Philadelphia-native and NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain will be featured on new, limited edition Forever stamps -- just in time to spice up your holiday cards.
The Wilton Chamberlain Postal Stamp Committee worked for six years to achieve their dream of flooding post offices with Chamberlain stamps. After 55,000 signatures, the committee can now celebrate the success of making Chamberlain the first NBA player forever commemorated by stamp.
The stamp committee is hosting a ceremony in December featuring former and current NBA players to glorify the hard-earned stamp.
Chamberlain has been called an “unstoppable force” in the game and is best known for scoring 100 points in a single game.
The celebratory luncheon will take place Dec. 5 at 11:30 a.m. at 3801 Market St. Former NBA players Mike Bantom, Ollie Johnson, Tom Hoover and Wali Jones are scheduled to speak.
The stamp will be officially unveiled later that day during halftime of the Sixers-Oklahoma City Thunder game at the Wells Fargo Center.
Ebola has been ruled out for a patient being monitored at a Philadelphia hospital.
The patient recently returned from a trip to West Africa.
"Test results show the patient is not infected with the Ebola virus. All hospital operations continue as usual," said Susan Phillips, a hospital spokeswoman.
It is unclear when the patient first arrived at the hospital, what the patient's symptoms were or whether that person had any direct exposure to anyone with Ebola.
Phillips said HUP has spent several months preparing for the possibility of caring for a patient infected with Ebola.
Ugly, pitiful, horrible, sad -- those are just a few of the words Reading officials have used to describe the city's Christmas tree.
"It's a tree that doesn't belong to a city downtown," said Francis Acosta, Reading City Council president. "You can actually see through the tree. It's horrible."
The 50-foot Norway spruce, topped with a giant pretzel, stands at the corner of 5th and Penn streets. But the tree, which was taken from the city's Egelman Park, will be replaced Monday.
"The tree was already located," Acosta said Friday morning. "Our public works department is working on it as we speak."
The new -- and fuller-looking -- tree was donated, but the city is raising money to deck it out with lights, and ornaments, he said.
"We are raising at least 3,000 to 5,000 to decorate the tree," said Acosta, who added no taxpayer money is being used on this project.
A decorating party will take place on Black Friday.
This story was first reported by the Reading Eagle.
The small orange cat that survived a drive while trapped in an engine has left the veterinary hospital four weeks later.
"Mr. Biscuits has left the building!!!” wrote Metropolitan Veterinary Associates and Emergency Services on the kitty's Facebook page. “This afternoon, he was healthy enough to go to his foster home with The Grannie Project.”
The Facebook page was made to keep fans and well-wisher up to date on his recovery. It has received a ton of attention with animal lovers throughout the area posting pictures of their own pets and offering support for the recovering Mr. Biscuits.
The cat, who had to have his tail and ear amputated, is now in foster care while he continues to recover from severe burns he received while trapped under the hood of a car in the East Falls section of Philadelphia.
“Most cats that seek shelter in engines and are unfortunate enough to still be there when the car is turned on aren't as lucky as Mr. Biscuits," said a representative from the local vet hospital where Mr. Biscuits was treated. "Most of them are killed.”
A South Jersey police officer who claimed someone opened fire on him is now accused of lying and shooting up his own patrol car.
Da'Shaun Carr, 23, an officer with the Winslow Police Department, was charged Wednesday with third-degree False Public Alarms.
Carr activated an emergency button inside his patrol car on October 3 at New Brooklyn Park and called out on his police radio that someone was shooting at him, according to Camden County Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo.
Other officers scrambled to the scene but never recovered a weapon and did not have any leads.
One bullet hole was found in the windshield of the car. When investigators processed the cruiser, they found bullet fragments inside. Ballistic testing is underway to see if the bullet can be matched to a personal handgun investigators believe Carr used to fire at the windshield.
The accused officer has been with the department for about a year. Carr was suspended without pay.
Two or three people were hurt in a minor blast at an industrial building in New Jersey Friday morning, officials say.
Something caused an explosion in the back of the Technick Products building on St. Nicholas Avenue in South Plainfield, according to the office of the town's mayor.
The cause of the blast is unknown.
Roads by the building are closed while fire and police crews work to bring the situation under control.
Police investigating gun crimes in New Jersey shot and critically wounded a man they say jumped in a cab to avoid being interviewed and then later struggled with officers when they tracked him down, prosecutors say.
Essex County prosecutors say the suspect was shot at about 10 p.m. Thursday after the escape attempt and alleged struggle with police in Newark. The suspect, identified as 27-year-old Ibn Coates of Newark, was taken to University Medical Center in critical condition.
Prosecutors say Coates jumped in a taxi when officers tried to interview him at South Ninth Street and South Orange Avenue. The officers used a patrol car to pull the taxi over and Coates then bolted from the vehicle.
Officers chased him down on South Sixth Street, prosecutors say. The suspect allegedly struggled with an officer and was shot.
The officer was taken to the hospital for observation after the shooting and was later released.
Newark Police Director Eugene Veneable said the case was turned over to the Essex County Prosecutor's Office but didn't have any further comment.
No charges have been filed.
A grandmother and her granddaughter were hurt in a Gloucester City house fire Friday.
White smoke could be seen for miles as SkyForce10 approached the house in Gloucester City, New Jersey just before noon.
The 67-year-old grandmother was in critical condition at Cooper Hospital and her 27-year-old granddaughter in critical but stable conditions.
Fire officials believe the blaze at their corner house in the 700 block of Highland Avenue was accidental.
Identities of the women have not been released.
Residents were forced from their homes after a sinkhole opened up a Pennsylvania street.
A utility truck dropped into a sinkhole — formed due to a water main break — and landed on a gas line late Thursday night, leading officials to evacuate neighbors in the Bethlehem community.
Authorities evacuated residents living within 300 feet of the Norfolk Drive and Hampton Road intersection around 12:30 a.m. Friday — about an hour after the PPL Electric Utilities truck dropped into the gaping hole along the 1800 block of Hampton Road.
"He was sitting on a soft part of the soil," said Bethlehem Water and Sewer director Edward Boscola. "Even though the road bed is still in tact, the sinkhole opened up a void underneath the road bed. So when a heavy truck — like a PPL utility truck — parks there, it basically sinks in the hole."
The vehicle came to rest on a 4-inch gas line — which led to the evacuation so crews could determine whether it broke, according to officials.
The investigation showed the gas line remained intact and there was no leak.
The sinkhole opened around 11:15 p.m., nearly three hours after crews began investigating a water main break in the area, according to reports.
The break was located at 10:25 p.m. Crews worked to repair it until the sinkhole swallowed the truck and then resumed once the vehicle was pulled from the hole, The Morning Call reports.
The driver, who was in the vehicle during the accident, was not hurt.By Friday afternoon the sinkhole had sucked up a driveway and threatened the foundation of a home.
Boscola said they found significant damage to at least one local home where the driveway buckled.
Thousands of runners and many more spectators will descend on Philadelphia this weekend for the Philadelphia Marathon.
The 21st-Annual Gore-Tex Philadelphia Marathon will be held Sunday but events and road closures already got underway Friday.
For those of you who prefer driving over running in The City of Brotherly Love, here are the road closures you can expect along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway where the race is centered.
Friday:
Saturday:
There is also the Rothman Institute 8K starting at 7:30 a.m. Saturday followed by a Kids Fun Run at 10:30. Both begin at 22nd Street and the Parkway.
On Sunday, the race spreads out around the city going through Center City, Old, City, West Philadelphia, University City, Fairmount Park and Manayunk. The half and full marathon races both begin and end at 22nd and the Parkway.
Sunday:
Note: Parking at the Philadelphia Art Museum area will be very limited on Sunday. Motorists and pedestrians can expect significant delays when trying to cross roads or streets adjacent to the course. All streets are scheduled to reopen by 6 p.m.Sunday.
Also expect some extra volume around the Convention Center where the marathon expo will be held Friday and Saturday.
Mayor Michael Nutter plans to take part in the festivities even if he isn't running.
“The Gore-Tex Philadelphia Marathon is one of my favorite events of the year,” said Nutter. “From our historic sites along the course, to the enthusiastic fans that line the sidewalks, this race showcases some of the best elements of our great City. I’m looking forward to being out there at the Start/Finish line again this weekend to experience all the excitement of Race Weekend 2014.”
For more information click here.
A local college student who broke out in hives was "humiliated" after she was removed from a US Airways flight bound for Philadelphia Wednesday night for asking a flight attendant for a common allergy medicine.
"I started sweating and I started itching so I asked for Benadryl," said the Villanova senior who asked only to be referred to as Katie.
And that's when the interrogation began, according to the student.
"Flight attendants kept asking me the main trigger questions, the main symptom questions for Ebola," she said.
Katie, who was in Charlotte, N.C. for a medical school interview, was removed from the still-grounded plane. She received medical treatment and was put up in a hotel, paid for by the airline, and also rebooked on a flight for the next morning, according to US Airways.
Ebola "never came up," said Kate Cody, a representative for the airline.
It's common practice for a medics to check out any passenger who says they aren't feeling well, according to Cody.
"If a person is feeling sick before a plane takes off, they will be checked out."
A Burlington County mother shot her three kids in her bedroom before shooting herself, New Jersey State Police revealed Friday afternoon.
"We believe with fair confidence that we know who committed the shootings," Capt. Stephen Jones.
"The victims were the children of the mother that was shot," said Capt. Geoff Noble.
Noble characterized Jeaninne LePage as a suspect in the double homicide, attempted suicide inside a home on Holly Park Drive in Tabernacle, New Jersey Thursday morning.
"Jeaninne LePage is believed to have shot her three children then turned the gun on herself," said Noble.
LePage and her children were all found in her bed around 9:15 a.m. Thursday. Police found the weapon — which has been in the family for a long time — close to LePage.
Eight-year-old Nadia Harriman and her 14-year-old brother, Nicholas Harriman, died, according to New Jersey State Police.
Alexander Harriman, 11, remained in severely critical condition at Cooper University Hospital Friday, officials said. LePage, 44, also remained hospitalized at Cooper.
Neighbors identified the victims Thursday, but authorities waited to confirm their names until they family members, including the children's father who was located in Maryland, were informed of the deaths.
Another relative who lives in the house found the victims around 9 a.m. and called for help.
"When police got there, they found a really horrific scene,’ said Jones. The victims were found in the same room and police believe they were shot with the same handgun, which was found at the scene."
Neighbors said that LePage shared the bed with her children and was in financial troubles.
Investigators believe the shootings occurred sometime between 5 and 9 a.m.
Nine people live in the house. They have all been accounted for and were interviewed by police, who assured neighbors early in the investigation that there was no manhunt and no reason for anyone to feel threatened or alarmed.
LePage tried to hide the shootings, according to police.
"A pillow was used to muffle the gunshot sounds, which we believe is why the other members of the house didn't hear the gunshots," said Noble.
Investigators said they will determine what charges LePage will face if she survives.
The shootings shock the quiet community.
Members of the community organized a candlelight vigil Thursday night at Tabernacle's Town Hall, located at 163 Carranza Rd. At the vigil, children remembered their classmates.
Students and staff at Seneca High School — where Nicholas attended — had a moment of silence for the family Friday morning. Grief counselors were also on hand at local schools Friday to talk with grieving students and staff.
A trust fund was set up at PNC Bank under LePage-Harriman Memorial Fund.
