An 11-month-old girl died after she was left inside her parents' parked car Monday in South Florida, possibly for hours, according to police.

Emergency responders were called to the 3500 block of West 86th Terrace in Hialeah around 4:10 p.m. The baby was found unconscious and taken to Palmetto General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. 

Police said the baby had been left inside her parents' parked vehicle with the engine turned off. It's not clear how long she was there, but police said it may have been a few hours. The child's name has not been released.

The temperature outside climbed into the upper 80s on Monday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

Authorities have not taken anyone into custody or filed charges in connection with the case. Police are working with the Miami-Dade state attorney's office to investigate.

According to HeatStroke.org, the child is the first to die in a vehicle in Florida this year and the eighth nationwide.

Janette Fennell, president and founder of Kids and Cars, a nonprofit organization focused on improving child safety around cars, recommends the following tips to parents:

1. Look before you lock. Open the back door and look in the back seat to make sure everyone is out of the car (even if you think there is no one back there).
2. Keep something you need in the back seat. Put your cellphone, briefcase, computer, lunch, ID badge, left shoe or anything essential to your daily routine next your child.
3. Travel with a furry companion. Keep a stuffed animal in the car seat. When a baby is in the seat, the stuffed animal rides shotgun. The furry passenger serves as a reminder that baby's in the back.
4. Always lock the doors. Even if the car is in the garage, keep the doors locked to prevent curious children from getting into the car.
5. Put the keys and fobs away. Kids might want to play with keys and be able to get into the car without parents knowledge.
6. Have a plan with child-care provider. If your child does not show up to daycare or school without prior notice, someone should call to locate child.
7. If you see something, do something. If you see a child alone in a car, do not hesitate to call 911.

The University of California, San Diego’s Algae Biofuels Program was ranked one of the best in the nation by the U.S. Department of Energy.

This is the fourth consecutive year UC San Diego has retained the number one ranking for its algae program.

The program, headed by Stephen Mayfield, a biology professor at UC San Diego, focuses on developing renewable transportation fuels from algae. Professor Mayfield directs the California Center for Algae Biotechnology, also called Cal-CAB.

UC San Diego was ranked number one among 27 other programs in the nation at universities and national laboratories. The programs are funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The program was praised last year for producing the first surfboard made entirely from algae by UC San Diego researchers.

UC San Diego’s algae biofuels program is no longer funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The San Diego City Council will consider a law to ban the synthetic drug known as spice, which has been a growing issue city, according to officials.

If approved, the ordinance would be the first of its kind in California.

Spice is a chemical mixture sprayed on to a plant substance that users can then smoke or ingest to achieve a similar effect to marijuana.

But the drug can lead to medical emergencies such as seizures, comas and hallucinations.

Law enforcement has seen a jump in the number of emergency-room visits attributed to the drug, with several people overdosing.

Since last November to March of this year, officials say there have been 650 spice cases. Of them, 120 cases have been in Downtown San Diego.

Current laws ban certain chemical combinations used in spice but manufacturers began experimenting with chemical combinations that were not covered.

"The unpredictability of the potency, combined with the changing chemical structure with which they are made, makes it a game of Russian roulette when users decide to ingest a synthetic drug," Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman said the current laws are inadequate for criminal enforcement of spice.

Last year, authorities arrested two drug dealers involved in a spice overdose.

But they say they were unable to prosecute the dealers because the drugs sold did not include the five chemical compounds prohibited by state law.

On Monday, Zimmerman warned against the use of spice and even had a warning for manufacturers who have been changing up the chemical makeup of spice to continue selling it.

“Those of you who have been exploiting this loophole, and now continue to sell this dangerous drug, you should expect enforcement action,” she said.

The proposed ordinance would prohibit the manufacture, sale, distribution and possession of spice, bath salts and other drugs that mimic the effects of marijuana.

Officials say this ordinance is unique because it allows them to hold dealers responsible if the drug has a similar chemical structure or has similar effects on the body and brain as marijuana.

Officials say the spike in cases related to spice has cost the city millions of dollars to respond to.

"I mean, you can get a sense of what we could be spending this money on if not for this foolishness. And that's why we gotta stop it," San Diego City Councilman Todd Gloria said.

A San Diego teenager who is battling cancer welcomed Captain America, Iron Man and Pepper Potts into his home, just two weeks after his classmates stood behind him in support.

Ryan Wilcox, 18, is a Grossmont High School student who is also a die-hard "Captain America" and "Avengers" fan.

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In a video played at the school May 6, Chris Evans offered Wilcox well wishes and told him to "stay strong."

The clip not only went viral but prompted "Avengers" co-star Gwyneth Paltrow to suggest a trip to San Diego.

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The trip became a reality Monday when Paltrow, who plays Pepper Potts in the "Avengers" movies; Evans, who portrays Captain America; and Robert Downey Jr., also known as Iron Man, showed up on the Wilcox family's doorstep.

"I saw this car pull up and I saw them walking. I was just like — what?" Ryan told NBC 7's Greg Bledsoe in an interview Monday.

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The stars spent some time with Ryan in his room and even signed his wall. They left behind souveniers and a lot of memories.

"We're all a little numb. I knew for a couple days it was gonna happen but until you see them walk through that door, you don't know how you're going to feel. And they just were awesome. They didn't want cameras, they wanted to do it quietly," said Ryan's mom, Amy Wilcox. "They came into our home, sat on our couches and just visited with us."

She said the trio sat down with the family and just talked.

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Three adults who interacted with students at Mar Vista High School are facing charges for allegedly having sexual contact with minors at the school.

Now, a school district employee tells NBC 7, the South Bay high school is not doing enough to protect students by running background checks on its volunteers.

When a Navy Junior ROTC instructor at Mar Vista High School was arrested on sex crime allegations last month, school district officials said they were surprised at the allegations because Martin Albert Gallegos passed all necessary background checks.

Within weeks, a 27-year-old assistant football coach was also arrested, accused of lewd acts with a 13-year-old on school property.

A 20-year-old tutor at the school has also been arrested and is also facing sex crime charges.

A district employee tells NBC 7, Mar Vista High School is not conducting any background checks of volunteers at the school.

Nor do school administrators even know who is coming on and off the campus, particularly for the ROTC program, the district employee said.

The school district could not or would not provide documentation to show otherwise.

A Mar Vista High School parent told NBC 7 it’s unacceptable.

“There in charge of our children. We send our children here every day, so we expect them to be safe,” said parent Claudia.

The district spokesman declined an on-camera interview request, but said releasing background material for volunteers would violate the privacy rights of students and third parties.

NBC 7 requested a list of all volunteers who have been cleared with background checks to enter Mar Vista High School for 2014, 2015, and 2016 school years. The district said it was not in possession of the requested document, and so it could not be produced.

NBC 7 also requested background check materials for volunteers for Mar Vista High and sign-in sheets at the school.

The district released the following statement:

“As was set forth in the District’s correspondence, one of the categories of documents requested does not exist and the other two categories of documents cannot be produced without violating privacy rights of students and third parties. The Sweetwater Union High School District appreciates the media’s interest in the documents, but has no further comment other than to reiterate that it is committed to protecting the privacy rights involved.”

A Mar Vista student tells NBC 7 that she feels safe at the school.

“I feel safe here. I feel like the teachers are looking out for us,” said student Miram Santiago.

But some parents are saying the school’s response has not been adequate.

A district spokesman said anyone who is hired by the school district undergoes an extensive background check that includes fingerprinting, like all schools in the county. Gallegos and the assistant football coach underwent that background process when they were hired by the district.

All three defendants have entered a “not guilty” plea.

A spokeswoman for the nonprofit who placed the tutor at Mar Vista High School also said that person had been background checked as well.

Most so-called natural mosquito repellents containing naturally derived oils smell nice but don't keep mosquitos off as long as those containing synthetic chemicals, Consumer Reports found.

Consumer Reports said it tested 16 products to see which work best against the Aedes mosquitoes that spread Zika as well as against Culex mosquitoes, which spread West Nile, and the ticks that carry Lyme. The products contain a range of active ingredients, including conventional chemicals like DEET, synthetic plantlike compounds that resemble those found in nature, and plant oils like citronella and rosemary, according to the group.

Their three top pics contain a different synthetic chemical: Sawyer Picaridin (20 percent picaridin); Ben's 30 Percent Deet Tick & Insect Wilderness Formula (30 percent DEET) and Repel Lemon Eucalyptus (65 percent p-menthane-3,8-diol, a synthetic derivative of eucalyptus).

The U.S. Navy awarded General Dynamics NASSCO a one-year contract extension for littoral combat ship sustainment. The deal could be worth up as much as $83.5 million.

The deal covers maintenance, corrosion control, administration and engineering support services, as well as travel associated with the planning and execution of depot level maintenance, alterations and modifications.

The Southwest Regional Maintenance Center in San Diego awarded the deal on May 20.

General Dynamics trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GD.

Two FBI agents were shot Tuesday morning while attempting to serve a warrant to a man who was later found dead in a suburban Chicago home.

Multiple officers were dispatched around 8:30 a.m. to a home near Rich Court in the south suburb of Park Forest.

FBI special agent Garrett H. Croon said two agents suffered non-life threatening gunshot wounds during the attempted arrest and the suspect was later found dead in the home. His identity has not been released.

Park Forest-Chicago Heights School District 163 temporarily requested that parents keep their children indoors and home from school while the "unsafe" FBI activity was ongoing.

The situation was reported to have been resolved by 9:15 a.m.

Further information was not immediately available.

Veterans and lawmakers blasted Veteran Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald Monday after he compared the "experience" of waiting for medical care at his agency's facilities to lines at Disneyland, NBC News reported. 

"The days to an appointment is really not what we should be measuring. What we should be measuring is the veteran's satisfaction," McDonald told reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast in Washington on Monday. "When you go to Disney, do they measure the number of hours you wait in line? What's important? What's important is: What's your satisfaction with the experience?"

Georgia Republican Sen. David Perdue called the comparison "offensive and shameful" and Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a combat veteran who receives her own health care at the Hines VA Hospital in Illinois, called the remark "tone-deaf."

The scandal over long wait times at VA hospitals and clinics nationwide broke open in 2014, when a whistleblower at a Phoenix facility alleged that up to 40 patients may have died while waiting for appointments. 

The VA said in a statement later Monday that it needed to "transform" how it conducts its business.

A Bronx man was arrested early Tuesday after he allegedly tried to join ISIS and later helped an undercover agent who he thought was trying to join the terrorist organization, according to a criminal complaint.

Sajmir Alimehmeti, 22, was arrested in the Bronx by the Joint Terrorism Task Force and is charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization, according to a complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

"Alimehmeti is charged today with actions that show a clear intention to support a terrorist organization that is hell-bent on murder and mayhem," said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.

According to the complaint, he tried to travel to the Middle East to join ISIS on two occassions in 2014 but was blocked each time by British authorities. Then, this year, he allegedly tried to help an undercover agent who claimed to be attempting to join the organization. 

The complaint alleges that Alimehmeti first traveled to the United Kingdom in October of 2014 in an attempt to continue on to the Middle East but was denied entry to the country when British authorities at Manchester Airport found nunchucks and camouflage clothing in his luggage.

He tried again that December, according to the complaint, and was again stopped in the United Kingdom after British authorities at Heathrow Airport in London found images of ISIS and improvised explosive devices on his cellphone.

"As alleged, Alimehmeti continued his quest to support ISIL’s deadly terrorist agenda, after being denied entry into Europe with a bag full of military gear," said NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton. "When he returned home, to the Bronx, he allegedly turned to helping others join the terrorist organization as he built his own arsenal of weapons."

Alerted by UK authorities, the FBI went to work, introducing Alimehmeti to undercover law enforcement agents who posed as ISIS recruits interested in traveling to Syria, according to court papers.

A year after the second attempt, Alimehmeti tried to get a new passport and claimed he had lost his old one, according to the complaint. But he allegedly told undercover agents that he already had $2,500 to travel to Syria but needed to get a new passport in a different name because his had rejection stamps from the United Kingdom and was "already in the system."

Late last year and earlier this year, Alimehmeti began communicating with undercover agents, according to the complaint. When meeting with the agents, the man allegedly expressed interest in joining ISIS, telling one who he thought was set to head overeas "I'm ready f---ing go with you, man...You know I would... I'm done with this place."

He then bought that agent a phone to be used overseas and allegedly talked about "apps" that would encrypt his communications. He also bought two agents boots to use while fighting with ISIS at a sporting-goods store in Manhattan. The complaint also alleges that Alimehmeti also took one of the agents to John F. Kennedy Airport so the agent could fly to join ISIS.

According to the complaint, Alimehmeti played two ISIS-produced music videos that depicted prisoners being beheaded for the undercover agents. He allegedly told the agents that the videos helped him stay motivated while exercising.

Photos from the complaint show him posing in his Bronx apartment with what appears to be an ISIS flag. He also allegedly bought knives, steel-knuckled gloves, a pocket chainsaw, handcuffs and masks, and had MP3 files containing lectures by former al-Qaida official Anwar al-Awlaki.

The court papers said Alimehmeti told the undercover contacts he and his brother "had our own plan" to travel from Albania to Syria but that his brother had been arrested in Albania.

In a footnote, the FBI said in court papers that Alimehmeti's brother was arrested on weapons and assault charges in Albania last August.

Alimehmeti, who also faces fraud-related charges, was set to appear in federal court in Manhattan later Tuesday. Attorney information for the man wasn't immediately available.

More than a half dozen individuals have been arrested since mid-2015 by the task force in New York and New Jersey on similar charges.

The investigation was conducted by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, comprised largely of FBI agents and NYPD detectives, and the NYPD's Intelligence Division.

Police want your help finding the people who severely beat up a University of San Diego (USD) student and injured another during a fight in Mission Beach over the weekend.

The entire incident was caught on tape.

Residents rushed to help and are now asking why more isn't being done about the alcohol-fueled violence among students and visitors.

Friends and a roommates verify that it was USD Junior, Corbin Kirk, who was beaten unconscious last Saturday night in the alley on Strandway at Asbury Court.

Those who came to his rescue say it was the tempest mixture of student tenants and weekend visitors that comes to a boil all too often.

The video is graphic. It illustrates what residents' heard as they were startled awake at 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning.

It started with stomping feet beating a path down Strandway.

“There was some exchange of words or altercation," resident Marty Zimmerman said.

One witness said there were screams that could make your hair stand up on the back of your neck.

“Just painful screams and people yelling stop you're going to kill him,” witness Misha Osinovskiy 

Then a sickening bloody aftermath.

“He was talking very nonsensically and just making noise and gurgling sounds. It was horrible, “ Zimmerman said.

Just another alcohol and drug-fueled good time gone bad that some residents say, plagues mission beach weekends.

“The violence is very disturbing. In particular, this situation. It is just one example of the general problem that exists in this area," Osinovskiy said. 

Police did not identify who or how many were involved but told NBC 7 that several people were fighting in the 26-hundred block of Strandway.

According to the video, USD Junior Corbin Kirk was knocked to the ground, beaten and kicked. His head was stomped on the concrete and the blow caused massive bleeding.

Fellow students are aghast at the savagery. 

“I think all of us were really shocked, we didn't really know what to do,” USD student Taylor Morway said. 

Another unidentified student was kicked and hit but suffered no serious injuries. The whole incident lasted less than a minute.

NBC 7 reached out to University of San Diego by phone and email, but administrators did not respond before news time. 

“You get these kids that don't understand alcohol, don't understand the neighborhood, don't understand there are other people in the world and they just go nuts,” Zimmerman said.

The crime and violence in the Mission Beach community is well documented over many years.

Residents are hoping to change that by bringing such problems to the public's eye. 

Police made no arrests in connection with this fight.

Witnesses say besides the USD students, others involved were from out of town and had been renting a house nearby for the weekend but have already returned home. 

Tony Gwynn’s family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the tobacco industry, claiming the Padres legend was targeted to use the smokeless tobacco that led to the cancer that killed him.

The suit was filed Monday in San Diego Superior Court against Altria Group, Inc. (formerly known as Philip Morris) and several other defendants. Altria Groupu, Inc. makes Skoal chewing tobacco, the brand Tony Gwynn preferred and used extensively.

The Gwynn family alleges the tobacco industry induced Tony to begin using smokeless tobacco when he was a star athlete at San Diego State University in the late 1970’s. In the suit the Gwynn family says the tobacco company "continued to deluge Tony during his college years with countless free samples of "dip" tobacco products they purposely adulterated to make more addictive. All the while, they did not mention either the highly addictive nature of their products or their toxicity."

The suit alleges Gwynn used up to two cans of smokeless tobacco per day, claiming that is the equivalent of smoking four to five packs of cigarettes daily. In the suit the Gwynn family alleges the tobacco industry chose Gwynn specifically because it was trying to market its product to African-Americans, and that it intentionally misled Tony to use the product.

"Tony Gwynn was the Defendants' maketing dream come true," says the lawsuit. "They knew youngsters looking up to Tony would hope to one day hit like Tony, and be like Tony, so they would also want to "dip" like Tony."

Gwynn used smokeless tobacco for 31 years, despite seeing signs it may be harming his health as early as the 1990’s. Gwynn admitted an addiction to the substance and when he tried to stop using he reportedly needed prescription drugs to fight the anxiety and cravings he felt in its absence.

In recent years Gwynn had multiple surgeries on his neck to remove both an abscess and a malignant tumor. In 2014 he passed away from salivary gland cancer at the age of 54.

The lawsuit does not ask for specified damages, instead requesting a jury trial to rule on grounds of negligence, fraud, and product liability by the tobacco industry.

Gwynn’s death has brought about a change in some part of baseball. Multiple young players have either stopped using smokeless tobacco or simply not picked up the habit because of what happened to Mr. Padre.

The Transportation Security Administration on Monday replaced its head of security and created a centralized incident command team, moving dramatically to address the issue of long airport lines.

Kelly Hoggan, the agency's assistant administrator for security operations since 2013, will be replaced by Darby LaJoye, TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger said in an internal memo obtained by NBC News.

LaJoye, a deputy assistant TSA administrator, was previously a top security official at two of the world's busiest airports: Los Angeles International Airport and JFK in New York.

Hoggan, who has been the focus of congressional inquiries into staffing and pay decisions, was reassigned to new duties, Neffenger said.

The appointment is part of a series of moves that Neffenger has taken since hundreds of passengers were stranded in security lines as their planes took off at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport earlier this month.  

Stichomythia. Guetapens. Laodicean. 

Those hard-to-pronounce words have also spelled victory for some of the country's most lexical students: champions of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. 

But for the rest of the 200-plus students who participate in the spell-fest each year, the highfalutin vocabulary words prove more vexing. See with this quiz if you could have outspelled the studious contestants who made it to the finalist round. All the words featured in the quiz knocked out participants in recent years. 

And for those who want to continue to play along from home, this year's competition will take place from May 24 to May 26 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. 

San Diego isn’t all sunshine and surf. According to Amazon, locals love getting cozy with a good book, too, as San Diego is ranked among the most well-read cities in the nation.

On Tuesday, Amazon released its annual list of the “Top 20 Most Well-Read Cities in the U.S.” and America’s Finest City ranked No. 10.

Amazon said the list was curated from a compilation of the company’s sales data from cities across the country, including purchases of all books, magazines and newspapers in both Kindle and print format.

The data shows California is home for bookworms, as three cities made the list for the second year in a row: San Francisco, San Diego and San Jose.

The Top 20 Most Well-Read Cities, according to Amazon are, in order:

• Seattle, Washington (home of Amazon’s headquarters, and last year’s No. 1 well-read city, too)
• Portland, Oregon
• Washington, D.C.
• San Francisco, California
• Austin, Texas
• Las Vegas, Nevada
• Tucson, Arizona
• Denver, Colorado
• Albuquerque, New Mexico
• San Diego, California
• Baltimore, Maryland
• Charlotte, North Carolina
• Louisville, Kentucky
• San Jose, California
• Houston, Texas
• Nashville, Tennessee
• Chicago, Illinois
• Indianapolis, Indiana
• Dallas, Texas
• San Antonio, Texas 

So, what are bibliophiles reading?

According to Amazon’s sales data, “The Girl on the Train” by Paula Hawkins was the top-selling Kindle and print title in five of the top 10 cities on the list, including San Diego.

Adult coloring books were also top-selling print titles in San Diego, as well as Denver, Las Vegas and Albuquerque.

An intense fire damaged a San Marcos woodworking business Tuesday.

The fire started just before 2 a.m. at Architectural Millwork Solutions Incorporated on Armorlite Drive.

When firefighters arrived, flames were breaking through the roof of the warehouse.

Crews forced their way into the building by cutting through the metal door.

There was a lot of lumber in the building which made the fire a challenge.

No other information was immediately available.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story. 

An overturned cement truck closed the ramp between westbound State Route 52 and northbound Interstate 5 Tuesday, causing heavy traffic and delays for hours amid the busy morning commute.

According to California Highway Patrol (CHP) officials, at around 4:45 a.m., a Peterbilt cement truck was traveling northbound on I-5 at about 57 mph when, for unknown reasons, the driver lost control and veered off the right side of the freeway.

The cement truck tipped onto its side, crashing into some trees along the right shoulder of I-5, coming to rest just north of the westbound SR-52 transition.

The driver was uninjured but some oil and diesel spilled in the crash. The truck was full of 100,000 pounds of cement mixture at the time.

CHP officials issued a SigAlert and blocked off traffic to three lanes starting at 5:38 a.m. Officials estimated the area would remain closed to traffic until approximately 9 a.m. while crews worked to clear the crash.

As of 8:30 a.m., traffic was still snarled in the area, as commuters tried to get to work. Two right lanes on northbound I-5 were completely blocked. Traffic was backed up to State Route 54.

By 9:10 a.m., the SigAlert remained in place and one lane had re-opened. An alternate route for commuters would be to travel along northbound Interstate 805 from SR-52.

Meanwhile, traffic was also heavy on northbound Interstate 15 after a separate rollover crash.

A San Diego resident was forced into his apartment at gunpoint by two men who ransacked his home, stole his car keys and took off in his vehicle, authorities confirmed.

The home invasion-turned-carjacking happened Monday around 11:20 p.m. in the 2500 block of C Street in San Diego’s Golden Hill area.

The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) said two unknown suspects walked up to the victim on the street, while the victim was outside his apartment, and then forced him, at gunpoint, to let them into his home.

Once inside the apartment, police said the suspects stole several items from the resident, including the keys to his black 2007 BMW. The men fled the apartment, stealing the victim’s car.

According to police, the stolen car was last spotted traveling eastbound on State Route 94. The SDPD said the license plate of the stolen car is 7CHT196.

A detailed description of the suspects was not immediately released by investigators. No injuries were reported.

A rollover crash on northbound Interstate 15 snarled traffic for miles during rush hour Tuesday morning and prompted officials to shut down one lane on the busy freeway.

The accident happened around 8:20 a.m. on I-15 at Market Street in the Mount Hope area. California Highway Patrol (CHP) officials said a vehicle wound up flipped onto its roof on the left lane of the freeway.

A SigAlert was issued in the area and traffic was backed up from Interstate 5. Further details of this wreck were not immediately available.

Meanwhile, traffic was also heavy for commuters off westbound State Route 52 and the northbound Interstate 5 connector, where a cement truck overturned, also leading to lane closures and delays on the roadway.

Get the latest traffic updates from NBC 7 here.