Health officials are warning patients at a dental office in Berks County after they say they found dead mice and insects near the office’s sterilization unit.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health say an investigation determined the Center for Family and Specialty Dentistry on 2642 Bernville Road in Reading, Pennsylvania did not follow appropriate infection control procedures to properly clean, disinfect or sterilize devices. Officials are advising patients who visited the facility between December 19, 2015 and October 19, 2016 to get tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV.

"While we haven't received reports of hepatitis B, hepatitis C, or HIV from patients, infection control procedures at this practice were inadequate and created the potential for harm, so we're recommending patients get tested," said Health Secretary Dr. Karen Murphy. "We prefer that patients receive information regarding their health directly from their provider. However, in this case, that did not happen, so we've contacted patients of this practice directly."

The health department sent a letter to the facility to cease and desist all patient care back on October 21. The practice remains closed as the investigation continues. On November 4, the Pennsylvania State Board of Dentistry temporarily suspended the dental licenses of three dentists who worked at the facility, Dr. Stephen Sulzbach, Dr. Eric Osmolinski, and his wife, Dr. Jana Osmolinski.

State officials say Eric Osmolinski, who was in charge of the facility, “failed to ensure that his dental office followed current infection-control recommendations” and that those failures “seriously compromise patient safety.”

Osmolinksi’s lawyers told NBC10 he has not been notified of any infections or serious problems by his patients. Osmolinski and his wife also run a dental clinic in La Jolla, California and are in good standing in that state. The couple’s lawyers say they were managing their Reading, Pennsylvania office from California and visiting twice a month.

Marie Kennedy, a former office manager at the office and mother of a patient at the practice, told NBC10 she was fired for speaking up about the unsanitary conditions.

“There were dead mice next to the sterilization unit,” she said. “The instruments were not clean because they were always wet. They never went through a dry cycle.

Health officials say they found at least two dead mice, cockroach-like insects and flies on the floor of the office’s basement where instruments were sterilized. State investigators also say they found expired medications inside the dental office.

“I was devastated,” Kennedy said. “I mean expired sedation materials. It wasn’t like a week. It was two years expired.”

Any patients at the Center for Family and Specialty Dentistry can call 1-877-PA-HEALTH (1-877-724-3258) for more information.

The driver of a tractor trailer was struck and killed by another vehicle while standing on the side of the road on the NJ Turnpike in Westampton, Burlington County Monday night.

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Police say the driver's tractor trailer was disabled and he was outside, standing behind his vehicle near Exit 45 on the Turnpike. As he was standing, a car traveling on the Turnpike crashed into him as well as the tractor trailer, according to police.

The tractor trailer driver was pronounced dead while the driver of the car was seriously injured.

ARCTIC AIR IS ALMOST GONE
The temperature swings over the past few days have been pretty extreme. The arctic air arrived Thursday night, pushing temperatures and wind chills to their lowest levels of the season so far. Wind chills got down near zero Friday morning. Even Saturday, temperatures didn’t get out of the 30s. Then, Sunday morning, we jumped up to near 60 degrees. And Georgetown, Delaware jumped up to an amazing 70!

Then the arctic air returned in a hurry. In Philadelphia, we dropped from 60 degrees at 1 p.m. Sunday to 25 at 9 a.m. Monday. That’s a drop of 35 degrees in only 20 hours! And if you factor in the wind chill (and who doesn’t?), the drop was 46 degrees! That’s the kind of drop you see in the Plains states.

And if you haven’t enjoyed the cold spell, you have reason to rejoice: we won’t see air this cold for the rest of the month-and probably even a week or two beyond that.

A SLOWER WARMUP
We won’t see temperatures jump up as fast as they went down. But we will really notice the change by the weekend. Here are the maps to prove it-temperatures compared to normal, from Tuesday morning to Sunday afternoon:

NOT AS WARM AS LAST CHRISTMAS
Last year, we had the warmest December ever recorded in this area-by a lot. Philadelphia reached 70 degrees on the 23rd and 24th, and got to 68 degrees on Christmas Day. The lowest temperature of the whole month was 30 degrees.

This year, the Christmas warmup will be less extreme and cover only three days. As of now, we’re predicting highs of 52 Saturday, 54 Sunday, and 60 Monday.

ARCTIC AIR FLIP-FLOP
For those longing for an extended period of mild weather, you should be getting your wish. The overall weather pattern that changed so dramatically from our warm November to the December freeze is about to change back. The reason goes back to near the North Pole, as is often the case.

In my winter forecast, I mentioned an important index called the Arctic Oscillation (AO). When the AO is positive, it means that pressures are low over a large area of the Arctic. It’s called the “Polar Vortex," and when it’s centered near the North Pole, it is a positive AO pattern (+AO). That’s what happened in November, and the only “super cold” air around the globe was in Siberia, Russia.

I did expect that pattern to change: “There are suggestions that the coldest air will work its way around to Alaska and then to Canada and the Plains in the next month.” And that’s what happened. The pressures near the North Pole got unusually high, signaling a –AO pattern. That is what allowed the Arctic Air to plunge into the U.S. in a brutally cold week or two (we were just affected by the “edge” of the bitter cold air-the middle of the country got the worst of it).

BACK TO THE MILD SIDE
Here is the upper-air pattern as of December 15th. The Polar Vortex had dropped to just north of the Great Lakes (the area in dark blue represents pressures way below normal).

Now, look at the long-range forecast from the same model, the European (the world’s best for decades). This is for December 29th:

The Polar Vortex has returned to near the North Pole in a classic +AO pattern. Also, the red areas in the Eastern U.S. represent above normal pressures, with high pressure centered just east of Florida. This is known as the “Southeast Ridge," and it pumps mild air through much of the eastern third of the country. This is quite a mild pattern for the East to start the new year.

I would expect this type of pattern to last at least a couple of weeks, which puts us into mid-January. But, just as the pattern flip-flopped from November to December, the mild pattern could flip-flop again during the winter.

In the meantime, don’t expect a White Christmas, and snow chances by New Year’s Day 2017 don’t look very high, either.

A 25-year-old man was killed when he tried to cross a busy roadway in front of a New Jersey diner and was hit by two separate cars, marking the third pedestrian death on that stretch in four months. 

Marcus Cook was walking on Route 22 in Bridgewater when two cars hit and killed him, police said. 

Bridgewater Diner co-owner Mike Anastasi's surveillance cameras captured the emergency response Sunday night.

"Here we are again. The same thing," he recalled thinking.

It was deja vu for Anastasi, who in August had surveillance cameras capture the response when two others were hit and killed.

"Why is it happening again? We need signs, it's too dangerous," said Anastasi. 

Bridgewater resident Eric Allena said cars frequently speed up to 70, 80 and even 90 mph when they're coming off the 287. 

"When you're walking across this stretch in the dark, really nothing good is gonna come out of it," he said. 

It's dangerous for drivers, too: at least 7 people have died along the stretch of Route 22 over the last five years. The New Jersey Department of Transportation said it is working on a plan to make it safer. 

But Allena says the problem isn't with the road -- it's on pedestrians to steer clear of busy highways in the dark.  He said "under no circumstances whatsoever" would he walk down Route 22. 

A woman walking along a Philadelphia street found another woman suffering from head trauma so severe it was unclear if she was shot or beaten. the victim later died.

The passerby made the grisly discovery around 11:30 p.m. Monday along a desolate portion of N 3rd Street near Lehigh Avenue in West Kensington and alerted Philadelphia Housing Authority Police, said Philadelphia Police.

Officers found the woman – a Jane Doe appearing to be in her 40s – unresponsive on the ground with head trauma and injuries to her body, said Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small.

Housing officers rushed the woman to Temple University Hospital where she underwent surgery, said Small.

"The trauma to her head is so severe that staff at the hospital isn't certain if she is shot or it's other kind of head trauma," said Small.

Doctors pronounced the woman dead around 8:30 a.m., said police.

Small called the area "secluded" and "desolate" but said he hoped a few cameras near the are could help the investigation.

"We don't know who did it," said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross. "Obviously, we need the public's help if they saw anything -- regardless of what it was -- to give us a call."

A Pennsylvania-based snack company is warning consumers not to eat its Buffalo Blue Kettle Cooked potato chips over concerns about possible salmonella contamination. 

Snyder of Berlin said a supplier told the company milk powder used within a spice-blend ingredient could contain salmonella; only the Buffalo Blue Kettle Cooked chips are affected and the Snyder says it's an "isolated incident." 

The chips were distributed in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Tennessee, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia and Ohio. 

No illnesses associated with the product have been reported.

Salmonella can cause diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. Most individuals recover without treatment, though in some cases, diarrhea can be so severe a patient needs to be hospitalized. The elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have a severe reaction

A driver struck a fire police officer directing traffic around a crash in the Lehigh Valley Monday night.

Whitehall Township volunteer fire police officer Ryan Kramer, 35, was struck by a vehicle as he directed traffic along MacArthur Road between Center Street and S Church Street in Whitehall around 6:15 p.m., said Whitehall Police Lt. Greg Bealer. The officer suffered a lacerated spleen and kidney as well as a concussion.

Kramer was taken to the intensive care unit at Lehigh Valley Hospital. He was later released from ICU and is currently recovering at the hospital. Kramer has been a volunteer for 19 years.

The female driver stopped and spoke with investigators, said police. It appeared she had gone around cones before striking the officer, said investigators.

No charges have been filed but the investigation continues.

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Philadelphia Police planned to have a visible presence at Philadelphia’s Christmas Village in the aftermath of a deadly attack on a similar market in Berlin.

"We don't have any credible threats here for the area but we always take precautions so we have some additional personnel that will be visible -- which is the most important thing," said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross.

"We're optimistic, we don't want to alarm people unnecessarily," said Ross.

The Christmas Village in Philadelphia's Dilworth Plaza location has some built in security measures that help prevent a truck attack like what happened in Berlin.

"Around City Hall you have those pillars... so that's an added safety measure," said Ross.

Some Christmas market stalls, along with a carousal are located inside the City Hall courtyard.

Ross said the department’s Homeland Security Division would continue to be in contact with federal authorities. And, regular folks could help as well.

As always, "if you see something, say something," said Ross.

The attack at the Berlin Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz, outside the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, late Monday left 12 dead and dozens injured. No group has specifically taken credit for the attack and it wasn’t immediately clear if police had arrested the attacker.

A second tractor-trailer overturned near the same New Jersey Turnpike off-ramp where a tractor-trailer carrying 40,000 pounds of syrup jackknifed less than two hours earlier, causing major delays in the area, police say. 

South Brunswick police said the truck carrying syrup split near exit 8A on the highway around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, blocking two lanes on Route 32. The fuel tank ruptured and police said the cleanup was expected to take several hours.

About 90 minutes later, another tractor-trailer flipped in the area.

Police urged motorists to avoid the scene.

The driver of the first tractor-trailer wasn't hurt; there was no immediate word on the condition of the driver of the second vehicle. 

A police marine unit was searching a lake Tuesday in an area where a Marine Corps veteran went missing earlier this month, state police said.

Troopers with the state police unit were at three lakes at Clementon Park and a wooded area of Clementon off White Horse Avenue during the ongoing search for Lance James, 29, who disappeared after leaving Hide-A-Way Tavern on Dec. 2.

The state police is assisting Clementon police and the Camden County prosecutor's office. A Clementon police official declined to comment on the investigation, saying only that James is a missing persons case. The county prosecutor's office issued a statement Dec. 10 that said James was last seen at his residence.

But that's not what his family says.

His sister, Jessica Hassan, told NBC10.com that on the night of his disappearance, James walked a mile from his home to the Hide-A-Way Tavern on White Horse Avenue.

At first, the family believed he never made it to the bar.

But Hassan said they have since found out that James made it to the bar and during a conversation inside the bar was manhandled by at least two local men who she said frequent Hide-A-Way. Hassan claims one of men held her brother down while another kicked him in the head.

They then took James outside, she said.

That's where Hassan claims her brother actually talked to Clementon police officers. She added that there is surveillance video showing James leaving the bar toward nearby Clementon Park, where Bottom Lake and Silver Lake are. Those, along with Clementon Lake, are the lakes being searched, she said.

James hasn't been seen since.

James spent five years as an active duty Marine, completing one-year tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Field Radio Technician. He suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and battles severe depression, his sister said.

"He has a big heart but he wears it on his sleeve. He will make you laugh and he is by far one of the most loyal people you will meet. When you befriend him you have a friend for life," Hassan said of James adding that he's a father to a 5-year-old girl.

James, who doesn't have a car, frequents Cherry Hill where he donates blood, Hassan said. He stands 5-feet-8-inches tall with a lean build and has brown hair as well as a reddish brown beard.

A former University of Pennsylvania professor who bludgeoned his wife to death as she wrapped holiday gifts inside their Montgomery County home is trying to gain access to his money upon his scheduled release from prison next month.

Rafael Robb will be released Jan. 8 on a 10-year sentence for killing Ellen Robb inside their King of Prussia home in 2006.

The 66-year-old former economics professor leaves prison went to Montgomery County court Tuesday to ask for $100,000 from his frozen assets to pay for costs of living upon his release. He pleaded guilty in 2008 to voluntary manslaughter and agreed to a 10-year sentence with time served added in.

Robb’s $2.8 million retirement savings account remains frozen as he appeals a $124-million ruling owed to the estate of his dead wife – that money is set to go to the couple’s daughter, Olivia, now in her 20s.

Attorneys and prosecutors have long alleged that Robb stashed cash and assets overseas in an attempt to shield them from any civil rulings.

After discrepancies in Robb’s testimony Tuesday over disclosure of overseas assets, Robb’s legal team withdrew its petition to access some money, said attorney Andrew Duffy of Philadelphia law firm Saltz, Mongeluzzi, Barrett & Bendesky who represents Ellen Robb’s estate.

The court confirmed that Robb withdrew the request. It was unclear if he would attempt again to get access to the frozen funds prior to his Jan. 8 release.

NBC10 didn’t immediately receive a call back from Robb's attorney, Eric D. Levin.

Ellen Robb was about to leave the marriage when he husband killed her in what he claims was a fit a rage. The violent and bloody details of the slaying were never revealed in trial because Robb was able to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter. At 2014 civil proceedings, however, details came out.

Robb admitted he killed his wife and then tried to convince police it was a robbery. The damage to Ellen’s face, head and skull was so severe detectives initially thought she was the victim of a blast from a high-powered rifle.

The defense argued the murder was a crime of passion — that Ellen pushed Rafael during an argument, and he was so enraged he grabbed an exercise bar nearby and beat her to death.

The U.S. Department of Education awarded Drexel University a multi-million dollar grant that will be used to help communities launch, scale, and sustain educational support and community-based services.

The private research institution received $6 million of the $33 million award as one of six winners of the 2016 Promise Neighborhoods competition. New Jersey’s Center for Family Service, Inc. also won $6 million.

All grantees use the financial resource to provide comprehensive education, health, safety, and family support services to children and families in high-poverty neighborhoods.

“These grants will provide cradle-to-career support for at-risk children in communities across the country, offering meaningful resources that will help them achieve their potential,” said U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. “Promise Neighborhoods draw on the best of communities, bringing together non-profits, schools, and local institutions to meet the needs of their local communities.”

Since its inception in 2010, Promise Neighborhoods has awarded over $286 million to nearly 700 schools and 1,000 community partners in urban and rural areas.

To learn more about the Promise Neighborhoods program, visit the U.S. Department of Education.

Theresa’lyn Outten constantly practiced CPR on a fake baby in her health class at Smyrna High School. Yet she never imagined she would ever apply what she learned to an actual life and death situation.

Outten was inside a Chick-Fil-A in Dover, Delaware Monday when an 18-month-old girl collapsed in the play area.

“I just see all this commotion in the playground area so I walk over there and I see a little kid on the ground not being able to breathe,” Outten said.

In the middle of the chaos, Outten calmly told someone to call an ambulance. She then began performing chest compressions on the baby girl just like she had practiced at school.

“I was a little bit like, nervous, but I still did it and I got it done,” Outten said.

Outten told NBC10 the baby was awake and alert when medics arrived. As they were getting into the ambulance, the baby girl’s parents thanked Outten for saving their daughter though they didn’t exchange contact information.
Amie Campanicki, the Smyrna High School teacher who taught Outten how to administer CPR, told NBC10 she’s proud of her student for putting what she learned to use.

“I couldn’t be more proud,” Campanicki said. “I couldn’t help but like have that proud mama bear moment and I couldn’t hold back my tears.”

Campanicki says the incident is an example of why every child and adult should learn CPR.

“That moment when you need it you can do it,” Outten said. “You can save their life.”

A Philadelphia man has been charged with allegedly striking and killing a pedestrian along a Lower Merion road earlier this month, the Montgomery County District Attorney's office said Tuesday.

Farran Haynes, 44, of Clarkson Avenue, allegedly drove the truck that struck Huiqing Jiang, 72, as he walked on Rights Mill Road at night Dec. 2, the DA's office said. Jiang had been babysitting at a friend's house nearby.

A passing driver saw Jiang on the ground. He died a short time later at a hospital.

Haynes allegedly fled the scene after hitting Jiang and later tried covering up the damage to the truck, the DA's office said. The truck is owned by Bala Motor Sports in Bala Cynwyd.

Haynes is charged with accidents involving death or personal injury, failure to stop and render aid, tampering with physical evidence, forgery and operating with unsafe equipment.

Albert and Grace Ong Yan said Jiang was a longtime friend who babysat their two young daughters.

"He's been our beloved babysitter," said Albert Yan. "A very devoted, essentially member of our family since our kids were born."

Jiang is originally from Shanghai but has lived in the Philadelphia area for years with his wife.

"He was a very sweet man," said Grace Ong Yan. "Very gentle. It's just a tragedy that this happened to someone like him. He's a special person."

Protesters rallied outside U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey's Philadelphia office Tuesday over the lawmaker's stance against sanctuary cities.

Organizers said they want Toomey to "set aside his campaign against sanctuary cities," one of which is Philadelphia under Mayor Jim Kenney.

One of the demonstrators told Telemundo 62 that they don't want the Trump administration and the republican-controlled Congress to take away federal funds from Philadelphia if the city remains a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants because the city "is already very poor."

Sarah Stone, an organizer of the group, which bills itself as Tuesdays with Toomey, said this week's protest was her fifth time outside Toomey's Center City offices. in the Philadelphia offices, with the theme of sanctuary cities, but it was the first time that they were not greeted by the staff.

She said they will continue to protest Toomey until he changes his stance.

"Toomey has not had a town hall in Philadelphia since 2013 and that is our mission. We discussed topics such as health insurance and the president-elect in previous meetings. We will continue to convene these meetings for the full term of the senator until he serves its constituents,” Stone said.

Toomey spokesman Steve Kelly said in an email that "Sen. Toomey appreciates hearing from Pennsylvanians and keeps their thoughts and sentiments in mind when considering all issues."