As hurricane season begins, and scientists predict the Atlantic Ocean could see another above-normal year, the White House is sending contradictory messages about whether it supports funding for better weather forecasting.

On the one hand, President Donald Trump in April signed a bipartisan Congressional bill that protects improvements to hurricane forecasting and tsunami warnings from budget cuts.

On the other, the president's proposed budget for 2018 fiscal year, released in May, would slash funding for those very programs, operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its National Weather Service. NOAA accounts for much of the 16 percent reduction to the Commerce Department, of which it is a part.

"This budget would ensure that (NOAA's National Weather Service) becomes a 2nd or 3rd tier weather forecasting enterprise, frozen in the early 2000's," said David W. Titley, a retired rear admiral who oversaw the satellite and weather programs at NOAA and is now a meteorology professor at Penn State School of International Affairs. "This budget is the opposite of making America great:  It will make us more vulnerable and less prepared to face extreme weather in a changing and never-experienced climate."

The bill signed by Trump, the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act, requires that NOAA protect its Hurricane Forecast Improvement Program, establish a plan to improve tornado warnings and develop meteorological forecasts for varying time frames, from two weeks to up to two years. 

But the proposed budget, in the broadest terms, halts NOAA's cutting edge work, such as trying to extend weather predictions beyond 14 days, and makes large cuts in its tsunami warning system, its climate research and its efforts to develop and test unmanned aircraft and undersea vehicles, among other areas, Titley said.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the second ranking Republican in the Senate, in May called Trump's budget proposal "dead on arrival." Such proposals are more statements of priorities than legislation, he said, and both Republicans and Democrats criticized the cuts as too steep and questioned the accounting.

But if the budget has little chance of passing Congress, it does indicate the White House's priorities.

Rick Spinrad, a former chief scientist for NOAA, said that the cuts to research in particular would virtually guarantee that the United States would see little or no progress in the ability to improve forecasts of hurricanes' intensity or tracks.

"If we are satisfied that the current forecast capabilities are adequate, and that we are willing to accept the consequent losses of lives and property, then these cuts will be without consequence," Spinrad said. "More realistically, of course, without the needed improvements in observational systems, research on hurricane physics, and investment in high performance computing we will continue to see coastal communities and businesses suffer devastating losses."

Another former NOAA scientist, Scott Weaver, who is now a senior climate scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund, said Trump's budget disregards science and its ability to protect lives and property.

One example: a $5 million cut to programs for more reliable weather and storm forecasts through advanced modeling. It would slow the transition from models to real-life warning systems, hurting families and business owners preparing for severe storms, Weaver said. 

"Weather is essentially bi-partisan," Weaver said. "Improving weather forecasts, there's really broad agreement that that's something that no matter what political background you come from is important and necessary. So that is why this budget is so striking in that context — because it's just so outside the bounds, it's unbelievable."

The United States has lagged in accurate weather forecasting — the European model, for example, predicted Hurricane Sandy's trajectory correctly while the America model put it out to sea — and the cuts would derail U.S. efforts to catch up, Weaver said. 

In response to the criticism, the White House Office of Management and Budget countered that the budget was consistent with the intent of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act and recognized the value of accurate and reliable weather forecasts to American businesses and communities.

"That is why the 2018 budget preserves the proper and appropriate weather forecasting capabilities for the National Weather Service (NWS)," it said in a statement. "This includes continued support for the current generation of weather satellites that provide critical data to weather models and targeted increases in funding for the systems NWS personnel rely on to produce and disseminate forecasts to the public."

Weaver said, however, that although the budget for maintaining the adminstration's current satellites increases slightly, the Trump administration will review the programs for 2019 and beyond.

"And so basically what that's saying is that in the later years, we're not going to be interested in developing any new satellite missions to replace our aging satellite infrastructure," he said.

The budget and the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act appear to be in agreement on the satellite programs. The act requires NOAA to consider buying commercially provided weather satellite data rather than launching government satellites.

One of Florida's U.S. senators, Democrat Bill Nelson has sought backups for NOAA's fleet of aircraft designed to fly in and around hurricanes. The Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act does require NOAA to have a reliable alternative but the budget does not fund it.

"The administration's budget is literally betting the house on there not being a big storm this year," Nelson said. "By cutting money to improve hurricane forecasting and failing to invest in a backup for the hurricane hunters, it's a risky and reckless bet that could endanger lives and property."

Florida's second senator, Republican Marco Rubio, and the mayor of Miami-Dade County, Carlos Gimenez, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

For this year's hurricane season, which began on June 1 and continues through Nov. 30, forecasters from NOAA predict a 45 percent chance of an above-normal season, a 35 percent chance of a near-normal season and only a 20 percent chance of a below-normal season.

An average season produces 12 named storms, six of which become hurricanes, three of them major with winds of 111 miles per hour or higher, according to NOAA.

Forecasters this year predict a 70 percent chance of 11 to 17 storms powerful enough to be named. Five to nine could become hurricanes, and two to four of them major hurricanes.

"The outlook reflects our expectation of a weak or non-existent El Nino, near- or above-average sea-surface temperatures across the tropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, and average or weaker-than-average vertical wind shear in that same region," Gerry Bell, the lead seasonal hurricane forecaster with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, said in a statement.

How climate change is affecting hurricanes is still under study. In a report released in March, NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory said it was premature to conclude that human activities, and in particular the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, have already had a detectable effect on Atlantic hurricane or global tropical cyclone activity.

But it also said human activities might have caused changes not yet detected, because they were too small or because of observational limitations or not yet modelled. 

Climate warming will likely cause hurricanes in the coming century to be more intense globally and to have higher rainfall rates than present-day hurricanes, it said.

Members of a Nebraska girls' soccer team have chopped their hair short in support of a teammate, Mili Hernandez, who said her team was disqualified from a youth tournament because she looks like a boy. 

The 8-year-old's story went viral over the weekend when her family said that tournament organizers focused on the girl's appearance and short haircut for the disqualification.

"I cut my hair because it's not fair what they're doing to Mili," one Azzuri Cachorros Chicas teammate, Rosy, told local NBC affiliate, WOWT-TV. "Just because she has short hair doesn't mean she's a boy, and I did it because I wanted to support her."

Although a clerical error made by the team listed Mili as a boy on a form, the Hernandez family told WOWT that tournament organizers refused to accept an insurance card and medical form as proof of Mili's gender.

"Just because I look like a boy doesn't mean I am a boy," Mili said to the television station. "They don't have a reason to kick the whole club out."

The tournament's organizer, Lanyard Burgett, told ESPN.com that the disqualification had nothing to do with her appearance, and instead was due to rules infractions about putting some club members on multiple teams.

But the Nebraska State Soccer Association has apologized and said in a statement Monday that the incident does not represent its core values of teamwork and inclusion.

Mili has also gotten support from former U.S. soccer stars Abby Wambach and Mia Hamm on social media, with Hamm inviting the 8-year-old to one of her soccer camps.

"You don't look like a boy. You look like a girl with short hair - and that's okay," Wambach said in an Instagram video. "You can do anything you want to do and you can be anything you want to be. And guess what? You can look like whatever you want to look like to do it."

A 4-year-old avid Mets fan from Texas went swimming with his family over Memorial Day weekend. Six days later, he abruptly woke up during the night, took a deep breath and died, the apparent victim of a rare phenomenon often referred to as "dry drowning." 

Little Frankie Delgado III was briefly knocked over by a wave while playing in shallow water during a trip to the Texas City Dike, a fishing and recreation area in Galveston Bay, over the holiday weekend last month, his heartbroken parents told "Today" Friday. 

Tara and Francisco Delgado said their son got right back up and seemed normal. For nearly a week he was his usual self, running around playing football with his father. Then came Saturday, June 3 -- and "our world turned upside down." 

Frankie was awoken by sudden pain; he showed signs of a stomach virus, including vomiting and diarrhea. 

"He went 'Ahh,' he looked at me with these painfully hurtful eyes like I've never seen him before," Francisco Delgado said. "Then he just took a deep breath; he took a deep breath and rolled his eyes back and laid back down." 

An ambulance took Frankie to the hospital, but he didn't make it. The Delgados say emergency room doctors told them the boy's likely cause of death was "dry drowning," which can happen hours or even days, as in Frankie's case, after a child breathes water into his or her lungs. 

The lungs become irritated and start to fill with fluid, leading to breathing problems and coughing, doctors say. The child's behavior may also change; he or she may get more fatigued than usual. Doctors say all those are signs of possible lack of oxygen flow to the brain. 

Doctors say the phenomenon is extremely rare, but there have been cases. And Tara and Francisco Delgado, despite dealing with their personal horror, want to spread the word about what happened to Frankie. 

"Dry drowning -- bring that out to the world and let everybody know that this exists," Tara Delgado said. "Spread awareness, because I don't want to one to go through what we're going through." 

Photos the Delgados shared of Frankie show a smiling, happy boy with a serious passion for the New York Mets. He's seen wearing a blue and orange Mets cap or shirt in a series of photos, though flips back to the Astros for a Texas game.

Francisco Delgado cried as he reminisced about his constantly grinning boy. 

"I loved him so much," he said. "He was my best friend." 

Funeral services for the boy are scheduled for Saturday in Texas.

A woman who was walking while on her phone didn’t notice an open sidewalk access door in front of her and plunged down the hole on Thursday, officials say.

The 67-year-old woman suffered serious injuries after dropping six feet down the stairs and into a basement.

Officials say she was walking down a sidewalk in Plainfield, New Jersey, before the fall.

She was distracted by her phone as she approached the open access door at Acme Windows.

Moments later, shocking security video shows her tripping over the access door and flipping into the basement. Passersby reach out to help her, but she is already mid-fall and disappears into the hole. 

Martin Delgadillo was standing outside his barbershop on Somerset Street just before noon when he saw the woman plunge through the access door. 

"She was looking at her phone — the last minute — she hit the door and fell right in," Delgadillo said. 

The video shows the woman being taken away in a stretcher by paramedics and firefighters. She was listed in serious condition at a hospital on Thursday night. 

Officials said the access door was open because crews were working on gas lines. At least one worker wearing a hardhat can be seen in the video after the woman falls. 

"I thought texting and driving was a bad thing," Delgadillo said. "Now it's texting and walking." 

Hundreds of little notes have been taped in random places around San Diego, and the words written on those notes are exactly what some people need to hear.

The notes are being left anonymously.

The front of the envelopes read: "If you find this card, it belongs to you. Go ahead, open me."

Inside are messages of hope, inspiration, and reminders to never give up.

The writer has been anonymous, until now.

NBC 7 tracked down Shannon Wasser, the Ramona resident responsible for the acts of kindness.

“So, I’ve probably done at least 1,000 [letters] -- I mean, easy," she said. "Hopefully, what I’m doing is making someone else’s day better."

Wasser calls her task "hope drops."

She started leaving the letters about a year-and-a-half ago.

She’ll tape them to gas pumps, bus benches, restaurant tables, phone booths, and pretty much anywhere the mood strikes her. 

“I can’t explain how I know where to do it. I just stop,” she said. “I just sit there for a second and take a breath. I get out the card out, and I say, 'Okay, what are we doing?'"

Wasser said her faith is a big part of why she does this, but she rarely writes about God in the cards.

“I just want them to feel encouraged,” she said.

She also never sticks around to see who picks up the cards, just trusts that they get into the right hands.

And, on at least a couple of occasions, they have.

NBC 7 tracked down some of the people who’ve found them, including Crystal Turk, who found her note taped to a tree outside a Walmart.

“I read it belonged to me, so I took it,” said Turk. “It means a lot that people care.”

Turk said the words of encouragement came at a good time for her, and her husband. He’s been incarcerated since 2004, and she’s hoping he’ll be out in the next year or two.

“We’ve hit a few bumps in the road on his journey home, and just this week it hit me pretty hard," she said. "Getting the note of encouragement saying 'never give up hope' is just what I needed.”

Kris Michelle also found one of the notes at a Starbucks, and also needed a little encouragement.

“At that moment when I saw the card, I was going through things that I didn’t have answers for. My husband was having an affair,” said Michelle.

She thinks that what Wasser is doing to spread the love is amazing.

“She’s genuinely looking into people’s soul and trying to make them better people, and I think that’s phenomenal.”

“I just want people to know they’re seen,” Wasser said, of her mission.

Wasser is now married, and a mother of three, but she remembers a darker time in her life when she needed some encouragement.

She said from the age of 13 to 16, she had drug problems and was in and out of group homes, and juvenile hall.

“I basically did everything I could to destroy myself,” she recalled.

As she continues to make her "hope drops," she uses the hashtag #HopeSent on social media.

She said other people have started doing the same thing, even reaching out to ask her to send them blank cards, which she does, for free.

Wasser isn't in this for money. She just wants the word to spread.

“I’m not hoping to get anything out of it,” she said. “Mostly, I just hope that other people would do it.”

There are certain pieces of sports memorabilia that simply mean more. These are the items that are rare or are associated with truly historic moments in sports history. If you have something that is both, you have a goldmine on your hands.

SCP Auctions, an online auction site, has one of those pieces available right now: the shoes Michael Jordan wore in the gold medal game of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

The sneakers are signed by Jordan but that’s not the only thing that deems them historic. MJ wore them during his final game as an amateur, which was also the final time the United States won a basketball gold without using professionals (Jordan won his second gold on the 1992 “Dream Team”).

Plus, the shoes were made by Converse. Jordan wore Converse in college at North Carolina and legend has it he actually preferred Adidas. Jordan wore Adidas during the Olympic trials before putting on Converse for games. That 1984 title game, where MJ scored 20 points in a 30-point blowout over Spain at The Forum, is regarded as the last time Michael Jordan wore a brand other than Nike in competition.

Bidding on the sneakers concludes on Saturday, June 10 and if you want to jump in you’re going to have to set an auction record to win. As of Friday morning the bidding was up to $144,222, already demolishing the previous record for game-worn basketball shoes that was set in 2013 when someone bought another pair of sneakers that Jordan wore in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals for $104,765.

To see the auction or make a bid click here.

The victims hurt in a brawl and stabbing at a popular concert venue in North Park have decided, for now, they will not press charges, police confirmed.

San Diego Police Department (SDPD) Lt. Scott Wahl said Friday that those involved in the fight decided they don't want to prosecute. Thus, police have closed the case.

Wahl said investigator do not know who the suspects are; no arrests have been made.

On Wednesday at around 9 p.m., during a concert at the Observatory North Park on University Avenue, an unknown man from the audience rushed the stage, punching rapper XXXtentacion, who was performing.

The attack prompted others to jump on the stage. Soon, a brawl ensued between the venue's security guards and at least 10 other people.

During the commotion, a 19-year-old man was stabbed by an unknown suspect. He was taken to the hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

At some point during the fight, the rapper was taken off stage. 

There was mass hysteria as more than 800 people rushed the venue's exit, running to escape the fight. 

Video posted to social media captured the chaos.

The following videos may be graphic for some.

In one video, a security guard appears to be carrying a man off the stage.

Kevin Rios witnessed the fight and said the crowd quickly got out of control.

"Security was trying to do their job, but when you are three feet away from the performer, just behind a 5-foot fence, it looks like members of the crowd tried to get their hits in too," Rios told NBC 7.

The brawl left many residents in North Park feeling uneasy about safety in their neighborhood. Some criticized the concert venue on the way the situation was handled.

The Observatory's general manager, Paris Landen, said there were 48 security guards on staff during the concert, supported by off-duty SDPD officers.

She praised her team's response to the brawl.

“They pulled together; they did what they were supposed to do. They stayed on point,” Landen told NBC 7.

After a man who shot both his parents to death received 100 years to life in prison at his sentencing Friday, he told the court he is not a 'dangerous person' and would never do it again.

“I would never want something like this to happen again in my life. I would never want to murder anybody else. Because look at what it’s gotten me into,” said Peter Haynes, addressing the court in a rare, last-minute decision.

Haynes received 50 years for the death of each parent, prosecutors confirmed. His first chance to parole out will be decided 25 years from now.

"So please just understand that I’m not [a] dangerous person, if I ever do parole out," said Haynes. “I would never own another gun, I would never stop taking my meds. I would stay the most peaceful man I could ever be, because look at the war. Look at what it’s gotten me into."

The murder happened two years ago in the Sunset Cliffs home where Hayne's parents lived over the Thanksgiving holiday.

His defense attorney said Peter was 23-years-old at the time of the killings and had no prior criminal record. When Peter went away to Colorado, he had a psychotic break.

A doctor of psychiatry at UC San Diego found that Peter's brain shows clear signs of suffering from schizophrenia, said the defense attorney.

At the sentencing, the judge said she was glad to finally see Haynes express some remorse for what he had done. She called an eerie 9-1-1 call from Peter's father while he sought help for his wife one of the 'most haunting pieces' of evidence she's ever heard during her 15 years on the bench.

She said that mental illness played a major factor in the sad fate of Peter's parents.

In a family impact statement read by Peter's uncle, Dr. Kevin Haynes, he asked the court to remember the victims and the kind people they were.

"Instead of a happy family gathering, our thanksgivings are now an annual tragic reminder of that night in 2014," read Kevin Haynes in court.

“We are devastated by what Peter did and a deep part of us is scarred in a way that will never be the same. Peter ended the lives of two of our closest family members," said Kevin Haynes.

Peter's parents loved him unconditionally, working in health care and providing him with opportunities in education, sports and travel, said Kevin Haynes in court. His father was a well-respected physician, and his patients held a separate memorial service for him. Peter's mother was a nurse who loved animals, travel and tennis.

Kevin Haynes says he is still haunted by his first visit to the crime scene.

In the kitchen, after the murder his mother Lissa Haynes brought home a plate of Thanksgiving dinner for Peter. The plate was left on the kitchen counter along with a warm note to Peter, according to his uncle.

"But that plate and that note, signs of her compassion and unconditional love for Peter, sat untouched in a room still strewn with David and Lissa’s blood," said Kevin Haynes.

"I hope he spends the rest of his life in jail," continued his uncle. “I would be concerned about the safety of my family if Peter were ever released regardless of how long it had been.”

Haynes entered guilty pleas to two counts of first-degree murder after shooting and killing his parents in their Point Loma home.

On Nov. 28, 2014, San Diego police officers found the front door ajar at the home of David and Lissa Haynes. They were both shot. The couple died shortly after at a nearby hospital.

His father's last words were: "My son shot me... with a glock," according to the officer's testimony. "He is schizophrenic."

Haynes received treatment at Patton State Hospital after his arrest. His defense attorney said he could not understand the charges against him and assist in his own defense.

His sister, Kimberly, told NBC 7 San Diego, Haynes had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

However, a court ruled him mentally competent to stand trial.

The 149th running of the Belmont Stakes, the last leg of the Triple Crown, is on Saturday, beginning at 3:37 p.m. PT on NBC (your station's name here).

Coverage of the race kicks off at 2 p.m. PT and you can watch it all live at home or on the go via NBC Live.

You can live stream the Preakness on NBC7.com on your desktop or laptop computer or your mobile device by clicking on this link. You can also watch the coverage on our app available via the Apple store here or Google Play here. All you need is your TV service provider’s username and password.

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The Sweetwater Union High School District (SUHSD) will pay $9.3 million to a family whose son was seriously hurt during physical education class at Eastlake Middle School in Chula Vista.

In March 2015 an unsecured soccer goal post fell on Marco LaFarga, fracturing his skull and jaw.

An eighth-grader at the time, La Farga had tried to do a pull up on the post before it fell on him.

He was airlifted to Rady Children’s Hospital where he spent more than a month receiving treatment.

His Attorney, Horacio Barraza says LaFarga suffered hearing loss, memory loss, and blurred vision. Barraza also said LaFarga “will need additional medical treatment; he will need additional cerebral angiograms.”

Last month, NBC 7 Investigates looked at soccer goal safety in the city of San Diego, and found goals not properly stored, that is, not locked to a fence or to each other when not in use.

NBC 7 Investigates also found goals not anchored down during soccer practices. At the time, the soccer clubs said they would make changes to ensure safety.

NBC 7 Investigates went back three weeks later to check.

At Robb Field in Ocean Beach, NBC 7 Investigates found the goals still were not properly stored and locked. A spokesperson for the club that uses Robb Field sent NBC 7 Investigates this statement:

“Since your original broadcast and conversation with us regarding soccer goal safety, we have implemented steps to meet the recommendations noted in your broadcast. To that end, we have initiated a tighter stacking of the goals each evening, with double cable locks on each side ensuring the immobility of the goals so that they cannot me moved or tipped. Moreover, we secure the entire assembly to a fixed object, so that the goals cannot be moved in mass.

Additionally, we are investigating whether a larger cage can be constructed at the facility so that all goals can be locked within the cage each night. On the weekends, when not in use, the goals are broken down and stored in a smaller cage. When the goals are in use by other user groups on the weekends, we have initiated a contractual process with them, mandating that they return to the condition/position in which they were provided and that the assembly is re-locked using the cable procedure noted above.

Unfortunately, last night the personnel that we utilize to perform the procedure was unexpectedly called away early in the evening, and the goals were stacked without the cable locks. It was unfortunate and was the first time they were not locked since your original story aired. We fully support the safety recommendations advanced by your broadcast, and can assure you that these goals will continue to be locked and stored in a safe manner.”

Later, the spokesman added, the club “has added another layer in which our goal crews must text me and our director every night confirming "goals locked."

At Hickman Field, NBC 7 Investigates still found only one side of the posts was locked to the fences, rather than both sides. NBC 7 Investigates did see a change.

The turf manager said sandbags are now being used to anchor the goals during practices, saying the club took action immediately.

“There’s no reason not to take it seriously. The impact of what could happen is too big.”

Barraza said the LaFarga family is mindful of the fact that this accident, as unfortunate as it was, put the spotlight on some of these issues.

The SUHSD said it has learned lessons and has taken safety and precautionary steps to make sure something like this never happens again.

Switzerland, anyone? 

Getting to Switzerland from San Diego just got easier: Edelweiss Air – the newest airline to serve the San Diego International Airport – has just launched a new nonstop service that takes travelers straight to Zurich.

On Friday evening, the inaugural nonstop flight from Zurich will arrive at the San Diego International Airport. The inaugural outbound flight from San Diego to Zurich will depart from the airport at 6:40 p.m.

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According to the Edelweiss Air website, the flight from Zurich to San Diego clocks in at around 12 hours and five minutes. There’s a nine-hour time difference between America’s Finest City and Zurich.

The airline operates in conjunction with Swiss International Air Lines. The San Diego Airport Authority said the flight would also be able to take San Diegans, via Zurich, to other destinations in Europe.

This marks the second nonstop San Diego to Europe flight to debut at the San Diego International Airport in just over a month. In early May, Condor Airlines launched its new nonstop service between San Diego and Frankfurt, Germany.

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While the flights are certainly convenient for travelers, the nonstop services may also give a boost to San Diego’s tourism and economy.

For information about this flight, travelers can call Edelweiss Air at (877) 359-7947.

Crews are fighting a brush fire on a hillside off the shoulder of Interstate 8 in El Cajon.

The fire sparked off the right shoulder of eastbound I-8 at Greenfield Drive, according to Heartland Fire.

Cal Fire reported the fire was holding at 3 acres at 4:47 p.m.

Heartland Fire said that helicopters are on scene dropping water on the fire.

Cal Fire and Heartland Fire crews are staging on the eastbound shoulder of the freeway and behind a Walmart store on Camino Canada.

The cause of the fire has not been confirmed. No injuries have been reported and no evacuations have been issued at this time.

A Sig alert has been issued for I-8 in both directions, according to the California Highway Patrol (CHP).

San Diego County Sheriff's deputies are also on scene.

No other information was available.

Please refresh this page for updates on this story. Details may change as more information becomes available.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer used his veto power Thursday to restore funding for a special election that would place a hotel tax measure and SoccerCity on the ballot in November.

“Several city councilmembers, who have publicly supported the convention center expansion, fixing our streets and helping the homeless, are being squeezed by their political backers to kill these ballot measures. I urge them to vote their conscience, use this restored funding to call a special election and let the public have the final say,” Faulconer said, in a statement.

Funding for a $5 million special election in November was blocked by the City Council Monday in an 8-1 vote. But the council approved the overall $3.6 billion budget for the Fiscal Year 2018.

Following the vote, Faulconer announced he would use his veto authority to override the City Council's decision.

They mayor's veto also included other changes to next year's budget, including shifting funding to the San Diego Police Department retention program.

“The City Council and I are united in supporting our police officers, who maximize their resources every day to keep our neighborhoods safe. The councilmembers who made the motion to amend my budget proposal said they wanted more resources for police, so I have reallocated funding from their office budgets for that very purpose,” said Faulconer.

To override a mayoral veto, the City Charter requires a City Council supermajority--six of nine votes--and must do so within five business days.

The City Council will meet Monday to consider calling a special election in November and whether a hotel tax measure should be on the ballot. On June 19, the council will consider whether to place the SoccerCity initiative on the ballot.

The hotel tax hike would be used to fund a Convention Center expansion, street upgrades, and homelessness programs.

As public ways of expressing anger become increasingly common on social media, some insurance companies are now offering policies to cover individuals for slander, libel and defamation of character.

Robert Grimstad said he was going through a divorce, when his ex-wife lashed out at him on social media.

"[She] pretty much just wished I'd die. Stuff like that... wished my train would run off the tracks," he said.

The new insurance policy is a protection available to consumers as the use of social media expands and more people could face lawsuits from their public conversations.

Attorney David Hiden offered a quick explanation of defamation law. If you call someone a jerk or a loser, that's an opinion. That's protected by the first amendment, considered freedom of speech.

"Defamation is where you make a statement about somebody and it is absolutely false and you have the evidence to prove it," said Hiden, who says he's seen a 50 percent increase in the number of defamation cases he's taken.

Hiden also says he receives two calls a day from people wanting to sue others for slander or libel.

This is so common that major insurance companies like Allstate, Farmers and State Farm all have umbrella insurance policies that help cover legal fees in case you're sued for defamation. They can add an additional $100 to $200 dollars to an existing homeowner's policy.

Hiden warns that defamation cases can be difficult to win.

"If I saw you pushing your child, and I told everybody on social media that you are a child abuser, that's probably more opinion statement," he said. "It would be hard to do something about that."

It may not make financial sense for people to sue someone for damages, even if it's a clear cut case, explained Hiden.

"Realistically, it doesn't make any sense to spend $100,000 to take a case to trial, when you have a 20-year-old college kid who's spreading defamatory comments and they have no funds" said Hiden.

According to Hiden, the most common defamation suits arise from breakups of spouses or boyfriends and girlfriends who write horrible things about each other online. Critical comments or reviews about businesses online can also spark defamation lawsuits.

San Diego Caltrans construction crews will close State Route 78 (SR-78) in both directions between Indian Oaks and Weekend Villa roads starting Friday.

The 10-day closure starts at 9.m. Friday and lasts until 5 a.m. on Monday, June 19.

According to Caltrans, the closure is needed to allow crews to reconstruct a section of the highway to stabilize a downhill slope on the north side.

A lengthy detour will be set up from Cloverdale and San Pasqual roads on the west side to Main Street/State Route 67 (SR-67) on the east side.

Caltrans said motorists on eastbound SR-78 will be detoured south on Cloverdale and San Pasqual roads, then south on Bear Valley and Via Rancho parkways. They will continue southbound on Interstate 15, then head east on Scripps Poway Parkway, which will then route north on SR-67 and on to SR-78.

Westbound motorists will follow the same detour in the opposite direction, Caltrans said.

There will be no access through the construction zone but motorists may travel on either side of the closure.

Caltrans said local traffic will be able to access SR-78 between Cloverdale and San Pasqual roads as well as Indian Oaks and Weekend Villa roads, SR-67 and Main Street.

Caltrans warns that motorists can expect delays, urging motorists to plan ahead and allow extra time for travel during the 10-day period.

While Silicon Valley and San Francisco continue to dominate as leaders in tech, San Diego appears to have made its own mark by making the number nine slot on the Top 25 Tech Cities list, according to a study published by Cushman & Wakefield, a global real estate services firm.

The study found that America’s Finest City outranked Los Angeles, which holds the number 18 spot, and Orange County, which came in at number 20.

According to the report, cities were ranked based on a series of factors such as talent, capital, and growth opportunity.

In the report, Ken McCarthy, Principle Economist and Applied Research Lead, says “tech is in everything.”

“Basically every company today is a tech company in one way or another. We’re all using it, we’re using various aspects of tech companies to do various things,” McCarthy added.

Cities that hold the top five rankings are:

1. San Jose (Silicon Valley)

2. San Francisco

3. Washington, D.C.

4. Boston/Cambridge, MA

5. Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, NC

The report’s co-author and Regional Director, Robert Sammons, said that mass-transit issues and rising housing costs in San Francisco and San Jose have caused a tech spillover into secondary markets, such as San Diego.

Cushman & Wakefield said they conducted the study in order to gain better insight for its clients into existing and emerging tech centers that are driving much of today’s U.S. economy.

A former beauty queen who lost her crown now is suing an East County beauty pageant as well as the founder of the pageant, El Cajon City Councilman Ben Kalasho.

The lawsuit claims fraud, intentional infliction of emotional distress and defamation. The suit was filed on behalf of Zhala Tawfiq, who on May 19, 2016 was named the winner of the Miss Middle East Beauty Pageant, USA.

At the time, she was presented with a $2,000 oversized check. According to the lawsuit, that represented a "cash prize" for winning the pageant.

Instead, the suit claims, three days after the competition, Tawfiq was given a "contract offering $2,000 in wages."

Jimmie Parker, the attorney representing Tawfiq said, “It is a bait and switch, and under the eyes of the law, that’s fraud, very simple. She won a $2,000 prize. She was not given a $2,000 prize.”

Parker also said some of the terms outlined in the contract were unreasonable and onerous.

“The reason he removed her as the pageant winner is because he requested unfettered access to her Facebook and Instagram account.”

According to the contract, the winner will “post on any and all social media any and all requests” made by the pageant, its founder Ben Kalasho, and the Chaldean Chamber.

Kalasho said Tawfiq was “dethroned” because she did not perform duties outlined in the contract she signed. He added those duties included making public appearances, selling tickets to charitable events and posting in a timely fashion on social media.

“She has to post in a timeline of our choosing and that’s pretty typical of beauty pageants,” said Kalasho. “Some pageants request they hand over their logins and passwords. We don’t require that, but we do require a professional relationship and if there’s an event coming up, you have to go to announce the event.”

Kalasho also noted Tawfiq cashed two of the three installments she received.

The lawsuit also alleges defamation. It claims someone published on social media four photos of Tawfiq's likeness on the bodies of nude women.

The suit does not specify who is responsible, only naming "DOE ONE".

Parker said his client has good faith and reason to believe Kalasho and/or his associates are responsible.

But Kalasho denies any involvement with that.

"It's easily disproved. You know, if they want to look up IP addresses or whatever, then they are free to do that. I don't want to comment those," Kalasho said. "It saddens me to see that happen to anybody, let alone a previous queen--whether or not she was decrowned or not."

He said he is sorry it happened and hopes they will find the person responsible.

It's the event that kicks off those end-of-the-school-year feels.

Hundreds of spectators gathered around Urey Hall at the University of California, San Diego to take part in the annual Watermelon Drop. The event kicked off at noon on Friday with a performance from the UC San Diego Pep Band.

UC San Diego has held the Watermelon Drop for the last 52 years. Each year, an honoree, known as “Watermelon Royalty”, races up seven stories of Urey Hall to send a watermelon plunging towards the concrete.

This year’s Watermelon Royalty was Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at Revelle College, Liora Kian Gutierrez (UC San Diego Class of ’84). Gutierrez will be retiring at the end of June, after serving the campus for 35 years, according to the university.

Friday's splat was measured at 103-feet and 3-inches, the university said.

The goal of the drop is to break the 1974 splat record of 167-feet and 4-inches. The first watermelon splat from Urey Hall measured 91 feet.

The end of the school year tradition started back in 1965, when Revelle freshmen took a physics class with Professor Bob Swanson.

On a final exam, Swanson asked, “if a watermelon was dropped from a 7-story building, where would the farthest piece land?” He also asked students to solve what the watermelon's velocity would be on impact to the ground, according to UC San Diego.

Members of the class then arranged the first-ever Watermelon Drop from the top of Urey Hall.

Swanson then asked students at the end of the final to pick a "Watermelon Queen" who would throw the watermelon off Urey Hall.

The first ever Watermelon Queen to hurl the fruit to the ground was Elizabeth Huller. The title Watermelon Queen has been changed to Watermelon Royalty over the years.

According to UC San Diego, the terminal velocity of a watermelon when it hits the ground is 112 miles per hour.

Following the 2017 Watermelon Drop, Revelle College offered attendees treats, including cake and plenty of watermelon.

San Diegans supported homeless veterans by donating to a clothing drive Friday, that collected items for next month's 30th annual Stand Down for Homeless Veterans.

It's a three-day program that provides homeless veterans with comprehensive services to help get them off the streets and reintegrated with the community, according to Veterans Village of San Diego.

The veterans also receive shelter, food, clothing, showers, medical, legal, recovery support and other needed services.

Veterans will have a safe haven to put down their burdens and lift themselves up to the possibilities of change, which is often a rarity, according to Veterans Village of San Diego.

This event is made possible each year by the dedication of the San Diego veterans' community, thousands of volunteers, hundreds of partner non-profit and government organizations and numerous event sponsors.

The Stand Down drive will start July 21 and run through July 23 at San Diego High School, said event representatives.

If you missed the opportunity to donate clothes but still wish to help out, you may sign up to volunteer for the event or donate money on their website.

More young people are dying from drug overdoses in San Diego, and across the country, according to a CDC study.

This continuing problem has led to the creation of the San Diego County Prescription Drug Abuse Task Force in 2008.

Now the group works to prevent and reduce prescription drug abuse in the region. In a recent study, the Task Force found that the most overdose deaths in 2014 happened to people between ages 25 and 44.

Over the last six years, the number of people dying from prescription drugs has remained steady, confirmed the San Diego County Medical Examiner.

Sherrie Rubin created the foundation, Hope2gether, after her son, Aaron Rubin, overdosed on Oxycontin at the age of 23.

“They’ve survived their addiction,” said Sherrie. "They’ve chosen not to go into recovery and they need higher and higher levels. And so, when they need to get to the next level, ultimately they are going to make a mistake and take too much."

Her son survived but now he is a quadriplegic. Aaron started taking prescription drugs at Poway High School while on the football team.

“He was a defensive football player and it is pretty brutal for Thursday night try-outs," explained Sherrie. "You are vetting for your position, teammate against teammate. There are a lot of injuries--sprained ankles, dislocated fingers, neck and back aches and he started self-medicating with painkillers."

Aaron was in a coma for a month after his overdose when his doctor asked Sherrie if she wanted to take him off life support.

She fought the idea and asked to see another MRI of her son’s brain. That’s when doctors found something miraculous. Aaron’s brain was improving and after changing his antibiotics – he opened his eyes within 24 hours.

“They weren’t the beautiful blue eyes I had known for 23 years. They were rolled back in his head," said Sherrie. "They were cloudy and gray. For a moment, I thought, ‘what have we done?"

"And in that same second I said, ‘My son is here. We will take each day and make it the best day we can’ and that’s what we have done," added Sherrie.

The Hope2gether Foundation works to “reduce and prevent prescription drug, heroin and other drug addiction, overdoses and deaths.”

Sherrie believes that there are two methods to controlling the rise in opioid addictions -- consumer protection and education.

“Any child or young adult is going to experiment with substances around them. They have for generations before us and they will generations after us. And unfortunately for this generation, they had hundreds of thousands of dangerous pills in medicine cabinets in America," said Sherrie.

"It’s important for parents to understand this could happen to anyone, as well as themselves. And to educate young adults about pain pills. That they are dangerous and if they are in the home to lock and secure them and lead by example."