>> video surfaced of a pair of students supposedly having the sex. that video made the rounds at franklin roosevelt middle school in bucks county and caught the eye of more than just the students. nbc 10's lu ann cahn is live in bristol township. >> there are questions about how real this tape is? >> reporter: that's right. yeah, that's true. i just got off the phone with the bucks county district attorney. what we do know, what police believe they know, is that that video is local. taken at a house, that the children in the video are young and that it was distributed by middle school students here at fdr. >> i was informed through an fdr middle school's principal yesterday that students had been viewing a video at our choral concert on tuesday night, so the students were very forthcoming and concerned and presented that information to our principal. >> reporter: the bucks county district attorney says police believe the cell phone video was taken by a juvenile who was a house guest. a guest who witnessed what looks

like a sex act. police believe the children in the video are between 11 and 12 years old. the district attorney says they're investigating whether the act was a spoof or simulated. that it's hard to tell. what is certain is that it got into the hands of middle school students who started sharing it through their cell phones. police say they've confiscated a number of the phones as evidence. >> we just -- we just had the phones last night. we're currently on it right now. two detectives working on. >> reporter: a note went out to parents of students yesterday while plus conduct the investigation. >> parents are advised to tell their children forwarding a video from one friend to another is illegal when those involved are minors. in fact, students distributing this video run the risk of criminal charges. >> reporter: there is a pennsylvania law that could punish juveniles for sharing a video like this, but the bucks county district attorney says right now they're more concerned about the children in the video, the child that took the video, and we are not being told if any of them went to fdr middle

school. live in bristol township, lu ann cahn, nbc 10 news. you can count on nbc 10 to update you as soon as we get new information on this supposed sex tape. you can get the new and improved nbc 10 news app. you can now watch video and read articles at the same time. if you already have our app, you just need to update it at the app store or download it now for free. a convicted sex offender's back in custody this afternoon in the lehigh valley after police say he stalked a neighbor. investigators say his target is just 13 years old. nbc 10's randy gyllenhaal is live in allentown. authorities say this guy went to a lot of trouble to follow the young teenager supposedly. >> reporter: yeah, jim, we did just get our hands on this police report where detectives detail it. they say for months -- the small apartment for 73-year-old collide rupple lives has been emptied, workers cleaning it out after he was arrested yesterday.

a convicted rapist, he's now also accused of stalking a 13-year-old boy. for two years, police say he followed the child even moving into a downtown apartment to be next door to the boy's home. >> we have kids here. >> reporter: neighbors here say rupple always seemed a bit off. >> i was in shock. really not in shock because i feel like something was wrong with him, but still, we have a lot of kids here. >> reporter: court records indicate he had been tracking the boy for months, following him to school, watching him play outside, even leaving love notes and rose petals for the child on the family's windshield. >> he should go to jail for life. seriously. that's really disgusting. >> reporter: police say the boy's father notified police who made the arrest. police say they also found a marijuana grow operation inside the home. live in allentown, randy gyllenhaal, nbc 10 news. developing right now in new york, the dow jones industrial average was up 400 points today.

this from the new york stock exchange where the closing bell just rang. stocks riding a wave of optimism after the federal reserve vowed to be patient on raising rates and oil prices also rebounded. that's the latest coming out of new york. now to the atlantic city casino crisis and the fate of the trump taj mahal. >> there are still questions about whether or not it will close. the clock, though, ticking down to the scheduled close at 6:00 a.m. on saturday, but the casino may have received a reprieve today. >> nbc 10 south jersey shore bureau reporter ted greenberg has been following the back and forth negotiations, and ted, this deal has been on and off now for weeks. >> where do things stand right now, ted? >> reporter: well, renee and jim, the day started out with very high hopes but this afternoon we learned a deal had fallen apart. with no new talks scheduled. however, a source close to the situation also tells me the casino will remain open for now. >> this is a big disappointment.

>> reporter: atlantic city mayor don guardian thought he'd hear an announcement at noon that an agreement had been struck to save the bankrupt taj mahal. yet, he and the 3,000 employees learned the deal was dead. >> i don't understand. i thought everyone had agreed on the different stance. >> reporter: in a statement, the president of the city's main casino union said both unite here, local 54, and the taj mahal ceo signed the deal but found out at noon that billionaire investor and taj debt holder carl icahn backed out. the union said it's disappointed that icahn's whims are going to lead to the instability. >> how it all blew up, i don't know. >> reporter: signs informing customers about the casino's previously planned closing on saturday were taken down this morning but then later put back up. however, in a letter to trump

entertainment resorts today, icahn pledged up to $20 million to keep the taj mahal open through the company's bankruptcy process. icahn gave no explanation for backing out of the deal as the union alleges. the taj mahal will not publicly say if it will indeed remain open beyond this weekend. >> having the taj mahal is not anybody's best interest except the rival gaming operators. >> reporter: and there's more fallout from the deal disintegrating today. lawmakers tell moe votes in the legislature scheduled today for a package of bills to stabilize the crisis were sidelined as a result and will likely be delayed until some time next month. the bills include a potential tax break for the taj mahal. live in atlantic city, ted greenberg, nbc 10 news. now your nbc 10 first alert weather. >> right now, a live look outside at the comcast center in

philadelphia. clear skies today, but it's going to be a cold night out there. nbc 10's first alert meteorologist brittney shipp joins us now. >> how told, brittney? >> we're going to see temperatures dropping below freezing for suburbs to the north and west. through the rest of the evening, we're going to see chilly conditions. cold but dry. we stay dry as we head into the weekend. we're tracking rainfall pushing into next week. a look at your current temperatures, 31 degrees in the poconos. 38 in allentown. mid 30s in pottstown. only 40 degrees in philadelphia. yesterday we were in the 50s. 38 in wilmington. 39 degrees in dover. a closer look at our wind speeds which is going to make it feel a lot cooler out than actual temperatures. gusting up to 24 miles per hour in atlantic city. wind gusts close to 30 miles an hour in the poconos. we'll start to see the wind speeds relaxing as we head into the rest of tonight. our feels like temperature right now, feels like it's freezing in philadelphia. feeling like 28 degrees in pottstown. 21 in the poconos. as we head into the rest of the tonight, it's going to bevening.

temperatures dropping into the 30z the rest of the evening. i'll have your full forecast coming up. >> thank you, brittney. the new u.s. policy with cu cuba means big changes for local people with ties to cuba. some will meet family they've never seen, and some will be able to buy things. tim furlong is live. this means cuban cigars and a whole lot more. >> reporter: sure, cigars, baseball players, cuban beaches. that's all the easy stuff, but for some people, it's going to mean reconnecting with their roots and culture. >> it opens up the door to meet family i've never met. >> reporter: wilmington city council member, sammy, never met his grandparents in cuba. they sent his mom when she was 13 to give her a better life. he never met anybody on her side of the family. sammy went to cuba in 1999 but wasn't allowed to meet family.

aaa travel in wilmington, they offered tightly scripted group trips to cuba for quite some time but no spontaneous side trips allowed. that could soon change. >> you can't go for leisure travel at this point. still too early to tell how that's going to pan out. we had somebody step in idea. so i anticipate it is going to happen. >> but at the cigar lounge in wilmington, the guys aren't as interested in going to cuba, they do look forward to what could be coming from cuba. >> big black market that goes with cuba cigars. they'll be readily available to the masses, we expect a high demand for them. >> reporter: 25 bucks a pop, cuban cigars are a pricey luxury and some will come complete with their own moral dilemma. >> not thrilled about the notion of doing something that might help economically prop up a communist dictator in our back yard, but i probably will at least a couple of times. >> reporter: and i also ran into senator chris coons at the train station today. he told me he's going to cuba to

meet with tortured dissidents. he said he is not quite ready. it's going to take some time. a man from delaware county locked up this afternoon on child pornography charges. he had images of children as young as 10 years old. he's being held on $100,000 bail. two people taken to the hospital after this fire in the olney section of philadelphia. skyforce 10 shows you the scene at tenth street and olney ave e avenue. fire started this afternoon. investigators trying to figure out what started the flames. a former fire company treasurer as admitted to ripping off the department there. michael patrella admits he took about $19,000 from the seaville volunteer fire and rescue company. the money went for beer, diapers and other personal items. division of criminal justice

recommended 364 days in jail and he must pay that money back. a record number of americans expected to hit the road in the last couple of weeks of 2014. aaa predicts more than 98 million people in the u.s. will travel 50 miles or more during the year-end holiday season. the new number is a 4% hike from this same time last year. it's the highest travel volume for the holiday period on record. travel experts say the days of the week that the holidays fall impacts just how much people travel. >> lot of people are taking advantage of the extra time. taking more vacation days. tha that's allowing them the flexibility to travel for the holidays. >> travel experts say lower gas prices mean more people are driving. air travel is only expected to be up. 1%. fewer americans applied for unemployment benefits last week. that's a sign of solid job security as well as growing confidence among employers. the number of weekly unemployment benefit applications dropped by 6,000. that is the lowest level since late october.

new jersey's unemployment rate is down to 6.4% after reaching nearly double digits almost five years ago. the labor department says 2014 is the best year for hiring since 1999. the surviving boston marathon bombing suspect made a rare appearance in court for the first time in a year and a half. tsarnaev faced a judge today. security was tight for the hearing at the federal courthouse in bofston. protesters outside the courthouse including a philadelphia woman said they want to make sure the suspect gets a fair trial. >> because this person has been demonized so greatly with really very little proof, if anything, shown to the public. >> tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to 30 federal charges in connection with the april 213 bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260 others. police say an ocean county mother used an assault rifle to threaten a group of kids playing basketball. 35-year-old amanda ponzeo allegedly got into an argument with the kids yesterday

afternoon near her schooner avenue house in barnegat. a neighbor says her son was with the group and ponzeo was yelling at him to get in her car. she went back to her house, then returned confronting the group with a remington .597 rifle. within minutes, several police officers were at the scene. >> and the children did absolutely nothing wrong. they were just playing basketball like kids do. they don't stay in the house. they're good kids. >> ponzeo is facing several charges and is locked up in the ocean county jail on $175,000 bail. investigators still tries to piece together this deadly school bus accident in bucks county. a teenager died yesterday just trying to catch her bus. nbc 10's doug shimell is live in bensalem, and doug, i know you talked to investigators about how they're trying to get answers as to what happened in this crash. >> reporter: exactly. and police say as they reconstruct or attempt to reconstruct this accident, they know the school bus was coming this direction on bensalem

boulevard. they know that minette was walking from her house across the intersection and the suv was coming from the opposite direction on a green light. her friends know the intersection and are trying to dissect what happened to 16-year-old minette. >> this child was not doing anything wrong. she was crossing the street and assumed people would stop. that's what good drivers do, stop and obey the rules. this guy, for whatever reason, did not. >> reporter: bensalem police say she was hit by an suv driven by an 18-year-old tech student as she crossed bensalem boulevard to cross her school bus before sunrise wednesday. >> we're looking at the vehicle. checking to see if there was any mechanical malfunctions. so that can't be claimed later. blood tests on the driver. >> reporter: investigators say there were no cameras on the school bus so they're using a computer app to recreate the scene. detectives say the school bus was on bensalem boulevard at bridgewater road with its stop sign out and lights on as minette was walking from her

home. police say the suv was coming from the opposite direction on bensalem boulevard as she was crossing. while investigators say the driver did have a green light, he didn't stop for the school bus. could the 18-year-old have been distracted? >> it does not appear that was an issue at this point, but we're going to check into that to make sure he wasn't texting or on the phone or anything else that could have caused and led to this tragic accident. >> reporter: as the memorial to minette continues to grow, investigators say they are looking at whether the defroster in that suv may not have been working, but they're not sure that may have been a cause in the accident because temperatures were well above freezing wednesday morning. live in bensalem, i'm doug shimell, nbc 10 news. something new is coming to allentown's skyline. a new office building is going up in the lehigh county community. it will be 15 stories high with retail space, offices, apartments. the cost, $130 million.

the five city center will span an entire block of walnut street between seventh and eighth. it's right across from the ppl center. the first state gets its first national park. federal, state, and local lawmakers celebrating the first state national historic park in new castle today. committee conducted a national park study and held several hearings before congress approved the park this month. >> you will lose designation, lose something special, a special designation for delaware being the only state without a national far. that's a distinction i'm proud and happy to say good-bye. >> it's been nearly a 13-year journey to bring a national park to delaware. now your nbc 10 first alert weather with meteorologist brittney shipp. >> good evening. it was a cold day for us, much cooler than what we saw yesterday. we're going to stay dry. that includes heading right into the weekend. the storm we were tracking is going to stay to the south of us, but we're going to see rainfall moving in as we head

into next week. here's a live look outside right now from the lowe's building in center city. the flags are moving. it's a windy night ahead. that's making it feel a whole lot cooler than our actual temperature, 40 degrees in philadelphia. wind speeds out of the northwest at 15 miles per hour. our wind gusts are up to about 24 miles per hour. a look throughout the rest of the region, we're at 36 degrees in reading. 39 in atlantic city. partly cloudy skies in philadelphia. we'll continue to see the clouds as we head into the rest of tonight. right now, temperatures in the poconos at 31 degrees. 36 in coatesville. a chilly 37 in blue bell. 38 degrees in washington township. we're at 38 in trenton. 38 degrees many mt. holly. closer to the shore, temperatures in the high 30s. 40 degrees in lewis. and 38 degrees in delaware city. the feels-like temperature at 29 in allentown. it feels like 20 degrees in mt. pocono as you're leaving home from work in atlantic city, when you step outside, it's going to feel like it's 30 degrees. that's due to all these wind speeds. take a look. they're gusting up to about 24

miles per hour in atlantic city. up to 24, millville. 24 in philadelphia. close to 30 miles per hour in mt. pocono. so those wind speeds will relax as we head into the rest of this evening. our satellite/radar shot, a few clouds. partly cloudy skies expected. there's the storm system way off to the south. it's going to stay down south. as we head into saturday and sunday, we're going to see a mix of sun and clouds. we are going to stay dry throughout the weekend. that's going to be nice. you plan on traveling for next week for christmas. you shouldn't experience too many delays. speaking of christmas eve and christmas day, your christmas eve forecast is gong to be a rainy one and mild. temperatures at 55 degrees as we head into christmas day. we will also see our temperatures dropping back down into the low 40s. colder and windy. the possibility of a few snow flurries on christmas day. and as we head into the rest of tonight, expect temperatures to range between 30 degrees in philadelphia down to 26 for our suburbs to the north and west.

colder than what we saw yesterday. then our range today will be between 40 and 43 degrees. cold and breezy conditions expected as we end your workweek. your seven-day forecast shows that winter officially starts sunday evening. 42 degrees and chilly. and then temperatures warm back into the mid 40s on monday. tuesday, 50 degrees. we start tracking a chance of showers monday, tuesday. wednesday, a rainy christmas eve. then temperatures cool off on christmas day. >> those weather pictures really put you in the spirit. >> yeah, i love those weather graphics, brittney. all right. well, speaking of christmas, we are celebrating the best of the best today. >> nbc 10 and more f.m. teaming up to share the finalists of the local christmas choir competition. listen in to the second place winners for the ninth to 12th grade division. >> the spring ford area high school choir. ♪ deck the halls with bows of holly ♪ ♪ fa, la, la, la ♪ tis the season to be jolly

♪ don we now our gay apparel ♪ fa, la, la, la, la ♪ strike the harp and join the chorus ♪ ♪ fa, la, la, la ♪ fa, la, la, la ♪

>> congratulations to tell. now, new at 5:00, we take you behind the scenes of the high school choir, plus you'll hear how they're going to be performing at one of the world's greatest concert halls. that's coming up. i think it is a bad practice. >> highway workers not paying tolls. losing pennsylvania millions. now, one state official says enough is enough. what she's doing to try to keep your toll prices from rising. then, a warning to women who are expecting. what researchers say doubles your risk of giving birth to a child with autism. and watch this. a man falls to the ground inside a walmart, but he wasn't having a heart attack. what was happening at the same time that has him in big trouble. coming up on nbc 10 news today at 4:00.

philadelphia police found a

burned out suv. but no sign of the man. he was last seen sunday at ma macaro macaroni's restaurant lounge in philadelphia. they discovered his suv on north beachwood street. he suffers from several medical conditions requiring medication. a recall alert. if you drive a ford vehicle, ford motor company is expanding its recall on vehicles with takata driver-side airbags. the recall now includes certain models of ford mustangs and ford gt sports cars. ford dealerships will replace the airbags for free. five deaths have been linked to takata airbags, four in the u.s. a tradition that's been bringing music and entertainment to philadelphia streets for a century. ♪ >> today the city honored the 100th anniversary of the spring ban, a perennial champion mummers group playing music on the corner of second and siegel street in south philadelphia

since 1914 organized this band. the string band has gone on to be one of the winningest bands in the history of the mummers parade. this week, the mummers announc d ed they will have a second parade in manayunk for mardi gras. an off-duty cop and his son foil a robbery. >> that is our top story on "nbc 10 news at 4." right now, we're learning more about this video. just into our newsroom. and about the heroes who stopped the robbery of a cvs. we'll have more on them coming up on nbc 10 news today at 5:00. and coming up at 4:30, why are some getting a free ride on the pennsylvania turnpike? the nbc 10 investigators get action that may level the playing field when it comes to tolls. and i'm tracking cold and dry conditions straight through your weekend. as we get closer to the holidays, i'm tracking a return of rain. i'll let you know what to expect in my first alert seven-day forecast. then coming up tonight on "nbc 10 news at 5," this scene during sunday night football upset plenty of eagles fans. governor christie proud of his

cowboys. what he's planning for their next big game.

webuyanycar.com has helped thousands of people let go of all the hassle that comes with selling or trading in. we make selling your car, truck or suv, fast, safe and fair with three simple steps: one -- get your free online valuation. two -- drive to your local car-buying center. three -- walk out with a check in as little as thirty minutes.

buying cars is all we do. all makes and models and no dealership pressure we'll even settle your loan or lease. so, don't wait. get your free online valuation now at webuyanycar.com.

most of us pay tolls every time we ride the pennsylvania turnpike. >> but as the nbc 10 investigators first told you, some people are riding for free. whenever they want. now because of our report, that may change. investigative reporter harry hairston has the new information. >> reporter: millions of us ride the pennsylvania turnpike each year. come the first of the year, you'll pay even more to get through the gates. tolls will increase by 5%. but for some 2,200 turnpike employees, that doesn't matter.

the nbc 10 investigators found the turnpike commission allows them to drive the turnpike toll free. whether they're working or on personal time. >> i'm going to straightforwardly say it, i think it is a bad practice. >> reporter: state senator shirley kitchen sits on the transportation committee. she's concerned the state is missing out on funds that could be used to repair the turnpike. >> we need to look at the fact that some people are not paying and the effect it's really having on the system. >> reporter: this 2013 state audit of the turnpike performance claims the free rides are costing the state millions of dollars in lost revenue. last month, turnpike spokesman bill capone told us there are no plans to change the perk. >> things change all the time. should this change? >> should it change? >> reporter: yes. >> you know, obviously i'm an employee, i benefit from it. you know, so i'm going to say

no. we don't think it should change. >> reporter: kitchen is working for change. she's looking into legislation to put the brakes on the freebies. >> they have the perception that people who are working for the turnpike, especially making the higher salaries, are getting special breaks and they are law-abiding citizens working every day, paying taxes and they can't. >> reporter: harry hairston, nbc 10 news. >> now, the earliest senator kitchen can introduce the bill is early next year. we'll keep you posted. if you have a tip or story for the nbc 10 investigators, call them 610-949-7473. or e-mail them at nbc10investigators@nbcuni.com. a lancaster county lawmaker will introduce a bill next month banning nearly all gifts to public officials and employees in pennsylvania. senator lloyd schmucker began working on the bill after news

broke last year that state lawmakers are taking money from an undercover informant posing as a lobbyist. pennsylvania does not limit such gifts but other gifts do. here are some of the stories making headlines on "nbc 10 news at 4" today. >> authorities in bucks county are investigating a sex video making the rounds on cell phones throughout the franklin roosevelt middle school. the d.a. says the children on the video are between 11 and 12 not clear if they attend that school. police confiscated several student students' cell phones as they try to fig wrure out where the video came from or if it's a spoof. a convicted sex offender stalked a 13-year-old boy. 73-year-old clyde ruppel is back in custody. authorities say he followed the child, moving next door to the boy's hope. court records show he followed the boy to school and left love notes for him. billionaire investor carl akh

carl icahn is pledging $20 million to keep taj mahal open. the deal to save the casino and 3,000 jobs was supposed to be announced at noon. it fell apart. no one knows exactly why. the taj was scheduled to close saturday. if or when it will close now remains up in the air. now your nbc 10 first alert weather. >> a live look outside right now at the philadelphia museum of art. it is a cold, windy evening, and it's going to stay coal if you happen to be heading out tonight. nbc 10 first alert meteorologist brittney shipp joins us now. >> the official start of winter is coming, and it's going to feel like it tonight, isn't it? >> that's right. temperatures dropping below freezing for most of our area. if we take a closer look at our current temperatures, it's cold. below freezing for the poconos. 38 degrees in allentown. 35 in pottstown. 40 degrees in philadelphia. because we're dealing with the wind speeds, it feels like we're in the 30s throughout most of area. here's a closer look at lows tonight. we'll drop down to 23 degrees for mt. pocono. 26 in allentown. 27 in quakertown.

29 degrees in trenton tonight. overnight lows dropping into the 30s for mt. holly. right along the shore, staying at 31 degrees in atlantic city and cape may. 26 in vineland. around the philadelphia area tonight we'll drop down to 28 degrees for chester and 29 for wilmington. as we head into the next couple of hours here for the rest of the your evening, expect conditions in the 30s and windy by 7:00 p.m. 9:00 p.m., 37 degrees and cold. mid 30s by 11:00 p.m. if you plan on staying up late. coming up, i'll be talking about your weekend forecast and the rain in store next week. jim? >> thanks, brittney. top u.s. commander in iraq says more than 1,000 additional american troops will begin moving into iraq in the next couple weeks. about 1, 700 american troops are there now. army lieutenant general james terry says the troops will train iraqi forces. bogus bills are showing up in pennsylvania and other locations in the u.s. federal investigators say it's the work of an international counterfeit operation based in uganda. investigators arrested

27-year-old ryan gustafson in uganda. the suspect allegedly made more than $2 million from this scheme. central authorities say gustafson's ring unraveled when a fake $100 bill passed through a pittsburgh coffee shop last december. houston man is thankful to be alive after an accident caught on tape. he was working at a doctor's office when a tire, look at that, flew right through the window and hit him in the head. the tire apparently came off a truck traveling down a nearby freeway. what a freak accident. it's hard to believe, but this man was not seriously hurt. oh. tis the season for thieves. targeting your holiday packages. police say a pair of crooks swiped a fedex shipment from a home in northeast philadelphia. this was earlier this month. they drove by the street address while the delivery was being made and when the thieves came back, one of them grabbed the package while the other waited in the car.

and someone carjacked a pizza delivery man at gunpoint in philadelphia. police say two men stole his car and money after he made a delivery at 54th and parkside in wynnefield around 1:30 this morning. victim wasn't hurt. police haven't arrested anyone. local college students are getting in the spirit of the holiday season by giving back to the community. drexel university students, fax faculty, and staff handed out holiday turkeys for families in need in west philadelphia. nbc 10 at the drexel alumni center in university city. more than 75 volunteers lended a hand to distribute some 1,200 turkeys. more flu cases in our area. where you can go to get a free vaccination, next. here's what we're working on for you on "nbc 10 news at 5." >> nbc 10 told you about the driver that didn't stop for a school bus, killing a bucks county teenager. now, new at 5:00, nbc 10 looks into how investigators are piecing together the accident before considering charges. count on "nbc 10 news at 5."

the new nbc 10 news app. count on it. live streaming push notification for news that's breaking now. stories and video from major news of the day. first alert forecasts and interactive radar. download the nbc 10 news app for iphone now. the holiday season is here, which means it's time for the volkswagen sign-then-drive event. for practically just your signature, you could drive home for the holidays in a german-engineered volkswagen. like the sporty, advanced new jetta... and the 2015 motor trend car of the year all-new golf. if you're wishing for a new volkswagen this season... just about all you need is a finely tuned...

pen. get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first month's payment on select new volkswagen models.

tis the season to be sick. pennsylvania is 1 of 14 states with widespread flu cases. medical experts say the flu season could get worse before it gets better. doctors say the flu vaccine

appears to be less effective this year but advise getting the vaccine can help prevent many cases and lessen the severity of flu if you do get it. help fight the flu by getting your flu shot. tomorrow in allentown, the allentown health bureau offering a free clinic at the east side youth center. anyone 6 months of age or older can get the shot between 9:00 and 11:00 tomorrow morning, no insurance or appointment required. a new study suggests a simple and easy way to check a person's risk for having a stroke. the test, balancing on one leg. researchers in japan studied nearly 1,400 healthy adults, most in their 60s. they found people who were not able to stand on one leg for at least 20 seconds were more likely to have risk of stroke. new jersey schools may soon have to keep allergy medications han handy. scheduled to vote on a bill allowing school nurses or

trained officials to administer the treatment. right now, schools have to have a parent note to give it to students suffering from an allergic reaction. nbc 10 visited steel elementary for the 12th annual holiday seascelebration. books, toys and gifts were given out to students in the surrounding nicetown neighborhood. it was sponsored by a steel school alumnus in an effort to give back to those in need. quite a hat there, too. well, an unusual crime. >> the suspect takes advantage of the kindness of strangers. what he did to get away with a lot of merchandise. that's next. and we're back to cold and dry conditions, but i am tracking the return of rain and it is going to affect your holiday. i'll let you know what to expect coming up in my first alert seven-day forecast. then all new tonight on "nbc 10 news at 5," three weeks and still no sign of a missing college student. tonight, nbc 10 updates the case with the fbi and talks to shane

montgomery's family as they wait for updates.

♪ wow something sounds sweet in here!!!! ♪ need a little honey in the bowl. yeah!!! badabopbopbopa!!! no? must be the honey!!!

delaware senator chris coons is headed to west africa to visit troops help fighting the ebola outbraeak. he plans to see facilities that troops have just finished building but don't yet have ebola patients and he hasn't said yet when the trip will take place. a suspected robber fakes a heart attack at a florida walmart. he's caught on tape. check it out here. you can see a man fall to the floor. clutching his chest. but investigators say this was just a diversion. janar dupree allegedly faked the heart attack while his buddy left the store with a cart full of toys. once he got out, dupree got up and left. both are under arrest. nightmare before christmas

for some kmart shoppers, online l layaway items have been canceled and items out of stock. kmart issued an apology saying some were inadverteninadvertent. customers will receive refunds soon if they haven't until. it is specific to online layaway contracts. does not impact in-store layaways. a truck carrying hundreds of amazon prime packages overturned early this morning in physical tl. the top of the truck ripped off and the neatly stacked boxes tumbled out. all the packages have local shipping addresses. the driver of the truck was taken to the hospital but expected to be okay. amazon making other news today. the company launched one-hour shipping in new york city. the service is called prime now. costs $7.99 per delivery. get household products like paper towels, shampoo, toys and batteries but need to be enrolled in amazon prime for $99 a year. the company hopes to offer one-hour shipping to additional

cities in 2015. now your nbc 10 first alert weather with meteorologist brittney shipp. >> good evening. it was a cold thursday for us. temperatures dropping back to average. we're going to stay dry as we push into the weekend as well which is nice, especially if you have traveling to do to get home for the holidays. rainy for us as we head into next week. it's going to be a series of days. not just one day, but at least three days with a chance of rain. we're seeing windy conditions that's making it feel a lot colder out. for philadelphia, the actual temperature, 40 degrees. wind speeds out of the northwest at 15 miles per hour. gusting up 24 miles per hour. throughout the rest of the region, we're at 36 degrees in reading. atlantic city at 39 degrees. a few clouds throughout the philadelphia area. with temperatures in the 40s. will drop into the 30s soon enough. our currents at 37 degrees in wildwood. 39 in millville. 38 degrees in wilmington. 36 in quakertown. chilly 36 degrees. coatesville, feels colder than that once you factor in the wind

speeds. here's our feels like temperatures. 20 degrees in the poconos. 29 in allentown. 30 in atlantic city. same thing for wildwood. we'll continue with the wind speeds and winds gusting as we head into the rest of tonight. by tomorrow, we'll start to see wind speeds relaxing a bit but breezy conditions on friday. satellite/radar shot, most clouds confined to philadelphia, allentown. looks clear along the shore. parts of delaware. central and southern parts of delaware. temperature wise, we stay close to average. our average for this time of year is 44 degrees. as we head into tomorrow, 43. we drop down a little bit more heading into saturday. winter officially starts on sunday. our temperatures are actually going to go up as we head into next week. we also are going to stay dry. that storm system we were tracking is going to stay well to the south of us. saturday heading into sunday, a mix of sun and clouds. temperatures drop down into the low 40s on saturday, but for the most part, we're dry until we head into monday. christmas eve, 55 degrees. rainy and mild. so our temperatures will go up just as winter officially starts.

as we push into the actual holiday christmas day, expect temperatures to drop right back down into the low 40s. even with a chance of a few snow flurries and windy conditions expected. as far as tonight, we're going to see cold conditions. especially for our suburbs to the north and west. 26 degrees for our suburbs for. philadelphia, 30 degrees, partly cloudy, and colder. tomorrow, range between 40 and 43 degrees. breezy for us on friday. seven-day forecast shows winter starts on sunday. christmas eve is going to be rainy. colder and windy as we head into christmas day. so it will feel a little bit more like the holiday season. as we push into next thursday. but, again, just keep in mind that we are going to be dealing with the rainfall christmas eve. mid 50s expected for us. that could slow things down if you're waiting until christmas eve to travel. >> thank you, brittney. a serious threat. >> that's right. it's all centered around a comedy. no one's laughing about this

one. the new response from the u.s. government to the hacking of sony pictures. then all new tonight on "nbc 10 news at 5," he's the cowboys seemingly number one fan. now governor christie has plans to root them on in person again. plus, he has a message for eagles fans.

the white house is now calling the hack at sony entertainment a serious national security matter. >> as investigators try to find the people responsible, the public is reacting to sony's decision to pull the movie at the center of this controversy. nbc's jay gray has the latest. >> that ain't a real story. >> reporter: the film's christmas day release has been canceled. promotional posters pulled. still, "the interview" can't escape the spotlight.

>> sony pulling the release of "the interview" is going to have ripple effects throughout hollywood. >> reporter: ripples that began on social media. rob lowe tweeting, wow, everyone caved, the hackers won. an utter and complete victory for them. ben stiller, really? hard to believe this is response to a threat to freedom of expression here in america. >> it's a form of extortion. and companies deal with extortion all the time. there are certain ways you deal with extortion and backing down is not necessarily one of those ways you do that. >> reporter: but sony pictures decided the shows would not go on after volumes of data were hacked from company computers and released to the public followed by threats invoking memories of 9/11 against theaters plans to screen the film. >> this is something being treated as a serious national security matter. >> reporter: right now a federal investigation continues. >> it is being treated by those investigative agencies both at the fbi and department of justice as seriously as you would expect. >> reporter: and officials are weighing the consequences for

those involved. >> we're considering a range of options. we regard this as a very serious attack. >> reporter: though at this point, no one is ready to officially say who may be responsible for the cyber attack. jay gray, nbc news. next, all new tonight on "nbc 10 news at 5," robbery foiled. >> we showed you this video earlier of what happened after a would-be robber encountered an off-duty officer in a drugstore. we just talked to that officer. hear what he told nbc's cydney long about what happened. and it's going to be another cold night across the area. that leads into our weekend forecast, too. i'll show you our next chance of rainy weather. that's coming up. fopoor marks for the garden state. why new jersey is one of the least prepared in the country when it comes to battling the spread of infectious diseases.

right now at 5:00, robbery foiled. security camera video rolls as a suspect puts up a fight trying to escape a south jersey drugstore. well, he never made it out the front door. >> police got him first, but not because anybody called 911 to report the crime in progress. nbc 10's south jersey bureau reporter cydney long is live in runnemead to e plain. >> reporter: the timing is ironic because the off duty police officer and his son were

just ready to check out and walk out the front door. when they turned from the checkout counter, that's when they say they saw a customer running from the back of the store and he had just robbed a female pharmacist at knifepoint. >> just finished checking out and i turned to walk out the front door and i seen a male with a mask on covering up his face. to about this far. >> reporter: runnemeade police sergeant dan murray was off duty monday night shopping inside this cvs, his night of errands, though, turned into a tackle caught on surveillance video. together with his 18-year-old son, brian, they foiled a would-be $11,000 pill heist at knifepoint. murray says the suspect was in for a fight and it could have been worse. >> it absolutely could have. he had a knife out. he was demanding the medication. she did what she was trained to do. >> good thing he was here and got him right on time. >> reporter: shoppers are thankful no one inside the busy 24-hour store was hurt. >> i was at the right place at the right time. it was the wrong place for him. >> reporter: the suspect acin