The suspect in Thursday afternoon’s shooting in El Cajon that left one person dead and two others injured has been taken into custody, police said.

The arrest comes after the U-Haul pickup truck used by the suspect was found around 9:15 p.m. Thursday outside Balboa Park near Sixth Avenue and Quince Street.

San Diego police officers searched the area and took the suspect into custody shortly after, near where they located the vehicle, Capt. Rob Ransweiler with the El Cajon Police Department (ECPD) said.

El Cajon police responded to the shooting at a dental office near the intersection of Magnolia and Madison avenues at around 4:15 p.m. Thursday.

At this time, “there are three victims,” according to Ransweiler. He said that the person who was killed was a male, and the other two victims, who were both taken to area hospitals, were a man in his 40s and a woman in her 20s. Ransweiler added that both victims were “stable” and that all the victims were shot with a handgun.

“There were a lot of family members on scene,” Ransweiler said.

Father of one of the shooting victims speaks to NBC 7

Jose Antonio identified his only daughter, Yareli, as one of the shooting victims. He says she is 27 years old and works in the front office of the dental office.

Antonio said his daughter does not know the shooter.

Just after 6 p.m., ECPD identified the suspect as 29-year-old El Cajon resident Mohammed Abdulkareem and warned the public that he was considered armed and dangerous.

Abdulkareem took off in a white U-Haul pickup truck with an Arizona license plate, El Cajon police said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Ransweiler said at a news briefing that video of the vehicle was captured by the city’s Flock traffic-camera system.

At least half a dozen police cars were at the shooting scene, and officers were seen searching the area and surrounding buildings. First responders could be seen providing aid to a person down on the sidewalk.

The shooting took place inside the dental office, Ransweiler said, and because it was still an active scene when officers arrived, the male who was killed was brought outside by officers so that they could attempt to provide lifesaving aid.

Sarkar Shiro says he lives across the street and came to the scene after hearing police officers and a helicopter. He says safety in the area has never been a big concern for him.

“There’s always a lot of traffic, foot traffic, a lot going on in this area, but nothing to this extent,” Shiro told NBC 7.

The investigation is ongoing. Ransweiler said that there would be no additional news conferences for the rest of the evening. Any additional information would come out via X or in a news release.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is at the scene assisting with the investigation, according to a spokesperson for ATF Los Angeles Field Division. FBI San Diego is also assisting as needed, the agency wrote in a statement to NBC 7.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Antonio Mack, 57, surrendered at the San Diego Police Department Eastern Division station in Serra Mesa on Tuesday, according to SDPD public affairs.

Mack is suspected of spying on women at a residence on Dorothy Drive just a block from the busy campus corner of Montezuma Road and College Avenue in late December. A security camera allegedly captured images of him on the day of the purported crimes. He also is a suspect in a similar incident that occurred in the same neighborhood earlier that week, according to police.

Three days after Christmas, police say a man was watching one of the women in the house showering. The ring camera video indicates he had been back there for four hours. Some of the victims spoke to NBC 7.

“I am definitely paranoid anytime it is late at night, and I see a ring notification. I check every single one,“ Mia Herrerias said two weeks ago.

The suspect is expected to face charges of prowling, peeping and petty theft. Police did not disclose the reason for seeking the latter criminal count.

Two weeks ago, San Diego police made another arrest in a separate set of prowler incidents in the College Area. In that case, a victim captured the suspect peering through their windows on her Ring camera on three separate occasions.

This school year in the College Area, there are at least two peeping incidents and two reports of sexual assaults involving rideshare drivers or people pretending to be rideshare drivers.

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San Diego home prices were up 8.8% year over year, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index for December 2023. That’s compared with a 5.5% increase nationally.

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The previous month’s year-to-year countrywide spike in home values was lower, however, at 5.0%, according to researchers, while the 10-City Composite Index posted a gain of 7.0%.

“San Diego reported the highest year-over-year gain among the 20 cities with an 8.8% increase in December, followed by Los Angeles and Detroit, each with an 8.3% increase,” the housing index posted in a news release issued earlier this week.

The news was not great everywhere, though: For example, homeowners in Portland, Oregon, only saw a meek gain of 0.3%

“U.S. home prices faced significant headwinds in the fourth quarter of 2023,” Brian D. Luke, who is the head of commodities, real & digital Assets at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in the news release. “However, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indices continued its streak of seven consecutive record highs in 2023. Ten of 20 markets beat prior records, with San Diego registering an 8.8% gain and Las Vegas the fastest rising market in December, after accounting for seasonal impacts.”

The numbers show, however, that when looking at month-to-month, home prices dipped 0.8% in San Diego between November and December 2023. Nationally, that trend was even worse, slipping 0.3% in the Composite 20-City Index.

The median listing home price in San Diego is $949,000, with a median listing home price of $730 per square foot, according to Realtor.com,

The short-term extension is the fourth in recent months, and many lawmakers expect it to be the last for the current fiscal year. House Speaker Mike Johnson said negotiators had completed six of the annual spending bills that fund federal agencies and had “almost final agreement on the others.”

“We’ll get the job done,” Johnson said as he exited a closed-door meeting with Republican colleagues.

The House acted first Thursday. The vote to approve the extension was 320-99. It easily cleared the two-thirds majority needed for passage. Democrats overwhelmingly voted to avert a partial shutdown. But the vote was much more divided with Republicans, 113 in support and 97 against.

The Senate then took up the bill and approved it during an evening vote of 77-13.

“When we pass this bill, we will have, thank God, avoided a shutdown with all its harmful effects on the American people,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said moments before the vote.

Biden called Thursday night’s vote “good news for the American people” but added, “I want to be clear: this is a short-term fix — not a long-term solution.”

Next week, the House and Senate are expected to take up a package of six spending bills and get them to the president before March 8. Then, lawmakers would work to fund the rest of the government by the new March 22 deadline.

At the end of the process, Congress is expected to have approved more than $1.6 trillion in spending for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. That amount is roughly in line with the previous fiscal year and is what former Speaker Kevin McCarthy negotiated with the White House last year before eight disgruntled Republican lawmakers joined with Democrats a few months later and voted to oust him from the position.

Some of the House’s most conservative members wanted deeper cuts for non-defense programs than that agreement allowed through its spending caps. They also sought an array of policy changes that Democrats opposed. They were hoping the prospect of a shutdown could leverage more concessions.

“Last I checked, the Republicans actually have a majority in the House of Representatives, but you wouldn’t know it if you looked at our checkbook because we are all too willing to continue the policy choices of Joe Biden and the spending levels of Nancy Pelosi,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.

But Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., countered before the vote that shutdowns are damaging and encouraged lawmakers to vote for the short-term extension.

“I want the American people to know, Mr. Speaker, that this negotiation has been difficult, but to close the government down at a time like this would hurt people who should not be hurt,” Fleischmann said.

The split within the GOP conference on spending and their tiny House majority bogged down the efforts to get the bills passed on a timely basis. With the Senate also struggling to complete work on all 12 appropriations bills, lawmakers have resorted to a series of short-term measures to keep the government funded.

Republican leadership said that the broader funding legislation being teed up for votes in March would lead to spending cuts for many nondefense agencies. By dividing the spending bill up into chunks, they are hoping to avoid an omnibus bill — a massive, all-encompassing bill that lawmakers generally had little time to digest or understand before voting on it. Republicans vowed there would be no omnibus this time.

“When you take away Defense and Veterans Affairs, the rest of the agencies are going to be seeing spending cuts in many cases,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. “There are also some policy changes that we pushed through the House that will be in the final product. Of course, some of those are still being negotiated.”

The temporary extension funds the departments of Agriculture, Transportation, Interior and others through March 8. It funds the Pentagon, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services and the State Department through March 22.

While congressional leaders have said they’ve reached final agreement on what will be in the first package of spending bills voted on next week, there’s still room for an impasse on the second package to be voted on later in the month.

“We are working in a divided government. That means to get anything done, we have to work together, in good faith to reach reasonable outcomes,” said Sen. Patty Murray, the Democratic chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The renewed focus on this year’s spending bills doesn’t include the separate, $95.3 billion aid package that the Senate approved for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan earlier this month, with much of that money being spent in the U.S. to replenish America’s military arsenal. The bill also contained about $9 billion in humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza and the West Bank, Ukraine and other war zones.

Biden summoned congressional leaders to the White House on Tuesday, during which he and others urged Johnson to also move forward with the aid package. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the U.S. can’t afford to wait months to provide more military assistance to Ukraine, which is running short of the arms and ammunition necessary to repel Russia’s military invasion.

“We’ve got a lot of priorities before us, but we have to get the government funded and secure our border and then we’ll address everything else,” Johnson told reporters upon exiting his meeting with GOP colleagues.

Democrats urged quicker action on Ukraine as the temporary spending bill was debated.

“Without swift action, the legacy of this Congress will be the destruction of Ukraine, the appeasement of a dictator, and the abandonment of starving children and ailing families,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.

Brandon Allen Janik, 37, was arrested nearly three months after police say he ran a red light and struck 47-year-old Joshua Gilliland as the victim was crossing the three-way intersection of Normal Street and El Cajon and Park boulevards.

Paramedics took Gilliland to a hospital, where he died of his injuries on June 14, 2023, four days after he was hit.

Friends of Gilliland, who was a bartender at Cheers on Adams Avenue, say he was walking to work when the car struck him.

Prosecutors were able to charge Janik with murder due to his prior DUI conviction, a misdemeanor San Diego County case dating back to 2016.

At a preliminary hearing held to determine whether Janik would go to trial on the charges, police witnesses testified that per surveillance footage from a nearby business, a BMW could be seen running the red light and hitting Gilliland, who was crossing the street legally.

San Diego police Detective Justin Beal testified that while the BMW’s license plate and driver could not be identified through the footage alone, 911 callers that night reported spotting a driver asleep or passed out at the wheel of a BMW stopped in the middle of University Avenue.

The hearing included testimony from witnesses who said Janik was helped out of his idling car on University Avenue and that he appeared intoxicated. Janik allegedly thanked the group of people for helping him get out of his car because he had a prior DUI.

Prosecutors allege that after the group of people left, Janik got back into his car and drove off, striking Gilliland sometime later.

One of the people who saw Janik on University Avenue provided the car’s license plate number to police. The license plate matched a car that was loaned out by a local BMW dealership to Janik, whose personal car was being repaired at the time, Beal testified.

Beal said that according to BMW employees, Janik returned a damaged car that he said was dented after he struck a fence post while backing into a parking spot at his apartment building. The detective said the damage the car sustained was inconsistent with such a collision, and more consistent with striking a pedestrian.

Janik made similar claims of striking a fence post to his insurance company, but an investigator for the company testified that when the case was referred to an accident reconstruction expert, that expert determined the damage didn’t match what Janik said happened.

Investigators also looked into Janik’s financial activity on June 10 and found that he had visited two nearby bars earlier that day and purchased several alcoholic beverages, Beal testified.

Cell phone location data also placed Janik’s phone in the area of the fatality collision at the time it occurred.

The games, the game tickets.

Some people can’t get enough of that purple-shirted mouse house, no matter how many birthday parties they go to, and if they happen to live in San Diego, they’re in luck.

The Irving, Texas-based “global family entertainment fun center” company said in a news release issued on Leap Day that it was wading into the field of membership programs with a pilot program in San Diego, expecting to roll it out in other markets later in 2024.

Interested families will be able to sign up for gold, silver and bronze tiers (can platinum be far behind, really?), with monthly rewards breaking out this way:

Gold, $29.99 a month

• 300 Play Points
• 1,000 e-tickets
• 50% discount on food, drink and extra Play Points on every visit

Silver, $11.99 a month

• 115 Play Points
• 300 e-tickets
• 30% discount on food, drink and extra Play Points on every visit

Bronze, $7.99 a month

• 70 Play Points
• 200 e-tickets
• 20% discount on food, drink and extra Play Points on every visit

The marketing types at Chuck E. also said they’re doing renovations at locations in San Diego, L.A., San Francisco and Fresno, and that visitors will notice new games and technology upgrades, some of which will be a relief to our post-COVID selves, including touchless payment and e-tickets instead of tokens.

Need more? How about these new-to-2024 extras headed our way?: “a fully immersive dance-along and concert with music, lights and an interactive dance floor, plus new Chuck E. Cheese Trampoline Zones that allow kids up to 52 inhces tall to bounce in a safe, enclosed environment.”

BTW, did you know the Chuck E. Cheese chain was founded by the guy who founded Atari. Life’s a game, my friend.

An 8-year-old girl walking to school was injured Thursday when she was attacked by a dog in a Victorville, California, neighborhood.

Deputies responded at about 7 a.m. to the 13800 block of Mesa Linda Avenue in the San Bernardino County community after a report of a dog who bit two children. One child ran away, but the 8-year-old girl suffered multiple injuries, according to the sheriff’s department.

A neighbor ran outside to help the girl, and the dog ran off, authorities said.

Maria Hernandez said she was getting her daughter ready for school when the girl noticed the attack. Security camera video showed the dog dragging the girl in front of a home.

“I found the first thing that I found, which was my broom,” said Hernandez.

The dog and girl were on the neighbor’s front yard when Hernandez arrived on the scene, wielding her broomstick. The dog appeared to rip off some of the girl’s clothes and drag her by the hair.

“I was able to pull the little girl away from the dog, and tried to keep him away with my broom,” Hernandez said. “He just kept insisting to come after her.”

Video showed Hernandez, broomstick pointed at the dog, holding onto the girl as they walked toward her home. She told the other children to run inside her house.

The 8-year-old girl was hospitalized and received several stitches for her injuries.

“All I know is that I got attacked and my legs started hurting bad and my head,” said Genesis, who was the young girl injured by the dog.

While Genesis continues to recover from her injuries, her mother, Ronika Jones, is seeking answers.

“They always walk up and down the street and no child should be attacked by a dog,” Jones said. “Makes no sense.”

She has stitches here and on her back. Bruises all over her body. They always walk up and down the street and no child should be attacked by a dog. Makes no sense. 

The dog was captured and taken to animal control, authorities said. Hernandez said the same dog was seen overnight in the neighborhood.

The dog does not have a microchip ID. The sheriff’s department was attempting to find an owner.

Although the vote on the plan’s passage was unanimous, not everyone is happy with the decision.

The port manages the San Diego Bay and more than 30 miles of waterfront. The master plan update or PMPU, incorporated changes that include a focus on environmental justice and making the bay more accessible to everyone.

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The PMPU is a framework for future projects and is separate from a nearby proposed project: the Central Embarcadero redevelopment, the Seaport San Diego project.

The PMPU designates specific areas for different uses, including commercial, boating, fishing, hotels, restaurants, retail, recreational and environmental conservation.

Wednesday’s approved plan is the third iteration after hundreds of meetings and workshops with the public, and thousands of letters and survey responses.

Despite its opposition to the final updated version, the Embarcadero Coalition acknowledged the board’s efforts to consider as many stakeholders as possible many times during public comment.

“That’s why we tempered the number of additional hotels that we added, as well as regulating building heights,” Port Commissioner Ann Moore said.

The Port of San Diego Marketing and Communications representative Joshua Kellems told NBC 7 that building height limits range throughout the Embarcadero and port, from 225 feet on Harbor Island to 200 feet on North Embarcadero.

The plan includes building up to 750 more hotel rooms, excluding along Coronado’s Silver Strand and on Shelter Island. It provides standards and guidelines for density and development and maintains the current Playa Piers for public access.

“They worked,” Coronado City Councilwoman Carrie Downey said. “They addressed what we needed, and I would like to disagree with one of the earlier speakers — that change to open space recreation is huge. And there are several places where this plan does that.”

Not everyone is thrilled to move forward.

“I understand why Coronado loves this plan,” said Susan Simon of the Embarcadero Coalition. “You’re not doing this to them. You’re doing that to the Embarcadero,”

More than a dozen members of the opposition group attended the meeting Wednesday. Their concerns include the added noise, pollution and environmental effects, overdevelopment, dwindling ocean views replaced with boats and buildings, and the need for more well-defined building standards.

“We feel that there’s a huge loss of our land and ability to really enjoy the space that we should be having, since this is really our land,” Simon said. “And we would appreciate it if we had more access to it.”

Several speakers, including representative from the city of San Diego, Coronado representatives, Michael Trimble with the Gaslamp Quarter Association, a former Point Loma resident, and the Downtown San Diego Partnership expressed their support during public comment, as well as the Chamber of Commerce, but with reservations regarding the physical set-back requirements for developments.

Next steps include sending the plan to the Coastal Commission for certification, which could take anywhere from several months to a year before coming back to the board for final approval.

“I know I’m having a son,” Ware said. “I can hear his first heartbeat. I cried. It was emotional.”

But when Ware was around 16 weeks pregnant, her tears of joy tears turned to sadness.

“I believe it was the second ultrasound where they found something was wrong with his heart,” Ware said.

Cristin learned her son, Aziah, would be born with a very rare heart condition called heterotaxy dextrocardia.

“He has a very rare form of what we call congenital heart disease, or a malformed heart, but on top of not being formed correctly, it’s not functioning correctly,” said Matthew Bock, the medical director of Heart Failure and Transplant Program at Rady Children’s Hospital.

Aziah’s heart is on the right side of his chest, and he only has one ventricle; a normal heart has two.

“It was hard,” Ware said. “I didn’t know how much it would be in the days and months coming.”

Aziah had his first heart surgery at two weeks old and spent the first five months of his life at Rady’s.

“He had to be admitted in August, and that was really hard,” Ware said. “I wasn’t ready emotionally.”

Now, at 14 months old, Rady Children’s Hospital has been his home away from home.

“Babies tend to wait a lot longer,” Bock said. “It’s harder to find hearts for smaller children their size, so they’ll tend to wait six months to a year.”

Rady Children’s Hospital currently has 10 kids on its heart-transplant waiting list, including Aziah.

“There are days where we’re hopeful, and then there are days where I’m like; Here we are,” Ware said. “We’re at seven months.”

While they wait, Ware said, they try to live life too, like throwing Aziah a Mickey Mouse theme birthday party when he turned 1, in December.

“I did get emotional because we didn’t get to bring him home, but it was still such a great day,” Ware said. “He had so much love.”

Ware said their plans for when Aziah gets to go home include a trip to Disneyland.

“Mickey Mouse will be the first that we meet,” Ware said.

Since 2015, Rady surgeons have performed 57 heart transplants.

The Denver-based airline announced it’s adding a total of 17 new routes across the U.S., including services from Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Seattle.

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“We are excited to yet again expand our route map with a focus on underserved and overpriced markets as we head into spring,” Josh Flyr, Frontier’s vice president of network and operations design, said in a news release. “Increasing the number of cities with an ultra-low fare option helps ensure even more consumers can take to the skies this year to visit friends and family or experience a new destination on their travel wish list.”

The new route between San Diego International Airport (SAN) and El Paso International Airport (ELP) will begin on May 16, and the flights in both directions will run three times a week, the airline’s website says.

The airline is offering fares starting at $19 if purchased by 8:59 p.m. Friday. This promotional fare offer is valid for nonstop travel on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday through June 19, according to the news release.

For the first time this week, the astronauts have trained with recovery crew members in San Diego.

USS San Diego was used to house and recover the test capsule used to simulate the Orion space capsule splashing down off the coast of California, after its trip to the moon.

Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman dished up high praise for San Diego’s U.S Navy servicemembers that are part of the project.

“Everyone is there for a mission purpose and to assist,” U.S. Navy Capt. Wiseman said. “They’re ready to throw their lives on any problem to get the mission accomplished.”

Wiseman is part of the four-person crew who will be the first in 50 years to travel around the moon.

The explorers say while the Artemis project is about sustainably living and working on the moon, the ultimate goal is humans on Mars.

“It’s about building on what we learn and exploring deeper, and that means going to Mars and answering some of those fundamental questions we all have about ourselves. What does it mean to be human? Are we alone in the universe? How did we all get here” astronaut Christina Kock, who’s the mission specialist on Artemis II, said.

After their 10-day, 685,000-thousand mile journey around the moon, scheduled for 2025, the Orion capsule is forecast to splash down near Catalina Island and San Clemente.

Navy divers and boats helped to retrieve the astronauts from the test capsule while out at sea during practice. The goal is to get the astronauts from the capsule, then helicopter them to get a medical check on board an amphibious transport ship like the San Diego, within two hours.

One of the practice runs showed a problem they overcame.

“For a while, we were under the rotor wash waiting for a successful hookup, and we were watching all the potential things go wrong. Then you watch sailors fall back on their training and do things with precision,” Wiseman said.

“We’re helping to refine techniques and procedures the Navy will use to recover the Orion capsule when it splashes down in the ocean,” Navy Capt. David Walton, commanding officer of USS San Diego, said.

This is the 11th capsule recovery test.

NBC 7 was granted exclusive access in December of 2022 to see preparations to recover an unmanned Orion capsule.

Now, when the manned Orion takes flight next year, Pomona native and U.S. Navy Capt. Victor Glover will be living out his childhood dream as pilot of the Orion space capsule, helping to give his fellow astronauts a space-eye-view he and some of his fellow astronauts have seen of America’s Finest City.

“California is incredibly beautiful. All the mountains. What I loved the most is coming up at night. You can see the California border and San Diego,” Wiseman said.

“We have a mission to explore the unknown in space and innovate for humanity and inspire the world through discovery,” Glover said.

NASA is targeting September 2025 for its crewed mission to the moon.

Once the astronauts return from their moon mission, the Orion space capsule will be taken to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, so data and parts of the capsule can be used for the next trip.

Escondido has 304 unhoused people, according to the last count. It’s the largest population of homeless in North County.

The community hopes that somewhere in this three-page, first-of-its-kind policy statement on homelessness is the solution.

“Everybody is after somebody with lived experience. Here I am,“ Escondido Mayor Dane White said.

At the age of 17, White was homeless on these same streets.

White and District 2 Councilman Joe Garcia, who is also the police chaplain, put their experiences together to help create the new plan.

“If you only have compassion, it’s not going to work. If you only have enforcement, it’s not going to work,” Garcia said.

The goal is to crack down on specific crimes city leaders say are often associated with homelessness. It promises a sober shelter with a local approach but does not include transitional housing or supportive housing units, which are often part of policies following the state’s “housing first” initiative.

The first to be served will be those already living on Escondido streets.

While Mayor White doesn’t know where it will be built or how much it will cost, he says the kind of shelter Escondido needs can be found in Huntington Beach. Before you enter it, there are amnesty bins for weapons and drugs. It’s broken into sections for men, women and families. There are clean bathrooms showers, beds and a cafeteria.

He says the feel is that of respect and dignity.

“It’s totally reasonable to assume if you are going to stick women, children and families together in a congregate shelter that you require some level of sobriety and accountability if they are going to be there,” White said.

That’s a departure from some county and state Housing First policies that cost taxpayers millions of dollars to provide housing with few restrictions.

“I think it is unfortunate the county and the state are stuck on this one-size-fits-all approach,” White said.

The new policy on homelessness is getting some pushback from Interfaith Community Services.

“If we do not have places to go, expanded outreach will only mean really good relationships, but lots of unsheltered people,“ Interfaith Community Services’ CEO Greg Anglea said.

Homeless advocates who attended Wednesday night’s meeting also pushed back.

“I can’t imagine what it is like to be a homeless person and not to be wanted the entire day. No matter where I go, I am rejected and not wanted,“ one woman said.

While the policy was adopted, there is no argument that it is only the first step in solving the homeless crisis that has been developing in Escondido. The city is also considering a camping ban ordinance like that passed in San Diego.

Tonight- the marine layer will deepen even more bringing us a chance of drizzle or very light rain tonight into Friday morning.

Daytime highs will continue to cool down Friday with the coldest days expected to be Saturday and Sunday due to the very cold air mass that our weekend winter storm will bring with daytime temperatures 10 to 15 degrees below average for this time of year.

There’s a chance of very light rain ahead of the cold front late Friday night, becoming more widespread but intermittent rain showers for Saturday and tapering off gradually Sunday. The best chance for rain is on Saturday but overall, we’re only getting the tail end of the main storm system which is why this storm will be notable for Northern and Central California but not as significant for our county.

Preliminary rainfall forecasted:

Coast & Valleys: 0.10 – 0.25″ (slightly higher amounts in North County)

Mountains: 0.50″ – 0.75″ 

Deserts: 0.10″ or less

Besides the cooler weather and light to moderate rain, strong gusty winds will target the mountains and desert slopes with gusts between 45 -80 mph. The strongest winds are expected to be Saturday evening through Sunday morning. Coastal and valley communities will also experience breezy conditions with gusts 10 – 25 mph.

Next week will be dry until our next rain chance, possibly for Wednesday.

Thousands of people dream to hit the jackpot to become the next millionaire. However, California Lottery officials revealed that millions of dollars continue to go unclaimed each year.

“In the last 5 to 10 years it’s averaged $40 and 50 million a year,” said Carolyn Becker, the spokesperson of the California Lottery.

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Becker said the unclaimed winnings include all Scratchers games and the draw games, which include Powerball, Mega Millions and Super Lotto Plus.

So, what’s happening?

“My strong hypotheses is that when a ticket goes unclaimed, it’s because that person doesn’t even realize they’ve won, or they lost a ticket and can’t check it,” said Becker.

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The California Lottery has more than 50 options of the Scratchers tickets and three jackpot games. Powerball and Mega Millions are multistate games, and Super Lotto Plus is only available in California.

California Lottery recently announced that players who win between $600 to $1,000 can now claim their money right away at one of their nine district offices in the state, once their claim form is verified.

Winners of more than $1,000 must fill out a form and either mail or drop it off at their offices.

There are three California Lottery offices in Southern California.

Players must also remember that all claims have a deadline. For instance, the jackpot winning for the multi-state games like Powerball and Mega Millions have up to year to come forward, but California’s only millionaire game is different.

“SuperLotto Plus that’s only played in California is about six months. It’s 180 days from the day of the draw,” said Becker.

Secondary prizes which are considered tickets matching five numbers also have a six-month deadline.

How to check your ticket:

The California Lottery has 23,000 retail outlets that have a scanner where players can check their tickets.

The winning’s numbers are available on the California Lottery website. There’s also the California Lottery mobile app where you can scan your ticket instantly.

According to the California’s Lottery Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR), lottery sales broke all-time sales and contributions records with more than $8.85 billion in the fiscal year 2021-2022, which included the transfer of more than $1 billion to California public schools. This money encompasses the sale of tickets and unclaimed money.

In the 37-year inception of the Lottery, the state’s public schools have received more than $41.5 billion, according to PAFR.

“The feeling is always bittersweet [for unclaimed tickets] because all the unclaimed prize money goes to public schools In California,” said Becker.

Anyone interested to see how much Lottery money went to public education in each county can click here. 

Becker said she has talked to a few million dollar winners who didn’t realize until weeks or months later that they had won.

What every California Lottery player should do with their ticket

1. Sign the back of the ticket right away and establish ownership.

2. Keep the ticket safe before or after the draw.

3. People who don’t watch the draw should check the ticket as soon as possible.

4. Don’t stash it in the glove box and forget about it. Keep it somewhere you’ll remember when the draw happens.

California Lottery District offices in the Los Angeles area

Chatsworth

9710 Topanga Canyon Blvd.

Chatsworth, CA 91311

818-722-1602

Rancho Cucamonga

11138 Elm Ave.

Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730

909-803-6232

Santa Fe Springs

9807 Bell Ranch Drive

Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670

562-777-3434

For more information, click here or call 1-800-LOTTERY

Both defendants pleaded guilty to a single felony count of grand theft in violation with the victim identified as the Small Business Administration, as well as a felony count of grand theft with the victim identified as California’s Employment Development Department (EDD). 

Before the plea deal, Andrea faced eight felony counts (her brother, six). All the charges stem from fraud accusations.

Andrea had faced six years in prison if she had been convicted, while Jesus Cardenas was looking at five years.

According to the judge, the maximum punishment for each of the defendants would be three years, eight months imprisonment, a $10,000 fine and up to four years of parole

The siblings are now expected to be sentenced to probation, though. The judge in the case will make the final determination. It’s also possible both will have their charges reduced to misdemeanors. Prosecutors said Wednesday that the pair will have to pay restitution as part of their plea deal.

Andrea Cardenas and Chula Vista's District 4

Chula Vista Feb 20

Ex-Chula Vista Councilwoman Andrea Cardenas, brother face additional felony charge

Chula Vista Feb 19

Chula Vista Councilmember Andrea Cardenas resigns amid criminal charges

Chula Vista Nov 9, 2023

Chula Vista councilmember, brother plead not guilty to fraud charges

Andrea resigned her seat earlier this month in response to the charges.

The latest felony charges were added to their case last Tuesday

“We have charged them with grand theft — both Jesus and Andrea Cardenas — for taking money unlawfully from the EDD,” explained prosecutor Chandelle Boyce, referencing the state’s agency that oversees its unemployment insurance arm.

The brother and sister were charged Tuesday with defrauding California’s Employment Development Department by applying for unemployment insurance payments in 2020 while they were both allegedly working.

The remaining council members voted this week to leave the seat vacant for now and have 45 days to appoint a replacement. Voters will choose new council members for Districts 3 and 4.

Making matters more difficult for Chula Vista: Andrea could be re-elected.

“Well, she’s still on the ballot, and it’s too late at this point to remove her from the ballot, but she’s not actively campaigning, and I think I think everyone is aware of that,” Bernal explained.

She’s one of six candidates listed on the March Primary ballot. The top two vote-getters move on to the general election in November.

“It’s a very awkward situation, because what happens if she does come in the Top 2 in the ballot voting,” McCann said.

According to California State Election Code, a name can’t be removed from the general election ballot if that person was nominated in the primary. McCann said he hoped voters just cast their ballots for someone else.

“And then we won’t have to deal with that situation,” McCann said, shrugging.

Criminal charges

The Cardenases were originally indicted on felony counts of conspiracy to commit a crime, money laundering,and other charges stemming from an alleged fraudulent loan for their political consulting business, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office announced on Nov. 1, 2023.

The pair pleaded not guilty to the charges at their first court appearance on Nov. 9, 2023.

According to a criminal complaint, the siblings fraudulently obtained a $176,227 Paycheck Protection Program loan in early 2021 intended for their firm, Grassroots Resources.

Jesus — who served as chief of staff for San Diego City Councilman Stephen Whitburn until his resignation in 2023 — misrepresented the number of employees and type of business, the complaint said, while Andrea allegedly submitted data for another company.

After receiving the loan, the complaint details several occasions in which the siblings allegedly used the loan funds to make credit card payments, payments to a Venmo account, and a $33,500 check to Andrea Cardenas’ Chula Vista City Council campaign account.

Jesus is scheduled for sentencing March 27, while his sister will sentenced Aug. 28

The fish, named the Halichoeres sanchezi or the tailspot wrasse, likely only lives on the rugged Revillagigedo Archipelago off Mexico’s Pacific coast. The volcanic island chain is sometimes referred to as the “Mexican Galapagos” for its endemic biodiversity — meaning organisms that are native and restricted to a certain place.

”These are the type of islands that inspired Jurassic Park,” Frable told NBC 7 on Wednesday.

Frable and other scientists published a paper naming the fish in the journal PeerJ.

Halichoeres sanchezi was named in honor of marine scientist Carlos Armando Sánchez Ortíz of the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, who collected the first specimen and organized the 2022 expedition that led to the fish’s discovery.

“Characterizing and naming a species previously unknown to science feels like you’ve made a mark on history,” Frable told City News Service. “This name will hopefully stay with the species as long as we use taxonomic names. This is the ninth fish I have helped describe, but it is the first where I was one of the first scientists to encounter the species in the wild.”

Frable said naming a new species is up to the people discovering it, “but there are actually some internationally agreed upon rules and guidelines called the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature to help standardize it.”

“Names need to be conjugated into Latin and are generally derived from Ancient Greek or Latin words, but this is not required,” he said. “The big rule is that you cannot name species after yourself. You can certainly name them in honor of other people, such as this fish.”

The team collected eight specimens of the fish, ranging in size from around one inch long to nearly six inches. The females of the species are mostly white with reddish horizontal stripes along their top half and black patches on their dorsal fin, behind their gills, and just ahead of their tail fin, a statement from Scripps read. Frable described the males as “orangey red up top fading to a yellow belly with a dark band at the base of the tail.”

Halichoeres sanchezi is a member of the wrasse family, a diverse and colorful group of more than 600 species.

According to a statement from UCSD, researchers encountered the new species inhabiting an underwater field of volcanic rubble at a depth of around 70 feet near San Benedicto Island — one of four islands in the Revillagigedo Archipelago. The island chain is a marine protected area located around 250 miles to the south of the Baja California peninsula and some 500 miles west of mainland Mexico’s coastline.

“The main way to access the area is via live-aboard one-week scuba diving tours,” Frable told CNS. “The islands are mostly uninhabited except for Mexican military outposts, so you generally cannot venture onto land, but you can experience the amazing aquatic world around them. They are a national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.”

The islands’ remote location and legal protections have made it difficult to study the undersea fauna. The last scientific assessment of the islands’ fishes occurred more than two decades ago. Frable told NBC7 that these islands attract a lot of marine life that are protected by the Mexican government.

”The oceans out there are just teeming with life, very, maybe even a window to what it looked like before human pressure of fishing really ramped up,” Frable told NBC 7.

Over the course of roughly two weeks, the group surveyed all four islands during 30 research dives that produced more than 5,500 photographs and 900 specimens representing more than 100 fish species.

“One thing most people don’t realize, including myself before working in taxonomy, is how often previous unknown species are being named and reported,” Frable said. “For fishes alone, 300-500 new species are described every year. But a lot of these are recognized after they are collected from museum collections or other places.

“The process of describing and naming a species can be time-consuming and requires attention to detail,” he said.

The specimens collected are stored in Scripps’ Marine Vertebrate Collection, Mexico’s Colección Nacional de Peces and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

According to the researchers, the wrasse wasn’t spotted until the last day of the expedition. An unknown fish had been photographed in 2013 but never identified. Sánchez was able to collect a mysterious red fish that only later the team realized matched the wrasse in the photo.

“A guy named Craig Barton who is a great underwater photographer, fish hobbyist, fish lover had taken a picture of these weird wrasses back in 2012 or 13 so we knew there was something weird out there, but we went the whole trip without seeing them and on the last day of our trip, we actually did encounter them and found them so that’s pretty exciting,” Frable said.

However, they had collected a female, an important distinction for the wrasse family — of which many are sequential hermaphrodites, all beginning life as female and later transitioning to male if the right conditions come about.

On the second to last dive of the expedition Frable spotted the “terminal phase” — or male — of this unknown wrasse species, but was unable to catch it. Finally, on the very last dive of the trip, William Ludt, co- author of the study and assistant curator of ichthyology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and Frable were able to collect an example of the species’ terminal phase.

In all, the researchers collected eight specimens of the fish. Later DNA analysis revealed the genetic divergence from close relatives — the golden wrasse from Panama and red-striped wrasse from Cocos Island near Costa Rica.

Frable said more trips to the archipelago were likely on the way, with the team hoping to unravel the mystery of the islands’ unique biodiversity.

Fans who hope to be in attendance for the ceremony will need to reserve digital tickets beginning Thursday.

Tickets will be available through the MLB Ballpark app. Fans may claim up to six free tickets using the code “PADRES.”

Celebrating the life of Peter Seidler

MLB Nov 27, 2023

Padres reveal plan to honor late owner Peter Seidler

Nov 16, 2023

Artists paint mural in honor of Peter Seidler

San Diego Padres Nov 15, 2023

Padres fans remember owner Peter Seidler as a changemaker on and off the field

Seidler’s celebration of life will take place at Petco Park on March 23 beginning at 1:00 p.m. While admission is free, those digital ticket will be required.

Seating for the event will be on a first-come, first-served basis, according to the Padres. Parking will also be free of charge inside the Lexus Premier Lot, Tailgate Lot and Padres Parkade.

The team will be wearing a “PS” jersey patch throughout the 2024 season. The first 10,000 fans in the gates for ceremony will receive a jersey patch of their own.

Seidler passed away Nov. 14 at the age of 63. His desire to bring a World Series to San Diego and willingness to make bold financial investments in the team earned him the admiration of fans. Seidler also made a significant impact with his philanthropic work, particularly in service to San Diego’s homeless population.

The 51st Congressional District includes El Cajon, La Mesa, Rolando, Mission Valley, Serra Mesa, Mira Mesa and Miramar, Scripps Ranch and parts of Rancho Penasquitos.

“This is the community that raised me, that taught me my values,” Congresswoman Sara Jacobs, who represents California’s 51st Congressional District, told NBC 7.

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“I grew up here; I’ve lived here all my life,” said Bill Wells, the mayor of the city of El Cajon.

As the youngest member of House Democratic leadership, Jacobs is seeking reelection for a third time. She said her campaign has focused on three main issues: the cost of living, the cost of child care and women’s reproductive rights.

“We recently topped the list of most expensive places to live, beating San Francisco and L.A., and, let me tell you, that’s not what we meant when we said beat L.A.,” Jacobs said.

“Around 60% of San Diego families can’t find child care that meets their needs and even if they can find it, they can’t afford it,” said Jacobs.

“I think everyone really understands the stakes,” Jacobs said. “Particularly, I’ve been feeling a lot of excitement from young women who really know that their reproductive rights are on the line.”

On the other side of this race, Wells has his own priorities.

“I’m worried about the same thing everyone else is worried about,” Wells said.

Wells, who’s been mayor of El Cajon for 11 years, said his attention is directed south.

“The filth on the streets, homelessness everywhere, the cost of living, the cost of energy, those are big things, but they pale on comparison to the border,” Wells said. “The border is a massive legitimate crisis and that’s got to be the primary issue.”

Wells has run for Congress in the past, but this go-round, he said, he doesn’t need to make empty promises because his proof is in the pudding.

“I stood up against Rob Bonta, I stood up against the county of San Diego and Nathan Fletcher, and, for the most part we’ve won those battles,” Wells said. “Rather than say you should vote for me because I’ll do all these great things for you, I say you should vote for me because I’ve done a lot to protect the people.”

Jacobs said she’s already talked the talk and walked the walk.

“I’ve been able to deliver just in the last year, over $360,000,000 worth of federal grants, $20 million back to my constituents through casework,” Jacobs said.

More than 245,000 people across San Diego County have already dropped off their ballots for next Tuesday’s primary. Local election officials said we’re on track to exceed turnout from 2020. Thirty-nin vote centers are already open across the county along with 146 ballot boxes.

The operation took place Saturday at locations throughout National City, NCPD Sgt. Joseph Camacho said.

The operation targets adults who purchase alcohol for persons under the age of 21, the sergeant said.

“A minor under the direct supervision of law enforcement stands outside of a liquor or convenience store and asks customers to buy them alcohol,” Camacho said. “The minor also indicates they are underage and cannot purchase the alcohol themselves.”

“Underage drinking negatively impacts our community,” NCPD Chief Alejandro Hernandez said. “Preventing the sale of alcohol to minors will help to increase public safety and make our roads safer.”

Adults who agree to purchase alcohol for an underage person can be arrested and cited for furnishing alcohol to a minor, Camacho said. The penalty is a minimum $1,000 fine and 24 hours of community service.

“We conduct these operations to keep alcohol out of the hands of our youth,” ABC Director Joseph McCullough said. “By preventing underage drinking, we can increase the quality of life in our communities, reduce DUIs and prevent serious injuries on our roads.”

Jason Gillespie, 46, was pronounced dead at a hospital about 11:30 p.m. Monday, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

Deputies responding to a report of gunfire about 1 p.m. Friday found Gillespie wounded in the 7500 block of Mendoza Road, about a half-mile northeast of Harrah’s Resort Southern California, Lt. Joseph Jarjura said.

The suspected shooter, probationer Kyle Del Gregory, 31, was arrested at the scene.

“At this stage of the investigation, the motivation and circumstances of the crime are still under investigation,” Jarjura said Wednesday.

Authorities have disclosed no details about the relationship, if any, between the two men.

While the court set a course for a quick resolution, it maintained a hold on preparations for a trial focused on Trump’s efforts to overturn his election loss. The court will hear arguments in late April, with a decision likely no later than the end of June.

That timetable is much faster than usual, but assuming the justices deny Trump’s immunity bid, it’s not clear whether a trial can be scheduled and concluded before the November election. Early voting in some states will begin in September.

Trump’s lawyers have sought to put off a trial until after the election.

In the end, the timing of a possible trial could come down to how quickly the justices rule. They have shown they can act fast, issuing a decision in the Watergate tapes case in 1974 just 16 days after hearing arguments. The decision in Bush v. Gore came the day after arguments in December 2000.

By taking up the legally untested question now, the justices have created a scenario of uncertainty that special counsel Jack Smith had sought to avoid when he first asked the high court in December to immediately intervene. In his latest court filing, Smith had suggested arguments a full month earlier than the late April timeframe.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that legal scholars “are extremely thankful” the court stepped in to decide on immunity. “Presidents will always be concerned, and even paralyzed, by the prospect of wrongful prosecution and retaliation after they leave office,” he wrote.

A Smith spokesperson declined to comment.

The trial date, already postponed once by Trump’s immunity appeal, is of paramount importance to both sides. Prosecutors are looking to bring Trump to trial this year while defense lawyers have been seeking delays in his criminal cases. If Trump were to be elected with the case pending, he could presumably use his authority as head of the executive branch to order the Justice Department to dismiss it or could potentially seek to pardon himself.

Though their Supreme Court filing did not explicitly mention the upcoming November election or Trump’s status as the Republican primary front-runner, prosecutors described the case as having “unique national importance” and said that “delay in the resolution of these charges threatens to frustrate the public interest in a speedy and fair verdict.”

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Trump’s lawyers have cast the prosecution in partisan terms, telling the justices that “a months-long criminal trial of President Trump at the height of election season will radically disrupt President Trump’s ability to campaign against President Biden — which appears to be the whole point of the Special Counsel’s persistent demands for expedition.”

The court said in an unsigned statement that it will consider “whether and if so to what extent does a former President enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office.”

The Supreme Court has previously held that presidents are immune from civil liability for official acts, and Trump’s lawyers have for months argued that that protection should be extended to criminal prosecution as well.

Lower courts have, so far, rejected Trump’s novel claim that former presidents enjoy absolute immunity for actions that fall within their official job duties. A panel of appellate judges in Washington ruled earlier in February that U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who would preside over the election interference trial, was right to say that the case could proceed and that Trump could be prosecuted for actions undertaken while in the White House and in the run-up to Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.

The issue reached the high court because the appeals court refused to grant the delay that Trump had sought.

The case is separate from the high court’s consideration of Trump’s appeal to remain on the presidential ballot despite attempts to kick him off because of his efforts following his election loss in 2020. During arguments on Feb. 8, the court seemed likely to side with Trump. A decision could come at any time.

The high court also will hear an appeal in April from one of the more than 1,200 people charged in the Capitol riot. The case could upend a charge prosecutors have brought against more than 300 people, including Trump.

The election interference case in Washington is one of four prosecutions Trump faces as he seeks to reclaim the White House. Of those, the only one with a trial date that seems poised to hold is his state case in New York, where he’s charged with falsifying business records in connection with hush money payments to a porn actor. That case is set for trial on March 25, and a judge this month signaled his determination to press ahead.

A separate case charging him with illegally hoarding classified records is set for trial on May 20, but a pivotal hearing on Friday seems likely to result in a delay. No date has been set in a separate state case in Atlanta charging him with scheming to subvert that state’s 2020 election.

Lewis, who revealed he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2023, died at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday night after suffering a heart attack, according to his publicist Jeff Abraham.

A regular performer in clubs and on late-night TV for decades, Lewis also played Marty Gold, the romantic co-lead opposite Jamie Lee Curtis, in the ABC series “Anything But Love” and the reliably neurotic Prince John in “Mel Brooks’ Robin Hood: Men In Tights.” He re-introduced himself to a new generation opposite Larry David in HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” kvetching regularly.

“I’m paranoid about everything in my life. Even at home. On my stationary bike, I have a rear-view mirror, which I’m not thrilled about,” he once joked onstage. To Jimmy Kimmel he said: “This morning, I tried to go to bed. I couldn’t sleep. I counted sheep but I only had six of them and they all had hip replacements.”

Comedy Central named Lewis one of the top 50 stand-up comedians of all time and he earned a berth in GQ magazine’s list of the “20th Century’s Most Influential Humorists.” He lent his humor for charity causes, including Comic Relief and Comedy Gives Back.

“Watching his stand-up is like sitting in on a very funny and often dark therapy session,” the Los Angeles Times said in 2014. The Philadelphia’s City Paper called him “the Jimi Hendrix of monologists.” Mel Brooks once said he “may just be the Franz Kafka of modern-day comedy.”

Following his graduation from The Ohio State University in 1969, the New York-born Lewis began a stand-up career, honing his craft on the circuit with other contemporaries also just starting out like Jay Leno, Freddie Prinze and Billy Crystal.

He recalled Rodney Dangerfield hiring him for $75 to fill in at his New York club, Dangerfield’s. “I had a lot of great friends early on who believed in me, and I met pretty iconic people who really helped me, told me to keep working on my material. And I never looked back,” he told The Gazette of Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2010.

Unlike contemporary Robin Williams, Lewis allowed audiences into his world and melancholy, pouring his torment and pain onto the stage. Fans favorably compared him to the ground-breaking comedian Lenny Bruce.

“I take great pains not to be mean-spirited,” Lewis told The Palm Beach Post in 2007. “I don’t like to take real handicaps that people have to overcome with no hope in sight. I steer clear of that. That’s not funny to me. Tragedy is funny to other humorists, but it’s not to me, unless you can make a point that’s helpful.”

Singer Billy Joel has said he was referring to Lewis when he sang in “My Life” of an old friend who “bought a ticket to the West Coast/Now he gives them a stand-up routine in L.A.”

In 1989 at Carnegie Hall, he appeared with six feet of yellow legal sheets filled with material and taped together for a 2½-hour set that led to two standing ovations. The night was “the highlight of my career,” he told The Washington Post in 2020.

Lewis told GQ his signature look came incidentally, saying his obsession with dressing in black came from watching the television Western “Have Gun – Will Travel,” with a cowboy in all-black, when he was a kid. He also popularized the term “from hell” — as in “the date from hell” or “the job from hell.”

“That just came out of my brain one day and I kept repeating it a lot for some reason. Same thing with the black clothes. I just felt really comfortable from the early ’80s on and I never wore anything else. I never looked back.”

After getting sober from drugs and alcohol in 1994, Lewis put out his 2008 memoir, “The Other Great Depression” — a collection of fearless, essay style riffs on his life — and “Reflections from Hell.”

Lewis was the youngest of three siblings — his brother was older than him by six years, and his sister by nine. His father died young and his mother had emotional problems. “She didn’t get me at all. I owe my career to my mother. I should have given her my agent’s commission,” he told The Washington Post in 2020.

“Looking back on it now, as a full-blown, middle-aged, functioning anxiety collector, I can admit without cringing that my parents had their fair share of tremendous qualities, yet, being human much of the day, had more than just a handful of flaws as well,” he wrote in his memoir.

Lewis quickly found a new family performing at New York’s Improv. “I was 23, and all sorts of people were coming in and out and watching me, like Steve Allen and Bette Midler. David Brenner certainly took me under his wing. To drive home to my little dump in New Jersey often knowing that Steve Allen said, ‘You got it,’ that validation kept me going in a big, big way.”

He had a cameo in “Leaving Las Vegas,” which led to his first major dramatic role as Jimmy Epstein, an addict fighting for his life in the indie film, “Drunks.” He played Don Rickles’ son on one season of “Daddy Dearest” and a rabbi on “7th Heaven.”

Lewis’s recurring role on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” can be credited directly to his friendship with fellow comedian, producer and series star Larry David. Both native Brooklynites — born in the same Brooklyn hospital — they first met and became friends as rivals while attending the same summer camp at age 13. He was cast from the beginning, bickering with David on unpaid bills and common courtesies.

“Richard and I were born three days apart in the same hospital and for most of my life he’s been like a brother to me,” David wrote in a statement Wednesday, shared by HBO. “He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me sob and for that I’ll never forgive him.”

He is survived by his wife, Joyce Lapinsky.

Goodwill’s Downtown San Diego Outlet Center in the Maker’s Quarter opens its 22,000-square-foot facility on Wednesday at 1466 F St. The shop opens officially at 8:30 a.m.

To get a scale of that building, it was once a warehouse for Jerome’s Furniture.

Free parking is something hard to come by in downtown these days, but that won’t be a worry at this facility, which gives free underground parking to customers.

Its store and donation center hours will be Monday through Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. They will be closed on Sundays.

The Outlet Center sells clothing, linens, housewares and furniture, according to Goodwill. Apparel and housewares will be sold by the piece and by the pound.

The building is also on the same block as Punch Bowl Social, a food and game hall. How about happy hour, a game of bowling and some thrifting afterwards? All in the same block!

If you’re in the mood to keep thrifting, walk down 15th Street about a half mile and you’ll end up at the old Goodwill Retail Store and Donation Center located at 343 16th St.

The location does accept donations, including furniture.

McConnell, who turned 82 last week, was set to announce his decision Wednesday in the well of the Senate, a place where he looked in awe from its back benches in 1985 when he arrived and where he grew increasingly comfortable in the front row seat afforded the party leaders.

“One of life’s most underappreciated talents is to know when it’s time to move on to life’s next chapter,” he said in prepared remarks obtained by The Associated Press. “So I stand before you today … to say that this will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate.”

His decision punctuates a powerful ideological transition underway in the Republican Party, from Ronald Reagan’s brand of traditional conservatism and strong international alliances, to the fiery, often isolationist populism of former President Donald Trump.

McConnell said he plans to serve out his Senate term, which ends in January 2027, “albeit from a different seat in the chamber.” Aides said McConnell’s announcement about the leadership post was unrelated to his health. The Kentucky senator had a concussion from a fall last year and two public episodes where his face briefly froze while he was speaking.

“As I have been thinking about when I would deliver some news to the Senate, I always imagined a moment when I had total clarity and peace about the sunset of my work,” McConnell said in his prepared remarks. “A moment when I am certain I have helped preserve the ideals I so strongly believe. It arrived today.”

The senator had been under increasing pressure from the restive, and at times hostile wing of his party that has aligned firmly with Trump. The two have been estranged since December 2020, when McConnell refused to abide Trump’s lie that the election of Democrat Joe Biden as president was the product of fraud.

But while McConnell’s critics within the GOP conference had grown louder, their numbers had not grown appreciably larger, a marker of McConnell’s strategic and tactical skill and his ability to understand the needs of his fellow Republican senators.

McConnell gave no specific reason for the timing of his decision, which he has been contemplating for months, but he cited the recent death of his wife’s youngest sister as a moment that prompted introspection. “The end of my contributions are closer than I’d prefer,” McConnell said.

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But his remarks were also light at times as he talked about the arc of his Senate career.

He noted that when he arrived in the Senate, “I was just happy if anybody remembered my name.” During his campaign in 1984, when Reagan was visiting Kentucky, the president called him “Mitch O’Donnell.”

McConnell endorsed Reagan’s view of America’s role in the world and the senator has persisted in face of opposition, including from Trump, that Congress should include a foreign assistance package that includes $60 billion for Ukraine.

“I am unconflicted about the good within our country and the irreplaceable role we play as the leader of the free world,” McConnell said.

Against long odds he managed to secure 22 Republican votes for the package now being considered by the House.

“Believe me, I know the politics within my party at this particular moment in time. I have many faults. Misunderstanding politics is not one of them,” McConnell said. “That said, I believe more strongly than ever that America’s global leadership is essential to preserving the shining city on a hill that Ronald Reagan discussed. For as long as I am drawing breath on this earth I will defend American exceptionalism.”

Trump has pulled the party hard to the ideological right, questioning longtime military alliances such as NATO, international trade agreements and pushing for a severe crackdown on immigration, all the while clinging to the falsehood that the election was stolen from him in 2020.

McConnell and Trump had worked together in Trump’s first term, remaking the Supreme Court and the federal judiciary in a far more conservative image, and on tax legislation. But there was also friction from the start, with Trump frequently sniping at the senator.

Their relationship has essentially been over since Trump refused to accept the results of the Electoral College. But the rupture deepened dramatically after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. McConnell assigned blame and responsibility to Trump and said that he should be held to account through the criminal justice system for his actions.

McConnell’s critics insist he could have done more, including voting to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial. McConnell did not, arguing that since Trump was no longer in office, he could not be subject to impeachment.

Rather than fade from prominence after the Capitol riot, Trump continued to assert his control over the party, and finds himself on a clear glidepath to the Republican nomination. Other members of the Republican Senate leadership have endorsed Trump. McConnell has not, and that has drawn criticism from other Republican senators.

McConnell’s path to power was hardly linear, but from the day he walked onto the Senate floor in 1985 and took his seat as the most junior Republican senator, he set his sights on being the party leader. What set him apart was that so many other Senate leaders wanted to run for president. McConnell wanted to run the Senate. He lost races for lower party positions before steadily ascending, and finally became party leader in 2006 and has won nine straight elections.

He most recently beat back a challenge led by Sen. Rick Scott of Florida last November.

McConnell built his power base by a combination of care and nurturing of his members, including understanding their political imperatives. After seeing the potential peril of a rising Tea Party, he also established a super political action committee, The Senate Leadership Fund, which has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in support of Republican candidates.

Despite the concerns about his health, colleagues have said in recent months that they believe he has recovered. McConnell was not impaired cognitively, but did have some additional physical limitations.

“I love the Senate,” he said in his prepared remarks. “It has been my life. There may be more distinguished members of this body throughout our history, but I doubt there are any with more admiration for it.”

But, he added, “Father Time remains undefeated. I am no longer the young man sitting in the back, hoping colleagues would remember my name. It is time for the next generation of leadership.”

There would be a time to reminisce, he said, but not today.

“I still have enough gas in the tank to thoroughly disappoint my critics and I intend to do so with all the enthusiasm which they have become accustomed.”

California Highway Patrol received a report at about 5:40 a.m. that a man’s boy was in the roadway of SR-163 at Interstate 5. An investigation determined a pedestrian was walking in traffic lanes on when they were struck by a vehicle that then took off, CHP said.

The pedestrian was declared dead at the scene. He has not yet been identified.

CHP, which is continuing an investigation into the cash, is asking anyone who may have witnessed the event to call their office at (858) 293-6000.

The Medical Examiner’s office is also conducting a toxicology report of the deceased man to determine if drugs or alcohol were a factor.

A SigAlert was issued around 6:30 a.m. for the investigation. All lanes were reopened around 8 a.m.

The victim left a party Tuesday night in the 600 block of 16th Street and went to an Ace parking lot, where he got into an argument with a man, officials said. The victim left the parking lot and walked southbound toward a gas station.

“The suspect got into a burgundy or red Dodge Durango and pulled out of the parking lot,” Officer John Buttle said. “The suspect drove down the sidewalk and ran over the victim. The suspect fled, got on the eastbound I-94 and was last seen going southbound on I-15.”

The victim was taken to a hospital with a brain bleed and facial injuries. His injuries were not considered to be life
threatening.

An investigation is ongoing.

The defending regular-season and MWC Tournament champion Aztecs (22-7, 11-5) beat the Spartans for the 13th straight time to remain just behind conference co-leaders Utah State and Boise State. The Aztecs get six days off before playing at UNLV next Tuesday night and then finishing the regular season at home against Boise State on March 8.

LeDee helped the Aztecs to a 52-35 lead midway through the second half before the Spartans clawed back to 57-52. He rebounded Micah Parrish’s missed 3-pointer and then had a steal and slam dunk as part of a three-point play to give SDSU a 62-54 advantage.

LeDee finished with his 11th double-double of the season.

“He’s a dangerous player and to his credit, everybody knows it, and he still ends up with another double-double,” Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher said. “That’s a first-team All-American to me.”

Dutcher called it “a quiet 27” for LeDee.

“He did it however he could. He rebounded the ball and got some putbacks, he ran the floor, got some baskets, and he scored a lot of different ways, which good players do. It’s not just one-dimensional scoring,” the coach said.

A 3-pointer by Alvaro Cardenas and a putback by Latrell Davis pulled the Spartans to 64-60 with 2:20 to go.

Elijah Saunders had 10 points for SDSU, including a huge dunk with 50 seconds left following a San Jose State turnover to give the Aztecs a 66-60 lead. They made six free throws in the final 31 seconds.

Myron Amey Jr. scored 17 points for San Jose State (9-20, 2-14), and Trey Anderson had 14.

LeDee, continually pounded inside by double teams, made a turnaround jumper and a bank shot in the opening minute of the second half, giving the Aztecs a 33-22 lead. He then scored five points during a 15-2 run that pushed it to 52-35.

“I’m getting used to it,” said LeDee, who drew 11 fouls and made nine of 11 free throws.

“We’re going to get everyone’s best shot,” he said. “Everybody gears up and gives us their best effort.”

BIG PICTURE

San Jose State: The Spartans haven’t beaten San Diego State since February 2017 at home. Their only two MWC wins this season are against Air Force.

San Diego State: The Aztecs remained in The Associated Press Top 25 for a second straight week, dropping just one spot after a week in which they lost 68-63 at Utah State and won 73-41 at Fresno State.

UP NEXT

San Jose State is at UNLV on Saturday night.

SDSU visits UNLV next Tuesday.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here

___

AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

Now, the victim’s parents are pleading for the public’s help.

The Contreras family remembers happier times. One in particular was Brayan’s 18th birthday on Aug. 30, 2020.  

Brayan was shot and killed less than two weeks after his birthday. His sister told NBC7  back then, the death was so upsetting she had no words to express her sorrow.

“My brother was always really happy,“ Brayan’s sister Perla Contreras said. “He was really humble. Everybody loved him.”

More than three years later the family says the pain endures.      

“My daughters have struggled a lot,” Brayan’s father, Cipriano Contreras, said. “I have the youngest with a psychologist because it affected her a lot.”

Cipriano and Brayan’s mother, Olga Gallegos, visit a sidewalk shrine memorializing their son almost daily. It was created in the place where Brayan died.

“Not only did they kill my son but also my heart, that of my husband and my daughters went with him,” Gallegos said. “The only thing I ask is: Justice for my son. That it be known what happened and that the person responsible paid.”

In the early hours of Sept. 12, 2020, National City Police said, Brayan was walking alone westbound on 16th Street. He had just left a party with friends that ended badly, according to his parents.

“There was an argument with his girlfriend and he left,” Perla said. “Then, a couple hours later, they found him.”

Brayan was found on the ground six blocks away from where the party was held.   

A lone gunman approached on foot and shot Brayan once in the chest, according to investigators. Witnesses heard the shot and reported seeing the suspect run to the passenger side of a waiting light-colored or silver sedan.

“It’s been three and a half years, and we know nothing,” Gallegos said. “Don’t let it happen again to a family like ours, where their son was taken away from them and they feel pain like the pain we feel.”

The family is keeping Brayan’s memory alive and is seeking closure through the capture of those responsible for his death.    

​The victim’s sister said police were close to solving the case five days after his death but that there has been no arrests or mention of suspects connected to this case.

Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the capture of Brayan Contreras’s killer. Click here to submit a tip.

Emergency dispatchers got a call on Tuesday afternoon from a dog owner who said a pitbull they owned had bitten their nephew in the face, according to San Diego Police spokesman John Buttle.

The boy who was bitten is 3 years old, officials said.

SDPD, San Diego Fire-Rescue and the humane society were all called out to the residence in the 4600 block of Home Avenue.

The boy’s condition is not yet known, but it’s assumed his injuries are not life-threatening.

Over the past four years, the city has received more than $83 million to combat the issue via four rounds of the Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention Program (HHAP).

Homelessness in San Diego

Chula Vista Feb 24

Chula Vista leaders hold town hall on growing homelessness in the city

Jan 26

San Diego re-activates central old library as homeless shelter

Jan 29

At least half of San Diego City College students face homelessness

The money has been used to help support a variety of the city’s homeless programs, from operating a shelter at 17th and Imperial to expanding outreach programs to expanded Safe Parking Programs like those in Mission Valley and at Rose Canyon in Bay Ho.

Now the city of San Diego is expecting to receive $29.9 million more to continue the fight.

“We need to ensure these funds are stretched as far as we can and are as effective as they possibly can be while facing down lean budget years,” District 1 Councilmember Joe LaCava said.

With the city projecting a budget shortfall of more than $170 million this coming fiscal year, the city’s Homelessness Strategies and Solutions Department laid out the  multi-pronged plan to spend the money.

Most of the funds, nearly $17.5 million, would fund interim housing like bridge shelters, while $3 million apiece is expected to be spent on street outreach and youth shelters, and another $4.5 million would go toward family reunification and safe parking programs, something very much needed after the city recently agreed to settle a lawsuit that ticketed people living in RVs/

“What we want is to create an environment where these folks can get back on their feet,” explained Disrict 3 Councilman Stephen Whitburn. “And so by creating a safe parking area that’s away from homes, away from businesses, where people can go — they can park, they can get connected to resources, and those can ultimately help them get back on their feet.”

The grant funding has not been secured yet. City leaders are working with the county and the Regional Task Force on Homelessness to ensure that happens. Both of those organizations will also receive their own grant money.

The various organizations will work together to make sure that they don’t overlap in spending and so that the most pressing homeless needs are addressed.

The city of San Diego expects to receive the first half of the money, nearly $15 million, in October.

Howard Raymond Freelove was among a crowd that entered the Rotunda just before 2:45 p.m., according to a complaint filed in San Diego federal court.

Jan. 6 Riot

Crime and Courts Jan 6

Family of San Diego woman fatally shot storming Capitol sues US for $30M

Capitol Riot Jan 23

FBI arrests Jan. 6 rioter whose photo was featured in a Biden campaign ad

Capitol Riot Jan 30

Jan. 6 rioter who ‘blind-side tackled' Capitol officer is sentenced to more than 6 years in prison

Freelove, who is charged with four misdemeanor counts, was allegedly caught on surveillance footage walking around the building with others and filming with a cellphone.

According to court documents, the FBI received a tip in December 2021 regarding Freelove’s alleged involvement in the Capitol breach.

Investigators reviewed Freelove’s social media accounts and discovered a video he allegedly recorded while driving.

In the video, he states, “Hello everyone, Freelove here. I left Chula Vista, California, a couple of days ago, and I’m on my way to Washington D.C., for the rally,” according to a statement of facts authored by an FBI agent.

Though he initially said he was going to Washington D.C. on March 6, Freelove allegedly corrected himself, clarifying he was going to “march of the 6th.”

Court documents state that in the video, Freelove was wearing what appeared to be the same tinted glasses and red Trump baseball cap that he was seen wearing on surveillance footage captured from inside the Capitol.

The family of Ashli Babbitt, a San Diego woman who was shot and killed during the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol breach, filed a $30 million wrongful death lawsuit last month in San Diego federal court against the U.S. government. Babbitt was among five people killed during the Jan. 6 insurrection. More than 1,000 people have been prosecuted for various roles in the breach, including Trump.

Freelove was arrested Monday and released later that day on $5,000 bond, according to court records.

The board instead voted to show its support for a bipartisan immigration reform bill.

The vote came one week after the county closed down a migrant welcome center where people who just crossed the border could charge cell phones, get directions and eat a meal before heading to their final destinations. The closure led to hundreds of migrants being bussed to transportation centers to fend for themselves.

San Diego Border Issues

migrants Feb 24

Border Patrol releases hundreds of migrants at bus stop after San Diego runs out of aid money

San Ysidro Feb 22

Two bodies found in river channel near US-Mexico border

US-Mexico border Feb 14

Anti-climbing device added atop border fence in Friendship Park

“Some people here get dropped off and they don’t even know they’re in San Diego County,” said Pedro Rios who works with the American Friends Service Committee. “That’s why it’s important for there to be coordination by all levels of government, because people who are seeking asylum should not be abandoned.”

The American Friends Service Committee is one of several nongovernmental organizations, or NGO’s, trying to help migrants transition into the United States as they await court dates and asylum hearings.

“The fix for this whole thing is to enforce our laws,” said Supervisor Jim Desmond, a critic of open borders. “We’ve got laws, we’ve got a system in place, we have embassies all around the world, we have an online system. You can apply for asylum, you can apply for visas.”

Desmond did not believe the motion to close the border would pass because Tijuana and San Diego are so economically dependent on one another. He told reporters he does support a declaration to ask the federal government to help finance a migrant transition center like the one that closed in late February.

San Diego County paid $6 million to keep the center open for four months, money, the supervisors said, they could no longer afford to pay, especially in light of the amount of money needed to help San Diego County residents who lost everything in January’s flooding.

Board of Supervisors’ chair Nora Vargas told NBC7 that the county is dealing with a humanitarian crisis.

“We’re trying to do the best we can to help those in need,” Vargas said.

That help includes fighting for federal funding to help migrants land on their feet.

The board passed both items on their agenda dealing with the border. They will support a bipartisan immigration reform bill and will also continue to search for federal funding sources to help the county handle the influx of migrants.

Samadi, 42, was cycling with a friend on Carmel Valley Road on Sept. 25, 2020, when he hit a city truck that was parked in a bike lane without proper warning and signage, according to James Frantz, the attorney for the Samadi family.  

“Unbeknownst to him, a city of San Diego truck illegally parked in the bike lane without putting any warning signs out whatsoever, no flag person there, no cones, no blinking lights, nothing,” Frantz said.

The injuries Samadi absorbed were deadly.

“He was killed instantly, with severe brain damage hitting the back end of that truck,” Frantz said. “It was horrible and this has been a nightmare of nightmares for the family.”

Frantz said his firm was prepared to go to trial before the city agreed to the general terms of a settlement.

“This is not justice for the Samadis,” Frantz said. “The city of San Diego is paying $2.95 million. Nothing would be better than to bring him back. The money doesn’t do it, but the silver lining here is the people of San Diego and the city of San Diego need to know they cannot have this kind of dangerous misconduct take place anymore.”

Now that the city council passed the consent item, it will head to Mayor Todd Gloria’s desk.

Decision 2024

election Feb 19

Voting Guide: What San Diego voters should know about California's 2024 Primary Election

San Diego County Feb 22

How does your vote get counted? Go behind the scenes at the San Diego County Registrar of Voters

decision 2022 Feb 26

Here's how to track your ballot for the 2024 Primary Election in San Diego County

There are 146 ballot boxes around the county. Find out where they are here.

On March 2, all 218 voting centers will open. Brom expects turnout to keep climbing up until Election Day, which is March 5.

Brom said San Diego is on track to meet — or beat — its voter turnout rates from March 2020, when the last presidential primary was held in the state. Four years ago, during the early months of the pandemic, 40% of eligible voters and 49% of registered voters cast a ballot, according to the California secretary of state.

“That’s a good number for the primary,” Brom said. “We always want more, more participation rate. Roughly at this time, we had 220,000 mail ballots returned for March 2020. And this year we have 245,000.”

The deadline to register to vote has passed, but people can still register in person at a voting center and cast a provisional ballot.

Citizens can observe the ballot counting process through glass windows at the Registrar’s, where Mylila Martinez worked in years past.

“It’s tedious, but it’s very important that we check the signatures and make sure that they are being checked thoroughly to make sure that no one is able to do any kind of scams or anything,” Martinez said.

Martinez dropped her ballot off Tuesday. She said local issues like housing and education drive her to the dropbox. For 71-year-old Marine Corps veteran Horace Eure, it’s the principle that pushes him to the polls.

“My gosh, the only way you’re going to be able to have your voice heard is to vote,” Eure said.

The recall covers certain trucks from the 2022 and 2023 model years.

Toyota said in a statement Tuesday that welding debris left on the ends of the axles can cause some nuts to loosen over time and eventually fall off. That can cause the part to separate from the axle, which can affect stability and brake performance.

recall alert Feb 22

Volkswagen to recall 261,000 cars to fix pump problem that can increase fire risk

Toyota Feb 22

Toyota recalls 280,000 pickups and SUVs because transmissions can deliver power even when in neutral

Toyota wouldn’t say if there have been any crashes or injuries caused by the problem.

Dealers will inspect the rear axles and tighten retaining nuts at no cost to owners. Any damaged components will be repaired or replaced. Customers will be notified by mail in late April, the company says.

The unveiling was part of a ceremony that pays tribute to Kumeyaay culture, intended to honor the 13-tribe Kumeyaay Nation.

More news from Chula Vista

Chula Vista Feb 26

Chula Vista City Council takes 1st step to fill seat left vacant by Cardenas resignation

Chula Vista Feb 24

Chula Vista leaders hold town hall on growing homelessness in the city

SoFi Stadium Feb 5

Man who drowned in SoFi Stadium Lake identified as Chula Vista resident

“I think we need to remember all of history, good and bad,” Chula Vista Mayor John McCann said at the ceremony. “ And but I think we need to work together and be united as a community. It’s a great opportunity for us to be able to honor our heritage of the original people that lived here: The Kumeyaay.”

The 28-acre city park was previously called Discovery Park and featured a statue of the Genoese navigator from 1991 until it was taken down in 2020. The statue was created by sculptor Mario Zamora, who died in 2017. The city placed it into storage. The figure was a target for vandals over the years, including splattering it in red paint and spray-painting it with the word “genocide.”

Former City Councilman Steve Padilla, now a state senator, said in 2020 that the statue “has been a source of controversy over the years, including repeated instances of vandalism and protest. Many have asked for its removal, and given all that is happening nationwide regarding America’s legacy of racism, the city decided to put it in storage.”

Some U.S. cities and states have replaced Columbus Day, which celebrates the Italian navigator’s 1492 arrival in North America, with Indigenous Peoples Day to recognize native populations that were displaced or killed by the often violent colonization of the Americas by Columbus and other Europeans.

Kumeyaay Park is home to a ball field, soccer field, open green space, picnic areas, play equipment and restrooms.

The small quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 3.0, struck 11 miles north of Borrego Springs and 17.5 miles south-southwest of La Quinta, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The event occurred at 2:50 p.m. at a depth of 7.2 miles.

There are no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The amended deadlines will offer relief “for individuals and businesses in parts of California affected by severe storms and flooding that began on Jan. 21,” according to the IRS.

The relief extends to any areas designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which includes San Diego County.

“Individuals and households that reside or have a business in this locality qualify for tax relief,” the IRS said.

More resources for flooding victims

flooding Feb 21

Here's how FEMA plans to help San Diego's flood victims — and how to apply

San Diego Feb 22

San Diego flooding resources: FEMA help, Small business loans and more

The new deadlines apply to:

• Individual income tax returns and payments normally due on April 15, 2024.
• 2023 contributions to IRAs and health savings accounts for eligible taxpayers.
• 2024 estimated tax payments normally due on April 15, 2024.
• Quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on Jan. 31 and April 30, 2024.
• Calendar-year partnership and S corporation returns normally due on March 15, 2024.
• Calendar-year corporation and fiduciary returns and payments normally due on April 15, 2024.
• Calendar-year tax-exempt organization returns normally due on May 15, 2024.

The relief is applied automatically to anyone with an IRS address of record located in the disaster area, and those taxpayers don’t need to contact the IRS to obtain the relief.

Additional information on the amended deadlines and other forms of tax relief can be found here.

Alina Franco is charged with multiple felony counts, including conspiracy to commit organized retail theft. Her attorney entered a not-guilty plea on her behalf and denied any allegations.

According to the 35-page complaint filed by the California Attorney General, Franco had $67,504.33 worth of stolen beauty products and other goods at her home in Colton, when a search warrant was served on Dec. 6, 2023.

Federal investigators say Franco is one of as many as a dozen women hired to steal makeup and other goods from hundreds of stores across the country. Those stores include LensCrafters in Clairemont and Ulta Beauty in Mira Mesa, which was one of the 231 Ulta stores hit nationwide. Several Sephora stores were also targeted.

In total, 140 counts have been filed against nine defendants. Those include 136 felony counts of grand theft, two counts of receiving stolen property, one count of conspiracy and one count of organized retail crime.

The complaint alleges Michelle Mack of Bonsall was the ringleader of the nearly $8 million crime ring. She’s accused of paying the women for their travel expenses and providing them with a list of retail stores across the country to target. Investigators say when a search warrant was served at her shared home with Kenneth Mack on Dec. 6, 2023, more than $300,000 worth of makeup and other products were recovered.

A federal search warrant shows some of Mack’s alleged accomplices sometimes mailed stolen goods to a Bonsall post office, where Mack allegedly has a company address listed under “Online Makeup Store.” Authorities say she resold the products on Amazon.

NBC 7 is working to find out when the Macks and their other alleged accomplices will make their first court appearances.

Franco’s next hearing is set for April 19.

Consumer Reports’ auto-testing team puts every car it buys through more than 50 tests, comparing 250 models for owner satisfaction and reliability to determine the year’s Top Picks.

This year, the top 10 includes vehicles with a variety of powertrains. There are four hybrids, three plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (or PHEVs), and one EV. That’s significant because it shows how the market has shifted toward electrification and confirms that these models can best gas-only competitors.

Top vehicles for 2024

The Toyota RAV4 Prime takes everything drivers love about the super-popular RAV4 and adds the benefits of a plug-in hybrid, which provides 42 miles of electric-only driving before the gasoline motor kicks in. CR found that the Prime is quieter and smoother than the standard RAV4, and it’s quicker. The Prime went 0 to 60MPH a full two seconds faster than the gas-only model. 

Another standout is a Toyota SUV. The three-row Highlander Hybrid has key safety features, solid predicted reliability, and great fuel economy at 35 miles per gallon overall.

From Subaru, the Forester and redesigned Crosstrek are also top picks. Both have secure handling, good fuel economy, and a wide range of active safety features.

The redesigned Toyota Prius added more horsepower and performance, plus the availability of all-wheel drive. And the plug-in Prius Prime provides 39 miles of pure electric driving, with 43 miles per gallon when the hybrid engine kicks in.

Best truck for 2024

If you’re looking for a truck, the Ford Maverick and Maverick Hybrid provide much of the functionality of a pickup at a fraction of the size and cost. CR found both versions of the Maverick offer impressive maneuverability and a roomy crew cab interior.

Most reliable cars for 2024

If reliability is top on your list, it’s hard to do better than the Toyota Camry Hybrid. It received top marks in CR’s reliability data, performed well in our fuel-economy tests, got 610 miles per tank of gas, and earned a sky-high road test score in our on-track evaluations.

The BMW X5 and X5 plug-in hybrid are CR’s top luxury SUV choices. Both versions feature immaculate cabins and offer a premium driving experience. 

Best sporty vehicles for 2024

And if you’re looking for a sporty drive that also gives you a bang for your buck, CR says the Mazda3 is a stand-out. With 191 horsepower, its engine packs more punch than most rivals, and the vehicle has an impressively premium interior for the price.

CR’s top pick for an all-electric vehicle is the Tesla Model Y. Like most EVs, it has quick acceleration, but the Y shines with responsive steering, frequent over-the-air updates, and access to Tesla’s extensive Supercharger network.

Goodwill’s Downtown San Diego Outlet Center in the Maker’s Quarter opens its 22,000-square-foot facility on Wednesday at 1466 F St. The shop opens officially at 8:30 a.m.

To get a scale of that building, it was once a warehouse for Jerome’s Furniture.

Free parking is something hard to come by in downtown these days, but that won’t be a worry at this facility, which gives free underground parking to customers.

Its store and donation center hours will be Monday through Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. They will be closed on Sundays.

The Outlet Center sells clothing, linens, housewares and furniture, according to Goodwill. Apparel and housewares will be sold by the piece and by the pound.

The building is also on the same block as Punch Bowl Social, a food and game hall. How about happy hour, a game of bowling and some thrifting afterwards? All in the same block!

If you’re in the mood to keep thrifting, walk down 15th Street about a half mile and you’ll end up at the old Goodwill Retail Store and Donation Center located at 343 16th St.

The location does accept donations, including furniture.

Users of neighborhood-sharing apps like Nextdoor and Ring, as well as NBC 7 employees across the county, reported the smell in San Carlos, College Area, Del Cerro, North Park and Mission Valley. Some reported the smell near Downtown, National City, as far east as Lakeside and as far south as San Ysidro.

Some said it smelled like chemicals, burning rubber or melted plastic.

San Diego Fire-Rescue responded Tuesday morning to several locations and could not find a hazard of fire that could be causing the smell, San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesperson Mónica Muñoz said. A similar incident occurred a few months ago and they could not determine the source of the smell.

The U.S. Air Quality Index (AQI) ranked San Diego and Baja California’s Air Quality on Tuesday as “moderate” with a 69 out of 500 AQI. Some coastal areas of Baja, including Playa de Rosarito, had air quality that was unhealthy for sensitive groups. The area near the San Ysidro Port of Entry was listed as unhealthy.

“We are aware of the issue and have received reports from concerned residents,” a spokesperson for the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District said. “We are currently working to identify the source of the odor and will provide an update as soon as we have more information.”

In 2020, a strong smell had San Diego residents plugging their noses. In that instance, the stench was attributed to a red tide, which turns the ocean a reddish-brown color during the day and creates glowing blue waves at night. Scripps Institution of Oceanography said their equipment has detected two types of these microscopic organisms in recent weeks. When the micro-organisms break down, they can create a stinky sulfur-like smell. But it is not completely clear if that’s what residents are smelling either.

This is a developing story. Information may change as details become available.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

The victims told NBC 7 they now feel unsafe in their own homes.

Just fifteen minutes after a young family of four living on Covina Street left to go out to dinner Sunday night, three burglars stole their valuables and a gun safe. Inside it were three rifles including an AR-15.

“There was jewelry that was passed down from my grandmother, my mom, then to me. Irreplaceable? Yes,” the wife said.

The couple wished not to be identified but say the break-in is weighing heavy on both of them.

They have two children under the age of two.

“I feel I failed as a father. I failed to protect them and protect their privacy. They violated our safe place,“ the father said.

Five minutes after the victims on Covina Street called 911, police received a call from another victim on Thanksgiving Lane just around the corner. The burglars stole fifty cent pieces and two watches.

The victim showed NBC 7 a photo of her broken fence. She said that’s how the burglars got in the yard.

A doorbell camera recorded burglars at Covina street.

“He’s calling the get away car to pull over. Then three males come out and they drag our safe through our grass. It was bolted down. Big, large safe probably at least like, 5 feet tall,“ she described.

Investigating officers can’t say whether the same crew is responsible for both burglaries.

One thing stolen that may never be recovered is their peace of mind.

“What we think is safe is not safe enough. Maybe it’s not if we are going to get hit, it’s when,“ the husband said.

Crime Stoppers is offering a reward for information leading to the capture of those responsible. So far police have not identified any suspects. 

Her chair was noticeably empty during Monday night’s special meeting where councilmembers unanimously declared her seat officially vacant.

The council has 45 days to appoint someone in the interim

The declaration gives the council 45 days to appoint someone to fill the remaining eight months of Cardena’s term.

“Every appointment we’ve had has been a mess in this city,” said longtime District 4 resident Cheryl Perez.

“In District 3 we had a situation with someone misleading about their education, luckily we found out about that,” Perez said.

Because of education and residency verification issues during the council’s 2022 District 3 appointment process, applicants will now have to provide proof of their educational backgrounds. 

Concerns over properly vetting appointees within the 45-day timeframe, as well as councilmembers possibly appointing their friends, are just a few of the reasons why Perez doesn’t want someone appointed to represent her.

“Three or four people electing the representative for the whole district with no input from the public — we don’t know who it is, we don’t have a chance to get to know them, we see no debates; it doesn’t represent us. Leave it blank until we have a say,” said Perez.

Mayor worries about the learning curve

It’s not just voters who have concerns, while Mayor John McCann says the district deserves representation, he worries about the learning curve an appointee may have to overcome.

“The challenging thing is, is when you become a councilmember, you need to have some good experience in city issues and in government to be effective. Coming in with no experience, it’s going to be hard for somebody to become effective in only a few months if they have no experience,” McCann said.

Starting Friday until March 15, the city will accept applications for the District 4 seat. Councilmembers will then nominate potential appointees, then interview them with the goal of appointing someone by April 9. If not, the seat will remain open until the November General Election.

The Dstrict 4 seat opened up last Monday, when Cardenas resigned from her position.

She’s now facing 8-felony fraud charges that include allegations she fraudulently applied for Covid-era, PPP loans for her political consulting business with her brother.

The deadline for Chula Vista City Council to appoint someone is April 11.

“All veterans who were exposed to toxins or other hazards while serving our country at home or abroad will now be eligible to enroll directly into VA health care without first having to apply for VA benefits,” Special Assistant to the President for Veteran Affairs Terri Tanielian said.

The exposure to toxic substances spans decades.

“Any veteran that served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan or any other combat zone after September 11^th is now eligible to enroll. That also means that any veteran who deployed in support of the Global War on Terrorism is eligible to enroll,” Tanielian said.

The expansion also covers many veterans who never deployed as a part of a conflict but were exposed to toxins and hazardous material in the U.S.

The list of toxins some veterans have been exposed to is extensive, according to Tanielian.

“We know that many who were exposed in and around Vietnam and Thailand and other places were exposed to Agent Orange. We know that individuals that were deployed to Southwest Asia were exposed to burn pits which as you know contained many many different substances that were burned and caused respiratory challenges for many in the community but there could be other exposures that veterans were exposed to like other pesticides and other toxins like asbestos,” Tanielian said.

The PACT Act was signed into law in 2022.

The law opened up eligibility for veterans exposed to toxic substances in a phased-in approach, whereas the announcement by the VA on Feb. 26 speeds up the process.

VA representatives said they are executing a nationwide campaign to ensure that as many veterans as possible enroll.

U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez ruled last week that the prohibition “unconstitutionally infringes the Second Amendment rights of American citizens” and enjoined the state from enforcing the law, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

Weapons such as billy clubs have been outlawed in some form or other in California since at least 1917, with exceptions for law enforcement officers and some state-licensed security guards, the Times said.

Benitez declared in Sept. 2021 that California’s ban on such weapons qualified as “longstanding” and therefore did not violate the Second Amendment. But while that ruling was under appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen that altered the legal analysis for Second Amendment regulations.

The billy club case was sent back to Benitez to review under the new Bruen analysis. He decided that Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office, which is defending the case, failed to provide evidence of any historically similar prohibitions.

Bonta said the judge’s decision “defies logic” and the state has filed an appeal.

“The Supreme Court was clear that Bruen did not create a regulatory straitjacket for states — and we believe that the district court got this wrong. We will not stop in our efforts to protect the safety of communities,” Bonta said in a statement Monday.

Alan Beck, an attorney for two military veterans who challenged the billy club ban, welcomed Benitez’s ruling.

“I thought it was a straightforward application of Supreme Court precedent,” Beck told the Times on Monday.

The challenged California law bans the possession, manufacture, importation or sale of “any leaded cane, or any instrument or weapon of the kind commonly known as a billy, blackjack, sandbag, sandclub, sap, or slungshot.”

Courts have defined a billy as any kind of stick, bat or baton that is intended to be used as a weapon — even common items like a baseball bat or table leg could qualify if it is meant to cause harm.

“The idea is that people should not be punished for circumstances beyond their control,” Ann Menasche, the lead attorney said.

The lawsuit challenged two city of San Diego ordinances, the Vehicle Habitation Ordinance and the Oversized Vehicle Ordinance.

The Vehicle Habitation Ordinance prohibits people from living in their vehicle on any street or public property between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. and also bans people living in their vehicles from parking within 500 feet of a residence or school at any time.

On Monday, a settlement was reached between in the site that will place restrictions on the two ordinances.

“If you’re just living in your vehicle, you should not have a problem with the VHO, if you’re a law-abiding person,” Menasche said. “In addition, it won’t be enforced for using the vehicle for transportation, and if there’s no place at night to park, that’s reasonably available to you, it can’t be enforced as well. The OVO is also being restricted and it can’t be enforced if there aren’t any reasonable options available for you.”

Under the settlement, the city also has give people a chance to relocate before ticketing them. Additionally, the city has agreed to expand and improve its designated parking program in Mission Valley by adding running water, showers, electric hookups, and improved lighting and shade.

The moves come as a relief for Penny Helms, who said those improvements are needed.

“I sleep with a CPAP [which helps keep airways open during sleep], so I won’t have to worry about my CPAP going off in the middle of the night,” Helms said.

The city said the cost of the improvements to the Safe Parking Lot should not exceed $900,000.

“I’m really happy that we’re finally reaching the settlement, and hopefully everything works out well and it improves the lives of all of us in the lot,” Helms said.

A motion has been filed for a preliminary approval of the settlement; that process could take 5-6 months.

The deficit is due, in large part, to the sunset of pandemic funds, according to the president of the school board, Shana Hazan. To date, the district received more than $500 million in funds. It’s not clear how much, if any of that remains, or what percentage of the budget shortfall had been made up by pandemic funds in the past.

Hazan said the district’s goal was to keep cuts as far from the classroom as possible. That led to the central office, according to Donis Coronel, executive director of United Administrators Southern California, the union representing administrators. She expects at least 10% of her 600 members’ jobs to be cut.

“The work still has to be done,” said Coronel. “So it’s going to trickle to either those who remain standing at central office, and it will definitely trickle to the school sites. There’s no doubt.”

Hazan said the district will not adopt a final budget until June: “The reality is we are still waiting on a final budget from the state” 

Hazan told NBC 7 the district is already looking where it can shift qualified personnel whose jobs are on the chopping block. The district would not comment on specific layoffs or position cuts.

“Our team is going through, position by position by position, to figure out how we can address some shortfalls we have in staffing and minimize the impacts on the staff that we currently have,” Hazan said.

Although some 90% of the district’s general budget goes to staffing costs, Hazan said the district is also looking to bridge the budget gap by cutting some pandemic services that are no longer purposeful or did not have the intended impact.

“It really is going through, line by line by line, in our budget and thinking about what do these dollars mean for our kids? Where can we afford to cut and where can’t we?” said Hazan. “At the end of the day, dollars have to go away. Difficult cuts have to be made. But by communicating clearly, being transparent, every single step of the way.”

The projected cuts coming next year are in the wake of the school district giving teachers a 15% pay raise (10% for this school year and retroactive to July 2022, and 5% for next year).

According to the district website, 13,559 people are employed by the city school system, with nearly 6,000 teachers in campus classrooms.

Jesse Milton Alvarez, 33, is charged with killing 37-year-old Mario Fierro, a Cathedral Catholic High School teacher, outside Fierro’s home as the victim was preparing to go to work on the morning of Feb. 1, 2021.

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Prosecutors allege Alvarez methodically planned the killing over the course of several weeks, waited outside Fierro’s home for about an hour until the victim left his residence, then shot him six times at close range. Fierro died at the scene.

Deputy District Attorney Ramona McCarthy told jurors the killing stemmed from an unhealthy obsession with Fierro’s fiancee, whom Alvarez had previously dated for more than three years.

Describing Alvarez as “jealous, obsessive, and possessive,” the prosecutor said that following their break-up, Alvarez proceeded to repeatedly contact the woman, despite her telling him she did not want to speak with him or continue the relationship. Due to those unwanted contacts, which included showing up at her home unannounced and using alternate phone numbers and social media accounts to circumvent her attempts to block his communications, she unsuccessfully sought a restraining order.

After a judge declined the restraining order request, Alvarez’s attempts to contact her persisted, McCarthy said, including through multiple attempts to secure a job at Cathedral Catholic High School and mailing letters to new home addresses that the woman did not share with him.

In December 2020, Fierro and the woman got engaged and the school publicly announced it in a celebratory social media post that Alvarez discovered.

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McCarthy said upon learning of the engagement, Alvarez began planning Fierro’s “execution.”

Along with taking courses on how to shoot firearms, Alvarez made a series of internet searches that highlighted his intent to kill Fierro, the prosecutor said.

Those included searches for hiring hitmen, where to shoot someone in the head to ensure death, how to shoot someone without leaving forensic evidence, and how to “commit the perfect murder.”

One search made less than a week after the engagement announcement read simply, “How to kill your ex’s fiance.”

McCarthy alleged Alvarez also searched Cathedral Catholic High School’s schedule in order to determine when the school would be transitioning from pandemic-era remote learning to on-campus instruction. The first day of the school’s return to on-campus instruction was Feb. 1, the date of Fierro’s death.

“His ex was in love, but it wasn’t with him,” McCarthy told jurors, “It was with Mr. Fierro. And that is why he is not alive today.”

Defense attorney Kerry Armstrong told jurors Alvarez has high-functioning autism and is “extremely religious,” two aspects of his life that heavily informed his actions leading up to the shooting.

Armstrong conceded that Alvarez did not handle the end of the relationship well, but said his autism prevents him from adequately grasping social cues or from recognizing that his behavior was inappropriate.

The attorney said Alvarez was “crushed” and “heartbroken” upon discovering his ex’s engagement, but said his true issue with the new relationship began with a picture posted on social media in which Fierro and Alvarez’s ex-girlfriend were seen having alcoholic drinks.

Armstrong said the picture bothered Alvarez because of his client’s religious nature and he was concerned that Fierro “might lead her down the path of substance abuse.” The attorney said Alvarez “believed it was his role to protect her” and wanted to speak with Fierro for that reason.

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The defense attorney said Alvarez, who is expected to testify on his own behalf, would explain to jurors that on the morning of Feb. 1, he tried to speak with Fierro, who became very upset upon seeing Alvarez.

Armstrong alleged Fierro said something to the effect of, “I know who the [expletive] you are. I’m going to [expletive] kill you. Get out of here.”

Armstrong said Fierro then began punching Alvarez, prompting Alvarez to produce his gun and tell him to stop. Fierro continued advancing and “fearing for his life, he began to shoot,” Armstrong said.

The defense attorney denied any plan to murder Fierro, and said the gun was purchased before Alvarez was even aware Fierro had been dating his ex-girlfriend.

Alvarez faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of first-degree murder, plus a special-circumstance allegation of lying in wait.

The trial, which is underway at the San Diego Central Courthouse, is expected to last about two to three weeks.

NBC 7 Investigates first reported on the housing project last March, but nearly a year later, developers have yet to break ground. Now, the property owner is moving this housing battle out of city hall and into the hands of a judge. 

In a lawsuit filed against the City of Del Mar and City Council, property owner Carol Lazier says Del Mar city leaders refuse to process the project application in a quote “flagrant violation of state housing mandates.” 

At the heart of the lawsuit is a state provision commonly referred to as “builder’s remedy.” Under that provision, if cities don’t set aside enough space for new and affordable housing, developers can bypass zoning areas and force cities to let them build where they want. 

The City of Del Mar was among eight cities in San Diego County out of compliance with state housing laws at the time of NBC 7’s report on Seaside Ridge in March 2023. Two months after our report aired, the City of Del Mar met the state’s minimum housing plan requirements. Lazier argues the city’s current compliant status is “clearly erroneous” because the city was well past the state’s deadline and out of compliance at the time Seaside Ridge was proposed.

“I think it would be amazing if the City of Del Mar could just approve the project and then we wouldn’t have to go through all of these challenges,” says Jordan Latchford, the policy co-chair for the YIMBY Democrats of San Diego, a pro-housing advocacy group that supports Seaside Ridge. “What we really need is more housing right now.”

“The state is basically laying down the hammer,” said real estate development consultant Nathan Moeder in an interview with NBC 7 Investigates last year. “If you’re out of compliance, the state will just approve it.”

NBC 7 Investigates reached out to the Del Mar City Manager and Council for a response. They said our media request was the first they’ve heard of the suit, and as they still haven’t been served they had no comment.

There are dozens of similar legal battles between developers and cities across the state, from Palo Alto to Huntington Beach.

“I think what it really shows is that our cities really need to step up,” said Latchford. “They need to be doing everything that they can to have more housing built.”

Affordable housing is based on a percentage of a county’s area median income. In San Diego County last year, that was $116,800 for a family of four.

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“The percentage of employees who anticipated they would work from home at least one day per week in 2024 checked in at 46%, approximately 7% higher than the current level in 2023,” the survey said.

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Remote job growth in San Diego has continued to grow, with 53% of businesses projecting remote work options in 2024, according to the survey.

“The anticipated uptick in the percentage working from home at least one day per week was echoed among nearly all employee subgroups regardless of industry, household income and language,” the survey added.

Twenty-six percent of the respondents said they had changed jobs in the past two year, with nearly a third — 30% — saying they had done so for better pay. Twelve percent said they had done so because they wanted a flexible schedule, a number matched by those saying they wanted to change careers.

Eleven percent had changed employers after a layoff, the survey showed.

The Remote Work Policies and Practices Survey was prepared for SANDAG by True North Research.