The family of Gabriel Taye, the 8-year-old boy who committed suicide in January after a bullying attack, has sued the child's school over the circumstances of Gabriel's bullying, NBC News reported.

The 41-page lawsuit filed Monday in federal district court in Cincinnati says the school only notified the boy's mother after he had recovered completely from an assault in the school bathroom. The school did not respond to a request for comment.

The suit says this witholding "prevented his mother from seeking appropriate treatment. Had she known of the extreme violence at Carson, she never would have continued to send him to school there."

During the Jan. 24 incident, the suit says, a classmate knocked Gabriel unconscious before other students kicked, poked and stepped on him. Gabriel hung himself from his bunk bed two days later.

A man was punched and knocked unconscious during a game of disc golf at Morley Field in Balboa Park over the weekend.

The violent confrontation Saturday evening was caught on cell phone video.

Dante Mena said he has been dealing with a lot of pain after what was supposed to be a fun afternoon playing disc golf with friends at Morley Field on Pershing Drive.

"I saw a limb fall out of the tree, which isn't that un-normal but then I heard more limbs breaking," Mena said.

Mena told NBC 7, that when he noticed two men climbing in a tree. He said one of the men was intentionally breaking off branches.

"He was continuing to just break the trees apart," said Mena's friend, Zander Daniels. "So my friend Dante told this guy to cut it out."

Cell phone video appears to show the suspect and his companion confronting Mena and then knock him down.

"Both of Dante's hands are occupied, there's no way to defend himself and the guy just punches him in the face," said Daniels.

Mena was knocked unconscious. He suffered a shattered cheek, broken nose, bleeding from his eye and stitches inside his mouth.

Now, Mena’s family and friends are sharing the video in hopes that man is caught so this doesn't happen to anyone else.

"It's sad that this happened and it happened so randomly and be so vicious," said Mena’s wife, Karen.

The suspect has been described at 5-feet 7-inches in height, 150 pounds, with black, shoulder length hair and a goatee. He was wearing a dark blue t-shirt at the time of the assault.

At this time, no arrests have been made.

Anyone with information is asked to call the San Diego Police Department at (619)531-2000.

Eight lost Purple Heart medals were returned to their rightful owners as part of a ceremony in New York for National Purple Heart Day. 

The families of seven U.S. service members who have since passed gathered at Federal Hall on Wall Street for Monday’s ceremony.

New York City firefighter and veteran Daniel Swift was among those present. He’s the only one of the eight Purple Heart recipients still living.

“Hopefully, this will finish it off for me and I can put (what happened) away,” Daniel Swift said, before receiving back his lost medal.

Swift was wounded during the Iraq War in 2004 when a roadside bomb struck his Humvee, but he still rushed to save the life of his injured comrade.

A New York Army National Guard member and combat medic, Swift was awarded the Bronze Star for Valor, as well as a Purple Heart, which he lost soon after he received it overseas.

The explosion killed two other soldiers – the widow of one of them unveiled and presented the reclaimed Purple Heart to Swift.

“It’s bittersweet,” Swift said.

Private Frank Lymann Dunnel of Buffalo, New York, who has since died, earned his Purple Heart after being wounded in the Battle of the Somme during World War I. His medal was found in a bank decades ago, but only recently turned in, according to his great niece Frances Carlson.

“It really brings him back in a whole new dimension for me,” Carlson said.

Army Private Dan Lyle Feragen of Montana served in the Bataan Death March during World War II. He later died as a prisoner of war in the Philippines, buried in an unmarked grave and unidentified for years.

His Purple Heart was posthumously awarded to his nephew, Lyle Feragen, at Monday’s ceremony.

“It is one of the greatest honors I think can be bestowed,” Feragan said.

The eight returned medals had Vermont-based group Purple Hearts United to thank. Its founder, Zachariah Fike, is a Purple Heart recipient himself and has made it his labor of love to track down lost medals.

To date, the organization has returned more than 300 Purple Hearts, and they find as many as five each week around the country.

“I have some very good volunteer researchers out there, and we work around the clock to find these families,” Fike said.

The ceremony’s location, Federal Hall, was also George Washington’s inauguration site. The nation’s first president created the Purple Heart, which was known as the Badge of Military Merit at the time.

An off-duty San Diego County Sheriff's (SDSO) deputy wounded by gunfire in the Gaslamp area of San Diego is being called a hero by his brother--whom he jumped in to protect.

"He saved my life," said Josh Philpot.

Deputy Jason Philpot, an 11-year veteran of the department, was shot near Island and Sixth avenues at 1:17 a.m. Monday. It happened on the sidewalk in front of the Gaslamp BBQ.

Josh told NBC 7 Monday evening, he was there when the bullets started flying. He praised the life-saving actions of his older brother.

"My brother is a hero," said Josh.

The 35-year-old deputy is recovering after being shot three times in the shoulder--protecting his little brother.

"The fact that he runs to the gun not only to protect me and everyone else in the area and sacrifice himself like that. It takes a very specific individual and he’s got whatever it is," said Josh.

Josh told NBC 7, just before the incident, he and his brother were with a couple friends leaving the Metallica concert. Josh said he was lagging behind and when he glanced over at a group of men, one man questioned him.

"'What's up then blood?' I turned and looked at him and kind of 'Huh, you talking to me.' I shook my head and kept walking," Josh said.

He said that's when the man flashed a gun beneath his shirt and Josh shouted out, "This guy's got a gun."

"My brother literally jumped in, like some kind of super hero and started fighting with this guy over the gun and that's when the struggle happened," Josh said.

He said his brother was featured on the cover of Silver Star Magazine where he penned a piece about how public perception of law enforcement means a lot to him. In July, Philpot was at La Jolla Shores, mentoring youth at Urban Surf 4 Kids Surf With a Cop Day.

"He's a real inspiration. He goes above and beyond. He could just show up for that one day and go home. For him, it’s a lasting thing. He’s connected," said Craig Jenkins, President of Urban Surf 4 Kids.

Another person walking down the street was also shot in the arm but is expected to survive. 

Authorities are searching for two suspects.

The suspect who fired the shots was described as a man in his 30's, about 5- feet, 10-inches tall, weighing about 160 to 170 pounds with shoulder length dreadlocks.

Servin said two off-duty Escondido police officers were with the deputy at the time of the shooting. Those officers were uninjured.

The Federal Railroad Administration has announced it will not push forward with mandatory testing for a sleep disorder that has been linked to two deadly train derailments in the New York City area in the last few years.

The FRA’s decision has drawn backlash because sleep apnea has been blamed for the 2013 train crash in Spuyten Duyvil that killed four people and may also be connected with a crash in New Jersey that killed a woman.

Nancy Montgomery’s husband, Jim Lovell, was one of four people killed in that 2013 crash when a Metro-North train going 82 miles per hour around a 30 mile per hour curve derailed, a crash that has been blamed on operator William Rockefeller’s undiagnosed sleep apnea. The railroad has subsequently started testing for sleep apnea, but in other parts of the country that may not be the case.

“They can’t do the simple things like protect the people they are carrying and protect their workers,” Montgomery said. “It’s the little guy that’s getting killed. They’ve just taken away the test that could have saved my husband’s life.”

Sleep apnea could have played a roll in the Hoboken crash last year that killed a young mother. An NJ Transit train operator was diagnosed with the sleep disorder after that crash.

The agency, along with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, says current programs and rules already in place are enough. They will rely on railroad and trucking companies to voluntarily conduct the tests.

David Schanoes, deputy chief of OPS for Metro-North, says that method has been effective in some cases, but not in others.

Metro-North, LIRR and NJ Transit all claim to conduct sleep apnea testing on train operators, but Schanoes said lack of a mandate means little to no transparency.

“It would be a very effective regulation and would save a lot of lives,” he said.

Deaths from heroin and opioid overdoses may have been underreported by more than 20 percent, according to a new study from the University of Virginia.

Researchers looking into the nation's deadly drug overdose epidemic revisited thousands of death certificates between 2008 and 2014 and found that mortality rates for opioids were 24 percent higher than previously reported, while the mortality rate for heroin was 22 percent higher than previously reported, according to NBC News.

"Opioid mortality rate changes were considerably understated in Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Jersey and Arizona," according to the study, published this week in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine. "Increases in heroin death rates were understated in most states, and by large amounts in Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Jersey, Louisiana and Alabama."

The presidential opioid commission, chaired by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, has urged President Donald Trump to "declare a national emergency" to deal with the crisis that, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, killed nearly 35,000 across the United States since 2015.

In just six months, snowboarders, slalom skiers, speed skaters and others will arrive at Pyeongchang in pursuit of Olympic gold. We’ll watch as athletes from around the world compete in 15 winter sports, catching their dreams or seeing them dashed on the mountains of South Korea during the 2018 Winter Games

Olympians who fell short at the Sochi Games four years ago will be focused fiercely on dazzling this time, aiming for that highest perch on the winners’ stand. Look for performances from the American veterans of past games, from the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team to the affectionally dubbed Shib Sibs, ice dancers Alex and Maia Shibutani.

What you won’t see? Hat tricks or any goals from National Hockey League players, at least not with the NHL's blessing. The league will not interrupt its season for the Pyeongchang Games.

The opening ceremony will be held on Feb. 8, and every event will be broadcast on NBC's TV and digital channels. Here’s what’s in store:

Sound Like a Native Speaker
If you’ve never been to South Korea and you’re not sure of your Korean pronunciations, we’ve got a guide for you.

Pyeongchang is in the Taebaek Mountains, which fittingly for the Winter Games are sometimes called the Korean Alps, in a region east of Seoul in Gangwon-do, or Gangwon Province. Gangwon is known for its resorts (and Buddhist temples) and is popular with skiers and snowboarders. To help the influx of visitors avoid confusion with the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, Pyeongchang rebranded itself with a capitalized “C." (The city's official name still has a lower-case "c," however.)

Competition will be divided between Pyeongchang and Gangneung on the coast, with the opening and closing ceremonies to take place at Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium. Many of the events in the mountains will center on the Alpensia Resort. Hockey, curling and speed and figure skating will be in Gangneung.

Coming Back From Heartbreak
U.S. Olympians certainly had their low points at the Sochi Games. The U.S. speed skating team won only one medal in short track, though it had been favored in a number of events. The U.S. Women’s Hockey lost gold to its Canadian rivals in overtime, after giving up a two-goal lead.

Russia took 33 medals, 13 of them gold, more than any other team, though international anti-doping watchdogs have since offered evidence of Russian cheating. A state-sponsored doping program involved more than 1,000 athletes from 2012 to 2014, leading 19 national anti-doping agencies to demand that Russia be excluded from the Pyeongchang Games. That’s a possibility for its Paralympic team.

For the U.S. athletes who failed to reach first place at Sochi, Pyeongchang offers another chance at the podium.

J.R. CELSKI: American speed skater J.R. Celski was the top medal hope for the United States in the men’s short track speed skating in Sochi. Instead, he dropped from the lead in the 1,500 meter and finished fourth.

He and his teammates did win a silver medal in the 5,000-meter relay, the only medal for the Americans. And Celski has two bronze medals from the 2010 Vancouver Games.

“Sochi was a rough time for all the speed skaters out there,” Celski told NBC. “We had a lot of expectations and I think we were expecting to go in there and do really, really, really well and not a lot of us did so yeah, it was tough time. There’s a time to reflect and learn what you can and carry that going forward and there’s also a time to let it go and focus on what you need to.”

SHAUN WHITE: Snowboarder Shaun White similarly had a disappointing Games at Sochi. White had hoped to win his third straight halfpipe title, but ended up in fourth place. He was aiming for the first-ever gold medal in the slopestyle event, which debuted at Sochi, but, worried about an injury on the dangerous course, he withdrew.

In February, he told NBC Olympics that he has never gotten over the loss, but has learned from it.

“So it’s a part of me now, which is great,” he said. “As hard as it was, I’m thankful that it happened because it taught me a lot.”

And he said on the Today show: “Obviously not performing the way I’d like in Sochi really inspired me and I got re-focused, recalibrate and I’m back at it.”

LINDSEY VONN: Celski and White fell short at Sochi, but Lindsey Vonn didn't get to the games at all. She injured her right knee months before the games.

The speed skier won two medals in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and was expected to be a star in Sochi. Instead, she faced surgery, and has struggled with injuries ever since. She earned a bronze medal in the downhill at the 2017 World Championships. 

Despite fighting through injuries for most of the past five years, she's considered one of the sport's stars. In May, she was named the first International Games ambassador for the 2018 Games, and she called the course challenging with lots of jumps.

“It would mean the world to me if I could get back on the podium in Pyeongchang after missing the last Olympics in Sochi,” Vonn told NBC. “After being injured for almost all of the last five years I’ve definitely been through my share of obstacles and have overcome most of them. But one thing I haven’t done is been able to do the Olympics after I won gold in Vancouver. So if I could win again or even be on the podium, it would be incredible.”

MAIA AND ALEX SHIBUTANI: Finally, there are the Shib Sibs, Maia and Alex Shibutani, who made their Olympic ice dancing debut in Sochi, when Maia was 19 and Alex, 22. They placed ninth.

“Our first Olympics was so inspiring,” Maia Shibutani told NBC. “It was a dream come true to be a part of Team USA, and from that we really discovered how we wanted to approach these four years.”

Maia Shibutani, who describes her brother as her best friend, learned to skate when she was 4 and loved the sport immediately. Alex Shibutani was slower to embrace it — he wanted to be a basketball player — but when he saw how much fun his sister was having, he thought he’d give it a try.

“Walking in the opening ceremonies, that was a dream come true, competing on Olympic ice, it was highly motivating and I think since that time we’ve really matured,” he said. “And it really informed us on how we wanted to approach our career, following those Games and leading up to Pyeongchang. And so we’re so excited. We’re ready. We’ve reached another level and so we’re excited to see how things go.”

U.S. WOMEN'S HOCKEY: The U.S. Women's Hockey Team won the first-ever women's hockey gold medal in 1998. They haven't been back on top of the podium since.

The team settled for silver in 2002, 2010 and 2014, and bronze in 2006. 

Megan Duggan, who played on the 2010 and 2014 teams, said that the second-place finishes in the last two Olympics were pushing the women to perform.

“It’s the number one motivation,” she said. “It dictates training every single day. It’s no secret to anyone that the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team wanted gold in the last two Olympics and certainly came up short. So that’s the number one motivator for us looking forward to 2018. It’s gold or bust.”

Helping the American women hockey players prepare for this year's Olympic Games is Colleen Hacker, a sport psychology consultant and mental skills coach. Every sport has unique demands, Hacker said.

“Hockey, it is immediate, explosive, dynamic, high intensity, high performance,” she said. “It has to happen the instant, the instant your skates hit the ice.”

Among hockey’s particular aspects: its shifts, the roughly minute-long bursts of time on the ice that team members cycle through, and its periods.

“The nature of the shifts, they’re short,G they’re intense and you have to be 100 percent on in a millisecond,” she said. “That’s very unique to hockey.”

Tensions With the North
North Korea's repeated missile tests, including a recent one of a missile that appeared capable of reaching Los Angeles, have added a disquieting layer to the Games this year. The United States has responded by increasing military and economic pressure but the North's leader Kim Jong-un, who hopes to force the United States to drop sanctions and withdraw troops from South Korea, said the country will not negotiate its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles unless the United States ends its nuclear threats.

Meanwhile the new South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, elected after his predecessor was impeached, is trying to revive a policy of engagement leading to reconciliation with the North. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has offered to open negotiations with Pyongyang and assured it of its security if the country gave up its nuclear weapons.

The NHL to Stay Home
The National Hockey League made it official in April that it would not participate in the Winter Olympics. The league had wanted to be compensated for interrupting the regular season so that its players could travel to South Korea for the games. The league also was dissatisfied with being unable to use the Olympics for marketing because of sponsorship rules.

The players union called the decision shortsighted, impeding the growth of the game by giving up a chance to reach sports fans worldwide.

"NHL players are patriotic and they do not take this lightly," it said in a statement.

Dick Pound, a member of the International Olympic Committee, chastised the NHL in a column in the Montreal Gazette on August 3.

“It is not sufficient for the NHL to be content with plucking the low-hanging financial fruit, but to fail to invest in the future of the game,” he wrote. And he called the decision to prohibit individual players who want to represent their countries heavy-handed, an abuse of its economic power and disrespectful to the rights and dreams of the players.

Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin has said he plans to play for Russia, a position the Capitals owner, Ted Leonsis, supports.

USA Hockey expects to fill its team from the ranks of college players.

Preparation Near Completion
Who can forget the photos that journalists tweeted of unfinished hotel rooms at the Sochi Olympics? No heat, no water, no lobby in one hotel, and when U.S. bobsledder Johnny Quinn found himself trapped inside a men's room due to a jammed door, he was able to break through shoddy construction.

Nor was Russia the only country to build venues right up until the last moment -- just think Rio, Athens or Montreal.

But in South Korea, much of the work is already done and athletes have been trying out the facilities.

"We're almost 100 percent ready to host athletes," Ji Jue Lee, with the Pyeongchang organizing committee, said in May.

The former superintendent of the Poway schools, fired last year after auditors said he pocketed thousands in excess pay, now faces five felony charges.

Former Poway Unified School District Superintendent John Collins is accused of misusing public money, vacation and leave time.

Collins, who was fired in July 2016, led the district from July 2010 to July 2016.

The Board of Education released an audit that showed Collins allegedly collected more than $345,000 in unauthorized pay over the last several years.

But Collins' attorney said the alleged independent audit is “replete with errors.”

Collins also faces a civil lawsuit to recover the district's funds. 

An arraignment is scheduled for Thursday. 

If convicted on all charges, Collins could face a seven-year prison sentence. 

A spokesperson for Poway Unified School District told NBC 7 the district would not comment at this time. 

A total eclipse is when the moon completely covers the sun, casting a shadow and temporary darkness on Earth. It only occurs along the path of totality, and the last time this path landed in the United States was 1979. Only a few states experienced totality, but a majority of the surrounding states still experienced a partial eclipse. Seeing this state of totality is such a rare occurrence that some consider it a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Del Mar city council officials voted Monday to make ticketing off-leash dogs a low priority while they await new rules for the city's beaches.

The area known as Dog Beach, or North Beach, is located north of 29th Street and stretches nearly one-half mile to the border shared with Solana Beach.

In this area, dogs are permitted off leash from the day after Labor Day until June 15. During the busy summer months, dogs must be leashed if they are to be in this beach area, under current city rules.

However, an online petition suggesting dogs run free from the 20th Street Lifeguard Station north before 8 a.m. garnered support. 

So the council agreed to ask code enforcement to make ticketing off-leash dogs a low priority.

Only the worst offenders will be ticketed while the council waits for a new proposal regarding rules for dogs.

Dogs are not permitted north of Powerhouse Park to 29th street during the summer.

South of Powerhouse Park, dogs are permitted on a leash year round. 

What do you think? Join the conversation on NBC 7's Facebook page. 

A federal lawsuit was filed Monday saying San Diego's residency restrictions for convicted sex offenders are unconstitutional and in violation of state and federal laws.

The San Diego City Council voted 5-4 last week to keep the city's Child Protection Act despite the potential for a lawsuit. 

Under the ordinance, a registered sex offender convicted after April 13, 2008, is not allowed to live within 2,000 feet of a school, park, playground, library, day care, amusement center or arcade. 

The City Council was asked by San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott to rescind the ordinance saying it could lead to a lawsuit against the city. Elliott said 97 percent of registered sex offenders in the area are unable to find a place to live because of the ordinance's restrictions

Councilmembers rejected Elliott's proposal.

On Monday, a federal lawsuit was filed claiming, the San Diego Residency Restrictions are an arbitrary, politically motivated act imposed by a local government in response to popular sentiments."

The plaintiff, identified as "John Doe", and his attorneys claim that under the San Diego law, sex offenders are banned from living in 2,000-foot zones around more than 700 parks and schools and 400 facilities or businesses that cater to children.

"When all relevant properties are considered, the aggregate size of the exclusion zones imposed by the Ordinance exceeds the total land area of the City of San Diego by more than 50%," the claim states.

The City Attorney's Office spokesperson Gerry Braun said the ordinance was brought before the City Council on August 1 but defeated by the majority of the council with no votes from Councilmembers Chris Ward (District 3), Chris Cate (District 6), Lorie Zapf (District 2), David Alvarez (District 8), and Georgette Gomez (District 9). 

Elliott told the council at least 40 municipalities have been sued by similar ordinances. 

NBC 7 has reached out to the district members who voted to keep the restrictions in place for their reaction to the lawsuit. We'll post their responses when they are received. 

Jurors have sided with the City of San Diego in a $5.4 million lawsuit filed by the family of a U.S. Navy sailor who died in a motorcycle crash -- an accident the family claims was caused by a pothole on a city road.

On March 17, 2014, Navy service member Jamie Powell, 23, was killed in a collision on Harbor Drive near 28th Street. While on his way to work at a shipyard, Powell’s motorcycle hit a depression in the road near railroad tracks.

According to court documents, the impact launched him off his motorcycle and into oncoming traffic. He was then run over by a driver in an SUV.

Powell died at the hospital shortly after the accident.

The sailor’s family filed a lawsuit against the City of San Diego.

The lawsuit claimed the city should’ve known the road in front of the shipyard was riddled with potholes and was potentially deadly for motorcyclists and bicyclists. The family’s lawsuit said the city should’ve done something to warn motorists of the condition of the road.

In pre-trial hearings, both sides discussed whether the city was required to put up a sign regarding those potholes. A deputy city attorney argued the city did not need a sign; city crews blame the problems on the rails running through the area.

The city attorney's office said it was unclear if Powell hit the railroad tracks rather than a pothole.

The city, defended by Chief Deputy City Attorney Jane M. Boardman, argued that Powell was speeding at the time of the crash, which is what ultimately led to his death. 

After a nine-day trial, the jury deliberated for 30 minutes and reached a unanimous verdict on Monday in favor of the City of San Diego.

San Diego City Attorney Mara W. Elliott praised the jury’s decision and released this statement:

“Jurors saw the truth in this case where a young man lost his life by riding at an excessive speed on a modified motorcycle. It was a senseless tragedy that no city could prevent and for which taxpayers held no responsibility.”

A 10-page document known as the "Google Manifesto" that criticizes the company's diversity practices and says that women aren't suited for engineering jobs is adding further controversy to the debate around gender bias in Silicon Valley, NBC News reported.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the memo violates the company's code of conduct, but also added that minority viewpoints cannot be discounted. NBC News could not independently confirm reports that the author of the report, said to be a Google engineer, was fired.

"I am just kind of tired of it," said former Google engineer Cate Huston. "These things keep happening and the details change but the substantive portion of it is that women shouldn't be engineers are we aren’t welcome."

While Google and other tech companies are making efforts to hire a more diverse workforce, they are still grappling with how to fix a bro culture after a number of headline-grabbing stories this year. Stories of harassment in the tech investment world have led to resignations and, at Uber, at least 20 firings.

San Diego-based restaurant chain Garden Fresh Restaurants Corp., parent of Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes, has been acquired by Perpetual Capital Partners and CR3 Capital, an investment affiliate of CR3 Partners LLC.

Financial terms of the deal, announced Monday, were not disclosed.

CR3 Partners, which is based in Dallas, is a private-equity firm that focuses on turnaround management. Perpetual Capital, which is based near Washington, D.C., in Arlington, Va., is an ownership group backed by the Allbritton family, which sold its broadcasting business for nearly $1 billion in a deal that closed in 2014.

Garden Fresh filed for bankruptcy in October 2016. It sold its assets to a group led by Cerberus Capital Management LP, the New York-based distressed debt investor and private-equity firm, in January as part of its bankruptcy restructuring plan. CR3 Partners led the company’s subsequent restructuring and has been managing the company for several months, Garden Fresh said in its statement on Monday.

"Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes are uniquely positioned with an extremely loyal customer base and dedicated restaurant teams," said CR3 Partners partner Gene Baldwin, interim CEO of Garden Fresh. "This creates new opportunities for all of our employees, guests and business partners as we move forward."

Garden Fresh operates 97 restaurants in nine states; the eateries are called Souplantation in Southern California and Sweet Tomatoes elsewhere.

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When Christy Nielsen was searching for a new dog, she didn’t go to a pet store, or a breeder or even a shelter. Instead, Nielsen found her Pomeranian, Tinker, at the Omaha Correctional Center.

Tinker is one of hundreds of dogs that has been fostered by inmates at the prison as a part of their Canine Compassion program.

“I see the closeness the inmates have with the animals. They really take good care of them,” said Nielsen, an associate director of nursing at the prison.

Across the country, prisons and animal shelters are forming partnerships that put inmates in charge of training unruly dogs, giving both parties a chance at a fresh start. 

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Carol Byrnes is a professional animal trainer based in Spokane, Washington. Once a week she volunteers with local shelter Spokanimal, leading obedience classes for inmates and their dogs at Airway Heights Corrections Center.

“A lot of the dogs come from high kill shelters. Sometimes it’s life or death for these dogs that get to come here,” she said.

Byrnes was initially hesitant to get involved, but she developed a passion for the program after seeing the transformative effect it had on participants, both human and canine. For inmates and dogs who start off as distant or hard to reach, “as the program progresses, they open up, they blossom, they gain confidence, they gain social skills and the ability to problem solve and negotiate difficulties,” she said.

Prison animal programs have been gaining traction in recent years, though the first documented account of a dog used for inmate rehabilitation can be traced back to 1925.

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The details of each program differ but most follow the same basic guidelines. Dogs with behavioral issues who are not yet ready to be adopted are sent to live in a cell with their caretakers. For up to 16 weeks, the inmates are responsible for walking, feeding and playing with their dogs. Inmates also take part in formal obedience classes, teaching their animals the basic commands like sit and heel. In order to take part in the program, inmates have to exhibit good behavior for at least one year prior.

"I enjoy the challenge of training them. I like having the hard cases,” said Chris Williams, an inmate dog handler at Southern New Mexico State Correctional Facility in Las Cruces.

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For Williams, the Prisoners and Animals Working Toward Success program, or PAWS, has provided an incentive to stay on the right path. “I spent most of my time locked up in maximum security before coming to this state. I used to be a big trouble maker and then I got here and got involved in the program and I’ve been doing pretty good,” he said.

Renee Waskiewicz, a hearing officer who oversees PAWS at the prison, said it has helped the inmates correct some of the behaviors that may have landed them in jail in the first place.

“The men in our pods have created so much loss, not only in their lives but in their families’ lives and lots of victims’ lives,” she said. “These dogs have really shown them compassion for other living things. Empathy.”

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Kimberly Collica-Cox, associate professor of criminal justice at Pace University in New York, has studied how the symbiotic relationship between humans and dogs can be useful in prisons. Collica-Cox helped develop a program through Pace that uses animal assisted therapy to teach incarcerated mothers better parenting skills.

“What we find is that dogs can trigger feelings of safety in humans, which will allow them to sort of open up and communicate more, which can be very helpful in a correctional setting,” she said, adding that there’s a great deal of research to support these findings.

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One study published in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine showed that human-animal interactions can actually lead to lower blood pressure and heart rate, two physiological indicators of stress. Psychologists studying a prison-based animal program in the UK concluded that working with animals helped inmates develop a deeper sense of responsibility and trust. This resulted in enhanced communications between peers as well as with staff.

Since they started bringing dogs from the Monterey County ASPCA into Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad, California, Lt. David Lopez said he’s seen a significant decrease in conflicts. “There’s a lot less incidences, a lot less crime and a lot of inmates are trying to stay out of trouble so they can meet the prerequisites to become an inmate dog handler,” he said. “The dogs have brought humanity into this prison setting.”

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Although working with the dogs can be difficult at times, for Justin Chinn, an inmate at the Omaha Correctional Center, saying goodbye is always the hardest part. Even though it’s been nearly two years since they parted ways, Chinn said he still misses the first dog he ever trained, a black lab named Maisy.

“She was a handful. It was tough with her but after about a week it was wonderful,” he said. “It felt good to know that I brought out the good in the dog and she brought out the good in me. And to know that she went to a good home with kids. She’s living a good life.”

The City of Vista is beginning road improvements to keep the streets safe for drivers and cut back on future repair costs this week.

Crews are working on overlaying asphalt on the roads and, if needed, replacing curb ramps and repairing old curbs, gutters and sidewalks.

On some streets, construction will include digging out and replacing the existing asphalt, grinding and overlaying new asphalt, said city officials. Manholes will be adjusted and inductive-loop traffic detectors will be replaced. All the roads will include restriping.

The City of Vista and its contractors are aiming to minimize noise and traffic impacts from the construction work.

The following streets have been selected for the 2017 California Improvement Projects (CIP) based on a prioritized list from the City’s Pavement Management Program:

• Grapevine Road from Olive Avenue to West Vista Way
• Valley Drive from Monte Vista Drive
• Poinsettia Avenue from La Mirada Drive to Grand Ave
• Anza Avenue from Arcadia Avenue to Bobier Drive
• Arcadia Avenue from Anza Avenue to East Vista Way
• University Drive Intersection with Sycamore Avenue
• University Avenue from Intersection with Sycamore to 870 feet west
• University Avenue from 870 feet west to 1,880 feet west
• Sycamore Avenue from Intersection to Robelini Drive
• University Avenue from Intersection to Lobelia Drive
• Lupine Hills Drive from Shadow Ridge to Live Oak
• Mar Vista overpass
• Emerald Drive concrete overpass to Sky Haven Lane
• Independence Way from Elm to Warmlands
• West Vista Way from Melrose Drive to Thunder Drive
• North Melrose Drive 

United States spy agencies have assessed that North Korea is able to construct a nuclear weapon small enough to fit on a missile, a U.S. official briefed on the intelligence told NBC News.

The Washington Post first reported that the nation had such capability, based on a Defense Intelligence Agency assessment read to the newspaper it verified with two U.S. officials. The NBC source did not have that level of specificity.

NBC News' source cautioned that, while the ability to miniaturize is a crucial milestone in North Korea's capability to build a nuclear weapon, the assessment does not mean the country has yet fielded a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile. They would still have to make sure that such a weapon could survive re-entry through the atmosphere. 

A teenager visiting the Encinitas Library last month had to push away a man who was trying to kiss her, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department confirmed Tuesday. 

Jason Toussaint, 19, was taken into custody on July 6, accused of annoying a minor, according to San Diego County Sheriff's Department spokesperson Melissa Aquino.

The incident happened on July 5 at the Encinitas Library on Cornish Drive. Deputies say they received a report about the incident the next day. 

A 17-year-old female told deputies the man approached her and asked if he could kiss her. 

Even though she said no, the teenager said the man still tried to kiss her. 

She told deputies she pushed the man away and then he asked her if she wanted to have sex. 

When she said no, the man left the library.  

After an investigation, deputies arrested and charged Toussaint in the case. 

Toussaint pleaded guilty to the charge and was released from custody on probation, Aquino said. 

No other information was available.

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Two people were being sought Tuesday for a home invasion and sexual assault in the University Heights neighborhood of San Diego, police confirmed.

San Diego police officers were called to a home on Texas Street near Polk Avenue just after 10 a.m.  

A woman was outside of her home when she was confronted by two people in a robbery, SDPD Officer Bill Hernandez told NBC 7.

The suspects stole some type of drug from the woman's medicine cabinet, police said. 

The woman was sexually assaulted and two suspects ran from the scene, SDPD Officer Joshua Hodge said.

The suspects were described as a white woman in her late 40s, 5 feet, 5 inches tall with light brown hair and a black male in his late 30s, 6 feet tall with a thin build, police said. 

Emergency personnel took the woman to Scripps Mercy in Hillcrest. Police did not have details on her injuries or her condition. 

The nature of the assault was not clear, officers said. They also did not know the type of medicine stolen.

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After nearly 28 years of seeing the white peaks of the Convention Center's iconic Sails Pavilion roof visible from the air, land and bay, San Diegans will have to adjust to a new view as the Sails embark on a six month replacement project.

A brand new structure will soon replace the current Sails Pavilion, according to the San Diego Convention Center Corporation.

“The Sails Pavilion will be the exact same as it is now, minus the weather fly that is currently on top. Removing the weather fly will have no impact on the structure,” stated Barbara Moreno, Executive Director of Communications for the San Diego Convention Center Corporation.

"The white sails roof atop our 90,000 square foot Sails Pavilion exhibit space is part of what has made the San Diego Convention Center one of the most recognizable venues, worldwide," said San Diego Convention Center Corporation President and CEO Clifford "Rip" Rippetoe, in a statement.

After nearly three decades of service, the original sails will be taken down one section at a time. The preliminary work will begin in August, with the entire project lasting through January 2018, according to the San Diego Convention Center Corporation.

In addition, the fire-life safety system that is part of the Sails Pavilion, including fire water cannons, will be upgraded, and new lighting will be installed.

"Thanks to a collaborative effort between our staff, our Board of Directors as well as City and State officials, we secured funding to extend the life of this unique facility asset,” stated Rippetoe.

The sails roof replacement will cost $10.5 million, and the fire-life safety system will cost $1.66 million.

Funding for the project came from the $25.5 million California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (IBank) Loan. There are seven project partners including BirdAir, Baker Electric, Kinsman Construction, Siemens, American Scaffold, Smart Safety and Barnhart-Reese, said Convention Center officials.

There will be 40 people each day working on the project at its peak, plus convention center staff, according to the San Diego Convention Center Corporation.

The first pieces of the fabric roof will be removed around mid-August. Sixty-foot long pieces of the structure will be taken down, one segment at a time. Simultaneously, another contractor will be removing the entire roof's support structure, said Convention Center officials.

The new roof will be raised sometime around Thanksgiving. The construction should be completed in January 2018.