. >> mitch blocker found the mayor's office says there won't be a better deal. mitch? >> the city ask now out of option, out of buyers and running out of town, this as the city council stands in the way of closing that nearly $2 billion deal. >> reporter: it's a deal far from done. uil holdings offered $1.8 billion for pgw, the last public utility owned by a major american city is in desperate need of repair. uil said there won't be rate increases for the next three years. >> it stays with city control, rates go up if it goes private. >> right now uil promised the rates would not go up, as a matter of fact, they said rates would probably go down. >> reporter: this deal is not good enough for daryll clark, council president. he used this independent report to convince his colleagues on the council not to vote on the mayor's plan. >> simple reality is there's no appetite to sell bgw as proposed. >> the nutter administration claim some on the council did not read the 104-page report, that they didn't make it 11 pages in where it says keeping pgw in city control could lead

. >>> mitch blocker went to the city water commissioner to find out what it will take to keep america's oldest water system running. mitch? >> right now, the water department spends $300 million to repair and replace pipes, water treatment plants and storm and sewer systems. $200 million of that is spent on salaries and other operational costs. philly's water system is historic. it's also expensive and breaks about twice a day. is $300 million enough money? >> $300 million is enough money for today. >> philadelphia's water commissioner is realistic enough to realize tomorrow will be more expensive. gone are the days of building new pipelines, digging new tunnels, laying new trenches. we live in a time of repair and replacement. >> the entire system is a huge system that has replacement cost today of about $30 billion. >> $30 billion? >> $30 billion. >> to replace the whole thing? >> to replace the whole thing. >> the commissioner showed us philadelphia's largest waste water treatment plant. >> rates will have to rise. >> you need money. >> we need money, yes. >> he said the whole system

. >> nbc 10 investigator mitch blocker joining us now. mitch, you discovered barnes' financial troubles may have been his downfall. >> exactly. specifically his bad credit. police found him because they were able to track his car. learned the reason his car had a gps device at all, his lender did not trust him to pay off his car loan. the nbc 10 investigators found delven barnes' capture may have been in the works since 2002 when he first defaulted on a loan which led him to file bankruptcy. his ruined credit made it nearly impossible for him to get a car loan. >> this is your actual gps unit. >> reporter: which is why he had a gps device like this one installed without his knowledge. >> we're going to show you how to put the device in. >> reporter: companies like phoenix-based gps and track help lenders keep track of high-risk property. michael fischer runs the company and fospoke with us over the phone. >> a lot of vehicles financed through smaller dealership are going to use them for protection of their vehicle ar or assets. >> reporte

i'm mitch blocker. the nbc 10 investigators uncould have fer it is also an effective crime fighter. >>> right now, nbc 10 first alert radar tracking a northeast they're will bring rain and snow to our area, starting tomorrow morning. the storm is expected to make thanksgiving travel a real challenge. nbc 10 first alert meteorologist, sheena parveen has the hayesest forecast in just minutes. >>> the nbc 10 investigators revealing new details now about unjustified stops at the hands of philadelphia police. new at 5:00, investigative reporter mitch blocker found a tactic nope as stop and frisk targets minorities, but national studies and experts say it does little to clean up the streets. mitch? >> reporter: the last hour, showed you how thousands of philadelphia citizens have been stopped with no probable cause and philadelphia police keeping track of how many people officers stopped, friskeded and detained for three years and numbers set to be leased the coming month, we have a simple question, does stop

for the investigator, i'm mitch blocker, nbc 10 news. thank you, mitch. >>> so, we wanted to know is stop and frisk worth it? does it cut crime and keep citizens safer? we asked a former member of the department of justice. hear what he has to say in the next 30 minutes. >>> today, the new in your face approach to what you eat. your bea to get a eye opener before you dig into your meals. >>> but first, here's what we are working on for you for nbc 10 news at 5:00. >> happening now, philadelphia's police commissioner concerned about protesters backing up the evening rush. coming up, skyforce10 is in the air watching for problems. >> new at 5, facing federal charges for alleged bad business deals in philadelphia. now, he has a new plan to prove his inspects. >>> no charges brought against the police officer who killed michael brown. top law experts tell us if the testimony was flawed. >>> also, with snow heading our way, we are checking how holiday travelers are starting early before the first flake. count on nbc 10 news at 5:00. then ther

it has investigative reporter mitch blocker asking questions about the plan to keep america's oldest water system working. >> the average philly water pipe is 67 years old. the water commissioner told us age is not an excuse for failure. even though when the system does fail you pay for it. >> reporter: there may be no better example of what could erupt beneath philadelphia's streets than the 23 million gallons that gushed in torresdale less than a year ago. the water commissioner keeps a reminder of the age and deterioration he's fighting. he showed us a piece of a century old pipe. it burst in spectacular fashion in 2012 causing $3 million in damage to center city. >> about 2 inches thick of cast iron in perfect condition. >> why did it break? >> then why did it break? it broke because there were some very specific local conditions that we cannot -- it's very difficult for us to pre-identify. >> we have sound on this one. >> those trying to find breaks may be the best listeners in philadelphia. they literally listen for leaks along 1,000 miles of underground pipeline. >> the sound

nbc 10 investigator mitch blocker took his questions straight to city hall. mitch joins us live from the digital operations center. what did you find out? >> the first questions went straight to council president daryll clark who used his influence to shut down the deal that was secured by mayor nutter. clark's spokeswoman said $1.8 billion was simply not enough for the public utility. clark thinks a better deal may be out there. in response, the nutter administration claims some on the council did not read or fully review on the independent report of the sale, relied solely on clack to tell them what to do. mayor nutter was out of town but made his chief of staff available. he did not take time to answer our questions but we did talk to council member marian tasco. some say they didn't read the full report, is that true? >> they had the opportunity to read it. >> reporter: the council president's office says they want to hold out for a better deal. will there be a better deal? >> as far as i know, this is the deal. >> now, the nbc 10 investigators did look t

for the investigators, i'm mitch blocker, "nbc 10 news."ç >>> and we are looking at a mild night. tonight we'll be seeing the clouds stick around, too. tomorrow we have the clouds sticking around. we notice the clouds later in the day. mostly cloudy tomorrow but still wa warm. thursday is the day you want your umbrellas. 62 in westchester and 63 in mount holly. bensalem at 63 degrees. some of the suburbs in delaware are in the upper 50s. millville, 58 degrees. harbor city, atlantic city, in the upper 50s. 63 in dover. here's a look at the cloud cover satellite and radar only showing the clouds here. no rain coming with any of these clouds. but as we go into the overnight hours tonight, the clouds will hang around and will be here with us as we go through the day tomorrow. but again, the rain is not going to come in until thursday. the rain right now is pretty far back off to our west. now ahead of it because this is a cold front, the air is warmer. so our wind direction will keep bringing in the warm air for tomorrow. and until all this rain passes through, the cold air behind it

live in southwest philadelphia, i'm mitch blocker, nbc 10 news. >> thank you, mitch. >>> today a delaware county woman became the first person sentenced under a law named in honor of a fallen police officer. d.a. jack whalen said 22-year-old stacey dawson was sentenced to a maximum of 12 years in prison plus 7 years probation. she was convicted of a purchase of two guns for her boyfriend, a convicted felon. dawson's case is the first straw purchase sentence in pennsylvania under the brad fox law that warç passed last year. andrew charles thomas used a gun that was bought through a straw purchase to kill officer fox more than two years ago. thomas then killed himself. >>> plymouth township officer was chasing after thomas. he ambushed fox and his canine, shooting them both. the brad fox law mandates a minimum sentence of five years in prison for people convicted a second time of straw purchasing guns. fox's parents were there for today's sentencing. >> what i want out of this law is for another family not to go through what we've gone through and we're continuing to go through. >> officer

for the investigators, mitch blocker, nbc 10 news. >> thanks, mitch. >>> "nbc 10 news at 5" is next. >> here are jacqueline london and keith jones. >> next on "nbc 10 news at 5," a chester county toddler murdered. >> nbc 10's doug shimell has details of a crime allegedly -- >> reporter: it was a horrible set of circumstances inside this mobile home. i'm doug shimell. the story coming up. >>> and this just in to the nbc 10 first alert weather center. we have a severe thunderstorm warping for parts of south jersey, mostly parts of fla atlantic, cape may counties until 5:30 this afternoon. storms lining up in delaware moving east at 50 miles an hour. these could be containing pretty damaging winds. we'll keep tracking this for you coming up and the timing of the rest of the evening's showers. >>> beach battle. margate and the state of new jersey are at odds over who controls the sand. the election just added more fuel to their fight. that's next on "nbc 10 news at 5." cocoa or eggnog? toasty or frosty? exactly the way you want it... until boom, it's bedtime! your mattress is a battlegro

we're live in southwest philadelphia, mitch blocker, nbc 10 news. >> thanks, mitch. >>> philadelphia city council is looking at a way to save people a little bit of cash when it come to property taxes. there's a tax break for long-time home owners. city council wants to transfer that break to children who live in and inherit the family home. that's according to our partners at news works. the problem comes when the kids inherit their paul ryans home and find their taxes quadruple. >>> now your nbc 10 first alert weather with chief meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz. >> the day started with widespread dense fog, then it got warm and now the colder air is coming in. it's arriving tonight, starting to feel it a little bit already, if you head outside. that cold spell will be a long one, an unusually long one for november. generally the weather is going up and down. it's going to be down, pretty much consistently for at least the next ten days. we're tracking rain also. barely warm enough for rain, a couple of times here. down to 58 dgrees in philadelphia. wind northwest at 14 mil

. >> mitch blocker is live tonight in easton, pennsylvania. where police just gave a lot of insight into this case, mitch? >> reporter: jim and renee, a tragic story the day before thanksgiving, she was a mother, she was also a newlywed, and it made it more surprising when the district attorney here at the northampton county courthouse told us who he had charged with her murder. jessica's stepfather is the man behind her death. >> he did admit that he intentionally and knowingly caused the death of the victim at his home. >> he is now in custody, police and the northampton da say he shot her in the back of the head at his home in allen township. they found the body buried in his yard. >> we're still trying to develop the information whether there is evidence of premeditation. >> the d.a. is considering trying this case as a death penalty case. there waltz a sexual component to this crime. >> she was last scene leaving her job at a day-care center, headed to her stepfather's ho e house. >>> you're watching continuing coverage from our first ale

nbc's mitch blocker tells us which ones you should look out for and the biggest warning signs. >>> this is the sound of money melting away. for main line lawn and garden, a nor'easter is white gold. >> what about these guy whose take your money and don't show up? >> that's a problem. >> reporter: he says a storm like the one we saw thanksgiving eve can also leave people desperate and vulnerable. >> we've had several customers say they've called somebody, paid somebody in advance for services and not shown up. >> then they call you? >> then they call us. >> reporter: the snow plow scam is a simple one, take your money and run scheme. this holiday season, the warnings are, again, everywhere. the gift card scam is back. major retailers warn scammers steal the code on the backs of cards and wait until you activate it to drain the account. and if you're thinking of adopting a pet over the holidays, heed this warning. the puppy scam involves phony websites, pictures of pure bred dogs and pickup date at the airport. you send money but there is no dog. also back, the grandparent scam. >> i have

mitch blocker, nbc 10 news. >> from the jersey shore bureau, three firefighters are recovering after a fire at an abandon condo. one firefight er was injured rescuing a woman. >> suspect walked up to the counter at the dunkin doughnuts, last sunday, she showed an employee a gun under his shirt. he convinced the employee to give him cash before he ran away. >>> police say a man's girlfriend stabbed him in the chest because he couldn't keep his hands off the turkey. 47-year-old jacqueline blake woke up from a drunken nap to find her boyfriend eating thanksgiving dinner early. she chased him around the table and stabbed him. he is expected to recover. >>> 2000 customers without power on black friday. most out angles are in sussex a county. >> a tradition in the lehigh valley will, officials rescheduled the game for players and fans and the kickoff is at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon. >> many casinos lost millions, now one is spending millions. plus this. >> the city of reading gets a new christmas tree t after a minor uproar after the old one. what charlie brown would have toy say about all t

investigative reporter mitch blocker is joining us. mitch, it's been mostly smooth but you did find problems? >> a few problems. so far the biggest trouble was in chester, delaware county. this is video showing a polling place at 15th and edgemont. we are told polling workers didn't show up to work. elizabeth williams told nbc 10 investigators that most of the voters are democrats but she spoke passionalty about their right to vote and how it was denied. >> they have closed this poll today knowing that their person was not going to show up today. >> i want to vote and i can't vote. >> i'm very upset today because i had 75 elders here willing and ready to vote. and they were unable to vote at this site. >> they are taking their constitutional rights away. they have no rights to close this poll. >> now delaware county voting officials say the polling location wasn't open because those staffing it just simply never showed up for work. the delaware county solicitor said by 10:30 this morning voting was back up and running with a new staff.

. >> nbc10's mitch blocker is live with details. what have you learned, mitch? >> the

for the investigators, i'm mitch blocker, nbc 10 news. >> if you run into problems in voting in philadelphia, the committee of 70 has set up a hotline to assist the casting ballots or to find your polling place. call 1-85-seventy. what can we expect turnout to look like? let's look at the last election in 2010. pennsylvania had a 47% voter turnout. that had a governor's race with the $4 million -- 4 million ballots, rather, were cast. new jersey, 42% turnout and 2.2 million votes cast. delaware with over half a million coming to the polls. after you vote, of course, stay with nbc 10. keith jones will be in pittsburgh covering the corbett campaign headquarters. lu ann cahn will be in york at the wolf camp. their reports begin today at 4:00. count on nbc to bring you all the election results tonight as they come in. we will have coverage of the candidates across pennsylvania, new jersey and delaware. we will hear from the winners and losers on the air with nbc 10 news at 11:00, online at nbc10.com and on your mobile device with the nbc 10 news app. that's a free download for your smart phone o

. >> nbc10's mitch blocker is live with details. what have you learned, mitch? >> the northampton county -- news conference where we were told jessica's stepfather has admitted to killing her and burying her body. he's been charged with her murder. state police found her body today. his house is in allen township. he's an avid hunter and -- we think this murder happened quickly. the d.a. does plan on prosecuting this case himself. >> at this time i can tell you that unfortunately we have sad news to announce today, that jessica padgett is deceased, she is the victim of a homicide. >> and we apologize for those audio difficulties, again, we will get a summary for you of exactly what took place in that news conference. details of the missing mother from lehigh county. >> we transition now to the first alert weather team. they've been tracking this storm for days. >> sheena parveen and glenn hurricane schwartz have up to the minute snow totals and when the storm will move out. let's get right to glenn. >> we continue to see the snow, it's mostly in pennsylvania. an

. >> nbc's mitch blocker has the most popular winter scams to look out for. >> reporter: this is the sound of money melting away. for james heath, who owns main line lawn and garden, a nor'easter is white gold. what about the people who take your money and don't show up? >> that's a problem. >> reporter: he says the storm like we saw thanksgiving eve can leave people desperate and vulnerable. >> we've had several customers say they paid in advance for services and not shown up. >> and then they call you. >> then they call us. >> reporter: the snowplow scam is a simple one. a quick take your money and run scheme. this holiday season, the warnings are again everywhere. the gift card scam is back. major retailers warn scammers steal the code on the backs of cards and wait until you activate it to drain the account. and if you're thinking of adopting a pet over the holidays, heed this warning. the puppy scam involves phony websites, pictures of purebred dogs and a pickup date at the airport. you send money, but there is no dog. also back, the grandparent scam. >> i have no doubt we're se

i want to talk about mitch mcconnell. he discovered an address. >> a republican majority wouldn't mean we can get everything you want from washington, but it would mean we'd bring the current legislative gridlock to a merciful end. >> what do you think about that? do you think he can swayed the gridlock. >> he is the gridlock. >> no. >> if you are the gridlock... [ laughs ] >> maybe you have more power to change it. >> he said his number one goal is to make president obama a one-term president. staffers have been on the record, on the record telling the press they don't want to give president obama a win. giving president obama a win - that's ridiculous to say that's what you base your policy making on. it should be based on giving america a win. when you hurt the president here, you hurt him abroad. republicans thought if they attack the president and don't give him wins that it will bring him into the office. yes, but you weaken the office of the presidency abroad. and it hurts people. >> do you agree? >> i disagree wit