Classes were cancelled at Helix Charter High School in La Mesa Tuesday due to a power outage in the area, Grossmont Union High School District officials confirmed.

The school closed early, at 9 a.m., and posted the following message to their school website:

“Due to the ongoing power outage in the La Mesa area students will be released from school and can be picked up at 9am today 12/3/2013.”

According to San Diego Gas & Electric, the La Mesa power outage began just before 3:30 a.m. As of 10 a.m., approximately 935 customers remained without service.

SDG&E said the expected restoration time was 4 p.m. The cause of the power outage is under investigation.
 

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) is offering a $50,000 reward for information on two suspects allegedly involved in the robbery of an El Cajon letter carrier.

According to the USPIS, the letter carrier was robbed on Nov. 27 in the 2400-block of Fletcher Parkway just after 5 p.m.

Details of the crime were not released, as the investigation is ongoing. However, the USPIS did release photos of two suspects (pictured above) believed to be responsible for the robbery.

Officials say the first suspect is a white male, approximately 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds with a medium build. He had a tear drop tattoo under his left eye and wore a long-sleeved dark colored shit, dark shorts, black knee-high socks and black shoes at the time of the incident.

The second suspect is described by officials as a white male, approximately 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds. He had full-sleeve tattoos and wore a white “SoCal” logo T-shirt, shorts and black shoes.

Both men are believed to be between 25 and 30 years old.

Since the robbery of a U.S. letter carrier is a federal crime, the USPIS says the suspects could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine if caught.

Anyone with information on the crime should contact Postal Inspectors at (877) 876-2455. Callers should press No. 2 and refer to Case No. 2009378 when calling in information. Tipsters may be eligible for the hefty reward if their information leads to the arrest and conviction of the suspects. Callers may remain anonymous.
 

Illinois lawmakers on Tuesday approved a bill proposed to fund the state's $100 billion unfunded pension liability.

The House voted 62-53 in favor of the bill — just two votes more than it needed for passage — and the Senate voted 30-24 in favor, the bare minimum it needed to pass.

The bill proposes changing how cost of living adjustments are paid out, creating pauses up to five years when those COLAs are funded and raising the retirement age for those aged 45 and under.

Gov. Pat Quinn is expected to sign the bill.

"Since I took the oath of office, I've pushed relentlessly for a comprehensive pension reform solution that would erase a $100 billion liability and restore fiscal stability to Illinois," Quinn said in a statement. "Today, we have won. The people of Illinois have won."

Senate President John J. Cullerton issued a statement the passage of the bill lauding his fellow legistors for compromising.

"When it comes to pension reform, a compromise was found at the intersection of policy and political feasibility. The General Assembly stumbled at this intersection for years. Now it's time to move forward and allow the courts to rule on the constitutionality of our approach," Cullerton said.

The bill was backed by Quinn and the state's four legislative leaders, who announced the pension reform deal last week with intentions of cutting $160 billion over 30 years.

It faced an unknown outcome from rank and file members and created some unusual political alliances.

GOP gubernatorial candidates Bruce Rauner and Dan Rutherford found themselves aligned with labor and Lt. Governor Shelia Simon in opposition.

Sen. Mark Kirk said the Illinois General Assembly "shouldn't pass a bill that neither lawmakers nor the voters have had time to read," and Madigan admitted last week the vote will be "very difficult."

Retirees who worked for the state fear the deal will seriously cut their monthly income and have asked lawmakers to vote no.

"We put in a certain amount, and they're supposed to match it," said Gloria Smith Armstrong, a nurse for 29 years. "Well we've done that, but they haven't. So now they're saying they want to take our money to cover what they didn't put in."

"I'm very old at this point in time," said Gwendolyn Lee who spent 32 years as a social worker. "I cannot go back and start working with the mentally ill who are with substance abuse and who are prone to violence."

Now that the pension deal is approved, a legal fight is expected from labor unions.

"Litigation is inevitable, and I hope that the courts issue an expedited ruling as to the constitutionality of the legislation," Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford said. "The sooner the better, so we can move our great state forward."

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel issued a statement praising the bill's passage, but also said the lawmakers' work is not finished.

"The pension crisis is not truly solved until relief is brought to Chicago and all of the other local governments across our state that are standing on the brink of a fiscal cliff because of our pension liabilities. Without providing the same relief to local governments, we know that taxpayers, employees, and the future of our state and local economies will remain at risk," Emanuel said.

Illinois has the worst-funded state pension system in the country.

For the first time in eight years there’s a new No. 1 boy’s name out there, according the list of Top Baby Names of 2013 released by BabyCenter on Tuesday.

The annual list says Jackson is the new No. 1 boy’s name, ending Aiden’s lengthy eight-year reign as No. 1 and bumping it now to No. 2.

For girls, Sophia holds on tight as the No. 1 name for the fourth year in a row.

Other boy’s names that cracked the top 10 include, in order: Liam; Lucas; Noah; Mason; Jayden; Ethan; Jacob; Jack.

After Sophia, the top 10 girl’s names include: Emma; Olivia; Isabella; Mia; Ava; Lily; Zoe; Emily; Chloe.

The annual list includes the top 100 baby names of 2013 based on the names of 555,000 babies born this year registered on the BabyCenter website. The full list can be seen here.

BabyCenter says family names are trending this year, with more parents looking to grandparents’ and relatives’ names for inspiration.

Still, pop culture also seems to have a major impact on baby naming trends, according to BabyCenter's research.

This year, the hillbilly hit series “Duck Dynasty” seems to be influencing parents. Like one of the series stars, the name Korie rose by 89 percent in 2013, followed by Mia with a 44 percent rise, Phil with a 32 percent rise, Sadie with a 23 percent increase and Silas, up 15 percent.

With a little influence from across the pond, the Royal family’s little prince, George of Cambridge, has also influenced naming trends – but in an unexpected way. BabyCenter says the name George is up 37 percent, but as a girl’s name. It’s up 10 percent as a boy’s name.

Also, believe it or not, the name Kanye – as in rapper Kanye West – rose nearly 40 percent in popularity this year, up 2,228 spots on the list. The name West is also up by 22 percent, while Kim, as in Kim Kardashian, is up 12 percent.

Still, few parents are naming their kids after the famous couple’s baby girl, North West. BabyCenter says it doesn’t have a single baby named North in their database.

The HBO hit, “Girls,” is also impacting some parents’ naming choices, with some of the characters’ names gaining ground. Shoshana jumped up 67 percent in popularity, while Marnie rose 62 percent and Zosia rose 46 percent. Lena, as in “Girls” star Lena Dunham, is up by 26 percent, but her character’s name, Hannah, is down by 10 percent.

Finally, stars behaving badly this year also saw a drop in the popularity of their names. The name Reese – as in Reese Witherspoon – plummeted 45 percent, Amanda, as in Amanda Bynes, dropped 37 percent, Paula, as in Paula Deen, slipped 20 percent and Lindsay, as in Lindsay Lohan, dropped 17 percent.

Oddly enough, however, the name Miley – as in wild child Miley Cyrus – skipped up 16 spots on the girl’s list. Still, it didn’t crack the top 100.

With San Diego’s craft beer culture going strong, the city hopes to give local microbreweries another boost by adding restaurants and tasting rooms to the venues.

The city is currently seeking approval from the California Coastal Commission (CCC) authority to allow this to happen at microbreweries located in industrial areas adjacent to coastal zones.

The measure will be taken up during a meeting in San Francisco on Dec. 12.

The proposed ordinance would bring larger restaurants or tasting rooms to microbreweries than would otherwise be allowed in the zoning code. Specifically, the proposal states that manufacturers of malt beverages or distilled spirits would be allowed to develop “an accessory restaurant or tasting room up to a maximum of 25 percent of the gross floor area dedicated to manufacturing.”

The proposed allowance would only apply to facilities that are at least 12,000-square feet in size. This way, it benefits bona fide microbreweries rather than restaurants with limited on-site manufacturing production.

Currently, restaurants are limited in most industrial zones to a maximum of 3,000-square-feet in gross floor area.

The city hopes to modify this in order to encourage expansion and retention of the craft beer and microbrewery industries, a CCC report states. The city has adopted amendments to its industrial zone regulations to make this happen.

By adding full-service restaurants and expanding tasting and dining options at microbreweries, local craft beer manufacturers can introduce more patrols to their products made on the same premises.

According to the report, communities in the coastal zone with industrial zoning include Barrio Logan, downtown San Diego, Mira Mesa, Pacific Beach, San Ysidro and Torrey Pines.

Currently, there are no existing microbreweries that span 12,000-square-feet or more that could use the proposed ordinance. However, in the future, a developer could propose a larger microbrewery that includes a full-service restaurant or tasting room.

Under the California Coastal Act, the restaurants or tasting rooms would serve as an “amenity to support coastal visitors,” according to the CCC reports, which can be read in its entirety here.

A 49-year-old Westchester mother of five says she feels fortunate to be recovering after the Metro-North train she was taking to work in Manhattan Sunday jumped the tracks and skidded through an embankment in the Bronx, stopping just short of the river. 

Fidajete Brucaj was on her way to her job as a maid at a midtown hotel from her home in Yorktown when her regular commute was jolted. 

"I remember being happy and heading off to work, and then after that, I don't know what's going on," Brucaj told NBC 4 New York from her hospital bed at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, where she was recovering. 

Brucaj's daughter Quin added that all her mother remembered "is a couple of bangs, and I think at that point the passengers had been flying off their seats. She had been knocked unconscious right away." 

Quin, her four siblings and her father were home Sunday when they turned on the television and saw their mother's mangled front-car train thrashed along the bank of the Hudson. Not everyone in Brucaj's car made it out alive, all the more reason her family is grateful, even as questions linger about whether human error played a role in the derailment. 

"I feel bad for the conductor and his family," said Quin Brucaj.

The family is focused on the recovery of Fidajete Brucaj, who says she feels "very sick and very tired." X-rays have revealed she has a fracture in her spine, and her family says it will take a long time for her to regain her health.

Still, Quin says her mother is "lucky."

"All that matters is that she's here and there's nothing life-threatening. Eventually she'll be OK." 

Brucaj, whose five children range in ages from 15 through 27, remains in serious but stable condition at Montefiore. It's not clear when she'll be released. 

An Ocean Beach man who was charged with felony vandalism for trimming city-owned shrubs is relieved the charges were dropped.

Vince Adame told NBC 7 that he doesn’t regret the landscaping that got him arrested last month.

Adame said he trimmed the bushes because he said the overgrowth made it easier for the homeless to hide.

San Diego police initially believed Adame cut down some of the vegetation because it was blocking his view. They arrested him and charged him with felony vandalism.

However the San Diego County District Attorney dropped the charges Monday.

Adame said he was relieved that prosecutors saw the big picture. He feels he was mistreated by police and is considering taking legal action.

Also, he says he'll continue to trim the hedges regardless of any possible consequences.

“I'm just taking care of what's been passed on to us. We're proud to be OBecians. We're going to continue to take care of our neighborhood. Respect OB. Respect OB,” Adame said.

A D.C. police officer was arrested and charged with production of child pornography while on duty, the Metropolitan Police Department announced Tuesday.

Officer Marc Washington is accused of taking digital photographs of a 15-year-old girl after ordering her to remove her clothes.

Washington -- an officer with MPD since 2006 -- was arrested Monday, shortly after the victim's mother called police, authorities said.

According to charging documents, Washington first made contact with the family when the girl's mother called police to report her missing. Washington went to the family's home to take a missing persons report.

The girl returned home Sunday afternoon, but later that night, according to authorities, Washington went back to the apartment and asked to speak to the girl privately. He entered her bedroom and ordered her to remove her clothing, telling her he needed to take photographs of any injuries she'd sustained while missing, say charging documents.

The girl said she wasn't hurt, but he told her it was part of the procedure and she complied, the documents say.

After he left, the victim told her mother, who called police.

Washington was pulled over while still on duty. Authorities recovered a dozen images of the girl from his camera, including nine that had been deleted but were recoverable, authorities said.

Authorities also found other photos -- including nude images -- of unidentified people on Washington's camera.

They said at least two of the subjects appear to be minors.

"We invest a great amount of time and effort to ensure that we are hiring the right people and we continue to proactively monitor integrity across the department," said Police Chief Cathy Lanier. "But to learn of an allegation of this kind against a person who is sworn to protect our children, it is both shocking and disturbing. We are fortunate that someone came forward to alert us of this behavior to ensure that we prevent future victims."

Police are working to learn whether there may be additional victims, they said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact authorities at 202-727-9099 or Youth Investigations Division at 202-576-6768. Those wishing to remain anonymous can submit tips by text messaging 50411.

Miami is the perfect place for artist Tracey Emin’s neon and glass work.

That’s what the London-born artist said at the unveiling of her exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami titled “Tracey Emin: Angel Without You.” The exhibit, with more than 60 peices, is her first ever at a U.S. museum and it runs until March 9, 2014.

“I don’t have to explain neon to people from Miami. They get it,” Emin said.

She has been making neons for almost 20 years and this show, with its dark blue rug and walls, was very difficult to put together, and it took many months to of planning to organize, Emin said.

She curated the show with Bonnie Clearwater, the former director of the museum, who now is the director of Nova Southeastern University's Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale.

"So it was more or less like an evolution of the work. It was mainly about how its gone up and how we displayed it that’s important," Emin said.

She has made about 100 neons over the years.

"It isn't about which ones I liked best. It was about showing a different quality and the different neons and how they work or whatever," she added.

The show opens with her 1995 piece “The Tracey Emin Museum” and her film “Why I Never Became A Dancer,” which has scenes from her childhood home in the British town of Margate.
Many of the works are epigrams transcribed into neon from her own writing.

Works on display line the dark walls of the exhibition room. One reads in pink neon: “I Felt You and I Know You Loved Me.”

“Only God Knows I’m Good,” reads another in neon green.

“You Forgot To Kiss My Soul,” is another with blue writing surrounded by a pink heart.

“I have never seen so many neons anywhere in my life before, not even in Las Vegas, not Times Square, not the seaside, nowhere, ever. So I actually wanted to do something which I have never seen before and I've never seen this,” Emin said.

But the message is deeper than love and sexuality, she said.

“A lot of it is about God as well isn’t it? A lot of it is about enlightenment. So, it’s not one dimensional. It’s about how we think. As human beings we have souls. That is the main message. The soul is as important as any other aspect of our lives, any other aspect of our body,” Emin said.

Clearwater said the works become like love letters, but they are also “very cryptic and universal.”

By using pronouns like “you” or “I” in the work, she could be addressing God or even herself, Clearwater said.

"The opportunity in an exhibition like this is to put an artist in perspective,” Clearwater said.

And Miamians may be seeing more of Emin as she now lives in the Magic City part time.

“I like the people, I like the nature, I like the sea, I like the Intracoastal, I like the architecture and I like the fact that it doesn’t feel like the rest of America,” she said.
 

Betsy Landry and her kitchen are bouncing back after a huge Thanksgiving Day feast. But her dish sponge is worse for the wear.

"I'm sure there are a lot of germs on it but I don't think much about it," said Landry.

She says she usually uses her sponge until it looks "scrungy" then she throws it away.

The sponge is critical in many households to keep things clean. However, on the other hand, it is often criticized for being the dirtiest item in the house.

One health expert says the kitchen sponge has far more bacteria than a toilet seat.

So what can people do about their sponge?  Here are some suggestions:

1)  Replace your sponge every other week.

2)  Wash your sponge after every use with an antibacterial soap and let it dry.

3)  Microwave a wet sponge for 60 seconds.

4)  Put your sponge in the dishwasher when you do a load of dishes with the "heated dry" selected.

5)  Soak your sponge in lemon juice, vinegar or a solution of 10% chlorine beach.

A man was arrested after he persuaded, sweet-talked and fleeced two women for $130,000, Hallandale Beach police said.

According to police, 32-year-old Joe Alvarez claimed he was a spiritual adviser and convinced the victims that they were possessed by evil spirits, their money was evil too, and only he could help them.

“The curse was put on me to be poor, it was put on money, so that's why I had to give all that money, to reverse it,” one of the victims told NBC 6.

Police, acting on a tip, arrested Alvarez at an apartment just off Fort Lauderdale Beach on the day before Thanksgiving. He is being held in the North Broward Bureau on $16,000 bond and faces two counts of grand theft and two counts of obtaining property by gaming, online jail records said.

The second victim said Alvarez, posing as a spiritual advisor, told her she needed to be cleansed, along with her money.

“The money that you got that you have is unclean so you have to take it out of the bank and keep it with you, like sleep on it, just keep it with you because of all the cleansing that I am doing with you and your body,” she said.

Between February and May, police said, Alvarez fleeced the women collectively for $130,000, most of it in cash.

Victim one gave Alvarez $12,500 dollars initially, then followed up with several $5,000 payments. He convinced victim two to withdraw $43,000 and hide it under her bed.

Part of his shtick, said investigators, was setting the money on fire.

“That money was supposed to come back to me but then it's like we got to burn it now, so if you have this big bin and he just threw it in there and then I'm like ‘My money!,’ and he's like ‘You have to leave, you have to leave, like everything’s getting dark, there are spirits that are going to come in, leave fast before they follow you,’” one of the victims said.

That cash set on fire was fake money, done with sleight of hand, investigators said.

Police said Alvarez met the victims at the Aventura Mall – randomly approaching them inside, striking up a conversation about their aura, then selling them his spiritual services.

“His ability to get into them and know that they are into spirituality and to use that as an access into their personal life is impressive,” said Hallandale Beach Police Det. Edward McGovern.

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Hialeah Police have arrested a 24-year-old woman for seducing a teen boy.

Caridad Munoz, 24, is accused of coercing her boyfriend’s 15-year-old nephew into having sex with her Nov. 25, while staying at his family’s home on the 5900 block of W. 26th Ave. in Hialeah.

The teen said he saw Munoz smoking marijuana before she made her way into his locked bedroom, where she and the teen had sex.

The 15-year-old said he used a condom that he found in his wallet before they had intercourse. Once finished, he told detectives, Munoz requested oral sex from him, and after their encounter, he said Munoz placed the used condom and the wrapper in her purse.

After her Miranda rights were read, police said Munoz made statements supporting her accuser’s claims. She now faces charges of lewd and lascivious battery of a minor, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

“He cannot legally consent to having sex with an adult. She's 24, he's 15, and now, she's in trouble for that,” explained Hialeah Police spokesman Carl Zogby. “If convicted, she could serve up to 10 years and have to register as a sex offender.”

Munoz’s bond was set at $32,000, and it wasn’t immediately known whether she has an attorney. As of Tuesday night, authorities said it did not appear Munoz has a prior criminal record.

A 100-year-old Fremont woman was sworn in as a U.S. citizen Tuesday.

Needless to say, this doesn't happen very often.

Suke Haan Yu Cheng is originally from China. She spent most of her life living in Hong Kong.

When she was 80 years old, she decided to move to Canada to join her son and daughter-in-law.

When she was 90, Cheng came to America to live with her daughter. She speaks only Cantonese.

Her daughter translated when asked what she likes best about the Bay Area: “She likes the weather and the people.”

To give some perspective, in the past 50 years, less than 20 people 100 years or older have been naturalized.

Cyber Monday is still on top.

A convicted child molester facing a maximum of 165 years in prison was found dead in north San Diego on Saturday, San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis confirmed.

Joseph Vincent McCarron, 58, was found dead in a wooded area behind a park in Carlsbad, Dumanis said. His body was recovered by Carlsbad police and positively identified by the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office on Tuesday.

On Nov. 14, McCarron was convicted on 11 counts of child molestation stemming from the sexual abuse of the daughters of a woman he dated. Dumanis said McCarron was also convicted of multiple-victim allegations on each count, making the punishment for each count 15 years-to-life in prison.

However, McCarron failed to appear in Vista Superior Court for the reading of the verdicts that day. Dumanis said McCarron had been released after posting $500,000 cash bail and remained free on bail as he awaited sentencing.

After he failed to show up to court, officials began a two-week manhunt for McCarron, alerting the public to be on the lookout for the fugitive, who was known to frequent San Diego’s North County. Officials considered him a threat to public safety, and warned he could be armed and dangerous.

The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office is expected to release McCarron’s cause of death at a later time.
 

U.S. Marines based at Camp Pendleton will receive free Christmas trees Friday as part of the annual Trees for Troops program.

About 800 trees will be handed out beginning at 9 a.m. at two locations. 

For those families gathering at the Paige Fieldhouse parking lot across from the MCX, 600 vouchers for a free tree will be handed out at 7 a.m. 

An additional 200 tickets will be handed out at the San Onofre TRS Center Bldg 51919 at 6 a.m.

Each year, the program delivers an average of 17,000 trees to more than 60 military bases around the country.

It is sponsored by the Christmas Spirit Foundation. A valid military ID is required. Trees are handed out one per military family and first come, first served.

This will be the ninth year that military families in San Diego's North County received the free trees.

An El Cajon woman admitted her role in the highway crash that killed a UC San Diego student just days before her graduation and the El Centro teacher who had pulled over to help.

Angela August, 25, of Alpine rolled her car on Interstate 8 west of Tavern Road on June 11, 2012. Jimmy Arevalo pulled over to help.

That’s when Sunny Hall, driving more than 70 miles per hour and with a blood alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit, crashed her vehicle into August's vehicle.

Hall entered a guilty plea Tuesday and will be sentenced in March on charges of driving under the influence and gross vehicular manslaughter.

In a preliminary hearing earlier this year, a 911 tape was played in which Arevalo can be heard describing the crash of August’s Toyota Yaris to the dispatcher. Then, he screams, and there is silence.

CHP officers say Hall’s vehicle struck the Toyota, killing Arevalo and pinning August inside.

August was pronounced dead at the scene.

Arevalo, 59, taught the fifth grade for 34 years and was considered an institution in the small town of Calexico. He was on his way home to El Centro after visiting his son at UC San Diego when he saw the rollover along I-8.

August was about a mile from her home in Alpine when she lost control of her vehicle. The young woman died just four days before her graduation from college.

You won’t be allowed to smoke e-cigarettes in Carlsbad businesses or restaurants anymore.

Tuesday night, the Carlsbad City Council voted to ban electronic cigarettes wherever smoking is prohibited.

“It’s not a ban on the product, but it will protect the public health from what’s essentially an unknown and unregulated product,” said Lorenzo Higley, chairperson of the San Diego Tobacco Control Coalition.

E-cigarettes don’t contain tobacco. Instead, users inhale vaporized liquid that usually contains nicotine.

The proposal cited a 2009 Food and Drug Administration analysis that found the inhaled substance contains carcinogens. However, it also points out, “The possible health effects of bystanders breathing or absorbing these vapors [are] unknown.”

E-cigarette business owners say vaping can actually help people quit smoking.

Carlsbad is the second city in San Diego County to ban e-cigarettes. Vista passed a similar measure last October.

The ban takes effect in 30 days.

A total of 10 pilot whales have died and another 41 remain stranded in a remote area of Everglades National Park on Wednesday, officials said Wednesday afternoon.

A team that arrived on the scene Wednesday morning found six whales dead, and they were forced to euthanize four through sedation as a humane option, NOAA Fisheries Southeast marine mammal stranding coordinator Blair Mase said.

The swimming whales do not show any signs of injury or trauma, but there is not a lot of time to save them, Mase said.

And because the members of the deep water species are out of their normal home range, they may be dehyrdrated or malnourished, Mase said.

They are in Monroe County near Highland Beach, which is the western boundary of Everglades National Park. The closest deep water is about 20 miles west. In between are sandbars and channels that would be very difficult for the whales to navigate on their own.

But efforts to herd the close-knit animals out of the area – which is about 90-120 minutes from the nearest boat ramp – have not been successful so far.

Mase said there would be a multi-day effort to rescue the animals that would last at least through Thursday and possibly Friday. She strove to set expectations low, saying that the goal is to save the whales, but most mass strandings do not have a successful outcome.

The goal is to keep the whales alive during low tide, and then when high tide comes in, crews will try to get them back into the sea, Everglades National Park spokeswoman Linda Friar said.

The whales are slightly larger than dolphins, Friar said.

Mase said Wednesday afternoon that necropsies were being conducted on the beached whales to try to determine their cause of death and find clues on why they ended up beached in the area.

When the team returns from the remote location, its members will brief NOAA officials on how to move forward Thursday.

“So we are going to explore options for these animals. We are going to work hard to try to find out if we can save any, but we want to set the expectations low because the challenges are very, very difficult – the environmental challenges, the resource challenges, the location of the whales,” Mase said.

Officials are also talking with experts from different countries that have experience with herding, she said.

“The outlook does not ultimately look good for the remaining live whales,” Mase said.

The whales, who scientists say appeared confused, were originally spotted around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday near Highland Beach, according to Friar.

Friar said rangers and workers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration responded and found 10 beached whales and the others in shallow waters nearby.

Four of the whales died but the workers were able to get six back into the water, Friar said. Workers left for the night but returned Wednesday to try to assist the remaining whales.

The shallow water was making it difficult to get the whales back out to sea, she said.

"It's so shallow at low tide for such a long distance it makes it more difficult to get the whales to an area where they can swim away," Friar said.

It's not unusual for the whales to end up in the shallow waters, which stretch for hundreds of yards, Friar said.

"The thing about these whales, as the day heats up they'll have to keep them wet," she said.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Marine Mammal Conservancy and Marine Animal Rescue Society are assisting the rangers and NOAA Fisheries in the rescue effort.

"The agencies are coming together to do what they can," Friar said.

Mase said people need to be "realistic about the options for these animals.

"Euthanasia might be the most humane option. The animals could be compromised," Mase said.

The Gulf of Mexico has a very strong pilot whale population and this pod is very far from where they normally would be. They are very far from their deep water habitat and this makes it difficult for rescuers to "push" them back out to sea, Mase said.

"If we did push the healthy ones out, if they see one dead one they will come back again," Mase said.

She said a mass stranding occurred in Fort Pierece in 2012.

Check back with NBC 6 South Florida and NBC6.com for updates.

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