The fallout continues at San Jose State—first a department head was caught using university funds for personal expenses. Now his boss, the dean overseeing that department, is stepping down.

Charles Bullock, dean of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts, announced to colleagues in an email last month that as of July 1 he will no longer serve as dean and that he will be “retreating to the faculty.”

This move comes less than a month after the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit exposed problems with the university’s investigation into the misuse of an unauthorized off-campus checking account by the former chair of the Justice Studies department, Dr. Mark Correia.

• Justice in SJSU "Justice Studies Department?

“Dean Bullock will be returning back to faculty starting in the fall and will resume his activities as a faculty member at the university,” said Andy Feinstein who holds the second most powerful position at the university as provost.

Feinstein could not discuss the reason for Bullock’s sudden departure because of personnel matters. According to sources, Feinstein met with Bullock in the days following the NBC Bay Area investigation.  Feinstein declined to say whether Bullock resigned or was forced out.

Students, faculty and staff raised concerns about the university’s internal review of Correia’s misuse of a university checking account that held student funds. The Finance department concluded that “no fiscal impropriety” occurred, despite Correia’s admission that he made nearly $7,000 in what he described as inadvertent personal charges, which he later reimbursed.

“I am wondering what is going on in the administration’s head and how they justify their inaction,” said Sang Kil, an associate professor in the Justice Studies department.

Bullock said that he was satisfied with the scope of the university’s investigation, and that if he wasn’t, he would have asked for a more thorough investigation.  A deeper investigation is exactly what university president Mohammad Qayoumi called for in the days following the NBC Bay Area investigation.

“I don’t think we are happy about what unfolded in the Justice Studies,” Feinstein said. “The president and I both agree the initial investigation was too narrow and not thorough enough and I think that is one of the primary reasons the president has requested from the Chancellor’s office a complete investigation of what occurred in Justice Studies.”

  On May 15, a day following the NBC Bay Area investigation, Qayoumi called in special auditors from the California State University Chancellor’s Office in Long Beach to review the financial transactions in the Justice Studies department, look into contracts that former department head Correia awarded to close friends, and examine why the university issued a report that concluded “there were no fiscal improprieties.”

• CSU Chancellor's Office to Audit SJSU Justice Studies Dept.

“It is clear Mark Correia inappropriately spent funds and the university resources,” Feinstein said, “and that’s why I want to know what else occurred in Justice Studies and how we are going to address the issues that happened.

The auditors have not set a deadline but Feinstein said that the university will act quickly and make the findings of the report public.

Correia left San Jose State University a year ago for a dean’s position at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He has not returned numerous phone calls and emails requesting comment.

If you have a tip for the Investigative Unit email theunit@nbcbayarea.com or call 888-996-TIPS.

Silicon Valley will get a dose of tech star power when Bill and Melinda Gates arrive at Stanford University this weekend to deliver the 2014 commencement speech.

The couple are the founders and co-chairs of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest private foundation.

"Sharing a mutual commitment to a better world, Bill and Melinda Gates have taken on some of the planet's toughest challenges. This boldness is an ethos that we also embody at Stanford, and one we seek to instill in our graduates ... " Stanford president John Hennessy said in a statement.

• Condoleezza Rice Backs Out of Rutgers Commencement Amid Protests

Melinda Gates tweeted out a picture of her graduation from Duke University Thursday, saying: "Thinking about my graduation from Duke as @BillGates and I prep for #Stanford14 commencement this weekend. #TBT"

Apple's late founder Steve Jobs delivered the commencement address at Stanford in 2005, giving students the now famous words of advice: "stay hungry, stay foolish."

Stanford's 2014 commencement ceremony is scheduled for June 15.

• In San Francisco Visit, Chris Christie Distances Himself from Rick Perry's Comments on Homosexuality

Thinking about my graduation from Duke as @BillGates and I prep for #Stanford14 commencement this weekend. #TBT pic.twitter.com/oxk2yUWfXe

— Melinda Gates (@melindagates) June 12, 2014

A Connecticut woman who raced to help when she heard a child calling for his or her daddy assisted in a very different reunion when she learned the calls were actually coming from a missing parrot named Ralphie.

The woman became concerned when she heard what she thought was a child calling “Daddy, Daddy” over and over again in the area of Holland Hill School, at 105 Meadowcroft Road, in Fairfield, Connecticut, at around 5 p.m. on Thursday, so she did what she thought she needed to to do and started looking for the child.

When she followed the sound, she did not find a missing child. Instead, she found a large green parrot 25 feet up in the tree, so she called Animal Control.

• WATCH: House Teetering on Cliff I Burnt Down

The talking bird, which had been reported missing from a home about a mile away, was too high up for Animal Control to reach, so they called the on fire department, according to police.

Firefighters used a long pole to get the bird out of the tree and it flew into an area of bamboo.  

Firefighters then chased Ralphie out of those trees so Animal Control could catch it in a net and bring it to the shelter.

Ralphie continued to talk, nonstop, according to police, and was finally reunited with its owner.

• PHOTOS: Adorable Zoo Babies

Three passengers and a bus operator on a San Francisco Municipal Railway bus were injured when a distracted driver crashed into the bus near San Francisco's Laguna Honda Hospital Thursday evening, police and Muni officials said.

The crash was reported at 7:40 p.m. on Laguna Honda Boulevard near Clarendon Avenue, according to police.

Muni spokesman Paul Rose said the driver hit an inbound 43-Masonic bus.

Police said the 22-year-old driver was heading north on Laguna Honda Boulevard while looking at his GPS device. He crossed over into oncoming traffic and hit the bus head-on.

Four people on the bus, including the operator, suffered injuries not considered life-threatening, police said.

• San Rafael Brush Fire Threatens Mobile Home Park

The injuries to the driver, bus riders and operator included cuts to the stomach and abdominal and neck pain, police said. The bus driver and passengers were all women ages 19, 50, 32, and 62.

Rose said the operator suffered minor injuries and has been placed on non-driving status as the accident is investigated.

The bus was towed back to the yard and other passengers transferred to another bus, he said.

Damage to the bus is being assessed and repairs will follow, he said.

Following the incident, Muni officials reported delays and reroutes on the 36-Teresita, 43-Masonic, and 44-O'Shaugnessy bus lines.

San Jose Family Camp opens Friday, with camp staff putting the finishing touches on getting things ready, including putting tarps on newly built canvas tents, following California's third largest wildfire last summer.

In the last six months, camp crews removed 800 charred and damaged trees, built 17 out of 65 tent cabins, and rebuilt destroyed water tanks.

"When I came here, all I saw were dead trees and metal frames of tents," Camp Manager Jenna Sorrels told NBC Bay Area Friday morning, before the rush of campers was expected at 1 p.m. "I had six months with my team to get this up and running. And the main goal was to be safe."

The camp, owned by the city of San Jose, is located in the heart of the Sierra near Yosemite National Park just east of Groveland.

• PHOTOS: Rim Fire Rages in Yosemite Park

On Aug. 17, 2013, a fire dubbed the "Rim Fire" ripped through Tuolumne and Mariposa counties, and burned more than 250,000 acres, earning the dubious honor of becoming California’s third largest wildfire, and the biggest wildfire on record in the Sierra Nevada. It was deemed 100 percent contained in October - two months after it started. Firefighters said it cost $127 million to fight.

Cal Fire later determined it was caused by a hunter’s illegal fire that went out of control.

• Campers Mourn Loss of Berkeley Tuolumne Camp, Camp Tawonga Saves Torah

Eleven homes, three commercial buildings and 98 outbuildings were destroyed in the fire. Nearby Camp Tawonga , a Jewish camp in the area, suffered the loss of a few buildings, but mostly remained unscathed. That camp officially opens to children on Sunday. And San Francisco's Camp Mather, also survived and is up and running this summer.

Berkeley Tuolomne Camp – a family camp owned by the city of Berkeley and seven miles away from San Jose’ family camp– suffered the most damage of all the family camps in the area.

The fire demolished all the tent cabins, and wiped out what had been a summer institution for many in Berkeley since 1922. Now, there is only a camp photo memorial Facebook page left to remember the history there.

This summer, Berkeley’s camp moved to a temporary spot at Echo Lake at Lake Tahoe, under the name “Berkeley Sierra Family Camp.” But if Berkeley residents don’t want to camp at Tahoe this summer, San Jose Family Camp is offering Berkeley campers an offer to stay at its camp at the same rate for San Jose residents.

"The Daily Show" smashed Google Glass enthusiasts to pieces Thursday night after they tried to sell correspondent Jason Jones on the device's virtues.

In an episode titled "Glass Half Empty," Jones mockingly describes the discrimination Glass users have faced for nothing but a "face computer."

Google Glass users featured on the show included Sarah Slocum -- attacked for wearing Glass in a Lower Haight bar -- and Kyle Russell -- the Business Insider reporter who was attacked in the Mission District for wearing Glass while covering an anti-Google protest.

• Google Glass Attack: Tech Journalist Says Wearable Gadget Led to San Francisco Assault

Slocum described her attack as a "hate crime."

“The silly thing is they’re going to be wearing these things probably in a year," she said.

Russell said that Glass acted as an "interface" between yourself and the real world.

• San Francisco Woman Says She Was Attacked for Wearing Google Glass

“Do you guys hear yourself when you talk?” Jones responded. “An interface between you and the real world? Those are called eyes.”

Catch the full "Glass Half Empty" segment below.:

A businessman who opened his coffee shop seven weeks ago in West Oakland has been vandalized twice since pouring his first cup of joe.

And he fears he's being unfairly targeted by people who are decrying "gentrification" and getting their message across, in part, through posters that resemble WWII-era propaganda art depicting clawed fingers tearing the city of Oakland to shreds.

Ethan Ashley doesn't have proof of who the threw rocks that broke five of Kilovolt Coffee's windows, who wrote "Eat S--- and Die Yuppie" on the wall, or who poured glue in the locks and threw concrete through the windows of his shop on Mandela Parkway.

But he does know that the vandalism has occurred twice -- two days after he opened in April and again on Thursday -- in the midst of the so-called "West Oakland Specific Plan," an effort  to spur new housing and commercial development in the neighborhood through zoning changes.

The East Bay Express was the first to report the story, also noting that on Thursday night, the Oakland Planning Commission approved a controversial redevelopment plan that has been in the works for years and sparked protests about gentrification. Ashley believes the vote and the attacks on his new coffee shop are connected.

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Ashley said he has reviewed surveillance video of the vandalism, which shows masked people dressed in black throwing concrete at his shop sometime about 1 a.m. Thursday. He posted a bit of the video on Instagram, titling it, "Haters strike in the night."

Ashley said he put his life savings into the once-abandoned building and turned it into a place that both employs people and serves coffee lovers with a cup of signature "EXXpresso" and a Honey and Banana sandwich. He also can't figure out why he's under attack: He says he is certainly not in the "1 percent."

"I'm not in this business to make money," Ashley said Friday. "I'm doing this to improve the neighborhood I live in. I'm not a Starbucks. I'm not a JP Morgan Chase."

Ashley attended the planning commission meeting, which the East Bay Express noted involved some "heated protests." Meanwhile, protesters were passing out flyers that said "Spread the struggle against gentrification," and later stated, "Fight back. Make snitch neighbors feel unwelcome. Support folks facing eviction. Vandalize developments and gentrifying businesses."

• Woman Tweeted "2 Drunk 2 Care" Before Deadly Crash: Police

One of those posters was put out by a group called Fireworks Bay Area, a self-described "Anarchist Counterinformation Project for the Bay Area."

The group, @FireworksBay, tweeted out that they were organizing a "March Against #Gentrification" in West Oakland, picturing an old man's clawed hands with sharp nails, ripping into an Oakland map. The man has a knife through his hand and he is wearing a watch with a dollar sign. They also tweeted out the East Bay Express story about Kilovolt being vandalized.

March Against #Gentrification in West #Oakland Tonight http://t.co/0FCmi0P2gS pic.twitter.com/hBrgxkGKza

— FireWorks (@FireWorksBAY) June 11, 2014

Ashley told the paper the artwork appeared to be a "bizarre ripoff" of a Nazi propaganda poster. It's unclear why the particular artwork was chosen. Historically, anarchists and Nazi sympathizers have been mortal enemies.

On the "About" section on Fireworks website, it states it is an "anarchist newspaper that aims to cultivate revolutionary solidarity and communication in the Bay among full-fledged rebels, closet antagonists, old-school revolutionaries and budding insurgents," which is "directed at anyone who opposes capitalism, white supremacy, and patriarchy." The group harkens back to living on "native land" that was stolen by the  "Spanish conquistadors" and "this legacy of colonization continues today through rampant gentrification and the constant occupation of our neighborhoods by the police."

• San Rafael Coffee Company's Effort To Help Soldiers Yields Unexpected Result

No one from Fireworks responded for comment to the East Bay Express or NBC Bay Area through the website's contact form. However, the group did post the East Bay Express story prominently on its website.

Around the corner, a neighbor Cara Key, said she didn't realize Ashley had taken over  a vacant building, but said, in general, she feels "threatened" by "hippies" and "yuppies" who can afford a $3 coffee.

As for Ashley, it doesn't seem like rocks and spraypaint are going to deter him. On Friday, he posted a photo saying that his shop is "Here 2 Stay."

On the same day a vociferous protest was held at Stanford to show disappointment over the university's decision to not expel a student accused of rape, a special committee was announced to address sexual assault.

The backlash stemming from Stanford's decision has attracted national attention, garnered faculty support and even prompted some Stanford alumni to withdraw donations.

Assault survivor Leah Francis and her supporters claim the university has been dragging its feet on the case and want mandatory expulsion for those found responsible for sex assualt.

“He's walking away from his undergraduate career with almost complete lack of consequence for forcible raping another student,” Francis said.

• Students Protest Stanford's Decision to Not Expel Student in Sex Assault Case

After a five month investigation into the alleged sex assault that happened off-campus in Francis's home town of Juno, Alaska, the university decided that the accused student is not a threat to the campus. University administrators ruled to withhold his undergraduate degree for two years, denying him entry into graduate school until 2016.

Students rallied outside a Faculty Senate meeting on campus Thursday, during which faculty member David Palumbo-Liu questioned provost John Etchemendy about how the university plans to handle sex assault cases:

"There is a clearly a strong intuition in the world generally, and among our students in particular, that where a student is found responsible for sexual assault they should be expelled unless there is very significant mitigation, Palumbo-Liu asked. "Can you comment on the fact that in its history Stanford has expelled only one student for sexual assualt (and suspened 8 others) and also how you intend to address this?"

In response, Etchemendy infomed the Senate Faculty about the new committee, set to launch in June.

Stanford has so far declined to comment on Francis's case, citing the university's confidential disciplinary process.

• Immigrant Children Raped, Punched in Custody: Complaint

Etchemendy told faculty Thursday that it is inevitable that in difficult and highly-charged cases, one party or the other, and often both, will be unhappy with aspects of the process or outcome.

"We all have to take responsibility for the climate on campus," he said.

Stanford spokesperson Lisa Lupin said that a major component of the committee is about education.

'It is being formed in part as a way to thoroughly examine the recent issues raised by students around sexual assault," she said.

Etchemendy said that while a committee is always a good first step, the real test "is what happens when these cases come forward."

"We are optimistic but we are not taking anything for granted," he said.

I #StandWithLeah pic.twitter.com/m7jYsSvKKn

— Chris Bourg (@mchris4duke) June 12, 2014

Money talks...Stanford, will you listen? #StandWithLeah @stanfordalumni pic.twitter.com/aa1BXnU0xw

— Jenelle Wallace (@JenelleWallace5) June 13, 2014

A 74-year-old Belmont man is recovering after he was bitten by a rattlesnake in his garage.

Edmund Pieret said he was bit Thursday when reaching for one of his tools.

"I reached down to pick up one of the tools, now he must have been underneath where that red box is," Pieret said. "I figured it was a spider or something like that must have bit me, and then I heard a rattle."

Pieret was rushed to the hospital for treatment. On Friday he was nursing a swollen hand.

"I was not expecting it at all," he said. "I've never seen a rattlesnake around the property."

• California Condor Spotted In San Mateo, First in 110 Years

Experts are now warning residents to be cautious as a lack of water and the rising heat is leading to more snake encounters throughout the Bay Area.

"They are moving to areas where there's water, and that happens to be lawns, obviously," said Dave Allen, a snake wrangler.

Allen said he has seen a recent spike in calls for snake removals.

View more in Derek Shore's video report above.

In the second visit to the Bay Area by a nationally prominent Republican this week, Chris Christie was in San Francisco Friday morning and used the opportunity to distance himself from Rick Perry, the Texas governor who made controversial comments in San Francisco earlier this week comparing homosexuality to alcoholism.

On a tour of San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood, the New Jersey governor addressed the comments made by Perry to a crowd of Commonwealth Club of California audience members on Wednesday night.

“I’ll just say that I disagree with him, and I don’t believe that’s an apt analogy, and not one that should be made because I think it’s wrong,” Christie said firmly. “But every governor and public official has to speak for themselves on these issues. I just spoke for myself.”

• Updates: NBC Bay Area mobile apps

Perry said Wednesday that sexual orientation could be genetic but, like alcoholism, is something that can be treated.

Christie's first stop Friday was at Hoogasian Flower Shop in the SoMa neighborhood, where he made an appearance alongside California gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari, touring the warehouse and hosting a meet-and-greet with supporters.

Both men appeared eager to show that Perry’s views, including the Texas Republican’s support of so called “reparative therapy,” are not shared by everyone in the GOP.

“That you’re going to convert someone from one to the other, I just don’t agree,” Kashkari said. “I can look to him on issues of economics, and we can disagree on these personal issues.”

• Shop Owner Suspects Gentrification "Haters" Attacked Business

Christie signed a state law barring so-called reparative therapy aimed at turning gay minors straight last year.

Menlo College professor Melissa Michelson said it’s no surprise Christie is trying to differentiate himself from the extreme right ring of his party on the issue of gay rights.

“The need to moderate yourself on these issues is exactly what you need to win a national vote,” Michelson said. “If you’re going to compete on the national level you can’t be far out there, and the nation is becoming more progressive on LGBT rights.”

Christie has not said whether he’s running for president in 2016, but he told Jimmy Fallon Thursday night that in, a hypothetical race against Hillary Clinton, he would win.

Kashkari, a former U.S. Treasury official under the George W. Bush administration, has an uphill battle ahead of him after winning a distant second to incumbent Jerry Brown in the open primary. Kashkari got 19 percent of the vote compared to Brown’s 54 percent. He believes the New Jersey governor is the perfect example of how a Republican can win a blue state.

• Perry Compares Homosexuality to Alcoholism

“He’s been very effective at working across party lines in New Jersey,” said Kashkari. “I’m looking forward to hearing his advice and how to bring some of his ideas to California.”

Governor Christie agreed.

“No one thought I was going to win in 2009: a blue state, 700,000 more Democrats than Republicans. We hadn’t had a Republican elected statewide in a dozen years, a lot of things you see that are very similar to what’s happening in California right now.”

One of the flower shop’s owners, Harold Hoogasian, said staff members from Kashkari and Christie’s offices called him on Wednesday to ask if he’d be interested in hosting a visit. When asked why, Hoogasian told NBC Bay Area that they were looking for a family-owned, small business because Kashkari would be speaking about how he’d help support small business owners.

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Christie said Kashkari's vote for President Barack Obama in 2008, at the height of the financial crisis, should not preclude Republicans from backing him. He says anyone who wants to vote for a candidate who agrees with them 100 percent of the time should "go home and look in the mirror.''

After the visit, Governor Christie attended a $10,000 a plate luncheon to raise money for the Republican Governors Association, of which he is chairman.

He then went down to Menlo Park to meet with Facebook brass and participate in a live Q&A session at the company's headquarters, answering questions posted by Facebook users on his page.

Christie's stop is part of a cross-country revival tour in which he is trying to shore up his reputation after a bridge-closing political scandal at home put a dent in his national aspirations. In recent weeks he has visited Pennsylvania, Tennessee, New Mexico, Iowa and New Hampshire.

He appeared Thursday night on ``The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon'' and is spending the weekend at a summit in Utah hosted by 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

Christie's visit comes as Republicans in Congress are jockeying to fill a leadership void after the surprise primary loss this week of Majority Leader Eric Cantor by a little known tea party candidate.

Christie said he was ``sad to have seen him lose'' but does not see any broader message about GOP prospects in Cantor's loss.

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``No. I think it's a sign for what happened in the 7th congressional district in Virginia,'' he said.

But the shake-up has jeopardized the chances for comprehensive immigration reform in Congress this year, and the issue could present a challenge for Republican candidates in November. But the New Jersey governor mocked a reporter who asked where he stands on it Friday.

``I'm sure you'd love me to do that, and in fact, what I want to do in a flower warehouse, I want to give you a very complex answer behind a set of microphones on a contentious issue that's driving a debate all across the country,'' he said sarcastically. ``No thank you.''

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

One person is in custody after police busted a cockfighting ring in the Kensington section of Philadelphia.

• SEPTA Regional Rail Strike

Officials say a tip led them to a home on the 2900 block of E Street where the operation was taking place.

When police arrived on Saturday around 3 a.m., they discovered a large scale cockfight that was in progress, according to investigators. Police say dozens of participants and spectators fled the scene but officers were able to arrest the owner of the property.

Officials with the PSPCA initially told NBC10 that they removed 20 birds from the home. They later sent a press release revealing that they removed 18 live roosters and one dead rooster from the home. The birds were brought to the Erie Avenue shelter for forensic evaluation.

• Pilot Error in Katz Crash? 

“This is a fairly elaborate setup,’ said George Bengal of the SPCA. “He’s got an area in the back of this location that is pretty well concealed. There’s a lot of training equipment that he has back there. He’s got all the paraphernalia that’s used in bird fighting.”

The homeowner, who has not yet been identified, was arrested. Cruelty charges are pending.

• Woman Shoots Self, Ex-Boyfriend: Police 

A Minnesota man is on a mission to get real social with his social media friends: he’s driving across the U.S. in an effort to meet all of his Facebook friends in person, some for the first time ever.

“For me, I started to realize that as my Facebook friends number grew, I knew less and less of them very well. I had some free time and I thought, ‘This might be an interesting experiment for me,’ and a fun one as well to see if I could connect with people on a basis that didn’t involve a computer screen in front of us,” Mikel McLaughlin, 35, told NBC 7.

McLaughlin began his social experiment road trip on April 2 from his hometown of Bloomington, Minnesota.

By Friday, he was on day 74 of his trek and had made it all the way to San Diego where he planned to meet with an old high school friend he hadn’t seen in 18 years.

“When I started this, she actually reached out to me and invited me out, which is great. A lot of times I’m the one kind of inviting myself so it’s always nice when somebody invites me,” McLaughlin explained.

So far, McLaughlin has met 156 of his Facebook friends face-to-face and traveled through multiple states including Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Oregon, Colorado, California and Iowa. On his way back home, he plans to visit friends in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

McLaughlin said that when he began his project – aptly dubbed “We’re Friends, Right?” – he had 302 friends on Facebook. He now has more than 500 friends and though he’s not sure he’ll be able to meet all of them, he plans to keep trying.

The friends he has visited so far have included everyone from old childhood pals, including a friend he hadn’t seen since he was 8, to distant relatives, friends of friends, and friends of his wife.

About 15 to 20 of those people have been friends he had only previously met through Facebook, but never in person until now. He said those meetings haven’t been too awkward, and he’s enjoyed becoming better friends with people.

“Just about every time I leave somebody I feel like I’m a little bit closer to them than I was. I’m not making best friends necessarily while I’m out here, but I’m making a lot of first steps towards better relationships,” he explained. “I’m trying to build relationships, create memories and also, I like to write about it on my website, so it’s been a lot of fun.”

McLaughlin said he’s had some very fun, unexpected adventures with friends on this trip, too, including the time one of his Facebook friends -- a police officer in Rigby, Idaho -- took him on a ride-along.

“I got to turn on the siren during a funeral procession, even. It was a busy day,” he laughed.

Another friend took McLaughlin to Yellowstone National Park for the first time ever, while another showed him around the hometown of late Nirvana frontman, Kurt Cobain, in Washington.

While most meetings with friends have involved lunch or coffee somewhere, McLaughlin said he’s really enjoyed the travel aspect of his project and the times when his friends have showed him around their hometowns.

And, after more than two months on the road, McLaughlin can say he’s gotten great response from most of his friends and not many rejections to his meet-in-person friend requests.

“Nobody so far has given me a hard ‘no,’ though in fairness, I have gotten some non-responses and some people that have come up with some brilliant excuses which may or may not be true. But nobody has actually said no [to meeting] so far,” he said. “I’ve been surprised by how receptive and open people have been to it. For the most part everybody is saying, ‘Yeah, come on over, let’s do something.’”

After each encounter with a friend, McLaughlin writes a post on his Facebook page and website as a way of chronicling his journey. He also tries to take a selfie with each and every friend and posts it to his Facebook timeline.

He said the most surprising thing about this trip, at least so far, is how nice people have been to him, proving that the human connection is still really there.

“People have been good to me. They’ve treated me really well – they’ve been generous with their time,” he said. “That’s the main thing. I was starting to get rather cynical with my approach to people, and it’s changed quite drastically since I’ve been doing this.”

McLaughlin intends to make his way back home to Minnesota by July 3. After that he plans to spend time with his wife and maybe map out another leg of his trip, if time allows.

McLaughlin said he graduated from law school last year and is currently waiting to get licensed, so this seemed like the perfect time in his life to hit the road and attempt this project.

As for his growing pool of Facebook friends, McLaughlin said he’s still accepting friend requests and will try to meet as many new people as possible in person, perhaps down the road.

“I’ll go [and do this] until I feel like it’s over. I don’t know when that’ll come,” he added.

To follow McLaughlin’s travels and Facebook friends endeavor, visit his website or, of course, his Facebook page.
 

A Southern California teenager was arrested after he allegedly threatened to kill students at his high school and then himself, police said Friday.

Deputies got a call about 2 p.m. Thursday about a sophomore at Adolfo Camarillo High School threatening to shoot and kill another student earlier that day, according to the Camarillo Police Department.

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After deputies talked to the 15-year-old boy and his parent, they found out the boy told a student he planned to "shoot up the school" and then take his own life, officials said.

The frightened student who was threatened helped police arrest the teen.

"Another student threatened to shoot him and come back and possible shoot up the school," Camarillo Police Detective Julie Novak said. "He immediately was very smart and Immediately reported the incident not only to school officials but to law enforcement ."

• Read: California Native Can't Come Home: Attorney

Several thousand people were at the school for graduation ceremonies when officials found out about the threats, police said.

The teen was later arrested at his family's home, where parents chose to give police all the weapons in their home, police said.

"We do want to remind parents it is important to keep weapons locked up and safe. If you have teenagers who are going through any issues, it's best just to not to have them in the house."

The teen admitted to police that he made the threats, but said he had no intent of shooting anyone, police said. He was cited and released.
 

A Westmont, Illinois, man was sentenced to four years in prison Friday after he was convicted of speeding away from police officers on his motorcycle and later posting the high-speed chase video on YouTube.

Prosecutors say 31-year-old Hamza Ali Ben Ali ignored orders to pull over in October 2012, and was able to elude police in a chase that reached speeds of up to 115 mph.

Ali later posted video of the chase on YouTube, taken from a camera mounted on the back of his motorcycle.

But it wasn't the video that did him in. Ali was wearing a GPS device on his ankle given to him by immigration authorities and that's how police tracked him down.

The judge admonished Ali for putting others in jeopardy and boasting about it, the Daily Herald reports.

Ali was already serving a three-year sentence for an assault charge in Cook County and may be deported to Algeria, according to the newspaper.

President Barack Obama challenged a young, "super underrated" generation to take on climate change and protect the planet during a UC Irvine commencement speech Saturday.

After praising California for leading the way in environmental issues, he said Congress "is full of folks who stubbornly and automatically reject the scientific evidence" and say climate change is a hoax or fad.

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"Look, I'm not a scientist either, but we've got some good ones at NASA," Obama said. "And I do know that the overwhelming majority of scientists who work on climate change, including some who once disputed the data, have put the debate to rest."

Obama told the 8,000 graduates that it would be up to them to make change as they grow into leadership roles.

"I am not trying to discourage you, I am trying to light a fire under you," Obama said.

Obama said that he couldn't wait to see what this generation of college graduates would do, adding that they are "super underrated."

"Consider this: since the time most of you graduated from high school, fewer Americans are at war," Obama said. "More have health insurance. More are graduating from college. Our businesses have added more than nine million jobs. And the number of states where you're free to marry who you love has more than doubled. That's just some of the progress you've seen over your four years at UC Irvine."

During his speech, Obama also announced a nearly $1 billion competition that will help communities recover from natural disasters and plan for future ones as well.

The president accepted the school's invite after students, faculty and athletes sent signatures, postcards, and a student-made video featuring the university’s 7-foot-6 basketball team center to the White House.

The Saturday ceremony coincides with the 50th anniversary of then-President Lyndon B. Johnson’s dedication of the land that university is built on, but will take place at nearby Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

The president and First Lady Michelle Obama begin their time in California with a brief stay in the Palm Springs area - the president's third time in a year.

With the president's visit comes traffic closures as well. They include:

• Closure of PCH from Newport Coast Drive in Newport Beach to Ledroit Street in Laguna Beach from 8:30 a.m. to 8:50 a.m.

• Closure of PCH from Newport Coast Drive in Newport Beach to Ledroit Street in Laguna Beach from 10:00 a.m. to 10:20 a.m.

• Katella Avenue and Douglas Road closures in Anaheim from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

• Highway 57 north and southbound closure at Katella Avenue in Anaheim from 1:00 p.m. to 1:10 p.m.

The White House has not confirmed where the Obamas will stay during their visit, but the Sunnylands estate in Rancho Mirage, where he hosted a summit with King Abdullah II of Jordan in February, is a possibility.

Saturday morning, Obama will travel to Orange County, where he will be at a Laguna Beach roundtable with 25 fundraisers who each donated up to $32,240 to the Democratic National Committee, before delivering the commencement address.

City News Service and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

After 110 years, a California condor has returned to San Mateo County.

The first California condor spotted in San Mateo since 1904 is a three-year old female that flew over 100 miles from San Benito County to Pescadero, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Condors are big birds with wing spans of up to nine feet, according to wildlife experts. They're also breeding again "on their own" after hunting and habitat loss cut the condor population down to 22 in 1982.

All 22 of the condors were captured and made to breed in captivity. About 195 condors live at zoos, but 238 of their offspring, like the condor that decided to visit San Mateo, are now breeding in the wild.

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Most condors are in Big Sur or Pinnacles, if not in Mexico or Utah, the newspaper reported.

A San Rafael store sold a lottery ticket worth almost $200,000, California Lottery officials said Friday.

The Fantasy 5 ticket purchased at Winston News & Liquor at 1149 Fourth St. matched five of the numbers from Thursday night's lottery drawing, giving it a value of $195,783, lottery officials said.

The ticket owner, who has yet to come forward, has 180 days from the day of the drawing to claim the prize, lottery officials said.

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The California Lottery encourages winners to sign the back of their tickets, keep them in a safe place and contact lottery officials or visit their local lottery district office as soon as possible.

The California Lottery provides supplemental funding to California schools. Anyone concerned that they may have a gambling problem is encouraged to call 1-800-GAMBLER for help.

Six Flags Great America announced Saturday that the amusement park's newest roller coaster Goliath, which is being hailed as the world's fastest wooden coaster, will open Thursday.

"We are incredibly excited to be so close to debuting this triple world record breaking ride to the public," Six Flags Great America spokeswoman Katy Enrique said in a statement.

The ride is expected to be the world's fastest wooden coaster with the tallest and steepest drop, plunging riders down 180 feet at a near-vertical 85 degrees. It will reach speeds of 72 mph.

• Six Flags Releases Details on New "Record-Breaking" Roller Coaster

Goliath was expected to debut last month, but the ride's rollout was pushed back because of "delays in the final touches," Enrique said.

"The world’s tallest, steepest and fastest wooden roller coaster, Goliath, is coming soon," the amusement park said in a statement. "Thanks to Mother Nature’s freezing temperatures this winter and unseasonably cool and rainy spring, the final touches on Goliath have been delayed."

A body found in a wooded area on Long Island has been identified as Sarah Goode, a 21-year-old woman who went missing a week ago, and police are investigating the death as a homicide.

The woman's body was found Thursday evening, nearly a week after Goode vanished.