targeting woman. she lost her life in a tragic accident. a community comes together to remember one of its own. >> skies clear temperatures warm. "e

>> ♪ >> we begin "eyewitness news" at nd clock tonight with breaking news. a crash is tying up a major highway between upper merion and king of prussia at this hour. chopper three a live over the scene where the schuylkill expressway meets 476. we're told that two cars flipped here and a child has been taken to children's hospital from the scene in unknown condition. the other victims were able to escape the wreckage. it's unknown how many more people may have been hurt. we'll stay on top of developments throughout the night here on "eyewitness news." well, also tonight the city says goodbye to a fallen hero. tonight is the first of two viewings for the first female philadelphia firefighter to be killed in the line of duty.

fellow firefighters and first responders from across the country are in the city tonight to say goodbye to joyce craig. the craig family was escorted by a motorcycle honor guard. joyce's 16-year-old son helped lead the mourners while her 16 month old daughter was gently carried in the procession. >> when you lose one of your own it's rough but most importantly it's for the family just to show the unit we have within the fire service. >> firefighters from across the nation and from as far away as canada descended on the city to honor the first female philadelphia firefighter to die in the line of duty. tuesday's early morning basement fire in west oak lane claimed the life of the 11 year veteran taken from her family, friends and her firefighting family at the age of 36. >> i cried because, you know, you don't want to lose anybody but then when you lose somebody doing the job that you love so much it saddens you because it could have been

me. >> i'm very upset and very sad and we're just hurt about it. >> well, the viewing will resume tomorrow morning from 8:00 until 10 o'clock at the batchelor brothers funeral services on north broad street. the funeral then begins afterwards and the burial is at ivy hill cemetery. the firefighters union established a memorial fund for joyce craig's two children. you can find more information about that at cbsphilly.com. well, a sigh of relief for residents in philadelphia, a man accused of attacking several women in recent days was just arraigned about an hour ago. so far he's only been identified as a 55-year-old man but it's believed he's behind at least four violent attacks the most recent to happen in university city. >> out there trolling looking for women walking by themselves and then taking a coward's stance and attacking -- not only is he attacking women but he's at at a time, them from behind.

>> two police officers say they witnessed him attacking a student from u penn trying to steal her purse. well, it has been a week of rain and snow showers. it has led to what could be, though, a pretty nice weekend. meteorologist kathy orr has our first look at the forecast. we could certainly use it kathy. >> absolutely chris. looking at improving conditions. on storm scan3 some breaks in the clouds. still some clouds in the lehigh valley, philadelphia, to the west in harrisburg. come tomorrow morning we're talking about sunshine finally. haven't seen it in about a week. right now in philadelphia 40 degrees, allentown 37, 28 in the poconos. in reading it is 36 degrees. winds out of the west-northwest in philadelphia at about 13 miles an hour. elsewhere between five and 10 miles an hour generally but as temperatures get colder we'll be talking about wind chills during the early morning hours. here's a look at saturday morning, 7:00 a.m. it's freezing. by 9:00 a.m. 37, by 11:00 a.m.

41. chilly breeze. we'll be seeing a good deal of sunshine and that's just the beginning. sunday will be better. i'll be back with the seven day later in the broadcast. chris. >> thank you very much. a suspect is facing murder charges in the beating death of a gloucester township woman who disappeared just last week. authorities found the body of susan johnson about 10 miles from her home in evesham township. investigators say that johnson was killed by miguel diaz during an argument inside of her home on skyline drive back on december 5th. they say her body was later dumped in the woods near dwelt commonwealth drive. johnson had recently taken in diaz and his girlfriend with whom the victim worked. >> appears that both our witness and mr. diaz were -- fell on hard times and miss susan johnson out of the kindness of her heart took these two individuals in provided them with shelter and when a dispute came up regarding a money related

matter is led to a physical altercation can which led to the death of miss johnson. >> investigators say the girlfriend led them to the body. she's not being charged in the crime. new at 10 o'clock remembering a new jersey native who was killed in a horrific plane crash. marie gemmell died protecting her children after a plane slammed into her house in maryland. her friends and family gathered to support the loved ones she left behind. here's david spunt. >> reporter: the video is hard to watch but what happened inside this house is even harder to comprehend. 36-year-old marie gemmell, her three year old son cole and infant son devin died after a private plane crashed into their maryland home on monday. >> it's hard to believe that it's somebody that i have known for so long, somebody that was so sweet and kind and generous. >> reporter: amy was marie's high school friend from brick, new jersey. that's where marie grew up and her old friends and classmates met in brick friday night at the river rock restaurant to

raise money for the gemmell family. she organized the fopped rafer. >> she was a kind, kind soul, she had a beautiful heart, beautiful family, beautiful children. she was something special. >> reporter: friends from maryland set up an online go fund me page also dedicated to their gemmells. already friends family even complete strangers chipped in almost half a million dollars for amy's surviving daughter and her husband but in addition to the go fund me page all proceeds from inside the restaurant will go into a separate fopped for housing and clothing. >> when you're in own home you're safe and for that to happen to her it's difficult to think about. >> reporter: police say after the plane crashed gemmell threw herself over her two sons to protect them. the smoke and fire too much and they died just minutes later. >> it's unbelievable that something like that could happen and she's a hero for trying to protect the children >> reporter: those who grew

up with her say it's up to them for help her family. >> she's a hero. >> reporter: in brick township, david spunt be, "eyewitness news" on the cw philly. >> so very sad. marie is survived by her husband and daughter. they were not home at the time of the crash. meantime investigators are still working to determine exactly why that plane came down. well, new demonstrations in our area tonight following recent grand jury decisions not to charge police officers in the deaths of unarmed black men in ferguson, missouri and new york. temple students called for reforms to the criminal justice system this afternoon. dozens of them march fred broad and cecil b. moore to the philadelphia art museum. they caused traffic jams along the way. once they arrived the students held a die in on the steps of of the art museum. in camden this die-in was held in front of the courthouse.

members laid down for four and a half minutes this afternoon. that represents the four and a half hours that michael brown's body was on the ground in ferguson, missouri, before it was covered up. well, a brawl breaks out inside chichester high school in delaware county. the whole thing is caught on cell phone video. police tell "eyewitness news" the fight started between two students and eight others wound up jumping in. several of them are now facing charges. the school district did issue a statement saying that they'll continue to focus on safety security and also civility at their schools. the proposed sale of revel casino is officially canceled. today a bankruptcy judge voided the sale to toronto based brookfield asset management. brookfield won a court auction for the revel at a price of 110 million toms but later backed out after it connery solve a dispute with bond holders over debt. well, there is certainly a buzz over a bathroom at a local university tonight.

still to come here at 10 o'clock, why these signs are now popping up all over campus. plus, hockey players are notoriously tough. but this might be a little bit different. there is a contagious illness tonight that is affecting players across the nhl. kathy. >> we're looking at changing conditions for the weekend. our nor'easter well over nova scotia so we're talking about sunshine and milder temperatures. yeah, this weekend. we'll have the details coming yeah, this weekend. we'll have the details coming up as "eyewitness news" on the

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>> 11 players in the national hockey league have been sidelined because of a league-wide outbreak of the mumps. two players from the new jersey devils are among those who have already missed some games because of this. doctors say that the disease is spread through droplets of saliva but it's unusual to see it spread between or among different teams. >> we certainly see outbreaks among groups that tend to be together, outbreaks in university settings, sometimes in sports setting but usually restricted to one team itself that practices together, shares water bottles things like that. >> many of lease theise players may have been vaccinated before but there is still a 10 to 20 percent chance that you can still get a mild case of the mumps. a local university is challenging how people think about public restrooms.

pretty unique concept with an interesting reason behind it we sent our matt rivers to check it out today. >> reporter: inside it's just a bathroom, stalls, urinal, soap, sink, paper towels but it's the sign on the outside that's a bit different. >> we pushed for this. we had petitions going the last two years trying to garner student support. >> reporter: general neutral bathrooms restrooms anyone can can can use no matter who you are. there are two on the campus of rowan university. it's the result of months of conversation between students and their university. jena segal and katie whiting are part of prism an lgbt advocacy group at the school. >> it's such a simple part of life but to have a comfortable space to go to the bathroom is important. >> it is a small step forward to have inclusion. >> others say it singles out transgender people even more. >> you're going in the stall or doing whatever so it's not

like people see you anyway just more of a tron say zero that person is different. >> some think there's a good idea but wonder why there's such discussion around the issue. >> this is the first time hearing it. obviously i don't care enough about it to look into it. >> reporter: the school argues it is a big deal. just, it is just a bathroom but the inclusion it promotes is symbolic. >> the issue is human dignity. do all people, you know, at a state institution feel comfortable to be all that they can be. >> reporter: in the future lgbt advocates hope to help recrate a fully gender neutral housing policy as well. for now they'll start with a few bathrooms. matt rivers "eyewitness news" on the cw philly. >> in northeast philadelphia they're getting into the holiday spirit tonight. "eyewitness news" in mayfair at the blessed trinity regional catholic school. there was a live nativity scene in the front yard. they have it all a-real camel, donkey, sheep, goats. they've even got a baby yak.

parishoners played the role of the human characters in this biblical depiction. with the flip of a switch the christmas season begins in cinnaminson new jersey. township officials hosted a tree lighting ceremony tonight atwood park. and everyone was in good spirits there. even the big guy. santa claus took a break from all his hard work at the north pole the make an appearance. we know the kids loved that. we know you're in the holiday spirit as well. we would love to see pictures of your holiday lights or displays. if you upload them to social media just use the hashtag cbs3 holiday lights, we'll see them there, or you can e-mail the pictures directly to us, holiday lights at cbs3.com. >> well, that cloud cover is keeping temperatures up a little bit. we're still hovering around 40 in philadelphia. and our eyewitness weather watchers are saying the same. not quite as cold as it's been across a good part of the

region bud is saying in collegeville the temperature is 39 degrees. elsewhere across the delaware valley take a look at some of our numbers here. clear the board. the board is not clearing that well. all right. we'll take a look at winds then. winds right now have diminished somewhat. that's the good news. numbers are going down across the region. temps not so bad either. we're looking at 34 degrees in perkasie, marmora 38, newark delaware 39 and ocean city at 37 so the clouds helping us for now but not for long. if you would like to be an eyewitness weather watcher, we would love you to join the team. you will be featured in one of our newscasts here on cbs3 and the cw philly. go to cbs cbsphilly.com/watchers. outside our weather window we're looking at jack frost/big boulder open for the season and looking at a good base there. cold enough to make snow with temperatures falling into the 20's overnight. here's a look at your ski forecast. we're looking at very nice conditions with partly sunny skies for saturday, 34. not much wind sunday 38 and by

monday almost spring like conditions with a temperature of 43 degrees. we're watching the storminess that's out west because believe it or not this is going to make it toward the east but in a much reduced form. right now still getting very heavy rain through san francisco, some snow heading through the inner mountain west and a big trough in the jet stream and when we see this in the west that means a big ridge builds in the east and by ridge i mean the whole jet stream lifts well to the north and we get in on some very nice conditions, warmer air lifting up from the south and that will be the case over the next three or four days and by the time this moves through it will be on tuesday, so between now and then it will be dry. for your friday a-slow improvement. we've seen temperatures that were in the 40's today. saturday better with more sunshine. sunday temperatures boosto about 48 and by monday this high pressure system will be just to our south. a milder southwesterly wind will blow and high temperatures will be right around 50 degrees. that will be the peek of the

warmer temperatures. right now 30's throughout a good part of the region, 40 in philadelphia, 28 in the poconos. overnight tonight in the city going to 30 degrees and 20's in some of our suburbs. saturday charles partly sunny with a northwesterly wind high temperature 43. a lot going on this weekend. one of the things is the geminid meteor shower originateing from a asteroid not a comet. best viewing tomorrow night at about 8 o'clock with clear skies and away from the city lights you could see 60 to 80 shooting stars an hour. that's pretty good. also sunday night the birds versus dallas, tailgate temperature 43 and by the fourth quarter it will be clear with a northwesterly breeze, temperature 37. not so bad. on the exclusive eyewitness weather seven-day forecast, the temperatures begin to improve tomorrow with the sunshine. but sunday and monday looking great. tuesday a chance of a few showers, the high 50. remember hanukkah begins at

sundown. wednesday 48, thursday 46 still dry and seasonable on friday with a temperature of 45 degrees. >> we know where this guy will be on sunday night. >> yes. >> for sure. where everybody wants him to be. >> will he be warm. >> no worries there. speaking of those eagles they're looking for a repeat feast at the hands of the cowboys. we'll hear from teams on this rematch and the sixers did battle in brooklyn. plus h

>> ♪ >> the sixers entered action tonight in brooklyn having won two of their last four games. considering it's their only two wins of the cease snon 20 games that constitutes a hot streak. second quarter covington played very well. knocked down the three ball, four of five. sixers led by one after two quarters and watch the move and dunk by mcw. he finished with 14 points and nine assist. but as usually happens the nets pulling away, the lob sixers fall 88-70. they're two and 19 on the season. not since rocky two has a philadelphia rematch had such hype and cinematic appeal but sunday's eagles cowboys game

yes it fits the bill. the last time the teams met way back when on thanksgiving eagles dominated the cowboys 33 to 10. birds fast paved offense was too much for the boys. here are the combatants. >> important man. you can't get no better than this. we're home at the linc playing against dallas. we went down there, now we come here went need to -- we need to cap it off here. >> you know, go in here and win this ball game. >> we just didn't play well. just wasn't a good day for the dallas cowboys and the playoffs started. it's here now. so, if we want to go somewhere, we want to be something we need a win right now. >> they're outstanding teams. they're all well coached and you got to be prepared when you going up against a group like that and you got to bring your a game. >> we'll get you set for the eagles-cowboys nfc east tilt

at 11:30 on sunday kickoff over on cbs3. sports director beasley reece and lesley van arsdale will lead our coverage plus we'll hear from cbs3 special contributor lesean mccoy about the contest. flyers off tonight. tomorrow afternoon they host the carolina hurricanes. vinnie lecavalier missed practice with a lower body is injury. last night the orange and black opened four game home stand. ray emery stopped 17 of the 18 shots on score: class 3ap double i archbishop wood taking on central valley out of pittsburgh. mcclinton had a huge night for the vikings. he ran for 232 yards four touchdowns leading the vikings , final 33-14 over central valley. he's headed to villanova.

should be a real big find. >> what do they say about big players and big games ♪ with the card most accepted in the philadelphia region, you have the power to do more. independence blue cross. live fearless. a remote that lives more wi-fi in more places. a movie library you can take wherever you go. internet speeds that have gotten faster 13 times in 12 years. the innovators and inventors at comcast labs are creating more possibilities for more people every day.

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>> a heartwarming reunion at the rink. as you can see there were some technical glitches but guess was that was actually part of the plan. take a look. >> hello. can you hear me. >> hi. yes, we can hear you. >> i'm sorry,. >> fans we apologize looks like we're having trouble with the feed. we won't be able to submit to jim. >> little did the family know that he wasn't on skype he was actually in the building. the crowd cheering as sergeant vandenberg surprised his

family and saw his newborn son for the very first time. he spent the past year overseas in both afghanistan and romania. his family completely surprised by the whole thing but what a joyous homecoming and a well deserved kiss on the cheek for a newborn baby. well done all the way around. we thank you for watching "eyewitness news" here on the cw philly. for kathy, rob and all of us here, i'm chris may. have a good flight. we'll see you at 11 o'clock on cbs3. >> ♪

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