Evacuations ordered as the Holcomb Fire in Big Bear scorched more than 850 acres.
Firefighters battled the blaze on the ground and in the air near Holcomb Valley Road and North Shore Drive.
An evacuation was ordered for the Baldwin Lake area and Tanglewood Campground, officials said.
The fire ignited during a pre-summer scorcher when temperatures were nearing or hitting triple digits.
Coronado golf pro Brian Smock moved closer to qualifying for the upcoming PGA Championship after carding a stellar 64 Monday the PGA Club Pro Championships in Oregon.
Smock was leading the tournament at one point and is currently tied for second place as of 7 p.m. PT.
The top 20 finishers qualify for golf’s 4th major later this year.
Smock was perfect on the front nine Monday picking up four birdies and five pars.
His only blemish came on the 14th hole, where he settled for his lone birdie of the day.
He finished (-7) for the round and moved to (-5) overall after opening up with a 74 on Sunday.
This tournament features more than 300 of the best club pro’s from around the nation and concludes on Wednesday.
Smock works as the head professional at the Coronado golf course and has joined NBC 7 Sports Wrap on multiple occasions as a guest golf analyst.
We will update his progress throughout the week.
One person was killed and two others were injured in a rollover crash in Mission Valley Monday evening, the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department (SDFD) said.
The crash occurred at 6:31 p.m. on the eastbound Interstate 8, west of Mission Gorge Road.
According to the California Highway Patrol, a vehicle appeared to have driven off Camino Del Rio South and landed on its roof on the freeway.
No other information was available.
Please refresh this page for updates on this story. Details may change as more information becomes available.
A statewide Flex Alert was issued by the California Independent System Operator (ISO) Monday afternoon for the following two days during the heat wave, according to San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E).
ISO is asking for voluntary electricity conservation between 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday.
SDG&E said it does not anticipate having issues meeting the energy demand over the course of the week. But the company is still encouraging customers to conserve energy.
With temperatures nearing triple digits in some parts of San Diego County, several "Cool Zones" have opened their doors.
You get a full list here.
SDG&E is also offering tips to conserve energy:
San Diego City Council members voted unanimously, 8-0, to put the SoccerCity initiative on the November 2018 ballot Monday, instead of a special election.
Councilmember Scott Sherman did say it's possible there could be another vote at a different time, leaving a small glimmer of hope for an earlier special election. During Monday's meeting, he stressed that he wanted to have a special election but will not because legal opinion does not support that motion.
San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer was less than pleased with the council's decision.
"The Council shelved a plan more than 100,000 San Diegans support," said Faulconer, in a statement. "Regardless of whether they personally supported or opposed SoccerCity, councilmembers should have given San Diegans the chance to vote when it mattered the most."
Councilmember Barbara Bry praised the motion.
"The City can now move forward expeditiously with a fair, transparent and competitive process to bring alternate options for the development of the Mission Valley site to the public prior to the November 2018 election," said Bry, in a statement.
For weeks, backers and opponents have had heated arguments over every detail of the plan, with a lot of passion on each side.
SoccerCity supporters say that failure to create a special election essentially kills the project, and time is money. They don't expect investors to wait around until 2018, with their plan calling for housing, hotels, a river park and a soccer stadium.
Major League Soccer officials say they are deciding on a city in December and won't pick San Diego if there's no soccer stadium.
Backers of the plan say a "no" to a special election is a "yes" to a decade-long delay on a redevelopment of the Qualcomm Stadium. City taxpayers pay $12 million a year on maintaining the deteriorating and abandoned football stadium.
Ideas from other developers could take years, while the city incurs millions of dollars in debt on the current stadium, according to supporters.
The project was so important to Pro Soccer player Landon Donovan that he left his wife in labor at the hospital to urge councilmembers to move forward with the project. He spoke of how he would explain this to his future child.
"They're gonna say, 'Dad, did you do everything you could to make this happen?'" said Donovan. "And I'm gonna look them in the eye and say 'Yeah, including risking missing the birth of my child.'"
San Diego State University officials issued the following statement regarding the initiative:
"We look forward to working with the City and other key stakeholders to evaluate the best use for the Mission Valley property with the goal of securing a future home for Aztec football and growing the university's academic and research endeavors."
An opponent of SoccerCity, Jack McGrory had another perspective to add.
"We want an open transparent land-use planning process with community involvement," said McGrory. "We want an open competitive bidding process. I don't know what the problem with competition is, to get the best possible deal for our city."
The Chicago Cubs added insult to injury Monday evening as they overcame a 2-0 deficit to beat the Padres 3-2.
Jose Pirela led off the contest with a solo shot on the third pitch of the game thrown by Cubs starter Jon Lester.
Padres infielder Yangervis Solarte then crushed his tenth homer of the season in the third frame to push San Diego’s lead to 2-0.
The Friars looked like they had the ingredients for a victory thanks to those two hits until San Diego catcher Austin Hedges was injured on a controversial play at the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Chicago’s Anthony Rizzo tried to tag from third base when former USD Torero Kris Bryant lined out to centerfield.
Padres outfielder Matt Szczur made the catch and unleashed a bullet towards home that bounced a couple times right on the money to Hedges.
Replays showed the catcher out in front of the plate allowing ample room for the Cubs first baseman to attempt a slide but Rizzo made no attempt to touch home plate and instead barreled right into Hedges with his knees and upper body.
Hedges held on for the catch and Rizzo was out at home, momentarily preserving the Cubs 2-1 lead at that point in the game.
But the Padres – any many fans on social media – believed it was dirty play.
The fact that Hedges left the game afterwards with what was later determined to be a right thigh bruise only fuels that fire. Luis Torrens wound up finishing the game behind the plate, and an inning later, the Cubs rallied against reliever Kirby Yates thanks to a home run by Jose Contreras and a double by Albert Almora Jr.
Hedges deflected questions after the game, saying he thought he gave Rizzo a lane to the plate but was just thankful to be able to walk away after the collision.
“I just got the wind knocked out of me,” said Hedges in the clubhouse, while admitting he would have to “take another look” at the collision.
Padres manager Andy Green did not hold back at expressing his disdain for the collision.
“From my perspective,” said a fired up Green, “when a guy hits a guy – that clearly gave him not just gave him half of the plate, he gave him the entire lane to the plate - and he’s probably safe if he slides to the back corner.
That’s where the frustration is. The frustration is that you expect the rule to protect you when you’re out there giving the guy the plate.”
“There needs to be something stronger after that transpires where the commissioner, baseball in general has to do something to be where you actually protect my catcher,” continued Green. “Because right now, it’s open season on him, if all it is - is out at the plate.”
The controversial crash overshadowed another solid outing by Clayton Richard.
The Padres lefty went 6.1 innings and was only charged with two earned runs and five hits.
Richard wound up with a no-decision.
Rookie reliever Phil Maton entered in the 8th inning and once again looked impressive.
The rookie right-hander blew away Cubs rookie Ian Happ with a 94 mile per hour fastball on a full count and finished with two strikeouts in a scoreless inning of work.
Be on the lookout for emotions to erupt the next two days especially when Rizzo steps into the batter’s box against a Friars pitcher.
Jhoulys Chacin takes the mound Tuesday against the Cubs starting at 5:50 p.m. Chicago counters with Mike Montgomery.
Hot temperatures are forecasted for the Southwest Tuesday, with the National Weather Service describing the heat wave as "extreme even by desert standards," NBC News reported.
The excessive heat warnings are in effect Tuesday, the official start of summer, for all of California and Arizona, as well as parts of Nevada, Utah and New Mexico.
Temperatures are expected to reach a high of 122 degrees in Phoenix, while Las Vegas is expected to reach 117 degrees, according to the weather service.
In California, residents were asked to conserve energy through Wednesday, as the high temperatures are expected to drive up air conditioner use.
The City Council unanimously voted Monday night to support SB54 and declared itself a so-called "compassionate community" for refugees and immigrants.
Dozens gathered for the meeting where the council also discussed the possibility of becoming a sanctuary or welcoming city.
NBC 7 reached out to the city regarding their decision to forgo those options and declare itself a "compassionate community".
"We want to define ourselves, we don’t want to belong to some organization," said National City Mayor Ron Morrison.
SB54 makes California a statewide sanctuary for many people who are in the country illegally.
This decision comes after the parents of four children in National City were detained by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in May.
Rosenda Perez, 48, was reunited with her family Monday night at the San Ysidro trolley station after posting bail three days earlier. Her husband, 51-year-old Francisco Duarte, remains in custody at the Otay Mesa Detention Center.
Following the incident, many in the community have been on edge. Even the council's decision to become a "compassionate city" Monday night did not ease the fears of deportation.
"We want the council to listen and to hear us when we say the people here need to be safe, to feel safe," said Michelle Gates told NBC 7 Monday.
Gates, 48, has made National City her home for the last 15 years. She said she wants National City's mayor and the City Council to become a "welcoming city".
For her, Gates said it means everyone is welcome.
"We will serve everyone who is here. We will serve you to the best of our ability," Gates said. "Doesn't matter who you are. Where you're from."
According to allegations brought up in court Friday, the couple rented ice cream carts to undocumented immigrants and profited from the sales. They also allowed the individuals to stay at their home.
But the couple's children and many community members claim they were targeted unjustly, despite not having a criminal record.
"We have majority Mexicano and Asian community and many of them are of mix status families," said Benjamin Prado, a community organizer. "We do believe the city can do more to protect undocumented migrants who are working in the city."
Neurologists are lending their expert opinion to help explain what may have led to the death of Otto Warmbier, saying an infection or blood clot could have killed him, NBC News reported.
Warmbier's family said he died Monday just days after returning from North Korea, when doctors described his state as "unresponsive wakefulness," or a persistent vegetative state.
Neurologists suggested that Warmbier could have died so suddenly after returning because he may have had pneumonia or another infection, which could have led his family to focus on quality of life over treatment.
Another expert suggested that his vegetative state would have made it easy for his body to form a blood clot, and that the long flight from North Korea could have made the clot more likely to break off and travel to the lungs.
Three New Hampshire juveniles could face hate crime charges after an an alleged assault on the Boston musician known as "Keytar Bear."
Keytar Bear is a well-known street musician who dresses in a bear costumes and plays music in various places across Boston.
Boston police responded to a call Saturday at 4:40 p.m. in the area of Congress and State Streets for an assault and battery in progress.
A responding officer saw the well-known Keytar Bear surrounded by a group of young men in what appeared to be a fight.
When the officer approached with the lights and sirens activated on his cruiser, the young men fled on foot.
Witnesses were able to point the officer in the direction of the suspects where he observed the young men climbing up the scaffolding of a building and laying down on a platform in an attempt to hide.
When the officer ordered the suspects to come down, they complied.
Following an investigation, police learned that Keytar Bear had been attacked by the suspects while he was playing music near Faneuil Hall.
The suspects allegedly ripped off Keytar Bear’s mask before striking him several times in the face and body while calling him racial slurs.
Police said when witnesses attempted to intervene, the suspects also hurled racial slurs at them before fleeing.
Jessica Baldwin, of Nashville, Tennessee, was in town for Sail Boston with her 10-year-old son, Thompson Fine, when they witnessed the attack.
"Right after I took the picture of the guy with his arm around Keytar Bear, he slammed his face down into the ground, took his bear head off," Baldin recalled. "I didn't see the punching, but you could hear the screaming."
Police said the suspects damaged Keytar Bear's equipment in the attack. He sustained a facial laceration and swelling to the right eye.
"He later said he felt it was a hate crime. That it was racially driven," Baldwin said.
When the suspects allegedly stole Keytar Bear's tips, that's when Baldwin's son stepped up to the plate.
"I gave him $4," Fine recalled. "And I got a sticker badge."
Since news of the attack, there have been numerous online messages to the anonymous bear. A GoFundMe account set up to help him purchase new equipment had raised $4,800 as of Monday afternoon.
"I am heartbroken about what happened. We love you and what you give to Boston and we all have your back. You are a treasure," wrote one fan.
Saturday's attack was not the first on Keytar Bear, but the fourth over the years.
The three juveniles - a 15-year-old from Londonderry, a 16-year-old from Salem and a 17-year-old from Manchester - were arrested and charged with assault and battery and disorderly conduct. The 16-year-old was also charged with possession of alcohol by a minor.
Prosecutors said they are also reviewing the case for potential hate crime charges.
The three teens were arraigned on Monday and released into their parents' custody with orders to stay away from the victim, witnesses and Faneuil Hall.
Bullets often carve a fatal path: About 36,000 Americans were killed by a firearm in 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but nearly 85,000 gunshot victims treated in emergency rooms survived.
NBC News spoke to six people about how surviving a gunshot wound has changed their lives. Sara Cusimano was shot when she was kidnapped and raped at 13. Today, she continues to struggle with PTSD: "That millisecond decision that he made destroyed the entire rest of my life."
A police officer and Army sniper opened up about their experiences being wounded in the line of duty.
NBC News also spoke to a woman who survived an attack by her husband and a man who was shot by a robber, as well as a man who was accidentally shot by his friend as a boy.
An armed Russian jet came within a few feet of an American reconnaissance aircraft flying in international airspace Monday, three defense officials told NBC News.
The officials characterized the intercept over the Baltic Sea as unsafe and unprofessional, with one saying the Russian pilot had "poor control" of the speeding aircraft.
Also on Tuesday, a U.S. fighter jet shot down a second drone belonging to the Syrian regime in a month.
The Shahed 129 drone was "showing hostile intent" to U.S. coalition forces on the ground, according to a U.S. defense official.
The persistent heat wave – rising temperatures, advisories and all – will usher in the summer season in San Diego.
The National Weather Service (NWS) San Diego said a heat advisory remains in effect for San Diego’s inland valleys and foothills – including Santee, El Cajon, and Escondido – through 9 p.m. Wednesday. In those areas, temperatures are expected to hit between 95 and 103 degrees.
“You have to take extra precaution to stay cool and really evaluate, throughout the day that you are taking care of yourself – drinking lots of water; frequent breaks in the shade if you have to be outside,” said NBC 7 meteorologist Jodi Kodesh.
Though the first full day of summer is on Wednesday, Kodesh noted the higher-than-average temperatures are making it feel as if the season is already here. She said the hottest day in the inland valleys would be Wednesday, at around 95 degrees.
By Thursday, inland temperatures will decrease a bit – to around 87 degrees. Same goes for Friday before a slight increase in temperatures for the weekend.
The NWS said an excessive heat warning is also in effect in San Diego’s deserts, including Borrego Springs and Banning, through 9 p.m. Thursday. Temperatures are forecasted to hit 116 to 122 degrees Tuesday and Wednesday, and 112 to 119 on Thursday.
Along the coast, however, temperatures will be significantly cooler, offering some respite from the heat wave.
Heat-related illness is common under these conditions. Strenuous outdoor activities should be avoided or rescheduled to early morning or evening hours. People should drink plenty of water and wear light and loose-fitting clothing. Kids and pets should never be left unattended in hot cars, as car interiors can reach lethal temperatures within minutes amid heat waves like this.
A 43-year-old man heading to the restroom at Balboa Park's Morley Field was robbed at gunpoint and then stabbed, San Diego police said.
The man, who has not been identified, drove to Morley Field when he needed to use the restroom, police said. The field is near Upas and Villa Streets.
He was standing behind a tree in the park when he saw a man approaching him; the victim went to check to see if the restrooms were open, police said.
As he walked toward the restrooms, the man said something in Spanish.
The victim replied that he did not speak Spanish, police said.
A second suspect then approached the man from his left side and pulled out a gun, police said. At the same time, the first suspect jabbed a knife at him and demanded the victim's bracelet.
The victim gave the suspects his bracelet, valued at $40, then took them to his car, where he said he would give them money.
As he turned, one of the suspects stabbed him in the abdomen.
The victim ran to his car and called 911, then drove himself to the hospital with a non-life-threatening injury.
The suspects were seen heading eastbound through the park. The first was described as a 50- to 60-year-old man approximately 5 feet 5 inches tall and heavy. The second suspect was described as a man in his 20s approximately 5 feet 11 inches tall to 6 feet tall. Both were seen wearing dark clothing.
Police are investigating.
Medics rushed to help an injured hiker on Cowles Mountain, a popular hiking spot in San Diego, amid rising temperatures.
Emergency personnel used a helicopter to perform the rescue around 9:15 a.m. Tuesday morning. The hiking trail is located off Golfcrest Drive and Navajo Road, east of Mission Valley and Grantville.
The man fractured his wrist while hiking and lost consciousness.
When medics arrived, he was conscious again. Fire-Rescue crews responded; footage from the NBC 7 Chopper overhead shows the victim walking down the trail with medics.
No other information was available.
Six San Diego startups were chosen as finalists for Startup Stadium, a pitch competition for early-stage entrepreneurs going this week at the 2017 BIO International Convention.
BIO is the largest biotechnology conference in the world, and it’s taking place this year at San Diego’s convention center. The Startup Stadium, now in its third year at BIO, helps startups connect with investors, venture philanthropy groups, and other attendees of the conference.
Finalists for the pitch event were chosen from 100 applicants, with 40 startups making it through to the current round. Biotech startups from 14 states, along with Canada, Germany and India, made the finals. Now, those 40 startups will give 5-7 minute pitches in front of investors.
“In many cases, early stage biotechs don’t have the right access to investors and other stakeholders, so the Startup Stadium is designed to help fill that gap,” said Jim Greenwood, BIO’s president and CEO, in a statement. “It’s a fantastic program in that it allows us to reach some of the most overlooked regions for biotech start-ups, which traditionally have limited access to investor engagement, feedback and representation.”
The six San Diego startups on the list are:
• Actavalon Inc. — focuses on the development of a drug with the potential to target and eradicate human cancer cells.
• Agribody Technologies — owns unique crop yield-enhancing genetic technology that can also improve stress tolerance, disease resistance and product shelf life.
• Aquam LLC. — offers a packaged water treatment plant that can deliver a four-hour treatment time, reduce total sludge volumes and recover energy as direct electricity.
• Notogen Inc. — developed a therapeutic to stop and reverse spinal disc degeneration, a condition strongly associated with back pain.
• OrPro Therapeutics Inc. — developing a therapeutic platform to treat diseases such as cystic fibrosis
• Xycrobe Therapeutics Inc. —developing innovations that turn microbes into vehicles for the delivery of biotherapeutics.
Startup Stadium pitches will take place Tuesday through Thursday (June 20-22) of this week.
Commissioner Timothy Alan Simon, a key figure in the 2012 hearings to determine a rate hike for San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) ratepayers to cover the costs of the 2007 wildfires, accepted thousands of dollars in gifts at the time, according to the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).
SDG&E first owed $463 million to firestorm victims after an independent report by Cal Fire had determined its power lines caused the Witch, Rice, and Guejito fires a decade ago. Two people died and 1,300 homes burned down. Losses have run upwards of $2 billion.
But the company argued that some of the damage caused by the fire was out of their control.
In the 2012 hearings, SDG&E asked the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to retroactively impose a rate hike of nearly half a billion dollars to cover the cost of the fires, plus the cost of future damages.
The CPUC denied the company’s proposed rate hike during the hearings.
According to the FPPC, Simon was a member of CPUC from 2007 to 2012.
In 2012, Simon accepted gifts and travel-related payments from about 40 sources worth approximately $21,000.
In June of that year, Simon also received an over-the-limit gift worth about $1,600. He was required to disclose the gifts, but he failed to do so, FPPC said.
Simon is facing a proposed penalty of $5,500.
A driver rammed into the window of a 7-Eleven in City Heights Tuesday morning, creating quite the stir at the convenience store.
The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) said the driver, for unknown reasons, lost control of the wheel just after 11 a.m. and crashed into a 7-Eleven located at 3105 Fairmount Ave.
No one was hurt in the accident.
Engineers were asked to come to the business to evaluate the safety of the structure following the crash.
News helicopter footage showed several police cars at the scene of the crash; the front of the store was roped off with police tape.
The crash is under investigation.
A group of keepers at the San Diego Zoo are moonlighting as divers, forming a team that will help care for a new seawater habitat that will be home to penguins, fish and, eventually, leopard sharks.
The San Diego Zoo said the dive team – the first of its kind in the zoo’s history – is comprised of a team of reptile zookeepers that have been training since January. The team will care for the 200,000-gallon pool in the “Penguin Beach” section of the zoo’s new “Conrad Prebys Africa Rocks” exhibit, which opens this summer.
Twenty African penguins will live in the habitat, the zoo said, plus a variety of fish. Eventually, bottom-dwelling California leopard sharks will join the pool party.
The divers will inspect the exhibit and move the leopard sharks into a holding pool for exams and observation. They will also perform regular visual exams on the animals and help take care of their medical or behavioral needs.
Divers will work in teams of four, with two divers entering the pool at a time while the other two watch from a walkway above. The zoo said there’s also a “Designated Person in Charge” (DPIC) on the team, and that person will supervise emergency situations.
According to the San Diego Zoo, the Penguin Beach exhibit will help increase breeding efforts of endangered African penguins in North America. In time, the colony there will grow.
The African penguin has suffered an enormous population decline, from about 1 million breeding pairs to only 25,000 breeding pairs today, the zoo said. This is due to a variety of factors including a lack of fish to eat due to overfishing, climate change, oil and marine pollution, and habitat degradation, the zoo said. Predation by seals, sharks, and land-based predators has also contributed.
The first phase of “Africa Rocks” – including the Penguin Beach habitat – opens to the public on July 1. Five additional habitats – “Madagascar Forest,” “Ethiopian Highlands,” “West African Forest,” “Acacia Woodland,” and “Kopje” – will open phase-by-phase throughout the season.
