The 23 ZIP codes defining South County outpaced the overall county’s growth in GDP, personal income, and employment from 2010 to 2013, said a report from the National University System Institute for Policy Research.

According to the report, South County has seen GDP increase 37.6 percent from 2010-2013, a rate three times faster than the county’s overall rate of growth. This growth has been fueled by an increasing number of high-tech and professional service companies located in South County, continued growth along the U.S.-Mexico border, and gains in the “Working Waterfront” of the San Diego Bay.

South County’s personal income increased by 69.4 percent during the three year period, and employment grew by 29.2 percent. This indicates that people are living and working in South County, as opposed to commuting to other areas, the report said.

“People tend to spend more money where they live rather than where they earn money. This brings more prosperity localized to the South County region,” said Kelly Cunningham, economist at the National University System Institute for Policy Research.

Cunningham is set to unveil the report at the South County Economic Development Council's 25th Annual Economic Summit on Oct. 2.

South County’s largest employment, income, and sales increases came from professional, scientific, and technical services, according to the report. These are typically skilled, high-wage positions, which contribute to a strong multiplier effect on other local businesses, Cunningham said.

South County has experienced this growth partially because it is smaller and has more room for growth than the rest of the county, Cunningham said.

"It's very impressive — having that kind of growth is almost stunning," Cunningham said

Last month, Aaron Smith noticed his students were in a slump, so the college professor decided to try a few rhymes to wake them up.

A professor of African American Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia, Smith rapped to the tune of Big Sean’s “One Man Can Change the World,” but changed the lyrics to express experiences that the students were going through, with a special spin: "Owls Were Meant to Soar."

Owls are the university's mascot. 

Smith, who also goes by "Ben", posted the video on his Facebook page.

“I just wanted them to know that people have been down the same roads as them, and we know it’s not always easy,” Smith told NBC10.

Since he rapped that day in class, Smith said that students have come to his office hours increasingly more to talk about life and their coursework.

“I’m not just another teacher,” Smith said he’s been rapping since he was 18, and had planned to pursue a career in the music industry until he took a class at Temple with Molefi Kete Asante, professor and chair of the African American Studies department, that changed his life forever.

Smith said Asante always had a positive, optimistic message for his students, which inspired Smith to become a teacher and do the same.

“I feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to do."
 

A farmer and a property owner in Michigan were installing drainage pipe in a wheat field when they discovered a 3-foot-long bone that were later identified as a part of a mammoth pelvis, the University of Michigan said in a press release.

University of Michigan paleontologists worked in Lima Township, located about 10 miles southwest of Ann Arbor, to recover the skeleton of the animal, according to the release. They were able to retrieve the skull and two tusks, numerous vertebrae and ribs, the pelvis and both shoulder blades.

The bones came from an adult male mammoth that lived 11,700 to 15,000 years ago, paleontologist Daniel Fisher said. However, the remains have yet to be dated.

"We think that humans were here and may have butchered and stashed the meat so that they could come back later for it," Fisher said, according to the release.

The team said they believe the animal was placed in a pond for storage, explaining that two boulders found near the skeleton may have been used to anchor the carcass, the release said.
 
"We didn't know what it was, but we knew it was certainly a lot bigger than a cow bone," property owner James Bristle said, according to the release.

The owner of an auto repair shop in El Cajon was left with a huge mess to clean up after a driver crashed at his business overnight.

According to the California Highway Patrol (CHP), the crash happened around 11 p.m. at Kirk’s Radiator shop in the 1700 block of North Magnolia Avenue. Officials said a driver somehow lost control and plowed through a fence, coming to rest right next to the business.

A shirtless driver emerged from the wreck and was arrested at the scene. He was taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital with unspecified injuries. The collision is under investigation and, at this point, it is unclear if alcohol or drugs contributed to the accident.

NBC 7 spoke with the owner of Kirk’s Radiator Friday morning, Ryan Newkirk, who was upset to find his business had been impacted by the crash.

“It’s frustrating to walk into this, to come in early and try to make progress and get work done, and now we’ve got a big mess to clean up and a lot of other things to deal with,” said Newkirk.

“The day just changed,” he added.

Despite the rough start to his Friday morning, Newkirk said he hoped to open for business by 8 a.m.

The name of the driver was not immediately released by CHP. No one else was injured in this incident.
 

The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) released the name Friday of a local man shot and killed by police earlier this week after he pointed a replica handgun at officers at an apartment complex in San Ysidro.

Police say San Diego resident Alberto Hernandez, 59, was critically shot in a confrontation with three SDPD officers on Sept. 28 – Officer Jeffrey McCoy, Officer Jonathan Wells and Officer Brandon Lull. McCoy has been with the department for 18 months while Wells and Lull are each one-year veterans, SDPD officials said.

On Sept. 28, at 1:15 a.m., the SDPD officers went to an apartment in the 1100 block of West San Ysidro Boulevard after a man called 911 and said he wanted to shoot a woman. After the statement, the man quickly hung up.

When officers arrived at a second-story apartment unit, Hernandez answered the door, armed with what appeared to be a semi-automatic handgun. Police said the suspect pointed the weapon at officers before slamming the door shut.

As a precaution, the officers began evacuating residents of neighboring apartments. Just then, according to police, Hernandez exited the apartment – still armed – and walked down the stairs towards the officers, allegedly pointing the gun at them.

The SDPD said Hernandez was ordered several times to drop the weapon, but he refused.

The three officers, fearing for their safety and the safety of other residents, discharged their service weapons, striking Hernandez with multiple rounds. The suspect was taken to a local hospital where he ultimately died from wounds suffered in the officer-involved shooting.

None of the officers were injured.

Investigators recovered the suspect’s weapon and found it was a replica of a semi-automatic handgun, the SDPD confirmed.

The investigation is ongoing.
 

The owner of a jewelry store in Chula Vista says he’s grateful to be alive after two unknown men robbed his shop at gunpoint, telling him to obey their orders if he wanted to live.

According to Chula Vista Police Department (CVPD) Capt. Lon Turner, the armed robbery happened Thursday around 5:40 p.m. at McClendon Jewelers located at 258 Third Ave.

After two unknown men entered the shop, one of the men brandished a handgun. Soon, the pair began demanding jewelry from the display cases.

During the robbery, Capt. Turner said the suspects ordered employees into the restroom. When the employees exited the restroom, the men were gone. Police officers launched a search for the suspects Thursday evening in the area, but did not locate the pair.

On Friday, NBC 7 spoke with the owner of the jewelry store, Zaven Abikian, who said he was still very shaken up.

Standing in his shop with nearly all of the display cases empty, Abikian said he was in the process of closing the store for the day when the men walked in.

Abikian said the suspects targeted his high-value pieces and demanded he weigh one of the gold chains for them.

As they moved about the store, Abikian said they pushed him and flashed their gun, teling him, “You better cooperate. If not, you might not go home tonight.”

Abikian said he was extremely frightened and immediately thought of his wife and 7-year-old daughter. Fearful he may not see his family again, he did not fight back and did as he was told.

The suspects then made Abikian, his watchmaker and his jeweler go into the bathroom while they finished ransacking the business.

On Friday, black dust covered all of the display cases in the store, left behind by investigators who dusted for fingerprints.

Abikian said police officers collected a lot of evidence after the robbery, and he is confident the suspect will be caught. The heist was caught on the shop’s surveillance camera, and the footage was given to investigators.

In the meantime, Abikian said he’s just thankful no one was injured.

Abikian said he has been making jewelry at the shop for 20 years and has owned it for 11 years. He has been robbed once before, but not to this degree.

He said he takes great joy in making jewelry and to have his pieces stolen like this has taken away that happiness.

As of Friday at 11 a.m., no arrests had been made.

The CVPD said the men are described as African American, between 20 and 40 years old. One man was approximately 5-foot-10 with a heavy build and wore a plaid shirt and jeans during the robbery. The second man was described as 5-foot-11 with a thin build, wearing a white T-shirt and blue pants.

Abikian told NBC 7 he recognized one of the suspects from a prior visit to his shop. He said one of the men came in before asking about jewelry values and what certain pieces were worth.

The robbery remains under investigation. Anyone with information should contact the CVPD at (619) 691-5151.

The gunman who killed nine people at an Oregon community college had body armor and was armed with six guns and five additional magazines, officials said.

ATF Assistant Special Agent in Charge Celine Nunez said six weapons were recovered at Umpqua Community College and an additional seven were found at the shooter's home.

All 13 firearms were purchased legally by the shooter or a family member in the last three years, Nunez said. 

Investigators also found a flak jacket next to a rifle at the school, which contained steel plates, she said.

"This is a hunting state and firearms are common in most households," Douglas County Sheriff John  Hanlin said at a press conference Friday, responding to the substantial number of weapons Mercer owned.

Hanlin said the medical examiner's office will officially release the shooter's name some time Friday, adding that no one from his department will use his name because “it will only glorify his horrific actions and will only serve to inspire future shooters."

The gunman, identified as 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer, had a 9mm Glock pistol and .40-caliber Smith & Wesson, according to a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives incident report obtained by The Associated Press.

Mercer also had a .40-caliber Taurus pistol traced to someone in Portland and a .556-caliber Del-Ton.

The shooting Thursday at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, a former timber town 180 miles south of Portland, also wounded seven people. Mercer died after a shootout with police.

Mercer isn't believed to have a criminal history. Investigators believe he may have been a student there because a receipt found at the scene showed he purchased textbooks from the campus bookstore two days before the shooting.

Law enforcement officials told NBC News that Mercer left behind a multi-page document at the shooting scene espousing what one of them called "a philosophy of hate."

Two officials familiar with the contents say he wrote that he would be "welcomed in Hell and embraced by the devil."

The officials said he lamented the fact that he had no girlfriend. "He said he had no life," another official said, adding, "He felt the world was against him."

Mercer had enlisted in the U.S. Army and was stationed at Fort Jackson in South Carolina from Nov. 5 to Dec. 11, 2008, before being discharged for "failing to meet the minimum administrative standards to serve, Army officials said. 

The worst mass shooting in recent Oregon history was raising questions about security at the college with about 3,000 students.

"I suspect this is going to start a discussion across the country about how community colleges prepare themselves for events like this," former college president Joe Olson said.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said Friday we must do more to prevent mass shooting around the country, but added that talk of gun policies should wait until after the victim’s families had time to grieve.

“This is a conversation we will have but today is not the day,” Brown said.

Senator Ron Wyden echoed Brown's comments, adding "it is clear that it does have to be about more than words if we want this carnage to end."

Roseburg is in Douglas County, a politically conservative region west of the Cascade Range where people like to hunt and fish.

Sheriff Hanlin has been vocal in opposing state and federal gun-control legislation. In 2013, Hanlin sent a letter to Vice President Joe Biden after the shooting at a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school, declaring that he and his deputies would refuse to enforce new gun-control restrictions "offending the constitutional rights of my citizens."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

As spiny lobster season opens, the Coast Guard is warning divers to be extra cautious going out into the water. The goal is to begin and end the season without any deaths or injuries.

During last year's lobster season in Southern California, five people lost their lives in dive-related deaths and two were injured. Lobster diving, not to be confused with regular diving, can be very dangerous. Coast Guard authorities say there's a lot more to it than just diving.

“You're actively trying to grab the lobsters, maintain a hold of them while monitoring your air pressure in your tank, your location under the water,” Lt. Cmdr. Kris Szczechowicz of the Coast Guard said.

All of that makes this a sport for the experienced diver. Last year among the five people who lost their lives was husband, father and experienced diver Jeffrey Logrando. He began struggling with his gear shortly after getting in the water at the Mission Bay Channel and then suddenly sank.

James Roberts has been diving for several years, but Friday he prepared for his first lobster dive. At the start of this season, officials urge that before you even get into the water, get a medical assessment from a doctor to make sure you’re in good condition. They say to check your gear, practice with it, leave behind a dive plan with someone else and - as Roberts can attest to - always dive with a buddy.

“We were diving last weekend as well and I happen to cross a fishing line I didn't see,” Roberts told NBC7. “So my buddy was there, he untangled the fishing line and we carried on.”

Authorities say many of these accidents happen because people underestimate the hazards of diving and overestimate their own ability.

Former San Diego State quarterback Kevin O’Connell is heading back to Qualcomm Stadium as the Cleveland Browns quarterbacks coach when they take on the Chargers Sunday. 

As emergency crews investigated reports of a suspicious package at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, the owner returned to pick up the harmless bag, officials say. 

The package was found near the flight line before 6 p.m., after the base's annual air show had ended for the day.

No evacuations have been ordered for the military and news crews still at the scene.

Finally, a person came forward to claim the bag, ending the investigation.

San Diego transit and affordable housing advocates are boosting their efforts to tap special state money sources -- in competition with the L.A. and Bay Areas.

This region has a relatively small public transit system.

But to tilt the odds more in its favor, planners involved in that funding competition could take a page out of L.A.'s playbook by earmarking a bigger chunk of its transit land for low-income housing, as well as by getting waivers on guidelines more suited to the L.A. and Bay Area population densities.

"We were successful this year in getting more than our proportional share of the dollars that were available statewide,” said Charles Stoll, director of land use and transportation planning for the San Diego Regional Assn. of Governments (SANDAG). 

“There's no reason to believe that we can't do that again next year,” Stoll added in an interview Friday.  “As a matter of fact, the Los Angeles area did not get its proportional share."

One of two major projects to receive that special state funding this year was the 200-unit Paradise Creek apartment complex in National City, about a block away from the 24th Street Trolley Station.

The selling point?

Getting more people in housing that’s near public transit.

But a big consideration at the state level is that while nearly one in ten low-income residences in this area are within a half a mile of public transit, fewer than half are close to transit stopping every 15 minutes at peak travel hours, letting riders jump on without having to look at schedules.
         
SANDAG is hoping that guideline for state funding gets adjusted so it's more favorable here.

Said Stoll: "We continue to work with the state agency, the Strategic Growth Council at the state, to work with them on their guidelines to make it as easy and fair as possible for projects in our region to be able to compete."

The concept certainly has appeal to trolley riders who spoke with NBC 7 Friday at the 24th Street station.

"I wish there was a trolley more close to my house,” said Bonita resident Latisha Pinkney.  “I would just love to walk, save money on gas, not even use my car as much --  really rely on my legs and the trolley to get to where I need to go."

That’s music to the ears of housing advocates.

"If we can put the folks, the workforce that needs affordable homes near transit," said Laura Nunn, policy director for the San Diego Housing Federation, “we can really have a great opportunity to be forward thinking and work within the goals set by the state to lower greenhouse gas emissions."

Regional planning agencies are expecting a 50 percent increase in funding from that special transit-oriented housing program next year – up to about $200 million statewide.
         
And SANDAG is determined to qualify again for a bigger proportional share of that financial pie. 
 

A father who lost his son to gang violence a little over 20 years ago has made it his mission to prevent other young adults from becoming involved in violence.

Now two decades later, that father, who has since partnered with the murderer’s grandfather in the spirit of forgiveness, is celebrating the success of their joint mission that has evolved into the Tariq Khamisa Foundation.

The foundation will be marking its anniversary milestone with a "Celebration of Transformation" gala event on Saturday, Oct. 3 at the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Azim Khamisa has used his son’s death to push for change, awareness, education, forgiveness and hope. That push has been widely successful, according to the foundation. It’s reached 500,000 youth through its programs and millions worldwide.

Azim’s son, 20-year-old Tariq, was shot and killed by 14-year-old gang member Tony Hicks, while Tariq was working, delivering pizzas in North Park.

Azim reached out to Hicks’ grandfather Ples Felix in an act of reconciliation, and nine months later they formed the foundation to address youth violence nationwide.

The foundation aims to end the violence through education, mentoring and community service programs.

A study has shown the work of the TKF has had a big impact, as school disciplinary actions, suspensions and violent behavior dropped. Last year the San Diego Unified School District voted to incorporate the foundation into all of its schools.

The foundation says among the youth that have been introduced to the program since 1995, 97 percent are ethnic minorities, 89 percent have disciplinary problems and 74 percent have academic problems. Thirty-eight percent of those youth are chronically truant, and 32 percent have at least one incarcerated family member, according to the foundation.

One of the heroes credited with taking down a terrorist on a French train would have been attending a class at a community college in Oregon when a gunman opened fire in a mass shooting if he hadn't been at a rehearsal for "Dancing With the Stars."

Alek Skarlatos, 22, who was one of three Americans credited with stopping a terrorist attack on a train in August, bolted from the "Dancing With the Stars" set when he heard about the massacre and headed straight to Roseburg, Oregon, a community he calls home.

"It takes a special kind of person to live here," he said. "It's kind of a tough place to make a living and it's a really resilient community and the people who are here are here for a reason. It's definitely a setback, but it's not going to crush this community at all."

Skarlatos said he was going to take some classes Umpqua Community College if it hadn't been for the unexpected opportunity to appear on the hit reality TV show.

Skarlatos said he would have tried to take down Christopher Sean Harper-Mercer, 26, if he had been in the classroom when Harper-Mercer, an Army boot camp dropout who studied mass shootings, opened fire, killing nine people before he was shot dead in an exchange of gunfire with police.

Skarlatos said he was with "Dancing" partner Lindsay Arnold when he received a text from a friend about the shooting. He said he then looked up the news on the Internet to confirm it.

"I just sat down for a second and then hid in the bathroom so the cameras couldn't see me," he said.

As far as he knows, none of his friends were among the victims.

"My heart really goes out to the people who can't say the same," he said.

Skarlatos and two friends, U.S. Air Force Airman Spencer Stone, 23, and Anthony Sadler, 23, received worldwide acclaim when they tackled the gunman aboard a train while vacationing in Europe. The heroics earned Skarlatos his stint on "Dancing With the Stars."

The next installment of the competition airs on Monday. If he misses that show he would be eliminated under the rules.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 Though kids at Rady Children’s Hospital may not get to go trick-or-treating this month, Legoland California Resort brought the spooky spirit to them on Friday.

Kids got to build Lego ghosts with the help of a Master Model Builder, work on aquarium-themed arts and crafts and see a stilt walker, juggler and globe walker all without leaving the hospital. They also got to talk to ninja hero Kai, a costumed Lego character.

The Rady Children’s patients were the first to experience Legoland’s Brick-or-Treat celebration which debuts Saturday. Brick-or-Treat Party Nights at Legoland will take place every Saturday this October, and Friday, October 30.

Brick-Or-Treat will feature multiple dance parties, costume contests, the Brick-Or-Treat Trail, treat stations and candy carts.

Family and friends gathered Friday to remember two women gunned down in a shooting Monday night in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood.

A prayer circle set the stage of the vigil for Patricia Chew, 23, and Lolita Wells, 46, the women killed in the shooting. Chew's 11-month-old infant and two other men were also wounded in the shooting. 

The family was coming back from an outing when a barrage of bullets were shot in the 5300 block of South Aberdeen just after 7 p.m, police said. An 11-month-old suffered a gunshot wound in the shooting and was taken to John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital in stable condition.

"Her son asks about her I don't have anything to say," Persha Chew, Patricia Chew's sister and Lolita Wells' daughter, said at the vigil.

Funerals for the two will be held on Wednesday. Meanwhile, family and activists are begging for anyone with information to speak up and "annihilate the code of silence in the streets."

San Diego continues its trend of producing top soccer talent. U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team head coach Richie Williams announced his 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup roster and four locals made the cut.

A quick-thinking world history teacher may have saved two women when he helped lead them away from a house fire.

Colleagues of seventh grade teacher Tom Coon reached out to NBC 7 to share the story of his actions during a recent City Heights fire.

The fire happened Monday afternoon in the 3400 block of Fairmount Avenue as a single-story home went up in flames.

“I was looking at it and all of the sudden I had a feeling like I needed to go help and do something,” Coon told NBC 7 in an exclusive interview Friday.

When Coon saw a flash and heard someone yell there was a fire, he said he ran out of Monroe Clark Middle School, jumped over a fence and went straight to the home.

Another man — a stranger — joined him, and together they saw a person come out from the smoke.

“We asked him if there were more people in the house, and he said ‘Yes, two more people,'” recalled Coon.

“We just sort of looked at each other and went into the house,” he added.

The smoke made it almost impossible to see inside. Coon said there were only a few inches of breathable air near the ground, so they started yelling for people to come out.

Suddenly, they saw two figures emerge. The men helped lead the two women to safety.

“What I could hear them saying is ‘What’s happening? What’s going on? How did this happen?’” Coon said.

Firefighters said the house suffered $200,000 in structure damage, $50,000 in damage to its contents inside and $20,000 in exposure damage. No injuries were reported.

“To think someone could be injured is really scary,” he said.

Coon’s colleagues and students think he’s a hero, but he doesn’t see it that way. He believes most other people in his community would have done the same thing.

“City Heights is a great community. People do look out for each other here,” he said.
 

A U.S. airstrike in the Afghan city of Kunduz may have killed three staffers with Doctors Without Borders and 30 other people were missing after a blast in a trauma center on Saturday, NBC News reported.

A spokesman for U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan, Col. Brian Tribus, confirmed that a U.S. airstrike conducted at around 2:15 a.m. local time "may have caused collateral damage to a nearby health facility."

"I can confirm that U.S. forces conducted an airstrike at approximately 2:15 a.m. (5:54 p.m. ET Friday) this morning October 3, in Kunduz city against individuals threatening the force. The airstrike may have caused collateral damage to a nearby health facility," Tribus said.

At least three DWB staff were killed in the bombing and 30 more were unaccounted for, the group said in a statement.

The DWB trauma center "was hit several times during sustained bombing and was very badly damaged," the group said. It called the bombing an "aerial attack."
 

Multiple bombs detonated in two locations of the Nigerian capital, Abuja, killing at least 15 people, the National Emergency Management Agency said Saturday.

The explosions Friday night were in Nyanya and Kuje, both satellite towns of Abuja, agency spokesman Sani Datti said in a statement. He said 13 people died in the blast in Kuje and two in Nyanya. At least 41 people were wounded, Datti said.

No group has claimed responsibility but the attack has attributes of others by Boko Haram, the home-grown Islamic extremist group. Boko Haram extremists have largely been carrying out attacks in the country's northeast but occasionally have attacked other towns.

Violence from Boko Haram's six-year insurgency has killed nearly 20,000 people and displaced 1.4 million from their homes. At least 1,000 people have been killed since President Muhammadu Buhari took office earlier this year with the promise of wiping out the insurgents.

Four suicide bombers killed at least 10 people Thursday in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, the army said. No group claimed responsibility but Nigerian security forces blamed Boko Haram, which is based in the area.

At least 39 others were wounded in the attack in the Sareji neighborhood of Maiduguri, military spokesman Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman said.

Nigeria's military on Thursday also accused Boko Haram of poisoning water sources in the northeastern Nigeria.

"Credible information ... indicates that though no human life was lost as a result of the barbaric act of the terrorists. However, some cattle were killed after drinking water from some poisoned sources," Usman said.

In a separate incident, residents say five people were killed earlier Thursday by suspected Boko Haram militants in Kirchinga, a village in Adamawa state, which borders the Sambisa forest, a Boko Haram hideout.

Ahmad Musa, who fled the attack on his village, said militants shot indiscriminately at residents, forcing many to flee into nearby bushes to escape the onslaught.

Buhari said Thursday his leadership has taken the battle to the insurgents, and severely weakened their logistical and infrastructural capabilities.

"That they are resorting to shameless attacks on soft targets ... is indicative of their cowardice and desperation," he said.

Joaquin has sped up a bit as it moves away from the Bahamas, and remains a Category 3 hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Joaquin was centered Saturday morning about 120 miles (175 kms) northeast of San Salvador, Bahamas, and about 700 miles (1,130 kms) southwest of Bermuda.

It has maximum sustained winds of 125 mph (205 kph), and is moving northeast at 13 mph (20 kph).

A hurricane warning is still in effect for parts of the Bahamas. The Bermuda Weather Service has issued a tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch for Bermuda.