United Airlines is facing backlash from customers after two girls wearing leggings were denied entry onto a flight because a gate agent deemed their attire improper, NBC News reported.

Shannon Watts said she was waiting to board a plane to Mexico for vacation when she overheard a female gate agent deny entry to a young girl wearing gray leggings and saying "I don't make the rules, I just enforce them."

The girl, who Watts said was about 10 or 11-years-old, had a dress in her backpack to put over leggings and was eventually allowed onto the flight. Two other female passengers who did not have a change of clothes were also denied entry, she said.

Defending the decision on Twitter, United Airlines initially cited a rule in the company's Contract of Carriage which states the company can refuse transport to "passengers who are barefoot or not properly clothed" and that it is "left to the discretion of the agents."

A 3.6 magnitude quake struck Imperial County early Sunday morning, rattling East County and Imperial County, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported.

The quake struck approximately six miles north of Ocotillo Wells at approximately 12:30 a.m. Sunday. 

The epicenter of the earthquake was near the Imperial-San Diego County line, about 42 miles northwest of El Centro, according to the USGS. The location is not far from the Salton Sea and the San Andreas fault line.

The quake was felt as far west as Santee and Pine Valley, according to the USGS, and as far as Perris, Irvine, Julian and Palm Desert. 

No other information was available.

The white supremacist accused of fatally stabbing a black man with a sword in New York City said he would have rather killed a younger — or older and more "successful" black victim.

"I'm sorry I killed that man," James Harris Jackson told the New York Daily News at the Rikers Island jail on Sunday. "It was pitch black, I picked a dark place. I didn't know he was elderly."

Jackson, 28, told the newspaper he would have killed "a young thug" or "a successful older black man with blondes ... people you see in Midtown."

Police say he confessed to randomly picking out victim Timothy Caughman on the street and stabbing him to death with a 2-foot sword.

Caughman had lived in a former motel in Manhattan for 18 years, sharing the building with tenants who were part of a temporary housing program, according to NBC New York.

Jackson has been charged with murder as a hate-crime.

Here’s a preview of what is coming in San Diego sports for the week of March 27^th-April 2^nd.

PADRES: Opening Day is almost here! The Padres wrap up Cactus League play this week against the Mariners Monday, Dodgers Tuesday, White Sox Wednesday and Rockies Thursday. Friday they head to Lake Elsinore for an exhibition against their Class-A affiliate the Storm.

GULLS: The Gulls are away from the nest this week. They’re in Tucson Friday and Saturday to face the Roadrunners.

UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO TOREROS:

-MEN’S GOLF: Monday and Tuesday at the Duck Invitational in Eugene, Oregon.

-BASEBALL: Tuesday vs. UC Riverside 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday vs. San Francisco 6 p.m. and Sunday vs. San Francisco 1 p.m.

-SOFTBALL: Wednesday vs. UC Riverside 2 p.m.

-WOMEN’S TENNIS: Thursday vs. Gonzaga 1:30 p.m. and Sunday vs. Portland 11 a.m.

-MEN’S TENNIS: Friday at Gonzaga 12 p.m.

-WOMEN’S ROWING: Saturday at the San Diego Crew Classic in Mission Bay.

-MEN’S ROWING: Saturday and Sunday at the San Diego Crew Classic in Mission Bay.

-WOMEN’S TRACK: Saturday and Sunday at the California Collegiate Invite in San Diego.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO TRITONS:

-MEN’S TENNIS: Monday at Barry in Boca Raton, Florida Wednesday at West Florida, Thursday at Valdosta both in Pensacola and Sunday vs. Hawaii Hilo 1 p.m.

-MEN’S GOLF: Monday and Tuesday at the SoCal Intercollegiate in Santee.

-SOFTBALL: Monday at Sonoma State 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., Friday vs. Montana State Billings 9 a.m. and Western Oregon 11:30 a.m. in Turlock, Saturday vs. Northwestern Nazarene 9 a.m. and Western Washington 11:30 a.m. in Turlock and Sunday vs. Concordia 9 a.m. and Simon Fraser 11:30 a.m. in Turlock.

-WOMEN’S WATER POLO: Monday at Cal State East Bay 2 p.m., Friday vs. Hartwick 6 p.m. at UCSD and Sunday vs. UC Irvine 12 p.m. also at UCSD.

-WOMEN’S TENNIS: Tuesday at Columbus State 2 p.m., Thursday at Valdosta State 11 a.m. and Friday at West Florida 6 a.m.

-MEN’S VOLLEYBALL: Thursday at Pepperdine 7 p.m. and Saturday at Stanford 6 p.m.

-MEN’S AND WOMEN’S ROWING: Saturday and Sunday at the San Diego Crew Classic in Mission Bay.

-TRACK & FIELD: Saturday at the California Collegiate Invitational at UCSD.

-BASEBALL: Saturday vs. Stanislaus State 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. and Sunday vs. Stanislaus State 12 p.m. in Turlock.

SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY AZTECS:

-MEN’S GOLF: Monday and Tuesday at the Oregon Duck Invitational.

-BASEBALL: Tuesday at USC 6 p.m., Friday vs. San Jose State 6 p.m., Saturday vs. San Jose State 2 p.m. and Sunday vs. San Jose State 1 p.m.

-MEN’S TENNIS: Wednesday vs. Stanford 1 p.m.

-WOMEN’S WATER POLO: Thursday vs. UCLA, Friday vs. UC Santa Barbara and Saturday vs. Hawaii all in Honolulu, Hawaii.

-SOFTBALL: Friday vs. San Jose State 6 p.m., Saturday vs. San Jose State 6 p.m. and Sunday vs. San Jose State 12 p.m. all at SDSU Softball Stadium.

-WOMEN’S TENNIS: Friday vs. UNLV 10 a.m.

-WOMEN’S LACROSSE: Friday vs. Brown 5 p.m.

-WOMEN’S ROWING: Saturday and Sunday at the San Diego Crew Classic in Mission Bay 7:30 a.m.

-WOMEN’S TRACK: Saturday at the California Collegiate Invitational in La Jolla.

POINT LOMA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY SEA LIONS:

-WOMEN’S TENNIS: Thursday vs. San Diego Christian 2 p.m. and Saturday at Azusa Pacific 11 a.m.

-MEN’S TENNIS: Thursday vs. San Diego Christian 4 p.m. and Saturday at Azusa Pacific 11 a.m.

-BASEBALL: Thursday and Friday vs. California Baptist 3 p.m. and Saturday vs. California Baptist 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.

-TRACK: Saturday at the California Collegiate Invitational at UCSD 11 a.m.

-MEN’S SOCCER: Saturday vs. Cal State San Marcos TBD.

A man suffered serious injuries Saturday evening when he jumped to defend his pregnant wife, who had been accosted on the sidewalk by three men, San Diego County Sheriff's (SDSO) Sergeant Jeremy Sheppard said. 

The assault happened around 6:10 p.m. on the 1000 block of Elkelton Boulevard in Spring Valley, near a bus stop and the El Kelton Shopping Center, right off State Route 125. 

Three men accosted a pregnant woman walking on the sidewalk with her husband and two-year-old child, Sheppard said. 

The husband stepped in to defend his wife, and from there, the fight escalated, Sheppard said. 

At one point during the fight, one of the men grabbed a drainage cover and used it to hit the husband over the head, Sheppard said. He suffered head trauma. 

One of the men was slashed with a sharp instrument and suffered severe injuries. 

Two of the man and the husband were taken to local hospitals. A third man was detained for further questioning, Sheppard said. 

The incident is under investigation. 

A motorcyclist died and his passenger suffered injuries after he lost control of his motorcycle during a cross-city pursuit and crashed, authorities said. 

The pursuit began at approximately 9:32 a.m. on Pinecrest and Murray Ridge Road in Mission Valley, near Interstate 8, when a man on a 2015 Yamaha motorcycle ran a red light and refused to stop for police, San Diego police said. 

Cops chased the motorcycle down Interstate 805, where he eventually exited on East Plaza Boulevard.

The driver - a 23-year-old man who has not yet been identified - lost control of his motorcycle and crashed into a wall next to the parking lot of a Firestone Auto Care, near Plaza and Euclid. The driver suffered fatal injuries. 

His passenger, a 23-year-old woman who has not been identified, suffered broken wrists, a back injury, multiple abrasions and a broken arm, police said. She is expected to survive. 

National City police asked residents to avoid the 2500 to 2700 block of East Plaza Boulevard due to a fatal crash up until the early afternoon. The street is just off Interstate 805 near Paradise Valley Hospital and a shopping complex. The area was closed for the three to four hours following the crash.

No other information was available.

A new bill might allow students at California's public universities and colleges to receive medical abortion pills at student health centers, NBC4's media partner KPCC reports.

The bill — currently in the California legislature — would require all public universities and community colleges in the state to provide the pregnancy-ending pills.

A medical abortion ends pregnancy in the early stages and requires taking two pills: mifepristone and misoprostol. The first pill stops the pregnancy from developing and the second causes bleeding that empties the uterus. Both drugs are included on the World Health Organization's Model List of Essential Medicines.

The bill introduced by Sen. Connie Leyva (D- Chino) would require the 10 University of California campuses, 23 Cal State University schools and around 70 community colleges that have student health centers to provide the pills. Leyva said increasing accessibility to the medication is an important step.

"If you have to travel off campus in order to receive this medication it’s going to be too costly, sometimes it’s too far to go, and it’s already a stressful situation," she told KPCC.

Read more at KPCC 

Dozens of California communities have experienced recent rates of childhood lead poisoning that surpass those of Flint, Michigan, blood testing data obtained by Reuters shows, NBC News reported.

The data shows how lead poisoning affects even a state known for its environmental advocacy, with high rates of childhood exposure found in a swath of the Bay Area and downtown Los Angeles. And the figures show that, despite national strides in eliminating lead-based products, hazards remain in areas far from the Rust Belt or East Coast regions filled with old housing and legacy industry.

In one Fresno zip code, 13.6 percent of blood tests on children under six years old came back high for lead. 

In all, Reuters found at least 29 Golden State neighborhoods where children had elevated lead tests at rates at least as high as in Flint.

 A San Diego County Sheriff's Homicide Detective recalls the day deputies responded to an anonymous tip reporting a mass suicide in Rancho Santa Fe. March 1997, 39 members of the cult were found in an upscale home.

Elevated sales and use tax rates will soon go into effect in two San Diego-area cities. 

The new rates, the result of voter-approved initiatives in several cities and counties, will take effect in the City of Chula Vista and the City of Del Mar come April 1, according to the State Board of Equalization.

In Chula Vista, the tax rate will go from 7.75 percent to 8.25 percent. 

In Del Mar, the rate will rise from 7.75 to 8.75 percent. 

The raise in rates will only apply within city limits. The Countywide tax rate will still apply to all cities and unincorporated areas within San Diego County. 

Wondering what the tax rate is where you are? Click here to find the rate in your area. 

Video of 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas who authorities believe was kidnapped by a former teacher was published Sunday in a new effort to help find the Tennessee girl.

The roughly one-minute video, which was posted by Wayne County Now, includes the first published recording of Elizabeth's voice since she vanished on March 13 with her former forensics teacher, Tad Cummins, 50.

"Please share this video in hopes that someone recognizes her voice," said a statement included with the video, which was provided by Elizabeth's family. "Appearances can be altered but voices are indistinguishable."

A spokesman for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which is leading the search for Elizabeth, told NBC News that it appeared that Cummins was grooming Elizabeth before the abduction.

Local leaders are heading to Mexico City to discuss several topics, including the more than 200 million gallons of sewage that spilled into the Tijuana River, contaminating Imperial Beach’s waters last month. 

Nearly 90 local government officials and business leaders will participate in the conference to strengthen ties between the U.S. and Mexico this weekend. The annual trip will be focused on trade. 

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer will meet with Tijuana’s mayor. “If we ourselves can do it together, San Diego's and Imperial Beach's mayor with Tijuana's mayor, I think that is a very good idea,” Imperial Beach resident Laura Anderson says. “They should work it out.”

Imperial Beach resident Ruben Fernandez hopes the mayors can work to make sure these spills stop happening.

“Very upset that they had to close the beach, especially coming from Tijuana,” Fernandez tells NBC 7. “Being born and raised in TJ, I feel ashamed that happened. Could’ve been prevented.”

The Department of Health lifted the most recent closure Sunday after water testing showed the area was safe for surfers and swimmers.

Since the beginning of the year Imperial Beach has been dealing with a series of closures due to raw sewage being dumped into the Tijuana River from south of the border.

Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina was unable to attend the conference due to illness.

President Donald Trump plans to debut a new office Monday to streamline and overhaul the federal government, and he intends to name his son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner as its head, the White House told NBC News Sunday night.

"All Americans, regardless of their political views, can recognize that government stagnation has hindered our ability to properly function, often creating widespread congestion and leading to cost overruns and delays," Trump said in a statement.

"I promised the American people I would produce results, and apply my 'ahead of schedule, under budget' mentality to the government," he said.

The office was announced a day before a Kushner representative confirmed he volunteered to be interviewed by a Senate inquiry into possible ties between the Trump administration and Russia.

Plans for the office, to be named the White House Office of American Innovation, were first reported Sunday by the Washington Post.

The solemn sound of Taps among the graves, bagpipers playing Amazing Grace and the American flag blowing in the distance remind loved ones of the responsibility and honor first responders carry with them on the job every day.

For 20 years, family friends and colleagues have gathered to remember former first responders.

Eight retired firefighters and 31 police officers were honored posthumously Sunday at El Camino Memorial Park cemetery in Sorrento Valley. Permanent memorials to first responders have been established at the cemetery.

The annual event pays homage to retired fire fighters, life guards and police officers who passed away over the last year.

“When you're engaged in public service it’s always good to know that you are remembered for your contributions to society and to those who made contributions to the city of San Diego and we memorialize that each year,” David Hall, President of the City of San Diego Retired Fire and Police Association, tells NBC 7. 

Hall explains the importance of the doves being released into the air during the ceremony.

“We see the releasing of the doves as basically an expression of freedom. We’ve done this for quite a few years now. It’s a part of the ritual of conducting the memorial service,” he says.

He says the memorial is important not just for those who’ve passed but helps those left behind.

“It provides an honor to their contribution to the city of San Diego,” Hall adds.

Exactly 20 years ago Sunday, 39 people died in a mass suicide in Rancho Santa Fe, California. "Heaven’s Gate" made headlines around the world.

On March 26, 1997, a 911 call came into the San Diego Command Center.

“This is regarding a mass suicide. I can give you the address,” the caller said.

Shortly after, San Diego Sheriff’s arrived to find a grisly scene: 21 men and 18 women were found dead in the residence. They were all covered in purple blankets and all wearing the same black Nike shoes. None of the bodies had any noticeable signs of trauma. Toxicology results showed the victims had drunk a lethal cocktail of phenobarbital mixed with apple sauce and vodka.

“As they went in they kept finding more bodies and more bodies,” retired San Diego County homicide detective Chuck Curtis tells NBC 7 of the officers who discovered the scene. Curtis was the first officer to the scene. “It was an astonishing thing to them that they thought, ‘Is this ever going to end?’”

Marshall Applewhite, the leader of Heaven’s Gate, made an ominous video at the time. “They’re about to leave and they’re excited to leave," he said of his followers. Applewhite was found among the dead. 

Heaven’s Gate preached that suicide would allow the followers’ souls to be taken to Heaven by a UFO hidden behind the Hale-Bopp comet.

"Every once in a while the topic will come up in conversation," Dr. Jack Baca, pastor of a nearby church tells NBC 7.

The Heaven’s Gate mansion in Rancho Santa Fe has been demolished and even the street name has been changed.

“I’ve never seen anything like it, and haven’t seen anything like it since,” Curtis remembers.

Today, Heaven’s Gate lives on with a replica display at the San Diego Sheriff’s Museum in Old Town.

“The locals who come in remember the case,” Curtis says. “They’re all very interested in the case and sometimes express shock or sadness about how people could do this to themselves.”

"I don't know that everyone or anyone frankly ever totally heals from tragic events. There's always a scar left," Baca adds. "There's always an imprint left, and in some ways that's part of what makes us human and gives us a chance to grow."

SUICIDE PREVENTION HELP: The National Suicide Prevention Hotline (1-800-273-8255) is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Three police officers are in prison after robbing and framing drug suspects in East Cleveland, Ohio, but authorities are still unwinding the damage this rogue street-crimes unit brought, NBC News reported.

They were busted after raiding the home of a Cleveland drug dealer and saying in a search warrant that an informant had recently bought crack cocaine there. But the man had surveillance cameras that proved the officers were lying, which the FBI used to uncover a scandal that has led to 22 drug cases being dismissed — so far.

"I always took it on the chin when I got arrested for something I know I did. But when a cop lies to get you in prison, that's a different story," said Kenneth Blackshaw, one of the people who had a conviction overturned.

The Cleveland-area victims are among thousands of people cleared in group exonerations involving police graft in the last three decades nationwide, from California to Texas to New Jersey.

U.S. stocks closed mostly lower on Monday as investors reassessed the prospects of key White House proposals, including tax reform, coming to fruition, CNBC reported.

"When you look at some of the areas that have helped the market, they are waning a bit here," said Daniel Deming, managing director at KKM Financial. "I think you're also seeing some valuation concerns as well.

The Nasdaq composite closed 0.2 percent higher after briefly falling 1 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended about 45 points lower — after falling nearly 200 points earlier, with Goldman Sachs contributing the most losses.

The Fallbrook Union School Board is meeting Monday night for the first time since a lockdown on Wednesday. Fallbrook and Ivy High Schools were placed on lockdown for more than three hours because of reports of a gun at Fallbrook HS.
 

The search is on for an arrestee who escaped from the back seat of a patrol unit on Sunday afternoon.

Charles Brown, 31, was arrested around 4 p.m. for transportation of narcotics, according to the Victorville Police Department. He was taken to the department on Amargosa Road for questioning.

While sitting in the back seat, he was able to slip one of his hands out of the handcuffs and leave the car. 

Officials searched the area using an airship and a K-9 unit, but they could not locate Brown.

Brown is described as a black male who is 6 feet tall and weighs between 160 and 170 pounds. He has short black hair, brown eyes and a tattoo of the letter "B" on the bridge of his nose between his eyes.

He was last seen wearing a white shirt, black sweat pants and black Nike Air Force One shoes.

Anyone with information on Brown’s whereabouts is asked to contact the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department at 760-956-5001.

The Senate Intelligence Committee plans to question Jared Kushner, a key adviser to President Donald Trump and his son-in-law, two sources confirmed to NBC News Monday.

Kushner will be interviewed as part of an ongoing Senate inquiry into possible ties between associates of Trump and Russian operatives.

Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks told NBC that Kushner, who is married to Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka, volunteered to talk to the Senate committee.

"He doesn't have anything to hide," she said.

During the presidential transition, Kushner acted as a liaison between foreign governments and Trump officials. It is not unusual for presidential transitions to meet with foreign officials.