Transcripts For WCAU NBC 10 News At 6pm 20140619

Today, Philadelphia City Council Passed a bill t decriminalize the possession of smaller amounts of marijuana for Recreational Use. Mayor Michael Nutter still has some time to sign or veto that bim. Right now in philadelphia, the penalty for possession of an ounce of marijuana for Recreational Use results in a mandatory arrest, but the new ordinance would lessen the penalty to a 25 fine and a ticket. Nbc 10s Christine Maddela checked with mayor nutter about the likelihood of this becoming law. She joins us live tonight from center city what did he say, christine . Reporter a short time ago, we talked to the mayor as well as a spokesperson from the philadelphia prison system. Now, even though this bill passed through city council, it looks like the road to becoming a law may be a difficult one. Absolute guaranteed way not to get arrested for having a small amount of marijuana in your possession is just not to have it. Reporter philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter says the Police Commissioner around the District Attorney have concerns about the bill. Marijuana is an illegal substance. So i dont know that at the local level, we can actually, in fact, decriminalize something that the state deems to be an illegal substance. Reporter councilman jim kenny says his bill doesnt decriminalize marijuana, it just lessens the penalties for people caught with an ounce or less, people kenny says often make a mistake. People are being arrested for dimeag or a couple joints in their pocket, what they are being locked up for. Nobody carries around an ounce of poll. President s have said that maybe they did it in college so who knows if they would have got caught, they wouldn president now. Reporter uppor ters the bill say as 25 fineinead of an arrest frees up the crt and prison systems. The sensible wdo it then the Police Officer says it on the stet. Arrest someone, t officers take the suspect to a station house or to e round house and spend time off the street booking them. 17,000 hours a year, which is, to me, crazy. Reporter i talked to a spokesperson from the philadelphia prison system who said the bill wouldnt affect their system much, very few people incarcerated are there for simple special. Now, philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter said he is going to review the legislation throughout the summer. He has until september to sign the bill. Reporting live at city hall, Christine Maddela, nbc 10 news. This measure wouldnt legalize recreational marijuana. Right now, neither pennsylvania, new jersey or delaware have laws legalizing Recreational Use of marijuana. New jersey does allow medical marijuana and so does delaware, beginning july 1st. In pennsylvania, medical marijuana is not legal yet but lawmakers are considering a change. The only states that allow marijuana for Recreational Use, colorado and washington. Some good news today for the financially strapped Philadelphia School district. If i recall city council decide to bore roads 57 million to help avert up to 800 layoffs and program cuts. Today, Council Passed a bill to borrow 27 million of that money, another 30 million will come in the fall. Right now, the School District is facing a 216 million budget deficit. 120 million was already approved by city council but left a 96 million gap. Share one singular goal, to give our students the education they are entitled to as a fundamental right of this city. Councilwoman brondle Reynolds Brown who introduced the borough bills says she is still hoping for help from harrisburg in the form of a cigarette tax to go to schools. School district superintendent dr. William height has this reaction to the borough breakthrough. He says developing for rib, the rebel casino filed for bankruptcy, the second time since 2012. The casino will shut down this summer unless it can find a buyer. Workers got warning letters today. Rebel hasnt turned a profit since it opened two years ago. The last 15 minutes, nbc 10 received this statement from bob mcdef vote representing local 54. Nbc 10s lu ann cahn in Atlantic City tonight following every angle of this story. Count on nbc 10 for the very latest tonight at 11 00. Meantime, all new at 6 00, police in berks county investigating a case of road rage. They say led to a shooting. Investigators say an offduty Police Officer fired his personal weapon, critically injuring another man. Police say it all started when the officer got into a fender bender with another car on route 61 near Berkeley Park drive tuesday night. The officer was driving his personal vehicle. Nbc 10s doug shimell joins us now live tonight in reading. The District Attorney is trying to figure out whether the officers actions were justified . Reporter thats exactly what the whole case hinges on, was it unprovoked or was it an act of selfdefense . Investigators say the offduty officers silver car and another vehicle may have clipped each other two night north of reading. A road rage incident took place. Now, we are still trying to piece together exactly what precipitated the road rage, how it happened. Reporter that road rage escalated when they pulled over. During a scuffle, the offduty Police Officer discharged his weapon, striking one of the individuals in the chest area. Reporter detectives say it was the offduty officers personal gun and not his Police Weapon and in an unusual move, the District Attorney says he is not releasing the officers name or the police department. Any particular reason why youre not leagues the department of the off duty officer, normally something released . Nothing to do with his employment so we dont believe we want to expose that department to any publicity at this point. Reporter we are told that unnamed officer is on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. The man shot in the chest, we are told, critical but stable condition tonight. We also talked with the District Attorney who says they are reviewing a security video from a business near where this incident happened to see if it shows clearly who was the aggressor. Live in reading, doug shimell, nbc 10 news. Skyforce10 over pennsauken high school, there was a stabbing on a school bus. Police say two girls were involved right after school let out. The two girls know each other. This may have been part of an ongoing feud. Police believe one of the girls used a razor or a box cutter to slash the other. One female student, 15 years old, was stand october bus when another student entered the bus and sliced her across the right side of her face, approximately from her mouth back. The victim was rushed to Cooper University Medical Center where shes in surge rich the girl with the knife was taken into police custody. From our south jersey bureau, an update on a home repair contractor who suddenly closed his doors. Here is the mugshot tonight of the man who owns dream House Windows west berlin, taken into custody yesterday. He is facing charges that include theft by deception and writing bad checks. Customers say he took money for work that was never done and subcontractors and employees claim they were not paid. As of today, greenHouse Windows now has an f rating with the Better Business bureau because of three unanswered complaints. Also, a failure to honor a commitment to arbitrate disputes. The bbcs board of directors will vote next week whether to revoke the businesss accreditati accreditation. More than a dozen men charged in a child porn sweep in berks county to tell you about today. Berks countys District Attorney announced the arrests of 13 men ranging in age from 17 to 65. They are facing charges for possession and distributing child porn. We spoke with the mother, 22yearold suspect, william florianny. Angry. Williams a good kid . Yes. Yes. Tell me about him s this out of character for william . Yes. Very much. Investigators say all 13 suspect were arrested or turned themselves into police. Good news, finally drying out after a wet afternoon. Thats right. The rain has moved out of our area. Sheena . Yes, that is especially good news for everyone in dover. The fire fly music festival. Avoid from that, seeing nice clearing for this evening. How will that play into your weekend . Find out which day we could have showers. Thats next. A jersey shore Police Officer is welcomed back to work in a big way after losing part of a leg in a devastating accident. No word to describe how i feel to be back today. Im tedd greenberg. Next, the grueling journey he had to endure to return to the force. All new tonight at 6 00, it took just over a year, but an Atlantic City Police Detective who lost part of his leg in a devastating motorcycle crash is back on the job tonight, as you can see by that warm welcome. His return did not come quietly. Fellow officers and even the citys may terror to surprise him. Nbc 10 Jersey Shore Bureau reporter, ted greenberg, was there as well, for the special arrival this afternoon. Congratulations, mike. Welcome back. Michael braxton says he never gave up on his goal to get back to work. Oh, man, its great. I didnt expect all this obviously. Reporter today, the Atlantic City Police Detective received this welcome from his fellow members of the force. How you doing . Reporter and the resorts mayor as he returned to full duty. Braxton was involved in an offduty motorcycle crash last june, an accident that severed part of his left leg. He received his final prosthetic on april 7th, his 28th birthday. Looked like it was a little far fetched at the beginning but to get here and be here now, it feels absolutely amazing. Reporter he says it didnt feel that way, getting here took eight months of physical therapy, three days a week, at least 90 minutes each time. It was rough. It was grueling. Some days were more painful than others. It was accomplishable. Reporter tions been a year of ups and downs but detective Michael Braxton says he wants to take his progress even further by being healthier than he was before the accident. Ted greenberg, nbc 10 news. An update on this developing story, we just called and one lane of Delaware Avenue still closed after an accident here involving a dump truck in south philadelphia. A promel srt at dame delords in s. W. A. T. More. They are protesting a plan by the philadelphia archdiocese to merge with other lady of peace in fulsom at the end of the month. When the initiative began in fall 2010, there were 266 parishes in the archdiocese. In fall of september 2013, the archdiocese announced 46 parishes were being considered for consolidation or closing. At that point, 236 parishes. After the merger at the beginning of this month that left 219 parishes in the fivecounty archdiocese. We are watching the showers leave the area, sunshine is moving in, too, with the dry air, so the rain for tonight is pretty much ending. Drier air is filtering in and thats where we start to see the snipe, it will really be here as we go into tomorrow and the weekend wont be as hot as some of the temperatures we have seen this week show you which day we could see a shower or two, skyline from the adventure aquarium, a very different picture, a lot changed the past hour, sunshine more than today. Temperature mid70s, humidity slowly starting to drop through the area, tomorrow feel much drier than today. On the radar, rain moved to the south, parts of maryland, still watching one area of thunderstorm activity, the one we have been keeping an eye on, it does not appear that it will be moving into parts of delaware, some of the rain could linger into sussex county, either way, mostly move to the south. This is what will make it comfortable, end up the week tomorrow. Future weather continues, gradual clearing tonight through the overnight hours, clouds keep moving out, for tomorrow, less humid, the humidity will be much lower, it will feel more comfortable and be a dry day. Going into saturday, some clouds to start off your morning best chance south of philadelphia, up in the poconos from friday through sunday, you should be on the dry side, temperatures staying about the mid to upper 70s in the poconos. Friday looks good, upper 70s, low humidity, chance of a shower, farther south you go, better chance you have of seeing it, dont let it ruin your day not going to be a washout of a day. Temperatures around 77. Tonight, showers keep moving south, continue to clear, gradual clearing for tonight, 62, philadelphia, more sunshine, lower humidity, mid to lower 80s tomorrow, comfortable into the week, saturday chance, of a shower, mostly south of philadelphia, high around 80. On sunday, low 80s, so, very nice weekend. Going into next week, nice and dry next chance of showers does come as we go into wednesday. Coming up next in sports, the sixers may need to change their maps for the nba draft. And why Fred Flintstone wouldnt make a chip kellycoached team. Coming up. It is a trip to the past in center city. Septa marging its 50th anniversary with throw back thursday, vintage buses were on display. Advice door get on board, check out the old look. Also a sidewalk display of old own fors, tokens and other memorabilia. Hi, im amy fadool from Comcast Sports net. The nba draft is one week from today. The 76ers hold the first overall pick. Three players largely considered shooins to be one, two, three, enby, wiggins and parker, but that may have now changed. Thats because enby will have surgery tomorrow to repair a stress fracture in his right foot. No word on how he suffered that injury. He had been making the rounds with predraft workouts, but emnot participate in any more of those and will not attend the draft. Eagles wrapped up threeday minicamp today, final workout for the team before training ca begs next month. No official date for Training Camp has kelly said the team has 35 days between today and the start of Training Camp, so that would be friday, july 25th. Kelly also said the eagles will scrimmage with the patriots a few days before their august 15th preseason game in foxborough. Kelly was asked about his plans for the next few weeks without football. Ill go home and see my family and spend some time with them, but its i dont look at this as i need a break from what weve just done. I mean, this is our lifes choice and we enjoy it so its not like i cant wait for, you know this isnt like Fred Flintstone with dabba do and trying to get out of work. Always a good day when you hear chip kelly say that. The phillies start a fourgame series with the cardinals in st. Louis. Coverage begins at 7 30 on Comcast Sports. After sweeping the braves, the phillies trying to do something they havent done all season. Thats win four in a row. I think itsthe job and putting parts of the game together, the pitching, offense and defense. Moving to the link, 11yearold lucy lee, the young player ever to qual for the womens u. S. Open, shot an 8 over 78 today at pinehurst number two lee started the round with a double bogie on 10. She did have two birdies, however, and early i tee time gave her plenty of free time this afternoon. Whats your plan for the rest of the day . Eat some more ice cream. She is a 11 after all. The womens u. S. Open continues through the weekend in pinehurst that will wrap it up for sports. Renee, i will send it back to you. Theres still time to apply for nbc 10s grant challenge for local nonprofits called 21st cesoluons. Advice theres a 50,000 grant available as well as two 25,000 grants. We want to help good ideas turn into great ones. Applications are being accepted until august 8th. Fore to ply, go to nbc10. Com. Now for a look at whats comi up tonight on n 10 new g change the fach insurance. In the last half hour, popular philadelphia celebration returns to the West Oak Lane section, the night market started at 6, goes until 10 tonight. Celebration of food attracts thousands of people to the area and of course, all those food trucks, almost smell it right, renee . Tonights celebration at 72nd. Looked like he was serving up tacos. A live look from Traffic Cameras near do every downs in kent county. This is near the very popular fire fly festival. See a little bit of traffic here moving tonight. Of course, its moving a little bit quicker than that. Thousands of people already there at dover for the fourday event. And sheena had really good news for them, because the weather has improved. You dont want to be outside at a festival and its raining, certainly not lightning. No you definitely dont. That was the good news. The rain has cleared. Not looking at any rain heading toward do everier now. Actually a really good night tonight. Good. Yes, great news. So clearing and cooler for tonight, 62 for the low in philadelphia. 54 north and west. So, a little cooler than what we have been used to the past few nights. Tomorrow, the dry air really here, more sunshine, less humidity, 82 to 85 degrees. Going to be a fantastic end to the week. As we go into saturday, its gonna be a nice day, we could see a shower through the area, the best chance does look to be south of philadelphia, 80 degrees, dont cancel any maps because of that shower chance. Sunday, nice, sunny, 82 degrees, so, looks like a pretty good weekend, even as we go into next week, it starts off nice, best chance of thunderstorms comes back as we go into the middle of next week. So i would say after todays showers and a couple thunderstorms, we are looking pretty good. All right. Nice to be out of the 90s. Yes. All right, thanks, sheena. For Sheena Parveen and all of us here at nbc 10, thanks for watching, im renee chenaultfattah. Im jim rosenfield. Tonight, the latest on the crisis in iraq with brian williams. We will see you back here at 11 00 with jacqueline london. Until then, have a great night. On our broadcast tonight, back to baghdad. Hundreds of americans on their way to iraq as president obama considers targeted military strikes. Hitting home for so many families tonight. Why gas prices are going up. Wheels of fortune. The hot new way to get around all across this country. People seem to love it so why are so many communities now cracking down. And driving force. She is only 11 years old, and tonight shes on course to make history. Nightly news begins now. From nbc news World Headquarters in new york, this is nbc nightly news with brian williams. Good evening. President obama today talked about u. S. Military action in iraq. Several