideHeights.org

First Alert: Rain Moves Out, Round Two Later?

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Saturday's storms are clearing out by lunchtime Sunday, but NBC10 First Alert Meteorologist Krystal Klei is tracking the potential for more showers and storms later in the day.

Storms Leave Damage, Flooding in New Jersey

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Mercer County declared a state of emergency Saturday night as water rose quickly in the heavy rain, and police in the area rescued several people who became stranded in their cars in flood waters. NBC10's Drew Smith is checking out the damage and flooding the day after the storms.

Princeton Goalie Is Last Line of Defense for USA Water Polo

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Ashleigh Johnson’s brother says he taught her everything she knows. She disagrees.

"I definitely didn’t learn how to swim from him," Ashleigh said with a laugh.

Whoever taught her, though, taught her well. Ashleigh is now the goalie for the USA water polo team headed for the Rio Olympics.

The Princeton University student says the team definitely still has some things to work on, but they are ready and excited to compete in Rio.

"I’ll probably burst into tears," her sister said about seeing Johnson in the Opening Ceremony.

As for big brother, he maintains that he is the one who taught Johnson how to play even if she disagrees.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Robber Asks, 'Where's the Money?' Then Shoots Man in Phila.

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A 23-year-old man remained in critical condition Sunday after police say someone shot him in the chest during a robbery on a Philadelphia street.

Police said the victim was standing on the porch of a home with another man on Palethorp Street just south of Roosevelt Boulevard about 11:25 p.m. when two men walked up to him, one of whom pointed a gun at the men.

One of the men demanded, "Where's the money at?" and then shot the victim once in the chest, police said. The second man who was with him on the porch jumped off the porch and saw the assailants running east on Loudon Street, police said.

Police took the victim to Albert Einstein Medical Center, where he remained in critical condition on Sunday. It's unclear what, if anything, was taken during the robbery.

Police described the armed suspect as a man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black pants who had a white bandanna tied over his face. He carried a black revolver that he used to shoot the victim, police said.

The second robber was short and wore all black, police said.

No arrests have been made. Police continue to investigate.



Photo Credit: NBC10

Fallen Firefighter's Mom Wants Son's Stolen Helmet Returned

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The Firehouse Tavern in Wildwood, New Jersey, is lined from floor to ceiling with firefighter memorabilia. It's a place where families can donate mementos of their firefighter loved ones who retired or passed. Now, the bar is asking for the return of a fallen firefighter's helmet that was taken off the wall -- no questions asked.

A Facebook post shared with NBC10 says the stolen helmet belonged to a Gloucester Heights and Pine Grove Firefighter, Ray McQuaid, known to many friends and family as 'Rerun,' who passed away from cancer 25 years ago.

"He was a firefighter since he was 18 years old," says Margaret McQuaid, Ray's mother. "He was a volunteer and got sick just four months before he went full time. Ever since he was young he always loved the firehouse."

McQuaid’s picture and helmet had been hanging on the wall along with many others, and the helmet disappeared about two weeks ago.

"Every time we would visit the tavern we would touch it to remember him," explains Margaret, who would encourage those she met to also touch it to honor their son. "Everyone at the tavern are good people, I don't know why anyone would take it."

The helmet is black with 'Gloucester City Fire Department' printed on the side. It also has a large number 4 in the middle. Margaret explained how important the return of the helmet is to her and her family.

"It would mean everything, just everything," she said, trying to hold back tears. "His birthday just passed and it has now been 25 years without him... The helmet is so special when we visit... It would just mean everything to us."



Photo Credit: Bob Birney Jr.

Truck Spills Watermelon Load at NJ Rest Stop

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A big rig tipped over Sunday afternoon, spilling its load of watermelons at a rest stop in New Jersey.

The accident happened at a stop on I-295 northbound at Exit 2, closing the ramp to the Welcome Center.

No reports of injuries.



Photo Credit: Dan Filey

Vandal Cuts 'Black' From 'Black Lives Matter' Banner in Del.

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A vandal used the cover of night to damage a "Black Lives Matter" banner displayed outside a Wilmington church over the weekend.

Officials from the First Unitarian Church of Wilmington said they believe someone deliberately cut the world "black" out of the church's "Black Lives Matter" banner, displayed outside the church along Concord Pike near Halstead Road, sometime overnight Friday into Saturday.

The Rev. Roberta Finkelstein, of the First Unitarian Church of Wilmington, called the vandalism "an anonymous and illegal attempt to silence Unitarian Universalism's prophetic voice."

In a statement, Finkelstein said, "This cowardly act will not prevent us from continuing to speak out about racial justice as a congregation and a religious movement."

Officials said the church plans to replace the banner, and local police in New Castle County were notified of the incident.

"We know that many members of the Wilmington community — especially the faith community — are eager to have honest conversations about race, justice, and the value of black lives in America," Finkelstein continued in her statement. "In the face of this naked act of vandalism, our congregation will not be deterred from its mission. We invite members of the community to talk with us about their concerns."



Photo Credit: First Unitarian Church of Wilmington

NJ Student Loan Agency: Don't Tell Borrowers About Help

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Some restaurants have secret menus, special items that you can only get if you know to ask. New Jersey's student loan program has secret options, too 2014 borrowers may be able to get help from the agency, but only if they know to ask.

New Jersey has the largest state-based student loan program in the country, with particularly stringent terms that can lead to financial ruin, as ProPublica and the New York Times recently detailed. The agency overseeing the program says it has a policy to help some families if the children who were supposed to benefit from the loans die.

But internal emails show that staffers at the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, or HESAA, have been instructed not to tell families that they may qualify for help unless they explicitly ask.

"Families of deceased borrowers (or surviving cosigners) must inquire if HESAA has a policy on loan forgiveness," a supervising staffer wrote in an email to employees in May 2016. "We should not be volunteering this information."

Similar instructions were sent out three years earlier. "Only advise the cosigner/coborrower about loan forgiveness when asked," wrote the same staffer in a 2013 email about what to do when borrowers die. A senior supervisor was cc'ed on both emails.

The agency said that the instructions were not agency policy.

"The emails you shared with us do not accurately reflect the Authority's policy or practice on loan forgiveness," said Marcia Karrow, the agency's chief of staff, in an emailed statement. (Read the agency's full response.)

Karrow did not provide any emails from management correcting the instructions circulated in 2013 or 2016 after they were sent out. Instead, she said, "in person training was provided."

The agency says that over the past four years, they have helped 35 of 50 cosigners or co-borrowers who have requested assistance after a borrower died or became disabled. But it is impossible to know how many could have been helped if they knew to ask.

It's not the first time that New Jersey has required borrowers to jump through hoops to get help.

After Superstorm Sandy devastated New Jersey in November 2012, thousands of residents faced financial ruin: Nearly 350,000 homes were destroyed, about 100,000 workers filed unemployment claims, and business losses totaled over $8 billion.

Given how overwhelmed many residents were, the agency's chief executive said New Jersey did not tell credit agencies about any late payments in the month after the storm.

"No one who made a late payment has to worry about their credit rating being adversely affected," Executive Director Gabrielle Charette said at the board meeting in January 2013.

But that wasn't what happened. Instead, the agency only erased late payment reports if a borrower requested it.

"All reportings from Nov 2012 can be removed when disputed," a program officer instructed staff in an August 2013 email related to Hurricane Sandy credit reporting appeals.

Following the storm, the agency did put a note on its website telling borrowers to contact them if they were struggling and says it sent written notice about the delinquency policy to borrowers.

When asked about credit reporting after the storm, initially Karrow stood by the statements of the executive director. "Regarding Hurricane Sandy, no delinquencies were reported to any credit agency during the month of November, 2012," she said in an emailed statement to ProPublica.

But when ProPublica showed that a borrower had indeed been reported late in November 2012, the agency changed its response to say officials had discovered that credit reporting had not been suspended, "as had been directed by the Executive in the early days following the storm."

The instructions to staff illustrate just one side of the agency's hard-nosed approach in dealing with struggling student borrowers.

As we have detailed, repayment of New Jersey's loans cannot be based on income and borrowers who struggle to find a job or face financial hardship are given few breaks.

In one case, HESAA insisted that a mother continue to pay off loans she cosigned with her son even after he was murdered.

New Jersey's agency has collection powers that surpass those of even the most predatory for-profit lenders. Backed by the power of the state, the agency can garnish wages, revoke state income tax refunds, suspend professional licenses and even take away lottery winnings 2014 all without getting a court's approval. Once borrowers default, the agency cuts off contact with them, sending their accounts to a collection firm that can tack on an extra 30 percent in attorney fees.

Karrow previously told ProPublica and the New York Times that "the vast majority of these borrowers are happy with the program and are pleased that NJCLASS provided them the opportunity to pursue the higher education of their choosing." (Read the agency's responses to our previous questions.)

In response to our reporting, New Jersey Assemblywoman Mila Jasey, who chairs the state assembly's higher education committee, called on New Jersey to review student loan issues at the agency.

"Our state must review the existing system with a more compassionate eye to those situations that have such a destructive impact on people who simply sought to better their lives by earning a college degree," Jasey said in a statement.

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for their newsletter.

Eagles Open Practice Draws Fans That Bleed Green

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NBC10’s Lauren Mayk was at Sunday’s open practice at Lincoln Financial Field, where the Birds showcased their preseason skills for a crowd of Eagles fans.

Photo Credit: Michael Marcantonini CSNPhilly.com Contributor

Fire Guts Family's 70-Year-Old Lumber Yard

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Fire destroyed a family-owned lumber yard in South Jersey that's been a part of the community for more than 70 years.

Firefighters -- 200 in number -- responded to Colucci Lumber, on Delsea Drive near New Road in Malaga, Gloucester County, about 2 p.m. Sunday.

The fire quickly reached three alarms with crews hampered by the heat,  low water pressure and a windy day, according to Malaga Fire Chief Anthony Baldosaro. With no fire hydrants in the area, tankers had to bring water in from a nearby lake.

Branden Colucci, whose father and uncles run the business, sat in his car and cried.

"This business has been here since 1945 when my grandfather built it," said Colucci. "I already did my crying in the car, but you got to say, 'Hey, it happens' . . .I'm just happy no one was hurt."

Philip Remsen, who used to work at the yard, was hopeful at first.
"At one point it looked like they had it under control but then it just took over the inside," said Remsen, who watched as the walls came down.

"If you needed any building materials, any hardware, plumbing supplies, this was the place to come," Remsen said.

The Colucci family rebuilt the business after a fire in the 1960s, but with smoke still billowing in the air, Branden Colucci wasn't so optimistic.

"This might take it down officially," said Branden Colucci. "Colucci lumber may be no more."

Two firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion.

Route 47 was expected to be closed into the night, impacting Sunday shore traffic.

NBC10's Aundrea Cline-Thomas reports live from the scene of the fires tonight at 6.



Photo Credit: NBC10 Augie Conte
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Road Rage: Driver Opens Fire on I-95 Ramp

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A Cadillac driver opened fire on another driver Sunday evening in Northeast Philadelphia.

One of the bullets lodged in the victim's Honda, police said, but that driver wasn't hit.

Police said they don't have much to go on yet, but do know the incident happened a bit after 7 on a ramp into the southbound lanes of I-95 near Academy.

The Cadillac driver sped off.

Boy, 4, Shoots Himself in the Hand

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A four-year-old boy shot himself in the hand Sunday night in Philadelphia's Germantown neighborhood.

The shooting happened inside a home in the 1300 block of E. Rittenhouse Street around 5:40 p.m.

The child was in good condition at St. Christopher's Hospital and detectives were interviewing people to find out how the child got the gun.

At least eight children have been wounded or killed this year in accidental or unintentional shootings in Philadelphia.

July 28: 10-year-old girl walking with her grandmother was hit in the arm by a stray bullet when a gunfight broke out between two men.

July 7: 16-year-old girl shot in the leg by a stray bullet when one man startted shooting at another outside a corner store.

July 6: 14-year-old girl was shot in the chest and hand inside a Philadelphia home while friends were playing with a gun.

June 29: 13-year-old shot in face and killed while a group of teenagers were playing with a gun.

June 23: 4-year-old Sani Holmes picked up an illegally-owned gun and accidentally shot herself. Sani's mother and boyfriend are both charged in the child's death.

April 7: 9-year-old boy found a gun in the front bedroom of his home and accidentally shot himself in the hand.

March 24: 16-year-old girl was shot and wounded in front of her home. She was not the intended target.

Going to Rio! Donations Help Delco Dad's Dream Come True

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A Delaware County, Pennsylvania, father is flying to Brazil to watch his son go for gold in the 2016 Olympics — something he never thought he'd have a chance to do —thanks to an Uber ride and a group of kind-hearted people who came together to help fund his trip.

"It's going to mean a whole lot to me," Ellis Hill, of Darby, told NBC10 about his chance to go see his son, Darrell, compete in shot put on the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team. "Many times, I really wanted to be with him on other meets that he was at, you know, and had to apologize for one reason or another, and this is actually what he's been working toward for a long time. It's going to be extremely awesome for me to experience this."

Hill realizing his Olympic dream of watching his son compete all started with an Uber ride.

Retired and disabled, Hill drives for Uber and bakes in his free time. During a recent Uber drive from the airport to Cherry Hill, he met Liz Willock. As Hill drove Willock to her destination, the upcoming Olympics came up in conversation, and Hill shared that his son was competing.

"She said 'Are you going to go?' I said, 'I can't afford to go over there,'" explains Hill, recounting the ride. "I said, ‘I’d like to go, but I really can’t afford to go.'"

Willock was having none of it — so she told Hill if he wanted to go, she could help him get to Rio. Willock works for a global concierge service with contacts in Brazil.

"I said 'You don't have to do that,"" said Hill as Willock began forming a plan to get him to Rio. "She said 'I'm going to do everything to make sure you go' … She has a good spirit."

Willock set up a GoFundMe account to help Hill get to Rio, and by Sunday afternoon -- within just two days of its launch — it surpassed its $7,500 goal. Willock said her company will arrange all of his ground transportation and logistics from Pennsylvania to the hotel in Rio.

"Outside of special things that have happened in my family, I think it’ll be one of the most important things I’ve ever done in my life," Willock said of the opportunity to help Hill get to Rio.

Now, Hill's just working on logistics like getting his passport.

"I never had a passport before, so I'm going to be getting that done tomorrow or the next day so I can get a ticket," Hill said. "I'm extremely grateful."

Hill said he came out of church on Sunday to a phone call from NBC10 letting him know the GoFundMe had reached its goal.

"I said, 'What?!' I said, 'Oh my god, thank you so much,'" Hill recalled. "It's a great thing for people to come together like that, and it's a great opportunity."

He also received a text from his son, Darrell, who's in San Diego preparing for the Olympics.

"I saw a text on my phone from him telling me to get all my stuff together, that the financial part had been taken care of," Hill said. Darrell competes on Aug. 18.

One of the major contributors to the GoFundMe to help get Hill to Rio is local attorney Robert Mongeluzzi, who kicked in $1,545 Sunday afternoon to help the fund reach its goal.

"I've been an athlete my whole life, and you know, I guess it just touched me," Mongeluzzi told NBC10 by phone on Sunday. "I know he's going to be so proud, and to help support our American team by helping support a father and a parent who otherwise wouldn't have been able to watch their son in a once in a lifetime experience, it's great for me, and I'm just happy to do it."

Mongeluzzi, who played lacrosse during his time at the University of Pennsylvania, said Hill's story touched him because he remembers what it meant to him as an athlete to have his dad in the stands watching.

"I'm here with my 94-year-old dad at the Shore, and what could be better than a father and a son spending time together?" Mongeluzzi said. "I can't think of anything that would make a father prouder than to go watch his son in the Olympics."



Photo Credit: NBC Olympics (background) / NBC10 (inset)
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Fire Truck and SUV Crash in Philly

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A Philadelphia fire crew was hit by an SUV Sunday. The accident happened near Market and 23rd. No one was injured.

Temple Officer, Fmr. Officer Arrested in Woman's Murder Case

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Two men with ties to Temple's police force are under arrest in connection with the murder of a woman in Germantown Friday.
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