A wildfire at the foot of the Sierra Nevada has damaged homes after growing to more than 10 square miles and prompting the mandatory evacuation of two small Northern California towns near the Nevada state line.

The unusual winter blaze on the border of Inyo and Mono counties near the Mammoth Lakes resort is 30 percent contained, Cal Fire Capt. Liz Brown said Saturday. Dying winds and rain have helped crews stop the fire's growth.

Twenty structures, including homes and outbuildings, have been damaged or destroyed, Brown said. One firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation.

A few dozen people were evacuated Friday from Town of Paradise and Swall Meadows, two rural communities northwest of Bishop.

The highway from Southern California to Mammoth Lakes, US-395, reopened Saturday though the fire doubled in size overnight. Two-hundred firefighters in 29 crews were battling the blaze, according to Cal Fire.

Seventeen Orange County firefighters in five specially equipped engines drove overnight to reach the fire, according to OC Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi. The assistance is part of a statewide mutual aid system that he called the "best in the nation."

This vegetation fire is unusual in that February is usually a rainy month, Concialdi confirmed.

"It just goes to show you how dry it's been," Concialdi said. "Even if it rains, when the wind picks up -- which it does -- it rapidly dries out the vegetation."

The fire's cause is under investigation.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will be partially closed this weekend due to an ongoing labor dispute.

It comes after the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents port employers, issued an order to stop the loading and unloading of ships.

The decision affects all 29 U.S. West Coast ports this weekend, and has been blamed on chronic cargo backups, which the shippers and dockworkers union have blamed on each other for during the labor dispute, which started last July. The LA and Long Beach ports are the busiest in the nation.

Employers claimed the behavior of workers had forced the decision.

"After three months of union slowdowns, it makes no sense to pay extra for less work," PMA spokesman Wade Gates said, "Especially if there is no end in sight to the union’s actions which needlessly brought West Coast ports to the brink of gridlock."

However the International Longshore and Warehouse Union denied this, and claimed the decision is an attempt to pressure workers over the negotiations over a new labor contract dragging on for nearly nine months.

"PMA is leaving ships at sea and claiming there's no space on the docks, but there are acres of asphalt just waiting for the containers on those ships, and hundreds of longshore workers ready to unload them," ILWU International President Robert McEllrath said, "The employers are deliberately worsening the existing congestion crisis to gain the upper hand at the bargaining table."

Terminal yard, rail and gate operations at the ports will go on at the discretion of terminal managers through Saturday and Sunday, the PMA said.

Two teenage boys were booked on suspicion of murder after a teenager was stabbed to death in Sherman Oaks Friday over a suspected narcotics dispute.

The alleged stabbing took place when two groups of teenagers met in the rear of an apartment complex in the 15000 block of Dickens Street at about 6:45 p.m., Los Angeles Police Department officers said.

The 17-year-old victim, Jacob Koffman, died at the hospital from his injuries, inflicted after two groups of teenagers met up with a drug dealer to rob him, said LAPD Sgt. Roy Guthrie, who called the incident a "drug deal gone awry."

Neighbors reported hearing screams from outside the building, which is about a block east of a Whole Foods Market grocery store.

"I looked out the window (and) saw two guys on the floor handcuffed, and their faces were against the ground," neighbor Norm Vance said, "(There was) all this commotion, then I saw units coming up the side of the building."

One of the juveniles booked on suspicion of murder was also taken to the hospital for treatment, but was later released, Hensley said. 

Ennio Avolio, 18, was booked for possession of narcotics, but it was unclear how he was releated to the stabbing.

Beverly White also contributed to this report

Saturday’s Powerball jackpot has surged to a staggering estimated mark of $380 million.

Demand for tickets spiked after no one scooped the $316 million on offer during Wednesday night’s draw. Unfortunately for players, the odds of winning the top prize are 1 in 175,223,510, the game's official website states.

Still, people were lined up at Bluebird Liquors, a lucky Los Angeles lotto retailer, at 6 a.m. for their shot at the jackpot.

The forthcoming draw will be the 20th since the last time a ticket with all six numbers was sold. 

The last time a player won was on November 29, 2014, when a single ticket purchased in the state of Washington won a $90 million jackpot.

The game costs $2 per ticket, and is played 43 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia.

The jackpot starts off at $40 million, and rolls over every time there is no winner.

The record payout stands at a gargantuan $590 million, and was won by a ticket sold in Florida in May 2013.

The biggest Powerball winner from California so far won $425.3 million in February 2014, which is the game’s fourth highest jackpot to date.

It comes after no tickets sold with all six numbers in Friday's multistate Mega Millions lottery, which had an estimated jackpot of $49 million. The numbers drawn were 5, 6, 17, 33, 68 and the Mega number was 13.

Mourners gathered at a West Adams church Saturday for the funeral of Terry Carter, a 55-year-old foster parent allegedly struck and killed by a rap mogul's pickup truck in Compton last week.

Carter founded Heayweight Records in 1998 with rapper Ice Cube, and was remembered by his family, which included 20 foster children, as kind, generous and hardworking.

"If I ever needed anything, they said, 'Call Big Terry,'" said Carter's neice, Aryca Sawyer.

Carter's funeral was held at First AME Church of Los Angeles

Prosecutors charged Death Row Records founder Marion "Suge" Knight with Carter's murder.

Knight has admitted through an attorney he was driving the truck that struck Carter in a restaurant's parking lot in the 1200 block of West Rosecrans Avenue on Thursday, Jan. 29, but said he was trying to escape four attackers.

Patrick Healy contributed to this report.

Veteran actor and Los Angeles native, Danny Trejo joins host Feliciano Garcia to talk about beating prison and creating opportunity in Hollywood, the increased presence of Latinos in film and why he feels honored for the opportunity to volunteer his time as a drug and youth counselor across the country.

The proud Mexican-American actor known for his roles in "Machete" and "Heat" also offers his advice for people who are trying to realize their dreams in the face of adversity.

For more on Danny Trejo and his upcoming projects, visit http://dannytrejo.net/ or follow him on Twitter @officialDannyT.

Previous interviews on Cafecito:

• Thalia
• Kate Del Castillo
  
• Michael Pena
• Robert Rodriguez
• Gabriel Iglesias
• Becky G: Part 1, Part 2
• Guillermo del Toro
• Rosie Perez
• John Leguizamo
• Eva Longoria
• Demi Lovato
• Cheech Marin
• Zoe Saldana
  

Producer/Host: Feliciano Garcia
Video Editor: Michael Tomczyk
Director of Photography: Brian Caraveo
Camera: Steven Diaz
Music: RoYal Z for Humbled Soul Productions

Olympian and TV personality Bruce Jenner was behind the wheel of an SUV involved in a chain-reaction crash on Pacific Coast Highway on Saturday that left a woman dead, officials said.

The four-vehicle crash began about 12:15 p.m. in Malibu when a Toyota Prius slowed or stopped in traffic and was struck from behind by a white Lexus sedan, LA County Sheriff's Sgt. Philip Brooks said, noting that traffic on the northbound side was not moving very quickly.

Jenner, driving a Cadillac SUV pulling a dune buggy, then rear-ended the Lexus, sandwiching the Lexus between his SUV and the Prius, Brooks said.

The Lexus then spun or veered into the quickly-moving southbound lane of PCH, where it was struck head-on by a Hummer, he said.

The driver of the Lexus, a woman, died. A family of five inside the Hummer was taken to the hospital out of precaution, officials said.

Brooks said he did not know why the Prius stopped.

Jenner was not hurt in the crash. He was cooperative with deputies, taking a field sobriety test and offering to give a blood sample, Brooks said.

Deputies said there was "no evidence" Jenner was being chased by paparazzi.

"It's unlikely due to the fact that there was traffic and other cars stopped, so that wouldn't make a whole lot of sense, but it's always possible," Brooks said.

Jenner reportedly told deputies that he was being followed by paparazzi on PCH "like always" but that he was not trying to get away from them, an LASD Sgt. told NBC4.

Photos from the scene showed a wrecked white Lexus facing a black Hummer with a smashed front end.

PCH was closed between Malibu Canyon and Corral Canyon roads during the investigation, and would likely remain closed until 7 p.m., officials said.

Authorities did not give out information about other the victims of the crash and said up to seven people may have been hurt.

Officials first said four cars were involved, then changed to only three. Deputies later clarified a final number of four vehicles involved in the crash.

Kevin LaBeach and Kate Larsen contributed to this report.

Teenagers at a Southern California high school are already seeing college-level internship offers as they tackle cyber security threats.

North Hollywood High School students are members of the largest cyber security program in the country.

"These students secure computers to make it harder for hackers to break into the computers," North Hollywood High School team coach Jay Gehringer said. "It's totally an after-school program here in Los Angeles. We compete against schools that have it built into their curriculum."

One of the teams, Team Azure, won first place in the Cyber Patriot Competition sponsored by Air Force Association.

Two of the members were offered college-level internships after winning, said 17-year-old Henry Birge-Lee, a student at North Hollywood.

Next month they will defend their championship.

"The weakest part of a network is usually the people using it, because computers usually don't make mistakes. It's social engineering attacks or phishing attacks that lead to a lot of the cyberattacks," student Travis Raser said.

The North Hollywood teams are sponsored by Los Angeles Unified School District's Beyond the Bell.

Beyond the Bell is a before and after school program designed to, "ensure that all children and youth in LAUSD have access to high quality, safe, and supervised academic, enrichment, and recreation programs that inspire learning and achievement beyond the regular school day," according to the Beyond the Bell website.

A second North Hollywood team and a Franklin High school team also qualified for the national competition.

The availability of VA housing assistance has changed dramatically for the better over the past two years--but not without snags, as can be seen in the experiences of two veterans who teetered on the brink of homelessness.

Decades after his tour of duty in the US Marine Corps and transition back to civilian life, DB Roberts had rarely found need of assistance to which all veterans are entitled from the Dept. of Veterans Affairs.

Roberts, 57, made his living in the private security business, which brought him from his native New Jersey to Los Angeles. His health was good. The only time he needed VA health care, he recalled, was briefly after a bout of food poisoning two decades ago.

But five years ago, his life was upended by an fall that collapsed a lung, and injured his wrist and knees. Lingering damage left him unable to continue his security business, Roberts said, but his application for Social Security disability was denied, leaving him in a financial bind, struggling to pay the rent.

In 2013, Roberts went to the VA for help, but got a jolt.

"They told me that because I was not imminently homeless, they could not help me," Roberts recalled. There were exceptions — but not being an ex-con, and not having substance abuse problems — he was told he did not qualify.

He sought a rental subsidy through the program known as VASH — Veteran Affairs Supportive Houisng — but again he did not qualify, he recalls being told, because he did not have a history of chronic homeless.

The VA referred him to a nonprofit Veterans Service Organization, where a counselor suggested he claim a drug problem to qualify for a residency program.

Roberts considered it, but learned the program would require he kennel his dog Beau, and he was not about to do that.

So he applied for general relief, $221 a month, and food stamps, and got help from family and friends, couch surfing for a time, then moving into a friend's shed in the Antelope Valley, where he earned his keep by taking care of the property.

After nearly a year and a half of this, when Roberts decided to give the VA another try, he discovered things had changed.

President Obama had called for ending veterans' homelessness by 2016, and directed the department to be more responsive to applications for mental health benefits and reduce delays in processing them.

The VA also had a new secretary, Robert McDonald, himself a West Point Graduate who served in the 82nd Airborne Division before a career in the private sector during which he rose to Chairman, President and CEO of Procter & Gamble.

Recently retired, McDonald accepted Obama's challenge to tackle the VA's problems.

"They said policies had changed," Roberts remembers being told when he went back to the VA last October.

His application for HUD Section 8 housing assistance was expedited and approved in two months. Until he could locate a new apartment, interim housing was found at a Hollywood facility of PATH — People Assisting the Homeless — where Beau was also welcome.

His new case worker also told him something he had not heard before: that apart from Social Security, the VA offers its own disability assistance--$900/month — with a threshold of disability below what Social Security requires. His case worker helped him with that application.

"She's been phenomenally helpful," he said.

For the Greater Los Angeles area, the VA now has 400 staffers assigned to working with housing issues, McDonald said.

From the experience of another veteran on the verge of homelessness, it's clear not all case workers provide the same level of service.

Disabled Navy veteran Wayne Robinson had relied on VA Healthcare since his honorable medical discharge, but never sought housing assistance until last fall, after learning of the President's
initiative.

Despite health issues, Robinson, 60  has been able to work in clothing design and make-up.  But rent was taking two-thirds of his income and he was struggling to keep his apartment. He was delighted that his application for rent assistance was approved in two weeks.

But as he began his search for an apartment, he was surprised when a case worker told him he could get additional benefits — such as having his move-in expenses covered — if he were already
homeless.

Robinson said he took that as encouragement to leave his apartment before he could move into the new unit with the subsidy, and he did.

The case worker could not be reached for his account, but McDonald said he stresses to staff that VA policy is to keep veterans from losing their housing. The issue came up when he met with the Greater LA staff at the end of January.

"We talked about those at risk, and making sure they don't fall into homelessness," McDonald said.

Robinson also faulted his case worker for failing to find interim housing other than homeless shelters until he could move into the apartment with subsidized rent.

The shelter where Robinson stayed briefly in December requires all who overnight to exit by 7 a.m., even on rainy days, and Robinson believes that was a factor in his contracting pneumonia for which he was hospitalized.

At one point he spent three days living out of his truck.

Robinson said he got action when he went to the case worker's supervisor. She got him into path that same day, Robinson said, and assigned him a new social worker.

"The woman reassigned me is wonderful," Robinson said. "She's an angel."

Likewise Robinson is impressed with McDonald and the steps he has taken. The problem Robinson sees are not in policy, but in managing staff resources to make sure there is follow through.

Even as Robinson and Roberts look forward to moving into new apartments with subsidized rent, the bigger challenge is aiding the estimated chronically homeless veterans. In all in Los Angeles, it's estimated 4,000 veterans are without homes.

The public private partnership known as Home for Good sends outreach workers to locate the homeless and connect them with services. It has been placing more than 400 veterans a month into housing, according to director Christine Margiotta.

The challenge in achieving the President's goal by year's end, she said, is to bump up that placement rate to more than 500 a month, every month.

The VA has been criticized for not providing more housing on its sprawling 386-acre campus in West LA. It had originally been deeded back in the 19th century as a home for veterans. Last month, in announcing the settlement of a lawsuit against the VA, McDonald pledged a new master plan for campus development, and to move away from leases with outside interests that do not directly benefit veterans.

Late 2016 is seen as the earliest that new housing on the West LA campus could be planned, approved, and built. For the near term, efforts to place veterans in need of homes will rely on persuading more apartment owners and managers to make units available to veterans bringing government-funded rent subsidies.

Santa Ana police are searching a group of people caught on surveillance camera burglarizing an Orange County apartment complex, officials said Friday.

Two men and a woman entered an apartment complex at 31 MacArthur Crescent and burglarized residents’ vehicles in the parking area, according to the Santa Ana Police Department.

The group was also caught on surveillance camera stealing residents’ mail by breaking the lock of the mail distribution slots, police said.

The first of three burglaries happened on Jan. 31, police said.  The dates of the other burglaries were not immediately clear.

The men and woman fled the scene in two different cars: a gray Volvo station wagon and white Ford Mustang.

Police said one of the men is 5 feet 10 inches tall to 6 feet 2 inches tall, 30 to 35 years old, of heavy build with a shaved head, and a mustache. He was wearing a long silver or gold necklace.

The second man appears to be 25 to 30 years old, 5 feet 9 inches tall to 5 feet 11 inches tall, of thin build with black hair and long sideburns.

The woman appears to be 25 to 30 years old thin build, police said.

Police ask anyone with information to call 1-855-TIP-OCCS.

Tax returns for hundreds of people were found in the middle of a Philadelphia street.

Yvette Santiago told NBC10 her husband spotted hundreds of papers in the street outside their home on the 1900 block of East Cheltenham Avenue Saturday morning.

“He thought it was garbage,” Santiago said. “But then he said, ‘Oh my God, look!’”

What he initially believed was trash was actually tax documents full of personal information.

“You have the name, social security and date of birth,” Santiago said.

Santiago showed the documents to NBC10’s Christine Maddela who took them to local accountant Michael Falco. Falco told NBC10 the documents were actual tax returns, showing where people work, their income and even information about their children.

“For the people who have documents here this could turn into a nightmare,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. This is unbelievable. Just terrible. Credit card theft you can stop. You’re only limited to a certain liability. This goes way beyond that because you can actually file a false tax return and get a refund. IRS paid out over $5 billion last year in false refunds from information that was stolen.”

Falco says the next step is figuring out how the documents ended up on the street.

“Who’s responsible for this getting out there because as a preparer, you’ve got a responsibility to make sure this information doesn’t get out,” he said.

Christine Maddela reached out to the Philadelphia Police Department who told her to notify the IRS once the office opens Monday. She is also tracking down the agency that prepared the tax returns.
 

Chicago police arrested a man Saturday in connection with the assault and robbery of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's 17-year-old son.

The offender, who has not been identified because he was charged as a juvenile, allegedly confessed to the crimes and was charged with robbery and aggravated battery.

The incident occurred Dec. 19 in the mayor's neighborhood in the 4200 block of North Hermitage.

The mayor's son, 17-year-old Zach Emanuel, was walking in the block when he was approached by two unknown male offenders who grabbed him and went through his pockets. The offenders took his phone and then fled the scene, according to police news affairs.

Zach Emanuel sustained injuries that required medical treatment, according to Kelley Quinn, a spokesperson for the mayor.

"The Mayor and Amy are grateful to the dedicated men and women of the Chicago Police Department for their hard work, and they would like to thank everyone who shared kind thoughts and wishes for their son's well-being," the mayor's office said in a statement.

Hackers apparently seized the Twitter account of popular fast-casual chain Chipotle Mexican Grill early Sunday morning, tweeting obscenities and replacing the brand's main icon with a swastika before the account was recovered, and the offensive tweets deleted, hours later.

"Our Twitter account was hijacked overnight for about two hours during which a series of offensive tweets was posted to the account," Chris Arnold, Chipolte's communication director, wrote NBC in an email. "We apologize for the nature of the posts that were made during that time, and we are now conducting an investigation to try to determine what happened and who might have been involved."

The first tweet indicating the account had been hacked was posted at 1:59 a.m. ET on Feb. 8th. Several subsequent tweets were posted, and included racial and homophobic slurs. The tweets targeted President Barack Obama and several government agencies.

The brand's bio tag was also changed to: "The official Twitter account of @TUGFeds and @TheCeltic666," two handles that reappeared in the tweets. The location was changed to "The Bharath Household."

By 3:13 a.m. ET, the swastika image had been replaced with a stock Twitter "egg" image, and the offensive tweets had been deleted.

Any attempt to access Chipotle's website during the hack were redirected to the Twitter page for @TheCeltic666. The account tweeted several ominous messages before the hack took place. At 7:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, the account tweeted, "Sorry, @ChipotleTweets!"

The popular fast-casual chain's other social media accounts, including its Facebook page and Instagram page, appeared to be unaffected early Sunday.

A man was shot dead after a physical altercation in front of a business in Hollywood late Saturday night, police said.

Police confirmed that they had a possible suspect in custody, but not the weapon used in the fatal shooting.

The shooting was reported just after 11:30 p.m. Saturday, at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Las Palmas Avenue, Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Titus Tyler said. 

When officers arrived onscene, they located an unresponsive man with gunshot wounds shot in his head lying in the street, police said. He was transported to a local hospital, where he later died, early Sunday, Tyler said. 

Witnesses described the attacker as an armed man, Tyler said. They saw the gunman and victim get in a physical altercation before gunshots were fired.

All eastbound lanes of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue were closed for the shooting investigation. They reopened just before 5:30 a.m. Sunday, Tyler said. 

Both the shooting victim and the suspect in custody are affiliated with gangs, but police were unable to confirm whether this incident was gang related and whether the victim and suspect knew each other, Tyler said. 

This is a developing story, refresh for updates. 

A man was killed in a bare-handed beating outside a Burger King in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night, police said.

The incident happened outside a Burger King in the 700 block of Cesar E. Chavez Avenue in downtown LA, according to Los Angeles Police Department spokesmen.

Police took two people into custody but did not give any details about what led up to the beating or how exactly the man was beaten, other than that no weapons were used in the attack.

The two men in police custody are transients, police said. They were in the process of being booked on homicide charges.

Police first said a beating happened outside a Burger King in the 2400 block of South San Pedro Street but later changed the address to Cesar E. Chavez Avenue.

Northern California was lashed by a second wet and windy storm with the potential to take down trees and power lines on Sunday, days after a similar system moved through the region--though it appeared to do far less damage than a similar system two days earlier..

Thunderstorms and wind gusts of 45 miles per hour were forecast for the San Francisco Bay Area, where the storm was expected to drop as much as 3 inches of rain in coastal hills before moving out Monday afternoon.

The worst of the wind and rain was over for the San Francisco Bay Area by the early afternoon, though scattered showers were expected through Monday morning, said National Weather Service forecaster Austin Cross.

"This storm has less rain and is also moving through a bit quicker than we saw on Friday,'' Cross said. "That's helping it from getting too severe.''

At San Francisco International Airport, officials said more than 80 flights were canceled as of the afternoon. The Federal Aviation Administration was reporting arrival delays of as much as 2 hours.

Friday's storm led to the cancellation of 175 flights at the airport and delays of up to 90 minutes. It also knocked out power to more than 90,000 people in the Bay Area, almost all of whom had their power restored by Sunday morning. The storm dropped about three-quarters of an inch of rain on San Francisco — a welcome change after six dry weeks.

As of 5:45 p.m., 570 customers on the Peninsula, 480 in the North Bay, 40 in the East Bay, and 530 South Bay customers were without power, according to PG&E.

There were also reports of downed trees and some localized flooding. On the Peninsula, flooding has caused traffic on southbound U.S. Highway 101 just north of Marsh Road in San Mateo County Sunday afternoon, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Officers were notified of water flooding all southbound lanes north of Marsh Road around 11:30 a.m., CHP officials said.

At about noon, traffic was backed up for 2 miles just north of Henderson Avenue in Menlo Park, according to the CHP.

A Sig-alert was issued at 12:07 p.m.

The storm was far from a drought-buster, however, particularly as it stayed warm and didn't bring much snow to the Sierra. Snow is more important than rain because snowpack supplies about a third of the water needed by residents, agriculture and industry.

The storm dropped between 10 to 15 inches of snow at higher elevations of the Northern Sierra, according to the National Weather Service. Sunday's storm system was also expected to be warm, bringing as much as another 14 inches of snow.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said it had brought in crews from Oregon, Washington and Arizona to prepare for the storm.

#StormWatch: PG&E crews continue 24/7 restoration & prep. Stay safe today everyone. More info: http://t.co/MyIF9FCF85 pic.twitter.com/ZOn7wmxHFL

— PG&E (@PGE4Me) February 8, 2015

#StormWatch #SafetyTip: If you see a downed power line keep everyone away from the area and call 911 #norcal #cawx pic.twitter.com/4RAaQVv8oS

— PG&E (@PGE4Me) February 8, 2015

Winds & rain will increase late AM Sunday & build thru the afternoon; winds are expected to peak late Sunday PM #cawx pic.twitter.com/Xixmsm9eCu

— PG&E (@PGE4Me) February 8, 2015

E23 T23 & BC5 on-scene of a tree into a house. More high winds expected tonight. #SanMateo pic.twitter.com/1yJWyDNXRx

— San Mateo FD (@SanMateoFD) February 9, 2015

Bay City News contributed to this report.

New video showed rescue crews fighting darkness and steep conditions to save a woman who fell off a cliff in Pacifica.

Crews were called to Palmetto and West Line Drive just after 5:30 p.m. after a hiker fell several hundred feet down a cliff.

Rescuers found the hiker and had to treat and stabilize her before they could bring her to safety.

The hiker was taken to the hospital to be treated for moderate injuries.