2016 Presidential Candidates
2016 Presidential Candidates
If the case of "the Mondays" is always this awesome, it's now our new favorite day of the week: The Del Mar Friday Concert Series presented by Harrah's Resort Southern California -- which will be bringing us the Offspring, Weezer, Ziggy Marley and the Wallflowers this summer -- just got even bigger by a factor of two. Dance gurus the Crystal Method are set to descend upon the track on Friday, July 31, while Thievery Corporation (fresh off their San Diego Oysterfest appearance) are set to go off on Aug. 7.
For those that love to dance (and yes, we mean you), it's been a minute since we've had the Crystal Method hit our shores with their iconic electro jams. We don't know about you, but we still have their 1997 EDM classic "Vegas" on regular rotation. Back when Skrillex was still in diapers, the Sin City producer duo had the whole world moving to their ooonce-ooonce-ooonce-ooonce beat like few before them. "Trip Like I Do" is easily one of the greatest alt-dance tracks of our time, and we've got high hopes that they'll bust it out at the racetrack on Friday, July 31. And hey, maybe even Walter White will make an appearance -- you never know!
And the genre-sprawling acrobatics of Thievery Corporation are always a welcome sight (and sound) in San Diego, with their EDM/bossa nova/acid jazz/soul/reggae style enlightening all who hear it along the way. There's a reason why the DJ collective have stolen the hearts of America's Finest City (along with the rest of the world) -- everybody loves to get down! Aug. 7 just can't come soon enough. And hey, it'll also be nice to witness the troupe without oyster juice running down our faces too (sorry, sometimes we go a little crazy at Oysterfest).
As always, the DMTC concerts start after the last race of the day and are free for track patrons. If you're rolling out after the races, standalone tickets are $20 and are available here.
The 2015 Del Mar Friday Concert Series presented by Harrah's Resort Southern California:
An executive at Rady Children's hospital died Sunday after he was fatally hit by a car while riding his bicycle.
Roger Roux, 64, was cycling in the 14200 block of Camino Del Sur near Westview High School when a 40-year-old woman, driving with her 6-year-old child, got distracted and crossed over into the bike lane, according to police.
Officers said the woman hit Roux, who was wearing a helmet. He was taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, where he died shortly after he arrived. The driver and child were uninjured, and officers have not cited the woman.
“It's just a split second when one’s life can be taken away and unfortunately that happened today," said Alex Cabrera, who lives in the area.
Since 2003, Roux has worked for Rady Children's Hospital as the senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer, overseeing all financial operations.
"His contributions to Rady Children’s and the San Diego community are simply too many to enumerate. Roger was a dedicated, trusted and collegial member of the Rady Children’s Family and will be missed dearly," a hospital spokesman wrote in a release.
Roux is survived by his wife Diane, son Matthew, daughter-in-law Jennifer and two grandchildren.
Fellow cyclists surveyed the crash site Sunday, saying it's an all too familiar occurrence.
"There are a lot of distracted drivers," said cyclist Mike Kashirsky. "And if they're not on their phone, they're eating something. I see a lot of people, especially at lunchtime."
But they said the accident would not stop them from riding in the area.
"You can't be afraid of the road, and the majority of the people in cars are very aware of cyclists, and so I don't feel afraid," said cyclist Deborah Spivak.
San Diego Sheriff's officials are defending tactics used on a runaway teen whom a deputy tackled and tased in an incident caught on camera, detailing the sequence of events that led to an officer firing a taser.
The 13-year-old Fallbrook boy, reported as a runaway by his mother for nearly two days, was recorded by witness Jonathan Daza with a cellphone as it happened.
"I think its been portrayed as...an out-of control deputy and I think the deputy was very conscientious in this case," said Sheriff Bill Gore.
At a news conference Monday, Gore identified the deputy involved as Jeremy Banks, a seven-year veteran of the force.
"In actuality, what we have is an out-of-control juvenile who could have prevented this whole ordeal just by obeying the commands of the deputy and getting in the car so he could be returned to his mom," Gore said.
Gore said the teen, reported as a runaway at least five times previously, was found at the first place Banks checked, behind a set of stores on the 1100 block of South Mission in Fallbrook around 5:30 p.m.
The deputy soon confirmed it was the runaway when he got closer to a group of kids skateboarding.
At first he told the juvenile he needed to come with him and would take him home multiple times, Gore said, but the teen refused and put up a fight.
When Banks placed his hand on the teen’s arm, he became combative and bit the deputy.
"To me that's not the actions of someone complying with a deputy," Gore said. "That's when the deputy deployed his taser."
In the video, you can hear someone yelling, “he’s choking him out, he’s choking him out.”
“It was not a choke hold or carotid restraint…simply getting control of a flailing child,” said SDSO spokeswoman Jan Caldwell said, adding that the SDSO does not use choke holds.
Banks did use a Taser, Caldwell said, and one of the prongs struck the child.
The teen had his hands in his waistband, Caldwell said, so Banks was unsure if the teen had a weapon. The deputy got the teen in the car, and he was later released to his mother, who Gore said was "greatly relieved he had been found and apologized for his behavior."
"I think it was an appropriate use of force," Gore said.
Liandro Cardenas, a teen that witnessed the incident said he and his skateboarding friends were in a lot with “no skateboarding” signs behind stores on the 1100 block of South Mission around 5:30 p.m. Saturday when it happened.
That’s when they say the deputy approached their friend.
“The officer said, ‘You don’t want to get dropped, right?’” Cardenas said. When asked what dropped meant, Cardenas said it meant, “taken to the floor and handcuffed.”
After the incident, Gore said, Banks went out and asked if anyone had recorded the incident and then recorded that footage for department record because deputies do not wear body cameras. Gore said the deputy did not erase or confiscate anyone's video from the scene.
Gore said the teen has been charged with resisting arrest and was booked into juvenile hall. Any further charges will be determined by the District Attorney's office.
The SDSO has launched a standard investigation into the use of force in the situation.
The apparent body of Joseph McStay found in a shallow grave had an extension cord wrapped around his neck and a blanket around his body, prosecutors said in court Monday.
During a preliminary hearing for the man accused of killing a Fallbrook family of four, prosecutors laid out never-before-seen evidence the McStay family murder case that baffled officials for years, including testimony from detectives and other witnesses about the evidence against the suspect.
Charles Merritt is accused of murdering his former business partner, Joseph McStay, along with Joseph’s wife, Summer McStay, and the couple’s two sons, 4-year-old Gianni McStay and 3-year-old Joseph Mateo McStay in February 2010.
At the preliminary hearing, the judge ruled that there was "probable cause" Merritt was involved in the murder and that he must stand trial.
Merritt sat with his four attorneys in a San Bernadino court Monday as officials laid out evidence in the case. An attorney for Merritt said there was "not one shred of evidence" that directly linked him to the murder.
A detective that testified in court said tire tracks from a "large vehicle" were found near the two graves, not four as originally stated by officials. He said they found 45 bones, at least two from children, in the desert graves, in addition to an entire body and skull of a "small child" and clothing in the shallow graves.
A small, three-pound sledgehammer was also found in one of the two family graves with other items about 16 inches deep, a detective said in court.
DNA testing helped identify Summer McStay, whose body had "multiple bone fractures" to the head before death. A detective testified Monday that Summer died of "blunt force trauma to the head," and ruled her cause of death a homicide. The detective added that Joseph was also beaten and killed.
Gianni, one of the children, also suffered at least seven blunt force wounds to the head that caused his death.
A Medical Examiner ruled that at least three of the four family members were probably killed with a small sledgehammer, the same one that was found with their bodies.
An FBI agent on the stand said they linked Merritt's phone to calls made in the area where bodies were found. Additionally, a detective said evidence ties Merritt's truck tires to tracks found near the shallow graves.
Until several months ago, Merritt had chosen to act as his own attorney because he said he’s suffering from congestive heart failure and only has months to live. He claimed representing himself would allow him to move the case quickly to trial and prove his innocence.
The Fallbrook family was reported missing on Feb. 4, 2010.
The case of their disappearance stumped the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department: a family of four vanished from their California home, leaving eggs to rot in the kitchen, their dogs without food and freshly-made popcorn on the counter.
In November 2013, the skeletal remains of the family were uncovered in shallow graves in a very remote desert location in Victorville, Calif.
One year later, in November 2014, Merritt was arrested in connection with the mysterious murders. In February 2015, Merritt complained to a judge that he wasn’t receiving the documents needed for him to act as his own defense. He asked for prosecution discovery documents and files on a computer that was seized by investigators, according to U-T San Diego reporter Teri Figueroa.
After Merritt’s preliminary trial occurs, a judge will decide if there’s enough evidence to send Merritt to trial.
A federal judge in Chicago granted a request by prosecutors to keep secret some of the evidence in the case against former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, NBC News reported.
Federal prosecutors filed a motion Friday asking U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Durkin to bar Hastert's lawyers from disclosing any discovery the U.S. Attorney's Office provides them to anyone not involved in the case.
Durkin — who is staying on the case even though he once donated money to Hastert's campaign fund — agreed Monday to seal some of the evidence in Hastert’s alleged hush-money case, which could include the identity of Hastert's alleged victim.
Hastert is accused of agreeing to pay $3.5 million to someone described in an indictment as "Individual A" to keep past misconduct secret. The 73-year-old former teacher and coach pleaded not guilty to charges of violating banking laws and lying to the FBI.
An NBC News source said the payments were intended to conceal claims of sexual misconduct from decades ago.
Durkin scheduled a hearing for Thursday morning. Hastert, who is free on a $4,500 unsecured bond, is not required to attend.
Prison officials are searching for a minimum-security inmate who walked away from a Julian prison camp Monday, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The staff at La Cima Conservation Camp first noticed Jesse Lozano, 41, was missing at 2:30 p.m.
They searched the dormitory area, surrounding buildings and the perimeter, but their search came up with nothing.
All law enforcement agencies nearby were notified of Lozano's disappearance and are helping with the hunt. The camp is located at 15108 Sunrise Highway in Julian.
Lozano was last seen wearing an orange CDCR inmate suit. He is a Hispanic man, standing 6-foot-1-inch and weighing 275 pounds. He has black curly hair, brown eyes and possibly a mustache and a goatee.
Lozano was sentenced for possession for sale of a controlled substance and will be there for eight years. La Cima Conservation Camp houses state and county fire crews, run by the CDCR and CAL Fire, to fight wildland fires throughout the state with the help of minimum security inmates.
If you know where Lozano is, call the camp commander at 760-765-3085 or the Sierra Conservation Center Watch Commander at 209-984-5291, ext. 5439.
Members of the Coast Guard helped rescue a large turtle stuck in a line off the coast of Long Island on Monday.
At 1:30 p.m., the Coast Guard's Long Island Sound command center received a report of an entangled leatherback sea turtle in Fort Pond Bay.
A boat crew from the Coast Guard's Montauk station arrived at the scene and found the turtle caught in a lobster pod line. They managed to cut the line and free the turtle.
"The turtle would have most likely died if the crew did not respond to assist," Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew Foster. "The line was around the turtle's neck and fin and was getting tighter."
The turtle showed no signs of injury and swam away.
Leatherback turtles are the world's largest turtle, and one of the largest living reptiles, according to the NOAA. An adult can weigh up to 2,000 pounds.
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San Diego’s Mira Mesa community planning group is reviewing revised plans submitted by developers for Stone Creek, a proposed 293-acre mixed-use project that includes approximately 4,500 apartments and condos.
According to preliminary information submitted to the city by property owner Vulcan Materials, the development would also include nearly 1 million square feet of retail, office and industrial space to be built out over several years. Initial plans also call for the development’s Village Center to include a 150-room hotel.
A city staff report said Stone Creek is planned as a mixed-use, transit-oriented development. The project was originally proposed in 2006 for land near a creek bed that Vulcan Materials mines for construction materials in the Carroll Canyon area, near interstates 805 and 15.
Preliminary concept drawings indicate that retail and residential portions of the project would resemble an old-style European village. The project would require city approval of an amendment to the Mira Mesa community plan.
The FBI and federal prosecutors are investigating allegations that St. Louis Cardinals officials illegally hacked into their longtime rival the Houston Astros' computer database to steal proprietary team information, a federal official told NBC News.
The New York Times reported Tuesday, citing anonymous officials, that investigators had uncovered evidence Cardinals officials had broken into a network housing special team databases and compromised internal discussions of trades, statistics and scouting.
Law enforcement officials think front-office Cardinals workers seeking revenge against Jeff Luhnow, a former Cardinals executive who became the Astros' general manager in 2011, may have been behind the hacking, according to the Times.
Major League Baseball, the Cardinals and the Astros all said in separate statements that they were cooperating with the federal investigation into the breach.
"Once the investigative process has been completed by federal law enforcement officials, we will evaluate the next steps and will make decisions promptly," the league said.
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said he couldn't recall a similar case in baseball's long history.
"Until we know, this is different than when we might investigate a drug case (or) we have access to all the facts in a real time situation," he said in Boston. "That's just not the case here. We don't exactly what the facts are."
The FBI wouldn't confirm or deny the Times' report, but it did say it "aggressively investigates all potential threats to public and private sector systems."
Manfred said MLB's forensics experts were not involved in the case.
"This is a federal investigation not a baseball investigation," he said. "Obviously any allegation like this, no matter how serious it turns out to be, is of great concern to us."
A misprint on the SAT means that some graduating high school seniors won't have their entire tests scored, thanks to a misprint that may have cut short the time they were given to finish.
The two sections of the test administered June 6 that had the misprints will not be scored, said the College Board, which administers the tests.
Now, students who took the SAT that day will be given the chance to retake the all-day college admissions test for free.
Still, the College Board said it's confident the test scores would be reliable even without those sections being scored.
The College Board, which administers the SAT, explained on its website.
"The time allotted for the last reading section was incorrect in the student test books but correct in the script and manual provided to test center supervisors," it said. "The copy in the student test books indicated '25 minutes' while the manual and script indicated the correct time limit of '20 minutes.'"
A threat prompted the U.S. Navy to evacuate workers from two Philadelphia facilities Tuesday morning and raise the threat level to imminent.
U.S. officials told NBC News they heightened security measures at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in South Philadelphia and Naval Support Activity Philadelphia center in Northeast Philly after the FBI informed the military of a potential terror threat.
In turn, officials raised the threat level for those facilities from Bravo to Charlie — the second highest level — while evacuating workers around 10:20 a.m. Some workers said they were suddenly told they had to leave without being given an explanation.
By noon, SkyForce10 captured crews blocking the entrance to the Northeast Philly facility with concrete barriers.
The Navy took the lead on the investigation as NCIS confirmed that they were looking into a threat at the Northeast Philly supply facility. None of the agencies described the nature of the threat.
#BREAKING: #USNavy confirms force protection increased at Naval Support Activity #Philadelphia due to potential threat. MTF.
— U.S. Navy (@USNavy) June 16, 2015
Shortly after noon, Homeland Security gave the all clear but didn't reveal any further details. The FBI deemed the threat non-credible.
The facilities provide "operation ready, secure shore infrastructure," according to the Navy.
Other businesses in the Philadelphia Navy Yard remained open Tuesday as Philadelphia Police and federal authorities investigated.
Soccer star Brandi Chastain is asking all players to reverse their jerseys to show support for a rule change: no headers for players under 14.
With the soccer world focused on the Women’s World Cup, Chastain is promoting the Safer Soccer Campaign. She says heading the ball can lead to concussions.
Chastain was one of the first to jump on the effort — a former star who scored the winning penalty kick to give the United States the title over China in the 1999 World Cup, and memorably ripped off her shirt in exultation. Now she is a youth coach in Northern California, and a mom.
Chastain believes that if youth coaches can reduce the risk of concussions by focusing on footwork and special awareness rather than headers, it will also allow players to develop stronger fundamental skills.
"Now that I'm off the field and I'm stepping back I still feel the need to do something for the game. And I thought the best thing I could do is help make the team safer. As a mom, that's an extra push. I want my son to go to the soccer field and be safe," she said.
Gracie Hussey was just 7 when she had her first concussion. In a youth soccer match, she was trying to head the ball into the goal when she collided with another player.
Her mother, Beth, figures there were other concussions along the way but the worst came five years later, when Gracie crashed onto artificial turf, slamming the back of her head.
Now 15, Gracie can no longer play soccer. She has headaches, suffers from inexplicable nausea and several times a day she feels like she's about to pass out.
"I had concussion symptoms all the time, but I didn't really know what they were so I wouldn't say anything," she said recently from her home in Memphis, Tennessee. "I would see stars, like, probably every other game. But I didn't know that wasn't normal."
While her athletic career may be over, Gracie and her mother have embarked on a new endeavor: Advocating for youth soccer coaches and organizations to keep headers out of the game until kids are 14.
At the Women's World Cup this summer, there will be a lot of young athletes hoping to someday emulate players like American Abby Wambach, who is known for heading the ball with uncanny accuracy.
The Safer Soccer Initiative recommends that those kids not be taught headers until they're high school age, after their brains and necks have had a chance to develop. The nearly year-old educational campaign is a joint effort between the Sports Legacy Institute, a concussion research and advocacy nonprofit, and the Santa Clara Institute of Sports Law and Ethics.
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There has been a growing focus on concussion prevention in hard-hitting youth sports, like football. But little attention has gone to soccer, where headers, and the acrobatics and resulting collisions that often come with them, are a leading cause of concussions, said Dr. Robert Cantu, professor of neurosurgery at Boston University School of Medicine.
A study published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine in 2012 showed that football had the greatest incidence of concussions among high school athletes. Girls' soccer was second.
"If it weren't for headers, soccer wouldn't be in the high-risk group for head injury, and it is, surprisingly. Many people don't realize that," Cantu said. "Girls are particularly prone to concussions compared to guys."
Part of the danger is that no one knows just when or how a brain injury, or multiple injuries, can result in permanent damage, Cantu said.
The Sports Legacy Institute was involved in identifying the first case of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease known as CTE, in a soccer player after examining the brain of Patrick Grange, an aspiring pro known for his headers who died in 2012 at age 29.
Cantu, who wrote "Concussions And Our Kids," isn't suggesting that kids shouldn't play soccer, he just believes they should do it more safely, especially in formative years.
One of the first to jump on the effort was Brandi Chastain, a former star with the U.S. national team who scored the winning penalty kick to give the United States the title over China in the 1999 World Cup. Now she is a youth coach in Northern California, and a mom.
Chastain believes that if youth coaches can reduce the risk of concussions by focusing on footwork and special awareness rather than headers, it will also allow players to develop stronger fundamental skills.
"Now that I'm off the field and I'm stepping back I still feel the need to do something for the game. And I thought the best thing I could do is help make the team safer. As a mom, that's an extra push. I want my son to go to the soccer field and be safe," she said.
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At this time, there isn't one universal set of guidelines for introducing headers in youth soccer.
Most youth organizations discourage coaching headers until the age of 10.
Others take a more pre-emptive approach. Soccer Shots, an introduction-to-soccer program for young kids that has franchises nationwide does not teach headers as policy.
Washington Youth Soccer's approach was spurred by a comprehensive youth concussion safety law that the state passed in 2009. Similar laws have been adopted by most states.
One of the key provisions of the law mandates that young players who have been concussed get permission from a licensed health care professional before returning to action.
Guided by the phrase "when in doubt, take them out," Washington Youth Soccer has also joined with Connecticut-based Triax Technologies to look at the number of blows players take to the head and how hard they are.
At a recent tournament in Oregon, several 9-year-old players wore specially designed headbands with an electronic sensor that gathers data that can later be viewed by coaches and parents. While not a diagnostic tool for concussions, the technology is valuable in assessing whether a child is vulnerable.
"It's not telltale of whether there's a concussion, but it's another piece of information and another metric I can use for the best interest of the athlete," coach Todd Veenhuisen said.
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Beth Hussey wishes she'd been educated about the dangers of concussions when Gracie, her youngest daughter, started playing.
"She's very tough," Beth Hussey said. "She was going to fight for that ball no matter what it took. She's definitely very competitive and a great athlete. But I think you take that personality and you take a coach saying, 'You've got to head the ball, you've got to take the hit,' if you're competitive and you want to win, you're going to do whatever that coach tells you."
An overachiever, Gracie played with kids who were older than her. She said she was taught to head the ball after only a handful of practices with her first team, and was told: "Don't ever let the ball hit the ground."
The concussion that Gracie believes caused the most damage came when she was 12, after another player shoved her and she again hit her head on the turf, losing consciousness for several seconds. She played the final minute of the match, but got to the sideline and collapsed.
"If I had known all the consequences that I could have faced from competitive soccer, and all about concussions," she said, "I don't know if I would have played with the same intensity that I did."
A preliminary 2.7 magnitude quake rocked the Carson area late Monday.
The temblor hit 2.5 miles northeast of the city at 11:48 p.m., according to the USGS.
Weak shaking was reported in Carson, Compton, Gardena, Torrance and Long Beach. There were no reports of damage.
Rachel Dolezal, the former NAACP chapter leader who sparked a nationwide debate about racial identity after her parents said she had long pretended to be black, says she is "definitely not white" and has identified as black since she was just 5 years old, she said in a series of NBC interviews Tuesday.
"I identify as black," Dolezal told Matt Lauer on the "Today" show in an exclusive interview, a day after she stepped down from her post leading the Spokane, Washington, chapter of the civil rights group.
She said she had begun identifying herself as black as young as 5 years old, though she did not affirmatively identify that way for more than a decade.
"I was drawing self-portraits with the brown crayon instead of the peach crayon," she said. "It was a little more complex than me identifying as black."
Shown a photograph of herself at the age of 16, appearing blonde and fair-skinned, she acknowledged that "visibly, she would be identified as white by people who see her," and said she did not describe herself as black yet at that time.
In another interview later Tuesday on MSNBC, Dolezal told Melissa Harris-Perry that her black identity meant that she understood the experiences of black people.
"It means that I have really gone there with the experience, being a mother of two black sons," she said.
As for another aspect of her identity — her hair — Dolezal told NBC BLK that "this is a weave, and I do it myself."
Dolezal reiterated her stance in an interview with "NBC Nightly News," telling anchor Savannah Guthrie that "I definitely am not white."
"Nothing about being white describes who I am," she told Guthrie. "When somebody's asked me, 'Are you black?' — which I actually don't get asked all that often — I say, 'Yeah, I am black.'"
Dolezal also insisted that she has not changed her skin color through surgeries or melanin shots, although she said she had experimented with her hair styles.
Dolezal's teenage son defended his mother, and argued that people should see her "as a hero."
Dolezal's claims about her own race have sparked debate about race, privilege, identity and activism — as well as calls for her to step down from her post leading the NAACP chapter — after her parents spoke out last week, saying she is white and has been pretending for years to be black.
"It is with complete allegiance to the cause of racial and social justice and the NAACP that I step aside," Dolezal said in a statement on the chapter's Facebook page Monday.
"Please know I will never stop fighting for human rights and will do everything in my power to help and assist, whether it means stepping up or stepping down, because this is not about me. It's about justice," she said. "This is not me quitting; this is a continuum."
Dolezal's parents had told "Today" Monday that they think she pretended to be black as a way to hurt them, and that they have been estranged from her for years.
"I think Rachel has tried to damage her biological family and those kind of claims, as false as they were, seem to serve her purposes in her mind," her mother Ruthanne Dolezal told the "Today" show.
Dolezal was elected president of the local NAACP chapter about six months ago and has been credited with successes at its helm.
Asked by Lauer on Tuesday whether she could have made the same strides had she portrayed herself as a white woman, she said she didn't know.
"I've never had the opportunity," she said.
A 4-year-old boy has died after he was rushed to the hospital following a kindergarten pool party at the San Diego Yacht Club, according to the medical examiner's office.
Four-year-old William Abbott was spotted face down in the pool on June 9, and he was unconscious and blue when he was pulled from the water, a witness told NBC 7.
William was taken to the hospital in critical condition, and on Friday, his parents learned he wouldn’t wake up, according to a friend’s post to a GoFundMe page. He died that evening from brain injury due to resuscitated drowning, the medical examiner says.
His manner of death was an accident. Plans for a memorial service have not been released.
San Diego police are investigating how the drowning happened. Officers say the pool was full of kids, celebrating the end of the school year, but there was just one lifeguard on duty. William’s unconscious body was first spotted by someone other than the lifeguard.
The general manager of the yacht club said the business will be assisting local authorities to determine what happened.
The 3-year-old boy whose body was found in a deep freezer at a Barona Reservation home suffocated to death after he was beaten, taped up and put into a closet by his mother and her boyfriend, according to a medical examiner’s report.
Eleven days before his body was found, toddler Roland Sandoval became the target of a violent outburst on Jan. 5, 2015. Angry with the boy, his mother’s boyfriend, 32-year-old Julio Monggiotti, punched and kicked Roland and instructed his mother, Elaina Rose Welch, to do the same, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s investigation.
Monggiotti ordered Welch to get some tape, and the two used blue painter’s tape to secure the boy’s forearms to his thighs, as well as tape his eyes and mouth shut, the autopsy says. The couple then covered the boy in blankets and placed him in his room. After reportedly bringing Roland food and water, they eventually let him out.
But the next day, the beating and taping repeated. After a few hours, Monggiotti and Welch decided to make a trip to the store, but they did not want to leave Roland in his bedroom.
Instead, they wrapped him in a sheet, put him in the master bedroom closet and left to go shopping, the report says. They returned later that day to find Roland not breathing.
Unable to revive the boy, the couple washed Roland’s body in bleach and wrapped him in a sheet; they placed him in the laundry room’s deep freezer and locked it with a zip tie, according to the autopsy.
Law enforcement knew nothing about the homicide until 10 days later, when they got a call on Jan. 16 about an assault with a deadly weapon at Welch’s address. Monggiotti, holding an ax, met Barona Security officers at the home’s front yard. When ordered to, Monggiotti dropped the weapon and went inside to get Welch.
Officers soon heard a gunshot. As they waited for sheriff’s deputies to arrive, officers saw Welch come out of the home with a shotgun, walk off the property and continue down the road.
As officers approached her and told her to release the gun, Welch “dropped the shotgun and then informed security officers that her boyfriend killed [Roland], put him in the deep freezer and he forced her to help him,” according to the report. Welch was taken into custody.
Hours later, after detectives obtained a search warrant, they found Monggiotti dead on the floor. Responding paramedics were instructed to search the deep freezer, but they did not find anything when they opened the lid.
However, when they removed some food, they found Roland’s body wrapped in a sheet. The medical examiner determined he died from asphyxia, and multiple blunt force injuries to his head and body were contributing factors. His manner of death was a homicide.
While initially booked into jail in this case, Welch was later released when the District Attorney’s office declined to file charges against her.
Philadelphians and visitors to the city for the World Meeting of Families and visit by Pope Francis should be prepared to walk for miles when the events take place, Mayor Michael Nutter said Tuesday.
"Private vehicles will not be a viable option," the mayor said as city leaders and event organizers detailed some of their transportation plans for the events set for September 22-27.
City officials expect an additional 1.5 million people to visit — many coming to see the pontiff over the weekend of September 26 and 27.
The use of public transportation was stressed. SEPTA will operate its normal service during the World Meeting conference, but once the weekend arrives that all will change.
"During the weekend, it will present a significant challenge for us," SEPTA General Manager Joe Casey said.
The transit authority will close 251 of its 282 rail stations — subway, regional rail and trolley — to essentially convert the network to express service. Trains will be fully-loaded at one of 31 stops and travel directly into Center City Philadelphia. The empty train will then be turned around and sent back to pick up more people.
Casey said this will allow SEPTA to double capacity. The drop-off locations in Center City have yet to be announced. SEPTA officials said they are working with security officials to decide the best locations.
Passengers of the subway, trolley and bus lines are being offered an unlimited three-day ride pass for $10. On regional rail, however, the passes will only be good for one day.
Increasing parking capacity at suburban regional rail stations is another issue SEPTA is working on, Casey said.
PATCO will be providing similar express service into the 9th and Locust Station in Center City from its Lindenwold, Woodcrest, Ferry Avenue and the Walter Rand Transportation Center.
Amtrak plans to add cars to trains and will require reservations for seats. Philadelphia International Airport officials expect to see a similar number of passengers as a typical Thanksgiving weekend.
As for road closures around Philadelphia, officials were not ready to release that information.
Donna Farrell, executive director of the World Meeting of Families Philadelphia, said the conference is creating two public information campaigns to help residents and visitors get around the city.
The 'Know Before You Go' campaign will provide transit schedule information and walking routes for visitors, Farrell said. They're also creating a 'Papal Visit Playbook' for citizens to help them get around the mess. The playbook isn't ready, Farrell said, and would be coming later.
Want to order Starbucks in San Diego with the touch of a smartphone? There’s an app feature for that.
On Tuesday, Starbucks announced it will expand its “Mobile Order & Pay” service to 3,400 more stores across the U.S. – including locations in San Diego.
The service, available via the Starbucks mobile app, allows customers to place an order in advance and then pick it up at their chosen Starbucks location.
Before Tuesday, the coffee app service was only available in the Pacific Northwest but this latest expansion makes mobile ordering available to a total of 4,000 shops – more than half of all Starbucks locations in the U.S. – including locations in California, Colorado, Texas and Virginia, among many other states.
The company said it plans to complete the program’s national rollout later this year.
Here’s a quick rundown of how to use the Mobile Order & Pay feature:
A Spring Valley driver has unknown injuries after the person’s car overturned and struck a light pole, leaving a large dent in the roof.
The crash happened around 1:44 p.m. Tuesday on State Route 94 westbound at the Spring Street off ramp in Spring Valley, California Highway Patrol officials said.
The car landed on its side after the crash and fire officials said the passenger was out of the car.
The driver was the only passenger in the car.
It is unknown what factors, if any, played a role in the crash.