>> reporter: new this morning how a jail house letter could provide new clues to what happened to michaela garecht. i'll have the story coming up. >> an amazing rescue in brentwood where a man was buried 18 trench. how rescuers were able to pull him out alive. >> new video of the weekend occupy protest in oakland. what security footage reveals about the demonstrations. >> taking a live look outside this morning. crystal clear shot for this thursday, february 2nd. this is "today in the bay."

>> very beautiful. very nice. good morning. 4:30. i'm jon kelley. >> 4:30 is a little early. lots to get to. let's check the forecast with meteorologist christina loren. >> good morning. push it back. you want to zoom out at this time of the morning. we have cold conditions out there this morning. and you know what, you need that heavy jacket for the first part of the day. this afternoon we're climbing toward that 70-degree mark. the warm-up continues into this weekend, then we get some rain back in that forecast. we'll sort it out for you this morning. first, let's get to the drive with mike. >> we'll take folks to 880 where we don't usually see a lot of construction. union city we have whipple road off ramp at the southbound side. there is a crew there and it may cause an issue. use the alvarado exit.

the bright lights, you should be fine. no slowing past this scene. the north and east of here there is more activity going on. >> there is a possible new lead for investigators in a 23-year-old missing child case this morning. >> 9-year-old michaela garecht disappeared in 1988 and now a death row inmate says he knows what happened to her. christie smith joins us live at haywood where michaela's mother met. >> it's a letter that may provide the clue into what really happened to michaela garecht. she disappeared from hayward back in 1988. that letter was written by a man named wesley shermantine, a serial killer on death row. he was convicted with a friend of his, loren herzog who recently committed suicide. the letter indicated he might know where the little girl was buried.

he believed that a sketch of herzog and his age at the time fit the suspect description plus he lived in castro valley. gar recollect's mom spent years praying for her daughter's return. this isn't the first time someone claims to have the answer. >> right. this is not the first time that we had somebody in jail say they knew where she was buried for that matter. we had somebody else a few years ago in indiana who said he knew where she was buried, if the police could bring him out to help find her. they said if we take you out there and you're lying we're going to prosecute you and he said no, i'm telling the truth and he came out here and after a few days confessed to lying and got six years in prison for it. why people do these things i don't know. >> reporter: investigators are working on this case. hayward police are saying after investigators are done they will do their own jailhouse

interview. hayward police are saying in their opinion this case never grew cold. they continued to work on it throughout the years. reporting live, christie smith. back to you. >> thank you very much. the suspect in another cold case heading to court. william payne scheduled to be arraigned for a san francisco murder 30 years ago. payne was charged and then charged monday after dna linked him to the victim. he is accused of killing nicolas crumbley back in november 1983. william payne is being held on $5 million bail. >> a dozen demonstrators are expected to enter pleas. eight of the defendants are facing misdemeanor charges but four face felonies. stemming from clashes with police saturday night. all 12 defendants have been ordered to stay away from the plaza and the oakland convention center. >> in the meantime, oakland police released new surveillance

footage they say shows occupy oakland protesters breaking into city hall and burning an american flag. >> this is footage of demonstrators after they stole an american flag from inside city hall, then set it on fire. city hall surveillance footage shows what happened earlier. you can see papers eventually start to fly as protesters dumped trash cans. all together, more than 100 occupy oakland protesters broke into city hall. >> we do know that the doors to city hall were locked and you can see the working through the doors so they could force the lock, break it, then open. >> police say occupiers broke into offices, threw furniture on sidewalks and damaged a 100-year-old model of city hall. they are hoping people will recognize the faces on the footage and notify the department. >> it was a bizarre scene.

an oakland man recovering after the trench collapsed around him. look at this amazing video. rescuers were able to free the man's head so he could breathe. he was trying to repair a sewer line when the 8-foot deep trench collapsed on him. it took more than three hours to free him. neighbors say they could not believe their eyes. >> amazing. we were out here three hours. it was cold just standing here and i kept imagining what would it be like to be in this hole covered in mud. this guy's in a hole covered in mud. absolutely amazing how they got him out and he was alive. >> investigators trying to figure out if the man was hired by the homeowner or if he was just a friend. they contacted cal osha in case this turns into a work-related accident. >> we're learning the contractor who dug out a trench in milpitas did not have a permit to dig that trench. the "mercury news" reporting

that home builders need a state permit for any project that goes deeper than five feet. the trench that collapsed and buried the carpenter on saturday was 12 feet deep. the city and state authorities have banned further building at that site until the investigation into this death is complete. >> 4:37. the stunning story about the local dog walker has made it all the way to washington, d.c. congresswoman jackie spear is demanding answers after the dog walker was tased by a park ranger. she is calling for an independent investigation. gary claim as park ranger used a stun gun to subdue him while he walked two dogs off leash sunday in open space in san mateo county. the ranger claimed he gave a false name and attempted to walk away. >> a federal appeals court is expected to issue a ruling

related to proposition 8. the court will decide whether video recordings of the civil trial can be released. a judge recorded the proceedings for his private use. supporters want the recordings private to prevent backlash. the court of appeals is expected to issue an opinion later today. >> sounds like meteorologist christina loren is telling us fog to start the day but another nice one. right? >> yeah. we don't have a lot of fog out there. actually offshore flow pushing the clouds over the pacific. some ragged patches, the usual suspects. welcome back jon kelley. 39 in livermore. 41 this morning in san mateo. we are running about 5 to 8 degrees cooler than this time yesterday. satellite imagery shows you we have high clouds but high pressure fully in control. 58 degrees at the coast by noon. 61 at the coast at 4:00 p.m. we'll see comfortable high

temperatures today, in the 70s in some cities. we'll show you where coming up. plus, it's groundhog day. not one of my favorites. we'll see what punxsutawney phil has to say, whether he saw his shadow and what that means for your forecast. not a lot. back to you guys. >> we also want to know whether you saw your shadow. so we'll check in with you. out to the roadways, we'll look at 880. a smooth drive right now. we told you earlier about the construction t whipple road offramp. no slowing 880 down through fremont out of union city. north we have more construction there slated around high street on 880, a live look, see what oakland is like with our live shot south of there. a light volume. no flashing lights at the coliseum though yesterday we saw one lane blocked. we do see construction north of there, high street up into downtown. for the time being. back to the map, sorry, san mateo bridge, a smooth flow of

traffic. to the peninsula, very light. look at all of the spacing between the taillights and the headlights. we'll see this build. a nice flow along the peninsula. >> thank you, mike. it is 4:39. pg&e's giving you a chance to ditch your smart meter for a price. state regulators approved the charge for the utility's opt out program. customers will pay an initial fee of $75 and a monthly charge of $10. low income customers pay a $10 fee and $5 monthly charge. pg&e argues it needs to recover the cost of replacing smart meters with the old analog devices. >> in case you needed another excuse to get out to the zoo a new addition at the oakland zoo. her name is maggie, a baby giraffe born last month. she is the first female giraffe born in the zoo in nearly a decade. this birth is important considering the shrinking

population worldwide. the number of so lal mali giraf has fallen. >> beautiful thing. >> it's 4:40. feels like spring but boy, could we rely on the true predictor of the weather. we say it's christina loren. a lot of people believe the groundhog. >> it is christina. >> will we have six more weeks of winter? we'll check in with punxutawney phil. see what he has to say. >> christina, too. facebook's ipo won't just bring value. why realtors are excited what it will do for the housing market. >> perhaps a poor choice of words. >> for all of your news, weather, and traffic updates, you know where to check us out. search nbc bay area news.

>> good thursday morning. what a beautiful live look outside this morning from the south bay. should be a nice day on tap. we'll check the forecast in a bit. it's 4:44. >> mitt romney doing damage control out on the campaign trail this morning. he's taking heat for a controversial comment he made during an interview with cnn about protecting the middle class. >> i'm not concerned about the very poor, we have a safety net

there, if it needs repair i'll fix it. i'm not concerned about the very rich, they are doing fine. >> advocates for the poor upset by the statement. romney says people are taking his comment on the very poor out of context. of course newt gingrich jumped all over the opportunity. >> let me shock govern romney. the founding fathers meant the very poor who they called americans. >> today gingrich reportedly picking up the endorsement of donald trump in las vegas. >> 4:45 now. facebook's ipo finally making waves on wall street. don't get too excited yet. jackie deangelis has more with a check of the markets as well. good morning. >> good morning to you. the futures are lower after stocks kicked off february with a rally on wednesday, breaking the dow's four-day losing streak. the markets were boosted by positive manufacturing data from china and the u.s. the asian markets up, european markets mixed. we'll get data on unemployment

and labor costs so watch for that. and ben bernanke testifying before congress about the economy a week after the fed pledged to keep interest rates low until at least 2014. the dow rose to close at 12,716. facebook files for its ipo looking to raise $5 billion, one of the largest internet deals. it's going to list under fb and the ipo is expected in april or may. for how facebook earns money it earns about 85% from advertising and zynga accounted for 12%. facebook has 845 million monthly active users. if you were hoping to get in on the ipo, you'll be disappointed. few shares are going to be available for the general public. mutual and pension funds are going to get first dibs and some to the wealthiest clients. some brokers have given

customers access in the past but we're not sure if that's going to happen this time. back to you. >> thank you very much, jackie. >> like the investor, real estate agents also like the facebook ipo almost as much as facebook employees. the real estate market hot because supply can't keep up. with the ipo demand and prices are expected to rise. realtors say everything from the mega mansions to starter homes will sell. it has some jumping back in the seller's market. >> we have the sellers and the agents getting prepared to get their home on the market so they can capitalize on these new found millionaires. >> we have to investigate some of those homes. the demand for housing in menlo park expected to remain steady as facebook plans to hire hundreds more. >> dell is also expanding and bringing hundreds of jobs to the

south bay. it has 250 workers in the building in santa clara. the company plans to expand into a rnlg laer adjacent building in june that will allow a company to add 600 employees to its silicon valley hub. it expects to have 1500 employees in santa clara. >> breaking news, spring will not come early according to the most famous groundhog. >> as i look at the crowd on gobbler's knob, many shadows do i see. six mor weeks of winter it must be. >> that is the official announcement from gobbler's nob in pennsylvania where punxsutawney phil saw his shadow. another six weeks of winter. it has been so warm, might be just like the beginning of winter. this is the 126th year phil has

made his prediction. christina loren, not a big fan. >> i don't want to hit on phil but this is where the weather comes from. >> i'd like to see where he went to school. he puts the punk in punxutawney. that furry fellow knows nothing about meteorology but he sure is cute. we have a good looking day. ladies, you can pull out your cute spring dresses. we're going to see mid to upper 60s. 39 in livermore. 43 in san jose. overall this morning about 5 to 8 degrees cooler than this time yesterday. that's courtesy of the clear sky. we're going to see colder starts but nice warm afternoons, sunshine, a little bit of patchy fog. not a lot out there. we could see more develop at the coast as we head through the next couple of hours. we'll report back to you as it develops. a mild stretch, sunshine all the way through this weekend. then we have a pretty good looking storm on the way toward the middle of next week.

we need the rain. this storm looking promising for showers even down in the south bay. for today enjoy the sunshine, 65. about 64 in walnut creek. even san francisco on the 60s again, 60 there. throughout the next couple of days we continuously climb through super bowl sunday. really nice weather over the weekend. then tuesday, wednesday, maybe for the first part of thursday, we'll be here tracking showers for you. especially in the north bay. even san jose could pick up a quarter of an inch of rain. we have a juicy system that will likely impact us. we'll talk about what it means throughout morning. >> thanks so much. >> 4:50. still ahead on "today in the bay," is sugar toxic? a group of scientists say it is and why they are calling for regulations. >> lucas oil stadium in indianapolis where the super bowl happens this weekend.

aside from the game we awe everyone looking forward to the abs as well. >> we'll look at 580 through the smooth drive, no slowing to the dublin interchange. i'll show you on the other side of the bay coming up.

>> welcome back everybody. yes, more clear skies out there. christina loren says expect more of the same. that's a beautiful shot of the bay bridge illuminated in the early morning on a thursday. it's 4:54. >> before you dig into that cinnamon roll, a team of scientists says sugar is toxic and should be regulated. in an article published in the journal nature, the scientists say sugar, not obesity, is the real health threat in american culture. the authors say sugar alters a person's biochemistry making them more vulnerable to heart disease and diabetes and say sugary foods should be highly taxed and even banned for children. the food industry is blaming

lifestyles and lack of activity. >> how to fill the plates might get them to eat more veggies. researchers at the university of minnesota found that placing photos of green bean and carrots in lunch trays caused them to serve themselves more. it's a start. >> mike inouye always the healthy one himself. he is here to fill us in on your commute. you eating your veggies? >> all i heard was cinnamon roll. we have green. green's good for you on my maps. 101 and a smooth drive through palo alto. the emwobarcadero off ramp is closed for a time. along this portion of that lower peninsula. we'll move into the city, san mateo moving through daily city,

101 southbound 101 at 280 or past the interchange we have a disabled vehicle. it might be blocking that right lane. no slowing because of that light volume. a nice flow of traffic here as well. headlights coming toward the toll plaza into the city you see those across the bridge. there is no clouds throughout the area so watch as things change. >> thank you, mike. no matter what team you are on, we like to watch the commercials. you cheer for them. >> the buzz is building for this year's crop of super bowl ads. >> you are in grave danger. >> ahhh! >> some advertisers have released sneak peeks of those pricey odds on line. they are said to be bigger, batter and yes, even riskier.

advertisers, the experts say it's about creating buzz for the brand. >> it's engaging and fun to watch. and it's putting more eyes on the brand which is what we're trying to do. >> amazing vw hasn't put him in the ads. analysts expect as many as 115 million people will watch this game and the commercials on sunday. that's good. it's right here on nbc bay area. >> 4:57.

when someone gives blood and a life is saved, that moment when heartbreak turns to hope, you're there through the american red cross. every day, the red cross responds to nearly 200 neighborhood emergencies. and your support makes it possible. use this moment to join us today. visit redcross.org. >> walnut creek trying to find a way to keep downtown streets safe on weekends. >> reporter: what the city of menlo park is asking facebook to do in return for expansion to their territory. that story coming up. >> the death toll climbs in cairo after a soccer game turns into war. i'm marla tellez. i'm going to have that plus other