finally free. a philadelphia man released from prison after 24 years. he talks to nbc10 about how he cleared his name and what it means to be home. jury concerns. bill cosby's lawyers are making accusations against prosecutors as jury selection is set to continue today. false alert. a message about a nuclear generating station gives south jersey residents quite the scare. good morning. welcome back to "nbc10 news toda today". i'm rosemary corns. this morning, we're taking the show on the road. tracy davidson and vai sikahema join us live from one of many wawas in galloway township. good morning. >> good morning, rosemary. yeah, the party's getting started. everyone's getting their car. a guy walked by and said, "welcome to south jersey." then he said, "no, welcome to

galloway township." we're at the galloway township, pomona road and white horse pike. >> we're inside, bill henley is outside checking on the first alert weather, the most accurate forecast in town. >> guys, starting to get busy. people picking up the free mugs we're giving away as rain is starting to move back into galloway township. not a heavy rain. this is not the only spot seeing rain. a dreary view from the marquis de lafayette hotel this morning. the light rain, showers moving up into the atlantic city area. galloway township getting rain, as well. the steadier and moderate showers moving through chester county and upper montgomery county. the showers in the suburbs not going to be around all day. the entire area will be drying out late morning into the afternoon hours. chilly, 50s now from the lehigh valley through philadelphia,

south jersey, and at the shore. jin inland, 50s. mays landing, a little bit cooler this morning. we'll see a nice warmup this afternoon with some breaks of sunshine. the clouds are going to be hanging in there for much of the day. they just don't want to leave. listen, we've got a nice break right now here in galloway township. a good time to get free stuff and stop in, you might even be able to snag a -- free food, as well. if you talk to the right people. you never know. jessica's doing that right now. francesca is doing traffic duties. good morning. >> good morning. speaking of wet conditions, we have wet roadways in center city. watching the vine street expressway from the broad street camera. either direction, little to no traffic. westbound to the schuylkill expressway or eastbound from 95, not seeing any delays.

that's always good news. let's zoom out and look at the majors. the blue route now, still very green. take a look at the travel speeds. we're in the 60s everywhere you go. if you know you have to head to 95 in the next five to ten minutes, you're not going to be seeing delays. runni running --not running into any delays. 202, still green overall. both directions northbound and southbound route 30 toward the schuylkill expressway. it will take you ten minutes. when i come back, we'll look at the blue route and what it could mean to the center city commute along the vine street expressway. back to you. never gave up. >> free at last. a philadelphia man is spending his first morning as a free man after 24 years behind bars for a crime he says he did not commit. nbc10 was there as shaurn thomas was released from prison. he's home and sharing his story. pamela osborne live on how he

fought for his freedom. >> reporter: as you said, shaurn thomas waking up as a free man for the first time in more than two decades thanks in part to the pennsylvania innocence project. thomas was convicted of a north philly homicide that nbc10 first covered in 1990. he was a teenager back then. at the time he claimed he was being held at the old youth center a few miles away for trying to steal a motorcycle. his attorney said that's what stood out about the case. thomas would have been at the youth center at the time of the homicide. a judge officially vacated the conviction 24 years later. and since his release yesterday, he spent every moment catching up on lost time with family who never once questioned his innocence. >> my little nephew. first time seeing him. handsome little guy. >> reporter: certainly a lot for

him to catch up on. we'll have him here live for interviews. we'll look ahead at what's next for the newly freed man coming up in our :hour. -- our 6:00 hour. thanks. coming up, picking more jurors in the bill cosby sexual assault trial. his defense team and prosecutors have chosen 11 jurors so far. seven men and four women. only one of the jurors is black. cosby's lawyers are accusing prosecutors of trying to keep african-americans off the jury. for now the judge has rejected the argument of racial bias. cosby is accused of drugging and molesting former temple university employee andrea constand at his cheltenham home in 2004. he claims the encounter was consensual. the trial will begin in montgomery county june 5th. let's head to south jersey. officials say an emergency message that went out about the hope creek nuclear generating station was a false alarm. homeowners in salem and

cumberland counties got the false alert around 9:00 last night. officials say the alarm was related to a drill and should have never gone out. an election power auction could decide the future of the remaining reactor at the three mile island reactor. if no one bids to buy power from tmi, the owner says it could close in the next few years, putting around 700 jobs at risk. a glut of cheap natural gas has cut into the price sthat tmi ca charge. a philadelphia toddler shot four times on his front porch continues to recover this morning. this as police have released surveillance video in the case. investigators tell us the two suspected gunmen seen in this video pulled up on their bicycles on malta street friday night. they opened fire hitting the boy's father once and striking 2-year-old price johnson four

times. >> i was like, oh, my god. this baby was shot four times. how can he be okay? how dare you shoot a 2-year-old child? >> price is out of the hospital. his father had surgery and is doing okay. the family says they haven't returned to their kensington home because they fear for their safety. 5:37 on this wednesday. tonight in cape may county, wildwood officials could approve a measure to ban smoking on the boardwalk. if passed, the ordinance would go into effect in january of next year. violators could pay a $1,000 fine or spend 90 days in jail. north wildwood is also considering a boardwalk smoking ban. members of the american red cross and philadelphia fire department will take a door-to-door fire safety campaign to several neighborhoods. it follows two deadly fires on sundays including this one on diamond street that killed three people. officials will install smoke alarms and give out fire

prevention information. in montgomery county this morning, the county will launch the pulse point app. it lets people trained in cpr know where and when they can help people in cardiac arrest. they could get to the scene before first responders. montgomery county is the first county in southeastern pennsylvania to use the pulse point app. all right. time to check in with vai and trace whoa have taken the morning show on the road. they join us live from the wawa in galloway township. good morning. good morning, this wawa is brand new, opened cinco de mayo. the school is five minutes away. lots of kids come through here. >> they're represented here. also represented, stockton university. good morning, ladies. >> good morning. >> what are you doing up -- wait, college is over for the semester, right? >> i haven't gone to sleep.

>> you're pulling an all-nighter? fantastic. >> you work there, right? >> yes. >> tell us what you do. >> we're summer conference workers. people come to stockton over the summer and stay in our facilities. we welcome them with open arms. >> you guys are all up early. good morning to all of you. thanks for being here today. >> thank you. >> enjoy the free coffee. i know that coffee -- aw. i know that college students love coffee. enjoy that. >> they love it even more when it's free. am i right? you guys are awesome. we'll head back to the studio. appreciate you coming in. we'll check in with krystal klei. >> it's drying up here in galloway township. i know you have the neighborhood forecast for everyone across the region. yeah, seeing a little bit of green lingering along the jersey shore where you are. you see that the spots of green and the lightest green on the board here may not actually be making it to the ground. we experienced this earlier. showing green over philly. there wasn't actually rain making it to the surface.

still, steadier rain falling over areas like dover and into wilmington, the best period of rain is still going in the north and west parts of the area, reading to allentown, chester into bucks county. this is already thinning quite a bit from the last few hours. it will continue thinning this morning until we have only clouds left as we go through much of today. here's the hour-by-hour forecast. starting at 5:30, the model still showing this arch of rain over us. starting to break down farther south. 5:30 to 6:00 a.m., lingering. 6:00 to 8:00, light rain hitting the suburbs and the lehigh valley, burks county area. 8:00 to 9:00 a.m., out of here. we've got clouds left for the rest of today. notice there will be breaks of sun at times as we go into the later part of the day heating us up into the 70s. we see to the west, rain

returning to the board. we have the next round of rain that will be moving in overnight through your thursday. today in philadelphia, 59 at 7:00 a.m. goes to 64 at 11:00 a.m. near 70 at 3:00 p.m. the icons showing we're mostly cloudy but we have sun breaks, as well, especially over the suburbs and lehigh valley. that's where we'll have the best shot of afternoon sun. 68 by 3:00 p.m. 67 for the lehigh valley into the afternoon. 68 the temperature in delaware this afternoon. more cloud cover there. could see a spot shower. 67 along new jersey and the shore. low to mid 60s for forecast highs today. coming up, we'll talk more about the thursday rain and the holiday weekend. >> hopeful that holiday weekend looks a little bit better. thanks. 5:41. francesca ruscio is starting us off with traffic on the blue route. we've been talking about wet conditions all morning. we'll start on the blue route

from baltimore pike. northbound from the boulevard, seeing pretty little to no traffic right now. southbound for 95, we're going to do just fine. overall, very little to no cars out there. on the blue route, same for the majors. pretty early to be seeing any noticeable delays. 95 southbound, woodhaven toward the vine. we're watching travel speeds. now in the upper 50s. if you need to head up to 95 for philadelphia, now's a good time to do so. it's going to take you 14 minutes northbound. we'll be fine, it will take you 12. coming up, the roads over new jersey and the schuylkill expressway. >> see you then. thanks. nbc10 continues to help you find free stuff to do with your family. this time, we're giving you a look at places where kids can eat free. who doesn't like that? plus, giving back. only nbc10 talks to a family about how they are using their massive powerball jackpot to help their community. good morning, i'd live at the new wawa in galloway township on the white horse poke and pom own -- white horse pike

and pomona road. the team is here. come say hi, get free coffee. i'll introduce you to a very special organization that's helping to spreads an important message around the world.

good morning. vai sikahema here along with tracy davidson. look who's here, ted greenberg, our hosts. this is his area. >> yeah. we're on the road. in galloway township, definitely your neck of the woods. >> yes, i'm glad that you guys are here and so many of my fellow atlantic county residents are here. >> this is a hopping wawa. >> brand new. >> we're at galloway township, pomona road and white horse pike, the cross street.

>> wawa is a member of a special organization. you've heard of blowing bubbles for autism? it got its start here in atlantic county. >> want to blow? blow. >> when these egg harbor township children blow bubbles toward the sky, they're spreading hope, awareness, and acceptance for those on the autism spectrum. the ventner-based nonprofit, faces for autism, started the now-worldwide tradition 13 years ago. the organization provides support and education to kids and adults with autism and their loved ones. >> you see me? t -- see me in the sunshine? >> reporter: rebecca's 9-year-old son was diagnosed at age 2 says it's been a lifesaver. >> it's provided me a network of friends and professionals who let me know that what i was going through, i wasn't alone.

>> it help media achieve my goals throughout my school year. >> reporter: in egg harbor township and local communities, faces for autism works closely with schools to improve lives. >> the school can do a lot. there's so many things we can't do. to automatically from the beginning have a group that i could connect the families to has just been amazing. >> we do lots of activities and create awareness and acceptance of autism. >> reporter: the group relies on donations. wawa is a corporate sponsor. >> wawa has been incredible offering us grants and opportunities for growth. >> i'm told some of the people at faces for autism has helped are employees at wawa. they do a lot of great work. >> that's one of the great things about us taking the show on the road. we get to shine a spotlight, keep saying that, on all the wonderful things that are happening in the communities across our area, which is what i love. >> absolutely. >> appreciate it. good to see you here. >> you, too. thanks for making the trip.

>> all right. back to the studio. >> thanks for that. now to an nbc10 exclusive. the smith family from trenton had the moment that i think we've all dreamed of. they won a $429 million powerball jackpot. now they're planning to spends money to help people in their community. last year, pearlie smith and her adult children decided they wanted to give back and formed the smith family foundation. so that they've given away $16 million. 100 bookbags filled with supplies went to trenton public school students. they're helping to build a church in bridgeton. in haiti, they're building a three-room schoolhouse. >> we didn't go out and buy mansions and those fancy cars -- lamborghinis, whatever they're called. no. >> the whole idea of the foundation is to transform lives. >> the family is taking grant applications for nonprofits in the trenton area. if you are interested, go to nbc10.com, we have the link to their foundation. great family doing great work.

yeah, i think lamborghini versus helping people in haiti, people in trenton, we'll take the latter. >> yeah. usually people say if i win the lottery, i'll buy big houses. often hear about them helping the community. let's check the rain -- >> do we have to? >> i know. in easton, pennsylvania, we're talking about the rain. you see the live view in easton. still rain coming down throughout the lehigh valley, burks county. this is the area where the most steady rain has been coming down through the morning hours. it's been lighter in areas like cape may, new jersey. you can tell the roads are wet from the rain that has passed through. bill was saying to hold it instead of popping it open because things are lieghtening. light rain over cape and atlantic county. more in the form of sprinkles. in and out sprinkles over

delaware as well, and the steadier rain is deeper green. the yellows and oranges, a thing of the past. not dealing with the heavier rain. steady westchester to lymerick, you see a pocket near new morgan into reading, allentown to doylestown seeing the good path of rain move through. as expected, this has been breaking apart and moving to the northeast. it's continuing to thin out. by 7:00, 8:00 in the morning, a few spots of sprinkles. by 8:00 to 9:00, everything's moving out. our philadelphia temperatures affected by the rain. nearly 60 at graduate hospital. the airport at 57. we're also at 57 fox chase for current reading. the delaware neighborhoods, 55 greenville, harmony hills, 56. middletown also at 56. 57 in reddon. right now, lewis beach up to 58. the forecast highs, upper 60s to low 70s through philadelphia.

up to 73 in center city. through the suburbs, about the same. mid 70s are possible. even the lehigh valley, possible to see low to mid 70s. actually, may be warmer in these neighborhoods because we'll see more sunshine breaking through the clouds. in new jersey, mostly cloudy, 71 for voorheis. ocean city, upper 60s today, mostly cloudy. lingering showers near rehoboth beach at 68 the forecast high. here's the hour by hour. not for today, i mentioned most of that moves out by this morning. clouds and sun. tonight we're cloudy. look into your thursday, 3:00 a.m., heavier rain starting to move in from the south. this spreads across the board with pockets of heavier rain through the commute. wet roadways, using the windshield wipers, expect it through your thursday, as well. pockets of rain will be scattered into the afternoon. it will linger and even the possibility of thunderstorms by late in the day that will begin to weaken and leave us with light rain early friday. things get better as we go to

the ten day on 10. today, 73. tomorrow 66 with thunderstorms. friday, saturday, the better part of the memorial day weekend. up to 80 degrees. we see rain return, though, sundays into monday. 5:53 on this wednesday. francesca ruscio takes a look at the traffic cameras and 95 for us. i was scrawling through the penndot cameras. as an fyi, came across a disabled vehicle 95 southbound approaching the philadelphia national airport. it's just off to the shoulder. we're not seeing how it's affecting incoming traffic for the airport. it's an fyi, off to the shoulder, a disabled vehicle at 95 southbound. the blue route looking good. dipping to the 60s on the schuylkill eastbound. typical. also typical, delays on 95 southbound, this is between gerard and cottman. travel speeds falling into the 30s. back to you. driving is getting more and more dangerous.

the nbc10 investigators are taking to the streets to find out what's being done about it. here's investigative reporter mitch blocker with a preview of stories you'll see starting at 4:00. >> reporter: across our area -- >> please put your lands behind your -- your hands behind your back. are you under arrest for dwi. >> reporter: arrests are on the rise. repeat offenders behind the wheel. >> if someone wants to drive a car, they're going to drive. >> reporter: it's not just drinking. police say more drug driving incidents. >> i can't even wake them up sometimes. >> reporter: doing more damage on the roadways. >> didn't have a last chance to tell him i loved him or how proud i was of him. >> reporter: for the investigators, mitch blocker, nbc10 news. >> watch our full investigation starting this afternoon on nbc10 news at 4:00. 5:54 on this wednesday. a meal deal. nbc10 gives you a look at free offerings to save you and your family money when eating out this summer. coming up new at 6:00, he

spent 24 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. now on his first full day of freedom, shaurn thomas is live in the nbc10 studios to talk about the fight to clear his name, his dreams for the future, and how he got engaged behind bars. that's new at 6:00.

welcome back to galloway township. the wawa. mike has some requests weatherwise, right? >> yeah. we need good weather today for the atlantic county teen arts festival. >> okay. got that. >> okay. >> dry. >> and saturday -- philly pops concert at the mann music center. >> nice. >> me and the philly pops and my bff, hugh pineira. >> your bff? >> yes. >> i know you're two weeks from ultimate vacation. retirement -- >> retirement. 16 days, but who's counting? >> beautiful. good work at the high school. >> thank you. >> excellent. have fun at the music fest. >> thank you. bye-bye. >> have you had one of these bagels? >> i have. they're great. >> here, there's turkey bacon. >> out of the way.

>> i have my umbrella, drizzle here. we have a surprise for you! >> wayne, here's your breakfast order! >> turkey bacon breakfast. >> thank you. rosemary -- you're welcome. >> i'm going to have that. i'll hang out with dwayne for a while. dining out with the whole family can be expensive. we found spots where kids can eat free this summer. get your pencils, pens out, your phones out. write this down. landmark americana tap and grill lets kids eat free on sundays and thursday says. kids 10 and under eat free at the pub in conshohocken. kids between 5 and 10 are half price. in wilmington, mo's southwest grill on brandywine parkway lets kids eat free all day sunday. and at the ihop in cherry hill,

kids eat free now until early june. tomorrow, we show where you can take the whole family to enjoy concerts and live music for free. here are manufacture the stories we're following at 6:00 -- free at last. a wrongly convicted philadelphia man is free at last after 24 years in prison. he's live talking about his fight for freedom and dreams for the future. courtroom controversy. the accusations of race spark contention in the bill cosby case. the president and the pope. the two leaders meet for the first time following clashes during the election season. good morning, this is "nbc10 news today." i'm rosemary connors. thanks for being with us on this wednesday. nbc10 is on the road this morning in atlantic county. vai sikahema and tracy davidson join us live from the wawa in galloway township where i'm sure it's goingbe