Authorities have found two young girls who were reported missing from Dana Middle School in Point Loma on Wednesday, according to school officials. 

The girls were reported missing Wednesday afternoon when one of their mothers noticed her daughter was missing after she went to go pick her up in the afternoon, according to the San Diego Police Department (SDPD). The school also informed police that the girls never showed up in class.

They were found safe and unharmed at approximately 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. The girls were found together in Old Town. 

SDPD officers say the incident is not considered to be suspicious.

No other information was immediately available.

A pursuit involving a San Diego Police Officer ended in a collision in Clairemont.

An officer attempted to pull a driver over at approximately 10:45 a.m. Wednesday. The driver failed to stop and led police officers on a pursuit, according to the SDPD.

When he collided with another vehicle at Mt Everest Boulevard and Balboa Avenue, the driver was taken into custody.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

Homicide detectives are searching for the person who killed a teenager and left his body in the road in Vista Tuesday night, according to the San Diego Sheriff's Department (SDSO).

The teenager was found in the middle of Smilax Road around 8:34 p.m. It's a residential neighborhood with several apartment complexes south of State Route 78.

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) and SDSO were initially responding to the incident. SDSO has since taken over the investigation.

Witnesses told NBC 7 that they heard nine gunshots in the area.

“When I saw the blood on the sidewalk, I said ‘Oh my God,’” said Maria Gutierrez who is scared for her neighbors after such a violent act.

Gutierrez said will pray for the teenager’s parents.

A woman at the scene said she thinks the body may be of her 17-year old son but deputies have not confirmed the information. 

Deputies don't have any suspect information at this time or a motive but they are investigating whether this homicide is gang related.

No other information was immediately available.

Sharp Memorial Hospital made history on Tuesday becoming the first hospital west of the Mississippi River to implant an “investigational device” designed to keep blood clots in the heart from causing strokes.

The Amplatzer Amulet device (pictured above), or Amulet, blocks blood clots from forming in the left atrial appendage, a common location where stroke-causing blood clots form.

The device is inserted into the heart via catheter through a major vein near the groin. Once in place, doctors are able to open the device, similar to an umbrella, preventing blood from entering the left atrial appendage and stopping blood clots from escaping.

Eighty-five-year-old Donna Rose of Clairemont Mesa had the device installed as part of a national clinical trial evaluating the safety and performance of the Amulet in patients with atrial fibrillation (AFib). AFib is a common condition that leads to an irregular heartbeat that can cause blood to gather in the heart and form clots, which can then make their way to the brain and block blood flow.

Sharp Memorial interventional cardiologist Dr. Raghave Gollapudi, the doctor who performed the procedure on Rose, said that the grandmother of three was a perfect candidate.

Rose was prescribed blood thinners to control her risk of stroke-causing blood clots, but suffered a severe gastrointestinal bleed. Amulet will allow Rose, and five million other Americans living with AFib, to stop taking risky blood-thinning medication.

Sharp Memorial and 100 other hospitals in the country are participating in the clinical trial. The device has been approved for use in Europe since 2013.

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s commissioned a local university to conduct a study on traffic stops made by San Diego police.

The study was conducted by San Diego State University (SDSU) over a two-year period and looked at 259,000 traffic stops. According to the study, blacks and Latinos are more likely to be stopped north of Interstate 8 compared to white drivers.

In general, blacks and Latinos are more likely to have a field interview, and be searched. The study also found that those drivers are also less likely to have contraband on them at the time of the stops.

In a public meeting at City Hall, a spokesperson with SDSU said the study is missing key information because that info is not taken at the time of stops. Their suggestion to better analyze profiling is to change the policy and collect data at the time of the stops, such as: demeanor of driver, condition of vehicle, and makeup of the officer.

Faulconer is not releasing the study to the public at this time. He said he wants to analyze the details of the study and plans to release it in a meeting on November 30.

A San Diego man said he was charged for an ambulance ride he said he never took. In fact, Roberto Frias said he got to the hospital on his own with the help of his wife and son but the bills keep coming. 

“I was making a left turn and the car came from this direction and hit me,” Roberto said, showing us the police report from a 2014 car accident. 

Roberto said the woman driving the car that hit him was taken to the hospital by ambulance. 

“They asked me if I wanted to be transported and I said no, my hospital is close by,” Roberto said. 

In fact, since Roberto was already in a wheelchair, he said his wife and son pushed him up the hill to the Kaiser Permanente emergency room about a block away. 

“A few months later I received a bill for $1,712,” Roberto said. 

The bill came from Rural/Metro Ambulance and stated Roberto was picked up and taken to Sharp Hospital about six miles away. 

Roberto contacted Rural/Metro to explain that he not only was never transported by an ambulance that day, he also had never been to Sharp Hospital as the bill indicated. 

“I called them several times and explained, they insisted I had been transported,” Roberto said. 

Eventually, Rural/Metro turned the bill over to collections. That’s when Roberto called NBC 7 Responds. 

“I want them to acknowledge their mistake,” Roberto said. 

We contacted Rural/Metro and explained we had paperwork showing Roberto Frias was treated at Kaiser Permanente not Sharp Hospital. Rural/Metro dropped the charges. 

In an email, Rural/Metro’s Media Relations Manager Tom Milton said, "We have reviewed Mr. Frias' issue and have taken action to correct his account. He was billed incorrectly in 2014. We removed this charge and apologize for any inconvenience this has caused him."

For the first time, we’re seeing video of the daring and emotional rescue of two children from a house fire in Mount Hope. The fire was so intense the children suffered critical burns and their older brother perished.

Video captured by a GoPro on one firefighter’s helmet shows just what fire crews were up against that early Monday morning last November.

It was just after midnight when flames roared to life inside the home on J Street.

Engine 12 rolled into the Mount Hope neighborhood within minutes of the 911 call.

When firefighters got to the house, they say it appeared that flames were shooting out of every window.

Immediately, a woman can be heard yelling to Firefighter Dallas Higgins, “There's three kids still in the house!"

The kids were in a room with a ladder sticking out of the window and they weren’t coming out.

Firefighter Joe Zakar was close behind.

"I came around the corner and I just see Dallas taking off in between the two houses,” he recalled.

"I just ran straight for the window, you know time, time is our enemy," Higgins said.

That’s when Higgins jumped through the window and entered the bedroom.

At this point in the video, the image is black. The room is so thick with smoke, the firefighter couldn’t see his hands.

Within seconds, he felt his way to a top bunk bed.

"Deep in that bunk I was able to find Nano, who was the oldest brother,” Higgins said. “It was too hot and too much time had elapsed for him.”

Then, Higgins heard moaning from the bunk below. He had found 5-year-old Luis Junior.

"At that point he was so close to me and I'm holding him and I remember he was wearing a little blue shirt and grey shorts and he was sitting right next to me and breathing and I could make out his face and mouth and I could hear him breathing," Higgins said.

Zakar remembers the moment he learned there was one survivor.

"Within I would say about 20 seconds of Dallas being inside I heard him go, ‘Hey I got one,’” Zakar said.

Zakar carried Junior to the street so he could be treated.

"I still can feel how warm Junior was, in my hands,” Zakar said. “That's the one thing that has stuck with me."

Higgins was still inside the room, looking in the dark for a third child.

"You know you're burning but you know you have a job to do so you just keep trying I kept trying to spend more time in there, spend more time looking for her," Higgins said.

The extreme heat was burning right through his protective gear so Higgins asked for help.

Zakar took over the search from there. Thanks to other crews fighting the fire, the smoke began to lift, just a bit.

"I'm leaning in the window my light goes down, his light comes back and you just sort of see a flash of pink," Higgins said.

It was 3-year-old Esmerelda. Zakar scooped her up and passed her through the window to his partner.

Watch the full video of the rescue here.

Heartbroken parents soon learned Nano did not make it out of the fire alive.

Esme and Junior were placed in medically-induced comas. She suffered burns over 60 percent of her tiny body. Junior was burned over 90 percent of his.

Almost a year later they children are still healing but they are not alone.

The family has allowed Higgins and Zakar to be a part of the healing process because not only are they healing, the firefighters are healing as well.

Little Esme has visited the fire station twice. They say they just let her take over the place. She's now well enough to go to preschool.

Her brother, Junior is at a hospital in Northern California. He needs more specialized care but he's walking now, even riding a tricycle.

The children's survival, their bravery is what these firefighters focus on.

"Seeing them where they were and to see them today just gives us that validation of you know what we did our job and we were at our best," said Zakar.

Higgins and Zakar have since been promoted to engineers and now, they're using that helmet camera video to help train other firefighters.

They received this year’s Medal of Valor from the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.

The Fire Rescue Foundation handed out the awards Friday at the annual Service Award Honoree Luncheon. NBC 7’s Catherine Garcia emceed the event which recognizes firefighters, paramedics, lifeguards and ordinary citizens who have done extraordinary things to help others in their time of need.

Higgins and Zakar also wanted to make sure we reported that the rescue was the effort of many very dedicated first responders that night.

As for the cause of the fire – it was an accident. An old heating unit malfunctioned and set a mattress on fire.

San Diego Sheriff's County Deputies (SDSO) arrested two violent North Carolina fugitives at a San Diego casino Wednesday afternoon. 

Jonathan Richardson and Erin Hogsed, of Transylvania, North Carolina, were wanted for kidnapping, armed robbery and car theft out of North Carolina, deputies said. 

Transylvania County officials reached out SDSO deputies to advise them the men may be traveling to the San Diego area. 

Deputies spotted the stolen car related to the North Carolina fugitives' car in a parking structure at the Harrah's Casino in Valley Center at approximately 10:24 a.m. Wednesday. 

Valley Center deputies, members of the San Diego Fugitive Task Force and Harrah's security personnel found the pair and took them into custody without incident. 

The men will be booked into the Vista Detention Facility for the warrants out of North Carolina. 

They will remain in San Diego awaiting extradition. 

A San Diego County Sheriff's Deputy who saved a woman trapped inside a smoking car - seconds before it went up in flames - said his instinct and training took over when he saved the woman. 

SDSO Deputy Steve Gusman, an 11-year-veteran with the department, was driving back to the North Coastal substation early Sunday morning when he passed what looked like a cloud of fog on the the 3300 block of Manchester Avenue.

The deputy stopped his car and got out to investigate. He told NBC 7 San Diego that, on closer examination, he realized it was a smoking car: a Honda Civic that had gone off the right side of the road, into a marsh area. 

Gusman said because it was so dark and the car was filled with smoke, he couldn't tell if anyone was inside.

At the time, he saw only a glow underneath the vehicle, not flames.

He couldn’t see the passenger through the smoke, but heard a woman, who appeared to be in shock, saying she couldn’t move.

"That's why I just called out and I was actually very surprised when I heard somebody respond, because I couldn't see," Gusman recalled. "I just yelled out, 'Sheriff's Department.' I heard someone yell out, 'Oh my God, Thanks god you're here.'"

The driver could communicate, but she couldn't move - and that's when, Gusman said, his instinct and training took over. 

"At that point, I just pulled her out," Gusman said. "I tried to escort her out, but wasn't able to, she couldn't move, so just natural instinct, I threw her over my shoulder. We had to get out of there."

Deputy Gusman got the woman out of the car, placed her over his shoulder and carried her over the embankment – just moments before the car became completely engulfed in flames.

She had no reported injuries and there were no other passengers in the car.

Gusman was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.

Deputies determined the 54-year-old woman was under the influence of alcohol and she was booked into the Vista Detention Facility.

Democrat Hillary Clinton has jumped out to a nine-point lead in the battleground state of New Hampshire, while she’s tied with Republican Donald Trump in Nevada, according to two new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls.

In New Hampshire, Clinton gets the support of 45 percent of likely voters, and Trump gets 36 percent. Libertarian Gary Johnson is at 10 percent and the Green Party’s Jill Stein is at 4 percent.

In a two-way race, Clinton’s advantage over Trump is eight points, 47 percent to 39 percent – up from her one-point lead last month, 42 percent to 41 percent.

In Nevada, meanwhile, Clinton and Trump are tied among likely voters, 43 percent to 43 percent, and Johnson gets 10 percent. Stein isn't on the ballot in the Silver State.

In a head-to-head contest in Nevada, Clinton and Trump remain tied at 45 percent each.

“In Las Vegas terms, the contest for Nevada’s six electoral votes is a ‘push’ right now,” says Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. 

According to Miringoff, Clinton could lose Florida, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio – but still win the presidency by holding on to New Hampshire's four electoral votes and Pennsylvania.

A driver involved in a head-on collision in Poway is believed to have been under the influence of drugs and did to brake prior to the crash, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSO).

SDSO says the driver had been arrested just over a week ago for various charges: possession of a controlled substance, narcotic, drug paraphernalia, being under the influence and possession of metal knuckles.

On Wednesday morning, he was involved in a head-on crash with a F-150 pickup truck near the intersection of Twin Peaks and Community roads around 8:53 a.m. The crash shut down the road in both directions, Poway Fire Department officials said.

A Mazda pickup truck was traveling westbound on Twin Peaks when the driver crossed into oncoming traffic and slammed into the Ford F-150, according to Sgt. David Cheever with San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSO).

There was an initial report of five patients, two in critical condition, officials said.

The Mazda driver is described to be a 22-year old man from Rancho Penasquitos and his passenger was a 19-year old Poway man. The passenger struck the windshield and suffered the most serious injuries, deputies said.

Both were taken to Palomar Hospital Trauma Center.

It appears that the Mazda pickup may have been involved in previous crash because there was no airbag on his side of the truck, Cheever said.

SDSO says it also appears that the driver of the Mazda did not brake before the collision.

There were three people in the Ford F-150. A 48-year old father with a 5-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl went to a nearby hospital with what were described by deputies as minor injuries.

Deputies say drug paraphernalia and drugs found also were found in the Mazda.

The cause of the crash was under investigation.

The location is approximately 17 miles east of Interstate 15.

No other information was immediately available.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story. 

Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against John Hernandez Felix, the man charged with the murders of two Palm Springs police officers killed in an ambush, the Riverside County District Attorney's Office said Wednesday.

Felix, 26, of Palm Springs, faces two counts of murder in the slayings of veteran training Officer Jose Gilbert Vega, 63, and rookie Officer Lesley Zerebny, 27, on Oct. 8.

Felix also faces three attempted murder charges because three other officers were at the scene during the shooting, prosecutors said. One was treated at a hospital and released, officials said. Two others were not hit.

The suspect also faces additional special circumstance allegations including multiple murders, murder of a law enforcement officer, and lying in wait, according to a news release from the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

"This was a heinous crime involving the murders of two police officers who were gunned down simply because they were police officers," Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said in a news release. "The victims in this case were responding to a call for service and died in the line of duty protecting our community."

Felix also faces allegations that he personally used a firearm, that he possessed armor-piercing ammunition, and that he wore a body vest during the commission of a violent crime, prosecutors said in the news release.

Felix is also accused of unlawfully possessing an assault weapon, unlawfully possessing a firearm after being a convicted felon, unlawfully possessing ammunition after being a convicted felon, and possessing stolen property, the assault weapon used in the crime, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors say he is a gang member.

Authorities say the officers were responding to a domestic disturbance call on Oct. 8 when a 26-year-old ex-convict opened fire with an AR-15 rifle through a metal screen door at his family's home.

Thousands of people gathered Oct. 18 to remember Zerebny, a rookie police officer, just back from maternity leave and Vega, a veteran only months away from retirement.

The youngest of Vega's eight children, 8-year-old Vanessa, addressed the 10,000 people who converged on the Palm Springs Convention Center for the memorial service. Several Palm Springs officers picked her up from home and took her to school this week.

"He will always stay in our hearts," she said of her father. "Even though we can't see him doesn't mean he can't see us."

The deaths have rocked the tight-knit resort town 100 miles east of Los Angeles. Residents have left scores of bouquets, balloons and notes outside the police station and have sold T-shirts to raise money for the officers' families. Police also donated diapers to Zerebny's 4-month-old daughter.

Felix has pleaded not guilty to murder, attempted murder and weapons charges. He is being held without bail.

Andrew Vega said his uncle was born poor and served as a role model for him and other young Latinos. The officer told his nephew to set a good example when he set out to become a teacher years ago.

"I can only hope that my students looked at me the way I looked at him: sturdy, strong and an image of what is possible in this country," Vega said.

A federal judge has approved a $265 million settlement for the victims of last May's deadly Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia.

The ruling from U.S. Judge Legrome D. Davis released Thursday sets up a settlement program where attorneys for each victim and Amtrak will negotiate how much money Amtrak will compensate each of the injured passengers.

There are more than 125 pending cases from the May 12, 2015, disaster. A speeding Northeast Regional train jumped a sharp curve in the city's Port Richmond neighborhood late that night, killing eight people and injuring more than 200.

The train broke apart after leaving the rails at more than 100 mph. Some cars overturned, others sliced through steel electrical structures and one was crushed like a aluminum can. Four of the passengers killed were ejected from the train.

Federal investigators said the train was traveling at twice the speed limit as it prepared to turn north toward New York City following a stop at 30th Street Station.

Engineer Brandon Bostain lost his bearings after a rock hit the windshield of another train, the National Transportation Safety Board ruled. Bostain told investigators he didn't remember the derailment.

The settlement ruling calls for all pending cases to be settled within 2 1/2 years. The settlement is $30 million shy of a $295 million federal cap on damages. Last year, the cap was raised from $200 million following the derailment

Davis and attorneys leading the litigation — Thomas Kline, Fredrick Eisenberg and Robert Mongeluzzi — call the amount fair and say victims will be spared years of court proceedings.

"While no amount of compensation can replace the loss of human life, or heal the injured, it is immensely significant that the legal aspect of an incident of this magnitude will be resolved in a fraction of the time it could have taken," Mongeluzzi said in a statement.

Last year, it was a photo of a dress that left viral internet watchers questioning their color perception. Now it’s a picture of actor Bill Murray — or is it Tom Hanks? — with a crying toddler and a photo of paint-spattered — or shiny? — legs that have internet users scratching their heads. 

The first image shows a pair of legs with what looks to be light bouncing off of them. Some wondered if the legs were wet, while others thought they were covered in oil.

The photo was originally posted online in September, but was re-posted this week and went viral in a matter of hours.

The second image is of actor Bill Murray standing behind a crying toddler. But some viewers are convinced the man behind the baby is actually actor Tom Hanks.

The photo was apparently taken three years ago in St. Andrew's, Scotland, but has since resurfaced. After the debate raged, the toddler's mother confirmed on Facebook that it is indeed Murray in the photo. 

A 2011 memo from Douglas Band, a longtime aide to Bill Clinton, makes the case that his "multiple roles had served the interests of the Clinton family and its charity" and "detailed a circle of enrichment," the Washington Post reported.

The memo, which is part of the WikiLeaks dump of hacked emails, makes clear how inseparable the Clinton Foundation was to business interests, according to NBC's First Read team.

It reinforces the worst perceptions of the Clintons, but it's possible that the memo is already "baked into the cake of this presidential race," according to First Read.

While the Clinton campaign has refused to acknowledge the authenticity of the previous WikiLeaks emails, this one was confirmed by Teneo, the company that Band co-founded.

That puts pressure on Clinton and her campaign to address it, according to First Read.

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman cast a spell over a press conference Wednesday, when he dressed as a Gryffindor and said he was a wizard. 

Clad in a robe and Harry Potter's signature scarlet-and-gold tie, the NFL player waved a wand while answering questions about football and his wizarding world. He said that "The Order of Phoenix" is his favorite book in the Harry Potter series and compared America's favorite sport, football, and Potter's favorite, quidditch. 

"Five quarters of football is pretty tough, but quidditch — the beaters, the chasers, trying to find the golden snitch, things like that — that's tough," Sherman said, referring to the gritty 6-6 tie his team played on Sunday night against the Arizona Cardinals. "Five quarters of football, though, in the elements, I'd say that'd take the cake."

Sherman is known around the league for his shut-down defense, penchant for trash talk and willingness to address major issues facing American society at press conferences. Last month, Sherman showed his support for players who kneel during the national anthem by walking out of a press conference.

But Wednesday, Sherman faced the press with a much more light-hearted topic in mind, possibly because he recently got back from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando: "I just went to Harry Potter land. I felt like that was home."

He plans to rock his "Hogwarts student" costume on Monday night, when he takes his son trick-or-treating. And in lieu of an invisibility cloak, Sherman has a sure-proof disguise to hide from paparazzi.

"This is all you've got to do," he said, slipping on a pair of glasses. "Clark Kent did it. You've just got to put the glasses on. Bam, no longer Richard Sherman. Can't even tell anymore, right?"

When asked about his health after Sunday's game, Sherman stayed in character to describe his symptoms, whcih presented as heat exhaustion.

"Well, I'm definitely a wizard, so if you're asking if I feel like a Muggle again, I don't," he said, after being asked if he felt "human" again. "But I started feeling better probably around late yesterday, last night, just getting more fluids in me and more energy, legs started getting back under me."

Health care does not rank among voters' top issues and when asked about health priorities for the next president and Congress to address fewer people mentioned repealing Obamacare or weakening the law than other topics, according to a new Kaiser Health Tracking Poll. Top health care priorities were: reducing the cost of prescription drugs, making sure health plans have large networks of doctors and hospitals, and protection from high-prices at out-of-network providers, CNBC reported. The Kaiser poll questioning 1,205 adults was conducted from Oct. 12 to 18, before the recent warning by the Obama administration of a spike in premiums next year for plans sold on the federal insurance exchange. The Kaiser poll found public opinion split among people saying they view the Affordable Care Act favorably or unfavorably. And nearly two-thirds of respondents favored creating public health insurance options.

ISIS is reportedly forcing civilians living in their self-declared caliphate to move to Mosul, in what appears to be preparation to use them as human shields ahead of a planned allied assault on the city.

The terror group's fighters are threatening civilians in towns and villages south of Mosul with death or other punishments if they refuse to march north, Reuters and The Associated Press reported. 

"[ISIS] took all of us from our homes at gunpoint and told us they were taking us with them to Mosul," Ahmed Bilal Harish told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "They said if you don't come with us you're an unbeliever."

Harish said he and his family fled the forced march north when an airstrike scattered the militants.

Palm trees are an iconic image in Southern California but there is a new threat that could kill them off.

The South American palm weevil, found in Central America and parts of Mexico, has established itself in San Diego County.

Members of the region's agricultural industries gathered Wednesday at a symposium in Bonita, California to discuss the threat.

The insect damages the crown of palm trees, killing them within months.

In May, surveyors found dead palms in Tijuana, Mexico. When they walked across the U.S.-Mexico border into San Ysidro they saw evidence of the weevil there as well.

“Basically we were following a trail of dead palm trees all the way up to the Chula Vista area,” said UC Riverside entomologist Mark Hoddle.

This is a real threat to the region’s ornamental and palm industry, according to Ha Dang, San Diego County Agriculture Commissioner.

The industry generated $1.1 billion in San Diego County in 2014, she said, and the chance of the weevil moving north could be devastating.

“The palm is an iconic symbol of the Southern California lifestyle,” Dang said.

Orange County palm grower W.D. Young has palm trees in developments all across the U.S. including the entrance to Disneyland and the Luxor in Las Vegas, NV.

Duane Young has been in the business for almost 50 years and he’s never seen anything quite like this.

About 30 years ago, the palm tree industry faced a virus attacking Canary Island palms.

“That was a somewhat simple solution,” Young said of a sanitizing process that stopped the disease. “But these insects can move up to 10 miles and are much more of a challenge.”

If a quarantine becomes necessary, it could bring a halt to his business in other states.

“If we can stop it from moving into the rest of California, then we can prevent an awful lot of headaches,” Young said.

Albert Keck, president of Hadley Date Gardens in Thermal, California agrees. He’d like to see action taken now to protect his industry which is not only a large employer in California but generates an estimated $100 million in annual revenue.

“It’s certainly a threat to our industry and I’d like to see it eradicated in San Diego County,” Keck said.

The weevil’s preferred host seems to be the Canary Island date palm but the Phoenix dactylifera is susceptible. That’s the preferred growing date palm in the Coachella Valley.

“If it gets into the interior valleys where the fruits growing, it could be devastating to the industries there,” Keck said.

Not to mention the cost.

“Mature palms are 10 to 20 years in the making so it’s a big investment,” he said.

Hoddle hopes state and federal agricultural experts will begin the process of trapping for the weevil in Southern California so researchers can track it.

"Hopefully through a combination of trapping, pesticide use, monitoring, and removal of infected palms we can contain the pest and hopefully slow down significantly its spread into new areas," Hoddle said.

In the meantime, the University of California and the San Diego Agriculture Commission need the public’s help.

They’re asking people to upload photos of palms they think may have fallen victim to the weevil.

Click here to report infested palms.

State officials are cracking down on registered sex offenders, just as Halloween is around the corner.

It's called "Operation Boo," which requires registered sex offenders who are currently on parole to adhere to certain curfews and restrictions between 5 p.m. and 5 a.m., starting on Halloween night. They also cannot put up Halloween decorations or give out candy to trick-or-treating children.

However, this year, the individuals are not required to post a sign on their door to ward off trick-or-treaters. The change comes after a lawsuit was filed by a registered sex offender in Chula Vista who was told to post a sign on his door reading: "We Do Not Participate in Trick or Treating.”

The sign resulted in a federal lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), claiming it was unconstitutional and put sex offenders' safety at risk.

As part of the settlement, NBC 7 was told that a memo was sent to parole agents reminding them of the existing policy.

“We're out looking at them and making sure they abide by special conditions of their parole that says they have to stay home and can't try and lure kids into their home with candy, decorations or anything else,” said Luis Patino, a spokesman for CDCR.

But some parents say they are concerned with the change.

“I’ll be more cognizant about which homes are safe and which are not," Point Loma mom, Trisha Santoro said.

Santoro told NBC 7 that there are currently six registered sex offenders living within a two-mile radius of her home, according to the sex offender registry.

State officials advise parents to search online for any possible registered sex offenders that may live near your home

Registered sex offenders who are homeless must report to special reporting centers where they will spend the curfew under supervision.