new this morning, costy college. bay area students will protest higher tuition and clog the morning commute this morning. >> reporter: i'm kris sanchez in san jose with the answer to what does good hair have to do with feeding the hungry? a creative food drive coming up. video shows men herding parents and kids into a storeroom during a robbery at chuck e. cheese. those stories plus traffic and weather wednesday, november 17th, on "today in the bay." from nbc bay area, reporting what matters to you, this is "today in the bay." good morning to you. it's 6:00 already on, what, wednesday morning. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm brent cannon. we want to get you started with rob and a look at your

hour-by-hour forecast. >> and the forecast today still looks pretty good but you'll notice things will run a little cooler this afternoon. you'll notice it right around lunchtime. instead of being in the mid to upper 70s inland today, well, upper 60s to near 70 in the warmest places inland. the sea breeze picks up, the first sign of cooling before rain and mountaintop snow arrives this weekend. we'll walk you through those changes coming up in a few minutes. let's check the morning commute with mike. welcome back. >> thank you, laura and brent. we do have an accident to report unfortunately for folks along the east shore freeway. westbound 80 at central avenue around that merge, reports of a single car accident went into the center divide. also someone who saw that said the car is smoking. there may be a car fire in the near future so we're watching as crews arrive. the rest of the maze looking pretty good. as far as the travel time goes past that scene, top of your screen, 19-minute drive off of the carquinez bridge. 580 no problem through oakland. 880 starts to slow because of the volume and the volume at the toll plaza itself, the bay bridge shows you no major

backup, but the metering lights turning on in 20 to 25 minutes and we'll watch as this builds coming off of 580 and 80. back to you guys. new this morning, the search is on for the person who shot and killed a 21-year-old man outside of a convenience store in antioch. we have new video from just a short time ago as police collected evidence at the scene. the shooting happened just before 9:00 last night in the parking lot of a 7-eleven store on buchanan road. officers found 21-year-old gregory flynn levy of antioch shot in the car and he died at the scene. police are now talking with a passenger who was also in the car but was not hurt. officers say that the suspect was on foot and he ran away after the shooting. they're trying to figure out the motive but right now they do not think this was a random shooting. the search is on this morning for three robbers who forced 40 people, including kids, into a storeroom at an east bay chuck e. cheese. check out this new video. you can see people trying to hide on the floor and trying to protect their children as the

robbers stormed in with guns drawn saturday night around 10:00. the robbers wore masks and forced everybody inside that storage room and then they ran away before police could get there. right now investigators do not have a detailed description because of the masks. new this morning, it is almost a certainty student fees will go up at the state's uc campuses next year. students and workers aren't going down without a fight. hundreds will protest outside the uc regents meeting. yesterday students posted personalized pictures and messages to put a face to the budget cuts. the board is considering raising student fees by 8%. that is on top of a 32% increase approved last year. protesters say the fee hikes are pricing middle class families out of college. thanksgiving is a time to reflect on how much we've been given and a chance to give to those less fortunate. this year the need is up.

about 30% of food banks all across the bay area. kris sanchez is live in san jose with a look at how people are getting creative to try to get into that giving spirit of the holidays. >> reporter: good morning to you, laura. i find myself in a nice styling chair here at a beautiful hair style and salon and spa. although i could use a trim, that's not the reason we're here. they're doing a creative food drive. they're trying to fill these barrels which second harvest needs to feed the hungry all year long. this is the tenth year that you've done it here. this is the owner, sherri mcguire. ten years and your goal is 4,000 barrels. >> yes. we stepped it up. we've doubled our goal. last year we hit about 2,000. such great enthusiasm from our team and our community as well, our community of guests, so we thought, you know what, let's try and double it this year. >> reporter: in the past you've offered discounts for hair cuts. this time you're offering an upgrade. the cute girls in town know a

treatment for your hair. do you find that's the motivating factor or is it really about folks wanting to feed the hungry? >> everyone always says what are you doing this year? how can we help? sometimes they'll bring not even knowing what our deal is. we've been a little better with our blog and website but we have amazing treatments offered for people on different compromises of their hair, so we'll give an upgrade to their hair cuts, a $25 value. >> reporter: thank you so much. this is just one of the creative deals we found around town. we found boot camp workouts with pumpkins. high schools are doing it and big companies are doing virtual drives where you can go online and play a little game or you can give to your community food bank or pantry anywhere you are in our nine-county area. kris sanchez, "today in the bay." >> thank you very much, kris. you can join nbc bay area and safeway this saturday to

help us end hunger. many agencies like the salvation army, st. vin dent depaul and others need donations this year. the marin county food bank, for example, says it has a 53% increase in need over last year. people like jennifer needed help but this year she's giving back. >> i came here originally as a recipient looking for help with food. since then i have become a volunteer. i'm very happy to give back to the salvation army for all the help they gave me and my family. >> you can go to a safeway store this saturday, say hello to your favorite nbc bay area personality. laura and i will be down in morgan hill. you can buy a turkey or any other food that you can give. help us end hunger and make thanksgiving a little brighter for a bay area family so come on by and say hi. >> we'll be spread out throughout the bay area. scott will be in willow glen. it is 6:06.

meg whitman's former housekeeper is asking for thousands of dollars she claims whitman owes her in unpaid wages. nikki diaz and her attorney are scheduled to meet with whitman or a whitman representative today in san jose. it will be held at the california division of labor standards in san jose. nikki and her attorneys will hold a news conference after the meeting. back in september, diaz made headlines when she said whitman fired her after nine years when she asked for help to become a u.s. citizen. san francisco's nancy pelosi is expected to be elected house minority leader today. both parties will hold closed door elections in washington today. pelosi is expected to keep her spot as the top democrat in the house, despite suffering near historic election losses earlier this month. now, we checked in with our capitol hill bureau. they tell us that pelosi seemed to ease the concern of house members who think that a change in leadership was needed. now an official announcement is expected about 10:00 this morning.

so we'll be watching the nancy pelosi story. the government is looking into whether criminal charges should be filed against bankers for their roles in the fall of so many banks during the economic crisis. scott mcgrew joins us. >> good morning, laura. prosecutors aren't saying specifically what banks but reports say at least 50 banks that failed. the "wall street journal" says that may include washington mutual, which collapsed in september of 2008, the biggest bank collapse ever. the fdic tells the journal they're ramping up efforts to recover money from former executives as well with lawsuits. 300 banks folded during the crisis but no one has been prosecuted. you remember the s & l scandal in the '80s and '90s, more than a thousand people went to jail after that debacle. the fbi wants to access your facebook. the director of the fbi himself met with facebook executives to talk about proposals that would give washington expanded powers

to wire tap and record what you do online. on facebook, on twitter, on e-mail, all the kinds of ways the bad guys could communicate that really aren't covered by old wire tap rules. facebook told "the new york times" the director met with the company as well as with google but did not elaborate on those meetings. well, welcome to san francisco. pay up. the city's transportation authority might start charging rush hour commuters up to $6 each weekday to cross into and out of san francisco. backers of the plan say san francisco would spend $60 to $100 million to set up electronic toll systems at the san mateo county border. that means people heading into the city would pay $3 heading into the city and another $3 heading home at night. roughly half a million drivers drive from san mateo county into san francisco every day on one of five highways. in the meantime we do want to check your current morning

commute. mike inouye is back in action. we do have some slowing to watch for. >> westbound 80 at central, i told you about the accident and possibly a car fire. no update on the car fire itself, but we do know there's some slowing. you can't really see it well on this map. you see slowdowns approaching central avenue, the merge off of the bridge. another accident or maybe two reported further up near san pablo dam road so there may be a couple of incidents or just scattered slowing. you'll find those changeable message signs lit up as you're approaching off of the carquinez bridge as well. so it's keep get lower east shore moving nicely approaching the toll plaza, so at least the toll plaza remains clear approaching the bay bridge. here the peninsula where you were talking about the toll proposed for heading into and out of san francisco. it's a very good spot because starting at about 7:00 we'll see slowing through san mateo and that will last until the 10:00 hour. things clear up for 101 there as well. right now things are looking nice. right now for today the

weather looking great. rob, the rest is up to you. >> today not so bad. not as warm as earler this week. right now in fairfield and concord, we've got 30s and low 40s so you'll want the jacket. no umbrellas for today or tomorrow but later on we'll see big changes. not much wind at all this morning, maybe a little patchy fog around the north bay but that's about it. a lot of energy will drop southward starting friday taking our temperatures southward as well as we head toward the weekend. today low 70s for the warmest places inland but around the inner bay and coast we'll cool down as the sea breeze picks up. that will take an edge off the temperatures, continue the cooling trend heading into tomorrow. by the time we get toward the weekend, highs only in the 50s, rain off and on, air cold enough for maybe some mountaintop snow. you could see that on your monday morning commute perhaps for elevations above 3500 feet, even around the bay area. back to you. >> what a change, thanks, rob. 6:11 right now. the head of the tsa is expected to get a dressdown over

patdowns. find out why a congressional hearing today could be really bad timing for him. and you've heard about this, a man orders some fast food and gets a side order of profanity. see what's happening with his rude receipt. and bp faces new allegations about the gulf oil spill this morning. we'll see what they are accused of doing now. taking a live look outside. the sun coming up over the bay area this morning. it should be a nice day. get out there and enjoy it, as rob mentioned, a lot of change in the works. . reporting what matters to you, you're watching "today in the bay" with laura garcia-cannon, brent cannon, business and technology with scott mcgrew, and traffic with mike inouye. [ male announcer ] sizzler's incredible endless salad bar --

complete with taco bar, hot appetizers, and scrumptious deserts -- is just $7.99 for lunch!! what a lunch!!! $7.99! sizzler.

good morning, everybody.

another live look outside this morning. the sun not quite up just yet but we're looking at fairly mild temperatures in the low 70s, but that's going to change and rob has a look at your forecast coming up. new this morning, bp is accused of missing and ignoring warning signs leading up to the massive oil spill in the gulf. an independent panel put together by the national academy of engineering put together a 28-page report. it says bp, its contractors and federal regulators all failed to catch or correct problems that led to that massive blowout. hazards included several tests that showed the cement at the bottom of the well could not stop a blowout. the head of the transportation security administration should face some tough questions today. john pistol is set to testify before a senate committee. the tsa is facing massive public pressure lately. people are aggravated about full body scanners that expose body

parts or patdowns. this morning victims of bullying are fighting back. students are challenging each other and other officials to do more to fight bullying on campuses. some bullying has led to suicide attempts. amanda brownel tried to hang herself in the school bathroom after a couple of girls bullied her. she survived but now has brain damage. other students share their painful stories of harassment and isolation. >> i spend my break and lunch in the girls bathroom or empty hallways in order to avoid getting verbal threats or things thrown at me. >> school officials who attended the meeting vowed to make their campuses a safe place for learning instead of a hate zone for bullying. new video this morning of an erupting volcano in indonesia. that volcano started erupting more than three weeks ago, but as you can see it's still spewing massive amounts of ash into the air.

nearby cities are virtually empty and tourists are avoiding the northern part of the country. the volcano killed more than 250 people and forced more than 400,000 people out of their homes. also new this morning, we now know what caused a plane to crash killing more than 150 people in india back in may. investigators say that the pilot slept through much of the three-hour flight and he was ki disoar yengted as he woke up and tried to land. the plane overshot the runway and plunged into a gorge before bursting into flames. amazingly eight people made it out alive. the flight originated in dubai. aid agencies are trying to calm riots in northern haiti. demonstrators blame the united nations for starting the cholera epidemic which has killed more than a thousand people. workers say the protests are keeping them from reaching cholera victims and they have stopped clean water projects.

a very close call for firefighters in pennsylvania. check this out. a big explosion there. that's what happened as they were trying to put out a fire at a lumber mill. they think that a 55-gallon tank filled with oil is what exploded there. nobody was hurt. firefighters are trying to figure out what caused the initial fire in the first place. a dui suspect can probably expect a big bill from the laguna police department. they pulled the driver over on saturday, but check this out, he gets out of his car, he left it in reverse, oops, backed into a police cruiser. he gets back in, puts it into drive instead of park and it crashes again. not good. a fast food restaurant in sacramento serving up more than just the price on its receipts. after paying nearly $10 for a double whopper wheel, francisco perez looked at his receipt and at the top in big bold letters is a four-letter profanity that

starts with an" f." perez says he was embarrassed and wants an explanation. it should be easy to get since the employee's names were also on the receipt. a shift manager is investigating the incident. >> the f is not fries. >> no, that's not what it was. turning to news on the internet, scott mcgrew is here. he says there are two kinds of hulu, the good one and the lousy one. >> if you log on to hulu on your computer, it's free, it's great, it's fantastic. if you do it on your ipad or iphone, it costs you $9 a month. lots of people think it's completely unfair. hulu gets a disastrous one out of five stars on itunes. hulu will lower it to $8 a month. i should point out the company is partially owned by this company, nbc universal. the only thing less popular than hulu is the dow. the index of 30 stocks fell 178

points tuesday at one point dropping under 10,000. gm is ready for its ipo tomorrow and new data show inflation at its lowest level since 1957. lots of people can't imagine that. they feel they're paying more and more and more. but when you look at core inflation, it has not increased barely at all. >> interesting. >> so it's an argument. i know sarah palin says she's paying more and she's on that side of the argument. you look at core, core prices, they have not. >> interesting. >> thanks, scott. 6:20 right now. it just wouldn't be the holidays without stockings, tinsel and those scam that say come about. this season your kids could be the target. the consume protection website jabber says scammers are taking advantage of kids online by promising free stuff in exchange for filling out surveys or watching videos online. kids' personal information can then be used by identity thieves. experts say kids are more easily lured into scams this time of

year because the ads usually name toys that are on most kids' wish lists. california is home to some of the best doctors in the world, but when it comes to premature births, the state isn't making the grade. the march of dimes gives california a "c" when it comes to its preterm birth rate. they considered factors like the number of uninsured women, number of women who smoke and the number of late term births. preterm births is the leading cause of death in the united states. you can meet your favorite golden state warriors and the warrior girls today. they're at the lucky supermarket on ninth street for a food giveaway. the players, the coaches and cheerleaders will hand out holiday food baskets to more than 300 families and the giveaway starts at 3:00. >> that will be great to see. let's see how the roadways are rolling out there. we welcome mike back today. >> we'll take you right out there to a shopper shot.

i've lost it but this is the accident i showed you on the maps, westbound 80 on the east shore freeway. there's the chopper over the scene. you see an ambulance on the scene but no report from chp of any major injuries. the ambulance is the last one to stick around. we've seen a number of other emergency vehicles clear. two lanes are blocked, the hov and another lane so just two lanes getting by. there's the backup that you see all the way on interstate 80 approaching the merge off of the bridge and the racetrack so it's slow coming out of hercules. look at that going off to the top of the screen. let me show you the map. about 23 minutes off the carquinez bridge and building but don't take 680 as your alternate. this should be clearing pretty soon. heading down to the bridge and south of berkeley you have a major advantage at the bay bridge toll plaza. the live shot shows the backup in just some of the cash lanes and no major issues for the fastrak lanes yet. the volume will increase wince they clear the incident in another 10 to 15 minutes.

we'll follow this, laura, i promise you. >> sounds good. well, there's still buzzing on the other side of the pond this morning over prince william's engagement. his fiancee, kate middleton, already has something old and something blue. william gave her his mother's ring. it's diana's 18-carat sapphire. she got it back in 1981. i remember it well. the prince says the ring is his way of making sure his mother didn't miss out on the big day. >> i think for kate she's wearing an iconic ring, a ring with history, and many, many famous people, rich people, successful people, aristocrats, actually the ring does pass down because they are such beautiful jewels. so it would seem entirely natural. i think she'll be very touched by it. i think it's very special. >> one new york city jeweller saw the ring and said that it's fueling a new round of requests for look-alikes. that happened back in the '80s as well.

new york's natural sapphire company says their website actually crashed at one point yesterday. bay area arena is taking action after several drug-related deaths. we'll see what is now banned coming up. and a live look outside. the sun coming up over the bay area. it should be a fantastic day. really get a chance to enjoy it because change isthrk wh roitb. the target 2 day sale is almost here and the last thing that's going to stop me is weak thighs.

mountain series, level 10. backwards. [male announcer] starts friday, november 26th at 4am.

i'm doing a bit of light calisthenics, to practice for the big target 2 day sale on friday morning. when i'm shopping i feel it right here. we're seeing a gorgeous start to your morning looking off to the east out towards oakland and san leandro this morning. clear skies for now. enjoy the sunshine we have today. it's going to be tough to come by as we head toward the weekend. starting friday, the rain will come back in. this is a whole scale pattern change that will start off with a stronger sea breeze today and tomorrow heading into thursday. we'll see highs in the 50s and 60s. then friday we'll see that jetstream drop further south.

colder air on our doorstep as we get into the weekend and the air will get cold enough this weekend to possibly see snow as low as 3,000 feet. so today not so bad. we'll see upper 60s to low 70s. a bit cooler than yesterday. we'll see a strong sea breeze which should pump low clouds back to the coastline. your seven-day forecast shows tomorrow should be a dry day but cooler. it's friday when the rain starts to drop back in and, boy, those weekend temperatures quite chilly. highs in the low to mid-50s for the weekend. back to you. it's 6:27 right now. coming up, bristol palin and a "jersey shore" star team up and the result, absolutely blowing up online. we'll show it to you. a ban on controversial drinks that have both alcohol and caffeine could start today. we'll tell you why. students unhappy with tuition increases will be outside a board of regents meeting this morning. we've got details coming up in a live report. look at that sunrise this morning. amazing picture.

beautiful sky to start your day. we'll be rig

>> reporter: new this morning, uc students say no more to additional fee hikes. they're protesting today at a regents meeting in san francisco, and they're coming from across the state. i'm christie smith. we'll have that story coming up. a change is made at a bay area arena after drugs made several people sick and killed one person. those stories plus traffic, weather and more. another gorgeous shot outside this morning as the sun comes up. it's wednesday, november 17th, on "today in the bay." from nbc bay area, reporting what matters to you, this is "today in the bay." good morning, everybody. thanks for joining us. 6:30 right now. i'm brent cannon. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon.

rob gets us started with an hour-by-hour forecast. >> good morning, brent and laura. a pretty nice forecast for at least one more day today. we'll see a few 70s popping up just after lunchtime. places like sunnyvale and san jose, out towards the tri-valley. hill tops still seeing 70s but the sea breeze will pick up and eventually we'll talk about rain and some bay area mountain snow for the weekend. a look at that in the full forecast in a few minutes. back to you. >> thank you very much. meantime, we want to check in with mike and take a look at the commute this morning. it looks like you've got some warnings for us. >> big problem for the east shore freeway. there's an accident in richmond. we've been telling you about it right around central avenue. through berkeley and emeryville things are clear because of this accident so overall you're getting close to 40 minutes for your travel time because of folks backed up just approaching the merge off of the bridge. two-car accident. a single-car accident happened causing all the backup out of hercules and emeryville.

the latest from the chopper, the live view shows a tow truck on scene. they have hooked up the car or just about to hook up that car. once that happens, the remaining lanes should be cleared adding some relief to the northern part of the east shore freeway but look at the backup. this will be a huge backup but don't take the alternate. this should get a little better over the next 15 to 20 minutes. we'll send it back to you guys. new this morning, uc students and workers want to send a clear message to regents today. no more budget cuts and fee hikes. christie smith is live in san francisco where they will hold a protest march. >> reporter: good morning to you. i have to tell you students are expected to come here from as far away as ucla and uc santa barbara. police here in san francisco, they are ready. they have barricades set up this morning. i saw three carloads of university police arrive just a short time ago. students are saying the bottom line here is that middle class students are being priced out of an education. that was the message at uc

berkeley yesterday in advance of the meeting. uc students are looking at another tuition hike of about 8% next year, which may not sound like a lot, but that's on top of a 32% hike for the current academic year. uc president said it is needed to stop layoffs and reductions in enrollment. state funding is way down. to offset the impact, the uc system is saying about $64 million in revenue from the increases will be put toward financial aid. there would also be reductions available for students from lorwer income families. still students say across the board it's getting way too expensive and middle class students don't have the same access to grants. the protests get under way about 7:30 this morning. they're also protesting a proposed pension reduction. students telling me that they're planning to go inside of the

regents meeting today, so it could get rather heated. that's the latest from here. reporting live in san francisco, christie smith, "today in the bay." president obama will congratulate a bay area professor and nobel lower yet this afternoon. he holds the 2009 national medal of science honor for his ground-breaking work in understanding neurodegenerative diseases like parkinson's. the national medal of science is the highest honor given to scientists, engineers and inventors. don't expect to see any raves at the cow palace at least for now. the board has approved a moratorium on music and dance parties at the state-run entertainment venue. the moratorium comes on the heels of numerous drug and alcohol overdoses, including two deaths at an electronic music show this year. the decision did not specify a length of time for the ban. a judge will continue to hear testimony in a brutal gang

rape case to see if there's enough evidence to proceed and bring the suspects to trial. now, one of the suspects arrested told officers that the sex was consensual and that he had done nothing wrong. police say they found the unconscious and partially naked girl under a table outside of the homecoming dance at richmond high school back in october of 2009. officers say more than a dozen people had watched and they claimed the girl was raped and beaten by seven men for more than two hours. slots versus pot. that's what one city will consider in a public meeting tonight. voters in richmond rejected a plan to build a casino and now developers say the only other economically advantageous option is to build a huge medical marijuana facility where pot could be grown, packaged and sold. opponents say the report is slanted to make the casino look better by comparison. the public will be able to weigh in at a meeting at 7:00 tonight

at 440 civic center plaza. the oakland mayor, who was known for cancelling appearances, has cancelled his final appearance as mayor. he will release his state of the city report online today. today had been billed as his final state of the city address. city staff have been working several weeks getting information about the accomplishments during delham's four years in office. the report and a video will now be posted on the city's website later today. dire warnings about global warming are meant to increase awareness and create change. but a psychologist says they are likely to back fire and increase skepticism. warnings about the potentially devastating consequences of global warming threaten people's view of the world as a safe, stable and fair place. that means people could be more likely to respond by cutting back on their plans to go green. research shows people often dismiss information that threatens their beliefs.

the time now 6:36. food banks all around the bay area need your help. we'll have a live report on that coming up. the back seat of this car holds a big surprise. stick around for the big reveal coming up. and a drink dubbed blackout in a can could be banned today. we'll have a live report from washington coming up. we're seeing a chilly but dry start. we have some changes coming for the weekend. we'll have a look at the weekend forecast coming up next "today in the bay." reporting what matters to you, you're watching "today in the bay" with laura garcia-cannon, brent cannon, business and technology with scott mcgrew, and traffic with mike inouye.

welcome back. the time right now 6:40. oh, the steam coming up from san francisco this morning, not a lot of wind so you see the column rising straight up from the buildings there. no worries, that's just steam. but it's cold this morning. cold enough for some temperatures in the 30s right now. you can see 37 degrees in fairfield, 39 in novato, 54 in san francisco. not a lot of wind this morning, but as the sea breeze picks up, that will bring cooler temperatures to the coast and peninsula. we're dry for now but there's a lot of cold energy that will drop down on us beginning friday and for the weekend ahead, so soak up the sunshine and the 70s today. they'll be gone for a while. 73 degrees san jose, 60s for san francisco and oakland today.

also mainly upper 60s across the north bay with partly cloudy skies for the afternoon. big changes coming up friday. that will be the first chance of seeing some showers. then for the weekend and beyond, highs only in the 50s. rain off and on through the weekend and into early next week. laura. >> thank you very much, rob. a connecticut man is in critical condition after police say he rammed a delivery truck into at least 12 cars and a school bus on purpose. this was the scene in stamford after the 30-year-old delivery driver plowed through more than a dozen cars before hitting the bus. at least 14 people, including several students on the bus, were taken to the hospital for injuries. police believe the man went on the rampage after getting into a fight with his girlfriend. federal government is launching a new campaign to fight distracted drivers. the department of transportation is unveiling the faces of distracted driving. it's a video campaign showing the grave and sometimes deadly effects caused by drivers who are not paying attention to the road. secretary of transportation ray

lahood says distracted driving is as dangerous as drunk driving. >> it's simply not safe. our job at d.o.t. is to make sure that we put faces with these statistics. >> last year 550 people died and half a million people were injured because of distracted drivers. a controversial drink is already banned in several states. now the entire country may ban it. we'll have a live report from washington next. and another live look outside this morning. another cool start to the day, but overall pretty nice today. it's the next couple of days you've got to worry about, and rob wille fo save $523! 16 minutes could save you 16%! come on... isn't it time an auto insurer gave it to you straight? that's why you should talk to state farm. but not yet. first, talk to any one of the 40 million drivers who already have state farm. 40 million. yeah, that's more than geico and progressive combined. by a lot. 40 million drivers. more savings.

and discounts up to 40%. where else you gonna get discounts like that? call an agent at 1-800-state-farm or go online.

♪ ♪ great work everybody! now freshly remodeled, your target has never been better.

good morning, everybody. we've been showing just a bunch of shots all morning long, lovely sunrises in the bay area this morning. another great-looking shot right here. looking for a pretty nice day overall, a little cooler but still into the 70s in many places. >> mike wants to update us on an accident that happened in richmond. what's the latest? >> brent and laura, we'll take you to the maps and show you still a big backup, huge backup. we're waiting for that last lane to be cleared at central avenue. single car accident but a couple of lanes were blocked by all the emergency vehicles there. no major injuries reported but that was enough to cause a huge backup coming off of the carquinez bridge. this is holding pretty steady at under 40 minutes for your drive still off of the carquinez bridge down through berkeley and emeryville. if you're getting on just past the racetrack, you're deriving a benefit from all the folks held back. only one lane blocked. it's only about a 20-minute

delay but it's not for what could happen. there's an incident on west grand avenue, the off-ramp from southbound 880, reports of some oil slix through the area. some oil spilled. head towards the bay bridge and get off of west grand avenue as your alternate. the caltrans crew arrived on scene and are spilling at that kitty litter or sand to absorb that. so they'll clear that up and the sweeper will be there affecting that for 20 minutes to a half an hour, i'm guessing. >> you can see the slowing there. dry roadways this morning but it's chilly outside no matter where you are. you'll want a jacket as you head outside this morning. we even have 30s around fairfield and novato. 44 degrees out towards livermore and the tri-valley. not a lot of wind this morning but look for a stronger sea breeze as we head through the afternoon and that's going to lead to cooling in terms of our high temperatures both today and tomorrow, but the chances of rain will start to increase come friday. this is a big-time pattern change. we're swinging from the 70s and

80s down to the 50s for the weekend. the culprit is this weather system in the gulf of alaska that's going to drop down and bring a big-time change in temperatures. between now and thursday a stronger sea breeze will eventually pull in some clouds from the coast. we'll see highs tomorrow in the 60s instead of the 70s you're seeing today. friday, the first chance of seeing rain arrives. as colder air aloft filters in, we'll see snow levels close to 4,000 feet, dipping close to 3,000 feet by sunday night and monday so a huge change in the weather friday and into the weekend. today, though, the last of our pretty pleasant days. 70s around san jose and 60s on the coast. as the sea breeze cranks up, we'll see cooling. the next two days expected to be dry but come friday and the weekend, that's when the showers arrive. chilly rain. those highs only in the low to mid-50s and still showers lingering sinto tuesday of next week. today the government is expected to ban alcoholic energy drinks like four loko, calling

them unsafe and illegal. tracie potts is live in washington, d.c. one manufacturer, we understand, already may have beaten them to the punch? >> reporter: yeah, that's right. four loko's owner now says they will take the caffeine out of that drink before this fda announcement that we expect today saying that the caffeine and alcohol mixed in these so-called alcoholic energy drinks is unsafe. the ftc, the federal trade commission, also expected to say that they should not be marketed here in the united states. the manufacturer says that they still believe the drink is safe, but in this regulatory environment it is, quote, difficult and politically charged. they said simply they couldn't get the point across that they think this is essentially what people do on their own all the time, mixing alcohol and caffeine. five states and several colleges have already banned these types of drinks after one particularly high profile incident, you may remember up in washington state, nine students got sick at a

party off campus after drinking these types of drinks. and there are questions about whether or not they are being marketed to underage drinkers because they're so popular on college campuses. bottom line, four loko taking cast een out of those drinks, the fda expected to call them unsafe. uc students face even more tuition increases and they want to make sure regents know they're not happy about it. christie smith is live this morning in san francisco where students plan another rally today. >> reporter: good morning to you, brent. you know, student protesters are expected to start arriving here in about ten minutes. they're coming from as far away at ucla. i tell you, uc police are certainly ready for it this morning. we saw about three carloads of them get out a little while ago. there are barricades up here this morning at the mission bay campus. students saying they will go into that regents meeting today where some hard decisions are being made on tuition hikes.

students at uc berkeley gave a preview to this protest yesterday at their campus. what's at stake here, an 8% tuition hike for students next year, which is on top of a 32% jump last year. and that sparked student protests. they're outraged, saying middle class students are being priced out of an education. workers will also be out here, they are protesting some pretty far-reaching pension reforms that are also being considered. that's the latest from here, reporting live in san jose, christie smith, "today in the bay." >> we'll be watching that. thanks. all across the bay area, people are getting into the holiday spirit by giving back to their community. you don't have to be a part of a big corporation to make a big impact. kris sanchez is live in san jose where people are getting really creative to lend a helping hand. good morning, kris. >> reporter: good morning, laura. this is al chemy hair salon and

spa. they are trying to help raise 1.7 million pounds of food and $11 million. they are throwing in an extra treatment for the clients who deliver four cans of food. but they say even without the extra treatment, their clients are happy to help. that's what a lot of folks are finding around the bay area as they get creative with their food drives. we found san mateo high school is doing a canned food drive getting students to participate there. also there's a boot camp fitness class that invited folks to work out with a pumpkin, using the pumpkin as the weight and resistance and donated that to the second harvest food bank. of course there are big corporations doing online virtual food drives to help contribute to the need. now second harvest food bank is just one of the food banks that is doing food drives for this holiday season. the need is up 30%. same for the san francisco food bank and really for most of the food banks all around the nine-county area. so if you can donate, make sure that you do, because what they're doing now, a lot of folks, is collecting today when

it's on mind because of the holiday season and feeding folks all year round. donations have been dropping just a little bit. perhaps folks think that the economists are right and the recession is over, but at the san francisco food bank, they told us that their chients alie going to be the last ones to recover. so do what you can do. kris sanchez "today in the bay." thanksgiving now just ten days away. a lot of our friends and neighbors will have a difficult time unless they can get a helping hand. places like tredwood empire foo bank can help. brad never thought he would need assistance but he did after he lost his job this past february. >> i used to think people standing in the food bank lines were all the people who were too lazy to go out and get a job or what other circumstances there might be. but i found out that a lot of people in line were just like me, someone who needed a helping hand at the moment, that could stand on their own feet

normally, but right now we just needed a hand. >> he says that the food bank did help him get back on his feet and now you can help people like him. this saturday go to your neighborhood safeway, donate a turkey or whatever you can. you can also meet your favorite nbc bay area news personality. laura and i will be in morgan hill so come on out and say hello and help us end hunger this holiday season. >> we were going to bring the kids but now i hear that it's going to be raining and cold, no. >> we're all going to be out and about. mike, you've got a pass, you've got stuff going on but you're still going to donate. >> of course, you can donate any time through this holiday season. >> people are hungry all year. >> definitely, definitely. well, you should know at your house. >> i am all the time. >> i'm hungry right now. let's look at the roadways where we have better news for the east shore freeway. westbound 80 at central avenue, all lanes now open after the earlier accident. the backup starting to recover. you can see that ripple effect

past the scene itself but still slow in the backup. that will continue to improve. still about 40 minutes from the carquinez bridge down into berkeley and emeryville but smoother closer to the bay bridge toll plaza. the metering lights were turned on about 15 minutes ago, 20 minutes ago, but as that traffic starts to flow down the east shore freeway, you'll see this backup build very quickly over the next half hour so the break is over at the toll plaza. that's the long and short of it. over towards livermore we have a slow drive in the westbound direction but not too bad. this has been a little bit lighter this week as a result of perhaps -- you know, starting this time through the end of the year we see a little lighter flow because people scatter their vacations throughout. >> exactly. try to get those days in. well, you're going to stay in probably this weekend. >> yeah. you don't have to head to the sierra to see snow maybe by the end of the weekend. i know, it's november. we've had 80s this week. >> here we go. >> get the skis ready to go. this is a weird week. we've had summer-like weather

early on. now we'll see winter-like weather by the weekend. >> put your glasses on, don't look into the sun. >> we don't recommend that. through the safety of our television sets that is just fine. you can see high clouds there. nothing showing up on the radar, but look on to the north. all of those clouds way off to the north now dropping further down the coast and we'll see some of those clouds today, both low clouds approaching the coastline, high clouds at times for the afternoon. today is the last day we'll see 70s for quite some time. how cool will it be this weekend? well, only 20 degrees cooler than today's highs, for example. and rain coming in friday and, yeah, a good weekend to rent some movies. >> it may even snow. thanks a lot, rob. 6:55 right now. bristol palin and "the situation" from "jersey shore" were competitors on "dancing with the stars." >> scott mcgrew tells us they are now joining forces. >> we thought we'd leave you with this. they're teaming up for a public service announcement on abstinence. here it is. >> i hope you're as committed to

safe sex as you are those abs. >> i know you're all about that abstinence thing, you know, but come on, b. palin, are you serious? you're not going to hook up like before you're married, for real? >> for real. >> for real? >> for real for real for real. >> all right. well, you know what, just in case you do get into a situation, i want to make sure that you are situated. if you do get into a situation with your situation, you may end up with a situation and you may not like that situation. >> yeah, if you're young enough, that actually made sense. now, "the situation" says he respects abstinence and i am quoting him because it has the word "abs" in him. bristol palin, by the way, help me if i'm mistaken, she has a child, does she not? >> yes, she does. >> so she wants you to think very carefully about abstinence and teen pregnancy. >> i think she said she appreciates her child, she loves her child, but she wishes she would have waited to become a mother until she was older. finally before we let you go this morning, you know that you

can see some very strange things on bay area highways, but can you top this? check it out. a couple in kansas driving along, get out their camera because they saw something strange in the back seat of that car. check it out. look closely. what is -- it's a horse! normally you would ask somebody how many horses do you have under the hood, you don't really ask how many do you have in the back seat! but there you go. this is literally a horse, and this is not a large car. >> you'd think it would be dragging a little in back. >> i should have really read that story because i'm a little hoarse right now. >> you are. man, there you go. you see the strangest things. >> and we bring them to you. thank you for joining us this morning. the "today" show coming up next. a local news update in half an hour. have a great day.