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Pursuit Ends in West LA as CHP Performs PIT Maneuver

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A police pursuit that started in the San Fernando Valley lasted about 30 minutes Wednesday before the California Highway Patrol was able to spin an SUV to a stop and take the driver into custody.

Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department Van Nuys Division began pursuing an allegedly stolen 1993 blue Nissan Pathfinder at 10:11 a.m. near the intersection of Van Nuys and Magnolia boulevards, according to police.

Police were initially able to locate the SUV because it was equipped with LoJack, a stolen vehicle locating service, police said.

The majority of the pursuit -- which reached estimated speeds of 85 mph -- was limited to freeways. The driver took the 405 Freeway northbound to the westbound 118, exited at Tampa Avenue and then returned to the freeway eastbound.

By 10:30 a.m., the vehicle was traveling southbound on the 405 Freeway near Sherman Way.

Shortly before 10:40 a.m., aerial video showed the driver throwing something out of the SUV.

At 10:43 a.m., the driver took the Olympic/Pico exit. At the end of the off-ramp at the intersection of Sawtelle Boulevard and Tennessee Avenue, a CHP officer performed a PIT maneuver, spinning the SUV around.

The driver was ordered out of the car and taken into custody.

Police said they expected to book the driver on felony evading.


Could San Diego Host the 2024 Olympics?

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The United States Olympic Committee sent a letter to Mayor Bob Filner on Tuesday to see if the city would be interested in hosting the Olympics in 2024.

San Diego, along with 34 other U.S. cities, were mailed letters by the committee to see if they would want to accommodate the international athletic competition.

“Our objective in this process is to identify a partner city that can work with us to present a compelling bid to the IOC and that has the right alignment of political, business and community leadership,” USOC CEO Scott Blackmun said in the letter. “This letter does not guarantee that the USOC will bid for the 2024 Games, but rather is an initial step in evaluating a potential bid.”

The letter also included a list of requirements, stating the cities should have enough hotel space and a good public transportation network. The city would also have to build an Olympic Village large enough to support more than 30,000 athletes and members of the media.

Other California cities considered by the USOC are Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco and San Jose. Los Angeles has hosted two Olympics before, in 1932 and 1984. The U.S. has not hosted the Olympics since 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Former San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce Chairman Vincent Mudd is pushing for a 2032 Olympic bid for America’s Finest City.

“San Diego has earned the right to represent the nation as the place to be,” Mudd told NBC 7 San Diego last week. “The Olympic Games are a terrific place to drive economic development and growth in the region.”

The final vote for the host city of 2024 will not take place until 2017.



Photo Credit: AP

Ticket-Fixing Deputy DA Resigns

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The San Diego Deputy District Attorney convicted in a ticket-fixing scandal has resigned according to a department spokesperson.

Allison Worden was on administrative leave during her trial on three misdemeanor counts including conspiracy to obstruct justice and alteration or destruction of a traffic citation.

Worden was cited by an SDPD for failing to wear a seat belt on May 28, 2011. She called her friend,

Sgt. Kevin Friedman,

at the San Diego Police Traffic Division.


According to investigators, Friedman found the tickets in the division’s citation bin and got rid of them.

Less than a week after her conviction on all counts, Worden resigned her position effective Feb. 28 according to department spokesperson Steve Walker.

Worden was scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday in a downtown San Diego courtroom.

Defense attorney Paul Pfingst requested the sentencing be postponed for two weeks. Judge Louis Hanoian granted the request.

In March 2012, Friedman retired from the SDPD after more than 26 years of service.

In May, he pleaded no contest to one count of destroying a traffic citation.

He was sentenced to 40 hours of community service, two years of probation and ordered to pay a $500 fine.

UC San Diego Cancer Researcher Honored by Zuckerberg Grant

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When some of the leading technological minds handed out $33 million in science prizes Wednesday, one of those awards went to a UC San Diego cancer scientist.

Among the 11 researchers named in the new “Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences” awards was Napoleone Ferrara, MD, PhD.

The $3 million award was one of 11 handed out by a group of tech execs as a way to help encourage creative ideas on how to cure incurable diseases.

The execs include Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan; Google's Sergey Brin and his wife, Anne Wojcicki, who founded 23andMe; Genentech's Art Levinson and Yuri Milner, who founded Mail.ru, a leading European Internet company.

Ferrara was chosen for his work in deciphering how tumors grow or more specifically as described in a news release from UC San Diego:

“…for his work identifying the role of the human VEGF gene in promoting angiogenesis – the formation of new blood vessels that can feed tumor growth – and subsequent development of two major monoclonal antibody drugs: Bevacizumab (marketed as Avastin), which is used to treat multiple forms of cancer, including breast, brain and colorectal, and ranibizumab (marketed as Lucentis), which treats wet age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in the elderly.”

The 56-year-old molecular biologist is a professor of pathology in the UC San Diego School of Medicine’s Department of Pathology as well as senior deputy director for basic sciences at the University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center.

He was employed by Genentech when he did most of his ground-breaking research according to the university.



Photo Credit: AP

Endangered Sumatra Tiger Born at San Francisco Zoo

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It's anyone's guess what the sex of the 10-day old Sumatran tiger at the San Francisco zoo is.

That's because no human has been inside the Lion House to see the cub, born Feb. 10 to parents Leanne and Larry. Still photographs taken from the video camera inside the grotto show the striped cub nuzzled against its resting mother.

Zoo spokeswoman Abbie Tuller said the gender of the cub will be revealed in a couple of weeks when a veterinarian goes in for a routine wellness check.

Tanya Peterson, executive director and president of the San Francisco Zoo, said that Sumatran tigers are a critically endangered species and the population in the wild is estimated at less than 400.

Zoo officials also pointed to the excellent prenatal care the Mama tiger received. Leanne is one of the  few tigers in the world trained to receive examinations and prenatal sonograms without general anesthesia.

Leanne is a 9 1/2-year-old female Sumatran tiger.  She came to the SF Zoo from the San Antonio Zoo in 2006.  This birth is her second litter; her first was in 2008 when she gave birth to three males, who were transferred to other zoos to participate in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan.  Leanne is named for the late Leanne Bovet Roberts, a former SF Zoo trustee and very generous donor and supporter of animal care organizations.

Larry is a 6-year old male Sumatran tiger that came to the SF Zoo in 2012 on breeding loan from the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, with a stop at the Jackson [Mississippi] Zoo in between. This is the first litter he has sired.  He is named in honor of Lawrence Hauben, the late husband of SF Zoo donor Margaret Hauben, who always signed his correspondence, “Love, Larry the tiger.”

This birth represents the first tiger born at the SF Zoo since 2008.  Prior to that, the last litter of tigers born at the SF Zoo was in 1976.

Arguably the best known tiger in the Bay Area was Tatiana, who fatally attacked a young man on Dec. 25, 2007, and was killed by police. But she was a Siberian tiger and has no relation to the new baby cub.
 

2 Found Dead in Valley Center Home

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Two people were found dead in Valley Center Tuesday according to law enforcement authorities.

San Diego County sheriff's deputies found a man and a woman inside the home on Littlefield Lane around 9 p.m.

Deputies had received a 911 call reporting two people had been shot in the home.

There were two adult family members in the home at the time of the shooting who were not injured deputies said.

Homicide detectives are still trying to determine a motive. Right now they do not believe there are any suspects at-large.
 



Photo Credit: NBC 7 San Diego

Sinkhole Closes F Street at SR 94

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A broken water main and sinkhole are tying things up on F Street for commuters heading into downtown San Diego from westbound State Route 94.

Check Interactive Traffic Map

The water main break happened at 3:30 a.m. and quickly developed into a sinkhole.

As a result, F Street was closed between 13th and 15th, 14th Streets closed between E and G Streets. One lane of F Street reopened after 11 a.m.

Water carried mud and rocks several blocks away so workers were all over East Village clearing storm drains and cleaning up the mess.

Water service has been closed in the immediate area. The area does not have very many residential customers.

The 16-inch cast iron pipe that burst was installed in 1911, according to Arian Collins with the water department. He said there aren't many of these older pipes left in the city.

The estimated time of restoration is 9 p.m. tonight and the area will be closed until the fix is complete. 

Winter Storm Slams San Diego County

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A powerful winter storm created blizzard-like conditions in San Diego’s mountains and dropped nearly a foot of new snow on Mount Laguna.

Snow level from this storm system was reported around the 3000-foot level according to the San Diego County Department of Public Works.

Watch: Palomar Mountain Snow

The county reports 2 inches of snow in Descanso, 3-4 inches in Pine Valley, 10-12 in Boulevard at Crestwood, 10-12 inches on Mt. Laguna and 6 inches in Julian.

Measurements from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) show 4 inches in Pine Valley, 2 inches in Hesperia and an inch of snow in Apple Valley.

"This storm is bringing an extensive amount of snow and very low snow levels," said NBC 7 San Diego meteorologist Jodi Kodesh.

Check Forecast by Zip Code

Eastbound Interstate 8 at Willows has been closed to traffic due to snow according to the California Highway Patrol.

A section of Sunrise Highway was closed to traffic early Wednesday.

Plows worked to clear roadways on Mount Laguna as well as Palomar Mountain to the north.

Check Interactive Traffic Map

Classes were canceled Wednesday for the Mountain Empire Unified School District.

The winter storm warning in effect for our area expires around noon Wednesday.

The National Weather Service issued an airport weather warning for Lindbergh Field forecasting wind gusts of 30 knots or greater until 10 a.m.

A high wind warning was also in effect for San Diego through 8 p.m.

Elsewhere around the county, rain and hail were reported before 7 a.m.

"We just had a little burst of hail roll through the Lake Murray-San Carlos area," NBC 7 San Diego viewer Ben Newkirk wrote.

Hail was also reported in Eastlake, Tierrasanta and Santee.

Pine Valley Firefighters warned drivers to be careful since snow rarely reaches such low elevations. When it does, they see more car accidents than usual.

It's best to wait until roads and parking are cleared, before taking a drive to the mountains. There will likely be heavy snow, white-out conditions, until noon.

Experts consider a storm a blizzard when there are 35 mph winds with blowing snow. Based on the current conditions, mountain residents are experiencing a snowstorm that is almost that intense.



Photo Credit: Greg Bledsoe

Teacher "Devastated" Over Gun Arrest

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The San Diego-area school teacher facing two felonies for carrying a loaded weapon on a school campus is said to be devastated by his arrest.

Ned Walker, 41, was arrested Feb. 11 after San Diego Unified School District police reported finding a loaded .380 semi-automatic handgun with a 7-round magazine as well as a 2.5 inch locking blade knife in his car.

The Farb Middle School English teacher appeared before a judge Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to two felony charges. If convicted, Walker faces up to 5 years, 8 months in prison.

Walker was free on bail but opted not to explain his actions to the media at this time according to defense attorney Gerissa Santos.

"He’s obviously devastated. He loves his job and he loves teaching,” Santos said adding that Walker's career means everything to him.

The school's vice principal contacted school police after learning Walker may be storing ammunition on campus. Police questioned Walker and said he denied possessing the gun at first.

A search of the teacher's locked cabinets in his classroom resulted in no ammo or weapons found. Officers then searched the teacher's car in the parking lot and found the loaded handgun according to SDUSD Chief of Police Rueben Littlejohn.

Littlejohn was clear that even with the heightened anxiety surrounding school safety after the deadly school shooting in Newtown, Conn., teachers should not take matters into their own hands.

Twenty-seven people died including 20 children in the second most-deadlies shooting in U.S. history on Dec. 14, 2012.

Special Coverage: Newtown School Shooting

Deputy District Attorney Heather Trocha shared that sentiment when she was asked what message she would send other teachers who may be concerned about school safety.

“Just follow the law and keep your kids safe,” Trocha said.

However Santos said her client's concern for his students has increased following the high-profile violence on school campuses around the U.S.

“It’s difficult to be the protector of your students as well as yourself and not be in a position to do so at times given atrocities that have happened in the past few months,” Santos said.

“So it’s quite difficult.”

A preliminary hearing was set for April.



Photo Credit: NBC 7 San Diego

2 Deputies Shot in Encinitas: Officials

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Two deputies were shot in Encinitas on Wednesday afternoon, according to officials.

The incident occurred around 3:30 p.m. on the 700-block of Del Rio Avenue, just south of Leucadia Boulevard when officials were looking for a stolen vehicle.

Police said the gunman is not yet in custody and have deemed the immediate area "unsafe." The sheriff's department says a man is threatening to shoot deputies who try to enter the house.

A SWAT team is also searching the perimeter and dozens of police cars are currently at the scene.

Homes south of Del Rio Avenue have been evacuated as a precaution and closures include Del Rio Avenue, west on Leucadia Boulevard and south of Saxony Road.

One deputy was injured after someone fired shots from a residence on Del Rio Avenue, according to the sheriff's department. Another deputy was also shot during the situation. Their conditions are unknown, though one of the deputies taken to a nearby hospital seemed to be in good spirits.

A witness told NBC 7 San Diego that he saw officers with guns pointed at the residence and that he heard multiple gunshots.

Check back for updates on this developing story.


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La Jolla Cove Ranked Among Best U.S. Beaches

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San Diego’s La Jolla Cove has been ranked one of the top beaches in the United States, according to a list released Wednesday by TripAdvisor.

The popular local beach came in at No. 8 on a list of the top 25 beaches across the nation.

Other sandy hotspots on the list – which is overwhelmingly dominated by beaches in Hawaii, Florida and California -- include:

  • Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve (Honolulu, Hawaii)
  • Laguna Beach (Laguna Beach, Calif.)
  • Assateague Beach (Chincoteague Island, Va.)
  • Wailea Beach (Wailea, Hawaii)
  • Lanikai Beach (Kailua, Hawaii)
  • Fort De Soto Park (Tierra Verde, Fla.)
  • Gulf Islands National Seashore (Pensacola, Fla.)
  • Siesta Key Public Beach (Sarasota, Fla.)

The No. 1 beach is Ka’anapali Beach in Lahaina, Hawaii.

This particular list was compiled based entirely on feedback from TripAdvisor travelers. A list of the top beaches around the world was also released. That list includes beaches in Italy, Turks and Caicos, Australia and Brazil, among others.

For more details, visit this website.
 



Photo Credit: NBC 7 San Diego

Woman Threatened Mass Shooting at College: FBI

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The FBI has arrested an Connecticut woman accused of threatening to carry out a mass shooting at Gateway Community College in New Haven, Conn.

Amanda Bowden, 19, of East Haven, Conn., was taken into custody Tuesday.

Bowden is accused of threatening to commit a Newtown-style mass shooting at the community college.

"As alleged, this defendent made a series of threats that described in great detail her intention to carry out a suicidal mass murder at a community college in New Haven," said U.S. Attorney David Fein.

According to federal authorities, Bowden made several threats by text message with a witness cooperating with investigators between Feb. 4 and Feb 16. She also had text message and verbal conversations with an undercover officer, discussing her plans to commit a mass shooting and bombing at Gateway, authorities said.

Bowden claimed to have guns and claimed that she had constructed at least two napalm-based bombs at her home in East Haven, according to Fein.

The FBI and New Haven police chief Dean Esserman notified Gateway Community College President Dorsey Kendrick about the threats on Feb. 5, according to a school spokesperson.

"Chief Esserman and GCC security had been contacted by the FBI, and were told that there was no imminent danger as a result of the post, but an investigation was underway," said Evelyn Gard.  "The chief requested that Dr. Kendrick and GCC security keep the matter confidential until the investigation was complete."

Bowden was arrested on state charges Tuesday. Federal agents searched Bowden's home in East Haven after her arrest and did not find any firearms or explosives, according to authorities.

Bowden appeared in Milford Superior Court on state threatening charges Wednesday and was then taken into federal custody and moved to Bridgeport Federal Court, where she appeared on a charge of false information and hoaxes.

She remains in custody pending a hearing on March 1.



Photo Credit: Facebook

Car Bomb Hits near HQ of Syria's Ruling Party

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A car bomb struck a security checkpoint near the headquarters of Syria's ruling Baath party and the Russian Embassy in the capital Damascus on Thursday, leaving smashed and burning cars on a main thoroughfare and at least four dead bodies lying in a nearby park, according to witnesses and opposition activists.

Syrian state TV also reported the blast in the central Mazraa neighborhood, calling it a "terrorist" attack by a suicide bomber on a heavily populated area near a mosque, a hospital, a bus station and a school. It said at least four children were among the wounded.

The state news agency published photos of two dead bodies lying in the street.

The pro-regime TV station Al-Ikhbariya showed images of what appeared to be at least four dead bodies on the ground and cars on fire. The footage shows firefighters trying to douse cars on fire and lifeless and dismembered bodies lying on the grass of a public garden.

The Britain-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the blast caused tens of dead and wounded.

For more world news coverage, click on NBCNews.com

Eyewitnesses at the scene said a car had exploded at a security checkpoint between the Russian Embassy and the central headquarters of the ruling Baath party of President Bashar Assad.

"It was huge. Everything in the shop turned upside down," one local resident said. He said three of his employees were injured by flying glass that killed a young girl who was walking by when the blast hit.

"I pulled her inside the shop but she was almost gone. We couldn't save her. She was hit in the stomach and head," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution for speaking with foreign media.

Ambulances rushed to the scene of the blast, which shattered windows and sent up a huge cloud of smoke visible throughout much of the city, witnesses said.

Russia's state owned RIA Novosti news agency quoted a Russian Embassy official as saying the Embassy building had been damaged in the blast but no one was hurt.

The blast followed two mortar attacks in as many days on the capital. On Wednesday, two mortar shells exploded next to a soccer stadium in Damascus, killing one player. The day before, two mortar shells blew up near one of Assad's three palaces in the city, causing only material damage.

Not long after the first blast Thursday, a security official reported a second blast in the capital's northeastern Barzeh neighborhood. He had no other information and spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.

For more world news coverage, click on NBCNews.com

The Observatory, which relies on a network of anti-regime activists inside Syria, said two car bombs had exploded near security centers in Barzeh, followed by intense clashes between rebels and security forces.

Damascus has so far mostly avoided the large-scale violence that has destroyed other Syrian cities, though deadly car bombings have targeted government buildings in the capital.

In May 2012, twin car bombs exploded outside a military intelligence building, killing 55 people in the deadliest attack against a regime target in the capital since the uprising began 23 months ago.

And in July, rebels detonated explosives inside a high-level crisis meeting in Damascus that killed four top regime officials, including Assad's brother-in-law and the defense minister.

Syria's conflict began in March 2011 with political protests against the government and has since evolved into a civil war between Assad's regime and hundreds of rebel groups seeking to topple it. The U.N. says some 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far.



Photo Credit: AP

Kepler Mission Finds "Smallest" Planet

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Scientists on the lookout for habitable planets outside Earth's solar system found a small wonder with a notable distinction -- Kepler-37b is the smallest planet yet discovered that orbits a star similar to our sun.

The planet's discovery was announced Wednesday by scientists who are part of NASA's Kepler mission. It is located near what researchers consider the "habitable zone" -- a system in which water might exist on planets.

It probably does not have an atmosphere that can support life and the 800-degree Fahrenheit surface temperature would be too hot, but Kepler-37b is still a significant find because it suggests the universe is packed with tiny planet candidates.

And, in the haystack of space, Kepler-37b is the needle.

"We uncovered a planet smaller than any in our solar system orbiting one of the few stars that is both bright and quiet, where signal detection was possible," said Thomas Barclay, Kepler scientist at the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute in Sonoma, Calif. "This discovery shows close-in planets can be smaller, as well as much larger, than planets orbiting our sun."

Since Pluto was re-categorized from planet to dwarf planet, Mercury has become the poster-planet for tiny planets. Kepler-37b -- located about 210 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra -- is only slightly larger than the moon.

"The fact we've discovered tiny Kepler-37b suggests such little planets are common, and more planetary wonders await as we continue to gather and analyze additional data," said Jack Lissauer, a planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field.

The potential for detecting planets such as Kepler-37b has increased as technology allowed researchers to find and measure planets smaller than Earth.

The first planets discovered that orbited a sun-like star outside our solar system, called exoplanets, were relative giants. Kepler, launched in 2009 on a hunt for Earth-like planets, provided scientists with a sizeable techological leap.

The space telescope -- Southern California's Jet Propulsion Laboratory managed Kepler mission development -- measures the size of an object when it passes in front of a star. The percentage of light blocked from the telescope's vantage point helps scientists determine the size of the planet.

But to do that, scientists have to determine the size of the star. Using a process called asteroseismology, scientists studied sound waves created by the boiling motion under the star's surface.

The waves create oscillations detected by Kepler -- small stars have high tones, largers ones produce lower tones in the same way different size bells create different tones. The Kepler-37 star's radius is just three-quarters of the sun, so it produces high-frequency oscillations that make it "the smallest bell in the asteroseismology steeple," according to researchers.

The mission's finding were published Wednesday in the journal "Nature."



Photo Credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech

Whole Foods' Chicken Ad Featuring Obama Outrages Neighbors

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A Whole Foods supermarket in New York has removed a sign that used a drawing of President Barack Obama to advertise a sale on chicken after complaints that the ad was offensive.

The sign outside the supermarket on Manhattan's Upper West Side, featuring an apparent caricature of Obama advertising an upcoming sale on whole organic chickens, outraged neighbor Woody Henderson.

"There are certain things that have been used to put down black people — watermelon, fried chicken," he said. 

Jason Nunez of the Bronx said, "Even if he's not the president, you're going to have an African-American promoting the sale of chicken? They can do better than that." 

Residents and passersby agreed the man in the sign looked like Obama, but not all thought it was derogatory.

"Obviously it looks like the president, but I don't think it's racist," said Joseph Joshua.

A spokesman for Whole Foods said store artists create a variety of pop culture imagery to promote sales and events. The sign advertising the chicken was put up earlier in the week but taken down "once it was brought to our attention by a shopper that it may be perceived as offensive," said the spokesman. 

"There was no disrespect meant at all," the spokesman said.

Henderson thinks the chain should take more responsibility. Another neighbor, Jeffrey Schaper, said, "I don't think you can find a more pro-Democratic neighborhood. They're sort of shooting themselves in the foot. It is pretty outrageous."

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Biden: "There Is a Moral Price for Inaction" on Guns

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Vice President Joe Biden urged tougher gun control laws at a conference on gun violence Thursday just miles from Newtown, Conn., still reeling from December's shooting massacre at an elementary school.

"There is a moral price for inaction," Biden said during an impassioned speech. "We can't remain silent. ... We have to speak for those 20 beautiful children."

The vice president pointed to the 1,900 people he said have died from gun violence since a 20-year-old gunman massacred 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14.

Biden said that there will be a lot of voices in the debate on gun control, but the loudest voices will be for the people who lost their voice. 

"We have an obligation to act," he said.

Discussions at the forum Thursday have focused on expanding criminal background checks, requiring them for ammunition sales and getting high-capacity magazines — or, as one speaker described them, "war weapons" — off the streets.

There has also been discussion of changes in mental health services and initiatives.

The parents of Grace McDonnell, a 7-year-old girl killed in the Sandy Hook shooting, are also attending and received a standing ovation.

“We ask that our representatives remember 26 beautiful lives we lost and pass meaningful laws. I owe it to my daughter Grace,” Lynn McDonnell told audience members at the forum.

Biden said during his address that universal background checks are a necessity. He also called on limited high-capacity magazines

"It makes a difference," Biden said.

The vice president also said a federal gun trafficking law is needed, as well as more police on the streets.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy also made a big announcement about his own proposals at the forum.



Photo Credit: AP

Filner, Goldsmith Spar in Front of Cameras

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San Diego Mayor Bob Filner and City Attorney Jan Goldsmith fight in front of the media at a news conference on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013.

Photo Credit: NBC 7 San Diego

Michigan Aims to Halt Out-of-State Recyclers

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You may have to think twice before recycling cans and bottles in Michigan. 

Michigan lawmakers debated Tuesday legislation that would fine or even jail those who attempt to cash in on the state’s recycling refund by using out-of-state cans and bottles, The Associated Press reported.

The state offers 10 cents per container, double the refund offered by such other states with a similar policy as New York, Delaware, Hawaii and Vermont. Michigan's neighboring states - Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Illinois - have not passed a container deposit refund law, allowing people to collect out-of-state can and bottles, only to get paid for them in Michigan.

The 10-cent refund was the subject of a 1996 episode of "Seinfeld"  - Kramer and Newman plotted to bring thousands of empty cans and bottles into Michigan on a postal truck to get the bigger 10-cent deposit.

The Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association estimated Michigan loses up to $13 million a year from out-of-state cans in the state's high recycling refund.

Four counties in Michigan, two in southern Michigan and two in the western Upper Peninsula, have already taken action to prevent fraud bottles from being refunded, according to the Detroit Free Press. At a cost of $5,000 per machine, they have purchased new technology that identifies and will reject the container if it was purchased out-of-state.

The new legislation proposes a penalty of a $100 fine for returning 25 to 100 nonreturnable containers, a $1,000 fine for returning 100 to 10,000 nonreturnable containers, and jail time of up to 93 days for a second conviction, according to the AP.

"I don't want to put people in prison for this," State Rep. Kenneth Kurtz told the Detroit Free Press. "But I want to send the message that you don't want to defraud the citizens of our state."



Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images

Lawsuit Claims School Yoga Program is Religious

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A lawsuit was filed against the Encinitas Union School District for their city-wide yoga curriculum, claiming the yoga classes are “inherently and pervasively religious.”

The National Center for Law and Policy filed the civil rights suit on Wednesday on behalf of Stephen and Jennifer Sedlock and their children, who are students in the district. EUSD currently offers yoga classes in its physical education program.  Children also have the choice to opt out of the program.

The Sedlocks allege EUSD is not complying with the California constitution’s right to religious freedom. The lawsuit also calls the children participating in the program “religious guinea pigs.”

EUSD accepted a $533,000 grant from the Jois Foundation for the yoga classes, which NCLP claims is a religious organization. Jois Yoga states on its website that it works as an “extension of the Ashtanga philosophy and practice.”

EUSD Superintendent Timothy Baird told NBC 7 that he’s shocked a lawsuit was filed against the district.

“We have not stripped religion out of it. We never put religion in it," Baird said. "What we took out were cultural connections so we don't use sanskrit words but basically what you have kids doing is stretching, moving, breathing. That's not religious."

The lawsuit stated it ultimately seeks to suspend the yoga program indefinitely and “restore traditional physical education to the district.”



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Easter Egg Roll Lottery is Open

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The online lottery for tickets to the White House Easter Egg Roll began at 10 a.m. today.

Starting then, parents can enter the online lottery for the chance to spend Easter Monday at the White House. The lottery will close at 10 a.m. on Feb. 25. You can enter any time during that time period for an equal chance.

Winners will be notified March 1. The egg hunt is set for Monday, April 1, the day after Easter. The White House expects some 35,000 people at this year's egg hunt.

Other than the egg roll itself, the event also features musical performers, sports activities with star athletes, a story corner and more. Past guests have included J.K. Rowling, Reese Witherspoon, Dominique Dawes, Brian Orakpo and "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" author Jeff Kinney.

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