walking off the job. hundreds of workers at philadelphia international airport will picket later this morning. the change they want to see and how it might affect your flight. angry and ready to fight. new jersey senator bob menendez heads to federal court today, one day after his response to corruption charges filed against him. and a live look at boathouse row on the schuylkill river. at 37 degrees, we are off to a chilly start on this thursday. but you will enjoy what's ahead for today. our long-awaited spring warm-up is finally upon us. good morning and welcome to nbc 10 news today. i'm chris cato. let's begin with meteorologist bill henley. it's nice and clear.

>> and a chilly start on this spring day. we'll see lots of sunshine like yesterday, but it will be warmer this afternoon. right now it is clear in center city. a nice southerly wind to help drive temperatures up during the day today. currently 38 degrees in philadelphia. but look at the 20s for pottstown and allentown with light wind and clear skies. and dry air. that's when you get those colder temperatures. we're seeing that there. millville, same story at 30 degrees. while it's 37 in wilmington. we will see bright sunshine but a chilly start. 35 degrees at 6:00. the sun will be up by 9:00 and temperatures, 45 degrees and near 60 at lunchtime and climbing. our-by-hour forecast when i'm back in ten minutes. right now first alert traffic reporter christine maddela has a look at the roadways. >> be on the lookout, i-95. the signs pointing drivers away

from the left lane. that construction project is taking out the left-hand lane in both directions. so just be on the lookout for those construction crews. but it's not slowing things down too much. and thanks to our photographer, john, for filling me in on this. along route 1, malfunctions traffic lights at the boulevard and large street as well as the boulevard and bustleton avenue. if you're traveling there, be extra cautious and on the lookout. taking a look at our drive times now, the schuylkill expressway everything looking good especially around the curve. eastbound, that's going to take you 13 minute about the same in the other direction. chris? at 4:02 following breaking news out of kenya where masked gunmen are reportedly holding hostages on a university campus. at least two people are dead 29 hurt by gunfire after the attackers stormed garissa university. al jazeera is reporting they entered a dorm.

witnesses are reporting gunshots and explosions. we'll bring you any new developments throughout the morning. new from overnight, philadelphia police say a masked man broke into a home. it happened around 1:00. police say the man kicked in a back door of the house and pointed a gun at a woman inside. when she screamed for police the intruder ran off without taking anything. police are still looking for the man. also from overnight, a man is in the hospital after he fell off a platform at a septa station in montgomery county. they say the victim was trying to get onto a train at the north wales station when he fell. rescuers pulled him up and took him to the hospital. no word yet on his condition. happening today, hundreds of philadelphia airport workers plan to go on strike demanding higher wages and better working conditions. nbc 10's katy zachry is live for us at philadelphia international this morning. so katy exactly who will be picketing here and why? >> reporter: chris, we're talking about baggage handlers

wheelchair attendants and aircraft cleaners. as we take a live look at the airport behind me, you can see operations are running smoothly. i just got off to the phone with the union representative who tells me those employees will go on strike around 6:00 this morning. you may remember we have heard from this group before. they have held protests here at the airport demanding higher hourly wages. as it stands this group reportedly makes as little as 7 $7.25 an hour and don't have access to health benefits or sick days. it's important to note they are not employees of the airport. they are contractors and provide services for us airways, american delta, southwest, british airways and other airlines. i am in the process of trying to get a comment from their employer which is prospect aviation services also prime flight airline services employs these workers going on strike later this morning. as soon as i get a comment from their employers, i'll pass that on to you. we'll have an update for you in about a half hour. i'm going to get on the phone with a union representative and

hopefully we're going to get some comments from some of these workers who will be striking over the next hour. reporting live at the philadelphia international airport, katy zachry, nbc 10 news. happening today, new jersey senator robert menendez plans to appear in federal court after his indictment on bribery and corruption charges. nbc 10's tracy davidson is live for us in our digital operations center with more on this. tracy, last night menendez held a news conference and vowed to fight these charges. >> he did, despite calls for his resignation, one coming from the state's largest newspaper, "the star ledger." menendez says he's not going anywhere. >> and this is not how my career is going to end. >> senator menendez called the charges against him a political attack. if he's convicted, he could spend decades in prison. federal prosecutors allege the senator accepted lavish gifts like private jet rides and tropical vacations from longtime friend and florida eye doctor solon melgen.

prosecutors say he helped him get visas for his girlfriend and lobbied for the doctor's business interests. >> i'm angry because prosecutors at the justice department don't know the difference between friendship and corruption and have chosen to twist my duties as a senator and my friendship into something that is improper. >> menendez is getting support from senator cory booker and other democrats in new jersey and from chris christie. he said everyone deserves the presumption of innocence. live in the digital operations center tracy davidson nbc 10 news. happening today, a former state lawmaker from philadelphia faces sentencing in an alleged scheme to funnel cash to his sister. jose miranda pleaded guilty to making false statements and admitted to an ethics violation. authorities say when he was a state representative, he hired a man to be on his staff but told that man not to show up for work and to give some of his salary to miranda's sister. a grand jury charged the lawmaker and his sister with felonies.

the defendant struck a plea agreement that dropped the more serious charges. 4:06. and we have new information now on a story out of mercer county. authorities say police shot a man who refused to stop stabbing his father. last night someone called police to an apartment in hamilton township. police say when they got there, they say the man stabbing his father, and he continued to stab him even after police told him to drop the knife. police say he had also stabbed his mother when she tried to stop him. medics took all three family members to the hospital. no word on their conditions or what prompted the violence. today a teenager accused of knocking out a 50-year-old man at a subway station in philadelphia is expected to turn himself in to police. authorities say this surveillance video from the 15th street station on monday shows the teen punching the man. the blow broke the man's jaw and gave him concussionlike symptoms. video taken earlier shows the victim and the teen arguing on a train. police say they used facial recognition software to identify the suspect. >> really good piece of

technology that can assist in expediting an investigation or at least giving us a pool of potential suspects. >> now, this is the second assault at a septa platform in the past three weeks. in the other case a group of teens beat up another teen at the walnut locust station. investigators say the attacks are not related. a man wanted for allegedly pulling a knife on a septa bus driver is in custody now. police say john mcmillan surrendered after seeing himself on the news. investigators say mcmillan pulled a knife and threatened the driver aboard the route 23 bus in tioga last month. police released this video monday hoping someone would recognize the suspect. the suspect recognized himself and turned himself in. in the atlantic city casino crisis, a judge could rule today on the sale of the bankrupt revel casino. the main lender wells fargo, wants a judge to approve the sale to a developer. they claim new bidders are not serious. wells fargo says it has already spent more than $60 million on

the revel bankruptcy proceedings and cannot wait any longer. happening today, college students will protest an obstacle to a new branch campus on the atlantic city boardwalk. students at stockton university plan to march from the closed showboat casino to the trump taj mahal this afternoon. they're protesting taj's refusal to allow stockton to turn the showboat into a satellite campus. the owners of the taj said last week that having college students next door would be bad for business. the taj is enforceing an old agreement that says the showboat will only be operated as a casino. poentsopponents of that new ad campaign on buses will be on again today. the ad showing adolf hitler along with "islamic jew hatred, it's in the koran." opponents will be handing out leaflets from 10:00 to noon today. they want to send a message of tolerance and peace. now your nbc 10 first alert

weather with meteorologist bill henley. >> ten minutes after 4:00. and the temperatures chilly this morning. back in the 30s. a couple spots in the 20s. skies are completely clear. this is a live view of center city from the adventure aquarium. and the wind has really died down. those areas seeing the lightest wind are seeing the coldest temperatures. 31 right now in reading. 38 in philadelphia. and wilmington with clear skies, 37 degrees. clear skies, good news, we are clear for sunshine today. it's going to be nice and bright at the shore. this is a view from the marquis to lafayette hotel this morning. the wind died down for reading, pottstown, allentown, northeast philadelphia. no wind or clouds. very dry air. that's what we have this morning giving us those cold temperatures. there are some high clouds. you see them moving through new york state. we'll see some of those this afternoon. mainly it's going to be sunshine and a quick warm-up, too. even nicer than yesterday. yesterday turned out to be a pretty nice day with temperatures in the 50s. we'll be in the middle 50s by 11:00 this morning.

hour-by-hour forecast shows we're headed for the 60s this afternoon. the arrows lining up out of the south. that's a warming direction for us. we'll see temperatures take off during the afternoon hours. afternoon readings well into the 60s. lots of sunshine. but also some gusty winds. south-southwesterly winds helping boost our temperatures. a look at the weekend forecast including easter sunday when i'm back in ten. >> yeah we're hoping for treats. thank you, bill. 11 minutes after 4:00. let's get you caught up on how the roads are shaping up. christine maddela has that. >> on route 1, two malfunctions traffic lights on the boulevard and large street and bustleton avenue to be on the lookout for. overall we're seeing a lot of green. just a little bit of slowdown right here on 95. that's due to some construction that's out there. there is a construction crew that has one lane out. just be on the lookout. that could slow you down but overall not a lot of volume chris. a dirty problem is creating some concern in delaware.

next, the health scare that's sparking a warning for some patients. plus eyes and ears on the road. why your chances of getting a traffic ticket are going up across the area. >> reporter: i'm matt delucia live at citizens bank park. we're just a few days away from opening day for the phillyiesphillies. after the break, what's being done to get that field in tip-top shape.

4:14. happening later today, a former school administrator involved in a texting scandal in chester county will face charges in court. former coatesville area school superintendent richard co-mo will have his formal arraignment today. he's charged with theft of school district funds and ethic violations.

prosecutors say the men pocketed money from school district accounts. and como's lawyer claims a lack of evidence though. authorities say racist and sexist text messages sent between those two men led to the theft investigation. today in northampton county officials are expected to arraign a man accused of shooting and killing his stepdaughter. gregory graf is charged with the death of a mother of three from whitehall township. investigators say graf shot her in november then hid her body behind a shed on his property. this touched off a massive search for the missing mother. graf is also accused of abusing her corpse. in montgomery county the coroner says a couple found dead from chain saw injuries died as a result of a murder/suicide. it happened at a home on country lane. the couple's 14-year-old son found their bodies on tuesday. investigators say christopher pepleman killed his wife nicole with the chain saw before using it to kill himself. this morning we're learning more about the cumberland county

man who died tuesday after violent police took him into custody. sources from law enforcement are now disputing witness claims who say that police attacked phillip white after he was handcuffed and restrained on the ground. two officers were called out to a home on west grape street. investigators say the officers called for an ambulance because white was having trouble breathing. but sources tell nbc 10 that white began to struggle with one of the officers. witnesses are convinced police did use excessive force. >> let the dog out and, like they just kept punching him. i mean the dog kept biting him at the same time. he was on the floor. like he was knocked out. >> prosecutors say white became unresponsive in an ambulance. they say crews tried to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at the hospital. in gloucester county a police officer acquitted of criminal charges last month is now taking legal action of his own. washington township officer is suing the township. he's calling for all

disciplinary actions leveled against him to be thrown out. now, right now he's suspended without pay in connection with his arrest of assemblyman paul moriarty in 2012. that officer claimed moriarty was driving drunk. moriarty, though, had the charges dropped. di bonaventura said they cannot enforce the actions against him. the montgomery county attorney says the investigation into kathleen kane will be reviewed with a commitment to fairness. a grand jury charged her with perjury and other offenses. this week the state supreme court ruled the jury investigation was legal, something kane challenged. the district attorney says her office will now determine if a more detailed investigation needs to be done. kane denies that she broke any laws. 4:17 now. how about some baseball. welcome home phillies. major league baseball's opening day is monday. and preparations are under way

on and off the field, of course. here's a live look at citizens bank park in south philadelphia this morning. the phils will open their season on monday against the boston red sox, hosting those red sox. nbc 10's matt delucia is outside the ballpark. you got a firsthand look at what's happening before the players and fans take the stadium, right? >> reporter: that is right, chris. we're very excited, of course right here at nbc 10. that game will be on here. of course, there's a lot of work going on behind these walls right now. it's very dark right now. there's no team out there at the moment. no crews working. but i'll tell you, we've got some video here. it's really down to the wire. the crew has been watering the grass, pounding the clay on that field. the folks here say that they're pretty happy with the conditions the way they are this time of year. of course, the home opener is monday. so not a whole lot of time to get things perfect. all those months of work all those hours, once those gates open, it's showtime. >> it's literally day by day, week by week. so on any given day, as long as

the weather cooperates with us we know what we're going to be doing. >> reporter: in fact the grounds crew tells me they've been working since the last season ended to get this field ready. and there's a full-time staff focused on the field conditions. but you may have noticed that your own lawn at home may not be responding that well to the constant changes in temperature that we've seen. how these guys keep this field looking green right now, we'll see again in about an hour. for now live at citizens bank park, matt delucia, nbc 10 news. >> and nbc 10 is your home for the phillies home opener. join jacqueline london and keith jones for "welcome home phillies" monday afternoon. our pregame coverage live from the park begins at 2:00. we'll be covering the parade as the team makes its way into citizens bank park. and then the game against the boston red sox gets under way at 3:00. now your nbc 10 first alert weather with meteorologist bill henley. >> if you're on your way this morning, you need a nice warm jacket. cold once again. 20s and 30s to start with with

clear skies this morning which means we'll see plenty of sunshine. right now boat house row completely dry and the water is like glass. very little wind. the temperatures drop to 38 degrees in philadelphia. look at that wind. just three miles an hour. the winds light to start with. but it's not going to stay that way today. we'll see a pretty good southerly wind. and that's really going to move temperatures even in the poconos. that's big bear. clear skies there. lots of sunshine from the city to the mountains and everywhere in between. look at the cold. pottstown, 29 degrees right now. millville is down to 30. toms river at 28. also 28 in westchester. chad ford is 23. look at glenmore 26. phoenixville at 30. a cold start this morning. but it's going to be a quick turnaround with no clouds. zero cloud cover to start with. but there will be high clouds moving in this afternoon. that's the beginning of a change for tomorrow. we'll be dry today. but the wet weather that's moving through iowa right now,

heavy downpours, showers, remember nos, that's the possibility for us. we'll see the first wet weather first thing tomorrow morning. but not today. leave the umbrella at home grab the sunglasses and plan on a big warm-up. in the 50s yesterday. ten degrees warmer this afternoon with gusty winds to 30. if you're making weekend plans, a few showers saturday morning, then they're drying out. 58 degrees with gusty winds on saturday. still a bit breezy for easter sunday. but it will be warmer. the sunshine, 60 degrees. full seven-day forecast with a look at the phillies home opener coming up in the next half hour. >> all right, bill we like those 50s. thank you for that. 4:21 now. let's see how things are moving on the highways. nbc 10's first alert traffic reporter christine maddela hopefully has good news for us. >> not bad news but a construction project on i-95 slowing things down for the drivers out there because it's down to one lane. see these cones in the middle of the road? the construction crews taking out the left-hand lane.

this is 95 at giraud. it's from 676 on up. you can see all the cars getting by on the right-hand side. not a lot of volume but because there's only one lane it is slowing things down. in new jersey 295, the new jersey turnpike and the 42 freeway, those are all in the clear. no problems to report there. and you can see here overall your drive times on 95 still getting a green light. 16 minutes from woodhaven to the vine street expressway. happening today, the dangers of distracted driving will be the focus of a presentation by the nation's transportation secretary. and some young people will participate in a distracted driving demonstration. that will show the risks involved with texting or talking on the phone while behind the wheel. april is distracted driving awareness month. and in this area police officers and advocates are launching a new fight against distracted driving. this month officers in pennsylvania, new jersey and delaware are boosting the number of tickets issued to people who are texting while driving. yesterday the dupont hospital for children in delaware offered

a simulation to show the dangers of that distraction. >> it only goes so far. it's more important for the changing of a culture that we bring awareness to the issue every chance that we get. >> now, in pennsylvania you can still hold a phone to your ear while driving, but hands-free laws exist in both delaware and new jersey. a bucks county community just went up against a major corporation and won. the unwanted project pushed out of town next.

new information this morning on an apartment fire in trenton. sky force 10 flew over the bellevue avenue apartment building yesterday. the red cross is now helping eight families who were forced from their homes because of the

fire. red cross is providing lodging, food and clothing to about 15 people. no one was injured in the fire. officials are still trying to figure out how it started. from our delaware bureau now, state health officials closed a doctor's office in suffolk county and they're urging patients of that office to get checked for hiv and hepatitis. health officials shut down the ear, nose and throat practice in lewis because of concerns about clean equipment. they say patients and employees of that office should contact their doctors. officials say hiv and hepatitis may have been transmitted through possibly unsterile equipment. well a neighborhood in bucks county won its fight to stop verizon from building a new cell phone tower. the tower would have gone up behind the william penn fire company, but the zoning board last night voted against that tower plan. the william penn fire company wanted the tower as a way to improve communication, and they would have gotten money from a lease agreement, too, from verizon.

that would have been a bonus. but neighbors say the tower would have been an eyesore. >> nobody really wanted it. i know it would have benefited the firehouse, but at you know, a tremendous cost to the town because it would be a permanent fixture here. >> t-mobile and sprint already have towers installed on the water tower just down main street. now your nbc 10 first alert weather. >> clear skies. it is chilly this morning. 37 degrees at 4:27 here at nbc 10. but a big warm-up is on the way. on your way this morning out the door christine maddela in the first alert traffic center. >> good morning to you, bill. we have overnight construction projects like this on i-295 right at 168. you can see traffic is getting by on the left-hand lane. this isn't the only place construction is slowing things down a bit. i'll fill you in when we come back.

not going anywhere. new jersey senator bob menendez vows to fight the corruption charges against him as he heads to federal court today. preparing to picket. hundreds of employees at philadelphia international airport won't be at work today. we're live as they go on strike later this morning. don't let the chilly start fool you. a spring warm-up is on top for today with lots of sunshine. >> yes. >> yes! it's 4:30. this is nbc 10 news today. i'm tracy davidson. >> and i'm chris cato. let's begin with meteorologist bill henley. it's nice and clear and cool. >> 20