Neighbors in La Jolla are outraged that their 79-year-old neighbor with Multiple Sclerosis received a citation from animal control officers for having her dog off leash.

Several times a day for the past 11 years, Nancy Abbott takes her dog around the block in her La Jolla neighborhood. 

She isn’t your typical dog walker. The 79-year-old disabled woman uses an electric mobility cart to scoot around because Multiple Sclerosis is robbing her ability to move. Fortunately for Abbott, her 11-year-old Pekingese, Pearl, is well-trained and listens to Nancy’s verbal commands. 

Pearl has never used a leash and Nancy says there has never been a problem – until the morning of Aug. 30. They were out for their morning walk when Nancy was confronted by a passing officer from San Diego County’s Department of Animal Services who wrote her a citation. 

“It’s very hard to handle her. And, a leash, I can’t do it,” Abbott said, referring to her physical limitations. 

Abbott's neighbors say they’re furious over the officer’s “black-and-white” approach and refusal to accept anything other than the “letter of the leash law” versus “the spirit of the leash law." 

“She is on a verbal leash effectively and to pick on somebody who has a disability that interferes with dexterity and the handling of a leash," said Ellyn Quiggle. “It’s just appalling. There’s no reason for it."

"We all felt as if somebody had slapped us in the face," said neighbor Glenda Rothberg. 

San Diego County and Animal Services Department officials, however, are backing the officer, saying they’ve received a growing number of complaints from people in La Jolla about chronic problems of dogs being off-leash. 

“Our officers cannot be judge and jury when people knowingly violate the law. Our goal is compliance. We have the discretion to issue a warning if we think that warning will gain compliance. In this case the officer decided a citation was the best course of action,” said Michael Workman, Director of San Diego County Communications. 

Abbott isn’t sure how to proceed and, like her neighbors, she just wishes she wasn’t in this predicament.

“I know for animal control they’ve got to have a certain amount of control and yet there are certain cases where they should just leave hands off,” Abbott said. 

Abbott has yet to receive the citation in the mail, so she doesn't know how much money she must pay. The citation for a first-time offender, according to published reports, is usually $240.

A string of violent assaults and a general feeling of unease have prompted city leaders to light up North Park streets.

To identify dark and potentially dangerous spots, North Park Main Street and SDG&E recently conducted a survey of the lights along 30th Street and University Avenue.

They found 23 streetlights were burned out or malfunctioning. Twenty of those lights have since been fixed, and city officials say the last three should be working soon.

To illuminate other dim areas, city crews installed two lights at the community park’s tennis courts, which will stay on starting Monday.

They plan to switch the streetlamps on Lincoln Avenue between Texas Street to I-805 to brighter LED bulbs. Three of the six recent attacks have taken place along that stretch of road.

Another streetlight will be added on Lincoln in the alley between Arizona and Texas, and city agencies will look into adding lighting along Idaho, Oregon and parallel alleys.

“It's not going to stop everything from happening, but I'm hoping the lights will be a deterrent,” said North Park property manager Jen Conrads.

City Council President Todd Gloria said he is talking with the San Diego Unified School District to find ways to fund more lighting and cameras at the Oregon and Lincoln corner of ALBA School.

Gloria vowed to contribute money from his office budget to the North Park Community Association’s Citizens Patrol. The group has requested flashlights and whistles to distribute throughout the neighborhood.

But some residents are taking safety into their own hands.

“We’ve installed some motion sensor lights at the front and back of our complex because we do have an alley in the back,” said Conrads.

All the efforts are to avoid more attacks like the six that have been reported since June. In each case, the victim was a woman walking alone who was assaulted from behind by one or two suspects. In many of the incidents, the women were knocked unconscious.

After the most recent assault on Aug. 28, police obtained a photo of a person of interest in the cases.

“To the predator who is preying on women in North Park, your days are numbered and you’re certainly not going to get away with this much longer,” said Gloria. “But in the meantime, we’re going to make sure people are well protected and people can feel as safe as possible.”

A $10,000 bounty has also been offered for information leading to a suspect's arrest.

If you know anything about the attacks or the person of interest, call the San Diego Police Department at 619-531-2000 or Crime Stoppers at 888-850-8477.

Cal State Northridge said Friday an internal investigation determined hazing was involved in the death of a college freshman who passed out in the Angeles National Forest during a hike with other fraternity pledges in July.

CSUN President Dianne Harrison said the fraternity involved has surrendered its CSUN chapter and individual student culpability will be determined at the conclusion of the criminal investigation into the death of Armando Villa.

Villa, 19, a pledge to the Zeta Mu Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi, lost consciousness July 1 in the Angeles National Forest after the group he was with ran out of water. Other pledges were able to track down a ranger for help, but Villa was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

"The report’s findings are deeply disturbing, and I will not turn a blind eye to any reports of hazing. Hazing is stupid, senseless, dangerous and against the law in California. It is a vestige of a toxic way of thinking in which it was somehow okay to degrade, humiliate and potentially harm others. It has no place on this or any university campus, in any student club or organization, and it will not be tolerated," Harrison said in a statement.

Harrison said the 18-mile hike was poorly planned, without enough water. The pledges were blindfolded and their phones and shoes were taken from them.

Family members believe Villa’s death was the result of a hazing ritual. They were asking for students who were there that day to come forward.

“There’s just a lot of things that don’t add up and what they’re telling us, it’s not enough. They know a lot more than they’re telling us,” says Jose Serrato, Villa’s stepfather, told NBC4 last month.

His mother and stepfather said they found a note in Villa's phone after his death talking about hazing and his desire to stop it. Villa's family was present for Harrison's announcement Friday.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is conducting its own investigation.

The results of that investigation have not been released.

New guidelines for fraternities and sororities were also set in place Aug. 19, with university officials saying campus groups would be required to submit recruitment plans to the school in advance.

There was a police presence at a Worcester, Massachusetts, bus stop Friday afternoon following a fight between parents and a school bus driver caught on cell phone video Wednesday.

"I was on the porch hearing 'Help us, we cant to get off the bus,'" neighbor Gean Pizio said.

The video appears to show the confrontation between parents and a Worcester Public School bus driver.

"Kids were trying to get off the bus, and parents were trying to grab their kids. She shut the door on them. We're trying to talk to our kids. She rolled the windows up on the kids, wouldn't let them off the bus," a woman named Shannon said.

"For the most part, I think the parents were just getting very impatient because the children were yelling, 'We're hot, we can't breathe,'" one woman said.

One parent posted a video on Facebook of parents and children upset. Some parents say children were stuck on the bus for more 20 minutes.

School safety liaison Rob Pazzella says the bus driver was following school safety procedures, which he said may have created some confusion among parents. He said one woman came onto the bus and took her two children off.

"From there, the bus driver became very concerned because it ultimately, it is her responsibility to make sure nobody is grabbing children," Pazzella sid. "She decided to shut the door to regroup and to make sure that it was calm amongst all the parents and students."

Pazzella says the door and windows were shut for safety reasons and to make sure children were not leaving on their own.

"She was doing the right thing to make sure that none of these children were going to be let out to somebody not authorized to pick up the child," he said.

According to Pazzella, parents pried open the doors, one window pane was kicked in, and a 16-year-old sibling of a child allegedly assaulted the bus driver. Worcester Police are investigating.

"Any type of future possible situations going on, we will, along with the police, ask them, after they fully investigate this bus incident, from seeing the video of the bus, that we prosecute more people possibly," Pazzella said.

Police say in a press release the 16 year old will be summoned to court, they say the bus driver told them she punched her in the face.  

Nearly ten weeks have passed since a plane crash unfolded on live television, slamming into the parking lot of a Kearny Mesa Costco store.

Now, the pilot who lost her mother in the crash wants to publicly thank all those who came to her rescue.

Devon Logan, 52, is still recovering physically from major injuries to both legs and her hand, and emotionally from the loss of her mother, Joy Gorian, 78.

She spends her days either sitting in a wheelchair or lying in bed, as she cannot put any weight on her legs.

On July 30, for some unknown reason, her fixed wing, single engine Mooney M20L lost altitude as it circled for a landing at Montgomery Field.

The last thing Logan remembers is flying over the top of the shopping center buildings, aiming toward their end, and then hearing what was probably the plane’s landing gear hitting something on a building’s roof.

“I remember thinking after the kabang that I hit something, and I thought, alright, this is all on me now. If I’m going to live, I am going to have to get the plane down,” she recounted.

They crashed into the parking lot near Costco. That people credit Logan for getting the plane down without hurting anyone on the ground is appreciated, she says, but she did not aim to hit the building or to have the plane’s wings ricochet off a light pole.

The NTSB told her if she had not hit those things, she might not have lived because the plane would have come down harder and faster.

Many rushed to help, spraying the flames with a fire extinguisher and pulling Logan and Gorian from the wreckage.

That is why Logan is speaking out now. While she has been able to personally thank some of those who ran to her rescue, there are others who came to help too.

"They just responded and if they had not responded like that, I wouldn't be here," she said. "I would have died of smoke inhalation or burns or, I don't know, the plane could have blown up. It's amazing. It's just amazing to me."

Her mother was also pulled from the plane but died shortly thereafter at the hospital.

Several people told Logan her mother did not let go until she knew her daughter was OK.

“I told the nurse please tell my mother that I’m so sorry and I love her,” said Logan, “and she came back in a little while and she acknowledged she heard me.”

Logan said she was told a woman comforted her mother while her mother was lying in the parking lot.

Whoever you are, Logan says thank you.

Bob Anver doesn't know when he'll retire.

The 83-year-old Kansas City man has been working a steady job since he was a young man.

"What would I do if I wasn't working?" asked Anver. "You only need to mow the grass once a week."

Anver is staffing a booth at the AARP convention in San Diego.

While the organization is known for working with retirees, 40 percent of its members are not retired.

That seems to be a growing trend.

"We're living much longer," said Today Show financial editor Jean Chatzky. "We need whatever savings we have amassed to last a longer period of time and that typically means working a little longer."

Chatzky says there is no standard retirement age anymore; it is more individual.

And it's not always about the money. She says many people are working because they want to.

Bob Anver says older workers are better workers.

"Because they'll stick with the job, they have fewer days off, fewer excuses not to come to work so you get a more stable workforce," he said.

A cyclist is dead after witnesses say the rider darted in front of a vehicle in Chula Vista.

Around 3 p.m. Friday, the vehicle and bicycle were traveling southbound alongside each other in the 800 block of Hilltop, with the cyclist on the right side of the road.

Suddenly, the cyclist pulled in front of the vehicle to make a sharp left turn, witnesses told Chula Vista Police.

The driver tried to swerve away, but the vehicle hit the bicycle.

The cyclist was pronounced dead at the scene. The victim's identify will not be released until the family is notified.

The cause of the collision is still under investigation, the CVPD says.

A man on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists list has a Massachusetts connection, and may be supporting ISIS.

According to The Boston Globe, Ahmad Abousamra of Stoughton is believed to be living in Syria, and using social media to support the terrorist group.

He attended schools in the Boston area, and faces terrorism charges in federal court in Boston.

A $50,000 reward is being offered for information leading to Abousamra's capture.

President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that the United States will not be intimidated by Islamic State militants after the beheading of a second American.

The president's comments came after the United States verified the authenticity of a video released showing the beheading of freelance reporter Steven Sotloff, two weeks after James Foley was similarly killed. 

Heartland Fire crews are staging to battle a house fire in Coronado.

The fire spread in the living room of a single-family, two-story house in the 500 block of G Avenue.

It started around 8:30 p.m.

Check back here for details on this breaking news story.

The curtain will rise again Friday night on the 50-year San Diego tradition that almost ended earlier this year.

After nearly shutting down because of budget problems, a new season of the San Diego Opera begins with a recital of love duets by Ailyn Perez and Stephen Costello.

The husband and wife soprano and tenor are promoting their first album together. 

The company needed $1 million by May 19 to keep the doors open and, according to the opera's website, they received more than $2 million in donations.

That will be enough to fund three productions: “La Boheme,” "Don Giovanni” and “Nixon in China."

San Diego Opera’s performances take place at the Civic Theatre in downtown San Diego, located at 3rd Avenue and B Street.

The opening night performance will be held at the Balboa Theatre at 7 p.m.

A Honolulu man has been arrested, accused of killing his wife in San Diego seven years ago.

Anthony Edward Simoneau, 46, of Honolulu, Hawaii is in custody awaiting extradition on one count of murder in the San Diego County homicide investigation.

Local prosecutors worked with Honolulu police to arrest Simoneau Thursday at his home in connection with the discovery of his wife’s body in the Anza Borrego Desert.

Forty-one-year-old Ogawa, a Japanese national, was last seen near her and Simoneau's home in Point Loma around Jan. 4, 2007.

At the time, it was her family in Japan -- not Simoneau-- who notified police that she was missing. When SDPD investigators interviewed her husband, he told them she had gone to Hawaii, police say.

Her body was found in a shallow grave near the Bow Willow Campground on Jan. 20, 2007.

Her remains were unidentified until a DNA match was made four years later.

Simoneau has denied killing his wife, but police identified him as a suspect after learning he had sought a divorce before her death.

The suspect reportedly changed his mind after his wife inherited a large sum of money, NBC News reports. He later went on a spending spree, apparently buying multiple cars and boats.

A former Point Loma neighbor of Simoneau's told NBC 7 that investigators tore through his old San Diego apartment on Upshur Street.

"They took it all apart, looking for... I believe it was blood evidence," said Point Loma resident Jeanne Denon. "They removed all the carpeting and maybe even studied some of the walls."

Simoneau's extradition hearing is set for Sept. 8 in Honolulu on the island of Oahu, where he has been working as a tour guide. He faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted on the murder charge.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

The monocled cobra that attacked a dog and sent snake wranglers scrambling in Thousand Oaks is on the move again – but this time not on the loose.

The snake -- a pure white version of the typically black and white species --  was transferred from the LA Zoo to the San Diego Zoo Friday afternoon, where it will be placed in a 90 day quarantine.

The reason the cobra is coming here? The LA Zoo has anti-venom African cobras, but this snake is an Asian cobra, and the San Diego Zoo has anti-venom for this species.

The curator for snakes and amphibians at the LA Zoo explained the three-month quarantine.

"That's what all accredited zoos do with snakes," said zoo curator Ian Recchio. "You keep it in a 90-day quarantine to safeguard your current collection. Because we don't know where the snakes been. It could be harboring parasites."

The snake was handed over to the San Diego Zoo at about 1 p.m. Friday. There's no word on when the reptile will be on display because "it has been through a lot," said the zoo's spokesperson.

The monocled cobra slithered into the public eye on Wednesday after escaping its owner's home.

Random sightings of the creature prompted a frantic search in Thousand Oaks for nearly two days.

It was finally spotted Thursday by a mom driving to pick up her seventh grader from school.

"It went right in front of me, went through that gravel, went down, up and over, into this driveway," said Tanya Gray, who saw the snake crossing the road about 2 p.m. in Thousand Oaks.

Animal control officers, who were already in the neighborhood searching for the white snake, found the reptile in a woodshed after 3 p.m.

"He was just acting like a regular snake trying to get away," said Lt. Fred Agoopi, a Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control officer, who was shaken after capturing the snake. "It's a venomous snake. It's not something we're used to everyday."

The snake was taken to the Los Angeles Zoo for evaluation. Officials said they didn't know if it was venomous because they didn't know if it was defanged or had its venom sacks removed. A dog was attacked by the cobra on Monday, but the dog has recovered.

The snake's owner has not come forward. There are severe restrictions on possessing such exotic animals. It's against the law in California to own this type of snake for recreational purposes.

A Santee man has been arrested on suspicion of murder, accused of killing his elderly mother, San Diego County Sheriff’s officials said Friday.

Michael Morse, 50, was the one to call 911 on Oct. 19, 2013, claiming he discovered his 73-year-old mother Louise dead at a home in the 7900 block of Arly Court, investigators say.

Dispatchers told him to perform CPR on the woman until crews could take over. Although paramedics tried to save her, Louise was declared dead.

An autopsy by the Medical Examiner’s Office found she died from complications of elder abuse. Her cause of death was listed as homicide.

On Wednesday the District Attorney’s Office filed formal charges against Michael Morse, and he was arrested the same day by sheriff's detectives at his Santee home.

In El Cajon Superior Court Friday, Morse was arraigned on one count of murder.

He is now being held on a $1 million bond.

The San Diego Padres’ star shortstop Everth Cabrera was cited on suspicion of driving under the influence, the California Highway Patrol reported Friday.

Cabrera’s car was initially stopped at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday on State Route 94 by Border Patrol agents. California Highway Patrol officers from El Cajon were called in. They said they detected signs that Cabrera was under the influence of marijuana.

He was cited on suspicion of DUI and released to his mother-in-law, according to a CHP news release.

Officers said he was cooperative in the investigation.

Cabrera, 27, has played all six of his major league seasons with the Padres. He was named to the National League All-Star team in 2013. He was suspended for 50 games later that year for his involvement in the Biogenesis performance-enhancing drugs scandal.

He started off hot this season, hitting .289 as the Padres’ leadoff hitter in the first month of the season. But he struggled in May and June, hitting below .200, and went on the disabled list with a hamstring injury that has plagued him the rest of the season.

He’s hitting .232 with three home runs and 18 stolen bases on the season.

A spokeswoman for the San Diego Padres issued this statement on Friday afternoon:

"We were made aware of an incident involving Everth Cabrera this week, and we take this matter very seriously. We are in the process of gathering information and are in communication with Major League Baseball. We refrain from further comment at this time."

A small airplane crashed southwest of the Warner Springs Gliderport near San Diego County Saturday, Cal Fire officials said.

The aircraft, used to tow gliders into the air, went down around 12:15 p.m. near Highway 79, approximately 70 miles northeast of San Diego.

As of 1 p.m., Cal Fire officials said the solo occupant had sustained moderate but non-life threatening injuries and was stuck inside the plane. Crews were working to extract the victim, officials said.

Cal Fire Capt. Kendal Bortisser said the victim was ultimately freed from the wreckage and flown to a hospital via helicopter due to the remoteness of the location of the crash.

No further details were immediately released. The crash remains under investigation. No other injuries were reported.
 

A Chicago actress who performed in some of the city's most renowned theaters and appeared in hit TV shows like NBC's "Chicago Fire" has died after she was hit by a falling tree during Friday afternoon's storms.

Molly Glynn, 46, was riding her bike with her husband in the Forest Preserve Trail in Erickson Woods when she was hit by the tree.

Glynn was transported to Evanston Hospital in critical condition.

A post on Glynn's husband's Facebook page Friday said Glynn's outlook was "grim." A second post early Saturday morning claimed "she's gone."

"I couldn't save her," her husband wrote.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's office confirmed Saturday afternoon that Glynn died.

Glynn, a longtime actress in Chicago theater, has appeared in television shows like Starz' "Boss" and NBC's "Chicago Fire," where she played a recurring role as an ER doctor.

She was also featured in performances at several city theaters, including the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Northlight Theatre, Writers Threatre, the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, the Goodman Theatre and several others.

Members of the city's theater community were mourning the death of the local actress.

“Molly was a marvelous actress and a completely warm hearted and generous human being," Michael Halberstam, artistic director at Writers Theatre, said in a statement. "She had grace, sophistication and a sparkling, sexy, sassy stage presence. She could transform from a princess to a flower girl in the twinkling of an eye. She was a loving mother and wife and everyone who met her fell in love with her. It is an incalculable loss to the Chicago Theatre community, particularly as she was in the process of emerging as one of the city’s major Players. She possessed a rare combination of talent, heart and beauty in all aspects of her life.”

Halberstam said Glynn was most recently featured as an understudy in "The Dance of Death" at Writers and received standing ovations for her performances.

Glynn was one of the two city performers to die Saturday.

Fifty-year-old Bernie Yvon was killed in a car crash while reportedly on his way to rehearsal in Northwest Indiana.

A fundraising page was set up Saturday in hopes of raising money for a "Molly Glynn Memorial Trust."

"I was devastated," said Jean Gottlieb, who started the fundraising page. "The first reaction is tears and hurt and heartbreak over what [her husband] and his family are going through, but when you come up for air the next thing you think is 'What can I do?"

By 2:30 p.m. Saturday the page had already raised more than $27,000.

"The world just dimmed a bit," the page reads. "Again."

A 27-year-old woman was injured Friday after falling from a Wrigleyville rooftop during a Cubs game, police said.

The woman fell from the rooftop around 4:45 p.m. in the 1000 block of West Waveland Avenue, according to Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Bari Lemmon.

She suffered a broken hip and was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center where she was listed in stable condition, Lemmon said.

Anne Fosnacht witnessed the fall and later posted about the incident on Reddit.

"I was sitting on the deck right below her and was sitting pretty close to the edge when I saw this girl like passing down throught the gangway," she said. "I stood up and looked over and saw her fall the rest of the way. A whole bunch of people said 'Oh my God was that a person' because it happened so fast. Everyone just started screaming to call an ambulance."

Fosnacht said the woman fell about four stories.

"Her girlfriends said they didn't realize there was a gap [in between the buildings] and she tried to just hop over and missed," she said. "They were just hysterical. It was pretty scary."

Police could not confirm details surrounding the fall.

Friday’s Cubs game against the Pittsburgh Pirates was suspended with the game tied at 3 due to heavy rain in the seventh inning. The game was scheduled to resume Saturday.