new this morning, construction on a controversial new bart project gets started in just hours. we'll investigate whether it's worth the cost. >> reporter: good morning. i'm christie smith. it's been 19 years since the oakland hills firestorm. hear from one woman who lost everything about her struggle to come back, what has changed and what she thinks has stayed the same. that story coming up today in the east day. from nbc bay area, reporting what matters to you, this is "today in the east bay." good morning, everyone. i'm scott mcgrew.

it is 4:30 wednesday, october 20th, 2010. we'll get started right away with a baseball forecast. rob mayeda is here with our forecast. >> good morning, scott. pretty nice start to your weather here in the east bay. we're at 55 in oakland looking at patchy fog. we'll see some of that across the other side of the bay for the big giants game coming up later on this afternoon. concord right now 52 degrees and here in livermore you can also see in the low 50s. some of those low clouds out towards the altamont pass this morning. once the low clouds clear, a pretty nice day towards the tri-valley, should easily get into the mid-70s. but clouds will linger for richmond and oakland with highs in the upper 60s. today is probably the last day we'll be rain-free in the forecast. big changes coming up in your east bay seven-day forecast which will come up in just a couple minutes from now. back to you. there's trouble on 880. when there's trouble on mikinm:

it should be reopening any time soon. we'll look at a live shot past the coliseum. you do see the southbound side with headlights coming south. if you're using high street, plan on taking park the next few minutes. we'll show you another incident, 680 the northbound side, right around ignacio valley road. you might find some activity there. the speed sensors smooth for 24 out through lafayette and orinda. i'll give you a note coming up in the next report because sunol is celebrating its one-month mark after the opening of the express lane. back to you. this just in. three uc berkeley grads jailed in iran will start trial next month. the bbc reporting the hikers' attorney told them the trial will start november 6th.

they were arrested more than a year ago on spy charges after they crossed the iraqi border into iran. fellow hiker sarah shourd was released on bail because of health problems. many people following the case say it's extremely unlikely she'll return for a trial. seven-day foreca secretary of state hillary clinton says there is no basis for knows charges. bart will break ground on its controversial extension project in just a few hours but this agreement over the oakland airport connector may not be over. extension is just over three miles and it will curb the bart bus and provide train access to the terminal but the project will cost $434 million and bart hasn't named a price riders will pay. the transit agency says if more people don't ride the train to the airport compared to the bus, it may have to charge as much as $6.

that's a steep increase from the $3 bus ride. >> more than one person, that would be pretty bad. >> whatever they charge, i'm going to pay it. it's better than parking your car. >> bart says the project will need -- will provide much-needed jobs. it's expected to be complete in 2014 and that's when bart plans to actually name the price. installation of the second tower on the new eastern span of the bay bridge was supposed to begin this week but the project has been shelved until at least next week. this is a follow-up on a story we brought you tuesday. transportation leaders say they have to work on a maintenance issue with an essential piece of equipment before work can begin. when the four pieces of the tower are in place, you'll know it. they're nearly 300 feet tall and impossible to miss. also new this morning, today marks the 19th anniversary of the deadly oakland hills fire. it left thousands of people without homes, but many did find

the strength to rebuild. today in the east bay's christie smith is live in oakland and talked with one woman about how she put her life back together. >> reporter: good morning to you. first i wanted to tell you why we're standing here. there are a number of tributes to the oakland hills firestorm and this is one of them, the gateway exhibit. it features low-growing shrubs that are less likely to become a torch in a big fire. there's also information about emergency preparedness. now, at the time there was a lot of dense brush in the hills, thousands of homes destroyed. we spoke with one woman who lost everything that day about what has changed and what has stayed the same in the oakland hills. she tells us as homes were going up in flames, she left with her daughter and only a few belongings. when she got to tunnel road, she talked about how bad it was. she saw trees on fire, a traffic jam, people literally running

down the hill on foot. help finally came not only from the oakland fire department but neighboring agencies but there were problems with hoses not fitting. she still looks back 19 years later. >> a lot has changed. we learn from our mistakes. the hoeses now fit, they communicate with each other. those things were fixed. we have a wildfire assessment district in oakland which is one of the first of its kind. my husband and i were very active in getting that started and my husband served on it and it's made a real difference. >> reporter: now, her entire home was destroyed when they returned, but they hired an architect, decided to stay and rebuilt. it took two years. she said one of the hardest parts was dealing with her insurance company, but with the assessment district she said that hills are inspected more often, that makes her feel more comfortable. but looking forward, one of the things that does concern her is

when new people move in that weren't here at the time, they're a little more likely to let their shrubbery and trees go because they don't remember how bad it was. reporting live in oakland, christie smith. >> lessons learned. thank you. the oakland hills fire killed 25 people, destroyed more than 3,000 homes and caused $1.5 billion in damage. at the time it was the worst urban wildfire in california history. it was caused by a grass fire that wasn't fully extinguished. a memorial, dedicated in 1994. most of the labor and materials at that memorial were donated. it's been more than a year since little hosani campbell was reported missing. now the group is working to start a camp in his honor. oakland based citizens of the lost said it is one of five finalists for a $10,000

volunteer award. if selected the group hopes to start a summer camp to teach survival skills and swimming to low income and at-risk students. he was reported missing in august of 2009 and has not been seen since. the boy's foster parents were jailed for a few days on suspicion of murder but the d.a. did not press further charges. an east bay lawmaker teaming up with a livermore ranch to kick off a unique rehabilitation program for veterans today. they will help celebrate the ground breaking of hoof prints of the heart, new facilities at a ranch there. the city purchased the ranch to operate its therapeutic riding program. veterans who suffer from brain and other physical injuries will work with horses as therapy. the service for veterans begins next month. the emeryville city council is dumping ikea's proposal to expand into a knee buyer neighborhood. the council voted it down.

they had won approval from the planning commission to expand into a warehouse so that customers would have a separate location to pick up the store's big items. people in the area had complained the proposal would draw unwanted traffic. 19th anniversary of the oakland hills fire. the one-month anniversary of that really unusual way of getting over the sunol bridge. >> unusual for northern california but standard in southern california right now. it's the express lane and we've got some video, scott. this has opened up september 20th for that new lane. the initial reaction from folks, what do you think of that 680 express lane? they go like this. oh. >> this is the one that you pay if you want to be a car pool but not a car pool, you pay. >> you pay if you want to be a single driver going through the express lane. there it is on the other side of the double white lines. folks are upset because of the construction and delays there but really when you get down to it the traffic flow over the last month has improved, back to

what it was before they installed the lane. we're seeing 1300 to 1600 people use that lane and that's paying for the project. we'll see a change in this area over the next 12 to 15 months. that's what's expected at the alameda county transportation commission. it's on track, the growth is going as it should and we'll see changes as daylight hours change. >> and people are getting used to it and understand the idea. >> that's the reason for the big slowdown the first two weeks. not as complicated in the weather. it's going to rain. >> that's right. your "today in the east bay" weather this morning is about the fog. no rain this morning, maybe some mist on some windshields in a few spots. especially around the coast and around san francisco this morning. pretty thick fog and a few spots may slow down your morning drive. we'll see 70s but some rain showing up as early as tomorrow. southern california it is a mess. south of santa barbara into l.a.

they have thundershowers. that upper level low will slowly track out of southern california. it will spill clouds our way during the day tomorrow and bring our first of several chances of rain as we get into the weekend. today around the east bay 75 in dublin, 77 in livermore. notice around richmond and oakland, though, likely not getting out of the 60s as the low clouds linger heading into the afternoon. mid-70s for concord and san ramon. so the first chance for showers arrives at sundown tomorrow into friday and sunday could be pretty soggy, especially for the north bay. look at those temperatures dropping down through the seven-day forecast. an entire east bay port shut down. we'll see who's behind the work stoppage and how it's expected to affect cargo. and invisible cars? see which cars will keep you off police radar. the time now, 4:41. reporting what matters to you, you're watching "today in the east bay" with scott mcgrew, and traffic with mike

carly fiorina. she's against banning assault weapons... and that's reckless and dangerous. she's for risky new oil drilling that could threaten our jobs. fiorina's plan would mean slashing social security and medicare, which would devastate seniors. and she'd make abortion a crime. no wonder fiorina is endorsed by sarah palin. carly fiorina. just too extreme for california. [ boxer ] i'm barbara boxer and i approve this message.

just ask jerry brown.

he gave california state employees collective bargaining powers. since then the unions have grown stronger and stronger. now state employees can retire at 55 with much of their salary for life. and taxpayers are on the hook for one hundred billion dollars in unfunded pension liabilities. no wonder those unions are 100% behind jerry brown. he'll just spend, and spend, and spend. and welcome back. it is 4:44. walnut creek 74 today, fairfield 76, some rain ahead. we will check with rob in just a moment. oakland mayoral candidates will campaign for a different sort of cause this morning. they'll be at the alameda county

community food bank. candidates will be tackling the growing problem of hunger in oakland. nine of the ten candidates are expected to be there. the only candidate missing will be don perata. oakland police have been using a mathematical process to try to fight crime. it started in new york city. it's not a computer program but a new way of thinking. the oakland police will be talking to citizens about comp stat this morning at 10:00. officers have been using it for the last year and they say it works. they claim they have seen a 14% reduction in violent crime in oakland. this morning's meeting will be at the james moore theater at the oakland museum. president obama isn't running for re-election but tomorrow he'll be hitting the campaign trail right here in the bay area. the president will arrive at sfo tomorrow afternoon as part of the campaign to promote democratic state attorney general harris. harris is the current san francisco attorney.

she's running against los angeles republican steve cooley. the visit will mark the president's first bay area visit since promoting green technology and fund-raising for senator barbara boxer back in may. there's mike inouye. good morning, mike. there you are. >> as the president comes into town, i'll give folks a warning if that's what they're expecting. he's going into san francisco, the giants are playing there so that's going to be a huge traffic issue and we'll follow that tomorrow. right now we're looking at li livermore with a 13-minute drive out of the altamont pass. we are also looking at antioch where there's no slowing. about 40 minutes from now we'll see the slowing start moving towards willow pass road. things are very nice all the way through pittsburg and concord. 242 coming out of that area at the limit as well as 680 all the way down past the earlier

accident. a live look outside shows you oakland past the coliseum. the southbound side at high street, we still have a disabled dump truck blocking that off ran but park is a good alternate and the 66 as well. a little glow to those lights but so far traffic is flowing nicely. let's turn to rob and look at the east bay. a little rain ahead. good morning, rob. >> yeah, there's a little bit coming in tomorrow and a lot more as we get towards the weekend. we just have patchy fog in spots around here for your commute into oakland and concord. we're in the 50s. stay story out towards the altamont pass. livermore 53 degrees. you can see a healthy sea breeze. no rain around the bay area but to the south a different story. if you're traveling into l.a. or santa barbara, you'll find showers and thundershowers. we have clear skies for the bay area but off to the west here comes a system that will drop in on us midday tomorrow, probably seeing some showers by tomorrow evening. around the east bay today 77 in

livermore and that should be one of the warmest spots around the entire bay area today. 60s back toward the inner bay around richmond and oakland. concord 75 and also 75 around san ramon for the afternoon. seven-day forecast spills in the clouds tomorrow, drops our temperatures and we'll see the chance of showers on the increase as we get into the weekend. sunday looks pretty breezy and wet to wrap up the weekend. earnings news will drive the market again today. investors disappointed by apple and ibm sent indices tumbling to their worst performance in two months on tuesday. for more on news before the bell let's turn to courtney reagan who's live at cnbc headquarters. >> reporter: the bull futures are a little higher this morning ahead of that opening bell because we did see wall street see its worst drop in two months on tuesday. stocks fell early and disappointing news from apple and ibm. then we halost a little more wh

china hiked interest rates for the first time in two years. then the fed big money managers are pressuring bank of america to buy back billions of dollars in bad mortgages it sold to investors. all of that is renewing worries the banks could face liabilities from the mortgage and foreclosure crisis. europe is relatively flat now. we'll hear from boeing, morgan stanley, wells fargo, united technologies, delta and u.s. airways so there's a lot at stake to move the market today. the dow fell 262 points yesterday. we'll open at 10,978. the nasdaq was off 43 points to 2436. microsoft is launching a cloud version of its office software called office 365. the program is available online now in beta form. it goes on sale next year. what it does is let you access all of the features of office. that's outlook, word and excel without actually having to download the software on your

pc. >> cool, courtney, thank you much. a former high court employee says she will not back town from allegations that one of the country's supreme court justices sexually harassed her 19 years ago. in a statement released late last night professor anita hill says she stands by her 1991 testimony that justice clarence thomas made inappropriate sexual remarks towards her at yale law school. over the weekend thomas's wife left hill a voice mail demanding an paapology and asking for an explanation of what you did to my husband. hill says she feels the voice mail is inappropriate. this morning the pentagon is telling military recruiters to go ahead and accept applications from openly gay men and lesbians, but the recruiters say potential recruits must be told that the moratorium on don't ask, don't tell could be lifted

at any moment. it's part of the defense department's plan to abide by a federal judge's ruling that bans gays serving openly in the military. the judge said it was unconstitutional. that ruling will be appealed to the u.s. court of appeals in the ninth circuit in san francisco. more than half the country thinks we're on the wrong track, according to a new nbc/wall street journal poll. strangely enough the president recently saw a boost to his job approval rating. brian mooar has our report from washington. >> reporter: president obama is heading out west today, hoping to boost democrats in oregon and washington state. with the midterm elections just 13 days away, he's got plenty of campaigning ahead. >> reminding voters what's at stake, who has their best interests in mind. >> will you go to washington to simply be a rubber stamp? >> reporter: the race is winding down, but the candidates are not. in illinois, the president's

former senate seat is up for grabs and the candidates are throwing sharp elbows. >> i think you should have some apologizing to do too. >> i've got no answer to the question. >> it is really mind boggling to me roe. >> reporter: florida's senate race is a microcosm of decision 2010. >> i didn't interrupt you. >> you're for offshore oil drilling. >> no, i'm not, i'm opposed to you. >> now you are. >> reporter: democrat kendrick meek is running behind and so is the state's former republican governor charlie crist. tea party favorite marco rubio is hoping to ride the wave of voter anger all the way to washington. and the latest nbc news poll shows exactly why voters are so angry. six in ten believe this country is on the wrong track. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. let's look ahead to what's today on "today in the bay." for that we say good morning to laura garcia-cannon helping the

team put together the show. >> busy morning out here. good morning, scott. good morning, everyone. the giants will take the field later this afternoon hoping to take control of their series against the phillies. they'll turn to a 21-year-old to do it. you may notice a lot of people wearing purple today. we'll explain why. plus we're less than two weeks away from election day. larry gersten joins us with the latest on the issues that matter to you. that and more, later on "today in the bay." the port of oakland will be the next site of the showdown in the johannes m ene enes mehserl >> reporter: supporters of officer grant's family are calling on the long relationship between the longshoremen and community of oakland to make sure they get their message out that only the maximum sentence for his convicted killer will be enough. in about two and a half weeks,

johans mehserle will be sentenced. he was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. today grant's family and attorney will gather to talk this afternoon about saturday's planned work stop at bay area ports including this one. mehserle claims that he accidentally shot grant on the bart platform when he really was trying to pull his taser instead. that was new year's day, 2009. this also took center stage during the singing of "america the beautiful" during the seventh inning stretch of the giants game at at&t park. in mccovey cove some boats flew signs that said "justice for oscar grant." a boat owned by mehserle's father had a sign that said "free johannes mehserle." no major disruptions are expected because the port

authority did have enough notice to adjust the schedules accordingly. kris sanchez, today in the bay. good morning to you, rob. >> let's take a look at temperatures in the east bay. we're seeing 40s and 50s this morning and patchy fog a little further inland. you'll find that slowing down your commute in a few spots. if you're heading into southern california, that's where the rain is this morning coming down pretty heavily at times. offshore to the west is a weather system that's the first in a series of system that say brings a change in our weather but it will arrive tomorrow. today just fog in the morning and hazy sunshine for the afternoon. 75 in dublin, 77 livermore, 67 richmo richmond. out towards the inland tri-valley and into the delta we'll see highs in the mid-70s. so tomorrow we'll start the cooldown of increasing clouds during the day. chance of showers as we head towards the evening into friday. friday we'll probably have a little rain and rain off and on,

picking up as we head through sunday into monday. scott. all right, i know you have noticed this, the drivers on the highway are all traveling the same speed and then one driver gets singled out by the cops. maybe it's not the driver, maybe it's the car. here's a list of the five least ticketed cars on the road. fifth is the buick lacrosse sedan. number four, the kia spectra sedan. the bronze goes to the chevy ck pickup. silver medal is the mazda tribute suv and the least or most inconspicuous, i guess it would be, car on the road, the buick rainier suv. it is now 4:56. full-time giant, full-time dad. the unique way this superstar keeps his on field from getting in his off field. the president will be in office two more years so why is he hitting the campaign trail in california? we'll explain coming up in a live report. and return of the mac. apple taking a new bite out of

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new this morning, hikers on trial for spying. new details emerge on the charges three cal grads will face in iran. 19 years ago today, the oakland hill changed forever. coming up we're going to talk about what happened, we're going to talk with a survivor and what she sees looking forward. plus