A shark knocked a surfer off of his board off the coast of San Clemente Monday, prompting authorities to close the water to swimmers and others on the busy Memorial Day holiday.

According to city officials, the ocean water was closed off late Monday morning “due to confirmed aggressive shark behavior” in the water in the vicinity of T-Street Beach.

The beaches remained open, but water access was closed until at least 8 p.m. Monday, “pending no additional shark sightings,” according to the city.

City Councilman Chris Duncan told CBS2 that surfers reported the activity to lifeguards, who reviewed surveillance footage and found video of the surfer being knocked off his board.

According to CBS2, officials from the Long Beach State University shark lab were consulted, and they determined the culprit was likely a juvenile great white shark.

No injuries were reported.

Updated 6:29 p.m. May 27, 2024

— City News Service

A $1 million settlement was announced Tuesday for 589 janitors who were underpaid while working at eight Cheesecake Factory restaurants in San Diego and Orange counties.

The settlement stems from an investigation that began in 2016 regarding alleged wage and hour violations at San Diego County Cheesecake Factory restaurants.

Those janitors were employed by companies that were contracted and subcontracted by the Cheesecake Factory, according to the Maintenance Cooperation Trust Fund, a statewide watchdog organization that investigates allegations of employment law violations.

According to MCTF, the state Labor Commissioner’s Office found workers were often logging up to 10 hours of unpaid overtime every week, and some worked without proper meal or rest breaks.

Naxhili Perez, who previously worked at a Cheesecake Factory restaurant in San Diego, said in a statement, “Many companies think they can hire a contractor and avoid responsibility, but they cannot. If the law is being broken inside your company, you are responsible. Now the Cheesecake Factory understands there are no shortcuts when it comes to workers’ rights.”

The Cheesecake Factory restaurants that were part of the investigation were located at:

— Friars Road, San Diego;

— Harbor Drive, San Diego;

— Via Rancho Parkway, Escondido;

— Brea Mall Way, Brea;

— Spectrum Center Drive, Irvine;

— Edinger Avenue, Huntington Beach;

— Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach; and

— The Shops at Mission Viejo, Mission Viejo.

Janitors who worked at those locations between Aug. 31, 2014, and Aug. 31, 2017, were advised to call the Labor Commissioner’s Office at 619-767- 2039 because they may be entitled to wages and damages as part of the settlement.

“California strengthened its laws to remove loopholes that allowed businesses to subcontract services and avoid responsibility to ensure workers are paid what they are owed,” California Labor Commissioner Lilia García- Brower said in a statement. “This settlement is a result of our effort to use enforcement tools which increase compliance, levels the playing field and recovers owed wages for workers.”

— City News Service

One of two inmates who walked away from a Kearny Mesa halfway house over the weekend was captured in Orange County Monday, authorities reported.

Agents with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation arrested Janelle Rice, 32, without incident in the city of Stanton about 8:45 a.m., according to CDCR public affairs.

Rice, who was sentenced in San Bernardino County in February to a four- year prison term for burglary and robbery, was re-incarcerated at the California Institution of Women in Chino. Her case will be referred to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office for consideration of escape charges.

On Saturday, Rice and fellow inmate Diana Sanchez, 31, sneaked away from the Custody to Community Transitional Reentry Program facility on Armstrong Street and disabled their electronic ankle monitors.

Sanchez, who remains at large, was sentenced in Los Angeles County in March to a five-year term for burglary and identity theft.

The CCTRP system allows eligible female convicts to serve their ends of their custody terms in a community facility in lieu of state prison. The program provides a range of rehabilitative services that assist with substance- abuse recovery, employment, education, housing, social support and family reunification.

–City News Service

Keenon Green who attempted to recruit a 16-year-old girl to become a prostitute was sentenced Wednesday to 12 years in federal prison.

Keenon Green, 35, was arrested at a park in Santee, where prosecutors say he had planned to meet up with a teenage girl and take her to Orange County to work as a prostitute.

However, the girl he knew as “Lexi” was actually an undercover San Diego County sheriff’s deputy, according to court documents.

Prosecutors say Green began conversing with Lexi over Instagram in December 2021. In their messages, the pair discussed Lexi working for Green as a prostitute, which would involve her working the street until Green could secure her a fake ID in order to begin posting online sex ads.

In one exchange, Lexi mentions that she is 16, in high school, and was late in responding to Green’s messages because she was working on her biology homework.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges Green sought to pick up Lexi and have her earn him $1,000 “before returning her to San Diego on Monday to attend high school.”

After reviewing his social media activity, it was revealed that Green had messaged several other Instagram users with proposals to work for him as prostitutes, according to prosecutors, who wrote in a sentencing memorandum that Green spent eight years in prison for burglary and false imprisonment convictions, and began conversing with Lexi about four months after he was released.

Green was convicted by a San Diego federal jury in February of one count each of attempted sex trafficking of children and attempted enticement of a minor.

–City News Service

 Actress and model Tawny Kitaen, who was born in San Diego and gained fame for her appearances in 1980s music videos and her high- profile marriages to Whitesnake singer David Coverdale and former Angels pitcher Chuck Finley, died at the age of 59, authorities said Saturday.

Kitaen died at approximately 8 a.m., according to the Orange County coroner’s office, which listed the incident as a “residential death.”

Her autopsy will take place next week, either Monday or Tuesday, according to a spokeswoman at the coroner’s office.

Police were dispatched to Kitaen’s Newport Beach home at 1:51 p.m. Friday regarding an “unresponsive female found inside the residence,” according to Sgt. Steve Oberon of the Newport Beach Police Department.

Oberon said Newport Beach Fire Department paramedics pronounced Kitaen dead at the scene.

“The coroner is handling the death investigation. So we don’t know the cause of death. Our report is pending. The officers haven’t finished their report,” Oberon told City News Service on Saturday.

Kitaen’s two daughters from her marriage to Finley, Wynter and Raine, posted a Facebook message announcing their mother’s death at around 9:15 a.m. Saturday.

“We are heartbroken an saddened to announce the death of our mom,” it said. “We just want to say thank you for all of you, her fans and her friends, for always showing her such support and love. You gave her life everyday. We miss her and love her and we know her legacy will live on forever.”

Kitaen had tweeted as recently as Thursday, thanking a fan for drawing a picture of her. Her last Facebook post was dated Tuesday, and showed a self-taken photograph of her with the message: “When I stare at you, it’s because I want to know what you’re thinking. And I want to know what you’re thinking, it’s because I care about you. Let me know.”

Julie E. Kitaen was born in San Diego and adopted the nickname Tawny as a child. She started modeling in the early 1980s, appearing on rock album covers and soon in videos for hard-rock bands.

She also earned movie roles during this time, including a major role in the 1984 comedy “Bachelor Party” as the fiance of the lead character played by Tom Hanks. Other film roles included 1984’s “Gwendoline,” 1986’s “Witchboard” and 1996’s “Dead Tides.”

Kitaen starred in several videos for the band Whitesnake, most famously for the 1987 song “Here I Go Again,” in which she danced provocatively on the hood of a car.

She married Coverdale in 1989, and they divorced in 1991.

“Just woke up to some very sad, unexpected news … Waiting on confirmation … but, if it is true, my sincere condolences to her children, her family, friends & fans,” Coverdale tweeted Saturday.

Kitaen married Finley in 1997 and they divorced in 2002, shortly after Kitaen was charged with domestic violence for kicking Finley in the face with high-heeled shoes. She submitted to a spousal battery counseling program and the charges were dismissed.

Her television career included recurring roles on “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,” “America’s Funniest People” and “The New WKRP in Cincinnati .”

Kitaen’s later years featured appearances on the VH1 reality shows “The Surreal Life” and “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.”

Orange County prosecutors filed a murder charge Tuesday against a 30-year-old Anaheim man accused of killing a woman whose body was found in his pickup truck following a crash in San Marcos.

Abdulaziz Munther Alubidy was involved in a crash just after 4 p.m. Friday at San Marcos Boulevard and Rancho Santa Fe. When San Diego County sheriff’s deputies checked inside Alubidy’s 2108 Toyota Tundra, they found the body of 56-year-old Jessie Villesca of Anaheim, according to Anaheim police Sgt. Shane Carringer.

The victim’s wounds led deputies to suspect she was murdered, Carringer said. He said the deputies’ investigation led them to believe the victim was killed in Anaheim near West Corporate Way and North Muller Street in Anaheim earlier Friday. Anaheim police then took over the case.

Police declined to discuss a motive or the nature of the victim’s injuries.

Alubidy was being held without bail, according to jail records.

–City News Service

A 36-year-old Huntington Beach man was behind bars Tuesday on suspicion of kidnapping a 31-year-old woman he had taken on a date in Orange County, authorities said.

Ricardo Rodrigo Salas was arrested early Monday following a short pursuit by Camp Pendleton police on southbound Interstate 5 that ended near the Aliso Creek rest area, California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Latulippe said.

At around 12:10 a.m. Monday, the 31-year-old woman escaped Salas’ Toyota Tundra pickup at a vista point on southbound I-5, north of the Aliso Creek rest area, and borrowed a truck driver’s phone to call 911, Latulippe said.

She told dispatchers she was on a date with the man in Orange County when she requested to end the date, but he refused and kept driving on southbound I-5 toward San Diego, the officer said. He stopped at the vista point for unknown reasons and the woman was able to escape to call 911.

Oceanside CHP units were involved in an unrelated pursuit at the time, so Camp Pendleton police officers responded to the vista point to assist, Latulippe said. As officers arrived, Salas allegedly drove off in his Toyota before Camp Pendleton police caught up and stopped him near the Aliso Creek rest area.

The woman was uninjured and was taken to the CHP Oceanside office, where she was released to family members, Latulippe said.

Salas was booked into the Vista Detention Facility shortly after 4:15 a.m. Monday on suspicion of driving under the influence, kidnapping and false imprisonment, according to jail records. He was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail pending his arraignment, scheduled for July 31.

–City News Service

A 36-year-old man was arrested Monday morning at a rest stop north of Camp Pendleton on suspicion of kidnapping a woman he had taken on a date in Orange County, authorities said.

Dispatchers received a call shortly before 12:15 a.m. from the unidentified woman, who reported that she had escaped from the man’s vehicle at a viewpoint off southbound Interstate 5, north of the Aliso Creek rest area, and had borrowed a truck driver’s phone to call 911, California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Latulippe said.

She also told dispatchers she had been on a date with the man in Costa Mesa when he took her against her will, Latulippe said.

Camp Pendleton police and CHP officers responded to the rest area, but the man had driven off. He later pulled over at the Aliso Creek rest area off southbound I-5 and was taken into custody.

The man, whose name was not immediately available, was expected to be booked on suspicion of driving under the influence as well as multiple misdemeanor and felony charges related to the alleged kidnapping, Latulippe said.

–City News Service

UC San Diego researchers and Orange County-based medical diagnostic company Fluxergy have taken the next step toward getting a high-speed test for COVID-19 available for use, the company announced Monday.

Irvine-based Fluxergy submitted an emergency use authorization request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center For Devices and Radiological Health, seeking an authorization that would permit medical professionals to begin using the company’s test system as a COVID-19 diagnostic at the point-of-care.

The Fluxergy Analyzer system, which uses microfluidics technology, has been shown by company and UCSD tests to identify the SARS-CoV-2 virus in under one hour with patient samples completed this past week.

The UCSD physician-scientist research team that conducted the validation, completed Friday, was led by Dr. Davey Smith, a professor of medicine and head of the UCSD Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health. Smith is a member of the Fluxergy Medical Advisory Board.

“The best thing it could do is triage patients pretty quickly,” Smith said. “In some place like a nursing home or hospital, if you see someone who may be transmitting the disease, do you have to quarantine all those people he interacted with? Maybe, but you can test that person and quickly know.”

Smith said UCSD can currently get test results back in around eight hours. San Diego County was taking a day or longer to get results and other labs sending to central labs could range from three days to two weeks.

Advanced rapid point-of-care tests for COVID-19 may have the potential to save significant time compared to standard lab tests that must be shipped to centralized laboratories for processing. Fluxergy’s on-site sample- to-answer test for COVID-19 requires a very small sample, typically a nasal swab, which is mixed with a reagent solution, loaded onto a card and inserted into the analyzer in a two-step procedure.

“The worldwide shortage and inaccessibility of COVID-19 tests have been major impediments to containing the pandemic in the U.S. and globally,” said Dr. Ali Tinazli, chief commercial officer at Fluxergy. “We are gratified to be progressing toward the next important milestone in the development of our point-of-care diagnostic technology.”

The Fluxergy Analyzer is about the size of a small desktop computer. The system does not require the virus RNA to be purified before the test can be performed.

–City News Service

Researchers at UC San Diego are evaluating a new diagnostic testing system designed by an Orange County company that holds promise for identifying the novel coronavirus in as little as 45 minutes and typically within one hour.

Initial tests by Irvine-based Fluxergy using a synthetic COVID-19 virus suggest this system has the potential to dramatically reduce the time it takes to get results and deliver those results directly at the patient bedside. Such a test, if validated by physician-scientists at UCSD, would potentially eliminate the need to send patient samples to centralized labs, significantly speeding up the time it takes to get results.

“The best thing it could do is triage patients pretty quickly,” said Dr. Davey Smith, UCSD professor of medicine and doctor leading the research team. “In someplace like a nursing home or hospital, if you see someone who may be transmitting the disease, do you have to quarantine all those people he interacted with? Maybe, but you can test that person and quickly know.”

Smith said that UCSD can currently get test results back in around eight hours. San Diego County was taking a day or longer to get results and other labs sending to central labs could range from three days to two weeks.

Last week, the UCSD research team began an initial evaluation of the Fluxergy system using actual virus samples from patients in San Diego. This evaluation is expected to be completed within one week, according to Smith, head of the UCSD Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health. Smith is a member of the Fluxergy Medical Advisory Board. If the performance of the Fluxergy testing system is validated, the UCSD team plans to use the Fluxergy system to test for COVID-19 at patient bedsides at UCSD Medical Center in accordance with the Food and Drug Administration’s guidance.

“We’ll do some positive and negative samples, it’s a very simple test to run,” Smith said of his labs plans in the next week. “But it’s looking promising.”

The Fluxergy Analyzer is about the size of a small desktop computer. The system does not require the virus RNA to be purified before the test can be performed. Samples are placed directly on a disposable sample-to-answer Fluxergy test card, which uses printed circuit board technology and microfluidics to automate various sample processing steps.

“Our vision is to make it possible for clinicians to quickly perform sophisticated diagnostic tests and quickly get back results right at the patient’s bedside or in accessible urgent care settings where this information is needed the most,” said Fluxergy co-founder and President Tej Patel.

The Fluxergy system is currently available only for research purposes to develop new diagnostic products. The system has not yet been reviewed or approved by the FDA. However, if the researchers at UCSD obtain promising results using the system, they intend to begin immediate use of the system.

COVID-19 is the infectious disease caused by the novel coronavirus, which was first discovered in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and now has been declared by the World Health Organization to be a pandemic. In humans, coronaviruses are known to cause respiratory infections ranging from moderate to severe symptoms; over 181,000 people in 162 countries have already been diagnosed with COVID-19, and more than 7,000 deaths have been attributed to the highly contagious viral disease.

–City News Service