A man prosecutors say stalked a 13-year-old girl, tattooed her name all over himself and shot her father has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, in one of Dallas County’s most severe stalking cases.

Gabriel Ramirez, 23, was sentenced Thursday in a Dallas County courtroom after previously pleading guilty to charges of stalking and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Ramirez called a 13-year-old teen girl numerous times, sent her flowers before her birthday and went to her house only to be told by her father to go away, according to an affadavit.

Ramirez returned to her house in early June 2013, and when her father answered the door, Ramirez shot him three times, hitting him in the chest, liver and stomach.

The girl's father survived but has nearly $90,000 in medical bills after two surgeries. He said his life will never be the same.

What may have startled prosecutors the most were the nearly a dozen tattoos Ramirez had all over his body with the young girl’s name, her birthday and even her address.

NBC 5 is blurring photos of the tattoos in order to hide the victim's identity at prosecutors' request.

In court, Ramirez said he regrets the tattoos, which he said were all done under the heavy influence of drugs. He also said he was using cocaine, heroin, marijuana laced with PCP, Xanax, methamphetamine and alcohol the day he shot the young girl’s father.

Assistant District Attorney Leighton D’Antoni said the stalking didn’t stop when Ramirez was jailed. Ramirez sent numerous letters professing his love to the girl, as well as a letter to her mother and her father from behind bars, D'Antoni said.

“We’re talking about an adult who starts on a 13-year-old girl and stalks her,” said D’Antoni. “I think there were 11 total tattoos of her name that he started putting on his body when, again, she was just 13 years old. That’s more than a red flag. That’s scary.”

A San Diego barista is changing the way Starbucks schedules its employees.

On Wednesday, the New York Times ran an article about 22-year-old Jannette Navarro of San Diego. The single mother and Starbucks employee was struggling to raise her 4-year-old son with an irregular work schedule.

For instance, Navarro told the paper that she was once scheduled to work until 11 p.m. one night and had be back at 4 a.m. the next day. (A schedule with back-to-back closing and opening shifts has become known as a “clopening.”) Navarro would learn her schedule only a few days before the workweek began, according to the article.

Navarro said her erratic schedule was disrupting relationships with her family.

On Thursday, the Starbucks President of Americas Cliff Burrows wrote an email to the company’s partners, which is what Starbucks calls its employees. In the email obtained by NBC News, Burrows said he was “troubled” after reading Navarro’s story.

He outlined four changes to Starbucks' scheduling policy:

• Starbucks will update its scheduling software to provide more stability and consistency.
• Employees will never work a closing and opening shift back-to-back.
• Schedules must be posted one week in advance.
• If an employee’s commute is more than one hour, that person will be transferred to a Starbucks closer to his or her home.

The changes will take effect immediately, according to the email.

Starbucks is known for offering perks to its employees, such as health insurance and tuition assistance.

A former teenage victim of sex trafficking is putting her voice and support behind a new campaign to prevent others from sharing her traumatic childhood.

Tiffany Mester grew up in a broken home, frequently the target of physical and sexual abuse. She lived with people who never taught her her value as a person, so when a “Rico Suave” type man came into her life and treated her well, she fell for him.

But the man turned out to be a pimp, cultivating a relationship with Mester so he could later force her into sex trafficking, she said. Over almost two years, she saw the wonderful life she imagined with the man turn into a nightmare.

"I've had guns to my head, knives to my throat. I've jumped out of moving cars,” said Mester. “And so the glamorous lifestyle that was fed to me when he was cultivating me wasn't in reality what was happening.”

During that time, she filtered in and out of juvenile hall, all the while believing one day she and her man would retire and be together.

However, just a few days after she was released from her final juvenile hall stay when she was 16 years old, her pimp was arrested.

She said that’s when she believes God started to severe the ties between her and the toxic man.

“I slowly started to rehabilitate and learn my value and learn my identity,” said Mester.

The former sex trafficking victim enrolled in school, began to work full time and became an advocate for fellow women forced into the same situation.

Still, Mester said she had to deal with a lingering stigma that sex traffickers are no different than prostitutes – an assumption against which she has fought hard.

Through her advocate efforts, she allied herself with the San Diego District Attorney’s Office, which has seen the number of prosecuted sex trafficking cases triple in the last four years. In the first half of 2014, the DA’s office filed 23 human trafficking-related cases, it says.

On Thursday, DA Bonnie Dumanis joined Mester to unveil a new public awareness campaign to reach out to victims and encourage residents to report sex trafficking.

“San Diego is a hot spot. Human traffickers in California made more than $9 billion. It's the second-largest growing illicit industry in the country,” said Dumanis.

Clear Channel has donated nine billboards across the county to display the anti-human trafficking messages for 30 days, and space on bus shelters has been set aside for ads reaching out to runaway girls.

A new website called ProtectSanDiegoKids.org also holds information about how to prevent trafficking, how to spot it and how to report it.

They hope 3.5 million people will see the billboard campaign over the next month and turn the words into action.

If you know someone who needs help escaping human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline at 888-373-7888 or text “BeFree” to 233733.

“If there’s a young girl out there, I would say that your value’s worth more than that, your sex is worth more than that, and there’s so many people out there that are willing to love you without requiring you to give them something in return,” said Mester. 

As the river of blood flowed down the highway, all Larry Miles could think was “this is it.” But as Miles prepared to let go, a woman stepped in and saved his life.

Now he wants to thank the woman -- who identified herself as Debbie -- for her actions.

Miles and a friend were cruising on their motorcycles along Route 30 on Aug. 8 around 11 a.m. when a car turning out of a Wawa parking lot pulled out in front of him.

Miles was traveling about 35 miles per hour when the collision happened. His friend, uninjured in the crash, rushed over to him as someone called 911.

“I was sitting there when I saw my upper thigh was cut open and I was bleeding out all over,” Miles said.

The crash severed Miles’ femoral artery -- the most important artery in the leg. Anywhere from five to eight minutes after the artery is cut, a person can die from blood loss, according to Dr. John Chovanes, a surgeon at Cooper University Hospital's Trauma Center in Camden.

Miles’ friend was trying to comfort him as they waited for paramedics to arrive. Less than a minute later, as Miles was making peace with himself, someone approached them.

“This woman just walked up and said ‘My name’s Debbie, I’m a nurse,’” Miles said.

Debbie acted fast and made a tourniquet with a t-shirt and a stick to try and get the bleeding under control.

“She was just trying to soothe me and keep me calm,” Miles said. “She kind of took control until the paramedics got there.”

Eight minutes later, first responders arrived on the scene and Miles was air lifted to Cooper Trauma Center in Camden.

Miles said the last thing he remembers is Debbie kissing him on the forehead and telling him he’ll be all right.

It is unlikely Miles would have survived the crash if it wasn't for Debbie's quick actions,  Cooper University Hospital's Chovanes said.

“You have to know what you’re doing to apply a tourniquet properly,” Chovanes said. “If [Debbie] didn’t stop and have the courage to get involved in the right way, [Miles] would have been dead.”

Miles survived surgery to repair the artery, and after another surgery tomorrow to repair his calf, he is supposed to make a full recovery.

But that isn’t enough for Miles. He wants to thank the mystery woman who saved his life. The Winslow Township Police Department report only names an “unidentified female.” Miles was told by the police by the time he arrived at the hospital, nurse Debbie was nowhere to be found.

“I just want to find this woman who saved my life,” Miles said. “I just want to make sure I thank her.”

A Los Angeles-area school board member accused of sexually assaulting an adult friend in a San Diego hotel room has pleaded not guilty to a felony charge.

Skyy D. Fisher, 31, a Compton Unified School District trustee, was arraigned Wednesday on a charge of oral copulation of an unconscious person. He is free on $100,000 bail.

Fisher was arrested on July 23 at his workplace in downtown Los Angeles and held in a San Diego jail before being released.

The investigation involves oral copulation of an unconscious person identified in an arrest warrant as a 26-year-old male.  According to court documents, Fisher's friend told authorities that he and the defendant had traveled to San Diego in  April and shared a room in a hotel, sleeping in separate beds.

The alleged victim said he woke up to Fisher assaulting him.

Fisher, in an earlier interview with NBC 4 Los Angeles, has denied the allegations.

"I'm shocked, shocked. It was very hard when I found that's what the charge was," Fisher said in an interview with NBC4. "It's very stressful for me, but my main goal is to defend my name."

Fisher was elected to the school board on Nov. 8, 2011, and is the youngest member elected.

In 2012, he was arrested on suspicion of driving intoxicated and made national headlines after using a homophobic slur to refer to Trayvon Martin in a podcast, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

He is due back in court again Oct. 15 for a hearing to determine readiness for trial.

As the issue of police racial profiling becomes a point of national scrutiny, the San Diego Police chief addressed concerns in her jurisdiction this week, encouraging potential victims to come forward.

The problem was again thrust into the spotlight after unarmed black teen Michael Brown was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Outrage over the death has prompted days of riots and unrest, and the situation has devolved into a “powder keg,” the police chief there says.

SDPD Chief Shelley Zimmerman discussed her department’s racial profiling policies in a public service announcement published to YouTube on Aug. 11, two days after Brown was shot.

"The San Diego Police Department does not and will not tolerate any racial profiling or discourteous treatment by any of our officers or our employees,” said Zimmerman. “If you feel there is a problem, we want to know about it.”

The video lists ways a victim can report racial profiling by an SDPD officer. Included in the options are calling a supervisor to the scene, talking with the SDPD’s internal affairs, reporting the incident to the Citizens’ Review Board on Police Practices or calling the confidential hotline at 619-531-2672.

If a victim does not want to give a name, the department requests he or she provide the incident’s place, date and time, the SDPD officer or employee’s name and badge number and a description of what happened.

The San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association – which advocates for Latino rights – and the Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association – which represents African- American rights – worked together to create and sponsor the PSA.

In January, the SDPD announced it will start tracking traffic stops again to see where racial profiling is an issue, determining what percentage of certain minorities are being pulled over versus others. The department also issued body cameras for its officers to help prevent problems.

The attorney for a Marine set to be retried on war crimes is raising concerns about a possible breach in the defense’s case.

Armed with a new civilian defense attorney, Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III walked into Camp Pendleton court with his wife Thursday for a pre-trial hearing. He is accused of leading an eight-man squad that the military says kidnapped and killed a retired Iraqi policeman in April 2006.

During the discovery, defense lawyer Chris Oprison questioned military investigators who raided offices of defense counselors– including one of Hutchins’ military attorneys – in May.

The investigators testified that they went through the offices to look for case files for a cell phone they believed contained evidence for another case.

“What troubles me is that there was no controls over it,” Oprison said after the hearing. “Nobody sort of had the better sense to say, ‘You know what? We shouldn't be looking through defense counsel offices; we shouldn't be looking through files of high profile cases like Sgt. Hutchins and other cases,’ where it is eminently reasonable to assume you’re going to come across privileged and work product information.”

A Marine Corps review of the raid found the search did not compromise any of the cases.

This is the second time Hutchins faces charges stemming from the Iraqi policeman’s death in Hamdania. The sergeant was previously sentenced to 11 years in prison on the charges, but after spending seven years in the brig, the Marine Corps’ highest court reversed his conviction in June 2013.

The judge ruled Hutchins’ constitutional rights had been violated and that a confession Hutchins made in a trailer without legal representation should not have been considered evidence.

For this retrial, Hutchins fought for a civilian defense attorney who would not be influenced by the military, he said.

Oprison, a former Marine and military prosecutor based out of Washington, D.C., agreed to take on Hutchins’ case pro-bono.

“What this guy has been through after serving his country and what the Marine Corps is putting him through is pretty deplorable, that he was released from prison and they recharged him,” Oprison said. “His parents went through every bit of their life savings. He needed help.”

The attorney said his first priority is to discover if there are any facts or evidence the government has withheld.

"And frankly, the government needs to open up its files. We need to be able to make sure Sgt. Hutchins gets a full and fair vetting of all the facts," he said.

In future hearings, Oprison plans to question witnesses and try to get site visits in Iraq.

A Lakeside family escaped a devastating house fire overnight.

The second floor of the home was on fire when firefighters arrived around 12:45 a.m. to the house on Prospect Avenue near Lemon Crest Drive.

All five members of the family and their pets were able to get out of the home safely.

There was a mix of materials on the second floor that allowed the fire to spread quickly, fire officials said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
 

Space is tight in downtown San Diego but a new, roving mini park in the densely populated area could be just the ticket to making the most out of urban public space.

The City of San Diego and the Downtown San Diego Partnership have launched a competition to design an innovative mobile “parklet,” a tiny, pop-up park that transforms former parking spots and other small spaces into a public recreation area.

The team or person with the winning design will receive $5,000 to construct their parklet.

The deadline for entries is Aug. 25 at 5 p.m. Contest organizers say the winning design will be announced on Sept. 1. The newly-built mobile parklet will then be unveiled to the public on Sept. 19 as part of “PARK(ing) Day,” a day that encourages the transformation of parking spaces into mini community parks.

Organizers say the winning parklet will be used in public areas and legally permitted parking spaces throughout downtown San Diego. Besides a new place to gather, the parklet will help San Diegans rethink the way even the smallest spaces in the most crowded communities can be used.

San Diego City Council President Todd Gloria said the project will foster and showcase San Diego’s creative spirit.

“I encourage San Diegans to be innovative, creative, and competitive and bring their best mobile parklet designs forward,” Gloria said in a press release. “Downtown is a thriving neighborhood, and a mobile parklet designed and developed locally will be a great new community amenity.”

Kris Michell, president and CEO of the Downtown San Diego Partnership, said this project is part of the organization’s larger “urban placemaking initiative,” which aims to transform public, downtown paces into lively, engaging areas.

“When space is at a premium, you have to be smart and creative,” Michell said. “This is what this moving parklet competition is all about: finding new ways to use public spaces to bring our community together.”

In June, a new urban “pocket park” in the East Village put this concept to the test. The tiny park – snugly situated in a 2,500-square-foot space between buildings at 13th Avenue and J Street – transformed a small, former parking lot into a cool space for residents and visitors to play and mingle.

That particular park came to be through collaborative efforts between the Downtown San Diego Partnership, the East Village Association, HP Investors – which owns the property and donated the space – and RAD Lab, a downtown architecture and design firm.

A few months earlier, the organizations behind the urban space transformation project hung a blue idea board on the parking lot gate asking the question: “What Do You Want Here?”

In dozens of blank spots below, East Village residents put in their two cents, suggesting ideas like a dog park or children’s play area.

For more information on the new mobile parklet competition, click here.
 

Police arrested a man suspected of attacking a 54-year-old woman while aboard a subway train in Brooklyn, bashing her head against a metal pole and then tossing her to the floor, apparently because she criticized him for hitting his child.

Jasner Jimenez was arrested Friday for allegedly participating in the confrontation on a Manhattan-bound L train last month, which police say began with the two arguing.

According to Gothamist, the woman saw the suspect "beating his child in front of me" and asked him to "please" stop. The suspect started cursing at her, the woman said in an e-mail to the website, and then went back to hitting his child.

When the train pulled into the Lorimer Street stop in Williamsburg, police say the woman got off and moved to a different car, Jimenez allegedly followed her onto the second car and proceeded to attack her, police said. Then he got off the train.

The victim was treated for a bruised arm and swelling to the head. She told Gothamist in an e-mail that two men on the train stopped the suspect from beating her further. 

Information on a lawyer for Jimenez was not immediately available.

SeaWorld plans to spend upwards of hundreds of millions of dollars to build an expanded killer whale environment and programs to protect the creatures in the wild, the company announced Friday.

This announcement comes two days after SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. released a report showing a significant drop in revenue for the first half of 2014. The company has also come under fire from animal-rights activists who claim the company was mistreating its killer whales.

In addition to the new habitat, SeaWorld is pledging $10 million in matching funds for killer whale research. The company said it is embarking on a multi-million dollar partnership focused on ocean health, the leading concern for all killer whales and marine mammals. The total investment will be hundreds of millions of dollars, officials told NBC 7.

SeaWorld San Diego will be first park to debut the new killer whale environments, named the Blue World project, with a planned total water volume of 10 million gallons, nearly twice as much as the existing facility. The new environment will also provide the world's largest underwater viewing experience for guests.

"Our guests will be able to walk alongside the whales as if they were at the shore, watch them interact at the depths found in the ocean, or a birds-eye view from above," Jim Atchison, chief executive officer and president of SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc., said in Friday's announcement.

PETA Foundation Director of Animal Law Jared Goodman called the announcement "a desperate drop-in-the-bucket move to try to turn back the hands of time."

In a written statement obtained by NBC 7, Goodman said, "It will not save the company. What could save it would be the recognition that it needs not to make larger tanks but to turn the orcas out in seaside sanctuaries so that they can feel and experience the ocean again, hear their families, and one day be reunited with them. A bigger prison is still a prison."

At a special announcement in San Diego, SeaWorld lead veterinarian Dr. Christopher Dold said the park has invited a number of experts to be part of an advisory panel to help design the project.

Plans will include a fast-water current. “A treadmill for killer whales,” Dold said. “The whales can swim through this and be exercised and stimulated.”

Each animal will react differently but they will all explore it and staffers will monitor their reactions, Dold said.

The announcement comes midway through a challenging year for the major theme park. Officials have launched a new publicity campaign to combat the effects of the documentary “Blackfish," which focuses on claims of whale mistreatment. The park also successfully fought a proposed bill in California that would ban using killer whales as performers.

In June, dozens of riders stranded for hours hundreds of feet off the ground in the park’s iconic SkyTower ride. Then, in July, a controversial anti-SeaWorld ad was unveiled in time to greet Comic-Con crowds in San Diego.

City Council President Todd Gloria and other city leaders attended Friday's announcement.

The city has a vested interest in how SeaWorld San Diego conducts business because the 190-acre theme park sits on city-owned property in Mission Bay Park.

The city earns revenue in a number of ways from ticket to alcohol sales - an estimated $14 million a year.

It's also one of the city's largest employers with a staff of 2,500 to 4,500 depending on the season.

"This new habitat enriches the experiences for our visitors to our region expanding on their appreciation for killer whales and all marine life and our environment as a whole ," Gloria said.  "I think we can all agree that's an important message and one that's worth investing in.

-NBC San Diego's R. Stickney contributed to this report.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story stated that the new environment will cost upwards of $10 million. SeaWorld says the project will cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

A fire at a Rancho Bernardo community center caused the building’s roof to collapse Thursday.

Several engines and ladders arrived to battle the fire that had spread into the attic at the Oak North Community Center on 12578 Oaks North Drive just before 10 p.m.

While firefighters were on the attic fighting the fire below, a portion of the roof collapsed, officials said.

No firefighters were injured.

The fire was first reported by a maintenance worker. There were no members of the public on the property at the time the fire started, officials said.

Neighbors in the area were concerned it might spread because the property is surrounded by tall trees.

One resident from a nearby condo complex had just opened her windows as she headed to bed when she smelled smoke.

“It’s kind of scary because we’re one of the closest units to the fire,” Mary Hustwick said. “I got some of my neighbors awake just so they knew what was happening.”

Overnight, officials determined, the fire started with an electrical problem in the sauna of the men's locker room.
 

La Mesa police are investigating a robbery that occurred around 1:20 a.m. Friday at the Riviera Supper Club on the 7000 block of University Avenue.

According to reports, an employee was closing out the register for the night when an unknown suspect armed with a knife approached him from behind and demanded cash.

A fight ensued and the employee was shoved to the floor as the suspect took the money from the cash register and fled out the back door.

The employee suffered a small cut to his hand but did not need medical attention.

La Mesa officers along with help from SDPD's helicopter ABLE searched the area but came up empty handed.

The suspect is described as a white adult male, about 6 feet tall with a muscular build. He was wearing all black clothing including black shoes and a black ski mask.

Officials are asking the public to call the La Mesa Police Department if they have any information pertaining to this crime.

You can call Crime Stoppers’ anonymous toll-free tip line (888) 580-TIPS. You can remain anonymous, and be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000 for information in this case.

After coming under heavy fire, a company under contract by the Department of Defense to move cars of military members serving overseas has made improvements to provide troops with better service.

As NBC 7 first reported in July, International Auto Logistics (IAL) in Santee had been operating in the slow lane. Over the past month, the company received more than 1,000 complaints from U.S. military service members about long wait times, the lack of a customer service call center and missing cars.

Cars were packed like sardines in the lot in Santee six weeks ago. Inside the small on-site office, NBC 7 found a couple dozen military members and families waiting four to six hours to pick up their cars, some sitting on the floor.

One Marine who asked to remain anonymous told NBC 7: “I came this morning to the vehicle processing center to pick up my vehicle and found out from the manager that my vehicle isn’t here and they are not expected to receive another shipment for a week.”

Since NBC 7’s story aired, Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command looked into the complaints. A spokesperson said inaccurate information on vehicles led to confusion and slow service.

Now, U.S. Transportation Command is taking inventory of cars and looking at operations of IAL.

Fast-forward to today and the operation appears to be moving a bit smoother at the company that took over the $300 million POV contract back in May.

An IAL representative told NBC 7 the company has now more employees and the wait time has improved at the Santee location.

Customers are happier, too.

Pamela Gill was picking up her car shipped from Hawaii Friday and said the process was painless.

“It really didn't take that long, about 45 minutes,” she told NBC 7.

A number of others also said there was little wait.

Still, one person who picks up members of the military there regularly said off camera that at times there is still a four hour wait for a car pick-up.

Pierre Aoun owns the Ranch House Restaurant near IAL and said the company is constantly using his lot to park and load cars onto trucks. This is costing him business.

“My customer has no room to park,” said Aoun.

The management said drivers have been instructed not to park there.

A representative from U.S. Transportation Command said June and July are typically the busiest months for moving cars. More than half of the 68,000 cars moved each year are moved during those months, meaning IAL took over the contract at a tremendously busy time.

For military customers using IAL, the call center number is (855) 389-9499 (press 2 for customer service).

A police pursuit that ended in Huntington Park when a car smashed through a warehouse wall exposed an illegal marijuana grow house inside early Friday morning.

Authorities had previous said only that there was an "operation" inside but hadn't said whether pot was being grown in the warehouse.

Approximately 800 plants were seized Friday.

Neighbors say they've smelled pot coming from the building for months.

"When I talked to the owner of the building he was under the impression that they were storing vintage cars," said Adam Cohen, accounting manager at the Signorelli T-Shirt Company next door. "From the smell, I don't think those were cars."

The smell was so potent, said Lyndia Lipscomb, the HR director next door, that some employees thought it was a gas leak.

"Once I had an employee come in and tell me, 'You know, you need to call the gas company and find out,'" Lipscomb said.

The crash, which capped a pursuit by California Highway Patrol officers, left a gaping hole in the warehouse building's wall and the driver paralyzed.

The Volkswagen Jetta smashed through the side of the building on the 6300 block of Regent Street near the intersection of Regent Street and Gage Avenue around around 1:15 a.m.

It traveled about 120 feet into the building before it came to a rest, according to CHP Sgt. Richard Zavala. Water could be seeing flowing inside the building in the minutes following the crash.

The driver, in his mid-20s, was extracted from the car and taken to the hospital.

The driver is in custody and faces charges of reckless driving and evading. Officials are trying to determine whether he were driving under the influence at the time of the crash.

The pursuit began when CHP noticed a Jetta driver driving recklessly near Alameda Street and Florence Avenue. Officers tried to pull the man over, but he continued north on Alameda Street.

The man then hit a curb and a center divider near Gage Avenue, went airborne and crashed into the the vacant commercial building, CHP said.

Kevin LaBeach and Michelle Valles contributed ot this report.

Roger Platt looks over his schedule and realizes it will be a very busy day.

“Our business just explodes when the weather gets like this,” said Platt.

He is in the pest control business, and summer is the busiest time of the year. And the biggest reason for that: ants.

“They want to come in. Tthey want to get some moisture,” said Platt, owner of Centurion Pest Control. “They want to get some relief, and your house is the place they want to go.”

Hot weather dries out the ground. Even the humidity can draw water from the soil. That leaves ants traveling to find water, even more than food. Between the months of June and September, pest control companies see the most customers in San Diego.

The ant invasion is also felt on the store shelves of Lowe’s.

"The aisles here on the weekend are blowing up with customers,” said Scott Perez, Lowe’s store manager.

He said people want to know where they keep the ant products, which can range in cost between $4 and $18.

But do you need to buy special products or hire a professional to keep ants around the house?

The internet is filled with suggestions for natural remedies to kill ants. Everything from window cleaner to Cream of Wheat is said to either kill or repel ants. Suggestions also include coffee grounds, baking soda, cinnamon, diatomaceous earth and borax.

Platt said nearly anything can be used to kill ants but, “If you don’t get to the nest, the ants are just going to find another way in."

Professional pest control companies can use chemicals unavailable to the general public. Service to your home often costs between $35 and $50 a month with a long term contract, or they will spray a house one time for between $100 and $250.

If you use products from the hardware store, Platt siad he would use a liquid or gel-based bait in the summer months. But he stresses that you should always read the label before using the product.

The San Diego Zoo’s Safari Park welcomed a lanky but adorable new little one.

A 16-day-old Masai giraffe named Gowon met the rest of the giraffe herd Friday, including his three-week-old brother.

Gowon at first stayed close to his mom’s side, but then took to playing around with the other giraffes.

The birth of Gowon and his brother, Kamau, mark the first time Masai giraffes, native to Kenya and Tanzania, have been born at the zoo’s Safari Park.

Safari Park visitors can catch a glimpse of the two young giraffes on an Africa tram tour included with park admission. The Safari Park is now home to eight Masai giraffes.