Marijuana use among youth booked into Juvenile Hall in San Diego County is at the highest rate seen in the past 14 years, according to a newly-released report from SANDAG.

The study, which included interviewing 136 youth at Juvenile Hall within 48 hours of their arrest and obtaining urine samples, found that more than half of the minors booked into the facility tested positive for pot – 53 percent, to be precise.

That figure is up 11 percent from 42 percent in 2000, SANDAG said.

According to the study, 90 percent of youth reported that they had tried marijuana. The average age of their first use of the drug was at 12 years old.

Two-thirds, or 62 percent, of those surveyed said pot was the first drug they had tried, up from 35 percent in 2009.

SANDAG said 88 percent of youth said it was “very easy” or “easy” to obtain marijuana. Meanwhile, only 16 percent of juvenile pot users said the use of the drug was “very bad” or “bad” for them, compared to 34 percent for alcohol and 58 percent for tobacco.

Of the youth who tested positive for marijuana, 58 percent said they had ridden in a car driven by someone under the influence, while 42 percent admitted they had gone to school drunk or high. The study said 41 percent said they had gotten into a physical fight while drunk or high.

SANDAG Criminal Justice Research Director Dr. Cynthia Burke said the results of the study indicate a rise in the popularity of marijuana among youth in the San Diego region.

"At the same time, there is a growing perception among young people that the drug does not pose significant risks," Burke added.

Last month, SANDAG released related research on the use of methamphetamine among youth booked in Juvenile Hall in San Diego County. That report found that 10 percent of youth booked into the local facility tested positive for meth in 2013. This was a significant increase after record lows of 4 percent in 2011 and 2012, though still far below the record high of 21 percent reported in 2005.
 

Sit. Stay. Dine.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Thursday allowing dogs to dine with owners if seated in an outdoor section of a restaurant.

"It will soon be legal to take your beagle with you to dinner," Mariko Yamada, the assembly member who championed the bill, said in a statement. "I wish everyone ‘bone-appétit’."

But those who aren’t as dog-friendly don’t have to worry – the law doesn’t force restaurant owners to allow dogs in establishments.

Owners have discretion on whether a dog is allowed to dine alfresco, according to the bill.

"Amidst all the horrific and depressing news around us, I hope this bill helps make people a little happier, and businesses who wish to accommodate diners with dogs safe from being unnecessarily cited," Yamada wrote on her Facebook page.

The restaurant also must have an outdoor entrance that doesn’t require the pet to walk through the restaurant to get to the outdoor area.

Dogs will have to be on a leash and well behaved, and they can’t sit on chairs or benches.

The bill also says that wait staff cannot have direct contact with a dog or pet them, and if they do, they must sanitize their hands.

Pets cannot be in the same area where food is being prepared.

Though the bill applies to restaurants statewide, cities can still pass local regulations that ban pooches from restaurant patios.

"We can't wait to legally come to dinner with our human friends," a Facebook group supporting AB 1965 wrote.

The law goes into effect Jan. 1.

Sutter Brown, the first dog of California and Gov. Brown’s pooch, was not available for comment.

A Miami man was arrested after he killed a cat and attacked his elderly roommate, police said.

Joshua Diaz, 24, is facing charges of animal cruelty, battery and battery on a person over 65 following his arrest late Thursday, Miami-Dade Police said.

Diaz was being held on $5,000 bond Friday and it was unknown if he has an attorney.

According to an arrest report, Diaz choked 72-year-old Elanor Wallace, his roommate, on Monday causing her to lose consciousness for a couple of minutes. When the woman woke up, Diaz was on top of her trying to wake her up, the report said.

Diaz told the woman if she called police he would kill her, the report said.

"He told me, 'If you cry... If I see even a tear or fear in your eyes, I will kill you right now,'" Wallace said.

Diaz later admitted to killing the cat, saying he did so because it scratched his head, the report said. The cat's body was found in a bag in a trash can, the report said.

He was also asked by officers if he had attacked his roommate.

"[Diaz] stated he did not, but believed that the victim was possessed," the report said.

A judge told Diaz in bond court he could not continue living with Wallace. When Diaz said he could stay with his uncle, the judge asked, "Your uncle doesn't have any cats, does he?"

More than 5,500 marijuana plants were seized and 14 people were arrested in connection with an illegal pot farm, officials said.

The seizure came from busts on Wednesday and Thursday from nine residences in unincorporated areas across the San Bernardino County, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department officials said.

Authorities seized up to 5,557 marijuana plants, about 170 pounds of processed marijuana, four firearms and a "large quantity" of Hydrocodone pills, which comes from codeine, the Sheriff's Department said in a statement.

The residences searched were in Joshua Tree, Landers, Bloomington and Helendale. They all had large-scale outdoor pot farms, officials said.

Some of the people arrested used fake medical marijuana recommendations as a front for their illegal cultivations, but the operations were "strictly for-profit," the Sheriff's Department said.

Petty Officer First Class William Maupin has been here before, saying goodbye to his wife as he set off for deployment aboard USS Sterett on Friday.

But two new, adorable factors are making it harder to leave.

“It’s my first deployment leaving kids behind, so that’s a new experience,” said Maupin.

His two young daughters clung tightly to their dad as he prepared to take his place on the ship. He said his biggest concern is missing major events in his family.

His wife Allyssa told NBC 7 she is more nervous for the girls than herself, but “he’s doing what he loves to do and I support that,” she said.

Maupin is one of about 6,200 sailors aboard five ships setting off for a ten month deployment with the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group.

As crews climbed into their stations at Naval Air Station North Island, family and friends looked on from a distance, hoping to get one final glimpse of their sailor.

“We knew it’s been coming for a while, but it just, it came so fast,” said Ashley Verral, who is being separated from her husband for the first time.

Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson is headed to the western Pacific with guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill and guided-missile destroyers USS Gridley, USS Sterett and USS Dewey. They’re joined by aviation squadrons from Carrier Air Wing 17 and Destroyer Squadron 1.

The team of ships will focus on security in the region, but NBC 7 asked Adm. Chris Grady, commander of the Carl Vinson, if his crews will be called to support American operations in Iraq.

“Should we be asked by regional to support our allies and partners in that area, we will be prepared for that,” said Grady.

Copyright Associated Press / NBC 7 San Diego

Police in the San Joaquin Valley, California, arrested a woman on trespassing charges after they say she was trying to access a hospital maternity ward.

Merced police said 41-year-old Tonya Whitney and her husband carried dolls that looked like fake babies into Mercy Medical Center on two occasions in the past week. Whitney wore a nurses outfit, carried an old visitor’s pass and a fake baby in a carrier, authorities said. She is facing misdemeanor trespassing charges.

Whitney was turned away before she could get into the maternity ward, according to police, who said they found many life-like dolls inside the woman’s Merced apartment. Whitney said the whole thing is a misunderstanding. She said she sells the dolls and was only at the hospital to make a sales pitch.

Police said Whitney and her husband tried accessing the maternity ward at Mercy Medical twice, the first time on Saturday after visiting the emergency department. "They then returned Monday and they once again attempted,” Merced Police Capt. Tom Trinidad said. “Of course this prompted an immediate response from the hospital because they wanted to secure the safety of the children."

"If you look at it, could be suspicious,” Capt. Trinidad said. “Of course, the assumption could be made that she was there for the purpose of switching out a fake life-like baby with a real baby."

Authorities said hospital security staff noticed the couple's odd behavior, treating the dolls as if they were real, cuddling them and changing diapers.

Police said Whitney has at least one child. Her husband was not arrested.

Attempts to reach Mercy Medical staff for comment were not immediately successful.

NBC's Fresno affiliate KSEE-TV contributed to this report.

 One of three firefighters headed to trial on robbery charges responded to the scene where his main accuser died, according to his defense attorney.

On Friday, a judge decided to send San Diego firefighters Capt. Vadid Cisneros, Andrew Brennan and Greg Econie to trial on Dec. 6, facing robbery charges brought against them by alleged victim Louis Martinez.

Martinez told a judge two years ago that he was jumped and knocked unconscious outside a Normal Heights bar in February 2012 by the off-duty firefighters.

The prosecution claimed the fight escalated to include Louis’ brother Willy and ended when the suspects took the victims’ cell phones and wallets.

But the case against Cisneros, Brennan and Econie recently hit a problem when Martinez, their main accuser, died from unrelated circumstances.

In a strange twist, Brennan was part of the crew sent to help Martinez, though the man was already dead when paramedics arrived, Brennan’s defense attorney Gretchen von Helms said.

The attorney alleges Martinez’s death was due to his reported methamphetamine addiction

Without the main accuser, the prosecution and defense were unable to agree to a plea for the firefighters, so a judge decided to send the suspects to trial.

“That changes the complexities of the trial going forward, especially for the district attorney’s office,” said von Helms.

The judge will have to decide whether Martinez’s testimony from the preliminary hearing will be usable during the trial.

Von Helms is vying for a quick resolution for her client, saying this entire, two-year process has been stressful for the firefighters who have maintained their innocence.

“This is very difficult,” von Helms told NBC 7. “These young men are honorable young men. They have served their city well.”

The New York man who helped create the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge says he's stunned by how quickly the movement has taken off and is heartened by the new conversation around the little-known disease.

Patrick Quinn, 31, of Yonkers, was inspired by a Pelham, New York family who performed the stunt, and he decided to recruit 50 friends to do the same in the name of ALS awareness. With each person nominating three other people to do the challenge, the act went viral. 

"Within the first day or two, our whole news feed was covered in ice bucket challenges," he said. 

Quinn knows how vital it is to raise awareness about the disease, which still has very little research surrounding it. He was diagnosed with ALS last March at the age of 30. 

"It's a tough disease. The life expectancy for myself was changed from an old man to 2 to 5 years," he said. "It's been whirlwind, it's tough." 

Quinn said he's lost muscle in his arms, upper back and neck. His legs are still functioning, but they're shaky and twitch frequently. He can no longer lift anything over his head without help. 

"It's a lot of muscle loss and atrophy at this point," he said. 

There's still no known cause for ALS, and that's why Quinn is hoping the increase in donations and funding from the ice bucket challenges will expand the research into the devastating disease. The ALS Association says it received $62.5 million in donations from July 29 to August 23 this year, compared to $2.4 million in the same time frame last year. 

As for criticism that the viral stunt has gotten too narcissistic or self-involved, Quinn brushes it off as irrelevant. 

"If people are doing it and mentioning ALS, even if they don't know what they're doing, they're still creating awareness," he said. "That was our initial intent. Awareness increases support, and more support equals more funding. More funding, hopefully more research." 

"The momentum we're building for ALS right now is incredible," he said. "We're just gonna ride it out and hopefully raise as much money as we can." 

To learn more about ALS or to make a donation, visit alsa.org. 

A 2-year-old girl was left in a car overnight outside a sports bar in Bristol, Connecticut, while the mother spent the evening in the hospital because she was intoxicated, police said.

Police arrested Kelsey James, 22, of Bristol, after learning that her daughter was left in her car for more than five hours.

Police responded to City Sports Grille at 177 Farmington Avenue in Bristol at about 11:56 p.m. on Friday to investigate a report of a woman found sleeping at the bar who was "intoxicated and incapacitated," according to a news release from the police department.

She was taken to Bristol Hospital for treatment and to be evaluated. When she woke up at about 5:20 a.m., she asked hospital staff where her baby was, so the hospital contacted police. 

Police found her 2-year-old daughter sleeping in the mother's car at the sports bar parking lot, where she was left while her mother was in the bar and then the hospital, according to police.

The baby was taken to Bristol Hospital to be evaluated and is okay, police said. She is being kept in the hospital until Department of Children and Families representatives arrive in response to the incident.

Police charged James with risk of injury and leaving a child unsupervised in a vehicle, according to police.

The mother was released after posting a $50,000 bond and she is scheduled to appear in Bristol Superior Court on Sept. 2.

NBC Connecticut knocked on her door for comment, but no one answered.

More information will be provided when it becomes available.

At least 13 people were shot overnight in Chicago, including a 3-year-old boy who was critically wounded in a shooting on the city’s West Side.

Police believe the toddler found a gun in a home in the 4300 block of West Monroe Street around 7:30 p.m. Friday and the gun fired when he or a playmate was handling it.

The boy was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition, officials said.

Police are searching for the boy’s father, who is on parole, in connection with the shooting.

The weapon has not been recovered, police said.

The toddler is the second juvenile to be shot in the city this week.

On Wednesday, a 9-year-old boy was gunned down in a backyard on the city’s South Side. A $13,500 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the boy’s killer.

At least 12 others were shot Friday night into Saturday morning.

• Around 6 a.m., an 18-year-old man was shot in the 2700 block of West 24th Street, police said. The teen was shot in the chest and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition. Details surrounding the shooting weren’t immediately available.
• About 15 minutes earlier, another 18-year-old man was shot in the 10700 block of South Hoxie Street in the South Deering neighborhood, police said. The teen was shot in the temple and was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in critical condition. Authorities said the teen was in an alley at the time of the shooting, but further details surrounding what happened were not immediately known.
• Around 3:30 a.m., a shooting the 9900 block of South Torrence Avenue in the Jeffery Manor neighborhood left a 22-year-old man with gunshot wounds to the groin and both legs. The man transported himself to Trinity Hospital after the shooting and was later transferred to Advocate Christ Medical Center in stable condition, according to authorities. Police said the man was being uncooperative with officers and details surrounding the shooting were not immediately clear.
• Roughly 15 minutes earlier, a 26-year-old man was shot in the 9800 block of South Yates, also in the Jeffery Manor neighborhood. The man was shot in the calf and taken in good condition to Trinity Hospital. The man told police he was standing outside when he “heard shots and felt pain.” He suffered a gunshot wound to the lower leg and police said he was being uncooperative with investigating officers.
• Just before 3 a.m., a 31-year-old man was shot in the 1600 block of West Juneway Terrace. The man told police he was walking on the block when someone walked up and shot him in the leg. The man was taken to Evanston Hospital by a family member and was listed in stable condition.
• Around 1:20 a.m., police said a 20-year-old man was shot in the arm in the 100 block of North Hoyne Avenue. The man was transported to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County in stable condition. He told police he was with a large group of people in a lot on the block and was seated on the passenger side of a vehicle when shots rang out and he realized he had been shot.
• About an hour earlier, a 24-year-old man was shot while driving on Lake Shore Drive. The man was in the 2500 block of Lake Shore Drive near the Park West neighborhood when someone inside a light-colored vehicle pulled alongside him and fired shots. The man was shot in the left cheek and exited at Fullerton where he called police. He was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center in stable condition, police said.
• Just before 11 p.m. Friday, a 20-year-old man was shot in the 4500 block of South St. Lawrence Avenue. The man was standing outside when someone drove by in a silver-colored SUV and opened fire. The man was shot in the knee as he attempted to flee the scene, police said. He was taken by a friend to Mercy Hospital in stable condition.
• A 34-year-old man was shot in the leg around 10:30 p.m. in the 6400 block of South Rockwell Street in the Marquette Park neighborhood, police said. The man told police he “heard shots and felt pain.” He was taken in stable condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center.
• Around 9:50 p.m., a 19-year-old man took himself to Provident Hospital with a gunshot wound to the groin. The man told authorities he had been shot hours earlier in the 700 block of West Garfield Boulevard. He said he felt pain in his abdomen but did not immediately realize he had been shot.
• Just after 9 p.m. Friday, two people were shot in the 12300 block of South Emerald Avenue in the West Pullman neighborhood on the Far South Side. A 20-year-old man was shot in the stomach and a 24-year-old man was shot in the shoulder. Both were taken in stable condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center. The two told police they were standing on the street when two men walked up and fired shots at them.

A new VA clinic has opened in Sorrento Valley to respond to the influx of veterans in San Diego County.

Officials opened the clinic Friday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house.

The 9,950-square-foot space will provide four primary care teams and 15 exams rooms in addition to team rooms and will be able to treat 17,000 patients a year.

The new clinic was crucial to meet the needs of the burgeoning vet population, said Dr. Robert Smith, chief of staff for the VA health care system in San Diego.

“It’s important because we continue to have a growing population in San Diego,” he said. “In order of us for us to provide timely service, we need to keep providing clinics.”

The Sorrento Valley clinic will offer primary care and mental health services, he said.

Smith said the opening of this clinic is just one step in a plan to expand VA services to multiple locations. A plan to bring a VA clinic to south San Diego, in Chula Vista, is in the works, though firm plans are far in the future.

Among those who spoke at Friday’s ribbon-cutting was Congressman Scott Peters, D-San Diego, who lauded the services provided for vets already in San Diego.

“You guys are the cornerstone of providing service for our vet,” he said. “San Diego’s a model of how to take care of veterans.”

Bao Bao, the National Zoo’s panda cub, celebrated her first birthday on Saturday with a traditional Chinese ceremony.

The cub’s birth was a significant conservation success for the National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, which has been studying giant pandas for 42 years. She was born as the result of a precisely timed artificial insemination performed by the panda team at the Zoo, which included Zoo scientists, veterinarians and keepers, and scientists from the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda.

Her birthday celebration was highlighted by a Zhuazhou ceremony, in which symbolic objects are placed in front of a baby. The item the baby reached for first is supposed to indicate something about that baby’s future.

In Bao Bao’s case, three posters with symbols painted on them were hung with honey treats under each. The symbols were peaches (longevity), bamboo (good health), and pomegranates (fertility).

Bao Bao chose the peaches first, which, according to the ceremony, means she will live a long life.

The panda also received a tiered cake made of frozen diluted apple juice and dyed varying shades of pink using beet juice. Frozen between the tiers were apple and pear slices, some of the pandas’ favorite foods. The cake was decorated with flowers carved from carrots and sweet potatoes.

When Bao Bao is four, she will travel to China and enter the breeding program for giant pandas.

A man’s disgruntled ex-girlfriend took it upon herself to harm the man’s new girlfriend by hitting her with a car in a parking lot Friday night, San Diego police confirmed.

The incident happened around 10:30 p.m. in the 3400 block of College Avenue in San Diego’s Oak Park area.

Police said a man and his girlfriend, both 26 years old, were driving on College Avenue when the man’s 23-year-old ex-girlfriend saw the couple together inside the car.

That’s when the ex-girlfriend allegedly rammed into the back of the couple’s vehicle. The man stopped the car in a parking lot in front of a Kohls store and the ex continued to hit the couple’s car.

Police said the man’s new girlfriend got out of the vehicle. The suspect then allegedly ran over the woman and fled the scene.

The victim sustained significant injuries to the lower-half of her body and was taken to a local hospital. She is expected to survive.

Officers searched addresses for the suspect and she was ultimately found and arrested for assault with a deadly weapon.

The domestic violence incident remains under investigation. The SDPD did not release the names of the victims or suspect.
 

Copyright Associated Press / NBC 7 San Diego

U.S. Army veteran Marco Hernandez is on a mission: to prove he's not dead.

The predicament has gone on now for more than 2 years.

"I pulled my credit report, and I was laughing when I saw it because it said, 'items affecting your credit: deceased, deceased, deceased,'" Hernandez said.

It all began in October 2011, after he called the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Hernandez, who served two tours of duty in Iraq, had begun caring for his ill father back in Guatemala, who later died.

The call was to suspend his dad's health insurance payments.

"I called the VA to report that he was dead, and someone at the VA did all the paperwork correctly," Hernandez said. "Unfortunately, somebody made a mistake and about three weeks after my father passed away. My relatives received some paperwork saying I was the one who passed away."

Instead, Hernandez learned the VA pulled the plug on him, causing what he describes as a terrible "trickle-down" effect.

Hernandez says his bank account was frozen and credit cards were canceled. The ordeal has cost him thousands in missed veterans benefits. He says calls to his bank, creditors and the VA led to nowhere.

"Everytime I try to do something people come up with different things that I'm supposed to be doing," Hernandez said.

Team 6 reached out to the VA, and they tell us they're open to working with Hernandez to resolve his case.

Approximately 2,000 pounds of marijuana were seized from a panga boat off the coast of San Diego Thursday, U.S. Coast Guard officials said.

Working together, Mexican Navy crews, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Coast Guard crews foiled the smuggling attempt approximately 150 miles southwest of San Diego.

A CBP Office of Air and Marine Multi-role Enforcement Aircraft crew first detected the suspicious panga boat early Thursday morning. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Terrapin was diverted to intercept the panga.

Officials said the Terrapin’s crew stopped three suspected smugglers aboard the vessel who claimed Mexican nationality. One the boat, U.S. Coast Guard crews found 90 bales of marijuana.

After that, the suspects, panga and pot were turned over to the Mexican Navy.
 

Summertime for 3-year-old golf prodigy Tommy Morrissey means days spent hitting 100-yard drives over lakes at an Atlantic County country club. He steps up to the tee, lines up his driver, hesitates for just a moment, and cracks the golf ball over the water…all with one arm.

Tommy was born missing his right hand and part of his right arm below the elbow.

• Police Kick in NJ Family's Door, Save Unconscious Baby

As he grew up in his hometown of Juniper, Fla., Tommy would watch golf on television with his father Joe and mother Marcia Lee. When he was about 18 months old, Tommy’s parents noticed that he was very interested in the sport, standing in front of the television and mimicking the golfer’s swings.

They gave him a set of plastic golf clubs, brought him out on the range, and saw he was a natural from his first perfect contact.

“His true ability is to look and learn,” Joe said. “I have given him very little instruction.”

• Most Polite Universities

When he was a little over 2-years-old, Tommy began using an iPad to look up golf tutorial videos on his own.

“I walked in, I asked what he’s doing, and he said, ‘Daddy, I’m taking a golf lesson’,” Joe said.

At night, teddy bears would not accompany Tommy to bed. Instead, he was tucked in with an array of at least 7 clubs.

“One time he refused to go to bed, and [I] finally got him to go to sleep and he insisted on this club or that club,” Joe said. “I put him down, and my wife and I heard him yelling, ‘Mommy, Daddy, you forgot my putter!’”

• Grow-Your-Own-Marijuana Class

Tommy has since switched to real clubs, having torn apart multiple sets of his old plastic ones. The weight of the clubs is a challenge for him, but Jeff LeFevre, Golf Director for the Linwood Country Club where Tommy and his father play during their summers at the Jersey Shore, says that difficulty does not hold the prodigy back.

“It’s such a difficult game with two hands, two arms,” LeFevre said. “And here we are, a 3-year-old with one arm with absolutely great rhythym, great set-up…truly, truly a golf prodigy.”

• Man Kidnapped Sleeping Elderly Woman

Tommy doesn't see himself as different than other children his age. He simply calls his shorter arm “Nemo” after the fish with one small fin in Finding Nemo.

In addition to his love of golf, Tommy plays many other sports, punting a football or hitting a baseball out of the park.

Joe and his wife say that while having one arm has been a challenge for Tommy, in the end it is also a gift.

“He has been able to bring grown men to tears on the driving range. . .In his short life, he has been able to inspire many, make people second guess their own capabilities,” Joe said. “…He is doing it with probably one of the most powerful tools, and that is the innocence of a child.”

• No "Purge" Coming to Philly

In the end, Tommy is just a kid wanting to have fun playing the sport that he loves.

“He does like to hit the ball in the water, but that’s ‘cause he’s 3,” Joe said. “He doesn’t understand that’s bad yet.”

A pedestrian was seriously injured in a hit-and-run in Chula Vista early Saturday morning and the driver remains at large, police confirmed.

The collision happened just before 2 a.m. in the 600 block of H Street. The Chula Vista Police Department said a man was struck by car traveling westbound.

The driver fled the scene.

The victim sustained serious injuries and was transported to a local hospital. Police said he is expected to survive.

Investigators said there were no witnesses in the hit-and-run, making this case a challenging one.

Police said the suspect vehicle should have a broken windshield and damage on the front body, however there are no further details available at this time on the color, make or model of the car.

Anyone with information on this hit-and-run should contact the Chula Vista Police Department.
 

When people think of San Diego a few things instantly come to mind: sun, surf and, of course, pandas.

After all, the San Diego Zoo is famous for the furry bears that consistently make headlines with their cuteness.

Now, the black and white bears have inspired two locals to create a new San Diego flag reminiscent of the California state flag, only more “panda-like,” if you will.

Constance Carroll, chancellor of the San Diego Community College District, and Martha Barnette, journalist and public radio host, joined forces this year to create San Diego Republic, a company that sells T-shirts featuring a flag of a panda bear.

The design looks similar to the California flag, with a panda instead of a grizzly bear. The iconic star and colored stripe on the design is blue rather than red, too, and below the stripe are the words “San Diego Republic.”

According to the company website, Carroll is the artist behind the flag that honors America’s Finest City. The T-shirts featuring the panda design cost $19.95 a pop and are sold online or at the Simply Local Store in Seaport Village.

The longtime San Diegans are also working on more panda-inspired products slated to be available soon on their website.