prevent something like this from happening again. >> surfers are protesting a gate cutting off access to a county beach. the road was closed when a new owner bought the property in 2008. today, surf yirs and former congressman pete mccloski climbed over that gate. protestors zbait sill legal. a lawsuit was filed this week. the property is now owned by the co-founder of sun micro systems. his lawyer says he's anxious to decide the rights of the party autos this saturday will mark a year since morgan hill teenager sierra lamar went missing. she was 15 years old at the time. she was tauking to a bus stop near home when she just vanished. the bod yes has never been

found. two events have been organized to mark the disappearance. later that day, a fund-raiser will be held in fremont starting at 1:00. you can also find it on our web site. >> prosecutors detailed today what kind of chemicals a researcher is accused of keeping inside of his apartment. david snyder faces felony explosives charges. police claim they found volatile chemicals that are often used in drug labs and describe others being heavy metals. snyder pled not guilty and he is free on $2 million bail and ril return to court later this month. >> a 14-year-old student at fullerton high school has been arrested for calling in a bomb threat from inside of the school twice. the first one yesterday, sent

the school into lock down. police don't believe the 14-year-old was alone so they're looking for accomplices. the boy has been charged with two counts of making terror threats. >> there could be a serial bank robber on the loose in the north bay this, man was robbing a west america bank near mill valley yesterday. sorry we zront a picture, wearing a black sweat shirt and sun glasses when this happened. again in noe -- police say he may be responsible for robberies in novato and jant rosa as well. >> today, new statistics show the toll layoffs have taken on the california police department. numbers from fbi found three out of every four police agencies shrank between 2008 and 2011. the fbi says the state lost about 4,000 police officers during that period.

however, noting crime decreased during that yd. >> tonight a story of consequences. it seems efforts to save california money by forcing employees to take furlough days worked and saved the state a lot of money but cost us in other ways as well. we're live in sacramento to explain. state leaders had few options to balance the budget so they turned to furloughs pushing costs to the future. state workers forced to take as many as three days off per month during the schwartzeneggar administration. today therk continue at one day per month. a new report found furloughs

saved the state $5 billion over five years but increased vacation and leave time by 50%. >> during furloughs employees would use furloughs in lieu of vacation. and still have banked furlough day ootz prob wlem a mandate of using furlough days first is employees racked up vacation days, and when they leave jobs they're entitled to cash out unused time. it can be more than their salaries. >> it's all state employees were to separate employment today we'd have to pay off that value. >> $3.9 billion? >> right. >> in 2011 and 2012 payouts were high. $270 million. lao analysis found many agencies were not enforcing the cap. nearly 24,000 state workers are currently over that cap.

>> duh. no kidding. >> the scientists union reports it failed to account for what the cuts did to worker who's struggled after losing $21,000. state workers never wanted furlough autos those vacation balances are up by decision. so that is the cost of doing business. >> groups say it's time for the ledge slay tur to act. >> i think the personnel policy should be reviewed top to bottom. >> so they recommend offering a cash buyout now and suggests lawmakers take a look at long term costs before using furloughs again. live in sacramento abc 7 news. >> tonight a major win for walmart in a fight to bring the first super center to the east bay. the state supreme court

decided not to hear a petition from opponent that's would likely allow walmart to move forward with construction. walmart approached about that expaengs nangs 2004. the bigger store including a bakery and enhanced outdoor living department. state treasurer has called off his plans to wife. he fail filed for divorce vors after nadya admitted to being a drawing addict and having an extramarital affair. nadya lockyear just completed drug rehab. a spokesman says they worked out differences. the lock years have a 9-year-old son. >> still ahead an east community gets hands dirty to save a gardening program. >> and a trench collapses in southern california trapping two workers.

>> you'll need umbrellas, soon. when the rain will be returning in just a few minute autos a 7 on your side follow up. developments on a man suspected of a funeral insurance scheme. stay with us. abc 7 news at 5:00 continues near just a moment. all right that's a fifth-floor problem... ok. not in my house! ha ha ha! ha ha ha! no no no! not today! ha ha ha! ha ha ha! jimmy how happy are folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico? happier than dikembe mutumbo blocking a shot. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more.

breaking news out of southern california a live look now at a construction trench. that was the scene of a frantic rescue attempt this afternoon. this is where the trench collapsed trapping two men, you can see he climbed up by himself. the other man died in the trench. it's part of a project in the

pacific pal saids area of los angeles county. pope francis displayed his informal style today in first mass as pontiff. the pope delivered an off the cuff homily about walking with god, and confess. the new pope began his day with 30 minutes of silent prayer. now, abc world news with david moisture will have more on the first full day of the job including clues on how he will lead and his stance on abortion. >> right now, new at 5:00 a popular gardening and cooking program in a school in berkeley may be cut. that is because a change means a decade of grants will no longer be available.

nick smith has that story. you'll find two theet things. a lady bug searching for a resting place and this little guy. >> sometimes we go to the table and we eat stuff. >> this is daunte. he's a kindergartener in berkeley. and he already knows that what he grows here will end up here. >> one of 14 schools with an edible school yard producing a cooking and gardening program funded by a federal grant. the chefs teach their students the value of know about the food they eat. >> i want to eat more and more. >> but this movement to connect the students may end. >> the problem is that we're

losing funding. >> requirements are changing. funds that had been gogt program are being redirected by the state and other agencies. cutting the program, he says has wide ranging implications. >> i believe you can learn about every area. >> the school board pledged that they'd work to develop a plan to keep the program in place. >> despite the loss of dollars. >> i think some look like they're almost ready in there. >> this vet trant of the garden doesn't want to see it go away and neither do his classmates. i promised to give a message to our viewers, funding pays

for 29 positions in the program. without that money, those jobs will be cut. >> california state superintendent of schools is backing a plan to suspend stand yarpdized testing for students in some grades saying the plan could save the state $15 million. saying the tests are aimed at fostering more critical thinking. critics believe the new exams will cost as much as $1 billion to develop. >> if you want to surf the web, city hall has you covered. the mayor cut the cord to the ether net and announced the city is offering super fast high speed wi-fi to the public free. covering a square mile area of

downtown. and results is speeds up to four times faster than other network autos samsung hopes to take a big bite of apple's market share with tonight's debut of its new phone. following the popular s 3 proving to be the first major competition. the 4 has has a high resolution screen. samsung says it has a long battery live and a better camera. they debut at radio city. do you think rockettes perform? >> maybe no. 7 on your side learned a man suspected of gambling away premiums he collected.

>> this is a case being closely watched by members of san jose vietnamese-american kmuchblt -- community. after pleading no contest to embezzling 200,000s frdz his business, clients showed up last year to find the office closed. prosecutors say he ran the company into insol conveniencey expecting he used some money to fund a team of gamblers. stephanie lee admitted to helping with the scheme. victim victims paid thousands in premiums on the promise their loved ones would get death benefits after they died. >> they now feel they loflt everything. that mikes me sad.

they heart inside. >> he has been ordered to pay restitution but many are skeptical he has money left to pay them. nearly a million taxpayers missing out on refunds and time now running out to claim the mb. irs holding $917 million in unclaimed tax refunds. if you forgot to follow a return you could be entitled to part of the money. you must file by april 15th of this year or the money goes back the u.s. treasury for good. many on the list are low income taxpayers not required to file returns but already entitled to a tax refund. >> if you're due a refund there is no penalty.

>> file the paper work. >> yi. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> sandhya patel has been looking for rain out there. >> everywhere. >> where is it now? cheryl, dan, yes, rain is in the future but we're going to get you through the weekend with dry weather and changes will come. so you do have a nice dry weekend for st. patrick's day. as you look at live doppler 7 right now you'll notice there is cloud cover. we have mid and high level clouds just streaming overhead but those are not rain clouds. rain holds off until next week. there is a chance of snow looking at heavenly. san francisco, 54 now, san jose, 68. temperatures cooler today, low 50s to mid-70s.

you can he clouds stacked um here, 72 degrees in livermore, it's pretty mild. 70 degrees in cupertino. mostly cloudy skies overnight. and looking at pacific satellite, high pressure is still controlling our weather but it's what we call a dirty ridge. strong enough to keep storms away. so clouds just spilling owe over the top. we'll continue to see high clouds and fog into friday. so at 7:00 tonight you can see high clouds overnight, clouds continue by morning you can see patchy fog. high clouds for friday afternoon, temperatures about the same. we'll see cooling on sunday, tomorrow morning low 40s to low 50s, we'll have fog

around. it's not going to be as dense because of the cloud cover overhead preventing fog from forming until morning then, into afternoon, temperatures look like this. 72 degrees and comfortable in los gatos. 66 millbrae. temperatures upper 50s, daily city 58 degrees, cloud cover just hanging around. and north bay, 50s coast side. other areas into 70s except sausalito. inland temperatures into mid to upper 70s. something for everyone. mid to upper 50s coastside for the weekend. mid-70s saturday.

cooling for st. patrick's day. tuesday, wednesday, rain returns and spring arrives. abc 7 news has a great weather resource for to you follow. plus get information on weather tweets from your favorite team we'll teep keep you posted here on abc 7. >> it's there. >> right. >> thank you very much. >> still ahead, in the race to build more homes in the bay area we're going to show you construction taking place on the side of the peninsula storied bay meadows track. >> then, a long awaited drug trial that could offer hope to children with devastating and deadly disease as well as other diseases, too.

number of americans filing unemployment claims dropped for a third week with indication the economy is on the mend. initial claims dropped 10,000 lower number than a 350 new filings many were predict brg that came out. scientists strength in the job market could intensify a debate at the fed. uncertain over the economy may be why working moms are looking for full time jobs. a spike in jobs seeking a full time over part time employment. the study found that shift has less to do with career am bigs than current realities. roughly half of the working mothers interviewed said fit hadn't been for the income they'd rather be home with children. >> about one in three american drivers uses his or her cell

phone while behind the wheel. is that you? or me, perhaps? >> that is a rate higher than that compared to european drivers sowing shah that 69% of americans talked on mobile phones while driving. 31% read or send text messages. portugal came closest to the united states in talking and texting behind the wheel. >> is it's a big day saturday on the bay meadows race track. that is when the first homes go on sale. today, developers presented the mark next to the urban village will have 1200 homes and dozens of shops and offices. >> it will be with their neighbors that. was the spirit of community at the old bay meadows race track was more important than

putting bets on horses. >> prices of the homes start at $700,000. very little of the history will remain except for street line was the names of jockeys and pioneers. >> still ahead bring out your inner mathematician. >> coming up next circling back with one of the biggest

coming up at 6:00 a homeland security agent facing child pornography charges. tonight information on at rest. also we'll take you live to the nation's largest community college. a school fighting for survival with a major deadline looming. and why some local water users are drowning in debt. those stories and more coming

up. >> thank you so much. >> if you like pie, love pie, san francisco's water front was the place to be. >> yes. >> we just cut pi. >> people converged outside of the new exploratorium to celebrate pi. >> it's the racial circle circumference to its diameter. not that? >> now, including a number of pi-related events. it is march 14th. >> look how smart you are. right? >> it's my love of pi. >> thanks for watching.

this is "world news." tonight the new clues. on his first day as pope, slipping in the side door of a church to pray, picking up his own bag. tonight america learns where pope francis stands on abortion, contraception, and same-sex marriage. not again. power out on a carnival cruise ship. passengers tweeting and calling from the ship after being told their vacation is suddenly over. now what? air scare. tonight you'll hear the pilot at 27,000 feet. his speech fine one moment, suddenly slurring the next. another pilot in the air, alarmed. >> i don't know if you can hear that guy, but he does not sound good. >> tonight the air traffic controller who had to act -- and fast. and free fall. the american husband and father skydiving, his parachute gets stuck. the backup chute is stuck too. two and a half minutes before he hits the ground. >> i was thinking about my wife and kids. i pretty much figured i was dead. >> tonight he tells us what he did in the final seconds -- to live.

>> good evening on this thursday night. diane is on assignment. we begin with those new clues from the new leader of the 1.2 billion catholics all over the world. pope francis hinting at what kind of pope he will be and where he will take the church and his followers. he began his day praying privately. we saw this image today, francis kneeling at an altar, praying for 30 minutes. tonight those hints at what his papacy might look like. one of them right here, francis as a cardinal, riding the subway in argentina. abc's terry moran tonight on where the pope stands on many of the most divisive issues facing the catholic church. ♪ >> reporter: pope francis returned to the sistine chapel today to celebrate the first mass of his papacy, and to offer, in his short homily, a challenge to the very cardinals who elected him.