County health officials are concerned a patient with tuberculosis at California State University San Marcos may have exposed others.

A person from the school is being treated for the disease, and others on campus may have been exposed between Aug. 25 and Oct. 29, the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) says.

The HHSA is working with the university to notify those they believe are at risk. The school is offering free testing the week of Nov. 17 at the CSUSM Student Health Counseling Services, located at 333 S. Twin Oaks Valley Road.

According to county public health officer Wilma Wooten, most people who come in contact with TB do not contract it. However, if symptoms develop, they include a persistent cough, fever, night sweats and unexplained weight loss.

The disease can be treated and cured with medication once identified, Wooten says.

While not uncommon in San Diego, TB has been on the decline in the past few years. Local cases peaked in 1993 with 469 reported, but 2012 saw only 234, while 2013 had 206.

So far in 2014, there have been 160 cases of TB reported in the county.

Last month, a person at Grossmont High School contracted the disease, and another case was reported at Lincoln High School in August.

Call the county TB Control Program at 619-692-8621 for more information about the CSUSM potential exposure.

Escondido Police are searching a neighborhood for one outstanding suspect in a police pursuit.

Officers say the vehicle with three people inside failed to stop and headed north through the city of Escondido.

The officer lost track of the vehicle near Conway Drive and Rincon Avenue.

The car was found unoccupied a few minutes later near Timberwood Place and Fair Oak Court.

Several patrol cars were in the area looking for the driver and any passengers from the vehicle.

Two people were taken into custody. One person was considered still outstanding as of 3:30 p.m.

No one was injured in the pursuit.
 

One person was trapped after driving into a La Mesa home, the second such incident to take place Friday.

The vehicle rammed into a home in the 9400 block of Mesa Vista Avenue at about 4:40 p.m., Cal Fire says.

Someone inside the vehicle began stuck, so crews are working to get the person out.

There is no word at this point about injuries or structural damage.

Black Friday doesn’t start on Friday anymore. But the idea of starting the holiday shopping event a day early doesn’t sit well with some shoppers.

“I would not go to a store on Thanksgiving,” said shopper Nancy Lovato.

Today an increasing number of major retailers are starting Black Friday shopping on Thanksgiving evening, some starting as early as 5 p.m.

“It’s not about that one day anymore,” said San Diego State marketing professor George Belch.

Instead it has become a shopping season being spread throughout the month. But offering shopping deals on Thanksgiving is too much for Louise Luckett.

“Thanksgiving is for family,” she said.

Now a growing number of people are trying to shame retailers for opening up on the Thanksgiving holiday. Lists of stores that will not be open are making the rounds -- those stores using the debate to enhance their own image of respecting families and employees by not asking them to come into work during the holiday.

Will the online campaign work?

“These companies can monitor social media,” said Belch. “If they really saw a major backlash that might get them to change but I think they are going to stay with their decisions.”

Here are 20 stores that have announced they will not be open on Thanksgiving:

• Costco
•  Marshalls
•  Barnes & Noble Game Stop
• TJ Maxx
• Neiman Marcus
• Burlington Coat Factory
• Nordstrom
• REI
• Patgonia
• DSW Shoes
• Crate and Barrel
• Pier 1 Imports
• Sam’s Club
• Home Depot
• Bed, Bath & Beyond
• Lowe’s
• Petco
• Sur La Table
• Trader Joe’s
   

In 2013, USD was on the brink of a Pioneer League Championship and the program's first-ever spot in the Bowl Championship Subdivision Playoffs.

However, an error in the Financial Aid department resulted in an NCAA violation, so the Toreros removed themselves from post-season consideration.

Call it fate, karma, the universe righting itself, whatever you want, but USD has just been handed a second chance.

To win the 2014 PFL title, the Toreros needed to beat Valparaiso on Saturday, then hope Jacksonville University lost one of its final two games.

However, on Friday, Jacksonville released a statement saying it was removing itself from post-season consideration due to what it calls an, "... internal review of compliance matters regarding the PFL’s financial aid rules. Jacksonville University’s independent audit was conducted in response to a conference survey which revealed a number of financial aid inconsistencies."

So, now the Toreros control their destiny. All they have to do to make the playoffs is beat Valpo at home (kickoff is set for 1:00 at Torero Stadium). USD is riding a 7-game winning streak and has beaten the Crusaders 10 consecutive times.
 

An Oakland boy who set a gender non-conforming high school student's skirt on fire on an AC Transit bus last year has been sentenced to seven years at a California juvenile facility.

Authorities said Richard Thomas, 17, told investigators he was homophobic, and he was initially charged as an adult with hate crimes.

He was sentenced Friday after reaching a plea deal on an assault charge. The hate crime and aggravated mayhem charges, which carried a sentence of up to life in prison, were dropped.

Sasha Fleischman, who identifies as agender rather than as male or female, suffered second- and third-degree burns when the skirt the teen was wearing was set on fire in November 2013.

"This is horrible what you did, but we don't hate you," Fleischman's mother, Debbie Crandall, told Thomas in court on Friday.

Thomas listened quietly as Crandall described Fleischman's injuries just before a judge sentenced the teen.

Thomas had set Fleischman's skirt, and subsequently legs, on fire while riding AC Transit bus No. 57 in Oakland on Nov. 4, 2013.

Fleischman, who identifies as agender rather than as male or female, suffered second- and third-degree leg burns and spent nearly three weeks in the hospital.

Surveillance video from the bus led to Thomas' arrest a few days after the attack.

Many in the Bay Area rallied around the agender teen, lining the streets with rainbows and wearing skirts to school, to show their support for Fleischman and the spectrum of gender identities.

Fleischman's parents previously said they had "mixed emotions" about the prison sentence. They have long fought to have Thomas tried in juvenile court, not as an adult.

On Friday, the parents said they feel the sentence is too hard -- they had hoped the teen would be treated as a juvenile, not as an adult.

"The thing that struck me when he walk in was, my God, he's just a kid," father Karl Fleischman said of Thomas. "He's still a young kid."

Thomas declined to speak in court. His family and attorney said the teen is sorry for what they describe as a prank gone bad.

"I can see it in his eyes," said Angelia Staten, Thomas' cousin. "He's genuinely sorry for what he's done."

NBC Bay Area's Jodi Hernandez and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A gas station in Somers, Connecticut, accidentally filled the pumps with home heating oil instead of gasoline, and at least a few drivers filled their tanks before the problem was caught, according to the owner.

Eddie Jamal, who owns the Mobil Station at 580 Main Street in Somers, said United Transportation delivered heating oil instead of gasoline last Wednesday. The heating oil made it into gas pumps and a handful of cars filled up before employees realized what had happened.

Jamal said gas station workers caught the problem within hours and emptied out the pumps.

One driver reported car trouble to NBC Connecticut as a result. She said her mechanic pointed out the problem and that her car is now out of commission.

United Transportation is covering the cost of repairs. Jamal said anyone experiencing problems should call the gas station for more information.

The Loudoun County School Board is considering charging for school bus rides, after years of budget shortfalls.

The school board will appeal to the state legislature about charging a fare. Under current Virginia law, school systems are not required to provide bus transportation, but if they do, the rides must be free. 

Budget shortfalls varying between $30 million and $40 million during recent years have left administrators between a rock and a hard place.

"It's hard for us to keep up, so we're just trying to find every way we can to ensure we're offering our students educational items rather than the transportation," Loudoun County School Board Vice Chair Jill Turgeon. "We have to choose between one or the other ... and we want to focus on education."

Parents are shocked at the idea of a free ride suddenly becoming costly.

"I don't like the idea. We've had years where they've been riding, they can cut the budget in other places. It doesn't have to be towards the school," one parent said.

Officials haven't yet announced what the fares would be if the school system is allowed to implement it.

Because of a malfunction, Border Patrol officials have removed a weapon that many agents say is critical for their safety.

Now, Border Patrol agents are upset over the move, saying that they need their Colt M4 carbine rifles back.

Agents who are familiar with carrying the precision rifle could be put in a dangerous situation, said Shawn Moran, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council.

“These are weapons and tools that we use out in the field and the Border Patrol has said are our primary weapon,” Moran said. “And agents need to be able to have that longer distance firearm to defend themselves and to defend others if necessary.”

Moran said that because each agent is trained and can customize the weapon to his or her liking, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection needs to quickly fix the malfunctioning rifles and get them back to agents.

A spokesperson for San Diego Sector Border Patrol sent this statement to NBC 7:

“CBP is in the process of repairing or replacing the damaged M4 carbines. CBP is committed to ensuring its frontline agents have access to the equipment and service weapons they need to enforce the nation’s laws and protect themselves and others.”

It’s unclear how many of these precision rifles in San Diego have malfunctioned.

A 5-year research study, conducted a UC San Diego professor, aims to find a way to prevent suicides among service members using computer algorithms.

The U.S. Army is funding the $75 million Study To Assess Risk and Resilience in Service members (STARRS), which it says is the largest study of mental health risk and resilience ever conducted among military personnel.

A component of the study looked at 50,000 members of the Army who were hospitalized and had a mental health diagnosis, but not necessarily from a psychiatric ward. Some of those studied had physical injuries, but others did not.

Researchers entered more than a million pieces of data, including medical notes, prescriptions, criminal reports and other information, into a computer program. 

"We basically put all of these in and let the computer algorithms pull out the combination that gave us the best predictor,” said Murray Stein, MD., M.P.H., a psychiatry professor and researcher with UC San Diego.

The suicide predictor was a combination of factors. For instance, male patients who had a recent criminal history may have acted violently and had some kind of psychosis.

“Things like violence, drunk and disorderly, carrying a weapon onto base that wasn’t authorized — those all seemed to increase risk,” said Stein.

He found 5 percent – or 2,500 – of the active-duty Army members studied had those predictors, and they accounted for more than half of all of the suicides carried out or completed during the 5-year study, according to Stein.

“So we were able to identify out of the 50,000, a pretty small group of individuals who are at very, very high risk of suicide,” he said.

That information, said Stein, will help the Army predict those at risk and help those soldiers.
 

The father of two Maryland toddlers missing since September is hoping a new reward fund will help bring his kids home.

Jacob Hoggle, 2, was last seen Sept. 7 and his sister Sarah Hoggle, 3, was last seen the following day. Police have said they are building a homicide case against their mother, Catherine Hoggle, who has diagnosed paranoid schizophrenia. For the majority of her time in police custody, Catherine refused to tell police where the kids were, only remaining adamant they were OK.

Last week, she told her mother and husband she wanted to take police to see the kids.

"She said that she wanted to show the police where the kids were," Catherine Hoggle's husband Troy Turner said. "I asked her how come she doesn't show me, I'm their father, I could pick them up, and then she said that it wouldn't do anything for her to show me, that she needed to show the police herself."

The judge in the hearing said he doesn't think Catherine Hoggle is competent and would not sign an emergency order to let her go with the police to look for the missing children.

Throughout the grueling ordeal, Turner has tried to remain positive.

"My job as their father is to believe in my kids, believe in myself and go find them. Period. That's what we're going to do," he said.

The reward fund has been set up in conjunction with the non-profit Victims' Rights Foundation (VRF).

• DONATE: Victims' Rights Foundation

"It gives us more organization and a greater base to pull volunteers from," Turner said.

Meanwhile, Montgomery County Police have recharged their search for the missing toddlers.

"With the colder weather, the leaves have fallen off the trees," Cpt. Darren Franke said. "It's changed the terrain out there in areas we've already searched. We're going to be searching those areas again."

Sarah's 4th birthday is a week from Thursday -- Turner said that day could be the hardest yet.

A former New Jersey firefighter and son of a councilwoman and another man have been charged with illegally renting out homes under foreclosure through Craigslist.

Terrence Ward and Adam Kull were arrested and charged this week in the alleged scheme by Winslow Township Police.

Investigators said the men would advertise Winslow Township, New Jersey homes for rent on Craigslist, show prospective renters the property and then collect security deposits and first months rent and allow them to move in.

Ward, 35, and Kull, 34, didn't own or manage the properties, however.

The men would find vacant homes that were in the final stages of foreclosure to rent out, police said.

Ward would handle communication with the potential tenants and both men would show off properties, according to police.

Police said they've been investigating the scam since it was reported to them in July when a homeowner found strangers living in their vacant home. Since then, police received several more complaints from residents.

Detectives had been searching for Ward for several days. A warrant was issued for his arrest on Wednesday. His mother, Judy Ward, is a councilwoman in Pleasantville declined to comment at the time, but said she didn't believe the charges were true "because of his integrity."

Both men are charged with burglary, theft and conspiracy and are being held on bail in the county prison.

A dog with cancer is missing in the Point Loma area and her owner, who is also battling cancer, needs your help finding her.

The collie named Dora was with her owner and his wife. The family was traveling from Colorado to San Diego for treatment for the owner's terminal brain cancer, said sister Noelle LeChevalier-Dufault.

Dora escaped Thursday while in the care of a friend. She was last seen at about 6 in the morning near West Point Loma Boulevard.

“His dog means more to him than almost anything else in the world,” LeChavalier-Dufault said in an email.

The collie has two shaved spots from recent cancer surgeries, including one on each haunch.

The owner’s wife, Monica Hughes, posted about Dora’s disappearance on Craiglist.

Anyone who spots Dora is asked to contact San Diego County Animal Services at 619-767-2675 or call Monica at 303-880-9617.

A sailboat pulled on trailer ran into power lines at a National City marina Friday afternoon.

A Bonita family told NBC 7 they enjoyed using their 35-foot boat all summer, but the time had come to load it up and take it home.

Unfortunately, they did not account for the power and telephone lines that crossed over one of the Pepper Park Marina exits.

As the driver maneuvered off the boat launch, the sailboat's mast ran into the energized, 240 volt lines that power the aquatic center.

The lines have since been de-energized, but when the mast hit, it pushed the boat off the trailer.

AAA is planning to bring in a tow truck, which will lift the boat back onto the trailer. Then, the driver will reverse away from the lines, hopefully freeing the boat.

Refresh this page for more on this breaking news story.

A registred sex offender in San Diego has been arrested in connection with a 1988 homicide in Portland, Oregon.

Walter Wayne Howard, 59, was booked into the San Diego Central Jail Thursday after Oregon officials issued a warrant for the fugitive’s arrest.

Police say on Jan. 15, 1988, Renee Harvey, 25, was found dead in her Portland home.

A concerned friend, who had called and gotten no response, went to check on Harvey and found her door unlocked. When the friend stepped inside, she said she knew immediately the woman was dead, though Portland Police did not say how she was killed.

As they investigated, homicide detectives found out that Harvey’s home had been burglarized just days before. She was upset and planning on moving to a new home when her body was found, police say.

Harvey had moved to Oregon from Montana, working as a receptionist for the Oregon Special Olympics.

The case eventually went cold as all leads ran out, but recently, the Portland Police Department’s cold case homicide unit opened up Harvey’s file again.

Due to unspecified evidence, investigators zeroed in on Howard as the main suspect.

Police say a Multnomah County grand jury is hearing the evidence, and no additional information will be released.

Howard is scheduled to be in court Monday for an extradition hearing.

According to the Megan's Law website, Howard had to register as a sex offender in San Diego due to a rape by force or fear conviction.

A San Diego City Council committee approved a proposal to help residents control the number of so-called "mini dorms” near San Diego State University.

The term mini-dorm is used to describe single family homes that are leased to a large number of tenants.

Also called high turnover, high occupancy rentals (HTHO), more than 700 mini-dorms have been reported in the College Area near SDSU.

Bunk beds are used to convert a two-bedroom home into a rental for seven to 10 college students. There have been reports of groups of students sleeping in garages.

The most common complaints range from parking violations to excessive trash or noise.

The College Area Community Council has said that 37 percent of those homes are owned by large businesses looking to profit from the loophole in city code.

In a report released earlier this year, CACC claims that many many violators are not being caught.

The community group says landlords will often tell tenants not to be truthful with the city to avoid paying for code violations.

The Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee met Thursday and approved a proposal to draft new language into the city’s Rooming House Ordinance (RHO).

Since the RHO was approved in 2008, city officials say it has been difficult to enforce because of a difference in language between the ordinance and other city codes. 

The ordinance will now define a rooming house as having three or more rooms, excluding kitchens and bathrooms, rented individually or separately to multiple tenants under separate rental agreements either written or oral.

Thursday's committee vote will move the proposal to the full council for approval. 

A Harry Potter-themed study abroad trip? Accio, indeed.

California State University San Marcos is offering a three-week summer trip titled “British Culture and Harry Potter," though there’s a good chance Anglophiles will be overrun by the Potter devotees.

While earning three credit hours, students will traipse across the UK, visiting spots that inspired author J.K. Rowling to create the fictional wizard’s world.

They’ll also stop by many of the locations used to make the eight, hugely successful films – no transportation spell required.

Some of the highlights include a Scotland Yard, which served as inspirational fodder for the Ministry of Magic; King’s Cross Station, home to the tourist-ridden Platform 9 ¾; Oxford Univeristy, where key scenes were filmed; and a tour of Edinburgh, Scotland, Rowling’s home town.

Participants may be able to cast a bit of magic of their own, for the trip even promises a real broomstick flying lesson at Alnwick Castle. How? We do not know.

And yes, some British studies will be involved, including critical thinking about "complex social issues relating to inequality, race, and gender within the context of contemporary Great Britain," the course description states.

Even if you’re not a CSUSM student, you can still join the trip.

But for those who take their quill and sign up, they'll need more than a couple gold galleons. The estimated cost is about $5,152, not including airfare.

Still, it’s hard to believe students would pass up on the chance to earn credit for nerding out on some trivia about Dumbledore, Tonks, Weasleys and the gang. If you go, send an owl back home with all the magical details.

People are on the lookout for a brazen thief who they say is ransacking cars in Alpine and taking anything valuable inside.

The most recent break-in happened Wednesday, but little did the thief know, it was all recorded.

“Every move this woman made was on camera,” explained Jennifer Lundy.

Lundy did not come face-to-face with the thief, but the surveillance video from cameras around her Alpine home makes her feel like she did.

"I got in and noticed everything was rambled through,” she said. “My center console was open, my glove box was open, a drink was spilled and papers thrown everywhere out of my backpack.”

Early Wednesday morning, the woman seen in the video ransacked Lundy’s unlocked truck. The thief took her purse, jewelry and medication.

Lundy posted what happened to her on social media and found out she wasn’t the only victim.

Jarrod Hynes found a woman going through his wife's car last week, and he confronted her.

"She begged me not to call the cops. I asked her what she took, and she said she just took the change but said if she had a car with her, she would have took everything,” said Hynes.

San Diego County Sheriff's deputies say there have been nearly eight car break-ins across Alpine recently.

Now people like Hynes’ wife Jessica are on alert.

"I'm like fearful now. I'm just like, oh my goodness, did I lock my car?” said Jessica.

The criminal also gave Jarrod some advice as he was driving off: make sure to lock your doors.

Deputies say these were crimes of opportunity, and they are reminding everyone to remove all valuables from your car and always make sure your doors are locked.

They're asking if you have any information to call the sheriff's department substation in Alpine.

Five women have filed a lawsuit against the doctor charged with sexual battery and child pornography after authorities say nude images of patients were found on his phone.

Attorney Jessica Pride said she filed a single lawsuit on behalf of five clients, who claim they were former patients of Dr. Jeffrey Abrams, a physician practicing in the area for 40 years.

Pride’s clients are among eight woman who say Abrams took advantage of his position while working for the Volunteers in San Diego free clinic in El Cajon between June 2010 and June 2014.

An alleged victim known only as “Jane Doe 1,” who is part of the lawsuit, claims on Jan. 4, she went to the clinic for belly button pain.

During the exam, the uninsured woman says Abrams told her to take off all her clothes, and then he inserted his gloved finger inside her vagina and asked, “You have pain?”

He then instructed her to stand before him, pushed her hair away from her exposed breasts and took five pictures of her using a cellphone, Jane Doe 1 alleges.

State investigators say when they searched Abrams work phone, they discovered 1,300 of his female patients’ buttocks, breasts and vaginas. A video shows a patient touching herself in the exam room with Abrams, a search warrant says.

The State Medical Board suspended his license, and Abrams was arrested on Nov. 7.

He pleaded not guilty to 15 felony counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious victim, eight counts of sexual battery of an unconscious victim and one count of possession of child pornography. The last charge stems from nude pictures of an 8-year-old girl allegedly found on his phone.

During his arraignment, the prosecutor said Abrams faced similar allegations in the early 1990s, but no disciplinary action was taken.

On Tuesday, the suspect posted his $1.5 million bail to get out of jail. He faces a 40-year sentence if convicted on all charges.

After his arrest, Pride told NBC 7 Jane Doe 1 was afraid Abrams would find out who she was and potentially harm her.