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SEPTA Users, The NFL Draft Is Adjusting Your Commute

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From April 27 to 29, the NFL 2017 Draft will take over the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and construction is already underway. As the NFL is putting together their game plan, SEPTA has put together theirs as well.

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Chicken Nugget Meals Recalled Due to Salmonella Fears

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Thursday that it is recalling more than 100,000 pounds of frozen meals because the brownie mix included may be contaminated with salmonella. 

The recall applies to 110,817 pounds of vacuum-packed trays containing “Banquet Chicken Nuggets with Mac & Cheese” with Code 3100080921 and a “best if used by date” date of July 20, 2018, the USDA said in a press release. 

The meals were produced by Conagra Brands in Missouri and sold nationwide, according to the release. 

The brownie mix used to make the desserts in the meals may be contaminated with salmonella, the agency said. 



Photo Credit: USDA

L. Merion Schools: Legal Fight Not Over After Losing Appeal

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An appeals court has dismissed the Lower Merion school district's arguments about a tax increase thrown out last year, but district officials said the legal fight to reinstate the 2016 tax rate is not over.

The district had appealed a ruling by Common Pleas Judge Joseph Smyth to Commonwealth Court, and after several months, that court on Thursday opted not to issue an opinion on the increase. It said the district failed to file required motions within a certain time period.

"Because the trial court issued a permanent injunction and the School District failed to file post-trial motions, we must dismiss the School District's appeal because all of its issues are waived," Commonwealth Court Judge Julia Hearthway wrote.

The battle is over a 4.4-percent increase passed by the school board. A group of taxpayers, led by attorney Arthur Wolk, successfully argued that the rate unnecessarily exceeded a state-mandated annual cap on spending.

The district said in a statement that the Commonwealth Court's decision is a "technical one based not on the merits of the case, but on an interpretation of Pennsylvania civil procedure."

"The District will thoroughly review the decision and carefully consider the next steps in our challenge of this case," the statement said. "We look forward to the opportunity to our continued, shared efforts to preserve and protect public education and the democratic principles of local control."

Attorney Alicia Hickok, who is representing Lower Merion, was not immediately available for comment Friday, but she is expected to file for a re-hearing before the entire Commonwealth Court. A three-judge panel of the court heard the appeal in December.

If the court rejects that request, an appeal to the state Supreme Court could be filed. A decision on how to proceed will likely be made by very early next week, an attorney for the district said.

Legal observers and tax experts have watched the case with interest because of its ramifications beyond a local tax rate increase. Education advocacy groups like the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) and the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) submitted "friend of the court" briefs to Commonwealth Court that cautioned against allowing the judicial dismissals of tax increases passed by school boards.

"It has the potential for untold disruption to public education across the Commonwealth,” the PSEA wrote in support of Lower Merion's appeal last year.

But Wolk argued that education advocates were trying to divert attention from what he and other taxpayers appealed in the initial lawsuit: the the district raised taxes above a 2.4-percent cap under the guise that it needed additional funding for expenses it already had money for.

"The Appellant and its surrogates ... want to try and make this case about something it is not. They want to make this case about the Court 'usurping' the roles of the school districts of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Department of Education," Wolk wrote in a brief filed before the Dec. 15 hearing in Commonwealth Court. "This is a case about reining in abuses by a school district in levying unlawful and excessive taxes."

The 2-percent difference between what Lower Merion approved for a tax increase and the state cap is roughly $4 million. That money, if the district ultimately loses its appeal of Smyth's ruling, would need to be returned to the township's taxpapers. The district has set aside that money, as required by the court.

The district acknowledged last year that it has more than $40 million in reserve accounts, but has disputed Wolk's arguments that it didn't need the additional money approved in the tax increase. Most of the money in reserve is in accounts dedicated to school construction and employee pensions.

In his original ruling, however, Smyth ruled that the district annually underrepresented the amount of revenue it would raise each year, which led to the large amounts in its reserve coffers.

Smyth wrote that annual budgets dating to 2008-2009 greatly exceeded district officials' yearly revenue expectations.

"In fact, for every fiscal year from 2008-2009 through 2014-2015, the School District passed a budget that projected multimillion-dollar deficits, yet year-end audits showed multimillion-dollar surpluses, amounting to a total during that span of over $42,500,000," Smyth wrote.

The case has also raised questions about the Pennsylvania Department of Education oversight of local school spending. NBC10.com reported last November that state caps on annual spending increases are easily circumvented by local school boards, which use rising pension costs and construction projects to bypass the caps.

One in three districts in Pennsylvania received exemptions to raise property taxes above their state-mandated caps this year, according to documents provided to NBC10.com by the state DOE.

The number of districts that received approvals, 178 this year, has increased from 165 in 2014-2015 and 173 in 2015-2016, the documents show. It is unclear how many used the exemptions to raise taxes above their caps.

Meanwhile, the state’s 500 districts had $4.3 billion in reserve accounts as of the 2014-2015 school year, according to analysis by the Commonwealth Foundation, a conservative think tank.

The group released a report last year that found 46 districts, including Lower Merion, have applied for and been granted cap exemptions in at least 8 of the last 10 years.



Photo Credit: Brian X. McCrone/NBC10.com

7 East Coast Music Festivals You Won't Want to Miss

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Summer is quickly approaching, which means that music festival season is also right around the corner. We've rounded up seven of the East Coast's most popular music festivals.

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What's the Best Way to Lower Philly's Wage Taxes?

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The years-long battle over how Philadelphia can reform its notoriously high wage tax rate is now pitting two of the city’s business organizations against one another with Philly’s political leaders backing differing sides.

The Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia released a statement last month opposing the Levy-Sweeney Plan for tax reform, named for Center City District executive director Paul Levy and Brandywine Realty Trust CEO Gerard Sweeney.

The Levy-Sweeney Plan was drafted a few years back, after decades of the city trying to find other sources of income beside its hefty wage tax (currently at 3.9004 percent for those who live and work in the city and 3.4741 percent for non-residents) and business-related taxes. The plan calls for taxing commercial properties on the front end but lowering the cost of doing business in the city by separating how residential and commercial taxes are collected.

The Center City District – which is dedicated "to enhance the vitality of Center City Philadelphia as a thriving 24-hour downtown and a great place to work, live, and have fun," according to its mission statement – backs its leader’s plan.

"The city has lagged in job growth and has one of the highest urban poverty rates, despite more than two decades of vibrant growth and development in Center City and University City," CCD said in a statement based on its "Philadelphia: An Incomplete Revival" report earlier this year.

"Last summer, both the Pennsylvania House and Senate overwhelmingly passed HB 1871, a bipartisan effort that will provide Philadelphia with the flexibility to assess properties used for business purposes up to 15 percent higher than residential properties, so long as all the incremental revenues raised are used to lower the City’s wage and business taxes," CCD's release said.

But that plan to lower Philly’s tax (it would still come nowhere near to the 1 percent wage tax levied on people living and working in some Montgomery County municipalities) never came to fruition, and now lawmakers are pushing a new Senate bill (SB 41) that looks to give the same authority to back the Sweeney-Levy Plan.

The Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia doesn’t want lawmakers to move ahead with the bill, however.

In its statement opposing it, the Chamber calls for local control to continue to bring down the wage and business taxes, and asks legislators to delay voting on the pending proposal.

"The proposed legislation SB 41 and anticipated House legislation on the same subject seeks to change Pennsylvania’s Uniformity Clause to allow Philadelphia to set two different tiers of property tax — one for commercial properties and the other for residential homeowners," the chamber wrote. "In exchange for higher commercial property taxes, the plan calls for corresponding reductions in wage and business taxes — designed to spur growth and job creation citywide."

Instead, the Chamber proposes what it says is a local approach to lowering taxes and it lays out its plan in five steps: lowering the cost of government; pension reform; real estate taxes; wage and business taxes; and use and occupancy tax.

CCD, however, sees growth via the Sweeney-Levy plan already under consideration (which in past years has had wide support in the state) and won't advance the chamber’s alternate proposal.

"The constitutional amendment, if passed again in the current session in Harrisburg, will provide a framework that enables Philadelphia to implement the recommendations of two previous tax commissions, while ensuring no gap opens in the City’s budget," CCD said. "The goal is to get the wage tax below 3 percent for the first time in 50 years and cut the net income portion of the Business Income and Receipts Tax (BIRT) in half."

Neither Paul Levy nor Gerard Sweeney agreed to NBC10’s request for interviews. And, a chamber spokesperson said its opposition statement would stand as its remarks.

Mayor Jim Kenney, however, did give NBC10 his thoughts on the tax squabble.

According to spokesperson Lauren Hitt, "the Mayor supports the Levy-Sweeney plan as the best proposal out there to create flexibility for serious tax reform that will promote job growth."

But the Democratic mayor could be swayed.

"Of course, he remains open to listening to all options on the table," Hitt said. "He has heard the Chamber’s proposal. There are a number of pieces of their proposal that we agree with and are already implementing or pursuing — pension reform, increased education funding, making government more effective and efficient, and continued wage tax reduction."

"But, even with those changes, we still need a tax structure that makes Philadelphia more competitive with other big cities when it comes to business attraction and job growth," Hitt said, "and Levy-Sweeney does that."

Council President Darrell Clarke wants to see the uniformity amendment clause changed, but is unsure if the Sweeney-Levy Plan is the correct way to fix Philly’s business-restrictive tax structure.

"The Sweeney-Levy plan amends the uniformity clause while further capping tax rates for commercial properties, potentially enshrining a huge tax break for wealthy commercial properties into the state constitution," Clarke spokeswoman Jane Roh said. "Philadelphia is the poorest large city in the country and we already struggle with tax-exempt status for wealthy universities and major hospitals. If there's a credible explanation for why we should be prioritizing tax caps for Center City high-rises at this time, we've yet to hear it."

State Rep. John Taylor, the bill’s sponsor, called the Chamber’s opposition a charade, according to a City & State Pennsylvania report.

"They’ve never been for it," The Philadelphia-based Republican told City & State. "They said they were but they weren’t. But I don’t see it being stopped no matter who's against it at this point. We’re looking at getting support from the statewide Chamber of Commerce. And our members will be reluctant to change their votes this season."

All the sides agree on one thing: Philly’s current tax structure needs to change. Kenney wants to use that desire to get a plan passed.

"We all want the same thing which is a more competitive Philadelphia that produces more family sustaining jobs. What we’re discussing is how to get there."



Photo Credit: NBC10

Comcast Cares to Spruce Up Battleship NJ

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Hundreds of people are coming together to make change happen, joining with friends and family to help kick off Comcast Cares Day at the Battleship New Jersey. Thousands of Comcast employees, including some NBC10 workers, will volunteer in their communities Saturday.

Pa. Department of Revenue Announces Tax Amnesty Program

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For a short period of time, eligible Pennsylvania residents and business owners have an opportunity to get a clean slate with the tax collector. 

The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue announced the Tax Amnesty Program on Friday, allowing individuals to apply to get relief from late state taxes. 

Those eligible who pay the back tax by June 19 will have all penalties waived and the interest cut in half. All required tax returns must be filed before the program ends. 

Don't miss out-- After June 19, an additional 5% penalty will be added to eligible taxpayers who do not participate in the program. 

Apply on the PA Tax Amnesty Program website or call 1-844-727-8283 for more information. 

DOJ Sends Letter to Kenney Demanding Cooperation with ICE

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Philadelphia is among nine local or state governments that received a warning in writing Friday from the Department of Justice about funding tied to "sanctuary city" policies.

The letter reiterated what U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions implied at a press conference earlier this month: Communicate with immigration agencies or face possible punitive action in the form of federal funding.

Like Sessions's warning, the letter addressed to Mayor Jim Kenney from Acting Assistant Attorney General Alan Hanson hinged on a requirement in federal law, known in immigration circles as "1373," which is titled "Communication between government agencies and the Immigration and Naturalization Service."

It obliges local governments to cooperate in certain information-sharing with federal agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Hanson's letter states that Philadelphia is required to cooperate under 1373 as per its grant agreement with the DOJ's Office of Justice Programs, which is one of the federal government's largest funding sources for local law enforcement.

The letter also states:

As your grant agreement makes clear, this documentation must be accompanied by an official legal opinion from counsel that adequately supports the validation and must be submitted to OJP no later than June 30, 2017. Failure to comply with this condition could result in the withholding of grant funds, suspension or termination of the grant, ineligibility for future OJP grants or subgrants, or other action, as appropriate.

A spokeswoman for Kenney said, "We have been aware of the requirement to certify since 2016, and we believe there is nothing in our current policy that prohibits us from certifying."

When Sessions issued his warning, Kenney spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said Sessions was "threatening to take away money from the police department for what amounts to nothing more than good police work. Undocumented residents and their family members are much less likely to call law enforcement when they are a witness to or a victim of a crime if they know that the police will turn them in to ICE. And if residents can’t call the police, then it is extremely difficult to get criminals off the street. If we are forced to change Philadelphia’s policy on this, all of our residents will be less safe.”

The letter, like Sessions's comments, do not address what many associate more closely with sanctuary cities: releasing immigrants who have ICE detainer warrants.

On its municipal website, Philadelphia describes how it handles information-sharing and ICE detainers:

In Philadelphia, we cooperate fully with all law enforcement agencies, including federal agencies, in connection with criminal investigations and apprehension of those accused of crimes. We also do not stop ICE from arresting Philadelphians whom they believe are undocumented. We do require that our police officers not ask about the documentation status of those they encounter. We only allow our Prison System to comply with ICE’s requests to turn over a detainee if they have a federal warrant.

In addition to the building pressure from the Trump administration, a state lawmaker from Northeast Philadelphia has introduced legislation that could potentially prevent Pennsylvania from providing funding to cities that don't comply with immigration authorities.

State Rep. Martina White, a Republican, introduced a bill in October that would impose funding restrictions on any "municipality of refuge."

A state Senate bill called the Municipal Sanctuary and Federal Enforcement (SAFE) Act that also would implement funding restraints on places like Philadelphia has been deemed "a more imminent threat" than potential actions by the Trump administration.

"Last fiscal year, the City received a total of about $790 million from the state. The state bill applies to all state grant funding. It’s unclear what falls under that category at this time. Large portions of this money are for reimbursement for carrying on duties the state wants and needs us to provide," the city's webpage on the sanctuary city status reads. "This bill is not just about Philadelphia. It defines sanctuary cities so broadly that it also jeopardizes state funding for a host of jurisdictions well beyond the 18 other ones that have been identified as sanctuary cities. Cutting critical state funds for all sanctuary cities and other jurisdictions across the state would impact every Pennsylvanian."



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Pa. Lt. Gov. Stripped of Protective Detail and House Staff

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Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Mike Stack and his wife, Tonya, have lost their state police protective detail and other government perks after the couple was accused of verbally berating staff.

Gov. Tom Wolf notified his No. 2 by letter Friday afternoon that Pennsylvania State Police would no longer be protecting the couple. Troopers typically accompanied the couple during travel and at work functions.

Staffing at the lieutenant governor's mansion in Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa. will be restricted as well. The house will undergo limited cleanings and grounds keeping. The cleanings will be supervised and be done during pre-arranged times, the letter, circulated by the governor's office Friday afternoon, stated.

"I do not delight in this decision, but I believe it is a necessary step to protect Commonwealth employees," Wolf said ending the short letter.

The Stacks came under fire earlier this month after the Office of Inspector General launched an investigation over allegations the couple were verbally abusive to staff. Gov. Wolf requested the probe.

In an interview with NBC10 on April 12, the lieutenant governor apologized for any offensive comments he or his wife had made in the past.

"I'm not a perfect human being," said 53-year-old Stack, who served as a Democratic state senator for 14 years.

The Northeast Philadelphia natives have a well-documented history of temperamental flare-ups.

In 2015, Democratic State Rep. Kevin Boyle told Philly.com that Tonya Stack flipped him off and poured a drink on him during a church fundraiser for a fallen soldier.

"Anyone who has spent time with me for long periods knows I'll have a Stack moment," the lieutenant governor told NBC10 earlier this month.

Wolf didn't choose Stack, a fellow Democrat, to accompany him on the gubernatorial ticket. Under Pennsylvania's election process, the men ran independently in primaries and then were joined for the general election.



Photo Credit: AP

Philly Removes Barriers to Medication Assisted Treatment

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As Philadelphia continues to battle a deadly opioid epidemic, the city is taking steps to reduce stigmatization from treatment centers.

The Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services (DBHIDS) sent a letter to halfway homes reminding providers they cannot turn away  patients who are using medication-assisted treatment.

This applies to methadone, naltrexone, Vivitrol and buprenorphine.

These treatments are considered evidence-based and supported by several national organizations, including the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the city said.

“Decreasing stigmatization of persons with substance use disorders has been a longstanding priority of the department,” the letter read. “Persons in recovery should not be deprived of any necessary level of care solely because they are receiving medications.”

Some experts argue that medication-assisted treatment leads to better long-term outcomes. For instance, a recent study by Harvard Medical School found that 50 percent of patients treated with buprenorphine and naloxone stayed away from opioids 18 months after starting therapy. That number increased to 61 percent after three years.

Similarly, medication-assisted treatment “has been shown to increase treatment retention and to reduce opioid use, risk behaviors that transmit HIV and hepatitis, and mortality,” according to the World Health Organization.

“Recovery is not a one-stop shop,” said Roland Lamb, deputy commissioner of strategic planning and innovation at DBHIDS. “It is important for us to say to providers as a whole ‘please no discrimination.’ We’re not going to allow that on public dollars.”

Lamb added that the city is not mandating treatment centers to distribute these medications, but simply not to turn people away who are utilizing them.

Barriers to receiving methadone or other medications persist. Some in the recovery community contend that taking any form of pill means a patient is not really clean. Others distribute medication only for a short time — one or two weeks maximum. And then there is the issue of insurance companies, which tend to limit the availability of buprenorphine, for example, to patients on Medicaid.

“We are a stigma-driven field,” Lamb said. “We have people preoccupied with these philosophies that do more harm than good and, right now, we need to do as much good as possible.”

Across the Delaware River in New Jersey, tackling opioid addiction has become a top priority for Gov. Chris Christie. Recent legislation has taken treatment authority out of the hands of insurance companies and placed it in the care of recovery centers.

This means that the length and type of treatment is determined not by what patients can afford, but by what they need, said David Dorschu, CEO of Recovery Centers of America at Lighthouse in Mays Landing.

His facility offers the full continuum of care, starting with detoxification and moving into residential. The first phase takes about seven days to complete. The second stage is ongoing and can last up to six months depending on the severity of the disorder.

From there, patients undergo intensive therapy in a group and privately. Families are welcome to participate. Care continues outside the center when patients are ready to return home. Medication-assisted treatment is just one of the components to recovery, Dorschu said.

“If you need it, if it works, then do it,” he said. “We have to get people into a position where they can receive treatment fully.”

Lighthouse has 34 detoxification beds and 19 residential beds. The facility is typically filled to capacity, which Dorschu sees as a sign that people are getting the help they need. Lighthouse will be adding another 100 beds starting this summer.

Recovery Centers of America is also expanding facilities in the Philadelphia region, signaling an ongoing collaboration between Pennsylvania and New Jersey as both states fight against opioid addiction. RCA will break ground in the fall on a new center at the former Devon Manor near Wayne.

Recently, officials from six counties, including Philadelphia and Camden, met to discuss a partnership. Spearheaded by Councilman-at-large David Oh, the group agreed to communicate about each county's efforts via emails and video calls.

Lamb said this joint effort, coupled with removing stigma from treatment centers, is just the start of a more comprehensive approach. Philadelphia is also eyeing efforts to develop a better pathway to treatment for people in their teens and younger.



Photo Credit: AP

Wawa Welcome America Announces Headliner

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The biggest festival of the summer is coming to Philadelphia and Wawa has finally announced the big act. Wawa Welcome America will come to Philadelphia on July 4th.

Bucks County Ice Rink Water Contamination

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Bucks County's Revolution Ice Rink's water was found contaminated by the township after the rink used solely well water. This, authorities say, went against the advice of the township.

NBC10 Responds: Fake Check Scams

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After one woman was scammed out of $1,000 because of a bad-check scheme, she's now warning others to beware. NBC10 has tips so you can avoid being scammed.

New Jersey Crews Prepare for "Operation Fallout"

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If a terror attack hit New Jersey, would emergency personnel know what to do? On Friday, crews in Burlington County put themselves to the test with Operation Fallout.

NBC10 First Alert Weather: NFL Draft Weather

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Saturday may bring some rain to our region, but plenty of people in our region are looking ahead to what weather the NFL Draft will bring to our area. NBC10's Erika Martin has the details.


Battleship Gets Makeover for Comcast Cares

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More than 400 volunteers pitched in to give the Battleship New Jersey as part of the "Comcast Cares" program. Comcast is the parent company of NBC10.

Kathy's Cuts: Women Donate Hair for Children's Wigs

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Nearly 150 people are cutting their hair for children in need. The hair makes real wigs for children for whatever the reason is.

This NJ Virtual Reality Ride Will Have Your Skin Crawling

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A New Jersey theme park is unveiling what it calls the world's tallest and fastest virtual reality drop ride that will prey on people's fears of heights and spiders.

Clinton Foundation Helps Supply Narcan to College Campuses

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With an unrelenting opioid crisis hitting home across the country, the Clinton Foundation is taking steps to ensure colleges have the resources to save a life from a drug overdose.

The Clinton Health Matters Initiative, an arm of the Clinton Foundation, is linking up Adapt Pharma, the makers of the opioid overdose reversal drug Narcan, to distribute 40,000 doses to college campuses around the country. The drug is can be administered via a nasal spray or through an injection.

Colleges can apply here to receive four free cartons of Narcan, which is equal to eight doses. 

The partnership started in February of 2016. Adapt Pharma also offers a free Narcan kit to all high schools across the United States.

The Clinton Foundation says that schools in more than 20 states have reached out to become partners in the initiative. In the region, Bryn Mawr College and Arcadia University have opted into the program. In other parts of Pennsylvania, Carnegie Mellon and Bucknell are partners.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 91 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose. Their data also says heroin and opioid use has risen with college students. Their data says people 18-25 years old saw a 109-percent increase in opioid use in the last decade.



Photo Credit: Adapt Pharma

NBC10 First Alert Weather: Scattered Showers and Cool Temps

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Before heading outside, make sure to pack the umbrella. NBC10 First Alert Meteorologist Tammie Souza is tracking scattered showers throughout the day in your full 10 day forecast.

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