TEMPLE POLICE CAR CATCHES FIRE AT LOCAL GAS STATION

A Temple Police vehicle caught fire at a BP gas station on Broad Street near Girard Avenue around 2:45 p.m., 6ABC Action News reported.

Witnesses told 6ABC two Temple Police cars were filling up at the pumps and one of the cars began to drive with the nozzle still attached. The pump was yanked over and ignited the tank, as well as the other police vehicle.

“So he left the nozzle inside the car, nozzle fell down and so did the pump,” Junaid Javed, co-owner of the gas station, told 6ABC. “Caused a spark, and then fire.”

Police reported the fire was extinguished within ten minutes, but the McDonald’s next to the gas station was evacuated. No injuries were reported.

The police vehicle was towed and the incident is currently under investigation.

Javad told 6ABC the estimated damage may cost more than $20,000 and he does not know how long it will take to repair the pumps.

Temple University told 6ABC the officer will remain on duty, but will not drive while the incident is being investigated.

-Lian Parsons

PRESIDENT THEOBALD PENS STADIUM OP-ED IN INQUIRER 

President Neil Theobald wrote an op-ed in the Inquirer Monday about why the university should build an on-campus stadium.

Theobald cited several reasons why a stadium would be a positive addition to Temple, from adding thousands of jobs to creating a game-day atmosphere on Main Campus.

Former Gov. Ed Rendell said on WPHT-AM radio last week, “The $100 million would not be available to Temple for anything other than a football stadium.” Part of the funding would be shifting “rental payments for Lincoln Financial Field to mortgage payments for our own stadium,” Theobald wrote.

The president acknowledged the stadium’s impact on the surrounding community. Theobald added Chairman of the Board Patrick O’Connor said university trustees “look forward” to working with City Council and neighbors to the university.

Theobald said discussions about the stadium are still in the preliminary stages.

“We are at the beginning of this process,” Theobald wrote. “Fund-raising to date suggests the idea is financially feasible, but Temple’s Board of Trustees has not even authorized the hiring of an architect. Central to our decision-making will be conversations with the North Philadelphia community. Those conversations are just beginning.”

-Steve Bohnel

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE DISCOVERS TREATMENT FOR CANCER CELLS

The Katz School of Medicine has discovered a molecule that selectively kills BRCA-deficient cancer cells, according to a Nov. 5 press release.

BRCA cells “serve a vital role in preserving the integrity of the genetic code.”

Dr. Richard Pomerantz is an assistant professor of medical genetics and molecular biochemistry in the Fels Institute for Cancer Research at the School of Medicine, as well as a senior investigator of the study.

Prior to this discovery, there were very few ways to selectively eliminate BRCA-deficient cancer cells, and doing so would affect a patient’s resistance to treatment drugs. The new findings were published online in the journal “Chemistry and Biology.”

The research could have “therapeutic implications” for cancers of the breast, ovaries, lungs, prostate and pancreas, as well as for leukemia.

Funding for the study was provided by grants from the National Institute of Health, the Katz School of Medicine startup funds and the Department of Defense’s Breast Cancer Breakthrough Award.

-Lian Parsons