solidarity among students today at coatesville area high school. it comes after a series of racially insensitive pictures on social media. today students stood side by side as a sign of protest and unity saying the school administration is not doing enough. "action news" reporter vernon odom live in coatesville with details for us. good evening, vernon. >> reporter: good evening, monica. hundreds of students here boycotted classes all day today knowing there will be penalties for doing so according to the principal but they told me they'll suffer the punishment to make their point. hundreds of coatesville area high students boycotted classes today. protesting what they say is a pattern of racial discrimination tolerated by the administration and present in the classrooms. enrolled in advanced placement courses. >> i feel like i'm an outcast. i feel like i'm getting looked at a certain way because of my skin tone. i feel like when i walk into a ap class, my teacher expects

me to fail. >> reporter: there was an administration sanctioned rally in the football stadium from 8:00 to 10:00 this morning to allow students to speak about overt problems like students displaying pumpkins carved with ku klux chain. in recent days a dark skinned doll was hung by the neck in a locker room. leaders of the boy cat say this was a necessary act of defines. >> we felt like we're being manipulated not just as a student body but as a community because they tried to put out an e-mail saying this was going to be a unity rally. they treat "it" as a pep rally and that's not what we agreed to. we agreed to a protest. >> reporter: half the student body is black. a lot of parents do not like the vibes coming from those in charge. >> i think that the parents of the students who are responsible for the doll and to the parents who are responsible for the pumpkins they ought to be ashamed of themselves. top school officials say they're still investigating. they have not found the race

baiting culprits yet. >> we've involved the district attorney, local police, school district police so that is an ongoing investigation and certainly it is very troubling for all of us because we don't want to accept any intolerance or any hate. >> reporter: monica, there's a big football game tonight. coatesville playing one of its arch rivals out on the road maybe it will boost some morale here by monday morning. live in coatesville, i'm vernon odom, channel6 "action news." monica. >> thank you vernon. pennsylvania state police investigating this crash in bristol bucks county. chopper6 overhead at the ramp from 439 to 95. it happened about 3:00 p.m. two vehicles were involved. you see one flipped on its roof there. officials say several people were injured. we're working to find out how badly they're hurt. in atlantic city, a gas leak sparked a scare at a nearby school. the new york avenue school. and several homes were evacuated after a gas line was hit by a construction crew at 11:00 a.m. south jersey gas had it under

control an hour later. no injuries were reported. officials have busted a major illegal gambling ring in philadelphia. they say the operation helped fund one family's lavish lifestyle. "action news" reporter gray hall has details from center city. >> reporter: the philadelphia district attorney says these nine people are behind one of the largest illegal street lottery organizations in the city. she says the ringleader is gary creagh. authorities say he employed dozens of people including his son daughter and nephew. police say the family operated the illegal lottery for at least 20 years and raked in millions of dollars. >> over a 30 month period between 2011 and 2014, creagh deposited over 3 million into his personal account. >> reporter: the d.a. says with all that cash he lived a high life buying million dollar homes in several states and pricey cars. she says that illegal money making scheme operated out of about 40 locations throughout the city, many of them in low

income neighborhoods. police say the operations were highly organized and located in unmarked buildings. >> players could cast bets between 10 cents and $20 depending on the game and creagh paid winners a greater value for the winning number, 700 to one compared to the commonwealth's legal lottery that pays 500 to one. >> reporter: investigators say players betted on the numbers from pennsylvania's daily lottery drawing, the pick four lottery drawings and horse races. detectives conducted undercover and surveillance operations at numerous betting locations and say they all led back to creagh. >> his lifestyle was significantly different than the people who both worked for him and the people who placed bets and received payouts. >> during the last several years, creagh spent almost $500,000 on luxury vehicles and millions of dollars to purchase numerous properties. >> reporter: we can tell you that we spoke to his attorney by phone. he tells us that his client is a nice guy with a nice family.

he looks forward to facing these charges and coming up with a resolution, a pretrial hearing is scheduled for october 25th. reporting in center city, gray hall, channel6 "action news." >> thank you, gray. protesters gathered outside u.s. congressman ryan costello's west chester office today accusing him of profiting from the opioid crisis. the group pointed to his role as co-sponsor of a bill that critics say weakened law enforcement's ability to fight it. >> ryan costello was whipping the votes for a bill that devastated the dea's ability to stem the flow of these prescription narcotics. and taking these big contributions from the pharmaceutical industry. >> congressman costello responded saying the legislation was signed by the obama administration with no objections from the dea. he says he is currently reviewing the law to see if it needs to be amended. costello's staff say these accusations are politically motivated by democrats.

basketball is back in philadelphia. tonight the sixers host the celtics for their first home game of the regular season. jeff skversky live in south philadelphia now for the exciting preview. hi, jeff. >> reporter: hey, monica. you can feel the energy. you can feel the excitement building here at the wells fargo center. we are just an hour away from tipoff in the home opener for the sixers against the celtics. they're coming off that loss wednesday of course against the washington wizards. they're looking for that first home opener win tonight in four years. and guess what? it's going to be rocking tonight and joel embiid says -- >> first of all, philly fans are passionate and i love that about them. just me going out there playing hard and like making plays, just to get them off their feet to yell and like just go crazy. i just love that. and it gets me going, too.

>> reporter: embiid coming off that double-double in the opener. what will he do tonight in only his 23rd home game of his young and hopefully brilliant career. sixers head coach brett brown says this place will be loud and proud and with that that comes the expectation to win. sixers trying to win their first game before the month of november in four years tonight here at the wells fargo center against the boston celtics. more coming up in sports. for now we're live in south philadelphia, jeff skversky channel6 "action news." >> thank you, jeff. halloween of course just around the corner and one house at the shore is getting plenty of compliments and some complaints for its holiday flare. the front yard in ocean county depicts a bloody scene some say is too realistic but others say it's in the spirit of halloween. new jersey correspondent nora muchanic with that story. >> halloween is a big part of my life. >> reporter: kristen has decorated her front yard in waretown with a bloody scene inspired by the idea that

zombies were taking over the community. one of the zombies is pinned by a car against the tree. another is on the ground. it's realistic enough or maybe too graphic that it's prompted police to come to her phone. >> the police did show up. they did come knocking at 10:00 a.m. at first i was like oh my god something happened the my husband and then they were like laughing. they were like nope we got a call about your zombies. how could anybody call the cops on a halloween site. it clearly is fake. >> reporter: kristen stuffed the zombies with pillows and made legs out of car parts. the blood she says came in a bottle. she's hearing compliments and complaints about it. >> i don't like the graphicness but people do so, you know, to each his own. >> the first time i seen it i said, oh, man, you know, that was pretty good i think. >> reporter: it's all in fun. >> yeah. halloween's fun. >> reporter: kristen who used to work in a halloween store says all the ghosts and goblins in her yard and that gruesome zombie scene bring her back to another time.

>> it's like halloween has died down and become nothing like what it used to be. and that's what we want to bring back. that's what we want to remind people of. >> reporter: kristen says lots of people have been driving by to get a look at the display and she says even if everyone doesn't like what they see she's pretty happy with what she's put together here. in waretown, i'm nora muchanic channel6 "action news." >> coming up on "action news" tonight one of philadelphia's biggest tourist attractions about to celebrate a big birthday. the plans unveiled today for a celebration 125 years in the making. new at 6:00 the new place for some west philadelphia students to learn thanks to a generous local business owner. cecily. >> hope the warmth continues. today's temperatures in the low 70's. today made it up to 74. it gets even warmer tomorrow. we'll have all the details in the accuweather 7-day forecast. >> also jaime apody with more on the sixers home opener when "action news" continues in a moment. >> ♪

>> delaware army national guard's first african-american general is making history again. he was promoted to big dear general. he's spent nearly three decades in military service and law enforcement. in 125 days the reading terminal market will celebrate its 125th birthday. today to mark its management merchants unveiled the anniversary logo and this painting created in honor of the milestone. the market's birthday is not until february. for those involved it is a very big deal. >> it is a testament to the building's rich history, to the efforts that were involved

in saving this place from the wrecking ball. >> reading terminal market is planning a year long celebration. it is one of the most popular sites in the city and one of the most delicious. one of philadelphia's affordable housing communities got makeover today. the pennsylvania horticultural society teamed up with volunteers from td bank to plant trees in kensington. the old factory site has been transformed into a neighborhood for low income families. >> ♪ >> new at 6:00 west philadelphia students have a new place to learn thanks to a very generous local business owner. john rawlins with that story. >> it really is going to make a major impact. >> reporter: the where, longstreth, the when, the what the state of the art classroom where none existed new smart board computers desks and

tables. how? by private donation. who from mr. sang na. he's not comfortable with english so his daughter explained why he did this. >> my father immigrated to this country about 30 years ago so he grew up knowing what it's like to be lacking resources and not having everything he needs to flourish. >> reporter: he worked hard and came to own penn center beauty supply in s years ago he approached councilman david oh with an offer to help school kids. >> especially school kids. because his business includes selling african-american beauty products he says i want to focus on african-american kids in some of the poorest neighborhoods in philadelphia. >> reporter: this is not the first time mr. na has reached out to help philadelphia school. he's given gifts of computers and sports equipment to three other philadelphia schools. oh says na is reluctant to take credit. >> he's very humble. i think the kids need to see that someone who doesn't look like them who doesn't speak

english cares enough about them to do this. it's what life is about and creating community and creating the kind of relationship we need between businesses and community members. >> reporter: in west philadelphia, john rawlins channel6 "action news". >> very many stories that make us at "action news" proud like that one and more stories about our community can be found easesly. head to 6abc.com/proud. >> ♪

>> jamie a here for ducis. sixers-celtics we're excited. >> it's a moment years in the making, the long suffering hometown sixers crowd will finally get to see the fruits of all that losing right in front of their eyes tonight is the night our jeff skversky court side at the wells fargo center where the sixers and their big three are getting set to face the celtics in the home opener. hey, jeff. >> reporter: hey, jamie, this place will be rocking tonight. a soldout crowd will be on hand for the sixers home opener against the celtics and every fan is going to get one

of these shirts. it says welcome to the moment. it will be a whiteout here want a moment it will be. if the sixers can get their first home open erwin in four -- opener win in four years. joel embiid warming up. he'll be in the starting lineup against the celtics. brett brown is going with his same five starters as he did in the opener on wednesday down in d.c. and embiid is looking to build off those 27 minutes when he scored 18 points. look, this entire sixers team, they haven't seen anything like this. a place this loud, this buzzing, this excited for an opener and a long time. listen. >> this crowd that we will go play in front of in here is loud and it's proud. and good for them. good for them. and we want to give them something to cheer for. >> man, the atmosphere and they been waiting all year to really see what we have been doing tonight they get a

chance to see what everything has been about. >> it's going to be huge especially since it's our second game. we want to get our first win under our belts. having home support is always great. >> reporter: sixers fans will get their first look at ben simmons as we get a look at robert covington who scored a game high 29 points in the opener. sixers-celtics less than an hour away. jeff skversky channel6 "action news." >> thanks jeff. the magnitude of monday night's game cannot be under stated. eagles with a chance to sweep the series from the redskins who sit in second place behind them in the nfc east standings. eagles want to see if they can move their record to six and one. if you look at the prominent las vegas odds they've got the birds as the favorite to come out of the nfc and get to the super bowl. chris long won a super bowl with new england. >> everything is possible for every team in the nfl and certainly we put the work in to this point. we have a long way to go i

mean at some point months from now we'll look back and, you know, october will seem like light years back and it will seem like it was years ago, so we have a lot of building to do. >> we are teaming up with pl17 to bring you a full night of football monday night. it's our special count down to kickoff at 8:00 p.m. and then the game at 8:30. eagles-redskins monday night on phl17. revenge sure is sweet. unlike last year when they lost to michigan 49 to 10 penn state is now undefeated ranked second in the nation plus the game is at their house. they haven't lost at beaver stadium since 2015 when they were beaten by michigan. really there's no overselling just how big this game is not to mention the wolverines are ranked 19th. wow. >> at the end of the day none of those things matter. it's about our preparation and, you know, a lot of times

i think probably the most important job of a head coach in my opinion is to eliminate distractions and if not handled right that's what these can be. >> 6abc is the place to be for penn state and michigan. the whiteout game. if you can't get to happy valley do your part, wear white, watch it on your couch tomorrow at 7:30 right here on channel6. >> exciting weekend and monday night for sure. >> thanks jamie. much more "action news" when we come right back. stick around. >> ♪ t comes to

cancer treatment centers of america in philadelphia, she's coming for the multimodal therapy where the specialists form a treatment plan together. we were looking for a cancer team that would help us decide the best course of action. we have so many tools at our center. this is what attracted amy all the way from new york. these were people who were experts in their field. and for us that was the best choice. learn more about our breast center at cancercenter.com slash philadelphia. a fighter for the working men and women of atlantic county. brown fought for what's right by taking on trenton special interests and standing up to chris christie's takeover of atlantic city. he fought to protect jobs in our region and to defeat the north jersey casinos. and now brown is working to keep atlantic county affordable for families and retirees. let's keep chris brown fighting for us. chris brown for state senate, he's on our side.

>> cecily is here. stunning weekend ahead. >> yes, unseasonably warm not feeling like october at all. even tonight. sky6 taking a look at the center city skyline. the sun has now set. it set at six:13 and you can

see not a cloud in the sky coming off another bright and sunny day. lisa posted this on my facebook page from east windsor new jersey. a little bit of reminder that it is fall. leaves are beginning to change. it certainly doesn't feel like fall and that will continue right through the weekend. the accuweather highlights show you another very mild weekend but i am tracking a soaking rain ahead of a cold front on tuesday and behind that we do have a brief cool shot for the second half of next week but tonight it's very mild. 72 degrees down from a high of 74 which is 9 degrees above normal. allentown right now is 68. trenton 71. and cape may currently 67 degrees. so, satellite6 and action radar showing that high pressure still in control of our weather and you can see it's really carving out this clear skies really from the ohio valley through the midatlantic but the system is beginning to get its act together across the plains. that is what will bring us the change early next week but

tonight clear skies now that the sun has set. the winds are diminishing and really not that chilly for this time of year. 52 in philadelphia the average tow for this time of year 47, allentown 42, cape may 51 and wilmington 48 degrees. so, clear skies tonight and it's a new moon so we don't have any light pollution from the moon so really great time for the orionin meter showers. not a lot of meters maybe 10 to 20 an hour but they're super bright. the best viewing stay up late between midnight and dawn and you don't have to look anywhere specifically just look up but it's a good idea to get away from the city light pollution. tomorrow another day a good amount of sunshine. i think we'll see some high thin clouds later in the afternoon. at 8 o'clock, 52, already 72 by lunchtime. 76 by 4:00 should make it up to about 77 degrees and that weekend warmth all thanks to that high pressure that's really forcing the jet stream well up to the north. this is known as a ridge. we're getting those winds out

of the southwest, the temperatures in the 70's but there is a dip in the jet stream, a trough developing across the plain states. next week low pressure develops along that and that low pressure will move towards us on tuesday. what this means, a much needed soaking rain. generally about a half inch to an inch of rain and then behind that we do get some cooler air for the middle of next week. so, the exclusive accuweather 7-day forecast, no cool air this weekend. tomorrow mostly sunny. it will be another warm day with a high of 77. on sunday, not quite as bright. overcast highs, some high thin clouds, still some sunshine but still very mild with a high of 74. monday 77 degrees, warm day with a mixture of clouds and sunshine. monday night football at the linc, partly cloudy, very mild. the first quarter 69. the fourth quarter dropping down to 66 degrees so maybe a light jacket is a good idea. on tuesday find an umbrella, dust it off. 72 degrees with periods of rain, heavy at times.

also gusty winds. behind that system partly sunny on wednesday, 66. thursday we cool off to 62 degrees before temperatures start trending up again on friday with a high of 69 degrees, so one more weekend. you don't need the sweaters, shorts and flip-flops should be perfect. >> my goodness. too good to be true but it is true. thank you cecily. abc news world news with david muir is next. join us for "action news" tonight at 11:00 here on channel6. for jim gardner cecily tynan ducis rodgers jaime apody the entire "action news" team, i'm monica malpass. you have a good night. hope to see you right here at 11:00. >> ♪

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tonight breaking news as we come on the air. what abc news has just learned about the deadly ambush. the four special ops soldiers and why is president trump not talking about the mission. >> mr. president did you authorize the mission in niger? >> thank you all very much. >> then asked the white house today how they respond. also, at this hour, the search for a killer. one american city, three suspicious deaths in ten days and the new surveillance they put out. who they would like to speak to and the latest victim overnight. a young man with autism shot and killed. the hidden arsenal, police revealing what they found in this house, handguns, shotguns and an ak-47. laptops on airlines