new this morning, the latest section of the new bay bridge tower goes up today. i'm christie smith, we'll tell you how tall it is going to be. right now it is already taller than koyt tower. that story is coming up in a live report. a pipeline safety overhaul. how you can contribute to hearings that could affect pipe line safety laws through california and the nation. plus, google is doing major tech support this morning. a big glitch that has gmail users panicking. a live look outside, it is monday, february 28th. this is "today in the east bay."

good morning, everyone. i'm scott mcgrew. it is 4:30. we'll get right to the east bay forecast. good morning, christina. good morning, scott. it is a chilly start in the east bay. a little frost on your windshield in livermore at 37 degrees. 37 in concord. and 36 degrees in fairfield. speaking of 36, we are about 36 hours out from our next pacific storm. i'll let you know what it means for rainfall amounts in the east bay. no snow this time but certainly rain this week. we'll talk all about it coming up. we'll check your drive with mike inouye. we'll take you to my maps here. a wide shot of the maze. nothing major as far as speeds, but on the bottom of the screen we have an accident on the high street on-ramp to northbound 880. a car hit a sweeper truck. the sweeper truck is fine, the car not so much. the people involved are okay. we'll get a live look at the

high street on-ramp. we did have flashing lights. looks like they are just around the bend passing the high street off-ramp past the coliseum. a light volume so far. back to you. today you may see an impressive sight on the bay bridge. crews are gearing up for another major operation. christie smith is live on treasure island where another segment of the tower will be moved into place. good morning, christie. >> reporter: good morning to you, scott. with each segment that goes into this tower it is looking more and more like the centerpiece to the new bay bridge that it is designed to be. the fourth segment will bring the tower up to 480 feet tall. when construction is complete the tower will stand 525 feet tall, which is higher than any other bay area landmark. you are going to see crews out here around the clock, at least until this segment is secure, to follow developments launching a facebook bay bridge as well. the tower is made up of four

independent legs, each one made up of five different sections. to give you perspective, the tower will rise 38 stories above the bay. right now it is 374 feet tall. it is already taller than koyt tower in san francisco. and the tribune tower over in oakland as well. crews are on this around the clock working 12-hour shifts. caltrans is reminding drivers to make sure to keep your eyes on the road. that's the latest from here, reporting live from treasure island, christie smith, "today in the east bay." federal investigators begin three days of hearing on the san bruno explosion and fire. hearings that could impact pipe line safety laws throughout the state and the nation. pg&e's pipeline explosion killed eight people and destroyed 30 homes in september. ten employees of pg&e are expected to testify during hearings this week. tomorrow's hearing is set to focus on the way the pg&e operates.

wednesday's hearing should deal with state and federal oversight. and thursday the plan is to review industry-wide technology. the push for an east bay memorial for jonestown's victims moves into the spotlight today. supporters will hold a news conference, prayer vigil and rally starting at 10:30 this morning at the evergreen cemetery in oakland. they would like to build a memorial for the 918 victims of the people's temple massacre in jonestown back in '78. cemetery management is giving the go-ahead but a coalition led by jim jones' adopted son opposes the granite wall because his father's name would not be inscribed on it. expect some lane closures on a main road in danville this morning. starting at 7:00 crews will pour a concrete slab as part of a new addition to the veterans memorial building on hartz avenue. some lanes on prospect avenue will be closed until 4:30 this

afternoon or even later. good samaritans are finding dozens of dogs in the east bay suffering from malnutrition. they were abandoned in oakland and dublin. some of the pups have a virus deadly to dogs but harmless to humans. the animal shelters say the puppies probably spent their first couple of weeks living outside in the cold and rain and became sick and unsellable and breeders have been dumping them in parks. to a happier note, we'll turn to christina. after talking about snow, what a pretty, pretty sunday. >> yeah, it was a lovely sunday. a little chilly, a little crisp. we had fair quality, though. today we are looking to a little more cloud cover, but another stunner across the area, especially considering we had a pretty stormy start to last week. and we actually ended up with storms as well. 41 in oakland right now. 38 in hayward. 37 in concord. we'll see more moisture this week. it looks like as we head into wednesday that will be the wettest day in the extended period. but we have showers on the way as early as tomorrow afternoon.

this morning we are seeing a little bit of shower activity in the northern most portion of the state. this will stay to our north as high pressure is in control. that's going to be the case for today. showers move in tomorrow, but the east bay today, you are looking good with temperatures ending in the 60s. we'll take you through the week coming up. i have the extended forecast ready to go. right now i'm sending it back to you. we'll take it over here. i'll intercept that this morning. we are friendly like that. we'll look at the maps where we have antioch. in the vicinity here, it is a smooth drive. the 63 over on the right will dip down over the next hour. an hour from now you'll see speeds near 30. i just got this word from chp. westbound highway 4 at loveridge is where the slowing typically ends this morning. that could be the focus of slowing because there's a large pothole reported in the roadway. no word on what their strategy is right now. they typically wait until after the rush hour to repair things but it is in the middle of the highway. i'll follow that and let you know as things develop. further south we are looking at

a nice easy drive of 580 westbound out of the altamont pass. no major slowing through livermore and the dublin interchange. the bay bridge toll plaza is an easy drive. there's nobody there. good news for a monday morning, but it will get crowded there, trust me. back to you. indeed it will. thank you, mike. a google glitch. coming up, the mystery of a bay area company investigating something strange this morning. the oakland a's make their spring training debut. see how their pitchers performed. also, we'll have highlights from last night's oscars and see who took home the statues. a live look from oakland there. it is quiet for now. [ female announcer ] why watch regular tv when you can experience

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welcome back. it is 4:40. you are watching the construction on the bay bridge. keep your eyes on the road today. police need your help tracking down a man who robbed a livermore accident saturday night around 8:00 at a denny's. the man pointed a gun at the cashier and demanded money. he made off with the cash. he was last seen heading towards north livermore avenue. customers in the restaurant were in the restaurant at the time

but nobody was hurt. we should get a feel on the economic recovery today. numbers on home spending and hole sale data will be released today. for more news on that and news before the bell, we'll turn to cnbc's nicole lapin. >> reporter: good morning, scott. you don't really need me, you just rattled off what we are looking ahead to. you are absolutely right, a lot of economic data coming our way. futures ahead of that are slightly lower this morning. this, of course, comes after wall street is getting off a pretty down week. asian markets were mostly higher, though, overnight. europe is pretty much flat lining or in the red. but it is a very busy economic week. you rattled off many of the important ones. friday is the most important with the big data of them all, we could see unemployment rise to 9.2%. also, the dow rose 61 points on friday. talk about resilience there. 12,130 is where we ended, but for the entire week we were off

2%. the nasdaq composite added 43 points to 2781 but lost 1.5% on the week. of course, energy traders are still eyeing the uncertain situation in the middle east and libya this week. nimax sweet crude is creeping back to $100 a barrel. it is hovering right near $99 right about now, but you are not dreaming, gas prices really jumped a lot lately. aaa says the average price for a gallon of self-serve regular shot up 17 cents in the past week, 6 cents alone on friday to $3.33 a gallon. that's the average nationwide. that's the highest level it has been since october of 2008. analysts expect more increases in the upcoming days as prices at the pump typically lend lag the trend in the oil market. for every $1 rise in crude oil equals 2.5 cents in gasoline. warren buffett is saluting the american flag. in his letter to berkshire

hathaway says the best days for america lay ahead. berkshire owes several sensitive companies, we are talking railroads, insurers, consumer product makers. his optimism could be an endorsement for the u.s. economy. berkshire has $38 billion in cash on hand and says, quote, his trigger finger is getting itchy. all right. united and continental airlines who sealed their megamerger five months ago will launch a campaign this week. they will change their website to melt the two names familiar global logo. you'll start seeing it on billboards coming out tomorrow. the leader in march and newspapers and magazines in the two airlines hub markets with a special emphasis on new york city. continental has a big hub at

newark. unit's east coast hub is dallas international airport. they won't mesh websites until next year. and the combined company, scott, i know you were on the edge of your seat wondering about this, their theme song will continue to be "rhapsody and blue." you can go on with your day now. >> thank you for that, nicole. here's christina loren looking at your forecast. >> today is one of the dryer days we'll see this week. tomorrow we have showers moving in. wednesday is a washout. then we look okay thursday, friday into the weekend. here's our next system right now pushing into northern california. it is not going to make its way into the bay area. high pressure is firmly in control. you can see that ridge in here. clouds are arcing around the big rig of high pressure. the cloud will make their way through the area, so we are talking about partly cloudy skies and a lot of sunshine today. we'll stay dry as well. 43 in san francisco right now. pretty mild headed to the city

from the east bay and concord. a chilly 37 degrees in concord. we'll round out the day in the low 60s. this is where we should be this time of the year. this is our average temperature. 62 in oakland and fremont. 62 degrees today in san jose. so right on track with the seasonal norms. this is what you can expect heading throughout the week. rain on the way as early as tomorrow lasting into wednesday. but take a look at the rest of the week. we'll dry out and see a lot of sunshine. hey, we are back in the 60s for sunday. i'm going to send it back to you now, scott. thank you much. the oakland athletics made their spring debut. not pretty for right-handed trevor cay hill who lasts a third of an inning giving up four runs on five hits. cahill felt butterflies in his stomach. the same was said of cocoa crisp for the chicago cubs. that's a grand slam. the a's win 15-7. the golden state warriors

didn't get love from the minnesota timberwolves. kevin love got his 46th straight double-double in points and rebounds. 37 points, 23 rebounds. the warriors rally to within one point, but the inbound pass deflected away. they lost 126-123. coming up, check your refrigerators. there's a recall involving produce at safeway. and vanishing inboxes. the google mystery investigated this morning. and we have an accident here in traffic. not a good start for somebody this morning, and it was not the sweeper truck also at the scene. we'll have a look at the east bay commute as it starts to build cong u

building a bridge to the future, you are looking at a live picture of the bay bridge at 4:49. they are putting up the super, super tall tower. look at it on tv, do not look at it while driving. and we have newly-released video for you. this could be an escalator going completely wrong. washington, d.c., the security camera shows passengers on the escalator. it speeds up and suddenly stops throwing riders to the ground. several people were injured requiring hospitalization. d.c. transit leaders say overcrowding and a break mall function caused the accident.

officials i spected all of the escalators in the city's subway system after that. when they get stuck, mike, you are not stuck on the escalator, it is locked down. >> let me off of this thing! get off of it. that was the opposite problem, helping folks off of it. let's go out to the maze where we are talking about trying to clear this accident off the roadway. crews are there at the bottom of the scream. the rest of the maze looks fine for the start of the monday morning commute. over to the bay bridge, we talked about the construction. christie sees that off the shoulder. she'll talk about that spectacular sight more later, but focus on the road. 880 northbound there's an accident at the high street off-ramp. use fruitvale if you need to. here's oakland approaching the coliseum northbound with the headlights. no major issues. southbound away from here also is equally as light down to the 92 interchange. we continue to have the project going on for another year or so at the interchange. once you are onto the bridge, here's a smooth drive with the taillights away from us near the

peninsula. a very nice flow of traffic here. back to the east bay we had an issue calling it out here at westbound highway 84 at loveridge. the traffic typically lets up, but we have a pothole reported in the middle of the freeway. it sounds to be pretty big. chp will check out how big. if they have to shut a lane down they will. that's where it starts for the commute backup to start out of antioch. we'll follow this and send it back to you. nchtsds massive wildfires are ripping through texas this morning. the entire town here was evacuated and school was canceled for today. firefighters worked overnight to put out the fire. high winds are making the job tough. so far flames have charred homes and sheds and outbuildings in the area. similar fires were in lubbock and amarillo. this morning before you fill up your gas tank for the week you may want to download a smartphone app to relieve the pain at the pump a little bit.

apps like this one help you check for the cheapest gas prices in the area. constantly updated so people are just standing by at the pump updating these. this is coming from a group called consumers union. >> crowd sourcing means people like you who have the app installed. when you go to a gas station and are filling up, you say i have a second or two sitting here, i'll enter the gas prices at this gas station. then everyone else can see that information. >> the apps cost little or nothing at all. likely used as gas prices go up, you can search for gasbuddy and that's the app for your phone there. a local company is recalling broccoli at safeway stores because of possible contamination this morning. taylor farms pacific announced the recall after a random test by agricultural leaders came up positive for listeria. the bacteria can cause deadly infections in young children and others with weakened immune systems. now, the broccoli is in cooked and fresh products in safeway

stores that have the taylor farms label dated from february 7th to march 7th. no illnesses have been reported in connection with the broccoli. gmail users, if you are missing your e-mails you are not alone. google is investigating a glitch in the mail system following complaints from gmail users that their old messages disappeared. only a small number were affected by the glitch which completely resets accounts when logged on. some web logs say half a million people were affected. google says it expects all lost data will be recovered. some hollywood finest have new awards this night. "the king's speech" came away with the best picture at the academy awards. stephanie stanton was backstage. >> i'm feeling my career has just peaked. >> reporter: colin firth may have summed up the night for many associated with "the king's

speech." his oscar for best actor. they also won for best picture. firth was one of several first-time winners including natalie portman for best actress for "black swan." >> it feels very, very dream-like right now. i don't really know where i am. >> would it be too crazy to think you may name your baby oscar? >> i think that's probably definitely out of the question. >> reporter: best-supporting actress melissa leo from the fighter spent time backstage had an accidental expletive during her speech. >> i had no idea. those words, i apologize to anyone that they offend. >> reporter: leo's co-star christian bale has used salty language a time or two, but he was straightforward about his win as best supporting actor.

>> it is still just a matter of opinion, it is so ab tract. this is a very bizarre thing. but at the same time, i just can't help but be touched so dearly by it. >> reporter: and on this night the film about a stammering monarch that's touched millions of movie goers came away the biggest winner. >> i think what the film is saying is sometimes the way to concur a fear is by turning to others. >> reporter: "the king's speech" is now hollywood royalty. staff knee stanton, nbc news, hollywood. as for local movies, facebook's movie, "the social network" won oscars but not as many as expected. "toy story 3" came home with best animated fill. astronauts are getting ready for a first in a series of spacewalks today. the mission today to broke move a broken ammonia pump to the international space station. they will also install an extension power cable. this is the last voyage for the

space shuttle "discovery." it first took off in 1984. coming up, the one perspective neighbor berkeley is not welcoming. why some businesses are not sending out goodwill to a merchant. and in the words of kermit the frog, it ain't easy being green. the city is looking to save the environment with low-flow toilets. and i have accidents on both sides of the bay. the commute just officially started. we are tracking that coming up as well.

new this morning, the man accused of kidnapping jaycee dugard will be back in a northern california courtroom today. but that case may not stay there long. bring out the bleach. the more smelly unintended water consequences that come from conservation. i'm bob redell, that story is coming to you live from san francisco. and a live look at the bay bridge this morning. we'll tell you about the cold start to the day. it is monday, february 28th. this is "today in the bay."