One person was injured at a blazing Los Angeles home with a history of fires Monday morning, fire officials said.

Firefighters saved at least one dog from the Atwater Village home, whose elderly owner was safe. The home was packed with objects items that fire officials had ordered cleared before, Los Angeles Fire Department officials said.

It's the home's third fire since 2013, officials said. LA City Council has deemed the pile of objects kept at the home  in the 3000 block of Glendale Boulevard "excessive storage."

The fire was reported at 7:12 a.m., a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman said. Flames shot out of the burning structure, which fire oficials said came from the home's exterior.

The owner's son was taken to a local hospital with undisclosed injuries, according to officers. He wascleaning up the objects kept there when he noticed the fire and tried to put it out with a garden hose.

Investigators were looking into the cause of the fire, officials said.

No one was injured in the blaze, fire officials said, and while firefighters rescued one pet dog, they couldn't initially find another believed to live at the home.

The home's owner, an elderly woman, later had two dogs with her.

It took 45 firefighters 28 minutes to put out the blaze, officials said.

A 26-year-old woman with the nickname Star who says she is going to marry 80-year-old mass murderer Charles Manson will have to wait a while longer.

Afton Elaine Burton and Manson got a marriage license last year to stage a wedding inside a visiting room at California State Prison, Corcoran.

However, it expires Thursday, meaning they missed their chance to tie the knot over the weekend, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Jeffrey Callison said Monday.

Wedding are not held through the week at the prison.

If the wedding is ever going to happen, the couple must register for a new Kings County marriage license.

Burton, who says she loves Manson, left her home In Illinois and has spent the last nine years living near the Central California prison.

Manson was convicted of killing seven people, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate, the wife of director Roman Polanski.

Burton, who maintains websites espousing Manson's innocence, has not responded to recent requests seeking comment on the relationship. Shortly after obtaining the license, she told The Associated Press the nuptials were imminent: "Y'all can know that it's true," she said in November. "It's going to happen."

The expiring license indicates that Burton intends to take Manson's last name, if they are married.

James McGrath, a New York City photo agency editor, said he maintains contact with Burton and she intends to obtain another 90-day license and go ahead with the marriage.

Manson became notorious in 1969 as the leader of a "family" of young killers.

Manson follower Susan Atkins died of cancer behind bars, but Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel remain imprisoned. So do Charles "Tex" Watson, Bruce Davis and Robert Beausoleil, who is expected to have a parole hearing Feb. 19. Manson is eligible for parole next in 2027.

A second homeless man attacked in Ventura near the beach has many questioning the dangers of living on the streets.

Sunday night just before 8, Ventura police responded to reports of a stabbing outside a city parking garage beside the Crown Plaza Hotel on California Street.

Authorities found a 46-year-old homeless man with what appeared to be a head wound from a bat and multiple stab wounds to his back.

"He had been in the parking structure and had an encounter with five other subjects who asked if he had a lighter," said Cmdr. Darin Schindler, of the Ventura Police Department.

Detectives believe the attackers to be between 16 and 19 years old.

As the victim tried to run away, one of the boys hit him in the head with a bat while another repeatedly stabbed him, police said.

The homeless man, known by locals as Woody, escaped through a stairwell before collapsing on the promenade. Police believe the attackers ran away and hope witnesses will come forward.

"Maybe people were walking along the promenade, going to and from the hotel, maybe they saw a car load of kids walking up to the structure, maybe they saw them running away afterward," Schindler said, pointing out the busy night after the Super Bowl.

The attack comes just two weeks after another homeless man was attacked along Seaward Avenue on Jan. 17.

In that case a man was set on fire in Pierpont with injuries so severe, police have not been able to interview him about what happened.

Initial indications, though, show no link between the two attacks.

"The fight versus good and evil's here," said Rory Galbraith, adding he knew Woody. "We have to fight this every day and if you're weak in any way, shape or form, you're gonna get bit by the dark side."

It's a common feeling among Ventura's homeless with a fear police say is warranted because of the lack of information in the latest attack.

"It's random," Schindler said. "But whether you're homeless or not, you should feel safe to walk and be in the community without being attacked by a thug like this."

Jason Holder said he rode his bike by the parking structure shortly after the attack and saw the man's body lying on the concrete.

"I thought he jumped," he said. "When I found out it was Woody, I was just like, 'man, that sucks.'"

Holder said he used to do framing work with the victim.

"He was a very, very honest guy that just kept to himself," he said. "He had his friends ... but he's not one to cause problems. To be attacked like that, we're all scratching our heads."

Galbraith said life on the streets in Ventura is hard enough without having to worry about being attacked.

He blames the city for the lack of services for those in need. Local church leaders planned to speak out at the Ventura City Council meeting Monday night.

While many condemn the acts of the five attackers, others, such as Holder, share their pity.

"I feel sorry for them because one way or another the law's gonna get 'em or the streets will get them," he said.

Parents are still having a difficult time picking healthy foods for their children even when they want to make the right choices, and a move to send a chef to Southern California schools might help solve the problem.

In the average elementary school classroom, about one out of every three children is overweight or obese. This can eventually lead to heart disease and chronic health problems.

A new survey from the Cleveland Clinic released on Monday found that parents admitted the struggle about getting the best foods for their kids.

To cut through this confusion, the American Heart Association is sending a professional chef to Southern California elementary schools to teach kids how to eat heart healthy.

"So they start to become conscious of the different tastes on their plate and they know that everything doesn’t have to be just sugar, fat, and salt," said Chef Bryce Fluellen of the American Heart Association.

As part of the American Heart Association’s "Kids Cook with Heart" program, Fluellen makes weekly visits to students at several lower-income schools throughout Los Angeles.

During the 90-minute cooking sessions, the kids gain hands-on experience preparing healthy alternatives, such as fruit and vegetable smoothies.

“It tastes good because it makes my body stronger and it makes you live a longer life,” said Desire, a student at 61st Street Elementary School in Los Angeles.

The program lasts six weeks and is free for the schools and the students. By the end, the American Heart Association hopes that the kids will have learned the building blocks of what it takes to lead a healthy lifestyle.

"They’ll be able to make their own healthy meal on their own or at least have some skills that will help them build upon doing that in the future," Fluellen said.

Fluellen says that introducing even small dietary changes at a young age can help prevent such diseases as heart disease and diabetes. This is especially true for children from low-income neighborhoods, where fresh produce is expensive and often hard to find.

"I think it’s important because if we eat the healthy stuff that he’s telling us to eat and the fruits and vegetables, we’ll live a healthy life like for a long time," said Keiona, a 9-year-old who also attends 61st Street Elementary School.

This program is a great first step but parents need to build on what their kids are learning.

The same practices have to exist at home and in school. While it can be difficult especially with income and money stresses, the few extra minutes to buy and eat fresh and to develop good habits will really pay off.

A San Diego man was found guilty Monday of 27 felony counts for creating a so-called revenge porn website, where he posted more than 10,000 sexually explicit photos of women online to extort them for hundreds of dollars each.

It took a court clerk 20 minutes to read the list of convictions against 28-year-old Kevin Bollaert, guilty of 21 identity theft and 6 extortion counts. A mistrial was declared on one conspiracy count and one identity theft count.

In the debate over whether Bollaert should walk free until his sentencing, Deputy Attorney General Tawnya Austin told the judge he should go back to jail, not because he is a flight risk, but because of the harm he could do to the 26 victims involved in the case.

"He is a vindictive individual who takes pleasure out of harming people," she said. "That's what the evidence has sussed out. And his tool of destruction happens to be the one thing that we cannot easily monitor. That is his area of expertise."

Bollaert's defense attorney Emily Rose-Weber argued it would be good to see how he lives his life between now and his sentencing, living with his parents and perhaps holding down a good job. She asked that the court only put restrictions on his release.

The judge ordered Bollaert be remanded in custody and held on a $450,000 bail.

The case — the first of its kind, filed by the California attorney general — centered on a now defunct website called YouGotPosted.com, created by Bollaert so ex-husbands and ex-boyfriends could submit embarrassing photos of victims for revenge. The photos also linked to victims’ social media accounts.

Prosecutors say those who wanted to get the pictures taken down were redirected to another one of Bollaert's sites, ChangeMyReputation.com. There, the victims were charged $300 to $350 to have their photos removed.

Bollaert also instructed victims to submit another picture of themselves holding a sign with their birth date on it.

Austin called the scheme a “blood sport” that left victims distraught and desperate.

While she did not dispute that her client created the websites, Rose-Weber said the business was not illegal — though it may be “immoral” or “sleazy.” She described Bollaert as an aspiring web developer who hopes to start a business in the technology industry.

Now, Bollaert faces up to 20 years in prison at his sentencing.

The revenge porn case has been called a landmark one, for California is the first state to prosecute someone for posting humiliating pictures of others online.

In a statement, California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris called the crimes such as the ones Bollaert committed "horrendous."

“Bollaert’s actions are illegal and they will not be tolerated in California," Harris said. "And if you run a website like this, you’re going to go to prison. Just because you’re sitting behind a computer, committing what is essentially a cowardly and criminal act, you will not be shielded from the law or jail."

In 2013, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law that prohibits anyone from putting identifiable nude photos online after a breakup, punishable with $1,000 or six months in jail.

When you think Santa Cruz, start thinking water slide. All 1,000 feet of it.

Slide the City, a company based in Utah, is considering Santa Cruz as a host city for a 1,000-foot inflatable water slide, according to the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Nothing is set in stone yet, but Slide the City could file a permit to set up the slide as soon as this week, according to city and company officials.

The water slide company set up aquatic fun runs in Utah and Idaho last summer, and could do the same in Santa Cruz this July, the newspaper reported. That is, drought-willing.

Slide the City was supposed to hit Los Angeles last fall, but concerns over the state's ongoing drought scuttled the idea, the newspaper reported.

As much as 20,000 gallons of water per event are needed, but organizers think they can cut that down to as little as 1,000 gallons "through recycling and filtering," according to the paper.

The slide has also earned opposition from locals, like Aptos resident Paul Duffy, who launched an online petition opposing the slide.

Longtime Los Angeles Daily News reporter Rick Orlov, known as the dean of the press corps at Los Angeles City Hall, died Monday.

Orlov, who covered City Hall for the newspaper for nearly 30 years - through five mayoral administrations - died of complications from diabetes, according to his employer. He was 66.

The Daily News tweeted the news this afternoon, eliciting an outpouring of memorials by fellow reporters - many of whom he mentored over the years - and Los Angeles city leaders, including Mayor Eric Garcetti.

"City Hall is in mourning - we are devastated by Rick's passing," Garcetti said.

Orlov was "so much more than a journalist," the mayor said. "He was a mentor to young reporters, a counselor to elected officials, and a friend to us all."

Los Angeles fire Chief Ralph Terrazas tweeted that "the men and women of the LAFD send their deepest condolences" to Orlov's friends, family and colleagues, calling him a "gentleman, mentor, journalist."

Councilman Paul Krekorian said on his Twitter account that he was "shocked and deeply addened" by Orlov's death. "He was a tireless reporter who cared about L.A. and made it a better place."

Council President Herb Wesson said he will introduce a motion tomorrow requesting that the City Council media room be named after Orlov.

"I believe that this will be a fitting memorial for someone who gave so much to journalism and to our city,'' Wesson said.

Orlov's Los Angeles News Group colleague, managing editor Carolina Garcia, said he was "a true journalist, a great bellwether for news and for the right thing to do.''

"We will miss our good friend,'' she said.

Emily Alpert Reyes, who covers City Hall for the Los Angeles Times, called Orlov a "mensch" and said he knew City Hall "inside and out."

Born in Chicago, Orlov grew up in Indianapolis and moved to Encino with his family when he was 12 years old.

He attended Birmingham High School, where he was a competitive swimmer, and earned a journalism degree from Cal State Northridge.

He started working for the Daily News in 1978 and did a stint as an assistant city editor, but returned - at his request - to reporting on local politics in 1988.

His sister told the Daily News that memorial service plans were pending.

The newspaper is planning a public memorial with details to be announced soon.

A suspicious package left on a Windsor Square corner near Mayor Eric Garcetti’s mansion Monday turned out to be harmless, police said.

The unattended suitcase was reported about 5 p.m. in the area of 6th Street and Irving Boulevard.

About 10 LAPD units, including a bomb squad, were called to investigate, officials said.

Garcetti’s wife, Amy Wakeland, told NBC4 no one from the Garcetti family was inside the home at the time.

Irving Boulevard was closed to traffic between 6th Street and Wilshire Boulevard during the investigation.

A dog who was saved from a rushing Los Angeles River in a dramatic helicopter rescue has yet to be claimed by his owners and may soon go up for adoption.

The dog, who was since named Lucky, is in good shape at LA's since last week's storm rescue and is described as "an awesome dog."

"He is doing great, he has bounced back from his ordeal," LA Animal Services Director Jan Selder said. "He is an awesome dog. He is potty trained, walks on a leash and puts his head on your lap when you pet his head, which means he had a home."

Selder described Lucky as a Welsh corgi mix about 6 or 7 years old.

Lucky was plucked from the rain-swollen LA River last week by a firefighter lowered down from a helicopter. The dramatic rescue was captured on aerial video by NewsChopper4. The firefighters brought the dog to dry land and dubbed him Lucky.

Lucky's owners have not come forward to claim him, and if the dog is still not claimed by Thursday, he will go up for adoption.

The woman who called 911 to report Lucky needing help in the river has already requested to adopt him and will have "first rights," Selder said.

If that woman does not come to the shelter by 9 a.m. Thursday, whoever does come will be able to take Lucky home. If several people come to the shelter they will conduct a "silent auction."

But the shelter isn't worried whether Lucky will find a home — Selder said they've received hundreds of calls.

Efforts were still being made Monday to save a two-year-old boy who fell down a black water drain in Tijuana Sunday afternoon.

According to Tijuana Fire Department Director Carlos Gopar Uribe, a call came in just after 1 p.m. Sunday that a child had fallen into the drain and needed emergency help.

The boy's mother said he was playing near the drain when he fell in, Uribe said. She apparently tried to save him, but was unsuccessful.

Using video cameras and fire crews, they attempted to go into the drain to save the boy. Uribe said the crews worked overnight and into Monday, but still had not found the toddler.

In a last ditch effort, they were going to try to destroy the tube for better access, he said.

This is a developing story. Check back here for updates.

LA’s Department of Animal Services on Monday impounded a pit bull who had killed another dog, hours after an NBC4 I-Team report showed the pit bull running off leash through the streets.

A second dog belonging to the same owner was also impounded.

"Officers were instructed to impound the dogs after seeing footage of the dogs off leash and not muzzled," Brenda Barnette, general manager of LA’s Animal Services Department told NBC4 in an email.

It was in 2011 that the pit bull, named Hemi, attacked and killed a Jack Russell Terrier in the parking lot of a popular Hollywood hiking area. After that incident, the city ordered Hemi’s owner, Mario Osorio, to keep his dog on a leash and wearing a muzzle whenever he took them out of the house, so Hemi couldn’t kill again.

But the I-Team’s cameras caught Osorio repeatedly letting Hemi and his other dogs run off leash and without muzzles through his neighborhood, so the city impounded the dogs.

The dog owner’s niece, Cindy Osorio, told NBC4 the family doesn’t think it’s fair for the city to impound the dogs, but added they understood why. “There are laws to abide by,” Osorio added.

Hemi and Osorio’s other dog, “Shorty,” will remain impounded at the East Valley Animal Shelter until Osorio has a hearing with Animal Control.

“The owner (Osorio) could lose his dogs and could be ordered to own no dogs in the City of LA for three years,” Animal Services GM Barnette told the I-Team.

Two men died in a freeway crash in Irvine late Monday.

One of the victims was ejected from the van which was involved in the single-vehicle collision on the southbound Route 133 transition to the northbound 5 Freeway at around 9:35 p.m, Orange County Fire Authority said. Both of the men were in their 50s.

The transition road was temporarily shut following the crash, but was cleared and reopened just after 12:30 a.m.

Scammers posing as parents are targeting would-be nannies and baby sitters with a scheme that's taking their money and leaving them jobless.

Investigators say criminals are tricking child care candidates searching for jobs on the popular website Care.com.

Online scammers will email care providers whose applications are posted on the site, saying they're writing from overseas and need a sitter or nanny for an upcoming trip to the United States. Once the baby-sitting schedule and price has been negotiated, the scammer promises to send a check to cover the caretaker's salary.

The check, however, has extra money attached to it for "added expenses" like toys or other child care supplies.

From there, the scam can unfold in different ways.

In some cases, the "parent" asks the caretaker to deposit half of the payment into their checking account at an ATM, and take out the remaining cash to bring to a designated store. A store employee (an accomplice to the crime) will send the children the toys after receiving the payment. Because the check is fraudulent, the cash is the caretaker's own.

In other incidents, the "parent" sends a check for much more than the negotiated amount; then, the caretaker is asked to cash it, and wire the extra money back. Again, the caretaker ends up footing the bill for any cash withdrawn on the fraudulent check.

Aleesha Wachtel, a 19-year-old Lancaster college student, was a recent target of this cyber crime, after posting her resume on Care.com. The first response she got was an email from a woman claiming to be Australian, saying her family was relocating to Southern California and needed a baby sitter for her toddler.

"She wouldn’t tell me like if it was in Palmdale or Lancaster or something that would say that it was real, Wachtel told NBC4. "Then, when I asked where did they live they wouldn’t tell me."

Wachtel's father Michael became suspicious when the "mother" sent a check for $2850, after originally negotiating a payment of just $300.

"That's when it started setting off the red flags," Michael Wachtel said.

Michael Wachtel told his daughter not to cash the check.

"(I warned her that]) they’re going to empty out your account and you’re going to be left with nothing, with no recourse or nothing," Michael Wachtel said.

Rebecca Stewart, owner of VIP Nanny Agency in Studio City, told the NBC4 I-Team that the "overseas parent" scam is proof that applying for a caretaker position — or hiring a caretaker — sight unseen can be risky.

"You don’t know what you’re getting, you really don't," Stewart said. "You don’t even know if it’s the person’s name that you’re talking to on the other end of the phone or other end of the email."

Stewart said reputable agencies like hers make it a priority to establish relationships with both families and caregivers.

Aleesha Wachtel said from now on, she'll take that advice to heart.

"I’m not baby-sitting unless I know the person already," she said.

Be the first to see Randy Mac’s next investigation. Trash is piling up in LA neighborhoods. Why the brand-new effort to clean up isn't enough - and see what you can do to get the city to clean up YOUR street. Tonight at 6 on NBC4.

A man escaped on foot after crashing a car during a police pursuit on the 5 Freeway in Montebello early Tuesday.

He ran from the vehicle after a collision at the Telegraph Road exit near the Citadel Outlets at around 4:56 a.m, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.

The suspect ran into a nearby construction site, and despite a search, he managed to get away. The search was called off at around 6 a.m.

San Bernardino County residents have been warned they may have been exposed to someone with measles at several businesses last month.

One of six county residents with the virus went to the different locations during a three-day period last month, health officials said. The locations and dates that the infected person visited while contagious are below.

• Inland Center Auto Body, 181 South Arrowhead Avenue, San Bernardino on January 22, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., January  23, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and January  24, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Elgin and Fagan Bar, 336 West Highland Avenue, San Bernardino, January 22, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m and January 24, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

• Game Stop, 1100 South Mount Vernon Avenue, Colton on January 24, 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The County of San Bernardino Department of Public Health is working with the businesses to contact people who may have been exposed.

The cases are part of a fast-spreading outbreak that began at the Disneyland Resorts in December.

The latest confirmed case since Friday was in Orange County, which brought the county’s total to 28. There have been 92 cases in the state in total, according to the California Department of Public Health.

It is the largest outbreak in California since 2000, which was when the virus was officially eliminated in the United States.

Measles is a highly contagious and potentially severe disease that causes fever, rash, cough, and red, watery eyes.

It spreads very easily by air and by direct contact with an infected person. It is contagious from approximately four days before the rash appears through four days after the rash appears.

Beverly Ginsburg used to be the kind of person who never thought twice about opening her house to someone in need.

"I never think anyone is going to take advantage of me, hurt me or do anything," she said from her Pasadena home.

In November, her rabbi told her about a mother and daughter who needed help getting back on their feet.

"You know, a nice Jewish woman with a daughter and a cute dog," said Ginsburg.

"It sounded perfect."

But perfect, soon became Ginsburg's nightmare.

"Oh, she stole tons of stuff from me," she said. "She stole my computer, cell phones, keys, my backup drives."

Ginsburg said her tenants' behavior grew increasingly aggressive and calculated. She began taking videos of them to document what she described as an increasingly hostile relationship.

They also began recording her.

"The short story is, they're con artists," said Ginsburg, who said she feared for her family's safety in her own home. "My daughter can't come home until these people leave!"

Ginsburg described one way she said her tenants' behavior became more manipulative.

"They kept plugging the toilet, flooding the bathroom. I'd have to turn the water off to find out where the flooding was coming from."

It was then that Ginsburg said her tenants called the police and blamed her for not supplying water to them.

"It was all a game, it was just game," she said.

NBC4 obtained documents from the Pasadena Police Department which showed that police were called to Ginsburg's home 18 times in the 26 days they lived together.

One night, the women accused each other of assault. But the city prosecutor did not have enough evidence to file criminal charges, according to the Pasadena Police Department.

"The minute they walked in my door, they knew exactly what they wanted," said Ginsburg.

Ginsburg had her tenants sign a lease, which she thought protected her. But she did not do a background check, nor did she have them fill out a rental application.

"It can take up to six months to a year to get them out of your house," she explained.

Ginsburg hired a private investigator to help her navigate through the eviction process.

"At the very moment that a homeowner creates tenancy with a guest, they've given that guest rights to live there." said Nils Grevillius. "Under California law, it's very difficult to remove that person from the home without a complicated and tensely technical legal proceeding called an unlawful detainer."

NBC4 spoke with another woman who said she rented to the same mother and daughter several years ago.

She said her experience was almost identical to Ginsburg's.

"She called a number of times saying we weren't giving her hot water," she said. "She did not fill out a rental application -- and that was our bane."

A simple rental application asking potential tenants whether they've ever been evicted could have prevented it all, according to experts.

"Unless you do some sort of more detailed background check, you're not going to know what you get," James Clarke, executive vice president of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles.

Ginsburg said her tenants finally moved out on their own. She has installed surveillance cameras in her home. Ginsburg believes her tenants are still in Southern California, victimizing other homeowners.

"I don't want her to come back, I don't want them to come back," said Ginsburg. "I'm scared."

NBC4 tried to reach Ginsburg's tenants, but a current address or phone number was not available.

A burst water pipe left a muddy mess on a street outside a hospital in Santa Clarita Monday.

The mudflow near the Henry Mayo Center on the 23800 block of McBean Parkway was reported just after 11 p.m, Los Angeles County Fire department said.

The pipe had had burst in the landscaping that lines the sidewalk of the street, causing dirt to collapse and spew onto the road.

Crews shut down the water and are repairing the pipe. The incident did not affect the hospital.

As Covered California works to process more than a million health care applications and renewals, a San Diego man said it is falling behind in another area: paychecks.

Dewan Gibson is a front line soldier in the huge state health care exchange, which hopes to enroll 1.7 million Californians. If anyone has trouble navigating the revamped Covered California website, Gibson and other contractors like him come to the rescue.

“We’re the people when you click that link and you call, we come to you and help you enroll in Covered California,” Gibson told NBC 7.

He’s one of the state’s nearly 6,400 certified public enrollment counselors, and for every person he helps to enroll, the state is supposed to pay him a flat fee.

“So we’re well over $2,000 that I haven’t been paid,” he said.

Gibson estimates he has enrolled about 40 people since last summer, and all he has received is one check for $58.

Trying to find out why, Gibson turned to his only pay check. He said the help number printed on it has been crossed out with a marker, and the new number written in pen above it just goes to the general Covered California line.

“Well, it’s really frustrating. The only thing worse than not being paid is not knowing why you’re not being paid,” the counselor said.

When he called the general line, he was told they do not handle paychecks. A call to his trainer got him another number, but he has received no answers.

NBC 7 reached out to other groups in San Diego that do the kind of work Gibson does. While they did not want to do an interview, more than one said they have also seen delays in checks coming from the state.

A Covered California spokesperson responded to NBC 7 on Monday, saying the organization mailed Gibson a check late last week.

As for its communication issues, the spokesperson’s statement says, “We communicate regularly with our partners and keep them updated on the scheduling of payments."

Gibson said he received one email that informed him payments from September would be issued in February.

“No reason given,” he said. “You just receive this mass email and you can’t respond to it, can’t get anyone on the phone.”

Going forward, this stay-at-home father of three said he has far more valuable ways to spend his time, so he will not be taking on new clients.
 

DAVIS, Calif. (AP) - The Anti-Defamation League has offered a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who spray-painted swastikas on a University of California, Davis off-campus Jewish fraternity house.

Davis police are investigating the weekend vandalism as a hate crime.
 
The Sacramento Bee reports reward was announced Monday.
 
Police spokesman Tom Waltz says no suspects have been identified, and no arrests have been made.
 
The two large swastikas spray-painted onto the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house happened between 3 and 9 a.m. Saturday.
 
In a statement, UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi called the behavior "repugnant and a gross violation of the values our university holds dear.''

Lightning struck twice, and not in a good way, for a South Jersey couple who happened to be a passenger on ill-fated cruises two years in a row.

Barbara Ferguson and her husband Edward Petrasovits of Dennis Township, New Jersey, were passengers on Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas last February. During the cruise, Ferguson was one of the 630 passengers sickened due to a new Sydney strain of norovirus. It was one of the largest norovirus outbreaks on a cruise ship in the last 20 years.

While the Sydney strain is not considered unusually dangerous, it has become a common cause of cases of vomiting and diarrhea that last a few days.

As compensation, Royal Caribbean offered Ferguson a discounted price on a future trip of her choosing. Barbara decided to go on the Royal Caribbean Grandeur of the Seas with her husband.

"We thought, well, we're gonna go again, use our voucher, have a good time," Ferguson said.

The cruise left Baltimore for the Bahamas on January 24 and was set to return Tuesday.

"The only reason I went again was because my wife said, 'what are the odds?'" Petrasovits said.

It turns out the odds were not in their favor however. Their cruise was cut short when nearly 200 passengers became sick with what officials believed to be norovirus.

“During the current sailing, Grandeur of the Seas has experienced a number of guests with a gastrointestinal illness,” said a spokesperson for Royal Caribbean. “Over the course of the sailing, 193 guests (9.91 percent) and nine crew members (1.15 percent) experienced the illness, thought to be norovirus. Those affected by the short-lived illness are responding well to over-the-counter medication administered onboard the ship.”

The boat returned to Baltimore a day early though a spokesperson said it was due to an unrelated medical emergency. While Ferguson didn't get sick this time, she told NBC10 it was still a miserable experience.

"They were cleaning with a chemical that made me have a sore throat continuously," Ferguson said.

Passengers on the cruise received an on-board credit for a port the cruise skipped as well as a discount on a future voyage equal to one day of the fare they paid for the Grandeur of the Seas. Despite this, Ferguson said she has no plans on going on a third cruise.

"No, we're done with Royal Caribbean," she said. "No, absolutely not. I don't even want a voucher."