The dark cloud in the form of a possible blackout over Sunday’s Chargers vs. Chiefs game has lifted and the match-up will be televised after all, Chargers team officials announced Thursday.

According to team officials, enough tickets have been purchased to lift the local TV blackout, per NFL standards. The Bolts are set to take on the Kansas City Chiefs at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium, with kickoff slated for 1:25 p.m.

As of 1:45 p.m. Thursday, team officials said there were a very limited number of general seats left for the game, as well as some premium tickets in Outstanding Club seat locations. To search for tickets, visit the Chargers website or call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets may also be purchased at the Chargers ticket office at Gate C at Qualcomm Stadium.

Last week, the Bolts avoided a blackout when they played the Oakland Raiders in San Diego. The same thing happened for the Dec. 8 game against the New York Giants.

As always with big gridiron games, the Chargers and the San Diego Police Department remind fans to be on the lookout for fraudulent tickets. SDPD officers, both uniformed and undercover, will be present at Qualcomm Stadium Sunday monitoring ticket transactions among fans.
 

A handful of tough rescue dogs with difficult pasts are making their final preparations for a special performance at the 2014 Rose Parade on New Year’s Day.

Read: Firefighters Rescue Girl Stuck in McDonald's Fence

Leading the group is Daniel, described as a “miracle dog” after surviving dog pound gas chamber when he was just a six-month-old puppy.

Accompanying the beagle mix are six other dogs who share similar tales of survival, including a pet that was living in a puddle of mud and a dog that was on death row before being rescued.

The dogs are set to perform on three floral stages hosted by The Lucy Pet Foundation. The foundation is hoping to create awareness of the overpopulation problem and its goal is to provide mobile spay and neuter clinics in every major city in the United States.
 

Police are searching for a suspect wanted in a home invasion robbery in Clairemont Thursday night.

The incident happened around 8:40 p.m. at a home in the 5800-block of Chateau Dr.

According to San Diego police, a woman was inside the house when she heard people breaking in. Police say she crawled out a window and ran to the fire station next door.

When officers arrived, they say they saw two people running away and dropping stolen items.

Police say one of the suspects ran back inside the Chateau Drive home. A police dog later discovered him in a crawl space, and he was arrested.

Authorities are still looking for the second suspect.

Police believe the same men are responsible for a firearms burglary earlier this week, also in the Clairemont area.

Check back for updates on this developing story.
 

Children's Hospital Oakland cast doubt Thursday evening whether a 13-year-old girl declared brain dead earlier this month could be transferred to another facility, despite the family announcing earlier that they had found another facility in the Bay Area willing to keep her on life support.

Jahi McMath's uncle, Omari Sealey, said the family is "still hoping for a miracle" and "may have gotten one" by finding another facility to take Jahi and "give her another fighting chance to wake up."

But Children's Hospital shot back a statement an hour later, saying that the family's attorney has said that multiple surgical procedures will be necessary to move Jahi and that he has not specified the facility they hope to transfer her to.

"Children's Hospital Oakland does not believe that performing surgical procedures on the body of a deceased person is an appropriate medical practice,"  said Dr. David Durand, chief of pediatrics.

Doctors at Children's declared Jahi to be brain dead on Dec. 12, three days after she went to the hospital for what her family said was supposed to be a routine tonsillectomy to cure a sleep apnea problem that made it difficult for her to sleep.

A judge earlier this week ruled Children's Hospital Oakland could remove McMath from the ventilator keeping her body functioning. The family has until 5 p.m. Monday to file an appeal.

Chris Dolan, an attorney for Jahi's mother, Nailah Winkfield, on Thursday said they were able to find another care facility willing to keep the girl on life support.

"A Bay Area sub-acute care facility has indicated that they can accept Jahi and provide her with all the nutrition, ventilation support and other care that she needs to stabilize her and to assist her in reaching maximum medical improvement," Dolan said in a statement. "I have been in contact with the plan administrator for Jahi's insurance who indicated that it appears that this transfer could work."

Dolan, however, added Jahi would need additional medical equipment and surgery before she would be accepted into the other facility. He reached out to Children's Hospital to help in the possible move.

"I am hoping that they will cooperate," Dolan said. "It is clear that they want Jahi out of the hospital...the family agrees, they want her out of there too, but they would prefer that she leave while her heart is still beating and she has vent support."

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo ruled just before Christmas Eve that the hospital could remove Jahi from the ventilator.

Durand, the hospital's chief of pediatrics, on Thursday released the following statement in response to the family's request:

Judge Grillo was very clear on Tuesday December 24. He ruled Jahi McMath to be deceased and instructed the hospital to maintain the status quo. Judge Grillo did not authorize or order any surgical procedures or transfer to another facility.

MORE: Christmas at Children's Hospital for Jahi McMath

Dolan said he plans to ask an outside doctor to perform the surgery.

"If Children's tries to block that physician then we'll be back in court seeking a writ of mandate to make them do that," he said.

Jahi's family, who are devout Christians, said they believe Jahi is still alive, because her heart is still beating. The teen suffered cardiac arrest after bleeding profusely following her Dec. 9 operation to fix her sleep apnea. She was declared brain dead for the first time on Dec. 12.

Grillo based his decision on the conclusions of court-appointed Dr. Paul Fisher of Stanford University and the hospital's Dr. Robin Shanahan. A third doctor at Children's also made the same finding. All the EEGs performed showed there is no sign of brain activity.

Grillo said he had no other choice but to allow the hospital to remove the ventilator.

"I wish I could fix it, but I can't,'' he told the court last week.

The hospital had argued that the teen had no chance of recovery since all brain function had ceased.

"Our sincere hope is that the family finds peace and can come to grips with the judge's decision," hospital attorney Doug Strauss said outside court after Grillo's ruling.

The case is now out of Grillo's court and the decision will be up to the California Court of Appeal if the family decides to pursue its legal case to keep Jahi on the ventilator.

NBC Bay Area's Jean Elle and Bay City News contributed to this report.

A 26-year-old Chicago father, who remains hospitalized, was charged early Friday morning in connection with the Christmas Eve crash that killed his 8-year-old daughter.

Jeffery Smith, of the 5600 block of South Wolcott Avenue, faces charges of aggravated DUI leading to an accident or death, in addition to citations for negligent driving, failure to reduce speed and a child restraint violation.

Prosecutors in bond court said Smith had a Blood Alcohol Concentration of .137. They also said he had cannabis in his system.

Smith, who has no prior criminal history, was ordered held on $350,000 bond on the condition that he not operate a motor vehicle.

His daughter, Lauren Smith, died of multiple injuries she suffered in the crash, a Wednesday autopsy revealed. Her death was ruled an accident.

First responders found Smith's Chevy Impala on its side against a tree on the 1000 block of West Garfield Boulevard late Tuesday night. It took more than 40 minutes to extricate Smith from the vehicle, authorities said, and it wasn’t until they were inside that they noticed the girl was also pinned inside.

Police immediately believed the crash was alcohol-related and said Smith was speeding when he hit the tree.

"It's going to take a lot to put him back together," the girl's mother, Loressa Hall, told NBC Chicago on Wednesday. "Lauren Jessica Renee Smith was his heart. She was his heart, she was my heart. That is my biggest concern. All those injuries are natural, they will heal, but Lauren Jessica was his heart and soul, and he lived for Lauren Jessica."
 
Family members said Smith had attended a family Christmas dinner and was headed home to pick up more gifts for his daughter when the crash occurred. The girl planned to spend Christmas at her grandparent's house and open gifts with the entire family on Christmas morning.

Waves slammed into a car and firefighters as they rescued the driver trapped inside the vehicle Friday morning after a crash off a Southern California cliff.

The 19-year-old male driver crashed off a 300-foot cliff and into the ocean surf in the Bluff Cove (map) area of Palos Verdes Estates, about 25 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles. Firefighter-rescue crews responded to the vehicle in the water at about 2 a.m. Friday. 

Los Angeles County Fire Department, Palos Verdes Estates Police, and LA County lifeguards were all involved in the rescue. Waves slammed into the car, rocking it back and forth, as rescue personnel attempted to reach the driver.

Palos Verdes Estates Police tell NBC4 that only one person was inside the car. That person has been airlifted to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

Watch: NBCLA's Most-Clicked Videos of 2013

The driver was in critical condition Friday morning.

Police are currently investigating whether this was a suicide attempt.

The fire captain tells NBC4's Reggie Kumar that the man said "he did this on purpose."

Sonoma County Sheriff's deputies arrested a man who they say threatened to "eat" his roommate on Christmas Eve, and then killed her small terrier by stabbing it to death.

In a press release, the sheriff's office said deputies took Alan Evans, 35, of Santa Rosa into custody on Tuesday, arresting him for assault with a deadly weapon, battery, terrorist threats and cruelty to an animal.

Deputies arrested Evans after his female roommate called 911 about 6:30 p.m.on Tuesday from her neighbor's house in the 5000 block of Hall Road.

She told authorities that Evans came home and was "talking incoherently and making no sense." He then grabbed her head and began pulling her hair and slapping her, according to sheriff's office.

Evans then allegedly told the woman he was going to the kitchen to get a knife, then he was going to "eat her," according to the sheriff's office.

PHOTOS: Top 10 Bay Area News Stories of 2013

When deputies arrived, they said they noticed that Evans was bloody. They searched the area and found the woman's small terrier fatally stabbed under Evans' car.

He was booked into the Sonoma County Jail and his bail was set at $250,000.

There are some new state laws that take effect in 2014 and will be felt by every driver on the road.

One of them aims to make our roads safer for bicyclists by giving them more room to ride. Another involves using your phone while driving.

More and more cyclists are competing and frequently losing out when they try to use their share of the road.

California Highway Patrol Officer Adrian Quintero said, "Statewide we are seeing a huge increase in bicycle crashes and deaths."

In San Diego, cyclist Udo Heinz was killed August 4 when he and two other cyclists were hit by a North County Transit District bus on Camp Pendleton.

Gerson Archila of Sherman Oaks can relate. He has had his share of close calls nearly every day as he navigates Ventura Boulevard.

"Where people actually try pin me against parked cars," Archila said.

A new California law will require drivers to give those on bikes at least a 3-foot wide clearance when passing them on the road.

"You'll have to pay for it if a cop sees you not giving him that berth," Archila said.

If there isn’t room on the road for a 3-foot distance, the driver must slow down and wit to pass when there is no danger to the bicyclist.

The law is in response to the growing popularity of cycling. Current law requires a driver to keep a safe distance when passing a bicyclist but does not specify how far that is.

At least 22 states and the District of Columbia define a safe passing distance as a buffer of at least 3 feet, according to a legislative analysis of the bill.

The law will go into effect Sept. 16, 2014.

A violation of the new 3-foot requirement would be punishable by fines starting at $35. If unsafe passing results in a crash that injures the cyclist, the driver could face a $220 fine.

Among other laws affecting drivers set to take effect in 2014:

A new hands-free texting law goes into effect Jan. 1.

Texting while driving is already against the law but soon teenagers won’t be able to use voice recognition texting such as Apple’s SIRI either.

Also, Amber Alerts, often spotted on large highway signs, will soon include abductions by a child’s custodial parent or guardian. Under current law, the alert system is used when a child is in danger or abducted by a stranger.

Limousines will be required to have a breakaway window in the passenger compartment behind the driver in reaction to a horrific accident in the Bay Area where 5 women burned to death when their limo caught fire on the way to a bachelorette party.

California law will give law enforcement officers more time to track down hit-and-run drivers by extending the statute of limitations from three to six years.

A San Diego organization has named the year’s most innovative products and achievements in technology and life sciences by local companies.

Special Section: Local Business Spotlight

CONNECT, an organization that links inventors and entrepreneurs, shared two of the winners of its Most Innovative Product Awards with NBC 7 on Friday.

Cel-Fi Smart Signal Booster by Nextivity, Inc. helps eliminate dead zones in homes and offices.

It’s the first consumer use booster to be approved by T-Mobile and AT&T for use on their networks, CONNECT Interim President Tyler Orion said.

Another winner, Emotient, makes a facial recognition product that can detect and measure emotions via a web cam.

Its FACET system can identify joy, sadness, anger, surprise, fear, disgust and contempt.

Developers believe the software may be able to help detect student interest in online courses, sleepiness in drivers or depression and anxiety in patients.

One hundred San Diego-based companies competed in the rigorous, four-month judging process, with a total of only nine winners awarded.

Categories range from Aerospace and Security Technologies and Mobile Apps to Sustainability and Life Sciences Diagnostics.

Since 1985, CONNECT has linked inventors and entrepreneurs with the resources they need for success.

The organization offers free or low-cost mentoring and education to researchers and startups.

Get the complete list of winners here.

A non-profit organization is taking legal action over the noxious odor at La Jolla Cove.

“Citizens for Odor Nuisance Abatement” is suing the city of San Diego, Interim Mayor Todd Gloria and the state of California.

According to the complaint filed in Superior Court, the plaintiffs claim it’s the city’s responsibility to keep the public area free of the offensive smell, which it has failed to do.

Read the Complaint

The group says the city is to blame because of a fence erected along the sidewalk that spans the cove. Because people don’t have access to the rocks anymore, birds and sea lions can climb higher up the bluffs to defecate, they claim.

The complaint alleges that people have become sick and nearby businesses have lost revenue because of the odor. According to the lawsuit, boxer Floyd Mayweather booked two villas and six rooms at the La Valencia hotel, only to leave 15 minutes later because of the smell, costing the hotel more than $5,000 in one day.

The stink at the cove has become a hot topic. Earlier this year, a private company was hired to spray the rocks with a bacteria to eat away the droppings.

The 10-day, $50,000 process took place in June, months after the initial complaints began surfacing.

Locals had to acquire permits and wait for bird nesting season to end.

About a decade ago, the city put up a fence for safety reasons to get people off the rocks. Since then, birds took over, creating the mess.

NBC 7 has not received comment from the city.

A San Diego man encountered a bobcat walking around the campus of a North County high school Thursday.

A teacher at Canyon Crest Academy in Carmel Valley was stopping by class to check in on some student projects over the winter break when he ran right into the big cat.

His initial reaction?

“Holy ____ fill in your favorite expletive,” Ariel Haas told NBC 7.

Haas was walking up a set of stairs to his classroom when suddenly he saw what he described as a "significant cat."

“I lift my head up and all of a sudden I see a cat lying there and at first I thought it was a large house cat,” said Haas.

However, he said in about a half a second he realized this was no house cat.

“I recognized that it was a bobcat and I just froze, freaked out,” Haas said.

He said he didn’t move and looked straight into the big cat’s eyes. Haas described it as muscular and about two-feet high and four-feet long.

“It peered in my eyes for a split second and then took off down the stairs,” he said.

“I knew they were vicious. Not something to be messed with,” he added. “The cat took care of it for me. It just took off."

Haas, whose son is very interested in big cats, said all of those books they’ve read together helped him identify the cat quickly.

He immediately reached for his phone to snap some images to share with his son.

“The bobcat perched in the bushes about 30 paces away and just hung out there,” he said. “It was a pretty cool experience.”

Haas then posted some of the images to his Facebook page with the following post, “Walking up steps to classroom to check on my students, and on the steps, 5 feet away, is a Bobcat! He runs down the stairs right by my leg!"

He said it was scary and interesting at the same time.

“I was pretty shocked, pretty surprised to see a bobcat. I’ve never seen one and I’ve lived in San Diego for a long time,” he said. 

Bobcats can survive in a number of habitats given there are places for it to hide, according to the San Diego Zoo's website.

They like to live in rocky areas where they can find shade in the heat and shelter in the cold. They also compete with coyotes for the same food and shelter, according to the zoo.

Target says customers' encrypted PIN data was removed during the massive data breach that occurred earlier this month.

Previously Target had said that encrypted data was stolen but stopped short of identifying it as PIN numbers. But the company issued a statement Friday saying that additional forensic work has shown that encrypted PIN data was removed along with customers' names and card numbers.

A PIN number is the personal identification code used to make secure transactions on a credit or debit card.

Data connected to about 40 million credit and debit cards used at Target were stolen between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15. Security experts say it's the second-largest theft of card accounts in U.S. history, surpassed only by a scam that began in 2005 involving retailer TJX Cos. In addition to the encrypted PIN numbers, the stolen data from Target included customer names, credit and debit card numbers, card expiration dates and the embedded code on the magnetic strip on back of the card.

Still, Target said it believes the PIN numbers are still safe because the information was strongly encrypted. The retailer said that PIN information is encrypted within its systems and can only be decrypted when it is received by its external, independent payment processor

"We remain confident that PIN numbers are safe and secure," said spokeswoman Molly Snyder in an emailed statement. "The PIN information was fully encrypted at the keypad, remained encrypted within our system, and remained encrypted when it was removed from our systems."

Minneapolis-based Target said it is still in the early stages of investigating the breach. It has been working with the Secret Service and the Department of Justice.

A woman in an exclusive San Diego neighborhood awoke Friday to a stranger showering in her bathroom, police said.

San Diego police detained a man a few feet from the home on Palo Verde Terrace, overlooking Interstate 8 and Fairmount Avenue.

The home is about a mile into a gated community off Mesquite Road and Yerba Santa Drive.

The woman called 911 just after 5 a.m. reporting that she woke up when she heard someone showering.

She didn’t know the man and called police. The man eventually left on his own, officials said.

He was described as a man in his 30’s wearing no shirt and blue shorts with a backpack.

Within a few minutes, police arrived and arrested the man a few feet from the home.

He was identified as 42-year-old Allan Kosenback.

San Diego police officers said he access the home through an open door.

When they stopped him outside the home, Kosenback had the resident's towel in his backpack, police said.

Neighbors said it's unnerving to hear of something like this happening in their community.

"Of course, it's very startling. I live in a gated community. You would hope that someone just can't walk into the neighborhood," resident Norman Greene said.

Visitor Scott Hoover, visitor said the incident would be disturbing for anyone.

"I would obviously be upset if someone violated your premises," Hoover said.

Kosenback was taken to County Mental Health. Police do not anticipate charging Kosenback in the incident.

No one was injured.

Two women on a morning walk in a University City neighborhood Friday were struck by a driver who then drove off, officials said.

San Diego police officers have crime scene tape cordoning off a section of Stresemann Street near Governor Drive where they are investigating a hit-and-run collision.

The women were walking southbound on Stresemann around 6 a.m. when they noticed a large red pickup parked on one side of the street with its lights on, police said.

They say they walked past the vehicle and then the truck struck them from behind, officials said.

“They passed the vehicle further up the roadway,” said Lt. Eric Hays.

Emergency personnel transported the women, ages 40 and 43, to Scripps La Jolla. One has collapsed lung, ruptured spleen and fractured ribs while the other has a laceration to head, officers said.

The pedestrians said they did not recognize the driver.

An SDPD lieutenant said one pedestrian feels they were hit intentionally. The other does not. It's not clear on whether words were exchanged before the incident.

“We’re currently investigating it as a collision but it could possible be an intentional act,” Hays said.

Officers are looking for a red pickup truck.

The incident occurred at the same intersection as The University City United Church of Christ and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

A Southern California man arrested at a bus station after telling a man he thought was an al-Qaida recruiter that he "was born to" serve in the terror network pleaded guilty Friday to a federal terrorism offense.

Read: Grand Jury Indictment

Sinh Vinh Ngo Nguyen, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. The plea comes one week after the filing of an agreement in which Nguyen admitted that he intended to provide weapons training to forces in Pakistan, according to prosecutors.

Sentencing is scheduled for March 21. He faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison.

Nguyen, of Garden Grove, was arrested at a Santa Ana bus station, where he had a ticket to travel to Mexico and, eventually, Pakistan to train al-Qaida forces, according to details in a grand jury indictment. He also had a false passport -- obtained during a meeting with an individual posing as a recruiter for al-Qaida -- and a computer drive that contained firearms training videos, according to authorities.

His admission to the offense was outlined in last week's plea deal. Nguyen said that about one year ago he traveled to Syria and told people he "was fighting against the Assad regime," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.

He returned to the United States and told associates his offers to train al-Qaida forces in Syria had been turned down, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

But it was between August and October 2012 when Nguyen met with a man he thought was an al-Qaida recruiter, but actually was working for the FBI, according to authorities. He told the man he wanted to return to jihad because "this was what he was born to do, " the U.S. Attorney's Office statement continued.

Nguyen provided the "recruiter" with a photo of himself for a passport and agreed to travel to Pakistan to train al-Qaida fighters, prosecutors said.

He was arrested at the Santa Ana bus station Oct. 11.

Deputies say a man and a teenager bailed on foot after a high-speed pursuit ended in a collision with a patrol car Thursday night.

San Diego County sheriff’s deputies said a minor traffic violation led to a pursuit along State Route 54 around 9 p.m.

The pursuit ended near the Briarwood off-ramp after the suspect rammed the deputy’s vehicle, officials said.

Two suspects left the vehicle and fled on foot in the Bonita neighborhood south of SR 54.

San Diego police were called in to assist. Law enforcement officers canvassed the area with a K-9 unit, guns drawn.

The passenger was arrested but the male driver jumped a fence and evaded capture.

SDPD Lt. Paul Rorrison said citizens called to report someone running through yards.

A police helicopter searched the area by air and officers put the area on lock-down for a short time, while they searched for the man.

The person detained was later identified as a 14-year-old girl, deputies said.

She identified the male driver as her father according to deputies.

No other arrests were made. The deputy was uninjured.

Police are investigating a one-car crash in Santee where the driver and passenger fled the scene after hitting a tree.

The crash occurred Friday night at the corner of Magnolia Avenue and Mission Gorge Road and is classified as a hit-and-run. Police are setting up a perimeter in the area.

Check back for more.
 

School security and administrators' immediate response to the disappearance of Avonte Oquendo from his Queens school on Oct. 4 appeared to be disorganized and confused, the boy's family's lawyer says, citing documents from an internal investigation by the Department of Education. 

Avonte Oquendo's family attorney David Perecman said he obtained an occurrence report from the DOE detailing the timeline of Oquendo's disappearance from Center Boulevard School, compiled during the internal investigation. 

According to the documents, 14-year-old Oquendo, who is non-verbal and autistic, had three adults watching his class on Oct. 4. The class was on its way to the computer lab when Oquendo slipped away.

Security cameras showed Avonte walking to the first floor at 12:37 p.m., the documents say. The boy walked by the main security desk twice before leaving the building through the Center Boulevard exit door, which had been left ajar.

At 12:41 p.m., a school safety agent went to the same exit and closed the door shut.

Oquendo's teachers noticed he was missing at 12:40 p.m., and at 12:56 p.m., they notified the assistant principal, according to the documents. When the assistant principal asked the safety agent to sweep the outside perimeter of the school, the safety agent told her that she did not see Oquendo walk out back, and that she saw him "run up the stairs."

The safety agent's statement would be contradicted by security video that captured Oquendo leaving the school.

RELATED: Investigation Finds Alarming Holes in School Security

Oquendo's mother Vanessa Fontaine, who has been leading search efforts to find her son for nearly four months, was devastated by the new information.

If the school safety agent "would have just got up and went outside and ran after him instead of closing the door and acting like nothing happened, my son would be here with me, not lost out in the street somewhere," she said.

Attorney Perecman said the documents showed other issues that hampered the search for the boy: administrators did not have passwords to security cameras, so they could not review the footage and ascertain the fact that Oquendo had left the building until two hours after he first went missing.

And although the assistant principal requested that the school be put on a "soft lockdown" right after she learned about Oquendo's disappearance, her request was denied so as not to "upset the other students," the documents state.

A full lockdown was not ordered until 2 p.m., a full hour and a half after Avonte slipped out of the school.

The Department of Education said in a statement that “the case is currently under investigation by the Office of the Special Commissioner of Investigation. All School Security Agents are employed and trained by the New York City Police Department.

"Separate from the investigation, the Chancellor has expressed a determination that the Department learn every lesson possible from this terrible situation, and do everything in its power to prevent incidents like this from ever occurring again."

The NYPD declined to comment, as they have not been able to review the Department of Education's occurrence report.

Oquendo's family filed a notice of claim in October, but they have not given up hope that they might find him alive. They have moved their base of operations from Long Island City to Astoria, where they are coordinating search efforts.

"I can't sit home and not do anything, that's my child," she said. "I know he expects his mother and his family to look for him, that's what we're going to do."