as has been noted several times waldron mercy is a private catholic school and does not fall under the administrative purview of the archdiocese of philadelphia it's wrong for any individual or group to perpetuate the false hood that the archbishop interfered with the school's personnel decisions. that is very latest from the archdiocese headquarters tonight. david spunt for cbs-3 "eyewitness news". >> david, thank you. >>> a car accident claims the life of an american idol hopeful. police have identified the victim of the crash as 20 year-old natasha bloat she auditioned for american idol in philadelphia when the suv flipped over on i-95 in lower makefield. five other people were injured in that crash. police say the car was go at a high rate of speed when it happen. the investigation is still ongoing. >>> hazmat crews were called to the port richmond section of philadelphia this morning when fuel spilled on to the roadway after an accident. chopper three over richmond and west more land streets where a tractor trailer collided with a smaller vehicle, one person was taken to the hospi

as has been noted several time, waldron mercy is a private catholic school and does not fall under the administrative pursuit archdiocese of philadelphia. >>> pennsylvania congressman chaka fattah plans to run for re-election despite being indicted on federal corruption charges. >> in terms of the allegations that have been made, i am innocent. i'm going to do my work on behalf of the people who have elected me. and i'm going to be a candidate for re-election in my district next year. >> fattah was in havertown delaware county today taking part ymca advocacy week kick off event. democrat who has spent more than two decades in congress is accused of of misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal, charitable and campaign funds. today fattah vowed to clear his name. >>> vice-president biden it will future is the topic avenue lot of conversation right now with many wondering if he will jump nap the race for president. top local aid to the vice-president's late son beau biden has joined the super pack working to create biden to run. vice-president is expected to make a fina

now it is all in an effort to reinstate former waldron mercy academy educators marge i winters. we have video yesterday as they delivered that petition to show you. winter was let gone in june because word gout out she was married to a woman. school officials knew that from day one but it wasn't until diocese found out that winters lost her job. she had been working at the school for eight years. diocese says waldron mercy is a private school and they do not run it or make staffing decisions but winter supporters blame pressure from the archbishop as a catalyst for her firing. we did speak with reporters yesterday and let's listen to what they told us yesterday. >> then why did they allow her to teach for eight years if they weren't pressured by the archdiocese. >> he asked now for a moratorium on firing any lgbt employee. >> reporter: it is worth noting that the dozens or so people who traveled here to the archdiocese, with winter, didn't make it past the front door. a staffer actually collect paperwork. they wanted to deliver it to the archbishop himself but a staffer brought

waldron is not the run by the church. it is a private catholic school but it is not an archdiocese school. however, it did say that the diocese did say that it supports the decision of the school made. we talk with some supporters as well as marge i and her father, yesterday as they delivered that petition. let's listen to what they told us. her father speaks first. >> these are two catholic women devoted to lives, and taking care of people. >> it wasn't until the diocese was notified when something change. because the school knew. >> that is not the case then why did they allow her to teach for eight years if they weren't pressured by the archdiocese? >> reporter: a a lot of emotion, you can hear in those voices there as they delivered that petition to the archdiocese yesterday. now the petition alleged that school officials, feared the archdiocese will threaten the school's status, as a catholic school if it keeps winters, on as an educator but again, the archdiocese says it does not have anything to do with this. we re

back in the delaware valley the firing of gay teacher margie winters from waldron mercy academy has caused cries of protest. philadelphia archbishop charles chaput supports the firing saying there's nothing complicated or controversial about it. it is tempting to wonder how pope francis will react. of course no one should or would presume to know. five words make it especially difficult to rush to a conclusion. because we can hear him say, who am i to judge? lgbt groups have been seeking a meeting with the pope when he is in the united states and organizers said this to the new york times. gay catholics want him to acknowledge their rejection by the church and to welcome them as full members with equal access to the sacraments like baptism and marriage. for the pope and vatican, this is an issue that won't go away. i'm jim gardner in buenos aires. >> and our coverage of the pope's upcoming visit along with jim's reports from argentina can be found at 6abc.com/pope. we also have the information you need to know including maps of the highway closures and security zones for the pope's visit n

officials at waldron mercy academy sent a letter to parents offering them a chance to talk about theol's decision to fire margie winters. she was let go in july. school officials thanked winters for her many contributions over the years. >>> it's now up and running at a delaware ymca. >> take a look at it. local sign sifts teamed up with the university of delaware for this movable harness system. it allows people with disabilities to be lifted on to bikes, treadmills and other equipment. the glasgow ymca unveiled this yesterday. >> to find this piece of equipment i would have to go to a rehab with other people with disabilities, not in a gym or somewhere where all of my family is there and there aren froms here and it's a community. >> and the goal is to eventually have one of those systems at all six delaware ymca branches. >>> you're watching nbc 10 news. nbc 10 news today at 5:00 a.m. starts right now. >>> nbc 10 news starts now. >> tolls doubling for some drivers? that vote happening today could have you paying twice as much to cross the river. >>> a violent night in philadelphia

winters was fired from waldron mercy a academy at merion station last month when parents complained about her marriage to another woman. winters today called for a moratorium on the firing of any lgbt employees. >>> a cash reward is being offered tonight to catch this crook. he has been tampering with cash machines, and in center city philadelphia, olde city and possibly montgomery county. philadelphia police say he has installed skimming devices on atm's which steel peoples credit and debit card information. he allegedly hit seven-11th atm twi last night and another site in the 200 block of market street. >>> the problems that hit septa's first attempts to sell special transit passes for the papal visit had has seemingly evaporated. action muse got behind the scenes of the ticketleap.com today, that is center city firm handling the ticket sales. as of 11:00 o'clock they say only 34,000 passes have been reserved in the lottery. 350,000 are up for grabs. >> it has gone really well. we started midnight the last night and it goes until midnight tonight. so far really smooth, no issues whatso

. >> the archdiocese responded today saying waldron mercy does not fall under its administrative reach because it is a private catholic school. however, it reiterated that archbishop chaput does support the decision to fire winters. >>> police in westminster county have released a sketch of a home invasion suspect. lawmakers say he beat and robbed an elderly homeowner on the unit block of bertolet school road. "action news" reporter annie mccormick is live in west vincent township tonight. annie, what's the latest here. >> reporter: jim the police chief here says they haven't had a home invasion in more than a decade in this area of chester county. he says in this case the suspect made off with cash jewelry a laptop and also prescription medication. he also says that suspect repeatedly beat the victim who is in his 80's. this is a sketch west vincent township police want the public to z they believe this man is responsible for the home invasion that left an 81-year-old korean war veteran seriously battered and bruised. the suspect said he worked for the water company. >> he asked the e

she was fired 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. bu

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

spokesperson for the waldron mercy academy says that meet log not be open to the public, but it will ab chance for parents and school officials to reflect and try to move forward. the school did not renew the contract of margie winters back in june because she was in a same sex marriage. she says she disclosed that to the school when they hired her eight years ago. >>> investigators say a truck driver fatigue likely caused last year's deadly crash on the new jersey turnpike that badly injured comedian tracy morgan and killed another comedian. but they also say other factors were at play that made the injuries so severe. fox 29's joyce evans joins us with more on what the ntsb revealed about the crash today. and, joyce, they believe the out come could have been a lot different. >> absolutely, lucy. it's been a little more than 14 months since kevin roper a wal*mart truck driver slammed into a limousine van on the new jersey turnpike but today safety experts say that the victims injuries did not have to be so severe and they believe the crash could have been prevented altogether. natio