appeal, or pa you're watching cbs 5 eyewitness news on the cw. a convicted killer is suing the state of california. not over an appeal or parole, it's because he wants to become a she. and he wants you to pay for it. >> hit by a train in a tricky intersection. why the people in this car were boxed in. they'll come down as soon as you put them up. where in the bay area roadside memorials are being curved. >> and it's energy that could be used to power a million homes. instead it goes toward growing pot. why 3% of the state's energy is going to cultivate cannabis. >> good everyoning, i'm dana king. >> and i'm ken. a convicted killer wants you to pay for his sex change

operation. in an unprecedented lawsuit, the biologically male inmate is suing state of california and the state's refusal to make him a woman institutes cruel and unusual punishment. robert lyles is standing by at the california medical facility in vacaville with the story you'll see only on cbs 5. robert. >> reporter: ken, consider this. attorneys and even the court have spent the last two years blocking information about one inmate's sentence to 50 years behind bars here. and that silence continues tonight no one will talk on camera about the male inmate wanting to become a female and suing under the 14th amendment to force taxpayers to pay for it. >> the department of correction sees him as a he, yet inmate is physically by high dose estrogen. both prescribed and injected by prison doctors and paid for by

your tax dollars. but corrections says that is where it ends. in documents we've secured, the department writes, sexual reassignment surgery is not a covered benefit. at this time, it's denied. but steven convicted in 2002 for the shotgun murder of a san bernardino woman over a $400 clothing debt sued the state. we uncovered this letter from 2008. stevens wrote the court saying, i believe i'm entitled to this relief because it is vital to the due process of my rehabilitation. stevens developed a brain tumor while behind bars that had to be surgically removed. a prison doctor believed the tumor was connected to the high dose estrogen and reduce the hormone, but that's the twist. the doctor wrote the current dose appears to be inadequate to accomplish and maintain

femmization quality of life. so, srf or sex reassignment surgery would improve outcome and quality of life. the lawsuit argues that means medically necessary. so the state must pay to complete the transition to a woman and even though it's a process he started before pulling the trigger, he told the court the order would also allow me to conclude the preoperative stage of the transgender hormone therapy to become the surgically cured female that i should be. there is more. he started this entire process without an attorney and get this, this case still made it to the federal appeals court. now local attorneys have picked up that appeal and they made the argument to the court not to release details as this appeal progresses. ken. g amazing story. robert lyles in vacaville.

thank you robert. more than 100 people turned out in san francisco tonight in support of a transgender woman who is attacked near the 16th and mission bart station two weeks ago. police say two men approached her, punched and kicked her. witnesses helped identify the suspects and they have been arrested now. at tonight's rally, demonstrators called for an end to violence. >> one woman could not escape. a cal train struck the car at the charleston road crossing tonight and that's where elizabeth cook is. elizabeth. >> dana, police plan to have this intersection blocked off until about 1:00 this morning. you can actually hear the sirens from the train coming right now. you take a look behind me, you can see that the down pedestrian crossing sign that car hit after it was struck by a train. officials say the car stopped on the tracks as a result of

backed up traffic in the area. >> it was just a mangled piece of tangled metal. >> an indiana couple's california vacation ends with this. at 5:00 p.m., a northbound express train struck their rental car at speeds topping 70 miles an hour. the wife who was driving the car was killed. the husband survived. he was able to escape moments before impact. nobody on the train was hurt, but all cal train service was delayed for up to two hours as police and the coroner worked it clean up the scene at this intersection. >> i drive this area frequently and if there's not enough room -- if one car makes it across the track, you have to have enough for a second car. if not, you'll get stuck on the actual track itself and you'll be struck. so you have to really make a pretty good estimated guess. otherwise the tragedy becomes a

huge mistake. >> now the couple was in their mid 60s and they were visiting family here in palo alto. now dana, the crossings here on charleston road was one of eight crossings that caltrans plans to make safety improvements on. back to you. >> i'm sure the husband and family are traumatized tonight. has anyone spoken about what exactly happened? >> well, they are not coming forward with yet exactly how it happened, but the car seemed to get stuck between traffic that was in this intersection. apparently over by the light, there's a very small margin of how many cars can get past the tracks. this couple was visiting from indiana. possibly they didn't know what the rules were, didn't see the signs and got put in a really bad position. >> terrible. all right in palo alto, elizabeth cook. thank you. tonight we are seeing the confrontation when a driver forced the family off his bus.

>> sorry. it happened last weekend on the 24 -- the driver got angry when the couple took a long time getting on with their baby and stroller. the driver refused to move the bus until they got off. >> we provide ride to those who pay their fare. this is the people transportation system and we feel strongly about that. >> muni fired that driver after investigating. well you see them frequently alongside of some bay area highways. flowers, crosses, photos that mark the spot of a deadly crash. as mark tells us, roadside memorials along one road are coming down. for drivers on the highway 4 bypass linking antioch and

brentwood, the memorial may pass in a flash, but it's a tribute to their nephew and cousin, cameron plat who was hit and killed by a car here on april 3. they say the roadside memorial serves an important purpose. >> i think just being able to see how much he was loved. >> the highway 4 bypass authority had originally considered allowing memorials like this to stand for 14 days, but this week the board decided because they are all on public property, the board has the authority to order them removed immediately for safety reasons. >> i know it's a huge deal. process of grieving. i'm still grieving. >> brandon and holly are prat's cousins and it could be difficult losing family and friends. >> it reminds me of something. >> roadside memorials like this

one can be distracting for drivers and dangerous for those visiting to pay their respects, but the family says removing the memorial will only make them feel worse. >> right now -- >> in brentwood, cbs 5. a group of native americans is camping out at an ancient burial site trying to stop the city of vallejo from developing it. some of those graves date back 3500 years in glenn cove. today the analyst marched through, protesting the looming desecration of that naift american burial ground. >> we must take a stand. if we don't take a stand, they will continue to desecrate these sacred sites. >> we aren't building apartment complex on top of it. it's going to be a quiet place where people can contemplate. >> it plans to restore the

grounds. plans call for a small parking lot and two bathroom stalls to the side of the sensitive area. >> it's high. very high. and tonight we are not talking about users. on the enormous electricity costs just to power a pot house. >> it's big business growing marijuana indoors, but cultivating buds didn't seem to be very green in the environmental sense. a new study by evan miles from the berkeley national laboratory shows that it is an energy sucking industry. using 3% of the state's electricity each year. how much is that? it's the same amount of electricity that 1 million households use. nationwide the numbers staggering. the same amount of carbon dioxide as 3 million cars. >> are you surprised in.

>> very surprised. >> i imagine they use a lot if they are trying to replicate the scent. >> and he's right, about 1/3 of the electricity needed to grow marijuana indoors goes to the lights. those lights have to be cooled down by air-conditioning adding to the overall electricity usage. >> does it bother you that it goes to indoor warehouses? >> as long as they are paying for the electricity, i don't care. you could just be waiting for an ons. he used data from manufactures at the ventilation systems. he also used numbers from sales. he says he is not making an opinion on how we use our electricity, but how we are all lead leaving a carbon footprint in some way. in oakland, grace lee, cbs 5. sometimes their faces are

covered, sometimes they are seen scowling. rarely do you see this. criminals with arms full of loot and big smiles on their faces. a score that made these bandits pretty happy. a year's worth of work topped off like this. what the top of this 495-foot tower means for the bay bridge. >> and these guys were destroyed to fight ask bringing their power later this weekend. coming up, we'll tell you about the games. >> we had a temperature set. the pinpoint weekend forecast, the news continues.

some clowning around went a little too far in santa cruz. this is corey mcdonald, also known as mr. twister, the clown normally known for his good will. but wednesday night the 42-year- old dressed in this clown outfit got into an argument with two teens after declining to take a picture with them. a cup of water and punches were thrown. the scuffle was enough to knock his red nose off. no arrests were made, but all three got citations. san jose animal control is still searching tonight for two pit bulls involved in a brutal attack. dawn wilson and her husky mix, shadow, were walking in the park about midnight last night when the dogs came out of

nowhere. wilson was bitten on her hand, legs, and face, but shadow was hurt even worse. he had to be put down in fact. a search of the area has failed to turn up those pit bulls. it is certainly thought your typical crash and grab. searching for some burglars that broke into a business with an unusual target on their minds. kristen airs shows us a human hair heist. >> at first glance, it looks like any other break in. a man captured on surveillance video kicks in the door. throw others fallow him in. but these thieves weren't after money. >> each of the tough ducks ran into the business. grabbed a hand full of extensions. >> these are the heaves hauling pieces. >> it's hard.

i don't appreciate being roped. >> heir divas is the only bay area of its kind. went there sacrifice for their for religious wisdom. >> this is the most valuable. >> cops know the trend of stealing strands is growing. >> anything that has value, someone will find a market to make some money off of. >> these thieves know what they are looking for. think didn't touch. > it is valuable. >> hair divas is close for now, but davis has every intention of backing up. >> my hope is that they will try to spell it out straight out of their trunk. she beefed up security and

offering a $1,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest. kristen iowas, cbs 5. >> yes. >> they didn't take any of mine. i know that roberta. >> okay. i wonder why. >> because with that, we will leave you with dusting. >> 62 degrees today. 57 degrees. a lot of the coast and santa cruz, there you have the giants hoist above with the winds out of the west, up to 17 miles per hour. we have p partly to mostly cloudy skies. the 40s and 50s. it looks like we have rain across the north western section of the state and it's been langing out all day long. now backing up to the north. so any chances of rain we see from this warm front will put them on, we'll become north at

the golden gate bridge, but there's a slim chance. so that chance of rain will be on saturday early, otherwise partly -- 50s in the high sierra. let's call it partly to mostly cloudy tomorrow. temperature wise, 60 in pacifica to 70 in concord. 74 towards the delta and upper 60s in san jose. pretty seasonal numbers and not too far off the market in comparison today. we will have sunshine on sunday. leading to the possibility of rain shawers coside on monday. conditions as well. the threat of rain out of here for the juvenile diabetes research foundation walk. it's a 5k walk. how started spiel sports you raise some money and raise

money for some gauze. >> roberta, thank you. well let the games begin. the olympics says robotics is underway. this year's hobo game.

tower a significant milestone for the bay bridge. crews installed the fifth section of the central tower of that big structure. this was a little different from some of the other lifts which had four different sections. this latest lift is just a single section nicknamed the grillage. because its appearance resembles a grill grate, of course. if you think of touter like a stool, this latest piece is the seat. that was locked down just after 5:00 this afternoon. >> it really has to deal with what bridges mean and what the tower signifies. all the weight is supported through the main tower. this will be the largest in the

world. this is the largest self- anchored suspension bridge in the world. >> the final set is to be installed later this year. the whole project is due to be complete in 2013. >> all right, on the killage here. battles will be waged in san francisco this weekend as warriors prepare to beat each other to a pulp, but there won't be any bloodshed. tara takes us inside the robot wars. >> it's going to be awesome. i'm just so excited. i am so excited. >> thomas cook is one of 940 competitors with battling bolts at this year's robo game. >> i live for this. i mean, i wake up every day and it's robots. >> we have 70 different events. >> but the main event is combat. different weight classes who battle it out until one is

destroyed. >> i love seeing them blow up. >> awesome. we are dwoik going to build something that kills up. >> you have points for being aggressive and inflict damage, but not sustain too much. >> some teens spend thousands of dollars building their boss, they never see that money come back to them. the grand prize is fame and bragging rights. >> these competitors are here for the passion of the sport. >> robots are really, really awesome and heart wrenching and headachy and addictive and i love them. >> next year i'm going to college for material science and engineering and that's what this is. >> now the goal is simple. fight to the death. cnet.com for cbs news. >> jerry rice is a wide receiver for 27. the defending champs trying to

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torres strained his achilles in the outfield last saturday... the giants placed torres on the disabled list. bill, start the clock. pablo made sure it wasn't a nail biter tonight in arizona. 1st inning, two on, two out when pablo hit the two-run shot into the pool. it's the third harmer of the year and that was plenty of run support for big danny cane. the giants beat the diamondbacks. ames and tigers blew his first save as a member of the green and bold. miguel cabrera right now it is

8' 1. tiger is in the bottom of the 0. the kings will be without jeer stole for two. suspended for this hit last night on ian white. todd doesn't expect to play. and jerry rice missed the display. shot an 81 for the second straight day and finished dead last. he wanted to shoot his number, he shot tim brown's number. he insists he is not going pro. it has to be humbling for him. it's tough, tough game. >> he insists he is not going to fall. in chicago, they had the big first downationation. it was 38 trees there and the white sox game by rain.

i don't think -- we need to change the season back. >> we won't be disappointed. >> let's do that. >> we'll see you at 11:00 on cbs 5. >> you heard it here first. introducing the thunderbolt by htc.

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