Over a month after Mayor Michael Nutter announced plans to sell Philadelphia Gas Works, the CEO of the private company that wants to buy PGW is speaking out for the first time.
NBC10’s Daralene Jones spoke one on one with Jim Torgerson, the CEO of UIL Holdings. Watch excerpts from their interview in the videos embedded below.
READ: Questions and Answers on the PGW Sale
A father is recovering after police say he was stabbed in his garage after dropping his children off at the bus stop.
Police say the victim dropped his kids off at the bus stop along Galestown Road around 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday in Chesterfield Township, N.J.
The father then returned to his home and entered his garage when he was suddenly confronted by an unidentified man.
Police say the suspect stabbed the victim in the abdomen before fleeing the scene.
The victim was taken to the Capital Health Regional Medical Center where he remained in stable condition.
The suspect is described as a 5-foot-10 man weighing 160 pounds with a beard. Police also say he was wearing a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt.
Police searched the area on Tuesday and put nearby Chesterfield Elementary School on lockdown but were unable to find the suspect.
If you have any information on his whereabouts, please call the Chesterfield Township Police Department at 609-291-0912.
Police say three people, including the suspect, are in the hospital after a home invasion led to a double shooting and stabbing in Wilmington Manor, Delaware.
Investigators say a man entered an apartment in the Hampton Walk Apartment Complex on the 1600 block of New Jersey Avenue around 9:15 p.m. on Tuesday.
According to police, the armed suspect shot two people inside the apartment. Police say a struggle then ensued and the suspect was stabbed in the process.
The suspect and the two victims were all taken to Christiana Hospital. Police have not yet revealed their conditions.
Stay with NBC10.com for more updates on this developing story.
Click here for more news from the Delaware, South Jersey and Pennsylvania area.
A freight train hauling hazardous materials derailed this morning at a Philadelphia signal crossing causing a major road to be closed for hours.
Two rail cars went off the tracks blocking Aramingo Avenue between Castor Avenue and E Butler Street in the Port Richmond section of the city around 3:15 a.m.
The derailed cars remained blocking the road for hours before they were lifted out of place, the track was repaired and the road was reopened.
The rail crossing in the industrial/commercial area flashed and bells rang for some time as the derailed nine-car freight train remained in the middle of the road near a ShopRite store for hours.
There were no injuries and luckily none of the tanker cars overturned or leaked.
A Conrail spokesman said that it appeared that the tanker cars jumped the rail and landed in the mud after the actual rail cracked. NBC10 cameras captured the cracked rail.
The spokesman said that the tanker cars were hauling flammable liquids including acetone in two cars and phenol in the rest. Acetone is a common industrial solvent that is harmful if swallowed or inhaled.
Conrail said nothing leaked during the accident and there was no immediate threat to neighbors in the area.
Motorists were urged to avoid the area if at all possible as the cleanup continued.
NBC10's Jillian Mele suggested taking Frankford Avenue or Richmond Street to avoid Aramingo Avenue. She warned however to expect heavier volume on nearby roads.
The seven cars that remained on the tracks were detached from the derailed cars around 6 a.m. It isn't clear when the remaining derailed cars will be cleared. Heavy equipment was brought in to remove the cars.
The rail cars were removed just before 9 a.m. but the road remained closed as crews worked to repair the track. About 30 minutes later the road reopened to traffic.
Conrail crews remained on the scene investigating and making further repairs.
The track was inspected within the last month, a federal requirement.
Conrail is owned by Norfolk Southern and CSX, the railroad company that was under scrutiny last month by city council for its safety and maintenance practices.
"We're going to make sure they are focusing on investing in their infrastructure to make sure incidents don't take place in the future," said Philadelphia city councilman Kenyatta Johnson. "It starts with leadership and although we don't have regulation over our railways, that's not a reason for us to not get involved."
Another recent train derailment in Philadelphia prompted Johnson to hold hearings about railroad safety in which officials with CSX testified.
"We have to call them out, through our hearings," Johnson said. "If you're going to do business here in the city of Philadelphia you should be held accountable."
Young people playing with a gun landed a teenager in the hospital overnight, according to Philadelphia Police.
Police were called to the 3500 block of Jasper Street in the city’s Kensington neighborhood around 11 p.m. Tuesday night to investigate a shooting.
According to investigators, a 17-year-old and his friend were playing with a gun inside a home along that block when the firearm went off.
The bullet struck the unidentified teen in the arm. He was rushed the Temple University Hospital where he remained in stable condition Wednesday morning.
Police didn’t say if anyone would be charged in the case.
This shooting comes just days after a series of other shootings of children in the city.
On Sunday, an 11-year-old was shot in the back near Temple University.
On Saturday, Police say a 2-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his 11-year-old sister in their Mantua home while their mother was just down the hall in the bathroom.
And two Sundays ago, a 17-year-old was shot in the face in a Spring Garden apartment. His 22-year-old friend, who he considered a "brother" was arrested later in the week.
Vaping, or puffing on an electronic cigarette, will soon be banned in indoor public places in Philadelphia.
On Wednesday, Mayor Michael Nutter will sign recently passed City Council legislation that bans the use electronic cigarettes in restaurants, bars and workplaces and bars minors from purchasing the devices.
The legislation basically categorizes vaping the same way the city categorizes smoking a traditional cigarette.
Last month, every member of Philadelphia City Council said using an e-cigarette is no better than smoking a regular cigarette and should be banned in public places. Council members voted 15-0 to categorize e-cigarettes the same way that regular tobacco cigarettes are treated -- meaning the vapor-producing products would be banned in most public places and those under 18 would be prohibited from buying them.
After Nutter signs the bill today vaping in public will remain public until the law goes into effect in July.
City Councilman Bill Greenlee introduced the legislation that bans e-cigarettes in public under the "Public Places-Prohibited Conduct" section of city code and restricts the sale of the devices to minors.
New York, Chicago -- and the entire state of New Jersey -- are among the municipalities that have already banned electronic-cigarette vapor from public spaces.
Greenlee says the sale of electronic cigarettes to children needed to be banned citing potential safety concerns.
Those caught selling the e-cigarettes to minors could be fined $250 or have their business shut down for some time if several violations are uncovered, according to a copy of the bill obtained by NBC10.com. The bill also requires those under the age of 27 to be carded.
The battery operated devices heat flavored liquids and produce a vapor which is inhaled by the user. The process is called "vaping." The liquids could contain nicotine or simply flavoring.
Not everyone is happy with the ban. Vaping advocates say there isn't enough research on e-cigarettes and that this new measure would be nearly impossible to enforce.
the crusade against #vaping and #eCigs is just a method of protecting #tobacco. medical consensus is that they're not only safe but harmless
— »»–VincePicariello–» (@VincePic) March 20, 2014
Vaping advocates let their voices be heard when City Council voted to ban the devices.
Minors have been increasingly been using the devices. A recent survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found e-cigarette use has doubled among middle school students. Use by high schoolers has also jumped.
A report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association of Pediatrics found that vaping is a gateway for teens to use regular cigarettes.
Opponents of the devices say their use by children and teens mimics cigarette use and could instill bad habits. Medical professionals have also highlighted concerns about a lack of regulation and testing to understand what is actually in e-cigarette liquids, which are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.
"Based on the limited data that we have seen, I think it is imperative that we keep these devices out of the hands of minors now. We need to protect people, especially minors from the deadly smoking habit.” Greenlee said in a statement.
Once law, Philadelphia will become the first city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to regulate the sale of the devices. A state senate bill, currently making its way through the legislature, would also ban the sale of e-cigarettes and other nicotine products like nicotine gum to minors.
A woman returning to her car in a New Jersey mall parking lot was accosted by two teenagers who tried to pull her out of the vehicle and take her car keys, police say.
The 34-year-old woman called 911 after her encounter with the would-be carjackers shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday in the south parking lot of the Garden State Plaza, police said.
She told police she was sitting in her car when the teens opened her unlocked doors and tried to force her out. One of the suspects grabbed the car keys from her hand, but the teens ran away after the woman struggled with them.
Responding officers caught the teens, who had split up while fleeing, in nearby residential backyards. The 16-year-old Passaic boys were booked and charged with carjacking and resisting arrest at Paramus Police headquarters.
They remain in Bergen County Juvenile Detention Center in Teterboro without bail, according to police.
The victim declined medical attention.
In December, a 30-year-old lawyer from Hoboken was shot and killed by alleged carjackers as he and his wife returned to their Range Rover in the parking deck of The Mall at Short Hills. Dustin Friedland's widow has filed a lawsuit in her husband's death.
Police hope surveillance video of a shooting inside a late-night Philadelphia takeout restaurant helps detectives capture the gunman and his getaway driver.
Customers fought back when a man tried to rob the Good Good Chinese food take-out at E Cambria and Rosehill Streets in the city’s Kensington neighborhood.
The entire incident was caught on surveillance video that shows the customers struggling with the would-be thief.
Philadelphia Police said that three friends were waiting for their food shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday when a man armed with a .45-caliber handgun burst in and demanded money.
A fight ensued.
“It’s a pretty violent struggle,” said Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small. “Sometime during the struggle (shots were) fired and our 50-year-old victim was shot in the abdomen.”
The fight wasn’t over.
“A 54-year-old companion of our victim was able to wrestle the weapon from our perpetrator after the (gun) discharged,” said Small.
The suspect then got some help to make his escape.
“We believe, according to the videotape, (he) was with a female accomplice who then entered the store and intervened in the fight and started fighting on behalf of the perpetrator,” said Small.
Both suspects then fled the store empty-handed and jumped into a Dodge Durango before speeding off.
The victim was rushed to Temple University Hospital where he underwent surgery and is expected to survive.
Anyone with information on the suspects is asked to contact Philadelphia Police.
Materials in a Philadelphia clothing store fed a blaze that destroyed a more than 100-year-old building, devastated a 60-year-old business and disrupted traffic in Old City Wednesday.
The Suit Corner store at 3rd and Market Streets ignited a few minutes after 9 a.m. on Wednesday. About 40 minutes later, a second alarm was raised as the store owner Gary Ginsberg watched his business become engulfed in flames.
"60 years in business," said Ginsberg before breaking down. "I just lost my mother like three weeks ago and now this is happening."
"It is a major catastrophe," he said while choking back tears. "This is the only thing I know how to do in life."
Ginsberg said he and his eight employees smelled smoke and discovered the fire around 9:05 a.m.
Two people grabbed extinquishers and sprayed the flames, which erupted suddenly in a window display near some electrical wiring, he added.
But their efforts weren't enough.
"Everyone got out of the store safely and then it just exploded like a big fire ball," Ginsberg said.
The first fire company arrived at 9:18 a.m. -- three minutes after receiving reports of smoke -- to find the flames already tore through the bottom three floors of the four-story building, according to Philadelphia Fire Dept. Chief Eric Fleming.
“If the 4th and Arch [fire house] was open, they might have been here maybe a minute sooner," Fleming said. "However the conditions upon arrival, the fire had already gained significant headway and getting here a minute or two earlier would have made no difference in it being an extra-long fire."
Flames burst through the roof of the building and heavy smoke could be seen billowing from as far as 10 blocks away as 75 firefighters doused the blaze with water. Traffic was rerouted in the area as officials closed several Old City roads and SEPTA detoured several bus routes.
Officials reported the blaze under control at 10:37 a.m., but the blaze reignited around 12: 10 p.m. and crews could be seen soaking hot spots for at least another hour.
The building, which dates back to 1840, did not have any sprinklers since it was constructed before they were required, according to the city's Department of Licenses & Inspections.
Authorities reported one firefighter suffered a minor ankle injury battling the blaze after falling at the scene. The 41-year-old fireman was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital for treatment.
Hours later a second firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation, according to officials.
A tailor shop operates out of the brightly colored clothing store's second floor. The third and fourth floors were unoccupied.
The intense fire stunned nearby business owners, with several closing for the day while others remained open despite the clouds of smoke. At least one owner says she could feel the heat of the blaze from across the street.
“Just when I thought they got it out of control you could see flames coming on the second, and then the third," said Pat Hillman, who works at the Artist & Craftsman Supply at 307 Market St. "At one point I think I counted six or seven hoses on it.”
Hillman said firefighters did not evacuate her side of the street and that even with the chaos, she’s had customers. “I’ve had a couple of customers," she said. "People need their art supplies, what can I say?”
Suit Corner's sister store, The Shirt Corner, was located diagonally across the street and collapsed during a controlled demolition on March 13.
