Philadelphia’s Streets Department will begin collecting fall leaves from the city’s curbs Monday. The annual collection service will last six weeks.

But there are regulations to follow to ensure the leaves are picked up on the designated days for each neighborhood.

The streets department will only collect leaves that are neatly raked to the curb or in biodegradable paper bags. This reduces contamination so the leaves can be recycled. Additionally, residents are urged to avoid mixing trash into the bagged leaves since they won’t be usable.

The city carefully selected areas that receive a significant amount of leaf buildup -- mostly in northwest and Northeast sections of the city. People who wish to recycle or remove their leaves, but are not in an area selected for the collection program, can head to any one of five sanitation centers to drop off their bagged leaves or one of 23 locations spread out throughout the city on Saturdays (excluding the Saturday following Thanksgiving) frm Nov. 21 to Dec. 19.

Leaves can be also reused for personal composting.

A driver slammed into the back of a dump truck, spun out of control and struck a telephone pole -- dying instantly -- along a Bucks County road Wednesday morning.

Police said 30-year-old Ronald Kee Jr. of Philadelphia was driving a 2004 Saturn northbound on the 1700 block of Bustleton Pike in Upper Southampton Township around 9:45 a.m. when he crashed into a 2007 Mac tri-axle dump truck also traveling northbound.

The crash caused Kee Jr. to lose control of the vehicle and strike a telephone pole on the left side of the roadway. He was later pronounced dead at the scene by responding paramedics. The driver of the dump truck wasn't hurt.

Police continue to investigate the accident.

Officials are working to identify a girl who was found dead in the banks of the Delaware River in Northeast Philadelphia late Wednesday morning.

Police received a call reporting a body in the river off Linden Avenue and the Delaware Expressway Ramp near Pleasant Hill Park in the Torresdale section of the city around 11:15 a.m. The Marine Unit responded and found the body of a Hispanic girl in the river bank.

The girl's body was taken to the Medical Examiner's Office.

The father of a missing Philadelphia teenager told NBC10 he was contacted by authorities and would look at the body to see if it is that of his daughter, 14-year-old Pamela Flores. Flores was last seen Oct. 27 around 8:15 a.m. when she left her home to go to Frankford High School but never arrived.

Her family said Pamela's backpack and cellphone were found in the vicinity of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, which is about a 3-mile walk from the school.

"What we do know is that (the police) said they are looking into the water, because they saw someone jumping through surveillance cameras from the Tacony Bridge in dark clothes and think that perhaps could have been her," Monegro told Telemundo62. "Her things, a backpack and a cellphone, were found in New Jersey."

Philadelphia Police confirmed the case is an open investigation. They also said they viewed video of a female in dark clothing appearing to fall from the bridge.

Monegro said that the girl's parents recently moved from New York to Philadelphia and Pamela -- who stands around 4-feet, 11-inches tall and has dark curly hair -- doesn't know the area well.

Police have not yet confirmed whether the girl they found in the river Wednesday is Flores. They continue to investigate.

This story is developing. Refresh page for updates.

The report of a student with a gun led to the lockdown, and later early dismissal, of Frankford High School in Northeast Philadelphia Wednesday.

Police responded to the school on Oxford Avenue after someone called in a threat that there were two guns in the school, said Philadelphia School district spokesman Fernando Gallard.

Administrators quickly put the school on lockdown as police worked to find out if the threat was credible.

Initial reports led investigators to believe there is no gun at the school. K-9s, however, would still come in to search for any possible weapons, said the district.

With school set to dismiss early at 2 p.m. anyway, school officials decided to release students at 1 p.m. so that police could complete their investigation.

A school bus driver will be charged with traffic related offenses after she was caught on video texting while driving a bus full of students, according to police.

The driver will be charged with texting while driving, a motor vehicle charge under State Statute 75, Pennsylvania Vehicle Code.

Officials said the woman, who has not been publicly identified, was driving students to Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on October 28 when she began texting on her cellphone. A student recorded video of the driver as she continued to text.

"That kind of behavior is completely unacceptable and our students’ safety is our top priority," said Dr. Joseph Roy, Bethlehem Area School District Superintendent. 

Dr. Roy told NBC10 the driver was suspended immediately after the incident was reported to police.

Police say the driver will receive a summons in the mail.

Isaac Harrison is a fighter.

One month after being given 10-times the amount of chemotherapy he should have received, Isaac — who celebrates his first birthday this month — is surviving, but no one knows what the future looks like for this Philly boy.

"Sometimes he's doing good, sometimes he's doing bad," his father Kwamame Harrison said as he held his wife's hand and tried to hold it together emotionally. "He can't tell us when he's going through pain. All he can do is cry."

While Isaac was being treated for a rare and aggressive childhood cancer at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, someone made a mistake and he was given 30 milligrams of chemotherapy medication instead of 3.3 mg. That overdosing continued for five days before a member of the medical team caught the "typographic error," according to hospital documents.

"We are simply interested in trying to understand how this could have happened and really to prevent it from happening to any other young patients in the future," said Matthew Colavita, the family's attorney.

Isaac's father said he understands mistakes happen, but he doesn't understand how it happened more than once.

"It's kind of scary to think that kind of error can happen in a hospital, just from a decimal point," said Harrison.

When doctors broke the overdose news to Isaac’s parents, they apologized and warned “this error could have severe, life threatening…lethal consequences,” according to hospital records. Doctors at St. Christopher's also arranged for Isaac’s transfer to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where he’s currently undergoing treatment and surgery to remove part of the tumor. A spokeswoman for St. Christopher's said last month the hospital could not respond to specific concerns, citing privacy laws. "It remains the focus of St. Christopher's Hospital for Chldren to provide high-quality care to every patient we serve," Kelsey Jacobsen said.

Though Isaac's condition is improving overall, he remains critical and the days are tenuous, Colavita said. "We don't know the extent of the effects of the overdose."

Isaac is the youngest of five children, all under the age of 10. Family friends have set up a gofundme page to help his parents cover medical costs as well as day-to-day expenses.

Police are searching for three men who they say were wearing Halloween masks when they robbed a Family Dollar store in Bethlehem Township.

The suspects, one of whom was carrying a knife, entered the store on the 2900 block of Easton Avenue around 9 p.m. Monday and stole an undetermined amount of cash before fleeing the scene.

Store clerks told police all three men were wearing hooded sweatshirts. One man had on a skeleton mask, another was wearing a clown mask and another was wearing a white scarf over his nose and mouth, police said. Police said the man wearing the scarf was also carrying a large Bowie style knife.

If you have any information on the theft, please call Bethlehem Township Police at 610-814-6473 or e-mail astevens@bethlehemtwp.com

A Montgomery County mother is pleading for help after she says her son was bullied and beaten so badly that he can’t go back to school.

The 11-year-old 6th grade student, who we are not identifying, told NBC10 the attacks occurred at the A.D. Eisenhower Middle School in Norristown.

“I got physically assaulted after school,” he said. “They hit me.”

The boy says he was most recently attacked in mid-October when he was jumped by two teens as he was on his way home. He has not returned to the school since then.

“I also had to go to the E.R.,” he said. “I got a fractured nose. I also had a nose contusion and my eye was really swollen.”

NBC10 obtained letters the boy’s mother wrote to the Superintendent of the Norristown Area School District asking for the boy to be transferred to a different school. Other documents sent to the District were letters from a counselor and the Victims Services Center of Montgomery County informing the District that they were working with the boy.

In the letters to the school, the boy’s mother describes the four attacks which she says were carried out by the same two teens.

“The first time I got hit during computer class,” the boy said. “The second one they shoved my face into paint. They bit me once. I don’t really feel safe anymore at school. Too many times I got hit.”

The boy said he reached out to teachers and administrators after each attack. His mother says so far the school has refused to transfer him. NBC10 reached out to the Norristown School District for comment. While the District did not talk about the boy’s case or answer specific questions about the documents or mother’s claims, they did provide a statement:

Our goal is to ensure the safety and welfare of all children. There are appropriate policies and expectations in place in all our schools.

This case was brought to our attention and appropriate action is being regarding the specific student and other students that may have been involved.

Our principal, teachers, and school resource office have been vigilant about ensuring a positive experience for this child. We will continue to work together with the family toward that end.

Teach Anti- Bullying, a non-profit bullying awareness program, is currently helping the boy.
 

A heartbroken South Jersey mother says she lost the only way of communicating with her son when a thief stole his iPad.

Stacie Sanchez told NBC10 she was bringing groceries inside her apartment on Evergreen Road in Woodbury, New Jersey around 11 a.m. Tuesday when the unidentified thief struck.

“It [the door to the apartment building] was propped open with a case of Yoo-hoo and some juice,” she said. “And then this door [to her apartment unit] was unlocked and I was coming in and out.”

As she was bringing in groceries, a thief stole an iPad that her son Robert, who has Down syndrome and autism, uses to communicate with her.

“To other people it’s just a toy,” Sanchez said. “But for my son it’s the way he speaks to me. How he tells me what’s wrong. How he’s feeling, what he wants and what he needs.”

Robert, 22, received the iPad four years ago as a gift from the Autism Foundation of New Jersey. The iPad has the software “Go Talk Now” which allows him to communicate.

“He didn’t sleep last night,” Sanchez said. “He kept waking up. It has software on it where he can touch and it has pictures. And the pictures will make sounds and he identifies the sounds with the picture.”

Sanchez called police and Apple to check on a warranty. So far the location service “Find My iPad” hasn’t helped.

“I don’t have money to replace it and I really need it,” she said. “Whoever has it, it’s like, just give it back! Just turn it in! I think they’re heartless! It’s not a toy for us! It’s how we talk to each other! Other moms, their kids say mommy, daddy every day! Not my son!”

Woodbury Police told NBC10 there are no surveillance cameras at the complex. They are hoping someone will come forward.

If you have any information on the theft, please call Woodbury Police at 856-845-0065.
 

A pit bull was found hanged on the front porch of a Philadelphia home a day after she and her puppies were stolen.

PSPCA Humane Law Enforcement Officers say the female pit bull and her puppies were stolen from the yard of a home on the 5200 block of North Marvine Street in the Olney section of the city Tuesday.

The mother was then found hanging by her own leash on the front porch of the home Wednesday. Her puppies are still missing.

Officials have not identified any suspects. If you have any information, please call the PSPCA’s cruelty hotline at 866-601-SPCA.

A mother of a student at a South Jersey elementary school is angry after her eighth grader was given a homework assignment for his language arts class asking him about drinking, a one-night stand, and herpes.

The Cumberland County mother told NBC10 that her 13-year-old son, an eighth grader at Myron L. Powell Elementary School in Cedarville, NJ received a homework assignment with the following prompt:

“You had a really rotten day, but lucky for you your best friend is having an awesome party later. You go to the party and start drinking. You have a little too much to drink and start talking to this girl/guy you’ve never seen before. You head upstairs to get better acquainted despite several friends telling you that you don’t even know this person. You end up having sex with this person. The next day you really can’t remember everything that happened and rely on your best friend to fill you in. A week later you find out that you contracted herpes from your one night stand and that this is a disease you will have all your life and never know when an outbreak will occur.”

The assignment was to identify the reactive response to the given situation.

“I was just shocked,” the mother, who wished to remain anonymous, told NBC10.

According to the parent, the superintendent said that the assignment is part of the core curriculum and it goes along with a book the students were given titled “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens."

The book is marketed as a "handbook to self-esteem and success" for teens.

In an email obtained by NBC10, the superintendent also told the mother that her son could opt out of sex education.

“But that’s not the point,” the parent said. "My issue is with it outside of health class," she said in response to the email.

The parent told NBC10 that she thinks the assignment should have been more “age appropriate” and should have “had moral values to it."

Myron L. Powell Elementary School did not immediately return phone requests for comment.
 

Community members and church leaders gathered at the Lower Merion Township Building Wednesday night amid allegations of racial profiling from local police.

Members of the Zion Baptist Church held a prayer vigil around 6 p.m. and then marched to the Township Building to attend the Lower Merion Police Committee meeting. The demonstration stemmed from a recent incident involving one of the church’s congregants, 58-year-old Nathaniel Williams.

Williams, an African American man who suffers from heart problems, was at a bus stop on Lancaster Avenue in Lower Merion on Oct. 26. He was waiting at the stop to go to the hospital to check his pacemaker when he was approached by police who were searching for a suspect who robbed a TD Bank nearby. Police said the suspect’s description matched Williams’ gender, height, glasses, dark hooded sweatshirt and approximate age. Police later determined they had the wrong man however and Williams was let go. He later received an apology from the Board of Commissioners. 

“He was told to get on the ground, kneel,” said Zion Baptist Church Reverend James Pollard Sr.
“He kneeled handcuffed behind his back and waited on the ground in a kneeling position until the person came to identify him as not the one.”  

The incident followed another allegation of racial profiling in Lower Merion in January in which police stopped two black men who were hired by a woman to shovel her sidewalk. While police denied racial profiling in both incidents, it was still a topic of conversation during Wednesday night’s meeting, in which town leaders called for Lower Merion Police to review their “policy of detention, search and seizure.”

“Part of the problem is some of us who live here in Lower Merion feel marginalized and feel like second-class citizens,” said Charles Howard of Lower Merion.

The discussion sparked by the incident in January prompted Lower Merion Police to adopt recommendations in April which included a return to community policing, race relations training and a re-commitment to diversify the police force.

“This community can take to the bank that this police department is trying as best we can to improve our relationship,” said Lower Merion Police Superintendent Mike McGrath.
 

If there’s one thing Dr. Jill Biden is used to, it’s campaigning.

“I’ve done 13 campaigns between my son’s campaign for attorney general and my husband’s campaign for senate, and then for vice president,” she told “Late Night” host Seth Meyers on Wednesday.

She said she was ready for her husband, Joe Biden, to run for president. There was a lot of speculation about whether the vice president would jump into the race. He finally cleared the air on Oct. 21, saying he would not run.

That means that Biden has a little less than a year left in the White House to do what she does best.

“I’ve worked for education and community colleges, and for military families,” she said.

Biden said she’s joined forces with first lady Michelle Obama, whom she calls a “great friend,” to go across the country to try to create awareness of American military families.

Biden, also a prankster like her husband, also confessed to wearing disguises in the White House.

“It just makes it kind of fun so that people don’t recognize me,” she said.

She admitted to wearing a Grinch costume and a red wig at a press party, which earned her the nickname “Rusty.”

Call her what you want, just don’t call her “The Second Lady,” even if that’s her title.

Biden said she prefers “Captain of the Vice-Squad.”

Students at a Hartford, Connecticut, school will now be able to fulfill their dream of going to Disney World, thanks to a Hollywood actor.

“Hi everybody. You have no idea who I am, but here I am,” Kevin Bacon joked as he walked into a school Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy room full of eighth graders.

The students have been trying to raise money for the trip, which would be the first time many of them would leave the state. Their teacher, Jennifer Mancone submitted her cause over a year ago on sixdegrees.org, Bacon’s charity organization that connects celebrities with people who want to make a difference.

Mancone got the call Tuesday that Bacon, known for movies like "Footloose" and "Animal House" and the television show, "The Following," would be visiting the school to hand them a present: a $3,000 donation for a trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Bacon knew the class was struggling to pay for it.

Mancone, said it was a chance for them to leave Hartford and experience something else.

“Typically, it’s just around Hartford or maybe the Connecticut area or back to their home country. They don’t really get the chance to go outside of their own their bubbles,” Mancone said.

“This is a really, really super cool thing this teacher is doing and I really feel like teachers are great, great unsung heroes,” Bacon said.

Bacon sat with a group of 13 ESL students. Among their conversations, were their favorite things, their hobbies and where they are from.

Mancone said she got the chance to travel when she was younger and it changed her perspective on life. She hoped the same would happen for her students.

Bacon and Mancone hope broadening their experience will motivate students to push forward.
Keyshla Mirabal is one of Mancone’s students.

“I don’t know how to explain it!” student Keyshia Mirabal said in excitement. “There’s more people that do care about people having new experiences. It’s just that he’s just amazing!”

NBC Connecticut spoke to several students who also thanked Mancone for her hard work.

Bacon also visited the Billings Forge Community Works kitchen to talk to culinary job trainees in a program that "prepares low-income residents with barriers to employment for jobs," according to Billings Forge Executive Director Cary Wheaton.

He had lunch at the Kitchen at the Hartford Public Library.

Bacon has been spending a lot of time in the capital city of late as he stars in the sold-out stage adaptation of "Rear Window" at Hartford Stage on Church Street.

UPDATE: Girl Watching TV at Home Grazed by Bullet Fired in Gunfight Between Cop, Suspect Outside: Prosecutor

A 9-year-old girl inside her Jersey Shore home was struck by a bullet fired during a shootout between a suspect and police outside the house Wednesday evening, neighbors and witnesses said.

Neighors said police were chasing a suspect on an Asbury Park street when the gunfire erupted.

The girl was inside her home when she was grazed by the bullet, according to Warren Hall, a pastor at Deliverance Temple Church who said he spoke with the girl's father.

She was treated and released from Jersey Shore Medical Center, Hall said. She was not critically hurt.

The suspect, 20-year-old Dante Allen, was shot in the leg by officers, according to Allen's sister. She told reporters that police told her Allen had shot at officers.

Allen is being treated at Jersey Shore Medical Center and is expected to be OK. He is under arrest.

Messages have been left with the prosecutor's office and police.

A double shooting left two men dead at a Montgomery County apartment building overnight.

Norristown Police responded to the Park Place Apartments on Sandy Street around 11:20 p.m. Wednesday to find the bodies of the 26-year-old men. Each victim was shot multiple times.

Police found the body of Marcel Edwards of Philadelphia in a second-floor hallway. Quentin Watson Jr. of Eagleville was found dead inside an adjacent apartment, said the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office.

Investigators didn’t immediately reveal details about the shooting outside of saying that a set of keys found at the scene also linked to a car that they also investigated early Thursday.

Before sunrise Thursday, crews removed the bodies from the building.

Later, Assistant District Attorney Kevin Steele said that authorities had a person in custody.

Investigators didn't immediately reveal a motive for the shooting.

Here are the 10 things you need to know to start your day from your friends at NBC10.

TODAY'S TOP STORY

2 Die in Montco Apartment Shooting: A double shooting left two dead at a Montgomery County apartment building overnight. Norristown Police responded to the Park Place Apartments on Sandy Street around 11:20 p.m. Wednesday to find two bodies. Investigators didn’t immediately reveal details about the shooting outside of saying that a set of keys found at the scene also linked to a car that they also investigated early Thursday. There was no word yet on what led to the shooting.

• MORE ON THE SHOOTING
  

Wednesday is expected to be nice and sunny with temperatures in the mid-70's. Clouds are expected to move in on Thursday and there is a chance of showers. Friday is expected to climb to 77 degrees and there is a chance of showers on Saturday. High Temp: 75 degrees. Get your full NBC10 First Alert forecast here.

WHAT YOU MISSED YESTERDAY

Plane Departs Philly, Crashes in Queens: A plane that departed from Philadelphia crashed off the coast of Queens, New York Wednesday night. New York Police recovered a body and debris from the waters off Breezy Point in Queens after responding to 911 calls of a possible small plane going down, the NYPD said. The NYPD said it received 911 calls shortly before 8 p.m., and responded to the scene. Flight tracking site Flight Aware noted that the fixed-wing, single-engine aircraft had taken off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport (PNE) shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday and was bound for New Hampshire. Some debris was recovered from the Atlantic Ocean about a mile and a half off Breezy Point. A male body was recovered shortly after, but it wasn't identified.

• MORE ON THE PLANE CRASH
  

AROUND THE WORLD

Student Stabbed 4 on California College Campus: A student stabbed and wounded four people as classes got underway at a rural university campus in central California before police shot and killed him, authorities said Wednesday. The University of California, Merced campus was still on lockdown late Wednesday night. Staff and students were the only ones allowed on the grounds. Morning classes were interrupted when witnesses say a man armed with what appeared to be a 9-inch butcher knife went on a stabbing spree. The university says the suspect stabbed two students, a teacher and a construction worker before campus police shot and killed him, according to NBC Bay Area.

• MORE ON THE STABBING
  

PHOTO OF THE DAY

See more Top News Photos here.

THROUGH IGER'S EYES

@michaelarenasphotos captured this cool image on the streets of Center City.

Have an awesome Instagram photo you'd like to share? Tag it with #NBC10Buzz.

TODAY'S VIRAL VIDEO

This dog got in trouble and wants to be forgiven. Watch the video here.

Kevin Bacon Surprises Students with Donation: Students at a Hartford, Connecticut, school will now be able to fulfill their dream of going to Disney World, thanks to a Hollywood actor. “Hi everybody. You have no idea who I am, but here I am,” Kevin Bacon joked as he walked into a school Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy room full of eighth graders. The students have been trying to raise money for the trip, which would be the first time many of them would leave the state. Their teacher, Jennifer Mancone submitted her cause more than a year ago on sixdegrees.org, Bacon’s charity organization that connects celebrities with people who want to make a difference. Mancone got the call Tuesday that Bacon would be visiting the school to hand them a present: a $3,000 donation for a trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Bacon knew the class was struggling to pay for it. Mancone said it was a chance for them to leave Hartford and experience something else. Learn more about the donation here.

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. 

A late-night Slurpee stop left a 10-year-old boy shot in the face during a drive-by paintballing in Philadelphia overnight.

The incident played out after a father left the 7-Eleven store at K and Luzerne in Philadelphia’s Juniata neighborhood Wednesday night after grabbing some snacks and Slurpees with his two children. Just moments after the father and his children left the store, a black sport utility vehicle pulled up and opened fire.

“One car came across – we don’t know who he was – but they (shot him) and hit the little boy in the eye,” said 7-Eleven employee Angel Claudio.

Claudio said the shooting left the boy bleeding near his eye.

Police said they expect the child to be OK.

No word yet on possible suspects in the case.