An elevator repair worker was killed after he plunged 45 stories in an elevator shaft at a high-rise building in New Jersey, authorities said.

The man was working on the roof of the 52-story building on Boulevard E in Guttenberg when he fell down the shaft at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, authorities said.

He was found wedged between an elevator cab and the wall of the shaft near the eighth floor of the building. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

His body was removed by emergency responders, authorities said.

Additional information was not immediately clear.

Prompted by what authorities are calling an "alarming spike" in wrong-way fatalities, Caltrans is piloting a program to better alert drivers to off-ramps.

Wrong-way crashes have a higher likelihood of being fatal. In 2012, wrong-way drivers caused about 0.2 percent of the 109,000 freeway crashes in the state, but were responsible for nearly 3 percent of all the fatal crashes, according to Caltrans.

Caltrans spokesman Edward Cartagena said they’re particularly devastating to families of the victims, first-responders and the community.

“With the hundreds of thousands of crashes that happen across the state in any given year, these wrong-way drivers are typically the most devastating when it comes to family or friends or the first responderst that are out there,” Cartagena said.

Wrong-way drivers killed 13 people on San Diego freeways last year, with five of those deaths in December alone, as reported Sunday by UT San Diego’s Pauline Repard.

State officials, California Highway Patrol and Caltrans all call it an alarming spike.

Now, Caltrans is introducing a pilot program to improve warning signs on 63 off-ramps on the Interstate 15 between California State Route 78 and Interstate 8.

The plan includes bigger “wrong-way” signs, flashing lights and sensors that alert California Highway Patrol when someone enters the freeway the wrong way.

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Each off-ramp along I-15, stretching through much of the county, is ranked as a Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3 danger.

The amount of signage and reflectors depends on the level.

Funding for the project comes from the state, and the signs are being installed at the end of the month. Cartagena said if successful, the program may be expanded.

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Residents in the East County are furious that San Diego County will not remove a toppled tree blocking their neighborhood’s road.

Sunday’s fierce winds uprooted a huge tree and pushed it onto Silverbrook Drive in Harbison Canyon. Small cars are able to drive under it and people can walk around it, but the gap between the road and the tree will not fit vehicles like ambulances or fire engines.

Houses sit another quarter mile beyond the tree, and residents there have no other road to get out.

Homeowners began calling the county Monday to get the barrier removed. They were told the tree is on private property.

“Silverbrook Drive is partially a public road and segments where the asphalt ends, and it’s a privately owned road,” said Alex Bell, the county’s Public Works spokesperson.

“We are not able to use county funds or resources to maintain private facilities,” Bell added. “That would be up to people in the area, the homeowners.”

Mark Sandecki, one of the first Silverbrook residents to call, said that is not true.

He lost his home in the 2003 wildfires and had to undergo many property surveys. He said he knows where the property line is, and the land holding the tree has always belonged to the county.

“I’m boiling, but I’m trying not to because I don’t want to have a heart attack,” said Sandecki, who had major heart surgery two months ago.

When the tree came tumbling down, it landed on Sharie West’s car. She said county employees came, surveyed the area, “washed their hands and left,” telling the locals they needed to remove the tree themselves.

“It’s not privately owned,” said West. “It does not belong to us. It’s not deeded to us. We pay property taxes to maintain this road.”

She is worried for elderly neighbors, who live beyond the tree and could not be reached by emergency services if there is a need.

Bell told NBC 7 this sort of issue is fairly common in unincorporated areas of the county, where it’s “not as clear where the lines are.”

In the last couple of days, crews have received reports of more than 90 fallen trees needing removal across the county.

An injured dog on the train tracks in Vista delayed the Sprinter early Tuesday, officials said.

San Diego County Sheriff's Deputies were called to the tracks along South Santa Fe near Vista Village around 4:30 a.m.

Deputies were told there was an injured dog in the tracks. The person calling it in said the dog growled when it was touched so it was believed the animal was still alive but badly injured.

North County Transit sent an alert to its users that Sprinter service in the area was delayed. By 6 a.m., service was restored.

The results in Iowa on Monday looked familiar: a bloc of deeply-conservative and religious GOP voters selected a candidate like them in Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and Hillary Clinton won about half of the Democratic votes. These results show that establishment isn't dead yet, according to NBC News' analysis.

With Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump at times surging in the polls — the 2016 race has been defined by its strong outsider candidates, but in the first actual votes, it was a draw. Clinton, a deeply-familiar figure endorsed by a very long list of Democratic elected officials, effectively tied with Sanders — who few party elites have backed. Trump, another insurgent opposed by many elites in his party, was just ahead of Marco Rubio, a career politician like Clinton and a favorite of the GOP establishment.

Cruz, who won Monday, says he is running as an outsider — but he is a sitting senator with a long list of endorsements from key conservative activists. He has both establishment and outsider credentials.

More than two dozen teenagers returned to their dorm rooms Monday to retrieve anything they could salvage from a huge fire at Alliant International University in Scripps Ranch.

Some walked away empty-handed.

“My flatmates don’t have anything. They don’t even have a floor,” said Vanessa Valdez.

The fire broke out Saturday night inside a dormitory building on the campus. After all the students evacuated and firefighters arrived, the third floor of the building collapsed.

All of the building’s eight units were either yellow-tagged or red-tagged by the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, impacting a total of 28 students. A red tag means it is too dangerous to enter; a yellow tag means the room can be entered for a short period of time.

At the time of the fire, some students complained of their fire alarms were not activating.

Alliant University Director of Public Relations Derryl Acosta addressed those concerns Monday, saying the issues are related to the construction era of the buildings.

“Each fire alarm is wired independently in each living unit. When a fire happens in one unit, it does not set off alarms in the other units,” said Acosta. “The expectation of the students was that all of the alarms should have gone off when the first unit ignited. However, they are not designed that way and are not required to be designed that way."

The fire alarms are regularly tested by the fire department and passed a recent inspection, according to Acosta.

The students, all studying with “Education First” in an intensive English language program, don’t have a close support system to rely on since they come from other countries.

“I have a few clothes. That’s it,” said Valdez, who is studying abroad from Venezuela.

Alliant University put the students up in new dorm rooms, and staff members held a donation drive Monday to help with essential items.

The university said outside help for the students would be appreciated. They need towels, toiletries, and blankets. Gift cards would be especially helpful.

Anyone interested in donating can call the university helpline at (858) 635-4357 to arrange a drop off.
 

A falling tree damaged several grave sites at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, the cemetery's assistant director confirmed to NBC 7 San Diego. 

"We had numerous tree limb down and debris all over the cemetery and of course this big tree here that was down, which was a total shock to me," Michael Munnerlyn, Assistant Director at Rosecrans Cemetery said.

A 50 foot tall tree, four to five foot in diameter, fell and disrupted some grave sites at the federal military cemetery's Section H. A winter storm passing through San Diego Sunday brought wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour. 

At around 100 years old it was one of the oldest  in the cemetery.

"There was no indication there was anything wrong with the tree," he said.

Fourteen graves were damaged according to Munnerlym.

One grave site's vault was damaged and one urn was exposed but not damaged in the northeast corner of the cemetery. Seven flat markers containing urns were uprooted. 

Grave sites are still being assessed for more damage and so far, no remains have been discovered damaged. 

Tatiana Anderson, a volunteer who photographs graves for families who live overseas said the damage is personal for her.

She said it's important "to make it right, to fix it, to make sure everything's restored to its beauty how it's supposed to be. For all our family members of the deceased who are buried here...they can revisit and find it in pristine condition."

Contractors are scheduled to come out and remove the tree, hopefully by the end of Monday, said Munnerlyn. 

Families of the damaged sites will be notified as soon as the damage is assessed. Families will not face costs for the damages. 

A minor has been arrested in connection with the deadly stabbing of a 16-year-old boy killed in the streets of San Diego, police confirmed Tuesday.

The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) said a juvenile was taken into custody Monday on suspicion of killing teenager Jose Daniel Sotelo.

On Sunday, just before 10 p.m., SDPD officers were called to the 2400 block of East Jewett Street in Linda Vista to investigate reports of a male down on the sidewalk.

When police officers got to the area, they discovered Sotelo, unconscious, lying on the ground. He had been stabbed in his upper torso.

Despite life-saving efforts by paramedics, Sotelo died at the scene.

No suspect was immediately arrested, homicide detectives said, until the following day.

According to detectives, Sotelo and the suspect were known acquaintances. The motive behind the teen’s deadly stabbing remains unclear.

SDPD Lt. Brent Williams told NBC 7 it does not appear this case is gang-related. SDPD Lt. Manny Del Toro also said neither the victim nor suspect have known ties to street gangs.

The young suspect was booked into Juvenile Hall on one count of murder. Due to his age, the suspect’s name is not being released by police.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information should call the SDPD Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
 

An ex-employee of former mayor Bob Filner who claimed she was kissed, touched and put in a headlock, reached a settlement with the City Tuesday.

The San Diego City Council approved the payment of $667,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by Benelia Santos-Hunter who once worked as an executive assistant in the mayor's office. It's the largest settlement paid in connection with the scandal that led to Filner's resignation in August 2013.

Santos-Hunter claims she was subjected to “inappropriate sexually based comments and advances, including physical touching, confinement, hostility, outrageous demands and threats, screaming” that resulted in hospitalization.

What started with a kiss on the forehead in February 2013 grew into hugs, unwelcome compliments and physical touching.

“There were a number of comments made to her that no reasonable man would make to a subordinate,” said attorney Josh Gruenberg. “There was physical touching involved. At one point he did lock her in his kitchen and he locked the door behind the two of them.”

The following week he placed her in a headlock in the city’s conference room, she said.

Santos-Hunter said she informed the city’s Assistant Chief Operating Officer Scott Chadwick. In court documents, she claims Chadwick told her, "'It’s not illegal to be an a--hole. Is there anything else?' or words to that effect."

Gruenberg said those around Filner wanted to characterize his behavior as "demanding" and "difficult." 

“For much of the time, Filner was able to get away with this because of the way his harassment was characterized,"  he said.

Santos-Hunter filed a claim with the City of San Diego Claim on November 15 requesting $1.5 million in damages. Through her attorneys she filed a complaint with California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

"What's more important to me is to have people realize to speak up, to speak up," Santos-Hunter said.

“If you know you’re right, don’t be afraid to speak up,” she said.

Filner resigned in August 2013 after multiple women accused him of unwelcome sexual advances and inappropriate behavior.

Four months later, Filner was sentenced to 90 days house arrest after entering a guilty plea to felony false imprisonment and two misdemeanor charges of battery involving victims of sexual harassment.

City Attorney Jan Goldsmith said his office anticipates the total paid out in claims stemming from the Filner scandal will be just more than $1 million.

There are two more cases pending, Goldsmith said. One had to do with a name tag. The other had to do with the so-called headlock, he said.
 

Mourn the loss, Chargers fans: Eric Weddle’s scruffy, signature beard is gone.

The pro bowl safety for the Bolts live tweeted his transformation after shaving the facial hair on Monday night.

He first surreptitiously tweeted: “I’m thinking of doing something crazy!!!!”

That tweet was followed up by a photo of Weddle with the long beard fans have become accustomed to:

Then, the transformation began. His next photo showed Weddle’s beard skinnier:

Then, he rocked the 'stache:

And finally, he showed the clean-cut finished product:

In cutting off his facial mane, Weddle alluded to changes in his life. "The beard will never dieeeeeeee," Weddle tweeted. "Haha. Love you guys. New beginnings baby. Edub is running the show from now on."

Weddle played for the Bolts for a decade, but said earlier this month that he expects to move on from the NFL team, as his contract expired at the end of the season.

Noted presidential historian Douglas Brinkley watched news coverage of Monday’s Iowa caucuses while ensconced for the week in the sunny, post-storm warmth of La Jolla.

He’s serving as scholar-in-residence at the Bishop’s School, and the 2016 White House campaign figures to provide teaching-moment fodder for school’s best and brightest students.

In an interview Tuesday with NBC 7, Brinkley assessed the earliest-state performance of the only candidate who’s already been a resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. – former First Lady, U.S. Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“I think I’ll just call it a tie in Iowa,” he said. “Looks like she’s going to lose New Hampshire. The big story is going to be South Carolina. Can Bernie Sanders attract African American voters?”

As he keeps close tabs on the candidates hoping to become the country's 45th President, Brinkley can't help thinking that whoever wins will have to start running for re-election three months after taking office.

He sees the self-funded tycoon's campaign of Donald Trump as a sign of what could emerge as a new reality in presidential politics -- in a "broken" political system that probably won't undergo significant change any time soon.

But Brinkley said it's about time that Trump himself undergoes significant change.

"I think at the very end, the blustery guy telling off all the Republicans that are running is going to have to go away,” Brinkley said. “And he's going to have to kind of re-position his personality in some ways, I think, to be able to pull it off at the end. The problem is, he's kind of defined life as 'winners and losers.' And now, suddenly in Iowa, he's a loser. And so he's got to say 'What does that mean?'"

Whatever meaning, if any, Trump finds in his second-place finish in Iowa, Brinkley projects the upstart, “Art of the Deal” candidate as the winner of next week’s Republican primary in New Hampshire.

Would that outcome be a bellwether for the rest of the GOP campaign?

“New Hampshire’s quirky,” Brinkley cautioned. “I think once March kicks in and you start getting a lot of big states all at once, the air’s going to be clear.”

He also thinks the race is “very ripe for a third-party candidate -- but your only third party person who could be taken seriously has to be a billionaire – somebody like (former New York City Mayor) Michael Bloomberg.”

The prolific award-winning author and professor at Rice University has reservations about how far 21st century presidential politics has come since the campaigns of the late19th century, citing as an example the nation’s 25th chief executive -- William McKinley – who, Brinkley noted, told reporters: “I’m not leaving my home in Ohio. You come to me. I don’t need to campaign.”

Now, Brinkley said, “The amount of mileage! And they run for years … it’s just in constant election-cycle mode, and I’m not sure we’re getting a good result out of that aspect of our democratic process.”

Brinkley marvels, not excitedly though, at the emphasis placed on what political strategists call telegenics.

“Everybody has to look good on TV. Sound good, have the right 'sound bite', use the most modern communications,” he observed.

“But I'm more concerned about the money that's in politics. I mean, you almost have to raise a billion dollars to be considered a credible presidential candidate."
 

Police are asking for the public's helping in finding a Cyclo bicycle, worth an estimated $2,000.  

The bike was stolen from a home located on the 3400 block of Central Avenue between Jan. 28 and Jan. 29. The piece of cultural art is owned by the Little Saigon Foundation. 

A thief cut the chain and lock when they took the bike, which was shipped to the U.S. from Vietnam approximately a year ago. 

The Cyclo bike was supposed to be exhibited at the Lunar New Year Festival at Qualcomm Stadium this year. 

Anyone with information about this bicycle is asked to contact San Diego Police Detective Kevin Armentano at (619) 516-3025, the San Diego Police Department at (619) 531-2000 or call Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

A suspect tried to escape from police detectives conducting an undercover drug buy, only to erratically crash into multiple cars during an attempted getaway, San Diego police said.

At about 6:30 p.m., undercover SDPD narcotics detectives met with a man and a woman in the 4300 block of University Avenue. The man waited in the car while the woman approached the officers, expecting to buy drugs from them, officials said.

However, the detectives soon took her into custody. When the man saw the bust in action, he took off in his black Toyota Highlander, heading west on Wightman Street.

During the getaway, he T-boned the back of a Toyota Corolla near 41st Street. Inside the car were Theresa Sanchez, her boss and her 7-year-old daughter, who complained of back pain after the crash. All three were treated for minor injuries.

The suspect continued west and slammed into a blue Astrovan parked about half a block away from the first crash, pushing the van onto the sidewalk.

Police say the driver then ricocheted to the other side of the street, crashed onto the curb about 100 feet away and finally stopped the vehicle.

"It looked almost like a wave," said witness Carlos Cosio. "He hit those cars along the street. You can see the cars up on the sidewalk. I haven't seen anything like it."

The suspect ran away on foot north toward Interstate 15. However, police and a K-9 quickly caught up with him and took him into custody.

"It's gnarly. It shows you just how in an instant, everything can be shaken up," said Cosio. "I'm glad everything is OK and everyone is alive."

A fast-moving fire at a condominium complex in northern New Jersey forced a young girl to leap for her life Tuesday evening, officials and witnesses say. 

The blaze in† the Juniper Way complex in Mahwah started at around 4 p.m. in a third-floor apartment and quickly swept into the attic, according to authorities. 

Responding Mahwah police officers saw a 9-year-old on the third-floor balcony, surrounded by smoke. Lt. Jeffrey Dino and Sgt. Brendan Mullin convinced the girl to jump from the balcony into their arms, according to police. 

Recordings among the firefighters' radios affirmed that they "rescued the person." 

Neighbor Fred Towers said, "She jumped into the firemen's arms and she was fine."

"She's a brave little girl," added Salvatore Capuano, another neighbor.

Police said they later learned she was home alone when she smelled smoke. When she tried to leave, she was confronted with heavy smoke in the third-floor stairwell. 

She retreated back into her home and ran to the balcony, where she saw the officers below and leaped.

The girl was examined by EMTs at the scene and was in good condition. Her mother returned a short while later and took custody of the child. 

Despite reigniting briefly, the fire was ultimately knocked out, but 12 apartments were damaged. Everyone who lives in the 24-unit building was told to spend the night somewhere else.

"Everybody's affected," said resident Annie Krajewski. "Twelve people lost their homes."

Police believe the fire started in the third-floor unit across from where the girl lives, inside the home of an elderly woman who was able to escape on her own. 

A cause is being investigated, but police don't believe it to be suspicious at this point. 

The building didn't have sprinklers. The firewall in the common attic was made of double Sheetrock walls, which was code at the time of construction, police said. 

A college, a church and a federal prison — were damaged on Tuesday from tornadoes that tore across Mississippi and Alabama.

The same weather system that brought snow-storms to the midwest caused the tornadoes to be created, NBC News reported. No deaths or injuries were reported but severe damage was reported in Mississippi, where at least four thousand tornadoes roamed the state. 

After Mississippi, the storm moved into Alabama, where it spawned at least one "large and extremely dangerous tornado" in Pickens County, the National Weather Service said.

New video, exclusive to NBC Bay Area, shows the incident that landed an East Bay high school water polo player in criminal court, accused of attacking another player during a match.

A player from Lafayette's Acalanes High School was accused of grabbing another player from San Jose's Bellarmine High School and pulling him down in the water while kneeing him in the face during a match in December of 2015.

The victim's parents have been in contact with NBC Bay Area, and while they didn't want to talk on camera, they did want to set the record straight. A family friend spoke to us on their behalf.

“Play hard, play tough, don't play dirty. Respect your opponent. Without your opponent you don't have a match.” That is the message longtime coach, chiropractor, and sports medicine teacher Tony Payan hopes others learn from a disturbing high school water polo incident that left the son of a family friend seriously injured. It was an incident caught on camera by the victim's father.

“Intent to injure another athlete,” Payan said. “That's what it showed.”

This video clip led to an Acalanes High School student facing criminal assault charges. Payan described to NBC Bay Area how he and the victim's family view it.

“He intentionally brings the athlete's head down toward his knee and quickly drives his knee up toward his face,” Payan said.

The maneuver left the victim -- a 15-year-old from Bellarmine High school -- with a broken nose that required surgery.

“That was one of the most calculated, callous, skillful acts intended to injure another athlete that I've seen,” Payan said.

But that is not the impression many in the water polo community have been left with. A letter emailed to thousands of water polo families characterized the player's actions as inadvertent and called the charges "outrageous.” While the USA Water Polo Association later clarified they did not authorize the email, many wrote letters to the district attorney urging him not to prosecute the boy.

“He received consequences for what he did, absolutely,” Acalanes High School District's Associate Superintendent Amy McNamara said. She was surprised the incident led to criminal charges. “These things happen as we deal with adolescents and we deal with it at a school level.”

McNamara said schools know how to handle situations like this and that the boy was suspended from school and banned from playing a number of games.

“These are teenagers,” McNamara said. “They don't always make the best decision. That's why they're teenagers and we love them and work with them and we want to help all of them develop good conduct and good sportsmanship that's our goal.”

“If someone would have taken that maneuver outside the pool and performed it in the quad, so to speak, they probably would have been taken away in handcuffs,” Payan said.

Payan believes the boy crossed the line and says the consequences are justified.

“I applaud the DA [district attorney] for looking at that film and saying, ‘Hey, we can't accept this in society. We certainly shouldn't be accepting it in high school sports,’” Payan said.

He hopes players, coaches and parents can learn from this case and become better for it.

“Having him shoulder the responsibility, the consequences, of his actions may be a good thing for him, and more importantly, it might be a great thing for high school water polo,” he said.

The Acalanes water polo player was in court Friday to hear his punishment. Results of the proceedings are kept confidential since they took place in a juvenile court. Attempts to reach the Acalanes student's attorney were unsuccessful.

The victim's father tells NBC Bay Area that the family is looking forward to putting the incident behind them.

A group of 12 San Diegans are planning to collectively run nearly 200 miles from Huntington Beach to San Diego. What makes their feat even more impressive: They are all cancer survivors.

Ragnar Relay Series officials confirm for their upcoming Southern California race, the local group will be its first team consisting of only cancer survivors.

“They’re living proof this does happen, but we can fight it. We can battle it, be there for each other and inspire others to do the same,” said Kristen Albair who was diagnosed with melanoma in 2008.

Albair had the idea to gather a team who had similar experiences fighting cancer. She said the impact has been meaningful for everyone, including Bernard Llave who recently relapsed and has been re-admitted to the hospital.

He is battling acute myeloid leukemia for the second time and, unfortunately, had to drop out of the race. But he told his team in spirit, he’s still all in.

“We are all bonded together by this horrible cancer,” he said, “To see the support from these guys, I just met a bunch of them for the first time today. It’s amazing!”

The two-day race starts April 1.

To support the group and their cause of finding a cure for cancer, click here.

Georgia executed its oldest death row inmate Tuesday, 72-year-old Brandon Astor Jones, after a last-minute appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court failed. 

Jones was convicted in 1979 for the murder of a convenience store clerk during an armed robbery. A judge ordered a new sentencing hearing in 1989 and he was later resentenced to death in 1997.

The execution took place at 12:46 a.m. Wednesday, Georgia Department of Corrections spokeswoman Gwendolyn Hogan confirmed. Jones had been scheduled to be executed at 7 p.m., but his lawyers filed a last-minute appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Earlier Tuesday, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals voted 6-5 not to hear before a full court Jones' challenge of the state law that keeps secret the company that manufactures drugs used in lethal injections.

It wasn’t pretty but it was a pretty good game.

The San Diego State Aztecs somehow pulled another rabbit out of a hat and *poof* – just like magic – their opponent’s chances at an upset disappeared.

The Aztecs extended their winning streak to 10 games (all against conference opponents) with a closely contested 69-67 home victory over Colorado State.

The Rams fell to 4-5 in the Mountain West while the Aztecs sit firmly entrenched in first place with a sparkling 10-0 record (17-6 overall).

Freshman guard Jeremy Hemsley converted a crucial bucket late when SDSU trailed 65-64. He worked his way into the paint and hit an off-balance leaner with 1:07 to play to give the Aztecs a 66-65 lead.

Despite multiple missed free throws, SDSU benefited from CSU’s sloppy execution and held firm on defense to hang on for the narrow victory.

Sophomore Trey Kell led SDSU with 19 points. SDSU senior Winston Shepard chipped in with 14 points and 9 rebounds and Malik Pope added 10 points off the bench.

San Diego State also outrebounded CSU by 10. That statistic was a big point of emphasis for the coaching staff since the Rams won the battle of the boards in the team's first meeting this season back in Fort Collins, Colorado.

New Mexico visits Viejas Arena on Saturday at 1 pm.