Police arrested a man accused of soliciting a boy for sex at a Walmart in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. 

Brian J. Whiting, 41, of Pottstown, is charged with luring a child into a motor vehicle or structure, unlawful contact with a minor, criminal attempt at involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, criminal attempt at indecent assault of a person less than 13 years of age and corruption of minors.

Police say Whiting solicited a boy for sexual favors near the bathroom inside of the Walmart on South Trooper Road in West Norriton Township back on May 19 shortly before 11 p.m. Police were called to the Walmart and spoke with the boy who gave them a description of the suspect and told them which direction he traveled.

Whiting was found in the area and the victim identified him as the man who solicited him, police said. Police also say surveillance video captured Whiting entering the Walmart on more than one occasion wearing different clothes.

Whiting was remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in default of $100,000 cash bail.

Officers arrested a suspect in a shoplifting that led to a deadly police-involved shooting at a shopping center in Deptford Township, New Jersey.

Raoul Gadson, 43, was captured by officers with the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office Fugitive Investigation Unit in the Germantown section of Philadelphia Wednesday. He will remain in the custody of the Philadelphia Police Department until he's extradited.

Gadson is one of three people who police say were involved in a shoplifting at the Marshalls department store in the Deptford Crossing shopping center on 1800 Clements Bridge Road Saturday afternoon.

Police were called to the scene and also alerted that one of the suspects was wanted in connection to a prior homicide.

When police arrived they spotted Gadson as well as LaShanda Anderson, 36, and Chanel Barnes, 27, — all of Philadelphia, according to investigators. 

Police say Gadson was resisting with loss prevention agents from the store. As police approached, Gadson allegedly fled the scene on foot while Anderson and Barnes entered a rented Nissan Armada.

Police say they commanded Anderson to stop but she accelerated toward them. One of the officers, a patrol captain and 27-year veteran, was struck by the open driver-side door, police said. Anderson then allegedly tried to deliberately run over a second officer, a sergeant. The sergeant, a 17-year veteran, took out a gun and fired three shots, striking Anderson twice.

The vehicle then veered, narrowly missing the sergeant, continued across the parking lot and onto the access road before finally coming to a stop.

Anderson was pronounced dead at the scene. Officials say she died from multiple gunshot wounds.

Barnes was taken into custody and charged with shoplifting. Gadson escaped and remained at large until he was finally located and captured Wednesday, officials said. Once he's returned to New Jersey he's scheduled to appear in Superior Court, Woodbury on assault and robbery charges.

The sergeant was taken to the hospital where he was treated and released. He'll be placed on administrative leave pending an investigation of the shooting. The patrol captain was not seriously injured.

Michael Cohen is splitting with his attorneys, leaving many to wonder if he's planning to cut a deal with the feds. A former Philadelphia prosecutor gives his analysis.

One of the largest musical festivals in the country is set to begin. Fans are already setting up camp ahead of Thursday's opening at the Firefly Music Festival.

Michael Fitzgerald hung up his apron after serving 47 years in the cafeteria at Radnor Middle School. Students and staff were there for his send-off.

A viewer says she found a great deal on appliances. However, it ended up costing her more than she bargained for.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, many Jersey Shore homes were raised up to make them less vulnerable to flooding. But some of those homes were never finished, leading to major safety concerns. Now one community is taking action. 

With the summer season in full swing, Sea Isle City is preparing for the influx of visitors for Skimmers Weekend.

With the shore season in full swing, there are events in Sea Isle City to entice more tourists than ever.

There is nothing quite like family fun down along the Jersey shore. NBC10's Matt DeLucia look at fun on the water in Sea Isle.

Beloved Philly sportscaster “Big Al” Meltzer has passed away. NBC Sports Philadelphia's Michael Barkann confirmed with Meltzer's wife that he died Tuesday night. He was 89 years old.

Meltzer was a fixture in Philly sports, remembered for his engaging on-air presence, enthusiasm, sports knowledge and easily recognizable voice.

Meltzer started his Philly broadcasting career in 1966 at WPHL-17 where he covered the 76ers and made Big 5 college basketball legendary.

He worked at several other Philadelphia stations and was the Sports director at KYW-TV 3 and later NBC10 where he stayed until 1998. He also worked at Comcast SportsNet, where he retired in 2003.

The Philadelphia Daily News called Meltzer “the Best Sportscaster in Philadelphia” in 1979.

Throughout his career, Big Al also covered the Eagles, Temple Owls and Phillies -- to name a few.

In 2010, Meltzer was given the Board of Governors' Award by the Mid-Atlantic chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences at the local Emmy Awards. The award, which was for his lifetime, exemplary work in television was one of ten Emmys that Big Al won during his celebrated career doing sports news and commentary.

Additional honors for Big Al include memberships in the Big 5 Basketball Hall of Fame, the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and the Broadcast Pioneers’ Hall of Fame.

"Gotti" is based on a book written by the notorious mobster's own son. John Travolta stars in the film adaptation.

The American Red Cross, America’s Blood Centers and similar agencies are not shy about getting the word out for blood donors — their ads are everywhere,  and workers are constantly visiting high schools and college campuses to hold blood drives.

But despite their persistence, the number of donors is dwindling.

The number of blood donors for the American Red Cross has dropped by a little more than 1 million since 2009, and the organization — along with others — has issued pleas for people to turn out to give blood. The agency points out that just 3 percent of the United States’ population donates blood.

"Every day thousands of patients across the United States rely on generous blood donors for critical blood transfusions," said Gail McGovern, president and CEO of the Red Cross, in a recent press release, announcing an initiative to encourage people to donate. "However, we have seen a troubling decline in the number of new blood donors. We urge the public to roll up a sleeve and fill the missing types before these lifesaving letters go missing from hospital shelves."

According to America’s Blood Centers, 40,000 pints of blood are needed per day. But while that number may seem high, the demand for blood has actually dropped in recent years. The fall in demand came about thanks to a number of technological and medicinal advancements in recent years that have helped doctors to improve the utilization of blood products in patient care — especially when it comes to transfusions. 

Despite a drop in demand, blood collection centers are still desperate for donors, and experts say people shouldn't be fooled: blood donations are still critical to the health industry, and there is still immense need for more donors. 

“What interests me about blood donation is that there’s been a lot of changes over the last 10 years that have affected both the supply and the demand,” said Dr. Eric Gehrie, an assistant professor of Pathology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

For instance, studies done in recent years have shown that patients who have been treated with a more conservative transfusion policy versus those who have been treated with a more liberal transfusion policy have done either the same or better with a more conservative policy, Gehrie said. 

And because of medical advancements, doctors are also able to better guage nowadays whether a patient needs a transfusion, he added. Rather than transfusing someone, doctors may, for example, give them medication that can help them. 

Gehrie pointed to the Hippocratic Oath that doctors live by in his explanation of the ways in which doctors have shifted from blood transfusions to other methods of care. 

"If there's something that we can do less of, like transfusion, that will actually improve people's outcomes or not expose them to a blood donor if they don’t need to be exposed, and we can simplify care by doing it — we're very motivated to do that," he said. 

Nevertheless, he said, blood donations are crucial. And even with alternative forms of care driving down the demand for blood, there is still a desperate need for it. 

The American Red Cross’ annual reports show that blood donations began to fall after 2009. And according to Chris Hrouda, president of blood services for the American Red Cross, 2009 was when the organization hit a peak number of transfusions, the “most we’ve transfused ever,” he said.

Since then, yearly blood donors have dropped steadily from 3.8 million people in 2009 to 2.7 million people in 2017, which is the most recent data the organization has released.

“Hospitals have invested a lot in technology,” Hrouda said in a recent phone interview. "Everything from robotic surgeries to better IT systems…around patient outcomes for various things in the health care system, including transfusions.”

It’s a welcome advancement by those in the medical field, but it hasn’t come without drawbacks. 

Hrouda said it may be hard for people to understand, since demand has decreased, but there is still an absolute need for blood, which means there’s an absolute need for donors.

“We’ve continued to reduce our collections to manage with demand declines,” he said, adding that because of the decreased demand, people have the perception that they don’t need to donate as frequently.

But they do.

As recently as last summer, the Red Cross issued a plea for blood donors, citing a “critical blood shortage” which was due, in part, to the season — blood donations tend to fall during the summer.

“The decline in summer donations is causing a significant draw-down of our overall blood supply, and we urgently need people to give now to restock hospital shelves and help save lives,” said Shaun Gilmore, president, Red Cross Biomedical Services said in the July 2017 press release. “Every day, patients recovering from accidents or those receiving treatments for cancer or blood disorders rely on lifesaving blood products regardless of the season.”

Every two years, the Department of Health and Human Services conducts a study into blood collection and use in the United States. The most recent report, published in September 2016, shows data from the year 2013 that represents a 4.4 percent decline in the number of blood units transfused as compared to 2011.

The study also confirms what blood collection agencies have said: both blood collection and use fell.

“The gap between collection and utilization is narrowing,” the study says. “As collections decline further and hospitals decrease transfusions and manage products more efficiently, the decline in surplus inventory may be a concern for disaster preparedness or other unexpected utilization needs.”

This year, the Red Cross is working to target this issue in an effort to avoid running into the same problem.

Earlier this week, the organization launched an initiative called the “Missing Types Campaign,” meant to “ illustrate the need for new blood donors to ensure lifesaving blood is available for patients,” according a press release from the organization.

To promote the campaign, the letters A, B and O — which are the main blood types — will be taken out of corporate logos, brands, social media pages and websites, in an effort to show the vital role of blood donors.

Also on Monday, the New York Blood Center declared a “blood emergency” in the New York area, calling on people to donate.

“We’re calling on everyone to do what they can to spread the word, host a blood drive or simply take an hour out of their day to donate,” said Andrea Cefarelli, Senior Executive Director of Donor Recruitment for New York Blood Center, in a press release.

The push for donors aligns with World Blood Donor Day, celebrated on June 14. Spearheaded by the World Health Organization, it’s a day meant to both honor blood donors for their efforts, and to raise awareness about the necessity of blood donations.

But even as collection agencies make their pleas for donors heard, experts can’t point to a singular reason for the drop in donors; they say it can be attributed to a number of factors.

One possible reason is tighter guidelines on who can donate blood, which adds to the elimination of a number of donors, Hrouda said. One example of this, he said, is testing hemoglobin in donors.

Hemoglobin is a protein that has iron and carries oxygen to tissues in someone’s body, according to the Red Cross. If the levels in those results for males are too low, they’re deferred for six months, while females are deferred for one year.

“We are decreasing eligibility,” he acknowledged.

Gehrie, who also serves as the medical director of the blood bank at Johns Hopkins, said the safety of the blood supply is another key issue that can affect who donates.

“Part of keeping the blood supply safe is making sure that the only people who go to donate blood are people who feel good and healthy, and choose on their own to donate blood,” he said.

And while donation centers want to encourage as many people as possible to donate, they don’t want people to feel pressured to donate, he said, because the reality is that they need donors who are healthy and meet the standards required to donate.

Dr. Timothy Hilbert, director of NYU Langone’s Blood Bank, also noted the change in criteria as one possible reason, and raised the issue of consistent donors beginning to age out.

“It’s always easier to collect blood from a donor you have established a relationship with,” he said.

Hilbert, who is also an assistant professor of pathology at NYU, added that there seems to be fewer opportunities for people to donate blood, as some donor centers have closed down. Many hospitals, for example, used to house their own blood donor centers, he said, but several have been shuttered.

“On the whole, people have fewer opportunities to donate than they did years ago,” he said.

Another reason for the drop could be generational, experts speculate. But there’s no way to tell for sure.

“People of a certain generation, in their mind, donating blood was sort of a civic responsibility that they would do…it was viewed as a positive thing to do,” Gehrie said. “Whereas now, I think people are aware that it’s a little more complicated than that.”

Hrouda echoed that sentiment, saying that the “greatest generation” — the World War II generation — has been a very strong donor base for the Red Cross. But there isn’t strong data to tell whether blood donation falling is truly a generational issue or not.

One thing that is for sure, though, is that blood donation centers are working to appeal to younger generations. Both Hilbert and Hrouda pointed to marketing as a key component of driving donors to collection centers.

“All of these collection agencies have tried to create a social media presence,” Hilbert said, adding that they are “aware that the way people relate to their communities has changed and they’re trying to keep up with that.”

“People will say donor centers aren’t doing enough, but I believe they are,” Gehrie said. “I do think that they are really trying.”

Hrouda acknowledged that the Red Cross is working to keep up with the way younger generations through social media and other creative campaigns.

“There is still a constant need for blood and I wouldn’t want anybody to walk away from this story thinking they don’t need to donate blood anymore,” Gehrie added. “Because we need it.”

George Washington's personal Revolutionary War headquarters flag is going on display at Philadelphia's Museum of the American Revolution, just in time for Flag Day.

The faded and fragile blue silk flag marked Washington's presence on the battlefield during the war. Its appearance at the museum is the flag's first public display in Philadelphia since the war.

The museum is bringing the flag, known as the Commander-in-Chief's Standard, out of its archives for public viewing on Thursday until Sunday. Each visitor will receive a miniature version of the flag to take home.

It features 13 white stars on a blue background, representing the 13 colonies.

Flag Day is celebrated on June 14, and commemorates a 1777 resolution by the Continental Congress calling for the creation of the United States flag.

Two men killed when a small plane crashed in rural New Jersey Wednesday morning were flying an "angel flight" at the time, en route to help a medical patient, according to state police.

Robert Winner, 69, and Timothy Scannevin, 71, both of Burlington County, died in the crash in Springfield Township, state police said.

Winner, of Marlton, was piloting the twin-engine Hawker Beechcrafter 58 Baron, police said. He and Scannevin, of Southampton, were the only two on board at the time.

The flight plan apparently was to eventually pick up a patient at an out-of-state hospital for transport, according to police and published reports.

The plane disappeared from radar shortly after takeoff from South Jersey Regional Airport in Lumberton, which is about 10 miles southwest of the crash scene, authorities said. The plane was headed to Massachusetts.

The crash occurred in a field around 9:30 a.m. off Smithville-Jacksonville Road just north of Oxmead Road, Springfield Mayor Denis McDaniel said Wednesday.

It appeared the plane crashed on one side of Smithville Jacksonville Road, went across the and came in contact with trees over at least 200 feet before stopping.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the crash and may hold a press conference Thursday with more details.

NBC10 is one of 19 news organizations producing BROKE in Philly, a collaborative reporting project on solutions to poverty and the city’s push towards economic justice. Follow us at @BrokeInPhilly.

For nearly three years, David Smith’s retail job provided a stable enough income for him to pay rent, child support and feed his family.

But when his 40 hours per week were unexpectedly cut down to 24 hours, things started to fall apart, he said.

“I’m facing eviction,” he told NBC10. “I’ve been in retail for 15 years. This, by far, was the worse I have ever dealt with.”

Smith, who is 50 years old, is just one of 130,000 service workers in Philadelphia, at least a quarter of which work part-time, according to the 2015 U.S. Census. Many of these retail and service industry employees face unpredictable schedules that change as often as the seasons.

On Thursday, Philadelphia City Councilwoman Helen Gym introduced legislation to curb some of this uncertainty. The fair workweek ordinance would require a reasonable notice of schedules, at least 11 hours rest time between shifts, opportunities to work additional hours and provide for enforcement and penalties if an employer does not comply.

“Today is about not looking the other way,” Gym said. “This bill is about standards of dignity.”

The bill has seven cosponsors, including Democratic councilmembers Maria D. Quiñones-Sánchez (7th District), Mark Squilla (1st District), Bill Greenlee (At Large), Bobby Henon (6th District), Jannie Blackwell (3rd District), Curtis Jones (4th District) and Kenyatta Johnson (2nd District).

The ordinance would specifically target large chain businesses in the retail, food or hospitality sectors that employ a minimum of 250 people and have at least 20 locations across the country or state.

It is part of a larger, nationwide effort that has already been introduced in San Francisco, Seattle and New York. Those cities passed similar legislation after increasing their minimum wage. Adding fair workweek standards was the logical next step, according to Rachel Deutsch, senior staff attorney for worker justice at the Center for Popular Democracy.

“Some companies are stuck in this philosophy that labor is the most malleable cost,” she said. “But there has been a ton of data that shows there are hidden costs to this business model that treat workers as disposable.”

One such study conducted by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley examined hourly employees at Gap clothing stores in Chicago and the Bay Area. The study randomly assigned two-thirds of stores to consistent schedules and one-third of stores to their regularly shifting schedules. Researchers concluded that sales were higher at stores where shifts largely remained stable from week to week.

Those same researchers also found, in a separate study, that many of Philadelphia's hourly wage workers experienced up to a 14-hour difference in schedules from week to week. More than 75 percent of employees surveyed wanted a more predictable scheduled, according to the study. 

"The portrait of Philadelphia service sector workers reveals that unstable and unpredictable schedules are the norm," the researchers concluded. "As we have seen nationally, the retail and food sectors in Philadelphia are characterized by low pay, insufficient work hours, and a lack of control over scheduled work hours."

But Philadelphia’s Chamber of Commerce, which opposed Gym’s bill before it was even introduced, called the legislation “yet another anti-growth out of sync initiative introduced in city council.”

“Under the guise of improving worker flexibility, this copycat legislation hurts the very industries where we are seeing growth—the very industries that have put Philadelphia on national and international business site selection lists and travel and tourism lists,” the Chamber of Commerce said in an emailed statement.

Smith, who worked at one of the largest retailers in the nation for four years, said sudden schedule shifts resulted in low morale and eventually led to him quitting his job. He also said that the local human resources department failed to properly handle a complaint he made regarding racist comments overheard on the store’s loud speaker.

Smith’s team leader told him that his hours had been cut back because the holiday season ended. Extra workers were not needed. However, Smith noticed that new, part-time employees were being still hired, he said. It felt like retaliation.

“I want them to, first and foremost, have some respect ... for their employees because they are the backbone,” Smith said. “They try to say it’s mostly college students, but I worked with people that are 70 years old and are veterans. They are trying to provide for their families.”

In 2014, San Francisco became the first major city to pass fair workweek legislation. Seattle, New York City and the entire state of Oregon followed.

New York’s bill came on the heels of the city passing a $15 living wage, which will go into effect next year. Like Philadelphia, the majority of New York’s hourly workers were struggling to make ends meet. The problem with unpredictable schedules is “income volatility,” a leading driver of poverty, Deutsch said.

“You don’t know if you’re going to pay rent the next week,” she said. “Sometimes, people get thrown off [assistance] vouchers if their hours shift. Or retail employees work a lot during holidays and then drop off in January and suddenly can’t afford child care.”

Philadelphia has already passed legislation aimed at creating a more stable work environment for residents. In 2014, Philadelphia passed a bill requiring that city contractors receive at least $12 an hour. Then, in 2015, the city passed a mandatory paid sick-leave bill.

Philadelphia's fair workweek bill will likely go to vote when city council resumes in the fall. 

A little girl was abducted from her bedroom in the early morning hours Sunday and raped behind a nearby shed in Chester County before a suspect was caught a short time later, authorities said.

Humberto Guzman-Garcia was arrested when police found him hiding in an abandoned vehicle near the site of the attack in Avondale, the Chester County District Attorney's office said Thursday.

The 35-year-old man's last known address is on Lake Road in Avondale, but District Attorney Tom Hogan said he is a stranger to the little girl and her family.

A state police detective confirmed that investigaotrs are still trying to determine why the little girl was targeted.

Guzman-Garcia allegedly abducted the girl after tapping on her bedroom window. The girl's parents noticed she was missing about 3:30 a.m. Her father found Guzman-Garcia allegedly sexually assaulting his daughter some 50 yards from their home, the DA's office said.

"This crime is every parent's nightmare," Hogan said in a statement. "A monster comes out of the night, abducts your child, and sexually assaults her. This is proof that evil exists in this world."

Guzman-Garcia is charged with kidnapping, aggravated indecent assault, attempted rape and other offenses. He is being held at Chester County Prison.

He was born in Mexico, according to the criminal complaint. The DA's office said he is a U.S. citizen.

After what seemed like weeks of straight rain, dry weather has hit our region. The warm temperatures and dry weather will stick around for your weekend, too.

A historic landmark in Philadelphia is getting new lease on life. The Metropolitan Opera House is undergoing a makeover from top to bottom to transform it into a concert venue. Those those working on the project hope to open the doors soon.