Category Archives: San Diego

Man who killed unhoused woman with pellet gun gets five years in prison: ‘Her life mattered’

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William Innes, 19, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in 2023 death of Annette Pershal in San Diego

A 19-year-old who fatally shot an unhoused woman with a pellet gun in southern California was sentenced to five years and eight months in state prison on Thursday.

William Innes pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the killing last May of Annette Pershal, 68, who was living on the streets of San Diego and nicknamed “Granny Annie”. The case sparked national outrage after prosecutors reported that Innes had texted a group chat saying he was going “hobo hunting”.

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Heavy metals and E coli: raw sewage at US-Mexico border a ‘public health crisis’

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The Tijuana River flows through Mexico and empties off California, carrying pathogens and chemicals and threatening public health

Raw sewage and runoff in the Tijuana River is exposing communities at the US-Mexico border to an unusual and noxious brew of pathogens and toxic chemicals, according to a report released this week.

Billions of gallons of sewage flow through the river, which winds north from Mexico through California and empties into the Pacific Ocean, containing a mix of carcinogenic chemicals including arsenic, as well as viruses, bacteria and parasites, according to public health researchers at San Diego State University, who published the report.

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Five US marines confirmed dead in helicopter crash in California mountains

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Names of troops not yet released after aircraft went down in stormy weather in mountains near San Diego

Five marines who disappeared in a helicopter crash in the mountains outside San Diego, California, were confirmed dead, the military said on Thursday morning.

The names of the marines were not immediately released. They were first reported missing on Tuesday.

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Missing marine helicopter with five onboard found near San Diego

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Aircraft located near Pine Valley but snowy conditions hamper rescue teams trying to access it

A Marine Corps helicopter that had been missing with five troops onboard as an historic storm drenched California was found on Wednesday morning in a mountainous area outside San Diego.

The aircraft was located just after 9am local time by civil authorities near the mountain community of Pine Valley, about a 45-mile (72km) drive from San Diego but rescue crews said snowy conditions were making access challenging on the ground.

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California dazzled by ‘extremely rare’ killer whale sightings off southern coast

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A group of 10 orcas has been seen leaping into the air to catch prey, delighting watchers and experts for the past two weeks

Experts and whale watchers have been dazzled by a series of orca sightings off the southern California coast that are being described as “extremely rare”.

A group of 10 whales – including a calf just a few months old – has been spotted for the past two weeks off the coast of southern California, between Oxnard and San Diego. Images from social media show the giant creatures leaping into the air to catch dolphins and coming within feet of boats full of eager viewers.

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California man rescued after being trapped in beachside crevice for three days

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Rescuers were concerned about the man drowning, but were able to extricate him by using micro-explosives to break apart rocks

A California man who became trapped on the side of a cliff for days was finally rescued by first responders after a daring, nearly 24-hour rescue effort.

Rescue crews finally freed the man on Friday morning after he had been trapped in a hole for days near the side of the Sunset Cliffs in San Diego, California, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

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California woman cleared of murder charge for baby’s death in home birth

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Kelsey Carpenter was jailed while mourning her loss: ‘I don’t want others to experience what was the worst experience of my life’

California prosecutors have dismissed a murder charge against a woman who was facing life in prison after her newborn died in a home birth, resolving a case that sparked national outrage.

Kelsey Carpenter, 34, was arrested in November 2020 for child endangerment after she gave birth at home and called 911 when her baby did not survive. Although the county coroner deemed the death an “accident”, and state law prohibits the prosecution of women for pregnancy losses, the San Diego district attorney, Summer Stephan, charged her with murder “with malice”.

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US has seen increase in domestic threats since Hamas attacks in Israel, FBI says

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Director Christopher Wray cautioned police vigilance and encouraged police chiefs to continue sharing information

FBI director Christopher Wray has reiterated part of an FBI statement that the US domestic security agency does not have “specific and credible intelligence indicating a threat to the United States stemming from the Hamas attacks in Israel”.

Speaking from prepared remarks at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in San Diego, Wray acknowledged an increase in domestic threats due to the “heightened environment”, calling for increased vigilance and requesting that police continue to share intelligence.

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US military identifies Marine Corps pilot killed in San Diego combat jet crash

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Maj Andrew Mettler – known as ‘Simple Jack’ – was a native of Georgia and a leader of the Fighting Bengals squadron

The US military has identified the Marine Corps pilot who was killed on Thursday when his combat jet crashed near a San Diego base during a training flight.

Maj Andrew Mettler was piloting an F/A-18D Hornet when it went down at 11.54pm on Thursday near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, the Second Marine Aircraft Wing said in a statement from its headquarters in Cherry Point, North Carolina. He was the only person on board.

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San Diego teens charged in killing of unhoused woman known as ‘Granny Annie’

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Annette Pershal, 68, who was shot multiple times with a pellet gun, was ‘full of love’, said daughter Brandy Nazworth

Two San Diego teenagers have been arrested in the fatal shooting of Annette Pershal, a 68-year-old unhoused woman who had lived on the streets for years and was known to locals as “Granny Annie”.

Pershal was found on the street unconscious on 8 May and taken to the hospital where doctors discovered she’d been shot multiple times with a pellet gun, officials said. She died several days later and her death was ruled a homicide.

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Missing California teen found inside Marine Corps barracks in San Diego

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The 14-year-old’s grandmother had reported the girl’s absence and authorities said a marine had been taken briefly into custody

Two weeks after a 14-year-old girl’s grandmother reported that she had run away in early June, the teenager was found in an unusual location: inside the barracks at a California Marine Corps base north of San Diego.

Federal law enforcement officials said Monday that they are investigating and had taken a marine with the combat logistics battalion 5, 1st marine logistics group into custody briefly for questioning. He has since been released to his command while the investigation continues, said Marine Capt Charles Palmer of the 1st marine logistics group at Camp Pendleton, about 40 miles (65km) north of San Diego.

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Rescued sea lion known for roaming San Diego dies, SeaWorld announces

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Tributes pour in for Freeway, who was named after his rescue from a busy freeway last year

Freeway, the beloved Californian rescue sea lion that would roam around San Diego, has died, SeaWorld San Diego has announced.

“It is with heavy hearts that we share ‘Freeway’, the rescued sea lion, passed away yesterday – surrounded with love from his devoted care and rescue teams. His adventurous spirit won the hearts of all San Diegans and he will be remembered for that and so much more,” the park said in a Facebook post on Friday.

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At least eight dead after boat capsizes in Pacific off San Diego

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Search continues for seven more people after small craft suspected to have been carrying 15 migrants overturned off Black’s Beach

At least eight people were killed when two suspected smuggling boats approached a San Diego beach and one capsized, authorities said. Crews were searching on Sunday for an estimated seven additional victims.

A woman on one of the panga-style boats called 911 late on Saturday to report that the other vessel overturned in waves off Black’s Beach, US coast guard petty officer Richard Brahm said.

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California woman describes harrowing shark attack: ‘I saw it clamp my leg’

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The 50-year-old, who survived the encounter, is being treated for the wounds to her upper right thigh

A California woman has given her first interviews about surviving a shark attack while swimming off the coast of San Diego.

Lyn Jutronich, 50, said she was resting in the water during her morning ocean swim when something rammed her hard out of the water.

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California sheriff’s office stops Black drivers five times more often than white people, data shows

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A new report says sheriffs’ patrols spend more time conducting racially biased stops than they do responding to calls for help

Black drivers in California’s capital are nearly five times more likely than white motorists to get pulled over by sheriffs for traffic violations, according to a new report on racial profiling across the state.

Records from the county sheriff’s departments of Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento and Riverside show that Black Californians were disproportionately stopped across those regions in 2019, especially for minor infractions.

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Border wall that threatened historic US-Mexico Friendship park halted

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The Biden administration agreed to pause plans that would have destroyed a 51-year-old oceanfront park

The Biden administration has agreed to pause plans for a double border wall that critics say would effectively destroy a 51-year-old oceanfront park that symbolizes friendship between the United States and Mexico.

Chris Magnus, the US Customs and Border Protection commissioner, said he wanted to hear community concerns before settling on a wall design for Friendship Park, which then-first lady Pat Nixon inaugurated in 1971.

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Beachgoers flee sparring sea lions in viral video: ‘Godzilla is chasing them’

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A TikTok clip showing the panicked frolickers running helter-skelter has nearly 10m views, but experts say it’s common behavior

A TikTok video showing dozens of San Diego beachgoers running and jumping out of the way of two fast-moving sea lions has generated nearly 10m views and sparked conversations about whether the mammals were going after people and reclaiming picturesque La Jolla Cove’s narrow strip of sand.

But sea lion expert Eric Otjen of SeaWorld San Diego said what he saw was normal sea lion behavior for this time of year, when males are sparring as breeding season gets underway.

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‘We saved a giraffe’s life’: calf fitted with braces to correct bent legs

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Msituni was born with her front limb bending the wrong way, and her other front limb started to hyperextend

Over the past three decades Ara Mirzaian has fitted braces for everyone from Paralympians to children with scoliosis. But Msituni was a patient like none other: a newborn giraffe.

The calf was born 1 February at the San Diego zoo safari park in Escondido, north of San Diego, with her front limb bending the wrong way. Safari park staff feared she could die if they didn’t immediately correct the condition, which could prevent her from nursing and walking around the habitat.

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‘It’s not worth it’: rising gas prices force drivers to work for less than minimum wage

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Drivers already hit by low wages and poor working conditions are spending more time driving to keep their wages the same

By Tuesday afternoon, Lyft driver Elida Zabaleta had earned $100 in the five hours she spent ferrying passengers across the city of San Jose. With gas prices in California surging, she’d have to use more than half of that to cover fuel for the day, leaving her with just $45.

The rising cost of gas has made a difficult job all the more difficult, Zabaleta said, forcing her to spend more time behind the wheel to earn enough to afford living in one of the country’s most expensive cities.

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Californians rush to see rare ‘corpse plant’ that only blooms for 48 hours

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Bloom of the plant, which emits a putrid odor of rotting flesh, began Sunday and quickly drew visitors to botanical garden

The bloom of a giant and stinky Sumatran flower nicknamed the “corpse plant” because it smells like a dead body is drawing huge crowds to a southern California botanical garden.

The bloom of the Amorphophallus titanum plant began Sunday afternoon at the San Diego Botanic Gardens in Encinitas. By Monday morning, timed-entry tickets had sold out, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported, and more than 5,000 people were expected to have visited the garden by Tuesday evening.

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