For those who serve in the military, going away for months, or even years, is part of the lifestyle. Now, a local, homegrown program is helping to make those separations a bit easier for families, especially military children.

Those long deployments and homecomings mean a lot of ups and downs for military children. With constant change within their family, sometimes it helps to have a friend on the outside.

That’s where the local program, “Operation Bigs,” comes in. It’s a one-on-one mentoring program for military children helping a lot of local families.

U.S. Navy YN1 Larry Decandia has been away from his family most of the past two years. He says the separation from his wife, Jeanie, and his daughter, Trinity, has been tough.

“It’s always there, ‘Are they doing okay in school?’ You know, the little life lessons that dads are supposed to help their kids with, especially little girls,” said Decandia.

His wife, Jeanie, says Decandia was deployed almost as soon as they moved to San Diego. With no other family living here, Decandia’s absence has been especially difficult on their little girl, Trinity.

“We came out here, we didn’t know anybody. I had never been out here before. We were just plopped in San Diego,” said Jeanie. “Being deployed thousands of miles away, it’s [tough]. The phone, the email is good, but it doesn’t do it justice when sometimes [your child] needs that hug or just someone to vent to.”

Fortunately, Trinity has found a good friend in her very own Operation Bigs mentor, Amy Benson.

Benson spends time with Trinity each week, doing all kinds of activities.

“We’ve done everything from kickball to tennis. I showed her how to throw a football to the best of my ability and she said that was her first time, and she was going to show her daddy when he got back,” Benson told NBC 7.

But the connection between Benson and the family is about more than just playing games. She’s there for Jeanie, too.

“She’s a part of our family,” said Jeanie.

And although it’s just one hour a day, one day a week, for Trinity and Benson, it’s time that makes each week special.

Operation Bigs is now a national Big Brothers Big Sisters program for military children that started right here in San Diego. To help, it only takes 1 hour of volunteer time per week during the school year, and they're looking for volunteers for the upcoming school year right now.

The organization is hosting a BBQ fundraiser at Petco Tailgate Park on Imperial Avenue and 14th Street on Jun. 24 to raise money for the program. For details on that event, click here.

For more information about the mentoring program, visit the Operation Bigs website.
 

Everyday people cross the border for business or pleasure, many unaware, that they may be subject to a search by federal agents without any reasonable suspicion.

"A hunch should never be enough to allow the government to ransack an individual's possessions,” said Sean Riordan, Staff Attorney at ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties.

But since 2008 U.S. border agents have been searching traveler’s electronic devices without suspicion.

That's when the Bush Administration gave agents the right to search everything from your laptop to your cellphone.

According to a 2011 study by the Department of Homeland Security, nearly 700 travelers who crossed the border between 2009 and 2010 were subject to electronic device searches.
 
DHS claims of those searched, 41 devices were held by the government.

“There’s no legitimate claim that I've seen that would show that we're actually making ourselves safer by allowing the government to go thru these kinds of devices,” added Riordan.

While the ACLU says the practice promotes racial profiling, DHS says the searches help detect criminal activity -- from child pornographers to terrorists.

NBC 7 tried to get a response from our local Customs & Border Protection office and the FBI, but both declined an interview.

However, Peter Boogaard, a national spokesman for DHS sent NBC 7 the following statement:

"In 2009 DHS revised its policy on border electronic device searches, to protect travelers' interests, rules on detention of devices after searches were complete, and to add supervisory review and notice to device owners about their appeal rights. The changes included improvements to our traveler complaint system, supervision of officer decision making, clarification of the non-discrimination policy and monitoring to ensure non-discrimination."

Earlier this year the 9th Circuit Court of appeals ruled that U.S. border agents do not have the authority to search personal electronic devices of travelers without reasonable suspicion.

Meanwhile, the ACLU has a pending lawsuit challenging this policy.

A father accused of abandoning his critically injured son after a car accident pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of hit and run and child endangerment in court on Thursday.

On Sunday night, father Angelo Fabiani Arroyo, 40, rolled his black Nissan Titan truck off Interstate 5 near Old Town San Diego. The car, which was also occupied by his 4-year-old son, veered off the road near Rosecrans Street, landing on its side on an embankment along Jefferson Street.

Upon impact, the child sitting in a car seat was partially ejected from the truck. Witnesses told NBC 7 they could see the boy hanging out of the window of the wreckage.

According to CHP officials, Arroyo took off running immediately following the crash, leaving his son, Valentino, behind.

He returned to the scene a moment later to unbuckle the boy from his seat, but then got scared and took off running again, according to CHP.

CHP Officer Juan Escobar said the child fell on his back and hit the concrete curb, falling approximately 10 feet from the truck to the ground.

Good Samaritans helped pull Valentino from the vehicle, and he was taken to Rady Children’s Hospital, where he remained in critical condition on Thursday.

Prosecutors say the child is not expected to survive.

Arroyo was arrested on Tuesday in Imperial Beach and charged with hit and run and child endangerment.

The father appeared shackled in court Thursday for his arraignment and pleaded not guilty to both charges.

It was an emotional day in court for Arroyo and his family and friends.

Arroyo’s loved ones say the dad panicked following the crash, and maybe hit his head and was disoriented.

“He’s a beautiful father; a great father; a loving father,” said family friend Martha Tolles. “This was a horrific, horrible accident. He tried to save his baby, and he might have hit his head. He went crazy. He went crazy.”

A prosecutor revealed Arroyo was on probation, stemming from a DUI case two years ago.

On Thursday, a judge ordered Arroyo to be held in jail on $150,000 bail. Should he make bail, the judge also ordered Arroyo to stay away from his hospitalized son.

After the arraignment, friends said that despite the terrible events that have transpired they believe Arroyo is a good father who made a big mistake.

“Angelo is a wonderful dad. The way I see it, he would never run. I believe he got disoriented, and he must’ve hit his head, and I believe he was seeking help for his child,” said family friend Maggie Vinson.

“Imagine your son, falling from your arms. Please people, have sympathy. I mean anybody that’s a father and a mother out there knows the pain of a mother and a father,” added Tolles.

Friends say the child’s mother is by the boy's side at the hospital, although they would not disclose details of the mother’s relationship to Arroyo at this time.

If convicted, Arroyo faces seven years in prison. He is scheduled to appear in court again on Jun. 17.

The Padres drafted Mississippi State OF Hunter Renfroe with the 13th overall pick in the MLB Draft. First, let's talk about the college numbers.

Renfroe hit .352 his junior year for the Bulldogs, with 15 HR, 15 doubles, two triples, 58 RBI, 51 runs scored, nine stolen bases, a .440 on-base percentage and .634 slugging percentage in 59 games. So obviously the kid can hit.

But, let me tell you a few things about this kid that won't show up on a scouting report. Over the summer he played for the Big Train, a team in the Cal Ripken wood bat league in Maryland. He stayed at my Uncle Frank's house during the year. Frank (who's housed players for years now) says this kid is just one of the nicest people he's had come through.

Renfroe also has some hidden skills. First, the kid has all kinds of raw power. Right-handed bat with pop to spare. But, he used to be a catcher. And according to Uncle Frank, he has one of the best arms in the nation.

He consistently threw out runners on the basepaths, even throwing behind guys at 2nd base to catch them off guard. Oh, and as a pitcher, his fastball hits 98 MPH. The Bulldogs moved him to the outfield to keep him healthy, seeing the potential in his bat.

Mississippi State head baseball coach John Cohen offers this analysis of Renfroe's pop:

"Hunter is one of those few players I've ever been around, even as an assistant on Team USA (in 2005), where we had 20 of the best freshman and sophomores in the country, Hunter is one of those kids that when he takes BP our whole team shuts down and says, 'Oh my goodness, look at this,'" Cohen said.

Renfroe was the first person to have his number retired by the Big Train. The Padres may have found themselves a gem at 13th overall.

President Obama touched down in Air Force One at Moffett Field Thursday, marking the second time the leader of the free world has visited the Bay Area in as many months.

He trotted down the plane's stairs at 5:56 p.m. and greeted about 50 people invited to the landing, including Sunnyvale Mayor Tony Spitaleri, Ames Research director Peter Worden, California National Guard Col. Steven Butow and Mountain View Mayor John Inks.

After shaking Obama's hand, Inks said, "He told me how much he likes Mountain View. He says when his term is over he's going to be enjoying California more."

"He looks very, very good for having a tough job. His face is bright. That is a job that wears on you," Inks said.

Prior to heading to a scheduled fundraising event in Palo Alto, Mr. Obama took a few minutes to greet some of the public that were waiting at Moffett Field.

While the president doesn't need the money for his own campaign, his fundraising efforts in affluent Silicon Valley will go to help the Democratic Party.

Obama's visit, which will last less than 12 hours, began at the home of Flipboard CEO Mike McCue and his wife, Marci, in Palo Alto for an early evening reception.

Guests, who paid anywhere from $2,500 to $12,000 to attend the event, began lining up around 5 p.m. to get into the McCue's residence.

Marci McCue, who spoke outside of her home Thursday morning, admitted that she was both nervous and excited to host the president of the United States at her charming, seven-bedroom, multi-million, pale yellow home, fully decked out with red-white-and-blue banners.

MORE: "We're Excited to Primp Up a Little Bit," Marci McCue

Protesters, angry about Obama's support for the Keystone pipeline project, also greeted him on street corners. The project is an oil pipeline that will stretch from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

After Obama left the McCues, he headed to the Portola Valley residence of Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla and his wife, Neera, for a $32,000 dinner, complete with Greek salad, Fulton Valley chicken and hand-craft chai chocolate creameux cups.

MORE: President Obama's Peninsula Dinner Menu

In Portola Valley, political signs were left on the side of the road for the president to see. One sign read "Reinstate Glass Steagall." Others featured the message: Take money out of politics.

People who lined up the street in Portola Valley waved welcome signs when the president passed by.

Lauren Work brought her daught to see the president drive by.

"I've never seen a president so why not be part of history," she said.

MORE: Obama Delivers Message of Optimism, Urges Supporters to Stay Engaged

The president left the Portola Valley event at 9:01 p.m. and arrived about a half-hour later at the Fairmont Hotel in downtown San Jose.

In addition to the fundraising, Obama's visit will be marked by a more unusual occurrence -- a speech.

He'll spend Friday morning at a San Jose hotel talking about "Obamacare." He's expected to tout benefits of his Affordable Care Act by showing how it has created quality, affordable choices for Californians who plan to buy insurance this fall. California is the largest state with the biggest insurance market in the country, with nearly six million uninsured.

An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released Thursday shows that 49 percent of Americans think the signature health care reform law is a bad idea.

MORE: Health Care Law's Unpopularity Reaches New Highs

After his Friday morning talk, Obama will head to Los Angeles for a Democratic National Committee fundraiser.

Obama was in the Bay Area as recently as April for fundraisers in San Francisco.

A livestream of Obama's speech will be available Friday morning on NBCBayArea.com.

Bay City News and NBC Bay Area's Bob Redell, George Kiriyama, Stephanie Chuang, Kristofer Noceda and Jean Elle contributed to this report.

An electric car advocate dug into his retirement fund to pay thousands of dollars for a chance to meet President Obama at a Santa Monica fundraiser Friday, only, he said, to be told he was not welcome.

Paul Scott sent a check for $32,400 to the Democratic National Committee a few months ago so he could attend the fundraiser, which will be held at a private Santa Monica home.

In an email, the DNC told Scott he would be allowed to take a photo with the president and talk to him about anything he wanted in an off-the-record conversation.

Scott makes $50,000 a year selling electric cars in Downtown Los Angeles. He said he needed to tap into his retirement fund for the chance to share his passion for electric energy with Obama.

"I decided it was a lot of money, but it was also an opportunity to get in front of the president, and it was worth it to me," Scott said.

But after Scott wrote an op-ed piece that was picked up by USA Today saying he planned to promote an anti-oil agenda during his conversation with the president, the car salesman said he received an email from the DNC disinviting him from the event.

"We wish to inform you we will be returning your donation," the e-mail read.

Scott believes he was well within his rights to tell the public what he planned to talk to the president about, and he's disappointed he won't get a face-to-face meeting.

"It was very disappointing," Scott said. "At the same time, I understand where they're coming from."

NBC4 reached out to the Democratic National Committee Thursday but did not get a response.

Scott now plans to join environmental activists for a protest outside Friday's fundraiser.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys in the George Zimmerman case returned to a Sanford courtroom to continue a hearing Friday, three days before his trial is scheduled to begin.

The hearing before Circuit Judge Debra Nelson began shortly before 9:30 a.m. with prosecutors calling voice recognition expert Tom Owen to testify at the hearing, which will determine whether Owen and other voice experts can testify at the trial.
 
Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in February 2012. He has pleaded not guilty, claiming self-defense. His trial is set to begin Monday.

FBI voice expert Hirotaka Nakasone testified during Thursday's hearing. Nelson hasn’t ruled yet whether she’ll accept his testimony.

Earlier Thursday, Nelson denied a defense request to let some witnesses testify confidentially at the trial.
 
The judge also heard testimony after defense attorneys asked her to sanction prosecutors for alleged delays in turning over evidence from Martin’s phone. But she decided to suspend the hearing on that matter until after the trial, saying she was concerned that if it continued, the trial wouldn’t start on time.

George Zimmerman has sued NBCUniversal, the parent company of this site, for defamation. The company has strongly denied his allegations.

A Bronx, N.Y. woman pleaded guilty Thursday to charges she fraudulently collected money in the name one of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

Nouel Alba, 37, entered the plea in Bridgeport Federal Court Thursday afternoon.

The day of the shooting, Alba set up a Facebook page claiming to be the aunt of 6-year-old shooting victim Noah Pozner. The next day she started collecting money, she said, to help pay for Pozner's funeral expenses, according to prosecutors. One day later, Alba sent an email to the Sandy Hook PTA asking for donations.

Alba was indicted in May.

On Thursday, Alba admitted she is not related to Pozner and admitted to the scheme. She accepted a plea deal that could give her up to six months in jail if the federal prosecutors don't ask for a longer sentence. The charges of wire fraud and making a false statement carry a maximum of 25 years in prison.

She will be sentenced in federal court in Hartford on August 29.

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• Guide Dog to Help Blind Paralympian
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The term "carpool" was given a whole new meaning Thursday after a person drove their car into the swimming pool of a home in Clairemont.

According to police, the accident happened around 2:40 p.m. and involved two separate homes.

Police say the driver first plowed through the garage of a home in the 4600 block of Lehrer Street and then wound up in the backyard pool of a home in the 5000 block of Brillo Street.

Fire Department officials say the driver was able to get out of the car and sustained minor injuries in the accident, including a cut to the hand.

Police officers provided traffic control at the scene.

By 5:20 p.m., the car had been pulled from the swimming pool with the help of a tow truck.

Officials are investigating the cause of the incident. 

A leak led to an investigation and then a shutdown. Now, more than a year later, two reactors inside the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California will be retired.

The announcement that Unit 2 and Unit 3 reactors will retire was made by Southern California Edison early Friday.

The company cited “continuing uncertainty about when or if SONGS might return to service” as the cause for their decision.

Edison International CEO Ted Craver said the company concluded that questions over when or if the plant might return to service was not good for customers or investors.

It will take years to retire the units. The company said it's "top priority will be to ensure a safe, orderly, and compliant retirement" of these two reactors.

The seaside plant between Los Angeles and San Diego has been shut down since January 2012.

Timeline: Shutdown of San Onofre

Local activist Donna Gilmore has been working with local groups in San Diego and Los Angeles to educate others on what she considered the dangers of the whole nuclear industry.

When contacted early Friday, Gilmore called the news unbelievable.

“Finally! This is amazing,” Gilmore said. “Didn’t expect this quite this way. This is great news.”

She said the issues at San Onofre have “kind of woke up the community in California and it’s growing. This is just the beginning as far as I’m concerned.”

In a statement Friday, California Public Utility Commision (CPUC) President Michael R. Peevey called the decision “understandable.”

He said the closure of the nuclear power generating station “will require even greater emphasis on energy efficiency and demand response programs.” Utility companies will also need to add transmission upgrade and find new generation resources.

Solana Beach resident Torgen Johnson who has worked with SanOnofreSafety.org said Craver has made the right decision.

“He did the right thing for the people of Southern California and the right thing financially for Southern California Edison,” Johnson said.

He said he hopes the utility can invest in safer energy technologies.

“Let’s do the right thing and turn this Cold War-era relic mistake into a really progressive, clean energy-based solution,” he said.

Who pays for the shutdown? The CPUC urged a meeting of ratepayers, community activists and SoCal Edison to determine how the costs will be borne.

The shutdown will also mean job loss. Staff at SONGS will be reduced from approximately 1,500 to approximately 400 employees before the end of the year.

Before it was closed, San Onofre produced enough power for 1.4 million homes. It is owned by SoCal Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric and the city of Riverside. 

Earlier this year, SoCal Edison had asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission if it could change the plant's federal operating rules to permit the Unit 2 reactor to run at no more than 70 percent power, which company engineers and consultants believe will limit unusual tube wear. 

Just last month, Senator Barbara Boxer wanted the U.S. Justice Department to investigate Southern California Edison and its statements to federal regulators about swapping out generators.

Sen. Boxer, Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said Friday she was relieved by the news.

“This nuclear plant had a defective redesign and could no longer operate as intended. Modifications to the San Onofre nuclear plant were unsafe and posed a danger to the eight million people living within 50 miles of the plant,” Sen. Boxer said in a written statement.

She stressed that the nuclear plant be safely decommissioned so that it doesn’t become a continuing liability for nearby residents.

Earlier this week, former Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan visited San Diego to share his perspective on nuclear power. Kan was in office when the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami triggered a nuclear catastrophe, that persists to this day.

The panel included San Diego County Supervisors and the former U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair Gregory Jaczko.The purpose of the Southern California discussion was to help settle the San Onofre power plant controversy.

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A hotel housekeeper working in Mission Valley was robbed at knifepoint during her shift Thursday, the San Diego Police Department confirmed.

According to police the robbery happened around 11:10 a.m. The 44-year-old victim was in the middle of cleaning a room at the Hotel Seven Sea Lodge located at 411 Hotel Circle South when a red Nissan Xterra occupied by three men pulled up to the hotel.

Police say one the men got out of the car and walked into the room the housekeeper was cleaning. He pulled out a knife and robbed the maid of her jewelry. The suspect then took a bag with unknown items from the hotel room.

The suspects fled the scene in the Nissan Xterra in an unknown direction. The housekeeper was not injured in the robbery, police said.

Officials describe the suspect who robbed the woman at knifepoint as a Hispanic man in his mid-20s. He’s 5-foot-5 with short hair and acne scars on his face. He was wearing a horizontal striped blue and white shirt. The other two suspects inside the vehicle are described as Hispanic men.

The incident is under investigation. Anyone with information should reach out to the San Diego Police Department.
 

An undercover operation by local law enforcement has exposed auto theft rings across the North County and resulted in the arrest of dozens of suspects accused of trafficking not only stolen cars, but also guns, drugs and stolen military equipment.

On Thursday, San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and officials from multiple law enforcement agencies held a news conference at the Hall of Justice to announce the results of a 10-month undercover sting led by the Regional Auto Theft Task Force (RATT).

Dumanis says the sting – dubbed “Operation Perfect Storm” – launched in August 2012 and focused on North County criminal groups specializing in auto theft and other forms of criminal activity.

Dumanis says auto theft suspects were invited to a storefront in the North County manned by undercover officials. There, the suspects were videotaped selling a variety of stolen items to undercover detectives including stolen cars, firearms and narcotics.

Dumanis says the suspects also sold stolen military contraband, including military-grade, tactical, bulletproof vests, helmets, night-vision goggles, gas masks and more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition and high-capacity magazines.

According to investigators, the high-tech night-vision goggles are worth approximately $70,000 and were allegedly stolen by two Camp Pendleton marines.

Altogether, Dumanis says 92 stolen vehicles were recovered in the sting worth nearly $700,000. Nine firearms were also recovered, as well as quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine.

A total of 64 defendants were targeted and indicted by a grand jury in this operation, and 30 cases were presented to a grand jury by the county DA’s office.

Dumanis says arrest warrants were issued on Monday and defendants were arrested on Tuesday. Many of the defendants were scheduled to be arraigned in court on Thursday.

Officials say the defendants, depending on their backgrounds, face various felony charges including insurance fraud, vehicle theft, sales of cocaine and meth, grand theft, burglary and felony possession of guns and high-capacity magazines. Some could face up to 25 years in state prison.

“It’s clear from this operation that an auto thief’s criminal network often goes well beyond stealing cars and trucks.,” Dumanis said on Thursday. “The latest RATT operation has shut down crime rings in the county that are also trafficking in guns, stolen military equipment and drugs.”

The DA said RATT’s work has been instrumental in decreasing auto theft across San Diego County. Dumanis said vehicle theft is down across the county, with San Diego going from third in the nation to sixteenth in the nation over the years.

RATT Commander Scott Parker, who led the operation, spoke about the bust Thursday. He said RATT is a multi-agency task force comprised of local, state and federal officials whose mission is to pursue “professional auto thieves” and infiltrate their auto theft organizations.

Officials from Homeland Security, ICE, the Naval Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and Escondido Police Department were also present, as well as several deputy district attorneys.

Some of the evidence seized in the sting was unveiled Thursday (photos above and below), as well as photos of the defendants connected with this operation.

Serial killer Richard Ramirez, dubbed the "Night Stalker" during a series of Southern California slayings in the mid-1980s, has died of natural causes after more than two decades on death row at San Quentin State Prison.

Ramirez, 53, died of Friday morning of natural causes at Marin General Hospital, according to a statement from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Ramirez was sent to death row at the prison north of San Francisco after he was convicted of 13 murders in 1989. The slayings and sexual assaults terrorized Southern California in 1984 and 1985 with reports of Satanic symbols at bloody crime scenes and a killer who entered through unlocked windows and doors -- a method that led to his original nickname, the "Walk-In Killer."

Some of the victims were shot to death, others were strangled or had their throats slashed.

"The death of Richard  Ramirez in prison today closes a dark chapter in the history of  Los Angeles," said LAPD Chief Charlie Beck. "Let's not forget the victims who suffered at his hands and the victims families who are still suffering with the memories of their lost loved ones."

When he was captured in August 1985, angry residents surrounded Ramirez and beat him in East Los Angeles after his attempted carjacking. His capture brought to an end serial slayings began in March 1985 and continued through several tense months before two major breaks in the case.

In August 1985, Ramirez shot and killed a man and beat the victim's wife in San Francisco, but the woman survived and provided investigators with a description of the attacker that matched police sketches.

About one week later, Ramirez was back in Southern California, where he broke into a Mission Viejo apartment. He shot and killed a resident before attacking the man's fiancee.

The woman provided investigators with a description of her attacker's vehicle. Police located the vehicle and found a fingerprint belonging to Ramirez.

His mug shot was broadcast on television and printed in newspapers, and Ramirez was tracked down in East Los Angeles just days after the Mission Viejo killing and attack. Video showed Ramirez with his head bandaged -- because of injuries suffered when residents captured him -- as police took him into custody and placed him in the back of a squad car.

He was admitted to the prison in November 1989. 

Ramirez is the 59th condemned inmate to die from natural causes on death row since California reinstated capital punishment in 1978.

Twenty-two inmates have committed suicide on death row, 13 have been executed in California and one inmate was executed in Missouri, according to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Six have died from other causes, according to the department.

There are now 735 offenders on California's death row.

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• Socal Edison Retiring San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station
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A San Diego man who recently bailed out of jail after his arrest in connection with a multi-state marijuana ring was in custody again hours later.

Matthew Schneider, 28, of San Diego was taken into custody Thursday, accused of possession of marijuana for sale. He had posted $150,000 bail just hours earlier.

Prosecutors claim Schneider and two other men – brothers Kyle Gillen, 25, and Chris Gillen, 24 - were allegedly shipping marijuana to customers across the U.S. using the U.S. Postal Service.

Investigators began monitoring packages of money being sent through the mail. That led them to an alleged crime ring netting up to $30,000 a week shipping illegal drugs across the country.

New Thursday, law enforcement officers said they arrested a fourth suspect in the case. Mitchell Morris, 24, will face charges along with Schneider and the Gillens police said. Those charges may include money laundering, cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and conspiracy.

Investigators also served a search warrant on a home in the 900-block of Hornblend where they found 30 pounds of marijuana believed to be intended for distribution on the East Coast.

At that same loaction, officers arrested yet another man who has not been identified for possession of hashish oil and cocaine. Investigators say the man may not be directly connected with the alleged marijuana ring.

Investigators with search warrants reported finding 400 marijuana plants in a Midway area warehouse on May 29.

They also found weapons, ammunition, cars and cash.

The Gillens are local college students who are originally from New Jersey, where much of the marijuana was allegedly being shipped.

Chris Gillen was still in custody Thursday. Kyle Gillen watched as San Diego police towed his car from a parking lot at Mission and Felspar Thursday.

Kyle Gillen had also posted $150,000 bail Wednesday. His attorney told NBC 7 San Diego that his client was attacked in jail and that "non-violent offenders are treated the same as violent criminals" in the San Diego jail.

This, the attorney said, at a time when society is changing its view about marijuana.

If convicted the men face up to 10 years in prison.

What does a world-class orchestra do while stuck in a plane and on the tarmac for hours?

Play classical music, of course.

Stuck for three hours waiting for their flight from Beijing to Macao to depart, some of the musicians from the Philadelphia Orchestra took out their instruments and played a pop-up performance of Antonin Dvorak’s String Quartet “American” Movement Finale right in the middle of the plane – the cellist Yumi Kendall resting her instrument right in the aisle as violinists Juliette King and Daniel Han and violist Che-Hung Chen stand up in their seats.

The Orchestra, which is touring China in commemoration of its historic 1973 visit, posted amazing video of the performance to its YouTube page.

The video begins with passengers gathering as announcements are made in both English and Chinese that the group is about to perform. The strings then take over as at least a dozen interested onlookers are seen taking photos and video with their cell phones.

Even on planes it seems that ringing phones can’t be escaped. At the 1:56 mark of the video you can see people smiling after a phone rings on the plane. But the orchestra played on to the amusement of fellow passengers.

At the end of the performance the whole plane erupts in applause as the musicians smile.

A letter was sent home to University City High School parents Thursday night explaining how sexually explicit senior quotes ended up below some photos in the school’s yearbook.

The controversial comments are below the pictures of three senior students.

In the letter, Principal Jeff Olivera explained that the suggestive wording slipped past a review of the yearbook.

"Each year, some of our students do not use good judgment and try to make inappropriate comments. For that reason, we have several staff members read through the entire yearbook, before it is sent to press,” the letter stated.

"Unfortunately, there are a few "messages" that slipped through our review. Our entire staff, and I'm sure a vast majority of our students, regret if anyone has been offended by these statements."

One student told NBC 7 it wasn’t clear if the three seniors involved were punished or kept from attending any senior activities.

Olivera says the quotes will be reviewed more closely in future years.

UCHS will hold its last day of classes for the school year on Tuesday.