might be your best bet for getting into work. we'll explain coming up in a live report. it is going to be a wet, soggy morning. rain coming in. we'll check the forecast and, of course, the commute. it is thursday, march 24th. this is "today in the bay." good morning to you. thank you for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> i'm brent cannon. we'll get started with meteorologist christina loren. we have big rains headed our way this morning. yes, we usually don't get this much action on the radar. take a look at this green blob overtaking the entire radar picture. this is the front coming in already spreading showers now along the peninsula all the way throughout the north bay. we still have a spotty line of showers between antioch and san jose. so wherever you head this morning make sure you give yourself plenty of time. you really want to take it easy out there. of course, we already are

starting out with a few trouble spots. we'll navigate through them now with mike inouye. good morning, christina. we'll get to the maps -- hey, laura, good morning. we'll check out things. laura is busy at work while we check out the maze. folks are getting to work this way. the maze is moving smoothly. northbound is your commute direction for the morning, but the southbound has the sig alert. christie smith is on the scene. the latest from chp is one lane reopened a few minutes ago. one lane is blocked by a drain that's a problem near davis and marina where the activity is going on. she will bring us the latest in a few minutes. here's a live shot of the traffic flow with the volume coming over 880 near the peninsula. still the camera shakes with gusty conditions. we'll follow this. back to you. a manhunt is underway in the south bay right now as police look for a gunman who shot and killed a man a few hours ago in san jose. now police say it happened at a shopping center on lundy avenue. marla tellez is live at the

scene this morning. there are bizarre circumstances in this shooting? >> reporter: brent, good morning. yeah, this is not your typical homicide investigation. i'll explain the bizarre elements in just a moment. first, let me show you where we are. we are in the king barry center at the intersection of bariesa and lundy. when we arrived this morning police had the entire place taped off. now the 7-11 and donut shop are open here for business. homicide investigators are focusing their investigation near the lundy liquors with the man was shot. they responded to the shooting about 9:10 last night. when they got here there was no victim and no suspect. this is where the bizarre elements come into play. then about 9:20, about ten minutes later, a man checked himself into a hospital with gunshot wounds. police say that man was the one shot here and drove himself to

the hospital. he ended up dying at that hospital early this morning about 1:15. it was about four hours after being shot. police are not releasing his name. and at this point they are not releasing any suspect information. now, when our photographer arrived on the scene this morning, he saw some folks wearing 7-11 uniforms being taken away by police but to be clear police say they are not under arrest. those people are not under arrest. they were taken in for questioning. now, this is the 13th homicide of the year here in san the jose. and all of 2010 only 20 homicides were reports. so we have 13 so far. it is not even april yet. we can speculate this has to do with budget cuts, police don't have as many on the force. we are waiting to hear from police to give comment about that. in the meantime, i'll recap, a deadly shooting at the corner of bariesa and lundy.

the suspect is still on the loose this morning. live in san jose, marla tellez, "today in the bay." >> any chances this could be gang-related? sometimes we see a spike in gang fights because of turf wars instead of budget issues? >> reporter: when speaking to police this morning, i asked about gang relation. nothing so far in terms of that. we'll see what unfolds here. >> thank you, marla. appreciate it. 5:04. today marks the 17th anniversary of a cold case homicide in santa clara and police want your help in solving it. police will hold a news conference in hopes of finding new clues in the shooting death of matthew flores in 194. he was shot in the parking lot of applied materials in santa clara. he was a 26-year-old gulf war veteran and new father to a baby girl. police are trying to track down a group of teenagers linked to a violent robbery spree in the east bay. the group may have beaten up four teenagers in three separate robberies within a 24-hour

period in discovery bay. officers say the group targeted a 19-year-old pizza delivery man on cullen drive monday night. the next afternoon the group allegedly beat up a 14-year-old boy who was walking on lakeshore circle and then attacked the 13-year-old and another 14-year-old on the same street. police are looking for a murder suspect that looted them for years. officers say ricardo fuentes lived in and out of santa rosa to seize kids the past six years. he changes his appearance every time losing weight, shaving his head and sometimes dressing as a woman. in january of 2005 fuentes allegedly walked into an apartment full of people and executed a man. a $2,500 reward is being offered for his capture. the latest from japan this morning after a television helicopter got new video of what appears to be smoke coming from several nuclear reactors.

you can see the smoke rising from reactors, one, two, three and four. the smoke is coming out of number four for the first time. the top japanese officials say the smoke has to do with an increase in pressure but there's no immediate danger. radiation is still leaking from the plant this morning and it is not getting any better. in fact, two workers were taken to the hospital earlier today after they stepped in contaminated water. meantime, survivors are having a tough time getting back to normal nearly two weeks after the original earthquake. 660,000 homes do not have water. and officials say that the city water supplies may be contaminated with radiation. 209,000 homes do not have any kind of electricity. and the search continues for the missing. police say 16,500 people are still unaccounted for and some 9,700 are dead. and people here continue to send their thoughts and prayers to those affected by the quake and tsunami. tonight the hekone estate and

gardens will hold a candlelight vigil. this will take place at the madrone mound main gate at 6:30. and in san bruno 80 symbolic gestures to the disaster victims tonight. 1,000 paper cranes will be strung together. they promise anyone who folds 1,000 origami cranes will be granted a long wish of long live or recovery from an illness. this will happen at 2:00 p.m. this afternoon. we expect more rain, thunderstorms and possibly hail to hit the bay area this morning. maybe in another hour or two. bob redell is live in san francisco with a look at the conditions folks could be facing. bob? good morning to you, brent. if there's ever a day to alter your commute, today is probably that day. right now is the time to be on the road. yes, the asphalt is wet, but

relatively speaking the roads are pretty much dry. but forecasters expect that to change very soon, as you mentioned, in an hour or so. the worst of the storm is expected to plow into the bay area just in time for the heaviest part of the morning commute, which means places like 101 and 280 here in san francisco could end up flooding like yesterday. the national weather service is expecting us to get pounded with one to two inches of rain. hence the reason they issued a flood advisory for small creeks and streams. noaa is predicting no major rivers to overflow. this is the scene along the los gatos creek trail where parts of the trail are under water because upstream the santa clara valley water district had a release of water from the lexington water reservoir to prevent it from flooding. they are monitoring the saturation levels in the ground, that's how much water is still in the ground, and right now it is at 95% in certain areas which

means there's the potential for landslides like the one we saw in the santa cruz mountains earlier this year or this week. wind will be near 25 miles per hour as we heard christina loren mention to us. enough to bring trees down and to trash the umbrellas. we thank our viewer who sent us these pictures you are looking at. she went around the city yesterday and was taking pictures, there were about 20 of them. expect to see more today. reporting live here in san francisco, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> go out and find the broken umbrellas, bob. we want to check in with christina to find out when the brunt of this is going to hit this morning. >> yeah, it is already starting to push into the north bay and spreading south now along the peninsula. we'll get to the radar in a minute. here are the watches and warnings in place. it is really going to start to get active up in the north bay.

the moderate and heavy rain is coming down by 7:00 a.m. spreading south by 9:00 a.m. over the entire bay area. and we've got windy conditions and already saturated ground out there. our soils are very, very moist. so we are concerned about the potential of downed power lines and trees as we head throughout the morning. the most active weather period for the greater bay area will be between about 9:00 a.m. and noon. and we are expecting excessive rain runoff so you really want to take it easy. don't drive through areas where you cannot detect the depth of the flooding. that's a very dangerous scenario. of course, we'll check with mike inouye about where we are already seeing the flooding impacting your morning drive. take a look at this rain already spreading to the south. this is the steady rain, this is not even the brunt of it. we'll see the moderate rain push in heading throughout this afternoon. and take a look at this, already noticing a little bit of lightning firing off just to the west of eureka. this is the unstable portion of this storm sliding south. we, too, will likely see

lightning and thunderstorms in our area. we'll be watching this very closely for you all day long. you need the daytime heating for the stronger cells to develop. we'll watch for that. breaks of sunshine, just a couple of them can make for a very dangerous scenario when it comes to thunderstorms developing later on. here's what we are expecting by 9:00 a.m. moderate rain coming down across the bay area. that will continue through noon. and then we'll get a little bit of a break by 2:00 p.m. as you start to make your way home. but hey, you may want to bring a lunch today. here's the word of the day. the word of the day is eggs. if you want tickets to see the major motion picture film "hawk" enter right now. eggs is the word of the day. long on to our website at nbcbayarea.com. we are giving out 40 passes. can't deny that good time. back to you, mike inouye. technically eggs is the word of the day, but the rain, wind, trees and mud are all the word of the day for a lot of folks. livermore, get out as early as you can, is the word of the day.

the conditions are not great for driving. watch the altamont pass at the limit through livermore and past vasco road. 68 is going strong out of horizon, but ten to 15 minutes from now we'll see the slowdown start early. bay point saw slowing early, so highway 4 was a problem for folks. this morning heavier volume through the maze. the freeways are moving close to the limit for 580 and 880. all the commute directions are moving nicely. here's a live shot of the toll plaza. there's big puddles out there. you heard about a spinout in san jose. i'll check on that in the next report, but so far looking at oakland and a live shot from christie's shot at william street we have a sig alert, but chp is moving away from the scene. we'll give you an update in a couple minutes. the sticker shock at the supermarket may soon go away. that and the rest of the news before the bell is coming up in a live report. more news in just a minute. fe

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efforts to balance the budget in san jose are moving forward. three of the cities unions have agreed to new deals. city engineers and architects and city managers unions agreed to take a 10% pay cut. city firefighters agreed to a similar deal earlier this year. however, san jose needs all 11 of its unions to take pay cuts to balance that budget. even then the city still faces a steep shortfall. the price of just about everything seems to be going up these days but nicole lapin may have found something that could cause you less soon. she's at cnbc headquarters this morning with the rest of that news and everything else happening before the bell this

morning. what is going to be cheaper, nicole? >> veggies. that's great for you, right? you have a lot of mouths to feed. no, please don't feed the babies cheetohs. i'm starting to get to know you guys. i'm talking to laura about wall street stories. she mentioned triplets in passing, i was like, okay, great. i talk to you about wall street stories and you mention triplets in passing, great. in the control room, i'm like, what is in the water in san jose? why does everybody have triplets? they are like, nicole, they are married. they have the same triplets. hello! >> we have a number of multiples in our newsroom. a lot of people have twins. i don't know what the deal is here, it is crazy. >> reporter: i'm staying far away from no-corral. i'm staying close to wall street. here's what's happening on the street today. futures are inching higher

today. wall street ended higher yesterday as there was a late day rally despite unrest in the middle east and the continued crisis in japan. oil prices are being watched closely, $106 a barrel is what we are watching. japan ended flat today with europe mixed at this hour. we have some data that could drive us this morning. filings on unemployment will be big and a demand for durable goods. we have a biggie in the corporate world as well. best buy is reporting earnings before the opening. just to recap, the dow is rising 67 points yesterday to 1286. that's where we closed. the nasdaq composite ended up 14 to 2696. here's the sticker shock. we have experienced it at the supermarket. it may be coming to an end in the coming weeks as prices for vegetables has shot up about 50% in the past month. this is after cold weather in mexico and in the southern united states. many winter crops, we are talking tomatoes and produce.

now the commerce department is coming out saying that costs should come down soon as crop farmers planted after the deep freeze starting now to hit stores and grocers are switching to spring vegetables. i love cheaper apples. also, another story making headlines at cnbc right now this morning, a major home builder is testing the demand for solar power. kb homes is offering solar panels as a standard feature in ten communities in southern california. see, they don't have triplets down there. but the company says they will install panels to better estimate the cost by 30% for 2,000-square-feet homes. if the program does well kb will expand it nationwide. those are the latest headlines. you learned something about wall street. i learned something about you. a big, happy family. >> you come over any time because it is a big happy family. >> thank you. good to be with you guys. the time is 5:18.

we are checking in with meteorologist christina loren. this time another heavy batch is coming our way soon, christina. >> reporter: yeah, if you experienced yesterday storm, which many of us did, this is going to be even stronger. we are already seeing it spread south along the peninsula. so slick conditions basically everywhere you head this morning. and we are also going to see strong winds associated with this one, so 20 to 40-mile-per-hour winds pick up as we head throughout the morning hours. we are under a wind advisory. because the ground are already saturated we could potentially see downed trees and could potentially see downed power lines. that's something we are really concerned about with all the rain coming through the bay area. now we do have a flood watch in place. i think the most moisture is going to start to come down in the north bay here in the next couple of hours. the steady rain is now moving in. all of this green associated with the front is now pushing into the bay area. as i zoom out for you we have lightning strikes offshore near

eureka. this is spreading south heading throughout the day today. the core will cross over the bay area. and that makes for a very unstable environment and the possibility of strong storms. so we are concerned about that today, even the possibility, and i hate to say this, unless there's really the potential for tornadic rotation with the strong storms, so you want to keep your eye on the weather report all day long. by 9:00 a.m. the heaviest of the rain is coming down across the bay area. by about noon it is still coming down, so three hours of heavy rain could make for very dangerous conditions during your lunch break. you probably want to bring lunch today if you can or plan on going close by. here as you make your way home at 2:00 it will turn showery but we'll be feeling the aftermath of all that heavy rain. so expect a slow evening commute. we'll get to your extended forecast coming up. there's light at the end of the tunnel. in fact, by sunday, that dryer pattern shapes up. i'll let you know how long that will last coming up. back to you. a couple bay area teenagers

are getting ready to waltz, tango and cha-cha their way to the title. >> eric rosenberg and nicole amarova are headed to moscow this weekend for the international dance federation's world championships. it is actually dancing's equivalent of the olympics. they will face 15 couples from 31 different countries. they have a lot of talent. 5:21. another ruling on the battle of proposition eight. we'll tell you what the judge has to say about that. we have lines for the ipad2 that could get a lot longer. we'll look at that coming up in tech today. driving down the north bay on the maps, i wish this animation had windshield wipers because you'll need them. we'll check on the north bay and the adro peninsula aun aheroun bay. we are watching for whatever else you have for us. the mute is coming up. the commute is coming up. "know the species, know the stain." lanolin-free coat, i know it's an alpaca. walks in here, looks says "hey look, it's a llama!" cleaning the stain like he would a llama stain. time he's wasting. ♪ call 1-800-steemer d

proposition eight will remachb in effect until the courtroom fight is over. that's the ruling from the federal appeals court. two couples at the center of the fight against prop eight wanted same sex marriages to be able to resume as that legal case is being appealed. but the court turned that bid down yesterday. meantime, prop eight supporters are also appealing another ruling by a u.s. district judge. he ruled that the state's ban on same sex marriage is unconstitutional, so you've got a couple fights going on. but for now, they will not resume. when it comes to the weather, a lot of rain will come down. that will certainly affect the morning commute. how are we looking now, mike? >> considering the rain we have had the last couple of days and this morning, we are doing all right. the peninsula is getting hit hard right now.

101 and 280 show no major issues. the tape call pattern near 5:30 we see a blip that clears up later this morning closer to 6:00. we are watching 92. that could be a problem near highway 1 as the fog starts to roll later this morning. we are looking over here to the maze. a smooth drive with no wind advisories for the bay area bridge this morning. we'll watch the inclement weather and take you further out. here's a live shot of the bay bridge toll plaza. we have big puddles approaching. the gusts this morning, we are following the wind conditions. further out in antioch, i thought 64 would be lower by now, but we see a steady flow of traffic westbound. watch the speeds adjust and the volume of traffic increase. a live look at oakland 880 with the camera shaking because of the wind, we are following the sig alert south of here, but traffic is flowing well so far. the update is coming up soon. thank you very much. there's already a shortage of

ipad 2's and the wait could get longer. >> generally they do a good job of looking into apple's manufacturing problems, but problems with the supplies in japan could stretch the wait for the ipad 2 to seven weeks by the middle of summer. apple doesn't comment on estimates like that but anecdotely there are still lines and waits outside of apple stores. a fascinating investigation by the newspaper "l.a. weekly" this morning looks back on the old attacks against craigslist and testimony in congress claiming that more than one-third of the workers who advertised in the adult section were underaged prostitutes. this morning some of the very people involved in that testimony admit the statistics given to congress and wide he repeated in the media were essentially made up for a good headline said one spoke woman for an anti-prostitution group,

quote, if we give statistics to the public with all the words and the stuff that is actually accurate, i mean, i've tried to do that with the pr firm and they said they won't read that too much. one underaged prostitute is one too many, but this was testimony against craigslist in congress. it makes for an interesting read this morning. 5:27. pg&e makes its case today not to be fined millions of dollars but the public utilities commission in california. and the utility is also offering options for those who do not want the smart meters installed in their homes. good morning. i'm christie smith live in san leandro. if you are taking 880 south this morning we have a problem for you. clogged on,aine lane shut down, we'll tell you when it will reopen coming up in a live report. [ bob ] i'd love to build bird houses for the rest of my life.

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talk about bad timing, i'm bob redell. i'll tell you about the storm that's supposed to hit us at the height of the morning commute. that story is coming up. plus another landslide in the santa cruz mountains. we'll tell you where this one happened. and the rain is making a raw sewage spill in the east bay even worse this morning as police look for a suspect. and a live look outside. it will be a rough commute this morning. sorry to say. it is thursday morning, march 24th, this is "today in the bay." >> thank you for joining us. i'm brent cannon. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. stay safe this morning. we want to check the morning commute with mike. we have a sig alert to tell you about. overall, the entire east bay forecast for the traffic, what we are looking at is a slower drive. allow extra time because of the lighter volume of traffic. since 2:00 in the morning

problems for southbound 880. the sig alert is at williams street with roadway flooding with a drain blocked in the area. the crews are still on scene. and christie smith is there to give us an update. flooding is one issue, and the weather is the other issue. what's going on right now? we have weather coming in, and it will definitely impact your morning drive. as you can see, the steady rain is now pushing in coming down from santa rosa through san jose getting ready to hit oakland where our own christie smith is. we'll talk to her in a minute. i want to let everybody know that we have a very, very dangerous commute in store. a lot of rain coming down over the past several weeks. and our grounds haven't had a good opportunity to dry out, so we are really concerned about the potential for downed trees and power lines. and christie was dry last time we checked, but the showers are pushing towards her. we'll check to see how she is doing in oakland. good morning, christie. >> reporter: good morning to you. don't jinx me, it is still dry out here this morning.

i tell you, we are on 880 and have one clogged drain that is really giving crews a heck of a time out here in san leandro. the trucks just moved on but you can see there are cones still blocking the number one lane between marina and davis street. now, overnight the number one and the number two lanes were completely closed down because of the rain and the flooding. three drains were completely clogged overnight. what alerted caltrans to this, i speak to the dispatcher just before 2:00 a.m., one call came in about the flooding going on. that was cause for concern. then they got another call about a van that spun out and hit the center divide. it is getting very dinlgs. they shut down two lanes. crews put out flares to get drivers to avoid the hazard, but 880 was so wet from the downpour that the flares wouldn't stay lit. they had crews out here kind of directing traffic on the freeway. within the hour, though, they

got the number two lane reopened. i spoke with a dispatcher who is telling me that the number one lane out here should be reopened within the next 20 minutes or so. certainly, very important, because 880 is busy on a good day. i'm watching things from over here. my colleague, bob redell, is over in the city looking add things there. bob, how is it going? >> reporter: well, we are having the same issues on 101 that you are speaking about on 880. we made the drive from san jose to 101 and 280 where we are right now. roads are wet from yesterday, but conditions are fine. but the problem is we expect this to change within the hour or so when the storm comes in during this morning's commute. so if you can get out on the roads now, this would be your best bet to get to work safely. now, the national weather service is expecting us to get pounded with one to two inches of rain, hence the reason theyish uh issued a small flood

advisory for small creeks and streams. you are looking at video right now from the los gatos creek trail where parts of the trail have been under water. that's because upstream the santa clara valley water district had a release of water from the lexington reservoir to prevent it from flooding. the usgs is also monitoring what's going on with regards to our saturation levels. that's how much water is still in the ground. and right now those levels are high, 95% in certain areas. >> any additional water that comes from the next week of our storms has the potential to destabilize the land slopes and generate landslides. >> reporter: also, we are talking about winds 25 to 35 miles per hour. those aren't tremendous wind speeds but enough to bring down trees in areas that have had the soil loosened. you are looking right now at a montage, of you will, of trashed umbrellas. we want to thank our viewer jackie dwyer for taking those

pictures yesterday. just to show you it is windy out there, if you are going to be out there today, keep an eye on the umbrella because otherwise you could end up in jackie's photo album there. reporting live in san francisco, bob redell, "today in the bay." thank you, bob. now there's also some new trouble in the santa cruz mountains this morning as well. check this out. rain near mount herman last night caused another hillside to giveway. it is about five miles from the one in scott's valley we have been keeping an eye on for about a week now. and, of course, the ground is still unstable this morning. this is the kind of thing we could see all over the bay area. another tornado was spotted yesterday as well. this one was touching down in williams north of sacramento. you can see some of the damage to the roofs there. apparently it ripped off some tiles and shattered some car windows, but nobody was hurt. again, get out into the central part of the state and with the sunshine coming in you may see tornadoes today. you may spell something, too. oakland police are working a case that just stinks. raw sewage floating through some

of the city's most notable neighborhoods. more than 350,000 gallons of the stuff spilled into the socill creek after somebody apparently broke into a manhole, loaded it with rocks causing the pipes to burst. oakland public works was able to pump most of it out but 84,000 gallons ended up downstream. police say stay clear of that creek. so far there are no arrests. this morning state regulators could decide to crack down on pg&e through fines that could total $1 million per day. california public utilities commission says pg&e has not turned over enough of its safety records in the wake of the deadly san bruno explosion. specifically, the utility did not handover pressure test records for one-third of the gas license. the proposed fines would be the biggest the commission has issued against pg&e for safety violations. if the commission decides to fine pg&e, the punishment

doesn't go into effect until pg&e has a chance to defend itself on monday. the commission is also putting pressure on pg&e to create an opt-out fan for the smart meter program. the move comes after growing complaints that the wireless electricity and gas meters may expose people to radiation. more than 30 local governments in northern and central california have called for temporary bans on the devices until more research is done. customers who choose to opt out of the program have to pay the costs themselves but the opt-out plan is requiring to be cost effective. the time is 5:37. we have been keeping tabs on this next batch of rain coming our way. a more powerful system. and meteorologist christina loren has details on what to expect this morning. >> good morning to you. yeah, make sure that you're aware of the very dangerous driving conditions before you head out that front door. you want to mentally prepare yourself because you could get caught up in some very heavy downpours this morning. if you are leaving right now you are going to get the best of the morning drive because as we

continue to head through the next few hours, particularly towards 9:00 or 10:00 a.m., we'll see the most severe weather come through. at least for the first part of the day. then our concern shifts to the possibility of some strong storms developing as we head throughout this afternoon and the potential is certainly there for some of these storms to generate some pea-sized hail. very strong winds and very heavy downpours. they are quick-moving storms. if you get caught up in one of the cells, it will rain on you heavily. maybe hail on you, but it will create very dangerous driving conditions because the roadways are not equipped to withstand this much rain coming down as a fast rate. the steady rain is coming in. this is our concern moving through the latter portion of the day. the core is slide along the california coast and probably end up right over the bay area. at that time we could see some pretty strong storms develop. so we are concerned about that. the potential for excessive rain runoff, especially down the mountain slopes, we are very concerned. redwood city, you could see

serious flooding today. the same goes for everyone along a peninsula. and the north bay, you have received the most rain, we have had a lot of rain here the past couple of weeks. we have a storm watch in place. it is already starting to push in. and we have a flood advisory in place. by 9:00 a.m. the bulk of the moisture pushes in along the coastline. san francisco is hit hard along your lunch break. same for san jose. this will continue for several hours. we are just going to get dumped on. so you just want to take it easy, be aware. if your backyard is not already a river, it will probably be one later on today. getting through all that rain is not going to be easy this morning, but we'll make it easier for you with mike inouye. good morning, christina. now i'm going to sing justin timb timberlake's "cry me a river" all day long. the latest news is a pickup stuck in the mud at the interchange. all lanes are cleared and they pulled the truck out of the mud.

slippery conditions and muddy road sides will make it tough if you have a flat tire. the peninsula was hit by rain a few minutes ago. 101 is holding up steady as well as 280. no problems heading into the city. the exclamation point is bob redell near the interchange of 101 and 280. one of the usual suspects where we see roadway flooding through the city. so far no major flooding reported there on that side of the bay. that's great news. the north bay still have the panorama highway flooding still in effect for the north bay. here's a live look at the bay bridge toll plaza. the big presence for puddles here at the approach, watch the off-ramps as well. christie smith and her crew are still there with a sig alert south near marina and davis. the volume is picking up. the crews should clear shortly. back to you guys. thank you. 5:40 right now. the south bay youth football coach was arrested and accused of child molestation. also, a look at what's in store for day four of the barry bonds perjury trial. plus, we are getting a sneak

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when it comes to the crisis in libya, is the united states doing too much? volunteers are criticizing the mission and americans think we should be doing more. "today in the bay" ice tracie potts is live on capitol hill where lawmakers are demanding answers from the president. good morning, tracie. >> reporter: good morning, laura. today the president will sit down with his national security team trying to come up with some of those answers. they are really in a tough position. the president has said we are not committing ground troops, we are going to be out of this in a few days. but new one of the coalition partners, france, is saying this can't be done in just five days. the president saying we are not going to be in charge, but who is? france has said they only want a technical role and don't want to take over.

nato is undecided about who will take over. and the president is really taking a lot of heat from capitol hill, not only about not consulting them before this military action, but also now about where we go from here. one senator calling for hearings here on capitol hill about the whole situation in libya. laura, as you eluded to, interesting new poll results this morning. a new poll found that 60% of americans support the action in libya. 20% of them strongly supporting it. it also found that eight in ten say we should be doing more to get moammar gadhafi out. live from capitol hill, tracie potts for "today in the bay." >> like always, very vocal about it. thank you, tracie. a bay area youth football league is under scrutiny this morning as a coach faces accusations of child molestation. 28-year-old michael hagan is charged with molesting one of his players during a three-month period last year. he coached in the oakland youth

program but was recently fired. he's scheduled to enter a plea next week. day four of the barry bonds trial will get underway in a few hours. mike murphy, the giants' equipment manager, was on the stand yesterday. steve hoskins says greg anderson admitting to ejecting bonds with steroids. he also told the jury he saw bonds walk into a room with anderson who had a syringe with a needle. bonds claims he never knowingly used performance enhancing drugs. the three joe's of the tea party movement are making their way here today. joe miller will join joe the plumber who you may recall making headlines during the 2008 presidential election and arizona sheriff joe arpiyo who calls himself america's toughest sheriff. they are all in the city to raise money for a nevada republican candidate, sharon

angle, running for a senate seat there. the forecast of a wet weekend is chasing britney spears indoors. the pop star won't be performing in san francisco's castro district this weekend. instead she will tape a performance at the bill graham civic center on sunday at noon. the free concert is still free. you can get the details at nbcbayarea.com. just click on the britney story on our home page. free but i think you have to get some tickets ahead of time. >> yeah, you have to have a ticket but don't have to pay for one. that's the deal there. checking the forecast this morning with christina, we have been talking about the next batch making its way in. >> well, you know it is significant if it is keeping britney spears out of the bay area. also, keith urban's concert is canceled because of bad weather. we'll get a break. i can tell you when. this weekend, looks like sunday, monday, tuesday, finally a dry pattern shaping up. but we have to get through a few more wet days. today the most significant in the coming four to five days as we will see the most rain today.

some pretty heavy rain is coming down in northern california. we have the real-time lightning strikes becoming more frequent. and this unstable air mass is going to continue to slide south. as we head throughout the afternoon, we are expecting the showers to continue pretty much all day long. you can see they have gone from spotty to steady with all the moisture coming in associated with the front. now, heading throughout this afternoon, we are then going to see enough daytime heating for the potential for very strong thunderstorms to develop. so we'll be watching that very closely for you. jeff ranieri and myself are not leaving the storm center today until we know all is clear. it is going to be a very turbulent day for us, i can tell you that much. showers will continue to stream in. right now we have a pretty steady rain coming down from richmond all along the peninsula pushing south towards the south bay. so wherever you head just count on very slick conditions, but you're going to get the best of the morning drive right now. the heavy stuff moves in as we head through 8:00 and 9:00. we are expecting some pretty strong runoff as we head throughout the hours.

our roads are not equipped for the rain rates. the potential for flash flooding is out there. you see the yell he from the futurecast, this is the position we expect the front in at 9:00 a.m. moderate rain coming down across the greater bay area will continue for several hours. it doesn't move very far by noon where we are still getting a lot of the heavy rain in the south bay. it is all the way through the east bay. you definitely want to make sure you are aware, we have saturated grounds out there, and i really can tell you that you want to make sure to keep your guard driving today. it is very dangerous out there. back to you guys. thank you very much. good advice. the first half of the swede 16 teams play today. that means after a brief hiatus our bracket challenge is back on this morning. >> it is never brief at our house, we keep it going on. this is where we stand. i have been hearing about it for days, brent is winning with 50 points. >> winning! >> i don't know if you want to win that way, winning! i'm coming in next at 47. christina followed with 43.

mike at 41. definitely not scott winning at 30 points. he says he's in the top 25 or 26. round three is actually worse three points for each correct pick. we'll see who makes a comeback there. >> i got to hang on to the lead. the giants' opening day roster looks shaky this morning. cody ross is questionable after he strained his right calf. we think it could have happened on this play. watch as he goes back to chase this home run that goes over the fence. but then as he came back he limped out to the dugout and left the game. he had an mri but we don't have the results on that yet, but he's limping. meanwhile, brian wilson, his mild rib cage muscle strain may be a little more than mild. he did throw yesterday but that session was cut short. it is possible that he could end up starting the season on the disabled list. i don't know.

it is nearly show time for the giants, meantime, because the cable network started airing promotions for the team's upcoming reality series. >> yes, they have not officially released the trailer just yet, but somebody posted it on youtube. and the clip answered pretty answering questions, like does andre torres workout by lifting cinder blocks while wearing designer jeans? yes, he does. does bruce bocce spend his afternoons on a boat reeling in sharks? yes, he does. what about brian wilson carrying his own golf bag when hitting the links? it looks like he does, just like me. better yet, does brian wilson drive an unmarked police car to practice? >> you can't get pulled over in an unmarked police vehicle, fact. romo got in my car in the backseat and he's currently locked in there. >> i guess, yes, it is a fact. for fans, it looks like it will be must-see tv. the first episode airs on april

13th. to see the full trailer, check out the sports tab on our website. it will be made east for you on nbcbayarea.com. i think it looks fun. the time is 5:50. coming up, we'll introduce you to the california woman whose wedding dress design has turned some royal heads. and does the website groupon seem to have lost its luster? we'll look at that coming up in tech news today. and watch this motorcycle here. not a good day for a motorcycle. we have mudslides and spinouts to report. srtiglein als a sig alert also in e bthay. that's coming up. .

all of the biggest labels in fashion are vying to create a wedding dress fit for a future

queen. from chenel to vera wang. >> now you can add another name to the list. civil srithis 72-year-old, sylvia, used to work in the royal court. on a whim she decided to mail sketches to the royal palace. she heard back and a few months she got a letter from st. james palace thanking her for sending the sketches along. >> is there a piece of you that wonders if the minute before she steps out of that carriage that it could be yours? >> no, i don't think i'm that foolish to think that. >> hey, you think you can get credit for it instead of just finding out when she steps out of the carriage, which it won't be a carriage, it will be a rolls royce. kate middleton may not be walking down the aisle in her design, but her connection to the royal court is drumming up business at her shop. >> aren't they using some kind of carriage?

>> they are using the carriage after they are married. but going to she's going in a rolls royce. just a random factoid i happen to have. let's hope she doesn't go through antioch here. >> a carriage could be good here. highway 4 has a slowing. this is 25 minutes later than i thought it would pop up here, but we have speeds in the 30s. this is a thursday, a heavier commute. this is a surprise, a little treat for folks. but that's sloppy weather building up by the 9:00 hour. christina is showing you rain through the cartinas and venetian bridges. get into the office before that hits the roadways. we are looking north of the bay for heavy rain. but south of there we are looking at the east shore freeway holding up with an 1846, 18-minute drive. richmond is going to get hit with the rain again like yesterday. here's the oakland area south of the bay bridge, south of the headlights heading down to the sig alert, we have the cones in the lanes approaching williams.

we have an issue through san leandro. here's a look at christie smith with an update coming up. you can see the camera shaking with the wind building up a little bit, guys. >> it is going to be a tough commute out there. has groupon lost its luster? scott mcgrew says fewer small businesses may be signing on. >> yeah, and when they do, laura, they are not offering as big of a savings. now this is according to "the wall street journal." you used to find huge deals on groupons. restaurants offering half off. the restaurant shares the revenue with groupon and eats into the profits as far as the savings go, but the journal says this morning small businesses are now shopping around looking at other social websites like living social or gill. business has fallen since the disastrous coupon during the super bowl.

groupon is denying that this morning. zynga just relocated from the old offices in soma. the base citizen newspaper says this morning the company is threatening to leave for silicon valley unless it gets a better tax deal. you can point to twitter. twitter negotiated a new deal with the city lifting the payroll tax so that it would stay. and according to the paper, zynga plans to meet with supervisors and the mayor. i think you can expect this to continue to roll through young companies as they say, wait a second, what about us? this is "if you give a mouse a cookie." that's right. a group of teenagers linked to a ba encrimas e bay. we'll have the details coming up next. ♪ have a good daisy

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