morning news. good morning. thank you for joining us on this thursday february 24th. i'm pam cook. and good morning. i'm dave clark. let's checkwetter and traffic. here's steve. thank you very much pam and dave. we have a few light rain showers around. but rain will start to move in later on. right now we are under mostly cloudy skies. you can see right there everything's starting to get closer. highs in the upper 40s and low to mid-50s and then turns much, much colder as we head towards tomorrow. here's sal. right now we're looking at san raphael here 101, 580 that traffic looks very nice. and the marin county commute has not quite woken up yet. looks pretty nice. this morning's commute on the upper deck of the bay bridge looks good into the city. 5:00, back to the desk. we are following developing news out of vallejo this morning where firefighters are still on the scene of a house fire. ktvu's claudine wong was first reporter on the scene and is live with why it took two

teenagers who escaped the fire so long to get help. an amazing story this morning, claudine. >> reporter: good morning, pam. yes, the two teenagers live inside this home behind me. you can see some of the fire damage outside the home. they weren't in the bedroom where the fire began. but they woke up to smoke detectors. once they heard the smoke detectors they immediately ran out looking for help and they did not get it when they asked. we'll tell you why in just a minute we're going to introduce bill 280 at the vallejo fire department. i've talked to the teenagers. bill, you've talked to the teenagers. tell me about what they did in the initial moments. we think smoke detectors saved their lives but the fire had a lot of time to burn correct? >> they said they were asleep at the time of the fire around 2:30 in the morning. they heard the smoke detector go off. they got up. one of the boys went over and saw at the bedroom door was closed there was soot and smoke. so he didn't open it. he knew that that was the thing to do. and got his stepbrother or brother out of the house and

they both got outside. they could see the fire was burning in the window of the bedroom. and the amount of time that it took them to find either have a resident in the area call 911 or to find help let the fire just grow on itself. >> reporter: they told me they went to every single house on this block and they were banging on the doors and no one would open. no one would talk to them through the doors. that's the story you're getting from them as well. >> yeah. they said they left their house, they didn't have any phone. they didn't have a cell phone or anything to call 911 with. and they went door to door trying to get somebody to call 911. apparently at one of the houses they must have woke someone up and looked out after they left and saw the house on fire and did call. and by that time they were looking for someone else to make the call and ran to the fire station. >> reporter: which is about three blocks away. what does this say to you? >> shows to you one people don't trust people banging on their door in the middle of the night. there was a time when somebody

banged on the door in the middle of the night you knew something was going on. it had to be a problem. it was something they didn't just come to your house for no reason. it's a product of what we have right now with the diminished capacities of the police and fire departments. people know that we have a diminishing capacity and these cuts are taking its toll on the citizens. >> reporter: bill, thanks so much for joining us this morning. we did just talk to a man whose father lives right next door. we'll have more on what he had to say on why his father did not answer the door when he heard the knocking. in the meantime firefighters believe they do know the cause. they believe a curling iron actually started this fire early this morning. live in vallejo, claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. this morning the marin county coroner will remove a body buried in the backyard of the house in novato. police found the body last night. it was underneath a patio at a home on rebecca way. kraig debro says the investigation is focusing on a missing man and his wife.

good morning, kraig. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, dave. the marin county coroner has not made an id but there was a lone police officer outside the home on rebecca court in novato this morning. this is still a crime scene. officers here to make sure nothing is tampered with. the officer says a team of investigators in this homicide case are due here in about an hour. news chopper 2 gives a birds eye view of a backyard here after 12 hours of searching and digging, novato police and an f.b.i. evidence recovery team uncover a body. marin county coroner's office is trying to identify that body. police and federal investigators were brought here because of a missing persons report filed two weeks ago by a neighbor. some say they haven't seen 74- year-old dale smith in months. smith lives in the home with his wife. why she did not file a report is just one of the many unanswered questions. another why did police believe they might find the missing man on the property? >> in the backyard where we had

suspected that evidence may be found that would lead to his whereabouts. >> reporter: his wife is a person of interest. she's letting her attorney speak for her. dale smith suffered from serious health ailments. we have other unanswered questions here such as why was the f.b.i. involve and had did police get a warrant permission to bring in canines for the search or have the threat of eminent danger in order to enter the property without a warrant? one thing's for sure police did have a reason to suspect they'd find a body here. live in novato, kraig debro, channel 2 news. overnight a head on collision involving a wrong way driver sent two people to the hospital. that happened at about 10:00 last night on interstate 880 near the fifth street exit in oakland. chp says a wrongway driver crashed head on into another car. that driver's described as an

elderly woman. she suffered injuries to both of her legs. the other driver she hit complained of pain to his ribs and legs. chp is looking into whether alcohol was involved. time now 5:05. vallejo police are searching now for a convicted sex offender who they say has failed to register. he's 28-year-old michael maize. a felony arrest warrant has been issued now. convicted sex offenders are required by state law to register. officials say mace original offense involved a child under the age of 14. heros this morning. they saved a woman from this burning car. look at these pictures. the woman crash into a tree on highway 24 right near the offramp. she was trapped when the car burst into flames. well, four drivers who stopped to help used fire extinguishers from their own cars and they put out that fire. the san francisco police department is now studying the use of tasers.

last night the city's police commission voted 6 to 1 to allow the study to move forward. this comes one year after the board rejected a similar idea. now the new police chief will put together a proposal for a pilot program on the department's preferred device. >> all the concerns from the public, all the concerns from the aclu, all of those will be addressed in the proposal that we'll bring back to the commission. that's why i want to take my time and have a thoughtful approach as to how we're going to do this. >> after the chief presents his proposal to the board, there will be another round of public comment. the board will vote on whether to implement the chief's finding. the chief says he does not know how long his study will take but there will be no cost to the city. time now 5:07. concerns about prostitution in vallejo are growing. and city hall is responding. the mayor is called a special city council meeting for next month and he is promising a city wide crack down. this follows angry complaints that the police aren't doing enough to fight the prostitution problem.

some vallejo residents have already formed citizen patrols. they're calling 911 when a suspected prostitute is seen on the streets of vallejo. right now it's 5:07. so far pretty quiet on the commute. i think sal says it is still quiet right? it is. and that's a good sign. we're hoping we have a nice early commute anyway. right now traffic is cooperating. this is a look at 80 westbound as you head out to the macarthur maze with no major problems getting out to the toll plaza. also this morning's commute the morning drive looks good all the way down to the bay bridge toll plaza. and the morning commute is going to be good on northbound 280 as you drive up to highway 17. now let's go to steve. all right, sal. thank you. we've been talking about this for four or five days, maybe even seven. last week mentioned this. it's on its way. light rain has developed mainly around oakland toward san mateo bridge and the dumb -- show you in a second but the rain begins

today. snow level 1500 feet. really cold air starts to arrive tomorrow. tomorrow, friday night into saturday. and we'll have a cold rain on friday. very low snow levels as this system begins to plunge southward. so there's a lot going on. winter weather advisories are out for the north bay hills. that starts at 4:00 today. and for all the bay area hills east hills diablo lo range all the way down on friday. later today 4:00 north bay hills. there could even be above 1,000 feet you could get some blizzard conditions out of this believe it or not. you get four inches of snow in about 20, 30, 40-mile an hour winds that could be pretty tough. we'll fine tune that as we get closer. there are signs already winter weather advisories out. here comes the system. what we're getting is very light stuff. right around oakland right there san mateo bridge and towards foster city looks like redwood city, redwood shores heading down 101 and right towards the dumbarton bridge. light rain and also there on the san mateo and santa cruz

border heading into the mountains nothing big but a few showers. 30s and 40s. upper 30s and 40s due to the cloud cover. not as cold as the past couple mornings but really cold on saturday and sunday morning. look at the wide shot. the low is coming down off seattle. drawing in moisture from the west. all that making a beeline towards us. you combine cold air with warm air and that's a perfect mixture for some good rain which will come in later tonight into tomorrow. so the rain begins today. winter weather advisories kick in this afternoon and carry into friday. and even a freeze watch out as we get towards saturday and sunday. very low snow levels saturday morning. it will be a cold saturday morning and sunday morning. so cooling continues. rain starts today, but there's scattered showers out ahead of it. then rain for the north bay. cloudy skies. cooler. low 50s for many on these temperatures and they'll continue to go down on the high temperatures next couple days. tomorrow will be really cold. upper 40s and lows plunge on saturday morning. if there's any available moisture we'll have snow maybe

below 500 feet. sunday looks great after a very cold morning and monday a little warmer. all right, steve, thank you. time now 5:10. the massive quake operation still going on at this hour. the very moment 6.3 quake was captured by these security cameras. reportedly 226 people are still missing this morning. the death toll has reached 98. victims may still be trapped in the collapse canter bury television building. many other buildings still need to be searched. it's an agonizing time as you can imagine for the loved ones of the missing. >> hard to get through and get answers. anything. it's horrible. >> the city is now trying to repair damaged roads and other infrastructure. water tankers are set up now so people can fill up buckets and bottles until water service is back again. after years of debate on how to save them, a new study

is suggesting the delta squelch should be allowed to die off. also now that the president says he will stop defending the federal ban on same sex marriage. good morning. traffic is moving well on bay area bridges as we look live at the richmond san raphael bridge. traffic looks good. we'll tell you more about the morning commute straight ahead.

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news. nearly 600 americans trying to get out of libya are stuck on a ferryboat. let's go to our washington d.c. news room with the latest on why the evacuation is delayed and whether or not their safety is at risk. allison. >> reporter: pam, the state department insists that these americans are safe and protected and have enough food and other supplies. they're trying to go from tripoli to the island of malta. but high seas have delayed their departure for more than 24 hours and they're not leaving any time soon. meanwhile there are more reports today of libya army units cracking down on anti- government protesters. the italian foreign ministry reports more than 1,000 people have been killed in the last week. now president obama is sending secretary of state hillary clinton to geneva to coordinate a response with other international leaders. >> throughout this time of transition the united states will continue to stand up for freedom, stand up for justice and stand up for the dignity of

all people. >> reporter: now the u.s. is considering punishments for brutal treatment of demonstrators including freezing the country's bank account, imposing a international arms embargo and a no-fly zone over the country. there are several reports that gadafi is going to be making another public statement soon. i will stay on top of that for you and have the latest here on the morning news. reporting live from washington d.c., allison burns, ktvu channel 2 news. the justice department is considering bringing captured somali pirates to the u.s. to face trial for murder. the f.b.i. is also trying to determine how the hijacking of four americans in the arabian sea turned deadly two days ago. there are two main theories. two rival groups of pirates may have disagreed over whether to accept an offer during negotiations with the u.s. navy. the other theory, pirates claim they killed the hostages in response to a surprise raid by u.s. forces. time now 5:16.

senator diane feinstein will repeal the marriage act once and for all. follows an announcement by eric holder to stop defending the act which defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. same sex marriage advocates here in the bay area are happy about that. >> we're just overjoyed. >> it's a historic day. i don't think a lot of people understand the privilege that we have living in this time. >> now, legal experts are saying the government's announcement means legally married same sex couples could soon share federal social security benefits as well as insurance and inheritance rights. house speaker john boehner criticized the move. he says the white house should focus on creating jobs and cutting spending instead. well, hawaii is celebrating another milestone in the fight for same sex marriages. the governor there signed legislation yesterday allowing same sex civil unions. that law gives gay and lesbian

couples the same rights as married heterosexuals in hawaii. it's scheduled to take effect january 1 of next year. hawaii is now the seventh state in the u.s. to legalize same sex civil unions. allowing a certain fish to die off may be part of the solution to california's water challenges. it is one of several suggestions in a newly released report on the health of the sacramento-san joaquin delta. scientists say it will be difficult to reverse the decline of endangered species such as the delta smelt. they say the focus should shift from protecting a single species to creating better conditions for all. time now 5:18. hey, sal, is the commute still stretching and yawning and waking up? i think so, dave. people don't usually get on the road unless there's a crash usually right now is a good time to go. i think a lot of people will be going early these days to get a jump on gas mileage anyway. look at 280 northbound nice and

clear up to highway 17. no major problems on 17 either. and this morning's drive is okay on the san mateo bridge heading out to the 101 freeway. going to the bay bridge toll plaza so far it's light. we usually don't start seeing a crowd until later on this hour or sometimes earlier in the next hour. 5:18. let's go to steve. all right, sal, thank you. we already have light rain developing in advance of this system. and it's all coming together. really starting to come together to the north of us. this will slide south throughout the day. look for a cloudy day. cooler today with rain. there's light rain this morning. and then heavier rain coming in later this afternoon. all sorts of advisories out here. get to it in just a second. see some of that rain coming out of the northwest and going right over oakland. just light showers. about sfo to oakland now over the san mateo bridge over toward the dumbarton and san mateo and santa cruz coastline around 101, 280 on the peninsula as well. if you're like what the -- that's it right there. let's get to the warnings and watches for the north bay hills. the winter weather advisory

starts at 4:00 today for snow. that's 4:00 today above 1,000 feet. and then for the bay area hills on friday. so today it's the north bay and tonight and tomorrow i'm sure it will be mostly the bay area hills. the time line if you need to get anything done the next couple days either do it today or wait until sunday. so the rain begins today. snow level around 1500 feet. very cold. it will be a cold rain tomorrow with lowering snow levels on friday. friday night into saturday is really the main time focus for any low snow levels. then we'll have a freeze watch posted as all this clears out. and i mean once we get rid of everything and once it moves south, it will be spectacular visibility. the hills will be snow covered for many if there's available moisture. i think there will be. upper 30s low to mid-40s due to cloud cover. the low's coming down off seattle and vancouver. you can see that. believe it or not it's drawing in moisture, that's the source of our rain coming in. it's going to head right over sacramento. that's the way it looks if everything continues to go.

and it brings in an arctic air mass with it. so cold storm, rain begins today and then winter weather advisories kick in tonight and go through tomorrow. and very slow snow levels and really cold on saturday morning and also on sunday morning. so cloudy, rain begins today. the cooling continues. rain in the north bay but light showers out ahead of that. but the front itself will start to march south on temperatures they're in the low 50s today for everybody or mid-50s. and they may not touch 54 very long because this system's very dynamic and it's on its way. so today, tomorrow and into saturday about anything goes with snow maybe down to about 500 feet or lower sunday morning will be really cold but it will be brisk and breezy and sunny and gorgeous. then monday a little warmer. investors are suing bank of america because of what they call misrepresentations by his country wide home loan unit. the largest bank to buy back mortgages packaged into securities. legal experts say investors could have a tough fight though

since they will have to show that their mortgages performed poorly because they were faulty from the beginning not just because of the poor market conditions. all right. checking in on wall street. looks like a lower opening this morning. a lot of reasons why. mostly because of what is going on overseas. libya in particular. the unrest is unsettling for the global markets. dow jones dropping about 100 points to 12,105. reports that oil companies are shutting down in libya to protect their workers are sending crude oil prices surging. prices surpassed a $100-barrel milestone yesterday and are still about $99 in early morning trading. but analysts warn if violence erupts in iran or saudi arabia crude oil prices would shoot right up to $200 a barrel. >> incredible. time now 5:22. a student left class, came back with a gun. now an instructor is dead. what the police are saying happened earlier that led to

this violence. and a spot here in the bay area that looks like an earthquake zone. how first responders are using it to prepare for the big one. good morning. traffic on highway 4 looks pretty good on westbound as you head out towards the willow pass grade. another update on the morning commute is straight ahead.

good morning.

light rain developing from about fremont over to mountain view, peninsula, south bay, santa cruz mountains. nothing too heavy. clouds are on the way and rain begins later on today for all as temperatures cool off. we get really cold air in here tonight and tomorrow. a student with dreams of becoming a security guard is now in a los angeles jail cell this morning. he's accused of killing his instructor after a heated argument. police say the 22-year-old man stormed out of class, returned with the gun and shot and killed his teacher yesterday afternoon. the deadly shooting took place at a vocation school for future security guards. california drivers have seen gas prices jump more than across the rest of the country, but the difference could soon decrease. the vallejo refinery in benicia is about to resume production after seven weeks offline. that plant produces about 10% of california's cleaner burning fuel. and while it was getting ready to convert to the summer gas formula, workers discovered it

needed more maintenance than usual. the uc berkeley business professor says that created a double whammy at california fuel pumps. >> the price of oil which is the main ingredient in gasoline going up and refinery shortage for turning that into gasoline has happened at the same time and we're seeing very high prices. >> he says that the refinery going back online prices should hold steady. but he also says if the political problems in the middle east spread, the price of gas could skyrocket. time now 5:27. right now the rescue teams in new zealand are still out there looking for survivors of tuesday's big earthquake. and they're using training they got right here in the bay area. >> rescuers over the edge. >> firefighters joined teams from the bay area to learn how to read the rubble after a big earthquake. they were also taught about repelling as you see here, rope work work and how to lift

large pieces of debris. >> how to help people in their own communities is a great feeling for us and we take a lot of pride in it. >> fire officials say they make the training as difficult and as uncomfortable as possible because that's what it's like in a real situation. the firefighters here say it's not a matter of if they'll need this training but when. an overnight fire starts while two boys are home alone. why they had a difficult time getting help. >> reporter: and what's in a name? can a name help spur business at a struggling airport? we're live in san jose with that report. new information this morning about a deadly hit-and- run accident in pacifica. the real reason the driver is now saying he decided to return to the scene and turn himself in. good morning. northbound 280 traffic looking good into the valley. we'll tell you more straight

ahead.

well, good morning to you. welcome back. this is the ktvu channel 2 morning news thursday now february 24th. i'm dave clark. good morning. i'm pam cook. time now is 5:31. we hear some rain might be coming in. when is that, steve? there's some right now, pam. some in the peninsula and san jose. it's the leading edge of what's to come. temperatures today under cloudy to mostly cloudy skies.

cooler. a few mid-50s but lean on the low 50s and the rain begins. there's already some but that's just very light and scattered. but the front itself will start to arrive. cold rain with lowering snow levels by tonight into tomorrow. here's sal. steve, right now northbound and southbound 880 looking good as you drive past the coliseum. no major problems there. also the morning commute looks good on northbound 101 approaching the 80 split. now back to the desk. topping our news right now, firefighters in vallejo are still on the scene of an early morning house fire. now it happened at about 2:45 on sheridan street. ktvu channel 2 reporter claudine wong was the first reporter there on the scene. she tells us now why neighbors didn't answer the cry for help from two teenagers who escaped that fire. claudine. >> reporter: good morning, pam. let me show you where this fire started. it started in the front room. you can see it's boarded up. it has the bars on the window. the damage is mostly contained in that area. and most of the damage and property is actually out here

now. no one's in the bedroom. the two teenagers were actually in the back when the fire broke out about 2:30 this morning. now what happened after that fire broke out though is what is causing some concern this morning. the two teenage boys ages 14 and 15 say they were asleep. they woke up to the smoke detector. got up and saw the fire and realized they needed to get out. so they got out and then they say they went to every single door on this block looking for help. and they didn't find any. >> as i got home my boys were coming, i saw them coming from the fire department. >> reporter: they ran there for help? >> they were knocking on all the neighbors' doors. nobody would open. >> reporter: now we talked to the mother who said she was actually downtown when the fire started. she walked home because her car broke down and she actually ran into her boys as they were at the nearby fire station which is just about a few blocks away from where this fire started.

we just talked to the son of one of the men who actually lives on this street. he says he told his father not to open the door. so when his father heard the knocking he didn't answer. >> he heard banging and he said he didn't know what was happening. of course he refused to open the door until i get the fire department. he opened for the fire department. >> reporter: and you tell them not to open the door? >> i told him not to open the door to no one due to the neighborhood. >> reporter: what about the neighborhood? >> it's not the best neighborhood. there's a lot of derricks outside here. a lot of strangers and so forth. tell him not to open the door for nobody. >> reporter: back on the 1000 block of sheridan this morning it appears that fear was the reason at least one neighbor didn't open their door. we know one other neighbor did call 911 a couple minutes before the mother called 911 from just outside the fire house. as far as the cause of this fire, the firefighters believe at this point that curling iron left on a bed started the fire.

there is a family dog, a chihuahua that was only a couple months old that is still missing. live in vallejo, claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. time now 5:34. well, the name of san jose's biggest airport could soon be longer than it already is. this is all part of a marketing plan. ktvu's jade hernandez live at norman y. ma theta san jose international airport with more of a potential name change. what's going on, jade. >> reporter: dave, it could be a longer name. city officials want people to know that san jose's international airport is the true gateway to silicon valley. you don't have to fly into san francisco or oakland. no one is quite sure how to do that. so a committee today meets to discuss putting silicon valley in the name so everyone can see the connection. the discussion is to turn the san jose international airport name to the norman y. san jose

silicon valley international airport. it's a mouthful and doesn't necessarily roll off the tongue. the struggling airport recently completed a $1.3 billion upgrade last summer. the name change is one of the ways the airport could spur business. since 2008 san jose's airport has lost a quarter of its passengers and a third of scheduled flights. talk of outsourcing police and fire protection. and remaining flights can be pricey compared to the others here in the bay area. there is a committee meeting at 1:00 this afternoon right here at the airport to discuss the name change. what do passengers think? we spoke to a few people this morning who have very distinct opinions about that name. we're live in san jose. we'll have more on that for you in just about an hour. reporting live in san jose, jade hernandez, ktvu channel 2 news. time now 5:36. palo alto police warning drivers lock your cars, put away valuable devices. this after a rash of robberies. there have been 34 car break- ins in different parts of the city in the past month.

in some cases police say thieves used tools to unlock the cars. the burglars appear to be targeting cars that have gps devices and laptops that are left out in the open. >> smashing the windows. just boldly breaking into them. and going right in and taking them. they don't seem to be too worried about consequences. >> police say they don't believe the spike in car burglaries in the past few weeks are connected. a san bruno man accused in a deadly hit-and-run accident went back to the crash scene on the advice of his insurance company. that's according to prosecutors investigating the accident at sharp park road and skyline in pacifica early sunday. officers arrested 57-year-old for drunk driving after he went back to the scene. now on tuesday he pleaded not guilty to felony dui charges in the death of 25-year-old scott. meantime pacifica police are still out there searching for a second car believed to have been involved in that tragic

incident. they say the car was a white 2000 or 2006 mer saudis c or sl class. ten suspects criminals have been taken into custody during oakland's parolee sweep. we followed officers during mornings on 2 yesterday as they raided several locations. operation sunrise targeted an area that has been known for crime and drug dealing. in the past six months police say there has been more than 200 robberies and two dozen shootings in that area. well, an alameda county judge is holding off on making a ruling on a controversial gang injunction in oakland. the injunction would prohibit 40 suspected gang members from gathering in oakland in the area of the fruit vale neighborhood. but critics argue that that could lead to racial profiling. two more hearings on the issue are set for next week. time now 5:38. san francisco man's been arrested for three poaching violations in three weeks. the man was arrested saturday

in van dam state park on the coast. fish and game wardens say they watched him collect the has been loanny and arrested him when he returned his diving equipment. the season ended december 1st. it doesn't open again until april. a teenage burglary suspect is in intensive care this morning. police say he fell through a roof during a burglary attempt. this happened tuesday night at a closed gas station on railroad avenue in pittsburgh. police say they found the teenage suspect unconscious in a collapsed air duct that he apparently try today climb through. reportedly he suffered a fractured skull, but they say he is expected to survive. this morning the san jose sharks have quietly moved into first place in their division for the first time since the opening week of the season. san jose reclaimed that top spot with a dramatic 3-2 overtime victory over the

pittsburgh penguins last night. the shark wills try to keep the hot streak going when they face the flames in calgary tomorrow night. >> you're wearing sharks colors. >> they're winners. >> i noticed that. very nice. time now 5:39. sal, what's happening on the roads now? what's happening on the roads? traffic is doing very well. sharks going to hockey town and then to pittsburgh. that's great. take a look at the commute now westbound bay bridge coming in to the city looks pretty good. not a lot going on right now in the traffic land but things tend to change quickly. if you want to get out there soon it might be a good call for you because right now it's a nice drive as you head towards the commute. if you're driving in the burling gap san mateo redwood city area that's also looking good. this is a time when a lot of people leave and then all of a sudden we start seeing a lot of people on the roads. for example, if you look at the 92 map we already have some people crowding up 92 getting towards 280 and the other way around. just remember that we're here

for you. we're going to have another traffic update in just a few. now let's get your weather with steve. also rain on the peninsula, sal. >> i see. >> there you go. light rain. we'll show you that in a second. mainly focusing energy to the north. you can see the clouds thickening near eureka and northwest california. that's going to drop south later on today, tonight and that's when all the interesting weather starts to develop tonight into friday. light rain stretching from the peninsula back over towards oakland, peninsula and moving south. actually southeast toward san jose. but right there across the dumbarton bridge to fremont to mountain view back to santa cruz mountains starting to thicken up off the san mateo coast. light rain there. maybe bursts of moderate. nothing too heavy yet, not yet. winter weather advisories are out -- they're not out yet but they'll be posted at 4:00 today for snow around 1,000 feet and then for all the bay area hills tomorrow. tonight it's the bay area hills north bay. and then tomorrow everyone else. forecast time line rain begins today. it's already starting. snow level around 1500 feet.

the very cold air doesn't arrive until really friday, friday night into early saturday. but very cold with low snow levels. a rain day. it's going to be a cold rain tomorrow. and then after we clear that out any low snow levels below 500 feet would probably be saturday morning. if there's any available moisture left with this low and chances are there will be, then a freeze watch will kick in. especially saturday night into sunday morning. so pets, plants, you don't have to cover them yet, but by saturday you'll notice -- you'll step outside and you'll notice it. 30s and 40s. temperatures concord target forecast starting off at 43. cloudy to mostly cloudy. rain will be developing by later this afternoon. couple of systems to point out. the low watch how the system just starting to drag downright there see that dividing line coming in? that's the cold air starting to work its way in right there. but look what it's doing, drawing in moisture north of the hawaiian islands and takes

the moisture and funnels out ahead of it. there's the rain. that's why everything's thickening up towards the north of us. the rain begins today. still snow levels around 1500 feet. incredibly still snow on the higher peaks and then a cold rain on friday with very low snow levels. the low ends up again around sacramento by saturday morning. so cloudy today. rain's already started but it will be for everyone later on and cooling continues. low 50s for many or mid-50s. and some of the higher elevations probably in the upper 40s. the wind will start to crank up too. that will be tonight and tomorrow as the front gets closer. the main time for the cold air is friday night and saturday morning. we're very low snow levels possible clearing out after saturday night. sunday morning will be really cold. there could be upper teens or 20s in the north bay areas and then sunny and nice, mostly sunny and warmer on monday. well, memorial services will be held in walnut creek this weekend for the two teenagers who drowned in a rafting accident on saturday. hundreds of people gathered last night for a candle light

vigil to remember matt miller and gavin powell. the bodies of the high school students were found in the creek last weekend. all right. our time is now 5:43. we're going to tell you about an invasion that's happening. an invasion of sea gulls in a quiet south bay neighborhood. no one's exactly sure where they came from. incredible accusations this morning. why rolling stone magazine says the army tried to manipulate u.s. senators visiting afghanistan.

good morning. cloudy, some light rain especially towardsed peninsula and then also heading towards san jose around fremont over to mountain view and dumbarton bridge. look for cloudy skies to continue. cooler temperatures today and rain develops for everyone.

cold rain by this afternoon and evening. all right. welcome back. good morning to you. here's a quick look at some of the top stories we're following for you right now at 5:46. in new zealand rescuers are still searching for survivors of the devastating earthquake. reportedly 226 people are still missing. the death toll has now reached 98. in libya, anti-got protesters have reportedly seized control of the second and third largest cities in libya. but the army units attacked protesters at a mosque near the capitol. meantime hundreds of americans are stranded on a ferry because of rough seas. and the san francisco police department's been given the green light from the police commission to study the use of tasers and other less lethal weapons. the chief is now working on a plan on which weapon would be the best one. new information coming in this morning. the u.s. army reportedly illegally ordered a team of specially trained u.s. soldiers to manipulate american senators who were visiting afghanistan.

that's according to a new investigative report in rolling stone magazine. this report says the so-called psychological operation took place last year and it targeted senators john mccain, joe lieberman and others. the army's reportedly goal was to use the senators to get more money and more funding for the afghan war. about two hours ago a british judge ruled in favor of extraditing the founder of wikileaks to sweden. swedish prosecutors have been wanting to question julian assange about accusations of sexual abuse from two women. assange is denying any wrong doing. his lawyers also worry that sweden may hand assange over to the united states where he is being investigated for leaking classified information. assange plans to appeal the ruling. in greece, dozens of police officers are recovering from injuries this morning after a day of protests there. thousands of demonstrators

battled riot police yesterday during protests against government austerity measures. tear gas was fired into the crowds as some protesters threw fire bombs at police. 15 police officers were hurt, nine rioters arrested. big tobacco and the government will meet with a federal judge today in an ongoing dispute. the justice department wants cigarette makers to publicly admit that they lied about the dangers of smoking. it's also asking for tobacco companies to be required to make corrective statements that would appear in magazines, advertisements and on cigarettes. phillip morris, the largest tobacco company in the u.s., says it will fight back. time now 5:49. new study out shows the brentwood union school district spends a big part of its budget in the classroom. the pepper dine university study says brentwood used 74% of its money for classroom spending in 2008. that is more than some other bay area school districts.

many school districts spend a big percentage of their budgets on nonclassroom costs like administrator's salaries, travel and conferences. tonight uc berkeley will be holding a very special public hearing on a big construction project that a lot of neighbors say has become a noisy nuisance. [ indiscernible ] that is the sound people living near cal's memorial stadium say they hear from morning until night seven days a week. and complaints about the massive stadium renovation project don't stop there. neighbors say they're also worried about the dust and possible health problems along with the noise. >> and i just woke up and i was coughing and my chest was really tight. it took me a while to get my day started. >> i want to get the team back home by the 2012 season but i think there is room here for discussion. >> well, the university hopes tonight's public hearing will help find a way to make the big project less noisy and more

neighbor-friendly. in something like right out of an alfred hitch movie a san jose neighborhood is invaded by sea gulls. a couple who lives in the valley say the birds show up at a nearby school every morning around 8:00. wildlife experts say they're probably attracted to nearby ponds used to refill underground wells. but residents say they're a nuisance leaving droppings, garbage and they squawk all day, pam. those birds aren't dumb. i've seen them show up at lunchtime at many schools, sal. they know where to go for the food. yes, they do. >> as soon as you leave the table in some restaurants in san francisco. >> yes, they do. they're very smart. good morning everybody. let's go out and take a look at the commute now. the traffic is actually doing very well on 880 north and southbound. again, this is the time when things are going to start getting busy. we're very fortunate we haven't had anything major reported by the chp. a couple fender benders but nothing too bad. move along and take a look at the 237 drive into the valley.

that commute looks very nice. and if you are driving in castro valley from livermore to castro valley that traffic also at the speed limit so far. 5:51. here's steve. sal, thank you. we have rain developing on the peninsula, san mateo coast, santa cruz coastline. waiting for the main system to arrive. that's getting closer. there are a slew of advisories out. they have already started the winter storm warnings up on northern mountains. it starts at 1:00 today for tahoe. it's already beginning to snow up there and cloud up and our system is dropping south. that will come over us later on today. you can see some of the rain already developing. starting a little in oakland and picked up in intensity more towards the peninsula. so on 101, 280 up along skyline and the coast there you can see that heading right down san jose into santa cruz mountains. nothing too heavy but there are some areas where it might pick up intensity a little bit. this is just you know a precursor here. winter weather advisories start at 4:00 for north bay hills and

for everybody by tomorrow. higher elevations for snow around 1,000 feet or lower. 30s and 40s on the temps up this morning due to cloud cover. the wind is also going to crank up as this very, very cold system right off of vancouver right there. and the flow around that coming around the pacific is drawing in moisture from the southwest. that's going to be the cold rain developing. the very cold air arrives late friday into saturday. saturday morning's going to be really cold. cooling continuing. rain in the north bay. and temperatures will be in the low 50s for many. santa rosa only 50. concord 52. san francisco 52. doesn't matter where you are really. couple mid-50s possible here san jose but that will be about it. everyone else around 52 or 5. cloudy, rain starts today. cold air begins to move in tomorrow and then really moves in late friday into saturday morning and any available moisture means there will be some extremely low snow levels. it will clear out saturday night and then cold, really cold, sunday morning. and then warmer on monday. well, just a few minuting a

important economic news was released. orders are up for products that last three years or more. that's slightly better than expected. and the first increase in four months. however, without orders for cars and airplanes, durable goods actually dropped last month. we'll see how that effects wall street in just a bit. all right. time now 5:53. the america's cup we know it's going to bring a lot of money to san francisco. will it also hurt the city? looking beyond the money. why the impact on the environment will get special attention today. plus what the "american idol" judges did last night making some dreams come true and breaking some hearts.

welcome back to the morning news. this week the public is getting a chance to weigh in on the america's cup race and it's environmental impact on the san francisco bay. in two years the world's top yacht racing teams will compete for the oldest trophy in sports before an estimated half a million people. environmental groups are concerned though about the bay and the massive construction plans for the san francisco waterfront. there will be a public hearing at san francisco's pier one tonight. "american idol" getting ready for summer finals. last night five contestants made the cut. ♪ [ music ] >> the show featured

performances of beatles songs and more face time with contestants who haven't been seen since their original audition. 24 will make the summer finals. remaining 19 contestants will be named during tonight's two hour episode which you can of course see right here on ktvu. well, the coroner prepares to remove a body discovered in novato. but this body was buried in someone's backyard. the expanding investigation into the victims and who buried that body. also the bay area airport that may soon be getting a name change. we'll tell you where and why.