Ocean Beach Pier was back open Sunday after a wet and wild weekend.

The pier had to be closed after high waves crashed over the pier cracking part of the railing.

“Generally the waves will hit the Ocean Beach Pier at an angle from the south so the rail on the southside of the pier was hit by some waves and there's some minor damage,"Sgt. Jon Vipond of San Diego Lifeguards told NBC 7.

Lifeguards put up a caution tape where the pieces of the railing once was and locked the gates to make sure no one got inside.

“The ocean is an incredibly powerful force and the larger the waves and the consistency the more power is generated,” Ocean Beach resident Doug Blackwood said.

The high surf also forced lifeguards to make at least a dozen rescues this weekend alone. Including saving a woman on Friday at La Jolla Cove when she swam to close to an area of reef called the hole.

“You want to make sure you're always careful around the ocean,” Sgt. Vipond explained. “Don't turn your back on the ocean is what they say."

Crews were able to replace the broken wood and repair damaged electrical wires so beachgoers can now go onto the pier safely.

Effective immediately e-cigarettes ad vaporizers will not be allowed on MiraCosta College’s campus. This ban is an extension of their prohibition on tobacco products.

Faculty, students and visitors may only use these products inside their cars.

Additionally these products may not be sold on campus and tobacco-related advertising is prohibited on campus and at sponsored events.

The revised policy came about through a collaborative effort between the college’s Academic Senate, Classified Senate, Associated Student Government and the college’s Administrative Council.

"The Associated Student Senate supported the revised smoking policy so that our students can learn in a safe and comfortable environment without having to deal or think of second-hand smoke and other smoking-related issues,” said ASG President Brayan Astorga.

The college’s ban on tobacco products was adopted in May 2009.
 

Mayor Kevin Faulconer  are advocating the City take steps to put ‘Rebuild San Diego’, a measure that would commit sales tax, general fund growth and pension reform savings for street, park and neighborhood upgrades over the next three decades, on the June ballot.

On Monday the mayor and Councilmember Kersey will hold a press conference calling on the City to move the measure forward.

Councilmember Kersey's measure is projected to secure up to $5 billion for infrastructure projects over the next 30 years. The plan doesn’t include a tax increase.

The mayor endorsed the proposal in his “State of the City” address earlier this month. The City Council is scheduled to vote at 2 p.m. Tuesday to direct the City Attorney’s office to draft the language for the “Rebuild San Diego” measure so it can be ready to be placed on the June 7th ballot.

The speech will take place at 12:30 p.m. in front of City Hall.

A 34-year-old man was stabbed in the back as he walked outside of a 7-11 Sunday evening according to San Diego police.

The incident happened around 5:33 p.m. in the 3100 block of Midway Drive.

The victim passed the suspect as he exited the 7-11. The suspect asked the victim for some money and when the man didn’t give him any the suspect stabbed him in the back with a knife.

The Victim was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The suspect is described as a dark-skinned man in his 50s, 6’2” and 185 pounds. He has black hair and eyes, and is unshaven with a shaved head. He was wearing a black backpack, dark jacket and black jeans.

SDPD is investigating.
 

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, Columbia University and Stanford University have discovered a distinctive molecular feature that identifies colon cancer patients who are most likely to remain disease-free up to five years after surgery.

The biomarker, a protein called CDX2, also helped the researchers identify Stage II colon cancer patients who are most likely to benefit from chemotherapy after surgery.

“Because previous studies did not take into account differences between colon cancers with and without CDX2, doctors have long struggled to identify which Stage II colon cancer patients might benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy,” said first author Debashis Sahoo, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics, and computer science and engineering at UC San Diego. “But what we’ve now found is that some of these patients might benefit from chemotherapy, and we now have a biomarker to tell the difference, potentially saving many lives and reducing toxicity from unnecessary treatment.”

Sahoo led the study alongside co-first author Piero Dalerba, MD, of Columbia University, and senior author Michael Clarke, MD, of Stanford University.

The study took advantage of a method developed by Sahoo to identify differences in gene expression patterns. Sahoo used it earlier to find genes involved in stem cell differentiation, the process in which stems cells specialize into specific cell types in an organ.

“Dr. Sahoo’s bioinformatics approach is extraordinarily powerful,” said Dalerba. “We used it to search for biomarkers that could help us identify which colon tumors were likely to contain high numbers of stem-like cells.”

Dalerba and Sahoo discovered that when the gene CDX2 is ‘off,’ another molecular marker in colon tumors, called ALCAM, is always ‘on.’

“We reasoned that colon tumors lacking CDX2 would likely contain a higher number of stem-like cells, and would therefore be more aggressive than CDX2-positive tumors,” said Dalerba.

After analyzing a database of cancer gene expressions, the team found that 4% of colon cancers lack CDX2. They then used the database to determine if there is an association between CDX2 status and patient outcomes.

The team discovered that CDX2-negative tumors were associated with poorer prognosis. 41% percent of colon cancer patients with CDX2-negative tumors survived five years disease-free, as compared to 74% of patients with CDX2-positive colon tumors.

The team found that treating CDX2-negative patients with chemotherapy improved their chances of survival. 91% of CDX2-negative Stage II colon cancer patients survived five years disease-free when they were treated with chemotherapy. In contrast only 56% CDX2-negative Stage II colon cancer patients who did not receive chemotherapy survived five years disease-free.

“While promising, this study was retrospective, meaning we looked back at existing patient data. Before they can be applied to clinical practice, these results need to be confirmed by prospective, randomized clinical trials,” Sahoo said.

The retrospective study was published January 21st by the New England Journal of Medicine.
 

A bill by California State Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez of San Diego to provide a monthly $50 diaper voucher to parents in the CalWORKs welfare-to-work program was approved by the Assembly Appropriations Committee Thursday.

A second bill put forth by Gonzalez would exempt diapers from California sales tax.

Parents enrolled in CalWorks who qualify for the childcare benefit would receive a $50 supplement per baby.

“With Medi-Cal covering half of all births and wages struggling to keep up with the cost of living, we must continue to strengthen California's commitment to hard working parents,” said Gonzalez. “Diapers are a core necessity for babies and toddlers, and making sure they’re affordable is a smart investment to support families working hard to get on track and help their children succeed.”

Lack of affordable diapers is an impediment to accessing available child care options, which in turn can obstruct a woman’s ability to seek work.

Seven states already exempt diapers from sales tax, including Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Both bills will be considered by the full Assembly next week.

A man's body has been found inside an Imperial Beach house following a SWAT standoff, San Diego Sheriff's Department (SDSO) officials said. 

The standoff started at approximately 2:51 p.m. Sunday on the 500 block of Florence Street when the suspect, identified as Aurelio Perez, stabbed his wife, deputies said. He proceeded to lock himself in the house and refused to surrender, deputies said. 

His wife was taken to the UC San Diego Medical Center with non life-threatening injuries. 

The couple has four kids together, and non of them were home when the stabbing occured. 

"So I kind of woke up, got out of my chair, and then I heard somebody run upstairs - sounded like the police - and I heard them beating the door. And after that all these police came and they told me to evacuate. That's about it," neighbor Richard Johnson explained.

Only two units next to where the suspect was hiding were evacuated. Calla Avenue and Cypress Avenue were closed as deputies work and other nearby roads may have also be closed. 

SWAT officials have fired flashbangs, and have shot gas inside the home as well, to no response. Once they sent in a robot, they found the man's body. The fatal wound was self-inflicted, officials said. 

Calla Avenue and Cypress Avenue are still blocked off according to the Sheriff's Department.

Friends and family are mourning a pregnant teen who died Saturday morning after shoveling snow outside her home in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.

A family member told NBC10 18-year-old Briahna Gerloff collapsed after shoveling snow outside her home on 2nd Street around 9 a.m.

Family members said Gerloff was 8 months pregnant and suffered from several heart defects, including Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW), a disorder caused by an abnormal accessory electrical conduction pathway between the atria and the ventricles.

"I told her it probably wasn’t a good idea for her to be outside shoveling," a family member said. "She wanted to do it anyway."

The family member said he went across the street to take a break while Gerloff went back inside. When the family member returned to Gerloff’s home, the front door was locked. He went through the basement door and searched for her.

"I went upstairs, yelling her name, looking for her,” he recalled. "I went to the bottom of the steps and yelled her name."

The family member entered the kitchen, where he found Gerloff unresponsive on the floor.

"I started doing CPR," he said. "That’s when my neighbor came over and helped with CPR and tried to revive her and then the ambulance came."

After police and medics arrived at the scene, Gerloff’s family learned the tragic news. Briahna and her baby, Kayliana, had died.

"She was a very good person," the family member said, "a caring and loving person and she could not wait to be a mother."

A childhood friend told NBC10 Briahna’s mother passed away three years ago. The friend set up a GoFundMe page to help with the family’s funeral costs.

A candlelight vigil will be held for Briahna and Kayliana on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 5 p.m. on 14 E. Second Street in Pottstown. The family is requesting that anyone who attends bring a lit candle, flower or object to lay down.

Police have not yet determined a cause of death. The investigation is ongoing.

A new interactive mural by cult graffiti artist Banksy appeared in London Monday morning, but it's already been covered up, NBC News reported. 

The piece, painted on the wall of a building site opposite the French Embassy, is the latest in a series from the artist criticizing the way refugees and migrants are treated at the Calais "Jungle" camp in northern France.

The mural, based on the iconic poster for the hit musical "Les Miserables," shows a young girl with tears in her eyes, and the French national flag in the background. A QR code next to them image links to a video showing French police using tear gas to disperse crowds in the Calais Jungle earlier this month.

In December, the artist created a work depicting Steve Jobs, the late founder of Apple, with a bag over his shoulder and an early model of an Apple computer in his hand. Banksy explained that he painted Steve Jobs in Calais because he was the son of a Syrian migrant from Homs.

Canada has hockey night. America has baseball night.

The Padres are bringing Baseball Night in San Diego back to Petco Park for the 2016 season. Every Saturday home game will feature a giveaway or event, including the wildly popular fedora, Padres hoodie and a throwback replica jersey.

The Friars are adding something new this year, too ... technology-based giveaways for the first time as a way to enhance the fan experience at Petco Park.

Many of the 2016 giveaway items feature design elements of the new Padres jerseys and wordmarks, which were unveiled in December.

The fun starts with the opening series against the Dodgers, where every fan in attendance gets an Opening Series Rally Towel. Each day of the series will feature a different towel design based on the newly unveiled 2016 Padres jerseys (April 4 – Commemorative home white, April 5 – Brown and Yellow, April 6 – Navy digital camouflage).
 
Here's how the rest of the 2016 Baseball Night in San Diego season looks (Giveaways will be distributed to all fans in attendance):

•         Sat., April 16 vs. Arizona Diamondbacks: Padres Hat (COX); SD Decal and 2016 Schedule Cling
•         Sat., April 23 vs. St. Louis Cardinals: Tyson Ross Jersey T-shirt (Mission Federal Credit Union)
•         Sat., May 7 vs. New York Mets: Padres Hoodie (Toyota)
•         Sat., May 21 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers: Postgame Fireworks
•         Sat., June 4 vs. Colorado Rockies: To Be Announced
•         Sat., June 18 vs. Washington Nationals: Padres Fedora (National University)
•         Sat., July 2 vs. New York Yankees: Postgame Laser Show
•         Sat., July 16 vs. San Francisco Giants: $10 Coupon to Padres Majestic Team Store
•         Sat., July 30 vs. Cincinnati Reds: SD Ear Buds (United Airlines)
•         Sat., August 6 vs. Philadelphia Phillies: Throwback Replica Jersey (Fanatics)
•         Sat., August 20 vs. Arizona Diamondbacks: Fan’s choice*: Back-to-school SD Lunch Bag or Back-to-Tailgating SD Bottle Holder
•         Sat., September 10 vs. Colorado Rockies: SD USB Charger 
•         Sat., September 24 vs. San Francisco Giants: Padres Team Photo and 2017 Schedule (Mighty 1090) and postgame Fireworks
*Subject to availability of each item

The full promotional and events calendar for 2016 will be announced prior to single-game tickets going on sale on February 11. You can get tickets at www.padres.com.

Oceanside Police have found a missing 12-year-old child last seen near Oak Riparian Park early Monday morning. 

The boy was found at approximately 2 p.m. Monday in the trails behind a the park he went missing in around 8:35 a.m. The child was not considered at risk because he ran away from his mother, said OPD Lt. Valdovinos. 

The child was not considered at risk because he ran away from his mother, said OPD Lt. Valdovinos. 

A San Diego Sheriff's Department (SDSO) helicopter assisted with the search; search and rescue teams were not called out. 

He was last seen at the park, located at 4625 Lake Boulevard tucked under State Route 78, at 8:35 a.m. Monday morning. The small park is located by Emerald Drive and Ridge Road and backs into a stretch of land covered with hiking trails. 

No further information was immediately available. 

A 6-year-old girl out for a walk in the snow in the Bronx Saturday afternoon tumbled down a manhole, authorities said.

The girl was walking with her mother at about 3:30 p.m. on Westchester Avenue in Woodstock when she fell down the snow-covered manhole.

"Out of nowhere, my daughter just disappeared. She went straight through the snow into the hole," the girl's mother, Sharon Burrell, said from her attorney's office Monday. 

A group of people playing football rushed over and were able to take the girl out of the manhole outside a public housing complex. 

She was taken to Lincoln Hospital and kept overnight, authorities said.

Her injuries were not considered life-threatening, according to the FDNY.

The manhole was haphazardly roped off with a trash bin and caution tape until Monday afternoon, outraging the girl's mother. 

"They should have closed the hole Saturday, when my daughter almost died in that hole," Burrell's voice is heard in a cellphone video of the scene provided to NBC 4 by her attorney. "This is what they do, they put garbage and a pile of snow and a chair to try to cover this hole that is still there."

Another cellphone video taken by a resident echoed the mom's worries: "This is right by a basketball court where little kids play. There's no reason they shouldn't have something guarding this," the man is heard saying. "Look how high this snow is, larger than most little kids, like four feet. No way a kid could have seen this."

NYCHA, the agency that oversees the city's public housing, said Monday evening the manhole covere appeared to be have been moved. The agency has covered the manhole with plywood as an immediate safety measure until a contractor puts up a fence around the manhole "as soon as tomorrow," a spokeswoman said. 

Burrell's attorney, Sanford Rubenstein, said NYCHA failed to maintain the property and pathways "the way they're required to under the law." 

Mayor de Blasio had urged residents to contact 311 if they saw manholes without covers. He said snow plows could inadvertently scrape the covers off. 

Crystal Hutchinson knew the Jersey Shore might flood during the blizzard so when she woke at 6:45 a.m. on Saturday, she checked for rising water.

Nothing.

Forty-five minutes later her husband, James, woke her again. The fast moving water was almost on their porch in North Wildwood and the electricity was off.

“The water was crazy, crazy right outside of the door,” she said.

Hutchinson, her husband, her five children as well as her neighbor’s teenage daughter and the girl’s boyfriend were stranded and the North Wildwood Police Department was overwhelmed with emergency calls.

“The water was still coming up and we didn’t know how we were going to get out,” she said.

An hour and a half later, they were able to flag down a 5-ton military truck that the police use for high waters. They passed the younger children over then waded in. Later Hutchinson tweeted a photo of her 9-year-old daughter, Jolie Wilson, being carried to the truck. The photo was taken by her neighbor, Ashgan Abouelgheet.

“We were petrified,” Hutchinson said. “We were so scared. The kids were all having anxiety attacks.”

Three years ago, the family lost everything while living in neighboring Wildwood during superstorm Sandy. They were afraid they would again.

The Hutchinsons and their neighbors were among up to 200 people evacuated by the police department throughout the day, Chief Matthew Gallagher said. Cities at the southern end of the Jersey Shore were flooded more severely than during Sandy while other were pummeled as dramatically or worse.

Police Officer Joseph Kopetsky, who carried Jolie to the truck, said that the Hutchinsons’ call for help was among 45 pending at one point. The water was a few inches from the top his waders — about 4 to 4 1/2 feet, he estimated. He and his fellow officer, Justin Robinson, tired to keep the children calm.

“We just tried out best to make them comfortable while we guided them into the truck,” Kopetsky said. “It’s intimidating.”

The Hutchinsons eventually found their way to Crystal Hutchinson’s mother’s house in nearby North Cape May.

In the end, the water stopped rising soon after they left and they had no damage. But others in town lost belongings, she said.

“We were the lucky ones,” she said. “There were a lot of people who were much less fortunate.”
 

For the first time in its 88-year history, the San Diego International Airport has surpassed 20 million annual passengers.

Over the course of 2015, the airport saw a 7 percent increase in passengers from the 2014, according to preliminary data reported by the airport. 

“Crossing the 20-million-passenger threshold is an important and meaningful milestone,” said Thella F. Bowens, President and CEO of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, in a statement. “But more important is the fact that the airport has seen consistent and sustainable growth in the post-recession years.”

More than 10 million passengers departed from the airport in 2015, a seven percent increase from 2014. 

The airport had 700,000 international passengers in 2015 as well, a four percent increase from the previous year. 

Additionally, more than 165,000 flights with more than 60 seats took off from the airport in 2015. 

San Diego soccer fans saw the present and possibly the future of United States soccer Saturday at Qualcomm Stadium.

The U.S. Women's National Soccer team has always had a goal scoring machine going back to Mia Hamm who gave way to Abby Wambach who just passed the torch to Carli Lloyd. There is never a big break between offensive superstars.

When Team America played a friendly match against Ireland in our town, the first half was all about Lloyd, who is not the person you want to leave alone near the net.

Lloyd had a hat trick in the first 28 minutes.

The U.S. led 4-0 at halftime and the starters took the second half off, so we got to see Mallory Pugh, the 17-year-old phenom in her first appearance for the national team.

Team America wins 5-0, a nice way to head in to next month's Olympic qualifying rounds.
 

A 37-year-old man died after driving off State Route 94 and into a guardrail in unincorporated San Diego County, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Riding his 2014 Suzuki motorcycle, the man approached a curve on westbound SR-94, east of Otay Lakes Road, at 1:55 p.m. Sunday.

The CHP says the rider was driving at a high rate of speed when he failed to take the curve and rode onto the dirt shoulder.

The motorcycle hit the guardrail, and the man flew from the bike, striking the pavement.

He was taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital, where he died from his injuries. 

No other vehicles were involved, and the CHP says neither alcohol nor drugs was a factor.

Investigators reached out to the public Monday in an effort to track down information on three inmates, two of whom are believed to have gang ties, after their escape over the weekend from an Orange County jail.

More than 30 search warrants have been served since the manhunt began Friday after Hossein Nayeri, 37, Jonathan Tieu, 20, and Bac Duong, 43, were discovered missing from the Orange County Central Men's Jail in Santa Ana. The three men likely cut through steel bars and plumbing ducts before climbing to the roof and rappelling down several stories using a rope.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department conducted a news conference Monday to ask for help from the public hours before prosecutors announced that the men face new charges connected with the escape even as they are on the run.

"I really want to emphasize the important role of the public," said Orange County Sheriff's Department Lt. Jeff Hallock. "Look at these pictures. We know that somebody out there knows something."

Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said Sunday there have been no sightings of the fugitives and there is no reason to believe the inmates have left the country. The warrants served since the escapes were served at homes and on electronic devices, such as phones and computers.

Hutchens said it was believed the inmates had tools to get through three secured areas in the jail and described the escape as a highly "sophisticated operation." Sheriff's officials released images and surveillance video of evidence connected to the escape of the three inmates, including photos of a rope believed to have been used in the escape.

All three men are considered dangerous, authorities said.

"We understand you're in danger, we understand you're fearful, that you may be fearful about coming forward with information about where these individuals are located," said Lt. Dave Sawyer, of the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Nayeri, who had been in custody since September 2014, faces charges of kidnapping, torture, burglary and aggravated mayhem. He is accused of torturing the victim, a marijuana dispensary owner, burning him with a blow torch and cutting off his penis, Sawyer said.

Nayeri and two other assailants believed the man was hiding money in the desert, according to investigators. The victim survived the attack after being dumped in the desert, Sawyer said.

Nayeri was being held without bail.

Tieu faces charges for murder, attempted murder, and shooting at an inhabited dwelling. His case is believed to be gang-related. He had been held on a $1 million bond since October 2013. Tieu was set to be arraigned in March for his second murder trial. His first case ended in a mistrial.

Duong, who is ineligible for bail due to an immigration hold, had been in custody since December 2015 on charges of possession of a firearm, possession of stolen property, vehicle theft, attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and shooting an at inhabited dwelling. He also is associated with a Vietnamese gang, Sawyer said. According to court records, Duong has a criminal past that goes back 20 years. He did time in San Diego and Orange County.

In November, authorities said he shot at a house and tried to kill a man. He's been inside Men's Central Jail since November.

Tieu and Duong might be "embedded" with the Vietnamese community in the area,  sheriff's investigators said.

"We need the community to realize what a danger they present," said Sawyer. "Specifically, in the Vietnamese community, there is fear that exists."

The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a $30,000 reward — $10,000 for each inmate and the FBI is offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to their arrest, the sheriff’s department said.

Anyone who sees any of the suspects should call 911 immediately, and  anyone with information regarding their possible whereabouts was urged to call  a special hotline at 714-628-7085.

Residents were on high alert ever since the news of the inmate escape broke.

San Diego Police arrested a man on charges of first-degree murder in connection after his roommate was found unconscious in a Pacific Beach apartment.

Officers were called to an apartment at Missouri Street and Mission Boulevard Sunday at 3:30 a.m. They found a woman who wasn’t breathing but appeared to be suffering from no external injuries.

At a nearby hospital, however, medical staff told police the victim suffered severe trauma to the head and left arm.

Investigators say the woman died from injuries she suffered when she was battered Saturday at a Clairemont home.

On Sunday, police went to Mt. Everest near Mt. Ararat Drive where they arrested 62 year-old David Ashton.

Ashton was booked in County Jail just after 5 p.m. Sunday on one count of murder and is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.

The San Diego County Medical Examiner has identified the woman as Ashton's roommate, Regina Eve Moore, 48, of San Diego.

Investigators say anyone with information on this crime can call the Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.