being introduced by vernon odom. good reason to go up and see it at 8 o'clock 78 degrees, by 10 o'clock 74 a nice night with just a threat of an isolated thunderstorm. i'll have more details on your weekend including the shore and the poconos and talk about a stormy start to next week coming up in the full accuweather 7-day forecast. jim. >> and cecily this reminder. you can get the updated forecast any time on your phone or tablet including realtime views from storm tracker6 live. the 6abc app is a free download for your mobile device. >>> james collins of sharon hill was sentenced to prison today for selling drugs that resulted in an overdose death. collins pleaded guilty last month. collins sold heroin laced with fentanyl to a 28-year-old man who died last october. a judge sentenced collins to 19 to 38 and a half years in state prison plus seven years probation. delaware county district attorney jack whelan says the narcotics task force is continually working to track the source of deadly drugs and prosecute deale

. >> investigators are not sure of the motive for long's murder and vernon odom is gathering additional details and we'll have a live report in the next half hour. >>> we are following developing news, the near drowning of a child on temple university's ambler campus this morning. chopper 6 hd was over the campus in montgomery county as ambulances transferred the young girl to a waiting helicopter. the spokesperson for temple says the child was attending a summer camp. and her condition is unknown at this time. >>> police are looking for the man that abducted a woman and robbed her. the victim got into the man's car after she ordered a vehicle from a popular ride sharing service. >> reporter: it started last night when two sisters were in a bar in philadelphia. that the two had been drinking in the bar and reportedly called the driver service lyft and was picked up and that is when the story turned strange. what started as a night of partying for sisters had an unusual turn in upper darby. one sister got out to buy a bottle of water for the driver who said he needed to take medication a

live in police headquarters in coatesville, i'm vernon odom, channel 6 "action news." >> thank you. >>> some homeowners are dealing with powerful damage from overnight storms. the foundation of this gloucester township home collapsed in the midst of a downpour. it brought down a large section of the basement wall a few feet from where the resident was sleeping. no injuries at that home on beverly drive. >>> a business has been robbed at gun point twice in two weeks. one on august 3rd. a man walked in green deli and then three men came in the store and they took the man's gun. >> on a happier note the chance to win 700 million dollars has the chance to win. just $2. they were selling 8300 power ball tickets today as of mid-day. despite the long odds local reads are dreaming big. >> i would just be gone, i would travel and disney world. >> if we won, well lets see the education would be covered for the dead kids and that is probably the most important thing maybe a beach house who knows. >> or a few good luck. >>> coming up on "action news" tonight. the thunder over the boardwalk is bac

i'm vernon odom, channel 6 "action news." at police headquarters. in center city. >>> this is national night out. we are in south philadelphia. families and police and members of the business communities are at snyder plaza celebrating the strengths of their community and encourage greater cooperation and communication between everyone and the police living in the communities. crews from the army corps of engineers back in margate today to start pumping water left behind by a controversial dunes project. the newly dug basins were meant to act as short-term buffers to collect rain runoff. the mayor says that there is talk now of going to court to stop the current dunes work. supporters have called on governor tom wolf to save cheney university. the group rallied outside of the governor's office in center city this morning. founded in 1837, cheney is the oldest historic black university in the country. cheney could lose the accreditation next month and a spokesperson from wolf issued a statement that the governor is working with the state education sy

vernon odom, channel 6 "action news." >> what a story thank you. >>> six people were hurt in a pileup in atlantic city overnight. it happened in the westbound lanes of route 30, just after 11:30 last night. police say that six cars were involved and no word yet this noon on what sparked the collision or the extent of the injuries. >> this is not something you would normally see during the morning commute on the schuylkill expressway and "action news" reporter captured this picture of a man on a bicycle between the left and center lanes on the westbound side of the expressway past vine street. police showed up and took the man in custody and fortunately he was not hurt riding his bicycle on the schuylkill. >>> president trump is continuing to threaten to shut down the government if congress doesn't pay for a wall at the mexican border. during his campaign the president repeatedly promised that mexico would foot the bill and not the taxpayers. but he is committed to getting the wall built. >> we are going to push forward. >> the president is accusing his fellow republicans of botching t

i'm vernon odom, channel 6 "action news" in upper darby. >> san tanneder bank donate the $5,000 to support literacy classes for homeless men and women in montgomery county. they presented the gift at norristown state hospital and creates classes to help people transitioning from living on the street into permanent homes. coming up the 2017 class of the music walk of fame was unveiled today. >> this house in riverton is a local landmark believed to be an important stop on the underground railroad at the time of slavery, i'm nora muchanic coming up a look inside. >>> another evening of strong storms they are scattered but this cell south of trenton prompted a severe thunderstorm warning until 6:30 and flash flood warnings. we'll let you know when the weather settled down in the exclusive accuweather seven-day forecast. fios is not cable. we're a 100% fiber optic network. and with the new fios gigabit connection... you get our fastest... internet ever. with download speeds up to 940 megs - 20 times faster than most people have. switch to fios gigabit connection with tv and phone for $79.99 a

"action news" reporter vernon odom is live at police headquarters with the latest on that. vernon. >> reporter: good afternoon, rick. philadelphia police have just released the identification of the suspect who exchanged gunfire with them on a heavily populated residential street yesterday afternoon. he remains hospitalized but expected to survive. police say this man, 30-year-old josÉ gonzalez of camden remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition after he was wounded in a wild gun fight with police yesterday after on north fairhill street. [gunfire] >> (screaming). >> reporter: "action news" obtained this video that shows the moment the gunshots broke out in broad daylight around 4:45. police were responding to reports of a man with a gun. they found him quickly and he opened fire police say and then the police responded. >> the male not only was armed with a gun but he preliminarily we're getting information from civilians that he actually ensured that the gun was loaded by racking it and slapping the magazine plate. at that time that male fired twice at uniforme

vernon odom is live in woodbury where the gloucester county prosecutor announced the charges. >> reporter: good afternoon sara, it was a very remotional news conference in woodbury this morning, many victims relatives were there and they are deeply grieving and michelle long's killing is a gruesome case. >> she did not deserve this at all. we are broken without her. just trying to keep it together. britney mcguire is the daughter of slain woman michelle long back on june 17th, her mother's husband, norman long has now been arrested and charged with her brutal murder. the victim's body was found in the couple's swimming pool at their home in wood rich township. the gloucester county police have arrested nathan long and charged him with murder for knowingly causing her death to cause blunt force trauma to her neck and head. >> the prosecutor says that norman long a crabber is undergoing psychiatric evaluation in trenton and then he will be put in jail. he made efforts to divert attention from himself as the killer. and he is the only suspect. >> our investigation determined that mr. long ki

"action news" reporter vernon odom is live outside school district headquarters in spring garden. vernon, what about that, you've got the story. >> reporter: maybe a brief answer for you, jim. indeed that charter school may open up next month but the question is, and will be for how long. this is the ninth and sedgley building when the khepera charter school grades k through eight has called home for years but now the landlord wants to evict them as the charter key 88d in 2004 continues to drown in more than a million dollars in red ink owing to multiple vendors. all classes were shut down a week early in june without warning or ceremony. teachers tell me they resigned en masse and found new teaching posts elsewhere. the khepera charter school is running three paychecks behind. we're shielding the identities of the teachers. >> i was supposed to be evicted a couple weeks ago. i almost lost my new car. my daughter also taught here so that's two of us in the same home with no income for the same amount of time. i went to get my medication and found out i didn't have any medical cover

"action news" reporter vernon odom is live at police headquarters with the latest on that.

before i go further -- >> we had to depart from vernon odom briefly because we want to take you live to the news conference in the center city hotel on the update on the two septa trains that crashed. >> the ntsb is an independent federal agency charged by congress to investigate transportation accidents and determine the probable cause and make recommendations to recent a rio occurrence. like i ted before we are arriving on scene and starting to get our investigation started so here is just some preliminary information we have to date. at 12:15 a.m. septa train 155 struck an unoccupied train rail car 148 while entering the 69 and street transportation center. preliminary reports from local authorities indicate there was 32 passenger injuries and one train operator injury also. on board video recorders from the two rail cars are downloaded and sent to our vehicle recorder lab in d.c. for further analysis. the ntsb has brought an eight member go team. each team member is an expert in different fields and they will be collecting evidence in their specific disciplines, including mechani

vernon odom is live at coatesville headquarters with the story. >> reporter: hello gray and to you monica, good evening. police in this section of chester county have tonight launched a major manhunt in response to hate crimes in the predawn hours of tuesday morning. valley township and coatesville were the targets. in coatesville's west end residents woke up at daylight tuesday to find nazi season anti-black graffiti on three pieces of private property. a garage, a building and a vehicle. there were four separate defacements in valley township. the towns folk are up in arms. >> everybody here in coatesville are united against this and letting everyone know coatesville is united against all the hate and we have no time for this here in coatesville. >> police in both jurisdictions are on the case working together to pinch the hate crime suspects, they say it was done in a spree wednesday morning. the graffiti was charged with the "n" word and some other stuff. that is indicative of neo nazi swastikas and other words that were spray painted in the multiple locations. >> multiple locations h

vernon odom, channel 6 "action news." >> the city of philadelphia is asking folks to ask them what towith the controversial statue of former mayor and police commissioner, frank rizzo. the arts culture and creative economy is asking for suggestions for the statue and some call the town and asking it to be torn down. and critics accused rizzo of using his power to alienate minorities, and that he was a devout and out spoken servant and suggest -- we have a link at 6abc.com. >>> a 47-year-old homeless man is arrested for allegedly slashing a clerk inside of a center city 7-eleven. nathan hack was seen pulling a knife on a cashier, and reportedly stabbed the worker several times after demanding cigarettes, hack is facing charges including aggravated assault and robbery. >> philadelphia police needs your help getting a dangerous vandal off the streets and this is surveillance video from saturday august 12th, and you see people walking down the 500 block. and one of those boys stops outside of the new dragon city restaurant and lights something on fire. that device exploded causing sparks.

i'm vernon odom, channel 6 "action news." >> all right vernon, thank you.w developments into a murder investigation into swedesboro, gloucester county. investigators are back on forest court this afternoon but did not say why. sean dalton told "action news" he would release new details about the case tomorrow morning. 47-year-old michelle long was founded in her pool on june 17th and an autopsy revealed she died of blunt force trauma. >>> a case of animal cruelty is under investigation after someone shared video of the incident on snap chat. showing young men forcing a baby alligator to drink alcohol and then putting a cigarette in its mouth. they are trying to find out who they are and where at abuse took place. >> those things done would be considered violations under pennsylvania law. people think they are bullet proof and don't go to the eventual end results and we get a lot of cases on social media of people doing heinous things, whether it be to an animal or person. and the shock value is going down and down. >> once authorities locate the alligator,

vernon odom is live now in havertown. how are drivers reacting to this news. >> reporter: the random reaction we gathered today is any firm indication of the public sentiment by in large, this could build plenty of momentum by the time a full vote goes to the general assembly. in delaware county suburban adults on the cell phones as they travel the busy streets. ignoring or not bothering with hands free technology. a no no in philadelphia already even tore adults over 18 and could be gone with the wind in pennsylvania soon. good for road safety. >> people don't pay attention. at all. i see it every day. >> in addition another part of the plan is to ban drivers under the able of 18 from using the phone in the car at all. >> it's not a bad idea from banning young drivers from using their phones at all. >> the bill was introduced in the house last week with a dozen sponsors all to generate more traffic safety already forbidding drivers from using hand held phone. including new york, new jersey, maryland and west virginia. he

vernon odom has the newest tonight.an working on high tech help for people that suffer from rheumatoid arthritis and she knows all too well what that feels like. >> thank you. >>> there is a tiny new member on the philadelphia police force and today he showed off his driving skills in his police cruiser. >> well, behind the wheel there is 3-year-old rider sims, you see him following police commissioner richard ross on a high speed chase through the administration building. he has developmental challenges and has sensory processing disorder but when at home he wears a small uniform and it makes him feel invincible. he invited rider to show him around and swore him in as an honorary police officer. ryder takes this serious he is often seen patrolling swarthmore protecting his neighborhood. >> what an awesome little guy. he has the police uniform ready to go. >> still ahead if you like kit kat bars and have a cold. stick around you may be interested in nestles new candy concoction. >>> and plus they are the teeny tiny frui

i'm vernon odom, channel 6 "action news". >> thank you. >>> meanwhile, "action news" obtained the 911 call following a murder in warwitch township. last week police announced charges against her husband, norman long, they say he beat his wife to death inside of the house and dumped her body in the pool fully clothed and a neighbor called 911 saying that the suspect was running around franticly asking for help. >> he keeps coming out of his house screaming 911 call for help. help, help. >> does he need police or ambulance. >> i don't know he keeps running outs of the house. >> help me! >> now, at the time neighbors thought that michelle long suffered a heart attack but the investigation revealed she died from blunt force trauma. no word of a motive here and norman long is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. >> a man is underarrest for a police chase that led police through several philadelphia neighborhoods. the string of crimes came to an end miles and hours after they started. >> i had no idea this was going on, he was sound asleep. she woke up to find an unknown vehicle in her fron

"action news" reporter vernon odom is live at philadelphia police headquarters tonight with the latestn the investigation. vernon. >> reporter: good evening, rick. josÉ gonzalez aged 30 of camden, new jersey, remains in critical condition tonight at temple university hospital as a result of a bad decision he made when he was confronted by philadelphia police in north philadelphia just after 4:30 last night. but frankly, gonzalez has a long history of trouble with the law especially across the delaware river. [gunfire] >> (screaming). >> reporter: this was the way it looked and sounded in broad daylight on north fairhill street just after 4:30 yesterday as a wild gun battle erupted between police an 30-year-old suspect from camden, new jersey. neighbors and children out in the street scrambled for cover. those inside knew it was time to hit the deck. [gunfire] >> reporter: when the shooting was over this man josÉ gonzalez from camden was down critically wounded by the police. they say he opened fire on them as they responded to a 911 call of a man with a gun. >> didn't say a word. they

vernon odom is gathering reaction to the remarks from yesterday and the escalating tense from the u.s. and north korea. vernon what have you been hear. >> reporter: a whole lot. people express deep fear with what they hear. and many told me and i quote here. see two erratic and insecure men with their hands on nuclear buttons and i found supporters of president trump as well. >> they will be met with fire, fury and frankly power. >> the rhetorical smack down between president trump and north korea's kim jong un has many concerned about a nuclear war. >> i am afraid for our country we'll make more problems than we need to. i don't think we are handling it correctly. >> but trump devotees are with him. >> we could have blown them away a long time ago. >> and what the president is talking about now? >> he is -- it's time to get tough. >> kim doesn't want war with the united states. >> he is not suicidal. he views having nuclear weapons as an insurance policy. >> jack's expertise spans the globe. he says the president of the usa should never stoop to the conduct regular displayed by the h

"action news" reporter vernon odom was in court for today's hearing. he's live outside of the courthouse in mount holly with the details. vernon. >> reporter: good evening, rick. you would think they could get along but over the weekend a young couple's life together ended in an explosion of domestic violence. by video conference today, laura bluestein had her first court appearance. a the age 28 she faces a charge of first degree murder in the killing of felicia dormans age 29. according to bluestein they were legally married. this is obviously a photo of them during happier days. mount holly police were sent to their mill street home yesterday after a tip call. they found dormans inside a victim of a gunshot wound to the face. bluestein was arrested without incident. >> count one charged with murder in the first degree t cause of death of fell alicia dormans by specifically shooting her in the face. >> her prior contact she has failure to appear. >> reporter: neighbors barely knew them. they have not lived here long. >> they were neighbors, always sai

i'm vernon odom channel6 "action news." reporting live from west chester. >> thank you vernon. >>> and switch to health reporter ali gorman. hi, ali. >> r guys, yeah, our experts have been warning us for weeks that we had to wear these special eclipse glasses if we were going to watch the partial eclipse safely. tonight here at wills eye they are on just in case some that advice. it was a sight to see. >> there it is. >> reporter: as sidewalks ind into viewing parties.oung and old outside to see the partial solar eclipse. >> wow. >> reporter:. so>> reporter: for the most part people watched through the selfie mode on a smartphone or with the approved eclipse glasses. but those glasses became scares this morning. wills eye handed out 2,000 more free pairs. they were gone in an hour.nd ike i just won ally reporter: but the celestial event brought out the best in everyone. there was no shortage of sharing. >> everybody got a chance to see it. >> reporter: ophthalmologist dr. allen hoe says without proper protection, the sun's

i'm vernon odom, channel6 "action news" at police headquarters in center city. >> all right, vernon,ank you. >>> police in cherry hill are investigating a jewelry store theft. around this time yesterday a man walked into jared jewelers at the town place at garden state park shopping center. at some point he demanded a worker hand over jewels after being inside for about 25 minutes. he left with stolen merchandise and was last seen getting into a gray suv driving toward haddonfield road. investigators have not released any further details just yet but if you recognize this man, you're asked to contact police. >>> a follow-up now to story we first told you about right here last week. philadelphia police say they found four cars stolen from avis car car rentals. the thieves are still on the run. they stole the cars early friday morning from the avis at philadelphia international airport after punching the gate guard in the face. >> time now for a check of the accuweather forecast. >> quite a difference from yesterday and we mean that in a good way. meteorologist adam joseph outside with

in norristown, i'm vernon odom, channel 6 "action news." >> thank you. >>> we have new surveillance video of the man accused of stabbing a clerk at a center city 7-eleven. you see him pulling out the knife out of his sweater shirt, it happened at 6:30 on the store of the 1300 block of market street. police say that the man initially or cigarettes and fled without taking anything. if you recognize him contact philadelphia police. >>> someone slashed the tires on more than a dozen cars in one bucks county neighborhood overnight. en 10:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. along rambler lane in levitt town. they are working to try to identify the suspect or suspects, we are continuing to follow the story and have the latest tonight on "action news." >>> the taliban is vowing to fight on against the u.s. in afghanistan despite plans to beef up this country's force there's after the radicals won another region. the taliban controls six districts and a strategic valley in afghanistan. in response to the speech they say the u.s. does not understand the reality of the situation. >>> president trump and his large

vernon odom is live as the fun is about to get under way in bethlehem and tonight's santana, vern, hm? >> reporter: one of the greatest performers of all times and perhaps in the future of all times as well, rick. i love to see him. not only is this festival widely recognized across the united states now in its 34th rear it is well down road to being seen as a valuable venue from the international level as well. >> ♪ >> reporter: one of tonight's featured performers tunes up. it's final preps time for tonight's kickoff of musikfest 17 it's bigger than ever, more than 550 performances on 17 stages by well over 400 artists. they come from 29 states and eight different countries. >> the only warning i'll give to anybody coming out at 5:30 is you're going to sweat a lot not just because of the sun but we rock. it's going to be one of those things where you're going to be sitting around going i can't sit still. i don't know what to do. >> ♪ >> reporter: this is a 34th annual musikfest viewed by bethlehem as a showcase for this old steel town. the festival has become a great performance ven

"action news" reporter vernon odom live in spring garden this afternoon as the school board tries to come up with some kind of solution here, vern. >> reporter: trouble in the class appear to be ahead brian at this point the school district's solution appears to be to cut off funding and revoke the school's license. it's the only charter school among more than 80 city wide that that currently faces revocation of its charter. this is the ninth and sedgley building the charter school has been occupying for years but now the landlord wants to evict them as the charter created in 04 continues drowning drowning in hundreds of dollars of red ink owing money all over town. all classes k through eight were shut down a week early in june without warning or ceremony. teachers tell me they have resigned en masse and found new teaching posts elsewhere. we're protecting their identities. >> now we're going on three paychecks we have not been paid. >> reporter: what have the officials told you so far. >> they've told us nothing. >> reporter: we were unable to contact anyone on the board of trustee

"action news" reporter vernon odom explains why the couple allegedly tried to hire a hit man. >> thisefendant got caught with 813 baggies of heroin. >> reporter: that defendant is 29-year-old christopher percard of state college and now his girlfriend latrice harrington is in hot water as well. they allegedly concocted a murder for hire plan to kill a man who was with picard when he got busted. >> when the defendant believed that the passenger ratted him out he decided you know what i'm going to get a hit man and i'm going to kill the passenger in the car and that's how i'm going to beat this case. >> reporter: so, picard and harrington started brainstorming inside the chester county prison during her visits. on wire taps they allegedly came up with the idea of getting a professional to kill the man they feared was ratting picard out. so the d.a. provided them with a hit man straight out of central casting an undercover officer. >> the defendant had his girlfriend latrice harrington set this whole thing up. she ran communications back and forth between the hit man and the defendant an

. >> vernon odom is live now as the cleanup gets underway. >> reporter: good afternoon sara and to you rick. it's a wholesale mess on that property owned by conrail. the authorities say that the cleanup of this vast waste land of human tragedy will go on 24/7 for 30 days until it's completed and cost conrail hundreds of thousands to do it. it's their property where this has festered out of control for a long time. this is day to of the cleanup of the tracks, philadelphia's notorious heroin city. an open market sitting on a one mile piece of land in philadelphia owned by conrail. many addicts live and die here and hundreds and thousands of needles litter the grounds and conrail promised the city they will clean it and foot the bill while the city pays for security, waste removal and fencing. in pennsylvania overdoses soared more than 35%, especially hit hard, the city of philadelphia. this destruction of the tracks and the beavering up of drug treatment in philadelphia city hall hopes will cut the addiction rate down. this is known as a key stop for addicts coming from all over the nati

vernon odom is live with the full story in collingdale. >> reporter: good evening jim, that bail is $1 million cash i might emphasize, jeremy jones is due back in court on august 22nd after a full psychiatric evaluation, he has a history of trouble and violence. >> jeremy jones age 39 was formerly arraigned this morning, among the charges five couldn'ts of attempted murder after allegedly hurling a molotov d k cocktail at a mist tour of law enforcement offices. and here is the sergeant seen here at the burn center before being released mid-day. >> jones seemed bewildered. >> i didn't mean it, i don't know what is going on i really don't. i shouldn't be talking to anybody. >> he had a standoff with police where the deputies and local police had originally gone to serve him for a warrant for probation violation and police say he did not answer the door but suddenly opened it and threw the molotov cocktail when they turned to leave. the sergeant's pants caught fire and credited the stop drop and roll technique. >> they were rolling him around and stomping him in the street. >> next thing

vernon odom has more on how police cracked this case. >> reporter: tonight murder suspect norman long is housed in a psychiatric ward in trenton there for a full evaluation and arrested at his home yesterday afternoon. many members of michelle long's grieving family attended the announcements but only one was talking to the media. >> she did not deserve this and we are broken without here. and trying to keep it together. >> britney mcguire continues to mourn over her mother's cruel fate. michelle long was brutally murdered at her home found in the swimming pool fully clothed. the autopsy found she died of blunt force trauma to the head and tonight they announced the arrest of norman long a contractor. that long -- >> he drove to a local restaurant and upon his return, pretended to discover her dodd why the pool and guise first responders that she drown. >> and they found evidence pointing to the husband. the victim's blood on paper towels and receptacles, and norman long was the one and only suspect from the day of the murder. on that day neighbors and police say long was behaving wil

"action news" reporter vernon odom will have a live report on this coming up tonight at 5:00. >> the philadelphia phillies and the sports world are remembering a great. looking back on the life and legacy of darren daulton. the 55-year-old lost his battle with brain cancer over the weekend. sports director ducis rodgers joining us now in studio and teammates are reflecting on this all-star catcher known to many as dutch. >> reaction continues to come in. darren daulton was viewed as a leader, a beloved member of the phillies as beloved as their ever. what dalton spent 14 and half of this 16 seasons with the phillies. he was the heart and soul of the phillies for so many years especially the pent winning team. dalton kept that clubhouse in check. his former teammates coaches and friends remember him as an every day man that everyone can connect to and they knew he was special. >> he made the fans in philly feel like they were part of his extended family, his family. what he said the way he went about his business, on the field, he expected and he played hard and he worked hard. he was