Last year, the flu killed more than 300 people in California and sickened thousands more.

To help combat the spread of the virus, the state provides thousands of doses of the flu vaccine every year to county health departments. It's part of a big public health campaign to vaccinate thousands of San Diegans this year.

NBC 7 Investigates looked at how many vaccine doses actually make it to the public and found a lot of waste and very little oversight. The investigation found, compared to other counties across the state, San Diego does a relatively good job using its vaccine supply.

Over the last five years the county used 87 percent of the vaccine it ordered, ranking 22nd among the 61 counties and big cities in the state, according to the data. Alameda County, in the Bay Area, ranks number one, using almost 99 percent of its vaccine.

But not all counties appear to be as proactive.

NBC 7 Investigates reviewed the past five years of vaccine usage data from the California Department of Public Health. According to the data, on average, more than 88,000 vaccine doses go unused each year.

The state provides the flu vaccine free to all county health departments. The distribution is based on projected need, but the flu vaccine is only good for one season before it expires.

State records reveal a wide range of vaccine usage, from an average of 99 percent in Alameda to 84 percent in Imperial County to just 61 percent in Calaveras.

Dr. Robyn Gershon, an epidemiologist at the University of California San Francisco, said all counties should have an effective system for distributing vaccines, not only for the flu, but also because it’s the practice for any outbreak.

"This certainly is a great trial run for us to really ramp up if and when we need to,” Gershon said. “So, let’s hope to get this right; we need to get this right.”

While all counties are required to report their numbers to the state, NBC 7 Investigates found none of the counties we spoke with had any idea how they compared and there's virtually no oversight from the state.

“We don’t want to waste taxpayers money by having vaccine go to waste,” Gershon said.

At $11.26 a dose, unused vaccine has cost taxpayers at least $5.9 million in the past five years.

The state health department declined NBC's request for an interview. But after our station group started asking for data, the state began requiring counties to report their vaccine usage rates in order to better track the numbers.

With the Ebola virus now making headlines and researchers scrambling to formulate a vaccine, Gershon said it’s more important than ever for public health agencies to be prepared.

“If we were to have a vaccine and need to get it out to the entire population quickly, this influenza program is the model,” she said.

The state said it is working with county health departments to promote the flu vaccine and to share best practices between counties.

A debate over religion in public schools is once again brewing in Encinitas after the family of a fourth grader hired an attorney to ensure their grandson could read the Bible in class.

Noah McMahon, a special needs student with Down syndrome, has attended La Costa Heights Elementary School since 2009 under an individualized education program.

But during a meeting between Noah’s teacher and his grandparents Craig and Lori Nordal on Nov. 6, the topic of “free reading time” came up.

The Nordals said they would like Noah to be able to bring his Bible for the half hour period of reading, but two district officials told them the book would not be allowed because it is religious, according to Dean Broyles, an attorney with the conservative Christian nonprofit firm the National Center for Law and Policy.

“Often you will see an administrative knee-jerk reaction with teachers saying separation between church and state, you can’t have God here, you can’t have the Bible here,” said Broyles, who is representing the Nordals.

Encinitas Union School District Superintendent Timothy B. Baird said that is simply not the case.

“At no time did any of our staff deny the child the right to bring his bible to school and read it during free time reading,” he wrote in a statement.

Instead, Baird says the grandparents were asking the teacher to use the Bible as a main teaching tool, which the district told them they could not do because the book did not fall into the specific curricular tools used for Noah’s educational goals. Broyles told NBC 7 that is not what the Nordals were asking.

The day after the meeting, Baird says the staff sent a letter to the Nordals, saying Noah could bring his Bible. He has done so for three straight days without anyone stopping him, according to the superintendent.

“The family and Mr. Broyles know this, so I am somewhat confused by their claims and all the media attention that this is getting,” said Baird.

On Nov. 7, the National Center for Law and Policy sent a legal demand letter to the district, accusing the administration of violating Noah’s civil rights to religious free speech and the free exercise of religion.

The center says legal action will be taken unless the district sends out a formal apology to Noah and agrees to permit students to read religious books, including the Bible, during free reading times.

This is not the first legal dispute between the National Center for Law and Policy and the EUSD.

Last year, the center filed a civil rights lawsuit against the district’s city-wide yoga curriculum, calling it “inherently and pervasively religious.” A San Diego judge later ruled in favor of the EUSD, but it is currently being appealed.

At least 100 pounds of meth and liquid meth were seized Thursday from inside a Chula Vista condo, federal officials confirmed.

The condo on 754 Broadway was raided overnight by officers with the Chula Vista Police Department and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration serving a search warrant.

Hazmat crews were also called to help dismantle an alleged meth lab inside the unit.

DEA agents were going in and out of the backside of the condo through the garage, filling up barrels and then loading them in a truck.

Officials left caution tape and red warning sign on the condo’s door alerting anyone that a lab used for the illegal manufacturing and storage of meth was seized inside.

The signs warn people to stay out, that the lab may have left behind dangerous chemicals.

Agents said they seized more than 100 pounds of methamphetamine and methamphetamine in solution or “liquid methamphetamine" from inside the unit.

No one was in the condo at the time of the raid. No arrests were made.

Federal agents said methamphetamine is often smuggled into the U.S. as a liquid to escape detection. Once it is brought into the U.S., smugglers use chemicals to remove the excess liquid and create the crystals that are sold on the street.

The condo complex is located south of J Street and west of Broadway behind several storefronts which include a bank and pizza shop.
 

Ready, set, Rokerthon!

Al Roker is trying to make history and break the Guinness World Record for the longest uninterrupted live weather report broadcast starting Wednesday on NBC's Today.com.

Roker is challenging the current record with a goal of 34 hours of continuous weather coverage, live from Studio 1A’s green room window.

He kicked off his Rokerthon at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT Wednesday and will close out the record-setting event at live on the "Today" show Friday at 8 a.m. ET/5 a.m. PT.

Wednesday night and all day Thursday, Al Roker's weather reports will air across other NBC platforms including "Nightly News," local newscasts and other programming.

The Rokerthon will support Roker's Shine a Light TODAY initiative for the armed forces via Crowdrise.

Throughout, viewers can submit questions and request their hometown forecasts by tweeting @alroker using #Rokerthon. Follow @TODAYshow for live updates. 

Watch the Rokerthon livestream here or at TODAY.com.

Only a week after Proposition 47, a measure aimed at reducing the state’s prison population, took effect, the San Diego County District Attorney’s office has gotten more than 1,000 petitions for reduced sentences and convictions.

The proposition, which took effect November 5, designates non-violent crimes like petty theft, forgery, shoplifting, fraud and possession of small amounts of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine as misdemeanors, not felonies. Not only does it affect those being charged with those crimes, but it can retroactively reduce the prison time for those who have already been sentenced.

The DA's office expects to receive 4,600 petitions from 1,800 in-custody offenders, filed by the San Diego County Office of the Public Defender. That number will grow when offenders on probation, parole and post-release community supervision -- as well as inactive cases -- are taken into account.

The public defender’s office may reach as far back as 1990 to resentence certain felonies to misdemeanors. The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office estimates it convicts 20,000 to 25,000 felonies a year, and many of those are reducible convictions under voter-approved Proposition 47.

Because of the measure, deputies in San Diego County have been directed to no longer arrest people suspected of receiving stolen property or theft under $950. Instead, the suspects are required to sign a citation, promising to appear in court.

While San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore says the department will still arrest and book anyone charged with possession of a controlled substance other than marijuana, he says Prop 47 eliminates the deterrent to certain crime.

“They can get arrested one, two, three, 20 times. Nothing changes,” said Gore.

The crimes made misdemeanors by Prop 47 can only be charged as felonies under specific circumstances, said Gore. That’s if the suspect has been convicted of a crime that requires mandatory registration as a sex offender or carries a sentence of life in prison or death.

Also in that category are suspects with prior convictions for murder, attempted murder, assaulting a police officer with a machine gun, or possessing a weapon of mass destruction. Other violent crimes like carjacking or assault and battery do not qualify.

Without the threat of a felony or arrest, except under the aforementioned circumstances, critics are concerned for public safety.

“I think we’ll see a rise in property crimes: the thefts, the drugs, and then hopefully we won’t see a rise in violent crime,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney David Greenberg. “But a lot of folks that do residential burglaries are drug addicts because they need to steal to support their habit, so those are serious and dangerous crimes and some bad things can happen, especially if you surprise someone during a burglary.”

But some believe there’s enough evidence in states with similar laws to suggest Prop 47 is still good policy.

Public policy analyst Laura Fink told NBC 7 in most states with similar laws, prison populations have been reduced, but so have crime rates.

“Clearly this is something that has worked in the past,” Fink said. “It’s something we’ll need to keep our eye on but it has a lot of promise.”

The savings to the state achieved by reduced prison and jail populations won't be calculated until 2016, and it'll take longer to divide the saved money among rehabilitation programs as the measure intended.

That has critics like Gore asking how and where the offenders will receive treatment if they're being released.

Because of this, the San Diego City Attorney's office, which handles misdemeanor prosecution within city limits, anticipates 3,000 more cases a year.

A spokesperson for that office told NBC 7 it’s putting together a plan to handle the increased workload. In the meantime, the DA’s office has offered to loan the city attorney’s office two of its attorneys.

Plans to bring a Target Express to South Park have sparked calls for transparency and accountability by a group of concerned residents.

City officials said the national retail chain has proposed a new location at Grape and Fern Streets that would offer food and pharmacy services as well.

Local residents recently formed the “Care About South Park” group to address questions about the project’s possible impact to traffic, locally owned businesses and existing tenants on the property. Those include a coffee business and a Mexican seafood food truck.

In response to community concerns, City Council President Todd Gloria addressed the issue on his Facebook page last month.

The property owner had been working with Rite Aid and CVS when he was approached by Target, the councilmember said.

“Based on the interested applicants, he believed this was the best opportunity for the community and better met the needs of his current customers,” Gloria wrote of the property owner.

The owner is responsible for maintaining the lease agreements with the other current tenants on the site: Captain Kirk’s, Marisco’s Seafood, and the recycling center, the statement said.

The owner told the city “the agreements with both Rite Aid and CVS were significantly more restrictive than Target relative to the current tenants remaining on the property” and that the agreement with Target would give him control over that part of the property, according to the statement.

NBC 7 reached out to Target for a response Wednesday, but has not heard back.

The explanation appeared to not be enough for the group of South Park residents. They are asking for development plans and research from Target.

“We are asking for accountability and transparency,” said John Moore, a 20-year South Park resident who is a member of Care About South Park. “We think that no matter which side of the issue you’re on, whether for Target or against, people need to get educated.”

The group publicly called on Gloria Tuesday to meet with them. A spokesperson for Gloria told NBC 7 he is more than happy to meet with them.
 

A driver fleeing from police rammed a minivan into several cars before crashing at the U.S.-Mexico border south of San Diego Thursday.

The pursuit was one of two that began at 12:30 a.m. in the Pacific Beach area north of downtown.

One driver behind the wheel of a stolen Jeep Wrangler was arrested in National City at the end of 100-mile-per-hour pursuit along southbound Interstate 805, San Diego police said.

The second driver in a minivan led police officers from Pacific Beach to the border crossing at San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Police say the driver then ran from the car and ran into Mexico and has not been arrested.

Officers noticed a Jeep Wrangler following a minivan on Mesa Boulevard and ran the plates. There have been hundreds of Jeeps stolen in San Diego since the beginning of the year so officers have been on alert to look for them, police told NBC 7.

The drivers of both the Wrangler and the minivan drove off, beginning a pursuit that traveled along State Route 52 and Interstate 805.

The driver of the Jeep lost control at Imperial Avenue and the I-805. The man tried to run but a police K-9 unit bit him and he was arrested, police said.
 

A two-alarm fire in Vista caused extensive damage to a sushi restaurant and an adjacent salon on Thursday morning.

Units from Carlsbad and San Marcos assisted with the fire, believed to have started at Cafe Sushi, 3245 Business Park Drive.

Police believe the fire started on the roof around the restaurant’s air conditioning units.

It took about an hour to put out the blaze and check the area for hot pockets . Firefighters had to peel off the roof of the restaurant to get to the fire. It was controlled at around 6:35 a.m.

The owner of Envision Salon and Spa said a customer called to say there was smoke coming from her business, which is in the ame building as Cafe Sushi. She said damage to the salon was mostly from water.

Nobody was inside either building and no injuries have been reported.

A man who was mocked about his coat on a subway last weekend and walloped in the face with a high-heeled shoe in a wild brawl that ensued says he's "horrified" he had to hit a woman, but she gave him no choice.

Misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct charges against the coat-wearing man, Jorge Pena, were dropped after an investigators determined he acted in self-defense in the uptown F train brawl caught on cellphone camera. The train was headed to Washington Square around 5 a.m. Saturday.

The now viral video shows a woman taunting Pena about his style, then later calling him stupid and making fun of his speech. He trades verbal insults and the woman hits him in the face with a high-heeled shoe; then Pena slaps her -- hard. A full-blown brawl then erupts between the woman and a group she was with and Pena as the other riders in the car flee to opposite ends of the train for safety.

"She got smacked, and that echoed through the entire subway," David Ratliff, the man who shot the cellphone video, told NBC 4 New York earlier this week. "I heard it. Everybody on the train heard it. Everybody in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx heard it."

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Pena broke down crying thinking about how other women -- including his girlfriend, mother and baby daughter -- must perceive him.

The 25-year-old said he was bleeding profusely after being attacked with a 6-inch high-heeled shoe and had to defend himself. Otherwise, he says, he would never have hit a woman -- or anyone else.

"Believe me, if she don't touch me like that ... I'm never gonna put my hands on her. Never," Pena said.

Pena moved to New York City from the Dominican Republic to play minor league baseball for the Oakland A's. His pitching career was sidelined when he injured his leg in 2010. Now, he says, he's just trying to survive as an average working man who wants to support his family.

Pena says he's very strong and tall, and for that reason he never engages in violence because he's worried he could seriously hurt someone. He stands at 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighs about 240 pounds, according to his minor league profile.

Though the charges against Pena have been dropped, three suspects still face charges in the altercation, including the woman seen on tape hitting Pena with the high-heeled shoe. She was charged with felony assault and disorderly conduct.

The other two suspects face disorderly conduct and misdemeanor assault charges. 

San Diego State kicks of its men’s basketball season Friday night against Cal State Northridge with high expectations and a number of streaks on the line.

First the streaks. They have 14 straight home wins, tied for sixth most in the country. They have 48 straight non-conference wins against unranked opponents. And they are putting a 41-game win streak against California schools – the longest such active streak for any team against any state in the country – on the line.

They’re also ranked No. 16 in the AP preseason poll, their 17th straight appearance in the rankings and the highest the team has ever been ranked in the preseason.

Which leads to the expectations.

ESPN's Bracketology NCAA Tournament predictor, out on Thursday, picks them for a No. 4 seed when March comes around. Some analysts even have them pegged for the Final Four. With a program that has five straight NCAA Tournament appearance with two 30-win seasons and Sweet 16 appearances in the past four years, you’re not sneaking up on anyone.

“We love them,” said junior Winston Shepard of the expectations from fans and the media. “That’s what comes when you have a program that has continued to win, continued to produce great players. Every year those expectations go up. We don’t run from them.”

He is one of seven upperclassmen on a squad that’s teeming with experience, including four seniors. One of those seniors, JJ O’Brien, says the high hopes serve as motivation throughout the season.

"It definitely keeps us on our toes,” he said. “There's not going to be any flying under the radar this year. People have high expectations for us, so it puts good pressure on us to get better every day and really achieve our goals this year."

One of head coach Steve Fisher’s biggest concerns might be getting enough minutes for everyone, as the roster will go even deeper with the addition of lauded freshmen Malik Pope and St. Augustine product Trey Kell.

That’s a nice problem to have as the Aztecs shoot for their ninth Mountain West Conference championship. Fisher said he’ll use the early part of the season to give players a chance to earn more minutes.

"We're going to play a lot of guys early,” he said. “It's good competition we're playing, and we'll find out who can do what under what circumstances. It will be interesting to us too. Usually it has a way of working itself out. I would say there is a chance that our starting lineup will vary as our season goes on."

While the season opener is usually reserved for in-state cupcakes, they get a CSUN team that might present a bit of a challenge as they play as part of the Maui Invitational Mainland Challenge.

The Matadors finished a somewhat respectable 17-18 last season under first-year coach and former NBA star Reggie Theus. Seniors Stephan Hicks and Stephen Maxwell both topped 17 points per game and lead a team with NCAA Tournament aspirations of their own.

The Aztecs have won three straight in the series and hold an 18-6 all-time record in the series.

SDSU starts off with three straight home games (Tuesday vs. Utah and Nov. 20 vs. Bakersfield) before heading to Hawaii the following week for the main portion of the Maui Invitational.

The Aztecs played an exhibition game last week, defeating Point Loma Nazarene 74-45 on Friday night.

The man accused of abducting a Philadelphia woman seen on surveillance video putting up a fight while being grabbed off the street has been indicted on a federal kidnapping charge. 

Delvin Barnes, 37, was indicted Thursday and is in federal custody in Philadelphia. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison.

A bail hearing is scheduled for Friday.

The FBI says Barnes grabbed 22-year-old Carlesha Freeland-Gaither off a Philadelphia street on Nov. 2 and forced the screaming, struggling woman into his car. Federal agents found them three days later in Maryland.

Prosecutors initially charged Barnes the day after his capture. Under federal law, most cases can't be prosecuted without a grand jury indictment.

Barnes is also a suspect in the abduction and rape of a 16-year-old girl in Virginia. 

Police arrested a man suspected of shooting two people at a north suburban mall Thursday afternoon. The suspected gunman had allegedly kidnapped the children of one of the victims, who police say is his ex-girlfriend.

A 36-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman were shot around 1 p.m. in a parking garage at the Harlem Irving Plaza at 4104 N. Harlem Ave. in Norridge, authorities said.

The victims were taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in stable condition, police said. The woman was shot four times, police said.

Authorities said the shooting was the result of a domestic incident. The gunman is the female victim's ex-boyfriend, Norridge Police Chief Jim Jobe said.

The suspect, 30, was taken into custody after the shooting and is expected to be charged, police said.

He had taken the woman's two children, a 6-year-old and a 4-year-old, but is not their father, police said. Authorities said the victims were meeting the gunman at the garage to get the children back, but instead of handing the children over, the gunman opened fire.

Police said the gunman left the children at the mall after the shooting and fled.

The mall remained open following the incident, and "customers were never in danger," Jobe said.

"Nobody was running scared, but of course they were concerned because there were rumors about how and why the shooting occurred," said Denise Sommerlot, who works in the mall.

Police said a weapon was recovered from the scene but it was not clear if it was the one used in the shooting. It is the first shooting at the mall in more than 35 years, Jobe said.

Check back for more on this developing story.

The City Attorney’s office obtained a court order to shut down a Mission Valley marijuana dispensary it says is operating in violation of San Diego zoning regulations.

According to the attorney’s office, Green Circle Cooperative opened on Hotel Circle South last month, shortly after a Bankers Hill dispensary named Crown Patients Group was shut down. The City Attorney’s office says both businesses were run by the same people.

Green Circle Cooperative was ordered to close its doors within 24 hours. The defendants include Michael Yono, the president of Green Circle; the Green Banner, Inc., which was operating the former dispensary; Lance Paul Kachi, the president of Green Banner; and Robyn Barrett, the owner of the property, located at 1235 Hotel Circle South.

The shutdown comes as City Attorney Jan Goldsmith continues a push to close unpermitted marijuana dispensaries. The office has closed more than 200 dispensaries since 2011. Civil penalties for repeat offenders can top $100,000.

“We know there are other dispensaries operating illegally in San Diego beyond those that are referred to us for prosecution,” Goldsmith said. “As cases are brought to us by the San Diego Police Department or Code Enforcement Division, we will close them down and obtain monetary sanctions.”

As the Chargers look on the schedule and see a winless Oakland Raiders squad coming up, the easy thing to do would be to look past their last-place division rivals and toward a brutal stretch of the upcoming schdule.

To their credit, the Bolts give the impression that their focus is clearly on Sunday's game against their in-state foe.

“They play us tough every year,” said safety Eric Weddle. “It’s a divisional game. They have weapons on offense, defense and special teams. We just gotta play our ball together.”

The Chargers have won five of the last six meetings, including a 31-28 victory in Oakland earlier this season. But that game was much closer than expected, as have a few of the Raiders’ other losses.

That includes a near-win against the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks two weeks ago and a close shave against the New England Patriots at the end of September.

Still, the 0-9 record sticks out to just about everyone – except Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, who threw out a classic sports cliché when talking about the AFC West rival.

“I really believe you throw the record out the window and as players we don’t get caught up in all of that,” Rivers said. “It’s the NFL.”

After dropping four straight games, including an embarrassing 37-0 loss to the Miami Dolphins going into last week’s bye, safety Eric Weddle wants to get the nasty taste of defeat out of his mouth.

“Any team right now would be a great team to play,” he said. “We need to get a win. Guys are more excited to get back on the field.”

He said the defense’s top priority is getting to rookie quarterback Derek Carr, who torched the Bolts for 282 yards and four touchdowns in their first meeting this year. Carr is completing 61.1 percent of his passes for just over 205 yards a game -- certainly not All-Pro numbers, but not bad for a rookie.

“We just have to play better defensively. We have to hit him,” Weddle said. “We have to make things as difficult as possible with our four-man rush and make him second-guess himself. That’s where we’ll make some plays.”

While fans may put an added emphasis on playing the in-state rival, Rivers said he doesn’t feel that much more pressure with the Raiders rivalry.

“It’s a division game,” he said. “I don’t feel it any more than with the Chiefs or Broncos, to be honest with you."

A judge sentenced a tearful Chula Vista man whose son brought a loaded revolver to school to 30 days in jail.

After serving the jail sentence, 37-year-old Zachariah Dow must wear an ankle monitoring bracelet for 210 days. He’ll be monitored by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department while still being allowed to go to work.

Dow was contrite in court on Thursday, saying he was sorry for the May 21 incident that prompted Hilltop High School to go into lockdown.

“I would like to sincerely apologize to students and staff at Hilltop High,” Dow said. “I’m extremely grateful my son and no one else was hurt that day.”

Dow had earlier pleaded guilty to four counts of child endangerment and possession of a firearm by a felon (he has a domestic violence conviction from a decade ago).

Dow’s then 14-year-old son brought a loaded, .44 caliber revolver to Hilltop High School, according to police. When officers served a search warrant at Dow’s home, they said they discovered another .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol unsecured under a bed. The former sheriff’s deputy surrendered to authorities.

Attorneys have said Dow’s son remains in counseling after being taken to juvenile hall.

On Thursday, San Diego County Superior Court Judge Gary Haehnle said he was concerned Dow didn’t check whether he had the legal right to own the gun and also had it unlocked with ammunition beneath his bed.

“How many times do we see on the news time and time again of kids taking guns from their parents from unlocked containers and shooting and killing people with those guns,” Haehnle said.

San Diego received a perfect score in the latest LGBT equality index put out by the Human Rights Campaign.

The national organization considered each city’s non-discrimination laws, recognition of same-sex relationships, law enforcement’s treatment of hate crimes and the LGBT community’s relationship with the city.

Our city was among 38 of the 353 cities ranked that achieved a perfect score, according to the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index.

The report showed that major metropolitan cities outranked smaller cities in California. San Francisco and Los Angeles also received a perfect score, though cities such as Sacramento and Riverside, were graded at scores 87 and 75, respectively.

Elsewhere in San Diego County, Chula Vista received a score of 61, Escondido scored a 60 and Oceanside achieved a score of 57.

The average score was 59 points.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan visited San Diego this morning to meet with students and teachers about the Common Core program.

He visited Angier Elementary School in Park View, popping into a fifth-grade classroom that uses Common Core practices to help them with a class project.

Duncan also met with a group of 10 teachers who are using the program to get input on the initiative that started in San Diego last year.

San Diego schools were given $22 million for the program and used 60 percent of their funds for professional development in schools.

“We start in kindergarten getting kids ready for college and career. It’s not just something you start in high school,” said San Diego Schools Superintendent Cindy Marten. “You can’t wait until high school to have kids college and career ready, so our standards begin here in kindergarten at our elementary schools.”

After visiting at Angier, Duncan was headed downtown to speak about Common Core with the Council of Chief State School Officers at their annual policy forum meeting.

The fired LAPD officer who killed four people during a vengeance-fueled murder spree last year was also stalking the father of LA Police Chief Charlie Beck, Beck told NBC News in an exclusive interview.

For 10 days in February 2013, former officer Christopher Dorner waged what he called "unconventional and asymmetrical warfare" against those he blamed for his dismissal from the force four years earlier.

Dorner killed two police officers and an Irvine couple that included the daughter of his lawyer before he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his mountain hideout.

Full Coverage: Dorner's Murderous Rampage

Dorner had posted a manifesto on his Facebook page threatening to avenge his firing, and wrote to his targets, "I know your route to and from your home, and your division. I know your significant other's routine, your children's best friends and recess."

Investigators now confirm that there was "journaling related to specific targets," including the family of LAPD Capt. Phil Tingirides, who was on the disciplinary board that dismissed Dorner, and Chief Beck's father, retired LAPD Deputy Chief George Beck.

Read the full story at NBCNews.

Former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner and the city of San Diego face a new lawsuit from a woman who says the embattled politician “rubbed and grabbed” her buttock.

Attorneys for Jeri Dines filed the lawsuit Wednesday, claiming she is owed damages for sexual battery, gender violence and sexual harassment due to the alleged incident.

The lawsuit states on May 25, 2013, Filner and his bodyguards attended the Fiesta Island Dog Owners event while he was still mayor.

“While at the event, Filner rubbed and grabbed Dines’ buttock,” the document says.

The bodyguards —who were city employees — witnessed the behavior, attorneys say, but did nothing to stop it or protect Dines.

The complaint alleges the bodyguards bear some responsibility because all city employees are required to report any violation of the city’s “zero tolerance policy.”

During Filner’s time as mayor, “Filner’s bodyguards would look the other way when he would engage in inappropriate and wrongful conduct,” the lawsuit says.

Another alleged victim, Marilyn McGaughy, also pointed fingers at Filner’s security detail, naming them in her lawsuit as well. Both McGaughy and Dines are represented by the same attorney, Dan Gilleon.

Dines’ claim for an unspecified amount of money says she sustained physical and emotional distress, embarrassment and mental anguish from the incident, as well as medical expenses.

Filner resigned from office in August 2013 after months of scandal. More than a dozen women accused him of inappropriate behavior, and in October 2013, he pleaded guilty to felony false imprisonment and two misdemeanor charges of battery involving victims of sexual harassment.

He was released from 90 days of house arrest earlier this year.

In August of this year, former employee Benelia Santos-Hunter filed a lawsuit against the city and Filner, following the lead of former Communications Director Irene McCormick Jackson, who was awarded $250,000 in a settlement with the city.