Defense Department Reports Death of Camp Pendleton Marine

1. A 22-year-old Camp Pendleton-based Marine has died while fighting in Afghanistan's Helmand province, according to the Pentagon. Lance Cpl. Norberto Mendez Hernandez of Logan, Utah, died Sunday in combat operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, the Defense Department said. Hernandez was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton.

2. Former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez said Monday his son's manslaughter sentence in the stabbing death of a 22-year-old Mesa College student near San Diego State University was politically motivated, angering the victim's parents and eliciting a denial from the county's top prosecutor. He told the media, "When you're dealing with a district attorney like we did in San Diego, who clearly, you know, has aspirations and has always had aspirations for higher office, the approach that they took to my son's case, and in particular
to him, irrespective of the facts of the actual case -- they picked on my son from day one."

3. A pre-dawn arson fire gutted a gift shop at the San Diego Zoo Monday, causing an estimated $700,000 worth of property losses, authorities reported. The non-injury blaze in the 1,200-square-foot panda-themed store erupted shortly before 2 a.m., according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. It took 25 firefighters about 15 minutes to extinguish the blaze, which destroyed the shop, the department's Maurice Luque said.