hurting for the holidays. just days before thanksgiving, nbc 10 uncovers another impact of the atlantic city casino crisis. and we're just days away from the mad dash for deals known as black friday. we're breaking down the stores offering the deepest discounts this coming weekend. and from wet to warm, you can see the rain starting to move out of our area. and as we dry out, the winds will pick up. it's windy out there right now and temperatures will continue to climb. we're going to get near 70 today. good morning and welcome to "nbc 10 news today." i'm tracy davidson. >> and i'm chris cato. meteorologist bill henley standing by. hard to believe a few days ago we were tying a record for record low, and now today we're, what, already at 62, right? >> and the record high is 71 degrees. we could tie or even break that this afternoon. we've got a warm start, and it is a rainy start, too. rain has returned to center city. you can see it falling from the clouds. that's the view from the adventure aquarium. not a lot of rain left to go. most of the steady rain has now moved off to the northeast. but we're still dealing with

rain in philadelphia and for montgomery, delaware, chester counties and into bucks county this morning. that's where some steady rain is now in upper bucks county, and it's exiting the allentown area. so, a rainy start and a windy one, too. winds are now gusting to close to 40 miles an hour in trenton and 37-mile-an-hour wind gusts in philadelphia. those strong, southerly winds boosting our temperatures. 66 in northeast philadelphia. wilmington is 57. look at the 60s. even allentown, millville, dover, all in the 60s this morning. the clouds will break and we'll see the temperatures go even higher. 65 at 7:00. by 9:00, 67 degrees and then 70 degrees at lunchtime and climbing with winds gusting to near 40 miles an hour. warm today, snow on the horizon. we'll talk heading into the holiday when i come back with the future weather. but first, nbc 10 first alert traffic reporter katy zachry is watching a monday morning. good morning, katy. >> yeah, it is a typical monday morning, bill. ever time you toss to me, there

are flashing lights behind me and this half hour is no exception. our newest incident is on the vine street expressway westbound. this is from our camera right at 24th street, where you can see a jack-knifed tractor-trailer that's on the ramp for drivers trying to get on to 76 eastbound. the ramp is blocked, so the best thing for you to do is continue on 76 westbound and then get off either at girard or montgomery, circle back, 76 eastbound, and that will get you to where you're going. because again, the ramp is blocked from the vine street expressway westbound if you're trying to get on to 76 eastbound. things are looking -- this is probably the only major in pennsylvania where things are quiet. a live look at route 1 near 76, where fortunately, there are no incidents right now. but also on 76 westbound right near belmont avenue, there's an accident blocking the left lane. and of course, on 95 northbound between route 320 and the exit for i-476, that section is closed. it's between exits 6 and 7. an alternate is 291 to stewart

avenue. that will get you on to 95 northbound at exit 8. at 5:33, we continue to follow this breaking news out of new jersey, where state police have issued an amber alert for a missing baby. here's what we know at this point. police say 3-month-old steven ristick was taken from a home in green point, new jersey, taken, police say, by his father. and they could be headed to new jersey, where the father is from. the baby was last seen yesterday with his father. they may be traveling in a blue dodge minivan. we'll continue to try to get a picture of the baby and the father and get those on the air for you. you can count on nbc 10 and nbc10.com for the latest on this developing situation. it is 5:34 right now. this morning the legal battle between donald trump and a casino company bearing his name will continue in wilmington. the two sides will argue their case in u.s. bankruptcy court. trump is suing trump entertainment resorts. he wants his name removed from that company because he claims the company has harmed his brand by letting the trump taj mahal and the trump plaza fall into disrepair.

trump plaza closed in september. the taj is scheduled to close december 12th. meantime, we could learn today if the deal to buy revel casino hotel will go through. lawyers are meeting with a bankruptcy judge in new york city today to rescue the $110 million sale. last week, a canadian firm announced it was walking away from the deal to buy revel because of a utility bill. it's unclear if that company will attend today's hearing. and we are just days away from thanksgiving, and the casino crisis in atlantic city is putting a strain on food banks. 7,600 workers were left without a job after the shutdown of casinos. another 3,000 could be out of work if the taj closes next month, as planned. nbc 10's jesse gary is live in atlantic city. this is not only causing a strain at the food banks but is also contributing to another, ongoing problem. tell us more about that. >> reporter: tracy, that's right. a flood of foreclosures started during the depth of the down economy. those are all being processed

right now. add to that more property all due to the casino crisis. now, i did some digging, and i found that south jersey has four of the five highest foreclosure rates in the state, and this county, atlantic county, has seen a year-to-year increase of 115%. the result has been people who once worked at casinos to a food bank that sits in the shadows of their former job sites. >> people can't afford to pay their mortgage, have two car payments, keep their child in a catholic school. it's a tough time right now in atlantic city. >> reporter: monsignor william hodge of st. nicholas of tolentine roman catholic church says those who are helping are now in need of help themselves. i checked in with another food bank here to see if this is an isolated ka ed case or a common occurrence. i'll have that story coming up in 30 minutes.

live on the boardwalk in atlantic city, jesse gary, nbc 10 news. >> and you can count on nbc 10 and nbc10.com to follow any new developments on the expanding casino crisis in atlantic city. at 5:37, we are on price patrol for you this morning as you get ready for black friday. we are watching out for the best deals. and still ahead on "nbc 10 news today," we'll tell you the two items you're almost guaranteed to save on and why you might not want to wait until friday to get started. and getting ready to evacuate. another weather threat for people in the buffalo area after being buried under feet of snow. we're watching a warm and windy and a wet start this morning. that's a rainy, windy view from center city. the winds gusting to close to 40 miles an hour. but it is warm outside. 62 degrees at 5:37.

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now your nbc 10 first alert

weather with meteorologist bill henley. >> a rainy, windy night. we still have rain, but look at these temperatures. 63 degrees in allentown, northeast philadelphia at 66 and 61 in atlantic city. even the pocono mountains seeing rain and temperatures in the 50s right now. that will turn to the 60s this afternoon. we will be drying out. in fact, most of the rain has already passed us. just some light rain right along the i-95 corridor. this is the last little bit of rain that is going to be coming through the area. we can still see a few spotty showers in parts of delaware and new jersey, but most of the rest of the morning is going to be dry and windy and warm. the future rain and clouds showing by 7:00, not much in the way of shower activity. this is just updated information. by 9:00 this morning, a few showers possible right along the coast, but inland we'll be seeing some breaks of sunshine. then as we head toward the noontime hour, more sunshine and even warmer than it is right now. we'll be into the 70s this afternoon. so, gusty winds will push the rain out of here. we'll see breaks of sunshine, near record temperatures this

afternoon. the record is 71 degrees. we could very well break that today. but later in the week, a first alert has been issued for wednesday with falling temperatures. rain will turn to accumulating snow. when i come back in less than ten minutes, we'll talk potential snow totals. and good morning. i have an update to an incident on 95 northbound. an accident we've been following throughout the morning. 95 northbound between exits 6 and 7 still closed. if we go to my video, you can see southbound traffic moving just fine, but northbound, it is blocked. so, you're going to encounter the blockage between the exits for route 320 and i-476. an alternate you can take, route 291 to stewart avenue to get you back around exit 8. moving on, looking at other issues on majors in the area. for new jersey drivers, the garden state parkway northbound,

there is an accident near northfield/pleasantville, which is exit 36, so be mindful of that. also in pennsylvania on the northeast extension, northbound approaching quakertown, right lane is blocked because of a semi truck accident there. 5:42. new developments today in the decades-old disappearance of etan patz. a key piece of evidence the judge will consider today as the murder case gets ready to go to trial. and watching and waiting. we're keeping a close eye on ferguson, missouri, where a grand jury could make a decision any day now on whether to charge the police officer who shot and killed michael brown.

at 5:45, we continue to follow breaking news out of new jersey, where state police moments ago issued an amber alert for this missing baby you see on the left side of your screen there. 3-month-old steven ristick was taken, police say, by his father from a home on long island. his father's name, jonathan lawrence. you see him on the right side. police say they could be heading to new jersey in a blue dodge minivan with a connecticut license plate. we don't have a tag number, but it's a connecticut plate. investigators say lawrence is from new jersey and he did show up unannounced on long island last night when he allegedly assaulted the child's grandfather and took the baby. so far, police have not been able, again, to tell us the license plate number or where in

new jersey the two may be headed, but as soon as we get details, we'll pass them on to you. 5:46. the burlington county man who confessed to killing etan patz said in 1979 he lured the boy to the basement of a new york city store and strangled him. police arrested hernandez in 2012 at his home in maple shade. his defense attorney says he is mentally ill and not capable of understanding his rights. therefore, a confession should not be allowed. we have up-to-the-minute news from across the country thanks to our reporters and photographers. nbc 10's vai sikahema is in our digital operations center monitoring the stories coming in. vai? >> good morning, tracy. the nation is waiting and they're watching as a grand jury hearing evidence in ferguson, missouri, meets again today. and of course, tensions are high in that community and in many parts of the country as they await to see if charges will be filed against the officer who shot and killed teenager michael

brown. the shooting three months ago touched off weeks of unrest in the city near st. louis, but there is no news that they will decide today or even this week. a officer shot and killed a child who turned out to have a fake gun. police received a call on saturday saying a boy was pointing a gun at people and the caller wasn't sure if the gun was real. the officer fired two shots after the 12-year-old reached for the gun. he died yesterday. the boy's weapon turned out to be an air soft bb gun. the orange safety band at the tip of the gun had been removed. and 19 americans will receive the nation's highest civilian honor later today. among the recipients of the presidential medal of freedom, tom brokbrokaw, stevie wonder a ethel caneday. the medal of freedom is awarded to americans who have contributed to world peace and other cultural or significant endeavors. also a great golfer in the '60s and '70s, charles sifford, a

pioneer for african americans who really paved the way for tiger woods will be among those honor honored. live in the digital operations center, vai sikahema, nbc 10. at 5:48, it's the frenzy after the feast. before the leftovers have even had a chance to get cold, many of you will shuffle out to shopping centers to participate in the annual ritual of black friday. so, which stores are offering the biggest discounts this year? well, look at this. consumer website wallet hub examined more than 5,500 black friday ads by 22 major retailers to come up with an average discount rate for each store. we are breaking it down for you here. look at this. jcpenney came up on top, 65%, macy's with 54%, rite aid 53%, sears and walgreens rounding out the top five, 50% and 47% respectively. so, which stores in the survey were offering the smallest discounts? costco 25%, amazon 26%, best buy

and walmart each offering 32% average discount rate off. so, which items will get the biggest discounts across the board? here's what you want to pay attention to, depending on what you're looking for. jewelry and entertainment are the two categories right now experiencing the biggest discounts at these stores. jewelry was an average, total we're talking here, of 58% off. forgive me if i get in the way of my drawing here. then entertainment being cut by 52% off. now, this includes books, games, videos and music. this does not include video games. those items are slightly higher. then we have which items are obviously getting the smallest discounts. we can show you that as well. technology, which includes the latest cell phones and computers. those are only right now at 31% off. that's the average there. and for toys, no surprise here, a lot of these are on people's gift lists. one of the smaller discounted categories at 30% off for toys. to see which stores are offering

the biggest discounts per category, read the full study at nbc10.com. by the way, the best day to find these bargains according to data by adobe systems, the biggest price cuts came overnight last night and you can find those at stores today. so, why wait until black friday, right? >> no need to. chris, thanks. today in buffalo, warming temperatures, several feet of melting snow and the threat of rain are all prompting flood warnings there. temperatures are expected to hit the 60s, which means all that snow, up to 7 feet in some spots, could lead to problems for people in buffalo. many are now scrambling to clear roofs and uncover drains. officials are keeping a close eye on creeks and streams as the snow melts and the wet weather moves in. and the national guard is on standby. that is a big fear for those people there. and now we watch the weather that's shaping up for this week as people get ready to make their holiday travel plans. and depending on what bill's going to tell us here, that may adjust the time that you're leaving for your trip. >> right. >> wednesday looks like it's going to be a real problem. the falling temperatures and a

storm system, a coastal system taking shape may start as rain and then change to accumulating snow for our area. snow has been accumulating, thanks to the snowblowers over the last week in the pocono mountains. it's been cold enough, but it is a warm rain that is falling in the mountains this morning. fortunately, they do have enough of the snowpack that it is going to last. right now we are looking at strong, gusty winds. look at the flags atop the aramark building in center city. winds have been gusting to near 40 miles an hour. 63 degrees, though, in philadelphia. hard to beat that this time of year. see the low clouds and rain. a few rain drops on the camera. the mellon bank building. these strong, gusty winds are gusting to near 40 miles an hour, but we're steady at 21 miles an hour in philadelphia, and it's a southerly wind. so, the clouds are going to push -- the rain will end, the clouds will break and we'll see enough sunshine to warm into the 70s this afternoon. there you can see some scattered showers into delaware and south jersey. the clouds are already thinning

out to the west. we will see sunshine before wet weather takes shape for wednesday. the strong, gusty winds with us today will die down tomorrow. but it is tuesday that we'll be watching. to the south, you can see a few showers. that's the coastal storm that will be moving in on wednesday. it starts as rain and then changes to snow. this is the extended future snow forecast for the philadelphia area. at 7:00 in the morning, it will just be rain, but snow will start mixing in, showing zero accumulation because it will still be warm on the ground. so, no accumulation by noontime on wednesday. but that changes during the afternoon. by 5:00 in the afternoon, we could see 2 inches in philadelphia. snow falling in delaware and south jersey with just a little accumulation in some spots, and 3 inches to the north and west. by late in the evening, though, half a foot possible in the pocono mountains, the lehigh valley, and 5 inches may be on the ground in philadelphia. and there's a chance it will still be coming down at that hour. so, stand by to do some shoveling later in the week, but

you don't have to deal with that today. a warm one. 70s this afternoon. record temperatures possible today. tomorrow we'll drop down to 55 degrees, clearing skies, lots of sunshine for tuesday, high of 60 in the afternoon. but the numbers come down. after starting in the 40s on wednesday morning, they fall into the 30s and keep on falling for wednesday evening. so, we will see snow accumulating in the area, and it will be on the ground thursday morning for thanksgiving. a cold one, just 42 degrees thursday afternoon. and cold weather ahead for friday, but it will be dry this weekend with sunshine sunday warming us to near 50. 5:53 right now. we have had several problems already and now another on the roads. >> it has been a mess out there. let's get the latest on the breaking traffic news with nbc 10's katy zachry. >> this is for drivers on 422 eastbound right near oaks. if you take a live look at the scene, you can see there's activity in the left-hand lane. a number of emergency crews out there forcing a lot of traffic at this hour because we're approaching the 6:00 a.m. hour.

that's when volume really starts picking up. it's forcing the cars to the right-hand lane, so they're slowly getting by it. looking at drive times on 422 eastbound and westbound between route 202 and oaks, it's not affecting things right now. so, that's good news. let's move on to another incident on one of our majors. on the vine street expressway westbound, the off-ramp to 76 eastbound, that is closed because of a jack-knifed tractor-trailer. so, what you're being recommended to do is continue westbound and then get off at either girard or montgomery, circle back, and that way, it will take you on 76 eastbound. and then also, on the northeast extension, we were following an accident involving a tractor-trailer. fortunately, that has cleared. so, now on the northeast extension northbound as you approach quakertown, you shouldn't encounter any issues. and finally, an issue we've had throughout the morning. 95 northbound is closed between exit 6 and 7. that's between route 320 and i-476. an alternate is 291 to stewart

avenue. and that will bring you back up to 95 northbound at exit 8. well, maybe this will make your morning commute a little bit easier. in the future, getting around could be easier in parts of delaware. this morning, we have new information about plans by two different driving services to start running in wilmington. and the controversy over this christmas tree. after complaints about this so-called charlie brown tree in one local town, it's about to be swapped out, but not everyone is happy about that. we'll explain when we go county by county, next.

5:58 and time to go county by county now, highlighting the stories happening in your communities. we're starting in salem county, where police in one community will launch a program to keep guns locked and properly stored. the carney's point police department is offering firearm locks for people with guns. no questions asked. you can just stop by the police department starting on december 13th to get your gunlocke to keep those guns safely locked away. in new castle county, there will be a new way around town for people who live and work in wilmington. according to "the news journal," uber is finalizing plans to begin service next year.

taxi drivers say they're nervous about the looming competition. also, zipcar's making plans to come to wilmington. that service allows people to rent vehicles by the hour or the day. crisis averted in berks county. people who were disappointed with reading's christmas tree, the city christmas tree, will be getting a new one in its place today. the 50-foot norway spruce is topped with a giant pretzel. this is the tree they're replacing, at the corner of fifth and penn streets. it's been compared to a charlie brown tree. you can see there there's a little gap in it, maybe not the fullest. but a fuller looking tree has been donated to replace that one. it will go up later today and there will be a party to decorate it on black friday. believe it or not, there's a small effort under way on facebook to save the existing tree. there it is. complete with pictures of charlie brown and his famous tree. >> and olaf. >> charlie brown might say "good grief." >> thank you very much, chris. you're watching nbc 10 news. "nbc 10 news today" at 6:00 a.m. starts right now.

and at 6:00, we're following breaking news. part of i-95 is closed because of a deadly accident. we'll show you how to get around it. and get ready. this thanksgiving week weather is going to be a doozy. we go from warm to cold and maybe snow. we have snow totals to talk about. right now we have some slick roads from the wet weather overnight. we've got you covered on all of it. good morning. this is "nbc 10 news today." i'm tracy davidson. >> and i'm vai sikahema. i'm just amazed by the roller coaster ride this weather pattern has taken us on. let's get right to nbc 10 first alert meteorologist bill henley. bill? >> it's going to be a warm afternoon, even warmer than it is now and dry, too, but we're still tracking some rain in the area along with some very strong, gusty winds. we're already seeing the winds gusting to near 40 miles an hour this morning. that's a view from the loews hotel camera. that wind will be steady and warming us up into this afternoon. we're already starting to dry out. the rain looking much less impressive now than it did just two hours ago.