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Murder Suspect Arrested Overseas

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A suspect in a 2012 Boston murder has arrived in New York after being arrested in the Dominican Republic, officials confirmed Saturday.

Peter Castillo, 26, formerly of Salem, Massachusetts, was indicted in June of 2012 for the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Stephen Perez, an Army veteran from Revere, in the city's Theater District.

Castillo was included in the U.S. Marshals' 15 Most Wanted list late in 2014. According to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, Boston Police and local authorities helped U.S. Marshals find and arrest him.

In 2012, Castillo was charged with first-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm.

Two others, 30-year-old Luis Sepleveda and 24-year-old Janice Hardy, were charged with perjury and misleading investigators. They were also indicted in connection to the death. All three are expected to return to court this month, with Castillo expected to be arraigned within a week of his arrival on U.S. soil.



Photo Credit: U.S. Marshals/NECN

NY Governor Plans Cuba Trip

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Just a month after the federal government announced the easing of travel restrictions to Cuba, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo revealed plans to visit the island nation.

Spokeswoman Melissa DeRosa said in an email Saturday that Cuomo plans to lead a trade mission to Cuba to promote New York. She did not say when the governor would travel, adding that details would be announced later.

Cuba and the United States announced last month that the U.S. embargo on Cuba would be eased and diplomatic relations would be normalized.

DeRosa said the governor's trip to Cuba would be part of a "Global NY" initiative. Cuomo had previously announced that he plans trips to Israel, China, Mexico and elsewhere during his second term as governor.

The announcement comes as Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy leads a three-day congressional mission to Cuba.

The group of four Democratic senators and two Democratic representatives, all of whom strongly support Obama's policy, aims to get an idea from Cuban government officials of how they view the normalization process and convey a sense of what Americans expect.

I-15 Freeway Blocked by Police Activity

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Police activity brought traffic on southbound Interstate 15 on Rancho Bernardo to a standstill Saturday.

Some drivers were stuck on the freeway for hours.

The ordeal started around 8 a.m. on the ramp next to the George Cooke Express Transit Center, just south of Rancho Bernardo Road.

The San Diego Police Department handled the incident. Initially, officers diverted all traffic into the express lanes. They later closed all lanes of southbound I-15, including the express lanes.

As of 1 p.m., the traffic map showed speeds were in the single digits all the way from Rancho Bernardo Road to Auto Park Way in Escondido.

The incident ended around 1:30 p.m.




Photo Credit: David Lucas

Bay Park Residents Awake to Fire

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Three people are without a home after flames tore through some Bay Park apartments early Saturday morning.

The fire sparked just before 3 a.m. in the Pine Terrace apartment complex at 2960 Clairemont Drive.

Cell phone video shows residents evacuating as firefighters battled the bright, orange flames.

No injuries were reported, but the blaze left residents shaken up, including longtime resident Larry Loiurio. He says his wife woke him up after hearing a lot of yelling. At that point, he says the fire was getting so intense, they just called the apartment manager and evacuated.

“You start thinking it could happen to anybody in any apartment. It could affect the whole building if it’s really serious," Loiurio said. "You live day by day and you don’t think about it, but when something like this happens, you think, wow.”

Officials say two units are a complete loss. A family of two adults and a child were displaced and are being helped by the Red Cross.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Tow Truck Driver Killed Fixing Flat Tire

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A tow truck driver was killed while responding to a job Saturday morning in San Marcos.

Another tow truck driver was taken to the hospital with a broken leg and “massive internal injuries,” according to the California Highway Patrol.

The fatal accident happened around 7 a.m. Saturday on eastbound State Route 78, east of Nordahl Road. The two tow truck drivers were fixing a flat tire on a Nissan pickup truck parked on the right shoulder, CHP said.

That’s when a Ford F-250 truck drove into the shoulder, hitting the workers and their vehicles, according to CHP.

One tow truck driver was pronounced dead at the scene. Officials have not released the 48-year-old man’s name.

The driver with the flat tire suffered cuts and scrapes. The Ford F-250 driver wasn’t hurt.

CHP did not say what caused the crash or if that driver could face any charges.

On Dec. 28, a tow truck driver was seriously injured while responding to a fender bender in Encinitas. The man who struck him was charged with felony DUI.

1 Dead, 30 Hurt in Pa. Pileup

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Officials have identified the man who was killed in a massive and deadly pileup involving 56 vehicles on Interstate 76 in Montgomery County Sunday morning amid icy road conditions.

Eric Alan Blau, 31, of Philadelphia was killed and 30 others were hurt in the crash that happened in the westbound lanes of I-76 near the Gulph Mills exit in Upper Merion around 6:40 a.m., according to officials.

Blau's vehicle, a silver Mazda Protege, was one of the first vehicles involved in the crash and became disabled, investigators said. Blau then exited his car and was struck by another vehicle, according to investigators. He later died from his injuries.

"It's really sad," said Willie Mahfouz, Blau's friend and former roommate. "Very sad. He was very young. But what can you say?"

Westbound lanes on I-76 remained closed more than four hours after the crash occurred as rescuers loaded the more than two dozen injured onto a bus to transfer them to local hospitals.

"When we got here, there was heavy smoke coming from a lot of the cars," said Kaitlyn Maier, a driver caught in the jam on I-76. "People had already stopped and were sitting outside of their cars."

Victor Moye was traveling on the Schuylkill Expressway on his way to work when he crashed into other vehicles that stopped along the busy interstate.

 

The Pottstown man is simply grateful he buckled up while driving.

"I'm lucky I had my seatbelt on," Moye said. "Thank God I had my seatbelt on."

Moye, who was treated at Bryn Mawr Hospital for minor shoulder and back injuries, said he started pumping his brakes when he saw traffic at a halt ahead of him, but it was too late.

"As I hit the car, a car comes behind and hits me," he said. "I'm swinging around four, five times as other cars are hitting that car and hitting me as well."

Another man rushed to Bryn Mawr Hospital when he learned his wife was hurt in the accident.

"All of a sudden, my wife said she saw the cars in front of her start sliding," said Bernard Caldwell, of Philadelphia. "So she slowed down and then she saw an accident in front of her."

"Then she stopped and a car ran into the back of her," he continued. "She got out and could see the melee with all the different cars."

"She was very scared," said Caldwell, who added they now are working out how to recover her damaged vehicle.

Once all those hurt were transferred to area hospitals -- just after 11:30 a.m.-- crews began working to open one westbound lane of traffic. They used cranes to pick up cars mangled in a mess of steel and plastic on the highway.

At least three local hospitals are treating patients involved in the I-76 crash. At least 15 people were transferred to Bryn Mawr Hospital, 11 to Paoli Hospital and five to Lankenau Medical Center, officials said.

Slick roads also caused collisions that closed parts of Interstates 95 and 476 in and around Philadelphia. Along the Walt Whitman Bridge in South Philadelphia, more than two dozen cars, including a Delaware River Port Authority police cruiser, were involved in a chain reaction crash in the westbound lanes.

Authorities from multiple counties are urged drivers to stay home as road conditions turned dangerous throughout the region.

PennDOT had nearly 150 trucks out treating roadways before daybreak, when it became clear that conditions would be slippery, said PennDOT's Eugene Blaum. A freezing rain advisory was in effect in the area through 10 a.m. but temperatures were forecast to rise into the 40s later Sunday.

The deadly expressway accident was one of more than a dozen reported on roads around the region on Sunday morning, some causing closures while others just blocked lanes.

At least two people were also killed in a multi-vehicle accident on I-476 near Marple Road in Broomall, police said. A third deadly crash took the life of a fourth person on Route 55 in Gloucester County, authorities said.

In New Jersey, state police reported more than 425 accidents. New Jersey Transit bus service was suspended in icy areas.

A swath from Pennsylvania to Maine was under a freezing rain advisory, according to the National Weather Service.

In New York City and its northern suburbs, the dangerous conditions forced sections of roads to close all over the area. City authorities received so many 911 calls related to the slippery conditions that New Jersey sent 10 ambulances to the city to assist emergency responders.

Cars inched along on local roads, where braking at stoplights meant unexpected swerves as drivers tried to get traction on slippery surfaces.

In Connecticut, an 88-year-old Woodbridge woman died in one of 40 crashes in New Haven Sunday morning amid treacherous, icy conditions.

Meanwhile, ice and heavy fog caused a pile-up involving 70 cars and 17 semi-trucks in Oregon on Saturday night, according to Oregon State Police. At least 12 people were injured in the crash, police said.

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Homeless Man Set on Fire: Police

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Messages of support, flowers and candles marked the spot Sunday night where police say a sleeping homeless man was doused with lighter fluid and set on fire by three attackers in Ventura, California.

Community members of the quiet seaside town have been shaken up since learning that 58-year-old John Frazier was set ablaze near the San Buenaventura State Beach just before 11 p.m. Saturday.

"I'm just flabbergasted that someone would do that,” said Ventura resident Melanie Sardo. “I come here almost every day and I've never seen anything like that."

A passerby rescued Frazier, who suffered burns and was taken to a local hospital, police said.

The rescuer described flames as high as 5 to 6 feet to police, and helped put out the fire by throwing sand on him before calling 911, Ventura Police Department Sgt. Kenny Welch said.

Police and firefighters arrived at South Seaward Avenue to find Frazier and some of his belongings still smoldering.

“I think it’s pretty sick that somebody could actually do that to another human,” said Phill Keller of Ventura. “He’d come over here and sit here. He was harmless. He never hurt anybody.”

Police confirmed that Frazier was sleeping in his sleeping bag when he awoke to three males pouring lighter fluid on him before lighting him on fire.

The attackers were described as three males in their late teens to early 20's, with shaved heads, dressed in dark clothing, Welch said.

Elaine Lutz said she spoke to the victim last week and says, as far as she knows, he never bothered anyone or caused any trouble.

"We were talking about how beautiful the sunset was and the fish sculptures and how nice the evening was and he was just a really nice guy," Lutz said.

Frazier, described by police as a "vagrant," was taken to Community Memorial Hospital, where he was later transported to a burn unit for second- and third-degree burns to his upper torso and face. 

The burns covered up to 40 percent of Frazier's torso and extremities. His condition was unknown, but he was expected to survive, police said.

“They should be caught and they should be tried for attempted murder and other charges,” said another community member, Kelly Moore. “This isn't to be forgotten or forgiven.”

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to contact the Ventura Police Department at 805-339-4309.



Photo Credit: Kenneth Holmes (@kholmeslive via Twitter)

Model Greg Plitt Killed by Train

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A renowned fitness expert was struck by a Metrolink train and killed in Burbank, California, on Saturday, authorities said.

Police identified the victim as Greg Plitt, a bodybuilder, inspirational coach, actor and model. Investigators said they believed his death was an accident based on their preliminary investigation.

He was featured in a new Bravo reality series that premiered Monday, Jan. 12, called “Friends to Lovers.”

Plitt was struck about 4:05 p.m. on the tracks at Front Street, just north of the Burbank Metrolink Station, according to Lt. Leo Bauer of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Transit Services Bureau.

Plitt was pronounced dead at the scene, said Burbank police Sgt. Scott Meadows, who said the fatality "was not clearly a suicide" and remained under active investigation.

Metrolink reported that he was hit by train 268 on the Antelope Valley Line. The train was southbound, according to Burbank police.

A former U.S. Army Ranger, Plitt grew to fame as a fitness guru, model and motivational speaker. His physique was used as the model for a computer-generated character in the 2009 movie "Watchmen," according to Popular Mechanics.

Plitt had previously worked out next to, and even on, train tracks, according to videos he posted to the Web.



Photo Credit: GregPlitt.com

HS Teachers Face Sex Charges

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Two high school teachers were arrested for allegedly having sex with students during two trips at an Orange County beach, one overnight, authorities said.

Melody Lippert, 38, and Michelle Ghirelli, 30, were arrested Saturday on suspicion of having sex with students at their school, South Hills High, during trips to the beach where they brought alcohol for the students, Orange County Sheriff's investigators said Saturday.

The first of the trips to the beach took place in November, investigators said, when a group of male students accompanied Lippert to San Clemente State Beach, where she provided alcohol to the group and had sex with one of them, investigators allege.

Weeks later, Lippert brought Ghirelli on a second trip to the beach, where both allegedly had sex with students during an overnight stay, police said.

Lippert, the teacher who allegedly organized the first trip, was arrested on charges of conspiracy and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The student was believed to be over 18.

"I've known her since like I was 4. She's a really nice person and I would never think that she would do something like this," said student Keanu Estrada about Lippert.

Ghirelli was arrested on sex-with-a-minor charges, investigators said.

Both teachers live in Covina, in Los Angeles County, though this article originally incorrectly stated where they are from.

Neither trip was sponsored by the school, investigators said, a point emphasized by a spokeswoman for the Covina-Valley Unified School District.

Both teachers were placed on paid administrative leave pending the result of the investigation on Sunday, school district spokeswoman Michelle Van Der Linden said.

She had no comment on the nature of the allegations. "I think it's best to leave that up to the investigation. Obviously we have to respect their rights to privacy," Van Der Linden said.

It's the second sex-related allegation involved at West Covina's South Hills High School in a week. Anthony Vidales, a 29-year-old part-time girls' wrestling coach, was arrested on Jan. 7 for allegedly having inapporpriate contact with a 17-year-old student at South Hills, police announced on Tuesday, Jan. 13.

He was a contract worker, who worked part time for the school, according to a West Covina Police Department statement released the next week.

The investigation into the female teachers began Friday, when the West Covina Police Department obtained information about the relationships and informed the OC Sheriff's Department, investigators said.

Both were released, according to Orange County Jail records. There was no answer at a phone number listed for one of the teachers, while there was no contact information immediately available for the other.

Deputies ask anyone with information to call 714-647-7000.

Gadi Schwartz and City News Service contributed to this report.



Photo Credit: Courtesy Orange County Sheriff's Department

Orcas Play Near Paddleboarder

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A stand-up paddleboarder got a killer view of a pod of orca whales that swam under his board off the coast of Laguna Beach, California, recently.

The five whales hung around for a while, said Rich German, who caught the early January encounter in footage he shared with NBC4.

Whales dive under German's board a few times, and the pod seems to showboat for nearby whale watchers. One whale comes up for breath just feet from German, spraying the water between them with its spout.

German has seen all kinds of whales on his trips on the water, including humpbacks and blue whales, never killer whales before, he said. The orca lover dreamed of this moment.

"I knew they had never harmed a human in the wild so I was not afraid," German said in an e-mail.

German went out seeking the pod of whales. He had heard of a pod of killer whales off of Long Beach the day before he went out, he said in the introduction to his video, and knew they were heading south.

Calling the whales highly intelligent in his e-mail, German said he is against the killing and capturing of orcas.

"I hope that sharing this video of them in the their natural habitat will raise awareness and love for these magical beings, German said.

See the full video, including more of German's thoughts on the encounter, on his Facebook page.



Photo Credit: Courtesy Rich German

San Diego Cat Café First in SoCal

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America’s Finest City is now home to its own cat café, the first in Southern California.

The Cat Café officially opened Jan. 5 at 3rd and Island. So far, it’s been attracting customers like catnip. Even at 2 o’clock on a Wednesday, there was a line the length of the building.

Owner Tony Wang says he’s “overwhelmed” by the coffee shop’s initial popularity.

“We had lines 40 minutes long for 15 minutes of cat time,” Wang said.

Here’s what the Cat Café is like: The entrance leads you to a narrow coffee counter where a barista will whip up your favorite caffeinated beverage. (Wang requires a purchase in order to spend time with the cats.) Then, you’ll pass through two doors before entering the cat room.

If you fancy felines, the cat room is like paradise. Simple table and chairs line the room, but most patrons prefer to sit on the carpet with the cats. There are several cat trees and plenty of toys, though the stars of the show seemed more interested in napping than playing Wednesday afternoon.

“They just adapt and do really well. They’re really chill,” Wang said.

The cats are courtesy of the San Diego Humane Society, and all are up for adoption. So what does it take to be a Cat Café cat? Humane Society staff look for social kitties who have lived with other cats and are comfortable being handled.

Aimee Hebert with the Humane Society say potential adopters can see a cat’s personality better in an open environment than in a cage.

“It’s so nice to see them out. They can run around and be normal,” Hebert said.

One example is Butterball, an orange and white tabby and the first Cat Café cat to be adopted.

“He was tagged as ‘shy’ by the Humane Society, but here, he blossomed,” Wang said.

Since opening, seven cats from the café have been adopted.

Other similar establishments have opened in Oakland, New York City, Denver and Florida, Wang says.

The San Diego Cat Café is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.
 



Photo Credit: NBC 7

Body Found in Brush Fire in Chula Vista

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Firefighters discovered a man’s body while responding to a brush fire Sunday morning in Chula Vista, according to police.

A small brush fire was reported just after 7 a.m. near the Main Street on-ramp to northbound Interstate 5.

Police say the man’s body was spotted after the fire was extinguished. Officials believe the area where the fire started may have been a transient camp.

Investigators are still looking into the man’s identity and what caused the fire.

The Main Street on-ramp and off-ramp to northbound I-5 were closed for hours during the investigation. The ramps reopened around 2 p.m. Sunday.

Check back for updates on this developing story.
 

Victim ID'd in Barona Indian Reserve Shooting

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The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department has identified the man shot to death on the Barona Indian Reservation near Lakeside.

Julio Ricardo Monggiotti, 32, was found with a fatal gunshot wound Friday at a home in the 1500 block of Quincy Canyon Road.

It’s the same house where investigators later discovered a child's body buried in a freezer underneath frozen food, according to sheriff’s officials. The San Diego County Medical Examiner is scheduled to perform an autopsy on the child next week.

On Friday, a woman called 911 saying a child was dead at the home. A Barona Tribal Enforcement officer responded and talked to Monggiotti. That’s when Monggiotti went back inside the house and a gunshot was heard, according to officials.

Monggiotti’s girlfriend, 32-year-old Elaina Rose Welch, soon emerged from house with a handgun. She hid in nearby bushes and was arrested following a SWAT standoff.

Welch faces two counts of murder.

Welch’s aunt confirmed her niece has a 3-year-old son, but investigators have not identified the child found in the freezer.
 

Man Charged With Murdering Brother in Allied Gardens

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Police say a man shot and killed his brother in cold blood Saturday night in Allied Gardens.

Officers responded to reports of gunfire in the 6400 block of Clara Lee Avenue around 10 p.m. They discovered 42-year-old Cedric O'Neal Paris with a gunshot wound to the torso. The San Diego man was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the San Diego Police Department.

Shortly after the shooting, an SUV matching the suspect vehicle description was pulled over on Scripps Poway Parkway. The victim's brother, 43-year-old Jason Douglas Paris of San Bernardino County, was driving, according to police.

Jason Douglas Paris arrested and booked into County Jail on one count of murder.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.

Anyone with more information on the case is asked to call the SDPD Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477 to remain anonymous.



Photo Credit: Shutterstock

More Razor Blades Found in Mission Bay Playground

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In an unsettling find, more razor blades have been discovered at a playground in Mission Bay.

Park rangers reported razor blades had been found in Bonita Cove Park around 12:15 p.m. Sunday, according to San Diego police.

Officials blocked off the playground with caution tape and scanned the ground with metal detectors, searching for more hidden razor blades. They found six razor blades total, according to SDPD.

The playground reopened around 2:30 p.m. Sunday. No children were injured.

This is not the first time razor blades have been discovered at Bonita Cove Park. On Sept. 13, three were found at Mariner’s Point. They were pointing upward and appeared to be planted there on purpose.

On April 30, two boys were cut by razor blades while playing in the grass. In that case, nearly 20 razor blades were found scattered in the area.

Razor blades were also found in Bonita Cove Park multiple times in 2013, including one instance where a mother was injured.

To date, no arrests have been made.



Photo Credit: NBC 7 San Diego

WATCH: Car Careens Down Icy Yonkers Street

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A car careened down an icy street in Yonkers Sunday morning, and an onlooker caught it on video. Even after the crash, pedestrians can be seen struggling to make it even a few steps down the slick sidewalk.

National Parks: First 2015 Fee-Free Day Ahead

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133 OF 405: Not every national park under the National Park Service umbrella stops you at a gate to collect admission and tape a small piece of paper inside your windshield. Only 133 out of the just over 400 parks charge a fee, so far less than half, meaning many parks are there for you to enter, sans cash, or at least cash to get in, every day of the year. But Yosemite National Park does have a fee, and so does Joshua Tree National Park, so when the annual fee-free days roll around for the service, as they do each year, they're absolutely worth noting -- noting and applauding, that is. It's a way to get more people into the parks, in every season. And the first day on the national park fee-free calendar is always...

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY: The holiday is on Monday, Jan. 19 in 2015, so if you're in the neck of the Yosemite woods, or Joshua Tree, or further abroad around the United States, you don't have to pay anything to visit a place of quiet, tree- and/or rock-filled peace. It should be said that activities and concessions and stay-over sites within the parks will still charge, so let that be known.

OTHER FEE-FREE DAYS AHEAD... include Presidents Day Weekend, April 18 and 19 (the weekend that kicks off National Park Week), Aug. 25 (it's the National Park Service's birthday), Sept. 26 (where people pause to pitch in over National Public Lands Day), and Nov. 11 (Veterans Day). And while the NPS will be marking a pretty auspicious age in 2015 -- 99 -- stay tuned for 2016, when centennial events will abound. And abound they should, given that the service has helped protect many wild lands for nearly a century -- protect and, on occasion, make sure every last one of them is free to see.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

"Selma" Stars March in Alabama Honoring MLK

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Oprah Winfrey and fellow actors from the movie "Selma" marched with hundreds in a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr., one of many events around the nation ushering in Monday's federal holiday for the slain civil rights leader.

Remembrances of the King legacy come amid somber reflection by many on incidents in which unarmed black men were killed by police in recent months, spurring protests and heightening tensions in the U.S. In Ferguson, Mo., where one fatal shooting caused weeks of violent protests, leaders urged reforms to the criminal justice system in the name of equality.

"We need to be outraged when local law enforcement and the justice system repeatedly allow young, unarmed black men to encounter police and then wind up dead with no consequences," said U.S. Rep. William Clay, a St. Louis Democrat. "Not just in Ferguson, but over and over again across this country."

The King holiday, meanwhile, was being met with activities nationwide, including plans for a wreath-laying in Maryland, a tribute breakfast in Boston and volunteer service activities by churches and community groups in Illinois. In South Carolina, civil rights leaders readied for their biggest rally of the year.

Winfrey helped lead a march by hundreds on Sunday with "Selma" director Ava DuVernay and actor David Oyelowo, who played King in the movie.

"Selma" chronicled turbulent events leading up to the historic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, and the subsequent passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Winfrey played activist Annie Lee Cooper in the movie, which was nominated for two Oscars, in categories of best picture and best original song.

A producer on the film, Winfrey praised the 1965 marchers for their courage in meeting fierce opposition on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma — scene of Sunday's remembrance march.

"Look at what they were able to do with so little, and look at how we now have so much," Winfrey said. "If they could do that, imagine what now can be accomplished with the opportunity through social media and connection, the opportunity through understanding that absolutely we are more alike than we are different."

White officers used clubs and tear gas on March 7, 1965 — "Bloody Sunday" — to rout marchers intent on walking some 50 miles to Montgomery, the Alabama capital, to seek the right for blacks to register to vote. King led a new march later that month that reached Montgomery, with the crowd swelling to 25,000.

Elsewhere, King's legacy was being celebrated with days of events in Atlanta, especially at the church he once pastored. The current pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, the Rev. Raphael Warnock, said the annual King holiday is a time when "all of God's children are busy spreading the message of freedom and justice."

On Monday, Oyelowo planned to deliver a holiday tribute to King at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where church members over the weekend sang the civil rights anthem, "We Shall Overcome."

Calls for unity were heard during the events surrounding the King holiday.

During Sunday's march in Selma, Common and John Legend performed their Oscar-nominated song "Glory" from the film as marchers crested the top of the bridge as the sun set. Common had a part in the movie and said that song sought to show the link between the struggle of the past and today's injustices.

"We are the ones that can change the world," Common said afterward. "It is up to us, and it takes all us — black, white, Latino, Asian, native-American, whatever nationality or religious background. There is a certain togetherness that we've got to have."



Photo Credit: AP
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PB Hotel Robbery May Be Part of Crime Spree

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A clerk at a San Diego-area beach-side hotel was robbed at gunpoint and police are looking into the possibility that the culprits may be the so-called “Random Bandits” who have struck at least 10 times in four weeks.

Just after midnight Monday, SDPD patrol cars filled the parking lot of the Pacific Shores Inn at Mission Boulevard and Chalcedony Street just half a block from the beach.

Officers say a clerk was struck during the robbery involving three men in dark clothing and wearing masks.

The men demanded the clerk open the safe but the clerk explained that he couldn’t. Officials said the clerk was struck by the suspects but is expected to recover.

Money was taken from the hotel and the clerk's phone was stolen.

The men escaped heading north through an alley behind the hotel, officers said.

Investigators have not determined if this is the most recent incident of the so-called “Random Bandits.”

At least 10 robberies have been reported beginning December 15, most of them in the La Jolla and Clairemont areas.

What has SDPD investigators stumped is that there appears to be no pattern in targets or time of day. Some of the robberies involved two suspects. In a few robberies, there was a third suspect.

If you have information on any of the above robberies, you can contact investigators at the non-emergency line (619) 531-2000 or (858) 484-3154.


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Mother, Two Sons T-Boned in Southcrest

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A mother and her two children were taken to the hospital after a driver crashed into them Sunday, police said.

The incident happened shortly before 8 p.m. at the Interstate 805 off ramp onto S. 43rd street in Southcrest.

A male driver in a sedan was coming off the freeway and ran a red light, police said. The driver T-boned a minivan with a mother and her two children, a 5 year old and a 3 year old, inside.

The driver of the sedan was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.

There was major damage to the mother’s minivan. The driver’s side was caved in, the airbags were deployed and the windshield was shattered.

The 5-year-old victim was transported to Rady Children’s Hospital. The mother and the 3-year-old victim were taken to another hospital. They suffered minor injuries and are expected to be okay.

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