Teachers in the Sweetwater Union High School District are voting on whether to call a strike but the district argues that a strike would be against the law.

In a letter to parents and teachers, the superintendent explained that the Sweetwater Education Association or SEA and the district have not been able to resolve differences.

Because of that, they have brought in the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) as a mediator.

Under mediation guidelines, the SEA is required to participate in good faith, which to the district means no strike or even threats of a strike during this time.

SEA President Roberto Rodriguez says the union’s contract was violated when the school district lowered health benefits for the teachers and kept large class sizes after saying it would only be temporary.

“There’s no need to impact classes with large numbers of students. It’s time that class sizes go back down to what our original contract agreed,” Rodriguez said.

The district has imposed a healthcare contribution much lower than was negotiated a year ago, he said.

“We’re asking for a fairly modest 3-percent raise,” he added.

“We haven’t seen a raise in almost seven years in this district.”

The association says the two groups have been negotiating a new contract for over a year now.

Teacher Linda Bennett said she doesn't want to go on strike but feels strongly about the issues facing the union.

"I've been teaching for 22 years, I've never seen such corruption in a district. And I just want to go back to where we get to teach in our classrooms and be there for our children," Bennett said.

Her colleague Linda Tuttle agreed.

"I believe that if we are supposed to have integrity and if our students are supposed to have integrity, everyone in the disctrict should have integrity," Tuttle said.

NBC 7 reached out to the district but the spokesperson declined to speak until after the results are in.

The strike vote was scheduled Friday. Voting is open until 7 p.m. and they hope to have the results by 9 p.m.

If approved, teachers would strike on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. 

A report of a pipe bomb in unincorporated La Mesa Friday turned out to be unfounded, according to sheriff's officials. 

Around 12:30 p.m., a person called 911 to report what appeared to be a pipe bomb inside the garage of a home in the 3900-block of Dorsie Lane. 

Deputies evacuated nearby homes on Dorsie and Julie lanes while bomb and arson technicians investigated the report. 

They found no evidence of a bomb in the area, and around 2:30 p.m., they cleared the scene.

Former Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts officially announced Friday he has formed an exploratory committee for a bid in New Hampshire's U.S. Senate race this year.

However, the Republican did not officially say he will run against the state's Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, NECN reported.

Brown blasted Obamacare Friday, and also talked about what his party needs to be doing to move forward.

Brown said he is looking forward to meeting people in New Hampshire as he starts traveling around the state starting Saturday.

"Obviously I have to do some listening and learning and find out from everybody what their concerns are and make sure I have a full understanding of the challenges, and then I'll make a further decision down the road," Brown told reporters after the speech.

There are already other Republicans in the U.S. Senate race, but analysts agree that Brown would immediately be the frontrunner if he officially ran against Shaheen.

Democrats in the Granite State have been preparing for months now for Brown's announcement.

Earlier Friday, Fox News cut its ties with Brown when he notified them of his intentions.

Ninety-year-old Robert Stella owned a million-dollar home that was exposed last week. Inside were piles of trash and even dead animals.

Although Stella owned the house, the other tenants who lived there say Victoria Turner is the one who ran it.

They say Turner ran a “dog rescue” there, managed the finances and ran what was once a beautiful property into the ground.

One tenant even said Turner asked her to lie on Turner’s behalf.

Mary Ledvinka met Turner last September when she adopted the dog Boomer from Turner's Animal Rescue Coalition.

“It was disgusting and sad,” Ledvinka said after crews discovered animal feces and urine all over the floors and the skeletal remains of a cat inside Stella's home.

“It breaks my heart, and I'm very sad. I’m upset because it never should have happened,” she said.

Ledvinka is an animal activist and thought she could help. Last October, she traded cleaning and animal care services in exchange for room and board in the house.

However, she quickly found out everything was not as it seemed.

“This woman is not a rescuer. If anything, she's being cruel,” Ledvinka said.

Accounts of cruelty extend to former World War II veteran Robert Stella. A photo released by Stella’s family shows him in his eating space. He is surrounded by clutter, trash and mice droppings.

Images: Allegations of Abuse Inside La Jolla Home

Current tenant Josh Curry did not want to speak on camera, but had much to say.

“She would tie him up to the bed and not feed him,” Curry said.

Curry moved to La Jolla from Arkansas eight months ago, after answering a Craigslist ad for a home caregiver.

“She would tease him with food and everything. She would put it pretty far away, and then she would tease him with it,” Curry said.

Curry and Ledvinka both say they filed complaints against Turner with Adult Protective Services. The house was raided last week, and Turner disappeared.

NBC 7 Investigates approached Turner in a La Jolla grocery store parking lot, but she walked the other way.

This was not a chance meeting.

Ledvinka, who moved out of the home in January, is suing Turner in small claims court for the return of her cat, court records show.

Concerned about the animals and in an effort to help NBC 7 reach Turner, Ledvinka called Turner and left a message.

Ledvinka says Turner called back the next day, asking that she write and sign a declaration outlining the treatment of Stella and the animals.

Ledvinka typed what she was told and emailed it to Turner. The email read, in part:

“At no time did I see a dead animal anywhere in the house.”
"Robert was happy and actively enjoyed being around the animals.”
"I declare under the penalty of perjury that these statements are true."

Ledvinka admitted these statements were all lies.

When Turner saw NBC 7, she tried to snatch the declaration from Ledvinka. NBC 7 tried to ask her questions about Stella, the animals and the condition of the house, but she just walked away quickly.

Turner has not been charged with a crime. San Diego police, Adult Protective Services and Animal Control are all investigating.

Stella’s family says he was near death when they rescued him from the house two weeks ago.

He spent the first few days in a hospital’s intensive care unit and is now in a skilled nursing facility. The family hopes to move Stella to a retirement home when he's walking and able to care for himself.

A man spotted trying to cut through the fence along the U.S.-Mexico border was arrested at his home in Tijuana, officials confirmed Friday.

An image from surveillance video shows the suspect using ladders and cutting tools near the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Because the man was on the Mexico side of the border, investigators with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection contacted authorities in Mexico. The police were able to track the suspect to his home in Colonia Libertad where they arrested him.

Agents said the 24-year-old man along with two other men – a 19-year-old and a 52-year-old – were attempting to create a tunnel under the stainless-steel mesh fence that would exit on the U.S. side of the border.

To report suspicious activity to the U.S. Border Patrol, contact San Diego Sector at (619) 498-9900.
 

 The man found gunned down in his SUV at a City Heights intersection has been identified by police.

Forty-five-year-old Alberto Sanchez was discovered in the driver’s seat early Wednesday morning with multiple gunshot wounds to his upper torso, according to San Diego Police officials.

He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he later died.

The shooting happened at the intersection of 41st St. and Orange Ave., and in that area, officers picked up a person of interest-- a man in his 20s on a bicycle. That man was later released.

A preliminary investigation revealed the suspect fired several rounds at Sanchez, according to police. The suspect is descrbed as a dark-skinned man wearing a dark colored sweatshirt with jeans.

Two hours after the shooting, a member of Sanchez’s family arrived and, appearing distraught, had to be help back from the crime scene.

A neighbor told NBC 7 that Sanchez’s SUV is often parked in that neighborhood, though he didn’t know the owner.

If you have any more information about the shooting, call the SDPD Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.

Crews stopped the forward spread Friday afternoon of a 150-acre brush fire that broke out in northern Los Angeles County, fire officials said.

The fire was reported on the south side of Highway 138 near Quail Lake (map), an artificial lake east of the 5 Freeway near Gorman. The body of water provides storage for the California aqueduct system.

• Photos: Brush Fire Erupts Near Gorman

Preliminary acreage estimates indicated the fire burned 30 acres. By 4:30 p.m., the blaze scorched 150 acres and was 35 percent contained, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Old Ridge Route south of Highway 138 was closed because flames crossed the road.

At least two water-dropping aircraft responded to the scene.

• Updates: Download the NBCLA Mobile App

Details regarding the types of structures near the fire were not immediately available, but officials said there was a time early in the fire's burning that structures were threatened.

The fire is burning at the start of what could be a weekend of record high temperatures and dry conditions.

Refresh this page for updates.

The man who claimed to be the sailor in a famous V-J Day image that inspired “The Kiss” statue in San Diego has died.

Glenn McDuffie, 86, claimed he was the sailor in the embrace with a nurse in the famous World War II–era photograph captured by a Life magazine photographer.

A 25-foot statue, "Unconditional Surrender," honoring the iconic image stands near the Midway Museum on San Diego’s Embarcadero. It's a popular attraction for locals and tourists alike.

McDuffie died March 9 in a nursing home in Dallas, his daughter, Glenda Bell, told The Associated Press.

A mail carrier and semi-professional baseball player after he returned from World War II, McDuffie's life became more exciting about six years ago when Houston Police Department forensic artist Lois Gibson was able to identify him as the young man leaning over the woman in his arms to kiss her.

By taking about 100 pictures of McDuffie using a pillow to pose as he did in the picture taken Aug. 14, 1945, by photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt, Gibson said, she was able to match the muscles, ears and other features of the then-80-year-old McDuffie to the young sailor in the original image.

"I was absolutely positive," Gibson said of the match. "It was perfect."

The identification remained controversial, partly because other men also claimed to have been the sailor in the image, but also because Life magazine, whose photographer had died years earlier, was unable to confirm that McDuffie was in fact the sailor, noting Eisenstaedt had never gotten names for those in the picture.

McDuffie had told the AP he was changing trains in New York when he was told that Japan had surrendered.

"I was so happy. I ran out in the street," said McDuffie, then 18 and on his way to visit his girlfriend in Brooklyn.

"And then I saw that nurse," he said. "She saw me hollering and with a big smile on my face. ... I just went right to her and kissed her."

"We never spoke a word," he added. "Afterward, I just went on the subway across the street and went to Brooklyn."

The woman believed to be the nurse in the photo, Edith Shain, visited the statue in San Diego. She passed away in June 2010. 

Gibson's daughter, Bell, said on anniversaries of the war's end her father would recall that moment and the air of excitement in Times Square.

For years it bothered him that he wasn't identified as the man in the photo, she said, and he turned to Gibson for help to clear it up.

"He wanted to do it before he died," she said.

McDuffie is survived by his daughter and two grandchildren. His funeral will be held March 21 at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery.

A North County brewing company is turning into quite the San Diego success story.

Stone Brewing Company, based in Escondido, is looking to expand its IPA empire to the East Coast – not just with beer, but with a whole new facility.

Stone is Southern California’s largest brewery and the nation’s tenth largest craft beer producer. In 2013, owners drafted up another location in Point Loma’s Liberty Station, and now it wants to send a bit of San Diego and its beer tastes across the country.

Earlier this year, the company sent out a request for proposals, asking cities east of the Mississippi River to pitch why they should be the bedrock of Stone’s next facility, which would include a restaurant and store area.

Soon enough, several East Coast cities started hopping at the chance.

East Tennessee is bubbling over with enthusiasm as one of the contenders. Fans there are trying to get Stone to their neck of the woods through various media, including a Twitter page the reads "We exist to make Stone Brewing Company aware of the fact they NEED to locate here in East Tennessee.”

“I think they’re great. I think it’s very creative,” said Sabrina Lopiccolo with Stone Brewing Company.

However, the brewery is letting the choices ferment for a bit longer before picking a winner.

“We're able to expand because of the success we've had here in San Diego,” said Lopiccolo, “and I think it's good exposure for San Diego right now.”

Stone wants to put more than $20 million into the project, where they estimate 500,000 barrels of beer will eventually be made annually.

Officials in Myrtle Beach, S.C., have also thrown ring into the barrel, so to speak.

“You have the luxury of 14 million visitors a year that are already going into Broadway at the Beach,” said Brad Lofton with the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation.

Lopiccolo said Stone will make its decision soon and may even start building this year.

She would not give NBC 7 any hints as to which city owners are leaning toward.
 

San Diego's first woman police chief has a simple, but very strong message for officers: Misconduct will not be tolerated.

The walls are still bare, in Chief Shelley Zimmerman's new office but she invited NBS 7 there for a wide-ranging discussion about her first full week on the job.

Zimmerman said she is sending a strong message to her rank-and-file, telling officers, support staff, and volunteers, they must rebuild, and protect, their department's reputation.

"It's not just a piece of polished metal. It represents the people of San Diego," Zimmerman said.

Special Section: Trouble Behind the Badge

The city's first female chief drove home that point during two meetings at a Qualcomm Stadium conference room. Each attended by more than 300 employees.

The meetings were mandatory and four more sessions are planned.

"I sent a very clear message this morning that misconduct will not be tolerated," she said.

Under former Chief William Lansdowne, the department was rocked by a series of officer-misconduct scandals including the conviction of ex-cop Anthony Arevelos, on battery, bribery, and assault charges.

"We talked about discipline is doing the right thing. Self-discipline is doing the right thing with no one else is watching,” she said. “We talked about how everyone will have self-discipline."

Timeline: Officers Accused of Misconduct

Zimmerman has reinstated a special task force to stop misconduct, before it happens.

"The whole goal of the professional standards unit is to go after those very few. We're going to find you," she said.

The chief will also take her message to the community, with a series of town hall meetings, starting later this month in Lincoln Park and City Heights.

"We have been working with the ACLU, we have been working with the NAACP about perceptions of racial profiling, and other issues and challenges going on in those communities and our police department," she said.

Zimmerman says the department will make better use of social media, including Facebook and Twitter, to keep citizens informed.

She also wants Neighborhood Watch groups to talk with each other, because in her words, "criminals don't know neighborhood boundaries."

The San Diego Police Department has released a sketch of a suspect accused of breaking into a family’s home in Mira Mesa and hovering over a woman and her daughter as they slept.

The illustrated image of the suspect was released Friday. Police describe him as an Asian or Hispanic man in his early-to-mid 20s, approximately 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-8. He has short, light brown hair and was wearing a necklace, white tank top and shorts or pants at the time of the incident. One witness said the man wasn’t wearing shoes at the time of the break-in.

According to police, the man broke into the family’s home at the West Star Apartments on Black Mountain Road on Thursday at around 12:40 a.m. He entered through a sliding glass door on a second-story balcony as the female resident and her children were sleeping.

Minutes later, the woman – who was sleeping alongside her daughter – awoke to the strange man standing in her bedroom, hovering over her and her child.

The woman screamed and confronted the suspect, and he fled the apartment out the balcony door.

Right before the incident, another resident at the apartment complex called police to report an unknown man in his 20s acting suspiciously in the complex, ducking behind cars. The witness also noticed the man looking inside one of the upper-story apartment units.

As of Friday afternoon, the suspect remains at large, but police are hoping the newly-released sketch will help investigators track down the suspect. Anyone with information on this case should contact the SDPD’s Sex Crimes Unit at (619) 531-2289 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

Police in Fairfield, Calif. have arrested a man who they say bit off his infant son’s nose because he was frustrated with his crying.

The Fairfield Police Department received a call Thursday at 8:04 a.m. from a frantic female who said that her child was bleeding from his nose.

When officers arrived at the apartment on the 1000 block of Alaska Avenue, they found a one-month-old child bleeding from the face, Fairfield police said.

• Vanity Fair Report: Google Glass Broke Up Founder Sergey Brin's Marriage
  

The infant’s 18-year-old father, 17-year-old mother and other family members were present, police said.

The infant was taken to North Bay Medical Center where doctors determined that the infant’s nose had been severed and he had possible head trauma.

The infant was then transferred to Oakland Children’s Hospital, where doctors determined that the infant had suffered a skull fracture and a brain hemorrhage and that one-third of the child’s nose had been severed. The child is currently in stable condition.

According to the criminal investigation, the infant’s father bit the child’s nose off out of frustration from his crying. Police are still investigating how the infant sustained the skull fracture and brain hemorrhage.

• Foolish Robbers: Cash Eater, ID Dupe and Pantsless Pilferer

Police arrested Joshua Cooper, an 18-year-old Fairfield resident, for child cruelty and aggravated mayhem. Cooper was booked into Solano County Jail.

Anyone with information regarding this crime is asked to call the Fairfield Police Department's Major Crimes Unit at (707) 428-7600, the 24-hour Tip Line at (707) 428-7345 or Crime Stoppers at (707) 644-7867.

An active standoff has ended in the North County Friday evening.

Oceanside Police said they were called to the River Oaks Apartments in the 3800 block of San Ramon Dr. around 6 p.m. 

Neighbors said they standoff lasted about 40 minutes, and when NBC 7 news crews arrived, the scene had been cleared.

Police have not released any other details about what the standoff is about or who may be involved. 

Check back for updates on this breaking news story.

A frustrated ex-fugitived has been released after sitting five weeks in a San Diego jail for a crime for which she had already served time.

On Friday, a San Diego judge ordered the release of Judy Lynn Hayman -- also known as Jamie Lewis -- who escaped from  the Huron Valley Correctional Facility south of Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1977 while serving an at least 16-month sentence for attempted larceny.

Thirty-six years later, she was found living as Jamie Lewis in a Hillcrest apartment, where San Diego Police arrested her on Feb. 3, 2014.

The 60-year-old woman has been in the Las Colinas jail for five weeks, but on Friday, the tides turned in Lewis’ favor.

She proved to a judge she had changed her name from Judy Lynn Hayman one year after taking care of a felony arrest warrant in Michigan.

A newly recovered part of Lewis’ court file showed that Lewis returned to Michigan in 1982 to deal with an outstanding felony warrant for her 1977 prison escape.

She was sentenced to credit for time served, her attorney said.

The ex-fugitive legally changed her name to Jamie Lewis in 1983.

In Nevada 13 years later, Lewis was arrested on the attempted larceny charge from Michigan, but authorities determined her sentence had been suspended, so she was let off.

Lewis had to prove the same thing to the San Diego judge. She was released Friday evening from the Las Colinas jail.

According to her attorney, Lewis was frurstrated to have been put in jail again, but she was elated to be out. Right now, she just wants to spend time with family and friends.

Hayman’s son told NBC 7 his mother is likely not going back to Michigan. He said his family had been shaken by the entire experience, and they just want her back home.

The time has finally come, comic book fans, to dig out those wallets: general admission badges to the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International will officially go on sale to the public on Saturday morning.

Although the event is more than four months away, badges, as usual, are already a hot commodity.

Badge sales officially begin at 9 a.m. on the Comic-Con website, but those who are interested in purchasing the badges are encouraged to log onto the website by 7 a.m.

To take part in the badge buying process, organizers say prospective attendees must have already obtained a Member ID from Comic-Con. Those who are eligible to participate in Saturday’s sale have already received an email notice with instructions.

After having their special registration code authorized online, buyers will be directed to a virtual waiting room until badge sales actually begin at 9 a.m. Once sales begin, everyone in the waiting room will be sorted into random order and given the chance to buy a badge.

Now, as experienced Comic-Con attendees know, the event is notoriously known to sell out quickly each year. Last month, a “preregistration” badge sale was held for a select number of attendees.

In the past, the Comic-Con ticket sales website has experienced glitches and hiccups, including in November 2010 when fans trying to purchase tickets to the 2011 convention were met with frustrating error messages as the website crashed during the high-traffic frenzy for badges.

In 2013, more than 130,000 people managed to snag badges and attend San Diego Comic-Con. Last year’s event offered more than 600 hours of programming spanning 460,000-square-feet of exhibit hall space at the San Diego Convention Center.

To increase your odds of snagging yourself a coveted badge this year, check out Comic-Con’s detailed list of tips for surviving Saturday’s process.

By the way, this year’s Comic-Con kicks off on Jul. 24. Badge prices for adults range from $30 to $45 per day, depending on the day. On Thursday (Jul. 24), Friday (Jul. 25) and Saturday (Jul. 26), for example, the cost of a one-day badge is $45.

Comic-Con was born in 1970 in the basement of the U.S. Grant Hotel in the heart of San Diego. Over the decades, the “little event that could” has grown into a behemoth, taking over the Convention Center, neighboring hotels and downtown San Diego for a long summer weekend every year.

Comic-Con’s fervent fans typically attend the convention in elaborate costumes, transforming the city into a metropolis straight out of the pages of fantasy and science fiction. The event has also become famous for celebrity sightings.

Downtown San Diego will transform into a sea of green Saturday as the annual shamROCK celebration takes over the Gaslamp Quarter.

The rockin' St. Patrick’s Day block party – now in its 19th year – will bring Ireland’s lush landscape to San Diego, turning the streets green with more than 80,000 feet of Astroturf.

If you’re looking celebrate St. Paddy’s with music and, perhaps an Irish jig or two, 5th Avenue and F Street will boast several stages showcasing DJs spinning tunes.

On the “Clover Stage,” DJs like Willi Joy and Eddie Cutlass will entertain. On the “Pint Stage,” performers including Whitenoize and Brady Spear will bring the fun. The “Pub Stage” will host a plethora of performers, including The Shamrockers and The Fooks, among many others.

The Field Irish Stage will focus on all things Celtic with various live bands performing Irish rock and other Irish favorites throughout the night.

The final stage, which will also host Irish River Dancers, will be set up right next to a 150-foot Irish pub where the green beer and Jameson whiskey will flow.

Organizers expect some 20,000 revelers to join the street festival this year.

The event runs from 4 p.m. until midnight. General admission tickets cost $45 the day of the event, while VIP tickets cost $85.

Of course, if you’re planning to party at shamROCK, make sure you plan your safe, sober ride home accordingly. Law enforcement officials will be out in full force over the next several days, cracking down on drunk driver over the St. Patrick’s Day weekend.
 

San Diego hasn't had much of a winter this year, and the warm weather has resulted in more than triple the number of rattlesnake calls to the County’s Department of Animal Services (DAS), according to officials.

DAS says that since Jan. 1, it has received 78 calls reporting rattlesnakes across San Diego County. That’s more than three times the number of rattlesnake calls during this same time period last year, when 24 calls came in.

DAS Director Dawn Danielson said weather like the kind residents have been experiencing this season is enticing to rattlesnakes.

“Our very mild winter and several heat spells are drawing the rattlesnakes out of their dens a little earlier this year,” Danielson explained.

Typically, rattlesnakes wait until spring to come out of hibernation. DAS recommends locals discourage the critters from making themselves at home in yards by getting rid of any possible shelter or food for rattlesnakes, including heaps of trash, wood piles, mice and rats.

Also, if you spot a rattlesnake on your property, calmly back away from the critter and leave it alone. Then, call DAS for assistance in safely removing the snake.

DAS also suggests being aware of your surroundings at all times if you are walking anywhere snakes might be, which means avoiding becoming distracted by your cell phone. If you’re walking your dog,
keep it on a leash, that way you can pull your pet away quickly if you encounter a rattlesnake.

Wear sturdy, closed-toe shoes while walking or hiking and stay on paths or trails, and avoid tall grass, weeds and brush where snakes might hide. Also, make sure you can always see the path ahead of you and look for snakes that might blend into the ground before picking up rocks or sticks.

Residents of unincorporated areas of San Diego County or the cities of Carlsbad, Del Mar, Encinitas, San Diego, Santee or Solana Beach can call DAS at (619) 236-2341 to report a rattlesnake sighting. All other residents can call the animal control agency for their respective city.

If you’re bitten by a rattlesnake, immediately call 911 and remove any constricting clothing or accessories like rings or watches.

Over the next five years, Father Joe’s Villages – San Diego’s largest residential homeless services provider – will be able to serve more than 1.5 million lunches to those in need thanks to a recent $2 million donation.

On Friday, the organization announced that Qualcomm, Inc., co-founder and executive vice president Franklin Antonio had made the generous donation to the organization’s lunch program – now renamed the “Franklin Antonio Public Lunch Program.”

According to Father Joe’s Villages, the hefty contribution will break down to more than 300,000 lunches for the hungry over the course of the next five years, or up to 900 meals per day.

Open daily, the lunch program -- which began in the early 1950s at St. Mary of the Wayside Chapel in East Village as one of the first services provided by the organization -- currently serves between 700 and 900 of San Diego’s poor, homeless and hungry at each sitting.

In total, more than one million meals are served each year to homeless men, women and children and the working poor though Father Joe’s Villages programs, the organization said.

Those with disabilities make up one-third of those dining through the program, while U.S. military veterans make up another 16 percent.

The outreach lunch program is offered free of charge at the Paul Mirable Center at 1501 Imperial Ave.

Currently, San Diego has the fourth largest population of homeless individuals in the United States. San Diego is also home to the third largest population of homeless U.S. military veterans in the country.

Diane Stumph, president of Father Joe’s Villages, said the $2 million donation will be instrumental in keeping the lunch program running.

“We are extremely grateful to Mr. Antonio for this tremendous donation, which will provide so many individuals with their only meal for the day,” said Stumph on Friday. “Mr. Antonio’s donation is great news for the souls who stand in line each day, and for all of San Diego because it shows that those with means care about their community and support their neighbors in need.”

For his part, Antonio, a graduate of UC San Diego, said he’s “honored to be able to help.”

“Father Joe’s is a San Diego treasure. I’m incredibly impressed by what they accomplish,” he said in a statement Friday.

Besides providing thousands of meals at various sittings daily, Father Joe’s Villages also houses more than 1,200 people every day, including more than 200 children and more than 200 military veterans.

The organization’s agencies strive to provide meals, housing programs and services such as healthcare, education, job training and child development in an effort to offer solutions and transform the lives of those in need and end the cycle of homelessness.

For more information about the organization, including how to help, visit this website.
 

A man suspected of exposing himself in a series of incidents across Southern California has been arrested in San Diego.

Brea Police detectives took a trip south Thursday to track Patrick Dodenhoff, 45, a transient parolee and registered sex offender.

He became their lead suspect after a flashing incident was reported Monday afternoon at the Brea Mall, just north of Anaheim in Orange County.

Witnesses told police a man pulled down his pants and exposed himself to a woman inside a store. He made lewd comments to her and then ran away.

The suspect was caught in the act on security footage.

Detectives said Dodenhoff is connected with similar crimes within the past week in San Diego, Torrance, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Laguna Hills and Mission Viejo.

Late Thursday evening, Brea Police located Dodenhoff in San Diego. Officers pulled him over on Interstate 5 at Balboa Avenue and arrested him without incident.

He has since been booked into the Orange County Jail, where he’s being held without bail for felony indecent exposure with prior convictions and a parole violation.

Dodenhoff was released from state prison in Dec. 2013 and moved to the San Luis Obispo area.

After his release, he was put on GPS monitoring, but on March 3, he removed the GPS device and ran away.

The Brea Police Department said there may be other victims and witnesses to the crimes. If you have any information, you’re asked to call Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855-TIP-OCCS.