Didn't have a chance to catch the news? Here are yesterday's top stories.
Little League Strips Chicago Team of U.S. World Series Title Amid Residency Questions
Little League International has stripped Chicago's Jackie Robinson West — the group of boys that eliminated Philadelphia's Taney Dragons — of its national title after finding the team falsified its boundary map.
Three Jackpot Winners in $564 Million Powerball Drawing
Three tickets in North Carolina, Puerto Rico and Texas matched all six numbers to win the jackpot in Wednesday's Powerball drawing, according to lottery officials.
Trial Begins for Ex-Marine Accused in "American Sniper" Murder
Shortly before he was shot to death by a troubled former Marine at a Texas gun range, legendary Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle texted a buddy, "This dude is straight-up nuts," a defense attorney told jurors Wednesday.
Victim of Police Beating Speaks Out After Arrest of Officers
A man who investigators say was viciously attacked by two Philadelphia Police officers over a year ago is speaking out for the first time.
IRS List: The Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2015
Aggressive phone calls top the Internal Revenue Service's list of "Dirty Dozen" tax scams in 2015. The government warned taxpayers to be aware -- the early weeks of filing season are when phone scams tend to be rampant.
Here are the 10 things you need to know to start your day from your friends at NBC10.
TODAY'S TOP STORY
Mom Arrested in Child's Wallet Theft: Police have arrested a pregnant New Jersey mother accused of having her 4-year-old child steal a woman's wallet from a shopping cart at a Target store earlier this month. The 24-year-old woman was captured on surveillance video after a customer called to report her purse had been stolen from her shopping cart, and saw a child around the age of 5 pluck it from the cart and hand it to her mother.
The mother allegedly spent $40 in cash from the stolen wallet and made more than $1,000 in credit card purchases at a nearby mall. Now police say they're looking for another woman who was captured on surveillance video leaving the store with the pregnant mom. Read more on the bizarre theft here.
YOUR FIRST ALERT FORECAST
Clouds are moving in today. Expect to see some scattered snow showers this afternoon followed by some gusty winds. High temp: 40 degrees. Get your full NBC10 First Alert forecast here.
WHAT YOU MISSED YESTERDAY
Little League Strips Chicago Team of U.S. World Series Title: The group of boys that eliminated Philadelphia's Taney Dragons has been stripped of national title. Little League International rescinded Chicago's Jackie Robinson West team's title after finding the team falsified its boundary map. The league made the announcement Wednesday morning, saying the Chicago team violated regulations by placing players on the team who didn't qualify because they lived outside the team's boundaries.
AROUND THE WORLD
Putin Announces Cease-Fire in Ukraine Conflict: Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a ceasefire to the fighting in eastern Ukraine on Thursday. The ceasefire will take effect at midnight on Feb. 15. The statement came after marathon talks between leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany. More than 5,300 people have died since April in the fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists in two eastern provinces.
TODAY'S TALKER
Historic Powerball Drawing: We have a Powerball winner! In fact, there are three. Lottery officials say three winning tickets matching all six numbers were purchased in North Carolina, Puerto Rico and Texas. The lucky winners will share a $564 million jackpot prize, the fifth largest prize in U.S. history, and the third-largest Powerball. Don't fret if you weren't one of the three jackpot winners. An additional 33 winning tickets were sold matching all numbers except for the Powerball. Those tickets are worth $1 million.
SPORTS SPOT
St. Joe's, LaSalle, 'Nova Win Big: Three local college basketball teams had a good night on Wednesday as all three teams defeated their opponents. Villanova beat Providence, LaSalle defeated VCU, and St. Joe's pulled out a one point win against Rhode Island. Get your full sports news at CSNPhilly.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
See more Top News Photos here.
THROUGH IGER'S EYES
This cool photo by @pkstromh captures Boathouse Row all lit up from across the Schuylkill River. The houses on Boathouse Row house Fairmount Park’s recreation center, Lloyd Hall, and ten local rowing clubs that are members of the Schuylkill Navy of Philadelphia.
Have an awesome Instagram photo you'd like to share? Tag it with #NBC10Buzz.
TODAY'S VIRAL VIDEO
Watch here as The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon and Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan take turns reading lines from the steamy novel using different accents.
A LITTLE SWEETENER
SNL Turns 40, Cast Members Reflect: Popular comedy sketch series Saturday Night Live is celebrating it's 40th anniversary this weekend with a show that promises to be memorable, as cast members who have gone on to super stardom after being on the show are expected to return to the set for some good old fun. Watch here as some of the current SNL cast members reflect on their favorite moments on the show.
That's what you need to know. We've got more stories worthy of your time in the Breakfast Buzz section. Click here to check them out.
The 2016 Democratic National Convention will be held in Philadelphia, party leaders announced Thursday.
Philadelphia beat out two rival cities for the chance to host the party’s nominating convention in July 2016. Both Brooklyn and Columbus, Ohio, were in the running through the final round of the bidding process.
Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz said the city’s “deep rooted place in American history provides a perfect setting for this special gathering.”
“I cannot wait to join Democrats across the country to celebrate our shared values, lay out a Democratic vision for the future, and support our nominee,” she said.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter said the city's "proven track record of hosting big events safely and efficiently with a dynamic team of top-tier professionals to organize and manage a conference of this magnitude, paired with our City's tremendous amenities, its accessible location and historical significance" made it an ideal pick.
"We're all delighted to make history again, here in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection," he said.
The final contract between the DNC and Philadelphia was signed Thursday, Wasserman Schultz said. The convention will take place the week of July 25, 2016. The decision was made following a meeting between Wasserman Schultz and President Barack Obama Wednesday night in the Oval Office, a source involved in the selection process confirmed to NBC10.
"The president enthusiastically signed off," said the source.
The meeting of Democratic politicians and delegates will be the second major event for the city in less than a year's time. In September, millions are expected to flock to Philadelphia to see Pope Francis during the 2015 World Meeting of Families.
Philadelphia last hosted a national convention in 2000, when Republicans gathered there. Republicans have already announced plans to hold their 2016 nominating convention in Cleveland.
Powerball tickets worth $1 Million and $2 Million were sold at stores in New Jersey and Pennsylvania according to lottery officials.
A ticket matching all five white balls was purchased at Domestic & Imported Beverage on Baltimore Pike in Glenn Mills, Delaware County according to a release issued by state lottery officials.
A ticket matching all five white balls, with the powerplay option worth $2 Million was also purchased in north-central Pennsylvania. That ticket was purchased at Unity Food Mart in Muncy, Lycoming County
New Jersey lottery officials announced Thursday that a ticket matching all five white balls, worth at least $1 Million was sold at Florham Park Liquors in Florham Park Morris County.
New Jersey reported ten third-prize winning tickets were also sold in the state, worth between $10,000 and $30,000 depending on if the buyers opted for the powerplay.
Three tickets in North Carolina, Puerto Rico and Texas matched all six numbers to win the more than $500 Million jackpot in Wednesday's Powerball drawing, according to lottery officials.
The winning numbers in Wednesday's drawing were: 11, 13, 25, 39, 54 and the Powerball 19.
Next Saturday's drawing will be worth $40 million.
A two-year-old boy was hit and killed by a SEPTA trolley Thursday in an accident that left witnesses and rescuers distraught.
“We were all standing there but we couldn’t do anything,” said Antoine Gardiner who runs a business in the West Philly neighborhood near 51st and Lancaster Avenue, where the accident happened. “The mother was chasing behind the trolley, screaming and trying to get it to stop. It was horrible.”
The mother and another woman were crossing the street around 1 p.m. with the little boy. Somehow, he broke loose from one woman and may have been running toward the other when he was struck by the trolley, Gardiner said.
“So the mom was running after the trolley and then people on the trolley were screaming to the driver, ‘Stop! You hit a kid!’”
When the trolley came to a stop about a block away, Gardiner said he and other witnesses ran to see if they could help, but the boy was pinned underneath the trolley “and there was nothing we could do and then the rescuers they tried to lift the trolley up, but couldn’t. Nobody could do anything and then at one point we just had to walk away because we didn’t want to see it anymore.”
Paramedics arrived five minutes after the 911 call and determined the child was dead. Firefighters eventually were able to lift the trolley to recover the boy’s body. His family, who moved into the neighborhood recently, according to Gardiner, was led away by police.
There's a new police horse in town and he needs a name.
The New Castle County Police Department Mounted Patrol Unit announced a contest Thursday to rename the latest addition to the team.
The 5-year-old dark bay Clydesdale traveled to the New Castle County unit from Ontario Canada late last year with the name Tyson according to police.
Police said they decided Tyson needed a new name because the unit already has a horse named Titan which has caused confusion for the horses.
The renaming contest is open to New Castle County children in grades 3-8. Entrants must include an essay with their name submission explaining why they chose the name.
Tyson's new name was scheduled to be announced March 28 at the Country Spring Festival at Carousel Park & Equestrian Center.
Further information about the contest could be found on the police website.
This year's Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) will accept applications until March 31 according to PECO.
More than 30,000 PECO customers have received $8.2 million in LIHEAP assistance this winter to help pay heating bills.
LIHEAP is a federal program that provides assistance to individuals who are having trouble paying their heating bills. Homeowners, renters and subsidized housing tenants may be eligible for assistance.
The program provides cash grants up to $1,000 per customer. Grants are based on household size and income, type of fuel used and county of residence.
To be eligible, annual household income cannot exceed 150 percent of the federal poverty income guidelines outlined below:
• $17,505 one-person household
• $23,595 two-person household
• $29,685 three-person household
• $35,775 four-person household
Customers can apply immediately by calling 1-800-34-HELP-4, visiting peco.com/help, or by visiting PECO's District Office at 2301 Market Street in Philadelphia.
The NBC10 Investigators found Pennsylvania firefighters wasting valuable time driving extra miles to emergencies. The investigation found weight restricted bridges were standing in the way.
State inspection records show more than 1,000 closed or weight-restricted bridges across the commonwealth.
The NBC10 Investigators found many of these bridges near to or next firehouses.
In Sellersville, the fire department has to drive its heaviest truck nearly 6 minutes around a weight-restricted bridge to reach half the borough.
"It’s ridiculous,” Sellersville Fire President Bill Spaeth said. “The bridge should have been taken care of a long time ago."
Spaeth said he was concerned about reaching Sellersville Elementary School in an emergency. The school and fire house are separated by a weight-restricted and structurally deficient bridge.
"In a life-threatening situation 6 minutes is the difference between saving a life and not saving a life," Former Sellersville chief Harry McElhare said.
Sellersville’s North Main Street bridge is not unique. At 75-years-old, it is the average age of the 22,680 bridges in the state according to PennDOT. Its rebar shows through disintegrated concrete. Pieces of its pock marked under side fell to the creek it covers long ago.
"We have the oldest bridges in the country,” engineer Ann Tomalavage said. “We have the highest percentage of what we call structurally deficient bridges."
Tomalavage authored a report on behalf of the American Society of Civil Engineers regarding Pennsylvania’s infrastructure. The report gave the state’s bridges a "D+."
It says 23 percent of the commonwealth’s bridges are "structurally deficient" — the highest in the nation.
"The average for the other states is in the single digits," Tomalavage said.
Structurally deficient bridges aren’t necessarily dangerous unless there’s too much weight on them so PennDOT puts restrictions on many.
In Sellersville, the North Main street bridge is on PennDOT’s radar, but like so many bridges the state’s report on this bridge says, “There is no funding for final design or construction” of a new bridge.
Statewide, PennDOT is throwing $900 million at the problem — but the NBC10 Investigators found that only fixes 558 of the more than 5,000 bridges with a major structural issue according to the state.
Sixty-three of the state’s structurally deficient bridges are in Philadelphia: 115 are in Montgomery County and 122 are in Bucks County. The state’s $900 million rapid bridge replacement project will fix five bridges in Montgomery County, one in Bucks County and zero in Philadelphia.
"That's because of the complexity,” acting state Secretary of Transportation Leslie Richards said. “It doesn't mean Philadelphia is less important."
Richards said the state’s bridges are in such bad shape, they need to fix as many as possible as quickly as possible.
"We're looking at bridges that can be fixed quickly,” she said in an interview with the NBC10 Investigators.
State Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman helped pass the $900 million spending bill for bridge replacement.
"Any investment in infrastructure done wisely is a very good investment," Corman said. “It would be nice if our federal partners would jump in the pool with us and help out, but we didn't want to wait."
Secretary Richards said she plans to go to Washington to petition congress for more money to fix the state’s roads and bridges.
Currently, the federal highway trust fund contributes $1.5 billion to Pennsylvania roads and bridges. That fund will run dry in May unless a new funding source is approved by the U.S. Congress.
