perfectly clear. ♪ ♪ >> parents and other members of the philadelphia school community telling the src, you are not wanted here anymore. it's thursday night and the big story on "action news" is the vote tonight in philadelphia that pre-stages the new era of public education in philadelphia. the src voted itself of of existence. dann cuellar is there. what does it mean for public education in philadelphia? >> jim, it means by a vote of 3-1 and one abstention, the district is no longer in financial distress, put itself on a course to end its authority, giving control of the philadelphia schools back to city.

>> yes. >> with that the reform commission voted to resolve much to the joy of critics that waited much to this day. >> i'm excited to have an appointed school board. people will have a stronger voice. >> we have been going to meetings for years now. we are ecstatic. >> the mayor will be appointed to confirm nine new board members. the buck will stop with the mayor. i expect philadelphians toll hold me and future mayors accountable. >> it will be a tough road. we have a $7 million shortfall. we are no longer technically distressed, we need additional resources to deliver our kids the kind of education they deserve. >> bill greene vote #- voted no. >> i favor local control.

>> board member her men ez abstained saying the board does not meet the definition. >> it's $5 billion and counting. if i was to employee the fuzziest of math, that adds up to distress. >> now after 16 years, it seems the school reform commission is on the way to its end, mayor kenney expected to name a nominating committee. board members will be named early march oosm three masked suspects stormed into a house and got away with $4,000 in cash and a passport. this happened at 8:00 on dicks

avenue. the homeowner is being treated at the scene. no arrests have been made. a pedestrian was struck and killed in new castle delaware near wilton boulevard at 5:30. within the past hour, authorities identified the victim at 67-year-old rosa martinez of new castle. she was wearing dark closed, crossed against the light and not in a crosswalk. a south jersey woman was rescued from a septic tank ten feet under growth and the dramatic event was recorded on cellphone video. authorities say 57-year-old tammy camp was trapped for two hours. it's believed she fell through a rotted cover of the abandoned tank. >> south jesse firefighter suffered an ankle issue battling

a fire tonight. 18-year-old michael huggins is back in custody tonight after being captured in atlantic city early today. huggins was murdered with the murdecharged with themurder of . he escaped with three teens yesterday. the other teenagers were caught soon after. >> philadelphia homicide detect ires are trying to figure out who would kill an 80-year-old man and why. the victim's granddaughter discovered robert girard stabbed to death in his port richmond home last night. the victim was naked. there was no sign of forced entry and nothing pea appears te missing. >> there will be a relaunched

inquiry into bob menendez following his mistrial of corruption charges. a jury could not reach a verdict against him or his long time doctor friend accused of bribery in exchange for political favors. >> i want to thank the jurors, 12 new jerseyans that saw through the government's false claims and used their common sense to reject it. >> we went by our hearts. we didn't think there was enough going on in the case to convict him. >> the justice department is weighing whether to try menendez a second time oosm senatorial franken democrat from minnesota has apologized buffetses a storm of criticism and likely ethic's investigation. lee ann tweeden accused of franken of forcibly kissing her

during a usfo tour of afghanistan in 2006. they were performing for the troops when they were rehearsing a skit. he forcibly stuck his ton tongun her mouth. she was asleep when he put his hands on her chest and posed for this picture. she said every time i see his face i'm angry. >> two students have been charged with breaking into the school computer to change grades. christie ileto, what are the details here? >> jim, the d.a. office says alicia tried multiple times to change her microbiology grade enlisting the help of a friend and orchestrating a security

breach at her school. >> kelly marriott accessed a faculty members personal information and leaked it to her friend. desperate to change her grade she used it to gain unauthorized access to the communitier system and changed not just her grade but several other student's grades in her microbiology class. >> the same i.p. address was used by one of our charged dechts. >> the electronic footprint led them to ma roscoe and her friend. >> they got his personal identification which they should not have obtained and used for that purpose. we intend to prove at trial that they accessed the account and changed grades. they take the integrity seriously and all of the grades

altered were restored to the correct level. students are stunned a classmate would go to such lengths to change a grade. >> that's on her. >> it's crazy. you deserve the grade you get. you should take it. if you have an issue with it, talk to your professor. don't change it. don't steal the information. >> both women say felony counts of unlawful computer use and identity theft. they'll be back in court next month. >> windchills could be below freezing in the morning. let's get the first look of the frigid story by accuweather meteorologist cecily tynan. >> we reached a high of 60-degrees today. four degrees above normal, now the wind of change are pulling down chilly air. the current windchill, 39 in philadelphia. that's not all that bad.

future tracker showing, tomorrow morning 8:00. windchill 30 in philadelphia. suburbs in the 20s. we see a good amount of sunshine tomorrow. despite the sunshine in the afternoon, windchills are stuck in the low 40s. i'm tracking a system bringing rape for part of the weekend. we have details in the accuweather forecast. jim? >> thank you so much. still to come, ghost guns. new information on how the california shooter acquired his rifle. it's a loophole we reported on in the investigation. the house moves forward on tax reform. not all of our local republics approve. brian taff has a story about a health scare. >> one of our colleagues experienced a frightening ordeal on live television. gray hall was anchoring the news when a life threatening

condition took hold. how he's doing now. >> cecily tynan returns with the out look from accuweather. ducis rogers with a last-minute goal that changed things for the flyers tonight. that

>> we have breaking news. we have a real problem tonight in westchester pennsylvania. you are looking live from chopper 6 at a three alarm fire that attacked a nursing home. we are talking about the barclay friends senior living community at the 700 block of north franklin street in westchester. the nursing home the operational. back up firefighters from around the region have been called to the scene. the fire is officially at three

alarms and authorities are calling it a mass casualty situation. you are looking at a real problem in westchester. fire assaulting a nursing home tonight. >> new information on the deadly northern california rampage highlights the concern raised in an "action news" investigation earlier this month. kevin neil armed himself with ghost guns. wendy saltzman showed us those are ordered as parts online and assembled by the owner. they don't require background checks. neil was not allowed to buy the guns so he found a loophole and built the guns himself. >> there is no information about tom ridge other than he is in critical condition. he went through a cardiac

catheter procedure while attending the governor meeting this morning. if there are further procedures done we'll find out as soon as we can. >> a couple of weibes ago we had a fright in the studio. gray hall had a medical emergency. we want to tell you he's doing well and why you haven't seen minimum in a while. brian taff has the low down. >> it happened 26 days ago. over the course of several minutes on live television, gray hall experienced something that seemed jarring to ow viewers. it was a full-fledged medical crisis from which he's been recover recovering ever since. from the viewer side it began normally enough. >> i was able to get through the

open. i figured, i can do it. in my mind i'm thinking, can i do this? >> it was noon on a sunday. the final newscast of gray's morning shift, third of the day. before the open roll that day the seeds of doubt had taken hold in his mind. >> around 11:00 i'm preparing for the noon show and i can't see the television screen. >> his vision all but disappeared. he grew dizzy and hoped it would get better. still he soldiered on, convinced he could do it. >> i was trying to be calm as possible. my mind is saying, oh my god, you are spiraling down. >> a fact that became apparent to viewers around the region, the anchor stammering and

stumbling. >> taking pardon in the run. >> that was gray's last story sunday. moments later he was whisked off the set and rushed to the hospital where his own story took a turn. he had a cyst on his brain followed by these words. >> you have to have emergency surgery. the cyst gray knew was there as a result of a diagnosis the month before had grown expedientially. at first he thought it wasn't something that didn't need immediate treatment. but pressure was building up fast and his body was shutting down. >> i could have died. i was basically dying. >> the surgery involving a small incision in gray's skull went well. then the cyst gone, meningitis set in keeping him hospitalized

two more weeks, most of which he didn'doesn't remember. >> i'm glad i don't remember. >> he's back home now recovering with his wife and two children. the headaches come and go but should disappear with time. he's newly strengthened by a realization arrived at in a painful way. >> if you are not healthy, what does it matter? listen to your body. your body is trying to keep you alive. in an odd way gray told me he's relieved the episode happened when it did. had he been alone or when it happened he might have chocked it up to a bad headache. that could have been fatal. he's grateful to you our viewers. the out pouring of love has

sustained him and his family. we can't wait for him to get back. we are eager to see him. the house of representatives passed its tax plan but the legislative session is far from over. the house voted mostly along party lines, 227-205. the bill gives corporations a huge tax cut. the bigger battle will come in the senate where a hand full of republics are expressing concern. this would ind the individual health insurance mandate and leave 13,000,000 more americans uninsured over ten years. no democrats voted for the tax bill. 13 republics voted against. including in our area chris smith of new jersey. all of the pennsylvania republics voted for the bill. let's get the weather from

accuweather and cecily tynan. >> this is the ben franklin parkway. look at the flags moving out there. the winds are strong. we have wind gusts 37 miles per hour. they have died off since then. we have sustained winds anywhere from nine miles per hour up to 18 miles per hour. tomorrow, we'll be dealing with the wind all day. between 6:00 to 8:00, windchills around freezing. you really want to dress for winter tomorrow. it will feel like it. right now, the current windchill 37 in philadelphia, same in trenton, allentown 38. cape may the milder withen windchill 43. wii started with sunshine. we have clouds bubbling up.

the forecast, bundle up the kids. suburb, 35. philadelphia, 40. windchills 27 to 32-degrees. definitely a chilly morning. for the weekend, high pressure with a high near 50 off the eastern c board. bump up the high to 57. could have afternoon showers. best chance north of philadelphia, lehigh valley and the poconos. the cold front moving through saturday night with a period of rain. thanksgiving, a lot of people traveling, looking good for the mid atlantic. tuesday, wednesday and

thanksgiving, dry conditions with temperature in the 50s. the exclusive accuweather forecast, loads of sunshine, you need sunglasses. the high 50. windchill not climbing above the low 40s. saturday, a shower or two for the temple game. the bulk of the rain waiting for saturday night. sunday for the philadelphia marathon, blustery day. increasing to 40 by the afternoon. 47, we are back up to 58 tuesday. wednesday, smooth traveling, 54 and an early look at thanksgiving will. this point looking nice, partly sunny and seasonably cool with a high of 50. i'll keep you posted as we get closer. >> thank you, cecily. we want to bring you back to westchester as flames are raging at the barkley senior living community.

it a senior living facility where those of a certain age can live in apartments and if they need medical assistance, it's made available to them. ambulances are on the scene. residents are being taken away by stretcher. other residents are evacuated and waiting out in very cold weather. there are dozens of people waiting outside. back up firefighters and medics from across the region are being dispatched to the scene. the flames erupted shortly before 11:00. this is the 700 block of north franklin street in westchester. three alarms of fire destroying the facility. hopefully not destroying lives. we'll be back in

>> meteorologist adam joseph and

40 of his newest friends took time to enjoy the view today. it began at 6:00 a.m. in bensalem bucks county with "6abc" sport's fan. once in new york, they got a behind the scenes tour of the view, watched the broadcast and got a shoutout by whoopie goldburg. >> we have a sweeps stakes winner from wpvi. welcome. >> they mingled with the hosts, chatting, taking pictures around the desk. you can watch more of adam's adventure as the hosts tell them why they adore philadelphia. >> flyers at winnipeg. here's ducis rogers.

>> we have been talking about the flyer's offensive struggles. in winnipeg, held scoreless seven and a half periods. nolan patrick in his own hometown. two and a half minutes into the game, sean to voracek. flyers on the powerplay, 11th of the season, 2-0 feeling good. 2-1 flyers with a minute left to play. mark beats elliot to tie the game. overtime, shootout and in the shootout, brian little beats elliot, flyers lose 3-2. >> the injury report will be watched closely for the eagle's game. smith is out. that's good news for the birds. alshoalshon jeffery has an ankle

injury. seems like a mismatch but don't tell that to the birds. >> it eats going to be a dogfight. every time we see people, it's never what we have been seeing. we are going to get the best shot. it's the next one on the schedule. being the cowboys, it's more motivation. last week we didn't do well. it's a big challenge with us setting the stage for the rest of the year. >> still ahead, baseball hands out big

(♪) (♪) it all starts with a wish. the lincoln wish list event is here. sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down and a complementary first months payment.

>> baseball new, carlton wins the a will. temple faces old dominion. al ston 23 points, temple 76-65. la salle and south alabama. b.j. johnson executes hit turning in a double double. la salle wins, 81-73. that's sports. >> thank you, ducis. we want to let you know we'll continue to update this hor i hc situation in westchester at "6abc".com. flames continue to eat their way through the barkley senior living community. dozens of residents are outside evacuated standing on the ground watching their homes go up in

flames and smoke. "jimmy kimmel live" next followed by "nightline." for the entire "action news" team, i'm jim gardner. goodnight. ♪ ♪