louis. but that's not all. two delaware valley jewish community centers and a jewish preschool had to be evacuated today but let's focus on the cemetery first. "action news" reporter bob brooks is at the cemetery at frankford and cheltenham. sarah bloomquist is live in east mount airy where there was an interfaith service to condemn this apparent hate crime. bob, let's begin with you. >> reporter: jim, good evening. can't go in the cemetery right now, they've locked the gates. it hasn't always been like this but after what's happened here, it's locked now. now the damage here is extensive. it goes the whole way through this cemetery. it is horrific. it is unacceptable but what it has also done is brought a lot of people together. there's no doubt that toppled tombstones at the mount carmel cemetery has saddened so many. even made some scared to be who they are. >> i felt suddenly unsafe as a jewish person. >> reporter: but what the

crime has done is united a lot of people from all backgrounds. >> get my hand under there. >> reporter: these are a bunch of random men helping mark weissman reset his grandfather's stone. weissman says he has no doubt this cemetery was targeted. >> definitely a hate crime. definitely. and i think it was organized. >> reporter: people from all faiths have come to help fix the damage at one point or another. philadelphia mayor jim kenney also came to help. >> it was his grandfather next to his father who is a marine and world war ii. >> reporter: he says finding out who did this is at the top of his priority list. >> this country is in a bad spot and this stuff has to be called out right away. it's got to be investigated. we got to find these people and lob them up. >> reporter: others used this as a time to reflect visit family grave sites they haven't seen in years. some were compelled to come and vertebrae. from chopper6 you can see so many tombstones were knocked over but it also brought out a lot of good in that people. >> i have to say that when i went on facebook and my friends called me and saw that there were muslim groups

coming to help and nonjewish groups and jewish groups so many people came right away to start lifting up the stones and, you know, starting a kick starter and it did -- it did kind of lift my spirits a little bit. >> reporter: good to hear. and also i have some good news coming out of this more breaking. we are hearing that there's a plan in the works between the philadelphia building and construction trades council and the ibew to help the cemetery clean things up here and install security cameras. for now reporting in wissinoming bob brooks channel6 "action news." jim. >> thank you, bob. jewish community centers around the delaware valley were the targets of threats this morning. the first at 9:45, a bomb threat to the siegel jewish community center in talleyville delaware. this is the third threat in two months made to this facility. at 11:clock the bomb squad was called to the katz jcc in cherry hill after a threat was

phoned in there and at 11:30 the pearlman jewish day school in wynnewood was evacuated for a threat investigation. these threats were all unfounded. the jcc association of north america says these situations were reported in a dozen states today. "action news" reporter sarah bloomquist is live at the lutheran theological seminary in east mount airy where religious leaders decried these acts of anti-semitism today. sarah. >> reporter: jim, religious leaders of all faiths and denominations gathered at this seminary here in east mount airy today to come up with plan to fight back against these acts of hatred like the desecration of this cemetery and those threatening known calls. calls-- phone calls. they called this the first of many more meetings to come. >> i commit to work with others to eliminate the causes of hatred. >> i commit to work with others to eliminate the causes of hatred. >> reporter: christians and

muslims and jews, they stood together on this stage this afternoon here at the lutheran theological seminary of philadelphia. they vowed to unite to fight acts of hatred like the desecration of the jewish cemetery in wissinoming. >> so we come together as faith leaders to say not in our name and not in our city and not in our region. >> every time we are attacked by hate in the cemetery or beyond, we come together in solidarity. >> reporter: each religious leader condemned the recent rise in anti-semitic activity and a climate of hate. this from a letter sent by archbishop charles chaput. >> violence and hate against anyone simply because of who they are is inexcusable. >> reporter: jewish leaders said there is fear. just today threatening calls came into jewish community centers and day schools here and around the country. >> but of course this is threatening and disrupting and our children are feeling scared and we want it to stop now. >> reporter: this interfaith

group promised to do all they can to make that happen. >> work is before us but we wanted to -- i wanted to stand today and add my voice of support and stand against the bigotry, intolerance and antisemitism and islam phobia. we are all in this together. >> reporter: these religious leaders announced today they'll be holding an event on independence mall on thursday at noon. they're calling it stand against hate. people of all denominations or none at all are welcome to attend. live in east mount airy, i'm sarah bloomquist channel6 "action news." jim. >> sarah, thank you. our coverage of this story continues ocontinues on the 6ab. you can find more on the investigation, more on efforts by the community to help repair the damage. we've also potails on the reward being offered in this case and how you can help donate to restore the

cemetery. the jury that will sit in judgment of bill cosby will not be from montgomery county even though the trial will be held in montgomery county court. "action news" reporter john rawlins is live outside the courthouse in norristown tonight. john, can this be considered something of a legal victory for bill cosby? >> reporter: well, that's a good question. i presume it depends on who you ask here. everybody's signed off on what was finally agreed to today. cosby's lawyers came to court looking for change. their first choice was a change in venue. that would take the trial out of montgomery county and put it in another county. that was denied t they then asked for, the second choice we should say, they asked for was a chinch i change in venue. select a grew another county that was granted with the agreement of the district attorney's office. the 79-year-old comedian and defendant arrived at the courthouse this morning and acknowledged shouts from fans. >> thank you. >> reporter: inside court cosby's lawyer argued cosby

had been subject to a media smear campaign and to get a fair trial cosby's sex assault case should be moved to another county. at the very least, attorney brian mcmonagel said a jury should come from outside montgomery county. his claim some in the media have been judge jury and executioner of cosby's reputation. he cited this headline describing cosby not as america's dad but as america's rapist. locally mcmonagel brought up the 2015 montco d.a.'s race between current d.a. kevin steele and former d.a. bruce castor. caster opted not to prosecute cosby and that became a campaign issue. >> caster said we don't judge people for making a mistake for doing some foolish. >> reporter: the d.a.'s office agreed to the idea of bringing in an outside jury what is known as a change of venue. the judge issued an order. it will be up to the state supreme court to decide which county cosby's jury will come from. outside juries have been selected here in the past. in 1997, pretrial publicity in the case against craig rabb

bin witnesses a lower merion man accused of murdering his wife to collect life insurance a jury from westemoreland county was chosen in that case. in 2012 a souderton man james trout man was that charged with the rape and murder of a nine-year-old. a jury from york county was selected. neither jury heard the cases. both men pleaded guilty before their trials began. back to the cosby case. the trial is set to begin here june 5th. that's 90 some days away. live in norristown, john rawlins channel6 "action news." jim. >> john, thank you. gloucester township police now say the woman who reported that she was almost kidnapped made up her story. police say 28-year-old madison garaguso lied about the incident on mayapple road in sicklerville. she initially told police that a man tried to pull her into a vehicle last monday night. investigators now say that she knew the 19-year-old man, that the two apparently had had an argument. garaguso has been charged with

making a false police report. the legacy of harold hairston was celebrated at the fireman's hall museum in olde city in philadelphia today. hairston was of course philadelphia's first african-american fire commissioner. he died in november at the age of 76. he spent 40 years with the fire department. he was honored as part of black history month today. mayor jim kenney was in attendance along with hairston's family, his friends and colleagues who shared their memories of harold hairston. a broken sewer line is apparently to blame for the flooding in the kensington section of philadelphia. the water was so high around the 3400 block of kensington avenue that frank santiago had to wear plastic bags over his shoes. the city told santiago it would take three days before they could get to his neighborhood. "action news" called within three hours the water department was already addressing the problem. tonight it is cleaned up. coming up on "action news"

tonight the diagnosis that will keep the sixers joel embiid off the court indefinitely. >> the iconic jet star rollercoaster that was washed into the citi sea by hurricane sandy is finally being replaced. a look at the casino pier expansion in seaside heights and what it will mean for the local economy. i'm nora muchanic. i'll have that story coming up. >> speaking is of rollercoasters, our temperatures really up and down. saturday in the 70's, yesterday 40, 50's today. now i'm tracking more near record warmth followed by storms in the accuweather 7-day forecast. >> those stories and much more when "action news" continues tonight. >> ♪

>> ♪ >> new at 6:00 tonight they are looking forward to a new era in seaside heights where they have truly experienced a rollercoaster of emotions over the last five years. new jersey correspondent nora muchanic has that story. >> reporter: it was a pick seen around the world after hurricane sandy in 2012 the jet star rollercoaster in seaside heights became a iconic image of the storm after it was swept into the ocean after the end of casino pier. fast forward four years and a brand new rollercoaster called high ridge is under construction with a ferris wheel. >> i think it's great. we had a lot of businesses not opened and it was devastating to see but every year i feel new businesses are opening we're adding new attractions to casino pier. >> reporter: the expansion is built on land not over water over a piece of beach the borough swapped for another parcel.

>> in the new section we've driven nearly 1400 timber pilessism not to mention laying over 3 million pounds of concrete. the land swap deal was controversial but city officials say casino pier is critical to attracting visitors. especially since it appears that and fun town pier in the south end of town won't be rebuilt after being destroyed in a massive boardwalk fire in 2013. >> it's the real deal. in terms of being a rollercoaster, this is something we haven't seen in seaside heights ever. >> reporter: some folks think seaside may be losing tourists and day trippers to other shore towns that have more mother dern amusement mode. >> i know it will bring people out. >> reporter: he was czeching out construction. >> this past summer a lot of people were coming back but there was just one element seemed to be missing and that was that rollercoaster. >> reporter:. >> i love rollercoasters. >> reporter: just have to wait a couple more months. >> rightly we'll have to come back and visit when it's up. >> reporter: the rollercoaster and the ferris wheel should be ready in time for the summer season.

in seaside heights i'm nora muchanic channel6 "action news."

>> more bad news for sixers fans. this situation just does not resolve itself. >> joel embiid you won't see him tonight against the golden state warriors. when we'll see him next we don't know. the sixers can catch a break. the team says he's out indefinitely. embiid was scheduled to have another mri on his troublesome knee. jaime apody has the latest. >> reporter: the sixers season has become yet another soap opera. today's latest episode features yet another twist of fate as we won't be seeing joel embiid for who knows how long. >> we've had to play without him for a little bit. we can't sit here and complain that he's in the playing and people need to step up. >> just means that, you know, we going to be without one of our key players and other guys got to step up. joel is a big key to this team but other guys have stepped up and played so you got to keep moving forward. >> reporter: now it will be up to jahlil okafor who last week wasn't sure he would

still be on this team to hold down the front court. >> my mind-set is real are the same. joel is going to do the proper things to make sure he's a hundred percent. i know the medical staff will as well so my support is with him but my mind-set doesn't change. >> although joel is not here we'll do what we do. we'll play hard. jayliel's skill package is a little bit different than joel's and i don't see it changing dramatically. >> reporter: in the shadow of this embiid move. they have a tall task in the golden state warriors who have a guy named steph curry. >> he's one of the best players in the league if not the best player and when a guy steps over half court and he's in shooting range there's not a lot of you can do from that aspect. >> probable the best team in our league. four all stars. i'm excited about it so are my teammates. >> reporter: in camden new jersey jaime apody channel6 "action news." >> the flyers are falling

fading out of playoff contention and they now stand six points back in the final wild card spot. the nhl trade deadline is tomorrow. will they be buyers. coach dave hakstol held a meeting on center i-team the flyers host yaz. flyers have been headed in the wrong direction. they've lost seven of their last nine games. >> we played some good hockey. the results are just not there fort us. we need to stay with it. obviously making a playoff it's not going to be as easy with the two losses we have but it's still possible and if there's a team that can do it, it's us. >> practice claude giroux hung out with zeus from the harlem globetrotters learned a few tricks. globetrotters will be at the wells fargo center this weekend. pretty good. five weeks from today the phillies open their regular season in cincinnati. today they remain in clearwater for more grapefruit league play. phils and rays no need to worry about maikel franco.

fourth inning home run is his third sinker o zinger of the sp. the kid makes a nice snag. phillies loss seven to two. villanova basketball. despite losing to butler last week the cats are still ranked second. saturday they wrap up the regular seeing son at georgetown. jay wright spent the day on espn. he appeared on nearly every show on every platform. he was in bristol to promote his book attitude. among the topics the pressure to repeat as champs. >> that's what we've got to do going forward here after winning a national championship it can't be about repeat pentagon, it's got to be about keeping our culture strong and being true to our core values. >> tough to repeat but if anybody can do it. >> ducis. >> coming up on "action news," cecily tynan with a look at the week ahead from accuweather when we continue in just a moment. >> ♪

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>> we've seen a rollercoaster of an accuweather forecast over the last couple of weeks. >> yeah, you know, it's one of those thing if you don't like the weather just wait until tomorrow because it will be completely different. storm tracker6 live double scan showing we do have a few sprinkles around. a lot of this is virga, not reaching the ground but we have plenty of clouds. the action cam taking a look at valley forge national historical park today where after some breaks of sunshine in the morning it clouded up pretty quickly but temperatures made a rebound back into the 50's and the accuweather highlights will show you the next two days near record warmth.

yet again. forecast high for tomorrow 67. just 1 degree shy of the record high of 68 set back in 1976. you like the 70's? they're back on wednesday. the first day of march. 74 degrees the forecast high. the record high 76 set back in 1972. but then a cold front will roll through and this could bring us a round of some stormy weather and in fact the severe storm prediction center puts most of our viewing area at the lehigh valley to the south in a slight risk of severe weather. what this means any thunderstorm wednesday late in the day could contain some damaging winds and we did get some of that on saturday. right now 52 degrees in philadelphia, down from our high of 54. a pretty mild day. allentown 48. atlantic city 50. wilmington 50 and trenton currently 51. so, satellite6 and action radar showing the clouds are in place, little bit of sprinkle activity. the clouds will be with us through much of the night tonight with a spotty sprinkle but with the clouds and winds shifting out of the southeast temperatures not really not

owe not dropping much. 37 in the cooler suburbs, 44 degrees for center city and tomorrow a pretty nice day. more clouds than sunshine but we will see some breaks of sunshine. at 7 o'clock already 48 degrees. by 10 o'clock, 56. then temperatures rise up into the 60's but we will see a few showers tomorrow night. future tracker showing around 10 o'clock a round of rain less than a quarter inch generally moving through with a warm front and then that cold front on wednesday. this could bring us a broken squall line of again some gusty thunderstorms. this is showing right along the i-95 corridor at 4 o'clock and then another round around 8 o'clock wednesday, so looks like that warm air will be going out with a bang. so, the exclusive accuweather 7-day forecast, tomorrow clouds, some sunshine as we end the month. the warmest february on record. 67 degrees, close to the record high. wednesday even warmer, 74 degrees, some gusty thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening hours, could cause some problems for the evening

commute. behind that system on thursday, it gets windy, it gets cooler, 53 degrees and then friday 42 degrees. possibility of a rain or snow shower from a ripple of energy passing down to our south. the weekend is looking pretty nice. saturday loads of sunshine, it will be cool, a lot cooler than last saturday 47 degrees. we bump it up 10 degrees to 57 on sunday and monday very mild with a high of 60 with increasing clouds and we will have an update on the timing of the storms on wednesday. could be severe coming up on "action news" tonight at 11:00. >> all right cecily, thank you. abc's world news with david muir next on channel6. "action news" continues at 10:00 on phl17 with brian taff, sharrie williams adam joseph and ducis rodgers. then please join us for "action news" at 11:00 on channel6 for a follow-up report on miralax. here is investigative reporter went see saltzman with a -- wendy saltzman with a preview.

>> a lot of anger a lot of aggression. >> he had the rage, fears, phobias, anxiety. >> i started noticing changes in his personality. >> reporter: tonight new information from the children's hospital of philadelphia plus answers about the hospital's ongoing study and why the fda and chop say it's safe. don't miss my follow-up investigation, miralax concerns, only on "action news" tonight at 11:00. >> and for cecily tynan, ducis rodgers, and the entire "action news" team, i'm jim gardner. we hope you'll join us for "action news" at 11:00. >> ♪

tonight, several developing stories. president trump on repealing and replacing obamacare. once promising a quick fix. now saying nobody knew health care could be so complicated. the early clues tonight about what stays and what goes. and a major increase in defense spending. other agencies now facing sweeping cuts. also breaking tonight, school children evacuated from their classrooms today amid bomb threats. another cemetery desecrated. the fbi investigating the increasing number of cases of hate across this country. storms coming across the south, and the east coast bracing next. the major announcement later today. a moon shot. could there be a private mission around the moon as early as next year? and what happened? tonight, that moment and the