One San Diego start up wants to change the way you look at your clothing.

Art Without a Roof, co-founded by Matthew Wayne and two other San Diego State University Students, works with disadvantaged artists through different organizations to create sustainable clothing through their art.

“Art can help people express themselves, it’s almost like therapy,” Wayne said. 

It all started when Wayne was eight years old. The San Diego native went to an art gallery showcasing work by youth affected by homelessness.

One piece by a kid named Matthew caught his eye.

“It really connected with me because his name was Matthew and I realized, ‘Wow, he’s homeless,’ and it opened my eyes because there were homeless kids, [kids as old as] me,” Wayne said.

Fast forward 15 years, and Wayne is working on Art Without a Roof, where he hopes “threads for change” will improve the lives of disadvantaged youths and inspiring people to support local artists and local causes. Their primary cause at the moment is homelessness, but Wayne said the company plans to expand.

Wayne and his team have worked with local San Diego disadvantaged youths and activist Innocente, from the award-winning film.

The company begins with partnering with a disadvantaged artist. Then, a graphic designer on the team will tweak the artist’s work to turn it into a piece of art that then goes onto a piece of apparel, made locally. Anyone can buy the item on the company’s website and parts of the profit go toward the cause behind the shirt.

Ten percent of each item sold benefits partner organizations like the Monarch School, which provide youths that are homeless with an education.

The business plans to fully launch the site in June and open up the website for artists to submit their own designs. When they submit their work, they will be able to pick a cause that their final products will benefit. Wayne wants the website and business to become a platform for artists and nonprofits. 

In June, the company plans to launch a line of shirts that will benefit causes that support veterans issues.

Since their Kickstarter, which raised more than $25,000, the business has sold more than 3,500 shirts and has featured 11 different designs. Those numbers will grow once the site launches in the summer. 

The collapsed parking garage at the Watergate hotel in Washington, D.C., was stabilized Sunday, allowing searchers back inside. Searchers did not find any sign that there was anyone trapped inside.

Also, a search dog did not indicate the presence of anyone in the rubble Sunday.

Crews have been working to clear the debris and search the scene since the collapse at the famed hotel‘s parking garage Friday morning. The garage floors pancaked, injuring two workers and crushing at least one vehicle.

Because it is a public garage, officials say that it was impossible to know if anyone else may have been inside.

Search and recovery teams from Montgomery County, Maryland, have been helping construction crews, including using dogs trained to indicate cadavers. One of those dogs had a possible hit Friday, but that was not repeated Sunday, Montgomery County fire officials said.

Many vehicles remain in the garage. D.C. fire officials will let drivers know when they can pick up those vehicles.

Police and fire officials said they didn't know yet what caused the collapse.

Baseball fans, get ready to see #Swoon an awful lot. That's what Padres supporters on Twitter have used to talk about Austin Hedges, and he is coming to The Show.

One of the crown jewels of the Padres system and the number one defensive catching prospect in all of baseball, Hedges is joining the team this week in San Francisco. Hedges broke the news to his Junipero Serra high school baseball coach and the cat was out of the bag

The 22-year-old Hedges has long been considered a Gold Glove-caliber defensive catcher. The question was whether or not he could hit enough. So far this season at Triple-A El Paso Hedges is batting .343 with two home runs, far and away the best offensive start to any of his professional seasons.

Padres starter Ian Kennedy told me he made it a point early in Spring Training to ask manager Bud Black if he could throw to Hedges and had nothing but good things to say about the young backstop.

A corresponding roster move has not yet been announced.

A two car crash in Fallbrook sliced a car in half and left five injured, one with life-threatening injuries, officials said.

North County fire officials said a black and red car collided with each other on the 2500 block of East Mission Road at approximately 12:55 a.m. Sunday.

The force of the crash caused one of the cars to split completely in half, leaving five with non-life threatening injuries and one with life-threatening injuries.

The patients were taken to Palomar Hospital and Temecula Valley Hospital. They were 19 to 50 years old.

Officials said they do not know if alcohol or drugs played a role in the crash.

Residents woke up to minor flooding Monday morning in a Southern California beach community under a high surf advisory that is expected to continue into Tuesday.

The advisory is in effect Monday for coastal communities in Los Angeles and Orange counties, including the beach town of Seal Beach where there was standing water on the boardwalk. No damage was reported overnight, but another high tide is expected around 10 a.m.

The flooding occurred at about 9:30 p.m. Water did not enter homes along the boardwalk.

Crews were working Monday morning to rearrange the sand to prevent a repeat of the flooding. A 20-foot winter sand berm was removed last month.

The high surf advisory, indicating surf from 6 to 10 feet with 12-foot sets, will remain in effect through at least Monday. Powerful rip currents are possible and a National Weather Service statement said minor to moderate beach erosion is possible.

Swimmers are "strongly encouraged" not to enter the water, according to the statement.

The most dangerous conditions in Orange County are expected near Seal Beach and Sunset Beach. In Los Angeles County, the highest surf will be across south facing beaches, including the Malibu, Zuma and Palos Verdes areas. Surf will peak this afternoon in LA County.

The waves are being generated by a Southern Hemisphere storm rolling toward the Southern California coast. The weather service said rough conditions extend up the coast to San Luis Obispo County. Avalon, Port San Luis, San Simeon, and Cayucos could see currents capable of dislodging moored vessels and docks.

On Sunday, large waves forced a Carnival cruise bound to Mexico to leave from San Diego instead of Long Beach. More than 2,000 guests with tickets to board the cruise ship Carnival Imagination in Long Beach were bussed 100 miles south due to dangerous conditions in the water, a Carnival spokeswoman said.
 

Vacation-goers expecting to embark on a Carnival cruise to Mexico instead found themselves sitting on a shuttle en route to San Diego on Sunday.

More than 2,000 guests with tickets to board the cruise ship Carnival Imagination in Long Beach were bussed 100 miles south due to dangerous conditions in the water, a Carnival spokeswoman said. 

The cruise ship company decided to switch boarding locations with high surf and powerful waves expected across southern facing waterfronts in Los Angeles County affecting the Long Beach docking area.

"The long swells that are predicted can make it unsafe to keep a ship's gangways connected and potentially stress the vessel's mooring lines," Joyce Oliva said, a Carnival spokeswoman. 

Carnival Imagination's planned visit to Catalina Island tomorrow was also canceled. However, a scheduled visit to the coastal city of Ensenada, Mexico, would be extended an extra day and night, Oliva said.

The cruise ship was expected to depart from San Diego Sunday at 10 p.m. with a planned return to its homeport of Long Beach on Thursday.

A 6-year-old boy with brain cancer is inspiring others with his unique way of coping with chemotherapy: dance parties.

Braylon Bream rallies his father, fellow patients and even the staff at his Charlotte, North Carolina, hospital at to groove, pop-lock and even twerk after undergoing his grueling treatments every Friday.

"Just do whatever Braylon does — that's what we usually do," Braylon's father Jesse, who wants to show the challenges young kids with cancer face, told NBC affiliate WCNC.

Last Friday, Braylon underwent an MRI at St. Jude Affiliate Clinic Novant Health Hemby Children's Hospital that would reveal if his cancer was spreading. Even though his treatment exhausted him — he slept three hours after one procedure — there was only one thing he wanted to do when he woke up.

"When he woke up, he said, 'We need to dance. It's time to dance.' He said, 'It's time to dance, because it's Friday,'" Jesse said.

While Braylon continues to battle his brain cancer, his father told WCNC that the latest MRI showed the cancer's spread had stopped.

"Came back, and said his spine was clean, and there's no progression in his optic nerve. Just fantastic news," said his father. "I feel like the weight is off my shoulders — just amazing."

Britain's newborn princess has been named Charlotte Elizabeth Diana — seen as a tribute to Prince William's parents and grandmother.

The princess is the second child of Prince William and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge. The baby will be known as Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, royal officials said Monday.

Charlotte, the feminine form of Charles, appears to be a nod to the newborn's grandfather, Prince Charles. The middle names honor Queen Elizabeth II, the infant's 89-year-old great-grandmother, and the late Princess Diana, William's mother.

The princess is fourth in line to the throne after Charles, William and her older brother Prince George.

William and Kate introduced the baby princess to the world Saturday evening, just 12 hours after Kate checked into a London hospital to give birth. The baby weighed in at 8 pounds, 3 ounces (3.7 kilograms).

The couple had kept the world guessing about the name until after both sets of grandparents got a chance to visit Kensington Palace on Sunday to meet their granddaughter.

Bookmakers had taken huge amounts of bets on the name, and Charlotte had been a favorite choice, a front-runner alongside other guesses like Alice and Victoria.

Earlier Monday, Westminster Abbey's bells pealed and gun salutes were fired across London in honor of the newborn princess. In a display of traditional pageantry, dozens of deafening volleys were fired from Hyde Park and the Tower of London to mark the occasion.

Royals traditionally look to their family tree for name ideas, and Britain's royal history has seen several Charlottes. Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III, was a keen botanist and founded London's Kew Gardens. Born in 1744, the queen had 15 children.

George IV also named his only child Charlotte in 1796, but she died in childbirth at the age of 21 in 1817, leading to a mass outpouring of grief in Britain.

What does the fall of Saigon mean to Vietnamese-Americans? You’d think I’d know because, well, I’m Vietnamese. Before a few days ago, I had no idea.

It’s ironic. As someone who tells stories for a living, I never bothered to learn about my own.

Last Thursday, on the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, I was sitting in a news truck in El Cajon waiting for one of my stories to get going. I called my aunt and asked, “How did our family come to the U.S.?” I wasn’t expecting the story I got.

My father was born in Saigon, and that’s all I really know about his life before he met my mother.

He passed away when I was young, and after his death I wasn’t able to talk to (let alone learn about) the Vietnamese side of my family until I became an adult.

My dad had one sister.

I call her Co Ba, which means “aunt on the paternal side” in Vietnamese. 

So, back to that phone call.

“It was April 23, 1975. I remember it vividly. Your grandparents and I knew Saigon could fall at any minute,” she started, eager to share.

“At first we didn’t think we had a way out of Vietnam. We didn’t think we had the right connections. Suddenly, we remembered we had a Vietnamese friend who happened to be a U.S. citizen. A couple of months before, he returned home to marry a Vietnamese girl. Grandpa and I rushed to his house, and thank God, he was still in Saigon!” she remembered.

My Co Ba explained the man's wife had the same family name as ours, “Nguyen.” By a stroke of good fortune, his in-laws did not want to leave Vietnam allowing my aunt and grandparents to go in their place.

“We are forever indebted to him,” Co Ba told me.

“That friend told us to pack all our things in one suitcase. I remember saying goodbye to my dogs. I remember my mother hugging my aunt tightly knowing they’d never see each other again. I remember looking at my house and thinking ‘What do we need to pack? What are the things we can’t live without?’”

“Then it dawned on me. We didn’t need any ‘materials.’ All we needed were our minds and the will to live in a free country.”

I had never had a conversation like this with my Co Ba. I was awestruck. Working in news, I’ve written many stories about harrowing journeys. All this time, I had no idea someone so close to me had one of her own.

“That night our friend brought us to Tan Son Nhat airport in Saigon, where we boarded a cargo plane. There weren’t chairs or seat belts, so we all sat on the floor. When the plane took off, it ascended quickly and violently to avoid oncoming Communist rockets. As rockets shot past us, a giant American GI stood guard near the door with an anti-missile device.”

They made it out just in time.

That evening the Viet Cong bombed the airport’s tarmac, according to my Co Ba. She and my grandparents were on the last plane out. Many others were not as fortunate

“We flew to Guam where we boarded another plane destined for Camp Pendleton. That’s where your dad picked us up.”

“Wait, wait. Camp Pendleton? Like the one here, near San Diego?” I asked incredulously. Before this call, I didn’t think my family had any personal connection to San Diego.

“Sweetheart, you have no idea. Wait until I tell you about your Uncle De.”

De Lê would be Co Ba’s future husband and my future uncle. She didn’t know it at the time, but while her cargo plane was taking off, De was stranded at the destroyed airport. He and his brothers watched the aircraft leave thinking their last hope of escaping Vietnam had gone with it. To their relief, a U.N. Embassy bus appeared to bring them to the Port of Saigon.

There, the young men boarded a small ship and out at sea a mammoth aircraft carrier came to their rescue. It was none other than San Diego’s own USS Midway.

“I think that’s in San Diego too,” said my Co Ba. “Did you know the little ship he was in is still on display in the Midway right now?”

“Co Ba, I had no idea. I didn’t know to look,” I responded, floored with emotion. The USS Midway is ten minutes from my North Park apartment. I have visited it dozens of times for work and never thought, if it weren’t for this ship and the brave sailors on it, my aunt and uncle would not have met. I would not have my cousins.

“When Uncle De boarded the Midway, he hadn’t had food for two days. Sailors offered him a pastry and De said it was like an incredibly decadent cake.

In fact, it was the most delicious thing he'd ever eaten!

He wanted to ask what it was, but was nervous the sailors wouldn’t understand his broken English.”

It wasn’t until weeks later in the U.S., someone explained to my uncle the delicious pastry was a doughnut.

“He has loved doughnuts ever since!”

Co Ba and I laughed. Unfortunately, that’s when our phone conversation ended because I had to get back to work.

I’ve spent the last few days reflecting on this story and trying to put on paper what it all means. For instance, when I think of my aunt’s flight out of Vietnam, I think about what a matter of minutes means to the survival of a family and the difference between a told and untold story.

When I think of my Uncle De, I think of USS Midway appearing in the middle of the ocean as truly a living symbol of freedom.

I think about never taking my opportunities for granted because people like my dad, my aunt and my uncle were willing to sacrifice their lives for a better future.

In the U.S, my Co Ba has lived a life of service, first as a public school teacher and then as a social worker helping the unemployed find jobs. She told me, “When I reached Camp Pendleton, I knew I found freedom. I made a promise to myself that in this new land I would be the best citizen I could be for a country and its people who welcomed us with open hearts and opened arms.”

Yes, everyone knows the guacamole costs extra – but now it doesn’t have to.

Chipotle has gifted us all with the secret recipe for their worth-every-penny guacamole, one day ahead of Cinco de Mayo celebrations on May 5.

The company says it starts with getting the best ingredients possible – but it only takes 7 simple steps for a batch made in heaven.

What you’ll need:

• 2 ripe Hass avocados (In the restaurant, we use 48 per batch, multiple times per day)
• 2 tsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp cilantro (chopped)
• 1/4 cup red onion (finely chopped)
• 1/2 jalapeño, including seeds (finely chopped)
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt

 

How to do it:

1. Choose the right avocado. It should feel squishy yet firm (like the palm of your hand), and be a nice dark green color on the inside.
2. Cut the avocado in half and the remove the pit (carefully!)
3. Scoop the avocados and place in a medium bowl.
4. Toss and coat with lime juice.
5. Add the salt and using a fork or potato masher, mash until a smooth consistency is achieved.
6. Fold in the remaining ingredients and mix well.
7. Taste the guacamole (over and over) and adjust seasoning if necessary.

The young Florida woman who tweeted "2 Drunk 2 Care" just minutes before a deadly head-on collision that killed two on the Sawgrass Expressway was sentenced to 24 years in prison Monday.

Kayla Mendoza pleaded guilty in February to two charges of DUI manslaughter in the November 2013 deaths of Kaitlyn Ferrante and her best friend Marisa Catronio, both 21 at the time.

She had been facing a maximum of 30 years in prison. The 22-year-old will also serve six years of probation after her prison sentence and will have a lifetime driving ban.

Before she was sentenced, a tearful Mendoza read a letter in court to ask for forgiveness.

"I know that I have made mistakes and the outcome is so much more than I could ever imagine," she said.

Mendoza also spoke about Ferrante and Catronio.

"No matter how much time passes they will never leave my heart. I think about them everyday and I regret my choices everyday," she said. "I don't remember deciding to drive that night so I can't even tell you what was going through my mind when I made that decision. I have no excuses for anything I've done, I just ask for forgiveness."

The families of Ferrante and Catronio begged the judge for the maximum of 30 years and addressed Mendoza.

"Kayla, you changed all that, you took all those dreams away," mother Christine Ferrante said. "And then I had to make the choice to pull her off of life support, that's something a mother should never have to do."

"How do you forgive someone who's ruined your life and family's lives forever?" brother Justin Catronio said.

Authorities said Mendoza, who was 20 years old at the time, had gone out to a Coral Springs bar after work where she drank two large fish bowl-sized margaritas.

After the infamous tweet, Mendoza drove her white Hyundai the wrong way on the Sawgrass Expressway and slammed into a red car driven by Ferrante.

It was later discovered that Mendoza was driving with a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit, according to police.

The family of Ellen Brody, the New York woman who died when her SUV got trapped in a railroad crossing and was hit by an oncoming Metro-North train, sparking an explosion that also killed five train passengers, says they're suing the railroad and the MTA for her death.

Lawyers for the family filed a notice of claim Monday, initiating the process for filing a wrongful death law suit.

"This horrific accident was not the fault of Ellen Brody," lawyer Philip Russotti said. "All of these deaths could have been avoided if this hazardous, redundant and unnecessary crossing had been closed or if the entities had followed federal guidelines establishing standards for safe signage and lights."

The Feb. 3 crash in the Westchester County community of Valhalla sparked an explosion and fire that burned out the first car of the train and sent pieces of the third rail stabbing through the passenger area.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Brody's SUV was stuck inside the railroad crossing gates moments before the train hit, but instead of backing up, she drove forward onto the tracks.

"I know who my mom was," Brody's daughter Alexa Brody said in an interview with NBC last March. "I know that she would never, never intentionally hurt people."

The crossing where the crash occurred in the Westchester County community of Valhalla has no barrier between the street and the tracks, and such crossings present safety issues, MTA Chairman Thomas Prendergast has said in the past.

On Monday, the MTA said they could not confirm receipt of a notice of claim.
 

Barbara Tatge successfully finished her first ever Boston Marathon this year. If that was not exciting enough, she also snagged a surprise kiss from a spectator in Wellesley, Massachusetts, following a dare from her daughter, Paige. After seeing the photo of the kiss, her daughter began a quest to find the man her mother smooched, reaching out to the Townsman last week.

According to Wicked Local Wellesley, the mystery man's wife was also running the marathon for the first time and saw the media attention the story has been receiving. She wrote a letter to Tatge via the Townsman saying the story has been fun, but she and her husband would like to stay anonymous.

"When the story aired on the news we were pretty surprised," said the kisser's wife. "I'm not mad. Believe me, our friends have gotten a lot of mileage out of this story and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching them give my husband grief!"

The Townsman verified the woman's claims by asking for photos of the man's outfit from the original kiss picture.

"I accepted my daughter's good-hearted dare of reversing the Wellesley tradition" said Tatge, in reference to the women of Wellesley College who traditionally smooch passing runners. "And a good natured man accepted my request for a photo. Moving forward i will revert to only kissing single men."

Tatge also apologized to the man for any unwanted media attention it has caused him and his wife. Tatge has been contacted by various talk shows and television stations in her hometown of Memphis.

Although Tatge did not find her prince charming, she said, "I am touched by the outpouring of support of strangers that wanted a fairytale ending."

"While this may not be the ending that you had hoped for, the spontaneous, silly moment in Wellesley captured the fun, energy and spirit of the Boston Marathon," the man's wife said in her letter to Tatge. "I greatly admire your spunk and courage and wish you many happy races in the future. Congratulations on your Boston finish!"

Tatge, who began running after surviving a rare form of cancer, said she is not done with running.

She hopes to qualify for the Boston Marathon in 2017 but won't be accepting any more dares to kiss strangers again.
 

Firefighters are working to extinguish a blaze at a single story residential building, the El Cajon Fire Department said. 

The incident happened around 3 p.m. Monday on the 300 block of W Park Avenue in El Cajon. 

Fire officials said the fire was burning in the attic area, though it is under control. 

Officials said they saw smoke and fire upon arrival. 

They are working to extinguish the fire. There is no word on the cause of the fire, any injuries of evacuations. 

Santee Fire and Cal Fire are assisting. SDG&E and the Red Cross have been requested. 

Officials recommend avoiding the area for the next two hours. 

Refresh this page for updates on this breaking news story.

The federal government is in the process of taking away a local church's license to provide welfare food benefits, according to the USDA.

In a statement to NBC 7 Investigates on Monday, the USDA said the "New Ark Church is clearly not operating a Project SHARE site as indicated on their SNAP application."

The New Ark Church in Redwood Village has had a Project SHARE license since August 2013. The license allows them to provide families with boxes of food in exchange for a box price. The program also requires participants volunteer a certain number of hours each month.

Typically, food welfare recipients have their food stamps in the form of an EBT card, which is like a debit card. They can take that card anywhere the food or SNAP benefits are provided. That money is supposed to be spent on food and nothing else.

"We help those that don't have food, those that need clothing," said Pastor James Wright of the New Ark Church in a web video describing what his ministry is about.

Last year, several people receiving SNAP benefits from New Ark told NBC 7 Investigates they didn't receive food, but rather traded their food stamps for shelter.

The USDA would not go into specifics about why the federal agency is beginning the process of taking away New Ark’s license. It also would not confirm if it was related to the claims made to NBC 7 Investigates.

"We don't take EBT for rent, let's get it clear," Pastor David Barrett, another pastor who was affiliated with New Ark, told NBC7 Investigates last summer. "We only use it for food purposes to provide food because we provide the meals at the house."

Barrett told us last year the EBT debits were part of providing food at shelters for homeless and immigrants.

"Let me share something with you. If you are providing food, you are allowed to use their EBT to provide the food," Barrett said last summer.

San Diego residents shared their EBT transaction history, showing thousands of dollars of food benefits debited at the church.

In September of last year, several recipients of those taxpayer-funded benefits say they didn't receive food, but rather traded their food stamps for shelter.

"There was no food at the home," Crystal Powell, a former shelter resident told us. "We weren't allowed in the kitchen. I wasn't allowed to fix my kids anything when we got home from school."

At least eight past residents of Barrett’s shelters told NBC 7 Investigates he never provided any food at the shelters. Some provided us with photos of what they said were locks on the refrigerators and cabinets at a Shelter in Santee called the “House of Hope.”

NBC 7 Investigates checked with local and state authorities for CalFresh guidelines.

A Department of Social Services spokesman said it is not uncommon for a shelter to collect and pool social security benefits in order to provide room and board for the residents. But it is not legal for a provider to confiscate CalFresh benefits to provide food to an entire shelter, he said.

“The intent of that food is to feed a specific family, not everybody in a congregate care environment,” said Michael Weston, a spokesman for the Department of Social Services.

CalFresh Program Specialist Matthew Heffernan, from the County’s Health and Human Services Agency, says group homes are not typically permitted to collect food stamp benefits, unless they have a rare and special license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed New Ark had a SHARE license but that the agency is in the process of revoking that license.

Attempts to reach Wright for comment were not successful, and New Ark's gates were locked when NBC 7 Investigates tried to visit Monday.

Fourteen fallen heroes from the South Bay who lost their lives while serving their country in the War on Terror were honored Monday through an exhibit at the Chula Vista Library.

The pictures of the heroes hung among those of nearly 700 service members from California on display.

A crowd of more than a hundred people gathered this afternoon. Members of the military took park in the Exhibition Opening Ceremony. Gold Star mothers were recognized with a presentation of valor.

Martha Bachar lost her son Marine Corporal Salem Bachar in 2006.

“It is very important for the new generations that our heroes won’t be forgotten,” she said.

Marine Corporal Bachar served two tours in Iraq. He went to the Defense Language Institute and studied Arabic, so that he could be an interpreter.

Bachar attended Chula Vista High School. His mother says he was popular and called him the male version of a social butterfly. He was a wrestler and tennis player.

She says he loved being a Marine.

His mother says being at that memorial in Chula Vista reminds her of when they used to come there when she was little. 

“He used to run around these shelves in this building," she said. "Many times, I brought him here to read his books, to do his homework, so to me this is good memories and sad memories.”

Bachar is one of more than a dozen Fallen Heroes from Chula Vista being remembered at The South Bay Fallen Hero Exhibition along with 710 members of the armed services from California who have died since September 11.

The exhibition is on display in the Veterans Wing of the Chula Vista Library through May 14th.

Survivors and first responders are expected to be called to the stand this week as testimony continues in the penalty trial for James Holmes, the man who shot scores of people inside a packed a suburban Denver movie theater almost three years ago.

Holmes' attorneys don't dispute what happened in July 2012 inside the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, and they don't deny Holmes was the shooter.

Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to 165 counts of murder and attempted murder, and defense attorneys say his mind was so distorted by schizophrenia that he didn't know right from wrong. If the jury finds he was insane, he would be committed indefinitely to the state mental hospital.

Prosecutors have described Holmes as calculating and smart and say he believed killing others increased his self-worth. They are asking jurors to convict him of murder and sentence him to death.

Holmes' lawyers plan to call an expert witness who will testify that Holmes was insane: Dr. Raquel Gur, head of the neuropsychiatry program at the University of Pennsylvania medical school.

In Colorado, the burden is on prosecutors to prove that a defendant is sane, rather than the reverse.

Holmes lived with his parents Robert and Arlene Holmes in Rancho Penasquitos and attended Westview High School before setting off to study neuroscience at the University of Colorado.

More than two dozen victims and first responders testified during the first week of Holmes' trial, describing how a theater full of moviegoers excited to see a new Batman film became a scene of life-altering carnage and terror.

Defense attorneys have urged jurors not to let emotions sway them, but with weeks of harrowing testimony still to come, experts say Holmes' lawyers will have a difficult time convincing jurors to put sympathy behind them as they decide whether he was legally insane when he killed 12 people and injured 70 others.
 

A high surf advisory was in effect throughout Monday in the North County with waves expected to reach as high as 12 feet.

The big waves will create dangerous conditions in the water with powerful rip currents.

So if you are planning on heading out to the beach to surf or swim, lifeguards advise you be extra cautious along southwest facing beaches in areas like Oceanside and Orange County.

In those locations, beachgoers can expect waves measuring anywhere from six to even 12 feet.

While between Point Loma and La Jolla, the surf could be between five and eight feet.
 

One El Cajon student and one San Diego student were selected to be among the 2015 class of U.S. Presidential Scholars announced Monday by the Department of Education.

US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the 141 high school seniors who were recognized for their accomplishments in academics or the arts.

San Diegan Melinda Wang of Torrey Pines High School and Shayan Afshar, of El Cajon, a student at Granite Hills High School, were both honored.

Zakia Chowdhury, an Encinitas teacher, and Alexandra Grant, an El Cajon teacher, were both chosen as their Most Influential Teachers for 2015.

"Presidential Scholars demonstrate the accomplishments that can be made when students challenge themselves, set the highest standards, and commit themselves to excellence," Duncan said in a statement.

Appointed by President Barack Obama, the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars selects honored students each year based on their academic success, artistic excellence and transcripts, as well as community service, leadership, and commitment to high ideals.

The program has honored almost 7,000 students since it was created in 1964.

The honorees will be awarded during the annual ceremony in D.C. The 2015 ceremony will be held June 21, when each honoree will receive a Presidential Scholar Medal.