San Diegans on the go this Ash Wednesday can now get their Ash to Go.

The day gets its name from the practice of placing ashes on foreheads as a sign of penance. The holy day marks the beginning of lent, a 40 day season of fasting.St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral is offering a strong of locations around the city, the cathedral said.

There are four locations residents can visit in San Diego, listed below.

• Hall of Justice – 330 West Broadway, San Diego, CA 92101
• Pete’s Coffee - Hillcrest - 350 University Ave San Diego, CA 92103
• Starbucks’s in Banker’s Hill - 2440 5th Ave, San Diego, CA 92103
• Filter Coffee in Hillcrest - 1295 University Ave, San Diego, CA 92103

The locations will be offering “Ash To Go” until noon Wednesday.

For more information, visit their website by clicking here.
 

One person has died following a two vehicle crash in San Marcos, Sheriff's officials said.

The incident happened at around 9 a.m. Wednesday at the intersection of East Mission Road and Woodland Parkway in San Marcos.

The San Diego Sheriff's Department is responding. At least one person is seriously injured, officials said.

There is no word as to when roads will be open again.

Hours after an explosion ripped through a Torrance refinery, residents for miles around continue to grapple with ash, a gas odor and concerns over poor air quality while inspectors confirmed that a filtration device was the source of the blast.

A smoke advisory was issued for areas near the ExxonMobil refinery due to Wednesday morning's explosion and fire.

"I have second thoughts about being out here right now," said resident Anthony Scales.

Minor injuries were reported after the explosion ripped apart structures at the oil refinery and shook homes for miles around the blast site in southern Los Angeles County.

Eight workers were decontaminated at the scene. Four were taken to hospitals. Three were treated and released. One person remained hospitalized with a knee injury.

Thick smoke rose from a mangled, multiple-story portion of the Torrance ExxonMobil Refinery, located south of the 405 Freeway, after the 8:50 a.m. blast. The explosion sent ash raining down on vehicles parked near the sprawling 750-acre site and caused what one worker described as intense shaking.

Firefighters found gasoline flowing on the ground as a result of the explosion, Torrance Fire Department Capt. Steve Deuel said.

"You could feel it," said refinery worker Jason Hernandez. "It was like a loud sonic boom. My first reaction was, this doesn't sound good, this doesn't look good. Let's get out of here.

"I just appreciate that I'm here. First thing I thought was to call my wife, my kids, and let them know I'm safe."

Residents reported shaking normally associated with earthquakes throughout the South Bay area. A Redondo Beach resident told NBC4 windows rattled at his house, about five miles from the refinery.

"I was having my cup of coffee and all of the sudden the whole house shook, the windows vibrated," said Torrance resident John White. "I kind of figured we had an earthquake, then I realized, living by the factory for all those years, they had a problem with the factory."

Caltech officials said the explosion created ground shaking that was equivalent to a magnitude-1.7 earthquake. The shaking was felt primarily in the immediate vicinity of the refinery, according to Caltech.

California Occupational Safety and Health officials were at the site investigating. While the unit where the blast occurred was ordered shut down, the rest of the refinery is still in operation.

Several residents noticed what they described as a larger-than-usual flame from the plant's towering flare stack. Flares from the stack, part of a safety relief valve system, are part of normal operations that occasionally produce a rumbling sound, like distant thunder, caused by turbulent mixing of vapors.

Deuel told The Associated Press the flare system was triggered to burn off fuel that could add to the fire. He said the blast happened in a processing facility and the material involved was gasoline.

"Emergency procedures have been activated to address the incident, and employees are working with the appropriate agencies," a statement by the ExxonMobil Torrance Refinery said. "Our main concern is for the safety of our employees and our neighbors."

The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a smoke advisory for any areas where residents can see or smell smoke. Torrance officials said there was no chemical release and a citywide shelter-in-place order is not necessary, but those near the site should keep windows closed.

ExxonMobil said in a statement early Wednesday afternoon that "no harmful emissions have been detected."

Torrance school officials confirmed that staff and students sheltered in place due to possible air quality issues. Tammy Khan, of the Torrance Unified School District, said the shetler-in-place order was lifted early Wednesday afternoon.

The refinery, where about 155,000 barrels of crude oil are processed each day, has been part of the South Bay landscape since the 1920s.

Community members who may have been impacted by the explosion can call the ExxonMobil claims hotline at 844-631-2539.

Kim Baldonado, Patrick Healy, Jason Kandel, and Tena Ezzeddine contributed to this report.

 At least one person was shot after a Border Patrol chase ended in a crash Tuesday night in Alpine. 

The pursuit that started on Interstate 8 ended at Tavern Road at about 10:30 p.m. when border patrol agents tried to pull over a car. The driver stopped and let out several people when then tried to run away from officials, agents said.

The driver tried to drive off again, border patrol agents said, almost hitting an agent in the process. The agents fired gunshots at the car and at least one person was shot in the hand. The agents feared for their safety, agents said, but the driver kept driving despite the shots.

Fifteen minutes later, the driver stopped at Interstate 8 west near Tavern Road and everyone inside the car was taken into custody.

A Sig alert was issued Wednesday morning after a flat bed truck carrying a load of bricks was overturned when it was t-boned by another vehicle in a Carlsbad intersection.

The accident happened at 5: 30 a.m. at the intersection of Palomar Airport Road and El Camino Real.

Carlsbad police said the truck was headed west on Palomar Airport Road when a Scion slammed into the side of the truck, causing it to flip and the bricks to spill across the road.

Both drivers claim they had the green light.

The driver of the Scion suffered minor injuries and was transported to al ocal hospital while the driver of the flat bed was uninjured.

Police had the roads blocked until 7:30 a.m. Wednesday until the vehicles and the bricks were cleared.

Some residents of North Park are taking issue with the artists, as well as the crowds they draw, who visit the Observatory theater on University Avenue.

Tuesday night, the neighborhood’s planning committee heard arguments condemning and supporting the change in entertainment choices.

General manager Paris Landen told NBC 7 just Monday night, an intoxicated patron was escorted out of the building. The man returned for fight with security, and eventually police were called. On the stage was the rap artist Riff Raff.

That fight is that kind of behavior some area residents want to discourage.

“People are drinking in their cars, doing drugs, being loud and boisterous. When you are excited for an event and you're walking to your car, we hear that at one or two o'clock on a Tuesday night,” said resident Kyle Palaniuk.

Only a handful of residents came to the North Park Planning Commission to voice their concerns Tuesday, but the committee chair said their complaints are real enough.

The theater changed hands in January, bought by Santa Ana's Observatory Club. It also changed names from the North Park Theatre and West Coast Tavern to the Observatory North Park. Residents say the out-of-town ownership has led to more urban and contemporary acts, moving away from musical theater bookings.

The complaints include large late night crowds, traffic and parking issues.

Landen said she has lived in North Park for the last five years. Her history here is one of the reasons she was hired.

The new company says it wants to be profitable and a good neighbor.

“Stuff we can do is add extra security, help with the cleanliness of the neighborhood and make sure our shows are ending at a time where they are not disturbing the residents,” Landen said.

The planning commission has no authority over the theater activity, but members say it has, in the past, been a strong advocate for keeping the peace among its growing businesses and population.
 

It’s obvious that San Diego’s craft beer industry is booming.

Now we have the numbers to prove it.

The economic value of our craft beer industry has doubled over the past three years, bringing $600 million in 2014, compared to $300 million in 2011, according to a newly released report by the National University System Institute for Policy Research.

A startling comparison: San Diego’s beer industry brought in more money than Super Bowl 49 generated for the Arizona economy.

Those dollars translate to more jobs and breweries and brewpubs in San Diego. The number of breweries in the past three years has more than doubled: there were 97 in 2014, up from 37 in 2011, according to the report.

The expansion of brewpubs has translated to a boom in jobs. Last year, San Diego’s breweries created or sustained 6,203 jobs, a 122-percent increase since 2011.

A former San Diego physician who billed taxpayers for fraudulent patient exams and phony prescriptions for power wheelchairs and medical equipment was sentenced to more than three years in prison Wednesday.

Deputy Attorney General Hardy Gold said Jason Ling used his medical license to "steal rather than heal."

Ling, whose medical license was revoked in October 2014 by the California Osteopathic Medical Board, must also pay approximately $1.5 million in restitution and back taxes to the state and federal government.

Beginning in October 2012, Ling was charged with a series of medical and tax related fraud crimes in both state and federal court.

According to his plea agreement in the federal case, Ling conspired to defraud Medicare by using a “street-level marketer” who referred patients to his Spring Valley medical office. Ling would then bill Medicare for these office visits, even though the patients were not sick. He also gave them prescriptions for power wheelchairs and other expensive medical equipment prosecutors say the patients did not need.

Federal prosecutors said the phony prescriptions were filled by a Los Angeles medical supply company, whose owner has pleaded guilty to submitting close to $500,000 in false Medicare claims.

Documents obtained by NBC 7 Investigates reveal details about the separate state investigation by the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud. The state investigation led to Ling’s arrest and convictions in Superior Court.

The department staged an undercover operation in which an agent witnessed a patient walk into Ling’s office without any assistance. According to the documents, “…Ling could see the undercover patient, was mobile…Ling did not conduct an examination other than to quickly touch her abdomen and quickly put a stethoscope up to her chest.”

According to the documents, the agent said Ling “never asked if she had complaint” or if she had any problems walking. According to the agent, Medicare paid Ling $282 for that brief visit, which he falsely billed as “a home visit with comprehensive medical history… removal of impacted earwax… and a mini-mental examination.”

NBC 7 Investigates has also learned Ling’s medical “office” at the time was a basement bedroom in a house on Crest Drive, in a residential area of Spring Valley.

A court document filed Jan. 15 by state prosecutors confirms Ling pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges related to medical and tax fraud.

The evidence in those Superior Court cases shows Ling billed for medically unnecessary services, including skin cancer treatments and Vitamin B-12 injections.

Investigators said they also determined Ling submitted claims showing he treated Medicare patients for 20 hours or more a day, on 52 different days. On 32 of those days, Ling’s bills show he worked more than 24-hours in a single day, while providing house-calls for patients.

“It is impossible to exceed 24 hours,” the investigator wrote in investigation documents. “And considering Ling had to travel to the patients and the travel time was not covered, it is improbable that Ling could perform 20 hours of services in a day.” Investigators determined Medicare paid Ling $198,865 for his work he claimed to have done during those 52 days.

Investigators also said Ling submitted bills to Medicare while he was an inmate in the county jail, after first being arrested.

Documents reveal he was paid more than $3,500 based on the false claims he filed during the seven days he spent in round-the-clock custody, before he was released on bail. Ling claimed during his time in jail he was “treating patients as a mobile physician at their home”
In the documents, the investigator wrote, “I know that Ling could not have performed those services.”

Ling's attorney said her client is "very remorseful" and has tried to repay as much of the fraudulent income as he could.

"He has been a good person, he has helped lots of clients," said attorney Roseline Feral. "He's not all bad, and this is not the sum total of all his life."

San Diego’s streets may be one step closer to repairs.

The city unveiled a new high-tech car Tuesday meant to help show city officials where the worst roads are.

Late last year, NBC Investigates revealed the city has paid out more than a million dollars in claims for damage caused by potholes on city streets.

A 2013 study done by a research group in Washington D.C. called San Diego's streets the fourth worst in the country among large cities.

Cartegraph Systems Inc. will be contracting with the city to use cars with line scan cameras on top to collect data that helps determine how much it would cost to maintain the city’s road network.

The cars will go through all 2,774 miles of streets across the city. That data will then be used to prioritize what streets need repairs and maintenance. It will also help the city project the funding levels they would need to address deferred maintenance.

The project comes at a cost: more than $566,000 dollars over the next year. That’s money some people argue could go straight to fixing the streets.

But the mayor said you can’t fix what you can’t see.

The last city-wide assessment of San Diego roads happened in 2011 and the City Auditor’s Office recommended the street network be surveyed at least once every four years.

La Mesa police are following leads to identify suspects that they say are involved in a burglary series targeting small businesses on La Mesa Boulevard.

Detectives said the crimes occurred in the middle of the night between December and February. Business owners returned to see their workplaces ransacked. It appears the criminals are stealing electronics and, at times, cash.

“Honestly we're scared every day, because it can happen anywhere, anytime you know?” said Saher Younan, the manager of Mart Liquor in the Mart Square shopping complex.

Younan decided to close his business an hour earlier every night due to the burglaries.

“We don't want to be the only ones open at 11 and give those people a chance to see us they only one and target us after,” he said.

Across the street from the liquor story, the owners of Jiu Jitsu Foundation say a burglar tried to open their front door. In doing so, the person damaged the door and the lock and shattered the entire front window. Other businesses that didn't want to be identified out of fear tell NBC 7 the criminal stole money and broke their windows as well.

Roslyn Cohen is a concerned resident. She says the criminals are terrorizing the community.

“That's why the people aren't coming forward because they are afraid,” she said.

It may sound contrary to popular belief, especially among pregnant women told to reduce or eliminate their coffee intake, but new research reveals caffeine may actually help premature babies survive.

Doctors at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital in San Diego say giving caffeine to premature babies within hours of their birth has been shown to help them breathe better, improve their heart rates and make them healthier in the long run.

One of those babies given caffeine early in the study was Abigail Garcia, who was born four months premature.

“She didn’t come out of the hospital needing any breathing apparatuses, any help with feeding and what not,” said mom Alicia Garcia. “She was able to do everything on her own.”

Dr. Anup Katheria at Sharp said a vile of caffeine is administered to a premature baby through an IV. Five grams of caffeine, the equivalent of six cups of coffee, was shown to be the sweet spot for premature babies, Katheria said.

Katheria also said the caffeine also prevented babies from having other problems with blood pressure or heart function.

Doctors are now researching whether caffeine given to mothers during labor may also help premature babies survive.

The operator of a "revenge porn" website who posted stolen nude photos online has agreed to plead guilty, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles say.

Court papers filed Wednesday show Hunter Moore agreed to plead guilty to charges of hacking and identity theft.

Moore was dubbed the "most hated man on the Internet" for running a website that posted explicit photos, including some submitted by former lovers and spouses.

Photos included an "American Idol" finalist, the daughter of a major Republican donor and a woman in a wheelchair.

The 28-year-old signed court papers saying he had paid Charles Evens to hack computers and steal photos. Evens pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for trial next month.

Moore faces at least a two-year prison sentence.

Moore's lawyer did not immediately return a call for comment.

A local man has teamed up with the National City Police Department to collect blankets for children exposed to trauma.

Alex Gonzales said he came up with the idea after watching an Amber Alert end in a standoff on a San Diego freeway in December where a father took his two young boys hostage after allegedly killing their mother.

Gonzales said he thought, "What can we do to make these children feel safer? And it just came to me - blankies."

Gonzales said he came up with the idea for "Blankies for Kids" in less than 20 minutes and shared it with his son, a National City police officer. He then met with the Chief of Police and just started talking to people about what he was trying to do.

"Everybody has been a child or has a child and knows how comforting a blankie can be," he said. "It's security."

National City Police Sergeant Alex Hernandez said each patrol car has six blankies vacuum packed in zip-lock baggies in the trunk. It's up to the discretion of the officers to pass them out. The blankies are then replenished as they're used.

"This is such a simple idea, but such a great idea," Hernandez said.

Because trauma is carried with a victim for the rest of their lives, Gonzales said he feels even the recipients of the blankies will at least have a small act of kindness to carry with them as well.

He said he wants to show children who have been through a traumatic experience to see there is a future and, "this is not life."

The community outpouring combined with the officers' participation is "closing the gap" between community and police, Gonzales said.

Gonzales said he's reaching out to other agencies, including fire rescue, and his personal commitment is to raise 1,000 blankies for National City.

Although the project is self-funded, Gonzales said, "This project is growing on its own," including donations by Disney Store employees he told about his venture.

"I'm surprised how successful it's becoming," Gonzales said. "There's a lot of good people and I'm finding that out as I'm talking to people...how much we want to contribute to each other. It's just, life get in the way and we forget and so somebody introduces a great idea and all of the sudden, it's just, boom. It just happens."

Anyone interested in donating blankies can drop off small, child-sized blankies at the National City Police Department at 1200 National City Blvd, National City, CA 91950. For more information, call (619) 336-4411 or click here.

An avalanche from an ice rink's roof buried five people in snow Wednesday evening in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and sent two of them to the hospital.

The five were walking on a pathway between the rink and a softball field when the snow fell on them, police say.

Four of them managed to climb out of the snow, but there was so much snow that one other person couldn't.

Police and fire officials responded and managed to dislodge the fifth person.

One person was taken to the hospital with neck and shoulder pain, while the other was taken as a precaution.

Inspectors remained at the scene to examine the building's structural state.

Medical equipment tainted with a deadly "superbug" may have contributed to the deaths of two patients at Ronald Reagan-UCLA Medical Center, and dozens of other patients may have been infected with the drug-resistant bacteria as well, officials said Wednesday.

UCLA Health System officials said 179 patients had been notified about the exposure, which took place between October 2014 and January 2015.

The patients were treated for digestive ailments ranging from gallstones to cancers. Doctors used a minimally invasive technique that requires a scope being placed down a patient’s throat.

An internal investigation at the Westwood hospital revealed that the antibiotic-resistant bacteria known as Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) may have been transmitted during a procedure, officials said.

A total of seven patients were confirmed to be infected.

UCLA officials said the scopes had been sterilized according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

"The two scopes involved with the infection were immediately removed and UCLA is now utilizing a decontamination process that goes above and beyond the manufacturer and national standards," officials said in a statement.

Free home testing kits were offered to the patients who may have been infected.

Refresh this page for updates on this developing story.

An adorable, homeless shepherd mix that has been wandering between two Manhattan parks for about a decade was rescued earlier this week by residents concerned the pup wouldn't survive the frigid temperatures.

The dog was taken to the BluePearl Veterinary Partners specialty and emergency hospital in Manhattan Monday. Veterinarians, who nicknamed the pup Charlie, said he was lethargic and dull when he first arrived but has shown some signs of improvement over the last two days.

Charlie -- or Ricky, as some people who live near his choice parks fondly call him -- had been living between Highbridge Park in Washington Heights and Inwood Hill Park in Inwood for 10 years, the residents who rescued him told veterinarians. His age is not known.

They had tried to capture him in the past, but he always escaped. This week, with temperatures hovering near 0 degrees, a group of neighbors managed to coax him into a van so they could take him to a hospital.

Neighbor Tina Ilmet, who is assuming responsibility for his care, said the pooch has become a local institution.

“Everybody knows him, but he’s a feral dog,” Ilmet said. “If you tried to approach him, he’d run away. I’ve been working with him for quite a while, so he finally got to the point where he would recognize me and wag his tail.”

Ilmet and her neighbors have set up a GoFundMe site to raise money for Charlie's care. By 5 p.m. Wednesday, it was nearly halfway to its goal of $5,000. According to the GoFundMe page, Charlie once had family to roam around with but all those pups were trapped years ago.

"He no longer has his pack, he's a slow old man now, and was not going to make it in this extreme cold," the page says, adding that the wind chill made it feel like 22 degrees below 0 the night he was rescued. "He is a handsome mutt that was never dangerous. This stoic old boy needs some help with vet bills."

Cassandra Williams, a board-certified veterinary neurologist overseeing Charlie's care at BluePearl, said doctors are awaiting results of a spinal tap before determining his next treatment steps. His blood is being screened for infectious diseases and he's being kept in isolation because it's not clear if he's been vaccinated.
 

When Cassandra Morphy travels to work from her home in Jersey City to her office in Keasby, it's a 23-mile, 30-minute commute -- but if she gets her dream job, her commute from work to her new home will take her 225 million miles and eight months to complete.

Morphy, a data analyst, is one of 100 finalists out of 200,000 applicants in the running for a trip to colonize Mars, sponsored by Dutch non-profit group Mars One. 

"I think I first wanted to go to Mars when I read 'Red Mars' when I was like 14 or so," she said. "It sounds like the most amazing place to go." 

Mars One plans to send 24 astronauts to Mars starting in the year 2025. In extremely harsh conditions, the astronauts would build a permanent settlement.

The big drawback: it's a one-way ticket to Mars, and there's no way to ever leave. 

Morphy said she's not scared by the idea of going to Mars forever, and in fact it's part of the reason she signed up.

"That's kind of the whole point, getting there and colonizing the planet," she said. 

"My head's always been in the clouds, so the next step is to go into the space," she added. 

After conducting interviews and physicals, Mars One has whittled down the group of finalists to 100. Long Island resident Nick Buccheri was one of the thousands disappointed to learn he didn't make the cut.

"I've had nothing but Mars on my mind for an entire year, so it's a big disappointment," he said. 

Mars One still hasn't even started unmanned missions to Mars yet, and many are skeptical they'll ever get off the ground. But Morphy is optimistic and is ready to start her training, hoping she'll make the final cut and the chance to make history.

"I'm excited, hopeful. I'm really looking forward to going forward with this," she said.

A male body was found Wednesday on rocks in Laguna Beach, about a mile south of where a teenager was swept off rocks and into the surf on Feb. 8.

Lifeguards and Orange County Sheriff's deputies recovered the body from the Three Arches Bay area after a resident along the beach spotted the body about 4 p.m., Laguna Beach police Sgt. Tim Kleiser said.

Using a jet ski, Orange County sheriff's harbor patrol ferried the body to a boat and took it back to the sheriff's station in Dana Point, Orange County sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock said.

"It sounds like the body is in poor condition so it may take several days to confirm the identity," Hallock said.

Anthony Parnell, 18, was visiting from Nevada when he was knocked by a powerful wave into the ocean south of Thousand Steps Beach. Rescue crews called off the search for Parnell on Thursday.

The San Diego State women’s golf team showed off their seriously cool tricks in a YouTube video that has generated more than 58,000 views since it was posted on Sunday.

The 55-second video, which plays over the Bruno Mars hit "Uptown Funk," proves these girls have some impressive trick shots. The multi-talented athletes display their skills by bouncing golf balls off their clubs, through their legs and rolling golf balls down their backs.

And the video doesn’t just include golf; it opens with two teammates doing cart wheels and aerials and ends with seven of the teammates simultaneously sinking putts in the same hole at the same time. These Lady Aztecs make golf look anything but slow.

If this is what their team practices look like, we can’t wait to see how they do through the spring season. Their next tournament is Feb. 23 and 24 at UC Irvine.