potential deal with the city coming up. the centerpiece of the new bay bridge is ahead of schedule. the new tower is now 480 feet tall and counting. i'm christie smith. we'll tell you what went write and what's next coming up in a live report. i'm bob redell. we'll tell you why some of the animals you know and love and take for granted could be going the way of this guy. we'll have the latest coming up. and a live look outside, it looks like a nice day on tap. hope you get a chance to enjoy it. it is friday, march 4th, "today in the bay." >> good friday morning, everybody. thank you for joining us. straight up, 6:00, i'm brent cannon. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. let's get right to your forecast. we'll check in with christina. it will be a gorgeous day with temperatures in the upper 60s. a little cold to start but mostly clear in the south bay. the east bay looks good.

we have a little bit of patchy, dense fog in places like novato and santa rosa. we have a quarter mile visibility in some locations, so take it easy headed out that way. we are expecting fog formation along the peninsula heading throughout the next hour or so. high pressure is building in to bring our temperatures up into the 60s heading throughout this afternoon. in fact, at noon we are looking to temperatures around 62 degrees in gilroy. 61 in livermore. and then we'll round out the day in the upper 60s, even warmer tomorrow. then the rain returns. we'll tell you how much and when we are expecting it coming up. let's check your drive right now, get away friday, hey, mike. we'll look at a very pleasant weather forecast and a very pleasant drive right now around the maze. no major issues approaching the bay bridge. the backup starts further out, especially on a friday, a little bit later and lighter. 28 through antioch is typical from eighth street to love ridge. now we start to see slower times out of the altamont pass. westbound 580, 15 minutes to the dublin interchange. smooth through the dublin

interchange. castro valley to 880 is moving smoothly. a nice look at the coliseum. flashing lights on the right side of the screen. no incidents on chp reports. there could be debris there, but likely it is just flashing lights. good news for the bay bridge and the recent break in the weather that could have something to do with it. "today in the bay's" christie smith is life with an update on what crews have accomplished. >> reporter: good morning to you. this is the fourth segment in this tower. it is now 480 feet tall. that's taller than koyt tower in san francisco and the tribune tower in oakland. i'll step aside so you can see it there in the distance. it is obviously the tower, the one with the white lights there. now, around the clock operation has paid off. caltrans initially thought they would be done way late tonight, but they finished at 1:25 this morning after starting on monday. this is part of the self-anchored suspension span. it will make up the iconic profile of the new bridge.

the only one of its kind in the world that according to caltrans. of course, it will be much safer in an earthquake than the old bridge. now the sections of steel were floated in on a barge and then carefully lifted with a huge jack. and it was the weather that made all the difference. >> yeah, we work in the rain okay, but wind is a big challenge for us because wind makes things unstable on the water and also with a piece of steel like this we have to carefully control how it moves. and if you get 500 tons swinging, it is very difficult to wrestle it into place. >> reporter: now you will still see fastening of bolts going on today, but next up in april the top, the main cable saddle that is actually sitting out here in oakland where we are this morning. it is one piece, and then the big cable runs across the top. when it is done, when you drive, the cable will actually go over the car. it is a really different type of design. the opening for the bridge is in

2013. and that's four to six months ahead of schedule. reporting live in oakland, christie smith for "today in the bay." >> thank you, christie. there could timely be a deal between firefighters and the union in the city. the new contract asks firefighters to take a 10% reduction in benefits and compensation and pay more for health care. if firefighters agree this new deal could set the tone for a new contract between the city of san jose and its police officers. if you live near an underground gas pipeline you are soon going to know about it. that's part of what came out of three days of federal hearings in washington. pg&e is sending letters to any customer who lives or works within 2,000 feet of a transmission line. pg&e also has to make sure fire officials and other departments know exactly where the pipelines are located. and work is underway to make the shut-off valves automated

replacing the manual shut-off valve system. the ntsb also plans to complete its investigation into the deadly san bruno blast within the next six months. we now know the body found under a barbecue pit in novato belongs to a man missing since september. neighbors reported 74-year-old dale smith missing and they say his wife evelyn had that barbecue built after his disappearance. right now investigators call her a person of interest. police say the case could be anything from a homicide to improper disposal of human remains, which is only a misdemeanor. police are still trying to track down a woman they say may have embezzled more than $50,000 from a south bay elementary school. san jose police are looking for 40-year-old vanessa reyes and they say she may be in southern california. another woman is already in custody. police say the two women are former leaders of a trace elementary school parent teacher organization. they are accused of illegally spending the money on their own

groceries, expensive jogging shoes and a family vacation to legoland. that money was supposed to pay for school field trips, physical education and teacher grants. the school will hold a meeting about that incident tonight at 6:00. this morning san jose is considering uprooting more than 90% of the city's marijuana clinics. currently there are more than 100 cannabis clubs operating in san jose. now the city wants to bring the number down to just ten. neighbors are upset because many of the pot clubs are next to parks and some of them draw crime to neighborhoods. others argue that legitimate clubs shouldn't be punished because others don't play by the rules. >> you can't let a couple sour apples ruin an entire bunch. >> there is no arguing that the medical cannabis industry brings in much needed revenue to the cash-strapped city. even though san jose started taxing pot clubs 7% this week, many would rather see the clubs disappear.

caltrain is in a state of fiscal emergency and it is going to cost riders. they declared a fiscal emergency yesterday. now cuts could include fewer weekday trains and suspension of all weekend service. there could also be a 25-cent fare hike. the board is also talking about closing the south san francisco, belmont, santa clara and san bruno stations. any changes that go into effect could take place in july. there have been five mass extinctions over the past 500 years and now scientists are suggesting we could be headed for a sixth. bob redell is live outside the museum of paleontology to explain. >> reporter: this is a warning from scientists at cal, they published a study in "nature" magazine saying we could be headed for the sixth mass extinction saying the animals we take for granted now, ones we

see in the zoo perhaps in a few hundred years could be the subjects of the museum of paleontology here. nick is here with us, you looked at the animals in danger, what did you discover? >> so we were attempting to compare what happened to the fossil records of things like the t-rex to what's happening now. we are basically looking at how much higher is the rate we currently have of extinction, how much higher is it than what is in the fossil record. even under a conservative estimate we are much higher than the rate of extinction in the fossil record for the 65 billion years. >> reporter: unless something changes, i'm talking about mankind changing, what's the timeframe? >> the timeframe, it depends on the scenario you put forward. if you say on the sort of worst assumptions, we could have a mass extinction in a few hundred years. it could be even a few thousand years. even if you don't get to a mass

extinction, you could still lose tigers and lions and things like that. it all depends on what decisions people make, though. >> reporter: you are talking about us coming in to north america 10,000 years ago, that was the spike with the hunting and killing a lot of the species then. we talk about climate change, global warming, given the fact that we are to blame, are we to blame or are we just another species trying to adapt and make our own living? >> that's an interesting question. i think humans should consider ourselves different than other species because we have the ability to think forward and to see what's going on and make a decision about what happens instead of just doing our own thing and wiping everything else out. i think it is a better idea for us to use our brains and make decisions we really want to make instead of having something happy accident. >> reporter: nick, a paleobiologist here. >> thank you, bob. we are taking a look at our forecast for the weekend. after this up and down thing, it

is a lot of rain and cold. it will be a nice looking weekend. >> it will be a great weekend, especially today and tomorrow. sunday you probably want to postpone the outdoor plans for a couple days, but if you can get out on saturday or today, you will be happy if you do so. high pressure is providing gorgeous weather heading throughout the weekend. it is going to bring about foggy conditions this morning. we are already noticing that in the north bay. visibility has been reduced no napa, santa rosa and novato. we have a quarter mile his of visibility this morning in novato. it is swirling around out there. so take it easy. none still on the peninsula. we are looking nice and clear, 43 degrees in san mateo. fog could develop, especially over the bridges heading into the next hour or two. we'll keep you updated. 67 degrees is your forecasted high today. los gatos, we are warming than average this time of the year. and then our focus shifts to our next rain system which is going to arrive on sunday. it looks like very, very late

saturday into sunday, showers will start in the north bay. around 11:00 p.m. saturday night, laura's birthday, spreading south throughout your sunday afternoon, shon on and off showers through sunday. then we are looking good with no rain in the forecast heading through next week. nice and clear. and next weekend is st. paddy's day weekend on sunday. so no green on the radar at this time. hopefully that will be the case. but of course, 70 degrees, cloudy conditions, not too bad. i think that mother nature likes what's happening for laura's birthday, but, mike, do we like what's happening on the roadways right now, that's the question on this friday? let's go focus on the birthday. the reason i'm diverting your attention, i don't want to tell south bay commuters this. northbound 101 at tulle road, the justify ramp can get backed up to a half mile. right now it is very light volume, but they have to at least close part of that off-ramp because of a big rig with a satellite on the back. a total of five vehicles at the

off-ramp. chp is updating me on this, but we don't know if you can go westbound. you can't go eastbound at tully right now. we'll get you a live look at oakland, no problems through oakland. no problems at the toll plaza. a lighter volume for friday, so a little backup at the toll plaza. back to you guys. thank you so much, mike. 6:12 right now. still to come on "today in the bay," squall valley is listening to its customers. see what's reopening this weekend after a lot of complaints. and a very funny guy who got his start in san francisco is the subject of a new documentary. it premiers at cinequest tonight. he'll join us live to talk about that coming up next. meantime, here's a live look outside at the beautiful bay bridge this morning. change continues out there. we'll keep you updated on what'd happening there and across the bay area. it is 6:12 right now. [ woman ] bathing suits.

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good morning, everybody. it is 6:15. a live look outside at the south bay and the sun beginning to come up on what ought to be a pretty nice friday and saturday overall. we are looking forward to that. meantime, we have been talking about the cinequest film festival rolling throughout the weekend in the south bay. and steve mazon is in a documentary that premiers tonight. it is called "dying to do letterman." >> this is our world premier tonight. the first time it has been shown publicly tonight at camera 12 at 7:00 p.m. >> it sounds like a touching story, combined with your life -- >> it is a documentary about me, my dream was to get on "letterman" since i was 12 years old. that's why i started comedy. i was doing comedy and six years into doing it full-time i was diagnosed with cancer. i was told worse says scenario i

had five years to live. i was lightning thinking, what do i want to make sure happens? it was to complete the dream of getting on "letterman." that was the one thing i was going to focus on in the next five years. luckily my good friends who are filmmakers followed me and we made a documentary about it and it is premiering. listen, i hear documentary and cancer and think, i don't want to see it, it is a downer. i didn't want to make that movie, i'm a comedian, it is very funny. >> that's the interesting thing. on one hand, you have a very serious thing that you don't want to make light of that, but on the other hand, people need a laugh and a break. they are suffering from cancer and are trying to do what you are doing, piece together what do i do with my life now? >> you can handle it several different ways. >> you can laugh at it or do the alternative. we chose to laugh at it. >> that has probably helped you in your recovery, too. >> i really believe so. i have been very lucky over the

past 4 1/2 to 5 years since the diagnosis chagsing the dream and making the documentary. it has worked for me so far. >> so you get on "letterman." now what? you have to set a new goal. >> i think we showed some footage early on of that. >> what do you do now? >> that was the goal. i'm dying to do "letterman." now i'm dying to premier the documentary tonight at camera 12 at 7:00 p.m. that's our little pin. everyone has their own. >> i'm dying to premier. >> that's my new one. we have been sharing pins of what everyone else wants to do. i want to share a couple pins with you. i hear you have triplets, so yours might be personalized -- >> dying to go to the grocery store. >> dying to get some sleep. >> is that yours, laura? >> while you fill those out, you

have an entourage here with you. >> yes, they are a married couple that work full-time together making movies and tv shows and everything. >> wow. they can make it work. you fill those out for us. you keep healthy, we'll all held head to cinequest. >> if you can't make tonight, there are two more showings sunday and tuesday. >> free shirts for the first 50 people at each screening. >> free friday. we love it. good luck. thank you for coming. >> thank you for having me. still to come, we'll talk about this squabble at squaw resolved this morning. a lot of skiers were worried because one of their favorite chair lifts was going to close down. they complained about it. the silverado chair lift was the one. skiers and snowboarders kind of fought back in a high-tech way. they say it is powder to the people. they went on the internet and voiced their concerns and squaw listened. they are going to reopen the chair lift this morning. it gives skiers and snowboarders

access to the entire mountain. and lots of people got involved in the fight posting their comments on the internet. you might say it kind of created a snowball effect. but once again, we have been talking about how often people can use the internet for their cause, whether you want to tell somebody about your new movie or get your chair lift open, and it works. >> it could be a good weekend to head up to the sierra. let's go to christina. we have more snow on the way as we head through this saturday night into sunday. lake tahoe will be picking up another half a foot, maybe even another foot of snow with a lot of moisture. and a warm system that's going to pass through our area over the course of saturday night into sunday, sunday doesn't look good for outdoor plans. but today looks phenomenal. this afternoon we have a bit of fog rolling through. novato still registering a quarter mile of visibility. heading throughout this afternoon our temperatures which are right now in the upper 30s to low 40s will end up in the mid-60s. a gorgeous day on tap for us.

67 degrees in los gatos. 66 in san jose. even santa rosa will hit 65 degrees after the fog lifts and breaks apart up in the north bay. we do have low pressure on the way. this is going to provide us with our first showers late saturday night in the north baby 11:00 p.m. showers are starting to slide south. then for the whole day sunday we'll see on and off spotty shower activity. we are hoping it will clear out before monday morning, which is good news for the next workweek. clearing conditions on monday, 56 degrees. you can see next week overall looks nice and dry. but good conditions for tahoe if you want to go skiing today or tomorrow or boarding. you have great options up there. 57 degrees on sunday. not too bad. as you recover, the after party from laura's big day, you'll be needing some major recovery time, brent. >> he always does. >> i always do, yeah. 6:20 right now. some people don't like police cameras in tuberon, but police

say they are doing their job coming up. amazing sales of ipads is bad news for the rest of silicon valley. we'll have that coming up in tech news. and here's the drive past nut tree for your mountain highways as well as your local commute, because you have to get through friday. that's coming up. [ female announcer ] you have all this chicken. chicken, chicken chicken. there are thousands of ways to prepare it. [ chickens clucking ] you know only two of them. time to mix it up. time for new philly cooking creme. it'll take your chicken to places it's never been before.

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good morning, everybody. a live look across the golden gate bridge as the sun begins to

come up. and we have a nice, calm commute this time of the morning. >> at least it is there, but not in the south bay. mike has to tell us about -- >> we didn't have the rain and the fog and all that stuff. >> thank goodness. you are both right. peace in the cannon household. a smooth drive weatherwise, but look at the exclamation point, i'm not going to yell about it, i'll show it to you closer, though. don't use the tully off-ramp. the freeway is so light, travel farther north to story road. i told you about the truck carrying a satellite on the back of it as well as four other cars there. chp is still getting to the scene. they are not sure if the off-ramp is open. use story road but through the area. the truck can no longer exit the roadway. we are trying to find a solution there. moving up to san ma today owe is smooth. a live look at the bay bridge toll plaza, a light volume except for the cash lanes. it is kind of ironic, nasa launched a satellite from the

air force base overnight. the glory satellite carries uninstruments to measure aerosols in the earth's atmosphere. they are hoping it will show how aerosol impacting the earth's climate. there are a lot of people who have concerned over tiberon's cameras. private advocacy groups say the controversial $150,000 system is paying off in the form of leads. officers recently pinpointed the time of a burglary and then were able to use that information to identify possible suspect cars leading to an arrest. and last week the department linked the system to a state stolen car database and the system made its first match wednesday and alerted police.

>> it reads it and checks it against the database for stolen or wanted vehicles. it turned out it was a stolen car out of san francisco. >> chief michael cronin says the department only has 13 officers and this system does a lot of the legwork they cannot do. 6:26 right now. the nation's economy added hundreds of thousands of jobs in the month of february. scott mcgrew has been looking over the latest data. >> well, good morning to you. the data came in less than an hour ago from the labor department showing the unemployment rate nationwide dropped to 8.9%. the third month in a row that number has moved lower. nearly 200,000 new jobs net if you look at the private sector. it is more than 200,000 if you look at the private sector in general. you throw government into that, government continues to lay off. so pink slip police officers and firefighters dragged the number down a bit, but good numbers overall. speaking of the economy, gardner group forecasts

high-tech business and says the apple ipad is going to crush the sale of computers. bad news for h.p. and intel, which makes computer chips, but not ipad chips. the ipad is a huge hit. last night conan o'brien poked a bit of fun at the newest ipad with this fake apple commercial. >> ipad2 is the culmination of literally two to three meetings, it is truly incredible how little we did. we knew if we changed the color, put pictures of water droplets on the desktop, made it a little faster, added two holes with cheap cameras in them, then just kind of flattened it a bit, people would just go nuts. >> that conan is one funny guy. we ought to give him a show or something on nbc, that would be awesome. >> yeah. >> stirring the pot. 6:27. members of a controversial church are going to protest

outside of a bay area high school tonight. we'll find out why coming up. the main piece of the new bay bridge is in place this morning. see the work crews finished overnight coming up. and sacrificing for san jose. good morning, i'm marla tellez. i'm going to explain what's on the line for san jose firefighters who now seem willing toy. th wh the city.y e thstomy or cupisg .inom ovmore an ltening to ouravoritsong than liste our favngs. t r fari is eatnoizol.

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with no slips or envelopes. take a step forward and chase what matters. twizzlers. the twist you can't resist. new this morning a student protest is over at uc berkeley. find out why students say it is a victory for them. and san jose firefighters give the nod to make some serious sacrifices that will affect them here at work and at home all to help the city. good morning, i'm marla tellez. i'll explain why it is not a done deal yet coming up in my live report. 480 feet tall and counting.

the work on the tower of the new bay bridge is ahead of schedule this morning thanks to the weather. i'm christie smith. we'll tell you what's next in the project coming up in a live report. and a live look outside at the south bay this morning. plenty of sunshine to go around on friday, march 4th, "today in the bay." good friday morning, everybody. thank you for joining us. 6:30 now. i'm brent cannon. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. we'll look at the forecast today. finally some nice temperatures. finally some nice temperatures, finally friday. you can get outside to enjoy the beautiful weather for the first part of saturday. it will still be nice. then more rain on the way sunday, but let's take you through today in detail. it is chilly out there to start. and we have some fog developing especially along the bridges this morning, so you want to take it easy. you saw the bay bridge in the distance where christie smith is. you are getting socked in at this time.

same for the north bay. by about noon it is going to be gorgeous. once the fog lifts and breaks apart we are seeing mostly closal fog this morning. we are left with temperatures in the 60-degree range by noon ending up closer to 70 degrees before we round out the day with our high temperatures. it is going to be a beautiful day today. a good day for a drive. how is it looking, mike inouye? good morning, christina. if you have to drive to work, it is a good day for that. a beautiful time. the bay bridge toll plaza, stay to your right with the cash lanes on the left showing a backup. no metering lights, that's good news. an easy approach. the slowdown in the east bay starts at antioch and holds steady for the last half hour. highway 4 is jamming up. speeds down in the 20s near love ridge. an easy drive through pittsburgh and towards concord as well. livermore is showing more slowing, but it is not quite as bad with friday light. thank you very much. 6:32 right now. we know the risk firefighters take every day to protect their city and community. now san jose firefighters could make sacrifices in negotiations

with san jose to help out the budget. they have reached a tentative deal with the city but they will vote officially this weekend. "today in the bay's" par louisiana marla tellez is live with what's happening now. >> reporter: good morning, laura. so far this firehouse has been relatively quiet this morning. this is station number two in alum rock. i spoke to one of the nine firefighters who are currently on duty inside. i asked him about this tentative agreement reached with the city for comment and he said he can't comment at this time, but he did tell me they should be voting on this issue as expected this weekend. now here's what happened late yesterday. the san jose firefighters union agreed to take a 10% cut in pay and benefits to avoid further layoffs. again, a 10% cut in pay and benefits. and in doing so it became the first of the city's 11 employee unions to reach a deal with the city so it could set the tone for the other unions. in a similar situation last year the city and firefighters never

agreed and as a result 49 firefighters lost their jobs. so this time around, of course, they are hoping to prevent that. this is a victory for mayor chuck reed who is dealing with a $105 million deficit for the fiscal year starting out on july 1st. here are the nuts and bolts of the deal. it would mean the 10% cut in compensation and benefits for two years. the deal expires on june 30th of 2013. again, this is not a done deal yet. all of the city's 647 firefighters have to vote yes to make it a done deal to ratify the deal. then the city council has to give its approval at its next meeting next tuesday. live in san jose this morning, marla tellez for "today in the bay." >> we are keeping tabs on all of it. thank you, marla. san mateo county is now better prepared to deal with mentally-ill people in the wake of a deadly officer-involved shooting. officers are wrapping up an intensive four-day training

course designed to help diffuse situations that involve people with mental illnesses. that session also giving officers communication techniques and it trains them to recognize post-traumatic stress disorder. the course comes just a few days after san mateo police shot and killed a mentally-ill man in his backyard after that man fired a gun at the officers. members of a church plan to protest outside of a bay area high school play tonight. they are members of the controversial west borough baptist church in san jose picketing a production of "the laramie project" at gunderson high school. members believe god is punishing the country for condoning homosexuality. the play tells a story of matthew shepherd, a young gay man, who was beaten, tied to a fence and left for dead in laramie, wyoming. tonight's production of the play is sold out. state senator leland yee is fighting a public date with the university of california leader.

yee will rally at noon an ucsf to block the state senate from confirming david crain to the uc board of regents. yee is blasting crain's opinion piece in sunday's "chronicle." yee says that piece is an attack on working families, but crain went on to tell the sacramento bee he misunderstood the piece. he does think the uc workers should have collective bargaining rights. what he objects to is unionizing public workers who already have those protections. 6:36 right now. a two-day student protest on the berkeley campus is over this morning and students are calling it a victory. after spending seven hours chained to one another on the fourth floor ledge at wheeler hall, the nonstation comes one day after a day of protests on campuses around california.

17 people were arrested on uc berkeley's campus on wednesday night. last night it was a different story. students say some of their demands were actually met. >> all prior student charges that were possibly up for suspension that have been lingering on forever are going to be reduced to the option of probation for the rest of the semester. >> during the demonstration 26 classes were canceled affecting about 1,000 students. school administrators are hoping it will be business as usual. we have an update this morning on the work taking place right now on the bay bridge. crews are making some pretty good headway. christie smith is live in oakland with some new information and the progress they are making. kristy? >> reporter: good morning to you, brent. the tower is really the centerpiece of the new bay bridge, not just because of its look. it will certainly be the tallest thing out there, but it is also designed to move in an earthquake and parts of it can be replaced. you can see it there in the distance. caltrans is telling us they were able to get the sections done

ahead of schedule thanks to the weather. caltrans just held a media briefing 20 minutes ago this morning showing us how it worked with the pieces of steel floated in on a barge and carefully lifted with a jack more than 400 feet into the air. this latest installment brings the bridge tower to 480 feet tall. now work started early monday but then on tuesday they ran into some foul weather that slowed work down. then it changed in their favor. >> yeah, we work in the rain okay, but wind is a big challenge for us because wind makes things unstable on the water and also with a piece of steel like this we have to carefully control how it moves. and if you get 500 tons swinging, it is very difficult to wrestle it into place. >> reporter: now when it is complete the tower will be 525 feet tall. and in april some real exciting work begins on the top including the cable saddle sitting out here in oakland this morning.

this is the seat for the cable system on the self-anchored suspension span, the only one of its kind in the world according to caltrans. the new bay bridge is expected to open four to six months ahead of schedule in the year 2013. reporting live in oakland, case christie smith for "today in the bay." looks pretty nice out there if you are out and about. we want to check the temperatures right now with christina. >> it is chilly out there, but it is pretty nice. the south bay is not registering any fog this morning. it is nice and clear down there. we are seeing a bit of fog develop along the bridges and peninsula as well this morning. so take it easy out there. that will be the factor probably until the next couple of hours pass. then we should see clear conditions, mostly sunny skies for today. and our temperatures are going to climb into the mid to upper 60s as a result. 67 degrees in los gatos today. 66 in san jose. 63 in san francisco. high pressure is the reason for the clearing for the nice weather we'll see today. we are kind of sandwiched

between systems. we have one to the south bringing a lot of moisture into southern california, but today we are going to stay nice and dry, just a few high cirrus clouds making their way into the bay area. then the next system arrives late saturday into sunday. looks like we'll see more rain, but this morning pretty clear out there. how are we doing on the roadways, mike? good morning, christina. we have friday light. the bay bridge toll plaza, no meter lights yet. a mild backup in the left lane crash section, so stay over to the right if you can or fast track is better yet. once you get off the upper deck you may have an issue westbound 80 at 5th street with reports of a disabled vehicle at the off-ramp. but also the on-ramp for the eastbound. opposite sides of the roadway. this could cause a major problem, but so far no major backups through the area. slowing through union square because of construction near the stockton drive. the south bay, look at northbound 101 januarying up approaching tully road. chp is on the scene with the big rig blocking the lanes there.

capitol expressway will get you back on track there. are you ready or already paying more to drive these days? get ready to pay more for flying. it will be crazy. we'll tell you how high fuel prices are impacting the price of airline tickets coming up next. going the way of the dinosaur? i'm bob redell. we'll tell you why some bay area scientists believe earth could see another mass extinction. that story is coming up. a lot of people wish the traffic would go away, at least right here in this span of 880 and oakland this morning. ht now.spou the busiest hot 6:41 right now. [ bob ] i'd love to build bird houses for the rest of my life.

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good morning to you. taking a live look outside at the beautiful bay bridge. the sun is up over the bay area. we are hoping to warm things up a bit. we'll check temperatures with christina. there have been five mass extinctions over the past 540 million years on earth and now scientists at cal think number six is on the way. "today in the bay" cease bob redell is live at the uc museum of paleontology to explain the new findings. >> reporter: a mass extinction involved the dinosaurs, that was a long time ago, just over 65 million years ago. or as you refer to as childhood, i believe. or maybe that was your high school years, i can't remember. anyways, now there are scientists here at cal just releasing this paper in "nature"

magazine what wering warning we could be on the verge of a sixth extinction. there could be the argument it has been 65 million years, aren't we due? isn't this just part of the normal cycle of earth? >> that's an interesting argument. i think the counter-argument is that humans are a species on this planet, but unlike other species we have large brains and the ability to anticipate the future. and really we should use that ability and not just act like everything else and do our own thing. >> so you looked at the species that are in danger, you are looking at the rate of extinction of the ones we have seen so far and are finding that man has a lot to do with this, everything to do with this, and i think that was a surprise to me, not that man has something to do with it but the fact that it is happening so fast. the ones prior, dinosaurs took hundreds of thousands or millions of years, this is how long? >> this current event, which is starting an ongoing, may only take a few hundred years or at most a few thousand years given

if current trends continue. so if we make different decisions this one doesn't necessarily occur, but that's the decision we have to make. >> reporter: if things don't change in a few hundred to thousand years, a is a safari in africa would look like what? >> north america used to look like north africa. early humans were moving into north america making many extinctions. now we see more with modern farming technology. >> reporter: what gives you hope this will be averted? >> there's a lot of concern about this. this paper has gotten a lot of attention and groups are trying to preserve habitats and limiting the effects of climate change. if we can do that we can preserve these for future generations. >> reporter: there you go. nick is the co-author of "the sixth mass extinction." it would be a few hundred years off, obviously not in our

lifetime, but our descendants could experience this. >> so bob, if we took action, could we prevent it? some people say, for example, climate change, if it reaches a certain point, there's nothing we can do to reverse it. is there hope that we can reverse things? >> reporter: well, i believe that gets into a whole different argument of climate change. are we at the point of no return, that being one of the key issues with regards to mass extension. the other being de-forestation and man moving into hunt, that sort of thing. 10,000 years ago this continent had a lot of animals, but we came in as settlers and wiped out a lot of the species through the natural process of trying to get food. one thing that should be noted is that the animals that would still be around are more like deer and cows. so as far as humans are concerned and having a source for meat, that would still be

around, just the other guys wouldn't. >> interesting, thank you, bob. switching gears now at 6:47, you are paying a lot more for gas and food, but get ready to pay more to fly as well. several airlines are raising prices to try to pay for that fuel. jet fuel prices up 19% from two months ago. airline executives have predicted jet frul to cost about $270 a gallon this year, but unrest in the middle east has led to $3.10 a gallon and it continues to go up. some airfares are up $100. united airlines is tacking on a $20 fuel surcharge for roundtrips. >> what we are seeing is one airline initiates a fair increase the others respond and it is sticking. >> experts predict that higher airfares will stick through the summer vacation season as well. yeah, we are talking about a whole other mammoth now. we are expecting more snow in

mammoth as of sunday. same goes for everywhere in lake tahoe. we are going to get about a foot, maybe a half a foot. a juicy system on the way. high pressure in control for today. that's going to keep things really nice. in fact, today looks better than any day we have seen in the past two weeks with temperatures back towards that 70-degree mark. abundant sunshine for today. and it is already warming up out there. 45 degrees in hayward. 45 in san mateo. you see the time right there, 6:49. the sun rises in one minute. once that happens our temperatures will be on their way to the mid to upper 60s. 64 degrees in redwood city. 67 degrees in los gatos. and i have saved the best part of your forecast for the extended. tomorrow, even warmer, 70 degrees in all cities across the bay area. it will be beautiful. rain returns heading into your sunday. so get ready for that. i think you'll enjoy the next two days as we'll see temperatures really, really warm for this time of the year. typically we hit about 60.

67 today. 70 degrees for tomorrow. certainly warm enough, brent, for you to jump out of the cake in a speedo. or maybe just do a picnic, up to you. >> because nothing says happy birthday more than -- nevermind. this is a breakfast show. 6:50 right now. still to cop on "today in the bay," scott mcgrew is going to clean things up with this week's gadget friday. and the britney spears mystery seems to be over. we'll find out where and when she'll have a concert in the bay area coming up. and have you ever wanted a ferrari that can fit some car seats? good news, we'll tell you about one. and some other new cars aabout t about to hithe mar tket. thkeat's next. hundreds more in your wallet year after year. feed me! saving you money -- now, that's progressive. call or click today.

we now know more about britney spears concert in castro. the concert will be on march 27th. castro street between market and 19th streets will be shut down before midnight on saturday, march 26th, until 4:00 or 5:00 in the afternoon on march 27th. the concert will be televised on march 29th. the same day spears will release her new album. 6:53. no big road closures to tell you about right now, but we want to check in with mike to check in on what's happening this friday. >> look at the slowing approaching tully road. we have a convoy with a big rig and four other cars. northbound slows before you get to capitol expressway. use the off-ramp to stay clear of the commotion going on because the truck is stuck at the off-ramp. we'll follow this throughout the morning. the golden gate bridge is driving in from the north. the peninsula is clear, you may see patchy fog near santa rosa. keep that in mind through wine country as well. the bay bridge, it is friday

light. we still have no metering lights turned on. the chp report shows no metering lights on in the left lane. stay over to your right if you can. taking interstate 880 to the sierra, you are lucky enough to do that. no chains are required but things could change this weekend. >> you never know. if you are going to fuel up, soaring gas prices are reigniting interest in economy cars. we have good information for you this morning coming from a guy who spent the first half of his life as one of the country's most successful car dealers until he sold it all to become a car buyer's advocate helping them get the best information possible about what's often their second biggest purchase. he's waiting for me to introduce him, car pro jerry reynolds is joining us live from ft. worth this morning. good morning, jerry. >> reporter: great to be with you guys this morning. >> it is good to have you. you have reviews of top cars, what is that behind you? >> i do. i tell you, this is my new favorite sport coup. this is the 2011 infinity ipl

g-37 coupe. this car has beautiful lines, but get a shot of the interior here because this car is absolutely stunning on the inside. now, ipl stands for infinity performance line, so a lot of the attraction to this car is actually not just the way it looks but it is also under the hood. it is a $52,000 car with 348 horses in a v-6, which is pretty amazing in itself. but the thing i love the most, especially this week, 27 miles to the gallon out of the road in this car. >> the geneva car show is underway, anything interesting there? >> yeah, two cars caught my eye. that's where the auto manufacturers pull out the stops. there's a ferrari ff, a four-seater ferrari. it makes you wonder why ferrari after all these years would make a four-seater car. and the answer is because of the

success of the porsche panorama. now the ferrari coming out is going to be $360,000. so we are going to see how that goes. i know, what's the monthly payment on that, right? >> you don't want to take it out of the garage. >> no, you don't. the volkswagon bus is coming back. the new bus is going to be a little smaller and be all electric. and it is getting a very, very good reception in geneva. it is a concept right now, but we'll see if it comes. i think if it does it will be a hit. >> no kidding. a lot of people like that one, especially if you can get a lot of kids in it. so speaking of gas prices, you have some good picks for us as well. we are all looking to cut down on that expense. >> no doubt. and these cars are all pure gasoline, no hybrids, no electrics, no dee i'lls. these are all cars under $20,000. first one up on the list is the

new chevy cruz. 42 miles a gallon. the ford fiesta is completely loaded under $19,000. and you have to look at the new hyundai elantra. >> jerry, so great to talk to you. have a great weekend. thank you for the great recommendations. if you are into the cool stuff, we'll talk gadgets. it is gadget friday. here's the mint robot. this is from evolution robotics. you turn it on and put a swiffer on it. the swiffers you can get at the store. and off it will go. it will also wet mop. this is about $200. >> not $230,000, just $200. >> not like the ferrari. help us all. $200 it will go wet or dry. it will clean up birthday cake. it will do whatever you need it to do. it is very cool. >> i think you put a little cup holder on the top and it can

bring you your beer, too. you can program that in. >> we should point out it is laura's birthday tomorrow. >> look at that. >> before we go, happy birthday to laura. thank you for joining us. ♪

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