San Francisco's — make that Gotham City's — own "Batkid" doesn't just have the rapt attention of a city awaiting his heroism. He's also got the admiration of President Barack Obama.

The president recorded a video message Friday congratulating the country's newest superhero, who is being lauded by everybody from Mayor Ed Lee to federal prosecutors, plus plenty of fans on social media.

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"Way to go, Miles! Way to save Gotham!" the president told the California 5-year-old better known Friday to people far beyond San Francisco as Batkid.

Check out the president's message for Miles below.

A new, five-year financial outlook for the city of San Diego indicates the need for $19 million in municipal budget cuts going into the next fiscal year that begins July 1.

But officials say things could be a lot worse – and that there’s long-term good news that overshadows the short-term bad news.

"If you remember back to 2009, just to get to the baseline, we had to make $90 million worth of reductions,” city financial management director Jeff Sturak told reporters at a Thursday morning news conference at City Hall. “So you can see, over the years, we have definitely righted the ship."

Despite the projected $19 million budget shortfall, Interim Mayor Todd Gloria called current city service levels “manageable for the foreseeable future” – and pointed to four years of projected growth in “best-guess” budget surpluses that will top $100 million by fiscal year 2018-19.

Gloria said he wanted a long-range forecast that was transparent and comprehensive, avoiding one-time revenue fixes and accounting tricks that defer payments year after year.

"I think that what you saw in the past, where folks were very happy to spend whatever, without any real thought about whether or not we could afford it. Those days are over at City Hall."

Councilmembers will have to weigh priorities such as a five-year, $66 million plan for beefing up the police department against more discretionary pet projects and services.

City Hall observers don’t think Gloria is leaving much wiggle room.

Said Liam Dillon, who covers government and civic issues for Voice of San Diego: "When you commit to a plan, commit to a program, commit to building fire stations, commit to putting more money toward arts, re-paving roads -- these things cost money. For the first time, we're starting to see the city take all those things into account."

Council hearings to balance out the projected $19 million deficit begin next spring, after a new mayor is elected and offers his perspective and priorities.

One of four Marines killed in an explosion at Camp Pendleton lived in Vista with his wife and three children.

27-year-old Sgt. Miguel Ortiz was an Explosive Ordnance Disposal technician. He served in combat in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Family members feared for him when he was deployed, knowing how dangerous his job was. But they never imagined, as careful as he was, that Ortiz would be killed this way.

“He was a great man, great father and friend,” said Juan Carlos Ahumada, a close friend of Ortiz.

Ahumada choked back tears as he talked about his friend. He was notified of the Marine’s death along with the rest of the Ortiz family.

“It was a shock. We didn't expect anything like that out of the blue. I just saw him that morning,” Ahumada said.

Melessa Amesquit is also among the extended family of friends.

“He was an amazing dad a friend. He was practically our family,” Amesquit said .

Ortiz was a decorated veteran of two wars, Afghanistan and Iraq. Ortiz and three other EOD Marines were killed, not in battle but by an explosion on the practice range.

“He knew what he was doing. He was always careful,” Ahumada said.

“We wouldn't think something would happen to him being home,” Amesquit added.

Dangerous and difficult as it was, friends say Ortiz enjoyed being a Marine. But his true passion was his family: His wife Susie, his son and two daughters that Miguel adored.

“We were with them through deployment. It's the same thing. They are going to need us more than anything,” Amesquit said .

Ortiz and his fellow Marines were killed while disposing of unexploded ordinance during range maintenance.

A Navy Corpsman and two other Marines nearby were released after receiving medical treatment at the scene.

The Chicago Fire Department continued to battle hot spots after a massive fire destroyed a North Side strip mall Friday.

Firefighters returned to the scene around 3:30 a.m. Saturday and were working to put out rekindled hot spots for about an hour.

They continued to work on hot spots as they sparked throughout Saturday.

"We'll probably still come back two or three times later," said Battalion Chief Michael Smandra. "We can't get to it because of the way the roof is caved in, for safety reasons."

Fire officials believe a roofing crew using propane torches sparked the massive blaze. Authorities say the roofing crew left after the fire started, and didn't return back to the scene.

NBC 5 reports that the roofers also left behind a vehicle at the strip mall.

It took emergency crews two hours to get the fire under control, which started at about 4 p.m.

Heavy smoke and flames could be seen pouring out of the building located at 3106 W. Peterson, near North Lincoln Avenue.

"It was a great business and beautiful store we built," said business owner Sammy Dajani. "It took 45 years to get to where we are at. Now it's gone, just like that."

The fire appeared to have originated at Mid American Furniture and then spread to the adjacent American Mattress store and a ForEyes optometry store.

A Supercuts and a nail salon are also located in the strip mall, and firefighters were also tasked with keeping the fire away from a liquor store, which could have created an even more flammable situation.

Nearby power lines caused several explosions at the scene.

Officials upgraded the incident to a four-alarm fire before it was struck, and used more than 200 firefighters to extinguish the flames.

The roof caved in on the building.

Firefighters set up on the north side of the burning building in order to prevent the fire from spreading to an apartment building directly behind the strip mall.

ComEd confirms 700 were without power on the North Side due to the fire.

The No. 11 Lincoln and the No. 84 Peterson CTA buses were also rerouted.

No injuries were reported at the scene.

Human remains found in a Southern California desert were identified Friday as members of a San Diego family who have been missing since 2010.

McStay Family Mystery: Timeline of Events

San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said the remains of Summer and Joseph McStay were identified through dental records. The other remains found nearby earlier this week are believed to be those of their children, McMahon said.

McStay family members attended the Friday news conference at which the Sheriff's Department announced the findings.

"It gives us courage to know that they're together and they're in a better place," said Mike McStay, Joseph McStay's brother. "It's been a tough road."

The deaths have been ruled homicides, but the cause of death will not be released to "protect the investigation," the department said in a news release.

Joseph's father, Patrick McStay, spoke out for the first time Friday since his family's remains were identified.

"You've got to be a cold-blooded killer to murder two children," Patrick said, "I think someone hired somebody to do this, and that's where all the evidence I have leads me."

Rick Baker, the author of the book, "No Goodbyes: The Mysterious Disappearance of the McStay Family," asked Amazon to pull the book from its digital shelves after learning the remains were those of the McStays.

Baker also had a popular blog about the disappearance of the family, but removed it from the Internet since the discovery.

"The purpose of both of those items was to bring publicity to the case to find the McStays," Baker said. "Tragically, they were found."

A motorcyclist found skeletal remains Monday morning in the area between Quarry and Stoddard Wells roads, just north of Victorville, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department Victorville Station said. When investigators began to analyze the bones, they came across another set of remains in a shallow grave about 6 to 8 feet away, sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller said.

Investigators said they believed the remains were that of four people, and it appeared that the remains had been there for "an extended period of time."

The announcement is a key development in solving the 4-year-old mystery about what happened to the San Diego family (pictured below). McMahon said he could not confirm that the deaths are linked to a drug cartel after being asked several times about that possibility at the news conference.

"We're looking at all options in investigating who the suspects are," said McMahon. "It's too early for us to identify anybody as a suspect."

Joseph McStay, of Fallbrook, Calif. and his wife Summer were last seen with their two children, then ages 3 and 4, in February 2010, NBC7 San Diego reported. A group resembling the McStay family were spotted on surveillance footage crossing into Mexico at the San Ysidro border crossing on Feb. 8, 2010.

Investigators with the FBI, which is handling the family’s case, said it’s believed the family went to Mexico of their own free will.

The retrial resumes Monday.

The San Diego Zoo got a new resident Thursday with the arrival of “Mila,” a 41-year-old African elephant from New Zealand’s Franklin Zoo.

Mila arrived in San Diego through collaboration with the Franklin Zoo Charitable Trust, according to zoo officials. Soon enough, she will move into the zoo’s Prebys Elephant Care Center.

For now, zookeepers say she will be in quarantine. Though physically separated from other elephants for now, Mila will be able to communicate with the herd, as well as smell them. Eventually, animal care staffers hope to slowly introduce Mila to the zoo’s other female elephants.

Zoo officials say Mila has been living at the Franklin Zoo in New Zealand since 2009, where she was cared for under a system of positive reinforcement pioneered and developed by San Diego Zoo Global as a system for training elephants.

According to officials, Mila made the move to San Diego because the Franklin Zoo & Wildlife Sanctuary is now permanently closed due to the death of Dr. Helen Schofield, its founder, operator and elephant project manager.

The Franklin Zoo Charitable Trust has found new homes for all 420 of the animals in its care, including Mila.
 

Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George has one more thing to say about the same-sex marriage bill being passed in Illinois.

"There will be consequences for the Church and society that will become clearer as the law is used to sue for discrimination," Cardinal George writes in a letter he asked to be placed in all church bulletins throughout the Chicago Archdiocese.

"The law has made some gays and lesbians happy, and that is not a bad thing in itself," George adds. "The law, however, is bad law because it will contribute over the long run to the further dissolution of marriage and family life, which are the bedrock of any society.”

The letters, seen printed in an early copy of Sunday's bulletins, are due to be distributed days before Gov. Pat Quinn will sign legislation to allow same-sex couples to marry in Illinois.

George writes that he believes Pope Francis’ words about same-sex marriage have been misused, and while he does not mention House Speaker Mike Madigan by name, the Cardinal notes Madigan's use of the pope's "who am I to judge?" comment during lawmakers' debate about the bill.

“The Pope was not speaking about approving gay marriage. To use his words against his teaching, as they were used on the floor of the State House of Representatives on November 5, is less than intellectually honest.”
        
Madigan’s spokesman Steve Brown says the General Assembly altered state law, “not the Bible or the Sunday missal.” Brown spoke in favor of the separation of church and state.

Filed permits for adult films have dropped 95 percent in the year since Los Angeles County voters passed Measure B, which made condoms mandatory during local film production, according to a trade association for the adult industry.

At this time last year, 480 film permits for adult films had been filed in the county, as opposed to a dismal 24 permits filed so far this year, said Diane Duke, CEO of the Free Speech Coalition, who cited a FilmLA report.

Duke said the county has lost more than $450,000 in revenue using a conservative estimate of a permit costing about $1,000.

"That doesn't even take into consideration what a film crew spends in a day," Duke said.

Voter-passed Measure B was aimed at preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases among adult film actors.

But Duke said performers test for HIV every 14 days, and that the virus hasn’t originated from filming production in 9 years.

"We want to comply with the law, but the law is just impossible to comply with," Duke said. "This is a non-issue as far as health is concerned."

Testing was required monthly before three performers tested positive for HIV in September, leading to the change to once every two weeks. Duke said the cases were not traced back to the film production.

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The family of the slain 4-year-old girl known for decades as Baby Hope and the investigators who spent years tracking down her killer got some closure Friday as her real name was finally put on her tombstone. 

Holy water and tears marked the unveiling of the headstone, newly engraved with the name Anjelica Castillo below the only name she's had for decades, Baby Hope. Fr. Rudy Gonzalez declared at the ceremony at St. Raymond's Cemetery in the Bronx, "Bless the engraving of Anjelica's name and bless any child who at this moment may be suffering at the hands of evil hearts." 

Her mother and other family members left flowers and candles for a loved one who would now be 26 years old. 

"I'm just glad that her name is on her stone," said the girl's sister Lorena Castillo. 

In 1991, the body of then 4-year-old Anjelica was discovered in a cooler by the highway near Washington Heights. She had been sexually abused and suffocated. 

"We couldn't imagine how anybody could be so cruel to such an innocent little child," said retired detective Jerry Giorgio. 

Giorgio and retired chief Joseph Resnick were lead investigators on the original case, one that went cold but was never forgotten. Police gave the unknown child the name Baby Hope and paid for her tombstone. 

"I'm sad, the fact that we have a dead little girl who should now be 26 years old, vibrant, working, perhaps bearing children herself," said Resnick.

Last July, police relaunched their efforts on the 22nd anniversary of the date the slain child was found, blitzing Washington Heights with posters bearing her sketch. The very next day, Crime Stoppers got a call. 

Det. Elena Donnell said the caller "gave specific family members, where to look -- ethnicity, origin, approximate dates of birth, and she turned out to be right." 

The case broke wide open in October with the arrest of 52-year-old Conrado Juarez, a cousin on Anjelica's father's side. Juarez, who has said he was coerced into a confession, was charged with murder and is due back in court Nov. 21. 

An autistic boy's beloved Labrador retriever that went missing last week has been returned to his family by a woman who says she found it wandering and took it home.

The boy's mother, Emily Fontana, said the family was "beyond thrilled and grateful" that Echo the dog was back home. Echo has been a best friend to 5-year-old Mark Fontana, who cannot communicate with words.

Watch the full video of Mark and Echo's heartwarming reunion

The family had waited a year to get the dog from a nonprofit, and she arrived on Mark's birthday.

"There's something about Echo that has brought a calm and peace to Mark, and by extension, our whole family," his mother said.

But the pup went missing on Nov. 6, last seen about a block from the Fontanas' home in Rye, N.Y.

After more than a week and a half of searching for Echo, the family got a phone call Friday. 

"They said 'I think I might have your missing dog,' and my heart stopped," said Emily Fontana. 

The woman who returned the dog told the family she saw news stories about the missing pup and brought her back.

"A good Samaritan found her and gave the dog to her sister in the Bronx, and the sister had Echo safe and sound," said Fontana. "She was on a couch, she was warm, she was fed, and we're so grateful for that." 

Emily Fontana walked to school with Echo Friday afternoon to surprise Mark, and NBC 4 New York captured the happy reunion. Echo licked the boy's face as he laughed and smiled, emotions his mother hasn't seen since the dog disappeared. 

Then Mark was tethered to Echo, his constant companion, and the old friends walked back home for the first time in nine days. 

The body of the passenger who reportedly fell out of a small plane into the ocean has likely been found, according to Miami-Dade Police.

Police said they believe a body found in a mangrove area just south of SW 184 Street at 10:30 a.m. Saturday is 42-year-old Gerardo Nales, but authorities said they are waiting for official identification from the Medical Examiner's Office.

Nales fell out of Piper PA46 Thursday about eight miles southeast of Tamiami Airport with no parachute, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The search for his body went as far south as Turkey Point near Homestead.

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The pilot was identified to NBC 6 as Felipe Fons, who received his commercial and instrument certifications when he attended Dean's International Aviation flight school at Tamiami Airport.

In the mayday call Fons made to air traffic controllers, he described the bizarre incident.

"I have a door ajar, and a passenger that fell down. I am six miles from Tamiami," he said.

A little later, the air traffic controller asks: "So you said you had a passenger who fell out of your plane?"

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"That is correct, sir. He opened the back door, and he just fall down the plane," the pilot said.

The plane took off from a local airport, located at 12800 SW 137th Ave. in Miami.

Police have not indicated any evidence of foul play and the pilot was very cooperative with the investigation, authorities said.

"There's a lot of questions that need to be answered because of the fact that the detailed involved in the incident of course raise a lot of questions," Miami-Dade Police Spokesman Alvaro Zabaleta said.

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Southern California district officials have yet to find a resolution to the controversy of a high school mascot that a civil rights group finds offensive and stereotypical.

Coachella Valley High School’s "Arab" mascot -- a mustachioed man with a scraggly beard and hooked nose -- was the topic of discussion during a special board meeting Friday night at the school’s gym.

The controversy began when Abed A. Ayoub, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee’s director of legal and policy affairs, wrote a letter to the district on Nov. 1 saying that cartoons, mugs and T-shirts of the mascot around the campus, were examples of stereotyping, and should not be tolerated.

Coachella Valley school district Superintendent Dr. Darryl Adams said during the meeting he plans to give Ayoyb a special tour of "locations" near the school in an attempt to show that the mascot was not intended to offend anyone.

Further details about the meeting's conclusions were not clear.

Some took to social media to express their displeasure with the mascot.

“Hey, you Bigots are hilarious! My school and I decided to change our team names to the 'Africans'. Our sister school is going with the name, 'Mexicans'. There mascot is a taco,” someone posted to the Coachella Valley High School Alumni Association Facebook page on Nov. 8.

Ayoub said it was a member who brought the mascot to the group’s attention over a month ago. After gathering opinions from the Arab-American community, many felt the mascot was demeaning and the group decided to act, Ayoub said.

“This is a very sensitive conversation,” Ayoub told NBC4 Friday. “An overwhelming number of individuals thought it was offensive.”

Ayoub said the group would not be at tonight's meeting, but that dialogue stemming from the letter have been open and productive.

“We’re glad that the meeting is taking place and that the issue is actually moving forward,” Ayoub said.

Members of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee are visiting the Thermal, Calif. community next week to “foster an understanding” between the group regarding their feelings about the mascot.

Ayoub said his ultimate hope is that the district moves away from the stereotypical image, whether or not that means scrapping the mascot altogether.

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USNS Mercy is preparing to leave San Diego with supplies to help the victims of Typhoon Haiyan.

More than 1,000 pallets of materials were loaded onto the Naval ship today and should be ready to leave in the next three days. The cargo includes food, equipment and medical supplies.

“We are loading the ship to able to be a capable fleet hospital ship to support any kind of medical mission should Mercy be called upon to deploy to execute that mission,” said Cmdr. Tony Costa, of the U.S. Navy.
 
The ship had to wait for the execution order on Wednesday before it began to prepare. The plan is for it to have enough food and materials to sustain the crew of 1,100 for 30 days at sea.

Costa said the crew has received help from different groups in San Diego, including Military Sealift Command, Fleet logistics center of San Diego, Defense Logistics Agency troop support and other ships in the area, which have pitched in personnel and support.
 
“This is a fantastic example of the one-team mentality of the Navy,” he said . “This is a fantastic example of a one-team mentality of the Navy. When one team gets called upon, the rest of us aren’t just standing by.”

The release of a sexually violent predator Douglas Badger has been delayed as the debate over where he will be placed continued in court Friday. 

A jewelry store in Point Loma was robbed Friday evening after an unknown suspect asked an employee to show him several high-end watches inside a display case, police confirmed.

The heist happened just before 6 p.m. at the Ipanema Watch & Jewelry store located at 1168 Rosecrans St.

Police said an unknown man walked into the business and asked to see some watches. When an employee pulled out several high-end Rolex watches, the suspect allegedly grabbed three watches and ran out of the shop.

The employee chased after the suspect, but lost him.

When officers arrived at the scene, the suspect was nowhere to be found. Police described the suspect as a black man in his 30s. He was wearing a grey hoodie and jeans during the robbery.

No one was injured in the incident. The investigation is ongoing.
 

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Looks like it’s going to be a windy weekend: the National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a wind advisory for some parts of San Diego County.

For now, the wind advisory remains in effect through 7 a.m. Sunday and impacts San Diego County mountain and desert areas. The NWS says mountain ridge tops, gaps and slopes will experience the brunt of the winds through Saturday night.

The strong winds are expected to reach 35 to 50 mph. The gusts will likely impact visibility on the roads for motorists, with potential reductions in visibility from blowing dust and sand in desert areas.

Drivers are urged to use extra caution, especially motorists with high-profile vehicles, according to the advisory.

The NWS expects the strong winds will diminish by late Saturday or early Sunday morning.

Get the latest weather updates here.
 

Three years ago an entire Fallbrook family vanished leaving eggs on the counter and pets unattended.

They have not been seen or heard from since and the FBI has taken over the search for Joseph and Summer McStay and their two preschool-age boys, Gianni and Joey Jr.,

On Friday, officials in San Bernardino County announced dental records have helped identify two bodies found in shallow graves near Victorville as Summer and Joseph. They say they believe two additional bodies found in a separate grave are those of Joseph Mateo and Gianni.

This timeline documents the events leading up to and following the report of the family's disappearance.

Jan. 28, 2010 – Someone using the McStay’s computer searched for information about travel to Mexico and passports for children days before they disappeared.

Jan. 31 - Family celebrates youngest son Joseph Jr. 3rd birthday

Feb. 4 - Joseph McStay stopped answering his cell phone according to his brother.  Summer McStay last spoke with her sister. Summer and Joseph text each other around 5 p.m.

Feb. 4, 7:47 p.m. - Surveillance camera at a neighbor's home shows family's Isuzu trooper leaving the cul de sac. Camera does not show who is in the vehicle.

Feb. 4, 8:28 p.m. - Fallbrook cellphone tower pings Joseph's phone. He makes a call to an employee in Rancho Cucamonga to talk about work.

Feb. 8 – Family’s 1996 Isuzu Trooper towed from a parking lot near San Ysidro, Calif. Security guards later tell investigators that it may have been parked there sometime between 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Feb. 10 - San Diego County sheriffs deputies conduct a welfare check on the McStay home. No signs of foul play, deputies do not go inside.

Feb. 13 - Mike McStay (Joseph's Brother) crawls inside an open window, searching for family. Finds family dogs had not been fed and food was left on the counter in the kitchen.

Feb. 15 - Family members report the entire family missing to San Diego County sheriff’s deputies

Feb. 19 – Homicide investigators searched the family’s home on Avocado Vista Lane in Fallbrook, Calif. They say there was no sign of struggle.

Feb. 22 – Deputies say the disappearance has them baffled.

Feb. 23 - detectives notify Interpol to be on the look out for McStay family who might be traveling in Mexico.

Feb. 25 – Officials release fliers and ask Mexican authorities for a search of airports, bus stations and other major travel hubs.

March 5  - Video released deputies say they've spotted images of a group of people similar to the McStay family going hand in hand into Mexico through the pedestrian gate. The video is dated around 7 p.m. Feb. 8.

March 18 – Relatives allow media a tour of the McStay family home.

March 30 – FBI joins the investigation.

May 13 - Seven investigators arrived in El Rosario, Mexico after a tip from the staff of a local restaurant. The waiter accurately described a birthmark on Joey McStay's forehead.

June 19 – The McStay family mystery was featured on “America’s Most Wanted”

August 3 – The belongings were removed from the McStay family home by relatives.

April 9, 2013: Based on surveillance video captured a the border crossing, San Diego Sheriff’s Department investigators announce that the McStay family left for Mexico voluntarily.

Nov .11 - Motorcycle rider finds human remains in northern Victorville desert.

Nov. 12 - Forensic investigators including an anthropologist work through day and night uncovering two grave sites with multiple human remains.

Nov. 13 - Sheriff's investigators conclude that remains of four people have been discovered.

Nov. 15 - San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon identifies the bodies found as Joseph, Summer, Joseph Mateo and Gianani McStay.
 

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Federal authorities are offering a $3,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a man who walked out of the federal courthouse in downtown Chicago and disappeared after he was ordered taken into custody.

Ignacio Torres is accused of threatening to kill someone who'd cooperated with prosecutors in his drug case.

Officials have forfeited Torres' $200,000 bond, which was secured by his parents' Chicago property, and are undergoing an intensive search.

Torres is a Hispanic male, approximately 5-foot-8 and 173 pounds, with brown eyes, black hair, and a medium complexion.

The 32 year old was initially arrested on in 2011, and charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute after delivering a kilo of cocaine to a cooperating witness near the intersection of Hermitage and Armitage avenues in Chicago, according to authorities.

Torres was on bond in February 2012 and remained free on bond after he pleaded guilty on June 27 this. His sentencing was scheduled for Dec. 11, where he faced a statutory maximum of 40 years in prison.

U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Randall Samborn said there was "some uncertainty about how and when he was supposed to report to the (U.S.) Marshal's Service," but that Torres was never supposed to leave the building after the hearing.

He was in court was in court Tuesday because federal prosecutors had filed an emergency motion to revoke his bond, alleging he and others confronted someone last month who had cooperated with prosecutors. Torres threatened to kill the person, calling the person a "snitch" and threw rocks at him or her, prosecutors said.

What is certain is that Torres was required to go into jail sometime on Tuesday.

But it's not clear when he left the building. Samborn said after the hearing in which the judge revoked Torres' bond, the prosecutor and the judge left the courtroom. There were no security officers or marshals in the courtroom at the time, Samborn said.

Samborn also said it was unclear if Torres was supposed to report on his own to the marshal's service in the court building and whether he was given time to say goodbye to family members who attended the hearing.

Anyone with information about Torres' whereabouts is asked to contact the U.S. Marshals Service 1-800-336-0102, or any local law enforcement agency.