>> good morning we're following breaking news on this thursday, it took hours of debate, but the vote is in and south carolina lawmakers want the confederate flag off the state house grounds. >> delaware county is rallying around a woman who is in a same-sex marriage. >> a delaware robber disguised himself as a base bondsman. >> good morning tam is off eva pilgrim joins us. let's go over to david and matt.

>> reporter: humidity is impacting us, we have light showers and sprinkles popping through. these are in the northern suburbs, basically dry no lightning out there yet, of course. that's a sign of things to come. as we look to the west there's a cold front yet another one that's on its way here, there's severe weather potentially across the this front as it gets here this afternoon. that's something we're watching as we get past 4:00 or 5:00 p.m. a severe probability exists, any thunderstorm that forms late today and this evening, would have the potential of producing strong damaging wind gusts and lighting. 77 degrees in philadelphia. 73 in millville. 70 in allentown. mid 70s along the boardwalk. as we look at the humidity, once again it's going to be

oppressive with dewpoints across the region up over the # 0-degree mark. 75 degrees by 8:00. 85 by noon, #-- 3:00 p.m. 89 degrees and 87 through the afternoon. it's late in the afternoon and nighttime period we're looking for the potential of strong gusty thunderstorms. matt pellman i'll show you that on future tracker #. we'll have better weather heading into the weekend. >> good morning david, good morning everybody, we have lots of construction clearing out some near bridge and cottman avenue the crews pulled away, you're back to having three labels available in the great northeast. vine street expressway eastbound in the last couple of minutes they have opened the westbound side of the vine that's good news but eastbound is scheduled to remain blocked for the next half-hour.

boulevard and he thinks near fox and schuylkill traffic lights are out it's a little bit of a darker ride than you're used to. for now dark in that neck of the woods. in the same neck of the woods had a bunch more milling work, kelly drive, watch out for rough ride as you head out on this thursday morning. >> breaking news this morning looks like the confederate flag is coming down in south carolina. the house voted overnight to remove it from the state house. the bill needs the governor's signature, the flag could come down within days. >> reporter: good morning, eva the house proved the state senate bill by well over the necessary two-thirds margin sending it to the governor's

desk. state lawmakers voted to take it down, after a marathon, emotionally charged debate. >> i cannot believe that we do not have the heart in this body to do something meaningful, such as take a symbol of hate of these grounds on friday. >> a stronger than expected show of support in the house after heated debate filled from the capitol building to the streets. the state senate taking down the flag over the southern verdicts. >> they have taken people who respect their southern heritage andic kick them in the teeth. >> but heavy oh, therein -- but

heavy on lawmakers' hearts the death of one of their own. the bill expected to be assigned by the governor. governor thanked the lawmakers for their service and compassion calling it a new day in south carolina. the measure requires the flag to be removed within 24 hours. it will be moved to a confederate relic room. in washington, channel 6 "action news." matt. >> thank you. a teacher at a main line school said she was fired for being in a same-sex marriage. margey winters walked into a closed door meeting with her wife and closed door supporters. the meeting was to not renew the religion director's contract.

>> she received a standing ovation of support, it was very emotional. >> several people talked about margey and how much we loved occupier community. >> the principal of the school released a letter saying our school recognized the authority of the arch bishop of philadelphia especially in the teaching of religion. to continue as a catholic school it must comply with the teachings. the archdiocese said it was a private catholic school and personnel decisions are made without the oversight of the archdiocese. this is new from delaware, this is a sketch who broke into an apartment pretending to be a bail bondsman. the robbers got away with cash and jewelry. a man and a woman are

recovering in the hospital after being shot with an assault rifle. it happened on the 4600 block of head street. police say the shooter used an ak-47 no arrests have been made and no word on a shooting. >> a bank robber suspect didn't get too far thanks to a gun toting bank official. a dye pack exploded outside and that caught the eye of hatboro councilman who started chasing the man. >> there was a number of requests for the suspect to get on the ground, he did not comply with that, he was shot. >> the suspect was hit at least once in the arm. he is a licensed person to carry a firearm and was questioned about the incident. >> this morning people in

beaver county, pennsylvania are waiting to see how bad the damage is a number of residents in new flooded. a statement said a configuration issue caused a problem and hackers were not involved. trading was halted in 3 1/2 hours, in an unrelated incident a computer glitched forced united airlines to ground the plane. fbi is investigating both incidents. both companies are optimistic about things running normally today. pulled from shelves three months ago bluebell is one step closer to selling ice cream.

the latest next. >> a family gets swept out to sea and has good samaritans to thank along with their daughter's selfie stick. >> reporter: this is another morning in the 70s dewpoints. the laidest on future tracker 6 just ahead.

>> radio control pilots from all over the county are descending on the first state for the delaware air show. it draws 5,000 spectators and 200 pilots. it features giant scale model aircraft from all periods of aviation history. admission is free, but parking fees apply. some of the planes have faict pilots. >> they are very small. >> like legomen. >> reporter: storm tracker 6 live showing we're dry we're dry in delaware and south jersey. if you go to green lane and

pottstown and honeybrook and western chester county picking up a quick shower. looks like it's giving you two minutes of steady rain. i'll widen out here. some of this is sprinkling through allentown and there's more stuff west of the west chester county. as we take a look outside, we have probably mainly cloudy skies across the region, at the airport it's possible however we'll get a bit of sun breaking through, a little bit later this morning, and we'll cloud up a bit as we go late in the day. temperature, 77 degrees, the dewpoint is 71. so still that oppressive cut it with a knife humidity. winds are calm, not much relief there. as we take a look at the rain today this will be the big story, humidity for most of the day is the story we get later into the day and things change. through the morning there's the possibility of a shower, maybe a rumble of thunder popping through, mainly dry and we get

into the clouds and sun mix. 5:00 west of philadelphia. a cold front approaches we'll be on the look out for that front producing heavy downpour related thunderstorms and perhaps some strong gusty storms, as well. by 7:00 looks like it is plowing through the western suburbs and getting close to philadelphia. and we don't see an end to the action until 10:00 or 11:00 with the worst thunderstorms until 9:00 or 10:00. what are we looking at from the storms lighten is a high risk, as are downpours in the humid air mass. there's the possibility of strong gusty winds and they could severe, up to 50 or 60 miles per hour. some rotation in some of the storms wouldn't be out of the question a tornado wouldn't be out of the question late today and this evening. 75 on the clock by 11:00.

it's going to be a warm and muggy day ahead of the storms. 89 is the high, probably around 3:00 p.m. this afternoon. high temperatures from north to south, 84 in allentown. 84 along the shore, up closer to 90 degrees in philadelphia. with the strong storms late this afternoon and evening. up and down the coast we're looking at temperatures in the water in the 70s on the the beach the low to mid 80s obviously thunderstorm possible not until this evening, down the shore. the exclusive accuweather seven-day forecast, humid today afternoon storms could be strong, 89 but tomorrow things get better. it's warm, high of 86. less humid. sunny and warm, saturday, 89 degrees it's on the hot side on sunday, we'll take out the threat of thunderstorms. that will be an issue on monday, strong storms possible on tuesday, a lot coming up, getting through the day it feels better. >> a fireworks accident led to

an nfl playing having his finger amputated. jason pierre paul is an end for the giants. he fractured his right thumb which could take 6 weeks to heal. the fireworks accident happened at his south florida home on the 4th of july. ice cream maker bull bell is looking to get its product back on the market. they will make a test batch in their alabama plant in the next few weeks. bluebell pulled every product off store shelves back in april. they closed their plant three people died and 7 others got sick from listeria. it will cost more to go to the university of delaware. the school is raising tuition in the up coming year. instate television will go up

1.5%. out of state, 2. "wall street journal" reports apple is betting its next iphone is the next big thing. they are ordered 85 to 90 million. it's 20 million more than prior version and there could be a new color. an odd day on wall street. market suffered major losses because of a computer glitch. this morning they are pointing to a higher open. office space and retail shops and restaurants planned for newark, delaware, built at the site of the old avon products distribution. council will vote to rezone the property from industrial to commercial use. >> a family kidnapped from

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>> reporter: as you head out on this thursday morning take a minute and look up in the sky the moon looks great this morning. i think you'll enjoy it and the ride this morning in most spots. as we watching here comes the first cars on the eastbound side of the vine street expressway. as the construction has cleared westbound has been opened for 20 minutes looking better on the vine. looking dark on the roosevelt boulevard and he thinks by fox street overhead lights are out making it difficult to see. sun will be up before too long and that won't be an issue of we're watching construction issues on the pennsylvania turnpike westbound. farther west in chester county between valley forge and the route 29 e-z pass exit. watch out for the right lane being closed. northeast extension west lane is out of commission.

we had two lanes block on the ben franklin bridge. now the right lane is blocked that's the set up around the clock for the rest of the summer. >> fbi is looking for two men who kidnapped a tennessee family and forced the man to rob the bank where he works. they kidnap his wife and baby and put hoods on them. the robbers left the family unharmed on the side of the road. this could linked to a similar robbery in april. the search for three missing sisters in the wyoming wilderness continues today. the trio went on a trip and went missing. the sisters 25, 22 and 16 are described as relatively experienced in the back country. pope francis has touched

down in bolivia i can't for the second -- bolivia for the second leg of the tour. he is praising the president for taking steps to help the poor and economy. cameras were rolling as pope francis snagged something out of midair while riding in the popemobile. someone in the crowd threw a souvenir and he caught it without flinching. the pope will be in philadelphia in september for the world meeting of families. details on the up coming visit at 6abc.com. you can stay up to date follow at 6abc pope for the purpose of the latest. >> the new regulations for requiring video cameras in trains. obama administration plans are in direct response to the amtrak tragedy. all next next.

>> a selfie stick helped saved a family caught in a rip current.

new on "action news," wildlife officials are trying to figure out what to do with a gator they pulled from a river in new jersey. it was swimming in the pasaic river in elm wood and had a community on alert. >> we have people come here and put up their chairs and fish and

kids come with the parents. we've had unusual situations that occurred dmt past, but nothing like this. they are looking for a local zoo or an education center that would like to accept it. >> a go pro on a selfie stick recorded a rescue off the coast of nantucket. you can see the selfie stick saved them. dad grabbed on to it to keep his daughter close to it. as their mom tried to help, she was swept out to sea. luckily a group of people and lifeguards came to the rescue. the family is looking for the good martians to say thank you. >> it's like that movie open water, remember that they got lost out to sea. >> all new in the next

half-hour of "action news," new in fact on the man accused of flushing fake poker chips down a hotel room toilet in atlantic city. of the. >> a verbal altercation between a panero bread employee and manager escalated to violence. "action news" continues.

>> good morning everyone, it is 5:00 a.m. odds -- on this thursday july 9. tam is off, eva pilgrim joins us. >> a community rallies around a school teacher who was fired for being gay. >> after a deadly derailment in philadelphia, the white house is taking steps to make sure amtrak trains are safe. we'll explain how. we're on the look out for rain. david murphy is here along with matt pellman for karen. >> reporter: storm tracker 6 live double scan shows you a little bit of that, no lightning out the