a reward is raised in the search for a missing west chester university student. we are live as friends plan a new effort to find him. and a new accuser steps forward with sex assault claims against bill cosby, and this time, it could mean legal trouble for the embattled comedian. and many of you are waking up to fog outside, as we take a live look over center city this morning. that is the aramark building, if you can make that out. first alert radar is tracking how long it will last. good morning. this is "nbc 10 news today." i'm vai sikahema. let's get right to meteorologist brittney shipp and her first alert forecast. there's fog, but it's going to be warmer? >> it's going to be warmer than

yesterday. and the other thing is, you'll want to take your time with the dense fog throughout the region. a live look outside right now. you can see the skyline with all the foggy skies this morning. if we look closer at radar, you can also see light rain coming down. patchy rain is expected for the rest of today. here are trouble spots when it comes to the fog. in the poconos, visibility is down to 1/4 mile, 1 1/4 miles for pottstown, 2 1/2 in reading. even philadelphia reduced to 2 miles, 2 1/2 in trenton and 4 miles in millville. so, just be careful driving in those areas. our current temperatures to start off this morning, low 40s in philadelphia, 37 in allentown, 39 in quakertown, 34 in mt. pocono. and as we head into the rest of today, we'll be dealing with patchy fog throughout your morning hours, showers throughout the afternoon. temperatures today warmer than yesterday. 51 degrees by 4:00 p.m. we'll see more clearing as we head into the evening. 44 by 9:00 p.m. i'll go over what to expect for your workweek and the weekend

coming up in my first alert seven-day forecast. first, let's check with traffic reporter katy zachry. >> good morning. you need to be cautious this morning and allow extra time, because we are dealing with some foggy patches. so, we're going to start things off in the allentown area, route 22 right at airport road, where they are seeing some fog on the roadways, as are many areas in our coverage area. so, in audubon, new jersey, this is for drivers. it's been out there for some time on the white horse pike at cuthbert boulevard. all lanes are blocked. there was an earlier accident there. it took down several traffic lights. the alternate is the black horse pike around that. then, just new into our system in glen mills, route 202 northbound right at route 1, all lanes are blocked. an alternate around that there is brinton lake road. finally, a live look at 95 right at cottman avenue, where there is construction on the northbound on-ramp there. vai? >> thank you. two people are in the hospital after a multicar crash in west philadelphia.

nbc 10 was on the scene near 54th and chestnut in west philadelphia, where two cars collided around 12:45 this morning with a parked car and a traffic pole also getting hit. also new from overnight, police are looking for the robber who forced a woman inside her house and stole 75 bucks. this happened around 2:00 this morning on 56th street in southwest philadelphia. investigators say the victim was walking home when the robber attacked. she was not hurt. and new developments overnight in the search for a missing college student in manayunk. a high reward is now posted as shane montgomery's friends plan to hit the streets to try to find him today. nbc 10's jesse gary is live in west chester where a vigil will be held today. jesse, what can you tell us? >> reporter: vai, they're going to hit the streets later today looking for shane, armed with the knowledge that the reward for information leading to his discovery is now up to $31,000. as you said, vai, also they plan to have a vigil here on the west chester university campus at the

student union behind me. it's been one week since shane has been missing, and investigators are still stumped by his disappearance. the 21-year-old west chester university student was last seen leaving kildare's irish pub in manayunk the night before thanksgiving. federal and local investigators believe he was walking to his parents' home about a mile away but never made it. his last cell phone call was around 1:30 a.m., then the phone stopped pinging with cell towers. >> at some point, the cell phone stops communicating with the network and there's a lot of reasons that could happen. the phone could be dead, it could be broken, the battery could be out of it, the battery could have just gone dead, the phone could have been turned off. >> reporter: coming up in the next 30 minutes, the new effort to generate leads in this case. we'll have that for you in 30 minutes. live in west chester, jesse gary, nbc 10 news. vai? the search will resume this morning in wilmington for a missing barge operator. the barge flipped over near the mouth of the christina river around 7:30 last night during a routine procedure. two workers were rescued. a third is missing.

this morning we're following new developments in the bill cosby scandal. a southern california woman has filed a lawsuit against him, alleging he molested her in 1974 when she was just 15 years old. judith huth claims that the comedian gave her and a friend alcohol and then took them to the playboy mansion in los angeles where she says he forced her to perform a sex act. huth is the first woman to claim she was underage when she was allegedly abused by cosby. he resigned from the board of trustees after the growing claims from women of his past. cosby has never been charged with any crime. we have reached out to cosby's attorney but have not heard back. happening today, the sentencing hearing for a former traffic court judge convicted of lying about fixing tickets. a jury found robert mulgrew and three other judges guilty of that crime. the judges were cleared on more serious corruption charges. and federal prosecutors said

they went after the judges for granting special treatment to friends, family and political allies when it came to traffic tickets. authorities said each judge deserves two to three years in prison. the sentencing judge can consider all corrupt behavior, even for charges that did not result in convictions. and lawyers will hold a pretrial conference today for cornelius crawford. he's charged with murdering three children and their mother in july, in a july carjacking in north philadelphia. police say crawford and another man carjacked the driver, sexually assaulted her and then crashed her suv into the family. kisha williams and her three children were selling fruit on the sidewalk when the vehicle jumped the curb. the hit-and-run crash also injured another woman who was on the sidewalk that day. family and friends will remember a lehigh valley woman who was killed by her stepfather. visitation service will be held this evening in northampton for jessica padgett. she left her job on november 21st to run errands and she never returned.

her stepfather, gregory graf, admitted to shooting padgett and burying her body at his home. the district attorney says there was a sexual motive behind the crime. in a national tv interview monday night, he said they're trying to determine if sexual abuse happened before or after padgett's death. and happening today, united airlines is ending flights to atlantic city international airport. the airline started offering flights in april to chicago and houston, but it did not bring in enough business. the south jersey transportation authority says it's in contact with other carriers to bring flights to atlantic city. and happening today, the aclu will announce legal action against what it calls the resegregation of schools in delaware. the aclu said that it wants to focus on concerns about delaware public schools becoming less diverse. it showed a national trend towards less integration of white and nonwhite students over the last 20 years. the aclu will outline its legal steps at a news conference in

wilmington later this morning. the tower hills school in wilmington has named a new head of school after the previous headmaster was arrested on child porn charges. the new school leader, elizabeth cromwell speers will take over july 1st. she currently heads a school in connecticut. previous leader, christopher wheeler, resigned last year after police raided his oncampus home and confiscated computer equipment that they say contain child porn. a judge is expected to issue a verdict in wheeler's case within the month. and happening today, chester upon schools in delaware county could fire the man they hired to get them out of debt. joe watkins is expected to defend his work later this morning. he was hired in 2012 to come up with a financial recovery plan. the state is asking the board to remove watkins, pointing to a $20 million budget deficit. now your nbc 10 first alert weather with meteorologist brittney shipp. >> good morning.

as we head into the rest of today, we'll continue to see foggy conditions, especially for the rest of your morning. switching into the afternoon, on-and-off showers expected for us, very light, and then we'll be warmer today, temperatures pushing back into the 50s, which is actually above average for us. here's a live look at the fog right now over the city skyline, so take it easy when you are heading out to work or taking the kids to the bus stop. for philadelphia right now, 41 degrees. our humidity's at 93%, wind speeds out of the southwest at 13 miles per hour. so, that's warmer air moving in from the southwest. temperaturewise, we're at 34 degrees in mt. pocono, 37 in allentown, 39 in wilmington. a mild start in atlantic city at 46 degrees. 43 currently in stone harbor. temperatures in dover at 39. and here's a closer look at that visibility. we're down to 6 miles here in philadelphia, down to 3 miles in pottstown, lancaster only 1/2 mile in visibility. it's foggy near cape may. atlantic city looks to be fine. mt. holly visibility is down to about 7 miles per hour. if we take a live look at our live camera network, again, you can see how foggy it is on our

city skyline. then if we take a closer look here at the i-95, again, both commuting to work are going to find foggy conditions on their way there, especially for our suburbs to the north and west. our average for this time of year is 49 degrees. for today, we'll warm up above that average, up to about 53. we'll drop back down a few degrees, back down to 48 on your thursday. and really, for the rest of the week heading into the weekend, temperatures are going to be pretty close to average. here's a closer look at the satellite/radar shot. you can see all the rain is moving in up from the southwest. and as we head into the rest of today, we'll continue to see light showers triggered by a warm front. warmer air is making its way in. on-and-off showers throughout the day, even as we head into the afternoon. by 1:00 p.m., we could even see little bit of moderate rainfall. but today, our temperatures, again, will range between 51 and 54 degrees. so, much warmer than what we saw yesterday. i'll go over all the details in your seven-day forecast, coming up.

4:10 this wednesday morning. to the problems and challenges that may be out there for early-morning commuters, fog and road construction. here's katy zachry with the traffic. i've got to wake up. >> i know, it's always changing, vai. in the early-morning hours, it's always changing. it's me, it's jillian, it's christine. who knows, right? look behind me, because in addition to the fog and construction this morning, you can see that there is an accident. this is in glen mills. it's on route 202 northbound right at route 1. and if we move to my maps, i can show you a little bit of the alternate route. again, it just came in. it's in glen mills. some of the lanes are blocked, as you just saw from that video, so an alternate around that is brinton lake road. also, for drivers in the philadelphia area, route 1 southbound, the roosevelt boulevard at oxford circle, there's an accident there. one lane is blocked. and for new jersey drivers, we have a number of accidents this morning. in audubon, this is from an

earlier accident on the white horse pike at cuthbert boulevard. all lanes are blocked because of an earlier accident. some of the traffic signals are down, so you can take the black horse pike around that. and when i see you in just a few minutes, we'll show you how some of the foggy conditions are affecting roadways. vai? >> see you then, katy. out of jail, but not off the hook. the requirement philly rapper meek mill must meet to keep his freedom. plus, hepatitis concerns at a local restaurant. the warning for anyone who ate at the south jersey pizzeria. and cargo concerns. what experts now say could cause destructive fires like this on board airplanes.

just about 4:15 this wednesday morning, 42 degrees

out there. you're taking a live look at west chester. you can see a little bit of fog there. more fog in the center city area and brittney shipp will be along in a little while to tell us about the weather, what you can expect today. doctors at massachusetts general hospital in boston are evaluating a patient who may be infected with ebola. the patient is in stable condition and is being kept in an isolation unit until test results come back. hospital officials say they are extremely confident that they can handle the case, while keeping their staff and other patients safe. and federal health officials have now designated two philadelphia hospitals as ebola treatment centers. children's hospital of philadelphia and the hospital of the university of pennsylvania are on a list of 35 qualified hospitals named by the department of health and human services. government officials say the hospitals have the staff, the equipment and the training to safely and effectively care for ebola patients. president obama's calling on congress to provide more than $6 billion in funding to fight the ebola virus here in the u.s. and in west africa.

he made that call during a visit to the national institutes of health yesterday. he toured a lab where doctors are working on a promising ebola vaccine. also, nbc news has learned president obama will likely tap former deputy defense secretary ashton carter as his new pentagon chief. carter graduated from abington high school in montgomery county. there's no word from the white house on whether he's the nominee to succeed chuck hagel, who is stepping down. republican senators say they support carter, who has not served in either the military or in congress. and happening today, a former u.p.s. driver who claims that she was forced to take unpaid leave because she was pregnant will take her case to the supreme court. pegi young was a delivery truck driver for u.p.s. in 2006 and gave them a doctor's note about restrictions on lifting packages. young was placed on unpaid leave. she also lost health insurance and could not collect unemployment. the lower courts ruled against young. now the supreme court will weigh in.

the grand jury in new york city's expected to decide today if police committed a crime in the choke hold death of eric garner. he's the unarmed man who died while being arrested on staten island over the summer. amateur video shows an officer wrapping his arm around garner's neck while he yelled "i can't breathe." the case sparked outrage weeks before the shooting death of michael brown in ferguson, missouri. philadelphia rapper meek mill is a free man this morning. mill walked out of the philadelphia prison yesterday afternoon. his real name is robert williams, and he served five months in prison for violating parole in a drug case. this is video of nbc 10's luann can interviewing him two years ago. a judge sent him to jail in july over an outburst at his parole officer. he also must take etiquette classes. a former lower morld high school teacher admitted she had sex with a 17-year-old student and sent him sexually explicit photos and videos. 34-year-old erica gannetti

pleaded guilty to institutional sexual assault in montgomery county court yesterday. the school district fired her after her arrest in january. she now faces several years in prison when she is sentenced. from our delaware bureau, fire investigators are working to track down arsonists they believe set fire to three churches in kent county. you're looking at the fire that destroyed the healing hands christian church in felton yesterday. the building and all of its contents were destroyed. within hours, two more church fires erupted nearby. >> if i talked to the one who did it, i would just ask them a question why. >> reporter: that's all you want to know? >> i just want to know why. >> investigators say they found common elements between the fires but no clear connection. the health department is planning a vaccination clinic tomorrow after a hepatitis scare at a popular mercer county pizzeria. a worker who handles food at rosa's italian restaurant in hamilton township is now in the hospital with hepatitis-a.

health officials fear there could be thousands who were exposed to the virus between november 10th and december 1st. and now health officials are trying to track down customers so they can get to their doctor right away. >> the symptoms could vary from severe to mild, but the significance is how contagious it is. >> all garbage areas have been cleaned, the bathrooms are clean and most of the area is approved by the department of health. that's why they allowed us to open up again. >> so far, no one else reported any symptoms. now, if you live in hamilton township and recently ate at rosa's, you can get vaccinated thursday from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. health officials will be at the colonial volunteer fire company on 801 kuser road. the vaccine costs $35 per person there. people are flooding a state hotline with phone calls as they try to enroll in pennsylvania's expanded medicaid program. enrollment for healthy pennsylvania began this week. the state says so many people

have called the hotline since monday that it jammed up the phones. the state is assuring people there is no deadline to enroll. once you do enroll, coverage begins on january 1st. and last year under around the new guidelines, single adults under 65 can apply if they make under $16,000 a year. the state says that makes about 600,000 adults newly eligible. now your nbc 10 first alert weather with meteorologist brittney shipp. >> good morning. it's a foggy start, and we are going to continue to see foggy conditions into your late morning hours. also rain showers. so, wet roads out there. you need a little extra time to get to work due to the wet roads and dense fog. warmer today, however. so, we're done with the windchill, pushing back into the 50s today. 41 degrees in philadelphia, wind speeds out of the southwest at 15 miles per hour, so warmer air is on the way. our visibility is down to about 2 1/2 miles in parts of reading down to just over 1 mile in

allentown, 1/4 mile in the poconos and also in lancaster, down to 7 miles in philadelphia. and as we head into the rest of the morning, we'll slowly start to see that clearing up, but you do want to, again, allow extra time. 34 currently in the poconos, 37 in allentown. 39 degrees in wilmington, 37 in kennett square, 42 in trenton, 44 in mt. mostholly. and our temperatures continue to climb. we have warmer air moving in from the south. we're seeing an 8-degree difference here in mt. holly, we're 9 degrees warmer in mt. pocono, 2 degrees warmer in philadelphia. our average for this time of the year 49. today we push into the 50s. and then tomorrow we are at 48 degrees. here's a closer look at our satellite/radar shot. you can see how patchy and isolated this rainfall is, but it is going to be a steady on-and-off shower as we head into the rest of today. your future temperatures as we push into the late morning hours

closer to 8:00 a.m. we'll be at 40 degrees in philadelphia, 39 in allentown, 41 in trenton. as we push into the rest of the afternoon, we push into the low 50s in philadelphia. same thing in reading. i'll track your seven-day forecast, coming up. katy zachry's handling duties in the first alert traffic center this morning. i see flashing lights, katy. not a good sign. >> yeah, there's a lot going on for this early-morning hour, vai. looking behind me, this is in glen mills in pennsylvania, route 202 right at route 1 where there is an accident. several lanes are blocked. police are at the scene. an alternate around that is brinton lake road until they investigate and move those vehicles off the roadway. a foggy look in flourtown. this is 309, route 309 at church road, where we're seeing fog blanketing a lot of our roadways in our coverage area. and finally, for new jersey drivers, a couple things going on. this is in oakland, white horse pike at cuthbert boulevard. all lanes are blocked because of an earlier accident that involves some downed traffic poles. so, an alternate is the black horse pike to get you around

that. and then just new into our system moving further south on the new jersey turnpike southbound, right when you pass exit 2, which is the exit for 322, there is a jack-knifed tractor-trailer. i'm told a vehicle is off the roadway, so that accident is new into our system, and i'm following that. i'll have updates in just a few minutes, vai. three, two, one, merry christmas! >> and with that, center city's ready for the holidays. dozens packed the shops at liberty place last night for the second annual christmas tree lighting party. santa claus himself, as you see there. the philadelphia dance company and the liberty strings orchestra put everyone in the holiday spirit. very nice. set for a showdown. the face-off happening today that focuses on the airbags in millions of cars. plus, a fire and then a big blast. experts say it can happen on airplanes. the item in cargo that may soon be banned.

at 4:26 this morning, new information in the ongoing recall of airbags made by japanese company takata. today the house will hear testimony from automakers and from takata officials. also, at least seven automakers, including gm, nissan and ford, are teaming up to find out why some of the airbags can explode, spewing shrapnel at drivers and passengers. 14 million cars have been recalled worldwide because of the problem. there are new concerns about lithium ion batteries and whether it's safe to fly on a plane carrying large shipments of them. take a look at this faa test of a cargo container packed with thousands of lithium ion batteries and the heater. as the temperature rose, the container caught fire and then

exploded. investigators blame the batteries for several accidents, like 2006, when a u.p.s. plane barely made it to philadelphia after a fire broke out. pilots unions are calling for tougher rules on shipping those batteries. now your nbc 10 first alert weather. >> and it's a foggy start to the morning in the poconos. i'm tracking how long the fog is going to stick around, plus patchy rainfall. what's in store for the rest of your wednesday? i'll let you know in my full forecast, coming up. katy? >> thanks, brittney. there's an accident in glen mills, route 202 northbound right at route 1, where some lanes are blocked. you can see police are on the scene right now. there's also an accident into the system on the new jersey turnpike southbound. i'll have more details coming up. plus, on the upswing. the jersey shore beach that's topping charts and blowing other destinations out of the water.

♪ with the card most accepted in the philadelphia region,

you have the power to do more. independence blue cross. live fearless. the reward is raised again in the search for a missing west chester university student. we are live as friends plan a new effort to find him. another sexual assault allegation against bill cosby, and this time, the accuser says she was just 15 at the time. and it could be a foggy commute for you as you head out the door. the nbc 10 first alert weather team tracking what will happen when that fog moves out and when it will move out. good morning. this is "nbc 10 news today." i'm tracy davidson. >> and i'm vai sikahema. we're hoping there's some good news behind that fog. let's get right to meteorologist brittney shipp with her first alert forecast. good morning, brittney. >> good morning. temperatures today are warmer than we saw yesterday and our wind speeds should relax a bit as well. so, once weet