we'll take you live to morgan hill for the latest on the search for 15-year-old sierra lamar after some of her personal belongings were found in a field not far from her home. that story coming up. closure this morning for the family of a gilroy mother found dead after going missing more than a week ago. how they're honoring her. and the right place at the right time. how a tug boat operator helped save a boater in the bay. and a live look outside this morning, it is friday, march 23rd, this is "today in the bay."

a very good friday morning, everybody. the time now is 4:30, i'm john kelly. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon. let's check that forecast with christina loren. give yourself extra time because not only do we have areas of patchy fog, you're going to find frost out there, as well. temperatures in the 30s up in the north bay. a nice-looking day on tap today and then a lot of rain on the way this weekend. you'll be able to get outdoors, i'll let you know when you have those opportunities to do so. mike's got an area that could slow you down in san jose. >> thank goodness it's not raining because we have someone with car trouble. a disabled vehicle reported northbound 101. now, reports are they are pushing their own car off the roadway. chp says this person's been admonished a couple of times saying, hey, let someone help you out here. they don't want a tow truck. and this will be an issue heading toward 87. watch for that activity. sounds like it should be off to

the shoulder, but we watch for any flashing lights and people standing by their cars. where 880 has construction south of 237, i'm going to get an update because it was clearing a few minutes ago. looked like striping work overnight, as well. well, this morning marked exactly one week since 15-year-old sierra lamar disappeared without the trace. >> but with the fbi now involved, the search for the missing teen has intensified. live with the latest developments for us. good morning, bob. >> yeah, good morning to you laura and john, it was one week ago this morning that sierra lamar was supposed to leave her home behind me here in morgan hill for what would have been another day at high school. the sheriff's office knows that a little bit after 7:00 last friday morning, she sent what was a normal text to a friend, but after that, nothing, they still don't know what happened to a 15-year-old girl. yesterday, the fbi joined in as the investigators relaunched and expanded their search to a 3-mile radius of her house after the sheriff's office confirmed

it had found some more of the 15-year-old's belongings. on sunday in a field a couple of miles away from the lamar home, searchers found her purse, a pair of pants and a pair of her underwear on top of her cell phone, something else they had found the day prior. that was found less than a mile from her home. in the meantime, the lamars released home video of sierra, you can see her bouncing about with her sister and mother, marlene lamar, her mom, is trying to stay hopeful that in spite of the discovery of sierra's personal items, the sheriff office still says there is no evidence of foul play. though they still don't know whether she ran away or was abducted. reporting live, "today in the bay." >> another candle light vigil will be held. that is held where sierra attended school as a freshman

before moving to morgan hill. possibly some closure this morning for friends and family of a missing gilroy mother. police found the body of 52-year-old martha gutierrez yesterday in a rural area outside of hollister. gutierrez had been missing for more than a week since her son, iraq war veteran abel gutierrez shot and killed his 11-year-old sister before killing himself. last night, family and friends holding a prayer vigil. >> just gives you a little bit of peace, you know. just everyone getting together and really supporting each other. >> the family says 27-year-old abel gutierrez suffered from ptsd after serving several tours in iraq. an investigation is underway in antioch today after police shot and killed a wanted patrolepatrol parolee. it's unclear what led up to that shooting. during the attempted arrest,

witnesses say several shots were fired. the parolee later died at the hospital. a passenger in that car was unhurt. a close calling in the bay last night. a boater saved by a quick-thinking tug boat operator. he spotted the man clicking to his overturned 15-foot vessel and alerted the coast guard. coast guard rushed that man to the south beach marina before he was taken to a local hospital. no word on his condition. hundreds of dui convictions, possibly thousands in san francisco now one step closer to being tossed out. jeff adachi filing a legal challenge against the sfpd. he says for eight years, officers failed to routinely calibrate the department's preliminary alcohol screening devices as is required. now he's questioning the accuracy of the tests. justice is just not served

when the testing against a person is not accurate. it's very troubling, disturbing, and we're going to make sure to make this right for our clients. >> the san francisco police department says there is an independent investigation right now underway. protesters reoccupying in oakland according to the group's website. a handful of protesters have set up camp at 37th and broadway. the group says it planned to take over insolidari solidarity wall street. no word on if oakland police plan to do anything about this latest encounter. pg & e, is not getting off the hook, a judge rejected the utilities appeal for a fine for failing to inspect pipes in contra costa county. the judge ruled that the danger to the communities justified the penalty. regulators issued the fine after finding more than 800 safety violations back in january. they say the utility failed to complete required inspections in

eastern contra costa county. the judge called the lapse in pipeline checks as part of a pattern of safety problems. a same-sex married couple from the east bay fighting deportation can stay together, at least for now. brian mullingham and alphonso's attorney said they are putting it on hold before the government decides if they will accept his petition for citizenship. garcia's undocumented the status was discovered after a traffic ticket in june. it does not change his status because the government does not recognize same-sex marriage. well, you probably noticed by now, gas prices still on the rise and those spikes in prices have brought spikes in theft. this is surveillance video of a gas station in sacramento catching somebody stealing gas from another vehicle. and thefts like this have risen by nearly 50% since january. and police say that while some

may siphon tanks, others just step up and puncture holes right in the gas tanks and then take it out. experts worrying that as summer approaches and gas prices continue to soar that, yes, gas prices will increase. that guy's hard at work there. >> no kidding, desperate times, desperate measures, i guess. let's check the forecast with christina loren. >> good sleeping weather this weekend with rain on the way as of tomorrow morning. today, though, looks great for outdoor activities. just getting to work will be easier because we don't have those showers coming downright now. we had some weak showers yesterday morning at this time. this morning, it's clear out there and as a result, very, very cold conditions. 36 degrees in santa rosa, 45 this morning in oakland, 42 in san jose, and 43, good morning to you, out in livermore. throughout the afternoon, temperatures are going to climb into the 50s. we're going to get a lot of sunshine for the first part of the day, and the second half of your day, things start to change. clouds roll in, we get a few showers up in the north bay,

some frontal precipitation. we've got a big storm system on the way, major dip in the jet stream. that's going to take this core of low pressure right into the bay area. so we're talking about maybe 2 inches of rain in the south bay. we'll tell you where we're going to see the most rain and we'll time out that system as we head throughout your morning. so stay tuned for that, 4:39, first let's check your drive with mike. >> we'll take folks out to the south bay, give you about update. between great mall parkway, basically, we had those crews moving. and it looks like they have moved from this scene here. but not completely cleared from the roadway. this ties in with our other report, the disabled vehicle for 101, that has cleared from brokaw. chp took another circle around. looks like everything's cleared now. but we see some slowing for 880, likely those crews clearing from the area like we talked about. 880 at high street, we had registering full closure there, at least for one lane, but we

haven't seen any crews there, that would be on the northbound side, those taillights until 5:00. that's great, we'd like that, but a lot of us are just starting our days, sorry, guys. >> indeed. thank you very much. stanford professor and former secretary of state condoleezza rice stopping in the south bay today. rice, the keynote speaker this morning at the silicon valley prayer breakfast. chuck reed will also stop by to shake some hands, as well. held on great america parkway. it is 4:40 right now, a special job fair for solyndra employees who abruptly lost their jobs when the company declared bankruptcy. hosting an event at the newark campus today. planning to have about ten employers to meet with former solyndra employees and with other companies in the solar industry. 5:40 right now. coming up, prosecutors preparing more charges for the u.s. soldier accused in a shooting rampage that left a long list of afghan civilians dead.

when the new charges could be filed. the controversial etch-a-sketch comment by mitt romney's adviser. why one candidate is suggesting the republicans should turn their backs on the party. and "the hunger games," many people lined up all night for that midnight showing. >> better quickly read the book, john kelly. for all your news, traffic, and weather updateheut on facebook. >> that movie looks freak y i. y, but my smile wasn't. [ female announcer ] new crest 3d white intensive professional effects whitestrips. it goes below the enamel surface to whiten as well as a five-hundred dollar professional treatment for a transformation that's hard to believe. ♪ wow, that's you? [ female announcer ] new intensive professional effects whitestrips. and try 3d white toothpaste and rinse. from crest. life opens up when you do.

welcome back, everybody. a picturesque shot in the palace of fine arts, and it is a finely tuned shot there. the high-def makes it look spectacular. mike will be alongside with the traffic, christina will tell us about the weather. 4:44. new charges for the u.s. soldier accused of shooting afghan villagers. a defense official tells nbc news that staff sergeant robert bales will be charged today with 17 counts of murder. bales also faces six counts of assault and attempted murder. he's accused of going on a shooting rampage near his military base in afghanistan on march 11th. bales is currently being held at a military detention center in kansas. we now know what killed pop star whitney houston. the los angeles coroner concluded houston drown in her bathtub at the beverly hilton hotel.

also revealed the singer had cocaine, marijuana, xanax and other prescription drugs in her system. the coroner also said the 48-year-old singer was suffering from signs of heart disease brought on by chronic cocaine use. the official cause of death is listed as accidental. on the campaign trail, louisiana holding its republican primary tomorrow as newt gingrich and rick santorum turn up that heat on mitt romney. both going after romney over that statement made by one of his advisers comparing the election this fall to an etch-a-sketch. not a slinky, an etch-a-sketch. >> we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk of what may be the etch-a-sketch candidate for the future. >> well, romney calling this comment disappointing. santorum right now leading the polls in louisiana. he's ahead of romney there by double digits. well, there's a chance to

say your tax return might be a little smaller this year. the government said the average check is just under $3,000, that's down about $80 from last year's refund. through march 10th, the irs says it has issued 59.2 million refunds totaling more than $174 billion. and the number of taxpayers getting their tax refunds direct deposited up by 3%. do not forget, keep in mind the deadline to file is april 17th. >> going to take advantage of this rainy weekend. 4:46 right now. tyke f time for a check of the markets. good morning, jackie. >> good morning, guys. the futures are slightly higher right now as the markets try to break their three-day losing streak. the stocks lost ground on thursday with traders pointing to the weaker manufacturing data out of china and europe. that offset positive news on unemployment as fewer americans filed for jobless benefits last week.

we saw the asian markets fall overnight. we're going to get data today on new home sales in the u.s., so make sure you watch for that. the dow fell 78 points yesterday to 13,046, the nasdaq lost 12. meantime, banks are lending again, but businesses are still wary about spending that money. the fed says the business loans grew 10% last year after falling 9% in 2010 and falling 19% in 2009. the majority is coming from credit lines, not traditional loans. however, instead of tapping those lines to buy new equipment, build new factories, or hire more people, companies are sitting on their hands with the cash. they may want to see more improvement in the economy before they start to take more risk again. and t-mobile is cutting 1,900 jobs as it closes call centers in seven states. the company has been losing customers to bigger and smaller rivals. t-mobile is cutting costs to save cash to upgrade the wireless network following the breakup of the merger with at&t last year. back over to you. >> thank you very much, jackie.

let's check in with christina loren to find out how this weekend's getting started. i'm excited about it. >> i hope you're excited about indoor plans. maybe a movie and snuggie weekend. what's happening is the system is slowing down. as it does so, we'll see rain not only all day saturday, all day sunday, as well. sunday right now is looking to be the more active day for the south bay. south bay, this is our time, last time we had three systems roll through. none of which really brought any significant rainfall to the rainfall. we are going to get slammed, not just the mountains, the storm system will move over san jose potentially producing 3 inches of rain in places like morgan hill. the jet stream is taking a significant dip, so the core of low pressure, the cold front, the actual core is going to crash right over the bay area, right over the south bay and times out like this. stop the clock at 3:00 a.m., starting to get our first light showers over the greater bay

area. stop the clock again at 11:00 a.m. steady rainfall not just at the coast, all the way from antioch to san francisco. rain continues through 10:00 p.m. saturday, a little bit of a break, a little bit of a lighter pattern as we head through the first part of sunday. we stop the clock at 5:00 p.m., look at all this rain. this is the actual core of low pressure, you can see that here vividly. heavy rain moving through morgan hill. and so i do believe we're going to pick up maybe 3 inches. we need that rain. we're still lacking in our totals for this time of year. we've got to get back up to normal and we're only at about 50% right now. as we head throughout the week, we're looking pretty good. next week, we've got showers tuesday and wednesday, look at your temperatures, these are spring-like showers. they're going to be kind of pesky, nothing too heavy, the main event is this weekend. plan on staying indoors at least for the first part of saturday and looks like the second half of sunday. guys, back to you. >> thank you, christina. hey, remember watson?

pretty smart individual. here's a cool scene, entering the medical field. you may remember watson competing against the world's best jeopardy player last year, now the very creator is partnering up with a renowned cancer center in new york to help improve oncology research. watson will learn from textbooks, medical journals, and with permission, patients' medical records. the cancer center says the result should help the hospital diagnose and treat cancer more quickly and more accurately. the first major block buster of the year hits the box office today. >> here we go, "the hunger games" debuting at midnight all over the country. >> i'm going to die, i want to still be me. >> i can't afford to think like that. >> kind of a freaky offbeat movie. based on the trilogy of books about a deadly reality show held in post apocalypse america.

>> i've been reading these books since they came out and as they come and i loved them and i heard the movie was coming out and i was just like, yes. >> we've got to come up with a title for the hunger groupies. fandango predicting it'll eclipse the twilight opening weekend sales. they estimate "hunger games" may be raking in $140 million this weekend alone. >> wow, amazing. bottle that up. andrew lug drawing a crowd on his home field. plus, the sharks keep their playoff dreams alive. we'll have highlights next. and traveling 580, pretty smooth drive right now getting out of town might be an issue, getting through town, i'll show you something else going on near the city. hey, your high speed internet here, at home...

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welcome back, everyone. and a good friday morning to you. taking a live look outside. shark tank this morning. making a little comeback. j.k.'s got the details for us. >> those sharks in action, in dire need of a win last night. no secret, that was at hp pavilion. watch it here off the rebound, bangs it in, sharks go up, 1-0.

we move to the third period. p daniel scoring his first goal as a shark, and they need it. sharks win it 2-1, now just one point away from that final playoff spot. good news there. well, former stanford quarterback drawing a lot of attention from the nfl, why wouldn't he? 100 scouts and coaches locked in on lug k. he is projected to be the first pick in that 2012 draft, most likely ending up in the postmaning era with the indianapolis colts. opening day for the san francisco giants less than a month away. tonight they'll play the reigning champion rangers in arizona. you can catch the action right here on nbc bay area. that game starts at 7:00 tonight. >> baseball is upon us. break out the cracker jacks. 4:55 right now. let's find out what's happening on the roads. >> all right, folks. we'll take you over to the city

where we do have an accident. pretty major one going on. it's closing brotherhood way westbound. that's highway 1 right here on our maps. between 280 and 101, what's affected is heading toward san francisco state. i do want to tell you about an accident nearby, northbound 101 at 280. that transition ramp might be affected, but it is open. flashing lights if you're heading on to 101 to 280 northbound. we'll get another look across the bay and the bay bridge itself, construction should be picking up for that lower deck soon. no major delays. but at the very top of your screen, i noticed what's coming off of highway 4. sticking around, there may be some 50s there for some reason, but there's no construction and no accidents. so i will follow up and let you know if there's anything more to report coming up guys, back to you. >> thank you so much, mike. the angry birds have launched into space and now they're taking over seattle. >> a giant angry bird was attached to the side of the space needle in seattle to

promote the launch of the next chapter in the very popular angry birds video game saga. >> that's one mad, big bird. >> you know the name of it, angry birds in space. the game went on sale yesterday in the app store. >> oh, the space needle, oh, wow. >> nothing getting past you. the company that developed the game says the original version of the game has been downloaded more than 700 million times. >> doesn't look too comfortable up there. still ahead on "today in the bay," the search for the missing morgan hill girl takes a new turn. why the fbi has entered the investigation. also mirkarimi fighting back. why the sheriff says he should be able to keep his job.

breaking news out of san francisco where police say speed was a factor in a violent accident that threw three people from a car, sent them to the it