A 10-year-old girl and her 2-year-old sister left alone in their family's car escaped from the moving vehicle Sunday as a thief climbed inside and made his getaway from a Southern California parking lot.

The mother had left her daughters inside the car at a 7-Eleven gas station at 1161 Lugonia Avenue Sunday afternoon while she went inside to pay, according to a Redlands Police Department news release.

Surveillance video showed a man getting into the car, which the mother had left with the motor running. As the mother ran toward the car, the man began to drive off. The passenger side door opened and the two girls tumbled out of the car while still in the parking lot.

The girls suffered minor scrapes.

The 2002 Acura TL, with California license plate 4UWT026, was last seen on San Bernardino Avenue entering the westbound 210 Freeway, police said.

The suspect, who police say had made a purchase at the store prior to the car theft, was identified by investigators as 24-year-old Cory Michael Ahumada of Highland.

Police released the surveillance video in hopes the public can help find him.

Anyone with information regarding the incident or Ahumada's whereabouts was asked to call Redlands Det. Mike Merriman at 909-389-6675.

Federal authorities say customers lined up around a corner on Chicago's West Side in broad daylight in hopes of a getting heroin. 

Now, 42 people now face state or federal narcotics charges for their alleged roles in supplying and distributing heroin around West Grenshaw Street and Independence Boulevard in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side.

Authorities allege 33-year-old James Triplett, also known as “Trell,” was a wholesale supplier of heroin and ran the heroin trade in the area. 

A photo included in a more than 200-page federal criminal complaint shows a line of people waiting on June 16 in the 3700 block of West Grenshaw to get heroin from Triplett's organization.

The area where the photo was taken, south of the Eisenhower Expressway corridor, has been referred to as “Heroin Highway” because of the accessibility it provides to city and suburban heroin customers. 

Authorities claim Triplett’s suppliers, who authorities identified as 34-year-old Levaughn Collins, also known as "Sweet Bobby," and Collins' associates, would use clear bags or ones with logos of green playboy bunnies, brown Hershey kisses, orange basketballs, Batman, black pandas or purple ladies stamped on them.  

Sixteen people now face federal charges, including Triplett, who was charged with drug conspiracy and faces at least a 10-year sentence if convicted. Twenty-six other people face state charges.

Authorities said 32 people were arrested Wednesday morning and police confiscated 12 firearms, $50,000 in cash, nearly a half-kilogram of heroin and more than a half-kilogram of cocaine. They also searched several homes, three alleged stash houses and seized two vehicles, including a 2014 Maserati GranTurismo.

Chicago police and Drug Enforcement Administration agents on the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force led the investigation.

"Too many lives in Chicagoland are forever lost due to heroin use," Dennis Wichern, special agent in charge of the Chicago Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration said in a statement. "I'm proud of the work done by these agents, officers and prosecutors, who worked tirelessly to achieve these results and I’m confident that with our continued partnership, we will have increasing success."

A vegetation fire sparked near Lindbergh Field halted trolley service early Thursday.

Flames were reported at Kettner Boulevard near W Palm Street just before 4:30 a.m.

San Diego Fire-Rescue officials say crews arrived to find fire burning a structure close to the trolley tracks.

The fire began as a vegetation fire and then began to burn a building at the Budget rental car lot. The building suffered only external damage.

In order to fight the fire, trolley service had to be shut down from Little Italy to Middletown.

MTS offered bus service for those commuters needing to continue on to the Washington stop.

Trolley service resumed before 6 a.m.

San Diego Gas & Electric shut power off to work on the power line that caught on fire. Customers without power were limited to Budget , one other building and part of the trolley line.

The utility said power should be restored by noon Thursday.
 

Four firefighters were injured fighting a massive 7-alarm fire at the Anglo Mill Complex in Webster, Massachusetts, on Thursday afternoon.

The fire tore through the abandoned mills at 103 N. Main St. and spread to some nearby homes, fire officials confirmed.

Webster Fire Chief Brian Hickey said four firefighters were taken to the hospital; however, two of the firefighters have since returned.

There are no active businesses in the Anglo complex, which was scheduled to be demolished.

"Right now we've got the upper hand on the fire," Hickey said at a 4 p.m. news conference. "There's still a lot of smoke, a lot of embers."

Because of the products in the building, which include building and roofing materials, he said some small explosions occurred as the fire burned, but they were nothing to be concerned about.

Hickey said the fire spread to the roofs of some nearby homes, but did not cause any major damage. Some homes were evacuated, and he said those residents will be allowed to return as soon as things calm down a bit.

"We're into our mop up right now," he said. "We've got it contained to the main building. The secondary building's still got quite a bit of fire."

Acting Webster Town Administrator Pamela Regis said the fire involved several buildings at the old mill complex. She said no one was inside the building, but there is severe property damage.

The towns of Auburn, Douglas, and Oxford, among others, responded to the scene to provide mutual aid.

Massachusetts State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan said the mutual aid provided by nearby departments were critical to controlling the fire.

"We're in a very dense neighborhood here, and if not for the aggressive nature of the fire departments it could have been much worse," he said.

Coan said it is too early to say what the cause of the fire might be or whether it was intentionally set. He urged anyone with information about the fire to call 1-800-682-9229.

National Grid said it had a crew nearby and was able to quickly turn off gas and electricity in the area.

A New Jersey couple’s dream house quickly turned to a nightmare after a stalker’s letters forced them to desert their $1.3 million Westfield home.

Just three days after they bought the house last June, the family received a letter from a man known as “The Watcher,” who claimed his family owns the property and has been watching the home for nearly a century, according to NJ.com.

“Why are you here?” the letter read. “I will find out.”

The letter also asked, "Do you need to fill the house with the young blood I requested?"

A second letter reportedly arrived two weeks later and then a third, a month after that one.

“Have they found what is in the walls yet?” one letter asked. Another asked “who has the bedrooms facing the street? I’ll know as soon as you move in.”

The family never moved into the home and is now trying to sell the property, but the suspicious "Watcher" is scaring away potential buyers.

A stalker was certainly not what the family expected when they moved to Westfield. The township was ranked 30th on Neighborhood Scout’s list of Safest Cities in America when they bought the home in 2014 and currently ranks 24th.

“Our police department conducted an exhaustive investigation based on the factual circumstances and evidence available,” Westfield Mayor Andy Skibitsky said at a Town Council meeting Tuesday night.

The couple believes the previous owners received a letter from “The Watcher” shortly before they sold the house and have sued, claiming that the previous owners withheld information that would have potentially hurt the home’s value or possibly eliminate the sale altogether. 

About 1,200 volunteers hit the streets of San Diego Thursday with one big, bright shoe and one goal in mind: to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House through the “Red Shoe Day” fundraiser.

From 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., volunteers outfitted in bright clothing and costumes lined major intersections throughout the county collecting donations in a big, red clown shoe.

This includes Sixth District Councilmember Chris Cate who collected donations out at Mira Mesa Boulevard and Westview Parkway. Cate told NBC 7 commuters had been very generous and supportive throughout the morning, filling up his red shoe for the fundraiser.

Organizers said all donations for the 6th annual Red Shoe Day will go directly to supporting San Diego’s Ronald McDonald House, a facility located next to Rady Children’s Hospital that provides overnight rooms and support services for families who have a child undergoing treatment at the hospital.

Each day, an estimated 250 family members rely on the Ronald McDonald House for meals, nap rooms, laundry facilities and other comforts of home during an otherwise turbulent medical crisis. The facility also offers an onsite school for siblings of hospitalized children.

Chuck Day, president and CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego, said there are 47 rooms at the facility that are always being used. Each year, more than 50,000 people come through the Ronald McDonald House, he said.

Day said every cent raised via Red Shoe Day will go right back into keeping the facility running and doing what it does best for families in San Diego.

“We know we’ve provided a chance for them to find respite – a break – to step away from what’s going on at the hospital next door. We know when families are close, their kids are going to get better faster. That’s one of the key things we try to do at the Ronald McDonald House,” Day told NBC 7.

Day said he was grateful to support from local volunteers, residents, sponsors and community leaders like Cate for participating in Thursday’s event.

Last year, Red Shoe Day raised more than $150,000, which equals about 1,000 nights of lodging at the facility.

Thursday's event wound up raising $166,000 for the Ronald McDonald House, organizers said.

If you’re like to make a donation, visit the Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego website, or donate at a San Diego County McDonald’s restaurant anytime.
 

The San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) kicked off its free summer lunch program Thursday with a community barbecue that served more than 1,000 local children and families.

Outfitted in aprons and armed with spatulas, city leaders – including Mayor Kevin Faulconer and SDUSD Superintendent Cindy Marten – gathered at Skyline Hills Community Park for the “Summer Fun Café” kickoff party that featured food and activities.

Each summer, the school district’s Summer Fun Café program serves approximately 300,000 meals and snacks to children ages 18 and under.

During the school year, tens of thousands of children in San Diego County depend on free and reduced-price lunches each day. When school ends for the summer, this program aims to fill that nutritional gap and keep kids from going hungry.

There are no enrollment requirements, paperwork or income qualifications needed for children looking to partake in the program, which runs now through the end of August at most sites.

The summer meal sites are spread throughout the county -- in central, east, north central, north and south San Diego -- mainly in communities considered high-need areas. For the full list of locations, visit this website.

San Diego’s program is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) “Seamless Summer Feeding Option." The program is administered by the California Department of Education at the state level and is operated by a network of organizations such as school districts and nonprofits.

It has operated locally since 2003. The City of San Diego Park and Recreation Department has partnered with the SDUSD to help expand the program 58 sites across the county, including 27 park and recreation centers, 14 community centers and military sites and 17 San Diego Unified schools.

Across the nation this summer, the USDA plans to serve more than 200 million free meals to children at approved Summer Food Service Program sites.

Families who attended the kickoff BBQ not only ate a good meal, they also went home with a bag of fresh fruit and vegetables from the San Diego Food Bank or Feeding America San Diego.

Gov. Chris Christie will announce his presidential campaign next week at his high school alma mater, sources familiar with the decision confirm to NBC 4 New York.

The New Jersey governor plans to announce his candidacy at an event at Livingston High School -- where Christie was once class president -- on Tuesday, the sources say. 

Christie has been widely expected to join the increasingly crowded field of Republicans seeking the party's nomination, and was at one time considered a 2016 front-runner. Thirteen candidates, including former New York Gov. George Pataki, have already announced campaigns. 

Christie had been a popular figure both in his home state and nationally thanks to his brash demeanor and actions in the wake of Sandy in 2012, but his approval ratings have dropped in the wake of the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal last fall.

Christie was never implicated in the traffic-jamming political payback scheme, but two of his top aides were arrested in the aftermath of the scandal.

Christie has been touring his state and New Hampshire, an important state in the nation's primary elections, hosting a series of town halls.

In April, he told Matt Lauer in an interview on NBC's "Today" that he thought a governor would be the Republican party's nominee. 

“If I decide I want to do this, I’m going to do it honestly, and I'm going to go at as hard as I can and try to win every day,” he said. “I will never give being who I am, because that's a thing that stays with you forever."

Impeded by natural and man-made delays, the construction of two, multimillion dollar lifeguard towers in La Jolla is far behind schedule and may not be completed until summer is over.

Lifeguards at La Jolla Cove and the Children’s Pool are operating out of temporary facilities as the unfinished towers look like construction zones to those visiting for the scenic views.

The station at the Children’s Pool was slated to be done last December, and the city knew construction would be tricky. They were not allowed to work on the tower from Dec. 15 to June 1 because the sea lions there were in their pupping season.

However, a seagull egg then caused another six-week delay.

"We didn't realize we had to wait until the seagull was actually born and had flown from its nest one time in order for us to start construction, so that was all lessons learned," said Myra Dayon, a deputy director for the city’s Public Works Department.

Construction at La Jolla Cove has not gone much farther. The project started in February 2014 and should also have been finished in December 2014.

However, crews halted work to make way for a fireworks display and a triathlon. They also had to wait for the schedule of contractor APR Construction to match up.

"Some of the delays have been the contractor wanted to use the existing ocean bluffs to build the concrete cantilever,” said Dayon. “But once we learned he couldn't do it, we had to hire a structural engineer to do a shoring. So those little things like that build up.”

She said they hope APR Construction will finish the La Jolla Cove tower by the end of next month. The Children’s Pool location should be completed by the end of the year.

The two stations, as well as a third that also caused some headaches, have cost the city nearly $9 million. The third tower in La Jolla Shores is now up and running, only after the city had to spend $150,000 on a glaze expert and other consultants to fix a glare problem with its glass windows.

“We ended up with five panels, instead it was originally three. And we tilted them outwards and opened up the angles,” said Mark Nassar, another Public Works deputy director.

After the glare snafu, the city is making mockups of every tower before construction to avoid another delay, the officials said.

The city has also set up the temporary lifeguard stations to make sure safety is not a factor.

NBC 7 reached out to APR Construction, whose representative said they were not allowed to comment on construction.
 

Convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is out of Massachusetts, a U.S. Bureau of Prisons spokesperson confirmed.

Tsarnaev, 21, has been flown to a federal prison in Florence, Colorado. He was formally sentenced to death on Wednesday for the 2013 attack.

He is expected to be moved at a later time to the death row unit at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Judy Clarke, Tsarnaev's lead defense attorney, requested on Wednesday that the execution be carried out in New Hampshire, but U.S. District Court Judge George O'Toole Jr. ruled that out and ordered Tsarnaev to be put to death in Terre Haute, Indiana.

It wasn't immediately known when Tsarnaev would be transferred to the facility, and his execution will no doubt be delayed several years by appeals.

Check back for more on this developing story.

Athletic apparel company Lululemon has recalled 318,000 tops with elastic drawcords in the U.S. and Canada, due to injury hazard.

The company issued a safety notice on Thursday stating that elastic drawcords with hard metal or plastic tips could snap back if accidentally stretched or pulled, potentially causing injury to the face area. 

Seven eye and face injuries due to faulty drawstrings have been reported, but a company spokesperson said in a statement none of the injuries was serious and no lawsuits have been filed.

“Our main priority is ensuring our product works for our guests, and we believe this is the necessary proactive action,” the spokesperson said in the statement. “We are committed to making our product right for our guests and regret any inconvenience this may have caused them.”

 Recalled tops come in a variety of colors and styles, including Carry and Go Hoodie; Cool Down Jacket; Course-ette Jacket; Cozy Up Jacket; Dance Studio Jacket; Dance Sweat Shirt; Don’t Hurry Be Happy Pullover; Gratitude Wrap; Necessity Jacket; Proactive Jacket; Refresh Snap Up; Run Sun Blocker Pullover; Run Track N Field Jacket; Run With It Jacket; Sanctuary Jacket; Savasana Tunic; Sing, Floss, Travel Jacket; Stow ’N Go Jacket; Stride Jacket; Summertime Tunic; Varsity Hoodie; Victory Jacket and Wear With All Jacket. Lululemon said the tops affected by the recall were primarily sold prior to 2014.

Customers are advised to remove the drawcord or contact the company's Guest Education Center to receive a non-elastic replacement drawcord.

This marks the second major recall for Lululemon since 2013. That year, the company had to recall about 17 percent of its stock of stretchy black “Wunder Under” yoga bottoms because they were too sheer. That recall cost the Vancouver-based company about $67 million in sales, according to Forbes. 

Boaters on Lake Texoma are being advised to steer clear of a large intake vortex created when officials decided to lower the water level on the reservoir along the Texas-Oklahoma border.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Tulsa posted the video to their YouTube channel on June 5, and marked the area near the Denison Dam spillway with buoys to help keep boaters away.

The vortex, which fluctuates in size depending on the volume of water being released downstream, has been estimated to be as wide as 8 feet and could pull under a full-sized recreational boat.

"The vortex changes shape and width depending upon flood gate settings and lake elevations. If the gates are fully open it's a larger vortex. The vortex has shrunk considerably because we have adjusted our gate settings from the original video due to changing of flood gate settings. As long as the gates are open there is a vortex of some size," said the USACE Tulsa in a statement to NBC 5.

Vortexes, or whirlpools, are naturally occurring and common when water is moved from one location to another -- much like when water is drained from a sink or bathtub.

The spillway's floodgates are expected to remain open, to some degree, through July, according to a report from The Weather Channel.

The USACE said the vortex is located on the Red River at river mile 725.9, five miles northwest of Denison in Grayson County, Texas.

The first signs of next month's Comic-Con are in the air in San Diego – literally.

The major pop culture, comic book and entertainment convention has rolled out large banners promoting the event. The signs now line the streets of downtown San Diego in anticipation of “The Con,” which runs July 8 through July 12 at the San Diego Convention Center.

The signs feature “Ant-Man,” the new sci-fi flick starring Paul Rudd as a man with the ability to shrink in size and grow in strength, and Michael Douglas as Ant-Man’s mentor.

Another notable “sign” of Comic-Con in San Diego: the marque at Spreckels Theatre on Broadway has changed to read “Conan O’Brien: July 8-11” in anticipation of the late-night TV funnyman’s arrival next month.

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O’Brien will broadcast his TBS talk show from San Diego during Comic-Con weekend to highlight all of the weird and wonderful happenings of the convention. Normally, his late-night show is taped at Warner Bros. studios in Burbank.

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So, now that the banners are strung, the countdown to Comic-Con is officially on. NBC 7 will bring you coverage of the entertainment event online. Visit our special Comic-Con section here for the latest updates.
 

A Honduran man and an accomplice are facing felony charges after police say they passed themselves off as a dentist and a dental assistant and charged a woman $1,500 to pull five teeth from her mouth during a procedure in her home, Dallas police say.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Erika Martinez had no dental insurance and was suffering from toothaches when a friend on Facebook referred her to Mario Sabillon-Mejia, a man she was told was a dentist from Honduras who would be able to help her.

Sabillon-Mejia, 33, and woman claiming to be his dental assistant, identified by police as 41-year-old Tiffany Gonzalez, met Martinez at her home for a consultation on May 18 where he agreed to treat her for $1,500.

On May 25, Sabillon-Mejia and Gonzalez returned to Martinez's home and she paid him $500 of the $1,500 fee, according to the affidavit.

Sabillon-Mejia asked Martinez to lie down on her couch where he began the procedure by injecting an unknown medicine into her gums, the affidavit said. Sabillon-Mejia then proceeded to remove the woman's teeth. Martinez said she complained of pain, but was then forcibly held down on her couch as he pulled four more teeth from her mouth.

Martinez said after the procedure Sabillon-Mejia and Gonzalez then cleaned his instruments in her bathroom.

On June 3, Sabillon-Mejia gave Martinez a tooth mold and was paid an another $500, according to the affidavit.

After suffering from a severe infection since the procedure, the woman filed a report with the Dallas Police Department who initiated an investigation on June 4. Martinez's mother, who was present when the procedure was done, is considered a police witness in the investigation.

"Anytime you practice medicine without a license, not knowing what you're doing, you're going to cause people irreparable harm, even death," said Lt. Tony Crawford, with the Financial Crimes Unit of the Dallas Police Department.

On June 8, Sabillon-Mejia and Gonzalez were identified by Martinez in a Dallas police lineup. On June 24 they were both arrested and charged with felony practicing medicine without a license and misdemeanor possession of dangerous drugs. Police said Sabillon-Mejia and Gonzalez also had several alias warrants.

Police said several instruments and equipment commonly used by dentists to treat patients and to fabricate dentures were seized after Sabillon-Mejia and Gonzalez were arrested.

Crawford said as many as 50 people in North Texas may have been treated by Sabillon-Mejia and Gonzalez and that they believe he had also treated an unknown number of people in Houston.

Police would like to speak with anyone who may have had any dental work done by the pair and ask them to call Sgt. Richard Santiesteban at 214-671-3517.

Covered California will become the first health exchange in the nation to cap the cost of specialty prescription drugs, a move that may help consumers avoid choosing between buying food or paying for their medicine.

Some patients can spend their entire maximum out-of-pocket costs in just a few months on prescription drugs that cost thousands of dollars.

Michael Barefoot is one of those consumers who couldn’t afford the high price of his prescription medicine.

The 29-year-old recently moved to San Diego from North Carolina for work and school.

When he suffered a back injury and required medicine for six months, he was surprised to find out it would cost him $300 per month.

He said he needed to go without groceries and other household items just to pay for the medicine.

“The high price of prescription medications is just ridiculous,” Barefoot said. “I think it should be capped.”

In May, Covered California announced it will do just that - cap the cost of specialty drugs at $250 per month, per prescription, for most of its consumers. It’s the first state health exchange in the U.S. to do so.

Prescription caps will range from $150 to $500 and must be offered by every health plan in the individual market as well as by all plans offered by the exchange, according to a Covered California’s website.

“The consumer is going to benefit from this,” said Eric Lundy, an insurance broker based in El Cajon, Calif.

He believes the rate changes set to take effect in 2016 for Covered California participants will set policy for all insurance carriers over the next year or two.

Because pharmaceutical companies are constantly developing new drugs, the cost of that technology and testing is phenomenal, Lundy said.

“Consumers are demanding better therapies and they’re willing to pay for those therapies,” he added.

Whether at the pharmacy counter or through their insurance premiums, under the current system, the consumers pick up the tab.

By putting a cap on expenses, Covered California is trying to benefit consumers, however everyone paying a premium is going to bear that difference in cost, Lundy said.

“Everybody’s premiums are going to ultimately rise because they’re covering that cost instead of the individual who needs that medication covering that cost,” he said.

In a written statement, Covered California Executive Director Peter V. Lee said more needs to be done to control the costs of new prescriptions.

“While Covered California is doing its part to protect consumers against these rising costs, a broader solution is needed to curtail the explosion in specialty drug costs so that consumers get the care they need without driving up insurance costs so much that consumers can no longer afford coverage,” Lee said.

This ain’t the South, but carnivores in San Diego have searing, opinionated views of mouthwatering, grilled meats nonetheless. Dig into this list of local BBQ joints slathering on the savory sauce and specializing in hearty eats – just in time for barbecue season.

When Pigs Fly BBQ (Vista)
In a brilliant move for tickets to the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in 2006, When Pigs Fly BBQ was born. Check out the eatery’s website for the full story, but that plan was a win – a win covered in sauce, tri-tip, pulled pork and brisket! What followed was years in the catering biz and then last year, the owners found an unlikely home for their restaurant. It’s now a hidden gem inside a Chevron gas station in Vista where you can stop in and fill up on delicious barbecue.

Brett’s BBQ (Encinitas)
“If it’s not smoked, it’s not Barbeque.” That’s this restaurant’s story and it’s sticking to it! Brett’s BBQ follows the purest rules and uses house-made sauce in dishes with virtually everything on the menu made onsite. You’ll find generous portions of beef ribs, pulled pork, smoked chicken and more – plus sides like baked potatoes, salads coleslaw, baked beans, mac and cheese and onion rings.

Ranchwood BBQ (La Mesa)
This restaurant plus successful catering business offers up a BBQ feast of a menu. From tri-tip sandwiches and “Red Neck Nachos” drenched in sauce and chipotle sour cream, to traditional options like brisket and pulled pork, there’s something for you and your whole family. Sides like Root Beer Baked Beans and potato salad will round out your meal. If you’re a fan of a good mish-mash, ask about a little something dubbed the “BBQ Parfait,” a cup loaded with mashed potatoes, BBQ sauce, your choice of meat and even coleslaw, if you so choose.

Cali Comfort BBQ (Spring Valley)
The owners here are dedicated to creating their craft with low n’ slow barbecue rules. Results include award-winning smoked ribs and a “Wicked” peach cobbler served with vanilla ice cream, not to mention a long list of side dishes and meat options that will have your mouth watering. We suggest the BBQ combo plate for a little taste of everything; it includes your choice of two different “competition-ready” meats, side options and cheesy jalapeno cornbread.

Felix’s BBQ With Soul (Oceanside)
Live music and a hefty dose of Southern hospitality make this saucy stop in the North County an absolute must. The menu includes select Memphis-style pulled pork and chicken sandwiches, St. Louis-style ribs with collard greens or The Grand Feast of baby back ribs and smoked brisket, plus fried chicken and catfish with a spread of candied yams, collard greens, mac and cheese, black eyed peas, salad, cornbread muffins and of course, sweet potato pie.

Bubba’s Smokehouse BBQ (La Jolla)
Craving Southern-style fall-off-the-bone ribs? This is the place. You can order from a plethora of meats, a la carte, or grab a platter with corn bread, a side of your choice and hearty options like ribs, pulled pork and barbequed chicken. We love the deep-fried pickle chips to start and you won’t want to miss out on the smoked sausages with peppers and onions. This joint event sells family packs for up to eight people to make everyone happy.
 

A California state lawmaker wants the San Diego Unified School District to rename an elementary school named after a Confederate general.

Robert E. Lee Elementary School, known as Lee Elementary, was named in the late 1950s and serves children in the Paradise Hills community. District officials say documents show Lee's record as an “American soldier and educator” was listed as the reasons his name was chosen for the school.

Lee, who was a West Point graduate and served in the U.S. Army, is best known as a commander in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.

Now, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) wants the district to change the name because of what she describes as confederate-related symbolism.

Gonzalez sent a letter Monday to the Superintendent Cindy Marten in which she said the community in her district, “deserves a school named after someone we can all admire. Robert E. Lee is not that person.”

SDUSD officials responded with this statement sent to NBC 7 Thursday:

We are sensitive to the concerns voiced by some members of the community that it may not be appropriate to have a school named after Robert E. Lee. We see this as a wonderful opportunity to have a larger community dialogue with students, staff and families about the school name and look at the history and research surrounding Lee in order to make a collectively informed decision about changing the name or retaining it. Should the community determine a name change is appropriate, there is a clear process for school naming that is inclusive of a variety of stakeholders and provides clear rationale for a new name.

Because classes at Lee Elementary ended before Assemblywoman Gonzalez' letter was sent, SDUSD spokesperson Ursula Kroemer said it's likely any discussion of a name change would not take place until the start of the 2016-17 school year.

The process for changing a school's name can be found on the district's website.

The school serves a diverse student body that, according to the district, is identified as 75 percent Hispanic, six percent Filipino, six percent multi-racial, five percent African American, two percent Caucasian and less than two percent Pacific Islander.

From politicians to businesses, there have been many calls nationwide to remove Confederate imagery in the wake of the June 17 shooting inside an historic black church in South Carolina.  The man accused of killing nine people during bible study inside the St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church had a Confederate battle flag on his license plate.

WARNING: Some may find the video above disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.

An apparent case of mistaken identity led to the violent caught-on-video group beating of a Philadelphia teen. Now, the alleged attackers have been arrested.

Several people kicked, punched and stomped on the victim as he's cornered against a stone wall along Wister Street in Olney on June 4. As he tries to get away, one of the attackers sucker-punches him to the back of the head then hit him in the jaw with a orange traffic cone.

The entire attack was recorded by a bystander and eventually made its way to the website MediaTakeOut.com which posted it to Facebook. The video went viral with more than 4.2 million views and 93,000 shares.

A number of people who watched the beating video reached out to Philadelphia Police asking for an investigation. Detectives launched a probe and over the past few weeks made five arrests — four kids and an adult.

The victim suffered a concussion, black eye and dental injuries that will require surgery, detectives said.

The video claims the boy was beaten over making the honor roll at school, but detectives tell NBC10 they have no evidence that's the case. Their investigation found the attackers thought the boy was someone else who was involved in an earlier fight.

Detectives said the suspects asked the teen whether he was part of the earlier brawl, and after he replied no they beat him anyway.

All five suspects are charged with robbery, aggravated assault, possession of an instrument of crime, theft and related offenses. They have yet to be identified.

An 8-year-old boy born without a right hand now has a new prosthetic one, thanks to the ingenuity of some teachers at his school and the district's new 3-D printer. 

Aidan Davidson of Accord, New York, was born without a right hand and has just tiny nubs for fingers at the end of his arm. He's relied solely on his left hand to do anything. 

But recently, the Rondout Valley Central School District in Ulster County purchased a 3-D printer with grant money, and art teacher Stephen Protoss had a light bulb moment that led to a collaboration with shop teacher Nick Bodnar and the district's occupational therapist Paul Scarpati. 

Protoss modified a free computer design for Aidan's specifications, and the trio purchased some inexpensive hardware to hold together the parts stamped out by the printer. 

Aidan now sports a Transformer-like appliance made of red plastic and metal fasteners. The additional material cost about $50.

"It's amazing," the plucky second-grader said as he described how he can now use his right hand to do something that for most people are considered as simple as opening a door or giving a friend a high-five. 

"As soon as they gave him that hand, his self-esteem shot through the roof," said Aidan's father, Jerry. 

Aidan now uses a fork and knife with his right hand and he can eat corn on the cob holding both ends for the first time, his mother Kim said. 

Aidan's parents said they had approached doctors about a prosthetic for their son but were told it would require surgery and the shortening of his right arm, a decision they weren't prepared to make. 

The new school-produced device couldn't come at a better time for the youngster, who is looking forward to riding his new bicycle for the first time ever.