It’s the most wonderful time of the year – and the busiest, too, at least for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).
According to the USPS, the busiest mailing day of the year is expected to be Monday, Dec. 16, when post offices across the country are expected to process a combined total of 607 million pieces of mail.
That’s a whole lot of holiday gifts and cards.
Locally, the San Diego Post Office expects a boost in business on Monday. More than 1.8 million holiday cards and letters will be handled by the San Diego Post Office that day, as well as 290,000 packages – up 40 percent from last year.
Meanwhile, for the USPS as a whole, the busiest delivery day for holiday cards and letters will be Wednesday, Dec. 18, and the busiest delivery day for packages will be Thursday, Dec. 19.
In all, the USPS expects to deliver 14.7 billion cards and letters and 420 million packages this holiday season, through Christmas Day.
By the way, Priority Mail Flat-Rate boxes are available for free at local post offices, or can be ordered for free on the USPS website or by calling 1-800-STAMP-24. Postage, mailing labels and customs forms can also be printed out online.
San Diego County sheriff’s deputies are searching for a missing man.
Robert “Bobby” Bickel was reported missing on Friday, according to sheriff’s officials. Bickel’s family told NBC 7 that he was last seen Monday, Dec. 9 in the Fallbrook area.
Officials said Bickel is in his late 50s. He is not considered at risk.
Anyone with information is asked to call the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department Fallbrook Substation at 760-451-3100.
Construction along a San Diego highway blocked a driver from pulling over to the shoulder and caused a multiple-vehicle collision, officials said.
At least four people were injured in the collision along northbound Interstate 805 near Main Street in Chula Vista.
The crash happened around 8 p.m. when a woman driving a white sedan began experiencing car trouble and tried to pull over to a safe place.
Cement barriers have been in place along this stretch of I-805 as part of an ongoing construction project to add 28 miles of express lanes extending from the Interstate 5/805 merge south to State Route-905.
“She was put in a very difficult spot without any shoulder to pull over,” said California Highway Patrol Officer Pakko Mendez. “I think she did the best she could as far as I could tell.”
Her disabled car led to a four-car chain reaction pileup injuring at least four to five people. One person needed to be pulled from a vehicle, officials said. The CHP described the injuries as minor.
The collision caused traffic delays along northbound I-805.
Meanwhile, the CHP is still investigating who or what is at fault in the incident. The woman in the white sedan is not facing any charges at this time.
One month after Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines, some residents of San Diego gathered to let the people who survived the deadly storm know they have not been forgotten.
Residents got together at Eastlake Middle School in Chula Vista Saturday night for a fundraiser to help Gawad Kalinga (GK), the non-profit organization based in Poway that is sending aid to those left homeless by the typhoon that struck Nov. 8.
The group’s name means "to give care" in Tagalog.
Attendees paid $10 at the door and there were some raffle prizes to help raise money.
Prima Zarza was one of those at the event. Her family was not directly affected but she has been working to help raise money for typhoon relief organizations.
Haiyan plowed through Tacloban and other coastal areas, leaving over 5,700 dead and more than 1,700 missing throughout the region. Some 4 million people were displaced.
"They don't have the infrastructure, they don't have electricity for instance. Many of the towns or villages have nothing even up to now,” Zarza said.
"You've got to remember they don't have a home to go home to. It's going to take a while to build those homes," she said.
The storm, one of the strongest to hit land on record, triggered an international response, led by the United States and U.N. agencies.
It’s estimated it could take up to three years for some communities to rebuild.
Many people, including event organizer John Academia, say they want to make sure the victims are not forgotten.
“Those peoples' lives are still in turmoil even though we're here living a great life in the United States,” Academia said.
The charity reports that as of Dec. 11, it has established three locations in the Philippines and successfully distributed 100,000 food packs that consist of six meals designed for a family of five.
GK also hopes to repair as many as 5,000 roofs and rebuild up to 20,000 homes as part of its relief efforts.
The Pi Delta Psi fraternity has severed ties with a chapter at Baruch College after a pledge there died following a hazing ritual during a trip to the Poconos last weekend, according to a statement issued Monday by the national organization's president.
In the wake of the Dec. 9 death of 19-year-old Chun Hsien "Michael" Deng, national president Andy Meng said the fraternity is ending its affiliation with the Baruch chapter and revoking the memberships of its brothers for violating Pi Delta Psi's values and anti-hazing policy.
“Baruch Colony has violated the values and rules of our organization, including our strict no hazing policy,” Meng said. “As such, they shall no longer be recognized as having any association with Pi Delta Psi.”
Deng, of Queens, was taken to the hospital after participating in the ritual in which he and other pledges were blindfolded, weighted down with backpacks full of sand and knocked over repeatedly while trying to walk toward their pledge educator.
Deng had scratches on his left hip and buttocks, a cut on his left wrist and bruising on his knees, a police affidavit said. He also had massive head trauma and was placed on life support. He had no drugs or alcohol in his system.
He died the next day of head injury due to blunt force trauma, the coroner ruled.
According to the affidavit, three students who first brought Deng to the hospital initially told police that the group was wrestling in the snow when the 19-year-old fell backwards and hit his head. The group said they brought him inside and laid him by the fire, but he did not wake up.
In later interviews, the story emerged that Deng was actually injured during a fraternity ritual.
The Monroe County district attorney said last week that charges would likely be filed in the death, but the investigation has not been completed.
Baruch said Friday that it was still reviewing what happened, but was suspending the fraternity pending that review. Disciplinary action against the students is also being determined
A San Diego man stood and rang a bell for more than 100 hours, tying the world record for Salvation Army Red Kettle bell ringing.
Major Butch Soriano and two other individuals broke the record earlier this month by standing and ringing the bell for four days straight.
“I wanted to see how long I could actually be out there,” Soriano told NBC 7 News on Sunday.
“I wanted to break my record, my personal best, and see how far I could go.”
With just five minutes off every hour, Soriano more than doubled his personal best. Two years ago, he rang the bell for 51 hours.
He said he was in competition with two other volunteers and the trio decided to end the attempt at the same time.
Their ultimate goal was to make people aware of the fundraising campaign and what the Salvation Army does every year.
“It’s crucial for people to give,” Soriano said explaining that the charity has a shortened window to collect monies this year because there is one less week between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.
There are also opportunities to volunteer.
“People can ring for a day or even 106 hours to see if they can break the record,” he suggests.
As for the world record attempt, bell ringers are allowed to accumulate those 5 minute breaks every hour to group together time to take a bathroom break or even a power nap.
The Red Kettles help the Salvation Army fund their programs as well as help raise money to help the less fortunate purchase food and gifts.
Parts of Norm Mineta San Jose International Airport were shut down early Monday morning after a water main pipe burst and flooded portions of Terminal A.
At 5:30 a.m., crews were still busy sucking up two to three inches of water on the floor with wet vacs and push brooms. The flooding affected the Terminal A skyway, baggage claim and security checkpoint and part of the ticketing areas. Carpets were soaked and floors were slick with water.
That's after the pipe burst about 2:15 a.m. for an unknown reason.
Passengers could still fly, but they would need to make some logistical changes about how they would navigate the airport. Airport spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes said all passengers flying out on Monday should arrive at least two hours earlier because of all the commotion.
Specifically, she said, passengers with boarding passes and carry-on bags only, should go directly to Terminal B checkpoint for screening. Shuttle buses will be provided outside Terminal A to transport passengers, and passengers with checked bags should check in with their airline at Terminal A.
All arriving passengers, she said, should pick up their luggage in Terminal B baggage claim.
The aging water main burst overhead in the ceiling, and then there was extra water that flooded the terminal because of the fire sprinklers that went off. The water was running for two hours before airport crews could arrive to shut off the valves.
Crews said it could take a couple of days to fully dry out.
Grieving families gathered Sunday at the site where two people died after colliding with a sheriff’s deputy's patrol car the day before.
Sara Paynter, 20, and her boyfriend, Robert Delgadillo, 30, were in the backseat of a Ford Explorer on Saturday when the driver of the SUV crashed with a sheriff’s patrol car in Palmdale, officials said.
Two people in the front of the SUV were hurt but survived, and the deputy was treated for minor injuries. Officials have not said who is at fault in the crash.
Two Killed, Deputy Hurt in Patrol Car Crash
"Robert gave my mom a kiss and they never came back," said Delgadillo’s sister, Rosa Hernandez.
The collision between the patrol car and Ford Explorer happened about 4:30 p.m. Saturday near 17th Street East and Avenue R in Palmdale, according to the California Highway Patrol
Delgadillo and Paynter were ejected from the SUV after it spun out of control. They died immediately.
"I was going to cook dinner and she was gone," Paynter’s sister Rebecca said. "She was my everything, and now she’s gone and I can’t see her again."
Rebecca said her sister lived in Van Nuys and traveled to Palmdale to visit her for an especially emotional reason.
“We were going to buy her a ring today, and (Delgadillo) was going to propose on Christmas Eve,” Rebecca said. “I want my sister home.”
LA Sheriff's Deputy Patrol Car Strikes, Kills Bicyclist
While the family members mourn the loss of their loved ones, the two survivors of the crash spoke out.
"Me, as a passenger, I looked to both sides. I didn’t see a cop car," the SUV passenger said, who did not want to be identified. He said he hurt his leg in the crash, and that the driver is at home recovering with a neck injury.
Video from the scene showed the patrol car on the side of the road with a smashed front end. A tan Ford Explorer could be seen with damage also on the front end.
Officials said the deputy was not driving with his sirens on, and they do not know if he was responding to a call.
Driver Shot, Killed After Hour-Long Pursuit is ID'd
Families were at the scene of the crash Saturday night, screaming and crying in shock.
"My daughter is dead, she is dead," Sara's father could be seen screaming. "That is not ok."
Additional details about the crash were not clear, but witnesses said the intersection has long been known to be dangerous.
Saturday's crash happened the same week a Los Angeles sheriff's deputy struck and killed a bicyclist while driving his patrol car on Dec. 9.
A fire in City Heights produced a large plume of smoke that could be seen for miles early Monday.
Fire broke out at 43 Copeland Avenue just before 7 a.m.
San Diego Fire Rescue crews battled a structure fire that prompted the evacuation of residents in an apartment complex.Officials said the fire started in a detached garage and spread into the apartment building and damaged at least three units.
NBC 7 has learned that the complex is used as a shelter for women and children who are the victims of domestic violence.
Witnesses went door to door waking everyone up from shelter to get everyone out.
San Diego police were called in to control traffic.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
At the same time firefighters were battling the structure fire, San Diego police were on scene of what appeared to be a brush fire at 33rd Street and Imperial.
A line of trees were on fire along the trolley tracks, very close to electrical wires.
San Diego police patrol cars were controlling traffic along State Route 15 and market.
There was no indication the two fires were connected.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
As San Diego police officers investigate two breakins at North Park businesses, one smoke shop employee said the thieves got away with several bongs.
Security alarms were activated at a smoke shop on El Cajon Boulevard near Iowa Street around 3:30 a.m. Monday.
An employee told NBC 7 it appears several smoking water pipes, also known as bongs, were stolen.
Approximately 45 minutes later, police were called to the Holistic Care Center Collective on University Avenue near Oregon Street where someone walking a dog heard glass breaking.
When officers arrived they did find a broken window at the collective. An investigation was underway to see if anything was taken.
Several triathletes who took part in the Beach Blast Tri were not able to finish the race because of medical issues.
San Diego lifeguards, fire-rescue and police all responded to Fiesta Island Sunday morning.
Two participants were treated for hypothermia from the swim portion of the race, including 69-year-old Bill Arnerich of Solvang.
“I was just shaking, totally disoriented. My thoughts were fuzzy. My words were not coming out. I felt as though I was drunk,” Arnerich said.
Arnerich said his big mistake was wearing a wetsuit top and swim skin bottoms, instead of a full wetsuit.
“I thought, it’s a short swim. I’ll just brave it,” he said.
Arerich, who has been racing for nearly 40 years, said he was biking when he knew he had to quit. A fellow competitor stopped and threw a blanket over him as they waited for paramedics.
Water temperature was around 60 degrees Sunday morning. Officials said both hypothermia cases were minor.
Meanwhile, other participants were treated after falling off their bikes. Police say a tow truck driver stretched a cable across the road; several cyclists didn’t see it and flipped their bikes.
A Imperial Beach man is accused of stabbing his ex-wife five times in the chest.
The incident happened around 3:45 p.m. Saturday at a home in the 600-block of 11 St. in Imperial Beach.
According to sheriff’s officials, Jose Ascencio Gomez, 56, went to his ex-wife’s home saying he needed to use the phone. Officials say they got into an argument; Gomez grabbed a knife from the kitchen and stabbed the woman five times in the chest.
Officials say her wounds do not appear to be life-threatening.
Deputies are now looking for Gomez. He is described as 5-foot-7 and 150 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Relatives told authorities that he could be in Mexico.
Detectives from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department Imperial Beach Substation are investigating.
The California Highway Patrol is investigating an alleged road rage incident that left an Encinitas family shaken.
The incident happened around 7:30 p.m. Sunday in Oceanside.
According to police, a 32-year-old man, his wife and two small children were driving west on State Route 78 from Vista Way. The man told police that a gray sedan cut him off and began to follow his SUV.
The man said as he approached the Interstate 5 exit, his back window shattered. He said he did not hear gunshots.
No one was hurt.
There is no description for the other driver, other than a man driving a dark gray Chevy sedan.
Anyone with information is asked to call Oceanside CHP at 760-757-1675.
The man who led police on a high-speed pursuit through Los Angeles on Friday has been identified as a San Diego County resident.
Brian Newt Beaird, 51, of Oceanside died at a hospital after being shot by an officer following the pursuit.
People in Beaird's neighborhood described him as a quiet guy. Neighbors told NBC 7 he didn't spend much time in his Oceanside home because his family lives in central California.
NBC 7 reached out to Beaird's brother, who said he was in no state to give an interview.
The chase began before 9:30 p.m. as sheriff's deputies pursued the silver Corvette for reckless driving, officials said.
"There was great concern that he was going to hurt someone severely," LAPD Lt. Andy Neiman said.
Deputies abandoned the chase and left a helicopter over the car as it sped through surface streets near Huntington Park in Cudahy. Minutes later, CHP officers began pursuing the vehicle as it drove with it's lights off through neighborhoods.
The LAPD then picked up the pursuit, adding to the multitude of squad cars chasing the Corvette, which eventually turned its headlights back on as it sped through South Los Angeles.
By 10:30 p.m., the pursuit moved into downtown Los Angeles when the Corvette slammed into another car as it drove westbound through the intersection of South Los Angeles Street and East Olympic Boulevard.
"It did look like a very violent collision, very traumatic," Neiman said.
The second car sheared a fire hydrant after it was slammed into by the Corvette. The drivers of that car ran out of the car and were later taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
The Corvette slid and stopped, and Beaird stumbled out of the car.
"The suspect got out of the vehicle and at that point, something occurred that prompted the officer-involved shooting," Neiman said.
Medics could be seen appearing to try to revive the suspect by performing CPR. He was then taken the hospital.
Neiman said that the officers involved in the shooting still need to be interviewed, and at this time, it is still early in the investigation.
NBC4's Mike Tauber contributed to this report.
The family of an Oakland 13-year-old girl is demanding answers after a routine procedure to help fix her sleep apnea turned tragic when she was declared brain dead three days after having her tonsils removed.
Doctors late Monday agreed to run one more series of tests to determine if there is any brain activity coming from Jahi McMath. Earlier in the day, doctors planned to take her off life support after she was declared brain dead on Dec. 12.
Jahi's family has also reached out to Oakland Mayor Jean Quan to see if she can help delay the hospital from taking the girl off life support.
The eighth-grader went into the hospital on Dec. 9 for what her family expected to be a routine surgery. Moments after waking up from a tonsillectomy, Jahi was talking with her family and asking for a popsicle. Thirty minutes later, she was choking on her own blood and going into cardiac arrest in the Oakland Children's Hospital's Intensive Care Unit, according to her relatives.
On Monday morning, Jahi's mother, stepfather uncle and grandmother met again with doctors to demand that the hospital conduct an investigation into what happened to the E.C. Reems Academy of Technology and Arts student known for her bubbly spirit and wide-tooth grin.
Monday afternoon, doctors told the family that Jahi is considered legally dead. Dr. David Durand, the head of pediatrics, told the family that they will take Jahi off life support Tuesday, though the girl's family said earlier they were vehemently against that.
Durand said the hospital can't disclose the details of Jahi's case because her family asked it not to disclose them to the media.
Under California law, “A person who is declared brain dead is legally and physiologically dead.”
Jahi’s family says they can’t believe they have no rights. They say they want to keep Jahi on life support. They’re even willing to take her to another hospital or a nursing home, but in accordance with the law, the hospital is saying no.
"It's not even up to us to even keep her on life support, because she's been legally dead," said Omari Sealey, Jahi's uncle. "It's so hard for my family. It's so hard for me."
Sealey said the family believes an error was committed by the hospital, either before, during, or after surgery. "I absolutely believe that somewhere along the way, there was a protocol that wasn’t followed, or there was a surgical error.”
"My child was fine before I brought her here," Jahi's mother, Nailah Winkfield, said outside the hospital Monday morning. "I don't want to bury my 13-year-old, who came here for a better quality of life. This is horrible. I will not leave without my daughter. This is a mother's worst nightmare."
A spokeswoman for the hospital said staff is "currently reviewing the case and we do not have enough information to make any further statements at this time."
“We are very sad about her condition and our hearts go out to her family," spokeswoman Melinda Krigel said in an email.
Sealey provided a rough timeline of what happened after Jahi's tonsils were removed a week ago. After she asked for a popsicle, it became immediately clear that something was wrong.
“She wasn’t able to talk, and she started to write notes to her mother, saying, 'I’m swallowing too much mucus, Mom – am I OK? Mom – I feel like I’m choking,'” Sealey recalled. “And she began to write these notes because she couldn’t talk because there was so much blood. It wasn’t mucus – it was blood. But my sister, the mother, was too afraid to let her know that it was blood and not mucus," Sealey said.
He said the scene was gruesome. “She was coughing up buckets of blood,” he said.
At the same time, Sealey said it appeared to the family as though the nursing staff had vanished during what seemed to be a shift change. In the family's minds, there didn't seem to be enough hospital staff in the room to help. The family started suctioning blood themselves; Jahi's grandmother, Sandra Chatman, is a nurse at another hospital.
“A 13-year-old should not have to suction herself,” Sealey said. “She had to use a suction machine to suction her own blood. Her mother and stepfather had to suction out her blood at points. None of them work for this hospital.”
The family hasn’t left Jahi’s side since the surgery. They are making sure she is comfortable and playing her favorite songs to her on her iPod.
“My little girl in there, my little niece, is in there with her own heartbeat, which lets me know that she is alive,” Sealey told NBC Bay Area.
“We’ve had a lot of supporters here,” Sealey said. “There’s been lots and lots of prayers, lots of faith, lots of belief. And everyone’s spirits are strong right now. We don’t want them taking her off life support; we are a family of God, and we do honestly believe that she will get up."
Reports of a fire at a wind turbine near the Golden Acorn Casino in East County have drawn extra units of firefighters.
California Highway Patrol got a flood of calls from passersby saying the turbine had exploded and was on fire. According to police, large plumes of black smoke are coming from one of the turbines, which generate power.
The area is just off the I-8 expressway near the Mexican border, between Campo and Jacumba.
A big rig rolled down a Vista street and jackknifed into a tree, blocking a four-lane road for more than four hours.
Workers used two tow trucks to remove the tractor trailer along Business Park Drive Monday.
Law enforcement authorities received the first call about the collision just before 6 a.m.
A witness said it appeared the truck’s brakes had failed sending the big rig down the hill and into a hydrant and a tree.
Deputies along with CHP and Vista Firefighters worked on traffic control.
Authorities are still investigating the cause.
A family of four was traveling along a Southern California highway when they were cut off by another driver and their SUV's back window shattered.
California Highway Patrol officers are looking for the vehicle that initially cut off the family along State Route 78 in Oceanside around 7:30 p.m. Sunday.
A 32-year-old Encinitas man, his wife and two small children were traveling westbound on SR-78 from Vista Way in a Honda Pilot.
They told CHP that a dark gray Chevrolet sedan cut them off.
The sedan began following the family, according to the CHP.
As both vehicles reached the exit to northbound Interstate 5, the sedan drove along the transition road to I-5 while the Pilot continued on SR-78.
That’s when the Honda Pilot’s rear window shattered.
The driver told CHP that he did not hear any gunshots.
No one was injured in the vehicle.
Investigators are now looking for that dark grey sedan. Anyone with information can contact Oceanside CHP office at 760-757-1675.
Michelin has announced a recall of 1.2 million Michelin LTX M/S tires typically found on commercial light trucks, full-sized heavy duty vans, small RVs and some large pickup trucks.
The tire version and size were listed as Michelin LTX M/S LT 225/75R16 115/112R LRE.
The tires were produced between January 2010 and June 2012, the company said, and were fitted as original equipment on some new vehicles and sold as new replacement tires.
The recall was issued after some tires experienced tread loss or rapid air loss, the company said.
Michelin said it recommends removal of the tires as soon as possible and directs owners to visit an authorized Michelin retail location to have the tires replaced at no charge.
Questions can be directed to Michelin Consumer Care at 1-800-231-5893.
For more information, including instructions on determining whether your car is affected, click here.
