new this morning, president obama waking um in the bay area this morning. he's about to take off from sfo in a couple hours. i'm christie smith. we'll tell you about his big night with the giants in technology. the east bacon visibilities could be set free. why they could get a lucky break. and a live look outside this morning at the oracle arena in the east bay. it is friday, february 18th.

this is "today in the east bay." and good morning, everybody. thank you for joining us. i'm brent cannon in for scott today. we want to get you started with a check on the east bay forecast. christina has that. good morning to you. well, it looks like most of the shower activity has cleared the east bay. a little bit lingering in places like the east bay, oakland seeing a bit of activity. the big news is the front that brought us all the rain yesterday is sliding south. so as it continues to slide to the south we'll see a little bit more rain showers today. they will be spotty in nature as opposed to a consistent stream of showers from the south. what we can count on, more rain on the way. it is slick out there already. and we have some closures due to local mountain snow. so if you are waking up in the east bay and planning to head to mount hamilton, you can run into problems. let's talk to mike about that. yes, you can see the snow on the top of mount hamilton in san jose. don't med there because it is

currently closed. it will be closed until sunrise when the sun has a chance to melt the snow there. just fine approaching the maze, but we do have a wet roadway and a wind advisory. the bay bridge, let's get a live look at the toll plaza with a light volume of traffic. no major puddling like yesterday but there are still wet roads and light puddles there. keep that in mind. the rest of the east bay, travel times are looking good. 24, highway 4 and 580 are looking good so far. president obama is getting ready to leave the bay area this morning. during a short stay he met with the most high-profile leaders in the silicon valley. christie smith is live at sfo with who he met and what he learned from that visit. >> reporter: good morning to you, brent. another big morning here at sfo after a big night for president obama here in the bay area as you said. he met with the tech giants in the silicon valleys. he talked about job creation and

innovation. the president met briefly with some of the biggest names in bay area politics when touching down last night at sfo. lieutenant governor ed newsom was there to greet him. the helicopter buzzed overhead before the president arrived at 6:24 p.m. some of the biggest names in technology with there. mark zuckerberg, steve jobs and larry ellison were all there. obama has spent billions of dollars on education and he's still looking to bring down the very high jobless rate. tech, social networking and rare areas of economic growth over the past decade. obama will leave at 8:35 this morning. security is very tight at sfo.

he flies to oregon to meet with executives from intel. that's the latest from sfo, kristy e tooe smith, "today in the east bay. ". two former antioch police are behind bars. as a result many of the convicts they helped to lock up could be set free. contra costa narcotics team commander norman welshon and christopher butler will make their first court appearance today. after a month-long undercover investigation both men are accused of distributing meth, marijuana and steroids. meanwhile, public defenders and private attorneys are preparing to comb through cases in which welsh's testimony helped improve their client. crime is on the rise in brentwood. they saw a 15% dip last year but now rates are climbing again. crime reports from the most violent and serious offenses hit 1,600 last year. that's the same rate it was in

2008. but in 2009 the crime report had dropped to 1,400. police say the increase now is due in part to a rise in theft and assault cases. it could be the end of the line for b.a.r.t.'s general manager. a transit district committee has approved to negotiate what could be dorothy dugger's exit. the board ordered5-4 to ask for her resignation earlier this month, but then the board rescinded that vote over concerns they had not told the public and dugger they were discussing the move. some board members say that dugger is not decisive enough and did not share information with them. but dugger says she's done a good job keeping b.a.r.t. financially healthy. meantime, b.a.r.t. is getting ready for a big day tomorrow. the newest west dublin/pleasanton station will open. the station is expected to be a welcome addition to people who live along the busy interstate

580/680 corridor and beyond. one of the best baseball teams in college baseball could be playing its final season for the foreseeable future. today's 120th consecutive opening day celebration at cal is going to take on special meaning. uc berkeley is cutting sports and its budget for the end of the school year. that means the baseball team is coming into their final season ranked 17th in the country according to baseball american preseason polls, but they may not be around. they take on utah at home this afternoon. of course, this is basketball video from their game last night, but we are talking about the baseball team. some good news for the bay bridge commute. construction will be finished up to six months sooner than expected. the bridge leaders say the east and west access route to the new bridge may open at the same time. the video simulation here shows new detours that were put into place back in may to make the transition. the task was no small feat but bridge leaders say finishing the

complicated process sooner rather than later is a priority. the bridge is expected to be open in late 2013. now we'll check your forecast. we had rough weather move through yesterday. christina has a look at what to expect today. >> not as much as the rough stuff as we saw yesterday, that's for sure. but we are seeing a little bit of mountain snow this morning over mount hamilton as a result. you have a closure up there. i think a lot of the snow will melt as we see more sunshine than we have for the past few days. the showers will turn spotty. we'll see a nice break, especially in the north bay along the peninsula. the south bay will deal with shower activity for the next couple of hours. then you, too, get a break in the south. if you are waking up in the east bay this morning we have a little bit of lingering activity to livermore. overall, this will continue to subside heading throughout the next few hours. that's great news. a little bit of sunshine today and a little bit of break from the rain. that means a nice drive for the morning. we'll see if there are problems out there with mike inouye.

the only issue is the fact that the roadways are still wet from the overnight rain. you are still talking about some systems coming through the area. we'll watch for the effect and the snow closures on the mountain peaks. coming over the altamonte pass and heading over the grade, no major issues out of the area. the sierras will see the getaway traffic slow down through livermore. get out sooner heading through sacramento to beat the rush hour there. president's day weekend, we are likely seeing a lighter commute with more folks heading out midday. we are looking to hayward with a smooth drive through the castro valley area to the toll plaza. a live look at 92 and the toll plaza itself, we had an overnight high wind advisory for the richmond/san rafael bridge. things calmed down a bit, so those have been canceled here. look at the times approaching the bay bridge, a nice easy flow. we have the highway advisory continuing here. no major problems.

we'll have a later start because it is friday light. the time is 4:38. coming up, taking advantage of people in a tough economy. we will have one man's warning after a legal loophole left him penniless. plus the nfl labor dispute takes a turn today. the meeting is set to happen between the players and owners could maybe set the season. from the fitting sheet to the folding chairs, the young pioneers who came up with the every day items we use today. and a live look at oakland this morning, we'll take a peak at the forecast as you get ready for the long holiday weekend. we'll keep you updated all morning. dinner's ready! it's french's crunchy onion chicken!

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they rated finish quantum number one, beating the competition ! try finish quantum for amazing clean and shine. satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. good morning, everybody. welcome back. the time is 4:42. a live look out at the east bay commute. it looks like we have some kind emergency equipment moving through. you can see that on the right-hand side. so far it does not cause any kind of a big backup. we saw a mess there yesterday when the rain was really pounding that area. but so far so good. mike will keep us updated. travelers hoping to get a jump on the holiday weekend ended up stuck in high country. look at the bumper to butcher

congestion. this is interstate 80 near nyak. they got a lot of snow there. the outlook seems to be just as crowded today as it will be into the weekend. eastbound 880 was closed near colfax. people were braving the elements and have a few words of advice to play it safe and take it really slow on the road. play it safe in the snow, but be prepared for significant backups there. the stock market is looking higher for the week as we head into the three-day holiday. for more on that and news before the bell today we turn to nicole lapin. happy friday, nicole. hello? hello? she's there but -- it looks like we are having technical problems and she can't hear us. we'll go to her later on. in the meantime, we'll take a peek at your forecast.

it is friday, the long weekend, we saw the huge showers here. that means great snow up in high country. that's good news. don't be typing on me. hey, it happens to the best of us. it is live television. we do have a little bit of snow coming down in the high country right now. what i can tell you is if you are sick of the rain and want to dry out, ring out your clothes a little bit. you are going to get the opportunity to do that this weekend. the east bay is looking dry later on today. i think we'll see some sunshine today. then we'll seat see a little bit of spotty shower press throughout the bay area heading into this afternoon. another round of rain on tap for tonight. but sunday if you want to get outside i think you can do so under mostly sunny skies on sunday. then another round of rain arrives sunday night. do you want to make the outdoor plans? sunday will be your day. heading throughout the afternoon we do have a lot of clearing. already clear right now in the north bay and along the peninsula. the east bay is getting a little bit of shower activity.

as we head throughout the afternoon, maybe pop-up thunderstorms. nothing like we saw yesterday, but we still have the unstable atmosphere. the chance is there. i want to let you know about that. breezy conditions throughout the day. 55 in concord. and 56 degrees in fremont. let's find out how your drive is shaping up. actually, we'll find out about that a little bit later. i'm going back to the cannon in charge. good morning to you, brent. >> don't put me in charge. thank you, christina. time now to check in again with nicole. i think we have those technical issues ironed out. she is raring to go. nicole? >> reporter: oh, sorry about that. we do have tech news making headlines, how about that? management shakeups at time warner after an only five-month tenure says they will be letting go of jack griffin. in a memo to employees they said griffin's approach and leadership style didn't mesh with time warner.

an announcement has been placed and it will be run by a group of time execs. and according to npd, video game sales dipped 5%. hardware sales dipped 8% and software sales fell 5%. accessories were up 6% in large part due to microsoft's kinect and sony's playstation new controller. the best performing games were "call of duty" followed by "just dance 2" for the wii. on the heels of the european commission announced it would be monitoring apple's price. the u.s. department of justice will be looking at terms that apple sets for media companies who want to sell their products on the same platform. it may not develop into a formal

investigation, but those are headlines at cnbc. >> i don't get to play any video games these days with triplets. >> reporter: they can, eventually. >> they will. thank you, nicole. last night cal tried to end their three-game losing streak but had to host the uc trojans. cal was down by a dozen in the second half. mark sanderson did what he could with the game-high 23 points. the trojans win it 78-75. so cal drops to 6-8 in pac-10 play. the warriors guard steven curry was voted into the skills challenge yesterday and will represent the warriors at this year's nba all-star weekend in los angeles. the skills challenge is a time competition between guards and basic ball handling skills like passing, lay-ups and jump shots. the challenge is tomorrow in los angeles. a slight sign of progress in

the stalled nfl player dispute. the union and players agreed to mediation two weeks before the bargaining agreement is set to expire. the league owners and players will meet today in washington with a federal mediator and service director george cohen. the biggest issue is who gets the largest slice of the $9 billion in total revenue. other issues include the 18-game season. the owners threaten to improse a lockout to affect when they shut down the season if it lasts that long. getting quick cash in an emergency can be important but people in that situation are also vulnerable to scams. garvin thomas has a warning from one man who was left penniless thanks to a good old sale's pitch and a legal loophole. >> reporter: this fox terrier is back to her old safe but she gave her owner quite a scare a few weeks ago when she ate something to send her to the

emergency pet hospital. >> i got hit with a pretty substantial bill. enough to screw me up for the month. >> reporter: he was desperate to find a short-term loan. what he found was rph lender. >> i owned a car outright and thought, easy money. >> reporter: a title loan company. you sign over the title of your car, they loan you the money. >> car title loans are one of the most outrageous examples of predatory lending. >> reporter: title lending should be outlawed this man says in california. in fact, it is already illegal in 32 other states because the lender can charge whatever interest rate they want. >> there's a special loophole in california that exempts loans over $2,500 from most regulation, and car loans are ripping off many with the interest rate. >> reporter: right now the interest rate is 183%, but he planned to pay off the entire loan in two months when he got

his tax return. >> in my mind there was no jeopardy involved. i have an income, i'm going to make the payments and put this behind me. >> reporter: but a bad parking decision one afternoon and his volvo was towed. but by the time he went to the tow yard to pick it up, the car was gone. rmp lender had it. >> they didn't tell me they were going to remove my car. >> reporter: because they had the title of the car they said they have the right to take it and tack on more than $1,600 in repossession fees. for a loan of $2,600 he now owes $6,000. if he doesn't pay up within the next seven days his car is going to auction. >> i'm shocked there's nothing i can do about it. >> reporter: he's right because while some find these practices morally wrong. >> it is truly outrageous and shameful. >> reporter: but in this state

it's perfectly legal. garvin thomas, "today in the east bay." >> rpm lenders declined to comment for this story. new street lights in antioch are getting a dim reception. about 8700 led lights were installed on antioch streets back in december but some people say the bluish white lamps create darker areas between light poles than the original amber-colored ones did. that increases the possibility of crime and increases danger for pedestrians. the antioch city council requested a report on the new street lights. right now we want to check in with mike to take a peek at the morning commute this morning. >> looking at the street lights here, they look okay to me, but this is a freeway street light. we'll trust you on the surface streets. we are lookinged a a wider view of highway 4 showing slowdowns where 68 is. on a friday we'll see that

around 5:30, but it is a light friday before a holiday week. and some folks are getting today off anyway. it is a holiday weekend. we should see a lighter volume and easier slowing through the area through the morning. the cartinas and venetian bridges are holding up. further north, highway 29 still closed heading over the peak there because of overnight snow that has not melted off yet. heading down to the bay bridge toll plaza, westbound 880 is moving smoothly. a very light volume of traffic. you can also notice the big puddles we saw yesterday are gone from the shot. still wet roadways and puddles there, but you'll have that near the on and off-ramps. watch the speeds near the on and off-ramps. in oakland we took a live look at the area you showed. the flashing lights heading northbound with taillights are past the coliseum. no activity or instances reported. probably just a caltrans crew moving through from time to time. no disservice right now for the

really messy commute we had yesterday. the lights are glowing on the walter. we'll send it back to you. right now we'll look at what's coming up in a few more minutes on "today in the bay." the bay area's largest medical marijuana dispresencery may soon pay billions of dollars to the irs. it could set precedents over whether these are legal business practices. we'll have that coming up in a few minutes on "today in the bay." also, a high stakes showdown could happen later today. congress will try to pass the republican budget bill with more than $61 billion in spending cuts. but senate democrats vowed to block the measure when it gets to them. republicans are pushing cuts to education, funding for the health care overhaul and planned parenthood. democrats say we need slimmer cuts and the fear of a stalemate

could lead to a federal government shutdown if funding is not approved by the march 4th deadline. and a little bit of a circus atmosphere in wisconsin. 14 local democrats left the state capitol in madison to prevent a vote on the anti-union bill. that left the state senate one vote short and they could not act. thousands of people clogging the halls of the capitol building were protesting that bill. an internet giant has gotten behind the effort to educate the rest of us about who is behind the invention of the things we use every day. here's nbc's chris clackum. >> reporter: at every major crossroad in the country who is behind the common traffic signal? >> it was invented -- it was patented in 1923 by garrett morgan. >> reporter: garrett morgan was living in cleveland at the time when he witnessed a traffic accident. >> he thought, hey, there's got to be a way for people to

control the flow of traffic. >> reporter: so he came one a t-shaped non-electric hand-cranked traffic signal. the forerunner of today's modern traffic light. it was also the early 1900s a young inventer in virginia came one the idea of a chair that folded. >> and nathaniel alexander patented the design for a folding chair. that is the precursor to many of the chairs we use today. >> reporter: the first idea for the fitting sheet used in homes and hotels around the world came from an african-american woman bertha burman in 1959. the predecessor of the modern golf tee was patented by a dentist, george grant, who was also one of the first blacks to graduate from harvard. kudos if you are picking up on a theme here. it is black history one and aol's black voices is celebrating with stories on

america's black inventors. >> these are things that took time and energy for people to develop and some of those persons developed those things and were african-americans. >> reporter: some were just for fun, like the super-soaker that lonny johnson stumbled on to while conducting a more serious experiment. kris clackum, nbc news. >> interesting stuff there. 4:56. coming up, stanford university may expand their borders. we'll tell you why the school could soon go coast to coast. "today in the bay" begins right after the break. and here's a live look outside this morning as we are keeping tabs on your friday and weekend forecast. hopefully not as rough as it was yesterday, but we'll have details in a few more minutes. 3q

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new this morning, the judge continues to make decisions regarding the trial of barry bonds. we'll take a look at what he'll decide today. and a live look outside from the south bay this morning. a very cold start to your friday morning. it is february 18th. this is "today in the bay." good morning. thyo