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East Village Development Not For Everyone

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A city hall battle over the historical significance of a century-old downtown house is raising issues that figure into a larger story about a resurgence of development of East Village.

When Petco Park was being built early in the 21st century, East Village became a magnet to major real estate investments that are changing the urban landscape there.

Recessionary times beginning in 2008 drove out a forest of construction cranes, but an economic upswing has sparked fresh interest in the market.

And as more high-rise buildings go up, old structures are coming down.

Now, longtime locals and historic preservationists are fighting to maintain pieces of the past.

A centerpiece of the dilemma is the so-called “Sanford B. Myers Spec House #1” at 1619 J Street, built in 1906.

It carries an official city "historic resource" designation, and as such, presents obstacles to the owners' plans to sell the underlying property to developers.

So they've filed an appeal at City Hall challenging that designation in the name of the Jerome Navarra Family Trust, whose namesake owns and operates the San Diego-based Jerome’s Furniture Store.

The woman who’s rented the house on a month-to-month basis for 18 years didn’t want to go on camera with NBC 7, but her grown son agreed to share his concerns about the underlying development issue an interview Monday.

“It's not cool, I lost a lot of my neighbors because of it,” said Sergio Sanchez. “The people that own these houses own the ones across the street. They've sold them out, you know? But what can we do about that, though?"

The Myers house sits on a quarter-block property that also encompasses two nearby businesses – a restaurant equipment supply store and iron gate factory – and another house that are advertised for sale by commercial brokers.

The view to the west takes in Petco Park, the new downtown library, and signs of a building boom that's transforming long-decaying stretches of East Village, many heavily populated by the homeless.

Some village residents welcome seeing new money gentrify their neighborhoods, and acknowledge the developers’ challenges.

"There is no way in the world I would buy a big property and come outside and my car's robbed,” says Deborah Dean, “or I’ve got to run down the street because some crackhead is beating some woman or selling some dope in front of my building."

It's a dilemma that doesn't figure to be resolved without some anxieties and displacements.

The broad hope is to preserve the best pieces of the past while eliminating the worst of the fallout from a century of urban neglect.

"You know, we have kids and sometimes we don’t let them go outside because we don't know what's going to happen,” said Elvis Santiago, a five-year resident of East Village. “We're talking about new buildings, and it's good for the city -- because the money talks, and the city's growing.”

But Santiago, a neighbor of the Myers house, made sure to add this caveat: "Don't take the history. I mean, we see a lot of houses. And we're not going to see any more if they bring them down."

The attorney for the Navarra family trust and city officials – who recommend against lifting the house’s historic designation -- did not respond to requests for comment made Monday by phone and email.

But according Bruce Coons, executive director of Save Our Heritage Organisation, a City Council hearing on the Navarra appeal is being pulled from Tuesday’s docket because talks are under way to resolve the disagreements.


Car Dealer Gets Lawyer Amid Scandal

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A wealthy car dealer implicated in a campaign finance scandal has hired one of San Diego’s most experienced and respected defense attorneys.

NBC 7 has learned that attorney Michael Pancer now represents Marc Chase, owner of Symbolic Motor Cars, on La Jolla Boulevard.

Prosecutors say a billionaire Mexican businessman, identified as Jose Susumo Azano, funneled more than $500,000 into local campaigns. It is illegal for foreign nationals to contribute to U.S. elections.

Key Players in the Campaign Finance Scandal

Neither Susumo nor Chase have been charged in this case, but three others, including a former San Diego Police Department detective and a City Hall lobbyist, are accused of Conspiracy to Commit Offenses Against the United States.

Those criminal complaints indicate that Chase acted as a “Straw Donor” by funneling at least $180,000 of Susumo Azano’s money into independent campaigns benefiting mayoral candidate Bob Filner and congressional candidate Juan Vargas.

Prosecutors say Susumo Azano hoped his contributions would give him the inside track to develop high-rise buildings on the San Diego bayfront.

Former federal prosecutor John Kirby says Chase could face criminal charges for his alleged role in the scandal.

Those charges might not be as serious as the one used against the three named defendants, but Kirby told NBC 7, “Usually, when you’re talking about campaign contributions, you can find a statue that will work.”

Kirby says Chase might be cooperating with the FBI in hopes of avoiding those charges.

On Monday, Chase’s attorney, Michael Pancer was out of town and unavailable for comment.

Attorney Guadalupe Valencia, who is working on the case with Pancer, would not address the legal aspects of the case, but stressed that Chase is an upstanding citizen and very generous donor to local charities, including a fund for research into childhood diseases at the Scripps Research Institute.

San Diego's Border Busts

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Images of smuggling attempts at their finest.

Photo Credit: Customs and Border Protection

Team’s Stolen Tractor Returned, But Damaged

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An important – and very expensive – piece of equipment stolen from a Lakeside softball team has been returned, but in very poor condition, according to the team president.

The equipment, a tractor used to rake and smooth the field for softball games, was reportedly stolen from a shed at Cactus County Park overnight on Friday by an unknown thief.

By Monday morning, Lakeside ASA Softball coach Todd Fields said the equipment had been anonymously returned. He said he found it sitting in the parking lot at Cactus County Park, badly damaged.

A message on the Lakeside ASA Softball website said the tractor had been vandalized and is "unfortunately not drivable at the moment."

Team president Josh Barnes told NBC 7 the tractor was returned in “an unforgivable state,” which included lots of damage.

“The battery cables were cut, the battery was missing, the ignition was broken and there was an unknown substance, possibly water, in the gas tank,” Barnes explained.

Barnes said team leaders took the Gator to Stotz Equipment in El Cajon for repairs.

In a pleasant turn of events for the team, Barnes said the repair shop agreed to donate all of the parts plus the labor to get the team’s Gator up and running again.

Fields said the raking equipment, known as a “Gator,” is valued at between $12,000 and $15,000.

When the coach realized it was missing over the weekend, parents spent all day Saturday searching the area near the park on Ashwood Street for the tractor. Deputies from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department helped in the search, too, but the vehicle was not immediately located.

In an interview on Saturday, Barnes told NBC 7 the theft was a huge loss for the team, especially since their season begins in less than two weeks.

“At this point, I don’t know what we’re going to do. Our opening day is in two weeks and we have a lot of field prep left. We’re kind of just stuck at this point,” Barnes said. “It is a sense of pride and it really hurts. It’s taking away from the girls and the community of Lakeside. We’re not going to be able to fix this, so Opening Day might be a little bit of an eyesore.”

Now that the Gator is being repaired, Barnes said the team will be able to prep their field just in time for Opening Day.

Fields and Barnes said they do not know who stole the tractor or why.

Barnes said there have been copper thefts in the past at the privately owned field. It is unknown if those prior copper thefts are in any way related to this tractor incident.



Photo Credit: NBC 7 San Diego

Sweetwater Vacancy Dilemma

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The Sweetwater Union High School District must decide how it will replace a seat left vacant after the resignation of a board member who admitted her role a “pay to play” corruption scandal.

Trustees have until February 17 to appoint someone to fill the vacant seat or they can decide to put it to a vote of the people in an election that could cost up to $1 million.

In December, former school board member Arlie Ricasa pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of accepting gifts above state law.

The charge stems from an investigation that began in 2012. Homes of some board members were raided amid allegations that they accepted gifts from contractors in return for their votes on construction projects for the district.

Board member John McCann, who has not been indicted in the case, wants to see the next trustee elected by the people. He said the three trustees who still face felony indictments should not get to appoint the next board member.

Trustee Bertha Lopez said the board should not spend money on an election. She said the money should stay in the district.

McCann believes the election could be accomplished by mail-in ballots to save cost.

Kevin O’Neill, a resident who sits on the Bond Oversight Committee, said he has asked the board to get moving on this issue.

The hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on an election could be used to fund other programs, he said.

“If you look at the cost-benefit, if they do elect a replacement for Ricasa, it might be six months which might be maybe five meetings which works out to $200-$250,000 per board meeting. It just doesn’t make sense,” O’Neill said.

O'Neill says he would be among those who would throw his hat into the ring in the case of an appointment process.

If the board decides to appoint someone to fill Ricasa's seat until November when her term would have ended, it would need time to advertise the position, screen eligible applicants and go through a public process to make the appointment.

If that appointment doesn’t happen, an election would be held.



Photo Credit: NBCSanDiego

No District-Wide School Calendar for SDUSD 2014-2015

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Traditional and year-round schools within the San Diego Unified School District are unlikely to see any major changes to their schedules next year despite a proposal to align them in one district-wide calendar.

Operational issues that make it “unfeasible” to make the change in the 2014-2015 school year, according to an email sent by Becky Phillpott, Chair of the SDUSD Calendar Committee to her committee members.

The committee mocked up a calendar for the district to consider. In it, both traditional and year-round schools would start Sept. 2 and would begin winter and spring breaks on the same day.

However, year-round schools would have four weeks for each break compared to the one week break for traditional schools.

Also, the traditional school year would end six weeks before the year-round calendar.

The SDUSD board may phase-in some schools onto the traditional calendar as early as 2015-2016.

Proposed calendar for year-round schools

Proposed calendar for traditional schools

The Calendar Committee will reconvene in March to begin work on the 2015-16 instructional calendar.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Obama's State of the Union Addresses Through the Years

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Americans are looking to President Barack Obama to tell them how the country is doing at his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

Before we weigh in on what Obama says tonight, let's take stock of the promises he made in the past.

Below are word clouds generated from Obama's State of the Union addresses since 2010, the year of his first official speech. The words he used the most in the speech are represented by larger fonts.

Click on the year to see a full transcript of the speech.

 

2013

 

2012

 

2011

 

 

2010



Photo Credit: Getty Images

USS Coronado Headed to San Diego

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The Navy's newest littoral combat ship is on its way to San Diego.

USS Coronado left a shipyard in Alabama Monday, en route to her commissioning in Coronado in April.

The Coronado is the fourth littoral combat ship delivered to the Navy.

That class of vessel is designed to defeat threats in coastal waters where some submarines and small craft operate.


Pols Met Finance Scandal Suspect

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NBC 7 has learned both mayoral candidates David Alvarez and Kevin Faulconer met with a key player in a major campaign finance scandal.

San Diego-based lobbyist Marco Polo Cortes has been charged with conspiring to finance political campaigns using money from an illegal foreign source. That source has been identified as Mexico businessman Jose Susomo Azano Matsura. It is against the law for a foreign national to contribute to American political campaigns.

Key Players in Campaign Finance Scandal

Alvarez’s calender, which is pubic record, shows the mayoral hopeful met with Cortes at least five times since 2010. Alvarez said what was discussed at the meetings had nothing to do with what’s involved in the investigation.

"We were meeting about bus transportation in the San Ysidro area. He worked for a bus company. In addition to that-- food truck ordinance. The city is considering a food truck ordinance to regulate trucks in the city, and he was representing both of those interests,” Alvarez said in an interview with NBC 7 on Monday.

NBC 7 also learned mayoral candidate and City Councilmember Kevin Faulconer met with Cortes once in March 2013. His campaign spokesperson said Cortes wanted to promote a gelato business in the Midway area. The spokesman said nothing came of that meeting and Faulconer's mayoral campaign never received contributions from anyone charged in the investigation.

Special Section: Race for Mayor

Alvarez told NBC 7 his campaign received $750 dollars from Cortes for the 2014 special mayoral election, which he has returned. Alvarez also received $999 from Cortes for the primary election, which his campaign still has. Since the primary is over, his campaign spokesperson said returning it is a more complicated process, but that they fully intend to pay it back as soon as possible.

Alvarez said the money received was legal, and he returned it because “it was the right thing to do.”

When asked how he knew it was legal and not from Anzano, Alvarez responded, “I don't think you can keep track of that, but in this case we knew it was coming from him, and this had no connection to this case, but I thought it was the right thing to do. “

A detention is hearing is scheduled for Cortes on Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors have not accused any politician of any wrongdoing in the case.

Dallas Cop Accused of Sex Assault

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A Dallas police officer who once played football for Southern Methodist University has been arrested, accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a police car while in uniform and on duty.

According to the Dallas Police Department, 28-year-old Police Officer La'Cori Johnson was on duty when he stopped a woman and another person on the 9300 block of Larga Drive on Sept. 9, 2013. 

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Johnson performed a background check on both people and told the woman she had a warrant out for her arrest and told her friend to leave the location. As she was instructed to get into the back of the police car, the woman, whose name is not being released, started to cry.

According to the arrest affidavit, Johnson asked the woman why she was crying and said, "You don't have to go to jail if you do what I tell you to do."

The affidavit said Johnson then drove his patrol car to a dead end behind the Pecan Square Apartments on the 3300 block of Storey Lane.  Once parked, the affidavit said, Johnson came to the back seat, removed his gun belt, placed it on the seat and pulled down his pants.  According to the affidavit, the woman was directed by Johnson to perform oral sex on him before he had sex with her.

In the affidavit, the woman said she had sex with the officer out of fear because the man was an armed police officer and because she was afraid of going to jail.

After the encounter, the woman told police she was dropped off on Clydesdale Drive and then walked home where she told her mother what had occurred.

On Oct. 4, 2013, the woman reported the incident to the Dallas Police Department and Johnson was immediately placed on administrative leave.  At the same time, a criminal investigation by the department's Public Integrity Unit was initiated. That investigation was followed by an Internal Affairs investigation that began on Jan. 24 of this year.

On Tuesday, Johnson was questioned by Internal Affairs detectives. He later resigned from the department and was immediately arrested and booked into the Dallas County Jail. As of this writing, Johnson was being held on $25,000 bond.

The sexual assault charge is a 2nd degree felony.

Johnson had been with the department since April 2009 and was assigned to the Northwest Patrol Division.  Prior to joining the Dallas Police Department, Johnson attended SMU and played football for the Mustangs between 2004 and 2007.

NBC 5's Ray Villeda contributed to this report.



Photo Credit: NBC 5

Man Says Cops Framed Him For Murder

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A 24-year-old father is suing Los Angeles police officers for allegedly framing him for murder and paying a homeless pair $10,000 to falsely testify against him at trial, according to a lawsuit.

Roy Galvan, who was acquitted by a jury, spent 13 months in county jail awaiting trial in the 2011 murder of a reputed gang member in South Central Los Angeles. Filed Jan. 22 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Galvan’s lawsuit seeks unspecific damages.

It accuses LAPD Officers Miguel Terrazas, David Nunn and Richard Arciniega of destroying evidence in the case, falsifying reports and bribing witnesses for statements, false arrest and malicious prosecution, among other claims of misconduct and civil rights violations.

NBC4 Southern California reached out to LAPD, but the department said it does not comment on pending litigation.

Documents: Read the Complaint

Officers accused in the lawsuit were tasked with investigating the unsolved killing of Joey Gutierrez, a member of the Hang Out Boys gang, on Jan. 28, 2011, near Main Street and 43rd Place.

Witness Ernesto Jurado, who lived nearby and saw the shooting from his second-story window, told the officers he saw the assailant run alongside the building, fire shots and run away, according to the complaint.

Jurado also said he saw two bicycles in the courtyard immediately before the shooting that had not been there before. The bikes were taken and booked into evidence the next day but later destroyed before DNA and fingerprints could be taken from them, the complaint alleges.

The lawsuit describes botched evidence gathering in which multiple and different caliber bullet casings were collected from the scene but not marked as to where they were found, and allegedly handled without gloves.

Second Woman Charged in Nightclub Beating Death

None of the casings matched the bullet found in the victim, which the complaint alleges officers did not run any ballistics examinations on to determine who owned the gun used to kill Gutierrez.

Though he had never been tied to any gang activity, Galvan was arrested in connection with the slaying on March 1, 2011.

He told police he had been at home taking care of his toddler daughter at the time of the shooting. And, “more importantly,” was recovering after rupturing his Achilles tendon a month before Gutierrez’s killing, according to the complaint.

Witness Jurado had told police the assailant ran from the scene with “no physical defect in his stride,” something Galvan’s lawyer said was impossible for his client to have done.

When he was taken into custody, Galvan had not yet started physical therapy and was still on crutches, unable to “even stand on the foot, let alone walk or run,” he claims.

Decision Day for Students in School Cheating Scandal

“The lack of evidence, the alibi and (Galvan’s) physical condition presented a severe blow the Defendant’s desire to pin the murder on (Galvan),” according to the complaint.

To support Galvan’s arrest, the complaint alleges, Terrazas falsified his police report to include that Jurado called him back on Feb. 14, 2011, to tell him “that he had completely forgotten to mention that the shooter had run off ‘with a limp.’”

Jurado’s phone records show that call was never made, according to the complaint.

Galvan claims the officers who took him to trial strong-armed, bribed and refused to investigate “several” potential witnesses, including two homeless people – Mark Loving and Syrella Carpenter, who had paranoid schizophrenia – living in a tent near the shooting scene.

"Terrazas and Nunn would repeatedly harass these two, physically abusing and sometimes handcuffing them. Defendants began threatening them, dragging them out of their tent, throwing them up against a wall asking them what they knew about the shooting.

“They took Loving to the police station on at least three occasions but only documented one of these times. In this interview, according to defendant Terrazas, these two 'witnesses' told him that plaintiff had approached them saying that he knew who had shot the victim and quoted the witnesses as quoting plaintiff saying, 'We got him,'" according to the complaint.

Galvan’s attorney, Hermez Moreno, said two check requests totaling almost $10,000 in city money to be paid to the homeless men for their statements were submitted into evidence during Galvan’s murder trial.

Two other witnesses were promised immunity from deportation in exchange for false statements, the complaint alleges.

Witness Jurado told investigators that the assailant looked like a man, later identified as Inocente Hernandez, who was involved in a car crash at the same intersection a few days after the shooting. The complaint alleges that Terraza “refused to investigate” this detail and left out of his report that he knew of Hernandez.

Jurado also said one of the people he saw near the scene looked like an associate of a locally known gang member with the moniker “Flaco,” according to the lawsuit.

Nine months after the shooting, a second witness who had been arrested on an unrelated matter also named Flaco in the killing, saying he had heard the reputed gang member confess to “being in a shootout with Gutierrez … and expressed concern about having left two bicycles behind at the scene.”

The lawsuit claims the defendant officers were aware of this second witness statement, but never interviewed Flaco.

A father of a 5-year-old daughter and an infant son, Galvan is seeking unspecific damages.

San Marcos Mobile Home Fire

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Residents who escaped a mobile home fire in San Marcos made a key decision that kept the fire from spreading officials said Tuesday.

A man and a woman were uninjured when fire broke out inside the home at Palomar Estates West on West San Marcos Blvd. just after midnight.

The residents were awakened by the light of the fire in their bedroom and got out of the room quickly, closing the door behind them, a fire battalion chief told NBC 7.

That kept the fire from spreading and helped firefighters save most of the valuables in the home.

The fire had started on an attached porch, according to officials.

The cause of the fire was still under investigation.

No one was injured.
 

Drone Fleet Grounded after Crash

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Federal officials deliberately crashed a malfunctioning drone into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego overnight.

The U.S. Coast Guard moved a cutter to an area approximately 20 miles southwest off Point Loma to help recover the debris left by the drone.

The drone belongs to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (USCBP.) According to customs officials, the drone flew out of Arizona and was piloted by a crew in Texas overseen by agents in Washington, D.C.

The Predator B drone that crashed was a variant called the Guardian, which was specially equipped to fly over water.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Mike Friel told the Associated Press that the crash happened around 1:15 a.m. PT Tuesday.

According to customs officials, the crew operating the drone from Texas noticed a mechanical failure and had little time to take action. They decided the safest move was to crash it into the ocean.

Friel said the cause of the mechanical failure is unknown.

Crews are working to recover the $12 million drone. Tuesday afternoon, some of the parts had already been loaded onto a truck at Coast Guard Station San Diego.

These drones are equipped with radar to help officers spot panga boats and semi-submersible vessels used by drug cartels.

"The aircraft can be used to monitor that vessel while other units are dispatched to intercept that vessel," Friel said in an interview with NBC 7. "That aircraft can keep eyes on and help individuals who are tasked with intercepting that vessel to know what they're facing." 

The Coast Guard report was filed at 11:20 p.m Monday, according to a spokesperson.

The U.S. has been using Predator B unmanned aircraft along the coast of California since 2006 to intercept potential terrorists and illegal border activity. They can fly for 20 hours and as high as 50,000 feet. This is the first time a drone has gone down since the unmanned aircraft program started, according to customs officials.

The drones are made by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, based in San Diego. The company recently touted the use of its drone technology and its use to help recover a missing mountain biker in New Mexico.

USCBP has grounded its entire fleet of 10 drones as a precaution after the crash, according to federal officials. The FAA and NTSB will investigate the crash.

In November, two sailors were injured and a missile cruiser damaged in a drone mishap off the coast of Point Mugu, Calif. USS Chancellorsville was struck by the unmanned aircraft during radar testing, officials said.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Teens Accused of Attacking Victims With Skateboard

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Two teenagers have been arrested in connection with a series of attacks in which they allegedly used a skateboard to strike their victims. One of their victims wound up dying, officials said.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said Javier Garcia, 18, as well as an unidentified 17-year-old boy, were taken into custody for their suspected roles in the deadly assault of Daniel Sparks, 61.

Lt. Glenn Giannantonio says the teenagers allegedly assaulted Sparks on two separate occasions, first on Jan. 14, just before 7 p.m., in Spring Valley. In that incident, Sparks was found lying in the intersection of Gillespie Drive and Frederick Street, bleeding from injuries to the head.

He was taken to a hospital, treated and released.

However, three days later, homicide detectives say Sparks was attacked again. This time, he was found unconscious in the 900-block of Jamacha Road. He was transported to a local hospital but died on Jan. 22, Lt. Giannantonio confirmed.

His cause of death has not yet been determined.

Detectives say their investigation into Sparks’ deadly attack led to the discovery of two more assaults in the area involving three victims. In those cases, the victims were struck in the head or side with a skateboard after they refused to hand over their property to the suspects.

Garcia and the 17-year-old boy were linked to the attacks and arrested.

Garcia was booked into San Diego Central Jail on multiple charges, including assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury and attempted robbery. Both he and the minor are scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.

Lt. Giannantonio said that if Sparks' cause of death winds up being directly tied to the attack at the hands of the teens, the young suspects could face additional charges, including manslaughter or murder.

In the meantime, homicide detectives believe there may be additional victims or witnesses of these attacks. Lt. Giannantonio says each crime appears to be motivated by robbery. Officials are also trying to determine whether the crimes are gang-related.

Officials say anyone who was assaulted in an attempted robbery in the 800-block of Gillespie Drive, 500-block of Sweetwater Road, 9000-block of Jamacha Road or surrounding streets should contact the Sheriff’s Homicide Division at (858) 974-2321 or the after-hours line at (858) 565-5200. Witnesses of these assaults should also come forward and contact authorities.

"It is a relatively densely populated area, so we're hoping someone may have seen something -- whether they actually saw the assauly or potentially something leading up to an assault," said Lt. Giannantonio. "Any information we can get would be appreciated."



Photo Credit: NBC 7 San Diego

San Diego's Cutest Critters

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San Diego's own zoo babies and other adorable animal moments captured on camera.

Photo Credit: San Diego Zoo

$5.3M Street Light Upgrade

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Thousands of street lights in downtown San Diego will be replaced as part of a new "smart street lighting system."

The new lamps with LED lights use a smart, wireless technology that allows the city to control each individual light on any street.

City officials said state and federal loans and grants along with SDG&E rebate funds are being used for the project and that the new lamps will eventually pay for themselves with energy savings.

San Diego will save more than $250,000 a year from the project that will cost $5.3 million to implement, officials said.

That cost breaks down to approximately $1,800 per lamp. The project manager told NBC 7 some pedestrian lamps typically cost about $1,000 more than a utility light.

Reaction from residents on the street was mixed.

"I mean yeah, it's great that they're replacing the city lights but at the same time they should be more worried about homeless," said resident Jen Williams.

“Those do look nicer,” said resident Amanda Flores. “But like I said I think San Diego has other
issues."

The replacement of all lamps will be complete by late spring 2014.



Photo Credit: Artie Ojeda

SD Reserve Fire Rigs Getting Back on Line

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After months of operating at dangerously low levels because of mechanical issues, San Diego's fleet of reserve fire engines is starting to reach more acceptable numbers.

When NBC 7 first reported on the situation last September, only seven of 32 reserve engines were available for duty.

That number dropped to just four to five a day in early January, when red-flag warnings were common.

On Tuesday, 16 reserve rigs were in service.

"I feel that we've been hurt.,” Fire-Rescue Chief Javier Mainar said in an interview. “And the results we see today -- with 16 engines available -- indicates that the city's being responsive."

Reserve rigs are used when front-line engines at the city's 47 stations need repairs or maintenance – and for “surge” deployments to catastrophic fires.

But maintenance and repair technicians have been in short supply since city Fleet Services employees won a managed competition through deep cost-cutting.

Workforce reductions were followed by a wave of departures, and the resulting vacancies have been hard to fill.

“The mechanics are specialized, the people that we had were very good at what they did,” says Frank De Clercq, president of Fire Fighters Local 145. “ Many of them retired when they could; they wanted to get out. The pay and concessions have gone down to the point where we don't have enough of those mechanics."

Other mechanics pursued better-paying jobs in the private sector.

Over the past month, through three daily overtime shifts and outsourcing of work to five outside automotive shops, the trucks are now being fixed.

The private-sector contracts are costing about $50,000 apiece, according to City Councilwoman Marti Emerald, who chairs the Council’s Public Safety & Livable Neighborhoods Committee.

"I'm as frustrated as anybody,” Emerald told NBC 7. “Because we've got to have -- especially -- our emergency vehicles ready to go when the bell rings."

Depending on the work needed, some reserve rigs are being sent to other city vehicle maintenance shops, to further reduce the backlog at the Fire Rescue Department's own facility in Kearny Mesa.

Said Mainar: "We're very well positioned right now for the wildfire season we have. It's interesting; we've not seen a relaxation of the Santa Ana winds -- if anything, they've increased in our winter months here. It's really quite unusual. So we're very cognizant of the impact our reserve fleet has on our capabilities to be ready for those fires."

Emerald acknowledges that it’ll still take some time to restore more a greater number of reserve rigs to service.

"I'm going to be patient,” she said, “but if it doesn't get fixed here pretty quickly, personally I'm thinking we ought to re-think the management competition for Fleet Services – it wasn’t intended to create this kind of chaos … so we’re on a week-to-week basis.”

An outside consulting firm has been hired for a "comprehensive review" of the city's managed competition efforts.

The report is expected next month.
 

Cal Fire Staffs Up in Drought

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The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is increasing its staffing statewide in response to the drought emergency and unusually dry conditions, officials announced Tuesday.

Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency for California on Jan. 17. He asked residents to conserve water in what could be the driest year on record.

He also instructed Cal Fire to staff up. As a result, the department has added 125 firefighters and extended seasonal employees.

Cal Fire is also staffing five air bases that normally would be closed in February including Ramona in San Diego County and Hemet in Riverside County.

The move would keep eight air tankers and four planes on standby if needed anywhere in Southern California.
 



Photo Credit: NBC 7 News

Injured Store Owner Returns to Work

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An El Cajon jewelry store owner injured in a violent assault by a hatchet-wielding suspect returned to work Tuesday, while his alleged attacker was arraigned on several charges, including attempted murder.

Carl Hamlin, 75, owner of Hamlin’s Jewelers on Fletcher Parkway, opened the doors to his business Tuesday but did not want to appear on camera for fear of jeopardizing the investigation.

Hamlin, who suffered multiple injuries in the attack, including a fractured skull, was hospitalized for two days last week. Now, nearly a week after the violent attack, Hamlin appeared in good shape. In a moment of brevity he told NBC 7 San Diego that he’s not a hero, he just has "mule’s blood."

On Jan. 22, just before 3:30 p.m., Hamlin was allegedly attacked by Travis Kelley, 24, at his small family jewelry shop.

According to El Cajon police, Kelley entered the store on a ruse to buy merchandise but his credit card was declined during an attempted transaction.

After that, investigators said things turned violent.

Hamlin told police Kelley became angry and pulled out a hatchet that had a hammer head on one of its ends. He then attacked Hamlin, striking him multiple times on the head with the hammer end of the hatchet.

Hamlin said his attacker was a “complete stranger.”

On Tuesday, Deputy District Attorney Gordon Paul Davis said Kelley hit Hamlin on the head five to six times with the hatchet, fracturing his skull. Davis also said Kelley went in and out of the store three times before assaulting Hamlin, likely scoping things out before the attack.

After the blows to his head, Hamlin fell behind the counter. Police said the store owner pulled out a small handgun and pointed it at Kelley in self-defense. The pair then began fighting again as Kelley tried to grab Hamlin’s gun.

Kelley was able to wrestle the gun away from Hamlin. The suspect then fled the store on foot, with the victim’s gun, before police officers could arrive. He was last seen getting into a silver Toyota 4-Runner driven by alleged accomplice Ali Armeen Toombs, 21.

Following the assault, police released clear, close-up images of Kelley captured on the store’s surveillance camera, as well as a detailed description of the getaway vehicle.

Investigators were able to track down both Kelley and his alleged accomplice. By Thursday, the men were in custody.

Both were arraigned in court Tuesday, each facing 13 charges, including attempted murder, armed robbery and elder abuse. While Toombs showed up to court for his arraignment, Kelley refused to leave his cell and did not appear in court, officials said.

Now, as Hamlin continues to recover, neighboring shops in El Cajon are banding together to raise funds to help cover Hamlin’s hospital bills and medical expenses.

This includes Rachel Gaiser, of Hess Family Jewelry and Loan, who has distributed flyers in the area letting the community know about the “Helping Hamlin” fund established for the beloved Hamlin’s Jewelers owner.

Those who would like to donate to the fund can do so via Paypal or by dropping off a check made out to Hamlin at the Hess Family Jewelry and Loan store in El Cajon, located at 2389 Fletcher Pkwy. #102.

Gaiser said many customers have already donated to the fund, with many coming into her work to ask how they can help.

The owners and employees of Hess Family Jewelry and Loan said Hamlin has been working in the El Cajon and La Mesa area for more than 45 years. They feel it’s important for the community to band together in support of Hamlin during this difficult time.

Mom Fights for Health Coverage

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A San Diego mother whose daughter was severely injured in a crash said she almost missed the deadline to pay for her daughter’s health plan after an insurance company kept giving her the runaround.

“I literally [called the insurance company] every hour. Every time we’ve called, the computers have been down. The very few times that the computers are up, they don’t have the necessary paperwork [for me to submit a payment],” said Solmaz Modeer, explaining her battle to keep her daughter, 22-year-old Nikki Sanaty, covered by her health plan.

According to Modeer, Sanaty is currently hospitalized, in the Intensive Care Unit with severe brain trauma. Sanaty sustained critical injuries in a head-on crash Jan. 3 on State Route 56.

Modeer said her daughter is in stable but critical condition at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, still on a respirator and slowly learning how to breathe on her own again.

“We don’t know if she’s going to wake up,” the mother said, between tears.

Dealing with Sanaty’s hospitalization has been extra difficult for Modeer due to complications with her daughter’s health insurance coverage.

Right before Sanaty’s accident, Modeer said she had canceled her daughter’s Anthem insurance plan and signed her up for Blue Shield insurance through Covered California.

Covered California told Modeer the changes had gone through. But, when Modeer called Blue Shield to make the first insurance payment, she said she was told her daughter was not in their system.

Somehow, her daughter’s paperwork either got lost or backlogged.

This began a long, exhausting series of phone calls from Modeer to the insurance company. Many times, she said she’d wait on hold for hours to talk to someone. Once she got through, Modeer said the company would tell her their computers were down or they couldn’t accept her payment for one reason or another.

This was especially worrisome for the mother because the deadline to pay the insurance premium was Tuesday, Jan. 28.

If she didn’t make the payment, her daughter would go without coverage – something the family simply can’t afford with Sanaty in the ICU.

Modeer believes there is a disconnect between Blue Shield and Covered California and somewhere, someone, really dropped the ball in her daughter's case.

“Either on one side they didn’t push the send button or on one side somebody has not pushed the receive button,” said Modeer. “But there is a disconnect in between. There is a big crack, and people are falling into the crack.”

Desperate for help and tired of the runaround, Modeer reached out to NBC 7 to share her story.

NBC 7 called Blue Shield and quickly, things changed.

“Immediately after NBC 7 left, I got a phone call from a Blue Shield executive director and she called to take a payment. She took a payment in less than a few minutes,” said Modeer.

Blue Shield told NBC 7 they are experiencing delays in Sanaty's case and other cases since Covered California went into effect.

Though the company said it couldn’t comment on the specifics of Sanaty’s case, it did release the following statement to NBC 7 on Tuesday:

“We believe all Californians deserve access to high-quality health care at an affordable price, and coverage they can depend on in the event of an emergency. We have put several measures in place to reduce the delays some members and new enrollees are experiencing receiving new ID cards and making payments. These measures include expanding customer service hours, easing online payments and working directly with providers to verify eligibility for patients who need immediate access to care.”

Now that Sanaty is properly covered again, Modeer said she can get back to caring for her daughter and aiding her recovery. The mother hopes her story reminds other parents experiencing similar health insurance issues to keep fighting.

“Everybody has to remember that they have to be persistent. Don’t settle for a no. That’s what I believe,” she added.

Though Sanaty remains hospitalized, Modeer is hopeful her daughter will recover in the next few months. She keeps track of her daughter's progress through this website, which includes journal entries written by Modeer and photos of Sanaty.

According to the Covered California website, there have been more than 625,000 enrollments in Covered California health insurance plans from Oct. 1, 2013, through Jan. 15, 2014.

When the health care exchange first launched in October, its provider tool experienced some glitches, with some considering the tool slow and inaccurate. A new version of the provider tool was launched shortly thereafter.



Photo Credit: NBC 7 San Diego
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