Video of a raccoon riding the subway, nibbling food out of a bowl as it's seated between two people, has New Yorkers alternately repulsed, amused and just plain bewildered. 

Subway rider Brooke Hogan told NBC 4 New York she took the video on a Lexington Avenue-line train heading uptown from 42nd Street last Tuesday. 

The raccoon is seen seated next to a woman -- apparently his owner or handler -- furiously licking food out of a small plastic bowl.

It's not clear from the video why the woman had a raccoon, or why she brought it on the subway. People in New York aren't allowed to have a raccoon without a license, and licenses aren't issued for pet wildlife, according to the city. 

People on social media were also apparently befuddled. On a popular Instagram account devoted to chronicling the quirky quotidian scenes of the subway, varying reactions flooded the comments: 

"Never sitting on the train again." 

"I'm not sure if I'm laughing or throwing up." 

"Are you kidding me?? How did people not freak out??" 

"New York subway is just game over, not even playing anymore."

"People become so strange in the summer."

"Next stop, Bronx zoo." 

"Raccoons are New Yorkers, too." 

"This is why the NYC subway is the best, and worst." 

It shouldn't be surprising that the subway raccoon was able to grip the bowl with its own paws -- the animals have "amazing dexterity, allowing them to open doors and untie knots," according to New York City's wildlife site. They can also rotate their back feet, allowing them to descend from trees headfirst.

New York City's wildlife site also says most raccoons pose no risk of transferring disease to humans, and the incidence of rabies in the New York City raccoon population is very small. Since 2014, the city and federal governments worked together to vaccinate raccoons on Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens against rabies.

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Still, people shouldn't approach or feed raccoons, the city warns: they can become a nuisance if people supply food or shelter. The "opportunistic feeders" will eat whatever is easily accessible, including fruit, nuts, fungi, insects, worms, birds, turtles, eggs, mice, bats, squirrels, fish, snakes, frogs, dead animals, bird feeder seed, pet food and human food waste. 

Most raccoon don't live past 6 years old in the wild. 

A message has been left with the MTA. 

The troop guarding Buckingham Palace has its first female commander after Canada's Captain Megan Couto took over Monday, Reuters reported.

The 24-year-old said she was honored to to lead her Canadian unit in the Changing of the Guard ceremony at the London palace, an event which regularly attracts thousands of tourists.

Guard duties are normally carried out by a detachment of an elite British army division, but Couto's unit from the Canadian Light Infantry was granted the opportunity to conduct the ceremony while in London to mark the 150th anniversary of the process that created modern Canada.

Because women were banned from combat roles in the British army until last year, no female infantry officers had led the changing of the guard before.

In the wake of three high-profile police shooting trials, criminal justice experts told NBC News that it is extremely difficult to convict a law enforcement officer for a fatal shooting.

A pair of Supreme Court rulings from the 1980s puts the law on the side of the police, particularly if they believe they are in danger of death or serious harm. Two of the recent cases, the fatal shootings of Philando Castile and Sylville Smith, hinged on questions of "reasonable fear."

"For better or worse, whether you believe in it or not, [the law] is very favorable to police use of force," said David A. Harris, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh. "That objective standard is very wide in terms of giving police discretion."

But civil rights advocates say that the wider social issue is implicit racial bias, the idea that everyone holds subconscious racial prejudices — including people in positions of supposed impartiality, like police and judges.

NBC 7 Gaby Rodriguez reports on how Cal Fire and other fire agencies are staffing up to prepare for fire danger.

Mexican emergency service officials are searching for a San Diego man and his two adult daughters who were expected to return from a trip to Baja's highest peak over the weekend.

The hikers are described as a 61-year-old man and his two daughters aged 20 and 25. The trio went to the San Pedro Mártir Park on Tuesday, June 20. The group planned to hike Picacho del Diablo on Friday and return to their car on Saturday, according to officials with the Civil Protection Baja California.

However, the car is still parked by the mountains, officials said, and no one has heard from the group for 48 hours.

A search operation was launched at 3:15 p.m. Monday. Volunteers are gathering to help with the search.

Officials said the consulate of the United States in Tijuana has already been informed.

Pichaco del Diablo is the highest peak in Baja, at over 10,000 feet. The Devil’s Peak is a challenging trail located more than a day’s drive south of Tijuana and the U.S.-Mexico border.

Because of the elevation, the area can be cold. Temperatures can dip below freezing at night even in the summer.

NBC 7's Omari Fleming reports from National City where an Army veteran got the help of firefighters to pull off a surprise for his fiancée and her son.

What's cooler than one billion? Two billion. 

That's how many users Facebook has, founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Tuesday in a post on the site. 

"We're making progress connecting the world, and now let's bring the world closer together," he wrote.

That means more than one quarter of the world is on the gigantic social media site that Zuckerberg founded in his Harvard dorm room in 2004. The United Nations estimated the world population at 7.4 billion in 2015.

Facebook hit the one billion-user mark in 2012, and in 2015, that same number used the platform in a single day. 

This February, Zuckerberg wrote in a long manifesto that he wanted to use Facebook to bring people closer together rather than simply connecting them.

"Across the world there are people left behind by globalization, and movements for withdrawing from global connection," Zuckerberg wrote.

It falls to his company to "develop the social infrastructure to give people the power to build a global community that works for all of us," he said.

Suzie’s Farm, an organic farm in San Diego’s Tijuana River Valley, is closing after eight years in business.

Co-founder Lucila De Alejandro announced the shuttering Monday in a Facebook video, citing financial difficulties.

The farm has become popular among local families thanks to its community events, such as Strawberry Jam in the spring and Pumpkin Palooza in the fall; its community-supported agriculture (CSA) program; and its presence at many San Diego area farmers markets.

In the video, De Alejandro said while the business had grown in popularity since it opened in 2009, its profits had not.

The farm has been losing “five figures a week,” she said. A partnership struck up last year in an effort to make the farm profitable has failed, she said.

De Alejandro and her husband, Robin Taylor, with whom she cofounded the farm, will continue to operate their other business, Sun Grown Organics Distributors Inc., she said.

A blood drive and a fair will be held in support of the veteran police officer who was targeted and struck by a driver while on duty in Oceanside, according to the Oceanside Police Officers' Association.

"We condemn this apparent act of violence toward one of our officers and urge the community to support him and his family," said Martin Morabe, President of the Oceanside Police Officer Association and fellow motorcycle officer, in a statement.

The blood drive and safety community fair are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, July 7. Oceanside police will support the event, said a spokesperson for the department.

According to the San Diego Blood Bank, the event will be held at the parking lot on 3855 Mission Avenue in Oceanside.

"As a community, we need to join together and condemn these acts of violence against law enforcement, in particular, our fellow officer who lies in the hospital struggling to recover from serious injuries he sustained when a suspect drove his car directly into him," stated Morabe.

Brad Hunter, a 29-year veteran of the department, was intentionally run over by a driver while he was conducting a traffic stop on another vehicle. The suspect was arrested shortly after, and faces charges of attempted murder.

Hunter was seriously injured and flown to Scripps Memorial Hospital by an air ambulance. San Diego Blood Bank officials say he underwent emergency surgery for a shattered lower leg.

He had extensive reconstructive surgery and was placed in a medically-induced coma, said Blood Bank officials. Hunter remained in the coma for two days due to a severe head injury.

Since then, Hunter has left the ICU and is currently awake. He is in "good spirits" but faces a long road to recovery, said Blood Bank officials.

"Fortunately, Officer Hunter is now conscious and is doing well and is expected to be able to be discharged from the hospital at some point in the near future," said Deputy District Attorney Keith Watanabe.

Oceanside police told the San Diego Blood Bank that Hunter is one of the kindest, gentlest souls you could ever meet.

"He loves his job, his family and friends and he is a huge Star Wars fan too," said a statement, from the Oceanside Police Department. "Officer Hunter and his wife, Vanessa, have a strong desire to create something positive out of this difficult situation by coming together with the community to host a blood drive in an effort to help other trauma victims."

Visit the San Diego Blood Bank to book an appointment for the blood drive. Blood donors should bring an I.D., drink plenty of fluids and maintain usual eating habits while avoiding fatty foods if possible, said Blood Bank officials.

The Oceanside Police Officer's Association Foundation (OPOAF) is also accepting donations at the event.

San Diego, ‘hips don’t lie’ -- and neither do we: Shakira is coming to Valley View Casino Center on Feb. 9, 2018.

The 12-time Grammy Award-winning singer/performer will finally hit the road again (her last San Diego show was back in 2010) with a world tour scheduled in support of her just-released album, “El Dorado.” 

The 18-date North American trek kicks off Jan. 9, 2018, in Orlando, Florida -- with its penultimate stop here in town -- before wrapping up the next night in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Feb. 10.

Tickets for the El Dorado World Tour go on sale June 30 at 10 a.m. PST via Shakira’s website. Pre-sale tickets will be made available to Citi cardholders between June 27 at 10 a.m. and June 29 at 10 p.m. PST. Go here for details.

El Dorado North American Tour Dates 

• Jan. 9: Orlando, FL @ Amway Center
• Jan. 11: Sunrise, FL @ BB&T Center
• Jan. 12: Miami, FL @ American Airlines Arena
• Jan. 16: Washington D.C. @ Verizon Center
• Jan. 17: New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
• Jan. 19: Montreal, Canada @ Bell Centre
• Jan. 20: Toronto, Canada @ Air Canada Centre
• Jan. 22: Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
• Jan. 23: Chicago, IL @ United Center
• Jan. 26: Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
• Jan. 28: Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
• Jan. 29: San Antonio, TX @ AT&T Center
• Feb. 1: Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
• Feb. 3: Phoenix, AZ @ Talking Stick Resort Arena
• Feb. 6: Anaheim, CA @ Honda Center
• Feb. 7: San Jose, CA @ SAP Center
• Feb. 9: San Diego, CA @ Valley View Casino Center
• Feb. 10: Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena

A U.S. Army veteran turned the tables on his loved ones Monday, coordinating a surprise reunion after more than a year overseas. To help pull it off, he reached out to members of the National City Fire Department.

Tim Gomez has spent the past 386 days in Afghanistan as a civilian working for the U.S. Department of Defense. As the time neared for him to come home, Gomez and his fiancée, Erika Salazar, wanted to surprise Salazar's son.

But Gomez decided to surprise them both.

“I like to take it up a notch,” laughed Gomez about his surprise.

Gomez told his fianceé that his return was scheduled for August, not June.

Then he arranged for 9-year-old Sebastian Zuniga, a big fan of firefighters, to meet a man he thought was the newest firefighter at Fire Station 34 in National City.

What Sebastian didn't realize is that the person beneath the mask and firefighting gear was someone he already knows.

Gomez's smooth, stealthy moves paid off when he removed the mask covering his face.  He got a hug from Sebastian who has been counting the days and wearing the Army vet's dog tags since he's been overseas.

“I feel glad because he's home and I thought he would be back in August,” said Sebastian. 

Meanwhile, Tim's fiancée, Erika, was speechless.

When asked what the surprise meant to her, she hugged Gomez tighter.

The surprise reunion made possible with the help of the National City firefighters. 

“It’s very emotional and makes your heart warm to be able to be part of that. It’s a great feeling,” said Battalion Chief Mark Beveridge of the National City Fire Department.

Parts of San Diego County are in for another day of intense heat and elevated fire dangers Tuesday.

The National Weather Service (NWS) San Diego said a Red Flag Warning remains in effect through 1 a.m. Wednesday for the deserts and desert slopes in San Diego County. This includes Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and the San Gorgonio Pass near Banning.

Along with the heat, strong, gusty winds and low humidity is in the forecast – a combination that heightens the risk of wildfires.

The NWS said gusts in the deserts could reach between 15 and 35 mph. At its lowest point, the humidity will hover around 5 percent, increasing to 10 to 15 percent late Tuesday night.

If a wildfire sparks in these conditions, it will likely spread quickly. The NWS said outdoor burning of any kind should be avoided under the Red Flag Warning.

As a precaution, Alpine Fire Marshal Jason McBroom said homeowners should not use metal blades if working in their gardens, including for weed whacking.

"All you need is that one spark," he said. "What we're going to try to do is re-educate homeowners and let them know, no fireworks, no open sources of ignition where anything could happen."

NBC 7 meteorologist Jodi Kodesh said temperatures across the county will drop slightly today – but not enough to make a big difference. The weather, she said, will feel a lot like what San Diegans experienced on Monday.

Areas like Poway, El Cajon, and Escondido will be in the mid-90s; San Diego’s foothills will also feel the heat. Deserts will reach around 110 degrees, Kodesh said in her First Alert forecast.

In the East County, the hot weather is in the forecast at least through Wednesday.

“We’re basically sitting in a dry dome,” said Kodesh, referring to the lack of water vapor over the state of California.

At around 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, a brush fire sparked on a hillside at Dehesa and Sloan Canyon roads in the East County. The Sloane Fire quickly burned about 20 acres; firefighters were able to stop its forward rate of spread about an hour later

These conditions can cause heat-related illness; the elderly, children and those unaccustomed to excessive heat will be most susceptible. 

By the week's end, temperatures will decrease a bit, giving locals some relief.

Southern California is used things heating up this time of year. The NWS said that on June 27, 1976, Alpine set a record-high for the month of June hitting 109 degrees. More heat history on this date for SoCal can be seen here:

Cal Fire crews battled a 20-acre fire in hot, dry conditions along Dehesa Road in San Diego's East County Tuesday.

The Sloane Fire broke out at 9:45 a.m. in an area with medium fuel according to Cal Fire officials. The fire was moving at a moderate rate of spread as of 10 a.m with no immediate structures threatened.

The area of the fire was near Dehesa and Sloane Canyon roads, east of Sycuan Casino and Golf Course.

In less than an hour the fire jumped from 3 to 4 acres to approximately 20, according to Cal Fire San Diego.

More than a dozen ground crew members were fighting flames as they burned through brush along a hillside. An NBC 7 News crew on the scene said water drops had begun before 10:30 a.m.

Just before 11 a.m., Cal Fire released the air tankers. One helicopter will stay at the fire.

Officials said they have not determined the cause of the fire.

A defensible space inspector who was in the area noticed the fire and called it in, Capt. Jon Heggie told NBC 7.

"The fire really is a result of the dry and hot temperatures we've seen over the last three days now resulting in really ripe conditions for burning," Heggie said. 

Cal Fire and local government agencies were working on the fire including Sycuan Reservation.

A Red Flag Warning has been issued for San Diego County effective until 1 a.m. Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Weather conditions are hot and dry, providing the potential for any fire to grow quickly.

NBC 7 Meteorologist Jodi Kodesh said winds in the area of the Sloane Fire are only 5-10 mph. Because of the fire’s position west of the mountains, wind speeds will not be high, she added.

The most recent temperature recorded near the fire is 91 degrees at Sycuan Golf Resort. Humidity is at 10 percent.

Were the fire to spark a little farther east, it could've been a very different story, Kodesh said. The winds in that area are gusting 20 to 30 mph.

No other information was available.

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

Community leaders considered ways to stop the deportation of U.S. military veterans at a public forum in Kearny Mesa Tuesday morning.

"The reality is we can't be one as a people when we've left hundreds, if not thousands of people behind," said Nathan Fletcher, a former state assemblyman and chair of the coalition group, "Honorably Discharged, Dishonorably Deported."

The coalition group says they've confirmed that 300 U.S. veterans have been deported. But the group claims the actual number is much higher.

Many immigrant veterans believe that when they serve in the U.S. military, they will automatically become citizens, according to the coalition group. Some are even manipulated into believing this by recruiters.

But immigrants do not automatically become citizens by serving in the U.S. military. They must return to the U.S. and apply to become a citizen.

"The military is not just a part of the economy of San Diego," said Fletcher. "It's a part of the culture of San Diego. It's part of who we are as a people. And at the end of the day, those of us who served and fought, we abide by the premise that everyone comes home. That you leave no one behind."

At the meeting, a common theme was the importance of educating foreign-born veterans about their risk of deportation.

Some veterans may get into trouble with the law after deployment or struggle to rehabilitate into civilian life when they return home. If they develop a criminal record, many foreign-born veterans are deported. That includes some veterans from San Diego.

A short video was shown before the panel discussion about one veteran's experience serving in the U.S. military and being deported to Mexico later after a run-in with the law. He was separated from his daughter living in the U.S.

The coalition estimates there are about 30,000 non-citizen veterans living in San Diego County and Los Angeles.

Other community leaders who attended the event included Norma Chavez-Peterson, Executive Director of the ACLU San Diego and Imperial Counties; Hector Barajas, Director and Founder of Deported Veterans Support House, Rick Reyes of Cal Vet Minority Veterans Division and former deported veteran Daniel Torres.

About 300,000 foreign-born U.S. veterans were living in the U.S. in 2016, according to ACLU California's July 2016 report. 

A new report by the U.S. State Department lays out which countries are adhering to U.S. guidelines on Human Trafficking. The report divides the world into three tiers: those who fully meet minimum standards outlined in The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) for addressing human trafficking, those who don't fully meet the standards but who are making an effort to combat trafficking, and those who are not meeting the standards and are not making an effort to do so. 

Human trafficking is the coercion of others to perform sex work, involuntary servitude or forced labor. A widespread form of modern-day slavery, victims are often smuggled across borders to work for nothing, though many are enslaved without migration. 

It's an international problem that ruins the lives of thousands of women, children and men. In 2016, over 66,000 victims of trafficking were identified by the 2017 U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report, but many more victims than this suffer in silence. Trafficking tears families apart and distorts nations' economies. Some governments are now beginning to address the crisis by adhering to the TVPA. 

Check out the map above to see what countries are doing the most and least to address human trafficking.

The TVPA defines “severe forms of trafficking in persons” as:

1. Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age; or

2. The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery. 

Here is more information on the categories: 

Tier 1
The governments of countries that fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.

Tier 2
The governments of countries that do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards.

Tier 2 Watch List
The government of countries that do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards, and for which:

a. the absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant or is significantly increasing;

b. there is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year, including increased investigations, prosecution, and convictions of trafficking crimes, increased assistance to victims, and decreasing evidence of complicity in severe forms of trafficking by government officials; or

c. the determination that a country is making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with minimum standards was based on commitments by the country to take additional steps over the next year.

Tier 3
The governments of countries that do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.

Source: 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report, State Department

Health care premiums could rise 74 percent for the average customer under the Republican Senate health care bill, according to a new report.

Older and low-income Americans could face the highest increases for coverage, with Americans between ages 55 and 64 with lower incomes seeing a 294 percent increase in premiums. NBC News reported that the study by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation factored in the price of insurance and the amount of subsidies people would receive. 

The Senate bill, supported by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., encourages customers to purchase plans with higher deductibles. The subsidies would cover an average of 58 percent of costs, compared to Obamacare’s 70 percent.

In its analysis on Monday, the Congressional Budget Office said that premiums and deductibles could be too high for many low-income customers to buy coverage.

With patriotic parties aplenty, there will be no shortage of fireworks in San Diego this 4th of July. Here's our guide to the dazzling shows that will illuminate our skyline on Independence Day.

Big Bay Boom
9 p.m., San Diego Bay
San Diego’s largest 4th of July fireworks show, the Port of San Diego’s Big Bay Boom, returns to the waterfront this year. Fireworks will launch at 9 p.m. from four barges along the San Diego Bay. Prime viewing locations include Shelter Island; Harbor Island; North Embarcadero; Marina District; Seaport Village and South Embarcadero; Coronado Ferry Landing. From wherever you are watching, get there early with your lawn chairs and blankets. The Big Bay Boom draws a huge crowd year after year, typically between 300,000 to 500,000 spectators.

San Diego County Fair Fireworks
9 p.m., Del Mar Fairgrounds
The 2017 San Diego County Fair will end with a bang on July 4th with a lineup of patriotic events, including a 9 p.m. fireworks show launching from the west end of the racetrack, but visible throughout the fairgrounds. Fair, fireworks and fried food? That sounds like summer for sure.

Chula Vista 4th Fest
9 p.m., Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center
What could be more patriotic than watching Independence Day fireworks at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center (CVTC)? The center (2800 Olympic Parkway), where Olympic athletes train for the big games, will put on a fireworks show at 9 p.m. set to tunes from three radio stations: 91X; Magic 92.5; Z90.3. Launched from the athlete training grounds, the best spots to watch this show are at the CVTC and Mountain Hawk Park (1475 Lake Crest Dr.). The CVTC can accommodate a maximum of 5,000 spectators; parking at the visitor's entrance is limited to 400 cars and costs $10 per vehicle (cash only). The gates will open at 6 p.m. Free parking is available at the New Hope Community Church (2720 Olympic Parkway) adjacent to the center.

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July 4th in Coronado
9 p.m., Coronado Island
Coronado Island will celebrate Independence Day with a host of fun events including a 10 a.m. parade down Orange Avenue, a 2 p.m. parachute drop, a 4 p.m. concert at Spreckels Park and, of course, fireworks, which start at 9 p.m. over Glorietta Bay. KYXY 96.5 will provide the patriotic tunes; good spots for viewing the show include the golf course of Stingray Point.

Escondido’s Independence Day Festival & Fireworks
9 p.m., California Center for the Arts Escondido
Head to the Great Green at the California Center for the Arts Escondido (340 N. Escondido Blvd.) for the 54th annual Independence Day Festival & Fireworks, an event that typically draws about 20,000 attendees. The fun starts at 4 p.m. with lots of live music and entertainment, food vendors, and activities and games for the kids. Camp Pendleton’s 1st Marine Division Band will perform, too, followed by fireworks at 9 p.m.

Ocean Beach Fireworks
9 p.m., Ocean Beach Pier
Ocean Beach will celebrate July 4th with dazzling fireworks off the OB Pier, which begins at 9 p.m. -- OB time. Free parking, though limited, is available at the Main Beach Lot and the Pier Parking Lot. The show will be synced to songs from KyXy 96.5. In year’s past, the Ocean Beach July 4th celebration also included a “marshmallow war, ” but the sticky mess left behind – and a whole lot of controversy – led to the end of that. Now, attendees are free to eat marshmallows, just not throw them.

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Ken Grody Ford 4th of July Camp Pendleton Beach Bash
9 p.m., Del Mar Beach Resort at Camp Pendleton
This beach bash at Camp Pendleton includes a DJ, activities for kids, food trucks, prizes, a “Margaritaville” area and tribute to our U.S. military heroes on this special day of freedom.

The 4th of July at La Jolla Cove
9 p.m., Ellen Browning Scripps Park
Enjoy friends, family, freedom, and fireworks at La Jolla Cove on the Fourth. Fireworks start at 9 p.m. at Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Park.

Santee Salutes Fireworks Show
9 p.m., Town Center Community Park East
Santee Salutes – a festival featuring live music, a patriotic ceremony, food and family-friendly fun at Town Center Community Park (550 Park Center Dr.) – will culminate with a 4th of July fireworks display at 9 p.m. The event is free; parking is $5 per car. The party at the park starts at 2:30 p.m.

El Cajon Fireworks
9 p.m., Kennedy Park
El Cajon’s July 4th fireworks are set for 9 p.m. at Kennedy Park (1675 E. Madison Ave.). Get there early, spread out a blanket and enjoy food vendors, games, prizes, kiddie train rides and more at the park. The 4th of July event starts at 1 p.m.; live music starts at 3 p.m.

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Lake Murray Fireworks Show
9 p.m., Lake Murray in La Mesa
After several years on hiatus, La Mesa’s Fourth of July fireworks show returns to Lake Murray (5540 Kiowa Dr.). The all-day event starts at 11 a.m. with a long lineup of live performances, plus food and activities; the fireworks go on at 9 p.m. The show is funded through donations, managed by the Lake Murray Fireworks Committee.

National City 4th of July Carnival Fireworks
9 p.m., Kimball Park
National City’s multi-day July 4th carnival at Kimball Park (12th Street and D Avenue) wraps with a fireworks show at 9 p.m. on Independence Day. The fun starts at 12 p.m. at the park. The annual carnival draws a huge crowd; the National City Police Department advises motorists to avoid using D Avenue from 12th to 16th streets until the event is over.

San Marcos Fireworks
9 p.m., Bradley Park
Bradley Park (465 S. Rancho Santa Fe Rd.) in San Marcos will roll out the red, white and blue for “Celebrate Freedom: A Fireworks Extravaganza,” at 9 p.m. – a show entirely funded by donations from citizens and businesses in the community. Before the fireworks fly, enjoy live music – including a performance by Liquid Blue at 6 p.m., plus carnival games, bounce-houses, nd food vendors.

Mira Mesa Fireworks
9 p.m., Mira Mesa High School
Following an all-day July 4th celebration that includes a parade and family-friendly fun in the park, take in the colorful Scripps Mesa Fireworks show at Mira Mesa High School (10510 Reagan Rd.). Bring a blanket and chairs and get there early.

Poway Fireworks
9 p.m., Poway High School
Fireworks will light the sky over Poway High School’s (15500 Espola Rd.) stadium after the community’s all-day Old-Fashioned 4th of July Celebration at Old Poway Park. The gates open at 6 p.m. so get there early to snag a spot and enjoy games, activities and a DJ spinning tunes. This event costs $5 per person at the gate; kids 11 and under get in free.

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Vista Fireworks
9 p.m., Brengle Terrace Park
Vista’s fireworks show goes down at 9 p.m. from the Moonlight Amphitheatre in Brengle Terrace Park (1200 Vale Terrace Dr.). Admission to the amphitheatre is $5 per person; children 5 and under and active and retired military (and their families) get in free. Parking in the park is $15 per car.

Ramona Fireworks
9 p.m., Olive Peirce Middle School
Ramona’s fireworks go down at 9 p.m. at Olive Peirce Middle School (1521 Hanson Ln.). The Ramona Rotary group has been busy collecting donations for this show and so far, so good.

Red, White & Boom! LEGOLand Fireworks
8:30 p.m., LEGOLAND California Resort
LEGOLAND hosts this star-spangled Red, White & Boom! Party, which runs from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m., with fireworks set for 8:30 p.m. Prime viewing spots will be designated around the amusement park. Before fireworks, patrons can enjoy picnic-style games like burlap sack races and LEGO building challenges for the whole family. Activities are included with paid admission into the park.

Oceanside Fireworks – July 3rd
9 p.m., Rancho Del Oro Blvd. between Mesa Dr. & Oceanside Blvd.
Oceanside will ring in the 4th a day early – on Monday, July 3 – with its fireworks display at 9 p.m. staged Rancho Del Oro Boulevard between Mesa Drive & Oceanside Boulevard. The family-friendly event includes music and food trucks, too.

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An 18-year-old driver pleaded guilty to striking and killing a grandfather crossing a busy Spring Valley street in February, then fleeing the scene, according to the San Diego County District Attorney's office. 

Andrew Thoozen, 18, pleaded guilty to hit-and-run causing death in a crash that left James Martinez, 75, dead.

Martinez, a veteran, spent most of his life in San Diego. He served four years in the military as a Paratrooper.

In February, Martinez's stepdaughter dropped him off near Sweetwater Road after a visit to a nearby nursing home. He was coming back from visiting his long-time companion and stepdaughter's mother, whom he went to go see almost every day since she moved into a nearby nursing home.

Martinez's family said Martinez didn't want his stepdaughter in any danger, so he wanted to get dropped off in the easiest spot possible for her.

“He was like ‘just drop me off right here, you keep on going and I'm just going to walk one block to [my] house’. All he was trying to do was to get home on a street that he crossed all the time thinking that he was safe, and obviously he wasn't," said Martinez’ daughter-in-law, Tia Martinez.

Police say the Martinez's stepdaughter had just dropped him off when she heard brakes screeching, looked in the rearview mirror, and saw a car hit her stepfather.

At the time, the suspect drove off, traveling northbound on Sweetwater Road.

Officers say found the suspect and driver in an apartment complex off of Troy Street

Thoozen was arrested a few blocks from the crash scene and later charged.

He will be sentenced on Aug. 22. 

Snapchat’s new Snap Map location feature allows users to pinpoint the exact location of their friends in real time and that is causing some concern.

“I just feel that it’s a little too much information out there for everyone to see,” Diana Larock, of Wallingford, said.

Brian Kelly, chief information security officer for Quinnipiac University, said any Snapchat user can potentially see where you are and that raises red flags because so many users are children and could be unknowingly making themselves targets for predators.

“The stranger danger that we used to tell our kids about – you know, be on the lookout for a creepy van. Now they don’t need the van anymore. They can just go onto an application and find out where you are at any given time,” Kelly said.

“I think it’s kind of creepy because everyone can see who you are and a lot of people don’t know how to turn the location off, so it could be dangerous,” Megan Thorpe, of Wallingford, said.

To hide your location from the Snap Map, select “ghost mode” in the Snapchat settings.

Thorpe said she did that right away when she found out about it.

Ben Simmons-Telep, of East Hampton, said users don’t know exactly how data is being used or who has access to that data.

Security experts said parents should stay up to date about the apps sharing their children’s location and make sure children limit their audience or shut them off altogether.

“It’s really important for the parents to reach out and understand or speak to their kids about the dangers of the location in any application whether it’s Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, any of those,” Kelly said.

Learn more about Snap Map here.

Anyone who sees anything inappropriate on Snap Map can report it by going to the Snap you want to report, press and hold on the Snap, tap the button that appears in the bottom left corner and let Snapchat know why you want to report the Snap.   

NBC Universal, the parent company of NBC Connecticut, has made a $500 million investment in Snapchat.

“It’s a great hobby, it keeps me from shopping in stores,” Carol Williams said, showing NBC 7 Responds her golf clubs. 

Carol said she prefers to be focusing on her golf game but instead, for the past two years, her focus has been on her refrigerator. Carol bought the refrigerator from her local Home Depot store and now, she said she wishes she could have a mulligan. 

She said it started with her freezer. 

“One morning, I got up and everything was defrosted, all of the food,” Carol said. 

Carol was still within her one-year manufacturer warranty so she said she called Samsung. She said the repairmen were sent out six times before the faulty freezer was fixed. 

Then, this past December, Carol said she woke up to another problem. 

“It’s supposed to be 38°, I got up and it was 75° in there,” Carol said. 

Carol’s fridge wasn’t working again and her one-year warranty with Samsung had run out. She said she purchased an extended warranty through Home Depot so she gave the store a call. 

“They sent out a repair guy and he torched and took off the back part and got it unfrozen,” Carol said. 

Carol said each time the fridge was fixed, the repair wouldn’t last. Carol said she felt worn down until a friend offered some advice. 

“My girlfriend actually called me one night because she saw you guys on TV, another lady who had a Samsung issue, so she said ‘Why don’t you call them Carol?’” Carol said. 

Carol called NBC 7 Responds and sent all of the paperwork she had gathered over two years and 11 repair appointments. Since Carol still had a protection plan with Home Depot, NBC 7 Responds gave them a call and within a few days, Carol received good news. 

“Boom, in like three days it was a done deal,” Carol said. 

Home Depot agreed to give Carol a gift card for the entire amount she paid for the refrigerator, close to $1,400. 

In a statement, Matthew Harrigan, a spokesperson for Home Depot said, “We never want a customer to be dissatisfied, so we apologize to Ms. Williams for the inconvenience. We appreciate the opportunity to make it right.”