A new study shows that polar bears aren’t getting a sufficient amount of dietary nutrients from terrestrial food sources during their fasting season.

The Physiological and Biochemical Zoology journal released a study on Monday revealing an unsafe rate of body mass loss for polar bears relying on land-based foods during the ice-free season.

Manitoba Sustainable Development, the University of Alberta, and Environment and Climate Change Canada combined for the study, holding polar bears in the Polar Bear Holding Facility in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada during the ice-free season from 2009 to 2014.

The polar bears were not fed while in captivity and lost an average of 2.2 pounds of mass per day, which is equivalent to the weight loss seen by wild polar bears with land-based food opportunities.

Researchers also found that subadult male polar bears are more likely to starve before adult males due to biological and environmental shortcomings.

“Subadult polar bears have lower fat stores, and added energy demands associated with growth,” said Nicholas Pilfold, Ph. D., lead author of the study and a postdoctoral associate in Applied Animal Ecology at San Diego Zoo Global. “Future reductions to on-ice hunting opportunities due to sea ice loss will affect the younger polar bears first, especially given that these bears are less-experienced hunters.”

Experts estimate that there are approximately 26,000 wild polar bears living in the Arctic. According to San Diego Zoo Global, the population of bears in the Western Hudson Bay is currently stable, but extended ice-free seasons in the past have caused declines population and higher mortality rates for subadults.

Currently, polar bears at the San Diego Zoo wear accelerometer collars that track their movements and report the data back to the United States Geological Survey in Alaska. The data is used to study the bears’ daily behaviors, energy demand, and how they adapt to climate change.

A gun instructor charged in an alleged murder-for-hire plot has ties to another high-profile Carlsbad case. 

Weldon McDavid Jr., 49, and Diana Lovejoy, 43, are being held on $2 million bail, accused of shooting Lovejoy’s estranged husband.

Lovejoy and her husband had been involved in an ugly two year divorce battle. 

According to police, Lovejoy and McDavid allegedly lured her estranged husband to an isolated access road off Avenida Soledad in Carlsbad on Sept. 2., where he was shot once in the side. The shooting prompted a lock down of the neighborhood while authorities searched the area.

Police say McDavid, an employee at a shooting range in Oceanside, had been teaching Lovejoy how to shoot.

The victim did survive the shooting.

The same McDavid was the gun instructor for Crystal Harris, who was allegedly raped by her husband. 

On Dateline NBC in 2013, he talked about his anger after hearing tapes of Harris allegedly being raped by her husband.

"It was too much," he said. "I wanted to kill him."

In the interview, he talked about teaching Harris to fire under pressure.

"I had her do exercises, then run into the range and told her grab the gun shoot," he said in the interview.

Harris ended up chosing no to use a gun and instead took her husband to court. 

A legal expert not tied to the case says the Dateline interview will likely play a part in his trial.

"Prosecution is going to try to get that evidence in," said Gretchen Von Helms. "They're absolutely going to try and paint him as violent individual vigilante, as someone taking rules into his own hands."

Mc David's attorney, Rafael Acosta Jr., says the flip side is true. He says the 49-year-old veteran is a family man; a compassionate person who likes to help others.

He says the only connection to the cases is a man who was trying to train two women in need.

If convicted, McDavid is facing 50 years to life in prison while Lovejoy faces 25 years to life. According to the prosecutor in the case, Lovejoy is facing the lesser term because she did not pull the trigger, but was ‘vicariously armed with a firearm’ and was aware and participated in the shooting.

Lovejoy and McDavid are scheduled to be back in court on September 21.

A student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill claims she was raped by a football player on campus, then "treated like a suspect" while her alleged attacker went free, NBC News reported.

Delaney Robinson, 19, flanked by her father and attorney, held a news conference Tuesday in which she slammed her school for not taking action after she was allegedly assaulted on Valentine's Day.

"I did everything a rape victim is supposed to do," Robinson said. "I reported it. I allowed the rape kit to be taken. I gave a statement. I cooperated with law enforcement and the Title IX office. But six months later, the university has done nothing."

A superintendent of the San Diego County Office of Education resigned after months of being placed on paid administrative leave, NBC 7 learned on Tuesday.

Dr. Randy Ward was placed on leave in July after teachers, community leaders and parents demanded his removal for allegedly abusing district finances for his own benefit. Ward allegedly had a budget oversight over all 42 school districts in the county.

A lawsuit filed against Ward and the Chief Financial Officer of the district allege they gave themselves unauthorized raises.

In August, Edward Velasquez was selected as an interim county superintendent. 

According to a statement released by the board, they voted 5-0 to accept Ward's resignation in a special meeting on Tuesday night. 

The statement in part, read: 

"Dr. Ward and the Board have agreed that it would be in the best interests of all involved to reach an amicable separation at this point in time. We also wish to reiterate that the placement of Dr. Ward on leave was not, nor was it intended to be, any kind of assertion that the allegations of the California Taxpayers Action Network lawsuit have any merit."

Ward's resignation will become effective on Nov. 15.

An 83-year old man who went missing in Carlsbad on Tuesday was found safely, the Carlsbad Police Department said.

Joseph Lee went missing around 6:15 p.m. on the 6000 block of Village Green Drive near Gateway Road. 

According to the Carlsbad Police Department, he went for a walk in the evening but did not return.

Police said Lee was considered at-risk because he suffers from Alzheimer's.

He was found and safely returned home around 10 p.m. Tuesday.

A North County woman and a man, allegedly involved in a murder-for-hire plot, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and conspiracy charges on Monday in a Vista court.

Diana Lovejoy, 43, and Weldon McDavid Jr., 49, are being held on $2 million bail, accused of shooting Lovejoy’s estranged husband.

Lovejoy and her husband had been involved in an ugly two year divorce battle. She had won custody of their son, who turned 4-years old on Monday. She had a current restraining order against her husband.

On Monday, NBC 7 learned that Lovejoy’s husband had also filed a restraining order against her.

According to police, Lovejoy and McDavid allegedly lured her estranged husband to an isolated access road off Avenida Soledad in Carlsbad on Sept. 2., where he was shot once in the side. The shooting prompted a lock down of the neighborhood while authorities searched the area.

Police say McDavid, an employee at a shooting range in Oceanside, had been teaching Lovejoy how to shoot.

The victim did survive the shooting.

If convicted, McDavid is facing 50 years to life in prison while Lovejoy faces 25 years to life. According to the prosecutor in the case, Lovejoy is facing the lesser term because she did not pull the trigger, but was ‘vicariously armed with a firearm’ and was aware and participated in the shooting.

Lovejoy and McDavid are scheduled to be back in court on September 21.

A gun instructor charged in an alleged murder-for-hire plot has ties to another high-profile Carlsbad case. 

Weldon McDavid Jr., 49, and Diana Lovejoy, 43, are being held on $2 million bail, accused of shooting Lovejoy’s estranged husband.

Lovejoy and her husband had been involved in an ugly two year divorce battle. 

According to police, Lovejoy and McDavid allegedly lured her estranged husband to an isolated access road off Avenida Soledad in Carlsbad on Sept. 2., where he was shot once in the side. The shooting prompted a lock down of the neighborhood while authorities searched the area.

Police say McDavid, an employee at a shooting range in Oceanside, had been teaching Lovejoy how to shoot.

The victim did survive the shooting.

The same McDavid was the gun instructor for Crystal Harris, who was allegedly raped by her husband. 

On Dateline NBC in 2013, he talked about his anger after hearing tapes of Harris allegedly being raped by her husband.

"It was too much," he said. "I wanted to kill him."

In the interview, he talked about teaching Harris to fire under pressure.

"I had her do exercises, then run into the range and told her grab the gun shoot," he said in the interview.

Harris ended up chosing no to use a gun and instead took her husband to court. 

A legal expert not tied to the case says the Dateline interview will likely play a part in his trial.

"Prosecution is going to try to get that evidence in," said Gretchen Von Helms. "They're absolutely going to try and paint him as violent individual vigilante, as someone taking rules into his own hands."

Mc David's attorney, Rafael Acosta Jr., says the flip side is true. He says the 49-year-old veteran is a family man; a compassionate person who likes to help others.

He says the only connection to the cases is a man who was trying to train two women in need.

If convicted, McDavid is facing 50 years to life in prison while Lovejoy faces 25 years to life. According to the prosecutor in the case, Lovejoy is facing the lesser term because she did not pull the trigger, but was ‘vicariously armed with a firearm’ and was aware and participated in the shooting.

Lovejoy and McDavid are scheduled to be back in court on September 21.

Tempers flared during a community meeting in the South Park neighborhood of San Diego on Tuesday over concerns regarding mosquito pesticide spraying in the area.

San Diego County workers sprayed mosquito pesticides in the neighborhood to prevent the Zika virus from spreading after a suspected case in the area. By law, the county can spray on private properties to kill mosquitoes capable of spreading the Zika virus.

On Tuesday night, resident gathered at Grape and 30th streets to voice their concerns, saying they weren’t notified of the spraying and are worried that the chemicals may be harmful.

“Seeing men in yellow suits a block away from my house and I’m supposed to go to work,” said South Park resident Selena Isela.

Mount Hope resident Brad Michels told NBC 7 that he attempted to stop county workers from spraying but was told he could be arrested.

“They said ‘you’re not letting us spray, you're violating a court order and we have the right to arrest you’,” Michels said.

Officials from the San Diego County Vector Control Program said they are trying their best to involve residents but ultimately have to prioritize public safety.

“The dose at which we are applying is so low it really is just targeting those small insects like mosquitoes. The half-life is really so low. It degrades rapidly,” Supervising Vector Ecologist Chris Conlan said.

According to Conlan, the county usually gives residents two to three days’ notice before spraying and on the day-of, they knock on doors and leave letters for residents.

But he said they need to spray in a timely manner because it takes 10 days for an infected mosquito to transmit the Zika virus to a person.

“Time is a luxury in this case we just don’t have,” he said.

He told NBC 7 that they have sprayed multiple times already throughout the county and will continue to work with residents.

Conlan recommends that residents stay indoors and keep pets inside while pesticides are being sprayed.

Residents in Chula Vista urged the city council to toughen the punishment against medical marijuana dispensaries.

At Tuesday’s city council meeting, residents voiced concerns over existing medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits.

In 2011, the city enacted a law banning all dispensaries due to fear of crime and disturbances. But several have opened and punishment is not tough enough to shut them down.

As it stands right now, fines are capped at $100,000 but violators continue to operate even after violations are issued, according to residents and City Attorney Glen Googins.

The City Attorney’s office can also file a civil lawsuit but it is proving to not be tough enough to shut the existing dispensaries down.

On Tuesday night, the Chula Vista City Council unanimously approved to amend the city code and make two changes. The first is removing the fine cap of $100,000; the second change is prosecuting violations as criminal misdemeanors instead of filing civil lawsuits.

Googins said the changes are an additional tool to help the city's fight in keeping dispensaries out.

The Padres did to the Giants what the Chiefs did to the Chargers on Sunday. 

The second meeting in the three games series continued in San Francisco Tuesday night. The Friars started the series on a good note with a win against the Giants on Monday night with hopes of carrying that over.

Left handed pitcher Clayton Richard was on the mound for the Padres facing Giants righty Albert Suarez.

It was a scoreless game in the third inning until infielder Luis Sardiñas singled to left field and brought in Derek Norris to give the Padres the 1-0 lead. 

The Giants responded at the bottom of the inning when outfielder Hunter Pence doubled to deep right field and plated Kelby Tomlinson to tie up the ball game.

In the fifth inning, two more runs capped off by an Angel Pagan homer gave the Giants the 4-1 lead. The score board stayed that way until the ninth inning when the Padres got a sudden change of luck, in this case, a pitcher. 

Hunter Strickland was supposed to relieve Will Smith and lock up the win for the Giants. Instead, he allowed the Friars to load the bases and then walked Wil Myers which scored Norris and cut San Francisco’s lead to 4-2.

Up next was Yangervis Solarte who grounded out to the pitcher and brought in Jon Jay which made it a one run ball game. With two men on base Ryan Schimpf added the cherry on top when he blasted a three run homer to center field and put the Padres ahead 6-4.

Kevin Quackenbush was the closer for the Friars. He took the mound and the last three outs of the game. The Padres pulled off the comeback and win the second game of the series 6-4.

The Friars will go for the sweep in San Francisco on Wednesday.

The NFL is continuing its recent trend of having teams wear special uniforms for primetime Thursday Night Football games.

On Tuesday we got a peek at what the Chargers will be wearing at Qualcomm Stadium on Oct. 13 against the Denver Broncos.

It's a nod to the royal blue the franchise wore during the Don Coryell era in the late 70s and early 80s, arguably the most successful run of its NFL history.

The NFL stared the Color Rush program last year. These jerseys are available to buy and 100 percent of the profits go to NFL Foundation to fund health, safety and wellness programs for youth around the country.

This year the first $500,000 raised will go to replacing football fields and facilities that were damaged during the historic flooding in Louisiana.

What do you think of the uniforms? Share your thoughts in the comments.

A U.S. Navy commander was arrested in San Diego Monday on suspicion of assault with intent to rape, according to a San Diego Police Department sex crimes investigator.

Commander John M. Neuhart II, 39, was arrested Monday by SDPD patrol officers. He was booked into San Diego County Jail on one count of attempted rape by force and one count of assault with intent to rape, police said. 

Neuhart is the commanding officer of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25, based at Anderson Air Force Base on Guam.

The incident took place Monday, when San Diego police responded to a call of a sexual assault occurring in the city's Valencia Park neighborhood, SDPD Sex Crimes Lt. Paul Phillips said. 

It wasn't clear Tuesday if Neuhart was being represented by an attorney. He was released on bail, according to a representative of the San Diego County District Attorney's Office.

Neuhart and the victim, both members of the Navy, met at a hotel downtown when the victim, with a group of friends, recognized Neuhart, according to Phillips. The group talked for a while until the victim left the bar to go home, with Neuhart going as well.

Neuhart followed the victim into her house, at which point he allegedly attempted to rape her. 

"The suspect immediately became forceful with her and attempted to sexually assault her," Phillips said.

The victim fought the suspect off and screamed loudly, Phillips said. A neighbor heard the screams and ran to the front of the house to ask if the victim was okay. When she answered no, the neighbor called 911 and said through the window that the police were on the way. 

Neuhart apparently heard the remark, Phillips said, and escaped through the back door. 

The neighbor flagged down police when they arrived and pointed out Neuhart, who was running down the street and into a nearby canyon. 

Officers apprehended Neuhart in the canyon and took him into custody. 

District Attorney representative Tanya Sierra noted that charges listed under an arrest may not be the same charges prosecutors file when Neuhart appears in court for his arraignment. 

He is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 19 at 1:30 p.m., she said.

Assistant PAO Command of Naval Air Forces Lt. Leslie Hubbell would not confirm the allegation that led to the arrest.

"Things are in investigatory phase," Hubbell told NBC 7 late Monday.

The Navy Times reports Neuhart was in San Diego for a conference.

According to a website for the Navy, Neuhart joined the "Warhawks" of Fleet Replacement Squadron, HS-10 in San Diego in 2002. Since then, he was deployed aboard USS Harry S. Truman, and served as a Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) at the Seahawk Weapons School "Seawolf" in Fallon, Nevada.

Navy officials told NBC 7 that Commander William Easthamis was given temporary command of Neuhart's squadron.

The hacker or hackers who claim to have broken into Democratic Party systems released more documents Tuesday, including what appeared to be the personal cell phone of vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine, NBC News. 

"Guccifer 2.0" on Tuesday released over 670 megabytes of documents at a cybersecurity conference in London, NBC News reported.

The work cell phone numbers, personal email addresses and personal cell phone numbers of top Obama White House officials were also included in the cache.

Tim Kaine's title on the spreadsheet of contacts is "Chairman's Office" — which might mean that the document was created from 2009 to 2011, when Kaine was with the Democratic National Committee.

The DNC, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, U.S. intelligence officials and other experts suspect Russian involvement.

A Carmel Valley woman bitten by a bobcat after trying to move the animal from the roadway said Tuesday that she suffered puncture wounds, but didn’t require stitches and is otherwise OK.

A self-described cat lover, Nicole Fairbanks was driving on El Camino on Monday night, headed to her uncle’s house, when she spotted the bobcat lying injured on the street.

She said that she noticed the animal was not moving and was panting, so she didn’t think it would hurt her. That's when, she said, she scooped up the bobcat and started carrying it to the sidewalk when it latched on to her arm.

Fairbanks didn’t require stitches for the puncture wounds and was treated at the scene and didn’t need to be taken to the hospital.

San Diego County Animal Services officers responded; they noticed the bobcat had suffered a broken back so they had to euthanize the animal.

Fairbanks recommends never trying to move a bobcat.

Emails released by hackers reveal that former Secretary of State Colin Powell called Donald Trump a "national disgrace" and "international pariah," NBC News reported.

Powell, a retired 4-star general and a Republican, confirmed the authenticity of the emails to NBC News.

"The hackers have a lot more," he added.

The contents of the emails were first reported by Buzzfeed News. It said the messages had been obtained by the website DCLeaks.com which is rumored to have ties to Russian intelligence services.

There was no immediate response from the Trump campaign to the emails.

A San Diego couple who allegedly admitted to dumping the body of a baby in an empty lot in Tijuana is now being investigated by the FBI.

Seven-month old Elliot Villalobos was found dead on Sept. 2 in the Lomas de la Presa neighborhood, about 12 miles south of the San Ysidro Port of Entry. The baby’s mother, 20-year-old Jasmine Villalobos, led Chula Vista police to the body after officers found her living with her boyfriend, Luis Espinoza in San Diego.

On Tuesday, multiple law enforcement sources close to the investigation confirmed that the FBI is now involved in the case.

Law enforcement officials in San Diego and in Tijuana believe the baby was killed in Mexico. But, the FBI is considering whether it can bring charges based on a federal statute that says a U.S. citizen cannot kill another U.S. citizen in foreign lands.

NBC 7 also learned that new evidence in the case had been found; videos in which Villalobos and Espinoza allegedly spoke about hitting the baby when they thought it was necessary.

Villalobos’ relatives had reported her missing on August 31, concerned after they did not hear from her since the end of June.

According to authorities, Villalobos and Espinoza told officers that baby Elliot had suffered a fatal fall. They didn’t know what to do so they wrapped up the baby in blankets and left him in the empty lot in Tijuana.

Espinoza is the not the baby’s biological father.

During a press conference on Tuesday, the District Attorney announced that authorities in Tijuana continue to investigate the case. As of now, the autopsy report will remain sealed for the homicide investigation.

Meanwhile, baby Elliot’s biological father, Joany Aguirre told NBC 7 that he will not stop fighting for justice.

“I woke up feeling good and blessed because I know Elliot has my back on this and he's looking down on me telling me 'you know, you're doing good, don't stop what you're doing,’” Aguirre said.

The father says a cousin of Villalobos even offered to help take care of Elliot but she had refused.

“She got offered help. It wasn't even about her, it was about the baby,” he told NBC 7. “She said 'you can just leave the baby here, you can go get your job back. Get your life straight'. She didn't want to, she refused and took off.”

The baby’s family will be holding a memorial on Sunday at noon in Tijuana. They plan on releasing white balloons in his memory and putting a cross where his body was found. Attendees are asked to wear white.

A Ramona woman killed Monday in a head-on crash had her life “stripped away”, a family member told NBC 7.

Racheal Guarneros – Callahan, 21, was on her way home from work at approximately 4:30 p.m. when her car was struck in a head-on collision at Vista Ramona Road and E Old Julian Highway, California Highway Patrol (CHP) officials said.

A man driving a Ford F-250, with a 4-year-old boy and 5-year-old girl in the backseat, drifted into oncoming traffic, according to CHP officers.

Guarneros-Callahan died at the scene.

Family members say she had just finished work at the Riviera Oaks Resort and was on the phone with someone when the collision occurred.

Her cousin Valissa Espinosa said the allegation that the other driver was driving under the influence is “really going to weigh on all of us knowing she was stripped away innocently."

The 4-year-old was airlifted to Rady Children's Hospital and the 5-year-old was taken to Palomar Hospital.

CHP investigators said they suspect the Ford pickup driver was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash.

However, the driver has not been arrested. CHP investigators say the incident is still under investigation.

“Not only take someone from our family but risk his own children, that’s what hurts the most knowing everything could’ve been completely prevented,” Espinosa said.

Guarneros-Callahan had three older siblings, nieces and nephews who she loved to spend time with, according to her cousin.

A public viewing will be held at Bonham Bros. and Stewart Mortuary in Ramona on Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. A Celebration of Life is planned for Mountain View Community Church Friday at 2 p.m.

In lieu of flowers the family asks that friends donate to MADD or childhood diabetes.

Deep-pocketed Super PACs are pouring tens of millions of dollars into key U.S. Senate races, outspending the candidates themselves in several states, according to an NBC analysis of Federal Elections Commission data.

Since January, Super PACs have spent just over $100 million in nine Senate races that are rated a toss-up by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Those nine races could determine control of the Senate: If Hillary Clinton wins the White House and Democrats flip four seats, the Democrats will control the Senate, with newly elected Vice President Tim Kaine breaking ties.

Those races are in Nevada, where Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid is retiring, and for Republican-held seats in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Super PACs, which can raise unlimited amounts for federal elections but can’t coordinate with candidates, are focusing on four of those key races: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada and New Hampshire. The other races, particularly Illinois and Wisconsin, where Republican incumbents are struggling to survive in Democratic-leaning states, are getting little attention.

“They’re simply allocating to the most competitive races,” said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. “Illinois is wasted money. Pennsylvania is highly competitive, and it’s a very expensive state.”

Republican incumbents Mark Kirk of Illinois and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin have been considered dead from the start, Sabato said. That’s why the Super PACs are spending most of their money elsewhere.

“Ohio is supposed to be one of the most competitive races of the cycle so outside groups went in early and have been spending heavily,” said Jennifer Duffy, senior editor at the Cook Political Report. “It has started to taper off as Democrats realize that they are too far behind to win.”

Super PACs have spent $31 million in Pennsylvania this year, most of it for ads trashing one-term Republican Sen. Pat Toomey or his Democratic opponent, Katie McGinty.

That’s five times more than Toomey and McGinty together spent on their own campaigns through June 30.

They’ve spent $29 million in neighboring Ohio – most of that to bury former Democratic congressman Ted Strickland, who is trying to unseat Republican Sen. Rob Portman.

Together Portman and Strickland spent less than $4 million through June 30.

Super PAC money began surging into the Senate contests in April, after Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump locked up the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations. Since then, with the exception of a single $50 million expenditure for Trump in June, most of the Super PAC money generally has flowed into Senate races.

“It isn't unusual that groups didn't start spending (on Senate races) until May,” Duffy said. “That expenditures on Senate races is outpacing the presidential contest is unusual, but not surprising. Once it became clear that Trump was the GOP nominee, a lot of the establishment money went into saving the Senate majority.”

Republicans Super PACs are dominating the spending spree. Through the end of August, Republican-leaning groups spent $67 million supporting GOP candidates and attacking Democrats in the toss-up races. Democratic groups spent $36 million.

They’ve spent most of that money, about $8 of every $10, opposing the enemy rather than supporting friendly candidates.

After two weeks of being surrounded by polar bears, five meteorologists were rescued from their weather station on a remote Russian island late Tuesday night.

A research vessel frightened about a dozen polar bears away from the area -- about 2,800 miles from Moscow, on the Izvestiy TSIK Islands -- with its helicopter.

Though the meteorologists had a year's worth of food, they had run out of signal flares to scare away the bears.

Some of the bears were camped right outside of the remote station and had eaten the meteorologists' guard dog.

The rescuers, with Russia's state-run oil firm Rosneft, restocked the station with signal flares and puppies, which will be used to deter bears when they are larger.

The polar bears typically leave the Arctic island in the summer but appeared to be stranded due to the melting ice, in what the supervisor of the station called an indication of climate change.