new this morning, all those generous holiday donations are long gone, and the alameda county community food bank needs your help. i'll have that story coming up in a live report. tough questions for a morgan hill school district as parents ask why sierra lamar's family was not notified sooner that their daughter was missing. how the district is responding. >> robberies in their neighborhoods becoming more common. and a live look outside. city by the bay overlooking san francisco. a cloudy start, foggy in some parts, as well, on this

thursday, march 29th. this is "today in the bay." good morning, everybody, on this thursday morning, it's now just about 4:31, i'm john kelly. >> let's get to that forecast right now with meteorologist christina loren. >> yeah, we've got fog out there, but the good news is, we are slated to hit the 70s today. i'll take you to that full forecast. with the fog out there, you know there's problems on the highway. >> none reported as far as visibility problems, but that fog, yeah, that's a no for the drivers, we do have roadwork, as well, and you'll see this because of the bright lights that typically light up the construction zones. for 680, quite a few spots, at sycamore valley road and to the north, this zone here between the top and the bottom of the construction construction signs, watch for a lane or two at times. no problems coming off that walnut creek interchange. back to you.

>> thank you very much, mike. well, the rising cost of living having a dramatic impact on those in need. >> putting the services of food banks to the test. live in oakland where one facility says it's running desperately low on supplies. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, john and laura. all those holiday food drives were talking about at the end of the last year were great. they brought in hundreds of thousands of cans and bagged food, but now the alameda county community food bank is saying what they gathered then is basically going to run out by the end of the week. and we're talking about really key things like canned food. they've got some bare shelves and more than 3,000 empty barrels from all of those food drives just sitting around. so this week, volunteers will be sorting through what's left. and they're saying they won't see another big bump in donations until may, that's when the food drive happens. so they're putting out the call now for help. >> the most efficient, quickest way to help us right now is cash

donations. we can take every dollar that we receive and turn it into $5 worth of food. >> now, they're expecting a big demand coming up in april, last april was the highest emergency food demand ever at the time. and they're expecting this year to see much of the same with a spike in the number of kids coming home for spring break. i just checked their website a couple of minutes ago, and they've got all kinds of ways to donate listed there. you can even send in your old b.a.r.t. tickets if they have a little bit of change on them and they can get the cash from there. reporting live in oakland, i'm christie smith, "today in the bay." time definitely matters, that's what some parents are saying this morning almost two weeks after 15-year-old sierra lamar vanished. they're calling for changes in the school district's notification system. the automated calls and e-mails that alert parents when their kids don't show up for class. those alerts do not go out until the evening. exactly what happened in the case of sierra lamar.

but it lost some time that some say may have made a difference. >> it wouldn't have happened, now i am concerned, and now i think that the time should be changed if by second period my son does not attend school or is not in school, then i should be notified. >> the district says the notifications go out late to make sure parents get them and that their children don't delete the messages before the parents get home from work. the search for sierra has hit social media, as well, the 15-year-old friend created a find sierra facebook page. it already has more than 5,000 likes and thousands of comments. the site has a section where you can donate to the find sierra fund as well as get all the latest news about her disappearance. new questions this morning in the trayvon martin case after police release a video of the alleged gunman after the shooting. in this security video obtained exclusively by abc news, you can see him getting out of a police cruiser and taken into an

office. zimmerman telling police he shot martin after the 17-year-old attacked him. zimmerman's family claims his nose was broken and the back of his head had a gash in it, but there's no evidence of injury in this video you can see there. still, zimmerman's father speaking for the first time to fox 35 in orlando is revealing what his son told him. >> in doing so, his firearm -- trayvon martin said something to the effect of you're going to die now or you're going to die tonight, something to that effect. >> as you probably know by now, zimmerman has not been charged in the shooting of martin which has sparked protest nationwide. new tonight, several arrests made in oakland after parents stage a sit-in. the group demanding administrators not close any schools. protesters refused to leave the building after that meeting. but around 12:30, police came in and arrested ten people,

including a juvenile for non-compliance with a school code. a spike in home burglaries in the south bay has police asking for help. dozens attended a community meeting in palo alto to learn how to protect themselves. police told them to lock their doors, windows, and report suspicious behavior. >> i could see the door was open and i said to my husband for some reason i said go look -- go see if the tv's still here. and he said it is and then i went to my jewelry box. and it wasn't. and they had taken all the gold. just gold. >> palo alto says there's been 71 daytime burglaries this year compared to the 31 in the first three months of 2011 in 2010. well, this one started out as a class project, and now an effort to raise san jose's

minimum wage is headed for the ballot. students at san jose state university developed this initiative with the help of labor unions and community groups. the students gathering more than 30,000 signatures to get it on to that ballot. today the students will deliver the petitions to city hall to be verified. a controversial report on the u.c. davis pepper spray incident can be released to the public as long as the names of the police officers are removed. most of those names, that is. that's a decision from a superior court judge. the university wants to release the findings from an investigation into the november incident involving occupy davis protesters and campus police. the officers' union wanted to keep the report under wraps fearing retaliation from protesters. it is 4:37 right now. the river still swollen from recent rain. two teenage boys were swept out to sea in the san leandro river. the teens were trying to cross the mouth of the river down on the beach when they were caught

in the current. a woman saw the boys and ran out to rescue them. the boys were shaken up, but not hurt. the weather's also been a factor in the 2012 mavericks surfing competition. organizers say the conditions haven't been right all winter. and it's unlikely they'll get a good swell before the window closes on saturday. in the meantime, organizers are planning to hold a first of its kind festival on saturday. the event will include live bands, videos, and an awards show. >> got to make sure the party goes on. well, christina loren back with us and did i hear you say something about weather in the 70s today? >> in the 70s today and for the celebration saturday, heavy periods of rain. the only chance of getting a significant swell will be friday into saturday as the winds pick up. it's not completely out of the realm of possibility, but their criteria is so specific, we'll just have to wait and see what happens. 48 degrees in oakland, right now

we're nice and mild this morning, and because we're starting out so mild, we will easily hit the 70s later on today. good morning to you in san jose, 65 by noon today. meanwhile, a little bit of fog this morning, that's going to keep your temperatures down up until about noon. but you too will hit the upper 60s later on today. 70 in san jose, 67 for redwood city, 66 in oakland, and forecasting 70 degrees for you. and things start to change as of tomorrow night. our next system rolls into town. how much rain we're expecting and what that means for your weekend plans because you will be able to get outdoors. >> some of these folks have been outdoors. overnight, christina, we're talking about the road crews and that's all that's going on for the roads right now. no major incidents for 101 or 280. construction does block the off-ramp at oregon expressway as you're traveling northbound on 101. the traffic flow past the scene

though is just fine. across the dumbarton, couple of lanes blocked in the eastbound direction heading over to 880 and san mateo, the onramp that is blocked with construction and a road crew there until 6:00 a.m., but no slowing here. the blip you see westbound 92 likely will clear up in the next few minutes. but i'll track it and let you know if there's anything of note there. across the bay, 880 past the coliseum and traffic flows very nicely there and look how light that volume of traffic is. we have scattered spring breaks over the next few weeks, san jose state and a few other colleges, overall, guys, back to you. it is 4:40 right now, another wave of primaries on the horizon for republican presidential candidates as money starts to take front seat in the campaign. why some of the candidates are coming under fire for having too much of it. plus, stopping the cycle of dating violence. the new program that's geared toward middle school students right here in the bay area. and facebook doing housekeeping to get ready for that ipo. when it's expected to happen.

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welcome back, everyone. and a good thursday morning to you. taking a live look outside. san rafael, big curve up there this morning. we're going to check in with a look at the highways and biways.

republican presidential candidates gearing up for another set of primaries next week. mitt romney expected to pick up a key endorsement today from the first president bush. this as romney's taking criticism for building a four-car garage with a car elevator. money becoming a big issue on the campaign trail. newt gingrich also facing criticism about his wealth after talking about students working as janitors. >> both of my daughters worked as janitors. >> but they come from a wealthy family. >> that's not the point. i was a college -- i wasn't wealthy. i wasn't wealthy. >> a little verbal jousting there. gingrich's campaign, no secret coming under struggling situations, he's laying off a third of his staff and dramatically scaling back his campaign. meantime, rick santorum hoping to raise some cash here in the bay area today. santorum attending a public rally at the jelly belly factory

in fairfield starting at 4:00 followed by a private reception inside the factory for campaign donors. the former senator from pennsylvania will also attend a fundraiser in alamo where supporters will pay $2,500. another slide on wall street yesterday as the investors worry about the stability of the global economy. but more on that and the rest of our news before the bell, we turn to cnbc world headquarters. good morning, jackie. >> hey, good morning, laura, yeah, the futures are lower this morning after the markets fell for a second day on wednesday. investors started dumping energy and other stocks more closely tied to the global economy on renewed concerns about growth following a disappointing report on demand for durable goods. in the u.s., we'll get data on unemployment and the final report on fourth quarter gdp. they're going to be looking for clues on whether consumers are spending more. we saw the dow fall 31 points to, 13,126.

meantime, facebook is inching ever closer to an ipo, reports saying the social networking site halted trading on the shares on the private secondary market as it tries to get the financial ducks in a row. facebook is reportedly targeting may for the ipo, but the exact timing unclear at this point. that's up to the s.e.c., not facebook. we don't know if they'll list on the new york stock exchange or the nasdaq. and go ahead and throw out those old takeout menus because living social is launching an online food delivery service with participating restaurants in atlanta, chicago, boston, san francisco, new york, and l.a. they'll come online later. living social gets a cut of their sales. >> let's do lunch, jackie. thank you very much. >> why not? it is 4:46 right now. christina loren is back with us. sounds like dry today, but the weekend's going to be wet. >> yeah, saturday. sunday, you can get outdoors,

and then we kick off a nice stretch of fair weather that lasts well into spring break and you'll have the kids home over the next couple of weeks. good news if you want to get them outdoors. finally getting spring-like weather which we love this time of year. 48 degrees in oakland, 47 in san mateo, we need that rain, though, so we're not going to scoff at the showers. but we are expecting as we head through your saturday. looks like a total washout. all day long looking like rain. works out like this. area of low pressure is on its way, but high pressure's going to take control for today and the most part tomorrow, but this area of low pressure's going to start to move to the east. as it does so, we're going to see another system drop into the bay area. it's carrying a lot of moisture with it and we're also talking about the potential for 1 to 2 inches of snow high atop mt. hamilton. the cold air that will rush in after that system passes. this is what we're looking at. today, few north bay showers possible, tomorrow, same situation. but overall, it's going to be nice and mild. we'll start out mostly cloudy

today, hitting 70s in san jose, even santa rosa, touching on the mid-60s everywhere else. 6:00 p.m. friday, mostly up the coast at that time. we're going to see a lot of rain on saturday. you can see just about all day long until 8:00 p.m. when we finally get a little bit of a break, but that's when the cold air moves in and take a look at mt. hamilton. maybe 1 to 2 inches, which will be a nice surprise to wake up to on sunday. good news is, we're going to clear out quickly on sunday and get a lot of sunshine, up to 62 degrees, but i want to point out the difference between your temperatures tomorrow versus saturday. almost a 20-degree drop. you will notice the difference. we're going to go from spring right back to winter right back to spring. >> thank you very much. little bit of something. 4:48 right now. oakland domestic violence center has been chosen to participate in a ground-breaking program to combat dating violence. the program is called start strong. it's aimed at helping middle

school students to recognize abusive relationships and how to deal with them. oakland family violence law center took part in the program. the key to finding abuse is to know the warning signs. >> what we're trying to do is we're trying to catch these early signs of dating violence. there's disrespectful language, there's pressure to do things. >> a new study on teen violence will be released later this morning. researchers found that more than 1 in 3 students said they had witnessed boys or girls being physically violent to the person they were dating in the last six months. it's going to take a few more weeks for administrators at a south bay high school to determine how many students were involved in a cheating scandal. san jose unified district suspending eight seniors and one junior for allegedly stealing one test information back in

december. a student got his hands on a master key, downloaded data on that test and sold it to classmates. administrators interviewing other students to see if there's anyone else involved in this. students and parents say, yes, there is a lot of pressure attending an academically top-notch school. >> everyone wants to be on top. they done want to be the one that the teachers notice, but right now it's a bad notice. >> cheating never cool. the scandal will likely lead to revoked college admissions. 4:50 right now. how quickly things change. the san jose sharks lose their top spot and barely cling on to a playoff seat. what's next for the team coming up. and mega millions getting mega attention. the prize getting even bigger. huge, monumental. we'll show you coming up. well, looking at westbound 580, where we do have some spots

to watch in the south bay coming up.

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. welcome back, everyone. taking a live look outside. a little hazy out there for you commute to work this morning. this is a look at the shark

tank. all quiet there. probably a little down in the locker room for the san jose sharks. what a quick turn around they had. they went from sitting a comfortable third in the playoffs to fighting now for a final spot. the sharks took on anaheim, ducks on the road last night didn't end well. ducks won 3-1, pushing the sharks out of their first-place ranking in the pacific division. the loss also left the sharks in the eighth and final spot on the western conference playoffs with only five games left in the regular season. >> crunch time. let's go, fellas. even saying the words sounds and feels unbelievable. $500,000 lotto jackpot. yes, mike calls it. that's what's up for grabs on friday. the liquor store sold two winning tickets, one for $13,000, the other for $300,000. big congratulations. but all eyes now on friday's record jackpot. and how the dreams just dance in

your head on how to spend all that money. >> i would definitely take a lot of trips around the world. >> a house in southern france, to be near family. >> reeducate all the kids and my family. i'd make them start school all over again. >> it's called making dreams come true. let's start all over. mega players competing against some pretty big odds. your chances of actually winning, about 176 million to one, but do not let that put any cold water on all your dreams. >> kids are saying, dad, we don't have to go to school now. >> yeah, we can buy universities and educate others. >> you've got to earn it. no one can take away your education. 4:55 right now, let's check in with mike. you can dream. >> you can dream. >> i often dream. daydream. anyways, we're looking over here. a lot of green. that's good. we were looking for the lotto green, but we'll take the green on the south bay.

we head southbound 880, construction zones, i came upon that as we came southbound, we had lanes starting to be blocked, but that construction zone has cleared. and now there should be, well, just a little bit of slowing as the crews clear from the freeway from about brokaw clearing by the time you get to 101. 101 across the bay, let's get a look at the golden gate bridge. and a smooth drive here. the fog, hovering around, low clouds could be an issue later on today, but right now, not hearing any problems reported on chp by any of your bay area bridges. and the morning commute kicks in thursday, back to you. >> thanks a lot, mike. and it's become so popular, has its own universal signal. you were just doing it -- >> $5 foot long campaign, apparently doesn't apply everywhere in the bay area. >> yeah, signs posted inside many locations to tell patrons all subway restaurants in the county do not participate in the national $5 promotion.

>> come on, now. >> published reports blame the high cost of doing business inside san francisco county and the city's $10.24 minimum wage. the exception is the sub of the month, john. you can still get that one for $5. >> happy to know it. >> it's a good campaign. ahead on "today in the bay," a big step forward. and the search for sierra lamar continues as investigators consider different strategies. we're live with the latest next. and for all your news, weather, traffic, updates and all sorts of good things including foot longs, go ahead an out on facebook, nbc bay area news.

you need to stay healthy? well, don't underestimate the power of sleep. it lowers stress and keeps your metabolism up to speed. you'll get a lot more 'z's the more you know the investigator theory on the kind of person who might have abducted sierra lamar. i'm bob redell, we'll take you