The California Supreme Court has agreed to review an appellate court’s decision calling on the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) to make long-term transportation plans better comply with revised state pollution-reduction goals.

At issue is whether the environmental impact report for SANDAG’s 2050 Regional Transportation Plan must include an analysis of the plan’s consistency with greenhouse gas emission reduction goals of a 2005 executive order signed by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, as part of the California Environmental Quality Act.

The executive order set goals including a return to 2000 levels by 2010, a return to 1990 levels by 2020, and a reduction of 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2015. A revised law passed by the state Legislature in 2006, known as AB 32 and related to global warming, included only the second goal, but the earlier executive order was not rescinded by Gov. Jerry Brown.

“The Supreme Court’s decision to grant review is a key step forward to help clarify state law on greenhouse gas emissions,” SANDAG Chair and Santee Councilmember Jack Dale said in a statement.

“The appellate court decision left agencies throughout the state with questions on what standards to apply,” Dale said. “We are hopeful the Court will help resolve the confusion.”

In 2011, SANDAG completed the 2050 transportation plan, a long-range planning document outlining $214 billion in regional investments. The Cleveland National Forest Foundation and other petitioners filed suit in 2012, challenging the environmental impact report used to formulate the regional transportation plan.
 

A San Diego man said he’s heartbroken after police officers responding to a call near his home in Pacific Beach shot and killed his dog.

Police officers were called to Felspar and Bayard streets just before 5:30 a.m. Sunday for what appeared to be a domestic disturbance. When they arrived, officers say they were confronted by a 50 to 60 pound pit bull.

One officer fired, killing the dog.

The dog’s owner Ian Anderson spoke with NBC 7 about the death of his dog, Burberry. He said the 6-year-old pit bull was his service dog.

Anderson stood on a sidewalk outside his home and walked through the last moments of Burberry’s life.

Anderson said Burberry started barking when police knocked on his door. Once the dog was outside, he stopped barking according to Anderson. He claims one officer bent down and petted the pit bull. Then, the second officer reacted to seeing the animal.

“The other officer yelled and screamed at the dog for no reason to get inside. It startled the dog," Anderson said.

"[The officer] jumped back, went this way, drew his weapon,” he said. “Boom. Shot right in the head and he was done. He was dead."

The San Diego Police Department issued the following statement: “The preservation of life is our top priority and this includes the lives of animals. This incident is currently being investigated as any Officer Involved Shooting would be to assure proper procedures were followed. Any further comments prior to the completion of the investigation would simply be premature.”

Anderson is heartbroken at losing the dog he says has helped children with Down Syndrome as well as helping him get through his own anxiety ridden time dealing with his father's death.

“They’re there to put their heads on your lap and you know everything is going to be okay. there's just no way to explain the bond," he said.

"He was the best dog in the entire world,” Anderson said through tears. “I would do anything to have him back right now. Absolutely anything. "

No arrests were made in the domestic disturbance.

George State’s head coach may have ruptured his Achilles tendon after celebrating his team’s thrilling victory in the Sun Belt Conference tournament championship, where his son shot the winning free throws.

Ron Hunter was embracing his son, R.J. Hunter, and jumping up and down when he injured his left leg, NBC Sports reported. A picture showed the coach on the ground, hugging his son moments after the win.

His son had scored the winning free throws with 21.6 seconds left to lift the Panthers to a 38-36 win over Georgia Southern.

After being helped off the court, Hunter returned on crutches for the team’s celebration and trophy presentation and cut down the net.

Hunter told ESPN that he suffered an Achilles tear years ago and felt the same pain during this celebration.

“I knew when I came down that I had done it (again), but instead of stopping right there, I wanted to go celebrate with my team,” he told ESPN. “More importantly I wanted to go celebrate with my son. You don’t get many opportunities like that.”

After the game, Hunter sent out a series of tweets insisting that the injury won't hamper his joy over the victory.

Georgia State will play Baylor in the NCAA tournament.

Hunter will wait until after the tournament to get surgery on his Achilles, NBC Sports reported.

Police recovered a car that belongs to a rookie Los Angeles Police Department officer who was named as a "person of interest" in a deadly shooting that occurred Friday night, officials said.

Officer Henry Solis's Volkswagen Jetta was found at 12:55 p.m. in a Pomona alley near the intersection of Main Street and Monterey Avenue, according to the Pomona Police Department, several blocks from where Salome Rodriguez Jr. was gunned down following a Friday night fistfight. 

The news came as friends of Rodriguez shared cellphone video of him dancing at a nightclub in the hours before he was shot and killed.

"We were dancing, we were laughing, after it was over we ate pizza," said Rodriguez's friend, Monique Ortiz.

Ortiz knows Rodriguez from the nightclub where they partied and drank before the shooting took place.

"We told him we'd walk him to his car, he gave me a piggyback ride," she said. "He was happy, no confrontation inside the club, nothing."

A man who identified himself as Gene recently started working with Rodriguez delivering furniture.

"It was just a day off for us so we just wanted to go out and have some fun," Gene said

Gene said both he and Rodriguez were drunk and fell asleep in Gene's Audi in a parking lot after the bars let out.

"Next thing you know when I wake up, I wake up to the cops around my car and like the paramedics taking him away," he said.

Ortiz said she received a text from Rodriguez.

"I had heard from him a half hour before. What if I woudl've texted back, you know? What if he needed something, a ride. I don't remember saying bye, because I was drunk," she said.

Neither Ortiz nor Gene say they recognize Solis.

"I've been looking at his picture ever since they posted it up on Facebook - I do not remember seeing him inside at all," Gene said.

Taking an offensive stance, former 49ers defensive lineman Ray McDonald filed a lawsuit on Monday, saying that he’s been unfairly caught up in a national firestorm about the NFL and domestic violence that simply isn’t true.

“She is wrong,” Ray McDonald’s mother, LaBrina McDonald, said by phone Monday. “He’s been victimized. She has lied on him. This is bigger than football. This is his freedom.”

McDonald’s attorneys, Steve DeFilippis and Stephen Picone of San Jose, argue in court papers  filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court that McDonald and a woman he met at the Willow Den bar had consensual sex “several times” both during the December night in question, and the day afterward.

That story contradicts a police narrative from the woman’s point of view where she stated she had been drinking and injured her head after a fall by the pool and couldn’t remember having sex with McDonald on Dec. 14.

A police officer wrote that there was probable cause to arrest McDonald for “rape by intoxication.” The suit names the woman, but NBC Bay Area is not because it has not been made clear whether she was indeed a victim of sexual abuse or not.

McDonald has not yet been charged with any crime, though his NFL agent has reportedly sent a note throughout the league that the 30-year-old, who still lives in San Jose, will not face any criminal penalties. The Santa Clara County District Attorney has not made any decision public yet.

49er General Manager Trent Baalke released McDonald three months ago for “poor decision making” and so far, he has not been hired by any other team. Though his house went up for sale in San Jose, his mother said he has not sold it.

The lawsuit claims defamation and libel, as the lawyers allege the woman, whom McDonald hadn’t met until that night, marred his good name and cast him in a "false light." The suit also alleges intentional interference with prospective economic relations and asks for "general damages" and loss of earnings in addition to punitive damages.

“What it essentially amounts to is false statements were made about Mr. McDonald,” DeFilippis said on Monday, which caused him to be cast in a “false light... that essentially is hurting his reputation and and ability to play football.”

DeFilippis added that because there has been no formal action, “in the eyes of NFL teams, the unresolved threat of charges being filed against him, even though factually unfounded, continues to present a roadblock to this remarkable athlete being able to move forward in his career.

Some of the sexual acts were caught on his home security video, the suit claims, and the woman was "flirtatious" and "fully cognizant" in what was going on. When she called McDonald the next day, the suit alleges, "t no time did she accuse him of "any impropriety or appear to be upset or scared."

The lawsuit also highlights the national conversation regarding the NFL’s stance regarding domestic violence, specifically of Ray Rice of the  Baltimore Ravens punching his fiancé in an elevator and Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings for hitting his son. And the suit alleges that McDonald was unfairly caught up in this web, when he “had done nothing wrong.”

McDonald was also arrested and accused of domestic violence against his then pregnant girlfriend in August. But prosecutors did not charge him, citing insufficient evidence.

Legal analyst Steven Clark told NBC Bay Area that McDonald’s legal team has an uphill battle to climb, and he doubted if the case would ever see a trial. That’s because police reports are privileged, or protected, material, which means that information cannot constitute libel, he said. 

“You can’t sue for reporting crimes to police,” he said.

Also, by McDonald suing, Clark said, the football player is opening himself up to being questioned and investigated himself. But that doesn't seem to be the point, Clark said.

“I think what he wants is a finding that he's not guilty of raping anybody,” Clarke said. “That makes him more marketable to the NFL.  That's probably the point of it."

NBC Bay Area's Stephanie Chuang contributed to this report.

The map below shows locations where fatal shark attacks took place off the California coast since about 1900, compiled by the Shark Research Institute.

Click the points on the map to learn more about each attack.

A San Diego judge considers a motion to dismiss charges against a rapper and more than a dozen co-defendants being prosecuted under a controversial law.

Brandon Duncan, who records under the name "Tiny Doo", is one of 15 co-defendants charged in connection with nine shootings that took place in San Diego between May 2013 and February 2014.

Duncan is accused of promoting crimes through his lyrics and benefiting from his gang’s increased “street cred” from the shootings, prosecutors allege.

Even though there is no evidence connecting him to the actual shootings, Duncan has been charged with multiple counts of conspiracy to commit a felony with a criminal street gang under a law that's been on the books for 15 years.

Penal Code 182.5 was passed when voters approved proposition 21, a proposition which toughened penalties for youth offenders, in 2000.

Penal Code 182.5 is a conspiracy law that basically says active gang members can be charged for crimes committed by other members-- even if they were not involved in the crime.

Get the latest on this developing story on NBC 7 News Midday at 11 a.m.

A Los Angeles police officer was arrested after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the U.S.-Mexico border allegedly found someone hiding in the officer’s car when they stopped him for questioning Saturday night, law enforcement sources confirmed to the NBC News Investigative Unit.

The officer was taken into custody at 6:30 p.m. by CBP at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry south of San Diego.

A 34-year-old man was driving a 2014 Nissan Juke with a 31-year-old woman in the passenger seat, officers confirmed Monday. Both were U.S. citizens and both provided passports to officers.

During secondary inspection, officers say they discovered a 26-year-old man hidden in the trunk. The man was a Mexican citizen with no legal ability to enter the United States, according to a CBP news release.

The driver was identified as a Los Angeles Police Officers. His name was not released, but officials confirmed he was assigned to the LAPD’s Hollywood Division. The officer faces possible human smuggling charges.

LAPD Commander Andrew Smith, a department spokesman, declined to comment on the arrest, deferring questions to federal authorities.

The arrest came on the heels of another LAPD officer being linked to a crime. Officer Henry Solis, a rookie assigned to the department’s Devonshire Division, was named as a person of interest in the fatal shooting a 23-year-old Ontario man early Friday morning.

NBC4's Willian Avila contributed to this report.
 

A car and AMTRACK train collision at Cassidy Street in Oceanside has left at least one person injured, officials said.

The incident happened at approximately 8:12 a.m. Monday when Oceanside Police and Oceanside Fire both responded to a car and train collision near the train tracks.

Sheriff’s deputies on the scene said one woman was inside the car when she parked her car off to the side of the crossing. As the gates started to close, the woman then drove up onto the tracks and parked there, deputies said.

The train conductor saw the woman ahead of time, deputies said, but not soon enough to stop all the way before hitting the car. When they collided, the train was going about 30 to 40 miles per hour, deputies said.

At the time of the collision, the person inside the car was trapped, police said. The woman in the car was injured but is expected to recover, officials said.

Oceanside Police are asking people to avoid using Cassidy Street near the train tracks while they investigate.

Passengers are boarding a BREEZE bus to take them to the Oceanside Transit Center. All COASTER stops are currently delayed out of San Diego.

An AMTRACK train out of San Diego has been delayed because of the incident.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

A San Marcos teen accused of arson in connection with last year's devastating wildfire told investigators she "didn't want to kill anybody," only "see what would happen" when she set the first of two fires in her backyard, according to an audio tape played in court Monday. 

On the tape, the now-14 year old could be heard asking investigators multiple times, "What if it was me?"

The teen girl admitted to starting fires with a lighter the same week the Cocos Fire swept across San Diego’s North County according to her mother’s testimony in court Friday. 

The suspect said on tape that she felt "really bad" when she set the second fire. On that tape, her mother can be heard asking why the teen did it, to which the girl replies, "I wanted to tell you earlier. I love you, mom. Sorry. Don't hate me. I won't do it again."

Prosecutors claim the defendant set two fires in her family’s backyard on May 13 and May 14. One of those fires, prosecutors say, left behind an ember that floated away and eventually sparked the Cocos Fire. That fact has been disputed by defense attorneys.

The Cocos Fire on May 14 prompted the evacuation of a large area of San Marcos and ultimately destroyed 36 homes and caused $10.4 million in damage.

The girl faces four felony charges, including two counts of arson of an inhabited structure or property in which multiple structures were burned and two counts of arson of a structure or forest land in a reckless manner. She also faces a misdemeanor of unlawfully allowing a fire to escape from one’s control.

It is NBC 7’s policy not to identify juvenile defendants. We are not identifying family members to conceal the defendant’s identity.

Under cross-examination on Friday, the teenager's mother said she did not believe her daughter could have set the Cocos Fire.

“There was no reason for us to even think that one of the children did that,” the defendant’s mother testified.

Previous testimony from a sister alleged that the defendant laughed about setting the fires.

Defense attorneys argued earlier this week that a so-called "phantom ember" from the girl's backyard could not have traveled the distance prosecutors have alleged.

Prosecutors told NBC 7 the family rejected a plea agreement offer in the weeks before trial began.

Officials have set up an information line for victims, where they can call for basic info on the case and leave messages with questions. That number is 858-694-4241.

Download the free NBC 7 mobile app to stay updated on trial developments.

The University of San Diego is looking for a men’s basketball head coach.

After eight seasons, Bill Grier will leave his position as head coach of the Toreros, the school announced Monday.

“I’m more disappointed than anyone that we didn’t win more games, but I know we did things the right way,” Grier said in a statement released by the university.

The Toreros ended the season with a 15-16 overall record and 8-10 mark in the West Coast Conference.

The school will begin a national search to replace Grier.

Oprah Winfrey will auction off more than 500 personal belongings from her Water Tower Place condo that she put on the market last July, with the items set to go on sale April 25.

Leslie Hindman Auctioneers announced the sale on Monday, with the proceeds going to The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation.

“Oprah’s acumen as a media icon and businesswoman has been an inspiration for millions,” Leslie Hindman Auctioneers said in a statement on their website. “Perhaps even more inspiring is her dedication to altruistic endeavors, built on the foundation of sharing her success to better the lives of others.”

Oprah will be parting with more than 500 items from her personal collection including English, French and Continental furniture and decorative arts, paintings, prints, drawings, porcelain, crystal, silver, memorabilia, clothing and accessories.

“On a more personal level, I have long revered Ms. Winfrey as a collector,” said Leslie Hindman, founder of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. "I once met with Ms. Winfrey in 2003, and we discussed my perspectives and advice regarding collecting. It was immediately evident that she had extensive market knowledge and had made it a priority to form relationships with dealers, collectors and industry contacts to make informed decisions regarding acquisitions.”

The pieces will be available to preview at exhibitions beginning on April 16. Bidding will begin on April 25.

An historic East Village hotel is now embarking on a forward-thinking future as an assisted-care facility.

The Palms – originally known as the Bay View Hotel -- was built in 1869 in the Victorian style of that era, and it has a prominent link to "the Wild West."

In recent years, the Palms has provided "affordable" apartment and single-room occupancy living on lower Park Boulevard along the Park Boulevard trolley line.

But as more seniors with memory issues and others with special needs are winding up downtown, its owners are aiming at that growing market.

They’ve been losing money since they bought the hotel for around $4 million in 2010.

“It doesn't work economically,” said developer Sandy Shapery, whose 12th & A Hotel Partners LP venture is the titleholder of the property. “The electrical service is so inadequate that in the wintertime, everybody plugs their electric heaters in and all the circuit breakers go off.”

Shapery cites experts as saying the place needs at least a million dollars in repairs and basic upgrades to be brought “up to code”.

Current rents range from $550 to $950 a month for the 100 apartments and single rooms. 

So the re-purposing plan is to invest $15 million in a renovation project built subject to state historical standards and convert the Palms into a 70-unit facility that'll offer assisted living, health and memory care programs.

Shapery said financing will come from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development.

“But HUD -- as one of their requirements -- wants to see professional management in place,” he told NBC 7 in an interview Monday before the project was to be considered for approval by the City Council. “And I would like to see that, too."

Going forward, the rent scale could escalate upward from a thousand dollars a month, with federal and state grants subsidizing several units.

In the process, 47 current residents will lose their leases and be given relocation help and transition payments in accordance with city mandates.

One tenant likely to be in that number told us the new plans have been well-known for some time.

"As far as it happening, it happens all over the place all the time, and I have no problem with it," Alex “Fizix” Julian. "You know, in the long run I can get up and go find another place, as other people cannot."

Filling the place with new tenants doesn't figure to be a challenge.

"The market demand is very high,” Shapery explained, “because there are a lot of older people living in the condos downtown that now have to drive to San Marcos or other places, Escondido, where assisted-living facilities have been built because of the lower land costs."

There were concerns among councilmembers about the lack of affordable alternative housing for the displaced residents, but the project was approved on an 8-1 vote with Todd Gloria – in whose district the Palms is located – dissenting.

Testifying in favor of the project was historic preservation activist Bruce Coons, executive director of Save Our Heritage Organisation.

In an email to NBC 7, Coons lauded the Palms as “the greatest Victorian hotel in the county outside of the Hotel del (Coronado).”

According to historical accounts, the legendary Wyatt Earp lived in a second-floor corner unit with his third wife Josie in 1887, at a time when he was running gambling saloons in the Stingaree District.

Nearly a century later, in 1979, Chuck Norris filmed scenes from his martial arts flick "A Force of One" in the Palms.

If all goes according to the schedule envisioned by the Shapery group, the 21st century conversion and renovation project could get under way late this year.

Emotions were running high outside the Palestra Sunday afternoon after the funeral service for Philadelphia Police Officer Robert Wilson III.

As Springfield Township Corporal Shawn Hart looked at the solemn expressions in the crowd, he noticed a look of anxiety on the face of one police official. Corporal Hart quickly realized the reason for the concern. Officer Wilson’s funeral procession was about to begin and a car with no owner in sight was blocking the route.

“I watched him for a couple minutes, walked down, talked to him and asked him if it needed to be moved,” Hart said. “He’s like, ‘yeah, it has to be moved. I got a tow coming but I don’t know if it’s gonna make it here in time.’”

After waiting a few more minutes, Corporal Hart and more than a dozen other officers took action as the procession started.

They gathered around the car and began to lift. 

“We just moved the car,” Hart said.

“I just asked some guys in line for a hand. They came over and we moved it to the side. The procession was able to get past and that was it. After the procession came by he [the car’s owner] jumped in his car and moved it out of the way before the hearse came down.”

The funeral procession eventually brought Officer Wilson’s body to his final resting place at Fernwood Cemetery in Lansdowne. 

Hart isn't sure how many other officers joined in or what departments they were a part of. All he knows is that they stepped in to help, no questions asked.

“There were so many,” Hart said. “They just came over, grabbed a piece of the car and they moved it. I don’t even know where they were from.”

Hart had no idea the moment was captured on camera and subsequently shared on social media. Yet those officers weren’t looking for any recognition, they were simply performing their duty to the fullest in honor of a man who gave his life in order to do the same.

Mayor de Blasio confirmed Monday that he would not be marching in New York City's main St. Patrick's Day Parade, despite organizers' decision to allow a single gay group to march.

Last year, the mayor also skipped the event, saying he disagreed with organizers' policy of banning gay groups from marching under their own banners. A few weeks ago, he marched in the St. Pat's for All parade in Queens, an inclusive event.

This year, organizers have said they have dropped the ban, and announced plans for OUT@NBCUniversal, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employee resource group at the company that broadcasts Tuesday's parade, to march. Other gay groups can apply to march in future years, spokesman Bill O'Reilly has said.

WATCH LIVE: The 2015 St. Patrick's Day Parade

But some gay activists have called it a token gesture. The group Irish Queers has argued that OUT@NBCUniversal members should not march until the parade is opened up more broadly to gay organizations.

The chief diversity officer for NBCUniversal called the inclusion of the group a "historic point."

"We approach the opportunity with respect for the event's heritage, culture and tradition, as well as hope and excitement for this first step towards an increasingly inclusive era for the Parade," Craig Robinson, executive vice president and chief diversity officer for NBCUniversal, said in a statement. 

Meanwhile, the Catholic League has also said it will sit out this year's march up Fifth Avenue because event organizers aren't letting an anti-abortion group march.

Organizers had been facing increasing pressure to change their policy as acceptance of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community has become more widespread. Last year, the makers of Guinness, the popular Irish beer, announced they had withdrawn sponsorship of the event, citing its "policy of exclusion."

At least two people were sent to the hospital after a red car slammed into a two-story La Jolla building Monday.

At about 2:20 p.m., the older model Mercedes Benz hit Dick's Liquor Store at Pearl and Eads street, knocking over racks of wine inside. San Diego police said the 86-year-old driver somehow lost control of her car as she pulled out of a gas station across the street.

"From what I understand, she was getting gas. I'm just guessing that her foot slipped onto the gas. This is the result of it," said the driver's son-in-law Mark Vondoren.

As the car struck the wall and a stone trash can, rock debris flew across the area, hitting a man on the street, according to San Diego police.

The driver and the pedestrian were taken to Scripps La Jolla Hospital for minor injuries. Vondoren said she suffered a broken ankle and severe cut to her leg in the crash.

"She's 86 years old. She's got the mind of a 40-year-old. She's a very strong lady," said Vondoren. "That's what I say. This is very unusual. She's pretty clear-minded."

A city building engineer was called out to assess the integrity of the structure before the car was towed away.

Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the woman to drive into the building.

The liquor store owner said the crash caused at least $3,000 in damage to the wine alone, as well as undetermined damage to the building and Mercedes.