Dozens were forced from the homes in Oceanside Tuesday after a nearby warehouse caught fire sending flames nearly 100 feet in the air.
The fire started around 8:30 p.m. at the Nagata Farm Company, a produce plant on North River Road.
Seven homes on the east side of River Road were evacuated for a short time.
Photographer Laura Schafer, who lives in the neighborhood, captured the intensity of the fire through several still images.
Witnesses described heard some distance away. Flames rose up nearly 100 feet in the air and seemed to light up the sky over Oceanside.
The business was closed when the fire started. No one was injured.
Investigators say the oldest of several structures in the complex was damaged by the fire fueled by propane tanks stored behind the structure.
Bolingbrook police have confirmed that a woman is dead and a man hospitalized following a small plane crash Wednesday.
It happened at about 5:15 p.m. in the parking lot of a Chase Bank at 262 S. Weber Rd.
Police say the plane crashed into a tree, light pole and several vehicles.
Witnesses described hearing a loud noise and explosion when the plane struck the ground, followed by several smaller explosions.
"I heard a loud boom and I thought the sky was burning," Rivera said. "I thought one of the cars blew up, but witnesses told me it was actually a plane."
According to Mike Grohar, who works at a store next to the bank, the survivor of the crash was the pilot.
"The pilot was getting out of the plane and was on fire and went down to the ground and two gentleman came over and put him out with their jackets and we got him to roll away from the plane, and as he was rolling away, asked us if we could find his wife, that his wife was still in there," Grohar said. "He was pretty bad but he was talking before the paramedics got there, we kept talking to him and tried to keep him coherent."
The pilot was taken to Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital in critical condition and later transported via helicopter to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood with severe burns. His passenger was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:45 p.m.
The accident scene is located a few blocks from Clow International Airport, and police say it was attempting to land when the accident occurred.
Photos from scene of plane crash in suburban #Chicago from @SenBeatz pic.twitter.com/6OUYTxnESG
— Steve Grzanich (@SteveGrzanich) September 25, 2013
North Texans called and emailed NBC 5 puzzled over what they saw in the skies Wednesday, but it turns out it was just Mother Nature at work.
"I noticed this 8 to 10 foot cobweb strand stringing and dancing across the sky," said Dallas resident Ginger Reid. "I thought ‘Is that real? I don't know if that's real.’”
Long silky strands falling across North Texas actually signal the migration of a cluster of spiders.
"Most likely what it is is a thing called ballooning, which baby spiders do," said the Dallas Zoo’s Tim Brys. "So after they hatch, they spread a little silk line from their abdomen, the wind catches that and spreads them into the air like a balloon."
The silk acts similar to a parachute, allowing them to move their home from one spot to another.
An Extension Program Specialist with Texas A&M said typically, it's done by young spiders, but some adult spiders also use the process to move from location to location.
"Once it's rolled up and it starts to get caught in the branches, it's a pretty big mass," said Brys.
How far they travel depends on the air current.
Reid and more than a dozen other NBC 5 viewers sent photos and videos of the "ballooning" to isee@nbcdfw.com from all over North Texas.
For those with arachnophobia, take heart. Most of these spiders are harmless and eat only other insects.
"It's not anything to be worried about," said Brys. "It may seem scary to people who are afraid of spiders, but really they're harmless."
Experts recommend just leaving the eight-legged creatures alone.
Reid says she sees it as an opportunity. "I might try and capture some of them and put them on my house or the outside, for Halloween decoration," said Reid.
NBC 5's Greg Janda, Kendra Lyn and Amanda Guerra contributed to this report.
As commuters were coping with a tractor trailer overturned on a highway ramp in the North County, another big rig crashed, closing access to a second highway.
The southbound ramp from Interstate 5 to eastbound State Route 78 was closed due to an overturned big rig early Wednesday.
Then, approximately an hour later, California Highway Patrol officers responded to the report of an 18-wheeler tipped over on its side on the southbound ramp from I-5 to eastbound State Route 76 just a few miles down the road.
At SR-78, tow trucks were working for more than 30 minutes to right the truck that had tipped over on its side. The driver had moderate injuries to one of his arms and was lifeflighted to Scripps La Jolla.
Officials weren’t sure what caused the crash. The shutdown for the onramp to SR-78 was expected to last several hours.
The details on the big rig wreck at the SR-76 onramp were unknown. An ambulance was called to the scene. Check back for updates on this developing story.
Two passengers tried to smuggle 100 pounds of marijuana -- disguised as birthday presents -- through Los Angeles International Airport Wednesday, officials said.
Shortly after 5 a.m., TSA officers at Terminal 1 screened the four suit cases and found they were stuffed with marijuana, said Nico Melendez, TSA spokesman.
The pot was bundled in green cellophane then wrapped again in cupcake-covered wrapping paper, pictured below, Melendez said.
Two passengers tried to check the bags and were scheduled to depart Los Angeles to Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The passengers did not board their flight to Atlanta and have not been found, Melendez said..jpg)
The pot has a street value of about $300,000, airport officials said.
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The most improved urban school district in the nation was announced Wednesday as the recipient of the prestigious Broad Prize.
San Diego Unified School District was one of the four school districts across the country in the running.
However, the finalist announced Wednesday was Houston Independent School District (HISD), the largest public school system in Texas and the seventh-largest in the United States.
Superintendent Terry Grier, former San Diego schools superintendent, accepted the award and acknowledged the work of SDUSD Superintendent Cindy Marten who served as a principal under his tenure.
He also credited Bill Kowba for his work as superintendent of San Diego schools during a difficult economic time following Grier's resignation.
Houston will receive $550,000 in college scholarships for high school seniors. Each of the finalists will receive $150,000 in scholarships.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
A variety of ready-to-eat salads, cole slaw and dips sold in California are being recalled due to possible Listeria contamination.
The products sold by Garden-Fresh Foods in various sizes – from 6 to 18 ounces – may contain Listeria monocytogenes, the company said in a news release Tuesday.
This week’s announcement expands an initial voluntary recall and applies to pasta, tuna, egg, chicken and potato salads, and various dips and spreads sold under these names:
They were sold in California, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, Texas, Florida, Massachusetts, Missouri, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona.
So far, there have been no reports of illness related to this recall, the company said.
Symptoms of Listeria in healthy individuals are typically short-term and include high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea.
The bacterium can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women, and can be fatal in young children, the chronically ill and elderly, or others with weakened immune systems.
For a complete list of the recalled salads and their UPC codes, click here.
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The early lines of attack in San Diego's special-election mayoral race now seem to point in one direction -- toward apparent frontrunner Nathan Fletcher.
Leaders of both the local Republican and Democratic parties see Fletcher as a shameless opportunist.
And on behalf of their respective candidates, Councilmembers Kevin Faulconer and David Alvarez, their behind-the-scenes campaign strategy is to focus on Fletcher’s sudden political lane changes.
"Wherever you see polling results -- regardless of the methodology -- and there's a frontrunner, the frontrunner is going to get attacked,” says political consultant Chris Crotty. “Somebody's going to want to pull those numbers down -- and that's seemingly what's occurring right now."
Crotty, a campaign adviser to Democrat Mike Aguirre, says the former city attorney’s distant fourth-place polling numbers argue against any plans to engage in anti-Fletcher campaigning.
But, Crotty said in an interview Wednesday, 'going negative' makes sense for the teams behind Alvarez and Faulconer, who might welcome a runoff against the lesser-known and lesser-funded Alvarez – assuming their efforts can help eliminate Fletcher in the November 19th balloting involving 11 candidates.
"It's easier to do negative stuff to keep other people home, and bring in your relatively small percentage of voters that you need to get into the runoff,” Crotty explained, “ than it is to 'go positive' and work hard to get those voters and pull them to the polls."
As for Faulconer, says Crotty: "He could very likely make it into the runoff with just his Republican votes alone."
But while Team Fletcher may still have time to ‘go positive’ and refrain from sniping at Faulconer and Alvarez, “if he starts bleeding off votes from the negative attacks, he'll have no choice but to hit back,” in Crotty’s view.
Other political observers say Fletcher’s challenge is to raise enough money to offset the negatives stemming from his 18-month odyssey from Red State to Blue State country.
"The problem for him, as the problem always has been going back to the last election,” says Liam Dillon, who covers politics and government issues for Voice of San Diego, “is whether the kind of strong partisan voters -- the people who show up in primary elections -- will vote for a guy, no matter what party he is, who's always been sort of middle-of-the-road."
But so-called 'hit-piece mailers produced by Fletcher's critics portray “middle-of-the road” as just a blip on a fast track from far right to far left to Fletcher.
Still, Fletcher's cross-over appeal to both powerful business and labor union interests figures to bring in big bucks to re-shape his image and promote an over-arching message.
Can his considerable oratorical skills and the in-person ‘presence’ he exudes at campaign rallies capture audiences at candidate debates and forums?
"I bet you there's a reluctance among his team to debate,” says Voice of San Diego CEO and columnist Scott Lewis: “Not just because he's a frontrunner, but because this is going to make for some awkward settings and awkward positions. But he needs to somehow twist that so it's a more confident situation -- something he's in charge of, as opposed to something he's constantly fending off."
There's a school of thought that Fletcher should have sat out this special election and run in the 2016 mayoral race – all the better to pay Democratic Party dues and buff credentials as a team player.
But he did win a sort of consolation prize Tuesday night, while failing to keep a 60 percent majority of Democratic Central Committee members from endorsing Alvarez.
Party leaders, after loud, heated debate, agreed to back any other Democrat who reaches a runoff if Alvarez doesn't.
Three San Diego County schools are disqualified from receiving state funding or awards for two years because of standardized test cheating – not by the students, but by the teachers.
Lafayette Elementary, Clear View Elementary and Mar Vista Academy (formerly Mar Vista Middle School) will be stripped of their scores on California’s Academic Performance Index (API).
The rating system allows schools to set and meet performance targets, and losing the API scores can lead to funding cuts or removal of faculty and administrators.
Cheating can encompass many mistakes, from telling students outright that they have the wrong answer, to handing out the wrong study guide.
That’s what happened at Mar Vista Academy.
“It was brought to the attention of the principal that a teacher using a study guide possibly contained questions from a previous year,” said Manny Rubio, spokesman for the Sweetwater Union School District.
That study guide was given to hundreds of students in Mar Vista’s math classes, despite training for teachers on what is and isn’t allowed.
The state does let teachers use similar questions from previous tests as study guides, but teachers cannot use the exact questions.
At Lafayette Elementary, homonyms were left in a pocket chart on the board while students took the test, administered by a substitute teacher. A third grader pointed out that one of the homonyms was on the test.
The third school, Clear View Elementary, was stripped of its API scores after a teacher checked the testing booklets of certain students when they finished a section of the test. The teacher then put the test booklet back on the students’ desks on a specific page and told the students they need to check it.
The Chula Vista Elementary School District says the state’s initial determination to disqualify Clear View is under review. The district contends the irregularity may not have affected enough students to merit a disqualification.
“Most of the time, it is something that they hadn’t really planned on doing or thought about doing,” said Rubio. “In some cases it is. Unfortunately you’ll also see schools where it was intentional. It was very much their way of trying to boost their students’ performances.”
The state says it takes the reliability of assessments very seriously, as do the schools, which self-report.
Most schools abide by the law; 27 out of more than 10,000 California schools were flagged for irregularities this year.
Imagine working at the same job for 53 years. You would have started that gig in 1960, when gas was 25 cents a gallon and the average price of a new car was $2,600.
That was the year Bobbe Hellom started working at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago in the housekeeping department. Within two years, he was promoted to waiter, and he hasn't looked back since.
"I'm going to miss this place real hard," Hellom said at an event to celebrate his retirement. "It's a beautiful place. It's like family to me."
Hotel officials estimate Hellom has served more than 500,000 meals over the years, including many movers and shakers.
"In some capacity, he served over 11 presidents from Eisenhower to Barack Obama. He served Elizabeth Taylor drinks, and he won't reveal what those drinks were to this day," hotel general manager Dean Lane said.
The longtime server says he treated everyone the same, and each day he had one goal.
"The first thing I do is smile. I never believed in coming in here without a smile," Hellom said.
As a special tribute, the general manager thought it would be nice to pay homage to Hellom by turning the tables and serving him lunch.
Hellom was the hotel's second longest serving employee by one year.
Speculation abounds that the notoriously secretive street artist Banksy is getting ready to announce his next show, more than a year after he released his last piece.
Banksy posted a picture of a mural on his website showing the shadow of a man vomiting flowers with the message “Better Out Than In,” but didn't reveal its location. (The flowers are growing out of a crack in the sidewalk and up a wall under the word “hope” scrawled in bubble letters.)
Photos: Banksy's Worldwide Works
Then signs started popping up around Los Angeles declaring, "Banksy Oct. 2013."
NBC4 scoured the streets of LA’s art district Wednesday and was not able to find the mural.
The elusive England-based artist -- who has protected his identity and eluded police for years -- appeared in silhouette in the 2010 documentary “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” and years before took heat for a 2006 exhibit in LA in which he painted a live elephant red with gold fleurs-de-lis.
Banksy’s most recent public piece appears to be his 2011 statement on child abuse in the Catholic Church. It was unveiled at a Liverpool gallery and consisted of a bust with its face sawn off, replaced by blank tiles making it look pixelated, pictured below.
A street artist who wished to remain anonymous told NBC4 Wednesday evening that the rumors are true -- but a city on the edge of its seat for Banksy's artistic return can never be too sure.
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San Diego County Sheriff’s Department investigators in Poway are searching for two suspects whom they say came up with a casing scheme to rob a Domino’s Pizza -- even ordering a pie right before the robbery.
On Sept. 6 around 9:45 p.m., detectives say a man entered the Domino’s located at 12265 Scripps Poway Parkway and ordered a pizza.
As he was inside waiting for his order, the man was seen making hand signals to someone in a highlighter yellow Chevy Impala outside the pizza place. The suspect also walked out of the Domino’s, went to the passenger’s side and talked with the driver.
When the man’s order was up, he took the pizza and left. About 10 minutes later, another man entered the Domino's and demanded cash, threatening the workers with a handgun. It's unclear if he escaped with any money.
Investigators believe the first suspect was casing the business and bringing information back to the second suspect.
The first suspect is described as a dark-skinned man between 19 and 23 years old with fuzzy sideburns and a goatee. He’s roughly 5’7” to 5’8” tall and weighs between 165 and 175 pounds. Witnesses say he looks like he works out and was wearing a tank top and a blue baseball cap.
The second suspect with the handgun is described as a dark-skinned man between 23 and 25 years old, weighing 180 pounds with big hands and chubby arms. A gray beanie with mouth and eye holes covered his face during the robbery, and the mouth looked like it was stitched back up, as if the suspect wanted to look like the Joker in the Batman movies.
He was wearing black and white Nike shoes and gloves, a cream collared shirt with a black tie and black Dickies pants. On his neck, he had a zigzag line tattoo that witnesses say could be snakes or lightning bolts.
Detectives are also looking for the yellow Chevy Impala -- a 2006 to 2012 model with black, 21 or 22-inch wheels.
If you have any information about the robbery, call Crime Stoppers anonymously at (888) 580-8477. You can also anonymously email or text. You could get a reward up to $1,000 if your information leads to an arrest.
Police were searching for an arsonist who has set six trash can fires along Ventura Boulevard on Wednesday night, including one blaze that apparently spread to a business, Los Angeles Police Department officials said.
The structure burned at the back side of a business at 13912 Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks (map). Smoke was still pouring out of the roof as firefighters were battling the flames.
Los Angeles police officials confirmed that this fire and at least two others were connected and were seeking a possible arsonist.
The fires began erupting about 8:40 p.m. in the 13000 block of Ventura Boulevard, LAPD officials said. The person was reportedly trying to start fires in trash cans, and one may have spread to the business.
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The uncle of a toddler who was mauled to death by dogs in Southern California this week pleaded not guilty to child cruelty charges Wednesday.
The boy, 2-year-old Samuel Zamudio of Rialto, died Monday after being attacked by dogs while at his grandmother’s home in Colton, Calif.
Samuel's grandmother, Eustulia Zamudio, 42, and his uncle, Marco Zamudio, 23, were booked Tuesday morning on suspicion of child endangerment leading to death, but Eustulia was not charged because she was not home at the time of the mauling, officials said.
The boy was attacked when he leaned out a window of the home and was then dragged across the backyard. His grandmother, who owns the home, discovered him later.
Marco was at the home with Samuel and was in charge of watching over him, prosecutors contend.
Family members told NBC4 the death was merely an unfortunate accident, claiming that Marco fell asleep after working all night.
"There shouldn't be charges," said Adan Zamudio, Marco's brother. "It's bad enough that we're trying to deal with the grief as is."
A family friend and neighbor on Monday told NBC4 Samuel turned 2 years old in April. She joined family members in a search for the boy after he went missing at about 5 p.m. Monday.
About 30 minutes later, Erica Vega said she heard screams coming from the family's backyard. The grandmother had found Samuel's body with bite wounds to his head and neck.
Animal Control officers took custody of five pit bull mixes at the scene of the attack. It was not immediately clear how many of the dogs were involved, but all five were euthanized Tuesday, police said.
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A high wind warning was in effect for San Diego county mountains through 8 a.m. Thursday.
The National Weather Service is expecting sustained wind speeds of at least 40 mph or gusts up to 58 mph.
Traveling along Interstate 8 in the East County could prove to be hazardous with dangerous cross-winds forecasted through the evening hours.
The strong gusts may kick up dust and sand in the desert communities, limiting visibility.
Detectives cracked a cold case this week when they arrested three suspects in connection with the 2005 murder of a 20-year-old man who was shot in the head and dumped underneath a bridge in Alpine.
According to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, three men were arrested on Monday in connection with the fatal shooting of victim Daniel Rodriguez nearly eight years ago.
Detectives say the suspects in the cold case include 33-year-old Rashad Lansing, 30-year-old Jose Valdez and 30-year-old John Reyna.
All three men have been booked into the George Bailey Detention Center on charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit a crime. They are all scheduled to appear in court Friday.
Cold case investigators say Lansing, Valdez and Reyna allegedly shot Rodriguez in the head on October 13, 2005, and left him under a bridge at Interstate 8 and Tavern Road in Alpine.
Rodriguez was discovered by police later that day and taken to a local hospital with critical wounds. He died three days later -- on October 16, 2005.
Over the past eight years, homicide detectives have searched for Rodriguez’s killers. Finally, on Monday, authorities got a huge break in the case.
Several law enforcement agencies, including the Sheriff’s Homicide Detail, Cold Case Unit, East County Gang Task Force, the Chula Vista Police Department, the National City Police Department and the FBI arrested the men in connection with the murder.
Officials say the case has now been turned over to the District Attorney’s Office.
In addition to shooting Rodriguez, officials say Valdez is accused of two other murders.
He allegedly shot and killed a man named Joseph Medina in Chula Vista in December 2002 and fatally shot another victim named Francisco Chaires in National City on July 6, 2003. Chaires was found with a gunshot wound to the head in the driver’s seat of his car and later died at the hospital.
Wednesday marked 35 years since 144 people lost their lives in the PSA Flight 182 disaster.
While flying over San Diego in 1978, Pacific Southwest Airlines’ Boeing 727 collided with a Cessna mid-air.
The planes crashed in San Diego's North Park area, killing 135 people onboard the Boeing, two men on the Cessna and seven people on the ground. A total of 22 surrounding homes were destroyed or damaged.
To commemorate the victims of the plane crash, San Diegans gathered on Wednesday around noon near the crash site at Dwight and Nile Streets. They set up a makeshift memorial with candles, flowers, newspaper clippings from 1978 and pictures of the victims.
Their names were etched in chalk along the sidewalk.
The PSA Flight 182 crash is still the deadliest aircraft disaster in California’s history.
