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tv   Today in the Bay  NBC  November 30, 2011 5:00am-6:00am PST

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this is "today in the bay." good morning to you, and thanks so much for joining us on this wednesday morning. it's 5:00 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> good morning. i'm jonl kelly. let's get you right to the weather with meteorologist christina loren. >> major changes moving in through the next couple hours. this morning, a foggy start. it's not goings to last that long. certainly foggy enough to really slow you down on your morning drive and possibly we could see some flight delays out of sfo. we're watching for that. none just yet. we still have pretty good visibility in livermore and fairfield. that's because that's where the winds are picking up. that is what's going to be the big weather story over the course of the next 48 hours. gusty winds pumping through the bay area. we'll take you through that forecast. 5:00 a.m. and mike has already had a couple crashes. >> the sig alert, back up to the waldo tunnel. the second accident was called. i just got calls it's over on
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the shoulder. a few car loads of folks waiting for taxis in fog. a slower drive all the way down to the golden gate bridge. all lanes are open. live look shows you you can't see those lanes. we showed this to you a couple seconds ago. now we see the headlines across the bridge. the speeds -- >> pretty foggy out there. 5 xoo 01 right now. it will an emotional day in one bay area city as friends and neighbors say good-bye to a police officer killed in the line of duty. memorial services for jim capoot will be held this morning in vallejo. the father of five was a mentor to fellow officers as well as dozens of high school students. "today in the bay's" christie smith joins us from vallejo with what is ahead. >> reporter: good morning, laura. the memorial service for jim capoot starts at 11:00 this morning. when we first arrived maybe 90 minutes ago there were actually people still here on the field putting the finishes touches on it. they are expecting a huge crowd,
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up to 4,000 people out here to pay their respects to capoot who was killed in the line of duty on november 17th while chasing a bank robbery suspect. capoot was married with three daughters of his own and he took care of two other children, just 45 years old when he died. governor jerry brown is expected to attend along with countless police officers from across the bay area and california. this service is being held at vallejo's corbis field where he was once a high school basketball coach. he served as a marine and dedicated 19 years to the vallejo police department. the service is being held while class is in session. students aren't necessarily being encouraged to attend but many are expected to come here any way to pay their respects as well. they knew him and loved him, too. the city released a statement calling him one of the most noble men to ever serve the
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community of vallejo. the service expected to last about 90 minutes to two hours. live in vallejo, christie smith, back to you in san francisco. it is 5:02 right now. >> the remains of a south bay national guardsman killed in afghanistan will arrive today at moffitt field later this afternoon. 21-year-old sean walsh of san jose died on november 16th from injuries he sustained after an enemy attacked his camp. walsh was part of an east bay unit deployed to afghanistan on a one-year tour that was supposed to end just before this christmas. a public memorial will be held tomorrow at oak hill cemetery in san jose. today we will find out how long several members of a notorious gang will stay behind bars. a u.s. district judge in san francisco will sentence five ms 13 gang members. the men were convicted in august of racketeering, conspiracy,
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murder and other charges. two were also convicted in 2008. closing arguments and jury deliberations start in the case against former bat police officer johan mess mehserle. they are charged with using excessive force in november 2008. caruthers took the stack earlier this week admitting he is no angel but he did not deserve to get beat up. mehserle testified caruthers was unruly and he was afraid hess would attack another officer. the occupy los angeles camp is cleared out. police moved into the camp outside city hall late last night arresting protesters who refused to leave. two days ago the mayor told protesters to clear out. so far no word on how many tents cleared out of the area or how many arrests were officially made. the l.a. encampment was one of the largest still active in the u.s. in san francisco the occupy
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movement saying thanks but no thanks this morning. they have rejected a city proposal to move their encampment from justin herman plaza to a vacant lot on mission street. some protesters said the city can't tell them how or where to protest. others argued it would be smart to accept the keys to the lot but not follow the list of rules given from the city. meantime occupy oakland protesters continue at frank ogawa plaza. activists have set up a teepee at the site since the encampment was dismantled on november 14th. vrnlths protesters say they're not sleeping. it's just a symbol for their cause. a state lawmaker is trying to make the california public utilities commission more transparent. leland yee of san francisco wants to repeal the release of records to the public without a vote by board members.
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yee says it's urgent and necessary in the wake of the san bruno explosion. they say the commission might not support a complete repeal of the secrecy law but he does believe openness is not harmful. 5:06 right now. the west coast another step closer to getting an earthquake alert system. "today in the bay's" marla tellez live in the newsroom with more on this story. >> good morning. imagine working on your personal computer and getting a pop-up alert that warns you an earthquake is about to strike. that is the hope of shake alert, a warning system currently being tested at uc berkeley and the california institute of technology. those two schools, along with the university of washington seattle, they just got a $6 million grant to share to improve that technology. scientists say shake alert could give people several seconds to more than a minute to get ready for an earthquake. in most cases that is enough
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time to seek shelter, to duck and cover, even make an emergency phone call to loved ones. of course, that could save thousands of lives and millions of dollars. the infamous aloma quake of '89 cost an estimated $6 billion. a uc berkeley professor working on the technology says a full-scale west coast warning system could be running in the next five years, but it's all about the money. it comes with a $150 million price tag. so while the $6 million grant is sizable, it covers just a small slice of the entire cost. by the way, jon, the gordon and betty moore foundation based in san francisco is the organization that awarded the money. a monumental undertaking, march los angeles thank you very much. we want to check in with meteorologist christina loren with a look at the forecast today. >> we'll see major changes, already noticing that over the course of the past half hour where we have now six miles of
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visibility in napa. working with ten miles of visibility in livermore. basically east bay, north bay, starting the clear out because that's where the winds are picking up this morning. that will be the case throughout the day today. we'll see the winds shifting out of the northeast across the board. that will be the pre domt nant wind flow. as a result we'll get really hampered later today. talking about wind gusts in excess of 50 miles per hour and sustained wind speeds at 20 to 30 miles per hour for at least ten hours, could be up to 24 hours of intense wind across the bay area. although it's calm right now and that fog is able to develop, that's not going to be the case much longer. short wave trough is right now moving through. we have to wait for this to come through before the big ridge of high pressure really sets up over the great basin. that is our wind maker as we head throughout the day today. as you q see from you futurecast, we stop the clock at 7:00 a.m. that's when we'll start to get a great deal of clearing, when the dense fog advisory is slated to expire. the late morning commuters are
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going to get a better drive. let's find out about the drive right now at 5:08 with our own mike inouye. >> christina, we'll start in the south bay where we have a couple of issues in the middle of your screen. those are construction spots that have just cleared. you'll see equipment moving, 280 and 880 both as you're coming toward the interchange. clear very soon. bottom of your screen i've circled the accident southbound 85 at blossom hill. car went off the roadway into a ditch. reminder about slick roads due to the overnight fog and also tougher to see. a live look at the golden gate bridge with the fog, a little bit of what i was talking about and some of o the crews were also talking about moving the cones across the bridge. the sig alert at the waldo tunnel has cleared. another live look shows you sunol which you can see today. a very clear view across the sunol grade and heading towards fremont. we have patches along the peninsula, south bay and into san francisco. >> thank you very much. it's 5:09 right now. an under sea volcano is erupting
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as we speak off the coast of the canary islands. experts say the volcanic rock you see bubbling is proof of the eruption. they say the increasing number of rocks means the volcano below the wart may be entering a new phase. two beaches on the islands are closed because of potential toxic gases from the volcano. laura and i have been in this game a little while. we can tell you live tv sometimes unpredictable. things not only going as planned. case in point, what happened to brian williams on the set of "nbc nightly news." >> for all the bankruptcies we've covered in this grim u.s. economy, this one gets your attention. you'll forgive us we have a fire alarm announcement going on here in the studio. perhaps not something special anymore. again, we have an announcement going on here in the studio. >> as they say, roll with it.
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this is last night. each time that alarm was turned off, it started up all over again. williams, of course, kept his cool and always has his humor. in case you're twon derg, the west coast didn't see the fire drill on tv with brian williams nightly news. they decided to retape the show, this time without the fire alarms. >> strong, dependable, didn't get up and run. obviously a false alarm. it's 5:11. how you can own a piece of the empire state building coming up in a live report. >> sounds cool. >> what the state's top analyst has to say about california's high-speed rail project. people who lived in an east bay apartment building damaged by a fire say they may sue. who they're angry at. and for the latest news, traffic, weather, good conversation andimulating infor stimulating information, find us on facebook at nbcbayarea. flakes. s out aloe and moisturizers keep hair healthy.
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welcome back. a live look from new york city. that is rockefeller center plaza where they're going to do the annual lighting of the christmas tree tonight. you can see it right here on nbc starting at 8:00. it's 5:14 a.m. right now. >> very early. foggy throughout most of the bay area this morning in case you hadn't noticed, just as it was yesterday and last night. this is what it looked like just outside our studios in san jose, kind of like a scary movie out there. you can see there's a little visibility, but you really can't see too far, can you? the fog causing delays at all three bay area airports. checking in with meteorologist christina loren. seeing the fog once again this morning. >> no delays this morning. we'll continue to update you on that information all morning
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long. taking a live look at the golden gate bridge where we're getting better visibility right now. that will continue to be the case as we head through the next hour or two. that fog is clearing out. let's take a look at your map and tell you where the fog is really starting to clear. livermore, concord, fairfield, napa, starting the get more of the northeasterly wind flow. as a result that's where you're getting better visibility this morning. the next couple hours these winds will start to pick up and it doesn't take much wind to mix out all that low cloud cover. we're expecting it to clear rapidly. dense fog advisory posted only until 7:00 a.m. we have the short wave trough, we were expecting it to arrive earlier. it took its time. right now moving through the bay area as we speak. once this is all the way through and you can see right now in san francisco we are going to start to clear out. those winds are really going to pick up throughout the day today. your forecast shows you at 7:00 a.m., mostly clear over the greater bay area. tomorrow morning, almost an entirely clear start, especially at the coast. if you're sick of the fog in
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half moon bay, socked in over the past few days, finaling lingo to get a break. we are very concerned especially over the mountain passes, through the higher elevations, north bay mountains, potential hazards, downed trees and branches which could lead to power outages, dangerous conditions. as you make your way home from work, it could become very tough for drivers. take it easy out there on your way home. right now the winds are not all that strong. it's the light winds that allow that fog to develop. that's all changing as we speak. 66 in dublin later today. i bumped your temperatures up by about three or four degrees. if you want warmth, we've got it today and a lot more sunshine than we've had all week long. 62 in concord, 64 in san ramon. 63234 pittsburgh. your seven-day outlook shows you, we'll stay nice, dry and mild temperature wise through the next few days, all the way through the weekend. monday into tuesday clouds increase. we might see a few isolated showers in the north bay. overall looking nice and dry until then.
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make sure you're ready, hold on to your hats today. mike inouye, how are we looking on the roads? >> we're looking all right. much better now since the accident, that sig alert at the waldo tunnel has cleared. the second of the accidents as i reported is over on the shoulder as well. distraction southbound 101 through the tunnel. then an easier drive towards the golden gate bridge. christina just showed you how tough it is to see there. we'll show you who tough it is at the bay bridge as well. the volume of traffic not a big deal. we can make out the eastshore freeway at the top of the screen. visibility better than yesterday. as christina said, the fog traveling around the area. san mateo bridge, we'll catch a glimpse there and see how things are shaping up. niz' easy drive as far as traffic flow. but you can barely make out the lights. you can barely make out the sign that says heavy fog on bridge, reduced speed. peninsula side, the travel times are looking really good along 101 and 280. watch out for the patchy fog
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conditions along the peninsula into the south bay. we'll look at livermore which is getting a nice break. a 14-minute drive over to the dublin interchange. if you can't afford the $5.00 foot long, subway is rolling out a new deal. for that and a look at the rest of your news before the bell, we turnl to jackie deangelis live at cnbc world headquarters this morning. good morning, jackie. >> good morning. the futures turned positive. dow futures surging right now after a miblgsed close yesterday. investors got a bigger than expected drop in home prices but a jump in consumer confidence. disappointing use out of europe as leaders agreed to boost if size of their xwalout fund, but not as much as people were expecting to be able to handle. a possible major downturn in both italy and spain. today we'll get data on private sector jobs, productivity and labor costs, manufacturing, pending home sales and the fed's beige book will be out as well
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which tracks economic conditions throughout the country. the dow rose 32 points on tuesday closing at 11,555. the nasdaq lost 11 closing at 2,515. want to buy a piece of the empire state building? the malkin family wants to create a publicly-traded real estate company that includes the skyscraper. the manhattan office has been under pressure from the down economy and cutbacks in financial industry. it's out performed rival properties thanks in part to its half a billion dollar upgrade. finally is a $5.00 foot long too price see for you? subway is announcing plans for new deal. december is traditionally a slow month for subway and the rest of the fast food industry in general. back to you. >> the meat ball sub is on me.
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the state's top analyst says a high-speed rail line in california could waste $6 billion in taxpayer money. he barbed plans for relighting on, quote, highly speculative funding sources and says it's highly uncertain the project will ever even get built. nonetheless the state intends to start construction in the central valley next year costing some $6 billion. that project will build a stretch of track too short for bullet train service. more the than half the project still needs money from congress, a doubtful scenario as federal lawmakers have already derailed high speed rail money for two straight years. >> it's 5:20 right now. tenants of a berkeley building that burned a week and a half ago are considering suing the building's owners. they say the building was plagued with electrical problems and a fire escape that led to nowhere and even an elevator that only worked sometimes. the owners of the building have started to tear it down. but they agreed to preserve a
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25-foot area around the elevator electrical room where firefighters think the fire may have started. the berkeley fire department is looking into weather there were any problems with yearly fire inspections at that building. it's 5:20 right now. coming up, despite massive budget cuts, some top u.c. employees getting raises. uc berkeley headed to court. the new lawsuit filed against the university and its chancellor. chances are your bank just got a major credit downgrade. is your money safe? we'll take a look coming up.
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welcome back. right now occupy protesters slapping uc berkeley with a
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lawsuit. 24 students and community members filed suit claiming police used excessive force during the occupy cal protest earlier this month. officers accused of beating protesters with clubs, hitting them in their face, stomach and lower body. named in the suit are several officers, the chancellor of berkeley, the police chiefs at uc berkeley and oakland and the alameda county sheriff. several investigations are under way. meantime occupy cal has more to be angry about this morning. during the uc renal into's meeting earlier this week, regents approved raises for tough employees. they voted to given the senior employees raidses ranging from 6.4% to 23%. the 23% raise went to the chief operating officer of the uc davis medical center after he received a competing offer. the uc system says the raises were necessary to bring pay in line with market rates. 5:24 right now. it's becoming common in this
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economy, another credit downgrade this morning. this time for the nation's banks. scott mcgrew joins us. what does this mean for our savings accounts? >> fortunately, jon, it means nothing, your money is safe and guaranteed by the federal government. it means more if you have stock in banks, especially bank of america founded in san francisco. standard & poor's downgraded brks of a and 14 others, meaning brks of a will have to adjust the amount of money it considers to be profit. the macro economy could also have to adjust if banks have to move less money back and forth amongst themselves. your checking account itself will be just fine. facebook in palo alto appointed not one but two people to be chief privacy officers following tuesday's settlement with the ftc. the ftc accused facebook of promising to protect your privacy, but repeatedly violating that. facebook hasn't had a chief privacy officer since chris kelly stepped away to run for
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political office. it's had several executives, mostly lawyers, working in the privacy department. mark zuckerberg posted to the facebook blog, i'm the first to admit we've made a bunch of mistakes about privacy. it's pointed out zuckerberg posted 25 times in facebook history, ten of those are essentially apologies. apple and google say they won't take part in a proposed rating system that will tell you if your mobile game is safe for children to play. big video games, the kinds you play on xbox or play station use ratings from the entertainment software ratings board. apple does not and will not. apple has a long list of things it won't accept in its games including avert sexuality, realistic violence, that kind of thing. apple will continue to have standards. >> policing itself. it is 5:26 right now. still to come on today in the bay, a community gets ready to say good-bye to the danville marine killed in afghanistan.
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coming up, the problems the fog is causing. we're going to go from extreme fog to extreme wind over the course of six hours. as we speak this morning the weather be changing. we'll take you through it all morning long. both the fog and wind will affect your drive this morning. right now i've got to give you an update on s semi truck, most of the it on the shoulder. i'll give you that hayward update coming up. em
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new this morning, thousands of people expected to come to vallejo today to pay respects to officer jim capoot killed in the line of duty. i'm christie smith. i'll tell you about the memorial service planned for today coming up in a live report. plus we have a positive update on the status of the 1-year-old boy shot in oakland. the search for the man who shot a black friday shopper in san leandro continues this morning. who police are looking for.
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it's midweek. you've made it to this point. it's downsliding from here. it's wednesday, november 30th. "today in the bay." good morning to you, and thank you so much for joining us this morning. it's 5:30 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> good morning to one and all. i'm jon kelley. let's check in with meteorologist christina loren to check on the fog status. >> you just saw the live picture of the golden gate bridge. it's been clearing dramatically over the course of the past hour. that's going to continue to be the case. we started the show this morning with visibility about a quarter mile across the board. now creeping up slowly but surely. hayward now reporting 2.5 miles of visibility. we'll continue to clear out. the winds will be gusty today. take you through the forecast coming up. first, 5:30 a.m., mike has already had a couple things he's
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watching for you. >> the latest is out of the castro valley to 238 and hayward, disabled big rig over on the shoulder just as you approach 238 itself. we also have reports of one of its tires, a big semi tire in the roadway. one car may have already hit that. no injuries are reported. and no accident scene as far as chp is concerned. >> thank you very much, mike. there's an outpouring of grief expected today at a public memorial for a vallejo police officer killed in the line of duty. james capoot was very active in the community and also a mentor to dozens of teens. "today in the bay's" christie smith is live in vallejo with more on today's memorial. christie, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, jon. the memorial service gets under way at 11:00 this morning. estimates are that up to 4,000 people could come to pay their respects to officer jim capoot at vallejo high's corbis field, the same school where he once
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coached girl's basketball. capoot was killed november 17th while chasing a bank robbery suspect. governor jerry brown is expected to be among those attending, along with hundreds of officers from all over. capoot is really an amazing career, 19 years with the vallejo police department. he served as a marine, a chp officer. he received officer of the year in 200 here in vallejo, the service we're told is expected to last about 90 minutes to two hours, and the city of vallejo released a statement calling him one of the most noble men ever to serve the community of vallejo. reporting live in vallejo, i'm christie smith. jon and laura, back to you. >> so very sat sad, christie, thank you. family and friends are keeping a close eye on the oakland baby fighting for his life after being shot during a gunfight. loved ones continue to flow into oakland children's hospital for 1-year-old hiram lawrence.
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on monday night three gunmen opened fire into a crowd in the parking lot at 7th and willow. seven people were injured including the little boy who was hit in the head. relatives are looking for answers. >> i have to be strong for my family, but inside i'm hurting. i mean it's ridiculous. it's got to stop. a lot of innocent people are getting hurt. >> we need to say that's enough, that we can't allow the children of our city to be senseless victims of senseless violence. >> police have looked at surveillance video from the scene and they say they have identified several people of interest. san leandro police right now looking for three men in connection with the black friday shooting in a walmart parking lot. officers say this man, 29-year-old detwan watson of oakland is the gunman in the attempted robbery. he's considered armed and dangerous. we have surveillance video to show you from the early morning attack.
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in the highlighted area you can see three men approach the suspects. one of the shoppers, 21-year-old christopher mario put up a fight and was shot in the neck. fortunately he's okay. police say the shoppers did haven't anything to steal and that's when the fight started. 20-year-old tony phillips was arrested at the scene, being held without bail. in addition to watson police are looking for two unidentified men, one of them last scene driving a late 1990s or early 2000's two-door burg difficult riviera. a memorial service will be held for the danville teenager guild in afghanistan. joshua corral will be honored in danville at 12:30. he will be buried at oakmont memorial park in lafayette. the 19-year-old was killed november 18th during combat operations in the helmand province. following the funeral there will be a reception at corral's alma mat mater, san ramon valley high.
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los angeles police continue to try to clear out the occupy l.a. camp this morning. about 1,400 officers in riot gear surrounded the camp late last night. they moved in and dismantled tents as they went through there. more than 200 people were arrested in the raid. most for defying orders to leave the area. the raid coming two days after the city's mayor ordered the protesters out of the area. it's 5:35 right now. you might want to move up your get-out-the-door time this morning. it's foggy across the bay area. damian trujillo is live this morning. what's it like where you are? >> reporter: a half hour ago we were above the fog bank. i guess the fog from the golden gate bridge is moving this way. right now you can't see a thing behind me. you can see the fog bank behind me and you can see the stars up above. you can't see anything anymore. getting up here wasn't easy. we're a couple hundred feet on mt. hamilton road.
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it was kind of scary on the ride this morning. visibility was only about 10 to 15 feet. the exit signs sneak up on you. alan, the photographer and i have driven this area collectively for more than 50 years at least. if you're making it way out of the house, put both hands on the wheel even if you travel that way. we found some drivers still sped through street lights this morning even with the heavy fog. others say they're hanging on to the wheel firmly until the fog clears. >> it's pretty thick out here tonight. >> reporter: are you driving differently? >> yeah, very slowly. >> reporter: the fog arrives on the heals of the approaching heavy winds, so the next few days are going to remain interesting here in the bay area, and interesting, also, the phenomenon happening. i'm not a weather expert. i thought we were clear up here because the fog bank, again, was
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below. you could see it from here. right now we're in the middle of it. i'm damian trujillo, "today in the bay." >> your head above the clouds. >> smart man out there. the fog continues. let's check back in with meteorologist christina loren. >> or next focus will be the gusty winds as we head through the next two days. ten miles of visibility in livermore where the wind is picking up. 2 1/2 in hayward. when we started the broadcast at 4:30 a.m. we had less than a quarter mile in every city across the bay area. that's starting to change as the winds pick up. fairfield, concord, that's where we're starting to see the improvement. the areas where the wind is blowing through. it doesn't take much wind to clear out all that fog. the dense fog advisory is only in place for another hour and 15 minutes. as we head throughout the next two hours, though, that's when we'll really start to see the
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change, the short wave trough has moved through. high pressure is building in as we speak. that's going to drive all this cloud cover out of the bay area. it's going to be quite different from yesterday's drive starting at about 7:00 a.m. this morning. early morning commuters unfortunately are getting the worst of it. by 9:00 a.m., mostly clear conditions over the greater bay area. 65 in santa theresa, 64 in fremont. let's check your drive with mike. look at highway 4, but we're going noncommute for the first part of this report. there's an accident eastbound at willow pass road. it sounds like a car went into a pole of some sort on the side of the road. no major injuries. it sounds like it's actually affecting two or three of your eastbound lanes. that could be an issue. no slowing showing up on our sensors. westbound is where we see the slowing because of the commute billed out of antioch. we'll look at the approach to the bay bridge. as the fog starts to clear in many spots just like the golden gate bridge, a look out there, a lot clearer than a half hour
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ago. a smooth drive. watch the north bay as well as the peninsula. damion said the south bay, too. >> we'll check back with you, mike. it's 5:38. dr. conrad murray sentenced for his part in the death of michael jackson. why he may not serve his full term in jail. east palo alto making a decision about a deadly intersection where a young girl was killed. not everyone was pleased. a literal break through in the effort to ease ther
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it is 5:41 right now. more than a decade ago, u.s. tobacco companies agreed to pay states billions to settle a lawsuit against the tobacco industry. it was supposed to pay for anti-tobacco programs and related health costs. a new report finds that did not always happen. "today in the bay's" tracie potts is live in washington with
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what california is doing with that money. >> reporter: good morning everyone. california, like many other states, cash strapped, seems to have absorbed most of that money and not used it specifically for cessation programs for adults and prevention programs for children. according to this new report from the american heart association, the lung association, cancer society, the campaign for tobacco-free kids and a number of other anti-smoking groups, they say the funding for the programs down 12% just last year. the $246 billion that was supposed to be used for these programs is just being eaten up by upside down and tight state budgets. they are suggesting states like california and others should raise taxes on cigarettes and tobacco products to help make up for the difference. the federal government kicked in with millions of dollars in grants to help supplement these programs. but a lot of that was stimulus money, so the grants are now going away. what's the impact in california? right now according to that
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report every family in california is paying about $612. that's the annual cost for your family for smoking in california, the state spending $70 million on anti-tobacco programs but has $9 billion in related health care costs. jon? >> wow, those numbers are mind blowing. thank you very much. 5:43 right now t. gop presidential field may get a little smaller. herman cain says he must talk to his supporters before deciding if he can continue. cain is caught up in numerous accusations. cain denies all the allegations. he's set to start a bus tour in ohio today. michael jackson's personal physician will not spend his full sentence in prison for his part in the pop singer's death. sheriff's officials say conrad murray will probably spend less than half of his four-year
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sentence for involuntary manslaughter. a recent change in california law means murray will serve his time in county jail instead of prison. he's expected to be kept away from other prisoners. people in the bay area bracing for high winds, the oakland hills no stranger to the warnings. >> got uprooted and fell over, blocked our cul-de-sac and couldn't get out the driveway. >> heard some branches breaking and lost the railing on my walkway and the mailbox. >> pg&e crews trying to get ahead of that wind, cutting down tree limbs to prevent  wind-related power outages and all those downed limbs. lots of wind gusting all over the place. meteorologist christina loren to forewarn us what's coming. >> the wind is helping us out at this point. it's clooerlg out the very tense fog. one of the ingredients for dense fog development is calm winds. starting to ship out to the northeast. that's where we're starting the see better driving conditions. especially here on the golden
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gate bridge where we had almost zero visibility this morning. what a difference a couple hours makes in this spot. we have about 2.5 miles of visibility in hayward, 10 miles in livermore and a mile and a half in fairfield. what i want to point out, you see the cities where the visibility is improving, take a look at your wind speeds, out of the northeast at 3 miles per hour. it doesn't take much wind to start to clear out that fog. 6 miles per hour in hayward, still nice and calm along the peninsula and along the marin county coastline this morning. you're socked in with fog at least for the next couple hours, that dense fog advisory is slated to expire at 7:00 a.m. it's going to completely clear out the coastline as we head throughout the day today. offshore winds pumping from land to sea. this is the santa ana wind setup they deal with in southern california. for us it's going to make for very, very gusty winds throughout the higher elevations. high wind warnings have been placed into effect for elevations above 1,000 feet. in the north bay hills, the east bay hills, but that means a nice clear coastline later today.
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as cue can see here, we'll see the offshore breeze continue to pick up throughout the day. because you have less friction in higher elevations, of course you have less friction over water as well. open water bridges could become dangerous if you drive a high profile vehicle. mike inouye is watching your drive. we'll check with him in a moment. first let's check your temperatures. mostly 60 to 65 degrees. we could see isolated power outages from this wind event, especially up to the higher elevations. these winds are really going to start to pick up as we head through the next six hours. while you're watching us this morning, things will continuously change. 63 degrees in napa. 65 in santa rosa. about 64 degrees in novato. your seven-day outlook shows you things start to get more calm, more tranquil weather on the way as we head towards this weekend. lots of sunshine. plenty of opportunity to get outdoors until tuesday when our next rain event' rooifs. let's check the foggy commute
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with our own mikey. >> in the south bay fog sticking around, calm winds. we have the accident sticking around. this is off highway 85 southbound at blossom hill. car went into a ditch. it's just there. threes a crew there. no big deal for traffic flow. 101 starts slowing past highway 87. we'll look at livermore, 580 shows a typical billed out of the altamont pass towards livermore avenue, a 15-minute drive. not a lot of drama through dubl dublin. crow canyon road an on-ramp at southbound 680. the bay bridge toll plaza, a live look out there, a clearer view than yesterday. you can see the eastshore freeway, a nice flow of traffic and no problems on the ap proep. the san mateo bridge, we'll get a look at that as well.
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by comparison there is still fog sticking around here. a heavier fog on the sign over here. once you're at the bridge, you kind of know that already. we have a major break through to tell you about literally as crews work on the fourth bore of the caldecott tunnel. they have connected the east and west sides of the tunnel. the excavating machine punching through at about 2:45 yesterday afternoon. there will be a celebration today to mark this occasion. the more than $390 million project is designed to ease congestion on highway 24 between orinda an oakland. the fourth bore expected to be completed by late 2013. >> that's really cool to look at. 5:48 right now. slower but no stop sign. the east palo alto city council decided not to put a stop sign at an intersection where a 6-year-old girl was killed. city voted to instead place flashing l.e.d. signs at the intersection of bay road and
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gloria way. that is where seer really torres was hit and killed. they plan to add pavement markings to warn drivers to slow down. the city says these are short-term solutions and a stop sign is not off the table entirely. the transportation commission will hold a special meeting next week so it can submit a plan in time for the council's december 20th meeting. the family of a man shot and killed by b.a.r.t. police will be filing a civil lawsuit against the transit agency. the b.a.r.t. police shot 45-year-old charles hill after a confrontation at the civic center b.a.r.t. station back in july. officers say hill threw a glass bottle at them and was coming toward him with a knife when they shot him. the family's attorney contends hill did not deserve to be shot. san francisco police still investigating the shooting. a b.a.r.t. spokesman says the agency cannot comment until the probe is complete. it's 5:49 right now. a muni bus driver who hit and
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killed a pedestrian could face criminal charges. san francisco district attorney george gascon says the driver could face negligence or manslaughter charges. police say the pedestrian was nearly finished crossing the street in the cos tomorrow district in august when she was hit by a bus. the driver is on nondriving status pending the d.a.'s investigation. gascon is also considering charges against a shuttle bus driver involved in a crash that killed a doctor in july. it's 5:50 right now. coming up, a plea for help after a bay area charity is burglarized. how mcdonald's has figured out how to bypass the new happy meal toy law. some of the most popular articles shared on facebook this past year. we'll take a look at some of them coming up. worry, tiny peop. flo is a gentle giant. bundle home and auto at progressive.com.
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happy wednesday. that's a live look at rockefeller center. that's the big tree. they will be lighting that tonight. if you want to catch it, you can watch it on nbc. we'll have the full broadcast for you. rumor has it justin bieber. >> michael buble as well, carol king. >> i like it. 5:53. san jose's largest post office will open on schedule this morning despite a bomb scare. police blew up a suspicious package last night. post office customer called police saying a man wearing a gas mask stuffed a box next to the post office. an explosives expert was seen carrying the panel kaj before he was destroyed. the suspicious man was later seen jogging in body or more just a few blocks away. >> what is that about. >> community leaders in oakland are asking for your help right
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now after thieves stole a collection for the needy. burglars swiping $4,000 worth of toys and food tuesday from an elementary school where the items were being stored. now the group "friends of oakland" needs new donations. if you're interested in donating, you can drop off your goods at oakley city hall and the headquarters on main street. you can donate through the website shown there on your screen. several san francisco mcdonald's franchises figured out a way to dodge the new healthy eating law and raise extra cash at the same time. when the law takes effect on thursday, owners say they will comply and not give out toys with high fat, high sodium meals. but it doesn't mean you can't get a toy. the restaurants say for an extra dime you can have a happy meal toy and the money collected will help build a new ronald mcdonald house at the new ucsf hospital.
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when it comes to the best place on the entire planet to live, the place to be is vienna. that is tops. the austrian city claiming the title for the third year in a row. must be something pretty good going on there. the mercer survey cites ornate buildings, public parks, extensive bicycle network and great art. it says serious crime is very rare in the city. the highest u.s. city in that list, honolulu, hawaii, checking in at 29. san francisco tied for 30th with another spot in australia. >> all beautiful places. it is 5:55 right now. a "new york times" article showing the devastation of the japanese tsunami was the most shared article on facebook in all of 2011. scott mcgrew joins us. says a lot about facebook user's compassion. >> the popular article about zodiac signs and diets.
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the hopeless radio host with the beautiful voice? he was popular, too. the before-and-after pictures in japan, the most posted and shared, though facebook doesn't say how many times these photographs were shared. also making the list, what teachers really want to tell parents. there's the zodiac article there. it's in there somewhere. parents don't let your daughters dress up like tram ps. the infamous tiger mother story, that one came in 14th. meanwhile movie companies say they've hit on a new way to sell you movies, do it on itunes. as you know many movies aren't available for rent until they've been on sale for several months. selling movies like "bad teacher" before it's available on dvd, makes more people likely to buy. to supp rise, people will pay $15 to own a digital copy a week ahead of buying it on dvd. i have not seen this movie.
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but the concept -- i saw the clips. the concepts of paying $15 to watch it on my ipod escape me. >> bad teacher, bad anchor. >> you were the one looking at them. >> research, research. did scott say something? 5:57. still to come on today in the pay, occupy san francisco weighs in. how one local lawmaker is trying to bring transparency to the group managing our gas pipelines. working with about half as much fog as we hollywood just two hours ago and continuously clearing out. the winds of change are blowing through. dangerous winds on the way in some locations. a lot of the fog remains on the peninsula irehe i'm following two accidents. i'll give you the latest in my report. and even though you do what you can to take care of it,
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