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Crackdown on Street Racing

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The California Highway Patrol says it’s receiving more reports of illegal street racing throughout San Diego County, particularly in the North County.

Thursday evening, the CHP and the Escondido Police Department teamed up to conduct a street racing enforcement operation.

CHP Officer Jim Bettencourt told NBC 7 that in the last month, there have been several reports of cars racing on the Interstate 15 corridor from Escondido to Fallbrook. One group of racers is known to gather in the parking lot of Target along West Valley Parkway in Escondido.

NBC 7 went to that location and saw at least 100 people gather near the store around 9 p.m. At one point, two cars sped around the parking lot as families left Starbucks and Yogurtland.

Alexis Blackwood has worked in the area for three years and says the group of racers make her feel uncomfortable.

“When people leave the parking area, they'll speed down here over by this light,” Blackwood said.

The CHP says, although that’s dangerous, they’re worried about what those drivers will do when they leave the parking lot.

“In reality when they crash and they do something horrific like that, it ends in death,” said Officer Bettencourt.

Officer Bettencourt believes movies like "The Fast and the Furious" and "Need for Speed" are contributing to this problem of illegal street racing. He says they glorify the dangerous activity.

“In reality, when they crash and they do something horrific like that, it ends in death,” he said.



Photo Credit: NBC 6 South Florida

Marine Recruits Hit with Meningitis

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Eight Marine recruits training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot have been diagnosed with meningitis, according to officials.

They are currently in isolation and undergoing tests at Naval Medical Center San Diego.

Hospital officials have not yet confirmed if this is bacterial or viral meningitis.

An official with the Naval Medical Center tells NBC 7 she was unsure if the individuals had received their vaccinations yet. Getting those vaccines is a part of the recruiting process at MCRD.

The recruits' names and hometowns have not been released.

It is unclear if other Marine recruits could be affected by the outbreak.

Last month, two people in San Diego County died from meningitis. Patrick Henry High School freshman Jewelean Pimentel died after contracting meningococcal disease, a rare strain often deadly in adolescents. Doctors believe Santee resident Jackie Lerma Billings, 52, died of a milder, more common strain of meningitis.

Check back for updates on this developing story.
 



Photo Credit: AP

El Nino's Arrival Called "Iffy"

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An "El Nino Watch" has officially begun for drought-plagued California, offering a measure of hope for heavier rainfall next winter, but no guarantees, warned one world-renowned El Nino authority.

"It is exceptionally iffy," cautioned Bill Patzert, a climatologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) that straddles the border between Pasadena and La Canada Flintridge. Patzert has been studying the El Nino phenomenon for more than three decades.

The El Nino Watch was declared Thursday by the federal Climate Prediction Center. It put the odds at fifty-fifty that El Nino conditions would develop during the year and into next winter, usually California's wet season.

El Nino winters have often been marked by series of warm, wet storms, pushing Southern California rainfall totals far above the average in Los Angeles of 14 inches. The last major El Nino winter, 1997-98, drenched LA with 31 inches.

Radar satellites can see indications of a developing El Nino coming in the Pacific Ocean tropics off Central America and upper South America.

Water warming above normal temperatures is an El Nino hallmark. The name, a reference
in Spanish to the Christ Child, stems from the weather phenomenon's history of becoming apparent to the Latin American coast around Christmas.

At this point, warming in the eastern Pacific (near the west coast of the Americas) has yet to begin, and recent measurements reflect "neutral," according to the Diagnostic Discussion posted Thursday by the Prediction Center.

"There is considerable uncertainty as to whether El Niño will develop during the summer or fall. If westerly winds continue to emerge in the western equatorial Pacific, the development of El Niño would become more likely."

Getting clarity may take several more months, Patzert believes.

"It's way too early to call this El Nino."

Even if it does develop, Patzert noted that not all Ninos are created equal.

"Often a smaller or medium El Nino won't mean anything," Patzert said.

El Nino and its opposite La Nina tend to have one-year periods, that play out against a longer-term phenomenon known as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, with -- as its name implies -- a period on the order of decades.

The "PDO" was in a wet phase during the last two decades of the 20th century. The El Nino of 1982-83 brought Los Angeles nearly 40 inches of rain, more that season than the historically far wetter Pacific Northwest received.

Around the turn of the millenium, the PDO switched phases, said Patzert, noting that 11 of the last 16 years have been drier than average in Los Angeles, and that the Ninos in this period have been less severe, with seasonal rainfall totals in some cases below average.

During the last El Nino in 2010-11, only a rare "atmospheric river" in December, 2010
pushed that season's rainfall above normal.

Patzert would not be surprised if the Oscillation's dry phase continues another decade. There is evidence that before California's recorded history began in the 18th century, some droughts endured for centuries.

"There's nothing more I'd like to see than an El Nino charging over the horizon to bust this drought," Patzert reflected wistfully, wearing a short-sleeved Hawaiian shirt on another winter day of Hazy sunshine.

But he thinks those who are counting on an El Nino to end the drought should be ready for a reality check.

"A year from now we might still be talking the D word--Drought."

VIDEO: Man's Mom Found in Trunk

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Troopers came to the rescue of a mother who they say was kidnapped by her own son and stuffed into the trunk of his car because she didn't want to move with him to Miami.

A dashcam video released by authorities shows a South Carolina State trooper approach the car and open the trunk, revealing the mother of 20-year-old suspect Regelio Lopez inside, police said.

"Ma'am, you okay?" the trooper asks the woman.

"What's going on that made you want to do this, with her in the trunk?" the officer asks the man, identified as Regelio Lopez.


"She didn't want to come with me. She was in the car but she didn't want to come," the man on the video replies.

A camera inside a trooper's cruiser captured the incident last month at a rest stop along I-95 in rural Santee, South Carolina. Troopers surrounded the Cadillac, guns drawn as they approached.

Lopez is from Richmond, Va., and authorities had received a tip that he was on the road. The traffic stop happened about 360 miles from Richmond, with Lopez's mom stuffed in the trunk for the whole ride, authorities said.


The video shows officers walking the woman to an ambulance as she grabs her back.

Lopez faces a kidnapping charge in Richmond.

Ex-Madam Pleads Guilty Over Pills

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Kristin Davis, the former madam and candidate for governor and New York City comptroller, pleaded guilty in court Friday to illegally distributing prescription pills.

Davis was arrested in August for selling hundreds of powerful painkillers and other prescription pills to a drug dealer wearing a wire, federal authorities said.

According to the United States Attorney's Office, Davis sold drugs on several occasions to an FBI cooperating witness between January and March.

Davis, 38, pled guilty to one count of distributing and possessing with intent to distribute controlled substances, specifically alprazolam, zolpidem and carisoprodol. She faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced in July.

The once long-shot Libertarian candidate is perhaps best known for claiming to have gotten call girls for former Gov. Eliot Spitzer before a prostitution scandal forced him from office. But the claims have never been proven.

Davis' bids for office have openly capitalized on her notoriety, her allegations about Spitzer and her made-for-reality-TV persona. But she has said she plunged into politics to promote personal freedoms — in her view, that includes legalizing and taxing marijuana and decriminalizing prostitution — and to provide competition for what she sees as career politicians.

She drew a credible 20,429 votes for her Anti-Prohibition Party in the 2010 governor's race; a party needs at least 50,000 votes in the governor's race to be guaranteed a spot on ballots.

Before she was arrested, Davis was running for New York City comptroller against Spitzer and former Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, who went on to win the election.

 



Photo Credit: AP

LAPD Officer Killed in Crash

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A Los Angeles Police Department officer was killed Friday morning in a crash involving a dump truck and a patrol vehicle in Beverly Hills.

Fire-rescue personnel responded to the crash at Loma Vista Drive near Doheny Road, near the Greystone Mansion area. A male officer assigned to the LAPD Hollywood Division died in the crash, according to police.

A female officer and the truck driver were hospitalized in critical condition. Officers gathered at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, just southeast of the crash site, to wait for updates.

Aerial video showed the dump truck on its side near the intersection. Details regarding the cause of the crash were not immediately available.

Nearby roads are closed for the investigation. A closure on Loma Vista Drive will likely be in effect throughout the morning for the investigation, Beverly Hills police said.

The last member of the Los Angeles Police officer to die in the line of duty was Officer Spree DeSha, killed in a collision with a Metrolink train and Union Pacific freight teain in September 2008. Twenty-four other passengers were killed in the collision.

Seven months earlier, LAPD Officer Randal Simmons was shot and killed in SWAT standoff at a Winnetka home.

 

Chief: Able to Hit Ground Running

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San Diego’s first female police chief Shelley Zimmerman spoke with NBC 7 Friday about her priorities as she takes office.

Zimmerman, who was approved by the San Diego City Council Tuesday, is a 31-year veteran with the department who served as Assistant Chief under former chief William Lansdowne.

On Friday, she addressed those community activists and residents – specifically the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) - who have been critical of the speed in which she was chosen as the new chief.

“It’s all about working together,” Zimmerman said. “It’s critically important that we meet with all of our communities.”

The new chief will be meeting with the NAACP and ACLU Monday to discuss their concerns.

Zimmerman added that the department averages approximately 140 community meetings each month.

Read: Who Is New SDPD Chief Shelley Zimmerman?

Days after Mayor Kevin Faulconer announced Zimmerman was his choice to replace Lansdowne as top cop, NBC 7 news and other media outlets learned the new chief would be retiring within four years under requirements of the department's Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP).

Zimmerman told NBC 7 Friday that the mayor knew about her enrollment in DROP when he selected her.

“About half of our police department is eligible for retirement in the next four years. That’s why it’s critically important that I’m able to hit the ground running,” she said.

“I have a very keen sense of what needs to be done from all the different departments,” Zimmerman said. “In less than 48 hours, I’ve already hit the ground running.”

As she takes on the role of chief, Zimmerman will be working through recent scandals involving SDPD officers accused of sexual misconduct on the job.

This includes the case of former Officer Christopher Hays, 30, accused of inappropriate interaction with women while on duty. Last month, Hays pleaded not guilty to charges of false imprisonment and sexual battery.

There’s also the case of SDPD Officer Donald Moncrief, 39, who is under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct with female detainees that may have included exposing himself to a woman while on duty. No charges have been filed against Moncrief.

Zimmerman has said she supports the proposed plan to have an outside audit of the SDPD conducted in order to review department practices and training policies in the wake of the misconduct scandals plaguing the SDPD.

Use of Deadly Force Policy Revised

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The U.S. Border Patrol issued new guidelines Friday that prohibits agents from shooting at moving cars or people throwing rocks unless there is a direct threat.

The announcement comes a little more than two weeks after an agent shot and killed a rock-throwing suspect in the mountains south of San Diego.

The agency now directs its officers not to shoot at moving cars or people throwing rocks unless there's a direct threat to an officer or other people present, NBC News reported.

Jesus Flores-Cruz, 42, was shot twice on Feb. 18 along Otay Mountain Truck Trail just miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent said he fired the shots because Flores-Cruz was throwing rocks and boulders at him during a foot pursuit.

San Diego County sheriff's deputies investigating the shooting said the agent feared for his life when he fired at least two shots from his duty weapon.

Read: Mexico Condemns Shooting by U.S. Border Agent

NBC News reported that the revised policies followed an independent audit.

In the audit, there were examples of agents unnecessarily stepping in front of fleeing cars to justify firing at passengers and shooting back at rock throwers.

The agency has faced sharp criticism for policies allowing agents to respond to rock throwers with  deadly force.

The National Border Patrol Council issued a statement after the incident saying, in part, "rock attacks more than justify the use of force against those who choose to attack Border Patrol agents."

The union claims that limiting the ability for agents to shoot those suspects throwing rocks will only result in more criminals attacking agents.

Report: DHS Needs to Do Better Job of Tracking Excessive Force

Last year, the U.S. Border Patrol reported a 70-percent spike in assaults on its officers from 2011 to 2012.

When NBC 7 spoke with a field agent regarding the statistics, he said rocks were the most common weapons used when suspects assaulted agents.

Among those applauding Friday's annoucement was the Mexican Ambassador to the U.S., Eduardo Medina Mora. Mora called the publication of the guidlines " a step towards transparency and a signal of openness that we welcome."


Safeway Reaches Prelim. Sale Deal

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Safeway has agreed to be acquired by an investment group led by Cerberus Capital Management, the owner several supermarket chains.

The acquisition is worth about $7.64 billion in cash, and pending other transactions could top more than $9 billion.

The deal, announced late Thursday, will bring together Safeway and Albertsons, one of the five chains that Cerberus bought from Supervalu Inc. last year.

It comes amid ongoing consolidation in the supermarket industry, which is facing growing competition from big-box retailers, specialty chains, drug stores and even dollar stores. Kroger Co., a key competitor, recently snapped up regional chain Harris Teeter.

Safeway said in February that it was looking into putting itself up for sale.

The Pleasanton, Calif.-based company has been trying to adapt for some time to increased competition and recently shed some of its smaller, less profitable units, such as its Canadian operations and Dominick's stores in Chicago.

The company has more than 1,300 U.S. locations under banners including Safeway, Vons, Pavilion's, Randall's, Tom Thumb and Carrs.

AB Acquisition LLC, which operates Albertsons, along with Acme, Jewel-Osco, Lucky, Shaw's and other stores, is owned by Cerberus and other investors. It operates more than 1,000 stores. Albertsons is based in Boise, Idaho.

Combined, the companies will have more than 2,400 stores, 27 distribution facilities and 20 manufacturing plants.

Safeway and Albertsons say the deal will allow them to better respond to customer needs and lower costs. They also expect to refurbish some stores and expand its product offerings once it is complete.

The deal is expected to close in final three months of this year. It still needs the approval of Safeway shareholders and federal regulators.

Safeway shareholders will receive $32.50 per share in cash. Pending other actions, the company says the deal is worth roughly $40 per share to stockholders.

Shares of Safeway Inc. closed at $39.47 Thursday. Its shares closed at $34.10 on February 18, the day before Safeway announced it was in talks regarding a potential sale.

The stock fell $1.33, or more than 3 percent, to $38.14 in extended trading after the deal was announced Thursday.

Bob Miller, the current CEO of Albertsons, will become executive chairman of the combined business. Robert Edwards, Safeway's president and CEO, will become president and CEO of the combined company.

The companies said it is too early to determine where it will be based and exactly what its operations will look like following the deal. It does not anticipate any store closings.

Safeway can still actively review other proposals in the coming weeks.



Photo Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Gun Falls, Kills Thrift Shop Worker

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Police say a woman's co-worker accidentally shot her Friday morning at a thrift store in Chicago's South Side Washington Heights neighborhood.

Police initially said 54-year-old Maria Carmen Dominguez was fatally shot in the chest when she and the male co-worker were sorting through clothing in a back room, and when he shook a sock from the sorting pile, a gun fell onto the floor and discharged.

But police now say the .22 caliber handgun fell into the man's hand and then fired. However, they're still considering it accidental.

It happened around 10 a.m. inside Unique Thrift Store in the 9300 block of South Ashland Avenue.

"It's tragic," Dominguez's husband, Victor Campos, said. "We don't know what we are going to do."

"So sad, so sad," said Barbara Paradise, a regular customer at the store. "It breaks my heart. That's why I came back, because I knew her."
 
Campos said Dominguez worked for the company for 25 years.

"I can't believe it," Campos said. "We have a 17-year-old daughter. She's in high school, and she doesn't know what is going on."

Dominguez leaves behind two children, a son in his 30s and a 17-year-old daughter.

The Department of Labor said they are investigating this incident as an accident.
 

Arrested Caregivers Given Jobs

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The safety of children, disabled and elderly people under state-supervised care is being called into question by lawmakers and child welfare advocates.

Whistleblowers in the California Department of Social Services (DSS) said caregivers are working in foster homes, daycare and assisted living facilities without complete criminal background checks.

The revelation is a result of legal issues going back three years.

As first reported by NBC affiliate KCRA in Sacramento, applicants for caregiving jobs are not automatically disqualified if they have arrest records. They’re only disqualified if convictions have been obtained in those cases.

However, the state is routinely sending criminal clearance letters to employers before background investigations have been completed.

"Their defense is ‘We want to be sure we don't violate the civil liberties of people who have been wrongly accused.’ And I don't disagree with that. But be sure they were wrongfully arrested before you give them the kid," said Robert Fellmeth, J.D. with the University of San Diego.

A spokesman for the DSS said it is their policy to investigate rather than simply exclude someone who was charged with a crime but not convicted.

But USD’s Children’s Advocacy Institute is threatening a lawsuit unless that policy is reversed, and San Diego State Assemblyman Brian Maienschein, vice chair of a legislative oversight committee, is demanding that the practice stop.

Maienschein said hiring people and investigating them later is absurd.

“These background checks may take six months, eight months, a year. In that time, an individual can do a lot of damage to a very vulnerable population,” said Maienschein.

According to KCRA, other assemblymembers’ staff said they had as the Human Services committee to start investigating the issue.

Scientists Kick Off Kelp Watch

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California graduate students will join scientists in a study to test kelp for contamination from radioactive ocean water from the damaged Fukushima power plant.

The first-of-its-kind study, conducted with researchers from Cal Berkeley and Cal State Long Beach, is being called "Kelp Watch 2014."

Grad students from Cal State Long Beach held the first of three sample collections scheduled for this year on Thursday, which coincidences almost to the day of the three-year anniversary of the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami off the Japanese coast that sent radioactive material into the ocean.

Students collected several pounds of kelp, which will be dried and ground, and eventually sent to the Bay Area for Berkeley experts to test.

CSULB Professor Dr. Steven Manley said kelp's highly absorptive nature is ideal for his research.

"It's the ability to absorb nutrients that's exploited because they also absorb the dissolved radio isotopes that will be coming this way," Manley said.

Manley said he does not not believe the contamination levels expected in the kelp will be high enough to be harmful to humans, but he couldn't say the same for the ecosystem the kelp supports.

"The levels we project we're going to see in kelp are going to be quite low," he said. "But the effects on simpler forms of wildlife we don't know. Whatever is in the kelp will get into the bodies of those animals also."

About a mile and a half off the coast was where one of Manley's graduate students jumped off the boat to start collecting the kelp.

"It can serve as a warning that these materials that get released thousands of miles away can find a way across the oceans," Manley said of the kelp.

Two more sample collections trips are scheduled for July and October this year. Results from Thursday's samples are expected to be ready in May.

LSD-Tainted Steak Sickens Family

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Initial test results have revealed why a Tampa family mysteriously fell ill earlier this week: they ate steak contaminated with LSD.

The family bought the meat from a local Walmart, which has been very cooperative with investigators and has turned over all of the bottom round steak that was on their shelves at the time, Tampa Police said Friday in a news release.

It was not immediately clear how the steak that Ronnie Morales, 24, his girlfriend Jessica Rosado, 31, and her 7-year-old and 6-year-old daughters ate Monday night became contaminated with LSD. Test results provided Friday showed the presence of the hallucinogenic drug, police said.

Morales, 24, felt sick soon after eating dinner at 2744 Bel Aire Circle and called 911. But he felt so ill that Rosado, who was 9 months pregnant, drove him to St. Joseph's Hospital. That's when she felt sick and was rushed across the street to St. Joseph's Women's Hospital and was induced into labor, police said.

Shortly thereafter, her daughters Elyana, 7, and Rayna, 6, began hallucinating and felt ill as well. Both girls and Morales were given tracheal intubations and were hospitalized, according to police.

They were released from the hospital in good condition two days later, on Wednesday.

Rosado, who gave birth to a boy, was released with her healthy son on Thursday, police said.

Authorities are still waiting for toxicology test results that were taken from the family members. Those are expected in the next three weeks, police said.

The meat was purchased at the Walmart at 1501 N. Dale Mabry Highway, and the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office is testing all of the steak that the store turned over, police added.

"Like everyone else in the community, we are deeply disturbed about this situation and are taking it very seriously," Walmart spokesperson Dianna Gee said in a statement. "We want answers and we're committed to working with officials to get to the bottom of this."

She said it was unclear where the food was tampered with, or how.

"We know our customers expect safe, quality food and we require our suppliers to meet the highest of food safety standards," Gee said.

Tampa Police detectives, the federal and Florida departments of agriculture and the Hillsborough County Health Department are investigating the LSD case. It appears to be an isolated incident, police said.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

CA Bill Would Ban Killer Whale Show

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A California lawmaker announced a bill Friday that, if approved, would change orca protection laws and end killer whale performances at SeaWorld San Diego.

Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D) proposed the legislation at an event in Santa Monica.

The Orca Welfare and Safety Act (AB-2140) would allow orcas to stay at SeaWorld, but only for research and rehabilitation; the whale would no longer be allowed to perform.

Human interaction with the animals would be limited for trainers’ safety.

Also included in the bill are measures to prevent captive breeding and prohibit orcas from being imported and exported in California.

“There's simply no justification for the continued captive display of orcas for entertainment purposes,” said Bloom. “These beautiful creatures are much too large and far too intelligent to be confined in small, concrete pools for their entire lives.”

The proposed legislation stops short of demanding sea parks release orcas back into the wild because experts say they wouldn't survive after living in captivity.

SeaWorld San Diego fired back at the proposal, stating in part, “This legislation appears to reflect the same sort of out-of-the-mainstream thinking. SeaWorld, one of the world’s most respected zoological institutions, already operates under multiple federal, state and local animal welfare laws.” (Read the full statement below)

Former SeaWorld orca trainers John Hargrove, Carol Ray and “Blackfish” documentary director Gabriela Cowperthwaite joined Bloom at his announcement.

Hargrove said he’d been told by his superiors not to speak out about his feelings on whale captivity because he was going to hurt the whales.

“It definitely plays with your emotions because you love those whales so much -- you don't want to hurt them,” said Hargrove.

However, another former SeaWorld whale trainer, Kyle Kittleson, does not share Hargrove’s view.

He told NBC 7 that he believes 85 percent of the facts in the “Blackfish” are untrue and that proposing legislation based on an inaccurate film is a bad idea.

“I don’t think it can pass because it sets a dangerous precedent on how we care for our animals in our country. And if we are unable to care for killer whales, then who’s to say that won’t extend to other species of animals.”

Opinion among San Diego’s state representatives is split.

Assemblyman Brian Jones (R) said he is strongly against the proposed legislation, saying public policy shouldn’t be driven by “special interests with an ax to grind about any human/animal interaction that they don’t approve of.”

Joining Jones is Assemblyman Rocky Chavez (R), who says he cannot support legislation that will cost the San Diego area jobs and tourism. However, he said businesses that involve animals should continue to look for new ways to improve their quality of life.

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D) said she would support the Orca Welfare and Safety Act, but her thoughts focused more on workplace issues.

Finally, Majority Leader Toni Atkins (D) stated she will carefully consider all the issues and opinions surrounding the bill.

The “Blackfish” documentary examines the background of killer whale Tilikum, the whale that grabbed and drowned SeaWorld Orlando trainer Dawn Brancheau after a show in February 2010.

SeaWorld has been met with a serious public relations problem following the broadcast of the documentary and the increase in discussion about the questions the movie raises on social media.

Several musicians have cancelled performances at the theme parks in response to “Blackfish.”

Two months ago, SeaWorld decided to address the controversy head-on by issuing a statement saying “it’s time to set the record straight.”

The news of a proposed legislation on the table prompted SeaWorld San Diego to issue a statement, panning the bill as a publicity stunt.

Read the whole statement below:

“The premise behind this proposed legislation is severely flawed on multiple levels, and its validity is highly questionable under the United States and California Constitutions. We trust that our leaders who are responsible for voting on this proposal will recognize the clear bias of those behind the bill.

The individuals that Assemblyman Bloom chose to associate with for today’s press conference are well-known extreme animal rights activists, many of whom regularly campaign against SeaWorld and other accredited marine mammal parks and institutions. Included in the group also are some of the same activists that partnered with PETA in bringing the meritless claim that animals in human care should be considered slaves under the 13th amendment of the US Constitution – a clear publicity stunt. This legislation reflects the same sort of out-of-the-mainstream thinking.

SeaWorld, one of the world’s most respected zoological institutions, already operates under multiple federal, state and local animal welfare laws. We are deeply committed to the health and well-being of all of our animals and killer whales are no exception.

SeaWorld is extremely proud of our company’s mission and we have every intention of continuing to provide the enriching educational and entertainment experience that has done so much in the last five decades to advance the appreciation for marine mammals around the world. Our passionate employees are the true animal advocates – the pioneering scientists, researchers, veterinarians, trainers, educators and animal experts dedicated to caring for the animals at SeaWorld and also saving thousands in the wild that are injured, ill or orphaned.

We are one of the most well-established and respected members of the business community and for 50 years have worked closely with the state of California to build our local economy, attract millions of visitors each year, create thousands of jobs, and care for local wildlife who need our help.”

 



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Tony Young No Longer With Red Cross

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The American Red Cross San Diego/Imperial Counties confirmed Friday that its CEO Tony Young is no longer working with the organization.

Young, a former San Diego City Council President, has served as the chapter’s head for about 14 months.

The Red Cross has not released a reason for his leaving.

“Like many organizations the Red Cross considers personnel mattes private and we do not comment on the reasons why someone has left the organization,” the Red Cross said in a statement.

Malinda McDonald, the chapter’s COO, will serve as the interim CEO.

Young resigned from his position on the San Diego City Council in Dec. 2012 with more than a year left in his term.

He was voted into the District 4 city council seat in 2005, and he served as the council’s president since Dec. 2010.


Clinton Speaks at Int'l Women's Day

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Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared Friday that achieving equality for women and girls is "the great unfinished business of the 21st century."

The potential 2016 presidential candidate galvanized the U.N. commemoration of International Women's Day, repeating her resounding declaration as first lady at the 1995 U.N. women's conference in Beijing that "human rights are women's rights — and women's rights are human rights."

Clinton said that important progress has been made, citing the increasing number of girls in school and women in elected office, and the repeal of many discriminatory laws.

"Yet for all we have achieved together, this remains the great unfinished business of the 21st century," she said.

In the nearly two decades since Beijing, Clinton said, "no country in the world has achieved full participation, and women and girls still comprise the majority of the world's unhealthy, unfed and unpaid."

She called for greater opportunities for women and girls and urged the U.N. to include gender equality at the forefront of its new goals to promote development.

"When women succeed the world succeeds," Clinton said. "When women and girls thrive, entire societies thrive. Just as women's rights are human rights, women's progress is human progress."

Clinton said the goals must ensure that women everywhere have the right to find a job, to own and inherit property, to have a valid and legal identity, to have gender parity in primary and secondary education, and help end violence against women and child brides.

She stressed that there can be no progress "without safeguarding women's reproductive health and rights," saying the platform agreed to by 179 countries at the 1994 U.N. population conference in Cairo which ensures these rights "must be the starting point for work today."

"If we get it right, we can put the world on the path to less poverty and more prosperity, less inequality and more opportunity," Clinton said.

Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka, head of UN Women, drew loud applause from representatives of the 193 U.N. member states and women's rights supporters when she echoed Clinton, declaring: "The 21st century offers an opportunity for a big leap forward — not baby steps. We've done baby steps."

She said she was also repeating Clinton's declaration from Beijing on women's rights "because equality between men and women remains an elusive dream."

"The face of poverty is that of a woman," she said. "The majority of the world's poor and illiterate are women and girls."

Mlambo Ngcuka announced a new "He For She" campaign and called on the world's fathers, sons, husbands and brothers to stand up and support equality for women in all areas of life.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also made "a special appeal to the men and boys of the world" to join the conversation about women's rights including reproductive rights, women's empowerment, and ending violence against women.

"Where men and women have equal rights, societies prosper," Ban said. "Equality for women is progress for all."



Photo Credit: AP

Experiment Explosion 2 Teens, Man

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Two teenagers and a man suffered burn injuries after a science experiment caused a small explosion during a high school field trip to the desert east of San Diego on Friday morning.

Authorities report that just before 9 a.m. they were dispatched to a campfire ring at the Borrego Springs Palm Canyon Campground on Palm Canyon Drive after getting a report that someone sustained burns to their legs.

Arriving Borrego Springs Fire Protection District officials found one adult and two 14-year-old boys with burn injuries on various parts of their body.

The man was said to have burns to his legs, feet, arms, and hands. One of the boys had burns on his arms and legs and the other boy was burned on his legs and one arm.

The victims were part of larger group from High Tech High School in Point Loma.

Officials report the group was conducting a science experiment at the time of the incident. 

Cal Fire Battalion Chief Nick Schuler said the injuries appeared to be caused by flammable fumes that wafted into the campfire ring. Schuler added that there was some propane or alcohol-based fuel nearby. 

All three victims where airlifted to area hospitals for their injuries.

The adult, described by officials as a 39-year-old man, suffered second-degree burns over 30-percent of his body.

The two teenagers suffered burns to their legs, however information regarding the severity of their burns was not immediately available.



Photo Credit: Patrick Zondler

Elderly Woman Attacked by Pit Bulls

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An elderly woman was hospitalized following a pit bull attack Friday in the San Carlos area. 

San Diego Police said it started as a fight between the victim's dog -- a Malamute -- and two pit bulls in the 8900 block of Ferguson Way just after 6 p.m. 

Neighbor Bob Hansell told NBC 7 the pit bulls crashed through 70-year-old Monica Duitsman's fence, trying to get to her dog, Strider. 

Duitsman's hand was reportedly bitten -- her bones crushed -- trying to pull the dogs apart. She was rushed to the hospital for treatment.

Strider suffered an injury to his left ear, but he returned home around 10 p.m. after being treated.

"This is kind of something we voiced a concern when they moved in; unfortunately it came up tonight," said Hansell.

Hansell said he reinforced his fence when the pit bulls moved in two months ago and had helped Duitsman do the same. However, the reinforcements did not hold. 

Animal control, which took the dogs, will quarantine them for 10 days to check for rabies. 

The pit bull's owners could face criminal charges in the case, or their dogs could be put down. The owners declined to comment on this story. 



Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Allegations of Animal, Elder Abuse in La Jolla

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Officials are investigating allegations of animal neglect and elder abuse going on behind the front gates of a million-dollar home in an exclusive San Diego community.

There is extreme clutter in the front yard of the home along Avenida de las Pescas in La Jolla.

Neighbors say conditions inside the home are unlivable.

Family members of the 90-year-old homeowner called San Diego police officers and animal control officers last week after their relative was found propped up in his wheelchair on the driveway.

Miles Criscuolo said his grandfather is malnourished and dehydrated and under 24-hour care at a nearby hospital after his sister called the authorities.

“She saw him propped in the driveway here in a wheelchair and he looked to be in really sad shape. So she came down and asked him if he was alright and he said ‘No.’ She said ‘Do you need help?’ and he said ‘Yes.’ She asked ‘Do you want to get out of here?’ and he said “Yes,’” Criscuolo said.

The homeowner was removed from the home last Thursday by ambulance. Criscuolo said his grandfather was treated in ICU for six days.

On Saturday, animal control officers recovered 17 dogs and cats total and kept nine in their possession.

The homeowner’s caregiver, described as a 55-year-old woman who has been living in the home for years, kept eight of the animals.

Officials wouldn't say what condition the animals were in, only that the department is looking into whether animal neglect or abuse charges need to be filed.

San Diego Police have confirmed that they have opened an elder abuse case, and their specialized unit is investigating.

Criscuolo said there was an animal carcass in the hallway, animal feces, dirty walls and soiled furniture pack the house.

“It’s not pretty inside,” he said. His family gained power of attorney last week so they could access the home. They've also issued the caregiver a 30-day eviction notice, according to Criscuolo.

He claims the caregiver is a hoarder and fails to take care of his elderly grandfather as well as the animals.

“It was really hard for us to find out what was going on inside the home because the woman who was occupying the house wouldn’t let any of the family members inside the home,” Crisculo said.

The homeowner was a World War II veteran and a nuclear physicist. His grandson told NBC 7 he hopes police can do something about the situation.

Check back for updates on the developing story.
 

Woman Arrested in Murder Plot

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The owner of a West Hollywood beauty salon who claims to have worked on Hollywood celebrities has been charged with plotting to kill a competitor.

Prosecutors say 55-year-old Dawn Melody DaLuise was charged Friday with solicitation of murder and remains jailed on $1 million bail.

She could face nine years in jail if convicted.

DaLuise owns the Skin Refinery, which offers services such as waxing, facials and electrical stimulation. Prosecutors contend that she tried to hire someone to kill the owner of Smooth Cheeks, another salon that opened several months ago next door.

Smooth Cheeks owner Gabriel Suarez said that he never suspected he was the target of a murder plot.

DaLuise's website claims that she's served celebrities such as Alicia Silverstone, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Christina Ricci.

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