>> breaking news out of london this morning. police moving in on the ecuadorian embassy where julian assange has beenç holed up. a decision this morning for his request for asylum. >> decision day for ross mirkarimi, the suspended sheriff is expected to learn whether he can keep his job. >> today marks five months since sierra lamar disappeared. i'm marla tellez. i'll have the latest on the investigation coming up. >> right now we have a live look over foster city. traffic flowing smoothly as we move closer to the weekend on this thursday, august 16th, this is "today in the bay."

>> good morning everybody. about 4:31. i'm jon kelley. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. lots to get to. let's check the forecast with meteorologist christina loren. good morning. >> hey, good morning to you. yes, that forecast continues to dramatically change. we're going to see cooler temperatures today and we're still keeping the showers in the forecast. a lot to talk about as we progress throughout the morning. 57 degrees, a chill in the air, 57 in concord and livermore where it's 61 in san jose. so we'll talk about the showers coming up. first, here's mike and your drive. >> i look at the map and realize the accident has cleared and i'm upset. better for the drive, though. 101 traveling north through palo alto an accident cleared north of university. that's what i was going to illustrate. there was a dip in the speeds. you see it at the bottom of the screen. that may have been a crew heading through having to do cleanup. along the peninsula and to the south bay where we saw construction on 85 south of 280, heading down through the area

into cupertino. the light volume of traffic for 101 around the 680 interchange, south bay mostly clear. we'll show you some of the slow spots coming up. >> we begin with breaking news out of london. a decision is due any minute now in the political asylum request of julian assange. we learned in the process of it all britain has threatened to raid ecuador's embassy in london if he is not handed over to authorities. an hour or so ago several police were seen entering the embassy but still no word on why they are there. asang is seeking political asylum in ecuador. he is wanted in sweden on sex crimes and britain's top court ordered his extradition to the country to face his alleged crimes. assange says it's part of ploy to extradite him to the united states to face charges related to the thousands of hacks his

organization released. again, a decision expected any moment. we'll bring that to you live as it happens. >> a somber reminder how long morgan hill teenager sear air ra lamar has been missing. >> five months ago the teen disappeared. marla tellez joins us with the latest on this case. good morning. >> good morning. i spoke to the santa clara county sheriff's department. they tell me the sierra lamar case is an open active investigation though they are not actively searching for her but there are plenty of people who are. i'm talking about the volunteers. the volunteer searches are still a ritual most wednesdays and saturdays, more than 40 volunteers gathered at burnett elementary less than 24 hours ago before heading out on their weekly search. the focus remains on the dry fields and brush not far from where lamar was last seen, she disappeared on her way to school after leaving her home in

unincorporated morgan hill. though her body has not been found after this time volunteers say they will continue searching for her indefinitely. >> we have daughters of our own in various ages, you know, from 8 to 30, and every daughter is everyone's daughter. we're not going to give up until we at least bring some evidence of her home. >> meantime, garcia torres remains in custody t man accused of kidnapping and murdering lamar. coming up a little later in the show i'm going to be speaking live to sierra's mother marlene. that's going to be a tough conversation to have. >> the heartbreak continues for her. thank you very much. it's 4:34. it's also decision day for sheriff ross mirkarimi. the ethics commission is going to decide whether to uphold ethics charges.

mirkarimi was charged with domestic violence after a fight with his wife. he pleaded guilty to a lesser misdemeanor count. the commission must decide whether to recommend he be fired, then it's up to the board of supervisors to decide if he loses his job. coming up at 5:00, bob redell will be live in san francisco with a look at what both scenarios would mean to the san francisco sheriff's department. >> 4:35 now. it's been nothing short of a rough month for chevron, first that huge fire at its refinery back on august 6, now lawsuits against the company may reach class action status. john burkes along with two other attorneys filing the suit accusing chevron of gross negligence. a broken pipe is blamed for the fire that sent a toxic cloud into neighborhoods, 9,000 people there sought medical treatment following all of the smoke releasing. the office has gotten at least 1,000 calls from people wanting

compensation. >> from my point of view, many people have damages that -- the best way to get all of that done is have it in a lawsuit, that way everyone will know what the issues are. >> the suit is asking the court to require chevron to implement measures to assure the accidental release of toxins does not happen again. >> funeral services will be held tomorrow for a firefighter who died from a rare form of cancer. kevin jose martinez was diagnosed in june. his cancer attacked the soft tissue near the joints of his arms, neck and legs. less than two months late ter 41-year-old passedç away. his fellow firefighters remember him as a man doing what he loved to do. >> this is, you know, the bad part of our job that you know, if you ask any firefighter our love, our drive, we give 100%.

sometimes unfortunate comes some of these things like cancer. >> captain martinez leaves behind a wife, 8-year-old son and twin baby daughters who were born just weeks before his death. funeral services will be held in his hometown of fresno. >> on to baseball news. san francisco giants fan favorite and all-star melky cabrera has been nailed with a 50-game suspension for violating the drug policy. the heavy hitter said he is far from alone. victor conte says 50% of major league players are using some sort of performance enhancing drug. conte served four months in prison after pleading guilty distributing steroids and money laundering. he says synthetic testosterone which is what cabrera is believed to have tested positive for is the biggest loophole in testing. >> it's so easy to beat the major league baseball testing

it's like taking kaend from a baby like i said years ago it still exists today. >> cabrera has been suspended for the next 50 games, that means if the giants make it to the postseason he would be eligible to play by the sixth game of the playoffs. if not he will be suspended for first few games next year. he admits to fans, he was having a career year and admits in his issued statement that he did test positive and it was the result of a substance he should not have used. he says he accepts his suspension and will try to move on. >> it's 4:38. san francisco is gearing up for the america's cup world series. at pier 30 and 32, they are going to hit the bay for the qualifying races that start on tuesday. the boats used in the races may be smaller than the ones in finals but make no mistake they are still very fast. >> you got to get across the

boat and basically on a trampoline, if it's wavy, it's a lot about balance. it's tough conditions. that's a good thing, really. >> they like the challenge. you can get a close-up look on tuesday when the boats hit the bay for a series of qualifying races. >> later on today, governor brown will make a stop in the south bay. he along with san jose mayor chuck reed will be on hand for a major announcement regarding samsung any conductors. samsung is the second largest manufacturer of semiconductors in the world and is based in san jose. that announcement is expected at 3:00 p.m. >> what is the the announcement when it comes to the forecast? let's check with meteorologist christina loren. >> the announcement is, it's going to be very comfortable inland today. temperatures are starting out nice and crisp. at 59 in oakland. 57 in concord. 61 in san jose so there is a bit

of a chill in the air. temperatures are going to be comfortable as you head throughout the weekend as well. good morning to you. we do have the low 80s as we head throughout next week, but this is what we expect for today. a little more humidity, mix of sun and clouds. more heat relief throughout the weekend, some showers in the forecast as well. tell you all about that coming up. first here is mike and your drive. >> we'll take you out to the drive between the north bay and the city. the golden gate bridge, a look out there. we have construction on the north side. you see flashing lights on the bridge. no incidents reported on my report so there is nothing going on as far as accidents reported to chp but we see flashing lights hanging out around the south tower. we'll continue to track this. it may be construction crews which are on the north side of the bridge ready to move from the area. later on a half hour, they move the cones as well. keep watching this for a second. does look like they are moving so i'll track that. so far no delays reported. i don't see major problems.

north we have construction between the waldo tunnel and sir francis drake. a little slowing at the interchange with 580, the richmond bridge moves smoothly to the east bay. we do have 24 westbound around fish ranch, construction zone, traditional and that should be clearing over the next 20 to 30 minutes. a little slowing. here is fremont by the truck scales, smooth through the nimitz freeway. that's good. back to you. >> we'll take your word for it. it is good. >> 4:41. a day a lot have waited for but the question is, will it be bad news for the company? we'll try and put the stock lockup into perspective. >> one of team usa's youngest returns home to the bay area. what he has to say about his plans for rio coming up.

>> welcome back everyone. taking a live look outside. bay bridge this morning. isn't it lovely. >> you know what, i'm intrigued and inspired. beautiful thing. 4:44. >> investor who is jump on the facebook ipo bandwagon could be jumping off. selling stock could bring quick

cash and cause the company stock price to slide even further. business and tech reporter scott budman explains. >> yeah, as if facebook investors haven't been tested yet, more than 250 million shares will be unlocked meaning available to be sold and turned into real money. this is good news for those facebook investors who have been waiting to turn the shares into actual cash. good news also for people selling whatever it is those investors will buy with their cash. with that many shares of stock ready to be cashed in the state of california will likely start to see tax revenue as well. the downside to unlocking the shares, it makes current stockholders nervous. with that many shares hitting the market the shares become less valuable. the question is, will stockholders actually sell? the stock market opens at 6:30 a.m. i'm scott budman, nbc bay area news. >> coming up before that at

5:00, scott mcgrew will have a look at what facebook stands to lose when the lockup ends. >> a lot of eyes on facebook. let's get a check on your other business headlines. for that we turn it over to courtney reagan live at world headquarters. good morning. >> good morning to you. futures are a touch higher as i look over here this morning after another pretty slow day of trading yesterday. stocks ended little change. investors may be focusing on data to determine whether the news is weak enough to prompt the fed to launch new stimulus or strong enough to keep them sidelined. data on unemployment, housing starts and a survey on economic conditions in the philadelphia area. walmart reported earnings a few minutes ago, the profit a bit stronger than expected and that key u.s. comp store sales growth was positive. the dow slipped, the nasdaq rose nearly 14 to 3030.

dish network plans to roll out its own broadband service. the move will help it compete better with cable and phone companies that offer broadband including bundled packages. they try to make you feel like you're saving. not sure if that's always the case. back to you. >> very true. thank you very much. >> we want to check the forecast right now with christina. >> nice this morning. it's friday eve. we're so close now to sleeping in. if you're up at this hour, we tip our hats to you because we know what it's like. 4:47 taking you live out to san jose this morning. full deck of clouds. you'll notice a chill in the air. it's comfortable out there especially if you live in the east bay where your lows have fallen back into the upper 50s. comfortable start of the day, then a little hot in the afternoon hours but not too bad.

done 20 triple digits and we've got showers on the way as of this weekend, so interesting. high pressure is pulling up the moisture from off the coast. it's going to happen is an area of low pressure is going to start to ride into the bay area through the weekend so. the two combined are going to bring some of that tropical moisture, the humidity, even thunderstorms right here to the bay area as we head through the weekend so we do have some changes ahead. you'll notice more cloud cover each day as the area of low pressure tracks closer to us. so a cloudy start. by tomorrow we'll start to feel the humidity especially in the south bay. the further to the south you live in the bay area, you'll be feeling the sticky conditions but not for long. 91 in livermore, 91 fairfield. we'll be done with the tropical moisture as we meet back on monday. and temperatures are just going to get more comfortable flew the beginning of next week. so we're done with the heat, we're going to bring on some action when it comes to thunderstorms. we'll talk more about that coming up. back to you guys for now. >> thank you very much.

bay area fencing olympian alexander is home in san francisco this morning. the 18-year-old was the youngest man competing for team usa in london. now, some compared his emotional reaction going old school like a john mcenroe tantrum. he says it's overblown. he and his father, his coach, says the fencer learned a lot about competing on a world stage and will be back in 2016. >> it shows passion. i just want to go out there, do my best and unfortunately my best wasn't good enough this time around but four years, eight years you know, who knows what will happen. >> kind of like learn to be humble about what you're going to do. then you also taste sweeter when you do achieve it which i think he will. >> the family is off to hawaii for a vacation before alexander starts school at stanford. >> a couple big chapters. up next the case of mistaken identity, how a pg&e worker was

mistaken for a con man. >> it happens to me too. this is the truth, san mateo bridge, it moves smoothly. we'll show you what's going on for the early morning commute.

>> welcome back everybody. a thursday morning and a very nice shot from san francisco. a live look at the embarcadero.

don't you wish traffic was like this all day long. 4:53 now. pg&e says a man who neighbors thought was impersonating a utility worker is in fact a legitimate employee for pg&e. police issued a warning earlier this week after a woman reported a man with a safety vest came to her door and wanted to check her gas meter. the man did not provide an i.d. and was in an unmarked car. turns out the man was actually a contract employee for pg&e. police say do keep in mind it's best to be vigilant and ask for i.d. >> that's understandable. >> absolutely. you don't have the i.d., don't let them in. how about this. a hawk in the south bay is recovering right now after encountering a little bad luck on a branch. >> look at this video from the director of wild rescue who helped capture the bird. the hawk was stuck on the branch

about 30 feet high. he discoveredhe bird's leg was caught in the crook of two branches. it was likely stuck for days. the hawk is recovering at an animal hospital. >> big man. always other animals send flowers and get well cards? i hope so. let's find out what's happening. >> a stuffed animal? >> stuffed human. >> let's go out to the roadway, folks. we're going to start further east. we have a little slowing at the altamont pass. traffic starting to increase. no problems through livermore or toward the dublin interchange. a disabled vehicle north of there. this is in byron, vasco road near marsh creek. it's not a major issue but watch for anything during the morning

hours. that will be there and may be partly sticking out into the slow lane so be careful there. the peninsula, 101, easy drive through palo alto, northbound with the headlights, the few there are southbound with the taillights down into the south bay, no delays down there. north we'll look to san rafael, southbound with these lights heading awayle from us down to lincoln avenue. no delays. we may get fog later on but so far visibility is okay. back to you. >> our bird block of stories continues. exotic bird that escaped from its owner turned itself in. >> must have had a guilty conscice. the bird ended up flying inside a police car onto an officer's shoulder. the officer says he was at the scene of a crash when the bird flew in and on top of his roof and then into his cruiser. he ended up rolling up the windows to catch the bird and called dispatch.

animal control tried to get answers from the bird. >> i tried to whistle to. say u're a pretty bird. something to get it to talk. sometimes they do. they say names. it helps. this one was not cooperating. >> following that intense third degree, we find out this wasn't the bird's first sighting. animal sighting had a sighting the day before from someone who snapped these pictures. animal control says it doesn't have real leads who the owner might be but the bird is now staying with a foster family. gorgeous bird. a little like handcuffs. >> bad bird. still ahead on "today in the bay," the fate of wikileaks founder julian assange rests in the hands of ecuador's president. that fate will be decided in minutes. >> ross mirkarimi set to learn his fate. we'll let you know what's being decided at the commission. >> for all of your news,

weather, and traffic updates check us out on facebook. >> we'll let you check out a live look spanning across san jose. guess what, we're almost at friday. thursday eve. no, it is. it's friday eve.

>> five months later volunteers still searching every week for sierra lamar as her accused killer awaits trial. we spoke to some of them about what keeps them going. >> reporter: i'm bob redell live outside san francisco city hall where what happens here today could determine whether or not the sheriff ross mirkarimi gets to keep his job. that story coming up. >> the cooldown continues. low 90s inland today. 70s bayside, 60s at the coast. we're going to talk about thunderstorms in the bay area