Prince Harry's United States tour ended on Wednesday at an invite-only polo match in Greenwich, Conn., held by the Greenwich Polo Club.

As Prince Harry's Senetebale team defeated the St. Regis team, led by Ralph Lauren model and Argentine player Nacho Figueras, stands full of models and millionaires watched on.

Supermodels Stephanie Seymour and Karolina Kurkova and designer Jason Wu were among the names in the crowd.

In all, only about 400 attended the event, which called for a minimum donation of $5,000.

The day that started off chilly and rainy ended in sunny warmth, and the outcome was equally bright for the charity.

It is expected to raise more than $1 million for Sentebale, a charity the 28-year-old prince co-founded in memory of his mother, Princess Diana. He co-founded it with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho to help vulnerable children in the southern African nation.

Prince Harry led the Sentebale team during the Sentebale Royal Salute Polo Cup, winning 4 to 3.

After the match, the prince was headed back home to England.

Prince Harry arrived in Greenwich just before noon and took a tour of the polo grounds. During lunch, the prince and guests dined on mini-lobster rolls and other meals fit for a prince.

In advance of the royal visit, local shops had decorated with British flair, among them Atelier 360, which held an event on Tuesday in advance of the prince’s visit.
 
"The pictures that I've seen, he's definitely cute. That whole family is extremely good-looking,"
the shop's co-owner Véronique Lee said.

Some locals were hoping to get a glance at the young royal, but the polo match was invitation-only.

"It is royalty. We don't have royalty in the United States," said Lynn Capstick-Dale of Greenwich.

Greenwich Polo Club owner Peter Brant, who is also Stephanie Seymour's husband, was an official. Brant said Sentebale contacted him about hosting the event, and it was an honor to do so.

Firefighters were closely watching the wind Wednesday night as they battled a fast-moving, wind-driven wildfire that burned more than 3,000 acres in less than three hours, forcing evacuations and road closures in Los Padres National Forest near Frazier Park.

The blaze in mountainous terrain was being driven by winds that gusted up to 20 mph amid very dry fuel conditions. By late Wednesday, the fire was 10 percent contained and had grown to consume acreage in Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

The Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area and Piru Creek Campground were under a mandatory evacuation order, according to the Kern County Fire Department.

Frazier Mountain High School in Lebec (map) was evacuated soon after the blaze was reported at 1:20 p.m., according to Kern County Fire Department spokesman Corey Wilford. A fire command post was located at the school, which will be closed on Thursday while crew continue to battle the fire.

Anyone who is nearby in the forest should get out, Wilford said. Residents in the Piru Creek area were being warned about the blaze as well.

Falcon Way, a road west of the 5 Freeway on which the school is located, was closed. Others roads leading toward Hungry Valley were being closed as well, Wildford said.

Dubbed the Grand Fire, the blaze was burning in "very steep and hilly" terrain, Wilford said. Aerial video showed a mountainous area covered in trees and vegetation ablaze, with a huge plume of white smoke rising for hundreds of feet.

More than 200 firefighters were on scene from Kern, Los Angeles and Ventura county fire departments, as well as from the U.S. Forest Service and the federal Bureau of Land Management.

The fire had burned more than 750 acres within an hour. By 4 p.m., the Kern County Fire Deparment posted on its Facebook page that the fire was 2,500 acres. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Fire Department said jsut before 5 p.m. that the blaze was more than 3,000 acres.

Five air tankers and four water-dropping helicopters were responding to the blaze.

Authorities have not determined a cause of the blaze, which was burning about 70 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, south of the Grapevine that links the metropolitan area to the Central Valley.

Refresh this page for updates.

 

The defeated North Miami mayoral candidate who claimed that Jesus Christ endorsed her now says that the city chose Lucifer over the son of God.

In a post-election statement on her Facebook page, Anna Pierre questioned Tuesday's results, in which she finished last among seven candidates. She also re-affirmed her Christian faith.

“My Jesus has control over my life & the title of mayor doesn’t define who I am as a person,” Pierre wrote. “North Miami chose ‘Luciefer’ (sic) over Jesus. Thank you for your trust & support, your financial contribution, and most importantly – your prayers! I have lost a hard fought battle but not a war.”

Pierre received just 56 votes, or 0.83 percent, according to unofficial Miami-Dade Elections Department results. The registered nurse made the claim about Jesus’ endorsement in a campaign flyer on her Facebook page, and spoke about it as polls opened Tuesday morning.

The candidates who placed first and second on Tuesday, former mayor Kevin Burns and Lucie Tondreau, will square off in a June 4 runoff for mayor.

“They claimed I only have 56 votes – you can believe them if you want – I know they are corrupted and some members of the current administration were ready to do anything to have their protege elected to (perhaps) prevent their butt from going to jail in the near future,” Pierre wrote. Her message that was also sent out via a mass email, The Miami Herald reported.

Tondreau has the endorsement of Mayor Andre Pierre, who campaigned for her on Haitian radio before the election, the Herald reported.

Andre Pierre and Anna Pierre are not related. They did not immediately respond to phone calls seeking comment Wednesday.

VIDEO: Candidate Said Voodoo Tactics Were Being Used Against Her

Anna Pierre also congratulated Tondreau – who told the Herald that Pierre was reaching for excuses for why she lost.

“I can understand Ms. Pierre’s frustration. She used voodoo, that didn’t work. And then, Jesus endorsed her,” Tondreau said, referring to Pierre’s earlier claim that she was being intimidated with voodoo tactics. “If she got Jesus’ endorsement, that’s the biggest endorsement you can get. Why is she worried about who endorsed me?”

A boil water order has been issued for a water company located in Warner Springs, the County of San Diego Department of Environmental Health (DEH) announced Wednesday.

The order and public notification is in effect for the Los Tules Mutual Water Company located at 32995 Camino Moro. The DEH says the public water system serves 100 residential homes in the area.

According to the DEH, coliform bacteria has been detected in the drinking water system. This type of bacteria can come from soils and other sources in the environment.

Officials say the boil water order will remain in effect until the water system has been disinfected and additional samples and tests confirm the absence of bacteria in the water supply.

For more information about this boil water order, call (760) 782-9946 or visit this website.
 

America's finest city is becoming known for some of America's finest beer, and now the San Diego City Council is stepping on board to help grow that reputation.

On Tuesday, the council signed off on zoning changes Tuesday that would allow craft brewers to expand their businesses.

There are now 66 breweries in San Diego County with 39 more pending, according to the local beer industry website WestCoaster.

One recent national study put the economic impact of San Diego's craft breweries at about $300 million a year – which is more impact than Comic-Con.

And as that revenue has grown, now so has the city's interest.

Jack White with Ballast Point Brewing Company said the city didn't always know what to make of breweries.

"You know 15 years ago, they just weren't familiar with what we were trying to do ultimately what we wanted to do,” he said. “It was much smaller as far as revenue for the city."

Yesterday’s vote could allow breweries to expand tasting rooms, and even open restaurants.

"This does make common sense to me. It's something we do have an advantage here in San Diego, and we should encourage,” said White.

The council voted unanimously on Tuesday, but not before one commenter at the meeting warned the city about rushing to grow this industry too quickly.

“They have great potential for activities and problems related to drinking behavior on and around their premise,” she said. “It's critical that those risks should not be dismissed out of hand."

White said that his brewery is well aware of the laws in place and they will continue to obey them.

In the meantime, Ballast Point is planning to expand at their current location, and plans are in the works for a new restaurant in Little Italy, and he’s happy the city is helping out.

“It's exciting to see them become educated, helpful, and eager to see us succeed,” White said.

The new guidelines for local breweries who want to expand was approved by the council, but it still needs to be put before both the Coastal Commission and airport authority before the changes go into effect.

A judge has set bail at $1 million for a City Heights mother charged with attempted murder and child cruelty in the near-drowning of her 9-month-old baby girl.

Whitney Holman, 22, faced a judge for the first time in court on Wednesday. On Friday, Holman’s baby daughter nearly drowned inside a bathtub in her apartment in the 4100 block of 42nd Street.

Holman – who was the only person home at the time of the incident – called 911 Friday around 3:40 p.m. to report that her baby had nearly drowned. The infant was transported to Rady Children’s Hospital in critical condition.

Holman was questioned by police on Friday and subsequently arrested on charges of attempted murder and felony child abuse. Investigators said Holman has no history of child abuse and was cooperative with police.

On Wednesday, Holman entered a San Diego courtroom looking slightly nervous. A judge set the mother’s bail at $1 million and postponed her arraignment until Jun. 11. The judge also issued a restraining order against Holman out of protection for the baby.

Holman’s attorney is still waiting for police records and has requested more information about her client’s case so Holman can better prepare what to plea.

NBC 7 spoke with Holman’s aunt, Andrea Burnett-Davis, who was also in court Wednesday.

Burnett-Davis says she blames Child Protective Services for not helping Holman prior to the bathtub incident. She claims her niece had called authorities two days before the incident to report that she was having suicidal thoughts.

However, her aunt claims Holman received no help from authorities at that time.

“Many people are losing their children for all the wrong things, all the wrong reasons. And the people that are really out there, needing the help, are not getting the services. The system is crazy,” Burnett-Davis told NBC 7.

As for the baby girl’s current condition, Holman’s family told NBC 7 the child is still in the hospital but was recently taken off a ventilator. The family says the baby is now trying to breathe on her own.

Meanwhile, Holman’s attorney says she’s exploring a plea of insanity for her client, since Holman appears to be having mental issues.

Holman is scheduled to appear in court again on Jun. 11.  She faces life in prison with the possibility of parole, if convicted.
 

There’s a new face on the San Diego State women’s basketball team: newly-hired head coach Stacie Terry.

On Wednesday, SDSU Director of Athletics Jim Sterk announced that 36-year-old Terry would step in as head coach of the Aztecs women’s basketball team.

Last month, former SDSU head coach Beth Burns announced her sudden retirement from the team, prompting an immediate search for a new head coach.

Following that announcement, Sterk didn’t shed any light on Burns’ departure, or why the veteran coach retired eight months after signing a five-year contract extension, and after coaching the Aztecs to a 27-win season.

On Wednesday, Terry told NBC 7 she didn’t know the details surrounding Burns’ retirement, but said she was extremely excited about following the former head coach’s example.

“She has done an amazing job here. There’s definitely a winning tradition, and I look forward to following in those footsteps. She’s done a tremendous job in what she was able to do in the time she was here,” Terry told NBC 7.

Terry’s new job in San Diego is, essentially, a homecoming.

This is the head coach’s hometown, and she says she’s thrilled to return to her roots.

“I’m so excited to be here. This is huge. This is a special opportunity for me to come home and not only have a great situation professionally, but to have my family, my biggest supporters, be able to watch,” she explained.

Terry has spent the past two seasons coaching the Lady Tigers at Louisiana State University. During her time at LSU, the Lady Tigers compiled a 45-23 overall record and earned two NCAA tournament bids, including a “Sweet 16” appearance.

Before her arrival at LSU, Terry served as an assistant under head coach Nikki Caldwell at UCLA, helping the Bruins gain national acclaim with a pair of NCAA tournament appearances.

She was also a recruiting coordinator at Southern Mississippi, the assistant coach at Illinois, Dayton and Louisville, and a graduate assistant at Texas-Arlington.

Terry played college basketball herself at Texas-Arlington from 1994 to 1998. Before that, she graduated from El Capitan High School and lived in Lakeside with her family.

To this day, Terry still holds the career-scoring record at El Capitan. She was inducted into the high school’s hall of fame in 2008.

Terry says she’s looking forward to basketball season and getting the ball rolling with the Aztecs.

She says “family” will be a running theme for her team, both on and off the court.

“We’re going to work hard. There’s going to be a lot of discipline, but we’re going to have fun doing it,” said Terry.

Meanwhile, Sterk says SDSU is confident in their move to bring Terry on as head coach.

“We are excited to welcome Stacie Terry into the Aztec athletics family,” Sterk said. “She brings a tremendous amount of experience, passion and character to SDSU women’s basketball. I look forward to the future of our program under her leadership.”

SDSU men’s basketball head coach Steve Fisher also had this to say about Terry:

“I am excited to welcome Stacie Terry to the Aztec family. I had an opportunity to spend some time with her during the process and am impressed with her experience and the success she has been a part of, most recently at LSU and UCLA. She has a wealth of experience and has shown the ability to recruit wherever she has coached. Having gone to high school here and having family in the area, she is very familiar with the San Diego high school scene. I am happy that she is in our basketball family and look forward to watching her carry on the successful tradition of Aztec women’s basketball.”
 

Upset by a line of questioning, US Attorney General Eric Holder tells Rep. Darrell Issa that his conduct as a member of Congress is "unacceptable and shameful."

Holder was grilled Wednesday on several scandals rocking the Obama administration, including the targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service, the secret gathering of telephone records at The Associated Press and any missteps in sharing intelligence information prior to the bombings in Boston.

At one point, Holder had a sharp exchange with local Rep. Issa (R) the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform.

The video clip below shows what happened after Issa requested the full content of emails from Obama's nominee for Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez.

Republicans have said that Perez acted inappropriately during his time at the Justice Department.

When Issa suggested the AG's office didn't want Congress to see the content of the emails, Holder criticized the Congressional leader saying the comment "...is inappropriate and too consistent with the way in which you conduct yourself as a member of Congress."

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The FBI is investigating after $625,000 in gold bars were somehow stolen minutes after it was unloaded from a plane at Miami International Airport.

The theft happened around 5 a.m. Tuesday shortly after American Airlines Flight 902 from Guayaquil, Ecuador, which was carrying the gold, landed at the airport, according to a Miami-Dade Police incident report.

According to the report, the plane had docked at Gate D3 where the property was removed from the cargo area by five workers.

Two Pedestrians Struck and Killed By Minivan in Margate

At one point, the cart was driven to the other side of the plane and left there, but it's unknown who moved it, the report said.

A short time later, a tug from Gate D6 stopped at the cart before going to Gate D37 and then an alleyway, where video surveillance of the tug was lost, the report said.

The cart was found about an hour later in front of Gate D19.

The FBI is investigating the incident but gave no details. An American Airlines spokeswoman said they are assisting authorities with the investigation.

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Charges were filed Tuesday against a man who wore a wig and women's clothing to disguise himself as he allegedly used a concealed camera to record "hours" of video of women in a Los Angeles-area department store restroom.

Jason Pomare, 33, of Palmdale, was arrested Saturday after customers contacted security officers at a Macy's store to report a man in the women's restroom. The security officers contacted a deputy, who was on patrol at the Antelope Valley Mall (map) when he saw a man matching the subject's description leave the store.

When the deputy found the man hiding in a mall storage area, the subject was wearing a wig, women's clothing and bra, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

"The deputy noticed he was wearing a wig and appeared to have breasts," said Sgt. Brian Hudson, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Pomare (pictured, right) was charged Tuesday with six counts of unlawful use of a concealed camera for purposes of sexual gratification. After his arrest, investigators said a video camera found in his purse had "hours" of video of women using the restroom inside the store.

The suspect pointed the concealed camera under restroom stalls, but one woman recognized the camera's red recording light and contacted security officers, investigators said. Pomare told detectives he had been in the restroom for about two hours, said Hudson.

Anyone with information about the case can contact detectives at 1-800-222-8477.

For nearly three years, Philadelphia Police crime scene investigator John Taggart has remained silent about what he saw after stepping inside Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s two homes and West Philadelphia clinic -- nicknamed the “House of Horrors.”

Now that the former Philadelphia abortion doctor has been sentenced to life in prison and the case's gag order lifted, Taggart is speaking out about what he found.

Taggart and his team began searching Gosnell’s properties for fetal remains in February 2010 following an FBI raid of the doctor’s West Philadelphia clinic, the Women’s Medical Society.

Inside Gosnell’s West Philadelphia home, the doctor spared no expense on high-end appliances, large flat-screen TVs and a piano, but Taggart says the 72-year-old surrounded himself with filth.

“He just lived in squalor,” said Taggart. “He would leave plates of food on the floor. There was stuff everywhere in the bedroom. You couldn’t see the bed.”

Gosnell sat at the piano and played Chopin as police donned bio-hazard suits to investigate the contents of his home’s basement.

“As soon as they went down into the basement, they were covered in fleas,” Taggart said. “He actually gave us a bottle of flea repellent and said, ‘See what a nice guy I am? I told you there were fleas in the basement.’ He said ‘I didn’t have to tell ya’s’”

Investigators also visited Gosnell’s shore home in Brigantine, N.J. Taggart says the home was not well-kept, but that the property was “beautiful.”

“It backed up to the bay, he had a beautiful like four-slip boat slip,” he said.

The Philadelphia Police Crime Scene Unit traveled down the Atlantic City Expressway to search for the remains of unaccounted fetuses.

“We went down there because we thought maybe some of the babies were thrown into the bay,” he said. “There’s a lot of babies that are still unaccounted for that we don’t know where they’re at.”

The team ventured into the bay and pulled up several crab traps owned by Gosnell to see if there were remains inside. However, nothing was found. New Jersey authorities also sent a dive team into the bay before Taggart’s search and were unable to locate any remains.

“I believe they are either buried out there or I don’t know where they are. We’ve looked, we’ve looked for three years,” he said.

Taggart also recounted his time inside the Women’s Medical Society, calling the clinic, located at 3801 Lancaster Avenue, unforgettable.

“The smells were just unbearable,” he said. “You could tell there was death somewhere.”

Taggart found dead babies stuffed inside a refrigerator. But it’s what he and other officials found as they searched room-by -room that he says will be forever burned into his memory.

“Opening up the cabinet and seeing all the feet,” he said. “I’ll remember that for a long time.”

Those feet were severed from babies following abortion procedures. Prosecutors say Gosnell would deliver some babies alive, despite giving them medication in utero meant to stop their heart. The doctor and his staff would then snip their necks with scissors to ensure death.

Investigators said baby body parts would clog toilets after women delivered them in stalls inside the clinic. But for the first time, Taggart describes how remains were uncovered in the break room sink.

“They were shoving body parts down the garbage disposal,” said Taggart. “To the point where they plunged it one day and an arm popped out on Lancaster Avenue.”

The clinic, though not opened, still stands today.

Gosnell, who was found guilty Monday of first-degree murder in the deaths of three babies, was given two consecutive life sentences in two of those verdicts. He struck a deal to avoid the death penalty by giving up his right to an appeal.

On Wednesday, Gosnell was sentenced to a third consecutive life sentence for the murder of the third baby. He also was given an additional two and a half to five consecutive years in the involuntary manslaughter death of former patient Karnamaya Mongar. The attorney for Mongar's family says they plan on suing both Gosnell and the City of Philadelphia.

Gosnell was also sentenced to concurrent sentences for 229 violations of Pennsylvania abortion regulations, according to the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office.

The former doctor also pled guilty to federal charges related to illegal narcotics distribution. He's expected to be sentenced for those crimes next week.

For extensive coverage of the "House of Horrors" Abortion Doctor Trial, click here to visit our dedicated section on the case.

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Cal Fire will send 75 firefighters from San Diego County to battle a 3,000-acre fire burning near Interstate 5 north of Los Angeles.

Cool temperatures and decreased wind speeds have helped firefighters gain ground on the wildfire that forced evacuations and a school closure.

Strong winds pushed the fire, which was reported at 1:20 p.m. Wednesday, south and east toward the Hungry Valley State Recreation Area and Gorman Tuesday. Flames eventually spread into portions of three counties -- Kern, Ventura and Los Angeles.

The fire burned about 2,000 acres in under three hours and continued moderate spread in "very steep and hilly" throughout the afternoon. Water-dropping helicopters and air tankers helped crews slow the wildfire's advance.

No structures were threatened.

Containment was at 10 percent early Thursday after the fast-moving fire scorched trees and brush west of the 5 Freeway Wednesday afternoon.

Authorities have not determined a cause of the blaze, which was burning about 70 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, south of the Grapevine that links the metropolitan area to the Central Valley.

View California Fire Map in a larger map

Earl McCoy was asleep when a tornado—one of 10 to tear through North Texas Wednesday night—arrived in Ennis.

He was awoken, not by screaming wind or blaring sirens, but by a drip of water that fell from his ceiling—his only warning of what was to come.

A moment later, the ceiling collapsed. "I jumped up and went to the door and then that fell," McCoy said, pointing to another section of the ceiling. "To be sound asleep, and this piece falls on top of me, and this piece falls right beside me ... it was unreal."

Elizabeth Tovar of Granbury, the hardest-hit area of North Texas, rode out the storm in her tub.

"We were all, like, hugging in the bathtub and that's when it started happening. I heard glass shattering and I knew my house was going," Tovar said. "We looked up and … the whole ceiling was gone."

Three tornadoes that touched down drilled through Hood County around 8 p.m., leaving six dead, seven missing and 250 people homeless, Sheriff Roger Deeds said.

All of the fatalities were in the Rancho Brazos neighborhood, built by Habitat for Humanity volunteers over the last five years.

"Some were found in houses. Some were found around houses," Deeds said. "There was a report that two of these people that they found were not even near their homes. So we're going to have to search the area out there."

The search for survivors, and the dead, began last night at the scene, which Deeds described as "a war zone."

NBC 5's Scott Gordon, who was in Granbury after the storm hit, said that residents in the area appeared to be "dazed." He said there were not enough stretchers to go around and that children were carried out as driving rain hammered down.

Back in Ennis, Donna Summer was expressing her gratitude for the police and firefighters who checked on her throughout the night. She was working a late shift at a local restaurant when the winds picked up.

"Sounded like a low, whirring, whir noise, like a train. A small train," she said. "I just stayed inside and prayed a lot. Didn't want to get outside. I was afraid to see if we had a town left."

After the power cut out, she said the only lights were those from police and fire vehicles outside.

"About every hour they'd come by and check on me ... make sure the boogeyman don't get me."

Further west in Cleburne, where a mile-wide tornado was reported Wednesday night, Shari East was still processing what she went through.

"I have nightmares about tornadoes every year, and now I lived through one."

East said she heard warning sirens for a few minutes before the storm was upon her.

"It just kind of hit out of nowhere. You could hear it. My husband made us all get in the bathtub and put mattresses over us. He wouldn't get in the bathtub because there wasn't enough room."

East had been on the phone with her daughter, who lives across town, when the call cut off.

"Scary. Never been so scared in my life," she said, adding that she was "amazed that we all lived through it."

A day after the San Diego Unified District announced it would not intervene with the recent suspension of students over a controversial twerking video, one trustee released a statement suggesting the punishments be reversed.

SDUSD Trustee Scott Barnett criticized students and administrators of Scripps Ranch High School for their roles in the recent twerking controversy.

SRHS principal Ann Menna suspended 31 students for sexual harassment in connection with a music video shot on campus with school equipment that showed teenagers doing handstands and dancing suggestively. The music video was later posted on YouTube and the scandal that followed has been covered by news websites around the world.

Barnett said he’s supportive of administrators but personally feels the principal should rescind the suspensions for students involved in the making of the music video.

Despite appeals from parents who feel the punishment was too harsh, the school board decided Tuesday to uphold Menna’s decision saying it was against policy for board members to interfere with student punishment decisions made at the school level.

However, in a statement released Wednesday, Barnett said, "My overall view of this twerking incident is that I believe all parties, both students and administrators showed poor judgment."

Read Barnett’s full statement released by SDUSD on May 15:

We all do and say things in life which we regret. We all make mistakes. As a school board trustee, I have on several occasions publicly apologized for errors in judgment and mistakes I have made.
We all need to take responsibility for our actions and our words.

I have two teen-aged daughters at another San Diego Unified high school. One has been going through the college application process which as a parent, I have learned is highly grueling, competitive, and a stressful process for children and parents alike.

In my time as a San Diego Unified parent and a board trustee I have developed an even greater respect and understanding of the difficult job school site administrators have. The job of being a principal is especially difficult in these times of the social media. As a board trustee I have had excellent relationships and learned much from many of principals on how to best manage school sites. As a board trustee I cannot and do not DIRECT principals to take any action on any specific issue impacting their school sites. Principals report to their area superintendents who ultimately report to the superintendent.

As a parent I strongly believe that we need to set high expectations for our children's public and private behavior.

As a school board trustee I believe San Diego Unified has a legal and ethical decision to set proper guidelines on appropriate behavior and to enforce the discipline.

I will not today or at any time discuss any specific student's academic record or behavior outside of the context of legally constituted closed session.

I do not know any of the students, I do not know their names and my comments are addressing what is now known as the "twerking incident," and the resulting uniform punishment of suspensions.

That said, as a board trustee I have the following comments:

Based on all information known to me, I believe proper process and procedures and legal requirements were followed by all district staff involved.

However, I also believe it was the suspensions approved by district administrators was what resulted in the international attention and embarrassment to the school and students.

I viewed the video and found parts of it to be personally offensive and inappropriate and should not have been produced by students on school time and non school time.

At the same time I spend a lot of time with teenagers as a parent, a soccer coach, and a school board trustee. I, on occasion hear language and music and see behavior by teenagers that I find very offensive and even shocking. I do not like it but it's a reflection of our times.

My overall view of this "twerking incident" is that I believe all parties, both students and administrators showed poor judgment.

I believe every student who participated in the video showed poor judgment and should be held accountable for their actions. If either of my daughters were involved in and agreed to be filmed in ways I saw on the video, I would ensure there were consequences enacted by me and their mother, and want there to be consequences at school including at the very least a public apology and appropriate punishment such as a lunch detention, writing a paper on actions taken or other relevant consequences.

At the same time I believe the punishment meted out (two-day suspensions for sexual harassment) was overly severe in that it could cause significant damage to a student's academic future, possibly harming their ability to get into their college of choice.

I am hopeful that all parties involved, both students and district administrators acknowledge that further thought should have occurred prior to the decisions they made.

The principal does have the authority to remove the student suspensions, which would then remove the suspensions from the student's record.

The students involved also have an opportunity to apologize to the school community for their participation in this incident.

In conclusion, as a board trustee my primary responsibility is the health, safety and academic success of our children. That means supporting educators and administrators in their work, but also ensuring all actions are in the best interest of students.

Scott Barnett
Board Trustee

President Barack Obama welcomed Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the White House on Thursday. The ongoing crisis in Syria is expected to be among the topics that are discussed.

OJ Simpson is back in court Thursday one day after testifying about advice he received from his former attorney before a hotel room raid that led to a sentence that might keep the former NFL Hall of Fame player in prison for the rest of his life.

An animated Simpson spoke for six hours in the Las Vegas courtroom, facing questions about advice he claims he received from attorney Yale Galanter, who represented the ex-USC Trojan during the 2008 robbery and kidnapping trial. Simpson was part of a group of men who entered the Palace Station hotel in 2007 to retrieve sports memorabilia that Simpson said went missing after his acquittal in his 1995 Los Angeles murder trial.

The 65-year-old Simpson, who did not testify at the trial, told the court Wednesday that Galanter spoke with his about retrieving the sports memorabilia over dinner.

"It seems to me that much of what we're doing here now has to do with things that he tried to keep undercover," Simpson, dressed in blue prison clothes, said. "It was my stuff. I followed what I thought was the law. My lawyer told me I couldn't break into a guy's room. I didn't break into anybody's room. I didn't try to muscle the guys. The guys had my stuff, even though they claimed they didn't steal it.''

Simpson re-stated that he was not aware two of the men in the group were carrying guns, adding that guns "were never a subject." He also said the "couple of big guys" with him at the hotel were there to help carry out the items, including signed footballs and photos.

"I don't need security," Simpson said he told others involved in a conversation at the Palms hotel on the morning of the raid.

Simpson, at times, appeared to relish the opportunity to be on the stand, using theatrical gestures and even asking a burly corrections officer to stand up to demonstrate the size of the men who accompanied him to the Palace Station. The men were there "not to start trouble but to make sure there wouldn't be any trouble," Simpson said.

Crowds at the courthouse had been small, unlike the 1995 murder trial in Los Angeles and the 2008 robbery and kidnapping trials, until Wednesday. A court marshal turned people away, sending more than 15 people to an overflow room where video of Simpson's testimony was streamed live.

Simpson and his attorneys are attempting to prove during the weeklong hearing that his trial attorney mishandled the case. Simpson wants a new trial because he says his longtime lawyer failed to disclose that he knew about the hotel room raid in advance, told Simpson it was legal and provided bad advice at trial.

The new challenge follows the Nevada Supreme Court's denial of Simpson's 2010 appeal, also handled by Galanter. Simpson's new attorney filed the writ of habeas corpus in May 2012, seeking her client's release from prison and reversal of the conviction.

He has already served four years in prison, but must serve nine of the maximum 33-year sentence before he is eligible for parole.

Four Simpson co-defendants pleaded guilty to felonies and testified for the prosecution. A fifth defendant, Clarence "C.J.'' Stewart, was convicted and served more than two years in prison before the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that Simpson's fame tainted Stewart's conviction.

A judge eventually ruled that the items in the hotel room should be delivered to Simpson's civil case attorney.
 

A car accident in South Bay has left one person dead and another injured, according to officials.

The incident happened around 8:45 a.m. and involved two cars on Coronado Avenue near 27th Street.

One victim was declared dead at the scene and another person was transported to UCSD Hospital.

Law enforcement has roped off a section of Coronado Avenue.

Check back for updates on this story.

As San Diego County sheriff’s deputies investigate the drowning of two toddlers in a La Mesa pool, NBC 7 San Diego has uncovered court documents that show the victims’ mother was wanted on an outstanding warrant.

The siblings, 16-month-old Harley Bradford and 2-year-old Jason Bradford Jr., were found unresponsive in a pool Monday. Their mother, Tassie Anne Behrens, and a friend jumped in a pickup truck and drove the toddlers from the home at the base of Mount Helix to a La Mesa firehouse on Grossmont Boulevard.

Behrens stayed with the children while emergency personnel tried to save them. Her unidentified friend ran from the scene. Deputies have said they want to question the man about the details surrounding the drowning.

Initially the mother told investigators the children drowned at a pool in Spring Valley. Deputies later determined the drowning had occurred at a home on Sunset Avenue in La Mesa.

Once they searched the home, authorities uncovered a large marijuana grow. They seized the equipment and the plants and arrested a man identified as Larry Dangelo, 44, in connection with the illegal drug operation.

On Wednesday, prosecutors added new charges against Dangelo, including felony child cruelty with possible injury or death. He's scheduled to appear in court on May 24.

Investigators have not filed criminal charges against Behrens in the drowning but have said they are still looking into the circumstances of the children’s deaths.

San Diego County Sheriff’s Lt. Glenn Giannantonio told NBC 7 it could be a few weeks before detectives present their evidence on this case to the District Attorney's office.

Giannantonio said prosecutors want to see test results related to the case.

NBC 7 San Diego obtained court documents that show a judge issued an arrest warrant for the mother of both children on February 20. The case involved two vehicle code violations -- driving on a suspended license with a prior violation and speeding -- issued on November 18, 2012, in the South Bay.

The man listed as the father on one of the toddlers' birth certificates was sentenced to a two-year state prison term in 2011 for motorcycle theft. The toddler’s father, Jason Michael Bradford, also has a criminal history of at least two drug offenses.

A Fallbrook man accused of exposing himself in public to a high school student was arrested Wednesday for indecent exposure, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department confirmed.

Patrick Christopher Harvey, 26, was arrested at his North County home around 12:30 p.m. in connection with an incident that happened back on Feb. 27 at South Mission and Winterhaven Roads in Fallbrook.

According to investigators, a 16-year-old high school student was at the bus stop when she noticed a white Mercedes-Benz make a U-turn and park in a red zone across the street.

As the teenage girl walked on Winterhaven Road toward Ivy High School, a man in the car started to slowly drive next to her, eventually stopping the vehicle right next to her.

Investigators say when the girl looked over at the man, his pants were allegedly off. The teen told investigators she saw the man’s exposed genitals, and said the suspect was allegedly “playing with himself” while looking at her.

The victim immediately called police, and the suspect -- now identified by deputies as Harvey -- fled the scene.

Harvey was booked into the Vista Detention Facility on indecent exposure charges. He is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.