we have a live report. banning the death penalty. it's up to you. how it all comes down to money. clear skies, chilly temperatures now, but these temperatures are really going to warm up heading into the weekend. we'll have the latest coming up. and so far, so good this morning at the bay bridge toll plaza. but we have some roadwork and it could slow you down. we'll tell you where coming up. thank you, good morning. it is friday, march 2. i'm juliette goodrich. frank has the morning off. >> i'm grace lee. it is 4:30. we begin with an ex-girlfriend the center of attention today in the ross mirkarimi domestic violence case. anne makovec is in san francisco where the judge will decide whether the jury will hear from christina flores. >> reporter: in fact, that ex- girlfriend is going to have a private hearing with the judge this morning here at the hall of justice in ross mirkarimi's domestic violence case. here's his ex-girlfriend. the judge is going to be deciding today whether or not she will be allowed to testify.

that decision is going to come after judge garrett wong interviews flores in his chambers. after san francisco sheriff ross mirkarimi was accused of abusing his wife, flores then filed a police report saying he had abused her when they dated a few years ago. meanwhile, the defense painted her as a jilted ex-girlfriend trying to get mirkarimi back. mirkarimi himself is expected back this court on monday. dozens of potential jurors will also be here and one of them is san francisco supervise eric marr. he expects to be disqualified from hearing this case because he obviously knows mirkarimi. the sheriff pled not guilty to misdemeanor charges of domestic violence battery, child endangerment and dissuading a witness all stemming from a new year's eve argument in which he allegedly bruised his wife' arm. this case is expected to wrap up in mid-march. >> thank you. also, new this morning a

top california official is facing an ethics complaint. dan richards is the president of the fish & game commission. he recently posted a photo of a mountain lion he legally killed in idaho but he may have violated state law. a democrat accuses him of not paying the $6,800 fee to hunt at the idaho ranch. california law limits gifts to no more than $420 a year. a skier has died hours after being caught in an avalanche near lake tahoe. it happened in and out of bounds area near alpine meadows ski resort. three skiers were caught in the avalanche yesterday afternoon. one was badly injured. they are believed to have caused this avalanche. it took hours for rescue crews to get the injured skier to the hospital where he later died. forecasters say more violent weather is possible today in states hit by tornadoes earlier this week. clean-up is still going on in the wake of the storms which killed 13 people in the midwest

and south. 6 of those deaths were in the southern illinois town of harrisburg which already had to deal with two major floods in just the past few years. back here in the bay area, sun is making a return. it's 4:33. lawrence is here with a check on our weather. >> this is like old times. how does it feel to get up this morning. >> did you just call me old? [ laughter ] >> here we go. oh, my goodness. [ laughter ] >> it is like that. folks, around the bay area today we are going to see more sunshine. the temperatures are going to be warming up very nicely. clear out there now and looking good. the offshore winds are blowing so clear skies over the bay. it's chilly stepping outside. 37 degrees right now concord. 45 in oakland. 45 degrees in san francisco. 37 degrees in livermore. high pressure now building into the bay area. you can see the skies starting to clear out now and i think as we head into the next few days it's going to be a fantastic weekend. today temperatures warmer outside going to stay dry all

day long. about 68 degrees in santa rosa. 67 degrees in napa. 66 in san jose. only going up from here as we head toward the weekend. those temperatures soaring into the 70s on saturday and sunday. cooling off a little bit into monday. much cooler partly cloudy skies latter part of next week. let's check the roads with elizabeth. >> someone is excited it's friday! all right. thank you, lawrence. let's show you roadwork. northbound 680 in the san ramon valley some lanes blocked for about a half hour. south bay problem-free looks great on 101 coming into san jose. and heading out of down towards cupertino, you can see a few headlights there on 280. so along the planes we're seeing green and top speeds. this is is a live look at the san mateo bridge. the taillights is the commute direction. westbound 92. everything good to go on the dumbarton bridge. southbound 101 from marin across the golden gate bridge. everything is nice and light. i'm not seeing much of that

northbound 101 roadwork, as well. ace train number one no delay. muni, caltrain, ferries, bart, ace, muni, caltrain and your ferries all no problems. that's traffic. back to you. >> thanks so much. some bay area transit commuters have more incentive to get the clipper card. fares for using caltrain are going up july 1 but passengers who use the clipper card pond have to pay the higher price. the one-way fare will increase by 25 cents. one day tickets bought with cash will go up 50 cents. if you plan a trip to the los angeles area anytime soon here's a traffic warning for you. part of the 405 freeway will be closed overnight for the next six nights. they are rebuilding a bridge over the freeway between highway 101 and the getty center. you might remember they closed the same stretch of the 405 last summer and they called it

carmageddon. it could cost more at california strip clubs if a state lawmaker has his way. the southern california democrat has introduced a bill that calls for those who have alcohol and live entertainment to pay an extra $10 per customer. california voters will get to decide the fate of hundreds of death row inmates. >> we did it, guys. >> 30,000 petitions were filed at the san francisco elections office yesterday. among 800,000 statewide. it's the save california act initiative to abolish capital punishment in california. if successful, it would end the death sentences of more than 700 prisoners on death row in san quentin. >> so those serving sentences, the 720s sentences will be change without the possibility of parole. and thereafter, there will be

no judge or jury that will be imposing a death sentence. >> initiative backers say that aside from a moral issue, the death penalty is too expensive. taxpayers spend $180 million a year for death row prisoners including lawyers and security. and according to our exclusive eyewitness news poll, 61% of california voters say they would vote to keep the death penalty. 29% would vote to eliminate it and 9% would not vote. 4:37. berkeley police are reviewing how the department responded the night a man was beaten to death outside his home in the berkeley hills. dispatch tapes indicate officers were not sent to the home when the victim called about an intruder. the "chronicle" reports officers did not answer that nonemergency call because their priority was an "occupy" protest march. police did respond after the victim's wife called 15 minutes later to say her husband was attacked. classes will resume this morning at the ohio high school

where three students were shot and killed. students and their parents marched back to the high school yesterday morning as a sign of solidarity. the alleged shooter tj lane was charged with three counts of aggravated murder in juvenile court. prosecutors say there is still a chance he will be tried as an adult. visitation and funeral services also begin today for the victims. it is four days until super tuesday when ten states will hold contests in the race for the republican presidential nomination. front-runner mitt romney campaigned in one of those states north dakota m rick santorum stumped for votes in washington a state that will hold caucuses tomorrow. >> we're real excited about our chances here in washington state. we think we can surprise a lot of people. >> if i become the nominee, i'm going to beat barack obama and take america back. >> newt gingrich is relying heavily on a tuesday win in georgia. the state he served as a congressman. ron paul will campaign in washington today.

there's another sign of warming relations between the u.s. and north korea. a senior north korean nuclear negotiator will attend a security conference in the u.s. next week. the visit follows a breakthrough agreement to provide food to north korea in exchange for a rollback of its nuclear programs. syria claims victory saying it's now in control of a neighborhood in the city of homs. it was in the hands of anti- government forces. it had been under attack for weeks by forces loyal to president bashar assad. hundreds of people were killed. antiassad rebels already announced yesterday they were making a tactical retreat from the area because they were running low on weapons. coming up, a fight over new fees. the big bank targeting your wallet. >> plus, the bay area company making its mark on wall street today. plus going where no chase has gone before. how a drunk driver ended up on an airport runway. ♪ [ music ]

it doesn't matter if the water gets inside. it won't damage the phone. >> coffee, water, toilets. the triple threat to cell phones. the new technology that allows your phone to swim with the fish. ,,,,,,,,,,,,

s that the city er a new lawsuit challenges san francisco's ban on plastic bags. it argues that the city erred by not doing a lengthy environmental impact report. san francisco expanded the law just last month to include a ban on single use bags at all businesses including restaurants. but now the plastic bag industry is trying to invalidate the entire law. it cites a state supreme court decision saying larger cities should do environmental reviews. you can buy shares of a san francisco-based internet company starting today. yelp set a price of $15 a share for its ipo. that's more than the 12 to $14 experts had expected. yelp is an 8-year-old company that reviews restaurants and other businesses. and it is not yet turning a profit but averages 66 million unique visitors every month. bank of america is

considering new fees for customers. it wants to require users of basic checking accounts to pay a monthly fee ranging from 6 to $9. other types of accounts could cost as much as $25 a month. customers could avoid the fees by banking online, buying more products or maintaining certain balance. at&t is backing off its policy of slowing down service for data hogs. that's after some customers put up a big stink. the cell phone company said it would only slow down service for unlimited data subscribers after the reach 3 gigabytes of data used in a billing cycle. previously at&t said it would slow service to the top 5% of users. we know water can destroy even most advanced gadgets. but a new product could make that a thing of the past. the company called hzo was developed now has a product called waterblock. it guarantees to keep the critical components of your

device dry. they say circuits are protected by a nanotechnology film that allows the device to be fully submerged yet still repel all the liquid. >> when i turn this phone around, i'm going to pull the back off and completely expose the electronics on the inside. but when i turn this around, you will see the phone continues to operate. >> hz0 is in talks with samsung, apple and other companies to have waterblock installed prior to distribution. >> better than losing out on all the phones you drop in water. >> hopefully not the toilet. >> no. 4:44. driverless cars may be in california's future. they may be here sooner than later. google engineers have been secretly working on the self- driving cars for the past decade using them all over the bay area. now state senator alex padilla would introduce a bill directing the chp to come up

with guide lanes to make them safer -- guidelines to make them safer and easier to test. >> it's happening now. california companies are at the center of research and innovation and we're be at the center of the economic and safety benefits, as well. >> it navigates with a 64-beam laser range finder on the roof creating a 3-d image. surrounding environment but a person is always in the driver's seat ready to take control if necessary. google says the cars have a perfect safety record. virgin atlantic is working on keeping flight attendants quiet. the british airline has reportedly hired a whispering coach. did you know that they exist? to teach flight attendants to speak softly. the crewmembers will be trained on the right volume and emotion to use when speaking to passengers. they will use the quieter voices in the first class cabin when the lights are dim. [ lowering voice ] [ laughter ] >> a whispering coach, really? [ laughter ] >> they have a coach for

everything now. coming up, we have a day of action that turns ugly. >> the fight, the cars vandalized and the campus virtually shut down. >> plus, casket controversy. the risque photo made public in the death of whitney houston. >> i thought it was an explosion. i thought the water heat exploded. >> not one, not two, but three houses damaged all by the same driver. the bizarre chain of events leading up to the destruction. the rain is gone. the sunshine coming back just in time for the weekend. you're going to be amazed how warm these temperatures will get. we'll talk about that coming up. ,,

of the person believed to have taken a picture of whitney houston in her open casket. well, no one is revealing the name of the person believed

to have taken a picture of whitney houston in her open casket. the photo was published in the "national enquirer." the owner of the funeral home says that the picture was taken february 17, the day before houston was buried in new jersey. she and two pastors say they know who took the picture but they are not making that name public. a federal investigation into the child sex abuse case at penn state university is looking for signs of a cover- up. a subpoena asks for information that includes payments made by university board members to third parties. records of complaints, interviews or out-of-court settlements and computer hard drives also. it's all aimed at finding out whether school officials were aware of alleged conduct by jerry sandusky a former coach. a day of action came to a quick and for more than a dozen people in san francisco of chp officers escorted would-be "occupiers" from the state building on golden gate avenue

last night. those demonstrators were apparently cited and released. they were part of a larger group who held a teach-in as part of the national day of action for education protest. ♪ [ music ] things got a little more tense in santa cruz. that's where hundreds of protestors virtually shut down that campus by physically blocking entrances. that forced the school to cancel most classes. some demonstrators believe taxing millionaires could help fund public education. >> it's not fair for the working class and poor people of this state to be taking all the budget cuts while the rich get off scot-free. >> at one point during the protest, someone threw paint on a ford mustang after the car hit some protestors. no one was seriously hurt. police detained the driver and passenger. rain and cold, it's all changing. >> yes. it sure is. we are going to see more sunshine around the bay area today. the rain long gong now. skies are mostly clear and the offshore winds starting to blow

a bit. temperatures now a little chilly in spots into the 30s and 40s. a little breezy over the mountaintops as well but otherwise, we are looking good and by the afternoon, what a change just from yesterday. we are going to be running around 8 to 10 degrees warmer than yesterday's highs and lows. so sunshine, temperatures as high as 68 degrees in the warmest spots inland, 60s at the coast in many spots. high pressure now building in kicking that system to the east that brought us the rain yesterday and it's going to set up in time for the weekend with those offshore winds. that means we're looking at fantastic weather over the next couple of days. traveling around the state you will see sunshine, 60s into the central valley. you wanted to go to the high country and ski? it's looking good in the high country. yeah. a little slushy toward the afternoon but in the morning it's going to be fantastic skiing. temperatures around the bay area this afternoon, 66 degrees in san jose. 64 in redwood city. about 60 in half moon bay. east bay numbers up well into the 60s by the afternoon. as high as 67 in pleasanton. about 66 in walnut creek. 67 degrees in napa. looking good into the north bay this afternoon the one of the

warmer temperatures, about 68 in santa rosa. and about 64 degrees in mill valley. next couple of days, we are going to see those temperatures spike quite a bit as high pressure builds n offshore winds blowing on saturday and sunday. looks like we'll start to cool things down maybe a little bit of a sea breeze kicking in late on monday and tuesday. but remember, last weekend it was cold, brisk and breezy. this weekend just the opposite. it's going to be beautiful everywhere. >> i'm so excited. we are heading to the sierra. there is a special olympics ski race this weekend. don't laugh, i'm skiing in it. >> no laughing. [ laughter ] >> i was worried it would be icy. >> a little slushy in the afternoon. >> thank you. what's happening over there? >> developing news in hayward. this started last night. a car hit a power pole with significant damage from what we understand. so there's still some power out in that area. sounds like about 260 customers so it's in the area near kelly street and bayview.

we just got off the phone with pg&e. they hope to restore power by 3:30 p.m. today. car into pole kelly and bayview there in hayward. other than that, quiet all across the bay area. not too bad. we love to call it "friday light" and so far that appears to be the case on the nimitz. past the coliseum, all the way up towards the downtown oakland stop, no problems. we had earlier roadwork overnight near the dumbarton all gone on west and eastbound 84. san mateo bridge good across the span. should be about 13 to 14 minutes out of hayward to foster city and the peninsula. 280 looks great, a lot of green on our sensors coming up the guadalupe parkway, 101, not much roadwork to slow you down across this stretch either. 280 is moving fine this morning all the way out of downtown san jose and your commute along the peninsula 101 and 280, a lot of green come out of the altamont pass. usually about a half hour to 45 minutes from now when we start to see some delays. but for right now all of your major east bay drive times

pretty much moving at top speeds including coming down the eastshore freeway. westbound 580, the nimitz and 24 through walnut creek. also bart, always a good option. and all bart trains are running on time including those heading to downtown san francisco stops. that's traffic. back to you guys. >> thank you. it was a bizarre scene at philadelphia international airport as a man crashed an suv through his security gate and then on a runway. it quickly became a security concern. it forced the airport to halt incoming flights for a half hour. it took a while for police to chase the guy down. the man was arrested and now faces charges of driving under the influence. he could also face federal charges. here in northern california though we have an out-of- control driver slamming into several homes. citrus heights police say that the jeep cherokee was going so fast it went up a curb smashed through a fence hit a tree stump before hitting three houses. no one was injured although an older witness was so shocked he had to be brought to a hospital

as a precaution. no word yet on what charges that driver may face. a deer sent students scrambling at a north carolina high school. the doe ran through the halls as kids were running for cover on wednesday. >> awww. >> to make matters worse they had just waxed the floor! so a few students fell. they got cuts and bruises. not too bad. the deer eventually found its way out of the building. >> all right. we are going to see a new face today batting for the oakland as. manny ramirez will play in the team's exhibition opener. he will serving as designated hitter and bat clean-up against the seattle mariners. the as signed ramirez last month to a minor league deal worth $500,000. he won't be eligible to play in the regular season until he service a 50-game suspension for -- until he serves a 50- game suspension for violating the drug policy. buster posey isn't ready for the cactus league opener against the diamondbacks. he just started running the bases on the surgically

repaired ankle. he says it's still a little stiff. >> i mean, i had all the ligaments ripped out of my leg and broke my fibula so i mean in i'm less than a year out so i'm going to still feel stuff for a while. >> the giants say he could be ready next week. and the win helped make it a blowout in a soccer game in israel. >> a goalie scored on himself. he had an assist by the breeze. strangest goals ever scored. the goalie kicks the ball away from the net but the wind sent it back right into his own goal. >> the wind was strong. his team lost 5-0. not a good day for that goalie. [ laughter ] >> i have never seen anything like that. i played soccer. that's unbelievable. >> the goalie has the toughest job. >> he does. 4:56. how to handle a heckler.

how president obama flipped the script on a protestor. >> a police shootout at a southern california bank. dramatic rescue as a hostage was caught in the million of is it. a blast from the past. ross mirkarimi's ex-girlfriend is set to meet with the judge in his case this morning. we'll explain coming up. banning the death penalty. how it's now up to you. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

your realtime captioner is linda marie macdonald. an ex-girlfriend claims the sheriff abused her. how a judge will decide whether to let her testify. he didn't break a law by killing the mountain lion. but the mistake a top california official "may" have made before hunting the animal. storm clouds gone, high pressure for the weekend. talk about