. at least four people are dead and dozens of others are missing, as tropical storm erika sweeps through the dominican republic and people in florida are bracing for that massive storm. good afternoon. i'm gasia mikaelian. a state of emergency has been declared in florida, as tropical storm erika nears. the storm is forecast to hit monday, moving right through the middle of that state. state officials are urging people to stock up on supplies and to heed all warnings. >> reporter: tropical storm erika pummeling the eastern caribbean island of dominique

came, unleashing landslides, killing at least four people. the storm dumping 15 inches of rain on the island, and its track has it heading toward the bahamas before hitting the u.s. florida officials say it's been a while since a major storm made land full in their state and are urging people to stock up now. >> we've been very fortunate for a long time that we've got to get prepared. >> reporter: residents appear to be listening to the governor and are stocking up and getting ready for erika, hitting the grocery stores, gassing up, getting cash and supplies. >> got a freezer full of food, two generators, impact windows, even got propane stove. >> pill bottles at home, make sure you have the pills that you need, and if you don't get them filled before the storm comes. >> reporter: sand bag distribution is now taking place in areas across the state. city workers in hollywood are preparing them to help homeowners keep any floods to a minimum. >> the sand bag distribution is

happening on friday from 1:00 until 6:00 p.m. and then again on saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. >> reporter: tropical storm erika did slightly strengthen overnight. winds are now 50 miles an hour and the national hurricane center puts the center of this storm most likely a tropical storm, as it hits the florida keys and the southern tip of the florida mainland late sunday night into monday morning. in miami, phil keating, fox news. here in the bay area, we're set to see a wet morning tomorrow. rosemary or rosco has the details. >> nothing like erika, of course, but we may have a little bit of damp weather coming our way to start the weekend. giving you a look at the storm, that is off the coast there, notice the clouds overhead at this hour. well, they began rolling in early this morning ahead of that system. take a look. as i pull in closer, you can see green on the screen, that moisture beginning to moisten up our atmosphere. i'm going to push you into saturday morning now. notice the scattered showers

over northern california, just approaching portions of the north bay. the top half of sonoma county, maybe as early as 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning, a few sprinkles there. i'll roll you through into 7:00. it becomes a little bit more widespread farther south. we're now into 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, and notice as it moves south, sort of fizzles out. not a lot going on there. but again, i think we'll wake up with drizzle tomorrow morning, a few scattered showers over parts of the north bay. when i come back, i'll show you how much we may actually accumulate with this system. i think the bigger story is going to be the cooldown. a big drop in temperatures coming our way for the weekend. i'll have a look, coming up. >> thank you, rosemary. san francisco police are looking for a man who robbed an employee at gunpoint inside a store at fisherman's wharf this morning. investigators say the robber came into a business on jefferson street near the embarcadero at about 1:00 a.m. the suspect went into a manager's office and put the employee in a choke hold. then the robber held a gun to the employee's head and told the victim to open the safe. the man then tied up the employee, took cash and the

victim's cell phone. the robber remains on the loose today. there are serious health concerns at san quintin this noon time. state leaders are taking precautions to prevent a legionnaires outbreak from spreading. an inmate is being treated at the hospital. nearly a couple dozen other inmates are exhibiting symptoms and are being tested. legionnaires is spread in water. water has been shut off in the prison's housing units. water tanks, bottled water and port-a-potties have been brought in. oakland police are promising a thorough and transparent investigation into yesterday's deadly police shooting. a female officer who has been on the force for 18 years shot and killed a suspect yesterday during a confrontation. police say the officer was responding to a disturbance call when the suspect charged at her and hit her several times with a chain. >> did a circular motion with his arm and swung at her with

whatever he had in his hand. >> the suspect continued to advance, swinging the chain at the officer. the officer drew her firearm and fired at the suspect, striking him. >> several people gathered at the shooting scene last night to protest against oakland police. they say they are skeptical about the police department's account of what happened. a police body camera did capture the confrontation. the officer had a severe cut to her head. she is in stable condition. this was the fourth deadly police shooting in oakland this year. a man linked to a bizarre kidnapping case in vallejo appeared before a judge, hearing arguments over a key piece of evidence. 38-year-old matthew muller was in criminal court in pleasanton yesterday. the harvard law graduate is suspected of an attempted home invasion in dublin last june, where he left his cell phone behind. dublin police tracked that phone to a home in south lake tahoe, where muller was arrested. muller's attorney believes the cell phone was taken without a search warrant. >> if a court were to find that the known was seized and

searched unlawfully, then the phone is really a window into the entire investigation, the remaining investigation. >> the fbi believes items found in south lake tahoe link muller to a kidnapping, which was originally called a hoax, but the investigation was reopened. palo alto police are warning two middle school students were harassed by a man in a car. investigators say a 12-year-old boy and girl were walking near jordan middle school yesterday about 6:30 in the evening when a man pulled up nearby. they say he made inappropriate remarks and tried to get them to come closer. the man is described as white, in his late twenties, with dirty blonde hair and a buzz cut. the car was a newer model white four-door sedan with a broken left headlight. san francisco police say there has been a dramatic increase in property crime across the city. they say property crimes are up more than 20% and car break-ins

specifically are up 45%. police say that thieves are targeting smaller items, things like cameras, cell phones, ipads. people think that prop 47 is partly to blame. it reduces crimes such as shoplifting and grand theft from felonies to misdemeanors, if a value is less than $950. >> some of these career criminals are smart enough that they are gaming the system. >> is it fair for that person to go to prison for three years, or is one year in the county jail sufficient for punishment for someone who has a small amount of narcotics for personal use? >> the da's office says crime trends up and down, regardless of prop 47 and it's too early to tell if the measure plays any role in the increase in property crime. the ceo of the ashley madison website is stepping down in the wake of that massive hack attack on the company's computer systems. the toronto-based company says noel beaterman's departure is effective immediately and calls it a mutual decision.

the website links people who want to cheat. hackers calling themselves the impact team released personal nfnls on some 30 million ashley madison users. one pilot is lucky to be alive today after walking away from a plane cash in san carlos. it happened 5:00 last night after the single-engine plane took off from the san carlos airport. take a look. you'll see it crashed east of 101 to the holly street exit. ended up nose-down against the fence near a storage facility. the san mateo sheriff's office reports only the pilot was on board and wasn't hurt in the crash. no word yet on what caused the plane to go down. today, the governor of virginia went to a television station in roanoke to offer condolences for the deaths of two journalists who were gunned down during a live broadcast. terry mccauliffe renewed his support for background checks for gun purchases. meanwhile, several people held a candlelight vigil last night outside the station wdbj to honor reporter alison parker and photographer adam ward who

died wednesday morning. many say the tragedy hit very close to home. >> it doesn't feel safe, even though roanoke is a very safe place. but it feels very uncomfortable. it feels raw. >> the shopping center where the shooting happened reopened today. the manager, who saw the shooting happen on live tv, calls it a bittersweet day. the chamber of commerce said vicki gardner, who was shot in the back, is recovering after doctors removed a kidney and part of her colon. investigators are revealing more information about the gunman, vester flanagan. in the car where police say he shot himself, they found a do- do list, a wig, 17 stamped letters, and more. he sent a text to a friend saying he had quote, done something stupid. station management say flanagan had a record of angry outbursts before he was fired in 2013. tomorrow marks 10 years since one of the worst natural disasters in american history. hurricane katrina hit the gulf

coast the morning of august 29, 2005. now, a decade later, the area is still trying to recover. katrina caused some $100 billion in damage. while there is no official death toll, it's estimated more than 1000 people lost their lives. >> we came to realize that what started out as a natural disaster became a man made disaster. a failure of government to look out for its own citizens. >> it's taken 10 years and cost $14 billion to rebuild the levy system damaged by katrina. former president george bush is in new orleans today. former president bill clinton will tour the area tomorrow. indy cars are back in the bay area for the go pro grand prix in sonoma. what drivers are doing today to prepare for the high-octane, high-energy race and how they plan to honor a fallen driver. >> less than a month away from a big decision on whether or not los angeles will be the host of the 2024 olympics, there are questions about where the funding will come from.

. a truck driver was able to escape just before an amtrak train crashed into his vehicle. the accident happened about 9:30 this morning, just a mile from the santa fe station down in san diego. officials say the driver of the truck jumped out just before the collision, when the car in front of him didn't move. amtrak says there were more than 100 people on that amtrak

surf liner at the time. no one on the train is believed to have been hurt. amtrak service is temporarily suspended. san francisco muni, making service changes to speed things up for riders. the details announced today include adding more buses and light rail trains to certain routes starting next month. on some routes such on the 19th avenue route, they will be altered to improve connections. 37 new electric diesel buses and trolley buses will be deployed to muni's heaviest routes. engines are roaring up at sonoma raceway ahead of this weekend's indy car series finale. christien kafton has more on how drivers are preparing for the race and how they plan to honor one of their own. >> reporter: as a big weekend of racing here at sonoma raceway, take a look, you see race practice under way here. indy car will hold its season finale on sunday, paying tribute to justin wilson. drivers are hitting the track today for the practice session, and there will be a qualifying

race tomorrow. this is the first practice since wilson was hit in the head by a piece of debris at pocono raceway on sunday. he died on monday. yesterday, drivers paid tribute to wilson. marco andretti led a motorcade of drivers across the golden gate bridge. andretti was driving wilson's number 25 car. some of the biggest names in racing were on hand to pay tribute to a man they all say was a great competitor and a great friend. >> he really has the biggest heart. he's so genuine, has all the time in the world for everybody, every fan, and, you know, it's just -- there's not enough good that i could say about the guy. >> reporter: drivers will also be paying to wilson during sunday's race by wearing a special sticker on their helmets. wilson's death has raised questions about how to make the sport safer, including the idea of enclosing the cockpit of the cars to protect them from flying debris. driver juan pablo montoya says that's a hard decision because enclosing the cockpit could make it tougher to get a driver out of the car in the case of a

fire. safety precautions have gotten better over the years, but you simply cannot prevent all accidents, he says. as you can see, practice sessions are under way here at sonoma. the indy car final is set for sunday. christien kafton, ktvu fox 2news. >> what did he say? [ laughter ] questions are being raised today about the cost of bringing the 2024 olympics to los angeles. according to the los angeles times, city analysts say the mayor's plan lacks key details about where the money will come from and the feasibility of creating an olympic village downtown. l.a. wasn't even in the running until boston suddenly decided to pull out of negotiations last month because of the financial risk. the usoc must decide by mid- september if los angeles is in the running. the host city will be chosen in 2017. sad day for customers and workers at the la boulange bakery chain. the bay other chain begins closing its 22 locations. today, the la boulange in san francisco, as well as the one on market street, are closing

doors in about an hour. the remaining 20 bay area stores are set to follow suit over the next three weeks. >> we're talking with some of the old-timers and one of the big topics is where are we going to go? there are a lot of cafes here, but it doesn't have the same sense. we've tried several around, and they are fine. but it's not the same sense of, of la boulange. we're going to miss it very much. >> la boulange has been a fixture in san francisco since 1996, but since the chain is now owned by starbucks, the pastries will only be offered in starbucks coffee shops across the country. starbucks officials say they will try to offer jobs to all la boulange employees. the red cross is assisting more than a dozen people displaced after their san mateo condos went up in flames. police tweeted out this photo here of the fire. it broke out about 9:00 last night at a condo building on la salle va street. the fire spread to the attic and damaged seven units. none of the residents was injured. damage is expected to be more

than $1 million. the cause is under investigation. the same building was the scene of a big fire back in may. in that case, one unit was destroyed. two others were damaged. right now, researchers are dissecting a whale that was found in the oakland estuary. the dead whale was spotted under a dock in alameda wednesday morning. a tug boat removed the carcass yesterday, took it to angel island. a team of 14 researchers is conducting the necropsy. the marine mammal center says it was a young male fin whale, 52 feet long. coast guard says a ship may have hit it and dragged it into the bay. fin whales are listed as endangered. back to the weather, we are ready for the cooldown, rosemary. >> yes, not feeling it yet. outside our doors at this hour, just as warm as yesterday. mid-70s to mid-90s. we started out this morning a lot warmer. as a result, again, temperatures in the mid-90s already in areas like livermore. mid-70s at half moon bay.

a live look across the bay, toward the golden gate, still just beautiful outside our doors. we do have clouds overhead. that in addition to the onshore breeze that hasn't turned on yet, but is expected to into the afternoon will help to offset the heat for the second half of the day and temperatures are expected to come in a little bit lower than what we had yesterday. 92 degrees right now in fairfield. 95 in livermore, as well as walnut creek. a little closer to the water, 02 in oakland. 77 in san francisco. mid-70s half moon bay. over portions of the north bay, 87 in napa. 85 in santa rosa. we'll take a look at the east bay, a shift here, 93 in lafayette. upper 70s in pittsburg. 92 in antioch. we are, again, looking at some pretty big heat for our inland communities and around the valley. 87 belmont. 83 in san mateo. 87 menlo park. palo alto checking in at 90. a look at the system here that's going to bring us the cooldown for your weekend and bring us a little bit of rain activity. it's going to be very light, not expecting a lot. i touched on it at the top of

the hour. here's the system that will be edging a little closer to us as we get through the next 12 to 24 hours. if i zoom in a little bit closer, you can already see that moisture beginning to move into california. not going to see any sprinkles today, but into the overnight hours and by tomorrow morning, we could see, again, a few scattered showers. maybe morning drizzle. through fairfield, onshore breeze, very light at 6 miles per hour. but into the afternoon, we do expect that it's going to pick up some. i want to show you here the future cast model. that shade of green indicating where it will be raining through the overnight hours and into tomorrow morning. showing you 6:00 a.m., notice nothing just yet. moving through the morning hours and into the first part of the afternoon, along the coastline, drizzle expected. not a big deal, but definitely enough to get some of us wet. we'll be tracking that for you tomorrow morning on ktvu. if you're going to see the giants play this evening, 73 degrees, westerly breeze, partly cloudy skies. going to be a beautiful night for a ball game. afternoon highs for today, upper 80s to low 90s for the

north bay. mid-90s m areas like st. helena. 92 for concord. 97 in livermore. still a very warm day, just not as hot as yesterday afternoon. 95 for gilroy. 87 in santa clara. up along the peninsula, 87 in redwood city. 82 in san mateo. 79 expected this afternoon for san francisco. the extended forecast there, with your bay area weekend always in view, a little bit of damp weather for tomorrow morning. then we clear out. breezy on sunday. but again, the big story is going to be how much cooler it's going to be for the weekend. >> thank goodness, those of us who don't have air conditioning have been suffering! >> miserable in the overnight hours. >> a little bit. thanks. see you on the 4:00, rosemary. still ahead, get ready for the south bay's pride parade and festival this weekend. ♪ >> i know that song. if you're looking for something to do tonight, check these guys out, live music in the park with los lonely boys. we'll tell you where in our weekend watch, after the break.

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we value sticking with things.

when something works, people stick with it. more people stick with humana medicare advantage. because we stick with them. humana medicare advantage. the plan people stick with. . stocks opened on wall street lower this morning after two straight days of big gains. the dow never really got into positive territory. it's been trading lower throughout the session. right now, the dow is down by about 75 points. s&p 500 and nasdaq traded briefly above, but now down as well. there are plenty of fun events for music, sports, art and wine lovers in the bay area this weekend. here's ktvu's mike mibach.

well, it's not quite labor day, but the last weekend of august is here and this is your weekend watch. time for a road trip to stockton. pack the car, folks. the san jose saber cats will play in the arenabowl championship saturday, 4:00 p.m., against jacksonville. music in the park in downtown san jose. taking the station, los lonely boys, friday night at 5:00 at the plaza. and it's race weekend up at sonoma raceway. the go pro grand prix of sonoma is set for sunday. gates open at 7:00 a.m. the race is at 2:00. children 12 and under are free. general admission tickets are $39. saturday is the oakland triathlon festival. unbelievable athletes taking on sprint and international distances. the bodega seafood art & wine festival is all weekend. head lining on saturday, poor man's whiskey. very nice scene there. silicon valley pride parade and festival is sunday in san jose. the parade starts at 10:30 on market street at st. john.

and the san mateo firefighters association chili cookoff on saturday, benefit for the mda. tickets are $10. the earthquakes are at home friday night. giants and raiders are home this weekend. a's and 49ers are out there on the road. i'm mike mibach. that is your weekend watch. . today is the 52nd anniversary of dr. martin luther king's "i have a dream" speech. >> i have a dream that one day every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made clean and the crooked places will be made straight-- >> there will be ceremonies marking the historic event, one at the martin luther king memorial in washington, dc, in which 29 will become u.s. citizens. it was considered defining moment in the civil rights movement. this week, the governor signed a bill to waive the california exit exam

requirement for recently graduated seniors, but the problems with the test and administering it to thousands of high school seniors is really far from over. today in the 4:00 by four, we're taking 4 minutes to examine the test, why some say it's outdated and what needs to be done going forward. that's today at 4:00. thanks for making ktvu your choice for news at noon. we're back here at 4:00. have a good weekend.

- [voiceover] on today's show: did you know that a greyhound can reach speeds of up to 40 miles per hour in just six strides? and, that it can cruise at close to it's maximum speed for up to seven miles? plus, that the bloodhound's sense of smell is a thousand times more powerful than a humans? and, there are actually some border collies who's intelligence level compares with that of a young child. these dogs can perform some amazing tricks. today's show is all about man's best friend, the dog. and some incredible facts about these animals we all love. welcome to the fascinating world of animal science.