>> reporter: it has been a busy day for the city of san jose. here at city hall the city council is taking on some of its most controversial issues in virtually one felt swoop. and a few will be put on the lap of voters. however a few decisions have been made earlier. there was a tax and the city council decided this was not the time to put a sales tax increase before voters. they just thought that the economic climate was not right. for some of other issue, they still will be decided and those will be put in the laps of voters. council members approved support to bring the a's here. a symbolic message to nba baseball who still have to approve the measures. >> san jose cannot afford to

swing and miss again. >> this is going to be privately financed, which is key. >> it's a de destruction and i want it stopped. >> what about medical marijuana? >> there are other medicines. >> reporter: the council wants to limit binding arbitration which using an outside mediator to solve disputes between the firefighters unions and the county. >> we are not allowed to strike. the city can make an offer for us without arbitration and we have no choice. >> reporter: still a lot of emotion going on. at this hour the city council is still debating the issue.

it also wants to address another possible city charter change to revamp its pension center for all new employers. looks like the city voters will have plenty to ponder when it comes to election time. we will know tomorrow morning what a federal judge has decided about the constitutionality of proposition eight. late this afternoon, a court spokesperson said federal judge von walker has made a decision in a lawsuit brought by two same-sex couples who say california's ban on same-sex marriage violates their constitutional right. the decision will be announced using the city's online system. the idea is quiet simple. if neighbors know each other it can be a powerful crime fighting tool. and that's the position behind

national night out. events have been planned to keep the streets safe. sal castaneda has more on the live festivities. >> reporter: neighbors are gathering in the fruitvale district on east 12th street. the goal is to make it easier to meet your neighbors. >> crime, especially violent crime seems never to be far from the minds of the people on the streets of oakland. >> we have seen people down these streets in person. i've lost a lot of people in front of me. >> reporter: perhaps it's that fear or realization that has made this year's block party so popular. >> i think knowing your neighbor will make you more likely to be safe. >> reporter: owner randall whitney says this party is beneficial. >> it's important that we work with each other in these times. >> we are more apt to do

something about something that's wrong when there's numbers. >> reporter: police say night out block parties sends a message to criminals and to the community. >> what it does, it brings people out. they have respect and trust for their neighbors and it gives them ownership of their community because they know who lives around them. >> reporter: but others say that the way to protect neighborhoods is to add, not take away police officers. >> there's always something going on, somebody getting robbed because there's not enough police officers out here. >> reporter: organizers expect 36 million people across the country to take part. live in oakland, sal castaneda, ktvu channel 2 news. the two year undercover operation netted $100 million

in counter fit items. the knock offs include chanel, along with gucci, fendi and prada products. >> it robs americans of jobs, it stifles invasion, and it promotes crime. federal officials say 11 people have been indicted on multiple counts of conspiracy, smuggling and trafficking of counter fit goods. late this afternoon, california democrats released their plan for solving the ongoing budget crisis. the plan includes 8.3 $8.3 billion in spending cuts. republicans say the plan relies on billions in income, car and

business tax hikes. republican meg whitman discussed the ongoing budget stalemate in fulsome. >> what happens is you run out of time, you have a gun to your head and you start chopping expenses, but if you've been smart and forward looking about it. maybe you wouldn't have had to cut those expenses. >> i wouldn't wait to july to come up with the idea for the budget, i would come up with it in november. the governor wants the state to pay thousands of state workers the federal minimum wage until a budget is in place. he has also moved to move additional furlough days to save the state money. >> if you put work in, you get paid. that's the rule of the land and that ought to be the rule here in california. >> reporter: union members are

supporting a bill to continue funding. mexicana airlines filed for bankruptcy today leaving customers wondering whether they'll be left delayed or stranded. tom vacar has the story. >> reporter: bay area mexicana passengers faced delays and uncertainty all day today. >> we came to the airport, we checked in and they said they didn't know what plane they were able to put us on. >> reporter: before mexicana could file for protective access, three planes were seized. with so much chaos in mexico, some passengers took mexicana's assistants to drive them to another competitor so the they

could get out while they could. >> reporter: here in san jose -- >> mexicana told us this morning they reduced from nine flights to week to seven flights a week. >> reporter: here in oakland, the same story. >> mexicana will continue service to guatalajara and they service that market six days a week instead of seven days a week. >> reporter: what will happen with the still scheduled late night flight is still unknown. >> very bad news. i'm not going to use them anymore. >> that was ktvu's tom vacar. nummi is making a u turn and restoring most of the service cuts they cut a month ago. primarily to light rail route,

overnight service and key bus lines. the restoration is being paid for by regional funds and by tweaking insurance schedules, the changes are expected to take place october 4th. the board of supervisors approved a proposal to increase fines for crimes on or around nummi. the proposals increases the fine to 1,000-dollar for aggressive pursuit such as harassing someone or carrying a concealed weapon. 160 ac transit drivers called in sick today despite a positive ruling on their contract. now management must decide whether to appeal or find the money to operate under the old contract. >> if we are forced to impose

the judge's ruling and roll the contract back, there will be significant cuts to ac transit that most likely will mean the end of weekend service. >> i don't think right now weekends will get cut. i don't think so. >> reporter: why? >> because it hasn't been in the plan. >> both sides are said to begin arbitration later this month. that process could take months. a tragedy on a football field after an 11-year-old boy from northern california dies during practice. also ahead -- >> reporter: what looked like a solo activity is going to be a big event today. and i'll have your latest weather forecast. and a bag ban expansion, what that will mean for

shoppers. wrap

a northern california community tonight is mourning the death of an 11-year-old boy. it happened last night in the el dorado town of -- >> he walked to his coach and said he wasn't feeling good while playing football. a few seconds after that he passed out and they lost his heartbeat. >> after an autopsy, el dorado county authorities say the boy died of a rare heart condition that would not normally be found during a routine physical. san francisco police say they've arrested key members of an up and coming gang responsible for a string of robberies in a hayes valley

neighborhood. police tell the examiner three teenage boys have been arrested in the last week. the group preyed on pedestrians and often used guns. the group is responsible for seven street robberies. they say the arrests will hopefully curb crime in that area. a very intensive time of activity is going to begin tonight. >> reporter: it is called a solar gas ejection. in compareson to what we've been seeing soon in the next two or three years it could be pretty minor. in this animation, tons of solar plasma are blasted into space, headed our way. it's nuclear and dangerous. but much of it is deflected by

the earth's magnetic field. the closer to the poles someone is, the bigger the show of the lights. >> you may be able to see the northern lights from areas you may not be able to see the northern lights from. it's possible you may be able to see the northern lights from parts of california. >> reporter: astronomers were showing people the sun today with heavy filters. it's about the size of earth, and some scientists say that when the solar activity intensifies in late 2012 and 2013, the effects on earth would be big. >> a mass solar ejection could cause a black out, radio communications could be done. >> what do you think of what you saw here? >> it was kind of cool. >> kind of cool. >> did you believe that little speck you saw was the size of

the earth. >> not really. >> you don't believe it? >> it's very small. >> reporter: scientists say they are not sure exactly what will happen in the next few years but some are predicting the most intense solar maximum in more than 50 years. that could well cause us some problems. live in oakland, jim vargas, ktvu. marine biologists are trying to find the reason behind a decline in sea otters. the otter population dropped 3.6% in the past year. now just three years ago, the species numbers were recovering. a san francisco supervisor is pushing to expand the city's ban on plastic bags.

three years ago, the city passed a law keeping the city from using plastic bags. >> it takes over 500 years to degrade in our landfills and environments. it pollutes everywhere, it's a representation of our excessive habits on oil and fossil fuels. >> reporter: supervisor rooney introduced the legislature today. we'll have more including reaction from small business owners coming up on bay area news at 7:00 on tv 36. bay area drivers heading to sacramento or perhaps lake tahoe may find lane changes along the way. a $13 million road repaving project began this week on i80. both directions of the freeway will be impacted from fredrick road just west of dixon near davis. caltrans says the majority of the work will take place from

7:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. every night. time is running out for that last minute get away before the kids head back to school to tahoe. let's check in with bill martin, and the weather here has been pretty cool. >> it really has. along most of the bay area temperatures have being very cool that continues to your wednesday. we tkpw to our -- we go to our storm tracker and we see fog to kelly street. the fog is back at your doorstep tonight, you knew that. it is around in the morning and tomorrow just like today. if you had fog till 9:00 it'll be there until 9:00 tomorrow. along the coast, you will see

some clearing. it actually has been very pleasant around many areas. it creates an inversion that traps the fog right at the coast and then gets some of the air quality back too, because it traps pollutants. this is what typically happens in the summer. this is what's happening this summer. that high has been replaced. and all that fog pushes into our area. it gives us good air quality but gives us some cooler daytime highs. these temperatures about what they were today. i think maybe a little cooler. but the variations are subtle. 75 in vallejo, 89 in clear lake. you have some mid-80s in antioch. these cities where you live or near where you live are gosh a few degrees below average. morgan hill 83 degrees.

the mild weather pattern continues. as you go into the long term forecast, they continue. what we've got is what weaver going we're going -- what we're going to see as we go into the weekend. this goes into next week. >> thanks, bill. omadon lake is supposed to stay closed through the end of the month. swimmers must stay out of the water because of dangerous algae. park workers discovered the algae which is a naturally occurring growth. the rest of the park is open for your enjoyment. we have breaking news right now from the east bay where amtrak service has been stopped between emeryville and jack

lindon square. a freight train has derailed about a mile west of the station. some trains are being rerouted around the station. but amtrak says it is still working to come up with alternate transportation. send in the crowds, circus trainees are wanted. a look at the closing numbers from wall street. stocks drop after a disappointing consumer report. the dow drops 38, the nasdaq drops nine. we'll be right back. what this droid does will change how you do movies.

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if you've ever thought about running away with the circus, you have your chance today in san francisco. auditions were held today for clowns who wanted a job with the wringling brothers. >> the people we feel are

appropriate for our position, we go through a screening process. we want to make sure they feel comfortable and they know what they are getting into. >> reporter: clowns could end up on a two year tour with the circus. training camp opens around the nfl, it wouldn't be right if brett favre wasn't smack dab in the middle of it talking about retiring or unretiring. but today comes word that he is finally going to call it quits. that is if you can believe what some of his teammates have been telling reporters. that favre through text messages has said that after 19 years he's hanging its up. favre has been nagged by a surgically repaired left ankle. he says it hasn't responded the way he had hoped. if favre does retire, he'll be

walking away from a $13 million contract this year. but i'm sure he's got plenty of money. everybody knows the strengths of cal's running game when you talk about college football and we're rapidly approaching opening day for all the football teams around here. but cal knows that they've got to get it together on the defensive line. nation last 60th in fact, around the nation last year, cal knows they have to stiffen up if they want to contend for a title. you're going to see some changes on the field when it comes to defense this year. >> i think clance y is going to bring more and more aggressive defense. we didn't play well last year against defense. that has to do against putting pressure. our players are much more aggressive. our players liked it. >> and the giants hoping to

extend their winning ways. and they're off to a pretty good start in colorado, they have a 4-0 lead against the rockies. the a's hosting the royals tonight in oakland. that's the sporting life if right now. i can't wait for cal football. that is our report for tonight. i'm heather holmes. >> and i'm frank somerville. for everybody here at channel 2, thanks so much for joining us. have a great evening everyone.