A 20-year-old driver was injured after he lost control of his car and plowed into a home in Chula Vista Tuesday afternoon.

The incident happened around 4 p.m. at a residence in the 2400-block of Eagle Valley Drive.

Chula Vista Fire Department officials said that, for unknown reasons, the driver veered off the road and crashed through a fence and into a two-story home. The driver became trapped inside his car following the collision.

By 4:05 p.m., emergency workers had extricated the driver from the wreckage. He was transported to a local hospital. The extent of his injuries is not yet known.

The cause of the crash is under investigation. Neighbors said the driver told them his accelerator stuck.

The crash caused severe damage to the house, destroying one wall and at least one room. The owner of the home was not there at the time of the crash and was unharmed.

The Chula Vista neighborhood where this happened is filled with children and parents said they were grateful no one was on the sidewalk at the time of the incident. Other than the driver, no one else was injured.

San Diego and National City police are working together to identify suspects in several ATM recent burglaries.

An empty ATM machine was found torn apart in a canyon along Highland Avenue in City Heights around 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Officials said the recovered machine, seen in an image below, may be the same one stolen from a National City liquor store.

Burglars broke through a gate securing Wilsons Market and Liquor on East 8th Street around 3 a.m.

Using a chain, the thieves wrapped a metal chain around an ATM and dragged it out of the store.

No arrests were made.

The owners told NBC 7 News instant lottery scratchers, cash and checks were stolen.

The cash machine found in City Heights was missing the electronics portion.

Officials said the ATM stolen from National City was taken without the electrical components.

Investigators in National City are working with San Diego police to see if the crime is connected to two similar incidents.

Just after 1 a.m. Tuesday, someone tied a chain around an ATM outside a Valero gas station on Kearny Villa Road and used a white car to drag it across the parking lot.

The burglars got inside the ATM and took off with an unknown amount of cash.

“The kiosk itself was not inside the building so there was no alarm that was activated,” said Lt. Paul Phillips with San Diego police.

A witness walking by saw the aftermath of the burglary and called 911. Using a helicopter, officers searched the area for suspects. No arrests were made.

The ATM and vehicle will be searched for evidence. Investigators also have security camera video that may help identify the suspects.

Officers said there is a good chance the white car used in the crime was a stolen vehicle.

Phillips said there was a similar theft using a stolen vehicle in another area of San Diego just before 4 a.m. Monday.

A Mercedes S250 drove into an ATM at 10th Avenue and University. The suspect did not get away with any cash. Investigators said the plates on the vehicle came back as stolen. No arrests were made in this incident, officials said.

San Diego State University has received a record number of applicants for fall 2014, school officials announced Tuesday.

Nearly 78,000 freshmen and undergraduate transfer students are applying for entry into the school. That number is almost 5 percent higher over 2013 applications.

SDSU President Elliot Hirshman credited the school’s academic programs for the increase.

More than 34,000 students attend the university, the oldest in San Diego.

Famous alums range from Ralph Rubio, Costco’s Jim Sinegal and Hollywood producer Kathleeen Kennedy to professional athletes Kawhi Leonard, Ronnie Hillman and Stephen Strasburg.

Applicants will be notified by March 2014 if they are accepted to attend the university.

As the Mega Millions jackpot inched toward a U.S. lottery record Tuesday, lotto tickets were flying off the shelves in San Diego – and all over California.

According to California Lottery officials, Mega Millions tickets for the $636 million grand prize were selling at a rate of nearly 23,000 per minute Tuesday afternoon as the Golden State got in on the frenzy.

During the 4 p.m. hour alone, lottery officials say Californians hoping to strike it rich bought $3,487,264 worth of tickets. That comes out to 22,798 transactions per minute.

The deadline to purchase a Mega Millions ticket is 7:45 p.m., as the drawing is set for 8 p.m. sharp. As of 5:10 p.m., lottery officials said players had purchased more than $18 million in tickets.

If no one wins the jackpot Tuesday, the pot increases to at least $950 million for Friday night’s drawing. Lottery officials say the Mega Millions jackpot could even possibly surpass the $1 billion mark by Christmas Eve to establish a world record, if no one wins before then.

The jackpot has rolled over 21 times since Oct. 4, which is how it’s grown to be so big.

In San Diego, locals lined up to buy their tickets Tuesday with their eyes on the prize.

Experts say the odds of winning are one in 259 million but, still, those odds haven’t diminished the lotto fever.

“That’s the winning ticket, right here,” said one confident San Diegan after buying a Mega Millions ticket.

One local said they could “think of a few things” they’d buy with the winnings, including an island in the Bahamas.
 

Homicide investigators in Humboldt County have recovered the body of a San Diego man who was reported missing eight months ago.

Garret Rodriguez, 29, of Ocean Beach, was reported missing by his father on April 25.

FBI agents are working with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department to determine who killed Rodriguez and buried him along a road in Harris, Calif. a mountain community approximately 150 miles west of Redding.

Deputies received a tip about the gravesite on Nov. 30 and they recovered human remains from the site the following day.

On Tuesday, deputies announced the body was identified as Rodriguez who told his father he was going to Humboldt County to work on a medical marijuana ranch.

Garret told his father the ranch was located in an area known as "Murder Mountain" officials said Tuesday.

Katrina LeBlanc was one of Rodriguez' best friends and said she thinks money was at the root of his killing.

"Garret is the kinda guy who would give you his last dollar, so if someone wanted his money all they would have had to do was ask,” LeBlanc said.

In Ocean Beach, there wasn't a place visited Tuesday where someone didn't know Rodriguez.

A native of the area, he was an avid surfer and fisherman. Friends also described him as an exceptional cook.

LeBlanc was the last person who visited with Rodriguez before he left San Diego for Humboldt County. She said neither of them knew how dangerous the area could be.

While deputies did not reveal the cause of death, they said the coroner confirmed Rodriquez was a victim of homicide.

Anyone with information about this case is requested to contact lead Humboldt County Sheriff's Office Crime Tip line at 707-268-2539.
 

A man accused of killing a TSA officer in November in a shooting rampage at Los Angeles International Airport was indicted on Tuesday.

More Coverage: LAX Shooting | TSA Officer Coroner's Report | Timeline of Events

The indictment accuses Paul Anthony Ciancia, 23, of the murder of a federal officer, attempted murder of a federal officer and allegations for the use of a gun at an airport.

Ciancia allegedly walked into the terminal the morning of Nov. 1, pulled a Smith & Wesson 5.56-mm M&P15 semiautomatic rifle out of a duffel bag and opened fire, court documents said.

TSA agent Gerardo Hernandez, a 39-year-old father of two, was fatally shot. TSA Officers Tony Grigsby and James Speer were wounded in the attack. A teacher was also wounded.

Ciancia was hospitalized after police shot him, but released into federal custody Nov. 19.

Ciancia was targeting TSA officers, court papers said. He allegedly had a signed note saying he wanted to kill TSA agents and "instill fear in their traitorous minds," authorities said.

Witnesses to the shooting said the gunman asked them whether they worked for the TSA, and if they said no, he moved on.

Read: Bill Proposes Gun Ban at Airports | TSA Officer Had "Warm Smile"

He was also charged with committing acts of violence at an international airport, one count of using a firearm to commit murder, three counts of brandishing and discharging a firearm.

The charges carry a possible death sentence, although federal prosecutors say they have not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty.

A tanker carrying thousands of gallons of fuel overturned and burst into flames on a Long Island highway just before midnight Tuesday, causing two injuries and an inferno that charred several cars, damaged four homes and a Harley-Davidson dealership, Nassau County authorities say.

The tanker was traveling east on Sunrise Highway in Bellmore when it rear-ended another vehicle at a stop light, Nassau County police say. After the collision, the tanker turned on its side and spilled fuel as it skidded down Sunrise Highway before coming to a stop at Brevoort Place.

About 7,000 of the tanker's 12,000 gallons of fuel spilled out, authorities say. The fuel fed a large fire that melted vinyl siding off of homes, caused damage to a nearby Harley-Davidson dealership and engulfed several parked cars in flames. 

Crews fought the blaze for about 90 minutes before knocking the fire down. Afterward, efforts turned to cleaning spilled fuel.  The company that owns the tanker also came to the scene to recover the fuel that remained in the truck.

The drivers of the tanker and the other vehicle were both taken to the hospital, where they were treated for minor injuries.

Two adults and seven children were also displaced in the fire, Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano said. In all, three homes were evacuated in the blaze.

"Seriously could have been a lot worse here," Mangano said. "Averted a major disaster."

All lanes on the highway were closed for several hours Wednesday morning.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation, Nassau County police spokesman Kenneth Lack said, but it does not appear that black ice or other environmental factors were factors.

A transitional storage center in the East Village that allows the homeless to store their belongings is set to close on Jan. 10.

Organizers say unless they receive enough funding or find a permanent location, tens of thousands of pounds of belongings may end up on the streets of downtown San Diego.

Currently, Girls Think Thank’s Transitional Store Center operates out of the a parking lot on 16th Street and Commercial Street. Many of the people who store their belongings there use it as an opportunity to find housing or work.

Danny McCray used to be homeless. Now, he runs the operation. McCray says the center is much more than just a storage center.

“That same person that walks in the storage center with his bags and all his warm stuff comes out with his suit and tie. Like, it's amazing. It's a big transition. When they walk down the street, you don't even know they're homeless anymore,” McCray said.

Heather Pollock, the Executive Director of Girls Think Tanks, says they’ve been looking for other options, but have not been successful.

“It's 4,300 square feet which seems...that's so feasible. There's easily that much space, but we've hit a lot of road blocks,” Pollock said.

If you’d like to donate or have a location suggestion, click here.
 

When you say poinsettia, you say San Diego.

For decades, the Ecke Family has produced most of the world’s supply of the festive plant from their ranch based in Carlsbad.

“It even started with Kate Sessions. She grew poinsettias on the hills in Mission Hills,” said gardener Lucy Warren with Friends of Balboa Park. “The ships would come in the hills and
they would see this beautiful bank of red on the hills.”

Sessions is known as the Mother of Balboa Park and her love for poinsettias can be seen this season in the Botanical Gardens.

San Diegans can see some of the new varieties of poinsettias at the 27th Annual Poinsettia Display. Holiday Special, Pink Poinsettia, County Quilt and Tapestry poinsettia plants are available for viewing now through New Year’s Day.

For those people who bought or received poinsettias as a gift this holiday, there is a way to keep the plant long after the holiday.

To keep the plant blooming, it’s important that you take the pot out of any foil lining in may have arrived in. Water the plant and let the water drain completely before putting it back in the foil. Keeping the plant from sitting in standing water will avoid the roots rotting.

Warren said if you want to keep the poinsettia blooming year to year, you’ll need to put the plant in complete darkness for at least 12 hours a day around October 1 to help stimulate the bloom in time for Christmas next year. You can use a room or a box to accomplish this.

As for how to pronounce the plant's name, Warren squashes any argument by saying emphatically "poin SET ee uh"

The Chargers may still be playing for their playoff lives Sunday afternoon when they face the Raiders. Again, maybe they won't. A Dolphins win at Buffalo in the morning would eliminate the Bolts.

Still, this is one both players, coaches and fans get up for regardless of records or playoff implications. "It's a division game and it's the Raiders," said quarterback Philip Rivers. "We are going to have to be ready for their best shot. They are going to get our best shot."

Head coach Mike McCoy hopes the home crowd will be a big advantage, "We know what this game means to the division and rivalry. It's something our fans should be excited for, so it's a big game for us."

The operating room is not where most 18-year-old cheerleaders would choose to spend their spare time, but Tasha Bruner is getting used to it.

Tasha has severe sinus issues.

“It’s all stuffed up. I can’t smell. I can’t breathe. I have to breathe through my mouth,” she explained.

On Tuesday, Tasha had polyps removed for the third time at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego.

Although this surgery can be painful to wake up from, Dr. James Ochi won’t be using pain medication. Instead, he’s using acupuncture.

Ochi said placing needles at pressure points on the hands and face lessen pain.

Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration banned the use of codeine in child having their tonsils removed.

“The number of narcotics I prescribe for my patients has hit the floor,” Ochi said.

Besides the codeine ban, Ochi said there are other reasons to use acupuncture. He said it works, it’s safer, and it’s less expensive than drugs.

“Acupuncture is cheap,” Ochi said. “It costs pennies per needle.”

However, Ochi said that might be why he is one of the few doctors around the country doing it.

“The sad truth is that acupuncture does not generate much money,” he said.

Ochi recently published a study involving 31 kids who said their pain level, on average, was 5.5 on a 1 to 10 scale.

“After acupuncture for about 15 minutes, their pain level fell to about 2,” Ochi said.

“For me, it is extremely moving to look at a child who is unhappy after surgery and with a few needles make them smile.”

Does sending a Hallmark greeting card or a family photo in matching sweaters this holiday feel a bit dated? You may want to take cues from families who thought outside the box this season and made some unconventional Christmas cards.

The Holderness family of Raleigh, N.C., created a video card, called “Christmas Jammies,” complete with its own hashtag, #XMASJAMMIES, that has gone viral. The video is set to Will Smith’s “Miami” and features the family of four-- dad Penn, wife Kim, six-year-old daughter Lola, and 4-year-old son Penn Charles-- wearing matching pajamas and rapping about each family member’s individual accomplishments this past year.

There are usual updates – new family car, mom and daughter competing in a triathlon, son playing an Indian chief in a recital – but personal details make the cut too.

“There’s room for child number three,” Penn sings, pointing to a stroller. “But I can’t. I just had a vasectomy.”

Penn, who has worked as an anchor for WNCN, also announces mid-video that he’s quitting his job to launch a new marketing and media company with his wife, who has experience in the entertainment industry.

“Going to quit his job and come work with his wife,” Kim raps.

The video now leads the family's new media site.

The Holdernesses are not the only ones showing off their Christmas spirit in a quirky way. A family in Marshfield, Wis., decided to recreate the nativity scene for their Christmas card. Their version included the family dogs, a llama and a cow.

On Thanksgiving, the Bymers dressed up as angels, shepherds, wise men, and Mary and Joseph and used sheets from a thrift store, Halloween angel wings and aluminum foil for their costumes, according to WAOW.com.

Nancy Bymers said she hoped the family card reminded people of two things that matter the most during the Holidays: family and the true meaning of Christmas.

But what kind of card should you send if your loved one didn't celebrate Christmas? One couple found a perfect solution.

Photographers Scott Burry and Dani Vernon have been dating for four years and decided that it’s time to send out their first holiday card as a couple. Burry celebrates Christmas while Dani celebrates Hanukkah, so for their card they turned their studio into a half-Christmas, half-Hanukkah scene. The quirky card idea went viral.

“We really did it to have some fun with our family and friends,” Burry said. “It shows that we both come from different backgrounds, but in the end, we celebrate the holiday season together with our families and enjoy the traditions on both sides.”

But no one does a more over the top Christmas card than the Kardashian-Jenner clan. For years the family has dressed up in coordinating designer duds and struck fierce poses in one glamorous shot.

This year’s card, however, has an odd Casino Hollywood-theme and was missing Rob Kardashian, Scott Disick as well as Khloe’s soon to be ex-husband Lamar Odom. Kim’s fiancé Kanye West and their daughter North were not included either. Bruce Jenner, who is now separated from momager Kris, appears trapped in a glass case. 

If you’ve looked up at the San Diego sky during the early morning or late afternoon over the past week or so, chances are you’ve seen some spectacular sunrises and sunsets.

For the last several days, the sky above America’s Finest City has boasted an incredibly colorful array of shades – from glowing oranges and yellows in the morning, to vibrant pinks, reds and purples in the evenings.

But, why, exactly are those sunrises and sunsets so breathtaking lately?

According to NBC 7 San Diego’s meteorologist Jodi Kodesh, the recent amazing sunsets are a result of warm, moist air flowing into San Diego from the south.

“Sunlight consists of many different colors in the spectrum. Blue has the shortest wavelength, which is why we see the most of it. At sunrise and sunset, however, when the sun angle is low, the blue lights get scattered easily, allowing more of the red and oranges to reach our eyes,” explained Kodesh.

“It’s the clouds that are coming at us from the south that are acting as the culprit to the scattering of the blue light. We can thank them for the pretty sunrises and sunsets!” she added.

Kodesh says these views are typical for this time of year – at least in San Diego.

"We have the real high clouds – that’s one part of the recipe. We have a very low sun angle, so we have sunrise and sunset where the sun angle is low, and then we have that scattering of the light waves and we end up with the red and the yellow and the orange colors," Kodesh explained.

As long as the clouds stay high, these red sunsets and sunrises should last through winter, which is plenty of time for NBC 7 viewers to submit their incredible sunset photographs via our Facebook page, Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #SanDiegoGram.

Now, as for the current warm winter temperatures, Kodesh says  those conditions are expected to shift within the next few days.

By Wednesday, a drastic drop in temperatures is expected. Showers are likely to roll in by Thursday, with temperatures dropping into the upper 50s. Get weather updates here.

With the city of San Diego facing another serious personal-injury case involving trees on public property, officials are now ramping up tree-trimming efforts.

For all too many years, municipal budget balancers have avoided red ink, in part, through reduced spending on infrastructure – and maintenance of 200,000 trees that are the city's responsibility.

Many have toppled over or dropped limbs, with severe consequences for vehicles, property and people.

The city recently denied a claim involving a huge limb that crashed down July 22 on Lauren Toepee, a 31-year-old physical therapist, in Mission Bay Park.

Toepee was hospitalized with a broken leg, spinal injuries, five fractured face bones – and then got a staph infection.

In October, she filed a damage claim against the city through Santa Monica attorney Browne Green.

Because the city’s Risk Management Dept. rejected it last month, Green tells NBC 7 that he’ll bring litigation on Toepee’s behalf next month.

So far this year, the city has received 29 personal injury and property damage claims in connection with alleged incidents of downed trees and limbs.

Green represented San Diego lawyer Michael Burke in a case where a jury awarded $7.6 million over Burke's paralysis stemming from a fallen palm tree in Mission Hills three years ago.

The city attorney’s office declined to appeal the verdict.

On Tuesday, to better manage a so-called “urban forest” that spreads along 5,000 miles of sidewalks and flourishes in 65 square miles of parkland, officials got City Council approval for the first of five major tree-trimming contracts that'll be awarded in coming weeks and months.

“We try to do whatever we can to make sure that these trees are being maintained and cared for as best as we can,” Andrew Field, the city’s interim Park and Recreation Dept. director told NBC 7 in an interview at City Hall.

The bottom line to keeping the tree-tops properly trimmed, it seems, is a Council commitment to invest more in the effort.

The initial pact, with Anaheim-based West Coast Arborists, Inc., covers trees in 50 "maintenance assessment districts," and calls for services over a five-year period with payments of up to $10.5 million.

Private property owners in those districts will actually pay those costs, which dwarf the roughly $1 million the city spent on outsourced tree maintenance during the 2012-13 fiscal year.

The other tree contracts to be issued, and funded by taxpayers, will cover public rights-of-way, parks, golf courses and city building sites.

City Hall observers note that there's more money in the budget now and fresh incentive to spend it on proactive maintenance.

"It shouldn't take someone being permanently debilitated to make sure the city does its job,” says Liam Dillon, whose City Hall coverage for Voice of San Diego includes a focus on infrastructure issues. “The city is taking this more seriously now than it was … it should be something the city does as a matter of course. The same way they pave city streets, the same way the take care of buildings.”

San Diego residents who spoke Tuesday with NBC 7 were generally supportive of the renewed emphasis on tree maintenance.

“They're on an active program, and it's good to see that,” said Paradise Hills resident Garrett D’Aigle, as he finished up a morning session of lawn bowling in Balboa Park. “I know some of the (trees in traffic) islands were bad for a while. Now they're starting to clean some of those up."

On Tuesday, San Diego City Council reaffirmed its decision to support the Barrio Logan community plan.

This means the issue will appear before voters in June 2014.

In September, Council voted 5-4 in favor of the plan. Opponents then launched a referendum drive, collecting some 53,000 signatures.

Although Council stuck with its original decision, there were enough signatures to get the issue on the June ballot.

The debate is between community activists and the maritime industry over the Barrio Logan waterfront. The plan would create a buffer zone near the shipyards where manufacturing businesses couldn't open without permits.

Supporters say the buffer would protect the community from pollution. But opponents say it’s bad for business and would put thousands of jobs on the line.

Dozens of people on both sides of the issue spoke at Tuesday’s Council meeting.
 

Although they didn’t win the $636 million Mega Millions jackpot, two San Diego County residents are about to be much richer.

Two tickets with five matching numbers, only missing the Mega Ball number, were sold in the county, according to California Lottery officials.

One winning ticket was sold at Fuller Liquor and Deli in the Midway area. The other ticket was purchased at Square Bottle Liquor in Chula Vista.

It’s the largest lottery prize won with a ticket sold at the store. In 2008, someone purchased a ticket here that earned them a $100,000 jackpot.

Lottery officials say the winners will split more than $5 million, meaning each ticket is worth more than $2.5 million.

A lottery spokesperson said each retailer will get a little more than $5,000 for selling the tickets. 

“It’s a huge shock. I never expected this. So many possibilities. Anybody could’ve won,” said Steven Jarjees, son of the Chula Vista storeowner.

Meanwhile, officials confirmed a winning ticket was sold at Jennifer’s Gift Shop in San Jose. It matched all of the winning numbers: 8, 20, 14, 17, 39 and Mega Ball 7.

Georgia Lottery officials also confirm that a winning ticket was sold in Atlanta.

Earlier Tuesday night, the California Lottery tweeted congratulations to the California winners.
 

Prelim results show 5/5 winners in #SanDiego and #ChulaVista for #MegaMillions and a big jackpot winner in #SanJose! Congrats #California!

— California Lottery (@calottery) December 18, 2013

When Clay Treska completed the Ironman Triathlon just 10 months after being diagnosed with stage-four terminal testicular cancer, his story inspired countless people around the world.

The Marine veteran is now in remission and still continues to challenge himself as a full-time student at San Diego State University and intern at UCSD Medical Center.

NBC 7 caught up with Treska and found his current mission may be the most meaningful one yet.

When Treska isn’t studying or working, he visits cancer patients throughout San Diego to help them and their families through the process. From talking finances to different cancer treatments, Treska becomes their advocate.

When Treska was battling cancer a few years ago, he and a small group of friends came up with the idea of having him train for an Ironman competition. They called themselves Team Treska. When the cancer treatment intensified, so did the pressure on their friendship. Treska says there was a period of time he went into a state of delirium and/or psychosis.

“All I really noticed is before that started I had this team and core friends that were supporting me and by the end of the month, they were gone,” he said. “I wanted to die to be honest with you. I truly gave up.”

“When you’re diagnosed with cancer, you have this certain percentage of people who in your life fall off the radar. That’s really not uncommon,” Treska told NBC 7.

Treska now dedicates his life to cancer patient advocacy. He hopes it becomes more prevalent in the community.

Currently, he’s helping the Garmo family. Six-year-old Julia Garmo is battling an aggressive form of neuroblastoma. She has a life-threatening tumor pushing on her spinal cord. Although the disease is rare, this is her family’s second go-around. Julia’s older brother, Isaac, was diagnosed with the same disease when he was just a baby. Julia’s father, David, talked to NBC 7 about what it’s like having Treska’s help during Julia’s treatment.

“I never thought about it when we were experiencing it with Isaac, but now having it with Julia I can't imagine not having him around,” he said.

“You can't get a better connection than that. Just knowing someone went through it. It's so hard when you're in a situation like this...you just want someone to relate to,” said Anita Garma, Julia’s mother.

To learn more about Julia’s treatment and how you can help, visit www.juliasjourney.org.
 

A blind man who tumbled onto subway tracks in Manhattan with his guide dog declared "there's still good people in this world" after he was told anonymous donations will make it possible for him to keep the animal after it is retired next month.

Cecil Williams, 61, appeared with the black Labrador, Orlando, at the hospital Wednesday, after telling the AP in an interview a day earlier that the beloved pup would be forced to retire due to his age in January. His insurance wouldn't pay for a retired dog, Williams said.

The organization Guiding Eyes for the Blind, which provided the dog to Williams seven years ago, announced at the press conference that donations had covered the cost of the dog for life after his retirement.

An emotional Williams thanked strangers for their kindness.

"Orlando, he is my best buddy, he's my pal," Williams said. "The spirit of giving, Christmas ... it exists here and it's in New York."

"I feel that it's a blessing, I feel that it's a miracle," Williams added later. "All the people that contributed or donated, we should take our hat off to them. There's still good people in this world."

In the fall Tuesday, Williams said he passed out on the subway platform and fell onto the tracks with the dog, into the path of a train. 

The train wasn't able to stop in time, and it rolled over Williams, but he wasn't hit because he landed between the rails. His doctor said he would likely be released Thursday.

"My eyes are misty ... things like this here don't happen for everybody," Williams said.

Williams will get a new guide dog when Orlando turns 11 next month and retires.

"He's looking forward to enjoying life now," Williams said.

Williams said anyone still wanting to donate to him should direct their money to Guiding Eyes to support the training and care of other guide dogs.