>> ♪♪ >> "action news." delaware valley's leading news program. with matt o'donnell, tamala edwards, karen rogers and meteorologist, david murphy. >> ♪♪ >> good morning it's 5:00 a.m. on this wednesday june 3rd. developing this morning. >> another house goes up in flames in the city of chester. investigators are looking for lynx between this latest fire and two others on the same block. >> residents claim that a girl gang is terrorizing their philadelphia neighborhood for specific reasons and the police are looking the other way. >> drivers in new jersey could face a fine if they are caught smoking with children in the car.

>> first up let's get a look at are weather and traffic. mets go to dave murphy and matt pelman is in for karen rogers. good morning. >> good morning. fairly cool and on storm tracker six live double scan a couple of light sprinkles and showers, this one down cape may is producing a very brief but steadier rain and then up north just south of philadelphia in parts of new castle county, cluster and camden county mainly and parts of burlington county just some light shower activity. could have drizzle up north but know active showers up there really. lots of cloud cover around though as i mentioned. it does look like it's going to stay fairly cloudy today with perhaps some sunny breaks later in the afternoon especially across the northern half of the area. chilly again or at least cool as you step outside 55 degrees in philadelphia, 55 in allentown, 53 in trenton right now and 54 in sea isle city. winds on the light side, single digits in most cases but coming down out of the northeast and keeping us on the cool side today. as we head out for the bus stop this morning it looks like it is mainly dry across the region with some of you seeing some showers or

drizzle. temperatures between six and 8 o'clock in the mid-50's. as we roll into the afternoon 63 by noon. better with that high today. we'll get up to about 67 degrees at 3 o'clock. and then still holding about 66 by 6 o'clock and again the later we go through the day the better chance of sun breaking through those clouds. the best chance of that would be from philadelphia north not so much down south by the shore. pollen counter is also running real low today matt. that's the one good news with that rain recently. >> we like that. good morning david. things are drying out at the moment on most of our highways like here on the vine street expressway in center city. and also the eastbound side has reopened. we had construction that closed it overnight. now all lanes opened in both directions here along the vine by the schuylkill. they are scheduled to close it again tonight both ways here starting at 11 o'clock going until 5:00 tomorrow morning. this is the roosevelt boulevard close to broad street headlights coming northbound toward oxford circle and ryan avenue. overnight construction there has cleared out as well but a couple issues on the big picture.

there's a downed tree along the can kelly drive this morning by fountain green there by the grant statuely i would stay on the other side of the river on the mlk west deliver drive instead. in wynnewood downed wires blocking wynnewood road right by the wynnewood shopping center at lancaster avenue. stick with remmington road or church road as some some alternates. this is 42. david mentioned showers possible in camden county. 42 is definitely still wet meaning no overnight construction at this point. traffic is moving along okay on this wednesday morning. tam. >> okay, thank you matt. and developing this morning firefighters in chester called to that same city block for the third time in five days. of course the question is if these fires are all connected. "action news" reporter katherine scott lie along bickley place. we saw her there just monday morning. she is she has more on the story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, tam. we are expecting to learn more from authorities later on today in a press conference but firefighters were back here last night, this time the fire was started in that end row home but in recent days,

other homes along this block have been hit. some of the homes have been damaged in the last few days were vacant or under renovation but others were occupied and neighbors here are now worried about their homes and their safety. >> i really don't know what's going on. it's just crazy. >> reporter: a third fire in four days on this chester block. now six row homes all next to each other on the 400 block of bickley place have been damaged or destroyed. more than 20 people have been displaced. residents believe this is no accident. >> i believe it's something that's going on, somebody trying to get some money and i have faith in the fire department that with their knowledge and their up to date forensic type of knowledge that they're going to get to the bottom of this. >> reporter: the first starter saturday at 420 bickley. an unoccupied house. then early monday morning firefighters were back battling a blaze that began right next door in 418 which is also vacant. that one spread to several occupied homes.

last night crews arrived to 410, the end row home. >> when we arrived we had heavy fire in the rear of 410 that extended up through the back into the second floor working its way across the roof. >> reporter: the crime scene unit carried evidence from last night's fire scene. the fire commissioner and the mayor were among officials who say they are working to get to the bottom of this. >> we are looking at a number of perspectives of how this thing is happening and why it's happening and we'll continue to do so. >> reporter: and this morning an officer from chester police is positioned here at the scene. the cause of these fires remains under investigation. we are live in chester katherine scott, channel6 "action news." >> okay, thank you katherine. it is now 6:05 and a south philadelphia community says they're being terrorized by a gang of girls and the police need to do a lot more about it. more than a hundred people gather last night the protests

come after a rash of what some neighbors claim that are racial attacks at the hands of four black women who live nearby. two people who did not want to be identified say they are among these victims. >> attack on my doorstep for no reason at all. >> that quick i seen four women attacking a white man. >> the victims claim responding officers from the third district did not take a report or make any arrests. officials say an internal affairs investigation is now under way into why police failed to investigate racial tensions brewing in the neighborhood in recent days. >> ♪♪ >> new this morning, smoking behind the wheel with children in the car may soon be illegal if new jersey lawmakers get their way. erin o'hearn is live in the satellite center with details on this proposed piece of legislation. erin. >> reporter: hey, matt. we know that longstanding research says that secondhand smoke can have major health problems for young children and lawmakers say this particular bill is intended to protect children who may not

have a say in what they're exposed to. now, in this bill that was produced to the state senate it would allow police to ticket people smoking with children under 17 in the car. it would be a secondary offense which means drivers cannot get pulled over for smoking alone and would first need to be pulled over for another violation. some critics are calling this an invasion of privacy. >> you have to understand there's a law that says you have to wear seat belts so why can't we say you cannot smoke with a child present. let's give these kids a chance to develop, you know. they're held captive in there. >> reporter: this bill has been introduced before but lawmakers were unsuccessful in getting it passed but lawmakers now say they want to have it signed and ready for the governor by the end of the year. right now four states and porter wreak allpuerto rico have smoke free car laws in place when children are involved.

>> motorcyclist wanted in a berks county road rage investigation turned himself n we first told you about the story yesterday morning. sean miller surrendered to police. he's accused of punching a 60-year-old woman in the mouth and throwing her to the pavement. a witness snapped that picture of miller on his motorcycle. it happened at the antietam valley shopping center. the woman was treated at the hospital. miller faces charges of simple assault harassment and disorderly conduct. hopes of reviving a soda staple in the lehigh valley have fallen flat. the prospected buyer was in talks to buy the a treat bottling company but a deal with the owners couldn't be reached. the 97-year-old soda bottler closed in january setting off a social media pennsylvania town resurrect the brand. >> time now to turn to dave murphy. severing damp outside. >> still cloudy and cool and a little damp in spots

absolutely. storm tracker six live double scan shows you it's not act tom lamaine till raining everywhere. on the new jersey side of the river we have sprinkles and showers through berlin glassboro swedesboro. wilmington as well. philadelphia international airport has been reporting a little bit of rain over the last half hour but you can see the air field starting to clear there. nonetheless where you don't see the green there is the possibility of some drizzle and down south it's more than drizzle. in cape may county you're seeing some slightly heavier cells pop through. i'll go ahead and move this for you briefly and you can see how it is popping up toward the northeast. let's go out wide and we'll give the movement of that stuff as well. not everybody looking at rain this morning but some of you are a bit on the damp side. as we look outside we have cloudy skies everywhere and that inc. includes over the ben franklin bridge in center city. take it slow. earlier rain overnight even areas where it isn't coming down have probably left your roads on the damp side.

55 in philadelphia, 55 up in allentown and down the shore 55 at the boardwalk in ac and sea isle city. so beneath the clouds very even numbers this morning and a little bit of a gentle breeze out of the northeast. as for cloud cover and rain today t-it does look like the morning hours will be fairly gray. now there's the possibility once we start heading into the afternoon that we start to see some sunny breaks in some northern areas and that pattern continues into the afternoon. future tracker wanting to bring some of those breaks down to philadelphia. i won't guarantee that but as we get later into the day there's the chance of the return of some sun. not a lot of rain today just a touch of drizzle or spotty sprinkle or shower. most of that appears to be in the morning. up in the lehigh valley cloudy morning. up north afternoon sun is possible, a high of 68 degrees. actually a little bit warmer up north because of the potential for that sun to come in and help warm you up at least a degree or two. only about 60 to 65 depending on where you are down the shore today. lots of clouds a spotty shower possible and in philadelphia a high around 67 degrees, mostly

cloudy with spotty rain but dry most of the time today winds rolling in off the ocean at about eight to 16 miles per hour and by 2 o'clock we get up to 66 degrees, your high of 67 probably around 3 o'clock this afternoon and we are hoping for some sun. if you're headed to ppl park tonight the union at home against the columbus crew with that new logo, mostly cloudy mainly dry 65 degrees for the start and 63 in the 90th minute. hopefully that's a victory for the union. they could use one. today's high 67, mostly cloudy. then tomorrow kind of a repeat a high of 66, mainly cloudy skies, another slight chance of a sprinkle or shower at times but not raining all the way and then friday warmer a high of 77 and in the afternoon and evening another pop-up thunderstorm or shower probably not a washout. for the weekend a little more humid on saturday a high of 80. again a spotty afternoon shower or thunderstorm. sunday is looking good 76 partly sunny and back into the 80's on monday. >> okay, thank you david. it is now 5:11 and when we come back, still searching for

signs of life. rescuers desperately try to reach hundreds of passengers trapped in an overturned cruise ship in a river in china. >> emergency crews make a gruesome discovery in a gas filled connecticut home. matt. >> matt, we are straddling the border of montgomery county and bucks county here on the 202 parkway at county line road. definitely still wet in this area but we'll see if it's drying out in chester county coming up after the break. >> police are trying to track down the owner of a mystery sculpture of a man's head discovered just sitting there on the boardwalk at the jersey shore. that's later in the morning buzz.

>> ♪♪ >> 5:14. it's been so long since we had rain and then we have two or three days of it and everyone is all of a sudden sick of it. a live look at philadelphia international airport. it is 55 degrees. getting up to 67. look out for more rain but not as much as yesterday. >> one person who may be sick of it is matt pelman because it causes problems on the road. >> makes my life more interesting that's for sure, interesting being the glass half full word we'll use. roads are still wet and so therefore a little bit slippery and therefore we'll probably see accidents, you know, sort of a domino effect but take it easy, allow a few extra minutes and hopefully everybody is going to be okay. hopefully. we're here along the 30 bypass in chester county. we saw some construction yesterday despite the sort of soggy conditions here on the eastbound side once again. caused midday delays. i wouldn't be surprised if you see them again today. eastbound between business 30 and route 100. for now everything is opened and actually drying out here along the 30 bypass with no delays just yet. we've got some downed wires on

the main line in wynnewood right by the shopping center blocking off wynnewood road this morning right there by lancaster avenue. maybe stick with remmington or church road as alternates around those downed wires. overnight construction coming tonight to lower moreland right by the high school. they're going to close down red lion road the next couple nights starting at 8 o'clock between huntington pike and philmont avenue. stay up on tomlinson road as an alternate. again that starts at 8 o'clock tonight. we have a lot of bridge demolition work going on in folsom atlantic county along 322 which of course is the black horse pike between 14th street and eighth street. so, for the next few weeks until the end of the month use 73, jackson road or even stay down on route 40 harding highway instead of 322. time for the commuter report brought to you by the waze app. we have been talking about that downed tree along the kelly drive close to fountain green this morning. if you want to use the alternates like the mlk or the schuylkill no problems reported on either at this point. tam. >> okay, thank you matt.

chinese state media reporting 18 bodies have been pulled out of the yangtze river. there are people who were on a river cruise ship that capsized in storm stormy weather on monday. more than 400 people are still unaccounted for and the hopes of saving them have become very dim. the ship is still upside down in the river. hundreds of rescuers have been searching the area. so far only 14 people have been reported rescued. two children were found dead in an east haven connecticut home polices say the deaths are suspicious. police were called to the scene. they found the mother of the children despondent with arm injuries. then they found the bodies of a boy and a girl. officials did not disclose the cause of death but they say it's likely the children were inside this home for at least 24 hours and authorities do believe the natural gas was deliberately turned on. >> philadelphia union have two home games this week before an extended break. they host the columbus crew sc tonight then new york fc on saturday. the phillies won. darin ruf hit a walk off single in the ninth last night

giving the phillies a five to four victory over the reds. the late inning come back victory snapped a seven game losing streak. cole hamels starts against the reds tonight. >> thank goodness. it's 5:18. new research teams trying to find and answers when they have a health question. >> jurors hear a chilling description of how a gunman card outcarried out a massacre. >> david. >> most of you are dry. this afternoon we're going to get a little warmer than yesterday mid 60's maybe a sweatshirt or t-shirt. you can root for the union who are back home tonight looking for a win against the crew. in a moment i'll be back with your area temperatures but we're also looking across the country for potential for severe weather in case you're traveling.

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things are drying out along the schuylkill expressway. you see the mlk drive on the right side of your screen, that, too, looks fine and the downed tree we had on the kelly drive has now been cleared so basically across-the-board drying out looking g mass transit on time so far this morning. the 101 trolley won't run again tonight between monroe in media because of dining under the start. hopefully it dries out nor david. >> hopefully it does. there's a decent possibility of that. we have a couple of sprinkles and showers here or there today, might have late day sun breaking out. high this afternoon 67 degrees at 3 o'clock. a little better than yesterday but at times a sprinkle or shower. severe weather possible out in kansas nebraska and areas to the west of chicago also in atlanta and down toward the panhandle of florida. most of florida okay today though and no major delays at philadelphia international airport and most of our -- most frequently traveled destinations are dry, tam. >> thank you david. going on to health check. teens are constantly on those tech gadgets so what are they most likely looking for?

chances are it's an answer to a health question. researchers at northwestern university surveyed more than a thousand teens asking them about what do you look for when you log on? more than four out of five said they were looking for health information. one in three said they use what they found to make positive changes like reducing anxiety losing weight and improving their sleep. >> consumers want cars and they want them now. here is abc's america's money. >> ♪♪ >> good morning, everybody. topping america's money auto sales soaring. >> they hit the strongest pace in a decade. in may nearly 17.8 million vehicles sold. >> lower gas prices and cheap financing. chipotle looking to add chorizo tore burrito. >> it is made from a blend of chicken with pork with pap rican red wine. i'm only listing the best ingredients. mcdonald's has also tested chorizo burritos in the past.

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>> today more videotapes of a colorado movie gunman will be played at his trial. they reveal more about what he told a psychiatrist about that night. yesterdayholmes plead not guilty to by reason of insanity. the videotaped interview will be a key consideration for jurors as they decide whether holmes could tell right from wrong at the time of the attack. >> morning buzz time. the mystery of the bus. police found this bust sitting on the boardwalk in ventnor back in november. it was just there just left there and they have no idea who it belongs to. they're trying to find the owner. the only clue is that there's a signature that says hilda 72 as in perhaps 1972. now, police in ventnor have gone door to door asking people about it. they've gone on social media trying to figure out if anyone

knows anything about this. it weighs about 20 pounds and still nothing. so they're putting it on "action news." maybe one of you knows. they think it might look like newt rocky or lucca brossi. kind of looks like chuck woolery game show host. maybe you know. call ventnor police if you happen to know. >> whoever did it has a little bit of talent. 5:27. we're following breaking news. smoke and flames send two people to the hospital in south jersey overnight. >> farm to table is all the buzz these days. a new jersey farm goes one better. you never leave the fields. "action news" continues.

>> developing now on "action news." suspicion mounts as firefighters return to the same block in chester in a matter of days. >> terror watch in boston. a task force takes down one man and another suspect is under arrest. >> a florida teacher faces suspension for his extreme attempt at stopping kids from using their smartphones in school. >> good morning, 5:30 now on

this wednesday june 3rd. karen rogers is off. dave murphy has your accuweather and matt pelman has traffic. good morning. >> and it's another cloudy cool start across the region matt and tam. we have some sprinkles and showers especially south of philadelphia moving through wilmington into parts of south jersey. this is light nuisance stuff. by cape may another line of shower activity. everybody else beneath the clouds for the most part. you can see that on satellite now and there is the chance of a spotty sprinkle or shower today but i think most of the daewoo just dealing with clouds and then maybe this afternoon some sunny breaks especially across the northern half of the region. 55 degrees in philadelphia. 53 in trenton, 55 in dover 55 -- or 54 i should say in sea isle city. pretty even numbers from north to south. as we head out the door expecting to stay in the 50's between six and 8 o'clock. most of you looking at a cloudy and cool bus stop this morning. we are halfway there kids through finals week for a lot of your schools. 55 degrees for your stor