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Members of the Daniel Boone High School cheerleading team hope they have all the right moves.
The team is leaving tomorrow morning for a national competition in Orlando, Florida.
We caught up with the team today during their final practice.
We're told they've been undefeated so far this season.
One of two men shot in Reading on Tuesday has died.
Randy Severino, 22, was shot around 1:30 p.m. near the corner of Green & Mulberry Streets in Reading.
"I do not believe it. But, I just came here. I just found out. It is hard, but it happened," said Leidy Rivera, the victim's cousin.
Police tell us an officer was patrolling the area when he heard gunshots. He found two male victims.
The family tells us Edwin Severino, 19, was shot. Then his brother Randy ran outside to see what was happening and then Randy was shot.
Police cannot confirm those details because it is an ongoing investigation, but have told us Randy later died at the hospital.
"They are just kids. It is so sad. They are just kids," said a neighbor who wishes to remain anonymous.
Longtime residents of the area tell us it is a shame their neighborhood and much of Reading have taken a turn for the worse and they hope a death like this can be a wake up call for people throughout the city.
"It is really a shame. The community needs to pull together and take back their neighborhoods," said a neighbor.
Family members tell us Randy left behind a girlfriend, a three year old son and seven month old daughter.
The shooting was also near 10th & Green Elementary School. It was put on a precautionary lockdown, but no one from the school was injured.
The other brother Edwin was released from the hospital and is no longer in police custody.
Police are still looking for witnesses and possibly multiple suspects.
Anyone with information that can help the case is asked to call Crime Alert Berks County at 877-373-9913. A cash reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest.
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The cloud cover will continue to gradually increase across the area overnight as a clipper system approaches from the west.
This clipper will bring a bit of snow into the region overnight and early Wednesday morning, but all that's expected is the chance for a coating which will mainly occur from the Lehigh Valley on northward (may not be more than flurries or a snow shower).
Lows overnight will fall into the teens causing the snow to be light and fluffy. Rather cloudy skies will remain overhead on Wednesday with highs climbing back into the middle and upper 30s out ahead of our next frontal boundary.
This front could bring us a period of snow late Wednesday night into Thursday before passing off to the east. We are also keeping an eye on the development of a low off the East Coast, so stay tuned for the very latest. For now, look for the snow to wrap up by Thursday afternoon with minor accumulations for most locations.
The clouds should break for some sun late in the day on Thursday with highs top out near 30 degrees.
The Exeter Township School District Curriculum Committee opened its meeting on Tuesday night with a mathematics presentation by fourth grade students from Jacksonwald and Owatin Creek Elementary Schools.
The purpose of the presentation was to showcase the effectiveness of the new Investigations Additions Strategies math program that has been adopted at Exeter School District.
The students completed math problems and explained their problem solving strategies.
Board members were also given the opportunity to complete the problems, and all were impressed by the work displayed by the students.
The goal of the new math program is to get students engaged and to have fun while learning the basic principles so they will not forget them when they need to apply them to higher level math.
Bill Cain presented the proposed 2015-2016 school year Soaring Eagle, the document that outlines curriculum and schedule changes for the coming school year.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has changed the graduation requirements for students in the class of 2017 and beyond, and Exeter School District intends to change their requirements to be consistent with state regulations.
The document will also revise course descriptions and the requirements and prerequisites for AP courses.
Finally, the district has proposed adding eight new classes for next school year. Cain assured the board the new courses will not require any staffing changes.
"We seldom have a teacher who has more than two preparations a day. All of these classes came from teachers who asked, and showed interested in these courses," Cain said in response to concerns about the teachers' work loads.
The new high school classes proposed include: 21st Century Writing, AP Economics, AP Statistics, Honors Principals of Engineering, Introduction to Band and 20th and 21st Century Popular American Music Appreciation.
The district is also considering the addition of a Core Connections 3 math course that will serve as an intermediate step to Algebra and an online AP French course.
With the addition of these courses students will have 17 different AP courses to choose from, beginning in tenth grade.
Dr. Timothy Timura also suggested the addition of an ACT or SAT preparatory course.
Incoming junior high students will also now be required to take a placement exam to determine mathematics placement.
The new Soaring Eagle will be voted upon later in the school year.
A Lehigh County family is thanking everyone who donated money to help their son get to his new service dog.
Aileen and Walter Klingensmith and their eight year-old son, Richard, are settling in at their Upper Saucon Township home with their new addition, Roper.
Roper is a one year-old Goldendoodle.
69 News first brought you Richard's story in December, when the family was raising money online to help them travel to Ohio to get Roper and train with him for two weeks. They were unable to afford those expenses on their own.
Richard faces several challenges including cerebral palsy and seizures.
"Every day after the newscast it was a surprise, every couple hours a donation would come in," said Walter.
They exceeded their goal and raised more than $7,000. With that money they were also able to install a fence to help keep Richard and Roper safe outside.
Walter and Aileen said they have seen a noticeable difference in their son with Roper now by his side.
"Richard is able to go out in public more, he doesn't get his anxiety attacks, he doesn't get scared of other people," explained Walter.
"He's really good at disrupting his meltdowns," Aileen said.
The dog is also trained to detect up to two hours before when Richard will have a seizure.
"He'll lick Richard's feet or hands and then he'll come nuzzle us to say come check him out," said Aileen. "Now we know that they're coming so we can have him in a safe place."
"It's a major relief," said Walter. "We're not waking up two, three, four times a night just to check on Richard, make sure he's okay, make sure that he hadn't had a major seizure."
They are grateful to everyone who donated to their cause and have a message for those who helped.
"To thank everybody that actually supported us and we really appreciate it," said Aileen.
Walter said, "There's a lot of good people in this world, a lot of nice people in this world, a lot of generous people in this world."
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Police are looking for the man in these surveillance photos and video.
They believe he called in two bomb threats to the courthouse in Norristown last week.
The building was evacuated but no explosives were found.
If you recognize this man, you should contact police.
According to the latest jobs report..more Lehigh Valley residents are getting back to work.
According to the state Department of Labor and Industry, the Lehigh Valley's jobless rate fell to 5.2-percent in December. That's two-tenths lower than it was in November and down two full points from the same time last year.
The Berks County jobless rate also fell in December to 4.9 percent.
It happened two weeks ago in North Whitehall Township.
On Tuesday, police said they now have an eyewitness and video from a nearby business.
Those two things have given police a lot to work with in finding the person who hit 42 year old Jennifer Dietrich and just kept going.
"It's horrible just the worst thing to see your child just lay there and not being able to help them, said Delores Miller, Dietrich's mother.
Delores Miller has spent the last two weeks watching her daughter, Jennifer Dietrich, writhe in pain. Deitrich was run over as she crossed Route 873 in North Whitehall Township, Lehigh County after getting off work. The driver who hit Dietrich didn't stop.
"It's a retired Erlich vehicle, Erlich auctions them off now," said State Trooper Mar Allen.
A witness said the suspect vehicle is a blue Ford Ranger possibly with yellow or orange stripes with an Erlich logo on a side panel, police said.
Erlich officials said they routinely sell their high mileage vehicles at auction.
Allen said video surveillance is also being used to catch the hit and run driver.
"We basically know that that vehicle probably wasn't usable or we are looking for that person who called out from work or is using a different work truck," Allen said.
MIller says her daughter has had nearly a dozen surgeries and remains on a breathing tube. Dietrich will need extensive rehabilitation, her mother said.
The only way she can communicate is with a squeeze of the hand or a nod of the head. Miller said she is worried that Dietrich, who has no insurance might not walk again. She urged the driver to turn themselves in.
Come forward, do the right thing. I don't know how you can live with yourself, Miller said.
Anyone with information is asked to call state police at 610-861-2026. Allen said there could be a reward.
Another car accident in North Whitehall Township has left a woman paralyzed. Now her husband is helping her adjust to her new life...and he really knows what she's going through. Keleigh Gibbs joins us in the studio with more. Wendy..its been a true test of love for Dan and Beers. Right now..she's still recovering at l-v-h- N...and Dan...hasn't left her side.It's a love story that started like many do."We met at my sister in law's house for a fourth of July party."At that time Csala lived in Ohio. But after meeting Dan at that party she decided to start her schooling to become a teacher in Pennsylvania.Ah, it was a little of both."Years later the two would tie the knot. Committing the rest of their lives to each other...in sickness and in health. Sunday... Csala was heading to the store for milk...when a cat jumped into the road.She lost control of her car..flipped and rolled multiple times.Dan was called by a neighbor to the scene. "She handed me her wedding ring and looked right at me. I said 'are you okay? And she said No. And i just got that gut feeling."The doctors told Dan that she was paralyzed from the waist down...and would never walk again.Dan didn't bat an eyelash."I'm just going to try to do the best i can for her provide her with as much knowledge telling her how i got through my experience from when you know i broke my back twelve years ago."When the couple first met Dan had had also been recovering from a similar accident on his motorcycle just three tenths of a mile from Csala's accident.His prognosis was the same."She looked at me as if i wasn't in the chair.""She was there fo me and I'm going to do everything i can to be there for her."While Csala hasn't yet left her hospital room -- Dan has no doubts about their future together."it is not going to change one thing about her, i love her for who she is for the person she is you know for how big her heart is and she is an amazing woman....I can't imagine not having her in my life."And the family is understandably in need of funds...for a link to their go fund me page you can head to our website wfmz dot com.Rob?
A police chief in the Poconos calls it one of the most diabolical cases of revenge he's ever seen.
A teen allegedly set up a fake Facebook account to get back at the people he says bullied him.
And then it got really ugly.
It all started with the alleged victims receiving a Facebook friend request from someone named Jessica Carabello.
What the teen boys didn't know, was that Jessica was really a 14 year old boy from Tobyhanna.
“The suspect was being vengeful about being bullied somewhat in the school," said Pocono Mountain Regional Police Chief, Christopher Wagner. "Whether real or perceived and decided to target specific individuals and it kind of grew from there.”
Once the friend request was accepted, "Jessica," the suspect would ask the boys to exchange naked pictures.
They complied, but instead of getting a pic in return police said the victims were then terrorized by the suspect.
“Obviously greed came into play and then the suspect started to ask for gift cards and or say that if you don’t sent me more pics that I am going to put the original ones on the internet,” said Wagner.
The suspect attended junior high in the Pocono Mountain School District.
District officials said they never received complaints of bullying, and believe everything happened off school property.
Furthermore a spokesperson states, "Our school district, like most, provides students with instruction on computer, social media and cell phone safety, but it takes all of us continually working together as a team to keep our youth safe when using such electronic devices."
Police said the investigation in to the case is ongoing.
Right now they’re currently going through that fake Facebook page and going through all the contacts to see if there are more victims.
“It was kind of diabolical is the best term I can use in this kind of case," added Wagner. "It put a lot of our most vulnerable people, our kids, into a really bad position.”
So far police have close to 50 victims and the suspect is in juvenile detention.
The Boyertown wrestling team won another District 1 championship over the weekend. They have had a dominant season and most of it has been without Jordan Wood, the stud in their lineup. But Wood is back now, and the Bears hope to win a state title. Sam Marcinek has more from Boyertown.
For the last few years, the Becahi Golden Hawks have been golden. They've won more gold medals in the state of Pennsylvania recently than any other team in any other sport in our area. They're hoping to add another this week, at the Triple-A level this time. Moving up a division will make it tougher, but Becahi goes to Hershey as one of the two heavy favorites to win a state title. Defending Triple-A champ Franklin Regional is the other, and the two powerhouse programs are in the same half of the bracket.The Becahi wrestlers have a target on their backs even after moving up, but they are downplaying that leading up to the state tourney.
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Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is urging more than two dozen independent state commissions, authorities and other agencies to ban gifts to their employees.
The governor's office said letters to each of the agencies were going out Tuesday.
The Democrat signed an executive order on Jan. 20, his first day in office, barring the acceptance of gifts to all employees of the executive branch. Like the pre-existing code, it has an exception for gifts given by friends or relatives.
Since then, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission have both adopted similar bans.
Wolf said other independent agencies should follow suit.
