good morning. new information about the clothes found that belong to a missing morgan hill teen. that story coming up. the army staff sergeant accused of killing 17 people in afghanistan will be charged today. details coming up. we'll give you a live look outside, that is san francisco in the distance right there. ladies and gentlemen, laura, christina, mike, can i get a witness? it is friday. >> it is friday. >> friday, yes. it's a beautiful thing. march 23rd, "today in the bay." it is official. it is friday. it's 6:00 right now, i'm laura

garcia-cannon. >> i'm john kelly. we check in with meteorologist christina loren, and everybody should be feeling good about today because it's going to be wet tomorrow. >> can't wait to see you on monday, john. keep your jacket with you, leave the umbrella at home. we've got a lot of rain headed our way. we're talking inches, upwards of 2 inches possible in the south bay. we'll time it out for you, let you know when you might be able to get outdoors because your opportunities will be limited. that's coming up. first let's check your drive at 6:01. >> we'll start in the south bay where i see a little slowing now for northbound 101. that's a little unusual for this time of a friday, but we tend to see things sort out before the real slowing starts just after 6:30. a note for folks if you're heading south over 17, yesterday, they closed up that center divide at laurel curve. well, they have to do striping work today on the southbound side from 8:00 until 2:00. what was once a term lane, no longer is. they want to get that construction out of the roadway.

we'll check the rest of your commute coming up. >> sounds good. thank you very much, mike. 5:01 right now. a week ago at this time, sierra lamar was getting ready for school. and this morning, the morgan hill teenager is still missing. and her family is desperate. now taking to the national air waves to plea for her return. "today in the bay" is live in morgan hill where he spoke with sierra's mother and learned a bit of new information, i understand. >> yeah, good morning to you, laura, and they just got done speaking on the "today" show to a much broader audience as you mentioned. it was exactly one week ago this morning that sierra lamar left her home behind me in morgan hill where she was supposed to head off to school. still no word from her. we just spoke with her parents who are pleading for help from anyone who has any information on the whereabouts of their 15-year-old daughter. >> i'm hoping that, you know, you think of her as your own child. she was such a lovely young lady. >> reporter: this morning, we have new information about

sierra's personal belongings that the searcher found in a field not far from her home. you might recall the last sunday they found sierra's pink juicy purse inside sierra's undergarments and a pair of pants and shirt. both of those neatly folded. well that shirt is a sharks jersey or has some sort of sharks insignia on it and it's very similar to the one she took a computer photo of herself last friday morning before leaving her home. her mom is convinced that's what she was wearing when she left. now even though the sheriff's office has found no evidence of foul play, her mother says it's hard to keep her hopes up. >> it's just very convicting that there's something not right about this whole situation, you know, as far as her being gone this long and finding the items. it's terrifying, you know. i try not to think bad things and just, you know, please, you know, keep your strength, baby. i know you have it in you to survive this.

>> reporter: we've seen a lot of still photos of sierra. well, this morning, we're getting our first glimpse of home video that the lamars released to us. it shows sierra bouncing on the family trampoline at the home with her mother and sister. now, later this morning, the sheriff's office might be conducting road block. a road block, not far from the home along the road where sierra was supposed to catch that school bus exactly seven days ago. what they want to do is stop drivers and ask them, do you remember anything about a week ago friday? was there anything unusual before she disappeared that maybe they can recall and help with this investigation? reporting live here in morgan hill, bob redell "today in the bay." >> you will hear more from sierra's parents on the "today" show. 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.

they suspect she was killed and dumped by her son some time before he killed his 11-year-old sister and himself. last night, family and friends held a prayer vigil. >> just gives you a little bit of peace, you know. just -- and see everyone getting together and really supporting each other. >> the family says 27-year-old abel gutierrez suffered from po post-traumatic stress disorder after tours in iraq. a deadly shooting involving one of the officers. they were facing a fugitive parolee over on hillcrest avenue yesterday afternoon. when the car finally stopped, witnesses say they heard several shots rang out. police say the officer shot the driver, but they're not sure what prompted him to open fire. the man ultimately died at the hospital. a passenger in that car was not hurt. it is 6:05 right now.

the oakland man accused of bludgeoning a berkeley hills man to death with a ceramic pot will not face a jury. a judge says 23-year-old daniel dewitt is not competent to stand trial. dewitt is accused of killing 67-year-old peter sucor outside his home last month. he wandered on to their property in search of a woman his family says does not exist. ross mirkarimi says he will continue to fight for his job. all set to appear before the city's ethics commission after charges of official misconduct were leveed by mayor ed lee. mirkarimi appeared at the hall of justice yesterday to begin a counseling program on domestic violence. it's all part of his sentence after pleading guilty to false imprisonment charges. the ethics commission reviewing the charges and will ultimately make a relaticommendations to t board of supervisors. police are warning about a rash of car burglaries on the

u.c. berkeley campus. the break-ins happening at the lawrence hall parking lot. they've been called to that lot numerous times in the last several months and investigating whether the burglaries are related. not just car thefts, but gas thefts to warn you about this morning. they're on the rise. police say incidents like this one in sacramento have jumped nearly 50% since january. officers think while some people siphon tanks, others are just punching holes in them to steal gas. as summer approaches, experts worry those thefts will also increase. >> sign of the times out there. it is rough. 6:07 right now, we check in with christina loren to find out about that weekend forecast. >> good morning, if you wanted to make outdoor plans this weekend, you better think twice. we've got a lot of rain on the way. good driving conditions at this point. clear skies overhead for the most part across the greater bay area. and your winds, they are picking up just a little bit, ahead of a

system of low pressure that arrives as we head through tonight. wind over the west/southwest is making your true temperature outside of 41 degrees feel much, much colder. we do have a windchill fact out there. it feels like 35 when you add that wind. make sure you grab your jacket this morning, bundle up the little ones because we do have the 30s. we haven't had that in quite some time. yesterday at this time we were in the 50s. at noon today, we'll be back in the 50s. 55 degrees inland, 50 by the bay, and then 4:00 p.m. as you make your way home from work, the workweek is done, 53 degrees and comfortable conditions. you do want to make those indoor plans this weekend. we have a lot of rain on the way. and an area of low pressure will ride right across the bay area. and the south bay, looks like we are going to get hit the hardest. i'll let you know how much we're projecting and the timing. that's key to your outdoor activities. first, let's check your drive with mike. >> let's look at 580, see how many folks you have on that roadway. not a lot. might get a little lonely, but i don't think there'll be any

complaining for westbound 580 just mild slowing in toward about north flynn. a typical pattern, easy build. getting out of town, this afternoon starting about 3:00 as a lot of folks hit 580 or interstate 80. looking over here to antioch, highway 4 shows this build continuing to hold right around 25, 35 miles per hour as you held over toward leverage. 59 now shows up in bay point, that may indicate a heavier volume building there. >> a live look outside, crossing the bay, heading into san francisco, no delays and no metering lights, lower deck and easy drive all the way through treasure island and the oakland side without incident, as well. it is 6:09 right now, coming up on "today in the bay," california students have a plan to make college tuition free. that's right, free. they're trying to get a vote on the ballot. we'll have all the details coming up. plus, charges will be filed today against the army staff sergeant accused of killing 17 people in afghanistan. details are next.

i'm more of an absentee plant parent.

[ cellphone rings ] tuscaloosa? schenectady? des moines? okay. okay. okay. i can't always be there to weed my petunias. so now we use miracle gro shake 'n feed plus weed preventer. it feeds plants and prevents weeds for up to three months. so my plants grow bigger, more beautiful, without all the weeds -- guaranteed. [ cellphone rings ] with miracle gro shake 'n feed, anyone can have a green thumb. [ cellphone rings ] everyone grows with miracle gro.

welcome back, everybody, on this friday morning, a live look outside at downtown san jose. christina loren says you may want to enjoy it today the weekend's going to be kind of wet. it is 6:12. well, new this morning, the french gunman wanted for those deadly shootings in the south of france may not have had terrorist connections after all. "today in the bay" is in our newsroom with all of the new information. good morning, marla. >> good morning. interesting stuff coming into our newsroom just minutes ago. a senior official in france saying authorities have not found any evidence that 23-year-old mohammed merah had ties to al qaeda or any other group for that matter. now, you may recall merah was a self-proclaimed al qaeda militant and there were reports he received terrorist training

in afghanistan and pakistan. this morning, though, still a heavy police presence outside his apartment in france. after a 32-hour standoff. during that standoff, he confessed to shooting and killing seven people over the past two weeks. this morning, army staff sergeant robert bales is expected to be told he faces 17 counts of murder and a long list of other serious charges. the formal charges expected to be read to him in a military courtroom in kansas where he's been held. today bales' attorney saying he believes the government will have a hard time proving its case and his client's mental state will be an important issue. bales says he doesn't remember the details of the killing spree that happened 12 days ago. just yesterday without explanation, officials upped the murder count to 17, all along it had stood at 16. well, here in the bay area, we're working to make up for a rain deficit, but not the case in the land down under. check out this flash flooding on

australia's sunshine coast, cars literally floating, businesses under water. this girl here going for a surf. in all, more than 200 homes flooded. now, local meteorologists calling the rain a once in a century deluge. >> wow, thank you very much. surfing in the streets. i guess surf's down. >> hey, we're going to get significant rainfall this weekend. >> and probably high surf, as well, with gusty winds in the bay area. but it'll be raining all weekend long so surfing conditions not ideal. let's take you outdoors and show you what we're experiencing. 36 degrees in santa rosa, just 4 degrees away from freezing. and we have a bit of a windchill factor with some light breezes starting to build out of the northwest indicative of that front that's getting oh so much closer to the bay area coastline. it arrives as we head through tonight. concord, you're at 45 in oakland. our storm system, it's going to impact us basically all weekend long. in fact, sunday now is looking like a washout day for the south bay. so what's going to happen is

it'll continue to trek to the south, it's going to ride right over the bay area, reenforcing that cold air already in place and bringing about some significant changes on sunday. we're not only going to have to deal with the wet weather, we have a potential of strong thunderstorms, as well. you can see that's when it starts to come in with heavier rain coming down at the coast. lighter rain at that point inland. as we head throughout the day, we're going to see steady rain all the way through about noon and then we get a little bit of a break as we head through the first part of your sunday. look what comes in to the south bay. take a look at morgan hill at 5:00 p.m. on sunday. we have a lot of rain. and your accumulations as a result look like they will be the highest down south. san jose, looks like an inch, upwards of 2 inches for places like morgan hill. and the santa cruz mountains, they could end up with 3 to 5 inches. and really, not a whole lot of time between the last storm system, not a whole lot of drying out time. you want to keep that in mind,

travel cautiously, we are expecting more downed trees as we head throughout this weekend. tuesday and wednesday, pesky showers, your temperatures are warm, 66 degrees, cloudy conditions, the whole thing clears out by thursday. let's check your drive with mike. >> we'll look at the south bay where we saw the earlier slowing right here northbound 101. just minutes ago, we head speeds into the 50s and back up to 60 miles per hour. still the volume starts to hold steady through the area. we should see speeds lowering on average there as well as highway 87. but so far, we're just fine. now, a note for later on. it's not really beach weather, but if you're heading south on 17, passing by the former opening at laurel curve, it's closed up yesterday and they have striping work now going on from 8:00 until 2:00 this afternoon. a little slowing because you're down to one lane there on the southbound side, but the northbound side will remain open. yesterday that's where we had the big build-up. today, there's no closure there. now, in the city today, we had a major accident, as well, on brotherhood way that had the roadway closed heading west.

that might have been a factor for folks heading to san francisco state, but it has reopened no problems now through the area for the work flow. but a little slowing around the bend just starting up southbound into daily city. over here, southbound 238 coming toward me and connecting over into westbound 580, not really a heavy commute spot, but there was a distraction for the westbound 580 portion because of repair work. they may continue that for another 40 minutes, you may see a little early slowing for a friday, but holding steady close to the limit and a live look outside, we'll show you what things are like across the san mateo bridge and an easy flow with these westbound taillights, visibility is great, as well, and later on in the day, you may get caught with gusty winds. back to you. >> thank you very much, mike. it's 6:17 right now. another bridge closure to impact weekend drivers. caltrans says the dumbarton bridge will be closed to all traffic for the entire memorial day weekend. the span will be shut down at 10:00 on friday night, may 25th,

and reopened tuesday morning, may 29th at 5:00. crews will be working on seismic repairs. 6:17 right now to politics, louisiana holding the republican primary tomorrow as newt gingrich and rick santorum crank up the heat on mitt romney. both going after romney after a statement made by one of his advisers comparing their election plans for the fall to an etch-a-sketch. now rick santorum's telling republicans four more years of president obama is actually better than mitt romney. >> 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. >> and these guys are good for questionable comment every week. romney calling that comment disappointing. santorum is leading the polls down in louisiana. he is ahead of romney at this point by double digits. free clinic at o.co coliseum continues today. thousands are expected to take

part in a chance for free dental and vision care. in addition to basic medical check-ups. the clinic runs through sunday. volunteers start handing out vouchers every morning at 3:30 and the screenings begin at 5:30. so they're already well underway. only 1,000 people a day get in so organizers say come early. some entrepreneurial bay area students try to get a plan for free tuition at california schools on that june ballot. the plan would make state university tuition free for full-time in-state students who do 70 hours of community service per year or maintain a 2.7 grade point average. sounds pretty sweet. it would subsidize or be subsidized through higher tax income for the rich. now, the campaign college for california does need more than 800,000 signatures to actually just get on to the ballot. >> 6:19 right now. some east bay school children will come face-to-face with a sports pioneer today.

the first african-american athlete to play in the national hockey league will visit students at oakland's lincoln elementary school. he'll also meet with students from american indian public charter school. >> that's an interesting story. no the a lot of brothers in the league. well, tim tebow not a new york jet, not yet. there's word that his trade being held up on a technicality here. the quarterback expected to sign a rewritten contract some time tomorrow and he'll be officially introduced. the trade will be announced wednesday. >> and when you're a jet. 6:20 right now. people who lost their jobs at solyndra have a chance to hook up with employers from other solar companies today. what's in a name? is a jobs r a jobs act? we'll take a look coming up. ♪

[ camera shutters clicking ] ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] announcing southwest airlines nationwide sale, with flights all over the country starting at only 69 dollars one-way. hurry and book now, only at southwest.com. ♪ ♪ hurry and book now, only at southwest.com.

welcome back, everyone. 6:23 right now. special job fair being held today for solyndra workers. hosting a recruitment event at the newark campus. 10 employers will be on hand with other companies in the solar industry. solyndra employees lost their jo jobs abruptly last summer when the company declared bankruptcy a month after receiving $1 billion government loan.

checking that calendar, we're days into spring and this has the hype of a monster summer blockbuster, the first installment of "the hunger games" opened in theaters at midnight. >> this is the time to show them everything. make sure they remember you. >> this one may not be for all the kiddyes out there. hundreds of tweens waiting to see the movie. >> they came out and as they come and i just loved them and i heard the movie was coming out and i was just like, yes. >> yes, indeed. i'm sure he enjoyed that one. the ticket, purchasing website fandango predicting the "hunger games" will eclipse the twilight saga sales. they estimate "the hunger games" could rake in $140 million in one weekend this weekend. >> i think scott mcgrew already has his ticket. all right.

speaking of -- the senate has passed its version of a jobs act, scott mcgrew says has very little to do with jobs. >> good morning. this is a change to the way that finance works really. it creates jobs, if it does, that's a nice side benefit. the word jobs in the jobs act doesn't even mean employment. we'll get to that in a second. the bill undoes parts of sarban sarbanes-oxley passed to better protect investors, it also undoes part of the dodd/frank act. that law less than two years old. that came after our recent crisis on wall street. this bill allows small investors to fund companies like internet start-ups at a much earlier stage and says those companies need to provide far less factual information. they can even advertise they're looking for investors. it would also raise the cap on the number of private investors. technically there are two laws involved. the house bill is called the jobs act, but that means jump

start our business start-ups, and then the senate's is called crowd fund or capital raising online while deterring fraud and unethical nondisclosure act of 2012. the bill needs to go one more time through the house and the president is expected to sign it. despite the fact that wall street vehemently opposes it as do unions, the aarp, even the head of the securities and exchange commission. now, whether you agree or disagree, the take away on this is it's another big win for silicon valley. remember the tech industry took on hollywood, now it's taking on, john and laura and beating wall street. >> they've got to come up with a whole committee just for those acronyms out there. wow. >> first i thought he said -- 6:26 right now, coming up on "today in the bay," two people seriously injured in san francisco, a live report coming up. also, you hear from the missing girl's mother sierra lamar's parents, as well, in a new interview, bob redell is

live with that next. and dry today, rain tomorrow, once it starts, it will not let up all the way throughout the weekend. i'll let you know how much we're expecting in your city coming up. and we'll look at over into the tunnels, if you're heading to the bay brid what's in store fohor ouyo what's in store for you coming up. [ female announcer ] here in california, our schools need help. the largest class size in the nation. 47th out of 50 in per-student funding. but right now, we can make history with a ballot measure to send every k-through-12 dollar straight to our schools.

to every school and every child. not to sacramento. it's the only initiative that can say all that. check out our online calculator and find out how your school would benefit. visit ourchildrenourfuture2012.com today.

fblgts. good morning, we're live outside sierra lamar's home in morgan hill with reaction from her parents, the news that investigators found some of her daughter's personal belongings, that story coming up. and three people taken to sf general overnight after police say a speeding driver lost control and slammed right into a tree. i'm christie smith, i'll tell you how they're doing coming up in a live report. >> speaking of live, that is a beautiful picturesque shot live over san francisco. feel good, everybody. feel good starts with an "f," it's friday, march 23rd, "today in the bay."

good morning to you, and thanks so much for joining us. it's 6:29 right now, seconds away from 6:30, i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and it's friday. good morning, everybody. i'm john kelly, let's check in with christina loren, and today looks like a little bit dry before the wet stuff comes. >> we've got a lot of rain on the way this weekend. and a lot of people want to start on that spring cleaning. you'll be able to do so on the indoor part, at least. we've got a lot of rain and maybe 2 to 3 inches, down in the south bay where we're going to get the most. you're at 45 in oakland, 44 in san francisco, take a look at what's headed our way as we head through tonight. a lot of moisture starts to move onshore at about 9:00 p.m. we'll time the system out and let you know how much we're expecting. >> well, green on your maps, rain green on my maps is good. we see a good flow across the bay bridge. although the latest change over

at the toll plaza is 6:30. and a few minutes ago, they did turn the metering lights on. little slow down along the berkeley curve and approaching the toll plaza. all lanes should be backing up. a slower build for friday. just got word of this, over by the coliseum, a live look, the southbound side, good volume of traffic. but we report -- reports of a disabled vehicle, some are around this shot. i didn't see anything going on in lanes right now. chp will give us an update in a few. a pretty bright shot there, but typical build for a friday. >> thank you, mike. well, we can tell you, new clues making it extremely hard right now to keep hope alive. one week after a morgan hill teen vanished on her way to school. this morning, sierra lamar's family making a national plea in hopes of her return. bob redell live where he just spoke with sierra's mother and also learned some brand new information. bob, good morning. >> reporter: yeah, good morning to you, john. we understand the santa clara county sheriff's office is looking into the possibility of setting up a road block very

soon on not far from sierra lamar's home here in morgan hill. they want to set this up near where sierra was supposed to catch her school bus last friday to stop drivers to ask them, hey, do you remember seeing anything unusual last friday morning before sierra disappeared? >> we just spoke with her parents who are trying to keep their hopes up but admit that's hard. especially after news yesterday that the sheriff's office dwirmed it had found some of sierra's belongings in a field not far from her home. on sunday, searchers came across her pink juicy purse, inside was a sharks jersey and a pair of pants, both neatly folded along with some of her undergarments. her mother believes she was wearing that jersey friday morning because of a picture she took and left of herself on her computer. now, deputies say that the image on the computer and the shirt found in the purse in the field are similar. the lamars realize something is not right. that abduction is a strong

possibility, but they tell us they don't want to go there. >> we love you so much and everybody loves yo uh so much and, you know, our hearts are really aching for your return. your safe return and we're all praying and we know that you're going to find your way back to us and if somebody's holding her, please, please find it in your hearts to release her. i just want her back. >> reporter: for the first time, we're able to see, get a sense of the kind of fun personality sierra has. her family's been speaking about as you can see in this home video they released to us of sierra bouncing about on the trampoline with her mom and sister. now in spite of the discovery of these personal belongings that belong to the 15-year-old girl, the sheriff's office still says it's found no evidence of foul play. reporting live here in morgan hill, bob redell, "today in the

bay." >> we also can tell you about another candle light vigil for sierra being held tonight in fremont. the vigil starts at 7:30 at washington high school where sierra attended school as a freshman before she moved down to morgan hill. 6:34 right now. three people were taken to the hospital this morning after the car they were riding in slammed into a tree in san francisco. it happened early this morning on westbound brotherhood way. today in the bay's christie smith is live in san francisco. she joins us now with the very latest. christie? >> good morning to you, laura. well, we were at the accident scene a little bit earlier and we came here to the hospital. i spoke with police this morning and they're saying that there were three people including the driver riding in this car. the driver lost control, skidded, slammed right into a tree, the car spun around. all three people injured. they were taken here this morning to s.f. general. all three of them male, police are telling us two had life threatening injuries, one was nonlife threatening injuries

ranging from back trauma to head trauma. this happened around 2:45 this morning on brotherhood way. the car lost control, it left skid marks about 200 feet long on the street slammed into that tree, spun around and then ended up on the sidewalk area. the bumper when we got there was just sitting in the center of the road. and police say at this point it's too early to say if alcohol was a factor. the wreck very close to s.f. state. i asked them if any of these people might be students and they say at this point they just don't know. reporting live in san francisco, christie smith, "today in the bay." hundreds of dui convictions in san francisco possibly thousands now one step closer to being just tossed out. filing a legal challenge against the sfpd. officers are supposed to calibrate the screening devices every ten days. now, officers have not been following that procedure for the last seven to eight years.

he says the accuracy of these test results are now in dispute impacting hundreds, maybe thousands of dui convictions. the police department has its own independent investigation right now underway. 6:35 right now, pg & e will have to pay up again. a judge has rejected the utilities appeal of a $16 million fine for failing to inspect pipes in contra costa county. the judge ruled that the danger to communities justified that penalty. regulators issued the fine after finding more than 800 safety violations back in january. they say the utility failed to conduct a required gas leak surveys on nearly 14 miles of its distribution system in eastern contra costa county. 6:36 right now, a controversial picture could finally cost the head of california's fish and gaming commission his job. dan richards bng criticized for killing a mountain lion in idaho. that is a picture of him with a big cat, which drew outrage and demands he be fired.

the commission board members will vote today to try and change the way the board president is selected and that could lead to his ouster. mountain lions are protected right here in california, but not in idaho. richards says he did nothing wrong and he will not resign. it is 6:37 right now. change when it comes to our forecast, keeping tabs of it all, christina loren, how are we looking? >> today, dry, tomorrow you'll need that umbrella about all day long and the same goes for sunday. good morning to you, grab your jacket, 36 degrees, cold up there in santa rosa, 4 degrees above freezing, and in addition to cold air, we've got a windchill factor, it feels even cooler with the light breeze beginning to build. indicative of that cold front on its way to the bay area. 55 degrees by noon, we'll see sunshine for a few hours today and then the clouds will roll back in this evening as the front starts to move onshore. nonetheless, 60, 63 degrees inland, 61 by the bay. mild and dry for today, those evening clouds really start to

thicken up and about 5:00 p.m. up in the north bay. heavy rain starting early. we'll get a little bit of a lighter pattern as we head through the second half of your day especially at the coast and up in the north bay. if you want to get outdoors in the north bay, you're going to get a chance to do so for the second half of your saturday and then sunday, heavy rain returns, especially to the south bay, we could see 2 to 3 inches even right here in metropolitan san jose. i'll show you what i'm talking about coming up. and in addition to that, isolated thunderstorms. a lot of rain on the way, i'll sort it all out for you with my seven-day forecast in my next report. let's get you out the front door. >> it's still cold for this person, fixing the tires southbound 680. live look, we'll show you the southbound traffic going to the left of your screen, a smooth drive, no slowing, and sounds like no lanes are blocked, but folks heading through, stay over to your left as you're passing

by the exit there, we know what it's like to be on the side of the road, how nerve racking it can be. back further on the maps. a look at the approach to the dublin interchange, speeds into the 40s through pleasantton and dublin as you're approaching 580 itself. that would be a big concern, except, look, that's the bulk of traffic as it came out of livermore with an early start. we'll watch, it should maintain a steady, even flow for 580 and a gradual build out of town may be an issue. remember to bring those chains, should start throwing around 3:00. looking over here to highway 4, a good compression for the slowdown, clear into bay point. mild slowing for 680. and we saw a nice easy drive to the bay bridge, as well, guys. 6:39 right now. experts say the price of gas could nearly double. should i say that again? no, i don't want to say that again. we'll explain why coming up. mitt romney will try to make it two for two with gop

primaries this week. find out why he might have a hard time in louisiana in a live report. ♪

♪ hit the road, jack ♪ and don't you come back no more ♪ ♪ no more, no more, no more ♪ hit the road, jack ♪ and don't you come back no more ♪ [ male announcer ] want your weeds to hit the road? hit 'em with roundup extended control. one application kills weeds and puts down a barrier to stop new ones for up to four months.

roundup extended control spray once. stop weeds for months. welcome back, everybody. 6:42 right now. rick santorum and newt gingrich cranking up the heat on front-runner mitt romney in the gop race ahead of another big southern primary. "today in the bay" tracie potts following the developments from washington. and tracie, this one has been

full of miscues out there. santorum going so far as to suggest republicans should turn their backs on their party, right? >> well, if mitt romney ends up being the nominee, he said, maybe we'd be better off with four more years of president obama. that did not sit well with romney who said he was disappointed to hear that. certainly didn't sit well either, with newt gingrich who said, i totally disagree. that any republican candidate would be better than reelecting the president if it were a choice as he put it, there would be no choice. now, they're all focused on louisiana, that primary coming up tomorrow. this weekend, 20 delegates at stake there, santorum is ahead in the polls by about 12 points in the latest poll, ahead of mitt romney, it's a big challenge for romney, another test to see whether he can win in the south, whether he can win that conservative base, which he has yet to capture even though he's ahead in the delegate count. romney took time off the

campaign trail yesterday. he was here in washington at a fundraiser trying to get support from lawmakers here on capitol hill. he raised almost $500,000 here in washington. john? >> busy time for that. let's keep our eye on that every day, we have to. thank you, tracie. coming up, 15 minutes of uninterrupted news. we'll hear from sierra lamar's parents one week into the search for the missing morgan hill teenager. a live report is next. plus, a checkg om inurup.ey switching to progressive could mean hundreds more in your wallet year after year. feed me! saving you money -- now, that's progressive. call or click today.

[ male announcer ] aggressive new styling. a more fuel-efficient turbocharged engine. and a completely redesigned interior. ♪ the new c-class, with over 2,000 refinements. it's amazing...inside and out. the c-class starts at just $34,800. welcome back, everybody. 6:46 right now. and it was clear outside, kind of crisp, but not clear this weekend, is it, christina? >> no, the calm before the storm. let's show you what it looks like right now. we're getting a really beautiful

start this morning. you can see the leading edge, though, of that front that is offshore. it's going to move in through tonight. we've got a lot of rain on the way to the bay area. what a difference a day will make. at this time tomorrow, heavy downpours across the greater bay area. it's not just the north bay, we're going to see a lot of moisture. one other thing i wanted to point out from this live picture, it's glassy out there for now, but expect choppy conditions along the bay as our winds start to pick up later this evening as that area of low pressure moves onshore. you're in the 30s in sunnyvale and we're talking about a windchill factor in addition to the very, very cold. you'll need that heavy jacket, you can leave the umbrella at home at least until we hit tonight. yeah, we're going to see our first showers up in the north ba bay by 9:00 p.m. tonight. over the course of the weekend, it really is really dependent on where you live. if you do live in the south bay, you're going to get an opportunity to get outdoors the second half of sunday.

sunday morning, we will get drenched down here. along the peninsula, it's the opposite, saturday morning, a nice break from the showers and the heavy stuff comes in sunday night. so here it is. really significant totals, but take a look at the difference between what we're expecting in santa rosa versus morgan hill. upwards of 2 inches. so this is a south bay event. you want to keep that in mind, travel very cautiously across the south bay as we head throughout this weekend. 2 1/4 inches is quite a significant total. as we head throughout the day today, enjoy the 60s because we lose those 60s as we head through the weekend. 60 in san jose, 59 degrees today, that's it for livermore, we're down to 51 tomorrow with rain in the forecast through sunday, few showers early monday, we'll get a few very light pesky showers tuesday into wednesday and then finally a dry, spring-like pattern starts to resume thursday into the weekend. let's check your drive with mike. >> hey, folks, and we'll look at the south bay, we had the slowing starting off for 101 and 87, but since i made that map like two minutes ago, we also

have slowing starting up around capital expressway. and slowing into the 30s along 680. there's the build for the south bay which has kicked in. but a pretty standard pattern for a friday. we're looking at here, southbound 17 and now as christina said not really beach weather. but folks heading down to the beach, 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., doing striping work. the same area where we had the construction, they closed up the opening at laurel curve. they have to restripe southbound. you shouldn't see any significant slowing besides the distraction there. we'll take you over to the peninsula looking at 101. it is over on the shoulder and that's really the only incident with no slowing along the peninsula. a smooth drive into san francisco on that side of the bay. heading up through the city, no problems for 880. we do have southbound 238 coming toward 580 and looping up into oakland for 580. westbound, those sand barrels being repaired still, no major slowing, but the slowdown starts

now for 238 itself, but that's the area we were looking at as far as the construction barrel repair. live look outside, we'll show you what things are like at the coliseum. just a build, guys. 6:49 right now. a week ago at this time, sierra lamar was getting ready to leave her morgan hill home to catch the school bus. this morning, the teenager remains missing and her family's making a national appeal to find her. live in morgan hill where he learned of a new clue in the case. bob? >> reporter: good morning to you, laura. it was exactly one week ago this morning that sierra lamar left her home here in morgan hill and there's still been no word from her. her parents this morning, they were on the "today" show making this plea and even made this plea for us for help from anyone who has any information on the whereabouts of their 15-year-old daughter. >> i'm hoping that, you know, you think of her as your own child. she's -- she was such a lovable young lady. >> reporter: this morning, we also have new information about

sierra's personal belongings that searchers found in a field not far from her own home. you might recall that last sunday they found sierra's pink juicy purse. inside we are sierra's undergarments and a pair of pants and shirt, both of those items neatly folded. well, that shirt is a sharks jersey, a very similar to the one she took a computer photo of herself wearing last friday morning before leaving her home. even though the sheriff's office has found no evidence of foul play, her mother admits to us this morning it's very hard to keep her hopes up. >> it's just very convicting that there's something not right about this whole situation as far as her being gone this long and finding the items. it's terrifying, you know. i try not to think bad things and just, you know, please, you know, keep your strength, baby. i know you have it in you to survive this.

>> we see many photos of sierra lamar and today we're getting the first glimpse of her in video. her bouncing about on the family trampoline here at their home in morgan hill with her mother and sister. now, within the next hour or so, it's quite possible the sheriff's office is looking into this that investigators might set up a road block not far from this home along the same stretch of roadway where sierra lamar would have been catching her school bus last friday morning. what they want to do is stop drivers and ask them, hey, do you remember anything unusual about a week ago friday? anything unusual before she disappeared? reporting live here in morgan hill, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> thank you, bob. and you will hear more from sierra's parents coming up on the "today" show, their interview will air at 7:30. and there's some hope for closure this morning for friends and family of a missing gilroy mother. police finding the body of

52-year-old martha gutierrez yesterday in a rural area outside of hollister. she'd been missing for more than a week since her son shot and killed his 11-year-old sister before killing himself. police believe 27-year-old abel gutierrez also killed his mother and dumped her body. the family believes he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by several tours in iraq. three men are hospitalized this morning after a violent car crash in san francisco. happened early this morning on westbound brotherhood way. "today in the bay" is live at san francisco general with the details. good morning, christie. >> reporter: good morning to you, laura. three people riding in that car, all of them taken to s.f. general overnight. i spoke with police this morning and they're telling me when they arrived to the accident scene, all three of the men were outside of the car. that car ended up near a sidewalk after police say the driver who was speeding lost control and slammed into a tree on brotherhood way. about 3:00 this morning headed westbound. there are skid marks on the road

about 200 feet long. all males, we're told that two had life threatening injuries, one nonlife-threatening injury. i do have calls into investigators to see if there's any new information on their condition. haven't heard back yet. reporting live in san francisco, christie smith, "today in the bay." well, the man accused of bludgeoning a berkeley hills man to death with a ceramic pot will not be facing a jury. a judge says 23-year-old daniel dewitt is not competent to stand trial. dewitt accused of killing 67-year-old peter sucore outside his home last month. his wife says he confronted dewitt when he wandered on to their property searching ining woman that does not exist. mirkarimi is set to appear before the city ethics commission after charges of an

official misconduct were leveled by mayor ed lee. mirkarimi appeared in the hall of justice to begin a counseling program. as part of his sentence after pleading guilty to false imprisonment charges. the ethics commission reviewing the charges and will ultimately make a recommendation to the board of supervisors on whether mirkarimi should stay or go. >> here's some potential good news for the chronically unemployed. more than a dozen states right now considering legislation prohibiting employers from discriminating against out of work applicants in ads or hiring. one career center director says hiring managers fear applicants will just at this point take any job then quit when better work comes along. california currently considering a bill that would fine companies for discriminating against jobless job seekers. it's 6:55 right now. new this morning, the soldier being held for a deadly shooting rampage in afghanistan is just hours away from being formally charged. "today in the bay" is following

the latest overnight developments. >> army staff sergeant robert bales is expected to be hit with a long list of serious charges. 17 counts of murder, six counts of attempted murder and six counts of aggravated assault. charges come 12 days after bales went on that killing spree in southern afghanistan. at least nine children died in that attack. officials say it could be months before any public hearing takes place. new information coming out of france this morning after yesterday's more than day-long standoff with gunman mohammed merah which ended with his death in this neighborhood here. the senior official says authorities have not found any evidence that the 23-year-old had ties to al qaeda or any other group for that matter. merah claimed he was a member of al qaeda and confessed to shooting and killing seven people over the past several weeks. pope benedict xvi is bound for mexico.

right now mexican president felipe calderon is expected to welcome him and some 300,000 people expected to attend his mass on sunday before the pope leaves for cuba on monday. now, here in the states, our president is getting ready to make a personnel announcement in the rose garden in just a few minutes, it's 7:00, john, he's expected to officially nominate dartmouth college president. we'll be watching for that. 6:57 right now, tough one to read to you. gas prices could hit $8 a gallon if iran is successful in closing a vital oil shipping passage. $8. there are fears that iran could place underwater mines in the strait of hormuz some time near the end of the year, that would disrupt oil supplies for up to three months as u.s. countries and others work to remove the mines. about 17 million barrels of oil a day pass through the strait, that's about 20% of the global

market. >> wow. to pay for that gas, you may have to hit the megamillions, huh? tonight's drawing for $290 million, that's the jackpot right now. if you want to break that down, that's 11 million per year for 26 years or you can take the one-time cash payout of almost $203 million. i like the sound of that. tickets have to be purchased by 7:45 tonight to be eligible for tonight's drawing. opening day getting closer and closer. but for now, the giants continue their fine tuning in spring training. tonight, they're going to take on the texas rangers. and you can watch the game right here on nbc bay area. coverage starts at 7:00 p.m. it is friday, which is a beautiful thing, and friday also means it's gadget time. gadget friday with scott mcgrew. what's up, man? >> i'll tell you what's not up. and that's our wi-fi this morning. i got it ready last night in my house. and does all kinds of amazing things that are actually not so amazing. it's all right. but the deal is he just won't

connect to our wi-fi. i think there must be nbc policy on the network. so i feel bad i haven't got a working gadget friday for you. then i thought i could show you tape of something else. i remember as if it were yesterday. there we go. >> ready? >> no! >> oh, i guess it covers up -- all our words are covering it up. but this was the very first time anybody had ever seen a propane weed eater. and i offer that up in apologies for my non-working rabbit. >> well, there are no weeds -- >> not anymore. >> nice workout there. >> we show the best stuff, right? put it all together. >> great idea. >> thank you so much for joining us this morning. we're going to be back at 7:25 th