When Saturday Night Live cast members and writers gather this weekend to celebrate the series’ 40th anniversary, San Diego native Kyle Mooney will be among them.

Fans of the show will recognize Mooney from the "Inside Socal" cable access show where he and others report on lover quarrels, classmate haircuts and who has Vicodin all while sporting vintage San Diego Padres ballcaps.

The Scripps Ranch High School alum has been a featured player on the weekly sketch comedy show this season.

After studying film at the University of Southern California, he auditioned for SNL but didn’t make the cut.

For his second audition, he needed to develop an entirely new set for the producers and writers. He later credited online video clips he produce with a group of friends as what helped him land the gig.

Now, he’s performing on the same stage as some of his childhood heroes.

He describes Hartman, Farley, Carvey, Myers and Sandler as like his older brothers that got him into watching SNL.

He considers Phil Hartman's "Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer" character as a personal favorite.

As a teenager, he grew to love watching veteran cast member Wil Ferrell.

But nothing could prepare him for his first moments on the live broadcast. He recalled an out-of-body experience during his first appearance on Weekend Update .

“I felt I was a puppeteer maneuvering my body,” he said.

The nerves are still there but once he gets through the first few few words of a sketch, he said it’s all about having fun with the performance.

“The show has been insane, amazing and crazy, frightening,” Mooney said. “I’ve experienced every emotion possible from being totally elated to not wanting to get up out of my bed.”

See other moments from SNL's 40 years here and watch the special coverage on Sunday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. PT on NBC 7.

A San Diego Zoo polar bear will be wearing a collar soon as a part of a study to track energy needs of Arctic polar bears, a part of a study to help better track how climate change effects them.

Tatqiq, a 14-year-old female polar bear, has been trained to wear a collar equipped with tracking devices while on exhibit at the Conrad Prebys Polar Bear Plunge.

Animal care staff at the San Diego Zoo and the Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research have been preparing the habitat and bear for the study since last fall, when they trained the bear to wear the collar.

The data gathered from the collar will be compared to data collected from polar bears in the wild by USGS researchers so they can determine what the polar bears are doing without needing to observe them directly.

Data from accelerometers will help researchers with insights into the bears’ daily behavior, movements and energy demands. That will help scientists better understand the effects of climate change on polar bears. The remote habitats the polar bears usually live in make it difficult to collect such data in the wild.

"Studying the behavior of polar bears that stay with the retreating sea ice during the summer and fall is very difficult," Anthony Pagano, biologist with the U.S Geological Survey, said in a statement. "We are using this new technology to help us understand the behaviors and energy demands of bears that come on land during the summer versus those that summer on the sea ice. This will help us determine how declines in Arctic sea ice may influence long-term persistence."

The 2.5 pound collar has a battery, activity senors and an accelerometer that measure the up-and-down, side-to-side and back-to-front movements of the animal, 16 times per second. While she wears the collar, she is the only bear allowed in the exhibit.

Tatqiq is one of three polar bears at the San Diego Zoo. Her brother, Kalluk, and another female, Chinook, also live there. Climate change-driven habitat loss has made polar bears a threatened species.

There was a legal setback Tuesday for a former San Diego police officer convicted of molesting female motorists.

Anthony Arevalos is in state prison, for sexually assaulting five women at DUI checkpoints.

The trial judge threw out two of the guilty verdicts, because the prosecutor withheld evidence.

That ruling would have taken years off the ex-cop's sentence.

But an appeals court has reversed that decision and reinstated those verdicts.

Arevalos will now serve his full, 8 year, 8 month sentence, unless the state supreme court takes the case, and rules in his favor.

The former officer preyed on women in the popular Gaslamp Quarter from 2009 to 2011.

As a result of the Arevalos scandal, the San Diego Police Department faced a wave of criticism and public scrutiny and the City of San Diego faced more than a dozen civil lawsuits.

Thirteen lawsuits were filed by victims of Arevalos, who was convicted in November 2011 of multiple felony counts of sexual battery, assault and asking for bribes while in uniform.

One man was rushed to the hospital after a shooting in Scripps Ranch Tuesday, and CBS News 8 reports its own sports director was the victim. 

San Diego Police say they discovered a silver Mercedes with windows shot out on Avonette Court near Angelique Street, south of Scripps Ranch Parkway. The shooting was reported just after 3 p.m.

"I heard a bunch of gunfire, and then there was a pause, and then there was another bunch of gunfire," said neighbor Stephen Rowe, who reported hearing at least 12 rounds. 

Rowe said he walked up the street to find a man lying on the ground with his knees bent. The man was moving and surrounded by three people offering help. An off-duty police officer soon arrived on the scene and ordered Rowe to stay down the hill.

Emergency crews took the man to a La Jolla hospital. CBS News 8 said sports director Kyle Kraska was the victim and his wounds are non-life threatening.

A source close to Kraska said he was alert when he went into surgery.

Witnesses told police the suspect took off running down Angelique Street. Police helicopters are searching the area for a possible suspect.

Kraska started at CBS 8 in 1999 as morning and noon co-anchor, and four years later, he was promoted to evening sports anchor.

Prior to coming to CBS, he had a stint hosting “Hard Copy,” a nationally syndicated news magazine show and was an evening news anchor at KCBS in Los Angeles.

A Boston native, Kraska started his career in television journalism in Watertown, New York, at WWNY-TV. He then worked at a number of TV stations in Florida, New York and Texas before coming to San Diego.

About working at CBS 8, Kraska said, according to the station’s website bio: “My Dream job in my dream city…Sometimes I wonder how on earth I’m getting paid for this.”

Check back here for details on this breaking news story.

A San Diego man and his partner were the first male same-sex couple to be chosen for the ceremonial first kiss during the homecoming of submarine warship USS San Francisco.

Thomas Sawicki and his boyfriend Shawn Brier were the lucky couple chosen to share the first kiss off the ship as the fast-attack submarine reunited with its home port at Naval Base Point Loma Monday afternoon. Families lined the dock awaiting the arrival of husbands, sons, dads and brothers returning from a seven-month stint in the Western Pacific.

"Everyone was cheering for me when they announced it over email," Sawicki said. "Everyone was very excited, very supportive, very happy."

The seven-month WestPac deployment was the first for the couple. Sawicki's boyfriend said he was nervous.

"I don't want to screw it up and fall in the water or something," Brier said.

The American Military Partner Association, a support network for LGBT couples in the military, praised the choice as a milestone for "modern military families."

"Since the repeal of the discriminatory 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' law, we've made tremendous progress as a community and as a nation in our pursuit of liberty and justice for all Americans," said the American Military Partner Association President Ashley Broadway-Mack. "Although we still have progress to make, moments like these remind us just how far we've come."

Dozens of other local families were reunited Monday afternoon as well.

The Los-Angeles class nuclear sub has quite a history. After smashing into an underwater mountain at full speed in 2005, killing one and injuring 97 sailors, $134 million was spent to fix it before finding its home port here in San Diego.

It's the second oldest warship submarine in the fleet, according to the ship's captain, and it's due to be converted in a few years to serve as a training platform for newly recruited nuclear officers.

Who’s keeping you safe at your local bar?

NBC 7 Investigates is revealing what’s being called an “underground industry” of unlicensed, untrained security officers and bouncers in San Diego County. Local security experts say businesses are hiring security officers cheap and turning a blind eye to state requirements.

Since December, a night out at a bar turned deadly for two San Diego men. One death was ruled a suspicious and is still under investigation. The other has led to a bouncer placed behind bars charged in the young man’s death.

“With the proper training, these types of things can be cut down drastically,” said former SDPD detective and CEO of Security Nightclub Consultants Robert Smith. “Probably 70-75% [of working security officers] are not licensed properly. “

That staggering figure, according to Smith, is based on his encounters with thousands of working guards and prospective guards who go through his training throughout California.

Roy Rahn, the Executive Director of the California Association of Licensed Security Agencies, Guards and Associates (CALSAGA) says there is no way to know exactly how many unlicensed working security officers there are, but he agrees, it’s a big problem.

“I think it might be a bigger problem than people understand it to be,” Rahn said. “It’s an underground industry, the unlicensed activity. I mean, these are companies that I think try to keep things low key, and they certainly don’t go out and advertise the fact that they hire unlicensed officers.”

NBC 7 Investigates learned the problem is more complicated than working guards being unlicensed and untrained. Many of them are receiving security jobs without the proper training.

“I can tell you for proprietary security guards, the ones that work for restaurants and bars and those sort of things, unlicensed activity can be a vexing problem because not every bar that springs up is aware of the licensing requirement,” said Russ Heimerich, a spokesman for the Department of Consumer Affairs, which is the agency that regulates the industry. “It’s not so much underground as they are unaware.”

In the State of California, nearly everyone working to provide security must be licensed. According to the Department of Consumer Affairs that person must also wear clothing that identifies him or her as security. Robert Smith said, many of them and employers believe it’s okay just to have something called a “guard card.” NBC 7 Investigates wanted to find out more from the source – from security officers and bouncers themselves. We walked around the Gaslamp and North Park, home to some of the county’s most popular bars.

We asked security officer Nicholas White what he thinks of the guard card program.

“To be honest with you, it’s not even appropriate for what we do,” said White.

NBC 7 Investigates also spoke with security officer Steven Smith. He said, “When I went to get my guard card training, it was supposed to be 40 hours. I only received six.

Steven Smith has been the head of security for some of Downtown San Diego’s top bars. He said he made it a point to get properly trained by completing more job-specific training on top of the six hours he received to get his guard card. He said, in his line of work, you need it.

Carlsbad resident Mark Girard Senior lost his son in December. Police said the 27-year-old got into a fight with Fire Water Saloon bouncer Derrick Belzer, who struck Girard Junior's head. Belzer was arrested and charged for involuntary manslaughter, he pleaded not guilty.

“He was out having a good night with his friends and ran into somebody that shouldn't have been in the position he was in,” said Girard Senior.

NBC 7 Investigates found Belzer was not licensed to be a security officer in California and according to police has a criminal history stemming from charges in both California and Texas.

The California Department of Consumer Affairs is the agency that regulates this industry and can crack down on unlicensed activity.

In a phone interview with the Department Spokesman, NBC 7 Investigates learned, the agency in charge says it's not up to them to make sure companies are hiring properly trained guards.

“The owners are responsible for making sure that they people they hire have eight hours of training before they sent out on post,” said spokesman Russ Heimerich. He added, a security officer only needs to be licensed if the employee is wearing clothing that identifies him or her as security. If the person is not wearing a uniform, but performing the same duties, no license is required.

NBC 7 Investigates is going to continue to look into these issues.

To report unlicensed activity in your area, visit this website.

Airlines reported the lowest number of tarmac delays longer than three hours on record in 2014, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced Tuesday.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report, there were 30 domestic flights with tarmac delays of three hours or longer and nine international flights with delays of four hours or longer at U.S. airports in 2014. Delays in both categories dropped by more than 60 percent year over year.

Foxx credited relatively recent changes limiting the amount of time airlines can keep passengers on the tarmac, saying the "rules are meant to protect passengers and it appears that the airlines have gotten the message."

“We have aggressively enforced, and will continue to aggressively enforce, our tarmac delay rules to ensure that carriers have adequate resources, such as staff and equipment, to minimize passengers’ exposure to lengthy tarmac delays, and that passengers are treated with respect before, during, and after their flights,” Foxx added.

In 2013, U.S. airports saw 84 domestic flights with tarmac delays longer than three hours and 55 international flights with delays longer than four hours. During 2009, the last full year before the Department’s domestic tarmac rule went into effect, airlines reported 868 domestic flights with tarmac delays longer than three hours.

The department’s rule that prohibits U.S. carriers operating domestic flights from sitting on tarmacs for longer than three hours without giving passengers the option to deplane went into effect in April 2010.

Another rule that prohibits U.S. and foreign carriers to operate international flights to or from the U.S. from allowing tarmac delays longer than four hours at U.S. airports without a deplane option began in August 2011.

Exceptions to the time limits for both domestic and international flights are allowed only for safety, security or air traffic control-related situations. Tuesday's figures do not include other types of delays or cancellations, such as those that occur before passengers get on the plane.

License plate scanners in California may be capturing much more than just license plates.

One California man backed by the ACLU submitted a public records request to obtain the images from the mounted license plate reader camera used by the San Leandro Police Department. He knew about the scanners but didn’t know the extent of the photographs.

“I didn't realize that in addition to capturing my license plate of my car, they were also capturing an image of the surroundings of the car," Mike Katz-Lacabe said in a Skype interview. 

Katz-Lacabe was shocked when he got the photos from the northern California police department. He said the photos showed more than he had imagined.

“Enough for them to distinguish me and my daughters getting out of my car,” Katz-Lacabe said. “But there's also another image of where I'm next to the car and it's very obviously me.”

The ACLU, an organization which has raised questions about the license plate scanners, featured Katz-Lacabe’s story, calling the photos, “worrisome.”

On a blog post on their website, the ACLU said the Drug Enforcement Administration has been using the license plate reader programs to photograph the drivers and their passengers, according to newly obtained records by the ACLU through a Freedom of Information Act request.

One document obtained by the ACLU from 2009 said the program could provide “the requester” with images that might include the license plate number as well as photos of visible vehicle occupants.

Katz-Lacabe’s story begs the question, is this happening in San Diego?

Coronado Police Commander Jesus Ochoa says the four cameras on top of their patrol cars are angled down, in the direction of vehicle license plates.

But, he said, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, either.

"Are there other concerns that you get your pictures taken getting in and out of the car, yeah,” Ochoa said. “I'm sure that happens but there's really, if you consider how many pictures a unit like this takes, versus what we're looking for, we don't have enough time to identify where everybody is at any one point."

Commander Ochoa said the scanners are meant to take pictures of license plates and they often find stolen cars.

The San Diego Sheriff's Department uses license plate readers, though spokeswoman Jan Caldwell said the license plate readers are not designed to photograph people.

"The camera has to be angled downward in order to capture license plates," Caldwell said in a statement to NBC 7. "Now, that's not to say that it happens occasionally, but it is not the intention. The cameras are designed to capture the reflective properties of the plates, which is a reason we also obtain so many photographs of street signs – because of their reflective nature."

The owner of the iconic Ocean Beach hamburger joint Hodad's died of natural causes, Madera County Sheriff's Department confirmed Tuesday.

Lt. Bill Ward said Mike Hardin died late last week of a heart attack.

Staff discovered Hardin's body at a Holiday Inn in Chowchilla just after 2 p.m. Thursday, sheriff's department officials said.

Among those who were saddened at the news was restaurant owner and Food Network personality Guy Fieri who considered Hardin one of the most generous people he's known.

"He embraced life with a tremendous amount of appreciation," Fieri said of the restaurant owner who was featured on the show "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives."

Hodad's has since expanded to include other locations including Petco Park and downtown San Diego.

Hundreds left comments on NBC 7's Facebook page, remembering Hardin's personable nature and lauding his restaurant as one of San Diego's best.

Have a memory of Hardin? Leave a comment on our Facebook page.

A citywide crackdown on short-term vacation rentals through the online AirBnB brokerage is sending chills through thousands of San Diego homeowners.

Some face potential fines, taxes and late charges that could run into six figures.

The city has yet to target the "Uber" ride-sharing service, as other municipalities have done.

But it's going after landlords -- so-called "hosts" – who lack permits for "commercial bread & breakfast" operations.

In some cases, those sent notices of violations are protesting that the applicable municipal codes and regulations are based on inconsistent rationales, and being harshly enforced.

One such complainant is a 70-year retired schoolteacher who owns a modernized 1912 Craftsman home in Burlingame, east of Balboa Park.

"The beauty of AirBnB is, unlike Bed & Breakfasts and hotels, that you can screen your guests -- they're reviewed by prior AirBnB hosts," Rachel Smith told NBC 7 in an interview Tuesday. "And it's a wonderful way to share the house and my neighborhood."

But neighbors didn't appreciate the hospitality Smith offered travelers – and reported her to City Hall.

“One day, one of the neighbors came over very frantic,” Smith recalls, “saying she just couldn’t take it anymore -- and would not tell me what had happened, no incidents that she was willing to share.”

Smith had been renting upstairs bedrooms for not quite two years, an estimated 40 times for $80 a night, until she heard from code compliance officers last November.

After letting them in to inspect, she wound up being cited for numerous zoning violations that carry potential penalties of $2,500 a day plus back taxes and other levies.

"Now my gut is in a knot and I'm wondering what this aggressive behavior is about," Smith said.

City spokesman Bill Harris tells NBC 7 that Smith was cited under "illegal lodging" codes particular to the neighborhood, not for short-term rental violations.

Her lawyer sees it as heavy-handed enforcement.

"I think when you have the compulsive power of the government, you really need -- as a city -- to be more careful about how you wield that power," attorney Omar Passons said in an interview.

For some 3,000 other AirBnB hosts facing city action, Passons notes that there's a costly consideration when it comes to operating permits for short-term rentals:

"You'll see that those permits are thousands and thousands of dollars -- minimum, five to seven -- that can take up to a year,” he explained. “That would cripple the opportunity for people in a pretty unaffordable city to be able to find a way to supplement (incomes)."

Harris says Smith's appeal case will be weighed by an “neutral” city hearing officer.

"There's something 'Alice-in-Wonderland about it," Smith says. "I figured well, they said I'm doing this, but I'm innocent until some court finds me guilty. I guess that's not the case with a hearing.”

An adverse ruling could be appealed in court.

While Harris points out that officials are working with AirBnB to "educate" hosts, two city councilmembers are looking into resolving the complex issues.

Says Passons, of the approach code compliance inspectors are taking: "It's like 'Oh, let's find what else we can do to create problems, what we can tag on here?’ -- as opposed to saying ‘Let’s get a reasonable solution,' so that a retired schoolteacher isn’t facing a couple hundred thousand dollars in penalties."

When you think “service dog,” you might picture a seeing-eye dog guiding its visually impaired partner down a busy sidewalk. But as an increasing number of children are diagnosed with autism in the United States, a new kind of service dog is reaching high-demand.

“These dogs are socialized at such a young age and they’re picked very specifically for just this job,” said Laura Sylvester who started the nonprofit GoodDogAutism.org in an effort to help match autism service dogs with kids.

Laura and her husband Rick built the organization after seeing the miraculous change a dog made in their own son’s life. “He used to walk through restaurants withdrawn, head down, and now he holds Orbit’s leash and walks very proudly,” said Sylvester.

Unfortunately no ordinary pound puppy will do. Good Dog uses only Labrador and Golden Retrievers, and just a few puppies per litter, if any, will pass a detailed personality test prequalifying them for consideration.

The puppies are then put through a 24-month training program where they learn specific tasks to mediate disabilities of kids with autism. The dogs are taught to redirect and focus kids who often make a scene in public.

“We’ve seen kids sleep through the night who’ve never slept in their own bed before. We’ve seen kids be excited to go to school when they used to run from the bus,” said Sylvester.

New studies have shown the dogs actually lower the stress hormones in the children by laying across their lap providing a deep calming pressure.

Today there are far more families wanting an autism service dog than there are available dogs. The high cost associated with training, coupled with the dropout rate, means each available dog is valued at $26,000.

Good Dog pays half while the families fundraise the rest. Good Dog places roughly 10 autism service dogs a year, but with increased awareness and public support, would like to see the number grow closer to 50.

Wednesday was a short day in court for the Aaron Hernandez murder trial - testimony stopped after just two hours for scheduling reasons.

But in that time, a juror was dismissed from the case.

Superior Court Judge Susan Garsh told jurors that they may have noticed another empty seat in the jury box.

"That was for reasons that were entirely personal to that juror," Garsh said. "It has nothing to do with this case."

We heard from a Massachusetts State Police Trooper, a North Attleboro patrolman and a firefighter, who responded to the crime scene in that town on June 17, 2013.

Jurors even saw video of the scene taken by the trooper on the stand, as victim Odin Lloyd's mother watched on.

Hernandez's fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins, who was there in support of the former Patriots tight end, looked annoyed when the video was played.

Again, the defense tried to hammer home sloppy police work. Attorneys representing Hernandez also accused the North Attleboro police officer of keeping a shoddy police log.

In court, photos and video of tire tracks recorded by police at the scene were entered into evidence, along with a set of footprints near Lloyd's body.

The prosecution, once again, laid out a picture of a meticulous investigation - one where investigators knew where they leaving additional footprints.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Danielle Lei has business acumen that exceeds her peers.

On Sunday, the 14-year-old Girl Scout set up cookie sales in front of San Francisco pot dispensary The Green Cross for the second year in a row. Lei told SFGate.com that she sold 208 boxes in two hours, and plans to return to The Green Cross to sell more cookies on Valentine's Day.

There has been no opposition to Lei's creative sales strategies from The Girl Scouts of Northern California. Dana Allen, the organization's marketing and communications director, told Mashable in 2014 that "the mom decided this was a place she was comfortable with her daughter being at."

"We're not telling people where they can and can't go if it's a legitimate business," Allen said.

But neither the organization nor the general public at large may know that "Girl Scout Cookies" is also the name for a hybrid marijuana strain that is popular in the Bay Area's urban community.

It's probably best to stick to Thin Mints and Samoas when ordering from Lei, who will return to The Green Cross from 12-2 p.m. on Feb. 14.

Two brothers in their 70s who went missing while hiking in the mountains east of Los Angeles have been found with no serious injuries.

The brothers did not return after their hike in the Mount Baldy area Tuesday. One of the men from Chino Hills walked out of the forest on his own, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

One of the brothers, Kilpyung Auh, 73, was found Wednesday afternoon. His 70-year-old brother, Hunpyung Auh, walked down Wednesday morning.

The hikers were reported missing about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday after they did not return home that afternoon, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said. They began their hike about 5 a.m.

The Tuesday evening search included ground teams on the north slope of Mount Baldy and a sheriff's department helicopter, however their car was located. Crews located the hiker's vehicle near a trailhead on San Antonio Falls Road.

It is unknown whether the hikers were prepared for the wilderness or how experienced they are at hiking. Temperatures in the area were in the 50s with light winds. 

In an effort to reduce the staggering number of hit-and-runs in Los Angeles, city officials joined forces Tuesday with the Los Angeles Police Department and the Department of Transportation to announce a city-wide alert system.

"The city of Los Angeles unfortunately has become known as the hit and run capital of the US," said Damian Kevitt, who lost a leg when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver two years ago.

"When I was hit on the freeway on the streets of Griffith Park and dragged nearly a quarter of a mile underneath the car, I didn't know my life would change so drastically," Kevitt said. "All I knew was I wanted to live."

Councilmen Joe Busciano and Mitchell Englander hope to reduce the epidemic of hit-and-runs in LA with the implementation of a mass notification system that would use social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and Nixle to alert residents.

"If we have year, make, model, description of damage to vehicle, the driver perhaps," Englander said. "If we have that information, then it will go out geographically by division."

Englander said they have reached out not only to Google and Waze, but also to any company with a dispatch system, including Uber, sanitation services, bus drivers, and metro and taxi drivers.

Nearly 21,000 hit-and-runs resulted in 27 deaths and 144 severe injuries in LA during 2014, according to LAPD records. With nearly 50 percent of crashes classified as hit-and-runs in the city, LA soars over the national average of 11 percent.

There's also an effort to create an alert system statewide, called a Yellow Alert. It would work like the current Amber Alert system, using electronic billboards and text messages to alert the public to hit-and-run drivers.

It's modeled after a program in Colorado called the Medina alert, which has been successful — 76 percent of the hit-and-runs that were displayed on the billboards were solved.

"Anything to catch these criminals that are leaving people on the side of the road, that is what we are going to do," said Stephanie Saporito, a spokeswoman for Englander.

Additionally, Busciano and Englander will also ask the City Attorney to draft an ordinance that would offer a standing reward for the apprehension and conviction of hit-and-run drivers.

San Diego passengers are waiting less time on the runway for takeoff, a new report said.

Tarmac delays are down in wait time and frequency, especially delays of three hours or longer, a report by the U.S. Department of Transportation found.

In 2014, only 30 domestic flights had delays that lasted longer than three hours. That number dropped after a new rule went into effect in April 2010 that required airlines to give people the opportunity to get off the plane if they would be on that plane for more than three hours.

In San Diego, arrivals and departures were on time about 70 percent of the time. A San Diego Airport spokeswoman says the airport does not track delays.

Those are reported to the Department of Transportation directly by the airlines.

Across the nation, 56 flights had tarmac delays of 2 hours or more for 2014. The report does not mention tarmac delays of more than an hour.

In San Diego, you can check your flight status from your phone.
 

Three rear admirals in the U.S. Navy were reprimanded for wrongdoing in a Navy bribery scandal but will not face charges, a Navy statement said.

One of the men who received career-ending letters of censure was the former superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy.

Commander of Carrier Strike Group 7 on USS Ronald Reagain Rear Admiral Michael Miller received a letter of censure along with Rear Admiral Terry Kraft, who was commanding officer on the same ship, and Rear Admiral David Pimpo, who once served as supply officer of the aircraft carrier, a Navy statement said.

The three showed "poor judgment and a failure of leadership" by improperly accepting gifts from a "prohibited source" while they were deployed in 2006-2007, the Navy said.

Two of those officers improperly endorsed a commercial business and one was found to have solicited gifts.

The case stems from an ongoing federal probe into bribery and fraud involving Navy contracts for port services in southeast Asia.

Leonard Glenn Francis, known as "Fat Leonard," the President and Chief Executive Officer of GDMA, pleaded guilty to federal charges of bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery for his role in a widespread scandal that has infiltrated the highest ranks of the U.S. Navy.

Federal prosecutors say Francis obtained classified information that allowed his firm to overbill the military at least $20 million for port services such as food, fuel and garbage disposal.

Navy investigators and attorneys with the Department of Justice have said there are more targets involved in the bribery ring. Francis and his co-conspirators exchanged luxury travel, prostitutes, lavish meals, top-shelf alcohol, designer handbags, fountain pens, Kobe beef, Spanish suckling pigs and Cuban cigars for ship assignments and other confidential military information.

The solicitation and acceptance of these gifts as well as the inappropriately familiar exchange with Francis created an unethical climate within the respective commands, the statement said.

The Secretarial Letters of Censure were issued to the sailors by the Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus for violating ethical standards by improperly accepting gifts, the statement said.

Miller is a special assistant to the superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy according to the Associated Press.

Kraft now commands U.S. naval forces in Japan.

Pimpo now commands Naval Supply Systems Command Weapons Systems Support.

Kraft and Pimp have sent in requests to retire. The Navy will process those requests in addition to a previously submitted retirement request from Miller.

The White House has stated fraud in military contracts will not be tolerated.

The most recent arrest in the case was a former civilian employee of the Department of Defense who was in charge of securing contracts with private industry vendors.

A 3-foot pet corn snake was reunited with its owners eight months after it went missing from the family's Brooklyn brownstone, authorities said.

The snake, Flame, escaped its home on Fifth Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues in Park Slope in June, the 78th precinct tweeted.

The reptile showed up Friday at a neighbor's house and the terrified woman called 911, police said.

DNAInfo reports the neighbor, Minerva Fernandez, is so fearful of snakes she can't even watch them on TV. The website said Fernandez hid in her apartment, waiting for police to arrive, as another neighbor kept the snake pinned in a corner of her staircase with a mop handle.

Police arrived and captured the snake, then kept it at the precinct station house until the family could be reunited with it Saturday.

A snake expert told DNAInfo the reptile probably survived on mice and other small rodents during its eight-month jaunt around Park Slope, and set up someplace warm in the winter months, possibly by a radiator.

The abused poodle found with rubber bands cutting into her snout has found a home, County officials said.

Frankie the miniature poodle was found on January 3 in Logan Heights and rescued. She later underwent surgeries due to her injuries and the San Diego County Animal Services (CAS) started accepting special adoption applications to find her forever home at the start of February.

The poodle will be going home with her owners Wednesday afternoon. Carolyn Hart was selected by CAS as the best owner to fit the miniature poodle's needs.

The poodle has spent the last few weeks at a foster home, recovering from the surgeries she underwent due to her injuries. The Spirit Fund covered the $3,000 cost of her health care.

An animal abuse investigation is underway and the suspect, if convicted, could face up to three years in prison, a fine of up to $20,000, or both.

A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person that wrapped a rubber band around a poodle’s muzzle.

A teen who was fatally shot in a Newark street last month made a video about stopping violence in New Jersey’s largest city in the months before his death, NJ.com reports.

Kyzeir Baker, 16, was shot along with an 18-year-old man on Spruce Street on Jan. 22 and died a few days later at University Hospital, the news site reports.

No arrests have been made in the shooting.

Baker’s death comes a little more than six months after he was interviewed in an anti-violence video posted on YouTube by the Newark HUBB mentoring program. Baker shot the video during a “Youth Television Film, And Press” class over the summer and talked about how teens should “avoid the streets.”

"It's sad. It's like every night somebody dies,” Baker said in the video. “It's sad to see how all of these young teenagers are dying so fast, every day."

In the video, Baker can be seen talking about gangs in Newark, and he recounts a story of a friend who was stabbed to death while trying to rob someone. He told the interviewer about advice his grandfather gave him to stay out of trouble.

"He told me, ‘Don’t get in the gangs, don't get into nothing,’” Baker recalled in the video. “He said, ‘Be you, go out there be a lawyer, doctor, basketball player, whatever you want to be, but avoid the streets.’”

The class’s teacher, Dash Living, told NJ.com that Baker was among 60 children in the class and was one of just a few willing to talk about violence and gangs on camera.

“He was always participating in the discussion,” Living said. “He had courage.”

Baker’s aunt told NJ.com that the 16-year-old was raised mostly by his grandmother after his father abandoned him and his mother got addicted to drugs. She said he was a Shabazz High School student and was on the honor roll in middle school.