If handed $100, would you be more likely to pass a high school Advanced Placement test? That’s what one San Diego school is trying to find out.

Serra High School received a grant for more than $700,000 from the nonprofit Math and Science Initiative to increase the success rate on this high stakes test.

The Tierrasanta school decided to spend it on preparing and incentivizing nearly 400 students who will take 1,000 of the grueling, three and a half hour tests. The testing period started last week and continues through Friday.

For each AP exam in English, math and the sciences they pass, students get $100. For some teens, it made a difference. Others said their motivation came from elsewhere.

“I mainly focused on the idea I could get college credit, but $100 doesn't hurt. Who doesn't want $100, right?” said Jesus Perez.

Last November, Serra High handed out $26,000 in grant money at a school ceremony. Brandon Tran received $200 for passing two AP tests, and if he does well this year, he could get as much as $500.

But some question if the tests should just be about the financial reward.

“[The money] wasn’t a motivating factor at all,” Tran told NBC 7 Tuesday. “It was about learning more for my future.” Fellow students agreed, but they added that the money was a great bonus.

Administrators also used the $700,000 to pay for professional training for teachers and Saturday classes for students. Some classes received weekly tutorials with experts in AP testing, some of whom were flown in from across the country.

Serra High Principal Vincent Mays, Ph.D., said last year, all the work paid off.

“With the NIMI grant, we experienced an 86 percent gain in the young people who passed their AP exam,” said Mays. "That’s the largest increase in California.”

Repeating the success and putting their money where their mouth is clearly hasn't hurt, Mays said.

Serra High was just named a Gold Ribbon School in California, an honor the principal attributes in part to the success of the AP program.
 

Conan O’Brien has picked the days he will be broadcasting from Comic-Con. 

The actor will bring his TBS talk show to Comic Con in San Diego from Wednesday, July 8 to Saturday, July 11, which is normally taped farther north at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank.

“Conan” usually airs from Monday to Thursday; however, the actor announced on his show Monday evening that he would be changing the schedule to better coincide with the convention and its events. 

Each comic-themed episode will be broadcast from the Spreckels Theater in downtown San Diego. The actor previously announced his plans in April 2014. 

“Anyway, we really are very excited to be broadcasting from Comic-Con this summer,” O’Brien said on his show Monday night. “We’re predicting a pretty amazing response from Comic-Con regulars.”

This will be the first time a late-night program will broadcast live from the pop culture convention, which draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. There is no word yet on tickets for the shows. 

While this may be a milestone for his show, Conan himself is no stranger to Comic-Con.

Three years ago, the host debuted a trailer for his “upcoming” -- though underfunded -- “Flaming C” animated movie (See video below).

So tell us in the comments: who would you like to see as guests on Conan’s San Diego shows?

Watch the comedian's announcement below. 

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department has released a sketch of a suspect wanted in connection with a shooting that left a victim bloodied on a Spring Valley street last month.

On April 15, just before 6 p.m., deputies found a man suffering from gunshot wounds in the 8700 block of Ildica Street. The victim was bleeding so badly from his head, initial 911 calls reported the man had been beaten with a bat, officials said.

“He had a gunshot wound to his neck on his left side. He was bleeding profusely. I took off my T-shirt, applied to the wound. His dad came up the street to help me out and help to keep him conscious,” neighbor Luke Gant told NBC 7 right after the shooting.

According to witnesses, the victim got into an argument with a suspect right before being shot. The fight may have involved three additional suspects, according to witnesses.

On Tuesday, about three weeks after the shooting, officials released a sketch of the shooting suspect who is being sought for attempted murder. He is described by officials as a tall, thin, Hispanic man between 19 and 25 years old. He had short, black hair, a light mustache, goatee and is possibly unshaven along his jawbone.

Deputies said the man was last seen driving northbound on Sweetwater Road from Ildica Street in a mid to late-2000s shiny, aqua blue, two-door Honda Civic that may have a 6-inch dent behind the driver’s door.

“The wheels on the right side appear to have standard plastic hub caps while the wheels on the left side appear to have black or missing hub caps,” the sheriff’s department explained.

Officials also released a blurry photo of the suspect’s vehicle captured on surveillance tape.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information on this shooting should contact the sheriff’s department at (858) 565-5200 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

A San Diego hiker who survived the devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Nepal followed by an avalanche thought she was going to die in the disaster and was in disbelief when she came up for air.

“I thought, ‘This is where I die,’” said Kathleen “Kat” Heldman, recounting her harrowing experience for reporters in San Diego on Tuesday.

“Going through the earthquake and the avalanche was terrifying. It was horribly devastating to see what happened to people there and all the people who lost their loved ones,” she added.

The still-rising death toll from the quake has reached more than 7,500.

Heldman traveled to Nepal last month with her husband, Kevin Krough, and their friends Oscar Olea and Brigida Martinez, setting out on the hiking trek of a lifetime.

The quartet was in the small Nepalese area of Kyanjing Gompa when the quake hit changing the course of their trip – and their lives – forever.

The friends were in a tea room waiting to have lunch when the earthquake struck, Olea told NBC 7 Monday night.

What happened next is something Heldman said she will never, ever forget.

“The whole earth started shaking. The whole building was rumbling. There was this loud, deafening noise and I looked at our guide and his eyes were bugged out and white and he screamed, ‘Earthquake! Run!’” Heldman recalled.

Heldman said everyone began running out of the building as the earth shook uncontrollably beneath their feet. She realized Martinez was still inside the building and she ran back inside the crumbling structure to get her friend. After they came out safely, Heldman said they were in utter disbelief.

The group captured some of the earthquake and its aftermath on video.

“We were standing around stunned. We were all in shock,” she said. “I’m from California; we have earthquakes – but nothing like this. I’ve never experienced or seen anything like this. [It was] terrifying.”

Heldman and her friends, however, did not have much time to make sense of the quake that had moved the earth. Moments later, they had to run for their lives again as an avalanche struck.

“I looked over the mountain ridge and saw a giant cloud of white and gray. It was an avalanche,” Heldman explained. “It was really fast – ice, snow, rocks – that’s what was hurling down the mountain towards us. We started running for our lives, blindly, as fast as we could away from it.”

Seconds later, Heldman felt the ice and snow plowing against her body.

“I felt it hit me and I felt like I was doomed,” she said.

Heldman quickly dove behind a rock wall and tried to protect her head as the avalanche continued to barrel down on her. She said that’s the moment she thought she for sure wouldn’t make it out alive.

“I was praying to God to save us. After, when we came up for air, I couldn’t believe I was alive,” she said. “I’m super grateful.”

A few minutes after the avalanche, Heldman and her group dug themselves out of the snow.

The scene unfolding before their eyes was the stuff nightmares are made of.

“All you could hear was the whaling of people screaming and crying. There was blood all over the snow,” Heldman said. “It was surreal.”

The hiker said she’ll never forget the image of people carrying others to safety: her small-framed guide hoisting a full-grown, unconscious man on his back as he walked up a hill; a man carrying a baby who was somehow still alive.

“The rest of the day was in a daze. All we did was try to find missing people,” said Heldman.

She and her group spent the next few days stranded in the area, trying to help the injured and find food and shelter. She said Martinez is a nurse and used her skills to tend to earthquake victims.

When her group was finally able to fly home days later, Heldman said she couldn’t help but feel a huge sense of guilt.

“Leaving Nepal, I feel guilty. I feel really fortunate to be alive, but I also feel really sad to leave the people there in the state that they’re in,” she lamented. “To be back in the U.S. – it feels totally surreal. The contrast between what we have here and what they have there – it’s incredible.”

Heldman said she and her husband and friends had left a tiny village that was completely destroyed by the earthquake just hours before the quake hit.

“Our lives were saved by three-and-a-half hours,” she added.

Heldman feels so fortunate to be alive, she’s now dedicated to helping other survivors in Nepal.

She has started a GoFundMe page to raise money for residents of rural Nepalese villages who lost everything in the disaster. She said the money will help survivors rebuild.

As she counts her blessings, Heldman is also planning a trip back to Nepal next year on the same date as the earthquake.

“It would be a memorial trip," she said. "Maybe we will try to climb that mountain we were trying to climb."
 

More than twenty SDSU students marched through campus Tuesday to protest the behavior of Vincent Martin, a Spanish professor who university investigators say sexually harassed a female student.

Martin was the subject of an NBC 7 Investigates story after he was accused of sending hundreds of suggestive text messages to a young female student, violating the state education code, according to SDSU investigative documents.

The protest was organized by the Andrea O'Donnell Womym's Outreach Association. Students created a Facebook event for the protest called “We Want Answers, We Want Action.”

The sign-carrying protesters had planned to picket outside Martin's classroom and urge his students to boycott Tuesday's class. But when they learned Martin had canceled his class for the day, they marched silently to his office in a nearby building.

They covered his office door and adjoining wall with posters criticizing Martin's behavior and what they say is the university's lack of appropriate discipline of the professor.

The students then walked to SDSU's administration building, where they continued their peaceful, silent protest outside the president's office.

The student who came forward and spoke to NBC 7 Investigates about being sexually harassed by Martin said the university has not done enough to punish him for his behavior. She saved dozens of text messages and emails from Martin and shared them with NBC 7 Investigates.

In a statement, SDSU’s Chief Communications Officer Greg Block said, “While we appreciate that the campus community has significant interest when allegations of sexual harassment are made, it is also important that the process for adjudicating claims be a fair one and that all facts be heard."

The student's allegations were confirmed, in part, by an August 2014 “Notice of Investigative Outcome” from the SDSU Office of Employee Relations and Compliance.

The student told NBC 7 Investigates Martin had a reputation for provocative behavior with female students. But because she said she needed two of his classes to finish her Spanish major, and felt confident she could keep her distance if Martin tried to cross the line of appropriate behavior, she enrolled in the class anyway.

A document obtained by NBC 7 Investigates reveals a university investigator interviewed Martin, three other SDSU faculty members and 14 other students.

The investigation confirmed the student’s allegations and "concluded that Dr. Martin engaged in conduct of a sexually-oriented nature ... sufficiently severe to constitute sexual harassment" in violation of the state education code.

Click here to read the complete NBC 7 Investigates story.

NBC 7 Investigates confirmed Martin, who teaches Spanish literature and grammar at SDSU, continues to teach at the university.

Martin did not respond to repeated requests for comment about the allegations, but his attorney said Martin disagrees with the findings of that investigation and will challenge them.

SDSU declined our request for an interview and, citing privacy rights, would not provide any details about Martin's case.

For those reasons, it is unknown if Martin has been — or will be — disciplined as a result of the findings of that investigation.

Read the full statement from SDSU in response to Tuesday’s protest below:

“Given the nature of sexual harassment complaints and our desire to encourage individuals to come forward with complaints without fear that the complaint will become public, the university does not comment on specific complaints or investigations. While we appreciate that the campus community has significant interest when allegations of sexual harassment are made, it is also important that the process for adjudicating claims be a fair one and that all facts be heard. Any person accused also has rights, which includes privacy in connection with personnel matters. They also have rights, under either collective bargaining agreements or by law, to respond to any allegations, which could include appealing any disciplinary action. The university is committed to protecting the rights of all concerned. We urge the campus community to allow any required process to take place.”

NBC 7 Investigates is working for you. If you have more information about this or other story tips, contact us: (619) 578-0393, NBC7Investigates@nbcuni.com. To receive the latest NBC 7 Investigates stories, subscribe to our newsletter.

More than twenty SDSU students marched through campus Tuesday to protest the behavior of Vincent Martin, a Spanish professor who university investigators say sexually harassed a female student.

Martin was the subject of an NBC 7 Investigates story after he was accused of sending hundreds of suggestive text messages to a young female student, violating the state education code, according to SDSU investigative documents.

The protest was organized by the Andrea O'Donnell Womym's Outreach Association. Students created a Facebook event for the protest called “We Want Answers, We Want Action.”

The sign-carrying protesters had planned to picket outside Martin's classroom and urge his students to boycott Tuesday's class. But when they learned Martin had canceled his class for the day, they marched silently to his office in a nearby building.

They covered his office door and adjoining wall with posters criticizing Martin's behavior and what they say is the university's lack of appropriate discipline of the professor.

The students then walked to SDSU's administration building, where they continued their peaceful, silent protest outside the president's office.

The student who came forward and spoke to NBC 7 Investigates about being sexually harassed by Martin said the university has not done enough to punish him for his behavior. She saved dozens of text messages and emails from Martin and shared them with NBC 7 Investigates.

In a statement, SDSU’s Chief Communications Officer Greg Block said, “While we appreciate that the campus community has significant interest when allegations of sexual harassment are made, it is also important that the process for adjudicating claims be a fair one and that all facts be heard."

The student's allegations were confirmed, in part, by an August 2014 “Notice of Investigative Outcome” from the SDSU Office of Employee Relations and Compliance.

The student told NBC 7 Investigates Martin had a reputation for provocative behavior with female students. But because she said she needed two of his classes to finish her Spanish major, and felt confident she could keep her distance if Martin tried to cross the line of appropriate behavior, she enrolled in the class anyway.

A document obtained by NBC 7 Investigates reveals a university investigator interviewed Martin, three other SDSU faculty members and 14 other students.

The investigation confirmed the student’s allegations and "concluded that Dr. Martin engaged in conduct of a sexually-oriented nature ... sufficiently severe to constitute sexual harassment" in violation of the state education code.

Click here to read the complete NBC 7 Investigates story.

NBC 7 Investigates confirmed Martin, who teaches Spanish literature and grammar at SDSU, continues to teach at the university.

Martin did not respond to repeated requests for comment about the allegations, but his attorney said Martin disagrees with the findings of that investigation and will challenge them.

SDSU declined our request for an interview and, citing privacy rights, would not provide any details about Martin's case.

For those reasons, it is unknown if Martin has been — or will be — disciplined as a result of the findings of that investigation.

Read the full statement from SDSU in response to Tuesday’s protest below:

“Given the nature of sexual harassment complaints and our desire to encourage individuals to come forward with complaints without fear that the complaint will become public, the university does not comment on specific complaints or investigations. While we appreciate that the campus community has significant interest when allegations of sexual harassment are made, it is also important that the process for adjudicating claims be a fair one and that all facts be heard. Any person accused also has rights, which includes privacy in connection with personnel matters. They also have rights, under either collective bargaining agreements or by law, to respond to any allegations, which could include appealing any disciplinary action. The university is committed to protecting the rights of all concerned. We urge the campus community to allow any required process to take place.”

NBC 7 Investigates is working for you. If you have more information about this or other story tips, contact us: (619) 578-0393, NBC7Investigates@nbcuni.com. To receive the latest NBC 7 Investigates stories, subscribe to our newsletter.

A woman described as a "serial stowaway" and a "high security risk" has a court date in Chicago Thursday morning.

But as has been the case across the United States, Marilyn Hartman faces only misdemeanor charges, raising questions about whether she will be released to repeat the dubious behavior she has practiced at airports in at least half a dozen American cities.

The 63-year-old Hartman has been arrested three times in the last two weeks, attempting to board aircraft at O’Hare and Midway airports, incident reports show. She made another attempt on April 19, an incident for which she received only a warning.

At least three times, Hartman appears to have been successful in her attempts. In February of last year, she made it all the way onto an aircraft bound from San Francisco to Honolulu. Last August 4, she stowed away on a flight from San Jose to Los Angeles. After her release from jail, she was ordered to stay away from the Los Angeles airport, but was arrested there the very next day. Sentenced to 117 days in jail, Hartman was released after just a few days in custody because of jail overcrowding.

In January, she was discovered in a vacant hotel room at the posh Amelia Island resort, where she told police that she had just arrived after slipping onto a flight from Minneapolis to Jacksonville. Wary of her movements, airport police noticed her roaming the Jacksonville airport again on April 14. But this time, Hartman insisted she was flying legally to Chicago. A police report shows that airport personnel walked her to the American Airlines ticket counter where they watched her purchase a ticket to Chicago. That report shows they then walked her through the TSA process because she had no photo ID and made sure she boarded the Chicago-bound flight.

But a Chicago police source said no one from Jacksonville ever notified them she was headed here.

Last August, Hartman was arrested at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, telling reporters that even she was shocked at the seeming ease which which she had been able to board airplanes unnoticed.

"Why has the government allowed me to get past security points until I forced the issue back in February?" she asked, "and pretty much had to beg to be arrested."

But how does she do it? Investigators said that in the San Jose case, Hartman managed to slip past the TSA officer examining ID’s and boarding passes by slipping past while a larger group was being checked. After that, she passed through the metal detector unhindered. It wasn’t clear how she was able to actually board the aircraft.

"The individual was screened along with other passengers to ensure that she was not a security threat to the aircraft," said TSA spokesman Michael McCarthy. "Following an initial review by TSA at San Jose International Airport, the agency has initiated minor modifications to the layout of the document checking area, to prevent another incident like this one."

McCarthy said the agency had been unable to substantiate Hartman’s story that she pulled a similar ruse on the flight from Minnesota to Florida on February 8, but police in Jacksonville clearly believed her.

Hartman, who has claimed she has an unrecognized illness called "whistleblower trauma syndrome,"  has previously said she was forced by the FBI to flee her house, rendering her homeless. Authorities tried to get her help at a San Mateo County treatment center in the Bay Area, but checked herself out of that facility after just two days.

A prison inmate was identified Wednesday as a suspect in the December slaying of a wealthy La Verne couple.

Luke Fabela has remained in custody since his January arrest for an unrelated auto theft, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The lifeless bodies of Shirley Isom, 74, and Armie "Troy" Isom, 89, were found Dec. 26 at their La Verne mansion above the Pomona Valley east of Los Angeles.

It was not clear what initially led authorities to Fabela, but they confirmed a DNA comparison links him to DNA evidence recovered at the crime scene. Identification came through a match with a sample of Fabela's DNA that had been placed in a state database after a previous felony arrest.

By the time the comparison results came back, Fabela was already in custody in the San Bernardino County case, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff's Homicide Lt. David Coleman.

Before his arrest, Fabela had been living as a transient, staying with different friends and relatives around the San Gabriel Valley.

Detectives have not determined what motivated the attack, and it is not known what led him to the ridgetop estate of the Isoms. It appears he acted on his own, and a murder-for-hire scenario has specifically been ruled out, Coleman said.

Members of the Isom family did not know Fabela, Coleman said.

The attack in an isolated multimillion-dollar home abutting open land in an unincorporated area near La Verne was reported about 1:25 p.m. on Dec. 26, authorities said. A groundskeeper found the victims.

The woman died from blunt force injuries and her husband died later in the day from being beaten and stabbed, authorities said.

In February, deputies asked drivers in Pomona whether they recognized the man depicted in a composite sketch of the killer. The sketch was believed to show a hooded man who was seen on surveillance video at an intersection near the home on the night of the slayings.

Fabela is the man described by those witnesses and depicted in the composite, detectives believe.

Some witnesses have already identified Fabela in a jail lineup, Coleman said.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office has requested additional investigative material before filing formal charges.

A Los Angeles man lost his battle with cancer, and within hours after his death, became the target of identity thieves.

His widow, Melinda Williams, told the NBC4 I-Team her story, saying she hopes to protect other families from the ordeal she’s endured.

Her husband, Jack Williams, died of lung cancer seven months ago. The couple had purchased prearranged cremation services from The Neptune Society, so when he succumbed to the disease at their home, she contacted the company to retrieve his body.

Williams recalls that two workers appeared at her door, and that one asked several questions about her husband’s identity. Since some of that information was already in the contract they’d signed with the Neptune Society, she says she quickly retrieved the document from her files, scanned it, and gave a copy to the worker.

"They had everything you need to steal an identity," Williams said. "I thought I was just helping expedite my husband being taken care of."

A week later, Williams said a Best Buy store credit card in her husband’s name arrived in the mail. Still grieving, she said she hardly gave the new card a thought and figured it was just a renewal.

"Then two weeks after that, I got a bill and I knew his identity had been stolen," Williams said.

Best Buy financial records indicate a new account was established for Jack Williams on Oct. 22, 2014 — less than 24 hours after he died.

Records show someone used the new account to buy three computers worth thousands of dollars that same day.

Williams believes it’s no coincidence that the purchases were made at a Best Buy store in Sherman Oaks, a four-minute drive from a Neptune Society office. She filed a police report, detailing her suspicion that one of the men who retrieved her husband’s body on the night he died might be involved in the crime.

She also contacted the Neptune Society.

"I filled out a form, but no one ever responded to me," Williams said.

The I-Team visited the Neptune Society’s Sherman Oaks office, but employees declined to speak on camera. Later, a company spokesperson told NBC4 they had "no record of being contacted previously and will cooperate with any police investigation."

The Neptune Society, a subsidiary of Texas-based Service Corporation International, has more than 45 offices nationwide.

So far there’s no proof to support Williams’ allegations.

The Neptune Society told the I-Team it has launched an internal investigation into the matter. A spokesperson added that the two men who retrieved Jack’s body were employees of an outside company hired by Neptune.

Los Angeles Department of Consumer Affairs Chief Investigator Rigoberto Reyes said identity theft of the deceased is not uncommon. He recommends that anyone with a terminal illness freeze his or her credit reports to guard against the crime.

Consumers in good health can also take this step to prevent identity theft; to open a new credit account, one would have to unfreeze the account.

"Generally, if your credit report is frozen, it’s going to be difficult for a thief to open an account," Reyes told the I-Team.

Williams said freezing credit reports was the last thing on her mind during her husband’s dying days.

Best Buy has cleared Williams’ name of any fraud, and forgiven the debt owed for the computer purchase, which means Williams is no longer considered a "victim."

In the eyes of the Los Angeles Police Department, Best Buy is the "victim" now, and unless the company pursues a prosecution, whoever stole Jack Williams’ identity got away with it.

"It’s really just a sad statement of where we are," Williams said. "It makes me mad and sad I guess."

Who doesn't love a good deal? San Diegans who own a gas-powered lawn mower will have a chance to trade their device for an electric version this Saturday at Qualcomm Stadium.

Beginning at 8 a.m., locals can trade their lawn mowers at the 16th Annual Mowing Down Pollution Lawn Mower Trade-In on the triangle of grass along Friars Road at the west end of Qualcomm Stadium.

Hosted by District 4 Supervisor Ron Roberts, the event is organized by the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District and will feature the exchange of 650 gasoline lawn mowers for new, rechargeable battery-powered, Black & Decker CM1936 mowers with 19-inch blades and 36 volt power systems.

The exchange program aims to further clean San Diego’s air and reduce lawn mower noise across neighborhoods.

Here’s how the trade-in works: San Diego residents with proper identification and qualifying gasoline mowers are eligible to participate. Residents exchange their mower and pay $99.99 for a new electrical one, which normally retails for about $400.

The exchange is on a first come, first served basis. Participants can line up for the event as early as 4:30 a.m. The event ends at 12 p.m., according to organizers.

Old mowers will be inspected on site to make sure they work and have all their parts. Broken lawn mowers or those missing pieces will be turned away. According to organizers, this is an important detail as public funds for this program can only be used to replace mowers that actually work and contribute to local air pollution.

Roberts’ website notes that this is the final year of a four-year purchase agreement with Black & Decker that is underwritten with air pollution fine revenue.That means San Diegans looking to upgrade their mowers should take advantage of the opportunity while they can.

“In subsequent years, the numbers of mowers available during the annual exchange is expected to be substantially reduced,” the supervisor's website says.

For more details on the exchange event, including rules, regulations and a map of the trade-in site, click here.
 

Federal regulators announced a new initative to research drone safety at the nation's largest drone convention in Atlanta Wednesday, as they work to implement new regulations on the burgeoning technology.

Federal Aviation Administration chief Michael Huerta said the agency is partnering with three leading U.S. research companies to figure out how to expand drone operations in the U.S.

He made his remarks at the Unmanned Systems 2015 conference in Atlanta, held by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.

A grassroots effort to add a barrier to prevent people from jumping to their deaths from the Coronado Bay Bridge received the support of the Coronado City Council Tuesday.

The Coronado Bridge Collaborative - Suicide Prevention wants to research barrier options for the iconic bridge that has one of the highest rates of suicide in the country.

Cari McLaughlin’s brother, Bryan Bell, jumped to his death from the span eight months ago. She believes if he was unable to take his own life that day, the family may have been able to get him help.

“He’s not the only one. The day after he did it, somebody was up there,” she said. “It’s just so easily accessible.”

The side rails of the bridge are just 36 inches, she said. McLaughlin also said the phone positioned for those feeling suicidal was not functioning on the day her brother walked across the bridge.

McLaughlin was among the supporters who showed up to the council meeting Tuesday night wearing yellow ribbons and sharing stories of heartache.

Al Molano of Bankers Hill also spoke to the council. His 23-year-old step-daughter, Lisette, suffered from alcohol abuse and depression.

He said he doesn't want to see any other families go through the heartbreak that he and his family have suffered.

"I will do anything to save another life," Molano said. "I can't see how anyone would want to go through this especially when we can prevent this."

Several research projects show suicide barriers have proven successful in not only reducing jumping deaths at the site, but in the surrounding areas, as well.

The vote by the Coronado council gives the project a symbolic head start. Unlike the $76 million project to install nets on the Golden Gate bridge, this one has a long way to go.

There were no details offered on what the barrier would look like or how much it would cost.

San Diego County suicide rates are approximately 20 percent above those statewide, officials reported last year, with an annual increase of six percent each year for three straight years.

The county offers resources for those feeling suicidal thoughts or know someone who is threatening suicide.

Some warning signs of suicide include talking of hurting or killing oneself, increased alcohol or drug use, isolation from family and friends and daring or risk-taking behavior.

For more information click here or call the county's Crisis Hotline at (888) 724-7240.

EvoNexus, a technology incubator in San Diego, announced that 26 new startups will be joining the accelerator this week.

The latest round of applications set a record with a total of 212 applications received. Since its inception, EvoNexus has received over 1,000 applications and admitted 107 companies into its incubator. Of the 212 applications submitted, 26 startups were admitted.

The new startups are:

Aira Tech: A service designed to help blind and low-vision users gain independence.

Astroprint: A cloud for operating systems for the 3D printing industry. Making 3D printing simple and eventually building a third-party app marketplace.

CollectiveSun: A crowd lending platform to finance nonprofit solar projects.

Combined Power: Offering disruptively low cost “concentrated solar power.” They sell equipment that power plants, industrial and agricultural facilities use to generate steam, replacing fossil fuels.

Crypteron: A server side, application layer, military grade security framework and software development kit brings regulatory compliance and data security by carving out private clouds within the public clouds.

CureMetrix: An early and accurate detection, classification, and quantification of breast cancer in mammograms.

DotStudioz: A cloud-based software solution that makes it painless to distribute and monetize video across owned-and-operated, branded environments on various platforms.

eLux Medical: An improvement upon traditional liposuction in which a photothermal nanomaterial and an external laser readily available to plastic surgeons in the clinic are used in combination to heat and melt fat in adipose tissue to facilitate its removal, resulting in less effort on the physicians' behalf and more uniform results for the patients.

GoShare: A mobile app and website that connects people who have a pickup truck, van, or SUV with people nearby who need help with moving, hauling, towing or delivering cargo on demand.

LoanHero: An instantaneous consumer loan origination platform that is powered by the peer-to-peer marketplace, our business’ balance sheet and strategic lender.

Podify: A SaaS solution for wellness professionals offering a complete business solution for all of their administrative and management needs as well as exclusive marketing.

Qelzal: Sense & Avoid and Obstacle Avoidance systems for small commercial drones. These systems avoid low-flying aircrafts, and make drones autonomous and safer in near-earth flights.

ScryTech: Fraud management through behavioral analytics.

Seclytics: A software-as-a-service cyber intelligence platform for SMB.

ServicePair: A mobile-first app that connects contractors to other construction professionals.

Stemonix: Developing a commercial scale printer for the high-volume growth and differentiation of stem cells and stem cell products.

Wrapify: A disruptive crowd-sourced advertising platform connecting drivers and brands to create powerful on-vehicle advertising.

A pair of sunglass-clad skeletons were caught lounging in lawnchairs beneath the Colorado River on Monday.

Divers discovered the duo 40 feet beneath the river near the Arizona-California border on Monday morning, after a snorkeler spotted the bones and reported them to police, thinking they were real.

"When firefighter Foerstner located the alleged remains, he found it to be an underwater tea party with two fake skeletons sitting in lawn chairs," the sheriff's department said in a statement.

Two local medical response teams have been providing aid to the injured after the powerful Nepal quake, which left thousands dead and many injured, according to Scripps Health. 

The two teams have been in touch with Chris Van Gorder, president and chief executive officer for Scripps Health. 

The first team, Tim Collins, Deb McQuillen and Jan Zachary, were flown in and around the villages surrounding Laptok, hillside towns that lie along the fault lines, Van Gorder said. They should be flown out by helicopter come Thursday and will have their day of rest in Gorkha the following day.

Over the course of the week, the team has reportedly been working in small villages at elevations of 8,000 feet or higher, where helicopters transporting supplies has become essential.

Several International Medical Corps staff are with this team, Van Gorder said, along with several Nepalese aid workers. Helicopters brought the staff supplies and the team members have seen more than 100 patients a day, but only a few with injuries relating to the earthquake.

The second team, comprised of Patty Skoglund and Steve Miller, only briefly texted Van Gorder to tell them several days ago they had to restock and will be heading back to the mountainside to work on trauma-related injuries, due to the disaster.

One of their days working, they saw more than 130 patients, adults and children equally.

Opening statements signaled the beginning of a trial Wednesday for a San Diego gang member accused of sucker-punching a man during a fight in downtown’s Gaslamp Quarter, leading to the man’s death.

The victim’s family members filed into the courtroom for the trial of Mahad A. Ahmed, 24, who is facing a murder charge in the killing of Michael Beaver, 25, as well as one count of assault with force.

According to San Diego police, Beaver was found unconscious on a sidewalk at around 1 a.m. on June 15, 2014 in the 500 block of F Street, suffering from blunt force injuries to his upper torso. He later died from those injuries at the hospital.

Police charged Ahmed with the murder one month later. Investigators believe Ahmed and Beaver got into an altercation on the street that ended with Ahmed fatally sucker-punching Beaver near two downtown bars, Maloney’s and Encore.

Police said both men had gone out with their friends that night, and at least three people were with Ahmed at the time of the deadly fight.

A deputy district attorney said Ahmed allegedly delivered a fatal blow to Beaver’s head after his group of friends got into a dispute with Beaver. It began with a woman slapping Beaver in the face, then another man punching him and finally Ahmed running up and punching Beaver on his head, the prosecutor said.

The prosecutor said a witness heard Beaver’s head strike a metal rail as he fell from the sucker-punch.

Ahmed was linked to the case while already in custody for an unrelated incident. The prosecutor said Beaver’s blood was found on the defendant’s shirt.

After Ahmed was linked to the killing, the case was turned over to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. Ahmed has been in jail since June 2014 awaiting trial.

Beaver’s brother and father attended the trial Tuesday.

The brother – who was out with Beaver on the night of the fight – described the altercation on the stand. He said he was still in shock over his brother's death and will never understand it.

The brother said he, a friend and Beaver had stopped into Maloney's, Double Deuce, Coyote Ugly and McFadden's before the fatal fight.

A surveillance video that captured the fight was shown in court. It showed Ahmed delivering the deadly blow and Beaver staggering around trying to regain his balance after being punched.
 

A construction crew's mishap interrupted water service to two downtown hotels and the shops in Seaport Village Wednesday. 

The San Diego City Water Department was called to the Marriott and the Hyatt on Harbor Drive just after noon.

A construction crew at the Marriott hit a 12-inch water main, according to department spokesperson Arian Collins. About 1,400 customers in the hotel's towers immediately lost water and were without it for about five hours.

Collins said city crews had to dig down to figure out which of two water mains was hit. They  turned off the 12-inch main as well as a connected 30-inch pipe while the fixes were made.

By 2 p.m., water service had been restored to both towers at the Hyatt through a backup source.

Seaport Village had water fully restored at about 4:30 p.m.The Marriott got water back about half an hour later after crews isolated the break in the 12-inch pipe and allowed water to flow back into the bigger main.

Southbound lanes of Harbor Drive were closed temporarily to traffic.

A 21-year-old man suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol when he slammed head-on into a car carrying a family of five on Interstate 15 was arraigned in the hospital Wednesday.

Shane McDonald, with his right leg and left wrist bandaged, pleaded not guilty to two counts of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and five counts of felony DUI causing injury or death in connection with the May 2 wrong-way crash that killed two members of a family and injured three others near Scripps Ranch.

A judge set McDonald’s bail at $500,000. He is from Guam and was also ordered to surrender his passport and ordered not to drink or drive.

The defendant’s mother and father flew in from Guam following the deadly crash, and his mother was at his side during the hospital bed arraignment.

McDonald’s defense attorney Lindsey Mercer said McDonald is a student and “rarely drinks.” She said the suspect and his family are heartbroken and devastated for all involved.

"I'm sure the public can imagine the grief they are going through right now," said Mercer, "for everyone that passed away in this accident, for those injured. Their hearts and prayers are with the families involved and have asked us to let them know that."

The Deputy District Attorney on the case said McDonald nearly wiped out an entire family within a matter of seconds.

According to CHP officials, the deadly crash happened around 3:10 a.m. on southbound I-15 north of Mira Mesa Boulevard.

The CHP said McDonald was driving his black Audi A4 in the wrong direction in the express lanes of the freeway when he collided head-on with the Honda Civic carrying five people.

The Honda Civic changed lanes to avoid the collision with the wrong-way driver, but the wrong-way driver simultaneously did the same maneuver and the vehicles collided head-on.

The CHP said the Honda Civic came to rest in the freeway lane while the Audi was high-sided on the concrete barrier.

The impact was so strong, officials said, both the driver of the Honda Civic — 55-year-old Escondido resident Rodolfo De La Torre, 55, and his 84-year-old passenger Teresa Esparza Hernandez died at the scene.

Officials said at least one person was ejected from one of the mangled cars.

Meanwhile, fire crews had to pry out three more passengers from the back seat of the Honda Civic, De La Torre’s wife, Angelica, and their two children, Julio and Carolina, ages 21 and 19.
McDonald also had to be extricated from his car.

The De La Torre family told NBC 7 the surviving family members were taken to the ICU at Scripps La Jolla and the ICU at Sharp. Angelica and Julio suffered broken necks, head trauma and severe abdomen injuries from their seat belts. Carolina suffered broken ribs, broken clavicle and head trauma.

On Wednesday, the family confirmed all three survivors were still hospitalized and in stable condition.

The family was driving to the Tijuana airport to catch a 6 a.m. flight to Aguascalientes, Mexico, when they were hit by McDonald.

CHP officials said he admitted that he had smoked marijuana on the morning of the crash and had drank too much.

The driver, who has no previous criminal history, faces 20 years in prison if convicted.

Meanwhile, community members will hold a fundraiser for the De La Torre family on Friday at a San Marcos Chick-fil-A located at 587 Grand Ave. from 4 p.m. through 7 p.m.

A video of an Army captain finishing the final 50 feet of a brutal 12-mile run at a New Jersey base as her fellow soldiers cheer her on has gone viral. 

Capt. Sarah Cudd, from the Public Health Command, weighed down by a 35-pound backpack and rifle, nearly collapsed but became one of the few to earn the Army’s Expert Field Medical Badge when she completed the run April 27 at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, urged on by her peers.

The video shows Cudd struggling to get to the finish line and falling twice before finally getting up as other soldiers erupted in applause. She crosses the finish line just before the clock hits 2 hours and 47 minutes of the three-hour-long march.

"My legs just turned to gelatin and my back said, 'Nope, I'm not going to stand up straight anymore,'" Cudd told NBC 4 New York Wednesday.

She said one sergeant in particular helped her get back to her feet. 

"As soon as I got up to my knees he told me, 'Now, take a breath, you have time. Take your time, get to the finish line,'" Cudd said. 

She crossed that finish line, though she said she needed an IV to re-hydrate after the grueling run, which is only part of the regimen for servicemembers seeking to earn the Expert Field Medical Badge.  An academy trainer who saw the video said the run looked like a hazing ritual.

Cudd, who is into endurance sports, says she doesn't think she pushed herself too far.

"I never lost consciousness; I was just very weak. I don't think I quite reached the limit, but I was very close," Cudd said, adding that she would wait a few days before resuming her training. 

The video of Cudd's heroic effort has been viewed more than 1.2 million times on Facebook, where a fellow soldier says Cudd was one of only 46 who earned their EFMD.

“This EFMB candidate wanted it, and she got it. It took heart, guts, determination, falling down and getting up, and a little motivation from the crowd to get across the finish line,” says Lloyd A. Mason on the Facebook post.

The Washington Post reports less than 25 percent of those who attempt the course typically pass and Cudd’s command confirmed she earned her badge.