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First Phase of Road Closures for NFL Draft Begin

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The Ben Franklin Parkway continues its transformation for the NFL Draft with the first round of closures before the main event on April 27.

If your commute brings you anywhere near the Art Museum, Eakins Oval or the Ben Franklin Parkway, give yourself a little extra time this week-- The first phase of road closures took place Monday at 12:01 a.m.

PHASE 1

Closures from 4/10, 12:01 a.m. to 5/7 11:59 p.m.

Spring Garden Street westbound closed at Pennsylvania Avenue.

The right two lanes of Eakins Oval in front of the Art Museum steps closed for the building of the theatre.

The westbound center roadway of Benjamin Franklin Parkway maintained two lanes from 20th Street to Eakins Oval. The left lane of Benjamin Franklin Parkway closed from East Eakins Oval to Spring Garden St. and continues to southbound Kelly Drive, where it opened up to three travel lanes.

Southbound Kelly Drive dropped one lane between 25th St. and Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

This is the first of four phases of road closings around parkway for the draft. The rest of the closures are scheduled for April 19, 24 and 25.

PHASE 2

Closures from 4/19 12:01 a.m. to 5/2 11:59 p.m.

Inner lanes (inbound and outbound) of Benjamin Franklin Parkway closed from Eakins Oval to 20th Street

PHASE 3

Closures from 4/24 7 p.m. to 5/1 5 a.m.

Benjamin Franklin Parkway will be closed from 20th Street to the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Martin Luther King Drive will remain open to 24th Street

Eastbound Spring Garden Street will remain open from 31st Street to 24th Street

Kelly Drive will be closed at Fairmount Avenue with traffic detoured onto Fairmount Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue

Traffic headed inbound (to Center City) from Spring Garden Street Bridge or Martin Luther King Drive must exit Eakins Oval on the 24th Street ramp starting April 24 at 7 p.m. due to the closure of the outer lanes on Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Traffic headed inbound on Kelly Drive must exit Kelly Drive at Fairmount Avenue. Those who want access to the rear of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the north side must exit onto Fairmount Avenue, turn right on Pennsylvania Avenue and proceed southbound on 25th Street onto Anne d'Harnoncourt Drive.

PHASE 4 - FULL EXTENT OF ROAD CLOSURES

Closures from 4/25 at 12:01 a.m. to 5/1 at 5 a.m.

 Full List of Road Closures:

• 21st Street closed from Winter Street to Spring Garden Street

o Local access to Pennsylvania Avenue only (all traffic must turn left)

 

• 22nd Street closed from Race Street to Spring Garden Street

o Local access to Park Towne Place only (residents)

 

• 23rd Street closed from Fairmount Avenue to Benjamin Franklin Parkway

o Local access only

 

• 24th Street closed from Benjamin Franklin Parkway to Park Towne Place

o Local access only

 

• Martin Luther King Drive closed at Sweet Briar Drive.

o Road opened daily during peak AM rush hour on 4/27 & 4/28 (5AM-10AM) for access to I-676 via 24th Street

 

• Kelly Drive closed from Benjamin Franklin Parkway to Fairmount Avenue

 

• Spring Garden Street Bridge closed at 31st Street

o Road opened daily during peak AM rush hour on 4/27 & 4/28 (5AM-10AM) for access to I-676 via 24th Street

o Access to I-76 westbound will be maintained

o Local access to Art Museum will be maintained

 

• Spring Garden Street closed from 22nd Street to Benjamin Franklin Parkway

o Local access after peak AM rush hour

 

• Pennsylvania Avenue closed from Hamilton Street to Fairmount Avenue

o Local access after peak AM rush hour

 

• Pennsylvania Avenue/Callowhill Street closed from 20th Street to 21st Street

o Local access to Barnes Foundation driveway (westbound) only

o Eastbound open from 21st Street

 

• Park Towne Place closed from 22nd Street to 24th Street

o Local access only (residents)

 

• I-676 westbound 22nd Street off-ramp closed

 

• The following streets be designated “local access only” west of 22nd Street:

 

o Wallace Street

o Mt. Vernon Street

o Green Street

o Judson Street

o Brandywine Street

Parking Restrictions:

No parking on 2400 Pennsylvania Avenue (south side angle parking only) from 4/5 to 5/8

The rest of the parking restrictions go from April 25 to May 1, the city said:

- Pennsylvania Avenue between 22nd Street & Fairmount Avenue (south side of street only)

- Winter Street between 20th & 22nd Streets (both sides of street)

- 20th Street between Vine & Callowhill Streets (east side of street only)

- 21st Street between Benjamin Franklin Parkway & Race Street (both sides of street)

- 22nd Street between Winter & Spring Garden Streets (both sides of street)

- Park Towne Place between 22nd & 24th Streets (both sides of street)

The three day football frenzy ends April 29 but closures will be in place until Monday, May 1. Admission to the event will be free to the public. For more information on the NFL Draft, visit their website. 

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Man Who Broke Up Fight in AC Appears on Steve Harvey Show

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A man who gained accolades across the country after breaking up a fight between two teens in a viral video received another honor from talk show host and comedian Steve Harvey.

Ibn Ali Miller, 27, spoke with Harvey in an exclusive interview that will air during Monday's episode of Steve Harvey on NBC10 at 2 p.m. Since gaining fame, Miller has turned down most interviews but decided to make an exception when Harvey reached out to him.

"I'm not a TV guy," Miller told Harvey. "This is not for me. I did you because of what you do off camera -- because you care about young black men in America."

Miller will receive a "Harvey's Hero" award during the episode. Harvey also spoke with the two teens who Miller stopped from fighting, Jamar Mobley and Sheldon Ward.

In a video posted last month that has since gone viral, Mobley and Ward are fighting on the corner of McKinley and Indiana avenues in Atlantic City as onlookers cheer and laugh. Mobley told NBC10 the fight was over a girl.

"I don't know what happened," Mobley said. "I'm a straight-A student. I don't know how I ended up fighting this man."

As Mobley and Ward fought, Miller suddenly walked over and stepped in between the two teens.

“Everybody with your phones out? All ya’ll? Ya’ll the real cowards! Record that too,” Miller said. 

Miller then spoke to the teens and the crowd for nearly four minutes, urging the boys to stop fighting and criticizing the crowd for encouraging the scuffle.

“You think it’s a game out here?” Miller asked. “Ain’t no game out here.”

Miller made it clear to the teens that the crowd was laughing at them, not with them, and that their parents would be ashamed.

"The one thing he said that got through to me was that, he explained that all my friends, who I thought were my friends, all of them just wanted to see a fight," Mobley said.

Miller ended his speech by telling the teens to shake hands and make peace, saying he would not leave until they did so. The video ends with Mobley shaking Ward's hand.

Miller's friend Ramal Ford told NBC10 he was not surprised at all by the video.

“What he did was pretty indicative of what I’ve come to know from him as a person,” Ford said. “I applaud him. He understood how to deescalate the situation and sometimes it’s just the right words.”

Since it was posted on Facebook the video has received 35 million views and more than 769,000 shares. One of those views came from Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small.

“Normally videos that go viral are very negative," Small said. "Very harmful to people. He stepped up and was a real man about the situation and he made Atlantic City look great.”

NBA superstar LeBron James also retweeted the video after it was posted on Twitter.

"That was crazy," Mobley said. "It happened like overnight! When I saw LeBron James I'm like, 'That's crazy!' People die just to use his shoes and he retweeted something I posted? That's crazy!"

Ford told NBC10 the video is something that residents of Atlantic City needed to see.

"This was timely," Ford said. "Last month, even more than a month it's been a lot of deaths in the same area."

Miller, a father of five who played high school football in Atlantic City and is currently taking college courses, was honored by Atlantic City council for his actions. Mobley and Ward were honored as well. Miller fought back tears while thanking his own mother for raising him to be the man he is today.

"When I was young I grew up in the projects," Miller said. "When I would get on punishment she would make me read books. I'm crying because this whole situation deeply saddens me. The fact that it's unbelievable. This should be very believable. This should be a norm and it should be regular."

Miller also praised the parents of Mobley and Ward.

"I want to thank the people who raised these young men as well," Miller said. "Because they raised them to be young men of reason which seems to be a very, very rare trait in today's youth."



Photo Credit: Steve Harvey Show
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Summer-like Temperatures to Warm Philadelphia Region

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The sunshine continues into the beginning of the week with summer-like temperatures that will reach up to 80 degrees in some areas. We may see some wet weather on Wednesday and then temperatures go back to average with 60’s at the end of the week.

Center City Commuters on the Clock Ahead of NFL Draft

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Here's a rundown of what's closed -- and what's closing -- as the National Football League descends on Philadelphia ahead of the three-day college draft, April 27-29. Much of the roads around the Philadelphia Art Museum are shutting down to drivers. Tourists in the city will also be affected the next couple weeks as the "Rocky steps" in front of the museum are getting closed off to the public through draft weekend.

Women Organized Against Rape to Honor Philly Detective

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The Philadelphia women's group is holding its annual Bridge of Courage awards dinner and silent auction, 5:30-8 p.m., Tuesday, April 11, as part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. At the event, longtime Philadelphia Special Victims Unit Capt. John Darby is one of three award recipients, along with Loraine Ballard Morrill, an executive at iHeart Radio in Philadelphia and Ronnie Polaneczky, a columnist at the Philadelphia Daily News. Tracy Davidson spoke with WOAR President Dr. Monique Howard about the dinner. For more information, go to https://www.woar.org/event/bridge-of-courage.

Man Critical, Woman Stable After Hit-and-Run in SW Philly

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A Hunting Park man was arrested early Monday at his home about four miles from the site of a crash in Southwest Philadelphia, police said. The crash left another driver "very critical" and a passenger in the other driver's car hurt but in stable condition at a nearby hospital. No charges have been filed as of Monday morning.

Flight Passengers Doubled Since '90 at PHL Airport: Report

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Passenger volume on flights out of Philadelphia International Airport has doubled since 1990 to nearly 16 million last year, according to a new report on the airport's economic impact.

International travel is still a small portion of outbound airport travel compared to domestic flights, but that too has made big gains, relatively, to 2.2 million passengers last year. That's up from 400,000 in 1990. Domestic travel climbed to 13.5 million passengers, up from 7.4 million.

"Both the volume and composition of passenger activity at PHL have been relatively stable over the past decade, with significant growth occurring over a longer time frame," the report by Econsult said, noting that large growth in the 1990s and early 2000s was "constrained" a bit by the Great Recession.

The report by Econsult highlights growth in impact to tourism and the overall economy as well as the thousands of jobs directly related to the airport. Airport officials said the report, which is the first in a decade, will serve as the baseline for a new effort to analyze economic stimulus by the travel hub every two or three years going forward.

"The analysis finds that the direct and indirect economic activity associated with PHL across a range of categories produces $15.4 million in annual output ... supporting 96,300 jobs and $4.8 billion in total earnings," the report said.

City officials, including Mayor Jim Kenney, helped release the report Monday morning at a press conference. His commerce chief emphasized what he said is enthusiasm by the 120 airlines that fly in and out of the airport.

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Photo Credit: FILE
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Philly First: Environmental Film Festival Debuts

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Executive director Debra Wolf Goldstein and artistic director Alexandra Drobac Diagne spoke with Vai Sikahema about the Philadelphia Environmental Film Festival "seeks to enlighten, inspire and entertain film, environmental and art enthusiasts of all ages" over a span of three days, April 21-23. The selections of cinema will be played at Prince Theater in Center City. The festival coincides with Earth Day. For more information, go to www.PhilaEnviroFilmFest.org.


Cute Alert: Elmwood Park Zoo Names Jaguar Cubs

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The force is strong in these two cubs, who were born just three months ago and are already stealing hearts with their adorable antics. The brother and sister are the first of their kind to be born into captivity this year, an important milestone for this threatened species.

Photo Credit: Elmwood Park Zoo

What Is Coptic Christianity?

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The Egyptian cities of Alexandria and Tanta are reeling after Islamic State suicide bombers killed 45 people attending Palm Sunday services.

Those killed were Coptic Christians, an ancient sect established by St. Mark the Apostle thousands of years ago. Easter is their most sacred holiday.

The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is the largest Christian church in Egypt, Northeast Africa and the Middle East, yet many outside the region are unfamiliar with this community. Below is a primer on the Coptic Church:

  • Egypt’s Copts are one of the oldest Christian groups in the Middle East.
  • They comprise roughly 10 percent of Egypt’s population and hold a minority of seats in the Islamic-led government. The majority of Egyptians are Sunni Muslim.
  • The Coptic Church was established by St. Mark the Apostle, who is credited with introducing Christianity to Egypt. The Libyan-born saint died in Alexandria in 68 A.D.
  • St. Mark’s Cathedral in Alexandria is considered the historic seat of Christianity in the Middle East.
  • Like in Catholicism, a pope heads the Coptic church. Currently, Pope Tawadros II holds the honor. He is the 118th Pope of Alexandria and will meet with his Catholic counterpart later this month.
  • Coptic Egyptians are direct descendents of Ancient Egypt. Their language is derived from hieroglyphics and is only spoken during holy observations, according to Heather J. Sharkey, professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
  • Copts were the targets of recent terrorist attacks. In late March, a bomb was defused at the Tanta church where 28 people died Sunday. In December, 30 churchgoers were killed in Cairo.
  • The Islamic State is increasingly targeting Christians in the Middle East. They claim Egyptian Christians supported the 2013 overthrow of former president Mohamed Morsi. 
  • Persecution against Copts dates back to the Byzantine Empire, Sharkey said. In 1000 A.D., some 3,000 churches were destroyed in the name of Islam. Most of their saints are martyrs.
  • Coptic Christians hold the same beliefs as other Christian denominations. Their defining characteristic is a deep sense of history and cultural ties to their ancestral homeland.
  • Easter is their holiest feast. The timing of Sunday’s attack would have resonated deeply throughout the community, Sharkey said. 



Photo Credit: Hazem Gouda/AP

Tractor Trailer Crash Shuts Down I-476 SB in Springfield

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Two people were hurt in a multi-vehicle accident involving a tractor trailer on the Blue Route in Delaware County Monday afternoon.

The accident occurred on I-476 southbound near Paper Mill Road in Springfield around 2:45 p.m. Two people were trapped after the crash but later rescued by first responders. Officials have not yet revealed their conditions.

Southbound lanes were closed on the Blue Route from Exit 3 to Exit 5 due to the crash but were later reopened.

Local Passover Celebrations

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Monday night’s sunset signified the start of Passover. NBC10’s Cydney Long went to a Jewish community center to talk about how recent attacks overseas will impact their Passover plans.

Charges Dropped Against Officer Accused of Exposing Himself

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Charges have been dropped against an off-duty police officer who was accused of exposing himself to two boys after investigators determined the children walked in on him while he was using the bathroom.

A 13-year-old boy and his 9-year-old brother told police that Penns Grove Officer Anthony Minguez exposed himself to them at an Applebee’s restaurant back on March 29 in Pennsville. The mother of the boys told NBC10 her sons walked out of the men’s bathroom in tears.

“He said, ‘The man in there shook his penis at us and bust out laughing and thought it was funny,” she said.

Police who responded to the restaurant said Minguez was visibly intoxicated. The officer was charged with lewd behavior and disorderly conduct and the Salem County Prosecutor’s Office launched an internal affairs investigation.

On Monday the Prosecutor’s Office announced the lewdness and disorderly conduct charges against Minguez would be remanded.

“The evidence revealed that Off-Duty Officer Minguez was in a stall in the bathroom urinating when the victims attempted to enter the stall at which time Officer Minguez turned around and the juveniles fled the bathroom,” Salem County Prosecutor John T. Lenahan wrote in a released statement. “The victims allege that Officer Minguez shook his penis and had a creepy look on his face.

Lenahan said officials conducted a thorough investigation of the incident which included interviews with the two children, patrons, the bartender, manager, waitresses and a review of video evidence. Based on the investigation, they determined Minguez did not commit a crime.

“The elements of the indictable crime of 2C:14-4B1 indicate the subject must expose himself for the purpose of sexual gratification,” Lenahan wrote. “In this case, the subject was exposed for the purpose of urinating, not sexual gratification. At this point the allegations do not rise to the level of an indictable crime and the allegations of lewdness and disorderly conduct are being remanded to the Pennsville Municipal Court for adjudication.”

Officer Minguez remains on duty, according to NJ.com.



Photo Credit: NBC10

17th and Walnut Closes After Street Caves In

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A street in Center City is closed after it caved in Monday night. A water pipe connected to a fire hydrant on 17th and Walnut streets broke causing the street to cave in.

Officials say 17th and Walnut is closed as a result and will remain closed through at least Tuesday afternoon as crews make repairs. No injuries were reported.

Man Abuses Wife, Kids With Dog Shock Collars, Needles: Cops

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Warning: This story contains graphic details that may be disturbing for some readers.


Police arrested a Montgomery County man accused of physically abusing his wife and two children over the course of several years through various methods, including dog shock collars, needles, pipes and wooden dowels.

Joseph Myhre, 44, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, strangulation and other related offenses.

Officials say the investigation began on March 15 after Myhre’s wife met with police at the Einstein Medical Center Montgomery. The woman told investigators Myhre had punched her several times in the back of her head and fractured her skull inside their home in Collegeville, according to police. The woman said she drove herself to the hospital after Myhre fell asleep. Myhre was then arrested that same day and charged with assault.

As police continued to investigate, they determined Myhre had also physically abused his 11-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son whom he home schooled over a six-year period, according to a criminal complaint. 

During an interview with police, Myhre's daughter described the various ways her father abused her over the years, investigators said. Myhre allegedly beat and abused her with several objects, including a lancet that he stuck underneath her fingernails and toenails, a remote controlled electric dog shock collar, needles, different types of sticks, PVC pipes, a wooden dowel, pliers and a shoehorn. He also allegedly punched her hundreds of times, placed his knees and feet on her stomach and strangled her and banged her head on the floor until she lost consciousness.

Myhre's son also told police his father had abused him hundreds of times since he was 5 years old, according to the criminal complaint. As with his sister, the abuse included being punched and kicked, being choked, being beaten with sticks and PVC pipes and being shocked with a dog collar, police said.  Both children also told police they had seen their father repeatedly abuse their mother, according to investigators.

Investigators also say they obtained a cell phone recording of Myhre beating his children as they screamed in pain and begged for him to stop.

Myhre was arraigned Friday night and was placed in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility on $1 million bail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 19.



Photo Credit: Montgomery County District Attorney's Office

Brandywine Valley SPCA Saves 56 Animals from Puerto Rico

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Photo Credit: Brandywine Valley SPCA

NBC10 First Alert Weather: Record Warmth?

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We could see some record breaking highs Tuesday with temperatures expected to reach the mid-80's.

Man Shot, Killed Near Parked Car in Millville

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A 56-year-old man is dead after being shot along a Millville, New Jersey street late Monday.

The shooting happened at 9:30 p.m. along the 600 block of Dock Street, police said.

Police said officers found the victim, whose name has not been released, near a parked sedan. He died at the scene.

A pool of blood stained Dock Street as investigators searched for clues overnight. Bullets were discovered in a nearby home, but no one inside was hurt.

Cumberland County prosecutors are investigating along with city police. A motive was not immediately released.

Anyone with information is asked to call 856-825-7010.



Photo Credit: NBC10

Hearing on Heroin 'Air Bridge' Held in Philly

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State lawmakers are holding a public hearing in Philadelphia Tuesday to hear concerns about the Puerto Rican "Air Bridge," a process that sends heroin addicted people to the city from the island territory without support or treatment.

Pa. Rep. Angel Cruz (D-Phila.) organized the hearing at Philadelphia City Hall as chairman of the House Human Services Committee. Cruz represents Pa.'s 180th District, which is the epicenter of the city's open drug market, covering parts of the Kensington and Fairhill communities.

The district is home to El Campamento and a Conrail train trench, known locally as The Tracks, where heroin users seek refuge to shoot up and, sometimes, live. City officials say at least 17 people died in the trench last year. The number is likely much higher as nearly 900 people died of drug overdoses in Philadelphia in 2016. NBC10 ventured into the trench and encampment last year as part of "Generation Addicted," a special report on the heroin and opioid crisis.

Drug users in the throes of addiction often talk about venturing to the area and becoming stuck as they fight to assuage painful withdrawal. Some users, however, have no choice but to live in El Campamento or squat in abandoned homes after being lured to the region with the promise of help for their addiction, but finding none.

These people are often victims of the "air bridge," a term coined for the quick flight link between Puerto Rico and Philadelphia. Users in Puerto Rico (or their families) often pay money to come to the U.S. mainland for addiction treatment. But when they arrive, they find real treatment options for them are non-existent. They're stranded in unregulated recovery homes that collect money, food stamps or other government assistance as payment for their stay.

Cruz invited Carmelo Ríos, a Puerto Rican senator, to take part in Tuesday's hearing. Arriving in Philadelphia on Monday, Ríos told sister station Telemundo62 that officials in Puerto Rico had identified several organizations believed to be involved in air bridge activities. He could not say whether authorities planned to file charges against the groups.

Philadelphia councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez, whose district also includes Kensington called the air bridge "human trafficking under the guise of recovery."

Philadelphia's drug market has received increased attention recently as a city task force nears the completion of a study. The group will make recommendations for tackling the crisis. After years of neglect and ignorance, city and state officials vowed to clean up the neighborhoods affected by the heroin epidemic. Last week, Mayor Jim Kenney threatened to sue Conrail if they refused to clean up The Tracks and erect a prison-grade fence to close off the area.

Councilman, Suburban Leaders Talk Collab on Heroin Crisis

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Officials from six counties, including Philadelphia, met Monday at Temple University's School of Medicine to exchange information and to foster collaboration in addressing the region's heroin and opioid epidemic.

The meeting centered on coordinating efforts and to the support of task forces whose work addresses the challenges of drug addiction. Those in attendance included officials from Chester, Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware and Camden counties as well as Philadelphia.

Organized and moderated by Philadelphia Councilperson-at-Large David Oh, the group agreed to communicate about each county's efforts via emails and video calls.

"This regional meeting is an effort to see if we could do a better job by combining our information, assets and sharing them with each other," Oh said.

He explained that the idea of bringing county officials together to deal with the crisis is based on the fact that the opioid epidemic encompasses much more than just the City of Philadelphia — where resources to combat the epidemic are limited and overburdened.

"First of all, they showed up and they are willing to continue. If they were not interested, they probably would not be here. I think it’s very positive and we can begin to move forward. But we have to be careful not to duplicate or waste time and make this efficient, " Oh added of the collaboration.

The discussions centered around addressing the lack of services for the drug addicted, the needs of relatives of drug users, medical insurance and how to disburse funding. Officials lamented that they get more state and federal funding to address the Zika virus than combat the heroin and opioid crisis, so they are looking for ways to best spend constituent's money.

"These regional meetings are one more effort to do our job better by combining information and access," Oh added.

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