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Navy Carriers to Continue Lengthy Deployments

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When we think of military service, we think of those in uniform, but military families serve in their own way.

Over the past decade, they've had to deal with long and recurrent separations as loved ones go to war, and it's not going to get any easier for Navy families any time soon.

A standard Navy deployment used to be six months, but in recent years they've stretched to as long as nine.

Sometimes those extensions come mid-deployment, catching families by surprise.

Now the Navy's deployable aircraft carrier fleet has decreased from 11 to nine, so the Navy says carrier deployments will continue to be long and frequent in the coming years.

Local Navy Lieutenant David Noble has just returned from a seven-month deployment on USS Benfold, and a lot has changed at home since he left.

Since marrying his wife Rebecca, they've endured three deployments; spending more than two years apart in six years of marriage. This time, Dave missed his twins' 3rd birthday.

“You miss a lot. You come back and the kids are little people walking around, and they were hardly talking at all when I left,” said Lt. Noble.

Noble’s ship is a destroyer, but his family has felt the pressure too.

Rebecca says being a Navy wife isn't easy, but she's proud of her husband's service.

"Having kids and saying goodbye is the hardest thing I've ever seen because you don't' know how your kids are going to react. For the first couple weeks they cried every night,” she said.

The couple says that despite the long and frequent deployments, for them there is a silver lining: they really cherish and appreciate the time they do have at home together.


Pedestrian Hit by Car, Seriously Injured

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A woman walking in the Talmadge area sustained serious injuries after she was struck by a vehicle, police confirmed.

The collision happened around 6 p.m. in the 5000 block of El Cajon Boulevard.

Police say a 42-year-old woman was driving a Mercedes westbound when a female pedestrian in her 40s walked into the street and into the path of the vehicle.

The pedestrian was struck by the car and suffered serious injuries, including head wounds and a broken leg. She was transported to a local hospital. He current condition is unknown.

The driver of the car was not injured. Police say alcohol was not a factor in this accident. The investigation is ongoing.

Traffic on eastbound El Cajon Boulevard, between 50th and 51st Streets was diverted following the accident.
 



Photo Credit: NBC 7 San Diego

SD’s Largest Neonatal ICU Opens at Sharp Mary Birch

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Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women & Newborns will celebrate the opening of San Diego’s largest Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) on Friday.

The hospital’s Level III NICU will open to patients after an extensive renovation and expansion project that cost $30 million.

The NICU, now the largest in San Diego, has been expanded from 61 to 84 beds.

A total of 24 of those beds are specifically designed for families transitioning their newborn babies from hospital care to home. The special, private rooms allow families to spend the night and practice caring for their babies more independently with the support of the Mary Birch nursing staff.

Friday marks the official completion of the hospital’s NICU project. Some babies and families have already been moved to the new unit, with NICU doctors following right behind them.
 



Photo Credit: NBC 7 San Diego

Rats Living at San Diego Airport: Officials

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Rats are living at Lindbergh Field, airport officials confirmed to NBC 7 San Diego.

“The Airport Authority became aware of a rodent issue due to demolition and construction taking place in some areas of the airport,” said a statement from the airport.

Officials are working with airport tenants and construction crews to remove the rats.

“The Authority has aggressively taken the necessary steps to ensure the safety and comfort of our passengers,” the statement continued.

It is unclear which terminals the rats are residing, but Terminal 1 is where the majority of construction is taking place at this time.

The county’s Vector Control Program, which handles potentially infectious animals, has been alerted of the rodent issue and they are working with the airport’s environmental department, according to officials.

Suspect Sought 24 Years After Man's Murder

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San Diego homicide detectives are searching for a man wanted in connection with a murder that took place exactly 24 years ago to the day.

Suspect Domingo Gomez is accused of killing victim Jose Paulo Hernandez-Ulloa inside his home in the 3300 block of C Street back on January 17, 1989.

Detectives say Gomez, along with this brother Austolio Gomez, shot and stabbed Hernandez-Ulloa and then dumped his body at a nearby location.

In 1990, detectives arrested and eventually convicted Austolio in connection with his part in this murder.

Domingo, however, fled and has never been caught.

To this day, he’s still wanted for his alleged involvement in the murder of Hernandez-Ulloa. More than two decades after the murder, police continue to search for him.

According to investigators, Domingo may have initially fled to Las Vegas or Mexico. He may originally be from Michoacan, Mexico.

Police describe him as a Mexican national, 5-foot-6, 140 pounds. He has black hair, brown eyes and several scars and tattoos, including the word “Love” tattooed on his left hand, the name “Helda” tattoed on his left arm and a dragon tattoo on his upper back. The picture to the right shows him in November 1999.

Detectives say that over the years, the suspect has used different birthdates including March 8, 1970, March 17, 1990 and March 7, 1990. His actual age is unknown.

Detectives are asking anyone with information on Domingo’s whereabouts to contact the SDPD Homide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.



Photo Credit: SDPD

Holy Communion Suspended at California Diocese

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The San Jose Diocese in Northern California announced on Thursday some "drastic" measures it is taking because of the flu season.

Bishop Patrick J. McGrath said in an email that for as long as the flu lasts, the Diocese will only offer bread for communion, but not the wine, because parishioners have to share the same cup.

He also advised that everyone use hand sanitizers before they hand out the wafers, and that for the duration of the flu and cold season, parishioners should avoid holding hands during the recitation or singing of the Lord's Prayer. 

This news comes on the heels of a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control showing that this unusually bad flu season has spread to 47 states, but that the outbreak may have begun to wane.

In San Diego, six individuals have died from a flu-related illness over the past month. The county also saw twice the amount of influenza cases last week than before, with more than 300 reported cases.

Officials in Santa Clara County announced Thursday that a 98-year-old woman also died from a flu-related illness.

"The bottom line: It's flu season," said Dr. Tom Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during a news conference last week. "Most of the country is seeing or has seen a lot flu and this may continue for a number of weeks."

The report, which covers the week from Dec. 30 to Jan. 5, shows that the outbreak has now spread to 47 states, up from 41 the previous week.

Flu Spike: How to Stop It

"We're continuing to see influenza activity remaining elevated in most of the U.S.," Frieden said. "It may be decreasing in some areas, but that's hard to predict, because particularly when you have data from over the holidays season."

While 24 states are still reporting a high level of flu, that number is down from 29 the previous week. Frieden went on to say the data showing the flu could be waning may have been skewed by the holidays, a time during which doctors may be on vacation or people may be less likely to seek treatment.

Flu Tips for Parents

Since the outbreak began in October, more than 3,700 people have been hospitalized with the flu, and 20 children have died.

This year's vaccine has been 62 percent effective, about what the CDC expected given current conditions, according to Frieden, who warned that even if the flu is ebbing, flu season is far from over.

"Nationally, it's likely that flu will continue for several more weeks," said Frieden. "During the past decade we have seen an average of about 12 consecutive weeks — three months — of ILI (influenza-like illness) being elevated. But as we often say, the only thing predictable about flu is that it's unpredictable. Only time will tell us how long our season will last and how moderate or severe this season will be in the end."

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

States reporting widespread flu activity:

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

States reporting high flu activity:

Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Bucket Falls Midair From Military Aircraft

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A five-gallon bucket fell from a military aircraft Wednesday night and damaged vehicles in a Miramar auto repair shop, San Diego Fire Department officials said. 

The bucket crashed through the roof of Renegade Performance in the 6300 block of Marindustry Drive sometime between 4 p.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m. Thursday.

An RV and several vehicles were impacted by the pieces of the ceiling and bucket that shattered when the bucket fell through. The RV sustained the bulk of the damage. 

The bucket accidentally fell from an MCAS-based MV2 Osprey at about 7:20 p.m. Wednesday, said Lt. Tyler Balzer with MCAS Miramar. 

Balzer said the bucket was strapped down, but at some point it came loose and fell through the auto repair shop. The bucket broke apart upon impact, spilling the cleaning solution. 

The bucket contained "non-toxic environmentally friendly" material, said San Diego Fire Department Battalion Chief Glen Holder.

A HazMat team was called to the scene Thursday afternoon as a protocol measure. They have not yet determined if the material is toxic or not.  

There was no one present in the shop when the bucket landed, and no injuries were reported. Employees discovered the damages when they arrived to work Thursday morning.

The owner of the business would not comment on the incident. 

MCAS Miramar tweeted about the incident just after noon on Thursday: 

There is no estimate yet of the cost of the damages, but MCAS is working with the owners of the business to cover all damage costs.

 

1 Dead, Another Arrested in College Area OIS

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Police officers shot and killed a suspect and arrested another while serving a warrant in the College area east of San Diego State University Thursday.

At around 10:30 a.m., officers were alerted by a parole agent of the whereabouts of two parolees-at-large who were wanted for outstanding warrants. The agent told officers at least one of the parolees was armed with a handgun and was considered dangerous.

Agents then directed officers to an apartment building in the 5400 block of Reservoir Drive, where the two suspects were thought to be staying.

Officers established a perimeter around the building and prepared to order the men out of the apartment. As this was happening, two men exited the apartment.

When officers attempted to contact the men, they both ran, officials said.

One suspect ran back through the building and fled. The other man attempted to run back into the apartment, but the door was locked. Officers pursued that suspect and gave him verbal commands to put up his hands and get on the ground.

Officials said the suspect did not comply. Instead, he allegedly turned toward the officers and reached into his pockets.

Fearing an assault, the officer closest to the suspect fired his service weapon, fatally striking the man. Medics were called, but the suspect died at the scene.

According to SDPD officials, the officer who shot the suspect is a 12-year veteran of the Department.

Meanwhile, the second suspect who ran from the scene prompted a door-to-door manhunt, the lockdown of a nearby hospital and a warning that he may be armed with an AK-47.

Officers surrounded a vehicle parked along the 5000 block of Reservoir Drive while they searched for the second suspect. Another person was arrested at the scene, but it is unclear what kind of involvement they had in the situation.

Aerial images from NBC 7 San Diego's helicopter showed officers near what appeared to be a red or maroon car parked with the driver's side door open outside the Villa Del Sol apartments.

Police vehicles and motorcycles temporarily closed Reservoir Drive and Alvarado Road to traffic in both directions.

Officers scattered themselves throughout the area just south of Interstate 8 and Alvarado Hospital Medical Center. The hospital was placed on lockdown, however the emergency room was still open, officials said.

Investigators combed nearby canyons and conducted a door-to-door search for the suspect described by police as a heavy-set Hispanic man.

“It’s like they’re kind of waiting for something to happen,” said resident Will Leingang, who was watching police from his home up the hill from the Villa Del Sol apartments.

He said he didn’t hear any shots, but around 1:30 p.m. he heard a lot of commotion outside.
“Suddenly there was a ton of officers,” he said adding that there appeared to be five or six patrol cars on the road.

Dorian Mcwain, a resident of Villa del Sol, said he heard gunshots very close to his apartment and said he was asked to leave his residence by police.

“To wake up and have this transpire during a normal day is unreal,” he said. “I’m used to red cups and the college students and the partying, but not gunshots."

A command post was set up in a parking lot near the hospital and San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne was on scene as his officers prepared for a SWAT situation.

Shortly after 3 p.m., the second suspect was located and arrested a short distance away, according to assistant police chief Boyd Long. Residents alerted police that he was hiding nearby. During his arrest the suspect had dirt and grass across his face and appeared exhausted.

Police believed two people who possibly helped the suspects had barricaded themselves inside a nearby apartment. Officials surrounded the apartment, but it later turned out to be empty. No further information was released about those two potential alleged accomplices.

Thursday was the first day of class for SDSU students returning from the holiday break.


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With Te'o Silent, Questions about Hoax Mount

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Manti Te'o has already tried to explain how his heartwarming story of playing through adversity was a lie he wasn't responsible for, how he was the victim of a cruel hoax about a dead girlfriend who never existed.

He still has questions to answer, with many wondering whether he was a victim or participant in the scam. Those doubts even extended to his own campus, where he is one of the most popular players in Notre Dame's storied history.

"Whenever Manti decides to speak I'll bet the entire campus will stop what they're doing and watch what he has to say," Notre Dame student body president Brett Rocheleau said Thursday. "I think the majority of students believe in Manti. They just want to hear him answer these final few questions and hear the story from his point of view."

When Te'o will do that — like so much else about this story, including some mysterious tweets — is still a mystery.

An Associated Press review of news coverage found that Te'o talked about his doomed love in a Web interview on Dec. 8 and again in a newspaper interview published Dec. 10. He and the university said he learned on Dec. 6 that it was all a hoax — not only was she not dead, she wasn't real.

On Thursday, a day after the bizarre news broke, there were questions about whether he really was duped, as he claimed, or whether he and the university were complicit in the hoax and misled the public, perhaps to improve his chances of winning the Heisman. He came in second, propelled by one of the most compelling plot lines of the season.

Yahoo sports columnist Dan Wetzel said the case has "left everyone wondering whether this was really the case of a naïve football player done wrong by friends or a fabrication that has yet to play to its conclusion."

Gregg Doyel, national columnist for CBSSports.com, was more direct.

"Nothing about this story has been comprehensible, or logical, and that extends to what happens next," he wrote. "I cannot comprehend Manti Te'o saying anything that could make me believe he was a victim."

On Wednesday, Te'o and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said the player was drawn into a virtual romance with a woman who used the phony name Lennay Kekua, and was fooled into believing she died of leukemia in September. They said his only contact with the woman was via the Internet and telephone. Te'o was not at the news conference; the school released a 225-word statement from him.

Te'o also lost his grandmother — for real — the same day his girlfriend supposedly died, and his role in leading Notre Dame to its best season in decades endeared him to fans and put him at the center of one of college football's feel-good stories of the year.

Relying on information provided by Te'o's family members, the South Bend Tribune reported in October that Te'o and Kekua first met, in person, in 2009, and that the two had also gotten together in Hawaii, where Te'o grew up.

Sports Illustrated posted a previously unpublished transcript of a one-on-one interview with Te'o from Sept. 23. In it, he goes into great detail about his relationship with Kekua and her physical ailments. He also mentioned meeting her for the first time after a game in California.

"We met just, ummmm, just she knew my cousin. And kind of saw me there so. Just kind of regular," he told SI.

Among the outstanding questions: Why didn't Te'o ever clarify the nature of his relationship as the story took on a life of its own?

Te'o's agent, Tom Condon, said the athlete had no plans to make any public statements in Bradenton, Fla., where he has been training with other NFL hopefuls at the IMG Academy.

Notre Dame said Te'o found out that Kekua was not a real person through a phone call he received at an awards ceremony in Orlando, Fla., on Dec. 6. He told Notre Dame coaches about the situation on Dec. 26.

The AP's media review turned up two instances during that gap when the football star mentioned Kekua in public.

Te'o was in New York for the Heisman presentation on Dec. 8 and, during an interview before the ceremony that ran on the WSBT.com, the website for a South Bend TV station, Te'o said: "I mean, I don't like cancer at all. I lost both my grandparents and my girlfriend to cancer. So I've really tried to go to children's hospitals and see, you know, children."

In a column that first ran in The Los Angeles Times, on Dec. 10, Te'o recounted why he played a few days after he found out Kekua died in September, and the day she was supposedly buried.

"She made me promise, when it happened, that I would stay and play," he said on Dec. 9 while attending a ceremony in Newport Beach, Calif., for the Lott Impact Awards.

On Wednesday, when Deadspin.com broke the story, Swarbrick said Notre Dame did not go public with its findings sooner because it expected the Te'o family to come forward first.

Asked if the NCAA was monitoring the Te'o story for possible rules violations, NCAA President Mark Emmert said:

"We don't know anything more than you do," he told reporters at the organization's convention in Dallas. "We're learning about this through the stories just the same as you are. But we have to wait and see what really transpired there. It's obviously (a) very disturbing story and it's hard to tell where the facts lie at this point.

"But Notre Dame is obviously looking into it and there will be a lot more to come forward. Right now, it just looks ... well, we don't know what the facts are, so I shouldn't comment beyond that."



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Exhumation Begins of Poisoned Lottery Winner

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The body of Urooj Khan, the Illinois Lottery winner who authorities now say died of cyanide poisoning, will be exhumed Friday morning.

Family members say they hope the dig at Rosehill Cemetery, on Chicago's north side, will lead  to answers as to who may have killed Khan, and why.

"We are confident he was a healthy person and cannot die like that," Khan's brother, ImTiaz Khan, said Thursday evening. "We are just praying to God that justice will be serviced, and whoever did this will be punished."

The 46-year-old's death in July, a single day after lottery officials presented him with a check for more than $425,000, was originally attributed to natural causes. A relative later requested the Cook County Medical Examiner take another look.

Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen Cina said that second look revealed lethal levels of cyanide. A judge last Friday granted a request to exhume the body for further testing.

Khan’s widow, Shabana Ansari, said police questioned her about the ingredients of Khan’s last meal and that she doesn’t believe anyone could have poisoned her husband.

"He was an extremely great person," Ansari told NBC Chicago. "Nobody could be his enemies."

Dr. Jon Lomasney, the Director of Autopsy Service at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, said that while the upcoming autopsy will be difficult, it should reveal new details.

"After six months of lying in state it's going to be a lot of degradation. The body is not going to be well preserved. ... There's going to be liquefaction of a lot of organs," he said.

During the autopsy, which should take about two hours to perform, all of the internal organs will be removed and dissected individually.

Lomasney said residual chemicals and substances will be present after six months, and investigators will be able to determine if those levels are normal or not. Cyanide, he explained, can be ingested in food or liquid. It can also be inhaled.

"If you find high levels of cyanide in the lungs higher than the other organs like the stomach or blood, then you can determine that the cyanide was taken into the body via inhalation," he said. "Likewise if you find the highest levels in the stomach then it was probably ingested."

A full report of the autopsy should be available within three months, Lamasney said.

White House Unveils Obama's New Official Portrait

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President Barack Obama is ushering in his second term with a smile.

The White House unveiled Obama's new official presidential portrait Friday morning, and in the shot, the president shows a little levity that was lacking in the old one.

The new photograph shows the president smiling broadly and posing with his arms crossed in the Oval Office. In the photo, Obama wears a watch, blue patterned tie and traditional American flag pin, and his hair has grayed since his first-term portrait was taken four years ago.

For full U.S. news and politics coverage, visit NBCNews.com.

Like that portrait, the new one was shot by official White House photographer Pete Souza.

Check out W.H. photographer Pete Souza's favorite photos of 2012.

The first portrait had pictured the president with a sterner expression, posing against a more austere gray background. It also had the distinction of being the first official presidential portrait shot on a digital camera, according to the White House.

Typically, presidents' portraits are photographs while they are in office. Their painted portraits are typically completed after they have left office.

President Barack Obama's second term White House official presidential portrait
President Barack Obama is photographed during a presidential portrait sitting for an official
photo in the Oval Office, Dec. 6, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

 

President Barack Obama's first term official White House presidential portrait
Official portrait of President-elect Barack Obama on Jan. 13, 2009. (Photo by Pete Souza)



Photo Credit: The White House

Not Quite Foot-Long Subway Sandwich Buzzes Online

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A photo an Australian man posted of a Subway foot-long sandwich that was actually 11 inches earlier this week is getting a lot of attention online and prompting a lot of people to question whether the name truly reflects the sandwich.

The $5 Footlong fallout began on Tuesday, when a man in Australia posted a photo of the sandwich next to measuring tape. It was 11-inches long and the man asked: “subway pls respond.”

In just two days, that one post has generated almost 6,000 comments, with varying responses.

Gawker apparently saw the post and posted the article “Angry Sandwich Lovers Demand to Know Why Subway’s Footlong is Shorter Than Advertised.”

NBC Connecticut reached out to the Milford-Connecticut-based company on Wednesday and received the following response.

“As you know, all of our sandwiches are made to order, and our bread is baked daily in every one of our more than 38,000 restaurants in 100 countries worldwide.  We have policies and procedures in place to ensure that our products are consistent and have the same great taste no matter which Subway restaurant you visit.

“We have seen the photo you referenced of a Subway sandwich that looks like it doesn’t meet our standards. We always strive for our customers to have the most positive experience possible, and we believe this was an isolated case in which the bread preparation procedures were unfortunately not followed.”

The company said its social media team has responded to the customer and the company is taking steps to remind franchisees and staff of “the importance of serving beautiful bread.”

 



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Inauguration: A Look at the Lincoln Bible

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President Obama used the Lincoln Bible in his first inauguration and plans to use it again Monday. News4's Wendy Rieger went to the Library of Congress to get a look at it.

Photo Credit: AP

Hockey's Next Threat: Climate Change

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The first puck of the 2013 NHL season finally drops Saturday after a 113-day labor dispute wiped out 510 games -- nearly half the entire season. But now that labor peace has been restored, something a little more surprising -- and much more difficult to solve -- threatens the long-term future of hockey: climate change.

Hockey was born more than 150 years ago in Canada, where the defining image of childhood is kids playing hockey on a frozen pond. Those kids serve an important purpose to the NHL: From the ponds come the next generation of hockey players and fans.

But as the average temperature across the globe has risen, the outdoor skating season in Canada and the northern U.S. has begun to shrink, as temperatures cold enough to keep the ice safely frozen becoming rarer and rarer.

David Phillips, a senior climatologist at Environment Canada, says the message from the data is loud and clear.

"It's not as cold and white as it used to be," he said. "If you look across the country, the one season that has shown truly dramatic changes in the last 65 years are winters."

The NHL is aware of the threat posed by climate change, and players have tried to raise awareness. In 2006, the Boston Bruins' Andrew Ference spearheaded a carbon-neutral movement with the David  Suzuki Foundation, getting more than 500 players to buy carbon offsets for all the travel they do during the season.

The NHL runs NHL Green, a web site dedicated to raising awareness of issues such as global warming. Headlines on the site warn of impending doom: Canada's Rinks Now Need Cooling, and Pond Hockey in Peril.

Across the whole of Canada, the average winter (December through February) temperature has risen  about 5 degrees, said Phillips. The increase has been most severe in Northern British Columbia, the Yukon and Northwest Territories, where the temperatures have jumped more than 9 degrees — making a frozen pond much rarer.

The rise in temperature has shortened the outdoor hockey season by as much as 15 days, according to a study released last year by Nikolay Damyanov at McGill University's Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.

The Suzuki Foundation in Canada has been fighting climate change since its inception almost 20 years ago, enlisting NHL players like Ference to help promote its cause. It's been a difficult fight -- even though 98% of Canadians believe climate change is real, the government was recently ranked fourth-worst in the world in terms of environmental policy.

"Here in Canada we're quite strong in natural resources," said Jean-Patrick Toussaint, head of science projects at the Suzuki Foundation, who noted that Canada was the first country to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol. "Not only water, but we've also got the tar sands, and this has become a top priority for our current government, to make sure that there's continuous economic growth."

The problem does cross the border. Outdoor hockey is popular in America, too, as evidenced by the the NHL's Winter Classic, an annual outdoor showcase.  Five of the top six-rated regular season games since 1975 have been Winter Classics.

Last year, though, even the Winter Classic was threatened. The NHL had to delay the game between the Rangers and Flyers at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park until later in the day to ensure temperatures were low enough to keep the ice frozen

Rising temperatures have endangered the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships in Minnesota since their inception in 2006, founder Fred Haberman said.

"Last year was one of the worst winters we've ever had for outdoor hockey," Haberman said. "If we'd tried to have the tournament last week, we would have had to cancel because it rained — it was 40 degrees.

"When I arrived in the Twin Cities (24 years ago), I was playing a minimum of 10 to 12 weeks outside. Today, we're lucky if we get eight."

Not only does the shortened outdoor hockey season deny aspiring NHLers countless hours of practice time, it also stunts their development because they grow accustomed to the perfectly groomed ice of indoor rinks, and so are less adept at handling bad hops.

"It's on these outdoor rinks where kids can just play and experiment, develop their skills without even realizing it," said Joe Pelletier of Greatest Hockey Legends. "Minor hockey is so structured nowadays that kids are essentially taught the game. But out on their own on the frozen ponds, kids actually learned the game. And the game was better off for it."

Ultimately, framing global warming as a hockey problem may be what forces Canada to confront the issue. If Canadians realize that climate change is slowly corroding not only the quality of hockey and the amount of hockey they can play in their backyard, they might force the government to act.

"The threat from climate change... Canadians are not worried about skinny polar bears," said Phillips, the climatologist at Environment Canada. "It's about, 'Gee -- will we have a white Christmas and will we be hockey players?' When it comes right down to it, it would probably drive us to action if people understood it in that way."



Photo Credit: Bloomberg News

Car Sales Up for Good Loan Rates

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Interest rates for new and used cars are at some of their lowest rates in years. J.P. Bo from Pacific Honda talks about the good sales.

Photo Credit: NBC 7 San Diego

About San Diego: Royal Visit

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NBC 7 special correspondent Ken Kramer talks about a royal visit to San Diego.

SD’s Largest Neonatal ICU Opens at Sharp Mary Birch

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Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women & Newborns will celebrate the opening of San Diego’s largest Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) on Friday.

The hospital’s Level III NICU will open to patients after an extensive renovation and expansion project that cost $30 million.

The NICU, now the largest in San Diego, has been expanded from 61 to 84 beds.

A total of 24 of those beds are specifically designed for families transitioning their newborn babies from hospital care to home. The special, private rooms allow families to spend the night and practice caring for their babies more independently with the support of the Mary Birch nursing staff.

Friday marks the official completion of the hospital’s NICU project. Some babies and families have already been moved to the new unit, with NICU doctors following right behind them.
 



Photo Credit: www.jupiterimages.com

Woman Attacked, Thrown on Subway Tracks

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A woman survived an attack after a homeless man punched her, dragged her by her legs and threw her onto subway tracks at a Chinatown station in Philadelphia. The police arrested the man, William Clark, after spotting him wearing the same distinctive jacket he was wearing during the attack.

Photo Credit: SEPTA / NBC10 Philadelphia

Flames Overtake Southcrest Garage

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Neighbors were terrified to see flames shooting up from a garage in their Southcrest neighborhood.

Vehicle Strikes Pedestrian in Chula Vista

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A 14-year-old was struck and injured by a car in Chula Vista Friday morning. 

The collision happened at Telegraph Canyon Road and Oleander Avenue at about 7:25 a.m., according to police.

The boy was running across the street against the traffic light at the same time a truck was turning. The truck then hit the boy.

Medics responded to the scene and transported the boy to the hospital with moderate injuries. He was conscious and breathing when the medics arrived. 

 



Photo Credit: Getty Images
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