Looping back around heading back out into the sea possibly restrengthening and doing a second landfall near houston. So we are talking a very prolonged period this is all the way through the next four or five days that this storm is going to be bringing rain to the coastline of texas which is why we are talking very very high amounts of rain. From Corpus Christi up to houston. 15, 25inches of rain. Thats the big concern about flooding but there are other concerns with this storm. The surge six to 12 feet from Padre Island National seashore up into sergeant, texas and winds 74 Miles Per Hour or more. Thats that Hurricane Force winds. Very scary and then theres a severe component guys they could be seeing tornadoes as we head through the next few hours. Ill be keeping track of it, as well as our forecast back here, guys, looking absolutely beautiful. Its tough to talk about texas want theyre expecting down there when its so gorgeous out here. Well check in a few minutes. Thanks mon any k our local red cross is already helping those in the path of hurricane her z the Regional Call Center at 23rd and chestnut gearing up to handle the flood of calls coming in from texas and louisiana. Also, today, two red cross volunteers from philadelphia were dispatched to the storm and are on their way to the gulf coast tonight. We anticipate that we will have to send more staff and volunteers as harvey makes landfall, and we can anticipate the impact of it on the affected communities. And you can help the American Red Cross in two ways. Donate online or by texting 90999. You can also donate blood at local Red Cross Centers. We will go live to texas in just a few minutes. From galveston where the storm set to make landfall about midnight tonight. All right. We have some breaking news tonight. Fire breaks out inside a Delaware County apartment building. The flames up to three alarms in the building in sharon hill. Fox 29s Shawnette Wilson is just spoke to the fire chief live at the scene. Shawnette . Reporter well, dawn and chris, this is very much still an active scene. A few hours after this fire started you can see were told more than a hundred i should say several hundred personnel are here waiting to resume getting this fire under control. But not until it is safe to do so. So heres what we know as you take live look at the scene here. The call came in at 2 30 this afternoon for a building fire at 400 sharon hill avenue. Crews say that when they got here they were met with heavy smoke and fire, of course, they searched the building immediately they tell us no one was inside. What we know about this building its three floors, six apartments inside. Its a privately owned building. The fire were told reached three possibly four alarms before the roof collapsed and forced firefighters to have tore treatment we just talk to the fire chief moments ago. Heres where things stand right now. Right now due to the collapse of the roof, we cant put anybody inside the building. Were surrounding it and drowning it with all the large diameter hose and the ladder trucks. Once we feel we have the bulk of the fire knocked. Well carefully ascertain how the building is maybe send somebody in the first floor to check and see how it is and then eventually im sure it will have to be demolished. Reporter you just heard the fire chief saying eventually this building will have to be demolish a total loss. Looking live here you can see fire crews on the ladder spraying water on the roof of that building. So activity has resumed here at the scene. We can tell you that one civilian was taken to the hospital. Were fold for smoke halation. Other than that no one has been hurt. Were told that there is a Red Cross Center set up at borough hall for any families that might need assistance. Dawn, back to you. All right, thank you shawnette a strange discovery this morning near a south philadelphia skate park. Someone found a 4foot bust of general james beaver the 20th governor of pennsylvania. Now, police are trying to figure out how it got there. Fox 29s Dave Schratwieser broke this story. Hes now live in Fairmount Park at the civil war memorial where that bust had stood for many years. Reporter chris, the plot thickens tonight. Philadelphia police now trying to determine if park workers may have taken that bust down from the memorial over to a yard to be refurbished where it was then stolen. Or whether vandals climbed up that 25foot high perch and just took it down. I saw the statue. I look at it, and, um, a friend of mine actually googled it. Reporter greg papa was riding his park through fdr park in south philadelphia friday morning when he came upon this l james beaver near the skate park here. He is a civil war, um, Union General, i think. Reporter police were called and quickly began investigating where the bust of the Union General and pennsylvanias 20th governor was taken from. And how it got here. Why would they want to do . Thats off the chain. That is totally off the chain. Reporter turns out the bust had been snatched from the pennsylvania civil war memorial on the avenue of the republic in Fairmount Park where it stood 2a perch with several other prominent figures from the civil war. I dont know how they did that. Yeah. Its amazing how someone got up there. Its preposterous. Why would they want to take a statue that been there for years . Yes. Something as a landmark. Reporter police found this hole at the base of the memorial just below where the statue sat until vandals removed it. The theft of the bust comes amidst a fire storm over the controversial frank rizzo statue in philadelphia and confederate statues across the country. They planned that. Yeah. They planned that. They ignorant. They ignorant. They just totally ignorant. No respect. Dont have no respect for art. I think its sad. Someone didnt realize who this who james beaver was. Union general. Union general. Not confederate general . Yes. Reporter now, the motive unknown night but a little fact dug up by my cameraman pete santo. General beaver was the sponsor of a state law that made it a misdemeanor crime to remove damage or deface public statues in pennsylvania. Well have the latest on the investigation coming up at 6 00. Chris . Coincidental twist, thanks, dave. Back to our breaking coverage of Hurricane Harvey now. Super marks in texas packed with people stocking up for this major category three hurricane. Some store shelves already clear. Harvey will make landfall in just hours from now. Foxs Lauren Blanchard is live in galveston, texas. Lauren, how are conditions there . Reporter yeah, hey chris and dawn we were actual until some of those supermarkets yesterday and youre right, though shelves were cleared. People were in lines. Number of wal marts all out of the water this is folks up and down the coast here in texas are preparing for harvey to hit tonight and guys, the forecast keeps getting worse. The National Hurricane center now says theres a good chaps harvey could hit texas twice. Possibly as a category three storm. Packing winds of up to 120 miles an hour. There have been some evacuations in coaster al areas but some residents say theyll stay and ride out the storm. We filled up our bathtubs full of water, and just made a pot of beans. Two pots of beans. Reporter local officials are now calling harvey a life threatening hurricane and theyre urging folks to have a plan if more evacuations are ordered. If you wait until you realize how serious this condition is, you like loll find that its too late. President trump says hes monitoring the situation closely from the white house getting a briefing this morning from his fema administrator and several other senior officials. President trump and his entire team have been actively engaged with the state and local officials in texas and louisiana preparing for this storm. Reporter meanwhile here in galveston, preparations continue. Locals are boarding up homes and businesses. Hoping the citys hundre hundredyearold sea wall will protect them from the worst of the flooding. Im scared so im going to do everything i can to protect our little place down here and hope and pray for the best. Reporter now, after harvey slams texas this week and it is expected to head out to the gulf gain more strength and come back and hit houston early next week. Chris, dawn . Lauren blanchard live on the gulf coast for us tonight. Stay safe, lauren. A murder for hire. Those are the accusations being brought tonight against a man and a woman in chester county. Chester county prosecutors charging christopher pick card and Latrice Harrington way scheme after investigators say they hired a hit man to kill someone. That hit man ultimately turned out to be an Undercover Police officer. Investigator sauce pick card believed someone was quote ratting on him to police so he and harrington according to investigators gave the undercover money two firearms the address and the identification of the target. A former south jersey fire chief learns his fate for child pornography. 46yearold john terra sue at a russo will spent the next six years in prison. Prosecutors say the former chief and audubon Park Fire Company used the computer at that fire station to distribute child porn. Authorities found more than a thousand files. He pleaded guilty back in may. A man robbed in his own home in the cobbs creek section of philadelphia. Police called to the Home Invasion around 3 30 this morning. This happening on the 200 block of north cecil street. The Victim Told Police two armed men stormed into his bedroom and demanded money. At some point the victim was hit in the head. He was taken to a local hospital. Right now no arrests have been made. He is one of the most famous scientist thats world. Bill night and now hes suing a Major Company for tens of millions of dollars. And the video is chilling. A man follows a woman walking in philadelphia. What police say happened next that has them trying to get him off the street. Politicians playing gameston while south jersey gets short changed . Then vote fran grenier. Think its time we had a regular guy, not a lifelong politician . Thats fran grenier. Looking for a fighter to take on the tax hikes and job killing regulations . Elect fran grenier. Want a leader wholl actually stand up for south Jersey Schools and communities . If you answered yes to any of these questions, theres only one way fran grenier. Terrifying attack on a woman in north philadelphia. 20yearold woman escapes being kidnapped near temple university. Youre looking at Surveillance Video of the incident. Philadelphia police say the woman got off the septa bus on broad street and cecil b. Moore. A man walks up next to her, then grabs her from behind and tries to drag her into an empty lot. Well the victim fortunately broke free and called police. Tonight police are still looking for the man in this video. And Philadelphia Police have identified the man gunned down in fair hill last night. Police say 38yearold michael letum was shot multiple times on the 100 block of west lippincott street after 9 00 last night. He died at the hospital later. No arrests have been made and no motive from police. Caught on camera, a car crashes into a new jersey home and the driver isnt the only one facing charges tonight. No. In a surprising turn of events, the homeowner also ends up in handcuffs. Fox 29s jeff cole joins us live in Camden County where the dramatic crash happened. Quite a story, jeff. Reporter well you know, dawn, if you look behind me youll see this bored up fence behind me. The homeowner on monday morning was actually looking at a feed from her Security Camera when she saw the car coming at her house. Now, they have lost possessions that they spent their lifetime working for. I wish it was just a bad dream. I keep saying to myself, but its not. Reporter the basement of the rivera home of woodland Camden County look as if a small bomb went off. The water heater, pipes, vents, wiring are all a tangled mess and the homeowner can barely contain himself. This guy came out of nowhere, coming from the street on this side and he just plowed right through my gate into the basement. Reporter it was 9 00 monday morning when the Security Camera captured the crash. The driver identified in Police Records as 37yearold angel marino driving a jeep bearing pennsylvania plates told police he was late for an apartment, driving fast and lost control. The image of the car and the house was captured by skyfox monday the revert rahs are forced to live in a hotel. Tour everything up in there. Water heater, um, electrical, plumbing, the house heater. Reporter but the story doesnt end there. Albert rivera faces a simple as saw. When he saw the damage and found marino being held on his property by police, he grabbed him. Do you regret having grabbed him now . You know what, im going to tell you the truth. You do not. I dont regret grabbing him at all. Reporter woodland director of Public Safety tells fox 29 the driver will face a number of traffic violations and was charged with possession of Drug Paraphernalia for a pot pipe found in his vehicle. The riveras are totaling up their losses. 10,000 worth of tools. All kind of stuff that i had in there. Reporter all ruined. All ruined. He through them 10 feet across the basement. Reporter now they do have insurance here. They are working with their Insurance Company but they expect to be out of their house for at least a month. Theyve got to sure up the foundation here. Well have more roaring at 6 00. For now im jeff cole life in Camden County, folks, back to you. Well see the 6 00. Thank you jeff. Hundreds of people from our area and beyond beginning their 60mile journey to raise money and awareness in the battle against Breast Cancer these folks spent countless months training and fundrais fundraisie susan g. Komen walk. Fox 29 at the Willow Grove Park for the emotional ceremony. Participants will spend the next three days making their way to the navy yard. This is my tenth walk. Its we have 12 year walkers. 14 year walkers. We started for all right friend marsha who is a Breast Cancer survivor and her sister sue who is also a survivor and i lost my sister to Breast Cancer in 2010 so were walking for our family and our friends and were just so grateful to be here. That woman and her friends are part of a church group traveling from outside of memphis, tennessee. The walk in philadelphia raised more than skate Million Dollars since it started here in 2003. Making a splash to get kids ready for the new school year. Today families flocked to clementon park and splash world in Camden County for a School Supply drive. Our own bob kelly was there live for good day this morning. Each person who brought in five new items got into the park for just ten bucks. A great day it was to hang out at the water park all those supplies loaded into a schoolbus will go to families in need this year. Lets check in with fox 29 Weather Authority. We are keeping an eye on harvey. Up here in our area a beautiful weekend on tap. Cape may not bad so to set up your beach chair today or for the neck several days for that matter. Fox 29 meteorologist monica cryan here now. Yeah. No hurricane in cape may today. Monica. Were not even seeing any kinds of effects. Some people may be saying the rip currents will be bad. At this point a low to moderate risk all along the shore lines. Its 77 degrees in Atlantic City and in wildwood. 77 for those of us in philadelphia. You may have noticed that kind of cooler feel in the air. Well keep that all weekend lo long. 77 degrees in dover. Lets take closer look at those people head down the shore. Were at 76 degrees in sea isle. And cape may where we were just taking live look it looked absolutely gorgeous lots of sunshine. 77 degrees here its the next two days down the shore. Remember that low to moderate risk of rip currents. So that also goes well with those partly sunny conditions through saturday. Lots of sunshine. Temperatures into the mid 70 70s especially with the sea breeze it may feel a bit cooler. Pack the sweatshirt, you know, your ocnj sweatshirt the lifeguard will look great today as we head into the weekend weve got really lots of good weather here in the Delaware Valley and along the shore line. Ill talk more about that coming up in just a bit. Guys. Monica, thanks. To men shot overnight in east germantown. Police say just before 1 00 this morning they heard multiple gunshots coming from the 1300 block of east rittenhouse street. When they arrived, a car sped away from the scene while two men remained one of those men shot is in critical condition. Police were ultimately able to arrest the driver of that car. Coming up, pot and beer. One brewery is hoping it will be a winning combination. So theyve made a cannabis flavored brew. And some changes coming to the Delaware River. But most of you wont be able to see it. The major project happening just below the waters surface. And 14 years old, 70 some pounds, vicious . Well thats how hes labeled in his school yearbook. Yeah, his yearbook. The schools fix may sound like a joke but no one here is laughing. Whats supposed to be all about good memories turned into anything but for a philadelphia boy. Inside his yearbook really nasty words written about him. His mom is actually describing this as an act of bullying. Our bruce gordon has a story youll only see on fox 29. Reporter 14yearold eric staley newly graduated from eighth grade got his first look at his Baldi Middle School yearbook on the last day of school back in june. It was kind of surprising and, um, uncalled for. Reporter didnt like it . Not really. Reporter it was there in the section where kids explain how their class wouldnt have been the same if. If eric wasnt so vicious. Not the right forum to tell me my child is bad. Thats not his nature. Reporter never heard any complaints from anybody . Not one. Reporter linda staley complained to the principal who wrote back offering sincerest apologies explaining that this was a student designed yearbook and admitting that the school must do a better job of vetting yearbook posts. I paid you literally to call my son a name. You got to do better than this. You go to the fix this. Reporter after a fair a arguing over what to do about the offensive description, the staleys received in the male a second copy of the yearbook along with strips of paper with a more complimentary description of eric. I assumed to take these little stickers and go to our neighbors and friends and put them on to their year books . Reporter to cover vicious. To cover the word vicious with if eric wasnt so caring and funny. Reporter if eric wasnt so vicious. Does it sound like a fair description of you . No. Reporter for the record a half dozen other baldi students were called out for criticism in this yearbook using descriptions like loud mouth, childish and money hungry. The school says anyone offended by their yearbook will get a brand new one with the appropriate descriptions free of charge. At School District headquarters im Bruce Gordon Fox 29 news. Seven years of hard labor in the Delaware River deepening project is nearly complete. Thats according to u. S. Senator bob casey and congressman bob brady who toured the packer of a Marine Terminal today to see what progress has been made. That project which started way back in 2010 focuses on dredging of the Delaware River to create a deeper channel and help move cargo import and export ships. Analysts believe the project could boost the us economy by nearly 13 million annually. This region can compete with any region in the world. Not just any region in the country but any region in the world. [ applause ] well create a lot of jobs doing that. U. S. Army corps of engineers announced today their annual budget includes 29 million for the project which many believe is enough to complete the delaware deepening project once and for all. Ahead, how do you win the war against opioids . For philadelphia, the most potent weapon might just be two men who are leading people to recovery. And we are on top of the breaking weather news out of texas. Hurricane harvey creeping closer to the texas gulf coast tonight. Monica . Ill obviously be keeping track of harvey but back here in the Delaware Valley were expecting lots of sunshine. That forecast coming up. Philadelphia police are trying to figure out how a 4foot statue wound up near a skate park in south philadelph philadelphia. It was supposed to be in Fairmount Park. Police say the 4foot bust is that of general james beaver, the 20th governor of pennsylvania. It was taken from the civil war memorial where that bust had stood for many years. State Police Make Arrest in a fatal hitandrun that occurred nearly a month ago in wynnefield heights. Police say that julius crabby struck and killed Sean Patrick Granger on i76 going eastbound back on july 22nd. They say crabby then allegedly attempted to burn the vehicle to get rid of the evidence. Hes now being held without ba bail. Back to your fox 29 Weather Authority now. This is getting dangerous. Millions now in the path of Hurricane Harvey. They are evacuating in texas tonight. The storm has been upgraded to a major category three hurricane packing winds of up to 120 miles an hour and possibly dropping up to 3 feet of rain over the next couple of days. It is expected to make landfall late tonight or early tomorrow morning. The Texas Governor warning this system could be a quote very major disaster. Its a hurricane thats going to prove more dangerous than many hurricanes. Not only are we going to be dealing with the high winds that typically come with what should be a category three hurricane, but we are going to be dealing with immense, really record setting flooding and multiple regions across the state of texas. The white house says President Trump is making plans to travel to texas early next week to monitor the impact of the hurricane. In our area, though, a totally different story as we take a live look at wildwood. What pretty picture there. Blue skies, you can expect sunshine there, this weekend. Monica cryan tracking the forecast here and Hurricane Harvey. Her forecast is just 15 seconds away. Another big issue. Not just the flooding but and the storm surge but how long this system is going to keep places in texas really inaccessible. Were tal talking weeks possibly months of innage accessibility to areas in texas for people riding out the storm even when the storm is passed through, theyre still going to be a lot of problems. Once again the hardest hit areas expected to be from Corpus Christi up into houston as the system continues to churn gaining more power, getting stronger winds, this is a look at your radar. Heres the eye look at how well defined and ominous that eye is as it heads little bit north of Corpus Christi where theyre expecting that landfall. Now well bring it right back here where temperatures sky conditions gorgeous. 77 degrees. Dew points low as well. Were in the 50s. That north northwesterly wind 1. Thats bringing in some cooler and drier air that we can expect throughout the weekend. So heres a look at your current setup. Like i was saying not really any shower activity just a few clouds out there and thats the story through the mid atlantic and to the northeast. From that High Pressure system that we have off to our west. I think this is a good shot of just to show you kind of the difference between the two regions. Down towards the southeast and into the south, here it is. Thats Hurricane Harvey category three. This High Pressure system is keeping all of that rain and all of that moisture at bay which is why weve got a prolonged period of really nice weather. Here and down the shore through the weekend and as we head into the new work week. Lets take look at your future cast. You can see skies stay clear through the overnight and into early saturday morning. And into the afternoon were looking at partly to mostly sunny skies. There could be an isolated shower along those shore points as we head into saturday afternoon. That will be very isolate the and pass through very quickly. By sunday morning, lots of sunshine to enjoy and temperatures still going to be into the 70s as we head into the afternoon. So most of us staying below the 80degree mark which is well blower average. Overnight temperatures cooling. 54 degrees in pottstown. 62 for dover. Reading coming in at about 54 degrees for your overnight low. Then tomorrow, lots of sunshine. High of 78 degrees. Those Winds Continuing out of the north five to 10 Miles Per Hour. Again, wee prolonging that period of sunshine and temperatures well below average. Sometimes near 10 degrees below average. 79 degrees is your high on sunday. Monday weve got mostly sunny conditions. Still at about 78 degrees as we head into monday. 76 on tuesday. Partly sunny skies. And you can see dry weather all the way into tuesday possibly into wednesday. Wednesday we are picking up some rain chances guys but theres a lot of time sure to enjoy that sunshine. Pretty nice looking forecast. Thanks monica. New jersey state senator bob menendez is asking to change his trial schedule but prosecutors say it needs to go as plan. Senator menendez wants the judge to alter the schedule around days when Important Senate votes are expected. Menendez was indicted back in 2015 after prosecutors say he accepted nearly a Million Dollars in Campaign Donations and gifts. Today prosecutors opposed his quest saying menendez should not get special treatment just because hes a senator. Opening statements are setter for september 6th. Hes one of the most famous scientists in the world. Bill nye the science guy. Why hes suing a Major Company for tens of millions of dollars. And pot and beer. One brewery is hoping it will be a winning combination. So theyve made a cannabis flavored brew. But will it make people high . And ahead at 6 00 former nfl players making back to School Season extra special for some local kids. These student will be heading back to. Class well prepared. Protip for making ribs dont go it alone. Get these great smoked ribs. Thanks. Sure. Twenty minutes on the grill. And theyre done. You think he cares if i smoke ribs for six hours . What . What . Summer made easy at amazing prices. Only at giant. Its twith the new sleep number 360 smart bed. It senses your every move and automatically adjusts on both sides to keep you effortlessly comfortable. And snoring. Does your bed do that . The new 360 smart bed is part of our biggest sale of the year where all beds are on sale. And right now save 50 on the labor Day Limited Edition bed. Plus free home delivery. Ends saturday beach goers in one brazilian city helped save a hump back whale. Check this u you can see dozens of people digging around the sand and throwing salt water on the mammal to help save it. The whale eventually made it back into the ocean yesterday. Biologists stated the whale was young in age and weighed between ten and 15 tons. Wow. That is amazing. When most people think of marijuana, they may think of the smell. Yeah but one beer company is banging on consumers liking the taste of it. Brewing company is debut can any business infused beer next week disclaimer the beer wont make you high. New beer called Super Critical ale brood with marijuana extract but no thc. Its instead intended to have the flavor and aroma of marijuana. The company hoping to have the beer on store shelves by next month. 37 million, thats how much money bill nye is suing disney for. The scientist and tv presenter claims he didnt get a fair share of profits for his long Running Series bill nye the science guy. The suit said nye received a check in april of 2008 for more than 585,000 but a few months later, nye says Buena Vista Television sent a second letter saying they overpaid him. Instead nye says they told him he owed them nearly 500 grand back. Nye claims he also stopped receiving royalty or participation payments back in july of 2008. Well Philadelphia Eagles receiver Nelson Agholor teamed up with acme market todays donate 100 backpacks and School Supplies to students just in time for them to go back to class much the kids from the stepping stone Scholars Program believe they were going to the novacare facility simply for a tour but then agholor surprised them them afterwards with all these supplies and fox 29 sources report agholor didnt drop any backpacks either. Aww that was rough. I didnt write that, nelson. [ laughter ] all right. How do you win the war against opioids . For philadelphia, the most potent weapon might just be these two men who are leading people to recovery. Sean . A shot at nelson there. All right. Preseason game three in the books last night. So now the question is simple are the eagles a Good Football Team . Well i think so. But what does quarterback carson wentz think . Hear his answer later in sports. Right now texas is bracing for one of the most powerful storms to hit the u. S. In years. Hurricane harvey is barreling towards the lone star state. Lets get straight out to foxs Lauren Blanchard live in galveston, texas. Lauren, we talked to you about half hour ago. How are conditions and are people heeding these evacuation warnings . Reporter yeah, hey chris and dawn. Right now its almost like a calm right this moment before the storm. We arent getting any rain at this moment. But the wind is quickly picking up. We do expect more of these sheets and walls of rain to hit us. Were just not sure exactly when that is because Hurricane Harvey a category three hurricane is still about 60 miles or so off the course excuse me off the cove. We do expect it to hit about midnight 1am thats when its bringing those 125mile an hour winds. It is expected to just devastate this area the state of texas putting out a devastating Flood Warning saying that this area if you are here, you better get out or you really need to make sure you are prepared to weather out this storm, because its not going to just be a oneday event. This thing is going to last a number of days. Its going to slowly move in, stall over the state, dump just i mean tons of water here, flood a bunch of different areas, then its going to head out into the gulf and then come right back hitting the houston area. So state definitely preparing for all of that rain and well see exactly how these conditions deteriorate overnight. All right. Lauren blanchard live in galveston, texas. Thank you. Be sure to stay with fox 29 as we track the path of Hurricane Harvey. Monica cryan will have the most updated forecast coming up for you in just a few minutes. Fighting opioid addiction. Epidemic affects the and tire nation including right here in our nations birthplace. Lucy noland went right to the front lines of the fight here in philadelphia. Reporter we report on the Opioid Epidemic all the time. But seeing it with your own eyes photojournalist shane mack crack ken and i hit philadelphias ground zero in the war against opioids the moment we stepped out of the van, stark reality. So how did we get here . How do we get out of here . Our hearts broke but we also left inspired. Inspired by two men who work for the city of philadelphia and are a force of change right there in the streets. Listen if i can do it, you today. Dam sure can do. Two lives on the line. We all go through the struggles. Dont worry about it. All you need to do is get here and then theyll take care of everything. Reporter two moments in time. You got to have faith within yourself. You got to take the first step. Reporter this played out within one minute of us hitting kensington avenue. Ive seen nurses, teachers, correction officers, ive seen them lost in this neighborhood. And actually die in this neighbor. Reporter philadelphia not just about neighborhoods. Its also about territories. You not going to go Strawberry Mansion and get heroin. You might go up there and get crack. You might go to 17th and jefferson to get pills. But you go to kensington to get heroin and alike. Folks come here from all ov over. Bucks county, harrisburg, allentown, pottstown. Boston. Reporter and they get stuck. You know when you get mice on the track, they come down here and get stuck. Cant get out. How long have you been out here . A year and a half. A year and half. You just came out here to get high one day, right . Thats what happens. People get lost out here. Reporter rick ford got lost. Had we met 20 years ago on the streets ramon cruz got lost. Just a couple of years ago, i was running right through these streets. Everybody know me around here. Reporter both on the streets. Both jailed. Pleasure meeting you. Reporter both now talking the talk of recovery because theyve walk the walk of addiction. You know why im one of those people, too. Its not about stories. Real live stories. Do you think god led you through the valley of darkness of course. To be able of course. Reporter how do you break people free . From the shadows . From the den of whats known as hell under the el. I say this quite off. It takes a village to raise child but what about if the village is sick . What about if the village is sick . You trying to go into treatment, detox . Dee to go, yes. Okay. Reporter within the past year, the city of philadelphia has expanded the availability of narcan. It has expanded medicated treatment slots, recovery hous houses, residential treatment facilities. But the most important weapon in its war against the Opioid Epidemic we cant think right if we couldnt to use. Reporter getting out from behind the desk and taking it to the streets. Derek and company are just, you know, always are going to be very very important. In fact, um, you might say in some ways theyre going to be the most important. Sometimes folks need to be confronted with somebody who been there. How therapeutic is that when i say, hey, i was homeless living in the street. Hey, i went to jail. I slept in every shelter. Whose going to believe you when, evidence. Reporter evidence . Ford has got it some spades. I got stabbed once, twice. Reporter scars from stabbings a gunshot wound, wisdom. Sometimes the bear get and sometimes you get the bear. Reporter cleaned from years of bad choices, beginning in the sixth grade. I smoke cigarette with some guys because i wanted to fit in. Listen to the progression. Seventh grade pills. Eighth grade cocaine. Ninth grade alcohol. Tenth grade everything. Reporter progression. How he got here. Ford and cruz have never seen it this bad and they lay the blame squarely at the feet of prescription opioids that hook you and drug dealers chomping at the bit to lure you in, leave you twisting in the wind. Then they said the anecdote is a ten dollars bag of heroin. Reporter lot cheaper. Here we are. Here we are. I cant take 80 for oxy company don pills. This is your hood. Yeah, this is born and raised and, um, i love it here. Report roar cruz and ford pound these streets every day battling addiction with compassion. Dont cry. Its fine. Its fine. Listen, we all struggling. Reporter education, treatment,. You on the right road. Reporter theyre working for the city as its front line warriors but for these two this is their calling. God saved me from the horrors of addiction. Sometimes you got to understand what your assignment is. Sometimes you really got to to understand what your assignment is. Reporter go get well. Awesome, man. Found out my brother died yesterday. Dead from an overdose leaving this man up all night struggling with his stark reality. Addicted to heroin. Reporter just like his brother but now ready for help with cruz pointing the way. Hang in there. All right. Hang in there. Go tomorrow morning. All right . Weve been through so much and we god was just preparing us to do what we do now. Reporter coaxing we also have the partial program which is down the street. Reporter prodding. Your responsibility now is rick, im going to call the lady and im going to call her right now. Reporter lead the way. I still make 12 step meetings for almost 27 years. Because i know what i suffer from. I aint drug proof. By a long shot. Wow. Powerful and eye opening story from lucy noland. Rick ford and ramon cruz say recovery life long. If you know someone who relapses, dont give up on yourself or them. Its actually part of the whole process. Yeah. The city of philadelphia has lot of resources to help them. We have them for you just head to fox29. Com look under as seen on tv. Well, next, it is that time of year. College kids already moving in back to school. Even some youngsters around the country are headed in class. How much is it going to end up costing mom and dad . Hello, peco. Hi. Can you help me save on my energy bill . Old appliances. Like a hot water heater . Its around here somewhere. Nope. Nope. What is this thing . Sir, have you looked in the basement . Huh. Oh, yeah. No wonder. It was hidden behind all of my free weights. If youre not an expert, peco can help. We have lots of ways to help you save energy and money. Peco. The future is on. Hard to believe but children are heading back to school already and that means all around the country students are sharpening their pencils while parents like us are opening our wallets. Im not sure i want to say this story. Foxs Lauren Simonetti takes a look how much American Parents will spend by the time the school bell rings. Reporter school days, school days dear old golden rule days. Kids and parents are ditching bathing suits for backpacks hitting the stores in droves for those back to school sales. None of parents are very stressed about back to School Shopping in particular spending as it relates to back to school clothing, back to School Supplies and even back to school technology. Reporter the National Retail federation says back to School Spending and back to College Spending will reach 83. 6 billion this year more than 10 increase from last year. With the average ever changing tech in the classroom 45 of parents surveyed say they plan on buying a laptop for their student. Parents and students they have a lot of things to worry about, so its really nice that these days we have all of these Great Technology options that families can adopt and especially for kids who are so used to digital and digital devices. I think if youre in the market for these types of items you should shop during your states back to School Sales Tax holiday period if your state is offering one. Reporter as the little ones get bigger, so do the price tags. Studies show spending for kids off to college can be upwards of a thousand dollars. Its significant amount of money but more so for the college kids because they need the bean bag chairs, they need the comforter, the shower accessories they need whole lot more than crayons and paper clips and magic markers. Reporter to make sure everything is checked off that back to school list, experts say online is the way to go. Amazon is winning every race. It will win the back to school race. A lot of families are just going to buy everything on amazon and be done with it. Reporter even though experts say its best to be ahead of the game, not all shoppers are early birds. 21 will wait until the last week or two before School Starts to stock up on supplies. In new york, Lauren Simonetti, fox business. That will be me. [ laughter ] ill bet. Fox 29 news at 6 00 starts right now. A mystery spanning from one Philadelphia Park to another. How did this bust of the civil war era general wind up under i95 . And were tracking the most powerful storm to hit the us in years. We can obviously tell already at this stage this is going to be a very major disaster. Hurricane harvey makes landfall in just hours. Live from center city in philadelphia this is fox 29 news at 6 00. Right now, millions of people in texas are either getting out of town or hunkering down. Hurricane harvey a major category three storm is inching closer and by the time thing get going, people are running out of time to get out of the storms path. Harvey expected to make landfall in a matter of hours. Thanks for joining us tonight. Im chris oconnell. Im dawn timmeney. Officials are preparing for what they are calling a major disaster. The storm is the strongest to hit United States in years. Forecasters expect it to make landfall late tonight around midnight or early into saturday. Grocery store shelves are already empty. Heavy winds and extreme flooding are expected. Monica cryan is track harvey right now. Shes live in studio for us tonight monica, whats the latest
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