Briefly... CITY/REGION

Looking for large NE robber

Police are searching for a heavyset man who robbed two RiteAid drugstores at gunpoint in the Northeast in the last month.

About 8:22 a.m. on Thursday, the man entered the RiteAid at Castor Avenue and Rhawn Street, pointed a small handgun at an employee and demanded that she take him to the office, police said. The man fled through a rear door with about $1,300 after ordering the employee to give him the money out of the safe, police said.

At 9:25 a.m. on July 12, police said, the man robbed the Rite Aid on Frankford Avenue near Blakiston Street in a similar manner, getting away with $700 from the office safe.

The suspect is described as white, 35 to 40, about 6 feet, 300 pounds. In the August robbery, he was wearing a yellow polo shirt, shiny black nylon pants, white sneakers, a blue baseball cap and glasses and had a goatee. During the other, he had on a black T-shirt, black pants and a blue baseball cap with a gold initial.

Tipsters can call Northeast Detectives at 215-686-3053.

Holmesburg gun buyback

The 15th Police District and Frankford Group Ministry will be holding a gun-buyback program today at the Holmesburg Recreation Center, Rhawn and Ditman streets. Those who turn in a gun between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. will receive a $50 food voucher from Knorr Street ShopRite, no questions asked.

Jon & Kate plus 9-1-1

Police say they responded to an argument at the home of Jon and Kate Gosselin, stars of the TLC show "Jon & Kate Plus 8."

Police in Lower Heidelberg, near Reading, say they calmed the situation down after going to the home at 7:05 p.m. Thursday. There were no arrests or citations. Police did not say who was involved in the incident or cite the reason for the argument.

The TLC show is back on the air after a hiatus following the Gosselins' breakup in June. New episodes document the Gosselins "separately parenting" their eight children.

3 years for dumping baby

A young New Jersey mother was sentenced yesterday to three years in prison for putting her newborn son in a bag in December 2006, dumping him in a trash bin and walking away. Neighbors heard the child's muffled cries and rescued him. The baby later recovered.

Simone Walker, of Hamilton Township, Atlantic County, pleaded guilty in May to child endangerment. The 21-year-old said she thought the baby had been stillborn.

Coach guilty of sexual assault

A South Jersey youth soccer coach has been convicted of sexually assaulting three boys who played on his teams.

A jury in Woodbury Thursday found David Durling, 43, guilty of two counts of aggravated sexual assault, three counts of sexual assault and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

The victims were 10 and 11 at the time of the assaults, which happened at Durling's home in Vineland and during camping trips.

- Staff and wire reports