Traffic alert SR-78 Rancho Santa Fe Rd

The California Highway Patrol has issued a traffic alert for eastbound state Route 78 at Rancho Santa Road Fe due to a solo rollover traffic accident.

The left lane is blocked.

Heavy game traffic south I-15

Slow-moving traffic is reported on southbound Interstate 15 from Escondido to Mission Valley because of the Chargers game, which begins at 5:15 p.m. at Qualcomm Stadium.

Game traffic has added to the normally heavy southbound commuter traffic at this time of day.

Wild mice test positive for hantavirus

See the breaking news story.

Three wild deer mice trapped recently during routine monitoring in the Otay Lakes, Rancho Penasquitos and Harmony Grove areas have tested positive for hantavirus, county health officials announced today. That brings to eight the number of mice found carrying the virus in the county so far this year.

Hantavirus, which is found in rodent droppings and spreads through the air, can cause a flu-like disease called HPS, Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome. Beginning with such symptoms as fatigue, fever, muscle aches and other symptoms typical of the flu, it can lead to severe difficulty in breathing and can be fatal.
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Nunez, 3 others plead not guilty

See the breaking news story.

Four Sacramento men, including the son of former state Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges today in the stabbing death of one young man and wounding of three others in October at San Diego State University.

They are charged with murder in the slaying of Mesa College student Luis Santos, 22. They also face three charges each of assault with a deadly weapon.

Esteban Nunez, Rafael Garcia and Leshanor Thomas, all 19, and Ryan Jett, 22, entered the pleas in San Diego Superior Court. Bail was set at $2 million each for all but Jett, who was denied bail because he was currently on felony probation.

According to a court affidavit, the incident occurred during a fight in the street after the four defendants were angry about being turned away from a fraternity party Oct. 4 at San Diego State University.

Santos and two of his friends were stabbed, and one suffered a cut above his eye. Santos died on campus.

Several family members and friends appeared in court to support Nunez, including his father, Fabian Nunez.

See today's Union-Tribune story.

Council to take up budget veto

The San Diego City Council will meet Friday to reconsider the package of budget cuts that it approved this week but the mayor vetoed Wednesday after claiming the council had inappropriately restored about $600,000 of the cuts he proposed.

A spokeswoman for Council President Scott Peters called this reporter at 11:30 a.m. Thursday to say the item had been added to a special meeting set for 10 a.m. Friday and that the agenda had been made available to the public within a 24-hour window required by state law for special meetings.

She said an employee with the City Clerk's Office had posted the agenda at 9:57 a.m. in a box outside City Hall to comply with the law. She said the agenda wouldn't be available electronically on the city's Web site until later.

A spokesman for Mayor Jerry Sanders hadn't heard anything about the meeting as of 10:13 a.m.

Searches under way in fatal Ramona fire

Sheriff's deputies today are searching the Ramona gas station owned by a man whose house burned down a month ago, killing one of his employees.

The Stars station on Main Street in Ramona has been closed and is surrounded by crime-scene tape. A deputy is posted at the entrance of the station, and investigators are inside. Authorities have declined to say what is happening.

Ralph Bradley, who works at the Auto Zone store across the street, said about six or seven marked and unmarked sheriff's department vehicles showed up and about 9:30 a.m. Deputies told everybody to leave and taped off the gas station. Deputies removed items from the station and took numerous photographs, Bradley said.

The station is owned by James A. Kurtenbach of Poway. On Oct. 31, a house Kurtenbach owns near the fifth hole of the Mount Woodson Golf Club in Ramona exploded and burned.

Joseph Nesheiwat of Ramona, who had worked at the Stars gas station for seven years, died in the blast. Why Nesheiwat, 24, was in the house has been the focus of an investigation. Authorities have concluded the cause of the explosion and fire was arson.

County records show that Kurtenbach, 47, owes $40,000 in back taxes on the house on Woodson Drive and $16,600 on the house where he lives in Poway.

House fire near El Cajon extinguished

Firefighters have put out a fire that started in a garage and spread to a home on Grove Road near Merritt Drive this morning, according to a Heartland fire dispatcher.

No injuries were reported and authorities are investigating what sparked the flames.

Authorities received the call just before 9 a.m. and firefighters from five fire engines and one truck battled the blaze.

House on fire near El Cajon city limit

Firefighters are battling a garage fire at this hour inside a home on Grove Road near Merritt Drive near El Cajon, according to a Heartland fire dispatcher.

Authorities received the call just before 9 a.m. and firefighters from five fire engines and one truck are trying to bring the flames under control, the dispatcher said. There have been no reports of injuries.

No other information is available at this time.

Hydrant geyser is shut off

City water crews have shut off water to a broken hydrant that shot a geyser into the air in Mission Valley.

San Diego police blocked lanes at Camino de la Reina and Mission Center Road after the 8:30 p.m. incident. Witnesses told police a car hit the hydrant and kept going. Police are still looking for the car.

Broken hydrant, geyser in Mission Valley

A car has sheared off a fire hydrant, causing a huge geyser, in Mission Valley in front of a Hooters Restaurant, San Diego fire and police say.

The broken hydrant is gushing at Camino de la Reina and Mission Center Road. At least one witness reported to police that the driver of a Volkswagen Jetta hit the hydrant and kept going, possibly into the restaurant parking lot.

The accident was reported about 8:30 p.m.

Memorial paddle out Sunday for Kristan Wagner

See the story on Kristan Wagner here.

Friends and family of Kristan Wagner will hold a beach memorial and ocean paddle out at noon Sunday, Dec. 7, at Luscombs Point on Sunset Cliffs Boulevard at the foot of Hill Street in Point Loma. A funeral Mass will be held Wednesday, Dec. 10, in Old Town San Diego.

For more information on the Sunday event, call Merrylena Yeomans at (619) 224-2654.

Yeomans said the public is welcome. Wagner, who loved the ocean, had many friends in the local surfing community, she said.

Wagner died Sunday in an accidental fall at Sunset Cliffs.

The funeral Mass will take place at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 2540 San Diego Ave., in Old Town San Diego. A reception will follow in the church hall.

The family said flowers or a donation to the San Diego Zoo in memory of Wagner, an animal lover, are welcome. The zoo's mailing address is P.O. Box 120551, San Diego, CA 92112. A zoo spokeswoman asked those mailing a donation to note it is in Wagner's memory.

Pedestrian struck & killed in Santee

A pedestrian was struck by a vehicle and killed in Santee Wednesday night, a sheriff's official said.

The accident occurred on Woodside Avenue near Riverford Road about 7 p.m., according to the California Highway Patrol's Web site.

No information about the victim, described only as man possibly in his mid-50s, has been released. Sheriff's Lt. Sylvester Washington said the driver pulled over and stopped after the collision. Deputies, CHP officers and paramedics are on the scene.

No one else was injured, a Heartland fire dispatcher said.

For more details, including the man's identity, click here.