this is cbs-3 "eyewitness news". good morning, and oh, get ready for a messy morning commute. the roads are absolutely slick this morning. so leave little extra time to get where you are going, where there is work, school, you really want to take some extra time. checking out storm scan3, looks like we are dealing with this wet we err for little longer, too, hoping to get out of here quickly, but it will be a stink err it seems like, lady. you have to stick around. your morning commute not looking good. i know we were all affected by the rain this morning. >> little spoiled yesterday with the dry roadways, a lot of people stayed in after the holidays, but i can tell you today will not be the same. already, just a string of accidents out there. so, i guess how long? >> it looks like it get out every here i would say by lunch time at the latest. >> oh, good. >> for most every us, but the whole morning commute, we are the once that drew the short

straw in terms of better commute on the morning show, but that said, yes, you are going to be in the thick of things here. we are right now, too. so let's gave you a sense every what's going on out there, shall we? we start it off by looking at one of the most traveled bridges, the brennan at the moment at league you can see it, the visibility isn't terrible here, as we take a live look on "skycam 3". the rain continues to pound down. pounding down somewhat ofly for some of you in some locations, as well. so, as we go next to storm scan3, what you are going to fine here is again pretty heavy rain out there. we put things into motion for you. generally, really, it is coming through in pockets. the whole region is encompassed by the rain basically, but you have got some spots where it is heavier than others, radar 101, the brighter the color, typically the worse it is. and you have got some shades of yellow showing up out there, in addition to that, we've also got to talk about this, the pink indicating it is cold enough for some icing. and still few little pockets you can see on the end of the loop here through northampton county up into the poconos where you may still be running into some sleet, some freezing

rain, just general icing out there. now eventually enough warm air is going to take over from south to north, but that all turns over to rain even in the poconos. but watch for slick travel. you know, even though it is not ice everywhere, that rain, it is to slows you down, as meisha mentioned, already number every incident. she will get to all of. that will but expect region by region to run into this. it is apply mayerly rain at this point, but heavy at times, has led to ponding it, will slow you down. that's really it. 47 degrees currently at the airport, much colder by comparison in mount pocono. you have huge spread here, anywhere from the mid 50's to the 20's, so i'll cross the region, it is very location dependent, as to what you will find. is it a somewhat balmy sort of clammy rain? is it a cold rain? is it ice? it could be anyone of those depending where you are. across the region as a whole, though, the rain does draw to close by about lunchtime. we probably have nothing more than a shower left over for the rest of the day. but look how warm it gets? shooting for the low 60s again today. so if you are craving snow,

sorry. it look like at least going to get glancing blow from winter wetter. >> us snowmobilers getting the itch about now. i never thought i would hear myself say. that will but i would like a little snow. might be kind of nice. wet roadways this morning, do have accident out here schuylkill westbound before montgomery drive two, left lanes were block, now pulled all the way off to the right shoulder where we had overturned vehicle, so they are working fast and furious to get this cleared out of our way as we push through the 5:00 hour specially as we move toward the 6:00. but at least now it is moved all the way off to the right shoulder partially blocking right lane overall things looking better there. this is another accident suing westbound off ram top city avenue partially blocking not going to cause too many slow downs. make note it is there. because if you turn around the corner, and it is slick, and it is wet out, there which it is, this is how accident happen. so just give yourself couple of extra minutes, slow down this morning, we are just seeing string of them. here is another one. this is in new jersey, brooklawn circle, at south

hannevig avenue. give yourself couple of extra minutes in the area if you are just going out in the accident. accident new jersey turnpike southbound approaching james berg, the right lane is blocked in this area. and, also, here is another one, new jersey turnpike south pound past new brunswick, an investigation. all rained are blocked in and around this area. this is where we have some downed polls and wires. so basically all morning long what we have been seeing is a string every accidents. and weather-related elements out there. so again, leave your homes little early, and drive slow, erika, back over to you. >> meisha, a thank you. we want to give you live look, the current conditions in the lehigh val think morning. a "eyewitness news" crew is moving around the street of allentown for you, giving you live look. many people in the lehigh valley are getting that first taste of winter, for this new season. justin finch is giving us update on the conditions on those roads coming up. >> also, i want to show you the scene in new jersey overnight. freezing rain, and sleet, sweep across the garden state. a winter weather advisory is in effect until 11:00 a.m. for several northern new jersey

counties. this extreme weather is expected to cause problems for the morning commute. >> and, heavy rain caused huge problems in illinois where a school bus and tractor-trailer were swept into a retention pond. this happened late yesterday, in a town outside st. louis. eighteen people were on the bus at that time. everyone was rescued, no one was hurt. >> 5:35 right now. in your business news this morning, good investment could be in your child's closet. how to get rid of the unwanted gift cards, money watch's jill with a wagner joins us from the new york stock exchange, those stories and more. i'll take any unwanted gift card that you want to give, jill, that sound terrific. >> good morning, erika. falling oil price haves been putting the brakes on any end of year rallies for the market. the dow fell about 23-point yesterday, and the nasdaq flipped seven. this is interesting. if you are looking for a good investment, you might actually want to head to your kids toy collection. the study by the telegraph found that the average return from the financial time stock exchange in the past decade is

about 4.1% a year. a leggo's set, how much, that's in minute condition, that's actually increased in value 12% each year. well, this holiday season, americans who work expect to buy about $26 billion worth of gift cards. but, what happened if you got one for a store you don't like? target wants to help. the retailer will buy unwanted gift cards from hundreds of different stores and companies, it does come with reduced price, so if you want to exchange a 100-dollar gift card from wal-mart could you get eight a dollars at target. >> and, if you are going to times square this new years, you might want to pack your dinner. some chain restaurant in the area are charging hundreds of dollars per person to watch the ball drop. ticket to olive garden, that will cost you 400 bucks. there is a dj and buffet, no bread sticks, though. at ruby tuesday, the couple's very much. p table that will run you $1,700. but you don't actually see the ball drop from inside the restaurant.

erika? >> so what again are you getting for your $1,700? this makes no sense. >> i can't believe this. >> the mood. the festivities. >> all right. >> beats me. >> all right, jill, thanks so much. i'll be home in jam ills. 5:37. and philadelphia district attorney, seth williams, wants a state appeals court to take another look at the high profile case involving monsignor william lynn. his conviction for mishandling child sex abuse complaints with overturned last week. now, lynn's lawyer is speaking exclusively with "eyewitness news". "eyewitness news" reporter jan carabeo joining us now, she has the details on this. a lot of us have questions about how this happened. >> you mentioned, philadelphia's district attorney is fight to go keep monsignor william lynn right where he is right now. that's behind bars. lynn's lawyer, though; prepping for a new trial. "eyewitness news" again got the chance to sit down with recently in this exclusive interview. he said lynn is a scapegoat and deserves to be a free man. >> he is actually a wonderful

man. he is a priest who all he ever wanted to do was minister to his parish. >> attorney attorney tom berg strom said william lynn should not only be free but serve the catholic church. accused and strict dollars of knockly allow sexual preditor priest toss have contact with philadelphia children. >> he sort has been tarred with these brushes that simply aren't accurate. so it is very frustrating for him. >> and superior court overturned lynn's conviction last week, paving the way for a new trial. it is the second time lynn's conviction was overturned. but philadelphia district attorney seth williams wants those superior court judges to reconsider their decision. >> we will continue to fight to keep monsignor lynn in state custody where he belongs. >> williams says the evidence is clear. >> monsignor lynn knew how dangerous it was to put a pedifile into a school with children. >> berg strom and lynn just want another chance to prove

what they say is the truth. >> what bothers him the most is the inaccuracy of some of the perceptions in terms of what he really did. like i circumstances he never harmed a child. we've been chasing justice for four years. and i thought maybe we finally caught t but maybe we did. and we'll see. >> and right now, bergstrom trying to get lynn released on bail as he waits for a new trial. he's been behind bars in a prison just north of scranton. >> following this case, has so many people's attention. i know you'll stay on top of it for us, jan, thank you. 5:39. president obama getting ready to enter his final year in office. and he ' jest turned an honor that he's received every year since he's been in the white house. the president was named the most admired man, according to a new gallop pole. it is his eighth consecutive year on top of that list. after the president, pope francis, and donald trump, they're tide for sicked. another hopeful, another presidential hopeful, bernie sanders, finished in third place. on the woman's side democratic

frontrunner hillary clinton finished on top for the 14th straight year, and 20th time overall. human right activist malala yousafzai, tide for third. digital freeway sign in corona california was not giving drivers directions. instead, it was pumping for donald trump. apparently the computer box attached to the freeway sign was broken into christmas night and hacked. >> no one knows who did it. there aren't any witnesses. we don't have anything on video. so we have talked to california highway patrol. we will continue to work within the project team to take extra security measures to make sure that those signs are protected. >> the message was up for at least 12 hours, it has since been reprogrammed with a detour message. >> still ahead, very close call for driver at a gas station. we'll show you the scary moment when a canopy collapsed right on top after car.

also: one man's trash is another man's treasure. i'm greg argos here up in err darby why police are saying you should be very careful about what you're throwing away. >> also: ♪ >> sorry may not be good enough for justin bieber. the word on pop star's promotional stunt that's upset ago lot of people. we'll tell you what the biebs just did. >> ♪

♪ (vo) some call it giving back. we call it share the love.

during our share the love event, get a new subaru, and we'll donate $250 to those in need. bringing our total donations to over sixty-five million dollars. and bringing love where it's needed most. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

>> take a gook loot at your trash. you could be inviting controversy into your home without even realizing it. "eyewitness news" reporter greg argos explains how holiday gifts could turn you into an easy target. >> it is a few days after christmas, and you might be enjoying playing that play station four on your new flat panel tv. but experts say when you take out the trash, make sure you don't leave any evidence of that behind. >> the force is with someone at this home. someone here, probably, has a newcomb pewter. then there is the guy who can poppa wheel i on his new tony hawk bike. what about watching the game

on this new 4k50-inch tv. how do i know all of this? well, i just look at people's trash. >> they got big screen tv's, they got computer games. they got other types of electronic technology. and what it does, it sends a message to the bums out there, the thieves out there, that are out there, just praying and looking. >> that message for those up to no good is, hey, look at what you can steel. in upper darby police superintendent mike at chitwood says take few extra minute to prevent yourself from becoming a victim. >> break the box down, then fold it back. >> that's what natasha grant does with some of her trash that could tempt thieves. but she also gets creative. >> there is a lot of science project coming up. i'm school teacher. use it for the project. >> others we talk to also make sure everything is broken down in bags. because, it is not just potential burglars, you may want to avoid. >> you just don't want to chuck these. you also don't want the neighbors to be gel us. >> not just about the thieves, it is also about jelousy?

>> jelousy, yes. >> police superintendent chitwood says his department is always dealing with burglaries, but it is very hard, he says, to determine whether or not a burglar actually broke into someone's home because of what was left outside. he says though regardless, don't make yourself a target. breakdown those boxes. reporting here in upper darby, greg argos, cbs-3, "eyewitness news". good advice. all right, check this outright here. surveillance video shows a canopy collapsing over the gas station in wisconsin. station owner says strong winds lift dollars the canopy up, pushed it over, missed one car but landed on another. it happened during a snowstorm in a town outside miami walky, on the upside, there were no injuries, how much, there was plenty of damage, katas that storm is reaking havoc across the count rip, affecting thus morning? >> absolutely. primarily rain for our area, erika, but i had put out the call on the a around twitter to the weather watchers. i know with the holiday not everyone is up and adam early this these couple of mornings,

but boy did you respond to the call and and and thanks, giles. not just the disparity, but precipitation types. thanks for sending in these observations, they add value to our forecast. we start up north, where it is a little colder. aid feeling we would heart from keith, so glad we d he is one of the few at this point in sailors berg near the pocono mountains actually seeing little icing out there. he said the temperature has risen 1 degree in the last hour, he sent this within the last hour, and at this point on his driveway there is a little more than a .8 of ann every ice. doesn't sounds like a heck of a ice lot, but you know with icing you could be left with some very slick travel. so if that's where your travels take you, easy does it, folks. in the meantime, just few miles south of that, in bath, pa, just rain. 33 degrees, right on the edge, for charles here in bath, pa, nonetheless reporting strictly rain. really is location and temperature dependent, we take to you one more, 54 degrees, came in to us from william powell, also finding the rain. that's what you will find

around the region in fact actually did hear from john up in yardley said he got woken up from the rain. nice you're up bright and earl which us, john, thanks for checking in. let's check out storm scan3, which at this point is definitely still in the thick of things. this is the bulk of it, like the whole storm itself. you got to zoom so far out in its entirety, from the canadian border down to the gulf of mexico. locally very, very clear cut line of pink to green where you have the warmth lifting in, helping to turn the icy precipitation over to straight up rain. and again, at this point, it is really only in the poconos, that you will find any kind of icing. if you want snow heck you have to go real far north, even into tomorrow, looks like there will still be some snow falling across portions of not just northern new england, but all the way into canada, as well. we pick up couple of feet looks like out of the stormment but the rain is our big story, kennett square, that's the highest observation that we've had so far. just really just shy of .8 of

an inch at this point. ambler, just over half inch, and the list goes on, but not done yet. i would say, give it until about lunchtime for the rain to really be wrapping up. so we could add another half inch plus to those totals before we're all said and done. then the chill starts to settle in. happy new year, folks. we ring in 2016 on much chillier note. but frankly, meisha, it is much more seasonable by then. >> yes, we just got to get this rain today, katie, thank you so much for that. good pointers, as always, and i will tell you what, pack your patience, today. look right behind me. this is where we just had accident cleared. schuylkill westbound right around city avenue. in fact we had two, off ramp block for little while. that will got cleared. then we had another accident here just got cleared as well. but seeing all of this heavy traffic because of the string of accidents that happened right here, very good indicator that it is wet, and it is slick out there. causing some slow downs for us on our roadways this morning, 42 freeway northbound, in new jersey, giving you just casino of quick peak here, looking okay. no accident to report. as you move in the northbound direction toward 295, it is just looking a lot like.

>> this just string of headlights. little different than what we actually experienced yesterday, yesterday was calm. roadways were nice and dry. the volume levels were remaining low. and as you can see, already, this morning, pushing toward that 6:00. it is heavy basically anywhere that i look. this is 95, north, moving in the betsy ross, not looking too bad. southbound where i am kind of keeping my eye on 95 this morning. looking at cottman just little bit agoment looking okay. just slowly starting to heat up little bit now. accident in new jersey, new jersey turnpike, southbound approaching james berg. that right lane is still blocked. so we still have the accident there. it has not been moved out of the way yet. also in new jersey brooklawn circle, south hannevig avenue. maneuvering in and around the area give yourself couple of extra minutes, also still do have downed pole and wires, west depford township use 295 as your alternate. erika, back to you. >> meisha, thanks so much. meisha stick around, you will like this next story. an unusual traffic situation in sonoma county, california,

elephant seal spotted trying to cross the highway exit ramp. drivers in california highway patrol officers had to keep it from getting in harms way. see it right there? >> oh, look at him. he's probably scared. >> absolutely, that seal was put back in the san francisco bay, but he weigh determined climbed up to the highway at least two more times. office remembers keeping an eye on that area and that seal just in case he tries it again. but so cute, right? >> what a sweetheart. >> hey, how about this one? bat got loose in san antonio at&t center between the spurs and the timberwolfs. get this. the spurs mascot comes out dressed like batman and catches the bat in a big net. okay? the bat was handed over to animal control. the mascot just accepted some congratulations, but perfect guy for the job. all right. coming up: take ac look back at the life of a rockledge end. we'll be right back.

want to do something special this holiday season? support i have a dream foundation. help a child achieve the dream of a higher education. cbs cares. funeral arrangements in the works this morning for one of the biggest personalities in heavy metal and hard rock music. the band motor head, he died in los angeles yesterday after brief battle with cancer. doctors just diagnosed that cancer two days ago. he was well known for that mustache for his music with the bands' pop win and motor

head. lemme, whose real first name was ian, was 70 years old. >> in san francisco, officials cracking down on some justin bieber graffiti spray painted on sidewalks. the street art is part of a guerrilla marketing campaign promoting bieber's new albumn purpose. the graffiti artist usually uses chalk, but this time they used permanent spray paint. so even the rain might not wash it away. city officials sent a letter to bieber's record label hoping to track down who is responsible. >> i think it is high time that corporate america starts following the rules that all of the rest of us follow. >> the so-called guerrilla campaigns are becoming a problem in san francisco. the city's trying to increase civil penalties for such violations. well, do you not want to miss aretha franklin singing saluting carol king when the kennedy center honors airs tonight on cbs-3. the queen of soul since one of the songwriters hits, natural woman. other honorees include legendary actresses, rita

morano, sizely tyson, as well as star wars creator george lucas, and con do duck tore. the kensy center honors stars at 9:00 tonight right here on cbs-3. >> new york city's times square hosed new tradition, new years tradition yesterday, but not the one you would be thinking of. it was good riddance day. revelers are encourage today start fresh by shreading discarding and just destroying bad memories from the outgoing year. those scraps of paper from the shreading are then used as practice confetti, for the if new york city ball drop on now years eve. way to re purpose it. >> coming up in the next hour right here on "eyewitness news", meet good samaritans explaining into action to rescue mother and her newborn after their car plunged into a river. >> then, we're hearing the calls for help, after a new jersey scout leader was attack by a bear. and live look right now for you outside on this rainy tuesday morning. got some slick roads out there. katie has the forecast, and meisha keeping an eye on all of the roads and the accidents to avoid. we're back at the top of the

hour. good morning.

good morning, soggy start to your tuesday morning across the area, we have our eye on the storm, bringing soaking

rain and some cooler temperatures later on. this is what it look like just few hours ago in center city. right now, though, live look at storm scan3, shows just how large that system really is. you can see part of the area is getting some sleet right now, just depend on where you are. good morning, tuesday, december 29th, i'm erika von tiehl. we check in with katie and meisha a a lot headed out to work and school this morning. good morning. >> slow moving, string every accidents out there this morning, the good news is the silver lining is they're getting cleared out of the way sometime in a good amount of time, i should say, but they are causing delays already, as we push into the 6:00. so kate what i can we expect? >> unfortunately, the rain not helping matters much. we won't see it end any time soon. at least through the rest of this morning, this drive, even leading up to the late morning, leading up close to lunchtime. we are likely to still have something to track here on storm scan3, let's in fact go on out to the maps, show you what's happening on storm scan at this hour. there is a pretty solid batch of heavy rain off shore. but obviously, still dealing with quite a bit