UPDATE: The victims were identified Sunday as the teen cousin of the driver and an owner of another race car.

A race car at the Marysville Raceway Park in Yuba County lost control and killed two people on pit row Saturday night, the Yuba County Sheriff's Department reported.

A 68-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy died after being hit by the spint car. They were both reportedly part of the crew of one of the teams in the race.

There were no other reported injuries. 

Marysville is about 40 miles north of Sacramento. 

A venue promoter told the Appeal-Democrat the car lost control, left the track and crashed into pit row. This happened during a warm up lap prior to the actual race.  The car was reportedly going 90 mph and did not make a proper turn. 

Track officials said on the Facebook page: "Our thoughts and deepest prayers go out to everyone. Out of respect we will not elaborate on details. We ask everyone to respect each other and the families."

 Marysville Raceway Park was hosting Round 1 of the Hoosier Tire California Sprint Car Civil War Series this weekend.

The race was canceled after the crash.

The race is described as the "newest rendition of California's premier traveling body for winged 360 sprint cars is sure to be action packed with the best of west racing wheel to wheel and wing to wing throughout the golden state."

Sprint cars are below NASCAR and are small, high-powered cars that normally race on short dirt tracks

I'm trying hard not to get too excited about this.

It's just Spring Training in Arizona. We're talking games in dry air against pitchers with numbers in the 80's on their backs. Teams are going to score a lot of runs in those conditions, it's inevitable.

But, still. For the Padres leading all National League teams in runs scored, 60% of the way through the Spring Training schedule? That has me just a little bit giddy.

I mean, everybody gets to hit in the same conditions. The Padres are just doing it better than anyone else.

After Saturday's 10-6 win over the Diamondbacks (making them 5-1 against the NL West), the Padres have scored 133 runs, tops in the Senior Circuit. They also lead the league in home runs, hits, batting average, total bases, slugging percentage and doubles.

That's a pretty good line.

Now, I know the World Baseball Classic has kept a lot of the best hitters on other teams occupied, and that is a factor. But, the next-closest team to the Padres is the Cardinals, who are 21 runs behind. Yadier Molina and Carlos Beltran are good, but even they might not have made up a 21-run deficit.

In a way, the Padres slugging success is an extension of the 2012 season. Before the All-Star break, San Diego scored the fewest runs in the league. After the Break, the Friars were 5th in runs scored, even better than the Rockies and Reds and their hitter-friendly ballparks.

When you take that bit of information, and use it to set up their Spring Training offensive gluttony, and add in the fact the fences at PETCO Park are moving in? Well, saying the Padres could have one of the most productive offenses in baseball might not be a crazy statement.

Does this mean I can really get excited now?

Unfortunately, no. Remember that little nugget about the Padres scoring the fewest runs in the league before last year's All-Star Break?

That came on the heels of the Friars leading the league in runs scored during Spring Training.

Hey, hope springs eternal, right? You never know when something is going to change.

Human statue David Mulder is being investigated after he punched a passerby who taunted him while he was performing at a mall in Australia.

Mulder apologized for his actions. But the organization who hired him as a street performer said it will launch an investigation this week.

"While I sympathize with the busker, it's clear both parties didn't behave as best they could. Harassment and assault are not welcome in Surfers Paradise,'' Surfer Alliance chair Laura Younger told Australia's News.com.

Mulder became an Internet sensation after a mobile phone video was posted on YouTube showing him being poked and prodded by a passerby. He lost his cool when the heckler licked his index finger and stuck it in the performer's ear. The video shows Mulder throwing a punch at the young man, leaving him with a bloody nose.

Mulder's wife told News.com that his husband will meet with Alliance officials today to state his case.

"He will tell them that this sort of behavior is extremely rare and is not something he'd like to repeat,'' she said, speaking on behalf of her husband. "He's been hassled before but doesn't normally come out swinging - it takes a lot to provoke him."

The performer was back at work on Sunday at his usual post at the Cavill Mall. He said he was not proud of his actions.

"He was in the wrong, but at the same time I was in the wrong for striking out," Mulder said.

Several juveniles broke into the Starlight Theater in Balboa Park Sunday.

San Diego police said four or five minors were detained after they broke in to the venue on Pan American Plaza around 7 p.m.

There was some damage to a fence and a lock that appeared to have been ripped off of a door.

Police say beyond that, it looks like the suspects were just running around. Nothing appeared to be stolen.

The suspects may face charges of burglary officials said.

A Chula Vista man was arrested Saturday, accused of molesting a child riding bikes inside an apartment complex.

Chula Vista police officers announced the arrest of a 62-year-old man at the Vista Garden apartments on H Street but have not released his name.

Officers said the man cornered a little girl who was riding bikes with another child. The suspect then fondled the child according to investigators. The child’s parents called police.

The unidentified man lives close by and may have victimizes other children officials said.

“Generally speaking I don't imagine one would go and molest a child so the likelihood of there having been prior victims is likely," said Lt. Eric Thunberg.

Police officers said they will work with school police to track down any potential victims of child molestation linked to this suspect.

He was in jail Sunday facing one count of lewd act upon a child.

 

San Diego’s Logan Heights neighborhood celebrated the opening of a new, community-centric street market Sunday that will now line the streets on a bi-weekly basis.

The grand opening of “Sobreruedas en el Barrio: A Neighborhood Market” kicked off at 10 a.m. with a dedication ceremony on 30th Street attended by special guests Mayor Bob Filner and Councilmember David Alvarez, as well as dozens of local shoppers.

This new, resident-led community market is organized by local groups Casa de Vecinos Organizados, LISC San Diego and the Greater Logan Heights Community Partnership.

According to the groups, the concept was inspired by Mexican street markets, or “tianguis,” and combines open-air shopping with an opportunity to spend time with friends, family and neighbors.

The market features more than 20 vendors – all residents of Logan Heights -- selling a wide array of items, from fresh produce and hot food to clothing, jewelry, handmade crafts, art and home goods.

The street market is designed to unite the neighborhood and advance community development.

From this point forward, the Sobreruedas market will be held every other Sunday along 30th Avenue between Imperial Avenue and K Street (see map below).

For photos and more information, visit the Casa de Vecinos Organizados Facebook page.

Mayor Bloomberg wants stores throughout New York City to hide cigarettes behind counters, curtains or cabinets as part of his next anti-smoking effort.

"Such displays suggest that smoking is a normal activity, and they invite young people to experiment with tobacco," Bloomberg told reporters Monday.

The law would apply to retail stores and requires City Council approval; it will be introduced on Wednesday.

Stores could still post cigarette ads and prices, the mayor said.

Bloomberg, a billionaire former smoker, has made anti-tobacco efforts a major part of his mayoralty and private philanthropy.

Bloomberg banned smoking in bars and restaurants during his first term, a move that was not common at the time. He has also committed $600 million to programs that seek to curb smoking around the world.

A Marine corporal who was stabbed in the neck on Mar. 10 in El Centro, Calif., is recovering from critical wounds in San Diego, his family confirmed exclusively to NBC 7.

Marine Cpl. Jonathan C. Woodard, 23, is fighting for his life at the UCSD Trauma Center, Woodard family friend Kim Rosales told NBC 7.

Woodard is originally from Waddington, N.Y., and is stationed at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif.

Early last Sunday morning, he was attacked and stabbed by a group of unknown assailants after a night out with a friend and fellow Marine in El Centro, Rosales said.

The Marines were walking back to their hotel after attending a fair in the area when a group of suspects approached Woodward near an alley and allegedly assaulted him, Rosales said.

Woodard sustained multiple stab wounds in the attack, including serious injuries to his neck.

He was transported to a local hospital before being airlifted to the UCSD Trauma Center with critical injuries.

One week after the brutal attack, Rosales told NBC 7 the Marine remains hospitalized in intensive care in San Diego, clinging for life.

Rosales said Woodard’s parents, mother Sandra Ladoceour and father Chuck Woodard, both flew into San Diego from New York earlier this week to be by their son’s side. Rosales is also in San Diego supporting the family.

“It’s been really difficult,” she told NBC 7. “The people that did this to him need to be found.”

Rosales said Woodard is now suffering from severe head injuries stemming from the neck stabbing. He’s also partially paralyzed.

Woodard's parents say the attack on their son was unprovoked. They want El Centro police to find the suspects responsible for the attack and bring them to justice.

"This was blatant, he didn't do anything. This was attempted murder, as far as I'm concerned, and something should be done," Chuck told NBC 7.

Before the stabbing, Woodard was scheduled for deployment, Rosales said. He was supposed to deploy to Afghanistan on Mar. 25 – his second deployment to the country in two years. He’s been a U.S. Marine since 2009.

The Marine's parents say it has been extremely difficult to see their son hospitalized in this way. The past week has been a series of ups and downs for the family as Woodard begins to recover.

"It gets worse whenever you see him in pain and you see the tears rolling off the sides of his eyes, and there's nothing you can do," said Chuck. "

"When we walked in and saw him in that hospital, I almost fainted," Woodard's mother said. "You know, the tubes, his neck was all slashed; it was horrible. I feel helpless. I just want to take his pain."

Rosales said family and friends are rallying for Woodard’s recovery. Loved ones have started a “Team Jonny” support group on Facebook, as well as an online fund to help his family cover Woodard’s medical bills and stay by his side in San Diego.

To donate to Woodard’s fund, click here, or visit the Team Jonny page.

A Santee man was killed and a mother and her three children were critically injured in a horrific crash on State Route 52 Sunday.

Two victims were pulled from the wreckage by fire crews on the eastbound SR-52 just east of Santo Road around 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

Matthew T Leonardo, 30, of Santee was killed when his grey Ford sedan collided with a mini-van. California Highway Patrol investigators say Leonardo was driving the wrong way on the highway moments before the crash. 

The woman driving the minivan and her children ages 17, 12 and 10 were treated by firefighters and quickly transported to area hospitals.

One of the vehicles burst into flames at the scene, and citizens used fire extinguishers to try to put out the blaze, but the car continued burning, according to the CHP.

Victims were transported to Sharp Memorial, UCSD Trauma Center and Rady's Children, according to San Diego Fire Department.

Investigators said a toxicology report will determine if Leonardo was intoxicated at the time of the crash.

The eastbound freeway was shut-down for hours.

A man was stabbed in the back on the dance floor of a popular San Diego Gaslamp nightclub on St. Patrick’s Day.

Thousands of people spent the holiday celebrating on the green artificial turf that lined the Gaslamp Quarter in downtown San Diego Sunday.

Around 12:30 a.m. Monday, a man was dancing inside the nightclub F6ix when officials say he was stabbed four times in the back.

San Diego police say the 21-year-old man was dancing on the dance floor when he was attacked.

The victim told police he didn’t see who stabbed him.

He was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. His wounds were described by police as non-life threatening.

The nightclub located at F Street and Sixth Avenue is in the heart of the Gaslamp Quarter across the street from other popular venues like Croce's and the Tipsy Crow.

Owners describe the venue as an upscale Hip Hop club and asks its patrons to dress in "stylish attire" on its website.

Newspaper newsrooms and local TV stations across the country are seeing shrinking reporting power amid diminishing resources, according to a new report by the Pew Research Center.

Newsroom cutbacks in 2012 are putting the industry down 30 percent since its peak in 2000, and for the first time since 1978, there are fewer than 40,000 full-time professional employees.

"This adds up to a news industry that is more undermanned and unprepared to uncover stories, dig deep into emerging ones or to question information put into its hands," the report said.

This was the most evident in the political reporting during a contentious election year, when campaign reporters functioned "primarily as megaphones, rather than as investigators, of the assertions put forward by the candidates and other political partisans," according to the report.

It added that this trend is seen in other beats, as cutbacks have left a void that is being filled by other means like public relations employees.

Local television stations have been hit the hardest, as live stories fell 30 percent from 2007 to 2012. Interview segments, which take up fewer resources, were up 31 percent.

The public has taken notice, the report says.

Thirty one percent of adults have stopped turning to news outlets, saying they were no longer getting the kind of coverage they expected. People surveyed cited lack of beat expertise, fewer stories and less complete news stories as reasons they abandoned a news outlet.

Some newsrooms, however, have begun charging for their online content to subsidize and improve reporting quality. The report says 450 of the country's 1,380 dailes have implemented a pay wall for online content and that the practice could have big payoffs.

"The rise of digital paid content could also have a positive impact on the quality of journalism as news organizations strive to produce unique and high-quality content that the public believes is worth paying for," the report said.

According to ComScore.com, digital news consumption from the top 25 news sites increased by 7.2 percent in 2012. Pew data indicated that 39 percent of respondents get their news online or from a mobile device, up from 34 percent the last time the survey was conducted in 2010.

Still, newsrooms have failed to harness the power of digital advertising as a revenue source, according to the Pew report. Local digital advertising — a critical ad component for local news — grew 22 percent in 2012, but improved geo-targeting has pushing national advertisers to turn to Google and Facebook for ad space that once went to local media.

Social media is also taking on a larger role as a source for news information. Fifteen percent of adults get their news from friends on social media, and about 77 percent of them are reading news stories through links on these sites, according to the Pew study.

About 2,000 pounds of marijuana was found in about 50 bales on a beach in California Sunday after a panga-style drug smuggling boat washed ashore.

The bales were found on Arroyo Camada Beach in Santa Barbara. The 30-foot panga boat (pictured, below) -- an open, outboard powered boat -- equipped with about 20 fuel containers was found on the shore.

The 50 bales of marijuana have an estimated street value of about $4 million, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department. The drugs were found partially hidden in bushes near a road leading from the beach.

About 20 panga-style boats have landed on the Santa Barbara County coastline during the past two years, according to the sheriff's department. The boats are commonly used to transport drugs and other contraband.

The boat and fuel containers were turned over to federal agents. Santa Barbara Sheriff’s narcotics detectives seized the marijuana, which was wrapped in plastic.

For full U.S. news coverage, visit NBCNews.com

A sheriff's canine unit searched the area, but authorities have not located the smugglers.

In December,  U.S. Coast Guardsman was killed when he was thrown from a boat that was rammed by a panga boat under investigation for smuggling off the Southern California coast. Drugs onboard the panga were seized and two smuggling suspects were taken into custody.

A man and woman were taken into custody when a panga landed on Blacks Beach north of La Jolla.

No money or drugs was found in the boat when it was discovered just after 6 a.m. Monday according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.

Agents apprehended the man and woman on land after they crawled up a steep, muddy embankment. It’s not known if there were other people on the boat.

Officials photographed and took the suspects into custody. The boat will be seized by federal agents.