The half-sister of movie star Drew Barrymore was killed by acute drug and alcohol intoxication, the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office announced Monday.

Jessica Barrymore, 47, had alcohol, methamphetamine, methadone (an opioid), tramadol (a narcotic-like pain reliever) and noriazepam (a Valium metabolite) in her system when she died, the medical examiner says.

Her manner of death is considered an accident.

Jessica’s body was discovered in her car along Hoover Avenue in National City on July 29. Neighbors had noticed the car parked strangely and called police to investigate.

When emergency crews responded, they confirmed she died without trying to revive her.

Drew Barrymore released a statement after learning about her half-sister’s passing, saying “Although I only met her briefly, I wish her and her loved ones as much peace as possible and I'm so incredibly sorry for their loss.”

The woman were related through their father, John Drew Barrymore Jr., who had four children through several marriages.

He and Drew’s mother Jaid were married for 13 years.

Jessica’s mother, actress Nina Wayne, had several minor television roles in the 1960s.

A multiple-vehicle collision shut down the on-ramp from Interstate 805 to Interstate 8 early Tuesday.

The crash happened on the transition ramp from southbound I-805 to eastbound I-8.

California Highway Patrol officers were called to the area at 5:23 a.m. for a six-vehicle collision involving an MTS bus and at least one box truck. 

Witnesses said a silver sedan crashed along the guard rail just around the corner onto I-8. The car's bumper was sticking out, blocking a lane.

So when a blue sedan drove onto the ramp, it swerved to avoid the disabled vehicle, spun out and stopped without hitting another car.

A third traveling along the ramp collided into the blue sedan, witnesses said. The MTS bus then collided with the silver sedan, officials said.

When the driver of the box truck arrived, his truck collided with the third car.

One person was taken to a nearby hospital with non-life threatening injuries, officials said.

CHP said the ramp was shut down for more than an hour. The scene was cleared around 7:45 a.m.

It looks like millennials aren’t munching on McDonald’s as much as they used to.

Customers in their 20s and 30s are choosing to dine elsewhere, particularly at “fast-casual” restaurants like Chipotle and Five Guys, according to demographics reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The report indicates younger diners are seeking out healthier options and customizable menus, creating a hurdle for McDonald's as it grapples with one of its worst slumps in the last decade.

According to the data, the percentage of customers age 19 to 21 who visited McDonald’s monthly has fallen by 12.9 percentage points since 2011, and the percentage of customers age 22 to 37 visiting the chain in the same period stayed flat.

In turn, the percentage of customers in those age groups visiting fast-casual restaurants monthly during that same time period grew by 2.3 and 5.2 percentage points.

It’s a trend that the world’s largest hamburger chain has been trying to overcome after a reported global decline.

The Illinois-based chain reported earlier this month that a key sales figure fell 2.5 percent in July, due in part to persistent weakness in the U.S.

While the company attributes a 7.3 drop in an international unit encompassing Asia, the Middle East and Africa to a recent food safety scandal in China, changing food habits could be the culprit for the 3.2 percent drop in the U.S.

Chains like Chipotle, for instance, are gaining favor by touting more wholesome ingredients and the ability to customize food.

Last month, McDonald’s ranked last for burger taste in a Consumer Reports survey of 32,405 subscribers. Respondents in the survey continuously favored the so-called fast casual restaurants over some of the mega-chains like McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Burger King.

“Fast-casual dining in places like Chipotle and Panda Express lets the consumer guide the staff to prepare their meal just the way they like it,” said Darren Tristano, executive vice president of Technomic, a food-service research and consulting firm that compiled the data for the Wall Street Journal.

McDonald’s is attempting to make waves in the younger market, once a prominent audience for the chain, by introducing healthier options and debuting apps and mobile pay options.

McDonald’s Global Chief Brand Officer Steve Easterbrook told the Wall Street Journal the millennial generation is “promiscuous in their brand loyalty,” making it more difficult to earn their loyalty. 

Easterbrook cited a wider range of choices for the shift in preference for younger generations.

The chain has also noted menu issues and cited financial struggles for lower-income customers as reasons for the U.S. drop.

McDonald's CEO Don Thompson said the company complicated its menu and slowed down service by introducing too many items too quickly. He said the company is working on getting the basics right — such as improving service.

Five small quakes and aftershocks rumbled through wine country early Tuesday, days after the biggest earthquake in 25 years hit the Bay Area.

The shaking in the wee hours of the morning startled and concerned residents 75 miles away in Mountain View and in nearby Vallejo. Anna Solberg of Vallejo, five miles from the epicenters, said she felt her house shake "from left to right."

But that shaking was much gentler than what she felt in her home on Sunday, when a 6.0-magnitude quake rocked the same area around 3:20 a.m. That was the largest earthquake to impact the Bay Area since the 1989 magnitude-6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake.

"My first thought was 'Oh my gosh, another earthquake,''' she told NBC Bay Area by phone, adding that she had been in bed awake just as the quakes hit. "But I just heard felt one thud."

Still, she acknowledged she felt about "half as much" shaking Tuesday as she had felt Sunday.

The U.S. Geological Survey clocked a magnitude-3.9 temblor and three aftershocks striking between 5:30 a.m and 6 a.m. just a few miles from  American Canyon.

The aftershocks were reported at 2.7, 2.8 and 3.0 magnitudes. A fifth magnitude-2.5 aftershock hit four miles south of Napa at 10:56 a.m. An aftershock is a smaller earthquake following a large earthquake in the same region.

Despite the number of temblors – four in 90 minutes – there didn't seem any damage reports, according to Barry Martin, community outreach coordinator for Napa. He said crews would be going out again to check for any water line breaks and power outages.

The four aftershocks hit in the same general region where the South Napa earthquake struck Sunday, requiring hundreds of buildings to be red- and yellow-tagged, mostly in the heart of historic downtown Napa. A post office, library and a 141-room hotel were among more than 160 homes and buildings either deemed unsafe to occupy or enter.

Aftershocks are quite common, even expected.

"Anytime you have an earthquake, the probability of another earthquake goes up," Cecily Wolfe of the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program told NBC News.

Earthquakes tend to come in clusters. NBC News reported there is currently a 29 percent chance that a magnitude-5 or higher quake will hit in the next seven days, according to Northern California Seismic System (NCSS) probability report.

In fact, experts say that there is a 5 to 10 percent chance of something bigger than a 6.0-magnitude quake coming in the next week, according to the NCSS report.

NBC's Joe Fryer was staying in a hotel in Vallejo and awoke when he felt the first earthquake Tuesday.

"It was the strongest aftershock since the main earthquake hit," he said.

Sunday's South Napa earthquake hit along the West Napa Fault, the most seismically active of the faults, according to the USGS.

But as for John King, a Napa resident who was busy on Tuesday morning carting his damaged water heater to one of the city dumping spots, earthquakes are the price you pay for living in the Bay Area.

"It's a beautiful place to live," King said. "This is what goes with it. You get it together, and you move on."

 NBC Bay Area's Shelby Hansen and Bob Redell contributed to this report.

Ah, Burning Man, the annual weeklong rave that draws thousands of free-thinkers to a remote spot in the Nevada desert. It's a festival so remote and bizarre that the only limit to free expression is imagination ... and that dust that always gets into the electronics.

Except when it rains.

That's when the "Burners" end up in the parking lot of the Reno Wal-Mart.

Turned back at the gate to the Black Rock Desert after rare showers on Monday turned the ancient lake bottom to a muddy quagmire, hundreds of "Burners'' were forced to overnight on the Wal-Mart blacktop. Nearly a hundred other RVs pulled into the parking lot of the Grand Sierra Resort casino, across the street.

"We're just trying to stay positive," said a woman from Oakland, California, who identified herself only as "Driftwood," and was hanging out with some first-timers from Texas. "Positivity can raise everything up."

Organizers announced after midnight that they could roll onto the lake. By midmorning Tuesday all but a few dozen of the RVs were back on the road again, and by most accounts, no worse for the wear.

"We'll make the best of things," said Aviva Mohilner, a former public relations specialist from Los Angeles making her third trip. "It always works out. Burners make it good."

One New York City man loading coolers into a U-Haul on his first voyage to the desert wilderness said he was in too much of a hurry to make it to the desert Tuesday to talk. But another New Yorker, Ben Zion, asked a reporter to take a picture of him and his eight friends from Israel, all anxious first-timers. The rain delay was actually good for them, he said: "We got to get some rest and a shower."

Cuong Huynh, a four-time Burner and IT specialist from San Diego, California, said he's usually more concerned about dusty wind storms than rain, which is why he keeps his cellphone in a plastic bag.

Last year, it rained just before the festival, packing all the dirt and keeping the dust down, he said.

"Rain is really good for us, just not while you're out there," he said.

Destin Gerek, an 11-year veteran, thinks the delay will add a spark to the gathering.

"All this pent-up energy," said Gerek, 36, who teaches Burning Man workshops on the "intersection of sexuality and pirituality."

Gerek grew up in New York City, lives in California and has toured 25 different countries. "In all my travels, Burning Man is utterly unique," he said. "Absolutely nothing compares."

That was the general consensus among Burners Monday night as many of the RVs, VW buses and truck's pulling trailers gathered at a makeshift staging area under the blinking pink casino lights twinkling through the night.

It wasn't entirely unlike the contraptions that light up the weeklong desert gathering, which began at San Francisco's Baker Beach in 1986 and now culminates in the Black Rock with the burning of a towering wooden effigy Labor Day weekend. A record 68,000 people attended last year.

Still, the Wal-Mart wasn't exactly what seekers of "paradise on the playa" had in mind while driving hundreds of miles to the counter-culture festival, which offers theme camps, art exhibits, all-night music and guerrilla theater, along with a decent dose of nudity and a bunch of other stuff that's just plain weird.

One camp this year is "Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust," where participants are invited to be photographed as they "strip naked, cover in Playa dust, paint cracks on the body and finalize with red hands to simulate a connection between oneself and the desert environment."

The journey's final hours, across a dry, perfectly flat lake bed that seems to stretch on forever, is usually part of the fun.

Unless, again, it rains, covering the clay-like surface with standing water that turns to mush under the wheels of a well-equipped "Burner" crew.

Barbara Quintanilla and Bill Sanchez, who drove up from Houston in an RV, said the delay was the least of their worries.

"We made a 2,000-mile trip and none of us had ever driven an RV before. It would only go 35 mph up hills,'' Sanchez said.

Jeff Cross of Orange County, California, said the brief detour hadn't deterred his group's enthusiasm.

"It's the best festival in the world," he said. "There's no cellphones, no internet, no money or corporate sponsors."

True enough, once they reach the desert.

But while they were stuck in Reno, the rain delay provided for one last consumer capitalist opportunity.

"We have a list of 27 things we need to get at Wal-Mart," Quintanilla said.
 

Mysterious lights floating above Oceanside and Camp Pendleton have prompted numerous phone calls and emails into the NBC 7 newsroom with residents from Del Mar to Vista speculating about where they are coming from.

Camp Pendleton officials shed some light on the issue Monday night.

They believe the weird glowing is from artillery units doing live-fire training exercises around the clock.

The Marines sent out a warning last week telling neighbors to expect increased noise, thanks to howitzer and mortar firing, but the release did not mention UFO-like flashes.

Officials say the lights should disappear around 3 a.m. Tuesday, but they will continue every night through Sunday.

Oceanside Police and Fire departments say they are being flooded with calls as well from scared residents.

San Diego police were searching for a man who broke into a Hillcrest home overnight while the family was still inside.

Officers were called to Myrtle Avenue and Vermont Street around 1 a.m. Tuesday

The resident told police he awoke and found someone in his home.

The man, believed to be about 5-foot, 8-inches tall with a thin build wearing a green T-shirt and plaid shorts, ran through a door or window upstairs, the resident told police.

A gun stored in one of the home’s closets was reported missing so police searched the home and set up a perimeter in the neighborhood.

The suspect, believed to be armed, was not found, officials said.
 

A Massachusetts judge has allowed some evidence to be suppressed in the murder trial of Aaron Hernandez, court documents show.

The former star Patriots tight end had asked the court to suppress the evidence — an iPhone, a Blackberry, an iPad and two iPad minis — which was obtained when his home was searched last June after the killing of Odin Lloyd.

Defense lawyers argued that that evidence was not part of the original search warrant and that a state trooper did not have the proper paperwork when he entered Hernandez's home.

Tuesday, the Bristol County Superior Court granted that motion, allowing that evidence to be thrown out.

Earlier this month, the court denied Hernandez's motion to exclude a digital video recorder, a hard drive and Hernandez's cell phone.

The hard drive allegedly contains files showing Hernandez holding the murder weapon and his movements around the time of the murder. The phone, according to prosecutors, had text messages Hernandez sent to Lloyd, as well as the former NFL star's alleged right hand man, Ernest Wallace, on the night of the killing.

Hernandez is charged with first-degree murder in the 2013 death of Lloyd. He is also charged with the murders of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in Boston in 2012.

The Bristol County District Attorney's Office told NECN Tuesday afternoon that it cannot comment on the case, due to an ongoing gag order.

• CLICK HERE to read the memorandum.

NECN will have more as this story develops.

A former U.S. Department of Health and Human Services official was convicted Tuesday on child pornography charges, and could face up to life in prison when sentenced.

A jury found Timothy DeFoggi, 56, formerly of Germantown, Maryland, and the former acting director of cyber security for HHS, guilty on three counts, after a four-day trial in Nebraska federal court.

The most serious of those charges, of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise, alone carries a sentence of 20 years to life in prison, DeFoggi's lawyer John S. Berry Jr. said.

According to prosecutors, trial evidence showed that DeFoggi accessed and exchanged child porn from a specific website between March 2, 2012, and Dec. 8, 2012, when the FBI shut the website down.

Prosecutors said that he also exchanged messages with other members of the site to express his interest in rape and murder fantasies involving children, and that evidence showed that he suggested meeting another member in person to fulfill those fantasies.

DeFoggi is set to be sentenced Nov. 7.

Berry said he and his client were still deciding whether to move for a new trial.

The case, Berry said, raised "many interesting and complex issues," as well as questions about his client's Fourth Amendment rights with regard to searches of his home and computer.

"There was quite a bit of searching by the government, and one of the issues is whether those searches were in fact legal," Berry said. He said there were also questions as to whether evidence were admissible and whether it was sufficient to convict his client.

DeFoggi's conviction was part of an investigation by the Justice Department into three websites containing exploitative material involving children.

The administrator of all three sites was also convicted for engaging in a child pornography enterprise. DeFoggi's conviction is the sixth in the investigation.

--Additional reporting by Sam Schulz

San Diego fire crews rushed to Valley Center Tuesday afternoon to battle a brush fire burning near a police shooting range, officials confirmed.

The blaze began around 2:40 p.m. at 25800 Valley Center Rd., near Lake Wohlford and the Escondido Police Department Firing Range, Cal Fire officials said.

It quickly scorched two to three acres, but by 3 p.m. Cal Fire officials tweeted that the forward rate of spread of the blaze had been stopped.

Several Cal Fire and Escondido Fire Department crews are on scene working to knock out the fire. Several aircraft are tackling the blaze overhead, too.

Officials said people at the Escondido Police Department Firing Range have been told to shelter in place. No evacuations have been ordered and no injuries have been reported.

The cause of the brush fire is under investigation.
 

The serial stowaway who got through airport security and boarded an LA-bound flight earlier this month was arrested in Arizona on Tuesday, less than two weeks after being released from jail early since violating her probation at LAX.

Marilyn Hartman, 62, was arrested at Sky Harbor Airport after being spotted loitering in the baggage claim area, Phoenix Police Sgt. Trent Crump said.

Hartman was spotted in the same airport Aug. 20 trying to enter a security checkpoint, Crump said.

Police first said Hartman was seen in the airport Aug. 14, but they corrected the date to Aug. 20. Officers gave her a trespass warning and removed her from the airport, police said.

A judge earlier this month ordered Hartman to serve 177 days in jail for wandering through LAX terminals on Aug. 7 after being told the previous day to "stay away from LAX" and placed on 24 months probation.

She was released Aug. 16 -- three days after being sentenced -- because of jail overcrowding, LA County sheriff's officials said.

Hartman was first arrested Aug. 4 at Los Angeles International Airport after Los Angeles police say she got through security at Mineta San Jose International Airport and boarded an LA-bound flight.

Hartman has previously breached security at San Francisco International Airport and has a history of trying to get on flights without a ticket, officials said. She had at least seven encounters with police at SFO and was arrested four times, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office.

Details about how Hartmen traveled to Arizona were not immediately clear.

A former Marine accused of having an affair with the 19-year-old wife of a fellow Marine pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder charges in her death, officials said.

Former Marine Cpl. Christopher Lee, 24, was extradited from Alaska to Southern California and entered the not guilty plea in Joshua Tree Superior Court, according to the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office.

Lee is accused of murdering Erin Corwin, 19, his then-neighbor in Twentynine Palms, and disposing of her body in a 14-story abandoned mine shaft in the desert near Joshua Tree National Park, officials said.

The cause of Corwin's death has not been released, but an arrest warrant released last week said .22-caliber "fired cartridge casings and pieces of rebar" were found at the scene. They are similar to casings found in Lee's vehicle and residence, according to the warrant.

Lee was arrested in Anchorage, Alaska, a day after Corwin's body was found, ending a nearly eight-week search for the woman in 300 acres of desert.

Corwin and Lee, who is married, may have been having an affair that began February, and she may have been three months pregnant with his child when she disappeared on June 28, both Corwin's friend and Lee's neighbor told investigators, according to a search warrant.

Corwin told her husband, Marine Cpl. Jonathan Corwin, she was going to Joshua Tree National Park to look for hiking trails. He reported her missing the next day.

Two days after she disappeared, her car was found in Twentynine Palms.
 

Chargers fans won’t be able to watch their Bolts play their last preseason game live on TV this week.

The NFL has blacked out Thursday’s matchup against the Arizona Cardinals across Southern California because Qualcomm Stadium is not sold out 72 hours before kickoff. The NFL’s policy affects cable and satellite as well as network channels.

Over 9,000 general admission tickets are still up for grabs for the 7 p.m. game.

If you want to watch the action from home, you’ll have to wait for the delayed telecast, which will start right after the live game at 10 p.m.

That, or you can listen in on the play-by-play over the radio.

The Chargers are 1-2 in preseason play. In their first matchup, they beat the Dallas Cowboys 27-7 at the beginning of August.

However, their next two games were not so successful. The Bolts lost 41-14 to the Seattle Seahawks on Aug. 15, and then were again defeated by the San Francisco 49ers 21-7.

Thursday’s game should give some indication of how they’ll do in their first regular season game, which is also against the Cardinals.

A large fire ripped through a New Jersey home containing several animals, sending up a ball of fire and heavy black smoke before part of it collapsed under the heat, killing 11 dogs inside, officials say. 

It's not clear what sparked the devastating fire in Clifton Monday afternoon, though authorities don't consider in suspicious. 

"It seemed to progress pretty quickly, seemed to be happening in the back of the house," said neighbor Jenna Ricciardi. 

It appeared to start as smoke coming from an annex to the house, but the fire quickly took over, officials said. The roof later collapsed under the heat.

No people were inside at the time, but there were numerous animals in the house. Sources close to the investigation say 11 dogs died in the fire, and one is still missing. There may be several cats missing as well. 

Investigators believe the owners were running a pet day care out of the home, according to sources.

Fire investigators, the ASPCA and police were on the scene. Three firefighters were taken to the hospital for minor injuries, mainly heat exhaustion, officials said. 

A new lululemon athletica store is opening at Fashion Valley Mall this weekend and the retailer plans to celebrate with plenty of free activities open to the public.

For starters, on Friday beginning at 10 a.m., the new 3,800-square-foot store will host a morning dance party with beats by DJ Jay and treats from Better Buzz Coffee and The Cravory.

On Saturday at 8:30 a.m., lululemon invites guests to get sweaty with brand ambassadors Theresa Larson and Ray Fernandez in Center Court. After the exercise session, attendees can refuel with Suja Juice and the Perfect Bar.

Finally, on Sunday at 9:30 a.m., guests are invited to throw on those yoga pants and attend a free yoga class in Center Court led by brand ambassador Andre Houle. After the workout, musician Jonny Tarr will play live music at the lululemon store.

The new, highly-anticipated lululemon location is on the second level of Fashion Valley Mall, between J. Crew and Sur La Table, and offers yoga and fitness apparel for both women and men.

When the store was first announced earlier this year, mall representatives said the retailer planned to host various healthy community events, including weekly complimentary yoga classes and goal-setting workshops.

Judging by the opening lineup of activities this weekend, the retailer will make good on this plan.

According to the lululemon website, the celebration of the new Fashion Valley store will continue on Sept. 7 at the Catamaran Resort in Pacific Beach with a “Sweat Life” event that includes paddleboarding, beach games, food and music.
 

More than 20 local eateries will unite this Saturday for a tasty trifecta of hog wild fun that includes bacon, beer and bands at NTC Park Liberty Station.

From 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Preble Field will turn into piggy paradise for the 2nd Annual Hormel Black Label Bacon Fest, a celebration dedicated to arguably the greatest meat of all time.

The sizzling shindig includes more than 20 San Diego eateries serving creative bacon-themed dishes, including South Paw Social Club’s “Elvis” sandwich, which combines peanut butter, banana and homemade bacon jam on grilled bread.

The Blind Burro will pig out with bacon ceviche, a mix of Applewood smoked bacon, avocado and pico de gallo with housemade chips. Meanwhile, Bub’s San Diego will represent with the ultimate carnivore treat: chicken wings wrapped with bacon.

Additional local restaurants set to participate in the porky party include Sublime Tavern, The Patio, Uptown Tavern, Crazee Burger and Slater’s 50/50 (click here for the full list).

Approximately 25 local breweries will also take part in the event, including Ballast Point, Mike Hess Brewing, Karl Strauss Brewing Co., The Lost Abbey, Mission Brewery and Stone Brewing Co.

Live tunes will be handled by 40 Oz. to Freedom, Cruz and The Routine.

General admission tickets cost $60 per person and include unlimited samples. VIP tickets can be purchased for $100.

Proceeds will benefit All About the Kids, a non-profit dedicated to enhancing the lives of children and families in need. For more details, visit the event website.
 

Summer horse racing season in Del Mar wraps up next week but the surf will meet the turf once again this fall when the race track welcomes its inaugural fall racing season.

For the first time ever, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club will open its seaside track for a new horse racing stretch dubbed “Bing Crosby Season,” which runs Nov. 7 through Nov. 30.

Like its summer counterpart, the short racing season will keep the good times rolling with eight races each day plus other events, including an Opening Day celebration and live musical performances.

Entertainment includes a Reggae Fest with Iration on Nov. 15 and a concert featuring the band CAKE on the Seaside Stage west of the Grandstand on Nov. 29. On Nov. 22, foodies can sample some gourmet meals on wheels with a special food truck event and a blanket giveaway.

On Nov. 29, visitors can also enjoy a craft beer festival, a Movember event and the biggest race of the meet: the Hollywood Derby.

Races are scheduled over the course of 15 days, mainly Thursday through Sunday, with earlier post times of 12:30 p.m. on weekdays and 12 p.m. on weekends. On Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 27), the first post is slated for 11 a.m. There are no live races Monday through Wednesday.

On Sundays, football fans can multitask and take in both racing and football simultaneously at Del Mar’s Cabana Football Lounge, a cool space that includes TVs, bars and food options.

According to organizers, this additional second season at the track pays tribute to the Hollywood glamour of the 1930s when the iconic Bing Crosby founded the track with his celebrity pals.

To that end, Opening day will kick off with a Gatsby-style celebration that includes guests in their finest fall threads and an “Old Hollywood Fashion Contest” that includes awards for Best Dressed Couple, Best Old Hollywood and Best Celebrity Lookalike.

Fall racing admission is $6 per person daily and $3 for Diamond Club members.

As for freebies, every Friday – with the exception of Opening Day – is free for Diamond Club members and includes admission, a program and half-priced beer, sodas and hot dogs.
Closing Day (Nov. 30) is free to all in Del Mar.

To check out the full calendar of races and events for the Bing Crosby Season, click here.