Katrina Schaber has the handwriting of a 1st grader, she struggles to apply her own make-up, and avoids high heels at all cost. They’re just too difficult. But, put her in boots, on skis and put poles in her hands and watch her fly.

Katrina’s family laughs about her first ski trip. She cried after group lessons and then begged to never go again. It didn’t come easy, but then again, neither did anything else.

“As a child I was very ununorganized very uncoordinated - I could not do hopscotch, jump rope, couldn't button a shirt, couldn't spread stuff on a piece of toast” said Katrina, at Carmel Valley’s Canyon Crest Academy.

The 17-year-old’s early teachers claimed “she didn’t work hard enough”, but her parents were convinced it was more complicated.

They were right and as an 8-year-old she was diagnosed with a mild form of Cerebral Palsy.

A decade later, the clumsy kid who nearly flunked out of grade school is an alternate on the US Paralympic Alpine Ski Tea. Katrina’s talent unlocked only by dedication and good ol’ fashioned hard work.

“Sometimes people when I tell them I have a disability are like ‘wait, you have a disability?’ I’m like ‘you have not seen the years of practice and therapy and surgery that has gone into this’” said Katrina, chuckling as she speaks.

Along with skiing and a rigorous training schedule, Katrina keeps a busy schedule. She plays percussion drums (which helps with coordination), she mentors other disabled kids, and is an Ambassador with Girl Scouts, the highest level in the organization.

She credits Girl Scouts with giving her confidence and skills needed to succeed as a student athlete with a disability.

“Prove them wrong, don’t let them say you can’t do something” said Katrina.

The teenager recently returned home from visiting Sochi, Russia during the Olympics with TD Ameritrade as part of a “future Paralympians” program paid for by the company. Katrina was nominated by her mentor Danelle Umstead, a US Paralympian who competes in Alpine events. Umstead is blind and was recently diagnosed with Multiple Scleroris.

Competing in the 2018 Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea is Katrina’s ultimate goal.

She doesn’t need to look far to find the motivation as an unprecedented 52 hours of the Paralympic Games are being broadcast on NBC and the NBC Sports Network.

Or she could just look in the mirror.

Put rock band Kiss and mix in an arena league football uniform and you'll get this - the uniformed unveiled Monday by the new expansion team L.A. Kiss.

The Orange County Register reports on the unveiling starring - who else? - Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley Monday.

The helmets with their "liquid metal" appearance were designed by Stanley, the paper reports.

The rest of the uniform? Imagine the backdrop of the group's stage show with all the flames and the black and silver platform boots the band made famous.

The expansion L.A. Kiss begin play in April with home games at Honda Center in Anaheim. Southern California hasn't had an AFL team since the Los Angeles Avengers folded in April 2009. 

We want to know what you think. Comment below or send us a message via Twitter or on our Facebook page.

School districts and the state would be required to do a better job of tracking students who miss class under proposed legislation announced Monday that is designed to lower California's dropout rate.

The package of bills would write into law recommendations from a report released by Attorney General Kamala Harris in September.

The report, entitled "In School and On Track,'' says 30 percent of the state's elementary school students miss enough school each year to harm their academic performance. The report says about one million students were considered truant in the 2012-2013 school year, costing their school districts a combined $1.4 billion in funding the state distributes based on students' attendance.

The law defines truancy as being absent or arriving more than 30 minutes late without a valid excuse three times in a school year. Students who miss 10 percent of the school year without good reason are considered to be chronically truant, which experts say increases their risk of failing.

"It's very predictable that the elementary school truant will end up being a high school dropout,'' Harris said.

The legislation Harris is seeking would require schools to increase their reporting of truant students, which she said would help officials find ways to get them back in school.

"If we don't know what the problem is or where the problem is, we can't solve it,'' said Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, who is carrying one of the bills.

Of the million students considered truant during the last school year, Harris' report projected that 250,000 elementary school students missed 18 or more school days, or 10 percent of the school year. It found that 20,000 elementary school students missed at least 36 days of school.

Harris previously backed a bill passed in 2010 that lets prosecutors charge parents with misdemeanors, bringing up to a year in jail and $2,000 fine, if their children miss too much school.

That law is used sparingly, according to Harris' report, with district attorneys reporting prosecuting an average of three to six cases each year. Harris and lawmakers carrying this year's bills said the earlier measure was designed not to turn parents into criminals, but to give school and law enforcement officials a way to get parents' attention. One bill proposed this year, AB2141, would require prosecutors to report to school officials the outcome of such legal referrals.

Among other bills:

-- SB1107 would require the attorney general's office to file an annual report similar to the one Harris produced last year.

-- AB1643 would require that every school district create a School Attendance Review Board including parents, teachers, administrators and law enforcement.

-- AB1672 would require the review boards to collect and report more information about truant students.

-- AB1866 would require the state Department of Education to collect attendance data.

President Obama, while introducing the reboot of “Cosmos” on Fox Sunday night, declared, “There are new frontiers to explore… there are no limits.” 

Jere Hester is founding director of the award-winning, multi-media NYCity News Service at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is also the author of "Raising a Beatle Baby: How John, Paul, George and Ringo Helped us Come Together as a Family." Follow him on Twitter.

Sooner or later, consumers will be able to buy cars that rely on computers — not the owner — to do the driving. 

Though the technology is still being tested, the day it rolls out into broad public use can now be measured in years, not decades.

With that timeframe in mind, California's Department of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday began puzzling through how to regulate the vehicles that haven't been fully developed yet.

Among the complex questions officials sought to unravel at the initial public hearing on regulations in Sacramento:

• How will the state know the cars are safe?
• Does a driver even need to be behind the wheel?
• Can manufacturers mine data from onboard computers to make product pitches based on where the car goes or set insurance rates on how it is driven?
• Do owners get docked points on their license if they send a car to park itself and it slams into another vehicle?

Once the stuff of science fiction, driverless cars could be commercially available by decade's end. Under a California law passed in 2012, the DMV must decide by the end of this year how to integrate the cars — often called autonomous vehicles — onto public roads. 

Three other states have passed driverless car laws, but those rules mostly focus on testing. California has mandated rules on testing and public operation, and the DMV expects within weeks to finalize regulations dictating what companies must do to test the technology on public roads.

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Those rules came after Google Inc. had already sent its fleet of Priuses and Lexuses, fitted with an array of sensors including radar and lasers, hundreds of thousands of miles in California. Major automakers also have tested their own models. 

Now, the DMV is scrambling to regulate the broader use of the cars. With the federal government apparently years away from developing regulations, California's rules could effectively become the national standard.

Much of the initial discussion Tuesday focused on privacy concerns.

California's law requires autonomous vehicles to log records of operation so the data can be used to reconstruct an accident.

But the cars "must not become another way to track us in our daily lives," John M. Simpson of the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog said at the hearing. Simpson called out Google, saying the Internet giant rebuffed attempts to add privacy guarantees when it pushed the 2012 legislation mandating rules on testing and public operation.

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Seated across from Simpson at the hearing's head tables was a representative from Google, who offered no comment on the data privacy issue. 

Discussion also touched on how to know a car is safe, and whether an owner knows how to properly operate it.

Ron Medford, Google's director of safety for its "self-driving car" project, suggested that manufacturers should be able to self-certify that their cars are safe. He cautioned that it would get complicated, fast, if the state tried to assume that role.

In initial iterations, human drivers would be expected to take control in an instant if the computer systems fail. Unlike current technology — which can help park a car or keep it in its freeway lane — owners might eventually be able to read, daydream or even sleep while the car did the work.

Responding to a question received over Twitter, DMV attorney Brian Soublet acknowledged that the department is still grappling with the most fundamental question of whether a person will need to be in the driver's seat.

Maybe not, by the time the technology is safe and reliable, he said.

Soublet asked who would ensure that owners know how to use the new technology. Should the onus be on dealers, manufacturers, owners?

Representatives of automakers suggested they shouldn't be asked to guarantee the capability of owners. John Tillman of Mercedes-Benz said the DMV could test owners on basics such as starting and stopping the automated driving function.

Automaker representatives also expressed concerns that other states could pass regulations that were substantially different from California, creating the kind of patchwork rules that businesses hate.

States outside California have been in touch and are following California's rule-making process closely, said Bernard Soriano, a deputy director at the DMV.

Other discussion centered on how vulnerable the cars could be to hackers, who might wrest control of the vehicles.

Industry representatives said that while that's a concern, they would vigilantly guard against such vulnerability because it would be disastrous.

DMV regulation writers will post draft language regulations around June, then alter the rules in response to public comment by fall in order to get them finalized by year's end, Soublet said.

The family of a 3-year-old Chicago girl called the “Dainty Warrior” by her parents for a painting hobby that has helped her deal with a rare form of cancer is preparing for another battle.

After failed chemotherapy, doctors have decided they'll need to remove Ania Moriarty's left eye on Thursday in order to save her life.

Ania suffers from retinoblastoma, a form of cancer that affects 300 children annually.

Her paintings have become a hit on the Internet, where a page has been set up to showcase her art.

The proceeds are being used to pay for some of the bills for her travel and care.

Ania is currently in Philadelphia to undergo the procedure.

Ania first took up painting when a newborn cousin became sick.

A San Jose police officer has been charged with raping a hotel maid whom authorities say he was tasked with helping after she had fled a fight with her drunken husband.

San Jose police said that Officer Geoffrey Evatt Graves, 38, was arrested on Monday of one count of felony sexual assault following a five-month investigation. The Santa Clara County District Attorney, however, ended up filing one count of forcible rape.

Graves, who is out of custody, will not be formally arraigned until March 24. If he is convicted of the charge, he could face a maximum of eight years in prison and have to register as a sex offender, according to court documents filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court.

A judge may decide at a probable cause hearing to force him to take an HIV test.

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Graves self-surrendered  into the Santa Clara County Jail on Monday before posting his $100,000 bail. He was also placed on paid administrative leave. It was not immediately clear who was representing Graves, and he could not immediately be located for comment. An attorney of record was not listed on the court documents. In an email, Jim Unland, president of the San Jose Police Officers Association, said: "Our members are surprised by the relevations of this troubling event. It is a tough day for our department."

In a phone interview on Tuesday, his former stepfather spoke about what Graves used to be like when he was younger.

"He was a good kid," Art Calimpong told NBC Bay Area. He added that he was surprised to hear the charge against Graves, whom he helped raise from elementary school through Gilroy High School. "He knew what he wanted to do."

What he wanted to do was become a fire chief where he was working in Shasta Lake, according to Calimpong, who lives in Gilroy. That’s where Graves moved to after he couldn’t find a job after finishing Menlo College in Atherton, Calimpong said.

The Shasta Lake Fire Protection District confirmed to NBC Bay Area on Tuesday that Graves volunteered at the fire agency from July 2002 and resigned in May 2004.

Calimpong, who said he hasn’t seen Graves in “six or seven years,” believes Graves went on to be a paramedic before being hired by the San Jose Police Department.

In a statement, San Jose Police Chief Larry Esquivel said: "Please know that once I became aware of this incident, we quickly and proactively initiated a criminal investigation ...This is an extremely serious allegation, and if proven true, the officer will be held accountable.  While this incident is very troubling and tugs at our integrity, it is an isolated incident and by no means a reflection of our officers who perform their duties with honor and professionalism on a daily basis."

District Attorney Jeff Rosen also said in a statement that, while "rare," "on duty misdeeds bestow an unjustified blight on the stellar reputation of our hard-working peace officers."

The alleged rape occurred on Sept. 22, 2013, according to police and prosecutors.
 
That's when Deputy District Attorney Carlos Vega said four officers, including Graves, responded to a call at the woman's house where she lived with her husband in San Jose. Police determined both spouses were drinking but no crime had occurred. The woman, a hotel maid, asked the responding officers to bring her to a nearby hotel where she had previously worked to stay the night, Vega said. About 2:30 a.m. that morning, Graves took her to the hotel.

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The woman got the hotel key, went to her room alone and fell asleep, said Vega, who also used to be a police officer in Southern California.

About 15 minutes later, she heard knocking and opened the door. Graves entered the room, allegedly grabbed her and pushed her onto the bed.

Vega said Graves then took off parts of his uniform, and allegedly took off her underpants.

"The defendant climbed on top of the victim while she resisted with verbal and physical communication,"  according to a felony complaint written by San Jose Police Sgt. Craig Storlie, with the department's internal affairs unit. "The defendant forcibly engaged in sexual intercourse with the victim before leaving the hotel approximately 10 minutes later."
 
On Oct. 15, 2013, this allegation was brought to the attention of the San Jose Police Department through the California Highway Patrol, the agency to which the woman reported her rape. That's when detectives began investigating. Prosecutors said that physical evidence corroborated the woman's allegations, and she positively identified Graves as her alleged attacker.

In an interview, San Jose's Independent Police Auditor LaDoris Cordell said that Graves' situation is unusual. In all of 2013, a report her office wrote showed that some San Jose police officers were disciplined for "conduct unbecoming" an officer, but none for abuse of force.

Earlier this month, San Jose Firefighter Mario Cuestas was arrested on charges of selling, possessing and attempting to sell methamphetamine to an undercover police officer.

One of the biggest international stories involving the alleged rape of a hotel maid involved claims against International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn in 2011. But charges were ultimately dropped against him after the woman's credibility was challenged.

The Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego is already known as a golfing mecca but in 2021, it could gain national attention as the site of the 2021 U.S. Open Championship.

On Tuesday, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer announced that the City of San Diego has secured a bid to host the renowned golf event in 2021, pending approval from the city council.

The agreement, reached by the city and the U.S. Golf Association (USGA), is on the docket for next week’s city council meeting.

If approved, the current proposal negotiated by the city and the USGA will bring a big boost to the local economy – at least $2.5 million, according to Faulconer’s camp.

San Diego is no stranger to hosting the U.S. Open Championship.

The city successfully served as host for the event in 2008, which was the second-largest attended U.S. Open Championship in the history of the event. The 2021 event is set to generate $2 million more for the City of San Diego than it did in 2008.

In a statement released Tuesday, Faulconer said this would present “a fantastic opportunity to showcase San Diego to the world.”

The mayor praised the efforts of the city, the USGA and the leadership of San Diego City Council President Todd Gloria for securing the bid for the world-class sporting event.

“Making this early announcement means Torrey Pines will once again become an instant tourist destination for visitors from around the globe between now and 2021, serving as a major boon to our local economy," Faulconer said.

Earlier this year, Torrey Pines hosted the Farmers Insurance Open, bringing golf pros like Tiger Woods and San Diego native Phil Mickelson to the green. Mickelson wound up withdrawing from that tournament after suffering a back injury during the first round.
 

An Oregon family says they're not ready to give up on their pet cat, even after it attacked their baby and forced the family to take cover in a bedroom.

The 4-year-old cat, a 22-pound part-Himalayan named Lux, might look harmless, but its owners say it has a "history" of violent behavior.

Emergency dispatchers in Portland sent officers to contain the cat after receiving the family’s frantic 911 call.

CALLER: "He's charging us. He’s at our door, our bedroom door."

DISPATCHER: "One moment, okay?

CALLER: "Do you hear him? That was the cat."

DISPATCHER: "Yeah, I hear him. Keep the door shut, okay?"

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When police got there, the family was too afraid to come out of the bedroom to let them in.

Officers eventually got inside and were able to snare Lux and put him behind bars -- in a crate.

The family says that even though Lux is just a cat, they were genuinely scared.

"He started hissing and -- just rarrrr, like yowls, not like a meow, but yowls,” said Teresa Barker, the cat’s co-owner. “He was really like crazy."

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Lee Palmer, Barker's boyfriend and Lux's co-owner, says the animal attacked after their 7-month-old child pulled its tail. The baby was not seriously hurt.

Palmer says he's taking the feline to a veterinarian. A pet psychologist also is due at the house.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A rental car parked in a lot at the San Diego Zoo suddenly caught fire Tuesday morning, erupting into flames amid other parked vehicles.

The car fire sparked just after 10 a.m. When fire crews arrived, they discovered the vehicle – a black Nissan – fully involved in flames. Three other cars parked nearby sustained damage.

Crews remained on scene for at least an hour. No injuries were immediately reported.
 

One hundred years old, and it’s the best day of his life.

Retired San Diego Sheriff’s Capt. Leland McPhie turned 100 years old Monday, and his old department did not miss the chance to celebrate the remarkable birthday at the Sheriff’s Museum.

In honor of the centenarian, officials declared March 10 to be “Leland McPhie Day” in San Diego County. Among many gifts presented to him, McPhie was awarded a retired badge from the sheriff’s department with a special number on it: 100.

The captain started with the department in 1940, working in the old downtown jail.

The only break he took from that job was a two and a half year stint to serve his country in World War II.

He made sheriff’s department history by becoming captain by the age of 40—the youngest person at the time to achieve that rank.

Sheriff’s officials said McPhie wrote the first Policy and Procedure manual for deputies who worked in the jail, and he helped design the newer central jail. He even designed a special lock for cell doors, which was patented.

McPhie retired from the department in 1969, but not before crossing paths with some infamous outlaws.

One of the most infamous, he said, was Billy Cook, a mass murderer who went on a killing spree in 1950 that ended with six people dead.

But being a century old has not slowed McPhie down.

Undersheriff Ed Prendergast said McPhie nearly missed his celebration because he is on his way to Boston to participate in the USA Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships, where he will compete in the high jump, shot put, discus throw and javelin throw.

“That spirit, at 100 years old, keeping going, and he’s just one of a kind, and we’re just all happy out here to celebrate his 100th birthday with him,” said Prendergast.

After the pomp and circumstance of Monday’s ceremony, McPhie planned to take in some relaxation.

“Where I live, there’s a swimming pool. I’m probably going to end up there,” he said.

“She was a very mellow, sweet, loving cat, “ said pet owner Candice Bunch.

Cleo the calico kitty was a big part of the Bunch family, but at 16-years-old, she grew very sick. Brian and Candice Bunch made the difficult decision to put Cleo to sleep last November.

They and their two young daughters were devastated.

“It was hard, especially once kids are involved, because our kids were so attached, “ said Candice.

Brian called San Diego Pet Memorial Park and made arrangements to have his cat cremated there.

“So I just went ahead and let them know that we wanted just a basic cremation,” Brian added

Candice added, “And we wanted ashes back for our kids.”

Brian was told a driver from San Diego Pet Memorial would pick up Cleo from the San Diego Humane Society, where she was euthanized. Then San Diego Pet Memorial would cremate her body and call them in a week.

“But then we never heard anything," Candice said. "And I waited and waited and didn't hear it. And I started to feel sick like, okay, something is not right.”

Candice and Brian called San Diego Pet Memorial again in early December.

According to Candice, “They said ‘yes, you know, we have her. You can come pick her up anytime.’ So I came that day and picked her up. And I told him who I was there for, they brought me the bag of the ashes, and you know, said ‘we're so sorry’ and I was on my way. I felt comfort. I felt like ‘hey, I have my kitty back,’ and my kids felt good knowing that we have our cat back. And my daughter even, I think she slept with the ashes that night. “

Brian said a week after they picked up Cleo's ashes from San Diego Pet Memorial Park, he received a voicemail from another company - Sorrento Valley Pet Cemetery.

The message said, “Hi this message is for Brian. My name is Melanie. I'm calling from Sorrento Valley Pet Cemetery. We have Cleo here in our office safe and sound. We're just calling to see if we can get a payment from you for Cleo.”

Since he already had what he thought were Cleo's ashes, Brian was confused and called Sorrento Valley Pet Cemetery immediately. He told the employee there must be some mistake.

Brian said, “And she comes back and she goes 'well, what kind of cat is she? She's a calico and she goes ‘is she black, orange, and white?’ And I go, 'yes.' And she goes,’is there anything specific with it?’ And I go, 'yes, there is.'"

Brian described a one-of-a-kind homemade blanket that Cleo's body had been wrapped in.

“Because she thought that maybe the wrong cat got tagged. But the blanket is what sealed the deal,” Brian said.

Candice Bunch said she was horrified.

Gerry Wellman with Sorrento Valley Pet Cemetery said there was obviously a mix-up when they picked up Cleo's body. There was a miscommunication between Candice and the Humane Society, and Cleo was designated for his company, rather than San Diego Pet Memorial. What Gerry doesn't know is why San Diego Pet Memorial didn't acknowledge there was a problem, why they didn’t acknowledge that they never had Cleo in the first place.

Gerry Wellman said, “It's not ethical, because they didn't have the pet to begin with. “

Last month, NBC 7 Investigates looked into San Diego Pet Memorial Park. They promised pets ashes were being scattered at sea, but NBC 7 Investigates found some of the remains were actually being tossed into a dumpster.

NBC 7 Investigates reached out to San Diego Pet Memorial Park's manager Mick Palermo who didn't respond to our request for a comment.

Brian also reached out to Mick, who he says told him they would conduct an internal investigation.

Brian said, “He completely backed up his people. I mean it just seems like he thought there was no way that anybody that worked there could have done something wrong. When, obviously, something wasn't right because we have proof that our cat is somewhere else.”

Mick Palermo never told the family what happened or whose ashes they were given. Meanwhile, Sorrento Valley cremated Cleo's remains for free.

Candice said, “When I went to pick her up, they said that they had taken picture in case I wanted to see and to know for my peace of mind that that was her for sure. And that was really hard for me.”

While they are happy to have their Cleo back, they feel bad that they still have the mystery remains.

Brian Bunch is a Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy. He said next time he is out to sea, he plans on scattering the mystery remains. He said it's the only way he can guarantee the pet - whomever it belongs to - gets a dignified farewell.

The financial statements for a now-disbanded Balboa Park Centennial planning group were released Monday, giving insight to the severely cash-strapped organization.

The Balboa Park Celebration, Inc. (BPCI) voted to disband last week and to hand planning for the park’s 2015 centennial back to the City of San Diego.

The BPCI’s financial disclosure shows that through Jan. 31, 2014, the group was given $3,069,461 from the city’s major events revolving fund, the city’s Arts and Culture Commission, the San Diego Tourism Marketing District, the County of San Diego and nine private donors.

The non-profit's goal was to plan an ambitious, year-long celebration of the park by raising around $50 million.

However, the group said at the end of January, it had spent $2,608,351 on various vendor expenditures, including consulting, marketing and media groups. Thousands of dollars also went to many of Balboa Park’s museums.

• Get BPCI’s Full Financial Statements Here

BPCI said it now has $553,911 cash on hand, forcing the centennial plans to be severely cut back.

Newly elected Mayor Kevin Faulconer said last week he will look into getting back the millions of dollars already spent.

“We need to make sure that we have a celebration that the community gets behind, that works for Balboa Park, that is open, that is transparent and has both the park and community support that we need," Faulconer said on Thursday.

Faulconer has criticized the non-profit in the past for refusing to disclose its financial information.

BPCI said the decision to disband “culminates months of conversation between BPCI and city leaders, during which BPCI presented scaled-down goals and program plans to reflect its projected funding.”

The group said passing the reins to the city will include supporting the mayor and his team to ensure the celebration is still an event worthy of San Diego.

Some Chula Vista residents discovered a naked, bleeding woman on the lawn in front of their apartments early Tuesday.

The woman told witnesses she had been stabbed in the chest while showering moments after admitting to her boyfriend that she had been unfaithful.

Officers arrived within minutes to the Park Palomar Apartments on Palomar Street just before 1 a.m.

A National Guard medic who heard the woman’s screams grabbed combat gauze from his Stomp II bag to treat the woman.

Leonardo Becerra said she was on the ground bleeding and naked with a knife by her side.

When he put the gauze on the wound on her throat, the woman complained that it hurt.

“Too bad,” Becerra recalled telling the woman, “You’re not going to die on me.”

• Watch: National Guard Medic Helps Injured Woman

The victim told him she had been stabbed by her boyfriend while in the shower, police said.

She was transported to a nearby hospital where officers say she was in critical condition. 

Officers say Brandon Lee Mason, 29, left the apartment on foot.

See image of suspect here

He was arrested hours after the incident in a shopping center on Birch Road in Eastlake. Officers said he was taken in without incident.

NBC 7 News has learned Mason was released from jail just three days ago. His latest incarceration was on Feb. 27 for a probation violation.

His criminal past includes a conviction for burglary in 2012 and charges of domestic violence and vandalism.
 

A woman says she found the head of what appeared to be a small reptile in her salad when she ordered lunch from a restaurant food chain in Manhattan Tuesday.

Robin Sandusky, a theatrical coordinator, said she ordered a kale salad from a Guy & Gallard store in Chelsea for delivery to her workplace. She began eating the salad when she spotted what she thought was a pea.

"I turned it over, and I could see its eye," she told NBC 4 New York. 

Sandusky called the store and asked for a refund. She said she declined the store's offer for a replacement salad.

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The delivery worker retrieved the salad and refunded Sandusky, the store manager at the Seventh Avenue location confirmed.

The manager, who only gave his last name as Alan, said he apologized but couldn't confirm that a dead animal part was in the food. 

"She told me, but I didn't check it," said Alan. "When the salad came back, I wasn't here."

He said he told Sandusky, "I'm really so sorry. If you need something -- she said, 'No, we are fine, just a refund.'"

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Jason Jeffries, a managing partner at Guy and Gallard, said it's the company's policy to issue a refund when a customer requests one. 

"We didn't see any proof of that," he said of Sandusky's allegation of the reptile found in the salad, but added that if a customer has any complaint, "we'll happily issue a refund." 

"We have an upstanding reputation in the neighborhood, and all of our stores have excellent health grades," he said.

Jeffries said the company will investigate Sandusky's allegation. 

Last December, a customer found a dead frog in her salad from another sandwich chain in midtown.

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California's Department of Motor Vehicles began Tuesday to puzzle through the complex question of how to regulate cars that rely on computers — not people — to drive them.

Once the stuff of science fiction, "Driverless cars" could be commercially available by decade's end. Google already has sent its fleet of Priuses and Lexuses, fitted with an array of sensors, hundreds of thousands of miles in California, and major automakers are testing their own models.

The DMV has worked through rules governing how companies can test the technology, and those regulations could be finalized in the coming weeks.

On Tuesday, the agency held a public hearing to solicit ideas on how to integrate driverless cars — sometimes called "autonomous vehicles" — onto public roads.

In September 2012, Gov. Jerry Brown rolled into Google headquarters in Mountain View in a driverless car to sign a bill letting Californians sit behind the wheel of an automated vehicle.

The bill requires the California Department of Motor Vehicles to set up rules for driverless cars by 2015. Drivers will need to obtain special permits to sit behind the wheel of these robotic cars and be ready to take control if the vehicle crashes, according to the bill authored by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles.

A handful of other states have passed driverless car laws, but the rules are mostly focused on testing. California is leaping ahead to tackle what happens once people can buy the vehicles and drive through neighborhoods and on highways. The federal government appears to be years away from developing regulations.

California regulators are struggling through a range of issues, from data privacy and security to whether a person will have to be in the driver's seat at all.

With the testing regulations, the DMV has said it aimed to strike a balance between public safety and private-sector innovation.

In discussions, Google and carmakers had argued that if the regulations were too onerous, development of the technology would be stifled.

At the same time, the DMV was aware that it would be scrutinized about whether it did enough to protect the public when one of the cars crashes while being driven by computers (human drivers would be able to take control in an instant).

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A large-scale development project has been proposed for San Diego’s Little Italy community, one that would vacate a portion of a major street in the area in order to create a spacious public plaza, among other ambitious additions.

Civic San Diego announced that is has received an application from developer H.G. Fenton for the “Fenton India/Date Project,” which includes blocking off Date Street between India and Columbia streets.

On the vacated portion of the street, the developer would then construct a 11,200-square-foot public plaza to be maintained by the Little Italy Maintenance Assessment District, according to the proposed agreement.

The project outline also includes the construction of a seven-story, residential, mixed-use building that would be located on the north side of Date Street between India and Columbia streets. On the south side of Date Street, also between India and Columbia streets, the developer would also construct a five-story, residential, mixed-use project.

Under both of those new buildings and across Date Street, the proposal also entails the construction of underground parking structures.

The project would also bring new outdoor dining areas to Little Italy along the north and south side of Date Street. The notice of application for the project also states the allocation of up to $1,000,000 of development impact fees, revenues earmarked to mitigate extra wear and tear on streets, for example, caused by higher density.

The review of the proposal for Little Italy is scheduled to be reviewed Wednesday morning during a Civic San Diego Real Estate Committee meeting at 401 B Street in downtown San Diego. The project is also slated to be discussed at two additional meetings at the aforementioned location on Mar. 19 and Mar. 26.

The meetings are open to the public and anyone can attend to learn more about the proposal, ask questions or express concerns.

Some Little Italy residents say they have mixed reactions on the project, which might mean their community won’t be so little anymore.

Louren Labrum said she enjoys living in Little Italy as it is, and doesn’t like the idea of building up.

“My reaction is that I would like them to keep it the small community feel,” she told NBC 7. “I think we’re very blessed to have Little Italy here and if they make so many commercialized and tall buildings, we’re just going to be like any other city.”

Dorith Weinbaum welcomes the development project.

“I think it’s fantastic. The more the merrier in Little Italy of downtown San Diego. I think it’s great.”

Researchers in San Diego are working to develop an inexpensive chip that would be able to detect 10 to 20 different toxins in a water supply.

Jeff Hasty, director of the BioCircuits Institute at UC San Diego, told NBC 7 his lab recently received nearly $1 million from a federal grant to develop the chip.

The project will use next-generation sequencing, synthetic biology and microfluidic technologies for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

In addition to helping protect the nation's water supplies from terrorist contamination or accidental pollution, the device might well lead to patentable technology.

The hope is there will be a full model developed within 18 months. The key will be to keep the kits affordable with an ideal price point around $100.