Rare trees, that have fallen victim to the California drought, were cut down in Campo to be reused in an artistic way at the San Diego Botanic Garden.

Workers used a crane to remove seven rare Catalpa trees along Dehesa Road Thursday. The largest was 40-feet tall.

Catalpa trees, especially those as tall as the ones that have grown along Dehesa Road, are very uncommon in San Diego County. Unfortunately, the lack of rain took its toll.

But instead of putting the diseased trees into the wood chipper, the San Diego Botanic Garden plan to use them for planter chandeliers.

The large trees, pruned to just trunk and large limbs, were shipped via flatbed truck to the garden's location in Encinitas where they will be placed in storage.

The crew of eight people worked for a day and a half on the project, according to Julian Duval, CEO of the San Diego Botanic Garden.

"It will not be cheap," Duval said of the cost. The SDBG was going to import trees from Indiana which would have been far more expensive.

"It was truly amazing that we found these trees locally," he said. "We get to give them new life."

The trees were planted back in the 1950s and the owner had planned on turning them into fire wood.

"We are just so thankful that we got to them before he did," Duval said.

The plan is to use the trees as a base for living chandeliers featuring epiphytic plants like orchids, bromeliads or philodendrons.

The chandeliers would be raised and lowered depending on the event at the proposed Dickinson Family Education Pavilion.

The garden is currently raising funds to build the 9,300 sq. ft. facility that will include a main hall to accommodate up to 400 guests as well as an outdoor amphitheater with stage and lighting.

Learn more about the project here.

A new case of a college student hospitalized with meningococcal bacteria was reported Thursday in San Diego County.

The San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) reports the patient is a student at Palomar College.

The county did not disclose which hospital was treating the individual, but they say the student is improving.

The unidentified student was diagnosed on October 19. Test results expected back in several days should identify the strain of meningitis.

The student has attended only one class in the past three weeks so there are no close contacts at the college, county officials said.

“The risk to individuals who have not had close contact with the infected individual is very low,” Dean Sidelinger, M.D., M.S.Ed., said in a county news report.

HHSA has already notified those people who they believe should take antibiotics to prevent any possible infection.

This case is not believed to be connected to the recent meningococcal case that led to the death of San Diego State University freshman Sara Stelzer.

Stelzer was removed from life support over the weekend after contracting the rare Type B meningococcal meningitis.

Nearly 1,000 SDSU students were evaluated for risk of exposure. Some were given preventive antibiotics according to health officials.

However, officials are trying to determine if the Palomar student has the same strain of meningococcal bacterium as Stelzer's.

"Because if we identify two meningococcal Type B in a small community, we can consider asking for experimental use of the meningococcal Type B disease that’s not available in the United States," said Sidelinger.

To get the experimental vaccine MenB, used in Europe and Canada, there must be two or more cases identified to one organizational unit, like a college campus, and the cases must be within the last six months.

The vaccine has not been licensed by the Food and Drug Administration, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did allow it to be used in meningitis outbreaks at Princeton and UC Santa Barbara.

There have been seven cases of meningococcal disease in San Diego County this year. Last year, there were 16 cases reported.

Symptoms of infection by meningococcal bacteria may include fever, intense headache, lethargy, stiff neck, and a rash that does not blanch under pressure, officials said.

If not treated, the bacteria can lead to meningitis, an inflammation of the membranes around the spinal cord and brain.

The germs are easily spread by those in close contact through sharing drinks or water bottles, cigarettes or through more intimate activity like kissing.

Parents should consult their primary care physician for information on a vaccine that is available to prevent certain strains of meningococcal disease. It's routinely recommended for children and adolescents 11 to 18 years of age.

Click here to find out more information about vaccine-preventable diseases.

Check back for updates on this developing story.
 

A Northeast Philadelphia man fired an assault rifle at his neighbor more than two dozen times after an argument spiraled out of control Thursday night.

"The shooter fired multiple shots, unloaded his magazine, then reloaded the weapon," said Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small.

Not only was the 57-year-old neighbor hit multiple times but bullets -- police said at least 28 were fired -- also hit neighboring homes along the 8900 block Alton Street in the Bustleton section of the city.

Medics rushed a 57-year-old man from the scene to Einstein Medical Center in critical condition, according to Philadelphia Police.

"This victim stated who he was shot by," said Small.

Investigators said the incident began as an argument between the older man and a 26-year-old suspect around 7:30 p.m. in the rear driveway of the homes. At some point the suspect grabbed an assault rifle and began firing, police said.

At least 20 bullets hit two neighboring homes, said police. Officers checked on the residents inside and luckily no one was hit.

Police arrested the unidentified shooting suspect without incident and confiscated the rifle, said Small.

A 4-year-old girl was found dead at a Queens homeless shelter and authorities are classifying her death as "suspicious," police say.

Police found the child, identified as Linayjah Meraldo, after responding to a call at the Briarwood Family Residence, a temporary housing shelter for homeless families on 134th Street, on Thursday. The little girl's four siblings were in school when she was found; the child's mother said she kept the girl home because she wasn't feeling well, according to a source familiar with the case.

There were no other adults living in the unit where the mother and children were staying.

The mother initially told police Meraldo was involved in a physical altercation with a sibling -- "a tousling thing," she called it, according to the source. The source said the mother later said the child had fallen, and that the version of events she told investigators kept changing.

The little girl was last seen in the 100-unit shelter Thursday morning, the source said. The child was active and nobody noticed bruises or other injuries, according to the source.

The family has lived at Briarwood for nearly a year.

The Department of Health and Human Services called Meraldo's death "terribly disturbing." The agency said in a statement it was working closely with police.

The child's death comes less than a week after a 3-year-old girl was found dead in a homeless shelter in Brooklyn. The medical examiner ruled her death a homicide, saying the girl died from blunt impact to her head and torso. Her 20-year-old stepfather was arrested on a murder charge.

After the Brooklyn girl's death, Mayor de Blasio called for a thorough investigation. 

Dozens of people called for an end to domestic violence in Escondido Thursday, even as the city's police department heals after the loss of one of their own due to a suspected domestic incident.

Rookie Escondido Police Officer Laura Perez was on the mind of many who marched along the two-mile route, with her 4-year-old daughter at the head of the pack.

Perez was found shot to death in a Moreno Valley storage locker in July, her husband Freddy Perez-Rodas arrested as the lead suspect. He has since been charged with murder.

The death of the 25-year-old cop hit the department hard, and on Thursday, her brothers in blue told NBC 7 they think of her often.

“We are not used to being the ones that are a part of being the victims, and it hit us hard in several different ways,” said EPD Cpt. Mike Loarie. “I mean, we count the days — 91 days, 22 1/2 hours ago — (since) this nightmare started for us.”

Perez’s death is a testament to the unfortunate fact domestic violence can happen to anyone, police say.

According to the San Diego Domestic Violence Council, 17,000 domestic violence incidents were reported in San Diego County in 2013. Nine of them were fatal.

In Escondido alone, reported incidents rose 4 percent between 2012 and 2013.

“It’s the trauma that’s something like a ghost that follows them until one day, it’s hard to function,” said domestic violence survivor Christine.

She told NBC 7 her seven children were seven reasons why she suffered through 21 years of abuse. Though it may be hard, she and others say it is vital to speak up and get help because domestic violence doesn’t just impact the victim.

“This affected Laura’s family and police family,” Loarie said.

Officers unveiled a memorial stone in front of the Escondido Police Department to remember Perez and other victims of domestic violence. A tree was also planted in the slain officer's honor.

Thirty years after a teenager’s body was found on the sand at Torrey Pines State Beach, San Diego homicide investigators say they have identified two suspects in her killing, one of whom was a San Diego Police criminalist.

Claire Hough, 14, was the victim of a brutal murder on Friday, Aug. 24, 1984.

The teenager had been staying with her grandparents who lived near the beach.

When she was found by police officers, she had been beaten, strangled and stabbed, and one of her breasts had been severed.

Using DNA evidence collected at the scene, homicide investigators were able to identity two potential suspects in her murder in November 2012.

Detectives say they spent the following two years putting together a case for prosecution. They were preparing to make an arrest when on Tuesday, Oct. 21, Kevin Charles Brown was found dead at Cuyamaca State Park on Highway 79.

Brown, 62, worked as a criminalist for the San Diego Police Laboratory from 1982 to April 2002.

Homicide investigators say they do not believe Brown had any association with the murder investigation or the process of evidence.

His death has initially been ruled a suicide.

The second suspect, Ronald Clyde Tatro, died in a boating accident in 2011. Tatro was 40 years old at the time of the killing.

According to homicide investigators the two men were identified as suspects in the case through DNA analysis.

Anyone with information related to this incident is encouraged to call the San Diego Police Department’s Homicide Unit or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.

An app called Photo Math boasts the ability to solve math problems with the click of a smartphone camera, prompting a new round of an old debate: how much should students use technology in the classroom?

With the app, users can simply hold their phone over a question and wait a few seconds as it makes the calculations. It then produces the answer and shows the steps to get there.

Photo Math offers help for those stuck on a particularly hard question, but it also presents an easy way to cheat.

One educator likened it to the issue of whether to let students use a calculator solve problems.

“When I first heard about (the app), I thought, ‘Oh my goodness.’ And then I thought, it’s always kind of been there, it’s just quicker and easier because of the speed of the internet,” said Dr. Jeffrey Theil, who works with staff and parents on Common Core standards for the Chula Vista Elementary School District.

He told NBC 7 with Common Core, students are asked to show their answers in multiple ways, so one would have to know how to ask the question to get an answer on the internet.

Siri, the virtual voice-controlled assistant on Apple products, can also be used at a math tool but was better with the simple questions, while Photo Math listed all the steps.

However, on Thursday, students in class were asked to do the problems in their heads by rearranging fractions.

While the app could crunch the numbers, it could not understand the intent of the questions, and the intent is what matters.

If students use it as a tool to help them with homework and not a short cut to get the answer, more access and quicker access can be a good thing.

“That number sense and fluency is really important,” said Theil, “and I don’t think you can get that through an app or googling that or whatever because we’re challenging your mind and what your mind can do mathematically.”

If the technology isn’t there yet to interpret the intent and multiple demands of the Common Core math curriculum, it will be.

And just like in the old days when we could look at the back of the textbook for answers, students need to be taught if they only use the internet as a short cut, they’re only cheating themselves.

Student Alexa Zumstein appreciates that concept, telling NBC 7 she likes doing equations mentally.

“Not only does it help me practice doing it in my head, it just feels a sense of accomplishment, like I just did 237 times 26 on my own and I got it right and I feel good,” she said.

Video of a pack of what appears to be stunt riders popping wheelies, speeding along the highway and waving off a California Highway Patrol officer is fueling an intensified hunt to find the motorcyclists who seemed to enjoy taunting the cop.

CHP Officer Ross Lee said the San Jose-based agency was alerted to the video "Cop Chases Bikers Then Bikers Then Biker Makes Cop Leave," on Wednesday, after the Mercury News first reported it.

The video was posted on Oct. 21 and by Thursday had nearly 250,000 hits on YouTube.  Lee said it was taken on Oct. 11, in the afternoon, when about 50 riders were traveling south on Interstate 680 in San Jose. The riders can be seen standing on their bikes, driving in between cars and refusing to stop when the unnamed CHP officer tells them to.

Lee said the officer asked for backup, but the group ended up exiting on McKee Road before help arrived. No one was arrested, Lee said, because the officer decided not to pursue them, fearing it would be too dangerous.

If the riders are caught, Lee said, they could be charged with reckless driving, exhibition of speed and evading an officer. All are misdemeanors unless someone gets hurt, which could then make that behavior a felony.

The person who posted the video, GuruStunts, emailed back and forth with NBC Bay Area on Thursday. He did not want his real name to be used, and he insisted that he didn't take the video, was not part of the ride and has "no affiliation with them. It was sent to me by an anonymous rider."

He wrote that he "strictly buys and posts videos on YouTube as the brand GuruStunts." He also represents StreetFighterz clothing and merchandise, which states on its website that the company is a Streetbike Freestyle Stunt Team based out of St. Louis, Missouri.

The stunt team began releasing underground films in 2000, the website states, and its riders travel the country "living through every experience like its our last."

The medical and humanitarian organization that employed the New York doctor who tested positive for the Ebola virus said that the risk for staff returning from the front lines in West Africa can't be completely eliminated, even with "extremely strict procedures" to protect against the potentially deadly disease. 

Craig Spencer tested positive for the potentially deadly virus at New York's Bellevue Hospital on Thursday, six days after he arrived home from an Ebola assignment in Guinea with Doctors Without Borders.  He is the first Ebola case in New York City and the fourth diagnosed in the United States.

Doctors Without Borders, which is also known internationally as Médecins Sans Frontières, said the doctor who contracted the virus followed its guidelines for self-monitoring, which includes checking temperature twice a day and staying within four hours of a hospital with isolation facilities during a 21-day incubation period. He was admitted to the hospital on Thursday after reporting a fever of 100.3 degrees. 

"Extremely strict procedures are in place for staff dispatched to Ebola affected countries before, during, and after their assignments," Sophie Delaunay, executive director of MSF, said in a statement. "Despite the strict protocols, risk cannot be completely eliminated. However, close post-assignment monitoring allows for early detection of cases and for swift isolation and medical management."

The organization has launched a "thorough investigation" to identify how Spencer contracted Ebola.

More than 10,000 people have fallen ill with Ebola since the outbreak began in March, creating a dire need for international health workers in the West African countries that have been hardest hit. 

Spencer, 33, is one of more than 700 international staff Doctors Without Borders has sent to Ebola-stricken countries since March. Three international staff and 21 locally employed staff have fallen ill with the virus since that time, with 13 dying of the disease.

“Tragically, as we struggle to bring the Ebola outbreak in West Africa under control, some members of our staff have not been spared,” Delaunay said in the statement. “Our thoughts are with our colleague in his own struggle right now, and we sincerely hope for his quick and full recovery.”

Scores of other aid groups and health workers have stepped up as well. More than 3,700 people have signed up using an online portal USAID launched in early September to connect potential volunteers with aid organizations, said Lisa Hibbert-Simpson, press officer with USAID. Demand for more help hasn't slowed, she said.

“The need will exist until we have it under control," she said. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says health workers are among those facing the highest risk of contracting the virus, which is spread through contact with bodily fluids from a person who is already showing symptoms.

In late August, the World Health Organization called the "high proportion" of doctors, nurses and heath care workers infected "unprecedented." As of late October, the virus had sickened more than 440 health care workers worldwide, claiming the lives of 224.

Four American health workers and a freelance cameraman for NBC who fell ill after working in West Africa have recovered from Ebola after receiving treatment back in the United States. Two nurses in Dallas who contracted the virus while caring for a patient diagnosed there were also recently declared Ebola free. That patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, has been the only person to die of the virus in the U.S. so far.

Officials in New York have said the risk to the public is minimal given the timing of Spencer's symptoms and admission to the isolation unit.   They believe he had direct contact with fiancee and two friends, before going to the hospital. The three have been quarantined and are in good health, New York City's health commissioner said.

The controversial act of lane splitting – when a motorcycle rides between cars in freeway traffic – is safer than many think, a new study finds.

The seemingly risky move of weaving between lanes is against the law in every single state except California, to the ire of some drivers and the delight of motorcyclists.

"Those guys out there and girls out there occasionally splitting lanes are just looking for a disaster as far as I'm concerned,” one driver frankly said.

A state-commissioned UC Berkeley study looked at thousands of accident reports and found lane splitting is no more dangerous than riding a motorcycle in a marked lane.

But if a rider is traveling 10 miles per hour faster than traffic, the risk of a crash goes up.

New York Myke, owner of San Diego Harley-Davidson, hopes the study will ease public frustration over lane splitters.

He told NBC 7 he doesn’t like to see people rushing between cars going 60 or 70 mph because that gives all motorcyclists a bad name.

"We don't like to do it, but I’d rather do that than sit in traffic and take the chance some car five cars back hits the car in front of him or her and we eventually get tagged and knocked off or hurt,” said Myke.

The UC Berkeley study actually found lane splitters are less likely rear-ended but are more likely to rear-end others. The data also showed early morning and late afternoon rush hours are the times when lane splitters have a higher chance of getting into an accident.

Still, some think the maneuver is a bad idea because other drivers cannot be trusted.

“People are distracted, people are doing ten things when in the cars aside from focusing on the traffic around them,” said one woman who spoke with NBC 7.

Myke agreed, arguing UC Berkeley should do a study on texting and driving because “that’s the real killer.”

The study’s data will be shared with the California Highway Patrol, which this year began working on guidelines for lane-splitting. A more in-depth study of the practice is also in the works.

The Denver Broncos out gained, out scored and out played the Chargers in a 35-21 win on Thursday Night Football.

It spoiled the celebration for Chargers tight end Antonio Gates, who set the franchise record for receiving yards on a 31-yard catch in the second quarter.

Gates finished with 54 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He passes Lance Alworth's record of 9,584 yards.

Denver topped the Chargers by more than 100 yards, rushing for 139 yards in the win.

Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning threw for 286 yards and three touchdowns, all to receiver Emmanuel Sanders, who nearly gave up a fumble midway through the fourth quarter to let the Bolts back in the game. But Wes Welker fell on the ball and kept their drive alive.

Juwan Thompson added a pair of rushing scores for the Broncos, who improve their division-best record to 6-1. The Chargers drop to 5-3.

They could never get their running game going, gaining just 15 yards on 11 carries before a 17-yard Philip Rivers scramble in the fourth quarter.

The Bolts travel to Miami to play the Dolphins next Sunday at 10 a.m.

New York City doctor Craig Spencer is the fourth person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States and the first in New York. He recently came back from treating Ebola patients in West Africa, and preliminarily tested positive for the Ebola virus at Bellevue Hospital on Thursday, Oct. 23. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the following day that he had contracted the potentially deadly disease.

He was in stable condition as of Oct. 24 and talking on the phone with extensively with family members, officials said.

Spencer is the fifth U.S. aid worker to contract the virus while working in West Africa. Dr. Kent Brantly, who recovered from Ebola earlier this year, issued a statement saying he is "grieved to hear about another health care worker contracting Ebola in West Africa.

"My prayers are with Dr. Spencer, his family and the crew taking care of him," he said in a statement released to NBC's "Today." "From everything I've read and heard about his circumstances, it sounds like New York has done everything right to contain this case."

Here's what we know so far about Spencer, his background, what he has done since coming back to the U.S. and the people with whom he may have come into contact.

Who is Craig Spencer?

Spencer, 33, is an emergency room doctor at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital's Columbia Medical Center campus in Upper Manhattan. He is a Detroit native who went to Wayne State University there and has family in that area.

He was volunteering with Doctors Without Borders in Guinea, one of the three West African nations experiencing an Ebola epidemic. He hasn't returned to work at NewYork-Presbyterian since returning to the U.S., the hospital said in a statement.

Spencer "went to an area of medical crisis to help a desperately underserved population," the hospital said in a statement. "He is a committed and responsible physician who always put his patients first."

Spencer also attended Columbia's University Mailman School of Public Health.

"Off to Guinea with Doctors Without Borders,'' he reportedly posted on Facebook on Sept. 18, along with a photo showing him dressed in protective gear. "Please support organizations that are sending support or personnel to West Africa, and help combat one of the worst public health and humanitarian disasters in recent history.''

Spencer left for West Africa via Brussels in mid-September, according to the Facebook page. He completed his assignment there on Oct. 12 and left on Oct. 14 via Europe. He arrived in the U.S. on Oct. 17 at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

When Did Spencer Test Positive for Ebola?

Spencer participated in the enhanced screening at JFK for all travelers returning from the West African nations affected by Ebola. He did not have fever or other Ebola symptoms.

While back in New York, Spencer checked his temperature twice daily, New York City’s health commissioner Mary Travis Bassett said at a Thursday evening media briefing. He began feeling sluggish on Oct. 21, but did not have any symptoms then. He felt well enough to go on a three-mile jog this week.

On Thursday morning, between 10 and 11 a.m. ET, Spencer reported coming down with a 100.3-degree fever and diarrhea and called 911, New York's Department of Health said. Officials corrected the number Friday morning after having first said in error that his temperature was 103 degrees.

He was transported from his apartment on West 147th Street in Hamilton Heights to Bellevue, one of eight New York state hospitals designated to treat Ebola patients, by a specially trained HAZ TAC unit wearing personal protective equipment (PPE). Spencer was placed in a special isolation unit at the hospital, where he's being cared for by the predesignated medical critical care team.

Doctors Without Borders said it was notified about Spencer's fever Thursday morning and immediately notified New York City health officials.

"We are fully prepared to handle Ebola," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Friday.

A blood sample was sent to the New York City Health Department laboratory, which is part of the Laboratory Response Network overseen by the CDC, for preliminary testing, and tested positive for Ebola. A CDC test confirmed he had contracted the disease.

What Has Spencer Done Since Returning From Africa? 

Bassett said Spencer spent most of his time in his apartment, limiting his contact with people, but he had gone on a three-mile jog, taken the A, 1 and L subway trains, went to a few food establishments, and visited the High Line elevated park in Manhattan.

He also took an Uber livery car to The Gutter bowling alley in Brooklyn Wednesday night, where he met some friends and bowled.

"At the time he was at the bowling alley, he had no fever," Bassett stressed.

Who May Have Been Affected?

Health officials have been tracing Spencer's contacts to identify anyone who may be at risk. Bassett said officials were aware of four people who came in contact with Spencer: his fiancee, two friends, and the Uber driver.

The fiancee and friends who have been in direct contact with Spencer have been quarantined and are in good health, she said. They weren't yet being tested for Ebola because they were showing no symptoms, she said.

The Uber driver was determined not to be at risk because he had no direct physical contact with Spencer.

“Our understanding is that very few people were in direct contact with him," Mayor de Blasio said Thursday.

What Happens Next?

Spencer's apartment was cordoned off and the Department of Health was giving out information to area residents Thursday night. The bowling alley has been closed as a precaution, and will be examined Friday.

The Gutter said in a Facebook post Thursday that it had talked with health department officials, who determined that other bowlers weren't at risk for contracting the disease.

Officials have Spencer's MetroCard to track where he's traveled. They said there's a "close to nil" chance anyone was exposed on the subway.

"There is no reason for New Yorkers to be alarmed," de Blasio said. "We've been preparing for months for the threat of Ebola with clear and strong protocols that were scrupulously followed in this instance."

A specially trained team determined earlier this week that Bellevue Hospital has been trained in proper protocols and is well prepared to handle Ebola patients, the CDC said.

Several members of the CDC's rapid response team were on their way to New York on Thursday night, and others were arrived Friday morning.

President Obama spoke Thursday night to de Blasio and Gov. Cuomo and offered the federal government's support, The Associated Press reported. He asked them to stay in close touch with Ron Klain, his "Ebola czar," as well as public health officials in Washington.

The widow of a suspect in a decades-old homicide defended her husband saying the man she knew did not commit the crime.

Rebecca Brown’s husband, Kevin Charles Brown, was identified Thursday as one of two men involved in the brutal killing of a San Diego teenager.

The body of Claire Hough, 14, was found on the sand of Torrey Pines Beach in the summer of 1984. She had been beaten, strangled and stabbed. One of her breasts had been severed.

San Diego Police say DNA from the scene matched that of Brown and Ronald Clyde Tatro, who died in a boating accident in 2011.

Brown, a former employee of the San Diego Police Department was not arrested and charged with the crime.

They say as they were preparing an arrest warrant, Brown was found dead from an apparent suicide. His body was found Tuesday, Oct. 21 in Cuyamaca State Park on Highway 79.

“They just pushed him because he was a quiet gentle nervous person. They just pushed him over the edge,” Rebecca Brown said.

In an interview with NBC 7, Rebecca defended her husband, the man she has known for decades.

“I'm sorry that crime happened 30 years ago. That poor girl . It was horrible. But it had nothing to do with my husband,” Rebecca said grasping my hand firmly as we discussed her husband and Hough's murder. 

A year ago police removed many things from their home as evidence, she said.

“They took whatever they wanted, van loads of stuff a year ago and never returned anything,“ she said.

At the time of Hough's murder Brown was a criminalist working in the San Diego Police Crime lab. He retired in April of 2002.

While he worked many cases over the span of his career investigators say Brown did not process evidence from the Hough murder.

Six years earlier, Within a couple hundred yards of where Hough was found , police discovered the body of 15 year old Barbara Nantais, She was naked, had been beaten and strangled. Like Hough, her breast had also been disfigured.

Her 17-year-old boyfriend James Alt was beaten unconscious by the attacker but survived. NBC7 spoke to Alt over the phone Thursday.

“Those names don't ring a bell if you would ask me. No, I haven't heard them before this,” Alt said.

Alt says he is convinced the two deaths were done by the same attacker.

“Someone had to know something when they killed Claire Hough. They had to know how Barbara was murdered as well. There are just too many similarities there,” Alt said.

Even though San Diego Police have told Alt and the media a number of times over the years that the two crimes are connected, Thursday’s announcement did not mention the Nantais case.

After some prying the lead investigator on the Hough case tells NBC7 they have no evidence connecting these murders but would not elaborate.
 

Lines of customers wrapped outside new stores like H&M and Armani as part of the grand opening of a new outlets center along the U.S.- Mexico border south of San Diego.

The Outlets at the Border faces a new pedestrian bridge under construction at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, what is considered the busiest border crossing in the world.

Once the pedestrian bridge opens in 2016, Rachel Castro, General Manager of Agaci hopes it will help the store triple its projected sales and gain more exposure for its brand.

"We're hoping to see the most foot traffic we've ever seen in our company," she said.

Mike Binkle, owner of The Shamrock Group Real Estate Development Firm, said designers used some of the land for a new transportation hub.

"We'll be having buses and taxis and private vehicles here coming to pick folks up here and drop off," Binkle said.

A new H&M location is among the stores opening this weekend. Other stores include AX (Armani Exchange), Rack Room Shoes,O'Neill, Nixon and Justice, among others.

Shoppers can enjoy samples, sales, music and other entertainment Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

A second college student in two weeks has been infected by the rare Type B meningococcal bacteria, San Diego County health officials confirmed Friday.

The Palomar College student was hospitalized and undergoing treatment for the same serotype that led to the death of SDSU freshman Sara Stelzer last week.

County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) officials say they cannot establish a connection between the current patient and Stelzer or the SDSU campus.

Because no link between the two cases has been established, health officials say they are unable to request a special Type B vaccine not currently licensed in the U.S.

The vaccine has been used in previous outbreaks at Princeton and UC Santa Barbara. Those cases met the criteria for special FDA guidelines that allow the use unapproved treatments in life-threatening situations.

Meningococcal disease is the leading cause of bacterial meningitis in children two through 18 years old in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It's easily transmitted by people living in close quarters. Common ways of spreading include coughing, sneezing, sharing utensils, water bottles or drinks. It can also be spread by sharing cigarettes or pipes and through intimate contact like kissing.

Read what you need to know about meningococcal disease from the CDC here.

It's a serious disease that can be fatal. If you believe you may be experiencing symptoms of meningococcal bacteria infection, it's important to see a physician.

The most common symptoms are a stiff neck, high fever, sensitivity to light, confusion, headaches and vomiting, according to the World Health Organization.

The health of Chargers safety Jahleel Addae was a concern after Thursday night’s game against the Denver Broncos.

On the first play of the game, Addae made a hit on Broncos wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and fell to the turf. It looked serious.

Addae was checked out on the sideline and diagnosed with a stinger, Chargers officials said.

The team did not pull Addae so he kept playing.

In the third quarter, another hit really got a lot of fans concerned.

Addae jumped in to a pile and when he surfaces, he clearly appears to stagger and shake.

Again, Addae says it was a stinger. Hopefully it was.

Once again, he was allowed back in the game.

Chargers fans still have Kris Dielman fresh in the memory, so seeing something like this is scary.

A nine-year NFL veteran, Dielman suffered a concussion in a loss to the New York Jets in 2011, returned to the game, then had a seizure on the flight back to San Diego.

A stinger is described by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons as "an injury to the nerve supply of the upper arm, either at the neck or shoulder."

The temporary sensation can feel like an electric shock but usually disappears quickly, according to the website.

A driver running a red light hit a wheelchair carrying a woman and a girl, sending the child to the hospital Thursday evening, San Diego Police say.

The woman in wheelchair was holding an 8-year-old girl in her lap as she crossed 5400 Imperial Avenue at 54th Street in Valencia Park.

Police say the woman had a green light, but an 82-year-old female driver ran her red light and struck the wheelchair.

Falling to the ground, the girl hit her head and fractured her skull. She was taken to the hospital. The woman in the wheelchair complained of minor knee pain.

The SDPD traffic division is investigating this crash.

Check back here for details on this developing story.

A man shot multiple times in a National City taco shop parking lot was fighting for his life Friday, officials said.

Several people called National City Police Officers around 11:30 p.m. Thursday reporting gunshots at Tacos El Gordo on Highland Avenue near E. 18th Street.

Arriving officers found a man lying on the ground in an adjacent parking lot with a gunshot to his neck and abdomen.

The unidentified victim was taken to UCSD Medical Center where he was in critical condition Friday morning.

Investigators are looking for a suspect in the shooting. One car that was left in the parking lot was towed as evidence.