right now on nbc bay area news, mitt romney continues his california fund raising run. we'll show you. >> reporter: i'm kris sanchez. community members gather to raise funds and also awareness about who they are. and the "endeavour's" final flight through the eyes of nbc bay area viewers. we'll show you some spectacular photos. >> announcer: nbc bay area news starts now. good evening. i'm diane dwyer. and we're on early because of notre dame football coming up at 4:30. early voting is under way today in several states across the country. there are 45 days left until election day. the vice presidential candidates

took center stage today, and nbc bay area's brian moore has a look. >> reporter: a day after mitt romney released more of his tax information, vice presidential running mate paul ryan was putting a positive spin on the boss' bottom line. >> mitt romney has been a very successful businessman. and you know what? there's nothing wrong with being good and successful in business! that's a good thing in this country! >> reporter: behind the scenes, democrats were complaining that romney's summary of two decades of income tax returns does nothing but raise more questions. in new hampshire, though, vice president joe biden wasn't focusing on romney's riches but on prspreading the wealth. >> we have one objective and i really mean it, one objective. to give the middle class a fighting chance again. >> reporter: while the vice presidential candidates were on the saturday stump, the candidates were in fund raising mode. both president obama and mitt

romney spent time fund raising in an effort to pump up their campaign war chest, with just 45 days remaining before the election. brian mooar, nbc news. >> mitt romney was at an event here on the peninsula. at a private home in hillsborough. he raised millions of dollars which he will will likely spend in the battleground states. both troe testers and romney sue 0 porters lined the street near the fund-raiser. >> he has a track record of success in terms of business and governance. >> the event was co-hosted by george schultz and meg whitman. romney's california tour continues, he's now in san diego. on the other side of the aisle, house minority leader nancy pelosi was also home in the bay area today.

of she made a stop at barack obama's campaign ofsz in san francisco. she expressed the importance of winning back the house majority. she also says democrats in the state need to get involved and use their political power to reelect the president. >> we don't take anything for granted, but we know that if we do our work door to door, mano y mano, neighborhood by neighborhood, precinct by precinct, it is there for us to win. >> her visit comes just one day after she and dozens of democrats took to the steps of the u.s. capitol to urge republicans to stay in session and deal with some unfinished business. congress went on its election break at the earliest point in decades, in session for just eight days. pelosi says democrats were prepared to stay until they passed president obama's jobs bill, a five-year farm bill, extend middle income tax cuts and address fiscal concerns.

conversely, though, the day before republicans called on the democrat-controlled senate to stay in session as well. in bangladesh, dozens were injured during protests at the capitol. police clashed with muslims angry over an anti-islam film produced in the united states. police used tear gas and batons. of the protesters represented 12 different islamic groups. dozens were arrested and more than 2,000 people marched yesterday to protest the film. some burned a makeshift coffin draped with an american flag and an he of aaeffigy of president obama. last week chris stevens was killed. he grew up in the east bay and his mother and stepfather just returned from washington, d.c. nbc bay area's jody hernandez sat down with the couple for their first on-camera interview, a story you'll only see on nbc bay area.

>> wherever we were with him, and we visited him in morocco, saudi, tunisia, he was as at home as if he were in piedmont. >> reporter: chris stevens' mother and stepfather said that's what settle their son apart. they just of returned from washington where they retrieved the remains of their son, the u.s. a.m. bass dor who was killed in benghazi last week. >> he wasn't the kind of diplomat to sit in the office and attend receptions and just be a formal person. he was a man of the people. >> i'm perfectly aware there was danger, but there was danger almost every of place he went. >> reporter: stevens' mother said she learned long ago not to worry. she says her son inherited his curious and outgoing nature from his grandfather and was on the go from the start. in fact ush, trips to the park her on her toes. >> chris, take off, cross toward

the street. i'd run out and get him and bring him back. then he'd take off in the other direction and i'd run off and get him. he was a really active little guy. so he wasn't always -- and just kind of, you know, busy. >> reporter: and he didn't stop. he studied abroad in high school and college and did a stint in the peace corps before ultimately taking on a career in the foreign service. but the east bay remained home and ties to his familytayed strong. >> he was a great big brother. he really watched over his brother and his sister, and he was a responsible person. >> in the 36 years i was privileged to be his stepfather, i never once saw him lose his temper or utter a harsh word or an ever.

stevens' are going through remembrances as they deal with their loss. >> i feel like since i'm the matriarch here i had to just do what hillary clinton said in that talk and dry my tears and straighten my spine and be a person. be an american that just gets on with doing what they're supposed to do. >> i can think of chris. chris is upstairs now on the bed he slept, and his ashes are there. but he's really here. and i don't mean that he's hearing what we're saying or he's -- but he's now part of us. so that's inseparable. >> reporter: jody hernandez, nbc bay area news. >> wifor more of that interview go to nbcbayarea.com. also you can find a link to the memorial web site, just searsearch ambassador's family speaks. and what happened in

benghazi makes clear how dangerous and difficult religious conflicts can get. the sikh community was the target of a gunman in wisconsin. six weeks later, the bay area's sikh community, the largest in the country, joined today to raise apawareness. they tell kris sanchez their values are the american values. >> reporter: this is the second annual sikh 5k. there were moments of reflection of the sikh temple shooting in wisconsin. this morning, more than 400 sikhs and other community members took off on the fund-raiser for the sikh revelation. part of what they do is educate who the 500,000 american sikhs are. >> the sikh values are american values. we believe in honesty, giving back to the community, we believe in the oneness of god.

we also have a strong tradition and belief in social justice. and so if you actually look at american values and you look at sikh values, they're perfectly aligned. >> reporter: because of that, so many bay area sikhs were shocked that a lone gunman would open fire at a sikh temple in oak creek, wisconsin, last month. the runners and walkers observed a moment of silence in honor of the six victims before taking off, raising about $75,000 and raising awareness. >> i want people to know about, like, that it's good to support us and it's not right to shoot us. >> it's so nice because all my religion people are here and it feels really good. >> they're all here to support the sikhs so it's nice to be here and see so many people here. >> we're like any other person. there's no need to not be friends with us. >> it's pretty amazing. most of the time we usually are reserved, little groups here and there. >> reporter: there are about 500,000 sikhs living in america,

half of them in california. fremont in particular. many people were first exposed to the sikhs because of that mass shooting. and while they know that wearing turbans and scarves can make them easy targets, they work hard to live in their religion's spirit. >> it's the state of rey terrib -- eternal optimism. it's also the community moving forward and being inspired. >> reporter: just last week, a senate subcommittee discussed the sikh temple shooting. one of the witnesses asked the department of justice to better track crimes against sikhs. in sunnyvale, kris sanchez, nbc bay area news. oakland is holding a citywide weekend of peace marching and rally to bring the community together. hundreds of people marched from five different locations in the city to city hall will today where they held a rally called a celebration of life. the message? say something. city leaders and event organizers are urging people in the community to reach out to their neighbors, police, friends

and family and speak out if they have any information about shootings or crime in their neighborhood. >> it's been going on for too long now. we're trying to try something new. we're trying to do something new, curb the violence here in oakland, california. this is the starting point for all over the world. we want all over the world to do the same thing, stop shooting each other, start getting along with each other, start working together and figure out another way. we can do things without killing one another. >> the event was hosted by the group "soldiers against violence everywhere." p. it has been a busy afternoon for fire crews in the east bay. a brush fire broke out in brentwood and spread fast. state fire officials launched air tankers to help attack the flames. moments ago we learned the fire has been contained. right now investigators say it burned about 30 acres and crews are monitoring for hot spots. next on nbc bay area news -- the shuttle may be gone, but we'll show you some of the best

moments captured on film by you, our viewer. and we'll show you how you can still contribute to our photo gallery. >> this is for all the people who commute every day, have to get someplace on time. time is money. then a big change could be coming to local carpool lanes. but did one lawmaker do it to help her own commute? and it took her four tries, but this bay area olympian finally had that golden moment. we'll show you where she showed off her hardware today. good evening from the nbc bay area weather center, i'm anthony slaughter. temperatures in the 90s, gilroy one of our hottest spots, 94 earlier, 91 in livermore. we'll talk about our sunday forecast as the marine layer begins to thicken.

a bill aimed at easing traffic congestion is sitting on

governor brown's desk but is raising eyebrows. residents say the assemblywoman who wrote the bill wrote the bill to help her commute. what does it mean for drivers? here's stephanie truong. >> reporter: it's the banana of living in the bay area, traffic. but this assemblywoman is fighting back. she says she's identified a commuter lane that no one is using during the commuter hours in the morning. she is set out to make it right. >> this is where all the people who commute every day have to get someplace on time. time is money. >> reporter: we took a drive with ma on her drive to the state capitol. she pointedous to us what's driving her crazy for the past six years. >> look, as far back as you can see, how many cars? >> reporter: assemblywoman ma went to caltrans with questions and got answers. turns out, it stop tracking numbers of cars on the freeway because there are too few.

so she drafted a bill, av-2200 which gets rid of the carpool lane. >> this is probably my pet peeve bill. >> reporter: and she found immediate support. >> you have hadded same experience i've had for 12 years, assembly member, and, to your credit, you've been more tenacious than i was. >> it's been flying through both houses overwhelmingly, my legislation. >> reporter: no surprise it passed, even ma admits that, while this bill won't help her because she's termed out, many other lawmakers make the same commute. but what about the thousands of drivers who may not use the same roads our state lawmakers do? who will will help to fight for them. we asked caltrans. they said they don't comment on pending legislation. but they say high occupancy lanes should hold a certain number of vehicles. >> no question there are underutilizes stretches of the

carpool lane. >> reporter: that's where we learned that many lanes are underused during the morning commute. 680 in contra costa county between 202 and the benicia bridge use just 10% of the time. >> in the morning, that's a countercommute direction. >> reporter: we found drivers who say they go through the same thing the assemblywoman does and she wants the hov lanes along their commute gone. >> the 680 hov lane is real like i would say a crap shoot because of the fact that half the time it's empty. >> the ideal of the hov lane obviously isn't working. they should just open the freeway back up. >> reporter: they say all of this could be meaningless will in the near future. some commuter lanes will be turned to express lanes that drivers who want to go fast can pay for the privilege. in the meantime, assemblywoman ma is waiting to see if the governor will sign her bill. >> we don't know what the governor will do. maybe he's been driving this corridor and will sympathize with me.

>> reporter: stephanie truong, nbc bay area news. ahead -- we'll show you the best moments caught on tape of the shuttle "endeavor's" last flight. [ male announcer ] this is the opposite of subliminal advertising...

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after a captivating tour, the shuttle "endeavour" is on the ground in southern california today. the shuttle took its final flight as you probably know yesterday, riding piggyback atop a 747. before arriving at lax, the shuttle flew over the hollywood side. "endeavour" will spend weeks in the hangar, getting ready for the slow-speed journey to the california science center in l.a. the highlight of the victory tour, at least we think so, happened right here in the bay area. in san francisco crowds lined up to see the shuttle drive by the golden gate bridge. very nice. crowds enjoyed the show. that moment had a lot of us pointing our cell phones and cameras toward the sky, but there's aone photographer who

stood out. san francisco's phil mcgrew. a few months ago, remember this photo? he became famous for taking that classic photo of lightning striking the bay bridge e. was at it again. 400 pictures being he posted them to his facebook page. they were immediately shared worldwide by hundreds of people, like so many, he felt proud of the bay area and the u.s. space program. >> it's very satisfying. a lot of my facebook friends are photographers i've met and some are -- i came from the east coast so aa lot of friends are from the east coast, haven't been to san francisco, haven't seen the shuttle. so a lot of times, even like high school classmates and people back home that have never experienced these things, it's fun to share with them and with family. >> mcgrew says during the last few days he studied climate reports to decide the best place to take these spectacular photos. and we have received dozens of your photos on our web site as well. these are just a few of the examples of great images you

captured of "endeavor's" historic flight. if you have pictures you'd like to send to us, do so through instagram using the hash tag nbc bay area. or post them on our facebook page or send them through twitter. i also got one of those photos, but it was little tiny shot on my iphone over lafayette reservoir, anthony. it was a gorgeous day. >> same with me. i had my iphone. it's like a little speck. it's amazing but just a little speck. to us it looked awesome. look at these temperatures today, 95 this afternoon in gilroy, livermore up to 91. hard to believe the calendar says fall today. temperatures do not reflect fall by any means across the bay area. we have a deep marine layer starting to form off the coast, right down through the san bruno mountains. this is eventually going to build as we head through the day today and eventually into the overnight hours. so we will see more fog tomorrow

than we have seen over the past couple of days. spg something i need to show you, clouds out of the southwest across southern california will, but we also have the circulation of clouds filling in from the northwest. that's an area of high pressure and that will warm with us once again as we head through the day tomorrow. look at this, still 91 in livermore, 83 in san jose, 70 in the city by the way, san francisco not bad here this afternoon. now, as we head through the next 48 hours, that area of high pressure positioned across the pacific will really rev up and increase the winds across the area. in fact, tomorrow especially in the north bay you could see winds gust up to 20 to 30 miles per hour. that's really going to warm us big-time as we head into the inland valleys, even across the coast with that offshore wind. not going to have much influence of that pacific ocean so it will be very warm once again tomorrow. for that matter, as we head through the upcoming week, it doesn't look like we're looking at any major cooldown.

because of the hot weather, the allergens have popped up, all in the moderate category for the next couple of days. it will be a crisp start to the day tomorrow, not as cold as this morning, 40s, around the lower 50s tomorrow, east bay mid-50s and across the south bay same, santa cruz at 52. if you're trying to squeeze in one more beach day, well, tomorrow will be a good day, santa cruz at 79 degrees, los gatos, 88, san jose, 87. warmer spots, livermore, danville 86, walnut creek, 87. and even by the bay, look at that, 78 in oakland, 71 in san ancisco. bodega bay, maybe you want to surf, 66 will degrees across the coast. again, tomorrow will a warm day, temperatures cooling by tuesday. look at the end of next week, again hard to believe we're talking about fall temperatures, warming back into the 90s, diane, heading toward the weekend. if you can't squeeze in one more

beach day tomorrow because you're working, maybe next weekend. >> and i'll probably be here next weekend, too. >> maybe you feel a little faint. i won't tell. stick around. i'll show you where i found a little bit of gold today. >> announcer: join us for our cash promotion when one lucky club member will will win a 2012 mercedes-be mercedes-benz. i'll get a build your own burger with something cheesy...

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an olympic gold medalist showed off her medal in the east bay, in orinda. i had the opportunity to interview heather during the orinda car show. the city named the day in her honor. she was wearing all four of her olympic medals, one in water polo, not bad. we talked about her accomplishments as well. she's one of three people to win a medal in four different games, one silver, two bronze and now that big gold medal. after the interview, she hung out with the crowd and let folks check out her medals. she was very generous. she is also credited with starting girls water polo at mira monti high school in orinda and opening up the sport to more girls ever since. pretty amazing. they didn't have girls water

polo. she played with the boys. now it's time for a girls team. what's going on weatherwise? >> we're talking about above average temperatures in the next week. mid to upper 80s midland, 60s at the coast with no chance of rain in the next seven days. but you know what? it's rainy season to keep your eyes pe s peeled. >> that's a gold medal forecast. >> good segue. >> good night. see you after the football game.