It’s the end of the line for Moviefone.

The movie ticketing and listing service, best known for the catchphrase "Hello, and welcome to Moviefone,” plans to shut down 777-FILM next month after 25 years.

Parent company AOL will refocus its efforts on the Moviefone app and reintroduce the brand in partnership with BermanBraun, a web and television company, The New York Times reported.

BermanBraun president Jeff Berman told the Times that use of the phone number had “been in pretty steady decline” since AOL bought Moviefone in 1999 for $388 million. The service competes against Fandango and other movie ticketing websites.

“Our customers are much more interested in our award-winning app, and we need to invest our resources in the future, part of which involves a major reimagining of Moviefone,” Berman told the Times.

Moviefone is still available for iPhone and iPad via the iTunes app store.

An Oceanside couple, who neighbors say was going through a painful divorce, was found dead in a murder-suicide officials confirmed Monday.

Cynthia Carter, 50, was found dead inside her ground-floor condo on Edgehill Lane on Feb. 6. Carter suffered from multiple sharp and blunt force injuries, officials said.

Investigators also found the body of her estranged husband nearby. David Sherville, 57, took his own life according to the county medical examiner’s office.

A neighbor told NBC 7 Carter and Sherville were going through a painful divorce.

The couple was still living together in the rented unit at the Arbor Hill condo complex in Oceanside, but neighbors said the husband was set to move out soon.

"They were going through a bad divorce," said upstairs neighbor Katie Colladay. "Even though they were civil, she was moving on and happy. He was miserable and unhappy because he was losing his best friend."

Carter was a commercial property manager, while Sherville was described as a computer scientist.

An online obituary describes Carter as "having a unique way of leaving you with an everlasting impression."

Investigators discovered the couple after serving a welfare check.

San Diego police are searching for a black pickup truck suspected in a deadly hit-and-run crash in Hillcrest.

The victim in the collision was a man walking his dog along University Avenue.

Witnesses told San Diego police that the man was struck around 7 p.m. Sunday on University between Vermont Street and 10th Avenue.

Police said the victim had crossed mid-block and not at the crosswalk.

The victim's name has not been released. He was described by officials as a 35-year-old man who was walking his Chihuahua.

Investigators believe the black pickup truck struck the man and then kept traveling eastbound along University Avenue.

Police believe the truck is a four-wheel drive vehicle and may have front end damage. Witnesses said there was a passenger in the truck at the time of the collision.

The victim was taken to Scripps Mercy Hospital, but died shortly after.

The intersection is a busy area for pedestrians and drivers.

However, some residents told NBC 7 they didn't consider the area a particularly dangerous spot.

“They talk about being a defensive driver. You have to be a defensive pedestrian, I guess,” said resident Kitty Kinman.

“I walk here in the mornings back and forth to the gym. I don’t walk here in the evenings so I don’t know much about that, but I have never felt it was a big concern,” said resident Philip Milten.

The victim's dog was unharmed and still at the scene when police arrived Sunday. She was taken to the county's Department of Animals Services facility on Gaines Street.

Animal Control officials told NBC 7 that the 2-year-old Chihuahua/miniature pinscher mix, Minnie, had been adopted from them in 2012. However, Minnie was adopted to a different owner, not the accident victim.

"We're still trying to track down ownership, figure out how that chain of custody kind of went and who she belongs with," said Lt. Kalani Hudson with the Department of Animal Services. "That way, she can go ahead and go home."

The shelter will hold Minnie for two weeks. If no one comes forward and claims her, she’ll be put up for adoption.

Firefighters are investigating the cause of a brush fire in National City.

Dramatic video shows flames reaching up to 30 feet in the air.

Traffic was stopped at the intersection of Interstate 805 and State Route 54, around 3 a.m. Sunday.

Parts of the 805 were closed in order to knock the flames down.

Firefighters say the area was isolated so no structures were threatened.
 

A close family friend of a U.S. Marine killed in a San Diego highway crash said it’s tragic the young man was killed trying to help others.

Lance Corporal Richard “Ricky” Jones, 20, died Saturday when he and a fellow Marine got out to help the driver in a traffic accident along Interstate 8 in the Mission Valley area of San Diego.

Jones was a former volunteer firefighter in Niagara County, New York before being stationed in San Diego as an active duty Marine.

Fire Chief Bruce Mack remembers Jones as a “good kid” who volunteered with his department. He said he and the Marine’s family are shocked by the news of Jones’ death.

“It just seems like it's pretty tragic you know to be involved in the accident you know. I think Ricky, from what I understand, got out to either help somebody that was involved in the earlier stages of it,” Mack said. “To give your life like that, it’s a noble deed but it’s a pretty terrible thing for everybody who is left behind to deal with.”

California Highway Patrol officers are not sure if Jones died from injuries he sustained by jumping out of the path of an oncoming car or if he was struck by the vehicle.

His body was found along an underpass, just beneath the site of the I-8 crash.

CHP officers said a Honda Civic lost control around 5 a.m. and struck a barrier, landing in the middle of the freeway. Shortly thereafter, officials said three other cars slammed into the Honda.

Jones and a fellow Marine were in one of those vehicles – a Ford truck – on their way to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. They got out of their truck and walked over to the woman in the Honda to help.

The surviving Marine, who has not been identified by officials, said he dodged an oncoming car by jumping over the freeway barrier and landing about 20 feet below.

CHP officials said they are still trying to determine whether Jones was struck by a car or if he jumped and fell to his death while also trying to dodge the vehicle.

Jones joined the Niagara County volunteer fire department by following in his dad’s footsteps. He started with the youth program and moved up through the ranks, Mack said.

When he graduated high school Jones decided to enlist in the military service and he took off for the U.S. Marine Corps in Oct. 2012.

He was assigned to Headquarters and Service Battalion at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, according to Marine Corps officials. 

"We extend our condolences to the family and friends of Lance Corporal Jones," said Brig. Gen. James Bierman, commanding general of MCRD. "Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult period. We're proud that Lance Corporal Jones' final actions were focused on helping others in need - this shows the kind of young man he was."

Jones became a miltary policeman at the depot in July 2013. His personal awards include the National Defense Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. 

The brother of a former Massachusetts senator has pleaded guilty to impersonating a police officer in Connecticut and falsifying a military discharge certificate.

Bruce Brown, 47, of Wolcott, was arrested in August after commandeering a boat in Old Lyme, drawing a gun and handcuffing a minor in the victim’s home and lying on a pistol permit application about the conditions of his discharge from the U.S. Coast Guard, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

He has also gone by the names Bruce Browne, Spenser Brown, Spenser Browne, Agent Brice and Detective Brice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Brown pleaded guilty in federal court Monday.

Authorities began investigating after an Old Lyme resident called police Aug. 8, 2013 to report seeing a man with a gun in town wearing military-style clothing. Earlier that day, Brown had identified himself as a U.S. Coast Guard officer and commandeered a boat, then stopped two other boats and a jet ski to ask the operators for their licenses, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Police searched Brown's blue 2004 Ford Crown Victoria and found a police badge, bulletproof vest, multiple sets of handcuffs, three handguns with loaded magazines and ammunition, a knife and a police baton, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Brown was subsequently arrested and charged with impersonating an officer.

After being released on bond, he threw four other law enforcement badges into the Chestnut Hill Reservoir in Wolcott, according to prosecutors. He later told authorities and a state police dive team recovered the badges Sept. 27, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

In March, Brown went to the home of an acquaintance who thought he was a federal law enforcement officer. Brown allegedly told took the acquaintance’s underage sons up to their rooms, drew his gun and handcuffed one of the minors. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Brown then brought them into the garage, pointed his gun and confiscated a backpack containing what appeared to be marijuana.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Brown was discharged from the U.S. Coast Guard “under other than honorable conditions” in 2002, but altered his discharge paperwork when applying for a pistol permit last February.

He pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of impersonating a federal law enforcement officer and one count of falsifying a military discharge certificate. Brown could serve up to seven years in prison and will be sentenced May 19.

The Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General, Coast Guard Investigative Service, Connecticut State Police and local police from Wolcott, Bristol and Southington contributed to the investigation.

The mastermind behind a credit report scheme that defrauded more than 100 victims has been sentenced to nearly three years in federal prison. 

Eric Phillips, a former employee of Georggin Law, received his sentence in federal court Monday morning for his role at the law firm. Phillips was also ordered to pay back 120 former clients who filed complaints with the FBI.

READ: Consumers Warn About San Diego Company Georggin Law

In an exclusive interview Phillips told NBC 7, “I’m apologizing for the service that wasn’t delivered to the clients. And for whatever hurt may have occurred as a result of not getting the service.”

Phillips helped create the Georggin Law Firm in 2010 with Ernest Georggin. A State Bar Investigation found Georggin collected a salary, but Phillips managed the firm.

Last October, Phillips pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and admitted to misusing the Georggin Law Firm to defraud clients. According the State Bar of California, Georggin surrendered his law license during the same month.  

Local victims of Phillips’ elaborate scheme said they are glad the mastermind not only has to pay them back, but that he is also going to prison.

Two former clients Jenny Summers and Daniel Ramirez addressed the judge at Phillip’s sentencing. Summers paid Phillips a retainer fee of $4200; Ramirez paid $6600. Both are entitled to restitution.

“I thought they might be lenient and give him parole, so I’m ecstatic,” Summers said after the sentencing. “I think that a jail sentence will do him good.”

“I don’t consider myself naïve, but ‘buyer beware,’” said Ramirez. “You’ve just got to be aware of these people. He was so slick. He was so smooth. He loved to talk. He was good at what he did—talking.”

Georggin told NBC 7 Investigates he had to “take some responsibility” for the scheme. He agreed to pay $90,000 plus interest to 25 former clients of the law firm who filed complaints.

Phillips told clients he had been an attorney with the firm, despite the fact he was not an attorney and was not licensed to practice law.

According to the US Attorney’s office, Phillips admitted to using false claims such as a 100 percent success rate and a money back guarantee. He also admitted to personally pocketing $250,000 from the scheme.

Georggin Law Firm closed in June 2013.

After his sentencing Monday, Phillips told NBC 7 Investigates, “We will get through this. You know, 33 months is not the end of the world, and we’re going to do the best we can to get through it, get it behind us as quickly as possible, have me get back to work and honor my agreement for restitution.”

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Valerie Chu, it’s important for those seeking legal assistance to research the people they are hiring.

“It’s important to the extent people can to do research, to conduct some investigation online,” said Chu. “There’s also a State Bar website that you can look up to make sure the person you’re talking to that says they’re an attorney is an attorney. That information is publicly available.”

If you were a victim of Georggin Law, Chu said, you are entitled to get your money back from Phillips.
According to Chu, you should contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office or the FBI and give them your contact information as well as documentation regarding the extent of your loss.

Phillips is scheduled to be back in court on April 14, 2014 for a restitution hearing. At the hearing, the judge will determine exactly how much money Phillips is required to pay his victims.

The mayor of the town where allies of Gov. Chris Christie created traffic jams last fall has met with federal prosecutors.
 
Tim Donohue, the lawyer for Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, confirmed the meeting in a statement issued Monday.
 
Donohue said Sokolich voluntarily met with members of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark on Friday to discuss the lane closures at the George Washington Bridge last September. But Donohue said neither he nor Sokolich would provide further comment on the meeting due to the ongoing criminal investigation.
 
Emails and text messages subpoenaed by a New Jersey legislative committee have revealed that an aide to Christie emailed a high-level Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official and told him, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."

Renowned actor, writer and director Harold Ramis died early Monday after struggling with an autoimmune disease. He was 69.

Ramis is known for his extensive resume of comedy classics, including “Ghostbusters,” Illinois-based “Groundhog Day," “National Lampoon’s Animal House," “Stripes” and “Caddyshack,” among many others.

Ramis was born in Chicago and moved his family to the North Shore area in the '90s.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Ramis, who suffered from a rare disease involving swelling of blood vessels called autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis, underwent surgery for diverticulitis in 2010. He suffered complications and spent time at the Mayo Clinic and Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Ramis relapsed less than two years later, the Tribune reports, and never fully recovered.

The reaction to his death was immediate, from fans to actors.

"Sad to hear my friend Harold Ramis passed away," Billy Crystal tweeted. "A brilliant, funny, actor and director. A wonderful husband and dad. Big loss to us all."

"No no not Harold Ramis," Jon Favreau tweeted. "Worked for him years ago. He was the real deal. Growing up, his work changed my life. He will be missed."

Ramis got his start as head writer and actor for the TV series “Second City Television (SCTV)” and a writer for "Animal House." He pursued a film career that led to directing, writing and starring in dozens of movies that many consider classics.

“It is impossible to overstate the personal and professional influence that Harold Ramis has had on all of us at The Second City," said Andrew Alexander, CEO and executive producer of The Second City. "He was a natural leader, a trusted friend and so generous with his own talent that he made everyone he ever worked with look like a genius. We are devastated to lose him so young, but we were all enriched by the years we did get to partake of his particular brilliance.”

"Groundhog Day" is a modern classic. A film with repetitive scenes that actually gets better with repeated viewings. #HaroldRamis

— Richard Roeper (@richardroeper) February 24, 2014

Harold Ramis was a brilliant, shining example for every comedy writer hoping to achieve excellence the field. He will be sorely missed.

— Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) February 24, 2014

In 2012, Ramis fed rumors of a third "Ghostbusters" movie.

“Well, there’s been a lot of talk about a third Ghostbusters film, which has now become real. It’s… I can say with some certainty that there will be a third movie."   

The U.S. Border Patrol agent who shot and killed a Mexican national last week has returned to work, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department announced Monday.

Sheriff’s officials said Agent Daniel Basinger shot Jesus Flores-Cruz on Feb. 18 along Otay Mountain Truck Trail, east of State Route 125.

Basinger told investigators he fired because he feared for his life as Flores-Cruz threw rocks -- one the size of a basketball -- at him during a foot pursuit.

Flores-Cruz died of two gunshot wounds and was identified using fingerprints from a 1996 arrest record by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

Basinger was treated for injuries to his face from the rocks.

The sheriff’s department said Basinger has worked for Border Patrol for just over two and a half years and has returned to duty.

On Thurday, Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department condemned the shooting, saying officials were “profoundly concerned” about it.

The sheriff’s homicide detail is asking anyone with information about the shooting to call 858-974-2321.

San Jose is considering using vacant motels and hotels as long-term housing for the city's large homeless population.

The city has struggled to find a solution to helping get the more than 4,700 homeless people off the streets and into shelter. Officials are now looking at the possibility of working with non-profits to lease rooms and allow the homeless to stay in vacant motels and hotels.

"The idea is if someone can get housed, they can then move out of homelessness, out of temporary housing and into a permanent job," Councilwoman Rose Hererra said. "And that's really what we're after here."

• Transgender Rights Repeal Misses November Ballot

Hererra chairs a committee which began discussing the new homeless plan on Monday

"Again, it's a pilot," she said. "We don't have to keep going in this direction, but we want to try this because we think there's some potential benefits."

It would take about $40 per person, per day to fund the plan, which city leaders said is cheaper than running shelters. To house 60 people would cost about $1 million annually.

Supporters said the number of affordable housing options are shrinking as the homeless population grows and shelters are often full.

The plan would call for non-profits to offer up rooms to homeless people for up to five years, along with services to help them find jobs and permanent housing.

San Jose officials said about 100 homeless people have publicly-funded vouchers for subsidized housing, but cannot find places that will accept them.

But not everyone is on board with spending tax dollars on the plan.

"These motels are already located in a high-crime area -- prostitution, illegal drugs, dumping," said Aurelia Sanchez, who lives near some of the vacant motels being considered by the city. "

Dave Treslow is another resident who opposes the plan.

"I would urge you to kick this back," he said. "Tell them to do their homework so we can start to solve this problem."

The Mexican multi-millionaire accused of funneling thousands of dollars into San Diego political campaigns has been released from jail. 

Sources told NBC 7 that Jose Susumo Azano, 48, posted his $5 million bail and was released from jail at 11 a.m. Monday. 

He is now being held under house arrest with a court-mandated GPS monitoring device, and he has been forbidden to go to Mexico for any reason.

Susumo Azano pleaded not guilty on Feb. 20 to one count of illegal contributions by a foreign national. He was arrested the day before at his Coronado home, FBI officials confirm.

At his arraignment, the prosecutor asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Mitchell D. Dembin not to set bail. In addition to being a flight risk, the prosecutor argued that Susumo Azano is also a danger to other witnesses in the case.

The defense argued that Susumo Azano should be allowed to stay in his Coronado home. The defendant's pilot agreed to give the key to Susumo Azano's private jet to the court so he could not use the jet to flee to U.S.

After hearing both sides, Magistrate Judge Dembin set bail at $5 million. However, the prosecution could appeal the magistrate's decision to keep him under house arrest. 

Prosecutors claim Susumo Azano broke federal law by making contributions to U.S. elections using foreign funds, saying this could be "one of the largest (election) frauds in U.S. history."

A federal prosecutor previously said Susumo Azano had hoped that local politicians, including former Mayor Bob Filner, would help him in his quest to build up the San Diego bayfront, at the foot of Broadway.

Susumo Azano is the fourth person charged in the investigation into recent San Diego's mayoral and Congressional campaigns.

Lobbyist Marco Polo Cortes, former San Diego police detective Ernesto Encinas and D.C.-based campaign services executive Ravneet Singh also face charges in connection with the case.

NBC 7 has learned Cortes met with both Mayor-elect Kevin Faulconer and City Councilman David Alvarez who ran for mayor within the last three years.

Key Players in the Campaign Finance Scandal

Susumo Azano owns a surveillance software company in Mexico and maintains a villa in Coronado.
If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

A shooting at a Carlsbad apartment complex left one person dead and one hospitalized in what officers said appears to be an attempted murder-suicide.

The shots were fired in the 3500 block of Harding Street at the Tavarua Senior Apartments around 12:30 p.m. Monday.

When officers arrived, Carlsbad police said they found two gunshot victims in the apartment's courtyard.

Caretaker Betty Hairez, who was working at the apartments at the time, said she heard three gunshots.

"All of a sudden, I hear another bang and it's a shot, and then the lady falls to the ground, and I'm thinking, 'Oh my God.' So I'm looking at her, and all this blood starts coming out of her head on the ground, and then I hear another shot, and then I turned around, and the man fell into the flower bed," said Hairez.

Witnesses said the gunman fired at the woman at point blank range, aiming for her head while she bent over to tend a space in the community garden. Then, he turned the gun on himself.

An 80-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene, and a 63-year-old woman was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla via helicopter.

Both people lived at the apartment complex where the shooting took place, but they did not live together, the complex's manager confirmed. 

Carlsbad Police are continuing the investigation. Check back for more updates on this breaking new story. 

A year ago, Point Loma resident Kimberly Callahan awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of rushing water.

“I opened my back door and I got hit by a wave of water that knocked me almost on my butt,” Callahan said.

It was one of the city’s largest water main breaks documented last year in February 2013. A 16-inch cast-iron (concrete-lined) pipe, installed in 1943, burst in the night near the intersection of Nimitz Boulevard and Rosecrans Street.

Saving what they could, Callahan and her neighbors piled their soaked belongings into their vehicles and relocated to a local motel. Callahan was told the clean-up would take a few days, but it wasn’t until four months later that she was able to move home.

“It has turned my life upside down,” she said.

The Costs

According to city records, it took a total of 63 job hours and cost $26,459 in supplies and labor to repair the water main near Callahan’s apartment. It was the second most expensive water main break in 2012 and 2013, measured by supplies and labor.

Not included in the $26,459 figure is the cost of water lost, the permanent street repair or the damages paid out by the city. Last month, the city settled a claim with Callahan for damages in the amount of more than $30,000 for the property she lost.

Since 2010, the city has paid out at least $3.9 million in damages related to water main breaks, according to the city’s risk management department.

In 2013 alone, taxpayers also shelled out $33,459 for the cost of water that spilled into the street as a result of main breaks. The city estimates 6.6 million gallons gushed out of ruptured mains in 2013. By comparison, that’s enough water for a San Diegan to use an average daily amount of water every day for the next 205 years, according to the city’s estimated average daily use of 88 gallons per day.

San Diego’s oldest and most vulnerable pipes - the cast irons installed roughly between 1900 and 1950 – long ago passed their service life. They are breaking at a pace faster than the city can replace them, according to city officials - an average of 105 breaks a year.

Last year, there were 89 water main breaks in San Diego – one of the lowest figures during the past 10 years. Director of Public Utilities Halla Razak said that figure is average compared to other cities of the same size and age of San Diego.

“The thing to remember is this is a very large system,” Razak said. “3,100 miles of pipelines and a lot of these pipelines are really old and they’ve exceeded their service life.”

Replacement

The city is working to replace all of the cast iron pipes by 2017. There are 80 miles of the largest 16-inch cast iron pipes left. Last year, the department replaced 28 miles of cast-iron pipe - more than the minimum of 10 miles required by the state Department of Health Services to be replaced per year.  

However, public utility officials say they cannot replace the aging infrastructure fast enough to prevent breaks. So far, in 2014, there have already been 10 water main breaks, according to Stan Medina, the deputy director of the Public Utilities Department.

Razak said the oldest pipes are not always the first to be replaced.

“There are several things that we look at when we move forward with the replacing of a pipe,” Razak said. “The age of the water line, the age of the sewer line, (and) the condition of the street are all factors that go into deciding what areas we are going to tackle first,” she said.

The Water Department also considers what other infrastructure work is going on in a neighborhood before deciding which pipes to replace next.

“It does not make sense to have the Streets Department pave that street and then two or three years later, we come in there and we trench through that new street replacing a water line or a waste water line,” Razak said. “That obviously is not the best use of ratepayer’s money.”

Razak admitted that this “grouping” approach to infrastructure replacements can leave some communities and neighborhoods behind others, and without underground utilities, paved roads or new pipes.

“The coordination that goes on between the different city departments is very good, but it can be better in coordinating the under-grounding and so on,” she said.

Sometimes, emergency repairs lead to replacing lines out of order.

“So for instance, if we have a break in a small location and we quickly look … we have all our systems in this GIS system, which is the Geographical Information System. So we quickly pick up the map and look at the pipeline,” Razak said. “How old is it? What is the condition? When a break happens, we not only fix that little portion, but we have an emergency project to replace the whole thing.” 

Mapping It Out

NBC7 Investigates gathered data from the city water department and built an interactive map, which shows where breaks have happened and how much they cost to fix in 2012 and 2013.  The team also examined data on where the cast-iron pipes are located, and confirmed their findings with the city.

View Larger Map

In the city’s data, the areas of University Heights, Alvarado, Pacific Beach, Northwest Mesa and Redwood Village have the most cast-iron pipes that still need to be replaced. According to the city, the Alvarado and Northwest Mesa areas encompass the neighborhoods of Clairemont, Kearny Mesa, Linda Vista, Mid-City and North Park.

Specifically, Upas Street, 5^th Avenue, Clairemont Mesa and Moreno Boulevards have the most miles of cast-iron pipe left to replace.

City officials emphasized that there are other small spurts of cast-iron pipes throughout the whole city.

Razak said a number of factors besides the age and condition of the pipe can cause it to break. Factors such as the geography, the pressure zones, and hot soils can all contribute to a pipe rupture.

“You cannot 100 percent pinpoint where the next break is going to be,” Razak said.  

Still, Callahan, who lost many of her personal belongings, says she wished she would have known more about the pipes under her neighborhood when she signed her lease.

“Trust me, had I known that there was a risk of what I went through happening here, I would have never moved into this apartment,” she said. “And I would never move into another apartment in San Diego on a bottom floor if I had information that the water mains were 70-80 years old or even 10 years past their due date.”

The Next Wave

Even when the city replaces the last 80 miles of cast-iron pipe, it faces another major challenge in preventing water main breaks.

A type of pipe installed in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s called “asbestos cement” is starting to age past its service life as well. Breaks of that material type have started to surpass those of cast-iron pipes. Of the 10 water main breaks in 2014, eight of those broken pipes have been asbestos cement pipe, according to Stan Medina, the deputy director of the Public Utilities Department.

“The unfortunate story on the asbestos cement pipe is that we have over 2,000 miles of that pipe, so the replacement program for that is going to go on for many, many years,” Razak said. “The good thing is that we are already starting to look at that.”

By comparison, the city had only 200 miles of cast-iron pipe to replace in 2010, and it is still working to finish the job.

The city may not have started replacing its asbestos cement pipe soon enough to prevent future years of record-breaking numbers of water main ruptures; years such as 2010 when city crews had to respond to 130 emergency breaks.

Of the 89 water main breaks in 2013, more than half of those were asbestos cement pipe breaks, city data shows.

With a service life, of 75 years, most of the asbestos cement pipe will have aged past their useful life by 2025, according to NBC7 Investigates review of the pipe data.

“Yes, unfortunately, when you have such a large system and an old system and an aging system, that is an ongoing problem that you have to be planning for and keeping an eye on,” Razak said.

 wendy.fry@nbcuni.com; 619-578-0489

A cold case murder has been solved after more than 23 years, Coral Springs Police announced Monday.

Retested DNA evidence identified Oba Chandler as the suspect in the November 1990 slaying of 20-year-old Ivelisse Berrios Beguerisse, police said. Chandler, 65, was executed in 2011 for three Florida murders from 1989.

Just after midnight on Nov. 27, 1990, two men returning from a fishing trip discovered Beguerisse’s lifeless body lying on the side of the street in a then-undeveloped part of Coral Springs.

"Our victim had ligature markings around her ankles and wrists," said Det. Dan Cucchi with the Coral Springs Police Department.

"[She] did nothing to deserve this. [She] was picked at random," said Det. Brian Koenig.

The Sunrise woman never made it home to her husband after finishing her shift at a Swim Sport store in the Sawgrass Mills mall. Her car was found in the parking lot of the mall. Two tires had been slashed.

"It was always suspected that the subject had lured her into a vehicle as a Good Samaritan and then later killed her," Cucchi said.

She had also been sexually assaulted. At the time DNA swabs were collected for the victim's rape kit but the crime lab could not find evidence to connect a suspect to the crime.

But now the case has been solved, thanks to advances in technology in the intervening years.

"It was matched to Mr. Oba Chandler," Cucchi said.

Chandler was executed via lethal injection in November 2011. He was sent to death row for the grisly murders of three tourists, Joan Rogers and her two teenaged daughters Michelle and Christie. They were found floating in Tampa Bay in 1989. The women were nude from the waist down. There were concrete blocks tied around their necks.

"They also were bound with rope and tossed overboard, it was believed while they were still alive," Cucchi said.

Before being put to death, Chandler's last statement was "you are killing an innocent man."

Chandler was looked at as a suspect after he was arrested in the Rogers murders because of proximity.

"He had spent a couple months living in Sunrise, Florida just about a mile and a half from the Sawgrass Mills mall, " Koenig said.

It was Koenig and Cucchi who decided to have the DNA tested once again after being assigned the cold case last summer. The Broward Sheriff’s Office Crime Lab notified the detectives on Feb. 5 that they were able to obtain a positive suspect DNA profile from the evidence submitted. After sharing the news with Beguerisse's family, they shared it with those who worked over two decades to find her killer.

"It was near to their heart for a long time and some of the investigators that worked it from the beginning, they have since retired from here," Koenig said.

It's not a good time to be a can of soda in California.

Proposals on both the state and local level would change the way a sugary soft drink could be sold. 

In Sacramento, a state lawmaker is asking for soft drinks to carry warning labels, like you see on a pack of cigarettes.  The soft drink warning label would tell shoppers that drinking sugary drinks contributes to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay.

On the local level, two San Francisco supervisors want to add a $.02 tax for every ounce of sugar drinks.  The money would go to health and fitness programs.

But do people really think sodas are healthy? Marty Yelberton was shopping in Point Loma Monday and said, "Everybody knows that sugar leads to obesity.  So if it's just that little sticker then I don't think we need to put that on."

Grocery shopper Kevin Clark agrees.

"I think the public is knowledgeable enough to know," he said.

Christina Riehl with Children's Advocacy Institute is in favor of the label on soda but is concerned that people will ignore the warning. 

"When you see them everywhere you start to tune them out," said Riehl.

She points out that handing a child a sugar drink or soda is often similar to giving them a candy bar.  The warning label could make parents thinking twice about what they give their children.

The soft drink industry is already posting calorie counts on the front of many cans and bottles and argues that only 4 percent of the average person's calorie intake comes from sodas.

It's not just the lack of rain stressing your plants out: now, so are bugs.

County of San Diego scientists say the drought is weakening trees, gardens and farms, making them more susceptible to insects.

These dry and dusty conditions make for perfect breeding ground for the tiny -- yet mighty -- creatures.

"They can easily get out of control, spread viruses, spread diseases and suck the juice out of their plants," said County of San Diego Agriculture Scientist Tracy Ellis.

Bugs can somehow sense that a plant is stressed, and for them, that's an open invitation to feast. So the dry and dusty conditions have farmers and scientists worried.

"The dust brings in more bugs onto our vegetable crops, so there's going to be a lot more. So we're going to have problems with pests," said farmer Phil Noble.

And it’s not just mites; insects that thrive in drought conditions are also wreaking havoc on trees.

Scientists said they've seen calls for insect-infected trees double in the last year.

"We have big problems with bark beetles or other wood-boring beetles that come in and ultimately cause the death of the tree,” said Ellis. “Once the tree is invested with bark beetle there's really not much you can do but cut it down."

Ellis said the best thing you can do is choose which plant you really want to keep alive.

“And use water sparingly to keep those important plants alive,” said Ellis. “Things are going to be thrown off balance due to having the drought."

If you think your plants may be infested with pests, scientists can help diagnose the problem. They recommend dropping off a sample at the county's agriculture department.

The San Diego City Council voted Monday to close the La Jolla Children’s Pool while the seal colony there is in pupping season.

Pending California Coastal Commission approval, the seals-only edict means the beach will be off limits to people from Dec. 15 to May 15 every year as the seals give birth to and wean their pups.

A rope barrier is currently set up to discourage people from going onto the beach’s sand or into the water, but it carries no legal enforcement authority.

The council chamber was emotionally charged Monday as animal protection advocates packed in to support the city council's 6-3 vote.

One woman was escorted out for continually standing and interrupting opponents of the seasonal beach closure.

Those opponents say that shared use of the Children’s Pool beach has been manageable and the rope has been effective in keeping people from harassing the seals.

A majority of the La Jolla Community Planning Association trustees have voted against the closure, insisting it’s not necessary.

"We've been -- always voted for joint use, denial of the barrier. We see this more globally, as affecting other beaches and affecting the water. There's no boundary to the water that gets polluted from the overuse of the beach by the seals,” said Tony Crisafi with the planning association.

But seal advocates cite numerous examples of human activity scaring the seals.

Over the weekend, a snorkeler made quite a splash when he jumped in and sent the seals stampeding in to the water, some without their pups.

The person who recorded the act on video joined other animal advocates to express their concern that humans’ presence disturbs the seals.

"I look down at the mama seal and the baby seal, and the baby's struggling just to get up on the sand. It's wonderful,” said Jan Kreutzberg, who was visiting San Diego from Illinois. “There are plenty of other beaches for people to enjoy. This doesn't seem to be the right kind of beach for a lot of beach activity to me."

People on both sides of the issue have pushed more litigation, legislation and appeals to other government agencies to get their side represented. The problem has been argued since the 1990s, when the seals first appeared.