Quantcast
Channel: Local – NBC10 Philadelphia
Viewing all 60458 articles
Browse latest View live

Firefighters Battle Barn Fire in Perkasie, Bucks County

0
0

Firefighters battled a barn fire in Perkasie, Bucks County.

The fire started at a barn on 235 Smith School Road around 9 p.m. Monday. Firefighters were eventually able to bring the flames under control.

No injuries were reported during the blaze. Officials are investigating the cause.



Photo Credit: NBC10

Jersey Shore Preps for Summer

0
0

Some of the biggest attractions at the Jersey Shore will open in just a few days. NBC10 Jersey Shore Bureau Reporter Ted Greenberg has the story.

Gunman Kills 2, Injures 2 in North Philadelphia

0
0

Two people were killed while two others were injured following a quadruple shooting in North Philadelphia Monday afternoon.

The victims were on the 1100 block of Stiles Street at 3:33 p.m. when at least one gunman fired 20 to 22 shots.

"We believe that someone came east from this location and started firing," Philadelphia Police Captain James Clark said. "One shooter, maybe two."

One man was struck several times, including twice in the head. He was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 3:48 p.m. 

A 31-year-old man was also shot twice. He was taken to Temple University Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 3:48 p.m.

A 26-year-old man was shot twice. He was taken to Hahnemann where he is in stable condition. Finally, a 27-year-old man was shot once. He was also taken to Hahnemann and is in critical condition.

"People were laid there dead and the kids had to walk past a dead body," Sophie Coles, a woman who witnessed the shooting, said. "It's crazy."

The incident occurred around the same time students were leaving the nearby St. Malachy School. The school went into lockdown due to the shooting. 

"I was in the office and all you heard was multiple shots," one student said.

Family friends say the four victims grew up in the public housing development near where the shooting took place.

"Senseless man," one resident in the neighborhood said. "Senseless. I mean I'm just praying for the families right now man."

A weapon has not been recovered and no arrests have been made. Police have not yet released a detailed description of any suspects but say two men were seen fleeing the scene shortly after the shooting. They also say the men may have gotten in a small, grey SUV.

A block over from the shooting is the intersection of 10th and Thompson, the namesake for the "TNT Gang." Last year several members of the gang were arrested for alleged ongoing feuds and gun battles. Police have not confirmed whether or not the gang was connected to Monday's shooting. They continue to investigate.



Photo Credit: Drew Smith

NJ State Police Car Crashes Off Highway, Trooper Rescued

0
0

A New Jersey state trooper has been rescued from a mangled police vehicle after crashing into a tree off the I-78 in Warren Monday.

Chopper 4 first over the scene showed heavy police and firefighter presence on the scene of the crash off the eastbound side of the highway, near exit 40, shortly before 3:30 p.m. 

Dozens of emergency responders worked to extricate the trooper from the police vehicle, ripping open the roof of the car and removing the wrecked parts before finally rescuing the trooper.

The trooper was taken away on a stretcher and evaluated in the back of a nearby ambulance, then put into a medical helicopter waiting nearby on the highway. He was taken to University Hospital with serious, non-life-threatening injuries to his leg, New Jersey State Police said. 

Miles-long delays could be seen on both sides of the highway after the crash, Chopper 4 shows. On Monday night, eastbound traffic was only getting through on the shoulder. Westbound traffic was moving. 

The cause of the crash remains under investigation. 



Photo Credit: NBC 4 NY

Camden Co. Teenager Tried Hiring Sniper to Kill Pope: Feds

0
0

A teenager from Camden County pleaded guilty to trying to hire a sniper to kill Pope Francis during his visit to Philadelphia in 2015, federal prosecutors said Monday.

The would-be sniper turned out to be an FBI agent.

Santos Colon, now 17, of Lindenwold, admitted that from June 30, 2015, to Aug. 14, 2015, he "devised a plan to conduct an attack during the Sept. 2015 papal visit in Philadelphia," according to federal officials.

In addition to trying to hire a sniper, Colon also wanted to set off explosives, officials said.

Throughout his scheming, Colon dealt with FBI agents and informants. At one point Colon and an undercover FBI agent scaled buildings and climbed on roofs in Philadelphia to look for the best locations to set up sniper fire, a law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation told NBC News. After he allegedly "engaged in target reconnaissance with an FBI confidential source," Colon was arrested in 2015. 

He faces up to 15 years in prison. No sentencing hearing has been set.

Hundreds of thousands attended three days of events involving the pope, including between 80,000 and 140,000 who attended his Mass on the Ben Franklin Parkway. No violence occurred throughout the weekend that city officials hailed as a success in hosting a major, international event.

His stay in Philadelphia was the centerpiece of the pope's first visit to the United States as head of the Catholic Church. He also made stops in Washington D.C. and New York City.



Photo Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Grand Opening: Phillies Beat Reds on Opening Day

0
0

The Phillies opened their 135th season with a win.

Jeremy Hellickson pitched well. The bullpen pitched well -- at least until the last inning. And the offense collected seven extra-base hits en route to a 4-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on Monday.

Cesar Hernandez led off the game with a solo home run. Freddy Galvis also homered. Howie Kendrick had three hits in his first game with the club.

The attendance was 43,804 and that was the largest ever at the ballpark for a regular-season game.

Starting pitching report
Hellickson had a nice season debut, scattering six hits and a run over five innings. He walked one and struck out one. He left at 67 pitches after allowing a leadoff double in the bottom of the sixth.

Hellickson faced a no-out, bases-loaded jam in the third and allowed just one run.

He did a nice job pitching out of a one-out, base-loaded jam in the fourth.

Cincinnati right-hander Scott Feldman allowed seven hits and three runs over 4 2/3 innings. All of the runs came in the first two innings on a pair of homers and a double.

Bullpen report
Pete Mackanin went to his bullpen with a 4-1 lead. Joaquin Benoit, Edubray Ramos and Hector Neris combined on three scoreless innings before Jeanmar Gomez gave up a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth to make it a one-run game. Gomez settled down and got the final out for a not-so-pretty save.

At the plate
Hernandez became the first player to lead off a Phillies season with a home run since Heinie Mueller in 1938 and the first in the majors to lead off a game on opening day with a homer since Alfonso Soriano in 2009.

Maikel Franco singled with two outs in the first and scored on a double by newcomer Michael Saunders. Galvis homered in the second inning on the second pitch he saw. Hellickson tripled in the top of the sixth.

All four of the Phillies' runs scored on extra-base hits.

Brock Stassi made his big-league debut as a pinch-hitter in the eighth and drew a five-pitch walk.

Scooter Gennett hit the two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to bring Cincinnati within one run.

Billy Hamilton plated the Reds' first run with a sacrifice fly.

Up next
Tuesday is an off day. The series resumes Wednesday night. Jerad Eickhoff makes his season debut against lefty Brandon Finnegan. Eickhoff led the Phillies' starting staff in starts (33), innings (197 1/3) and ERA (3.65) last season.

Police Arrest Teen Serial Robber in Philly: Officials

0
0

Police arrested a teen boy accused of committing several armed robberies in West and Southwest Philadelphia in a two-week span.

Police say Ma-King Stewart, 17, was involved in armed robberies and possibly a homicide between March 17 and March 31.

On March 17, a taxi driver told police he was getting into his cab at 1:15 a.m. outside of the 5900 block of Market Street when he was approached by Stewart and three other people asking for a ride.  The cab driver and the four suspects then got into an argument over the price of the fare. Stewart then allegedly gave one of the other suspects a gun. The suspect then fired into the cab before all four fled the scene. The taxi driver wasn’t hurt during the incident.

On March 26, Stewart allegedly approached a man on N. 61st Street around 1:30 a.m. Stewart, who was armed with a gun, asked the man where he was from and patted him down, police said. The victim was in possession of a Glock 23, .40 cal loaded with 19 rounds with textured grips and a red LaserMax internal laser at the time, police said. Stewart allegedly pulled the weapon from the victim’s waistband area and then fled south. Police said Stewart used the weapon he stole during the remaining robberies.

On the night of March 26 at 11:10 p.m., Stewart pulled out the stolen gun and robbed a man of his wallet and car keys on 300 N. Salford Street, police said. He then allegedly drove the victim’s vehicle about one block away on Salford Street, parked it and then fled the scene on a bicycle.

Five minutes later, Stewart approached another man while riding his bike on 59th Street and Chancellor, police said. Stewart pointed a gun at the man and then stole the victim’s backpack which contained camera equipment, according to investigators. He then continued riding his bicycle northbound on 59th Street, police said.

About 15 minutes later police responded to a shooting on 5941 Larchwood Avenue. When they arrived they found a 17-year-old boy suffering from several gunshot wounds to the chest. The victim was taken to Presbyterian Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Police say Stewart is a suspect in the homicide.

On March 27 around 9 p.m. a man was walking through a park on 5700 Haverford Avenue when he began arguing with Stewart and a group of teens, police said. Stewart later told investigators the man had pinched his female friend’s buttocks, according to officials. Stewart allegedly pulled out a gun and stole $200 from the man. Police also said that a gunman on a bike fired four shots at the man though Stewart denied that he was the gunman in the incident during an interview with investigators, according to officials. The victim was not injured during the incident.

About a half hour later, Stewart approached another man who was walking on 500 N. Robinson Street, police said. The teen allegedly took out a gun and stole the victim’s blue denim jacket, trans-pass, debit card, ID, and Android cellphone. Another suspect acted as a lookout during the incident, police said. The two suspects then fled on foot westbound on Girard Avenue towards 62nd Street, according to investigators.

On March 28, around 1 a.m., Stewart walked outside of a strip club on the 6100 block of Market Street and went to a Chinese store that was next to the club, police said. During this time another suspect pulled out a gun and robbed a man who was at the store, according to investigators. The armed robber then walked back into the strip club with Stewart, police said. A short time later, the bouncer kicked Stewart and the other suspect out of the strip club, according to investigators. As the two left they were confronted by the robbery victim and his father, police said. The four began to argue after the father asked Stewart and the other suspect who robbed his son, according to investigators.

Police say the father then punched the man who robbed his son in the face. Stewart then allegedly retaliated by punching the father. The fight continued until the bouncer told Stewart to walk away, according to investigators. One of the suspects then shot the father in the face. Stewart claimed that the other suspect was the one who opened fire on the victim, police said. The father was taken to Presbyterian Hospital where he was listed in critical condition. He was later released from the hospital.

On March 30 shortly before 10:30 p.m., Stewart allegedly stole cash from a man who he claimed had earlier tried to sell marijuana to him at a deli on the 100 block of N. 59th Street. Stewart then shot the man four times in the right arm, police said. The victim was taken to the hospital where he remains in stable condition.

During the morning of March 31, police executed search warrants at Stewart’s last known residences. After the search of the first residence was unsuccessful, police found Stewart in the bedroom closet of the second home on the 5100 block of Parkside Avenue, investigators said. Stewart was then taken into custody. During a conversation with both police and his mother, Stewart allegedly admitted to being involved in the robberies though he did not admit to being involved in the homicide, according to officials.

Pa. Congressman Proposes Ending Medicare Penalty

0
0

A Republican congressman from Pennsylvania has introduced legislation that removes a penalty on seniors who sign up late for Medicare.

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker's bill would end what he describes as an often unexpected cost to those seniors who still have health care through their employers and want to remain on a private plan.

The penalty is also punitive for life, he said, noting that whether a senior is late in signing up by a couple months or a couple years, Medicare costs 10 percent more for their rest of their life.

"We're looking for ways to lower health insurance costs and this is one small area where we can make health care more affordable for seniors," Smucker said in an interview Monday.

The first-term congressman, who voted for the Republicans' health care overhaul last month as a budget committee member before the reform ultimately failed, said he thinks major changes to the Affordable Care Act still need to be done.

But, he said, his proposal is one of many small steps to lower health care without a comprehensive package.

"We have to find many different ways to address the rising costs," he said. "This is one small component that we could getr done for the people."



Photo Credit: House.gov

Group Attacks Teen Boy at King of Prussia Mall

0
0

Video showing a group of teens attacking a 14-year-old boy at the King of Prussia Mall has sparked a police investigation.

The victim, who did not want to be identified, told NBC10 he was celebrating his birthday Friday night with his girlfriend and his friend. They were walking through the mall when a group of about seven teens began following them and making threats.

“It was pretty scary,” the teen said. “I wasn’t expecting anything to happen. They were threatening that they were going to punch me and stuff.”

The group then began to attack the teen, punching him as he fell to the ground. The incident was captured on cellphone video.

“He can’t fight anyway,” the person recording the video says moments before the attack. “He can’t. It’s like a known f*****g fact.”

The victim said the attack was completely random and he didn’t know anyone in the group.

“I got a phone call at 8 o’clock at night, fear in his voice,” the victim’s mother said. “When a mother hears her son say, ‘Come Now,’ I just had this feeling. This really bad feeling that something wasn’t right. It was horrifying.”

A man finally broke up the fight and the attackers left. The teen was taken to the hospital and later released.

“It was really just kind of like showing off I think,” the teen said. “There was no other reason really to do anything.”

Upper Merion Police are currently investigating the incident. No arrests have been made.

“Thank goodness there’s video and technology helps,” the victim’s mother said. “It’s hopefully going to help get these kids and teach them a lesson.”

Might Pa. Lawmakers Put Fee on Towns Using Pa. State Police?

0
0

House Republicans on Monday unveiled a $31.5 billion no-new-taxes budget proposal for Pennsylvania government that would add politically touchy cutbacks to a relatively austere plan floated by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf as the state grapples with a huge deficit.

The plan left many questions unanswered, including how it would fill a projected $3 billion deficit without a tax increase, and how it would find such significant savings in two of the costliest services in state government, prisons and health care for the poor.

The House Republican majority put the plan on a fast track to the Senate, introducing it without negotiating it with Wolf and positioning it for a floor vote on Tuesday.

After allowing for $234 million to patch a current-year shortfall, the House GOP plan would actually cut overall spending next year by a little under 1 percent.

"We balance the budget by cutting through a lot of the bureaucratic spending in Harrisburg, while focusing on the funding that we want to get out into the local communities that take care of the core functions of government," House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana, told reporters in a brief question-and-answer session in the Capitol late Monday afternoon.

The plan is for the fiscal year starting July 1.

Democrats quickly signaled their opposition in a party-line committee vote Monday evening. Wolf aired concerns about some of the plan's spending cuts, including for child care subsidies, and said he believed that corporations should pay their "fair share" while state government tightens its belt.

Wolf in February floated a $32.3 billion spending plan, based on a $1 billion tax package, including a tax on Marcellus Shale natural gas production, and a range of savings measures, including closing a prison in Pittsburgh, cutting unfilled employee positions and reducing dispensing fees on drug purchases.

The House GOP's plan would require nearly $800 million in new money to balance, and Reed suggested that the bulk of it could come from steps to legalize the expansion of casino-style gambling and the private-sector sale of wine and liquor in Pennsylvania.

New spending in the House GOP plan would include $150 million more for public schools, special education and early childhood education, below Wolf's $200 million proposed increase. It also would maintain Wolf's proposal to add more than $150 million to fund caregiver help and day services for another 2,000 people with intellectual disabilities or autism.

No additional debt or borrowing would be required to balance it, including Wolf's proposal to use the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex to secure a $200 million upfront payment, Reed said.

Still, Reed acknowledged that a lot remains up in the air, including the question of whether to impose a fee on 2.5 million residents whose municipalities receive full-time coverage from the Pennsylvania State Police at a cost of $600 million.

"We understand it's a negotiation, a beginning, not an end," Reed said.
Currently, highway construction dollars is propping up the state police budget, perhaps unconstitutionally.

Across-the-board cuts would not spare the Department of Environmental Protection, which has been warned by the federal government that it is not adequately staffed to enforce safe drinking water, air quality and mining pollution standards.

Reed said he expected $100 million in savings in the state's Medicaid program simply by allowing enrollees to pick a coverage plan once a year, rather than every month.

The proposal funds child care subsidies for low-income working parents at $50 million below Wolf's request, but Reed said savings could be had — about 10 percent — by shifting the program administration to counties.

It would maintain a number of cuts proposed by Wolf, including $50 million from school transportation aid.

[[238427591, C]]

Montco's Best Pizza Place Remains the Same

0
0

A tiny pizza place came up big again in Montgomery County's Best Pizza Tournament.

For the second-straight year, Chiaro's Pizzeria of Green Lane beat back all other pizza places to win the Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board's Best Pizza Tournament, a March Madness bracket that pitted some of the county's best pizzerias against one another to see which pie would reign supreme.

Chiaro's turned to Instagram to acknowledge everyone who helped them taste victory.

"We would like to thank everyone who participated in this wonderful friendly competition and to all the friends, customers, family and fellow competitors for making this a great community building experience," the pizzeria wrote in an overnight post.

Chiaro's didn't have an easy road to the top as they had many close battles leading up to the final against Angelo's Pizza of King of Prussia. A late push left Chiaro's with 52.2 percent of the final vote.

"When it comes to pizza, everyone has an opinion," the VFTC said on its website as it launched this year's tournament. "That's why every year we open it up to you to tell us your favorite pizza in Montgomery County."

Voting wrapped up as the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament wrapped up Monday night. In total, more than 285,000 votes were cast.

For winning, Chiaro's gets a one year membership on the Valley Forge Tourism Board; an official trophy; ad space in county dining guide, Crave; billboards and championship gear.



Photo Credit: Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board
This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Raging Mets Fan Becomes Face of Frustrated NJ Commuters

0
0

Frank Fleming was trying to attend the Mets opener like he has done for nearly two decades Monday when a New Jersey Transit train in front of his derailed at Penn Station.

It was just the beginning of what would be a 10-hour odyssey from his home in Belleville, New Jersey, to Citi Field and back.

As he was hustling to catch an Uber from Secaucus to Hoboken, where he planned to take a PATH train to the city, Fleming and a News 4 New York crew crossed paths. His quick, fiery outburst was caught on camera. 

“New Jersey Transit is the absolute worst! I’m not going to get to my game now because they are incompetent!” he said.

It was a sentiment many commuters could relate to after the second NJ Transit derailment in as many weeks. His story was one of thousands in the tunnels and train stations of the tri-state. 

The "slow-speed derailment" at Track 9 in Penn Station around 9 a.m. led to several minor injuries and caused train delays and cancelations across the area. 

Fleming ultimately got to the game, but it took him more than five hours instead of the usual two hours and he missed the opening day ceremonies.

“I’ve always done the pomp and circumstance of opening day, where you get to see the wreath come out, the Shea family comes out, you get to see the first pitch,” Fleming said.

“I didn’t see the first pitch. I don’t even know who threw out the first pitch. I didn’t get to see the national anthem. I didn’t get to cheer Cespedes when they introduced him. I didn’t get to cheer Bortolo Colon’s return.”

A devout sports fan, Fleming runs the blog SportsEcyclopedia.com. He said he takes off every year for the opener and has only missed one opening day since 1998.

When all was said and done Monday, the Mets beat the Braves, 6-0, and Fleming was there to see it. 

“I commute 10 hours to get to and from Citi Field, and they won the game so I guess it’s worth it,” he said. “If they would have lost, that would have been just the cherry on top.”

Fleming said he had calmed down by the time he made it home Monday night, but he said the trip back home from Queens was just as chaotic, with crowded stations and transit attendants relaying conflicting information.

“All you see is a sea of humanity and nobody knows what’s going on,” Fleming said.

In that sea of humanity trapped between point A and point B, one man from New Jersey became the face of thousands of frustrated commuters.



Photo Credit: @GrygielPaul/Twitter
This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day Is April 4

0
0

I scream, you scream, we all scream for free Ben & Jerry's ice cream! 

The Vermont-based ice cream chain will celebrate its annual Free Cone Day event on Tuesday, April 4. 

Customers can get a free scoop of their favorite flavor from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. at participating locations. And if after enjoying a Cherry Garcia cone your taste buds yearn for some Phish Food, just get back in line for another free cone. "Over and over again. We're not counting. Really, go for it," the company said on its website.

The first Free Cone Day was in 1979 — one year after co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield launched the company in a renovated gas station in Burlington. The tradition has since expanded globally, and Ben & Jerry's says it will hand out more than 1 million free scoops this Tuesday.

Click here to find a participating Ben & Jerry's location near you.



Photo Credit: Courtesy Ben & Jerry's

Philly City Council Dives Into $4.4B Budget Plan

0
0

About a month after Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney revealed his plans to address the city’s pension program, housing concerns, school system plans and efforts being made to battle drug abuse in his annual budget, City Council held hearings on the S4.4 billion budget proposal.

The budget and five-year plan for Philadelphia sets aside new funding for certain programs.

The budget -- which calls for a three percent increase in spending year over year -- puts a focus on job creation and taxes. Kenney hopes to lower Philadelphia's hefty wage tax to under 3.7 percent by 2022 -- the lowest level since the 1970s. He will also ask council to commit to funding the Pension Fund by 80 percent in the next 13 years.

Kenney wants to put $1.9 million toward the opioid problem after thousands of hospital visits and 900 deaths reported in the city alone last year. The money would help improve the distribution of Narcan, an overdose reversal drug, it would also fund a campaign aimed at the highest prescribing health care providers. And, it would also develop a real time data base to track openings at treatment facilities.

A little more than a million dollars would go toward housing. It would support families exiting shelters as well as serve as an intervention to help families and people who are chronically homeless.

The budget proposes more than a $900,000 increase in lead poisoning prevention. That money would allow the city to tackle lead paint in nearly double the amount of homes it can address now.

Some of the ways to fund the new program include the controversial sugary beverage tax, a.k.a. "soda tax," which is expected to bring in $92.4 million dollars in 12 months. Soda tax opponents plan to protest Kenney’s speech Thursday.

The biggest cut in Kenney's budget plan is slashing the Community Development Fund by 11.45 percent.



Photo Credit: NBC10

Police Need Help to ID Woman Who Took SEPTA Bus to Mall

0
0

An elderly woman didn’t get off a bus when at stopped at a Bucks County mall Tuesday morning, instead asking the SEPTA driver to take her home.

Bensalem Township police released a photo of the woman who boarded the bus bound for the Neshaminy Mall at the Frankford Terminal in Philadelphia around 5:20 a.m. in hopes that someone would recognize the unidentified woman who appeared to be suffering from dementia.

The woman, who identified herself as Judy Rets, never got off the No. 14 SEPTA bus when it arrived at the mall, police said. She asked to be taken home but couldn’t remember where she lives, investigators said.

She was taken to Aria Torresdale Hospital for evaluation, police said.

Anyone with information should call Bensalem police at 215-633-3719.



Photo Credit: Bensalem township Police Department

Police Pluck Body From Del. Retention Pond

0
0

Police in Delaware called the dive team and medical examiner after a grisly discovery in a drainage ditch near a shopping center.

Middletown, Delaware officers responded to Middletown-Warwick Road Tuesday morning to find a body in the water, investigators said. The New Castle County Dive Team plucked the body from the water and searched the rest of the pond.

The drainage ditch is not far from U.S. Route 301 and a Walmart on the other side of Merrimac Avenue. As SkyFocre10 hovered over the scene you could see police searching for clues.

Police continued to investigate how the unidentified person wound up in the water. They said there was no indication that any vehicle was involved.



Photo Credit: SkyForce10

Underwater Damage Closes Bridge Linking Jersey Shore Towns

0
0

People looking to hit up the Jersey Shore this spring (and possibly beyond) need to find another way to get between two of the shore's iconic towns.

"Until further notice, the Townsends Inlet Bridge between Avalon and Sea Isle City is closed to traffic due to the findings of an underwater inspection performed this morning," Cape May County engineer Dale Foster said Monday. 

Parts of two separate three-pile clusters – consisting of steel installed following a nor'easter in the summer of 1962 to give some extra support at each end of the four piers supporting the span – appeared to be unstable.

"The dive team from Churchill Consulting Engineers, Berlin, New Jersey, discovered a crack and movement in one pile, that are very recent in nature, and severe deterioration in another pile of a three-pile cluster supporting one of the piers on the Avalon side of the bridge," Foster said. "This places the pier in an unstable condition to support loads."

The problems stop traffic on the toll bridge for the foreseeable future, officials said.

"Unfortunately, the bridge will be closed for an indefinite period of time because of the equipment and materials needed to make the repairs and the conditions in which the contractor will be working," Foster said. "The defects in the two piles are located approximately 20 feet below the water. The water depth about this pier is approximately 50 feet."

With the bridge closed, people will need to drive back out to the Garden State Parkway to go between Avalon and Sea Isle. 

County freeholders had initially planned with making repairs in the 2017-18 season but moved up repairs after inspections for that project turned up the problems, officials said.

The bridge must be inspected during a survey federally mandated for every two years. The last biennial inspected came in October 2015, officials said.



Photo Credit: NBC10

Therapy Dog Helps Out at Montco School

0
0

Conshohocken, Pennsylvania's AIM Academy officially welcomed Kelly, the independent school's new facility dog to campus Tuesday. The black-lab mix will help ease anxiety, aid in practicing mindfulness and help students complete speech tasks at the 1st to 12th grade school for students with language-based learning differences like dyslexia, the school said.



Photo Credit: NBC10

Ex-Nurse Faces Charges in Attack on Paralyzed Patient

0
0

A former registered nurse in New Jersey has been indicted for allegedly slapping and manhandling a 23-year-old ventilator-dependent, paralyzed man she had been hired to care for in his home, authorities said Tuesday. 

Dorothea Harvilik, 64, faces up to 18 months in state prison if convicted of the fourth-degree assault charge contained in the indictment handed up by a grand jury Monday. 

The alleged abuse was captured on a hidden camera set up by the patient's mother, who had suspected her son was being mistreated, officials say. Harvilik, of Saddle River, is the third caregiver in recent weeks charged with patient abuse by New Jersey's Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor. 

The video, and other caught-on-tape examples of alleged patient abuse, prompted the state to create its “Safe Care Cam” program, which offers micro-surveillance cameras free on loan to residents who suspect a loved is being mistreated by an in-home caregiver. 

"The horrifying images of Nurse Harvilik striking this defenseless patient and wrenching his head as she tended to him, underscored our need to ensure that all New Jersey families, regardless of their income, have access to state-of-the art technology they need to watch over their loved ones," New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino said in a statement. "As this indictment shows, hidden cameras not only expose patient abuse, they can provide the ‘smoking-gun’ evidence that helps bring abusers to justice." 

The precise time of the alleged abuse in Harvilik's case wasn't immediately clear, but it was some time before November, when the State Board of Nursing permanently revoked her license.

Her attorney did not immediately respond to phone or email messages seeking comment Tuesday.



Photo Credit: Handout

Philly Schools Aim to Provide Meals During Closings

0
0

Philadelphia schools are working towards providing meals for students during emergency school closings.

According to Philadelphia's City Council, based on income, eighty percent of students in public as well as charter schools qualify for free school lunches.

Many families in Philadelphia depend on these school meals for their children to have what they need and cannot provide two meals for their children a day otherwise.

The Philadelphia School District took note of efforts in Washington, D.C. when the Capitol opened 10 schools to feed children breakfast and lunch during a snow day. The district acknowledged it would be difficult for the city, with its infrastructure, to do what D.C. has done however. Despite this, the council is still putting the needs of the city's children first, and they are further examining the possibility of opening school breakfasts and lunches during school closings.

For this to take place the Philadelphia City Council is considering a bill to create a pilot program where lunch would still be served around the city for those students who need those school meals.

According to the Oakland-based organization Kaiser Permanente, food consumed at school can contribute as much as fifty percent of children's daily caloric intake on school days.



Photo Credit: AP
Viewing all 60458 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images