An outage left nearly 1,700 residents without power in the East County Saturday, according to San Diego Gas & Electric.

The power outage began around 1:15 p.m. and impacted customers in communities such as Granite Hills, Bostonia, East El Cajon, Alpine, Dehesa, Crest, Rancho Palo Verde and Singing Hills.

SDG&E said the cause of the unplanned outage was being investigated. For now, power is expected to be fully restored to residents by 8 p.m.
 

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a flash flood warning in parts of San Diego County Saturday. The warning was activated at 3:26 p.m. and will remain in effect through 5:30 p.m.

The NWS says Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms over central San Diego, eight miles east of Ramona and four miles southwest of Santa Ysabel. These storms are likely to produce flash flooding in those rural areas.

Flash flooding is also possible along parts of Highway 78, near Old Julian Road and Deer Canyon Drive.

"The increasing subtropical moisture from Hurricane Norbert is bringing moderate to heavy rainfall in our mountains and deserts right now," explained NBC 7 meteorologist Lauren Lee.

"As of 3:30 pm, satellite radar is showing heaviest rainfall near Hwy 78 just East of Ramona and near San Diego Country Estates. There was also heavy rainfall near Pine Valley, moving in and out. It should become more widespread tomorrow," Lee added.

For weather updates, click here.
 

The Chicago acting community is mourning the loss of a second city performer Saturday after Bernard Yvon was killed in a crash in Northwest Indiana.

Yvon, 50, of the 4400 block of North Troy Street in Chicago, was killed in a crash just after 10 a.m. near Calumet and Broadmoor Avenues in Munster, Indiana.

Police said officers arrived at the scene to find a white 2007 freightliner semi-tractor trailer sitting on top of Yvon's gray Toyota four-door vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

General Manager of Theatre at the Center, Richard Friedman, said Yvon was on his way to rehearsal at the theater in Munster, Ind., where he was scheduled to perform in the "Women On The Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" musical, set to open next week.

"This is a tremendous loss of a fantastic performer and treasured colleague," he said. "Bernie made everyone he met feel better about life and every audience member who saw Bernie's work was fortunate to be entertained by a masterful artist."

Police said an investigation into the crash is ongoing, but preliminary information indicates Yvon was attempting to make a left-hand turn when he was struck by the semi.

“Bernie Yvon was a triple threat – an immensely talented singer, dancer, and actor – who solidly delivered in any production that I ever cast him in through the years," Artistic Director at the Center, William Pullinsi, said in a statement. "Audiences just loved him. He was always upbeat, positive and kind and the Chicagoland theater community is in deep mourning of a great man.”

Yvon's death marks the second death of a Chicago performer Saturday after 46-year-old actress Molly Glynn died after being struck by a falling tree during Friday storms.

According to a bio on the Marriott Theater's website, Yvon appeared in dozens of productions at the theater, including leading roles in Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, Aladdin, Pinocchio, the Wizard of Oz and more.

He appeared on Broadway as Houdini in the original production of Ragtime, in the First National Tours of The Producers, Cabaret, Ragtime and Joseph and received the After Dark Award, a Wilde Award nomination and several Jeff Award nominations.

A banner plane has crashed into the water off Miami Beach.

The accident happened Saturday afternoon around 2:30 p.m. A witness tells NBC 6 that the Cessna plane was advertising LIV Night Club before it crashed. The Coast Guard said the plane went down approximately 200 yards from the intersection of 45th Street and Collins Avenue.

Miami Beach Fire Rescue said the pilot was the only person on board. Witnesses say the pilot was pulled out of the water by good Samaritans on jetskis. Ocean Rescue crewmembers then transported him to awaiting emergency medical services.

Miami Beach Police said the pilot only suffered a laceration and was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital.

According to the Coast Guard, the plane is fully submerged and crews are continuing to work off the coast.

Copyright Associated Press / NBC 7 San Diego

The FDA approved a new drug Thursday that could change the way melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, is treated.

The drug, Keytruda, was considered a breakthrough and approved after it was tested on more than 600 patients who had melanoma spread throughout their bodies.

"I was on oxygen. I was in a wheel chair. I couldn't walk. I didn't eat. I was thinking, I didn't have much longer to go," said melanoma patient Tom Stutz of Sherman Oaks, who was part of a clinical trial at UCLA.

According to the American Cancer Society, although melanoma only accounts for less than 2 percent of all skin cancer cases, it causes the majority of skin cancer deaths.

Melanoma cells protect themselves with a special protein called PD-1. This protein prevents the immune system from recognizing and killing the cancer cells.

The Keytruda drug is an antibody that targets the proteins. Without being guarded by the protein, the immune system has a greater chance of attacking the cancer cells.

"It's important because it's a new tool that is going to be very powerful in designing future regiments for melanoma," said Dr. John Glaspy of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The drug uses the body’s own immune system which means it likely has fewer side effects and more benefits than some regular chemotherapy.

"We have long believed that harnessing the power of our own immune systems would dramatically alter cancer treatment," said Judith Gasson of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Seventy-two percent of patients involved in the study responded to the drug and experienced tumor shrinkage. More than one-third of the patients had tumors that shrunk more than 30 percent and did not re-grow.

The treatment is given intravenously every three weeks. It is unclear how long patients have to stay on the medicine.

Stutz, who in June 2011 had melanoma that had spread to his lung, liver and other parts of his body, currently experiences no signs of the cancer.

"The bottom line is it saved my life. I would not have been here were it not for that drug," Stutz said.

Statistics show approximately 76,100 new cases of melanoma will be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2014 and nearly 10,000 Americans will die from the disease this year.

A morbidly obese rescue cat named Little Dude is eating healthy and working on his fitness in preparation of being put up for adoption, said shelter officials in Orange County.

Handlers said the 10-year-old short-haired feline arrived to WAGS Pet Adoption in Westminster in August weighing a hulking 36 pounds - roughly three times what his normal weight should be.

"He is the equivalent of the news stories that you see of humans that are being forklifted outside of their houses," said Cortney Dorney, the shelter manager. "I can tell you that in my 20 years of doing this I've never seen a cat this size."

Little Dude's owner turned him over to WAGS because he said he couldn't pay an added charge at his apartment complex for renters who owned pets.

When the cat arrived, the shelter staff said he needed immediate medical attention - Little Dude's weight problem likely stemmed from eating too many treats and human food, and not enough physical activity, officials said.

"His sheer size was detrimental to his health," Dorney said.

Little Dude, who has put on a strict diet, was down to 33 pounds at his last weigh-in, but he's shedding pounds too quickly due to stress, so he's being fed with a tube to stabilize his weight loss, Dorney said.

It could be weeks before he's ready to be put up for adoption.

"He's fabulous," Dorney said. "He's very laid back and easy going - because of his size he doesn't have a choice. He's a lap cat. He just wants to hang out and be brushed."

Anyone interested in adopting Little Dude can begin the process by filling out an application at the WAGS website at wagspetadoption.org or by calling the shelter at 714-887-6156.

A passenger was killed early Saturday morning in a motorcycle crash in Chula Vista, officials confirmed.

The deadly accident happened just after 3:30 a.m. at southbound Interstate 5 and the E Street off-ramp.

According to California Highway Patrol officials, for unknown reasons, a motorcycle carrying two people drifted off the road.

The driver sustained major injuries and was taken to UCSD Medical Center. His passenger, a woman yet to be identified by officials, died at the scene.

CHP officials said no other vehicles were involved in the deadly crash. Officials shut down the off-ramp while they gathered evidence and tended to the victims. Approximately 25 vehicles attempting to get off the freeway at that ramp were forced to take another exit.

The accident remains under investigation. At this point, it is unknown if drugs or alcohol played a factor. However, CHP Officer Armando Casas did say speed may have contributed to the accident.

“So far it looks like they might have taken the off-ramp at a high speed, and ran off the road. But that’s all preliminary information at this time,” Casas said.

The driver's name was not released.

There’s nothing small about what fisherman Steve Bargeron caught when he was fishing from a deck in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Bargeron caught a shrimp that was far from its name. The giant shrimp was around 18 inches long and Bargeron said he had to grab it from its tail like a lobster.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, scientists said the giant catch could have been a form of mantis shrimp. However, a mantis shrimp isn’t actually related to shrimp; it’s actually a type of crustacean called a stomatopod.

Scientists haven’t been able to identify the exact species yet.

Two women are in critical condition after being struck by lightning at Crane Beach in Ipswich, Massachusetts, Saturday.

Officials say both victims were swimming at the time. They were found with entrance and exit wounds consistent with lightning strikes.

Lifeguards and responders performed CPR on the victims for about 20 minutes, both of whom were in cardiac arrest and had no pulse.

By the time the women arrived at Beverly Hospital, they had heartbeats.

The women, who police say are in their 60s or 70s, were later transported to Massachusetts General Hospital.

Ipswich Police said that the women were struck during the first of three major storms that passed through the community Saturday evening.

According to police, 2,000 customers of Ipswich Electrick Light Department had lost power, About 1,200 remained without power at 9 p.m.

Police said two drivers will be ticketed after a car and van filled with 16 people collided in Grand Prairie on Saturday afternoon.

Emergency crews took ten of the van's passengers to the hospital. The ages of the transported range from an infant to 14-years-old. Police said none of the injuries are life threatening.

Officers said it happened when a sedan ran a red light on Polo Road and struck a van traveling northbound on Lake Ridge Parkway. The impact of the collision knocked the van onto its side.

Police will ticketed the driver of the sedan. 

The driver of the van also faces a ticket because there were only two seat belts in the van. 

Put another pot of coffee on: a popular Normal Heights coffeehouse will soon expand into both North Park and Golden Hill.

Dark Horse Coffee Roasters on Adams Avenue plans to open two new locations in the Uptown area this month and next month.

Progress on the new coffeehouses can be seen on the Dark Horse Coffee Facebook page, which has been documenting much of the daily grind at the new locations.

The North Park coffeehouse will call 30th Street home, while the Golden Hill shop is slated to take up residence on 25th Street.

Dark Horse Coffee Roasters, founded by Daniel Charlson, roasts beans daily right in the shop, priding itself on its truly fresh, unique coffee.

The Normal Heights location is open Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Besides the piping hot drinks on site, the coffeehouse offers coffee subscriptions starting at $19.99 that include new monthly brews for java fans.

As the world awaits Apple's announcement on Tuesday, some people are ditching their old iPhones early in anticipation.

"So the frenzy building towards the iPhone 6 launch is starting to happen," said eBay Vice President of Verticals Jeff Somers.

Somers says eBay has seen a 30 percent increase in old iPhone sales in the past week. The average sales for a iPhone 5s 32 GB is about $493.

"You have customers on the older versions of the phones, iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, who are looking to trade up to fives," Somers said.

eBay is so confident you'll be able to sell your old device, they guarantee it.

"If you list your phone on eBay and take our pricing guidance and you try to sell your phone on eBay, if for some reason that phone doesn't sell, we'll give you a $100 gift certificate," Somers said.

Palo Alto based Glyde facilitates the sale of cell phones between the seller and buyer. The company has received three times the amount of visitors to its website, than the last iPhone announcement.

California company ecoATM allows you to trade in your phone at a kiosk and receive cash on site. Exchanges are soaring in San Jose, but the big rush is expected later.

"The uptick happens not on the iPhone announcement but it's generally when they start shipping two, three, or four weeks after the announcement," ecoATM co-founder Mark Bowles said.

All the companies say consumers should trade-in now before it's too late.

"As we approach launch, prices will start to come down as more folks are trading in and selling their phones," Somers said.

Sales numbers, that may point to the most anticipated iPhone ever.

With fall fire season upon us, firefighters, emergency personnel, city leaders and volunteers spent Saturday morning delivering wildfire safety information door-to-door to San Diego residents.

Focusing on approximately 20,000 canyon-rim neighborhoods citywide, the groups met at locations such as the City Heights Recreation Center, the Allied Gardens Recreation Center and the Scripps Ranch Recreation Center. They then canvassed surrounding neighborhoods, leaving educational reading materials titled, “Ready, Set, Go!” at doorsteps.

San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Battalion Chief David Gerboth told NBC 7 that Saturday’s event was an important step in wildfire preparedness for San Diegans.

“[We’re] trying to educate people on wildfire season, and ensure people are planning and preparing,” he explained.

Gerboth said the “Ready, Set, Go!” concept is about residents being ready, looking at their homes and examining their defensible space before a fire hits.

He said residents should also know exactly where their emergency items are, including important insurance documents, and be ready to heed evacuation orders from officials at any given moment.

This is especially important, he said, because wildland fire season is now really year-round in San Diego, as locals saw with this year’s destructive May Firestorm.

The height of the season, however, is still September and October.

“The biggest message is preparation. Take it seriously. If you are asked to evacuate, you need to evacuate and let firefighters in there to do their jobs,” added Gerboth.

District 7 Councilmember Scott Sherman and his staff took part in the door-to-door fire prevention walk. Sherman told NBC 7 residents should be working together to spread the message of fire safety.

“Help your neighbor, work together; let each other know what we can do to make your neighborhoods safe from fires,” he said. “Be extra cautious.”

To learn more about the fire department’s “Ready, Set, Go!” program, click here.
 

Professor, scientist and autism activist Temple Grandin will make her way to San Diego next week as the keynote speaker at a special event at the University of San Diego.

Grandin, a prominent proponent of the rights of those living with autism and of animal welfare, will speak at USD’s Camino Hall Shiley Theatre Thursday.

She’ll be the keynote speaker at the university’s 2014 Johnson Family Foundation Symposium on Inclusion in K-12 Education event, which runs from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The sold-out event will include a question and answer session with Grandin, plus a reception and book signing afterwards.

When Grandin was two years old, she had no speech and all of the signs of a child with severe autism. Her mother defied the advice of doctors and kept her out of an institution. Today, Grandin is a professor at Colorado State University and a top scientist in the humane livestock handling industry.

Her life inspired the award-winning 2010 HBO biopic, “Temple Grandin,” starring Claire Danes as Grandin.

The bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego lost his battle to cancer on Saturday, the Diocese confirmed.

Bishop Cirilo Flores, 66, was suffering from an aggressive form of advanced cancer affecting his bones.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego released this statement on his passing on its website:

“Bishop Cirilo Flores passed away peacefully at 2:47 this afternoon at Nazareth House in San Diego. At his bedside were his cousin Dr. Tom Martinez, Msgr. Steven Callahan and the Sisters of Nazareth. Please remember Bishop Flores and his family in your prayers. Details regarding the funeral rites will be announced as soon as they become available.”

Flores was receiving treatment at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles. He was transferred to the Nazareth House senior care facility in Mission Valley on Friday, Monsignor Steven Callahan said earlier this week.

The plan was for Flores to receive palliative care at Nazareth House. Callahan said the bishop was too weak for chemotherapy.

Flores was ordained in 1991 and became Bishop of San Diego in September 2013. In April, he suffered a stroke inside the diocese office.
 

A group of people crashed a minivan into a storefront and robbed a Louis Vuitton at a west suburban mall in Illinois Sunday morning, police said.

Just after 4 a.m., police said a minivan backed into the front doors of a Louis Vuitton in the Oakbrook Center Mall and eight people wearing masks and gloves entered the store.

The offenders took an unknown amount of merchandise from the store while the driver waited in the van, according to a release from Oak Brook police.

The offenders fled the scene before officers arrived.

The crash caused extensive damage to the store’s front door and windows, police said.

An investigation into the theft is ongoing, officials said.

Copyright Associated Press / NBC 7 San Diego

The mother of an 11-year-old girl has been charged with murder after the young girl died days after her mother allegedly hit her in the stomach.

Police said Waukegan, Illinois, fire officials responded to a home in the 300 block of Gillett Avenue just after 9 p.m. Friday for an unresponsive 11-year-old girl.

The girl, identified as Raasania Coley, was transported to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead, police said.

The Lake County Coroner’s office said an autopsy determined Coley had a torn stomach as the result of blunt force trauma and those injuries led to her death.

The girl’s mother, Nicholette Lawrence, allegedly told police she struck the girl in the stomach earlier that week.

Lawrence was charged with first-degree murder and was order held at the Lake County Jail on $5 million bail.

Lawrence has two other children that have been placed with relatives, police said. There were no allegations of abuse to the other children.

Lawrence is next scheduled to appear in court Sept. 30.

Videos of brutal attacks on a man with a mental disability led to the arrests of two teenagers in Delaware.

While police suspect the attacks occurred several weeks ago, videos of the assaults made the rounds on Instagram after they were posted on Friday.

One video shows a teenager chasing after the man in front of an apartment complex. The man runs away from the teen, begging for him to leave him alone. The teen then grabs the man and body slams him to the ground as he screams out in agony. The teen then punches and kicks him in the head as his friends laugh in the background.

Two other videos show the teens attacking the same man in a wooded area. One video shows a teen once again body slamming the man to the ground as his friends laugh. The other video shows the teens punching and pushing the man to the ground.

The videos inspired a massive social media response and the clips quickly went viral.

"It's been a frenzy," said Soraya Cristan, a teenager from White Settlement, Texas.

Cristan claims the videos inspired her to create an anti-bullying campaign online.

"The tag #TheBullyProject has had over 50,000 posts," Cristan said. "People have spread the awareness all over the Internet."

Angeliz Marrero, a 16-year-old student at Howard High School of Technology in Wilmington, told NBC10 she also received a huge response after reposting the videos on her Instagram page and using #TheBullyProject hashtag. The campaign was personal for Marrero who says her brother is mentally challenged and was beaten up a few years back.

"I want something to be done to those kids so they know that's not okay and justice to be served for this man," Marrero said.

According to police, the victim is a 26-year-old man who has a neurodevelopmental disorder. He was treated and released from the hospital for injuries he suffered during the attacks.

“He loves music and is very kind and is completely harmless,” Marrero said. “He loves to be out of the house just being active walking around.”

Marrero claims the attacks took place at the Harbor Club Apartment complex on Cheswold Boulevard in Newark, Delaware, and in a wooded area behind the YMCA of Newark, Delaware.

Marrero also told NBC10 the teens shown in the video are between the ages of 14 and 15 and attend Delaware area high schools and middle schools.

Police say a 13-year-old boy and 14-year-old boy, both from Newark, Delaware arrived at New Castle County Police Headquarters on Saturday where they were arrested in connection to the attacks.

Both teens are charged with offensive touching, assault of a vulnerable adult and conspiracy. They were arraigned and released on $2,500 bail.

Police are still searching for other teens involved in the attacks. If you have any information, please call the New Castle County Police Department at 302-573-2800.

Copyright Associated Press / NBC 7 San Diego

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued two Flash Flood Warnings in San Diego County Sunday afternoon.

Get severe weather alerts here

A storm system brought heavy rainfall to the area around Pauma Valley and Palomar Mountain, northeast of Escondido. More than 1.5 inches of rain fell in just one hour, according to NWS. 

A thunderstorm also moved through the southeastern part of the county. It had the potential to cause flash flooding around Boulevard, Oak Springs, Tierra Del Sol and Jacumba.

NWS is reminding motorists not to drive through water-covered roadways.

Both warnings expired at 4:30 p.m. PT Sunday.

Three Aurora men have been charged in connection with the armed robbery of a KFC restaurant Thursday that left three employees shot.

Claude Jackson, 45, of the 1100 block of Liberty Street and Joshua Scott, 26, of the 1800 block of Thornapple Way, were each charged with three counts of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm and single counts of armed robbery and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.

Chase West, 19, of the 700 block of Columbia Street, was charged with three counts of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm and one count of armed robbery, police said.

Police said two males -- one armed with a rifle and the other wearing a mask -- walked into the restaurant in the 1300 block of East New York Street at around 8:30 p.m., announced a robbery, and at some point started firing shots.

Charging documents show Jackson, armed with a rifle-type firearm, and West ordered three employees to the front of the store. When Jackson discovered none of them could open the cash register, he allegedly shot each of them once, police said.

"This was brazen. It was violent. It's really a shocking, shocking crime," said Ofc. Dan Ferrelli with the Aurora Police Department.

Ferrelli said three male employees of the restaurant -- ages 17, 19 and 24 -- were hit by gunfire. A fourth female employee hid in a closet and was unharmed. The two older males took bullets to the torso and were critically wounded, although their conditions had stabilized Friday and they were expected to survive. The 17-year-old was shot in the leg.

Police say the suspects fled the scene in a Cadillac Escalade, allegedly driven by Scott, roughly eight blocks to Jackson's home, which he shares with 23-year-old Fatima Robertson.

"I have been living here 10 years, and it seems like the violence is getting to us again," nearby resident Melina Chavez said.

Officers responding to the scene recognized the robbery as similar to recent armed robberies in both Aurora and unincorporated Aurora where Robertson was allegedly looked at as a suspect and also involved the getaway vehicle, which was registered to Scott.

The three men, along with Robertson, were taken into custody within about 10 minutes of the robbery, police said in a release Sunday.

Jackson was initially released following his arrest but was later linked to the robbery and taken back into custody just before 10:30 a.m. Friday in the 2300 block of North Farnsworth Avenue.

Police said the gun believed to have been used in the robbery was located at the Liberty Street home.

Robertson was also charged late Saturday with armed robbery in connection with the holdup of an auto repair store in unincorporated Aurora on July 22 and a Mexican restaurant on Aug. 4 in the 400 block of Hinman Street in Aurora.

In both of those incidents, police allege Robertson entered stores with a male accomplice who was armed with a rifle-type weapon.

In the auto shop robbery, $2,000 was stolen and no money was taken from the restaurant after two employees working at the time locked themselves in an office. Both of the investigations are ongoing as police said they are working to identify the alleged accomplice.

Charging documents indicate Robertson, Scott and West are all on parole, police said.

Bail was set at $2 million for Robertson and Jackson and $1.5 million for Scott and West Sunday.

Copyright Associated Press / NBC 7 San Diego