The snow, ice and wind combined has knocked down trees causing thousands of power outages throughout the Philadelphia area Tuesday. NBC10’s Pamela Osborne is in Audubon, Camden County where a tree snapped in half and brought down power lines causing power troubles that lasted into Wednesday.
About 121,000 Xbox One video game controller battery chargers are being recalled due to a burn hazard, officials say.
The recall covers Energizer Xbox One 2X Smart Chargers used to charge video game controllers, according to a recall alert issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The chargers are black plastic and have "Energizer" printed on the charger's label.
The recall notice said the chargers could overheat, posing a burn hazard.
The manufacturer, Performance Designed Products LLC, has received 24 U.S. reports of the chargers overheating and deforming its plastic cover and six reports of the chargers emitting a burning odor. No injuries have been reported, according to the alert.
The chargers, manufactured in China, were sold in the U.S. between Feb. 2016 and Feb. 2017 at Best Buy, GameStop and online for about $40, according to the CPSC.
Consumers should stop using the recalled battery chargers and contact Performance Designed Products to return the chargers for a full refund, the CPSC said.
Watching their favorite TV programs got a lot harder for Mary Shaunwall and her family after the screen cracked. When they tried to get it fixed, they got some bad news and that’s when they contacted Harry Hairston and the NBC10 Responds Team.
A blaze broke out on Thouron Avenue overnight forcing several families out of their homes and into the bitter cold Wednesday morning. NBC10’s Katy Zachry was at the scene in Philadelphia's Mt Airy neighborhood with the details.
NBC10's Vai Sikahema introduces Aphrodite, a creative and loving teen who is looking for a forever home. To adopt any Wednesday's Child call 1-866-DO-ADOPT.
NBC10’s Pamela Osborne reports from South Jersey where Tuesday’s snow storm has left problems.
NBC10’s Matt DeLucia reports from Roxborough with a look at how people are dealing with the remains of Tuesday’s snow storm.
NBC10’s Vai Sikahema gets the details from the volunteer event coordinator for the upcoming Prom Boutique in Kensington.
NBC10’s Tracy Davidson speaks with Dr. Majorie Stanek about how to prevent the number one killer of American women from affecting you and your family.
Leslie Henson Ratay dressed up as a T-Rex to entertain her 5 daughters during yesterday's snow storm in Milton, New Hampshire.
A major heroin bust in Bucks County led to the arrest of 13 people and the dismantling of a large drug operation responsible for several fatal overdoses, according to officials.
Investigators announced charges against three brothers, Sheamus McCarthy, 28, Casey McCarthy, 22, and Thomas McCarthy, 25, as well as ten other suspects.
The 13 suspects in custody have been charged with running or participating in the drug operation as well as several drug-related felonies and misdemeanors. Two additional suspects, identified by police as Brian Bleam and Christopher Bidden, are still on the loose, investigators said.
Police say the McCarthy brothers led an organization that sold as many as 400 bundles of heroin, each containing 10 to 14 bags, per week in the Quakertown area from late 2013 through late 2016. Sheamus and Casey McCarthy ran the operation from a remote, wooded family compound in Richland Township and also had locations in Springfield Township and Quakertown, Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said. The organization made almost $1 million in annual business, according to Weintraub.
“Sheamus McCarthy was known around town as not only a high-level drug dealer, but someone who others described as an enforcer-type, involved in fights and acts of violence,” investigators said. “He was considered the `mastermind of the organization’ while Casey McCarthy frequently made trips to Philadelphia to acquire the heroin to be distributed to heroin dealers who would in turn sell the heroin to users.”
Police say the drug operation led to “widespread addiction amongst young citizens of the Quakertown area.” At least two people who bought drugs from the McCarthy organization died of overdoses, according to investigators.
“Heroin kills,” Weintraub said during a news conference Wednesday. “It has no redeeming value. It’s poison. And those who peddle this poison to our citizens – to our children – must be incapacitated.”
The McCarthy brothers began their operation on a large, rural property in Richland Township where they grew up, investigators said. The property, located on Cherry Road, has a driveway three-eighths of a mile long in a wooded area, making it incredibly difficult for police to conduct surveillance on it, according to officials.
While the McCarthy brothers began their business in late 2013 they capitalized on the arrest of another drug dealer in Upper Bucks County in early 2014, filling the void he left behind and cementing a business relationship with the main supplier, according to investigators.
Officials identified the main supplier as Antoine Harris, 28, of Philadelphia. Harris allegedly provided heroin to Casey McCarthy every few days, normally in 100-bundle increments sold for $5,300 to $6,300, investigators said. The drugs flowed from Harris through the McCarthy organization through a network of drug dealers and users, according to the grand jury.
Sheamus and Casey McCarthy both made trips into Philadelphia to buy the heroin from Harris though Sheamus eventually withdrew from day-to-day activities and became more of a financial manager and overseer, according to officials.
Investigators said the organization used “follow cars” during their trips to and from Philadelphia to tail Casey McCarthy’s vehicle. The driver of the follow car drove erratically to divert attention from McCarthy’s Jeep if a police car followed, according to officials.
The McCarthy organization used names such as “Bueno,” “Miami,” “Protocol,” “Panela,” and “Fresh,” to identify their heroin bags, investigators said.
Officials said the McCarthy organization issued death threats against anyone who owed them money, including their own relatives.
Investigators say the third McCarthy brother, Thomas McCarthy, eventually broke off from the organization and ran his own smaller operation with locations in Quakertown, Richlandtown and Allentown.
Police say several incidents helped draw their attention to the McCarthy organization, the first being the fatal overdose of Daniel Killion, of Bucks County, on June 7, 2014. Bags of heroin with the “Miami” stamp were found on his body. One day later a woman named Kristine Turner suffered a non-fatal overdose in Milford Township after using the “Miami” brand, according to investigators. Police say both Killion and Turner purchased heroin from the McCarthy organization.
On December 6, 2014, a man named Sean Brzyski suffered a fatal overdose in Quakertown. Police determined Brzyski bought heroin from Jillian Betts, 25, who is accused of selling drugs for the McCarthy organization.
In September, 2015, a woman named Hillary Lauchmen was arrested for allegedly crashing her vehicle while high on heroin with her eight-month-old baby in the backseat. Police say several bags of the “Panela” heroin were thrown from her vehicle and she identified a member of the McCarthy organization as her supplier.
You can view all 13 suspects and the specific charges against them in the gallery embedded above.
Two high school students in Lower Merion Township were taken into custody by local police this week after separate threats were directed at each of the town's high schools, according to local and county officials.
The first incident occurred Monday at Harriton High School when a 15-year-old student posted an alleged threat on Snapchat, officials said.
The second alleged threat at Lower Merion High School occurred the following day in which a student at that school "essentially copied what the Harriton student had done and posted it on Snapchat with the words 'just joking,'" according to an email sent to parents by Harriton High School principal Scott Weinstein.
A spokesman for the Montgomery County Public Safety Department said Wednesday that the students were identified and taken into custody by police, but no additional information would be released because they are juveniles.
Lower Merion High School principal Sean Hughes also wrote an email to parents of students at his school. Both emails from Hughes and Weinstein said the Lower Merion student in the alleged copycat threat will not be allowed to return to school "until resolution of the investigation and any school-based actions."
Both principals also gave strong personal statements reinforcing safety as the most important priority at the schools.
"In turn, we have implemented additional safety precautions, including an increased police presence at school. We also want to make clear that there are serious consequences for those who attempt to threaten, disrupt or violate our school environment," both emails said.
A tow truck driver lost control while driving on snow and ice early Wednesday morning before slamming into a sport utility vehicle, killing the SUV driver, state police said.
The deadly crash closed Baltimore Pike (U.S. Route 1) near Creek Road around 5 a.m. It also caused area schools to close for the day as buses couldn't get around the hours' long road closure.
As SkyForce10 hovered overhead a short time later you could see a smashed up SUV off the roadway with a damaged flatbed tow truck nearby.
The driver of the SUV, Jeffrey Phillippe of Kennett Square, died in the wreck, Pennsylvania State Police said.
Phillippe's SUV was smashed when the tow truck driver lost control on the slippery roadway while traveling south on Route 1, police said. The tow truck crossed over the center line and smashed head on into Phillippe's SUV in the northbound lanes, investigators said.
The tow truck driver suffered undisclosed injuries, police said.
The Unionville-Chadds Ford School District was forced to close because of the impact on bus routes.
"With both Route 1 and the 926 bridge out -- our community is effectively cut in half," Superintendent Dr. John Sanville wrote in a message on the UCFSD website. "Under these circumstances bus runs could take hours. We feel it prudent to close schools today... I apologize for the timing and the inconvenience -- a very difficult situation."
[[238427591, C]]
Mother Nature couldn’t stop two classes of 2017 from enjoying one last trip with their high school classmates to sunny Florida.
Students from Perkiomen Valley High School in Collegeville, Montgomery County, got some extra time in warmer weather thanks to the Nor’easter that crippled the East Coast.
"It was kind of crazy because we didn't know when we were going to get home," said Perk Valley student Laura Schafer.
With Philadelphia International Airport a ghost town, it quickly became apparent that Schafer and her friends would get extra time in the Floridian warmth.
"Some people are ready to go but some people are excited because we got so much extra time," the Schwenksillve teenager told NBC10 Wednesday.
Around 160 members of the Perk Valley senior class and their 20 chaperones, including the principal and his wife, had been in Orlando since Saturday enjoying Universal Studios and Disney World as part of the Collegeville school’s senior trip. Everything came to an abrupt stop when their Tuesday flight home was canceled.
Luckily, the Perk Valley party was able to switch rooms at Disney's All-Star Sports Resort with another local school whose trip was similarly delayed because of the storm.
Seniors from the Boyertown Area Senior High School were set to arrive Tuesday, but fate had other plans.
"They actually switched room because Boyertown High School had to cancel their flight because of the snow," said Susan Barry Schafer, whose daughter Laura, attends Perk Valley.
The change gave Schafer and her classmates extra time to ride the attractions at Disney World Tuesday night and head to Disney Springs Wednesday before their flights.
Schafer and her mom praised trip organizers for communicating changing plans and alleviating concerns over the plan to get home.
While Perk Valley students stayed in Florida, Boyertown students got a new itinerary that pushed their trip to Orlando back to Wednesday night to Sunday after some tense moments wondering if the trip wouldn’t happen due to the storm. [[416102133, C]]
"That was the biggest scare," said Cathy Sullivan Saxon, whose daughter, Georgi, is a senior at Boyertown.
Everyone involved praised trip organizers for including trip insurance in the price (more than $1,000, subsidized by fundraising) meaning that no one would have to pay more despite the changed plans.
But now the vacation is over. Perk Valley students were told to be prepared to return to class Thursday.
"I’m kind of hoping that the plane is delayed, at least maybe two or three hours so we get back too late to go to school tomorrow," Schafer joked.
So what was the best part of the trip? For her it was meeting new friends before graduation.
"I’ve made new friends on this trip, we’ve been hanging out all the time, we’ve been together nonstop, we’ve like constantly laughing," Laura said. "It’s honestly been one of the best weeks of my life."
No one answered the phone at Boyertown high school Wednesday -- the school was closed for a second day -- while a Perk Valley spokeswoman didn't return NBC10's call for comment. [[416147603, C]]
Twenty-three years after a psychologist first diagnosed Ben Rzucidlo with severe infantile autism, his mother Susan still remembers the heart-breaking prognosis as if she heard it yesterday.
“I was told he would never learn to use a spoon, or tie his shoes, be toilet trained or speak. I was told he would never even know I'm his mother,” the Chester County, Pennsylvania, woman said. “Well, he can tie his own shoes. He can speak. And he damn well knows I’m his mother.”
Rzucidlo credits Medicaid with her son's improbable achievements.
Now, she and thousands of other parents of children with special needs who receive wide-ranging treatment and therapies through the federal program face a worrisome future as the Republican-controlled Congress pushes forth major health care reforms.
A proposal passed by two House committees last week includes an overhaul of Medicaid both in funding and in formula. It would trim $880 billion over the next decade by ending Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, and converting the federal program’s payments to the states from reimbursement-based to a capped annual amount based on current average individual expenses.
[[416180103, R]]
Health advocates and Democratic lawmakers say that all Medicaid recipients, including children with the most severe physical and mental disabilities, are at risk of losing often costly and extensive services.
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), in an exclusive interview with NBC10, said the Republican proposal to cap state Medicaid funding through pre-determined lump sums, often called block grants, mask “a basic hostility to these programs.”
“They give it all this benign terminology: ‘Flexibility.’ Block grant.’ Doesn’t block grant sound nice? You’re giving this big grant. It all sounds so benign,” Casey said at his Center City office. “But it’ll decimate the program.”
Medicaid, which last year was roughly $575 billion, has long been a target for Republican downsizing, Casey said.
“There is a basic far-right philosophy that is no longer on the ascendancy -- it is driving the bus -- which is the federal government should be basically about the business of national defense and a few other things,” he said. “I think a lot of people don’t know how dependent and how important Medicaid is to people’s lives, even a lot of people who voted for the president by the way.”
[[416179613, C]]
Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer, a part-time writer and director of a non-profit said her family’s middle-class life relies on Medicaid. Her son, George, is a 14-year-old with autism and intellectual disabilities who is able to attend a special needs school in Lansdale thanks to the federal program. The cost of the school as well as his busing each day to and from their Elkins Park home is paid for through the Cheltenham School District, which is reimbursed by Medicaid.
“Even though we’re a middle-class family, we require Medicaid to help pay for all of his services, and we know that we will need it when he is an adult to help pay for housing and therapeutic supports,” Kaplan-Mayer said.
Like so many parents with dependent children, she now worries his son’s future is in jeopardy.
“Our country has made wonderful progress in how we care for people with disabilities in the last 30 years,” she said. “The Medicaid block grants could turn that progress backwards.”
Many advocates in the medical and educational fields agree. The PolicyLab of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute wrote in an analysis last week that “current proposals to simultaneously repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and reform the federal Medicaid program would be devastating to children and young adults with disabilities and complex medical needs.”
The PolicyLab estimates that caps based on the average annual cost for a child eligible for Medicaid “may leave insufficient funding for medically complex children whose health care costs are significantly higher than those of other children.”
The federal funding, according to Dr. Sophia Jan of CHOP, provides for smarter spending on special needs, including in-home and in-school treatment.
“Having the nurses in the home not only allows children to interact with community settings and socialize instead of being institutionalized but also allows parents to work,” Jan said. “(And) the cost for providing services in community-based settings instead of institutional settings is much cheaper.”
If Medicaid shrinks to levels that do not sufficiently cover costs for those often defined as traditional recipients -- children and adults with special needs, the elderly and the poor -- states would be left to pick up the difference.
Most, however, don't see a scenario in which states could afford to fill a hole in Medicaid funding.
[[416179853, R]]
U.S. Rep. Ryan Costello, a Republican from West Chester, Pennsylvania, was on one of the two House committees that last week approved sending the Medicaid overhaul to the full House for debate.
Discussion on Medicaid, as well of Republicans’ overall health care reform bill called the American Health Care Act, is expected to take the next two or three weeks before a version is sent to the Senate.
Costello said he does not favor any cuts in funding or services to traditional Medicaid. The target for cuts, instead, is the program’s expansion through Obamacare, which he said would explode to $1 trillion by 2026.
“When states face budget crunches in coming years, I don’t want special needs children, the aged, the blind, to be waiting in long lines competing for aid,” Costello said.
The Republican proposal, he argued, would halt the expansion, which through the Affordable Care Act now covers health care costs for American households making up to 138 percent of the poverty line.
“The GOP plan takes the expansion population and instead gives them a tax credit,” Costello said.
In that scenario, a Medicaid-reimbursed program like Pennsylvania's ACCESS that school districts use for special needs services “not only persists, but from a funding perspective, doesn’t have to compete” with expansion costs, Costello said.
It remains unclear how -- or why -- funding for those covered by Medicaid expansion will be interwoven with traditional recipients in any legislation that gets sent to the Senate for consideration.
Casey, who voted for the ACA in his first term, believes that Republicans are still grappling with the challenge of “co-mingling good health care policy, right-wing policy, and promises they’ve made.”
"It’s like running after a car and they never thought they’d catch it,” he said of the years that GOP congressional leaders have pushed to repeal the ACA. “But in this case the dog, figuratively speaking, I’m not saying Republicans are dogs, but the dog caught the car. And they’ve had to throw it together pretty quickly.”
[[416184153, C]]
Inside her Avondale, Chester County, home, Lisa Lightner effortlessly pivots from a conversation about Medicaid to opening the door for a milkman to feeding her son, Kevin, 10. In a moment she looks away, Kevin pushes a small bowl of macaroni off the tray of his specialized wheelchair. Now, Mom is cleaning up his mostly uneaten dinner from the floor.
Three friends who live with the same struggle -- running a household and caring for a disabled child -- sit nearby and each testify to Lightner's unique ability to juggle tasks.
"She's unbelievable," one friend, Lynn Thomas Guidetti, says. "I don't know how she does it."
Guidetti is referring to how Lightner also writes an advocacy blog about special needs children and volunteers as a Democratic committeewoman in Chester County.
Lightner then puts into words what she and her friends, Guidetti, Susan Rzucidlo and Laura Boyer, now confront more than ever.
"What will happen to him after I'm gone? This is something I ask myself all the time."
Her son lives with severe forms of epilepsy and intellectual disability. He will depend on his mother and father for the rest of his life.
"Why is all this being done on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens?" Lightner asked.
She and the other women have vowed to fight any legislation that would decrease Medicaid's ability to those most vulnerable Americans. All see the federal program as greatly improving their children's lives.
"All budgets reflect values and if you’re cutting Medicaid, what do you really value?” Rzucidlo said.
[[416179313, BL]]
Nearly 250 people were arrested in the last two weeks in Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to a press release issued by the federal agency this week.
Few details about individual arrests were released, though ICE did provide information about broader reasons for the arrests and detainments.
The winter storm clean up continued on Wednesday. NBC10 Delaware Bureau Reporter Tim Furlong reports from North Wilmington, where many residents are still without power.
Lehigh County residents struggled to dig out their vehicles from the snow on Wednesday. NBC10’s Randy Gyllenhaal reports from Allentown.
