Category: San Diego

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) — By the end of the weekend, the last dog racing track in Mexico will be closing for good. The last greyhound race at Agua Caliente in Tijuana is Sunday. As a result, about 150 greyhounds will be up for adoption. Watch Dan Plante’s report in the video player above.

A developer has proposed building 200 apartments, including 25 reserved for low-income residents, on 7.78 acres previously approved for 48 townhomes that never got off the ground in southeast Oceanside. Preliminary plans for the new project, called Cielo Living, could go to the Oceanside Planning Commission for a recommendation and to the Oceanside City Council for approval later this year, said Jim McMenamin of Alliance Development Services, based in Poway. The City Council approved a tentative map and development plan for the townhomes under a former property owner in 2019 during what was “a different market” for residential development, Affordable housing needs throughout the region have increased since then, and California has passed laws to encourage more high-density development. The site at the corner of Sunset Drive and Sky Haven Lane, south of state Route 78 near Oceanside’s border with Vista, also has other issues. “It’s a hill, basically,” McMenamin said Tuesday. Part of the property was affected by a landslide that damaged nearby homes along Sky Haven during the heavy rains of March 2023. Alliance is working with city officials to prevent further soil

San Diego sheriff’s deputies failed to take reasonable measures to protect a low-level sex offender when they put him in a jail cell with a high-level violent offender, the county’s civilian oversight board has ruled. The low-level sex offender, a 56-year-old man named Derek Thomas Baker who was sent to jail for failing to properly register, was beaten to death in March 2022 after he was housed alongside Patrick Ferncase, who had been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with force and elder abuse. “Me and my celly, we weren’t getting along, (he) kept calling me names and whatnot,” Ferncase later told investigators, according to a finding adopted this past week by the San Diego County Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board, or CLERB. “One thing led to another and we ended up boxing, and he’s a different race so I ended up stomping him out,” he said, according to the report. The oversight board found the Sheriff’s Department did not protect Baker, in the latest finding in a series of jail-death investigations concluding that deputies failed to follow adopted standards. “The (department) failed to implement

At the construction site of the new Otay Mesa East border crossing, scores of workers on the Mexican side have been busy working on the structures needed to connect traffic as part of the long-awaited project. On the U.S. side, the border crossing facility has yet to even rise from the ground. The project is now facing yet another delay and isn’t expected to open until, tentatively, late 2027 — three years past the original completion date. While awaiting the green light to start construction, a number of agreements were approved Friday to move the project forward, including an amendment to a previous toll-sharing agreement between the two countries. “There’s certainly a delay, but it’s not on the Mexican side,” Baja California Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila said at a news conference earlier this month. In June 2021, top officials from California and Mexico signed an agreement pledging to work together to complete the project by the end of this year. In August 2022, officials from both sides of the border celebrated the project’s groundbreaking. But last year, San Diego officials acknowledged that the Otay

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — There is a text-based toll road scam going around not just in San Diego, but across the state. “They were asking for things like my driver’s license. My driver’s license? You already know who I am,” said a viewer who wished to be identified by his first name, Patrick. Patrick called the station to alert the public to the text he received. In researching the story, it was discovered several FOX 5/KUSI employees also got similar messages, including photographer Henry Haroldson. “I was coming home from to work on the freeway and then I got the text saying I need to pay my FasTrak dues so I thought that might actually be true, that I might have accidentally gone on the FasTrak,” Haroldson said. The texts all look similar, telling people to settle their balance before facing additional charges totaling ten times the original amount. The sender’s number is different each time, but the sense of urgency is the same. This San Diego County freeway is one of the most dangerous in California, study says “It said you have to

CHULA VISTA, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Thursday for an elementary school in Chula Vista named after the first Hispanic woman to serve on the Supreme Court. The Sonia Sotomayor Elementary School is set to begin classes on July 24, the Chula Vista Elementary School District said in a news release. It will be located at 1790 Santa Christina Avenue. New push to remove sea lions from La Jolla Cove “We are thrilled to continue to grow as the largest elementary school district in the State ofCalifornia,” said Superintendent Eduardo Reyes, Ed.D. “This state-of-the-art school is equippedto provide innovative and meaningful learning experiences for its students, from transitionalkindergarten through sixth grade.” Chula Vista Elementary School District, which serves over 28,000 students each year, is the state’s largest transitional kindergarten through grade six school district. The Sonia Sotomayor Elementary School will become the 50th school within the district.

The threat of a strike during Comic-Con was averted Friday when the union representing workers at the San Diego Convention Center secured a lucrative deal that will give them a pay raise of 55 percent or more over four years. Just two days ago, food and beverage workers at the convention center voted overwhelmingly to walk off their jobs in the event their wage and benefit demands could not be met. “This is unprecedented, I’ve never seen money like this before,” Unite Here Local 30 president Brigette Browning said of the tentative agreement. The four-year deal was hammered out Friday following five hours of bargaining with Sodexo Live, a food and beverage services company that the San Diego Convention Center Corp. contracts with for the many events and conferences held at the bayfront facility. The contract will be effective immediately once it’s formally ratified and will be retroactive to July 1. The contract for the 650 cooks, dishwashers, bartenders, servers, baristas and food concession workers had expired June 30. Under the new agreement, non-tipped employees such as the culinary team and dishwashers will get a

Environmentalists are challenging the county’s recent approval of a Lakeside housing development they say is not only too far from public transit and facilities but also in a very fire-prone rural area. A suit filed last week by the San Diego chapter of the Sierra Club says the Greenhills Ranch project, in a part of East County designated a “Very High Fire Severity” zone by CalFire, would threaten residents and wildlife, just as fire officials predict a rougher than usual fire season. “Greenhills Ranch is textbook wasteful urban sprawl development on open space in a fire-prone area,” said David Hogan, who chairs the chapter’s legal committee. “Sierra Club supports real infill projects that are close to transportation services and include affordable housing. This project does neither.” The county declined to comment on the pending litigation Friday. The project, just north of Adlai Road and Audubon Road, would build 63 single-family homes on 36 acres of what is now chaparral and grasslands. Homes would be developed on about 17 acres, nine acres would be dedicated as biological open space and the remaining 10 would be used for

A new poll shows more San Diego voters support than oppose a countywide half-cent sales tax increase for transportation projects, but more city voters oppose than support a possible city-only full-cent sales tax hike that could be used for general expenses. A third tax proposal that could be on the November ballot — a city-only parcel tax to fund flood prevention and water quality projects — does not have the support needed for approval, according to the poll. Incumbent Mayor Todd Gloria holds a double-digit lead over challenger Larry Turner, but more than one-third of those polled say they are still undecided less than four months before the Nov. 5 election. The poll, conducted this week by SurveyUSA for The San Diego Union-Tribune and 10News, shows Gloria leading 36 percent to 23 percent over Turner, with 36 percent undecided and 5 percent not planning to vote. The poll surveyed 674 registered voters Monday through Thursday over landlines, smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices. It has a credibility interval of 4.6 percentage points. Support among city voters for the proposed countywide half-cent sales tax increase to fund transportation

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A Chula Vista man who went missing during a hike in Riverside County was found dead Wednesday, authorities said. Hantae Kim, 61, was reported missing around 11 a.m. Sunday, Lt. Deirdre Vickers with Riverside County Sheriff’s Department told FOX 5/KUSI Tuesday. He was last seen in the area of Fuller Ridge Trailhead, which is part of the Pacific Crest Trail, off Black Mountain Road in Whitewater. Man fatally stabbed at Mira Mesa home in apparent domestic dispute: SDPD However on Wednesday, Kim’s body was found in a ravine, located east off Fuller Ridge Trailhead and south of Snow Creek. There is no evidence of foul play at this time, Vickers confirmed. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department conducted searches with a rescue helicopter, as well as search groups and other law enforcement agencies.

(KTLA) — A fire burning near homes and campgrounds prompted evacuations in Temecula. The “Pauba Fire” was first reported around 1:30 p.m. Friday on the 39100 block of Pauba Road, according to Cal Fire and the Riverside County Fire Department. As of 5:15 p.m., the fire has burned 101 acres and is 0% contained but officials said forward progress has been stopped. Firefighters who initially responded to the scene found a 20-acre brush fire burning uphill through “flashy fuels,” officials said. By 3:20 p.m., the fire had expanded to more than 60 acres and evacuations were ordered for nearby homes, businesses and resorts. This map shows the evacuation warnings and orders in place for the Pauba Fire burning near Temecula, accurate as of 4:15 p.m. on July 12, 2024. As of 5:45 p.m., the evacuation order for the area near Vail Lake was reduced to a warning. An evacuation warning is still in place for the area north of Highway 79, east of Anza Road, west of Sage and Wilson Creek, and south of Avenida Bravura. An interactive map that shows current evacuation warnings can

With several hundred people in the region dying every year from opioid overdoses, the city of San Diego is teaming up with UC San Diego Health to beef up services provided to people who land in the health system’s emergency rooms after such an overdose. The plan, announced Friday, calls for creating a team dedicated to immediately start working with ER patients with substance-use disorders before they even leave the hospital, and then to follow up with them in the days after discharge. The idea is to get people connected with service providers, and it seizes on an opportunity to reach people not long after waking up from a life-threatening close call. To that end, San Diego will provide $350,000 this fiscal year to UC San Diego Health, which is creating a new crew known as a transition support team. Officials say the program could extend into future years. The money comes from San Diego’s $40 million cut of a massive settlement in a nationwide lawsuit targeting prescription opioid drug makers and distributors. The city is receiving its funding in annual chunks over 10 years.

State officials requested in a court hearing Friday to rescind the proposed location for a sexually violent predator — only days after announcing they were looking at a home in Poway. This is the third time a placement for Merle Wakefield hasn’t worked out in recent years. One proposed location in Mount Helix garnered vocal criticism from nearby residents in 2021 and another was rescinded later that year so Wakefield could receive more treatment. The latest location — a home at 15720 Sycamore Canyon Road, north of the Goodan Ranch preserve — faced swift opposition from residents and elected officials this week. Merle Wakefield, 67 Poway Mayor Steve Vaus celebrated the state’s request on the social media platform X. “Victory! The proposed placement of Sexually Violent Predator Merle Wakefield on Sycamore Canyon Road is off the table,” the mayor wrote. “POWAY’s voice was heard — not here, not now, not ever!” The public hearing that was scheduled for next month will instead be used to discuss other housing options, officials with the District Attorney’s Office said. Wakefield was convicted in 1981 of committing lewd acts

A Riverside man pleaded guilty this week to fatally striking a bicyclist in Oceanside on St. Patrick’s Day, then fleeing. Christian Joshua Howard, 26, pleaded guilty Thursday in Vista Superior Court to a felony count of hit-and-run causing death and a misdemeanor count of destroying or concealing evidence in connection with the March 17 crash that killed Tracey Gross, 51, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Gross was riding her bicycle in the area of state Route 76 and Singh Way around 11:30 p.m. when she was struck. Police said the driver drove off and dragged her bicycle about 2 miles down the road. Gross, a postal carrier and mother of two, died at a hospital the next day. Howard was arrested May 3 at his workplace in Corona, according to Oceanside police, who did not reveal how he was identified as a suspect. He is scheduled to be sentenced in September.

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — This weekend, the San Diego region is trading the excessive heat for slightly cooler temperatures and an influx of monsoonal moisture, which means muggy conditions and a chance for thunderstorms. The area of high pressure that blocked flow and brought record-breaking temperatures this week has now shifted east, opening the door for an influx of moisture from the southeast. Altocumulus clouds have been streaming through the region Friday afternoon, which signals unstable weather and increased moisture. Evacuations ordered due to fire burning near Temecula; forward progress stopped It’s going to feel cooler but a bit muggier this weekend, especially in mountains and inland valleys. Watch out for booms of thunder and flashes of lightning as thunderstorms are possible Friday evening and mainly in the late afternoons Saturday and Sunday. Saturday daytime highs will reach the mid 70s for the coast, mid 80s for valleys, low 90s for mountains and around 108 degrees for deserts.

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A federal judge on Friday threw out the firearm possession charge brought against Louisiana-based rapper Torrence “Boosie” Hatch Jr. following his arrest in San Diego last year. According to court filings, the 41-year-old’s lawyers requested for the charge, possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon in interstate commerce, be reviewed in light of another federal court’s review of the count based on recent precedent-setting decisions tied to gun ownership. The review dismissed the “felon in possession” charge against another defendant in California, citing a recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision, United States v. Duarte , that found stripping a non-violent felon of their right to own a gun as unconstitutional. Alec Baldwin weeps when judge announces ‘Rust’ manslaughter case dismissed mid-trial The court came to the holding in Duarte based on the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Second Amendment in the case New York State Rife & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen , which conferred the right to “all Americans” with little exception. According to the high court, the government could only disarm people when there is a more

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — San Diego police are investigating after a man was stabbed after an apparent domestic dispute in Mira Mesa early Friday morning. According to SDPD Lt. Jud Campbell, police were alerted about the incident around 3:25 a.m., when hospital staff notified authorities after receiving a man, identified as a 40-year-old, suffering from an apparent stab wound. He was brought to the hospital by an unnamed woman. The man was rushed into treatment, but ultimately succumbed to his injuries despite the best efforts of medical personnel. His identity is being withheld pending family notification. During the preliminary investigation into the incident, officers learned the stabbing likely took place at a home in the 11000 block of Mont Blanc Drive. The presumptive stabbing scene was found inside, Campbell said. Authorities also believe the woman and man were in some form of a dating relationship, the lieutenant added, both residing at the Mira Mesa home. State withdraws proposed Poway placement for sexually violent predator Preliminary information indicates there was possibly some type of argument prior to the stabbing between the two in which a

A 61-year-old Chula Vista man who went missing during a hike in the Riverside County mountains was found dead in a ravine, with no evidence of foul play, authorities said Friday. The body of Hantae Kim was discovered Wednesday adjacent to a dry wash at the bottom of a canyon in the vicinity of Snow Creek, just south of Whitewater, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. Lt. Deirdre Vickers said deputies received reports shortly before 11 a.m. Sunday that Kim had vanished during an excursion near Fuller Ridge, roughly 2 miles northeast of Idyllwild, in steep mountainous terrain. Vickers could not confirm whether Kim started his hike alone or with a group over the weekend, or just prior to it. Sheriff’s personnel initiated an air-and-ground search, utilizing a helicopter to try to spot the missing man, the lieutenant said. “The subject was not located (by the helicopter crew); however, search-and-rescue efforts continued daily with the assistance of additional search groups and law enforcement agencies,” Vickers said. Parties trekking through the ravine near Whitewater came upon Kim’s remains Wednesday. “There (is) … no evidence of

(KRON) — Passengers were evacuated from an American Airlines flight at San Francisco Airport on Friday afternoon, KRON4 has confirmed. The plane passengers evacuated from flight 2045 were destined for Miami. SFO Public Information Officer Doug Yakel told KRON4 that the Miami-bound flight was taxiing to the gate when the crew reported smoke in the cabin. The aircraft was evacuated, and the San Francisco Fire Department responded to extinguish the smoke, he said. Yakel said three passengers were injured. The San Francisco Fire Department said one person required medical transportation. The cause of injuries was not mentioned. Yakel said the passengers were being transported back to the terminal as of 1 p.m. An eyewitness said they were evacuated because smoke was coming from the plane. Videos posted on social media show several fire trucks, two emergency escape shoots, and paramedics surrounding the Miami-bound flight. “There’s a bunch of really angry, confused, and understandably scared passengers here right now,” the eyewitness who goes by @miyadavid on X said. KRON4 has not confirmed the source of the smoke, but a passenger said an electronic device caught fire

VISTA, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — Drive-thru coffee chain Dutch Bros Coffee is continuing its expansion in San Diego County with a new location opening Friday in North County. Dutch Bros Coffee’s first location in Vista officially opened its doors to the public on Friday, July 12 at 2665 S Melrose Drive. Dutch Bros Coffee expanding in San Diego County with new location opening next year The coffee chain is relatively new to San Diego County, with its first two locations opening in 2022 in Oceanside (1700 Oceanside Blvd.) and Escondido (2365 E Valley Pkwy.). The new Vista location is just one of more locations planned for the county. A company spokesperson told FOX 5/KUSI back in December 2023 the new location in Vista was opening in early 2024, with plans in the early stages for additional locations in Chula Vista and Escondido. The Dutch Bros website shows new locations “opening soon” in El Cajon, Escondido, along with another location in Vista. The new location on Melrose Drive in Vista is also currently hiring. SoCal dessert and boba store opening first San Diego location in Kearny

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Looking for weekend plans? From music festivals, Pride events, block parties and more, San Diego is the place to be when it comes to enjoying time off with friends and family. To help you narrow down your options, FOX 5/KUSI has compiled a list of five things to do this Saturday and Sunday. Upscale La Jolla restaurant earns Michelin Guide recommendation East Village Block Party Taking place on J St from 7th to 10th Avenue in front of Petco Park this Saturday, the marks the 12th year of this popular block party. Hosted by the East Village Association, the gathering is meant to celebrate the home team Padres ahead of their game against the Atlanta Braves. There will be live music and entertainment, as well as bites from local restaurants and vendors. North Park Vegan Market and Record Fair There will be an eclectic mix of vegan food and music options at this quirky event, which takes place Saturday at North Park Mini Park. Foodies can choose between pizza, burgers, sushi, dumplings, desserts and more. Between snacking, there will be