nbc 10 news starts now. happening today, remembering the victims and comforting survivors and their families. president obama and vice president biden will visit orlando as the city continues to grapple with the deadliest mass shooting in u.s. history. soda tax vote. after months of arguing, philadelphia city council will decide today on a 1.5 cent per ounce tax. part of the money raised would fund universal pre-k. we're tracking showers for parts of our area right now, plus the threat of more wet weather during the day. it is 4:00 a.m., thursday morning. good morning. this is nbc 10 news today. i'm tracy davidson. let's talk about the showers with bill henley with your first alert neighborhood forecast. close look at conditions at

communities across pennsylvania, new jersey, delaware and usually different, bill. >> we're seeing that this morning. right now, we're seeing showers in the area. much of the region is dry. first round of showers moves through delaware and south jersey, now out to sea. philadelphia is dry at this time. look at the lehigh valley into berks county where we see steady rain. it extend naz bus into bucks co. philadelphia, westchester just about to get some rainfall. and at the shore, we're seeing showers there too, atlantic city getting rain along with chip bottom. carry the umbrella. showers this morning. we will see more during the day today and even a chance of thunderstorms later on tonight. right now, this is what is going on. crowded skies over philadelphia, the suburbs into new jersey and look at the rain coming down in the lehigh valley. the temperatures today will be much lower than yesterday, when we reached into the 80s. 69 degrees with showers, that's at 10:00. there will be some breaks in the rainfall. this afternoon, high temperatures won't get close to

80. low 70s. a chance of some thunderstorms later this afternoon and into this evening in delaware. can't really completely rule out a thunderstorm this morning. low 70s for new jersey. and 73 degrees this afternoon for philadelphia. showers today, take a closer look at when the heavier downpours could move through the area with the future cast when i'm back in ten minutes. we'll see how the traffic is moving this morning. jessica boynton. >> an accident on 95 near the philadelphia international airport, headed northbound. a few vehicles are involved there. we have two lanes blocked headed northbound by the airport. all lanes aren't closed, but all lanes are closed on the suppress way for the construction, around 24th street. flashing lights up ahead. that is police activity there blocking off the exit. the on and off ramp. westbound and eastbound closed for construction through center city. tracy? it is 4:02.

today, president obama and vice president biden will go to orlando to meet with the families of the victims and the survivors of the pulse nightclub shooting rampage. their visit comes as the community struggles to heal and the first of the victims are laid to rest. the senate homeland security committee says the shooter omar mateen made postings to facebook before and after the attack. quote, blasting, quote, the filthy ways of the west. meantime, the fbi isn't speculating. the senate is asking the fbi to turn over its files about earlier investigations of mateen. people came together in bucks county last night to show solidarity with the lgbt community following the attack in orlando. sky 4 flew over the vigil in doylestown. they lit candles and red the name of the 49 people killed. in philadelphia, west catholic prep invited students,

friends and family to remember one of their own, 17-year-old akyra murray was one of the 49 killed at pulse nightclub. nbc 10 news wasn't allowed inside but you could see the emotion among those who attended. more than 300 people came out to remember murray who graduated days earlier. she was a standout student and basketball player who scored a thousand career points and earned a college scholarship. >> she just did everything the right way. >> every day i wake up, i go on facebook, go on instagram, on twitter, see rip akyra and i can't believe she's gone. >> murray was in orlando with two other people who were also shot, both of them are still recovering in the hospital. democratic senators pull ed an all nighter debating gun control in the wake of the orlando shootings. ahead at 4:30, hear what they accomplished and what pennsylvania republican senator pat toomey plans to announce today on the controversial topic. history could be made in philadelphia.

city council will vote on a controversial tax that if passed would make philadelphia the first major city in the country to tax sugary drinks. nbc 10's pamela osborne has details on the tax and who benefits from it. >> reporter: without a doubt, this tax would help the city's youngest residents, but we're once again expecting to see demonstratio demonstrations, both for and against the soda tax. now, today is the final vote for the sugary tax bill, which would add 1.5 cents an ounce packs on all sugar y drinks. a huge chunk of that money would go toward expanding the city's universal pre-k program and make improvements to recreational centers. we caught up with the mayor yesterday, visited the smart center, the owner of that school says she hopes to get 55 to 60 kids off of her waiting list and into her classrooms with money generated by the soda tax.

>> anyone who says this is baby-sitti baby-sitting, this is education. for our kids to be prepared for first, second, third grade, they need to come to pre-k before, to get socialized, learn their colors, letters, to read. >> reporter: it hasn't come without controversy. critics say it would ultimately be a tax passed on that would cost jobs, hurt families. their also upset that more than 10% of the money generated would go to other programs. we preached out to the council president's office, they tell us that after the vote, there are going to be some more hearings to discuss exactly how the remainder of that money is spent. coming up in the next half hour, i'll tell you more about how some of the kids who are going to benefit from this are planning on thanking council members. reporting live at city hall this morning, i'm pamela osborne, nbc 10 news. 4:06. this morning, things are back to

normal after the veolia energy plant after a boiler explosion yesterday afternoon. investigators trying to figure out why the explosion happened inside the schuylkill steam station on kristen street. people felt the blast throughout center city around 3:00 yesterday afternoon. the operator says there was no fire and all the employees evacuated safely, but the force of the explosion shattered windows and the flying glass hurt someone passing by. >> the whole house shook. the whole house shook. >> it looked like a mushroom cloud of red brick. >> city inspectors tell nbc 10 the plant is still structurally sound. from our delaware bureau, investigators are looking for the cause of a fire that damaged three row homes in wilmington. sky 4 flew over the scene last night. fire broke out around 8:45 and took crews close to an hour to bring the flames under control. no one was hurt. today, democratic assemblyman from mercer county plans to introduce a bill to let voters decide whether to make

marijuana legal in atlantic city. proposal is named the promoting opportunities for tomorrow bill or pot for short. it would ask voters whether to allow people to grow, sell, possess and use marijuana in atlantic city. if passed, marijuana sales would be taxed at 20% of its market price. unionized service workers at four atlantic city casinos will vote today on whether to authorize a strike. the workers at caesars, harrah's, bali's and tropicana would join those at trump taj mahal who already approved a strike. they're all members of unite here local 54. the union says the workers made concessions during lean times and want pay increases now that the casinos are making money again. jurors will head into their first full day of deliberations today in philadelphia in the corruption trial of congressman shockia fattah. courtroom watchers say with 28 counts and five defendants, they

expect jurors may take their time with this case. fattah is accused of taking an illegal $1 million loan to fund his failing mayoral bid in 2007. stay with nbc 10 for continuing coverage of congressman fattah's corruption trial on air and on our nbc 10 app. we'll let you know the moment a jury reaches the decision. we're looking at rainy conditions this morning and that's going to keep us cool through the day. the temperatures right now in the 60s. summers point 61. 60 degrees in malikia township. showers clearing cape may and sea isle city. bucks county getting rainfall and berks county now.

that's mainly light rainfall, but there are a couple of spots where it is coming down heavier. the most -- the bulk of it during the morning hours will be on and off lighter showers. there is some thunderstorm activity to the west and that is the activity i'll be watching as the day goes on. best chance of seeing some thunderstorms in our area will come through this evening. and we should get a break in the precipitation. it won't be all day rainfall. but keep an umbrella handy. 8:00 this morning, see the future cast showing showers, from wilmington through philadelphia and trenton, while it is dry in parts of berks county and upper montgomery and bucks county at that hour. by lunch time, a scattered light shower extends to the shore. that's at noon time today. but as we go into the afternoon, won't be completely clear of the clouds or the showers, that's 5:00 this afternoon, to go into the evening hours, look at that line of storms developing to the west. that's the line we'll be kauchikauch i watching for the potential of gusty winds as it moves through the area late this afternoon and this evening. all going to combine to keep

temperatures much cooler today. looking at 70s for philadelphia. the suburbs. and lehigh valley. 75 degrees in east. and chestnut hill 72 degrees. and malvern, 73. the current temperature is in the 60s for vineland. 70 this afternoon. the jersey shore a little bit cooler, upper 60s in atlantic city and lyndon wood, very low 70s with occasional showers in delaware. look at win this rainfall will move out and a look at the father's day weekend when i come back in ten minutes. >> all right, bill. 4:11 now, get you to work, start on 95. problems there yesterday, jessica, for sure. >> and problems there now. around the airport, we have lanes locked, but no backups there. not as massive as yesterday. northbound by the airport, flashing lights up ahead. two left lanes are being blocked and all traffic is still moving by. no problems headed southbound by the scene either. construction route 38 eastbound

between route 130 and route 70, two lanes closed there until saturday around 6:00 a.m. new jersey transit has a $46 million budget gap. don't expect that to be passed along to riders. the transit agency just rolled out a brand-new budget. next, hear how they plan to pay the multimillion dollar short fall without a fare hike or service cut. selling philadelphia. democrats are sold on their dnc host city, but next see how local artists are hard at work at unique phillfilphilly themed merchandise.

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♪ this is my miracle worker. resolve carpet spray, and it's really easy. just spray it. cover the stain. and all i'm going to do is dab it. and that's it! look! it really comes out that easily. ♪ it is 4:14 and 64 degrees outside. a mass will be set in nebraska, the home state of the 2-year-old

boil ki boy killed by an alligator. the sheriff's office -- this picture of 2-year-old lane graves last night. the sheriff's office says the family is asking for privacy. the graves were vacationing from nebraska. the body was found yesterday in a lagoon near the grand floridian resort. on tuesday, the boy was standing near a lagoon with his dad when he was snatched by a gator. police are now saying they think graves drowned. florida fish and wildlife are looking for the gator that grabbed the boy. signs were posted that said no swimming and warned of gators. late last night, robert iger released a statement saying in part, as a parent and grandparent, my heart goes out to the graves family during this time of devastating loss. now to developing story out of new york city, macy's workers will be working this morning in the midst of contract negotiations. but the union said that no agreement is reached, workers are prepared to strike later today at the flagship location

and three other new york stores. the current contract expired at midnight wednesday. workers want higher pay, cheaper health care and the option to work holidays instead of being mandatory. >> when you have to work on holidays, it just takes away from the whole atmosphere of spending it with your family. >> macy's says it wants to reach a fair agreement, but is taking the threat of a strike seriously. it even put ads for temporary workers in the new york times. if a strike happens, it would only impact new york stores, not any here in our area. local aclu leaders want more information about how the city will deal with protesters during next month's democratic national convention. the aclu of pennsylvania sent a letter to philadelphia mayor jim kenny asking for clarification. the union fears the city is going back on promises not to interfere with protesters at the convention at the wells fargo center. the city says it will prohibit all marches on broad street and during rush hour. regarding the convention, a union leader writes, there is no

better time to show respect for the fundamentally american tradition of peacefully expressing descent. in response, a represent from the mayor's office says, the city has taken innumerable steps to protect demonstrators of right to free speech, including decriminalization of numerous infractions. you can get your hands on a piece of history. dnc merchandise is now on sale. and just like we saw when people came to town for the pope, now it's about making keepsakes and memorabilia to remember another history-making event. seven local artists were picked to create the memorabilia. >> we kind of designed this stuff knowing that we wanted it to sell really well. and we want it to be stuff that people will wear, you know, even outside of the convention. >> you can buy the shirts, hats, buttons and more online. there is a link at nbc10.com and later this month, you can drop into a pop-up store in the

comcast center and shop there. now, your nbc 10 first alert neighborhood weather with meteorologist bill henley. >> 18 minutes after 4:00. clouds overhead. we have seen some rain in wilmington. this is a view from frawley stadium. uniform temperatures, few showers at the shore and also lehigh valley. delaware just reporting cloudy skies and 64 degrees. wilmington, 65, just a little bit cooler on limestone road. temperatures not going to warm up like they did yesterday. 60s for lewis right now. we'll warm into the 70s this afternoon. but going to be low 70s at best. and occasional showers is what we'll have to deal with. see the rain already moved through, still cloudy in delaware and south jersey. and just some scattered showers into the lehigh valley, berks county and chester county. the chance of more showers will be with us during the day, but really the greatest chance is going to come late this

afternoon and this evening. see the thunderstorm activity to the west, we'll see a line of showers and possibly thunderstorms coming into the area for us during the evening hours. there will be plan ty of cloent and showers during the day. this computer model would be great for us, because it keeps it outside of our area. and fizzles before it moves into the area. but, still bears watching. this computer model, sometimes perfect, other times it is just a little bit off. still a chance we'll see some evening thunderstorms. today, during the day, cloudy skies. occasional showers mainly on the light side. but we do get a thunderstorm, there will be heavier downpours. clearing out, warming up near 80 degrees tomorrow afternoon. with plenty of sunshine later tomorrow and look at the weekend. low 80s for saturday and sunday. and then it is into the 90s for monday, tuesday, and wednesday. cooler on wednesday, with a chance of some showers and that cooler weather continues for thursday, friday and a little bit of a warmup saturday with a

chance of showers. but this weekend, for father's day, it is looking good. 85 degrees and the humidity will stay on the low side. tracy? >> bill, thanks. continue to watch 95 where jessica is watching a problem early in the morning there. >> it is a quick one. this accident scene is already cleared out of the way in the last 20 minutes or so of occurrence. 95 around international airport. no problems or delays anymore. that accident scene was up ahead northbound, taking out some lanes. all gone and all traffic is moving along just fine whether you're headed north or southbound. we are watching some construction, some from the vine street expressway. we're still closed between broad street and schuylkill expressway for this stretch in here. my suggestion is to take local vine to get by and then you'll be just fine. not a lot of traffic in the surrounding areas now. 20 minutes past hour, fares will not go up under new jersey transit's newest operating

budget. $2 billion spending plan was unveiled yesterday saying it includes no fare hikes or service cuts. agency officials say an increase in state funding and own internal savings will help them close the $46 million budget gap from a one time payment to bus workers to settle a contract last year. well, we need you to help rewarding the people who are really make a difference in our community and here's how. we want you to spread the word about this. nbc 10 news and nbc universal are giving away grants to nonprofits. the goal is to support organizations that are implementing new and innovative programs. the application is on nbc10.com and the deadline to apply is august 26th. the pennsylvania turnpike commission says it lost more than $8,000. former employees are to blame. ahead in our next half hour, hear how the two workers allegedly stole the money and what is happening to them now. and the philadelphia eagles quarterback got an off the field assist.

next, hear who came to carson wentz's aid after an incident at a new jersey gas station.

4:24 now. more people are visiting philadelphia and that means more money is being pumped into the economy. here is center city. philadelphia has been home to some big events. pope's visit and the next month wawa welcome america and democratic national convention. tourism officials say it is not just the big events and warmer weather drawing people to our city. the company visit philadelphia attracts tourism. yesterday, it announced for the sixth year in a row, there has been a record number of people visiting and spending money in philadelphia. this past year, 41 million people visited philly, spending more than $6.5 billion.

a lot of that money gets pumped into state and local taxes and schools. now from our jersey shore bureau, an atlantic county community is ending its doom dispute with the state. officials in margate they will not appeal a judge's ruling that allows new jersey to seize ocean front land to build protective dunes. the state wants to widen beaches and build sand dunes following damage caused by superstorm sandy. margate opposed that plan. eagles rookie qb carson wentz got his first taste of being under pressure. the eagles wrapped up mini camp last week. he tweeted this out last night. quote, just got locked in a bathroom at an nj gas station. praise the lord for the attendants with a garden shears and the other guy with the leg kick. that has been retweeted nearly 4,000 times. he was drafted number two overall by the eagles in the draft. this story is getting a lot

of attention too. walter thurman was playing on another team at the same time. a softball team. and he was using a different name, dick mahoney. look at this picture in the spot shadow, even wore a wig. apparently none of the players knew he was walter thurman until the season was over. comcast sports net tracked down mahoney's agent. take a listen. >> just an athlete. so not his first rodeo. he's been in a couple of softball leagues and other sports as well. and it was just something he wanted to do while he had some time and unfortunately that time was short. >> so we want to know, have you ever had a brush with a celebrity and not realized it after the fact? oh, my gosh, i know who that was? our twitter address is on the screen. join the conversation. let us know which famous person you met after the fact. now, your nbc 10 first alert neighborhood weather.

>> rainy start this morning. that's ocean city, new jersey. see the rain falling on the boardwalk. the temperatures, they're going it stay lower today. 64 degrees at 4:27. jessica boynton. >> we're watching the vine street expressway, still closed between broad street and schuylkill expressway east and westbound. that should be opening around 5:00, but, of course, we'll keep you updated and another update when i come back in the next couple of minutes at 4:30. this philadelphia man says he's being forced to crawl on all fours because of a thief. next at 4:30, hear about a personal item that was stolen and why it is not easy to replace.

nbc 10 news starts now. progress after pulling an all nighter. this morning, the senate will vote on a gun control proposal after debating the issue or filibuster for 14 straight hours. soda tax vote, today is the day philadelphia city council will decide if you will pay more for every ounce of soda and sugary drinks. and we're tracking showers right now on the nbc 10 first alert radar. today will not be a washout, but there are storms for later today. good morning. this is nbc 10 news today. let's find out about the timing of the rain. >> first couple of rounds this morning, first round moved off shore, moved through overnight, delaware and south jersey. now more moving in from the northwest. this is steady rain, but there have been lightning strikes from this one as it moved through the areas farther to the