breaking news from overnight, battle over for this embattled symbol. lawmakers in south carolina took a final vote for remove the confederate flag from state capital grounds. >> this morning, we are tracking a severe weather threat and you can see it headed our way on radar. the timing for those storms and what we should be bracing for coming up in our first alert forecast. also this morning, support is growing for this teacher who was fired from her job of eight years. some say she was let go because she is in a same-sex marriage. how the decision could put the school in some legal trouble coming up in a live report. good morning. this is "nbc 10 news today" on

this thursday. i'm chris cato. bill henley with his first alert forecast. another humid morning. >> we are tracking a few showers in the area this morning but the big threat is this afternoon and this evening. a first alert is in effect for severe storms later today and with those storms the potential for damaging winds and there is a tornado threat later today. the storms will be rolling through during the evening commute. this morning, though tracking light showers. one cell is coming down a little bit heavier in southern burks county. the storm in indiana and ohio valley and western kentucky is the system that is going to bring us the strong storms later today. this morning a few spots. most of the area will be try. a few raindrops at 6:00 and at 9:00, then we will see some sunshine breaking through as we go through the later morning hours and into the afternoon. that will start to heat things up and it will heat up ahead of the storms later today.

i'm back in 10:00 minutes with a look at the future weather and go through the day hour-by-hour and somehow when the greatest threat will be arriving. but right now let's check in with our first alert traffic reporter jessica boyington. >> we want to cover quickly ongoing construction on the vine street expressway closing between the schuylkill expressway and follow the detours and you should be just fine. on the schuylkill in the center city area average speeds 63 miles per hour there. blue route doing great and mass transit, here are the following. breaking news from overnight. drama unfolding at the state capital in south carolina after a marathon session there. the house of representatives of south carolina voted decisively a final vote to remove the

confederate flag from the state capital grounds. nbc10's tracy davidson joins us live in our digital operations center. you learned that the final vote was actually in doubt for much of the night? >> there was a little bit of wrangling for sure. the south carolina senate had already passed down the bill to take down the confederate flag. last night up to the house. some members tried to tack on amendments but the measure did pass and 94-20 was the vote. it now goes to nikki haley who supports it. the southern battle flag flown next to the monument could come down within a few days. calls to take it down began after last month's church shooting rampage in charleston by a suspect seen posing with the flag. nine people died including the pastor who was also a state lawmaker. as you know those opposed to the flag see it as a sign of slavery or treason and though supporting it consider it

southern pride, heritage. coming up at 5:00 you'll hear from south carolina's governor and see what she said about the flag's removal on social media. live in the digital operations center tracy davidson nbc10 news. the confederate flag controversy appears to have sparked a crime in new castle county. tuesday night thieves stole the battle flag from a man's property in newark and vandalized his car and boat. the property owner showed usd!p flag pole where he threw the confederate flag for years. you can also see a busted truck window here and his boat is covered in graffiti calling him a racist. beakly told nbc10 george spencer he believes he was targeted because of that flag. >> it's my freedom to hang what kind of flag i want to hang. you hang what you want in yours and i hang what i want in mine. they take it the other way, whoever they are, but they take it in a racist way, which i don't feel about it. >> police say no leads in this case.

beakly says the vandalism won't stop him from putting up another confederate flag. a catholic school in montgomery county is at the center of a controversy because they say they fired a teacher because of same-sex marriage. matt delucia is live. >> 150 people mostly parent of students here at this academy showed up for support gathering last night. that fired teacher margie winters was received with a standing ovation. winters talked religious education here waldron mercy for eight years. the letter from the principal referred to the school's need to imply with church teachings and at that closed door meeting in

fairmount last night voiced their support for the teacher and condemned the firing. >> we need to come together and know we are together on this and that it's not okay. >> all i know it's not about margie any more. it's about doing the right thing. it doesn't matter about who is right, it's what is right. >> reporter: orchestrating the administratively of the archdiocese of philadelphia say the following. they say it is solely a waldron decision. we will see if it violated local laws when we come back. 78 degrees. happening today, a judge in chester county will decide if this former principal will go to trial for his alleged indecent behavior with a student. george symons is scheduled for a preliminary hearing. the concept school fired him

after his arrest. authorities say he groped a student last year in his office and the bathroom. his lawyer says he will fight the charges. cyber stalking case against a family of a wilmington courthouse killer. in february 2013 she and a friend was caught at the courthouse by thomas metowitz. if convicted they could face life in prison. a bank robbery suspect, after he was shot authorities have to j justify if the police officer in doing so. he man held up a bank and threatened to shoot but never pulled a gun. a man shot the man in the arm and hand and held him on the ground until police arrive.

prosecutors say the councilman is licensed to carry the gun. we are learning moreaa÷ man who was shot and killed by police in atlantic city after he allegedly murdered a store clerk there. prosecutors have not released his name but sources tell us he's a convicted felon and was arrested in february on gun charges. police say the man walked into the cedar market on tuesday and stabbed to death the clerk in front of about a dozen customers. witnesses said he was upset about a sandwich. a jury found a new jersey military couple guilty of abusing three foster children. former army major john jackson was convicted wednesday on ten counts of child abuse. his wife carolyn on 12 counts. prosecutors say they tortured those kids for years and beating them and carrying out cruel punishment and denying them water. the jackie's live in burlington county and they will be sentenced in october. bob casey will make a push for his proposal on universal prek. this comes ahead of a vote on a

new amendment to the no child left behind act. casey says the amendment would fund universal pre-k five years by closing certain tax loopholes. the measure would impact pennsylvania's all 500 school districts. crews are spraying for mosquitoes in gloucester township and cam camden county. the spraying started two hours ago and will wrap up at 6:00 this morning. 76 degrees. 9:00 after 4:00. we have a steamy start which is going to help set the stage for a stormy afternoon. seeing some rain in the area in reading. most of the rest of the area is dry. 77 degrees in philadelphia and wilmington with clouds 75 degrees. we will see storms late today.

looks like during the evening commute rolling through and right across the delaware. this morning though, it is lighter rain showers. just a little bit heavier in southern berks county and pottstown the rain is just to the west. the rest of the area is dry this morning. the storms later today, you can see them moving into ohio lower michigan and northeastern indiana this morning. that's part of the system that extends into kentucky and this is where the heaviest weather is right now. they are on the way for later today. the hour-by-hour future cast showing at 2:00 pretty quiet in the area but it's going to be steamy and warm with temperatures in the upper 80s at that hour. these fast moving storms at 5:00 this afternoon and starting to move into lancaster county. by 6:00 the heavy downpours into new castle county in delaware and in pennsylvania it's eastern chester, delaware

and into philadelphia. you can see another lionne of storms moving through the lehigh valley at that hour. the threat continues in the early evening hours in new jersey and north jersey. then into the 9:00 hour we can still see some heavy weather in the area. so a stormy afternoon and potentially severe weather. before we get there, warm muggy conditions. temperatures into the upper 80s to near 90 degrees. with we will go through the forecast neighborhood-by-neighborhood when i come back in ten minutes. the drive home this evening could be tricky with possible storms moving through. let's see how the drive for this morning is shaping up. nbc10's first alert traffic reporter jessica boyington is watching all of her cameras which is typically kind of quiet at 4:00, right? >> we don't have yet in terms of volume but typically see a lot of construction projects and they tend to continue until 5:00 in the morning. 259 around the black horse pica construction project here and

flashing lights here. both sides northbound and southbound around this point both are dealing with lane restrictions and moving vehicles in the area. 13 minutes. still if you're headed southbound from 38 up towards this point at the black horse pike so no problems there really. out on the 42 freeway everything is moving along just fine. five minute drive time walt whitman bridge and no problems there. rest of the area bridges everything doing just fine. betsy ross is clear and no problems on the [ inaudible ] and we are laemteliminating -- more drive times when i come back in ten minutes. we have potentially rough weather on the way for this evening. that is not welcome news for a south jersey neighborhood still cleaning up from severe weather more than two weeks ago. you'll find out how today's forecast is actually helping speed up the process. and look what they pulled out of a river in new jersey. that is an alligator. we will find out how it got there and who spotted it swimming.

storms that slammed gloucester county neighborhood is still cleaning up. check this out. we saw piles of debris still lining streets in that area. now, until yesterday, the township had just three crews working debris removal. now with the threat of more nasty weather on the way for today, five more trucks have been added. >> trying to get as much done today before the rains come. you know we can only do what we can do. this is mother nature's call. >> right now washington township official are also exploring the idea of setting up dumpsters so residents can toss debris into

them. update on a story you first saw on nbc10 yesterday morning. a new jersey patient with ebola-like symptoms turned out instead to have malaria. hazmat crews went to a wawa late tuesday night after a man at the store was extremely ill and vomiting and crews rushed him to the medical center where they conformed confirmed he had malaria, not ebola. concern because he was returned from a trip from africa recently. there are far fewer cases this year of ebola and liberia has condition bmpled to be confirmed to be ebola-free. a rise in homicide and those recent riots in baltimore.

the police confer anthony bass is now off the job. the mayor says arrests are down and the number of murders are up so she had to make a change. the deputy police commissioner will now take over. this firing comes more than two months after riots broke out in baltimore following the death of freddie gray who is the man paralyzed in police custody and died a shareholder time later. six officers are charged in his death and all pleaded not guilty. a report yesterday said the department lacked basic leadership and training during those riots. in montgomery county and chester counties deadbeat dads were rounded up for unpaid child support they are going after more. these five parents, police are going after these parents. one father owes more than $36,000 in child support. railroads will be making some changes in the wake of that deadly amtrak derailment in philadelphia, more changes we should say.

the obama administration says new rules will require railroads to have video cameras inside their locomotives to record the engineers. yesterday, the ntsb requested that amtrak install inward and outward facing cameras on all trains. investigators are still trying to determine exactly what caused that deadly crash in port richmond. the train in the meantime case that derailed had no camera on the engineer. if you ride septa regional rails, get ready. they took some cars out of the agency and they want to update those cars with a safety system congress has mandated be put in place. so many trains will be shortened by one car so that will lead to some crowding on the cars that will remain. the work continues through november. aerial video here showing a four foot long 30-pound alligator. that is just a baby being pulled out of the passaic river

yesterday morning. wildlife officials believe it was somebody's pet. >> we saw something moving very slowly. i thought it was a snapping turtle and i went slowly. wait a minute, a snapping turtle had a big tail! >> state wildlife officials and local police and firefighters lost sight of the gator when is dove down and went into the mercury water but when it came up for air they got it. they put it in a plastic storage pen filled with water. coming up on 20 minutes after 4:00. it is a steamy morning and pretty quiet. i'm tracking a couple of showers this morning, but the big threat is this afternoon when we could see severe storms. right now clouds over center city and beyond. looking past the museum of art this morning and schuylkill it is dry in philadelphia and warm andy mñ muggy.

82% humidity. storms will roll through cape may during the afternoon hours. areas north and west could see damaging winds. there is each a threat of tornado activity today and most of the area is under that higher risk for the strong storms later this afternoon and this evening. to see that development, we need some warmer temperatures. we will be close to 90 degrees in philadelphia this afternoon. wilmington is 75 right now and down to 72 in blue bell and glenside. the storms will be rolling through the late afternoon hours in montgomery county. most of the rest of the area will see that threat as well. a few scattered light showers. no storms here. a little moderate shower. the rain is extending into pottstown but the heavy weather will wait until later this afternoon. before the storms roll in the temperatures move up. middle 80s for allentown and reading and quaker town.

88 for norristown and doylestown, 85. during the day, it should be quiet and dry for atlantic city cape may, and rehoboth. but during the evening hours we will see the storms roll through. philadelphia, wilmington drexelville will see the storms during the evening community and storms through new jersey and heavy weather will bring temperatures down the coming days. today it's going to be steam and heat. seven-day forecast coming up the next half hour. 4:21 now. a time for a check of the roads. i see a fancy construction graphic behind jessica boyington which means construction. >> it does. we use what we can. we have ongoing construction on the vine street expressway. closed in both directions east and westbound in between the schuylkill expressway and broad street. they will be diverting all traffic off. follow the local due tours and signs posted all over the place so you should be completely fine but set you back five to ten minutes or so and out there

until about 5:00 this morning. out on route 73 on the atlantic city expressway dark here. no problems really headed in either direction. no volume there on there. out on the p.a. turnpike smooth sailing if you're reading westbound or eastbound. 23 minutes from route one to valley forge. check in with mass transit next ten minutes. magnum p.i. is in hot water over h2o. find out why he did it and why he may be sued. we will tell you where carnival cruise lines could be taking you starting next year. oh, this is the part where i tell you about parascope. you know that! it's a social media discovery app. you can use it to look in live on things happening all over the world. we have in a fancy ipad set up here in our studio to show you what happens behind the scenes. check it out during commercial breaks.

we will try to answer your questions. you can message us through parascope. we will get to some of them right now. we are about to take a break.

a lawsuit accuses tom selleck stealing truckloads during california's historic drought. a lawsuit filed by a local water district in california alleges the star of "magnum p.i." had a water truck tapped from a hydrant for 18 months. it goes on to say the truck was, quote, observed making seven trips into and out of the area where selleck's house is located

in one week. in the meantime, water reserves are dwindling across california. >> picking up the pace. water conservation is setting in but we are not there yet. we have to keep at it. >> selleck is being sued for $21,000 which is the cost of the investigation. the water district is acting him to cease and desist. he does not face any criminal charges. if you've ever dreamed of taking a cruise to cuba but thought you'd never get the chance well, can you sell starting next year. carnival cruise will launch toward cuba in may. this is the first time since 1960 trade embargo. carnival is expecting high demand for these cuban cruises and prices start $3,000 per person. a muggy morning. we are tracking showers in the

area but the storms to the west are going to be the main concern this afternoon. a threat of severe weather. a first alert has been issued. in the first alert traffic center jessica boyington is standing by. >> it's too early for any volume but 295 in cherry hill new jersey, around route 70 everything moving along just fine. a road closure in philadelphia and i'll tell you where it is coming up. coming up after the break, i'll tell you how a pad of paper, a pen, and a good pair of walking shoes is helping to improve this entire community. we will be right back.

we are following breaking news from overnight. a history making move in south carolina. the statehouse gives the okay to remove the confederate flag from the capital grounds. >> we are bracing for severe storms headed our way this evening. rough weather will blow through this region. meteorologist bill henley will have the timing ahead in the first alert forecast. >> good morning. i'm tracy davidson. >> i'm chris cato. thursday morning. another steamy start out there and it could be pretty rough this evening. bill? >> the main threat is later today after temperatures really climb into the upper 80s to near 90 degrees. first alert has been issued with a threat of severe storms. along with those storms will come damaging winds and potential for tornado activity late this afternoon and this evening. right now, we are tracking some showers in the area. this is not the storm that we are expecting later on. you can see the showers are now into chester county and