A Delaware prisoner's lawsuit gives the first glimpse into what happened during a hostage situation at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center that ended with a correctional officer dead. NBC10's Mitch Blacher has the details on what the lawsuit included.

Dozens of homes in Collingswood will soon be brand new and back on the market thanks to a nonprofit organization. St. Joseph's Carpenter Society is gutting and renovating the abandoned homes.

Fans of the iconic Philly cheesesteak can now show their love of the super sandwich on a new shirt, hat or other item.

Geno’s Steaks has entered a new and exciting venture, this is a grand innovation for the iconic cheesesteak shop and its owner Geno, whose father Joey started the iconic food haven with six dollars in 1966.

Geno's Steaks announced Thursday the opening of its online retail store GenosGear.com.

The online store offers a wide assortment of hoodies, shirts and hats for men, women and children. Other items like coffee mugs, branded totes, lanyards, keychains, and bumper stickers are also available.

Geno’s Steaks has been Philly’s most famous cheesesteak hotspot for the past 50 years.

The iconic steak shop expanded to three locations in the past two years. Opening a Geno’s Steaks at Sugarhouse Casino along the Delaware River, Philadelphia International Airport, and Xfinity Live! 

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Temperatures in our region will hit the 60s this weekend, but how long will the warmth last? NBC10 Chief meteorologist Glenn "Hurricane" Schwartz has the answers.

Hundreds of students in our region are riding school buses everyday for over an hour, and that's just one way. NBC10 Investigative reporter Mitch Blacher asked school administrators what they're doing to fix the problem.

President Trump promised a new travel ban next week, talked Russian communication, and slammed the media in a news conference on Thursday. All this as Trump said his administration "is running like a fine-tuned machine."

Wilmington's Domaine Hudson draws customers in for their wine selection and great food, but also because of their chef. Now, one of their chefs is nominated for a James Beard award.

It was a surprise homecoming in Pennsville, New Jersey for 5 year old Jace Allen, as he is reunited with his father.

Tom Allen, an E5 Staff Sergeant in the United States Air Force, arrived home riding in a fire truck as a special surprise for his young son.

Sheila Allen, high school sweetheart and Tom's wife of six years told NBC10, “We surprised our son with a firetruck in front of our house, but the biggest surprise is what was waiting inside, his father”.  

Allen had been serving away from home for the past six months.

The sheer joy captured on Jace's face says it all.

What a special surprise.

Philadelphia police were searching for a silver Grand Prix after a driver of the car dragged an officer in Germantown Thursday evening.

Police said the officer was not seriously injured, but the driver sped off.

The incident happened near the intersection of 20th and Spencer streets in Germantown.

Police continued to search for the car.

There was no word on what led to the officer being dragged.

The officer was taken to Einstein Medical Center.

This is a breaking story, keep refreshing for updates.

MILD FEBRUARY GETTING EVEN MILDER

Halfway through February, temperatures in Philadelphia have been running more than FIVE degrees above normal-that’s a lot. But by the end of next week, it will be closer to EIGHT degrees above normal. Depending on how much we cool down after February 24th, we should end up the month as one of the warmest Februaries ever recorded.

How widespread is the warmth? Widespread doesn’t even adequately describe it. The map below shows temperatures compared to normal this Sunday afternoon:

In case you think that’s a large area of abnormally warm weather, take a look at a wider map. This one does from near the North Pole down to Central America. The area of at least 5 degrees Celsius above normal (9 degrees Fahrenheit) goes from Greenland through the entire U.S. east of the Rockies, way out into the Atlantic, and down to Central America.

Needless to say, it’s going to get unseasonably warm around here, and it’s going to stay that way for a while. But maybe not all the way through the month.

Here’s the same map (from the same computer model) for Monday, February 27th:

The blue areas show below normal temperatures, and they now cover most of the country. And the purplish areas are way below normal. It’s amazing how quickly weather patterns can change.

So, expect an unseasonably warm week ahead, but don’t expect winter to be over. At least winter temperatures, that is.

AND NOW A DROUGHT

It may be a bit of a surprise, but in Philadelphia, we haven’t had a single day with more than ONE inch of rain since about Thanksgiving! The lack of rain is combined with a lack of snow on the ground (that can keep the ground moist), and higher temperatures (which cause more evaporation), which keeps us getting drier and drier. And now, all of our Pennsylvania counties and small parts of New Jersey and Delaware are considered to be in a moderate drought.

As you can see, much of New England is in worse shape (for now-they have a LOT of snow to melt).

For more specifics, county-by-county, here are the precipitation “departures” compared to normal for the past two months:

So, Philadelphia is more than two inches below normal, with many of our other counties close to that. There’s no snow to melt to add to ground moisture, so we either need a good bit of snow and/or rain to prevent the drought from become more serious.

And there sure isn’t going to much rain (if any) for the next week. Here is the total precipitation expected through next Friday-practically nothing.

But some of that heavy rain in and near the Gulf of Mexico may affect our area starting next weekend. And isn’t that about the time that the cold air will be returning?

The bottom line: even though the next week will surely remind you of spring, it’s not likely to last much longer than that.

A Philadelphia dance school is getting some attention after videos highlighting their “Daddy Daughter Valentine’s Day Ballet Class” went viral.

Philadelphia Dance Center in the city's Torresdale neighborhood invited dads to partake in a ballet class with their kids on Valentine's Day.

And these fathers didn't disappoint their tiny dancers. Videos posted on the school's Facebook page shows dads pliéing and leaping across the floor, with little-to-no ballet skill. Several fathers even donned tutus, which made for hilarious pirouettes.

"I CAN'T THANK THESE GENTLEMAN ENOUGH FOR MAKING THIS DAY SO VERY SPECIAL!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY," the dance center wrote on Facebook.

By Wednesday evening, the three videos had garnered over 10 million views. 

But it wasn’t just the dads who were in on the fun — the center also invited moms to get their groove on during hip-hop dance classes on Valentine's Day eve and Wednesday.

“It really is a family environment and we wanted to share what we do in class with the parents who come to watch them,” studio owner, Tom McIntyre said. “It was great to teach the parents what their kids learn.”

An Atlantic City police officer is accused of assaulting his girlfriend during a domestic violence incident.

Dayton Brown, 44, of Galloway Township, was arrested Tuesday and charged with aggravated assault.

Investigators say they received a call from a tipster claiming a woman had been assaulted by her boyfriend and was being treated at an area hospital. The caller identified the attacker as Officer Brown, according to officials.

Detectives arrived at the hospital and interviewed Brown's girlfriend. Officials say she suffered a collapsed lung during the attack.

The woman told police Brown had assaulted her in Galloway Township. The Atlantic City Police Internal Affairs unit as well as the Galloway Township Police Department investigated the incident and ultimately arrested Brown, who is a 10 year veteran of the police force. He was suspended without pay.

Brown was also sued in 2014 by a woman who claimed he choked her and slammed her head against a wall at an Atlantic City casino in 2012 while he worked security there. Brown was never charged in that incident however and the case was settled.

A Facebook video showing an exchange between an Atlantic City officer and two men inside a car has sparked a police investigation.

The video was posted Tuesday night though the uploader does not indicate when or where it occurred.

In the one-minute, 17-second long clip, a driver records as he and his passenger speak with an Atlantic City police officer.

“Can I get my phone?” the passenger asks.

“Listen there’s two ways that this can go,” the officer says as the driver records him. “Take that phone and stick it out of my face. I’m not gonna tell you again.”

“I’m not getting committed with no crime though,” the driver says. “What’s the probable cause bruh?”

“Listen, my camera’s on so don’t worry about it,” the officer replies.

The officer then tells the passenger to keep his hand out of his face. The passenger then asks the officer again to give him his phone.

“I’m going to explain this one time and one time only,” the officer replies. “It’s gonna go two ways. You can act like a gentleman and I’m going to treat you like a gentleman. You frog the f--- up I guarantee you that 90 pound dog is gonna come out and gonna rip the f--- out of you. And if your hand goes and disappears I’m gonna knock you the f--- out. Put your hand in my face and I’m gonna knock you the f--- out. I’m that f------ guy. You understand me? So calm the f--- down. You feel me? You’ll go away. Real cool. You start acting like a f------ fool and I will drag you out of this f------ window. You understand?”

The driver then tells the passenger to be quiet and the passenger apologizes to the officer.

“You’re right sir, you’re absolutely right, I apologize,” the passenger says.

“I’m not disrespecting you,” the officer says. “You wanna frog the f--- up? I’ve got no problem. We’ll step outside and bang. I got no f------ problem.”

“You don’t gotta do all that,” the passenger says. “It don’t have to be like that.”

“It doesn’t have to be like that so stop making it like that,” the officer says.

“I’m not,” the passenger replies. “All I was trying to do was just grab my phone sir.”

The officer then either tells the passenger, “You’re on lawful detention” or “you’re on unlawful detention,” though it’s difficult to tell which word he uses from the video. The officer then says, “You are not allowed to have your cellphone. You understand? You’re not allowed to use it. So you can turn yours off right now. Otherwise I’m gonna skip it right down…”

The video then ends.

A spokesperson for the Atlantic City Police Department said they are aware of the video and have ordered the Internal Affairs Unit to investigate. They did not reveal when or where the incident happened, the name of the officer or the names of the two men inside the car. They also have not revealed what led to the recorded exchange or what occurred after the video shut off.

The officer involved in the incident has been placed on administrative assignment pending the outcome of the investigation, according to the spokesperson.

“The language and tone used by our officer in the video is concerning and is not condoned by this department,” the spokesperson wrote. “The officer involved was wearing a body worn camera which will be reviewed by detectives.”

In the released statement, the spokesperson described the ways in which the Atlantic City Police Department has improved its relationship with the community.

“We have worked hard to gain the trust and confidence of the community by becoming part of the community with many of our programs such as Pizza with the Police and Coffee with the Cop,” the spokesperson wrote. “Our officers are involved in neighborhood walks and events that educate the community on the role of police officers with our Civilian Police Academy and Juvenile Police Academy.”

If you have any information on the incident, please call the Atlantic City Police Department Internal Affairs Section at 609-347-5833.

President Trump promised a new travel ban next week, talked Russian communication, and slammed the media in a news conference on Thursday. All this as Trump said his administration "is running like a fine-tuned machine."

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

TODAY'S TOP STORY

Philly Officer Dragged by Car, Injured in Germantown: Philadelphia police were searching for a silver Grand Prix after a driver of the car dragged an officer in Germantown Thursday evening. Police said the officer was not seriously injured, but the driver sped off. The incident happened near the intersection of 20th and Spencer streets in Germantown. Police continued to search for the car. There was no word on what led to the officer being dragged.

• MORE ON THE OFFICER

YOUR FIRST ALERT FORECAST  

Friday is expcted to be sunny with temperatures in the 40s. Saturday and Sunday are expected to be sunny with temperatures near 60 degress. High Temp: 43 degrees. Get your full NBC10 First Alert forecast here.

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WHAT YOU MISSED YESTERDAY

Delco Wawa Becomes Only Store to Sell Beer: Pennsylvania celebrated its first day of selling beer in Wawa Thursday morning with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by the company's CEO Chris Gheysens, Wawa staff and fans. The recently remodeled convenience store-- located on Naaman's Creek Road in Chadds Ford -- includes a walk-in beer cooler to keep alcoholic beverages cold and 30 restaurant-style seats. Wawa renovated the Delaware County store by adding the new features to comply with Pennsylvania's unconventional beer laws.

• MORE ON THE IBEER SALES

AROUND THE WORLD

Trump Dismisses Russia Controversy as 'Ruse' by 'Dishonest' Media: Aggrieved and spoiling for a fight, Donald Trump used a marathon encounter with reporters Thursday to denounce the "criminal" leaks that took down his top national security adviser and revived questions about his own ties to Russia. But he offered only a lawyerly denial that his campaign aides had been in touch with Russian officials before last fall's election. "Nobody that I know" he said in the first full-length news conference of his presidency. The 77-minute event amounted to a free-wheeling airing of complaints, with the new president attempting to find his footing after the rockiest launch in recent memory. Trump slammed a "bad court" of appeals judges for blocking his refugee and immigration executive order and denied that his White House was paralyzed by chaos and infighting among top advisers. "This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine," he boasted.

• MORE ON THE NEWS CONFERENCE

Judge Tosses Defamation Suit Against Bill Cosby: A federal judge in Massachusetts has dismissed a defamation lawsuit against comedian Bill Cosby, although he still faces criminal charges in Pennsylvania. Judge Mark Mastroianni ruled Thursday that Katherine McKee didn't adequately show Cosby defamed her when his representatives called a 2014 New York Daily News story on her rape allegations defamatory and demanded a retraction. The former actress alleged the 79-year-old Cosby raped her in a Detroit hotel in 1974. McKee was among dozens of women to come forward with allegations recently and among at least eight suing for defamation in Massachusetts, where Cosby owns a home.

• MORE ON THE SUIT

SPORTS SPOT

Flyers Lose to Oilers: The Flyers lost 3 to 6 against the Edmonton Oilers.  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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@flash2times captured this cool photo at Lemon Hill.

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

TODAY'S VIRAL VIDEO

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Have you ever seen a giant grilled cheese sandwich. Watch more here.

Solider Surprises Young Son, Arrives Home on Fire Truck: It was a surprise homecoming in Pennsville, New Jersey for 5 year old Jace Allen, as he is reunited with his father. Tom Allen, an E5 Staff Sergeant in the United States Air Force, arrived home riding in a fire truck as a special surprise for his young son. Sheila Allen, high school sweetheart and Tom's wife of six years told NBC10, “We surprised our son with a firetruck in front of our house, but the biggest surprise is what was waiting inside, his father.” Allen had been serving away from home for the past six months. The sheer joy captured on Jace's face says it all. 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. 

During a press conference Thursday, President Donald Trump mentioned the Russian spy ship that was spotted off the Delaware coast earlier in the week. NBC10's Keith Jones reports.

School administrators say they're responding after a small group of students were caught using the verbal Nazi salute and gesture inside a middle-school classroom. 

Maplewood Middle School Dana Crocker Gronau sent a letter to parents and students informing them alerting them to the incident.

She said the school's harassment, bullying and intimidation specialists are working with administrators to take the appropriate responsive steps.

She said she considers the incident to be a teachable moment to reinforce the school's belief in inclusiveness.

"At Maplewood Middle School, we are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where students can grow, learn, and participate in society as informed and caring citizens," she wrote. 

Gronau said the school will add specific anti-bias discussions to advisory sessions and create opportunities for eighth graders to participate in these discussions.

Administrators will conduct a meeting with faculty members to remind them of the importance of being vigilant and responding to incidents of harassment, intimidation or bullying. Included in the letter were two links to useful resources for conversations about hate and tolerance with students and children.

"Words are powerful and we must teach our students that we should not use our words to hurt others," Gronau wrote.

The Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bialey Circus preformed for a packed house Thursday night, after they announced their final acts would be in South Philly. NBC10's Matt DeLucia takes a spin in the ring.

Tens of thousands of people across the United States are expected to skip work and attend rallies and marches Friday as part of a "general strike" to "get our democracy back," NBC News reported. 

Strike4Democracy, one of the groups organizing the nationwide event, which is called the "#F17 General Strike," said more than 100 public protests are expected. Event pages on Facebook indicate the potential for high participation: Nearly 20,000 people have responded to the page for a New York City march alone.

It will be the second straight day of national protests, following Thursday's "Day Without Immigrants" campaign, which was aimed at making a point about the economic impact immigrants have on the U.S. labor force.

Roy Jones Jr. is taking on Bobby Gunn for the WBF World Cruiser Weight Title in Delaware this weekend; which prompted NBC10's Vai Sikahema and Tracy Davidson to practice their boxing skills.