Briefly... CITY/REGION

Education lawsuit moving forward

A lawsuit accusing the Pennsylvania Department of Education of failing to investigate hundreds of complaints of poor conditions in the Philadelphia School District moved forward in Commonwealth Court yesterday.

The complaint, filed last year by seven parents in the district and Parents United for Public Education, alleges that more than 800 complaints from families were sent to PDE in the 2013-14 school year, but that PDE did not respond to most parents, and in the cases where it did respond, the department claimed it was not responsible for investigating the claims.

PDE asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing the complaints did not involve "curriculum" deficiencies.

The Commonwealth Court yesterday denied PDE's request, ruling that some of the complaints fell within the scope of curriculum deficiencies.

The plaintiffs have asked the court to order PDE to investigate the complaints, which range from elimination of physical education classes to a reduction in foreign language courses.

1 dead after East Germantown fire

A woman was found dead yesterday after an early morning fire at her East Germantown home, 6ABC reported.

Officials with the Fire Department told the Daily News that they received an initial report of someone being trapped and were told to send a medic. But they couldn't immediately confirm if anyone was injured in the fire, which started around 1 a.m. on Bloyd Street near Locust Avenue.

According to 6ABC, a woman's body was found buried in the rubble after the fire was extinguished at 1:53 a.m. The victim's name and the cause of her death have not been released.

Court: Pay up, Chip

Eagles coach Chip Kelly has been hit with a $99,000 tab in a lease dispute over an $11,000-a-month penthouse.

A Philadelphia judge sided with landlord Tempa Berish and found that Kelly failed to give notice he was moving out after a year.

Kelly's lawyer argued that the leasing agent knew Kelly hoped to buy a home and needed a flexible lease on the Old City apartment. He says the 90-day notice required under the 2013 lease did not match the verbal promises made.

The Legal Intelligencer first reported the lease dispute. It said yesterday that Kelly is facing a $79,000 judgment.

Court documents show Kelly will also lose his $20,000 security deposit after his lawyer failed to show for a one-day trial.

Kelly's lawyer didn't immediately return a call seeking comment. The team had no comment.

U.S. Customs busts KOP man for assault

Customs officers arrested a King of Prussia man at Philadelphia International Airport on an outstanding warrant for an aggravated assault that allegedly occurred earlier this month, authorities said.

Richard Warrick, 40, arrived at the airport Wednesday on a flight from Jamaica, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a news release yesterday. He was also wanted in Camden, N.J. for possession and intent to distribute marijuana or hashish.

Warrick was arraigned yesterday and has a preliminary hearing scheduled for next month in the city's Municipal Court.

-Solomon Leach, Joe Brandt and

the Associated Press