♪ you are looking at a live picture of a barge that's blocking the entrance to the st. francis yacht club in san francisco. there's a sheen near that barge that may be carrying 3,000 gallons worth of diesel fuel. wayne freedman is there. >> it's not as bad as it looks. it's just a little bit unusual to see something like a barge in the marina near crissy field. that sand barge is called the sand merchant. it was put here intentionally by

its capacity this morning when it began taking on water. it has leaked a small amount of fuel this morning. according to foss maritime which operates the barge, they have the situation under control. first let's talk to robert gregory, the company's operation manager. >> there's a little engine oil coming out of here. that's why we have the boon around it. it don't carry oil per se but has oil for the engines so we are taking precaution. it had be safe for the people on board. >> and indeed they are safe. actually they're curious as to why this barge began taking on water and possibly sinking. they're thinking they'll get more information as the tide goes out but we're five hours from that. it is not a hazard. a boat sailed by here a few moments ago.

the coast guard is keeping an eye on this as well. they've been watching it from the beginning about 7:30 this morning. thus far they say foss maritime has handled this situation by the book. >> they made some really good calls. can't say what went wrong, however they made a good call putting it where it's at and they're taking preventive measures at this time. >> an aerial work from sky 7 above, you see the yellow protective measures around the barge which seem to be working well. we walked out there by the wave a little while ago to take a look to see if anything is going on in the bay. it's not. it's fairly static. while this is not all good, it's not all bad either. we asked the coast guard to rate the rate of this emergency. >> they said it's not an emergency at all. how long it remains, no telling.

could be several hours. wayne freedman, abc 7 news. >> wayne, thank you. president obama is defending hills new budget as one of tough choices. he held a news conference that lasted more than an hour addressing two crises, the federal government and the middle east. >> kristen, president obama is visiting the bay area this thursday to meet with leaders in the tech industry and hoping to get their support for his just released 2012 budget. with the nation' deficit going up, president obama says his new proposed budget will keep going down. >> we've taken a scalp to the budget rather than a machete. >> he will save the country $400 billion over the next decade. also cutting healthcare costs while at the same time making sure every american can afford its. the president says that's the point of his affordable act.

>> the deficits are going to be $50 budget lower. >> they call it dead on arrival. the president has presented us with a budget that spends too much, borrows too much and taxes too much and that costs jobs and opportunities. >> a nation more than $14 trillion in the red. how much is that? if you stacked $14 trillion bills on top of each other they'd reach the moon four times. enough to give every american three years' paid vacation. the president also slammed iran for its treatment of anti-government protestors. yesterday iranians held a massive protest to try and overthrow president mahmoud ahmadinejad. the white house vowed to support those who yearn for greater freedom and gave this advice to countries where the people are

feeling oppressed. >> i think that the thing that will actually achieve stability in that region is if young people, if ordinary folks end up feeling there are path ways for them to feed their families, get a decent job, get an education aspire to a better life. >> president obama promises to dedicate money to education, science and technology as well as research and development. his administration also plans to pump $25 million into helping those trying to use the web and social net working websites in states where the internet is sometimes blocked, countries like iran, cuba and egypt. cheryl? >> jenelle, thank you very much. hillary clinton is warning but placing curbs on internet fremont and elsewhere. restricting internet use will not hold back reforming recently seen. the state department launched twitter accounts in arabic last week and plans to create feeds

into russia, china and india. >> open societies give rise to the most lasting progress; that the rule of law is the firmest foundation for justice and peace, and innovations thrive where ideas of all kinds are aired and explored. >> in iran, members of parliament today called for the execution of two prominent leaders. the demands after thousands defied government warnings and protested in treats of tehran again today. >> a proposal for berkeley to invite former quantanamo bay terror suspect to resettle in the city is during a heated debate tonight in a city council meeting. live in berkeley with a proposal and warning given to council members. >> supporters want to emphasize this would not cost the city any money. volunteers would help these people but advocates have a lot

of questions letting these former detainees of quantanamo bay to live here. >> they're not violent people, well educated and i would be happy to welcome one of them to live in my own home. >> it was her idea to invite them to berkeley. she asked the peace and justice commission to get behind the idea and present it to city council. the commission agreed. >> my folks have been up there nine years. they did nothing wrong. nobody has ever said they did anything wrong and they're having to live cooped up with people of that done pretty horrific things. >> one of two detainees have been cleared up for living here. the berkeley attorney is advising the city council to not take action since the federal government prohibits detainees to come to this country. we say federal government needs to change that policy. >> supporters are worried though

the issue won't get a fair hearing. >> it's hard some issues to get an honest discussion because the media -- there's a media frenzy over berkeley, here they go again. this isn't that sort of thing. >> and while we were talking to her, she got a call -- >> all right. sorry, we appear to have lost amy. we have some good news about job here in the bay area. home depot announced it will hire more than 60,000 seasonal workers nationwide and half of those will be here in the bay area. the biggest home improvement retailer say workers will be hired and trained before the busy spring season. to find out how to apply, we have a link on the home depot on our website abc7news.com. look under "see it on tv." a free job fair on tuesday march 8. >> well, another day of wet weather is getting nice. just some sprinkles.

>> but a big storm is on the way. frances dinglasan with a live look at doppler 7. >> up to 3 inches of rain expected in higher elevations and the north bay hills. here's live doppler 7 hd. you see most of the activity through ukiah where there's even fog. closer in the north bay. light rain has been reported santa rosa. but you notice it's fairly dry south of that and so pretty quiet around the rest of the bay area as the bulk of this energy hits the north end of our state. this is the live doppler 7 the last few hours but this is sliding south. it's going to hit the north bay during the evening rush hour commute and i'll tell you the timing of the cold front through the bay area as well as how much rain we can expect coming up. >> rain here means snow in tahoe. this storm is expected to bring 2 feet of new snow to the lake tahoe area, the basin there which really, really needs it

over the next few days. a live picture of the heavenly mountain resort where it's sunny mountains up to 7,000 feet are expected to get up to 3 feet of snow. traveling up there chains or snow tires will be needed on major roads for most of the week. >> makes for a great weekend though. the cost of food at your grocery store could be going up. a new warning about food prices around the world. >> major airlines boosting fares. >> who

>> a first of its kinds education summit gets underway in colorado. more than 150 school districts from 40 states including california sent representatives to the u.s. department of education summit in denver. it's build as the nation's largest effort for school, labor and management to talk about student achievement. a warning today on global food prices. the president of the world bank says global food prices have hit dangerous levels which could cause political instability and push millions into poverty. the institution that helps developing countries says world food prices jumped 29% in the past year and are just 3% below the historical peak in 2008. the increase is blamed on

weather and trade ban, higher prices from corn, wheat and oil have sent 44 million people into extreme poverty. >> two more airline are raising prices on tickets usually bought by business travelers. delta and american announced their increase of up to $120 per round trip. that's first class, business class and 7 days advance purchase. others increased $50 round trip on business travelers. >> crews started helping a visitor to san francisco civic center pack up and starting home. you may have seen this giant three-head six-arm sculpture along market street. the statue spent the last nine months in san francisco to honor the 30th anniversary of the city relationship with shanghai. it will take about three days to fully disassemble the 26 foot high 15 ton statue before it's

shipped back to china. too bad the workers don't have six arms, too. they could handle it that much quicker. >> frances dinglasan in for mike nicco. >> he's unfortunately sick today. the storm taking its time. gray clouds moving in with light rain right now in the north bay. and it's gonna be here. we're talking up to 3 inches of rain in parts of the north bay mountains. let's talk about temperatures right now. we're in the 50s for the most part. oh, we are in the 50s for the most part and i'll have all the details with your accu-weather 7-day forecast coming up. >> frances, thanks a lot. and britain has a sea lion friends to fight off an annoying problem at ten downing street. 

♪ right now president obama is awarding the medal of freedom, the nation's highest medal of honor to a diverse group of people. it's presented to people who have made important contributions to national security, world peace and culture. among the recipients, former

president george h. w. bush. he was awarded that medal a few moments ago. president bush is not only honored for his term in office but what he's done since that time, including raising money for "katrina" victims. poet maya angelou. basketball star bill russell and cellist yo-yo ma. >> things are changing quickly. >> and we can certainly use the rain and it's on its way. a live shot right now. outside we go. this is from -- can you help me out joey -- south beach. looking towards gray clouds. current it was as you head out the door in the 50s, upper 50s throughout the bay area and the heavy rain is moving in tonight overnight. we'll see scattered showers on friday and much cooler temperatures after that cold front moves through.

here's a look at satellite radar image. low pressure giving us this wide, cold front. that's going to bring this cool and unstable air all the way through friday but the front is moving in tonight. that's when we'll see some of the heaviest rain as indicated by yellow. north bay is where we get the heaviest rain. you see by 5:00 tuesday night, the front kind of stalls in the north bay. by 8:00 that's when the rest of the bay area starts to see light rain but the heavy rain still remains in the north bay. then it moves in by about 10:00. the rest of the bay area will get to see some of that heavy rain in yellow and overnight it will move south. a brief break from the rain tomorrow morning and then scattered showers return by wednesday afternoon. rainfall accumulations by tomorrow afternoon, up to 3 inches in the north bay, an inch in the bay area and 1 to 2 inches in the north bay. this is where we see the most rain, north bay mountains and

the santa cruz mountains, two and a fourth expected there. from noon today until 6:00, tomorrow 3 to 5 feet expected above 7,000. ridge top gusts over 100 mph. so the snow will be perfect for us this weekend and also next week for ski week. highest today in the upper 50s through the north bay, some low 60s where we get a little break from the rain until later on in oakland, fremont and san jose. you'll also find some 60s in the monterey bay area. low 60s for you there with the exception of monterey at 59 degrees. the accu-weather 7-day forecast, the heavy rain moves in, the cold front passes and notice how temperatures drop by about 6 degrees for tomorrow. stays cool with a rainy, wet weather through friday and then sunnier this weekend.

>> frances, thank you. >> with this weather, who wants to go to arizona? yeah, 'cause the giants are there and they have their first workout infringe training. pitchers and catches reported in scottsdale yesterday. brian wilson there and buster posey right there. and check it out. some team veterans who came in a few days early. anxious to get back on the swing of things on the field. >> for me the season was over and i was already kind of antsy about getting back and getting going again. so definitely makes it more fun to come in with that world series title. >> the oakland a's pitchers and catchers are also reporting for spring training in phoenix today. >> in london britain's prime minister is enlisting a new recruit. larry, a four-year-old tab by arrived at his new home at 10

downey street. his job to ward off a pack of rats seen near the residence. it's an unofficial pest control for the government. many residents say trash on the sidewalks provide the food supply. >> larry's not going to get laid off anytime soon. atlanta's famous baby

>> today on oprah at 4:00, actress debbie reynolds and her icon daughter debbie fisher. a fast food calorie count. does it do anything to curb unhealthy eating habits in young people. those stories and more at 5:00. >> the baby panda at the atlanta zoo finally has a name. >> giant panda cub born november 3rd, 2010, is officially named poo. >> you know the male cub was named after the character voice by actor jack black in kung fu panda. >> he has fun on stage moments during the naming ceremony. in keeping with chinese tradition, poo didn't receive his name until after his 100th day of life.

the only giant panda born in the u.s. in 2010. >> poo, he better start practicing his kung fu moves. >> i went to the website. you can see the little panda rolling around. so cute. >> let's check the weather. >> live doppler 7 hd, you see the rain moving in the north bay right now. light rain heading towards santa rosa. but more heavy rain on the way coming in from northern california hitting us this evening. >> we are warned, frances. thank you. >> for all of us here on abc7news.com, thanks for