If you were in the Mission Beach area on Fourth of July, you may have noticed an out-of-control-car drive erratically onto the sand Saturday night.

NBC7 first heard of the incident from viewers, who wrote in about a silver SUV that plowed through the sidewalk on the bay, right outside the Catamaran resort.

Robert Thele was on the beach Saturday and saw the incident play out. He says the driver was going way too fast, hitting several abandoned bikes and scaring a lot of people.

“He could’ve hurt people very easily,” Thele said.

What started off as a fender bender on Mission Boulevard ballooned into the arrest of the driver, Villiami Pomale, on charges of assault with a deadly weapon.

San Diego Police say when two drivers got into the collision they began arguing.

When an off-duty police officer pulled over and tried to intervene, he noticed a strong odor of alcohol coming from one of the drivers.

The officer asked the driver to stay at the scene but that driver jumped into his car and threatened to drive off.

The off-duty officer jumped in front of the car in an attempt to keep him from driving off.

That’s when the suspect drove off, entering the bay at San Jose and driving along the water all the way to Fanuel.

The driver abandoned his car and ran off, officials said.

Chad Wail was visiting from out of town, he saw the erratic driving incident.

He told NBC 7 the beaches were packed on Saturday because of the holiday. People on the beach were “cussing, jumping and diving out of the way,” Wail said.

Officers say they eventually caught up with Pomale and took him into custody. He faces charges of driving under the influence, hit and run and assault with a deadly weapon.

No one on the beach was injured.
 

Paul Northcutt and his family rent 475 rental properties in San Diego.  But he says he is surprised with how little people prepare when they are looking for a place to live.

"Lots of times potential renters aren't prepared," said Northcutt with Northcutt Properties.  He advised the longer you take to fill out the paperwork, the more likely someone else will get the home, condo or property you are looking for.

Northcutt said you should treat looking for an apartment like you would a job.  Plan ahead and be ready to fill out the application.  

He has tips for people looking for a rental property.  Besides being qualified, having strong credit, adequate income and good references, he said there are things you can do to move ahead of the other applicants.

1. Be on-time when looking at the property. It makes a good impression on the landlord or manager.
2. Be personable and let the owner know if you are interested.
3. Fill out the application fully, including pay stubs or bank account information.
4. Be flexible when you can start your tenancy. Landlords may give preference to people who can move in sooner.
5. Consider having a written reference from a previous landlord.

The more you can do to impress the landlord or property manager, the more likely they will remember you when it comes to picking a tenant.

A small brush fire that started off a Southern California freeway ripped through a Mormon church's gabled roof on Tuesday in Glassell Park and injured one firefighter.

Teams of firefighters worked to douse the flames that could be seen through the triangular roof of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The fire was reported at 2:38 p.m. off the southbound Glendale (2) Freeway at North Verdugo Road, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The fire had burned about 1/4 of an acre as of 3 p.m. Its cause was not determined.

The church has over 400 members and the building is 25 years old.

Church staff report no one was inside at time of fire.

After searching nearly 48 hours for the baby boy believed to have plunged into the Connecticut River in Middletown with his suicidal father, authorities have pulled his body from the waters of nearby East Haddam, according to Middletown police.

Police said they retrieved the body of 7-month-old Aaden Moreno from the Connecticut River near the East Haddam Swing Bridge around 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Authorities have blocked off the intersection of Route 149 and Route 82, which crosses the Connecticut River by way of the bridge.

It comes after police wrapped up their second day of searching for Aaden, who disappeared into the water late Sunday night when his father, Tony Moreno, jumped off the Arrigoni Bridge in Middletown, according to police.

First responders rescued Moreno but failed to find the child. He was presumed dead, and police said Monday the chances of finding Aaden alive had dwindled.

A LifeStar helicopter airlifted Moreno to the hospital, where he was initially listed in critical condition. Police said he was alert and conscious Tuesday morning.

"Our thoughts are with Aaden and his family at this time of sorrow," Middletown police said in a statement Tuesday night.

Moreno has not been arrested but police said they plan to file charges. It's not clear if Moreno has an attorney.

A former EMT with San Diego Rural Metro, who admitted to having sex with a minor, learned his sentence Tuesday.

Zachary Stinchcomb, 24, received four years of probation and was given credit for his time spent in jail, meaning he will spend no more time in custody. However, he must register as a sex offender for the duration of his probation. Stinchcomb pleaded guilty to statutory rape in April.

Last November, he posed as a teenager on the dating website “MeetMe.com” and connected with a 15-year-old girl, with whom he had sex, according to his plea deal. Investigators say the girl was told Stinchcomb was 17 years old at the time. She has not been identified because of her age.

“It is a crime to have sex, an adult with a minor, and in this case, the victim, even though it was alleged it was consensual, the victim was 15 and he was over 21 years old,” said prosecutor Lisa Fox.

According to Fox, another girl also came forward to accuse Stinchcomb of having sex with her when she was underage. Contrary to what the judge ruled, Fox argued Stinchcomb should have to register as a sex offender for life.

“This is an individual who clearly has a preference toward young women and that is his own sexual gratification and he has clearly done it on two prior occasions, and for that reason we believe that it would be in the best interest to have him register as a sex offender for the lifetime,” said Fox.

Fox also asked the court for a protective order that would protect the victim and her family for the duration of Stinchcomb’s probation.

Without the plea deal, Stinchcomb could have faced up to four years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Stinchcomb no longer works for Rural Metro.

After a hiatus because of water restrictions, decorative public fountains are now back on in Palm Springs — for the sake of their appeal to tourists.

Should San Diego entertain the same notion?

An informal survey by NBC 7 downtown Tuesday revealed mixed emotions: absolutely not, and why not — within certain limits?

We began our dive into the drought politics of two different tourist towns with a stop at the fountain sculpted in the image of a ship’s bow parting the waters on Civic Centre Plaza.

It can't exactly be classified as tourism-oriented.

But it is in fact “public art” and has an exemption from emergency water regulations to operate for “limited purposes” to maintain the “structural integrity” of the waterworks.

That didn’t impress downtown resident Keith Robinson.

“If we have regulations on homeowners, we should also have regulations on this water running here, you know?” he huffed indignantly. “It's not a good thing. It's beautiful to see, but we're in a drought — make it into a flower pot, or some kind of false plants or something!"

Lakeside resident Terrie Carney echoed the same theme as she took in the eye-catching sculpture of the “Adam and Eve” fountain on B Street, outside Wells Fargo Bank Plaza.

“The fountains are beautiful, but if everybody else is being asked to cut back,” she reasoned, “I really think they ought to shut them off because it really is wasting water."

We're told the fountain doesn’t run at night, and not at full power during the Level 2 drought stage.

The Downtown San Diego Partnership has turned off the spray jets altogether in the expansive water feature across Harbor Drive from the Convention Center.

Its evaporation factor figures to be quite high, depending on the heat — and when it comes to so-called optics, the message being sent certainly is politically correct.

But that approach no longer floats in Palm Springs, where the local water agency and city council voted to return to full-speed ahead for fountains like "Rainmaker” because tourists sounded off about liking the aesthetics.

Ditto for Palm Springs hotel and business owners, while many resident said they'd rather let more lawns and trees go thirsty.

The fountain in Balboa Park's Plaza de Panama came on just as we arrived during a "limited use" cycle during the noon hour.

It quickly gathered a crowd of camera-toting admirers who hailed from all over the country and provided a teachable moment for blending conservation, aesthetics and tourism-centric priorities.

"You have to do the combination of what's good for the environment and for the economy,” said Kim Hills, a visitor from Hartford, Connecticut, as she cradled her young son nearby. “I know Will got all excited when the fountain turned on. It seems like a compromise to have the fountain on a little bit, or on-and-off, so you don't waste water."

Then there's an overarching exemption that applies to fountains serving recreational purposes, such as the one at the bayfront County Administration Center and the big oasis between the Natural History Museum and Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park

Both attract locals and tourists alike.

We put the issue to a gentleman whose surname is — coincidentally, believe it or not — Fountain: Joseph Fountain, visiting from Phoenix.

"When you look at the amount of money that comes into San Diego because of tourism,” he observed, “you really want to keep the tourists happy. This park is packed. A lot of kids are at the park right now. It's not just about tourists, it's also about the community."

So much, at least right now, for turning the things into planters.

The popular Zombie Walk at San Diego Comic-Con has been canceled as a legal battle, stemming from a crash last year, moves forward.

Organizers made the announcement on the event’s Facebook page this week, saying they put the walk on indefinite hiatus.

During the last Zombie Walk on July 26, 2014, a crowd grew on downtown streets as an army of pseudo-zombies marched near 2nd and Island avenues.

However, the group was quickly parted when Matthew Pocci, who is deaf, gunned his black Honda Accord through the people standing on the sidelines, injuring a 64-year-old woman’s arm.

“As multiple witnesses have alleged and videos show, no ‘zombies’ were near/touching the car during the incident, so I’m confident justice will be searched,” the Zombie Walk organizers wrote in the Facebook post. They said the walk may return next year.

Pocci, 48, is scheduled to stand trial on reckless driving charges in October. He said he and his family, who were also in the car, got caught in the crowd and became frightened.

He alleged that those gathered on the streets pounded his vehicle and tried to get inside.

A San Diego Police detective testified that video proves the crowd did not act that way until Pocci accelerated through them, but Pocci’s defense attorney said the video does not show how terrified the family was.

Prosecutors argued that Pocci simply became “fed up” with waiting for the road to clear, and witnesses testified that the driver seemed angry.

The woman injured in the crash has filed a lawsuit against Pocci and the city of San Diego.

The 2015 San Diego County Fair just wrapped up 25 days of fried food and fun and, judging by some newly-released stats, it lived up to its theme and was certainly a “Fair to Remember.”

According to a spokesperson for the fair, a total of 1,503,508 guests enjoyed the San Diego County Fair this season – pretty darn close to the record-breaking attendance set in 2012 with 1,517,508 fairgoers.

Friday, July 3 was a huge day for attendance with a total of 92,948 people coming through those fair gates. This made it the sixth highest single-day attendance in history. Organizers say the highest single-day mark was also on a Friday – July 3, 1998 – when 101,867 people went to the fair.

“A Fair to Remember” wrapped up on Sunday. This year’s theme celebrated fairs around the world and commemorated the centennial of the 1915 Panama – California Exposition held in Balboa Park.

Here’s how the fair shaped up this season, by the numbers:
 

• 9,517 patrons attended the three-day 2015 San Diego International Beer Festival at the fair
• 1,105 guests went to the Toast of the Coast Wine Competition and Festival at the fair
• 985 people attended the new fair event, Distilled: San Diego Spirit & Cocktail Festival
• Dixie’s Donuts fried more than 40,000 mini donuts for hungry fairgoers
• More than 18,500 pounds of bacon was used by food vendor, Bacon-A-Fair. The stand served more than 1,600 orders of Deep-Fried Starbucks and also used 60 gallons of wasabi sauce for its new Wasabi Bacon Bombs dish
• Chicken Charlie sold 3,000 Deep-Fried SlimFast Bars and 5,000 Deep-Fried Peanut Butter Pickles
• Pink’s sold more than 4,160 pounds of hot dogs. That translates to 20,800 hot dogs, with 15 percent being “Martha Stewart Dogs,” 10 percent “Bam Dogs” and 5 percent the new “Jalapeno Dog”
• Juicy’s sold more than 50,000 Turkey Legs
• Corn Star grilled up 50,000 ears of corn
• Country Fair Cinnamon Rolls used 20,000 pounds of whole wheat cinnamon roll mix, 4 tons of cinnamon and sugar and 500 gallons of cream cheese frosting
• Australian Battered Potatoes used more than 14,000 pounds of potatoes, 8,400 pints of oil, 240 gallons of ranch dressing, 60 cases of cheese sauce, 200 pounds of bacon and 150 pounds of sour cream
• Pignotti’s went through more than 1,000 pounds of shark for their combo plates, in addition to 7,200 fish tacos
• Grinders used 10 cases of Brussels sprouts for the new Brussels Sprouts Sandwich, along with 250 pounds of cheese, 400 pounds of sweet pork, 300 pounds of roast beef, 600 pounds of turkey breast and more than 2,000 pounds of pastrami
• Tasti Chips used 25 tons of California-grown potatoes for chips. The chips were topped with 17,000 orders of cheese sauce and 100 pounds of bacon. Tasti Chips also served 10,000 pounds of French Fries with 3,100 gallons of Heinz Ketchup and 720 gallons of Tapatio sauce. The chips and fries were fried in 1,000 gallons of 100% pure peanut oil
• Biggie’s Meat Market cooked up 8,000 pounds of ground beef and 18,000 pounds of potatoes. They served 14,000 pounds of “Big Ribs,” (a 2-pound beef rib), “Big Chic on a Stick” (a 2-pound giant garlic herb marinated chicken breast) along with Biggy Burgers
• 221 pies were consumed at the daily Pie Eating Contest – or 1,106 slices of pie
• 260 pieces of bubble gum were chewed in the Bubble Gum Blowing Contest
• 1,348 photos were taken with guests and the costumed mascot, Balboa
• 5,460 people took the bungee plunge at the fair, while about 100 got cold feet at the top. The youngest jumper was 5, the oldest was 85

Fairwell, fair. We'll see you in 2016.

After a two-year search, two brothers were arrested in Mexico, tied to the case of a man gunned down outside a National City fast food restaurant in 2013.

Mexican officials took Manuel Castro, 50, and Henry Castro, 51, into custody in Tijuana on June 28, 2015, accused in National City resident Jesus Degalilia Pena’s death.

In March 2013, Pena, 43, was found shot 10 times at close range with a high-powered rifled outside a Carl’s Jr. on Sweetwater Road.

Manuel, the suspect accused of pulling the trigger, fled to Mexico shortly after shooting Pena, according to detectives. They issued a warrant for his arrest on March 23, 2015.

After Castro and his brother were found in Tijuana, officials turned them over to National City Police detectives, who took them to jail.

Manuel was booked for murder, while Henry was booked for aiding and abetting a felon.

Investigators say the Castros knew Pena before his death, but no suspected motive for the shooting has been released.

A California man was arrested last month for trying to trade in nearly 7,000 pounds of recyclables that he hauled in from out of state, officials said.

Carlos Vargas, 42, of Compton, Calif., was arrested on June 23 after he was caught on surveillance gathering thousands of pounds of recyclables from Phoenix, Ariz., that he then brought into Southern California and tried to exchange for cash in an attempt to defraud the California CRV.

CalRecycle said Tuesday this is the third arrest of this kind this year involving recyclables brought in from out-of-state.

According to officials, more than three hours after Vargas left Phoenix, he arrived at the Blythe Agricultural Checkpoint in Riverside County and told inspectors his truck was empty.

When Vargas failed to show an Imported Materials Report, more than $7,136 worth of used beverage containers was discovered in his truck. Vargas was later arrested by DOJ Recycling Fraud Team on recycling fraud and attempted grand theft charges.

"Our enforcement partners with the California Department of Justice's Recycling Fraud Team are relentless when it comes to locating, surveilling and ultimately disrupting these CRV fraud schemes," CalRecycle Acting Director Ken DaRosa said in a statement.

Californians pay the CRV on recyclable products at the time of their purchase, and when those empty products are returned the fee of at least 5-cents is refunded depending on the size of the packaging. Since out-of-state consumers don’t pay that fee, out-of-state containers don’t fall under that refund.

CalRecycle says it aggressively works to keep these incidents from happening, and those who illegally haul goods through California checkpoints should know they will be shut down.

Outside of Vargas’ arrest, two others were also made under similar circumstances. One arrest was made in Yermo, Calif., and another was made at the same place of Vargas’ arrest at the Blythe Agricultural Checkpoint.

Vargas is expected to be arraigned on Aug. 18 in Indio.
 

A young man accused in a deadly shooting in Banning, Calif., was arrested over the weekend at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar in San Diego after his family, who’s in the military, allowed him on base.

Alejandro Martinez Lara, 19, was taken into custody at MCAS Miramar Sunday around 2 p.m. for the June 27 murder of Daniel Leonard, officials said.

San Diego Police Department (SDPD) officers were assisted by Military Police with the arrest, and Lara was then taken to Southwest Detention Center in Riverside County.

According to police, Lara is a civilian who has family living on base who allowed him to enter MCAS Miramar. Naval Criminal Investigative Services (NCIS) at MCAS Miramar is investigating this aspect of the case, officials said.

On June 27, around 3:45 p.m., Lara allegedly shot and killed Leonard in the 300 block of E. Barbour Street in Banning, about 92 miles away from the base where he was arrested.

Police said Leonard was found with multiple gunshot wounds and died at the scene. Investigators have not yet released details about the motive behind the murder.

Lara is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday morning. The Banning Police Department Detective Bureau is handling the investigation and says anyone with information should call (951) 849-1771.
 

A San Diego State University Spanish professor, found to have violated the state education code by sexually harassing three women, is appealing the university’s findings and is scheduled to come face-to-face with his alleged victims in an arbitration hearing Wednesday.

SDSU professor Vincent Martin is still teaching classes, despite internal investigations that confirm he sexually harassed at least three of his former students.

Attorney Bibi Fell, who represents one of the women accusing Martin of sexual harassment, said her client will be questioned by Martin's attorney and the university during the arbitration hearing. The women are there as "witnesses" and are typically not allowed to have an attorney present.

“To have to sit there in the same room as Professor Martin and be cross-examined about what he did to them is like making them a victim all over again,” Fell said. “I think it's an important case for San Diego, especially for students at SDSU. This is a person that's put in a position of power over a large number of people including women. And so if this is going on at the school, I think it's important to put an end to it.”

One student told NBC 7 Investigates she was harassed through text messages, another by unwelcome touching and sexual comments. A third student said she had a consensual sexual relationship with Martin, but according to an SDSU investigation report, Martin “engaged in conduct sufficiently severe and/or pervasive” with her, and Martin’s overall behavior violated SDSU’s policy against sexual harassment.

Click here to see the complete investigation:

“An arbitration hearing is something that doesn’t go through the formal court system,” Fell said. “It’s a private hearing without a judge with a neutral third party who is making determinations.”

The arbitrator will make a decision based on the testimony and evidence presented at the hearing and ultimately decide Martin's fate.

NBC 7 Investigates reached out to Martin, his attorney and the university for comment. The university said it would not be commenting at this time. NBC 7 Investigates did not hear back from Martin or his attorney. Previously, his attorney told NBC 7 Investigates that Martin disagrees with the findings of the investigation.

“After the appeals process is over, I expect that we will see a confirmation of the underlying findings and some discipline,” Fell said. Regardless of the hearing's outcome, Fell said she will file a civil suit on behalf of her client.

One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash in El Cajon Tuesday after a woman had a medical issue behind the wheel, California Highway Patrol (CHP) officials confirmed.

The deadly accident was reported around 3:40 p.m. on West Main Street near Interstate 8.

According to CHP,  the woman behind the wheel of a Lexus possibly had a seizure as she was exiting Interstate 8. Thinking quickly, her teen daughter pulled the SUV's emergency brake to slow it down, but the vehicle was moving too fast. 

The SUV rear-ended two cars ahead of it on the offramp, killing one of the drivers inside. The victim was driving a Toyota Prius with a WorldPac logo on the side; the company is a wholesale distributor of car parts, with a local office in Miramar.

During the crash, a red truck ended up on its roof, and its driver was hospitalized for unknown injuries. Six vehicles in all were involved, according to CHP.

The driver of the Lexus has been treated and released.

CHP officials closed off traffic on Main Street  at Marshall so investigators can gather evidence and clear the scene. A SigAlert was issued for traffic in the area by 4 p.m.

Offramps and onramps to and from I-8 were shut down as well.

The collision is under investigation.
 

The latest change to Facebook's look may have gone unnoticed to many, but it's meant to make a major statement. 

A change to the small "friends" icon on the upper right hand corner of the page is about more than aesthetics — it's about equality, according to one employee. 

Caitlin Winner, a design manager at Facebook, initially noticed something was off about the icon featuring silhouettes of two users. When she looked at the female icon alone, she noticed a "chip" in the lady's shoulder, "positioned exactly where the man icon would be placed in front of her" on the site's page. 

“I assumed no ill intentions, just a lack of consideration,” she  wrote in a Medium post. “But as a lady with two robust shoulders, the chip offended me.”

Winner decided to take action. 

"The lady icon needed a shoulder, so I drew it in — and so began my many month descent into the rabbit hole of icon design," she wrote. 

While she originally set out to simply fix the shoulder, Winner soon found herself updating the hairstyles of both sexes, the man icon's shoulder and the positioning of the pair, which she flipped to put the woman in front. 

"As a woman, educated at a women’s college, it was hard not to read into the symbolism of the current icon; the woman was quite literally in the shadow of the man, she was not in a position to lean in," she wrote. 

Eventually she took a look at the site's "group" icon, which also had a man featured in front with a man and woman behind him. She switched the icons there, too, placing the woman in front.

Winner said this small personal project, which was soon incorporated into the site design, has changed her perspective on symbolism with other icons.

"I try to question all icons, especially those that feel the most familiar," she said. "For example, is the briefcase the best symbol for ‘work’? Which population carried briefcases and in which era? What are other ways that ‘work’ could be symbolized and what would those icons evoke for the majority of people on Earth?"

A dog that went missing during a hike in San Diego over a week ago has found her way home after traveling more than 35 miles.

Dog owner Kris Anderson says she’s not an emotional person and says neither is her dog, Georgia May, whom she rescued from a shelter seven years ago.

“She’s very reserved,” Anderson said, describing her pooch.

The pair recently shared an emotional moment, however, after Georgia May went missing — and somehow managed to find her way home to Carlsbad after a long, long trek.

On June 27, Anderson says she took her dog on a hike at the Penasquitos Canyon Preserve in San Diego. She admits she ignored a posted sign saying dogs must be leashed at all times, which she said was probably her better judgment, in hindsight.

“I want to say [Georgia May] is half-wild. She’s run off a couple times,” Anderson explained.

Perhaps not so surprisingly, it happened again.

But this time, Georgia didn't come back, and Anderson says she and a park ranger searched the trail until dark.

“And he said to me, ‘You know, I’m really sorry to say this, but dogs don’t make it through the night [at the Preserve]. It’s too brutal,’” she recounted.

The Penasquitos Canyon Preserve is an area known for coyotes.

Still, Anderson says she went back every day in search of Georgia May, holding out hope for eight days before giving up.

“And in the end, I just thought, ‘A week and a couple days – no one can make it out there,’” she said.

But then, came day nine.

“And I work up and thought, ‘Am I dreaming. Wait,’” said Anderson.

Thirty-five miles from that trail, coming from her kitchen, Anderson heard the doggy door open and close.

“And she jumped up on my bed, just like that. [I said] ‘Georgia! Georgia!’” she added.

Anderson says her beloved canine companion has been lying on the couch, resting, pretty much ever since. She says a veterinarian checked out Georgia May, and said her health is fine.

“She was quite skinny, but she’s gained some weight,” said Anderson.

How Georgia found her way home, we'll probably never know.

“I don't know,” said Anderson. “I would give anything to know the story.”

Well, she says, not quite anything.

“It sounds corny, I know, she's a dog – but to me she's my baby," Anderson told NBC 7. “I never thought I’d see her again, and she’s special to me.”

Multiple law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation into the slaying of 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle told NBC News on Wednesday that the weapon used in murder belonged to an agent with the Bureau of Land Management. They did not immediately identify the agent.

BLM spokesperson Dan Wilson said the service weapon was issued to a ranger and stolen from the agent's car while he was in San Francisco on business. Originally, sources had said the gun was a personal weapon.

Sources also could not immediately say how Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, a felon and five-time deportee, obtained the weapon, which was described as a .40-caliber handgun.

The federal agency falls under the Department of Interior which oversees about 250 acres of federal public land.

It was not immediately how soon the gun was taken before the Steinle killing.

Sanchez entered a not guilty plea on Tuesday and his bail was set at $5 million. His public defender, Matt Gonzalez, said it was "very likely" the shooting was accidental. 

The shooting, which police have said was random, has sparked a national debate on immigration, as Sanchez had the Immigration and Customs Enforcement ageny had put a "detainer" on his status, first reported by NBC Bay Area. However, the San Francisco County jail did not alert ICE that Sanchez had been released on April 15, because the city and county give refuge to undocumented immigrants.

Steinle's parents have purposely remained out of the political firestorm, and instead, are trying to focus on honoring the memory of their daughter.

A bill intended to bring increased transparency to the California Public Utilities Commission passed the California Senate Energy Committee Tuesday.

Assembly Bill 825, introduced by Assemblyman Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood), would establish an independent authority to investigate the CPUC. It would also create a Public Advisor within the Commission to put transparency measures in place.

Right now the CPUC is enduring a growing barrage of criticism from electricity customers and lawmakers. Critics in both camps claim it's become beholden to private interests.

Under investigation by federal prosecutors and other agencies are CPUC proceedings and negotiations that led to shareholders dodging 70 percent of the $4.7 billion in shutdown costs.

Utility executives are holding out against providing key documents behind how the costs were divvied up.

Transparency advocates questioned the removal of a portion of AB 825 relating to the California Public Records Act and state open meetings law.

Kevin Liao, Communications Director for Rendon, said those provisions were removed but the bill will rely on the existing Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act instead.

If passed, the bill would allow for public testimony to take place at the beginning of meetings or prior to new agenda items, according to Liao. He said in the past public testimony was sometimes heard after decisions were actually made.

“Rendon’s goal is to have the law applied to and enforced at the PUC like it is at all other state agencies,” Liao said.

The bill will next be in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee for approval.

Rendon is chair of the Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce.