Happy thursday, you guys. So great to see you as well, lauren this early morning. Yes, bright and early, switching it up a little bit. We love having our coffee together. Overnight construction is clearing our way and lauren, the roadways, they appear to be nice and dry. Nice and dry so far but heading in to work later you might have to be dealing with some rain impacting your commute the but first part of the commute should be okay, dry conditions, just some fog in place, and we do have have the clouds in place as well. Patchy areas of fog but looking good right now on sky scan three, live look at center city, you can see buildings there, visability not too reduced this early hour. Temperatures are at 47 degrees in philadelphia. Fortynine in allentown. Mild in ac at 49. Temperatures consistent near 50 right now in reading. Storm scan three is showing us what is up with this wind and that is a lot have moisture heading from the southwest and all of that rain will start to push itself into the the Delaware Valley as we head in the second half of the morning but getting you outside the door early on this thursday morning, cloud, patchy fog to start by the 6 00 oclock hour. Temperatures in the upper 40s. Still dry by 8 00 oclock hour, meisha but your afternoon commute we might be dealing with that rain. Ill have have have more coming up. Okay, lauren. Good graces of our morning commuters. Yes. But, i will be driving around right there with you. All right. This is the the tacony palmyra bridge, kind of hard to see, very dark. You can see travelers, bridge just went back down. The this is now back opened for traffic for those in and around that area. It is usually pretty quiet. Vine is still closed with that overnight construction project, east and westbound still closed, you can see our office right there lights still on letting you know no one moving around east or westbound between schuylkill and broad. Ninetyfive northbound between girard anal will gain i that right lane is block, they will be moving this out of our way sometime shortly. I will update that in a lit bit. We have an accident, goodshall road is close between fair way drive and indian creek road. Use that alternate of allentown road. Make note not that it is causing any major slow downs, it is still early but in that doesnt get cleared, it could absolutely do so. Nicole, back to you. Huge flames destroy a church in wilmington and authorities have launched an investigation. This is drone video sent from an Eyewitness News viewer. Fire at new jurist Missionary Baptist Church in van did he ever avenue at north pine street reached two alarms brick under control. This is video from chopper three. A fire fighter did suffer minor injuries there. That same church had a basement fire just two weeks ago. New this morning investigation is also underway in the cause of this fire in philadelphia. Eyewitness news on the scene about an hour ago on the 200 block of south 13th street in midtown village. Fire fighters a say they found fire on the third floor of that building that was quickly placed under control and in one was injury. Response times to Philadelphia Fire Department are too long. That is according to an audit from the city controller. Eyewitness News Reporter walt hunter explains why the the study is saying the calls are taking longer. Reporter Engine Company three wont be answering any alarms this day, between 8 00 a a. M. And 8 00 p. M. It is browned out one of the two Companies Put out of Service Every morning and night monday to friday at rotating stations, city wide, to save money. Were you aware that fire truck in your neighborhood isnt there today. I was not aware of that. No, i didnt know. Reporter due largely to brown outs the city controller says it is taking too long for Engine Companies to arrive. More than 44,000 failing to meet the five minute 202nd standard between 2010 and 2014. It puts lives at risk, no justification, for persisting in it. Reporter because shorthanded companies are scrambling harder to arrive on time, apparatus accidents, and injuries, have also increased substantially, according to the Fire Fighters union. It is not just about money but safety. Reporter union, controller and neighbors all want an end to the brown outs. An emergency, every second counts. Reporter philadelphia mayorelect jim kenney says he plans to end brown outs when he takes office. Our goal, is to eliminate them and i think that can be done and we will work with our Fire Fighters, our command staff and city to make sure that we change that. Reporter fire commissioner derek sawyer told me he he has serious questions about the controllers report and its conclusions, questions about the the numbers that were analyzed and how the study was conducted. Also, the the commissioner says, that there is no cause effect relationship in the report indicating that the brown outs like the one here at Engine Company three of anything to do with any possible delays in response times. Finally, the commissioner told me he plans his own Fire Department study, to see if any of the controllers conclusions are legitimate. The at Engine Company three in south philadelphia, walt hunter for cbs3 Eyewitness News. Well, Philadelphia Police are investigating the suspicious death of the child at a Day Care Center this happened on the 3500 block have of germantown avenue in north philadelphia. Investigators say ten monthold girls uncle arrived at sisters Child Care Center around noon to find staff members, performing cpr on that baby. He immediately drove that child to the nearby temple hospital. She was pronounced dead about 45 minutes later. Parents are understandably concerned. They dont know what is going on. There is just an investigation. Medical examiner will determine the cause of death, according to state record, sisters Child Care Center has had 40 violations in the past two years. Happening today, a baltimore judge will meet with the prosecution and tea fence about a possible retrial in the death of the freddie gray. Demonstrators marched through the streets after the child of William Porter ended with a hung jury. Porter was first of Six Baltimore Police officers to stand trial on charges stemming from grays arrest and death. Gray died in Police Custody last april. A jury is set to resume deliberations later this morning in the trial of the catherine knott, the the 25 yearold from bucks county is accused of taking part in a an attack on the gay couple in center city last year. Knott testified that she never punched or verbally abused those men. Two of knotts codefendants previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation. Did you get caught up in that grid lock in Center City Yesterday . Drivers, for taxis and a uber black brought traffic to a stand still. Members of the Taxi Workers Alliance and philadelphia limo association, protested the Ride Sharing Services uber x and lyft. They say that the the two services are operating illegally because they dont pay for city licenses, inspections and other regulations. Everyone thinks that they are illegal except themselves. These people are taking millions of dollars from taxi drivers and uber blacks pockets. We want action, justice and we want some action from the district attorney. You cannot make that money when you have uber x and lyft operating in the city. Were struggling. We cannot even pay our bills. In a statement uber says in part many taxi and limousine drivers are understandably frustrated because philadelphia parking authoritys outdated rules make it harder to earn a living when the public has shown they want more affordable options. 4 38. There is much more to come here on cbs3 Eyewitness News, it definitely looks like christmas but Services Feel like it. The it effects your drive to work . What about the drive home . Lauren updates the forecast, up next. Why are eagles facing a tough match with the cardinals . We will explain in sports when we come right back. The latestes installment in the farce awakens doesnt hit screens until the evening but the fans in our area are preparing right now a star wars and, few different theaters in our area we took a, amc, episode one, phantom menace kicks off at 1 00 a. M. People are crazy, right. Hard core fans turning out for this one of a kind watch party. It is just everyone gathering together for something we all love, you know, and it is exciting. To me the story itself has all come together and it is great seeing it, carrying through to the next generation here. Im excited to see something exciting. It is fun to see people geeking out, you know, when they really love something. Movie marathon leads up to the 7 00 p. M. Premiere of the force awakens or in my case, the force sleeps. We will have more from the mall in the next hour but i think it is great. People are so into this franchise. Yes, passion, you know. And anytime of the day. It is a good time of the day i think being inside of the theater but later on it will be nice inside because of the rain. Definitely a indoor day because it will be heavy, kind of soaker. Pack that umbrella a this morning. Rain slicker, the glushes. Rain is coming down but of course we do need rain. Temperatures right new pretty mild as far as averages are concerned. This time of the morning and this time of the year, and, in 30 degrees, and 47 right now in philadelphia, and calm wind near 50 degrees down the shore. Chillier in the poconos. Not too chilly a start for you at the 42 degrees. Checking in on your Neighborhood Network temperatures pretty consistent upper 40s in a ambler. The Point Pleasant beach at 55 t washington reporting 46 degrees, and temperatures today will be very mild, and we will be contending with this rain. Heavy at times, maybe even a rumble of thunder. Wind speed stay light, sunrise at 7 16 this morning and tonight we are starting to clear things out, rain ending by a ladder portion of the commute, six or 7 00 we will start to dry out and mostly cloudy, overnight tonight, cool breeze down to 46 degrees. Sunset at 4 38. Storm scan three is showing us what is in store as we look off to the west, that moisture kind of racing up, to the north and east, so clouds in place right now but already a few showers starting to work in the Del Marva Peninsula that will continue to track north east, so we will be dealing with this shower activity, starting to move in, kind of scattered in nature in the midmorning hours and future weather is showing us the the 9 00 oclock hour, rage moving in the Lehigh Valley and much more, and, and, and as we head in the evening hours, early part of the evening, still dealing with that rainfall, and rainfall totals, could be on the higher side but he could pick up an inch as we head throughout the day at the shore points. Even philadelphia, this particular mod he he will was given an inch of rainfall through the the the day today, so we will need that umbrella tomorrow. Chillier on the back side of the weather system, breezy, cooler, 49 degrees the high temperature, cold and blustery, sorry about that. Normally do i that on weekend, evening but i guess we dont do that here. 40 degrees on saturday and chilly still on sunday, 46 degrees. It is always lovely to see you lauren even unexpectly. In sports the the flyers host Vancouver Canucks tonight at wells fargo center. The puck hits the ice the at 1 00. The flyers are 1312, they have won six of their last ten games. Sixers wrapped up a road trip with the atlanta hawks. The First Quarter where sean holmes scores two points, sixers down seven. In the second quarter, jeff teague, gives the the hawks a 19point lead. He scored 18 for the night overall. Third quarter paul millsap got a three pointer, he scored 21. There it is right there. Sixers lost 127106. They are one26, the the sixers host the knicks tomorrow night. Eagles will try to prove they are ready for prime time when they host Arizona Cardinals sunday night. It is not easy. The card have a top offense in the nfl. They are led by Carson Palmer and eight time pro bowl wide receiver larry fitzgerald. Eagles now 11two card will be tough to stop. We have a lot that we have to handle as far as their receivers. You know, they have a nice running game. They play well together. They play well together. I think their communication, you know, is phenomenal and those guys, you can just tell that they are on page. We have to stay on page and disrupt their timing and get after carson. Eyewitness sports will get you ready for eagles cardinals match up on toyota sunday kick off, join don bell, leslie van arsdal and Merrill Reese sunday morning at 11 30. Good news for gear head, nascar is returning to new jersey for the the First Time Since 1998. The nascar pro series east will race in millville next november. It was three years in the making. It looks like a one Year Contract but there is a strong possibility that it could be a yearly event. Very interesting. I saw meishas head turning when that story came up. I believe we have a gear head in the studio. Still ahead on Eyewitness News this morning the the the the fed finally raises Interest Rates. How it will affect your next loan for your car and house . We will explain. But first heres is what coming up tonight on cbs3. Stay with us everybody. For another part of the headlines an investigation is underway in the cause of this fire that destroyed a church in wilmington. Fire fighter was injured while battling the blaze at the Missionary Baptist Church, that same church had a basement fire two weeks ago. Philadelphia city controller is sound ago alarm over Fire Departments response times, the National Standard is five minutes and 20 seconds. They found they miss that had mark. A jury is set to resume deliberation in the trial of catherine knott. Shes accused of taking part in an attack on a gay couple last year. Knott testified that she never punched or verbally abused those men. And, new york stock exchange, good morning to you, jill. As expect, the fed raised short term Interest Rates for First Time Since the financial crisis, so what does this mean to consumers . How does this affect us. It is a small increase, a quarter percentage point but fed chair janet yellin says she does expect to continue raising rates at a glow, gradual pace throughout next year. Major banks already announced that they are raising rates on some loans, Interest Rates on mortgages and car loans are also expected to go up only slightly though, ape so will loans on credit cards. So, to start it will all be pretty slow, but by next year though we could start feeling it after two or three or four rate increases. That is not good. As winter approaches and i know this firsthand, the office thermostat and even the home thermal the stat becomes a real battle ground, what can you tell us about this. Reporter there is a new survey by Career Builder and it find that nearly equal number of employees find their work place is either too cold or too hot. This poll find one in five workers have had an argument with a collogue over the the office temperature, and nearly as many say they have secretly adjusted the thermostat when no one is looking. Nicole, it is so cold on the floor of the stock exchange, if only i could find the thermostat here. Poor jill. I know what you mean. Im always cold. Im always freezing. Im always complaining bit in the studio. But if i had the opportunity i always hike up the thermostat, im with you. Jill, thanks. We will check with you later on. Coming up after the break we will get another check of weather and lets send it over to lauren with the forecast. Thanks, so much nicole quiet conditions for now as we wake up early on our thursday morning cloud, clouds in place and they will bring us rain as we head through the the day, today, fairly steady and heavy but right now no rain falling. Live look at center city, gorgeous conditions, 47 degrees, a a mild start to the day, dont need that winter coat but we will need rain slicker. Fortysix in wilmington. Waking up mild 52 degrees in wildwood but storm scan three showing us a batch of shower activity, starting to build from the south and west but that will be moving into the Delaware Valley as we move east in the second half of the morning. Still dry in the city, points south and west, we will see some shower activity by 9 00. Rain heavy at times around midday, if you have to run out and grab that sandwich it will be quite a soaker. In the 3 00 oclock hour, that rain continuing steady but temperatures not too bad in the upper 50s but meisha, we will be dealing with this rain as we head in the afternoon hours, heavy and maybe a few rum also have of thunder. It is weird to think about weather like. That we have been so spoiled. Good morning everyone. Take a look at this. This is a car fire at i95 northbound by the the airport. Police just showing up to try to contain this, but look at all that black smoke. Now not going to cause too many visibility issues. It is already dark. So you have that. But it looks like it is shooting straight up and vehicles passing by are moving out to the outer edge. This no doubt though will cause slow downs for gaper delays even though we are not in the 5 00 oclock hour it will not matter. They dont get those out of the way it will cause slow downs. This is i95 north. You see that and you hope that everyone is okay. The heres ben franklin bridge coming from new jersey, looking beautiful, as typical, morning, the vine east and westbound still closed between schuylkill and broad that overnight construction and an accident in horsham, blair mill road. So be careful of that area nicole, back over to you. Let check some of the stories our sister station kyw news radio 1060 is following. Heating Oil Customers are getting a break and it is not just because of the warmer weather. Plus a fire hazard pulls some hoverboards off the the shelves. But what should you look out for if you are still planning to buy one this christmas . Is the force still with us. Movie critic bill wine reviews the the force awakens. Check in two, three, four times a day on kyw news radio. Coming up next on cbs3 Eyewitness News star wars fever sweeps the the area we are live at an all night movie marathon getting ready for the the force awakens. Plus talk about burning the midnight oil will which stories staying opened for 170 straight hours, and it looks like a movie stunt but it is not, we will explain, it is dry outside right now but in just a a few hours, storm scan three shows rain is on the way. Lauren is tracking wet weather, and also huge flames destroy a local church, just days before christmas and not the first time that Church Caught fire this month. Plus. The the force is common to you. It is star wars mania, the wait is almost over for the latest movie in the franchise from a galaxy far, far away but before it hits theaters tonight some fans are pulling an all neither to get their fill of the force right now. The pretty exciting stuff. It is thursday, december 17th, good morning, so glad you are with us. Im nicole brewer. Erika has the day off. Get ready for some rain today this one could affect both of your commutes. Lauren is in for kate think morning. Meisha is cheg road. Good morning to you ladies. Good morning. As you can see right behind me but we have an accident and car fire outside on the roadways. I will get to in a a moment. I know roadways are nice and dry. Nice, dry and temperatures feeling mild, but plus side. Minus side we will be dealing with some rain that will be moving in for second half of the morning but our commute should be dry for most of us and temperature right now probably dont need a winter coat, jacket for sure. 48 degrees your current temperature in philadelphia. 49 degrees in the Lehigh Valley, little will chillier in millville a a at 44. Storm scan three is showing us included deck firmly in place and note that is large area of precipitation racing off to the north and east and that activity will be building in the Delaware Valley as we head