The father of Trayvon Martin will take the stage at a local university Saturday -- just days after the three-year anniversary of his son's death.
Tracy Martin will have a conversation with Philadelphia Daily News Solomon Jones in front of an audience as part of an evening of events that begin at 5 p.m. Saturday at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pa.
Dubbed "Letters to Trayvon: A Celebration of Black Men and Boys," the night will also feature the three winners of a citywide letter writing contest for high school students. The teens wrote letters "expressing how they felt when they heard about the death of Trayvon Martin," according to LettersToTrayvon.com.
The unarmed 17-year-old Florida boy was shot to death Feb. 26, 2012 by a neighborhood watch volunteer, George Zimmerman. Zimmerman said the fatal shooting was in self-defense and he was acquitted by a jury in July 2013 on all state charges.
As Jones' live interview begins at 7:30 p.m., a 48-hour social media campaign comes to an end. The online push was meant to "flood the internet with positive images of black men and boys, articles, quotes, poetry, and music that speaks to the challenges and triumphs of black men and boys," the website continued.
Using the hashtag #LTT2015, users began sharing images of Travyon in a hoodie, as well as shots of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and other civil rights leaders at 7:30 p.m. Thursday -- the time the Florida teen was pronounced dead.
General entrance to the event costs $10. Discounted tickets are available to Arcadia University students.
A VIP reception, which is $50 to attend, is hosted by The Black Male Development Symposium, Mission Inc. and Arcadia's Pan African Studies Program. Proceeds from the event benefit students attending the Black Male Development Symposium and the Trayvon Martin Foundation.
A Burlington County man struck a police officer with his car, dragging her nearly 40 feet before slamming into a patrol car early Saturday morning.
A 16-year veteran with the Riverside Township Police Department, Sgt. Amaya Urtasun, responded to reports of a suspicious vehicle in the Riverside Township Elementary School Parking Lot at 120 E. Washington St around 1 a.m., according to officials.
The driver, 23-year-old Brandon Belton, became uncooperative and refused to show the officer his hands, police said. He then shifted his vehicle into drive and started to speed away, hitting Urtasun and pulling her across the lot, investigators said.
Belton swerved towards a parked vehicle, which clipped Urtasun who was then thrown to the ground, authorities said.
He continued to speed through the lot until he slammed into an unoccupied Riverside Township Police cruiser that was parked in the lot's exit, officials said.
Officers then arrested Belton and the vehicle's passenger, 39-year-old Bonnie Manning, of Riverside.
Both suspects are facing multiple charges, including aggravated assault on a police officer, assault by auto, trespassing, resisting arrest and drug charges.
Urtasun suffered knee and abdominal injuries and was taken to Cooper University Hospital for treatment.
Fire fighters found a man's body inside a Chester County home after they extinguished a blaze early Saturday morning.
Crews responded to the fire on the 100 block of Scarlett Road, Kennett Square around 4 a.m., officials said.
Once they had the blaze under control, crews combed through the home and found a 55-year-old man dead, investigators said.
Authorities said they are classifying the fire as suspicious until they complete interviews with witnesses and an autopsy is complete.
They have yet to identify the victim.
The day before a missing Delaware mom turned 34, authorities announced a $10,000 reward for information that leads to locating the woman or the arrest of anyone involved in her disappearance.
Nefertiri Trader was last seen on June 30 around 4 a.m. being forced from the porch of her New Castle home and into her own car, according to information a witness provided to police. There has been no sign of the woman nor her vehicle since that summer day.
The $10,000 reward was announced last Friday as Trader's mom and three kids prepared to mark her 34th birthday without her.
"I’ll be fixing dinner for her birthday... She loves collard greens, spare ribs, and baked macaroni and cheese," the missing woman’s mother, Denise Trader, told NBC10, describing her favorite meal.
The reward comes after calls from Denise, who said she believes it would help bring Trader home.
New Castle County Executive Thomas Gordon authorized the reward --- which is unusual since municipal dollars are rarely available for missing persons cases. Funds mostly come from non-profits or private organizations, if at all.
Trader is described as 5-feet 6-inches tall and 124 pounds with brown eyes and brown hair. Her car is a silver 2000 Acura RL with Delaware plate 404893.
Anyone with information on the case is urged to contact New Castle County Police Detective DeSabatino at 302-395-8110. Tipsters can also call the Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333.
Contact Alison Burdo at 610.668.5635, alison.burdo@nbcuni.com or follow @NewsBurd on Twitter.
With the Pope’s visit to Philadelphia in September drawing millions of people to the city, there may be potential for shore houses to open their doors to those flocking in.
The World Meeting of Families will be hosting events all week long from Sept. 22 to Sept. 27 across the city, leading suburbs and nearby areas to open their doors as hosts for those spending a week for the congress.
New Jersey and Delaware are extremely popular locations for weekly rentals during the summer months, with areas like Long Beach Island, Seaside Heights, Rehoboth Beach, and many others offering beach-front properties for a variety of prices.
However, September can also be a very intriguing time for potential renters, said Steve Moran, a rental agent in the Long Beach Island area.
“The best-kept secret on LBI is, if you don’t have school-aged children, and you can do it, this place is paradise in September,” Moran said. “We have great Indian summers here.”
Moran added that he hadn’t gotten any calls from people asking about rentals during the weekend that the Pope is in Philly, but explained that he normally starts getting calls from people about fall rentals in June or July.
Visitors that are interested in a smaller portion of the World Meeting of Families schedule of events could spend a few days on the beach in addition to spending a few days in Philadelphia. It wouldn’t be much different than visiting the beach in the summer, Moran noted.
“Everything is still open,” Moran said. “Rates go down anywhere from 30 to 50 percent. The water is warm, it’s beautiful.”
A teenage girl was sexually assaulted in the Kensington section of the city.
The 16-year-old girl was walking on the 200 block of East Westmoreland Street around 3 p.m. Friday when she was approached by an unidentified man, police said.
The man forced the girl into a vacant property and sexually assaulted her before fleeing the scene, according to investigators.
Police have not yet released a description of the suspect.
Police are searching for a man accused of impersonating a police officer while displaying a handgun.
The unidentified man entered the New York Mini Market on the 1300 block of Kaighns Avenue in Camden, New Jersey Wednesday around 7 p.m. Once inside, he lifted his shirt and displayed an undershirt with the words “police” on the front as well as a handgun in his waistband, investigators said.
The suspect allegedly asked if he could buy a ski mask while telling a store employee he was an undercover police officer.
The suspect was wearing a Navy blue #40 Chicago Bears football jersey with orange stripes on the arms and the name “SAYERS” on the back. The man is also known to frequent the area of Thurman and Newport streets in Camden, according to police.
If you have any information on his whereabouts, call the Camden County Police Department tip line at (856) 757-7042.
A teenager is fighting for his life after he was shot five times inside a store in the Germantown section of the city.
The 18-year-old victim was inside a store on the 5200 block of Germantown Avenue around 3:05 p.m. Saturday when an unidentified gunman opened fire.
The teen was struck three times in the chest, once in the elbow and once in the face. He was taken to Einstein Hospital where he is currently in critical condition.
The gunman fled in a Burgundy and Grey Hyundai Santa Fe driven by an unidentified woman, investigators said. The vehicle was last seen traveling eastbound on Ashmead Street.
No weapons were recovered and no arrests have been made.
This story is developing. Stay with NBC10.com for more details on this developing story.
The new Miss Philadelphia was crowned Saturday night.
Julia Rae Schlucter, 22, of Wayne, Pennsylvania beat 13 other contestants to take home the crown. She attends Fordham University.
The 94th annual event took place at the Kurtz Center for the Performing Arts at William Penn Charter School. The contestants were interviewed by a panel of judges and then performed on stage in talent, evening gown, question and lifestyle, fitness and swimwear competitions.
As Miss Philadelphia, Schlucter will act as an ambassador for the city and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. She will also compete in the 2015 Miss Pennsylvania pageant in June.
Samantha Renck, 17, of Newtown, Pennsylvania, won the Miss Philadelphia Outstanding Teen competition.
Two teenagers were arrested and a third is expected to turn himself in in connection to several robberies in the Fairmount and Spring Garden sections of the city.
One robbery occurred at Benjamin Franklin High School on North Broad Street on Feb. 11 at 12:09 p.m.
The 18-year-old victim told police he was in the stairwell area when he noticed five teenagers. One of the teens said something but the victim could not understand him due to a language barrier.
Two of the teens then approached the victim from behind, grabbed his book bag and pulled it off of him along with his jacket. Two other teens then stood in front of the victim. One teen grabbed the collar of his shirt and punched him in the chest while another grabbed his wrist and the two started struggling, police said.
One of the teens then reached into the victim's pocket, took his cellphone and threw it to the floor. They then went through the victim's pockets again, pushed him against the wall and fled out the door after another student entered the stairwell.
The 18-year-old suffered a bruised wrist.
On Feb. 20 at 3:45 p.m., a 13-year-old boy was walking north on the 700 block of North 22nd Street from Fairmount Avenue when he was approached from behind by four teenagers, police said.
One of the suspects wrapped his arms around the boy’s neck and wrestled him to the ground. The teens then stole the boy’s iPhone and fled the area. The boy suffered injuries to his lip and cuts to his left hand due to the attack.
Police said all four suspects are between the ages of 14 and 16.
Two 15-year-old boys turned themselves in Friday night in connection to the incidents as well as another robbery at Benjamin Franklin High.
Investigators also said the teens may have also been involved in three other Philadelphia robberies, including one in which a woman was sprayed with mace.
Police told NBC10 a third teen is expected to surrender Monday. They continue to investigate.
A man charged with opening fire during a municipal meeting in Pennsylvania, killing three people, is competent to stand trial, a judge has ruled.
Defense attorneys argued that Rockne Newell has a long history of mental illness and refuses to discuss what happened at the August 2013 supervisors' meeting in the Pocono Mountains community of Ross Township, instead rambling about conditions at the jail.
The defense request to find Newell, 60, unfit for trial in Monroe County and send him to a mental health facility for treatment was denied by Judge Joseph Cronin of Delaware County. Cronin ruled that Newell's refusal to cooperate with his attorneys stems from his choice rather than an inability to do so.
Authorities allege that Newell killed township zoning officer David Fleetwood and residents Gerard Kozic and James LaGuardia and wounded a fourth person because he was upset after losing his property after a lengthy court battle with the township. Officials said they acted on complaints that Newell, a junk dealer, lived in a storage shed, built an illegal culvert and used a bucket outside as a toilet.
Newell, who has lost at least 75 pounds during his incarceration, complained at an earlier hearing that the jail hadn't been feeding him properly. The judge said a lawsuit Newell filed in December against the prison warden did not demonstrate incompetence but rather "an attempt to control his immediate environment," WNEP-TV reported.
Prosecutors have vowed to seek the death penalty if Newell is convicted of first-degree murder.
Monroe County President Judge Margherita Patti Worthington recused herself from the trial due to a conflict of interest and asked that a judge from another county be assigned to the case.
If the Spring Garden St. Bridges are part of your weekday drive, you better plan a new route because starting on Monday, March 2, travel restrictions are in place thanks to PennDOT's $6.6 million reconstruction project.
Only one lane in each direction will be open on the north side of the bridge from 31st St. to MLK Blvd and Anne D'Harnoncourt Dr. beginning Monday and continuing through late June from Mon. through Thurs. 7 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.
Trucks longer than 30 ft. will not be allowed to use the Spring Garden st. bridges or exit eastbound from 76 at Spring Garden during construction.
The right lane on 1-76 east from Spring Garden St. to 30th St. will also be closed Monday and Tuesday only, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. for barrier replacement on the shoulder. The shoulder, however, will be closed through late June.
Detours will be posted in the area.
PennDOT's project will replace joints, bearings and pier caps on both bridges. The roadway will also be resurfaced and drainage improved, said officials. The ramp leading to the westbound lanes of the Schuylkill Expressway will also be rehabbed and widened.
The project is expected to be finished this summer.
