San Diego-area law enforcement officers were responding to a domestic violence call when a police K-9 bit an officer from a different department.

A La Mesa police officer was injured after he arrived to a home in the 8000-block of Orchard Avenue in La Mesa around 8:30 p.m.

An El Cajon K-9 team was also at the scene. As officers were leaving, the dog bit one of them on the arm.

In news video captured at the scene, the unidentified officer can be seen holding his arm in pain while an El Cajon police officer works to control the police dog in the background.

He was initially treated at the scene but was later taken to a nearby hospital.

No word yet on his condition.
 

Former Chargers All Pro guard Walt Sweeney passed away over the weekend from pancreatic cancer.

Sweeney, 71, was in the Chargers Hall of Fame and a member of the Ring of Honor.

He played 181 consecutive games over 13 seasons. His career took its toll.

Sweeney played in the early steroid era, later got hooked on pain pills.

He sued the NFL pension plan, saying his playing days "ruined his life and made him unemployable" and won a $1.8 million judgment.

It's been said by many former players that the NFL's strategy concerning retirees is to "delay, deny and hope we die."

Sweeney could be the poster child for that assertion. Bright guy, a good guy.

Walter Francis Sweeney was 71.
 

Several schools were placed on lockdown in Yuma, Arizona after reports of a young man with a gun on one school campus officials told the local NBC television station.

Officers were called to Rancho Viejo Elementary School around 9:55 a.m. local time in response to a call about a “young man who may have had a gun” KYMA reported.

Several schools were on lockdown including Rancho Viejo, Salida Del Sol Elementary School, and WACOG Preschool.

There's no report of any shots being fired or anybody being taken into custody.
 

The sister of the Iraq War veteran charged with killing a former Navy SEAL sniper and his friend told a 911 operator that her brother was "psychotic."

Midlothian police released the 911 call Tuesday. In it, Eddie Ray Routh's sister says her brother came to her house and told her that he killed two people at a shooting range.

The woman, Laura Blevins, told the 911 operator that she wasn't sure if her brother was being honest with her, but that she was scared he may return to the house.

 "My brother just came by here ... he told me that he's committed a murder.  I'm terrified for my life because I don't know if he's going to come back here," Blevins said in the call.

Routh is charged with gunning down former Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield at a gun range Saturday.

Routh's brother-in-law told the 911 operator that Routh was recently diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and was released from a mental hospital about a week ago.

His actual mental health condition remains unclear and while Routh has been charged with the killing, he has not yet entered a plea.

Routh is jailed in Erath County on $3 million bail.

The San Bernardino County Coroner's Department late Monday afternoon released the names of five people killed in Sunday's deadly tour bus crash.

Three of those victims are from San Diego, the report stated. 

San Diegans Guadalupe Olivas, 61, Elvira Garcia Jimenez, 40, and Victor Cabrera Garcia, 13, were all killed in the crash. 

Additionally, the coroner has identified Tijuana residents: Aleida Adriana Arce Hernandez, 38, Mario Garcia Santoyo, 32, and Rubicelia Escobeda Flores, 34. 

Flowers and candles were brought to Loma Linda Medical Center where some of the victims involved in the deadly tour bus crash on a mountain road were hospitalized and family members gathered to wait for updates on their conditions.

Two patients -- identified as an adult male and girl -- at the hospital were listed Monday morning in critical condition. Another adult male was in serious condition, and a woman and girl were listed in fair condition.

Three patients were transferred to Loma Linda Medical Center overnight from other hospitals. They included a man and woman in fair condition and a boy in fair condition.

A victim's family member said some of the estimated 40 passengers were students from Tijuana, Mexico and their guests. They were returning from a skiing and snowboarding trip in Big Bear when the bus began swerving at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday on Highway 38 near Yucaipa.

Passengers and another driver said the bus swerved for about three minutes and the driver reported brake problems before the bus crashed into two vehicles and flipped.

Some passengers were ejected from the bus, other were extricated from the wreckage on the two-lane highway.

A Caltrans officials described the crash as the worst she has seen in 23 years working for the agency.

A teenager was arrested Tuesday afternoon following a damaging fire inside a Sorrento Valley daycare, police said.

A 14-year-old has been booked into Juvenile Hall in connection with a fire at the La Jolla Children's Learning Lab that started just after 3 a.m. on Pacific Heights Boulevard.

A security guard reported the fire, which appeared to have began in a 5-foot square plastic storage bin in the center’s outdoor play area.

Inside the center, stove tops were turned on and left on with pots on the stove, a window was broken and several rooms were sprayed with a fire extinguisher.

Door knobs and walls were sprayed with graffiti as well, according to San Diego Fire Rescue spokesperson Maurice Luque.

"Nothing totally legible, it was merely somebody taking a spray paint can and just randomly just scribbling on a wall or on a toy or on door handles, it was kind of an odd situation," Luque said.

In total, fire officials estimate the fire and vandalism cost $70,000 in damage. Fire investigators said four other smaller fires were set along the playground and side of the building. Nothing inside was stolen though, center officials said. 

The boy reportedly admitted to the fire and vandalism when officers took him into custody near his home in Mira Mesa. He also admitted to starting another small fire on January 29 at a church day care facility in Mira Mesa. 

The center was closed Tuesday due to the investigation and cleanup, according Beth Woodward with the center’s parent company Knowledge Universe.

"At first I was kind of shocked. This kind of thing can happen at a day care," said parent Michael Gu. "It's real disappointing."

About 170 students attend school at the center. The children are being rerouted to Kinder Care Learning Centers across the county.

Knowledge Universe also runs all Kinder Cares centers in San Diego County

"To think I'm really going to work from home, taking care of him, is going to be an interesting day," said parent Rob O'Callaghan.

The daycare center may re-open as early as Wednesday.

Days after the chief financial officer for the San Diego Unified School District was quoted as saying the cash-strapped district had “hundreds of excess employees”, San Diego’s school superintendent apologized.

On Monday, SDUSD Superintendent Bill Kowba apologized for statements made by CFO Stan Dobbs in an interview that was published in full by voiceofsandiego Friday.

"His interview offered his own candid assessment of the financial condition of the district," Kowba wrote, "Unfortunately it also includes several factual errors and misstatements that need correction."

“The public needs to know that this district does not have hundreds of excess staff who are not serving our students,” Kowba said.

Read Kowba's full statement here

In talking with our media partner voiceofsandiego, Dobbs, who has been employed by the district for 60 days, discussed how he felt the district could better balance its budget.

He spoke about transparency and about providing budgets people could understand and follow where tax dollars go.

But, in giving specifics, Dobbs stepped on some toes.

Dobbs made several remarks that one board member said “insulted just about everyone in the district, at all levels.”

In the audio-taped interview, Dobbs told the news website that there are hundreds of excess employees – “everywhere” and no documented proof smaller class size improves learning.

Kowba addressed these points saying “ Stan is incorrect when he stated that there is no research about the importance of class sizes. On the contrary, there is a body of research
supporting smaller class sizes…”

Of Dobbs’ excess employees remark, Kowba wrote “I can only surmise that Stan was referring to our stated need to reduce staffing levels as part of our budget reduction strategy for 2013/14.”

Among the claims Dobbs made in the interview was that the average teacher salary was $92,000 a school year to which he added that it was “ridiculous” that employees do not contribute to the cost of benefits.

“Out of 14, almost 17,000 people, that you’re playing 100 percent of all their benefits, their spouses, their kids and anyone else put in there. In 2013, that’s ridiculous,” he told the voiceofsandiego.

Read the voiceofsandiego interview here

“I was surprised by some of the things that were said particularly this idea that San Diego has hundreds of employees it does not need,” said SDUSD President John Lee Evans.

Evans sought to clarify what he called misinformation. For example, he said the average teacher salary is $65-$70,0000 plus benefits.

While Evans would not say whether he felt the CFO acted irresponsibly, he did say employment issues are up to the superintendent.

“I will leave it up to him to make any comments about his employees and any actions he wants to take,” Evans said.

The president of the teachers union said the inaccuracies made teachers look greedy. He said Dobbs stopped by his office Monday to apologize for his comments.

As to what Dobbs has to say for himself, NBC 7 San Diego was told by the district he was not available for comment.

In the legal battle over where more than a dozen current and former school officials will stand trial on accusations of accepting bribes and other crimes, the South Bay wins.

Judge Timothy Walsh denied a motion entered by the San Diego District Attorney’s Office asking that the case stay in the central location.

The defendants are current and former school officials, elected trustees, and contractors who did work at San Ysidro schools, the Sweetwater school district and Southwestern College.

They face hundreds of charges including bribery, perjury and filing a false instrument.

On Jan. 23, the court transferred the case to the South County Division.

However, the DA’s office argued Tuesday that the case involved alleged crimes committed in all areas of the county and so it should be heard in the downtown courthouse.

The vast majority of charges involve individuals acting as South Bay public officials Walsh determined.

“I believe the venue is most appropriate in South County,” Walsh said.

The two indictments at the core of the alleged corruption trial involve 223 charges and 17 defendants.

Among the defendants in the case: financier Gary Cabello, current Sweetwater trustee Jim Cartmill, president of Seville Construction Services Jeff Flores, former Sweetwater Superintendent Dr. Jesus Gandara, current San Ysidro board member Yolanda Hernandez, Sweetwater trustee Bertha Lopez, San Ysidro Superintendent Manuel Paul, Sweetwater trustee Pearl Quiñones, Sweetwater trustee Arlie Ricasa, former Sweetwater trustee Greg Sandoval, former Southwestern college official Nicholas Alioto, former Southwestern Superintendent Raj Chopra, former Southwestern trustee Jorge Dominguez, former Southwestern trustee Yolanda Salcido and Southwestern official John Wilson.

Get details on each defendant and the charges

Last year, three contractors who did work at Southwestern and Sweetwater pleaded to lesser misdemeanor charges and agreed to cooperate with investigators. They were: business development executive Henry Amigable; contractor Rene Flores, and an architect Paul Bunton.

If you drive in San Diego, you'll need to set aside an hour if you want to arrive on time, according to the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.

The study analyzed congestion patterns in 498 of the nation's urban areas in an attempt to give drivers and shippers reliable driving times.

Drivers in San Diego need to add 58 minutes to a routine 20 minute trip if they want to arrive on time, the study found. 

The findings coincide with local data released last month, which found that San Diego traffic is worsening. 

The institute also reported that in 2011, congestion caused Americans to travel 5-and-a-half billion extra hours. Drivers also had to buy an extra 3-billion gallons of fuel, for a cost of $121 billion.

The year's "top 10 are repeat performers" were Washington, D.C., followed by Los Angeles, San Francisco-Oakland, New York-Newark and Boston.

Click here to read the full study.

More than halfway through the school year, there's still no agreement between San Ysidro teachers and the San Ysidro School District.

Teachers said the point of contention is the district's desire to give the School Board final say over grievances, which are brought to Assistant Superintendent Jason Romero.

"Jason Romero's mother sits on the school board and I think that's a definite conflict of interest to decide if her son did the right thing or the wrong thing," said Carol Wallace, President of the San Ysidro Teachers Association

Some teachers said nepotism is a problem at the district, with sons, daughters and cousins of Board Members and administrators working in the school district.

Carol Wallace said some did not deserve their positions.

"Some people are chosen with just a three years of experience over more qualified candidates with 27 years of experience," said Wallace.

Last November, the board approved a $10,000 a year pay raise for Jason Romero by a margin of three to one. His mother Jean Romero voted yes. Board member Jason Wells cast the one dissenting vote.

"In the current economic climate, I didn't think it was appropriate," he said.

Teachers feel this smacks of nepotism.

"I would love for my mother to vote for a $10,000 pay raise for me," said Wallace.

The pay raise coincides with contract negotiations in which teachers have been asked to sacrifice.

"Teachers have not gotten any raises in over eight years. They've given up furlough days. So the teacher's furlough days are going to pay for administrators' increases," said Josie Hamada, a retired teacher who still supports the association.

The district did not want to comment on the contract or allegations of nepotism, but Superintendent Manuel Paul has said that he doesn't directly supervise his relatives that work in the district.

And the President of the teacher's association said some relatives deserve their jobs.

But parent Frankie Santos said pay raises for family members didn't sit well with him.

"That'd be promoting themselves. not us or the kids. and definitely the most important thing here at school would be the kids' future," he said.

The contract dispute comes at difficult time in the school board. Superintendent Paul faces four felony counts for allegedly accepting gifts above the legal limit. He's also involved in a federal investigation over taking bribes from contractors.

Board Trustee Yolanda Hernandez is also involved in the federal investigation and faces 3 felony charges in the county including perjury.

After putting up millions to help bankroll the project to renovate Plaza de Panama in time for Balboa Park's Centennial Celebration, Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs said he was saddened by a judge’s ruling effectively ending to the project.

The controversial project included the construction of a bypass road off the Cabrillo Bridge and an 800-space underground paid parking lot in the large public park in the heart of San Diego.

On Feb. 4, a San Diego judge’s ruling put an end to the project that took years for approval and was set to break ground in a manner of weeks.

In response to a petition filed by project opponents Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO), Judge Timothy Taylor ruled the City must set aside its approval of the Site Development Permit needed for the project because of a municipal code violation.

“It is a shame that this action could prevent us from having the pleasure of watching children happily playing in a car-free Plaza de Panama, or enjoying a quiet cup of coffee in the Plaza de California,” Jacobs wrote in a prepared statement released Tuesday by the Plaza de Panama Committee.

“In the future, when it becomes obvious to all that the use of the Plaza de Panama and the Plaza de California for traffic thoroughfares and parking is not a reasonable beneficial use, the city will have available for reference detailed plans and a comprehensive EIR which has withstood the assault of one CEQA law suit,” he continued.

In a rare interview, Jacobs once debated the main points of the project with SOHO’s Bruce Coons on the NBC 7 San Diego “Politically Speaking” with Gene Cubbison.

Watch the video clip here

Jacobs maintained the plan was a “win-win” for the city and the visitors to the public park.

“We hope to have more and more people visiting the park that means we have to contend with this traffic, make sure the cars are out of the way, not encountering pedestrians,” Jacobs said in that interview.

SOHO issued a victory statement Tuesday that said "Balboa Park is saved."

"This project embodied broader and darker implications for Balboa Park's future," wrote Coons. "The plan would have caused significant, irreparable and irreversible harm to Balboa Park's historic structures, its environment, its canyons and roadways."

San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith said he is "carefully reviewing the judge’s interpretation of the City’s ordinance at issue" and will announce the city's next step in the near future.

A man accused of fatally stabbing his Naval officer brother plead not guilty during his arraignment Tuesday afternoon.

Zachary Tenorio, 21, was arrested in connection with the death of his brother Jonathan, who was found dead inside his home in the River Front condos in Mission Valley on Jan. 27.

Jonathan "Jake" Tenorio, 25, was from Guam and served as a U.S. Navy officer. Zachary was arrested two days after police found his brother fatally injured by a stab wound.

The district attorney's office claimed Zachary stabbed Jonathan with a six-inch kitchen knife during an “alcohol-fueled rage.” Zachary then left the scene and did not immediately call for help, said prosecutors. Police discovered Jonathan’s body the next day after Zachary made a 911 call.

Zachary has no prior record and was finishing his last year of college before the incident, lawyers said on Friday. He has been charged with murder with a knife.

Prosecutors called Zachary “dangerous” and requested a $3 million bail. The judge set Zachary’s bail at $1.5 million and he will reappear in court later this month.

Jonathan's body is being shipped back to Guam for the funeral on Friday, according to Pacific News Center. He will be buried with full military honors.

The U.S. Navy has made some costly mistakes, according to a report from Navy Times.

This past year, the unforecasted maitenance bill as a result of ship and submarine mishaps was about $850 million, Adm. Bill Gortney, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces command told the Navy Times.

The combined, fleetwide repair bill is not known, but could be close to $1 billion, a spokesperson with the U.S. Navy told NBC 7. 

Read the full story here 

Among the repairs needed as a result of Navy mishaps is on USS Essex, the amphibious assault ship that collided in May with the oiler Yukon. The ships were just a day away from returning to San Diego when the collision occurred.

No one was injured and no oil was spilled in that collision. However, the flight deck on the Yukon was damaged and the Essex suffered damage to an elevator, lifeboats and several catwalks. The ship's commander was also fired. 

In response to the report, San Diego Congressman Duncan D. Hunter, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, suggested the Navy try harder to reduce the costs. 

“For the military, there will always be mishaps but limiting this incidents is absolutely necessary because they translate into greater budget liability and constraints elsewhere," he said in a statement.

"The Navy will need to take serious look at some of its operations and ascertain how it can limit the rate of mishaps, especially with tighter budgets on the horizon.”

Last month, the Navy announced it would be building fewer ships than originally planned. Pentagon officials told the Wall Street Journal that the reduction will not cut into national defense demands.  

Detectives were called to a riverbed near Fashion Valley Tuesday after the body a missing Chula Vista man was discovered. 

According to the San Diego Police Department, the body was found in the San Diego River Tuesday morning. 

A homicide lieutenant said police were working with Chula Vista police to find a man missing since Saturday. 

Detectives developed information that 41-year-old Robert Chesney Junior may have been in the area near the San Diego River Monday night. They began searching for him then, but called off the search when it got dark.

Over the weekend, Chesney's family was working with police to find the man. He was dropped off at the UCSD Medical Center Saturday afternoon, but left on foot.

He was described as having diminished mental capacity and a seizure disorder, and his family was concerned he wasn't on his medication. 

When officers began searching again Tuesday morning, they found a body and identified it as Chesney. His family has been notified. 

"We don't suspect the person was a victim of a violent crime right now," said Lt. Jorge Duran with the SDPD. "Once the ME indicates what the cause of death, that may change our investigation to something else other than just a death investigation."