When Janice Montoya steps up to the cash register, there's a good chance she'll be handing over plastic.

"I just bought this drink and it was $2.50 and I used my debit card," said Montoya. 

She's not alone. According to a poll by CreditCards.com, we are turning to plastic more and more when we go shopping. 

"I just prefer to pay credit card," said Ellis Lowe," I don't go to the bank too much."  

And this switch to plastic is happening even faster among millennials: shoppers under 30 years of age. 

According to the poll, young shoppers are far more likely to use a debit or credit card when buying something for under $5 than baby boomers.

If the purchase price is under $5, 77 percent of people over 50 surveyed preferred cash to debit or credit, while just 48 percent of people between 18 and 29 chose it.

While Dayle Peyroux isn't a millennial, he still reaches for plastic when he goes shopping. 

"Even it it's 25 cents, I will use credit card," said Peyroux, "for the frequent flier miles."

Certified Financial Planner Mary Beth Storjohann says incentives have changed shopping habits.

"As a millennial I use credit cards because I have a strict strategy in place for earning the points and I know the ones that will maximize," said Storjohann.

But some feel a reliance on credit cards encourages over spending. Storjohann says that's not necessarily the case. 

"Plastic is not inherently bad as long as you have a strategy in place for paying down the balance at the end of each month," she said.

Research is underway on designing new helmets to protect U.S. military members from injury and allow them to do their job effectively while on missions.

The complex research is aimed at allowing versatility in combat as well as protection from a traumatic brain injury. The U.S. military has been testing helmet prototypes under a variety of conditions, including what would happen with a bomb blast from an improvised explosive device.

“It's almost like trying to protect against the wind. You don't know where it is going to come from. You don't know how strong it is going to be, It could be ball-bearings. It could be frag. It could be nails. It could marbles.It could be rocks,” said Don Lee, a researcher on the project.

The design of the new helmets is being done by the US Army Natick Laboratories, which are also known as Helmet Electronics and Display System Upgradeable Protection or HEaDS-UP.

One aspect of the study includes testing the pressure that would come from a blast using a computer model.

That study was done at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C.

“What we found is that adding these optional shields to the helmet actually does block these pressure waves in some of the cases, but they can trap these pressure waves in other cases,” supervising engineer David Mott said.

Mott said there are a number of factors that affect that pressure, including the direction of the blast and the reflection from the torso.

“We think we need to look more closely at the full systems, including what's on the torso, the armor, (anything) potential, maybe a collar (and) any other equipment that's held on the body,” Mott said.

The Army and Navy say they are working together on a number of ways to reduce traumatic brain injury, and these prototype helmets are still in the research phase.
 

A 14-year-old boy helped save his 2-year-old sister when a man tried to abduct her in Northern Virginia last weekend.

According to a news release from Prince William County police, the incident was reported around 6:40 p.m. in the 1400 block of Geraldine Court in Woodbridge Sunday. 

Police say a stranger picked up a 2-year-old girl who was playing with a group of children in the area and tried to walk away with her.

Her 14-year-old brother saw the man trying to take his sister, followed him and confronted him until the man let his little sister go. 

A witness then followed the accused abductor and called police. Shortly after, 26-year-old Patrick F. Rooney of Woodbridge was arrested and investigators say he was drunk. He's facing attempted abduction charges and is being held behind bars without bond.

Copyright Associated Press / NBC 7 San Diego

Detectives are searching for a trio of suspects who used the same stolen credit card to make more than $600 worth of illegal purchases, according to San Diego County Crime Stoppers.

The illicit shopping spree started at the Wal-Mart store at 3412 College Way on Aug. 1. Around 1:30 p.m., a male suspect used the stolen card to buy $105.40 worth of products and asked the cashier for $100 in cash back, Crime Stoppers says.

Later that day, two different suspects – a man and a woman – used the same credit card at the same Wal-Mart to purchase merchandise worth $172.86 around 10 p.m. They also got $100 cash back.

Swiping the card a third time, the duo bought $153.79 in merchandise at the CVS Pharmacy located at 7100 Broadway in Lemon Grove.

The first suspect is described as a heavy set black man between 25 and 35 years old. Surveillance pictures show he was wearing a grey shirt that had “NAVY” written across it.

The female suspect in the second photo is described as a Hispanic woman between 20 and 25 years old. She wore a black shirt and dark pants.

The last accused burglar is a light-skinned black man between 18 and 25 years old, investigators say. He has a large afro-style haircut with a white spot on the right side, and he was wearing a grey sweatshirt and grey sweatpants at the time of the incidents.

If you know anything about these three suspects, call the Rancho San Diego Sheriff’s Station at 619-660-7090 or Crime Stoppers’ anonymous tip line at 888-580-8477.

A San Diego business leader said Tuesday he is offering up a $10,000 bounty for the arrest of a suspect in a string of North Park attacks to “set a tone to anyone who wants to vandalize or terrorize our neighborhood that it won’t be tolerated.”

“We’re going to do everything we can as San Diegans to stop it,” said Mark Arabo, president of the Neighborhood Market Association.

Arabo initially put up $15,000, but said that he reduced the amount because of a tax loophole that only allows tips to be anonymous when the reward is $10,000 or less.

Asked why he’s donating the large sum of money, Arabo said it’s because he has a wife and kids and does not tolerate crimes like what’s happened in North Park. He believes residents should have the luxury of walking in their neighborhood without being in fear.

“The message should be clear: “We will not tolerate anyone terrorizing our neighborhood,” he said.

Six attacks on women have been reported in the popular uptown neighborhood over the past three months, with the latest happening Aug. 28 when a woman walking by herself was knocked down from behind. It happened in an alley near Lincoln Avenue and Idaho Street.

The first attack in the series was reported on June 11, when a woman was thrown to the ground by an attacker on 33rd Street, according to the SDPD.

On June 17, police say two suspects were involved in an attack in the 3200 block of Meade Avenue. Four days later, a victim told police two men again attempted to assault her and pull off her clothes on Lincoln Avenue.

A woman was attacked from behind and knocked unconscious on June 24 while walking along Lincoln Avenue near Oregon Street.

On July 20, another woman was knocked unconscious while walking near Lincoln Avenue and Kansas Street around 1:20 a.m.

In the San Diego Christmas Eve mall killings there are three gunshot victims, a sole defendant, a silencer entered into evidence and testimony that the victims had an expensive drug habit. However, eight months into the investigation, prosecutors still have no clear motive behind the killings.

Carlo Mercado, 29, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of brothers Salvatore Belvedere and Gianni Belvedere and Gianni’s fiancée, Ilona Flint.

Homicide Detective Timothy Norris testified Tuesday about evidence collected in the case including the fact that Gianni Belvedere had been buying and smoking heroin daily, spending up to $250 a day. Norris testified Flint also used heroin.

Salvatore Belvedere had spent several months out of state as part of a detox program from heroin addiction, Norris said. The 22-year-old had returned to San Diego just one week before he was killed.

Flint and Salvatore were shot while sitting inside a parked car outside the Macy’s in Mission Valley in the early hours of Dec. 24, 2013. Flint died at the scene while Salvatore sustained critical injuries and died a few days later.

At a pretrial hearing Tuesday, prosecutors also played a 911 recording made by Flint at 1:11 a.m. Flint can be heard giving her location and then says "Ow, ow, I've been shot."  The 911 call does not include any sound of gunshots.

Detectives believe Flint turned away from the gunman to conceal the phone call.

Ten to 15 minutes in the recording, Norris testified, "It sounds basically like someone struggling to breathe." 

When officers arrive to the scene only Salvatore Belvedere was still alive and in critical condition. He never regained consciousness.

Homicide investigators tracked Salvatore's phone from the Belvedere home to the mall. He's believe to have arrived around 12:45 a.m. It was not unusual for Gianni's brother or father to pick up Flint after her shift at the shoe store.

Norris said Flint had tried to get a hold of Gianni after she got off work that night, calling him at least five times. Her last attempt was made at 1:05 a.m. She never reached him.

Salvatore and Flint sat in the mall parking lot for at least 20 minutes after Ilona left work, Norris testified.

Worried for Gianni, Flint called jails and hospitals trying to find him. The only other people she called that night, according to detective testimony, were the Belvedere brothers.

Several witnesses told police that they saw a man standing near the victim's car and walk away. Under cross-examination by the defense, Norris testified that those witnesses saw an image of Gianni Belvedere on the news after the shooting and later told police they believed the man they saw walk away from the car was Gianni.

According to investigators, Salvatore’s cell phone was taken from the scene of the shooting.

To this day, the phone has never been found. Investigators said Gianni’s phone received a text message at around 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 24 from Salvatore’s phone, but detectives have no idea who sent that text.

Immediately after the discovery of the crime scene at Mission Valley mall, the San Diego Police Department launched a missing person search for Gianni, 24.

On Jan. 17, Gianni’s body was discovered in the trunk of his own car in Riverside about an hour and a half north of San Diego County. He, too, had been fatally shot, and his decomposing body was found with his pants and underwear around his ankles and his shirt and sweater pulled over his arms, prosecutors say.

The prosecution and defense argued Tuesday whether his death was a homicide or suicide. 

Crime scene specialist Heidi Hebert said she examined a deodorizing spray can found in the trunk of Gianni's car next to Gianni's body. The can had duct tape on it, hair and blood, she testified. The duct tape had been placed against the nozzle as if to allow the spray to come out of the can.

The investigator told the court that there was a piece of rolled up duct tape found on the license plate of Gianni's car too. The tape had a single black hair on it.

On June 21, investigators found the same type of duct tape in the Mercado's closet, Hebert testified.

As the defense revealed on Tuesday, evidence suggests drugs may have been a factor in the triple homicide. Detectives found a baggie with drug residue linked to a drug dealer next to the bodies.

A San Diego County Medical Examiner's office pathologist testified that Flint was found dead in the front passenger seat of the car. Under cross-examination, Norris testified there was a lighter found between Flint's legs.

A bag of pills, including Xanax, was also found in the vehicle.

Gianni had opiates, alcohol, morphine, codine and Xanax in his body when he died. There was no evidence of drugs in Salvatore's system at the time of his death.

Pathologist Steven Campman, M.D., testified that Flint’s blood tested positive for main metabolites for heroin but he could not estimate how much heroin was used or when it was used.

A drug dealer told investigators that Gianni Belvedere had bought heroin from her daily since August 2013 until the time he disappeared, the detective testified. At 7 p.m. on the night of the shootings, the shooting victim bought two grams of heroin, Norris testified. 

Another drug dealer told police Gianni purchased seven Xanax pills around 11 p.m. that same night.

Gianni's last call, a 10-minute conversation, was recorded at 11:33 p.m. After 11:43 p.m., there was no other activity on Gianni's phone.

The detective on the stand said no evidence was found that the victims owed money to drug dealers, therefore drug debts may not have been motive for the slayings.

For nearly six months, the triple homicide case has remained a mystery, with no suspects detained and little information released on what, exactly, happened to Flint, Salvatore and Gianni or why they were killed.

On June 20, Mercado was arrested on Westmore Street in San Diego as the suspect in the slayings.

At Tuesday's pretrial hearing, a U.S. Border Patrol agent described his contact with Mercado around 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 18 at the Interstate 5 checkpoint in in San Clemente -- the day after Gianni's body was found in Riverside.

Mercado told the agent there was an AR15 in a bag inside the car, registered in his name. The defendant explained he was headed to San Bernardino to find a shooting range. When asked why he was taking the I-5, Mercado told Border Patrol he had planned to stop in Los Angeles first, the agent testified.

He said Mercado appeared "expressionless, monotone and indifferent" during their conversation.

The agent went on to search Mercado's vehicle. Inside, the agent said he found ammo, two loaded pistols and magazines. He said he also found a homemade silencer in the center console of the vehicle that appeared to be made of plastic pipes.

Border Patrol later discovered that the silencer fit one of the pistols perfectly.

The weapons were seized and Mercado was processed, the agent said.

The evidence presented at Mercado's preliminary hearing will determine whether he will ultimately stand trial for the killings. If convicted, he could face the death penalty or life in prison.

The hearing will continue Wednesday at 9 a.m.

His former attorney said Mercado denies any involvement in the case and has since pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder. He is being held without bail in the San Diego Central Jail.

The Belvedere family runs a website titled "Justice for Sal, Gianni and Ilona" which is frequently updated with new information and personal stories of the victims, as shared by their loved ones.

The family said Gianni was working as the manager of the family's restaurant Mario's. Salvatore was working as the chef. The family says they had just finalized the sale of the restaurant a week before the killings.

Family members described Gianni and Flint as teenage sweethearts and Salvatore as their best friend.

Anyone with information that may help the investigation can call the San Diego Police Department’s Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or CrimeStoppers at 888-580-8477.

A man accused of knowingly spreading HIV has been ordered by a judge to stay off dating sites, specifically the gay dating app Grindr.

Thomas Guerra, 29, has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor health and safety violation. The Imperial Beach man is accused of giving HIV to an ex-boyfriend after assuring the man he was HIV-negative.

Guerra stood silently behind his attorney in court on Tuesday as prosecutors filed an amended complaint, naming the communicable disease Guerra is accused of transmitting as HIV. 

The judge denied prosecutors' request to increase bail from $2,500 to $50,000, citing he had seen no evidence of additional victims or current online dating activity. However, the judge agreed to bar Guerra from using all dating websites, including Grindr.

According to court documents, Guerra assured the victim he was HIV-negative when they started dating in April 2013.

Guerra said he didn’t know about his infection when his partner contracted the virus, but the victim said he found text messages, videos and emails that proved Guerra knew he had HIV since 2007.

Another man who said he had been a former partner of Guerra’s told NBC 7 that Guerra would tell people he was HIV-negative, have sex with them and then brag about it.

Guerra faces a $1,000 fine and six months in jail if convicted. More charges could be filed against him as the investigation continues, according to the City Attorney’s Office.

Another readiness hearing is scheduled for Oct. 16. A jury trial is set to begin Nov. 13.
 

A sexually violent predator will soon be making the East County his home.

On Tuesday, a San Diego judge approved 58-year-old Allen Field’s placement into a three-bedroom, one-bathroom house on Custer Road in Campo.

The convicted child molester is scheduled to move in on Oct. 24, sparking outrage among local officials and residents alike.

County Supervisor Diane Jacob called the plan an outrage, not justice.

“These are places where families come for peace and quiet, but now they worry for their safety,” she said in a statement. “Sexually violent predators like Fields gave up their freedom when they committed their monstrous acts. The only community they deserve is prison.”

Parents have expressed concern that Fields' new home will be one mile from a playground and 2.2 miles from Campo Elementary School.

Fields spent 25 years in prison after he molested four boys between the ages of 10 and 13 in the early 1980s.

Working as either a caregiver or Boy Scout troop leader to gain access to his victims, he perpetrated the lewd acts over five years, including fondling, mutual masturbation, mutual oral copulation and attempted sodomy, the District Attorney says.

Since he was released from prison, Fields underwent more than ten years in sex offender treatment and volunteered for surgical castration in 2003.

In recent years, seven sexually violent predators have been house in the county’s rural areas, according to Jacob.

Three planes landing at LaGuardia Airport struck birds within a four-hour period Wednesday morning, the FAA said. All the aircrafts landed safely and no damage was reported. 

The first plane, an ExpressJet Airlines flight, reported striking a bird while it turned to approach the runway. The bird hit the plane's nose gear, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Less than two hours later, another ExpressJet Airlines flight struck a bird while taxiing, the FAA said. 

About four hours after the first bird strike, an Air Canada plane reported a bird strike about 12 miles northeast of the airport. It landed safely.

The FAA is investigating. 

Fifteen bird strikes have been reported this year at LGA, according to the FAA, but with September being peak time for migration, this time of year could see more collisions. 

"In September what we're looking at is the birds that have hatched over the summer, plus their parents, so the most birds ever are flying around in September," said Christine Sheppard, a bird collision expert with the American Bird Conservancy.

Birds are also most active in the morning, and LaGuardia's location nestled near the marshlands raises the potential for collisions, Sheppard said.  

"These are all animals that are using the habitat and trying to coexist with planes, and sometimes they're looking at the wrong place at the wrong time," she said. 

Across the country, collisions between planes and wildlife are climbing. In 1990, there were 1,851 reported strikes. In 2013, there were 11,315 strikes. Nearly all the collisions involved birds. 

Despite the growing number of bird strikes, travelers say they're confident airports are doing everything possible to keep passengers safe while also preserving wildlife.

"It's like getting hit by a meteorite -- you can't worry about it," said Pete Hunsinger of Connecticut. 

"We're never going to eliminate the collisions between airplanes and birds, it's just not possible," said Sheppard. "But we can definitely try to reduce it and minimize the impact on both people and wildlife." 

In 2009, a US Airways flight had just taken off from LaGuardia airport when a flock of geese disabled the engines. Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III safely glided into a water landing in the Hudson River. 

Residents across Riverside County reported hearing loud rumbling followed by a strong jolt when a magnitude-3.7 earthquake struck the San Jacinto area Tuesday night.

The temblor hit about 7:38 p.m. at a depth of a little more than 8 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It was followed by a magnitude-2.9 aftershock nearly an hour later.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damages.

The epicenter was located in a San Jacinto residential neighborhood in the 900 block of Yorkshire Lane, according to the USGS.

"It felt like it was like, 'Boom!'" said a man who lives in a home in that neighborhood. "It maybe lasted like 15 seconds."

A Twitter user in Winchester described the tremor as a "short jolt." Another user in Moreno Valley said it felt like a "gentle roller."

"It was loud," said Gina Dolce on the NBCLA Facebook page. "Sounded like an explosion."

"Shook here in San Jacinto! It was a loud one. Heard it before I felt it!" said another Facebook user.

"I live in Hemet, and we just moved to CA, so it's our first one. Wow...a little freaked and excited! Did not expect the noise...sounded and felt like a train ran right next to the house," said Jennifer Blenk Walsh on Facebook.

Residents as far away as Diamond Bar, Palm Desert and parts of Orange County reported feeling the shaking.

Gadi Schwartz contributed to this report.

DNA evidence led police to tie a suspect in an illegal firearms case to the mysterious triple homicide last Christmas Eve, a newly released search warrant reveals.

The warrant details why investigators believe Carlo Mercado, 29, is responsible for the shooting deaths of Salvatore Belvedere, 22, Gianni Belvedere, 24, and Ilona Flint, 22.

Mercado has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder. On Wednesday, after two days of evidence was presented in the preliminary hearing, he was bound over for trial.

Flint and Salvatore were fatally shot inside a car in the Mission Valley mall parking lot on Dec. 24, 2013. Gianni’s body was discovered on Jan. 17 inside the trunk of his own vehicle, which was parked 100 miles away in Riverside.

The day after Gianni’s decomposing corpse was found, a U.S. Border Patrol agent pulled Mercado over as he drove his 2001 white Ford Explorer through the Interstate 5 checkpoint near San Clemente, the search warrant says.

The agent told investigators Mercado seemed “dazed” and "drained of emotion." After some questioning, he said he was going to San Bernardino to find a shooting range and told the agent he had an AR-15 in a bag laying on his backseat.

A search of Mercado’s vehicle uncovered a mask, zip ties and the AR-15 assault rifle with three fully loaded, ten-round magazines and two fully loaded, 30-round magazines. They also found one .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun with three, fully loaded magazines and spare barrel, as well as one .22 caliber semi-automatic handgun with two loaded magazines.

A handmade silencer was discovered hidden in the SUV’s center console, the search warrant says.

A check on the weapons showed the handguns were registered to Mercado, but the AR-15 was not registered.

Mercado was arrested and his case turned over to a special agent with the California Department of Justice for prosecution. Soon after, Mercado bailed out of jail.

Meanwhile, San Diego Police detectives investigating the Belvedere and Flint deaths hit a dead end.

They finished processing the crime scene where Gianni’s body was discovered, pulling DNA evidence and fingerprints from a can of Febreze air freshener and two boxes of Arm and Hammer air freshener.

The Febreze canister’s trigger was duct taped down so all of the contents would spray into the trunk and mask the odor of Gianni’s body, the SDPD detective says. On the duct tape, analysts found a single black hair.

Analysts also took DNA swabs off the gas cap of Gianni’s car, assuming whoever drove it to Riverside may have had to refuel it along the way.

But when all the evidence was cross referenced with the California DNA Data Bank in March, investigators could find no suspect matches, according to the search warrant.

One month later, they hit a break in the case.

The California DOJ again arrested Mercado outside his Mira Mesa home on April 29. He was charged with possession of an assault weapon, possession of a firearm silencer and carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle.

During that felony arrest, his fingerprints and DNA samples were entered into the state database.

On June 18, the search warrant says a data bank administrator notified SDPD detectives that they had a match for the triple homicide suspect’s DNA profile: Carlo Mercado.

The California DOJ worked with the SDPD to transfer evidence in Mercado’s case, including his .22 caliber semi-automatic handgun.

The SDPD firearms unit examined the gun and compared its shell casings to casings found inside the vehicle where Salvatore and Flint were killed.

The criminalist believes Mercado’s gun fired the shots at all three victims, a firearms analyst testified at Mercado's preliminary hearing Tuesday.

However, the detective who wrote the search warrant says he is not sure if he believes Mercado acted alone or if he had co-conspirators. He hasn't determined a motive in the killings, either.

Mercado's defense attorney questioned homicide detectives at Tuesday's pre-trial hearing about the victims' drug use suggesting that may have been a factor in the case.

Detective Timothy Norris testified Salvatore had completed a 3-month rehab for heroin addiction, Flint smoked heroin and a drug dealer told police that Gianni had bought heroin from her daily since August 2013. Gianni's alleged heroin habit cost up to $250 a day, Norris testified.

When the search warrant was executed after Mercado's June 20 arrest, the detective hoped to find clothing worn during the slayings, documents that tied Mercado to the victims or their families or other electronic evidence.

Officers seized boxes of ammunition, documents, CDs, computers, clothes, external hard drives and more from Mercado’s Mira Mesa home. They also found the same type of duct tape in Mercado's closet that was used to hold down the Febreze nozzle inside the Riverside trunk, a crime scene specialist testified.

Mercado has denied all involvement in the case.

Earthquake experts, politicians and other key stakeholders are gathering in Berkeley for three days to discuss what a difference seconds can make when the big one hits, and to try to figure out how to pay for that time.

Supporters of an early-warning system say those seconds, while pricy, can be vital when it comes to warning the public of an earthquake about to roll through their neighborhood.

"Even a few seconds could let an automated system like BART slow trains," UC Berkeley spokesman Bob Sanders said on Wednesday, as the three-day International Conference on Earthquake Early Warning got underway there. "Chevron could close valves; amusement parks could halt rides."

He added that in just a few seconds, parents could have time to grab their kids and duck under a table.

In the best-case scenario, Sanders said, people would have a full minute of warning, even though he conceded that most warnings would give a 10- to 30-second notice.

The conference, which runs through Friday, comes two weeks after a magnitude-6.0 quake shook the Napa area on Aug. 24, damaging about 800 buildings and sending more than 200 people to the hospital.

The issue leaders and scientists are tackling this week is how to pay for an early-warning detection system throughout California.

The system, called ShakeAlert, is already being used by five universities and the US Geological System at a cost of $15 million a year. According to ShakeAlert, it would cost an additional $80 million over five years to fund a "robust, fully operational" system in California. Sanders said the extra $80 million is to upgrade the seismometers and transmission lines to create a reliable and fast network.
 
Gov. Jerry Brown is a fan of the system. In September 2013, Brown signed a bill by state Sen. Alex Padilla (D-San Fernando Valley) to create a statewide earthquake early warning system that would give people a 60-second heads-up about a quake. The bill states the Office of Emergency Services would have until Jan. 1, 2016, to "identify funding for the system."

There are those that are questioning the funding. Monica Cullen wrote on Facebook: "Their system knew about it just minutes before the quake hit...not worth the cash."

But no one is questioning that the system worked at Cal during the Napa quake.

The UC Berkeley Seismological Laboratory director Richard Allen posted a video on Aug. 24 showing the early-warning system sent out an alert  five seconds before the first waves rolled through Berkeley and 10 seconds before the strongest shaking along the Napa Fault. The alert said light shaking was expected from an estimated magnitude-5.7 quake.

The data collected uses "P-wave information," and the stronger "S-wave energy" to determine when an earthquake is about to hit, estimate the level of ground shaking, and issue a warning before significant shaking begins, according to the ShakeAlert system.

In addition to UC Berkeley and the USGS, the others that are pioneering the system include the California Institute of Technology, the Southern California Earthquake Center, the University of Washington,  and the Eidgenoissische Technische Hochschule in Zurich. They are funded in part with money from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the USGS.

Sanders said the conference will focus on how countries such and Japan and Mexico have created nation-wide earthquake alerting systems, and effective strategies for building such systems in California, Canada, as well as Jordan, Pakistan, Korea, China and Mongolia, according to UC Berkeley.

A man was sentenced to seven months in jail for dumping potentially deadly chemicals that could kill anyone within 30 yards instantly.

Tijuana resident Raul Antonio Gonzalez Lopez, 55, pleaded guilty to unlawful disposal of hazardous waste, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In March 2011, Gonzalez Lopez picked up a cardboard box from a business in National City called We Lend More, knowing full well some of the box carried potassium cyanide in aged plastic containers and acid in a breakable glass bottle, prosecutors say.

He threw the dangerous chemicals into the Miramar Landfill, which is prohibited under federal law.

When mixed together, potassium cyanide and acids produce a fatal hydrogen cyanide gas, according to Joe Lowry, chief scientist with the Environmental Protection Agency.

Just one breath of hydrogen cyanide will kill a person.

Lowry determined that if the landfill chemicals had mixed, anyone within 30 yards would have died instantly. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says landfill operators use heavy equipment to compact the trash, so it’s likely the chemical containers would have broken and combined.

Thankfully, operators discovered the hazardous box before it was too late.

Gonzalez Lopez was arrested in Mexico on Jan. 14, 2014 and extradited to the U.S. to face charges.

In February 2011, a jury convicted the company We Lend More and owner Marc Vogel of aiding and abetting the illegal transportation and disposal of hazardous waste, according to prosecutors.

A Marine wife got her first look at the man accused of killing her husband in a hit and run accident.

On Tuesday, Ezequiel Garcia, 30, pleaded not guilty to a felony hit and run that killed Marine Sgt. Brandon Bizzarro. The Oceanside man is accused of making an illegal U-turn with a rental truck and fleeing the scene after colliding with Bizzarro.

The prosecutor said that Garcia was rushing to the rental agency so he could get back his deposit. She said he was also driving on an expired license and asked the judge to raise bail.

Garcia’s public defender argued against it. She said Garcia was not a flight risk because he has two small children and no prior record.

In the end, the judge agreed with the prosecution and increased the suspect’s bail to $150,000.

Marines from Bizzarro’s command and members of his motorcycle club packed the courtroom to support his grieving wife.

“He meant so much to so many people, and you just ran away,” said Tamara Graham, Bizzarro’s wife. “How are you going to do that to my husband? The guy doesn't know him. He doesn’t know all the great things Brandon's done.”

Graham says she knows her husband would have forgiven Garcia. However, she says she can’t forgive him because he left her husband in the street to die.

“The human thing, and what I think anyone else would've done, was own up to it, get out of your truck and help him,” she said.

Garcia faces a maximum of four years in prison. He is scheduled back in court Sept. 10.
 

A robbery suspect in a motorized wheelchair led police on a pursuit that weaved from Chula Vista to downtown San Diego. 

Chula Vista Police say the suspect stole items from the Kmart in the 800 block of East H Street around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

When someone confronted him in the parking lot, he brandished a handgun and took off in a maroon van with disabled plates, police said. 

CVPD officers followed, trying to get him to pull over as he got onto I-805 north from East H Street. 

The suspect led police on a chase over the freeway onto surface streets throughout Barrio Logan and downtown.

A spike strip blew out a tire on the man's van, but he continued until he reached the parking lot of the San Diego Police Department's headquarters. 

Officers say they saw him load a gun and come out of the vehicle in his motorized wheelchair. 

After the suspect sporting sunglasses failed to follow police commands, a K-9 unit was let loose on the suspect. Police then took him into custody without further incident.

Two loaded handguns alongside a pair of brass knuckles were found in the maroon van, the CVPD says. 

There's no such thing as a free lunch, even in the land of free lunches. Because, as multiple outlets reported Tuesday, the famous perks enjoyed by the well-paid workers of Silicon Valley may be subjected to stiff taxes from the federal government.

The free lunches on offer at the campuses of Google, Twitter, Facebook and their ilk might be taxable benefits, the IRS says.

"In the past you didn't have employers giving their employees free meals all day long so this is a whole new area for the IRS to clamp down on," said Cheri Michaelis, a tax attorney.

The Wall Street Journal broke the story of the IRS informing the tech giants that company-provided meals are a "fringe benefit," and subject to a tax of up to 30 percent of the meals' "fair-market value." In other words, the IRS might be interested in taxing tech workers for that second helping of quinoa and kombucha.

"We're so regulated and taxed enough as it is," said Ellen Blue, who works in the Silicon Valley area. "And if employers want to give their employees a benefit like that they should be allowed to."

One Silicon Valley firm is already dealing with the tax by giving its employees a bonus to cover the bill, the WSJ reports. Others are bound to fight the food tax fight the old-fashioned way: in court.

"Obviously they don't want to have to pay the extra tax," Michaelis said. "And they don't want to have their employees to pay tax on the free lunch they are providing, so they're going to fight the IRS on this."

The Food and Drug Administration says there is little evidence that testosterone-boosting drugs taken by millions of American men are beneficial, though the agency is also unconvinced by recent studies suggesting the hormone carries serious risks.

The agency posted its review online ahead of a public meeting later this month to discuss the benefits and risks of treatments that increase the male hormone. Regulators agreed to convene the Sept. 17 meeting after two federally funded studies found links between testosterone therapy and heart problems in men.

The scrutiny comes amid a marketing blitz for new pills, patches and formulations that has transformed testosterone into a multibillion-dollar market.

Advertisements for prescription gels like Fortesta and Androgel promise men relief from common signs of aging, including low libido, fatigue and weight gain.
 

There’s no denying it: Mexican cuisine is an important staple of the San Diego food scene.

With Mexico’s Independence Day coming up on Sept. 16, there’s no better way to celebrate our southern neighbors than to enjoy delicious Mexican dishes. Whether you’re in the mood for sizzling fajitas, a freshly-rolled burrito or just a nice, cold margarita, these Yelp approved business are hotter than the salsa you’re now craving.

Oscar’s Mexican Seafood (La Jolla)
With a 4.5 star rating and over 1,000 reviews, Oscar’s is a San Diego favorite when it comes to Mexican cuisine. Since their opening in 2011, they have been providing customers with fresh, Mexican seafood such as fish tacos, homemade ceviche and fresh fish of the day. Try the Fisherman’s Torta, which includes spicy shrimp, scallops and grilled fish. Insider’s tip: Remember to bring cash, as Oscar’s is a cash-only eatery.

El Ranchero Mexican Restaurant (Vista)
Trade in the mimosa for a margarita this weekend and check out El Ranchero for Saturday and Sunday brunch. The mid-morning meal includes a glass of champagne or margarita, fresh fruit and a house specialty dish. We recommend the Omelette Mexicano, which is filled with fresh tomatoes, bell peppers, onions and cheese, draped with Spanish sauce and served with rice and beans. It’s a delicious way to add spice to an old favorite.

Ponce’s Mexican Restaurant (Kensington)
If you’re in the mood for a nice dinner with la familia, look no further than Ponce’s in the Uptown community of Kensington. With a beautiful bar and outdoor seating, this classy Mexican restaurant treats everyone in the family like royalty. Yelper’s boast about this eatery’s amazing customer service and family-oriented atmosphere; plus, the 14 margarita choices on the menu sure don’t hurt!

La Perla Tapatia (Oceanside)
Not only is La Perla Tapatia popular for its delicious tacos and burritos, but it also has a whole section dedicated to baked goods. This spot has everything from wedding cakes to pan dulce, with all of the decadent desserts homemade in store. If you can’t make it out to Oceanside to try the food here, order a cake for your next big event. Trust us, the tres leches (and, consequently, you) will be the hit of the party.

Ortega’s Bistro (Hillcrest)
Ortega’s takes the cake, or should we say flan, for delicious Mexican desserts in San Diego. A must-try: the Strawberry Buñuelos, made with homemade tortillas, served with fresh strawberries, whipped cream and cinnamon sugar – crisped to perfection. And of course, the Coconut Flan is a Latin classic, made with thick coconut milk and decadent caramelized sugar.

Taco Bar (San Marcos)
Our neighbors in Tijuana may have started street tacos, but Taco Bar in San Marcos is here to finish the job. With nine different kinds of meat, including southwest favorite carne asada, it’s no surprise that Taco Bar’s street tacos are some of the best in North County. If you’re in the mood for a bigger dish, consider entrees such as fajitas and enchiladas served with beans, rice and homemade tortillas. Add an ice-cold cerveza and you’ve got yourself a meal.
 

Cramped airline seats and too little leg room rank among flyers' top complaints, so maybe it’s not surprising that fights over reclined seats have broken out three times since last week.

“The general public seem to be voting with their fists,” said Ranga Natarajan, a senior product manager with TripAdvisor’s SeatGuru, a website that helps passengers find the best seats.

Ask passengers or airline experts or even Miss Manners about modern airline travel and a common theme emerges: too little space for too many people. The result is squashed laptops, spilled drinks and when disputes become especially tense, flights diverted on their way to their destinations.


Even as passengers grumble about uncomfortable trips, more space does not seem to be in the offing. Though some U.S. airlines are now the world’s most profitable, extra leg room often comes with a fee.

“You want space, I’ll make you pay for it,” Natarajan said.

The first of the three recent altercations, all of which ended in planes being diverted, occurred on a United Airlines flight out of Newark, N.J., on Aug. 24. A passenger used a gadget called a Knee Defender to prevent the woman seated in front of him from reclining her seat.

Three days later, an American Airlines flight from Miami to Paris landed in Boston after a man angry about a reclined seat allegedly grabbed a flight attendant.

Then Monday night, on a Delta Air Lines flight from LaGuardia Airport to West Palm Beach, a woman who was knitting tried to recline her seat, angering a woman resting her head on the tray table behind.

Seats Too Small

The likelihood of conflict increases when airlines cram more people into a confined space, Sara Nelson, the president of the Association of Flight Attendants union, told NBCNews.com.
                                         
And as the airlines squeeze more seats into their planes, seats have become narrower and closer together, says Kathleen Robinette, who worked for 30 years at the U.S. Air Force Research Lab and is now head of the Design, Housing and Merchandising Department at Oklahoma State University.

The minimum seat measurements are typically based on the 95th percentile of men, leaving one in 20 too large for the distance between seats, she said.

Plus, the body measurements being used are the wrong ones, Robinette said. Women are usually wider across the hips than men, and both women and men are wider across the shoulders, she said. The single most important factor for comfort in any seat is the ability to move, she said.

“Virtually everybody on the plane is shoulder to shoulder -- a lot of people with someone else's arm basically in your lap,” she said.

Should Seats Recline?

Until now there has been no incentive for airlines to make seats wider or farther apart, just the opposite, she said. The more seats an airline gets on a plane, the less they need to charge per seat.

Some airlines have seats that do not recline, Spirit Airlines among them, a solution popular with some passengers. In a survey from the travel Web site Skyscanner, 91 percent of travelers said seat reclining should be banned or at least allowed only during set periods on short fights.

But Robinette does not think such bans are the solution. Rather, regulations are needed to ensure more room, she said.

“They’re still selling the tickets for the seats, but consumers are starting to revolt,” she said.

Matt Miller, a spokesman for American Airlines, said that although the airline was retrofitting its aircraft to increase the number of seats on board, the space from one row to another was not shrinking.

“There’s not less leg room per se because of the retrofits that we are working on currently,” Miller said.

He also said it was rare for the airline to divert a flight because of a disruptive passenger.

United Airlines and Delta Air Lines did not immediately respond with a comment.

Defending the Knee Defender

The Federal Aviation Administration does not prohibit the use of the Knee Defender, though all major U.S. airlines say they do.

“That’s their problem,” said the gadget’s inventor, Ira Goldman, whose company, Gadget Duck, has been in business for 11 years. “It’s a customer service issue.”

If airlines do not protect passengers from being battered, the Knee Defender will, the company’s website says. Business is up since the first dispute was reported last week, Goldman said, but he declined to say by how much.

“I’d rather have plastic stop your seat than my knee cap stop your seat,” Goldman said. “That’s why I came up with it.”

Airlines could solve the problem without reducing capacity by installing seats that move forward when they recline, he said.

According to a survey from TripAdvisor, 73 percent of the 4,300 respondents reported uncomfortable seats and limited leg room as their top complaint. Costly airline fees and ticket prices came in second at 66 percent.

As far as the etiquette concerned, Miss Manners has weighed in, suggesting in a 2004 column in The Washington Post that a compromise providing comfort for everyone would be appropriate, reclining only part way for example.

“The real culprit here is the airlines, who install their seats so closely together that the reasonable attitude of reclining a seat that is designed to recline constitutes a nuisance to the passenger behind,” wrote Miss Manners, a pen name for Judith Martin. “However, this deeper problem, of setting minimal comfort standards -- or even minimal health conditions -- for long-haul flights, is not one that etiquette can solve.”

Copyright Associated Press / NBC 7 San Diego

A third American aid worker who has contracted Ebola has been identified as Dr. Rick Sacra, 51, of Massachusetts, according to officials with the aid group SIM.

The news was announced at an 11 a.m. news conference with SIM officials in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Francis Anthes, president and CEO of Family Health Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, confirmed Wednesday that Sacra worked there. He said they last had contact with Sacra's family on Tuesday when they were notified that he had contracted Ebola.

Sacra, who is from Holden, Massachusetts, was in Liberia with SIM, the aid group that has been at the forefront of the fight against Ebola in West Africa. He was reportedly delivering babies in the SIM hospital's obstetrics unit in Liberia and not treating Ebola patients. He also headed up a residency program there.

How he came down with the disease is still a mystery.

SIM president Bruce Johnson said that Sacra returned to Liberia about a month ago, after SIM Dr. Kent Brantly and missionary Nancy Writebol became ill with Ebola. Both survived after treatment at Emory University in Atlanta. Brantly and Writebol both learned that Sacra had been infected on Tuesday.

"My heart sank. I just didn't have any other words but 'oh, no,'" Writebol told NBC News. "They are part of the family. To hear the news is very sad, (knowing) the whole cycle of the progression of the disease and how that story might end."

Sacra is currently in isolation in Liberia. Johnson said it isn't clear yet if Sacra will return to the U.S. for treatment, as the other two Americans did. He is said to be in good spirits and is able to email.

His brother, Doug Sacra, said the family is "desperately praying for his recovery." Rick Sacra has a wife and three children.

"We're obviously sad," Doug Sacra said. "He figured out he had it and went straight to the isolation ward and they are giving him IV treatments and doing everything they can for him right away."

Doug Sacra said his brother went to Liberia because he wanted to make sure the Ebola patients were receiving the necessary treatments, and that others in the area had medical attention.

"Rick has a real heart for the people in Liberia, and he said, 'You know, I'm a doctor. No hospital is open. I'm going to go reopen the hospital so kids with Malaria and women needing emergency C-sections can get care.' And that's why he went."

He is a 1989 graduate of UMass Medical School, which issued the following statement on Wednesday:

"Our thoughts are with Dr. Rick Sacra today, as we learn that he has reportedly contracted the Ebola virus while working overseas in Liberia. Dr. Sacra is a 1989 graduate of UMass Medical School and on the medical staff of the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at UMass Memorial Medical Center since 2010. Though he has spent much of his career working overseas, including nearly two decades in Liberia, he has a voluntary faculty appointment as an assistant professor of family medicine and community health at UMass Medical School, as a consequence of teaching in the medical school’s residency program when he returns to the US for periodic respite visits."

The World Health Organization announced Wednesday that Ebola's death toll in West Africa has shot up to 1,900 - 400 more than the previous count. The virus is spread by direct contact with blood or bodily fluids, not through casual contact.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.