>> reporter: a protest by squatters for the homeless is over. why police decided to move in. early in morning, there was yet another suspicious fire in berkeley but this one was caught on tape and we'll show you that video -- coming up. >> reporter: a judge could end the dispute between a.c. transit and its union drivers. we'll explain how. we're live in oakland. good afternoon. topping our news this noontime -- in the last hour there's been a dramatic development in

san francisco where homeless squatters took over a building in the mission district. police have moved in to remove the squatters. ktvu's kraig debro joins us now to explain why. good afternoon, kraig. >> reporter: good afternoon, tori. the problem with homelessness in san francisco is underscored by those two people sitting at 20th and mission. this is the same building where, just yesterday afternoon, people took over a building here and spent the night. police arrested the homeless who took over this building at 20th and mission. but that doesn't mean they didn't go quietly. [ speaking in spanish ] >> reporter: if you heard that chant but don't understand the words, that's "the people will never be united" in spanish. at around 11:00 a.m. this morning police escorted people out of the building. a handful of squatters began a

protest today. >> trespassing. >> reporter: the squatters' protest began yesterday afternoon by occupying two buildings, one here at 20th and mission. and one at a nearby vacant school. homelessness advocates say this was done to demonstrate a problem with housing. they say there are about 38,000 vacant places. since there are about 15,000 who dent have a place to say -- who don't have a place to say, advocates say there's room to house everyone. >> any person who doesn't cake the responsibility -- doesn't take the responsibility to take care of their property doesn't deserve it. we're willing to take that

property in order to provide it and will fix it up. >> reporter: police didn't move in earlier because they couldn't locate the owner. without somebody complaining about the people being in the building, there has to be an official complaint signed. the second they got the complaint signed, they moved in. advocates say this building they occupied overnight is well- suited as a possible shelter. as a former s.r.o., or single occupancy, advocates say squatting could be the next new front in the battle or war against homelessness. in san francisco, kraig debro, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you, kraig. today, arson investigators are searching for clues in a string of suspicious fires in berkeley. the first big break in the case came this morning when a security camera caught two men apparently in the act of setting the latest fire.

claudine wong was the first reported to see this tape and has these details. >> reporter: the video recorded just after 3:30 this morning outside sam's market on telegraph avenue seems to sell the story. from one camera you can see two men approaching the market. they appear to look no a couple of trash cans before heading into the one in front of the store. from another camera you can see the two approach that garbage can and stay for a short time. you can't see exactly what you are doing. but you can see what happens seconds after they leave. flames erupted from the trash can in what became the 9th fire in a string of fires in the area since friday. >> there's two cameras. it shows both of them. >> reporter: the cameras caught the flames as they grew quickly. the two suspects left but a cal student walking by called for help. >> i didn't see anyone at home, no. it was -- the flames hadn't even come over the sides of the bin yet. so it had to have been a really

fresh fire. >> reporter: the cameras show uc police trying to put out the flames repeatedly with a five extinguisher. berkeley police arrived on scene. but this was a stubborn fire and berkeley firefighters finally got it out more than eight minutes after the first flame shot out. this video may provide police with the break they've been waiting for. up until now the only lead investigators had was a vague description of a man wearing a black hoodie on a bicycle leaving a different fire. >> we are concerned there is a possibility if a suspect or suspects pushes something on fire against a building, we may have a very serious, tragic situation. >> reporter: the damage was minor. sam's market survived with just a cracked door and destroyed garbage can. but the owner says it could have been much worse and hope

the cameras help. >> i hope they catch them. that's why i put cameras here. things happen all of the time on telegraph. i just want to make sure. >> reporter: both berkeley uc police and berkeley pd are taking a very close look at this video, hoping this fire will be the last. in berkeley, claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. richmond police are investigating two suspicious car fires, both of them happened early this morning. the first fire was at san joaquin street and modak avenue. the second one happened at jint road and richmond parkway around 3:00. police say both cars were stolen, although the owners didn't realize it and had not reported them stolen yet. investigators say there's been a total of 24 suspicious car fires in western contra costa county. but they say these two are not likely connected to the others. for the second day in a row, ac transit bus service has been disrupted. the reason, a labor dispute that's prompted some drivers to

call in sick. during the past hour, the two sides met in court. jade hernandez joins us now with a look at more and to let us know what's happening. >> reporter: the fight is over a a newly-imposed ac transit contract that became effective on sunday. union operators are not so happy about it. so on monday, 20% of them called in sick. the same goes for today. unfortunately, it's the riders who get caught in the middle. today riders on ac transit experience delays. yesterday riders experienced the very same delays when 20% of ac drivers called in sick. >> it usually come around five minutes to and it came almost an hour later. >> reporter: they claim union members have haggled over a contract since november. now ac transit faces a $50 million deficit.

>> union members may not realize that if their leadership is successful, they are gonna lose their jobs in this court hearing today. >> reporter: claudia hudson has been a bus operator for three decades and is the lead union negotiator. >> this is the deal -- operators get to choose for themselves whether or not they can operate a bus on the road safely. this is a case where ac transit refuses to train. >> reporter: hudson says they face quick turnaround times to and from work and operating buses on unfamiliar routes. ac union says if they get the -- >> the bus drivers should be showing up for work. 20% of them not showing up are doing a disservice for the riders. they need to come to work. there are no safety issues. >> reporter: right now inside

of an alameda superior court room, a judge is weighing whether or not to decide to grant that injunction over the work schedule. a decision could come right now, today, or within five days. reporting live in oakland, jade hernandez, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you, jade. new numbers released today show a drop in unemployment in most states, including california. the labor department says 39 states declined last month which is a slight improvement from may. in california, our unemployment rate dropped 1/10th to 12.3%. it is still one of the highest in the country, possibly due to the layoffs of thousands of temporary census workers. the u.s. senate it just approved another extension of unemployment benefits today for those unemployed americans. yesterday, president obama criticized republicans who have repeatedly voted against the measure. this morning, nancy pelosi said unemployment insurance is an

important stimulus for the economy. >> it's responsible for citation of millions of jobs because people who get unemployment surance need it. they spend the money immediately. it injects demand into the economy and it creates jobs. >> reporter: today's vote happened after new senator goodwin was sworn in. he provided the 60th vote needed to break the filibuster. the house will take up the bill tomorrow. president obama is likely to sign it into law by week's end. actress lindsay lohan is now playing the role of a jailhouse prisoner. [ chanting ] protesters just staged a die-in outside the office of nancy pelosi. they say the issue is a matter of life or death. will the bay area's cooler- than-normal temperatures continue? meteorologist mark tamayo has

the forecast. and a group of teenagers is having a demonstration trying to get a message to state regulators and pg&e. our real national pastime? saving money. and like baseball people love their stats. i started bringing my lunch to work -- 50 bucks a week in my pocket. here's a good one: state farm insures 40 million drivers. more than geico and progressive combined. i saved because i'm accident-free. of course, with so many ways to save including discounts of up to 40%, having that many customers shouldn't be a surprise. so ask a neighbor about state farm, then call an agent at 1-800-state-farm or go online.

then call an agent at 1-800-state-farm [ chanting ] today, members of the

a.i.d.s. health care foundation are calling on house speaker, nancy pelosi, to take action against h.i.v. and a.i.d.s. wearing schedulely tin outfits, they held a die-in outside her office. they say she has the power to do something. something. >> we are here because there is a national epidemic of the a.i.d.s. crisis. speaker pelosi is the most powerful person in congress and has not said one word about the h.i.v./a.i.d.s. crisis. >> they say 1800 people are on waiting lists for drug assistance in the 12 states that have these lists. they want nancy pelosi to support legislation that would help people get the medication they need. littles are encouraged --

health officials are encouraged about a drug by a company here in the bay area. researchers say women can use the gel before having sex to prevent an a.i.d.s. infection. scientists say recent results show the gel can rut the risk of h.i.v. infection by 50% after one year of use and 39% after two and a half years. many world leaders and philanthropists argue that money is a big part of the problem in fighting a.i.d.s. >> if you have a.i.d.s. and go to a clinic, you should never have to hear someone say, i'm sorry. you can't have the drug that would save your life. we don't have the money. >> no word on what the cost would be for the new gel but gillion has relin fished rights to it in africa and other poor countries. analysts warn it could take years of study to prove it's a success. in san rafael free a.i.d.s. testing is being offered to

patients. the free and confidential h.i.v. testing begins at 4:30 this afternoon at the marin a.i.d.s. project. it's at 910 irwin street in san rafael had fell. you can find out more about -- san rafael. you can find out more about this at ktvu.com. in san francisco, a rally is getting underway in opposition to pg&e's controversial new smart meters. these are live pictures from outside the california public utilities commission building. the rally was organized by a group calling for a moratorium on the smart meters. the device sends information wirelessly to the company and there are concerns about electromagnetic radiation. >> they are being installed on every house, every business, every area in the bay area and no human testing has been done? so we have no idea of what the

rf frequencies are. >> some pg&e customers have also complained that their utility bills have jumped dramatically since the smart meters were put in use. this morning, the senate judiciary committee voted to approve the nomination of elena kagan to the u.s. supreme court. the 13-6 vote fell largely along party lines but one republican, lindsey graham, joined the opposition. the president called on the full senate to confirm kagan's nomination. this morning president obama welcomed prime minister david cameron arrived at the white house for a private meeting with the president. earlier today, vice president joe biden visited mr. cameron at the british embassy.

president obama and prime minister cameron who first met at the g-20 summit in toronto are expected to discuss british petroleum and the gulf coast oil disaster. mr. cameron says bp must do everything nells to clean up the spill and pay compensation for damages. want to check in with o merge, mark tamayo, pretty -- meteorologist, mark tamayo, with the forecast. >> temperatures are really not warming up just yet but we're expecting a fairly nice afternoon towards, concord, livermore, antioch, even down in san jose. here is a look at the current fog pattern. still clouds out towards berkeley, emeryville and oakland. moving the maps out to the west, still mostly cloudy skies. you can't pick up the fog bank offshore. it's kind of a big, expansive

fog bank out there in the pacific. it will keep us cool out there today. in fact, the next few days. we can show you this out towards walnut creek. we have the clouds already lifting. as a result, temperatures are warming up in the 60s. walnut creek eventually on track to reach the 80s. this is the overall weather forecast for later today. 2:00, partly sunny skies, coastal fog. more sunshine this afternoon, but still plenty of fog for the beaches. in fact, this is the forecast model, say, right around 3:00 and still some stub born patches -- stubborn patches near the coast. you can see the 60s out towards napa, fairfield, and san francisco 53 degrees. not warming up too much from this morning's 52. high pressure is weakened. no more 90s. warmest locations only in the low to mid-80s. the fog bank still pretty impressive. we'll reinforce the cooling trend for today and also tomorrow. winds will continue to be a factor.

the strongest winds will be out towards the delta. fairfield has a wind of 30 miles an hour. at 6:00 we could have winds gusting to 35 miles an hour. you will notice the cooldown today with the forecasted highs. santa rosa, 77. san francisco, right around 60. oakland, 65 degrees. san jose, mid-70s. and morgan hill, 83 degrees. here's a look ahead to your five-day forecast -- temperatures continue to cool off as we head into your wednesday. by thursday, just a minor bump in the numbers for thursday and also friday. no major atwave in sight. the clouds will pull back to near the imdiate shoreline. keep the sweater and jacket nearby, especially coast side today. >> okay. thank you, mark. actress lindsay lohan is from jail at this hour after she surrendered this morning to serve a 90-day sentence. >> lindsay! she's not answering to anybody.

>> reporter: lohan arrived ten minutes late to los angeles county superior court to begin serving her sentence for violating her probation hon drunk driving charges -- on drunk charges. unlike her court appearance when she bre down in tears, she remained composed as the judge remanded her to custody. >> no electronic monitoring, no work release, and no work furlough. the defendant is remanded into custody to serve her 90-day jail sentence. >> reporter: the 24-year-old star will serve her term at the lynnwood facility south of los angeles. authorities say she will be isolated from the rest of the prison population for her own security. movie crews will take over the oakland coliseum next week for the filming of "money ball." brad pitt will take the lead role of a's manager bean.

if you would like to be an extra during the movie during filming the next few day weeks, you will find -- few weeks, you will find more information at ktvu.com. what could forever with change the selling of medical marijuana. and what authorities are saying about the oil spill. >> ...berber carpet. it was a whole bowl of stew. nooo. why? i could have saved this one. i could have saved this one. ♪ call 1-800-steemer

the u.s. government is allowing the cap to remain on bp's ruptured well and there are discussions about permanently sealing it. the government says although engineers have found seepage from the newly installed cap, it was not significant enough to order bp to open the cap. bp and the government officials are also floating the idea of a new operation to plug the well called a static kill. it's similar to the top kill operation that failed almost two months ago but some scientists say there's less pressure in the well right now so it might succeed. the oakland city council is expected to take up a controversial marijuana wholesale ordinance today. it would authorize the licensing of four american production and processing facilities to supply the city's medical marijuana dispensaries. if approved, the facilities would have to pay more than $200,000 in annual permit fees, carry liability insurance, and

set aside 8% of their sales for taxes. small growers argue the ordinae could put them out of business. today is the 41st anniversary of the first time humans landed on the moon. >> one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. >> millions of people around the world watched as neil armstrong uttered those famous words on july 20th, 196. moments later, his crew te, neil had buzz aldrin emerged. only 12 people have ever walked on the moon. the last astronaut was 1927. ronald reagan will be honored for his birthday for special recognition. governor schwarzenegger signed two bills. reagan's birthday is february 6th and the first day of recognition falls next year on what would have been his 100th

birthday. donations are being sought to celebrate the event. coming up on the news at 5:00, a sixth baby has died whooping cough in california. the latest victim of a new outbreak of the disease. the illness has become an epidemic in the state. in one bay area county, some have refused to have their children vaccinated. our next newscast is the ktvu channel 2 news at 5:00. thanks for watching. have a great day.