Buying tickets for the biggest concert in town takes work.

You have to be at your computer the exact minute tickets go on sale and hope they aren't sold out. Why and how do tickets sell out so fast?

On April 11, fans lined up for hours to see superstar Rihanna perform at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego.

Most of the people in the line told NBC 7 Investigates they bought their tickets before they went on sale to the general public.

“I got an email from Live Nation there was a presale,” said one fan.

Another said she bought her tickets presale last September.

Popular pop-star Justin Bieber is coming to Valley View Casino center this June.

In January, Bieber played in Nashville. Documents obtained by NBC found only 1,001 tickets went on sale to the general public, which was 7% of the total seats available.

Nearly 73% went to pre-sales for Bieber's official fan club. Tickets were also sold before the public on-sale date through expensive VIP packages and to American Express card holders.

Almost all the rest - including prime floor seats - went to Bieber, his record label and support teams.

A familiar name in San Diego radio, AJ Machado, says the trend is only getting worse.

“I've always had people come up and ask me for tickets, but now people are desperate. Parents that would gladly buy their kids tickets can’t find them anywhere.” Machado said.

AJ says it's not the artist’s fault. He believes many factors contribute to the problem.

“I don't know how much they even know about the deals being cut,” the radio host said. “I wouldn't totally blame the artist.”

Ticketmaster is the largest ticket seller.

The company partially blames the fast sell-outs on scalpers using automated ticket-purchasing software, referred to as “bots” that aggressively purchase tickets on their site.

“We invest millions of dollars on our back end system to determine if you are human or are you a ‘bot’ and we thwart millions of ‘bot’ requests a year," Ticketmaster spokesperson Jacqueline Peterson told NBC 7 Investigates.

SoundDiego music contributor Tim Pyles said the current system is frustrating and expensive for fans.

“To buy a ticket that's worth $ 75 at a $250 price, it doesn't benefit the whole system, somebody is making money obviously it’s this middle man that's jumping in and kind of subverting the system,” Pyles said.

So what are your options?

You can buy presale tickets by holding a specific credit card or you can join artists' official fan clubs.
Some are free or relatively cheap, depending on the artist. However, the biggest stars can get pricey.

Membership costs $100 a year for Justin Bieber’s fan club.

Ultimately, Pyles said fans have to be persistent.

“It’s like anything, when you are in a crowded venue or a big festival and you are trying to use our cell phone and everyone else is trying to use their cell phone at the same time. You are all not getting through. So it’s just one of those things you have to be in it to win it,” he said.

NBC 7 left several messages for the General Manager for Valley View Casino Center. He never returned our request for comment. His assistant told us they couldn't disclose how the tickets were handed out for the Rihanna concert.

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A 50-year-old pharmacist was arrested Monday night after police say she removed two bottles of orange juice from a bag - which they say were filled with rubbing alcohol - and placed them on the shelf with other refrigerated items at a Starbucks in San Jose.

San Jose Police Sgt. Jason Dwyer took Ramineh Behbehanian of San Jose into custody on an attempted murder charge because the orange juice contained what police said were lethal quantities of isopropyl alcohol. She is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.

She has no criminal record in Santa Clara County, according to court records. Late Tuesday, sources confirmed for NBC Bay Area that Behbehanian is a pharmacist working for a company owned by Johnson and Johnson.

Authorities are still not sure why she would have allegedly mixed rubbing alcohol with some orange juice in the afternoon, left the bottles in the refrigerated section alongside some yogurt and milk, and left the Snell Avenue store about 3:30 p.m.

"Why would she do such a thing?" Chris Africa said, standing outside the Starbucks on Tuesday morning. "Was she trying to poison us?"

An alert customer standing behind her in line spotted her taking out her own bottles of juice from a green Starbucks bag, and put them in the refrigerator section. He also noticed a toxic smell. He told management. The woman might have felt under suspicion, police said, but a Starbucks employee got her license plate.

"A lot of people out there may have seen something and probably dismissed it," Dwyer said. "But I believe that person saved lived by doing that."

The San Jose Fire Department responded to the scene, retrieved the bottles and tested the contents with hazardous materials equipment. It turned out, the bottles were filled with orange juice and rubbing alcohol.

On Tuesday morning, customer Brent Breyer said he was a little "apprehensive" about what happened at his usual Starbucks. He said he often brings his young daughter, who routinely grabs for items in the refrigerated section.

Police were able to track her down at her home, though no motive has surfaced.

A Starbucks spokesperson told NBC Bay Area that the company destroyed all the other juices in the Snell Avenue store out of an abundance of caution and had all other stores in Bay Area check their juice seals. 

All checked out OK.

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Opening arguments in a high-stakes legal battle over Michael Jackson's death began Monday, with Jackson's mother blaming a concert promoter for hiring the doctor convicted in causing the pop superstar's death.

Katherine Jackson, 82, claimed that the major concert company AEG Live should have done a better job vetting Conrad Murray, a former doctor convicted of giving Michael Jackson a powerful anesthetic that killed him in 2009.

Meanwhile, AEG Live contended that Jackson chose Murray as his personal physician.

The court case was expected to last at least three months and include testimony from a star-studded cast of witnesses that includes legendary singers Prince and Diana Ross, along with several Jackson family members and other celebrities.

On Monday, media swarmed the outside of the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles as Jackson family members entered the building. The judge in the case banned cameras from the courtroom.

Michael Jackson died at 50 of a prescription in June 2009 as he prepared to begin his "This Is It" comeback concerts in London with AEG Live. His body was found in a Holmby Hills mansion.

In 2011, Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to four years in jail.

Thomas Mesereau, an attorney who successfully defended Michael Jackson in a 2005 child molestation trial, said a series of emails between AEG Live officials and Murray are a critical piece of evidence.

"If you look at those emails where they acknowledge they're paying his doctor, they acknowledge that he'd better perform even if he's not well, I think the defense has a real uphill battle," Mesereau told reporters. "I think that sympathy is going to be with Katherine and Michael's three children."

Katherine Jackson’s attorneys said reports that the lawsuit seeks $40 billion are highly exaggerated, telling the jury that the real figure is closer to $1.5 billion based on what Jackson could have earned, had he lived, and the personal loss to his family.

An attorney for AEG told jurors, "This case is about the choices we make and the responsibilities that go with them" -- a statement that foreshadowed a defense built, in part, around the dangerous anessthetic that ultimately killed Jackson.

Officials identified the woman shot and killed Saturday by a San Diego police officer after she allegedly stabbed her boyfriend and 9-year-old son.

Maria Zarco, 33, died of multiple gunshot wounds according to the county's medical examiner.

Zarco was shot by a 5-year veteran of the San Diego police department outside her home on Quebec Court just after midnight Saturday. 

The officer was called to the home by Zarco's boyfriend who said he had been stabbed and Zarco's children had been attacked.

Investigators say Zarco had stabbed her 9-year-old son with a knife and hit her 16-year-old son in the head with a vase.

Lt Jorge Duran with the San Diego Police Department Homicide Unit said the woman was in the parking lot when officers arrived.

“She was armed with a knife. The officer ordered the female to drop the knife several times according to witnesses who heard the officer calling out to her,” Duran said.

The woman raised the knife above her head and charged at the officer witnesses told officials.

The children and boyfriend were treated for non-life threatening injuries officials said.

The officer who shot the woman has been placed on administrative duty while the investigation is conducted. He has been identified as Michael Barrett, a five-year veteran of the department.

With about 1 million members of the military expected to become civilians over the next five years, First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden are calling on the private sector to step up its hiring of veterans.
 
The two said they're encouraged by recent progress in reducing the unemployment rate among the latest generation of veterans. Obama told a White House gathering today that companies participating in a program to help veterans find work have hired or trained 290,000 veterans and military spouses, nearly tripling the original goal of the program with about eight months to spare.

Obama said Tuesday that the program called Joining Forces has also generated pledges from businesses to hire or train another 435,000 in the next five years.

Meanwhile, the jobless rate for those veterans who served after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks fell from 12.1 percent in 2011 to 9.9 percent last year.

But Obama said more help is needed, and she called on private companies to step up hiring to keep up with the demand that will occur as nearly 1 million members of the military become civilians in the next few years.

 "They are eager to work and determined to keep on serving their country,'' Obama and Biden said in an op-ed in Fortune. "All they need is a chance.''
 
The two were joined by their husbands, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, at the White House event Tuesday that focused on veterans and jobs.
 
Overall, the unemployment rate for veterans is actually lower than that for non-veterans. However, the nation's youngest veterans are the exception to that longstanding trend, with nearly one out of five under the age of 25 looking for a job. The unemployment rate was also in double-digits for those 25-34.
 
The two first ladies noted that the Obama administration has proposed a permanent extension of a tax break that Congress approved in late 2011. Employers get up to a $5,600 tax credit for hiring a veteran out of work for more than six months, or up to $9,600 for hiring a disabled veteran out of work for the same amount of time.  

They also said they had also been working with governors and state legislators to make it easier for veterans to apply their military experience when trying to get a professional license or credential at home. But, in the end, it's up to private companies to do the hiring.
 
"This is an all-hands-on-deck issue and we cannot rest until every single veteran and military spouse who is searching for a job has found one,'' the two wrote.
 
The emphasis on jobs for veterans gives the White House a chance to focus on an issue where there's been progress.  Meanwhile, lawmakers and veterans groups are focusing more attention on resolving a disability claims backlog for veterans that has gotten worse in recent years. Lawmakers from both parties have recently called on the president to get more involved and to set a clear plan for resolving claims more quickly, but they offered no specific recommendations on what changes are needed.

Padres starter Clayton Richard once again had trouble keeping baseballs in the ballpark.

The 2012 National League leader in home runs allowed (31) gave up back to back shots in the second inning. Scott Hairston and Cody Ransom's blasts made it 3-0 Chicago.

Special Section: San Diego Padres

Ransom's sixth inning RBI single off Richard broke a 3-3 tie. It would be the last batter the veteran lefty would face. Richard (0-3) didn't get out of the sixth, but it was an improvement on his last start when Richard failed to make it to the third inning in a loss to the Brewers on April 23rd.

Despite Richard's woes the Padres still had their chances. Down two runs in the seventh, a rally was squashed in the seventh when both Yonder Alonzo and Jedd Gyorko failed to get hits with the bases loaded.

Cubs reliever Michael Bowden got the win. The two teams play the second of their four game series Tuesday evening at Wrigley Field.

A man is seeking half a million dollars in damages after his flight from Philadelphia to the West Coast ended with him being detained for allegedly cursing at the crew and failing to flush a toilet.

Salvatore Bevivino, a manager for San Francisco, Calif.-based Genetech, claims he was unfairly detained following a Virgin America flight from Philadelphia to San Francisco on April 28.

According to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by NBC10.com, it was about an hour into the flight when Bevivino tried to order a soft drink directly through a flight attendant — instead of the plane's touch-screen entertainment system.

The attendant told the 52-year-old he needed to place his order through the touchscreen. Moments later, a second flight attendant came over to discuss the matter. Bevivino said he wished to order a drink directly through the flight attendant, like is done on other airlines, the lawsuit says.

A short time later, a third flight attendant brought over the man's requested soda.

According to a police report, Bevivino went to the toilet a few minutes after the alleged incident. He came back out some time later with a smile on his face while cursing to no one in particular, according to the report.

“(A flight attendant) passed by the restroom and saw that Bevivino left the door open and did not flush the toilet,” the report stated.

Once the flight landed, Bevivino was detained for his alleged actions.

• READ: Entire federal complaint

The pilot said that neither he nor his crew ever felt threatened by Bevivino, according to the police report.

In the lawsuit, Bevivino says he told the pilot that he didn’t curse at the crew during the dispute over ordering a drink directly. He also denies leaving the toilet unflushed.

After being detained for an unknown period of time, Bevivino was released by the San Francisco Police Department - Airport Division, according to a detention release certificate.

Bevivino is seeking damages for the embarrassment, humiliation, mortification, fright, shock, mental anguish and emotional distress he claims he felt during and after the incident.

Virgin America received the complaint last week. Spokesman Madhu Unnikrishnan told NBC10.com that "while we generally do not comment on ongoing litigation, we are aware of the incident in question, we have reviewed our internal crew reports and we are confident our teammates handled this matter appropriately."

A U.S. Army major and his wife are accused of torturing their three foster children for years, breaking their bones, force-feeding them hot sauce, denying them water and using one of their biological kids to guard the toilet bowls so the foster children couldn't try to quench their thirst, authorities said.

Carolyn Jackson, 35, was arrested Tuesday morning at the New Jersey home she shares with her husband; John Jackson, 37, who was based at the Picatinny Arsenal Installation in Morris County, surrendered to federal agents shortly after his wife's arrest, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said.

Both are charged in a 17-count indictment that includes conspiracy to endanger the welfare of a child, assault and more than a dozen counts of endangering the welfare of a child. The case is being prosecuted federally because the offenses were allegedly committed on a military base.

According to the indictment, the Jacksons engaged in a constant course of neglect and cruelty toward the three children they fostered and then adopted from August 2005 through April 2010 while they lived at Picatinny Arsenal. One of those children died in May 2008; the Jacksons are not charged in that child's death.

During the five years of abuse, the Jacksons allegedly told their three biological children not to report the physical assaults, saying the punishments and disciplinary techniques were meant to "train" the adopted children to behave. 

Prosecutors say the Jacksons allegedly physically assaulted their children with various objects, giving two of them broken bones. The couple then allegedly denied the injured children medical attention. 

On other occasions, the couple allegedly withheld food and water from their foster children, at times denying them water altogether, and beat the children when they were caught trying to sneak something to eat or drink.

In one case, the couple allegedly tasked one of their biological children with guarding the sinks and toilet bowls in their home on the military base to prevent one child from drinking water.

The Jacksons are also accused of using food as punishment, allegedly forcing their foster children to consume large amounts of red pepper flakes, hot sauce or raw onion. They also allegedly forced one child to ingest substances with excessive amounts of salt while being deprived of water, which caused a life-threatening condition.

At one point, prosecutors say a family friend told John Jackson that one of the children had reported the abuse in the household. Jackson then told his wife, who allegedly beat the child with a belt. 

Authorities say the Jacksons gave officials false medical histories or blamed the injuries on the adoptive children's biological mother when questioned.

The Jacksons appeared in federal court in Newark Tuesday and were temporarily denied bail. Attorney information wasn't immediately available for the husband and a lawyer for the wife did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

All of the children are in the custody of the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency.

“Carolyn and John Jackson are charged with unimaginable cruelty to children they were trusted to protect," Fishman said in a statement. “The crimes alleged should not happen to any child, anywhere, and it is deeply disturbing that they would happen on a military installation. Along with the FBI, we will continue to seek justice for our communities' most vulnerable victims.”

A 50-year-old woman was arrested Monday night after police say she put two bottles of orange juice — which they say were filled with rubbing alcohol — on a refrigerator shelf at a Starbucks in California.

San Jose police took Ramineh Behbehanian into custody on an attempted murder charge, because the orange juice she had removed from her bag and put in the fridge contained what police said were lethal quantities of isopropyl alcohol. She is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.

Behbehanian has no criminal record in Santa Clara County, according to court records. Late Tuesday, sources confirmed for NBC Bay Area that Behbehanian is a pharmacist working for a company owned by Johnson and Johnson.

Authorities are still not sure why she would have allegedly mixed rubbing alcohol with some orange juice in the afternoon, left the bottles in the refrigerated section alongside some yogurt and milk and left the store about 3:30 p.m. local time.

"Why would she do such a thing?" Chris Africa said, standing outside the Starbucks on Tuesday morning. "Was she trying to poison us?"

An alert customer standing behind her in line spotted her taking out her own bottles of juice from a green Starbucks bag and putting them in the refrigerator section. He also noticed a toxic smell. The woman left, but a Starbucks employee got her license plate number.

"A lot of people out there may have seen something and probably dismissed it," San Jose Police Sgt. Jason Dwyer said. "But I believe that person saved lives by doing that."

The San Jose Fire Department responded to the scene, retrieved the bottles and tested the contents with hazardous materials equipment.

It turned out the bottles were filled with orange juice and rubbing alcohol.

On Tuesday morning, customer Brent Breyer said he was a little "apprehensive" about what had happened at his usual Starbucks. He said he often brings his young daughter, who routinely grabs for items in the refrigerated section.

Police were able to track Behbehanian down at her home. Why she may have committed the acts she is accused of is unclear.

A Starbucks spokesperson told the NBC Bay Area that the company destroyed all the other juices in the store out of an abundance of caution and had all other stores in Bay Area check their juice seals. 

All checked out OK.

California lawmakers are scheduled to consider SB 648 Tuesday which would ban the increasingly popular "electronic cigarettes" in the same areas where actual cigarettes are banned.

Some 100 e-cigarette users in Southern California are planning to take a bus to Sacramento Monday night to testify in front of lawyers about the benefits of "vaping."

"I usually vap throughout the day; I grab it when I need a hit of nicotine," said Rodney Johnson, owner of Beach City Vapors in Signal Hill, who recently quit smoking after 25 years.

"I feel 100 percent better. I'm no longer winded when I’m walking up steps," he said. "I wake up in the morning and instead of wanting that first cigarette, I don't even vap for an hour or two hours before even leaving home."

Electronic cigarettes allow the user to ingest nicotine and vapor, but they do not give off smoke. Instead, the user exhales water vapor. The nicotine is heated inside the device, and available in different dosage in flavored cartridges.

"I switched to electronic cigarettes because I was looking for a healthier alternative to stop smoking tobacco," Pamela Cube said. "I've tried many other ways, but this has been the most successful product for me."

Lawmakers want to ban the e-cigarettes because they believe it could encourage smoking. They argue the products should be in the same category as regular tobacco products. Other critics question whether the second-hand smoke could be harmful.

"There is nicotine in it, and there are other impurities," said Dr. Eknath Deo, an oncologist at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. "You do get second-hand or third-hand smoke."

The bill is scheduled for discussion in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Law enforcement officers have issued an alert for a San Diego man who a friend says has vanished without a trace.

Ralf Peeks, 43, was last seen April 21 according to San Diego police.

A local engineer, Peeks is a German citizen with no known family in the area.

Investigators say Peeks was riding his black mountain bike on Camino Ruiz in the Miramar area and he hasn’t seen since.

Peeks never returned home and did not show up to his job the following day.

Officers describe Peeks as about 6-foot-1, 190 pounds with blond hair, blue eyes.

Detectives are asking anyone with information regarding the location of PEEKS to call the S.D.P.D. Homicide Unit - Adult Missing Persons Section at (619) 531-2293 or the Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477.
 

A San Diego police officer was justified in the fatal shooting of a Mira Mesa man involved in a domestic violence incident last year officials said Monday.

Victor Ortega, 31, was shot and killed after a foot pursuit with San Diego police officer Jonathan McCarthy that ended in an apartment breezeway south of Mira Mesa Boulevard..

Ortega's wife had called 911 on June 4, 2012 and reported her husband had punched and kicked her.

After a brief chase, Ortega and Officer McCarthy fought in the breezeway and then shots were fired. Ortega was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ortega's family filed a petition in February asking that criminal charges be brought against Officer McCarthy, citing autopsy results that revealed Ortega had been handcuffed before he was shot.

In a ruling released Monday, San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said Officer McCarthy will not face criminal charges and deemed his response reasonable.

No one other than Ortega and Officer McCarthy witnessed the actual shooting investigators said.

Officer McCarthy said he had Ortega on the ground and was in the process of handcuffing him when he noticed his backup revolver approximately two feet from the suspect's head.

The officer said the suspect reached for the revolver but was unable to grab it.

"When Ortega reached for McCarthy’s service pistol with both hands, McCarthy fired twice. McCarthy estimated Ortega’s hands were about a foot away from the gun and believed Ortega was trying to grab the gun to kill McCarthy with it," the report states. 

Ortega suffered two bullet wounds - one in the abdomen and one in the back of the neck. Officials said he was facing the officer at the time of the shooting and was bent forward. 

The report also found that while Ortega's right wrist had been placed in a handcuff, the other handcuff "was in an open position."

Several witnesses told investigators the suspect told the officer he was going to sue.

Read the full report here

A new program now available in San Diego County sends free condoms to teenagers through the mail.

The California Family Health Council (CFHC) states that abstinence is the best way to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted disease. But for those who choose to have sex, the group is offering free condoms sent through the mail.

Health educators said buying contraceptives in a store can be embarrassing for adults and teens alike, but CFHC doesn't want that to get in the way of being healthy.

The group says they're meeting teens where they are, allowing them to order them online and sending them home in a discreet envelope.

The condom access program hopes to tackle a serious health issue in San Diego County in teenagers ages 15 to 19. San Diego County has the second highest cases in the state for chlamydia, and the sixth highest for gonorrhea.

“We know that teens in San Diego and across the state are engaging in sexual activity,” said Dr. Wilma Wooten from the California Department of Public Health.

Educator Chrissy Cmorik at Planned Parenthood said sending condoms to the home could lead to an uncomfortable situation between parents and teens.  And they hope families can have an open conversation about sex.

“If families know what young people are facing these days, they might be more inclined to have these conversations really about protecting young people's health,” she said.

A smaller Marine Corps may have to shrink even more. The Marines have been thinning their ranks. And now with sequestration cuts in effect, those who joined the Marine Corps hoping for a career are facing an uncertain future.

The Marine Corps is in the process of cutting its force by roughly 20,000 Marines. But now with the reality of sequestration cuts that could continue over the next 10 years, the Marine Corps' top officer says the force may have to downsize even more.

It's an uncertain time for Marines and their families. "They're not letting people reenlist, so we're not sure if they're going to kick us out or not.”, said Silvia Jasso, whose husband has been in for eight years.

The top Marine Officer recently told members of Congress that the Corps' greatest asset is the individual Marine. But over the past year, they’ve been on course to drop from 202,100 Marines to 182,100 by 2016. Now, with sequestration cuts in effect, the Marine Corps is reviewing options that could mean an even smaller force. The Commandant of the Marine Corps recently told Congress that even the target 182,100 Marines is no longer sustainable if sequestration is kept in place.

Retired Master Sergeant Kevin Adkins says this is a challenging time for everyone who wants to make the Marine Corps a career.

“Everybody should be more attentive to what's making them more competitive to retention and promotion. If they're not paying attention to that, they're going to be seeking employment elsewhere," Adkins said.

The Marine Corps says they expect to be halfway to their goal of cutting 20,000 Marines by the end of this fiscal year. One of the ways they've been doing that is by bringing in fewer new Marines. Their review of a potential further reduction is expected to conclude in May and assumes the sequestration cuts remain in effect over the next 10 years.
 

Federal agents raided four brothels in New York and arrested 13 people in an alleged sex trafficking and prostitution ring dating back to 2008, prosecutors announced Tuesday. 

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the suspects exploited dozens of women, trafficking some from Mexico to New York, to force them to work as sex slaves.

NBC 4 New York cameras captured the raid on one of the brothels in Yonkers Tuesday. Search warrants were also executed at brothels in Queens, Poughkeepsie and Newburgh. 

The criminal complaint alleges the suspects lured women to the U.S. by engaging them in romantic relationships and promising a better life in New York. Once they arrived, the victims were forced to work as prostitutes under "abhorrent conditions," often subjected to abuse and threatened with harm to them and their family members.

In a typical day, a Mexican sex trafficking victim in New York had sexual intercourse with 20 to 30 customers, with each customer usually paying about $30 to $35 for 15 minutes of sex, according to authorities. 

Of that money, half typically went to either the driver who took the victim to the client or to the residential brothel where the woman worked. The other half went to the victim, who was then typically forced to turn over all the money to the trafficker.

The suspects charged Tuesday had different roles in the sex trafficking ring, from operating brothels, driving victims to clients or brothels, and dispatching drivers, to recruiting and overseeing the women forced to work as prostitutes, according to the complaint. 

Two of the 13 suspects were already in federal custody on illegal reentry charges; another was arrested in Delaware. The rest were arrested in New York and appeared in the Manhattan federal court Tuesday afternoon. 

Workers for the medical examiner's office began sifting soil Monday for possible human remains at a site near the World Trade Center where a chunk of airplane debris believed to have come from one of the 9/11 hijacked jetliners was found.

The aircraft part has been identified as a piece from a 767 wing, officials said Monday. NBC 4 New York, which first reported the finding in an alley near ground zero last week, has also learned the answer to the mystery of a rope that was found intertwined in the part — according to a law enforcement official, a detective who responded to the original call about the part last week tried to move it with a rope.

Authorities on Friday had said the rope might have indicated the part was lowered into the alley, but have since interviewed everyone who had contact with the part last week and have now answered that question. The official tells NBC 4 New York that the detective found the rope nearby and was trying to move the part to find a serial number or other identifying mark.

The NYPD also said Monday that a Boeing technician has confirmed that the 5-foot part is a trailing edge flap actuation support structure.

"It is believed to be from one of the two aircraft destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001, but it could not be determined which one," NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.

On Sept. 11, American Airlines flight 11 hit the north tower at 8:46 a.m., and United flight 175 hit the south tower at 9:03 a.m. A FEMA graphic below shows that all the other plane parts in the immediate area were from flight 175.

Police and officials from the city medical examiner's office were on scene Monday to sift the soil under the part for lost human remains. Officials said the part will be removed when that process is complete -- likely on Wednesday.

The part was found wedged between two buildings in a very narrow alley only about 18 inches wide between the rear of 50 Murray St. and back of 51 Park Place, the site where a mosque and community center has been proposed three blocks from ground zero.

The part bears a "Boeing" stamp, followed by a series of numbers.

The NYPD said the landing gear was found after surveyors hired by the property owner inspecting the rear of 51 Park Place called police on Wednesday. 

The rubble from the 9/11 attack was cleared from the 16-acre site by the spring of 2002. Other debris, including human remains, has been found scattered outside the site, including on a rooftop and in a manhole, in years since.

Gun Barrel City is a town living up to its name.

The Gun Barrel City Council unanimously passed on Tuesday night a nonbinding resolution that urges the town's 5,000-plus residents to buy a firearm if they don't already own one as a way to show support for the Second Amendment.

In a phone interview Tuesday night, Mayor Paul Eaton told NBC 5 that he came up with the idea of drafting the resolution in response to the national debate over stricter gun control laws after the December mass shooting at a Newtown, Conn., school.

Other council members supported the resolution, and the measure passed without opposition Tuesday night.

While several Texas sheriff's departments and some municipalities have openly said that any federal gun control legislation would not be enforced in their corners of Texas, this is the first time a city has encouraged residents to arm themselves in opposition to the proposed legislation.

La Jolla Playhouse productions of "Hands on a Hardbody" and "Chaplin" were honored with Tony nominations Tuesday.

"Hardbody" is one of four productions nominated for Best Original Score, written by Trey Anastasio of Phish and Amanda Green.

Actor Keith Carradine earned a nomination for his portrayal of JD Drew, one of 10 people who fought to keep one hand on a brand-new truck in order to win it.

Keala Settle was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for her performance as Norma Valverde.

La Jolla Playhouse opened the musical, based on the 1997 documentary of the same name by S.R. Bindler, on May 12, 2012 and it played until mid-June.

When "Hands on a Hardbody" opened at Broadway's Brooks Atkinson theater, many of the La Jolla cast members were still connected with the show. It closed April 13.

"Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin" was a world premiere with the La Jolla Playhouse in 2010.

The musical moved to Broadway in 2012 as "Chaplin."

Rob McClure originated the role with the La Jolla production and went on to receive a nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical.

Click here for the full list of nominations

You can root on the local productions when the Tony Awards are handed out June 9, 2013. 

The U.S. Supreme Court ordered California prisons to present a plan by Thursday to get rid of 9,000 prisoners to aid in the overcrowding problem, officials said Monday.

Federal courts stated that that population of prisoners should be no more than 137.5 percent of capacity. California prisons are at 149 percent capacity now, so either the prison capacity must be increased or the prisoners must be released.

“If we built two prisons overnight, we wouldn’t have to reduce prisoner population,” said Jeffrey Callison of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The plan could possibly include “rehabbing” an older prison to house the prisoners, giving prisoners good credits to end their sentences early with time served, or to contract with out-of-state prisons to house the inmates.

“We don’t know what the plan is because it’s still being worked on,” Callison said.

The California state prison population has been reduced by approximately 25,000 since a court-ordered reduction in 2006. But Callison said it’s “not enough according to the federal courts.”

Callison also said progress must be made immediately, so if the courts approve the rehabilitation of an older prison, the Department of Corrections must take action.

San Diego County sheriff’s deputies posing as students for an undercover narcotics operation resulted in the arrest of six juveniles and 10 adults Tuesday.

Ages of the adult suspects range from 18 to 45 and they were arrested throughout the county. Five of the juvenile suspects were arrested at local high schools including Poway HS, Mt. Carmel HS, Ramona HS and Mission Hills HS.

Nine of the arrest warrants were for current and former students, and 10 warrants were served to adults who sold narcotics to the undercover deputies, according to the sheriff’s department.

The year-long narcotics investigation was called “Operation ‘A’ Team” and deputies spent time at Poway, Mission Hills, Abraxas and Ramona High Schools for an undisclosed amount of time. Officials said deputies witnessed purchase of a variety of drugs including marijuana, heroin, cocaine, oxycodone and hydrocodone.

The San Diego Sheriff’s Department worked in conjunction with three county school districts during the operation.

One suspect, 21-year-old Jesse Escalante, has been placed into custody at Vista Detention Facility on fraud charges. Other adults who were arrested included:

• Johny Nguyen, 18, of Poway
• Philip Silva, 25, of San Diego
• Christopher Payne, 18, of Ramona
• Kevin Meza, 18, of San Marcos
• Ramon Kelly, 45, of Vista
• Edwin Sanchez, 19, of San Marcos
• Milton Ortena, 19, of San Marcos
• Maxwell Gaffney, 19, of Ramona
• Skylor McGee, 20, of Ramona

Three suspects are still outstanding, including Poway residents Troy Gagliano and Erik Johnson in addition to Jesus Zurita of San Marcos.

Sheriff Bill Gore said the operation has provided information on other drug suppliers in San Diego and his department is following those leads.

“The take-away from today is this: If you want to buy illegal drugs, you very well could be talking to a Deputy Sheriff,” he said in a statement.

The undercover deputies have had an average of 2.5 years of experience and also participated in an undercover training program.

Poway School District Superintendent John Collins emailed parents, letting parents know PUSD does not tolerate drugs on campus.

"We have a strong and cooperative relationship with the Sheriff’s Department and while it saddens me that the investigation led to the arrest of PUSD students," he said in a statement.

Check back for updates on this story.