David Hernandez

Online shopping for cigarettes and vaping products boomed sharply in the weeks after a state ban on flavored tobacco took effect almost a year ago, according to a new UC San Diego study. And despite the ban, flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, were available online to consumers, the study says. The findings, published this month in the journal Tobacco Control, point to an apparent loophole in the ban and tobacco retail licensing programs, which do not explicitly address e-co…

ENCINITAS — A 37-year-old man was hit by an SUV and killed in Encinitas on Wednesday night, Nov. 8, sheriff’s officials said. The crash occurred about 8:30 p.m. on El Camino R…

Man dies after being hit by vehicle mid-block in Encinitas

A 39-year-old motorcyclist was hit by two vehicles and killed on Interstate 805 south of Interstate 5 on Monday night, authorities said. California Highway Patrol Officer Salvador Castro said one of the drivers didn’t stop after the incident, which was reported about 9 p.m. on southbound I-805. The rider was stopped in the traffic lanes for an unknown reason when his black Harley-Davidson bike was struck by an SUV, a Honda Crosstour, Castro said. The impact threw the rider off the motorcycle, an…

A shooting in the parking lot of a Home Depot in the Ocean View Hills neighborhood left two people injured late Sunday morning, San Diego police said. The shooting was reported about 10:50 a.m. in a lot outside the store on Dennery Road near Del Sol Boulevard, police said. Several 911 callers reported hearing multiple gunshots — one caller heard four, another heard seven, police said. The victims were a 29-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy, according to FOX 5 San Diego. The station said their i…

A San Diego Superior Court judge who applied for the job of the county’s chief public defender is not eligible under state law, according to a court ruling issued Thursday. Judge Michael Washington took the county to court after county officials deemed him ineligible for the position, which was vacated when former Public Defender Randy Mize retired in June. At issue were differing interpretations of Government Code section 27701, which states public defender applicants must be a practicing attor…

A group of attorneys in San Diego will offer free legal services to defend the civil rights of local Jewish and Muslim community members who may be victimized because of tensions surrounding the deadly Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East. The effort was announced Thursday outside of the downtown San Diego federal courthouse by Shane Harris, president of People’s Association of Justice Advocates, and several of the attorneys. “No matter what side of the conflict you land on, everyone…

A 65-year-old man riding an electric tricycle was struck by an SUV and killed in Poway on Monday afternoon, a sheriff’s official said. The crash occurred about 5 p.m. on Camino del Norte near…

A 65-year-old man riding an electric tricycle was struck by an SUV and killed in Poway on Monday afternoon, a sheriff’s official said. The crash occurred about 5 p.m. on Camino del Norte near World Trade Drive near the boundary with Rancho Bernardo and Carmel Mountain Ranch. The man was headed west on Camino del Norte when a 47-year-old woman in a Mercedes-Benz SUV — also going west — struck him from behind, sheriff’s Sgt. Sean Gallagher said. The man died at a hospital, Gallagher said. The serg…

Four days after a 16-year-old girl was shot in the back outside a birthday celebration in San Diego, her family on Wednesday called for justice and peace. The shooting was one of at least four across the county over the weekend. Two victims — a 16-year-old boy and an 18-year-old man in El Cajon — were killed. Six others, including the teenage girl, were injured. On Wednesday, the family of the girl — including her uncle Shane Harris, president of People’s Association of Justice Advocates — held…