plan, the governor accused republican lawmakers of running out of town and not finishing their work. >> didn't run out of town and didn't finish our job. if it were up for me, we'd be back in harrisburg today. >> reporter: some republicans are calling on leadership to get back to the capitol. >> this is an emergency mandate. i think schools will survive this school year based on what he's doing. >> reporter: they have reached a compromise on education, pension reforms, but plans never got to a third vote. >> there was a compromise fully ready, voted on, and supported by a majority of the members, it went first consideration, second consideration, then we were shamefully gavelled out. >> reporter: madeline dean says lawmakers were supposed to go as long as schools and social service agencies without funding, maybe a budget would have passed months ago. >> the legislature is gripped by a radical minority. >> she says she hasn't taken a

paycheck since july, she knows a number of people can't make that sacrifice, it is a symbolic move on her part, but she's urging others to follow her lead. also coming up at 5:00, a group of county republicans took to the stage in the capitol today and had very harsh words for the governor. for now live in the digital operations center, deanna durante, nbc 10 news. you might remember the superintendent of the school district of philadelphia had said they would run out of money next month without a state budget. we spoke to dr. william height again today. >> it does eliminate this january 29th decision on whether or not we can maintain our ability to meet payroll. we now can for a much longer period, but it doesn't take us completely through the year. >> and still ahead at 4:30, just how soon the district could see the funding and just how much dr. hite thinks they will get. now to a traffic alert, lincoln drive still closed this afternoon after a crash that injured a pennsylvania state

parole officer. nbc 10 cameras were kept far away from the scene following the accident. happened just before 1:00 today between gypsy lane and rittenhouse drive. the parole officer was one of several people hurt. still working to find out how serious everyone's injuries are. it's not clear how long lincoln drive will be closed. now your nbc 10 first alert weather. >> a wet start to the day, nbc 10 near 19th and jfk in center city where people had to cover with umbrellas and rain jackets this morning. let's take you live to the beach at cape may, where the rain has stopped and it's mild. you can see the clouds are still hanging around, though. damp and dreary outside again today. >> let's turn to glenn "hurricane" schwartz. glenn, are we done with this rain? >> yes, we're done with the rain, but not necessarily with the clouds. we have it across the entire area, you saw it at the shore, now the other end in the pocono mountains, plenty cloudy. they had a little bit of snow last night at camelback, but

more freezing rain than snow. that didn't help things very much. you can see how low the clouds are right now, but that's all that we have. the rain pretty much moved out. so after the record warmth we saw over the weekend, temperatures starting to creep up there, up to 52 degrees so far today and will get a little bit milder tomorrow just because of sunshine. it's 51 now, it's 40 in allentown, ranging to 57 in dover and wildwood, 58 in atlanta city, almost a 20-degree temperature difference across the area. then if you include the poconos, almost a 30-degree temperature difference. you can see the last of the radar, not much on there, but look at that, 12 hours ago there was the ice up in the poconos and did have some issues there. and then the warmer air came in, changed it all to rain, now it's

moved out. what comes in next and when real cold air is going to get here with the seven day in a few minutes. >> thank you. investigators are trying to figure out what started a fire that killed a man in new castle county today on pine tree road in townsend shortly after 6:00 this morning. authorities say the victim was 54 years old, but they haven't released his name. a delaware man is accused of raping a 78-year-old woman at her home in ray hoe bett beach. police say he knew the woman and had a key to her home. he had a mask on when he walked in, raped her yesterday morning. he's already a registered sex offender. his wife called 911 once the victim told her what happened. now to economic news in delaware that will close out 2015, dupont announced 1700 job cuts today as it prepares to merge with dow chemical. nbc 10 bureau reporter tim

furlong is live in wilmington where employees learned the news four days after christmas. tim? >> that's right, an e-mail was sent to employees, saying he didn't want to hit them with the information now, but the company has to file the plan with the state by the end of the week and so for hundreds of families it's tough to take and potentially life changing. >> it is really awful news, frankly. >> reporter: that is delaware senator chris coons reaction to this e-mail dupont sent to employees today letting them know 25% of them, 1,700 people, will be losing their jobs in the next few months. >> i'm angry. i'm concerned. >> reporter: senator coons clearly unhappy with the development. congressman john carney calling it a punch in the gut. dupont is planning to merge with dow, creating a company that would split into three parts, the smallest one would remain in delaware. it's not clear where the agricultural division would be. delgz has that part of its business in newark. they have halted work on a new

$135 million research facility there. >> it's a tough one. you have to think long term. long term you have to protect investors, otherwise nothing gets done. >> reporter: this university of delaware professor said he'd hate to see them scale back or leave, but it's the nature of corporate america, trim the fat, turn a profit, and make shareholders happy. sometimes working families become collateral damage. >> i live and work in delaware, i'd be unhappy if they left, on the other hand, a share holder in dupont is not interested where they are headquarters, as long as they make profits and returns to those who invest. >> reporter: back live now, senator coons very measured today trying to keep calm about a tough issue. you know how politicians say they are going to fight for their constituents, i get the feeling here in delaware today many of them are, in fact, ready to lace up the gloves for what could be a fight, making sure they get their fair shake and so far it hasn't gone delaware's way with dow. live at dupont world headquarters, tim furlong, nbc

10 news. we have a warning now for taxi drivers in the lehigh valley. police say two armed robbers are targeting them. at least four incidents reported to police, the most recent sunday night. in each of these cases police say the two men called for a ride, then demanded money from the drivers at gunpoint. investigators are working with cab drivers to prevent more robberies from happening. five months after a street racing crash left three young people dead, their friends and families came together for a peaceful protest walk. nbc 10 where that walk was held this afternoon. it was back in july that 17-year-old sabrina rhodes and yvette gonzalez and 20-year-old philip hernandez died in the crash. police say their car was going about 75 miles an hour when it went airborne and slammed into a tree near redline road. it then split in half. this is video of the wreckage. two people in the car survived, including the driver. the other car sped off. we spoke to yvette's mother.

>> we want to keep the memory alive, that these kids lost their life that night and there still hasn't been justice for any of the families. >> yvette's mother tells us she wants the driver of the car her daughter was in to face charges. the man hunt is over for a texas teenager who killed four people in a drunk driving accident and then avoided jail time. ethan couch is in custody in mexico this afternoon after weeks on the run with his mother. couch killed four people with his car two years ago, plowed into a group of pedestrians. he was 16 at the time. his blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit. he admitted to his crime and received probation after his lawyers made headlines by arguing he was afflicted with what they called affluenza. that means he was unable to distinguish right from wrong due to his privileged upbringing. prosecutors believe he fled several weeks ago because of a video that appeared to show him

at a party where people were drinking. that could be a violation of a probation, meaning he'd have to go to jail for up to ten years. couch and his mother are expected to return to texas some time today. now to a thwarted terror plot in belgium. authorities say they arrested two men suspected of planning an attack in brussels during the holidays. a bustling main square was one of the targets. police say they also seized military uniforms and isis propaganda. we are following several developing weather stories. let's start with the flooding situation here in missouri. 13 deaths now are being blamed on the flood waters. we received this video this afternoon, it's from just outside st. louis. torrentiavs"! rains over the p few days responsible for what you see here. rivers and streams are swollen. threatening thousands of homes. severe weather around the country has cancelled more than 600 flights into or out of the u.s. today. more than 300 delays were reported, that's down

significantly from yesterday when about 7,600 flights were affected. take a look at some of the damage of an earthquake caused in oklahoma city, at least the area surrounding it this morning. bottles tossed around in a liquor store. the quake had a magnitude 4.3. no reports of major damage, but the tremor is blamed for power outages affecting thousands of people. and then to texas for a story of survival among the deadly tornado damage there. look as rescuers pull one woman's dog from the debris after being trapped there for two days. they found their second dog, too, several hours later. as you can imagine, she is more than grateful. >> my gosh, i have not been able to sleep these past few nights thinking, and then the rain and the cold. and i just prayed. >> both dogs are expected to be fine. there are celebrations today in the west african country at

the heart of the ebola outbreak. health officials today declared guinea free from ebola. africa's ebola epidemic began there two years ago. the world health organization is holding a ceremony in gwen knui mark the milestone. one of bill cosby's accusers isn't backing down, despite the effort to have her defamation lawsuit tossed out. she sued cosby in october claiming he made her out to be a liar. cosby's attorneys last week asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit. now those lawyers have filed a response in court defending their suit. cosby has not been charged with any crimes. to decision 2016. new figures show jeb bush leads all presidential contenders when it comes to ad spending so far. bush has spent more than $41 million in the early states. marco rubio, hillary clinton, john kasich, and new jersey governor chris christie round

out the top five spenders. the bottom four spenders so far are carly fiorina, ron paul, martin o'malley, and donald trump. that will soon change with trump preparing to launch a major tv ad campaign. and now to the war of words between trump and the clintons and the latest exchange. trump says he doesn't believe bill clinton is a racist after tweeting that the former president had been described that way. trump tweeted last night, "remember that bill clinton was brought in to help hillary against obama in 2008. he was terrible, failed badly, and was called a racist." he defended himself on the "today" show this morning, saying he doesn't think bill clinton is a racist, but the former president was called a racist during hillary clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. trump was apparently referring to conflicts between bill clinton and black leaders during the campaign in which the black community largely backed obama. turns out you'll have to dig a bit deeper to pay to drive on

the pennsylvania turnpike, that's because tolls are increasing by 6% in 2016. the higher rates go into effect on sunday. the hike is largely to repay loans taken out to help fund road work projects. similar increases are expected every year until the year 2044. septa says it will begin rolling out its new smart card system in march. the cards will eliminate the need for tokens, exact change, and monthly passes. it can be linked directly to a bank account this time or replenished at kiosks or online. the new cards will be out in march, some features won't be available until next summer. repairs on a popular bridge are taking longer than originally expected. nbc 10 has learned the bridge in the valley forj historical park will reopen between now and january. a truck driver damaged the 150-year-old bridge back in july. penndot says it has found more structural damage than originally thought. until the bridge reopens, drivers can take route 252,

swooeds ford record to get around the bridge. in bucks county, the first step of the $370 million bridge improvement project is set to begin next week. on monday crews will start removing trees, brush, and debris along certain sections of i-95. this is all in preparation for the installation of noise abatement walls along the i-95 approach to that bridge, which will happen later this year. to montgomery county, where west norriton township commissioners will vote after months of controversy. the spending plan raises taxes from 15% to 25% next year. the hike will eliminate the threat of six layoffs within the police department. that vote is set for 6:00 p.m. ♪ we are counting down to 2016. the nbc 10 countdown clock shows there are just two days and seven hours left in 2015. and crews spent the day

preparing for thursday's bash to welcome the year for philadelphia. >> the mummers are working on their struts. doug shimell is live at the convention center in center city, where mummers fest is going on right now. what's it like down there, doug? >> reporter: tell you what, always a hub of activity and all you have to do is look around here and you can see the budgets have gone way up, the themes are much more aggressive. it is much bigger, much better, and so, too, will the massive fireworks show down on the water front new year's eve be, as well. 5,000 rounds to be packed and the second barge got to the yard late. >> started working on it yesterday, got behind because of the weather this morning, so trying to make that up today. if not, we'll hopefully make it up tomorrow. >> reporter: it's the groundwork for the payoff on penn's landing on new year's eve. kent is the producer for

pyrotechn pyrotechnico and says there's a new early fireworks show only on nbc 10. >> we have the show at 6:00, which is star wars themed, so that should be the in trend for what it is, great musical cuts, as well as fireworks to go along with it. >> reporter: colin is putting foil over the loaded tubes so sparks don't light the other tubes when they are not supposed to. but when it all goes according to the computer's plan, it's a good new year for colin. >> this section shooting off now and i wired that myself and you get to see it and hear the crowd cheer at the end, it's a great feeling. it's lovely, actually. >> reporter: well, when a pyrotechnician refers to his own work as lovely, you know it has to be good. the producer of the show says that this year they are going to be featuring a philadelphia-only fireworks effect. they call it the lollipop. they don't want to describe it,

but they say when you see it, you will know it thursday night. live at the convention center, i'm doug shimell, nbc 10 news. >> more and more massive every year. >> i know, that's quite the tease, doug, we'll have to look for that. >> especially with the star wars reference, doug, thank you very much. >> nbc 10 and telemundo 62 will help bring the fireworks to your living room. you can watch live starting atk 6:00 p.m. on new year's eve here on nbc 10. >> after a recent stretch of warm weather, it's finally feeling more like winter outside. here's a live look at the blue cross riverrink at penn's landing. yesterday we showed you this picture, getting more like a puddle, glenn. >> right. and we're not going to be seeing a lot of puddles once we start the new year. we actually have winter-like temperatures that are coming our way. december, though, is going to end on a mild side, even with all the clouds today, we're still at least ten degrees above

normal. and the next rain chance, we have rain coming to parts of the area late tomorrow and a pretty cold start to the new year, but a dry start. going to be good conditions for the fireworks. not much wind around right now. some places even calm, and we have some low clouds and a bit of fog. 51 degrees, wind north at 6 miles an hour, and the average high temperature this time of the year is 41. we're closer to that in allentown, barely above freezing in mount pocono, where there was significant freezing rain last night. allentown stayed above the freezing mark, for example, atlantic city, 58 degrees out at the airport. quite a contrast from what the poconos are seeing. allentown is actually cooler than it was this time yesterday, while atlantic city is 15 degrees warmer. speaking of warm, these numbers are incredible. the departure from normal,

compare to normal, about 14 degrees. that's like every single day of the month, 14 degrees above average. now if we were 14 degrees above average in july, we'd be 100 degrees every day. that's how extreme this is. and every other place in the area just about as extreme, too. this is really one for the books, and you can see every place in the area is reporting cloudy skies, nobody is reporting any rain. so it looks threatening, but it isn't, at least not at this point. we have a little bit of fog, mount holly, toms river, reading. poconos have dense fog at a quarter mile. that's about it. otherwise just these low clouds hanging around here. and it's going to take a while before we break out of it. nothing more than a sprinkle out of these low clouds. this area is going to start building up a little bit with some rain over the next several hours. we'll see if that even changes while we're on the air through 6:30, but as we go into tomorrow

afternoon, general area of moisture starts to move in, and the best chance of getting any rain is delaware and extreme south jersey. that moves out by thursday morning, and then that's it for precipitation chances all the way through the weekend and into a good bit of next week, too. so go ahead and wash the cars, because there is not going to be a problem for new year's eve or new year's day. there are the temperatures on the chilly side, but then it's new year's, it's supposed to be cold. for tonight, we have partial clearing, rather mild for december, 43 for the low. remember, that's higher than the average high for this time of year. mostly cloudy tomorrow, some rain developing late in the day, especially delaware and south jersey. temperatures getting into the mid 50s. way above average. above average on thursday, too, and then as we start the new

year, we're closer to these normal temperatures, but it's dry. >> all right, glenn, thanks. a man is wanted as police say he preyed on a woman who was praying. >> look at this, he was caught on camera stealing from a parishioner in a church sanctuary. what he took next. plus, pennsylvania man's car goes up in flames. next, see the fire chief risk his own life to save the driver inside. and another hoverboard, another burst of flames. the latest case that's giving this hot christmas gift a serious warning.

this is nbc 10 news. >> another fire scare involving a hoverboard, this time at a texas mall. take a look at these photos. they show a hoverboard that caught fire at a the deer brook mall yesterday at a kiosk that sells the boards. mall security put out the flames before the fire department were

able to get to the scene. the mall did not have to be evacuated. no one was hurt. just yesterday we told you about one of these hoverboard fires happening at a jersey shore home. a boy was charging his new board sunday night when it exploded and burst into flames. he and his family were not hurt. these fires are part of a larger problem. the consumer products safety commission is now investigating 22 reports of hoverboard fires in 17 states, including pennsylvania and new jersey. you have to see this new video into nbc 10. it shows an unholy act just days before christmas. police in florida are searching for the man in the top left of your screen, he's going to come back outside that door, who stole an elderly woman's purse while she was praying at church. look at him go. watch as the suspect slides the woman's purse, she's 84 years old, then runs out the door with it. the purse was actually found a few days later, but the victim's wallet was missing.

check out this video of a fire chief rescuing a man from a burning car near harrisburg. it happened monday morning in york. when the chief arrived, the man was unconscious. he pulls him out before the other crews arrived to put out the fire. the man in the car is recovering in the hospital. pennsylvania lawmakers still have a lot of work to do on the budget, but there's good news today. >> that's right, schools will get much needed funding now. next nbc 10 is live with reaction from philadelphia school leaders and we're finding out when the cash will be in their hands. plus, bad news for bieber. the marketing campaign in the superstar's new album with one city demanding answers.

this is nbc 10 news. >> pennsylvania's budget battle

will carry into the new year. today governor tom wolf vetoed part of the proposed budget. >> however, he did give the okay to free up billions of dollars in emergency funding. >> i'm allowing emergency funding for our schools to get out. i'm also letting funding go out to our human service agencies and to our counties, but this is on an emergency basis only. >> it's news that schools have been waiting to hear, as many have been forced to borrow money during the six-month stalemate in harrisburg. >> rosemary connors is outside philadelphia school headquarters in spring garden. that's where educators are happy to finally see some movement. >> reporter: absolutely, keith and jacqueline. it means that teachers can count on a paycheck, it means that schools can keep operating well into the new year. most likely the funding is going to carry them through june. it's not just educators here at the school district of philadelphia breathing a sigh of relief, it's also parents who have been worried about what would become of their kids, what would happen come january. >> thank god.

>> reporter: as students, teachers, and parents prepare to return to the classroom from the winter break, some relief is in sight. school will stay open as the district can now meet payroll beyond january 29th, the date when its dire financial situation could have gotten worse. the emergency funding is expected to go out immediately. >> i heard as soon as possible, as quickly as possible. we think it's about six months worth and i calculate that as roughly about half of basic ed, and that's about $500 million for us. >> reporter: superintendent dr. william hite explains he's grateful for the emergency funds as the cash-strapped school district has had to borrow millions for months. >> it's been quite frustrating. we've gone six months now and we're almost at the end of the calendar year without a state budget. >> to me, it's not fair to the kids, not at all. >> reporter: parents like jacqueline, who is with her son shopping near the gallery today, hope more money will be on the way to improve her son's first grade public education.

>> i think every kid deserves a chance. >> i think it's kind of ridiculous they don't have funding for the school districts. >> reporter: a security guard at reading terminal market is worried about the long-term effects of this budget battle. >> where are the kids going to be in the future? that's what it makes me think about. >> reporter: that woman you just heard from has a son who's in kindergarten in north philadelphia. again, she like many parents are wondering what is the long-term solution here. as for the superintendent, he has something to say about the governor taking a hard line in the budget battle. we'll have that part of the story coming up at 6:00. reporting live outside of school district head quarters, i'm rosemary connors, nbc 10 news. now your nbc 10 first alert weather. >> under the gray and rainy start to the day, look at this picture here, as you can see, definitely needed an umbrella out there. let's take a live look at the center city skyline. yep, the rain has mostly moved out, but still cloudy out there.

>> glenn "hurricane" schwartz is here. the nbc 10 first alert forecast, glenn? >> yeah, jacqueline, those clouds were very low to the ground, but also not that thick above this very low cloud layer. it's pretty dry and some of the drier air is working its way down to the ground. in the meantime, low clouds and fog has prevented the temperature from going up even more. the atmosphere as a whole is warming up to support temperatures in the 60s. now we had the thicker clouds and you can see they've moved out and all that's left is just this narrow layer. and as far as radar is concerned, all that's left is a couple of sprinkles, but 12 hours ago, early this morning, the poconos were still getting the freezing rain. the rest of the area was getting rain, heavy at times, that moved out and so that's the end of that. the temperatures way above average, even allentown's 40 is above average, but we're close to 60 degrees farther to the

south, even with all the cloudy skies. and that's going to help keep the temperature up overnight tonight with the clouds. may break up a little bit in parts of the area, we also could see a bit of fog, but these temperatures are way, way, way above average. that's going to change as we head towards the new year. more on that in the seven day in a few minutes. a new report shows a swimmer from dartmouth college died after trying to swim four laps underwater without breathing. tate ramsey was with his family on vacation. family members noticed he wasn't moving. life guards were unable to revive him. ramsey swam for dartmouth in new hampshire, he was 21. this next video comes with a warning. police in california are looking for a woman caught on camera tossing a dog. the tape might be startling to some people. what you can see here is a woman throw the dog at her exboyfriend during an argument. he picks the dog up then,

luckily the animal appears to be fine. the woman could face a fine or jail time once officers catch up with her. san francisco is going to battle with the biebs. the city is not happy with sidewalk graffiti promoting justin bieber's latest popular album. the graffiti has been found throughout san francisco and they want to know who's responsible. it's especially unhappy the graffiti was applied with spray paint rather than chalk. >> it's sending a message to exactly the demographic we don't want to be communicating that graffiti is okay. >> san francisco says it's already paid public works crews to remove some of the graffiti. there's been no response from justin bieber's music publisher so far. it's that time to make new year's resolutions. >> for many it will likely be to lose weight, but as we all know, not many people succeed. next, the steps you should take to actually reach that goal.

this is nbc 10 news. >> whole foods has agreed to pay half a million dollars to settle allegations it overcharged customers in new york city. new york's department of consumer affairs tested 80 different types of prepackaged whole food items in june. it said it found mislabeled weights on every one. whole foods also agreed to conduct quarterly audits to make sure products are properly weighed and marked. amazon says more than 3 million new members signed up for its prime service in the third week of december alone. many were lured in by a promise of free two-day shipping just before christmas. new prime subscribers got a free month trial of the service and no telling how many of the customers will continue that service after the trial period. netflix is once again helping parents fool their kids on new year's eve, although i don't know if kids are going to

believe this. they are smart. if you don't want the kids staying up until midnight, netflix says no problem. they've launched a new set of new year's eve on demand countdowns to the new year, that way parents can let their kids ring in the new year any time, even 8:00 and send them to bed. there are six countdowns featuring fun characters, including care bears and cousins, inspector gadget, and more. and don't forget nbc 10 is helping your family ring in 2016 with fireworks. this year's sugar house new year's eve fireworks display will be televised live on nbc 10 and telemundo 62 at 6:00 thursday night. it's the most common new year's resolution, to lose weight, but research shows good intentions aren't good enough. a survey from the national center for weight and wellness finds overweight or obese adults will try and fail to lose weight at least six times. the biggest roadblocks were hunger and struggling to make healthy food choices. most have no luck with over the

count weight loss products or prescription medications, so experts suggest talk to your doctor to come up with a reasonable diet and exercise plan. speaking of food, something to tell you about here, macy's now is issuing a recall for something that may be on your stove. >> next, the cookware that could send metal pieces flying. plus, a football player but also a parent. what one father did to support his daughter on game day that has him in trouble with his team. and we're drying out after today's rain. more mild weather's ahead for a while. i am tracking a cold start to the new year. that's straight ahead in my first alert forecast.

macy's is recalling two martha stewart frying pans as customers claim they caused bruises, burns, and welts. there have been seven reports of

metal disks popping off frying pans. the recall affects the eight-inch and ten-inch frying pans sold as part of the ten-piece stainless steel cookware set. it's recommended that anyone who bought the set stop using the pans immediately and return them to macy's for store credit. san antonio spurs fans got quite a show before the game even started last night. a bat flew on to the court and a coyote came to the rescue. it was actually the team's mascot dressed as batman. he caught the bat with a fishing net then handed him off to security. >> double guns out. >> proud of his moment. this isn't the only time a bat at the at&t center has made headlines. >> back in 2009 spurs guard manu ginobili took a bat with a bare hands during his game, knocked it to the ground. he had to get a rabies shot, a lot of hand sanitizer as a

precaution. not very smart at all. talking about adding insult to injury, you'll be wanting to talk about this one today. the san diego chargers fined safety eric weddle $10,000. he stayed on the field at half-time to watch his daughter perform in the half-time show. he apparently never asked permission. the team also placed him on injured reserve, meaning his time with the team is likely over. now your nbc 10 first alert weather with chief meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz. >> and you wonder why people call it the no fun league. just don't allow for that stuff. well, we have some big changes coming in the weather over the next couple of weeks, and those of you who loved what happened in december are not going to like it. those of you waiting for winter, you're going to like it. december and mild, though, but that's it for mild weather for a long time, i think. the next rain chance is on the way, and it might be the only rain chance for a while.

we've got kind of a cold new year starting out. you can see the low clouds across the area creating some areas of fog. 51 degrees, wind is calm, that's why we can't break up the low clouds. if we could, temperatures would be getting into the 60s today like it did saturday and sunday. we tied the record on sunday. 47 for the high yesterday, 52 so far today, 56 tomorrow. the average high is 41. even on a chilly day, day that feels cold, it's still above normal. it's 39 degrees in kwaukertown, 40 in allentown. little sleet last night, but wasn't an issue for the morning rush. we told you it was going to be warming up and it warmed up into the 40s, and it warmed up to 50 in philadelphia. 51 now, 46 in mount holly, 46 in ricetown, 44 in trenton.

58 atlantic city airport. those are pretty high temperatures considering it's cloudy. you can see the fog is thickest in the poconos. half mile visibility in mount pocono and the farther south you go, the better the visibility is, and that will be the case for the evening hours, as well. but we're starting to see some of the clouds break up, at least from top to bottom. the atmosphere is getting drier, so you might see some breaks in these clouds before day break, couple of sprinkles is about the only kind of rain you'd be getting overnight tonight. in this area clouds coming up from the southwest, going to end up in an area of some rain showers, as you'll see here. here's the future cast as you go through the evening hours. the temperature is pretty mild, near 50 degrees, even at midnight, and still well above freezing, even in the lehigh valley, so we don't have any cold air moving in here for a

while. so there we are, tomorrow morning, same temperature, 50 degrees in philadelphia, and doesn't matter if it's cloudy or not, it's still going to be on the mild side. allentown, 51 degrees. now as we go toward later in the day, start to get some of these showers moving in, especially in delaware, south jersey. there's a chance partly to the north, it does not appear anywhere near as heavy as what occurred this morning, then as we go toward thursday we start drying out, cooler air starts coming in, but that's not that cold. we're going to have to wait until new year before it's starts to get cold. new year's eve for thefireworks, but no chance of any rain or snow. zero chance of precipitation for new year's eve and new year's day. partial clearing tonight, mild for december. 43 for the low in philadelphia, 33 north and west. then tomorrow it's really mild again. this december of 2015, every day

has been above normal this month. rain comes in mainly south and east late in the day. clouds giving way to sunshine on thursday, friday, finally starting to feel like winter, then it stays that way for saturday and sunday and monday. but that's just average, and it's also dry, fairly sunny, and then we start getting a little bit milder on tuesday, and it's after that seven-day period that i think things are going to change more dramatically. so you'll be able to get your winter coats out. those of you who love winter. >> right, yes. all right, glenn, thank you. prayers have been answered for one jersey shore congregation. >> it's an overwhelming gift. >> still ahead, the surprise that pastor got when he tried to buy this land for his church's new beginning.

talk about a christmas present, a church at the jersey shore will soon have a new home thanks to the generosity of a stranger. >> the new spot has a pretty nice price tag, too, it's free. nbc 10 jersey shore bureau reporter ted greenberg has that story. >> it's been a lot of crime, a lot of shooting, a lot of killing in this area. >> reporter: it got to the point where people were afraid to come to church at city of hope worship and outreach center in atlantic city. >> it was just time to go. >> reporter: when the pastor saw a classified ad asking perspective buyers to name their price, this plot of land in neighboring egg harbor township, he called the owner and told him about the congregation's plight. >> i just got out of church, and he said the land is yours.

>> reporter: that man is 82-year-old jimmy harowitz, a retired jewish businessman who lives in cherry hill. the church has plans to build its new 3,000-square-foot home on the site, which applewhite says is much safer than the current location. >> it's an overwhelming gift. i'm amazed god would touch someone to do this for our church. >> it's just a feel good type of thing. hopefully some day in the future -- >> reporter: he says the land along the pike is worth at least $200,000, and although others were interested in the plot, he decided to donate it to the church. >> we specialize in, service work. >> reporter: the pastor tells me it's going to cost between $300,000 and half a million dollars to build the new church here, but he says people have already been coming forward with offers of labor, materials, and money. >> that means it's going to happen. >> reporter: applewhite hopes to

be able to break ground in march and has no doubt he can fulfill the only requirement, that he and his wife have seats in the front row at the first service. ted greenberg, nbc 10 news. >> i love hearing that, that's a good story, ted. all new at 5:00, we've been waiting for months for a state budget, now local schools, groups, and governments could finally get their money. we'll talk about that. plus, trouble on a bus trip in new jersey. how a passenger wound up crashing through the front windshield. that's next on nbc 10 news at 5:00.

right now at 5:00, camden police say good-bye to one of their own. the loss of this k-9 named zero leaving a big hole in the department. plus, workers in delaware get the news that they were dreading. why dupont is cutting nearly 2,000 jobs in its home state. nbc 10 news at 5:00 starts right now. good evening, i'm keith jones. we'll get to those stories in just a moment, but we begin with tough talk from the top. today governor wolf scolded state lawmakers for sending him a, quote, ridiculous budget, then took out his veto pen. >> i am expressing the outrage that all of us pennsylvanians should feel about the garbage the republican legislative leaders have tried to dump on us. >> and governor wolf didn't stop with a veto. he also promised emergency

funding for schools, social services, and county governments who have been waiting nearly six months for a budget deal. nbc 10's deanna durante joins us now from our digital operations center. you spoke with lawmakers after governor wolf made that announcement. how do they feel about his harsh comments? >> well, many are applauding the governor's release of emergency funds, but say this should have been done long ago. senate and house democrats say no one knew the stalemate would last six months and we've gotten to a true emergency and some house republicans from the central part of the state say that the stalemate is the fault of the governor and not house republicans. >> this exercise in stupidity actually cuts education funding by $95 million. >> reporter: governor wolf wasted no time slamming republicans in the spending bill sent to him just before christmas. >> our financial house is a mess. >> reporter: and many took today to volley the insults right back at him. >> the legislature is not six months behind on this, our governor is. >>