them from worrying. you just found out he was in afghanistan? >> yesterday. >> when the soldiers came to the door. >> reporter: his dad and stepmother tell me his family now in shock and mourning, was growing. >> he is expecting a second baby in june. and i know it's going to be really hard for everybody not to have him around. not to have him in our lives anymore. >> reporter: now, the family did note that he was deployed out of the country, but his stepmother believes that he told them he was in saudi arabia trying not to worry them. they are very proud of them as are others who know him. when i arrived at the house today others were there. live at cheltenham high school. nbc 10 news. >> taub and five others died when a lone suicide bomber on a motorcycle drove into their

group and detonated his suicide vest. adrianna vorderbruggen game the third member of the air force to die in afghanistan. her marriage to her partner three years ago was viewed by activists as a milestone. air national guard joseph lemm was killed. he was a 15-year veteran of the new york police department. he had been deployed to iraq and afghanistan three times. pentagon officials expected to reveal the identities of the other three troops killed later to tonight. new information about a doctor's mysterious death inside his center city hotel room. police found dr. howard baker yesterday. investigators saying he was lying on the floor naked with a belt around his neck. we've gotten new details in the past 90 minutes. are they calling this a murder,

andrea? >> reporter: jim, police have stopped short of calling this murder. they're saying that dr. howard baker died of strangulation and that he was robbed for a person they are now looking for. he checked into the rodeway in around 3 pm on sunday. he had two separate male visitors. the second visitor is the person of interest. he was seen on surveillance leaving the doctor's room 12:30 monday morning with the psychiatrist's backpack. hours later employees found him dead. he was on the floor with a belt tied tightly around his neck. his wallet was also missing. police say they don't know if prostitution is involved or if dr. baker knew this person of interest. >> we talked to the wife. she did not know that he was even there, so we're trying to sort of backtrack his life-style and whereabouts and get an answer to those questions. >> reporter: police are back out

in the area of the hotel trying to get more information. they say the detectives are making good progress on identifying this person of interest. coming up at 5:00 we'll have more on who dr. baker was. for now, reporting live from police headquarters. andrea klein-thomas. nbc 10 news. a priest was convicted for the way he handled complaints about abuse. we'll get another new trial. a superior court ruling overturned his conviction for the second time. his lawyers say the trial judge allowed too many victims not closely related to his case to testify. he's been in prison since the conviction on child endangerment charges was reinstated. his attorneys say they're working to get him released from an upstate prison. now, your nbc 10 first alert weather. >> the first full day of winter rolls in with warm and wet

wefrt. nbc 10 at the 69th street terminal in upper darby. a cloudy day on the shore too. live look from our cape may camera. by christmas eve it will feel like beach weather. >> glenn schwartz tracking the next round of showers. glenn. >> the showers are not going to be cooling us off any. we continue to see unfootball-like weather around here, and that is going to go all the way through the weekend. we were only 43 degrees on sunday. 57 yesterday. expected about 63 today. and 68 tomorrow. perhaps a record high temperature. it's 60 degrees right now. even some of the normal cold spots it's in the 50s. 51 in mount pocono. that's not good for the skiers. now, not much on the radar right now. but there is another area

developing down south, and we i thi think that moisture will be coming up here during the day tomorrow. it's not going to be later tonight. probably not affecting the morning rush tomorrow either. what is going to be affecting the morning rush is fog. now, it's going to stay unseasonably warm through the night but start to get foggy in most of the area later tonight. and by 8:00 expecting dense fog along with these very mild temperatures. we'll talk more about more records that are going to be falling, all the way through the weekend with the rest of the seven-day in just a few minutes. our team of first alert meteorologists will be tracking this week's rain around the clock. stay with nbc 10 on the air and on the nbc 10 news app as we bring you the latest forecasts through the christmas holiday. police looking for the person who shot a 10-year-old girl as she was sitting in her mother's car. happened around 8:30 last night

in redding near stout elementary school. the girl's mother asked bystanders for help after the shooting and emergency crews arrived and took the girl to a hospital. police say she is expected to recover from her injuries. we now know the identity of a man killed in west philadelphia last night. philadelphia police say 22-year-old hakim zaboor was shot in the face while walking his dog. police say it happened near his home on horton street around 7:30 last night. last week another man was killed while walking his dogs in west philadelphia. there have been no arrests in either case. in south jersey a middle school aide is charged with sexually assaulting a former student. 41-year-old jennifer pasqual engaged in sex acts with the middle school student between november of 2013 and may of this year. they say the relationship began when the victim was 14 years old and the alleged acts happened away from the school. she was arrested yesterday at

the ann mullen school where she had been working and is being held in the county jail. the gloucester school district superintendent says we are deeply saddened to learn of the allegations of misconduct. he goes on to say we will not tolerate conduct inappropriate or unbecoming of a stam member. upon note nication of the allegations the district terminated the aide arrested yesterday. to a scathing report that recommended serious changes to the philadelphia police department when it came to the use of deadly force. today the justice department praised the department and the sweeping changes it made. nbc 10's deanna durante spent the day going through the report. >> anytime an officer uses force of any kind they've used all proper tactics. they absolutely had to use that amount of force in order to take a person into custody and we will have a thorough review of

all these incidents to make sure. >> reporter: the report recommended more than 90 changes from training to deescalation tactics. most of the changes have been implemented but some are still to come. the police commissioner would like to take the department of justice advice and use a third party to investigate its own police members. >> that would put the pennsylvania state police as the lead investigative agency if there is an officer-involved shooting where a person is injured, killed or any in-custody death that occurs. >> reporter: commissioner ramsey says some of the changes have been easier to implement but the psp has met with resistance from the union. he says the changes will have to come in when the contracts are negotiated. some changes will have to wait until the new commissioner richard ross, takes the job. >> six to nine months. >> reporter: he says, despite a change in the guard i is not backing away from the suggested reforms. they call for increased training measures for recruits and new training or current officers,

the requirement that all officers carry pepper like spray and tasers and changes when the tasers can be deployed. the report was generated by ramsey when he called in the d.o.j. to examine why police shootings were on the rise in 2013. today he got praise. >> the government will always be held to a higher standard. i get that. the fact of the matter is that 248 people were killed in the city last year, not by the police. but by fellow citizens. >> reporter: now, ramsey says back in 2013 11 people were killed by police. he says this year two. he says despite those numbers actions answer police, shootings of police officers, people firing their weapons towards police, he says, has risen. reporting live in center city, deanna durante. ten news. philadelphia taxi and limo drivers made their case in a face-to-face meeting with the philadelphia district attorney.

the groups are calling on law enforcement to crack down on the unregulated uber x ride sharing service. it came after this street protest that snarled traffic and confused drivers around center city. drivers are concerned that uber x is stealing customers own though the ride-share drivers are not regulated in the ways that taxi and limo drivers are. d.e. tells us he is not clear if his office has jurisdiction but agrees safety of riders must be the priority. >> we do have to ensure that philadelphiians, when they get into buses, trains, cabs, that the people that operate them are responsible people. >> the illegal operation of uber x and lyft is a problem. he definitely wanted to take a stand on that. we are hopeful he will do something. also meet with uber executives. the limousine association has a meeting tomorrow with philadelphia's mayor elect jim kenny. they plan to make a similar case

to city council leaders in the coming days. pennsylvania's governor is threatening to veto a temporary plan that could end the state's six-month budget battle. tom wolff sent a letter to state house members saying a temporary spending measure would lead to thousands of furloughs and deep cuts to programs. the republican controlled house is considering a stopgap after voting down a pension bill that was a critical element of the binomial deal. house members could take up a vote on a temporary bill tomorrow. now do our decision 2016. at least half of americans say they would be embarrassed to have donald trump as president according to a new poll. that hasn't affected his lead. the new poll from quinnipiac university shows trump leading republican candidates with 28% of the vote. senator ted cruz is not far behind with 24%. senator marco rubio and dr. ben carson round out the top four. among the democrats.

hillary clinton has a commanding lead in the poll with 61% of the vote. senator bernie sanders has just 30% there. and the war of words between trump and clinton has taken, well, a vulgar turn. trump went on the offensive against clinton at a campaign event in michigan last night. he called her a liar for saying that isis is using him on video as a recruiting tool. trump went so far as to use a sexually derogatory term in regards to clinton's loss in the 2008 presidential primary. >> she was going to beat obama. i don't know who would be worse? i don't know. how does it get worse? but she was going to beat -- she was favored to win. and she got -- she lost. i mean she lost. >> obviously we bleeped out the word. clinton's communications director released this statement saying we are not responding to trump but everyone who understands the humiliation this degrading language inflicts on all women should. u.s. army sergeant bowe

bergdahl made his first appearance before a military judge today. 29-year-old is charged with desertion. he deferred entering a plea. if convicted he could get life in prison. the army says he walked off his post in afghanistan in 2009 and was held until his release in may of 2014 as part of a prisoner swap. a legal settlement for some of the families of the school shooting in newton, connecticut. a dozen of them will split $1.5 million from the estate of the gunman's mother. a lawyer says the settlements were finalized last thursday. 20-year-old adam lanesic skilled 26 people, most of them young students. he killed his mother nancy before the school shooting and killed himself afterwards. the suit says his mother failed to properly secure the rifle which she owned and her son used in the shootings.

the nbc 10 investigators have been monitoring the installation of positive train control ever since then. investigative reporter hairy hairston is live in our digital operations center with more on the tour. >> reporter: nbc 10 went to the amtrak train center in wilmington to find out how positive train control works and why it was crucial for amtrak to finish installing the system. amtrak activated ptc on trains between philadelphia and new york over the weekend. the safety system uses gps and other tracking systems to automatically stop trains in danger of draerailing. they could be speeding, about to collide with other trains or about to enter a work area when they activate. listen to what happens when the simulator tries to speed through a curve on the northeast corridor. watch what happens here. i put full power on the train. it's saying there is a 90 ahead. i am trying to speed up. what's happened is i have now a

penalty brake application. it says i am going over speed. it's putting the brake on the train. everything is starting to slow down. i can't put power at all. it took control of the train away from me. i can't do anything. >> reporter: amtrak had until the end of this year to install ptc. investigators say the may 12th crash in port richmond could have been prevented if ptc was operating. 18 people were killed and about 200 others were injured in the derailment. ptc was activated on trains from philly to washington last week. the stretch between philly and new york completes the safety system along the busy northeast corridor. live in the digital operations center, harry hairston, nbc 10 news. comcast will operate in philadelphia for the next 15 years. philadelphia mayor signed legislation this morning at city hall. under the agreement philadelphia will continue to get 5% of the tv revenue in the city. last year it totaled nearly $18

million. mayor nutter says the deal with improve customer service standards and expand discounts to low-income seniors. the agreement has been described as among the best in the country. >> the line -- the tag line across the country is we want what philadelphia got. >> city council approved the deal earlier this month. comcast is building a second tower in center city. it's scheduled to open in 2017 or early 2018. comcast is the parent company of nbc 10. now your nbc 10 first alert weather with chief meteorologist glenn hurricane schwartz. >> this incredible month of december continues. today the temperature, 18 degrees above normal. and that's going to be the second coldest day of the week. we're also tracking more rain. it doesn't matter if it's cloudy or rainy. it's still going to get warm. incredibly warm. we're smashing some records for christmas eve, maybe even

christmas day. it's going to be warm all weekend. wait until you see the forecast for sunday. now, cloudy skies across the area, but it's 60 degrees right now. the wind west-southwest at 8 miles an hour. 5 degrees warmer than it was yesterday at this time. and it was warm yesterday at this time. 54 in allentown. one of the cool spots. westchester, 56. another one of the relatively cool spots. look at these numbers to the south. 63 degrees. atlantic city international. 62 in dover. so we had a cold weekend. but there goes the temperatures. by tomorrow up to 68 degrees. that would be a record. and we're pretty much assured of a record on christmas eve, because a record in philly is 64 set last year. we're predicting 75. you don't beat records by 11 degrees. that hardly ever happens.

allentown will beat it by 8. redding by 7. looks like the whole area will be setting records on thursday. we had just one area of rain come through this morning. dried out this afternoon as expected. and now we're going to be waiting for another area to build up. just starting to see some of the clouds thicken up in tennessee. watch what happens as we go through the night tonight. the southerly wind keeps it very warm. but it's also going to get foggy. it's very humid out there. not so much in the way of rain by the morning rush but maybe some dense fog. here comes the area of rain. definitely need the umbrellas tomorrow because look at this. this is a pretty solid area, some on the heavy side. you will also see the temperatures going up into the 60s. and there is 6:00, all right. 67 degrees in dover. and 70 degrees at 9:00 at night. at the end of december. look how heavy the rain is.

64 in philadelphia. 69 in philly at 11:00 p.m. that's mind-boggling. there is 70 degrees at 6:00 in the morning on thursday. so we have already smashed the record before even daybreak. and then we're going higher into the 70s with the southerly wind. maybe get a little bit of sunshine. that would be interesting. and it's going to be record-setting. near about 63 today. but 68 tomorrow would be a record. a record thursday is 64. we're going up to 75. even christmas day is going to be pretty warm. and then we're going to cool off a little bit saturday and go right back up on sunday. unseasonably mild with areas of dense fog developing. 54 for the low in philadelphia. then tomorrow, rain becoming heavy at times. remember that fog early.

and near-record warmth. highs in the upper 60s. that may not occur until tomorrow evening. and then look at the low temperature thursday morning. smashing the record. friday, incredibly warm with some showers. saturday we cool down a little bit with a chance of showers. but that's still way above normal. and look at sunday. i'm now going up for another record. 71. >> you guys been good this year? >> yeah! >> louder! >> yeah! >> santa arrived a little early to brighten some children's lives in camden. nbc 10 was at the charter school this morning for jolly saint nick delivered presents and toys to the kindergartners through 7th grade students. the gifts come through a non-profit organization providing educational opportunities to deserving and financially disadvantaged students. >> and they got to open them before christmas. >> which is always fun. rip it open. new research may pinpoint

the secret to success for couples trying in vitro fertilization. >> the move that can help improve the odds of having a baby. caught on camera chase with a 13-year-old behind the wheel. how it came to an end. they've missed holidays in years past to help our freedom. local veterans honored in a big way today. i'm cydney long with the joy and cheer in vineland you won't want to miss.

have you seen this? a 13-year-old boy behind the wheel leading police in michigan on this high-speed chase with his 8-year-old sister in the car. police initially stopped the car for erratic driving but then the 13-year-old sped off. he lost control and crossed into a grassy median into oncoming traffic. but he didn't stop there. the teen and his little sister bailed out of the car and tried to run away.íççt police took the boy into custody and his sister went home to her mother.

>> yeah. have you shipped all of your holiday packages yet? today is the final day to guarantee on-time christmas delivery at ups. it's the company's peak shipping day. ups expects to handle about 36 million packages double its normal volume. they expect to deliver 630 million packages once the holiday season is over. it was an early christmas present for some very deserving philadelphia school students. nbc 10 was there as city council members part nenered with organization to hand out bikes this morning. temperatures will be mild enough for the kids to actually ride the bikes on christmas day. cool. there was a team effort on a south jersey highway to get a dangerous driver to stop. >> the silver suv is swerving all over the garden state parkway. next how a group of drivers took action to get them to pull over.

plus, hello kitty. the data breach putting millions of users' information at risk. drying out from today's rain but more is on the way. tracking the wet weather that could impact your holiday travels next in my first alert forecast.

this is nbc 10 news. watch this silver suv swerve from lane to lane and even off the road at one point. this is the danger several drivers in south jersey faced yesterday. it happened along the stretch of the garden state parkway in toms river. >> ted greenberg explains how witnesses took action.

>> last seen passing 88. >> reporter: people started calling new jersey state police about the dangerous situation unfolding on the garden state parkway. >> gold dodge all over the road. >> reporter: this dodge durango surrounded by at least a half dozen other cars with their hazard lights on trying to get the man behind the wheel of the swerving suv to pull over. >> the vehicle then started drifting off to the right side, went to the right shoulder and then went pretty quickly off back to the left. >> reporter: lakewood police officer eric mank was off duty when he came on the scene near toms river. he too called for help and joined the efforts to box in the driver of the dodge to get him to stop an ordeal that went on for some 15 miles. >> a couple people were yelling out of their cars. >> reporter: mank says he hit mile markers, signs and a guard rail before the driver finally stopped the suv on the side of the parkway. >> it was amazing seeing that

many people pulling together and really putting a stop to this possible tragic situation. >> reporter: mank says the driver told him he had been drinking earlier in the day but new jersey state police believe the 59-year-old man was dazed and confused because of a medical condition. he was taken to an area hospital and no charges have been filed. >> so many times when we deal with things people don't want to get involved. i just think it's really important, if you want a change in life, you need to get involved. >> reporter: the incident happened during a time of year when roadways are busy are holiday travellers. state police are putting 100 additional patrols on new jersey roads for both the christmas and new year's periods to fight dangerous driving. in this case it was a group of strangers who stepped up to stop a moving hazard. ted greenberg, nbc 10 news. now your nbc 10 first alert weather. >> feeling kind of like spring outside? not the most ideal conditions for skiers around here.

live look at blue mountain. the hills look barren and green. we saw snow yesterday. more of it on the way. >> first alert meteorologist glenn schwartz joining us with a look at the warmup through the week. glenn. >> we have some travel issues, not only with the rain but also with fog that's going to be developing. cloudy skies right now. the clouds are pretty low to the ground, but we don't have the dense fog yet. looks like it's going to be developing later on. the cold weather lasted a couple of days overed weekend. 57 yesterday, around 63 today. 63 in philadelphia, trenton, mount holly. 63 in atlantic city. at the airport, that is the warm spot. we had the area of rain move through earlier. there is no more rain to deal with, at least for a while.

everything is coming from the southwest. a lot of clouds. and some rain is going to start developing here. going to be watching this as we go through the evening. that is what is going to be coming our way tomorrow. so it does not look like it will come soon enough for the morning rush. but what will is the fog. look at these temperatures. they don't really drop very much overnight tonight. it's very humid. and we'll see some fog for the morning rush. and then the rain is going to come. more on the timing of that rain and more record warmth with the seven-day in a few minutes. here are some of the stories making headlines. cheltenham high school graduate one of six american troops killed in a suicide attack in afghanistan. staff sergeant peter taub was deployed to afghanistan in october. the 30-year-old leaves behind his pregnant wife and 3-year-old daughter. philadelphia police are searching for a person of interest after a doctor was found dead in a center city motel yesterday.

so far police aren't calling this a murder investigation but did say the cause of death is strangulation. dr. howard baker was found naked on the floor with a belt tied tightly around his neck. his wallet was also missing. police say they don't know if dr. baker knew the person of interest. family and friends will gather at a vigil tonight for jersey shore teen whose murder remains a mystery today. police discovered her body in the basement of an abandoned township home last monday. she had been missing for nearly two weeks. police are investigating the death as a homicide but have not arrested anyone for the crime. they arrested three men who knew the girl but on unrelated charges. a busy south jersey road is back open after a deadly pedestrian crash this morning. a car hit a person crossing route 130 around 630. the driver stopped but the victim died at the scene. the japanese government shows a new scaled down design

for the main 2020 tokyo olympic stadium. the new design comes five months after ballooning costs forced tokyo to scrap the original plan. the project would have cost more than $2 billion. the new plan is expected to cost about $1.2 billion and should be completed by november of 2019. publish. mcdonald's wants to put something different in your child's happy meal. >> coming up next the new item they could soon offer. plus, protecting children's eyesight. kids are constantly surrounded by phones, tablets and computers. up next we'll talk about how all those glowing screens could hurt growing eyes. and this. >> nearly 300 local veterans get a holiday surprise. how one south jersey community is making their dreams come true today.

[gus singing] ♪ dashing through the snow ♪ careful on the ice ♪ keep scratchin', cousin joe. ♪ [cousin joe singing] ♪ oh gus, you're much too nice! [gus singing] ♪ a gift for uncle dave, and 1 for auntie jane ♪ ♪ mom and dad and grandpa zack all get a scratching game ♪ [everyone singing] ♪ oh, instant games! ♪ instant games! instant games for me! ♪ ♪ 6 new holiday instant games from the p.a. lottery ♪ keep on scratchin'!

this is nbc 10 news. couples are often discouraged from continuing in

vitro fertilization after three or four successful attempts but new research suggests extending the number may be beneficial. a study shows the greatest chance of success occurred during the first attempted ivf but the odds continued to increase up to the ninth cycle with 65% of women giving birth by the sixth try. younger women were the most successful but women under the age of 42 still had a 31% chance of having a baby by the sixth cycle. the owners of the popular hello kitty brand investigating a data breach that could have compromised the private information of millions of users. the japanese toy company which owns the brand says the leaked data includes information like users' full names, email addresses and encrypted per passwords. another popular asian toy maker v-tech reported a cyber attack last month.

many of us can remember a time when we didn't have cellphones and computer screens inches from our eyes. >> children have been staring at the screens since birth. that can be dangerous for growing eyes. the academy i pediatrics suggests limiting children older than two and a maximum of three hours a day. they recommend kids wear eye protection. a coating on glasses and sun glasses with or without a prescription. >> you can just get a pair of glasses. just put it on to block the harmful plu ligblue light. >> doctors say some shades of blue like the ones we see at night are beneficial but the glare from screens are at the dangerous end of the color spectrum and the blue rays could lead to macular degeneration, the second-leading cause of blindness. mcdonald's may soon be adding a new kind of mac with cheese. the fast food chain trying out

macaroni and choose at some locations in ohio. pair it with a burger or as an alternatives to fries in a happy meal. one serving has 190 calories. >> never an alternative to french fries at mcdonald's ever. nothing should be. >> maybe have it all! >> yeah. there you go! big game a few hours from now. >> the cull millings mination o exciting season next. the clouds are hanging around ahead of our next round of rain. tracking how it will impact your wednesday commute and how long it could last, plus, your record-breaking christmas eve forecast next in my first alert forecast.

this is nbc 10 news. their success ignited the

philadelphia area and temple university's campus. >> the owls cap off their cinderella season in the boca raton bowl. john joins us more with more on the big night for the local team. the other john. how are you? >> reporter: the temple owls two hours away from kickoff against toledo. tonight it's the culmination, a chance to finish with a victory and cement a spot as one of the top 25 teams in the country and as one of the best in school history. an estimated 3,000 fans in their cherry and white made the trip down south for the game. plenty on hand at the pep rally yesterday. here is the head coach on what the season has done for the program. >> i think it shows everybody that temple football can be a true player in the national scene and can be a nationally ranked program and draw the media markets in.

when people see our viewership, the market share that we got, they realized people are interested in football in philadelphia. i think our kids -- from our kids to our university to the fans to hopefully everybody across the country, raised the expectation level. >> reporter: a victory tonight gives temple an 11-win season, the most in school history. at 5:00 we'll hear from the nation's best defensive player on what going out with a win would mean. until then i'm john bore uk for comcast sports net. first alert weather with glenn hurricane schwartz. >> it doesn't exactly feel like bowl season or christmas season or new year's. but it is. and it's going to continue for a while. at least the rest of the month. tracking more rain. we got rain this morning. we're on a pretty wet weather

pattern. we'll be smashing temperature records especially christmas eve. it will be warm all weekend. we're going to have another perhaps 70 on sunday. cloudy skies. wind is blowing out of the west to southwest. and it's keeping us warm. 60. five degrees warmer than this time yesterday. humidity is high. some fog around. it was cold over the weekend. official high today 61. tomorrow going for near 68, which would be a record. and that could occur at night. right now it's 54 in allentown, 57 in quaker town. coatsville, doylestown and redding. 58 in washington township. 59 degrees in wilmington. wrightstown, 60 in trenton. even with cloudy skies and rain, the temperatures are in some cases about 20 degrees above

arg. 64 in lewis, delaware. and we're going to be significantly warmer as we go into christmas eve. our record is 64 set just last year. predicting 75. and just about every place in our area should be breaking a record. several places will break it by a lot. to break a record by a degree or two is what normally happens. this is not normal. you can see the area of rain move out. even some clearing in parts of central pennsylvania. any clearing will allow fog to develop even more so. we're seeing a built up moisture in alabama. we'll watch this. this should increase a lot during the next several hours. but the temperature, that's not really going to change very much. we're going to be in the mid 50s for much of the night into the morning. you're not going to need any kind of heavy coat tomorrow, but the umbrella, yeah. not so much for the morning rush. that's the fog issue. we have got heavy rain coming in

for a late morning and into early afternoon. so if you're getting out of work early, you're going to be hitting the rain. and even into the evening hours you're going to be hitting the rain. but look how warm it's getting. there is some of the heavy rain tomorrow evening as temperatures start climbing towards 70 degrees at night. the day before christmas! in philadelphia! whoa! unseasonably mild with areas of dense fog. 54 degrees for the low. 47 north and west. and during the day tomorrow, periods of rain, some of it on the heavy side, with near-record warmth despite the rain. highs in the upper 60s during the evening hours. then, 75. record warmth thursday. that would be the highest temperature ever recorded in the month of december in philadelphia. it's still warm on friday, with some showers, even saturday

we're way above average with some more showers. then it gets even warmer on sunday with more record warmth. and i think once we get to new year's and the first week of january things are going to be calming down, going back toward average. maybe not quite down to average but none of this 70-degree stuff. >> then you were saying maybe the real cold and snow will come more so in february? >> we're going to obviously need a big pattern change for that to happen but there are a couple signs of that. it will take a while. it's not going to happen overnight. >> come february spring is already in sight. march and april are there. >> well, winter may extend a little bit. >> all right. snow in june. while it might not feel like christmas in the weather department, the spirit of the season is still showering down on a group of veterans today. >> next the holiday dreams that came true in south jersey. a story that's sure to make you smile.

sacrificed so much, the men and women who put their lives on the line for our freedom. today their holiday wishes came true. >> thanks to the generosity of others and of course, st. nick. cydney long spent the afternoon in vineland where smiles and tears were part of the joy of the season. >> reporter: 300 wishes. >> i wish for a bracelet. it's beautiful! >> reporter: both big and small. >> i want to kiss santa claus. >> reporter: you're going to kiss santa claus? >> yeah. >> reporter: hand delivered at the new jersey veterans nursing home of vineland when santa himself made the grand entrance.

>> when you see our veterans, when you see their faces, when you see them open up these gifts and when you see that we remember them. >> reporter: it's all part of the second wind dreams national organization partnering with communities to grant holiday wishes of local veterans, world war ii veteran robert ross ov overjoyed to open a new tablet he has wanted for years now. >> how many grandchildren do you have? >> five. >> reporter: you'll be able to stay in touch with them now, right? >> yes. >> reporter: janet spent too many holidays missing her husband who was devoted to the navy during world war ii. >> it means a lot to me today. we've been here two years. he is the veteran. >> reporter: veteran's day is when veterans here wrote down christmas wishes on an ornament. the ornament was placed on a christmas tree inside the store and patrons and employees took the wishes from there. >> anonymously, absolutely. brings it right to our counter

at the courtesy desk and we wrap it, we tag and and we deliver it. >> the tears, joy, appreciation and smiles, even for the smallest or least expensive gifts. >> it's their faces. no matter how old you are, you are always a kid at christmas. >> reporter: a sign this community is giving back in a very big way. from vineland, cydney long, nbc 10 news. love that where you put what you want on the ornament and then customers helped out. >> it's a nice touch. >> really nice. nbc 10 news at 5:00 is next. >> here is keith jones. all new at 5:00. he died serving his country. the family of an airman from montgomery county is remembering his life and honoring his sacrifice. today's rain has cleared out, but more is on the way. i will look at the timing of that for tomorrow and our incredible warmup through the holidays. plus, this just in to nbc 10. a potential breakthrough in pennsylvania's budget stalemate.

the unexpected vote scheduled for tomorrow. next on nbc news 10 at 5:00. winter is hard on your nose.

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loves his family. he loved his daughter. it's the apple of his eye. >> at 5:00, a father in montgomery county remembers his son who died a hero in afghanistan. after a rainy day, the skies have cleared up. you know what, more showers are on the way tomorrow. you won't believe how much

warmer it's going to get in the next 24 hours. but first, brand-new details of a doctor found dead in a center city hotel. tonight police say he was strangled and they're looking for a man who was with him right before he died. nbc 10 news at 5:00 starts right now. the victim was dr. howard baker, a local psychiatrist. nbc 10's andrea cline thomas has been following the investigation since it broke yesterday afternoon. police say the doctor died of strangulation, but i understand they are not calling it a murder just yet. >> reporter: not yet, keith. they have to release it down and talk to the person of interest. they're saying dr. baker was robbed of his backpack and his wallet. dr. howard baker was found dead by employees at the roadway inn around 11:00 yesterday morning, he was on the floor with a belt tied tightly around his neck. detectives say he checked into