>> and the emergency alert list that sent people scrambling from contra costa county. good evening, everyone. >> just about an hour ago, crews finally repaired a gas line in alamo. but earl yes today, some frightening moments for businesses and residents when they received an alarming text message that said leave the county now. but it didn't say why. jean elle is live in alamo, with what county leaders say was a glitch in the warning system. >> a crew hit a gas line here in alamo this morning. you can see work continues to get the road reopen. the gas leak was a real emergency. but one of two alert systems sent a text message to people in the area. and that text message was

alarming. >> it said leave contra costa county right now. >> reporter: eric was in danville when he got an alert text message. it says emergency alert in this area until 7:45 p.m. evacuate now. >> it just said that there was a severe emergency and get out of contra costa county. >> reporter: he took the warning seriously. calling his family, telling them to leave the county. and evacuating la boulange. >> we swiftly evacuated everyone out of the premises. and that's when we evacuated the store. and went to santa cruz. >> reporter: he headed south, not knowing what the emergency was. >> i had no idea until we googled it. and it said there was a gas leak on danville boulevard. >> reporter: the gas leak was about three miles away. emergency workers did evacuate a three-block area as a

precaution. contra costa county says the county's emergency system worked. sending alerts with details about the emergency. but the public warning system had a glitch. >> for whatever reason, they were updating their system. had not alerted the county to use the updated system. as a result, we ended up with people being alerted with a much further area. >> reporter: anderson says she will be asking a lot of questions about what happened and why. despite the scare, better safe than sorry. >> was it wrong? to an extent, i'd say so. it's better had everybody be safe than everybody be around. >> the supervisor says it's important for the alert system to work perfectly every time. as for the gas leak, they are blaming each other for the mistake. and once a responsible party are identified, business owners who

lost wages and revenue, can file a claim. another gas leak today. this one in oakland. and this one caused by a minivan that plowed into a house. it happened in oakland's china town area. the van slammed through the house and into a gas meter. about half a dozen homes were evacuated until crews turned off the gas line. the driver suffered minor injuries. new at 11:00. we know more about a woman killed in oakland. we spoke to 66-year-old judy salmon's neighbor this evening. she may have been caught in the cross fire when she was killed around 1:30 this afternoon. a neighbor tells us, she was in the car with a dog she was sitting at the time of that shooting. >> and the [ bleep ] murdered her, had the presence of mind,

being used to this sort of thing, to grab her purse and phone before they took off. >> police are not giving details about her murder. a follow-up to a story that was breaking in our 6:00 p.m. newscast. san jose fire crews are trying to figure out what started a smoky brush fire. it did not burn a lot of acreage, only three. but the empty field. but the smoke billowed from the fire, creating a traffic mess on 880, 101 and 87. tractors were being used to cut down weeds when that fire started. money doesn't grow on trees. but several people around the bay area getting big bucks for their palm trees. and the offers are connected to the new pay bridge. a look at the eastern span which is lit up tonight. george kiriyama shows us where the trees are headed. george? >> reporter: that's right.

let me show you the type of tree that will be placed to the east and west side of the toll plaza. this is called a canary island palm tree. and crews were out to inspect this tree. tonight, we talked to the owner, who has elected to give the tree away if it is selected. for 40 years, this tree had stood proud in the front lawn in santa clara. it was planted by her husband in the early '70s. >> it is sentimental because my husband planted it there. >> reporter: now, they want her tree. they want to relocate it to the bay bridge. >> we're looking at grown, mature, large palms. >> reporter: first, the gomez family palm would have to pass some health tests. crews chopped at the base.

and then, cut off a frond. the project does not want sick trees. >> this has been an effective work that's prevented us from acquiring palms that maybe are infected with a pathogen. we're preventing that and getting clean trees. >> reporter: it has to removal test. no utility or gas lines must be near it. >> this tree is perfect tree for removal. it has a nice center ring around it. it's geometrically proportioned. >> reporter: they're looking for palm trees on private or public property. it will cost $4,500 to remove a tree. the property owner will receive $1,500. she wishes she could be paid more. but she's okay with her tree being a part of bay bridge history. >> it will be exciting, i guess. >> reporter: now, if all goes well, we'll see the 65 or 70

palm trees near the toll plaza some time on labor day weekend. >> thank you, george. a popular amusement park is under criticism tonight and the state is investigating. environmentalist don darling says six flags has been pollutes lake chabot and its nearby creek for years. he showed the amusement park's president the clutter. and he was promised that the park would clean it up. when it didn't happen, he went to youtube to try to gain attention. >> discovery kingdom dropped the ball big-time. i'm sure they're picking up drinks over there. you bet. they have money over there. people are giving them money. >> now, the california department of fish and wildlife has launched an investigation into the matter. discovery kingdom declined to respond on camera but did release a statement reading, quote, we are aware of concerns

and working with specialists and local authorities to complete our assessment of the situation and implement an appropriate remediation plan. three people caught breaking into a south bay gun store this morning. 39-year-old teena marie guzman, and 26-year-old marcos ma rain know, were breaking into the reed gun range with santa clara and making off with seven guns. police caught up with them less than a mile from the store. they were able to respond so quickly because the burglars tripped the silent alarm during the break-in. the stolen guns were recovered. there's a peeper with a penchant for women in showers in san mateo county. there's a man lurking outside windows in san carlos. there's been two incidents so far on laurel street between 9:00 and 11:00 at night. a woman showering in her home said someone was watching her. and it happened again this past monday night. rescue efforts continue into

the night in northern spain after a passenger train derailed. the train was heading from madrid. passengers said it was coming into the station too fast when it hit a curb, jumped the tracks and sent the train cars tumbling. the relatives were blocked from the site and forced to wait on the sidelines for news. the death toll stands at 40. but that number could raise. the nsa surveillance program will continue for now. late today, the house voted down an ameant mendment that would have stopped the collection of phone records. the obama administration, national security officials and house republican leaders all fiercely oppose the amendment. on the senate side, california lawmaker dianne feinstein is leading an effort to change parts of the program to address privacy concerns. as for the american fugitive who leaked the nsa program is

holed up in the moscow airport. his russian attorney gave an update, saying edward snowden is still in limbo. the russian government has not refused his asylum request but has not approve it either. the united states wants russia to send him back to the states to face espionage charges. ? it's not every interview that makes a new start. we'll show you why they're getting hired first. a popular campground closed after an animal has the plague. details coming up. a happy ending for a wayward bay area tortoise. find out where pokey was found. that's coming up.

attorneys hired by the san mateo unified school district to deal with an a.p. testing crisis were on-hand to talk to frustrated parents and worried students. they're advanced placement test scores were invalidated after teachers didn't follow seating rules for the test. the board decided to sue the educational testing service. tonight, the district urged to let their kids take the tests over again. the district is weighing its options. college students and their parents are breathing a temporary sigh of relief after the senate passed a bill that would roll back the interest on student loans. >> the senate approved that bill. that bipartisan legislation cancels the rate hikes and sets

interest rates for stafford loans higher than the ten-year treasury note. some lawmakers say it saves freshmen thousands of dollars. others say rates will skyrocket as the economy improves. >> this compromise will save students $8 billion in interest this school year, which translates to $31 billion in savings over the next four years. >> this proposal will provide short-term rate relief. but lock in terms for thousands of people across the country. supporters of the house hope to pass the deal before it goes on recess. it is a tough time to find a job. ask anyone from college grads to people who lost their jobs during the recession. and still are struggling to bounce back. but there's one group with an inside track. getting plum silicon valley jobs. >> there's the meeting rooms.

>> it's the first day of work for kenyatta leeial. >> today, i will go early. >> reporter: he is starting at san francisco's rocket space. a starter for tech start-ups. by now, the nerves are gone. >> i feel at home. >> reporter: his anxiety peaked when he had to pitch his business idea. he had nothing to worry about. >> they offered to give me a job. >> reporter: kenyatta has been living in marin county. graduated valedictorian from his university. >> when he offered me the job when i was in prison -- >> marin county, as in san quentin prison. valedictorian from his prison program. >> it's not like every interview, you make a new start. >> reporter: in 1991, kenyatta got locked up for armed robbery.

>> that served as my third strike. and landed my in prison for 25 to life. >> reporter: this was his home for 19 years. until -- the last mile. a program pioneered by a venture capitalist couple. >> they will break into two groups. >> reporter: but why? the seed was planted in chris when he was invited to speak at san quentin. the trip piqued his interest. and so began the research. >> it cost us $45,000 per year per inmate. >> reporter: the idea sprouted from those numbers. but grew into so much more when they began to listen. >> being, you know, in a place where i knew that i could help make a difference. the last mile was born. the program teaches skills and connects these men with silicon valley and leaders. the kind that people outside prison walls don't have access

to. from guy kawasaki to m.c. hammer. there's a graduation day for these men. >> i'd like to welcome you to the first demo day ever held at a california correctional facility. >> reporter: demo day, where about 100 people go into san quentin to listen to these men and their business ideas. >> inside of the room. they take a deep breath. >> it's only skin-deep. >> reporter: and begin their pitches. >> the quality of the pitches was as good if not better as the pitches you'll see around the valley. that was the first interesting thing. the second thing was, they were pitching technology companies, internet companies. but none of them had ever used the internet. >> the founder of healthy hearts institute. >> reporter: horacio spent eight years behind bars. you'd never know it meeting him today. he was released at march. and has been working at

rally.org. an offer he got when he was locked up. this month, he turned that internship into a job. >> focusing and really by rebuilding my life and learning from my bad choices. >> reporter: these men have grown leaps, bounds. why not hire people out of college with no criminal history. >> our whole business here is about managing an ecosystem. managing an environment. and he has come from a community that manages itself. >> tremendous talent and potential that exists in incarcerated settings all across america. >> reporter: they made it out. >> today, i have a future. >> reporter: still, there's something that grounds them. more specifically, someone. >> guys that i left behind that are still at san quentin. >> reporter: think think of their brothers, who alongside them, graduated the last mile but not the prison system. >> i'm getting emotional just

thinking about it right now because there's some really, really good, solid men, who deserve a chance. and so, yeah. that's what motivates me on a day-to-day basis. if you treat a man as he is, he will remain as he is. if you treat a man as he can and should be, he will become as he can and should be. >> reporter: the last mile has been so successful, there's plans to expand to other prisons, in and out of california this fall. as for the guys at san quentin, a fifth graduate of the program is set to walk free this week. and there's progress on getting his first internship at a silicon valley start-up. los angeles county health leaders shut down a popular campground because of a squirrel that tested positive for the plague. much of the table mountain campground near wright wood northeast of los angeles is closed tonight. the plague can spread from animals to humans from bites

from infected fleas. none of the four cases of human plague since 1984 have been fatal. experts say the reason it was so deadly in the past was because antibiotics did not exist yet. we have good news tonight. pokey, the tortoise, is back home in foster city. >> yay. >> we told you about the 18-year-old brown african tortoise last night. his owner audrey has had him since he hatched. and was frantic to find him gone. a man found pokey at a park in north central san mateo. recognized him and returned him. even refused the $100 reward that audrey offered. audrey is very happy. and second to audrey's happiness. our own janelle wang. >> i've been following the pokey story closely. >> i ran to the makeup room to tell her that pokey had been found. a lot of people celebrating our great weather, too.

>> plenty of that coming our way. let's look at our thursday forecast. i can't believe he's found. so camouflaged. that's really cool. the coastline, we're goi to have the strong onshore flow. temperatures in the mid-50s there. the interior valley, not starting off too cool. especially in the east bay. numbers in the mid-60s. in the afternoon, warmer. plenty of low-90s. and upper 70s by the bay. a decent amount of sunshine near san francisco. let's get a look at our sky camera network. and the moon on the top of your screen. 91% full. but visibility decreasing as we had our last full moon recently on monday. off to the north, you can see here in emeryville, a new span of the bay bridge on the right-hand side of your screen. that fog coming in. and that will be shrouding the bay and golden gate bridge. let's get your fog forecast. most of the thick fog at the coastline again. airport delays, 30 to 40 minutes

probably. low cloud cover throughout marin, sonois a ma. you're going to be starting off clear. by the afternoon, expect that fog to stay put at the coastline. we'll also see some cloud cover filter in across the east bay. we'll have plenty of sunshine. this will be more of a high cloud situation from walnut creek to livermore and san jose. let's get your forecast thursday. temperatures slightly above average. but very comfortable down here into the silicon valley. 87 in san jose. near campbell, probably feel like the low 90s. 89 in every green. and 95 in livermore. the hottest spot, walnut creek at 96. 92 in pleasanton. and 88 in castro valley. and 69 in san francisco. back towards berkeley and oakland, mid to upper 70s. if you're headed out tomorrow,

do be advised there's major extremes are going to stay in place as we stay in the next couple of days. hot air inland and the cool air at the coastline. the america's cup continues on thursday. we'll see the water temperatures in the mid-50s. wind out of the west. 10 to 20 miles per hour. decent conditions for the boats. they should be able to continue the racing without a problem. of course, for most of the spectators, temperatures in the mid-60s. you can catch this at 12:00 to 1:30 on kozi with live broadcasting there. a nice day coming our way tomorrow. >> looks beautiful. thanks, jeff. pokey's going to enjoy his first day home so much. >> out on the lawn. caroline kennedy appears ready to wade into politics. what post the president is nominating her for next.

she comes from one of the

most prominent political families in the united states. caroline kennedy is about to take her first political post. >> president obama plans to nominate her to be the next u.s. ambassador to japan. kennedy is the most prominent surviving member of the late president john f. kennedy's family. she would be the first woman to serve as u.s. ambassador to japan. coming up next in sports, another rough night for the giants.

ahmed fareed here at the exfinnerty sports desk. the giants were in first lace last year. 2 1/2 games up on the dodgers. not the case this year. the finale between the giants and the reds at at&t park. chad gaudin the bearded one. phillips singles to right

center. blanco, some trouble out there. defense, a bit of a struggle for the giants on this night. mike leake driving one to center. that would have been a good play by blanco. they fall to 1-6, versus the reds this season. how about the a's in houston, takening on the astros. cespedes making his first start since the all-star break. seventh inning here. eric sogard. that lead cut to one. seth smith comes in to score. travis blackley on the mound. giving up the go ahead two-run home run to coco crisp. the a's win again. final score, 4-3. football is right around the corner. and the 49ers veterans reported to training camp understand that hard work pays off. >> our secondary was ranked number four in the league last year. we were pretty good. but being ranked number four, you ain't ranked number one. there's some things we can get better at.

>> continue to do the hard things that nobody else want to do. getting up earlier than everybody else. going home later. it's no secret formula to it. it's hard work. >> knowing what it takes to get to where we got last year. we know that. we want to get back there. we got to do better this year. to win it. >> that will do it for sports. more news after the break. [ male announcer ] what if there was a help line for dinner ideas?

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a rescued sea lion is back in the ocean where he belongs tonight. >> the special operations releasing a 245-pound animal in the water. the crowd of bystanders was there to watch the sea lion lumber down the beach. couldn't go fast enough and into the waves. he was found at monterey's fisherman's warf, with rubber around his neck. but he was caught in that rubber, which was digging into

his neck for two months. the center has rescued 320 marine mammals so far this year. and he's happy to be back at sea. >> i can sleep well tonight. h.c. is back at sea. and pokey is back at home. all is well in the world. >> we should introduce them. >> a happy ending to this newscast. thank you for joining us. >> see you tomorrow. bye.

>> announcer: it's "the tonight show with jay leno," featuring rickey minor and "the tonight show" band. tonight, jay welcomes -- from the new movie, "jobs," ashton kutcher. from "glee," jayma mays. the music of hiatus kaiyote.

and trevor moore tests new products in "winnovations." and now, jay leno! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> jay: thank you very much! gentlemen, thank you. thank you very much. welcome to "the tonight show." before -- [ cheers and applause ] thank you. before we begin the show, i want everyone to turn off their cell phones. has nothing to do with our program. we just want to protect you from anthony weiner.