City News Service

A pair of active-duty U.S. Marines stationed at Camp Pendleton were arrested Tuesday morning on a federal grand jury indictment charging one of the Marines and three civilians with conspiring to distribute narcotics.

Charles Morton, 39, a squad boss with the Big Bear Interagency Hotshots, died Thursday while battling the El Dorado Fire in the San Bernardino mountains, according to San Bernardino National Forest officials.

San Diego County will remain in the red tier of the state's COVID-19 reopening plan for at least one more week, according to state officials.

In a letter sent Monday to Newsom, Summer Stephan said there has been "a drastic increase in child predatory behavior on the internet" with children out of school and teachers unable to "be the eyes and ears of law enforcement" to report suspected abuse among their students.

San Diego County awaits data from the state Tuesday which could potentially place San Diego in the "purple tier," the state's most restrictive.

Due to distance learning since the spring, the average student is likely behind seven months academically, according to the report. Because of additional infrastructure disparities, the figure may be as high as 10 months for Black children and nine months for Latinx children.

California has been battered by 10 previous atmospheric rivers this winter.

The latest in-custody death comes on the heels of news that a sheriff’s deputy was arrested for allegedly having illegal drugs on county jail property.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a statement in response to Southwest's cancellations, noting that the department will be looking into the situation.