Police are searching for three men who robbed a Pacific Beach taco shop at gunpoint Wednesday night.
The three suspects, armed with handguns, held up Los 2 Pedro's Taco Shop at 700 Turquoise Street just before 9:30 p.m., according to San Diego police.
All were able to escape with an undisclosed amount of money.
Check back here for more on this developing story.
A string of storms that marched across California this month provided enough rain to boost reservoir levels and slightly improve drought conditions after three consecutive dry years.
The state still likely needs several consecutive wet winters, but the latest U.S. Drought Monitor report offers reason for "cautious" optimism with several months left in California's wet season. This month's storms brought precipitation to most of California, pushing the Sacramento River to its highest level since December 31, 2005.
Consecutive days of rain and snow led to a decrease in the percentage of the state under the Monitor's most severe drought category, called exceptional drought (D4). Last week, 55 percent of California was in the exceptional drought category. The latest report shows 32 percent of state in the D4 category.
Nearly 95 percent of the state remains under severe drought, according to the Monitor.
California's critically low water reservoirs remain well below historical average for mid-December, but Drought Monitor researchers noted "good capacity increases" of 6 to 10 percentage points in northern and central California's major reservoirs.
"It takes years to get into a drought of this severity, and it will likely take many more big storms, and years, to crawl out of it," said Jay Famiglietti, a researcher at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
A study of satellite data released by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory earlier this week found that at the peak of the drought earlier this year, water storage in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins was 11 trillion gallons below normal seasonal levels.
"With several more months still left in the wet season, it is possible that additional storms similar to the ones that just occurred will continue to chip away at the long-term hydrological drought, and the addition of lower temperatures would help build the snow pack," according to the report.
Rainfall has been trending above normal in many places so far during the 2014-2015 rain season that began July 1. As of Wednesday, downtown Los Angeles had collected 4.47 inches, more than 1.4 inches more than normal to date. A year earlier, it had collected just 0.86 inch to date. Downtown San Francisco had tallied 13.40 inches, or nearly 6.5 inches more than normal to date.
But drought improvement will depend largely on this season's precipitation in the Sierra Nevada Mountain range. Springtime runoff from the melting Sierra Nevada mountain range snowpack supplies water for an estimated 25 million Californians. In November, the southern Sierra had received just 47 percent of its normal rain and snow so far, and the northern Sierra 79 percent.
The report noted that temperatures remained above normal, so more rain than snow was reported at higher elevations.
The tropical Pacfic Ocean phenomenon known as El Nino also could have a say in California's drought situation. The chance of El Nino weather conditions, which can potentially usher moisture into California, developing this winter for the Northern Hemisphere increased to 65 percent in December.
That figure represents an increase from last month's estimate of 58 percent.
Gov. Jerry Brown in January declared a drought emergency, and asked Californians to cut residential water use by 20 percent -- a mark that has not been met, according to recent estimates. Farmers in the Central Valley have fallowed fields and mandatory water restrictions are in effect as California faces a fourth-consecutive dry year.
With rains reaching near-record levels in California this winter, the storms have brought much relief to the drought-stricken state, but the rains have also brought flooding, mudslides and other damages.
As of Thursday, four counties in California, all in the northern part of the state, have proclaimed "local emergencies," according to Lilly Wyatt, spokeswoman for the State Office of Emergency Services. Only the governor can proclaim a state of emergency.
Tehama County decided to note the "public calamity" first, on Dec. 9, after Sheriff Dave Hencratt requested the board of supervisors formally issue the proclamation.
Sonoma, Marin and Lake counties are the other three counties where the boards of supervisors there proclaimed local of emergencies.
According to the state Office of Emergency Services, Monterey and San Mateo counties are preparing to proclaim, and Butte County is considering, also.
These types of proclamations kickstart the formal request for for state and federal financial aid if the need arises. Sonoma County has asked for the most so far - $17 million, and Marin County has asked for $1 million. The other two counties have not yet specified a dollar amount as crews are still assessing the damage.
The wreckage in each of the counties are related to the drenching rains, which have caused mudslides into homes, crumbled highways and in the case of Marin County, a breached a levee near downtown.
But just because a county asks for state help, doesn't mean they get it all.
In 2005, for example, Marin County suffered $12 million in damages during the stroms then. Marin County spokesman Brent Ainsworth said FEMA reimbursed the county for $8 million of it.
The wet December, however, did bring some cautious optimism to the state. The U.S. Drought Monitor said that reservoir levels have improved slightly, and the Sacramento River is at it's highest level since December 2005.
Meteorologist Christina Loren said over the next week, Northern California should remain relatively dry.
Updates: Interactive Radar and Severe Weather Alerts
NBC LA's Jonathan Lloyd contributed to this report.
A man in Escondido was shot multiple times Wednesday night, police said.
Shortly before nine p.m., Escondido Police said a man was shot once in the neck and four times in the leg. The incident happened at a mobile home park at the 500 block of West 15th Ave.
The 31-year-old victim is in the hospital and his condition is unknown.
It is unclear what led to the shooting. There is no word as to whether the incident was gang-related.
Prominent South Florida Republicans held a news conference Thursday to discuss the new change in policy on U.S.-Cuba relations.
Sen. Marco Rubio, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart all spoke at the news conference. They also discussed Wednesday's release of American Alan Gross from a Cuban prison.
Rubio, a Cuban-American, called the opening in diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba a misstep by President Obama.
"It colludes with America's enemies, near and far, to threaten us and everything we hold dear," he said. "But most importantly, the regime's brutal treatment of the Cuban people has continued unabated. Dissidents are harassed, imprisoned and even killed."
Ros-Lehtinen also denounced the policy change.
"The liberalization policies aimed at easing trade and remittances to Cuba is another propaganda coup for the Castro brothers, who will now fill their coffers with more money at the expense of the Cuban people," she said in a statement. "It is quite possible that this unilateral action by the President without Congressional consultation is in violation of the following U.S. laws: Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996, Cuban Democracy Act of 1992, and the Trading with the Enemy Act."
EDITOR'S NOTE: The details of this case are graphic and may be upsetting for some readers.
A Chester County man accused of beating his girlfriend's son to death twiddled his thumbs as he appeared in court Thursday via video.
Gary Fellenbaum, the boy's mother Jillian Tait and Fellenbaum's estranged wife Amber Fellenbaum said little as each appeared separately in court on charges stemming from the beating death of a 3-year-old Scotty McMillan. Prosecutors called the abuse "an American horror."
The 23-year-old man accused of brutally abusing and killing his girlfriend’s son, twiddled his thumbs, looking down as he waived his right to a preliminary hearing in the death, according to witnesses in the courtroom.
Gary Fellenbaum and Tait face first-degree murder, child endangerment, assault and related charges stemming from the death of the 3-year-old West Caln, Pennsylvania boy last month. Amber Fellenbaum faces child endangerment charges.
Each suspect appeared via video uplink as they waived their rights to preliminary hearings. Fellenbaum wore blue prison pants while the women each wore a green jumpsuit. Tait and Gary Fellenbaum each thanked the judge at the end of their hearings while Amber Fellenbaum remained silent.
All three suspects remain in isolation in state jail, said prosecutors.
McMillan died from what investigators said was abuse at the hand of his mother and her boyfriend inside a West Caln Township trailer home that Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan called an “American horror.”
"(Scotty) was systematically tortured and beaten to death,” said Hogan when he annouced the arrests in early November. "He was punched in the face and in the stomach, he was scourged with a homemade whip, he was lashed with a metal rod, he was tied to a chair and beaten, he was tied upside down by his feet and beaten, his head was smashed through a wall and at the end of that he had bruises on top of bruises all over his body.”
The abuse occurred over a two-week period dating back to October in the Hope Lane home located about 35 miles west of Philadelphia, according to investigators.
Hogan said Scotty's mother sometimes watched the abuse and laughed.
Police said Gary Fellenbaum met Tait at a local Wal-Mart where they worked together. Tait and her two sons — Scotty and his 6-year-old brother — moved in with Fellenbaum in mid-October and the abuse began shortly thereafter, said investigators.
NBC10 is not naming this surviving boy since authorities said he is a victim of child abuse.
Fellenbaum expressed remorse that "his physical assaults caused another's death," according to a criminal complaint obtained by NBC10.
Amber Fellenbaum earlier told investigators she first became aware of the alleged abuse when she saw Fellenbaum spank Scotty after the boy didn’t respond to Fellenbaum. She also said she saw Fellenbaum and Tait beat Scotty with a green frying pan and saw Fellenbaum tape Scotty to a chair and severely pummel the boy’s face and stomach.
The county took the older brother and the Fellenbaums' 11-month-old daughter into protective custody.
America’s Finest City is set to have its biggest year in tourism yet.
By the end of 2014, the city will have brought in more than 33 million visitors that will have spent more than $9 billion combined in the city, according to a report released by the San Diego Tourism Authority.
“This was a blockbuster of a year for tourism,” Rod LaBranche, board chairman of the San Diego Tourism Authority, responsible for marketing San Diego as a travel destination, said in a press release. “This demonstrates that a sustained marketing effort is enormously effective in attracting visitors to our region, which is essential for San Diego’s economy.”
The year will be the city’s best on record, with more than 16.2 million hotel room nights sold and $244 million accrued from a hotel transient occupancy tax revenue. Visitors will have spent $9.2 million while in the city.
The surge was in large part spurred by a $13 million multi-platform marketing campaign and several promotional initiatives aimed at bringing new visitors into the region.
The campaign worked to draw in new tourists from China and Mexico and marketing the city as a visitor destination in addition to their work with other overseas marketing efforts. The SDTA also produced a series of videos from neighborhoods within the county and a new digital campaign.
In 2015, the SDTA plans to launch a brand-new marketing campaign that will debut in February and a documentary produced by National Geographic highlighting San Diego as one of their “World’s Smartest Cities,” as well as other new initiatives.
A storm system moved through San Diego County Wednesday, causing headaches on the morning commute and bringing the first snow of the season to the mountains.
Rain-related crashes caused delays on freeways across the county. There were 105 accidents between midnight and 8 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol. CHP says there are 50 to 75 during that time period on a typical day.
The mood was lighter on Mount Laguna, which received its first significant snowfall this winter. Just under an inch of snow fell, but it was enough to attract visitors.
“We heard that it snowed in Mt. Laguna, so we wanted to come up and hit each other with snowballs,” said El Cajon resident Matthew Hanington.
“Just being able to come out and experience the snow for Christmas, a white Christmas, it’s very fascinating,” Hanington added.
NBC 7’s Whitney Southwick says Mount Laguna could get another inch of snow in the next 24 hours, but it won’t last for Christmas because a warmup is on the way.
A Winter Weather Advisory is effect for Cuyamaca, Mount Laguna and Ranchita through 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Laguna Mountain Sports owner Dave Super hopes Wednesday’s snowfall is the first of many. His business depends on seasonal customers.
“Hopefully we’re going to get a real winter this year,” Super said.
The North County Transit District voted unanimously Thursday to ban alcohol consumption aboard their trains.
"It's banned, period," said Board Chair Bill Horn.
Residents gave testimony for and against the ban, discussing conduct issues aboard the COASTER trains following Padres games, the Del Mar races and other major events.
Until this decision, open alcohol containers were allowed on the COASTER between 5:15 a.m. and 9 p.m.
The coaster previously had issues with alcohol consumption on the train and has dabbled with the idea of implementing a ban.
In June 2009, complaints about rowdy behavior and occasional drunken brawls last month prompted North County Transit District staff to reconsider an alcohol ban on COASTER trains.
Transit board members rejected the blanket ban in May after a majority was hesitant to punish riders who imbibe responsibly but they are now considering a new proposal of solutions.
A month later, the COASTER passed a nighttime ban on alcoholic drinks after 9 p.m.
The NCTD passed the ban in response to safety concerns and complaints of rowdy riders on northbound trains, especially after Padres games.
The board is also considering a ban on e-cigarettes aboard the train and on district property.
The COASTER is the only local commuter train that allows drinking onboard.
The ban would go into effect February 1, 2015.
As we prepare to ring in a New Year, many are clinging to the idea of making life-changing resolutions for 2015.
Having a good grasp on your time doesn't only help you fit in a new goal like exercising more or keeping a clean house once January arrives. It also improves your chances of making these new habits last all year long. See what experts have to say about managing your time and life to help you achieve your goals and then see how the time you spend on work, shopping, sleep and other activites compares to the national average using our "Time Use Calculator" interactive.
Log Your Time
Trying to declutter your mind and schedule starts with logging your time. People tend to be “ridiculously optimistic” about what they can do in a certain amount of time, according to Laura Vanderkam, author of “168 Hours: You have More Time Than You Think.” Vanderkam suggests taking a look at an average week and timing each task—you will see your patterns and easily be able to pinpoint what can and can’t be changed. You may find that seemingly small tasks like cleaning out inboxes or checking up on Facebook add up, sucking up time that could be spent with a new client, project or goal. See how your time log compares to the average American using the time use calculator interactive below.
Write Things Down
“Your head is for having ideas, not for holding them,” says David Allen, author of time-management manual “Getting Things Done.” Your mind should not be used to hold all your tasks because your brain can’t multitask, according to Allen. Allen advises clearing your mind by having calendars and to-do lists for both long- and short-term goals and breaking down those goals step by step. By writing things down you are creating an "external brain," clearing space for more creative ideas. Instead of worrying about what time to pick up the kids from school, for example, your mind can be free to think of innovative ways to spend quality time with them.
The Magic Word Is “No”
“’No’ is the most empowering word in time management,” Tim Harper, The City University of New York journalism professor and project management consultant, said. “’No, but’ is the next best thing you can say.” It’s natural to feel overwhelmed when friends, bosses, or family members want to pull you in all directions. While saying “no” can be difficult, offering a counter plan may help soften the blow. A friend may ask you to go to their child’s birthday party after you already committed to spending time with your spouse. Tell your friend you can’t make the birthday party but suggest bringing a gift over next week. Saying “no” to obligations that aren’t important or urgent also gives you room to say “yes” to the things you actually want to do.
Schedule Leisure, Too
One of the biggest misconceptions people have about time management is the idea that every minute has to be filled with something, experts say.Scheduling your leisure time makes it easier to move things around and planning your time enough in advance gives you room for “things to fall into your lap," Harper contends. Resist the temptation to fill extra time with chores, Vanderkam says. She urges people to make a long list of the things they want to spend more time on, rather than asking what they want to spend less time on, then pursue those interests without feeling guilty. While it's difficult to place your own interests as a high priority, she writes, knowing your self-interests are worthy is key to living a fulfilling life.
See How You Compare
Do you shop, sleep or exercise more than your peers? See how your time log stacks up against the average American like you with this interactive calculator crafted using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' American Time Use Survey.
"Time Use Calculator" built by Kuang Keng Kuek Ser and Ellie Zhu.
A four-vehicle crash in Point Loma Heights snarled the morning commute for several hours on Thursday.
The crash happened at Atascardero Drive and Nimitz Boulevard at 5:45 a.m. San Diego police said a Chevrolet shuttle van was driving on Nimitz and made a left turn when it hit an oncoming Ford 500, which caused the Ford’s back end to swing and hit a Toyota Tacoma.
A Ford F150 also rear-ended the Toyota in the chain-reaction crash.
San Diego police said two people received injuries that didn’t appear to be life threatening. The driver of the Ford 500 suffered an open fracture to her right ankle and possibly a broken left ankle, police said. The driver of the shuttle van sustained a fractured arm.
The driver of the Toyota and the driver of the Ford F150 both had some pain but were not taken to the hospital.
Alcohol was not believed to be involved in the crash. The police department’s traffic division is investigating.
As of 11 a.m., the intersection had been reopened.
San Diego County has seeing a slight rise in hate crimes over the past two years, according to a new FBI report.
In an exclusive interview with NBC 7, FBI Special Agent Darrell Foxworth said hate crimes have risen by 26 percent since 2012.
“That may sound like a lot, but when you’re dealing with smaller numbers, percentages can be misleading,” Foxworth explained.
In 2012, San Diego had 34 hate crimes, and that number rose to 43 the next year. Nationally, the FBI counted 5,928 in 2013, a drop from the year before. The FBI gathers those statistics from reporting law enforcement agencies throughout the country.
A hate crime differs from a typical assault because the offender is motivated to commit a crime based on someone’s race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender.
"I think sometimes people think other crimes may get more publicity, but when you actually sit down and look at the numbers, nationally that's not the case," said Foxworth.
In the U.S., race was the largest motivator for hate crimes at 48.5 percent, and more than two-thirds of racial hate crime was against black people, 21.2 percent was against white people and 4.6 percent against Asian people.
Religion also played a factor, accounting for 17.4 percent of hate crimes. About 60 percent of those victims were Jewish and 13.7 percent were Muslim.
Sexual orientation accounted for 20.8 percent of all hate crimes in 2013, the majority against gay men.
“I think it’s important to know the information, digest it and be aware of it,” Foxworth told NBC 7.
Four suspects have been charged in a bloody stabbing caught on camera that sent a San Diego trolley into chaos last month.
Alex Cuin, 21; Arther Granillo, 18; Armando Reyes, 18; and Christopher Garcia, 19, have all face assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm, stemming from a knife fight on Nov. 9.
San Diego police say an argument sparked between the four men as they rode the trolley near the 47th Street station. As the fight escalated, one suspect pulled out a knife and stabbed two of those involved, though investigators did not say which man held the weapon and which were injured.
A video posted to YouTube — later disabled by the user — showed passengers screaming and scrambling away from the fight that left a "bloody mess," police say.
The suspect with the knife ran off from the 47th Street station when the trolley stopped. One of the injured men had three stab wounds on his torso and wrist. The other was stabbed once in the chest.
Over the past few weeks, investigators gathered evidence, identified their suspects and began their arrests.
Granillo was the first to go into police custody on Nov. 26, followed by Cuin the next day. Garcia was arrested on Dec. 1, and Reyes was booked into jail on Dec. 9.
The SDPD says it will not release any more information at this time.
The wife of a former San Diego Police Department criminalist accused in a 1984 cold case has filed a wrongful death claim against the city of San Diego, accusing the SDPD of a "misleading” and “defamatory” investigation that led her husband to commit suicide.
Rebecca Brown filed the claim Wednesday in hopes of clearing the name of her spouse, Kevin Charles Brown, 62.
SDPD investigators say their colleague Brown worked with another suspect, Ronald Tatro, to strangle, beat and kill 14-year-old Claire Hough in 1984. Her body was found on the Torrey Pines State Beach with her throat cut and left breast taken off.
According to a December 2013 search warrant, Brown’s DNA matched sperm found on vaginal swabs collected during Hough’s autopsy, tying him to the crime.
However, Rebecca’s claim says “the medical examiner’s microscopic examination of a fluid sample from the victim’s vaginal vault was negative for the presence of sperm.”
The court document says it was common for criminalists to use their own blood and sperm samples to test their forensic techniques. Brown’s table was close to the criminalist in charge of examining evidence from Hough’s case, so Rebecca and her attorneys claim that space was contaminated with Brown’s sperm.
The SDPD has said cross-contamination would not be possible in this case because Brown did not handle evidence for it. He instead worked on firearms and narcotics crimes.
But potential cross-contamination would present the SDPD with an institutional dilemma, according to the claim.
“If Mr. Brown’s DNA were present as a result of the contamination, it would call into question the procedures employed by the crime lab in the years before the DNA analysis became prevalent, as well as the reliability of the S.D.P.D. DNA analysis of ‘cold cases,’” the document states.
When investigators served the 2013 search warrant, they seized items beyond the scope of the “overbroad” warrant, Rebecca says in the claim, including her lesson plans, teaching materials and childhood memorabilia. The officers also took privileged documents belonging to Brown’s brother-in-law, an attorney.
Because she says the items were not related to the investigation, Rebecca’s attorneys believe it was an illegal seizure.
The claim states even after the evidence review was finished in March 2014, the SDPD did not return the items until November, the month after Brown hanged himself.
“Inferentially, at least one of the purposes for illegally refusing to return the illegally seized items was to convey the impression to Mr. Brown that he would shortly be arrested, thereby causing pain, stress, and frustration to Mr. Brown and his family,” the claim says.
The attorneys also allege investigators told witnesses false information, knowing that it would get back to Brown.
The effect of the “investigative misconduct” caused Brown, who suffered from mental health issues, so much stress that he became obsessed with the fear that he would be accused in the case and arrested, his wife says. As a result, he ultimately committed suicide on Oct. 21, the claim states.
The SDPD announced two days later that they had identified Brown and Tatro as suspects in the case and were preparing to arrest Brown when he was found dead.
The announcement included “misleading and defamatory information” aimed at “using Mr. Brown as a scapegoat to avoid scrutiny of police misconduct,” cross-contamination issues and the cold case analysis’ reliability, according to the claim.
Finally, the document says investigators questioned Brown’s Catholic priest and confessor about what he had shared — a violation of the “privilege of clergy.”
Rebecca is seeking unspecified damages more than $10,000 for pain, suffering and what she says was Brown’s wrongful death. The city has 60 days to review the claim, and if the city council rejects it, Brown’s widow can file a lawsuit.
NBC 7 reached out to the SDPD for a response. The spokesman referred us the City Attorney’s office, which has declined to comment.
State Route 76 East has been cleared and all lanes are open after a UPS big rig crash and rolled onto its side early Thursday in Oceanside.
Both eastbound lanes were closed as officials worked more than 7 hours this morning to clear the road and pull the overturned truck back upright.
The crash happened around 3:30 a.m. when the driver of the truck said he was exiting Interstate 5 and onto the 76 East to refuel. He started to slide, he said, before he lost control and the truck flipped onto its side.
There were no injuries and two California Highway Patrol officers pulled the driver out of the truck after the crash.
The truck was carrying UPS freight and packages. Davis Trucking Company took the packages out of the truck and put them into another truck to send off for shipping.
A Point Loma fisherman and his crew were honored by the U.S. Coast Guard Wednesday after they helped save 11 people -- though two ultimately died on the way to shore -- in Hawaii this past May.
On May 2, fishing boat captain Gregory Virissimo and his crew found the fishing boat Fu Yuan Yu 065 burning 1,500 feet off the coast of Hawai’i with 11 survivors floating in a life raft a few feet from the vessel.
Virissimo and his crew rescued the 11 survivors – four of them severely burned and in critical condition – from the boat before launching their helicopter to search for six additional people believed to be missing. The search for those people was later called off.
On the way to the shore, two survivors died. The crew transferred seven survivors and the two deceased to the ship’s sister ship before continuing on to shore with two critically injured survivors.
Once on land, the Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu worked with U.S. Air Force 563d Rescue Group and Arizona Air National Guard to stabilize and transport the two survivors in critical condition. They were taken to the UC San Diego Medical Center where they were treated and released.
Captain Jonathan Spaner, commander of the Coast Guard San Diego, Maj. Scott Swigert, the aircraft commander of one of the HC-130Js on the mission, and Lt. Col. Matthew McGuire, the flight lead on the HH-60G formation, attended a Thursday morning ceremony.
The San Diego City Attorney's Office has been awarded a $250,000 judgement against a landlord that allowed marijuana dispensaries to operate out of his buildings, despite the city's orders not to.
John I. Nobel was ordered to pay the fines - the largest penalty the city attorney's office has ever obtained - to cover $80,000 of a previous judgement, investigative costs reaching $8,000 and the new judgement for not complying with the first decision, the city attorney's office said.
"In cases where dispensaries operate outside of the law, we will continue to hold the operators and property owners accountable for the illegal activities," City Attorney Jan Goldsmith said. "...And we will seek the highest penalties the courts will allow."
Nobel's initial assessment reached a total of $550,000, but $300,000 was suspended, so long as he complies with the requirements this time.
Nobel is required to close any remaining dispensaries operating out of his properties unlawfully and remove their fixtures and signage. Failure to do so could also get Nobel a contempt of court charge.
"This case underscores that landlords will be held accountable for renting to illegal marijuana dispensaries," Goldsmith said.
The city attorney's office has spent the past four years exposing and shutting down illegally operated marijuana dispensaries. During that time, Nobel had dispensaries running unlawfully out of his properties in North Park, Pacific Beach and Point Loma, they said.
Four dispensaries on Rosecrans Street were operating 600 feet from a school, which is an immediate violation of the zoning laws for marijuana cooperatives.
"There is a process in place for legally zoned dispensaries and that process should be followed," Goldsmith said.
Five more defendants were included in the 12 cases. While Nobel was named in every case, the complaints also named Mahin Nobel. Some said Parviz Hakakha, Judith Hakakha, David Abeles and Melody Abeles were all co-owners, according to the report from the city attorney's office.
The cases resolved in the $250,000 settlement are listed here with principal defendents in parentheses:
Complaints regarding marijuana dispensaries can be referred to the Code Enforcement Division of the city by calling (619) 236-5500.
As federal officials dig into who is responsible for a hack on Sony Pictures, the FBI in San Diego is aiding the investigation, officials confirmed.
NBC News confirmed Wednesday a federal investigation found North Korea was responsible for the cyber attack. This news comes as the studio decided to pull the Christmas Day release of the film, "The Interview."
San Diego County-based computer security specialist Dan Tentler, who according to USA Today downloaded some of the stolen Sony files, tweeted last week the FBI visited his home.
NBC 7 spoke to Tentler Wednesday night. He wouldn’t discuss the FBI involvement but did say this hack exposes, once again, Sony’s lack of cyber security. Tentler said the security world is looking at how to keep it from happening to them.
"The security community is interested in making sure that if mistakes were made that were easy to spot, that other people don't make the same mistakes,” said Tentler who is the co-founder of Carbon Dynamics.
An FBI spokesperson says agents in San Diego are supporting this investigation and are working collaboratively with its partners to investigate.
“This is an interesting hack because it’s not being carried out for financial gain," explained ESET Senior Security Researcher Stephen Cobb. "It’s very different from the Target breach, where credit card numbers were stolen. This is a group that has an agenda and apparently it is a political agenda."
Sony announced it would drop the Christmas Day release of “The Interview” after some of the country’s largest theater chains said they would not be showing the movie. The same group who claimed to hack Sony, Guardians of Peace, threatened violence, indicating that the world would be full of fear as on 9/11.
The White House said Thursday it considers the hacking a "serious national security matter" and will plan a "proportional response" when investigators are sure who is responsible. The Obama administration has not confirmed publicly that North Korea was involved.
A man barricaded inside a Serra Mesa apartment kept SWAT officers at bay for hours early Thursday morning before killing himself, police said.
The standoff started at about 1:30 a.m. at an apartment complex in the 2600 block of Mission Village Drive. San Diego police said the man’s two roommates alerted them that the man – despondent over having a terminal illness -- was threatening to take his own life.
The man had weapons inside the apartment, police said.
Responding officers heard gunshots inside the apartment. However, they saw movement inside, so they waited outside for hours until entering the apartment.
Meanwhile, the man’s two roommates were able to exit safely. Police evacuated eight nearby apartments and two homes during the standoff.
Just before 6 a.m., police told NBC 7 that the man was found dead inside the apartment.
