Friday marked two years to the day since a 26-year-old man was shot to death in Southcrest and officials say his murder has yet to be solved.

SDPD homicide detectives continue to look for leads in the unsolved murder of Timothy Bowden, who was critically shot in the 4700 block of Logan Avenue on Jan. 25, 2011. Bowden is pictured above.

According to investigators, Bowden was found critically wounded, lying on a sidewalk just before 11 p.m. that day two years ago. He had suffered gunshot wounds and was transported by medics to a local trauma center.

He succumbed to his injuries and died at the hospital the next morning.

Investigators say Bowden had gone to the grocery store and was walking back to a friend’s house when he was shot on Logan Avenue.

To this day, there is no suspect description and the motive for his shooting remains unknown.

Homicide detectives are still trying to track down the suspect responsible for Bowden’s murder.

Anyone with information on the identity and location of the suspect(s) responsible for the crime are asked to call the San Diego Police Department at (619) 531-2293 or the Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
 

An L.A.-based water district, which has long been at war with San Diego’s regional water municipality, secretly hired local lobbyists, and hid the work through a small, member agency in Riverside County, according to the San Diego County Water Authority.

California Strategies, LLC, a local lobbying outfit, is being paid $15,000 a month to work on behalf of the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) on a San Diego-based public relations campaign, records show. Except, MWD isn’t paying the invoices, a smaller agency in Riverside County with no direct connection to San Diego is funding the work – a point of contention for San Diego water authorities.

The Metropolitan water district has been in a long and bitter dispute with the local San Diego County Water Authority over water rates. The local water authority is suing the Metropolitan, claiming their water rates overcharge San Diego County customers. Both 2010 and 2012 lawsuits are pending in San Francisco Superior Court.

California Strategies inked the contract with the Eastern Municipal Water District in August 2012, according to public records obtained and released by the San Diego County Water Authority on Wednesday.

The $100,000 contract – plus business expenses – is being invoiced to the Eastern district, a Riverside County agency that covers about 542 square miles and serves about 755,000 customers, according to its website.

The Riverside water officials were hoping to ease its access to local decision makers through San Diego P.R. professionals Craig Benedetto and Ben Haddad, according to the documents.

San Diego authorities maintain Metropolitan was simply funneling the work through its smaller member agency in Riverside to avoid public detection.

About the contract, the Eastern Municipal Water District released the following statement:

“In the event that SDCWA were to prevail in its legal efforts to change Metropolitan’s rate structure, EMWD customers would be required to unfairly pay $180 million to backfill the void left by the rate reduction provided to SDCWA. Given the implications to its ratepayers, EMWD felt it was appropriate to better understand the environment and dynamics in San Diego.

While we understand how the consulting agreement could be misconstrued, by referencing a scope of work that was contained in an unsigned draft document, the fact is that EMWD sought this professional advice completely independent of Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and its member agencies and no other parties contributed toward funding this contract or directing the consultant’s work.”

The Riverside water agency originally refused to provide the local Water Authority with a scope of work for the public affairs consulting being performed by California Strategies, correspondence between the agencies shows.

State law requires public access to documents relating to the public’s business.

When pressed, the Eastern Municipal Water District released a redacted description of the work being performed by California Strategies on Jan. 8. The document stated California Strategies was to “design and conduct an ascertainment program to communicate with 15-20 key stakeholders in the San Diego area on behalf of MWD and its member agencies.”

Those stakeholders included the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Building Industry Association and the San Diego County Taxpayer’s associations – boards on which Benedetto and Haddad serve.

Benedetto and Haddad did not return multiple requests for comment in response to this article.

A spokesman for the California Strategies firm released the following statement:

“We are proud of the work we conducted on EMWD’s behalf. All work was directed and paid for entirely by EMWD,” the statement read.

Parts of the scope of work are still redacted and an attorney for the MWD maintains the information is privileged because it relates to litigation between the Water Authority and the Metropolitan Water District (MWD). There is no existing litigation between EMWD and the San Diego County Water authority.

A spokesman for MWD said San Diego’s local Water Authority is engaged in the exact same activity.

Not true, says Dennis Cushman, the assistant general manager for the local San Diego County Water Authority.

“We’re not out in the service areas of other member agencies opening up PR offices and using their ratepayer’s money – which is what MWD is doing in San Diego,” Cushman said. “Nor are we out in MWD member agencies’ service areas implementing secret outreach campaigns to their business and civic leaders, and then trying to cover up those activities by refusing to disclose public documents. And we are not hiding behind the skirts of another public agency as MWD is doing with Eastern …”

The San Diego County Water Authority does have public relations and outreach contracts, including a $6,000-a-month contract with a local firm, Southwest Strategies. When the contract was approved, it was not listed on a public agenda because the total contract amount fell within a range that can legally be approved by the general manager without board approval, the agency said. The local water district argues these contracts are different because the work of firms representing it is not a secret; it is not on behalf of a different public agency, nor is it for work conducted in another water agency’s service area, the agency told NBC Investigates.

The San Diego County Water Authority also has a $12,500-a-month contract with San Francisco-based SCN Strategies. That contract was also originally inked without a public airing, but it appeared on an agenda in December 2011 for an extension. The contract now extends through June 30, 2013.

Metropolitan Water District spokesman Bob Muir released the following statement about the disagreement.

“Yet again, the San Diego County Water Authority is making reckless and patently false allegation about Metropolitan. Metropolitan has no contract with Cal Strategies, LLC. We recommend you contact Eastern Municipal Water District or Cal Strategies directly,” the statement read.

Cushman told NBC 7 Investigates that all these legal and P.R. costs could be folded into your future water bills.

NBC 7 Investigates spoke with one local home owner who wasn’t pleased about that.

“Well, if they need to spend the money on PR maybe they should make a regulation that the funding comes out of their salary instead of out of our bill,” said local homeowner Paul Begovich.

California Highway Patrol officials are cracking down on distracted teenage drivers.

The CHP, along with a group called Impact Teen Drivers, is conducting a year-long, grant-funded project dubbed “Teen Distracted Drivers Education and Enforcement II.”

The campaign aims to raise awareness and education about distracted driving while conducting more distracted driving enforcement operations throughout California.

The focus is to get teenage drivers to stop texting behind the wheel and keep their eyes on the road, making the streets safer for everyone.

According to statistics recently released by the CHP, 80 percent of car crashes involve some kind of driver distraction. Talking or texting on cell phones is the main source of driver distraction.

California drivers age 20 or older were involved in nearly 22,000 distracted driving collisions from Oct. 2009 to Sept. 2010, according to the CHP. As new drivers, teens are at an even greater risk of being involved in distracted driving crashes due to the peer pressures of texting at all times.

The CHP says teenage distracted driving is one of the leading contributors of collisions and near-collisions on roadways.

Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In San Diego, it seems law enforcement is actively cracking down on distracted drivers.

On Jan. 11, police officers issued 42 tickets to drivers in La Mesa who were either talking on their cell phones or texting behind the wheel as part of a six-hour “Traffic Safety Enforcement Program” operation designed to aggressively enforce the state’s distracted driving laws.

Then, on Jan. 12, Chula Vista police conducted their own Distracted Driving Operation. Officers ticketed 35 drivers in the area, 29 of whom were talking on their cell phones while driving and six who were texting behind the wheel.

Ultimately, these statewide and local crackdowns are meant to reduce the number of deaths and injuries on the roadways at the hands of distracted drivers.

According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles website, the base fine for the first texting while driving offense is $20, and $50 for subsequent convictions. With penalty assessments, the DMV says the fine can be more than triple the base fine amount.

A publicly-funded motorist assistance program dubbed the San Diego Freeway Service Patrol (FSP) has now expanded, SANDAG announced.

According to SANDAG, the FSP uses 19 tow trucks and eight light-duty pickup trucks to roam local freeways. FSP drivers assist stranded motorists with a few key things: a gallon of gas, a jump-start, water for their radiator or a tire change.

Ultimately, the goal of the program is to quickly resolve traffic tie-ups caused by minor vehicle breakdowns. San Diego FSP has been around since 1993 as part of a statewide program funded by the state budget and other local sources.

Until recently, the local roadside service had only operated in the region during weekday rush hours. Now, it has expanded to weekends as part of a pilot initiative, SANDAG said.

According to SANDAG Executive Director Gary Gallegos, the FSP program has helped more than 50,000 stranded motorists get safely back on the road in the past year alone.

“The Freeway Service Patrol is an effective tool to improve traffic flow on our region’s most congested freeways,” said Gallegos.

SANDAG began operating the FSP on weekends in the North County back in October and expanded the service into metro San Diego this month.

Weekend FSP service is available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Interstates 5, 8, 15 and 805.
Since the service began in the North County in October, SANDAG says FSP drivers have helped an average of one motorist per hour on the I-15.

And the program isn’t finished expanding just yet.

Future plans include adding a pilot midday roadside service throughout the county starting in July. An additional six tow trucks will be added to the FSP fleet this summer too, for a total of 25 tow trucks roving local freeways.

As for the weekday FSP schedule, hours of service will remain the same, with patrol operating during morning and afternoon rush hours, from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., respectively. On weekdays, the FSP serves sections of Interstates 5, 8, 15, and 805, as well as State Routes 52, 54, 56, 67, 78, 94, 125, 163 and 905. Holidays are excluded.

SANDAG says the pilot expansion will continue as long as funds are available. The plan is to continue fine-tuning the program to improve efficiency on local freeways.

For motorist assistance during FSP service hours, call 511 and say “roadside assistance.” To learn more about the program click here. For a map of the local FSP service area, click here.

SDPD officers tased and shot a man in Mira Mesa Friday night after he allegedly made threatening gestures and verbal remarks toward officers.

According to the San Diego Police Department, officers responded to a domestic violence disturbance at a residence in the 8800 block of Scorpius Way and Bootes Street at around 8:40 p.m.

A woman had called police to report that she was allegedly being attacked by her husband. The woman also told police her husband had threatened to attack officers when they arrived so the officers would shoot him, SDPD officials said.

When police arrived at the scene, the domestic violence suspect exited the home and walked into the street. Officers could see the man was holding some sort of object in his hand, but due to the rain and poor lightning conditions, they couldn’t identify the object.

SDPD officials say that’s when officers gave the man verbal commands to drop whatever he was carrying. The man allegedly ignored those commands and raised the object above his head while making verbal threats toward officers.

An officer then deployed his service taser on the suspect, but it didn’t appear to affect him. Police say the man continued to advance on the officers in a threatening manner.

Fearing an assault, a second officer fired his duty weapon, striking the man. The suspect fell to the ground and dropped the object he was carrying, which was a large rock, officials said.

Medics transported the man to Scripps Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. He is expected to survive.

The officers on scene were not injured in this incident. SDPD officials confirmed that the officer involved in the shooting is a 12-year veteran of the Department. His name was not released.

The suspect’s name has also not yet been released.

Check back for updates.

Two men and a teenage boy were arrested in connection with a series of race-based attacks on an African American family in an attempt to drive them out of Compton, in Los Angeles County, sheriff’s officials said.

A group of Latino males who claimed to be in a local street gang used metal pipes and shouted racial epithets at a black man who had recently moved into the neighborhood, sheriff’s officials said.

One of the suspects, identified as Efren Marquez, 21, allegedly pointed a gun at the victim and threatened to shoot him while he was being beaten with a metal pipe allegedly by a second suspect, identified as Jeffrey Aguilar, 19, officials said.

After the attack, the group left in a black sport utility vehicle.

Marquez and Aguilar returned 30 minutes later with a group of up to 20 gang members, who surrounded the front of the victims’ home shouting racial epithets and telling them that members of the African American race (using the ‘n-word’) were not allowed to live in the neighborhood, sheriff’s officials said.

An unidentified member of the group threw a beer bottle through the front living room window.

Sheriff’s officials said the suspects continued to drive by the home of the family -- which includes four children -- several times a day, shouting racial epithets while ordering the family to leave the neighborhood.

Aguilar, Marquez and a juvenile were arrested on Thursday, said Capt. Mike Parker of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau.

They face hate crime charges.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Sheriff’s Operation Safe Streets Bureau gang investigators at (310) 603-3100 or the Compton Sheriff’s Station at (310) 605-6500.

San Diegans woke up Saturday to more rain across the county and dense fog.

The National Weather Service says the dense fog and scattered showers will persist through 11 a.m. The fog should lift, except over elevated terrain.

As always, the NWS warns motorists to be extra cautious on wet roads. The fog may impact visibility, so staying alert while driving is key.

Friday was another wet, gloomy day for San Diego, with rain sweeping the county.

Roadways were littered with crashes and traffic was backed up for miles, especially on wet freeways.

On Interstate 15, motorists experienced brake lights for miles during Friday evening’s rush hour commute. An overturned big rig blocked the I-15 lanes for hours, making that drive home difficult for locals.

By 8 p.m. Friday, the relentless rain had found its way to low-lying areas like Nestor. Workers closed down the 1800 block of Saturn Boulevard due to some flooding Friday night.

The rain also brought urban runoff to local beaches.

The Department of Environmental Health issued an urban runoff advisory for San Diego’s coastal waters. Swimmers, surfers and divers are urged to stay out of the water since levels of bacteria can rise significantly in ocean and bay waters, especially near storm drains, creeks, rivers and lagoon outlets that discharge urban runoff.

The Department of Environmental Health says water-based activities should be avoided for 72 hours following the rain, including at coastal beaches, Mission Bay and San Diego Bay.

For updates on beach closures in San Diego, call this hotline: (619) 338-2073.

As of now, the NWS says there’s a 30 percent chance of showers on Sunday too, mainly after 4 a.m.

According to NBC 7 meteorologist Jodi Kodesh, this rain storm has brought .92-inches of rain to San Diego in just 24 hour.

“We typically get just a little more rainfall than that the ENTIRE month of January,” said Kodesh.
 

For the latest local weather updates, click here.

Dense on-again, off-again fog repeatedly delayed the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open in Torrey Pines Saturday.

The golf tournament was set to resume at 7:20 a.m., but fog in La Jolla and Torrey Pines caused an initial three-hour delay on the course -- and then some.

By 10:25 a.m., the tournament was underway, but that didn’t last long.

Five minutes after play began, the PGA Tour website reported that the fog had returned and play had again been suspended at the Farmers Insurance Open.

Only the first groups had hit their tee shots to start when the La Jolla marine layer rolled back in. The fog in San Diego Saturday was accompanied by mist and scattered rain in some parts of the county.

Just before noon, a tweet on the PGA Tour’s Twitter page announced that the fog appeared to be letting up and the tournament would resume at 12:20 p.m.

But, again, that proved to be another false restart.

At 12:35 p.m. the PGA Tour Twitter page announced the fog had rolled back in at Torrey Pines, delaying play once again. There is no word on when the golf tournament will resume.

Mark Russell, VP of rules and competition for the PGA Tour told the PGA Tour website that there is nothing they could do about the fog at this point.

Russell said players couldn’t see 30 yards in front of them due to the fog. He told the PGA Tour website that he hopes the tournament can finish, as scheduled, by Sunday.

If players can’t tee off soon, Russell said the golf tournament may be pushed into Monday.

On Friday, Tiger Woods finished atop the leaderboard despite another gloomy, dreary day of golf. It remains to be seen whether the pro can keep his lead Saturday.
 

More rain meant more problems on San Diego’s roadways Saturday.

As showers continued, numerous rain-related rollover collisions were reported throughout the day across the county, including accidents on State Route 163 and Interstate 8.

At around 11:40 a.m., CHP officials reported a traffic collision involving a van on eastbound I-8 and the Qualcomm Way on-ramp. The ramp was shut down by officials until further notice.

At about 11:15 a.m., CHP officials reported a single-vehicle rollover crash on northbound SR-163 at the University Avenue on-ramp. That car wound up on its roof, blocking traffic on the freeway. CHP officials temporarily blocked off the onramp.

No further information was immediately available regarding that crash or possible victims and injuries.

Another rollover traffic collision was reported on eastbound I-8 and Waring Road at around 10:45 a.m. CHP officials responded to reports of an SUV flipping over on the freeway, blocking at least two lanes. Again, no further information was immediately released about the crash.

The rain on Friday brought similar problems to local roadways, with several local crashes reported.

Check HERE for an interactive traffic map.

A woman’s body was found floating near Scripps Pier Saturday, San Diego lifeguards confirmed.

According to Lt. Andy Lerum, the deceased woman was found floating in the Pacific Ocean about 100 yards from the pier at around 12:15 p.m.

A citizen had spotted the body and alerted lifeguards, Lt. Lerum said.

The woman has not yet been identified. Lifeguards did say it appears she’s in her mid-30s.

Officials could not confirm whether the woman had been diving or surfing. It was unclear how long her body had been in the water, but Lt. Lerum confirmed rigor mortis had set in on the body.

The corpse was brought onto the beach near the Scripps Pier base by lifeguards.

Lt. Lerum said the Medical Examiner’s office would determine the woman’s identity and cause of death. Check back for updates.
 

A San Diego park will be renamed after SDPD Officer Jeremy Henwood, who was killed in the line of duty in 2011 just moments after he shared a meal with a City Heights child. 

The city's Park and Recreation Board unanimously approved naming a portion of the City Heights Urban Village in Henwood's honor. 

Henwood was killed on August 6, 2011 in his patrol car when a gunman from a previous shooting pulled up beside him and shot him unprovoked.

The shooter, Dejon Marquee, was later shot and killed in his apartment after he raised his shotgun and appeared prepare to fire at the officers surrounding him.

Henwood was also a combat Marine who served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan.

The park is located just a block away from the McDonald's where Henwood made his final act of kindness. The moment was caught on surveillance and has come to represent the young officer's generosity and kindheartedness. 

"This postage stamp of land became hallowed ground, for a community in mourning, coming together to offer support to the Henwood family, to our police officers and our neighbors, sharing prayers and tears for a life that ended too soon," said Councilmember Marti Emerald in a letter to the Park and Recreation Board prior to their approval of the tribute.

The turf area that will be named after Henwood is south of the City Heights Weingart Library and north of the City Heights Swim Center.

It is not expected to have a fiscal impact on the city, but members of the public are planning on raising money for a placque with Henwood's name on it. 

"Naming our community square after Officer Henwood would be a fitting honor to this fine young man and all that he represented: men and women everywhere who are willing to lay down their lives to protect others," Emerald said. 

The park's new name won't be the first tribute to the fallen officer. Henwood's name was also added to the Police Department's Roll of Honor outside the department's downtown station.

On the one-year anniversary of his death, the boy who Henwood shared a meal with shared the inspirational story of their encounter. 

Last year, the owner of McDonald’s where Henwood spent his final moments partnered with the San Diego Police Officers Association to hold a fundraiser honoring Henwood. A portion of the proceeds were donated to the SDPOA Widows and Orphans Fund.

A new report shows that the city’s traffic conditions have worsened in the last seven years.

In the San Diego County Infrastructure Report Card, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the city's surface transportation a grade of D+, a downgrade from C in 2005.

“Traffic congestion has increased as the economy begins to recover,” said the report by ASCE.

The report partially attributed the traffic problems to California’s budget issues, saying lack of funding to road projects makes it difficult to improve streets.

“We already see the effects of reduced funding with our local roadways not being well maintained, the condition of our highways starting to deteriorate, and transit service being cut due to lack of funding,” the report said.

Roughly half of San Diego’s roads are in substandard or poor condition.

Other areas of San Diego that were identified as needing more attention also included: Land and Sea ports of entry; levees, flood control and urban drainage; in addition to parks, recreation and environment.

But it’s not all bad news. Thanks to good weather and new buildings, the report said San Diego’s infrastructure is performing better than many other areas in the U.S. 

Employees of a bar in Mission Beach are trying to figure out what happened to their jobs -- and paychecks -- after owners closed up shop for the holidays and never reopened.

The Sneak Joint bar located at 3844 Mission Blvd. has been closed for about a month with not so much as a peep or explanation from the owners.

Sneak Joint waitress Heather Gonzalez told NBC 7 the bar closed down suddenly, a few days before Christmas. A manager delivered the bad news to the staff.

"[The manager told us] `We're going to close for the holidays and our paychecks aren't going to work. They're going to all bounce,’” explained Gonzalez.

Gonzalez said she enjoyed working there -- that is, until the bar lived up to its name.

Just like that, her check bounced and so did the owners.

“They're just ignoring all of the employees who have worked so hard to make their business successful,” said Gonzales.

After promising to reopen at the beginning of the year, employees say they haven't heard a word and in addition to the bounced check, most employees are still owed another one.

Gonzalez said the sudden and baffling closure of the bar has been difficult on her financially.

“I had no money. I couldn't pay my landlord rent and I had no choice but to vacate and put in my 30-day notice,” she said.

The Mission Beach bar is owned by Elevated Endeavors, LLC. The company's website says it is a premier corporate strategy and operations firm.

There are no signs on the door saying the business is closed. A look inside and you'll see condiments and menus still on tables, adding to the mystery.

Even the company's Facebook page offers no explanation for the closure, but customers have posted questions like, "Is Sneak Joint ever going to re-open?"

Gonzalez said that’s a question even employees are still asking and, for her, it’s no longer about the money.

“I mean, they need to be exposed I feel like, it's ridiculous. It's really unprofessional and disrespectful,” she added.

NBC 7 emailed, called and sent text message to the owners of Sneak Joint, but received no response.

Some employees told NBC 7 they will now file claims with the labor union.
 

The Navy is tightening its belt and this means a lot of people in San Diego may be squeezed out of a job.

The Navy is announcing major cuts because of budget shortfalls, and they'll take effect almost immediately.

The Navy's top officer released an internal Navy memo Thursday, calling for immediate action across the Navy to address budget shortfalls congress hasn't acted on. Personnel cuts will decrease the size of the Navy-wide shipyard workforce by more than 3,000 people, and they'll come in the form of a civilian hiring freeze and termination of temporary employees.

A senior Navy official tells NBC 7 that in San Diego, the Navy plans to cancel ship mid-life maintenance for 10 ships, saving more than $200 million dollars. They also plan to cancel aircraft maintenance at North Island, on the order of more than $80 million dollars.

The Navy will also reduce ship operations and aircraft flying hours, stop non-mission essential travel and postpone new projects. Repairs of facilities, including piers, runways, and buildings will also be halted.

Defense leaders in our community have been warning about this and it’s happening now for two reasons:

First, congress still hasn't passed a 2013 appropriations bill, so the Navy has had to operate at 2012 levels under a continuing resolution.

Secondly, they're bracing for sequestration; automatic, across the board spending cuts that will go into effect in March unless congress acts to stop them.

According to a senior Navy official, the Navy intends these reductions to be reversible.

But, just like a ship can't turn around quickly, neither can the impact of these cuts be quickly reversed, especially when it comes to the defense industry.

It's important to note that sailor pay, benefits, and retirement are protected.
 

Veteran Santa Cruz surfer Peter Mel was declared the winner of the 2013 Mavericks Surf Invitational last weekend.

GoPro, a contest sponsor, released surfboard-close video of Mel's runs and they are nothing short of amazing.

We've posted GoPro's pre-produced video below.

GoPro said the video was shot on the HERO3 camera. GoPro cameras are small, super durable, and stream the kind of video that makes your jaw drop.

GoPro recently got a 200 million dollar investment from Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn, valuing the camera company at a staggering $2.25 billion. 

GoPro has taken the lead when it comes to powerful cameras that can go just about anywhere; by giving us a front-row seat to one of the most photographed events anywhere, it shows no sign of giving up that lead.

Back to the surfing. Mei has competed in the event since its inception in 1999.

He is a well-known Northern California surfer with two decade's experience surfing.

Mel is known for helping launch the tow-in surfing movement locally, according to competition organizers. He also had a win in August in Pico Alto, Peru on the second stop of the annual Big Wave World Tour.

The top six winners:

• 1st Peter Mel
• 2nd Zach Wormhoudt
• 3rd Greg Long
• 4th Alex Martins
• 5th Mark Healey
• 6th Shawn Dollar