San Diego police busted up an illegal drug operation, arresting 16 people Wednesday.

One neighbor referred to the target of the police SWAT as a known “party house” in the Cherokee Point neighborhood near Interstates 805 and 15.

The house is located on the edge of North Park and City Heights.

San Diego police were serving a search warrant when they discovered what they called a huge amount of methamphetamine.

San Diego police Lt. Kevin Hubbs said officers got a large amount of meth off the streets with just the one bust.

"We actually had 10 people in custody prior to coming to the house and at the property we have four people that we are detaining that were inside and two people that were outside," Hubbs said.

Linus Harth, who lives two doors down, said he has seen clusters of people coming and going describing the house as one that's rented like an open-door hotel.

"I've dealt with the cluster of people coming and going down here, which everyone in this area is familiar with who lives here and who doesn't,” Harth said. “Occasionally that has meant we've come down to the mailbox and have to deal with strangers with hostile looks."

Investigators say were in the middle of clearing the residence when officers noticed a suspicious device resembling a pipe bomb.

The device was determined to be one used in the manufacturing of methamphetamine.

Investigators are hearing from women around the nation about a Del Mar man accused of raping a woman he met on a Christian dating website.

Sean Banks, 37, faces four charges including rape and rape by intoxication stemming from a 2009 incident and one reported in November.

The former U.S. Navy lieutenant was arrested on Feb. 11 after a La Mesa woman told police she had been raped.

The woman had met Banks through ChristianMingle.com under a different name officials said.

Banks brought alcohol and cups when she invited him to her home to watch a movie prosecutors said in a bail review hearing Wednesday.

When the woman refused to drink, she told police the defendant held her down on the couch and put his hands down her pants Deputy District Attorney David Williams III told the court.

Williams argued for no bail by describing the woman's side of the story - claiming the defendant pulled her into the bedroom, removed his pants, straddled her and allegedly raped her.

However, in the victim's police statement she said she willingly went to the bedroom and she didn’t mention the attack to her sister according to defense attorney Jan Ronis.

Before leaving, Banks collected the things he had brought prosecutors said.

When the victim later texted Banks, he wrote back “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I couldn’t find your place and I was never there” prosecutors said in court.

However officials used cellular evidence for place Banks there at the time of the rape, prosecutors said.

A second woman has identified Banks as a suspect in a May 2009 attack. She told officials she met Banks under another name through Match.com.

The woman was unable to recall what happened during their dinner date. When she regained consciousness, she told police she was back at home, slumped over the edge of her couch.

She claimed the defendant was having sex with her and she told him to stop Williams told the court.

When she texted the defendant afterwards, she claims he told her to call his attorney.

Since charges were first filed on Feb. 13, more alleged victims have come forward La Mesa  police Lt. Matt Nicholass told NBC 7 San Diego.

“We are reviewing any information that comes to the La Mesa Police Dept. and determining whether or not their particular situation is related to this case or not,” Nicholass said.

Banks served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and was enrolled at Pepperdine University as a graduate student.

His parents, Dwight and Cheryl Banks, live in San Diego and attended the pre-trial hearing in El Cajon Wednesday.

“We love our son very much and we're extremely confident that once the facts are presented, he will be exonerated,” Cheryl Banks said.

Prosecutors said Banks used a number of aliases when posting to dating websites like ChristianMingle.com , POF.com and Match.com. They include Rarity, Rylan, Rylan Butterwood and Rylan Harbough.

Because Banks traveled around the U.S., investigators believe he may have been involved with women outside San Diego and outside California.

He is also accused of trying to dissuade another woman from coming forward to police.

Late last week, Victoria Kinney, Miss Irvine-Orangewood in the 2012 Miss California pageant, said she met Banks through the ChristianMingle website. She claims he threatened her not to share her story with police.

The DA will review Kinney's claim and decide whether to charge Banks in connection with her allegations, Lt. Nicholass said.

Based on the charges currently filed - rape by a foreign object by force, rape of an intoxicated person, burglary and trying to dissuade a witness – Banks faces a maximum penalty of 44 years in prison.

Banks next court hearing is scheduled for March 15. Until then, he'll remain in jail unless he can post the $1 million bail

The San Diego Chargers have released veteran linebacker Takeo Spikes.

Spikes, 36, was under contract for 2013 at $3 million. The move buys the team $3 million in salary cap space.

With this move, the team stands just around $10 - $11 million below the spending limit.

“Takeo is a true professional and a class act,” General Manager Tom Telesco said in a written release from the team early Thursday. “We’re grateful for his many contributions to the Chargers organization, both on and off the field, and wish him nothing but the best in the future.”

Spikes made a statement via Twitter: ""Thank you to the @Chargers, the Spanos family & fans for the opportunity to represent the organization. I look forward to this upcoming season."

Spikes has played in two Pro Bowls and made the All-Pro team. He made 1,737 career tackles - 218 of them with the Chargers.

NBC 7’s Derek Togerson described Spikes as “arguably the best player in NFL history who's never reached the post-season.”

While his physical play against the pass may have been slowing down, his presence in the locker room was huge.

He can be credited with the recent rapid development of Donald Butler into one of the league’s best young middle linebackers.

The reaction on NBC 7's Facebook page was mixed.

Chargers fan Cathy Szames Mueller posted, "Nah, don't agree with this move at all........he was a strong leader and teacher."

NBC 7 follower Juan Carlos Gonzalez agreed saying "here we go again well he will become a super star some were else."

Trev Madsen from Carlsbad supported the move by the new management.  "Solid move. Slow guys are a liability in this league," he posted on our Facebook page.

In his first two years with the Chargers, his team mates voted him their most inspirational player.

Chargers are now in the market for at least two middle linebackers through the draft or free agency.

In two days, teams can start negotiation with free agents and can sign them on March 12.

“Don’t be surprised to see more cuts coming from the Chargers in the next couple of days,” Togerson said.

In reporting the news this morning, NFL.com said Spikes hopes to still play this season for another team.

Although it’s a longshot, fans should not rule out the possibility of the Chargers resigning Spikes for less money.

Spikes has been a regular contributor on "NBC 7 Football Night in San Diego" and "Sportswrap" with Jim Laslavic.

Just days after a U.S. Marine, his wife and their two dogs were killed in a fiery collision on Interstate 5, one family member talks about the couple taken "too soon."

Shardeh Watkins’ step-father spoke Wednesday to NBC 7 San Diego in an exclusive interview.

Heartbroken, he said he finds solace in knowing they died as a family.

"The only thing that comforts us is that they all went quickly and they all went together,” Matthew Norris said of his step-daughter, her husband, Marine combat veteran Gerrick Watkins, and the couple’s two dogs Layla and Scout.

Norris said the couple was most likely on their way home after their typical Saturday routine - a day at the beach with their labs – when their pickup truck slammed into a pole and caught fire.

The fatal crash happened around 10:40 p.m. Saturday on southbound I-5, just north of the San Onofre Inspection Facility near Camp Pendleton and Basilone Road.

A witness told investigators he tried to help but the flames were just too much.

Gerrick Watkins, 23, was based at Camp Pendleton and had recently returned from deployment.

He and Shardeh, who worked as a nanny on the base, had eloped in Las Vegas just two years ago.

“They enjoyed each other's time and they enjoyed each other's company,” Norris said.

The two met in San Diego. Shardeh was an animal lover who was very family-oriented Norris said.
His step-son-in-law had served in Afghanistan and returned unharmed.

“Gerrick - he was an honorable individual. He was a polite individual, respectful individual.”

A driver changing a tire on his own car on the side of the road witnessed the crash and explosion.

He told CHP officials the truck veered into the pole suddenly, and that he could hear Gerrick yelling for help following the crash, unable to get the door open before the truck became engulfed in flames.

The pole that the truck crashed into is a pre-pass scanner that allows commercial vehicles to bypass the scales at the inspection facility, CHP officials said.

Both victims died from multiple blunt force injuries sustained in the crash according to the county medical examiner.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

The couple was scheduled to move to Japan this summer as part of Gerrick’s orders from the U.S. Marine Corps.

At 23, Shardeh had dreams of starting a family.

Norris said the couple was taken too soon.

"It's very unfortunate that neither one of them was able to experience those sort of things,” he said.

Shardeh and the two dogs, Layla and Scout, will be buried in her home state of Maryland. Gerrick will be laid to rest in his home state of Texas.

The Philadelphia School Reform Commission voted Thursday night to save four public schools and close more than two dozen in an effort to save the cash-strapped district about $24 million per year.

School officials say many of the buildings have too many empty seats and are in poor condition. Philadelphia School Superintendent William Hite tweeted shortly after the vote.

"The decision to close schools is always difficult but now we must come together to ensure all students are safe and successful," Hite tweeted.

Opponents say the closures will hurt struggling neighborhoods, disrupt students' education and lead to blight.

Hundreds attended the School Reform Commission meeting immediately after a rally. Nineteen people were arrested on disorderly conduct charges after they tried to stop the school closure vote from taking place by blocking the doors to the auditorium. All 19 were issued a citation and later released, police said.

"These terrible attacks on our teachers, attacks on our students, we have to stand up and fight back, and that's what we were doing tonight," said retired teacher Tom Whitehorn.

Among those arrested, was Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.

Jerry Jordan, the current president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, released a statement shortly after the vote.

“The SRC's vote to close 24 neighborhood schools is a stark illustration of how out of touch the School Reform Commission is with the parents, students, educators and communities that depend on these institutions.

School closings disrupt students' lives and disenfranchise our poorest communities. It is a misguided, poorly planned and ultimately ineffective action that will do nothing to improve education in Philadelphia.

The entire school closing process wastes time and money that would be better spent exploring what it really takes to ensure that all of our schoolchildren get what they need. Instead of starving our schools, then shutting them down, we should be fighting for adequate education funding so that every school can provide students with the materials, programs, services and extracurricular activities that define a quality public education.

The thousands of people who attended the rally at the school district building today remind us that the fight to save public education in Philadelphia is only beginning. The PFT will continue to stand with the community and demand that the SRC, school district, mayor and governor reset their priorities from cutbacks and concessions to reinvestment in our public schools. “

RELATED ARTICLES:

Proposed School Closings & Consolidations

A man wanted for his alleged participation in a Tijuana drug cartel was extradited to San Diego this week.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office claims that Cesar Alfredo Meza-Garcia, 36, is a leader within the Tijuana cartel. Meza-Garcia faces 19 charge, including conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

Meza-Garcia was arrested in Mexico last year during a multi-agency investigation known as Operation Jackhammer II. Agents believe the alleged Tijuana cartel leader was responsible for transporting cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana from Mexico to California.

Meza-Garcia will appear in court at 10:30 a.m. on March 8. If convicted, he could face life in prison in addition to a $10 million fine.

A California Lottery ticket sold in San Diego nearly six months ago has yet to be claimed, and now the holder of the ticket has less than one week left to collect the prize.

California Lottery officials say the lucky MEGA Millions ticket at the center of this suspense is worth $170,827. It was sold on September 14, 2012, at the Escape Snack Bar located at 3360 32nd Street Naval Base.

The ticket successfully matched five of the six numbers in the MEGA Millions drawing – 40, 21, 51, 16 and 17 – missing only the Mega number of 20.

Since that September draw, Lottery officials haven’t heard a peep from the mystery winner, who likely has no idea they have a ticket worth more than $170,000.

Now, the days left to claim that prize are numbered.

Based on official CA Lottery rules, winners have 180 days from the date of the draw to claim prizes. That means this particular winning ticket will expire at the close of business on March 13, 2013.

If the winner doesn’t come forward by then, Lottery officials say the unclaimed funds will be transferred to California schools.

The nearest Lottery District Office to where this ticket was sold is located at 5656 Ruffin Road in San Diego. The phone number for that office is (858) 492-1700.

Lotto officials urge anyone who lives or works in the area where this ticket was sold to search through their possessions and old tickets, just in case, to avoid missing out on some serious cash.

San Diego Police officers issued hundreds of tickets on Thursday for people who walked across intersections when they're not supposed to.

In the Hillcrest neighborhood, police gave out jaywalking tickets that can cost more than $100. More than 380 citations to pedestrians were given out throughout the day.

In the past month, police said the research shows it's primarily been the person walking, at fault.

"The pedestrian doesn't always have the right of way and that's a misnomer that we hear all the time,” said Lt. Steve Hutchinson. “If you walk out in front of a car in between two controlled intersections, that's the definition of jaywalking, if you walk out and you get hit, you're at fault."

Hutchinson also said rules for where and when you can cross an intersection are strict.

Here are some other rules to abide by:

• No walking across intersections when there's a red hand, or red hand already flashing.
• No jaywalking.
• No riding your bike or skateboarding against traffic on the road.
• Use headlights and tail lights on your bike.

While some people were upset to get a ticket, one bike rider who received a warning believes it’s a public safety issue.

“It was probably the most reasonable way to address the problem,” Phil Bolima said. “I think as bike riders you need to be reassured that you're doing the right thing or the wrong thing.”

A Berkeley icon - Chez  Panisse -  caught on fire early Friday, shocking those who love the restaurant known for its fresh, organic and expensive meals, while garnering interest and concern from across the country.

The fire at the 1517 Shattuck Avenue restaurant was reported just after 3 a.m. when someone spotted flames and called 911. It likely started a couple hours before that.

They don't have an immediate cause, but Berkeley Fire Department Acting Chief Avery Webb said investigators are looking at the electrical system to see if that sparked the fire, which appears as though it may have started under the porch. A sprinkler inside the building helped quell the damage, he said. Early estimates showed to be about $200,000.

And despite the outside of the wooden building looking burned to the core, Webb said that inside, the "damage didn't look too bad, there's not even that much smoke damage." The main beams of the restaurant are still strong, and the main dining room, the kitchen and upstairs cafe were spared.

This just isn't any other fire at any other restaurant.

The icon that Chez Panisse is to foodies around the globe, quickly drew the attention of news agencies spanning from the Los Angeles Times to the New York Times. Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin, who lives in the East Bay, tweeted she was "so sad to hear about the fire at #ChezPanisse! Such an iconic Berkeley restaurant. Absolutely love that place."

And diners who had traveled long distances to eat there were definitely disappointed.

Carol Esch of New Jersey planned to eat at Chez Panisse with her friends for lunch on Friday.  She was shocked to arrive and find it burned. 

"I came across the country to come here,"  Esch said. "It was on my bucket list to come here for lunch today.  I'm so sad, really so sad."

Chez Panisse is owned by Alice Waters, who showed up on scene about 6 a.m. and was seen hugging her general manager. She was obviously shocked. And she said she was glad she didn't listen to her first instincts about not putting in a downstairs sprinkler.

With tears choking her words, she told a group of reporters that she had mixed emotions.

"I'm sad, very sad," she said, before quickly switching gears and adding, "Right now I just feel lucky." (To see some of her interview, click here.)

The chef and activist opened Chez Panisse in 1971, and she remembers another fire in 1982.

Since then, Waters has worked beyond the restaurant to promote cooking and eating healthy, locally grown food. She often works with schools to promote good eating with young children.

The menus at Chez Panisse are always changing. Her current one boasts delicacies such as Six Hog Island Sweetwater oysters on the half shell with mignonette sauce ($16) in her moderately priced cafe. And Friday's fixed-price dinner was going for $100; the main dish would have been Becker Lane Farm pork loin grilled with cumin, artichokes, rapini and white beans azafran.

Waters is one of the most influential figures on the American food scene. And people from near and far flock to Chez Panisse for special occasions. Chez Panisse was recognized as the Best Restaurant in America by Gourmet Magazine in 2000, and since then, has won several more awards.

When the restaurant will re-open is unclear, though Waters told a group of reporters that it certainly will. In fact, she said she was thinking about using this opportunity to possibly expand.

 "It's really important that we rebuild," she said. "I'm sure we will have the complete support of the insurance company."

To see some of Alice Water's raw video this morning click here:
 

NBC Bay Area's Jodi Hernandez contributed to this report. Contact Lisa Fernandez at 408-432-4758 or lisa.fernandez@nbcuni.com.
 

Taco Bell fans have lost their cool about Cool Ranch Doritos Locos tacos.

The fast food chain announced on Facebook this week that it would launch its Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos on Wednesday, a day earlier than expected. But fans have taken to Taco Bell's Facebook page to lob complaints that employees at their local restaurants said it will not be available until Thursday.

"The Taco Bell in Greenville, IL was not selling them," one Facebook fan wrote. "Drove out there to be disappointed."

Some had lofty lunch plans at Taco Bell only to be let down.

"After inviting about 50 colleagues to join me for lunch today," Andrew Parks wrote. "We were told we would have to wait until tomorrow."

The California-based company officially launched the item on Thursday after fans revolted and issued an apology.

“We apologize to those fans who couldn’t buy it a day early,” the company said.

The highly-anticipated taco was inspired by the success of its predecessor the Nacho Cheese taco, which was Taco Bell's most successful product in its 51-year history. 

The new offering boasts a shell made out of Doritos Cool Ranch chips on the outside with beef, lettuce and cheese on the inside.

Taco Bell hyped up the Cool Ranch debute with social media and exclusive previews for fans in New York, Dallas and Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Taco Bell is owned by Yum! Brands Inc. which also owns PIzza Hut and KFC.

San Diego-based company Bumble Bee Foods has issued a voluntary recall on specific codes of five-ounce tuna products recently sold to consumers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirms.

The recall includes specific codes of Chunk White Albacore and Chunk Light Tuna cans sold to consumers nationwide between Jan. 17 and Feb. 28, 2013.

The FDA says the company is recalling the products due to loose seals on the cans. Loose seals and seams on food products could result in contamination by organisms or pathogens, and could lead to illness if consumed.

To check which products and codes are included in this recall click here.

Consumers who have purchased any of the recalled products are advised to discard the product immediately. So far, Bumble Bee Food representatives say there have been no consumer reports of illnesses attributed to these products.

Consumers with questions about this voluntary tuna recall or reimbursements can contact Buble Bee Consumers Affairs at (800) 800-8572.
 

A lion that killed a 24-year-old female volunteer intern may have escaped its cage before the attack, the Fresno County Coroner said on Thursday.

Dianna Hanson began a six-month internship in January at Project Survival’s Cat Haven sanctuary in Dunlap, Calif. She died Wednesday after an adult male African lion attacked her.

An autopsy showed Hanson died instantly of a broken neck, likely from a swipe of the lion's paw. The coroner said other injuries to Hanson's body happened after she died.

Before the coroner's report on Thursday, it was unclear why Hanson was so close to the big cat. The lion escaping from its cage while Hanson cleaned the main enclosure could explain that, though officials said the investigation is still ongoing.

More: Father: Lion Attack Victim Had "Her Dream Job" at Sanctuary

Hanson -- who celebrated her 24th birthday in February -- was remembered by her colleagues as "vivacious."

"Her passion for working with these animals was contagious. Dianna performed her regular scheduled duties, which included cleaning enclosures," Cat Haven founder Dale Anderson said, reading from a prepared statement Thursday.

Authorities said the 24-year-old's body was found inside the African lion enclosure.

The lion – named Cous Cous – may have broken free from his cage to kill Hanson inside a cleaning enclosure, NBC affiliate KSEE 24 News reports, citing the coroner.

The animal was shot and killed after the attack, according to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department.

Before her internship at the sanctuary, Hanson had previous zoo keeper experience, including with big cats. Her family said it was Hanson's dream to one day with the animals, and the victim's colleagues said that passion shined through her work.

"She was doing what she loved and she did it with joy everyday she worked here," Wendy Dabbas, president of Cat Haven, said through tears Thursday.

"She’s going to be missed. I’m so sorry this has happened."

Cous Cous lived at the sanctuary since he was a cub and shared a habitat with Pely, a female lion who could be heard making deep, bark-like noises inside her enclosure on Thursday.

Anderson said the animal was nearby at the time of the attack, and is likely making those sounds because she is stressed.

Cat Haven was closed for its regular winter hours at the time of the attack, authorities said. The Sheriff's Department and state wildlife officials will both investigate the incident.

A monster thief nearly made off with a big bite of one state’s Girl Scout cookie supply.

On Thursday, a South Carolina man was charged with stealing more than 5,000 boxes of Thin Mints and Shortbreads, The Associated Press reported.

Police fingered 37-year old Christopher Maurice Morton as the alleged cookie culprit who took $19,000 worth of Girl Scout cookies from a Spartanburg, S.C., warehouse.

The owner of Carey Moving and Storage reported more than 450 cases missing after an inventory was conducted on Feb. 26.

There wasn’t a trail of crumbs, but authorities were led to Morton, a truck driver at the warehouse.

Master Deputy Kevin Bobo said Morton has since been fired and charged with "breach of trust more than $10,000."

The plan behind the cookie heist still remains a mystery. But, Bobo said Greenville County sheriff deputies recovered 352 cases from behind an abandoned business.

It’s unclear what happened to the nearly 100 other cases of cookie loot.

Sunbathing topless or nude is widely accepted in Europe, but the same type of nudity may become illegal in Europe, if its found on the Internet.

The European Parliament on Tuesday will vote on a proposal that could lay the groundwork for banning pornography across all media - including the Internet, The International Herald Tribune reported.

If the European Parliament passes the measure, the proposal could influence Europe’s law-making body, the European Commission, which could then decide whether or not to draft actual legislation that would ban Internet pornography, the Tribune noted.

Free speech critics fear that if adopted, such a law could restrict civil liberties and freedom of expression in the 27-member state bloc. They are also concerned with the report's vague language.

Called the “report on eliminating gender stereotypes in the EU,” the proposal states that there is an "increasingly noticeable tendency...to show provocatively dressed women, in sexual poses." It also notes that pornography is becoming ubiquitous and is "slipping into our everyday lives as an evermore universally accepted, often idealized, cultural element," according to CNET. It was introduced by left-leaning parliamentarian Kartika Liotard of the Netherlands.

Christian Engström, member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Sweden's Pirate Party, said the wording of the proposal is very similar to an older resolution which was passed in 1997 and called for “statutory measures to prevent any form of pornography in the media and in advertising and for a ban on advertising for pornographic products and sex tourism."

The problem with the new one though, Engström said, is that it adds stricter language and the inclusion of Internet-based traffic, which wasn’t a big issue back in 1997, according to the Tribune. Now online porn is pervasive.

Since the bill includes ban of porn in "any media," Engström said it could include the Web, social networks, emails, and even the photos that European citizens upload, CNET reported.

It also calls for the establishment of regulatory agencies with "a mandate to impose effective sanctions on companies and individuals promoting the sexualization of girls," according to The Huffington Post.

"To a certain extent, the exact meaning on this proposed ban on pornography is unclear, since neither the 1997 resolution nor the text we will be voting on next week contains any definition of what is meant by 'in the media,'" Engström pointed out.

Wired U.K. argues that the ban ultimately won't become law, but still hedges its bet.

It's time to "spring forward" Sunday for the annual ritual of re-setting our clocks for Daylight Saving Time.

While we're losing an hour of sleep beginning on March 10 at 2 a.m., we gain an extra hour of daylight. Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands do not participate in DST.

While some may be thrilled for the extra hour of sunlight, others call DST "archaic" and think the practice should be eliminated. A petition now circulating on the White House "We the People" crowdsourcing website asks the government to do away with DST.

"The original reasons for the policies are no longer applicable, and the most cited reason for keeping DST (energy savings) has never been shown to be true," the petition reads. "Some industries still like DST (like sporting equipment retailers), but there are many more who dislike the changed hours (like television)."

The petition was created on March 5 and had 7,611 signatures as of Friday afternoon.

Daylight savings last until Nov. 3 when clocks "fall" back for the fall season.

The business of selling San Diego is on hold while millions of dollars is at the center of a legal battle between the tourism marketing industry and the mayor’s office.

On Friday, one of the industry’s leaders said if funds aren’t released the likelihood of the San Diego Tourism Authority’s ability to keep its doors open is limited.

When tourism industry representatives met in Mission Beach Friday to select the 2014 programs and events they will recommend funding, they also discussed the ongoing lawsuit over approximately $30 million in hotel surcharge funds they had planned to spend in 2013.

Hoteliers say they have the right to money raised through a special tax levied on lodging guests put in to place to promote San Diego as a tourist destination.

Mayor Bob Filner has refused to sign the contract releasing the funds without concessions that hotel owners have rejected.

The Tourism Marketing District (TMD) plans to use that money to lure tourists to San Diego instead of competing cities like San Francisco or Los Angeles.

“We have to be out there. This is not just a want. It’s a vital need,” said San Diego Tourism Marketing Corporation Executive Director Lorin Stewart.

A San Diego judge has agreed to expedite his ruling on the lawsuit. Both sides are hoping to have an answer by March 22.

Even with an expedited ruling, Joe Terzi with the San Diego Tourism Authority (SDTA) told NBC 7 San Diego the group may have trouble keeping its doors open during the peak travel season – summertime.

The TMD provides 80% of the SDTA’s annual budget through allocations like the ones being voted on Friday.

The SDTA has not received funding since January and Terzi said the organization is operating off money from its private source income and membership.

At this rate, he estimates the SDTA will run out of money in April and may have trouble staying in business.

“It takes San Diego off the map when most of the other destinations are stepping up their marketing efforts,” Terzi said explaining that the group typically spends more than $8 million that they’re not spending just before the summer travel season.

Among the events approved by the group in the past are the upcoming Crew Classic, the annual football events in December – the Holiday Bowl and the Poinsettia Bowl and the Rock and Roll Marathon.

Stewart said the San Diego Brewers’ Guild and the San Diego Film Festival have also requested funding for 2014.

He said the return on investment is good – pointing out that San Diego had the first large tourism marketing district. Now there are 74 marketing districts across the state of California all competing for the tourism dollar.

A powerful winter storm dumped a large amount of snow and rain on Southern California Friday morning causing delays and closures for travelers.

California Highway Patrol closed traffic along northbound Interstate 5 at Castaic due to snow and low visibility.

Several big rigs were stuck along the major north-south truck route between Los Angeles and  Central California.

There was no estimate on when the Grapevine section of the freeway will reopen, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Check Interactive Traffic Map

In San Diego County, a big rig crash blocked the 47th off-ramp along northbound Interstate 805 early Friday.

Just before 2 a.m., a Quality Towing tow truck lost control on the wet roads and crashed into the guardrail, flipping over.

The driver was trapped inside for about 30 minutes until firefighters arrived to cut off the windshield to free him. He was rushed to an area hospital.

Around 4:30 a.m., there was another crash along northbound I-805. An overturned box truck was on its side when it was hit by another car. The exit lane for 43rd Street was blocked. 

There was another report that the on-ramp to southbound Interstate 15 from Friars Road was closed due to a crash and flooding.

A Fed Ex big rig, jackknifed on northbound I-5 just south of Via de la Valle before 6 a.m.

A former San Diego County Deputy District Attorney will pay $1500, spend years on probation and do hundreds of hours of community service as a penalty for fixing a $142 seatbelt ticket.

Allison Worden was cited at a “Click It or Ticket” checkpoint on May 28, 2011. Soon after, she called her friend Sgt. Kevin Friedman, at the San Diego Police Traffic Division.

According to investigators, Friedman found the tickets in the division’s citation bin and got rid of them. He retired from the SDPD and pleaded no contest to one count of destroyed a traffic citation.

Worden resigned from her job at the DA”s office and on Friday she was sentenced to three years of probation, a $1500 fine and 200 hours of community service.

Worden, who also goes by her married name Allison Debow, will also have to report to the women’s jail for one day of custody on March 17.

She was not present in court at the time of sentencing on the three misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice and alteration or destruction of a traffic citation.

Mike Murphy Deputy Attorney General said the case was disheartening but proves even officials will be prosecutors for breaking the law.

“Obviously a case like this where a person conspires to undermine, obstruct justice the very system we’re working in, that’s problematic and it’s a direct betrayal of all of those responsibilities,” Murphy said.

Last year, Friedman was sentenced to 40 hours of community service, two years of probation and ordered to pay a $500 fine.

Defense attorney Paul Pfingst said she still maintains that she told the officer not to do anything about the ticket.

"The jury disbelieved her, she will have to live with that but it does not change her position," Pfingst said.

If Worden would’ve have simply paid the ticket, it would have cost a minimum of $142 under the California “Click It or Ticket” program.

A rough, whitish block recovered from an Elizabethan shipwreck may be a sunstone, the fabled crystal believed by some to have helped Vikings and other medieval seafarers navigate the high seas, researchers say.

In a paper published earlier this week, a Franco-British group argued that the Alderney Crystal — a chunk of Icelandic calcite found amid a 16th century wreck at the bottom of the English Channel — worked as a kind of solar compass, allowing sailors to determine the position of the sun even when it was hidden by heavy cloud, masked by fog, or below the horizon.

That's because of a property known as birefringence, which splits light beams in a way that can reveal the direction of their source with a high degree of accuracy. Vikings may not have grasped the physics behind the phenomenon, but that wouldn't present a problem.

"You don't have to understand how it works," said Albert Le Floch, of the University in Rennes in western France. "Using it is basically easy."

Vikings were expert navigators — using the sun, stars, mountains and even migratory whales to help guide them across the sea — but some have wondered at their ability to travel the long stretches of open water between Greenland, Iceland, and Newfoundland in modern-day Canada.

Le Floch is one of several who've suggested that calcite crystals were used as navigational aids for long summer days in which the sun might be hidden behind the clouds. He said the use of such crystals may have persisted into the 16th century, by which time magnetic compasses were widely used but often malfunctioned.

Le Floch noted that one Icelandic legend — the Saga of St. Olaf — appears to refer to such a crystal when it says that Olaf used a "sunstone" to verify the position of the sun on a snowy day.

But that's it. Few other medieval references to sunstones have been found, and no such crystals have ever been recovered from Viking tombs or ships. Until the Alderney Crystal was recovered in 2002, there had been little if any hard evidence to back the theory.

Many specialists are still skeptical. Donna Heddle, the director of the Center for Nordic Studies at Scotland's University of the Highlands and Islands, described the solar compass hypothesis as speculative.

"There's no solid evidence that that device was used by Norse navigators," she said Friday. "There's never been one found in a Viking boat. One cannot help but feel that if there were such things they would be found in graves."

She acknowledged that the crystal came from Iceland and was found near a navigation tool, but said it might just as easily have been used as a magnifying device as a solar compass.

Le Floch argued that one of the reasons why no stones have been found before is that calcite degrades quickly — it's vulnerable to acid, sea salts, and to heat. The Alderney Crystal was originally transparent, but the sea water had turned it a milky white.

Le Floch's paper — written with Guy Ropars, Jacques Lucas, and a group of Britons from the Alderney Maritime Trust — appeared Wednesday in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A.