Health officials are investigating what prompted close to five dozen people to get sick after a banquet at a local restaurant last week.

Sixty-one cases of food poisoning were reported out of 170 people attending a banquet at the Bali Hai on Wednesday, July 29.

The event was held by the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

San Diego SPJ President Matt Hall updated the group’s membership about the incident via email Sunday.

Hall said some of those affected went to the hospital for treatment. One person was transported Saturday by paramedics, he said, though a number of people who were sick reported mild symptoms.

No details were given on the individual’s condition.

Health officials said Monday that initial reports are consistent with a norovirus outbreak, though they're still waiting on lab results to confirm an official cause.

The Bali Hai, in an abundance of caution, has thoroughly cleaned and sanitized the restaurant. Officials say there should be no concern about eating there.

Symptoms of a foodborne illness include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting and fever.

San Diego County Department of Environmental Health is asking the banquet attendees to fill out a questionnaire in an effort to isolate what may have caused the illness.

Several employees of NBC 7 attended the dinner.

Bali Hai Restaurant offers Polynesian cuisine and is a popular wedding and banquet venue located on Shelter Island Drive.

El Cajon residents are concerned after a convicted sex offender moved into their neighborhood, just blocks away from a school.

Lee Austin, 34, was convicted in 2001 of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age. Two weeks ago, Austin moved to Lexington Estates with his wife, a trailer park a block and a half away from a school, according to fliers posted around the neighborhood. 

Some residents went door-to-door, warning neighbors about Austin's presence in the neighborhood. Neighbor Tammy Dawson said expressed concern about the news. 

"I have a business with childcare, I'm not huge on that [news], I wish I would have known ahead of time for more preparation to my family and kids," Dawson said. "I have teens myself. I'm not too thrilled about it, no."

NBC7 knocked the door Austin registered as his new address. There was no answer, though the car was parked in the driveway. 

"It makes me feel a little worried because I don't feel safe," said one mother. "There's this guy living close. [My daughter]'s crying...I felt like he was going to bother other people."

Austin previously lived on Lakeview Road in Lakeside, within 200 feet of an elementary school, following his November release. 

He was sentenced to more than two years in prison on Feb. 7, 2012 for making terrorist threats. He has been tested but does not fit the criteria to be classified as a Sexually Violent Predator, CDCR officials said.

Austin was paroled on October 20, 2013. His parole has been revoked twice and for that he was sent to county jail. Austin’s latest revocation was on September 16. 

A March ruling by the California State Supreme Court ruled Jessica's Law unconstitutional, allowing sex offenders in San Diego to live within 2,000 feet of schools on a case-by-case basis. 

Desert temperatures will soar to dangerous heights over the next three days, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a heat advisory.

The advisory is mainly for the Coachella Valley, which includes Palm Springs, though San Diego desert cities (like Borrego Springs) will be very close to advisory-level temperatures.

A heat advisory is issued when the risk of heat related illnesses is elevated, and when temperatures are abnormally high. It will be in effect from noon Tuesday through 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Tuesday, the Coachella Valley is expected to reach 112-115 degrees. Wednesday, those temperatures will reach 116 degrees.

“While San Diego desert cities are technically left out of the advisory, we too will be in for intense heat, with highs near 110 degrees,” said Meteorologist Jodi Kodesh. “Either way, anyone who lives in, or will be traveling to, Southern California deserts this week needs to be very careful.”

People in the desert region are urged to limit their time outside, and reschedule strenuous activities.

Stay hydrated and wear light, loose fitting clothing. Air conditioning is a must, and those without it are urged to seek a cool zone.

Temperatures will begin to cool, Thursday and through the weekend.
 

Officials issued a Sig alert for an Oceanside street after a serious injury crash snarled traffic in the area.

The three-vehicle crash happened at approximately 5:36 p.m. Monday on Oceanside Boulevard near El Camino Real. 

Officials say a blue Chevy Impala was heading west on Oceanside Boulevard, riding in the center divide, when the driver made a sharp turn and crossed into the path of a Mazda and pickup truck.

The blue Impala flipped, the Mazda was left with serious damage and the truck was damaged on its front side.

The collision injured five people, two of whom were airlifted to nearby hospitals. Officials say multiple people had serious injuries.

Oceanside police officers and firefighters closed the surrounding area, including parts of the street, as they investigated. Eastbound Oceanside Boulevard traffic lanes were closed while officers worked. 

Alba and Steven King never thought of adopting a cat — they'd always wanted a dog — so it certainly never crossed their mind to adopt an older feline companion.

But when they went to a New York City shelter in November to check on a sick stray they had brought in a few days earlier, they ended up taking home a 10-year-old cat who meowed his way into their hearts.

“When we walked in the room where there was a wall of cages, he came over to the door of his cage and was meowing at us”, Alba King, 27, said of the cat. “He was the only one trying to get our attention." 

The couple felt an immediate connection with Andrew, whom they renamed Captain Reynolds after a character in a TV series “Firefly,” and knew their apartment in Queens allowed the pets. But when King found out the cat was 10, she immediately called her mom and brother to get their opinion on adopting an older cat.

“The first thing they said to me was ‘why are you getting an old pet?’ That’s what everyone said to me,” she said.

King worried, too, that Captain Reynolds might get sick soon and die next year. But the staff at Animal Care Centers of NYC in Brooklyn put her at ease and explained that a cat’s life expectancy is 15 to 20 years.

“I looked at him and then I realized that kittens are a lot of work, they are very playful and they change when they grow up, whereas with Captain Reynolds, what I was seeing is what I was getting,” said King.

Animal shelters across the U.S. are filled with healthy older dogs and cats in need of a home. Animal care professional urge those thinking about picking up a pet from a local shelter to not look past older cats and dogs because they need families, too. 

“Unfortunately, the older animals and seniors are often overlooked because people are excited to adopt puppies and kittens,” said Jessica Vaccaro, adoption manager at Animal Care Centers of NYC, which takes in more than 30,000 animals each year. “We hope to encourage people to come and see these wonderful, mature animals-- animals that are often already trained, often used to living in a household.”

Adopting an older pet is as practical as it is gratifying, experts say. There are fewer surprises with older pets because you’ll know their full-grown size, personality and grooming needs. They are often already trained and calmer than youngsters.

Older dogs are not necessarily “problem dogs” — they can end up at the shelter for a number of reasons, including their owner going through a job loss or move. 

Elizabeth Hendrix, 67, of Manhattan, had been considering adopting a dog when her granddaughter sent her a photo of 13-year-old Max, a 91-pound Swiss mountain mix who ended up at the Animal Care Centers of NYC in Harlem because his owner was unable to care for him. Hendrix went to meet Max in mid-July and brought him home the same day after he refused to go back in his cage at the shelter.

“He had a very sad look in his eyes, like 'why am I here?'” said Hendrix, who already has a 3-year-old terrier mix named Molly. “I couldn’t see him being euthanized; he needed to live out his final days as comfortable and as loved as possible.”

Hendrix said the benefit of adopting an older pet is that “they already have all their little problems out of the way: they’re already trained, house broken, they don’t chew things up."

"The main thing is they just need to be loved,” she added.

She said less than one week after the adoption, Max became her instant companion. He follows her everywhere she goes.

Not all senior pets are so lucky when it comes to finding home. Cherie Wachter, vice president of marketing at the Humane Society of Broward County in Florida, said puppies and kittens there get adopted very quickly, but older pets linger in the shelter for weeks.

In early June, she had two 7-year-old-dogs, a little dog named Nacho and a shepherd mix named Roxy, available for adoption. She said they lived in the same household and are very attached, so they’d have to be adopted together. No one had expressed any interest at that time, even though they are potty trained.

Wachter said people looking for pets often don’t realize how much work and patience little puppies require. 

"I wish more people opened up their hearts and homes to mature pets,” she said.

Emily Huetson, animal welfare director at On Angel’s Wings in Crystal Lake, Illinois, also finds that older pets are a better fit for many families. She said qualities more typical of older animals, such as a calm demeanor and less destructive nature, often come up when the shelter asks potential puppy owners what qualities they are looking for in a pet.

"What they want is the qualities we have in our 8-year-old dogs," Huetson said.

She said the shelter encourages families with young children and seniors to adopt older pets since they are already trained. In addition to providing information about the dog's personality and history, she encourages families and children to meet and interact with the seniors pets. 

"They just kind of sit there with sad eyes,"  said Huetson. "They don’t know why they're in the cage."

Many potential pet owners are worried that adopting an older pet can mean high vet bills, but experts say that is not always the case. Sometimes a shelter will have medical records that can help owners make an informed decision about possible health issues. Either way, experts recommend a full vet visit -- including a geriatric workup -- soon after the adoption is complete. 

King learned that Captain Reynolds was allergic to some foods, so he’s on a special diet now that does cost a little more every month. He also had to have 16 of his teeth taken out because he spent so many years as a street cat without dental care and is now left with only one fang. King discussed the potential costs of teeth extraction with a vet and, since it wasn't a life-threatening condition, she was able to save up for a few months to cover the $373 bill. She said a kitten “could’ve grown up to have the same problems just maybe a little later.”

At Operation Kindness in Carrollton, Texas, a permanent foster care program eliminates concerns over vet bills. Anyone who adopts an older pet form the shelter can return there to get medical care for their pet for free, according to CEO Jim Hanophy.

“That takes worry off the table for some people,” he said. “People underestimate the length of time an animal can live. If an animal is healthy when they are 12 they will probably be healthy till the end."

For King, Captain Reynolds’ age is just a number and she said from now on she’ll  adopt older pets.

“It was such an easy transition,” King said. "He’s just really relaxed, he’ll take a nap on a couch, he’ll take a nap on a windowsill. I didn’t have to turn my life upside down to have a companion.”

A sheriff's deputy in Kentucky illegally shackled two disabled children in a school after they misbehaved, a lawsuit filed Monday in federal district court claims, NBC News reported. 

Video posted by the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the children, showed one of the encounters, which involved an 8-year-old boy and a sheriff's deputy who was working as a resource officer at Latonia Elementary School, just south of Cincinnati.

The boy, who is identified in the lawsuit as S.R. and has been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, according to the complaint, was sent to the vice principal's office in November 2013 after experiencing "disability-related difficulties complying" with his teacher.

Video footage from the office shows the deputy, Kevin Sumner, placing the boy's hands behind his back and handcuffing his biceps.

The lawsuit, which names Sumner and the Kenton County Sheriff's Office as defendants, is requesting policy changes and unspecified damages.

Pat Morgan, chief deputy with the Kenton County Sheriff, declined to discuss specifics of the suit, saying he had only just learned of it. "We're going to talk to our attorney," he told NBC News. 

As grim new details emerged on Monday about the Arizona man accused of decapitating his wife, officials released a video of Kenneth Wakefield's first court appearance in which he appeared to interrupt the proceedings with a startling shriek, NBC News reported.

Wakefield, 43, told police that he beheaded his wife, Trina Heisch, 49, because "he was trying to get the evil out of" her, according to a court document released Monday.

Police discovered Heisch's body in the couple's blood-soaked apartment on July 25, after a neighbor called 911. Officers also found several bloody knives in the apartment, the document says, and "Trina had multiple stab wounds to her torso along with defensive wounds to her hands and arms."

A boat parade sailed along the coast of Jupiter, Florida, Monday evening in a show of support for two teenagers missing from the town since they took a boat to sea more than a week ago.

The gathering of hundreds, all holding onto hope that search-and-rescue teams find Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen, both 14, who have now been missing for more than ten days.

"We're hoping and we're praying. It's a pretty small town and so I guess we're just hoping and praying for a miracle," said Heather Popi, who attended the parade.

The parading boats pushed through the water where the teens were last seen, as people holding candles lined the shore. Coast Guard teams scoured almost 50,000 square nautical miles off the Florida coast, finding their capsized boat but no sign of the boys.

Orlando Paz has been following the developments, from the private searches that took over for the Coast Guard, stretching from Florida to the Carolinas, to how this community copes.

"Even though I'm from Miami, I come here a lot. People here in this town– you feel so together and you feel the pain," Paz said.

Total strangers have been united by sorrow and faith, and families like Heather Wood's held each other tight, hoping they'll never be forced to let go.

"I live in Jupiter and I want to support our town and having two young kids, try to get them to understand what could happen, you know, if they were missing," Wood said.

The rescue fund Kickstarter for Perry and Austin stood at over $450,000 Monday night, about 80 percent of the families' goal. The fund pays for resources that keep planes and boats searching the sea for the boys.

A central Florida woman is set to appear in court Monday after authorities say she shot and stabbed her father and 6-year-old daughter and left their bodies in plastic bins in her landlord's shed.

According to a report from NBC affiliate WFLA, 25-year-old Cheyanne Jessie, of Lakeland, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of tampering with evidence in death of her father, 50-year-old Mark Weekly, and her 6-year-old daughter, Meredith Jessie.

Weekly and the girl were last seen on July 18th at his Lakeland home. According to reports, Meredith was left in her grandfather's care. The two were reported missing Saturday by a family member.

In a press conference Sunday, Polk Sheriff Grady Judd said Jessie killed her daughter over concerns that the child would interfere with her relationship with her boyfriend.

Authorities have not determined the motive behind the killing of her father.

Neighbors told WFLA that Jessie would often complain about her daughter's behavior, but said that the child did not have issue while in the care of her grandfather.

Deputies say that after Jessie murdered her father and daughter, she watched an episode of the television show "Criminal Minds" which gave her the idea to get rid of the bodies by stuffing them in plastic bins. Jessie then moved the bodies to her landlord's shed in the yard.

The decomposing bodies were discovered Sunday.

Jessie remains at the Polk County Jail. It is not known if she has hired an attorney.

Two people are in critical condition after being shot outside the PNC Bank Arts Center in Central New Jersey following a hip hop concert Monday night, police said.

NJ State Police said the unidentified victims were shot sometime around 11 p.m. outside the arena, which is in Holmdel, after a performance by artists J. Cole and Big Sean.

The victims were taken to Jersey Shore Hospital.

Police say they are looking for a lone shooter in a wooded area near the arena.

Witnesses said the shooting started after an argument in the PNC parking lot.

J. Cole and Big Sean are scheduled to perform at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.

Investigators in Toulouse, France, who are analyzing a fragment of a jetliner found on the shores of Reunion Island in hopes of solving the mystery of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, will try to determine three things. 

Jean Paul Troadec — former head of the Bureau of Investigation and Analysis, France's counterpart to the National Transportation Safety Board said investigators will seek to pin down the origin of the flaperon. Experts are in agreement that the debris came from a Boeing 777 — and MH370 is the only such missing jetliner in the world.

Troadec said investigators also will be studying the debris to figure out how it detached from its aircraft.

WWE wrestler Titus O’Neil received a lot of attention on social media after treating a group of homeless folks to a meal at Yard House in downtown San Diego over the weekend.

The pro wrestler took to his Instagram page on Saturday to first post that he had taken two homeless people to the restaurant the night before “and the manager seemed distant in serving the two.”

“Instead of just posting, I’ll gather more and eat lunch with them at that restaurant,” O’Neil posted on Saturday.

O’Neil was true to his word and posted an Instagram photo later that afternoon, showing a table full of people enjoying lunch. He stated that it was “a completely different response than last night at the Yard House.”

The wrestler said he took inspiration from his childhood in his showing of generosity.

“My mother raised me with the help of many others from all walks of life and there were many times I had to go without as a youth,” he wrote. “Thanks to those that accepted help and those that treated my guests at lunch as humans."

In response to O’Neil’s posts, a spokesman for Yard House said the restaurant was pleased the wrestler had a good experience the second time around.

“We regret that Mr. O’Neil felt his guests didn’t receive the type of hospitality and attentive service we strive to provide for all our guests when they visited our restaurant initially. We appreciate that he was willing to give our team a second chance and we’re pleased to hear that everyone enjoyed their experience,” spokesman Hunter Robinson said in a statement.

Months after Will Ferrell donned a San Diego Padres uniform in a spring training stunt, the comedian's HBO special based off his experiences will be screened at Petco Park. 

In March, the comedian played all nine positions and coached for 10 teams in five Arizona ballparks in a spring-training blitz chronicled for the special.

The movie will be screened Sept. 5 immediately following the game between the Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers as a part of Baseball Night in San Diego. All fans at the game will have the opportunity to stay and watch the screening. 

Ferrell will introduce the special, created by Funny or Die in partnership with Major League Baseball. The movie will debut on HBO at 10 p.m. on Sept. 12. 

The special is dedicated to the fight against cancer through the charity Cancer for College. Ferrell will also honor former professional baseball player Bert Campaneris. 

Fans can buy tickets for the game by clicking here.

More than a year after scandals forced the

Secretary of Veterans Affairs to resign

, VA directors in San Diego held a panel Monday to share improvements in patient care and wait times, while admitting some problems remain too difficult to overcome.

The VA San Diego Healthcare System has seen an 82 percent reduction in backlogs of cases this year, compared to the numbers in 2013, according to Patrick Prieb, director of the VA's Regional Office.

“Here in San Diego we've reduced our backlog from 20,434 cases in February of 2013 to 3,529 cases this week,” he said. “And we're on course to significantly reduce these even further in 2015.” Nationally, the backlog has been cut from 611,000 in March 2013 to 110,000 this week.

He attributed the progress in part to mandatory, 20-hour per month employee overtime and streamlining the claims process online. However, delays in appeals persist as the VA averages eight issues for a disabilities claim, and 11 percent appealed disagreements on a claim.

For the medical side, wait times are down to two days for the first appointment, but follow-up appointments still take time. Veterans are now offered a choice to seek an outside healthcare provider, officials said, and insurer TriWest is working with the VA and healthcare systems Sharp Healthcare and UC San Diego.

Jeffrey Gering, Director VA San Diego Healthcare, said about 75 percent of San Diego veterans choose to wait rather than go outside the system.

“If you are attached to the VA healthcare system, many of our veterans, in fact most of them, say, ‘Look I'll just wait,’” said Gering, “and so that might be 45 days, it might be 32 days, you know, or maybe longer, but we're calling every one of those veterans and offering that option.”

Wait times for local mental health patients average roughly 30 days.

Part of the reason for the delay is a 1 -percent rise in the number of patients seeking care, creating a very heavy workload.

The VA said it is also having trouble retaining psychologists on the payroll, despite two pay raises in the last three years. Some doctors are leaving the VA because of quality of life issues.

“It can be very stressful seeing patients with serious mental illness, hour after hour after hour, day in and day out particularly when the system is stressed with more patients coming to us,” Gering said.

Of the more than 10,000 veterans who were given the choice to be referred to a psychologist through another network provider, 20 to 25 percent are choosing to go outside the VA, Gering said.

The director said there is a push in Washington, D.C. to move veteran health care into the private sector.

"I hate to see the day when there is no VA," Gehring said. "With the push towards choice, I hope that's not a precursor for that to happen in the future."

The Vet Center and Aspire Center are two VA programs that are helping to care for veterans living with PTSD. The Vet Center uses a variety of treatment options like equine and surf therapy, while the Aspire Center is an intensive, live-in program for post 9-11 combat veterans who are homeless.

San Diego VA officials said they have also built strong partnerships with veterans’ advocacy groups to be sure they are meeting the needs of local veterans. This relationship has served as a model for the National VA – My VA Community.

The agency said it is striving to continue to improve to meet the changing needs of San Diego veterans.

The family of Sandra Bland filed a lawsuit against the trooper who arrested her and others they say are responsible for the suburban Chicago woman’s death in a Texas jail cell.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday at the federal courthouse in Houston against Trooper Brian Encinia and “others responsible for the death of Sandra Bland,” including the Waller County Sheriff and two jailers, according to the family’s attorney.

"The reason we filed a lawsuit today is because candidly we were unable to get any of the answers that we have been asking for for weeks," said attorney Cannon Lambert. "We are looking to hold the people accountable for her being stopped, and mistreated and who are ultimately responsible for her death."

Bland, a 28-year-old Chicago-area woman, was found dead in her Waller County jail cell on July 13, three days after her arrest. Officials say she used a plastic bag to hang herself, a finding her family has questioned.

"I am still confident in the fact that [Sandra] knew enough about Jesus that she would not take herself out," said Bland's mother Geneva Reed-Veal. "Anything is possible, I wasn't there, but as a mother my inner is telling me that she did not do it. I am the first to tell you that if the facts show without a doubt that that was the case, I’ll have to be prepared to deal with that, but the bottom line is she never should have been inside of the jail."

Lambert said the family, despite their attempts to obtain information, has not yet received details like Bland's time of death or police reports that were filed.

"I don't think it's unreasonable that we be seeking these things," he said. "Those are the types of things that we need in order for our independent investigation to be complete."

Bland's family and others have criticized Encinia, who stopped Bland for failing to signal a lane change. The family on Tuesday called for him to be "relieved" of his duties.

"We know that this type of thing can be done, that he can be relieved," Lambert said. "We're asking for bold, decisive action and that has not happened."

Dashcam video released by officials showed a confrontation between Bland and Encinia swiftly escalated after she objected to being told to put out her cigarette. Encinia at one point is seen holding a stun gun as he says, "I will light you up!" after Bland refuses to get out of her car. Bland, who was black, eventually was arrested for allegedly assaulting the white trooper.

Texas authorities said that Encinia violated procedures and the department's courtesy policy during the traffic stop and was placed on administrative leave.

"I've watched the video once and I will not watch it again," said Reed-Veal. "Anger, disgust, disappointment and sadness-- those are my feelings. I have chosen to channel those feelings in another way. Justice is going to be served, if the justice system will do what it's supposed to."

Some Texas politicians, including state Sen. Royce West, have said that Bland should not have been arrested in the first place.

Bland's death came after nearly a year of heightened national scrutiny of police and their dealings with black suspects, especially those who have been killed by officers or die in police custody.

"I have many people around me who are very angry and it’s rightfully so but we’re going to channel this the right way," said Reed-Veal.

According to his personnel file, Encinia was selected for the Trooper Trainee Academy in December 2013, joined the Department of Public Safety in June 2014 as a probationary trooper and completed his probation in June 2015, becoming a Highway Patrol trooper.

An initial toxicology report was released for Bland that two experts said raised the possibility that she may have used marijuana while in custody. Prosecutor Warren Diepraam has said information on her marijuana use may be relevant to the case in determining her state of mind.

A committee of outside attorneys will assist Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis in investigating Bland's death.

"I don't know if we'll ever get an answer to all the questions," said attorney Lewis White of Sugar Land, one of the committee members. "But our job is to get answers. There are going to be answers some people don't like."

The Texas Rangers and the FBI are investigating the case.

"We have a young lady who was on her way to get groceries," said Bland's sister Sharon Cooper. "She ends up jailed, she ends up dying in police custody. We are three weeks out from her death, we are a week out from burying her and we still don't know what happened to her."

A fisherman who was thrown overboard and was forced to tread water for about four hours amid a powerful storm off New Jersey’s coast Saturday night said the love for his wife and two young sons kept him alive.

"I just couldn't picture the next day somebody coming to tell them I'm not going to be home anymore because I knew it would ruin their lives," Damian Sexton told NBC10 in Philadelphia as he fought back tears. "And I love them too much for that."

Sexton, 45, was on a 40-foot fishing boat with his friend about 44 miles east of Cape May, New Jersey, when they got caught in a storm. 

"The boat went this way and I fell right out," Sexton said. "It was a big thunderstorm, giant bolts of lightning, just waves that were huge."

Sexton's friend, who was still on the boat, made a mayday call to the Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay but was unable to stop the vessel. 

"I didn't have a chance to show him how to operate the autopilot," Sexton said. "So I think that's the reason the boat kept going."

Sexton, who didn't have a life jacket on, was left stranded in the middle of the storm. Desperate to survive and make it home to his family, Sexton started swimming, following a container ship for about ten miles. 

"The wind was so bad," Sexton said. "It was blowing me back or it was blowing the ship away from me."

Unable to feel his legs and his arms cramping up, Sexton admits he began to feel hopeless. 

"I coughed water out of my lungs so many times and all I would have had to do was take one breath of water and it was over," he said.

Fortunately for Sexton, help was on the way. The Coast Guard launched a C-130 "Hercules" aircraft from the Elizabeth City, North Carolina, Air Station and an MH-65 "Dolphin" helicopter from the Atlantic City Air Station. A boat crew from the Cape May Coast Guard Station joined in the rescue effort as well. They located Sexton around 2 a.m. Sunday and threw him a life preserver so he could get back onto his boat until the rescue crew could take him for medical help. 

When the helicopter arrived, crews hoisted Sexton aboard and flew him to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City for treatment. The incredible rescue was captured on video.

"He was wrapped up on a blanket on his couch and was just seizing and convulsing," said Christopher Lynch, the Coast Guard member in the video who grabbed Sexton. 

Sexton is alive and doing well, thanks to the heroic efforts of the Coast Guard as well as the love of his family that inspired him to fight for his survival. 

"I love him more than anything," Sexton's wife Robin told NBC10. "I mean that with every ounce of my body."

A three-day music festival is slated to amp things up in Del Mar next month, just as residents were looking forward to more of a post-summer silence.

KAABOO will take over the Del Mar Racetrack and Fairgrounds Sept. 18 to 20 with seven stages and more than 100 musical acts and performances, drawing artists like No Doubt, the Killers, Zac Brown Band and Snoop Dogg to the area.

But at a meeting with the city Monday evening, about 25 residents sounded off about traffic and noise concerns. While they are used to the ruckus of the yearly county fair and racing seasons, KAABOO is new territory.

"All of the sudden this comes plopping right down in the middle of the best time of the year, and you know, we're worried about it," said Bud Emerson. "It impacts the quality of our lives."

Event organizers came to the meeting equipped with a 19-page plan on how to keep people out of the surrounding neighborhoods, a curfew to end the outdoor music by 10 p.m. and noise monitors at the fairground entrances to keep track of sound levels.

They said they will have about 70 deputies both out on the streets and inside the venue. KAABOO hopes to attract 40,000 people each day, compared to the fair's average of 65,000 a day and the races' 23,000 a day.

"Is it objectionable?" said a man who wanted to be identified only as Bill, who has lived within six blocks of the fairgrounds for 45 years. "It's probably the volume that is more objectionable. How you control that outdoors, I don't know." 

Adele Levy, whose home overlooks the fairgrounds, said the summer crowds park in her neighborhood, leave trash on the streets and keep things loud in her area.

"We were listening to a concert the other day and then one neighbor got up and left and then another got up and left, and I went you know that's enough of that,” said Levy.

Still, she told NBC 7 the problems may just be part of the price for a view like hers.

“It is what it is,” Levy said. “So, you either put your fingers in your ear, you find some cotton or you sing along depending upon what it is."

Others are looking forward to the event — or at least the benefits that come from it.

“This is a tourist area, so we want that. They spend money, they help the economy,” said Del Mar resident Ed Miller.

Some residents' suggestions are now being considered, such as DUI checkpoints, no loitering zones and a more specific enforcement plan in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Tickets for the event range from $125 for a one-day pass to about $2,500 for at three-day, VIP package.

A former Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter has pleaded guilty to three charges Monday after he tried to get into his estranged wife’s San Diego apartment by scaling the outside wall.

At his arraignment, Christian Leben, 35, admitted to felony possession of an assault weapon, misdemeanor vandalism and misdemeanor violation of a temporary restraining order.

Leben, also known as “The Crippler” in MMA circles, will likely get probation at his Aug. 31 sentencing, according to prosecutors. He retired from the UFC in 2013.

The charges stem from a June 8 incident in the 400-block of 10th Avenue where San Diego police responded to reports of a man refusing to leave his ex-wife's apartment.

In a request for a restraining order, Leben's estranged wife, Kaleena, wrote she awoke around 3 a.m. on June 8 to banging and kicking at her door. Around 4:30 a.m. she woke up to find Leben trying to scale the outside wall of her downtown San Diego high rise to access her apartment via the balcony.

Terrified, she says she ran to a neighbor's apartment and returned to her home the next morning.

A San Diego police report describes finding a "loaded Ruger SR45 .45 caliber handgun" on Kaleena's bed immediately after the incident.

Kaleena then wrote in her request for a restraining order, made permanent by a judge, that her building's management alerted her to finding an M16 assault rifle hidden in a maintenance closet a few floors from her apartment.

The day before the alleged intrusion, Kaleena wrote that she received a text message from her estranged husband, stating, "Hey love of my life you broke another promise you told me you were going to call me back I'm going to start by murdering your father at social couple guys finally turn now."

Reached by telephone last month, Christian said it was his wife who was physically and emotionally abusive toward him.

"The fact of the matter was I was trying to move out," Leben said. "The stress of law school was getting to her and she was physically and emotionally abusive to me."

He told NBC 7 that his wife hit him in the face, threw things at him and grabbed his throat over their three-year marriage. Leben said he gave Kaleena an ultimatum, telling her to go to an anger management course.

"Everyone in the world, everyone knew she was beating me," he said.

But Kaleena's restraining order paints a different picture of their marriage, describing numerous incidents of physical abuse over the couple's relationship. It includes a picture of Kaleena's scarred leg where she says Leben cut her with a knife. Leben said she cut her own leg and used her knowledge of the system as a law student to manipulate the courts.

On a separate incident in 2011, she describes being taken via an ambulance to the ER for staples in her head after Leben allegedly pushed her into a wall, splitting her head open.

According to the ex-UFC fighter, Kaleena was drunk and high that night, so he said he was trying to prevent her from getting behind the wheel while intoxicated. He said he was holding her and she flung her head back against the wall, creating the gash.

Kaleena accuses Leben of suffering from mental illness, of being addicted to opiates, OxyContin and alcohol and of using cocaine and steroids.

Leben said everything in the restraining order is a "flat out lie."

His attorney Michael Earle stressed the June 8 incident is not a domestic violence case.

"There was absolutely no violence involved with it," he said. "I know there's a lot of rumors going around that it was a DV case. He was never arrested for DV. He was never charged with any kind of domestic violence or any assault. She never claimed he put his hands on her at any time."

The California Highway Patrol has issued a SigAlert for southbound 15 to westbound 94 because of spilled paint.

Officers say two lanes on westbound SR-94 are closed as of 7:55 a.m. until further notice.

SR-94 West is slow from College Avenue, CHP officials said.
 

A Chula Vista man has been arrested and charged in the bloody killing of his girlfriend, police confirmed Tuesday morning.

The Chula Vista Police Department (CVPD) said Javar Blueford, 33, is facing one count of first-degree murder in the deadly stabbing of Tracie Travis, 42.

On July 27, around 2 p.m., officers were called to the couple’s apartment at the Casa Urbana complex in the 500 block of McIntosh Street to help paramedics with an uncooperative patient who had requested an ambulance.

When police arrived, they found Blueford covered in blood, saying he had been stabbed. Blueford told police his girlfriend had stabbed him and he had stabbed her too.

When investigators went inside the couple’s apartment, they found Travis unconscious, lying face down in a large pool of blood. She was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Blueford was taken to UCSD Medical Center where he underwent surgery for multiple stab wounds. The CVPD said Blueford was arrested Monday night by Family Protection Unit detectives in connection with Travis’ killing.

He was booked into San Diego Central Jail and is expected to appear in court Thursday.

From the start, investigators said this case was suspicious. CVPD Lt. Fritz Reber described the couple’s apartment last week as a “bloody scene,” and said several knives were found inside the home.

Reber also confirmed police had been called to the apartment before on reports of domestic violence. Blueford was arrested for domestic violence in January, Reber told NBC 7.

Neighbors told NBC 7 the couple was very quiet and hardly interacted with other residents at the complex.

Investigators said last week there were no outstanding suspects in Travis’ death.