the first alert weather team coverage continues with randy gyllenhaal, live in bethlehem where crowds of people are braving the heat and trying to stay cool at musicfest. how are they doing, randy? >> reporter: it is day seven of musicfest. like you guys mentioned, it feels like a hundred degrees out here. by far the hottest day yet. you've got to grab a couple bottles of water. you staying busy out here? >> definitely. >> reporter: you've got to stay hydrated. paramedics say they've had a number of cases of heat exhaustion over the past week. but they are concerned as this heat wave gets stronger, it could get even worse. dancing in the shade, anything to keep out of the sun as the band plays the motown hit heat wave. on point this week, feels like 100 out here at musicfest. >> a little hot. >> reporter: tough work for vendors like dan, spending 12 hours a day outside in front of a sizzling grill. >> one of the hottest years i can remember on record for musicfest. >> reporter: bethlehem ems on high alert all week patrolling these big crowds, looking for signs of distress. and already

. >> we continue our team coverage with nbc 10's randy gyllenhaal who's live in camden. today you caught up with some first responders trying to help people stay cool. >> reporter: we're live here at the camden splash park. you can see some of the kids taking advantage of the sprinklers. we also caught up with firefighters, cops out on the job in camden and philly doing what they could to get out into their communities on this, one of the hottest days of the entire year. in inner city camden today, the pavement on the streets felt like 110 degrees. >> it's crazy. hot all the day, hot all the night. >> reporter: but this heat wave not stopping camden county cops in full uniform from playing catch with local kids sweating it out to make a difference. and across the river in mayfair, it was local philly firefighters keeping the neighborhood nice and cool. kids getting a hosedown as the sun turned this block into an oven. the oppressive heat keeping most people inside. if you had to venture out, the best way to keep cool was a steady supply of water. >> it's burning hot. >>

nbc 10's randy gyllenhaal tells us what's causing the commotion. >> reporter: plastered onto granite outside the lehigh county headquarters -- >> to me it's not something you would really notice. >> reporter: and printed on the flag flying high above is the decades-old lehigh county seal. >> what i see first is the american flag. >> reporter: most people never give it a second look, but when you get up close -- >> and then there's a cross in the middle. >> reporter: you'll see the latin cross. >> unless you're looking at it hard, you can't tell it's a cross. >> reporter: now at the center of a federal lawsuit filed yesterday, the wisconsin-based freedom from religion foundation demanding the cross be removed. >> the government can't post symbols as parts of its logo or seal, there are probably a dozen or so cases struck down by the courts. >> reporter: at the county courthouse, on the county website, even here inside the county jail, critics say it violates the constitution, but for two years the county hasn't budged. and today officials declined comment, citing pending litigation. t

nbc 10's randy gyllenhaal is live in montgomery county breaking down those numbers. >> randy, how much cash are families being forced to shell out? >> reporter: you're going to need clothes, pens and pencils, even electronics. the national retail federation said the average family plans on spending $673 on back-to-school shopping. that number is actually up 10% from last year. more families reporting they feel comfortable in this economy. parents gearing up for the first day of school. will spend most of their money on clothing, new shoes, and in many cases new uniforms. dress codes for parochial and prep schools. >> you can go with a family from $100 up to $300 or $600. >> reporter: families plan to spend $235 on back-to-school apparel. >> we're just here getting some shoes and some uniforms so we're ready to go for the start of school. >> reporter: electronics will set you back $200. college students pay the most. but even middle schoolers these days need high-tech gear. >> my son is going into 6th grade this year. he needed a math calculator. >> that adds up. >> that adds up. we've

randy gyllenhaal joining us live from police headquarters on the heartbreaking stories. >> reporter: jim, police are offering up to a $10,000 reward in both of those cases. they say these suspects were firing discriminately last night, dozens of shots, one of them actually had an ak-47. at this point police say they don't have many leads and need help from the public. >> so, please, come forward even if you don't want to give your name. >> reporter: a plea for help from philly police after two 6-year-olds were hit by stray gunfire just days apart. the city's police commissioner left shaking his head. >> reckless disregard for the life, and now you have a 6-year-old fighting for his life. >> reporter: brown was the most recent victim, sitting in his godfather's car last night when a gun battle erupted outside. the boy's family says he was hit in the chest with high-powered ammunition. >> somebody needs to speak up and say something. people's children are dying for no reason. >> reporter: three others were wounded in the shootout. police believe two rival groups may have taken a turf w

randy gyllenhaal is live at the scene. some children were among those hurt? >> reporter: two children were hurt plus one other person. police tell us they're investigating this as a possible case of street racing. it happened in this industrial strip just off i-95 in port richmond. you can see that green vehicle which crashed into a stone wall there. it appears it was coming down this back industrial strip. police tell us a 20-year-old male was rushed to the hospital where some serious injuries. also a 15-year-old and an 11-year-old were also taken to the hospital. we just talked with the man who owns this green minivan over here, rather, it was parked here. he said the car crashed into it and then into the wall. again at this point police say three people hospitalized and they are investigating this as a possible case of street racing. much more as we get it from philly police. for now live in port richmond, randy gyllenhaal, nbc 10 news. >>> the reward to find the person who killed an 8-year-old girl in camden now stands at $50,000. gabby hill-carter was ta

but nbc 10's randy gyllenhaal found a family in reading who decked out their yard to honor team usa. >> reporter: at the crack of dawn for the past few weeks, jim and karen ep ler crawl out of bed, check the olympic medal count -- >> we need to put a gold in this morning. >> reporter: -- and then plant these small american flags. one for each american medalist, a patriotic garden, growing in the berks county grass. >> she got them at walmart one time. >> we spray painted one each gold, silver, bronze to reflect the medals. >> reporter: and today a big milestone for team usa. 100 medals as the epplers quickly run out of real estate. >> i thought, finally, we got to 100. >> reporter: they got the idea after seeing the vancouver olympics in person. they came home wanting to spread patriotic cheer. >> that spirit of the olympics is everything. it's awesome. >> reporter: and they've done it every olympic since. even neighbors on this block helping plant seeds of american pride. >> yeah. she said, do you want to put a flag out? i was like, sure. >> what's nice about the olympics, it makes

nbc 10's randy gyllenhaal tells us why the lehigh valley could be key for his campaign, coming up at'm jacqueline london live in rio de janeiro, brazil. yesterday was the first day team usa went without gold in these games. but they are looking to redeem themselves tonight starting with gymnastics. you'll recall yesterday simone biles received bronze for her performance on the balance beam. she has one last shot at gold in these games, on the floor exercise. she'll still have to get a past her teammate and really good friend, aly raisman. do you ever wonder how a gymnast can contest her score from the judges? well, she can. but there is a price to pay for that appeal. you can read more about it on our nbc 10 app. let's go to the beach and sand tonight. usa playing in front of a tough home crowd as they take on brazil in the semifinals. jennings is just two wins away from her fourth straight olympic gold. and from competition to cover stars. katie ledecky, michael phelps and simone biles is on the cover of the sports ill va"sports il." the three athletes had a combined 14 medals from

nbc 10's randy gyllenhaal has the latest. >> reporter: the heavy smoke from this early morning fire woke up the entire neighborhood. the woman who lives inside this home was trapped in the burning house. friends and neighbors say they tried breaking those windows to get the victim out but firefighters later found her body inside. friends and family identified the victim as 45-year-old tasha roots, she's lived here in salem for years and neighbors say she was chatting with them just last night, everything seemed fine but by 3:00 in the morning her house was fully engulfed in flames. witnesses described smoke pouring out of the windows as relatives and friends tried desperately to get her out in time but this fire was far too intense. >> when i came out here i couldn't barely see anything but there was a lot of smoke in the air. people was trying to get in there to save them, but the flames was too much. >> reporter: friends say roots lived here with her two sons, neither were home at the time and family says she is also related to a wilmington firefighter. the cause of this blaze remains

randy gyllenhaal, nbc 10 news. >>> here comes the heat. nbc 10 along kelly drive, joggers, a little bit more heat and humidity. but it is only a preview. live look right now at the scene of cape may. another nice one out there. but after a stretch of comfortable weather, it is about to sizzle yet again. chief meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz is here now. >> all right, glenn, when will we be sweating soon enough? >> yeah, tomorrow is going to be the hottest, most humid day of this latest stretch. we've got a lot of clouds around right now. that is the only reason that we haven't gotten close to 90 degrees. so it's 87 so far. but tomorrow, with sunshine, and the hotter air mass, it will feel like 94. or it's going to be 94, feeling like 100. and still fairly hot over the weekend. not like it's going to cool off a lot. 85 in philadelphia now. 84 in wilmington and mount holly, trenton, atlantic city. so all of the areas are a little bit cooler than, of course, they would be if these clouds weren't there. but that's all it is, just clou

so we sent nbc 10 randy gyllenhaal out to see what parents face as they hit the stores. . >> reporter: as you guys mentioned, this weekend will likely be the busiest for back-to-school shopping. some of the parents scrambling at the last minute. we asked them how much they plan to spend, and what not to forget. the back-to-school countdown is almost up. >> lots of scotch tape, lots of pencils, lots of fun erasers. >> no budget usually. they just get what they need. >> reporter: the palmer family is hoping to spend less than $100 on your must-have basics, like glitter pens, elmer's glue and sharpies. >> we made one trip to get the school supplies and spent about $75. >> i'm excited. but i'm a little scared. i'm going into a new school. >> reporter: over in chestnut hill today -- >> $33.10. >> reporter: -- it's the grand opening at the artisans craftman store. >> crayons, water colors. >> reporter: offering discounts to students and teachers. >> a lot of kids really like the jelly roll pen. >> reporter: it's a good place to stop if your child is taking an art class this yea

randy gyllenhaal, nbc 10 news. >> nia ali will try to win her heat in the semis to advance in the finals tonight. and when i interviewed her, i said to her, nia, hurdles seem so hard. you make it look so easy. she says, it's not hard for her. she just tries to get out in front, and stay there. of course, she'll be looking to do that tonight. we'll have the results in late news. you can, of course, watch it in primetime right here on nbc 10. live in rio de janeiro, brazil, reporting for the games of the 31st olympiad, jacqueline london, nbc 10 news. >> thank you so much, jackie. >>> back at home, a local music store is helping residents beat the heat. they handed out fans at chester city hall this morning. the platinum selling rapper and producer teamed up with the help partners foundation for the giveaway. this heat wave is finally starting to let up. now you're tracking storms, right? >> it doesn't feel as oppressive outside today, but we do have some thunderstorms moving in. some of these will be here, while many of you are sleeping. i'll show you the timing of it, and if it will last

randy gyllenhaal is on a back-to-school mission. randy, students need a lot of supplies for the classroom, but clothes can be just as important, too. >> reporter: and families say they plan to spend between $200 and $300 just on new clothing for the new school year. that's in addition to all the protractors, pencils, paper that you've got to stuff in your shopping cart. >> we've got all types of crayons, and water colors. >> reporter: for most parents, the first stop to get ready for the first day of school is somewhere basic, to get the essentials like this art supply store in chestnut hill. >> lots of scotch tape, lots of pencils, lots of fun erasers. >> reporter: but the national retail federation says clothing makes up the bulk of the back-to-school budget. that process is much easier if your kid needs a uniform or has a strict dress code. >> nonstop, seven days a week. >> reporter: in conshokocken this week, they're so busy this week, expect to spend about $100 for each kid in the family. >> $100 up to $300, $400, $500, $600. >>

randy gyllenhaal, nbc 10 news. >>> randy, thank you so much. the number two man on the democratic ticket is also working to gain support today. vice presidential nominee tim kaine toured a company in colorado. there he is right there. mingling with folks. he made a pitch for hillary clinton's small business plan. also, he blasted donald trump on his record accusing him of stiffing small businesses. this wraps up kaine's western trip. he was in las vegas yesterday. >>> now, a new nbc news poll out today shows hillary clinton continues to hold a large national lead over donald trump. 50% to 42% actually. the poll shows trump facing a hurdle with minority voters specifically. among african-american voters, trump wins only 8% compared to clinton's 87%. clinton also leads by a wide margin among hispanic and asian-american voters. >>> we are following some breaking news out of northeast philadelphia. that is where a crash involving a police car has sent an officer to the hospital. sky force 10 live there above the scene. this is at red lion road and

randy gyllenhaal has been talking to police and neighbors about this latest shooting. randy, some neighbors describing their community as a war zone. >> reporter: bullets were flying throughout that neighborhood. i should tell you, at this point, at last check, that 6-year-old remains in critical condition, as you guys mentioned, the second 6-year-old this week to be hit by stray gunfire. we can tell you that philly police in the last hour or so have offered a $10,000 reward in each of those cases. as that neighborhood in german town begins to document all the damage left behind. >> no, no, everything up there. >> reporter: with the help of daylight, the bullet holes are easy to spot. >> five shots. >> reporter: houses peppered with erratic gunfire, police say a turf war turned into a gun battle, one suspect firing an ak-47. >> it doesn't make no sense. this is not a military. >> reporter: julian williams was nearly caught in the crossfire. >> it almost penetrated the brick. >> reporter: police say the shootout was likely fueled by two rival groups. it left four people

as nbc 10's randy gyllenhaal found out, there could be a head-on collision tonight. >> reporter: it's a philly tradition as old as the automobile itself. south philly locals parking in the middle of broad street. >> you always park on broad street. you can park there all night long. >> reporter: it's technically illegal, but for decades the city has looked the other way. now a growing group of residents are fed up, asking the mayor to enforce the law and send out the tow trucks. they've gathered 1,200 signatures. one petitioner writing, mr. kenney, tear down these cars. they say it's a safety issue. >> the most egregious example of cars being actually in the turning lanes, in crosswalks. it's just a parking lot for vehicles. >> reporter: but they say these spots can be life savers. >> they're readily available. there's about 180 of them. >> reporter: mark ferguson parks here every week. he's organizing a counterpetition to save the spots. >> i'll come home at night, it will take me seven minutes to get home. it will take me about 30 minutes to find a parking spot. that's no exaggerati

in west philly, randy gyllenhaal. >>> three people are recovering following a single vehicle crash inay. the crash happened near cumberland and richmond streets. police say children ages 15 and 11 were passengers in the car and that street racing may have led to the crash. another car involved did not stop and took off from the scene. one person we spoke to said it's an all too common occurrence in that area. >> there's kids out here. a lot of racing here. got to stop this. really, really got to stop this. >> the driver is also being investigated for a possible dui. no word on any charges. >>> new tonight, charges filed against a woman who is accused of vandalizing two cars last year at the home of philadelphia d.a. seth williams. delaware county officials are handling the case. the incident hapt at williams' home in overbrook. according to the report, two vehicles had the tire slashed. stacey cummings surreasonndered police and is facing multiple charges. no word for a motive on the alleged crime. >>> another woman sexually assaulted by a man on a bike in south philadelphia. this lat

randy gyllenhaal has a story of how a berks county company really helped the team shine. >> reporter: every pass of the needle and each thread that follows is the start of a long journey from this production line in berks county on to the high-flying bodies of gymnasts in rio. >> this is our production floor. >> reporter: jeannie douglas is the lead designer of team usa's red, white and blue leotards. >> they're handmade in the united states. >> reporter: the company faces the monumental task every four years. forming a perfect fitting patriotic uniform for american gymnasts. >> i was inspired by the flag. i wanted to use it as literally as possible, highlighting their bodies. >> reporter: jeannie did gymnastics in high school and last night she got to watch as her creation propelled team usa to olympic gold. >> my social media blew up last night, because all my friends and family knew how much hard work i put into this specific design. >> reporter: but she knows it takes the entire warehouse to make this happen. >> and then you push the pedal. >> reporter: attaching the sparkling cry

randy gyllenhaal, nbc 10 news. >>> your first alert forecast. a live look at camel beach water park in the poconos. having some fun, cooling off. because we're going to continue to climb up the thermometer tomorrow. glenn "hurricane" schwartz is now tracking this warm-up, glenn. >> yeah, keith, you're definitely going to want to get in some kind of water or air conditioning tomorrow. we're starting to see brightening of the skies. we had a lot of clouds around during the afternoon, prevented the temperature from getting even higher. it's 84 in philadelphia now, wilmington, 85 in trenton. the humidity is really high. and it feels like 89 now. it felt like it was in the 90s an hour ago. feels like 92 in dover. that's with the clouds. imagine how it's going to feel tomorrow. i'll tell you how it's going to feel tomorrow. it's going to be 94 degrees for the high temperature, and feeling like around 100 in philadelphia. and probably more than 100 in parts of delaware and south jersey. tonight it's the humidity that's the issue. we don't have anything

nbc 10's randy gyllenhaal took a look at what workers are learning and why this training is now law. >> reporter: these new requirements come in response to the collapse back in 2013. every construction worker in the city must now complete ten hours of training before they can even set foot on a job. >> all these things we see every day. >> reporter: the 60-plus welders, electricians and construction workers woke up at sunrise, cramming into a small classroom. >> it actually is a hazard. >> reporter: taking advantage of a free ten-hour osha training class, how to stay safe on a construction job site. >> to give them awareness of all the hazards associated with construction, including in demolition, falls, electrical hazards. and they were just highlighting it so they were aware of it. >> reporter: it's training like this that could have prevented the deadly market street collapse, a brick wall at a demolition site fell onto a crowded salvation army store killing six people and violating numerous safety regulations. >> that should have been presented. >> reporter: gary took the class

randy gyllenhaal, nbc 10 news. >>> now to breaking news from bucks county. tonight a former firefighter is accused of crimes involving a 14-year-old girl. nbc 10 was the only station there as police made their arrest. deanna durante joins us live in bensalem with more on those charges. deanna? >> reporter: rosemary, just in the last couple of minutes, 18-year-old eric word was taken from here at bensalem township police, to face a judge. he's facing a number of crimes tonight. the bensalem high school student, again, he's 18 years old, police say he was a firefighter at the time of the alleged crime. he resigned from the fire department just on saturday. he stole a woman's cell phone, sent images of that woman that was on her phone to his own phone. and police say when they tracked down ward's phone, they found multiple images of ward engaging in sexual activity with young women. the youngest is 14 years old. now, ward is charged with multiple crimes. these images easily could have ended up online, on adult websites and haunted the girls for life. this is a

randy gyllenhaal has more. >> reporter: only in south philly can you drive down the city's main drag and find a parking spot right dab in the middle of a busy street. >> these spots for decades have been free. >> reporter: mark ferguson has been parking in the broad street median for years. >> there's about 180 of them. >> reporter: the spots are technically illegal, but the city has long looked the other way because neighbors say they need the extra space. >> parking has become more stressful. it will take me about 30 minutes to find a parking spot. that's no exaggeration. >> reporter: now calls for the city to crack down and send out the tow trucks, 1,200-plus signatures will be sent to the mayor. one petitioner writing, mr. kenney, tear down these cars. organizers cite safety issues, like cars poking into the street. they hope to replace the spots with new trees or a grassy median. >> there's other opportunities, too, that i think we can explore other than just serving as a parking lot for vehicles. >> reporter: but here in south philly, change can be a dirty word. a counterpetiti