.

in its drive to lure the oakland a's to the south bay. >> the council voted in a special meeting to move forward with plans to expand the area around the station. this is near the proposed downtown ballpark. let's bring in damon trujilla. this is a big risk because there's still no word from major league baseball, as you know. >> reporter: the risk is what the city has to take according to the mayor. a high speed rail station, a b.a.r.t. station, the potential ballpark, housing, retail. that's what the city envisions for this area, revitalizing the downtown along the way. the city hopes major league baseball is watching. it's a good lunch hour at 71 st. peter but this is how it usually looks these days in the downtown

san jose restaurant. many of its neighbors are gone and business here is down 50% from last year. >> it's scary. monday, tuesday and wednesday and thursday, we'll sit here and there are times we really don't do -- we do very little business. >> reporter: the city council says the answer may be at the train station. they just approved a plan to try to make this the union station of northern california, a gateway to san jose and the rest of silicon valley. >> we're being prepared for the future. >> reporter: the future may include major league baseball. the mayor admits today's step sends another strong message to baseball executives that san jose is throwing the first pitch. >> we want to be ready to go. this is part of being in a position where we can take advantage of the opportunity when it happens. >> reporter: along the way, the mayor says the trifecta of a baseball stadium, b.a.r.t. station and high speed rail station would also lure more customers to 71 st. peter. >> that would be fantastic.

anything that can bring people into downtown area, that would be great, whether it could be a train station or stadium or anything. >> reporter: anything, he says, to give him a chance. this is all part of the city's master plan so everybody is hoping for an improved economy in the near future to help pay for all of this, but even the mayor quotes yogi berra. he said it's hard to predict the future because it keeps changing. >> that is true. thank you. the roadways became a bit safer in california. the assembly passed a new bill that forces rental car companies to pull vehicles off the road immediately after a safety recall. that bill introduced following the death of two young women in a fiery car crash seven years ago. they were driving a car that had been rented for more than a month after the company was notified about a defect in the vehicle that could cause a fire. the bill will now go to the state senate. a state lawmaker wants to

ban teenagers under the age of 18 from using indoor tanning booths. state senator says scientific studies show tanning beds can cause cancer, especially among those who start using them before the age of 35. existing law already prohibits kids under 14 from using ultraviolet tanning beds. >> we are extending this bill to all minors under 18 for the same reason that we don't let parents consent to have their children go buy a pack of cigarettes or drink vodka. >> he says many people still don't understand that tanning beds are more dangerous than sitting out in the sun. skin cancer's now the leading cause of death for women 25 to 29. charlie sheen has a winning idea. helping giants fan brian stow. stow is a fan who was attacked at dodger stadium last month. sheen is reportedly set to donate money to the brian stow fund. we are told he will donate the profits from merchandising sales at his upcoming show in san francisco. the out of work actor is scheduled to appear at the nob

hill center this saturday. stow remains in critical condition in an l.a. hospital. nearly 40 years after stanford university banned rotc, the military training program will be making a return to the campus. faculty members met today to discuss the issue. they voted to recommend the program's return. now the university president will begin discussions with various branches of the military. they cited president obama's repeal of the military's don't ask, don't tell policy as a catalyst for its reinstatement on the stanford campus. anger over the vietnam war and president nixon's plan to eliminate college deferments for military service prompted stanford to sever its rotc ties. three very special birds got birthday gifts today. biologists fit the baby three peregrine falcons with identity bands. they were nearly extinct in

california 40 years ago. they are now flourishing. >> the fact you can go outside the door in downtown san francisco and see the falcons, absolutely unheard of. in 1983, if somebody said there was a peregrine in the state, the office would empty, go out and try to see it. i just try and keep track of them today. >> that's 30 pairs in the bay area alone. statewide, there are some 250 pairs. >> they are so cute when they're fluffy like that. let's turn things over to jeff. a beautiful day to get fitted with new bling for the birds. >> yes. certainly. you know, in the next couple days, if you like what we had today, it will be getting even better. we just have to get over what we have been dealing with today. overall across the bay area, winds sustained northwest at 22 miles per hour. gusting into the 30s, most definitely for the coastline and also for the peninsula locations at this point. some of the windiest locations also for our east bay hills,

anywhere from 15 to 30 miles per hour, we are currently getting those wind readings in. overall temperatures, the warmest, los-gatos. 67 in santa rosa. look at this. san francisco sky camera bouncing around a lot right now with a current temperature of 55. let's get you the numbers right now elsewhere. 62 in sunnyvale and 57 in napa. the satellite loop did show midlevel cloud cover moving through today but here's the trend. look at all that clearing a couple hundred miles out. that will stay with us in the forecast. high pressure building in from the south will keep it mild to warm here as we head, yes, right into your weekend. as we start off tomorrow, we'll look at mid to upper 40s for the south and east bay so a colder start as we head throughout friday morning and we'll see temperatures rebound close to 60 degrees. of course, we will have more coming up on these tornado reports. 189 reports of tornadoes in the past 24 hours from this deadly

and devastating damage. one of the worst tornado outbreaks in decades here across the united states. i'll have a closer look at that coming up. meanwhile, back here at home, of course, we are following a nice weekend. i'll have details on how warm the temperatures will go in a few minutes. >> thank you, jeff. still ahead, dramatic new pictures tonight showing the moment that tsunami hit japan. final preparations are under way for that big wedding everyone's buzzing about. the royal wedding. how kate middleton and prince william spent their final day before their big day. i'm scott budman. bi poa g r l focarlolasoa stock. on take your kids to work day, we meet young reporters.

we have a ray of sunshine for investors in a silicon valley solar company tonight. our business and tech reporter scott budman joins us with this developing story. scott? >> reporter: it's popping now.

very good news for investors in sun power, a san jose solar power maker, originally spun out of cypress semiconductor. after the market closed, a french oil company says it will buy 60% of sun power shares for somewhere close to $1.4 billion. that's a big premium for sun power investors who saw their stock jump 40% in after hours trading. also after the bell, microsoft reporting earnings. the software giant reported a 31% jump in income largely fueled by an increase in video game console and software sales. let's check your money. a jump in jobless claims pushed aside by investors who continue to ride strong earnings to market gains. all three major indexes close higher. it is take your kids to work day and in silicon valley, let's admit it, things can get geeky. this is lockheed martin hosting 1400 kids to learn about science, math and engineering. what can you say with parents who design space systems for a

living? these are some smart kids. >> hello. i am sophia. i am reporting unstable chairs. >> speaking of smart kids, how about that? i could watch this all day. that is mary ann favro's daughter. she spent the day learning the ropes as a reporter. she is a natural. how about this, my own daughter anna, also on the mike and in the car. what can you say, a couple 6-year-olds destined for greatness. the future is pretty cute. right, guys? >> you've been here more than ten years at this station? >> yes. >> bring anna to work more often. our ratings will spike tremendously. >> can she fill in for me tomorrow? 6:00. >> take your daughters to work day. we love it. it's impossible to put a price on mom, but with mother's day just right around the corner, a week from sunday, it's worth noting her economic value is rebounding as the recession

eases. >> you got that right. >> a retail survey shows the average person plans to spend about $140 on flowers or gifts on this mother's day. that's almost $15 more than last year. it matches the average spending in 2008 before the recession hit. a website called rate my professor.com is out with its list of best college professors. who is number one? a business prof from san jose state. david mees took top honors. they were top rated in terms of helpfulness and clarity. the self-described skating enthusiast was called by one student as the best teacher i have ever had at san jose state. the ratings are from students who rate the teachers on a 1 to 5 scale. others that made the list include professors from st. john's university and marshall. >> congratulations. coming up, i'll show you how high level aptitude testing is helping people in the bay area

choose a new career path. speaking of tests, researchers say five minutes is all it could take to diagnose a child with a growing disorder. as the military phases out the don't ask, don't tell policy, the marine corps undergoes training to accept gay recruits. new pictures from the devastation in the midwest and south after the deadliest outbreak of tornadoes we have seen in decades. back death toll from

wednesday's deadly tornado outbreak across the southeast now stands at 280 people. it could go higher as search and rescue teams continue to comb through the rubble there. alabama especially hard hit. more than 160 people died there.

chris clackum has more. >> reporter: this shows the power of the tornado that ravaged six states but it's the view from the air which captures the utter devastation. huge swaths of destruction cut through towns like birmingham and tuscaloosa, alabama, where buildings and homes once stood, there's now only rubble. debris litters the landscape for miles. >> we have utter destruction. we have neighborhoods that have basically been removed from the map. >> reporter: the massive outbreak was predicted, but when the twisters hit, there was little time to take cover. >> it was three-quarters of a mile wide. there was -- before it hit, there was branches falling out of the sky before we even knew the tornado was coming. >> reporter: many had only moments to seek shelter. >> when we came out, it looked like a bomb had been dropped on our store. >> we're just lucky to be alive. i'm so thankful for that. >> reporter: hundreds were not as fortunate. the death toll is now around 270 and climbing. more than 180 deaths in alabama

alone. >> we are bringing in search and rescue dogs to walk through the rubble in the areas that we can't get to. >> reporter: president obama signed an emergency declaration for alabama and will travel to the storm-ravaged state on friday. >> in a matter of hours, these deadly tornadoes, some of the worst that we've seen in decades, took mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, friends and neighbors. even entire communities. >> reporter: now the region can only begin to pick up the pieces as it tries to recover from the worst tornado outbreak in nearly 40 years. in pleasant grove, alabama, chris clackum, nbc news. >> the pictures are shocking. let's turn things over to our chief meteorologist for more on the string of tornadoes and the conditions there now. things are improving, jeff? >> a little bit, certainly throughout the southeast. even with the warning system as good as it is, in some cases, people had little to no time to prepare when they did hear that

potential tornado was coming. we are talking about seconds in some cases. that some of these deadly tornadoes dropped down. as we take a look, at least 249 pele have been killed from over 189 reports of tornadoes in that past 24 hours. the hardest hit area, tuscaloosa, alabama, whe at w least 37 people have been killed and look at this. one of the strgest tornadoes s in tuscaloosa ever in history roared through that region at a reported over one mile in length. this could have bn a possible ef-5 tornado in tuscaloosa with winds that could have t bped 260 miles per hour and could have .one as high as 318 miles per urho as we have been saying, this isr now the worst u.s. nctbre aksi since 1974 tornadoes and there'e that line of strong, severe weather that produced this activity yesterday. our last tornado watch has just expired but some severe weather

still in florida right now. more from mother nature's wrath. we have amazing new pictures tonight to show you of the moment the tsunami hit japan. what you're looking at is video released by the coast guard, the japanese coast guard. it shows as you can see right there before you, helicopters and airplanes and cars just being washed away at the sendai airport. the airport's runway completely flooded. water reaching parts of the second floor of the terminal. the tsunami struck on march 11th, as you saw, killing more than 14,000 people in all. with thousands more still missing. back here at home, reaction on capitol hill to president obama's cabinet shuffle is mostly positive tonight. northern california political leader leon panetta is at the center of that change. general david petraeus will return to washington to run the cia and leon panetta will shift to become secretary of defense. panetta knows washington as well or better than anyone. he went from congress to the white house as budget director,

then to the cia, and is now nominated to be the next defense secretary. >> job one will be to ensure that we remain the strongest military power in the world. to protect that security that is so important to this country. >> panetta and petraeus are both expected to win easy confirmation from the senate. among the items on leon panetta's agenda, the don't ask, don't tell policy. right now, military recruits are getting training from the pentagon to prepare for the repeal of the 17-year-old policy. they're learning how to handle certain scenarios that range from seeing other soldiers hanging out at a gay bar to crude locker room banter. the marines' training is expected to last through the beginning of june. all of the other military branches should be done by the end of the summer. topping our health watch tonight, it's a mystery that has pediatricians stumped and parents worried. more and more young girls are hitting puberty way too soon.

some are starting at the age of 5 years old and even getting periods by the time they are 8. let's bring in our medical expert, who talked with a local family that's about -- how it's affecting them. good evening, doctor. >> good evening. it is amazing how young this can happen, actually passing through puberty and adolescence. this has major emotional and physical effects and brings about physical risk. so hearing this family's story can really help a great many other families. >> it was very alarming. she's a little kid. >> reporter: laura christian is talking about her daughter, who wants to be called cindy for this story. cindy's like any other 9-year-old in most ways. she likes to play video games and sports and hang out with friends. what's alarming is unlike many other girls her age, she's already started to hit puberty. >> looking at your child and

going wait a minute, we didn't even get a chance to be a child practically. this baby hasn't been a baby for very long. >> reporter: the change started during kindergarten, at around 5 years old. cindy started getting body hair. she developed breasts and she had a growth spurt. cindy noticed the difference between her and other kids. >> i'm taller than most girls because of the problem. >> reporter: laura brought her daughter to specialists, where bone and blood tests proved she was maturing at a very fast rate. >> nowadays, we have seen the girls start developing breasts earlier and earlier. >> reporter: it's called premature puberty. it's happening to girls all over the world. we're not sure why. some experts feel it may be because many more girls are obese. >> obesity will trigger to get your puberty started earlier because they have more production of the sex steroid.

>> reporter: another possibility, chemicals in the environment. researchers are studying the effects of things we're all exposed to, pesticides and plastics on the hormone systems of young children. whatever the cause, many girls start their period too early and experts say that can lead to health risks. it did not happen to cindy because she was diagnosed correctly and got treatment. a patch was implanted under her skin. it releases hormones that keep maturity at bay for the time being. laura also helps emotionally with honesty and support. >> always having that open door and being able to communicate about that has been really helpful but yes, we very much had the birds and bees discussion very early on. >> reporter: cindy is glad the treatment is working. >> it makes me feel not different, makes me feel like i'm the same of everybody else. >> reporter: now she is.

now, girls in most cases should not hit puberty until around 13. if they hit it earlier, they can really get into trouble and if obesity is playing a role, of course it is putting their heart and blood vessels at risk. the tests are very easy, they are blood tests. if you or anybody you know in the bay area, anybody in your family, anybody you're related to has a problem where their kid is growing too fast or you have some concerns about this, ask your specialist about blood tests. early treatment can make a big difference like it did for cindy. >> thank you so much. good information there, dr. bruce. turns out the simple questionnaire can detect very subtle signs of autism in kids before they even turn 1 year of age. doctors suspect the widespread use of the check list might catch up to half of all autism cases. the list helps determine which babies aren't very chatty and

which either have a serious communication delay or full-blown autism. the sooner a diagnosis can be made, the sooner treatment can start. we posted a link to that check list on our website. go to nbcbayarea.com and search autism. still ahead, do you want a new career? the test that might just help you find it. first look tonight at the official program for the royal wedding. on this eve of the wedding, as prince william makes a surprise appearance before his public. good evening. breezy to windy for a lot of the bay area today. winds right now in san francisco sustained at 24 miles per hour. gusting into the 30s. temperatures right near average le pynt ofth

just in case you haven't heard, the most talked about wedding in decades now just about eight hours away. kate middleton and best man prince harry had one last rehearsal at westminster abbey

today. prince william also made a surprise appearance outside the buckingham palace. the threat of rain won't stop these royal watchers from camping out with the hopes of seeing the royal couple. with hours to go now, the red carpet is laid out to the abbey. the choppers are circling and the crowd is growing. the future princess, you see her there, is staying at the five-star goring hotel right next to buckingham palace, where even more fans await. a canopy is in place over the entrance to block royal watchers from catching a glimpse of kate as she emerges in her top secret wedding dress. >> the royal family has released the first photograph of the official wedding program that goes on sale to the public today. the program includes a new never before seen photograph of william and kate, the order of the marriage ceremony and other useful information like a map and timetable. it will be available for purchase for $3.33. we invite you to stay with nbc bay area for complete coverage

of the royal wedding. live coverage begins at 1:00 in the morning, so get your hat on, get your popcorn and you can watch it in your bathrobe which is what i'm planning on doing but i'm still going to wear a big hat. >> popcorn at two a.m.? >> it's a wedding. >> true. i always eat that at weddings. >> it's a show. >> you want a surprise with real popcorn? >> raiders and 49ers. >> raiders don't have a pick in the first round but the 49ers with a real surprise pick at the start of the harbaugh era. putting defense first with their top pick. seventh overall before any quarterbacks were taken. more about the man from missouri next. plus, the sharks get one last tune-up for the red wings before their second round series starts tomorrow. while the giants send out a starter today who hadn't done so in almost seven years. he didt miss a beat. we're not .

>> hundreds of laid-off employees in the bay area are using this time to reassess their career paths which is why a bay area center that assesses aptitude is busier than ever. >> i put the chips at the top of the board. your job is to move the chips from the top of the board to the middle of the board, arranging them so they make a logical sense. >> reporter: for kevin, this task is a breeze. he completes it in about six seconds. he came here to the johnson o'connor research foundation in san francisco for high level

aptitude testing. >> i was laid off last year. february 2010. and kind of had an opening into looking at other possibilities of what would be next. >> reporter: his testing revealed he had great skills for the biotech industry he's been in the past 14 years, but would also be great at documentary film making, something he's now trying. >> what we're going to do is called color discrimination. >> reporter: this may look like child's play but this test assesses whether alexandra diamond would be great at checking documents for details. after seven hours of testing, she learned a lot about herself. >> there were definitely surprises. my memory's pretty good. i didn't really know that. they told me i had a knack for learning new languages. >> reporter: now after being laid off from her hr job, she's considering getting into the biotech field, something testing revealed she would excel in. the tasks are based on scientific research assessing the real life skills of successful professionals. >> i think for a lot of people, when it's a difficult job market, it's an opportunity to

kind of take stock and think about what do i really want to do, how can i best work with the skills that i have in order to be marketable. >> reporter: this type of testing is also useful for high school students to help them determine their college major. instead of trying to put a square peg in a round hole, kevin hopes knowing his aptitudes will help determine his altitude. marianne favro, nbc bay area news. >> with seven hours of testing and consulting about your results will cost you $675. some clients even bring the results to interviews as proof of their strengths. we just did seven minutes of testing and jeff tested out really well. >> when it comes to the weather. >> i didn't even know that. that's even better. you guys were testing me secretly. >> you owe us money. >> i ate lots of carrots today. i watch the sky cameras and all the maps. take a look out towards san francisco.

we have that wind kind of blustery, winds west at 24 miles per hour. current temperature, 55. plenty of 50s on the board with that wind cooling us off. 53 in san francisco and right now, 58 in livermore. a few clouds with us, it will stay windy, not only into tonight but for tomorrow as well with a little bit of warming in the forecast and still, one of the best weekends we have had in weeks. breezy conditions with us with high pressure aloft as we head throughout friday. we'll see a few 70s popping inland. as we head into saturday and also sunday, that's when you are really going to notice the temperatures bumping up. 10:00 p.m. tonight, we are looking at clear skies. by 6:00 a.m., still clear, not forecasting any fog right now from the north bay down to the south bay. by 6:00 p.m. tomorrow, still looking at sunny skies here across the bay area. our future cast not picking up on any cloud cover tonight. 42 in los gatos, 42 in livermore, 43 in san rafael. our last tornado watch has now expired.

still some severe weather in northern florida. this once again after 249 people killed in the past 24 hours from one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in decades. that tornado that ripped right through tuscaloosa could have been an ef-5, the strongest on the scale of tornadoes, with winds that could have topped 300 miles per hour. that's why that damage is so devastating and so catastrophic and why so many people were killed, because in some cases, we're not talking about minutes to get prepared, but seconds once some of these tornado sirens went off. for tomorrow, 66 in san mateo, 66 in san francisco. the peninsula not too bad. of course, warmer inland. close to 70 in concord, 68 in fairfield and for the north bay, 70 in santa rosa and 66 in lakeport. more any time on the weather channel on cable, of course, also on the severe weather. seven-day forecast, it gets better, much better. saturday, sunday and monday, upper 70s to near 80 and yes, the heat is on.

i'll save my singing. >> we didn't give you the aptitude test for singing. >> okay. that's a goodi inthing. everyone usually runs the other way. big night for the 49ers. >> good evening. the first round of the nfl draft is in motion tonight. the raiders do not have a pick in the first round. the 49ers had the seventh pick and here is how they used it. >> with the seventh pick in the 2011 nfl draft, the san francisco 49ers select holden smith, defensive end, missouri. >> he's a sack specialist. the niners needing a more consistent pass rush. picking up smith here. either standing up or as an outside linebacker, down on the line and blasting in from the edge, he could be disruptive. he might be a diamond in the rough or just rough in the early

going. another smith from missouri, justin, will hopefully take him under his wing. alden smith's teammate blaine gabbert went to jackson vill sj. the carolina panthers would have taken stanford quarterback andrew luck if he had made himself available but instead, they took heisman trophy winning quarterback cam newton from auburn. two years ago, he was at a junior college in texas, then went to the national championship before going to carolina with the first pick overall. here's two through six. the broncos taking vaughn miller from texas a & m. the bills took marceldarius from alabama. arizona took patrick peterson, the corner from lsu. cleveland traded down with atlanta so the falcons selected alabama receiver julio jones. five of the first six picks

coming out of the sec. the first pac-10 player came right after the niners picked. washington's jake locker going to the tennessee titans at eight. from at this tititans to gi. they turned to a guy today that had not started a game since 2004. what a triumphant return for ryan vogelsong. six effective innings in his first start in almost seven years. that was back with the team he was facing today, the pirates. this one of eight strikes for him to go with three runs batted in from aaron rowand, who was in the leadoff spot. his double down the line brought home mike fonteneau and eli whiteside. top seven, he adds another with sherholz coming around on this single. tomorrow, the giants start a four-game series in washington with tim lincecum getting the start.

comprehensive coverage of every team on nbcbayarea.com. every night, a full 30 minutes of every team you care about, at 10:30 on comcast sportsnet bay area. tomorrow game one of round two of the sharks and red wings at the tank. a lot of anticipation for this series. if history is any guide, this has the makings of a remarkable series. the hero of game six of the kings series, joe thornton, has been some of the epic battles against detroit. the sharks taking nothing for granted. they know they need to gain momentum before heading to hockey town next week. here's the word today from sharks ice. >> we feel like we got a group of good leaders in here that have been through some good playoff series so so far, so good. we'll see how it fares this series. >> they're a good team. we know that. we know they're rested and will come ready to play. exciting time of year. >> i love playing detroit. it's always a challenge. close to home for me.

going to have a lot of family there. last year in the playoffs it was crazy. it was intense. it was fun. every game we play against these guys, seems like it's back and forth. it's like a roller coaster ride. good forwards, great "d" and a good goalie. they looked dominant in round one. we're going to have to be at our best to >> bhem. starts toigrr nowht at the tank. >> bring them on. >> we'll be right back. n

it's common in the classroom but did you know there are bullies in the workplace, too? >> it was devastating experience and certainly prevented me from working on my job, at my career, helping my students. >> no matter your age, bullying can be devastating. and oftentimes, difficult to dispute, especially if the bully is your boss. tonight we'll show you what to do if you're bullied at work and who you need to reach out to in order to get some results. that's tonight at 11:00 right after "the office". finally tonight, a royal twist on an italian favorite. papa john's pizza in britain is ready to celebrate the royal wedding with, well, pizza. but it's not just -- >> o-m-g. >> this pie features the faces of william and kat kate's hair made of black olives with yellow pepper highlights.

>> bye-bye.