Firefighters battled a fire at a store at the popular Bucks County shopping center Peddler's Village.

The fire started at the Nut Kettle building at 63 Peddler's Village in Lahaska. The owner, four employees and the owner's child all escaped the store unharmed.

"One of the co-workers grabbed the 3-year-old and she runs out," said Lyzette Lopez, one of the employees.

Firefighters were able to bring the flames under control. No one was injured during the blaze.

Officials have not yet revealed the cause of the fire. Lyzette Lopez, an employee at the Nut Kettle, told NBC10 however that a popcorn machine inside the store caught fire. Among the items destroyed by the fire were dozens of family recipes for roasted nuts, some about 50-years-old. Lopez comforted the store's devastated owner.

"Her soul is in this store and she has a very sick husband," Lopez said. "They lost their only income that they will have through this time."

Workers at Nut Kettle, which has been a staple at Peddler's Village for years, are hoping the community will help them rebuild.

"It was heartbreaking because it's been part of our lives ever since I was in high school," said Donna Wheelan, a longtime customer.

Peddler's Village is a popular attraction in Bucks County, especially during the holidays. The historic village features 65 retail shops and merchants, three restaurants, a hotel and a family entertainment center. In addition to shopping and dining its also the home of numerous festivals, craft competitions, weddings, parties and picnics.

One person died while another was injured in a car crash in Croydon, Bucks County Tuesday night.

An SUV and another vehicle were involved in a crash on River Road and 1st Avenue shortly before 8 p.m. The crash caused the SUV to overturn and at least two people in the vehicle were ejected.

Officials said at least one person was killed while another was hurt in the crash. They have not yet revealed the condition of the injured victim.

Here are the 10 things you need to know to start your day from your friends at NBC10.

TODAY'S TOP STORY

Firefighters Battle Fire at Peddler's Village: Firefighters battled a fire at a store at the popular Bucks County shopping center Peddler's Village. The fire started at the Nut Kettle building at 63 Peddler's Village in Lahaska. The owner, four employees and the owner's child all escaped the store unharmed. "One of the co-workers grabbed the 3-year-old and she runs out," said Lyzette Lopez, one of the employees. Firefighters were able to bring the flames under control. No one was injured during the blaze.

• MORE ON THE FIRE

YOUR FIRST ALERT FORECAST  

Wednesday is expected to be partly sunny with temperatures in the 40s and little wind. Thursday and Friday are expected to be partly cloudy with temperatures in the mid-40s. Saturday could see temperatures in the 50s along with some possible showers. Sunday could see 50 degree temperatures and sunshine. High Temp: 44 Degrees. Get your full NBC10 First Alert forecast here.

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WHAT YOU MISSED YESTERDAY

Police Search for Man Accused of Killing His Wife: Police have found the pickup truck of a man accused of killing his estranged wife. State Police say they found the 1994 blue Chevrolet S10 pickup truck belonging to Jeremiah Monell, 32, on Saw Mill Road in Cedarville, New Jersey Tuesday. They searched inside the vehicle as well as Monell's Cedarville home but did not find him. Monell is accused of stabbing his estranged wife, Tara O'Shea, inside her home on Raymond Drive in Commercial Township early Monday morning. "About two, three o'clock in the morning I heard like a thump and that was it," said O'Shea's neighbor Mary Watson. "But we hear noises all the time out here.” Watson didn't think anything was going on until dozens of police officers rushed to O'Shea's home Monday morning. O'Shea was found unresponsive and unconscious at the home and was later pronounced dead. Police say their 12-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter were inside the home at the time of the stabbing. The children are currently in the custody of child protective services.

• MORE ON THE SEARCH

AROUND THE WORLD

German Investigators Search for Berlin Market Attacker: German investigators were searching Wednesday for the killer or killers in Monday's attack on a crowded Berlin Christmas market after a man arrested soon after the rampage was released for lack of evidence and the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Police in Berlin said they had received 508 tips on the attack as of Tuesday night, but it wasn't clear whether prosecutors had any concrete leads. The attack on the market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in the center of the capital left 12 dead and 48 injured. Shortly afterward, a Pakistani man who had come to Germany as an asylum-seeker was detained based on a description from witnesses of a suspect who jumped from the truck and fled. However, the Pakistani man was freed Tuesday after prosecutors couldn't find evidence tying him to the attack.

• MORE ON THE ATTACK

Vendors Push Reading Terminal Market to Innovate: A new initiative at the Reading Terminal Market is allowing it to bring on board more vendors and offer more products, including ones that have never been available at the market in its 120-plus-year history. The Reading Terminal Market in October this year announced two new additions that would bring the market at full capacity in terms of permanent spaces. Market officials continue to sign on more merchants by leveraging 100-year-old carts to test new companies and products on a temporary, pop-up-esque basis. In other words, it's "leveraging our history to innovate and evolve," General Manager Anuj Gupta told the Philadelphia Business Journal. The day carts have typically been used for non-food vendors like arts-and-crafts and souvenir-type vendors. A main challenge for food vendors was navigating through the health department.

• MORE ON THE MARKET

SPORTS SPOT

Sixers Lose to Pelicans: The Sixers lost 93 to 108 against the New Orleans Pelicans.  Get your full sports news at CSNPhilly.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

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See more Top News Photos here.

THROUGH IGER'S EYES

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@maccoca captured this cool photo in Chestnut Hill.

Have an awesome Instagram photo you'd like to share? Tag it with #NBC10Buzz.

TODAY'S VIRAL VIDEO

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This little guy is very excited about his birthday present. Watch more here.

Weavers Way Gets $1.5M for Montco Location: Philadelphia-based Weavers Way Co-op is one step closer to opening a new Montgomery County location, and its third overall, after receiving $1.5 million through a loan campaign — nearly double the original goal. Weavers Way Co-op — which was established in the West Mount Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia, and in 2010 opened a second location in Chestnut Hill — has plans to open a third grocery store in Ambler in April 2017. Read more.

That's what you need to know. We've got more stories worthy of your time in the Breakfast Buzz section. Click here to check them out. 

Authorities recovered 5 pounds of cocaine -- worth about $78,000 on the street -- from a pair of spandex shorts in a passenger's backpack at Newark Liberty International Airport, officials say. 

The Netherlands man was stopped when he arrived at the airport last week on a flight from Aruba. Authorities say they found two packages in a pair of shorts in the man's backpack that had cocaine in them. 

The man was taken into custody. 

“This latest seizure demonstrates the steadfastness of the CBP officers on the ground to detect and deter those who would try to import these illegal substances,” said Robert Perez, director of New York field operations. “CBP is ever vigilant in our daily battle against the flow of illicit narcotics being smuggled into the United States.”

UPDATE: The hearing was continued until next year.

A 24-year-old man accused as being behind the wheel in a hit-and-run that killed a young girl in the city's Overbrook neighborhood earlier this year will be in court Wednesday.

Paul Woodlyn faces a preliminary hearing on homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter and deadly accident charges stemming from the death of 8-year-old Jaynna Powell.

Jaynna's family planned to be in the Center City courtroom for Wednesday's hearing.

Jayanna was walking home from school with her siblings on 63rd Street and Lansdowne Avenue around 3:15 p.m. back on Nov. 18.

"We was just crossing the street just to get the bus," Jayanna's 12-year-old brother Hassan Cox said.

Hassan said he was holding his sister's hand as they crossed 63rd Street when they were struck by a driver speeding through the intersection trying to catch a yellow light. The force of the impact was so strong that the girl was thrown 20 feet, her family said. A witness said the girl's backpack also tore open, splaying paper and books all over the street.

Hassan was knocked into a nearby car, the family said. Jayanna was rushed to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia with serious injuries. She died a short time later.

Police said the hit-and-run vehicle was a gray or silver Nissan Altima or Maxima with damage to the headlights and grill. Eventually a car matching that description turned up a suburban body shop and police would go on to charge Woodlyn on Dec. 1.

"We were able to match up some of the auto parts to that particular car, it's absolutely the car," said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross.

Woodlyn has remained behind bars, unable to post $500,000 bail, said court records.

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education formally approved contracts with the union representing more than 5,000 faculty members and coaches at the 14 state-owned universities.

The contracts signed Tuesday were already approved by the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties following the union's first-ever strike in October.

More than $77 million in raises were handed out as part of the contracts, which are retroactive to July 2015.

The faculty's agreement runs through June 2018. The contracts for nurses and athletics coaches expire at the end of June 2019.

APSCUF President Kenneth Marsh says the union's goal was to maintain the quality of education at the system's schools while fighting for its most vulnerable members.

More than 100,000 students are enrolled in the state higher education system.

The Port of Philadelphia is getting a $300-million improvement.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., discussed the massive capital improvement program for the Port of Philadelphia at a Wednesday morning news conference.

"This is really important for all of Pennsylvania, it's going to create thousands and thousands of jobs," said Wolf.

The grant is intended to create jobs, double container capacity and improve infrastructure at the port with the goal of positioning the South Philadelphia port for future growth, said organizers.

The majority of the money will go to the Packer Avenue Terminal along S. Delaware Avenue.[[238427591, C]]

A Delaware County "sport killer" with a violent history also believed to be responsible for a slew of sex assaults in Philadelphia was facing murder charges Wednesday.

Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan joined Yeadon, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia police to announce charges in the throat slashing murder of a Yeadon woman, another throat slashing and a series of a sex assaults in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood, calling the suspect "probably the most dangerous criminal I've ever seen in my years here in Delaware County."

Byron Allen, 37, of 73rd Street in Philadelphia is charged with first-degree murder in the Sept. 22 killing of Natasha Gibson on the front porch of a home along Baily Road near Orchard Avenue.

"He brutally attacked and murdered Miss Gibson," said Whelan. Prosecutors said robbery wasn't the motive for the deadly attack where Gibson was stabbed about 20 times. There appeared to be no connection between Gibson and Allen.

"The sport of killing was the motive in this particular crime," said Whelan. "We believe Byron Allen randomly selected this young innocent woman as his victim, following her in the dark of night and ruthlessly stabbing her multiple times on the front steps of her friend’s home."

Investigators followed a blood trail for more nearly two miles into Upper Darby and ultimately Southwest Philadelphia. It was there, at 61st and Baltimore, where they found a bloody steak knife -- the murder weapon -- in a storm drain, said Whelan. The victim's purse was found a block away, and in that same area, Yeadon Police Chief Donald Molineux said.

At the time, investigators released surveillance video of a person of interest. Investigators said the man in the surveillance video was bleeding from his hand when he walked into a store to get a can of Steel Reserve beer. The time stamp on the video -- 12:34 a.m. -- was after Gibson's murder, according to police. He came into the store from one direction and left in another. [[394633051,C]]

DNA evidence linked Allen to Gibson's murder and other cases, said prosecutors. Gibson has previously pleaded guilty to a slew of charges in a 2002 attempted murder. He was released in 2015, said Whelan.

"And he begins a brand new crime spree," said Whelan.

Over the summer, police released surveillance video of a man who may be responsible for attacks on women in the Kensington section of Philadelphia.

The video shows a man walking in and out of a convenience store on the 3900 block of Torresdale Avenue on July 12. Police said the man later approached a 24-year-old woman from behind while riding a blue and black mountain bike. He grabbed the woman and choked her until she became unconscious, according to investigators. [[387692972, C]]

When the woman woke up she was naked in the back of a property located on 3800 Jasper Street. She suffered head and facial injuries.

Investigators said the same suspect is also connected to the throat-slashing of a woman at Braddock and Toronto streets in Philadelphia in April. In that case the woman had her throat slashed with a box cutter. She spent several weeks recovering at the hospital, said police.

Allen is also responsible for a Jasper Street sex assault and a third sex assault along Ruth Street in October, said Philadelphia Police.

Police used surveillance video from the attacks to track down Allen who was charged in October with the Braddock Street attack. He was charged on Dec. 19 with the three sex assaults, said police.

You can tune in to this page to take part in the live broadcast.

On Wednesday, December 21, host Erin Coleman will join NBC10 Investigators Mitch Blacher and George Spencer for a special interactive Facebook LIVE.

Ever wonder how NBC10 Investigators come across their stories? Want to know how to submit tips? What results have come about because of the NBC10 Investigators this year? Mitch Blacher and George Spencer will take your questions live. [[407754915, C]]

A Philadelphia man in jail the last 10 years for a shooting that left a boy paralyzed was released Wednesday after three years of appeals led a judge and the city District Attorney to find that he was wrongly convicted.

Donte Rollins, now 29, waited at the Criminal Justice Center for several hours in the morning and afternoon before documents finally came from Graterford State Prison in Montgomery County that granted him his freedom.

Rollins had been locked up since 2006 for a shooting that year in the Strawberry Mansion section of the city. Jabar Wright, who was 6-years-old at the time, was left paralyzed in the gunfire.

Marissa Boyers Bluestine, Rollins' attorney and legal director at the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, said Rollins spent the last three years appealing for his freedom and that an appeals judge on Tuesday ordered him released based on evidence that his initial defense attorney failed to present at the original trial.

District Attorney Seth Williams agreed with the appeal judge's ruling and said Wednesday he would not seek a new trial.

"This is something he should never have been arrested for," Bluestine said while waiting at the Criminal Justice Center late Wednesday morning. "There is evidence that should have been presented at length. It's an egregious violation and his release is a long time coming."

Bluestine and Rollins' family waited at the CJC all morning and afternoon as he was only a few signatures away from freedom.

"We are doing everything we can to have him released as soon as possible without having to go back to Graterford," Bluestine said in the hours leading up to the release.

Eventually, about 5 p.m., he walked out the front doors of the downtown judicial building. Rollins smiled as he embraced his mother.

"It was messed up what happened to me but it's over now so I'm going to start my life," he said.

Jabar Wright's mother Alicia Wright expressed mixed emotions during an exclusive interview with NBC10 Wednesday night.

"Tired, confused and outraged," she said.

Wright told NBC10 that ever since the Innocence Project took on Rollins' case, it has moved too fast and they've lost sight of the victim: her son Jabar. 

"You feel like this man is innocent, let 12 jurors decide it," Wright said.

While Rollins' legal team said they are thrilled he will get to spend the holidays with his family after they worked so hard for his release, Wright said her family will continue to agonize over her son's pain.

"We're no longer the victim," Wright said. "How is it, it's the holidays. They have a holiday and my kids don't have a holiday. I don't have money. I don't have resources."

The state of New Jersey has filed a Superior Court complaint against a national rental chain alleging tolerance of racial slurs after officials say management didn't do enough following reports of an assistant manager repeatedly using the "n-word" at two of its Garden State stores.

The complaint filed Wednesday in Camden County alleges Rent-A-Center, which operates 2,600 "rent-to-own" stores across the country, including two in New Jersey, failed to prevent or remedy racially hostile conduct in two of its Pennsauken stores. 

The alleged discriminatory conduct included an assistant manager at the Federal Street store habitually using the n-word when speaking to co-workers. A black employee, who is also an assistant manager at the store, reported the slurs to a Rent-A-Center district manager and to corporate higher-ups in Texas, where the company is based, but no effective remedial measures were taken, the complaint alleges. 

According to the complaint, when the black employee initially reported the slurs to several managers, he was told to focus on "getting sales" offending manager. Then he contacted corporate headquarters. In response, Rent-A-Center admonished the offending manager, who is Latina, for her conduct, and said she had received her "final warning," according to documents the company provided to the Division on Civil Rights, which filed the complaint in conjunction with the state attorney general's office. 

The offending manager kept her job but was transferred to a second Rent-A-Center store on Crescent Boulevard in Pennsauken. Once assigned to her new store, the manager allegedly persisted in using the n-word to address her co-workers. The employee who reported the continued use of the slurs at the Crescent Boulevard location no longer works with the company; Rent-A-Center denied his allegations. 

The complaint seeks a court order requiring Rent-A-Center to submit to two years of training and monitoring by the Division on Civil Rights. 

"No one should be subjected to even one utterance of the slur referenced in this case, let alone a steady diet of it, which is what allegedly took place within this national retail organization according to our complaint," said New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino. "We contend that in circumstances such as those alleged here, an employer must stand up for its workers to stamp out a racially hostile work environment."

An attorney for Rent-A-Center didn't immediately respond to a call or email seeking comment. 

Philadelphia Police are seeking the public's help identifying a suspect who is wanted for robbing an AT&T store.

Police say the unidentified man entered an AT&T store located at 3584 Aramingo Avenue on November 16. He was caught on surveillance entering the store carrying a KICKS USA plastic bag. Witnesses say the man then announced a robbery yelling, “If you don’t want to be a part of this, get out,” and motioned towards his pocket, implying he had a weapon.

About 15 customers and employees left the store as the suspect continued walking inside. Video shows him making his way to the iPhone display. He then pulled three iPhones and three iPads, which were secured by cords, from the display, police said.

The suspect then placed the items into the plastic bag and fled the store, according to investigators. Police say the items taken are valued at $4,300.

The suspect is described as a 20-year-old man standing 5-foot-6 and weighing 175 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black NIKE hooded sweatshirt, light colored khaki pants and black sneakers.

Police say that if you see the suspect to call 911 immediately. To submit a tip via telephone, dial 215-686-8477 or text a top to PPD TIP.

Anyone with information about the crime or the suspect is asked to contact Det. Daly #746 or Det. Kahlan #732 East Detective Division at 215-686-3243.

Uber will allow users to set a specific person, rather than a place, as the destination of a ride, the company announced Wednesday. 

The new feature, which will launch Wednesday, is called "Uber to Person," the company wrote in a blog post. 

"With Uber, you are going from point a to b. The new Uber to Person feature recognizes that people aren't just going to point b, they are trying to get to each other," Uber product manager Yuhki Yamashita told Mashable.

Starting Wednesday, Uber users can link their contacts with the Uber app. Users will then be able to add a contact's name instead of an address as the destination for a ride. 

Uber will then ask the contact for their current location, which will be used as the destination for the ride. 

"...skip the back and forth, forget the address, and get straight to whom you’re meeting up with," Uber wrote in a blog post to introduce the new feature.

More Americans than ever are being diagnosed with melanoma, and it's not just because doctors are better at catching it early, researchers told NBC News Wednesday.

Despite warnings to stay out of the sun, use sunscreen and shun tanning beds, rates of the deadliest form of skin cancer have risen steadily since 2009, the team of skin experts said.

"The current lifetime risk of an American developing invasive melanoma is 1 in 54 compared with 1 in 58 when we last reported in 2009," they wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association's JAMA Dermatology.