Los Angeles Councilman Eric Garcetti defeated City Controller Wendy Greuel in a mayoral election that set spending records and saw both candidates rack up high-profile endorsements on the way to Tuesday's runoff.

With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, Garcetti garnered 54 percent of the vote and Greuel 46 percent.

"Thank you Los Angeles--the hard work begins but I am honored to lead this city for the next four years. Let's make this a great city again," Garcetti, 42, wrote on Twitter early Wednesday.

Decision 2013: Election Results | Full Coverage

Garcetti becomes the first Jewish candidate to be elected to the mayor's office. In 1878, Bernard Cohn was a member of the city's council when he was appointed acting mayor to fill a vacancy. He served for less than one month.

Garcetti will inherit a city still struggling to pull itself from an extended fiscal slump.

The contest to succeed outgoing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who leaves office at the end of June with high marks from his constituents, broke spending records as outside contributions topped $33 million.

Greuel would have become the city's first female mayor, if elected. She called Garcetti early Wednesday to concede, The Los Angeles Times reported, citing a Greuel campaign source.

In their sprint to the finish line after two years of campaigning, both Democratic contenders with similar voting records tried to differentiate themselves from each other in down-to-the-wire pitches to undecided voters.

Greuel had racked up endorsements from the L.A. Chamber of Commerce, the Daily News and high profile figures including former President Bill Clinton, Magic Johnson, and U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer.

Garcetti had the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, the L.A. Times and Newark Mayor Cory Booker in his corner. The fluent Spanish-speaker had talked during the campaign about his paternal grandparents' emigration from Mexico.

Although the race was too close to call Tuesday night, Garcetti was optimistic as he addressed his supporters.

"If this (lead) holds, and it looks like it will, on July 1, we will assume the responsibility of creating jobs, of balancing the budget, of keeping the streets safe, and of improving the quality of life for all Angelenos," he said.

Refresh this page for updates and watch Today in LA for the very latest on the election results.

The family of a 32-year-old woman shot and killed by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent in Chula Vista has filed a wrongful death suit.

Valeria Alvarado was shot 9 times in September 2012.

The Chula Vista police department said Alvarado was inside a home on Moss Street when a group of agents came to the door to arrest a prior deported felon.

Police said she left the apartment and tried to drive away, which is border protection agent Justin Thackett was struck by her car.

According to a report released by the Medical Examiner’s office, Alvarado hit Thackett with her car and then tried to drive away with him clinging to the hood, after she allegedly disobeyed a police order and tried to flee from an enforcement operation.

The Medical Examiner’s report said Thackett held onto the car, drew his Smith and Wesson pistol, and fired the 10 shots into the vehicle.

The report also stated Alvarado had a methamphetamine level of .10 in her blood.

An NBC 7 Investigation found that Thackett has a history of job misconduct including allegations he failed to follow proper procedures of arrest as an Imperial County sheriff’s deputy.

The family filed the lawsuit today, and the family’s lawyer Eugene Iredale said the position of the agent on the car brings up questions.

“One could infer that he would have needed medical assistance. That there would have been some injury,” Iredale said. “That a car, even though this was a little car but little cars weigh 2,000-3,000 pounds he would have required immediate medical assistance, he was fine.”

Alvarado’s family protested the alleged brutality earlier this year. She is survived by her five children.

San Diego Fire-Rescue teams spent the morning Tuesday packing, ready to jump into action if needed by Oklahoma tornado victims

NBC 7: Devastation in Oklahoma

San Diego Search and Rescue Task Force 8 (TF8) members organized 14 aircraft-sized pallets with search and rescue equipment, medical equipment, and logistics to support an 80-person team in a disaster area.

The pallets are netted in a configuration so they can be delivered by air or ground.

“We are first up in the national rotation so if they have an extended incident or they have another incident, we are up to be called for any type of extended operation,” said Battalion Chief Chris Webber.

Once the team lands it’s a full-time, non-stop search and rescue effort.

“When you’re deployed to that, you have a mission, a job to do,” Webber said. “You focus on that.“

The hurry-up and go part of the job keeps their minds occupied.

“So you don’t get too wrapped up in the emotional part of it,” he explained.

The American Red Cross was preparing to move more than 25 Emergency Response Vehicles to Moore, Oklahoma at first light Tuesday.

Members of the San Diego’s chapter of the American Red Cross say they believe it’s likely they will send an ERV to help in rescue and recover efforts at the scene of Monday’s devastating tornado.

One San Diegan will head to Washington, D.C., to help with coordinating relief efforts Red Cross officials said.

As officials get a better idea of the damage caused by Monday’s powerful tornado, they may request more help.

“Over the course of the next 24 to 36 hours, we’ll be deploying people,” said Red Cross public information officer Amy Laurel Hegy. “Just begin to do what we can. Watch Video

Hegy was in Joplin for three weeks as one of 130,000 volunteers following a deadly tornado two years ago today. She described what she imagined the atmosphere is like on the ground in Moore, Okla.

“Right now it’s chaos personified,” she said. “A large number of people are coming in to assist wherever they can.”

“The mood there is going to begin to shift dramatically. Right now everyone has adrenaline going and they don’t really know which way they’re going. Things are going to be settling down where people will begin to really come into the shelters,” she said.

Texting 90999 from your mobile phone will send a $10 donation to the American Red Cross.

A boy who lost his leg after colliding with a city trash truck has reached a tentative multi-million dollar settlement with the City of San Diego according to an attorney.

Luke Acuna was riding his skateboard from school to a YMCA in University Heights on Nov. 17, 2011 when he was struck by a San Diego city garbage truck.

The 9-year-old Acuna lost his leg as a result of the crash.

The driver was not cited by San Diego police however the family filed a civil suit against the city in April 2012 arguing the driver made a dangerous K-turn instead of a U-turn. In a “K-Turn," the driver makes a left turn and then reverses back through the intersection before changing direction.

A spokesperson for the City Attorney’s Office said the case is being handled by Grant, Genovese & Baratta outside counsel.

Attorney Jim Baratta told NBC 7 San Diego Tuesday that both sides have reached a tentative agreement for $18.5 million.

The settlement still has to be heard & approved by the San Diego City Council and the San Diego Superior Court.

Ed. Note: A previous version of the article identiifed Jim Baratta as the Acuna family's attorney. We regret the error.

The devastation in Oklahoma hit close to home for a San Diego blogger whose sister and niece lost their home.

North Park blogger Sean Sala is a nationally-recognized gay rights activist.

He's turning that advocate energy in the direction of another cause close to his heart, his family.

Sala found out about Monday’s destructive tornado in Moore, Okla. the same way most of us did, by watching the news coverage.

His sister and niece live in the area and escaped with their lives but little else.

“She's a single mother she's raising a daughter so she needs help,” Sala said.

Heather Sala and her teenage daughter MacKenzie weren't at home at the time the tornado crashed through their neighborhood.

Now they have no home.

“Her house was destroyed – totally. Her roof was off. Her dog was pinned up against the wall in a crate,” Sala said.

Sala's brother said Heather saw what was left just Tuesday.

While she is a strong person, there was this very sad moment on the phone after he asked what she needed.

“She said clothes and then she sat there and said ‘Well, I don't have a house to send anything to,’” Sala said.

“I could tell that it's hit her but not really hit her,” Sala said.

Sala is asking his followers to donate. If not to his sister, he wants others to donate to the Red Cross. He’ll accept relief donations on his sister’s behalf over the next two weeks.

“I had one person give $10 and they said ‘I am sorry I can't give that much,’” Sala said.

Heather and her daughter are staying with nearby relatives for now.

Sean's sister in Dallas is collecting household items and clothes to deliver personally.

A bear is wandering through a residential area Wednesday morning north of Los Angeles with officers in squad cars and a helicopter on its tail.

The bear has been climbing fences and roaming through residences' back yards in Sun Valley (map), about 20 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.

The black bear surprised two horses as it emerged from one backyard, then walked through another corral with three horses a few blocks away. The bear scaled a fence around the second corral and walked along the top of it until leaping back to the ground and trotting under a tree.

Police in squad cars were following the bear, which was first spotted along Clybourn Avenue at about 6:30 a.m. Officers appear to have the bear cornered under trees along Wentworth Street.

The bear appeared to have a tracking tag on its ear, indicating that wildlife officials might have come into contact with the bear.

Refresh this page for updates.

A Temecula woman is asking for the public’s help to find her stolen pet cockatoo, Soloman.

Katie Aldrich told NBC 7 that Soloman was stolen Monday at the Haunted Head Saloon in Oceanside. Aldrich says she was sitting outside the bar with Soloman on her lap when a man approached her and started asking questions about the bird.

Aldrich said the man suddenly grabbed Soloman and jumped into a red Ford F-150 truck. Aldrich’s husband, a Camp Pendleton Marine, tried to stop the truck, but couldn’t.

Aldrich said she's devastated about her missing bird. She said cockatoos can live to be 75 years old.

“I can’t have kids. He was the one thing I was going to have my entire life,” Aldrich said. “I feel like my whole heart is gone.”

She's hoping surveillance video at the bar will help identify a suspect.

Oceanside Police confirmed a report has been filed for the missing bird.

Soloman has salmon-colored feathers. Aldrich said he has scoliosis and has a golf ball-sized bump on his back.

Anyone with information is asked to call Oceanside Police.

An 18-year-old man whose car fatally crashed into another driver last week on state Route 56 had been arrested on the day of the collision, California Highway Patrol investigators said Tuesday.

Timothy Barnette (pictured below) was driving a Land Rover was traveling eastbound on SR-56 at an unknown speed when he drifted through the center media and struck a Scion in the farthest right-hand lane.

The driver of the Scion, 22-year-old Nick Hart, died as a result of his injuries from the crash.

CHP officials said Barnette was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs. He was then released to the hospital for care because he suffered major injuries.

The CHP would not say what kind of drugs Barnette was allegedly using.

Investigators are also looking into manslaughter charges as recommendation to the district attorney’s office. They are waiting for toxicology results and talking to more witnesses as they try to comprehend Barnette’s actions leading up to crash.

One of the county's best school districts, San Marcos Unified, is building more schools to make room for thousands of new students. But parents in one neighborhood aren't happy with the district's proposed plans.

The district posted its plans to redraw attendance areas on its Web site. Under the latest version, some students in San Elijo Hills would be sent to a new K-8 school outside their neighborhood. 

So some parents are taking action. In the past two days, they have organized meetings, started a petition, designed posters and created a Facebook page.

"We care about our kids. We care about each others' kids. We care about our community," said parent Hailey Adams.

Adams and other parents say these plans to realign school boundaries will destroy the strong sense of community that brought them to San Elijo in the first place.

"You know, that New England feel that I grew up with in a small town back east. Didn't think we'd find that in San Diego, but we did," said parent Suzanne Beyerlein.

"A lot of us have passed up job offers and other opportunities to be able to keep our kids at these same three schools,"  said parent Alpana Patel.

The realignment would bring students from other areas to existing schools in San Elijo, which parents say would cause even more problems.

"You can imagine that's even a traffic nightmare. People will be coming into our community as we're driving out," Adams said.

SMUSD Assistant Superintendent Brad Lichtman said representatives from all 16 schools in the district helped draw the new boundaries.

"No child is going to be left behind, to use that term. They're all going to get a wonderful education," Lichtman said.

Lichtman adds some parents are always upset with the results.

"But usually after a year or two, you know, people become satisfied," he said.

It seems the parents' actions have made an impact. The district has scheduled another meeting for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at San Elijo Middle School. School board members will have the final say on any change in district boundaries.

A man wanted on a felony warrant decided to hide from police on a roof.

Just after midnight Wednesday, officers responded to the 7800-block of La Mesa Boulevard for what was reported as street fighting.

Officers say the group was videotaping the fight.

“A fight club if you will,” said La Mesa Sgt. Jim Huggins.

One of those involved was David Prost, a transient who was wanted on an unrelated felony.

He ran from police and was found up on the roof of a home several blocks away on Culowee Street.

Firefighters loaned their ladder to police and Prost was coaxed down and then taken into custody on the warrant.

San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, San Diego State University police and El Cajon Police Department’s K-9 also responded.

 

A canyon fire prompted the evacuation of a high school in City Heights Wednesday.

Firefighters were called to University Avenue and 54th Street just before 2 p.m.

The grass and brush were scorched in the canyon directly behind Crawford High School. The school was evacuated, officials told NBC 7 San Diego, however the majority of the students had already been sent home for early dismissal.

The fire burned up the canyon right to the edge of the school's baseball/softball field and spread to 2.5 acres.

Firefighters were battling the flames with water drops from a San Diego Fire-Rescue helicopter along with a water engine. 

Promise Hospital of San Diego on University Avenue was not evacuated.

A 13-year-old boy is being questioned by authorities in connection with the fire.

Check back for updates on this developing story. 

The Chicago School Board voted Wednesday to shutter 49 elementary schools and one high school in the nation's third-largest school system despite demonstrations and community outrage over the closings. 

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools officials said the move is necessary to improve education and get the school district on better financial footing.

"The only consideration for us today is to do exactly what is right for the children,'' schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett said before the board's vote.

But Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis called the closings a "cowboy mentality" and said education "has been hijacked." She said Wednesday was a "day of mourning" for many schoolchildren who will be forced to cross gang boundaries in order to get to their new classrooms.

"Mayoral control is out of control," Lewis told reporters. She pledged a voter registration drive in an attempt to register 200,000 new voters before the 2015 municipal elections -- when Emanuel will be up for re-election -- and to raise funds to support candidates for mayor, city council and statewide office.

"We know that we may not win every seat we intend to target but with research, polling, money and people power we can win some of them,'' she said.

Emanuel noted there may be political consequences for the closures but paid them no mind, saying that taking no action would mean far greater consequences for students.

"I know this is incredibly difficult, but I firmly believe the most important thing we can do as a city is provide the next generation with a brighter future," he said in a written statement after the board's action. "More hard work lies ahead, but I am confident that together with teachers and principals, engaged parents and community support, our children will succeed."

Four schools escaped the closure list that was released in March. Chicago Board of Education vice president Jesse Ruiz confirmed to NBC Chicago hours before the vote that Byrd-Bennett had  withdrawn her recommendation to close George Manierre Elementary School, Marcus Garvey Elementary School, Mahalia Jackson Elementary School and Leif Ericson Elementary Scholastic Academy.

• Four Chicago Schools Spared from Closure List

The Chicago Teachers Union has said a single school closure is one too many and 50 or more would be catastrophic for the district, but teachers admitted the late move was a step in the right direction.

"It's a great start. We have 50 more to go," Chicago Teachers Union member Kristine Mayle said earlier Wednesday. 

"There's an old expression," CTU Vice President Jesse Shakey said. "Don't put a knife in my back six inches, pull it out a couple and say you're doing a favor."

• CPS to Shutter 54 Schools in Closure Plan
• Teachers, Supporters Rally in Opposition of School Closures
• Schools CEO: Delaying Closures Would be "Criminal"
• Lewis: School Closures Plan Racist, Classist and Unnecessary
• Commission Chief Defends Recommendation to Close Schools
• Mayor Not Concerned About Political Fallout from CPS Closures

Other union members left for Springfield Wednesday morning to press lawmakers to pass legislation that would put a moratorium on school closings, and in Chicago, there was optimism that more schools could be saved.

"We saw at the last board meeting that there actually was some dissension for the first time," Mayle said. "We'd never seen that before in all these years we've been doing this. Hopefully when they actually got out to these schools they saw what was actually happening in these neighborhoods."

Chicago is among several major U.S. cities, including Philadelphia, Washington and Detroit to use mass school closures to reduce costs and offset declining enrollment. Detroit has closed more than 130 schools since 2005, including more than 40 in 2010 alone.

The school closings are the second major issue pitting Emanuel against the Chicago Teachers Union. The group's 26,000 members went on strike early in the school year, partly over the school district's demand for longer school days, idling students for a week.

More than 300 of the district's 681 schools were initially eyed for closure. That number was dwindled to 129 schools in February when Byrd-Bennett announced more specific criteria as to which schools might be affected to deal with what she called a "utilization crisis."

She's maintained the district has about 100,000 more seats than students at a time the district is facing a $1 billion deficit. Each closed school, she's said, would ultimately save the district between $500,000 and $800,000, saving the district $560 million over 10 years in capital costs and an additional $43 million per year in operating costs.

CTU officials have openly questioned those figures.

 
The Associated Press' Sara Burnett contributed to this report.

Drivers in Poway will be monitored by new devices designed to catch red-light runners.

Deputies have installed five detection devices, or sensors, at several busy intersections around the North County community.

It’s important to note the devices are not cameras that capture images of red-light runners.

Instead, the sensor will display a blue light signaling to a deputy stationed nearby when a driver has failed to stop in time.

The sensors are located at the top, bottom or rear of the traffic signal officials said. There are no signs that alerts drivers there are sensors at any particular intersections.

Poway was one of the first cities in San Diego County to install red-light cameras in 2005 but covered them up a couple months ago. The move was described as temporary to see if pulling the plug makes any difference.

Critics said the cameras reduced the number of T-bone collisions at intersections monitored by red light cameras.

A city report showed in the seven years the cameras have operated, broadside accidents were cut in half though rear-end accidents have increased by 8 percent.

Poway City Councilmember Steve Vaus said research suggests the same results can be achieved without violating civil liberties.

El Cajon put a temporary hold on its cameras as well.

The system has been used before, according to Poway Traffic Sgt. David Cheever. He said Encinitas has used the sensors in the past and Santee currently utilizes a few of them. The sensors cost the city $100.

Cheever also said the same number of deputies will be in Poway, but will be stationed at these intersections more frequently during the morning and evening commute.

In February, San Diego decided not to renew its contract for red-light cameras at 15 intersections.

Instead, San Diego police will patrol those intersections and cite red-light runners.

The intersections where the sensors have been installed are:

• Poway Road and Pomerado Road
• Poway Road and Community Road
• Scripps Poway Parkway and Pomerado Road

Plans for a downtown "Arts and Entertainment District" north of Broadway drew fire at City Hall during a council committee hearing Wednesday.

Critics warned it could create a garish ‘Times Square West’.

The concept’s backers insist it would be a low-keyed, far cry from the schlocky commercialism of New York's Times Square -- a money-maker needing no taxpayer dollars.

But opponents doubt what they see as a devil in the details can be exorcised.

"The city has made findings that billboards are a traffic hazard and an aesthetic harm,” says attorney Pamela Lawton Wilson, director of the civic preservation group Scenic San Diego. “So how can the city justify its sign ordinance everywhere else in the city, and yet somehow say ‘Here it's okay to have a traffic hazard and ugly signs’?"

Promoters of the arts and entertainment district are seeking a relaxation of restrictions in the city's sign ordinance to allow big-screen, LED displays and other commercial presentations along 65 blocks in downtown’s so-called “Core Area”, north of Broadway

"This area is definitely blighted; there's a homeless population,” says Janelle Riella, spokeswoman for the Downtown San Diego Partnership, which would be the proposed district’s nonprofit operator and disburse a share of proceeds to homeless causes.

“There's not a lot of people walking the streets … they don't activate the area, use the restaurants or shop at the retailers,” Riella explained in an interview Wednesday with NBC 7. “That's what we're trying to increase. Gaslamp was the same way several decades ago, and this is what we want to create for the area."

As an example of urban re-vitalization, district backers point to Denver's four-year-old Theater District, where they say retailers and restaurateurs have seen increased patronage.

"Ideally, it builds up the tax base,” says David Ehrlich, executor director of the Denver Theater District, who’s advancing the proposal along with San Diego public relations consultant Jeff Marston. “What we're looking at is a true public-private partnership where private entities -- media companies -- are taking on the expense, but they're sharing the revenue for the opportunity to participate."

But Scenic San Diego and other civic preservationists here in San Diego fear it'll bring excessive visual blight, undermine the sign ordinance in other areas, and not deliver economic benefits 'as advertised'.

"Their own sign plan identifies at least 78 locations for these signs -- some 14 stories tall, entire city blocks,” Wilson noted in an NBC 7 interview Wednesday. “How does putting up advertising create economic activity except for outdoor advertisers and the property owners that have signs on them? To me, it's like saying if you add more commercials, more people will watch TV."

After hearing presentations and public testimony for nearly two hours Wednesday afternoon, the City Council's Land Use & Housing Committee members had more questions and concerns than the district's proponents had answers.

They recommended that the plans be run past the city attorney's office and community groups, refined, and brought back later.

Says Marston, who plans a more extensive campaign of community outreach and education: “What we’re hearing in the push-back is a lot of misinformation. And we clear that up and people go, ‘Oh’. And that’s going to be our goal in the coming months.”

The Miami Heat opened the Eastern Conference Finals with a dramatic overtime win, securing victory at the buzzer in overtime on a LeBron James layup.

With 2.2 seconds to go, James took an inbounds pass from Shane Battier and made a beeline for the rim to hit the final shot, making it a 103-102 win over the Indiana Pacers.

James notched his ninth career playoff triple double with 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.

PHOTOS: Heat Top Pacers in Game 1

"Two teams fought hard," James said. "We were able to make one more play."

Dwyane Wade scored 19 points, Chrish Bosh had 17 points, and Chris "Birdman" Andersen scored 16 points off the bench.

Seconds after Ray Allen missed one of two free throws that could have iced the game, Paul George forced overtime when he hit a 3-pointer from 32 feet with under a second to go in the fourth quarter.

He also appeared to give the Pacers a win in overtime when he drew a questionable foul call on Dwayne Wade while throwing up a desperation 3-pointer. He hit all three free throws to give the Pacers a one-point lead, but the reigning MVP made sure it would not last.

George scored 27 points, David West scored 26, and Roy Hibbert had 19 with 9 rebounds for Indiana.

Complete Miami Heat Coverage

Quizzically, Pacers coach Frank Vogel benched Hibbert on defense in the final two Heat possessions, likely fearing he would not be able to defend an outside shot from Chris Bosh. In both possessions, James drove to the hoop for go-ahead buckets.

"I would say we would probably have him in next time," Vogel said.

Early on it looked like the Pacers had lulled Miami into the kind of defensive slugfest that would normally favor Indiana. They led 42-37 at the half, forcing 13 Heat turnovers limiting James' and Bosh's minutes due to foul trouble.

Miami picked it up in the second half with a healthy dose of Andersen. Playing in a big lineup alongside Chris Bosh for stretches, he got multiple easy baskets at the rim by sneaking up on Hibbert on the weak side.

"Welcome to the Eastern Conference finals," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Back and forth the whole way."

The Heat were out-rebounded by Indiana 43-38, but Miami had 16 offensive rebounds, including one in the final minute of overtime when Bosh made a putback (only his second rebound of the game) and got fouled, tying the game on the ensuing free throw.

"We're excited about the win," James said. "But we have to get better going into Game 2.

 The series continues with Game 2 on Friday night in Miami.