A massive ice jam has formed on the Delaware River. These photos capture the large mass of ice's beauty.
Photo Credit: Andrew Kots
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie spoke for the first time Thursday afternoon about allegations that his administration may have caused massive traffic jams on the George Washington Bridge as an act of political revenge.
He also announced that he fired Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly, the staff member accused of orchestrating the lane closures on the busy bridge connecting New Jersey and New York in September of 2013.
Kelly, Christie claims, lied to him when he asked if his office had anything to do with the closures.
But who is the woman behind the scandal?
Kelly, a New Jersey native and graduate of Mount St. Mary's University in Maryland, was named Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs by Christie in April of last year.
Before assuming that role, she served as the Director of Intergovernmental and Legislative Affairs. As the director, Kelly oversaw day-to-day operations of the Christie Administration's outreach efforts, according to NJ.gov.
She's been with the Adminstration since 2010, when she was named the Director of Legislative Relations.
Her career in state government began with her service to Assemlyman David C. Russo. In 2002, she was named his Chief of Staff.
Kelly lives in Ramsey with her four children. She has also served on the Parent Board at her children's school, according to NJ.gov.
Kelly's bio has already been removed from the goverment website.
#Bridgegate dominated Twitter timelines today.
The hashtag signifies the traffic mess that N.J. Governor Chris Christie found himself in. His former deputy chief of state Bridget Kelly allegedly sent a politically motivated correspondence that may have caused a major traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge. Today, Christie held a news conference to announce he had fired Kelly.
In addition, he apologized. While addressing the public, he said, "I am not a bully."
Social media erupted over #Bridgegate. Here's a sampling of tweets and Instagram posts.
Water restrictions are in place in Burlington County this evening following a sewage main break.
The sewage line burst Hartford and Union Mill roads in Mount Laurel Thursday evening while crews were working on that area of the road. The roadway has been closed since that time.
Officials are asking local residents to limit water use -- meaning only use as needed -- for the next 12 hours until the line is repaired.
As a clerk reached for an alarm, one of the armed suspects robbing his store opened fire, leaving the clerk shot four times.
The three suspects stole money and cigarettes before leaving the bloodied clerk inside the 7-Eleven store along Westfield Avenue in Pennsauken, N.J.
According to Pennsauken Police, around 1 a.m. three men entered the store, came around the counter and demanded money. As the clerk tried to reach for an alarm one of the suspects opened fire, according to investigators.
After the shooting, the suspects fled.
"About a minute or two later a customer entered the store and found the clerk shot behind the counter," said Pennsauken Police Lt. Michael Probasco.
Probasco said that person called 911.
Medics rushed the clerk to Cooper University Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery while in critical condition.
The overnight clerk -- who wasn’t immediately identified -- was new to the job, according to police.
He started working at the convenience store after a former clerk quit following a robbery about two months ago, said investigators.
It took police about five hours to wrap up their investigation and the store reopened around 6 a.m.
Probasco said surveillance video captured the shooting and also the suspects. County prosecutors were pouring over that video for clues.
Freezing rain wreaked havoc on area roads on Friday, causing numerous accidents, one of which was deadly, and road closures across the region.
More than 12 vehicles collided on Route 1 near Route 252 in Media Friday morning, according to reports. Authorities closed southbound lanes and one minor injury was reported.
Icy conditions closed Roosevelt Boulevard in both directions between Cottman and Ryan Avenues, according to police.
Elsewhere on Route 1, another crash closed southbound lanes near State Road. A third crash on Route 1 northbound closed the off-ramp to PA Route 213, according to PennDOT.
An accident on the Walt Whitman Bridge forced authorities to close all westbound lanes on the bridge during the morning commute. Once the wreck was cleaned up, crews salted the span before reopening the bridge.
The Delaware River Port Authority also placed speed restrictions of 25 miles per hour for all bridges across the Delaware River.
In New Jersey, a woman was killed in Pine Hill, Camden County after her SUV spun out of control and slammed into the front of a New Jersey Transit bus. Seventeen passengers on the bus were also hurt.
The slippery roads were also a factor in a collision between a school bus and an SUV in northern Delaware Friday morning.
On Friday morning, a spokesman for the transit agency announced delays of up to two hours on its bus service within Camden, Gloucester and Burlington counties due to icy road conditions.
In Gloucester Township, a police cruiser was hit by a car that lost control on black ice while the officer's vehicle was pulled over handling a separate crash, according to police.
Multiple crashes caused delays on northbound lanes of Route 202 near Route 29.
Philadelphia International Airport put a ground stop into place on Friday morning due to the icy conditions. Then extended it until 10:45 a.m.
Road crews and emergency personnel were also put in danger by the icy conditions.
A salt truck overturned in the middle of a Delran, N.J. neighborhood, spilling rock salt all over the road. Further east in Tabernacle, N.J., a firefighter was hospitalized after he lost control of the fire truck he was driving. He suffered neck and back injuries.
After unleashing their first round of comedic takedowns, late-night hosts used New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's nearly 2-hour press conference addressing the traffic jam scandal as an opportunity for an onslaught of new jokes.
If Chris Christie had blocked people from entering New Jersey he’d be a hero.
— Conan O'Brien (@ConanOBrien) January 9, 2014
The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook
Students in the Upper Darby School District had two scares in a week's time when students brought guns to school.
A student at Drexel Hill Middle School brought a pellet gun to classes on Thursday, according to officials.
A parent notified the school after her child said a classmate had a weapon while at school, according to officials.
Officers obtained a search warrant and discovered a black pellet gun after searching the accused student's home.
Police say the child was charged with bringing a dangerous weapon on school grounds.
School officials say a seperate incident occurred last week at Upper Darby High School when a 12th grader brought a bb gun into school.
Reports did not indicate whether the high schooler will face charges.
A man has been charged in the deaths of a pregnant mother and her young daughter in a Philadelphia-area fire a few days before Thanksgiving last year.
Prosecutors in Bucks County said Friday that 21-year-old Marcel Emmanuel Johnson of Levittown had been linked to the crime by DNA evidence. He is charged with criminal homicide, homicide of an unborn child, arson and possessing an instrument of crime.
Ebony Talley, 22, and her 4-year-old daughter R'Mani Rankins were found dead inside an apartment complex in Bristol Township, Pa. on Nov. 25 following a fire. Friends and family say Talley was five months pregnant at the time of her death.
"She was a good person," said Talley's cousin, Dani Hodges. "She took care of her daughter. She loved her sisters and brother."
The fire broke out at the Avalon Court Apartment Complex on the 3500 block of Bristol Oxford Valley Road -- not far from the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Firefighters controlled the blaze shortly after.
Officials soon discovered the bodies of Talley and R'Mani, who were staying with a friend inside the complex. Talley was pronounced dead at the scene. R'Mani was taken to the hospital where she later died.
According to the Bucks County District Attorney's Office, someone stabbed both Talley and her daughter and set a fire to cover it up.
"It's too fast," said Marquis Johnson, a friend of the victims. "It sounds fishy. It sounds like they were set up or something like that."
According to an affidavit, Johnson was the last person at the scene with Talley and her daughter before their deaths.
Court documents don't list an attorney for Johnson and a listed number for him couldn't be found.
A worker at a local strip club was shot and robbed as he got in car to go home with the night's take.
Two men approached the unidentified 48-year-old man as he got into his car at 55th and Media Streets in West Philadelphia early Friday morning.
According to Philadelphia Police, the victim had closed up at the Outer Space Club at 54th Street and Haverford Avenue earlier in the morning and then went to a friend's house near 55th and Media.
As the victim left that friend's house shortly before 4 a.m. and got into his BMW, a 6-foot-tall thin man in his 20s wearing a three-quarter lengths fur-line coat approached him with a gun. Within moments another man, described as thin man about 5-foot-6-inches tall, joined in the attack.
A struggle ensued and during the encounter the taller suspect shot the victim once in the back.
The suspect fled with the man's jewelry, credit cards and about $2,500 -- the Thursday night take from the bar, according to police.
The victim was rushed to the hospital in stable condition.
Philadelphia Police didn't have any further information on the suspects. Anyone with information is asked to contact police.