A new report commissioned by the Transport Workers Union raises questions about oversight of airplane maintenance and inspections being carried out in foreign countries. Transport Workers Union International President John Samuelsen explains why his organization feels airlines are risking safety.
Union Report Raises Concerns About Outsourced Aircraft Maintenance
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Video Shows Officer Punching Woman During Beach Arrest
Police are investigating a viral video of an officer punching a woman while arresting her at the beach in Wildwood, New Jersey.
Emily Weinman, 20, of Philadelphia, was arrested Saturday and charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, aggravated assault by spitting bodily fluids at/on a police officer, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstruction and minor in possession of alcohol.
Video of the arrest shows three officers holding Weinman down on the sand. One officer punches her on the back of the head as they restrain her. A woman in the background repeatedly yells “stop resisting.”
Wildwood Commissioner of Public Safety Tony Leonetti told NBC10 Weinman assaulted one of the officers first by kicking him in the groin and then running away, which the video does not show. Wildwood Police also say at one point Weinman spat at one of the officers.
In a Facebook post, which by Monday morning was apparently taken down, Weinman stated she and her friend were first confronted by two officers. While she admitted to being in possession of alcohol while underage, Weinman claims she wasn’t drinking at the time and that the alcohol was closed. She also said she took a breathalyzer test which came back negative. After the test, Weinman says the officers still stayed with her and one officer followed her as she walked away to make a phone call.
“Therefore I asked them don’t they have something better to do as cops than to stop people for underage drinking on the beach, saying to that there’s so much more serious stuff going on,” Weinman wrote. “The cop said, ‘I was gonna let you go but now I’ll write you up’ and he asked my name.”
Weinman said she didn’t give the officer her name because she “didn’t do anything wrong.” Weinman claims the officer then announced he was going to arrest her and walked toward her to place her in handcuffs.
“I tripped and fell and the cop tackled me to the ground and smashed my head into the sand,” Weinman wrote. “At that point I blacked out and fought any way possible trying to get up and push him off me.”
Weinman wrote that she was “partly wrong in a way” for not giving the officer her name but that she didn’t want to do it because she was scared.
“Like I said I didn’t do anything wrong and anything could’ve been written on that paper, the whole situation was iffy and I didn’t trust it,” she wrote. “Especially being aware of the fact of how grimy law enforcement can be now a days.”
Since being posted on social media, the video has sparked debate, with some supporting the officers’ actions, others insisting that people wait for the entire story to emerge before passing judgment and others condemning what they believe to be excessive force from the officers.
Wildwood Police say an internal affairs investigation was immediately initiated on the incident and the officers involved were reassigned to administrative duty pending the outcome.
“Chief Regalbuto stated that while he finds this video to be alarming, he does not want to rush to any judgment until having the final results of the investigation,” a Wildwood Police spokesman wrote.
Leonetti also told NBC10 they’re waiting to see the body camera footage of the officer involved.
Police are asking anyone who witnessed the incident and has more video to contact Detective Lieutenant Kenneth Gallagher at 609-522-0222.
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Photo Credit: HewittLexy
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Drying Out for End of Memorial Day Weekend
After drenching rains ruined plans on Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend, many are hoping the drying weather will give them a positive close to the holiday weekend.
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Bucks Co. Woman Writes Book About Her 3-Legged Cat
Kimberly Palmucci of Bucks County adopted a cat who was being looked over due to a disability. She used the story of her cat in a children's book to inspire hope.
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Last Gasp Effort in Residents' Fight With Stinky Hog Farm
When the wind blows a certain way, residents know to head inside. Quickly. They claim the stench from an industrial hog farm on the edge of town is unbearable.
The gigantic "finishing" barn confines as many as 4,800 hogs. That many animals produce a lot of waste, and it's what Will-O-Bett Farm does with the liquid manure — applying tens of thousands of gallons to nearby farm fields — that prompted a nasty legal dispute with neighbors.
Pennsylvania law shields farms from most suits making a nuisance claim, helping Will-O-Bett prevail in the lower courts. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court must now decide whether it will hear the case after plaintiffs filed a last-gasp appeal this month.
"People spent their entire life working to pay the mortgage and they can't go outside now and sit on their own deck and have a glass of wine because it's putrid here," said Malcolm Plevyak, a recycling company owner so upset over the hog farm that he ran for and won local office.
Will-O-Bett's owner, Paul Dagostin, declined comment, citing the pending litigation. His lawyer, Lou Kozloff, called the plaintiffs' claims hyperbolic and unsubstantiated in a legal filing that asked the Supreme Court to decline the case. State regulators have found the farm to be in compliance and said it voluntarily implemented an odor-control plan even though it wasn't legally required.
Industrial farms known as concentrated animal feeding operations allow for more efficient production of beef, pork, poultry, dairy and eggs. They've also stoked concerns about animal welfare as well as air and water pollution. Lawsuits are common, including one filed in North Carolina that recently resulted in a federal jury verdict of nearly $51 million — later slashed to $3.25 million — against the hog-production division of Virginia-based Smithfield Foods.
Will-O-Bett, a 63-year-old family farm just outside Berwick, population 10,000, began raising hogs in 2013 under contract for Country View Family Farms, which is part of a conglomerate that includes the Hatfield Quality Meats brand of pork products. The farm fattens them from 60 pounds when they arrive to 270 pounds when they leave for slaughter.
Will-O-Bett stores the manure in a 1.6 million-gallon underground tank. The manure is applied to farm fields as fertilizer in spring and fall. The 40,000-square-foot barn that confines the hogs is ventilated frequently, neighbors say, with 10 gigantic fans pointed in the direction of town. The plaintiffs' lawsuit says about 1,500 residents live within a mile of the farm, which is also near schools, churches and a hospital.
The complaints began as soon as residents caught the first whiff.
Residents say they're forced indoors when the breeze carries the odor their way, unable to mow the lawn, tend the garden or use the pool. They say they can't open their windows or hang their wash out to dry.
"We want to enjoy our property," said John Molitoris, who lives down the street from Will-O-Bett. "We don't want to be hostages."
Molitoris and more than 100 other residents sued the farmers and Country View, but a judge cited the state's right-to-farm law in summarily dismissing their claims. A state appeals court agreed.
"We do not doubt that the plaintiffs are genuinely aggrieved by the odors associated with the Will-O-Bett's expanded/altered operation," Senior Judge Eugene B. Strassburger III wrote for Superior Court in March. "However, our Legislature has determined that such effects are outweighed by the benefit of established farms investing in expansion of agricultural operations in Pennsylvania."
State regulators, meanwhile, says Will-O-Bett has complied with all regulations. The Department of Environmental Protection has gotten numerous complaints about the farm over the years, but its inspectors have yet to find a single violation. The Department of Agriculture says the farm complies with its odor-management plan.
Neighbors have asked the high court to intervene, a longshot in the best of circumstances. The court accepts a fraction of the appeals it receives.
"I'm not doing it for money," said Kip McCabe, another plaintiff. "I just want the smell to stop."
Five years after Will-O-Bett began raising large numbers of hogs, other residents seem to have made their peace with the farm _ or at least become resigned to it. The ``NO PIG FACTORY' signs once found on many lawns have mostly disappeared. Most of the original plaintiffs have dropped out of the appeals.
Stacy Banyas said she's gotten used to the pigs.
"I don't know that it bothers me that much," said Banyas, pushing a stroller with her 3-month-old daughter on a night when the springtime air smelled of freshly mown grass, not pig waste. "I don't know that there's anything we can do about it, either.''
Photo Credit: Michael Rubinkam/AP
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First Alert Weather: Warm but Rainy Outlook in Days Ahead
NBC10 First Alert meteorologist Krystal Klei is tracking warmer weather in our future. Subtropical Storm Alberto might effect us come Wednesday night through at least Sunday morning.
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Siloam Golf Classic to Raise Awareness for AIDS/HIV
Sarina DiBianca, executive director of Siloam Wellness, and Katura Laadt, a Siloam volunteer, dropped by the studio to talk about their mission to bring a holistic understanding to AIDS and HIV as well as their upcoming golf classic. The event will be June 4 at Llanarch Country Club in Havertown.
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Memorial Day Ceremony Honors the Heroes Who Never Made it Home
Across the entire region, people are remembering those who gave their lives while fighting for our freedom. We take a look at the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" ceremony in which visitors decorate the graves of the men and women who gave their lives in military service.
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Memorial Day 2018 Parade in Delco Honored Fallen Vets
The annual Memorial Day parade in Media honored the veterans who have lost their lives protecting our country.
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What to Do if You Get an Unusually High Utility Bill
What should you do if you get an unusually high utility bill? NBC10 Responds breaks down the steps you can take.
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Memorial Day Events in Delaware
The weather wasn't great this Memorial Day but it didn't stop many Delaware residents from going out.
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NBC10 Investigators: Road Debris Leads to Deadly Crashes
The NBC10 Investigators discovered that road debris leads to hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries on America's highways. They take a look at where it happens most in our region.
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Philadelphia Latino Film Festival Returns for 7th Year
Marangeli Mejia Rabell dropped by the studio to talk about the 7th Annual Philadelphia Latino Film Festival happening June 1st through 3rd.
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Pennsylvania to Crack Down on Drunken Drivers
Federal highway records show drunken driving spikes during Memorial Day. An NBC10 Investigation reveals some states are not equipped to handle all the drunk drivers. Since the NBC10 Investigators' initial reporting, we found that soon may change in Pennsylvania.
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Breaking the Stigma of Drug Addiction in Delaware County
Delaware County District Attorney Kat Copeland and Executive Director of MVP Recovery dropped by the studio to talk about their upcoming event about breaking the stigma around drug addiction. Recovery is possible and the Breaking the Stigma Event at the Delaware County Bar Association on May 28 is working towards spreading awareness of that.
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Dog Shot, Killed After Attacking Boy in Philly
A dog was shot and killed after attacking a young boy in the Juniata section of Philadelphia Monday afternoon.
The pit bull attacked a 4-year-old son of its owner in an alley on the 4600 block of Shelbourne Street shortly before 3 p.m. Several neighbors tried to use sticks and a weedwacker to get the dog off of the boy.
"It bit his neck and took half of his skin off," Adrian Rodriguez, a witness, told NBC10. "A lot of his skin off and he was bleeding a lot. We saw a lot of people hit him with the weedwacker and everything else to stop him."
The pit bull eventually let the boy go and was trapped behind the home, police said. A neighbor then got a gun, witnesses said.
"He pulled his gun out, shot the dog, ran back inside someone's house, then changed his shirt," Hadi Bsharat, another witness, said.
The dog died from its injuries. The boy was taken to St. Christopher’s Hospital for children where he was listed in stable condition.
The boy's mother called authorities. Responding officers took the man who killed the dog into custody. Police later released the man without filing charges.
While officers walked him to a cruiser, the unidentified man said he thought killing the dog would help the child.
Rodriguez told NBC10 he saw the family pet often but never saw the dog act violently prior to Monday's incident.
"If someone would go through, like a car or anything, he would just bark at it every single time," Rodriguez said. "They trusted the dog but guess they thought wrong."
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Giant Chandelier to Hang Over Schuylkill River
A crane will hoist a 30-foot chandelier into the air each night of the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts. It runs June 1 through 10.
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Family Says Slain Philly Teen Was 'Executed'
Margie Dillon fought back tears as she stared at photos of her son.
“I’ll never really see him again,” she said. “Just through these pictures.”
Her son Ryan Dillon, 17, was on the 400 block of Hoffman Street in South Philadelphia Friday around 1 p.m. when a gunman opened fire. Dillon was shot four times, including once in the head and once in the stomach. He was taken to Jefferson Hospital where he was pronounced dead about a half hour later.
Dillon’s loved ones gathered at the scene of his murder Monday. They lit candles and consoled each other as they reminisced about the high school junior, who would’ve been 18 years old in two weeks.
“Everybody can tell you a funny story about him,” Dillon’s mother said. “Something goofy that he did to them or for them. He just wasn’t mean.”
Dillon’s parents told NBC10 he was “executed” though they have no idea why. They also said Dillon tried running for his life when the gunman opened fire.
“Everybody that knows me knows that I’m telling the truth,” Dillon’s father, John Dillon, said while in tears. “He was a good kid. He didn’t deserve this.”
As his family mourned, they also pleaded for help in their search for justice.
“Look in the mirror tonight and know that you know something and just do the right thing,” Dillon’s uncle, Mike Dillon, said. “That’s all they want.”
If you have any information on the shooting, please call Philadelphia Police.
A GoFundMe page was created to help with funeral costs and for a reward to help capture Dillon's killer.
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Expect Delays Along Ridge Avenue
Lanes will be closed along Ridge Avenue from 15th through 17th streets for repairs.
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Arson, Brick Through Window Target Montco School
Abington Police are searching for the person or people who they believe intentionally set fire to a storage shed and damaged the Center School on Hamilton Avenue Monday.
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