new this morning, the east bay county turning up the heat to fight sex trafficking. new efforts to rescue exploited children and catch the bad guys. >> reporter: rowdy raccoons run wild in one east bay city and now it's come to bites. i'm christie smith. we'll talk about that and what little dogs have to do with it coming up "today in the east bay." 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 in the morning. my goodness, rob, 4:30 in the morning. a little rain on my car as i drove into work even earlier than this. >> yeah, we've got two hours before sunrise. 40s and 50s outside. not quite as cold but as you mentioned we do have some rain out there that's helping to keep our temperatures up. mainly south of fremont into milpitas still scattered showers. most of the action has moved off to the sierra. coming up you'll see reports about all that snow flying along interstate 80 and highway 50. after our lingering showers and patchy fog start to clear this morning, we'll see a cool day today. winds will pick up out of the northwest so it's a cool afternoon. highs mostly upper 50s to low 60s. we'll have a look ahead to warmer changes in your seven-day forecast in just a few minutes. back to you. >> all right, rob. let's turn to a guy who ironically never drives in rush hour traffic. >> rob is talking about snow in

the sierra. eastbound 80 through the area, chains are required as well as highway 50. locally eastbound 80 there was an earlier accident that cleared at san pablo road but a car went into the ditch off the roadway. southbound 880 also in the east bay just past 238 report of a minor accident there as well. it should be off of the roadway. it was a solo spinout. talking about slick roadways this morning. we'll look at a shot past the coliseum. the glowing lights, some water on the lenses and some water on the roadway. keep that in mind and allow extra team because you're going to lower those speeds. raccoon rampage in the east bay. the victim, a woman walking her dog. now, these attacks happened near a popular park along central avenue toward 8th street on the island of alameda. now, christie smith is live in alameda. christie, not the first time raccoons have attacked someone in this area. >> reporter: no. we're hearing this is the ninth

attack this year. they all involve people walking small dogs. one woman was saying she was walking her dog by this park that we're standing at here in alameda and she saw a pair of eyes. she knew that it was raccoons looking at her. then she said suddenly four more of these raccoons dropped down from the trees and started to come after her. this is near washington park by central and 8th, with little 20-pound yorkie named doogie. he started barking wildly when he saw a pair of eyes. the within said she tried to get away but she fell. the little dog tried to fight off the four raccoons on her own. one of the raccoons grabbed on to her right leg and bit her. >> they were growling and installering and making all sorts of incredibly unfriendly noises. >> reporter: now, these aren't the raccoons but they looked

similar to the ones you see there. she started screaming and was able to hail a police officer. doogie was scratched but is okay. apparently the raccoons have become aggressive, looking for food in garbage cans and are running out of places to live. the woman you heard will apparently get some rabies treatment just as a precaution. we're told that traps may eventually be set. reporting live in alameda, christie smith, "today in the east bay." east bay lawmakers turning up the heat on criminals using children as sex slaves. the alameda county district attorney's office got a $300,000 grant for what it calls its heat watch program designed to rescue exploited children and bring their traffickers to justice. the money will also help launch a bay area heat coalition that will bring law enforcement agencies from all over the region together to catch traffickers across city, county and state borders. just this week fbi agents

arrested 72 people connected to child and teen prostitution in the bay area. feds rounding up pimps and johns and prostitutes. also rescued children who were allegedly forced into sexual slavery. that sting, which wrapped up monday, was called operation across country. among the dozens of arrests made here in the bay area, most were in antioch, oakland and san rafael. well, will commuters pay for a new bridge across the bay? a special committee will meet today to consider whether to pay $400,000 just to study this idea. there you see it, a span south of the bay bridge, north of the san mateo bridge. it would likely connect highway 280 south of the oakland -- 238, rather, south of the oakland airport with interstate 380 near san francisco's airport. the bay area toll authority considered the idea back in 2002 but the $8 billion price tag put it on the back burner.

now, if approved, the study alone would likely take about two years. we're learning more about the man who was shot and killed by oakland police monday night. he was a popular east bay barber. police say they were called to the 5800 block of bancroft avenue to investigate a domestic violence call. the shooting victim, derrick jones, apparently took off on foot, ended up on trask avenue. police saw him reach for his waist band. officers yelled for him to put his hands up, he didn't and they opened fire. >> during the foot chase the suspect was seen grabbing towards his waist band. this is a move obviously consistent with someone reaching for a weapon, possibly arming himself. >> jones was a barber for 11 years. many of his clients came to his parents' home to pay their respects. >> my brother was taken too soon. he was shot several times.

justice needs to be served. >> are you asking for a riot in oakland? are you -- what are you doing to the black community? >> the jones family met with civil rights attorney john burress who tells us he is looking into the matter. a lawsuit could follow. he is the same attorney who represents oscar grant's family. here's your chance to get a free flu vaccine. contra costa health services offering the shots in nine cities today. you don't have to have health insurance, anyone can come. clinics will be held from 1:00 to 7:00. this year's vaccine will provide immunity to the h1n1 virus and two other strains of flu all in a single shot. nasal spray vaccines are also available on the sites. those can only be used in healthy people between the ages of 2 and 49, and you can't be

pregnant. east bay fares and parking fees all aboard the meeting at today's bart board of directors. the board will discuss how much to charge passengers who will use the west dublin/pleasanton bart station that opens next year. the board expects 6,000 people a day will exit and enter the station. it stands now a trip from this new station to sfo will cost $10.40. one day reserved parking is expected to cost $4 a day. the east bay commute is about to get a little less congested. a new car pool lane opening up on 580 from pleasanton to livermore. caltrain lists eastbound 580 as one of the most congested freeways in the bay area. now "today in the east bay" traffic with mike inouye. >> all right, 4:30, a little early, so we're going to reaffirm what scott said. eastbound 580, that should get a little better because of the additional portion of that hov

lane but westbound this morning that we're following, right now too early to be much of a commute. 13 minutes out of the altamont pass but either direction not pleasant through livermore. that's one of your heaviest commutes. the earlier accident has cleared from the roadway and from the chp incident reports. speeds right around the speed limit on both sides of the castro valley y. moving up into the maze there's a nice easy drive as well. speeds close to the limit but you might want to keep the speeds close to the speed limit or a little lower because of slick roadways all morning. back to you, scott. >> all right, mike, thank you much. speaking of puddles, let's talk to the puddles man. >> we had a lot of that and a little patchy fog in a few spots. oakland right now the rain has moved on but there is some ponding on the roadway around 880 this morning. concord 58 grows. livermore 48 degrees for now.

the east bay looks pretty dry. if you're heading from the east bay to the south bay there's a few showers around san jose. most of the action heading off to the east. a lot of snow is flying in the sierra, probably a foot of snow for elevations above 6,000 feet. around the east bay and beyond today highs low 60s. we'll see gradual clearing and increasing winds for the afternoon. that's going to help dry things out. it's going to feel a little chilly. we'll see 61 in richmond, over to concord and fairfield, not much change this the temperatures. now, this is the last of the rain for a while. as you can see as we go through veterans day tomorrow and the week ahead, 70s coming back to the forecast by the end of the week. the time is 4:40. more and more of our personal information is winding up online. see how to protect yourself from those security risks. plus a status update. what one woman posted about her boss on facebook that got her in trouble and then how her

employer got into even worse trouble for cracking down. it's 4:40. you're looking at the bay bridge this morning. reporting what matters to you, you're watching "today in the east bay" with scott mcgrew, traffic with mike inouye. 3q

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bay area unless the raiders do. the raiders are doing well. lots of local non-profits looking for volunteers. this year it will be easier for people to find the right match. the oakland city center and volunteer center of the east bay are teaming up to help people donate their time to worthwhile non-profits whose mission they support. they're holding a volunteer fair at the oakland city center plaza in downtown oakland from 11:00 to 1:00 today. >> a lot of people want the opportunity at the start of the holidays to go to a charity, help out in whatever fashion, in whatever type of organization they're familiar with and would like to help. >> some of the local non-profits participating include habitat for humanity, the space and science center, wardrobe for opportunity and the alameda county food bank. the fair will also feature music and prizes for volunteers.

rescue efforts are still under way for a carnival cruise ship adrift in waters south of san diego. now the ship has been without power since early monday because of an engine fire. planes loaded with supplies flew from san diego to deliver supplies to the stranded ship. instead of fine dining, passengers are now eating things like canned spam. >> right now it's bread, there's cups, there's you tensiles, we've got frozen milk, canned goods, easy to make items that are served cold. >> carnival says tugboats will toe the splendor back to san diego instead of making a stop at the mexican port of ensenada. the coast guard will provide escort. the passengers on the ship will get a free cruise and a full refund and a story they can tell their friends for years to come. >> not your typical cruise story, that's for sure. but still, spam, not too bad. paper cups. let's go to the roadways

where we'll talk about the waterways right here between alameda and oakland. the tube that takes you underneath the water had some overnight construction closing that tube. i've heard about no delays. to be extra sure take park street or high street bridges. 880 coming through oakland, let's see how things are going because there are wet roadways. earlier accidents have cleared from the nimitz, but northbound and southbound moving very smoothly. you see the glow to the lights. there's mist in the air. water kicking up off the roadways so you'll need windshield wipers whether or not it's actually raining where you are. the aftereffects of the rain, over at the bay bridge toll plaza, puddles in the parking lot. no major reports of roadway flooding but those might pop up as the morning progresses so a warning for slippery roadways. back to you. let's turn to rob and more detail about slippery. >> we're still seeing a few scattered showers mainly around

the south bay. the story for the afternoon, northwest winds picking up for the afternoon, cool temperatures ahead, though. we'll see dry days ahead. you can see in the east bay most of the rain has moved on. we're still seeing showers around san jose and around highway 17 this morning. look at all that snow in the sierra, pretty good dusting of snow. almost a foot has come down in the last 12 hours. around the east bay today highs in the low 60s. we'll see mostly cloudy skies to start and patches of fog, then clearing and turning a bit windy in the east bay hills this afternoon. winds from 10 to 20 miles per hour. you can see our high today pret they cool but the showers the last we'll see for quite some time. high pressure building in which means 70s for oakland and livermore as we wrap up the weekend and head to next week. scott. democrats and republicans agree on one thing this morning, sparing taxpayers from the alternative minimum tax, something that's been a

nightmare in silicon valley. for news let's turn to courtney reagan at cnbc headquarters. >> reporter: futures right now slightly lower this morning and that's after we've seen markets fall for a second straight day on tuesday. investors continue to be worried about europe's debt problems and whether the fed's bond buying stimulus program will spur runaway inflation. we'll get data on unemployment, the trade deficit import prices as well as more earnings, as earnings season marches on. the dow lost 60 today to start trading today at 11,346. the nasdaq lost 17 points to 2562. lawmakers are promising to work together to prevent more than 20 million americans from being hit with an additional tax aimed at the very wealthy. democrats and republicans in charge of writing tax rules have told the irs they'll act this year on the so-called minimum tax. it ensures the superrich pay at least some income tax.

because it's not adjusted for inflation, congress has to alter it each year to keep middle class taxpayers from being hit. quite a nightmare for many folks out there. >> courtney, thank you. another major airline adding jobs to its roster. u.s. airways says it will hire 80 pilots, 420 flight attendants in coming months. after calling back employees on furlough or voluntary leave, it expects to have nobody, at least flight attendants, on the furlough list and no more than 100 pilots will remain on furlough. recently a number of carriers announced they will add workers both this year and 2011 as they pull back from some of the cuts the that began in 2008. general motors will flip the switch on its assembly line for its extended range battery volt today in michigan. gm says you'll find them in showrooms about a month from now. preproduction volts have been built at the detroit plant since

late march. you might recall mike inouye and i showed you one moerngt show last month. you are unown worst enemy when it comes to posting personal information on the web. that means as more information winds up online, there's more risk. a flaw in the way internet browsers work means it could be leaked to third parties who track it. >> they continue personally targeted e-mail and say i see you went to my high school, isn't that great. i don't remember your pet's name, what was that? there was all sorts of ways to use little seeds of information. >> tech experts at msnbc say you should choose the highest privacy settings available on all social networks. google your own name and make sure you know what people are saying about you. here's more legal wrangling over social media and the workplace. there's a fight brewing over whether you can be fired for

posting not-nice things about your boss. as tracie potts explains, the national labor relations board now involved. >> reporter: dawn souza worked for american medical response, an ambulance company. someone complained about her work. officials say the company denied her a union rep so she went home and complained about her supervisor on facebook, prompting a lot of other complaints from co-workers. then the company fired her. >> the national labor relations act makes it unlawful for employers to interfere with that communication. >> reporter: the national labor relations board says the firing was illegal, that employees who talk about their work conditions in person or online are protected. >> she was on her own time, on her own resources and that's really what makes the case different. >> reporter: amr's policy prohibits employees from making

negative remarks about the company. labor attorneys say the problem is on social media, it's not like chatting with your co-workers in the break room. everyone is listening. >> potentially customers, people who might have avail ethemselves of this employer's services but now are going to think twice because they saw this twitter or facebook posting. >> reporter: a hearing is set for january 25th. in washington, tracie potts, "today in the bay." let's take a look at what's coming up later and for that we say hello to laura garcia-cannon in the newsroom. >> good morning, scott. good morning, everyone. what was it? the pentagon says it cannot explain what was spotted streaking across the sky off the coast of los angeles monday night. our own bob redell is on the case. an ultimatum from the santa clara city council to labor unions. what they were told to do or else dozens of workers will lose their jobs. also ahead, it's beginning to look a lot -- well, the christmas tradition that gets under way today.

those stories and more coming up. maybe you should hang on to that halloween candy. there are rumblings we could head towards a chocolate shortage. two problems have combined to raise concerns. first of all, increased consumer demand and second a drought in western africa and the ivory coast, the world's biggest cocoa producers. cocoa futures at a near three-year high. chili's plans to offer entrees from a select menu, applebe's offers a free entree under similar conditions in 164 restaurants and outback steak house gets it right, they will serve veterans appetizers and drinks, including beer. military i.d. of course required. wildlife out of control in the east bay. raccoons attacked a woman walking her dog near a popular park. christie smith is live in alameda. i understand they were wearing

masks. >> reporter: yeah, i think so. right before we came on, we just turned to the side and saw a raccoon going into the drain, so they are certainly out here. you know, according to vector control, this rowdy band of raccoons has struck more than half a dozen times this year alone. they always seem to go after people who are walking small dogs. the last time it happened here near where we are by washington park, people like rachel and her little 20-pound yorkie named doogie, they were walking sunday night when doogie started parking wildly. a raccoon suddenly -- there were more of them, like a little gang. she says one of them bit her leg when she fell. >> i start running and then four other raccoons dropped out of these trees and started chasing me down the street. >> reporter: now, they looked something like the ones you see here.

the dog fought off four of the raccoons. he is okay, fortunately. apparently the raccoons have become aggressive as they search for food in garbage cans and run out of places to live. one vector control officer suggests covering the garbage. meantime, rachel says she's going to begin carrying pepper spray just in case. christie smith, "today in the east bay." now "today in the east bay" weather. let's take a look at a much calmer picture. we're seeing 40s and 50s outside. yesterday we had patchy frost, this morning a little patchy fog in some spots around the east bay and showers have moved on. not much wind this morning but you will notice this afternoon winds 10 to 20 miles per hour and a pretty cool day ahead. right now the radar view looks pretty dry. if you're driving down towards san jose, areas south down towards morgan hill a few scattered showers and a few showers along the coast. the trend for the rest of the morning, things will dry out for the bay area but snow will

continue to floi around the sierra so take your snow cables and chains if you're heading to the high country. low 60s today. we'll look for some clearing. only 61 around richmond. it may feel cooler as the winds pick up this afternoon. 62 for san ramon and concord. now, after today we'll stay dry for a while. in fact if that was a 14-day east bay forecast, high pressure will keep us dry looks like all the way through about the 23rd so 60s and 70s. morning fog the only concern all the way through the weekend. scott. >> out of a job right after the holidays, the layoffs that could soon come for nearly 10% of city workers in the south bay. plus peewee sports, grownup injuries. see what you can doeeo tp k your kid in the game and off the sidelines.

new this morning, keeping an eye on the top spot in san francisco. we'll tell you who could be tossing his hat into the ring later today. plus jobs on the line. the workers in one bay area city that are told to take a pay cut or lose their jobs. up in the sky, a mysterious cloud caught on camera. we'll tell you what people think it may be. what the government is saying, and we'll let you be the judge. from nbc bay area, reporting what matters to you, this is "today in the bay."