A Chinese company has acquired the hotel group that owns the Hotel del Coronado in a multi-billion dollar deal, according to published reports.

Blackstone Group has agreed to sell Strategic Hotels & Resorts to a Chinese firm for $6.5 billion, CNBC has confirmed.

Beijing-based Anbang Insurance Group will now own the landmark San Diego resort along with 16 other properties. They include Ritz-Carlton locations in California, the Fairmont Scottsdale in Arizona, and the Four Seasons Resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The company previously purchased the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, CNBC reports.

University of San Diego professor Alan Gin explained why patrons shouldn't be concerned about the foreign investment.

“You'll probably see little change in terms of management,” Gin said. “It’s just an investment to Chinese investors.”

Carl Winston the Director of the Payne School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at San Diego State University agreed things will largely stay the same because the hotel does well financially.

Gin said the purchase may have something to do with China's economy.

“They’ve accumulated a lot of financial assets and now they're investing in real property in the US,” Gin told NBC 7. “With the Chinese economy slowing that might mean less opportunities in China. So they’re turning to a market like the US where there's less concern.”

Hotel del Coronado is a 28-acre property built in 1888 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977.

The iconic Hotel del Coronado with its red turrets is one of the most recognizable hotels in the world.

It now offers close to 700 rooms and 11 restaurants and continues to draw celebrities and other high-profile guests to the Coronado shoreline.

First the beard and now the Chargers. Eric Weddle has recently said goodbye to two things that defined him.

The former San Diego Chargers safety will sign with the Baltimore Ravens, NBC 7 learned Monday.

The NFL reports Weddle will sign a four-year deal worth $26 million. Other reports estimate the contract at $29 million.

Weddle himself posted an update to Twitter that reads, "RAVEN BOUND!!!!!!!!!"

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On February 2, Weddle shaved off the iconic beard that had become a huge part of his personality and image.

Now, Weddle leaves behind the San Diego Chargers, the only NFL team he has ever known.

The Chargers drafted Weddle in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft. In nine seasons with the Chargers, Weddle made five All Pro teams and emerged as a team leader.

Off the field, Weddle was the face of the Chargers defense and one of the team's most popular players.

While Weddle’s relationship with Charger fans was strong, his relationship with the Chargers organization ended on bad terms.

Controversy plagued Weddle’s last season in San Diego. A contract dispute, injuries and verbal sparring were common talking points, overshadowing Weddle’s play on the field. The 2015 season ended with the Chargers placing Weddle on injured reserve and not allowing him to travel with the team to Denver for the season finale.

NBC 7 SportsWrap reporter Derek Togerson tweeted that Weddle has always been a pro.

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The 31-year-old Weddle, is expected to start at free safety for the Ravens.

Baltimore missed the playoffs last season, finishing the 2015 season with a 5 wins and 11 losses. 

The Chargers and Ravens are not scheduled to play each other this coming season.

With Weddle gone, who will replace him at free safety for the Chargers? Recently, the Chargers signed Dwight Lowery from the Indianapolis Colts. The Chargers may also address the safety position in the NFL Draft April 28 through the 30.

A San Diego man faced a judge Monday for his YouTube video showing him speeding and driving recklessly around the county.

Blake Wilkey, 27, was arraigned on six charges including reckless driving, exhibition of speed and failure to get a permit for a special event. The last charge is tied to how Wilkey allegedly blocked roads off so he could perform high-speed stunts with his vehicle and record them for a YouTube video.

The videos were shared online. Wilkey’s modified VW bug performed several stunts on local roads. In one section of video, the vehicle sails over a small hill clearly traveling well above the 25 MPH posted in the background.

Wilkey’s Facebook account shared his arrest warrant dated February 4. Friends and family offered their support. In one reply Wilkey’s account posted, “Oh yeah I'm not worried about it.”

District Attorney Mark Skeels said he expected Wilkey to spend 45 days in custody for the stunts and an additional four days for violating probation from a 2014 reckless driving case.

The charges were filed based on the video. Since a La Mesa Police Officer didn't witness the stunt, the investigating officer needed to find witnesses. The two witnesses used in the case were friends of the defendant who actually helped make the videos.

Wilkey will also likely be ordered to serve three years of probation, Skeels said.

According to Wilkey's Facebook page, he is a former student of Grossmont High School. 

New cases have been identified in a mumps outbreak at the University of San Diego, county health officials reported Monday.

Three more undergraduate students have been diagnosed with the mumps after coming in contact with the student who was first diagnosed in February. That student lived in off-campus housing, officials said.

A fifth student who lives on campus was diagnosed just last week.

“For me when I heard about it I was kind of scared, but then I didn't really know anyone who had it and they also offered the vaccination. So I think I'm a going to get that,” USD student Courtney Wong told NBC 7.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines a mumps outbreak as three or more cases linked by time and place.

A patient suffering from the mumps often has a fever, headache, earache, and inflammation of the salivary glands.

“The complications can be something called encephalitis, inflammation of the brain, meningitis or inflammation of the surrounding of the brain, or orchitis, which is inflammation of the testicles and inflammation of ovaries. And those last two can cause infertility,” Dr. Eric McDonald of the San Diego County Health Department explained.

Coughing, sneezing, kissing or close contact with an infected person can spread the disease.

An outbreak of mumps has also been reported at Harvard University. The CDC has received 250 reports of mumps so far in 2016. The total cases reported last year was 1,057.

The MMR vaccine is said to be 88-percent effective in preventing the mumps.

Free immunizations are being offered to all undergraduate students at the university to keep the outbreak from spreading, the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency said. USD students and staff can call (619) 260-4595 to find out details on two vaccination clinics scheduled for this week.

In the days before he fled to Texas, the family of convicted killer Jesse Matthew urged him to help police find 18-year-old Hannah Graham, recently unsealed documents reveal.

Matthew pleaded guilty earlier this month to the murders of Graham and 20-year-old Morgan Harrington, both Virginia college students. He was sentenced to four consecutive life terms.

Graham was last seen leaving a restaurant with Matthew on Sept. 13, 2014, his arm wrapped around her. Nearly a week later, police were at Matthew's home, searching his car for evidence of Graham. 

The documents say police told Matthew they wanted to talk to him about the "missing girl."

On Sept. 22, 2014, Matthew's aunt told police her family was trying to do everything they could to help Graham's family, according to the five-page affidavit.

Matthew's aunt said she told him he needed to "think about what happened to the victim because she was someone's child."

Matthew's mother even planned to get the family together "because they needed to address this and get him to do what he needs to do," according to the affidavit.

But the next morning, Matthew was gone. 

Police said license plate readers and a phone call placed Matthew in Louisiana. He was later apprehended on a beach in southeast Texas.

Graham's remains were found five weeks after the University of Virginia student disappeared.

Harrington was a student at Virginia Tech when she vanished in the fall of 2009 after attending a concert on the University of Virginia campus. Her remains were found in early 2010.

Matthew is also serving three life sentences for the attempted murder of a Fairfax County woman in 2005. Prosecutors have said all three cases were linked to Matthew by DNA evidence.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of the hit Broadway show "Hamilton," joined Democratic lawmakers Tuesday in Washington to call for congressional action that would allow Puerto Rico to have bankruptcy protection.

Miranda, who grew up in New York City, said he used to visit his grandparents on the island and the bank and travel agency where they worked now no longer exists. Many people who remain in the town are those who "can't afford to leave," he said.

"This is a fixable issue," Miranda said of the U.S. territory's $72 billion debt crisis and lack of jobs that has devastated Puerto Rico.

New York Sens. Kristen Gillibrand and Charles Schumer, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other Democratic lawmakers also appeared at the press conference on Capitol Hill, where they announced legislation that would allow Puerto Rico to apply for bankruptcy protection.

"Bankruptcy is not the only solution," Gillibrand said. But she called it necessary.

The call for action came a day after Miranda and the cast of "Hamilton" performed selections from the Grammy-winning show live at the White House.

Miranda also recorded a freestyle rap with President Barack Obama in the Rose Garden.

Miranda joked Tuesday that in terms of battling Puerto Rico's crisis, "If 'Hamilton' tickets will help, I'm happy to do that, too."

San Diego biotech Aspyrian Therapeutics has raised $40 million to pursue a new way to fight cancer.

The funding comes from Japanese billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani, according to an Aspyrian statement. Mikitani is the owner of Japan’s largest online retailer, Rakuten. He led the round with his private companies.

The local biotech said it was cleared by the FDA to start clinical studies of its potential head-and-neck cancer treatment, which uses near-infrared light to activate a tumor-killing toxin. The treatment is called photoimmunotherapy, and it was invented at the National Cancer Institute by researcher Hisataka Kobayashi. This form of precision therapy uses lasers to activate monoclonal antibodies that, in turn, stimulate immune cells to attack cancer cells in a localized area. It’s meant to keep damage to healthy cells at a minimum.

“Photoimmunotherapy has the potential to transform the standard of care of a number of cancer areas,” said Miguel Garcia-Guzman, president and CEO of Aspyrian Therapeutics, in a statement. “We are honored to have the support from Hiroshi Mikitani and share a common vision to provide cancer patients with novel targeted approaches to battle and conquer their disease.”

Aspyrian is recruiting patients for a Phase 1 study of its lead asset, RM-1929, and is exploring the use of photoimmunotherapy in other cancers as well.
 

Ravens had not been seen nesting in Washington for more than 100 years — until now.

Two of the majestic birds were spotted nesting along the Potomac River, according to the D.C. Department of Energy & Environment. The department has tracked about 240 bird species in D.C., finding nesting bald eagles last year, and nesting ravens last week, fisheries and wildlife biologist Dan Rauch said.

"We didn't have eagles breeding in the district for 50 years, and when it comes to common ravens, it's over 100, so these are two big milestones just in the last few years," he said.

The male and female ravens are nesting under a bridge. The female is doing the incubating, and he's the lookout and provider.

The presence of the birds is an indication of the health of the area, Rauch said.

"It's a good barometer for environmental health. It's also a good barometer for those species in general," he said.

While Rauch and other environmentalists are excited about the discovery, they want to keep it a bit of a secret to protect the birds. News4 agreed not to disclose the exact location of the nest.

"They need that space because it is a critical time while she's incubating those eggs and just after they hatch as well," Rauch said.

The ravens could have as many as seven eggs in the nest. The baby ravens are expected to be born in early April.

Local scientists say this year’s El Nino is having a big impact on San Diego’s coastline, and they need the public’s help keeping track of it.

Although there hasn't been a massive amount of rain, local researchers say people have to think about the waves and the impact they're having on the coastline, beaches and estuaries.

Researchers with Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System say that amid El Nino conditions the waves have been bigger than usual and may even be affecting human health.

A big challenge ahead of them is translating their research to decision makers, like city and county leaders, which they say will take time.

They’re also reaching out to the public because they say they need the public's help to keep an eye on these coastal changes.

“Citizens can take photographs of the coastline and we're actually asking for photos from both low tide and high tide because we want to get those flooding events,” Sarah Giddings, assistant professor of oceanography at UC San Diego told NBC 7.

People who want to help out can look up two programs called Urban Tide Initiative and Storm Photo.
 

Tuesday marks five years since demonstrators in Syria first took to the streets in anti-government protests, putting President Bashar Assa squarely in the path of the Arab Spring movement. 

The regime's crackdown on protesters evolved into a civil war. Over the coming months and years, the conflict began to pull in fighters and militaries from the around the world including the U.S., Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, as well as ISIS. 

Five years later, 13.5 million people in Syria are in need of humanitarian aid, with 400,000 living in places that are under siege from government forces, rebel groups or ISIS, according to the United Nations. More than 7 million Syrians have been displaced inside the country and 4.8 million have fled, the U.N. said. 

At least 250,000 people have died, but the U.N. stopped counting in 2014. In Aleppo, Syria's second-biggest city, "you can smell the death everywhere," said Sleman Shwaish, former resident of the city who fled to the U.K. 

An Escondido man found dead inside a Valley Center garage has been officially identified by the San Diego County Medical Examiner's office.

Bradley Lynn Trujillo Jr., 44, was shot multiple times before his body was discovered March 2 at the home on Robles Way.

Tribal security officers with the Pala Indiana Reservation were initially called to the home. Two men said they came home from dinner and found Trujillo in the garage.

Deputies were then called and arrested the two men, Anthony Boles Sr. and Tyann Allen on murder charges.

Detectives have not determined the motive. The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information about this incident can call (858) 974- 2321 or after hours at (858) 565-5200.
 

A freight train derailed early Tuesday in the Barrio Logan area south of downtown near Cesar Chavez Parkway and Harbor Boulevard.

The derailment happened at 2:30 a.m., San Diego Police said.

The Burlington Northern Santa Fe train was traveling from New Mexico and nearing its final destination here in San Diego when two of the train cars derailed.

No one was injured in the incident and none of the cargo was damaged.

Amtrak schedules were not affected because the trains run on different tracks.

A well-known eatery in downtown Oceanside has moved – right down the street – and will host its soft opening at its new digs this week.

Family-owned Swami’s Café has relocated to 202 N. Coast Highway after six years in business in downtown Oceanside.

Owner Jaime Osuna says the Oceanside location will continue to serve its extensive menu focused on fresh food, including breakfast dishes, salads, sandwiches, juices and smoothies.

The eatery opens to the public Tuesday with a special 25 percent discount that day for customers. On Thursday, the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce and MainStreet Oceanside group will celebrate the café’s grand opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

For now, the café will open daily until 2 p.m., with plans to open until 9 p.m. in the near future.
Swami’s currently runs nine locations throughout San Diego County, including La Mesa, Encinitas, Escondido, Carlsbad and North Park.
 

Forget elbow grease. How about a germ-zapping robot?

A robot named Thor is the latest tool being used by Palomar Hospital to fight common super bugs.

The robot is among 300 at hospitals and medical facilities nationwide that are being used to eliminate microorganisms that can lead to serious infections among patients. These organisms are becoming resistant to standard cleaning practices, officials said.

How it works: the machine shines a UV light that’s a thousand times more intense than sunlight on patient room surfaces, destroying any lingering viruses, bacteria, fungi and bacterial spores.

Melinda Hart, the spokeswoman for the manufacturer Xenex, said even though hospital staffers thoroughly clean a hospital room, some resistant and dangerous bacteria can still lurk.

“Patient safety is our top priority,” she said. “These microorganisms are hard to kill and even the most thorough cleaning doesn’t catch them all.”

The machine costs $100,000, but it has paid off for Palomar Health. The hospital has seen a 30-percent decrease in infections.

“We know it’s the best thing we can do for our patients,” said Susan Trout, disease preventionist for Palomar Health.

Officials say the robot is an emerging tool in health care and they expect it to become increasingly common across the country.

Hundreds of thousands of commuters, visitors and residents of Washington, D.C., are searching for travel alternatives Wednesday as the entire D.C. Metrorail system closes for an emergency safety inspection.

Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld took the unprecedented step of shutting down the entire system at midnight and keeping it closed until 5 a.m. Thursday so crews could check about 600 underground jumper cables.

A problem with those cables caused a fire at the McPherson Square station early Monday, according to a preliminary investigation. The same problem also led to a smoke incident at L'Enfant Plaza in January, 2015, that killed one person and injured others.

"While the investigation (into the McPherson Square incident) is ongoing, the preliminary findings show commonalities with the cable fire in L'Enfant Plaza a year ago," Wiedefeld said.

"While the risk to public is very low, I cannot rule out a potential life safety issue here," he said. "This is why we must take this [step] immediately. When I say safety is our highest priority, I mean it." 

Metrorail has never shut down, except for weather-related causes, since beginning to operate in 1976, Metro Board Chairman Jack Evans said.

Federal employees have the option to work from home or take unscheduled leave, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management announced about 6 p.m. Tuesday. 

Wiedefeld said he chose to have crews inspect the entire system all at once rather than to spread out the work over a longer period of time.

"If we do it piecemeal, this could take weeks," he said.

The Metro boss said he thinks the work will be complete by the time Metrorail is set to open at 5 a.m. Thursday.

"We feel that we can do it in that time period," Wiedefeld said.

The closure of Metrorail, which transports about 730,000 people on an average weekday and is the backbone of commuting throughout the nation's capital and the region, will disrupt the daily routines of hundreds of thousands of workers. 

D.C. Streetcar was among the other transit agencies that responded, reminding commuters that there are some other options. Still, traffic on area roads on Wednesday morning could be extremely heavy.

Parking in all Metro garages will be free Wednesday for customers taking buses or carpooling, Metro announced.

D.C. public schools will be open Wednesday, the school system announced Tuesday evening. DCPS is working with Metro to add bus service. Absences and tardiness will be excused, DCPS said in a tweet.

One Metro rider died and dozens were hurt Jan. 12, 2015 after a Metro train filled with smoke near the L'Enfant Plaza station. Carol Inman Glover, 61, of Alexandria, Virginia, was a beloved mother and grandmother who had just won her company's employee of the year award.

Stay with News4 for more details on this developing story.

With colorful ice cakes and plenty of popcorn, keepers at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park celebrated a special birthday over the weekend as a tiny gorilla known as the “miracle baby” turned two.

Little Joanne, a western lowland gorilla, was born to mom, Imani, through a remarkable, rare, emergency C-section on March 12, 2014. Right after her birth, Joanne – weighing just 4.6-pounds at the time – suffered complications and was treated for a collapsed lung and pneumonia, with a hard road to recovery ahead.

But, under the watchful eye of zoo keepers, Joanne recovered and was eventually able to rejoin her mother and their troop at Safari Park’s Gorilla Forest.

Today, Joanne is like any tot – playful, sprightly and sassy – and attached to her momma.

During her birthday party, Joanne was seen riding on Imani’s back, swinging from branch to branch and playing with toys.

Of course, the furry little one also enjoyed some birthday treats, including popcorn, lettuce and cakes made of ice and fruit. Keepers used chalk to write a sweet message on the rocks inside the gorilla habitat that read, "Happy Birthday Sassy Little Joanne."

Safari Park posted a short video of Joanne’s birthday on Facebook, which can be seen here or below.

Joanne is Imani’s first baby – and was the 17th gorilla to be born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, which houses eight gorillas. Before Joanne, baby gorilla Monroe was born in 2011 and Frank in 2008.

 California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers held a statewide bone marrow community drive Tuesday, hoping to help a fellow officer heal after a cancer diagnosis.

Santa Ana-based officer Keith Meter was participating in a similar drive for a young girl when he was identified as a potential donor.

The 18-year veteran of the CHP found out during the donation process that he was suffering from a form of cancer called myelodysplastic syndrome.

As he undergoes treatment in Duarte, officers across California are hoping to find a match for Meter.

“We want to help anybody, so we could be the match for anybody, whether it be someone’s child or friend that we want to help,” said Officer Hope Maxson. “Anybody can come out and be a match for anybody that needs it.”

The CHP has partnered with City of Hope, a cancer research hospital; Be the Match, the largest and most diverse marrow registry in the world; Officers Give Hope, a public safety effort to host marrow drives; and BloodSource, a blood center in Northern and Central California.

Potential donors should be between the ages of 18 and 44 and must meet health eligibility guidelines. The donors must make a good faith commitment to donate to anyone in need if they are a match.

If you participate in the drive, volunteers will give participants registry information and take a cheek swab to determine if the person is a match for Meter or others in need.

The San Diego Sheriff's Department (SDSO)'s Bomb/Arson Unit is investigating a Fallbrook house fire deemed suspicious. 

The fire broke out Thursday on the 200 block of N Stagecoach Lane, firefighters said. Raging flames and heavy smoke billowed from the structure, which appeared to be almost entirely gutted once crews quelled the fire. No one was hurt and no one was home at the time of the fire.

Sheriff's deputies said the people who lived in the home had been evicted the day before the fire.

Deputies and North County Fire Protection District officials are familiar with the house and have responded to medical calls and law enforcement-related calls there in the past. 

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined and the investigation continues, though firefighters requested the Sheriff's Bomb/Arson Unit investigate. 

Anyone who knows anything about the fire is asked to reach out to Sheriff's deputies by calling (858) 565-5555 or reaching out to Crime Stoppers to remain anonymous by calling (888) 580-8477. 

For the first time, San Diegans applying to become a firefighter can complete the tests without leaving the county.

Potential firefighters can now take the CPAT (candidacy physical ability test) at Miramar College; they used to have to travel to other cities, such as San Francisco, at their own expense to complete the tests.

An estimated 600 candidates are planning to test at Miramar, and on Tuesday, many came out for the CPATs.

Candidates had to push and pull, wearing a 50-pound vest, to simulate ventilating a building. They also had to drag a dummy and carry tools they would use to enter a building to put out a fire.

They had to perform these tests within 10 minutes and 20 seconds.

Candidate Juan Trevino who passed the test Tuesday said the rigorous ritual is worth it in the long run.

“It’s a process, definitely,” he said. “Different departments have different requirements.”

Sen. Marco Rubio suspended his presidential campaign after losing his home state of Florida on Tuesday, after a contentious campaign that survived a disastrous debate where he was mocked relentlessly for his robotic, repetitive performance but soon after fizzled out.

"While it is not God’s plan that I be president in 2016, or maybe ever, and while today my campaign is suspended, the fact that I’ve even come this far is evidence of how special America truly is," Rubio told supprters.

Going into the March 15 primary in Florida, where Rubio trailed Trump by double digits, the Florida senator was doing all he could to squeak out a victory in his home state. He asked his supporters in Ohio to back Gov. John Kasich in the contest there in the hopes that Kasich's supporters would vote for him in Florida, but Kasich's campaign scoffed at the idea. 

After Rubio's announcement, Ohio Governor John Kasich sent a tweet saying:

"Make no mistake, Marco Rubio will continue to be a powerful voice frot eh future of our Republican party," Kasich wrote."

The day of the primary, Rubio was insisting that he would push on to Utah the following week regardless of the Florida results. By then he had won only three contests: Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., and Minnesota.

But he did not win Florida, his home state and one he had long said would be critical to his campaign.

"There’s nothing more you could have done," he told his supporters Tuesday night, before conceding.

Rubio lost Florida to Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, against whom he had led a series of caustic attacks on Donald Trump, making fun of the front-runner’s spray tan and small hands, failed business deals and lack of policy proposals. He called him a “con man” seeking to pull off the “biggest scam in American policy history.”

"The politics of resentment against other people will not just leave us a fractured party, they’re going to leave us a fractured nation, they’re going to leave us as a nation where people literally hate each other because they have different political opinions," he added.

But Rubio was also accused on flip-flopping, particularly on the incendiary issue of immigration. With Trump calling for the deportation of all illegal immigrants and the construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, Rubio was left to explain his embrace of a bipartisan group of senators, the so-called Gang of Eight, who in 2013 put an ultimately unsuccessful immigration overall bill.

At a debate in February, rival U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said Rubio had written a bill for amnesty.

Within Florida, Rubio, 44, annoyed backers by running for president so quickly. They thought he had done little once he had reached the U.S. Senate. He earned more enmity when he decided to enter the race even after former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush decided to run.

Rubio hoped to bring in more Latinos to the GOP and to be the face of a new Republican party. He campaigned with South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, the second Indian American governor in the United States and whose endorsement he won.

"America needs a vibrant conservative movement but one that’s built on principles and on ideas, not on fear, not on anger, not on preying on peoples’ frustrations," he told supporters.

Rubio was born in Miami, Florida, to parents who first left Cuba for the United States before Fidel Castro's communist regime took over. They returned to Cuba after the overthrow but later came back to the United States.

He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010 as a favorite of the Tea Party.