As millions of people in more than a dozen states eagerly await next month’s solar eclipse, the country’s largest power grid operator is preparing for the impact it will have on solar power generators.

PJM Interconnection, a regional transmission organization serving 13 states, including Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey, as well as Washington, DC, announced Monday they plan on ensuring reliable electricity supplies during the August 21 solar eclipse, when passage of the moon completely blocks out the sun. The event, which will be seen first in Oregon and cut diagonally across 14 states to South Carolina, will be the first total solar eclipse visible coast-to-coast since 1918.

PJM expects the eclipse to cause solar power generators to temporarily lose their fuel source from 1:30 p.m. to 3:40 p.m. on August 21. They also expect the temporary reduction in solar power to be up to 2500 megawatts though it will vary from home to home. A power reduction from a rooftop solar panel causes an increase in electric demand on the power grid. PJM says solar generation comprises less than 1 percent of its 185,000 megawatts of generation capacity.

“Certainly, this is an unusual solar event, but as far as potential impacts to the grid, PJM and its members are prepared,” said PJM President and CEO Andrew L. Ott. “While this is an anticipated event, we routinely plan and prepare for unpredictable events or things that can’t be forecast far in advance, such as severe storms and heat waves.”

The eclipse will have a greater impact on certain states, including New Jersey which has more solar generation than other states served by the organization, according to PJM. The organization says they will “ensure sufficient resources are ready to replace” any solar generation loss.

CLICK HERE for more information on the upcoming eclipse.

A Philadelphia mother accused of leaving her baby alone in a Bucks County hotel room full of drugs is now in custody, according to police.

Erica Avila-Lopez, 34, was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of children, recklessly endangering another person and narcotics offenses.

Staff at the Knights Inn Hotel in Bensalem say they found a 7-month-old baby alone on the floor inside a hotel room Sunday after the occupants failed to checkout at 11 a.m. Police say there were narcotics and drug paraphernalia in plain view inside the room.

The child was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital but did not appear to have suffered any injuries. The baby was turned over to the custody of Philadelphia DHS.

Investigators determined the room was rented by the baby’s mother, identified by police as Lopez. Lopez allegedly left her baby alone in the room on Saturday around 4 p.m. and never returned. She was later found Monday and is currently in police custody at a medical facility.

Residents of a Jersey Shore community who lost a court battle against a controversial dune construction project are fuming after recent heavy rain left a soggy mess at the beach and reignited safety concerns. 

“We had beautiful beaches,” Charlene Goldsleger of Margate, New Jersey said. “And they just came and destroyed our beaches.”

A group of homeowners in Margate filed a lawsuit against the state Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that sought to block the construction of dunes in the borough in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in 2012. The project relies on wooden bulkheads to protect against storm surges.

The homeowners who opposed the project feared it would cause large lagoons of standing water on the beach that could contain a mixture of trash, oil and other contaminants, providing a breeding ground for mosquitoes that could potentially carry and transmit the Zika virus.

In February however a federal judge declined to block the dunes, ruling that the opponents’ fears were not realistic and stating that they either weren’t likely to happen or could easily be fixed by engineering solutions or cash compensation. Several scientists also said the possibility of the dune project leading to a Zika outbreak were remote at best since the type of mosquito that carries the virus isn’t a problem in New Jersey.

The judge also ruled the puddles or ponding the project might cause likely wouldn’t be worse than what was already there without the dunes. The homeowners ultimately ended their litigation in April.

Months after the lawsuit was dropped however, some Margate, New Jersey residents are now saying, “I told you so,” after downpours over the weekend left several inches of standing water near the dunes. Margate Mayor Michael Becker told NBC10 he considers the area dangerous.

“Bacteria, mosquitoes, I don’t want little children in there,” he said. “There’s certainly enough water in there that could be fatal to somebody. This has to be dealt with.”

The beach itself is mostly barren, even with temperatures near 90 degrees. Margate officials are currently testing the ponds for bacteria.

A spokesperson with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers told NBC10 the water in the basin area between the bulkhead and dune is not percolating due to oversaturation by the recent rain and a weekend deluge. When asked whether that was a problem or a design flaw, a spokesperson for the DEP said, “I don’t think we’re at that point yet.”

Goldsleger disagrees however.

“There are children down there playing,” she said. “Something is going to happen. There’s going to be an accident and it’s going to be a lawsuit.”

Mayor Becker called an emergency meeting for commissioners Wednesday morning to discuss the issue and possibly come up with a plan to hire an attorney and file an injunction to stop the project.

“My hope will be that that passes and we hire a good attorney who will obviously get this project stopped,” he said.

“No Swimming” signs were installed near the dune project site Monday morning. The spokesperson for the Army Corps of Engineers said they plan to fill the basin with sand and build walkways to restore beach access.

Lower Merion High School alum Peter Gard has returned to his alma mater nearly 25 years after graduating to install his latest art project: The Lockersphere.

The 700 lb. sculpture is comprised entirely of locker doors salvaged from the school's 2010 renovation. When demolition started, school officials contacted Gard about possibly creating an piece for the new space.

"When I spent some time in the building, I just realized the locker doors are the most recognizable part of the whole school. The locker meant so much to me because for the first time I had personal space to lock up and store my things," Peter Gard said of his inspiration.

His decision to shape the doors into a sphere comes from a love of basic forms. He said the project will hold special meaning to people of all ages because everyone can recognize a ball and make their own interpretation.

"After salvaging hundreds of locker doors, I generated a few different ideas and ran it by the art department there. After some discussion, we landed on this sphere of locker doors," Gard said.

Gard hung the Lockersphere outside the Bryant Gymnasium, named after basketball standout and former alumni Kobe Bryant, last Thursday.

Although he has been continuously working on this sculpture for the past seven years, at times the Lockersphere has been on the back-burner to other projects.

This piece, however, is special to Gard because it brings back memories of his high school days. The 1993 grad is unsure if his former locker is included in the sculpture.

"It’s very likely." Gard added. "When I salvaged the doors I received the entire bank of lockers in my row. If it’s not in my sphere it’s still in my shop."

Philadelphia’s Franklin Square is celebrating its 11th birthday with the announcement of 11 events coming to the park in 2017.

The list of events was announced to the public Monday along with free birthday cake and carousel rides for anyone in attendance.

Among the busy schedule at the Race Street park, Saturday Night at The Movies will allow families and friends to gather and watch popular films on the Great Lawn. Lego Batman and Finding Dory will be shown on Aug. 5 and Aug. 19, both starting at 8:30 p.m. Before the movies, guests are encouraged to come for games and pre-show activities at 7.

Labor Day Weekend will help conclude summer with The Lightning Bolt Express Train stopping through Franklin Square. From noon to 3 p.m families are welcome to take the ride around the park for just $4 for children and $5 for adults.

September will also begin the park’s brand new free Art Squared Culture Camps presented by Historic Philadelphia, Inc.

Along with the Betsy Ross House and Lights of Liberty, Franklin Square is an initiative of Historic Philadelphia, Inc. For more information, visit their website or call (215)-629-4026.

The Atlantic County Prosecutor confirmed an ongoing investigation into possible prescription drug fraud involving public workers and others in at least three New Jersey cities.

“It could involve anyone from a public employee to a pharmaceutical rep to a doctor to anyone who played a role in deceiving the insurance companies,” Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon Tyner said in an exclusive interview with NBC10’s Ted Greenberg Monday.

Tyner said his office and federal authorities are conducting parallel investigations of municipal employees and other community members who may be involved in prescription drug insurance fraud in Margate, Atlantic City and Ventnor. 

“It’s wide in scope,” Tyner said. “It’s wide in the members of the community.”

NBC10 also obtained an Atlantic County grand jury subpoena issued to the three cities, ordering them to turn over information about police, fire and other employees who have express scripts, MedCo, and/or NJ Direct as part of their health insurance plans. A federal grand jury subpoena that NBC10 obtained in June also requested the same information.

The subpoenas come after records, also uncovered by NBC10, showed a massive spike in brand name prescription drug costs by Margate City employees, from nearly $714,000 in 2014 to more than $3.3 million in 2015 with only a small increase in the number of prescriptions filled.

“We are obviously committed to getting to the bottom of this scheme,” Tyner said.

Tyner said vitamins and compound prescription creams are part of the investigation. He also said the case potentially involves hundreds of defendants and may result in both federal and state charges.

Tyner also confirmed the June 13 search of the Egg Harbor Township office of Dr. James Kauffman was connected to the prescription fraud probe. Kauffman is the husband of slain New Jersey radio host April Kauffman. NBC10 obtained body camera footage showing a standoff between Dr. Kauffman and police during the search, with the doctor yelling, “I’m not going to jail for this.”

Kauffman eventually surrendered and was taken for a psychological examination. Prosecutors said the search warrant was not related to the May, 2012 murder of his wife April Kauffman.

No arrests or indictments have been announced in the fraud investigations, causing speculation to run rampant.

“We don’t know,” said Ventnor City Mayor Beth Holtzman. “So the uncertainty of what is going to happen or what coworker is going to be affected is causing some morale issues."

A pair of crashes caused traffic troubles on one of South Jersey’s busiest roads for hours Tuesday morning.

The initial three-vehicle wreck along Route 42 (North-South Freeway) northbound near mile-marker 8 around 1:30 a.m. left all northbound lanes closed, New Jersey State Police said.

While diverting traffic at College Drive, a tractor-trailer overturned, causing a slow down on the ramp as crews worked the upright the vehicle and clean up a fuel leak.

By 6 a.m., it was all brake lights approaching the scene.

At least two people were hurt.

It took until almost 8 a.m. to finally get traffic heading toward Philadelphia moving again.

No word on what caused the initial wreck.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest has released its 2017 Xtreme Eating awards, highlighting high calorie restaurant offerings from top national chains. NBC's Erika Edwards reports.

A 103-year-old Rochester, Minnesota woman's dream of riding a motorcycle has finally come true. Bert Mullenbach said it was a dream of hers for years but she didn't think it would ever actually happen. However, all of that changed last week when her dentist, Fred Carlson offered to take her for a spin on his motorcycle.

About one in three Americans used prescription opioid painkillers like OxyContin or Vicodin in 2015, according to a survey released by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, NBC News reported.

The NIDA study calculated 91.8 million Americans used prescription opioids, with nearly five percent of adults surveyed saying they took them without their doctor’s permission.

“The most commonly reported sources were friends and relatives for free,” the study reported. “Or a physician.”

Also Monday, a presidential opioid commission chaired by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie released an interim report that said the U.S. "is enduring a death toll equal to September 11th every three weeks." The report urged President Donald Trump to "declare a national emergency."

The commission suggested expanding treatment facilities across the country, educating doctors about the proper way to prescribe pain medication, equipping all police officers with the anti-overdose remedy naloxone, developing new fentanyl detection sensors, and improving data-sharing among law enforcement agencies.

Philadelphia's Catholic community has dedicated a symbol of its commitment to the less fortunate by becoming the first city in Pennsylvania to have a “Homeless Jesus” statue.

The statue in front of Saint John’s Hospice on Race Street in Center City serves as a public symbol of the Catholic Church’s mission to help the "most marginalized and vulnerable members of society," according to Philadelphia Archdiocese.

The statue has now been installed in dozens of cities worldwide but the Philly bronze featuring Christ shrouded in a blanket on a park bench is the first in Pennsylvania, the church said.

Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput blessed the 7-foot long statue Monday saying it is a symbol to the church’s commitment to helping the homeless.

Besides hospice care, Saint John’s serves a daily hot lunch to more than 300 men and offers other services like showers and nursing to hundreds more men, the archdiocese said.

A historic New Jersey house is on the market for $10 or less — but only on one condition.

The 4,000-square-foot colonial-style home, at 44 Pleasant Avenue in Montclair, boasts six bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms. According to Zillow, the property also includes a tennis court and carriage house spread across 2.86 acres.

However, a requirement of purchase, as set by the town, is to relocate the home to an address one quarter of a mile away. Though the seller will contribute up to $10,000 toward moving costs, the buyer is responsible for the remaining fees.

According to Nickel Bros. moving company, a big relocation, including reconstruction, can range from $150,000 to $200,000. The New York Times reported that, depending on size and distance moved, the cost can fall between $15,000 to $60,000.

As NorthJersey.com reported, the relocation is required because the Montclair Planning Board approved an eight-lot subdivision on the current property in June. As a result, the historic home must be sold and moved to be saved.

The $10 offer also comes with a fast-approaching deadline. A contract must be drawn by August 31, the township says.

Built in 1906, the house was designed by the renowned Montclair architect Dudley S. Van Antwerp. NorthJersey.com reported that its former owners include Aubrey Lewis, who became one of the first African-American FBI agents. Lewis also served as a commissioner of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, overseeing the construction of Giants Stadium.

Interested buyers can submit offers to 44pleasantave@gmail.com.

A former Montgomery County middle school teacher has learned his sentence for having sex with two ninth grade girls.

A judge sentenced former Springfield Township Middle School social studies teacher Jason Gattuso Monday to six to 12 years in prison plus five years of probation, Norristown-based attorney Thomas Egan III told NBC10.

Gattuso, 40, apologized to his victims and their families as well as his own family, Egan said.

Both teenage victims were in the 9th grade when Gattuso, of Chalfont, Pennsylvania, started texting them, according to a criminal complaint. He was having sex with the teens at various locations, including his car, one of the victim's homes, hotels and other locations, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said at the time of Gattuso's arrest.

Gattuso pleaded guilty to sex with a minor and indecent sexual assault earlier this year, according to court records.

According to Gattuso's bio on the Springfield Township Middle School website, he played football at Villanova University and served in the military prior to working at the school.

National Night Out is Tuesday as communities around the country, including in the Philadelphia region, participate in the police-awareness event that began on the Main Line.

National Night Out is designed to raise drug and crime prevention awareness, generate support for anti-crime efforts, strengthen community spirits and the police-community bond and send a strong message to criminals that the community is fighting back, according to organizers.

The program began in Philadelphia when founder, Matt Peskin, realized the Lower Merion Police Department and many like them had no platform to connect to the community, according to the National Association of Town Watch, which Peskin founded in 1981.

In 1984, NATW introduced National Night Out.

Across the region police departments are hosting block parties, cookouts, carnivals, pool parties and flashlight walks.

Pennsylvania

Bucks County

Bensalem Township -- The Pavilion of the Township Municipal Complex -- 5 to 7 p.m.

Montgomery County

Hatboro Township -- West Moreland Avenue Municipal Shoppers Parking Lot -- 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Horsham Township -- Horsham Municipal Complex at 1025 Horsham Road -- 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Lansdale Township -- Lansdale Borough police Department on One Vine Street -- 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Plymouth Meeting -- Target at 2250 Chemical Road -- 6 p.m.

Wynnewood Township -- Wynnewood Shopping Center at 50 East Wynnewood Road -- 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Philadelphia

Philadelphia Police Department’s 3rd District -- Snyder Plaza at 1021 South 4th Street -- 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Mayor Jim Kenney is expected to attend.

Philadelphia 203rd Legislative District -- Masjidullah, Inc. at 7433 Limekiln Pike -- 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

New Jersey

Atlantic City County

Absecon -- Pitney Park at the corner of Pitney Road and Crestview Avenue -- 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Somers Point -- William Morrow Beach -- 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Burlington County

Medford Township -- 91 Union Street -- 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Camden County

Cherry Hill Township -- Cherry Hill Municipal Complex at 820 Mercer Street -- 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Gloucester Township -- Throughout the township -- 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Winslow Township -- Winslow Township High School at 10 Cooper Folly Road -- 6 p.m.

Mercer County

Hamilton Township -- Police Division Headquarters at 1270 Whitehorse-Mercerville Road -- 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Delaware

New Castle County

Wilmington Township -- Helen Chambers Park at 600 North Madison Street -- 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

This is in no way an exhaustive list so check with your local civic association and/or police department to see if there is an event in your town.

Police say they have identified the suspect sought in the shooting death of a man in Delaware County, Pennsylvania over the weekend.

Now, they just need to find him.

Haverford Township Police Chief John Viola said Tuesday morning that police have positively identified the man and are honing in on his whereabouts. Viola declined to release the suspect's name.

The man is wanted for the killing of 29-year-old John Le. The Ardmore man was gunned down Saturday evening in Haverford Township.

Earlier Tuesday, police in West Philadelphia located the suspect's gray Volvo sedan parked along the 5100 block of Locust Street. They impounded the car.

Viola said the suspect is known to stay in the area where the vehicle was located.

Le was leaving a pizza shop on 2300 block of Haverford Avenue on Saturday when the red-hoodie wearing suspect shot him, police said. Surveillance video captured Le fleeing the area in a gray car.

Police believe the same man fired 17 shots at two people in Philadelphia's Overbrook Park section about 45 minutes before Le's killing.

Viola said authorities have been pursuing promising leads in the case. A $5,000 reward is being offered for the arrest and conviction of the suspect.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Haverford Township Police Department at 610-853-9213 or the Citizens Crime Commission at 215-546-TIPS.

A bright white glow -- a cloud? a glare? a spirit? -- emerged suddenly on the George Washington Bridge Tuesday morning and passed slowly over the span, traffic cameras show. The explanation is probably quite simple, but it's still cool to watch. For what it's worth, it all started with a fuel spill -- but that was on the other side of the bridge. 

See more weird news photos.

Upper Merion is taking the fight to an invasive beetle on behalf of millions of ash trees.

The Montgomery County township is going on the offensive as a bug called the emerald ash borer has already chewed its way through many parts of Pennsylvania, felling as many as 37 million ash trees in the last decade.

Arborists and state environmental officials are now warning residents and municipalities in southeastern Pennsylvania that the beetle is now in the region, and killing one of the most prominent tree species.

Upper Merion's assault on the beetles, in an effort to kill them before they kill ash trees along the Valley Forge West Trail at Heuser Park, will begin with an herbicide treatment beginning on Aug. 14.

The spraying is the first in a multi-step plan that will eventually include pre-treatment of non-affected ash trees, removal of diseased trees and eventual reforestation.

The initial step of herbicide spraying will take up to 10 days and the trail will be closed to the public during that time and in days following the treatment, Upper Merion said. 

The township expects the trail to re-open about Aug. 28. The timeframe could change depending on the weather and other factors.

"No visitors are allowed on the trail during the application and wait period," the township said in a statement Tuesday. "The safest bet for visitors to return to the trail once the application and wait period is over is after a heavy rainfall."

The emerald ash borer has a 99 percent kill rate once it inhabits a tree, experts say.

The emerald ash borer is native to Asia and arrived in the United States as long ago as the late 1980s. It was first discovered feeding on ash trees in the Detroit, Michigan, region in 2002. Experts now believe it was killing ashes for years before that.

How it got to the states is a good question, but it has traveled throughout much of the country in firewood -- the beetle is now found in at least 27 states, and still spreading.

“It’s in virtually every county in Pennsylvania,” Donald Eggen, the forest health manager for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), told NBC10 in May. “It’s been as simple as someone’s ash tree dies, and they say, let’s bring the wood up to the campsite. That’s how it spreads.”

At that time, Eggen said the state Division of Forest Health is in the midst of studying the ongoing prevention efforts in 10 towns, including West Chester, Philadelphia and Lancaster.

Eggen and local arborists said there are treatment options available to homeowners with ash trees, but it comes with a cost and must be done before a tree is infected by the beetle.

There are an estimated 2 million-plus ashes in the Philadelphia region.

An estimated 306 million ash trees make up four percent of Pennsylvania’s regular forests. (That doesn’t count the millions more in the state’s “urbanized” forests.) About 12 percent, or 37 million ash trees in state forests have already died at the pinchers of the emerald ash borer, which lays its eggs under the bark of the trees. The larva then eat their way along the inner bark and cambium of the tree, which cuts off nutrition and growth.

Linkin Park should have been playing Camden’s BB&T Pavilion Tuesday night.

Instead, fans will gather near Wiggins Waterfront Stage - located between the Adventure Aquarium and BB&T Pavilion - to remember late singer Chester Bennington, who died by suicide less than two weeks ago.

Fans attending Tuesday’s memorial are invited to bring candles, sparklers and flashlights to “shine one more light” for the singer at sundown, vigil organizers said in a statement. Linkin Park music will be playing throughout the evening.

The vigil starts at 6:30 p.m. Find more information here. 

“We want to get as many people together as possible to show how much one person can truly make a difference in the lives of others,” organizers said in a statement.

A second vigil will take place Aug. 7 at Philadelphia's Voltage Lounge. 

Bennington, 41, was close friends with Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, who died by suicide earlier this year. Bennington performed Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" at the Cornell’s memorial in late May. He was godfather to Cornell's 11-year-old son.

Bennington died on what would have been Cornell’s 53rd birthday.

In 2015 alone, 44,193 people took their lives, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

White men accounted for seven out of 10 suicides in 2015, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The rate of suicide is highest among middle-aged men. 

To learn more about suicide prevention, visit NBC10’s groundbreaking series “Preventing Suicide: Breaking the Silence.”

If you are in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting 'Home' to 741741.

As the opioid crisis continues to plague communities throughout the country, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ, introduced legislation Tuesday to end “the failed war on drugs” by legalizing cannabis at the federal level.

The Marijuana Justice Act would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, expunge federal marijuana use and possession crimes and incentivize states through federal funds to change their cannabis laws if those laws were shown to have a disproportionate effect on low-income individuals or people of color.

It would also allow people currently serving time in federal prison for marijuana use or possession to petition for a resentencing.

Booker announced the legislation via Facebook Live.

“Tragically, in this country, if you’re African-American, you’re going to be arrested for using drugs almost four times more than someone who is white,” Booker said.

“Having grown up in the town that was privileged compared to Newark, you don’t see kids coming home from frat parties being stopped and frisked. You hear people bragging about using pot. If you go to poor communities, clearly this is not a laughing matter.”

In May, New Jersey State Sen. Nicholas Scutari introduced a bill to make recreational marijuana legal across the state. Its medical marijuana program has been hampered by costly fees, restrictive policies and a governor who wants to see it fail, Scutari said.

But any bill to federally legalize marijuana will likely be hamstrung by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has been calling for tougher sentencing and a rollback of pro-pot state legislation.

“Sessions is a problem and dangerous,” Booker said Tuesday. “[He] is going against state laws and public opinion. This to me is outrageous and unacceptable.”

Booker said he has never tried marijuana and does not drink alcohol. The bigger issue, he said, is the "unequal application of justice" to low income communities.

"This bill is the most ambitious marijuana bill we have seen in Congress,” Queen Adesuyi from the Drug Policy Alliance said.

“It recognizes the fact that people of color have borne the brunt of the failed war on drugs and seeks to repair the damage done."

”This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

NBC10's Erin Coleman sat down with Nadia Habig and Brian Miller to discuss their experiences attending space camp.