Ana Marquez-Greene’s family is remembering her as a joyful little girl who loved to sing, dance and leave sweet notes under her parent’s pillows for no special reason other than to tell them she loved them.

“It is with immeasurable grief and heavy-heartedness that we mourn the loss of our precious angel, Ana Grace Marquez-Greene. She was taken from us far too soon in the horrific massacre enacted upon Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday morning December 14, 2012,” her family said in a statement released on Monday.

Ana was only 6-and-a-half years old when she was killed inside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on Friday morning.

She was the daughter of 1997 University of Hartford graduates Nelba Marquez and Jimmy Greene, according to University of Hartford president Walter Harrison.

“In her short life, Ana strengthened us with her loving, generous joyful spirit. She routinely committed selfless acts of kindness: every drawing or craft project she began was envisioned not for her own enjoyment, but as a gift for another. She often left sweet notes that read, ‘I love you Mom and Dad,’ under our bedroom pillow - not on special occasions, but, rather, on ordinary days. She would not allow me to kiss her goodbye. Instead, when I bent down to kiss her, she would take a step backwards, poke out her lips and wait for me to lower my cheek - she made it clear that she wanted to do the kissing,” the family wrote.

Both of Ana’s parents attended the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford -- Jimmy is a well-known jazz musician -- and she loved singing, even before she could talk.

“In a musical family, her gift for melody, pitch and rhythm stood out remarkably. And she never walked anywhere - her mode of transportation was dance. She danced from room to room and place to place,” the family said. “She danced to all the music she heard, whether in air or in her head. Ana loved her God, loved to read the Bible and loved to sing in dance as acts of worship.”

The family asks for prayers for the people who are left behind to cherish memories of her.

“We also ask that you, like Ana, commit selfless acts of kindness to all those around you. Maybe, in some way, through love, similar senseless acts of violence could be prevented,” the family said.

Funeral arrangements will be announced soon.

In lieu of gifts and flowers, the family is working to establishing scholarships in Ana’s name at Western Connecticut State University’s Department of Music in Danbury, CT and the Artist’s Collective in Hartford, CT.

The Hartt Trombone Ensemble will hold a Benefit Concert to support the families of the Newtown community this Monday, December 17, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in Millard Auditorium at The Hartt School of the University of Hartford. A suggested donation of $5 will be collected at the door for the Sandy Hook School Support Fund.

This concert will feature the ensemble's annual holiday caroling program, with family-friendly selections from "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Jingle Bells" to Praetorius' "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" and Palestrina's "Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant Us Peace)."

 

Hundreds of customers in El Cajon were without power Monday morning after two outages were reported in the area. 

The first outage occurred just after 10 a.m. and affected over 500 customers. The outage was caused by an underground failure, according to an SDG&E spokesperson.

The second outage was reported shortly after when there was an issue on a second circuit. About 1,000 more customers were affected. 

As of about 1 p.m., power was restored to all but 22 customers. It is not known when power will be returned to those customers.

Sprouts grocery store was closed during the afternoon, and stoplights on several blocks were not working near Main Street in El Cajon. 

A man paralyzed by a fallen palm tree has won in a lawsuit filed against the City of San Diego.

Michael Burke suffered serious injuries when a Queen Palm tree along Lark Street fell on his legs in January 2010. He lost the use of his legs and blames the city for improper inspections. 

The jury in the civil suit agreed with Burke that the city was liable for his injuries. He has undergone 14 surgeries since the tree fell, and will likely undergo amputations due to the severity of his injuries, according to his attorneys.

The trial will continue this week to determine the damages the city will pay. 

Defense attorneys argued that a homeowner -- not the city -- owned the property and the tree that fell on Burke. The City Attorney's office also pointed out more than 400 trees fell in three days of a major storm.

Burke’s attorney Browne Greene said the city "walked away from its responsibility" of caring for the trees amid budget cuts.

However, the defense said city workers only cut down trees if someone tells them there's a problem and in this case, nobody did.

City attorneys also told jurors when the city does trim palm trees, it’s not to keep them healthy but to simply remove berries before they fall.

Burke told reporters he filed the lawsuit because he’d like to see the city take steps to bring back trimming and inspection of palm trees

“I’m concerned for my family, for my wife, for my special-needs son but I’m also concerned for others. The danger still exists for people in the community of Mission Hills,” Burke said. 

The light rain San Diego received Monday was a precursor to a more powerful storm expected to move ashore Tuesday.

The bulk of the rain will fall beginning at 11 p.m. through 10 a.m. By late Tuesday night, San Diego will see cold air and strong winds according to NBC 7’s Whitney Southwick.

Residents living and traveling at the 4500 to 5000-foot level could see a few inches of snow. The highest peaks in San Bernardino and Riverside counties could see as much as 8 inches of snow according to the National Weather Service.

As for the winds, strong gusts are forecasted for the coastal waters with speeds up to 35 mph the NWS warns.

The threat for mariners prompted a Hazardous Weather Outlook from the Mexico border to San Mateo Point. Gale warnings and wind advisories are expected the NWS said.

The skies will clear Tuesday night with sunny conditions returning Wednesday Southwick said.

Daniel Inouye, a war hero and the second-longest serving senator, died Monday evening of respiratory complications at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, with his wife and son by his side.

The Hawaii senator's last word was "Aloha," and when asked recently how he wanted to be remembered, according to a statement on his website, he replied: "I represented the people of Hawaii and this nation honestly and to the best of my ability. I think I did okay."

Sen. Harry Reid announced his colleague's passing in remarks Monday evening on the Senate floor.

"I've never known anyone like Dan Inouye. No one else has," Reid said. "The kindness that he has shown me for my time here is something I will cherish always. A man who has lived and breathed the Senate. If there ever were a patriot, Dan Inouye was that patriot."

President Barack Obama remembered the senator as "an American hero" who worked to forge bipartisan consensus throughout his political career. Inouye was "not just a colleague and a mentor, but someone revered by all of us lucky enough to know him," the president said in a statement.

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Serving since 1963, the 88-year-old Hawaii Democrat was the second-longest serving senator (behind the late Sen. Robert Byrd) and President Pro Tempore of the chamber, which made him third in line for succession to the presidency.

He was a war hero who survived the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, and went on to fight in Italy during World War II where he received a Medal of Honor for directing his platoon successfully through a hail of gunfire and refusing to evacuate even after he suffered a gunshot wound and shattered arm.

Fellow Medal of Honor recipient and NBC News military analyst Col. Jack Jacobs said he knew Inouye well and recalled him as "a gentleman and a patriot."

He added that Inouye's WWII unit was "composed almost entirely of Japanese-Americans, most of whom we had put in concentration camps and classified them as enemy aliens," yet it was also "the most highly decorated organization in the Army during WWII."

Inouye was Hawaii's first-ever Congressman following statehood in 1959 and a vocal advocate of veterans' rights.

During his decades-long tenure at the Senate, he served as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and was a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, Watergate Committee and the committee formed to investigate the Iran Contra Affair.

His first wife Margaret "Maggie" Awamura preceded him in death. He is survived by his wife, Irene Hirano Inouye, his son Daniel Ken Inouye Jr., his daughter-in-law Jessica, his granddaughter Maggie and step-daughter Jennifer Hirano.

Firefighters successfully extinguished a fire at a Talmadge apartment building Monday evening.

The fire started just after 3 p.m. in the 5300 block of Monroe Avenue, according to the San Diego Fire Department.

About 15 minutes after they arrived, firefighters knocked the fire down.

The fire was contained to one unit, and no injuries were reported. It is not yet known how many people will be displaced by the fire.

Police were in the area after the fire to provide traffic control.  

A bank robbery suspect who claimed to be armed with a gun and bomb has fled on foot in Egger Highlands, police said. 

The suspect robbed the Navy Federal Credit Union in the 500 block of Saturn Boulevard in the South Bay area of San Diego at about 4 p.m. Monday, according to the San Diego Police Department.

The cash stolen from the bank had a tracking device in it, which police used to follow the suspect. By 5:30 p.m., police announced they had arrested a suspect in Imperial Beach. 

The suspect is a man in his 30s about 5'9'' tall. He said he had a gun as he was robbing the bank, but a gun was not visible. He also claimed to have a bomb, but that was not seen either.

Police cannot yet say what was taken from the bank. 

There were no injuries. 

A postal worker was taken to the hospital after a car struck him in Rolando Monday evening. 

The worker was struck in the 6900 block of Amherst Street at about 5:30 p.m. Monday, according to the San Diego Police Department.

The driver stayed on scene for questioning.

Medics were requested for the man, who police said was a postal worker.

Police shut down Amherst Street at 69th street in the moments after the collision.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is tightening up their policy when it comes to helping local law enforcement.

According to the Department of Homeland Security the border patrol will no longer provide interpretation services.

This comes amid accusations that the border patrol was abusing their role as interpreters while interrogating people who may not be here illegally.

But advocates for border patrol call this decision a huge disappointment that only prevents them from doing their job.

Shawn Moran is Vice President of the National Border Patrol Council. He says when police pull someone over and they have no identification or a problem communicating, most of the time that person is here illegally.

Although border patrol agents provide interpretation for local law enforcement in those cases, ACLU attorney Sean Riordan says the practice is not only discriminatory, but that it is used as a tactic to get border patrol to investigate someone's immigration status.

He applauds CBP’s decision to stop providing the service.

“From both the perspective of communities feeling secure and from preventing a form of discrimination based on limited English proficiency this is a very good development,” said Riordan.

Earlier this year the ACLU filed a lawsuit to stop border patrol agents from doing traffic stops in the state of Washington, claiming that many were being pulled over for the way they looked.

Although Border patrol will no longer provide interpretation services to local law enforcement.

For those in support of the largest law enforcement agency in the country, the decision is a big mistake.

“If a local or state law enforcement officer comes upon someone that they feel might be illegal, they have every right and in fact, they have a duty to call the U-S border patrol,” said Moran.

The decision does not affect the border patrol's authority when it comes to other immigration related calls from local law enforcement.

But as for interpretation requests, CBP says police and sheriff's department officials will now have to use their own staff or a private interpreter service.
 

With a smile and a bounce as she greets her customers at Cafe 222, Kerin Sovern tries to remain positive after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary.

"We'll get through this with the help of each other," says Sovern.

She is a Newtown native and moved to San Diego six years ago.

"I want to focus on the love for the town that I have as I do for San Diego," expresses Sovern, "San Diego is a lot like Newtown too in that we have a sense of camaraderie, family, values and we're a faithful group."

Sovern shares her thoughts on her hometown and how proud she is to be from there.

She doesn't want the shooting incident to define Newtown, but at the same time, Sovern feels that people should remember those families in a respectful way.

That's where her creativity kicks in.

She re-designed "I love Newtown" t-shirts that she had created 10 years ago to outline the state of Connecticut with a green line and with a green heart in the middle.

The t-shirts are $20 each, and the money will go to the affected families from the shooting.

"I really hope that it makes a huge difference to these families," adds Sovern, "Even if it's not a million dollars. We've already raised $1000."

There have been over 100 orders of the t-shirts in just a day. She hopes to start shipping them before the holidays.

For more information on the t-shirts and to see how you can contribute, check out her website. 

 A toddler was injured and rushed to the hospital Monday afternoon in a two-car crash in Escondido.

The crash happened just before 2 p.m. Monday near Peet Lane and Bear Valley Parkway, according to the California Highway Patrol.

One vehicle was overturned in the accident. 

A 2-year-old child inside one of the cars sustained major injuries and was transported via helicopter to the hospital, CHP authorities said. 

The toddler's condition at this time is not known. 

As the first two of 26 victims fatally shot in the Newtown school shootings were laid to rest Monday, a long-dormant debate about gun control gained momentum and picked up a few unlikely backers in Washington.

“Seeing the massacre of so many innocent children has changed everything,” West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin III, an avid hunter and NRA member, said on MSNBC Monday. “Everything has to be on the table.”

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley proposed a debate on guns, The Associated Press reported, while Rep. John Yarmouth, a Kentucky Democrat who long avoided the topic apologized for his silence.

“I am now as sorry for [my silence ] as I am for what happened to the families who lost so much in this most recent, but sadly not isolated, tragedy,” Yormouth wrote in a statement.

His calls to reexamine gun laws and revisit a federal assault weapons ban that expired in 2004 under President George W. Bush have been echoed at all levels of government in the wake of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary Friday that devastated the once-peaceful Connecticut town.

A day after President Barack Obama's Sunday trip to Newtown, where he vowed to use “whatever power this office holds” to protect the country’s children against gun violence, he met with Vice President Joe Biden, Attorney General Eric Holder, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and others to discuss a response to the fourth mass shooting in his four years as president, The Associated Press reported.

His meeting comes as Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the author of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, prepares to introduce new legislation to stop the sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing of assault weapons, and magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

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Police have said that 20-year-old gunman Adam Lanza ambushed the elementary school with a Bushmaster AR 15 rifle—a high-powered weapon similar to the military’s M-16. Each of the 26 victims slaughtered in the attack suffered at least two bullet wounds, the state’s medical examiner said.

Since the shooting, questions about the need for high-capacity weapons have abounded, from governors' offices to the streets of Newtown.

“If people want to go hunting, a single-shot rifle does the job, and that does the job to protect your home too,” Ray DiStephan told The Associated Press outside the funeral of 6-year-old Noah Pozner Monday. “If you need more than that, I don’t know what to say.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy—who cried during a press conference Monday when recounting the pain of having to break the news to parents that their children were among the dead—said that the weapons Lanza used in the attack “are not used to hunt deer.”
 
He urged debate on the issue and said he’d “love to hear the people argue that we need 30-round magazines and that that’s somehow tied to the right to bear arms.”

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a longtime advocate of stricter gun laws, unveiled Monday a new campaign urging Congress to immediately pass legislation requiring criminal background checks for all gun sales, a ban on assault weapons and a new laws that would make gun trafficking a felony.

Flanked by suvivors of gun violence and family members of those who weren't as lucky, Bloomberg called Congress’ inaction on the issue a “stain on our nation’s commitment to protect our children.”

While the National Rifle Association has been silent since the shooting Friday, dismantling its Facebook page and refusing interviews, some gun supporters have argued, in the wake of the massacre, in favor of the controversial weapons.

“Every mass killing of more than three people in recent history has been in a place where guns were prohibited,” Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican, said on Fox News Sunday. “… They choose this place. They know no one will be armed.”

On the topic of assault weapons he added that they “ensure against the tyranny of the government.”

As the debate continues on the national stage, the town of Newtown is taking its first steps to return to its routines.  Tuesday, Newtown schools—with the exception of Sandy Hook Elementary School—will reopen. Gov. Malloy signed an executive order to expedite the relocation of the district’s elementary school to an unused building in the neighboring town of Monroe.

Meanwhile, investigators are still searching for a motive and working to uncover information from a badly damaged hard drive that Lanza removed from his computer before launching his attack.

One person was hospitalized following a head-on traffic accident on the Barona Ranch Indian Reservation.

The collision occurred on Wildcat Canyon Road, just north of the entrance to the Barona Valley Rancho Resort and Casino.

A Ford truck and a Rav4 collided around midnight according to Lakeside fire crews.

The female driver of the Rav4 suffered significant injuries officials said. She was taken to Sharp Hospital in an ambulance.

A medical transport helicopter was originally called but could not fly due to weather conditions officials said.

No other injuries were reported.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.
 

As parents around the U.S. dropped their children off at bus stops or outside schools Monday morning, San Diego police officers had stepped up their presence at school campuses around the city.

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner met with local law enforcement and school leaders to discuss steps they were taking to ensure the safety of children in public school following the deadly shooting in Newtown, Conn.

On Friday, Adam Lanza, 20, killed his mother before going to Sandy Hook Elementary School and killing 20 children and six adults. He then took his own life.

Among the increased security will be community service officers, San Diego police officers and school police.

“What we'll be doing over the next few days is taking a look at the impact of this, school by school, and determine what kind of response is necessary," said Joe Fulcher, Chief Student Services Officers with the San Diego Unified School District.

SDUSD school police train side-by-side with SDPD for various scenarios including an active shooter on school grounds.

Rueben Littlejohn, Police Chief for San Diego Unified School District, said the key for campus readiness is training, training and more training.

“There’s not going to ever be 100 percent security system in place that’s going to keep everyone in place wherever they go, we all know that,” Littlejohn said. “But having those tools and having them readily accessible on instinct and you can kick into your plan, that’s what we’re looking for from all of our schools and our principals.”

While not a silver bullet, local leaders are also hoping the offer of help might prevent similar tragedies in the future.

Programs like “Students Speaking Out” and “It’s Up to Us San Diego” offer hotlines that are available to residents who suspect a problem or are struggling with mental illness respectively.

"The trick of our community would be to make sure that these indicators get to the right people at the right time,” Mayor Filner said. “Obviously you can't stop every little incident, but the pattern is that all of these people stood out on some way.”

SDPD Assistant Police Chief Boyd Long encouraged the public to take an active role in preventing shootings in public places.

“Whether it was a school shooting, a shooting in a mall or a shooting in a theater. In most cases, if not all cases, somebody had information ahead of time that potentially predicted this type of activity,” Long said.

“If you see someone, or know someone or hear something say something to somebody,” he said.

San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne said if it were up to him, “assault weapons should be banned across the board.”

But that's a political issue,” Lansdowne said. “But it's certainly one I'm very much interested in."

In the next couple of days, a video for parents will be available on the San Diego police department and school districts websites to walk adults through specifics on how to help children through issues related to the crisis in Newtown.

For more information:

“Students Speaking Out” - To anonymously report crime and dangerous activities taking place in San Diego County schools call 619-508-TIPS or 888-508-TIPS

“It’s Up to Us San Diego” - To identify that you or someone you know may need help with anger, depression, violence or loneliness call 888-724-7240

The debate over gun control laws is on the minds of many and one San Diego gun shop reports an increase in gun sales before any added restrictions become law.

Gun owners around the U.S. worry new gun control laws are on the way in reaction to the tragic shooting inside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Friday.

Some San Diego residents say they had already been expecting President Barack Obama to implement stricter gun laws but after the shooting deaths of 20 children and six adults inside an elementary school classroom, they now believe it's a sure thing.

Click here for profiles of Newtown, CT victims

Spring Valley residents David and Jessica McLaughlin spent some time Sunday shopping for a gun. They say their neighbors and their grandparents have been robbed recently.

David wants the ability to protect his family that includes his 16-month-old son. “The police can only get there so fast,” he said.

However, Jessica McLaughlin said she was motivated by recent events. “All the stuff on the news, the violence, especially the shooting of the children,” she said. “Now we have our son, it's just really important to us to protect our family.”

Gun store owner Charles Garlow says sales have picked up as customers expect new gun laws after the recent tragic shootings in Portland and Connecticut.

Sales at his store California Police Equipment are "brisker" according to Garlow. While that may be part of Christmas sales, he said customers are concerned about the political debate over gun control.

“People are afraid that the government is going to restrict handguns as well as assault weapons,” Garlow said.

While he called the tragedy in Newtown a "horrendous deed" that he can't fathom, he said guns are not the culprits.

“I don’t believe the guns are at fault, I believe it’s the people who have the guns,” said Garlow.

The crackdown may not be far off. On Sunday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) promised to introduce new gun control legislation at the beginning of 2013. The bill would ban assault weapons and limit high-capasity magazines. 

Feinstein co-authored a 1994 ban on assault weapons, but the ban expired in 2004. 

Some welcome such legislation, such as Sunny Brady, a Bay Park resident. While Brady believed people should have the right to have pistols and hunting rifles, she says there’s no need to people to have powerful assault weapons.

“There’s no necessity to have that in your own home. No necessity.”

Tom Johnston of Clairemont agreed. 

"The general public -- I don't think we need assault rifles," he said. 

If there is a crackdown on gun ownership, Garlow believes the honest people will be the only ones to turn in their guns.

“The bad guys steal their guns. They go out of country and buy their guns. The honest people are going to be the ones struggling without guns,” he said.

While Garlow's store is seeing a slight boost in gun sales, one store in Milwaukie, Oregon saw long lines right after news of Friday's shootings.

“Yesterday was the biggest day we've seen in 20 years,” Karl Durkheimer, owner of Northwest Armory said Sunday. “Today will probably eclipse that.”

State background checks that usually take 15 minutes, were taking up to four hours but customers didn't seem to mind the wait for firearms and ammunition.

Garlow says assault rifles are already restricted in California unlike most of the country. High capacity magazines are banned and the ability to quickly change those magazines is also restricted.