>> reporter: new this morning get ready for leafletting and teach-ins, a day of action in defense of public education funding. i'm christie smith. we'll tell you what's happening here locally coming up in a live report. >> piecing together what happened in san bruno, what pg&e leaders get ready for a second day of grilling on capitol hill. plus we hear from a fifth grade girl how she got hold of cookies laced with marijuana that made her sick. a live look outside. it is wednesday, march 2nd. this is "today in the east bay."

>> good morning. i'm scott mcgrew. it's 4:30. let's get to a rainy east bay forecast and christina loren. >> good morning, skoxt it's rainy, windy. we have strong winds howling through the east bay hills. look at all of the moisture that passed through. the most rain has come down so far in the north bay and east bay. right now the east bay is getting hit pretty hard. we've got showers from oakland, walnut creek, take it easy out there. speaking of which let's find out how the roadways are looking with all of the rain and the wind. how do they look, mike? >> many spots are wet. others are dry so you'll be in for a mix on the roadways but we do have to watch the winds. big winds, the bay bridge, a chp wind advisory for that section. and the national weather service issued a wind advisory for the morning. a live look at the toll plaza,

the camera mounted on solid structure is shaking. the rain is now coming down around the oakland area. >> today is the day, students, teachers and parents waiting for in california. a massive statewide day of action to show their support for education funding. "today in the east bay's" christie smith is live in oakland with what you'll see. good morning, christie. >> reporter: good morning, scott. what's happening here in oakland later this morning is happening around the bay area and across the state as you said. oakland unified, they have information about this front and center there all over their website. several pages detailing how they feel. this is a day of action in defense of public education. oakland schools saying the governor's proposals are far from perfect but certainly better than the alternatives. this year oakland schools could lose $350 per student or as much as $900 per student depending on

what happens next. the urgent concern they say involves the tax extension measure. the warning here, if legislators decide not to place the measure on the ballot consequences could be tough for students, resulting in teacher layoffs and bigger class sizes. a number of events going on around oakland schools. some groups are going to be leafletting before classes start. there's going to be a midday fire drill at all oakland schools to demonstrate a state of emergency. after school they have a press conference over at the state building, and a teach-in. again, this is not happening just at oakland schools but it's happening at districts across the bay area and in higher education as well. that's the latest. live in oakland, christie smith, "today in the east bay." >> christie, thank you. this morning the national spotlight will again be on the deadly san bruno pipeline explosion. it's day two of a three-day hearing in washington, d.c.

pg&e executives were on the hot seat tuesday, a company memo revealing pg&e discouraged the use of automatic shut-off valves, that in spite of a federal recommendation to do so. one official testifying if automatic valves were in place, gas flow could have been cut from two 20 minutes instead of the 90 minutes. lives might have been saved. today's hearing will focus on state and federal oversight of pipelines. >> the tables are turned for an ex-east bay cop and drug task force leader. they head to court. the two are accused of selling pot and meth and steroids. christopher butler is an ex-police officer, currently a private investigator, norman welsh is the head of central contra costa county narcotics team. police say butler also tried to find a buyer for two bricks of military grade explosives just

before he was arrested. >> this morning we're hearing from a fifth grade girl who got sick from eating cookies laced with marijuana. she's not the only one. erica attends grace paterson elementary in vallejo. she along with several other students got sick after eating from a bag of aunty edibles ginger snaps. these contain cannabis. a store clerk gave the cookies to an 11-year-old student. he said he was unaware they contained marijuana. >> they asked me if i wanted to try it and then i tried it, and then it tasted nasty. so you kept on drinking my chocolate milk. >> the three kids felt dizzy. they were treated at nearby hospitals. more pain at the pump if you filled up. you know gas prices spiked toward $4 a gallon. drivers who want to go green are already willing to pay way more

than that. today in the east bay's reports, researchers looking at an affordable option you can add to any vehicle. >> reporter: kila is filling up with a recycled vegetable oil blend. the price, 4.14 a gallon. >> it's worth it to me to have peace of mind, you know, knowing that i'm not funding like big oil companies. >> reporter: gas station prices are right up there at 4 bucks a gallon. instability in the middle east is expected to drive prices higher. we've been down this road before. at uc-berkeley researchers are looking for a new path. michelle's team is searching for a sustainable alternative fuel and buttenol is an option. >> basically it can be used in a normal internal combustion engine.

today's transportation platform. >> it's not affordable. nobody knows how to make lots quickly until now. the team is inserting a dna sequence into bacteria cells. the altered cells are producing 10 times better than current methods. the the goal is mass produce buteno slorks it can be added to gasoline and reduce oil dependence. >> we would remove the butenol and mix it with gas. >> she hopes the work will benefit you at the pump. drivers say an affordable greener way to fill up is overdue >> i think good news for the rest of us as far as like being able to sustain our quality of life but have a clearer conscience. >> that was jean elle reporting. the federal government helping to drive this search. it's boosting requirements for blended fuels every year.

>> san pablo is take objection to keep millions in redevelopment money. the city transferred ownership of more than a dozen properties from the redevelopment agency to the city. it's a bookkeeping move. governor brown is looking to eliminate redevelopment agencies to save money. city leaders pledged about $26.5 million on new projects including moving utilities underground on el portal drive. >> part after reservoir will be off limits to the public more than a year. the north side of the reservoir will be shut down for construction beginning monday. the dam will be raised by 34 feet to accommodate growing water needs. recreational facilities on the south side will remain open during the expansion. construction is expected to last until august of next year. so christina, they are working on the dam problems.

>> yes, they are. i sure hope they can figure those out. this morning we're seeing more rain, but the problem with flooding isn't as big of a factor we were thinking. that's because we have strong winds as well so. the rain comes down, the wind moves in and actually drys what rain is coming down in a lot of cities. we're seeing a little localized flooding and ponding so take it easy and not lose control of your vehicle. as you can see, showers are streaming from west to east and this will be the case throughout the morning. the bulk of the moisture has come through. we'll see thinning spotty activity through next few hours. we're seeing pretty good showers along the 680 so we're going to check in with mike. i want to take you through futurecast. show you what we're expecting, there is more rain on the way tomorrow. for today we'll see breaks of sunshine. by 9:00 a.m. we're going to have a little coastal shower activity. by noon today, a good deal of clearing. that will be the case this evening as well. i'll take you through what we expect for tomorrow coming up.

bring that umbrella today. good news, improvement. you could get buffeted. those winds are really strong. >> that's right. we have wind advisories for both the bay bridge and the san mateo bridge. i'll give you a live shot of that. right now we'll take you further east, these are the east bay hills are going to get the gusts of wind as well as the rain hitting portions of oakland from the peninsula side. antioch nice flew the area where we'll see that congestion start about 5:30 and the sensors will change through walnut creek later on. 680 there, that's the concern, disabled vehicle moving from the lanes. we had two lanes blocked but things should be cleared in the next couple. you should be all right. 580 is out of the altamont pass. winds as well. they put the wind farms there for a reason.

over to the san mateo bridge, the winds crossing the bridge, north-south. keep that in mind. back to you. >> mike, thank you. apple lovers have a new improved gadg gadget. we'll have a preview of the ipad 2. plus a road is swept away in rushing water. what happened to the driver. plus we'll have highlights from last night's warrior game against the pacers. you're looking at a live picture of the home of the warriors. it is windy, the rain is coming. pack an umbrella. when it comes to getting my family to eat breakfast,

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>> it is 4:44. no, that's not you bouncing up and down, that's the camera. it is very windy out there as we take a live look at the bay bridge. be careful on your drive. it's going to start raining here soon as well. today the eyes of the tech world will be on the bay area as apple shows off the ipad 2. rumors are flying that the new ipad will be thinner and faster. then there is the jobs factor. speculation that steve jobs may make an appearance in spite of being on medical leave.

scott has a preview. >> reporter: if the tech watchers are right called about the most forward thinking gadget will in a few hours be yesterday's news. i'm talking about the apple ipad and the plans the company reportedly has to roll out a new version. what will it have? we're told at least one, maybe two cameras. so you can face time like with the iphone 4, also a new chip inside to make your next ipad even faster. has it worked so far? sales figures don't lie. 7 million ipads have been sold in the last three months. this has changed the high tech game. drama perhaps. "the wall street journal" says none other than steve jobs, the apple ceo on medical leave, will make an appearance. who knows. what we expect is to see all sorts of apple faithful who can't wait to get their hands on the latest version of this. we'll keep you posted on the

web, on twitter and on television. >> of course scott will be in the audience for apple's announcement. cnbc will be as well. hear what tales we hear first. let's turn to nicole. that has to be something you're looking at as well. >> absolutely. i'm a techie nerd as well. i fit right in. i'll soon be broadcasting you live via the ipad two. i hear it has all of the bells and whistles. what's not exciting for some equity investors are what's going on with the futures, though, this morning. we could see more selling at the opening bell. futures are a lot lower, asian markets were under pressure overnight. europe is also in the red. we get a bunch of data on private sector job, that's what we'll be looking to specifically. and economic conditions in the fed's 12 districts. bernanke is testifying again about the economy. he told a senate panel dwlaed

the run up in oil prices hasn't thurt recovery so far but could be a threat. the dow fell to 12,058. the nasdaq composite got slammed 44 points, 2737 is where we ended. oil prices appear to be calling the shots on wall street as investors shrugged off all of the good economic data yesterday and some pretty positive comments by the fed chairman. crude oil trading around $100 a barrel, it shot up yesterday amid unrest in libya, unsubstantiated reports that saudi arabia has sent tankers to bahrain. we get news on u.s. oil supplies as well at 10:30 in the morning. and despite the higher prices at the pump gasoline demand rose 3% last week. the government says gas rose to a national average of $3.38 a gallon by monday. mastercard says that consumers really fill upd their tank a lot

in the earlier part of the week in anticipation of higher prices amid the unrest in libya. more drivers pumped gas starting on wednesday. then the demand tapered off a bit by friday, scott, so an example of some of the hoarding we're seeing. how is that bicycle going for you? >> with the rain here, not very well. thank you. christina loren knows a lot about rain so i rushed to work and i beat the rain but then left my umbrella in the car. >> looks like you're going to do this as you leave later on this morning, scott. hey, that try sickle you have. things are looking good. we have clearing on the way. the bulk of the moisture has come through but it's still really windy in parts of the east bay, especially oakland. we've got wind gusts in excess of 40 miles per hour and sustained wind speed of 28 miles per hour so. enough to knock you around over

the bridges this morning. you want to take it easy out there, we do have slick conditions in some spots but the wind has been so strong all night that the rain hasn't been able to accumulate. the wind is drying it up very, very rapidly. right now oakland's getting more shower activity. we're going to see more showers onshore through the next couple of hours. they are going to thin out and we are only expecting spotty activity. by noon this is what we expect. a good deal of clearing, one cell there to the south of concord as we head throughout rest of the night we'll continue to see clearing and then more rain on the way for tomorrow morning's commute. as we head through the next couple of days, couple days of dry conditions, then more rain on tap for this weekend. a few showers lingering into next week as well so. we're back in our rainy pattern and we need it. we need this history to replenish our summertime water. actually, scott, i wanted to find out right now -- >> warriors?

>> i am, but more importantly what color umbrella do you have, scott? >> i have a big blue and white golf umbrella. huge. thank you much. the golden state warriors hope for a playoff berth. that's starting to slip out of reach. the pacers last night, the second of a seven-game road trip. an easy jam. the pacers just too much to handle. golden state loses, 109-100. they play the washington wizards tonight. gonzalez had a great day giving up no hits, striking out five. teammate brett anderson giving up four runs on six hits in his -- only two innings of pitching. >> coming up it's never been offered before. a first of its kind rebate offer for bay area homeowners. you can make thousands of dollars. plus a scary ride for a driver

whose car fell in the river. >> the rain has been falling around the bay area all night. the wind is proving a bigger iss issue. i wasn't overweight. i never dreamed this would happen to me. when the doctor told me i had three blocked arteries, i felt like i was punched in the gut. i found out that one in three women die from heart disease. how did i not know that?

>> so, here is a river, it's not a boat it says. look on the far side. there are the headlights. this red car, a guy in kentucky, holy cow, apparently swerved to

miss a deer, and ended up in the water. now, he managed to get out of the truck and before it went over the next dam, apparently. he was released from a local hospital. let's check in with mike. you are saying that breezy on the bridges. don't do the same thing. >> no. definitely. you never know how deep that water or puddle looks or that stream so stay out of those if you can. not so much of an issue now approaching the maze. there is an exclamation point, that's the wind advisory for the bay bridge. the wind going across your drive. we're going to extend that to the carquinez and benicia bridges, parallel to the wind. it can shift so a note for you. 680 south, that disabled vehicle is on the shoulder but be aware as you come to the dublin interchange. the camera shaking because of gusty winds.

>> thank you much. let's check in with lkz and see what's coming up later today. is it anything to do with charlie sheen? >> somehow he'll come up. i hear his kids were taken away last night. we're looking at the weather, we'll have updates throughout the morning. keep you safe out there. the latest fight over same-sex marriage. what the state's top attorney is trying to do right now. and medical marijuana taking center stage. why the subject has become such a hot topic. those and more coming up in a bit. >> thank you much. here is a chance to save some green. you can qualify for pg&e rebates and incentives, potentially worth thousands of dollars, it's a new program called energy upgrade california. >> what you need to do is you need to have an energy audit done on your house to determine what measures you can take to make your house more efficient. then you have the work done, then you have another audit done

to determine how well all of that worked. you submit that data to pg&e and they come up with a rebate amount for you. >> so the basic upgrade package qualifies for $1,000 rebate from pg&e. that would include attic, ceiling, insulation, duct ceiling, temperature controlled shower heads. the advanced upgrade, qualifies up to $4,000. includes that home energy assessment and results, if it results in a 40% reduction in energy use with a high efficiency furnace are or solar powered water heater or energy efficient windows. a look where the rain is falling. plus a popular gardening tool banned. we'll tell you which city is restricting it and why.