An Alameda County judge on Monday sentenced Giselle Esteban to 25 years to life for the first-degree murder of a nursing student last May and dumping her body near the Sunol-Pleasanton border.

A jury announced had found Esteban guilty of killing Michelle Le on Oct. 29 in Oakland. As Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jon Rolefson issued her sentence, Esteban looked straight ahead, her face hidden by her long hair.

First though, Esteban had to listen to Le's loved ones talk about what she had done to their lives and how much they missed her. Le grew up in San Diego and was a graduate of Mt. Carmel High School.

Le's cousin, Krystine Dinh, described the family's "overwhelming loss," and described Le as joyful, carefree and beautiful inside and out. "I miss everything about her," said a tearful Dinh.

She urged the judge to "keep Michelle's murderer behind bars for life where she can't harm another human being again"

Le's brother, Michael Le, also shared his anguish. "I feel broken and utterly incomplete without Michelle," he said. "She stalked and took Michelle's life because of an overactive imagination. Michelle dd nothing wrong. Absolutely nothing."

Le's body was found on Sept. 17 last year, four months after the Oakland-based Samuel Merritt University nursing student disappeared from the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Hayward.

Esteban, a 29-year-old Union City woman who attended high school with Le in San Diego, was charged with Le's murder a few days before Le's body was found based on DNA and cellphone records. 

Prosecutors have said that Esteban believed that Le was having sex with Esteban's former boyfriend - and the father of her daughter.

Esteban's attorney, Andrea Auer, has never disputed that her client killed Le, but argued in court that the evidence against Esteban was done in the "heat of passion" and her client should not be convicted of first-degree murder.

As he read the sentence, Rolefson had harsh words for Esteban: "To make the decision to kill Michelle Le was clearly proven it was clearly premeditated. It was really cold-blooded. Nowhere have I seen or heard any hint of remorse." 

It was all smiles at Chargers’ Park on Monday afternoon.

The day after doing what no other Chargers team had done before, the coach, the players, the media, even the man who opens the gate to let people in were in a better mood than they had been all season.

San Diego had never gone into the Steel City and beat Pittsburgh on their own field in a regular season game. Sunday they did it in a big way when, once again, it seemed like their season was as good as gone.

They scored 34 points on the number one defense in the NFL. The Bolts’ defense scored their seventh touchdown of the season.

One of the rites of passage of any sport, is the game ball. A ball awarded to players who did an exceptional job during the game whether it was on the field or with his teammates.

After the game on Sunday, head coach Norv Turner received a game ball from Chargers’ owner Dean Spanos. Earlier in the week there were rumors about the head coach’s future with the team and Spanos' statement was less than reassuring as far as a job security statement.

Turner said that struggle with the outside world caused them to cling to each other tighter than ever.

“When you struggle it either pulls you apart or it makes you closer,” Turner said. “I think the things our players have impressed me with is their closeness and their commitment they have continue.”

Coaches are usually the ones doling out the game balls, for Turner to receive it, he said, was something special.

“I was excited that he felt that way to give me the ball,” Turner said. “And it means a lot to me. And I think it means a lot to our team and I think they appreciate it and I’m going to hand out a bunch of game balls to them because there was some great efforts and great efforts from guys that, six weeks ago, weren’t on our radar.”

One of those guys getting a game ball is cornerback Antoine Cason.

Cason had three tackles on Sunday and contributed to Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completing only about half of his throws.

He explains what it means to him to be a part of this special tradition.

“It’s huge,” Cason said. “You spend so much time with these guys and for guys that get game balls to be recognized, in front of your teammates and the coaches, and it really helps you feel good. It’s a big deal for guys and we enjoy it.”

And even if a player doesn’t get the ball that week, the tradition inspires them for the next.

“That’s what we’re here to do is to compete,” Cason said. “Be those guys that help you never know who it’s going to be. Be that guy this week that helps the team win and make that play.”
 

16-year-old Phiona Mutesi from Kampala, Uganda is considered Africa's chess champion, the queen of Katwe, a prodigy.

Even with her so-called fame in Africa, she had never received a big of a welcome as she did at Gompers Preparatory Academy in Chollas View.

Clapping and cheering, more than 200 students stood by Mutesi's side as she made her way to the auditorium.

"I'm so happy," she exclaimed with nervousness in her eyes, "This is so big. I feel excited."

Mutesi, on stage with her coach Robert Katende, talked to the students about her beginning in the Ugandan slum of Katwe.

"My mother didn't have much for my brother and I to grow up," Katende translated for Mutesi as she spoke about her upbringing in Luganda, Uganda's official language.

"It was a constant struggle for my family," she said.

That all changed one day when she stepped in the Christian charity Sports Outreach Institute where coach Katende taught chess to the slum children.

He became her mentor and at the age of 10, Mutesi became the youngest person to win the African Chess Championship.

For the kids at Gompers Academy, her talent and her humble background inspires them.

"We have pretty much everything we need. We have things that she might have never seen before," eighth grader and the president of Gomper's chess club Jose Alvarez Castillo expressed, "I mean if she can do it, I can do it too."

Sixth grader, Esmeralda Garcia, also is inspired by Mutesi's "effort" and how she rose "from the slums and became so famous."

All Mutesi wants to accomplish with her visit in San Diego is to keep motivating these kids.

"When the students do something, even if it's not chess, let them do it with all their heart," she added, "Let them be hard-working and have hope."

There's a book about Mutesi's life titled, "The Queen of Katwe" by Tim Crothers. Disney is also starting to work on a movie based on the book.

Two of San Diego's biggest school districts turned a page Monday night, swearing in new and returning boardmembers. 

In the San Diego Unified School District, returning members John Lee Evans and Richard Barrera and new member Marne Foster were officially sworn in by San Diego Mayor Bob Filner. 

Foster and Evans were the two candidates who faced opposition in thie year's election. They were both backed by San Diego's teacher union.

The meeting was followed by a ceremony outside the district's University Heights headquarters.

In Chula Vista's Sweetwater Union High School District, returning board members Bertha Lopez and Pearl Quinones were also sworn in. 

A religious counselor in Brooklyn's ultra-orthodox Jewish community was convicted Monday of the sustained sexual abuse of a girl who came to him with questions about her faith.

The courtroom was silent as Nechemya Weberman was convicted of 59 counts, including sustained sex abuse of a child, endangering the welfare of a child and other counts. He faces 25 years in prison on the top charge and two to seven years on the lesser charges.

The 54-year-old defendant and his relatives stared down at the ground as the verdict was pronounced. Some of the accusers' supporters smiled quietly.

The accuser, now 18, told authorities Weberman abused her repeatedly from the time she was 12 until she was 15.

Defense lawyers said the jurors, who deliberated about half a day, did not properly grasp the complicated issues.

"We firmly believe that the jury got an unfairly sanitized version of the facts," said attorney George Farkas. "As a result, the truth did not come out and the struggle continues in full force to free this innocent man."

The case was a crash course for jurors about the customs and rules in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, home to about 250,000, the largest community outside Israel. It spotlighted the strict rules that govern the Satmar Hasidic sect.

Weberman is not a licensed counselor, but worked with families within his community for decades. The girl was sent to him because she had been questioning her faith, was dressing immodestly and showing an interest in boys, all violations of the sect's rules.

Prosecutors say Weberman molested the girl for years behind a locked office door. Defense attorneys argued the counselor was the victim of a vindictive child who was angry that he had betrayed her trust when he went to her parents after learning she had a boyfriend.

"When she found out that she had been betrayed, she went wild," defense attorney Stacey Richman said.

The trial has rocked the insular, tight-knit group, not only because of the shocking charges but also because the case was played out in a public court. The guarded society strongly discourages going to outside authorities.

The victim testified that she and her family were harassed and shunned for coming forward; her father lost his business and her nieces were kicked out of school.

During the trial, which began last week, three men were charged with criminal contempt for snapping images of the accuser on the witness stand with cellphone cameras and posting them online. And before the trial began, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes charged other men with trying to bribe the accuser to drop the charges.

The teen testified for three days about the abuse, detailing that Weberman forced her to perform oral sex and act out porn films. She said the abuse lasted from 2007 to 2010. Her family paid him $12,800 in counseling fees during that time, the victim's mother testified Monday.

"I wanted to die rather than live with myself," the accuser testified. "I didn't know how to fight. I was numb."

Two sailors visiting the San Diego Zoo with their families resuscitated a man who had collapsed. 

On the afternoon of Nov. 23, 65-year-old Navy veteran James Thompson collapsed at the zoo during a visit from Minnesota, the Naval Medical Center said in a statement Monday.

Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Stephanie Moor came to Thompson's aid and starting giving him CPR. Moor is a corpsman from the Cardiac Rehab clinic at NMCSD.

Ensign Janean Wujek, a registered nurse at the center, saw the crowd and came to Moor's side. She helped Moor with chest compressions and rescue breathing. 

"When I arrived, the victim was not breathing," Wujek said in a statement. "He was blue as a blueberry and had a thready pulse, so we continued with chest compressions and rescue breathing."

Thompson was then transported to the hospital, where he stayed for eight days and had a pacemaker defibrillator implanted. He returned home this week. 

"I'm at a loss for words," he said. "Their dedication to duty -- it's awesome. Coming to the aid of a complete stranger," Thompson said.

The two sailors were recognized and received a standing ovation at a NMCSD meeting this month. 

A standoff in San Marcos lasted more than 6 hours before ending peacefully Monday night.

San Diego County sheriff's deputies had been in position on Longstaff Court since 4 p.m. after responding to the report of a fight between neighbors.

One resident refused to come out.

Crisis negotiators talked to a man on his balcony for hours.

They did not believe he was armed, but were concerned for the children inside the home.

That standoff ended around 10 p.m. with no injuries.
 

Phil Mickelson and his golf course design firm have been selected to renovate the North Course at Torrey Pines the City of San Diego has announced Monday.

The renovation will include 18 new greens, renovated bunkers and tees, improved irrigation and possibly some new tees for tournament play.

The pros use it two days a year. Please don't ruin it for the rest of us.

It should be pointed out, Phil and his group had nothing to do with the South course remodel and he hasn't won there since the remodel.

The work will start in early 2015. They figure it will cost $7 million.
 

Twitter announced on Monday that it is getting into the photo sharing business by offering editing tools that allow users to crop, enhance and apply filters on images. 

The announcement comes on the heels of news that Instagram disabled photo integration with Twitter last week. This means previews of Instagram photos no longer appear on Twitter feeds.

The former partners have taken steps to sever ties with each other ever since Instagram was purchased by Facebook, The Washington Post reported. The two companies are now in direct competition with each other.

Last week at a technology conference, Instagram founder Kevin Systrom said the
company wants to limit Twitter integration so they can promote user engagement and their new web profiles, an online photo display, which launched last month, the Post reported.

“We want that to be on Instagram.com because we think it’s a better user experience, currently,” Systrom said at the conference.

Twitter has a similar agenda behind the break-up, according the The New York Times. By creating their own filters the company is hoping that their Very Important Tweeters -- usually celebrities and media personalities -- stay inside their own service for photos instead of using outside apps, including Instagram, where they have larger followings.  

The new Twitter features includes a crop tool and a “bird’s-eye view” that allows users to see at a glance how each each filter changes the image. The filters provide different effects that are reminiscent of the vintage looks that made Instagram photos such a hit.

Twitter’s software, however, lacks features that are available on Instagram. Twitter offers eight filters, compared to Instagram’s 18. Instagram also has a tilt shift feature that allows users to select focus on an image.

Merck has become the latest big corporation to pull funding from the Boy Scouts in protest of its anti-gay policy.

The pharmaceutical giant said Monday it was cutting all funding to the Boy Scouts of America and would consider giving to it again only if it stops barring gay Scouts and troop leaders.

"The BSA's policy of exclusion based on sexual orientation directly conflicts with the Merck Foundation’s giving guidelines," the company said in a statement.

Merck had given the Boy Scouts $30,000 in 2011, according to records, The Associated Press reported.

The Boy Scouts came under fire in July when it reaffirmed its long-standing anti-gay policy, which states in part, "we do not grant membership to individuals who are open or avowed homosexuals."

It had already attracted criticism when it ousted a popular Ohio lesbian den leader from her son's troop, and it reinforced it when it refused to give a gay teen his Eagle Scout pin after he had fulfilled all the requirements for the top rank.

Prior to Merck, both UPS and Intel had pulled their funding for the Boy Scouts, after gay rights activist Zach Wahls launched a campaign to lobby sponsors to drop their support contingent on a change to the policy.

On Saturday afternoon, tow truck driver Shaun Riddle got the call from AAA to help a disabled SUV that had stalled just west of the train tracks in Cardiff.

It was just after he had loaded the SUV onto the flatbed tow truck that Riddle was killed by an oncoming Amtrak train.

The manager of Towex, the local towing company that employed Riddle, learned of the tragic crash from one of the company’s dispatchers.

“She was just hysterical,” said TJ Gan. “She's like 'I gotta calm down to get this out, but I think Shaun got killed by a train.'”

A passerby captured the crash on video. NBC 7 San Diego has chosen not to show the full video because the impact of the crash is too disturbing to watch.

In the video, it appears 27-year-old Riddle attempted to run from the train but it was already too late.

“He was just trying to help people out and not really thinking about himself,” Gan said. “He didn't think about his own safety, just thinking about getting those people and their car out of the way.”

On Monday, workers at Towex felt an emptiness at the yard.

“You can definitely feel that there's something missing,” Gan said.

Gan said the company has received hundreds of phone calls from strangers offering condolences and financial help for Riddle’s wife and the couple’s one-year-old daughter.

“I can't even express how awesome it feels to have so much support from people that don't know him or know us,” he said.

To donate to Shaun Riddle's family, please visit any Bank of America and deposit into "Shaun Riddle Memorial Fund"

Or mail donations to:
5560 Eastgate Mall #A
San Diego CA 92121

Make payable to "Shaun Riddle Memorial Fund."
 

Redevelopment may be dead in California.

But the problems created by its demise -- and all the costs passed on to local governments -- are still alive and kicking.

A dramatically visual case in point of how taxpayers could end up holding the bag on former redevelopment costs is the $26 million pedestrian bridge over Harbor Drive links the Convention Center and Petco Park.

The city didn’t bill San Diego's redevelopment agency for $600,000 worth of extra permit, processing and inspection fees for the project until after the agency shut down.

Now, a collections outfit is on the case, but will the state allow payment by Civic San Diego, the redevelopment agency’s successor in winding down operations and sorting out financial obligations?

Or will the city’s staff time and expenses on the bridge go unreimbursed?

"The state's the one making the rules, the city's just subject to it,” says Liam Dillon, who covers politics, government and civic issues for Voice of San Diego. “The state says yes or no, and the city wants to complain? Good luck."

The situation galls University City resident Bob Henry, who offered these comments as he took a mid-day break from a power walk across the bridge on Monday: "Ridiculous. Just ridiculous. I mean, it doesn't make sense. And I guess the state has passed that on to us.”

But the debt over the bridge project is just a small chapter in a bigger story of how much money the end of redevelopment could cost the taxpayers.

At risk, according the city’s outside auditors, are $22 million in bond payments on Petco Park that the redevelopment agency gave the city -- and which the state wants to recover under its so-called “clawback” power.

Also at risk: $6 million in Convention Center bond debt -- because of the city's late timing in assigning the agency the costs of the ballpark and 2001 expansion of the Convention Center. 

It's not clear whether this dilemma can be resolved without going to court.

"It's really the city's fault at the beginning, when they made these deals in the first place,” says Dillon “Those (projects) were clearly things that could be done by the redevelopment agency. And if they were done at the original point when the Convention Center expansion first happened, when Petco first happened, this wouldn't be a question."

This reaction, from Tierrasanta resident Paloma Garza as she strolled the bridge during Monday’s noon hour: "We love living here. But getting stuck with all the other things that the city just does not take care of is not good."

City Councilman Kevin Faulconer, chair of the city’s Audit Committee, points to these concerns as further evidence of the need for continued fiscal austerity at city hall.

"We've spend a lot of time in making financial changes, financial turnarounds,” Faulconer said in an interview Monday. “For the state to come in now and say, 'We're potentially going to reach back in a take back some of those dollars' puts our city at a tremendous disadvantage."

Meantime, the city has set aside $28 million in a budget account to cover potential losses of the Petco Park and Convention Center money.

Another huge question mark, according to auditors, is the fate of nearly $200 million in principal and interest on city loans to the redevelopment agency, involving federal community development block grants.

If payback is allowed, it's expected to go into a special urban renewal account.

San Diego State University’s football team faces what may be its toughest season in program history next year as the Aztecs move into the Big East Conference according to the school's athletic staff. 

The school released the schedule of opponents for the 2013 season and they include matchups with five opponents who were selected for bowl games in 2012.

Fans will get to see SDSU play Boise State, Cincinnati, SMU and Temple at home next year.

Two non-conference games scheduled for home are Oregon State and Eastern Illinois.

On the road, SDSU will play UConn, Houston, Louisville, Memphis, Ohio State and New Mexico State.

Oregon State, Cincinnati, Boise State, SMUA and Louisville were each selected for a bowl game in 2012.

For those fans interested in ticket information, the Aztec Ticket Office is already accepting new account deposits on 2013 season.

Purchase tickets through GoAztecs.com, over the phone by calling (619) 283-7378, or by visiting Qualcomm Stadium's Window E between 9 a.m. PT and 5 p.m. PT.

Here are the games that have dates scheduled.

No dates have been given for the other matchups.

• Aug. 31 Eastern Illinois
• Sept. 7 at Ohio State
• Sept. 21 Oregon State
• Sept. 28 at New Mexico State
   

Where are you headed during the holidays? You may be flying right into flu territory.

The flu season is off to an early start, hitting southern states hard, according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. Flu cases have spiked in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi,Tennessee and Texas which is considered one of the earliest starts in 10 years.

The latest numbers from the CDC show five children nationwide have died from flu this season.

There haven't been a lot of flu cases in California, but that could change, according to Dr. D. Scott Smith, an infectious disease specialist with Kaiser Permanente in Redwood City

"I think we should consider it an early warning that the southern states are getting hit hard, a reminder to protect yourself with a flu shot," Smith said.

Kaiser Northern California has already given flu shots to more than a million patients. There is no shortage of the vaccine this year and  preliminary assessments indicate the vaccine appears to be a good match with the virus that is circulating.

If you are going to be in a crowded airport this holiday season remember the flu virus can linger for hours on surfaces such as door knobs, arms of chairs and toilet seat handles. Dr. Smith also says it's possible for the flu virus to travel six to eight feet in the air after an infected person coughs. He says your best defense is to get your vaccine and wash your hands thoroughly.

A motorcyclist was thrown 60 to 70 yards after he collided with the center divider on southbound Interstate 15 in Rancho Penasquitos according to one witness.

The accident occurred around 6:35 a.m. near Scripps Poway Parkway shutting down all lanes of traffic heading southbound during the morning commute.

Jean Labrador, who works as a mental health aide, saw the motorcyclist wobbling moments before he crashed.

“It looked like he was losing control,” she said.

She said once he collided with the center divider he was thrown 60 to 70 yards from where the vehicle crashed.

She said the man was in and out of consciousness but said he was talking to her before paramedics arrived.

The driver told her his tire went flat before the crash.

The California Highway Patrol closed four lanes heading south. Before 8 a.m., lanes were reopened to traffic.

A grass fire stopped traffic along State Route 78 between Rancho Sante Fe Road and San Marcos Boulevard.

The fire, first reported around 12:21 p.m., was burning along the highway shoulder.

Check Interactive Traffic Map

The blowing smoke caused a traffic backup stretching west to Rancho Sante Fe Drive according to SigAlert.com.

The California Highway Patrol told NBC 7 San Diego the fire was smoke only and that its units were working to clear the area.