The U.S. has dominated snowboarding since its addition to the Winter Games in 1998, racking up 19 medals--nearly a dozen more than Switzerland, its closest competitor. This year, as two new events--slopestyle and parallel slalom--are added to the mix, expectations remain high for America's 23 Sochi-bound snowboarders.
The group, ranging in age from 16 to 35, includes eight athletes with Olympic credentials, an X Games legend, high school students and a guy who lived out of the back of his truck while training for his chance to go to Sochi.
The team's first competition--qualifiers for mens' and women's slopestyle--airs Thursday at 8 p.m. on NBC. Before tuning in, brush up on who's who and what exactly is at stake.
MEN'S HALFPIPE
Shaun White, one of the pioneers of professional snowboarding, has been a household name for years. Splitting his time between skateboarding and snowboarding, he was the first cross-over athlete to medal in both the Winter and Summer X-Games. He has two Olympic golds for halfpipe--the last of which he earned for a jaw-dropping performance in Vancouver. There, he debuted the Tomahawk--two flips, three and a half spins--which had never been performed during a competition. White also has eight Winter X Games wins, a band, and a new grown-up look: Short hair has replaced the mop of red that earned him his early nickname, the Flying Tomato.
This year he goes for his third gold in the halfpipe. He also qualified for slopestyle--a new Olympic event that includes a mix of jumps, rails and quarterpipes--but he dropped out the day before the first competition. In a statement to NBC News he said that after much deliberation, he wanted to focus solely on claiming his third halfpipe gold.
Joining him in halfpipe are Olympic rookies Taylor Gold, Danny Davis and veteran Greg Bretz--a strong trio of competitors with plenty of medal potential.
Davis, a 25-year-old with wild hair and a history of bad luck, heads to Sochi after missing out on two previous chances take the Olympic stage. In 2006 he just missed the halfpipe cut-off for the Torino Games. In 2010, he appeared on track for Vancouver but crashed an ATV, injuring himself and putting his Olympic dreams on the shelf for another four years. He recently won the halfpipe event at the Winter X-Games, which Shaun White sat out. His friends told The Associated Press that they would celebrate by "locking Danny in his hotel room" to keep him safe for Sochi.
Bretz placed 12th at the Vancouver Games but has made big strides since then. Late last year he won first place over Shaun White at the Dew Tour Ion Mountain Championship, delivering him a big confidence boost.
Gold, 21, will travel to Sochi with another Olympic novice--his kid sister Arielle who will compete on the women's halfpipe team.
MEN'S PARALLEL SLALOM
The U.S. is sending just one guy to Sochi to compete in parallel slalom--a downhill one-on-one race debuting at the Games. That guy is Justin Reiter, who wanted the Olympics so badly he slept in the back of his Toytoa Tundra in Park City, Utah to devote as much of his time and resources to training as he could. The sacrifice paid off. The 2013 world champ in parallel slalom earned hist first Olympic spot. He will be the only competitor from the U.S. men's team in the new event--a downhill one-on-one race.
MEN'S SLOPESTYLE
Chas Guldemond--aslo known as Chuck G”-- Ryan Stassec and Sage Kostenburg will represent the U.S. in the Olympic's slopestyle debut. Guldermond, who worked a string of part-time jobs to fund his Olympic ambitions, won bronze last year at the U.S. Open and gold at the Grand Prix. Stassec, a 21-year-old Alaska native is a three-time U.S. Revolution Tour champion who will be making his Olympic debut. Kostenburg, a "big air specialist" was invited to two X Games last year and progressed in world slopestyle rankings from 21st to 10th. A pair from Canada--Max Parrot and Mark McMorris enter the contest as heavy favorites.
MEN'S SNOWBOARD CROSS
At 35, Nate Holland is the oldest member of the team and brings with him years of experience. He is a seven-time Winter X Games champion, with 17 world cup medals. He placed 14th at the 2006 Games and 4th at Vancouver. He'll be joined by fellow Olympic vet Nick Baumgartner, who placed 20th in Vancouver, as well as Olympic rookies Alex Deibold and Trevor Jacob who you may recognize from MTV stunt show "Nitro Circus" which takes up some of the 20-year-old's off-time.
WOMENS HALFPIPE
Of all the ladies on the team, Kelly Clark heads to Sochi with the most Olympic experience. At 30, she has participated in three Olympics, taking the gold in 2002, placing fourth in 2006 and winning bronze in 2010. And she's not slowing down. Last month she dominated the X Games notching her fourth halfpipe gold.
She'll be joined by fellow veteran Hannah Teter, 27, won the Olympic silver in 2010 and gold in 2006. She is also an eight-time World Cup medalist and philanthropist whose "Sweet Cheeks" undies line helps out a children's charity
Also on the team are 17-year-old Arielle Gold (who was inspired to trade her skis for a snowboard after watching her big brother and now-Olympic teammate practicing on his) and fellow rising star Kaitlyn Farrington. Fun fact: To fund her training, Farrington's parents had to sell off all the cows on their Idaho farm. Farrington told NBC Olympics that they just wanted to see her do well.
WOMEN'S SNOWBOARD CROSS
Lindsey Jacobellis leads the ladies' snowboard cross team. Sochi will be the third Olympics for Jacobellis--one of the winningest women of the X Games. In addition to her eight X golds (the most recent notched last month) she has a silver medal from Nagano. She returns to the Games after months off the snow thanks to a bad injury in 2012. She's joined by Jackie Hernandez, a motorcycle aficionado, and Faye Fulini, who was still a teen when she made her Olympic debut in Vancouver, where she placed 12th.
WOMENS SLOPESTYLE
Four young women will compete in the debut Olympic event. Ty Walker, 16, is the youngest of them. The "straight A student," from Vermont placed fourth at the 2013-14 U.S. Grand Prix and fifth at the world championships last year. She's joined by Jamie Anderson who knows what it's like to be the baby. Now 23, Anderson became the youngest X Games medalist when she notched her first at the age of 15. Olympic rookies Karly Shorr and Jessika Jensen round out the team, both making their Olympic debut.
Olympic gold medalist Shaun White will not compete in the slopestyle event in the 2014 Winter Olympics.
The snowboard champion from Carlsbad, Calif. injured his wrist while practicing runs on the new course in Sochi, Russia Tuesday.
White made the decision Wednesday.
“After much deliberation with my team, I have made the decision to focus solely on trying to bring home the third straight gold medal in halfpipe for Team USA,” White said in a statement, according to TODAY. “The difficult decision to forego slopestyle is not one I take lightly as I know how much effort everyone has put into holding the slopestyle event for the first time in Olympic history, a history I had planned on being part of.”
Watch : Will New Slopestyle Course Cause Problems?
The U.S. Olympic Committee issued a statement in support of White's decision.
“Shaun is a professional and certainly knows what’s best for his performance. We support the athletic decisions of our athletes and look forward to watching the entire U.S. team perform,” said Team USA spokesperson Patrick Sandusky.
Fans reacted on social media with one person even comparing White's decision to that of Usain Bolt pulling out of a track and field competition.
Even another, a fellow professional snowboarder, claims White's decision was prompted by a belief that he can't secure the gold in the event.
"Mr. White... It's easy to find excuses to pull out of a contest when you think you can't win," the post from Sebastien Toutant reads.
The slopestyle event is a fast ride in which competitors flip twice, possible three times on jumps along a course filled with rails and bumps.
On Monday, Torstein Horgmo of Norway, broke his collarbone during practice.
On Tuesday, Finnish rider Marika Enne suffered a concussion.
While many riders felt the dangers of the new course were being overblown, even White said the riders have been meeting with organizers and providing feedback on changes deemed necessary.
Images: San Diego Athletes in Sochi
One American snowboarder still in the mix for the slopestyle competition is Chas Guldemond who trained with the staff and athletes at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista.
Read more on NBCOlympics.com.
More Olympic Coverage:
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors will vote Wednesday on a new security measure proposed for local airports.
If approved, the county would require flight schools to monitor and get background checks on foreign students.
Three of the men who carried out the attack on 9/11 lived, studied and even took flying lessons in San Diego
Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, and Hani Hanjour were hijackers aboard American Airlines Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11 killing 64 aboard the plane and 125 on the ground.
Investigators later discovered Hanjour and al-Mihdhar took flying lessons at a flight school based at Montgomery Field in 2000 telling their instructor they wanted to fly Boeing jets.
More than a decade later, the county is still working to address security issues at the region’s smaller airports.
A main concern for one board member is that many foreign flight students aren't getting properly background checked.
One instructor NBC 7 talked with says at any given time at least 400 flight students are foreign.
Right now, before any foreign student can learn to fly here, flying schools are required to give that person's name, picture, and fingerprint to the TSA to verify they've been cleared.
The problem is Supervisor Dianne Jacob says that’s not being done.
A federal report from 2012 found that 25,000 foreigners applied for a pilot's license in the U.S.
An unknown amount of them had not been background checked or monitored by the TSA.
“It's simply signing a document, a one-page document that certifies they're complying with the law. If they're already doing it, then why is that a problem to them," Jacob asked.
Jacob wants schools to verify with the county they are complying with TSA rules.
Flight instructors say the proposal would be redundant.
“Well, it's a duplicative idea. It would be a waste of county resources to have people doing what the federal government is already doing," said flight instructor Rich Martindell.
The County Board of supervisors will vote on the ordinance at the meeting which begins at 9 a.m.
There will be public comment before the vote.
San Diego police investigators have released images of the car sought in the hit-and-run collision that killed a property master with San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre.
Seamus O’Bryan, 32, died in the head-on collision Jan. 31at University and Granada.
O'Bryan and a passenger were riding a motorcycle eastbound on University Avenue when a white, 4-door vehicle turned in front of the motorcycle.
Officials released images of the suspect vehicle described as a 1998-2000 2-door Cadillac Eldorado ETC.
The vehicle will be off-white with stock wheels and tinted windows. Officials believe there would be minor to moderate damage to the passenger side bumper, fender and door.
The suspect's car was last seen heading south on Granada Avenue.
O’Bryan had an extensive background in arts and theater working with the La Jolla Playhouse and the UCSD School of Theater and Dance.
The human resources department at The Old Globe told NBC 7 O'Bryan was a valuable and beloved employee who worked there for three years as the stage and properties master.
The theater also shared this video of O'Bryan at their opening night celebration, just hours before the deadly crash. He had prepared a special, ukulele rendition of "Sea of Love" to share with cast and crew at the opening night party.
Several outages left thousands of residents without power in San Diego County Wednesday afternoon, according to San Diego Gas & Electric.
Just before 2:30 p.m., SDG&E reported around 5,800 customers were without power in parts of National City, Paradise Hills, Skyline and Bay Terraces. The company said it expected to have power fully restored to those impacted communities by 5 p.m.
Meanwhile, another outage left approximately 1,200 customers without power in portions of Encanto, Emerald Hills and Valencia Park. The estimated restoration time for that outage was also 5 p.m., according to SDG&E.
SDG&E officials said parts of their Paradise Valley substation unexpectedly powered down. At the peak of the outage, SDG&E said approximately 12,200 people were left without power. Within 25 minutes, power was restored to the majority of those impacted customers, the company said.
By 3:25 p.m., SDG&E confirmed that 3,700 customers were still without power. By 4:45 p.m., the comapny said power had been restored to all of their customers.
Company officials are now investigating what caused a portion of the Paradise Valley substation to power down in the first place.
Check back for updates.
Carlsbad City Councilmember Farrah Golshan Douglas announced Wednesday she will be stepping down from her position.
Citing personal issues, Douglas has arranged for her resignation to take effect Friday, Feb. 7.
“Due to pressing personal and family commitments, I feel I cannot continue to offer the level of time and attention this position – and our community – deserves and that I have been able to provide in the past,” Douglas said in her letter to Carlsbad Mayor Matt Hall. “I love this community too much to be satisfied with less than complete dedication.”
Douglas was elected to a 4-year term in November 2010.
Now, the City of Carlsbad must hold a special election or fill her vacancy by appointment within 60 days. The council will consider these options at an upcoming city council meeting, according to a Carlsbad press release.
“Knowing how difficult it can be to balance personal and family commitments with the immense sense of duty we all bring to our roles on the City Council, I respect [Douglas’] decision to step down and thank her for the significant contributions she has made to our city,” said Mayor Hall in the release.
In her resignation letter, Douglas highlighted accomplishments she was proud of during her time on the council, including the Alga Norte Community Park completion, the development of a seawater desalination plant and pension reform.
"I am most grateful for the opportunity to be a part of Carlsbad's vibrant future and to pay my debt to this wonderful community," Douglas said.
The investigation into what caused a home in Vista to erupt into flames could take hours because of the amount of items stored on the property, officials said.
Residents called 911 just after 5:30 a.m. Wednesday when they saw flames and smoke coming from the home on Smith Drive.
Dozens of firefighters responded and kept the fire from spreading to nearby homes. No one was injured in the blaze.
Because of the nature of the fire and the extensive damage done to the home, the San Diego County Bomb/Arson Unit was called.
Fire investigators and San Diego County sheriff’s deputies are going through the home and say the investigation could take hours.
Sgt. Aiken said deputies were called to the residence Tuesday to help with a Child Protective Services call. Officials checked the home and found no children inside.
When asked if the fire was related to the call, Aiken said, “Anything is possible but nothing definitive.”
Check back for updates on this developing story.
The Tarrant County intoxication manslaughter case involving "affluenza" teen Ethan Couch touched off more controversy Wednesday, as the teen was spared further jail time but ordered to rehab.
The 16-year-old was back in court Wednesday after prosecutors requested jail time on charges related to two people who suffered injuries in the crash that killed four others last June.
On Wednesday afternoon, Couch's attorney said Judge Jean Boyd ordered his client to a rehabilitation facility that would be paid for by his parents, but didn't require a minimum amount of time to be spent there. The family previously offered to pay for a facility in California that cost around $450,000 per year.
Others said the facility is in Texas but they declined to say where.
The judge also ordered no further jail time for the teen in connection with those who were injured, but survived, the crash.
She also set conditions of his probation, including that he not drive or use drugs or alcohol.
Family members of the victims were outraged he received no jail time.
"No matter where he goes, no matter what game he or his family think they've beaten, the world is never going to take their eyes off of him," said Marla Mitchell, whose daughter was killed in the crash.
Couch's defense had claimed the teenager was coddled and had no sense of responsibility because of poor parenting, and during his trial, an expert termed his condition "affluenza." His defense attorneys argued, successfully, that Couch needed treatment and not incarceration.
Wednesday's hearing on where Couch would get treatment was scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. A few minutes before the hearing was scheduled to start, several reporters, including NBC 5 DFW's Scott Gordon, were ordered by bailiffs to leave the courtroom.
The district attorney's office argued to let the public into the hearing and victims' family members said they wanted it open, but the judge rejected their appeals.
Couch has been in custody at juvenile detention since his Dec. 12 sentencing and remained locked up Wednesday night.
Couch's attorney Reagan Wynn ripped the media and the public's focus on "affluenza" and said that his client was misunderstood.
"It's ridiculous to think that we walked into court and said, 'Oh this is a rich white kid' and she decided to probate him," Wynn said.
But Alpert accused Wynn of hypocrisy, pointing out that a defense witness made the comment in the first place.
"His witnesses don't say things by accident," Alpert said. "So they thought maybe that would help -- that's my interpretation -- and it blew up on them. It was a stupid thing to say."
Couch's parents did not speak to reporters as they entered the courtroom. Several relatives of Couch's victims also attended Wednesday's hearing.
"The families feel like the same way they felt the last time they were here," Alpert said.
Asking Boyd to give Couch jail time for intoxication assault was a last-ditch effort by prosecutors, who have said they have almost no way to appeal the judge's sentence in the case.
Alpert said he hoped the Couch case would lead the Texas Legislature to allow juries to sentence some juvenile defendants. The case has already spurred calls for potential changes. Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who serves as president of the Senate, has asked for a study of sentencing guidelines in intoxication manslaughter cases.
Couch was 16 at the time of the accident. His blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit for an adult and there were traces of Valium in his system when he lost control of his pickup truck and plowed into a group of people helping a woman whose car had stalled.
Seven passengers were riding in Couch's truck. One, Sergio Molina, is paralyzed and can communicate only by blinking. The other, Solimon Mohmand, suffered numerous broken bones and internal injuries.
On Tuesday several news outlets, including NBC 5, argued to keep all future Couch hearings public. But Boyd ruled against the media's motion.
Victims' family members are suing Couch's family in civil court.
Associated Press writer Nomaan Mercant contributed to this report.
Snowboarding superstar Shaun White will no longer compete for two golds at the Sochi Games.
Less than a day before the first slopestyle competition, White told NBC News that he is pulling out of the event.
"After much deliberation with my team, I have made the decision to focus solely on trying to bring home the third straight gold medal in halfpipe for Team USA," he said in a statement Wednesday." The difficult decision to forego slopestyle is not one I take lightly as I know how much effort everyone has put into holding the slopestyle event for the first time in Olympic history, a history I had planned on being a part of."
His announcement comes as his teammates and competitors prepare for the first slopestyle competition of the Winter Games--one of the few qualification events scheduled before Friday's Opening Ceremony. It also comes a day after White jammed his left wrist during a test run at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park.
In an interview with The Associated Press, White described the course as "a little intimidating" but added that he didn't expect the minor injury to slow him down.
White was not the only snowboarder to get injured on the slopestyle course or comment on its difficulty. Norweigan favorite Torstein Horgmo broke his collar bone on the same course earlier in the week, ending his Olympic chance. The following day, Finnish snowboarder Marika Enne hit her head on a rail during practice, resulting in a concussion.
Without White, the U.S. men's slopestyle team will be down to three Olympic rookies--Ryan Stassel, Chas Guldemond and Sage Kotsenburg--who will face steep competition from Canada's Max Parrot and Mark McMorris.
This year is the first year slopestyle--a downhill course with pipes, rails and jumps--will be included in the Winter Games. The competition begins Thursday morning in Sochi.
Halfpipe, which White is favored to win, begins Feb. 11.
A San Francisco man was indicted on Tuesday on charges he was the mastermind behind a secret website that brokered more than $1 billion in transactions for illegal drugs and services.
The indictment unsealed in federal court in Manhattan charges Ross William Ulbricht with drug trafficking, computer hacking, money laundering and other counts.
MORE: Man Allegedly Behind "Silk Road" Wants Bitcoin Returned
A lawyer for Ulbricht, Joshua Dratel, said his client would plead not guilty at an arraignment scheduled for Friday.
“The indictment was expected and does not contain any new factual allegations,'' Dratel said in a statement. “We look forward to preparing Ross' defense.'”
Ulbricht, 29, was arrested late last year at a public library in San Francisco. Authorities say he operated the Silk Road site under the alias “Dread Pirate Roberts,'' an apparent reference to a character in the movie “The Princess Bride.”
MORE: "Silk Road" Drug Site Suspect Held After Murder-Plot Claims
The website allowed users to anonymously browse through nearly 13,000 listings. Authorities say the categories included “Cannabis,'” “'Psychedelics'' and “Stimulants.'” Purchases were made using the virtual currency Bitcoin.
British luxury carmaker Aston Martin says it is recalling 17,590 sports cars because of a problem with the accelerator pedal molding.
The company said Wednesday there had not been any accidents or injuries stemming from the fault, which can cause the engine to idle unexpectedly.
The global recall will affect all of the company's left-hand drive cars made between late 2007 and the end of 2013. Right -hand drive cars made between May 2012 and December 2013 also will be recalled.
The new Vanquish model is not affected.
The company says molding from a Chinese supplier was found to be defective.
The Aston Martin is regarded as one of the world's finest sports car and has long benefited from its association with the James Bond films.
A woman found guilty of killing a Chicago police officer in 2008 has been sentenced to life in prison.
A Cook County judge sentenced Robin Johnson Wednesday to natural life in prison without parole for the shooting death of Officer Richard Francis.
Francis, a 27-year veteran of the force, was responding to a call of a disturbance at the Belmont and Western bus stop and confronted Johnson, who had been involved in a fracas with another woman on a CTA bus.
Johnson grabbed the officer's gun and shot him in the face.
Johnson was convicted last October of first-degree murder, disarming a police officer and aggravated discharge of a firearm.
Francis’ wife, Deborah, said Wednesday that her family is still distraught from the murder, and the guilty verdict offered them little closure.
“Our family was completely torn apart by his murder,” she said in a statement.
Attorneys for Johnson asked for a minimum sentence Wednesday, arguing that she had been suffering from seizures that caused her to become combative during that time and that she did not remember what happened.
But Judge Thomas Gainer instead handed down a maximum sentence of life in prison.
"Robin Johnson, you earned that sentence," he said.
"The most difficult days in my 33 years as a police officer have been when a colleague who devoted their life to protecting public safety is killed in the line of duty," said Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy. "It is a measure of comfort, even if bittersweet, to bring to justice the woman who murdered Officer Richard Francis. On behalf of the entire Chicago Police Department, I want to thank all those involved in bringing this offender to justice."
Someone with knowledge of how a major electrical substation works sneaks into the sensitive area during the dead of night. First, he or she cuts fiber cables to knock out 911 and cell phone service. Then, he or she takes more than 100 shots from a high-powered rifle to "methodically" make transformers overheat and shut down, knocking out the substation. He or she then escapes, and is never caught.
This all happened last year during the night of April 16 at the Pacific Gas & Electric Company's Metcalf power substation southeast of San Jose, and according to a former PG&E official who talked to the Wall Street Journal, it could be a "dress rehearsal" for a major terrorist attack.
"These were not amateurs taking potshots," said Mark Johnson, a former PG&E official. "My personal view is that this was a dress rehearsal," he told the paper.
MORE: Surveillance Video Release From Sabotaged PG&E Substation
It may be far worse than that: Jon Wellinghoff, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission at the time of the attack, calls it "the most significant incident of domestic terrorism involving the grid that has ever occurred" in the U.S., according to the Journal.
Michael McNerney, a security consultant for Delta Risk, and also the former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said the incident could be the latest example of how cyber terrorism could be used to attack America.
"Yes, this is a likely target, and something we're becoming more concerned about," McNerney said. "Critical infrastructure are things we rely on as a country in order to function: electric grid, air traffic control, water system, stock market. And if they go down, it could potentially be catastrophic."
The incident was first classified as vandalism by local authorities, but the investigation has since been taken over by the FBI, Foreign Policy magazine reported in December.
PG&E and the FBI have not officially called the April attack an act of terrorism.
The strange attack has grabbed attention of members of Congress. Retiring U.S. Rep. Harry Waxman said at a public hearing that it's proof that the country's electrical grid -- without which life as we know it would be powered off -- is not protected from attack.
Nobody lost power as a result of the substation attack after authorities rerouted power around it, but the substation was down for 27 days.
About a month later, sheriff's deputies spotted a "man in black" in a field not far away at 3 a.m. He also escaped.
So the attacker is still out there -- and now, people are worried.
NBC Bay Area's Scott Budman contributed to this report.
A realtor from the Virgin Islands, who fled prosecution of embezzlement charges, was located Thursday living in Fallbrook, after four years on the run.
Rosemary Sauter-Frett, 62, was arrested and taken into custody by FBI agents at her Fallbrook apartment Jan. 30 on suspicion of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, according to federal court documents.
Sauter-Frett fled the Virgin Islands in 2010 after thousands of dollars worth of checks related to her real estate business began to bounce.
According to the Virgin Island Daily News, the woman was " was a successful Realtor and had the largest realty office on St. Thomas by early 2010."
Court records filed by the federal government allege Sauter-Frett was trying to avoid prosecution for embezzling at least $122,900 from customers of her Remax Dreams Properties escrow account. She is currently in custody at the Metropolitan Correction Center, according to an online inmate search.
News reports in St. Thomas say Sauter-Frett left behind her husband and children after being accused of stealing more than $3 million of her clients' and fellow investors' money. She faces charges of embezzlement, grand larceny and obtaining money by false pretenses brought in 2010 by the District Attorney of the Virgin Islands Division of St. Thomas and St. John.
FBI Spokesman Darrell Foxworth said Sauter-Frett was taken into custody without incident with assistance from the San Diego Sheriff's Department. She will appear in court Thursday, Feb. 13.
Water consumption report cards are coming back to San Diego as city officials look for ways encourage residents to save water.
Interim San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria announced Wednesday that in light of Governor Jerry Brown’s drought emergency declaration last month, the city will release regular updates on water consumption.
Gloria said the situation in Southern California is not as dire as Northern or Central California, but San Diegans can always do more.
“We live in a beautiful city, but it’s one with a dry climate, and we need to accept conservation as a permanent way of life.”
Water consumption report cards became a regular facet between 2009 and 2011, when the city implemented mandatory water restrictions.
From time to time, the water department would send out public updates on how much water was being saved citywide. Over that three-year period, Gloria said San Diegans cut their use by 19 percent.
With regular report cards renewed, Gloria hopes that residents will keep conservation in mind when they turn on their taps.
City Councilmember David Alvarez joined Gloria Wednesday to propose an expansion of Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Programs.
In addition to clean energy solutions, the programs offer financing options to property owners for conservation upgrades like drip irrigation installations, leak fixes and efficient water systems.
Alvarez brought a proposal for PACE expansion before the city council’s Committee on the Environment Wednesday afternoon.
For everyday water conservation tips, Gloria recommended logging on to WasteNoWater.org.
San Diego businessman Dan Shea is on a serious mission for change.
He claims one of nation's biggest industries causes huge problems for America's injured and sick. And unlike most San Diegans, Shea has the time, and the money, to make sure that people, and more importantly, state legislators all across the country, hear his message.
Shea is the successful co-owner of the Donovan's steakhouse chain and dozens fast food restaurants across the country.
But Shea's family is his passion.
So when his elderly aunt, Kay, was critically injured in a terrible head-on crash more than two years ago in Missouri, Shea tried to help.
"She was the healthiest 83-year-old woman any of us knew," Shea says of his proud and fiercely independent aunt.
Shea says the evidence in the case clearly showed that the other driver was 100 percent at fault and admitted liability in the case, but the insurance companies for that driver refused to pay what Dan says was a very reasonable settlement.
That terse denial quickly provoked Dan’s anger, because, as he says, “The insurance companies spend tens of millions of dollars telling us what great companies they are and why we should be insured by them, but this is what they do when they think no one's looking."
Shea says he quickly learned that insurance companies care only about their financial "bottom line" and will do anything to avoid paying even the most legitimate claims.
"And it's a lot of heartache for a lot of a people, " Shea says.
So he fought back
Shea hired one of San Diego's best personal and motor vehicle injury lawyers, Craig McClellan, to help his aunt’s legal team in Missouri.
Shea also spent tens of thousands of dollars to produce a professional video and website that tell his aunt's story and presents Dan’s searing critique of the insurance industry.
That website, which includes information provided by the trial attorneys and personal injury attorneys association, exposes about what he claims is a routine practice of the insurance industry to deny legitimate claims and withhold payments to protect industry profits.
"Just delay, delay, delay,” Shea says of the insurance companies. “And (when the victim is) an 85-year-old woman (their strategy is) ‘Let's see if she dies before the claim actually has to be paid.’"
But critics say Shea is overstating his case and painting a very unfair picture of the insurance industry.
San Diego insurance defense attorney Daniel White says insurance companies want to settle claims as quickly as possible.
White insists that insurance adjusters and company executives do not get financial incentives or bonuses for delaying payment on legitimate claims or drawing out their investigations.
"That's not true,” White tells NBC 7. “That is just simply not true."
White says most claims and lawsuits settle relatively quickly, but some, like Kay Shea's, require lots of investigation. And those investigations can yield very different opinions about the fair value of an insurance claim and who’s responsible for paying it.
"Sometimes, there just is not an agreement about that,” White says. “And that's why we have judges, and that's why we have juries."
White says crowded court calendars and cutbacks in court funding are mainly responsible for delays in the trails that are sometimes necessary to resolve an insurance dispute.
But Dan Shea won't wait.
He wants to change the law and the way insurance companies do business in the U.S.
"This has to change in every single state,” he says. “In California, Missouri, and the other 48 states."
While Pamplona, Spain is nearly synonymous with the annual Running of the Bulls, an event made famous in part by the writings of Ernest Hemingway, such toro dashes have found less traction outside of the historic city's much-photographed streets.
That's set to change in Southern California come summer -- make that the very first day of summer -- when the Great Bull Run arrives in wine country, at the Temecula Downs Event Center.
This isn't the first venue associated with the run; the Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park was scotched as a possible location over safety concerns, per the Press-Enterprise. Bull runs have also drawn protests in the past from a number of organizations, including the Animal Defense Fund, which called for a cancellation of a Georgia bull run last autumn.
Houston also hosts a Great Bull Run, and a selfie taken during the recent Jan. 25 event is making current headlines and provoking much astonishment, as one might expect of a photographic self portrait taken in the heat of a dash. Note: Bulls run far faster than humans.
Thousands are expected at the Temecula gathering, which is scheduled for Saturday, June 21.
Pamplona's Running of the Bulls is part of the multi-day Festival of San Fermin, which is also known for its tomato fight. So expect to see the round, red fruit lobbed, several thousands of times over, at the Temecula Downs come summer.
