the rain keeps falling and we've got some weather related problems this morning in oakland where a tree has fallen across a freeway on-ramp. i'm christie smith. i'll show you what's going on to clean it up in a live report. plus, a fatal accident shut down a major bay area highway overnight. the roadway reopened just a few hours ago. latest details next. searching for more victims. a south bay nanny accused of molestation and police think there are more cases. a live look outside, beautiful golden gate bridge for this wednesday morning, march 14th. this is "today in the bay."

good morning, everyone. it is just after 4:30. i'm jon kelley. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. lots to get to this morning. let's check that forecast with meteorologist christina loren. >> give yourself plenty of time to reach your destination. not only do we have showers coming down as we speak, it's been raining pretty hard just about all night long. areas north of the golden gate bridge, san francisco, pretty healthy batch of rain just developed right over the city meaning steady rain for the next hour or so. the front slides south as we progress throughout the morning just in time for the morning rush. give yourself plenty of time. we'll talk about when the showers will let up for today an how much more we are expecting heading through the week. first, let's check your drive with mike. problems out there with flooding. >> we had the rain all yesterday and it built up especially in the north bay where it started. napa there are reports of flooding. highway 12 at fremont drive is

closed right now. you'll have to get over to 116, then use 121 down through the area. three cars are stuck in the standing water. that's in the north bay. there is more flooding to report closer to san francisco but also i'll send you over to the east bay because christie smith is out there. we have a 70-foot tree? you're out there, what do you see? >> reporter: yeah, that's about right. a 70-foot tree basically laying across the on-ramp here at coolidge 580 eastbound. caltrans has a three-man team working on it. when we first arrived a little after 4:00 this morning, that tree stretched across both lanes. there was no getting by. the chp out here actually blocking the on-ramp to make sure that people wouldn't get by. but of course, wouldn't you know, they tried to and had to back out. what's happened since then is caltrans has sent out a couple of man with chainsaws and they've actually made some pretty quick work of it.

they cleared one lane and have just been chopping this tree down. they tell me it is an acacia tree and the hillside next to the on-ramp was saturated and the tree seemed to give way. they've cleared out one lane. they tell me they'll bring in a big wood chipper and try to get the tree out of here but they're hoping within the next 20, 30 minutes at least to have one lane of the on-ramp back open. that's the latest from here, reporting live in oakland, christie smith, "today in the bay." highway patrol right now investigating a deadly accident on the peninsula last night, one, possibly two cars struck and killed a man on 101 near 3rd avenue in san mateo around 12:30 this morning. highway patrol shut down all southbound lanes for about an hour there as they investigated and waited for the coroner to arrive. all lanes we can report are now open. no other injuries were reported. 4:33 right now. eight victims so far and campbell police are convinced there may be more. 41-year-old john walker is in

jail facing 11 counts of lewd acts with children. they say walker cared for a number of kids in his home or child care centers in 2002. investigators think there is a high likelihood more children were victimized. >> the children who reported this were obviously strong and did the right thing and we really are encouraging any other children or families who might have information regarding this investigation or others to come forward. >> he is being held without bail. if you know anything about the case, call campbell police. 4:34 right now. richmond police are still looking for the person who shot an 8-year-old boy in what appears to be a case of road rage. officers got their quickly but the suspect managed to get away. the incident started when a family took the hill top drive exit and may have accidentally cut off another driver. police say the gunman followed the family to birmingham drive, then made a u turn and started shooting. a boy was hit.

we're happy to report he is in good condition right now. his family was not hurt. 4:34 right now. the chief of the san francisco police department says his department is required to follow local privacy laws will handicap his investigators. he says his department followed up on 2,000 tips from the joint terrorism task force last year. we have a new warning about a traveling con man back in the bay area. menlo park police say simon gann is one of the notorious gann twins. he is out on parole and police have received reports he's just up to his old tricks. he usually poses as a math expert or business tycoon who needs to recover from losing his passport and his wallet. two years ago he managed to dupe a menlo park woman out of

$1,900. the american soldier accused of killing 16 afghan civilians will remain in military custody. the 38-year-old staff sergeant has still not been named but military authorities say there is probable cause to continue to hold him. he is accused of going on a shooting rampage in his village near his base killing nine children, three women an four men. he may face the death penalty when tried in military court. a political push this morning to keep the country tsunami preparedness program afloat. six u.s. senators including dianne feinstein and barbara boxer demanding $4.6 million in proposed cuts to the program be restored. tsunami monitors in the ocean help warn of this event, rapidly rising waters out in santa cruz harbor. after last year's earthquake that took place in japan, the senators wrote a letter of protest to the senate appropriations committee chairman who says he's worked to get the money back into the budget. alameda county is tabling a plan to force drug companies to

take back unused prescription drugs. the board of supervisors decided to hold off until it hears from drugmakers. pharmaceutical companies say the ordinance is unnecessary because people can get rid of unwanted drugs by flushing them. critics say flushing drugs is contaminating the water supply. the proposed plan would make pharmaceutical companies pay for the county's drug kick-back program. it is official. the 49ers santa clara stadium is a go. city council voted last night to approve the lease, budget an terms of the $1.2 billion stadium project. the 68,000-seat facility will be built next to great america and the lease agreement between the city and the 49ers is now locked in for 40 years. the team will pay the city $30 million per year. construction will begin in a few months and the stadium should be ready for the 2014 season. 4:37 right now. time to check the forecast. meteorologist christina loren. >> good morning to you. it is kind of cold out there

this morning. we've got showers on the radar. let's get right to your maps this morning. temperatures are in the 50s. we're just about as warm as we are going to be throughout the day today. more cold air on the way as the cold front is now completely through the bay area. the coal air trailing behind it is what's next. let's take a look at your radar this morning. we are watching some very interesting showers really start to develop in the east bay, berkeley, oakland, getting hit pretty hard as we speak. look at what's headed toward you in berkeley right now. got a good line of moderate rain showers. that's going to be the case heading throughout the day today. we'll continuously see those showers stream onshore. we'll have your full forecast all morning long. basically we have a lot more rain on the way as we head throughout the week so get ready for that. lots to talk about in the weather department. let's go to mike and talk about your drive. >> oakland, the kree is tree is

down on coolidge avenue. use fruitvale. that should be fine. coolidge avenue on-ramp currently affected by the tree that's down. reportedly the hillside was saturated and the tree just came down. that will be the case in many spots as more reports come in from overnight. we see yellow here and there throughout the area, usually caused by the rain itself playing with our sensors. so far no other incidents reported for the east bay or approach to the bay bridge. on the city side, southbound 280 at alemany boulevard, reports of standing water and flooding in the fast lane. that will be the case for many spots in the north bay and around the city. we'll get a live look out there, at the golden gate bridge, rain actually falling on the road. slick roads and windy conditions across the bay area bridges so just be careful. bay bridge again has a wind advisory just like yesterday. back to you. despite complaints from neighbors, san francisco's

outside lands music festival will be back for another year. the fifth annual event will take place august 10 through the 12 at golden gate park. a limited amount of tickets go on sale friday. lineup is yet to be announced but people living near the park have certainly complained about the event saying it generates too much traffic and noise. according to a recent study it also generated more than $60 million for san francisco's economy last year. right now it is 4:40. get ready for that big dance for st. mary's. >> we like to dance. all right. plus, a surprise pair of wins by rick santorum making the gop race for president too close to call. coming up, a look at what is in store for the two other candidates. a well-known san francisco hotel sold. we'll tell you which one and how much the buyers paid for it. plus, a new plan for mavericks even if there is no

surf competition this year. for all your news, weather and traffic updates, check us out on facebook. search nbc bay area news. back in a minute. hey, your high speed internet here, at home... ...and on the go... ...with some really big news. it's b-i-g -- big. high speed internet from at&t at home... ...includes wi-fi access on the go. woo-hoo! [ together ] it's an unbelievable deal. well, gotta go. but wait -- there's more... [ female announcer ] go to the website below today and get high speed internet for the unbelievably low price of just 14.95 a month for 12 months with a one-year price guarantee.

it's all the speed you need at a great price. you can chill online at a park. here, pidgie, pidgie. [ pigeon coos ] and surf the web at your favorite bookstore. our internet at home includes access to the entire national at&t wi-fi hot spot network on the go. [ female announcer ] go to the website below and get high speed internet for just 14.95 a month for 12 months with a one-year price guarantee. that's all the speed you need at a great price. it's an unbelievable deal. so why wait? act now, act now! like he said... ♪

welcome become, everyone. a good wednesday morning to you. what a beautiful live look outside at the bay bridge. it is a little missy out there this morning. we'll check the full forecast coming up.

4:43. san francisco's iconic fairmont hotel has been sold for $200 million. sale came after the owners failed to win city permission to convert part of the property into condos. broomberg reports the 591-room luxury hotel on nknob hill was botched -- organizers say competition or not, yes, there will be a party. if there is no competition, there will be a festival on march 31st to celebrate the end of the season. if the competition, surfing competition goes off on the waves, the festival will coincide with the contest. cupertino's apple helped give stocks a big boost yesterday. for how things are trading this morning, we turn to cnbc world

headquarters. >> reporter: good morning. the futures are slightly higher this morning after yesterday's rally. that was touched off first by rate on hold as on.

mamake s sure are you ready for that. grab your umbrella and get that snowboard or skis ready to go. look at how much snow we are expecting throughout the week. up in tahoe, north star, elevation,eand four to six feet above 7,000 feet. talking about really choice ski conditions. heading through this weekend, bring those chains as showers just don't let up until late monday, into tuesday. tuesday will be beautiful. take a look at your temperatures. this weekend, st. patrick's day, we're talking about 40s and 50s across the bay area. it will be a cold one. we'll have all the green on the radar and maybe a rainbow, but make those plans indoors if you can. heading throughout tuesday, finally getting a break but we are talking about inches of

rain. we'll go into more detail on that coming up. 4:47 right now. a surprise win for the gop primaries. rick santorum taking both alabama and mississippi despite the fact that not a single major poll had him in the lead. "today in the bay" tracie potts look at what santorum's wins mean for newt gingrich and mitt romney. >> we did it again. >> reporter: rick santorum won mississippi with one-third of the vote and alabama with 35%. speaking from louisiana where he promised another big win next week, santorum hinted newt gingrich should drop out of the race. >> the time is now for conservatives to pull together. the time is now to make sure -- to make sure that we have the best chance to win this election. >> reporter: gingrich came in second in both states and gave no indication he's quitting. instead, he focused on mitt romney's failure to win the conservative southern vote. >> if you're the front-runner,

if you're the front-runner and you keep coming in third? you're not much of a front-runner. the elite media's effort to convince the nation that mitt romney is inevitable just collapsed. >> reporter: romney didn't give a speech last night. in a statement he congratulated santorum and claimed delegates from mississippi and alabama put him closer to the nomination. romney's focused on missouri. santorum won missouri's non-binding primary last month but romney says straw polls don't count. >> we didn't participate in the campaign in iowa straw poll or florida straw poll. but when the delegates are at stake, that's when we go to work. >> reporter: so where does that leave us in terms of delegates? so far, mitt romney is still leading. he's got twice as many as his closest competitor, rick santorum. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. the uc berkeley men's basketball team starts that march to a possible ncaa title tonight. golden bears play south florida at 6:10 in what some call the

first four. if the bears win it, they make it into the field of 64 teams that make up the ncaa tournament. cal is favored to win the ball game tonight. meantime, good news for lgc. the st. mary's men's basketball team boarding a plane this morning bound for omaha, nebraska. they get ready to take on the first game of the tournament against purdue friday. st. mary's grabbed the number seven seed in the midwest bracket and they fly out of oakland airport at 9:00. 4:50 ligright now. after finishing in the top ten in the intel talent search, a couple of bay area students received a scholarship. clint eastwood about to become part of a tv reality show. >> go ahead -- take that commute. slippery roads and trees down. the latest coming up.

a policy change to improve the environment. the san mateo county supervisors agreeing to reduce the use of herbicides on the roadside. this is a move in response to the complaints herbicides were contaminating local waterways and hurting wildlife. spraying will continue near airports and parks.

the county manages vegetation along 315 miles of roads on the peninsula. tech savvy teens from the bay area getting top honors at the intel science talent search. one took ninth place and a $20,000 scholarship creating a diabetes test for kids which eases the fear of needles. another student finished fourth, winning a $40,000 scholarship. two other bay area students made this year's field of 40 finalists. congratulations to them! >> 4:54. mike inouye joins us. he does a pretty mean dirty harry impersonation. >> thank you. it is actually slowing better than my dirty harry impression. you're being generous, jon. east shore freeway, 19 minutes off the carquinez bridge. about 1 1/2 minutes longer than we see. folks are generally slowing because of the wet and windy

conditions. a new accident reported at the top of your screen, westbound 80 around buchanan. two, maybe four vehicles involved there. sounds like the fast lane is blocked right now. no major slowing past the scene because of light traffic but we'll follow that. meanwhile we're also watching the tree that's down across the coolidge avenue on-ramp to eastbound 580 that came down overnight. christi smi christie smith is out there to give us an update in a few minutes. looking past the coliseum in oakland, wet, windy conditions. wind advisory for the bay bridge and richmond san rafael ridge. lower those speeds. one of hollywood's all-time biggest screen legends making a move, believe it or not, into reality tv. ever heard of a guy name -- eastwood? clint eastwood. the show will actually spotlight his wife, dina eastwood, who married the oscar winning actor back in 1996. but expect to see clint make a

few appearances on the show. the actual title of the show -- "mrs. eastwood and company." it will premier on may 20 on the e! network. 4:56. the bay area business that's promising to fill one of the city's coffers just to operate within city limits. for all your news, weather, traffic updates, check us out on facebook. search nbc bay area news. live look at the hp pavilion. all is calm this early morning, 4:56 right now. up iabn th raing a in in a cin matter of minutes. n

good morning.

i'm christie smith live in oakland. a tree has fallen over, partially blocking a freeway on-ramp. i'll tell you what's going on to clean it up coming up. the new head of the bullet train project speaks to hundreds in silicon valley. live in san jose with what he had to say, including an idea to ele electrify caltrain tracks. walking and texting in one bay area city. rain coming down at the bay bridge this morning. your full forecast is coming up on this wednesday, march 14th. this is "today in the bay." good morning. thanks so much for joining us. 4:59. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> good morning, everybody. i'm jon kelley. we jump right into the weather and check in with meteorologist christina loren to tell us about wet, wet, and more wet. >> but we were telling you about