A demolition crew has gutted most of the old Fry’s Electronics building in Serra Mesa to make way for a new apartment complex.

A City of San Diego spokeswoman said the property owners for the site applied for a permit to build a 310-unit apartment complex. NBC 7 contacted the current property owners to see if there is a timeline for demolition and construction but were unable to reach them during the holidays.

Fry’s closed in February 2021 as another victim of the pandemic and evolving consumerism. Nevertheless, the store was a beacon to tech geeks and electronics fans for decades.

“I’ve been in this building dozens of times in my life,” said NBC 7 Chief Photographer Scott Baird.

Baird remembered when the building first opened in the 1990s as Incredible Universe.

“It was like a big deal in San Diego,” Baird said. “You remember where you were when Horton Plaza opened and where this was when it opened.”

The parking lot was fenced in shortly after the store closed in February 2021. Baird flew DroneRanger 7 over the demolition on Tuesday.

“They’re making big piles of stuff into smaller piles of stuff inside so they can probably truck it out of here,” Baird said.

“We do this story 12 times a week,” explained Baird, the veteran journalist. “There’s not enough housing and there’s not enough places to live.”

Despite a coming boost in the minimum wage, lower-paid workers still worry about being able to make ends meet while local restaurants fret that higher labor costs could make it more expensive to dine out.

Originally Published: December 31, 2024 at 6:00 AM PST

Doctors say norovirus — also known as the stomach flu — is spreading around San Diego faster than it did last year. With holiday gatherings, they’re bracing for even more outbreaks.

Three-year-old River doesn’t even remember how rough she had it a few months ago. Her mom and dad had what could’ve been norovirus too, but not as badly as she did.

“She was kind of lethargic, and then started throwing up, and then it didn’t stop for about two days,” River’s mom, Corrin Stotler, said. “We ended up taking her to the hospital because she couldn’t keep anything down.”

The county’s disease registry reports there have been almost 400 norovirus cases in San Diego so far. This number has likely changed after holiday gatherings, and a local doctor said it’s already trending worse than last year.

“September, we saw some cases,” said Dr. William Tseng, assistant area medical director at Kaiser Permanente. “October, we saw more. November, we saw more. So, we’re thinking, ‘Is December going to be worse,and where is the peak going to be?’”

The virus spreads through bodily waste and the surfaces it touches.

“You get the abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, cramping, diarrhea,” Tseng said.

Norovirus is a very contagious virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea. Learn how it spreads and how you can help prevent getting it.

If this is the case, doctors advise against taking medications that stop diarrhea because this is body’s way of clearing the virus. Taking meds can cause the illness to stay in the digestive tract longer.

There is no specific cure for a norovirus infection either. Most people get better on their own within a couple days if they increase their fluids.  

“If they’re around a lot of kids, one of my friends gives her kid a vitamin C pack every time he gets home from daycare, and I’ve never seen that kid sick,” Stotler said.

An immunity boost can’t hurt, but Tseng said washing your hands is the best way to get the surging virus to slow down.

It can be easy to confuse norovirus for food poisoning. Tseng said pay attention to how soon after eating you start feeling sick. Food poisoning symptoms are almost immediate while norovirus can take a couple days to develop.