A New Jersey community will come together on Friday for a memorial to honor a Mercer County schools district superintendent who died after a student struck him with a car as he jogged with his dog Tuesday morning.
Dr. Steven Mayer, superintendent of Robbinsville School District, was running along Robbinsville Edinburg Road with his dog Tuesday morning when authorities say a 17-year-old student on her way to the high school for a class trip struck him, killing both him and his dog.
Officials said the student stopped in front of a nearby middle school after the crash and called 9-1-1, telling operators that she believed her car struck someone.
The Robbinsville School District closed Tuesday and Wednesday to mourn Mayer's sudden passing. The community will honor him with a memorial service on Friday, and he will be laid to rest at a private funeral on Saturday.
"With a heavy heart, we share with you devastating news that our beloved Dr. Steven Mayer, Superintendent of Schools passed away [Tuesday] morning from a tragic accident," said a message posted to the Robbinsville Schools website on Tuesday.
"Dr. Mayer was beloved by our community, he was our superintendent, he was our coach, he was our friend, he was one of our residents," said Fried.
Fried said he tried reaching out to Mayer after first hearing about the crash, not realizing he was the one who was struck.
"As soon as we heard we had an accident this morning he was the first person that I texted to find out how we were going to handle it," Fried said.
Authorities have not said whether the teenage girl will face any charges.
Fried asked everyone to pray for both Mayer's and the student's families.
Mayer left behind three sons -- two are in college, one is a junior at the high school -- and his wife who teaches at Sharon Elementary School, said Fried.
The crash left the community in total shock, said Fried. Mayer led the district's three schools with nearly 3,000 students for the past six years. He was also a little league coach.
The community came together Tuesday night for a candlelight vigil in Mayer's memory at 7 p.m. at the gazebo at Foxmoor Park -- across from the Foxmoor Shopping Plaza along Route 33. More than 500 people attended the event.
"How do you make sense of a nonsensical situation," asked Robbinsville Council President Ron Witt. "I was at a loss for words. I still expect to wake up from a bad dream and clearly that's the case. It's just a tragedy."
Mourners placed candles alongside flowers and wrote messages to Dr. Mayer's family on index cards.
"We all care," said Ruxaldra Barb of Robbinsville. "And he cared about us and cared about the community."
Teammates of Mayer's son attended the vigil in their Lacrosse uniforms to show solidarity in their support.
"Such a great family and such a tragic event," said Mike Sanguinetti, a Robbinsville student. "I think all the people out here speak to the impact he had on this town."
The Delaware State Police Homicide Unit is investigating a shooting that left one person dead in the Townsend area, early Friday morning.
Officials say state troopers were called to respond to the residence in the 500 block of Dogtown Road.
Witnesses tell police that two armed suspects had entered the home and confronted two male residents. Following a physical altercation, one of the male residents was shot and killed. Both suspects then fled from the home.
Currently, names of the victims are currently being withheld as Delaware State Police are conducting multiple interviews and collecting evidence.
Police are asking the public if they have any information in reference to the incident to contact Detective Mark Csapo at 302-698-8420.
A Philadelphia high school student was taken into police custody Friday morning in connection with making a threat on social media apparently as a joke, officials said.
Police responded to Central High School, at Ogontz and Olney avenues in the city's Logan neighborhood, just after 8 a.m.
School district spokesman Fernando Gallard confirmed that one student was taken into police custody for allegedly making a comment construed as a threat on social media. Gallard said he could not specify what the threat said, but later said that the student apparently made the threat as a joke.
Though it was a joke, Gallard said the school district is continuing to follow all procedures with police. It was unclear if any charges would be filed.
A 19-year-old woman narrowly escaped being raped in South Philadelphia early Wednesday, police say, and now authorities are asking the public's help to find her attacker.
Police said the young woman was walking on Wharton Street near 13th about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday when a man crept up behind her, pushed her to the ground and tore the top of her dress down. The woman struggled with the man, and surveillance stills released by police on Friday show her pushing him away by his throat.
The woman then maced her attacker, police said, and he fled north on Clarion Street.
Police are hoping that surveillance images of the man will help detectives get him off the street. He's described as being about 37 years old, 5 feet 7, 225 pounds and built medium. He wore a black hooded sweatshirt and black pants at the time of the attack.
Tipsters should contact the Special Victims Unit at 215-685-3251 or 3252.
More than a dozen people suspected of trafficking tens of thousands of dollars worth of cocaine into a Chester, Delaware County housing development have been charged after a yearlong investigation by the Pennsylvania State Police, Attorney General's Office and Chester City Police.
AG Kathleen Kane announced the charges Friday morning at a news conference at Pennsylvania State Police's Troop K barracks on Belmont Avenue in Philadelphia. She said the investigation, dubbed "Operation Bennett Trifecta" after the Bennett Homes, a Chester housing complex on which it centered, began in January 2015.
Kane said that confidential informants cooperated with investigators and an undercover operation within the development, including hours of surveillance on the street and more than 7,000 intercepted text messages and phone calls, ensued over several months.
Investigators determined that three brothers -- James Townsend, 37, Darrell Burton, 41, and Lafenus Burton, 43 -- were bringing large amounts of cocaine into Chester, Kane said. The ring operated out of the Bennett Homes.
Kane identified 44-year-old David Toney, whom she said has residences in Philadelphia and Delaware, as the trafficker responsible for providing the cocaine to the three brothers. She said when investigators executed a search warrant at Toney's homes in Philadelphia and Delaware, they found more than $50,000 and five guns, three of which were reported stolen.
She said Toney would supply Townsend with "one to three loads" of cocaine a week, and provided him and his brothers with 50 to 150 kilos of the drug with a street value of $5 million to $15 million over the 50-week period during which the investigation was conducted.
Other people charged in connection with the ring, including some whom officials identified as street-level dealers and others who they said helped to stash drugs, are: Cheron Jackson, 34, Byron Parker, 40, Chris Jones, 43, Anthony Reaves, 36, Louis Freeman, 45, Darryl Bannister, 38, Tyrone Pringle, 28, Dron Adams, 22, Kemp Hill, 27, Ronald South, 40, and Wilbert Jones, 61. All but Toney reside in Chester.
Authorities said 11 of those involved have already been arrested, and warrants are active for the remaining four. Kane praised a collaborative effort in bringing the investigation to fruition, adding that the horseshoe shape of the housing development made surveillance especially difficult.
Big changes are in store for Philadelphia's annual July 4 celebration, Wawa Welcome America!, including Comcast NBCUniversal taking over as the event's new broadcast partner, event organizers announced Friday.
NBC10, Telemundo62, Cozi TV and TeleXitos will be the regional broadcaster and events will also be live-streamed on the NBC10 and Telemundo62 websites, mobile apps and available via Xfinity On Demand on television.
The festival runs from June 27 through July 4.
Organizers also announced that Live Nation would have an expanded role in the musical production of the festival.
More than 500,000 people are expected at the eight-day event, which is the largest free festival in the country.
“We are thrilled to be the presenting sponsor of Philadelphia’s iconic celebration of America’s independence,” said David L. Cohen, senior executive vice president at Comcast Corporation. “Through the combined assets of Comcast NBCUniversal, including multiple live broadcasts on NBC10 and Telemundo 62, plus extensive content available on Xfinity On Demand, Philadelphians across the region will be able to experience the festivities on television and online like never before.”
President and General Manager of NBC10 and Telemundo 62 Ric Harris also touted the diversity of Comcast NBCUniversal's local brands in expanding the potential audience for the massive celebration of America's founding.
“NBC10 and Telemundo62 are proud to be part of this exciting new partnership between Wawa Welcome America and Comcast NBCUniversal," Harris said. "Our ability to reach and engage multicultural and multigenerational audiences will help make this event the most important celebration of our nation’s birthday.”
The sophomore who died shortly after a confrontation inside a bathroom at her Wilmington, Delaware, high school has been identified as Amy Joyner-Francis, police said Friday.
Police have not said what caused the 16-year-old’s death, but school and city officials said Thursday she died shortly after a "physical altercation" with two students at Howard High School of Technology.
Students who knew about the fight said they believe it stemmed from a dispute over a boy.
Police did say a school resource officer called EMS at 8:18 a.m. Thursday for a student complaining of head and chest pain, and that the call quickly escalated to a report of CPR in progress. Joyner-Francis died a short time later at a nearby hospital.
Students at the school, which is part of the New Castle County Vocational Technical School District, returned to class Friday. An autopsy was expected the same day.
"Several female students were involved in a physical altercation at approximately 8:15 a.m. this morning, in a main floor girls bathroom, just at the time classes began for the day," the school district said in a statement.
Shauntea Bellamy cried as he sat outside the school after learning of the student's death. He worked with her as part of youth outreach programs and said she was set to volunteer in a summer program he organizes.
"It hurts when you know her personally and she's not one of my students who are out there in the streets like that," he said.
Wilmington Mayor Dennis Williams said police were interviewing suspects Thursday evening, but didn't elaborate about whether arrests would be made.
State agencies will help provide support for those affected by the tragedy, Gov. Jack Markell said in a statement.
Wilmington City Councilman Darius Brown is holding a town hall meeting for the community at 6 p.m. Monday, at Stubbs Elementary School. He said the governor, state attorney general and mayor will speak.
Students were surprised to hear about the girl's death, saying the school is not known for being a trouble spot. Records show there have been 14 reported fights there last school year. Williams called the fight an isolated incident.
Friends of the girl held a vigil in her memory outside the school Thursday night, and another vigil was expected at 6 p.m. Friday.
"A lot of families were destroyed today," Williams said.
A wayward raccoon who spent his Friday afternoon hanging out in a tree along a busy stretch of Walnut Street in Center City Philadelphia caused a spectacle as animal control worked to get him to the ground.
The woodland animal was perched in a tree out front of Morton's Steakhouse along the 1400 block of Walnut Street near Broad.
A crowd formed nearby as control officers from ACCT Philly climbed a ladder to try and lasso the furry guy.
Sports writer Michael Tanier live-tweeted the ordeal. Animal control missed the raccoon once and the crowd cheered as he evaded capture, Tanier said.
The raccoon was eventually captured and taken away. It's not clear if the animal will be released back into the wild.
Maybe Mayor Kenney is holding a grudge against the film industry because the Rocky redux didn’t win an Oscar?
His administration is proposing to cut city funding to the Greater Philadelphia Film Office by half, according to the 2016-2017 fiscal year budget currently being debated by City Council.
The budget, which would begin July 1 if approved, decreases funding from $164,000 to $84,000 for the small public relations agency, which is tasked with promoting Philadelphia as a destination for Hollywood to shoot films.
A spokeswoman for Kenney said the decision is one of many “tough choices about the budget,” but added that Kenney is confident the Film Office can make up the lost funding through private donations.
“It’s not 50% of their total budget. The Film Office gets funding from many different places other than the city,” Kenney spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said. “Unfortunately, we had to make many tough choices about the budget and this was one of them. We chose the film office because unlike some of the other organizations under consideration for cuts, the Film Office has shown they can likely make up this money through private fundraising – and the City is committed to helping them with those fundraising efforts in whatever way we can.”
A report by Philadelphia magazine, which first reported the cut, noted that the Philadelphia City Representative Sheila Hess, an official in the mayor’s office who handles public relations and event planning for the administration, sits on the board of the Film Office.
Hitt told the magazine that Hess is "committed" to helping the small agency secure funding from other sources to make up for the $80,000 loss.
