is it horseplay or flat-out brutality. seven east bay high school football players in trouble for alleged hazing. that's today, ahead in the bay. good morning, everyone. i'm scott mcgrew. it is 4:30. let's start with rob. it's apparently, rob, international walk to school day. so be careful out there. what should they wear? >> this morning probably a jacket. you don't need an umbrella right now in oakland, it's pretty calm. 58 degrees, the wind light. i've got to take you to the north bay where you'll want an

umbrella, a good rain coat and look out for thunder rolling into the north bay. areas around clear lake, lake port, ukiah, mendocino county, this is the line of showers going from east to west this morning. counterclockwise rotation around an area of low pressure just to the south. we're going to get sun, we'll have a few scattered showers, especially around the hill tops, and a chance of isolated thunder like we're seeing up in the north bay hills. temperatures the next couple of days, we'll stay mild and breezy through thursday and friday and then we warm up as we approach the upcoming weekend. some 80s popping up inland just in time for saturday. back to you. good morning. we do have an accident that happened overnight, westbound 580 just about 36th avenue. reports of a car still on the scene. chp has one officer still reporting active at the scene as well so there might be a little

distraction but no major slowing. 580 and 880 moving nicely through oakland but there's an issue 4/880. overnight construction still in the left two lanes but the rest of the freeway open just after 4:00. we had a full closure overnight. no problems as far as the speed goes even though two lanes are limited because of the light volume of traffic. the nimitz freeway moving very nicely as well as 580. we'll see slowing on 580 and highway 4 probably just about 5:15. we'll watch for that. hundreds of east bay nurses hitting the picket lines. nearly 700 nurses plan to strike children's hospital in oakland today in protest of stalled contract negotiations. the hospital will remain open, of course, during the strike which runs through thursday of next week. the nurses have not had a contract since last may. they're still negotiating pay

and benefits. administrators say the hospital has lost almost $70 million in the past four years, forcing them to reduce costs. now an update to a story we first brought you yesterday. walnut creek residents upset about the number of fights in the once quiet east bay neighborhood. this is cell phone video of a bar brawl, one of three that took place within hours of one another on friday night. police officers there say they are stretched thin, they're unable to answer calls, they say, when these things happen. they say their equipment is outdated and when officers are out sick they're not replaced. now, the police chief disagrees. >> most of the time we do have a sufficient number of officers. friday night, saturday morning we didn't because there were two major incidents going on at the same time. >> a city council race is under way in walnut creek and candidates already throwing jabs over police staffing. walnut creek city leaders are slamming up against the realities of expansion population crime and perhaps not

enough cops. also new this morning, oscar grant's family speaking out about the request for a retrial. the family will hold a news conference this afternoon to denounce the attempt to get johannes mehserle a new trial. mehserle's attorney filed paperwork to say he's not the only police officer to grab his gun instead of his taser. grant's family says this is just an attempt by the defense to blame the victim for the actions of the perpetrator. a judge will rule on this request on november 5th. seven members of an east bay football team are suspended from school this morning after an alleged hazing incident. police say it happened in martinez. a freshman football player allegedly tied up and punched by his own teammates. the boy was not injured. police are investigating. school officials want to make it clear this kind of behavior is not tolerated. >> this is the kind of thing

that goes on under the surface. it's similar to cyberbullying so this is an opportunity. it's an opportunity for us to see how kids are thinking and perhaps have some influence on changing that thinking. >> now, the attack was apparently captured on cell phone video. six students were kicked off the football team. the district intends to expel the alleged ring leader. the search for a man who mowed down a fremont police officer continues. they're looking for alexander diaz, a 36-year-old parolee from los angeles. investigators think diaz hit motorcycle officer patrick bauer while driving a stolen van in fremont monday morning. the officer is a ten-year veteran of the fremont police force. he suffered a broken leg but is expected to be released from the hospital later this week. this is monday's scene. diaz accelerated toward the

officer and then ran off. border agents will also be on the lookout for the man. wondering what was up with your facebook account last night, facebook says site issues caused the social networking site to be slow or unable for some of its 500 million users. a facebook spokeswoman sent out an e-mail just about 10:00 saying the company was working on the problem. facebook says it was solved about a half hour later. facebook not working, one of the trending topics on last night's twitter. the government wants to be your friend in a facebook sort of way. as we reported in the past, the obama administration wants to add facebook and other internet communication to their list of potential wire tap communications to help catch suspected terrorists. >> they should definitely be able to look at facebook or skype because you want to catch the bad guy in the own. >> if your own personal business. if they find you doing something

incriminating on something they can see you do, yes, but you don't have to go into my blackberry. >> for years it's been okay for law enforcement to wire tap land line phones, e-mail, chat rooms with a warrant. the problem has been with encrypted content like blackberry or walled gardens like facebook. the government has trouble getting into those, warrant or not. one debate, one forum left for the candidates for governor. it is their chance to clarify their positions on immigration and the budget. that chance comes in less than a week at dominican university in san rafael. as tom sinkovitz reports, the last scheduled debate could be a game-changer in the race to run california. >> reporter: there's no presidential race on the ballot this year, no barack obama movement to excite the dominican students as there was two years ago, but there's a lot of anticipation now because nbc anchor tom brokaw will bow here next week to insist that the candidates for governor clarify

some murky positions. >> does it make you more interested? >> yeah, it makes me a lot more interested. now that it's on campus it will be easier to go. >> reporter: are you excited the debate is on campus? >> i'm very kpiexcited. we're going to see a lot of people and it's going to be packed. >> reporter: this debate is different from the first two in that it will be broadcast across the state. political science professors here say the candidates won't win the election next week, but they can lose it. major newspapers endorsed jerry brown in recent days because of what they called meg whitman's rehearsed positions. here's her chance to change that. >> it will be her third debate too so perhaps she'll get better as time goes on, but that has been a criticism from the beginning that meg whitman is very scripted, does that come off the script. i think tom brokaw might have a way of getting both candidates to come off the script a little bit. >> reporter: and jerry brown could make a mistake, thinking the latino vote is his after

this week's issues with whitman's former maid. >> i think the latino vote is going to be perhaps the most consequential aspect of this race, but i think that we'll finally see what each candidate is most comfortable with. and if brown is going to step up and be a little bit more active in presenting himself, i believe it will happen at this debate. >> reporter: nonetheless, they expect both candidates to play it close to the vest so as not to make any major gaffes this late in the campaign. tom sinkovitz, nbc bay area news. and nbc bay area will be hosting the october 12th gubernatorial debate. coverage begins at 6:00. we'll also be streamlining the debate in its entirety on nbcbayarea.com. good morning. 4:39 folks. we'll take you to a nice view of the bay bridge toll plaza.

the view not because we like seeing the pavement but because we like seeing all the cars that are absent from this shot. a nice easy drive out of the east bay. down the east shore freeway, get a look at the time off the carquinez bridge. 18-minute drive. our travel times should show you that coming off of the carquinez bridge down through richmond, berkeley and emeryville, a nice, easy, at the speed limit drive. antioch still shows 67 right around l street and that's where we see some of the first slowing around a and l. about 5:20, 5:30 is when we see that registering as those update between 5:20 and 5:30. livermore sohows a 13-minute drive. this is the fastest travel time you'll see over the course of the morning. we'll see speeds start to dip. scott, so far things are moving nicely. a little cooler this morning. i had to put on my jacket before i got to the office.

>> thank you, mike. we'll turn to rob who earlier said the weather will be, and i want to get this term correct, weird. >> it's already weird outside. mike talked about how cool it is. you'll need the jacket for sure this morning. here's the reason why you'll want to keep the umbrella on stand by as well. it's the north bay out towards lake county, ukiah will get the added benefit of mother nature giving you an extra alarm clock. we have thundershowers rolling in from the east. also tracking this area of moisture to the south that's going to rotate closer to the bay area as we head through the afternoon. so temperatures running fairly cool. we'll get a mix of sun at times, a few widely scattered showers and the chance of thundershowers as well, especially this morning in the hills of the north bay and maybe around the east bay hills and the coastal range. today unsettled, keep the umbrella on stand by and the jacket kind of cool today. you can put the umbrella aside tomorrow. the weekend we warm up. break out the short-sleeve shirts just in time for saturday and sunday.

scott. the time now is 4:41. a bay area company that's used to getting spots out now moving to a new spot. we'll tell you where and how it's going to affect east pay workers. plus is free speech protected even if it causes emotional distress? the supreme court weighs in on military funeral protests. 3q (announcer) did you know even the leading dishwashing detergent leaves residue behind? finish jet dry rinse agent removes residue and dries dishes better than detergent alone two times better. for a brilliant shine every time. finish jet dry rinse agent. finish. the diamond standard.

and there is a look at some of the cars passing through oakland on this very early 4:44

in the morning. oakland's loss, pleasanton's gain. more than 500 clorox employees will be moving from oakland to pleasanton. the pleasanton city council voted yesterday to approve the construction of what will become a new clorox office building. the new facility will house clorox research and development operations. work is expected to be done by the end of next year. after that clorox will only occupy about half of the oakland building it currently works in. the city of oakland has given an auto shop there an offer it cannot refuse. sell out or we will take your business. the oakland redevelopment agency says the local auto shop owner must sell to make way for a grocery store. if he does not take the deal the store is offering, oakland will force the auto shop owner to take one and a half million dollars to move out through the power of eminent domain. the city says the auto shop owner will not be forced out right away.

it's likely to hit the courts. this is an unusual use of eminent dough main. . good morning, folks. sorting out things after getting a live look out at sunol. just a couple of cars going southbound over the hill. we can make out some of the lights, it's very dark out there clearly but very clear as well. we'll get you a look at the maps. southbound 680 and northbound, both showing some slowing. speeds right around 55 miles per hour through the area, but you saw how few cars are there. things are moving nicely through the area but rob tells me a lot of animals reported through the areas as well. southbound 880 and winston avenue a couple of lawns blocked but the freeway reopened about 4:00 after overnight closure and construction in the area. it's kind of cold and wet out there. >> out towards the north bay we're seeing that right now.

from the east bay things are fine. we're looking at lake county, northern sonoma and napa counties. these line of showers actually going from east to west around an upper level low to the south. we could see two areas of moisture. one rolling into the north bay and the other moving up into the central coast impacting us a little later this afternoon. you're going to see some sun at times, scattered showers, especially around the hill tops and with that cold air aloft may see an afternoon thundershower as well. for tomorrow things will clear out and the sea breeze will pick up. after tomorrow and the weekend ahead, temperatures will be climbing up, especially by saturday and sunday. today 65, san francisco 69 and oakland low 70s and san jose near 70. you'll want the jacket and umbrella. tomorrow just the jacket and tomorrow sunglasses. things looking pretty good with 80s inland. the stock market starts the day at five-month highs. courtney reagan is live at cnbc world headquarters with a look

ahead to today. good morning, courtney. >> reporter: good morning, scott. futures right now mostly higher as we saw tuesday's strong rally on wall street where stocks built on their best september in nearly 70 years. that happened after we got this report that showed growth in the large u.s. services sector was up. that adds to pretty positive data suggesting the summer slowdown was perhaps just a pause in the recovery. asia rose overnight and europe continues the trend. we'll get a key report on jobs today. it will be the one that tracks the private sector and it could offer insight into friday big government jobs number. the dow was up 193 points to 10,944. the nasdaq added 55 points to 2399. i know it's only october 6th, but retail experts are expecting a rosier holiday shopping season. the national retail federation is forecasting sales to rise 2.3% in november and december.

that would be the best performance since 2006 but below the record $458 billion in sales posted in 2007. shoppers are still being selective on what they buy and are still focused on price. the recession officially ended last year. >> all right, thank you. today the supreme court hears what may be its biggest test ever of the first amendment. a military father's plea to punish a kansas church for hate-filled protests at his son's funeral. will the court uphold the right to free speech no matter what? today in the east bay's tracie potts tells us how this case could play out. >> it's a funeral, for god's sakes. >> reporter: the procession had to be rerouted and the s.w.a.t. team called in when reverend fred phelps brought his thank god for dead soldiers protest to the funeral in 2 huh 6. >> they turned it into a circus, a three-ring circus.

>> reporter: snyder's father says it sent him into a deep depression. >> these people are terrorists. >> reporter: a jury gave him $11 million for emotional distress, but an appeals court overturned it, saying the most hated family in america, as one filmmaker called them, is protected by the first amendment. >> you don't have to like my preaching and i've got a sneaking feeling that you don't. but i'm pretty talkgone sure that i've got the right to preach it and he's got the right to object to it. >> reporter: today the supreme court will consider whether that right interfered with the right of a private citizen to practice his religion. >> this is about whether or not you have to pay the price for inflicting distress on someone rather than the government fining you or preventing you from speaking in the first place. >> reporter: the westboro baptist church has protested some 200 military funerals, claiming god is killing american soldiers to punish the nation

for embracing homosexuality. in washington, tracie potts, today in the bay. and a new "today in the bay" coming up next. laura garcia-gomcannon joins us palo alto police are taking heat for what may be considered an overwhelming response to a cell phone bet. officers joined the search for a droid face. do you use your cell phone? do you tweet? it's the latest trend and it may be there to stay. we talk to a security update about it. we told you recently about a study that says whether it's stress from work or home or even the pressure to try to get pregnant, stress is a culprit in preventing couples from conceiving.

as vicky nguyen takes a deeper look into this first comprehensive study of women who are showing that those who are stressed have a harder time getting pregnant. >> i don't know that i believed that i would ever get pregnant before i came here. >> reporter: it took four and a half years for tammy brant to conceive. >> every month that it doesn't work, you're getting more and more stressed. then you honestly think, oh, my gosh, i'm stressed. i'm stressed because i'm not pregnant and now i'm stressed because i'm stressed. >> reporter: she believed it was all that anxiety stopping her from having a successful pregnancy. so she quit her job, began practicing yoga and underwent acupuncture. now for the first time scientists have found physiological evidence that stress can delay pregnancy in some women. >> what we ended up finding is one biomarker in particular significantly reduced the probability of conception every day during the fertile window while women were attempting to

get pregnant. >> reporter: british researchers took saliva samples from more than 400 fertile women. they measured levels of alpha amylase. women with high levels of alpha amylase were about 12% less likely to get pregnant. an nih scientist specializing in how the environment affects fertility. >> the bottom line is, is that there are things that you can do to help maximize your chances if you're at all concerned or even if you're not about trying to get pregnant as soon as possible. >> reporter: lewis says studies like this sho women and their partners should try low-tech solutions to help them get pregnant before turning to fertility treatments. >> so i think it would be wise for a couple to try to clean up the stresses in their life and to really try to adopt not only a healthy set of behaviors but a mindset. >> reporter: dr. melissa

esposito says many of her patients find mind, body therapies like yoga and acupuncture to be helpful but there hasn't been much scientific support. >> when they do acupuncture they in general feel less stress and anxiety and feel good about doing it. >> reporter: tammy believes it was those therapies that allowed her to calm down and finally get pregnant with her son. this is jack. >> for me it's common sense. you have to take care of the body if you want it to be a good place to raise somebody else. >> and that was vicky nguyen reporting. meanwhile, a sugar treat right off the vine. an east bay company gearing up for halloween. today in the bay's bob redell is live at the american licorice company in union city. bob, you always get a sweet assignment. i had no idea that red vines were made right here. >> reporter: what might surprise you is that red vines, american licorice company's red vines have been here in the bay area

since 1920 initially and san francisco before moving to union city. so a 90-year tradition. i didn't know about it until recently. but these will be appearing in trick-or-treat bags in a few weeks for halloween. to get them in the bags they have to ramp up production which is what they're doing this morning. we've got 24/7 shifts going to get red vines in the stores in time for halloween. we've got michael kelly here. i guess right now you're in between doing something with the wrapping. we have this robot arm doing some stuff. what is the process like trying to get the licorice out. >> this is one of our pick and place robots. we have got a lot of equipment that we've been using for decades and then new cutting-edge equipment like this. it's to eliminate some repetitive motions. >> reporter: there it goes. >> eliminate some repetitive motions from the people working here.

>> reporter: you have the capacity and ability to produce how much per day? 200,000 pounds? >> about 200,000 pounds of red vines a day. around three million pounds a month. we're doing somewhere around 50 million pounds a year out of the factory here. >> reporter: the beautiful thing i like is you can walk up on the floor. i'm going to grab a reject. that's what i'm talking about. if we had a job like that, i would be a much bigger man. anyways, you'll be surprised or maybe you won't be. you'll be surprised what they look like before. coming up we'll take you upstairs to -- what do we call the rooms? >> that's the cooking room upstairs. >> reporter: aptly named, the cooking room. we'll take you on a tour as they ramp up for halloween coming up all morning. >> bob, i don't know if you can hear me over the machinery, but do they make the black licorice too or just the red? >> reporter: they do make black licorice. frankly i'm a huge red licorice fan. the number is one out of ten is

black and nine out of ten are red? >> red definitely outsells the black, but the black licorice fans are fanatical about their licorice. today we're doing the red vines. on any other day we might be making grapevines or cherry vines or any other of our products we have going on. >> reporter: beautiful. thanks for having us, michael. scott. >> all right, bob. bring me a hat. coming up next on "today in the bay," if you lost your phone would the police send a helicopter to find it? they just might. they faced off before but never like this. see why next week you may change your behind who should be governor. and it is the $126 million question that's grabbed the attention of every giants fan. will the highest paidamberef thb the team o b on the mound durin the playoff run? [ male announcer ] carly fiorina.

as ceo, she laid off 30,000 workers and shipped jobs to china. china. india. russia. poland. i know precisely why those jobs go. [ male announcer ] because fiorina shipped them there. to shanghai instead of san jose. bangalore instead of burbank. proudly stamping her products "made in china."

30,000 workers gone while fiorina took $100 million for herself. carly fiorina. outsourcing jobs. out for herself. [ barbara boxer ] i'm barbara boxer, and i approved this message.