San Diego Mayor Bob Filner has closed La Jolla's Children's Pool at nighttime, effective immediately.

A seal camera recently installed has captured video of people harassing the seals, said the mayor's office. This prompted Filner to close the beach at night with the emergency permit, which allows him to swiftly close the beach for 60 days until a coastal permit is signed.

“I felt it was important to take this step after evidence of individuals seen on video tape, harassing, taunting and causing stress to the seals at the Children’s Pool in La Jolla," he said in a prepared statement.

The battle between animal advocates and public beach access proponents has been going on for decades. Seal activists say the area should be protected, while others argue the beach is meant for public use. There is currently a 152-foot-long rope barrier at the beach to discourage people from entering the area, though people are legally allowed to go on the beach.

The beach will now be closed at night from now until May 15.

A San Diego Marine was allegedly mistreated by security at a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint on his flight to San Diego last week.

Congressman Duncan Hunter wrote a letter demanding answers about the possible humiliation of wounded Marine Cpl. Toran Gaal, a double amputee assigned to the Wounded Warrior Battalion at Camp Pendleton. He lost both his legs to an Improvised Explosive Device in Sangin Province, Afghanistan.

Gaal and other injured Marines traveled to the Phoenix area last week for a baseball spring training fundraiser. On his way back to San Diego, Gaal allegedly had a problem at airport security.

According to a witness, a TSA officer asked Gaal to get out of his wheelchair and move, even though he "couldn’t stand or walk on his own."

In a letter to the TSA, Hunter's said Gaal's prosthetic legs were exposed and removed, which he believes "humiliated" the Marine.

Read the full letter here

And while Hunter said he understands the need to screen all passengers, he told TSA Administrator John Pistole that he's concerned by the "apparent lack of situational awareness and respect” among some TSA officers, especially in dealing with those, such Gaal, who've been badly wounded in war.

The "TSA" says it works hard, to treat wounded service members with quote "dignity and respect” and said it is trying to find out more about what happened at the Phoenix Airport.

The agency says it has a special "Wounded Warrior Screening Program” and it plans to expand that program to make it even easier for the wounded to clear those security checkpoints.

A water main break has shut down one lane of traffic along Pacific Highway and Palm Street in the Midtown area of San Diego.

Water began flooding the street just before 5:30 a.m. Wednesday in an area near rental car and airport parking lots serving Lindbergh Field.

Early reports said the water was flooding the sidewalk and may have been causing a sinkhole.

An NBC 7 news crew was first on the scene and spotted water bubbling up by small palm tree near the entrance to Budget Rent-a-Car.

San Diego police officers taped off the area and warned television news crews that the area could sink.

As of 7 a.m. , Pacific Highway through the railroad tracks was closed to traffic.

Palm Street was closed from Kettner to Pacific Highway.

The closures made it difficult for Budget customers and shuttles to get in and out of the company's parking lot.

Brett Thomas, Budget’s Director of Facility and Fleet, wondered aloud who was going to foot the bill.

“Quite frankly this water main has had trouble before, so they've worked on it extensively, and the question is, what are they going to have to do to correct it,” he asked.

Officers say they don't have any idea how long this will be an issue.

Water has been shut off to customers in the immediate area police said.
 

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A newly renovated house across the street from the Westboro Baptist Church will have its flock seeing red...and orange and yellow and green.

A gay rights center moved into a house across the street from the church in Topeka, Kan., best known for its anti-gay picketing and protests at funerals for U.S. soldiers. The organization has been painting the house in bright rainbow colors, the same colors as the pride flag.

"It's amazing to see it shining bright and to see the world's reaction to it," said Aaron Jackson, founder of Planting Peace, the charity behind the Equality House project.

Jackson said the idea for the house was inspired by Josef Miles, a local 9-year-old boy who photobombed one of the church's protests with a makeshift sign that read "God Hates No One."

Jackson had been looking for a way to support anti-bullying and pro-LGBT programs, according to Gawker. He saw this as an opportunity to promote his message and turn the media's attention to something positive. And that is exactly what he got.

"We knew it would go viral through social media, but we didn't expect it to be a global story," Jackson told NBC.

The house he originally wanted was no longer for sale, but another one two doors down was. After some haggling with the owner, Jackson purchased the house six months ago for $81,000.

Jackson and his team kept the project under wraps. Not even close friends knew about the house.

"We didn't want the press or the city to find out. We thought the church would come and stop us." he told NBC.

The paint job was supposed to be completed on Tuesday, but workers were hampered by the cold weather.

The house currently has one coat of paint, enough to get the community's attention. Jackson said he caught Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper, daughter of Westboro pastor Fred Phelps, snapping photos of the colorful house.

"I'd love to have them over for dinner if they would like, but I don't see that happening," Jackson said.

Westboro Baptist Church did not respond to requests for an interview, but they did provide a statement to CNN.

"We thank God for the Sodomite Rainbow House! It is right across the street from the ONLY church that loves people enough to tell them the Bible truth about the filthy, soul-damning, nation-destroying sin of sodomy," the statement said.

A government survey of parents in the U.S. says 1 in 50 schoolchildren has autism. That surpasses another federal estimate for the disorder.

Health officials say the new number doesn't mean autism is happening more often. But it does suggest that doctors are diagnosing autism more frequently, especially in children with milder problems.  

The earlier government survey estimated 1 in 88 U.S. schoolchildren has autism. It looked at medical and school records. The latest survey interviewed more than 95,000 parents in 2011 and 2012.  

For decades, autism meant kids with severe language, intellectual and social impairments and unusual, repetitious behaviors. But the definition has gradually expanded and now includes milder, related conditions.

The new estimate released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would mean at least 1 million children have autism.
  
Michael Rosanoff of the advocacy group Autism Speaks, says, "We've been underestimating" how common autism is.

A jury reached mixed verdicts Wednesday in the trial of the so-called "Bell 6," finding former City Council members guilty of several counts of misappropriation of public funds in a scandal that grabbed headlines nationwide and left a small city southeast of downtown Los Angeles nearly bankrupt.

Five former Bell City Council members accused of padding their paychecks were found guilty on half of the counts they each faced. The jury was unable to come to unanimous agreement on other counts.

Former Councilman Luis Artiga was the only defendant to go free after he was found not guilty on all 12 counts he faced. As the clerk read the verdicts, Artiga rocked back and forth in his chair, crying. A court official handed him a box of tissues.

Related: Bell Ex-Councilman Found Not Guilty Never Had a Plan B

The reading of the verdicts began shortly after 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at the criminal courts building in downtown LA on the 18th day of jury deliberations. When the proceeding was complete, about an hour later, the judge had instructed the jury to continue its deliberations on the counts for which it reached no conclusion.

"I know you probably thought this was going to be the end," LA Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy said. "But I'm sorry to say we're going to have to proceed a little bit further."

She had asked attendees in the courtroom not to react audibly as the verdicts were being read.

The city's former mayor, vice mayor and four former City Council members were charged in a 20-count felony complaint with misuse of public funds. They looted city coffers, inflating their salaries and paying themselves for sitting on commissions that rarely met, the prosecutor argued.

City Manager Robert Rizzo, the alleged mastermind of a scheme that former Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley said cost Bell nearly $6 million, is being prosecuted separately, as is his then-assistant.

During the trial, prosecutors said Bell had been upended by a "culture of corruption."

Read: Criminal Complaint Against "Bell 6"

The jury had the following conclusions Wednesday: 

• Ex-mayor Oscar Hernandez: guilty on five counts; not guilty on five counts. No verdict on 10 counts.
• Former Councilwoman Teresa Jacobo: guilty on five counts; not guilty on five counts. No verdict on 10 counts.
• Former Councilman George Mirabal: guilty on five counts; not guilty on five counts. No verdict on 10 counts.
• Former Councilman Victor Bello: guilty on four counts; not guilty on four counts. No verdict on eight counts.
• Former Councilman George Cole: guilty of two counts; not guilty on two counts. No verdict on four counts.

The guilty verdicts were associated with work done for the city's solid waste and recycling authority. The five defendants were acquitted on charges associated with Bell's public housing authority. Their pay for service on two additional boards resulted in charges that remained undecided.

The jurors returned to the jury room after a midday lunch Wednesday, and submitted several pages of requests for information to the judge. Jurors, who had said they were deadlocked 9-3 on the undecided charges, were expected to return at 9 a.m. Thursday.

The Bell Association to Stop the Abuse released a statement as the verdicts were being read that read, in part: "This verdict is long awaited and further vindicates the community’s efforts to move out of the shadow of Rizzo corrupt regime. The jury’s verdict is a clear step in helping the Bell community to heal."

The organization -- which calls itself BASTA, meaning "enough" in Spanish -- asked the judge to issue stern sentences for the defendants.

Related: Bell Activists "Relieved" After Multiple Guilty Verdicts

During 18 days of deliberations after a juror was replaced, the seven-woman, five-man jury had repeatedly asked for the reading back of testimony and had sent multiple questions to the judge.

The jury's decision comes after the 2010 revelation of comparatively exorbitant salaries paid to Bell city officials brought national attention to the working-class city. 

The six former elected city officials are accused of paying themselves nearly $100,000 salaries that should have been about $8,000 per year.

Their actions, along with the $1.5 million compensation package for Rizzo, nearly bankrupted the high-poverty city with a population of about 40,000. Several Bell residents attended much of the trial, which began Jan. 24. Jury deliberations started Feb. 22.

Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Edward Miller had told the jury that the Bell 6 had "dreamed up" the salary scheme "solely for the purpose of stealing money from the people of Bell."

Defense attorneys had pointed the finger at Rizzo, who still faces trial, as does his assistant Angela Spaccia. Lawyers for the Bell 6 had said Rizzo had duped their clients.

Miller denied that.

"We know they buried their heads in the sand, but kept their hands out," Miller said during closing arguments.

The prosecutor had argued that -- to get around a City Council salary cap -- the city increased the amount paid to the defendants for sitting on four municipal boards that held few meetings and did little work. Miller called the boards "shams" that sometimes met only to approve members' own pay raises.

One authority, ostensibly focused on solid waste and recycling, was never even officially established or hired any staff apart from council members, Miller said evidence showed.

But defense attorneys said the six former council members worked many hours for their pay. They claimed the officials relied on Bell's city attorney and an independent auditor to establish salary figures.

Hernandez, 65, Jacobo, 55, and Mirabal, 63, were each charged with 20 counts of misappropriating public funds for over a 4 1/2-year period ending in 2010.

Bello, 54, was charged with 16 counts of misappropriation between 2006 and 2009, while Artiga, 52, was charged with 12 counts of misappropriation between 2008 and 2010.

Cole, 63, was charged with eight counts of misappropriation over a two-year period ending in 2007.

The trial had a hiccup on Feb. 28 when a juror was dismissed for misconduct several days after the case was handed to the jury. Juror No. 3 had said she felt abused by other jurors and did online research about jury coercion.

LA Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy's dismissal of the tearful juror came after a jury note had said the group was at an impasse. An alternate juror was put on the panel and Kennedy ordered the jury to begin deliberations anew.

Jurors on March 15 had asked to re-hear testimony about Jacobo's conversation with Rizzo in which she said he told her that she would be able to work full-time and would get paid a full-time salary.

"I asked him if that was possible," Jacobo told the jury last month, noting that Rizzo responded affirmatively and that City Attorney Ed Lee nodded his head.

"My feeling was if the city attorney said it was OK to do so, it must be legal," she testified.

The jury also asked for a readback of testimony about Hernandez's ability to read and write in English. The judge warned jurors, in reference to opening statements about Hernandez's education level, that "what the attorneys say is not evidence."

An alleged al-Qaida operative accused of plotting to kill U.S. troops and diplomats overseas has been sent to New York from Libya for trial, prosecutors said.  

Ibrahim Suleiman Adnan Adam Harun was named in court papers made public on Wednesday in New York City. Prosecutors said he would appear in federal court in Brooklyn on Friday.

Harun is charged with plotting to kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2003 and to bomb U.S. diplomatic facilities in Africa from 2003 to 2005. He's also charged with conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaida, providing material support and related firearms and explosives counts.

“The United States will use every tool at our disposal to protect our nation’s security and stop terrorist attacks before they happen,” U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a statement.

The FBI said the 43-year-old Harun, who uses the alias "Spin Ghul," trained in al-Qaida terror camps and attempted to fight American and Coalition forces in Afghanistan from Pakistan.  

Harun is the latest al-Qaida-linked figure to be sent to New York for civilian trial.  

Earlier this month, Sulaiman Abu Gaith, a son-in-law of and spokesman for Osama bin Laden, was sent to New York for trial on terror-related charges. He was sent to the city despite objection from some congressional Republicans who believe terrorists should be held in military custody at Guantanamo Bay.

CVS has come under fire for asking employees covered under the company’s health care plan to disclose a range of personal information — from their weight to glucose levels — or face a financial penalty. But that company is far from the only one pushing workers to reveal detailed medical information.

As health care costs tick up and employers rush to comply with new requirements tied to President Obama's Affordable Care Act, many companies are asking their workers (and in some cases, workers' spouses) to undergo rigorous health care screenings aimed at encouraging healthier living — and boosting the company’s bottom line.

CVS Caremark introduced the health screening this year, and fines employees $600 if they don't comply. When news of the screening came out this week, the company was slammed on social media. But CVS isn't alone in using money to encourage employees to stay fit or aware of their health.

At Home Depot, for example, workers covered by the company insurance plan are encouraged to fill out on an online questionnaire and take a “hidden health risk screening” that measures their waistline, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, blood pressure and glucose levels. They're also given targets: Women should aim for a waistline under 35 inches, while men should try to stay below 40 inches. While no one is required to participate, those who do (regardless of whether or not they hit their targets) can earn an extra $25 every two weeks. Spouses covered by the plan can also participate.

Some companies use data gathered from these tests to drive decision-making about the sort of health services they provide their employees, while others use it for targeted outreach, said Julie Stone, a senior consultant at Towers Watson.

If a person is significantly overweight, for example, he or she may receive information about weight loss programs.

The idea is that employees, inspired either by the promise of extra cash or the threat of losing cash, will work harder to be healthier. And healthier employees are both more efficient and cost the company less money.

While health care costs have always been an important consideration for executives, they've become an even bigger priority since the Supreme Court upheld the president's health care overhaul law last year. In 2018, a provision of the law will kick in that taxes companies 40% for any coverage that exceeds a certain threshold — $10,200 for individuals or $27,500 for families each per year.

To avoid the tax, employers are encouraging their workers to lead healthier lifestyles, and are asking them to pay more for their health coverage.

“I absolutely believe that’s one of the root drivers for more of these companies looking at [health screenings] now,” said Stone. “It’s a really steep tax … I don’t know a single CFO who would say, ‘Sure, I’ll pay that tax, no problem.'”

More than two-thirds of employers already offer financial rewards to encourage workers to participate in health and wellness programs, according to a survey released earlier this year by Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health. Sixteen percent of the 583 employers polled said their companies use rewards or penalties to gather specific biometric information from their workers, and another 31 percent said that they were considering implementing such a strategy for 2014.

Companies emphasize that medical data collected during these screenings is intended to improve employee health and not to make employment decisions, though privacy advocates are wary.

Home Depot, which describes its health program as "win/win," assures employees in a health guide posted to its website that the company "will not have access to your results and your results will have no effect on your employment or your medical coverage."

CVS Caremark said in a statement that "all personal health data from these screenings are collected and reviewed by a third party administrator" and that the data "is never shared with CVS Caremark."

Dr. Deborah Peel, the founder of Patient Privacy Rights, expressed doubts about CVS's assurances.

"There's no chain of custody for health data," she told the Boston Herald. "So there's no way to verify that they don't really look at it."

Professional golfer Yani Tseng was disqualified from the Kia Classic on Wednesday morning after she overslept and missed her tee time.

Tseng, 24, is one of LPGA’s top golfers and is the youngest professional golfer to win five major tournaments.

She issued a statement following the incident that read:

“I’m embarrassed to admit that I wasn’t feeling well last night and accidentally overslept and missed my tee time for the pro-am this morning. I was extremely excited to compete this week to defend my title at the Kia Classic and to try to regain the No. 1 spot. This was an unfortunate mistake and I want to apologize to Kia, my sponsors and all of the fans. The Kia Classic is one of my favorite tournaments and I have so many great memories in San Diego. I can’t wait to come back here next year.”

Tseng won last year’s Kia Classic at the Carlsbad La Costa Resort and Spa, taking home the $255,000 prize.

Some of the most common questions for the Internal Revenue Service this time of year revolve around IRS procedures, dependents and exemptions, interest and dividends or credits like those for child care.

If you have a question about preparing your federal income tax and want to speak with a live person, NBC 7 San Diego can help.

On Wednesday, March 20, we’re providing a phone bank that will provide free tax advice.

Consumer Bob will be joined by IRS agents as they take your phone calls about those pressing tax questions – just in time for the April 15 deadline.

Watch NBC 7 News at 4 p.m. for the phone number to call.

Watch live stream here at 4 p.m.
 

The state's budget ax will not wind up chopping as deeply as originally expected into a key program for the elderly and seniors.

But for the recipients of "in-home" care services, there'll still be some hardships.

Officials wanted to cut an average of three hours a week from home-care schedules, and that drew lawsuits.

In Sacramento on Tuesday, attorneys reached settlements reducing those cuts to one hour a week.

But there's still fear that serious emergencies could happen, or medical issues could arise, during those lost time-gaps in supervision.

"I need a caretaker,” says Sergio Escrubono, a 94-year-old downtown resident who gets two-hour visits, twice a week, from a state-subsidized caregiver. “Sometimes, you know, I fall down. That's an aging experience."

Add his friend Kenneth Ukahabu, a cancer patient with a variety of physical ailments: “This is a human factor. You have to be sympathetic. I'm 70 years (old) now and at 70, there is not much I can do. Most of the time I can't help myself … even (to take) my own shower."

Escrubono and Ukahabu are among nearly half a million elderly and disabled Californians who receive so-called "In-Home Supportive Services" from licensed domestic workers.

They need help with everything from personal hygiene and medication issues to housecleaning, shopping and exercise.

Their care providers generally make $9.50 an hour with no benefits or overtime -- although a lot of overtime winds up being worked.

Many of the elderly clients are in fragile health, and at-risk when no one else is around.

One caregiver who spoke with NBC 7 Wednesday has a grim prediction about the cuts in hours.

"Our clients are going to suffer, and they're going to die,” said Editha Adams. “And the worst thing at this time is that there are no nursing homes available to them. If there is, it's going to cost of lot of money for them."

Advocates for the elderly and disabled say the service extends their lives -- and that the state is being "penny-wise and pound-foolish".

"We see the state whacking across-the-board, taking out programs that actually make a difference for people and save taxpayer money,” says Paul Downey, president and CEO of Senior Community Centers of San Diego. “So why would you cut something that saves taxpayer moey and increases health and well-being of seniors? It makes no sense."

As Downey explained, in an interview Wednesday with NBC 7: "The whole concept is to keep people in their home, and to avoid going to a higher level of care -- like board and care, like a skilled nursing facility. Which is obviously much more restrictive for thee person, but it's also a whole lot more expensive for the taxpayer."

There's also concern that the budget cuts -- which amount to 8 percent, versus the 20 percent originally planned by the state -- could drive some of those low-wage caregivers out of the business altogether.

And that, eventually, there will be an upswing in emergency room cases involving elderly and disabled patients who might fall through the cracks of those lost budget hours.

"We do God's work,” says Editha Adams. “We work so hard with our clients -- clients that won't be able to take care of themselves. Clients who won't be able to go see the doctor."

The parents of a Virginia teenager who was shot to death by a neighbor early Sunday say they don't fault the man who killed their son.

Caleb Gordley, 16, was a three-sport athlete and an aspiring rap artist.

After a night of partying, the teenager mistakenly entered the house two doors down from his own in Sterling, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C. He was shot by the homeowner, who believed the boy was an intruder, according to a statement from Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.

"I want you to know, sir, I forgive you," said Jennea Gordley, Caleb's mother. "I understand this was an accident. I truly believe everything happens for a reason. My son, he's an angel."

Caleb's parents met with reporters Tuesday to provide their understanding of the incident and to remember their son.

"I love my son," said Shawn Gordley, surrounded by family outside their home. "I don't have many tears left. His mother and I are going to see his body for the first time today."

Caleb sneaked out of the house Saturday night to go to a party, his father said. After several hours of drinking, the Park View High School student and his friends walked back to the neighborhood. That's when the teen made a fateful mistake.

Caleb and a friend jumped a fence that runs behind his home and the neighbor’s, his parents said, but instead of entering his home, Caleb climbed through an unlocked window and began walking up the neighbor's stairway. That man — a Loudoun County volunteer firefighter — shot and killed Caleb.

"Whether he gave a warning shot or yelled at him, I'm pretty sure Caleb thought it was me yelling at him," Shawn Gordley said. "He kept walking toward what he thought was his room, because the houses are identical."

Shawn Gordley said he won't dwell on the neighbor's actions.

"You want answers, but the more I looked for answers, the more it hurt,” he said. “All the answers in the world aren't going to bring him back."

Caleb's family did have critical words for the Loudoun County's Sheriff's Office. They say they've been left in the dark and they are troubled they weren't allowed to see their son sooner.

"I feel like I was robbed of the opportunity of even identifying his body," said Jennea Gordley, who traveled from her home in Dayton, Ohio, after she got word of her son's death.

Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman said he met with Mr. Gordley Tuesday.

"This is a tragedy all the way around," Chapman said.

The department is still fact-finding and does not want to release inaccurate information on the case, he said. The State Medical Examiner's Office in Manassas took custody of the body, but Chapman promised to conduct a review to find out whether things could have been handled differently.

"I'm in discussions with my investigative bureau right now to determine why there was not that opportunity in advance before the medical examiner, before the body was taken," he said.

Caleb's parents said they are planning to hold two celebrations of his life, one in Sterling and one in Ohio. They find consolation in the many tributes on social media sites and they have their son's music.

"I believe everything happens for a reason," said his mother. "My son was loved. He left us with so much music."

A relative has gathered up all of Caleb's lyrics and put them in a binder.

Finally, Caleb's parents also told reporters about the day their son was born after an emergency C-section. They said mother and son were in danger of death.

"We got 16 1/2 awesome years out of this young man,” Shawn Gordley said. “We could have had none ... I will hold onto that. I will hold on to those 16 years."

But he said he and Caleb's 13-year-old sister will soon move out of the house he shares with a college friend. After what happened, he said he can't stay on Pullman Court.

A 14-year-old honor student from Northridge, California died this week after inhaling computer keyboard cleaner, a growing trend among students as young as eighth grade.

"I'm positive my daughter didn't realize it had the potential to kill her," Carolyn Doherty said.

A straight-A student at Nobel Middle School, Aria Doherty died Monday. She’d been home alone for a couple hours when she inhaled the duster. Her parents believe it was her first time huffing – also known as bagging or dusting.

Her older sister found Aria in bed with a can of compressed air still attached to her mouth, her nostrils taped shut. A plastic bag was found nearby.

"I would give anything to have her back," said Richard Doherty, Aria’s father. "It just took her, like that."

"I just miss her. I wish she was here. It doesn't seem real," he said through tears.

The Doherty’s kept no dangerous weapons in their Porter Ranch home, stored prescription drugs under lock and key, and recently purged their home of all alcohol. They talked to their teen daughters about the dangers of substance abuse.

But authorities said the practice of huffing does not involve the typical chemical culprits. Inhaling household cleaners, paint or glue offers a quick high and they’re accessible.

"Death can happen very quickly. It can happen the first time," said Kezia Miller, a counselor with the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Counselors are available at Nobel Middle School and are planning an inhalant education program for Aria's peers.

"These are substances that are poison," Miller said. "They're toxic and they're being ingested."

Long-term effects of inhalants include damage to the kidney, liver and brain. Short-term dangers include heart problems.

"When you mess with the cardiac system, the electrical system of the heart, you can have a lot of issues, like arrhythmia," said Dr. Michael Lewis, with Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

It’s possible the computer cleaner caused cardiac arrest or the teen asphyxiated. An autopsy is pending.

The Doherty’s said they want their daughter’s death to be a message to other parents to be aware of this developing threat.

"We didn’t know," Carolyn said. "But clearly, the kids do know."

The pair are charged with aggravated sexual abuse and face 30 years to life in prison. Their lawyers had no comment.

Sometimes that craving for ice cream hits in the middle of the night. And sometimes it's so powerful that it makes you break into a church freezer.

A Missouri man was arrested and charged with three felonies for allegedly breaking into a church kitchen and stealing ice cream on March 8, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Police found Andrew Steven Jung, 23, walking approximately three blocks from St. Peter's Catholic Church in St. Charles. He was very intoxicated and had ice cream smeared all over his face and clothing.

During his videotaped interview with the police, Jung proclaimed himself an “ice cream junkie.” He was charged with burglary, stealing and property damage and ultimately jailed on $30,000 bond.

Police said they found a shattered church kitchen glass door, a damaged deep freezer, and an “undetermined amount of ice cream that had been taken.” Jung’s baseball cap was also left in the church kitchen, according to court records, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Jung was already on probation for his 2010 burglary of another church in the area, at the time of the break-in, court documents show.

San Ysidro Schools Superintendent Manuel Paul remains on paid administrative leave following no reportable action from the board of trustees Wednesday.

Paul was placed on paid administrative leave on Jan. 15, following indictments by San Diego County Grand Jury and a federal investigation into a parking-lot cash exchange. He could not be reached for comment.

Assistant Superintendent Gloria Madera will continue her role as acting superintendent, according to board president Jason Wells.

Paul testified under oath in a June deposition about a lawsuit that involved outfitting the district's eight schools with solar panels. Paul said he accepted about $2,500 in cash from a different contractor who was seeking construction work with the district.

The story was first reported by NBC7 Investigates in August.

A Grand Jury issued indictments in January to Paul and 14 others in a South County bribery scandal involving multi-million construction contracts and three school districts. Paul's previous defense attorney said the superintendent is innocent, and he is scheduled to enter a plea in April.

The board of trustees set a Monday special board meeting to resume talks about whether to terminate Paul's contract or place him back in his position as schools chief.

The meeting will take place Monday at 5:30 p.m. at the district offices at 4350 Otay Mesa Road. 

A health-conscious school is pulling out all the stops in hopes of winning a visit from First Lady Michelle Obama.

The entire student body at Urban Discovery Academy (UDA) in downtown San Diego lined up to take a picture Wednesday morning.

The picture along with a letter detailing the school’s healthy eating program will soon be on its way to the White House, addressed to Mrs. Obama.

“We would love for her to come out and visit our school,” said Principal Cynthia Kelley.

The school's philosophy is simple - by improving the health and well-being of students administrators hope to improve the health and well-being of the community.

The academy has a hydroponic (or soilless) garden that the students grow and maintain. Just last week, the second grade class made their own lunch salads from what they grew in the garden.

The principal said she’d love to host Mrs. Obama for a similar meal.

“We would do the salad bar for her, offer her lunch and just show her that we also believe in her message and that we support her,” Kelley said.

The charter school asks that parents leave the goodies at home and even contracts with a special catering company to offer healthy meals at school for busy parents.