After years of city budgets that were "hold-the-line" or downright "starvation" in their approach, San Diegans are looking at a 6 percent hike in municipal spending in Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s $3 billion proposal for the budget year that begins July 1.

"We've been through a lot together over the last several years,” Faulconer said during a noon-hour news briefing Monday at City Hall. “And to be in this opportunity now where we continue to work together to restore neighborhoods -- is where we all wanted to be."

Local economic forecasts are getting brighter, projecting somewhat higher tax revenues to flow into the city treasury.

Said Sean Karafin, Interim President of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association: "There's no doubt that the economy is doing better. And this budget rests on the increased tax base that comes from that bettering economy. But the projections look reasonable. Again, this is a first glance."

More than half of the new money will be poured into fixing San Diego’s neighborhoods – potholes, cracking and crumbling streets, sidewalks and other public infrastructure that’s been neglected for too long.

"These problems that we're facing in infrastructure did not happen overnight, and we're not going to solve them overnight,” said Councilman Mark Kersey, who chairs the Council’s Infrastructure Committee. “But with continued investment like what is reflected in this budget, we will be able to rebuild San Diego for future generations."

• Watch: Politically Speaking with Gene Cubbison

The Police Department will be in a hiring mode, for both uniformed and civilian staff, to backfill the slots of retiring veterans.

The short-handed Fire-Rescue Department, subject to mandatory overtime, will finally be getting reinforcements.

Hours at libraries and recreation centers will be increased, as will other neighborhood services.

There's even a healthy reserve fund to hedge against further downsides.

"I remember when I was first elected to the Council -- and our reserves were at 3 percent, I think, as we were teetering on going over the edge of the cliff,” Faulconer recalled. “And now, with everybody working together, we're at 14 percent."

The mayor also is allocating nearly a million dollars to underwrite community plan updates -- key blueprints for land use and economic development that in many cases have gone decades without reviews and revisions.

Faulconer's budget plan also directs spending on homeless issues to organizations that get the best results and establishes the position of "Open Data Officer" to help preserve and improve access to city records and information.

But City Hall observers caution that there's no predicting how long this upswing will last.

"The economy is really a huge driver in how these things look,” said Liam Dillon, who covers politics, government and civic issues for Voice of San Diego. “The economy's turning better; that makes things good. Whether we turn the corner or not depends as much on what happens in the broader economy than what happens at City Hall."

There's also uncertainty about how much infrastructure money can be borrowed on Wall Street and how soon.

Pending legal challenges claim voters have to approve the bond measures.

City lawyers argue otherwise.

The Council’s first in a series of budget hearing is set for May 5.

Councilman David Alvarez, who lost to Faulconer in the Feb. 11 special mayoral runoff election, gave notice in a written statement that he'll be pushing for at least one new park to be built in an "underserved" neighborhood.

Alvarez also said he believes there's still "inefficiency and waste" in the budget proposal – and will be looking to “identify areas that we can streamline and use those tax dollars to support increase community and neighborhood priorities.”

Firefighters battled a brush fire in San Diego’s Serra Mesa neighborhood Tuesday afternoon.

The fire was burning at the bottom of a steep canyon near the 8600 block of Hummingbird Lane. The fire started around 1:45 p.m.

Aerial pictures showed thick, black smoke pouring from the heavy brush. Smoke could be seen from the 805 freeway.

There are homes on top of the hill, but no evacuations were issued. No injuries were reported.

The San Diego Fire-Rescue helicopter dropped water on the flames in addition to crews on the ground.

There is no word yet on what caused the fire.

Check back for updates.

A Chicago man said he received an unwelcome email from Sprint this weekend after he called the company to report an error with his account.

Kelvin Mathews claims he was sent an email addressed to "Sissyboy Kelvin Gay Matthews" after he sought assistance from customer service.

“I gave [the representative] my email address, and that’s the email they sent me,” Mathews said.

Mathews said he originally called the company Sunday because he was still receiving messages from a Sprint account he thought he closed.

He told a customer service representative about his issue and was directed to check the status of his phone on his online account. When he couldn’t remember his login information, he said the representative sent him an email with instructions.

When he received the email, however, he was shocked and called customer service again.

“I expressed my concerns to them and how serious this is to me and my wife,” he said. “I don’t live a homosexual life, I never gave Sprint anything to go on and think that, and even if I did I don’t think it would be fair to say this on my account.”

Sprint said its investigation is ongoing but did acknowledge the error.

A spokesman for the company said the salutations on the automated emails can be changed by employees.

"We have apologized to Mr. Mathews and deeply regret what happened over the weekend,” the company said in a statement. “Mr. Mathews should never have received this email from our representative. We have dealt with that employee appropriately."

Mathews said a representative from Sprint contacted him Monday following his report, apologizing for the email.

The representative offered to close Mathews’ Sprint account with no early termination fees and agreed to open a new business account with an iPhone and two months of free service, Mathews said.

Mathews said he had not yet accepted the offer.

“To have this email is a form of degrading someone and I think people need to know about it,” he said. “They’re not treating customers like they should.”

Earlier this year, a suburban Chicago couple who lost their teenage daughter in a car crash received mail from OfficeMax addressed to "Daughter Killed in Car Crash."

And in February, a California woman named Lisa McIntire received mail from Bank of America addressed to "Lisa Is a Slut McIntire."

The New York Police Department says it has disbanded a special unit whose efforts to try to detect terror threats in Muslim communities through secret surveillance sparked outrage.

The NYPD confirmed the decision on Tuesday.

The surveillance program by the NYPD Intelligence Division had come under fire by community activists who accused the department of abusing civil rights.

The program relied on plainclothes officers to eavesdrop on people in bookstores, restaurants and mosques. The tactic was detailed in a series of stories by The Associated Press and became the subject of two federal lawsuits.

The NYPD's decision to disband the unit was first reported in The New York Times.

The conjoined twins who were separated at Medical City Children's Hospital in Dallas are expected to be released from the hospital Wednesday, eight months after their surgery.

Medical City announced Monday that Owen and Emmett Ezell are expected to be released to a local inpatient rehabilitation center this week.

To celebrate the twins' health and success, a small celebration is being planned on Wednesday prior to their departure. Ahead of that celebration, the hospital and Ezell family released new photographs of the now 9-month-old boys on Tuesday.

In the past the hospital had said the boys had to pass three major hurdles to go home -- eating and breathing on their own and fully healing from their surgical wounds.

"This is the next step to getting the boys home with their family," the news release said.

The hospital said Monday the twins are breathing on their own through trachea breathing tubes and are no longer being fed through an IV, but they continue to be fed through tubes in their abdomens.

While at rehab, the boys' parents will learn to manage those tubes until the boys can eat on their own.

The boys are expected to be released on Wednesday, but the hospital says as with any fragile patient, the release could change.

The hospital plans to celebrate the twins release at the hospital Wednesday, though the boys will not be there because of their fragile state.

The family has been chronicling the boys' progress, since their separation surgery in August 2013 on The Ezell Twins blog.

The Ezells are selling T-shirts through their blog that read, "The Works of God Displayed in Them, John 9:1-3."

The funds donated go into a trust fund set up for Emmett and Owen and their direct care.

More: The Ezell Twins blog | The Ezell Twins T-Shirts | Contribute

A 22-year-old woman was found dead inside a home in the Bay Terraces area Monday afternoon, the San Diego Police Department confirmed.

SDPD homicide detectives are calling the woman’s death suspicious, though further details have not yet been released.

According to police, an anonymous caller reported the death at around 3:45 p.m. at a home in the 6600-block of Doriana Street. On Tuesday police said there was no trauma to the woman’s body. Her name has not been released and an autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday.

Check back for updates on this developing story.
 

The mother of a Lakeside man killed while trimming trees says no amount of money can make up for the loss of her son.

Joshua Pudsey, 42, was trimming trees using a large cherry picker outside his employer's home at Date Avenue & Acacia Avenue on November 12 when a large branch fell on him, crushing his head.

Pudsey's mother, Debbi Anderson, told NBC 7 Monday that her son had just learned he was going to be a father before he was killed.

Anderson says her son's fiancee was only 34 days pregnant when the large portion of a 60-foot eucalyptus tree fell on her son.

Harrah’s Resort Southern California said it added 200 jobs with the completion of its construction project, and is up to 1,600 employees at its hotel and casino.

The business expects to add 80 more jobs, a resort spokeswoman said.

Harrah’s, on the Rincon Indian Reservation near Valley Center, recently completed its second high-rise hotel tower. With a total of 1,065 rooms, the hotel now bills itself as the fourth largest hotel property in San Diego County. The figure includes the property’s 147 suites.

The business made several renovations and added new venues in the $160 million project.

The property’s new features include an event center, a “trifecta of pools” with a 400-foot “Lazy River” feature, and a swim-up bar. 

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A longtime movie theater in San Diego’s Kensington neighborhood is set to close – and the cozy, iconic cinema will be missed by many.

For decades, Ken Cinema on Adams Avenue has been the city’s only single-screen theatre, showing mostly foreign and independent films.

According to Landmark Theatres, which owns the Ken, the theater will shutter its doors at the end of this month when it shows its final film on Apr. 27.

The theater’s closure will impact employees, residents and patrons who call the Ken one of the cultural epicenters of San Diego.

For the man who owns the business, Guy Hanford, the movies shown at the Ken helped him plot his life.

Hanford’s passion for films started at the historic Kensington movie house back in 1964, when, as an 8th grader, Hanford got a job cleaning up the theater.

“It was a dollar and a nickel a night – and it was fun,” Hanford recalled.

Hanford rubbed his nickels together and later started the Kensington Video Store, opening up shop right next door to the Ken – his muse for getting into the movie rental business.

“It was very instrumental in me starting to love films and see films outside of the American cinema,” he said.

But now, the historic theater that shaped Hanford’s life – and the lives of other film buffs – is shutting its doors, leaving behind sadness among both employees and patrons after more than half a century of showing unique films.

“I’m terribly heartbroken the Ken is closing down,” said fan Kyle Baudour. “It’s such an institution of Kensington and such a vital part of the community.”

Chris Principio with Landmark Threatres released this statement to NBC 7 Monday night:

“Landmark Theatres was not able to negotiate an acceptable new lease on the Ken with the landlord, even as Landmark is interested to continue to operate the theatre and make improvements by installing digital projection, which is the current industry standard...”

The theater will be missed by many San Diegans who enjoyed its cinematic offerings.

“I’ll miss it because it plays the best movies in town,” said one patron.

The Ken isn't just the last single-screen theater in the city of San Diego. Hanford calls it a supporting actor to Kensington-area businesses.

“So, when they see a movie is playing at the Ken Theater they come and discover this little jewel [Kensington] hidden right in the center of San Diego,” said Hanford.

Currently, seven employees work at the Ken. They were notified of the theater’s impending closure over the weekend.

A spokesman for Landmark said the employees will be offered a job at one of Landmark’s other theaters in San Diego.

If you get an email from the San Diego Superior Court, be warned: it may be a scam.

The San Diego Superior Court is alerting the public about a new scam involving unsolicited emails claiming to be from the court. According to court officials, several citizens have received these emails.

One person, who has an issue before the court, received an attachment with the email. That person opened the attachment and soon discovered it contained a virus.

Several concerned citizens have reported this scam to the court. Officials advise citizens not to open any attachment of link included in unsolicited emails.

“It’s important to reiterate to the public that we do not communicate with those with issues before the court via unsolicited email or telephone. If anyone tries to contact you regarding “missed jury duty” or cases of which you are unaware, you should delete the email or disregard the phone call,” said Michael Roddy, Executive Officer of the San Diego Superior Court.

At least two other courts in California – Los Angeles Superior Court and San Francisco Superior Court – have received complaints of similar frauds.

In San Diego, this is the second court-related scam within the last month.

In March, the San Diego Superior Court received complaints about people trying to defraud citizens via telephone. Posing as court officers or officials, the scammers would call people and demand money. In one case, a scam artist told a victim they had missed jury duty and owed the court nearly $800.

In that scam, the court advised anyone who received such a phone call to hang up immediately and contact police if the caller persisted.
 

A Chula Vista woman beaten with a brick by her longtime ex-husband as she took out the trash at her home two months ago has died, officials confirmed Wednesday

Martha Huffman, 64, passed away Sunday from critical injuries sustained in the attack at the hands of her former spouse on Feb. 26. She had been hospitalized ever since.

Her ex-husband, Los Angeles County resident Rand Huffman, 64, was arrested in connection with the assault and is facing charges of attempted homicide, torture and kidnapping.

On the morning of Feb. 26, neighbors called police when they heard Martha’s screams coming from her home on Twin Oaks Circle near E Street.

When officers arrived on scene, they found Rand with his knee on Martha’s throat, trying to cut off her air supply, investigators said. He was also wearing gloves and was armed with a knife and Taser.

Chula Vista Police Capt. Lon Turner said Martha was not only beaten with a brick as she took out her trash, she was also allegedly dragged by Rand to the back of the house, according to witness statements.

Martha sustained serious head injuries in the attack. She was taken to a local trauma center and rushed into emergency surgery. She remained in critical condition and ultimately, on Sunday, succumbed to her injuries.

According to police, the Huffmans had been divorced for decades.

In fact, officers said Rand hadn’t even spoken to his ex-wife in nearly 30 years. He had recently rekindled a relationship with his son, who lived with Martha in Chula Vista.

Though neighbors didn’t know much about Rand, witnesses told police they saw the suspect sitting in a car parked in the neighborhood the weekend before he attacked Martha.

Investigators believe Rand’s attack on his unsuspecting ex-wife was premeditated.

According to police, Huffman parked several blocks away from Martha’s house on the morning of the attack and waited for his ex-wife to come outside. He picked up a brick at the scene and used it to striker her.

The Huffman’s son was home at the time of the incident. Police questioned him and tried to determine whether he or Martha were Rand’s intended target. Investigators said the son had taken out a restraining order against Rand after a financial dispute over a piece of property.

Police said that dispute may have been the “catalyst” that led to the violence.

Rand was booked into the George Bailey Detention Facility, where he awaits his court date and is not eligible for release on bail. He’s scheduled to appear in court on June 16.

A former Naval officer and Navy physician’s assistant was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison Tuesday on 12 separate counts of sexual exploitation of a child and aggravated sexual abuse of a child under 12 years old.

San Diego resident Brandon W. Schroth, 40, will spend the next four decades behind bars for the felonies, U.S. District Judge William Q. Hayes ruled.

He was also ordered to 25 years of supervised release and must now register as a sex offender. Schroth will also pay more than $144,000 in restitution to two of the minor victims so they can pay for past and future counseling.

Judge Hayes said he was not significantly moved by letters of support for the defendant, given his crimes.

“Your friends and family saw one side of you. The victims in this case saw the other side, a side they will have to live with for the rest of their lives,” said the judge. “Your actions have placed the victims in their own private jail, with no release date.”

Schroth entered his guilty pleas in November 2012.

He has been in federal custody since March 2012, when special agents with the FBI arrested him and charged him with the child sex abuse counts.

According to court documents, between December 18, 2010, and December 26, 2010, Schroth boarded a flight from San Diego to Frankfurt, Germany, to engage in sexually explicit conduct with a minor outside the U.S. He planned to film his interaction with the minor.

During that time, investigators said Schroth was staying with a then-active duty Air Force member and mother of two minor girls, ages 9 and 11.

After Schroth returned to the U.S. in late December 2010, court records show he took sexually explicit photographs of a 9-year-old girl at his home in Mission Valley.

He also corresponded with a man in Colorado – Jeffrey Allan Mueller – with whom he planned to share the sexually explicit videos of the children.

FBI investigators later found videos produced in Germany of two minor females and several other sexually explicit images of minors taken by Schroth on Mueller’s computer in Colorado.

In July 2012, Mueller pleaded guilty to five counts of production of child pornography and one count of transportation of child porn. He, too, was sentenced to 40 years in federal custody.

During the investigation into Schroth and Mueller, detectives identified at least five additional producers of child porn and saved approximately 35 additional child victims of ongoing sexual abuse depicted in pornographic images, officials said.

On Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Haden told the court that Schroth deserved the harshest possible sentence.

“The darkest of demons do not commit their crimes wearing ski masks and carrying guns,” Haden said. “The darkest of demons manipulate their way into your home and attack your children - all for their own sexual gratification.”

A public hearing will be held later this month to consider a proposal for a new charter school in downtown San Diego’s East Village community.

The city-owned non-profit, Civic San Diego (CivicSD), announced Tuesday that a public hearing will be held on Apr. 30 at the organization’s board room to take up the matter and discuss the possibility of issuing several permits for the Urban Discovery Academy project.

The project would consist of a K-8 charter school located on a 30,000-square-foot site at the corner of 14th and G streets in the East Village. The school would be housed within an existing two-story building at that location, plus a new two-story, 16,000-square-foot building directly to the north.

The proposed project within the plan area would also include a four-story, 47-foot-high building containing six residential units, a small retail ground-floor space along 13th Street, outdoor playgrounds and a small parking lot at the southwest corner of 14th and E streets.

Urban Core Development, LLC, is the company applying for the permits. The project requires permits for new construction and a Neighborhood Use Permit to re-establish previously conforming educational uses on the site, according to CivicSD.

The public hearing will be held at 1 p.m. on Apr. 30 at 401 B Street, Suite 100, in downtown San Diego. Attendees can come forward with questions on the project during this hearing and can obtain copies of the development plan.

The decision of the CivicSD board will be final, unless an appeal is filed within 10 days of the decision.
 

More than one month after a man was gunned down while sitting in his car in City Heights, detectives continue to search for the suspect responsible for the murder.

On Mar. 12, just after 6 a.m., Alberto Sanchez, 45, was shot to death at the intersection of 41st Street and Orange Avenue. When officers arrived on scene, they found Sanchez slumped in the driver’s seat of his vehicle, suffering from multiple fatal gunshot wounds to his upper torso.

He was taken to a local hospital but died a short time later.

One month later, the killing remains unsolved.

According to investigators, an unknown man in his 20s was riding a bicycle past Sanchez’s vehicle that morning when he pulled out a gun and fired several rounds, striking Sanchez.

The suspect was described by witnesses as a dark-skinned man wearing a dark-colored sweatshirt and jeans. A motive for the shooting has not been determined.

Anyone with information on this case, including the identity and whereabouts of the shooting suspect, should contact the San Diego Police Department Homicide Unit at )619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may qualify for a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in this murder case.
 

Residents who live along the old Escondido Country Club golf course are raising a stink about the smell in their backyards.

Two weeks ago, the owner of the golf course started using chicken manure to fertilize the grass.  Some residents say the company is harassing them with the odor on purpose. The homeowners have been vocal opponents of the developer’s plan to build homes on the property.

So far, 50 residents have submitted complaints to the San Diego County Air Pollution Control Center. The Air Pollution Control Center has sent violation notices to both “Stuck in the Rough,” who owns the golf course, and the manure company.

The minimum fine for this type of odor is $10,000 a day, according to officials. However, if an investigation reveals the owner was doing this as retaliation, the golf course could be charged as much at $75,000 a day.

“The idea of a penalty here is to make it large enough to have a deterrent effect for them from doing it in the future,” Air Pollution Control Officer Bob Kard said. “It’s also penalty for doing what they did wrong, but the idea is to prevent them and others from undertaking similar things by setting an example.”

Now on Day 6, the clock is ticking for the golf course to get rid of the stench. Last week, the Air Pollution Control Center classified the smell as a Level 5. On Tuesday, it was a Level 3.

The owner of the golf course says the lawn is maintained by an "industry-standard landscaping program.” However, the owner apologized and promised to use a less-smelly fertilizer in the future.

A new lawsuit alleges that construction of Jamul’s new casino desecrated Native American burial ground.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of tribal members who say their ancestors were interred in unmarked gravesites on the property.

Construction of the Hollywood Casino Jamul off State Route 94 is still in the early stages, but three other lawsuits have already been filed regarding the project.

The latest lawsuit claims the ground was excavated and the contents were hauled to a freeway interchange project at State Routes 125 and 905 near the border.

The defendant is CalTrans, which holds the encroach permit under which the casino developer is working. Opponents say the tribe and CalTrans ignored warnings about the gravesites.

CalTrans could not comment on pending litigation. Both the casino developer and tribal leadership did not respond to NBC 7’s requests for comment.

A Superior Court Judge is expected to hear the first arguments in the burial site case Wednesday morning.

Closing statements began Tuesday as the trial wrapped for an Iraqi immigrant accused of beating his wife to death inside their El Cajon home two years ago.

Kassim Al-Himidi, 49, is accused of killing his wife, Shaima Alawadi, 32, after she asked for a divorce.

Alawadi’s brutally beaten body was found in a pool of blood by the couple’s then 17-year-old daughter, Fatima Al-Himidi, in the dining room of their family home in El Cajon on Mar. 21, 2012. Alawadi was hit at least six times and died three days later from critical brain injuries sustained in the beating.

At first, the case was investigated as a hate crime because a threatening note was found at the crime scene that read: “This is my country, go back to yours, terrorist.”

Both the defendant and victim are Iraqi immigrants. The case reverberated across the nation until El Cajon police later said the killing was an isolated incident and Alawadi’s death was not a hate crime, but rather one of domestic violence.

Al-Himidi was arrested in connection with his wife’s murder in November 2012. According to the prosecution, Al-Himidi killed his wife because she wanted a divorce and staged the crime scene with the note to make it look like a hate crime.

Over the past few weeks of Al-Himidi’s trial, the couple’s daughter has taken the stand several times. During that testimony, Fatima has shared details of her parents’ tense marriage and recounted the day she found her mother’s lifeless, bloodied body.

Al-Himidi has been visibly emotional throughout the trial, at times crying and wailing loudly as evidence was presented to the jury. He wept uncontrollably when 911 tapes were played in the courtroom at the beginning of the trial.

Cameras were only allowed in the courtroom during opening testimony and again Tuesday for closing arguments.

Once again, Al-Himidi could be seen weeping alongside his attorneys, holding a towel to his face when his emotions got the best of him.

The prosecution presented their closing argument first Tuesday, reminding the jury about how they should come up with their verdict. Deputy District Attorney Kurt Mechals went over the law and definitions of first and second-degree murder, what classifies reasonable doubt and so forth.

He then presented the facts in the murder case once more for the jury and defended Fatima, who has been questioned heavily about her mother’s slaying. The defense believes Fatima was somehow involved in her mother’s murder.

“Fatima had nothing to do with this,” said the prosecutor, adding that Al-Himidi is responsible for the crime. "The answer is sitting right here. It's the defendant. There's no other conclusion that is reasonable."

The defense also presented closing arguments. Al-Himidi’s attorney said his client wanted to keep his family intact and resolve things with his wife, not hurt her.

“Shaima Alawadi wanted a divorce. Yes, we know that. But what evidence did we hear that Shaima wanting a divorce somehow created a motive in Kassim Al-Himidi to kill her?” said the defense. “He wanted to keep his family together. That’s not evidence of motive to kill, that’s motive to reconcile.”

If convicted, Al-Himidi faces 26 years to life in prison.

A water main break shut down traffic in the heart of Mission Beach Tuesday and created a big, watery mess on some major streets.

At around noon, officials from the county water department were called to Mission Boulevard and West Mission Bay Drive to investigate the main break, which caused a significant amount of water to spill into the streets.

Officers from the San Diego Police Department assisted by providing traffic control in the area, shutting down portions of the road at Mission Boulevard and West Mission Bay Drive, near the Belmont Park roller coaster.

By 1:15 p.m., the water had been shut off, but the busy area remained drenched in water.

According to Arian Collins, Supervising Public Information Officer with the City of San Diego Public Utilities Department, a 12-inch-diameter cast iron water main broke at the intersection of West Mission Bay Drive and Bayside Walk.

Customers in the 800-block of West Mission Bay Drive and the Bahia Hotel were left without water service as crews worked to repair the broken water main.

As of 3:30 p.m., Collins said West Mission Bay Drive remained closed to traffic in both directions between Mission Boulevard and Gleason Road.

At this time, the estimated time of restoration for water service in the area is sometime between midnight and 2 a.m., officials said. No details were immediately released regarding the cause of the main break.

Though the main break was an inconvenience for some residents, visitors and drivers, Mission Beach resident Ezra Cosby made the best of the mess on the streets.

He grabbed his kayaks and went out paddling in about three feet of water that had pooled outside his home.

"It happened kind of quickly. I grabbed my kayak and decided to just come out and play a little bit. Hang out with my neighbor,” Cosby told NBC 7.

Cosby said the water main break caused some partial flooding in his garage, but he was able to move his car before water rushed in.

“It hasn’t risen high enough for it to enter my home. I hope it stays that way,” he added.

His neighbor, Jeff Rowland, also on a kayak, said Mission Beach residents are used to some flooding here and there, especially if there's heavy rain or if a water main breaks.

“Just another day at Mission Beach. Living the dream,” he said.

Tommy and Ellen Balestreri were staying at the Bahia Resort Hotel, on vacation in San Diego from St. Louis. They were left with no water service at the hotel.

Still, they said they wouldn't let the water main break ruin their good time, or spoil the beautiful San Diego weather.

“We’re trying to get out, go ride some bikes on the beach and make the best of it,” said Tommy.

“I guess we’ll think about showers another day,” added Ellen, with a laugh.

According to an NBC 7 Investigates report in February, Mission Beach experienced four other water main breaks in 2012 and 2013. Two of those breaks were very close to the location of Tuesday's incident, also on Bayside Walk.

On Tuesday at Serra High School in Tierrasanta, students put themselves to the test in Elizabeth Ward’s Advanced Placement English class.

But making the grade can be more challenging for some students.

“This is my seventh school I’ve been to,” Audrey Bell said.

That’s because Audrey’s mom is in the military and constantly on the move.

“You come at different times and work at different paces or just being in a new environment where you are not familiar with the teachers,” Audrey explained.

About a third of the students at Serra High have parents serving in the military.

Grace Crewdson's dad is in the Navy, and he has spent a lot of time at sea.

“My mom works, too, so when my dad is away, I have to really motivate myself to do everything,” Grace said.

• More Military News from NBC 7

For some military kids, these challenges can mean they can't get into tougher AP classes.

But $716,000 grant from the Department of Defense Education Activity and the National Math and Science Initiative means students struggling to keep up while their mom or dad serves the country will get some extra support.

“What it does is it provides a lot more opportunities to take AP courses,” Serra High School Principal Michael Jimenez said.

“Polices like this and grants like this help level the playing field,” said Capt. Curt Jones, commanding officer at Naval Base San Diego.

Not only do grants like this help students meet their goals, it helps the military achieve theirs, too.

“It makes a difference for our military kids, makes a difference for our military families and at the end of the day. that means readiness for our Marine Corps. That means readiness for our Navy,” said Col. John Farnam, commanding officer at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

April is the Month of the Military Child.

Krystle Arzola says her husband was dedicated to helping young people get into college, especially those who would be the first in their families to attend, just as he was.

Art Arzola turned down an offer to fly to Humbolt State University so he could ride on the bus with 44 other high school students who were planning to visit the campus.

Arzola, 26, of Rancho Cucamonga, was one of the 10 who died in the head-on crash with a FedEx truck in the Northern California city of Orland.

“He said, ‘No, I want to be with these kids on this bus,’” his wife said. “That’s a long bus ride and I want to be with these kids.”

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Messages from students her husband mentored are helping Krystle get through each day, along with her faith.

Krystle Arzola said her husband was living his life’s passion.

“His job was not to tell these students if they could go to college, it was to show them how to get there,” she said.

Added Arthur’s mother, Patricia Arzola: “That was his vision. He wanted to say, ‘Hey, you have a shot. You can do it, too.’

• Full Coverage: California Bus Crash
  

“This is a really tough time for everyone."

The young couple shared a strong faith. Her husband's final journal entry are notes from a church service he attended four days before he died.

“He wrote this in bold,” his wife said. “Storms don't last forever and remember that God will be with us throughout the storm."

Some $15,400 had been raised by Tuesday afternoon on the website gofundme to help pay for the funeral, set for Friday.

On Wednesday, mourners were planning a vigil at the University of La Verne Arzola, where Arzola was a graduate student.