That was easy, wasn't it?

Two weeks after struggling but winning the Kentucky Derby, American Pharoah ignored thunder, lightning, rain and the opposition and splashed his way to a seven-length victory in the Preakness on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course.

And now, it's on to the Belmont Stakes on June 6 for a shot at the Triple Crown and racing immortality.

"He's just an amazing horse," trainer Bob Baffert glowed after winning his sixth Preakness. "Everyone talks about the greatness, and it's just starting to show now. To me, they have to prove it. Today, the way he did it, he just ran so fast. It was like poetry in motion."

Here are some things learned about American Pharoah from the Preakness:

POST POSITION

Inside or outside, American Pharoah is one tough customer. Saddled with an unfavorable No. 1 post, the 3-year-old colt broke a bit slow, but was urged to the lead by jockey Victor Espinoza. In the eight-horse field, only Mr. Z gave chase but for just a little while. AP, as owner Ahmed Zayat sometimes calls him, motored along the rail and cruised home for his sixth straight win. In the Derby, he drew the No. 18 post, started from No. 16 after two horses were scratched, and won by a length despite not being on his A game. For the upcoming Belmont Stakes, at 1 1/2 miles the longest and most grueling of the three races, post position won't be an issue. By the way, the last horse to win the Preakness from the No. 1 post before Saturday was Tabasco Cat in 1994.

NO SLOP FOR YOU

Rain or shine, track condition is not a problem. American Pharoah gave every indication he could deal with a torrential downpour two months ago in Arkansas. A champion as a 2-year-old, his debut this year came in the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park. He won there, too, by 6 1/4 lengths. So once the skies opened on Saturday, there wasn't too much concern about how the sloppy track would affect his performance. "So much rain we had, and so much water, it's insane," winning jockey Victor Espinoza said. "American Pharoah was traveling super in there." How bad was it? "I saw a picture of the track with a river running on the rail, and I thought he's got to run through that?" Baffert said.

BIGGER, STRONGER

A two-week turnaround took nothing out of American Pharoah. Maybe it did, but it didn't look that way. His stride was a graceful as ever — much better than it was in the Derby — and as Baffert says, he "floats over the track wherever he goes." In the weeks leading up to the Belmont, though, Baffert knows that can change. After all, this will be the trainer's fourth attempt to give racing its first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. American Pharoah has won six of his seven lifetime starts, and looks as strong as ever. Then again, 2004 Derby winner Smarty Jones looked awesome, too, after his record 11 1/2-length win in the Preakness — but three weeks later in the Belmont, he was run down in the final yards by Birdstone. "I've seen horses that you don't see it until two weeks later (after the Preakness)," Baffert said. "That's when it starts showing up on these horses. I've been through it. About two weeks out, you'll start seeing if it's getting to them a little bit, and that's why it's so difficult (to win a Triple Crown).

COTTON PICKIN' RAIN

So now we all know American Pharoah is fitted with ear plugs — or else his ears are stuffed with cotton — for his races, because he's sensitive to noise. Not a good thing for a horse going for a Triple Crown and performing before 100,000-plus fans. Nonetheless, the cotton worked again, and he was as attentive as he needed to be. He may have covered the 1 3-16 miles in the slow time of 1:58.46, but he finished ahead of everyone else and was not distracted. "I could tell they (the horses) didn't like it when they got pelted like that," Baffert said. "And I was worried about the cotton balls in his ears. How is he going to react? Maybe I should take them out." No need.

CAN HE DO IT?

Can American Pharoah end a 37-year Triple Crown drought that began after Affirmed became the 11th horse to sweep the Derby, Preakness and Belmont in 1978. Here's a sampling of opinions from three Triple Crown winning connections:

Penny Chenery (owner, Secretariat): "The question will be how quickly he recovers and doesn't lose too much weight. He seems to have a level head, though, and seems to be in command of his talents."

Steve Cauthen (jockey, Affirmed): "He looks like the real deal."

Ron Turcotte (jockey, Secretariat): "The sport needs a Triple Crown winner and he could very well be the one."

THE OPPOSITION

Now that American Pharoah has dusted off his rivals in the Derby and Preakness, who's left to take him on in the Belmont? Well, it sure looks like a bunch of Derby also-rans who skipped the Preakness are going to show up in a bid to play Triple Crown spoiler. Among them are a bunch trained by Todd Pletcher: Materiality (sixth in the Derby), Carpe Diem (10th) and Peter Pan Stakes winner Madefromlucky. Also probable are Frosted (fourth in the Derby), Keen Ice (seventh), Mubtaahij (eighth) and Frammento (11th). "I really don't think about the third leg yet," Baffert said. "It's going to be tough. I've always said this is the easiest of the three legs, and the next race is going to be ... everybody right now is sharpening their knives getting ready."

With few tips and no sign of a Fullerton couple reported missing on Mother's Day, volunteers will resume the ground search next weekend.

Cecil "Paul" Knutson, 79 and Dianna Bedwell, 67 were last seen leaving Valley View Casino in a white 2014 Hyundai Sonata at 2 p.m. Sunday.

The couple was heading toward Coachella Valley, according to Bedwell’s daughter, Debbie Apple. Cecil is her stepfather of 30 years. She said the family called Knutson “Paul.”

“We just feel there is something out there we’re missing,” Apple said. “We just think there’s somebody out there who could help us somehow.”

“Please help us,” she said crying. “Help us find them so we can put an end to this horrible nightmare we’re in the middle of right now.”

At a candlelight vigil Sunday, family members joined volunteers who have been searching Valley Center to pray for answers.

Julie Michael with Team Amber Rescue volunteers said the group has walked or driven every possible route imaginable. They’ve searched from Indio to Borrego. Every dirt road, paved road and even driveways and Indian land where given permission,  Michael said.

This week, volunteers say they are hoping to get wall-sized maps from Valley View Casino so they can target new search areas beginning this weekend.

Michael said there have been just a few tips and the number of volunteers helping in the search has varied between 10 to 50 on different days.

"There really are no clues," Michael said adding that they only know the couple turned left leaving the casino parking lot.

"That's the biggest challenge we're facing is that there absolutely nothing to go on," she said.

Volunteers will regroup and resume searching on Saturday.

Investigators with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, Orange County Sheriff's Department or Riverside County Sheriff's Department have helped in the search.

The Fullerton residents were scheduled to go to their son's home in La Quinta Mother's Day. When they didn't show up, their son, Robert Acosta, called the authorities. 

Knutson and Bedwell are diabetic and dependent on insulin.

Their vehicle has the California license 7EHE981.

Anyone with information is asked to call (858) 565-5200.

President Barack Obama has joined the Twitterverse. 

With his second term more than halfway through, the president sent his inaugural tweet from a new @POTUS Twitter account on Monday. 

The verified account, which attracted more than 146,000 followers within 30 minutes of posting the first tweet, carries the bio "Dad, husband, and 44th President of the United States."

The official @WhiteHouse account retweeted the message and posted confirmation of its own.

The tweet wasn't the first 140-character missive sent from the 44th president. The White House's existing practice was to sign tweets from the president on the @BarackObama handle with his initials, "-bo." That @BarackObama account, launched in March 2007, is run by the staff of Obama's non-profit Organizing for Action group. 

The new account followed all major Chicago sports teams except one — the Cubs. 

An agreement may be in the works between two sides divided over Carmel Valley’s controversial One Paseo Project.

The revelation came as the San Diego City Council sat down to debate the issue at Golden Hall Monday and vote to either reverse their approval of the $750 million development or send it to the ballot.

Instead, the council announced it just found out a deal may be negotiated between the developer, Kilroy Realty, and its opponents. The attorneys for both sides stood up and said they were closer than they had been in the past, but would not be specific.

Still, it was enough for the council to decide to hold off for now, despite the obvious frustration from the crowd who came to weigh in and see the resolution of a debate now years in the making.

“[This] is unconscionable,” said one speaker. “The appropriate time for a continuance would have been at the last city council meeting.”

The city council vote was continued until Thursday, allowing the two stakeholders more time to work out an agreement.

Neither side gave any hints as to what the deal might entail.

"I can't tell you much. I'm afraid I'm bound by confidentiality, but the bottom line is there were some sticking points with the community and they've looked to address those,” said Rachel Laing with Kilroy Realty.

Jeff Powers with Protect San Diego’s Neighborhoods, a group against the project, just acknowledged there was a negotiation.

“So we'll let that continue where it's going to continue, but again, you saw the turnout,” said Powers. “The voices of San Diegans are going to be heard on this issue."

The city council approved One Paseo 7-2 in late February, but they are now forced to reconsider the issue after petition gatherers collected enough signatures to send it back to the council.  

The city clerk verified 51,796 verified signatures were collected of the 23,224 that were needed.

The 1.4 million square-foot One Paseo Project includes the construction of stores and eateries, the expansion of a movie theater and the addition of more than 600 family apartments and a parking structure in Carmel Valley. Sixty of those apartment units will be affordable housing, the city council mandated.

According to opponents, the council disregarded the voice of community planning groups and thousands of locals who don't want the project to move forward.

They believe it is too big for the Carmel Valley area and will create a traffic nightmare.

But supporters, including Kilroy Realty, say it will bring 1,600 new jobs, 600 new homes and $630 million to the local economy.

Multiple groups banded together to file two separate lawsuits against the project, hoping to block its development in the courts.

Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol's wedding plans have been called off days before she and her fiance were supposed to get married, her mother said Monday on Facebook.

The change of plans for Bristol Palin and her fiance Dakota Meyer, who had planned on a Saturday ceremony in Kentucky, came after reports last week that Meyer had been previously married as a teen.

"Regarding salacious headlines in recent days about 'secret wives,' Dakota and I discussed our past relationships prior to our engagement. Dakota was legally divorced years ago, as any good reporter could and should have disclosed to readers," the former "Dancing With the Stars" contestant wrote in a message her mother posted to Facebook. 

Her mother, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee, said that the two families would gather in Kentucky anyway Saturday for a barbecue "to celebrate life, in general!"

It wasn't clear what the couple's wedding plans were, or whether the couple themselves would be at the barbecue.

A Tarrant County grand jury declined to indict a Grapevine police officer Monday who fatally shot an unarmed Mexican man after a high-speed chase earlier this year.

The decision by the grand jury means officer Robert Clark will not face charges in the death of 31-year-old Ruben Garcia Villalpando, an undocumented immigrant who died Feb. 20 after being shot twice in the chest during a traffic stop.

Police said Villalpando led Clark on a high-speed chase, "weaving through and around the heavy traffic and driving on the shoulder of the highway attempting to evade officer Clark."

Villalpando eventually stopped along Texas 121 near Glade Road in Euless and exited his car with his hands up. Then, contrary to the officer's instructions, he walked slowly toward the officer while holding his hands on his head, according to police.

As he continued to approach the officer, Villalpando disappeared from the view of the camera as Clark continued to order the man back to his car. Moments later, two shots could be heard, followed by the officer radioing "shots fired."

“The grand jurors were given complete and open access to all the evidence in this case, included cellphone videos, the dash cam video from officer Clark’s vehicle, witness statements, police records and reports, and any additional information that they requested,” said Larry Moore, Chief of the CDA’s Criminal Division, who led the state’s presentation. “They heard testimony from witnesses representing both Mr. Villalpando and officer Clark. The attorneys representing officer Clark and the Villalpando family were also given the opportunity to directly address the grand jury, should they wish to do so.”

The Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the fatal shooting in February and, in a letter to the police departments of Grapevine and Euless and to the Tarrant County district attorney, said the shooting was a "disproportionate use of lethal force that results in the unnecessary loss of life and erodes the trust that should exist between the authorities and the communities in which they operate."

An attorney representing the family, Domingo Garcia, viewed the officer's dashcam video with Villalpando's family and activist Carlos Quintanilla. Both Garcia and Quintanilla agreed Villalpando was intoxicated and ran from police, but added that he did not deserve to die.

"You do not shoot an unarmed man with his hands on his head," Garcia told NBC 5 in February. "This is an absolute coldblooded murder by a man wearing a badge and a uniform."

"We are deeply disappointed that the Tarrant County DA did not act as they should have in indicting officer Clark and as equally disappointed in Domingo Garcia who lost public momentum in forcing a public outcry on the matter; it now becomes a money game for him and his client and once again we all lose, because really justice has not been served for the Immigrant community," Quintanilla said Monday.

During a news conference with Villalpando's family Monday afternoon, Garcia questioned the integrity of the dashcam video released by authorities earlier in the day and said he would be hiring an expert to determine if it had been edited. Garcia raised questions about where Villalpando was when the shooting took place; according to the dashcam footage Villalpando was shot off-camera but video recorded by passers by showed his body in front of the police car.

Fernando Romero, Villalpando's brother-in-law, said an indictment would have equaled justice for the family.

"Like they're actually looking out for the, for the people, for us," he said. "Not for, just because he has a badge and he's an officer."

Garcia acknowledged that Villalpando made mistakes prior to the shooting.

"The fact of the matter is Ruben Garcia should have stopped when the officer told him to," Garcia said during Monday's news conference. "But, again, the penalty for not paying attention or misinterpreting, 'Go to the back of the car,' and the, him thinking it's the back of the police car, possibly, as opposed to the back of the other one, is not the death penalty."

Garcia also said the family, who remain heartbroken over their loss, said they plan to file a federal lawsuit.

Grapevine Chief of Police Eddie Salame released a statement about the dashcam footage after the grand jury's decision was made public Monday.

“It has been very frustrating to listen to people mischaracterize this incident while our department honored the request of the Tarrant County District Attorney not to release the video until it could be presented to the grand jury,” said Salame. “The dashcam video tells a very different story from the one the public has been hearing.”

The Grapevine police cited Urey Patrick, formerly with the FBI and an expert on the use of force, who said Villalpando’s actions in the video are consistent with the intent to attack: “He proceeds to make an approach on the officer — at a steady pace, unwavering and obstinate, eyes averted — despite being at gunpoint and subjected to a constant battery of orders to stop. Such behavior is consistent with the intent to close the range by moving slowly and inexorably and avoiding eye contact, in order to dispel suspicions until close enough to suddenly attack.”

Salame said police aren't sure why Villalpando acted the way he did, but speculated that his actions may have been due to concerns over facing a second arrest for drunken driving.

“There is no question that the loss of any life is a source of sadness and we understand the concerns expressed by many regarding this incident before all the facts were known. Sadly, this is not the first instance where someone whose judgment was impaired by alcohol has created a situation that led to their death," Salame said.

Villalpando is survived by his wife, Martha, and four young children.

A small, but vocal group of around 20 protesters from the Next Generation Action Network and LULAC gathered in front of the Grapevine Police Department Monday evening, chanting and waving signs, demanding "Justice for Ruben Garcia."

"Am I threatening you? Do I deserve to die for this?" one protester shouted, while holding his hands above his head, as Villalpando was seen in dashcam video doing. "This is what happened. You can see it on the tape for yourself."

NBC 5's Josh Ault, Todd Davis, Ben Russell and Amanda Guerra contributed to this report.

NBC 7's Gene Cubbison offers this analysis on the latest dealings behind the Chargers' stadium scramble.

Okay, it’s past 12:30 p.m. and the embargo on the CSAG report provided to me earlier today has been lifted – so here’s how I would make a long story short, at this point – because for the next weeks (maybe months?) it could be a “War and Peace” opus.

The 42-page document answers a lot of questions.

But it also raises infinitely more than can be answered immediately, or in a short time frame.

Patience, people.

City and county residents/taxpayers can soon go online and come up with a blizzard of issues.

The Chargers and NFL will have their own set of what lawyers call “interrogatories” – and they should expect some public blowback to the mere fact of raising endless hard, pointed questions of the CSAG.

But we probably should see a measured stop-look-listen on their part as “due diligence” that cannot be short-changed or fast-forwarded, given the business model of any 21st century industry -- especially professional sports and particularly one sector so vaunted as “The Shield”.

Team Faulconer and his retained financial advisers figure to take the same approach on behalf of public constituents.

Will they wind up coming to the bargaining table?

Depends on the NFL/Chargers’ real motives and mindset – maybe that’s already a done deal.

If not, can the league’s anticipated earlier-than-scheduled “window” for franchise relocation decisions be tweaked -- to buy time for the prospects for a favorable “local solution?"

Again, questions begging answers.

Suggestions for the players in this high-stakes game:

Show us the money – every formula, every interest point, every split of investments and proceeds, every penny and IOU.

Who pays and reaps exactly what?

Who’s left holding the bag if the bottom lines goes south, and projections turn out to be numbers that dip into the red -- as they have with Qualcomm Stadium and Petco Park.

And just know that if a worst-case scenario materializes, it’ll become a full employment act for attorneys.

A long season of uncertainty precedes training camp and the exhibition season, so let’s all hunker down and make the best of what’s been a bad situation, handled haphazardly for all too long.

You can view the full CSAG report here.

Manhattan's top prosecutor said Monday he plans to re-try the Etan Patz murder case, which ended in mistrial earlier this month after the 12-person jury told a judge for the third time they could not reach a unanimous decision on whether 54-year-old Pedro Hernandez killed the 6-year-old boy in 1979.

Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance made the comments on MSNBC's "The Cycle." He said he intended to officially announce plans to re-try the case at a court date in June.

At the time of the final deadlock, 11 of the jurors in the recent trial believed Hernandez had kidnapped and killed Patz in SoHo as the boy headed to school. Only one juror said he couldn't overcome reasonable doubt, citing Hernandez's documented mental health issues, the bizarre nature of Hernandez's confession to police and concerns about how that confession was attained.

"I think the evidence put in by our prosecutors was compelling and was clear," Vance said Monday on MNSBC. "It's a challenging case, I've never said otherwise, but it's a case we believe should be prosecuted. That's why we did, and in our system it happens from time to time that jurors cannot be unanimous and this was one of those cases."

Harvey Fishbein, Hernandez's defense attorney, told NBC 4 New York Monday, "I have not received any official notification but if the D.A.'s office elects to retry the case, I assure you we will be ready." 

The jury of five men and seven women labored over their deliberations for more than two weeks and 115 hours, asking for reviews of exhibits and hours of testimony from key witnesses in what became the longest New York City criminal trial deliberations in decades.

The judge granted a mistrial May 8 after jurors said for the third time they could not agree on a verdict. Twice before the jurors had said they were deadlocked but were ordered to keep deliberating.

Hernandez was a teenage stock clerk at a convenience store in Patz's neighborhood at the time he disappeared. After having never been a suspect in the case, he confessed to the crime in 2012 in a case that galvanized the missing-children's movement and confounded law enforcement for decades.

The little boy's body was never found, nor was any trace of clothing or his belongings. No physical evidence tied Hernandez to the boy's disappearance or death.

Speaking to the media after the mistrial was granted, Etan Patz's father, Stanley Patz, said the evidence and testimony presented over the months-long trial convinced his family Hernandez was "guilty of the crimes to which he has confessed beyond any reasonable doubt."

"The family of Etan Patz has waited 36 years for a resolution as to what happened to our sweet little boy in 1979," the father said. "Let me make very clear that we are frustrated and very disappointed that the jury has been unable to come to decision. Our long ordeal is not over."

He said in a statement Monday, "We are pleased that the D.A.'s office is willing to expend the time and energy to retry Pedro Hernandez." 

In a statement after the mistrial, Vance said the challenges in the Patz case were "exacerbated by the passage of time," but he said he firmly believes "there is clear and corroborated evidence of the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."

Speaking to MSNBC Monday, Vance said the passage of time, while sometimes difficult to manager in a courtroom, should not deter the prosecution from helping get families closure.

"Victims should not believe that law enforcement forgets about them or their families simply because of the passage of time," Vance said.

Jurors heard from 56 witnesses -- just nine of those for the defense -- during the 10-week trial, but the key issue was statements from the alleged killer himself. Police learned that he'd told people years before on three occasions that he'd killed a child in New York. Then he confessed to police he'd choked Patz and left his body in a box in an alley.

Prosecutors argued an alleged confession to a prayer group Hernandez made shortly after the boy's 1979 disappearance trumped the other accounts.

The defense said the admissions were the fictional ravings of a mentally ill man with a low IQ; they also pointed the finger at another potential suspect.

Patz's photo was one of the first on milk cartons. The day he went missing, May 25, was later named National Missing Children's Day.  

An overturned big rig sent shattered glass across a major freeway interchange near downtown Los Angeles Monday morning, shutting it for hours, officials said.

The truck had collided with a car on the southbound 5-to-eastbound 60 freeway transition, blocking the road and leaking fuel as well as littering the roadway with glass shards, the California Highway Patrol said.

A Sig Alert was issued at 6:10 a.m., about 20 minutes after the truck jackknifed following a collision with a silver car, CHP officer Alex Rubios said. The Sig Alert was canceled about 5 hours later, and the road was reopened at about 11 a.m.

Both drivers suffered only minor injuries, fire officials said. One person was taken to a hospital.

The driver's son, Eugene Ivanov, said his father, Nick Ivanov, didn't know how the truck turned over.

"He felt the truck lose traction and then it just flipped over," Eugene Ivanov said, translating for his Ukrainian father.

This stretch of highway is part of Ivanov's normal route, and Eugene said they hoped a camera installed in the truck would help them piece together what happened.

The CHP was investigating what led up to the crash as well.

Nearly 100 fire officials reponded to a three-alarm fire at a high rise in City Heights that started on a balcony and spread, leaving more than $770,000 in damages and many seniors displaced.

The fire started around 2:47 p.m. Monday on the 4100 block of 42nd Street in City Heights on a 7th floor balcony and spread to the unit. 

The fire was put out in about 20 minutes and 24 trucks, 75 firefighters and 25 support staff responded. 

About 70 residents were evacuated for a few hours, and a large number were displaced for the night, though fire officials did not have an exact number.

A bus was brought to the center to evacuate the seniors to a church nearby. The Red Cross helped them find a place to stay overnight. No injuries were reported. 

A spokesperson said the cause of the fire was likely electrical. 

Investigators believe more than one person was likely involved in the shocking murders of a married couple, their 10-year-old son and their housekeeper, whose bodies were found after a fire was set at the family's upscale D.C. home last week, sources say.

It's likely that the killers had knowledge of the family and how they lived their day-to-day lives, sources said. There was no sign of forced entry at the home.

Savvas Savopoulos, 46; his wife, Amy Savopoulos, 47; their son, Philip, and housekeeper Veralicia Figueroa, 57, were found dead Thursday.

Investigators believe it's likely that the killers gained access to the home Wednesday and kept the victims bound and threatened through Thursday afternoon, when Savvas Savopoulos gave them what they were looking for, sources said.

A longtime housekeeper for the Savopoulos family said she was a good friend of Veralicia "Vera" Figueroa. 

Nelly, who didn't want her full name used, owns her own cleaning company and worked for the family for more than two decades. Nelly allowed Figueroa to work with her at the Savopoulos family's home.

On Wednesday, Figueroa texted Nelly to say she wanted to work at the home, and planned to finish by 3 p.m. 

That evening, Nelly missed a call from Savvas Savopoulos, saying Figueroa was spending the night at the family's home.

Nelly said Figueroa was hard-working and loved life. She'd come to the United States from El Salvador to earn money before planning to retire next year.

On Monday, ATF agents and D.C. police continued to gather evidence at the Woodley Park home.

In a Maryland suburb, authorities used a bloodhound in an effort to track down the person who torched a 2008 blue Porsche 911 stolen from the Woodland Drive NW home on the day of the fire.

The Porsche was burned in the parking lot of St. Christopher's Episcopal Church in Lanham, the the last known location of a suspect in the case. Investigators are working to learn why that person chose that location, and where he or she went after that.

Over the weekend, D.C. police released surveillance video of a person of interest in the case, captured on a camera at a banquet hall near the scene of the car fire. The person is shown dressed in dark clothing.

• WATCH the police video here

Firefighters arrived at the large home Thursday afternoon to find smoke and fire coming from the roof, and the four victims inside.

They said one of the victims was bleeding from the head and had a heavy smell of gasoline when he or she was transported to Georgetown University Hospital. There's also evidence that points to arson.

Neighbors who have been in the home said the family had an extensive and valuable art collection, which was on display a couple of years ago during the Christmas house tour put on by St. Albans School, where Phillip was a student.

A GoFundMe page was created to help with Vera Figueroa's funeral.

Four people escaped an electrical fire that started in the kitchen of an Imperial Beach home overnight.

Firefighters found flames shooting out of the windows and front door of the home on Delaware Street south of Imperial Beach Boulevard just before 1 a.m. Monday.

One tenant said the smoke alarm alerted residents to the danger. Everyone inside was able to get out safely, she said.

Fire crews were able to extinguish the fire in less than 30 minutes and keep it from damaging any other homes.

The damage done to the home includes three bedrooms, a living room and the kitchen, officials said.

The San Diego chapter of the American Red Cross was on scene to help the residents.
 

Each deputy sheriff in the San Diego County Sheriff's Department will now carry a life-saving medication after a successful pilot program. 

In July 2014, the department was the first law enforcement agency in California to carry narcan, also known as naloxone. 

The drug is designed to prevent a drug overdose, and since more than 300 San Diegans are expected to die from heroin or prescription opiate overdoses this year, the sheriff’s department is at the forefront of a national effort to reduce those deaths.

After a successful six month pilot program that started in July 2014, the department announced it would provide the medication to each deputy sheriff on patrol and would give the medication to all patrol stations and substations. 

During the pilot program at the Santee Patrol Station, 11 people were revived by deputies called to an overdose emergency. 

A number of East Coast police departments have implemented the use of Narcan, but the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department will be the biggest agency in the nation to approve the drug.

UC San Diego researcher Peter Davidson explained Narcan comes in a small kit with an applicator to create a nasal spray.

A squirt in each nostril, like a flu vaccine, puts the medication in the bloodstream. It quickly interrupts the opiate response, which restores the addict’s ability to breath and increases the heart rate.

“The deaths were rising, and it was really at epidemic levels,” said Sheriff’s Capt. James Bovet when asked about overdoses.

In places like Santee, Lakeside and rural El Cajon areas, emergency response times can be longer. In those places, deputies often arrive at emergencies before paramedics.

“If sheriff’s deputies get there a few minutes -- even a few seconds – before and can administer a life-saving dose of Narcan, why wouldn’t we be a part of that?” said Bovet.

Gretchen Burns Bergman, a drug reform advocate, has two sons who have struggled with drug addiction.

She has heard people write off drug addicts and say, "They chose that. Let them die."

But she believes every life is worth saving, even if a person chose to do the drugs in the first place.

“Absolutely. Nobody in our society is expendable. We shouldn’t have become a throw-away society,” said Bergman.

Bovet agrees. He became interested in Narcan in 2010, when seven San Diego teens died of opiate overdoses.

No deputy wants to see anyone die – for any reason – Bovet said.

“With Narcan, they’ll be able to administer a dose very easily, very quickly, when the symptomology is right, and perhaps save a life right away,” said Bovet.

Smoke and fire rushed from a crash site in Hawaii after a U.S. Marine Osprey went down in a "hard landing," killing one Marine and injuring 21 other people, some critically.

Twenty-two people were aboard the MV-22 Osprey, including 21 Marines and one Navy corpsman assigned to the unit, spokesman Capt. Brian Block said in an email.

The tilt-rotor aircraft, which can take off and land like a helicopter but flies like an airplane, had a "hard-landing mishap" at about 11:40 a.m. Sunday at Bellows Air Force Station on Oahu, the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit said in a statement.

The injuries ranged from critical to minor, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific spokesman Capt. Alex Lim said.

The cause of the crash was under investigation, Lim said.

The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit is based at Camp Pendleton in California and is in Hawaii for about a week for training. The Osprey was being used for training at Bellows at the time of the hard landing.

Kimberly Hynd said she was hiking the popular Lanikai Pillbox Trail and could see three Osprey aircraft performing maneuvers from her vantage point in the hills above Bellows. She noticed them kicking up dirt but then saw smoke and fire. Hynd, who estimated she was 2 to 3 miles away, didn't hear the sound of a large crash.

"It looked like they were doing some sort of maneuver or formation -- and so I was taking pictures of it because usually you can't see them that close up," Hynd said.

Donald Gahit said he saw smoke rising in the air from Bellows when he looked outside his house after hearing sirens pass by.

"At first I thought it was clouds, but it was moving fast and it was pretty dark," the Waimanalo resident said.

Ospreys may be equipped with radar, lasers and a missile defense system. Each can carry 24 Marines into combat.

Built by Boeing Co. and Bell, a unit of Textron Inc., the Osprey program was nearly scrapped after a history of mechanical failures and two test crashes that killed 23 Marines in 2000.

The aircraft have since been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Some Osprey are also helping with earthquake relief efforts in Nepal.

Children attending dance classes may not be getting enough physical activity, according to one UC San Diego School of Medicine study.

A study published Monday examined the activity levels of girls aged five to 18 that attended a variety of dance classes and found that in most of these youth dance classes, children participated in a limited amount of physical activity.

Only a little more than a third of class time in youth dance classes was spent doing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. For the rest of the class time, children were standing, listening or stretching, researchers found.

“This is a very commonly used opportunity for young people, especially girls, to be physically active and we find that they are inactive most of the time during dance classes,” said senior author James Sallis, PhD, professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, in a statement. “We see this as a missed opportunity to get kids healthier.”

Half of American youth do not meet physical activity guidelines set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which state that children and teens should be participate in moderate-to-vigorous activity for at least 60 minutes a day.

On average, the children were more likely to be active than their teenage counterparts.

Not all types of dance measured out to be the same for the girls. The study looked at ballet, jazz, hip-hop, flamenco, salsa/ballet folklorico, tap and partnered dance, such as ballroom or swing.

“We found that not all dance types are created equal,” said Kelli Cain, the study’s first author. “For example, hip-hop came out among the top in activity level for both children and adolescents while flamenco was the least active for both groups.”

Study participants said on average they spent an average of 17 minutes in each averaged 49 minute class doing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Only 8 percent of kids and 6 percent of adults met the CDC’s recommended physical activity level during dance.

The study gathered data from 264 girls across San Diego County in 66 dance classes. Those girls wore accelerometer devices around their waist that recorded their movement.

In addition to Cain, the study was also co-authored by Kavita Gavand and Patricia Rincon from UCSD; Terry Conway, Edith Bonilla, and Nicole Bracy from UCSD and San Diego State University; and Emma Peck from San Diego State University.

This was already going to be a big week in the evolution of the San Diego Chargers football stadium saga. Wednesday was the scheduled date for the Citizens Stadium Advisory Group to reveal its stadium and financing plan.

Well, the CSAG got its work done early, and it’s not waiting to show off the goods.

A 1 p.m. media conference has been scheduled for Monday at the County Operations Center in Kearny Mesa where plans for the new stadium, including the general architectural look and the financing plan to get it built at the current Mission Valley site will be revealed.

Here’s the part that will knock your socks off: sources close to the process say the group has found a way to build the $1.2 billion facility without asking citizens of San Diego County for a tax raise.

That’s right. The CSAG claims it can get a new, $1.2 billion NFL stadium for the Chargers built in Mission Valley without the taxpayers in general chipping in, which opens a multitude of questions. Namely, how is that possible in a market like San Diego?

All the details are not yet known but sources say the Chargers will be asked to kick in more than the proposed $200 million they have offered, possibly up to $300 million. That amount is separate from the $200 million the NFL has offered to add to a stadium build.

One way the Bolts can start working in that direction is a slight increase in ticket prices. This is why we can’t say there will be “no public funds” involved in the new stadium. San Diegans are going to have to, in some capacity, chip in. The difference is it will not be all residents who have to do it, only those who choose to pay to see the games.

The Chargers already have the sixth-cheapest tickets in the NFL. An increase of $10 per seat would still give them the seventh-least expensive seat in any NFL house. A parking surcharge is also a possibility.

As with most other new stadiums built in the last decade, the Chargers will have to start a PSL (Personal Seat License) sale. Fans will have to purchase the right to purchase tickets in specific seats. It’s been an ongoing debate as to how much revenue can be expected from that practice in San Diego but nobody expects to reach the reported $300 million the 49ers generated for Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, which sits right in the heart of the most lucrative technology hub in the nation.

The Vikings and Falcons have set goals of around $100 million for their PSL sales. The Chargers will likely shoot for close to that number.

Another possibility is a “bridge” loan from the county to the city. San Diego County has a reported $700 million surplus in its general fund and could offer some of that to the city to back the construction, even though some local politicians oppose the idea.

Then you have the proposal of development generating money for the stadium. The concept there is areas surrounding the stadium will be filled with condominiums, apartments, restaurants and retail stores. Those private businesses will be taxed and that money will go towards the cost of the new facility.

The problem with this idea is it takes a long time for the money to come in and the NFL has explicitly said they do not want new stadiums being financed this way. However, if it is only a small percentage of the total cost the league could look at it.

If there is no request for public tax dollars, no public vote would be necessary and the local government could conceivably vote on whether or not to go ahead with it in the next few months. However, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer has promised a public vote on a new stadium and San Diego residents will likely still have input on the matter through a vote in some capacity.

Of course, all this is all based on the Chargers ownership group accepting the proposal. The team will likely take its time in going over the plan and make counter-proposals before a final decision is reached.

Other issues such as how long the build would take and how to build a stadium on a site that already has a stadium and still have room to park are as of yet unknown.

Check back with NBC 7 SportsWrap and watch NBC 7 News for updates. Got an opinion on this? Join the conversation on the NBC 7 Facebook page. 

The shootout in Waco that killed nine motorcycle gang members had its origins in violence that erupted in the weeks before Christmas, with a beating at a Toys for Tots event in Wise County and a murder in Fort Worth, according to law enforcement sources.

The backdrop is a growing turf battle between the Bandidos — which has controlled drug trafficking routes in Texas for years — and the Cossacks, a lesser-known biker gang that has been gaining power by aligning itself with Bandido rivals, the sources said.

On Dec. 13, 10 Bandidos burst into Gator’s bar in Fort Worth and "without saying a word, started punching and attacking people," according to a police affidavit.

They then opened fire, killing one motorcycle club member, Geoff Brady of Arlington, and injuring three others, police said.

Three gang members were arrested on murder charges. They are out of jail on $100,000 bond each.

Exactly one week earlier, on Dec. 6, other Bandidos members beat a rival biker at a Toys for Tots event in Decatur, police said. The victim declined to press charges and no arrests were made.

Law enforcement sources say the two incidents and now the Waco shootout highlight a growing fight for control of those drug trafficking routes in Texas.

Groups pay a "tax" to the Bandidos for permission to operate freely without trouble, experts say, but the Cossacks are refusing to pay the Bandidos and are aligning themselves with other biker gangs, including the Bandidos’ largest rival, the Hell’s Angels.

"Like any criminal organization, it's about money, it's about control, it's about a lifestyle,” said former North Texas FBI agent Gil Torrez. "You know, be it La Cosa Nostra, or be it motorcycle gangs, if they are a criminal organization, sooner or later, they have to be dealt with."

The Texas Department of Public Safety profiled the Bandidos in an unclassified Texas Gang Threat Assessment just last year.

It identifies the Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang as a criminal enterprise, right behind the Bloods and the Crips street gangs.

"Although these gangs vary in size and structure, they are responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime across urban, suburban and rural areas of Texas," the report said.

Following the Fort Worth murder, the Bandidos and Cossacks have been involved in at least a dozen violent attacks across North Texas involving hammers, chains and guns, experts said. In some cases, rival gang members have tried to literally run each other off highways.

Now, with the high-profile shootout in Waco, local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are gearing up to crack down.

"Law enforcement has got to be on high alert,” Torrez said. “I'm sure they're beating the bricks and doing what they can to develop human intelligence and try to defend against this."

To prevent trouble, some North Texas bar owners are now posting signs which prohibit customers from entering with motorcycle club "cuts, colors or support T-shirts."

Others have similar dress codes.

"We don't allow any of the colors, the back patches, the knifes, the chains — anything like that," said Brandon Murdoch, with Chill Sports Bar & Grill in Grapevine. "We have plenty of people that ride motorcycles that come in here, we even have a designated motorcycle parking, but none of the '1 per-centers' as they like to call themselves."

"If you bend for one or two, then five or six are going to show up, and it can be pretty intimidating for a bar owner," added Murdoch.

NBC 5's Kevin Cokely contributed to this report.

Parking in downtown San Diego is tough, and NBC 7 Investigates found some drivers are using disabled placards issued to their relatives, which the DMV says is illegal.

NBC 7 Investigates spotted a Toyota truck parked for hours at a time on 3rd Avenue, near Broadway, in downtown San Diego. The driver works at a high-end hotel and doesn't feed the meter because he uses a handicap placard. The problem is, according to DMV records, the placard is not his. NBC 7 Investigates approached him as he was leaving work.

At first, he denied it iss his truck. But since January, NBC 7 Investigates followed him as he got in and out of it, placard in place.

The man told NBC 7 Investigates he was “not sure” who owns the placard he was using on his truck. According to DMV records, the handicap placard is registered to a man in his 60s.

NBC 7 Investigates found many of the congested downtown streets have cars parked on them with handicap placards. On May 14 on 7th Avenue, between C Street and Broadway, half of the vehicles parked on the street had handicap placards displayed. That same day on 8th Avenue, between B and C Streets, eight out of 15 cars had placards.

In California, a driver with a disabled parking placard can park almost anywhere at anytime. But It can mean a fine of up to $1,000 or a misdemeanor to use it if it's not registered to you or someone present in the car.

During the NBC 7 investigation one man used a remote to unlock his car, but when he saw NBC 7 Investigates camera, he kept walking past his Lexus, the car he had remotely unlocked.

This man told NBC 7 Investigates to get our cameras off of him and that he does “work for the city and they don’t want me to talk.”

The man works two blocks from where he parks, in the City of San Diego's personnel office. He uses a handicap placard registered to his mother, according to DMV records.

“My mother is handicapped and I take care of my mother,” he told NBC 7 Investigates. But his mother was not with him while he was getting in and out of the car when our cameras followed him.

NBC 7 Investigates approached another woman who works for San Diego County at the Hall of Justice. The woman parks a few blocks away from her office, using a placard belonging to a relative.

When asked if the car in question belonged to her, she said she took the trolley. But undercover video from NBC 7 Investigates shows the same woman getting in and out of this car.

A San Diego Police Parking enforcement supervisor told NBC 7 Investigates disabled placard abuse is a huge problem, especially downtown. He said catching people is difficult and the department, on average, gives out 28 tickets a day for the offense. The fine is $452.50.

At age 19, a car accident left Louis Frick a quadriplegic. Today, Frick is Executive Director of the nonprofit agency, Access To Independence.

He and many others like him said they need accessible parking spots.

“It’s unbelievably crowded downtown,” Frick said. “My question is ‘What is your problem? What is it that you feel like you just can’t be bothered to follow the rules like everybody else?' It’s frustrating to me.”

In 2013 to 2014, the California DMV issued 500 citations for disabled placard fraud statewide.
Right now, over 3 million California drivers have permanent or temporary disabled placards or disabled license plates.

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 San Diego storage company accused of selling off active-duty Navy service members’ property while they were overseas must now pay the victims nearly $170,000, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Across Town Movers and its owner, Daniel E. Homan, agreed to the settlement Monday to resolve a lawsuit filed in March by the DOJ and U.S. attorney’s office.

In the suit, investigators said retired Master Chief Petty Officer Thomas E. Ward, a 30-year veteran, placed valuable car parts and household items in an Across Town Movers storage unit before he was deployed overseas in 2006.

But before finishing his final tour, Ward found out that the company had auctioned off all his property, including vintage car parts. They sold the items without giving him notice or getting a court order, which is required under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), according to the DOJ.

The lawsuit said Across Town Movers then continued to collect storage fees from the Navy after it sold Ward’s property.

Now, the company will have to pay Ward $150,000 as compensation. More money from the settlement will go to nine other alleged victims.

“We hope that this consent order will send a clear message to all storage companies that before they auction off anyone’s belongings, they should check the Defense Department’s military database and their own files to see if the customer is protected by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division.

Across Town Movers has also agreed to a consent order that requires it to change its business practices, which include implementing new policies and procedures that fall in line with the SCRA and prevent future violations.

If you have had a similar situation happen to you, contact the nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance Program office.