Two homeless shelters are opening in San Diego Friday due to the inclement weather, San Diego Housing Commission Spokeswoman Maria Velasquez, says.

The first shelter will open at Father Joe’s Village at 4 p.m. and will accommodate 250 people.

The second shelter will open at 5 p.m. at PATH on 6th Avenue for single adults. Paths can accept 30 people.

The city kept its emergency shelters closed during the Christmas weekend storm last weekend. Velasquez says the Housing Commission claims the storm did not meet their standard for opening shelters. 

"We've put measures in place to make sure the miscommunication doesn't happen again," Velasquez tells NBC 7. 

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The White House has named San Diego a TechHire city, recognizing the city’s efforts to train people for software development and other new, technology-focused jobs.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer made the announcement.

Through the TechHire initiative, several public and private entities are working to help more than 1,000 youth and young adults begin their careers in coding and cybersecurity. That group will also include 150 veterans, Faulconer’s office said.

Teaming up with the city are the San Diego Workforce Partnership, the Cyber Center of Excellence, CyberHIVE and the San Diego Community College District.

In TechHire communities, local business and civic leaders “commit to create pathways to tech jobs for workers from nontraditional backgrounds, give people the chance to get hired based on their demonstrated ability rather than their written resume and expand accelerated tech learning programs, such as coding boot camps,” a city statement said.

Federal Department of Labor grants have supported TechHire projects in other cities and might be available to San Diego in the future.

“San Diego’s innovation economy is rapidly creating new software development job opportunities,” said Erik Caldwell, director of the city’s Economic Development Department, in a statement distributed by Faulconer’s office. “We are pleased to see the city’s efforts to help all San Diegans access these opportunities gaining national recognition.”

The city’s other workforce development programs include Career Online High School, which lets San Diego residents earn their high school diplomas; free classes and workshops available at public libraries; and the One San Diego 100 initiative, which aims to recruit 100 local businesses to provide 1,000 San Diego youth with paid internships, mentorship and job shadowing opportunities.

It looks like Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam take the whole “season of giving” thing pretty seriously.

Just two days ago, we reported that Vedder had sent a struggling Maryland family a $10,000 check after their story went viral. And now, as if we needed even more reasons to love the onetime San Diegan, the singer/guitarist and his Pearl Jam bandmates (who were recently announced as 2017 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees) are at it again.

Back in 2001, Vedder and five friends were boating on the Pailolo Channel between Maui and Molokai when their sailing canoe overturned. The entire crew was thrown off the boat, and only three of them were able to make it back to it before wind gusts pushed it too far out of reach for Vedder and two others to climb aboard.

Enter Hawaii man Keith Baxter and his daughter, Ashley, to the rescue. The two had been riding their boat on the channel at the same time and happened to encounter the canoe, pulled Vedder and his two crew members from the water, and effectively saved the day.

Cool story, huh? Unfortunately for Keith Baxter, it doesn’t end there. In 2015, a rusty anchor nearly severed his leg in his own boating accident, and caused a life-threatening infection -- one that required medical treatments not covered by his insurance.

A GoFundMe page set up by the Baxters raised more than $70,000 on its own, but to their surprise (and after Ashley Baxter’s surprise encounter with one of the crew members from the 2001 accident -- who then relayed the situation to Vedder), Pearl Jam matched the existing donations to the tune of another $70,000.

This story indeed has a happy ending, with Baxter recently taking to his GoFundMe page and writing a note of appreciation.

“Because of all of you, I have received the best medical care available. Thanks to Dr. David Thordason at Cedar Sinai, the infection is gone and I’m on the road to recovery. I am doing therapy to try and get full movement in my foot, but have been able to get back to work at Baxter Charters and into water sports again. That is the best therapy of all! This Christmas was incredible. I want to express my Warmest Aloha to Eddie Vedder and the Band for their generous gift. What can I say. I am overwhelmed with their concern and Aloha towards me ... What big hearts they have.”

Dustin Lothspeich books The Merrow, plays in Diamond Lakes, and runs the music equipment-worshipping blog Gear and Loathing in San Diego. Follow his updates on Twitter or contact him directly.

The first-ever woman to hold the position of police chief for the Chula Vista police department (CVPD) will be sworn in Friday, marking a major milestone for the City of Chula Vista.

Roxana Kennedy will be sworn in as the CVPD's 24th police chief in a public ceremony at 11 a.m. in the City Council Chambers, according to the CVPD. She will take over the position for the retiring police chief David Bejarano and serve a population of 265,000 residents.

Before she was selected as chief, Kennedy supervised the Patrol Operations Division of the Chula Vista Police Department as Second in Command, said a CVPD official. She oversaw the largest division in the police department, which is responsible for 67 percent of all the sworn personnel.

Her duties included managing Patrol, Traffic, School Resource Officers, Street Team and Gang Suppression Unit, Community Policing Unit, Community Relations and Crime Analysis. According to the CVPD, those divisions involve the use of canine units, Senior Volunteer Patrol, the Reserve Unit, Crisis Negotiations, SWAT, Mobile Field Force, bilingual services and mental health assistance to the Psychiatric Emergency Response Teams (PERT).

The department regards Kennedy highly, who has a well-established reputation for her outstanding work ethic, professionalism and dedication to the community, according to the CVPD.

Her commitment to the community and her passion for police work have allowed her to rapidly shoot up the ranks to become the first ever female Police Lieutenant for Chula Vista and a Police Captain back in 2013, according to the CVPD.

Kennedy has pursued an ambitious career with the CVPD for 24 years. With broad-ranging experience, she worked as the Unit Commander for 12 years for the Crisis Negotiation Team and the Mobile Force Unit. Besides that, she's in charge of a very active Wellness/Peer Support Team for the Department. 

Prior to joining the police force, Kennedy graduated from the California Coast University with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management. She also graduated from the FBI National Academy in Class #243 and serves on the FBI National California Chapter Board of Directions. According to the CVPD, Kennedy serves as President of the San Diego Chapter of Woman Leaders in Law Enforcement.

In her spare time, Kennedy enjoys spending time with family and friends and volunteering at two non-profit organizations, according to the CVPD. That includes Project Compassion which provides medical aid throughout the world and Athletes for Education which helps disadvantaged youth throughout San Diego County.

In memory of Carrie Fisher, a 'lightsaber vigil' is planned to mourn the Star Wars icon who died Tuesday after she had a heart attack last week.

The event will be held at 7 p.m. Friday at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, according to a Facebook event page. Fans will gather together at the center, holding their lightsabers aloft to honor the actress.

In the event page, the organizers ask attendees to refrain from sparring with their sabers or performing choreographed fights out of respect for Fisher's passing.

The vigil was organized by a Facebook group called the Lightsaber Team, 'an athletic performance team that promotes a healthy alternative, concept and strategy for those in the Nerd/Geek/Dork (NGD) lifestyle,' according to their Facebook page.

Fans were encouraged but not required to bring their lightsabers to the vigil.

If it continues to rain, they will meet in the long, covered hallway at the back end of the Center, adjacent to the Center parking lot off Woodward Drive, according to the event page.

Similar vigils to honor Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher have been held across the U.S. in cities such as Los Angeles and Austin.

Her death prompted an outpouring of grief from friends, family, fans of the Hollywood legend and other celebrities.

A 21-year-old man was forced into a car by two unknown suspects in Carmel Mountain Ranch, San Diego police confirm.

The kidnapping happened in the 11000 block of World Trade Drive around 10:30 a.m. Friday.

The victim was driven around the neighborhood and the suspects demanded money of him.

He didn’t comply and was released in the 11000 block of Stoney Peak Drive.

He called police and one of the suspects was later arrested for kidnapping. The other suspect is still outstanding.

There is no suspect description at this time.

A police officer leaped into a moving car on the Long Island Expressway to save a toddler inside a dangerously slow moving vehicle when the driver would not respond to the police, authorities say. 

Suffolk County police officer Joe Goss first spotted the woman driving at about 20 mph with a toddler in the backseat on the eastbound L.I.E. in Manorville, and when she wouldn't stop, he acted quickly. 

"I roll down my window, and the motorist rolled down her window as well," Goss said Friday. "I told her to pull over, and with the window down she told me, 'I can't.'"

Goss said he suspected right away she was high on drugs. Then he saw the 22-month toddler in the back of the car.

"When I saw the baby, I gasped and literally started doing [what he learned] to maneuver what we learn in highway patrol to slow traffic down to make it safer," he said, noting the road conditions were "extremely dark." 

The driver, identifed by police as 37-year-old Maria Lagatta of Manorville, slowed down to about 5 mph, and Goss sped past her and parked on the shoulder. He then jumped into her car and through the passenger-side window. 

"I didn't Superman into the car or anything like that," he said wryly. "I'm pretty tall so I was able to lean up. All I had to do was move one of my feet up, like a pool shot move. I was able to lean in and so once I got my hand on it, her hand was on the shifter as well so we just forced it right into park." 

No one was hurt in the maneuver. Goss also said a good Samaritan driving nearby put their hazard lights on and was able to slow down traffic so that Lagatta's vehicle wouldn't get hit while he went to stop her. Goss called that driver "the unsung hero of this."  

"All your training says, don't go into a moving car, and I didn't like the idea of it, but when the window of opportunity was there, and her speed is so slow, I jumped at it," said Goss, a 10-year veteran who's been with highway patrol for two years. "I'm fortunate it worked out the way it did." 

Lagatta was arrested on charges of driving while ability impaired by drugs, aggravated DWI with a child passenger 15 years or younger and endangering the welfare of a child. She was expected to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip later Friday. 

It wasn't immediately clear if she had an attorney who could comment on the charges. 

Child Protective Services was notified, and police released her 22-month-old daughter to a relative. 

The owner of an El Cajon tax service company pleaded guilty Friday to charges associated with the preparation of false tax returns, the Department of Justice announced.

Marla Cunningham, 50, owner of Cunningham’s Tax Service, faces a maximum statutory sentence of nine years in prison after she pleaded guilty to three counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return.

Court documents show that Cunningham admitted to preparing false individual income tax returns for clients from 2008 to 2010.

Fabricated tax returns prepared by Cunningham included false charitable deductions, unreimbursed employee expenses, education credits, medical and dental expenses and business expenses. The amount of total loss caused, an amount Cunningham agreed to in court, is estimated at $1.2 million.

Her sentencing is scheduled for March 10, 2017.

A North Texas police officer is on administrative leave after shooting another officer and the man he was trying to arrest during a traffic stop Thursday night.

Weatherford police said Officer Chris Bumpas is in stable condition after undergoing surgery Thursday night. Bumpas has been on the police force for less than a year and was recently named the Weatherford Police Department's "Rookie of the Year."

At about 9:15 p.m., Bumpas stopped a driver outside the Tequila Bar and Grill on the 2100 block of Tin Top Road. After learning one of the three occupants of the vehicle was wanted, he tried to place the man under arrest.

The man, whose name has not yet been released, became combative and hit Bumpas with a metal flashlight, police said. An officer called to backup Bumpas used a stun gun to try to disable the man, but it had no effect. The backup officer then fired his weapon multiple times, striking the man.

A preliminary investigation revealed the backup officer, whose name has also not been released, accidentally shot Bumpas in the stomach, police said.

"The officer that fired his weapon has been placed on routine administrative leave, per department policy," police spokesman Jason Hayes said.

Weatherford police said Bumpas was transported to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth where he underwent surgery.

The wanted man was also hospitalized and was listed as "guarded," police said. Once he's recovered, he'll be taken to jail where he is expected to face a charge of aggravated assault on a police officer.

A man and woman riding in the wanted man's vehicle were not injured in the incident.

Detectives with the Weatherford Police Department and a member of the Texas Rangers are investigating the shooting. The Texas Rangers are expected to take the lead in the case, which police said is normal protocol for officer-involved shootings in Weatherford.

Forty organizations -- including several military and veterans groups -- will march in President-elect Donald Trump's inaugural parade.

Trump's inaugural committee announced Friday morning which groups accepted an invitation to participate on Jan. 20. 

No high school or university marching band in the D.C. area will march in the parade.

News4 reported earlier this month that no D.C. public school marching bands had applied to participate, after at least one local band played in the past five parades.

Two groups from Northern Virginia will perform: the U.S. Army's Caisson Platoon from Fort Myer and the Tragedy Assistance Marching Unit from Arlington.

The Caisson Platoon is comprised of soldiers on horseback who lead fallen service members to rest in Arlington National Cemetery.

The Tragedy Assistance Marching Unit is part of the nonprofit organization the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), which serves people grieving the death of a loved one who served in the Armed Forces.

Representing Virginia farther south, the Virginia Military Institute Corps of Cadets from Lexington will participate, as well as the caissons battalion of the JROTC at Fishburne Military School in Fishburne.

Here's the full list of groups set to participate:

1st Cavalry Division Horse Cavalry Detachment – Fort Hood, Texas
1st Infantry Commanding General’s Mounted Color – Ft. Riley, Kansas
Boone County Elite 4-H Equestrian Drill Team – Burlington, Kentucky
Caisson Platoon, Fort Myer – Fort Myer, Virginia
Cleveland Police Mounted Unit – Cleveland, Ohio
Coastal Florida Police & Fire Pipes & Drums – Palm Coast, Florida
Columbus North High School Band – Columbus, Indiana
Culver Academy Equestrian – Culver, Indiana
First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Fishburne Military School Army JROTC Caissons Battalion - Fishburne, Virginia
Frankfort High School Band – Ridgeley, West Virginia
Franklin Regional High School Panther Marching Band – Murrysville, Pennsylvania
Indianapolis Metro Police Motorcycle Drill Team – Indianapolis, Indiana
Kids Overseas – Richmond Hill, Georgia
Lil Wranglers – College Station, Texas
Marist College Band – Poughkeepsie, New York
Merced County Sheriff’s Posse – Hilmar, California
Michigan Multi-Jurisdictional Mounted Police Drill Team & Color Guard – Ann Arbor, Michigan
Mid America Cowgirls Rodeo Drill Team – New Buffalo, Michigan
Nassau County Firefighters Pipes & Drums – East Meadow, New York
North Carolina Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association – Hillsborough, North Carolina
NYPD Emerald Society Pipes & Drums – East Moriches, New York
Olivet Nazarene University – Bourbonnais, Illinois
Palmetto Ridge High School Band – Naples, Florida
Russellville High School Band – Russellville, Arkansas
Talladega College Band – Talladega, Alabama
Texas State University Strutters – San Marcos, Texas
The Citadel Regimental Band & Pipes and Summerall Guards – Charleston, South Carolina
The Freedom Riders – Kersey, Colorado
Tragedy Assistance Marching Unit – Arlington, Virginia
Tupelo High School Band – Tupelo, Mississippi
University of Tennessee Marching Band – Knoxville, Tennessee
VMI Corps of Cadets – Lexington, Virginia
West Monroe High School Marching Band – West Monroe, Louisiana

American Veterans - national
Boy Scouts of America - national
US Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations - national
Disabled American Veterans - national
US Border Patrol Pipes & Drums – national
Wounded Warriors - national

Also, each branch of the U.S. military will be represented. Additional participants may be announced later.

Inaugural committee CEO Sara Armstrong said in a statement that people across the United States wanted to participate.

“People from every corner of the country have expressed great interest in President-elect Trump’s inauguration and look forward to continuing a salute to our republic that spans more than two centuries,” she said in a statement.

Trump's inaugural parade will be shorter than previous inaugural parades, inaugural committee spokesman Alex Stroman is quoted as saying in a post published Thursday on Breitbart.com

"... He’s going to have a shortened parade, and he’s going to go into the White House and get some work done before he goes to the [inaugural] balls," Stroman reportedly said.

Two vehicles rolled over after colliding on State Route 94 briefly blocking lanes, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) said.

A Honda Odyssey and a Suzuki SUV traveling westbound on SR-94 near College Avenue collided just before 5 p.m., sending both vehicles into a roll and back onto their wheels.

One person was injured with a laceration to their forehead, according to CHP.

CHP confirmed that lanes were reopening at around 5:20 p.m. after one of the rolled vehicles was stuck in the slow lane.

For four years, Antwan Williams has been hustling inside the walls of San Quentin State Prions — hustling for stories.

The current inmate at San Quentin State Prison is now an award-winning co-producer of a podcast called "Ear Hustle," which focuses on the life of inmates and surrounding issues.

"Our goal is to show what life really is like within prison and it's not to highlight or to diminish the crimes we have committed, but it is just to show what life is really like within here," Williams said. 

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The podcast is produced by Williams, another inmate, Earlonne Woods, and a volunteer at the prison, Nigel Poor. It is scheduled to air in May of 2017.

The idea gained attention as it moved up in RadioTopia's "Podquest" competition seeking out creative ideas from independant producers. 

Williams said he wants the podcast to cut through the media's narrative on what prison life is about and tell it from inside the prison walls.

"It's us speaking for ourselves. It's us having a chance to highlight our lives, show our faults, our mistakes and hopefully find some redemption in the things that we're doing," Williams said.

With stories from pets in prison to solitary confinement, William says there is a lot of perspectives to share.

The podcast is now situated in a growing media hub at the state prison.

Starting with the revival of the San Quentin News, an inmate-run newspaper nearly a decade ago, the news program has expanded to video and radio storytelling.

"A lot of people on the streets don’t really realize how important information is and understand the value of it, but we do," said Nelson Theodo Butler, a former reporter on the newspaper.

The San Quentin News is distributed to all of the prisons in California and accepts content from inmates at other locations. It has expanded to include a journalist guild offering classes and opportunities to write for the newspaper or create videos for other programs such as the financial literacy classes.

Rercent stories range from a Prison Yoga Project in Sweden to daily looks at life inside San Quentin.

Rahsaan Thomas, a reporter who covered theatre performances in October, is at the newsroom whenever he can be. He said writing for the paper gives him an outlet and sense of freedom. 

"You guys don’t realize how important that newspaper is to us and how important it is to have that kind of newspaper,” Butler said. "I know people on the streets don’t even buy the newspaper, but guys in here, we take that paper and read it and are like, "Wow! This is really goin’ on."

NBC Bay Area's Michael Bott contributed to this report.

Four Russian Consulate employees in San Francisco — including a chef accused of being a spy — are among the 35 Russian diplomats ordered to leave the United States within 72 hours by President Barack Obama, the Russian Consul General to San Francisco announced Friday.

Sergey Petrov didn't want to divulge too many details about the ouster at an impromptu and suprise news conference at the embassy on Green Street in Pacific Heights. But he did let reporters in on a "small secret" about one of the the employees told to go back home to the "motherland."

"One of the employees who will be leaving is the chef, who was characterized by the outgoing U.S. Administration as intelligence operative,” Petrov said. He added somberly: “On New Year’s Eve, Dec 31, we will have to cook ourselves … We will not be able to treat our guests to authentic Russian food, his hors d'oeuvres.” Moments later, the Russian Consulate posted a photo of their New Year's spread for the party, including deviled eggs and perogies

Petrov would not name the chef, nor would the State Department. NBC News said the names of the diplomats are not being given out, because they don't want Russia to do the same for American operatives. In their Facebook post, the Consul General said Russia doesn't know why this happened, and called Obama's accusations against their staff "bizarre and ridiculous."

The meeting was a stark contrast to how reporters were greeted by the consulate on Thursday, the day U.S.-Russian foreign relations suffered a major blow after Obama issued sweeping sanctions against Russia in response to election hacking. During that interaction, a voice boomed from an intercom: "Leave this territory." No one would come out to speak to reporters flanking the sidewalk, hoping to learn more about this surprising and mysterious announcement from the White House. Petrov's PR shift was in line with the overall Russian strategy following Obama's serious tone.

The official Twitter feed for Russia on Friday tweeted out New Year's greetings to Obama, President-elect Donald Trump and the American people, inviting "all children of the U.S. diplomats accredited in Russia to the New Year and Christmas children's show at the Kremlin!"

A total of eleven people are leaving the Russian Consulate in San Francisco "within hours," which includes the four employees and their families, including three children, Petrov said.

"The three kids will not see Santa, or gifts under the Firtree (in Russia it happens on the New Year eve)," the Consul General said on its Facebook page. "They only have one day to finalize their financial affairs, terminate their apartment leases, pack their belongings, as well as to prepare for the long trip, first to Los Angeles by car and then by plane to Moscow — no tickets left for shorter and more comfortable itineraries."

"It's just not human," Petrov told reporters, adding he was hopeful the Trump administration would be able to retore relations between the two countries.

The consulate said the chef hailed from the historic city of Yaroslavl "whose mastery was enjoyed by hundreds of our guests at the consulate for three years." The chef will be leaving with his wife and two-year old son.

Petrov acknowledged the loss of consul officers would prevent the consulate from being as efficient as they want to be. But he said the doors would remain open for "business as usual" for both American and Russian citizens.

“A limited number of people will not allow all the consular services to all the citizens in the manner we want to do it — but we will do our best to serve all the Russian people living here,” Petrov said.

An estimated 100,000 Russians live on the West Coast, Petrov said.

Petrov also made a plea to reporters to respect the privacy of the employees being expelled. “Many of them don’t even speak English, many speak limited English,” he said, explaining that it was one of the reasons for not responding to the media outside the consulate Thursday.

The impromptu news conference was perhaps unprecedented, and even Petrov admitted that the consulate usually doesn't comment on things like sanctions. "Today we decided to make an exception as we're trying to change many things in our relations with U.S," he said. "It's my president who inspired me to do that."

"Is this the first time the media has been in here?" one of the reporters asked Petrov.

"Maybe you're the first time here,we invite the media to all our events." Petrov replied smiling. But he didn't answer the question directly, and then made a general invitation to the media to attend the consulate's New Year's Eve party.

"As we are nearing the New Year’s, I would invite you to have a glass of champagne," he told reporters. "How about that?"

A Vermont utility discovered malware tied to Russian hackers in its system, it confirmed in a statement Friday night following a report by the Washington Post.

Sources told the newspaper they believed the hackers had gained access to the United States' electrical grid via an unnamed unnamed utility in Vermont. Burlington Electric later issued a statement confirming it was working with the U.S. government.

"Last night, U.S. utilities were alerted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of a malware code used in Grizzly Steppe, the name DHS has applied to a Russian campaign linked to recent hacks," the utility said in a statement. "We acted quickly to scan all computers in our system for the malware signature. We detected the malware in a single Burlington Electric Department laptop not connected to our organization’s grid systems. We took immediate action to isolate the laptop and alerted federal officials of this finding."

Burlington Electric says it is working with federal authorities to investigate how its system was penetrated and prevent future infiltration attempts.

The utility also says it notified state officials.

The code was not actively used to disrupt the utility's operations, officials told the Washington Post. Those sources note that the hackers' intentions are unclear, adding that it could have been a test to see if a portion of the grid could be penetrated.

U.S. security officials believe Russia hacked the U.S. to influence the presidential election. The Obama administration has imposed sanctions against Russia, a move condemned by President-elect Donald Trump, but praised by several prominent Republicans.

Ten new surveillance cameras have been set up at major intersections throughout Encinitas to help with traffic flow and improve public safety.

The new cameras, part of a fiber optic infrastructure project that was approved back in 2012, have been set up at busy intersections along El Camino Real, Encinitas Boulevard, Luecadia Boulevard, Coast Highway 101 and Vulcan Avenue.

The Coast News Group says that the new cameras will tie into a network of seven existing street cameras that relays data back to the city’s traffic operations center.

There, a traffic engineering specialists will scan a wall of video monitors, checking the feeds and traffic conditions. At the touch of a button, the engineers will be able to change street lights to help with traffic flow and alert police and first responders when there are accidents and emergencies.

Kirk Bell owns Detour, a hair salon on the corner of E Street and Coast Highway 101, and he says that traffic is a major problem along the highway.

”I’ve seen [Encinitas] go from a small beach town to a very populated, very busy downtown community,” said Bell. “We do hear and see a lot of accidents, serious accidents.”

Bell said he’s seen cyclist physically strike vehicles on the road out of frustration, so, understandably, he thinks the cameras are a good idea.

“It’s the world we live in...It’s 2016.”

The city hopes to have the cameras fully operational by the end of January.

A portion of Knott's Berry Farm was being shut down to help rescue riders stuck on a ride for hours Friday.

Riders on Knott's Berry Farm's Sky Cabin said the ride was stuck 120 feet in the air Friday as fire officials tried to work out rescue options.

The ride was reported stuck at 5 p.m. at night to the Orange County Fire Authority, but riders told NBC4 they had been there for at least four hours.

A Knott's Berry Farm spokesman confirmed the ride broke down at 2 p.m.

One rider said the situation was getting dire as many people needed to use the facilities and had nowhere to go.

The Sky Cabin is a space needle looking ride that brings people up and down. 

An employee was also aboard, the rider said, and was communicating to other via walkie talkie. The employee said a main brake was activated and cannot be released. 

A portion of the park was to be shut down so fire officials could aid in the rescue, the rider said. 

The rider said it was the first his out-of-town family went on at the park. 

The first of an estimated 17 riders, a child, was fitted with a harness and lowered to safety at around 7 p.m. 

A call could be heard made by park officials to have 10 cotton candies ready for children once they were lowered to the ground. 

By 7:45 p.m., the third child had been rescued. 

Refresh for updates. 

A pedestrian struck by a vehicle in Chula Vista Friday night has been taken to the hospital and is in critical condition, according to the Chula Vista Police Department (CVPD).

Police say the pedestrian was hit at around 5:20 p.m. by a car traveling southbound in the 300 block of F Street.

The victim was taken to UCSD Hospital where they are being treated for critical internal injuries, CVPD said.

The driver was uninjured and was not under the influence of alcohol at the time of the collision, according to CVPD.

No other information was immediately available.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story.

A dessert shop in Oceanside held a fundraising sale to help with funeral expenses for Melissa Contreras, an Oceanside mother of three, who prosecutors say was strangled to death by her ex-boyfriend.

DisFruta is donating a sizable percentage of its sale proceeds to Melissa Contreras’ family. It’s the first of several fundraisers in the works.

Friends and family of Melissa Contreras packed the parlor on Friday night, keeping brave faces while their heartbreak heals

They’re hoping to raise as much money as they can for the future of Contreras’ three children, who, with their mother dead and father facing a possible life sentence, are left to be raised by their grandparents.

Prosecutors say her two year old son was in the car where police say Melissa was strangled to death.

“I just hope when he grows up he won't remember this,” Contreras’ cousin Jessica Contreras said.

Investigators say her boyfriend Uriel Leon, killed Melissa Monday when she returned to his parents’ house to pick up the couple's two boys.

"It’s going to be really hard for them to grow up knowing that their mom is not there for them anymore. The same with their dad. I don't know when they grow up how they are going to take this,” Jessica Contreras said.

The tragedy has drawn the sympathies and support of lifelong friends. Carolina Aquino was enrolled in the Ocean Shores High School teen pregnancy program with Contreras.

“It was a toxic relationship, between them two. They would fight a lot. They would argue a lot but in the end they were together” Aquino said.

Magna Ruiz was in the class behind Contreras. Her parents own and operate DisFruta. It was her idea to donate 20 percent of the night’s proceeds to help Melissa’s family with funeral expenses.

"I hope from this point on they get help from everyone. From family, from everyone,” Ruiz said.

Fundraisers mourn the loss, condemn the killing while still keeping the focus on the futures of three small children hanging in the balance.

DisFruta is planning another fundraiser here Sunday, and working on getting a city permit for a day to wash cars here in the parking lot to raise more money.

As retaliation for alleged Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election, President Obama shuttered Russian diplomatic facilities in Maryland and New York.

In response, Russia’s United Nations ambassador accused Obama of “going after our kids,” as NBC News reports.

The facilities are actually mansions on sprawling estates, and the Russian diplomatic corps has long used them as retreats for their families.

But, U.S. intelligence says that the mansions doubled as surveillance outposts for Russian spies. Officials believe that, as far back as the Reagan administration, the then-Soviet Union was using both compounds to steal communications from the U.S. government and defense contractors.