that's not snow it's hail. and that's not the sierra you're looking at a car dealership in fairfield just off interstate 80. good evening i'm gasia mikaelian in for julie haener. >> severe weather in the bay area as a ban of storms pound

the area with hail. meteorologist mark tamayo followed the storm. now we have team coverage, debra villalon. >> reporter: it came down hard. this was a cold blast that blew everyone away. from above it looked like a sierra town with a white blanket on rooftops and roads and not melting. this construction crew jokes they were happy to have hard hats when the storm hit. >> it didn't really rumble like thunder it almost popped. it was impressive. >> reporter: it clung to downtown business where activity stopped including this karate class. >> just started pounding and pounding then me and my students looked out of the door

and it was basically snowing. >> this is april. >> reporter: many residents ran outside to find a good vantage point for pictures before the memory melted. >> it's sort of like it started raining cats and dogs. i had to come out and take a picture of it. >> pretty amazing. look at your windshield. see how thick it is. i don't think i've seen that ever in my lifetime. >> reporter: people who grew up in solano county mashed the most because they know how rare this is. white mountain peaks in april. sure. but flat fairfield in april. not a place where you would expect to dodge snowballs. >> i said it's raining by my house. they didn't believe me so i said come on i'll show you. and we found this and they've been playing in it every since. >> reporter: one man told me the last time he remembered

this happening his daughter was was three years old. reporting live in fairfield, debra villalon. >> reporter: this was the scene in afternoon in unincorporated contra costa county. hail covered roofs and cars. it's a subdivision located between concord and bay point. 4:00 this afternoon this was the cell responsible for all the severewet including solano county. yellows and reds flairing up. a severe storm posted from 4:30 to 5:15. as you can see this impressive line here from fairfield to cordelia to napa. then we'll take this throughout the evening hour, the rain showers continue to move out to the east. right now we just have scattered showers. the activity has been on the

decrease. right now here's the latest out of live tracker two. the activity will be decreasing overnight. but the cold air remains in place. coming up the neighborhoods that are dropping into the lower 30s overnight. first pictures of today's hailstorm came from ktvu viewers. take a look viewer named stephanie vista sent us this picture of her car. hail is just covering the car. some people had a little fun with today's winter weather. ruiz sent us this picture of a snow manmade out of hail. today's storm dumped up to a foot of snow catching some drivers by surprise. that didn't prevent crashes and spin outs.

the freeway is now open though. the snow is a big change from yet when the weather was sunny and temperatures were in the 60s. so if you are going to the sierra this weekend, might want to go to ktvu.com first. on the weather drop down menu you will find ski conditions. and you will see a slide show of the weather pictures we've received from viewers. ktvu's eric rasmussen asked for and got records. >> reporter: you know when they first added tolls to the car pool lanes out here last year. a lot of people didn't know you had to have a fast track like this one. some ended up paying those tolls plus fines. but there are other toll violators out here who have no intention on paying anything. in the last six months of 2010.

more than 1.2 million drivers went through tolls on bay area bridges without paying. >> have you ever burned a toll? >> on accident: it was an accident i swear. >> reporter: we had no trouble finding some. have you ever burned a toll before. >> yeah, but not intentionally. >> reporter: the number of citation social security up by 700,000 from a year ago. >> with the price of the toll, no surprise at all. the gas prices too. >> reporter: while the number of people burning through this toll is up, the authority still getting its money. the authority collected $6.3 million more through penalties than if drivers would have just paid their toll in the first place. >> the millions of the cars

that cross the toll is fairly small but it has been on the plus side of the ledger. >> reporter: but a few are not turning over the toll very easily. toll officials point out you can contest your fine to avoid paying a penalty or more. they also say the violation is more than 2% and that's better than the average. eric rasmussen. the retrofit project in the dumbarton bridge is on the way right now. lanes are closed in both directions as crews install four steel plates. they'll eventually install 32 of the plates. caltrans says lanes should reopen by 5:00 a.m.

crews are reenforcing the bridge. san francisco nummi officials are preparing to fire a bus driver after seeing video we showed last night on the 10:00 news. the cell phone video shot by a passenger shows a nummi driver texting while driving the 24 bus. today nummi said it is now in the process of terminating the bus driver because texting while driving is a fireable offense. >> clearly what the video demonstrates is unacceptable behavior. we're in the customer service business as well as providing service. >> reporter: initially nummi officials told him she pulled the bus over to text because of a family member and she was suspended for three days. but after seeing the video, officials say they will fire her. the man who took the video says he thinks she should have been

fired immediately. rita williams was in federal circuit court for closing argumenting. >> reporter: prosecutor jeff nebro began by saying all he had to do was tell the truth. he chose not to and that's why he's here. the prosecutor called bonds deceitful back then despite being given immunity from prosecution. he had concerns it would taint his establishments. then he went through the prosecutions evidence and 25 witnesses including a secretly recorded audio tape of greg anderson saying how he injected

bonds. >> reporter: defense attorney ruby began in his exwrestling announcer, quote there's been a complete failure of proof by the government. tag teaming chris argedas says the case is full of witnesses with false pretenses. the evidence in this case is unworthy of belief. and she told jurors surgeon dr. arthur ting testified the side effects of steroids and the hgh were the same as for prescription steroids bonds was taking. this was absurd she said. all jurors decided here today was to come back tomorrow morning to begin deliberating. in san francisco, rita williams, ktvu channel two news. more details now, an attorney involved in a balco

case told us the government's case was -- >> on the defense side if you're looking for that block buster result or full acquittal i think you have to take some chances. >> reporter: attorney williams keane says the jury knows the whole world is watching and predicts they will take their time. on bonds's four charges, if convicted bonds could face 15 to 21 months in jail on each count. legal analysts say it's unlikely he will spend any time behind bars. as the jury deliberates, stay with ktvu.com. we'll bring you the latest developments as they happen. that's probably about $400 or $500. stolen now found. we were there as victims found

their stolen goods. and what dr. conrad said in court that shocked attorneyed, even his wife. he sure has pipes but that's not the only

ktvu news has learned that two men suspected of breaking into east bay storage units and making off with a huge stash of

valuables are under arrest tonight. amber lee followed the story. >> reporter: the break in the case came when an employeeee inside this storage office noticed a man loitering on this property and called police. you're looking at more than 1,000 stolen items. most taken from storage lockers in castro valley and san lorenzo. sheriff detectives have set up shop to try to locate the estimated 30 owners of these stolen goods. >> my projector is here. that's probably $400 or $500. >> reporter: pernell and other owners came to recover their items back. >> reporter: were you expecting to get anything back. >> i wasn't expecting to get

anything back. getting the call was surprising. >> my grandma's jewelry. >> reporter: still missing. >> definitely. my mom's wedding rings are gone. >> reporter: investigators told us they've arrested two san leandro men. they said 47-year-old gregory sh era don rented a storage locker and with the help of his friend james bounds broke into other storage lockers. the two would store the loot inside sh era don's storage locker. they also found meth. >> they've found their methodology. >> and this is a world war ii medal that still has not been claimed. >> reporter: there may be more arrests to come and they're checking to see if this case is tied to dozens of others in the

bay area. live in castro valley. amber lee. ktvu channel 2 news. the clock is still ticking toward a federal government shut shutdown tomorrow night at midnight. president obama met with republican leaders again today at the white house, he said they've made more progress but still have no deal. >> there's still a few issues that are outstanding. they are difficult issue, they are important to both sides. and so i'm not yet prepared to express wild optimism. >> reporter: earlier today the republican led house passed a continuing resolution to keep the government working for one week and the military funded through the end of the year. but it contains cuts that president obama opposes and he has said he will veto it. a shut down will affect 170

million federal workers. california has the most of any union. and yosemite national park is preparing to close if no deal is reached. closing it would have to be done in phases. the 800 park employees would be out of work temporarily. and the 1,000 that work for hotels and resorts would have to take an unpaid vacation. the internal revenue service would stay online but the treasury department website would not. and some departments say they have money to stay online. ktvu.com has a complete list on how the shutdown would affect you. phillip garrido did not

plead guilty as the attorney representing garrido's wife had indicated he would. >> reporter: as usual, phillip garrido and his wife nancy sat on different rows accompanied by their different attorneys. the conflict today was between the two attorneys. >> who the does that? who says those kind of things. >> reporter: phillip garrido's public defender had issue with nancy garrido's attorney on what would happen today. both defendants entered not guilty pleas. the garrido's are accused of the kidnapping of 11-year-old jaycee dugard, apparently held hostage on the garrido's backyard for 18 years where he

fathered two children. >> disappointed yes, it hasn't been resolved. that he has to sit in jail more time. yes he's disappointed about that. she does not want jaycee to go through all this stuff. and has consistently said that. >> reporter: if the garrido's go to trial. jaycee dugard would be required to testify. avoiding trial is up to the defendants. >> the best thing is the two of them take responsibility for their actions and move on. >> reporter: this morning the judge set an august 1st trial date for the garrido's. that trial is expected to last three weeks. ken pritchett, ktvu. the showers have been decreasing over the past couple of hours. here you can pick out a few spotty light showers out there. the over all trend we will continue to decrease the activity. that will set the stage for a big drop off in temperatures. first thing tomorrow morning coolest locations in the lower

30s for napa and fairfield. san jose at 40. here's our cloud and rainfall forecast model right now. just showing you lingering clouds out there. as we put this into motion. not a lot to show you in terms of showers. everyone into the afternoon but we still have to hold on to that chance at 4:00. mainly for the south bay and parts of the east bay. only a shraoeug chance of isolated showers. coming up we'll have the giant home opener -- only a slight chance of isolated showers. a chance to watch something that almost never happens here. the former oak hospital is going to be imploded. the empty building was packed with explosives. each of the structures columns is now embedded with six sticks of dynamite. now we're going to be out there live tomorrow during the morning news and on mornings on two for all the last minute set

up. and when that actual implosion happens we will stream it live on our website. new pictures from japan tonight. the impact the major aftershock hat there today

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completing an atm deposit in record time... that's a step forward. go! go! with deposit friendly atms, you can make ultra fast, secure deposits with no slips or envelopes. take a step forward and chase what matters. a santa clara judge ruled that players are not guilty of raping a 17-year-old girl. robert handa was at the courtroom and shows us the emotional reaction from the courthouse. >> reporter: the defendant

dubbed jane doe sobbed. her attorney made a brief statement. >> we're very proud of our client, she's a wonderful person, thank you. >> reporter: the charges stem from a party at a party. when jane doe claimed that she was gang raped. district attorney dolores karr said there wasn't enough evidence for a criminal trial. only two players actually made it to court. one parent blamed the media, the other jane doe. >> she brought this all on herself and then cried wolf. >> reporter: jurors looked mainly at evidence from the incident and not so called risque pictures that jane doe posted on facebook. but one juror said -- >> they took advantage of a

very young girl, so no, in that case justice was not served. >> district attorney jeff rosen left a legal door open saying he will review the civil case and make his own decision about criminal charges within six months. in san jose, robert handa, ktvu channel two news. stanford students are being asked if they wanted rotc back on campus. the university phased out the programs in the 1970s. but a campus committee wants to know if students would approve of it returns. voting on the advisory measure ends tomorrow night. students can participant in rotc be have to attend courses at other universities. robert gates visited iraq and said it was the highlight of his trip.

>> i just wanted to come and say thank you and tell you that working with you all has been the greatest privilege and d th greatest honor of my life. >> he also told them that american forces could remain in iraq past the end of this year if requested by the iraqi government. a major aftershock from that 9.0 quake that hit japan today and two people were killed. this new earthquake registered 7.1 and triggered a tsunami warning that was later cancelled. today's quake was the largest since the march 11th quake and was centered in the same area. hard to believe but baseball season is back. what fans are going to find when the world champion giants play their home opener tomorrow at at&t park. they say

after a three alarm fire in the san francisco district burned through an apartment building, residents go see what was left. >> reporter: residents have been sorting out the damage and cleaning up. we talked to the owner of this restaurant, she showed us inside and says that the fear of the fire has been replaced over the fear of her family's future. cathie den showed us what was

left of her lotus restaurant. >> they got burned right here. >> reporter: the fire last night started next door. cat kathy was in the back preparing a to go order. >> we were back here cooking and we were making a noodle for a customer. >> reporter: she grabbed her children and ran outside. today fire investigators say the fire appears to be accidental. today kathy returned to this their dream in ruins. with extensive fire damage and charred walls. after just a few hours sleep, her and her husband bryan are back. >> this is going to take months for them to reerect the building and i won't be able to do my business. >> reporter: a business the couple had built so they can

work and keep an eye on their two boys. now even the youngest child worry about the family's future. >> how are you going to make money, how are you going to pay the mortgage. he's only 10 years old and he already worries about this. >> reporter: neighbors rally around the the family. reporting live in san francisco, jana katsuyama ktvu channel 2 news. we now know the identity of motorcyclist killed in castro while trying to evade police. it happened around 8:00 p.m. authorities say a sheriff's deputy tried to pull blake over

for driving erraticaly. john s.keenan and edward salas have announced their retirement. critics of the company say the men may just be scapegoats and that pg & e needs a major change. the board asked caltrans staff to try and find additional money to help reduce the need for service cuts. the vote has been delayed until april 21st. caltrain currently runs an 86 train schedule. the service reductions proposed today would cut that service down to 76. the agency needs to find an additional $3.5 million to keep the current schedule. additional los angeles police officers will now be deployed at dodger home games. police made their announcement

today but did not give any details on how many officers will patrol. >> you're going to see a sea of blue and it's not going to be dodger blue, it's going to be l.a.p.d. blue. >> a paramedic was attacked after the giants opener. he remains in critical condition. there will be additional police officers on patrol at at&t park. the officers will be inside and outside the stadium. the series begins monday night. the city is asking all the fans to respect the rivalry and show good sportsmanship. fans can also contact security by sending a text message. security personnel will be dispatched to that problem area. this is the third season the giants have used this program. tonight there's a real buzz

of anticipation around san francisco's at&t park. the giants play their home opener tomorrow afternoon. mike mibach reports a neighborhood around the ballpark is getting ready for a rush of excitement. >> reporter: cleaning window, power washing concrete. >> the home opener is good any way. but world champs the first day at home, it's going to be happening. >> reporter: it's game time. >> that's right. >> reporter: game time with a sweet flavor, the title of champs. while workers are polishing up the ballpark getting ready for the world champs to open up their 2011 season, restaurants are doing the same thing. >> this home stand coming up is going to be crazy. >> reporter: chris runs momo's. business he says was up 50% last year compared to the previous season. they expect the trend to

continue throughout the bay area. >> some of our neighbors closed to remodel to accommodate having big crowds, more bar space and that. >> reporter: the seats will soon be filled and the world championship giants season bound to get under way here at home. >> we're actually going to come down real early tomorrow to enjoy all the festivities and everything like that. it should be a good time. >> reporter: tonight the flags are up in the outfield minus one. the one that says 2010 world champions. that's set to be unveiled tomorrow in front of a sold out crowd. the giants are not saying yet who will throw out the first pitch. but we learned that bay area band train will sing the national anthem. the scary situation that prompted an evacuation today in southern california and we now know what it was. and we still have a little

bit of activity on storm tracker two radar. the one headline in your weekend forecast.

an early morning explosion shattered buildings in santa monica. the blast appears to be the result of a construction accident. the explosion blew a hole in the roof of a home and knock out a few windows. about 100 people were evacuated as a precaution. fortunately no injuries were reported. we learned today about the federal government's new security alert system which will utilize the internext and social media. we reported back in february that the department of homeland

security said it would ditch its five color security system. the new system will reportedly be in place by the end of the month. in libya, artillery and rocket fire from gadhafi's troops. putting american troops on the ground would not be ideal. a gunman lined children against the wall and shot them in the head today in brazil. the gunman was identified as a 23-year-old former student police said he left a rambling note behind saying he wanted to kill himself. in mexico city, people poured into the streets today when a 6.5 earthquake struck and building shook. it was centered almost 400

miles away in the state of santa cruz. only minor damage was reported, no injuries. the governor of veracruz said it was just a scare. toyota says at first production will be limited -- it will be at limited capacity because of the continuing shortage of parts. the stock market is still threading water this week and dipped again. the dow industrial was down 96 points at one point but recovered and finished this day off by 17. the nasdaq closed down by three. americans were willing to open their wallets and spend more last month. the gains that began late last year are continuing. gas prices are soaring pushing

back government spending. many stores beat wall street expectations. he was diagnosed at age 3. understanding autism and getting early treatment. how families are

less than two hours ago, american idol fans watched -- >> reporter: children's laughter filled the air inside pump it up in san francisco. the play house was free today for families with autistic children. >> he's currently 5 years old right frau but he was diagnosed

-- right now but he was diagnosed at age 3. >> reporter: donna's friend spent the day playing and jumping. >> the baby has basis development delay which is on the autism spectrum. >> reporter: and her son dia. >> he is also being diagnosed by doctors. little things, not make eye contact, wanting to retreat. >> he is becoming more social which is -- i've seen a big difference. >> reporter: seeing someone

with james durbin's talent is amazing. >> they can achieve anything they want to achieve and be anything that they want to do. hopefully one day she will grow up and be something big. >> reporter: christien kafton, channel 2 news. a quick reminder here you can catch tonight's idol cast off tomorrow morning. a live interview on mornings on 2. the $750 million deal is controversial because it would give google air traffic -- the wall street journal is reporting it plans to spend $109 million. you tube's home page could be

reconfigured to channels that have topics of their interest. a 75-year-old woman single handedly managed to cut off internet connections to the nation of georgia and armenia. the woman was looking for scrap metal and hacked into a cable. she is now facing three years in prison. similar thing happened there tw scavenger. and two russians and an american are to spepd the next

spend the next two months at the international space station. the severe thunderstorms have moved out of the bay area. the showers are decreasing. a little bit of activity, you can see some coverage here. showers to the east of morgan hill. the hills there and looks like it's approaching interstate 5 as well. we'll shift the maps up to the north i can show you the current temperatures as well. you can see a few spotty showers here and already dropping into the lower 40s. the cooler locations santa rosa, napa, livermore will be dropping into the 30s. here's a look at the overnight showers. tomorrow a chilly morning but skies becoming cloudy. the key headline here it will be dry with a sun cloud mix and temperatures will be warming up. here we go with this winter like system rolling in for

today. that produced basically a lit forecast sunshine out to the west and the cloud build up and thunderstorms to the east. this area of low pressure will be drifting into the bay area. the cold air remains in place and that's why we have the chilly morning, 30s and 40s. still a chance of showers with the proximity of this system. not a major deal but something we'll have to keep an eye on for your friday. here we go with the rainfall. it's not really generous with the shower coverage here at least here in the bay area. just a few clouds out there for tomorrow afternoon and into tomorrow evening. tomorrow morning at 7:00, mostly cloudy skies. 12:00 a sun cloud mix, 52 to 55 degrees. by 3:00 partly cloudy skies, there's the eventual temperature range. the giant's home openener for tomorrow, temperatures still on the cool side so bring the

jacket with those readings mainly in the mid-50s. here's a look at the numbers for tomorrow. and a little bit warmer than today. santa rosa 59-degree. san jose tops out at 60. and livermore at 55. here is a look ahead. your five day forecast and the key here is your weekend with partly cloudy skies. another cool morning for your saturday. we will thicken up the e'a smal sprinkle primarily in the north bay. but pretty much throughout the entire area sunday night. partly cloudy skies return for tuesday. at least for tomorrow a much different picture than today. a little bit of everything out there. celebrity chef guy fierri has a new snappy ride. fierri's yellow lambourghini

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>> city leaders in martinez hope this empty lot will soon be bustling with kids playing sports. planning call for a playing field, batting cages and gym space. the academy expects to spend $500,000 to upgrade that city owned property. fred inglis for mark ibanez. and the tournament began here. >> i was a couch potato more about 4-1/2 hours today. and so much for the masters to be all about traditional. the weather and the course conditions perfect for golf's first major today. four time master's champion tiger woods made two bogeys. this is one of his three birdies. tiger shot 1-under 71. phil michael son missed

mickelson missed a lot of fairways today. he's five back. how about stockton native ricky barnes. barnes shot a 1-68. but he's still three shots back up, 21-year-old mcilroy shot a 7-under 65. makes a 90-degree turn. check out one of seven birdies for mcilroy. and kiros never shot better than 75 in two previous masters appearances. but today he shot a 65. he birdies the 18 to tie mcilroy. they are two strokes ahead of two koreans. the a's made several changes to add offensive punch. scratch and claw.

no this is not giant's third baseman -- kayhole allows pitching. blue jays led 1-0. cocoa crisp strikes out but the ball bounces past toronto. then after cocoa steals both second and third base, it's conner jackson with the rbi single. cocoa scores, a's win 2-1 and head to minnesota with a two and four over all record. giants finally get a final to raise the flag against tomorrow's home opener. organizers suggest fans arrive early at 10:30 a.m. and the first pitch scheduled at 5:35. and they hosted winless houston today and there's the world series mvp renteria. johnny grooms that's 1-1 after

two innings. 2-2 in the ninth. barnes delivers the game winner for houston. astros finally win a game. reds finally lose one. only two winless taebgs so far. should be a real giant's love fest tomorrow. again if you're planning on getting to the game. get there early. the transportation is going to be a mess. get there, settle down there are a lot of pregame ceremonies you want to watch. >> we'll have it here. be sure to join ktvu's morning news. they will be following the giant's home opener as the giants hoist their flag. and go to ktvu.com, than