like some other states in pennsylvania the laws are different. >> the surveillance video and tales of this vicious attack has spread like wild fire across the country. even after the suspected gay bashers are caught it cannot be prosecuted as a hate crime. because sexual orientation is not on the list off hate crimes in pennsylvania. >> we just legalized marriage in pennsylvania, we are not that far. we know the story, two gay men were beaten up and robbed on chancellor streets thursday night. a group of suspects 10, to 15 grabbed the victims because of self you'll orientation, once there was images, this video was tweeted and retweeted and shared again. and they used a crucial picture

from the center city rest ran posted on the night of the ata can. some appeared to be members of that large group seen in the video. >> couldn't believe my eyes that someone was getting hate the for who they love. they say that a city like philadelphia, there is no surprise the support is overwhelming. >> you hear about by standers syndrome and watching things and nobody interferes, it made be proud that philadelphians stepped forward and said this is not okay. >> once again, at this point, no one has surrendered and there is no arrests in this case. coming up at 6:00 eva pilgram will have more about the hate crime laws in pennsylvania. reporting live here kenneth moton. >> thank you. the coverage of this attack continues at 6abc.com, you can see the surveillance video released by police including the pictures being sought and you

can find ways to contact police if you have any information. there are new photos tonight of the man suspected of shooting two troopers killing one of them. it shows eric frein in his survivor -- he is accused of shooting two troopers at the blooming grove barracks, douglas remains in critical condition and a memorial for dickson will be held tonight and he will be laid to rest tomorrow. police say that jeremiah jackson beat, strangled and stuffed the victim in a duffle bag. at the big board on this wednesday, another twist to the drama in the nfl. after one day, of some public scrutiny and fans and

responsers, the minnesota vikings reversing course. >> after being charged with hitting his child with a tree branch, the move to put peterson on the nfl's exempt list, this comes one day after saying they would reactivate the mvp after missing this past sunday's game. >> we respect our community and fans, and in the end it's about getting it right. and that is what we wanted to do here. we made a mistake and the main thing is we are getting it right and that is how we came to this decision. >> this developing now, peterson is not the only player on the exempt list, defensive end greg

hardy is removed from the roster by the carolina panthers, is he appealing his charge of domestic abuse. at first he was suspended by the carolina panthers for just one game. this is not the only thing grabbing headlines for the nfl, also happening today, league and the players union agreed to a new drug policy. a major policy, for hgh and growth hormone. and they changed the length of suspensions for violations. there will be a lot of chatter about these new policies and more on the latest policies for the nfl on world news with david muir directly after "action news" at 6:00. lawmakers have again delayed a vote on a cigarette tax to fund philadelphia schools, they

voted unanimously in favor of the bill yesterday. they would add a $2 tax to every pack of cigarettes sold in philadelphia. they would not take a full vote on the measure until senators returned to harrisburg, that could happen as early as monday, supporters of the tax say it's critical to avoid furnish cuts to city schools. >> a controversy has cats, dogs and even pigeons on the minds of top lawmakers, they must decide if protecting cats and dogs is the decision they want to protect. walter perez is live in reading with the story tonight. >> reporter: hey monica, pennsylvania is the only state in the country where live pigeon shoots are still legal, it's like skeet shooting but they use live birds but as animal rights groups have never been so close to getting them banned getting this passed now seems like a

long shot. this happened after a large number of butcher shops started to sell dog and cat meat, house bill 260, was quickly put together and flew through the house, when it got to the senate, an amendment was added banning live pigeon shoots. they say it will lead to further gun restrictions, and they admit when it comes to the nra you have to pick your battles, they are a powerful interest group nationally and in pennsylvania. that is not a piece of news or revelation. >> but animal rights groups are coming out in force holding a rally in support of house bill 1750, one speaker was dalin leach, saying that pigeon shoots have no place in civilized society.

>> this is a slaughterer and an embarrassment to pennsylvania. >> darren marks says that it's important to note that banning pigeon shoots has nothing to do with gun rights. it has to do with cruelty. >> this is the only state that lets this happen, this is not hunting or sport, it's just cruelty, animal cruelty for fun and profit. >> animal right supporters say that bills addressing live pigeon shoots in pennsylvania have been introduced every session for the last 26 years, as of right now there is no plan of putting it up to a vote in the senate. reporting live from reading, walter perez, channel 6 "action news." officials at philadelphia international airport are trying to determine what caused a truck to catch a fire on the tarmac today. chopper 6 hd was on the scene at 11:30, an airport spokesperson

tells "action news" that a u.s. airways catering truck caught fire near a maintenance facility and the fire was distinguished in 30 minutes and fortunately no one was hurt. the red cross is displacing people that were -- row fire, they found heavy smoke coming from the second floor, they quickly knocked down the blaze and had it under control in a half hour. time for a check of the "action news" report midweek. matt pellman is in the trafficker center on a hump day. >> we are getting over the hump but slowly, here on 422, westbound side it's definitely crowded from this point at oaks normal afternoon volume here, if you drive on 422 at 7:00 tonight and the next couple of nights you are blocking traffic for

construction. one lane in each direction at trooper road, still seeing delays on the northeast extension, the path from mid county you are looking at slow speeds, the media bypass, along ridley at glen field avenue and still a vehicle into the building at chester and ward, stick with union street instead. look for a wreck at nixon drive blocking a lane and one along evesham avenue near charleston avenue. >> sounds good, thank you sir. we have a new tool here at "action news," giving you control over the video you can see from chopper 6, its a brand new feature of chopper 6, 360, you can now take control of the 360 camera and move it around to the left, right, up down, zooming in and out, through your phone and tap let, we have an

app to download just once to make it work, go do 6abc.com for links and instructions. and coming up on "action news" at 6:00, brian taff will have a hands on look at what chopper 6 360 does. and how you can take control. very cool. >> much more to come on "action news" tonight. we are learning more btd confirmed cases of -- we are enjoy the fall feeling but the last full weekend of summer will feel like it. plus, starbucks is shrinking its drinks. those stories and more coming up. (postal worker) hey! millers!

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the pennsylvania lottery. bring your dreams to life. health check tonight the list continues to grow for the list of states. health reporter and registered nurse, ali gorman is at the big board. >> new jersey is one of five states added to the list with confirmed or suspected cases of

invero 68 virus. the one child at the university of pennsylvania is from new jersey and the others are from pennsylvania. they sent samples to the cdc, one is confirmed. entero viruss are common for this time year but d 68 is fairly rare, it's in the area now and official says that the focus is preventing new cases, the solution is simple keep things clean, as a nurse i stress hand washing the single best defense against entero virus. anti-bacterial gel is a good backup but doesn't prevent as many germs. and parents ask your children's school. >> talk to them about, do they wipe down the surfaces, how

often are they washing their hands, what do they do when the kids have runny noses. >> try to get your kids and you too away from catching sneezes in your hand, it's better to use your elbow area for coughs and sneezes and today the debate continues for artificial sweeteners. in israel is may set the stage for diabetes by changing the bacteria in the gut. the three most common sweeteners but the research was done mostly on mice and had a lot of sweetener more than most people consume. the products are thoroughly tested and they are safe. there is encouraging news on dr. rick sacra, being treated for ebola, he now has a big appetite, asking for and eating a plate of enchillada's last

night. and eating chicken noodle soup and he is getting cabin fever and making phone calls and talking to friends and family and his wife is happy to hear the u.s. is stepping up the efforts to fight ebola in west africa. >> thank you. >> more than 70 philadelphia police officers receive special come ondations today for a job well done. this ceremony is held throughout the year for officers that made outstanding arrests or performs other outstanding acts of service. their families and friends were there to cheer them on. they have proved the best of the best in the face of danger. right now chopper 6 is in

the air, go to 6abc.com/chopper 6 and try out the 360 camera.

new jersey is one of four states that will experience cuts to its food stamp program, a farm bill signed by president obama in february, attempted to scale back what some call a loop alcohol in the food stamp program. 16 state as lowed the practice and 12 figured out a way to avoid cuts, new jersey, wisconsin and new hampshire will move forward with the cuts, there is about 1.8 million households that receive food stamps in those states. some of the most popular drinks at starbucks will down size to make them for attractive to your waistline. including the cappuccino mini, it has fewer calories and starbucks could expand to other markets in the experiment is success frl.

and a chain is trying skinny slices of pizza, the pie uses less dough and lighter toppings, they are fighting to win back market share, last year it fell 2% from locations that were open at least a year. >> a custom motorcycle aucis raising money for catholic school students. they had a rooftop raffle, tickets sold for $100 each and the chopper toured philadelphia to build excitement and the 400 students were on the roof

time to check the accuweather forecast with adam joseph. traffic and weather all together. >> that is all right nydia. >> i'm sorry. >> cape may, we are live on sky 6, beautiful out there. a few folks sitting on the sand there and this is the last official weekend of summer, up and coming and you may want to head to the shore because the weather is going to cooperate. right now 70 in sea isle city and 74 in philadelphia and the

lehigh valley, 71 degrees, high pressure is in control and we have a front on the u.s.-canadian border bringing showers near toronto and ottawa, and it was cold enough at the great lakes that there was even snow and temperatures up there right now are only in the low 40s and upper 30s in general. very winter-like air is bottled up near the hudson bay and some of it will push down to the south as the front slips through late tomorrow into tomorrow night. future tracker shows that temperatures by friday morning, will be at 41 in allentown and 39 in the poconos and all is quiet here but in the desert southwest they are dealing with moisture from the remnants of tropical storm odile. heavy rain from phoenix to flag stof, tucson and albuquerque.

and flash flood warnings in the desert southwest and parts of mexico and texas with the tropical thunderstorms and torrential downpours, this is a big weather maker with national news, with tucson especially. rainfall of 2 to 5 inches, last week they dealt with that historic flooding and they could see half of their yearly rainfall in 48 hours, and there could be some unfortunately big stories out of the southwest due to the flooding tomorrow. mostly clear and comfortably cool and 56 for philadelphia and your five-day at 5:00, we are sitting pretty for the next five days overall. 76 tomorrow and the cool down on friday as the front slips through of 71 and we return the flow for the weekend, saturday morning clouds and afternoon sun and 78 and the eagles 73 degrees and clouds and showers coming on

monday at 77, we'll move up the temperatures, rick and -- monica? >> have you guys met? >> like ten years ago. >> time flies. more to come in the next half our of "action news" at 5:00. police are still trying to find the person that attacked a

"action news" continues with meteorologist, adam joseph, jaime apody, rick williams and monica malpass. hello again, here is what is happening on "action news" tonight. a homeless woman is brutally attacked in camden, tonight her family is pleading for help in finding the man that did it. and the shocking actions of a doctor the moments before joan rivers death, what he is accused of doing while the comedian was unconscio unconscious. lisa thomas-laury visits with children that know firsthand what happened this day in history. now the details, the woman that was beaten and raped yesterday morning and attacked so brutal and so horrible she is

this critical condition. >> she joins us live from cooper university hospital. >> the family says it's touch and go for the 54-year-old victim. she remains in critical condition at cooper university hospital. collapse lung and cracked ribs. she has been unconscious but what her brothers and sisters are hoping is that there is someone that can help find the person or persons responsibility for the attack. >> if you know who did this step up. >> did they rob her? >> no, they just beat her up for no reason. >> the victim's family and police handing out flyers to get the word out and find witnesses. >> the homeless woman that freak whens mount ephraim