news" was there late this afternoon as 67-year-old arthur phillips of wayne arrived at his preliminary arraignment in chesterbrook. phillips was a teach's aide in the television production studio at conestoga high school an employee since 2006. there are numerous charges against him including five counts of aggravated indecent assault and 10 counts of institutional sexual assault. investigators say the student was 15 when this started january of this year. in her interview with detectives, the victim told police phillips befriended her in the beginning of the school year and would drive her places in his car. at least once police say he sent him a picture of his private. the victim told investigators they had sex on more than 10 occasions between january and april and in her interview said she would tell phillips no, that she didn't want to do it. on other numerous occasions she told detectives he would grope and sexually assault her. these interactions would allegedly occur in his school office and in his car. according to the affidavit, when the relationship came to

light, phillips crashed his car and wrote a note that stated, i was just a guy trying to help a kid and boundaries just got gray. these charges come on the heels of the sentencing of another former conestoga high school teach's aide who pleaded guilty after having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student she tutor ed privately. as for phillips, he's married, he's the father of one. he's expected back in court in may. the school district did send a letter home to parents notifying them of the arrest and the charges and saying that they will provide assistance to any of the students who need it. they also said there's no indication that any other inappropriate contact with other students existed. we're live in chesterbrook, katherine scott, channel6 "action news." jim. >> thank you, katherine. princeton police have released this sketch of a man they say may be responsible for groping at least three women. this is video of one incident last week. the victim was walking along moore street near spruce when the suspect ran up behind,

grabbed her buttocks and then ran off. detectives now think this is the same man who has committed similar assaults in princeton at least once a year since 2014. fire spread to multiple homes in camden this morning. firefightersfirefighters were co mechanic street near lewis street at 9:30. the flames quickly spread to neighboring homes forcing crews to call for more manpower. nobody was hurt fortunately but you can see the fire did leave significant damage behind. there is a dispute going on between the allentown fire department and the mayor's office. the department says it is suffering from a shortage of fire trucks. the mayor says this is just politics. "action news" reporter gray hall has the story. >> state of our fleet is being reported as being in crisis, that's a true statement. >> reporter: the allentown fire department says it needs help fighting fires. the solution they say is not more manpower but new fire trucks. currently crews say they are operating under a shortage of

equipment and most of the units are 10 years old or older. >> last two fire chiefs warned him of this. every budget season we tell him about it. mayor ed pawlowski disagrees. >> i think it's election time and i think there's, you know, there's always around election time there's these crisis that come around hopefully -- hoping that other things will -- will get funded and addressed. >> reporter: he assures the public there's no shortage and the community is safe. pawlowski says the trucks in need of repair have been serviced and are back on the streets. he says a new truck is on the way and two more will follow in the next couple years. >> we are looking all the time at how we can continuously buy new vehicles replace those vehicles and make sure they have the best equipment available to protect them and the citizens they serve. >> reporter: the fire union says the mayor may budget money for new trucks but zaire

after year they're left unfunded. >> every fire eventually goes out but the amount of destruction that it levers in the path is dependent upon the resources deployed to take care of the situation. that's manpower and that's equipment. you need both. >> reporter: so again, the important thing here is that the city of allentown is safe but only time will tell if the department will get those new fire trucks. reporting in allentown, gray hall, channel6 "action news". >> a bullet from a gun fight in the logan section of philadelphia narrowly missed a man sleeping in his bed. police responded to the gunfire near north 15th street and couldn't lon streets at 11:30 last night. the shootout critically injured a 27-year-old man. nearly two dozen shell casings were found at the scene. one bullet went through the window of a nearby home. the 57-year-old resident found it lodged in his bed post. police are questioning two persons of interest. will it be the death penalty or life behind bars.

that is the question as jurors now listen to testimony to decide the fate of convicted kill eric frein. >> reporter: the penalty phase continues in the trial of eric frein. jurors listening to testimony will decide if 33-year-old frein will get life or death. today frein's defense attorney put an expert in prison life and adjustment on the stand hoping to convince jurors life in prison is the best decision. >> we're talking about life and death here. we think the jurors might be satisfied when they hear what life really is. prison is not a country club. there are no country clubs from which you are not allowed to go home. >> reporter: wednesday the same jury convicted frein on 12 students for the sniper attack targeting state police at random outside the blooming grove barracks in the poconos. he killed 38-year-old corporal bryan dickson and critically wound the trooper alex douglass who survived but has a range of health issues.

the prosecution wants the death penalty and wrapped up emotional testimony from that dixon's family today. >> i want them to know about bryan dickson both as a father father son a husband and his honor including bringing honor to the uniform of the pennsylvania state police. >> reporter: yesterday dixon's widow testified their two young sons are suffering. dixon's mother says she has health issues stemming from his death but also says this. pike county district attorney raymond tompkins spoke on her behalf. >> she for gives him doesn't hate him but she wants accountability. >> reporter: frein's parents were not in court today. the defense expects some of this family members to speak on his behalf during the penalty phase and asks for frein, taking the stand himself. >> but it's his call based on our advice. >> reporter: the district attorney here argued with that expert witness and in so many words said that a life sentence in prison is not

harsh enough. in milford pike county, annie mccormick channel6 "action news". >> philadelphia city council is looking at high tech options to help drivers find parking on city streets. councilman david oh held a public hearing this morning. smart parking options include display monitors on street corners indicating open spots and in pavement motion detection sensors. the committee will hear from smart parking companies about the available technology. one study shows that drivers spend an average of 18 minutes searching for parking in large cities like philadelphia. west chester university's 15th president was formally inaugurated today. dr. christopher fiorentino took the oath of office in a ceremony on campus this morning. fiorentino joined the university faculty in 1983 as an assistant professor of economics. west chester university is the largest 14 state owned

colleges and universities. it will be a weekend on the water for a group of community leaders from the chesapeake delaware and hudson watersheds. they set out today on three-day, 31-mile kayaking journey along the delaware river. the kayakers are hoping to illustrate the success of the clean water act. the trip will coincide with the so-called marches for science that are happening across the country tomorrow in honor of earth day. coming up on "action news" tonight, students at two local schools are awarded for their work on environmentally friendly projects. and with six days left until the nfl draft, the eagles are playing through several scenarios to come up with their first round draft choice. >> and we dealt with a lot of clouds and some morning showers. bit of sun returning right now but there are a couple of storms firing up to the west. they're weakening a bit as they're heading east. we'll chat about an on and off again wet weekend. >> those stories and more when

"action news" continues tonight. >> ♪

>> dozens of people filled rodney square this afternoon for the wilmington earth and arbor day celebration. members offered green products, services and tips. there were also free giveaways. earth day of course is tomorrow. arbor day is next friday. >> ♪ and new at 6:00 in honor of earth day tomorrow, two schools have been awarded for their forward thinking environmental programs. and we hear here at channel6 along with wawa and the law firm of manco gold catcher and fox have presented prizes to a pair of schools each year for the last 12 years.

melissa magee has more on this year's recipients. [cheers and applause] >> reporter: eighth graders at upper merion area middle school in montgomery county have something to cheer about. that's because they've just learned they are taking home an award for the sweet invention. >> challenged to make the best most sustainable lemonade. >> reporter: teacher jay says they did it all with aqua upon in this -- aqua ponics. at first they started to grow basil. then came the challenge to purify the water. >> we have salsa, smoothies, brownies, with the main ingredients being grown right here in our classroom. >> i think like especially trying to like learn how to grow the plants and stuff was very beneficial. >> reporter: for the winning award the school received a $5,000 check from the environmental law firm of

manco gold catcher and fox. >> it represents everything that's great about education. >> reporter: from king of prussia we head to the second winning school in newark, delaware where they built an interaction tiff may -- interactive playground. they're getting the little ones moving with this play space. >> it's made for children to be able to grow and develop that of a natural play space. it's being built with materials that are all green using native plants and reclaimed wood. plus a century garden for kids to see, smell and touch. >> since we are a bilingual school we have labels saying it in english and spanish. >> reporter: the schools also received a $5,000 award that will be used to further the project. >> before this whole area was just a muddy pit and we had that tree and it's just -- it's very interesting to see it all come together and it looks very nice now. >> reporter: melissa magee channel6 "action news." >> and children in west

philadelphia now have a new place to curl up with a good book. a new book nook was opened today at the global leadership academy. it features a new wall of shelves with hundreds of new books bean bag chairs and comfy carpeting. the book nook was made possible by the ezra project which honors a young man by the name of ezra keiser. he died in 2012 at the age of 11. pass

>> nfl draft always brings a certain amount of suspense for nfl fans everywhere but especially eagles fans. will the team get it right? >> that's the million dollar question. the front office has been working on this for months. they're trying to do the right thing. given that the nfl draft is here in philadelphia and the team's recent draft history there might be a little more pressure on the eagles to make a big splash thursday night. the front office says it plans to stick with the game plan a howie roseman will have help:

this year as of now the eagles sit at 14. roseman and douglas say they run through hundreds of scenarios before draft day even arrive to that night goes smoothly. >> we go through all that now, we have those discussions and some of them are passionate. we have guys whether it's the two of us or people on our staff that are passionate about guys and we go through let them point out things. when we've made picks, when we've made signings they're all eagles and we're all excited about having them. >> as the draft draws near, so does our "action news" sports special draft preview party comes your way wednesday night at 7:30. we'll preview what the eagles might do and get analysis from ron jaworski and sal paolantonio. phillies back home tonight to face the braves. both teams sit at the bottom of the nl east with a six and nine records but the phillies are coming off a series win

against the mets. the phils banged out 29 hits in the three games. tonight brings another series against the division rival. it's always nice to win those. >> yeah, absolutely. you know, we've shown washington that we can beat them. we've played with new york, you know, this past weekend and in all three games, so, yeah, you know, it's a new club coming in here that we haven't played yet so we're going to show them what we got. >> we just want to go out there and compete and do our best. i know if they're on a downtrend we had like to take advantage of that and then beat them up. if not we just got to go out there and compete against them and see what happens. >> last night's game was a six-four win in new york no less. maikel franco busted out of an awful zero for 22 skid. went two for four. that included his third home run of the season. union hope the seventh time is a charm. they are still searching for their first victory of the season in fact dating back to last year they haven't won since august. the union currently sit at

zero-four-two. they're the only winless team in mls play. head coach jim curtin feels for his players. >> guys continue to work hard its no the for lack of effort. this group is, you know, so deserving of a result. i feel for the guys because i watch how the hard they work each and every week. whoever is called upon we know will step up and do the job. and get us over that hump and hopefully get some momentum going. >> the union-montreal match can be seen right here on 6abc tomorrow at 1:00. when football meets baseball sometimes the results can be hilarious. florida state defensive end demarcus walker was invited to throw out the pitch at a ssu stetson game. again, he's a football player >> [laughter] that's horrible. he's expected to be a second or third round pick. defensive line men though he doesn't have to worry about throw balls. he can throw a quarterback but

not baseball. >> a trenton school teamed up with the trenton thunder to spruce up a little league field. students spent the day raking the dirt installing a new scoreboard on cleaning up the grounds of the chambersberg little league field. and while the students provided the muscle, the trenton thunder provided the materials. opening day for the little league is tomorrow.

ing. >> weekend accuweather forecast adam joseph, what you got. >> not the brightest of weekends but we'll trial to get some sun here by the end of the weekend on sunday afternoon. as we take a look right now on

storm tracker6 live double scan we had that that morning round of rain, a breakthroughs most of the day and one little downpour that was a thunderstorm that's falling apart as it pushes through lancaster county moving to the east here. around 6:37, honey brook around 6:41 you'll get a quick downpour as this pushes towards chester county but it is beginning to lose its luster so to speak. as we take a life look right now sky6 over the center city skyline from our temple university camera, again, we did see a little break or two of sun late in the day today, still happening in some spots but a little too late to move those temperatures way up. in fact, we're going to stay cool here on saturday. that's the first highlight. temperatures tomorrow afternoon only in the local 60's for philadelphia to the north. 50's down to the south because of the wind coming in out of the northeast and a drier location tomorrow which is farther to the north. that's why you see some of those 60's but where areas will be a little wetter tomorrow, only in the 50's and

again, as i mentioned not the brightest of weekends. tomorrow a lot of clouds, 62 for high in the city of philadelphia and we'll watch for that afternoon and evening rain developing from the south to the north and we start with some early showers in southern areas sunday morning and then some peeks of sun hopefully here on sunday afternoon with a similar temperature. 50's for allentown and kind of looping around trenton right down the shore line there with that that wind coming in out of the northeast, the ocean temperature at 54. satellite and radar the setup basically is a stalled boundary that is just to our south and these little ripples of energy that are continuing to kind of train along that particular front and there's another area to the south and west, these are our showers, we'll be watching here for the day tomorrow. but for tonight other than a spotty shower around it is just mostly cloudy, temperatures in the 40's for reading and allentown. 50's elsewhere. cape may 54 and we'll match

that number for philadelphia. so, the fun is still to the south here tomorrow. 62 so on the chillier side of the front as clouds dominate and showers develop from the south to the north o then as we get into sunday, this low originally wanted to move way up over our region with a good soaking rain but this high is going to come in and be a little more dominant and that's going to hopefully and more than likely keep that system down to the south and sunday and that will allow a brighter finish after some showers early in the morning. future tracker showing around lunchtime tomorrow right on the edge of philadelphia to the south that's where the steady showers will be. a little drier to the north and west. those showers are on and off right through the afternoon, early evening hours tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. you can see scattered around we're not looking at thunderstorms or heavy rain. a break saturday night and then sunday morning another little round of showers especially for southern areas. looks to stay dry philadelphia to the north and west even on sunday despite a cloudy start. the exclusive accuweather 7-day forecast, 62 both days.

tomorrow's kind of the darker of the two days with some of those showers developing. early showers sunday to the south and then peaks of sun returning in the afternoon and then monday a new system comes in from the south, kind of locks in the clouds, monday, tuesday, with on and off showers with temperatures right around 60 degrees and then some gradual clearing on wednesday, warmer at 74 and if you're planning on heading down to the parkway for the nfl draft, dress appropriately. we're going hit summer-like levels with sun and clouds and highs at 85 to 86 degrees which is close to 20 degrees above normal. >> not exactly football weather. >> no, not at all. >> all right. thank you adam. dozens of people you want to bring attention to the dozens of people really who'll chop their hair for a.m. great cause today to donate to youngsters who have lost their la your to chemotherapy and other medical conditions. kathy romano from the preston and steve show hosted the

tenth annual kathy's cuts in southampton. this first grader was happy to take part. she donated 14-inches of hair to wigs for kids. a number of salons took part in this event. month romano says she expects to sends at least 130 pony tails to wigging for kids. abc's "world news tonight" with david muir next on channel6. "action news" continues at 10:00 on were. had. l17 with brian taff sharrie williams adam joseph and ducis rodgers. please join us for "action news" at 11:00 here on channel6. for that cecily tynan adam joseph ducis rodgers and the entire "action news" team, i'm jim gardner. we hope you'll join us for "action news" at 11:00. >> ♪ hey allergy muddlers

are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool? try zyrtec® it's starts working hard at hour one and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®.

tonight, several developing stories as we come on the city. the american city plunging into darkness. traffic lights out. workers trapped. and the window washers stranded. authorities call it a, quote, "catastrophic" failure. the fbi moves in tonight. the teacher accused of abducting his student, a 15-year-old girl, he's now in federal custody. our team with new details from inside the cabin. the terror attack. we have new video captured in the middle of the attack. and the americans who were right there on the champs elysees. the new video emerging tonight. the retired librarian accidentally shot and killed during a police training exercise. the new