Whether you’re buying a latte or a new pair of jeans, the new credit cards with the square metallic chips on the front are meant to better protect you from fraud. Here’s what you should know about the chip technology.

What is that shiny square?

Chip technology is intended to cut down on credit and debit card fraud by making working fake cards more difficult to make, according to Will Wade-Gery, assistant director of card and payments markets in the Research, Markets and Regulations Division of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The chips provide additional information beyond what is provided by the magnetic strips that allows a merchant to authorize a transaction: a cryptogram that changes each time the card is used.

The technology, which has been in use for years elsewhere, is often called E.M.V. for Europay, MasterCard and Visa.

"The change-over is important because over time it should reduce counterfeit cards and some forms of fraud," said the bureau's Gail Hillebrand, assistant director for consumer education and engagement. "It won't eliminate all the fraud but it will make it harder for fraudsters who acquire your card information to create a physical counterfeit card. And that's a useful step forward."

How do you use it?

Instead of swiping your card, you will have to insert it into a slot with the chip facing up. The card terminal will take slightly longer to read the chip.

What if stores don’t have the new terminals yet?

You can just swipe your card the way you have been doing. Not all merchants will have the new terminals immediately. Expect to see more over time, according to Wade-Gery.

Why is this happening now?

Because the credit card industry set a deadline. The change is not legally required, but beginning in October merchants without the new equipment could become liable for fraudulent transactions according to their agreements with credit card companies.

"The number one thing you should know as a consumer is your responsibility has not changed," Hillebrand said.

Bank debit cards are also being replaced but more slowly than credit cards.

How can you protect your accounts?

Pay attention. Chip cards will make fraud more difficult but not impossible, so the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau urges everyone to take basic precautions.

"Consumers will still have to take active steps to identify and speak up when there is fraud," Hillebrand said. "No one change is going to stamp out all the fraud including this one. So it's still important to read your statements, which is actually harder to do online because we forget. It's still important to report every wrong charge on your debit or your credit card whether it's large or small." 

Check your transactions regularly to make sure there are no unauthorized ones on your account. Sometimes thieves will charge a small amount to your account to see if it is processed before adding more transactions. Report suspicious charges or debits immediately. Cancel your card if you find fraudulent charges and consider changing your PIN.

What about online purchases?

Online and over the phone shopping will not be safer with chip technology.

Are merchants prepared?

Maybe not everyone. Holly Wade, director of the Research Foundation at the National Federation of Independent Businesses, said the organization was concerned that many small business owners are confused about the new cards and card terminals.

"We've found that there's just a pretty decent information gap between what's happening and small business owners knowing about it and understanding what they need to do to comply," Wade said.

"Right now our main goal is to make small business owners aware of this transition," she said.

 The San Diego Padres have been fined for holding an illegal workout in Aruba, a month before the international signing period, according to an exclusive Bleacher Report story. 

The team is facing an undisclosed fine for the international June workout, where they allegedly paid for airfare, hotels and meals for some prospects and their families, the report said. 

MLB rules do not allow teams to take take players out of their native country if they are not of a certain age. 

Padres officials and MLB Senior Vice President Kim Ng did not comment on the story when contacted by BR. 

General Manager A.J. Preller was hired by the team in August 2014. When Preller worked for the Rangers, he was the director of international and professional scouting and spent much of his time looking for new players.

San Diego officials told BR that Preller's job is not in jeopardy.  

Read the full report by clicking here. 

Pleasanton-based retailer dd’s Discounts recently opened a new store in National City, marking its seventh location in San Diego County.

A company statement said the newest store is at 1518 Sweetwater Road, selling value-priced apparel, footwear and home décor items.

The retailer, with more than 100 locations nationwide, is a division of Ross Stores Inc., which also operates more than 1,000 nationwide locations of Ross Dress for Less.
 

 Police have taken the driver of a suspected stolen car into custody after a short pursuit where he refused to pull over, police said.

The pursuit began at around 11:20 p.m. when, on College Avenue near El Cajon Boulevard, officers attempted to stop a car they believed to be stolen. 

The driver sped north and refused to pull over, driving on the wrong side of the road as he fled. 

He later pulled into a San Diego State University parking lot, where police lost track of the car. 

After a short search, police said they took the suspect into custody at 11:28 p.m. 

No further information was immediately available. 

A new public alert system plans to utilize familiar technology to help track down hit-and-run drivers on California’s roadways.

The so-called “Yellow Alert” system is part of Assembly Bill 8, which was signed by California Governor Jerry Brown on Monday. As a result of other fatal hit-and-runs statewide, the bill allows law enforcement agencies to issue a public alert if a person has been killed or seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident.

Just as the statewide Amber Alert system uses highway signs and sends text alerts to cell phones to help find missing children, similar technology will be used to help find drivers who flee the scene of a crash.

In San Diego, hit-and-run drivers have killed several victims this year alone, including Craig Robinson’s brother, Roger.

“I have my moments,” said Robinson, referring to the pain of losing his brother, which never really goes away. “I think about him a lot.”

Although it’s hard to say whether a state Yellow Alert system would have helped find the driver who killed Robinson’s brother, he says the system may help in future cases.

“I just couldn’t believe the number of [hit-and-run] stories outside of Roger’s that you hear about,” Robinson told NBC 7. “Why is this happening?”

Last week, Robinson’s brother collapsed while walking across the street in San Diego’s Park West area. A vehicle hit him and the driver did not stop.

Robinson is still shocked that the driver didn’t pull over to help his brother.

“The problem was, you took off. You shouldn’t have done that,” he said.

In order for a Yellow Alert to be effectively issued in a hit-and-run crash, agencies would need specific information about the suspect or suspect vehicle. The alert would be activated within a specific, approved, area – presumably near the area where the accident happened.

“I think it’s a very cool tool,” Robinson said of the Yellow Alert. “I mean, we have the Amber Alert.”

A California Highway Patrol spokesperson tells NBC 7 that while the Yellow Alert system may seem like a good tool, these cases will still be extremely hard to solve. The spokesperson said, in most cases, there is very little information to go on after an accident. Often times, investigators don’t have a vehicle description or a license plate number to tie to the crime.

Also, even if the suspect vehicle is found, proving who drove the car at the time of the hit-and-run is another big challenge.

Still, state officials believe the new system will make our streets safer. Robinson hopes so too.

“If you can get somebody to say, ‘I just saw the car, or it looks like the car,’ police can get on it,” he added.

In addition to freeway signs, alerts via this new system may also be seen on television or heard on the radio. The bill is expected to go into effect Jan. 1, 2016.
 

A gas leak that led to evacuations in the Sorrento Valley area was capped on Tuesday afternoon, fire officials said.

The evacuations happened Tuesday morning in Sorrento Valley area after construction workers broke a gas line.

The gas leak was reported just after 9 a.m. in the 4900 block of Directors Place, off Vista Sorrento Parkway.

Officers were diverting traffic from the area for nearly four hours as crews worked to repair the gas leak.

A woman who admitted to killing her husband three years ago in their Carlsbad home while their kids were in another room took the stand Tuesday in her retrial, recalling just how allegedly toxic her marriage became in the years leading up to the murder.

Julie Harper admits she shot and killed her husband, Jason Harper, on Aug. 27, 2012, but has said she did it because she feared for her safety and was afraid her husband would kill or rape her. The couple’s children were in another part of the home watching television at the time of the shooting.

After an acquittal on first-degree murder charges in her first trial last October, Harper now faces second-degree murder charges in her retrial, which continued Tuesday in north San Diego.

Visibly nervous, Julie testified Tuesday, telling her side of the story to jurors.

She began by recounting details of her past to defense attorney Paul Pfingst, including her life as a straight-A student, as well as details of her health, family life and relationship with Jason.

Julie said she and Jason first met in Hermosa Beach, Calif., in 2000. Four months into the relationship, Julie said she was concerned they had major differences, including that Jason was not religious and was critical of organized religion.

She also said she worried they had significant differences when it came to values and work ethic, calling him "lazy."

Julie said when they met she had a strong work ethic and Jason was a part-time temp teacher who went surfing every afternoon.

Ultimately, those differences led them to break up a few months into their relationship.

However, the couple resumed dating shortly thereafter. They were together another six or seven months before they got engaged, Julie said.

Julie testified that she suggested Jason move into her condo, but he didn’t want to because he wanted to live closer to his favorite surfing spot instead. Although she didn’t want to, Julie said she sold her condo.

Julie testified that Jason tried to change her in several ways, including the way she dressed.

She said he often made fun of her preppy polo shirts, calling her a “geek” or “nerd,” and instead bought her surf-style clothing to wear, including spaghetti strap tank tops that bared her midriff.

After they were married, Julie testified that Jason would often get angry and lose his temper over “everyday things.”

“The yelling had gotten so frequent I put up a calendar and put ‘Xs’ where there was yelling,” she said, adding that his behavior seemed “abnormal.”

Julie said they purchased books on how to improve their marriage.

She said their differences were even more pronounced when it came to their finances. Julie said she was making $100,000 per year at her job, while Jason brought home about $3,000 a month.

Julie also talked about their children, and how Jason didn’t seem interested in bonding with them when he became a father.

She said they had different approaches when it came to caring for their son who had some issues as an infant that caused him to cry a lot.

“Even after feeding he would continue screaming. Jason always wanted me to put him back in the crib. He would get very angry when I went to pick him up,” she said.

Julie claimed Jason began to verbally abuse her in 2009, allegedly screaming at her, criticizing her and making derogatory, cutting remarks that included calling her lazy and fat on a daily basis. She said Jason would often curse at her in front of their children.

“Sometimes I’d be speechless and crying,” she said. “Other times, I asked him to stop and would close windows. I was so embarrassed – I didn’t want our neighbors to hear.”

Julie testified that in January 2010, the abuse allegedly turned physical and she claimed Jason raped her.

Julie said she told Jason she would be bringing in less money from work and he allegedly became “enraged” over the news and how it would impact their finances.

“He just came to a whole new level of enraged,” she testified. “It was very scary to be there. He was flailing his arms above me, screaming, spitting on me.”

Julie alleged Jason turned red and eventually began grabbing and shaking her, pushing her against a wall in their bedroom, pressing his body into her. She testified that Jason then yanked her bottoms off and raped her, despite her asking him to stop.

Julie said she was in a state of shock afterwards and couldn’t look at Jason. They never talked about what happened either, she claimed.

In 2011, Julie said she and Jason began discussing the possibility of getting a divorce.

She also testified that Jason never seemed to want to pay for expenses for their children or their household, and expected her to take care of those things.

On the stand, Julie also talked about her medical conditions, saying she suffers from several forms of arthritis, including Rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

As a result, she said she began experiencing fatigue, trouble sleeping and joint pain in 2008. She said her health conditions and pain worsened over the years, which proved challenging as a mother of two.

“I started to have pain in joints were I didn’t have previous injuries,” she testified.

Julie said her health condition is an auto-immune disorder that has caused significant inflammation to her organs. She said medications she has taken over time have caused side effects, including weight gain.

Julie testified that Jason thought she was faking her medical problems and expressed little concern about her well-being.

Since the retrial began two weeks ago, many witnesses have taken the stand, including Jason’s mother and brother, as well as neighbors who lived near the Harpers.

Much of that testimony has been emotional, including Jason’s younger brother, Brian Harper, who broke down in court recounting the day he learned Jason had been shot to death.

Last week, the couple’s two young children also took the stand, also fighting back tears.

At the beginning of his testimony, the couple’s son told the courtroom he didn’t want to be there, but wanted to be in school instead. He then recounted how he and his sister were watching cartoons in another room when they suddenly heard a “thud.”

The couple’s daughter recalled similar details on the stand, saying that when they went to check on their parents in the other room, her mother told them their father was dead.

The girl said she now calls her mother by her first name and refuses to call her mom. She said Julie often took pills and slept a lot before the murder.

A neighbor testified Julie’s demeanor changed drastically over the time he knew the family. He said she was allegedly so “out of it,” he didn’t want his child around her.

Meanwhile, last week, an FBI special agent testified that Jason was already dead when someone used his phone to send a text to his brother saying he was running errands and that Julie had the kids. The special agent said cell phone records place Julie’s phone and Jason’s phone at the same coffee shop following his slaying.

Jason was a high school teacher in Carlsbad.

After Julie’s acquittal last fall on first-degree murder charges, prosecutors decided to retry her on lesser charges.
 

You will see placekicker Nick Novak again on Sundays lining up for field goals and extra points. It just may take a little while getting used to him wearing a Houston Texans uniform.

Novak earned another chance at a starting job in the NFL when he signed with the Texans Tuesday. He is expected to start in Houston’s upcoming game Sunday in Atlanta.

He won a tryout with the Texans that included kickers Connor Barth, Kai Forbath, Chris Boswell and Giorgio Tavecchio.

The Texans waived Randy Bullock on Tuesday after he missed two extra points in Houston’s first three games as well as a 43-yard field goal Sunday in a narrow victory over the Buccaneers.

Novak also had recent tryouts with the Eagles and Saints.

He was in Philadelphia Monday but the Eagles decided to go with former Miami Dolphins kicker Caleb Sturgis after starter Cody Parkey was lost for the year with a groin injury.

The 34-year-old Novak was San Diego’s kicker from 2011 to 2014. He holds the franchise record with 32 straight made field goals.

He made more than 86 percent of his kicks with San Diego which is a narrow second place in franchise history to Nate Kaeding (87 percent).

The Chargers decided to go with undrafted rookie Josh Lambo as their everyday kicker this preseason.

Lambo was originally brought to San Diego to handle kickoffs, which was not necessarily Novak’s strength.

U.S. airstrikes hit Taliban positions overnight around a key northern city seized by insurgents this week as Afghan troops massed on the ground Wednesday ahead of what is likely to be a protracted battle to retake Kunduz. 

Also overnight, fierce fighting was underway for control of Kunduz's airport, a few miles outside the city, before the Taliban retreated under fire, several residents said.

U.S. Army spokesman, Col. Brian Tribus, said there were two new airstrikes and that U.S. and NATO coalition advisers were at the scene "in the Kunduz area, advising Afghan security forces."

Among NATO experts backing Afghan troops were coalition's special forces advisers, he said.

The Taliban on Monday blitzed into Kunduz and took this city of 300,000 people — the first major urban area they captured since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion ousted their extremist regime.

Residents have reported militants going house to house searching for government workers, instilling fear. The residents spoke on condition of anonymity fearing for their safety.

Roads in and out of the city were blocked and the Taliban — believed to have joined forces with other insurgent groups to boost their numbers — released around 600 prisoners from the Kunduz jail. The insurgents also set up checkpoints to ensure no one leaves.

Information from inside the city remained sketchy.

The U.N. special representative in Afghanistan, Nicholas Haysom, said he was concerned about reports "of extrajudicial executions, including of health care workers, abductions, denial of medical care and restrictions on movement out of the city."

Reports from the region indicated that up to 6,000 civilians have fled the city to escape the fighting, a statement from Haysom's office said.

The spokesman for Afghanistan's Public Health Ministry, Wahidullah Mayar, said on his official Twitter account that 30 people have been killed in the fighting, and more than 200 inured. "Around 90 percent of them are civilians," he tweeted.

The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan called on all parties in the conflict to "protect civilians from harm and to respect human rights at all times."

Kunduz, 108 miles north of Kabul, has been the scene of Taliban attacks since April, when the insurgents launched their annual warm weather offensive with an attempt to take control of the city. The surrounding province, also called Kunduz, is one of the country's most important grain producers, and also has rich mineral resources. The province borders Tajikistan.

In a highly unusual move, San Diego Unified Superintendent Cindy Marten has released private personnel information in an effort to clear allegations brought against Board President Marne Foster.

The release was ordered by the San Diego Unified School Board, which meets Tuesday night to discuss opening an independent investigation Foster.

Foster is accused of using her influence to cause administrative changes at the School of Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA), of holding a private fundraiser for her sons’ college tuitions, and of orchestrating a complaint filed against the district for $250,000.

After the board decides whether to approve the investigation, the trustees plan to issue a proclamation, honoring Foster for the work she has done in the district.

“Marne has been a real leader on issues that are critical to thousands and thousands of students in our district. That story needs to be told as well,” said Foster’s fellow Trustee Richard Barrera. “It doesn’t take away from the seriousness of the issues that we are going to call for in an investigation.”

However, parent Gloria Tran questioned how the board could address accusations against Foster and celebrate her directly afterward.

“I don't negate all the good Marne has done. I believe she has done good things for her community and the district,” said Tran. “However, the good does not outweigh the bad behavior.”

In December 2013, Foster began raising complaints about SCPA after her son received a negative college evaluation from Head Counselor Kim Abagat. Former SCPA principal Mitzi Lizarraga said she is positive that she was reassigned to another position in the district because of Foster.

But the report released by Marten shows problems existed at the school before Foster became involved. The issues date back to when former Superintendent Bill Kowba was in charge, according to Marten.

“He was concerned about staffing,” said Marten in an interview with NBC 7 Tuesday. “He was concerned about ongoing conflict in the counseling office. He was concerned about disciplinary practices and racialized outcomes.”

In a statement introducing the newly released documents, Marten wrote that more than 20 staff members shared concerns about SCPA’s campus climate and its leadership over the past several years.

As Marten stepped into the role of superintendent, Kowba explained the school’s ongoing problems to her and said “he wanted to find a better match for Ms. Lizarraga’s skill set,” Marten wrote.

Plans to transition Lizarraga from SCPA’s principal to a districtwide arts leadership position were carried out when Marten became superintendent, and Lizarraga left SCPA at the end of the 2013-2014 school year. She resigned from the district position on Oct. 31, 2014.

School advocates have accused Foster of putting pressure on Marten to make the staffing change.

Marten addressed the concern, writing, “Yes, I did receive pressure. And let it be known that I receive pressure all the time from many stakeholders to make decisions from their perspective. I hear from community leaders, teachers, administrators, parents as well as board members all the time.”

“However, I will say clearly and succinctly, the pressure I received from a board member did not cause the reassignment of Ms. Lizarraga,” she continued.

Questions have also been raised about why school counselor, Kim Abagat, was suspended without pay after writing the negative evaluation for Foster’s son.

Marten wrote in her statement that in December 2013, she received a call from a very angry Foster, who started to explain the situation. Marten said she immediately interrupted Foster and asked, “Are you calling as a parent or as a Trustee?”

When Foster said she was calling as a parent, Marten told her that the conversation needed to end and she must bring up the issue with the school’s principal. Marten has told NBC 7 that Foster had every right as a parent to try to resolve issues with her son’s education.

According to the statement, “Foster explained that she did not wish to work with the Principal,” so Marten referred her to the district’s head of counseling and guidance.

Marten said she informed the district’s general counsel about the conversation. Soon after, SCPA contracted Robert Abel Investigative Services to look into Foster’s allegations that Abagat, who was not officially her son’s counselor, should not have prepared an evaluation that was inaccurate, misleading and harmful.

According to the investigator’s report, Abagat maintained that her evaluation was accurate and fair. But in his conclusion, Abel said she completed the report “in a manner not meeting professional school counseling standards.”

He said she did not gather enough information about Foster’s son from others. As a result, Abagat was suspended for nine days.

Abel ended his report with this observation:

“There clearly exists great animosity and distrust by Marne Foster toward Ms. Lizarraga. There is compelling evidence that — despite recent efforts by [redacted] to work with his subordinate counseling staff — there are critical, unresolved issues among the three SCPA counselors, and between the SCPA counseling staff and Ms. Lizarraga. I recommend an examination of these two, above-stated dysfunctional relationships.”

In her statement, Marten emphasized that she has not released information about Lizarraga and Abagat because they dealt with personnel issues. However, she said because both women have brought the allegations into the public arena, the board decided to release the district’s information, though the decision could open them up to lawsuits.

“The reasons we provided it is because the public’s interest and the public’s trust outweigh an individual’s privacy at this point,” said Marten.

Parent Gloria Tran believes the board is not going far enough by hiring a private investigator — saying the person will not be independent enough.

“The district is going to pay for the independent investigator and he answers back to the board. No. That needs to be completely separate,” she said. “And as for the money that they’re going to spend on the investigator, that should go to the children.”

It’s unclear which agency the board plans to hire for the internal investigation.

NBC 7 reached out to Foster for comments on this story, but we have not heard back.
 

Attorneys for Kentucky official Kim Davis claimed Tuesday that she had a secret meeting with Pope Francis during his historic trip to America — and he supposedly told the defiant county clerk to "stay strong."

The clandestine communication occurred in Washington, D.C., on Thursday on the same day of the pontiff's historic speech to a joint session of Congress, according to Liberty Counsel, which has represented Davis in her legal battles.

Davis sparked a national firestorm after refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Rowan County, citing her religious beliefs as a Christian. She was jailed for five nights before a judge allowed her to return to her job — as long as she doesn't interfere with the granting of licenses.

In a statement released by Liberty Counsel, Davis says she was "humbled" and never thought she would be invited to meet the popular and unpredictable pontiff. The conservative nonprofit said Davis and her husband, Joe, shared face time with Francis at the Vatican Embassy in D.C.

A desalination facility that's been around for more than 15 years will be getting bigger as California's drought wears on.

On Tuesday, Sweetwater Authority kicked off its $42 million expansion of the Richard Reynolds Groundwater Desalination Facility in Chula Vista, which means more local groundwater will be turned into drinking water.

The plant, built in 1999, produces five million gallons of drinking water a day. After the expansion, it will pump out 10 million gallons daily. The water comes from an aquifer.

“The importance here is two things: One thing is reliability bringing water from our own area, not bringing it from somewhere else,” said Ron Morrison, Sweetwater Board member and National City Mayor. “Using an available resource that was not being used. And the other thing is keeping price down.”

The water is treated using a reverse osmosis filtration process.

“The cost of this water is going to be quite a bit cheaper than imported water. It's locally controlled its drought proof. It's wonderful,” said Halla Razak, Director of Public Utilities for the city of San Diego.

The expansion is funded in part by grants from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the state of California. The city of San Diego and the Sweetwater Authority will split the remaining costs for the project, which should be completed in late spring 2017.

The Sweetwater Authority serves western and central Chula Vista, National CIty and Bonita.

A San Diego attorney said the city can't ask you to move your car or pay a street sweeping ticket if your street wasn't swept the day the ticket was issued.

Jeremy Robinson, an attorney at Casey, Gerry, Schenk, Francavilla, Blatt and Penfield law firm, said the city has to sweep a street in order to ticket.

"Because the city has to provide some type of service in exchange for money," Robinson explained. "The government can't just take its citizens' money with no reason. They have to have some rational basis for doing that, and here they don't have that."

In March, city leaders said 70 percent of their street sweeping fleet was not functioning on any given day.

Andrew Kleise, the city's deputy director of stormwater and transportation, said at a March committee meeting that if citizens got tickets on days when they believed their street wasn't swept, officials would use GPS data to verify whether the street was skipped.

“They can confirm whether a street sweeper went down the street that day with the GPS; we’ll be able to confirm it,” said Kleise. “Obviously, if there’s a mistake, we’ll correct that and refund the ticket,” he said in March.

NBC7 Investigates and Eric Busboom at the San Diego Regional Data Library requested and analyzed that GPS data Kleise mentioned.

We found thousands of instances where GPS data showed no sweeping, but tickets were issued anyway.

The city now says that GPS data is incomplete and people have to pay their tickets whether their street gets swept or not.

Robinson disagrees.

"If you're parked in a lane and you're getting a ticket because the street sweeper is going to come by, and the city knows the street sweeper isn't going to come by, then they are ticketing you for no reason," he said "They're not providing a service in exchange for anything, so in that circumstance, they have an obligation to refund the ticket."

This map shows where the most tickets were issued between January 2014 and May 2015, according to city data.

[[330034971, C]]

Busboom made this heat map showing the areas he found where tickets were issued on dates and in locations where the city's GPS data doesn't show a sweeper in the area.
 

San Diego County Sheriff's deputies released a sketch of a man wanted for inappropriately touching himself as he followed two girls home in Encinitas.

Sheriff's officials say the incident happened on Sept. 24 at about 3 p.m. on Via Cantebria. As they walked home from Oak Crest Middle School, the teens saw a driver make a U-turn so he could drive alongside them.

The man followed the girls for about five minutes with his car window down. The girls told deputies that they soon noticed the man was touching himself, though he did not expose himself or speak to them.

Finally, the girls got out their cellphones to call their parents, so the man drove off.

The suspect is described as a light-skinned man between 20 and 30 years old, standing 6-feet to 6-feet-4-inches with dark brown hair.

At the time of the incident, the man was wearing dark sunglasses, a dark brown or black shirt and blue jeans.

The girls said his car was a station wagon like the one pictured here.

When deputies searched the area, they did not find anything, so they worked with the girls to create the composite sketch.

If you know anything about this man, call the sheriff's department's nonemergency line at 858-565-5200 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.

The United States Supreme Court has denied an application for a stay of execution for the lone woman on Georgia's death row.

The execution of Kelly Renee Gissendaner was scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday.

The 47-year-old was convicted of murder in the February 1997 slaying of her husband. She conspired with her lover, who stabbed Douglas Gissendaner to death.

The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles declined Gissendaner clemency earlier on Tuesday.

The Supreme Court in Georgia denied her stay of execution Tuesday night.

Pope Francis, who called for a ban on the death penalty during his visit to the United States, urged the parole board to spare Gissendaner's life.

A local archbishop made the appeal on the pontiff's behalf. The letter referenced the pope's speech to Congress last week in which he called for a worldwide rollback of the death penalty "since every life is sacred."

The letter, provided to NBC News by a representative for Gissendaner, was presented to the State Board of Pardons and Parole, which held a briefing hearing Tuesday morning to reconsider its previous denial of clemency.
 

A 16-year-old boy riding a bike in Escondido was seriously injured in a crash Tuesday evening, Escondido Police say.

At about 6:45 p.m., the teen was heading east on Washington Avenue when he crossed Broadway against a red light, according to investigators.

A 42-year-old driver in a white GMC pickup truck hit the cyclist as he rode out in front of her.

The boy, who suffered a major head injury, was taken to the hospital and is undergoing surgery.

The driver of the vehicle stopped to talk with police after the incident, and alcohol does not appear to be a factor, officers say. 

Police closed the intersection of Broadway and Washington as they investigated.

The investigation is ongoing.

More than 100 driver will be reimbursed about $34,5000 after their vehicles were illegally towed from a Kearny Mesa shopping center, according to the city attorney’s office.

NK Towing will have to give back all the fees it earned under what officials call a “predatory towing scheme.”

According to a criminal complaint filed against the business, Vista resident Elvin Vega requested and was given commissions from NK Towing owner Amir Iravani.

For eight months, Vega would call the company to tow away vehicles from the Plaza del Sol shopping center at 4688 Convoy Street, the city attorney’s office says.

In some documented instances, the complaint says the cars were towed despite being in the lot less than an hour, and other cars were taken more than 10 miles from the shopping Center. The law states companies must wait an hour after a driver parks a vehicle before towing it, and the tow yard must be within 10 miles.

NK Towing operates out of four North County cities; Del Mar is the closest.

The complaint says Vega did not have the authority from the shopping center’s manager or property owner to request tows from the area, which is required by law. It is also illegal under the California Vehicle Code to receive compensation from a towing company in exchange for requesting services.

The practice went on until May 2014, and 113 drivers had their cars illegally taken away, according to the city attorney. Now, they will receive a total of $34,580 from NK Towing. In exchange, the company and Iravani were dismissed from the criminal case.

Vega pleaded guilty last week to misdemeanor unauthorized towing, and he was ordered to serve three years of probation and to pay fines.

“We will continue to use all of the tools at our disposal to investigate and prosecute individuals and companies involved in predatory towing,” City Attorney Jan Goldsmith said in a statement.

His office maintains a consumer hotline at 619-533-5600, which people can call with consumer complaints. For more on towing laws, click here.
 

The rubix cube that is the members of the Chargers offensive line changed again Tuesday.

Guard Johnnie Troutman was placed on injured reserve and thus will not play the rest of the season. He suffered a forearm injury during the Chargers’ Aug. 13 preseason opener against Dallas and never fully recovered.

Troutman started 15 games in 2014 for the Bolts at right guard, but was inactive for the team’s first three contests this season due to the injury.

The Chargers have primarily tried plugging in DJ Fluker and Chris Watt at right guard but both are also dinged up.

To help fortify their O-Line issues, San Diego promoted offensive tackle Tyreek Burwell from the practice squad and signed veteran center JD Walton. Burwell wears #78 and Walton will wear #66.

Walton started all 16 regular season games for the New York Giants last season. This move reunites him with Mike McCoy as the two spent multiple years in Denver after the Broncos drafted him in 2010.

The Bolts also re-signed Michael Huey to the practice squad and waived tight end Kyle Miller.

Five offensive lineman suffered injuries against the Vikings and the status of many players – including starters Watt, Fluker and King Dunlap – is still up in the air.

San Diego hosts Cleveland Sunday at 1pm PT. Both teams bring 1-2 records into their week 4 matchup.

On the night his former team celebrated its 3rd straight NL West division title, Matt Kemp reached a milestone in a losing effort.

The former Dodgers and current Padres outfielder collected his 100th RBI of the season when he plated Yangervis Solarte with a single in the 3rd inning. That base knock sliced the Brewers lead to 2-1.

Pitcher Tyson Ross and Wil Myers added RBI singles in the 4th to hand San Diego a 3-2 lead.

But Jean Segura provided the difference-maker with a 2-run homer towards the Western Metal Supply Company building in the 6th inning.

Sadly, the Padres must go 4-1 over their last 5 games just to equal last year’s disappointing record of 77-84.

Despite raised expectations and a big roster overhaul by new general manager AJ Preller, the Friars will finish with their fifth straight losing season.

The Dodgers clinched the NL West Tuesday for the 3rd straight season courtesy their 8-0 victory over the Giants in San Francisco.

Former Padres Adrian Gonzalez and Yasmani Grandal are heading to the post-season for a NLDS matchup with the New York Mets.

NBC 7’s weather team takes an in-depth look at El Nino, and what these conditions could mean for San Diego in the coming months in our NBC 7 special, “Forecasting El Nino.”

NBC 7 meteorologists Jodi Kodesh, Whitney Southwick, Dagmar Midcap, Greg Bledsoe and Vanessa Herrera discuss El Nino in the clips below. Click on each one for more information:

• El Nino Explained: Part 1 of Forecasting El Nino
• El Nino by the Numbers: Part 2 of Forecasting El Nino
• The El Nino Experience: Part 3 of Forecasting El Nino
• The El Nino Experience Preparation: Part 4 of Forecasting El Nino
• The El Nino Experience Landscape: Part 5 of Forecasting El Nino
   

Get weather coverage you count on from Weather Team 7 by downloading the free NBC 7 App.