merion ordinance has been tested in the courts. it was passed 25 years ago. the pennsylvania courts upheld the ability of townships to regulate land use for student housing. then there was a challenge for civil rights in the federal courts and the lower merion ordinance was upheld. this is old news. this happened 20 years ago. students are not a protected group. >> well, it's not old news now because this bill is pending now, so it is news again, and there are a lot of people that feel this could be unfair. but tell us why the courts in those cases decided that these laws, that townships have the capacity to pass and enforce these kinds of laws. >> well, the townships made the case that students are disruptive and impact the quality of life of neighborhoods. all the other categories that darrell mentioned, that argument cannot be made. >> if i can interject, the issue here is when he says the word old news. that's really what's going on here. he mentions the lower merion case 25 years ago. that case was based on a federal case from 40 years ago. we have seen enormous changes in our society. we all know it in many

. >> we are live in lower merion township, eva pilgram, channel 6 "action news." >>> a new look is coming to broad street in philadelphia, mayor michael nutter announced the north broad streetscape as part of an $8 million project new decorative lighting will be put along with landscaping 2.5 miles from hamilton street to glenwood avenue. >>> coming up on "action news" city officials hope to change attitudes about the pope's upcoming visit with a new campaign. and it may be just preseason but the eagles are looking to avenge their big loss to the packers last season. jeff skversky has that story. >>> a perfect day outside and low humidity and a high of just 83 degrees, a few similar days before we crank up the heat and humidity. that and more when "action news" continues tonight. >>> philadelphia city hall is trying to convince people not to jove react on the visit of pope francis, at the same time mayor michael nutter launched the upbeat i'll be there campaign. annie mccormick has the story. >> reporter: pope francis' arrival in philadelphia is just one month from today. one month! >> wo

lower merion township police will be responsible for traffic and crowd control. >> the streets that intersect with city avenue such as route 30 are going to see a lot more traffic on it. that will remain open during this event. >> that weekend it's going to be a problem. i'll just stay home. >> reporter: for sandy chandler, who sometimes shops on city avenue, avoiding the area around st. charles borromeo seminary where the pope is staying is a no-brainer. some people like emergency workers at lankenau hospital don't have a choice. >> the hospital is located right across from the seminary. we are doing everything to make sure that the main road is kept open and the patients and any visitors can freely come and go. >> reporter: police chief mike mcgrath of lower merion township plans to have all 136 of his officers working that weekend. >> the departments in the area are going to have officers on overtime. as i said, every single officer in our department will be deployed. we already told them back in january there were no vacation days. >> reporter: i'm rosemary connors, nbc 10 news. >> the lo

person was assaulted at gun point at an attempted robbery at a 711, this is the lower section of merion township, three masked men were responsible and the victim was taken to a nearby hospital. >>> students that attend drexel university are on alert after several homes were burglarize sd near campus. they are stepping up patrols in the hopes of finding whoever is responsible. >> annie mccormick is live near campus with the story. >> that is right, five burglaries are reported between saturday and monday here off campus, off campus of drexel university and at this point they have no suspects. >> in a short span of days, only five blocks apart, five burglaries were reported to drexel police, it's scary and students were starting to feel it, and they wake up in the mid of the night and see an alert that says, oh wait there is a burglary next door to my house. >> two apartments were hit in the block of powellton and a residence on the 3200 block. and the burglars struck between 6:00 and 8:00 a.m. and gottentory through unlocked doors and windows. then two days later two more reported burglaries thi

>> reporter: good afternoon matt, a huge fire destroyed this apartment building here in upper merion township, you can see there is not a whole lot left for those people that live here. at this hour, they are shoring this up to make sure it's safe, for the families that got out they say they are thankful to be alive. flames forced 30 people out of their beds at 1:30 this morning on the 300 block of bill smith boulevard. >> i looked out the window and the next door balcony was on fire. >> when i walked out of my building, two overs, the fire was 10 to 20 feet in the air and the first fire truck was just coming up. >> michael pollack shot the video on his cell phone of the flames. >> a woman was lying in the bed and smelled something and she put her hand to the wall and it was hot and went out on her balcony and saw flames, she told "action news" she ran and began knocking on tours. >> i don't know if it was interior first or exterior. >> transformers and wires also cut fire and peco crews were sent to cut off the gas, half of the units were destroyed along with half the roof. but everyone got

lower merion township police will be responsible for traffic and crowd control on city avenue with all 136 officers on the job. >> it's all hands on deck for that weekend. everybody's working. we'll be having all shifts covered, even the off-duty officers will be coming in. >> he tells us pedestrians will be able to use the sidewalks on city avenue and businesses are allowed to remain open. check your in-box. today septa sent e-mails to people who won round two of the pope's special pass lottery. septa says make sure the regional rail pass e-mail didn't wind up in your spam folder. tomorrow the online lottery opens for the norristown high speed line and trolley routes 101 and 102. you will need the special passes to ride septa when the pope is here september 25th and 26th. >>> former council member running again is now running into legal trouble. he is accused of improperly touching a teenaged boy. yesterday ocean county prosecutors charged him with criminal sexual assault and child endangerment. he served on the council for eight years and is now seeking another term. >>> new at 6:00,

winters was fired in june as a teacher at waldron mercy academy in lower merion township when her marriage status went public. archdiocese says the petition does not change the standing of the catholic church against gay marriage. >>> new jersey advocates say they will protest governor chris christie's opposition to paid sick leave in asbury park fundraiser today. they claim christie is focusing exclusively on his presidential campaign while working families in new jersey continue to suffer from his refusal to earned sick time legislation. new jersey advocates say they plan to protest their absentee governor's opposition to earn sick time at a high dollar fund raise inner asbury park this evening. >>> u.s. congressman chaka fattah is speaking out about a federal racketeering indictment against him. fattah told reporters he is innocent. he is accused oven gauge nothing fraud and bribery involving hundreds of thousands of dollars f take spoke after an event in haverford. the 11 term democrat says he has not been involved in the miss appropriation of fund he says, he is still focused on doing

in june as director of religious education after eight years at waldron mercy academy in lower merion township after word leaked out that she was married to another woman. something she says school officials new from day one. >> it wasn't until the diocese was notified that something changed. so that's really all i can do. you can draw your own conclusions. >> because the school knew? >> the school new. >> reporter: wall drop mercy is a private school, not run by the church. the archdiocese telling it's wrong for any individual or group to pitch pitch wait the false whod that the archbishop interfered with the school's personnel decisions. those here don't buy it. >> if that's the case why did they allow her to teach for eight years? if they weren't pressured by the archdiocese. >> archbishop charles chaput applaud the her dismissal. archdiocese telling us schools describing themselves as catholic take on the responsibility of teaching and witnessing the catholic faith in a manner true to catholic belief belief. the petition being presented does not change that stance. but winters supporters s

. >>> meanwhile, a wild chase in lower merion township ends with a man in handcuffs. it all began when a homeowner on baird road called police about a home invasion. the intruder ran into the woods nearby. nbc 10 cameras were there. more than a dozen officers with shotguns and search dogs took off after him. after a chase, the man was arrested. >>> another roller coaster day on wall street. stocks surged higher earlier in the day only to fall by late afternoon. the dow jones industrial average fell about 205 points to 15,666. while the nasdaq dropped close to 20 points to 4,506. the s & p fell about 26 points to 1,867. for more on the market, nbc's brian mohr joins us live from washington, d.c. >> i know beijing cut interest rates, still are investors getting any relief just yet? >> reporter: no. in the short term. today's numbers were better than yesterday but really, that's not saying much. wall street soared at the opening and cratered at the closing bell. >> volatile final hour of trading turning this rally into a decline on wall street. >> reporter: wiping out tr

then later on today, grab your sneakers and let's g lower merion, mid summer 5k, is going to take over the township with road closures tonight around 7:00. so be aware every that situation. ppl park, union versus chicago later tonight. see that volume exiting 95 therefore the 7:30 start time. >> coming into city use columbus boulevard, repaving on the overnight, then of course during the day, what is exposed those raised manhole covers, and you hit that with a little too much speed and will knock your hubcap out of line. crews pick up at cottman, good news for the rush hour, new traffic pattern coming our way this weekend on 95. could the machine avenue interchange. lauren, back over to you. >> thanks so much. st. louis county executive says state of emergency could be lifted after days every tension surrounding the anniversary of the faith al shooting of michael brown in ferguson, missouri. unrest last year, officers not charged in the shooting death of him. released surveillance video that they say shows a teen critically wounded by officers on sunday, was in fact armed with a handgun. >>> texas