despite another round of intense negotiations, we are now entering day four of the b.a.r.t. strike. talks called off late last night but they will be back in the bargaining table later this morning. we will have all the details coming up next. even though the trains are running, there are plenty of ways to get to your fourth of july celebrations today. your other options for getting around the bay. anticipating smooth sailing for most of the day on the holiday. a live look outside at the bay bridge toll plaza. congratulations. you made it to thursday. happy fourth of july. this is with the today in the bay." it is 4:30. good independence day. good morning to everybody. thanks for joining us.

>> lots to get to this morning. let's check out independence day forecast. good morning. >> good morning to you. let's get to the radar. we have some severe thunderstorms that we are rack thing morning. very strong lightning and we have had over 100 strikes up in the north bay so far this morning. look at the lightning firing off. and what's forming now is a pretty strong line of showers and thunderstorms and it is all barrelling towards hillsberg. if you live in the area stay indoors and don't try to get a picture even though the lightning is lighting up the sky up there. it is spectacular. natural fireworks. it is safer for you to stay indoors. we will tell you who else could be dealing with the strong storms as we head throughout the day today and will be tracking them for you minute by minute. i will send it back to you and the rest of the top stories of the day. >> thank you. >> from the big story here in the bay area, the reality is another day and still month deal between b.a.r.t. and union workers. the two sides did hold talks late into the might but once again wrapped things up without a resolution. >> that means b.a.r.t. workers

are on strike for a fourth day. you may have to i really your travel plans on your day off. bridges will still run on the point holiday. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. happy fourth of july. it is the holiday. and you know, as you said, this is day four of the b.a.r.t. trains not running. i want to show what you that adds up to. this is a parking lot for the west open b.a.r.t. station. now, if the trains were running, normal day, this would be completely packed. obviously it is not. we pan around the to the other side. this is where the trains or buses, actually, line up to take people into san francisco. the bus bridge. not here yet this morning. limited schedule because it is the fourth of july. talks between b.a.r.t. and two largest unions broke off late last night. still no deal. by 9:15 i received an e-mail saying the workers are not on the job from b.a.r.t. each day, they have set up bus

bridges at five b.a.r.t. stations while the striking continues. power of them bringing riders to west open to transfer bus that's go into san francisco. the pans who would normally take b.a.r.t. they couldn't. no cheering for the strike as it drags on. fans say it took much longer to get will and once they got there the parking lots were full. back to the strike. negotiations in oakland, here is what had would say about the talks. >> all i can say we made progress yesterday and hope to continue progress today. >> reporter: the plan for the shuttle today on the fourth of july limited service. that's from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. just one bus per hour. much less than the before. those buses will be at fremont, walnut creek and west oakland. that is where everyone is brought here from those stations. again, they transfer to another

bus, same story. same story for the evening. buses leaving from san francisco on the hour. starting at 4:00. the b.a.r.t. strike has people changing their fourth of july plans a bit. >> indeed it does. is an plan's fisherman's wharf is a bay area favorite for the celebrations. but the restaurant workers there are telling us that they figure with month trains expecting fewer and smaller crowds. waiting for the ferry out of san francisco. last might they say traditional trip to the war of this year is out of the question. >> staying home. >> why? >> just a hassle of trying to -- without b.a.r.t. trying to get out here. >> i wish i could be going in. i have friends. alameda has a great parade. >> to top it off, as well, america's cup starts today. the opening ceremony is at 3:00. all starts with the ribbon cutting at that time gate of the

america's cup gate park located on the embarcadero. later in the day, the sailors of the teams will be introduced to racing fans at that time new pavilion. friday the sailboats will go out on the water in a parade led by the san francisco fire department boats. racing starts on sunday. america's cup fever. catch it. tonight it is the city's big-time fireworks show. aerial spectacular. we have joyed from last year at the pyre works will and start at 9:30 tonight. does not look like the fog will be socked in. nice clear view. lot of people tell you the best viewing there on pier 39, beach street and embark dare go impressive. 4:35. without b.a.r.t. how do you get around this fourth of july? ferries will be running on a holiday schedule with no service between south san francisco and the east bay or harbor bay and san francisco. trams will run on sunday schedule. caltrain will run on the sunday

schedule but add extra train for riders headed to fourth of july events. it will run on holiday schedule but with extra buses because b.a.r.t. is not running. here to help you to figure out the way goat behind and navigate where you are going, stay with us on nbc bay area for continuing coverage of that b.a.r.t. strike. also the latest information on our website which we always do. nbcbayarea.com. there you will find the most up-to-date transit information including bus and ferry schedules. you can also find transit alternatives on the ticker. watch bottom of the screen as you check out our show. >> at 4:36, bay area is packed with fourth of july events which means you can avoid san francisco altogether. the parade will hit the streets at 8:00 this morning. that parade will start at lincoln avenue on dana avenue. it will follow the route on your screen before ending on the alameda where the city will be set up for pick mix and mood and music and carnival rides. another option, the

practical and safe one, safe and sane fireworks. statewide, total of 295 communities do allow the sale and use of safe and sane fireworks. those are the ones that stay on the ground and don't explode and they also burn slower than illegal fireworks. right here in the bay area, 15 cities allow safe fireworks including dublin, newark, pacifica, san bruno, gilroy. fees and taxes in some of the sites pay for your extra police and fire patrol. >> be careful out there. san jose firefighters will be out in force on patrol for problems stemming from the fireworks. pyre department will send four extra brush control companies with engine companies throughout the holiday weekend. you can find detailed list of all the bay area's july fourth events on nbcbayarea.com. click on the local july fourth events at the top of your screen. 4:37. fourth of july. not only fireworks but the barbecue and party and picnic. we get outside, what are we

looking at? >> what a tricky forecast for today. good morning. happy fourth of july. john and laura, look at this. we have some natural fireworks this morning. and this batch that is -- line of showers and thunderstorms racing towards clear lake, nothing to reckoned with. very, very powerful line. i can tell you right now over 120 lightning strikes. just over the past three hours. if you live in the area we urge you to please stay indoors and let us know what it is like. put it on the facebook page. you are on our weather watchers. take a look at this. really strong line. if you have any traveling to do on 101 from hillsburg, postpone that trip the next- hour, hour. lit move out quickly. we are also get something showers right now, stray showers, moving in to marin county. you have to be out and about, take it really, really easy. and we urge you if you can stay indoors at least the next half hour. severe line passes. this is what we are watching for the south day.

western facing slopes also got a lot of moisture overhead this morning. as we head throughout the day the unstable atmosphere persists. fair game for the showers and thunderstorms. especially over our local mountains. going to be hit or miss. wine say keep that umbrella with you all day. in combination with the thunderstorms, look at how warm it is. 74 degrees. livermore. 68 in san jose. 63 degrees to start the day in gilroy. san jose tonight is looking spectacular. we are going to see a lot of this activity move out before 9:00 p.m. when a lot of the fireworks start to line up the sky. 72 degrees in san jose. mild and partly cloudy. we will talk about all the different shows across the bay area and weather to accommodate as we take you throughout the morning. back to you for now. >> awesome graphics. love the pyre works on our show. this one is a tough one to talk about. grief counselors are on happened at a kid camp near yosemite after a falling tree killed a camp counselor and also injured four others.

this one happened at a jishes camp popular with a lot of bay area families. they were inside the dining hall eating breakfast when suddenly the tree just came crashing right down outside of the window. a student at uc santa cruz sadly tragically was killed. right she worked at the radio station where she hosted a two-hour music world show. her station manager the news of her death definitely hit everybody hard. >> it is one of those things that when you hear you don't really know what to think or what to do. and -- it still hasn't quite hit it yet. everything is just -- weird and surreal. >> the radio station planning to hold a special tribute sometime very soon. for fellow deejays they will be playing world music in her honor as well as enter airing clips from her show. followup this morning. the man accused of killing two employees in oakland earlier

this week will face charges tomorrow. police say jermaine is being held without bail. he and another man allegedly entered the south lake tuesday mate when there was an encounter with someone. officers say gurley and the other man ran to the back of the restaurant and hid in a freezer. when would employees went to investigate, they were shot to death. police say they are still looking for the second man but will not say if he is a suspect. store write you will only see on nbc bay area. several sources tell us police officers of the association lost his ash ration battle with the city. we are told the ruling means a cap on cashing out accrued vacation and sick time. it also means that the officers will not give back the 10% in pay they gave up to help the city balance the books. city managers office confirmed there is a verdict but can not comment on the specifics. city charter prevents public disclosure for ten days so the would sides can possibly negotiate a better deal. time now is 4:41. coming up, the investigation

into murder charges against former patriots player aaron hernandez. turns up a secret apartment. this one is gets more interesting and more bizarre as we go along. police found inside that secret apartment coming up. as you get ready to celebrate the fourth, a new warning this morning about certain types of sunscreen. what the fda is telling you to watch out for. strike up the band and get ready for the fourth of july. number of cities right here in the bay area celebrating the independence day with fireworks. that will be shows going on tonight. mountain view. mix news wick the boom of all of those fireworks tonight. san francisco symphony. how about this? play in conjunction with all the fireworks to strike up that show at the shoreline amphitheater. performances start at 8:00.

good morning to you. 4:45. happy fourth of july to you. if you are going to a barbecue today, make sure the sunscreen you are using is non-flammable. pad fad received five reports that used sunscreen near an open flame. in some cases the users already apply the sunscreen suggesting it is possible to catch fire even if you believe you waited long enough for it to dry.

they say sunscreen is still necessary when you are outdoors but recommend using a non-flammable brand or one that doesn't contain alcohol. at the ricks souchbding like a buzz kill, it is not just your sunscreen you have to worry about. take a close look at your food as well as you marinade those steaks and mix up the potato salad experts would like to you remember a few safety tips to prevent your guests from getting the dreaded food poisoning. first, do not leave foods outside in the heat longer than an hour. two hours apply it is you are indoors. harmful bacteria multiply faster in warm temperatures. also, use a meat thermometer to check if your meat is fully cooked. color is not always a good indicator. >> oftentimes a . burgler turn brown before it reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees. use separate cutting boards for meat and produce to avoid

that cross-contamination. here my favorite warning of the day. don't try to eat dozens of hot dogs in a matter of minutes. no. leave that to the pro. >> indeed. >> like this guy. in a few hours joey chestnut will rye to defend his title at the nathan's hot dog eating championship. >> get your chomp on. >> people are already showing up at coney island to witness the event. >> he is laughing in the challengers' face. >> marvel at his greatness. chestnut weighed in at, what do you think, long and lean? >> yeah. looks svelte. >> 210 sounds challenger, black widow, she is tough. >> little but mighty. >> yes. six-time defending champ. going for number seven. the winner is the man or woman who scarfs down the most hot dog buns in ten minutes, hot dog buns and hot dogs. >> long, lean, eating machine. ready to rock 'n' roll. >> i'm predicting seven in a row. >> i hope so.

i love the fact that a little woman gives him such a run for his money. got to love that. >> i will cheer for that. lee cheers for the day ahead. celebrating this great nation's birthday. 4:48 now. i wouldn't be happier with anybody else than the two of you this morning. and, of course, you at home as well. stay inside if you are at home. we have strong storms up there. it is the north bay mountains that have the best chance for these stronger cells. we are fair game for isolated thunderstorms even right here in the south bay today. as we are watching this strong line here, it is all barrelling towards 101 and going to cross 101 and as we head to the next 15, 20 minutes. if you have to travel now, from hillsberg up to ukiah, it is treacherous. as we head throughout the rest of the morning we will see more stable atmosphere. another round, chance of a shower and thunderstorm as we head throughout the second half of the day. we accumulate that daytime heating. here is what's happening in san jose. very moist atmosphere here as well. you can see the showers coming

down on western facing slopes surrounding san jose. look at this. the wider view shows thank you clockwise flow and how much further to the north this morning that high pressure is and how far it is driving the showers. you can see here actually -- you can see that clockwise rotation. now as we head throughout the day, it will be hazy, hot and humid. temperatures cooler than yesterday but just about as warm. we have definitely bypassed the hottest point of the heat wave. by tomorrow, almost 15 to 20 degrees drop-off. that's the good news. watch out today. we are expecting thunderstorms throughout the day. we will be tracking them here on nbc bay area. just about all day long. morgan hill, area -- that's where i'm concerned about. gilroy to morgan hill where the mountains kind of get very thin there. here's where we get the really strong storms as they head throughout the day. see the development over the santa cruz mountains, that's when my concern really starts to get heightened. we are watching for that.

93 in san jose. i wouldn't say postpone your plans or change your plans. if you hear the thunder head indoors. here's what they say when thunder comes in. 98 degrees at 6:00. by 9:00 p.m., look at that. 74 degrees. it is going to be mice out there for the fourth of july. here is where we are headed way cooler by tomorrow. 88 degrees. sunday, 86 degrees. then next week leveling off but not too hot. just about right for the summertime. back to you two. >> thank you very much. we are looking at new details this morning about the arrest of aaron hernandez. investigators say that they have uncovered a secret apartment maintained by hernandez. it is located about a dozen miles from the home where he was arrested just last week. officers at this point not exactly sure why he had this apartment but they say inside they found several boxes of ammunition and hooded sweatshirt that looks like the one

hernandez was actually wearing on the night of the homicide. hernandez now stands accused of killing an acquaintance on june 17. he's also under investigation now for possible involvement in a double homicide that happened last year. >> 4:51. new this morning we have live pictures from tahrir square where hundreds of thousands of protesters are celebrating the removal of egypt's first democratically elected president. today tracie potts with the country's new leader sworn in just moments ago. >> reporter: demonstrations at the white house are nothing like we are seeing a tahrir square but the same feeling. >> this is the will of the people. >> reporter: inside president obama called an emergency meeting with his national security team. then said in a statement he is deeply concerned. he surging egypt's military not to arrest president morsy's supporters.

the military said it will turn the country quickly back over to a democratically elected government. >> make sure we are pushing them in the direction the people are calling for but, yes, we also need to make sure that the violence doesn't break out. >> reporter: the state department closed the u.s. embassy near tahrir square and urging nonessential staff and other americans in egypt to go home. >> we are clearly concerned about the violence on the ground. we are concerned about the fact that this is an extremely tense and fast-moving situation. >> also the u.s. is now reviewing a billion and a half dollars a year in aid to egypt. here on capitol hill, senator patrick leahy oversee it is committee to give out the money and says they will review the situation if they find this was a military coup, they will cut that money off. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. it is 4:52. a secret wedding for one of the newest 49ers. hollywood starlet. he just said i do. >> i can't wait for that.

plus, one of the most iconic and definitely the tallest america's people gets ready to reopen this morning to the public. we are helping you navigate the local fourth of july event this morning. menlo park will hold a parade today. starting at chestnut street. ♪

morsi. mohrsy.

welcome back. happy fourth. in just one hour, lady liberty will be back open to the public for the first time since superstorm sandy. a large crowd is expected for today's ribbon cutting ceremony where federal officials and new york's mayor are expected to attend. >> that's a beautiful shot of the clouds rolling back there. >> it is nice. beautiful. >> nice. >> very majestic. visitors, though, are going to have to get lou heavy security screening in manhattan. instead of right there at ellis island. that's, in fact, remains closed. in all superstorm sandy caused nearly $60 million in damage to liberty and ellis island. she is up and looking beautiful. >> spectacular as ever. looks like new 49ers nnamdi asomugha did a lot more than just train this offseason. he found the love of h life. beautiful bride. he got married. niners cornerback reportedly got married in idaho on june 24 to actress kerry washington. she is beautiful. the star of the tv show scott

scandal." a copy of the marriage license was posted online yesterday. this young man did himself well. the network reporting washington's parents served as witnesses and one of asomugha's relatives performed the ceremony. very intimate and private. yes. hollywood mad must, it fwhis they were able to break away ask do it on their own. >> exactly. 4:57. negotiations going on with b.a.r.t., day four of the strike. we are hoping to get ready for your fourth of july. look behind the scenes of a bay area's biggest fireworks show.

day four of the b.a.r.t. strike and no trains running this morning. but there are some differences in the services that are being offered today. i will tell you what they are

coming up in a live report. happy fourth of july. we have some natural fireworks lighting up the skies. severe line of showers and thunderstorms cross 10g 1 and north bay now. we will show you where this is headed and what you can expect when the sun goes down and fireworks go off later tonight. take you out to the bay bridge toll plaza. smooth sailing. yes. exactly. like a ghost town on the road. probably a good thing considering all the things that happening in the bay area with b.a.r.t. thursday, july 4. break tout celebration towel. this is "today in the bay." good morning to you. happy fourth of july. thanks so much for joining us. >> thanks for spending part of your holiday with us and we appreciate that. lot of people do have the day off today. but do not plan on using b.a.r.t. to get yourselves around. union work others strike this morning. after a