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Balboa Avenue Closed at Interstate 5

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A water main break has closed westbound Balboa Avenue where it intersects with Interstate 5, according to the City of San Diego Public Utilities Department.

The break occurred during the morning commute on Friday and westbound traffic was diverted to Morena Boulevard. From there, drivers can access I-5 at Clairemont, water officials said.

Crews were working to stop the leak and hoped to have the intersection reopen around noon.

No customers are out of water service.


Chase Suspect Tries to Hide in Stranger's Home

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A passenger involved in a police pursuit through Barrio Logan and University Heights Thursday night tried to hide from officers by running into an unknown couple’s home.

At around 10 p.m., officers with the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) tried to pull over a Honda sedan for an equipment violation in the 1600 block of Mission Cliff Drive near Barrio Logan. The car was occupied by a 27-year-old man, who was behind the wheel, and his 23-year-old female passenger.

The driver failed to stop for police and a pursuit ensued.

Over the course of about 15 minutes, the driver zipped through several neighborhoods, entering and exiting four different freeways.

The driver finally exited State Route 163 and the chase ended when he crashed into a parked pickup truck in a University Heights neighborhood.

Police said both the driver and passenger then jumped out of the car and tried to flee on foot. The driver was quickly caught.

Scrambling, the woman ran through an unsuspecting couple’s backyard. She then tried to run into that couple’s home through an open back door.

The residents – who were getting ready for bed – reacted quickly and were able to push the woman out of their house as officers rushed their home.

Police arrested the woman without further incident.

The residents said they were relieved the woman wasn’t carrying a weapon, and that she was taken into custody quickly.

No one was harmed.

Police said the car the suspects were driving was reported stolen. They had changed the plates to avoid detection. Inside, investigators found a replica gun.

Both suspects are facing several charges, including car theft and trespassing. They both had outstanding warrants, police said.
 

Local Company's Carts are Super Bowl-Bound

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If any players wind up injured at this weekend’s Super Bowl, it may be a local distributor’s golf carts whisking them off the field.

San Marcos-based Cart Mart said Thursday it had supplied more than 350 vehicles for Super Bowl 50, having won an NFL contract for golf carts, transportation and utility vehicles. It’s the company’s sixth Super Bowl deal.

The vehicles, which were delivered starting Jan. 4, have been used to create temporary offices, staging and other pre-game infrastructure, and will be used to move VIPs during the game as well.

Brian Rott is president and CEO.
 



Photo Credit: Cart Mart, Inc./Facebook
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Woman: Masseur Violated Me at El Cajon Spa

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El Cajon police confirm they responded to a sexual assault call at Foot Spa on Arnele Avenue and Johnson Avenue Thursday.

Susan Estell spoke exclusively to NBC 7 describing the incident. She said she had been to the business several times before and never had an incident like this latest one.

Estell said the masseur started massaging her back and told her to take off her underwear.

“By the time I could say no he had his hands slipped in and my panties were down to my legs,” she recalled. “I kept questioning myself, ‘Is this really happening?’ And I had total fear over me. I was in shock.”

Estell said it didn’t stop there.

She said the man in his 40s told her to turn over, then massaged up her thigh and touched her private parts more than once.

“I just jumped up and was like ‘This is not right, touching me! You violated me!” she said.

Estell said the man ran out of the room. She called the managers who, she said, tried to quiet her. They offered her a refund.

“She wanted to give me my money back…and I said no I’m calling the police right now,” Estell said.

El Cajon police confirm officers were dispatched to the sexual assault call. They took a crime report. Not much more information was released Thursday evening to NBC 7.

Estell said the masseur left the business in a car just as the police car pulled up.

“I feel violated. I feel almost like I was raped,” Estell said emotionally. “I’m very emotional. I’m hurt! I’m angry. Like, he hurt me! You don’t do this to somebody. I thought he was a professional.”

NBC 7 visited the business and spoke to the managers there. They refused to comment. One left the building while the other walked into a back room.

The decision to come forward wasn’t an easy one, according to Estell. She feared people would jump to conclusions. However, she decided to speak out because she doesn’t want anyone else going through what she went through.

Estell said she plans to press charges.
 

East Village Buildout Plans Spark Conflict

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What began with Petco Park is starting to come full circle in East Village.

The last frontier of downtown San Diego is fast evolving into a "destination" community -- one that's feeling urban growing pains, and continuing political and economic conflicts over future development.

If you "follow the money," it's reaching skyward in the form of highrise condo towers, and pointing toward projects like a sports and convention facility, plus a major hotel.

But a leading developer vows to keep things "scalable," by way of smart growth that's people-friendly.

"We've made a huge investment downtown," says Steve Peace, senior advisor for JMI Inc., the outfit behind Petco Park and current developer of Ballpark Village, a $250 million "mixed-use" complex across the street that'll encompass several hundred apartments.

"We're building more apartment and condo capacity over the next few years than probably anybody else in East Village,” Peace told NBC 7 in an interview Thursday. “So the last thing we want to do is diminish the quality of life."

Just to the south of Ballpark Village, a project that’s been under way since last April, is a vacant parcel that also could be turned over to residential construction -- or a 1,600 room convention hotel that would align with a "campus-style” expansion space for the San Diego Convention Center.

Whether or not that might include a new stadium for the Chargers next door would depend on a tricky series of political schemes and calculations.

Some downtown civic activists says those would be steps in the wrong direction.

"If you put a convention center and stadium over there, first of all they're not on the public tax rolls,” says Wayne Raffesberger, an attorney steeped in redevelopment and urban growth issues.

“They're not generating anything for the region -- unlike a higher and better use of an educational complex, a satellite campus of, say, UCSD or San Diego State or them combined,” Raffesberger explained.

“Or a high-tech office park. Those are the kind of creative new uses that'll generate jobs for the region."

Next week the City Council is expected to approve measures that would preserve options for developing a convention hotel or a mixed use residential complex near Ballpark Village.



Photo Credit: NBC 7 San Diego

San Diego Company Testing Possible Diabetes Cure

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A San Diego biotech company believes it has found a possible cure for Type 1 diabetes.

The La Jolla-based company, ViaCyte, in conjunction with Johnson & Johnson, is testing a stem cell treatment to cure those with the life-impacting hormonal disorder.

ViaCyte is aiming to eliminate rigorous insulin treatment and glucose testing by engineering a type of stem cell that produces insulin and other hormones that regulate sugar levels.

“These cells are human cells, but they’re not the patient’s cells, so the patient’s immune system would want to remove those cells – attack those cells,” said ViaCyte CEO Paul Laikind.

A team of 60 employees, led by Laikind, first tested the stem cell implantation on animals, which saw success.

Then, testing turned to humans. On Thursday, the company announced a breakthrough: after months inside a human, they extracted the implantation to find the cells not only survived, but they did exactly what they were intended to do.

“We’re on the right track. I think there is a cure in sight,” Laikind said.

Developers could not pinpoint an exact timeline for the product, but said it was in the years, not decades.



Photo Credit: NBC 7

City of San Diego’s El Nino Response

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As city crews race the El Nino clock, clearing the storm channels is an even bigger challenge now that the ground is saturated from prior rains.

In the Smythe Channel, a machine got stuck briefly in the mud Thursday.

As far as the storm channel clearing goes, residents told NBC 7 it’s about time.

“Finally,” said San Ysidro resident Dawn Rodriguez. “After more than 10 years. It looks a lot better.”

Rodriguez said her parents and other neighbors have been asking the city to clear it out for a decade.

“It’s all for the betterment of the neighborhood and avoiding floods,” said Jorge Negrete, a San Ysidro homeowner.

The Smythe Channel near the U.S. Mexico border is one of 13 channels the city identified as high-priority in November.

It took emergency permits to allow crews to work here.

In late November, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a warning to the State Water Resources Control Board, which is involved in the lengthy and complicated permit process.

The letter said: “Failure to prepare immediately, in light of improved predictions and damage caused by the prior strong El Nino’s, would be unacceptable.”

The city’s Transportation and Storm Water Department has a $130 million annual budget, with approximately $45 million of that allocated to the storm water division.

According to a January city memo, the department estimates it will be about $8.4 million over budget because of the necessary El Nino response.

When asked why the work isn’t done on a more routine basis, a spokesman explained a single permit during a non-emergency can take up to 18 months for permission to clear one storm channel.

Homeowners say the growth in the canal is a nuisance.

“There were stoves and refrigerators and stuff in there. When it rains, it’s got a terrible smell,” Rodriguez said.

After being woken up by the sound of chainsaws earlier in the week, Negrete said he wishes the city had issued some type of notification to residents that the work would begin.

“Overall, it’s good that they’re clearing it out. I think it’s going to be better now,” he said.
 

Car Crashes Into Escondido Bridge Club

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A 75-year-old driver crashed her car into a building that hosts bridge club in Escondido on Thursday afternoon.

The man was taking his 81-year-old wife to bridge and were riding in the car in the 2300 block of South Escondido Boulevard just after noon when their car accidentally smashed into the building.

The driver had mistakenly hit the gas pedal instead of the brake, slamming through a door of the bridge club.

It was initially reported that the car went into a sex shop called “Romantix,” which is down the road from the bridge club.

The couple nor anyone inside the building were hurt.

One of the members of the bridge club who was inside at the time of the crash told NBC 7: "Good thing I was wearing my Depends."



Photo Credit: Erica Simpson/NBC 7

Clinton, Sanders Show Sharp Differences in New Hampshire Debate

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Thursday's Democratic presidential debate on MSNBC offered the clearest, rawest, and most specific examination of two fundamentally different philosophies about the character and future of the Democratic Party voters have seen yet.

Not only was it the first one-on-one debate between front-runner Hillary Clinton and insurgent Bernie Sanders, but it came at time when the candidates are finally ready to hash out the core questions of what it means to be a Democrat.

Seven years of control of the White House has built up fundamental divisions within about who the party should represent and what it should do.

Clinton represents one view, calling for continuity and pragmatism, while Sanders represents the polar opposite, with his outspoken calls for "revolution."



Photo Credit: AP

Trustee Wanted District to Pay for Son's College: Warrant

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Newly released court documents allege former San Diego Unified School Board Trustee Marne Foster wanted the district to pay for her son’s college education and tried to pressure the district’s superintendent to make that happen.

A 231-page search warrant released Thursday gives insight into the San Diego County District Attorney’s office investigation into Foster, who resigned from her position Tuesday after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor count of accepting gifts in excess of the legal limit.

One of the issues taken up by the DA’s office was Foster’s problem with administrators at her son’s school, the School of Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA). Foster became angry when she obtained a copy of her son’s college evaluation, prepared by counselor Kim Abagat, and discovered the review was negative.

Foster called SDUSD Superintendent Cindy Marten to complain about the evaluation. In an interview with a DA investigator, Marten recounted a telephone conversation she had with Foster.

Foster, who at the time was the president of the SDUSD board, said the “inaccurate” evaluation had prevented her son from being accepted into a number of colleges. When Marten asked Foster how she knew what the evaluation contained, as reviews are typically confidential, Foster declined to tell her how she obtained it, the warrant states.

“Marten surmised that someone had leaked the information,” the court document says. “Foster was ranting that Abagat should not have completed the form as he was not [her son’s] counselor.”

Marten said she interrupted Foster, asking if she was calling as a parent or a board trustee. When Foster said she was calling as a parent, Marten told her she needed to talk to the district’s chief student services officer.

Claim Filed Against the SDUSD

During a later phone conversation between the two women, Foster told Marten that she believed her son had suffered damages and that the school district was liable, the warrant says. According to Marten, Foster threatened to file a claim against the school district because her son deserved compensation. Marten said she felt Foster was trying to convince her to approve the claim.

“Foster told Marten ‘to do the right thing, you can make this happen,’” the court document states. “Marten said the way Foster spoke she thought Marten had the authority or was involved in the decision making regarding the approval or denial of the claim. Foster wanted the school district to pay for her son’s college education.”

Marten said she did not give the trustee any advice on how to file a claim.

Later in the year, a $250,000 claim was filed against the SDUSD on behalf of Foster’s son, but it was not signed by his mother. Instead, the claim bore the name of John Marsh, the teen’s father who had been living with Foster and her children.

However, Marsh told the DA investigator that he did not write up the claim. According to the warrant, he remembered Foster coming up to him and demanding that he sign a blank complaint form.

He said he did not know what he was signing, but recalled Foster mentioning something about wanting to sue the school district.

“Marsh said at the time he needed a place to stay and Marne Foster was very forceful. She made it clear by the way she said it that if he didn’t sign it she would put him out on the street,” the warrant states. “He was at her mercy and he didn’t want to be kicked out or arrested.”

The $250,000 complaint was later denied by the school district. Foster has told other media outlets that she had nothing to do with the claim.

Problematic Fundraiser Held

Community activity Sally Smith brought another potential issue to the attention of the DA's office: a fundraiser Foster threw to raise money for both of her sons' tuition.

Smith told the DA’s office that a link on Foster’s official school district website directed users to Foster’s personal Facebook page, on which she posted a flier for “A Benefit Concert/Fundraiser to send two brothers back to College.”

The event was held last July at the Neighborhood House Association (NHA). Foster had previously voted on a head start agreement between the NHA and the SDUSD.

Smith attended the fundraiser, paid a $25 entrance fee and was told the event would be tax deductible. When she asked for a receipt, she was told one would be emailed to her. At the fundraiser were guests who conducted business with the school district and employees who may seek favors in return.

Because of the potential conflicts of interest, Foster later admitted that the fundraiser was a mistake and vowed to return the donations.

A Guilty Plea

Ultimately, Foster’s guilty plea stemmed from a donation her son received. In 2014, the teen was given a scholarship and roundtrip airfare to “Bayfest,” a theater camp in Seattle, according to the warrant. The donation was provided by Jan and Dick Hunter, who are Bayfest board members.

Dick is also a board member for the Jackie Robinson YMCA, an organization linked to Foster. She had voted to approve a contract between the SDUSD and YMCA for the use of the YMCA branch’s pool.

Emails revealed the Hunters had also paid for roundtrip tickets so Foster’s son could travel from San Diego to New York, where he is attending college. The couple also covered a night of lodging for Foster.

In total, the family received more than $3,000 in donations from the Hunters. However, Foster did not claim the gifts on her statement of economic interests, filed with the Fair Political Practices Commission.

The form is filed under penalty of perjury, the DA’s office said, and on Dec. 2, Foster filed an amendment to her 2014 form. It showed the gifts exceeded the legal allowable limits.

Shoelaces Used in RB Home Invasion

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Three men broke into a Rancho Bernardo home and held a couple at gunpoint early Friday and San Diego Police are looking into whether this crime is related to an earlier incident in Scripps Ranch.

The break-in occurred just before 4 a.m. on Aliento Court, a cul-de-sac located west of West Bernardo Drive and north of Bernardo Center Drive.

The suspects entered the home through a side garage with their faces covered and lights on their heads, according to SDPD Lt. Kevin Mayer.

Two adults in the home at the time were tied up with shoestrings. Once the couple was able to break free they ran to a neighbor's home and called police.

“Shaken up, as anybody would be, somebody enters your home while you’re sleeping,” Mayer said.

No one was injured.

A similar incident happened several weeks ago with the same number of suspects. Mayer said investigators would be looking into any similarities between the two crimes.

Video Shows Crane Topple Over in Lower Manhattan

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Viewer video shows the moment the crane collapsed in Lower Manhattan Friday morning.

Sea Lion Found in Booth at San Diego Restaurant

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Tiny sea lion, party of one. A 20-pound sea lion pup was found sleeping in a booth at a popular seaside restaurant in San Diego, likely searching for a cozy nook and, fittingly, a bite to eat.

SeaWorld San Diego’s Rescue Team was called to The Marine Room restaurant on Spindrift Drive in La Jolla Thursday after staffers found the young sea lion curled up in a booth in the dining room, sleeping.

Somehow, the pup got into the dining hotspot and made his way into a booth with a scenic view of the beach below. Management wasn’t sure how the sea lion snuck in, but it appears he spent the night inside the restaurant.

The Marine Room's executive chef, Bernard Guillas, shared some photos of the whiskered patron on his Facebook page. In one of the images, also seen in the gallery below, the sea lion looks as if she's longingly staring at the sea below the restaurant.

As of Friday morning, Guillas' post had been shared more than 1,600 times on Facebook and had nearly 3,700 "likes."

SeaWorld rescuers were able to safely corral the 8-month-old California sea lion and take her to their Animal Rescue Center. There, caregivers determined the pup was extremely malnourished and dehydrated.

Jody Westberg, a SeaWorld Rescue Team member, said her team considers the sea lion a “micropup” due to her small size and low weight.

“She weighs 20 pounds, but should be about 40 to 50 pounds out in the wild,” Westberg explained.

She said SeaWorld San Diego has been handling many unusual sea lion rescues lately in part due to recent El Niño weather conditions.

“Southern California, and specifically San Diego County, has been having very high tides and very low tides, and also a lot of stormy weather. These pups are looking for high ground and warm areas for the night,” she said.

Westberg said the El Niño event also appears to be impacting food sources for some sea lions in California.

“Not only are they looking for high ground – they’re also searching for food,” she added.

She said an ongoing “unusual mortality event” is also heavily affecting the California sea lion population throughout the state. Because sea lions are having a hard time finding food sources, many wind up emaciated. The fish they typically eat in the wild keep the animals hydrated but without fish to eat, dehydration is common.

At SeaWorld San Diego’s Animal Rescue Center, the tiny pup was given fluids to rehydrate.
Animal experts were also keeping a close watch on the pup’s left eye, which remained shut and had some drainage coming out of it.

With proper care and nutrition, Westberg said the rescue team is “cautiously optimistic” the pup will be nursed back to health and eventually returned to the wild.

Over the past 52 years, SeaWorld San Diego has rescued more than 16,000 sea lions. So far in 2016, SeaWorld San Diego has rescued 47 marine mammals, including 40 sea lions, six harbor seals and one Guadalupe fur seal. In 2015, SeaWorld rescued a total of 990 California sea lions.

If you spot a sea lion or other animal that appears to be ill, injured or abandoned, you can call SeaWorld’s Rescue Hotline at (800) 541-SEAL.

On Jan. 21, another sea lion was rescued in La Jolla. That pup had climbed 145 steps to get inside The Cave Store, a shop that acts as the entrance to a manmade tunnel which delves down the cliffside and into the Sunny Jim Sea Cave.
 



Photo Credit: Bernard Guillas/Facebook
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President Obama Takes Victory Lap on Economy

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Buoyed by wage-gains and record low unemployment, President Barack Obama underscored on Friday that his administration's efforts have helped usher in an economic recovery, NBC News reported.

"We should be proud of the progress we have made," Obama told reporters during an appearance at the White House press briefing. "We have recovered from the worst economic crisis since the 1930s."

U.S. employers added 151,000 jobs in January, a deceleration from recent months as companies shed education, transportation and temporary workers but hired others in manufacturing, retail and food services. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.9 percent, its lowest level since early 2008.



Photo Credit: AP

Time-Lapse: Watch the Demolition of Candlestick Park

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As the San Francisco 49ers’ new home, Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, gets ready to host Super Bowl 50 on Sunday, the development company building a new mixed-used complex released time-lapse video of Candlestick Park being torn apart.

The video, provided on Thursday to NBC Bay Area by Lennar Urban and shot by OxBlue, shows about two minutes of the ‘Stick being taken down, seat by seat, and 19 seconds of what the future site should look like, including sweeping views of the San Francisco bay.

The eight-month demolition of Candlestick Park was finished in September to make way for a new urban mixed-use project at Candlestick Point in the southeast corner of San Francisco. More than 95 percent of the materials used to build Candlestick were recycled by the demolition firm, Silverado Contractors, according to Lennar Urban spokesman Dave Satterfield. The entire project should take 20 years and $8 billion to complete, thought the retail mall portion is expected to open in 2018, Satterfield said.

The complex, being built by Macerich Corp., will include an Africa diaspora-themed shopping marketplace, a hotel, movie theaters and 12,000 new homes at the site and nearby at the former naval shipyard of Hunter’s Point.

The 49ers left Candlestick Park after the 2013 season for a new $1.2 billion stadium in Santa Clara. The Super Bowl will be played there on Sunday between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers.
 



Photo Credit: Lennar Urban

Dental Assistant in Court for Touching Patient

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A dental assistant facing felony charges for inappropriately touching an under aged girl while she was sedation for a dental procedure pleaded not guilty in court Friday afternoon.

Luis Ramos, 36, of El Cajon was arrested Wednesday on two counts of sexual battery on a medically incapacitated person and two counts of oral copulation by anesthetic.

He now faces seven counts of sexual battery on an unconscious person and up to ten years in prison.

The incident was allegedly caught on security video - recording seven minutes of his crime.

Police said the 17-year-old reported being inappropriately touched on January 21 while undergoing a procedure at the Park Boulevard Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Office at 4067 Park Boulevard.

She reportedly woke up from the anesthesia and realized he was touching her.

She felt some touching she felt was inappropriate. When we served a search warrant we recovered a video of the acts occurring," Deputy District Attorney Martin Doyle said.

Ramos no longer works at the clinic according to an office manager and they are working with police.

Ramos, whose dental assistant license was issued two years ago, was being held on $2 million bail. His bail has now been reduced to $100,000.

Police are urging any other possible victims to come forward if they believe they were similarly violated.
 

Mardi Gras Starts Early in San Diego

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This weekend Mardi Gras 2016 will get in to full party mode. The biggest celebration is, of course, in New Orleans. But since most of us in San Diego can’t make our way to Bourbon Street one Gaslamp establishment is bringing a bit of the Bayou to the California coast.

On Friday night The House of Blues will transform in to The Haunted House of Mardi Gras.

“We wanted to provide something else for the citizens of San Diego,” says Nicole Slater, the House of Blues Marketing and Promotions Manager. “We wanted to go with a Voodoo theme, something inspired by New Orleans. As you know it’s a very haunted place.”

One of the most haunted places on earth, and certainly the most haunted in the United States. The House of Blues is trying to get a jump-start on the traditional parties that come on Saturday by really putting people in the Mardi Gras mood.

“It’s going to be quite the visual event,” says Slater. “We’re going to have a Voodoo Priestess walking around giving out Tarot cards (but with no live snakes!). There’s going to be a scavenger hunt. Everyone’s been to a Mardi Gras event. It’s a lot of fun but this is offering something different.”

Add to that a 1960’s tribute band, as well as a jazz band on the Voodoo Stage, and performers from Lola Demure's Burlesque & Variety Troupe and you have the makings for a New Orleans-inspired party.

The restaurant at House of Blues is even putting together a Creole-inspired menu for the week, complete with Crawfish Étouffée, Jambalaya and of course those signature Hurricanes (with a complimentary cup).

The event begins on Friday night at 7:00 at House of Blues San Diego … and you might be able to get in for free. A few comp tickets are still available via email at RSVPHOBSD@livenation.com.

If those go before you can get in, admission is $13 at the door.

Zika Scare Reopens Abortion Debate in Brazil

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Fears over the Zika virus are reopening the debate over abortion in Brazil, where the procedure is illegal under most cases, NBC News reported.

Brazilian bishops opposed a petition seeking to expand abortion laws to cover women infected with Zika. In a statement, the bishops said the situation doesn’t advocate abortion “for cases of microcephaly.”

Groups that want to change the laws say advising women to avoid pregnancy is not enough. Activists want the government to provide pregnant women with Zika virus testing, and the option to choose whether they wish to continue with their pregnancy.

Abortion is legal in Brazil in cases of rape or incest, if it endangers the woman’s life of if the fetus is developing anencephaly — a rare condition where the baby is missing parts of its brain and skull.  



Photo Credit: AP

'Surprise! I'm Still Alive!' Contract Killing Doesn't Go as Planned

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"Kill her," he said. Those were the words that Noela Rukundo heard come through the speakerphone. The voice on the other end of the line was her de facto husband, the BBC reported

Rukundo's partner, Balenga Kalala, had allegedly paid a group of professionals to kill Rukundo after she attended the funeral of her stepmother in her native Burundi, according to the Australian Broadcasting Company. Kalala was back at their home in Melbourne, Australia.

But the would be killers, some of whom knew Rukundo's brother, didn't do their job. She was released 7,500 miles from her home.

"We give you 80 hours to leave this country," Rukundo recalled the gang told her, according to the BBC.  

She did. Getting assistance from both the Belgian and Kenyan embassies as well as a local pastor in Melbourne, Rukundo was able to get back just in time to surprise Kalala — at her own funeral. 

“Is it my eyes?” she recalled him saying after he had just finished speaking. “Is it a ghost?”

“Surprise! I’m still alive!” she replied, the BBC reported

During the interview with the BBC, Rukundo said that Kalala actually reached out to touch her shoulder for confirmation.

"I'm sorry for everything," he cried. That wasn't quite enough for Rukundo. She called the police, and Kalala will now serve nine years in prison for incitement to murder, according to the Australian Broadcasting Company.

The saga started almost a year ago, when Rukundo had flown from Melbourne to Burundi to attend her stepmother's funeral. Shortly after, she was blindfolded, shoved into a car, and eventually tied to a chair in a building near Bujumbura, according to the BBC.  After her release, she made her way back to Melbourne, and her husband. 

Kalala told the community in Melbourne that Rukundo was killed in a tragic accident, the BBC reported.  Her funeral was well attended, including, of course, one very special guest.

For more details on Rukundo's journey, click here. 



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Eater SD: New Steakhouse, Super Bowl Viewing Spots

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San Diego’s dining scene scored big this week with lots of fresh, tasty happenings. Eater San Diego shares the top food and drink stories of the week, including the announcement of a new steakhouse coming to Little Italy, one chef’s new gig and, of course, local spots to catch Super Bowl 50.

Two-Story Steakhouse & Rooftop Garden Slated for Little Italy
CH Projects, which runs Little Italy's Ironside Fish & Oyster, has announced that it intends to build a mid-century modern steakhouse with a rooftop terrace and urban garden on India Street in the space that was formerly Nelson Photo. Called Born & Raised, it will feature an in-house dry-aging meat program and will be designed by BASILE Studio (KINDRED, Polite Provisions)

Where to Watch Super Bowl 50 in San Diego
Super Bowl mania is here and many area restaurants and bars will be hosting game day viewing parties on Sunday, Feb. 7. Eater's map includes a dozen local highlights, including a taco and tequila fest, tailgate barbecues, all-day happy hours and more.

Fireside by The Patio Announces New Head Chef
The Patio Group has chosen accomplished chef Antonio Friscia (Rustic Root, Don Chido) to head up its new concept for Liberty Station, which is slated to open this spring. The indoor/outdoor Fireside by The Patio will have a globally-inspired menu based on wood-fire cookery that includes yakitori.

Mexican Cantina Moving Onto 30th Street in South Park
The owners of Kensington Cafe and The Haven Pizzeria will launch their first project in South Park with Provecho, a classic Mexican cantina scheduled to debut by late this month. The family-friendly spot will feature a '”Mexican/Chicano soul food” menu and variations on a beloved old classic: the margarita.

Barbecue, Beer & More Headed for Carlsbad
A multi-concept food and drink project is in the works for downtown Carlsbad. Sharing an 8,000-square-foot lot will be Park 101, which spans a counter service-style barbecue-centric eatery and a street-level and rooftop beer garden, plus El Corral Deli & Dough, which plans to serve grab-and-go food ranging from coffee and sandwiches to doughnuts and ice cream.
 



Photo Credit: Rendering Courtesy of BASILE Studio
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